A 'brief' Analysis On The Queerness Of Kitty Bubai And Franke Athens From Psychonauts, And The Depth

a 'brief' analysis on the queerness of kitty bubai and franke athens from psychonauts, and the depth behind their favorite medias

ok this is the first serious post im making that isnt just account boundaries or anything. wow. ok how do i start this!!! so you guys know kitty bubai and franke athens from psychonauts right.

these little freakazoids from whispering rock in the first game. you know how theyre always holding hands and how theyre 'bestest friends' and shit

yeah well what if i told you they were queer. wow! as if nobody knew that already!!!! (clear sarcasm) but theres some more that meets the eye yknow. one, its remarkable the devs snuck queer girls into the first game which came out in 2005 mind you. when people still werent really all that accepting of queer people ESPECIALLY if they were in a public relationship. this was really based of the devs to do no matter how hidden it is. more under the cut

of course they refer to each other as girlfriends (iirc) and 'sister,' but theres more than you think. we all know about the campster profiles, but the information on them is actually pretty interesting about the campers, since we dont learn much of them in the game itself which is sad.

lets start off with franke. first of all, her only interest (aside from favorite medias) is literally JUST kitty.

thats pretty fucking gay if you ask me. and to add to the fire, she seems to have no real interest in other campers, especially other male campers. vernon in the campster profiles is revealed to have a crush on her, but her feelings toward him are ambivalent at BEST. her main focus is kitty, and has always been kitty.

and about her favorite medias, basically all of them are queer.

lets start with her favorite band of two women, t.A.T.u. this russian pop duo of girls, lena katina and julia volkova. they arent lesbians, but their queerness was a marketing stunt driven by shapovalov. though, maybe franke didnt know this. she just thought that their music was about two girls, loving one another. two russian girls loving one another in a time of potent homophobic stigma. russia has had homophobic ideals for a very long time, and homophobia was even more rampant back then than it is today. its forbidden love, and of course a young queer girl would eat that shit UP. its how she feels during that time.

from an article called 'the strange and homophobic history of 'queer icons' t.A.T.u,' the author writes these little tidbits.

'Perhaps catching wind of their struggling personal brand, Katina and Volkova released a statement in 2007. “Many of our fans of alternative sexual orientation thought that we lied and betrayed them,” they wrote. “This is not true! We’ve never done that and we’ve always advocated love without boundaries." A few weeks later, they performed at the Moscow’s Pride celebrations.'

'In a 2011 interview, Volkova stated that she wouldn’t accept having a gay son. “God created man for procreation, it is the nature. The man for me is the support…I won’t accept a gay son,” she said on Russian TV. “A man has no right to be a fag…I just want my son to be a real man, not a fag.” She then tried to ‘backpedal’, saying, “I have many gay friends. I believe that being gay is all still better than murderers, thieves or drug addicts. If you choose out of all this, being gay a little better than the rest.’ For what it’s worth, Katina publicly condemned Volkova’s statements.'

but of course, franke wouldnt know. this was all way after 2003, when the campster profiles were made. she would think that these two girls were lesbians, just like her. of course she would like their music.

now, lets go to her favorite tv shows and movie—ellen, laverne & shirly, and the hunger. as we all know, ellen is a lesbian. ellen publicly came out on april 30, 1997. with laverne & shirley, people have speculated that they are in a relationship, especially with how they act towards each other.

with the hunger, 1; its an erotic horror. not something a 10 year old should be watching, but honestly its not as bad as the other kids literally being peeping toms or killing animals on complete accident just with how overwhelmed and utterly powerful their minds are. 2; its a vampire flick with homosexual themes. being transformed, in both a queer awakening and a literal way, being transformed into a vampire. vampries throughout history have been associated with queerness in media, and this movie is no different. the hunger is one of the most famous movies with a literal queer plot. theres lesbian sex scenes, and theres goth swinger couples. very 1983. from a website called bitch flicks, theres a post that is titled 'nine pretty great lesbian vampire movies,' in which part of the section on the hunger says;

'Sticking well within queer tropes, however, Miriam is honestly a real U-Haul vampire, and waits all of 10 seconds after John’s death before she tries to marry Sarah pretty much out of nowhere. We are talking about someone that has an eternity ahead of her that can’t even wait like a month after her husband’s “death” before she starts moving her girlfriend in. Which is cold as Hell, because they were married for something like 300 years.'

conclusion, franke is gay as fuck. we love lesbians in this house! now, on to kitty, the more obvious of the queer couple i think.

as a brief little bit, her and frankes relationship status on campster is set to 'open marriage.' if that isnt gay, i dont know what is. franke is only interested in being friends with men and women, meanwhile kitty is interested in a serious relationship with women and men. clearly, shes already polyamorous and bi, which is absolutely based.

with her favorite media, her favorite show is xena: warrior princess. theres a bit of queerness in that show as well, with xena being clearly written as a queer character. xena and gabrielle, friends in the show, have been speculated to be queer, and the actresses for both have embraced this headcanon with open arms. in one episode, xena takes the form of a man and kisses gabrielle, and despite the heterosexual appearance, its very clearly a queer scene with obvious romantic intent. xena has been referred to as a feminist and lesbian icon. love that!

with her favorite movie, mulholland drive, it has been a key staple in sapphic media. from an article, 'the important of mulholland drive in sapphic cinematic history,' there are a few paragraphs id like to highlight.

'Rita has suffered amnesia after being in a car crash on Mulholland Drive–she can’t even remember her own name, choosing Rita from a movie poster. Betty attempts to help Rita figure out her identity and they grow close through the process, eventually sleeping together in a very passionate scene of connection. It’s nothing gratuitous, nor the focus of the film or its celebration after release. “Have you even done this before?” Betty asks Rita. “I don’t know,” Rita says. “Have you?” “I want to, with you. I’m in love with you.”'

'Viewers of Mulholland Drive are unraveling the mystery with Rita and Betty, looking for clues that might have been overlooked, some, like Melissa Anderson of ArtForum, seeing the film an upwards of 20 times. As bizarre things begin to occur–a blue key found in Rita’s purse unlocks a mystery box that has Betty becoming Diane Selwyn, a name Rita recognized earlier on as Rita is now actress Camilla Rhodes. In their new roles, Diane is in love with Camilla, Another love scene between Diane and Camilla is disconnected, one-sided. “We shouldn’t do this anymore,” Camilla says. “Don’t say that!” Diane replies. “Don’t ever say that.” Later, Camilla kisses another woman (played by Melissa George) and then a man, and laughs in Diane’s face. This madness leads Diane to hire a hitman to kill the object of her affection.'

both of these girls favorite medias are queer. all of them. clearly some thought went into these girls, and what they would like as young girls exploring themselves and their identity. it seems like franke would be more closeted about herself, meanwhile kitty is proud of herself. kitty is the ringleader in their relationship, with franke following behind.

conclusion, franke and kitty are gay as hell, and theres literally no disputing that with all the evidence at our fingertips.

sorry if this little essay post was weirdly formatted, i was interested in writing this stupid little thing.