#bisexual boy
I know I just missed bisexuality visibility day but I’ve been wanting to make this post for awhile. 2 Moons is one of my favorite series and the relationship between Ming and Kit is one of my favorites. Keep in mind that I have yet to find an English translation of the novel (if you have a link hit me up) so this will all be based off of season one of the television series. Also I know that several other characters in this show are bisexual but I love how Ming and Kit are portrayed the most.
Ok so let me begin with the main reason I wanted to make this post. How the writers of this show portrayed bisexuality with Ming is my favorite thing ever.
When I first started watching 2 Moons I had little idea of the plot. While yes, in the opening theme and on the cards between scenes, Ming and Kit look to be in some sort of relationship, I just assumed this was some fanserivce and the only real couple would be the main couple, Phana and Wayo (another lovely couple I could write a post about). And needless to say, when in one of the very first scenes of the show Ming says
I just assumed that he was going to be the straight best friend character who gave relationship advice to his angsty gay friend. Based off this and his lack of interaction with Kit in the first episodes, I took my assumption to be true. It didn’t help that Ming would say stuff like
when confronted about liking guys. Throughout the first several episodes all you ever see is Ming flirting with girls and whatnot. Him and Kit don’t ever interact. Then suddenly things change during episodes 6 and 7 when Ming and Kit start having interactions and Ming starts flirting with him. Now there’s a lot of moments I could mention here but the one that particularly stood out to me was when Ming basically suggested that he and Kit should date
Honestly I was expecting Ming to have some sort of identity crisis/internalized homophobia thing before he would ever considered being with a guy, and with Ming there wasn’t a single bit of it. It was honestly surprising to see him go from flirting with girls and denying being gay to flirting with guys who kept trying to push him away. To be honest, I wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t go through some of that later on in the story. After all, Ming hasn’t admitted to liking Kit beyond his teasing. But then once again the show surprises me. During episode 8, possibly one of my favorite scenes of all time happens. Ming tells Wayo that he likes Kit. And when he tells him there’s no, nervousness or fear about telling his best friend that he likes a guy and Wayo doesn’t freak out that his friend who had only shown interests in girls is now suddenly admitting to liking a guy. Instead Wayo has the most normal and relatable reaction to the news
he asks for the deets. Following this, probably one of my most favorite lines in the show that isn’t talked about enough happens.
The thing about this line is that it means that Ming has a type when it comes to guys (tall guys might I add). This means it’s not like he’s thought he was straight his whole life and now he’s met some guy who’s made him reevaluate his sexuality. It means that he’s been into guys this entire time he just likes girls too. I love this because it normalizes bisexuality. Just because he has dated a bunch of girls and flirts with them all the time, it doesn’t mean that he can’t like boys too. He doesn’t need to come out or always flirt with people from both sexes. He doesn’t go advertising it everywhere but he doesn’t try to hide it when he finds a guy he likes. And everyone else sees it as something normal too. Instead of making a big deal over the fact that he likes a guy, they make a big deal over the fact that he likes someone. And because of this I love the writers of this show.
Moving on to Kit, there’s a bit less when it comes to him because there’s more of a focus when it comes to Ming than to Kit but his is just as good.
Kit at the start of the story is like Ming in the aspect that he is only shown flirting with girls and there’s no indicator that he even remotely likes guys. But then in episode 5, there’s the iconic scene where Kit is basically just checking Ming out.
Kit has more of the in denial/internalized homophobia thing going on that I was expecting for Ming. It doesn’t help that he’s a little tsundere who basically insults Ming and pushes him away the more Ming tries to flirt with him. Despite him being in denial about his feelings, he’s not very good at acting like they don’t exist.
Even though he’s constantly staring at Ming or getting flustered when he flirts with him, he still denies that he likes Ming, or even guys in general for that matter. It seems kind of hopeless for Ming since his crush seems to be dead set on keeping heterosexual. Then one of my favorite scenes of the whole series happens. Kit’s friends (Phana and Beam) confront him about liking Ming, Kit of course gives the standard answer
Kit says the classic “you guys have seen that I like girls why would I like a boy now” line. This was the stuff I was expecting from Ming’s side. But even then. the show didn’t handle it how I thought it would. Instead of dragging this “I like girls so shut up about me liking a boy” thing for too long, immediately after Phana says the best line of the entire show
cause in reality that’s all that matters. Ming and Kit’s relationship isn’t about two boys falling in love. It’s about two people, one more reluctant than the other, falling in love. They don’t make some big deal over the fact that two guys are the ones who fell in love and besides Kit’s own little comment about liking girls in the past, nobody cares that both of the guys like girls too. Bisexuality is shown as being normal and nobody cares if you’ve always liked girls, if some cute boy is flirting with you, you should go and get him. That’s why I love this show and the relationship between Ming and Kit. The writers don’t need to give them each a character arc where they discover that they’re not as straight as they thought and they really have feelings for each other. They just need to have a few conversations with their friends where they talk about their feelings (or deny them in Kit’s case) to establish their sexual orientation. I think more shows should adopt this approach to sexual orientation topics. It normalizes it and shows that in reality, it doesn’t matter what somebody’s gender is, what matters is if you like them.
by Chelsey Furedi
What it is: A webcomic following two rival high school gangs in the 1950s.
Why it’s on this list: I don’t think there’s a character introduced that isn’t queer in some way. It’s got a wide range of identities represented, both on the gender spectrum and the sexuality spectrum.
Where you can find it: It can be read on tumblr at @rockandriotcomic or on tapastic here. If you want to check out more of the creator’s stuff, she’s over here. It’s also finished, so if you’re one of those people who doesn’t like getting into stuff that’s not done yet, worry not! Her new project looks awesome, and I have a feeling I’ll be reviewing that on here eventually too.
(reblog the first page here)
My first thought after finishing this was why did I not read this earlier. It’s been a comic I’ve been vaguely aware of for a while now, and queer historical pieces are so up my alley. I think I was doing that thing where I knew it was something I’d probably love, and I was worried about clicking on it and then being disappointed?
Silly me. I was definitely not disappointed. I was delighted. Dazzled, really. A perfect way to spend an hour.
I’m gonna start by talking about the character design, which is also why I wanted to show off the first page on here. Look at those ladies! This is a diverse cast, not just in terms of identities but in terms of body shapes, builds, and backgrounds. This comic definitely goes for a light, uplifting take on the 1950s, but it doesn’t do that by ‘simplifying’ things (aka leaving out things that would maybe ‘complicate’ things). Each character is treated with respect, and although the characters are often larger than life it never comes across as being done in a stereotypical way. Really well done.
What I especially love about this comic is that it did what I often find myself afraid to do in my own stories. There’s a coming out moment, where a character decides to tell her friends she’s in love with a girl. This leads to everyone else in the room also coming out. There’s a few moments like this, and it’s so nice, because I often feel like ‘well, I can’t make everyone queer.’ But like… Why not? Rock and Riot does it, and it’s so lovely, I’m smiling just thinking about it. This is escapism, just like most 50s stories are (shared milkshakes and cool matching jackets, right?), but it’s escapism aimed at queer folk, which is so rare to find. And even the conflict is done in a way that is still bright and fun. I just love it.
The story follows the girl gang in the picture above, known as the Jaquettes, as well as a guy gang, the Rollers, and an entirely non-binary gang who call themselves the Bandits. The varied presentation that the Bandits all have made me so happy, as so often when there are nonbinary characters they all tend to fit the same mold. That is definitely not a problem with this gang.
“That’s great that you found your side. But my problem with your teams is that I don’t want to be viewed in either.”
“Then we’ll respect that!”
- Ace and Rolly, Episode Four: The New Kid
Also! There is some adorable romance, but there’s also some really nice discussion of sexuality and gender. Bisexuality and asexuality are both discussed, and done so in a way that felt really honest and validating, both as a reader but also validated by the other characters in the comic.
There’s a bit of cute fake-dating-to-seem-straight mishaps, some friendly gang rivalry, and a sleepover scene with the Jaquettes, made all the more wonderful by it including them inviting a former member of the Rollers over, and having her join the Jaquettes. It takes all those classic movie tropes and makes them very queer and adorable and awesome, and I can’t get over how much I enjoyed it.
If you’re feeling down at all, sit down and read this comic. It’ll help. It may also make you really want a cool jacket, a poodle skirt, and a date at a shake shop. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Reading Rock and Riot? Let us know what you think! And if you’re looking for more great queer content, reminder that this is Day 8 of 365 queer reviews, one for each day of 2018. You can find all the reviews here.
