If you dislike this video or leave a nasty comment because you don't like "woke culture" or whatever excuse you people are using these days, I'll just recommend that you see a therapist because you probably have some complicated feelings you need to sort out with yourself.
I genuinely don’t think there’s a single nasty comment in this entire comment section because they don’t like the “woke agenda”. They’re not spreading hate, they’re not insulting anyone, they’re just disagreeing and giving valid reasons why, only to get shut down as bigoted. You’re allowed to say what you want, but we’re allowed to make our case too.
Yeah thanks for saying it everything he brings up are to big of stretches that kind of stupid no one is Harding that they are gay they are just saying your ideas are not that great
To all the people saying this video is mostly about headcanon... what's the problem with headcanon? The games have queer readings and some outright canon queer elements. Is there anything wrong simply with the notion of presenting these things as potentially LBGTQ? If it is beyond your own personal credulity to read what is in this video as even *possibly* queer, not absolutely 100%, then that's your problem.
Well he didn't mention Lanz as well. Even if he has no concept of romance like other characters develop one in the story progression he definitely gets very emotional only with male characters - Sena aside - but with Sena its also different. When he talks with Mio in the city when she is cooking soup its like Noahs and Senas talk when the flutes are exchanged. Lanz gives me way more gay vibes then Reyn to be honest. He loves - like Rex - all of them guys, Noah, Zeon, Joran and even Taion. So that got overlooked imo But otherwise: great Video Loved the parts about Jin and Malos and Sena and Mio
@@alpakafantasy5134 if i amma be honest i didnt view anything as queer related except A. i didnt know rex having 3 wives was LGBT related either but i respect that perspective
Juat watched the Xenoblade X section of the video and am genuinely surprised you didn't bring up those two over-the-top flamboyant gay men nor the revelation at the end of Mia's quests that she has two dads.
@@biggreen1456 i think he said it in a tweet. But yeah. Sena has identity issues and sees Mio as a role model. She occasionally treats Eunie the same way, mimicking the way she speaks and stuff.
@@darkrain9229 Honestly theirs sisterly relationship was one of the most wholesome parts of the entire game. You lose that when you decide that sena is actually in love with mio.
Takahashi pretty much confirmed that Sena thinks that Mio is like an older sister to her and Mio think that Sena is a cute little sister. And yes, this is canon, you can google "relationships chart" of XC3.
One problem is that both Mio and Sena don’t really have an idea what a familial sister is though since being soldiers means they don’t understand the concept of genetics and biology. Since the relationship chart was one of the very first things shown for 3 I think the text was more done to establish to the audience what type of character dynamic Mio and Sena are rather than how they exactly view each other.
@@Magic_Iceyou dont have to know what to call a bond to have that kind of bond with someone we call it. Sisterly bond only because most siblings have one. Dosnt mean you have to understand the consept of a sibling
Sheba creates water constructs with enough surface tension to interact with. So no, that tub is not a part of her. Now Beary and Ursula... I got nothing. Multi-part bodies is apparently something Cores can just do. Best guess is that Beary is Ursula's "imaginary friend" she willed into existence a few Drivers back. Not exactly the DID that Mythra and Pyra have going on, so much as Beary simply running in the background of Ursula's subconscious.
@@Nelsito99 Plus on top of that, the only time Beary ever shows up during combat is when Ursula uses a special, which is when the Blade gets the weapon.
He conveniently leaves out the cutscenes in the village before the desert where it explicitly talks about blades marrying humans, and then cuts to lora and jin being alone in the cabin together. The whole video is like that, and it's dishonest at best.
@@KanoPX Yeah, I especially disagree for Sena. It's clear to me that she's envious of Noah for understanding Mio so well cause she wants to be the perfect friend for Mio who inspired her and absolutely wants to be useful in order to be accepted, which is her main point of character development throughout the game. I feel like the line between close friendship and romantic love was crossed rather easily at some moments.
Mio and Sena were listed in an official relationship chart from MonolithSoft to be like sisters to each other. The fact that you call them queer-coded yet call Jin and Lora "brother and sister" despite the multiple scenes of them in Torna having not-subtle romantic undertones (at least on Lora's side,) is a wee bit odd to me.
One problem is that both Mio and Sena don’t really have an idea what a familial sister is though since being soldiers means they don’t understand the concept of genetics and biology. Since the relationship chart was one of the very first things shown for 3 I think the text was more done to establish to the audience what type of character dynamic Mio and Sena are rather than how they exactly view each other.
Never gonna forget how rex just turned to the camera, infodumped what bigender people are, confirmed that a/ontos/alpha/alvis is one and then the scene just continues. Actual king shit
@@aylinilya. there shouldn't be sexuality preferences for a game that practically asks you to play as a self-insert - w-"""" I bought the game, i should be allowed to be gay. let me get beat up by both men and women when i choose to go all harem!!!!
@@heroicgangster9981 lmao, yea i wanted to date ryuji so effing bad omg. persona 6 better allow you to date at least one male, (if the protag is male). i have hope because 1: it likely will have been at least 10 years since 5 and 2: they removed a transphobic joke in reload, so let’s stay hopeful
X has a bunch of rep beyond what you said actually! One that I think some people forget is Mia, the final party member you can get. In her long line of quests leading up to her final one, shes always talking about how her parents were adventurers and she wants to be a BLADE to follow in their footsteps. In her affinity mission she mentions very casually that her Dads would be proud of what shes accomplished, which while Cross acts a bit surprised it isn’t treated like a joke. Just that shes never mentioned it until that point.
@@Shadow_OA Them being twins explains why they look identical. That confused me when I ran into the second one for the first time thinking there was only one and I read the name wrong.
U rly just reminded me of that. Man.... we rly need an X port, people complaining about the final boss in 3 need to be reminded of the one in X. I love Mias whole storyline tho❤
Loved the vid!. I'd disagree with Sena/Mio and Ashera/Eunie though, I don't think they ever felt romantic but simply very close on a friendship level, but I get that they're fairly common ships and it's a nice look into their relationships regardless. The section on Malos is fantastic.
I never really read Sena as having those kinds of feelings for Mio. It felt more like she viewed Mio as a big sister. And moving to Morag x Brghid I really hope that Sena is their daughter in some way.
Apologies if I come off as homophobic, but I don't think Sena is the kid of Morag and Brighid. While it's true she has Brighid's hair, her skin color doesn't match either of them. And sure, there could always be a donor (I think most believers of the theory assume she comes from both of them because of the fictional universe), but other than that, it's not likely. But I don't want to come off as someone who shuts down the Morag x Brighid thing or anyone who likes the theory, I just think it's something that people haven't really considered
@@triplek-dysongamingwithdan7771 My personal theory has been that Sena is Morag and Brighid's daughter in the sense that Morag just awoken another Blade. And her influence on wanting a child with Brighid caused Sena to share some traits with her. Namely the blue fire hair.
@FireFury190 Yeah, I believe in something like that too, but instead that Sena is Mio's blade, since Sena is quite devoted to Mio like a Blade. Although I'm unsure if the Blade system even exists anymore after Klaus' final gift. XB2 is pretty vague in terms of the ending, but then again that's all three games.
@@FireFury190i like to think that king niall of mor ardain, aka morag’s cousin(but treat each other as siblings), is sena’s biological sperm donor father so that the child of brighid and morag has royal blood
I never picked up on a lot of these. Didn’t realize A was only ever referred to as A. Didn’t realize the archer was referred to as They/Them (But frankly I hate their class, so I didn’t get to see much of them). I did pick up on Sena and Mio, that was a good one. I’m really glad Rex ended up in a polycule. His relationships with Pyra/Mythra and Mia were really strong, and I’m glad they went the “Yeah, we’ll do this together” route instead of the jilted lover route.
Here's the thing about yuzuhara tho the Japanese original never uses pronouns to begin with cause Yuzu is gender ambiguous, so the character saying they and them in that sentence when they first met them is not them referring to yuzu's pronouns it's just them referring to the person that they just meet whom they don't know whether or not said person is male or female.
Honestly, as woke as Ive tried to be, Polygamy was the hardest one to get past the wall society built into my head. And most Harem Anime reinforced it by being kinda gross and fanservice only. Xenoblade 2 actually helped by showing a way healthier version, finally cracking the wall of assumptions and misconceptions, and now I have a way better understanding of polygamous relationships.
I think the walls around monogamy are being torn down by current cultural discourse as well, with at least polyamourous relationships being shown more and more.
Since when does a fantasy character being "In-between male or female" mean they have some weird real world identity that definitely was not prevalent when the story of the trinity processor was first being written? I really think thats a pretty big reach. The files litterally refer to A as female, and if she were trans, Shulk deadnames her in the ending. I dont think thats the look you want.
As a non-binary person myself, although I disagree on your take about non-binary/transgender being a "weird" real world identity, I cannot deny that you made a really good point about Shulk deadnaming A.
I'm surprised and not surprised you didn't include Irma from Xenoblade 3 in the video. Not surprised because she is kind of a minor character in the game. From what I've seen from her, she does seem to have some feelings for Fiona due to her keeping presents she gave her and locking them in a box and considering them very precious to her.
Am i remembering this wrong? I thought floren said he was a boy multiple times throughout the questline and not just at the end. I remember him saying im a mister and im a boy so it cant only be once. And i thought he wasnt decieving people he corrects them when they gat it wrongm
i don't think friendship between two people of the same sex necessarily means there's any romance going on. i guess caring for your friends in a platonic way is no longer a thing?
Part of the problem is that it often feels like caring for opposite-sex friends in a platonic way isn't really a thing. The truth is that we're just trash at distinguishing between platonic and romantic relationships, so since people are more used to opposite-sex romantic relationships, they get assumed to be romantic and same-sex relationships are usually assumed to be platonic. When LGBT+ concerns became more widely known, either _both_ kinds start to get treated as romantic to balance things out, or things get flipped entirely likely out of spite. Sheba is probably the only homosexual character that's impossible to argue with, and even then it's only thanks to the context of the original Japanese script.
same-sex relationships are just more unique to analyze than straight ones. The mainstream already does straight shipping to begin with, I don’t see a big problem of people analyzing queerness of people in the same sex as long as it ain’t about real people.
@@XenoBits Except they aren't. Genderswapping isn't the same as trans, femboys aren't trans either. Sheba and I guess Juniper are the only ones you got right. Everything else is headcanon or trying to claim things that aren't trans as trans.
I'm not saying femboys are trans. Femboys are queer by nature by challenging the gender binary. Transitioning from one gender to another is trans. A literally doesn't have pronouns and also operates outside of the typical gender binary.
??????? What do you mean it isn't queer? A boy dressing up in feminine clothing and wearing makeup to the point where people may assume that they're a girl is 100% queer. That's about as objectively queer as you can get.
In the Xenoblade X section, I'd have also mentioned the flamboyantly gay twins Lara Nara and Lara Mara, especially since Nara also plays a pivotal role in Erio's acceptance within NLA. Otherwise, excellent video.
Yeah, after a certain event in the game NPCs mention that one of them (can't remember which oops) had a boyfriend that passed away during the event, even though its incredibly minor it's cool that there's representation that's treated so casually in the game
I came across this video because of a recent tweet from you, and because of the Dungeon Meshi controversy, I wanted to leave a comment about it, about headcanons and interpretation. The examples that many put are canon, and others have quite a bit of room for interpretation. I was surprised not to see Nia, who is one of the characters that always gets seen in these debates. Her arc may be a trans allegory, but she is not trans as a trans would be in our world. Now her supposed bisexuality (this is already headcanon territory). The examples that are given are not enough evidence to determine that as a fact of the narrative. Canonically, she is in love with Rex. Even if her bisexuality is confirmed, they still won't get anywhere with the Aegis. Now, in the fandoms it seems that saying that a character is gay, aroce, bisexual is fine, but if you say that they are straight (with evidence) it is a war crime. In Fire Emblem Three Hopes Monica is in love with Edelgard, and it's okay to assume she's a lesbian in canon. In Akatsuki no Yona, the protagonist has even fallen in love with two boys. But if you say she's straight, part of the fandom comes down on you because they say she's bisexual. What proof is that? Just because she thought an androgynous girl was pretty. Now, what was the controversy with Dungeon Meshi? Part of the public interpreted Laios as an autistic person, and in an interview the mangaka says she didn't write him that way, but that she respected that people would think that way. She still received hate from the fandom, and that affected her. People have to understand that headcanons are just that, and they can't put it as a fact of the official narrative.
personally i dont see it with sena and mio; it looks clearly like a sisterly bond to me. i dont think she has a thing for lanz either like they also have a sibling thing going on. lanz is definitely gay though and mightve had a crush on noah and on joran growing up. i think he quite admired joran for trying harder, despite others not believing in him. and he also will definitely follow noah into any battle for no particular reason but wanting to be close to him lol. (eunie would too but for her its more camaraderie than romantic feelings). also yeah eunie and ashera were definitely close in a past life. bi best girl!!
I don't think Sena loves Mio in a romantic way. She seems like a very close friend or sister. It reminds me of Harry and Hermiogne'a (sorry, I spelt that wrong) in Harry Potter. She is more of a dependable sister figure to the character. I feel like it's not enough to understand each other majorly. I don't know, just my opinion.
Same here. I never got the feeling that Sena had romantic feelings for Mio; it always came off as very close friends or a sisterly relationship. While I could kind of see how the conversation between Noah and Sena in Ch4 could be interpreted as Sena hinting at romantic feelings, I see it simply as someone being a bit jealous to know that one of your closest friends share feelings with someone else but not you. I could also imagine that it has to do with Sena being present when Miyabi sacrificed herself, so she might just not feel comfortable discussing her feelings of anxiety about how much time she has left with someone who is already aware of those events. This is probably the only character in this video that I outright disagree with XenoBits' stance on.
@@crystalcove99 Yeah however I do slightly disagree with what you said regarding Noah and Sena's interaction in Chapter 4. I believe Sena talking to Noah in the way she does is a very much friend to friend interaction and the way she talks is more like her clearing up the situations for Noah. She has realized that her closest friend loves this guy and when they are not getting along she helps Noah figure out why and make ends meet. Sena is basically me in High School. I was exactly the same type of kid at the time and I remember when one of my closest friends started having friendship issues (because high school) I remember that was really the first time i actually had more than a five minute conversation with somebody and that was when I told them (not trying to reveal gendre here but they were a boy/ girl I realize using gender nutral pro nouns in a video talking about LGBTQ in games is a bit stupid but here we are) and it was about the feelings between those two friends and advice for him to help this friendship still move forward. Actually though thinking about it know I REALLY was Sena in high school. I actually think I did say con- science one and if you don't know that is in Segiri's hero quest. Sorry for all the typos I just wanted give a 'small' counter argument to your point but I can see where you are coming from I just think it was more of a 'Hey Noah stop being such a boy and understand girls idiot!' comment from Sena instead dof her being jealous
@@antikmonke7524 I totally agree with you there; Sena definitely gives "she likes you, stop being a dummy and apologize" vibes in that scene. Especially the way she says "She needs someone to tell her that everything will be alright... I mean *you*". She definitely sees how important Noah is to Mio and wants to push Noah in the right direction and help him ammend things. I guess I wasn't super clear in what I was saying in my comment, though. (To be fair, Sena does quite literally say "I'm actually kind of jealous" after saying that Mio just needed to vent.) I focused on the whole jealousy thing because I supposed that was likely where people would get the idea of Sena having romantic feelings; her being jealous that Mio tells Noah stuff but not her. lol don't wanna be left with a guilty con-science XD (and people try to argue that this game takes itself too seriously and doesn't have any humor)
My theory about the files that state that A is gender 1/female: I have a headcanon that Juniper is not only non-binary, but also intersex, which would mean that they are also biologically not male nor female (with would explain the gender 2), while Alvis/Alpha would be "biologically" male and A would be "biologically" female, but they would identify as "somewhere in-between", since there's the artbook that states that Alvis is "Male(???)", and when Shulk questions why A look like that(a feminine body), Rex gives that explanation about gender identity and the Trinity Processor. Alvis and Alpha are referred to as "He/him", but no line of dialogue uses "she/her" when referring to A, and that seems intentional. Pronouns are not always an indication of gender. There are so many non-binary people that are comfortable with he/him and she/her, which is why i think that: 1: Alvis/Alpha's pronouns being "He/him" doesn't automatically makes A's pronouns be "She/her", specially when we have the dialogue purposely avoiding that; 2: Alvis/Alpha's pronouns being "He/him" doesn't make him completely male or less non-binary coded, since there are plenty of non-binary people that are comfortable with "he/him". Before anyone says that Ontos is a machine and they would not have "this real world gender stuff", I would like to remind you that nothing was stopping Malos from being male and Pyra and Mythra from being female. Pyra and Mythra are a curious case, since they got pregnant and had children, which means that they are biological beings to some extent, not just machines. Also, saying that the Trinity Processor has nothing to do with "gender stuff" despite Rex's explanation requires a surprising amount of denial. Anyway, those are my thoughts about the Ontos' Gender Dilemma. As a non-binary person myself, I know that being "somewhere in-between" is not just putting "they/them" in the Twitter bio, and I think that Alvis/Alpha and A are good representation to how complicated it may be sometimes.
People like you is why most media today is garbage with your I made it all up head cannon nonsense. I can easily destroy all your clear made up points with actual facts from creators themselves, but it would seem pointless given you clearly never had a close childhood friendship in real life to understand what that even means. Also, loving loyalty, which Morag and her blade Bridget have doesn't mean gay either. Bridget had the same deep loyalty with her previous owner Hugo whom died or are we just gonna pretend that Torna didn't happen now :-)
Ok well there’s no need to completely deny Jin’s love for Lora and say there were “best friends” as if ur a straight person denying homosexuality 💀 He was VERY clearly in love with Lora, Bisexuality exists…
Ah, yes the two characters who developed a bond based on a shared misery and suicidal depression rooted from their pasts must be gay for each other. Yup.
I feel like most if not all of this is a stretch. Most of what you discussed doesn’t seem sexual in any way and personally IDC about who identifies as what and who sleeps or could sleep with who, feels a bit to fan fic like to me. Also why does every relationship between 2 characters have to be read as sexual? When you were talking about Morag and Brighid, I was a bit baffled because clearly they were just best friends, and there is nothing Gay about that. Guess this is all just my opinion at the end of the day though. (Please refer to my reply for more info)
You mistake someone having strong feelings for another as automatically sexual. That's an extremely narrow view of how love works. People come in all sorts of different shapes, sizes, colors, etc. Not every single one needs to conform to your worldview.
Not all intimate relationships are inherently sexual. People can have just romantic feelings for one another, and many people would still consider that an intimate relationship. Nothing in the video says anything about any kind of sexual relationship, it just focuses on how these characters have feelings for each other.
@@MediocreChuch1837 this was my intended point from the start. Even if it isn’t sexual (which I agree not every relationship needs to be sexual, that was actually my original point), someone who has feelings for someone of the same sex doesn’t make them automatically Gay, and a guy who is a bit more feminine or a girl who is more masculine doesn’t mean their automatically trans, people are so much more complex then that.
This was a nice vid, I just wanted to point some things, respectfully of course. I think seeing Jin and Lora as "brother and sister" is insane LOL, especially from Lora's side. This doesn't take away from Jin's and Malos' relationship though. Unrelated, but I have a feeling that a lot of Drivers and Blades find romantic affection for one another. They either end up as 'war buddies' or 'happily ever after'. And for Sena, I can definitely see she feels something for Mio but many things you mention like "accepting defeat against Noah" (not in these words but it's the best way to describe it) are literally impossible because they don't know what romance is. Only the City folk do. So, obviously romantic feelings can grow in the soldiers, we have examples of that, they aren't able to tell what they are or what they feel like this. They just don't know. I read that Chapter 4 scene as Sena accepts Mio has a very special connection with Noah which is why Mio vents more easily to Noah, and this plays a bit to her insecurities plotline because she is probably reminded of Mio's special connection to Miyabi too
not sure i buy all of these, but XC's generally progressive approach to presenting queer people is actually really nice, what with anime's standards in the area lmao
@@thepurplemudkip9998 the game??? This video didn't show one moment of them being gay. Brighid admiring her driver doesn't mean they want to bang. Tora admires Rex. Is he gay too?
Reaching and head-canons huh. You people just couldn't help yourselves with injecting and reading into stuff that isn't there. Like for real y'all can't just enjoy any piece of media unless it "validates" your feelings? You can say what you want but don't parade it around like it's facts. Also two people of the same sex can just be friends and don't always have to be in a romantic relationship. “Those who cannot conceive Friendship as a substantive love but only as a disguise or elaboration of Eros betray the fact that they have never had a friend." - C.S. Lewis
People will see what they want to see I suppose. Personally, it comes across as big headcanon outside of Sheba but if you have that view I think that’s fine. Just don’t tell others they are wrong for a differing view
Juniper is pretty explicit, though. People try to claim that Taion just said “they” because he didn’t know Juniper at that point, but even after you get to know Juniper they still go by they/them.
I'm woke af but I gotta admit half of these felt like reaches. Lifelong platonic love for someone is something deeply important too and assuming that every time two characters of the same sex/gender identity show concern for one another just limits the kinds of love queer people can have. I'm at a point in my life where I'd love far more to just have more queer friends, than more partners. Did love learning more about A & Juniper though! That was great!
I agree with all of this, except Eunie - Ashera. I feel like the dynamic between Eunie and Taion is made pretty obvious so I see the relationship with Ashera more like a deep friendship
The entire section in regards to the Xenoblade characters is just you grasping at straws. Morag and Brighid's bond is the same as the bond between any Driver and Blade, one that is forged through many battles and hardships. it feels more like a bond between two people who have known each other for a long time, and thus have a deep sense of trust for one another. That is not love, that is just a strong friendship. I can see why you would say Malos and Jin have a thing for each other, but saying the voice actor is a homosexual doesn't mean the character he voices is also a homosexual. Malos and Jin's relationship is more like a brotherly bond, it's obvious they care about one another, but not to the point that they have developed a "romance" between them. They're shared goal to destroy the world is probably one of the things that makes them friends. Juniper is NOT non-binary just because she is referred to with the words they and them. People will use words like "they" and "them" when referring to people they don't know. Just because Sena is being bullied for being different (because she wields a giant hammer), and just because she has a strong bond with Mio doesn't mean she's romantically attracted to her. If I had to offer evidence to counter this, in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3, she calls Lanz "Lanzy", indicating she has feelings for him, probably because they are both in the same class, defense, and prioritize strength and training. Sena's "love" for Mio is more akin to a friendship kind of love, not a romantic one. You can understand and knowhow someone feels and acts without falling in love with them. Eunie and Ashera do have goo conversations with each other, and watching them clash over their differing views of the world is fascinating, but just because someone asks you to do something drastic like killing them does not imply romantic love. That is an extremely large stretch. If Eunie was in love with Ashera, she would have protested Ashera's request, and refused to do it. A is not agender or gwender fluid. She is part of a machine, Alpha, and thus is a machine herself. Sure she may be half male, half female, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's a gender fluid person or whatever term you use. She clearly meant to be the female version of Alvis, Overall, while I can't say anything on the other franchises you bring up, since I haven't played them yet, I can say that you really pull at straws when you try to make some Xenoblade characters part of the lgbtq group. This is not coming from "hate," but from someone who enjoys the Xenoblade franchise deeply,.
Juniper is referred to by gender neutral pronouns even after they're introduced and have a different gender code than both the male and female characters in the code
Hey man, great video! Just a tip, I’m one of the people playing thru Xenogears and Xenosaga for the first time. I appreciate the time code letting me know where to go to skip that section of the video. However, the time stamps are labeled for who the characters are that you’re going to be talking about. So I was low key spoiled anyways
i think its also important to note, during the scene where Sena calls put noah, lanz says to Taion thats hes not interested in romance, showing that lanz may be coded as a aro/ace character
I would like to counter that with Eunie's "Hear that Noah? Lanz wants something a bit meatier ;)" xD That's not _not_ a euphemism (a Eunie-mism?). Also, maybe it's just me, but didn't it seem like Lanz was the one most tormented by [the thing that happened to their friend]? I'm totally reading too much into that, but you can't argue that's more far fetched than many other headcanons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I can totally see where you're coming from, Lanz (and many of the cast) seems to not quite have the same understanding of relationships as, for example, the people of the City, which of course is only reasonable when you're raised with literally no emotional education. PS: I don't intend to infer relationships where there aren't any, I should be perfectly content with a deep but platonic affection between friends… but then my stupid Disney-raised brain goes "no they must love each other and get married and live happily ever after, _that's the law!" ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
@@LordHonkInc i mean, the context of eunie saying "meatier" matters, she's clearly referring to lanz wants a tougher fight, lanz never openly flirts with anyone or even does anything remotely romantic, i think his personality and existance has led him to not look for romance, i think he just wants to be there for and protect his friends, sure he loves them, just in his own non romantic way, hence him saying "you can count me out for all that" when referring to noah and mio's romantic troubles
@@airrider-jk9ik I thought of the cutscene more are lanz seeing the tension and knowing to not get involved as he says something closer to yeah I'm not touching that
@@Nelsito99 possible, but consider taion's reply he replies "oh i dont know about that" while looking towards eunie, the scene is definitely supposed to be read as lanz saying he's not interested in romance
Surprised there's no segment dedicated to Tony. There's a line from his ex-girlfriend where she says he broke up with her because of what's heavily implied to be a crush on Captain Matthews, and he is explicitly bisexual in Xenosaga Freaks. Anyway I always thought it was interesting how these games are all ultra-heternormative on a surface level, but by their very nature of homaging Jung and Jewish mysticism even unintentional LGBTQ subtext is basically inevitable. Kabbalah is interesting in how a lot of it is simultaneously gender traditionalist but also chock-full of what we'd consider gender role-transgressing themes, like Adam Kadmon being bigender and more perfect because of it, men gaining knowledge of God by becoming like wives (and using a lot of overtly sexual bottoming imagery), and the Tree of Life being a guide for men and women to live better by acquiring yin-yang aspects of the other. Anything that references it in a meaningful way is going to stumble into queer subtext whether it's trying to or not.
thank you for bringing up the kabbalah (and explaining some details for those who don't know), as a jewish person who loves xeno, the series taking inspiration from judaism is super important to me and its often overlooked by goyim. >_< it warmed my heart to see someone who understands how important it is to xeno's themes. ;;_;;
this video is incredible. I love seeing how Monlithsoft and its founders where writing characters like this 25 years ago and how there continuing that today. Just another reason why Xenoblade is my favourite video game series. Happy Pride Month.
Fantastic video! I just wanted to add that, as a nonbinary person, Nia was a big gay role model for my coming out. She has a very similar arc to what I experienced, having to hide away her true self and waiting until revealing it to rex and the rest of the team. Also I find it interesting that she is a blade that was forced to live as a human by her "father". While Nia is never explicitly queer, her story felt to me like a queer one. I also have some gay friends that told me they felt it too and that they fought she was a lesbian for most of the game
If you complete a certain characters affinity quest in Xeno X, you will find out that (insert late game character) had two dads growing up. Also the side quest with the wrothian women .
This video was so great! As a queer xeno fan I loved this, I honestly never even thought of Sena or Ashera/Eunie that way before, but I love that interpretation of their arcs. I know you mentioned that you might make a separate video about the polycule but I definitely think there's a lot of cool queer subtext not just in that but specifically in the ways Nia and Pyra/Mythra interact in XC2 and I can't wait for that if you decide to make that video! Also shoutout to all the 4gender homies. We love Roc in this house
Ignore all the malding incels in the comments, this looks like a wonderful and extremely well-put together video and I’m excited to watch it after work :)
tbh I havent seen too much incel comments, I personally dont like some of the takes in the video as I feel like its a bit headcanony/looking past the creator's intention (not all of them mind you, I am not the type of guy who would for example even argue against juniper being non-binary)
Can’t really speak on Gears and Saga because I haven’t played them. Your take on Ramsus/Sigurd and Kos-Mos/Shion is definitely interesting though, might have to seriously look into getting my hands on those games. As for the games I’ve actually played, starting with X because that’s where you did, yeah it’s kind of impossible to not read the Definians as some sort of non-binary and/or trans. Also in X are Mia’s 2 dads, the Lara twins (one of which is actually important for a Definian’s questline), and a pair of *very* lesbian Wrothian women. Roc I personally read as non-binary. They very much present masculine but also mention stuff like nesting which is typically something female birds do. I actually read Floren as transmasc, the final scene of his quest essentially being him coming out about his gender identity. And just a note, he does actually correct people, quite a few times actually. I definitely agree Morag and Brigid have *something* going on, not necessarily romantic but maybe it is, but there’s *something* there and it’s very sweet. The RPMN polycule is great too. It’s a really healthy relationship compared to a lot of depictions of polygamy/polyamory which is nice. Beary is sort of a part of Ursula, I don’t think anyone’s really clear on it. I personally see him as almost her imaginary friend willed into existence. Sheba is definitely doing the royal we thing. And she’s a giga-lesbian, hard agree. Not a big fan of the interpretation of Malos/Jin, it very much feels more like doomer dudebros rather than gay lovers. It’s definitely interesting though, and I can see where it’s coming from. As for Lora/Jin, I don’t see them as romantically involved either, it definitely comes off as more familial although there are a lot of romantic undertones throughout Torna so I’m not super sure. Nothing much to say about Juniper, they’re non-binary through and through and I love them. I don’t personally see Sena/Mio as a romantic pairing either, again it comes off more familial. I actually really like the relationship dynamic they have, Mio being like an older sister to Sena. To be honest, I adore the whole cast of XC3 and their relationships, it absolutely reads more like a found family story than anything else, especially Sena’s relationship with Lanz. With Eunie/Ashera, again I’m not *sure* I agree, but again I can see where the idea is coming from. That said, it’s a really well developed relationship and I like it a lot. Ontos is a strange situation. The way I see it, Alvis/Alpha is male, A is female, and together they’re some sort of non-binary (perhaps agender or bigender, I’m not sure). One thing you didn’t mention though, you can’t have a rainbow without Reyn! And that’s my ramblings about queer characters in the Xeno-series.
It's been brought up a lot already but you heavily did X a disservice by not properly playing it/researching - apart from missing the most obvious (one of the main themes of the game: identity and vessel: see Elma's lines in Chapter 11 and Doug's in Chapter 12), you've missed the Lara twins (who play an important role in the Definian quests...), the Wrothian couple, Mia, the various alien races, and Kiefer and Leland (from "Fathers and Sons", which explores being able to choose an appearance that does not match their actual selves), and in it's place put a very weak, short, and even half-hearted section on the Definians.
Loved this video, it’s great to have a comprehensive and dense video detailing this franchise’s LGBTQIA+ characters. I say this as a cisgender guy, but I found Nia’s story to be incredibly compelling in a way that I think many members of the LGBTQIA+ community could relate to. The way she finds the strength to finally reveal herself by having a strong support group in a world that has routinely wronged her was incredibly touching, and I think can be similarly comforting to others who have had to “come out” to anyone. You can guess by my pfp, but it resonated with me a lot, and I’m happy this franchise is so abundant with varying characters with different life experiences that someone could relate to.
My bad if I sound like a joyless asshole lol, if you can see queer people and themes in this series then that's great. But like XC3 has to be one of the most heteronormative pieces of media ever made. At times the entire plot feels like its about restoring the nuclear heterosexual family. Chapter 5 exists solely to almost fetishize birthing, the typical family, and how great the original natural way is. Meanwhile the Kevesi and Agnus are presented as icky and unnaturally born test tube babies. A core part of the protagonists reason for defeating Moebius becomes...basically just restoring a status quo similar to real life. Why did the goal of an oppressed cast forced to fight in repetitive meaningless wars have to be just a heteronormative status quo? Noah is all like zomg we're gonna make a world for the future where everyone has choice, but the choice sill ends up pretty limited. Like the writers couldn't imagine a new meaningful progression for the world. And side note: I just kinda find NoahxMio and NxM a little forced. And besides A, who is actually good nb rep, I still think the way gender is treated is a bit regressive. Near the very beginning of the game we see the Kevesi trio casually have a mixed bath together without any odd sexualization or embarrassment. However after becoming ouroboros the characters become embarrassed to change in front of each other and this also continues in some side quests. I don't really understand what the point of this change happening to the character after becoming y'know the destined heroes is other than to in some way critique it.
One theory I saw was that being freed from the Flame Clock allowed them to start noticing romantic feelings for other characters. One corroborating evidence is the scene right after they are reunited in Chapter 2 where the boys are suddenly embarrassed about changing in front of the girls
I think the Malos ones a reach. And the secondary VO just soeaking out his rear. Eunie also has more overt feeling for taion in their conversation that require much less assumptions. The Sena one i can see
You made mention of other representative characters, and I would like to expand on them as well as add more for those who may not know about the others. You joked that Roc's gender was 4. While the injoke is funny and comes from how the game handles the coding for genders of the blades, the in game stories give actual emotions. Roc has been quoted as referring to places as "a good nesting place" when skip traveling. Nesting is a typically female role for bird species. Roc, though presenting male, shows this urge as well. Combined with the fact that they have no gender code in the game, it can be safe to assume that they are non-binary. Azami is another interesting character to look at. She has a very promiscuous personality, always referring to her "darling driver" casually. The sultry tone implies that this would be a relationship that goes beyond the normal driver and blade bond. She acts the same way with Nia and Morag as she would with Zeke and Rex. This is an indication that Azami is either bisexual or pansexual. Either way, fans have run with this headcannon. Finally, I want to talk about Milton. I will admit, this is a personal headcannon, but I want to share my thoughts. Throughout the course of Torna, we see the interactions between Milton and Mikail. The two are young boys and their actions can be explained away with that fact, I think there may be something deeper for Milton. I believe it possible that Milton was gay. He is successful in getting Mik to come out of his shell and he shows that he has a deep care for him. Milton, beyond being one of the most important characters in the story of Xenoblade 2, acts in a way that extremely outgoing, which I think gives room for headcannon potential. Again, this one is my own interpretation, but I still thought it was worth sharing. This was a very nice video, I enjoyed it lots.
great video! also weird tangent on sheba's bathtub i think its just the same as a blade manifesting clothes, its probably not part of their "body" but its like. probably ether or smth condescended into. a bathtub. dunno about the bear for ursula though that ones got me stumped
Hate to ruin it, but you missed some representation of Xenoblade X There's a playable character, Mia, who reveals in her affinity mission that her parents were two men, and a quest about two possible lesbian wrothian and a couple of flamboyantly gay npc (human) twins called Lara Nara and Lara Mara I know they aren't that visible or important in he game or are just minor/optional chatacters, but I think it's cool they are there Still, love the video ❤
Still think this video should've been titled "Xenoblade LGBTQ Headcanons," because that's what 90% of this video is, headcanons. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having headcanons, or being able to personally relate with a character's experiences, but to insist that all these characters were intentionally written to be "queer coded" just screams confirmation bias, and I hate how anyone who points this out gets dismissed as being bigoted or "anti-woke." Look at any of these characters through an objective lens and you would see that aside from Sheba and Juniper, no one here was written with the intent of being queer coded. To insist otherwise is just wrong, plain and simple. Should people be more open to queer representation in Xenoblade? Absolutely, but said representation should be REAL, not based on imaginary headcanons that continue to get passed around as if they were fact.
I love this video a lot and definitely feel it should have been made, though i do personally feel like some relationships definitely feel more like headcanon then implication. Mostly just Mio/Sena as ive mostly seen them with a sibling-like relationship than one sided romance, and ashera/eunie. But that is just me, i do like how people tend to interpret those relationships though
Also i personally see Lora and Jin’s relationship as romantic, Atleast definitely from Lora’s perspective, i think if anything jin is bi but I definitely see the gay implications with Malos
I’ll be honest and say that I read like 80% of these not in this way at all; nothing really points to Ramsus and Sigmund being anything more than past friends, Shion literally says that she sees KOS-MOS as a *daughter* (that should contextualize their closeness in III), and I think it’s possible that Eunie really is just confused by Ashera’s insanity. However, the rest I can kinda see/they are literally just canon. Also if you read any of the above as canon, too, then that’s fine…besides Shion and KOS-MOS that’s just kinda disgusting when you think about it for more than a second Either way cool video for the month, epic A enjoyers unite
I'm sure some people are going to hate this video, but thanks for putting this out there anyway. As a straight ally, its sickening to see so much hate towards a community and im glad franchises like xenoblade show that its okay to be gay.
Ally here as well, I'm glad the discussion is being made and with characters like Juniper this is 100% the intention no argument, but imo theres some weird and bad takes in the video that rub me the wrong way, like Shion and Kosmos (Shion is more of a mother to Kosmos), Jin and Malos (comrades/brothers in nihilism), and Sena's friendship with Mio (this seems more like Sena looking up to Mio and being her best friend, especially when she goes to comfort Mio after she has the argument with Noah)
Why would morag and Brighid be gay? They don't show anything that would make it seem like that. Just because they have great respect for each other doesn't mean that they are gay Edit: same with jin and malos, they just have a really good friendship. And sena and mio. And also eunie and ashera, they just have a strong connection. A lot of these seem like headcanons
I knew about David Menkin claiming Malos was gay, but I didn't know he was gay himself. The fact that one of the _most_ queer coded characters want really talked about probably means that that video on XC2's polycule _will_ happen. You can _not_ get more blatant than a character in a dysphoria hoodie who's just as affectionate with same-sex party members as the opposite-sex one and has an emblem which is literally pink and blue which gets revealed when said hoodie gets ripped off as she comes out of the closet in spectacular fashion. I should also mention that this is after literally being hunted down for violating a believed-to-be immutable binary between people of their world and getting saved by a support group composed of other people who violate that same binary. Also, while not strictly LGBT, that same polycule also consists of an even less well known marginalized minority, and yet the party manages to support _them_ just as much as they would anyone else.
Wonderful video! I wrote a whole paper for grad school about how fascinating Xenoblade 3 in particular is when thinking about queer themes, as there's this really interesting contradiction present. The party is fighting against the "endless now" and how the war denies anyone the ability to make human connections and relationships, something that reads very queer to me (fighting against the way society tells you you should exist and love). But then the narrative also often pushes heteronormativity- you've got the City being presented as the "right" way for humans to be living, as encapsulated through heterosexual reproduction and the baby cutscene. But also there's Ouroboros in itself, in the way that all the base game Interlink pairings are male-female, combined with the way that fusion is often coded in media as a sexual/relationship metaphor (ex. Steven Universe, Ghost in the Shell) it sort of reads like compulsory heterosexuality acts as this magic power to end the war. And of course, this manifests with Noah & Mio who literally have this Sailor Moon romance where they're always reincarnating and finding each other. Then, although you've got Eunie and Ashera's subtext, Eunie and Taion have a decent amount of romantic coded subtext as well. But then you have Lanz and Sena-- everything you have to say with Sena stands, but Lanz's arc is also centered around grappling with Joran being part of Mobius, and these arcs are arguably more significant than Lanz and Sena's relationship with each other. Overall, I think the game is just incredibly fascinating from a queer perspective.
Well, not to be bigoted, but the endless now is sort of a false crusade and the origin of hate against homosexuals came from the most violent region on earth . I’m Bronze Age judea, not wanting to reproduce is essentially in crime against your people. Sexism and homophobia had a rational basis. Also, the city has a vested interest heteronormativity cus people for the resistence. Also, xeno is basically founded on Freud, anima and animus, which is depicted as male and female. Finally, Japan is going through a birth rate crisis and has been for a while, so in a way this game is really well done propaganda to get people to get married and have kids. Hell, the photo with Red could be seen as instructions to get married and have kids. But if they were bigoted, I don’t think they would have had Morag and Brighid end up together. Zeke and Morag would have been the indicated ship in the photo.
Not Xenoblade related but in Steven Universe fusion is clearly a metaphor for relationships including platonic (Opal), familial (Steg), romantic (Garnet) and even abusive (Malachite), while I'm not saying your doing it when people go FuSiOn = SeX in reference to SU it's incredibly reductive and pretty much flat-out wrong
@@nathanblackburn1193 Yeah I'm talking more about the general trope of fusions as relationships, which is occasionally sexually coded, than anything specific w/ SU
Geez I was expecting something more substantive, but it is literally the same stuff the shippers do whenever a character has ANY relationship with the same gender. Always reading way more into it than is there, filling gaps with desperate head canon and fan fiction. Its one of the reasons nobody is allowed to be "just friends" in anime.
I’ve always been really glad with how respectful and common queer representation is in the Xeno series, especially since it was a major part of me realizing I’m trans. It just makes me happy to see other people talkong about it too, y’know? Thanks for making this video, it was super well done!
I get the suspicion that some of these comments are alt accounts or something too, several of them have very similar layouts, if you know what I mean. You can kinda see a pattern with the way some of them are written, but I don't think they're bots though. I just find it.. interesting. I'm not usually one to wear the tinfoil hat but it was noticable enough to be distracting.
Even if you headcanon Pyra and Mythra being straight and only sexually interested in Rex, they also are from not an LGBT+ minority, but an LGBT+ _adjacent_ minority. So ya, all three members of the Trinity Processor (under the interpretation that Malos is gay) are from different marginalized identities. I'm of course talking about _the fact that Pyra even exists._ Yes, they have their own pride flags. The most common seems to be white orange and black, though it also seems to be somewhat controversial in their community.
To me this is the strength of Takahashi's writing. The characters just exist and no one questions it in universe. They aren't just a [BIG REVEAL] for brownie points like some gaming companies do these days.
yes, xenoblade is awesome for that. it treats as human beings, our sexuality and gender aren’t our personalities like how a lot of western media portrays it
I think the comments saying “I don’t read most of these as queer” or “why can’t these characters just be close friends” are sort of missing the forest for the trees. Being straight up, I don’t read all of these relationships as queer despite being gay myself. I also think it’s impossible to truly know what author intentions are without explicit text confirmation like in the case of Sheba, or unless the author comes out and says it like in the case with Tony in the beginning. But I think being able to read these characters as queer says a lot about the types of relationships represented in this series. Sure, they could be seen as close friendships, but the fact that real queer people can see their own experiences in these characters and can read them as gay/bi/trans etc is meaningful and impactful. I’m able to connect to Jin and Malos, for example, in a different way than a lot of these characters because I can see myself and my own experiences reflected in them (you know, minus the whole nihilism and end of the world stuff of course). This is why I like videos like this, and I think even if you don’t read any of these characters as queer, understanding that they can be read like that and keeping your mind open to non traditional relationships in fictional characters is only a good thing and will make you a better, more open minded person. At least that’s how I see it lol
As an aside with Juniper, their ascension quest features a moebius that has some colossal chaser (ie someone who seeks out trans partners purely out of fetishizing them, often due to it giving easy feelings of dominance) vibes to her.
I don't know if anyone else has commented this, but I honestly think that, even if she isn't literally trans, the scene with Nia and Mythra in the hot spring honest to god reads like it was showing Nia as transgender, and her story could be considered to be analogus. Starting off almost comically with Nia registering quiet jelousy over the *very* obviously feminine Mythra, Nia herself having a more androgynous build in her driver form, and dressing in more androgynous clothing, almost like trying to hide herself. They speak and hang out for a bit, and then Nia gets up. She knows, as soona s she stands up, she's going to reveal something that Mythra, up to this point having been nothing but harsh with everyone, could judge her for, and target her for. No matter what, her secret will be out, and she just has to trust Pyra, Mythra and Poppi (Poppi probably less of a concern due to probably not understanding herself) won't share it. And they don't Mythra actually stops, realizes Nia's state, and quietly asks if she wants this hidden from the others, before letting her know unequivically she has her back. If you just read through that scene without the context of Nia being a Flesh Eater, it would read like a modern tv show announcing a character as trans.
I think Rex should walk on screen and confirm every character is nonbinary from here on out. SO many people refuse to acknowledge when characters are transgender (if I never hear "it's up for interpretation" about a they/them character again it'll be too soon) so I really think he performed a valuable service in Future Redeemed.
even then I've seen a bunch of people try and argue that other interpretations of what he meant are somehow 100% what he meant and not the obvious queer answer
i read shion and kos-mos as gay in part because shion sees synthetic humans as having more value than actual humans and doesnt obscure her emotions around them and kos-mos is her knight that serves her in any way she needs
I'm gonna be honest, good video but most of these are just wrong and sound like you trying to make your favorite ships canon, which is a fine idea for a video but you should have labelled it as such instead of pretending this is actual representation, or focused on the few definitive cases like Juniper and A.
Personal headcanon: HB from XCX is trans. Everything about his personality is about being the ideal man and becoming the perfect man, and he’s very forward and proud of his masculinity. Plus, minor spoilers about the humans of Mira, but… Once the main character remembers that they and all the other active humans are mimeosomes, you can make a case that HB somehow requested a male body to fully realize his desire to transition. But that’s just a theory.
Look, I dont care what people do with their lives, so I respect different lifestyle's, but a lot of the characters that were mentioned that didnt explicitly have any confirmation of being lgbt, were just headcanons. Every blade, when treated well and has been awakened for some years, usually grows a very deep bond with their driver. Thats how it works, and thats the case for Morag and Brighid. When you get rid of blades, they literally say stuff like "I'm gonna miss you" and "was I not good enough?" Their is literally no romance with Malos and Jin. Not sure if they can be called "friends" but rather, comrades. Malos does have a connection with Jin. He understands his pain, the pain that humanity caused. They have a connection, but by no means a romantic one. As for Sena and Mio, their was also no romantic energy, and frankly, no need for one. They grew up in the same colony. Sena was an outcast, and Mio excepted her. They became freinds that look out for each other. In a world where your raised to kill or be killed, having someone to look out for you is the smarted course of action. It's the same way with Noah and his friends in colony 9. They grew up together, and they look out for eachother. Eunie and Ashera also just isn't there. Eunie didn't like her way of life, then learned about her ability to remember past lifes, a simailar case with herself. Ashera believed that she was the best one to end her life for good. Eunie understood that she hated this curse, and then they were on better terms. That's about it. I normally wouldn't care about your headcannons, but you were treating them almost like fact, in a video that SHOULD be about lgbt represenation that actually exists. I like a lot of your xeno content, but a lot of this video relied on headcannons instead of characters that were straight up confirmed to be lgbt. A lot of it went under the idea that if two people have a connection where they have relied on each other and looked out for each other for years in a world filled with danger, then they have to be a couple. (Also, you literally told people who have different opinions then you to get therapy)
“I thought it would be nice to add one in the game, too”. I think that’s exactly the modern problem with communities and social media interactions about games, movies, series ecc… Even if it’s not the case with Mother, (a good example of a recent great gay character is in FF16, where being gay is not his personality but a brilliant addition) lots of companies and authors started introducing many lgbt people in their stories, the point is that stories should NOT focus on inclusivity or diversity, when someone is making a character their job is to make a good character and the majority of the time making different types of characters improve each character and the story, but it should be a natural process not a forced one. I see in recent days lots of people aggressively attacking companies and author for not being inclusive and others doing the same for being inclusive, regardless of the quality of the work!!! This game of playing ‘Parties’ calling each other ‘woke’ or ‘racist’ is just sad. My opinion and message that’ll be obvious misunderstood is that who cares if a imaginary character is gay or not? And there’s no need to forcing them to be gay or not trying to interpretate their attitude in a way that is convenient for us. Just enjoy the beautiful art that these creative are giving us.
If you dislike this video or leave a nasty comment because you don't like "woke culture" or whatever excuse you people are using these days, I'll just recommend that you see a therapist because you probably have some complicated feelings you need to sort out with yourself.
Nah the problem I have is that all of this video is just head cannons
This video is 99.9% headcanon and tropes found in stuff
I genuinely don’t think there’s a single nasty comment in this entire comment section because they don’t like the “woke agenda”. They’re not spreading hate, they’re not insulting anyone, they’re just disagreeing and giving valid reasons why, only to get shut down as bigoted. You’re allowed to say what you want, but we’re allowed to make our case too.
Yeah thanks for saying it everything he brings up are to big of stretches that kind of stupid no one is Harding that they are gay they are just saying your ideas are not that great
To all the people saying this video is mostly about headcanon... what's the problem with headcanon? The games have queer readings and some outright canon queer elements. Is there anything wrong simply with the notion of presenting these things as potentially LBGTQ? If it is beyond your own personal credulity to read what is in this video as even *possibly* queer, not absolutely 100%, then that's your problem.
how the hell can you forget reyn
"you cant have a rainbow without reyn baby"
genuine missed opportunity
Well he didn't mention Lanz as well. Even if he has no concept of romance like other characters develop one in the story progression he definitely gets very emotional only with male characters - Sena aside - but with Sena its also different. When he talks with Mio in the city when she is cooking soup its like Noahs and Senas talk when the flutes are exchanged.
Lanz gives me way more gay vibes then Reyn to be honest. He loves - like Rex - all of them guys, Noah, Zeon, Joran and even Taion. So that got overlooked imo
But otherwise: great Video
Loved the parts about Jin and Malos and Sena and Mio
@@alpakafantasy5134 if i amma be honest i didnt view anything as queer related except A. i didnt know rex having 3 wives was LGBT related either but i respect that perspective
@@GRK_2024 that thing with the Rex quote was more a meme. But maybe not a got one lol 😅
@@GRK_2024 A is not queer she literally has a female number in the game.
ah yes, the three genders. Ontos, Logos, and Pneuma.
Gay, enby, and plural? Or just male, enby, and female?
Somewhere in between, male and female.
@@phantomzpro250 shemale?
@@angeldude101 more specifically genderfluid for Ontos.
This works rather well.
None of these characters are gay.
Spitting facts
Sheba is
Juat watched the Xenoblade X section of the video and am genuinely surprised you didn't bring up those two over-the-top flamboyant gay men nor the revelation at the end of Mia's quests that she has two dads.
Glad someone else thought of Mia's dads! Also there's a quest for some a very very overtly lesbian catgirl couple at the end of the game.
Didn’t Takehashi say that sena and mio have a sisterly relationship?
I dont know the source but that's what I inferred, Sena being the Melia of 3 feels really weird to me especially with her strong bond with Lanz
@@biggreen1456 i think he said it in a tweet. But yeah. Sena has identity issues and sees Mio as a role model. She occasionally treats Eunie the same way, mimicking the way she speaks and stuff.
Yes thats why this is super disgusting to think she has romantic feelings for her bigger sister.
@@darkrain9229 Honestly theirs sisterly relationship was one of the most wholesome parts of the entire game. You lose that when you decide that sena is actually in love with mio.
He did.
Takahashi pretty much confirmed that Sena thinks that Mio is like an older sister to her and Mio think that Sena is a cute little sister. And yes, this is canon, you can google "relationships chart" of XC3.
I'm not strictly against Sena being LGB, but she shouldn't be in love with Mio.
One problem is that both Mio and Sena don’t really have an idea what a familial sister is though since being soldiers means they don’t understand the concept of genetics and biology. Since the relationship chart was one of the very first things shown for 3 I think the text was more done to establish to the audience what type of character dynamic Mio and Sena are rather than how they exactly view each other.
@@Magic_Ice but their dynamic is pretty much the same after they learn what family is, so my point still stand.
@@elinacarmina3050 she’s a badass strong woman with (literally) fiery blue hair who wields a hammer. Sena is absolutely ace material imo
@@Magic_Iceyou dont have to know what to call a bond to have that kind of bond with someone we call it. Sisterly bond only because most siblings have one. Dosnt mean you have to understand the consept of a sibling
Sheba creates water constructs with enough surface tension to interact with. So no, that tub is not a part of her. Now Beary and Ursula... I got nothing. Multi-part bodies is apparently something Cores can just do. Best guess is that Beary is Ursula's "imaginary friend" she willed into existence a few Drivers back. Not exactly the DID that Mythra and Pyra have going on, so much as Beary simply running in the background of Ursula's subconscious.
When you think carefully about it beary is her blade weapon as her default weapon skin is those of polar bear fists
@@Nelsito99 Plus on top of that, the only time Beary ever shows up during combat is when Ursula uses a special, which is when the Blade gets the weapon.
I see it similar to newt's floating arms: An extention of her body.
Lol Jin and Lora were most definitely not like “brother and sister”
I do agree especially from Lora’s angle.
@@Magic_Ice Ngl there was a lot of takes I disagreed with in the video, but it doesn’t really matter what people headcanon lol.
I find it tough to read Lora and Jin romantically because she was a child when Jin was awoken. But your opinion on the subject is a valid as mine
He conveniently leaves out the cutscenes in the village before the desert where it explicitly talks about blades marrying humans, and then cuts to lora and jin being alone in the cabin together. The whole video is like that, and it's dishonest at best.
@@KanoPX Yeah, I especially disagree for Sena. It's clear to me that she's envious of Noah for understanding Mio so well cause she wants to be the perfect friend for Mio who inspired her and absolutely wants to be useful in order to be accepted, which is her main point of character development throughout the game. I feel like the line between close friendship and romantic love was crossed rather easily at some moments.
Mio and Sena were listed in an official relationship chart from MonolithSoft to be like sisters to each other. The fact that you call them queer-coded yet call Jin and Lora "brother and sister" despite the multiple scenes of them in Torna having not-subtle romantic undertones (at least on Lora's side,) is a wee bit odd to me.
One problem is that both Mio and Sena don’t really have an idea what a familial sister is though since being soldiers means they don’t understand the concept of genetics and biology. Since the relationship chart was one of the very first things shown for 3 I think the text was more done to establish to the audience what type of character dynamic Mio and Sena are rather than how they exactly view each other.
Never gonna forget how rex just turned to the camera, infodumped what bigender people are, confirmed that a/ontos/alpha/alvis is one and then the scene just continues. Actual king shit
He only confirmed the Ontos core as being somewhere in between
gigachadness continues
Xenoblade chronicles 3 art book says otherwise 🤭
Xeno series truly is about accepting people that are not the norm or majority, and embracing those aspects as one's traits and strengths.
it’s abnormal for japan but it’s such a breath of fresh air after so many persona games denied us to date the male characters. still upset about that
@@aylinilya. there shouldn't be sexuality preferences for a game that practically asks you to play as a self-insert - w-"""" I bought the game, i should be allowed to be gay. let me get beat up by both men and women when i choose to go all harem!!!!
@@heroicgangster9981 lmao, yea i wanted to date ryuji so effing bad omg. persona 6 better allow you to date at least one male, (if the protag is male). i have hope because 1: it likely will have been at least 10 years since 5 and 2: they removed a transphobic joke in reload, so let’s stay hopeful
@@aylinilya. it's wild there is no gay stuff when their Japanese fanbase is kinda half and half on the straight stuff and yaoi. Yaoi should sell XD
X has a bunch of rep beyond what you said actually! One that I think some people forget is Mia, the final party member you can get.
In her long line of quests leading up to her final one, shes always talking about how her parents were adventurers and she wants to be a BLADE to follow in their footsteps.
In her affinity mission she mentions very casually that her Dads would be proud of what shes accomplished, which while Cross acts a bit surprised it isn’t treated like a joke. Just that shes never mentioned it until that point.
I might be remembering wrong but isn't there a pair of explicitly gay npcs?
@@ValToadstool Yeah! They're twins and one of them is in HB's final affinity mission if I'm remembering correctly.
@@Shadow_OA Them being twins explains why they look identical. That confused me when I ran into the second one for the first time thinking there was only one and I read the name wrong.
U rly just reminded me of that. Man.... we rly need an X port, people complaining about the final boss in 3 need to be reminded of the one in X. I love Mias whole storyline tho❤
Also Phog is my boyfriend
Loved the vid!.
I'd disagree with Sena/Mio and Ashera/Eunie though, I don't think they ever felt romantic but simply very close on a friendship level, but I get that they're fairly common ships and it's a nice look into their relationships regardless.
The section on Malos is fantastic.
I never really read Sena as having those kinds of feelings for Mio. It felt more like she viewed Mio as a big sister. And moving to Morag x Brghid I really hope that Sena is their daughter in some way.
Apologies if I come off as homophobic, but I don't think Sena is the kid of Morag and Brighid. While it's true she has Brighid's hair, her skin color doesn't match either of them. And sure, there could always be a donor (I think most believers of the theory assume she comes from both of them because of the fictional universe), but other than that, it's not likely.
But I don't want to come off as someone who shuts down the Morag x Brighid thing or anyone who likes the theory, I just think it's something that people haven't really considered
@@triplek-dysongamingwithdan7771 My personal theory has been that Sena is Morag and Brighid's daughter in the sense that Morag just awoken another Blade. And her influence on wanting a child with Brighid caused Sena to share some traits with her. Namely the blue fire hair.
@FireFury190 Yeah, I believe in something like that too, but instead that Sena is Mio's blade, since Sena is quite devoted to Mio like a Blade. Although I'm unsure if the Blade system even exists anymore after Klaus' final gift. XB2 is pretty vague in terms of the ending, but then again that's all three games.
@@FireFury190i like to think that king niall of mor ardain, aka morag’s cousin(but treat each other as siblings), is sena’s biological sperm donor father so that the child of brighid and morag has royal blood
Uh two woman can’t have kids yo
I was crying at the cutscene then sena said "she just needed to vent" and I laughed HELP!
Noah: Uh, can you take that to the venting channel?
noah: mio? sus?
I never picked up on a lot of these. Didn’t realize A was only ever referred to as A. Didn’t realize the archer was referred to as They/Them (But frankly I hate their class, so I didn’t get to see much of them). I did pick up on Sena and Mio, that was a good one. I’m really glad Rex ended up in a polycule. His relationships with Pyra/Mythra and Mia were really strong, and I’m glad they went the “Yeah, we’ll do this together” route instead of the jilted lover route.
Here's the thing about yuzuhara tho the Japanese original never uses pronouns to begin with cause Yuzu is gender ambiguous, so the character saying they and them in that sentence when they first met them is not them referring to yuzu's pronouns it's just them referring to the person that they just meet whom they don't know whether or not said person is male or female.
Honestly, as woke as Ive tried to be, Polygamy was the hardest one to get past the wall society built into my head. And most Harem Anime reinforced it by being kinda gross and fanservice only.
Xenoblade 2 actually helped by showing a way healthier version, finally cracking the wall of assumptions and misconceptions, and now I have a way better understanding of polygamous relationships.
I think the walls around monogamy are being torn down by current cultural discourse as well, with at least polyamourous relationships being shown more and more.
25:07 ive always said, Moebius might be evil, but at least theyll respect your pronouns
Since when does a fantasy character being "In-between male or female" mean they have some weird real world identity that definitely was not prevalent when the story of the trinity processor was first being written?
I really think thats a pretty big reach. The files litterally refer to A as female, and if she were trans, Shulk deadnames her in the ending. I dont think thats the look you want.
I can’t believe I didn’t realize that Shulk deadnamed until you just pointed it out lol.
As a non-binary person myself, although I disagree on your take about non-binary/transgender being a "weird" real world identity, I cannot deny that you made a really good point about Shulk deadnaming A.
I'm surprised and not surprised you didn't include Irma from Xenoblade 3 in the video. Not surprised because she is kind of a minor character in the game. From what I've seen from her, she does seem to have some feelings for Fiona due to her keeping presents she gave her and locking them in a box and considering them very precious to her.
Am i remembering this wrong? I thought floren said he was a boy multiple times throughout the questline and not just at the end. I remember him saying im a mister and im a boy so it cant only be once. And i thought he wasnt decieving people he corrects them when they gat it wrongm
i don't think friendship between two people of the same sex necessarily means there's any romance going on. i guess caring for your friends in a platonic way is no longer a thing?
Part of the problem is that it often feels like caring for opposite-sex friends in a platonic way isn't really a thing. The truth is that we're just trash at distinguishing between platonic and romantic relationships, so since people are more used to opposite-sex romantic relationships, they get assumed to be romantic and same-sex relationships are usually assumed to be platonic. When LGBT+ concerns became more widely known, either _both_ kinds start to get treated as romantic to balance things out, or things get flipped entirely likely out of spite.
Sheba is probably the only homosexual character that's impossible to argue with, and even then it's only thanks to the context of the original Japanese script.
same-sex relationships are just more unique to analyze than straight ones. The mainstream already does straight shipping to begin with, I don’t see a big problem of people analyzing queerness of people in the same sex as long as it ain’t about real people.
Headcanons are nice. You also got 1 character right out of the entire video.
That's super interesting considering that 5 of the sections are 100%, without a doubt, factually canon.
Definians, Floren, Sheba, Juniper, and A.
@@XenoBits Except they aren't. Genderswapping isn't the same as trans, femboys aren't trans either. Sheba and I guess Juniper are the only ones you got right. Everything else is headcanon or trying to claim things that aren't trans as trans.
I'm not saying femboys are trans. Femboys are queer by nature by challenging the gender binary. Transitioning from one gender to another is trans. A literally doesn't have pronouns and also operates outside of the typical gender binary.
@@XenoBitsFemboys aren't queer at all. I get you want representation but trying to claim characters isn't the right way to do it.
??????? What do you mean it isn't queer? A boy dressing up in feminine clothing and wearing makeup to the point where people may assume that they're a girl is 100% queer. That's about as objectively queer as you can get.
In the Xenoblade X section, I'd have also mentioned the flamboyantly gay twins Lara Nara and Lara Mara, especially since Nara also plays a pivotal role in Erio's acceptance within NLA. Otherwise, excellent video.
Yeah, after a certain event in the game NPCs mention that one of them (can't remember which oops) had a boyfriend that passed away during the event, even though its incredibly minor it's cool that there's representation that's treated so casually in the game
I came across this video because of a recent tweet from you, and because of the Dungeon Meshi controversy, I wanted to leave a comment about it, about headcanons and interpretation. The examples that many put are canon, and others have quite a bit of room for interpretation. I was surprised not to see Nia, who is one of the characters that always gets seen in these debates. Her arc may be a trans allegory, but she is not trans as a trans would be in our world. Now her supposed bisexuality (this is already headcanon territory). The examples that are given are not enough evidence to determine that as a fact of the narrative. Canonically, she is in love with Rex. Even if her bisexuality is confirmed, they still won't get anywhere with the Aegis. Now, in the fandoms it seems that saying that a character is gay, aroce, bisexual is fine, but if you say that they are straight (with evidence) it is a war crime. In Fire Emblem Three Hopes Monica is in love with Edelgard, and it's okay to assume she's a lesbian in canon. In Akatsuki no Yona, the protagonist has even fallen in love with two boys. But if you say she's straight, part of the fandom comes down on you because they say she's bisexual. What proof is that? Just because she thought an androgynous girl was pretty. Now, what was the controversy with Dungeon Meshi? Part of the public interpreted Laios as an autistic person, and in an interview the mangaka says she didn't write him that way, but that she respected that people would think that way. She still received hate from the fandom, and that affected her. People have to understand that headcanons are just that, and they can't put it as a fact of the official narrative.
THE “HI IM AGENDER” KILLED ME AHAHAHAHAHAHA
personally i dont see it with sena and mio; it looks clearly like a sisterly bond to me. i dont think she has a thing for lanz either like they also have a sibling thing going on. lanz is definitely gay though and mightve had a crush on noah and on joran growing up. i think he quite admired joran for trying harder, despite others not believing in him. and he also will definitely follow noah into any battle for no particular reason but wanting to be close to him lol. (eunie would too but for her its more camaraderie than romantic feelings). also yeah eunie and ashera were definitely close in a past life. bi best girl!!
I agree with the Sena and Mio thing but the other stuff is just kinda crazy headcanon tbh
But u can have ur own opinion
I don't think Sena loves Mio in a romantic way. She seems like a very close friend or sister. It reminds me of Harry and Hermiogne'a (sorry, I spelt that wrong) in Harry Potter. She is more of a dependable sister figure to the character. I feel like it's not enough to understand each other majorly. I don't know, just my opinion.
Kohai admiring there senpai and the senpai doting on the kohai is a common trope in Japanese media, and you'll even find it without.
Same here. I never got the feeling that Sena had romantic feelings for Mio; it always came off as very close friends or a sisterly relationship. While I could kind of see how the conversation between Noah and Sena in Ch4 could be interpreted as Sena hinting at romantic feelings, I see it simply as someone being a bit jealous to know that one of your closest friends share feelings with someone else but not you. I could also imagine that it has to do with Sena being present when Miyabi sacrificed herself, so she might just not feel comfortable discussing her feelings of anxiety about how much time she has left with someone who is already aware of those events. This is probably the only character in this video that I outright disagree with XenoBits' stance on.
@@crystalcove99 Yeah however I do slightly disagree with what you said regarding Noah and Sena's interaction in Chapter 4. I believe Sena talking to Noah in the way she does is a very much friend to friend interaction and the way she talks is more like her clearing up the situations for Noah. She has realized that her closest friend loves this guy and when they are not getting along she helps Noah figure out why and make ends meet. Sena is basically me in High School. I was exactly the same type of kid at the time and I remember when one of my closest friends started having friendship issues (because high school) I remember that was really the first time i actually had more than a five minute conversation with somebody and that was when I told them (not trying to reveal gendre here but they were a boy/ girl I realize using gender nutral pro nouns in a video talking about LGBTQ in games is a bit stupid but here we are) and it was about the feelings between those two friends and advice for him to help this friendship still move forward. Actually though thinking about it know I REALLY was Sena in high school. I actually think I did say con- science one and if you don't know that is in Segiri's hero quest. Sorry for all the typos I just wanted give a 'small' counter argument to your point but I can see where you are coming from I just think it was more of a 'Hey Noah stop being such a boy and understand girls idiot!' comment from Sena instead dof her being jealous
@@antikmonke7524 I totally agree with you there; Sena definitely gives "she likes you, stop being a dummy and apologize" vibes in that scene. Especially the way she says "She needs someone to tell her that everything will be alright... I mean *you*". She definitely sees how important Noah is to Mio and wants to push Noah in the right direction and help him ammend things. I guess I wasn't super clear in what I was saying in my comment, though. (To be fair, Sena does quite literally say "I'm actually kind of jealous" after saying that Mio just needed to vent.) I focused on the whole jealousy thing because I supposed that was likely where people would get the idea of Sena having romantic feelings; her being jealous that Mio tells Noah stuff but not her.
lol don't wanna be left with a guilty con-science XD (and people try to argue that this game takes itself too seriously and doesn't have any humor)
i disagree about jin and malos because if I was in love and it was the last time I would see my partner, I would kiss not hug
My theory about the files that state that A is gender 1/female: I have a headcanon that Juniper is not only non-binary, but also intersex, which would mean that they are also biologically not male nor female (with would explain the gender 2), while Alvis/Alpha would be "biologically" male and A would be "biologically" female, but they would identify as "somewhere in-between", since there's the artbook that states that Alvis is "Male(???)", and when Shulk questions why A look like that(a feminine body), Rex gives that explanation about gender identity and the Trinity Processor.
Alvis and Alpha are referred to as "He/him", but no line of dialogue uses "she/her" when referring to A, and that seems intentional.
Pronouns are not always an indication of gender. There are so many non-binary people that are comfortable with he/him and she/her, which is why i think that:
1: Alvis/Alpha's pronouns being "He/him" doesn't automatically makes A's pronouns be "She/her", specially when we have the dialogue purposely avoiding that;
2: Alvis/Alpha's pronouns being "He/him" doesn't make him completely male or less non-binary coded, since there are plenty of non-binary people that are comfortable with "he/him".
Before anyone says that Ontos is a machine and they would not have "this real world gender stuff", I would like to remind you that nothing was stopping Malos from being male and Pyra and Mythra from being female. Pyra and Mythra are a curious case, since they got pregnant and had children, which means that they are biological beings to some extent, not just machines. Also, saying that the Trinity Processor has nothing to do with "gender stuff" despite Rex's explanation requires a surprising amount of denial.
Anyway, those are my thoughts about the Ontos' Gender Dilemma. As a non-binary person myself, I know that being "somewhere in-between" is not just putting "they/them" in the Twitter bio, and I think that Alvis/Alpha and A are good representation to how complicated it may be sometimes.
No
xenoblade do be kinda gay as fuck
People like you is why most media today is garbage with your I made it all up head cannon nonsense. I can easily destroy all your clear made up points with actual facts from creators themselves, but it would seem pointless given you clearly never had a close childhood friendship in real life to understand what that even means. Also, loving loyalty, which Morag and her blade Bridget have doesn't mean gay either. Bridget had the same deep loyalty with her previous owner Hugo whom died or are we just gonna pretend that Torna didn't happen now :-)
*Brighid
Cook🗣🔥🔥🔥
Ok well there’s no need to completely deny Jin’s love for Lora and say there were “best friends” as if ur a straight person denying homosexuality 💀
He was VERY clearly in love with Lora, Bisexuality exists…
bro raised her from a child that's mad fucking weird
You'd have to have your head pretty far up your ass to say that Jin and Lora were like siblings. It's like saying Shulk and Fiora were like siblings.
@@vivi_valkyrie She was 27 in Torna. That's more than enough to consent.
@@vivi_valkyriewhat I like to call the Errol Musk grooming tactic. Dude had a child with his stepdaughter
Ah, yes the two characters who developed a bond based on a shared misery and suicidal depression rooted from their pasts must be gay for each other. Yup.
I feel like most if not all of this is a stretch. Most of what you discussed doesn’t seem sexual in any way and personally IDC about who identifies as what and who sleeps or could sleep with who, feels a bit to fan fic like to me. Also why does every relationship between 2 characters have to be read as sexual? When you were talking about Morag and Brighid, I was a bit baffled because clearly they were just best friends, and there is nothing Gay about that. Guess this is all just my opinion at the end of the day though. (Please refer to my reply for more info)
You mistake someone having strong feelings for another as automatically sexual. That's an extremely narrow view of how love works. People come in all sorts of different shapes, sizes, colors, etc. Not every single one needs to conform to your worldview.
@@XenoBits But there's something beautiful about friendship that gets taken away when you assume it has to be romantic though.
Not all intimate relationships are inherently sexual. People can have just romantic feelings for one another, and many people would still consider that an intimate relationship. Nothing in the video says anything about any kind of sexual relationship, it just focuses on how these characters have feelings for each other.
@@MediocreChuch1837 this was my intended point from the start. Even if it isn’t sexual (which I agree not every relationship needs to be sexual, that was actually my original point), someone who has feelings for someone of the same sex doesn’t make them automatically Gay, and a guy who is a bit more feminine or a girl who is more masculine doesn’t mean their automatically trans, people are so much more complex then that.
@@acecondor5716 Exactly!
This was a nice vid, I just wanted to point some things, respectfully of course.
I think seeing Jin and Lora as "brother and sister" is insane LOL, especially from Lora's side. This doesn't take away from Jin's and Malos' relationship though. Unrelated, but I have a feeling that a lot of Drivers and Blades find romantic affection for one another. They either end up as 'war buddies' or 'happily ever after'.
And for Sena, I can definitely see she feels something for Mio but many things you mention like "accepting defeat against Noah" (not in these words but it's the best way to describe it) are literally impossible because they don't know what romance is. Only the City folk do. So, obviously romantic feelings can grow in the soldiers, we have examples of that, they aren't able to tell what they are or what they feel like this. They just don't know. I read that Chapter 4 scene as Sena accepts Mio has a very special connection with Noah which is why Mio vents more easily to Noah, and this plays a bit to her insecurities plotline because she is probably reminded of Mio's special connection to Miyabi too
It COULD be argued that Jin only thought of her as a sister. But Lora? I don't think many people would _swoon_ over their brother.
@@elinacarmina3050 very fair
Great video! Honestly Jin and Malos's relationship deserves a video all for itself. All of new Torna's characters are so tragic and complex villains.
not sure i buy all of these, but XC's generally progressive approach to presenting queer people is actually really nice, what with anime's standards in the area lmao
Pretty sure Ramsus's sexual orientation is: I don't care, I just want someone to love me.
Keep your headcanon fantasies to yourself. Don't act like they're real intended canon. Brighid & Morag and Malos & Jin are definitely not gay couples.
source?
@@thepurplemudkip9998 the game??? This video didn't show one moment of them being gay. Brighid admiring her driver doesn't mean they want to bang. Tora admires Rex. Is he gay too?
@@TheGamePixelz yeah he is
Think I'm going to veto the Morag/Brighid ship. I'm not saying it's impossible, but that's not the vibe I'm getting.
No mention of Mia's dads in XCX :(
Reaching and head-canons huh. You people just couldn't help yourselves with injecting and reading into stuff that isn't there. Like for real y'all can't just enjoy any piece of media unless it "validates" your feelings? You can say what you want but don't parade it around like it's facts. Also two people of the same sex can just be friends and don't always have to be in a romantic relationship.
“Those who cannot conceive Friendship as a substantive love but only as a disguise or elaboration of Eros betray the fact that they have never had a friend." - C.S. Lewis
People will see what they want to see I suppose. Personally, it comes across as big headcanon outside of Sheba but if you have that view I think that’s fine. Just don’t tell others they are wrong for a differing view
Juniper is pretty explicit, though. People try to claim that Taion just said “they” because he didn’t know Juniper at that point, but even after you get to know Juniper they still go by they/them.
I'm woke af but I gotta admit half of these felt like reaches. Lifelong platonic love for someone is something deeply important too and assuming that every time two characters of the same sex/gender identity show concern for one another just limits the kinds of love queer people can have. I'm at a point in my life where I'd love far more to just have more queer friends, than more partners. Did love learning more about A & Juniper though! That was great!
I agree with all of this, except Eunie - Ashera. I feel like the dynamic between Eunie and Taion is made pretty obvious so I see the relationship with Ashera more like a deep friendship
The entire section in regards to the Xenoblade characters is just you grasping at straws. Morag and Brighid's bond is the same as the bond between any Driver and Blade, one that is forged through many battles and hardships. it feels more like a bond between two people who have known each other for a long time, and thus have a deep sense of trust for one another. That is not love, that is just a strong friendship.
I can see why you would say Malos and Jin have a thing for each other, but saying the voice actor is a homosexual doesn't mean the character he voices is also a homosexual. Malos and Jin's relationship is more like a brotherly bond, it's obvious they care about one another, but not to the point that they have developed a "romance" between them. They're shared goal to destroy the world is probably one of the things that makes them friends.
Juniper is NOT non-binary just because she is referred to with the words they and them. People will use words like "they" and "them" when referring to people they don't know.
Just because Sena is being bullied for being different (because she wields a giant hammer), and just because she has a strong bond with Mio doesn't mean she's romantically attracted to her. If I had to offer evidence to counter this, in the last chapter of Xenoblade 3, she calls Lanz "Lanzy", indicating she has feelings for him, probably because they are both in the same class, defense, and prioritize strength and training. Sena's "love" for Mio is more akin to a friendship kind of love, not a romantic one. You can understand and knowhow someone feels and acts without falling in love with them.
Eunie and Ashera do have goo conversations with each other, and watching them clash over their differing views of the world is fascinating, but just because someone asks you to do something drastic like killing them does not imply romantic love. That is an extremely large stretch. If Eunie was in love with Ashera, she would have protested Ashera's request, and refused to do it.
A is not agender or gwender fluid. She is part of a machine, Alpha, and thus is a machine herself. Sure she may be half male, half female, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's a gender fluid person or whatever term you use. She clearly meant to be the female version of Alvis,
Overall, while I can't say anything on the other franchises you bring up, since I haven't played them yet, I can say that you really pull at straws when you try to make some Xenoblade characters part of the lgbtq group. This is not coming from "hate," but from someone who enjoys the Xenoblade franchise deeply,.
Seems people forget that about A while Alvis states that he is a machine
Juniper is referred to by gender neutral pronouns even after they're introduced and have a different gender code than both the male and female characters in the code
Hey man, great video! Just a tip, I’m one of the people playing thru Xenogears and Xenosaga for the first time. I appreciate the time code letting me know where to go to skip that section of the video. However, the time stamps are labeled for who the characters are that you’re going to be talking about. So I was low key spoiled anyways
i think its also important to note, during the scene where Sena calls put noah, lanz says to Taion thats hes not interested in romance, showing that lanz may be coded as a aro/ace character
I would like to counter that with Eunie's "Hear that Noah? Lanz wants something a bit meatier ;)" xD That's not _not_ a euphemism (a Eunie-mism?).
Also, maybe it's just me, but didn't it seem like Lanz was the one most tormented by [the thing that happened to their friend]? I'm totally reading too much into that, but you can't argue that's more far fetched than many other headcanons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I can totally see where you're coming from, Lanz (and many of the cast) seems to not quite have the same understanding of relationships as, for example, the people of the City, which of course is only reasonable when you're raised with literally no emotional education.
PS: I don't intend to infer relationships where there aren't any, I should be perfectly content with a deep but platonic affection between friends… but then my stupid Disney-raised brain goes "no they must love each other and get married and live happily ever after, _that's the law!" ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
@@LordHonkInc i mean, the context of eunie saying "meatier" matters, she's clearly referring to lanz wants a tougher fight, lanz never openly flirts with anyone or even does anything remotely romantic, i think his personality and existance has led him to not look for romance, i think he just wants to be there for and protect his friends, sure he loves them, just in his own non romantic way, hence him saying "you can count me out for all that" when referring to noah and mio's romantic troubles
@@airrider-jk9ik I thought of the cutscene more are lanz seeing the tension and knowing to not get involved as he says something closer to yeah I'm not touching that
@@Nelsito99 possible, but consider taion's reply he replies "oh i dont know about that" while looking towards eunie, the scene is definitely supposed to be read as lanz saying he's not interested in romance
Qeustion: does not having any interest in romance automatically make you aro? Even in a world where you were born to fight and kill?
Surprised there's no segment dedicated to Tony. There's a line from his ex-girlfriend where she says he broke up with her because of what's heavily implied to be a crush on Captain Matthews, and he is explicitly bisexual in Xenosaga Freaks.
Anyway I always thought it was interesting how these games are all ultra-heternormative on a surface level, but by their very nature of homaging Jung and Jewish mysticism even unintentional LGBTQ subtext is basically inevitable.
Kabbalah is interesting in how a lot of it is simultaneously gender traditionalist but also chock-full of what we'd consider gender role-transgressing themes, like Adam Kadmon being bigender and more perfect because of it, men gaining knowledge of God by becoming like wives (and using a lot of overtly sexual bottoming imagery), and the Tree of Life being a guide for men and women to live better by acquiring yin-yang aspects of the other. Anything that references it in a meaningful way is going to stumble into queer subtext whether it's trying to or not.
thank you for bringing up the kabbalah (and explaining some details for those who don't know), as a jewish person who loves xeno, the series taking inspiration from judaism is super important to me and its often overlooked by goyim. >_< it warmed my heart to see someone who understands how important it is to xeno's themes. ;;_;;
this video is incredible. I love seeing how Monlithsoft and its founders where writing characters like this 25 years ago and how there continuing that today. Just another reason why Xenoblade is my favourite video game series. Happy Pride Month.
Fantastic video!
I just wanted to add that, as a nonbinary person, Nia was a big gay role model for my coming out. She has a very similar arc to what I experienced, having to hide away her true self and waiting until revealing it to rex and the rest of the team. Also I find it interesting that she is a blade that was forced to live as a human by her "father". While Nia is never explicitly queer, her story felt to me like a queer one.
I also have some gay friends that told me they felt it too and that they fought she was a lesbian for most of the game
If you complete a certain characters affinity quest in Xeno X, you will find out that (insert late game character) had two dads growing up.
Also the side quest with the wrothian women .
Look forward to the video about Rex x Nia x pyra x Mythra Polyamory relationship
It all adds up to me
*Rex walking towards the camera*
Truly
23:00 He said thank you for being a part of this team.
It all adds up to me
I'm completely straight, but i honestly still wanna get that A shirt, it's so good!!! 😂😂
My favorite queer coded moment in the series is when gael'gar jumped off that cliff!
This video was so great! As a queer xeno fan I loved this, I honestly never even thought of Sena or Ashera/Eunie that way before, but I love that interpretation of their arcs. I know you mentioned that you might make a separate video about the polycule but I definitely think there's a lot of cool queer subtext not just in that but specifically in the ways Nia and Pyra/Mythra interact in XC2 and I can't wait for that if you decide to make that video!
Also shoutout to all the 4gender homies. We love Roc in this house
Ignore all the malding incels in the comments, this looks like a wonderful and extremely well-put together video and I’m excited to watch it after work :)
Thanks so much! I'm doing my best to drown it out haha
@wildfiresnap you writing a love letter to yourself or some shit?
@@sven3413 lol
tbh I havent seen too much incel comments, I personally dont like some of the takes in the video as I feel like its a bit headcanony/looking past the creator's intention (not all of them mind you, I am not the type of guy who would for example even argue against juniper being non-binary)
@@dumatheindiandestroyer4082 it’s the most they deserve
It's been a while but in X isn't there two stereotypical flamboyant gay dudes in the hangar lol
Can’t really speak on Gears and Saga because I haven’t played them. Your take on Ramsus/Sigurd and Kos-Mos/Shion is definitely interesting though, might have to seriously look into getting my hands on those games.
As for the games I’ve actually played, starting with X because that’s where you did, yeah it’s kind of impossible to not read the Definians as some sort of non-binary and/or trans. Also in X are Mia’s 2 dads, the Lara twins (one of which is actually important for a Definian’s questline), and a pair of *very* lesbian Wrothian women.
Roc I personally read as non-binary. They very much present masculine but also mention stuff like nesting which is typically something female birds do.
I actually read Floren as transmasc, the final scene of his quest essentially being him coming out about his gender identity. And just a note, he does actually correct people, quite a few times actually.
I definitely agree Morag and Brigid have *something* going on, not necessarily romantic but maybe it is, but there’s *something* there and it’s very sweet.
The RPMN polycule is great too. It’s a really healthy relationship compared to a lot of depictions of polygamy/polyamory which is nice.
Beary is sort of a part of Ursula, I don’t think anyone’s really clear on it. I personally see him as almost her imaginary friend willed into existence.
Sheba is definitely doing the royal we thing. And she’s a giga-lesbian, hard agree.
Not a big fan of the interpretation of Malos/Jin, it very much feels more like doomer dudebros rather than gay lovers. It’s definitely interesting though, and I can see where it’s coming from. As for Lora/Jin, I don’t see them as romantically involved either, it definitely comes off as more familial although there are a lot of romantic undertones throughout Torna so I’m not super sure.
Nothing much to say about Juniper, they’re non-binary through and through and I love them.
I don’t personally see Sena/Mio as a romantic pairing either, again it comes off more familial. I actually really like the relationship dynamic they have, Mio being like an older sister to Sena. To be honest, I adore the whole cast of XC3 and their relationships, it absolutely reads more like a found family story than anything else, especially Sena’s relationship with Lanz.
With Eunie/Ashera, again I’m not *sure* I agree, but again I can see where the idea is coming from. That said, it’s a really well developed relationship and I like it a lot.
Ontos is a strange situation. The way I see it, Alvis/Alpha is male, A is female, and together they’re some sort of non-binary (perhaps agender or bigender, I’m not sure).
One thing you didn’t mention though, you can’t have a rainbow without Reyn!
And that’s my ramblings about queer characters in the Xeno-series.
It's been brought up a lot already but you heavily did X a disservice by not properly playing it/researching - apart from missing the most obvious (one of the main themes of the game: identity and vessel: see Elma's lines in Chapter 11 and Doug's in Chapter 12), you've missed the Lara twins (who play an important role in the Definian quests...), the Wrothian couple, Mia, the various alien races, and Kiefer and Leland (from "Fathers and Sons", which explores being able to choose an appearance that does not match their actual selves), and in it's place put a very weak, short, and even half-hearted section on the Definians.
Loved this video, it’s great to have a comprehensive and dense video detailing this franchise’s LGBTQIA+ characters. I say this as a cisgender guy, but I found Nia’s story to be incredibly compelling in a way that I think many members of the LGBTQIA+ community could relate to. The way she finds the strength to finally reveal herself by having a strong support group in a world that has routinely wronged her was incredibly touching, and I think can be similarly comforting to others who have had to “come out” to anyone. You can guess by my pfp, but it resonated with me a lot, and I’m happy this franchise is so abundant with varying characters with different life experiences that someone could relate to.
My bad if I sound like a joyless asshole lol, if you can see queer people and themes in this series then that's great. But like XC3 has to be one of the most heteronormative pieces of media ever made. At times the entire plot feels like its about restoring the nuclear heterosexual family. Chapter 5 exists solely to almost fetishize birthing, the typical family, and how great the original natural way is. Meanwhile the Kevesi and Agnus are presented as icky and unnaturally born test tube babies. A core part of the protagonists reason for defeating Moebius becomes...basically just restoring a status quo similar to real life.
Why did the goal of an oppressed cast forced to fight in repetitive meaningless wars have to be just a heteronormative status quo? Noah is all like zomg we're gonna make a world for the future where everyone has choice, but the choice sill ends up pretty limited. Like the writers couldn't imagine a new meaningful progression for the world. And side note: I just kinda find NoahxMio and NxM a little forced.
And besides A, who is actually good nb rep, I still think the way gender is treated is a bit regressive. Near the very beginning of the game we see the Kevesi trio casually have a mixed bath together without any odd sexualization or embarrassment. However after becoming ouroboros the characters become embarrassed to change in front of each other and this also continues in some side quests. I don't really understand what the point of this change happening to the character after becoming y'know the destined heroes is other than to in some way critique it.
One theory I saw was that being freed from the Flame Clock allowed them to start noticing romantic feelings for other characters. One corroborating evidence is the scene right after they are reunited in Chapter 2 where the boys are suddenly embarrassed about changing in front of the girls
I think the Malos ones a reach.
And the secondary VO just soeaking out his rear.
Eunie also has more overt feeling for taion in their conversation that require much less assumptions.
The Sena one i can see
You made mention of other representative characters, and I would like to expand on them as well as add more for those who may not know about the others.
You joked that Roc's gender was 4. While the injoke is funny and comes from how the game handles the coding for genders of the blades, the in game stories give actual emotions. Roc has been quoted as referring to places as "a good nesting place" when skip traveling. Nesting is a typically female role for bird species. Roc, though presenting male, shows this urge as well. Combined with the fact that they have no gender code in the game, it can be safe to assume that they are non-binary.
Azami is another interesting character to look at. She has a very promiscuous personality, always referring to her "darling driver" casually. The sultry tone implies that this would be a relationship that goes beyond the normal driver and blade bond. She acts the same way with Nia and Morag as she would with Zeke and Rex. This is an indication that Azami is either bisexual or pansexual. Either way, fans have run with this headcannon.
Finally, I want to talk about Milton. I will admit, this is a personal headcannon, but I want to share my thoughts. Throughout the course of Torna, we see the interactions between Milton and Mikail. The two are young boys and their actions can be explained away with that fact, I think there may be something deeper for Milton. I believe it possible that Milton was gay. He is successful in getting Mik to come out of his shell and he shows that he has a deep care for him. Milton, beyond being one of the most important characters in the story of Xenoblade 2, acts in a way that extremely outgoing, which I think gives room for headcannon potential. Again, this one is my own interpretation, but I still thought it was worth sharing.
This was a very nice video, I enjoyed it lots.
Itoi is the GOAT. Just flat out saying "Gay kids exist" like its fuckin nothing.
great video! also weird tangent on sheba's bathtub i think its just the same as a blade manifesting clothes, its probably not part of their "body" but its like. probably ether or smth condescended into. a bathtub. dunno about the bear for ursula though that ones got me stumped
Happy pride Xeno fans!
Hate to ruin it, but you missed some representation of Xenoblade X
There's a playable character, Mia, who reveals in her affinity mission that her parents were two men, and a quest about two possible lesbian wrothian and a couple of flamboyantly gay npc (human) twins called Lara Nara and Lara Mara
I know they aren't that visible or important in he game or are just minor/optional chatacters, but I think it's cool they are there
Still, love the video ❤
Still think this video should've been titled "Xenoblade LGBTQ Headcanons," because that's what 90% of this video is, headcanons. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having headcanons, or being able to personally relate with a character's experiences, but to insist that all these characters were intentionally written to be "queer coded" just screams confirmation bias, and I hate how anyone who points this out gets dismissed as being bigoted or "anti-woke." Look at any of these characters through an objective lens and you would see that aside from Sheba and Juniper, no one here was written with the intent of being queer coded. To insist otherwise is just wrong, plain and simple. Should people be more open to queer representation in Xenoblade? Absolutely, but said representation should be REAL, not based on imaginary headcanons that continue to get passed around as if they were fact.
I love this video a lot and definitely feel it should have been made, though i do personally feel like some relationships definitely feel more like headcanon then implication. Mostly just Mio/Sena as ive mostly seen them with a sibling-like relationship than one sided romance, and ashera/eunie. But that is just me, i do like how people tend to interpret those relationships though
Also i personally see Lora and Jin’s relationship as romantic, Atleast definitely from Lora’s perspective, i think if anything jin is bi but I definitely see the gay implications with Malos
I’ll be honest and say that I read like 80% of these not in this way at all; nothing really points to Ramsus and Sigmund being anything more than past friends, Shion literally says that she sees KOS-MOS as a *daughter* (that should contextualize their closeness in III), and I think it’s possible that Eunie really is just confused by Ashera’s insanity.
However, the rest I can kinda see/they are literally just canon. Also if you read any of the above as canon, too, then that’s fine…besides Shion and KOS-MOS that’s just kinda disgusting when you think about it for more than a second
Either way cool video for the month, epic A enjoyers unite
Some of the takes like Malos x Jin or Sena liking Mio bother me to a degree, but Kosmos X Shion REALLY bothers me
@@biggreen1456 I wouldn't have a problem with his Malos x Jin takes if he didn't straight up deny any romantic feelings between Jin and Lora.
I'm sure some people are going to hate this video, but thanks for putting this out there anyway. As a straight ally, its sickening to see so much hate towards a community and im glad franchises like xenoblade show that its okay to be gay.
Ally here as well, I'm glad the discussion is being made and with characters like Juniper this is 100% the intention no argument, but imo theres some weird and bad takes in the video that rub me the wrong way, like Shion and Kosmos (Shion is more of a mother to Kosmos), Jin and Malos (comrades/brothers in nihilism), and Sena's friendship with Mio (this seems more like Sena looking up to Mio and being her best friend, especially when she goes to comfort Mio after she has the argument with Noah)
Why would morag and Brighid be gay? They don't show anything that would make it seem like that. Just because they have great respect for each other doesn't mean that they are gay
Edit: same with jin and malos, they just have a really good friendship. And sena and mio. And also eunie and ashera, they just have a strong connection. A lot of these seem like headcanons
I knew about David Menkin claiming Malos was gay, but I didn't know he was gay himself.
The fact that one of the _most_ queer coded characters want really talked about probably means that that video on XC2's polycule _will_ happen. You can _not_ get more blatant than a character in a dysphoria hoodie who's just as affectionate with same-sex party members as the opposite-sex one and has an emblem which is literally pink and blue which gets revealed when said hoodie gets ripped off as she comes out of the closet in spectacular fashion. I should also mention that this is after literally being hunted down for violating a believed-to-be immutable binary between people of their world and getting saved by a support group composed of other people who violate that same binary.
Also, while not strictly LGBT, that same polycule also consists of an even less well known marginalized minority, and yet the party manages to support _them_ just as much as they would anyone else.
Xenogender Chronicles
Finally, the Gayblade Chronicles™️
Gayblade let it rip
XENOGAYDE CHRONICLES WAS RIGHT THERE AND YOU MISSED IT OH MY GOD
@@greatlife1047 roflrofrofl
Wonderful video! I wrote a whole paper for grad school about how fascinating Xenoblade 3 in particular is when thinking about queer themes, as there's this really interesting contradiction present. The party is fighting against the "endless now" and how the war denies anyone the ability to make human connections and relationships, something that reads very queer to me (fighting against the way society tells you you should exist and love). But then the narrative also often pushes heteronormativity- you've got the City being presented as the "right" way for humans to be living, as encapsulated through heterosexual reproduction and the baby cutscene. But also there's Ouroboros in itself, in the way that all the base game Interlink pairings are male-female, combined with the way that fusion is often coded in media as a sexual/relationship metaphor (ex. Steven Universe, Ghost in the Shell) it sort of reads like compulsory heterosexuality acts as this magic power to end the war. And of course, this manifests with Noah & Mio who literally have this Sailor Moon romance where they're always reincarnating and finding each other. Then, although you've got Eunie and Ashera's subtext, Eunie and Taion have a decent amount of romantic coded subtext as well. But then you have Lanz and Sena-- everything you have to say with Sena stands, but Lanz's arc is also centered around grappling with Joran being part of Mobius, and these arcs are arguably more significant than Lanz and Sena's relationship with each other. Overall, I think the game is just incredibly fascinating from a queer perspective.
Well, not to be bigoted, but the endless now is sort of a false crusade and the origin of hate against homosexuals came from the most violent region on earth . I’m Bronze Age judea, not wanting to reproduce is essentially in crime against your people. Sexism and homophobia had a rational basis. Also, the city has a vested interest heteronormativity cus people for the resistence. Also, xeno is basically founded on Freud, anima and animus, which is depicted as male and female. Finally, Japan is going through a birth rate crisis and has been for a while, so in a way this game is really well done propaganda to get people to get married and have kids. Hell, the photo with Red could be seen as instructions to get married and have kids. But if they were bigoted, I don’t think they would have had Morag and Brighid end up together. Zeke and Morag would have been the indicated ship in the photo.
Not Xenoblade related but in Steven Universe fusion is clearly a metaphor for relationships including platonic (Opal), familial (Steg), romantic (Garnet) and even abusive (Malachite), while I'm not saying your doing it when people go FuSiOn = SeX in reference to SU it's incredibly reductive and pretty much flat-out wrong
@@nathanblackburn1193 Yeah I'm talking more about the general trope of fusions as relationships, which is occasionally sexually coded, than anything specific w/ SU
Geez I was expecting something more substantive, but it is literally the same stuff the shippers do whenever a character has ANY relationship with the same gender. Always reading way more into it than is there, filling gaps with desperate head canon and fan fiction. Its one of the reasons nobody is allowed to be "just friends" in anime.
I’ve always been really glad with how respectful and common queer representation is in the Xeno series, especially since it was a major part of me realizing I’m trans. It just makes me happy to see other people talkong about it too, y’know?
Thanks for making this video, it was super well done!
Big L I don't need to be told as an lgbt person what this series has in representation we don't need this video
Exactly! It’s literally pointless!
I get the suspicion that some of these comments are alt accounts or something too, several of them have very similar layouts, if you know what I mean. You can kinda see a pattern with the way some of them are written, but I don't think they're bots though. I just find it.. interesting. I'm not usually one to wear the tinfoil hat but it was noticable enough to be distracting.
Ratio
@Vaguer_Weevil yeah I ain't an alt account mate this is my genuine view
@aashii1 hmmm how'd this go for you 🤨
515 comments, hoo boy this is gonna be interesting
It's dangerous 'round these parts
Malos and Alvis being part of the trinity processor means that they are not only queer coded, but they were likely coded queer
Even if you headcanon Pyra and Mythra being straight and only sexually interested in Rex, they also are from not an LGBT+ minority, but an LGBT+ _adjacent_ minority. So ya, all three members of the Trinity Processor (under the interpretation that Malos is gay) are from different marginalized identities.
I'm of course talking about _the fact that Pyra even exists._ Yes, they have their own pride flags. The most common seems to be white orange and black, though it also seems to be somewhat controversial in their community.
Shoutout to gender 4, gotta be my favorite gender😊
To me this is the strength of Takahashi's writing. The characters just exist and no one questions it in universe. They aren't just a [BIG REVEAL] for brownie points like some gaming companies do these days.
yes, xenoblade is awesome for that. it treats as human beings, our sexuality and gender aren’t our personalities like how a lot of western media portrays it
I think the comments saying “I don’t read most of these as queer” or “why can’t these characters just be close friends” are sort of missing the forest for the trees.
Being straight up, I don’t read all of these relationships as queer despite being gay myself. I also think it’s impossible to truly know what author intentions are without explicit text confirmation like in the case of Sheba, or unless the author comes out and says it like in the case with Tony in the beginning. But I think being able to read these characters as queer says a lot about the types of relationships represented in this series. Sure, they could be seen as close friendships, but the fact that real queer people can see their own experiences in these characters and can read them as gay/bi/trans etc is meaningful and impactful. I’m able to connect to Jin and Malos, for example, in a different way than a lot of these characters because I can see myself and my own experiences reflected in them (you know, minus the whole nihilism and end of the world stuff of course).
This is why I like videos like this, and I think even if you don’t read any of these characters as queer, understanding that they can be read like that and keeping your mind open to non traditional relationships in fictional characters is only a good thing and will make you a better, more open minded person. At least that’s how I see it lol
As an aside with Juniper, their ascension quest features a moebius that has some colossal chaser (ie someone who seeks out trans partners purely out of fetishizing them, often due to it giving easy feelings of dominance) vibes to her.
I don't know if anyone else has commented this, but I honestly think that, even if she isn't literally trans, the scene with Nia and Mythra in the hot spring honest to god reads like it was showing Nia as transgender, and her story could be considered to be analogus.
Starting off almost comically with Nia registering quiet jelousy over the *very* obviously feminine Mythra, Nia herself having a more androgynous build in her driver form, and dressing in more androgynous clothing, almost like trying to hide herself. They speak and hang out for a bit, and then Nia gets up. She knows, as soona s she stands up, she's going to reveal something that Mythra, up to this point having been nothing but harsh with everyone, could judge her for, and target her for. No matter what, her secret will be out, and she just has to trust Pyra, Mythra and Poppi (Poppi probably less of a concern due to probably not understanding herself) won't share it. And they don't Mythra actually stops, realizes Nia's state, and quietly asks if she wants this hidden from the others, before letting her know unequivically she has her back. If you just read through that scene without the context of Nia being a Flesh Eater, it would read like a modern tv show announcing a character as trans.
That intro was gorgeous thank you
I think Rex should walk on screen and confirm every character is nonbinary from here on out. SO many people refuse to acknowledge when characters are transgender (if I never hear "it's up for interpretation" about a they/them character again it'll be too soon) so I really think he performed a valuable service in Future Redeemed.
even then I've seen a bunch of people try and argue that other interpretations of what he meant are somehow 100% what he meant and not the obvious queer answer
i read shion and kos-mos as gay in part because shion sees synthetic humans as having more value than actual humans and doesnt obscure her emotions around them and kos-mos is her knight that serves her in any way she needs
I'm gonna be honest, good video but most of these are just wrong and sound like you trying to make your favorite ships canon, which is a fine idea for a video but you should have labelled it as such instead of pretending this is actual representation, or focused on the few definitive cases like Juniper and A.
Malos and Jin is such a massive brain take I never could’ve imaginined
Personal headcanon: HB from XCX is trans. Everything about his personality is about being the ideal man and becoming the perfect man, and he’s very forward and proud of his masculinity. Plus, minor spoilers about the humans of Mira, but… Once the main character remembers that they and all the other active humans are mimeosomes, you can make a case that HB somehow requested a male body to fully realize his desire to transition. But that’s just a theory.
Look, I dont care what people do with their lives, so I respect different lifestyle's, but a lot of the characters that were mentioned that didnt explicitly have any confirmation of being lgbt, were just headcanons.
Every blade, when treated well and has been awakened for some years, usually grows a very deep bond with their driver. Thats how it works, and thats the case for Morag and Brighid.
When you get rid of blades, they literally say stuff like "I'm gonna miss you" and "was I not good enough?"
Their is literally no romance with Malos and Jin. Not sure if they can be called "friends" but rather, comrades. Malos does have a connection with Jin. He understands his pain, the pain that humanity caused. They have a connection, but by no means a romantic one.
As for Sena and Mio, their was also no romantic energy, and frankly, no need for one. They grew up in the same colony. Sena was an outcast, and Mio excepted her. They became freinds that look out for each other. In a world where your raised to kill or be killed, having someone to look out for you is the smarted course of action. It's the same way with Noah and his friends in colony 9. They grew up together, and they look out for eachother.
Eunie and Ashera also just isn't there. Eunie didn't like her way of life, then learned about her ability to remember past lifes, a simailar case with herself. Ashera believed that she was the best one to end her life for good. Eunie understood that she hated this curse, and then they were on better terms. That's about it.
I normally wouldn't care about your headcannons, but you were treating them almost like fact, in a video that SHOULD be about lgbt represenation that actually exists.
I like a lot of your xeno content, but a lot of this video relied on headcannons instead of characters that were straight up confirmed to be lgbt. A lot of it went under the idea that if two people have a connection where they have relied on each other and looked out for each other for years in a world filled with danger, then they have to be a couple.
(Also, you literally told people who have different opinions then you to get therapy)
“I thought it would be nice to add one in the game, too”. I think that’s exactly the modern problem with communities and social media interactions about games, movies, series ecc… Even if it’s not the case with Mother, (a good example of a recent great gay character is in FF16, where being gay is not his personality but a brilliant addition) lots of companies and authors started introducing many lgbt people in their stories, the point is that stories should NOT focus on inclusivity or diversity, when someone is making a character their job is to make a good character and the majority of the time making different types of characters improve each character and the story, but it should be a natural process not a forced one. I see in recent days lots of people aggressively attacking companies and author for not being inclusive and others doing the same for being inclusive, regardless of the quality of the work!!! This game of playing ‘Parties’ calling each other ‘woke’ or ‘racist’ is just sad. My opinion and message that’ll be obvious misunderstood is that who cares if a imaginary character is gay or not? And there’s no need to forcing them to be gay or not trying to interpretate their attitude in a way that is convenient for us. Just enjoy the beautiful art that these creative are giving us.