Gaming

Nintendo shuts down rumours two Animal Crossing characters are in a gay relationship – but fans simply aren’t having it

CJ (L) and Flick (R) are simply "roommates and business partners", according to an Animal Crossing: New Horizons companion guide. (Nintendo)

CJ (L) and Flick (R) are simply “roommates and business partners”, according to an Animal Crossing: New Horizons companion guide. (Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a cartoony life-simulator by gaming giant Nintendo, has given countless housebound fans the opportunity to pretend that they are chatting to friends in person, hanging out in e fresh air, and generally having their life together.

…ish.

But the game, which features very little in animals crossing roads, also features very little in LGBT+ representation, apparently. While users applauded the game for not gendering its avatar customisation options, the franchise hasn’t quite gotten to actual confirmed queer characters just yet.

Yet, hope arrived in the form of a punky chameleon and chipper, hyperactive beaver.

Animal Crossing characters refer to one another as ‘partner’, so cue the fan art. 

The pair, Flick and CJ, host the island’s bug and fishing contests.

In-game dialogue describes them as living together and they describe one another as their “partner”, as well as penning letters to the player describing the other with intense admiration

Fans were quick to ship the pair and draw a low of fan art. Like, a lot.

Love is dead: They’re just ‘roommates’ and ‘business partners’, says companion guide. 

But, alas, love is dead. And the Animal Crossing: New Horizons official companion guide killed it.

They are, the guide clarified, “roommates and business partners”, with a photograph from the guide quickly ricocheting across Twitter, breaking the hearts of all in its path.

They are, we guess, just bros living with bros.

Many voiced their dismay at what could have been the video game’s first canon LGBT+ characters, wondering why, in a world where critters can buy houses with the money made by selling seashells, anyone would ever need a roommate.

Well, there you have it.

But we will, however, leave you with this not-at-all related note that, on Schitt’s Creek, a certain pair of same-sex characters start off as business partners and then flourish into a budding romantic relationship.

In the meantime, fans will continue clinging to Isabelle, who had a major role in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. No matter the gender of the character, she will declare to have a crush on them, with fans considering this as proof she’s pansexual or bisexual.

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