John “Tectone” Robertson is at the center of another controversy, this time related to comments made about Honkai: Star Rail character Robin.
It’s already been a contentious year for Tectone. The streamer was at the center of a blowout between numerous Genshin Impact content creators. That’s on top of his content which is often built around fanning outrage related to HoYoverse games. Things might’ve escalated in April, however.
Tectone is being accused by some of homophobia over a series of streams and social media posts related to Honkai Star Rail. Here’s what happened.
Why is there drama about Tectone and Robin from Honkai: Star Rail?
Tectone is being criticized for a series of streams and social media posts related to the Honkai: Star Rail character Robin.
On April 27, content creator Jake Tuonto made a post on Twitter with a photo of Robin asking “do I have any chance with her?” Many users responded to the tweet by stating that his chances were nil as the character is a lesbian.
Robin is not definitively established as a lesbian in Honkai: Star Rail canon. The game has other canonically lesbian characters and fans speculate that Robin is queer-coded. This stems from marks under her eye that are colored like the lesbian flag, and her story containing references to Emily Dickinson, a poet who scholars believe to have been a lesbian.
Tectone responded to the reactions to Tuonto’s post on-air.
“The angry lesbians on Twitter decided to take up their keyboards, repaint their rainbow hair, and decided [to go] off on Tuonto instead of going to the gym,” Tectone said.
He did not show any specific examples of Tuonto facing harassment due to his initial Tweet. He instead griped about people dismissing his chances due to Robin’s perceived lesbian identity.
Tectone says he posted a tweet expressing excitement regarding pornographic content involving Robin and men. This tweet was written on-air, and his broadcast showed an unposted version implying sexual violence to be a counter to Robin. He says that when his post didn’t get sufficient engagement, he made another post asking men specifically to discuss Robin’s attractiveness.
He stated that the tweets were “bait” to make content, and he then reacted to the quotes during a stream. From there, he issued a number of responses to Twitter users with smaller followings. Some posted screenshots claiming harassment after, including the use of slurs and the trivializing of sexual assault.
Tectone says he’s not homophobic after Robin controversy
In a follow-up video discussing the controversy he had drummed up, Tectone stated he isn’t homophobic but rather is frustrated with “headcanons” regarding Robin and other Honkai: Star Rail characters.
“I love the LGBTQ community. I do. Even my roommate’s a part of that, okay? My problem is people who have forced headcanons of sexuality that are not confirmed in the game whatsoever. If you disagree with their headcanon, they call you homophobic. That is what I have an issue with,” Tectone said.
While Tectone says as part of his complaint is with people who will call others homophobic, there were no apparent claims of homophobia directed at Tuonto regarding his initial tweet prior to Tectone jumping in.
