I Don't Wanna Be Weird But Semi Based On The Comments He Makes About Assaultrons, I Think Nick's Type

It wouldn’t be historically accurate for my story to include BIPOC!

This is an argument often made about European-style fantasy media like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Disney’s Frozen. Audiences, often white, assume that due to the majority-white setting, adding any visible number of BIPOC to the story would be unrealistic.

What these critics fail to realize is that BIPOC do in fact live, and have lived, in these settings, and records of BIPOC presence in places assumed to be majority-white have been buried, written out, or not taught due to white supremacist and/or colonial bias in the field of history. There are historical European settings that were far more diverse than is often portrayed. Consider:

The Moorish Empire exerted an extensive influence over life and culture in Southern Europe from Spain from 711 to 1492

The Ottomans were heavily involved in European affairs up until the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, but still considered a part of Europe even through the 19th century

The sheer size of the Roman Empire ensured the continued movement of people from various backgrounds within the Mediterranean well until the end of the Byzantine Empire.

“Historical accuracy” should not be used as an excuse for media to be exclusively white in its casting. While there are places which are or were predominantly white, there will always be factors like global trade and immigration that bring multiculturalism to their doors.

And even if the presence of a certain demographic is unrealistic for a certain setting? Consider that we’ve accepted far worse inaccuracies in historical fiction in the name of artistic license. Consider that our understanding of human history is, and will always be, incomplete.

Further Reading:

Historically Diverse London, “Historical Accuracy,” and Creator Accountability

Making a Black Pride and Prejudice Resonate

---

This Q&A is an excerpt from our General FAQ for Newcomers, which can be found in our new Masterpost of rules and FAQs. If you're new to Writing With Color and/or want more writing resources, check it out!

-Writing With Color

markiplier lore is queer: an essay by me.

dedicated to @system32-cleanmgr <2

so, to start things off, i wanna talk about the gender of it all. because of the gender ambiguity of the viewer insert in almost every markiplier lore video, the universe now has at least three canonical non-binary characters who go by they/them pronouns (wether these characters are all the same character, different characters, or kind of the same character is unknown).

but that's not where the gender fuckery of the better mcu ends. you see, there's also the (subtextual and mostly ignored, yes, but still relevant) overall gender fuckery of darkiplier's character. because, while they present male, they are still in some ways a combination of celine and damien, two people of opposite genders (not to mention the fact that they exist inside the body of the viewer from who killed markiplier, who's one of the formerly mentioned non-binary characters). so, while not explicit representation, i personally like to think of darkiplier as some flavor of genderfluid.

i also feel like damien and celine's specific gender expressions themselves affect darkiplier in some ways: while they're both (presumably) cis, the two still have very distinct ways of performing their respective gender identities. damien portrays a softer version of masculinity, whereas celine shows a slightly harsher femininity than what we're used to seeing in media. he's a bit clueless and sees things from an emotional, human perspective, and she's clearly used to being the rational, fast-paced one, always trying to find solutions. this dynamic might have something to do with them being siblings (and i'm assuming celine's the older of the two, purely because of all the talk of 'keeping damien safe'), and it's not inherently queer, but it is interesting to me that these characters have such specific ways of acting out their genders.

now, this one's not as important, but i would also like to mention the casual usage of they/them pronouns for other characters as well. in in space with markiplier: part 2, mark explicitly refers to the character of lady by they/them pronouns multiple times (this could also be either because they're an alien and mark doesn't know how they identify, or because their actor, lio tipton, is non-binary, but to me, that reads as somewhat solid confirmation that the character goes by they/them pronouns), and mark himself is referred to as "they" by the narrator at least once.

this isn't really a gender identity thing, but rather a gender expression thing, but i do also wanna talk about wilford warfstache and his gender non-conformativity. i do think he identifies as male, all things considered, but he doesn't seem the least bit interested in masculinity as a concept, favouring traditionally (i say traditionally, but i do mean societally, since pink used to be considered a boy color) feminine colors like pink and yellow, and being more than open to expressing his feelings and encouraging other characters to do the same.

now i'm gonna get into the sexualities. how are queer sexualities portrayed in markiplier lore?

well, that's a hard question to answer; no character has ever been (as far as i know) specifically stated to be of any sexual orientation. although there is a high possibility that wilford is pansexual, since he was clearly in love with celine, but it's implied he doesn't really care about the gender of whomever he happens to be romantically or sexually involved with at the time (i.e. him casually asking abe if they used to date, because that really is a possibility).

aside from wilford, because of the ambiguous gender of the viewer insert, a lot of characters end up being inadvertedly queer because of their attraction to them, most of them most likely falling on the m-spec.

there's also something to be said about abe the detective. is he gay or not? well, again, nothing's canon, but i think it's safe to assume he isn't straight. the "accidental" homoerotic innuendos he makes constantly seem less like a joke about being gay, and more like a joke about having repressed, sexual thoughts about someone, and having those thoughts emerge as those kinds of comments.

the "would anyone like to join me?" comment might just be will making fun of him, but i can't find it in myself to think actor mark is straight either. i guess it's just a headcanon, but let's be honest, he's every 'subtly' queer-coded old cartoon villain ever. he's rich, dramatic, petty, and vain, and frankly sometimes being evil and queer is just a fact of life.

but i'm not gonna go further into my headcanons on here, lest this post turn into a list instead of an essay, so i'll just wrap it up here. thanks for listening to my ramble.

Fo4 Companions and their Love Languages

Words of Affirmation

- Curie was locked in her cage for god knows how long, and really just wants to impress you. So when you say nice things to her, she gets all giddy.

- Deacon doesn’t like getting close to people, but he really enjoys your company. So when you tell him how you appreciate him, it really hits home.

- Hancock is like, lonely. Bless him, he doesn’t really have a lot of people around him, other than his citizens. It’s just nice to hear appreciation from someone who truly cares.

Acts of Service

- Cait doesn’t feel that she deserves good people in her life. So doing things to help her, no matter how small, she appreciates so deeply.

- Codsworth was literally built to please.

- Preston A SETTLEMENT NEEDS YOUR HELP-

Gift-Giving

- Maccredy grew up really poor, so any time he receives gifts, he’s a very happy bunny rabbit. Literally healing his inner child.

- Strong like shinny thing.

- Gage, much like Maccready, grew up with nothing, so he likes to receive gifts. It’s also how he shows his appreciation and love.

Quality Time

- Nick feels comfortable when he is with you. You stop the random memory flashes, the fear of people judging him, and you make him happy. That’s all he needs.

- X6 isn’t really sure how to express his emotions. He has never been allowed to. So just being in your presence has helped him get a good start.

- Ada feels lonely a lot, so when you guys just sit and talk, she loves it. And she has A L O T to talk about.

Physical Touch

- Danse is literally just a big teddy bear. He loves cuddling with you and just basking in your presence. He’s a big ol baby.

- Piper hates it, but she’s severely touch-starved. She just loves being held so much, it’s not even funny. But if you tell anyone she’s a softie, she’s killing you.

- Dogmeat is literally a dog lol. Just a baby :)

A very flattering article-in-the-making about japan's #1 Olympic gymnast

It's a post-game "it was all a simulation and now we're stuck in a hospital" kind of a situation.

kissy kissy

really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.

Six: Man Arcade, this RadAway stuff works wonders but it tastes terrible.

Arcade, slowly turning towards Six with bloodshot eyes: It What?

Love when Arcade speaks Latin or uses complicated science words, like yeah man, confuse my ass.

[Deacon Idolizes You]

➼ Word Count » 0.6k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Summary » Headcanons based on how Deacon treats you once Idolized.

He might actually disappear for a minute after he opens up to you about Barbara. Having his whole past spread out on the table for you to see is incredibly uncomfortable for him and he's gonna need some time to get used to having all that open to you.

Sometimes you’ll just find him sleeping on your couch. If he needs to get away for a minute he’ll go crash at your place for a bit. He almost hopes that you’ll show up and so the two of you could talk or something. It always makes him feel so much better when you do.

He somehow got a hold of matching leather jackets for you both to wear and always does his best to incorporate them into his disguises.

Deacon will bring you pre-war board games and ask if you could teach him the rules because the instructions had been burned decades ago and he desperately wants to learn.

He's actually really interested in fashion and will gladly put together a great outfit for you whether you asked for it or not. He also just loves sitting in a room and brainstorming disguise ideas together.

He's really curious about a lot of things from before the war and you'll find that he likes to randomly drag you into different areas and ask you tons of questions. He's especially interested in cartoons and other forms of media and is constantly questioning why they existed or what they usually had on them

He's weirdly good at spas? Massages, and manicures, and all that. He'd give you one if you asked/felt comfortable enough.

He loves sneaking around Goodneighbor or Diamond City with you and watching any fights or drama that happens throughout the day. It reminds you of when you used to watch reality TV shows back before the war and he always has the best comments.

He likes doing graffiti with you on random buildings in the Commonwealth. He’s actually really good at art but refuses to utilize that talent, instead, he just draws stick figures everywhere.

The two of you spent a day disguised as the other to see how long you can get away with it. (it wasn't very long)

He’ll ask if it could be possible for the two of you to set up small safe houses in some of your settlements for any passing synths, although, he always ends up making them look like man caves than temporary homes.

He'll leave these random lanterns all over the place with little jokes or messages carved underneath them. He does this so that if he ever disappears for a minute, you can go look at those to remind yourself that he doesn't hate you, he just needs a bit of time.

Whenever you’re on a mission, he’ll give you both the worst codenames on purpose to annoy you.

He once tried to see what the most outrageous lie you both could pull off was. Needless to say, you both ended up getting in a lot of trouble with Dez because it was 'irrelevant to your mission’.

He's great when he's around, and still loves you when he leaves. In all seriousness, it's been so long since he's had a connection like this with someone, and is so incredibly grateful for you and all that you do for him. He'll show his appreciation in whatever way he can, just understand that you've got to be patient with him while he gets used to it all.