#when the characters label their relationships in ways that make sense only to them >>>>

[kallianthiutdr]

you cannot remove the queerness from utdr without fundamentally hurting the story. there is no label ever put on it but it's there and it has to be acknowledged.

Frisk, Chara, & Kris being non-binary instead of just–whatever the player wants them to be–adds to the themes of individuality and separation between them and the player. For Frisk & Chara, I've made a whole post about their role as narrative stand-ins but also individual characters. For Kris, it's actually ridiculous if you even attempt to claim they aren't non-binary–because they actively reject the player's influence and are the furthest thing from a self-insert. Monster Kid, Napstablook, etc are also genderless. In Deltarune, Seam also.

Also, Frisk considering to Flirt with literally anyone regardless of gender–and that being a game mechanic in and of itself–to me, implies this kid is most likely pan. Whatever you want to call it, their gender-blind flirting is in fact a game mechanic.

Alphys' and Undyne's sapphicness is the key to the pacifist ending. Without setting them up you literally cannot access the true pacifist ending. If it wasn't for Papyrus encouraging his lesbian bestie to send that damn letter, nothing would have happened. (Maybe indeed Flowey would've used another method to make time, but accessing the true lab with Alphys' permission would've been near impossible.) In fact, Alphys' bisexuality and her subsequent crushes are in fact a big part of her character. Not the most important–obviously, Alphys is one of the most layered characters in the game–but in hating herself, the lies she says to appease to Asgore first and Undyne later are undeniably a big part of what makes up her character.

Mettaton's allegorical transness kick-starts the events that lead to the creation of Flowey and the amalgamates. Without him, Alphys wouldn't be royal scientist. No determination experiments, no Flowey, no game. No Mettaton? Half of the hotland segments wouldn't exist, including the MTT resort in which the infamous it's raining somewhere else sequence happens. Mettaton also helps other trans people with their transition, like when he gifted his blue dress to the beautiful trans lioness after being done with it.

Mad Mew Mew's transness, even if unacknowledged by the main game, is constantly brought up by Toby since she appears in occasional News Letters, the alarm clock dialogue, etc, as a way to remind everyone that she exists and is as much s part of this found family as everyone else. She's also a sapphic, with her crush on Undyne also being acknowledged.

Asgore's implications of bisexuality and his inherent homoeroticism when talking about Rudy in the Alarm Clock Dialogue & Deltarune alike aren't game changing aspects of his character but nice touches that inform his relationships outside of Toriel.

The two Royal Guards in Hotland can only be spared through being set-up. Also, their romance cuts the player's nice cream supply.

Papyrus, though nothing game changing can be said about his sexuality, has a well-documented celebrity crush on Mettaton. Also, if you want to bring Toby's twitter joke into consideration, the skeleton brothers could in fact exist in the ace spectrum. And I say spectrum instead of outwardly asexual because Sans befriended our mom last night-

Even though Nice Cream Guy gives free Nice Cream to Burgerpants, he refuses to give free Nice Cream to the human. Burgerpants is so oblivious this could be considered flirting that I wasn't sure if I could count it, but then again Burgerpants is the nexus of a complex, interwoven web of non-reciprocated crushes and he's deeply unaware of the situation at large. This dynamic expands in Deltarune, with Bpants saying that Blue Ears is obsessed and has no sense of personal space–and the latter noting a love for his co-workers and giggling.

So then, In Deltarune, obviously, we have a deeply queer group of people and I think that this queer solidarity is really fundamental to it. I already mentioned the importance of Kris being non-binary .

Ralsei is generally understood to be maybe pan due to his general gender-blind openess towards especially Kris. I don't want to really get into his blushing when Kris gets too close or the fountain of love, because, well, he's representative of Asriel–but still. His queer-coding is undeniable.

But onto stronger candidates for this queer conversation, Noelle and Susie's dynamic adds two more sapphics into the utdr franchise. Noelle's crush has always been a massive, dare I say game-changing part of her character. Susie and Noelle met for the first time in Susie's first day of class. Susie had forgotten her pencil, and then Noelle noticed it and offered her candy-cane one. After this nice action of Noelle's, and also by the fact that she genuinely smiled at her, Susie developed a soft side for her and spared her from her bullying.

Then we have Berdly’s whole, “I'M the one Noelle and Susie are falling like dominoes for. And you know what dominoes means, Kris? ,,,You're next.” At another point he calls Noelle to ask her if she will be his date at the festival the next day. Susie tells him to leave her alone. And you can decide to respond that you'll go out with him or sing the Wrong Number song (in any case, Berdly is surprised). If you choose the first option, he says that Kris will have to compete with Noelle and Susie (thinking the two are into him). If it's the second then, he says that Kris will fall under his charm sooner or late. That also suggest a gender-blind attraction. But, in general, his crushes to Noelle and Susie respectively seem performative. And the queer reading that can be done here is undeniable, taking into consideration deltarune being steeped in themes of identity, performance, masks and unspoken internal conflict.

Now, mind you, every single side character can be viewed through a queer lense–in fact, it's damn near impossible not to do that. I just think that's wonderful. Like, have you seen Rouxls Kaard? Queen? Jevil? Spamton? Tenna? The queerness is oozing right through. The side characters in both Undertale and Deltarune are bursting with camp, flamboyance, theatricality–rarely do they conform into typical binaries/boxes wether those could refer to gender, sexuality, or like. Morality man idk.

[rainrot4me]

Hey, just wondering which of the creeps you headcanon as lgbtq+?

These are just my headcannons for the characters themselves! This excludes them in my other x reader writings.

── .✦

✦ . jeff the killer

Bisexual, heavy masc-leaning.

Jeff gives “Am I gonna kill you or am I gonna kiss you? Guess we’ll find out,” energy no matter who you are. He thrives on chaotic spurts of emotion, feeding off of adrenaline and discourse.

He definitely flirts with anyone who keeps up with his teasing. His relationships are based more on vibe than gender, he couldn’t care less what’s in your pants as long as you’re able to keep up with him mentally and physically.

Would hate labels but also lowkey love how “bi” pisses off the homophobes. “What, you think just cause I stabbed a guy I didn’t wanna kiss him first? Don’t flatter yourself.”

✦ . ticci toby

Pansexual & demiromantic.

Toby is emotionally guarded, but when he loves? He loves deep. He doesn’t care about gender, connection and intensity are what draw him in.

He struggles to name his feelings, but once he trusts someone, he falls hard. “I didn’t plan on liking anyone. But then there you were.” And it’s not about what you are—it’s who you are.

✦ . eyeless jack

Gay (but emotionally repressed).

Jack has a masculine preference and a complicated past. He feels more than he admits. Likely had a closeted relationship in school before his transformation.

Now? He buries his attraction deep beneath logic, science, and distance—but you’ll see it in the way he lingers when he stitches you up. “My condition changed a lot of things. But not who I… admire.”

✦ . masky (tim wright)

Bisexual with a lot of internalized shame.

Tim struggles to define himself, including his sexuality. Had experiences with men he never talked about, but found himself in a constant back and forth of hating and liking people in general.

May have suppressed feelings for male friends before things went dark. He hates feeling vulnerable, so any attraction outside the norm makes him skittish. “It’s not about labels. I liked who I liked. But that was then.” Not very big on making emotional connections anymore.

✦ . hoodie (brain thomas)

Queer/questioning, very fluid.

Brian is subtle and observant—and quietly queer. He likely never got a chance to explore before becoming a proxy, but you get the sense he was always “a little different.”

He doesn’t define his sexuality, but he knows what pulls him in—and it’s often not about gender. “People are too obsessed with definitions. I just want connection. Peace. A spark.” Could give two shits what anyone has to say either.

✦ . kate the chaser

Bisexual, maybe slightly femme-leaning.

Kate has a strong femme presence but definitely isn’t picky. She likes power, confidence, vulnerability—no matter the package.

She might’ve been with girls before and just never mentioned it. Doesn’t talk about her sexuality but wouldn’t deny it if asked. “Yeah, I’ve kissed girls. Slept with a few too. You jealous?”

✦ . ben drowned

Pansexual + Gender Nonconforming.

Ben gives big pan energy but in a “I have no idea what gender this thing is, but I’m turned on by it,” way. Prefers people who treat him like a real person, regardless of identity.

Dresses and acts however he wants—gender norms mean nothing to him. He’s literally pixels. Probably jokes about being your “digital boyfriend/girlfriend/enbyfriend.” “Sorry, sweetheart, the only binary I care about is the coding kind.”

✦ . clockwork

Lesbian.

Yes she dated Toby, yes don’t bring it up. Natalie reads super lesbian-coded, and in the most flannel wearing, car-shop working way ever. Has strong emotional + romantic leanings toward women.

Probably had a very intense first love with a girl she lost. Doesn’t label herself out loud, but she lights up around strong, soft, female energy. “I’ve only ever felt safe with women. Everything else… always felt like pretending.”

✦ . laughing jack

Pansexual, flamboyantly queer.

Jack is a walking queer-coded fever dream. He flirts with everyone for fun but has a real soft spot for eccentric, gender-bending partners. A part of him doesn’t even understand why people care about gender.

His vibe? “Gender is a costume, darling.” “Oh please—I’ve seduced demons, clowns, angels, and corpses. You think your pronouns scare me?”

✦ . slenderman

Asexual, Aromantic-coded but curious.

Slender doesn’t need romantic or sexual intimacy—but he’s not unfeeling. He connects on a deeply spiritual level. Gender and orientation are below his plane of existence.

But with the right person? He explores… softly, curiously, almost reverently. “You intrigue me not for what you are, but how you exist. So human. So fragile. So luminous.”

꩜ .ᐟ

[pulchrasilva]

Thought too long about non-standard relationships where you don't bother with a label and there's no "confession of feelings" it's just deep care for each other and a determination to stick together and intimacy with no regard for what type of relationship it is. SOMEONE make it stop before my little brain explodes from the gay feels

[hxney-lemcn]

Mine, Only Mine — Mr. Crawling, Gap, Silvair, Chopped, Hugeface, and Scarletella x gn! reader

summery: how jealous do some of the Homicipher boys get?

tw: unhealthy relationships (Mr. Hugeface & Scarletella)

wc: 1.2k

Master List

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Crawling

❥I know people have written about how he gets jealous…but I don’t really think he does? Or at least not terribly. The scene with Mr. Chopped and the cat ears show that Mr. Crawling won’t pout or get sad at you showing affection to others, just that he wants to gain the same attention (the ear scene…). So jealousy with Mr. Crawling isn’t too bad, just be prepared to shower him with more affection than the person you originally did. 

❥On the other hand, I do think his jealousy may increase if you ignore him. Say you give more attention to Mr. Scarletella, Mr. Crawling would get a bit sad and pouty, thinking you don’t like him anymore. If this happens, give him lots and lots of attention and reassurance, he’ll be super grateful. I mean he loves your affection anyways, so might as well give him some extra headpats and kisses. Even better if you only show certain signs of affection with him, it makes him feel special. 

❥Overall, not the most jealous, but not completely unaffected either. Make sure he gets his daily dose of attention/quality time and he’ll be as right as rain.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Gap

❥Uh, he gets more jealous than you’d think. Like…his whole thing is he wants to be special to you…in his own strange way. Doesn’t like the thought of someone taking his place as a jokester to you. Also why he brings you things he’d think you like from time to time, just to make sure you still have that special place in your heart for him <3

❥Hates hate hates when you call him bad or not good. He’s good! He swears! Remember how he’s helped you before! Gets all frowny when you call him not good and then call someone else good. He’s good too! Guess he has to prove it, AGAIN. It’s honestly kind of endearing how he has no clue how he actually kind of does like you? But not exactly in a romantic way? It’s honestly hard to label his feelings towards you, so why should I?

❥I’d say he’s the second most jealous in this list of characters, watching on angrily as you praise someone that isn’t him. Be prepared for magazines and books galore when he’s in this mood, trying to prove his worth to you. Kind of strange for someone to try so hard when they claim to not like you…

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Silvair

❥Definitely the chillest one here. Doesn’t really get jealous at all :/ If anything, he finds it entertaining when you’re affectionate with others. Gives him more insight to his lab rats. Yes, he sees everyone as a lab rat. Idk, I can’t really see him get jealous.

❥Maybe…MAYBE if someone else tries doing research on you, or if Ms. Nurse treats you instead he’ll feel a bit off. Like…you’re his test subject, he knows you from the inside out…literally and not in the fun sense. Why would you go to someone who doesn’t know as much about you and how this world affects you? It’s very hard to spot his jealousy, doesn’t even notice it/recognize it himself. He just doesn’t want anyone to mess up his data…that’s all…totally.

❥In conclusion, not really jealous. Doesn’t feel like he needs to be. You’re ‘friends’, doctor and patient, mad scientist and lab rat not many others threaten that balance between you. 

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Chopped

❥Honestly…Mr. Chopped I’m kinda mixed on how he’d be. Like on one hand, I could totally see him getting jealous if you call others cute or pay too much attention to them. On the other…he could probably care less. He loves himself, you love him, why does he need to get jealous? It’s clear how much you like him with the way you pamper him. I mean we get so many examples where you’re affectionate to Mr. Crawling in front of Mr. Chopped and he doesn’t really bat an eye. 

❥Now, I can see if he gets a bit insecure he might get more jealous. Whether it be because Mr. Crawling pats your head or tucks you into bed, Mr. Chopped feels a bit sad. He’d like to tuck you in, you look so comfy. Might be just a bit pouty, eyeing you like a dissatisfied cat. Easily rectified with head pats or even cuddles. Gets side tracked from his jealousy as soon as you give him a sliver of attention honestly.

❥Mr. Chopped is fifty fifty when it comes to jealousy, but it’s never too bad. He’s pretty comfortable with what you both have and doesn’t really feel threatened by others. After all, you did call him cute.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Hugeface

❥I wouldn’t say he gets jealous? More possessive than anything. Like that scene when Mr. Machete stumbles into his little makeshift dollhouse that he made for you and gets all angry that he’s there. It’s more of a ‘you’re not supposed to be here, this is our playtime’ more than actual jealousy. Throws a little fit whenever someone messes up your playtime. Very accusatory lmao.

❥Does not like when you try to escape. Was he not providing enough for you? Were you unhappy? You’re not allowed to leave! You’re his cute human! He can’t just find another one y’know. Mr. Hugeface may be lenient if he sees you happier, you need enrichment after all. Feels extra happy if you come back on your own violation. 

❥The most childish out of all the characters on this list. Isn’t afraid to throw tantrums, will also punish you by putting you in a solid concrete cube if he’s really upset. Yeah…not the most healthy of relationships to have…BUT! I do think you could convince him to be a bit better…? Maybe? Only if you put enough work in communicating with him though. Maybe punish him in your own way like leaving for longer if he threatens to trap you.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Mr. Scarletella

❥Uhhhhhhhhhhh. Top of the list when it comes to jealousy. Watches your every move with curiosity and spite. Why are you doing that to Mr. Crawling? Do it to him instead. Why do you look so happy braiding Mr. Chopped’s hair? Style his hair instead. Why are you looking so fondly amused at Mr. Gap? Don’t you find him amusing? You do like him, right? He likes you. He likes you a lot, and he thought he was enough…was he not?

❥Will stare through your skull. It is so intimidating. His smile? Strained, it makes your skin crawl. You have to make sure he doesn’t hurt your friends, he’s so close to snapping, but he knows that would upset you and that’s not his goal. So instead he stands ominously in the background, body staticing in and out while his hand clenches the handle of his umbrella. 

❥Not that easily mended. Likes to monopolize all your time and affection. Needs constant reassurance as well, he’s quite needy. If you like constant validation and no social life go for it, just don’t get too upset if he threatens your other monster friends…he can’t stand that you could like someone that wasn’t him.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Why does Leona call MC an herbivore, what does herbivore mean to Leona

I have previously spoken about this topic (among other characters’ ways of referring to Yuu) here. You can also read this post, where I discuss herbivores more in-depth. Please give those a read! But to summarize the relevant details for Leona:

“Herbivore” is NOT a nickname he uses exclusively for Yuu. There are multiple instances in which he uses the term to refer to groups of people (typically including humans) or other individuals that are NOT Yuu.

It’s a common misconception within the fandom that “herbivore” is Leona’s special nickname for Yuu simply because of how often the term is used in fandom works to refer to them. This same misconception also happens with Malleus’s use of “child of man”.

Leona does have nicknames for people, but not for Yuu. For example, he calls Malleus "lizard" and Idia "daikon radish sprout".

The meaning of “herbivore” is NOT meant to be taken by its traditional dictionary definition (“a creature that eats only plants”) or even the slang definition (“a man who expresses little to no interest in marriage and/or is not assertive in romantic relationships”). Neither definition makes sense in context.

The most likely definition of herbivore can be inferred by how Leona acts and uses the term. He’s often using “herbivore” when he’s annoyed or talking down to others. From this, we can glean that he’s using the term in a derogatory way to imply he is “above” others in rank or strength. Recall that Leona himself is a lion/carnivore and therefore he is “above” herbivores in the food chain. Carnivores like him, he says, only eat vegetables when they’re sick. And if herbivores eat only vegetables, then that implies Leona sees them as being as weak as someone who is ill. It’s not meant to be a cute or endearing nickname, it’s a subtle way to insult others and to assert his own dominance over them.

Leona has also been noted to use “omnivore”; he refers to Fellow Honest with this term and has yet to use it for anyone else. The reasoning Leona gives for giving Fellow that label is because of Fellow’s opportunistic behavior. He’ll suck up to whoever he has to in order to get whatever “food” (benefits) he can and get ahead.

Interestingly, Leona has occasionally mentioned carnivores (such as in his voice line about Fellow being an omnivore), but has yet to call anyone specific a carnivore. Maybe this is because he has yet to face anyone he deems to be on “his” level.

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Everyone you gotta check out this amazing Chinese xianxia fantasy donghua Xian Ni仙逆 /Renegade Immortal 

The pacing is so good. I skipped the first few minutes (some big battle scene, but turns out it’s just backstory for the MC’s future master). Instead, I started when the protagonist, Wang Lin, is just a kid getting bullied in his village. His parents are forced to pay ‘protection money’ to local thugs, and if they can’t, their house gets trashed. Wang Lin's uncle secured him a chance to take the cultivation sect's trial—because if he succeeds, his family will finally be safe.

And then I was hooked. Binged it all weekend. It’s got 80+ episodes out now (rumored to end at 120+), and the writing is tight. The anime cut all the weird/illogical stuff from the original novel and fixed the OOC moments. Now the plot flows smoothly, the characters actually make sense, and the romance is pure (no harem thank you rare for a male-led xianxia adaptation).

That’s why it’s blowing up, everyone’s watching it, not just novel fans, all ages. If you like underdog stories with heart, give it a shot.

Another captivating aspect of this anime is Wang Lin’s strong personal integrity. In the ruthless world of cultivation, where stealing treasures and killing for profit are commonplace, Wang Lin refuses to follow the crowd. He has his own principles: To those who show him kindness, he remains deeply loyal—repaying even the smallest favor tenfold. To those who harm him, he doesn’t cower but retaliates decisively (no frustrating ‘doormat’ MC here).

He’s intelligent, level-headed, and humble—never abusing his power. His calm, unwavering demeanor makes it easy for viewers to empathize with and respect him.

One of his most iconic lines when he was young before he met Li Muwan perfectly sums up his philosophy: "In this life, I, Wang Lin, bow to neither heaven nor earth. I revere no gods or ghosts. The only ones I honor are my parents… and Situ (his master)."

Oh and the story’s really gripping, full of tight spots where the hero seems doomed, but he always finds a clever way out. He’s the quiet, ruthless type who follows his own rule: "I shall not offend unless offended; if provoked, I'll yield some ground. But cross me twice, and roots and all shall be undone." His bond with the love of his life (who’s sharp as a tack) is just so solid—they protect each other no matter what. Everyone watching ends up rooting for them. Wang Lin's love for his wife Li Muwan is really moving. Everything he does later is basically for her. (But I won't spoil too much).

The previous plot was already very exciting, and the "Mortal Enlightenment化凡" arc took it to another level, with even more gripping storytelling and nuanced emotions. The protagonist, in order to break through his mental barriers, lived an entire lifetime as an ordinary person, and the bond he formed with his neighbor, the blacksmith's family, was truly moving. However, the original novel's later stages suffered from character and plot breakdowns, which angered a large number of readers and led to a mass exodus. The main issue was the mishandling of the protagonist's romantic relationships, which deviated from the pure love tone established earlier (Chinese readers are particular about this—if you're writing pure love, stick to pure love; if you're writing a harem, make it clear from the start. Don’t market it as pure love only to later introduce ambiguous, harem-like elements, or even break up beloved couples. For example, Detective Conan faced backlash when the production team seemingly pushed a female side character in a movie, creating the impression of breaking up the iconic couple Shinichi and Ran. This sparked outrage among Chinese netizens, trending atop multiple platforms. The side character, Ai Haibara, was labeled a "homewrecker""green tea bitch" "and the producers are all "老登creepy old fart", and her reputation was ruined. The incident even drew responses from Shogakukan, the original author, and the movie producers. The author clarified it was the producers' idea, but by then, Haibara’s portrayal had completely fallen from grace in China, and the movie flopped there, anyway cnetizens are brutal when you get on their nerves like how they react to the whole kimsoohyun lol).

Now, the Renegade Immortal has reached over 80 episodes and seems to be following a pure love route, outright removing the harem elements that discomforted readers. However, there’s an upcoming plot point tied to a controversial storyline from the original novel that angered pure love fans. It’s tricky to cut entirely, so the scriptwriters will likely revise it. Many fans are demanding the director completely alter or remove this plotline. If the July-August episodes don’t address these changes, they’ve vowed to drop the show entirely. Cnetizens say "Just sticking around to watch the War of Heaven arc and the movie for WangLin×LiMuwan's sake, then I'm out. I'll check back when the Vermilion Bird Tomb arc drops, but if they follow the novel's icky vibes or keep toeing that line in the adaptation, I'm done for good. Ain't gonna force myself to watch something that pisses me off." Right now, the vast majority of fans are fiercely protective of Wang Lin and Li Muwan's love story (affectionately called 'Lin Wan' by shippers). They're cautiously optimistic, though honestly, many are already frustrated that Li Muwan hasn't gotten any updated character models or new outfits in over 70 episodes. If the Vermilion Bird Tomb arc follows the original novel’s mess? The backlash will be nuclear. #RenegadeImmortalDirector would trend within minutes.

Some viewers who've experienced both the novel and anime have pointed out that the original novel isn't actually among the best xianxia works - many plot points could even be considered poorly written. However, the anime adaptation has made remarkable improvements. While the novel's protagonist is essentially more of a villain - behaving like a demonic cultivator with outrageous actions - the anime's version has a much more appealing personality and moral compass. Fans hope the anime will maintain this improved characterization consistently. As for romance, it actually occupies very little of the overall story. But the Lin Wan-related arcs that have been adapted so far are genuinely moving and well-executed.

Anyway, so far, the Renegade Immortal 3D donghua(chinese 3D anime) has been absolutely fantastic, with plenty of episodes to binge. Highly recommend giving it a watch.

(video cr by 满世界种香菜)

[djuvlipen]

i'm so shook on your rick riordan rb whaaaat. i didn't know aaany of this shit. defending arranged marriage is crazy

the rr crit tag is a very interesting rabbit hole to fall into if you have time, here is a masterpost

the thing with rick (i'm calling him by his first name, in true former pjo fan fashion) is that he doesn't do research when it comes to representation. like he doesn't even do the bare minimum. so samirah (the muslim character in Magnus Chase) is pretty religious but she takes her hijab off in front of the thousands of men who live in walhalla because she "considers them as her relatives". this doesn't make sense. another example; he has a native american character in Heroes of Olympus (piper) and she wears a feather in her hair to "reconnect with her heritage". she's literally just wearing a feather in her hair. and another third example; in Magnus Chase (again), there is a deaf character who is constantly described as being super expressionless (in terms of facial expression), and hard-of-hearing readers have constantly explained why this literally made no sense as being expressive is a p important part of sign language (if i remember correctly)

it is lazy representation, and he is only including it because it gives him some clout among the liberal audience. you can tell it's lazy writing and lazy character work because he never really thinks about how being from [insert ethnic group / sexual orientation / religion] might impact a character's life. example 1: hazel (in HoO) is a 13yo african-american girl who was born in 1928. she dies and comes back to life in the 2010s. it is said she faced horrific racial abuse in the 1930s but this somehow had no real psychological impact on her character, she isn't really shown (although it's stated, but once again that's lazy imo) to be struggling adapting to the 2010s, and like. the massive discrepancy between life as an african-american girl in the 30s and the life of an african-american girl in the 2010s isn't even mentioned. not even once. even though many things happened in the USA between the 1920s and the 2010s wrt civil rights for black people

second example; nico was born in the 1930s fascist italy, his mother fled to the US with him at the start of wwii, then he got stuck in a time loop of which he got out in the 2000s/2010s. he is gay. the impact that growing up in 1930s italy (a fascist and v catholic country) had on his relationship with his sexuality isn't ever brought up. like with hazel, it's vaguely stated but this doesn't have any real impact on his character, it didn't really shape him in any way shape or form. that's unrealistic as fuck

(nico and hazel are canonically hitler's half-siblings. rick didn't really think about how this would have impacted their life or their relationship with hades (hades is hitler's dad). but also he backtracked on demigod!hitler and implied he meant hirohito or mussolini instead. who knows. maybe all three are demigods)

third example; lavinia (in Trials of Apollo) is a jewish roman demigoddess. jewish people were systematically discriminated against in the roman empire. but this is never addressed. and if you're wondering how lavinia and samirah factor in their monotheist religion with the fact that ancient gods exist... this is not explored! they don't have a problem with it, it's barely even addressed!

he just writes straight, white characters and then slap an "oppressed" label on their forehead without really thinking about the implications of what he is writing. he doesn't even google the basic stuff. a lot of his characters are walking stereotypes (leo is the one that comes to my mind rn)

his retelling of greek myths brings nothing to the table. he doesn't bring out new, interesting takes on greek mythology (the way the musical Hadestown does for example). but his goal isn't to depict ancient greek culture and mythology as accurately as possible either (we don't hear about ancient greek cultural holidays, about ancient greek sports, about the olympics, about the tragedies, about the philosophy. misogyny, homophobia and slavery in ancient greece aren't ever brought up. and obviously he did not have to bring it up BUT if he had wanted to actually advocate for women and minorities' rights, as he so often says, i think it's a road he could have easily taken if he had given it just a little thought). so instead we are stuck in a weird limbo where we don't learn anything new but we are also NOT being presented with another perspective on what we already know. it's lazy.

and the misogyny. hera is one of the recurring villains of the books; she is portrayed as the literal embodiement of the "bitch wife/evil stepmother" stereotype, and all the aphrodite children are presented as shallow. the one i'm the most pissed off about is artemis. she requires her hunters to be single and kills the ones who break the rule. in Trials of Apollo, it's revealed this rule ALSO applies to lesbian relationships. so you have this elderly lesbian couple who had to flee from the hunters otherwise they would have been killed. lesbians having to flee their community because they might be killed is a very important conversation to be had but the fact it's treated so lightly (it's mentioned a few times, the lesbian couple feels grateful because artemis actually "let them live" and this whole experience didn't really traumatize them in any way) is a pretty flippant way to handle lesbophobia and femicide. the fact that the perpetrator of lesbophobic violence is artemis (and that it's implied that she has killed lesbians in the past!!) is also particularly distasteful. artemis has long been associated with the feminist movement for refusing to partner with men, for running a female-only group of hunters and being the goddess-protector of pregnant women, mothers and women fleeing male violence. this also erases the fact that the biggest perpetrators of sexist and lesbophobic violence are men.

(and don't get me started on reyna's character)

oh, also. in Heroes of Olympus, Amazon (yes, Jeff Bezos' company) turns out to be actually owned by the Amazons, who are portrayed as a group of female supremacists who wear tight leather clothing and whips. they keep men in cages and use them as slaves. yes, this sounds like the plot of a female supremacy fetishist porn movie

also also. the age gaps. hazel is 13 and in a love triangle with frank (16) and leo (15). now i know three years age gap are not that crazy but i do think a 16yo boy and a 13yo girl are at two very different stages of their life (emotionally, physically, sexually) and when i was in high school, my friends and i always gave our male classmates who dated middle school girls side-eyes. anyway, that's hazel. but there's also sadie (from the Kane Chronicles), a 13yo girl who is in a love triangle with walt (16) and anubis (the god) (> 5000yo. he presents as a teenager though). and you know how this ends? that's right. she dates them both. they are a throuple. this doesn't make sense

anyway i don't agree with all the anti-rick criticism, some stuff that ppl criticize about his books make me roll my eyes bc i think they are really not that big of a deal. but these are the things that i do find pretty problematic. i also wouldn't care that much but i find him (and his fans) very hypocritical. he has vocally criticized jkr many times in the past and he is always presenting himself as the representation writer who actually cares about minorities (like, that's his whole pr), but some of the stuff he has written would definitely have gotten jkr a few dozen of thousands of death threats

[lurkingshan]

Heesu in Class 2: A Lovely Queer Kdrama

This wonderful little show has come to an end, and I want to talk a bit about why I enjoyed it so very much, because it has been one of my absolute favorites of the year. Let's break it down!

Before I jump in, let me address the elephant in the room: this series is loosely based on a manhwa of the same title--and I do mean it when I say "loosely"--which has been the source of much consternation among manhwa fans who were hoping it would be closer to its source material. It's not, and it's not trying to be. The show took a fairly simple BL manhwa and gave it the full kdrama treatment, building out the world around Heesu and altering much of the story as a result. The show is entirely its own thing, and I am reading and judging it based only on what it set out to achieve with its narrative, not on how it compares to the manhwa.

The Narrative Structure

The most crucial thing to understand about this show from a narrative perspective is that despite being labeled as a kbl, it's really structured like a kdrama. Most kbls are two to four hours total and laser focused on the romance, with little time spent on other characters or the wider world. And that's understandable given the constraints they are typically under on both time and budget. Heesu is different. With 10 50-minute episodes, its officially the longest kbl ever made, if still shortish for a mainstream kdrama (those are usually 12-16 hours). And the creators took advantage of that extra time to make what is basically a kdrama/kbl hybrid that largely mimics structures and tropes from mainstream kdrama.

Specifically, the show deploys a really classic kdrama romance trope that I refer to as the love rhombus, where four characters get into messy lines of attraction that start out mostly one-sided and mismatched before eventually settling into two pairs by the end of the story. It also includes heavy emphasis on friendship and family relationships, and uses all its side characters to parallel and mirror the main story. If you watch kdramas regularly (as I do), you've seen this structure in lots of shows and have a good sense of how the story is going to play out. If you don't, and come to this show expecting it to behave like a typical kbl, you may end up confused. This show cares about a lot more than the main romance.

The Lead

Heesu is our lead, and I find him to be such an endearing character. He feels like an actual teenager in the way he's a huge mess of contradictions. Sweet and kind, but also frequently selfish and short-sighted. Generous and committed to helping others, but also kinda mean and quick to jump to wrong conclusions if someone gets on his bad side. He is the core driver of the narrative, as ultimately this is his queer coming of age story. When we begin the show, he is hiding himself from all of his loved ones, nursing an obviously doomed crush on his best friend, and badly misreading many of the people around him because he's so caught up in his own struggles.

The Friendships

There are multiple important friendships in this show, but the rift between Heesu and Chanyoung is at the heart of the story. They are longtime best friends who have started to become distant from each other as Heesu pulled back and began hiding himself upon realizing he has romantic feelings for his friend. Heesu's feelings, and the fear he has about Chanyoung finding out about them, has come between them and started to weaken the trust they have in each other, and Chanyoung begun pulling back in response. We follow as Heesu meddles in Chanyoung's relationships and struggles with whether and how to tell Chanyoung how he feels, and Chanyoung in turn tries to get Heesu to tell him what is going on with him. They are also joined by their mutual friend Hosik, a delightful character who brings so much fun to every scene he's in and has his own little love story.

The other important friendship, and one of my favorite relationships in the show, is between Seungwon and Jiyu, another pair of longtime best friends. Seungwon ends up dragging Jiyu into his mess when he pretends to like her as a cover for asking Heesu for help, and ends up coming out to her to explain himself. I love their friendship and the way Jiyu balances calling him on his lies with covering for him with others until he works up the courage to come clean. She's a real one.

The Families

I also love that this drama gives us a sense of Heesu, Seungwon, and Chanyoung's home lives. Heesu lives with his three older sisters, and his close relationships with them, and the way they've clearly influenced him to be more in tune with his emotions, is delightful. Seungwon, in contrast, has a much more solitary home life. His parents are divorced and his mom now has a female partner and travels frequently for work, so he's often alone. Chanyoung struggles with his father, who compares him unfavorably to his older brother and threatens to disown him for following his passions. These family relationships give the boys more shading and help us understand their motivations and the choices they make, and also set up some important parallels in the narrative, with Chanyoung's struggle with his father mirroring Heesu's fears about coming out. And in the end we get to see Heesu slowly work toward coming out to his sisters and Seungwon talk to his mom about her same sex relationship and how it affects him, both of which I found so lovely and rewarding.

The Romances

Like all love rhombus kdramas, this show has two primary pairs, with Heesu and Seungwon's queer romance at the center of the story and Chanyoung and Jiyu's romance serving as a thematic foil. Seungwon is pining after Heesu the entire time but hiding it, while Heesu is working through his feelings for Chanyoung and getting increasingly confused as his feelings for the two boys begin to shift. Jiyu and Chanyoung connect and get together fairly early on in the show as Heesu and Seungwon struggle much longer to get on the same page and sort out the various untruths they've told each other. And that is entirely the point! The queer characters in this story have a lot more obstacles to overcome and a lot of legitimate fears about revealing themselves; for them it's not as easy as just confessing and moving on if it doesn't work out. I loved the contrast of these two romances and also found both couples so easy to root for, especially given how generous they all were to each other as they sorted out their mess.

The Themes

This show is entirely rooted in the queer experience, with Heesu using his love of space and astronomy to draw thematic ties to his experience of life as a gay teenager in a non-bubble world. The astronomy metaphors the show deploys work so well to make the story feel coherent and connected, not to mention inspire the gorgeous visuals used to highlight these themes. This story is all about Heesu's journey to tell his loved ones his truth, to sort out what he wants from the people around him, and to find the courage to reach for his own happiness. All of the side characters are beautifully fleshed out into real and whole people, and their stories all mirror Heesu's own struggles and inform his emotional landscape. In the end, we get to watch Heesu mature, fall in love, sort his relationships, and achieve comfort and happiness with who he is. It's a great ride, and I highly recommend it for anyone who cares about queer stories.

[boyfridged]

leslie does not appear in the post-crisis crime alley intro. in her stead, there's another older woman whose work is thought to be altruistic, one with potential to transform the lives of the desperate and condemned (from such a young age, too) -- ma gunn. of course, soon we learn that her charity is but a ruse, and she uses her reputation and position to exploit those most vulnerable. here it is -- the cynical 'subversion' that will become the staple of the post-crisis batman for years to come.

but arguably, despite the appearances, it is not ma gunn who truly takes leslie's place in the narrative. that place being, of course, both the symbol of the hope of the crime alley and a counterpoint to batman's philosophy. it is, instead, the main character of second chances -- jason. jason, whom bruce meets in the same alley his parents died, but who makes bruce laugh upon their first encounter. jason, who has a strong sense of justice, despite it not quite aligning with bruce's -- jason who does not care about what bruce thinks of him being a thief, jason who insists it does not make him a crook; jason who has no care for the label of 'criminality' in itself (just as leslie, who insists that talking of 'criminals' in the alley is non-productive and that in targeting them, bruce would just prey on those unfortunate). jason who is to become gotham's light as robin, but who also is tied to its darkest place.

there is, of course, a problem here -- jason is a child. and so, what was seen as a genuine challenge to batman before -- the lack of care for the 'criminal' label, is now seen as a corruption of the youth that can be "treated" like all disease that crime is (and can be also used as an excuse for the child endangerment - by collins and so, by bruce whom he writes too). and surely, soon enough, without much commentary from the narrative itself, after a timeskip, we are introduced to jason whose background is of very little relevance. as a child, and as robin, he is (for a time) malleable. he believes in batman just as dick grayson did. until starlin takes the run over, and jason is to become a 'challenge' again -- but this time there is no authentic consideration for the politics and societal reality behind it. the conflict that leads to aditf is first and foremost one around bruce's role as a parent, and less so about his strategy. and even in the garzonas' case, there's this confusion -- jason's complaints are not about the system, but about their efficiency. it's all back to batman's theoretical framework. and when jason comes back from the dead, year after -- that is what happens with the red hood modus operandi too. all of this a direct reference to competence of batman, jason's background becoming a stereotype it was supposed to go against.

thankfully, before all that happens, and quite hurriedly post-crisis, someone (barr) realises leslie needs a comeback -- and it is the best she was ever written, her voice clear and strong. my beginning... and my probable end is, to me, the batman thesis. here we have bruce wayne, loving -- and here we have all of bruce's flaws exposed. leslie's first ever complaint post-crisis is about jason's role as robin, and so she becomes a cassandra, but it's so important to pay attention to their relationships. "you're doing it for yourself" is what leslie says, and she is right in believing it is not jason who needs robin. and jason, there, on a hospital bed, between them -- this is what his role in the narrative becomes. a consequence of a grand idea of batman that leslie was always against; but also someone who's life stretches in between these two beliefs, someone who came all the way from being so like leslie, only for him to become so entangled in vigilantism that there's hardly any reference to any of it left. and leslie was there, to see.

how both of their stances get stereotyped; how their initial roles get delegated into villainy or (in case of leslie) pettiness, is in a way a litmus paper for the condition of batman's comics. and it's just absurd how we never get to see them together after jason's resurrection; how the two most important characters of the crime alley cannot be afforded to share narrative space. that is, of course, because it would mean a confrontation of what jason was, and what he became.

[s0lemnhypn0s]

(Warning for this post I'm half asleep so I might be incoherent or have disjointed topics. Bare with me, I'm trying to express my thoughts the best I can.)

(and WARNING! i discuss personal paranoias at one point during this, which include the topic of bugs and self harm)

"Billford is ironic we're shipping them ironically" "We don't actually want to see them together" "We don't think theyre a good pair" "its irreconciliably abusive" "its one sided"

ok I'm gonna put forward a take that might be poorly recieved: I think you all are misunderstanding Billford (And each character individually) and just reducing it to "bill abused ford" takes away so much of what makes their dynamic fascinating. And also claiming "Erm its a bit" while engaging in something you "recognize" as abuse only does a disservice to the topic of abuse and how it relates to the mentally ill (I will get into that later). You are treating the relationship as a joke and only acknowledging the abusive aspects when people come at you is just pretty scummy of you. Speaking as someone who experienced a near identical abusive relationship, where my paranoia was preyed upon, causing me to still suffer from the paranoia of being watched by them or that my abuser will eventually send someone after me.

In general, the existence of abuse is a complicated one and abuse is not a catch all, end all term. Not all abuse is built the same. Billford is undeniably abusive, but there is not a period after "abusive", are you picking up what I'm putting down. It's not just "Bill was exerting power over Ford and thats it"

Lets start with: We all recognize Ford is paranoid, but we don't seem to recognize Bill as paranoid in the exact same way, dare I say - Even more paranoid than Ford. I mean, ford got his "Trust no one" quote from Bill directly saying his rule of thumb for trusting people is to just trust no one. He doesn't trust others - He simply doesn't. And this is part of where Bill Cipher's manipulation of SPECIFICALLY Ford comes in.

Now I am going to speak from a personal anecdote of my experience with paranoia and delusions - Me, I will try to "safeguard" against my every little fear and belief that something will, undoubtedly, undeniably, be out to hurt me, and these safeguards are often extreme in nature. They don't make sense to the people around me, but they make sense to me. Sometimes they hurt the people around me. Sometimes, they hurt me. I believe this is the same with Bill Cipher himself. He is taking measures to make sure his worst fears do not come to pass. And because Bill is decidedly not human, only interacts with humans when he deems neccesary, those measures often take the form of something even more extreme than, idk, me shaving my head because I thought bug eggs were in my hair or trying to cut open my skin because I thought something was living in it. They take the form of something abusive (Which is also just... Something that happens with the mentally ill sometimes. I see you guys trying to separate our mental illness from our actions and claim "thats not making you do that". I see you.). Him trying to guard himself from something so terrible(facetious) as Ford's percieved betrayal ultimately becomes a self fufilling prophecy.

Not to mention, if you guys didn't notice. Bill without a doubt projects his own insecurities onto Ford. "I make you feel important" Ford makes Bill feel important. "No one loves you" He was ostracized in his dimension. "Who will miss you" He destroyed his entire home, nobody would mourn Bill, because they were all gone, long gone. "I'm sending someone to steal your eyes" Might be a stretch, but I look towards the silly straw poem "A different kind of eye doctor, who wants to make his patient blind" Obviously the use of "blind" here is metaphorical, but I feel its still in some ways applicable.

Bill very evidently experienced medical abuse and ostracization in Euclydia, something exceedingly common for those labeled as mad. (Which also brings me to the topic of people saying "I'm so glad they didn't make Bill a sympathetic villain in the book of bill" bc. Hi. I'm a guy thats experienced ostracization and medical staff forcibly medicating me in order to fix me. I think he is sympathetic actually). Not only that, Bill Cipher had a trillion years to fester in his resentment and his guilt, and you think that like. Didn't effect him at all. I really and truly beg to disagree.

Not only that: I think Bill felt a kinship with Ford. Ford was ostracized, he was betrayed by the world (and "betrayed" by his brother), he was regarded as a freak for what he was born with, just as Bill was regarded as a freak for his mutation in Euclydia. Bill thought Ford was just like him. Bill thought Ford would understand him, and furthermore would jump at the opportunity to burn the world down with him. And. to his credit. Ford does, in some capacity, understand him. As much as Ford could understand, with Bills lies within lies. Bill craves the intimacy and fears the touch. He uses fear to get Ford to love him, not only because he thinks it will safeguard him from what he fears most, but likely because it is all he knows, all he was taught. Love through fear. Our love is painful, but we only want to help. Pain in love is natural. It's right. It will only hurt a little. This is how you know we love you. He was shocked when Ford rejected him. He thought he did everything right. He had everything planned, for them to be together for eternity.

And bare in mind also that - Bill. Most evidently. Views himself as a monster. When Ford asks about what happened to his dimension, who destroyed it - Bill responds "A monster.", he says "Sixer, it would eat you alive" when Ford offers to help hunt it down. He lets his mask of jovial, mysterious mischief drop just slightly, and we understand just a little bit more of how he feels about the euclidean massacre, how he understands himself through his actions. And what he understands, is that this is just his nature. "I liberated my dimension, Stanford", a lie but not in the way you'd think. He lies, acting like what he did was intentional, as its the only way he could ascribe "reason" to what he did. It couldn't have been an accident. That is just how I am. It wasn't an accident, and I liberated them. (I wish I could go back.) And I come back to the idea of a self fufilling prophecy, because its again- That exactly. Bill decided this was all he could be, he did everything that would make him a "monster" after the accident that caused the euclidean massacre - And so, he was. A sick prognosis that he created and fufilled with his own two hands, he became the monster he and his home dimension envisioned him as.

Abuse is a complicated subject. What Bill did was abuse, yes, but I also distinctly believe it to be a case of abuse between two mentally ill people, one of which is so old, his hate his anger and his regrets, all are ancient and yet so fresh.

I feel another part of the problem is people are taking Bill at face value. Which is exactly what he wants to do because then you dont get at what hes doing all this for and why. You don't get past the exoskeleton to the tender flesh beneath. But stop taking what he says at face value. Read into it more. Analyze the triangle.

Also it might be controversial (hyperbole.) , but I do thing it means /something/ that during Ford's part of the book of bill, where Bill and Ford's relationship is recounted from his perspective, Bill is notably absent, whereas in the rest of the book, he is guiding us through it and constantly maintains a loud presence in it. You could interpret this in a lot of different ways I think, but the way I've chosen to interpret it is as a mix of shame, regret, and an unwillingness to revisit their past together. Perhaps even Bill having enough respect for Ford to not interject his telling of their story together, if you want to get real complicated about it. Paradoxal, if you will.

(Also I find the theraprism to be a most fucked "end" for Bill Cipher due to the medical abuse he experienced as a child. Something something, mad people can never escape the institutions which seek to "fix" them.)

anyway if you read through my mad sleep addled ramblings CONGRATS! i'm probably going to make edits and add to this when I wake up in the morning but i needed to get this out or id forget. billford is abusive but its way more complex than just... abuse. Abuse is a complex subject and it exists on a spectrum, for a lack of better words. and dont twist my words - That isn't saying "this is less bad abuse", this is saying "its complicated and just leaving it at abusive does their relationship a disservice"

[joicecubes]

HEY!!!!! HEY YOU!! (sits you down to listen to me yap about my queer headcanons for gravity falls characters)

mabel - okay lets get her out of the way. this girl is queer as fuck. she may not realize it yet, but in her teenage years i know she’s experimented with every single label and microlabel in existence. she’d try out hundreds of neopronouns. she realizes her obsession with boys as a kid was a result of comphet. i don’t have a specific label for her because i think in the end she’d discover she can’t make herself identify with any one label. because she’s just mabel! unlabeled and proud.

dipper - do i even have to say it… he’s trans. i think every queer person in this fandom headcanons him to be trans. moving on

stanley - he’s kinda unlabeled too, but for a reason opposite to mabel’s. ladies, gentlemen, doesn’t matter to him! i think its fair to assume he grew up believing that being gay was wrong, it was the 60s and 70s and his dad’s a piece of shit, but as he traveled the country and met so many different people and then witnessed the times changing around him… he’d just. grow into his attraction for men. like, yeah i like men? so what? he doesn’t care for labels. “bisexual, mabel? pansexual? quit making up words!”

(more starting with stanford under the cut this is gonna be sorta long)

stanford - hehehheee okay this is my favorite. i’ve thought about his sexuality a lot. he’s definitely gay to me, and i don’t have much reasoning for that other than like… my heart is telling me that’s the right answer. but he’s also definitely on the aroace spectrum. i personally think he’s demi or grayromantic, he feels romantic attraction VERY rarely and its part of the reason why he felt so helpless in the dating department as a teenager, and also why as an adult later on he tells fiddleford he doesn’t understand romance. he’s hardly ever experienced it! and he wouldn’t really KNOW he identifies with those labels until he’s back in his dimension and mabel is in her obsessed-with-queer-microlabels phase. he hears mabel say “demiromantic” and, being the nerd he is, immediately wants to know what this new word means and why he’s never heard of it before. so mabel rolls a big-ass whiteboard in and starts Mabel’s Guide to the Aromantic Spectrum! ford learns something about himself that day.

fiddleford - HE’S GAY. he’s gay. he’s so gay. i know he canonically has a wife but he literally leaves emma may to work on this mysterious project with his best and only MALE friend from college like… BE so fr. he made ford TWO christmas gifts and forgot to get anything for his wife!! i imagine his marriage to emma may was more of a way for him to deny his sexuality and live what he believes to be a “normal” life. and that obviously doesnt excuse the neglect to his family (because what the fuck fiddleford) but its how i personally make sense of his behavior.

bill cipher - bill transcends human comprehension of gender and sexuality. bill is just bill. but in human terms he’s a lover of all genders. as long as he can manipulate them, they’re fair game! (sorry ford)

wendy - okayyy yesss i know i used the comphet excuse once with mabel but i’m using it again god dammit. with the way wendy talks about her past boyfriends and how we see her be so vaguely invested in her relationship with robbie, it makes me think she’s either a lesbian or somewhere on the aromantic spectrum. she’s just not super interested! but she gives guys chances because why the hell not and is never super into any of it, eventually they break up, and she moves on with her life. i imagine sometime after high school is when she reflects on that and thinks… huh. was i ever attracted to men at all?

soos - saving the most anticlimactic for last… soos is straight to me. but he’s an ENTHUSIASTIC ally :)

thanks for reading i really like overthinking the theoretical queer identities of my favorite characters have a nice day (and let me know if you’re headcanons differ i would love to hear what people think!!)

edit: i’ve seen some people disagree with me on the comphet part for mabel, in hindsight my wording was way more definitive than i was meaning. check the replies for more on her :)

[crazyforclones]

I am so ill over Mario and Peach

Continue reading to listen to me absolutely lose my mind over these goobers

Establishing character:

I just adore Mario and Peach so much. And before I get those funny people always like “oh Mario hates peach,” or “peach never “gives” Mario anything for saving her! He probably only does it to get something from her-“ Ima need yall to shut your trap ok 👹

First of all, Nintendo, especially with Mario characters, had no idea how to characterize their characters in the beginning. Peach changes in almost every single different medium. Take the old Nintendo power (I think) comic called the “super Mario adventures.” in which Peach is a lot more outgoing, strong, sassy, and a literal general.

Not saying this is a bad rendition of peach I actually like it! But I use it as an example of how these characters have changed over the years. And also, often times in games or stories like these where they focus more on the characters than gameplay, we see a more accurate and fleshed out character. Which is why in some other Mario games, characters often say things that might seem rude or out of character but is put there for comedy. (Nintendo obsession with making fun of Luigi in every rpg game is an example 💀). And the same goes for Mario, he’s changed a lot. But I feel in the current renditions of the characters, they have a much more stable idea of their character.

Also another cute picture from the comic-(sorry quality poopy I took it from mine)

This is peach dreaming about marrying Mario btw.

Mario’s character:

From what we see now, Mario is just an average blue collar man in his late twenty’s who is quite short and also plump. Despite this he is still THE most brave, athletic, talented, determined, occasionally hot headed, and an overall idol to the entire mushroom kingdom. He is often labeled as THE Mario. And people also express their surprised when they actually see what he looks like 💀. But the reason I bring this up is Mario is quite literally just some guy. He’s some guy who entered this foreign kingdom, heard there was a Princess in trouble, and as a New York Italien blue collar worker he could’ve easily just went on with his day or ignored these random peoples pleas, but instead, he immediately decides he will travel multiple worlds so he can save this princess and help the kingdom (also cause the game needed a incentive but still-). From the get go mario was ready to help people. He helps them not expecting anything in return, but because he has a good sense of Justice. There’s hundreds of side quests you can do with Mario, sometimes they’re ridiculous. But you know what? Mario will do it. Because he likes helping people. Because he’s a role model. And because he’s just a good guy.

Mario and Peach as a couple:

Most of the time, people who criticize or make fun of their relationship are often doing it as a joke which is fine, but this is for the people who genuinely think Peach is a jerk for not giving Mario “more” for what he does.

People often say “Mario has saved her so many times and all he gets is a kiss on the cheek!”

Now despite the fact Peach doesn’t owe Mario anything just because he saved her, I can see why people might be upset over this. However, like I said before, Mario does things not expecting rewards, but just because it’s the right thing to do and he has a duty.

People forget one dire things when it comes to love like this:

Love can be shown in many different ways

Peach kissing Mario in the cheek wasn’t proof that they were in love or together. I’d argue they weren’t really at all in the beginning. Except maybe a slight crush. A kiss on the cheek is often just a gesture of gratitude. Peach usually kissed anyone who saved her. It’s just her way of saying thank you.

What really shows that Mario and peach love one another is how they interact. The things they say and do. They don’t need to kiss to prove they’re in love, it’s simply implied with how they interact with one another. Whether it’s small gestures like holding one’s hand before a big game, or something such as trusting the other person to give you a boost so you can save your partners rabbid version of themselves from an evil space fish.

Or! It can be something more direct, like peach literally looking Mario in the eyes and saying this:

Or when she is scared but assured herself she will be ok as long as she has Mario!

It’s these little things that speak larger than words. Mario and peach simply have a relationship that is there but doesn’t need to be forced down your throats to convince you that they’re in love. They simply are. And their love is shown in many ways. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and so does Mario and Peach!

Now have Mario dancing like a middle aged dad snapping his little fingers to make Peach laugh :)

[llilyrose]

llilyrose spends her time analyzing aroace stuff. yay.

isat spoilers afoot

what i especially like about the way adrienne wrote mira's orientation is the lack of room for interpretation. yes they snuck aroace talk into fantasy france, but just stop and think for a minute. what would happen if mira just said "i'm aroace" or "i don't feel love the same way" instead of all the nuance we got to her character in the friend quest convo?

we know she's sex repulsed, we know she's romance repulsed. we know she loves fiction that has those things in it, loves interpreting fictional characters that way, but can't bare to see herself in that situation. it makes a lot of sense with regards to her location (vaugarde, a very sex-positive and romance-adamant country) and also with regards to herself (the way she feels about her environment). Of course she wouldn't blame other folk around her for engaging with their religion the "correct" way, of course she'd internalize all her feelings of being outcast and turn it back on herself.

The fandom respects this! Nobody ships her romantically, or sexually, because we know she's not into that. We know she would never and i know a bunch of people who would punch you for even thinking it!

Now what if Adrienne hadn't put this in the game? What if they had just said on their tumblr one day, "mira's aroace," or something. where would we be now? aspec shipping discourse would definitely take the reins. we'd have people shipping her in all kinds of different ways, bending the aroace character to the best of their ability because they could still be into sex, or romance, or whatever. this is TRUE, it's POSSIBLE, but there's no nuance. We wouldn't know the way Mira really feels about these things unless Adrienne told us, so a lot of people would either ignore/"work around" her identity or just wouldn't even know about it to begin with!

Introducing mira's orientation in the way adrienne did leaves no room for discourse. we know if she's sex-positive, sex-negative, how she reacted to finding out she was, etc. It provides so much more representation than a simple "I'm aroace" ever could. It's such a wide label, so finally having CONCRETE information about a canonical aroace's experiences with their orientation is so, so freeing and honestly quite refreshing. and it's worked into the story seamlessly!!!

She's not an emotionless carcass with no capacity for love, she's not outwardly detesting sex or romance at every possible moment, she's simply a well-rounded character who happens to be aroace. You have time to warm up to her before ever even finding out about her orientation! Or having any clue at all (barring maybe the suspicious sketches)!!!!! Aroace people are real!!! We're so real!!!!

Speaking of the suspicious sketches! We know siffrin's alloace (from, like, one line of dialogue), but we don't know if he's sex-repulsed. Adrienne's gone on record to say "aces can still have sex" in reference to siffrin, so I'm inclined to believe he has at least some sort of libido.

When looking at the sketches, both him and mira have a repulsed reaction. I think there are three possible reasons for Siffrin here!

Siffrin is sex-repulsed and has a visceral reaction to them because he thinks it's gross.

Siffrin has no libido because the stress overrides everything in his system. That combined with his ace identity would probably lead to a distaste for the papers.

Some people would NOT GET THE MEMO from the act 3 friendquest. Sometimes when you're writing you have to account for the gamers being really really dense. Some people didn't even understand the Isa friendquest was him coming out as trans basically. Since Ace characters are hard to "prove" unless they explicitly state they dislike sex, this line of dialogue might've just been there to drill it in that Siffrin is ace because the only other place we see that implication is one line in the friendquest. It could even have no tie to his relationship with sex, who knows?

one of these options is not like the others! /silly

I couldn't tell you which one of those it is, but i think at least one of them had to have hit the mark. It's a lot harder to decode siffrin's sexuality when we only get like 5 lines of dialogue total that vaguely even reference it

With this we come back to the issue from earlier: He could be demi, he could be ace, he could be sex-repulsed, he could not! Most people write them sex-repulsed and I'm personally on that bandwagon, but interpreting them a different way isn't any less correct unless you completely ignore the fact they're ace in the first place.

Even sex-positive aces have complicated relationships with sex. Some do it for the gratification, some simply have higher libido and can't think of a different way to get it out, and others only do it to please their partner.

I think writing an ace character as sex-positive should be seen as a character study instead of an excuse to ship two characters together. Is this character the type to even enjoy it in the first place? How often? How do they interact with it? Etc. Which I think is what Adrienne was talking about when she said "aces can still have sex." We don't know about siffrin's identity, we don't have a grasp on the nuance, but we do know he's ace and that he experiences love differently from the way mirabelle does, and the way isabeau does, and the way odile does, and what have you.

I love love love the representation we get in isat. An aroace, an alloace, and someone that a lot of fans headcanon as aroallo though it's unconfirmed. Even if Odile's not aro, we still get that line of dialogue about not finding romance suitable for her at the moment, which speaks true to a different experience altogether. No two characters experience love, experience life the same in isat. That's why i get to make a tumblr text post that's a bit too long exploring the different avenues adrienne took when writing the characters lol :')

[laroserie]

— Various x-men characters, with a queer ! reader

— characters ; Scott Summers. Jean Grey. Logan Howlett. Rogue.

— warning ; Reader is implied to be at the very least multisexual in general BUT it's very vague - reader is just not straight. Can be platonic or romantic depend. Include a 'when you come out to them section' but it's also just general headcanons. I included my personal hc about their sexuality. No one is homophobic or anything !

— note ; i said i'd something for pride and poof, there ( yes ... it's the 29th but better late than never! ), yes i do headcanons most xmen characters as multisexual, i wrote this at 3am so if some part doesn't make sense and all sorry

– Scott Summers.

Now, Scott is bisexual himself (with a little bit of self internalised homophobia) so he'd be very, chill, of course with you being queer. But he sometimes do say stuff that make your eyebrow raise, he isn't exactly the most informed, but he is still very respectful, just a bit clumsy. If you try to correct him on something he said and - or - 'correct' him, he will listen and keep that in mind.

Scott could be the type to start being more inclusive in his language once he knows, like he will say 'partner' or 'spouse' when asking you about your relationship. Or not ask about them at all ( if you aromantic for example ).

He probably accidentally out-ed you at some point, he doesn't think twice and just say what's he thought. He will very much apologize for that, and after the first time it never happens again.

When you come out to him, he gives you a simple 'okay, that neat' and a thumb-up. If you use a label/term he doesn't know, he may ask you about it but probably later, like a day or two, he'll come up to you and ask you 'hey, by the way, what does [label] means ?'.

– Jean Grey

Jean Grey, like Scott, is very chill about it. Sure, she doesn't know much about the community and she only knows the 'basic' terminology, but she still very much support you.

If you need to vent about issues related to your sexuality, she will be there, her arms are wild open for you and she has always a box of tissues on hand. She may not get everything, but she'll try to help you as much as she can, by simply comforting you or by trying to give you advice ( not necessary about the problem in itself, but about how to cope around it ).

Jean is absolutely the type to accompany you to pride, if you want her to of course, she is kinda like those straight mothers that accompany their kid to pride !

When you come out to her, she is the sweetest, she'll listen to you and assure you that it change's nothing to her.

– Logan Howlett

He doesn't gives a fuck, the man has seen all type of people thru the years, it's normal and he obviously accept anyone no matter their sexuality or genders but he just doesn't care that much ( my personal headcanon is that Logan is pan but let's be honest, he himself doesn't give a fuck about his sexuality ).

Logan probably goes to the pride parade once in while, depending on the city he in currently, and he'll probably accept to go with you to them - if it's your first, he'll try to keep you in sigh but if not and that you can be left alone and be okay, he will 'abandon' you and you'll only see him when it's time to leave.

When you come out to him, he looks at you and just drop a 'ok', he may add a 'thanks for telling me ?' if you are visibly confused by his answer.

– Rogue

She'd be very happy knowing you are queer too ! ( again personal headcanon that she is bisexual ) She thinks it's nice to have a friend whose also part of the community and if you are newer to it and the terminology, she'll try to teach you about them as best as she can.

If anyone is a bigot to you about your sexuality, Rogue will be there to comfort you about it and, maybe, perhaps, try to fight the person.

When you come out to you, she will be very happy that you have enough trust in her to tell her, she'll probably give you a big hug before asking you question about it ( like 'when did you know ??' but not in the intrusive weird way )

[biscuitboba]

Prepare for a very long wordvomits from yours truly (or just ignore)

The thing about me being so frickin obsessed with luffy and zoro's relationship is that... i just think they really are that compatible and perfect for each other in a way that they just, makes sense 

Like yeah i think one or two ships involving zoro and luffy (other than zolu/luzo) are cute or at least ok, but like the amount of love i have for them is like dust compared to my love for zolu:"D And if i'm being reallyy honest, personally i can't really imagine zoro being with someone else that's not luffy IF luffy is present in his life and vice versa?, like for example i think *insert other luffy ship* is cute, but like zoro can't be present in luffy's life for that ship to actually work for me?? So it's gotta be an alternative universe where they don't meet... I can appreciate the fanarts of the other luffy and zoro ships though, as long as they are not insanely wayyy too out of character?? (i just don't actively seek out content of ships that i'm not crazy about)

Not to state the obvious but luffy is my favorite character in one piece:) and right after him, unsurprisingly it's zoro (zoro used to be my number one when i was younger but now he is number two, but i'm sure zoro is fine with me loving his captain just a little bit more, haha)

When it comes to the ships involving my favorite character(s)... i am actually suuuper picky about it? i have to think very deeply about it, like i only want what's best for them, but also the best for the other person too cuz it can't be one sided! And i literally love both luffy and zoro almost equally? (actually i always love the two characters that i ship cuz i can't ship my favorite character with someone that i dislike) With zoro and luffy i've done a lot of thinking. Like, a lot. I thought about all of their potential love interests, every single one of them, but always arrived at the same conclusion that no one completes them the way they complete each other. Proof? Plz just scroll through my tumblr #zolu or #luzo i literally only talk about their relationship😭 They really are the most perfect person for each other. It's almost like they were made for each other? Everything about them, their principles, their personalites, they just fits

Like they are so insane, because at a surface level they can be interpreted as just platonic (which is a completely fine interpretation for the non zolu people out there!), but when you try to look more into it, on a deeper level, looking at every part of their interactions while considering their characterizations, motivations et cetera, like everything just clicks. Their devotion towards each other, all the little things they say and do relating to each other. They are best friends, they are the captain and the first mate, and maybe they are also something a lil bit more? Sometimes i don't even think i can label their relationship, cause from the outside… their relationship looks so simple, yet not without depth (so much depth!) and nuance. With zolu, you either get them or don't get them at all. One thing for sure is that they work really well together!!

Also, everytime i think about zolu as just friends.. but then i compare my relationship with my best friend(s) to luffy and zoro's relationship... and i don't know, if my best friend treats me the way zoro and luffy treat each other? I fear i will have to drop the "what are we?" question. I'm so serious, like that man? zoro?? He is enamored. Completely whipped- bewitched, body and soul. While on luffy's side, his way of expressing love is more subtle, but i've talked about that before here.

They say there's a thin line between love and hate... but there's also a thin line between platonic and romantic love, and maybe that's why one of my favorite tropes in ships is the one where they start out as friends... (harurin from free, bakudeku, pegoryu, fluri, soriku, cloti, cleon, kimron, percabeth, kataang, lumity, appledash, katyana, korrasami, harlivy, etc #friendstolovers ftw!)

Like luffy and zoro... The god personified and the non believer. Oda is literally so insane for that..

One is very carefree and easy to put his trust in others. And the other is the more rigid one and needs to slowly build his trust. One is the more emotional one. The other is the stoic and more composed one. They share the same values, the same braincells, they can communicate and understand each other even without having to say much.

Their colors complement each other, their zodiac signs are compatible, their personalites can be quite contrasting but they actually blend perfectly. They are different but also the same. No one makes zoro smile as much as luffy, no one else luffy likes to lean on as much as he likes to lean and rely on zoro. No one makes zoro worry as much as luffy, even though luffy himself is very strong. No one luffy trusts with his crew as much as he trusts them with zoro, and his nakama means everything to luffy. They are the happiest when they are together.. fighting side by side, laughing with each other, talking with each other... They respect and understand each other the most. They are just so insane and i am also insane and-

They are the only two strawhats with twin numbers for their birth dates and months. The only two strawhats with CoC. The only two strawhats fighting for the greatest titles (pirate king and world's greatest swordsman respectively) they are the only two strawhats with a lot of parallels (let it be between each other like the hero talk in fishman island, or with the other captains and their first mates, which i kinda(?) have talked about before, here).

Zoro's the only member of his crew that luffy actually tries to find (he doesn’t stumble upon him like how he does with the rest of the strawhats) Zoro is the first person in canon that we see luffy enthusiastically feel it's okay to share his meal with. The first person outside of his family (i consider shanks and his crew, dadan, and makino as part of his found family!) that he cries and worries for (baratie arc). Zoro is the first person that he mentions when he splits up with his crew and the first one he calls whenever they meet again (alabasta, skypiea, punk hazard, zou, etc)

Zoro is luffy's anchor especially during difficult times (e.g. water7), he is luffy's voice of reason (e.g. pre-egghead), and luffy often listens to him (like when zoro gives luffy his assessment of a situation and how he thinks they should handle the situation and luffy immediately agrees to his plan)

And kinda random but meat is like the perfect food for beer! luffy's perfect for zoro!! Meat paired with the right beer can amplify each other's flavors. Even their favorite food (luffy) and drink (zoro) complement each other, like oda are you serious?? and the crazy thing is i'm pretty sure i haven't written down all the things that make me crazy about them

From their deal in shells town, then BOOM! zoro's sacrifice in thriller bark, all the way to luffy's blush, the iconic hug, and whatever tf that "if you're gonna invite our captain to hell, i'll come along as well" // "sorry... now you have no reason to die" bs in wano

Like how can i be normal about the two characters whose dreams have already merged into one that they can no longer achieve their dreams without each other by their side? i'm on my knees crying thinking about the bond between luffy and zoro-

[darcytaylor]

Are people mad that Luke Newton has a girlfriend? Or is it something more? A deep dive. Part 2 of 3.

***Because people like to twist my words, here are a few disclaimers before we dive in:

This is Part 2 of a three-part series looking at the Luke Newton backlash. In Part 1, I talked about early missteps and para-social dynamics. This part explores what happened next - including career optics, timing, and how some of his choices clashed with fan expectations.

I’m not claiming to know Luke or anyone else personally. I’m not labeling relationships. I’m observing how things have been presented publicly and how people have responded.

This isn’t hate. It’s critique - and being able to separate public behaviour from personal character is important in any discussion.***

In my previous blog I talked about the mistakes that Luke has made with his relationship he has with Antonia and why fans cannot, will not, do not want to like Antonia. (Do you guys see what I did there?) - Most people wouldn’t care if he had a girlfriend (or they wouldn’t even know).

Mistakes previously stated in last blog:  

Making dating life public. Befriending Antonia on Instagram. Always saying he was most like his character. His friends. Social media presence.

Now onto Part 2:

Luke should have been more active when it came to booking new jobs. He seemed to take the summer off before the Bridgerton press tour. While it does make sense that he wanted some time off before he was going on a months long press tour. He floundered in opportunities. 

I can’t say for sure if he was sending in tapes and auditioning for anything. Maybe he was and he just never booked anything. But it seemed like all he was concerned about was hanging out with friends and spending time on boats. 

I do get that he had just gotten out of a long term relationship and everybody takes that different ways. Breakups are hard and take time to get over. His way was to completely change everything about himself (and yes some of that had to do with getting into character) - from body to personality. 

(Personally, I thought he looked more grounded before the drastic physical change - but that’s just my opinion.)

So now because he doesn’t have jobs booked and the only time he does go do something (LA and Paris), he brings Antonia. This is another mistake! This added to the optics problem - it looked like he was prioritizing leisure over momentum in his career. Fans don’t want to see his dates, they want to see his talent. 

I think everybody and their mothers have had enough of Soho Farmhouse. 

All of the outrage could have been avoided if he had just kept everything secret from the beginning or avoided some of the key mistakes that were stated in Blog one. He should have reigned in Antonia and gotten her to stop posting about said trips/dates. People already hated them together and he was apparently content on digging himself even deeper. 

The InStyle photos were a strategic misfire that added fuel to an already messy fire. People knew that they were together in LA. That would have been fine if Antonia didn’t then post the pictures on social media. It’s one thing to speculate, it’s another to have concrete evidence. 

It’s okay to not let people know everything. It’s okay to keep those memories to yourself. It’s okay to post these pictures (that they knew people would be mad about) on a private account.  It's okay to wait a bit, for the fire to maybe go out.

It’s like Luke thought that since people were already mad, it couldn’t possibly get any worse. I think he was wrong and misjudged that.

Maybe they were posted out of spite? Antonia doesn’t have the comments turned on, she could delete them, like what is the point of them now? Who knows? If they were trying to de-escalate, removing the photos might have been the more thoughtful choice.

The next thing that is completely insane is telling people in interviews how he was young and naive in his early 20s in interviews. This one is a huge mistake and a mistake that I’m not even sure Luke has picked up on. During those interviews people already knew about Antonia, and one of the issues people have, is her age. 

It seems like Luke may in fact still be naive. Because the lack of judgement to even say those words out loud is astonishing!

I think Luke has forgotten how to cater to his fans, which in turn has made them question everything about his decisions - which includes who he could be dating. 

Because of the MULTIPLE mistakes and actions at every turn,  people will never accept Antonia/they weren’t ready to accept her yet. She hasn’t been publicly associated with a career or project, so the optics leaned toward a ‘mean girl, influencer energy’ vibe.

(It sounds mean but it is what it is)

Ultimately the fans were not ready, they weren’t ready for him to go date a much younger girl. They weren’t ready for him to completely go 180 from his character of Colin. 

He should have taken a step back after New Years. He saw the backlash and should have stopped and thought about what he wanted to put out into the world/how he wanted to be perceived. Instead he went head strong into it and now I can’t see him ever being able to make Antonia a fan favourite. 

It’s like the Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde situation. People hated that relationship because of how it started out. They were never able to get the fans on board, all hope was lost when it came to that. 

But his next relationship with Taylor Russell, people loved. Because it had a good foundation. It didn't have the drama. It was brought out with care.

Luke and Antonia’s foundation to the public is non-existent. The foundation literally exploded and they kept on laying bombs. 

I don’t think people are ultimately mad that Luke could have a girlfriend. I don’t even think they are mad because it’s not Nicola. They are mad because of the ongoing cluster fuck of actions that were made. 

If you have again made it this far, thank you so much for reading!

I could probably make a part 3! Hahah 

I do want to say that this isn't a hate blog on Luke. I think that he can be redeemable in the eyes of the fans he has lost today (because he has lost some fans). But all of his actions up until this point in regards to his relationship have been wild! It's just mistake after mistake after mistake.