i adore how mxtx sorta flipped the idea on the whole top/bottom thing with svsss, and just BL relationships in general.
making bingqiu very open to switching, not making the "bottom" super feminine and actually leaning more to the handsome side compared to the "top", how luo binghe is manipulative sensitive and cries easily, etc. one of the main themes in svsss is literally about sexuality (and possibly even about gender roles).
as a queer asian man myself, i absolutely despise the "yaoi archetype" and it was one of the reasons why i avoided consuming BL media. hell, years ago when i first saw heavens official blessing, i mentally groaned and went, "ugh, let me guess, the bottom is super feminine and innocent, while the top is masculine and experienced." of course, that's not the case now, but it's disappointing how that thought was there purely because of the god awful way fetish-y media portrays homosexual people and couples. because, believe it or not, we are not assigned male/female typical gender roles just because one likes to top/bottom (and even then, it's not even like that! some people have preferences, sure, but it's not so strictly "i'm top/bottom")
so, while i absolutely LOVE the english novel designs (especially luo binghe's cute curly hair, gongyi xiao, etc, and personally believe a lot of the takes from the western artist on the designs are an improvement), i am greatly saddened by people subconsciously assigning shen qingqiu as someone more delicate and feminine and luo binghe as someone super masculine and muscly. like, if you're going to have luo binghe depicted as the western design (i believe this stems from binghe being applied to more western ideals for men, and, admittedly, i actually really love his design), at least don't make shen qingqiu feminine and delicate? don't have his appearance play into the stupid yaoi thing?
i get that people have different takes on svsss, especially how the western version depicts it. but, people just... seem to very over exaggerate the top/bottom roles when it comes to bingqiu (again, these two are, canonically, VERY open to switching).
it's weird, it's uncomfortable, and it comes across as, "so, who wears the pants in the relationship?"
so, can we please have more canonically handsome shen qingqiu? canonically beautiful and pretty boy luo binghe (they literallly state that binghe looks EXACTLY like his mom, su xiyan! while a more handsome woman, is still very beautiful!! plus it is stated several times that binghe is slim, and that shang qinghua made him that way!) or at the very least, a BL couple who actually look like normal people (ok thats a little hard considering binghe is literally supposed to be perfect) and not just a stupid fetishized version of themselves.
and no, i'm not saying that queer men shouldn't be feminine or men who are feminine shouldn't be in a relationship with guys who are masculine, etc.
TLDR: please stop twinkifying shen qingqiu and going against what mxtx defied for us queer men (the stupid yaoi roles). and for the love of whoever you believe in, do NOT think that i hate the english design or people's personal interpretation of characters, i just hate the subconscious assigning of gender roles to bingqiu and how media portrays and fetishizes LGBTQ+ relationships in general.
edit: also i love teardrew's (check them out on twitter!) interpretation of shang qinghua. while i do really like the the eng novel design's tiny scared hamster vibes, teardrew's version just radiates "up to no good, paranoid but suspicious looking bitch" rat man and i love it so so so much. i'm not gonna repost their art bc i don't know how they feel about that but perhaps you can search up "svsss designs" on here, you'll see it pop up eventually lol.
edit 2 (1/16): i just saw someone reblog a post (that im pretty sure was referring to this one because, well, if you saw it i think it'd be a little clear kahxj) that was about how bingqiu switching and completely eschewing traditional top/bottom dynamics was a fandom idea or smth? so now i'm wondering, since i swear i remember that they were open to switching, but it's just that sqq preferred to bottom and/or was just a little too lazy to top. plus, sqq is a pretty unreliable narrator who says he doesn't want something one moment and then he does. how could he say no to bingbing? esp if he seems to wanna try bottoming too. perhaps i'm mixing things up though, idk? so if anyone can find that passage that says he only and strictly wants to bottom or whatever please show me! but i think the point of this post still stands haha (i wanted to ask about it, actually, but when i clicked on the og post's user it turned out that they blocked me ? so that was a little surprising oops. hey if ur somehow reading this, im... sorry for making you want to block me bc of this post? akdhxjj)
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you know, we talk a lot about characters and/or relationships (of all kinds) being 'doomed by the narrative' around here, and how haunting and gut-wrenching that can be, especially when it so often takes the form of death and destruction and tragedy.
and we should keep doing that, obviously. death and destruction and tragedy kick total ass.
however. can we please spare a thought for the clowns trapped in that same (burning) room?
after all, what is a comic relief character if not doomed by the narrative to always act like a buffoon despite any and all circumstances, all for the sake of relieving narrative tension?
how must it feel, to have everyone around you dropping dead, losing limbs, losing loved ones, and otherwise being on the receiving end of unending torment - and all you can do is stand there and prattle off another zinger at your allotted time?
and what if you lose a loved one yourself, o jester mine? what if - hear me out - you lose multiple loved ones? what if it never ends? what will you do then?
well, if you're lucky, you'll get to mourn for all five of the seconds you're allowed to before the size thirty shoes go back on and the narrative moves on to other, more plot-central characters.
if you're not - well. it's a good thing clown makeup is waterproof, isn't it?
anyway, shout out to all my comedy kings out there doomed to play perpetual funnyman to their more plot-central counterparts despite being in undeniably comparable pain. you may be doomed by the narrative, but you are beloved by me <3
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I’ve been thinking, and the more I think about it, the more suspicious this whole “witching event of the century” thing becomes to me.
I mean, okay. 5 out of 8 of the witches selected for the competition had no grand motivation for becoming the next Supreme Witch (as far as we know). Eloise specifically seems to see this whole thing as an excuse to have fun, make friends and get more powerful on top of that.
But then you get into the people who actually have backstories revealed, and, well.
Scott was living alone in the woods, desperately trying to learn advanced necromancy with no teacher and stolen books he only half-understood.
Shubble was traveling alone in a caravan, thinking that nobody likes her for her powers and she just makes everyone miserable by just being around them.
Prismarina was on the run from “them”, and only became a Water Witch because she literally dived into the ocean to escape them.
Joey was disowned because he manifested a dangerous power that was opposite to his family’s, and he pushes himself to learn an incompatible type of magic that doesn’t naturally come to him in order to return to them.
And Lauren. Poor Lauren was living alone in the desert to escape bullies who picked on her for not having any magic, and she attached herself to the first person she met since then, even though he literally burned her first.
Actually, when you think about it, ALL of the witches were living alone, presumably. They were isolated.
And Joey, Scott, and Lauren especially weren’t just alone. They were desperate too.
Let’s analyze Joey for a good example. He’d just lost the people who loved him, his home, and his security. Thrown out into the cold because of who he was. Then, not long after he came to terms with the gravity of his situation, an invitation is sent to him in a beam of pure white light. An Invitation to a contest that will (hopefully) grant him the powers to return to his family and be accepted.
It’s a miracle. It’s just what he needed.
But that begs the question... Why?
I mean, of course we know why the witches want to compete. We know that the SW needs a successor.
But... why them?
Lauren and Shubble were literal nobodies before this. Scott was a common theif stealing important tomes from traders and librarians. Joey was a member of a powerful, prestigious bloodline, sure, but the “was” there is the critical word. Pris was a literal fugitive. And Cupquake didn’t even WANT to be the next SW, but Mother Nature sent her on the path to that destiny in order to become a sort of hero. And we all know heroes are most often forced to follow the plot of their stories.
Why, out of all the witches in the world, would the Supreme Witch choose them?
I mean, I guess you could say she was feeling charitable. Even the contestants who didn’t win would grow in power, reaching almost their full potential. The SW is of failing health anyway, and who knows? Maybe she was a former nobody who won her own contest. Maybe she wanted to give the new generation’s contestants a chance. Maybe she was a good witch.
But... what if she wasn’t?
Hear me out. The Supreme Witch is being secretive and vague for a reason. A dark reason.
Maybe... she’s a liar. And maybe all the NPCs are in on it.
Take Ogien for example. She’s a rather rude witch, saying in Pris’s second episode that she “doesn’t have feelings”. She seems to not like Pris right out of the gate, and yet she’s the only one who tells her assigned contestant the full story. I mean,, not to base characters off of appearances, but she does look like a dark and regal villainess to me.
Ogien. What if she was completely and utterly talking out of her ass? What if nothing she said was the truth?
And if Ogien was lying, then, what if Mother Earth herself was also?
“But she’s Mother Nature!” I hear you say, “What reason would a good spirit like her have to lie to one of her followers?”
Let me remind you of something from the Book of Origins. The section on Nature Witches.
“Maker of vines, teller of lies.“
Now, why would that be at the very top of the description? Why are lies so heavily associated with nature witches? Why would the author of the book put so much emphasis on deceit?
Maybe some liars among the Nature Witches gave the others a bad name. Maybe there’s a stereotype among witchkind.
Or maybe this is foreshadowing. Maybe everyone associated with Mother Earth is destined to become caught in a web of lies. Because Mother Earth herself, as a deceitful spider with vine webbing.
And poor Cupquake has no idea.
Here’s my theory. The great challenge that everyone’s been invited to, the race to become the next Supreme Witch... is a total scam.
The SW doesn’t want these people to succeed her. Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to succeed her. Maybe no one will end up getting what they were promised.
But what could the SW want with these inexperienced outcasts? To drain their power, perhaps? To sacrifice them to the mentioned demon, if they even exist?
I guess we’ll find out.
And if this ends up being true, then obviously Cleo will figure this out. I mean, she’s Cleo!
But I don’t think she’ll be the one to realize first.
I think the first one to Know Too Much will be Eloise. Because she is an Illusion Witch. She knows what it’s like to be blinded. She knows how to tell when witches are being misleaded.
But the question is: will the witches be able to save themselves from this trap?
And if things go south, if they’re found out in turn... who will die?
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because i'm predictable, what're bobby and chloe up to in the villain au? or how's the dynamic between sam and dogen since he's taken psychoisolation to the extreme?
Bobby's in a pretty similar position to the regular timeline - at least, at first glance. he's overworked and underpaid, constantly crunching to try and keep on top of the ever-growing mountain of paperwork his superiors keep handing down to him.
but i think the trajectory of his character looks pretty different? he never really met Raz at Whispering Rock. he never got humbled by him, never had to suffer the embarrassment of his spot as top dog being yanked away by some new kid... but he also never really got to go through a lot of the character growth from their ensuing rivalry? he's definitely mellower than he was as a kid, but he's got a lot of unresolved issues bubbling under the surface - anger problems, poor self-esteem, a tendency to lash out at authority figures...
he still really believes in the work he's doing, and wants the Psychonauts to be the force for good he knows they can be. but he's carrying a growing burden of stress and exhaustion, stuck in a toxic work environment that's more likely to change him (or just make him snap) than he is to change it.
his only real friend at the Motherlobe is Chloe. Chloe is... well! again, first-glance, not that much has changed. she works the same job in the Motherlobe's engineering and aerospace department, and she still gets to pursue her childhood fascination with space.
but the harsher work culture and the more pragmatic, efficient environment have exacerbated some of her less personable traits. she's blunt, rude, and almost fanatically devoted to her work, to the exception of basically everything else. her workplace safety standards are lax, and her ethics laxer. she'd sell the Psychonauts out for one corn chip if she thought it'd get her better funding for her pet projects
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