#they gave ristelle a ship name but then she still ends up with Yuri more or less

[qberryshortcake]

Just to steelman my own post and add a thing because I don't actually know what the original series is about. Here's my rule of thumb:

Are there boys or girls that seem like they could or might kiss, but instead kiss their opposite gender counterpart? That could, theoretically, be called comphet.

Great example of this? She-Ra had four bi characters that ended in het relationships.

Weird that in a series where the base assumption was "everyone is gay" the main crew ended up in three m/f relationships and two f/f relationships. The only m/m relationships we get are Bow's dads and Ronnie/Rogelio/Kyle. Now, do I think that ND Stephenson, transmasc nb, did this intentionally? No. I think this is how he thought it worked out best. Did he unintentionally reinforce some standards? I think the argument could be made.

Is the story about a boy and a girl who end up in a relationship together? This is probably not comphet in a way that's worth talking about, though there's a lot of nuance.

Pick any series. Vin and Elend from Mistborn, Han and Leia from Star Wars, any romcom.

In this case, it's less of an enforcement and more of a reflection. That most romcoms are straight is comphet, but criticizing them individually for this is not useful, since they exist in a larger system that also pushed them to be about straight relationships.

On the other hand, if a game is about a huge cast of characters, and the male main character has multiple potential love interests, and they're all girls..... you see where I'm going with this. Double if those girls never end up together or with other girls. Triple if there's chemistry, but the story dictates that a given person ends up with the male lead....

*stares at the Tales series*

people who quit playing trails in the sky because of the romance between estelle and joshua are weak