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I THINK THIS ICON IS HOT
HAZEL ON OTHER PEOPLE IN A SEXY WAY
I AM GOING TO OPEN THIS ESSAY LIKE A WINNER and start it off by saying: Hazel is pretty damn gay.
Actually, I play him as bisexual. o/ There isn't strong evidence in canon to indicate he feels this way or that about either sex, so to be fair this is largely an interpretation thing! Some people will read Saiyuki and go hot damn that dude is gay and I wouldn't disagree a bit. Because. He's Hazel Grosse. He stalks Sanzo and sparkles at him. Minekura drew him in thigh-high boots with a feather boa (and uh about nothing else). Minekura draws things like this. Some people will read Saiyuki and go, well, he COULD be straight and to be completely honest I'd be a little more skeptical.
'Course, you could say Minekura has a history of subtly feeding her fans and all I have done is take the bait. THE LIBERTY, some might say. Hazel isn't wearing a rainbow tee, but he's not exactly Hetero McStraight either. This is how I have decided to roll.
On a less superficial level? I guess you could attribute part of this decision to how he never interacts as significantly with a woman as he does with Sanzo or Nii. He is a perfect gentleman, he is good at HANDLING chicks but he never expresses a degree of interest past "you're human and I am nice to girls". And this is because--there aren't that many women in Saiyuki who manage to make it past the plot point stage. I don't doubt that if a woman came along who piqued his interest strongly enough--namely by having powers or something that would force her out of his peripheral vision--he could very well pursue her at least in the name of curiosity.
Which leads into: when it comes to people, Hazel is pinged by uniqueness. He likes normal people, he forms connections with normal people, but if you stick a man in front of him who is both human and unusually powerful he's going to pay attention. Because of the nature of the duty he's assumed--travelling the world fighting youkai--ordinary people sort of pass in and out of his life, but he does remember weirdos, and fairly explicitly. He lets them affect him. The two people in canon he expresses a strong and consistent interest in without any sort of killing intent behind it are Nii and Sanzo.
Hazel met Nii many years ago, when he was a lad!
O UKOKU-HAN U SO BIG AND STRONG
I will post another essay sometime focused solely on Nii and Hazel's feelings on him (read: commingling of wariness, attraction, affection, and downright fear) but till then, a brief rundown: Hazel describes Ukoku as the person who drew out his inner power, who instructed him in the ways of the world. Ukoku is probably Hazel's second-strongest childhood influence, right after Bishop Filbert who raised him, and despite the undercurrent of trepidation Hazel has in dealing with him I think it's safe to assume that he pretty genuinely likes Nii. He will never not be aware of the fact that Nii is one creepy-ass dude, but it's a sort of inclination that he can't shake off.
Do I think Hazel is kinda gay for Nii? UHHH. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, you can disagree and I can flail a little at you, but mostly it boils down to Hazel liking dudes, Nii hitting on him, and Hazel being sort of pretty damn alright with that in a "AS LONG AS I CAN STILL SEE HIS FINGERS" kind of way. It is very much a physical thing! Hazel is NOT attracted to Nii's power or his air of mystery. Nii's abilities give him the chills and he's not altogether sure he wants to know more about Nii at all. He'd just. Tap that. Thoroughly. That's it.
And then there's Sanzo!
. . . no, I don't have a visual aid.
Hazel stalks Sanzo. Over the river and through the woods. I will essay on Sanzo by himself one day too (GUYS APP HIM APP HIM APP HIM), but--Hazel wants Sanzo to come with him and Gat. HA HA HA HE WANTS SANZO ON HIS TEAM. Sanzo's powers are a great source of interest to him, because Hazel is interested in people with powers and also because he once knew a Sanzo who touched him vaguely inappropriately and--he just. Wants to know more! I think he sees in Sanzo the potential for not just a strong ally, but an equal, which IMO is by far one of the most important things about their dynamic.
IS HAZEL GAY FOR SANZO? A LITTLE, and pretty unabashedly so. HAY SANZO HAY LET'S BE FRIENDS. I think it's a strong psychological inclination, actually--Hazel wants to know what makes him tick. Despite sparkling and being retarded now and then, Hazel comes across as much more of an adult who is capable of manipulation in his interactions with Sanzo than he is with Nii. He likes pushing Sanzo's buttons, he thinks Sanzo can get him, and he's keenly interested in the way their relationship develops. Would he hit that? Probably. Would it be slight non-con? Yes.
These two are. The only people in canon for whom I can argue some sort of attraction on Hazel's part. Well, there's Gat, and they are really married, but if you think Hazel would tap that then I would be forced to remind you that Gat is really quite dead and Hazel is a priss.
I think Hazel is most strongly attracted to people who can play the game on his level, basically. Hazel considers himself separate from most people, what with his radicalism and his abilities and just. Himself, and what he's doing, and how he is totally fucking nuts in some respects. They don't have to understand him, sympathize with him, agree with him, but they have to be able to GET IT. He thinks Sanzo has it in him, and he pursues that.
SO YEAH. Hazel is a fruit! But a very choosy sort of fruit.
AS FOR SEX ITSELF: Hazel is not a virgin. A couple of times he's performed heroic deeds and some enterprising individual subsequently dragged him off for relations. Sex is not a priority for him, which isn't to say he doesn't like it when it happens. He's mature about it and he recognizes it for what it is and what it isn't. Oddly enough, I think he has the healthiest attitude towards sex/appetite for sex out of any of my characters. WTG Hazel.
QUESTIONS COMMENTS CONCERNS?
HAZEL ON OTHER PEOPLE IN A SEXY WAY
I AM GOING TO OPEN THIS ESSAY LIKE A WINNER and start it off by saying: Hazel is pretty damn gay.
Actually, I play him as bisexual. o/ There isn't strong evidence in canon to indicate he feels this way or that about either sex, so to be fair this is largely an interpretation thing! Some people will read Saiyuki and go hot damn that dude is gay and I wouldn't disagree a bit. Because. He's Hazel Grosse. He stalks Sanzo and sparkles at him. Minekura drew him in thigh-high boots with a feather boa (and uh about nothing else). Minekura draws things like this. Some people will read Saiyuki and go, well, he COULD be straight and to be completely honest I'd be a little more skeptical.
'Course, you could say Minekura has a history of subtly feeding her fans and all I have done is take the bait. THE LIBERTY, some might say. Hazel isn't wearing a rainbow tee, but he's not exactly Hetero McStraight either. This is how I have decided to roll.
On a less superficial level? I guess you could attribute part of this decision to how he never interacts as significantly with a woman as he does with Sanzo or Nii. He is a perfect gentleman, he is good at HANDLING chicks but he never expresses a degree of interest past "you're human and I am nice to girls". And this is because--there aren't that many women in Saiyuki who manage to make it past the plot point stage. I don't doubt that if a woman came along who piqued his interest strongly enough--namely by having powers or something that would force her out of his peripheral vision--he could very well pursue her at least in the name of curiosity.
Which leads into: when it comes to people, Hazel is pinged by uniqueness. He likes normal people, he forms connections with normal people, but if you stick a man in front of him who is both human and unusually powerful he's going to pay attention. Because of the nature of the duty he's assumed--travelling the world fighting youkai--ordinary people sort of pass in and out of his life, but he does remember weirdos, and fairly explicitly. He lets them affect him. The two people in canon he expresses a strong and consistent interest in without any sort of killing intent behind it are Nii and Sanzo.
Hazel met Nii many years ago, when he was a lad!
O UKOKU-HAN U SO BIG AND STRONG
I will post another essay sometime focused solely on Nii and Hazel's feelings on him (read: commingling of wariness, attraction, affection, and downright fear) but till then, a brief rundown: Hazel describes Ukoku as the person who drew out his inner power, who instructed him in the ways of the world. Ukoku is probably Hazel's second-strongest childhood influence, right after Bishop Filbert who raised him, and despite the undercurrent of trepidation Hazel has in dealing with him I think it's safe to assume that he pretty genuinely likes Nii. He will never not be aware of the fact that Nii is one creepy-ass dude, but it's a sort of inclination that he can't shake off.
Do I think Hazel is kinda gay for Nii? UHHH. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, you can disagree and I can flail a little at you, but mostly it boils down to Hazel liking dudes, Nii hitting on him, and Hazel being sort of pretty damn alright with that in a "AS LONG AS I CAN STILL SEE HIS FINGERS" kind of way. It is very much a physical thing! Hazel is NOT attracted to Nii's power or his air of mystery. Nii's abilities give him the chills and he's not altogether sure he wants to know more about Nii at all. He'd just. Tap that. Thoroughly. That's it.
And then there's Sanzo!
. . . no, I don't have a visual aid.
Hazel stalks Sanzo. Over the river and through the woods. I will essay on Sanzo by himself one day too (GUYS APP HIM APP HIM APP HIM), but--Hazel wants Sanzo to come with him and Gat. HA HA HA HE WANTS SANZO ON HIS TEAM. Sanzo's powers are a great source of interest to him, because Hazel is interested in people with powers and also because he once knew a Sanzo who touched him vaguely inappropriately and--he just. Wants to know more! I think he sees in Sanzo the potential for not just a strong ally, but an equal, which IMO is by far one of the most important things about their dynamic.
IS HAZEL GAY FOR SANZO? A LITTLE, and pretty unabashedly so. HAY SANZO HAY LET'S BE FRIENDS. I think it's a strong psychological inclination, actually--Hazel wants to know what makes him tick. Despite sparkling and being retarded now and then, Hazel comes across as much more of an adult who is capable of manipulation in his interactions with Sanzo than he is with Nii. He likes pushing Sanzo's buttons, he thinks Sanzo can get him, and he's keenly interested in the way their relationship develops. Would he hit that? Probably. Would it be slight non-con? Yes.
These two are. The only people in canon for whom I can argue some sort of attraction on Hazel's part. Well, there's Gat, and they are really married, but if you think Hazel would tap that then I would be forced to remind you that Gat is really quite dead and Hazel is a priss.
I think Hazel is most strongly attracted to people who can play the game on his level, basically. Hazel considers himself separate from most people, what with his radicalism and his abilities and just. Himself, and what he's doing, and how he is totally fucking nuts in some respects. They don't have to understand him, sympathize with him, agree with him, but they have to be able to GET IT. He thinks Sanzo has it in him, and he pursues that.
SO YEAH. Hazel is a fruit! But a very choosy sort of fruit.
AS FOR SEX ITSELF: Hazel is not a virgin. A couple of times he's performed heroic deeds and some enterprising individual subsequently dragged him off for relations. Sex is not a priority for him, which isn't to say he doesn't like it when it happens. He's mature about it and he recognizes it for what it is and what it isn't. Oddly enough, I think he has the healthiest attitude towards sex/appetite for sex out of any of my characters. WTG Hazel.
QUESTIONS COMMENTS CONCERNS?