#Aloy has always been a lesbian

[resipunk]

Sorry not sorry but Aloy and Erend shippers are weird.

First you're shipping her with someone she considers a brother and second? You're shipping a lesbian with a man.

I don't know what's worse, shipping people who are basically siblings or the lesbian erasure.

[rebeccathornewrites]

I have an MFA in writing, 5 years of therapy, and far too much time. buckle up for my analysis of Gayloy from burning shores

Ok the MFA is coming in 3 weeks, but WHOO BOY i have thoughts.

Click below for spoilers. DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU FINISH.

As a bi woman who writes lesbians professionally, I want it known that I was 1000% on board with them as a couple, and cleared literal days of my schedule to play it and confirm.

And I still don't think Aloy is ready for romance. I think The Kiss is the least plausible, and least enjoyable, of the three endings.

Let's dive into why.

It starts at childhood, as always.

Aloy has grown up an outcast. She relied on herself and Rost--and then Rost died, and it was just her. Every single chance she's had, she's rebuked romance. She wrote it off as "I'm saving the world" or "I just don't know how people work yet," but the reality is that she doesn't know HOW to rely on people.

Vulnerability is a learned skill.

I'll say it again. VULNERABILITY is a LEARNED skill.

Some people, those with healthy households, learn this skill early on, and practice it often. Those are the people we see giving everything of themselves to someone they love. They feel deeply, empathize well, and have happy relationships.

And then there's people like Aloy. Someone who was shown love from one person--and a whole lotta hate from the rest of them. Someone who grew up being told that she couldn't rely on a tribe--because if she failed the Proving, there wouldn't BE a tribe to rely on. Rost hoped for the best... and prepared her for the worst.

Then she dove into the world at large, and was presented time and time again with romance opportunities. The Sun King is the biggest one--obviously his infatuation ran deep, but of course it would, finding the one person in a whole kingdom who'd challenge him. She turned him down, and in her mind, she probably reasoned it away in a neat little box.

"I'm not like the other suitors he's met. He only likes me because I'm different."

This can be true.

"But he doesn't know who I really am."

This can be true--but it's also a defense mechanism. A barrier Aloy placed to protect herself from rejection. Because if she convinces herself these people don't really know her, it's easy for her to keep them at arm's length.

Easy to be the lone warrior.

We see the same kind of thing with Varl, hoping to follow her into the wilds. With Erend, so excited to see her, so irritated she doesn't reciprocate. Kotollo viewed her admirably, although I think his personality is a bit too subservient to truly challenge Aloy (essentially his commander) into the growth she needs.

Man after man demonstrated their affection, and she held them all at arm's length. For the good of the world, right?

So, okay. She's a lesbian--or at the very least, bi or pan. We can reason away the men, certainly, but she uses the same techniques with the women. Talanah, our fan favorite, was truly a perfect match for Aloy. Strong, resilient, excellent fighter. They progressed in the same way Seyka did--and yet, Talanah was deep in the throes of another man.

Which was probably a huge fucking relief to Aloy. Because if Talanah was after a guy... then she wasn't an option for Aloy.

Which means Aloy didn't have to do any intensive introspection to discover why they might be a good match.

She could wave Talanah away, and feel absolutely no remorse or grief when Talanah returned home. In fact, Aloy might have even left that experience feeling satisfied that she helped a friend--and be utterly oblivious to the chemistry they could have had.

This is how avoidant people--those who haven't learned to trust, to rely on others, to show vulnerability--experience the world.

And this is somewhat devastating, because Talanah's quest came at the exact time that Varl was teaching Aloy how to empathize, lean on people, be vulnerable for the first time in her life. Aloy didn't have to do it alone--and if Talanah had been in a position to receive it, I think they could have had a spectacular romance.

But it didn't happen.

So, we move on.

Aloy loses Varl, learns to lean on her friends, learns to let people in. This alone is spectacular character growth--but it's easy to have friends. Humans crave it. We need companionship, so once Varl laid the groundwork, Aloy was able to embrace this.

We don't see her embracing romance.

Until Seyka.

This is where the potential had me--and the execution lost me.

Because Seyka is presented as this fantastic option for Aloy--and the starving, desperate fanbase standing behind her. From the first interaction, I had high hopes. When Aloy says, "you must be confused," and Seyka basically responds with "confused about why you'd FLY towards that TOWER OF DEATH, maybe," I was ready for someone who challenges Aloy.

I wanted a love interest who was more competent than Aloy in some ways. I actually liked Varl in that way, before he found Zo: the fact that he challenged Aloy to push her own comfort level in order to embrace others was a great complement to Aloy's abrasive nature.

Seyka, while fantastic, almost feels like an Aloy clone.

They're both competent, capable, and closed-off. They're both hiding secrets to spare the others' feelings--when in reality, they're sparing themselves from tough conversations.

Because that's what Aloy, at least, has been trained to do. Bear the burden alone to spare the others. Fight the machine alone to keep the others safe. She protects fiercely, which means that she never has to be the one experiencing loss.

How convenient. >.>

I love the idea of Seyka. I can't wait to see where fanon takes her personality. But right now, with just the DLC content, it feels like she's the caricature of a romantic interest for Aloy. The perfect girl--in theory. But not when you consider psychology.

There was a huge missed opportunity when Aloy finally revealed Nemesis's existence, in my opinion. Aloy protected Seyka from this Big, Dangerous News to help her morale--and to keep from ruining what they've developed with something possibly devastating.

She finally told Seyka... and Seyka responded by literally fleeing the room in horror.

I get that everyone needs time to process these things. But in my mind, all that reaffirmed for Aloy is, "My instincts were right. I can't rely on others with this Big, Dangerous News. They can't handle it. So, I have to handle it for them."

There was SUCH an opportunity there. A chance for Aloy to tell her, and for Seyka to contemplate it for a moment, smile, and say, "I'm glad you told me. Let's tackle it together."

Something to show Aloy, in that concrete moment, that this is a person she can rely on.

That is what would have made Seyka great, to me.

Everything that followed after is a series of insta-love, in my opinion. Aloy looks at Seyka with near-literal hearts in her eyes, but it didn't feel earned. By the end, I don't feel like Seyka did anything unique that Aloy's friends in Forbidden West hadn't already done to her at some point: rescue her, adventure with her, stop a massive scheme with her.

Seyka, in my mind, doesn't currently have enough personality of her own to stand out. She's just another soldier in Aloy's army.

There will be [straight] people angry at the LGBT+ rep here, and I don't even feel that our community can argue it. As far as lesbian rep goes, that was not a great example of a natural romance. It felt forced for most of that DLC.

But that romance could be great. And that's where I love that the developers added options other than the kiss. As much as I loved the idea of them kissing, I still don't buy it with the scenes we were given.

Seyka latched onto Aloy because Aloy treated her with admiration at a time when Seyka's tribe nearly disowned her. Fair. I believe Seyka might truly be in love with Aloy.

But Aloy herself? There's no way in hell she'd be diving into a romantic relationship after one single adventure with this girl--even one as sweeping as this. Aloy doesn't know who Seyka is. Aloy hasn't seen Seyka in a relaxed setting--only one where she's panicking for her tribe, her sister, and the future. And Aloy's brain will be too logic-entrenched to succumb to emotional impulse alone.

Because that's the interesting thing about avoidant people. They rely on themselves, and their logic. That's what's kept them alive until this point. If Aloy showed vulnerability in the past, she put herself at risk in every sense of the word.

Even Seyka wouldn't be enough to break that barrier right away.

But I do think she could try in the sequel, and that's why I'm thrilled for this character. Someone the developers can truly use to force Aloy to grow emotionally.

To do that, though, the developers will have to dive into Seyka, and show me why she's the person for Aloy. What about her history makes her The Candidate? It can't just be that she's "an inspiration." I need more than that. I need to see Seyka in a relationship, coaxing Aloy through the moments of panic and shattering the barriers Aloy erects out of fear, under the guise of "logic."

Show me that, and I'm on board with a kiss.

Until then, I'll go write some fanfiction.

Sincerely,

An avoidant working through her own shit.

Thank you very much for attending my TED Talk.

[oathkeeperoxas]

tag game to better know you

Ty @new-anon for tagging me! What else to do on a cold Monday morning public holiday then fill out a questionnaire about myself 🤔

What book are you currently reading?

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Definitely has nothing to do with the fact that we can see this book on Ice's shelf next to the photo of him and Mav shaking hands after rescuing the USS Layton...

What’s your favourite movie you saw in theatres this year?

I have only seen the new Spiderman (literally 2 days ago) so I guess that! I think it was pretty good, but tbh I liked the first one more.

What do you usually wear?

Pokemon or bird themed t-shirt paired with shorts or my high school gym trackies if it's cold. I have one green overcoat that I wear pretty much any time I need a jacket, it is very versatile in what weather it can be worn in.

How tall are you?

170cm, that's 5 foot 6 inches to those USAmericans in the audience (had to google that...)

What’s your star sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

I don't know any celebrities off the top of my head that I share a birthday with, and the only historical event I connect immediately with my birthday is a bad one lmao. Though it happened in the 1920s, so mostly only relevant when I was studying history in high school...

Do you go by your name or a nickname?

Serie! Fun fact, I made this name up on the spot randomly when playing Facebook games as an 11 year old and the RPG ones wanted me to input a name. I have been stuck with it ever since.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

My current job didn't even exist when I was a child, so, no!

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

No relationship, and I have not had a crush since high school pff

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

Good at procrastinating, bad at resisting the lure of more wips 🙏 this makes for a wild combination haha

Dogs or cats?

Probably cats, but I am allergic to cats and dogs (and most fluffy creatures) so I don't have any pets :(

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favourite picture/favourite line/favourite etc. from something you created this year?

Probably my favourite things that I've posted this year was Dawn and well. haha. (nuts) because they were both very self-indulgent in a way that I always enjoy writing with codywan, though for very very different reasons.

What’s something you’d like to create content for?

I want to write more Aloy femslash!! I've written so much for her, but none really with the characters from the new game, and now with a canon femslash kiss under her belt, I think she deserves to be a wlw icon. Next year for femslash February I'm thinking of trying to organise a Horizon event to get some momentum not just for me but for others to create too

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

Val Kilmer's jaw.........

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

I can maybe half say the Horizon: Forbidden West DLC - I liked the overarching plot well enough, and they gave Aloy a lesbian kiss so I'm not too mad, but it carried over almost all of the issues from production that the base game had, which I was keen to see fixed in the DLC. That and the lack of backstory for Seyka or the Quen, the lack of side quests and the lack of interesting stuff to do in the wilds of the DLC made it a bit of a mediocre experience for me (though after HFW I wasn't expecting anything too good anyway).

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

Not sure if it's hidden, but I'm particularly good at spotting double spaces in a document. Pisses me off (it's my editor brain going haywire... my team is always making fun of me for this at work lmao)

Are you religious?

Nope!

What’s something you wish to have at this moment?

Someone to make me breakfast </3 alas after I post this I will simply have to do it myself

Tags?

@elwenyere @tragediegh @playablekairi @cillyscribbles if you like! No pressure ofc

[aloyxtilda]

Since Burning Shores came out, I've seen Seyloy fans coming into the comments of other ships art, fics, and tiktok edits, saying "Aloy has Seyka so your ship will never happen". If anything, that is what is infuriating other shippers and making them salty against Seyloy. They're playing in their own sandbox and Seyka fans are coming in to stomp on their sand castle. I'm sorry for any hate you've gotten, I know there are plenty of non-shipping homophobic gamer bros losing their minds, but in the fandom itself, the majority of what I've seen are the Seyloy fans lashing out at other shippers who are just enjoying their own content without tearing down other ships. It's like the Avatar intro: the ships once lived together in harmony but then everything changed when the Seyloy nation upset the balance of the world. (And this is not you against personally, you're one of the more civil Seyloy shippers I've seen, but your post asking other shippers to calm down caught my attention)

I have seen this behavior on a lot of sides not just Seyka shippers. I think some people find reasons to attack one another in the community. I am actually more a Tilda fan and I love her. I just want her to be happy. But I support Aloy's journey and love the story Guerrilla is telling too. I don't care who Aloy ends up with canon wise. It's about her and I am just here to enjoy her story. I love Tilda and Lis which is canon but I also love the idea of her with Aloy. It's fun to imagine and play with in fics and art. But I never expected Tilda to be romantically with Aloy unless well..who knows with Guerrilla. Haha. I didn't even think Tilda would be a lesbian or in love with Aloy and then I screamed when she was. Because Guerrilla actually went there! And I felt so wonderfully represented. 😌🌹 But since HFW came out, I have gotten stuff like - well...this...

And it has been much worse. I won't post the ones with slurs. But what really matters here is how you react. How you respond. If you give them attention then they come back for more. I mostly ignore hateful comments from anyone unless I respond with rainbows and Aloy being gay to homophobes. But I will make fan art and there will always be people who will compliment the art but then give me their negative unwanted opinion on why they don't ship it. I simply do not engage. I am too old and tired to care. I appreciate that they like my art. That is all. Just keep making fun things for the fandom we love. Those are the people who matter. That is all that matters. What negative people say, doesn't matter to me.

What ends a fandom is when we start fighting each other. Just ignore. It's been the norm for me being a Tilda lover. We have a small base and people love to hate Tilda and think they can because she is a villain. But some of us like the middle aged insane space witch. And it doesn't mean to me the fandom has sunk or the community is toxic. It just means we have to be a bit more thick skinned and continue enjoying the fandom we love with others who do too. I think Seyka just stirs the pot. But Tilda did too. People panicked when they learned Lis is gay for Tilda. And so fans loved to remind me about Tilda, "I'm glad that f***ing B**** is dead!"

How sweet of them. 🌹

[sunsetofdoom]

SUNSET!!! ❤️🎨👑

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

Favorite line always feels like a daunting question- so many of my favorite bits are conversations or paragraphs. But lemme look.

Oh! I really like this bit in the second chapter of all my life:

When they’d finally made it up to the Solarium during the Liberation, journeying through secret passages that Avad had had memorized since childhood, Ersa took one look at the throne wrapped in bronze bars and told him, it looks like a cage. One of those fancy ones, to keep a songbird in.

Ever since, the image blazed in his mind whenever he sat down. He felt like a bird now, battering against the bars.

... this has nothing to do with my love of boys in cages. No further questions.

Or some of the descriptions from one safe place, just one safe place, like this one:

He closed his eyes, and the thick golden light of the ranch house appeared, the smell of his mama’s kitchen and the swish of her skirts. “I remember that I ran home crying, once, ‘cause… We argued, and he hit me? Must’ve been it.” He could feel the miserable memory in his face and hands: six years old and full of more sadness than a body could hold, burying his face in his mama’s lap as he cried.

I remember @miss-spooky-eyes in particular pointed this line out as Making Her Feel Things, a capitol crime. I looove writing Corso's intertwined grief and nostalgia, it's so juicy.

Or my new Owl House WIP, in which Willow gets her glasses broken in a fight right before she meets Hunter for the first time-

Willow turned and shut the enormous doors of the school she was never going to see again, not really caring if the Golden Guard got in after her or not. A few hours ago, she’d have been full of awe for the famous warrior who’d stood at the Emperor’s right hand for decades; right now, he was just a big shiny blob, which kind of killed the reverence.

I just think this is funny for some reason.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Fic that exists: I've always kind of wanted art for all my life I've been running towards the fight, that beginning section where Aloy and Ersa are awkwardly talking in Dervahl's workshop and Aloy very much doesn't know how to look or not look at a freshly-tortured woman with her tits out. (Doubly funny if one headcanons Aloy as a lesbian.) And one safe place, just one safe place is one of my favorite fics I've ever written, but I've never gotten much art of Teo and Corso, mostly because I hate commissioning people; I can take screenshots of the game, but it's not the same. I also had ambitions of paying @sleepswithvillains to draw a tasteful (if thirsty) nude of Nan, to get her body type straight in my head, because Sleeps is the only one who Really Gets It.

Fic I have in my head: later in all my life, Ersa was supposed to get hybrid Carja-Oseram tattoos over the scars on her chest; my gf designed them, but I've always wanted to commission art of them actually on her. Ended up booted out of the HZD fandom before I could get around to it, lmao.

And I'm working on a piece about my OC Yehlise and @pineaberry's Rend, both of which I'd love to get art of. Yehlise in particular is pretty un-make-able in the SWTOR engine, lmao.

👑 Do you like writing short fics or long fics?

I enjoy writing short fics. I aspire to write long ones, and unfortunately at the moment that's all my brain wants to give me.

(fanfic ask post here)

[luesmainblog]

also remember: Problematic, Controversial, and Offensive are different things. a stereotypical femme man being the only gay representation on a show is Problematic. it might be able to avoid offense if it also bothers to make him an actual character and treats him as a person worth respecting, but it remains questionable why he is the only depiction of a gay man, and why they chose the stereotypes that they did. the content can still be enjoyed, but a critical eye is strongly suggested. a character having a weird gender is Controversial. many people will be upset but their existence, while others will be relieved to see a reflection of a part of the world they don't usually see in media. there's an ongoing debate about the inclusion and how we should feel about it, so there is a controversy. sometimes the controversy is pretty stupid; other times, there is a legitimate conversation being had. notice that neither of these are automatically BAD or WRONG or IMMORAL, and can still be enjoyed readily. you just need to have a brain about it. meanwhile, a character existing specifically to make fun of lesbians and encourage the viewer to hate them is Offensive. it's taking a group you do not Choose to be a part of and approving of the oppression and violence against them, and specifically punching down to a group that has very little power in society.

and on that note, because i see this mistake a lot: Satire does not necessarily have to be punching up to be satire. it just has to be making fun of/exposing the perceived stupidity of the subject. satire can very much still be bullying, and still be offensive.

it's also important to remember that sometimes, something being offensive can be a good thing, depending on who it is offensive to. for an extreme example, the south park episode "Cartman joins NAMBLA" is extremely offensive to the group NAMBLA.... which is good, because that's an organization of - and i do mean this by the literal definition - pedophiles and child molesters who advocate for the decriminalization of their crimes. we SHOULD offend them, their stance is unacceptable in a polite society.

it's also important to remember that Controvery often stems from something being uplifting to some, but offensive to others. for example, the design of Aloy from horizon zero dawn. for many, it's relieving to see a female character who isn't stereotypically feminine or conventionally attractive staring as the main character in an amazing game. however, for some gamers, the inclusion of such a person is Offensive, because to them, games are about the fantasy - and they feel that including women they don't find attractive is interfering with that fantasy and invading their comfort space. one should always ask: who is offended, and who is happy? sometimes, you will find that the answer to both is actually very similar. many fandom wars have been raged over how one should depict sexual assault, if at all, and the loudest voices on both side of the argument are victims of SA themselves.

"this work is problematic because of how it handles [subject]": reasonable premise for media criticism

"this work is problematic because it depicts [subject]": do not pass go do not collect $200 this is, as a general rule, a functionally reactionary and conservative argument

[stuckinservitorhell]

Obligatory ship musings on Burning Shores.........

Soooooo I'm a multishipper, it's in my blood as a bisexual who's been around fandom for too long, Seyka/Aloy is great, but I can't tell you how nervous I am for Erend's possible response (in canon) to the whole Seyka thing... I'm hoping he'll be fine with it and go into Lesbian Ally Mode TM like the total bro he is, but I got the feeling the devs are gonna milk him for the drama and I'm NOT happy about it.

This also goes for Avad and any other character who might have a thing for Aloy, but Erend is my biggest worry. That man is head-over-heals and has been since early in HZD.

Side note: I am so happy Aloy is confirmed canon LGBTQ+ in some form (always had the demisexual headcanon for her), and Seyka has grown on me a lot since I first saw spoilers. Homophobes can suck it.

[actualaster]

Final plot sequence spoilers, epilogue spoilers

(Overall, 10/10 I love it)

SCARABS, FRESHLY PRINTED AND SEEN IN ALL THEIR HORRIFYING GLORY, no damage to the paint or material or anything :0

Okay, okay the final sequence fighting the Horus is GREAT but I do wonder if it might have been more impactful if they'd kept it out of the trailers so the fact that it gets UP AND MOVING rather than just fighting it as a stationary battle against some of its weapons or something was a surprise

But SO FUCKING COOL that is the BIGGEST thing I've fought in a game~

I wonfer what the Nora who doubted Aloy's right to exist, who feared her as a child of the Metal Devil would say if they could see it? Fighting against a wakened Metal Devil, on unstable sand, everything ablaze around her from its fire and her still attacking away with a bow? (The weapon I used most) fighting ti destroy the greatest enemy of their legends?

The final part against Walter was tricky because things kinda blend in for me so picking out where to fire while trying to dodge was a pain but fun~

HELLO. LESBIAN KISS?!?!?!? Option, at least. Will need to check anothet time about the other two choices. Honestly I like that it doesn't feel forced, and it's not an obligatory romance route, but also that it feels natural. Like Aloy has always had more chemistry with the ladies, hence my headcanon of her being an ace with lesbian leanings.

Also yep, still want to punch Sylens in the face so much.

...I wonder how things will go from here. The 3rd game has been teased further, and Sylens looks to play a larger role. With the voice that gave him such life gone... How will that be handled?

[grelleswife]

Itd be nice to see more stuff about Hannah, maybe headcanons if you can!! 😻

I'd be happy to, anon! Sorry this took so long! I’m answering in the context of my self-indulgent Grellefellows AU because I’m trash. XD

Hannah belongs to the small group of founding demons known as the Matriarchs. Though not strictly female, the Matriarchs lean very heavily in that direction (demonic gender is tricky). They existed before the universe itself, and witnessed it come into being.

The Matriarchs were also responsible for creating the rest of the demonic race from a mixture of dark matter and pieces of their own essence. They are hell's highest-ranking demons, capable of stripping other demons of their titles, privileges, magic, or existence. They also intervene to resolve disputes among the gentry when the need arises.

Each Matriarch guards a demonic weapon of vast power, which is why Hannah serves as the Sheathe of Lævateinn. She forged it herself from the core of a dying star using dark magic.

Hannah has always been quiet and solitary by nature, which can give others the impression of haughtiness. In her younger days, she was indeed a proud spirit, revered as a goddess by some ancient cultures. However, she's mellowed a bit since her stint with Luka and Alois, and become more melancholy.

Her true form is outside the realm of human comprehension. Any soul unfortunate enough to look upon it would be driven mad.

She's essentially a lesbian (with the caveat that demons' sexuality and gender are complex and more than a little ambiguous) and would occasionally take human lovers--usually a contractee or one of her priestesses. Yet she never truly bonded with them...until Grelle came along.

Although Hannah can wield her power however she pleases, music is her preferred medium, whether singing or playing an instrument like the glass armonica.

Demons have the ability to relive the memories of the souls they've consumed, although these gradually fade over the decades. Therefore, Hannah replays happy memories from the Macken boys' past when she's feeling nostalgic. She might shed a tear or two.

She loves flowers, and enjoys gardening or making flower crowns and bouquets for Grelle.

She gives excellent hugs, and is very cuddly around Miss Sutcliff.

[kisant]

I’m almost at the end of Edelgard’s route (my first one, and I’m about to fight Dimitri) and I’m still deciding the pairings I want. I still haven’t gotten a lot of the A and A+ supports because I didn’t want to grind too many levels and turn the gameplay into a joke.

Anyway, my pairings for this first route:

I was debating between pairing Edelgard with Byleth or Hubert. I think I’m going with Byleth because of Edelgard’s obvious and massive crush. Like, damn, the woman has been painting a probably enormous portrait of Byleth for two months and is being super blushy and bashful about it. While in her A support with hubert she seemed more interested in seeing who Hubert liked because she wanted to support her best friend more than because she wanted to be the one he liked. Also, her whole thing is wanting to abolish the bloodline based crest nobility system so there is no better “Fuck You” to that than having a big lesbian imperial wedding between the two women that have the most powerful crest in the world. They’ll just choose the next emperor based on a merit system, or make Fodlan into a democracy. 

Besides, Edelgard and Hubert have been very co-dependent for most of their lives, in an us-against-the-world kind of way, but part of that was because they had no-one else to rely on. Hubert wanted to kill Byleth pre-timeskip because he was convinced Byleth would betray them, and Edelgard seemed resigned to being abandoned by Byleth and the rest of the Black Eagles after unmasking herself, only to be surprised and delighted when they chose her instead of Rhea. 

So ultimately it is a good thing for Edelgard and Hubert to choose other people as intimate partners, because they are finally learning to truly trust other people aside of each other again. 

Hubert is probably going to end either with Ferdinand or Bernadetta, and Ferdinand either with Hubert or Dorothea. I’m not going to lie, I absolutely love Ferdinand and Hubert’s dynamic of enemies to friends to lovers, it’s amazing. But I also want to see their A supports with Dorothea and Bernie as well, since the support chain was interesting and I may end up doing those pairings instead. Also, Hubert would absolutely murder Bernie’s abusive bastard of a father, if he hasn’t killed him already in his initial purge at the start of Edelgard’s reign. That’s always a plus. And I want to know why Ferdie reminds Dorothea of a bee. 

I’m pairing Linhardt with Lysithea because he’s researching how to cure her crest condition and I’ve heard it saves her life. 

Caspar and Petra also have an interesting dynamic because of how much conflict there was between their families in their parents’ generation. 

And then there are my non-BE units that I’ve recruited. Of those, the pairing I have more clear is Manuela/Hanneman, because how couldn’t I pair these two disasters together. 

Sylvain and Mercedes seem like a good match too, because of how disillusioned they are with the crest system, and because Sylvain is finally being genuine with a girl for once. EDIT: Wow Sylvain and Dorothea are also very, VERY good together. Both of their romance anxieties were based on other people only wanting them for shallow reasons instead of because who they really were, so they know where the other was coming from, and growing old with a person who truly appreciates her for who she is was Dorothea’s dream from the beginning. I’m probably going to pair these two up as well. 

The others I’ve recruited are Ingrid, Felix, Ashe, Leonie, Ignatz, Lorenz, Shamir and Alois. Ingrid and Ashe are cute together, and they have their admiration of knights in common, so I’ll probably pair them. No idea how I’m going to pair the rest. 

[rebeccathornewrites]

Hey! Just answering your reblog question about Erend :) he definitely has flaws, and unfortunately, most of us agree the company did him dirty in the 2nd game. Made him unintelligent and the comedic relief character. But like you said, his loyalty later on is brilliant. He was upset at the beginning for Aloy leaving because he truly and deeply cares for her, again, they just wrote him badly reacting to the situation. (I didn't like the way he guilted her either)

He's just such a deeply feeling character, and the game shows multiple hints that the feels may be mutual. With the way Aloy looks at him at the end of FW, the way she address him first in Gemini, the looks she gives him before their drink, her massive grin when she saw him again, the zoomed in camera before Gemini when they seperated with the small smiles, the very soft way she speaks to him. It's subtle, but it's there.

As for him being a good match for her, I think he balances her out a bit? Calms her down. He'd follow her wherever she goes, always support her, give her the strength and encouragement that she needs, be the brute force if she ever needed it. If they wrote him again the way he was in the 1st game, he'd be smarter and help her solve problems as well.

For me personally, I don't think Aloy needs someone to challenge her (she's had that most of her life), I think she needs someone who will show her the dedication, love and care she never really knew existed and slowly open her up that way. Someone to prove to her that they'll always be there, that she can rely and depend on them.

I hope this makes sense haha, I've shipped them since the first game, but definitely stronger in the 2nd. I don't really know how to do brain to paper thoughts as well as you did xD

This is so, so interesting, because I see completely different moments. But, full disclosure, I'm LGBT+ and starving for good sapphic rep, so I'll always lean towards sapphic couples. I'm biased as hell. LOL.

I can absolutely see how those things could be romance, and it's really cool to see it all written out and feel the passion of this relationship. I really do love the idea of their deep friendship--that one manipulative moment aside. (Glad to hear you acknowledging it--I haven't seen people mention it yet, and it felt like a big elephant in the room. LOL)

I think my problem with Erend is that she's never really known him when he hasn't been blinded by fear or grief, or drowning those memories in liquor. I absolutely think he could be that person for her if he sobered up, but right now he reacts too emotionally (and in an immature, emotional way) to truly get me on board.

After his sister went missing, I feel like they connected over urgency--and when they found her, something definitely solidified in their relationship. But with her gone, Erend kinda seemed to fracture at the seams (and rightfully so, because omg, his sister was everything to him). He got better towards the end of HFW, absolutely, but I'm still very lukewarm on him being mentally or emotionally ready to treat Aloy well as a partner.

I actually think Kotallo fits that bill better--loyal almost to a fault to his new commander, calm where Aloy is fiery, willing to protect as necessary. My only concern with that pairing is that Kotallo might be too subservient to challenge Aloy when necessary, especially once she rode in on the sunwing and basically became his living god. XD

I digress.

Point is, I'd shipped her and Alva until I found out about Alva's enemies-to-lovers arc back home, and then Seyka arrived and I'm like, Yep. You'll do nicely. XD But I really am just perpetually desperate for lesbian love, so. >.>

[gascon-en-exil]

FE16 Black Eagles (Edelgard) Liveblogging

Chapters 17-18, minus the colossal amount of Dimitri/Dedue content in the first chapter which I covered at length here.

Altogether I’d consider Edelgard’s last two chapters to be easier than Dimitri’s, in large part to due to far less long range magic. That’s actually quite reasonable in terms of story; as the nation renowned for its magic users - and, by the last chapter of the Lions route, openly allied with the remnants of Those Who Slither - Adrestia would logically field more of them. The knights of Faerghus and the church and Rhea’s “dolls” (more like fantasy-flavored mechs, but that’s what they call them) don’t offer as big a challenge by comparison.

The other obstacles unique to Chapter 18 weren’t much either. The fire makes the map hard to traverse for non-fliers, but it slows down enemies too. Rhea as the Immaculate One has a much smaller attack range than Hegemon Edelgard and only gets one attack per turn, in addition to being a bigger target that’s easier to surround. It makes sense that the climax of this route wouldn’t be as difficult if they used the number of chapters for scaling. The Strike Force has had four fewer chapters to grow compared to the Lions.

I liked that the last chapter plays out on a heavily modified version of the Fhirdiad map used in the Lions route for the Cornelia fight, although this does mean that I only got to see two entirely new maps on this route: the Petra/Bernadetta paralogue and the Tailtean Plains of Chapter 17.

Kill list: other than Dimitri and Dedue’s gay high tragedy, Sylvain and Mercedes in 17, Ashe, Gilbert, Annette, Catherine, and Cyril in 18. Catherine was much easier to take down from range with the fires limiting her movement, whereas Cyril (I thought he died in Chapter 12? I guess not) was surprisingly strong as a wyvern lord packing a brave axe. Wyvern enemies continue to catch me off guard.

Oh, yeah. Rhea shows up on the field in a Seiros cosplay in Chapter 17, but Edelgard one-rounded her (at a weapon triangle disadvantage, no less) and then she and almost all of the reinforcements she spawned with left the map. With everything else going on in that map, the church contribution was quite underwhelming.

Story/Character observations

Let’s get the small stuff out of the way first. There’s a few last bits of monastery dialogue worth noting. Shamir gets in some more heavy subtext re: Catherine, only now they’re enemies and you could potentially have Shamir kill Catherine. Dedue is a bear. Fleche, the girl who tries to kill Dimitri on the Lions route but instead kills Rodrigue, shows up one last time to show how curiously well-adjusted she is on this route after her brother’s death a few chapters earlier. It was interesting to see those two and the NPC general Ladislava show up during exploration and comment on ongoing events. I wouldn’t say it humanizes them too much since the most you get is an NPC fawning over how awesome Ladislava is or more pathos and less torture in Randolph’s death, but it’s appropriate for the alternative perspective this route offers. 

I also need to call attention to a handy scholar NPC who appears in the library every chapter after the timeskip, dispensing info dumps that the books don’t cover and asking us to call into question the authorial intent of those books. Of course he’s obviously biased in favor of Edelgard and the Empire, but it’s a useful addition.

Onto supports. As a means of ensuring that I got the Hubert/Ferdinand paired ending I saved all their other A supports for the last minute, so that’s most of what I saw here. As per usual it’s Ferdinand who gets the more interesting stuff overall, with Hubert being more sedate and needing to be given practical reasons for marrying Dorothea or motivation to stop comparing Petra to Edelgard. Ferdinand’s high points come down even to something as mundane as what he’s drinking in various A supports - tea with Bernadetta, coffee (Hubert’s preferred drink) with Edelgard. Does Hubert/Ferdinand canonically happen before Edelgard/Ferdinand, and this is why the former’s paired ending has Edelgard jealous of them? Ferdinand’s A with Manuela is more theatre queen gushing, but his A with Dorothea walks a fine line between really sweet and really screwed up. Dorothea recalls bathing in a public fountain shortly after her singing talents were discovered and seeing a young Ferdinand staring at her and probably sporting his first erection. This is why she’s so hostile to him the whole time, and as said I don’t know how we’re meant to feel about that, or that this conversation resolves in romance. Or, rather, it would, if they didn’t then jump back to a confused simile about bees that’s now morphed into drones protecting a queen. From what little I know of insects male bees don’t have stingers and so can’t protect anything, so I do believe this metaphor subtly circles back around to lesbianism in the end. Everything with Dorothea inevitably does.

I’ve been neglecting it all this time, but I will say that Bernadetta improves slightly after the timeskip. She screams a lot less in her later supports, and in her dialogue in general she sounds more composed and less prone to immediately hiding herself away. Yay for actual emotional maturation.

I’m going to delicately sidestep the hotly-debated question of whether Edelgard’s goals justify her actions or whether this is in fact a bonafide villain route. The game itself wavers over this question at multiple points, not as shakily as Conquest does but still in ways that feel tonally off. The attempts at humanizing Edelgard by giving her a mundane fear of rats (that she acquired when she was being tortured as a child - totally normal circumstances!) and having her draw sketches of Byleth don’t land because they’re so disconnected from everything else, and her opinion of the religion of Seiros varies constantly. Sometimes she sees the value of spirituality in people’s lives and only takes issue with the corruption of the church, other times - including at the very end, when she’s about to cave Rhea’s head in - she’s declaring that humanity has no need for gods and will be better off without them. Having played her route it’s hard for me to call her a fantasy Protestant even in jest when she’s more of a dystheist (i.e. gods exist, but they are evil antagonistic forces) who will occasionally acknowledge that religion can have a positive impact on a strictly personal level. Even though she lays her plans out for Byleth early on, well before the timeskip, her ultimate aim remains unclear, not helped by the brevity of the epilogue which seems to be standard across all routes - just a short paragraph of text by the narrator over one of those stylized tapestries, cut to turn counts and character endings. Edelgard abolishes the nobility and the church after having conquered the other two nations by military force, and somehow we’re expected to believe that her regime will remain peaceful and stable and not collapse into anarchy in the space of a few years. Sure.

It does not help in the slightest that this route builds up Those Who Slither as a credible threat, only to shove them off onto an unseen postgame conflict. True, I theorized that allowing Claude and his various allies to live on the Lions route sets the stage for a massive Almyran invasion after the credits roll, but that’s more headcanon based on how FE doesn’t like to settle for unambiguously happy and resolved endings. Those Who Slither are the genuine antagonists of this route, and most of what Rhea has actually done is left unexplained. From a Doylist perspective I understand it, I really do: Those Who Slither take the focus for the Deer, and Rhea takes it for the church route, just as Dimitri’s revenge motivation only gets proper attention on the Lions route. However, these four stories are not all occurring simultaneously but are instead essentially AUs of one another, with Byleth choosing their starter Pokémon their house the catalyst for shaping all the events to follow. Looking at this route in isolation though it leaves Edelgard’s grand mission looking highly questionable.

One last thing, because I almost forgot about him: what happened to the Death Knight? He disappears from the game after the timeskip on this route. I assume you see him again if you recruit Mercedes and get her paralogue with Caspar, but it’s strange that one of Edelgard’s most loyal minions from Part 1 doesn’t even warrant a mention during her conquest of Fódlan.

Two routes down and two more to go - time to fear the Deer...’s lack of homoerotic content. Nothing makes me want to play something like knowing all the characters under my control are sexually uncreative prudes.

EDIT: Right, I remembered the DK but not the m!Byleth/Linhardt S rank. That should say something about how not particularly romantic it is. Really, the S rank with Gilbert and the one paired S rank with Alois where Byleth doesn’t marry someone else seem less offensive in light of how little there is to m!Byleth’s one “real” gay pairing. As always, you can get so much more out of conversations when both characters are allowed to speak and emote outside of irrelevant dialogue choices and stiff model gestures.

[purple-paws]

I finished my first play through of “Fire Emblem: Three Houses”!!

I completed the Blue Lions route, and this gif basically sums up my reaction:

It’s been a really long time since a video game has affected me like this. I think I cried three separate times.

My Thoughts / Endings (Spoiler Free!)

+ I was NOT expecting the Final Fight to go that way. Hooooooly crap, that was terrifying and intense. (I knew we had to face A Certain Someone, I just...didn’t know the specifics and wow, I’m so glad I went in blind because it added a whole new layer of unease and intensity.)

+ That last cut scene ;————-; that was the first point where I cried.

+ BYLETH AND DIMITRI ARE MARRIED NOW AND GOD, another moment I’m so glad I didn’t spoil for myself!! (Trust me the struggle was real.) I definitely cried again, it was so cute and pure 8^8

Seriously though, the thought and care put into writing their supports was phenomenal. I have so many feelings about how much I love Dimitri and how much I love how his relationship with the protagonists progresses, buuut my phone’s about to die so I’ll save it for another day.

My Character Endings!

+ Cyril = Limitless Potential Ending

+ Hanneman = Father of Crestology

+ Alois = Knights of Seiros ending (he succeeded Jeralt and I’m SO PROUD OF MY BROTHER)

+ Seteth and Flayn = Their ending was bittersweet, because on one hand, they kind of have peace in their lives, but there is still some uneasiness because of what’s going on in the world? I love Flayn ;-;

+ Gilbert = BECAME THE TEACHER for the Dimileth BABY!! THERE WAS A BABY OH MY GOSH

+ Dorothea and Manuela got together!!! Adorable!

+ So did Catherine and Shamir!!! BLESS MY DISASTER LESBIAN CATHERINE

+ DEDUE MARRIED ANNETTE *chef kisses* MAGNIFICENT

+ Ingrid rocked that single life forever and became the badass knight she always wanted to be!!

+ SYLVAIN AND FELIX MY HEART ;————-;

+ Ashe married Mercedes!! I thought for sure he would end up with Ingrid based on their supports but my god I much prefer this endings

+ BYLETH AND DIMITRI 💕💕💕💕💕💕😩👌🥰

In short: this game is absolutely my game of the year. I adore it. A+++++++++

[adrasthee]

📜 x5 for every character >:3

im going to yeet to ontario and (softly) punch you (jk jk ily dav)

Alexios

He owns a mycenean armour they found on the rower deck.

His aunt married the Theban king so he had a rich boy’s education.

Why he got it because of his aunt’s husband, you may ask? Because his mother didn’t have time to raise him in between all the stuff she had to do at the temple, so his aunt and uncle raised him.

He has a strong dislike for pigs… (there’s a very valid reason why)

He’s refered to as “The son of the Lion” in the prophecy uwu.

Adrasthea

She’s our local orphan! (Other than Delia at least…)

Adra is? Very impulsive.

She’s part of the Bi team and I’m pretty sure she considered dating Amalthea at least once but they’re not compatible romantically.

She’s the most impulsive of the trio.

She’s doing her darnest to push Alexios towards having more actual self-confidence.

Amalthea

She’s the daughter of Circea (and therefore the granddaughter of Hecate!)

Just like her mother, she’s a skilled magician and doesn’t really like guys all that much. Not that she hates them or anything, she just finds their acting stupidly quite annoying.

Local lesbian, though she judges love to be something very secondary.

I wouldn’t call her rude, but she has no shame in saying what she thinks.

She can stand for herself hella well.

Delia

Our other local orphan! She was found on Delos, hence her name (which literally means “Delian”).

She’s demi and have only actually been attracted and in love to one person in her entire life, though that doesn’t stop her from being a very loving person in general.

She traveled through all of Greece for Apollo, basically working as his messenger all around the place.

She lived a good part on her (short) life in Delphi because of this, but always prefered Delos.

Apollo thought it was a good idea to teach her how to swim literally in the Egean when she was 12; she almost drown and she’s been a bit scared of the water ever since.

Ailyah

She’s Maël’s cousin!

Unlike him, she’s fully human and didn’t grow up as royalty, though she did spend most of her childhood with him.

One would say Maël and her are almost like twins.

She’s the one that gifted him his magical coin.

Ailyah wants herself to be the responsible one but… she’s not.

Maël

He’s half-human half-fae!

Maël is autistic (logic, since he’s inspired by my cousin, whom happens to be tsa too).

He’s also asexual and has frankly no care in the world about sex in general.

One of his wings got ripped off following a pretty horrible event…

He owns a magical coin that allows him to go in between two dimensions

Ian

Ian is a changeling!

He was raised in a circus by another changeling, who vanished when he was still a kid.

He’s pretty agile and a good pick pocket because, well… the circus wasn’t all that much honest in general.

Ian actually hated being in the circus because the owner was a dick.

His favourite song  is Bohémienne, from the musical Notre-Dame de Paris; he can sing it by heart.

MC

Mc is actually amnesiac, they completely forgot their past life before the labyrinth.

They’ve discovered themself strangely skilled at killing.

They’re generally pretty silent and don’t make much noises while moving around.

They have pretty good reflexes.

They’re the responsible one in the group and lowkey hate it (or at least that’s what they say…)

Alois

His first language is German.

In fact, Alois’ parents are Germans (and so he is ig?).

He doesn’t have the nationality though because they were forty-eighters.

My boi Alois is an anarchist and proud of it.

He grew up in Chicago.

Armena

Even her doesn’t know how many kids she has anymore.

She got nicknamed griffon d’or (gold griffyn) by the girls because she has golden feathers.

She’s been happily married for a whole lot of time, so long, in fact, that she forgot the actual duration.

She’s? Good at cooking though she doesn’t get to do it often because royal stuff to do.

One of her kids is a baby dragon.

Sam 

Sam is bipolar and struggles a lot with this.

They don’t usually eat much, most often because they forget, but sometimes because they don’t want to.

Sam actually had a very supportive family that never questionned what they discovered about their gender… sucks that they died a long time ago though…

Their lover died in an accident while they survived and Sam considers themself responsible for it.

Hadn’t it been for their rare friends, they’d have most likely died a longtime ago.

[robinpixels]

For the character and 10+ HCs: Gaia and Elisabet

AT LAST I GET THIS DONE HAHA ^^; SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT IM ALWAYS DOWN TO TALK ABT THE MOTHERSHIP

GAIA

1. She has a passion for all flora and fauna, of course….but she absolutely delights at corgis. She asked after them in someone’s metaphor one day and so Lis showed her what they were and she was silent for like a full two minutes as she processed their stubbly little feets and tails and large ears and I do believe these are mathematically the most precious creatures on this planet.

2. She’s communicated at length with all her other Alphas as well, enough to know well all their personalities and work ethics and even a few of their more private troubles. She’s not quite sure if they’re confiding in her because they perceive her as a consequence-less formless entity that’s conveniently there, or because they genuinely take comfort in her presence. She hasn’t asked most of them, but she likes to think it’s the latter. Either way, she’ll have their conversations and has particularly taken to the activity of showing them things she found that she thinks they would like through their Focuses. The world is ending, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have friends before it’s all over

3. Femme lesbian icon

4. Her happy reactions are just the most wholesome thing, and in general she’s just got her own way of being very expressive especially through voice inflections. In lighter situations and interactions, she’s also quite playfully mischievous.

5. she’s constantly sappy on main. absolutely LOVING on main

6. Though she’s ultimately gentle and kind and nurturing her wit is w i t h e r i n g and you best not seriously cross her (Aloy gets her sass from both mommas)

7. when revived she admits she doesnt quite know what motherly tendencies would entail, having never had a ‘child’ to have them with, but she finds they spring up pretty damn fast for her when aloy shows any indication of doing something dangerous

8. her idea of 'pranking’ is identical to Rapunzel’s from the tangled series. oh, this person likes apples? BOOM GIVE EM A BASKET FULL OF THE BEST ONES. person walking towards their collection of themed coffee cups? SURPRISE THEM BY POLISHING THEM UP BEFORE THEY GET THE CHANCE. HAH, YOUVE BEEN DUPED!!

9. She’d be British if human

10. she’d like those novelty clay figures like of cute cats and cherubs and flowers a whole bunch

LIS

1. Lowkey the person you have to manually haul over to a clothing store in order to buy something OTHER than like the three monotone sweaters and pants (+ one (1) Nice Outfit for special occasions) she owns, total. It’s just tedious for her and she’ll take every opportunity Not to Do It

2. Lis having somewhat of a pottymouth around informal settings is my fucking favourite thING

3. bi trans lady

4. She has a secret love for bad puns and the 'Ehh, Can’t be Bothered’ attitude for clothes shopping goes out the window if she so much as claps eyes on those Cursed wordplay T-shirts. She has so many bi T-shirt puns. So. So. Many.

5. She’s Jewish

6. She would absolutely get attached to a Roomba

7. Thoroughly a dog person but in Another Dawn Gaia had a lovely old lady cat (long before they got married or Aloy was born) that she became absolutely enamored with

8. at any given point in time her blood is more caffeine than actual blood cell and plasma. please get some rest Lis

9. I know this is basically canon but she grew to have GAIA in her schedule more than was strictly needed to be. Sure, she needed to oversee her development, but she was also a constant reliable companion and was there for her just as much as the other way around. (plus, she’s charming! win win!!)

10. she’s a sucker for trivia games, no matter how cheesy or bad they are.

[his-naughty-little-kitten]

Hi there! I have a genuine q. Why do you most kuro fans believe Seb and Ciel are in an intimate relationship (that's not shown explicitly to readers)? I get all the fanservice (fangirl over it tbh), but the kid -freaks- when others touch him. It's even happened with Sebastian. Yana sensei hints the cult assaulted him so all the 'don't touch me!' moments stem from that. With Ciel's visible trauma, I'm kinda scratching my head why so many people legitimately think Ciel wants to do his butler?

Hello, Anon ~

Wow, that’s a very interesting question! However, I’m afraid Icannot speak for the whole fandom, so I can only give you my personal opinion.

Definitely, one of the things that encourage theshipping is the fanservice. Yaoi fans are naturally attracted to series withtwo male leads, and shippers of any kind will always start shipping charactersthat spend a lot of time together, have a close relationship and make a lot ofphysical contact, as those are the things that lead to a strong bond (romanticor otherwise) in real life. So if you add some nearly sexual situations,suggestive comments and a certain amount of possessiveness, what you got is(something resembling) a relationship. It’s only natural that the fans ship it. Yet, I can seeyou’re hintingsomething deeper than a platonic relationship and, while I’m not one ofthose who believe that they fuck behind closed doors, there are severalin-canon reasons why such a thing wouldn’t be so unlikely.

1.- Sebastian’s character

Sebastianis portrayed in the manga as a very seductive human as well as a sinful demon.He’s what one would call a ‘lady-killer’, though it’s been made obvious throughthe manga that is not only ‘ladies’ that he’s interested in. We know he’s anexperienced seducer, but does he have any preferences?

Yana addressed this topic in a post she called “Sebastian’s favoritetype” (  http://akumadeenglish.tumblr.com/post/127400149717/sebastians-favourite-type ) and we were told that, when it comes to sex,Sebastian does not care about gender or age - a curious answerthat I believe is a subtle way of addressing the controversial topic aboutSebastian and Ciel age difference - and when having a long-term human partnerhe seeks an outstanding beauty as well as a high class soul, and the authormentions Ciel having those qualities. So we can deduce something from this;Sebastian likes Ciel. Maybe not romantically, as we know demons can’t love thesame way humans do, but there’s definitely some attraction beyond mere curiosity.Sebastian chose Ciel and he did so very carefully. This is not fanservice, butrather, a part of the character’s development, a confirmed canon fact.  

Apart from that, we’ve seen Sebastian caring for Ciel many times in a muchdeeper fashion than the mere “omg, I’ll lose my breakfast!” I can’t list all themoments in which this is shown because there are many, but another bloggeralready did something similar. (See it here - http://rabid-bunny.tumblr.com/post/144133678003/i-was-wondering-do-you-think-sebastian-and-ciel)

So, we have attraction + care. Maybe that isn’t enough tosay that he loves Ciel, but for a demon, I’d say it’s close enough, so the ‘Seba’ part ofSebciel is definitely not unrealistic. Now we only have to prove that Ciel isjust as willing as Sebastian is.

2.- Ciel’s character

Manga is a somewhat strict comic type. It followscertain guidelines and tropes that, while not mandatory, are to a certainextent what makes manga to be identified as manga. Those guidelines ofteninclude certain character archetypes. Think, for example, of a shonenprotagonist or a shojo heroine. And I’m sure that, when you think of other shonenprotagonists, Ciel seems kind of out of place. Well, that’s because Cielis a shota.

Shota is a manga genre that showcases underaged boysin sexual situations. And while it may seem controversial to the eyes of awestern reader, shota is a genre Yana is familiar with.

(Image - To the left, a shota boy as portrayed in one of Yana’s previous works, Glamorous Lip. To the right, Ciel in a famous manga scene.)

That alone is enough to justify the possible sexualinterpretations of many of the scenes she has drawn, as they are not innocentlydone. The author knows very well what she’s writing about and she purposely teases the reader.But, as you say, Ciel is a character that has never shown any sexualinclination through the series, be it due to a traumatic past experience orsimply to his young age.  

Ciel’s sexuality is a very interesting topic itself and I’d gladlydedicate a whole post to it alone, but I’ll summarize or this will be too long; Ciel isdefinitely knowledgeable about sex, whether he likes it or not. He isn’t innocent, asmany readers claim him to be. (“I’m already a ‘lady’” – vol. 02 ch. 07 – Ciel, when asked if he was tooyoung for “that pleasurable thing”.)

He’s also old enough in his universe, regardlessof realism on that matter, as other characters are already exposed to sexualityat his age or even younger (Siegleinde, Alois, Joan…) Yet he’s definitely notstraight.

Hehas expressed his disinterest in girls, women and marriage several times (“I don’thave time to associate with little girls”, vol. 01, ch. 02) and, while it maybe arguable that he has also refused his many male suitors (aka, asexuality),he didn’t hesitate when he had to use his ‘charm’ to seduce a man (ViscountDruitt, Edgard Redmond). He’s also been portrayed in many overly sexualizedscenes regarding men and, in fact, he also doesn’t get much female attention unlessthe eventual “aww, so cute…”, and the exception of Lizzy, his cousin, and Nina,the lesbian character, which suggests that the author is hinting the characteras homosexual. 

Butthis alone doesn’t solve the problem of his fear. Ciel was probably abused,most likely by men, and he fears intrusive adults and intimate touches. Yet hedoesn’t seem to fear Sebastian’s touch, however. Yes, there was a moment inwhich he did, confused as he was in his illness, mixing reality with hallucinations.It wasn’t Sebastian who he feared, but rather the man his eyes were seeing.

(Image - Hallucination vs reality; vol.19 ch. 90)

All the other times, he seems quite comfortable withit, including intimate touch. In fact, they initiate physical touch with eachother all the time. But, as for whether that’s enough to overcome Ciel’s phobia, that’s open for interpretation.

3.- The very own nature of demons and the contract

Thestory of Kuroshitsuji is a tale of lust. Sebastian lusts for Ciel. He desireshim. He’s possessive and doesn’t let anyone else threaten what’s his. (“The simple fact that someone other than I touches the Young Master disgusts me enough” - Sebastian in the 6th episode of the second anime season) He enjoys making him lookbeautiful (see “Sebastian’s favorite type” again). He takes delight fromripping off his clothes (refer to the CD Drama of pure, unadulteratedfanservice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9vTgzWL41U  ) And more than anything he seeks to defilethe boy in every possible way. The more the boys sins, the richer his soulbecomes. And it is also a matter of pride. Sebastian is a sinful creature. Andhe’s never refused. Or he wasn’t — That’s is, until he met Ciel. Becauseno matter what he does, he never gets his Master’s approval. He keeps getting rejected.But he is perfection, so why is this? 

Sometimes it looks like Ciel truly despises Sebastian.He belittles him, disrespects him and turns down any sign of affection. Onemight even think that they don’t even get along. But it’s not like it. Those around them can clearly see thatCiel trusts, needs and loves (romantically or not) Sebastian (vol 09, ch. 41)Still, the young earl is prideful and doesn’t show it. And Yana herself wrote yet anotherbeautiful post talking about this ( http://akumadeenglish.tumblr.com/post/110896308729/difference-between-alois-and-ciel-as-seen-by-yana ). It may not seem so interesting for those who don’t take theanime as canon, as it is a comparison between Ciel and Alois, but it definitelysheds some light to Sebastian and Ciel canon relationship, and it is indeed oneof Addiction vs Rejection.

“However manysweet candies ‘he’ gives me, Imust not be addicted to ‘him’.For 'he’ is not ahuman, but a beast.”

It shows Alois as the ‘weak’ part. The onewho surrenders, who falls into temptation. “Say that you love me” it’s one of hisquotes from the anime. It is very intense, in my opinion. Yet, that issomething we will never hear Ciel say to his demon, is it? That’s because Cielis portrayed as the one who doesn’t give in. He refuses temptation. He refusesSebastian. He will not let him be in control. But he does so only because hedoesn’t want thedemon to take advantage, not because he doesn’t enjoy it.

So, while I don’t believe that Ciel and Sebastian had ever had, sex, I’ll cite aquote that I like a lot, and it says “the Devil’s voice is sweet to hear”. So, those who believe that they did, are simplyassuming that Ciel gave in, that he surrendered to temptation. It is not aridiculous assumption, as such a thing is, in fact, a strong plot device ofKuroshitsuji. I can see how temptation could easily overpower fear. After all,Sebastian (or any other demon) is the incarnation of his Master’s desires. Hewould know what to say, where to touch… He would go asslowly as he needs, and whisper all the things Ciel yearns to hear. He wouldcomfort him, just like he always do when Ciel dreams about the things thathappened to him.

Somepeople believe that Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship would be one of abuse(well, what kind of relationship do you expect to have with a demon??), yetultimately it’s all to Ciel’s choice. Sebastian is just a dog on a leash.

So as to finally answer your question, I don’t believe thatCiel wants to do his butler, but rather, his butler wants to do him and it’s left to thereaders’ interpretation whether or not he will be able to do so.