#cishet guy can win a little. actually i think he is bi .. me and 3 coworkwrs are bi and/or trans its so fucking funny

[millionjoys]

thinking about how today at work me and a coworker were comparing skin tone (mine is like. more orange/yellow warm toned and he is more.. pink-ish? lmfao.) and i rolled my pant leg up with a disclaimer my legs were hairy + he goes "that's what being a man is about ☝️😌" and it made me laugh. im a very feminine guy and i love to be skittish and scared but he was so silly and nice

[sodascribbles]

hello would people like sly cooper gender and sexuality headcanons bc i have figured out the truth and as we all know the truth is lava-proof /ref

slyfox is t4t sly and carmelita told me themselves /j

sly (he/him + neos) is transmasc and bisexual (hes just like me fr) though personally i also think he's grayromantic possibly demi. he doesnt think abt it too hard tho! trades neos w bentley like pokemon cards

carmelita (she/her) is transfem btw also. bisexual queen we love to see it.

murray (he/him) is like the only cis one of the cooper gang but hes also like canonically gay (bi at the very least) hes a gay man ok

hot take but. trans girl bentley (she/they + neos). also under the aro umbrella i think and i think shes ace. penelope and them are qpps. them and sly trade neopronouns around like pokemon cards

penelope (they/she) is also transfem actually. demigirl <3 theyre aroace her and bentley are qpps still. they had a whole sexuality crisis over sly but NOPE it was the aesthetic attraction come to kick them in the ass

HOT TAKE. dimitri (he/it) is a trans man. hes gay i think. possibly aro and homosexual but is not opposed to being in a relationship.

tbf im aro so maybe im just projecting onto these guys but who's to say. :3

nb panda king (they/he but rlly doesnt care) for the win im an agender panda king truther. does not mind any gendered terms or pronouns. doesnt label their sexuality but does have a wife (er. used to have a wife)

also nb guru (any) but in the other direction. hot take pangender guru. tends to use masculine terms for herself but switches it up every once in a while. i think they're also aroace but again IM aroace so maybe im just projecting. either all or nothing w it i think either pan or aroace /hj but hes probably the one ive thought the least abt

and a bonus round of just me speedrunning other chars and not explaining

raleigh is transmasc and transphobic and also gay and homophobic

muggshot is a closeted gay w a lot of internalized homophobia

i think mz ruby is a lesbian

youve heard my opinion on panda king

clockwerk stopped thinking about it after version 2 i dont think they care

youve heard my opinion on dimitri

rajan. cishet i think. probably not intolerant but not an ally just indifferent yknow

contessa. aroace i think. married her husband for money and money alone. cis i think?????? but i could also see her as transfem

jean bison is a homophobe and i just think that's canon

we dont see enough of arpeggio for me to get a good read on him but based on like the way he talks alone i think hes cis and gay but i can also see him as transmasc whoops

neyla i think just doesnt care. aroace and agender made one choice and it was No but is not above flirting/whatever to get what she wants

octavio is either gay or homophobic w no inbetween

also fun fact i think bentley figures herself out as trans tm between sly 2 and 3

anyway what's the 2nd villain

Oh

the mask of dark earth is. end sentence

ok uhhh 3 is the black baron that's just Penelope boymoding /hj

TSAO

homophobic a transphobe AND a misogynist

dont ask how much trouble i had spelling misogynist

id call him a terf but hes not a feminist of ANY kind thank you

lefwee is a pirate and that's pretty gay in general. pansexual. the most accepting villain of the bunch /hj again

dr m is again either homophobic or gay w no inbetween. probably a transphobe tho

using that tag a lot

update apparently the species of bird that he is only the females are red w black beaks so hes also trans heart emoji

"cooper?? no you must be the coopers daughter!" "yyyyyyyyyeah about that" <- real conversation between him and sly /j

you get exactly 5 comments on 4 bc i know exactly 5 new characters

el jefe is a homophobe i think

rioichi is cishet but an ally

toothpick is gay sorry not sorry

tennessee is a trans man and i will die on this hill

le paradox. is a terf i think. ive met him exactly once and know little to nothing about him but just based on Vibes

[oumakokichi]

I have a question for you about your opinions of Kaito. I've seen that you say he's homophobic and all that, but there is something about that statement that really bothers me. In his Love Suit Event, it heavily implies that Kaito not only has romantic feelings towards a very clear male rival, but also wants to win the plane race to earn the right to confess those romantic feelings. A lot of people see him as gay or bi coded, so I thought I'd ask what you thought about that.

I’ve been thinking about how to reply to this ask for a little while now, and I think I’ve finally got my thoughts all laid out. This isn’t meta, but my response will nonetheless be somewhat long, so I’ll be putting most of it under a read-more.

Anon, I’m really not sure what to tell you. Me saying that Momota has homophobic lines and behavior isn’t just my interpretation or opinion; it’s an actual fact that he does say homophobic/transphobic slurs in the game. Not in his FTEs, not in his love hotel or salmon mode, but in chapter 2 of the actual game, directed specifically at Korekiyo. The word specifically is “okama” (オカマ), and it has a very heavy and unfortunate history as a slur in Japan used predominantly against gay men and trans women, who as I’ve stated, are unfortunately often lumped together and assumed to be “the same thing” by cishet people.

I’ve had people spread misinformation about this slur, claiming that he used it in the chapter 3 trial instead and that that’s why he was being so derogatory to Korekiyo instead, but this is factually untrue. He uses this slur in chapter 2, well before Korekiyo murders anyone and before he’s revealed to be incestuous and a serial killer. And even if it were true, trying to justify the usage of homophobic and transphobic slurs with “well the person he was saying them to was a bad person so it’s okay” is a fundamentally flawed way of thinking.

It’s also a fact that he reacts with complete disgust and is horrified by even the idea of Saihara potentially coming on to him during one of his dates in salmon mode. He specifically says, “you don’t swing that way, do you!?” while using his most horrified sprite, and unlike the slur, the localization did more or less keep this line.

Again, there have been people who have tried to argue that this was simply because Momota was “sad at the idea of Saihara coming out without telling him first,” and again, this is factually untrue. Both the localization and the original Japanese dialogue of the game make it explicitly clear that he is completely grossed out at the idea of Saihara being attracted to him. This isn’t my personal interpretation or anything like that; it’s quite literally in the text.

I went and reread Momota’s love hotel to refresh my memory of the scene, and... I’m really not sure where you’re getting that he’s referring to a “very clear male rival.” He is certainly referring to a rival as his “ideal romantic partner,” but he never says anything at all about said rival’s gender. There’s absolutely nothing in the scene itself that ever specifies that he’s seeing Saihara as another guy.

In fact, for all that he talks quite enthusiastically about his rivalry with this person, he never once says any of his usual lines about “a man’s passion” or lectures about the way “men should behave.” Considering a good part of his interactions with most of the other male characters in ndrv3, not just Saihara, often involve him talking about what is or isn’t appropriate for a man (Hoshi’s suicidal tendencies are “effeminate” and unfitting for someone he looked up to, Gonta crying in the investigations is “unmanly,” etc.), I would actually say that it’s more likely he isn’t talking to another guy here, but this is just my speculation and it’s open to interpretation if nothing else.

However, it is a fact that just because Saihara is playing the part of his rival in his love hotel scene does not automatically mean that said rival “must be a guy.” Saihara plays the part of literally everyone’s ideal romantic partner in every single love hotel scene, and in most of them he’s very clearly being perceived differently than he actually appears. Hoshi, for example, is pretty clearly seeing Saihara through the lens of his dead girlfriend who he mentions in his FTEs, despite not ever explicitly referring to Saihara in his love hotel event as a man or a woman.

There’s no denying that Momota’s idea of romance is linked with passionate ideas about rivalry and competition, and that he likes grand gestures. But again, there is nothing in the text whatsoever about his rival being another man. That part is purely speculation, and nothing in the actual love hotel scene ever states that.

In my own opinion, I cannot agree with saying that a character who canonically uses homophobic slurs and reacts with open disgust to another guy coming on to him is “coded” to be gay or bisexual. Coding is the deliberate placement of subtle clues and details woven into the text to clue readers in that a character may be a certain sexuality or gender identity. With rare exceptions (like Mac from It’s Always Sunny, who by this point has been confirmed to be a gay man on the show), characters who use homophobic slurs aren’t usually “coded” to be gay or bi.

If anything, I feel that the trope of “homophobe who’s secretly a closeted gay man” does more harm than good to the LGBT community, implying that we’re responsible for the violence and prejudices used against ourselves. This trope also reassures other people whose prejudices and homophobia might be less outspoken that they’re not “really” showing any homophobic behavior or attitudes because they’re not outright saying slurs or showing their disgust, and leads them to assume that they’re not complicit.

I also feel that it’s worth pointing out that being a member of the LGBT community does not excuse anyone from homophobic or transphobic behavior, either. Having grown up in a highly conservative and deeply homophobic household, I understand perfectly well what it’s like to grow up closeted and repessed about your own sexuality. But brushing off the use of slurs directed at other people and saying that it’s okay because the person saying those slurs eventually came out is... not a great look, honestly. Even previously-closeted LGBT people still have to be held accountable for their behavior and for the harm they might have caused other people with their actions. There is no “free pass” for saying slurs to other people.

That being said, if people want to headcanon Momota as gay or bisexual, that’s an entirely different matter. Headcanons are separate from coding and are simply a matter of personal preference. Again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to reclaim a character and actually show them growing from and apologizing for their past behavior. I can understand people who might relate to Momota’s better qualities, and who want to interpret his character in a positive way.

But it’s important in making these headcanons to not erase the fact that he did, canonically, say a homophobic slur, and to not speak over other LGBT people who are understandably uncomfortable with this fact. Just because the localization erased said slur entirely doesn’t change the intention of the original dialogue, and it doesn’t change the way Momota consistently reacts negatively to the idea of other men showing any sort of attraction to him that isn’t purely “bros being bros.”

I’m absolutely not trying to be harsh or dismissive here anon, and I hope I’ve been clear with that in my response. Again, if other people want to headcanon him as gay or bisexual because they love or relate to his character and want to see him grow from his flaws, that’s totally fine! But he’s in no way deliberately “coded” to be gay or bisexual when there are multiple instances of him having homophobic behavior in the actual, canon text.