#this is canon I am Devsis

[pinemartenstudios]

And that’s how Werewolf got Hype Beast Within (?

[lemonsbakery]

Chesecak🤤

[whippedcreamcookie]

IM SO MADDDD they will never give us whipped crumbs please we dont need more timekeeper PASTEL MERINGUE LOOKS TOO SIMILAR TO WHIPPED FOR IT NOT TO BE A COINCIDENCE im crying

I FEEL THE SAME WAYYYYY ITS SO ANNOYING like omg i would'nt have been as pissed off if whipped cream got a costume or something but like they're rly out here trying to make us mad LOL

mint choco trial is reskinned whipped cream trial

new cookie is way too similar to whipped cream that's its uh. strange.

[peachyqueenly]

Cookie Run, Queerbait, and why the concept does not apply to SeaMoon... 2!!!

//This is a repost of an older post, as something else came up that I wanted to add to this analysis. If you don't want to reread the entire thing, feel free to skip to the section headed with 'Queerbait: Lost in Translation'.//

There are a lot of issues with the way Devsis, the developers behind Cookie Run, handle diversity in their games. Most notably, it falls into the common trap many, MANY gacha games do in that it partakes in a lot of orientalist tropes. But one debate I’ve seen that I just cannot get behind, as a lesbian, is the idea that they have queerbaited-- most namely, with SeaMoon.

Below the cut, I will explain why: what queerbait is and what it looks like, queerbaiting vs coding, and why comparing WlW tropes from other countries to queerbaiting is unfair (and also maybe don’t apply a Japanese literary concept to a Korean game, more on that later). All in a bid to show why it is not only wrong to compare SeaMoon to queerbaiting, it is harmful.

SeaMoon, for those unfamiliar, is the name popularly given to the ship between Sea Fairy Cookie and Moonlight Cookie in Cookie Run. Aside from the ocean and the moon being a common motif for romance in fiction already, the game had hinted at their romance in a lot of in-game and side material. Most namely, Sea Fairy’s line about Moonlight’s heart ‘being the warmest’ and the “I want you Everyday” music video with their moment together + the lines that went along with that moment...

Your love brought spring to my endless winter...

For more examples of where their romance was suggested, I recommend this doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

The point is, most WlW in this fandom caught onto the romantic ramifications of the ship long before Moonlight was expanded on in Kingdom and the recent updates all but confirmed their mutual affection towards one another. The two of them even got matching costumes and a bond story that was as close to romance as Cookie Run would do (as it is ultimately not a romance centered franchise).

With who they are established...

Queerbait: What is it?

Queerbaiting most popularly is understood as a marketing gimmick where creators and multimedia companies suggest queerness to draw in LGBT people and allies, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath fans. Though it has other meanings, especially in other cultures as I'll explain more below. Whether this is utilizing the ‘bury your gays’ trope, the rep being constrained to insignificant side characters/moments, or just not existing at all.

The two most popular examples of queerbaiting would be recent Disney movies and Voltron. Though special shoutout to Harry Potter, as if we didn’t have enough reasons to hate the book series and JKR. As the stuff with Dumbledore was an obvious retcon to go ‘look how progressive I am!!!’.

Voltron’s last season had two key things regarding queerbait: the Klance drama (the ship between Keith and Lance) and Shiro’s bait and switch with his partner.

To the show’s credit, Shiro was actually gay. Even revealed to have had a partner he was engaged to. However, this rug was pulled out from underneath fans when they actively killed said partner. He was given another partner in the epilogue, but the fact he was revealed to be gay only for his partner to be killed off (coupled with the next thing) upset many queer fans.

Klance is a lot more insidious. In the run up to the final season, Netflix and the crew actively promoted the show using Klance and its popular support. Despite the fact they knew the relationship was never intended to be canon. This is one of the most explicit examples of queerbaiting out there, and is foundational to understanding the specificity and insidiousness of the marketing ploy.

For Disney, I would like to focus on the Star Wars sequels and Beauty and the Beast (2017). The last movie of the sequel trilogy had the creators talking about how there would be queer rep... leading many queer fans to believe they were talking about Finn and Poe for obvious reasons, something the creators never corrected/confirmed. Only for the rep to merely be two background characters in one scene.

As for Beauty and the Beast, Le Fou was celebrated as Disney’s first openly gay character, leading folks to believe they’d explore him having feelings for the titular bad guy. But that was never really explored in any meaningful way, and the rep we got of him was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment between him and an unnamed character. Arguably he could fall more into coding, but the fact Disney actively marketed him for his gayness is where it bleeds into queerbaiting.

In general, queerbaiting is a more modern problem, as companies feel they can say the word gay now. But are still wishy-washy on actual depictions of queerness. So we get them celebrating their inclusion, even if it’s ultimately little to nothing.

Queerbaiting vs Queer Coding

This is when an important distinction needs to be made: what is queerbaiting and what is queer coding. Queer coding is when media uses subtext, but never explicitly says, a character is gay. A good way to understand this is to compare 90′s disney movies to modern ones.

As discussed above, modern Disney will often go on about having queerness in their movies only for it to be minimal at best if not existent. 90′s Disney meanwhile never marketed their movies as having LGBT elements, but many fans could see the way in which queerness came through from characters like Ursula (literally modeled off a drag queen), Scar, and Hades. 

Queer coding can be seen as a product of the Hays Code era-- where positive depictions of ‘perverse sexuality’ (including homosexuality) was not allowed in film, relegating a lot of queerness to the roles of villains (hence the association Disney villains have with it). That, or queer creators had to find ways of coding their heroes in ways that went under the nose of cishet audiences.

Queer coding exists in a net-neutral space. As queer coding, while in many ways is outdated in a world where media can show explicit LGBT rep, was integral to the ways in which queer creators told their stories for years. And actively influences the way many queer creators continue to tell their story (for better and for worse). It can also perpetrate stereotypes against queer people, as we saw with the Disney villains, however.

Still, this is different than the relatively modern concept of queerbaiting as that is largely a negative phenomenon. Queer coding was a tool used and is still used by actual LGBT people, while queerbaiting is more often than not the work of cishet folks or corporations wanting to make a quick buck.

Queerbait: Lost in Translation

Another element of queerbait I did not previously address is how its more commonly understood in the context of cultures' media (such as in Eastern countries like Korea and Japan). As the financial reasoning behind the idea isn't as front and center (for a myriad of complicated reasons regarding how explicit queer rep can be from country to country). Though this definition of queerbait can also apply to US and English based media.

To some, queerbait also applies to coded LGBT relationships that are primarily centered on or meant to appeal to straight audiences (WlW rep meant for the male gaze, MlM rep meant for girls).

In other words, fetishized LGBT coding.

I would personally argue (as a queer non binary lesbian) that this meaning is less insidious than the money making logic behind modern queer baiting that happens in the US mainly, but its for an important reason...

A lot of this queerbait relies on elements of coding still. While the way many Western viewers see queerbait in American media relies on using explicit queerness as a marketing ploy. To compare, let's look at idol/sports anime and the previously mentioned Disney movies.

The idea that idol/sports anime is queerbait is... contentious. And one I'm not entirely sure I even agree on. But it is undeniable that some of its more WlW centric scenes appeal to the male audiences that view these shows or games. Still, nothing is ever made explicit. It utilizes elements of queer coding originating from the yuri/gl genre that was built up by queer people themselves.

To some, this may be more insulting. For me personally though coding has always been a net neutral, and this form of coding is just more on the negative end for me. Still, there is something there for queer people to take away.

Meanwhile, the way in which disney queerbaits its audience is by saying their character is LGBT then... doing nothing with it. Not even elements of coding. Just-- 'yep there's a gay character in our movie come watch it'!!! Its a lot more soulless compared to the previous one, and therefore to me is more insulting.

Why SeaMoon falls more into Coding

With the two elements defined, let’s explain why SeaMoon falls more into the realm of coding rather than baiting.

First off, the way the devs write romance is consistent with how they wrote SeaMoon. Most of the ways in which things were left vague before Kingdom could be explained in the devs unfortunate habit of not elaborating on things they really should elaborate on. On top of romance in general being coded rather than explicit in the franchise.

As an example, lets discuss the two closest things to M/F romance we have in the franchise-- PureLily (Pure Vanilla and White Lily) and MintCocoa (Mint Choco and Cocoa). 

PureLily became more explicit in the same update as SeaMoon (with Pure Vanilla wondering aloud if he still loves her), but in general the way their relationship was shown before the Crunchy Dreams event was largely through subtext (how the two spoke of one another, PV’s garden, etc) and outside material (the love quiz).

This also applies to MintCocoa. During the days of OB, the game itself did not elaborate much on either of the two’s characters (just as they didn’t with Moonlight). With most of their romantic subtext (like SeaMoon) being in outside videos, media, and merch. Kingdom in general seems more willing to elaborate on romance, as we saw in the story that came with Cocoa’s release.

And secondly, the devs never really threw SeaMoon around as a way of saying ‘look how progressive we are’ or to appeal specifically to LGBT fans. Anytime SeaMoon was included in media, it was often alongside other coded relationships such as MintCocoa or things like RaspRose (Raspberry Mousse x Rose). And even the times they did do things like promote themselves during pride month, they never used SeaMoon. Instead they used the Hollyberry kingdom (due to its bg having same-gender couples dancing and having drinks together). 

The way SeaMoon was treated up until the recent Kingdom update was more in line with queer coding rather than queer baiting. Which is NOT perfect, as media should go beyond coding in the modern age. But it is not as bad or as insidious as queerbaiting implies.

Not as insidious as either definition of queerbait; as nothing about the relationship between them is really centered on being for the male or fetishized gaze either. They're Cookies... in a series where romance is not a focus. While one could argue their romance is stuck more into the background compared to say MintCocoa and PureLily, it still isn't designed to be fetishized (in canon, what fandoms do with SeaMoon and other LGBT ships is its own matter).

Extra Note on S Class Comparisons

S Class is a trope in Japanese media where two girls will often have a very close bond, akin to romance. However, it is ultimately still platonic and disappears upon either graduation from school or marriage. It is over 100 years old, with some of the first pieces of the genre being in the early 1900′s. And was a major influence on the yuri, more commonly called GL now, genre.

Before anything else, I want to offer a brief aside that maybe we should be careful when comparing a Japanese literary trope to a Korean game. Comparing the two countries can be a very... very touchy subject matter. Especially in the context of this being a genre that rose in popularity during the colonization of Korea by Japan.

I do NOT think you can compare SeaMoon or anything in CR to S Class tropes. But I will discuss it just to clear things up, as I find comparing the trope to queerbaiting problematic.

It is more akin to queer coding rather than queer baiting. Why? Many of the authors who utilized the trope were queer themselves. In fact, “Obuko Yoshiya, a lesbian Japanese novelist active in the Bluestocking feminist movement, is regarded as a pioneer of Class S literature”. Again, a key factor that separates coding and baiting (being that queer creators will often code but won’t bait). 

The genre is at its worst stifling and harmful to the modern day GL genre in Japanese literature, and extremely heteronormative. But to compare it to things like queerbaiting or to entirely dismiss it as a form of WlW rep in the context of how it was used by actual queer people in Japan is entirely unfair to the genre; queer rep does not look the same in every country.

S Class also evades the way in which queerbait can mean being meant for the male gaze, as it is a trope whose origins lie earnestly in media meant for girls. That does not mean it can't be used to appeal to the male gaze, but it is not where it started.

Ending Notes

Are the devs perfect in their representation of SeaMoon and WlW? Of course not, there is a valid conversation to be had on how queer relationships constantly being merely coded rather than explicit is annoying and hurtful. And more and more queer people have this critique of the concept of queer coding. On a personal level, I can forgive it in this specific case cause its in line with how the devs do romance in general. But if it bothers you that it was merely coded for the longest time rather than explicit, that’s entirely valid.

But the idea the devs ever queerbaited audiences is unfair and actively makes many WlW feel invalidated in how they easily saw the coding present in the two’s relationship. Again, queer coding is a net neutral phenomenon while queerbaiting is mostly negative. To subscribe such a notion to what is important rep to so many WlW is hurtful.

Sources

https://www.animefeminist.com/escape-yuri-hell-flip-flappers-critique-class-s-genre/

https://bookriot.com/what-is-queerbaiting-vs-queer-coding/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_S_(genre)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queerbaiting#:~:text=Queerbaiting%20is%20a%20marketing%20technique,romance%20or%20other%20LGBTQ%2B%20representation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_coding#:~:text=Queer%20coding%20is%20the%20subtextual,character%20in%20media%20as%20queer.

[little-luna-llama]

i've been rereading and rereading and rereading the fic series over and over and over. i thought the custard cookie iii fans had either mostly dimmed out or migrated. i only saw a fanart of the bluebell au by chance and got excited enough to see an old hypfix in the dash that i found the fic and god. i am so happy to see another cciii fan in here. you've got me watching all the new beast-yeast storyline eps for this. god you nail shadow milk's voice so well but also i've just listened to his eng voice actor and he truly does sound silly. his english voice actor is doing really well for a first impression. i might be developing another character fixation but who the hell knows. all i can say is that i am back in low-content crk hell where this time i might start actually writing for it. FUCK.

also slightly off-topic what was he doing. no i am serious what was custard cookie iii (who CANNOT be older than like 10) doing on his own chasing a puppy with a crown and when he gets adopted by a bunch of friends there is no alert raised. where was he living before that??? who was taking care of him??? why was no one looking for him??? we know his family lineage and that's like. most of everything. WHAT was that child doing. i would shake him like a pinata but i don't think he deserves that. devsisters i will shake YOU like a pinata because WHY are there so many underdeveloped characters.

yeah that's basically it for now byeeeeeee

IM SOBBING AT THE FIRST PART TYSM IM SO GLAD YOU ARE ENJOYING THE AU AND THAT THE CUSTARD CLAN HASNT DIED OUT JUST YET!

for the second part, I totally get the frustration with the underdeveloped characters, and as for what custard was doing for me it really depends on the au/headcanon I'm going for. I only have 1 au where i hc him older than 11 and thats specifically because its an au set in the future of another au thats dark choco centric, and i often go for around 9, (technically it makes him 6-8 when he first meets the crew because his birthday is implied to be the anniversary date and at least 1 year has passed since he canonically attended Holly's year end ball)

I literally have an au where they spawned in one day because of a wish(an old friend of pure vanillas who wished to help him like he helped them as a form of good karma gets their wish fulfilled and the magic granted to them by vanilla becomes custard iii hence how they share similar abilities and custard is so attached to vani). And "dad" in their memories is just what they used to look like, with the old soul looking after him if he needs it.

In a fairly canon timeline I see that custard was raised by his dad, who went out the day before the adventure started and didn't come back, and custard left to go and find him, and ends up getting adopted by several parental/carer figures including but not limited to: chili pepper, rye, dark choco, madeleine, pure vanilla, dark cacao, tea knight, crunchy chip and c-arrow.

And also gets 3 new siblings in Gingerbrave Strawberry and Wizard, and forms a small chaos squad with Poison mushroom, Strawberry crepe and snapdragon.

As for what happened to his dad, idk rlly. Part of me wants to do a tiger lily conspiracy in that the St pastry order kidnapped tiger lily for her connection to holly(and by extension eternal sugar and mystic flour) and lost her when butter tiger showed up to protect her and that something similar happened to custards dad and he's currently in their hold.

Or in a complete curve ball I could say that Custard iii was kidnapped and escaped, but did not realise he was being kidnapped in his childish naivety.

Until devsis gives us more crumbs this is the best we got.

[cookierun-shipconfessions]

So listen:

I am not saying that Smoked Cheese and Mozzarella are a power couple.

I'm just saying that Devsis has implied multiple times that Mozzarella can kick ass. And Smoked is already canon that he does SO-

No but seriously they are a power couple. Mozzarella is usually the one walking the other for surprise (and relief, since they NEED someone to keep Smoked Cheese to go on with his ocasional uprisings) of everyone. She has Smoked Cheese wrapped around her finger, and he is fine with it <3

Also, they do each others make up. And they help each other choose outfits. Sometimes they match and just walk around becauae they love the attention.

Smokedmozza propaganda is always nice, I think they're very girlboss x boybossfailure coded

[cappumond]

Hi!! Happy to see another almonccino shipper!! I really do wonder why more people ship Cappu with Langue, Almond and Cappuccino were literally set up to be together, even the official brave account posted an artwork of them being gay dads...

HEY 👋 slowly I am getting all the adult almonccino fans (we need to make a name iceberg)

Especially with cappuccino being queer coded + it basically being canon like im sorry chatcapp is kinda weird .. not outright but the age gap makes me 🤔

OVENBREAK WE NEED MORE CAPPUMOND CONTENT IF U HEAR ME DEVSIS.

[daily-shadow-milk-cookie]

{Note= I am still working on the upcoming pmv as always but I tried to make the poses along with movements and symbolism differently and try not to rip off the other pmv & amv I took inspiration from. Sorry if it took long but I promised there still working in progress, this is just a random ramble probably falling into a rant category but not too much and not too angry}

It is me or I'm the only one, who wants pure vanilla cookie get possessed by shadow milk cookie alternative universe to be canon than canon story, don't get me wrong I love the nice animation in the canon story by devsis. but the story felt rushed about it had so much potential within it. Idk why but I felt like it was just rushed and quite a bit generic. Whoever I do prefer white lily cookie to stay shy, soft, and mysteries as a white lily cookie fan. And the way gingerbrave and his friends act really really different and that they keep the truth hidden?. I don't know how to explain but they act really really different to me. And the fact that custard the third cookie + chili pepper cookie doesn't show up for years now.

(Sorry if my explanation is bad or sounding weird or odd tho, since English is not my first language)

And also Rip poor old elder faerie cookie.

[o-wyrmlight]

Not to be rude or anything, but people who hate Custard III because 'he's annoying' is something I just don't understand. From my perspective, Custard III has lived a rather sheltered life under the assumption that he was destined to become a king, but that aside, he's. Idk a child...? And kids can be really fucking annoying sometimes. So sometimes I see people hating on Custard and I just. He's a kid.

I don't stan Custard III because stanning a kid is weird even if they are fictional and I do feel like Custard III can be annoying at times, but. He's a kid. A little baby. A smol strongly-implied orphan child. Like where is his mom? Where's his dad? Where did they go? Is Custard III even mentally mature enough at this point to recognize his situation?

It's 1:17 am and I'm sleepy so this is disorganized but my thoughts on this are disorganized in general so. Too long didn't read Custard III is Son and he deserves hugs and I wish he got more familial interaction with Pure Vanilla. Devsis please it's practically canon that Custard III is grandpa's grandson please just let them talk about things let them get closure aoughhh

[pinemartenstudios]

Finally: a mini comic idea u.u

[lemonsbakery]

I'm just gonna take some time to say this just in case devsis reveals more rogurfort lore(pls no)

I adore rogueforts concept, a thief who came from a high Nobel family that fell from grace. According to the small mentions of rogueforts family life and the 'old times' for them, it's clear that they have some unrevealed childhood trauma and I LOVE how devsis isn't telling us straight up what happened to them unlike majority of their other characters with trauma. With roguefort you can write and imagine just about anything you want without canon things coming for to slap you in the face. Rogueforts personality can be bent and shaped due to the fact roguefort constantly is acting like a stage actor, we never really get to know what they're like behind closed doors UNLESS you count that one short scene in the special stories thingy with roguefort where they're talking to themself, or the times they got interrupted during their thievery and they were all like (GAH) or (Oh my fucking go d what now)..and even then their true personality doesn't shine through and I LOVE THAT SO MUCH SQUEAALSSS STIMMS

devsis istg if you reveal rogueforts past or personality behind closed doors I'm killing you infact I am shoving a 8 foot pole down your esophagus if you even try this is a threat I will be devastated.

[peachyqueenly]

Cookie Run, Queerbait, and why the concept does not apply to SeaMoon

There are a lot of issues with the way Devsis, the developers behind Cookie Run, handle diversity in their games. Most notably, it falls into the common trap many, MANY gacha games do in that it partakes in a lot of orientalist tropes. But one debate I’ve seen that I just cannot get behind, as a lesbian, is the idea that they have queerbaited-- most namely, with SeaMoon.

Below the cut, I will explain why: what queerbait is and what it looks like, queerbaiting vs coding, and why comparing WlW tropes from other countries to queerbaiting is unfair (and also maybe don’t apply a Japanese literary concept to a Korean game, more on that later). All in a bid to show why it is not only wrong to compare SeaMoon to queerbaiting, it is harmful.

SeaMoon, for those unfamiliar, is the name popularly given to the ship between Sea Fairy Cookie and Moonlight Cookie in Cookie Run. Aside from the ocean and the moon being a common motif for romance in fiction already, the game had hinted at their romance in a lot of in-game and side material. Most namely, Sea Fairy’s line about Moonlight’s heart ‘being the warmest’ and the “I want you Everyday” music video with their moment together + the lines that went along with that moment...

Your love brought spring to my endless winter...

For more examples of where their romance was suggested, I recommend this doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

The point is, most WlW in this fandom caught onto the romantic ramifications of the ship long before Moonlight was expanded on in Kingdom and the recent updates all but confirmed their mutual affection towards one another. The two of them even got matching costumes and a bond story that was as close to romance as Cookie Run would do (as it is ultimately not a romance centered franchise).

With who they are established...

Queerbait: What is it?

Queerbaiting most popularly is understood as a marketing gimmick where creators and multimedia companies suggest queerness to draw in LGBT people and allies, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath fans. Whether this is utilizing the ‘bury your gays’ trope, the rep being constrained to insignificant side characters/moments, or just not existing at all.

The two most popular examples of queerbaiting would be recent Disney movies and Voltron. Though special shoutout to Harry Potter, as if we didn’t have enough reasons to hate the book series and JKR. As the stuff with Dumbledore was an obvious retcon to go ‘look how progressive I am!!!’.

Voltron’s last season had two key things regarding queerbait: the Klance drama (the ship between Keith and Lance) and Shiro’s bait and switch with his partner.

To the show’s credit, Shiro was actually gay. Even revealed to have had a partner he was engaged to. However, this rug was pulled out from underneath fans when they actively killed said partner. He was given another partner in the epilogue, but the fact he was revealed to be gay only for his partner to be killed off (coupled with the next thing) upset many queer fans.

Klance is a lot more insidious. In the run up to the final season, Netflix and the crew actively promoted the show using Klance and its popular support. Despite the fact they knew the relationship was never intended to be canon. This is one of the most explicit examples of queerbaiting out there, and is foundational to understanding the specificity and insidiousness of the marketing ploy.

For Disney, I would like to focus on the Star Wars sequels and Beauty and the Beast (2017). The last movie of the sequel trilogy had the creators talking about how there would be queer rep... leading many queer fans to believe they were talking about Finn and Poe for obvious reasons, something the creators never corrected/confirmed. Only for the rep to merely be two background characters in one scene.

As for Beauty and the Beast, Le Fou was celebrated as Disney’s first openly gay character, leading folks to believe they’d explore him having feelings for the titular bad guy. But that was never really explored in any meaningful way, and the rep we got of him was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment between him and an unnamed character. Arguably he could fall more into coding, but the fact Disney actively marketed him for his gayness is where it bleeds into queerbaiting.

In general, queerbaiting is a more modern problem, as companies feel they can say the word gay now. But are still wishy-washy on actual depictions of queerness. So we get them celebrating their inclusion, even if it’s ultimately little to nothing.

Queerbaiting vs Queer Coding

This is when an important distinction needs to be made: what is queerbaiting and what is queer coding. Queer coding is when media uses subtext, but never explicitly says, a character is gay. A good way to understand this is to compare 90′s disney movies to modern ones.

As discussed above, modern Disney will often go on about having queerness in their movies only for it to be minimal at best if not existent. 90′s Disney meanwhile never marketed their movies as having LGBT elements, but many fans could see the way in which queerness came through from characters like Ursula (literally modeled off a drag queen), Scar, and Hades. 

Queer coding can be seen as a product of the Hays Code era-- where positive depictions of ‘perverse sexuality’ (including homosexuality) was not allowed in film, relegating a lot of queerness to the roles of villains (hence the association Disney villains have with it). That, or queer creators had to find ways of coding their heroes in ways that went under the nose of cishet audiences.

Queer coding exists in a net-neutral space. As queer coding, while in many ways is outdated in a world where media can show explicit LGBT rep, was integral to the ways in which queer creators told their stories for years. And actively influences the way many queer creators continue to tell their story (for better and for worse). It can also perpetrate stereotypes against queer people, as we saw with the Disney villains, however.

Still, this is different than the relatively modern concept of queerbaiting as that is largely a negative phenomenon. Queer coding was a tool used and is still used by actual LGBT people, while queerbaiting is more often than not the work of cishet folks or corporations wanting to make a quick buck.

Why SeaMoon falls more into Coding

With the two elements defined, let’s explain why SeaMoon falls more into the realm of coding rather than baiting.

First off, the way the devs write romance is consistent with how they wrote SeaMoon. Most of the ways in which things were left vague before Kingdom could be explained in the devs unfortunate habit of not elaborating on things they really should elaborate on. On top of romance in general being coded rather than explicit in the franchise.

As an example, lets discuss the two closest things to M/F romance we have in the franchise-- PureLily (Pure Vanilla and White Lily) and MintCocoa (Mint Choco and Cocoa). 

PureLily became more explicit in the same update as SeaMoon (with Pure Vanilla wondering aloud if he still loves her), but in general the way their relationship was shown before the Crunchy Dreams event was largely through subtext (how the two spoke of one another, PV’s garden, etc) and outside material (the love quiz).

This also applies to MintCocoa. During the days of OB, the game itself did not elaborate much on either of the two’s characters (just as they didn’t with Moonlight). With most of their romantic subtext (like SeaMoon) being in outside videos, media, and merch. Kingdom in general seems more willing to elaborate on romance, as we saw in the story that came with Cocoa’s release.

And secondly, the devs never really threw SeaMoon around as a way of saying ‘look how progressive we are’ or to appeal specifically to LGBT fans. Anytime SeaMoon was included in media, it was often alongside other coded relationships such as MintCocoa or things like RaspRose (Raspberry Mousse x Rose). And even the times they did do things like promote themselves during pride month, they never used SeaMoon. Instead they used the Hollyberry kingdom (due to its bg having same-gender couples dancing and having drinks together). 

The way SeaMoon was treated up until the recent Kingdom update was more in line with queer coding rather than queer baiting. Which is NOT perfect, as media should go beyond coding in the modern age. But it is not as bad or as insidious as queerbaiting implies.

Extra Note on S Class Comparisons

S Class is a trope in Japanese media where two girls will often have a very close bond, akin to romance. However, it is ultimately still platonic and disappears upon either graduation from school or marriage. It is over 100 years old, with some of the first pieces of the genre being in the early 1900′s. And was a major influence on the yuri, more commonly called GL now, genre.

Before anything else, I want to offer a brief aside that maybe we should be careful when comparing a Japanese literary trope to a Korean game. Comparing the two countries can be a very... very touchy subject matter. Especially in the context of this being a genre that rose in popularity during the colonization of Korea by Japan.

I do NOT think you can compare SeaMoon or anything in CR to S Class tropes. But I will discuss it just to clear things up, as I find comparing the trope to queerbaiting problematic.

It is more akin to queer coding rather than queer baiting. Why? Many of the authors who utilized the trope were queer themselves. In fact, “Obuko Yoshiya, a lesbian Japanese novelist active in the Bluestocking feminist movement, is regarded as a pioneer of Class S literature”. Again, a key factor that separates coding and baiting (being that queer creators will often code but won’t bait). 

The genre is at its worst stifling and harmful to the modern day GL genre in Japanese literature, and extremely heteronormative. But to compare it to things like queerbaiting or to entirely dismiss it as a form of WlW rep in the context of how it was used by actual queer people in Japan is entirely unfair to the genre; queer rep does not look the same in every country.

Ending Notes

Are the devs perfect in their representation of SeaMoon and WlW? Of course not, there is a valid conversation to be had on how queer relationships constantly being merely coded rather than explicit is annoying and hurtful. And more and more queer people have this critique of the concept of queer coding. On a personal level, I can forgive it in this specific case cause its in line with how the devs do romance in general. But if it bothers you that it was merely coded for the longest time rather than explicit, that’s entirely valid.

But the idea the devs ever queerbaited audiences is unfair and actively makes many WlW feel invalidated in how they easily saw the coding present in the two’s relationship. Again, queer coding is a net neutral phenomenon while queerbaiting is negative. To subscribe such a notion to what is important rep to so many WlW is hurtful.

Sources

https://www.animefeminist.com/escape-yuri-hell-flip-flappers-critique-class-s-genre/

https://bookriot.com/what-is-queerbaiting-vs-queer-coding/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPJU8yBYD8Ng7lhh_lR0bA2XRwmJTtbRceGuKahFxFs/edit

https://twitter.com/CRKingdomEN/status/1532119839178952704?s=20

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_S_(genre)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queerbaiting#:~:text=Queerbaiting%20is%20a%20marketing%20technique,romance%20or%20other%20LGBTQ%2B%20representation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_coding#:~:text=Queer%20coding%20is%20the%20subtextual,character%20in%20media%20as%20queer.

[walnutcookie]

canonically rogueforts face actually is the length of a building

I am devsis trust me /JOKE

HZVZKBWOWBDPDBSLNDKD

[a-single-slice-of-toast]

Eclair cookie

You know the guy with the cool hat

Ah, yes. Eclair Cookie. The cookie with the large hat. I am well aware of the canon size of Eclair's eclair hat.

Amazing. Best boy ever. 10/10. None of the twink cookies released after him have lived up to my expectations because Eclair set the bar too high. Also, HIS DESIGN THO??? The wax seal in the bow and the fountain pen tip for the chestplate thing. HIS HAT. If Pastry didn't have such an interesting story attached to her, Eclair would have easily been my favorite cookie. He is designed amazingly, is OP in-game, is voice by Zeno Robinson, is cream-filled, is based on one of my favorite desserts, and wears a H A T. Eclair is the best ever. Eclair Cookie is truly the cookie of all time.

Also, just a side note, I feel like if Devsis were to outright state or show which of the major cookies (so not background characters) were gay, Eclair would be the first. Because like, look at him. You look at Eclair and tell me he's not gay.

[tales-of-dragon-valley]

hey huh-

Almost 3 years? that's crazy

But coming quickly to the main point i am coming back to this blog as a fannon thing and fan oc / canon rp,,, yeah, this will be based on Cookie Run but a lot in my own sandbox because i hate the fandom and the company that owns this IP so much and equally

I'm working on giving it a facelift and i don't know if I'm going to keep the name or finally I'm going to change it so that someone can take it and make it more general and not just based on a character that i liked a lot at the beginning of when i started play this game when i was about 15 years old

But yeah, everything will be based on my own headcanons, fancanons and AUs because i currently find CR's story so confusing and unattractive [because i prefer cartoon fantasy a thousand times over genshit shit] oh and yes! there will be OCs here! i'll be going back to some old friends i had originally created as Cookies [who are now original characters] and some new faces! 

And if anyone was wondering why i'm coming back to this: it's out of simple and mere nostalgia. autumn is coming in this part of the world and certainly the melancholy and nostalgia is starting to hit me and somehow i need to cope with this [whether temporary or not] and i thought going back to an old thing that never took off on my own laziness would be fun and also could show my writing skills a bit [even if it is an alternate version based on misunderstandings and old information about CR] the most possible thing is that eventually i write and draw about some things of this version of CR that i have since 15 years SJSYHDH

But si, this blog is coming back i've been trying to rip things out of the dirty clutches of Devsisters and if possible inspire other people to start making CR content without supporting devsis or even creating original content based on this game which gave me multiple hours of fun a long time ago

So yeah how many times did i say yes / yeah? if for some reason you got interested in this i'll be writing a bit and creating new personal assets just for this