#nottagged

When Cassandra was first introduced at the end of Sophomore Year, Brennan set the precedent of using they/them pronouns for them, and the rest of the cast followed suit (SY didn’t have the handy-dandy graphics with pronouns). However, when Cassandra was first introduced this year, their graphic only had she/her pronouns. This is despite Brennan and Ally confirming in 2020 that Cassandra is non-binary and uses she/they pronouns.

This was amended a few episodes later, the next time Cassandra’s card popped up.

However, I don’t think Brennan or any of the cast members ever used they/them pronouns when referring Cassandra this season, despite doing so in the previous season. And while using she/her pronouns for Cassandra is totally fine, ignoring their other set of pronouns feels weird. I’ve seen this happen with multi-pronoun folks in my life before where others around them default to the binary pronouns (she/her or he/him) rather than neutral pronouns (they/them or neopronouns). It feels as though they are ignoring that person’s genderqueerness and simply doing whatever comes naturally to them. In this case, Cassandra is presented as a feminine person, so since the option to use she/her pronouns is there, that’s what the cast does. (A similar thing happened to Baron in Baron’s Game and also in general. I could go on about the weird aphobia vibes in that episode…)

It’s a little strange to me since the cast is so good with pronouns for IRL folks like Ally; I would have thought that mindset extended to everyone else, but it seems not to have. Which is disappointing.

In a way, it’s funny because they’re doing what the villains are doing to Ankarna in this season: projecting human priorities such as the gender binary onto divine beings.

In many ways, she reminds me of my older sister. The golden child who paved the way for me to stumble along, who always had a mean word for me even when I tried my best. It shocked me, then, when one day I boldly asked her why she didn’t like me, and she said, “What do you mean? Of course I like you.”

Even within that supposedly kind sentiment I could taste her scorn; are you truly so stupid to think that I didn't like you? But she had never shown me any sign to the contrary. What else was I supposed to believe?

We no longer live under the same roof. I only see her on holidays; I only call her to ask what she wants for her birthday. I bait her, and she baits me. People tell me that I just have to be patient, that one day we’ll be best friends. I don’t know if that day will ever come. I don’t know if I even want it anymore.

But Aelwyn makes me wonder. Does my sister truly care? Is she simply incapable of showing it? Does she really want to reach out to me but has no way of doing so?

And I get that media paints unrealistic expectations of actual relationships, so on and so forth. But I’ve been in serious relationships where sex—or the lack thereof—has been a real problem for my partners. Don’t even get me started on dating apps. I’ve had to cross off so many potential matches because of that difference in expectations, and it’s really starting to get to me.

I’m not saying that queer relationships are inherently sexual. It’s just that so much of the already scant representation we get includes sex, same as with non-queer couples. There’s a formula to it: meet cute, get drinks, stumble back to someone’s apartment, cut to the next morning with clothes all over the floor.

I’m so stupid for these gay Swedish boys…I’m getting Netflix again just for them.