• I put off posting this for like 2 months lol

I'm almost certain they DO expect you to take it that way. The English localizers kept trying to make Marina seem less gay in Splatoon 2 so they let her fuck in 3 to atone

    • Dessa [she/her]
      hexbear
      8
      1 month ago

      It seems strange to me that Nintendo would have canon trans characters but not 100% confirmed gay characters, but i think that's the case

      • ashinadash [she/her, comrade/them]
        hexbear
        10
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        Vivian in Thousand Year Door?

        Nintendo Are Fascists answer: trans people are great to assimilate if they're straight

        Nintendo is a corporation answer: they probably just didn't control their image quite as tightly back then, they let Golgo 13 onto the NES, and made Captain Rainbow which has bathroom transphobia innit

        • Starlet [she/her, it/its]
          hexagon
          hexbear
          6
          edit-2
          1 month ago

          they probably just didn't control their image quite as tightly back then

          It actually looks like they might be including it in the English version this time! The game is getting completely relocalized.

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          This is the only dialog we have so far regarding it—It seems as if Beldam is refusing to recognize Vivian as her sister a la the Japanese script. Though, Goombella and the narrator are also bigoted in the original version, which I can't imagine they're keeping.

      • @Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml
        hexbear
        7
        1 month ago

        It's a Japanese culture thing, not a Nintendo thing.

        Japan - and a lot of other countries, Iran being a big example - take the Transmedicalist view as mainstream. They value cultural assimilation along gender lines, but also understand that a trans person is not their AGAB. So as long as you do everything in your power to comform to your preferred gender, most (but not all) people will accept you. Being trans is fine; being "queer" is not.

    • Starlet [she/her, it/its]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      7
      1 month ago

      Yeah, they keep the veil of plausible deniability, but it could NOT be any thinner. Also:

      • I'm pretty sure you can be gay in Fire Emblem
      - This DLC has a they/them octopus in it

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      • There is way more flirty dialog than just the one I posted
      - I mean look at these two

      Show

      • ashinadash [she/her, comrade/them]
        hexbear
        4
        1 month ago

        Fire Emblem is by Intelligent Systems ✨ but also, "my coffee maker has one job - to make coffee! I am not subject to coffee undertones!"

        • Starlet [she/her, it/its]
          hexagon
          hexbear
          3
          edit-2
          1 month ago

          I think I get what you mean, but I wouldn't even say it counts as "undertones". It feels more like it's just the point

          Marina's diaries where she keeps using heart emojis when talking about Pearl

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          Marina's wallpaper being this picture of Pearl wearing both of their jewelery

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          Marina seemingly getting jealous of Acht when she thinks they're hitting on Pearl (which is somehow queer no matter how you interpret it)

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          This actual shoujo manga Marina made with a love letter to Pearl shown

          and there's still somehow way more than this in-game. Nintendo is barely holding back