There's Eternity Somewhere

Silly and Long Ramble

The Whole Bayonetta Thing

I wanted to talk about this here as to not bring the wrong type of attention.
I don't really talk much about it at all because it's something I tend to want to ignore. But after seeing (and promptly blocking) this obnoxious account, I get why a lot of anime fans use the word "tourist" now. This is also of in response to JP Kellams great post regarding the fandom for other reasons. Please read it.

There's also a TLDR version if you want the simple gist of what I say.
By "it", I mean the issue of canon being weaponized to insult others for enjoying the lesbian Bayonetta ship, BayoJeanne.

People who don't even play the games, and some who flat out refuse to, try and tell long time female and LGBT fans that our interpretation of the game we play non-stop is wrong due to cute promotional art PlatinumGames published a while back to celebrate Bayo 3's first anniversairy, and other canon. Where do these people think we got this love of BayoJeanne? Because they stood next to each other once?

Before I go on, this isn't a "BayoJeanne>>>>BayoLuka" moment. Do not be under any impression that I hate the latter. I like both ships, and didn't mind Bayo and Luka getting together as they were taken down to Inferno. (Well, maybe a little due to the writing. My main issue w/ Bayo 3 is that Bayo (in loose words) dies and goes to hell and we're apparently supposed to inheret Viola as the protag. I love Viola, but I didn't get into the series because of her, obviously.)

If you're willing to read a semi-unorganized ramble about fandom culture, wlw ships, and canons, please read on.
To be honest, given how I used to be annoyed by a lot of fellow BayoJeanne fans, you'd think I wouldn't bother blogging about it years later lol.

That One Family Photo

To go on a mini tangent before going into it, that family photo doesn't make sense unless it's a different timeline/reality. Bayoβ0 does not have that hairstyle and already gave birth to Viola, so it's implied that either 1. this is a similar timeline where β0 lives and had a similar appearance to Bayo Origin at one point, same pink cardigan, pigtails and all, 2. another timeline where Bayo Origin and Luka Origin did not die or go to Inferno together, and went on to have a child like Viola (the possibility behind this is a whole can of worms that'll give me a headache due to Bayonetta 3's ending) or 3. it's nothing more than adorable art that we should just enjoy for what it is. I prefer this.

BayoJeanne as a Ship

Now, we have the conflict of canon vs widely accepted headcanon and interpretation. Bayonetta β0 (Viola's mom) had a child with Luka β0, Bayonetta (Arch-Eve Origin--ugh) and Luka (Arch-Adam Origin) share an intimate kiss, and then there's the Bayonetta family photo.

That's all from Bayo 3 alone. Then there's the small moments with the two in Bayonetta 2, where Bayo and Luka meet for the first time in a long time. In Bayo 1, there were a good set of BayoLuka scenes. The "making children" comment from Bayo, the pink romantic viniette that appears, too. There's no doubt that Luka was always meant to be the love interest for Bayonetta.

On the other end, we have BayoJeanne moments. Bayo 1, despite having Luka be the romantic interest, probably made more people ship BayoJeanne, ironically enough cuz it did for me LOL

In Bayo 1, the two share more screen time together in the main story than Luka does. Where to begin like??? Firstly, ignoring Origins for a bit, their ancient past together shows they've always known each other, and their banter is a great mix of rivalry, friendship, and respect, which comes off as romantic with how emotional the cutscenes get. Even during Jeanne's hypnosis, she's always encouraging Bayonetta to "Do not fear your fate. Stand, Cereza. Stand and open your eyes."
Do you remember how PASSIONATE Jeanne sounded wanting Bayonetta to wake up from Jubileus's eye?
One thing I LOVE is how Jeanne only calls Bayonetta by her birthname Cereza, as she always has, but only called her Bayonetta when under hypnosis from Balder and seen her as an obstacle. It's a nice detail.
bruh the two share two themes together too, "Red and Black", and "Blood and Darkness" and those play only during high-intensity and emotional moments. "Friendship" is also a great theme, as it first played when Jeanne was on her way to rescue Bayo.
Bayonetta 2 (I'll get more on later) is so strong in its gay tones and friendship. Bayonetta and Jeanne look out for and protect each other, even at the cost of one's body, the other to the length of going to Inferno before time runs out. Don't get me started on the Bayonetta 3 BayoJeanne moments.
I can go on and on about Bayo and Jeanne and Luka's interactions, but someone more passionate probably has more energy for it.

"Well, these are all reasons to why they're best friends, not lovers." Yeah, I agree. But that doesn't mean these are reasons to why they can't be shipped, or there to be implied/subtle romance. Bayojeanne is the series most popular ship despite canon. I think Bayo and Jeanne make great friends AND lovers :D

Mini Multiverse Mention

A lot of people, myself included, think the way Bayonetta 3's story and character interactions were bleh. This is SUPER true for the multiverse idea in Bayo 3.
I know the multiverse idea has been showcased since Bayo 1.
But the great thing about the multiverse idea as a whole is that there are several diverging universes in the World of Chaos. With that knowledge, BayoJeanne as a canon couple is entirely believable. Hell, Bayonetta 2 may be that game for it, considering you go to hell to save Jeanne. You see how annoying "tourists" ignore that part of the canon for the sake of saying Bayonetta is flat out straight? Meanwhile there's in-game and developer commentary on the matter that claim otherwise? It's almost as if they don't play the games.

oh wait.

Shitheads Online Ignoring Bayonetta 2 and More

They're always a thing.

But never to this scale for the Bayo fandom.
As reference, I got into the series in 2011-2012, and was on Tumblr, where the only fanart we had before Bayo 2 was the iconic lollipop pic /hj

When the fandom was small, the most issues we had outside of shipping were maybe clashes of domestic headcanons. Some people liked Jeanne being the mean lesbian who gets drunk and hates Luka, others didn't, for example.
If we wanna go the route of shipping, though, many people were ok with shipping even the weirder things like "Fortitudo x his dragon heads", because, as shippping should be, is all in good fun.
But now it's come down to insane Twitter users who get mad that randos online ship two fictional women together.

You know the ones. The ones with "Conservative, Gamer, block=owned, liberal tears etc" in their bio, but have never played the game, or mentioned the series before that official artwork popped up.

This is nothing against level-headed conservatives or Christians, btw. Hell, not even the ones who want to have a civil debate about their views. This is about the chronically online ones who do nothing else but annoy ppl lol.
Some artists online will simply post cute art of BayoJeanne cuddles, and then they'll get some braindead chud in their mentions going, "COPE THIS ISNT CANON"

Like are you dumb or stupid? Choose wisely. They just drew something. Nothing related to anti-BayoLuka or anti-Bayonetta 3...what's your problem??
they don't even CARE Luka or the story like that since they dont play the games lol

but I'm preaching to the choir, it's not like they gaf, they're just shitheads online
BUT if they really wanna play that game, important figures in Bayonetta's development team have also supported and/or implied Bayonetta and Jeanne being a couple in some way. Or at the very least, Bayo being gay in some capacity.
There's Mari Shimazaki's beautiful art:

And her support of the ship to Twitter responses and in the Bayonetta commentaries.
Then there's the Helena Taylor interview where she has spoken about their relationship in-game here and JP Kellams confirming
TO be fair, here is this post also from JP Kellams.
While within the series Bayo and Jeanne are not canonically together the same way Bayo 3 Bayo and Luka are together, the idea is still viable that she's interested in both men and women.
So if we're REALLY gonna use outside media and commentary as proof of ship/heterosexuality v. homosexuality/bisexuality, then here's that.

Then there's this: With everything I've mentioned about Bayonetta 2 being the "BayoJeanne game", coupled with The Journal's Echoes in-game entry Taboo, "Every civilization in history weaves narratives starring heroes who, cursing the fates who take loved ones from them, travel to the ends of the world and beyond to bring them back. Resurrection is a universal theme of our kind. I am not sure if I believe in the existence of the soul to begin with, but the desire to be with the one you love? Now you're speaking my language." , IN GAME even Luka considers what Bayonetta and Jeanne have is love.
The "wake-up kiss" quote was pure fanservice lol, the way Bayo stared at Jeanne's ass at the end of Bayo 2, and the way they flat out live together (with Bayo caring to Jeanne's makeup and skin) is all the reason why many others believe Bayo 2 is the BayoJeanne game. ajdsfjd also i just thought of how luka's love for Bayo in Bayonetta 2 feels a little one-sided, but she still likes him as a good friend. I think that's cute as fugg

Again, this entire rant is not to say Beyolooga is wrong and shouldn't have happened and yadda yadda beyojean bedder. It's to present reasons as to why people enjoy the ship, and point out why it's dumb to annoy others online over said ship. In general, there's SO much talk of Bayonetta and Jeanne together as friends and as a pairing for MANY reasons.
So when you got annoying "tourists" wanting to win online brownie points on Twitter for pointing out the obvious that, yes, Luka and her are a couple, they miss the point of shipping AND playing the games. It's to have fun.

TLDR

To finally end this silly rant, pretty much "Ship and let ship". Enjoy the games and interpret them as you will. Bayonetta is a game series, and should be enjoyed. Please don't be annoying and tell neither BayoJeanne or BayoLuka fans they're wrong for shipping those pairings, bc you'll look lame and unfunny doing it. Shipping as a thing is pretty weird to a lot of people, but being more weird and harassing others over it is ugly. There are many reasons to why ppl ship the witches together, and same for the other. We should really bring back "Don't like? Don't look." as a fandom rule again.
I'm tired and I'm sure I missed a few things or sumn. This shit is so annoying and tiring to see LOL
Anyways, gonna think of a ship I know isn't canon, but still makes me happy ,':) Iykyk.