#that just makes them bi/pan to me until canon states otherwise

[hawkeinthecitadel]

Am i the only one who doesn’t like it when people try to enforce their Stardew Valley sexuality headcanons onto other players?

“Alex is gay, you shouldn’t romance him if you play a female farmer” where is this mentioned in game?

“Hayley is for the sapphics and the sapphics only” she’s literally not though…

[questioning-aspec-culture-is]

who wants to hear me rant about how fandoms treat asexuality and aromanticism for a bit?

To me, it seems like there is no place where amatonormativity is more rampant than shipping spaces. And it's infuriating.

The way many fandoms treat lgbtq+ characters is sketchy at best - there are several instances of explicitly gay characters being shipped in straight relationships, and other such invalidation of sexualities, but that is a wider issue that I won't go into here, because my main issue is the complete eradication of aspec identities.

Aro and ace representation is rare. Good aro and ace representation is even rarer. And I know what you might be thinking. So is gay and lesbian representation! So is pan and bi and polyam representation! But here's the thing. If fans don't like the overwhelming straightness of characters in canon media, they will fix it for themselves in fanon. They will put straight characters in gay relationships. They will put characters who have no canon love interest in relationships (gay or otherwise).

And this is where the problem lies.

In a society where romantic relationships are valued over nearly everything else, it's rare and exhilarating to find characters who aren't in relationships, whether they are explicitly stated to be aro/acespec or not (which is even more rare). And fans invariably take those characters and ship them with other characters, because heaven forbid a character be happy without a romantic partner who will 'complete' them!! /s

It is obvious that to most people, queer representation in media/fandom is important... until it comes to aspec identities. Because the allos don't seem to give a shit about us and it fills me with rage. We deserve to be included in those spaces, and we deserve to have our identities respected in the same way that gay/lesbian/mspec identities are.

And there will always be queer people who say "oh, well if they've not got a canon love interest it's okay... that's not aphobic... if you tell us we're not allowed to have those ships, that's erasing our identities" and yes of course if it's not canon aromanticism there is nothing *strictly* wrong with shipping those characters but just. just have a think for a minute. If you are so openly eager to ship those characters, and you get so outwardly upset when you can't, what message is that giving to aspec people? you're telling us that unless there is a 'valid' reason not to, you think that being in a relationship is necessary, normal, the default state of things. You are upholding amatonormativity and yes, that is harmful.

And that doesn't only hurt aspec people!! not even allos are in relationships 100% of the time - when you're pushing this agenda, it is harmful to everyone. We need to de-normalise the need for relationships. Characters and people are allowed to be single and live fulfilling lives and not need to have a partner!!

thank you for reading my angry rambly rant i hope it makes sense and if you are allo and think i am being too harsh i do not care because i am fed up of you overlooking and outright excluding us <33

allos are welcome and encouraged to reblog but I would ask that you don't add on! aspecs I would love to hear your opinions, if you want to add anything to what ive said :)

[missholoska]

(answering as a screencap to avoid this showing up in any tags/searches, I don't wanna Start Anything)

I did like A/ltertale up until a couple years ago, but I have several issues with it that prevent me from enjoying it anymore. I've heard some not great things about its creator since I unfollowed, but I don't want any part in discourse and I'm only gonna give my thoughts on the AU's actual content:

Undyne being shipped with a man is... pretty bad. in fairness not everyone has to like a ship just because it's canon, and it's entirely possible to prefer other ships while treating the canon ship respectfully and without any homophobia or harmful intentions. but completely writing out Alphyne, mostly ignoring Alphys' existence, and shipping Undyne, the one character who makes multiple references to her attraction to women and never once says anything of the sort about men, with Asgore doesn't seem like there were respectful intentions. what could've been less of an issue is that if A/ltertale had to write out Alphyne and have an Undy/rus equivalent, it's already a swap AU and Alphys canonically both has a crush on Asgore and is bi/pan. there'd at least be some logic to it if Alphys were swapped with Undyne and shipped with Asgore instead, rather than going against Undyne's extremely heavily implied, all but stated outright sexuality.

on the topic of Alphys, I don't like how she's barely ever acknowledged. as with my first point, you don't have to like every character much less create content about them, but for an AU that otherwise focuses on the main cast, her lack of presence really sticks out. and it's a shame because Alphys absolutely could have a place in A/ltertale! even without changing anything, AT Toriel and Alphys could be close friends who help each other through their anxieties, and considering this is a Soriel AU? towards the pacifist ending UT Alphys talks about shipping Toriel and Asgore, but they're siblings here as are the skelebros in their roles, so instead you get AT Alphys as the in-universe number one Soriel shipper!! it's such a missed opportunity :<

speaking of Soriel, I'm not very fond of AT Soriel anymore for a few reasons:

I find their age gap kinda uncomfortable. please note I am not calling it pe/dophilia, because it isn't; AT Toriel is canonically "about 21", not a minor. given that I ship UT Soriel I'm obviously fine with mortal/immortal ships, but my condition for those is that the mortal character must be a decent number of years out of their teens (mid-20s at least), and for my preference Toriel is just slightly too young compared to AT Sans' physical age being "about 35". it's not illegal and I don't expect anyone else to have the same specific preference, I just don't like it.

it's so common for m/f pairs to have the man be taller and older than the woman, and this not applying to UT Soriel is a small part of their charm for a lot of people. AT Soriel undoes this, and I know that's the entire point as the AU started from an ask about "Toriel and Sans in swapped bodies", but it's just Less Good.

they both feel too UT Sans-like to me with not enough UT Toriel in either. maybe if AT Sans was more openly parental, lonely and out of touch like UT Toriel, or if AT Toriel retained more of UT Toriel's personality, one of those might balance out better. as it is, they both seem too chill and meme-y aside from how AT Toriel gets flustered.

also the sexual jokes and art are really really not my thing but that's purely me being sex-repulsed @_@

this isn't every thought I have but anything else would be nitpicks and I'm not trying to be needlessly negative oTL

anyway as I said above, I just quietly unfollowed the creator rather than actively complained or anything, and regardless of what the creator's said or done with the AU I don't wish ill will on her or anyone who still likes A/ltertale. I only ever really talk about my opinions like this when I'm specifically asked about them, so having said all this I'm just keep focusing on the stuff I enjoy instead 👍

[tiriansjewel]

alrighty I’ve seen some discourse over this but I want to post my thoughts because it’s been bugging me too. Let’s talk a bit about the lgbt characters and the erasure of their sexuality in fandom. This is mostly directed at the fact that I’ve come across a few Alex Mercer x female reader fics in the past few days, and something about that just really doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve seen some arguments which say things along the lines of, “people take straight characters from media and headcanon them as gay/lesbian/bi/etc. all the time, so why is it wrong for someone to take a gay character and headcanon them as straight?” At first glance, this seems like a plausible argument, the overall objective actions are the same, but all of these people who say this forget that there are years of history and cultural context to show why it’s a problem.

Firstly, we live in a heteronormative society. Why is this important? Well, the majority of people are heterosexual, and it is the only sexuality that is societally accepted by all people. Therefore, when you are born, people assume that you are straight. You never have to “come out” as straight, or explain to people what it means to be straight, because being straight is the default. It is what is expected of every person until they say something to the contrary. Queer people on the other hand are in the minority, and not all people are accepting or believe that homosexuality is even real. When you are born, people still assume that you are straight, but when you figure out that you are not, you then have to “come out” as gay/lesbian/bi/etc, and you usually have to explain to people what that means to you. Your sexuality is different from the majority, and so it usually becomes a very defining factor in your identity and in your life because of how the world around you perceives you.

All of this is reflected in media. Characters, just like people, are assumed to be straight until something is said to the contrary. This means that characters are rarely confirmed as “straight”, whereas characters who are lgbt have to “come out” as gay. So to say people are taking straight characters and headcanoning them as gay isn’t necessarily accurate- even if a character is in a relationship with a person of the opposite sex, they usually aren’t confirmed as “straight”. There is plenty of room to believe that they are bi/pan, or fully homosexual depending on the text of the show. There is also the topic of queerbaiting and queercoding, and many of the characters that people headcanon as not straight have subtextual hints which point to that. As well as the fact that the majority of people are straight- so to view a character otherwise isn’t erasing straightness from a piece of media, because heterosexuality is everywhere.

But with gay characters, it’s a whole other conundrum. Firstly, lgbt characters who are portrayed in a positive light are relatively new, and even then, many positive portrayals are still based upon stereotypes. It is rare to find an lgbt character in a mainstream piece of media that represents the community well and isn’t just there for wokeness points. Secondly, since these characters are so rare, they are almost always confirmed as gay by the creators of the show. Therefore, their sexuality is in stone within the canon. It isn’t left ambiguous, it is stated and it is usually a major part of their character arc and their identity. Thirdly, just like in real life, the gay characters are always in the minority. With JATP for example, the only canonically queer characters are Alex and as a byproduct, Willie. Most shows won’t even have a canonically queer character, and if they do they are almost always in the background unless it’s marketed as a “gay” show. We only get so much rep as it is. Erasing that rep and such an important part of a character’s identity is disrespectful.

Now, I’m not here to tell you that you can’t make fics or headcanons that erase a character’s sexuality. You can do whatever the fuck you want. I’m just sitting here and telling you why you shouldn’t. It’s in bad taste and disrespects the lgbt community, and so with that said, I will personally be blocking/ignoring people who do this. The reason I decided to make this post is hopefully to explain to some of you why it’s so offensive and why people get pissed off by it. At the end of the day, us queer people are looking for the crumbs left over in the pan of brownies that’s already been eaten by all the straight people. Don’t sweep away our crumbs. That is all.

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

So I know that a lot of people headcanon Eddie as bisexual. Which is a valid take, and canonically bisexual male characters are so rare in media!

But personally, I'd rather have him be gay than bi. I usually headcanon characters as bi unless specifically stated otherwise, so it's unusual that I headcanon a character as gay or lesbian.

Ever since we first met Eddie, there was something about him that just screamed "he's gay" at me. I was positive that he was gay up until Shannon reappeared and they started sleeping together again. Like, if he's gay, why would he be sleeping with a woman again?

But... Eddie grew up Catholic. He still believes to an extent. He's mentioned praying before, he wears a St. Christopher medal, he crossed himself before getting into the helicopter during the treasure hunt episode. He may not go to mass every Sunday or even actively believe, but the belief is still there. And Catholic guilt is a lot to deal with.

I'm not Catholic, nor was I ever Catholic, but I did grow up Christian. And... the homophobia is real. Every time I think my mom might be opening up to a conversation about my bisexuality, she'll say something that makes me backtrack the conversation immediately.

To me, Eddie reads as a gay man who is terrified of what his family will think. Everything about his upbringing is screaming against him being gay. It's not natural, it's a sin, blah blah blah. Internalized homophobia is a bitch. He's done a great job of pretending. He was married to Shannon, he loved her, they had a child together! How can he be gay?

We already have another example on the show of someone who's gone through a similar struggle. Michael pretended pretty successfully for years. And nobody would try to say that he doesn't love Athena, because of course he does! He just couldn't love her that way. Both of them deserved better, and he knew that.

So as much as I would love more canon bi representation, I think it would be more meaningful for Eddie to be gay, not bi. It would be an interesting journey to see. I could see Eddie not wanting to label himself at first, but eventually becoming okay with admitting to himself that he's gay.

Besides, everything about Eddie during 2x04 (Stuck)? Gay. Eddie's costume during the s2 Halloween episode? Gay. The entirety of Eddie's everything during s3? Gay. That outfit during the hospital scene in 4x14? Gay as fuck.

Also, both Buck and Chimney are 100% bi. No, I will not be taking any criticism because I know I'm right. See 2x01 for an abundance of evidence.

-Quarantine Anon

I have been waiting days to post this and now I finally have the chance to! (I'm sorry it's taken so long to get things posted). I don't want to put in a whole lot from me because this is just a good read.

But the Michael and Eddie parallels are now something I want to see. I love your brain, Quarantine Anon.

And yes, Buck and Chim are definitely bi. Or Buck is pan.

[ridasverkisto]

"I’ll also shamelessly admit that a good portion of this is also fueled by my personal head canons of William being a trans guy, Dorothy being feminine presenting nb, and Rhya just straight up being pan" — wow. Mind if you talk more about your other head canons regarding gender and sexual attraction for other characters mainly the captains and black bulls? 👀

Whoo boy this is a can of worms! Mainly because I...tend to approach sexuality/gender headcanons with the mindset of “everyone is queer until explicitly stated otherwise,” so. Yeah. Also, if I don’t mention someone it’s not a “I think they’re straight” and more of a “I don’t really know them well enough to have a headcanon” or a “they have Queer Vibes but I can’t put words on it right now”

With that being said, let’s get started. (And as per usual, if this needs a page break someone just lmk)

So for the Black Bulls! First off, Finral and Vanessa are both gigantic bi disasters, I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules. I’m also fairly certain that Grey is some flavor of nonbinary--maybe agender, but it honestly depends on how I want to interpret it that particular day. Also I just really love the idea of Grey being gray-ace and biromantic, because hell yes puns!!

Luck and Magna...I’m not really certain whether I’d call them gay or pan, because I honestly just see them as dumbass-sexual for each other. Like--there’s no one else for them at this point. If you ask them what they find attractive it’s basically just a list of the other’s traits, and Vanessa constantly teases them about it. Again, I don’t make the rules, sorry.

I’m pretty firmly in the camp of Gauche being demisexual and demiromantic, just because...I can’t really see him being anything else. This guy is absolutely demi across the board. 

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I also headcanon Yami as some flavor of aromantic. This is a bit complicated in my reasoning, so I’ll just leave it at he shows absolutely no romantic interest in anyone and also just let me have the Tired Exasperated Dad(TM) of the Black Bulls share one of my orientations, thanks!!

Since we just talked about Yami, let’s talk about the rest of the captains! Some of them I’ve already talked about previously--like William being a trans guy (and I also see him as demi), and Dorothy being feminine presenting nonbinary, so let’s talk about the others.

Rill, for my money, is absolutely ace and panromantic. His type is just. pretty people. Guy, girl, nonbinary, it doesn’t really register to him beyond “oh they’re really pretty!!! I want to paint that--ooooh, can I get them to model for me---?” I can actually see him being a bit horrified at the other Captains teasing him later about his crushes, because it just genuinely never occurred to him that sexual attraction was a thing outside of books. (And yes, I do speak from experience here, as an ace myself).

Honestly, if it weren’t for her crush on Yami, I would have pegged Charlotte for absolutely being lesbian. She just...has that Vibe. With that being said, given her crush on Yami, I say bi, but with like. Yami being the only guy she’s ever really had a crush on. It’s very frustrating because she really does strike me as a sword lesbian, but I also think her crush on Yami is at least somewhat reasonable and has potential for character development. Sigh. 

....I just had the realization that Charlotte would also probably make a very good subject for an animatic of Little Miss Perfect (this song), which is literally about a girl coming to terms with the fact that she’s a lesbian. Hhhhhhhh, fuck, now I have Ideas. Damn you brain! *shakes fist*

This next one isn’t so much a gender/sexuality headcanon so much as it has that implied, but I adamantly headcanon it because it’s funny as hell. And that is that Nozel, at the very least when they were younger, had the biggest, ugliest crush on Fuegoleon. It was probably unrequited, not that Nozel ever brought it up, because Nozel would’ve been absolutely furious at himself for having a crush on Fuegoleon for three reasons. First: he’s a Vermillion and Nozel is a Silva, enough said. Second, Fuegoleon is his rival for becoming Wizard King, goddamnit!!! And third, he’s crushing on a dork who fixated on how to perfectly cook eggs with his magic. (And he probably, to this day, still secretly finds that both offensive and adorable)

I don’t really have any more for the Captains, so now a brief summary of some other characters that I have very firm headcanons about:

Marx is aroace, Rhya is pan (and his type is canonically people who can kick his ass), Letoile is aro (and some flavor of nb, not sure what), Sol is absolutely lesbian, David is bi, Fragil is a trans woman and very gay, and Vanica is aroallo. I also get strong Vibes from Yuno, but I’m not sure whether they’re gay, ace, or nonbinary vibes or a combo of all three.

[sometimesrosy]

Hi, Rosy! I read an interesting article about queer narratives and accepting/valuing analysis of those narratives and the relationships they feature... even when they don't contain a Big Reveal or Big Confession, since that can happen for so many reasons. The point of the article was that the lack of an explicitly-stated "this is romantic" shouldn't diminish the realness of the romance, if the evidence is there. I thought you'd like it and I will link in a second ask bc I have more words (1/2)

(2/2) I hesitated to link this to Bellarke at first, because my instinct was to feel bad using queer rhetoric to shore up a straight romance AND THEN MY BRAIN WENT OH. B/C isn't a straight romance. It is queer. It has a queer narrative because of the way it's told, & Clarke is canonically bi, & bc both Clarke and Bellamy inhabit the opposite gender roles from what many would expect. It won't let me link but name is: Be Gay Do Crimes: The mystery story model of implicit queer storytelling

+++

That is fascinating. It’s probably a controversial opinion, because a lot of people don’t see bellarke as queer and don’t see m/f relationships where one or both people are bi/pan as queer, but as hetero. But Clarke is definitely bi so one of the members of that ship, at least, is not straight.

I’m not so sure their stories not conforming to gender roles is the same as being queer or non binary or what have you. I think it might more be a question of society, rather than identity? But I am not sure. This is a story where gender roles are more flexible...or rather it is a non-misogynist society that doesn’t have toxic masculinity anymore. But I am not sure how that is defined.

I’m not sure, as humans, a story that can be used to help define queer people couldn’t also define non queer people, since all people are human, and if it’s a truth about relationships, or love or even the revelation of such love, then it wouldn’t matter the gender or sexuality of the participants, right? The rules of love aren’t different for queer people than they are for straight people. The rules of SOCIETY are, but human to human? I don’t think so.

So if you tell a STORY of a love, and show the evidence of that love, for whatever reason, whether politics, or social bias or you don’t get to the end of the story, or taboo or external pressure or what have you, then that love should be seen as real, right? whether there is canon statement of romance or not. We can find the evidence throughout the story.

To be honest. That’s what I’ve been saying about bellarke for at least two years now. It’s what I’ve been saying about love stories. If you are showing the journey of two people’s feelings for each other, love feelings, romantic feelings, intimate interactions, and you can see that on screen, then that is a canon romance. 

You don’t require that explicitly stated “this is romance” to make it so. There are many kinds of romance stories that don’t have the explicit statement in the beginning and there are some that don’t have it until the end. 

I think this theory is especially true for queer stories because of the long standing taboo. These stories have been SILENCED, the people who tell them have been persecuted. So in order to tell their truths, they could hide them in the text, in the subtext, in symbolism, in contrast, in poetry, in art. And people who were looking for that could find it.

In this way, the queer subtext, never overtly stated as romance, but able to be read as subtext, is an act of resistance. 

It’s empowering and revolutionary.

A standard literary technique or way to tell a love story is being utilized to subvert cultural expectations.

But the standard literary technique is still a way to tell a love story. And it doesn’t have to be queer or otherwise subversive to do so.

I don’t think the queer narrative of The 100 is subtext. It’s right on the top. They aren’t implying it. They’re telling the story and many of the people in the story are queer. They don’t STATE them as lesbians or bi or pan or whatever, and that’s a choice, right? Based probably in the genre and worldbuilding and how they created a world where homophobia no longer exists so isn’t need to be stated. And sometimes they end up with stories that don’t work for a large portion of the queer community. I can’t tell you if it’s a GOOD queer narrative, but they are creating a queer story, not the only queer story, not a definitive one, not a happy one, but it’s kind of “well, we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.”

In this case, I think that queer rhetoric is transferable to Bellarke, and it would have been even if the show did not explore same sex relationships. If you use that queer rhetoric on Bellarke, it is so BLATANTLY a romance there would never be any doubt. And I’ve actually wondered about that with this fandom. Because it seems like they’re taking the way the homophobic audience has invalidated queer stories and using the same tactics to invalidate Bellarke.

I think sometimes, sadly, people who have been oppressed, can take lessons from the oppressors and then turn around and use the tactics of oppression on other people. Not just in this case, but in many. Those who are bullied sometimes become bullies themselves. (it is part of the cycle of violence and abuse.) So when CL fans wanted to invalidate the ship that threatened theirs, they did what the homophobes did to them. Called them delusional. Called them sick. Harassed them. Erased everything they saw as love and refused its existence. Because the thing is, if Clarke and Bellamy had been a same sex couple (both male or both female... you wouldn’t even need to change the names, or roles or personalities or behaviors, just the actor [i do believe this is the thought that had me realizing that they were taking on roles that had opposite gender expectations]) then the same people who say there is no proof of canon Bellarke, would be calling them canon, and married. 

If they were mlm or wlw, then people would SEE that the way they look at each other, touch each other and talk to each other is not platonic. And this might be because of internalized homophobia, where seeing intimacy between same sex people is unexpected and seeing it between opposite sex people is expected, but it’s still true. The same behavior with a same sex couple would be shockingly and blatantly romantic, while with a man and woman, it is seen as PART of how they are supposed to interact, with an undercurrent of sexuality because, well, our society says that women are mean to be an object for men’s sexual objectification. Mlm would stand out because men are not “supposed” to be the object. and wlw would stand out because women are not “supposed” to objectify. And it doesn’t matter how much our conscious brains don’t agree with this, what we’re used to seeing in media is the woman as the object and the men as the objectifier. Another way we can see this is how every time Clarke has sex with someone who is not the correct endgame (CL or BC depending upon the speaker) she is called a slut by a lot of people. While Bellamy was allowed all sorts of slutty slutty behavior and not given a bit of trouble over it. 

I feel like I’m going to get in trouble for this post. But I am interested in what you are saying and I have ALWAYS been interested in narratives of oppression and empowerment, in regards to gender, race, sexuality, culture, class or whatever. And to tell the truth, it’s all a part of our society. Our gender roles, our expectations of men and women, our concept of sexuality and identity. Who is allowed to love and be loved. Who is in power. Who is silenced. 

Okay so it’s an interesting topic. And I’m gonna share it.  

[fablecoingolf]

thots on LOGAN, on REAVER, on BEN FINN,

oh man, this might be long I warn you! I’m not sure how best to format it I think I’m gonna do like dots, coz otherwise it’ll be just a massive block of text

LOGAN:

honestly not as many thoughts as the other two aside from “nerd” and “inconsistent face” I look forward to trying to draw him one day and by look forward to I mean dread very much!!!

he’s totally not cishet look how he sits and his colour palette is pretty close to the ace flag so, though since he’s the villain for the decent amount of the game it’s important to be careful with that

I think that his design in combination with how the hobw tends to look feels antisemitic in a way that is recurring in fable that should be addressed more often I really hope if 4 ever happens they change the like good/evil morph pretty considerably, 3 is an improvement though

I don’t have many feelings towards him though as a character, there’s a thing with tone in 3 that I’ll talk about more with reaver that influences this I think, and just in general he sort of exists separately to everyone for most of the game, like he’s the player characters brother you should feel Something but there’s just no like. anything to their interactions. what’s his relationship like with theresa, with walter, with like Anyone, he just monologues at a map!!! do something talk to someone half a character is their interactions!!!! fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

like he’s fun I’ve made posts about him before, on a surface level he’s fun but like past that I just don’t really feel anything towards him? so it’s kind of hard to talk about him

I had an image of him up on my screen while writing this so this entire time he’s been staring me down hdkdj

the uh, like art of him with, the front of the armor that’s shaped like a crown is very funny that’s supposed to go on your head what are you doing

I have my own idea of how Hero stuff works because this is my canon now and I can’t be stopped and I really don’t like some parts of how they say it works, but I don’t know if now is the best place or time to talk about that, it’s partially relevant to all these characters but it’s kind of hard to explain and I feel like by the time I reach the end of this I’ll have no more words so I should really save them? I don’t know, I bring it up because it’s relevant though I just can’t decide

REAVER:

it’s funny that that’s his name, dude’s not very creative huh? like a clothier named Tailor, we get it george you steal things

I mean my name is crow because.I like crows..but I’M allowed to name myself stupid things because I’M sexy and cool and awesome and my ideas are good ones always (sarcasm)

for real though my thoughts here are complicated because there are parts to this character that touch on things that I like(pirates,cool spooky void stuff,) but those don’t get like, any focus

I like him in 2! I only like him in 2. aside from the weird character design decisions 3 made, theres the tone thing I mentioned at logan that I’ve been thinking about lately I’m not sure I can word it right but I’ll give it a shot!

so like, I think, fable likes to be funny, the feel it generally goes for is fun and it’s a fantasy game yknow? characters like jack of blades and lady grey (and the crawler kiiiind of? a bit) are obviously bad but because of either the way the game treats them or the way the game feels or the things they do theyre fun villains who I like! reaver in 2 falls into this I think, yes pirates are real but, like knights and stuff there’s. I can’t think how to word it, there’s a difference between historical knights and fantasy knights and reaver is a fantasy pirate, the shadow court stuff is obviously bad but that’s also not real? the tone of 2 is more serious than 1 and I haven’t replayed it in a while so I’d have to play it to know how it lands Exactly. but reaver in 3 hits too real with actual things and lady grey is also evil rich person but the tone of the game carries that where 3 is serious about it and it’s effects that’s like the whole point and you can have a character and a game that does that but you can’t have that character Also be the fun villain because then it confuses things, that’s Also not to say the fun villain can’t be interesting or like metaphors or whatever obviously it’s just The Feel of the thing, fable 3 can have its evil factory guy but reaver isn’t the character for that for so many reasons. I really don’t think I explained this in a way that makes any sense I can try to word it clearer another time maybe

I have fixed this internal problem I have by pretending very very hard that reaver isn’t in 3 and that’s just some other guy and that’s fixed all of my problems, even that stuff aside from a character perspective I don’t buy it

I have a whole thing about what he’s doing in 3 because I don’t know who the onceler guy is but that’s not him. it’s very neat I think please ask me about it I need an excuse to talk about it and this is already an excuse sure but it’s already very long

anyone else noticed that he always wears things that cover his neck? I noticed it when compiling reference images for my animal crossing thing and I hate to give you the bad news but I am certain he’d never wear the sexy pirate shirt, if I had to design modern clothes for him he’d have a turtleneck

I feel like I could read into the way he dresses (gloves, high neck,yknow?) in an interesting way actually but I’d need to think on it more

also actually before I keep pretending he’s not in 3 I don’t want to brush over the transmisogyny in the poster which is supposed to be viewed as a positive thing since it shows up, like when the rebellion is progressing right? I don’t remember the exact point of the game but you get what I mean. or the dress which would be fine if he wasn’t an antagonist in this game + the poster making it clear it’s intended to be something to be made fun of

I have made pokemon teams for the fable 2 heros because I think about them a lot and pokemon a lot and I want to share but I might wait until I’m in a pokemon brain space so it’s easier for me to, but I have Thoughts

the man who lives forever by lord huron has oakvale reaver vibes for obvious reasons and it’s also a good song and you should listen to it

a few lord huron songs do actually but I don’t want to associate those other ones with him in my brain because I like them and,like, it’s not my fault our aesthetics overlap!! I hate that!!!!!! I’M the sexier bi/pan nonbinary occult pirate Back Off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He gets ONE lord huron song, ONE, no more!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a few conflicting ideas of oakvale reaver actually I need to settle on one but I’m not sure which I’m gonna go with, one that song matches with way better

he wins second place in having inconsistent face hdkdhk

I’m always torn talking about him for like all the reasons I’ve stated and like, people talk about him plenty and maybe what I could say is different coz I think I interpret the character different to the way I see a lot, but it feels like I could put my energy elsewhere better same reason why it feels weird to draw him? he’s popular adding to that pile rather than like anyone else would feel weird of me, but my brain latches on to pirate and goes wild coz they’re important to me separately so, yknow I’m torn

I could say more probably coz like I said the fable 2 heros are my favourites and I have the most thoughts on them, but I’ve been writing this for actual hours coz words are very difficult to make and I have stuff I need to do today

anyway the oakvale ghost pirate is still cooler, he says yarrrrr and Didnt cause oakvales destruction, and he loves his wife!!! that’s like +1000 sexy points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and he’s a ghost which rocks

BEN FINN:

he’s good : ) !

I like him! he’s good

my thoughts here are very simple and I can’t elaborate past “: ) !!!”

oh he’s trans and bi

and while I usually don’t care about ships unless they’re the seafaring kind, page+hobw+ben finn is cute

he’s just good I have nothing to say and no complicated feelings i just think he’s neat : ) !

one day I’ll elaborate on the hero thing I was talking about with logan I just don’t have the energy right now

I genuinely can’t think of anything right now I’m sorry hdkdjf I just like him that’s enough!!

[96percentdone]

Why does everyone assume Ouma and Tenko are gay? Nowhere in the game did they ever say "hey, I only like men/woman" Ouma did not show any interest towards men outside of joking comments and even if he did, he could still be bi or pan, Tenko showed interest in woman but she never explicitly said only woman so so could she, I don't think it's fair ya'll are claiming people as homophobes for having a hetero/bi hc for characters who were never even stated to have a canon sexuality

Anon I’m going to be frank with you; I am very tired of having this conversation. It almost never goes well, and I shouldn’t have to keep explaining this. But hey I guess I will. Why not. 

Ouma is gay. It’s not a joke. It’s not joking comments. I could go through all of the not jokes, but that’s too much effort so I’m just gonna pick the crowner: Ouma’s piss poor alliance attempt in chapter 4. He tries, Saihara does the silent equivalent of ‘fuck off’, and Ouma’s alone. And he says this:

If you’re wondering why I’m using a Japanese screenshot, it’s because the boxed in text is what really matters, and the localization didn’t quite capture the meaning. There’s more on this here, from someone who speaks Japanese and goes more in depth, but the gist of it is this. 

The full line Ouma says something along the lines of “when i find someone I like I’ll do anything to get them to notice me, even strangle them.” But…the boxed text is what I specifically want to look at. the phrase is “suki ni natta hito” which is exclusively used when you’re talking about someone you’re falling in love with. It is entirely romantic. Harumaki even uses the phrase later for Momota. 

And moreover this is dialogue you cannot skip. It is just part of the main story. You have to read it. This is explicit proof Ouma likes men, because he says it about Saihara, a man. Doesn’t get more basic than that. Your stance on oumasai is irrelevant in the matter because it’s not about the ship, it’s about the gender of the person the sentiment is for. Ouma likes men.

As for Chabashira you pointed it out yourself. She’s very interested in Yumeno and also generally likes the woman around her. Notably, in text, more than once, she threatens the men around her with violence and gets upset at the prospect they want to touch her. Doesn’t sound very bi to me. The most annoying “she’s bi” comments are about the love hotel, and while I personally think you can just leave it as “Kodaka’s lesbophobic fantasy of conversion fucking a lesbian” given how relentlessly he coded her as one, here’s a post written in far more depth about how it’s not actually proof she’s bi. Do not come at me without reading it on Chabashira’s front. This is as far as I’m going on that.

But now to address your main point. You seem to think that unless someone explicitly screams “I am gay” they could therefore be bi or pan or whatever. I think that’s bullshit. I think if you have a character who in the text has only shown interest in the same gender (and same gender aligned nb folk), and never in anyone else, then that’s because they’re gay. It’s unfair to say “well they might show interest in the opposite gender, we just didn’t see it!” and use that as proof to tout the bi/pan hcs. You cannot make statements about canon based off of what might be true. If it’s not in the text, it’s not true. 

“but we do that with straight characters all the time!” Yes, we do. This is because straight characters are the default. A character isn’t coded as straight with their behaviors or with the gender they like. It’s assumed they’re straight, because it’s assumed the default person is straight. And straight people are abundantly represented by this logic. So it doesn’t hurt a straight person when you take a character who is defaulted as straight and go “actually they’re gay/bi/whatever” because unless shown otherwise, we’re supposed to assume they’re straight.

And you want to do that with characters who have actual coding that insinuates their sexuality too, but that’s not fair. We barely manage to get anything, and when a character is implied to be gay or a lesbian because it’s the only interest they’ve shown, and you go “well maybe they’re bi” just because they didn’t not show interest in the opposite gender, or shout out loud about being a lesbian, you’re holding gay and lesbian rep to the same standard as default straight. You are saying “any rep is bi unless it’s proven gay” when you wouldn’t do that for a bi character.

I see so much less of people taking canonically bi characters and going “maybe they’re just gay/lesbian.” I’m not saying no one has done that, they have, and I’m bi and it’s annoying, but I see a lot more of this. “they’re bi until proven otherwise.” And it’s really harmful to gay men and lesbians. When you take characters who are coded as their representation, and say they might not be that! based on things that weren’t in the text but maybe could be true and we just never saw it, you’re enforcing the “everyone in bi” mindset, and you’re telling them they have to prove themselves to you in order to escape that. You’re insisting gay people and lesbians don’t exist unless they’re loudly proclaiming themselves to the world. And that’s really harmful.

So there you go. Ouma is gay and Chabashira is a lesbian. If you’re going to just reiterate the same talking points, do not bother coming back.

[brancadoodles]

I'm fucking pumped for Baptiste, too! I know it's a little early bc they haven't dropped all his voice lines and stuff yet, but care to share any hopes/hcs/speculation about his potential interactions with sombra or your Baptiste/pharah/Mercy thoughts?

I’m still t r y i n g to get the PTR to work because the servers are busy when I try and I’ve been busy myself when not lol. I do know he blows kisses and I’m falling harder for him each day.

ok so, hopes & dreams for Baptiste in general, Sombra is there in the middle:

(under the cut it long)

- A hero that directly cares for the oppressed and it’s shown doing that but not as an outsider coming to help = long yesssssssssssssssss

- HE A DAD. I need more parent characters in this game. Ana, Torb, and Rein (as an honorary dad to Brig) = amazing, but their kids are already up and about and the only ones able to bring them down are mom & dads. I’d love to see him as a dad of a child or teenager. Did I mention I love the parent trope I love the parent trope oh yeah you do know I have 45 Kid AUs.

- I truly hope he’s one to punch injustice in the face until it’s just again. Like Pharah. I think it’s an amazing strategy and I want them to be buds.

- I also truly hope he snags Sombra by the skin of her neck and throws her 200 meters away like Sombra bugs everybody but not Baptiste.

- and snags Symmetra by the skin of HER neck and throws her in the heat of the battle because he’s tired of listening to her.

- tbh I want him grabbing people and throwing them in general directions as his ult Blizzard please hire me my ideas are always genius

- PLEASE have him be friends with Lúcio. PLEASE have Lúcio have a slight crush on him, at least.

- Also I want him punching Moira in that very puncheable Moira face.

- If he doesn’t have a zombie skin as in Haitian voodoo zombie for Halloween Terror I’m going to be very pissed

- Please make him NOT cishet pleeeeeease blizzard

About the Faith Mercy Justice ship (this is how i’m calling it because f u c k i t a l l once someone comes up with a better name I’ll change):

- idk i’m just thirsty

- Okay jokes apart: They’re all driven by the desire to do things right as protect the ones that need the most. I think they’d make a beautiful poly…c… couple? (I have next to zero idea of specific terms in poly in other languages, apologies).

- They’d work together and support each other suring the hard times. They’d understand each other and share experiences the others never had access to. Think of it: Baptiste and Mercy were orphaned in the war and choose to heal and protect the innocent; Pharah and Baptiste are on to, like I mentioned, punch injustice in the face to protect what’s right; Pharmercy is Pharmercy you don’t need me for that. I think the three of them would do well together.

- But like I mentioned before I’m not all that knowledgeable of poly relationships, so to develop that (if I ever feel like doing so) I’d have to do some research first.

- As I, as usual, consider every Overwatch character non-monosexual (bi, pan, etc) except when explicitly stated otherwise (like with Tracer and 76), I see no issue with putting a man in middle of Pharah and Mercy. I headcanon Mercy as an almost True Bi with a small penchant to men, and Pharah as a Mostly Lesbian But Sometimes I’m Shocked At Myself Falling For Dudes Pan. And Baptiste as a Hey I’m Gay so I- Oh Crap They’re Hot Bi.

- (“Headcanon” is the keyword here. Chill everybody.)

- Now, as I’m noticing that a few people seem bothered by the fact that I’m somehow “tainting” a “lesbian couple”, and ignoring the fact this is a fictional work with zero canonical info on how these 3 go, and that poly relationships exist, and that non-monosexual people exist, and that men who like women aren’t the bane of existence for simply existing nor are women/lesbians heavenly just because they exist, and that ot3 doesn’t imply an unhealthy or abusive or un-feminist relationship, and that this is my blog and I do what I want, AND ALSO BECAUSE IT BOTHERS RADFEMS APPARENTLY, I’M STICKING HARDER WITH IT.

- Also I wasn’t joking I’m also thirsty.

- (I also hc Baptiste/Lúcio please please Blizzard pleaaaase)

[falling-red-petals]

You know what tag I’m talking about

"The-tag-that-shall-not-be-named” is utterly ridiculous and full of hypocrites. (Some of these will be restating points from a previous post)

(It’ll all be under the cut)

Claim they want LGBT+ representation and that they’re allies to the community.

When a character (Illia) was confirmed to be LGBT+ they screamed and cried, deemed her to be psycho-lesbian before her character arc was even finished, and complained that no one in their yuri ships was confirmed.

Yell about how LGBT+ characters appearing in the background (such as the bamboo-heart boys) is queer-baiting when they are in fact inclusive because it shows that there are non-hetero people outside of the major characters.

To emphasize the hypocrisy these are the same people who got pissy over the fact that there weren’t any same-sex couples during the dance arc. Which was imo a justified reaction at the time but after all their bs I can’t look at as anything other than them being massive hypocrites due to their most recent reactions to LGBT characters appearing in the background. 

Only acknowledge the possibility of gayness and not any other non-hetero sexuality/orientation.

Just the biphobia, acephobia, panphobia, and heterophobia in general. 

Like both Yang and Blake have expressed attraction towards men so they’d be bi or pan but these people refuse to refer to them as such and I JUST--

Only acknowledge the possibility of Trans characters for “aesthetic” rather than giving trans people actual representation.

When actual LGBT+ fans of the show call them out on their bs "the-tag-that-shall-not-be-named” will attack them and say they don’t have any say in how LGBT+ character should be represented EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE LITERALLY TALKING TO PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.

Go around shouting at people for having “problematic” ships but then turn around and ship creepy pedo bs like Oscar/Qrow or Weiss/Ironwood.

Also they’ll say ships like Jaune/Ruby are creepy because of a 2 year age difference but then go on to ship Ruby with either Oscar or Weiss, both ships maintaining the same age difference!

Hate on any male character that isn’t “adorable” little Oscar, “attractive” Qrow or “pretty/feminine” Ren. 

Make up completely false statements about the other male characters in order to demonize them.

Will insinuate if not outright claim that various male characters are perverse, stalking, creeps who want to sexually assault the female characters for... actively caring about the said female characters and maybe touching their shoulders on occasion???

They will then proceed to ignore the actions of Adam and Mercury because they’re “hot.” 

Will also ignore any problematic actions of their waifus, even if said actions are similar to things they accuse male characters of doing.

Often forget that THEIR HEADCANONS ARE HEADCANONS AND VERBALLY ASSAULT CRWBY WHEN SOMETHING IN ACTUAL CANON CONTRADICTS THEM!!! Why???

Complain that the female characters are sexualized and then go on to draw nsfa of the under aged characters like Ruby and Oscar.

Like, they get mad about Yang having “jiggle physics” when it would only be natural for someone with bigger breasts like hers to have it??? And it’s not used for fanservice or done unrealistically to begin with so what’s the problem??? 

Say that CRWBY is full of LGBT+ phobic people when most of them have said that they want to add LGBT+ representation to the show and several of them are in the LGBT+ community themselves.

Continue to do this after it’s revealed that Illia is non-hetero.  

Take things the writers, VA’s, and animators say out of context to either “prove a point” or demonize them.

Like, they say Jaune is a Miles self-insert because he once compared himself to Jaune... But he was comparing Jaune to his much self-loathed, awkward middle schooler phase... And he’s openly disagreed with Jaune on things (namely his obliviousness towards Pyrrha’s feelings)... and Monty was the one who created Jaune... and Miles wasn’t even suppose to voice Jaune until after Monty heard him break out a dorky voice. 

Constantly criticize the animation staff for not being “as good” as Monty, ignoring that Monty had a very unique, hard to replicate style of animating fight scenes and the animation staff has made leaps and bounds when it comes to the non action scenes.

Like just take the V4 scene where Ruby discovers Jaune training to Pyrrha’s video to literally any non-action scene in V1 and tell me what looks better. 

Claim things go against Monty’s vision when they likely never met the man. Likewise they ignore the fact that Kerry and Miles were on the writing team from the beginning and that the three of them made plans together all the way up to the main 8 becoming adults.

Also claim that Pyrrha’s death wasn’t suppose to happen despite the writers, her VA, and MONTY’S OWN FIANCE STATING OTHERWISE.

Writing about how they hope Miles will die.

Blaming things on Miles when he had no involvement in whatever they’re accusing him of to begin with.

Insinuating that they can write the show better than any of the current writers and showing no proof.

Ignoring that there’s a difference between writing a show with animation, cinematography, music and voice acting to writing a book (or more accurately in their case, a fanfic).

Also ignoring that they’d be writing with pre-existing characters in a pre-existing world and how much easier that is than creating something from scratch like Monty and the rest CRWBY did.

[weavingmemories]

this is kind of a weird post to make since i usually don’t make posts like this, but i sort of want to sit down and talk about bi content in fandom and why i feel uncomfortable in a lot of the fandoms i partake in, as a bi person

buckle in, this is gonna be a lot of rambling thanks to yours truly

as someone who identifies as bi, i feel like fandom is a bit of a gray area. i’ve seen a lot of posts, and a lot of commentary, about het ships, and like. i get it. it’s easy to be naturally suspicious when people tend to ship girl/guy ships and avoid anything else. but when the character is bi/headcanoned as bi, it’s a completely different ballgame.

you’re allowed to personally headcanon whatever you want, and i never want to take that away from people, as i have bi headcanons (or as i call it: bi until proven otherwise). it’s a bias thing. as a bi person, i tend to see characters that aren’t coded to me as something else immediately as bi until i feel they might be something else. generally, this is also how i multiship, and i have ships of all kinds. but i agree that for example, if you’re gay, or straight, or a lesbian, or any other orientation (ace and aro, pan, etc!), you’d tend to lean in on your bias. this isn’t a bad thing! the problem is when you lean too heavily on your bias and get angry at people for thinking otherwise.

case in point: there’s been a lot of portal discourse floating around, and while i’ve made efforts to distance myself from it, it’s really hard when it feels so pervasive. while this is likely not intended, the attitude of many blogs insisting that ‘glados is a lesbian, and if you don’t share this thought, you’re homophobic’ is a hard one to swallow, especially as someone who does think an integral part of glados’ character is chell and her respect and intricate relationship with chell, but also ships glados and wheatley like no tomorrow. in addition, a character like glados’ sexuality could honestly be anything, even with a possible interest in chell included. she could also be bi. she could be pan. it’s never explicitly felt or stated in the canon, and quite frankly, that’s enough for me to say that leeway is allowed in headcanoning her sexuality.

and portal aside, the issue of max caulfield from life is strange. i’ve scrolled through too many of those soapbox posts in that fandom too, insisting how much they love max being gay, and erasing one of her canon love paths in favor of just picking chloe. this is an evidently, canonly bisexual character, dictated by player choice which character she chooses to pursue in a romantic manner (chloe or warren. a girl or a guy.) which already indicates she is interested in both, which already indicates she is not heterosexual or a lesbian. the player has agency over which choice is made, hell you could even respond positively to none or both of them, but this doesn’t discount the fact that those two paths are canonically available. even then, i ran into a post that was disgustedly complaining about the gross ‘hets’ shipping nathan and max, and if they HAD to have a het ship, why not pick warren? discounting that warren is a totally different character, and that despite shipping max with a guy, she still has canon interest in chloe. i ship max/nathan. i ship max/chloe. i ship max/warren. i ship max/victoria.

and clarke griffin from the 100! don’t even get me started. she has canon relationships throughout the series with guys and girls, mostly girls, but she is still. bi. she has had romantic and sexual encounters with guys and girls in the show. and while i’ve only dipped my toes in the 100 fandom, i’ve seen people comment that ‘if she ends up with ‘x guy’ im gonna puke’, as if insinuating queerbaiting when really, she’s had one short relationship with a guy that was practically immediately halted, then one relationship with a girl, then another relationship (longstanding!) with another girl. she is still bi if she ends up with a girl, or a guy.

i get it. it seems shady when people lean on het ships, but they’re also a part of what bi people are, and this doesn’t erase the part of us that is also attracted to multiple genders.

and as a final point: while it’s important to make legitimate critiques on heteronormativity, and its effect in fandom, i think it’s also important to realize that bi people are bi. i’m not shipping ‘het ships’ (in quotations because they could be bihet, or otherwise invisibly lgbt+) because i’m ‘het’, i’m shipping ‘het ships’ because that’s part of who i am. i’m tired of worrying on this blue hellsite whether i’m ‘gay enough’ and never feeling good enough for women because i’m not ‘gay enough’. i’m tired of my ‘het ships’ making people think i’m invariably heterosexual when i’m really just super bi. i’m tired of people not taking a second or two to consider this before they make loud posts screaming about how gay characters are, and if you don’t agree on this specific orientation headcanon, you must be making mental backflips because how could you think otherwise, you must be homophobic, etc. etc. all because of this specific character and this specific headcanon.

obviously this doesn’t go for canon sexualities, or obviously implied (an example i tend to lean towards in counterpoint is that i heavily headcanon and suspect chloe is canonly a lesbian). but i tend to see people waive canon bisexual characters a LOT more than i see people waive canonly gay or lesbian characters. but this may also be part of my bias, since this is a personal issue, just as lesbian erasure or gay erasure etc. plagues those specific groups of people personally as well.

[james-senpai]

On Gency

Okay, because some people have issues with Gency, I thought I’d compile a lil list of arguments that I find against Gency and why I think they’re bullshit. Disclaimer; The ship isn’t canon yet, this is refering to fan complaints, and everything below is my own interpretation of the current lore and character dynamics between the two. This is not a case FOR Gency, rather just debunking some of the toxic shit I’ve seen thrown at it. (long post incoming) TL;DR: if you have another opinion, you’re free to have it. Just try to stay on topic and don’t drag anything into it that doesn’t belong (’homophobia in OW’, current real world issues, that kinda shit) Oh, also I’m going to overlook the “It’s a het ship, so it’s boring” argument, because while I’ve seen it enough to tear y’all a new one over it, I’mma let it slide because that would be too easy to destroy (but I’ll get to that later) 1. Gency is abusive  Nowhere cited or stated. The largest asspull I’ve seen. Don’t have much to say about it since the people I’ve noticed who use this excuse can’t provide any other reason than this simple phrase. 2. Genji didn’t consent to what Mercy did to him This is like getting in a car wreck, going to a doctor, them saving your life, and then turning around and yelling at them for doing their job. Genji was injured, Overwatch picked him up, Mercy as chief medic of OW saved him, as per her job description. Genji probably didn’t want to die there either. He was a playboy at the time, so I imagine that that moment was one of clarity for him, realizing that he never truly lived for anything worthwhile and if being brought back as a part-cyborg would enable him to do so, then he’d do it. 3. OW used Genji to attack his family Again, nowhere stated or implied. It’s stated that Genji used his abilities to dismantle his family’s criminal empire, but never that Genji went on a vendetta against his family. Genji’s no idiot and was probably well aware of the things his family was doing to ensure that he lived the playboy lifestyle he enjoyed for most of his life, but never really cared until they turned against him. After being saved from death, logic would dictate that he’d have some resentment against his family for the criminal shit they were pulling and would’ve gone after them anyway even if working for OW wasn’t a part of the deal. 4. Genji hated his body, and therefore hated Mercy Another asspull and something people try to use to demonize Mercy. Genji’s hatred of himself stems from that: HIMSELF. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anyone who’s disabled to the point of losing a part of themselves, but it really takes a toll on one’s mental state, self-worth, self-image and esteem. The stress of losing his ENTIRE body coupled with the betrayal of his family more than likely left him disillusioned with the world and his place in it. And as common for men, he found peace in something greater than himself. It’s why he’s so willing to write Mercy and keep touch with her through writing. After he has found peace with himself, he realizes how grateful he is to Mercy for saving him and giving him a chance to live for something greater than himself. Even without canon romantics, it’s genuinely touching to see one character grateful for what they once took for granted and were repulsed at. 5. Mercy had no say in saving Genji Mercy’s designation is the chief medical doctor of Overwatch. Last time I checked, a doctor’s JOB is to SAVE LIVES. Angela strikes me as the kind of person who does what she does, not out of obligation, but because she wants to save lives and make the world a better place. Even if you want to go with the excuse that OW MADE her save him, odds are she would’ve done it anyway because that’s who she is. 6. Mercy turned Genji into a killing machine Genji was ALREADY a trained ninja, so also bullshit. While he did indulge in a frivolous lifestyle, he was still able to contend with Hanzo and fight him off to the point where it wasn’t a one-sided slaughter. The fact that Genji lived AT ALL after their fight is proof of his abilities and skill. The cybernetic makeover they gave him had the primary purpose of saving his life, but because they are naturally more efficient than human limbs, they inadvertently BOOSTED his already stupidly skilled body even beyond what he could do before. TL;DR, the cybernetics didn’t suddenly make him a ‘killing machine’, Genji did. also he’s not a ‘machine’, as he still retains morality and free will. 7. Mercy is evil and a white savior The evil part has already been debunked by the creators, but the ‘White Savior’ bit is really confusing to me. She’s a doctor, so her job is to literally SAVE LIVES. LIKE I HATE TO BREAK FLOW HERE, READER, BUT WHERE THE HELL DID THIS EVEN COME FROM? THE BLONDE HAIR AND BLUE EYES?? SHE’S SWEDISH! LIKE ????? Worst asspull and people just resorting to spitting insults at a character. 8. Genji is a self-insert OC so the writer can live out his dreams of fucking Mercy Yeah, because as if implying that an Asian writer wants to plow his character ISN’T racist. ok. Every character that has ever existed is an OC. And honestly, this is one of the most disgusting pulls I have seen to come out of some people’s mouths. Think before you speak, like damn... 9. The writer is homophobic and favors a straight ship over LGBT representation He’s also the guy responsible for making the comic that revealed OW’s flagship character as gay. I’m not surprised that you missed it though because, while everyone else was celebrating this fact, y’all were complaining about Genji and Mercy writing one another. While he might enjoy the ship, he has also gone on record saying that people should enjoy what they love, regardless of canon. 10. Mercy has a savior complex Side note, but I find it funny how people will say stuff like this and then turn around and ship Mercy with anyone else. Like that makes it better... Again, DOCTOR, SAVES LIVES, HELPS PEOPLE. She doesn’t do what she does out of obligation, otherwise she wouldn’t even be active after OW disbanded, but because she genuinely cares about the good of others, even to the point of disagreeing with OW from time to time and helping those afflicted by war.

11. The patient/doctor relationship is weird and gross Newsflash! EVERYONE who has actively served in OW has at some point been Mercy’s patient. So if you go by that logic, you can no longer ship her with ANYONE in the game who has ties to OW.

12. It’s a poorly-written ship Of course it’s going to be poorly written when it isn’t even CANON yet. Look, bottom line is all we have right now for them that’s concrete is canon story connections, sweet fluff in game and out of game, and voicelines that tie into those story ties. No canon comic dedicated to them, no animated short. At the end of the day, that’s what people are sending death threats over: canon fluff and connections. 13. It’s a boring ship This one bugs me and it’s probably where I’m going to close with. I’ve seen this the most, even without the ‘het’ label (because bi, pans, demi people TOTALLY don’t exist yeah?) but that it’s ‘boring’. This, at the end of the day, is an opinion, but a very unfair one.  ANY PAIRING CAN BE BORING. ANY RELATIONSHIP CAN BE BORING, EVEN GAY ONES. WHAT MAKES A PAIRING INTERESTING, A RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC, AND CHARACTERS INTERESTING ARE THE WAYS IN WHICH A PAIRING IS HANDLED, A RELATIONSHIP FLESHED OUT, AND CHARACTERS DEFINED, ALL OF WHICH OW’S CAST OF CHARACTERS ARE DESPITE NOT HAVING DEDICATED COMICS AND SHORTS TO EVERYONE. They have likes, dislikes, dynamics and themes, stories and agendas, motivations and convictions, and small bits and pieces in between. All of which makes them engaging and interesting characters that we as the audience WANT to learn more about. We WANT to see Lucio get a short because he’s a great and lovable character with a cause that he’s fighting for. We WANT a McCree short because of his past, his convictions in his time with Blackwatch, and want to see what he’s going to do next. And we LOVED the Reflections comic because, for the first time that I can remember, we saw Tracer get revealed as gay and it DIDN’T remove from her being a bad-ass, wise cracking adventurer who believes that the world could always use more heroes. What I’m getting at is if you think ship X is boring, then it tells me two things about you. Either 1.) You haven’t looked hard enough or 2.) You haven’t seen what someone who’s GOOD can do Because I have loved ships simply because of the heart and soul fans put into them. I love Symetrat because someone wrote a hella good fic that fleshed out their characters, explored the dynamics between their differences, and presented them, for lack of a better word, flawlessly. I’ve loved the sheer amount of sweetness in the art I’ve seen in the Pharmercy tag and loved the dynamic of McHanzo, two roamers looking for peace in their own way. I even loved Widowtracer, two opposing forces and ideologies, melding, clashing, and learning. And I love Gency because it’s different from the ‘guy saves girl trope’, it EMPOWERS Mercy, gives Genji a turning point in his life, and creates a dynamic friendship between the two characters that, even if it never reaches romantic canon, will always be one of my favorite character dynamics in gaming. I’ve seen it in and out of Overwatch and to several fandoms beyond. We as fans can do some pretty amazing shit when we’re not engaging in ship wars and tearing out the throats of our creators, things that can genuinely touch and impact other people’s lives in new and profound ways, add relateability  to already relatable characters, and flesh out stories and dynamics and relationships even after the official story is over, all while offering a new perspective on characters we already know and love. What I’m getting at, and will close on, is that the ship isn’t boring. You are