TL;DR: Let people hc whatever they want without attacking them,, as long as folks tag correctly and provide ample warning around sensitive topics, it shouldn’t matter what someone thinks about a funny fictional character. Love one another and sing kumbaya, thank you
I find the conversations around fictional characters who are headcanoned by any part of the fandom as gay, or any part of the LGBT community to be really weird. I’m using Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney as an example, but this post reflects my views across all fandoms.
Whenever I see a piece of ace attorney fandom media where Phoenix and Miles are in the same room and interact with each other, but isn’t explicitly shipping them, a lot of people in the comments will imply nrmt (narumitsu/wrightworth) with their comments anyways. And I FEEL THAT,,, because oftentimes it is just on the brain like that,, however if it wasn’t intended it might make the creator of the fanon work uncomfortable,, or make folks who don’t like nrmt upset.
When this happens a lot of shipping folks like to say “well it’s BASICALLY CANON that he’s gay,” which I don’t think is great. Even though I myself hc he’s gay, and a lot of the fandom thinks similarly, and even if that is the intention of the creators of the series(which we have NO idea if that’s the case), other people are allowed to think differently about it. That’s what’s nice about characters that aren’t confirmed to be any type of way: people can draw their own conclusions or label them as something they can relate to more, and explore what the universe would be like if those hcs - no matter how “out of place” they may be - were the case.
Alternatively, people who respond to the “they’re basically canonically gay” comment tend to say a variety of things that I believe are equally hurtful, if not more so. I get that it can be frustrating for folks who may happen to see Miles as anything besides gay to constantly hear this in this fandom, however I don’t think replying to that with “you’re homophobic for stereotyping gay people this way and immediately thinking they’re gay because they have these traits” is right either.
It’s true that many people see certain traits in fictional men and then like to assume they’re fruity. Miles Edgeworth for example is very well-mannered and kinda posh, he wears a cravat/jabot thing and speaks like he has a thesaurus shoved down his throat. He also drinks a lot of tea and is a closeted fan of a popular kids’ show. These surface traits are often the points folks who argue against the headcanon that he’s gay like to bring up, as these traits are often considered stereotypes of a gay man. As such, many folks argue against the “he’s canonically gay” point with the counterpoint that if you think he’s gay, you’re stereotyping gay men, or fetishizing them, or even that you’re homophobic for hcing that a character is gay if they DARE have any of these traits. And that’s pretty weird to me.
Sure, if this were the only things that could lead a person to hcing that Miles Edgeworth is gay, then maybe they have a point. Even if they did, I personally do not see the harm in hcing a person to be any type of way, as a lot of the folks who enjoy these headcanons are part of the LGBT community. Headcanons can be a way for an audience to relate to a character even more, no matter how out of place they may be to someone who is not within that audience. I think personally that as long as we can all exist in our separate internet spaces where Miles is gay in one and he’s straight in the other, he’s aroace in one and poly in the other, ANYTHING you might like to hc Miles as, that everyone can enjoy themselves and not be upset/offended by what other people think of a fictional man.
However, many people who come to the conclusion that Miles Edgeworth is gay usually like to reference the way he speaks about women and men, and also how he speaks about Phoenix Wright if you like the nrmt route. I like to reference AAI’s Turnabout Airlines for the first point, as there’s quite a few sentences that could be referencing Miles’ sexuality in them. There’s a scene where a man you decide to talk to on the airplane flirts with the female flight attendant accompanying Miles by saying something along the lines of sharing a glass of “grape juice” together. Miles thinks the man is talking to HIM and replies “I’m sorry, but I must decline.” Lots of people like to reference this moment as a hint that he’s gay, as in previous interactions where women have tried flirting with Miles, he doesn’t notice at all (except for Wendy Oldbag because NO ONE can miss that), but when this man flirts, he immediately notices, and sounds almost disappointed to have to decline the offer. Additionally, Miles and Phoenix are VERY WEIRD about each other throughout the entire series, and I’m not gonna talk about that because there is so much and many other people have spoken about it already. MY POINT IS that there are more reasons people like to hc he’s gay than “oh he speaks nicely and drinks tea”.
Not to mention that I heavily dislike that folks believe that we HAVE to assume a character is cishet unless the media they’re in explicitly states otherwise. Like why CAN’T people say this man is fruitier than a fruit salad, huh? The show didn’t explicitly say so? Well, they didn’t explicitly say he was straight either sweetie. Most media doesn’t do that if it’s not a focus in the plot, they’re more concerned about writing a neat, convoluted murder plot. For all we know Miles has had a secret boyfriend all along. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter what canon says, people on the internet can and will do whatever they want with this funny, traumatized little man, and I think it’s awesome that we can all share our ideas in this fandom. But I’m tired of people attacking each other or forcing their headcanons upon one another.
PEOPLE CAN CHARACTERIZE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS HOWEVER THEY WANT. IT SHOULD NOT MATTER WHAT THEY’RE DOING WITH THEM AS LONG AS THEY TAG CORRECTLY AND PROVIDE WARNINGS WHEREVER NECESSARY. GRRRRRRRRRRR