Good news is I'll be dead soon

Of course I agree that many gay men do not present or behave in a flamboyantly feminine way, I’m not sure anyone is debating that. As it were Taako is a gay man who is flamboyant and feminine. I was arguing that the tendency of fandom to depict him as ‘beautiful’ in a womanly way, independently of his presentation and behaviour, can be read as pretty homophobic. Like it speaks to a deeply entrenched discomfort with a man, who looks and acts like the socially constructed image of ‘a man’, exhibiting untoward ‘girliness’. In the same way, those who are invested in his identity as an unapologetically gay man sometimes feel the need to try and defend him from allegations of femininity, as though being flamboyant or effeminate in presentation is something that detracts from his maleness or otherwise undermines his male identity. Of course not all gay men are feminine, but the fact that many do not want to be associated with that stereotype speaks to internalised homophobia in its willingness to throw men who do conform to those stereotypes under the bus, to position them as “the wrong type of gay” for not assimilating.

And obviously Taako’s written and acted by a straight man and there is all sorts of analysis and critique to be done on the choices he made for Taako. But Taako exists, is complex and funny and intelligent and flawed, is so loved and important to so many people, in many ways is the driving force of the entire narrative - it was his quick thinking that saved Magnus in Wonderland; he’s the one who restored the connection between the Material and Astral Planes; he killed John; he was the only one to see outside of Lucretia’s and Lup’s respective plans at the crucial moment! And he’s an effeminate man who expresses unapologetic attraction towards other men and wears skirts! That’s kickass! He has a shrill falsetto drawl and he wears skirts and he is “the wrong type of gay”, and he’s one of the most iconic heroes in fiction for decades! Is it that deep? Am I responding in a reasonable, measured way to a podcast man who cast fireball with his butt? No it isn’t and no I am not! But it means a lot to me that he exists and is a man and it bums me out to see him emasculated by fandom sometimes!

(also - I realise I was responding to a lot of stuff you didn’t even say anon and I apologise, I know we’re in agreement, I was just using your message as a springboard to talk more about stuff that’s been on my mind for a while!)

I’m glad you like my depiction of him! Being that I’m cis I feel like any statement I make on Lup’s design could be pretty fraught so I’m not gonna, but I do draw Lup with boobs. I kinda feel like it’s not for me to make statements on how trans women should or shouldn’t express their femaleness... I mean hopefully my drawings of her speak for themselves! I definitely do agree though that neither Taako nor Kravitz needs to be depicted as ‘the woman’ of their relationship, lol. Thank you so much for your kind words!