Sweet on Polly Oliver: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"A chick, huh. Now I feel better about that [[Raging Stiffie]]."''|''[[Berserk]] [[The Abridged Series]]''}}

{{quote| ''That [[Sweet Polly Oliver|Oliver,]] what a guy! He's a real friend and man's man! He may be small and [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|look a little girly,]] but I really connect with him on a level I didn't think I would since I broke up with Lily... anyway, we're going out to dinner next week, and I hope he likes this wristwatch I got him... I know it sounds [[Ho Yay|fruity]] but it's [[Just Friends|just friend stuff]]! I mean, [[Even the Guys Want Him|what guy wouldn't want to spend time with such a stud?]] I mean, [[Stupid Sexy Flanders|uh... ooh]]! Almost time for me to pick up Oliver to the game!''}}

No matter [[Paper-Thin Disguise|how flawless]] the [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]'s [[Wholesome Crossdresser|disguise]] at fooling her male peers, there is some primordial part of a man's brain that sees through the disguise... and is attracted to their new drinking buddy.

* In ''[[Knight Princess]]'' the female main character is disguised as a boy to be a bodyguard of the princess. Her fellow bodyguard develops a crush on her and gets rather confused.

* In the historical manga ''[[Kaze Hikaru]]'', the main character Sei (disguised as a male samurai) has a large number of men chase after her with varying degrees of seriousness. In an interesting twist, most of them ''don't'' sense she's a girl; they are unrepentantly chasing after 'him' in the hope of a homosexual relationship, following the [http://www.gay-art-history.org/gay-history/gay-customs/japan-samurai-male-love/japan-samurai-homosexual-shudo.html historical samurai tradition of homosexuality]. Early on in the manga, one of the men enamored with her (Kanji, if I recall) almost discovers her gender-- bygender—by way of attempted rape.

* ''[[Ranma One Half½|Ranma 1/2]]'' references this trope in one storyline that occurs shortly after [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] Ukyo joins the series as Ranma's final [[Arranged Marriage]]. As part of her "masquerade" as a boy, Ukyo attended an all-boy's junior high school. There, she came to the attention of another [[Wholesome Crossdresser]], a boy named Tsubasa Kurenai... who promptly declared he was in love with Ukyo and harassed her in pursuit of a relationship. Until the storyline in question, she had no idea that Tsubasa had actually seen through her disguise and believed him to be the homosexual version of this trope, attracted to "his" [[Bishonen]] looks. Akane and Ranma, meanwhile, believed a straighter version of this trope- aka that Tsubasa was a girl who had fallen for Ukyo under the mistaken belief that the [[Bifauxnen]] was actually a guy.

* Upon Sou's and Mashiro's first meeting in ''[[After School Nightmare]]'' Sou thinks of Mashiro as a cute girl-- despitegirl—despite Mashiro's act as a normal man. Sou is, however, not troubled by his attraction to Mashiro.

* Inverted in ''[[Mint Nana Bokura]]'', where the hero Noeru, posing as a girl, befriends Sasa, a boy who usually doesn't get along with girls at all... and thus believes that his feelings of friendship for Noeru mean that he's in love with "her". {{spoiler|Noeru reveals his secret [[Crowning Moment of Funny|in an extreme way]] after [[Ho Yay|Sasa takes him by surprise and kisses him]].}}

* The [[The Legend of Zelda (manga)|manga adaptation]] of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' implies that Link feels this way about Sheik, who is really Princess Zelda in disguise.

* ''[[Marvel 1602]]'' had a rather interesting subversion with a [[Love Triangle]] involving the [[Expy|Expys]]s of Scott Summers, Jean Grey, and Angel. Jean was posing as a boy to avoid rousing suspicion about Javier's school (no such thing as officially educating girls in the real 1602 England, much less ''co-ed schools''), and was romantically involved with Scott. When she tried befriending newcomer Inquisition-escapee Angel, Scott becomes jealous, figuring that Angel like everyone else knows she's really a young woman. (He gets gigantic-size hints, but fails to parse them.) Eventually, Scott discovers he ''didn't,'' and apologizes for being such a jerk about his mistaken territoriality...and Angel responds, "You were not wrong. I saw a boy...but I believe I was in love with that boy."

== [[Fan FictionWorks]] ==

* In the ''Zelda'' fanfic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120418055912/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3105749/18/The_Weekly_Hyrule_News The Weekly Hyrule News]'', this happens between Link and Sheik. Played with in that Link realizes he wasn't sweet on Sheik/Zelda because he picked up on her real gender subconsciously, but because he's [[Bi the Way|bisexual]]. Incidentally, it's well-written.

* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120424134051/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4633756/1/The_Bet The Bet]'', a [[Naruto|SasuSaku]] fanfic by Blade Redwind is the epitome of this trope, questioning-his-sexuality and all. (Wish someone knew more fics like these!)

** In the stage version, it's slightly different than the usual [[Gayngst]] of this trope. Marchand (the guy) is in tially repulsed by the idea of having a relationship with another man, but eventually decides that it doesn't matter. He tells Victor he doesn't care if Victor is a man and kisses him. Victor then reveals herself to be a woman. Marchand says he still doesn't care and kisses her again. While it's true that he's happier to be with a woman, there's no sense of extreme relief when he finds out because he loves Victor/Victoria as a person either way.

{{quote| "I didn't want to touch you. I didn't know why. I thought there was something [[Ho Yay|wrong]] with me. I loved you... }}

* This is a major plot device in ''[[Tomboy (film)|Tomboy]]''. Laure introduces herself as a boy, and spends most of the film falling in love with a local girl as a boy. It isn't until the last 10 or so minutes of the film that the object of her affection learns of her sex.

* Twisted all over the place in ''[[Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'', where {{spoiler|''everyone'' is a [[Sweet Polly Oliver]] (except the rather feminine commanding officer, of course).}} {{spoiler|The Prince of Zlobenia tries to hit on Polly, who's [[Recursive Crossdressing|a woman pretending to be a man dressed up as a woman]] and gets a [[Groin Attack]] for it.}}

** From ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]'', "One of the minor laws of the narrative universe is that any homely featured man who has, for some reason, to disguise himself as a woman will apparently become attractive to some otherwise perfectly sane men with, as the ancient scrolls say, [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious results.]] In this case the laws were fighting against the fact of Corporal Nobby Nobbs, and [[Averted Trope|gave up.]]"

* Subverted in Delia Sherman's ''Through a Brazen Mirror''. The king had been denying to himself that he was gay; initially he was delighted to find out that his crush was a woman -- nowwoman—now it was okay to admit he was attracted! So he required her to dress in woman's clothes (which she was uncomfortable doing); but that only made him realize, wait, that really wasn't what interested him, and finally face the truth.

* In ''The Thurb Revolution'' by Alexei Panshin, hero Anthony Villiers' old friend Fred Fritz confesses to Tony that he's become oddly attracted to young David Clodfelter. Villiers, more perceptive, or at least more consciously perceptive, realizes that David is not only a girl, but Gillian U, the girl Fred's father (the Emperor) has been trying to fix himFred up with. A snatch of conversation in the next book indicates [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage|the engagement has been made formal]].

* Inverted in one of the ''[[Judge Dee]]'' stories by Robert van Gulik: a young woman came to the judge, asking for advice because she'd lately found herself strangely attracted to another girl living close to her. As it happened, Judge Dee already knew that "the other girl" was actually a young man who'd [[Amateur Sleuth|gone undercover]] to investigate the suspicious death of his sister -- andsister—and the young man had admitted to the judge that ''he'' was quite attracted to the girl who was now (needlessly) worrying that she might be a lesbian.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* Inverted in an episode of ''[[Reno 911!]]''. Lieutenant Jim Dangle, who is gay, finds himself having an inexplainable attraction to the female homeland Security agent Suzy Kim. At the end of the episode we discover Suzy Kim {{spoiler|is a male in drag, and is not a Homeland Security agent, but a con artist.}}

** This revelation also prompts a discussion by the force (brought up by Garcia) {{spoiler|whether or not jacking off thinking about a guy who looked like a girl makes you gay.}} Jones insists that it does, of course, even if most of the men on the force liked Kim.

{{quote| '''Casanova:''' Mine doesn't do that.}}

** This relationship really happened, it's in his memoirs. Casanova insists he isn't sinning [[Really Gets Around|(in that particular way, that is)]] because he can tell she's a girl, but she (still claiming to be male) points out that he doesn't ''know'' that and is in love with her already. In real life there was quite an interval between perceiving that bulge in her pants and learning that it was fake, during which time [[Hilarity Ensues|the poor bastard was terribly confused]]. He records a lengthy lecture she gave him on what would happen if she let him check and he found out he was wrong, namely that he wouldn't be able to stop loving her and would come up with all kinds of arguments about male homosexuality being purer and more intellectual than heterosexuality, citing historical examples, until he wore her down -- anddown—and he pretty much admits it. He also continues calling her Bellino (her masculine alias) interchangeably with Teresa (her real name) in the narrative for some time after revealing her actual gender; make of that what you will.

{{quote| '''Joel''': Mr. B, you're ''hot!''}}

{{quote| '''Mel''': I love you!<br />

'''Jiló''': [[If It's You It's Okay|I love you too, Melchiades!]]<br />

* Used in the Swedish mini-series ''[[The Girl At The Stone Bench]]'' <ref>swedish= Flickan vid stenbänken</ref> when fraternal twins [[Ambiguously Gay|Arid]] and [[Cute Mute|Rosilda]] both fall for the new servant "boy" Carl. Problem? Carl is actually Carolin,<ref>The add demanded a boy and a girl since the two was supoossed to add both female and masculine influence to the both of them. Theater maniac Carolin fixed that by strapping on a tuxedo.</ref>, who seems to ''really'' enjoy to flirt with the girls who think she is a boy. Played to some really dark irony:

{{quote| '''[[Parental Substitute|Head-Maid]]:''' [Noting that Berta, Carolins sister, notices that Arid ignores her in order to chat with "Carl"] Arid is not that interested in girls. I mean, he is not like Bertas brother. [Cut to "Carl" giggling over something Rosilda wrote in her "conversation-book" and kisses her hand]<br />

{{quote| '''Mr. Sheffield''': Oh thank God. I thought all those years of working in musical theater had finally caught up with me.}}

== [[TheaterTheatre]] ==

* Some productions of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' emphasize this between Orsino and Viola, though it's not explicit in the text, including the Hippie [[The Musical|Musical Adaptation]] ''[[Your Own Thing]]'' and the high school adaptation ''~[[She's the Man~]]''.

** For the uninitiated, H-Game women usually have some variant of [[Ms. Fanservice]] or large breasts as a rule, making the subversion more jarring.

* {{spoiler|Joshua}} in ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' was in fact {{spoiler|Wendy all along, forcing Jennifer to relive her childhood struggles and make her remember their mutual past.}}

* A complicated version appears in the webcomic ''[[Boobs Ahoy]]''. [[Butch Lesbian|Wilhelm]] pulls a [[Sweet Polly Oliver]] at one point and ends up attracting the [[Even the Guys Want Him|attention]] of a boy named [[Shout-Out|Kaworu]], who also gives Wilhelm a case of [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]]. {{spoiler|Turns out [[Wholesome Crossdresser|Kaworu is a girl, too]], making it a double case of [[Sweet on Polly Oliver]]. This being ''[[Boobs Ahoy]]'', you can guess what happens next.}}

* Inverted in Kevin Bolk's ''[[It Sucks To Be Weegee]]''. Luigi is telling Link about the irritating time he had at the bar last night -- henight—he couldn't catch the eye of a single girl all night, but [[Samus Is a Girl|some guy in orange armor named Sam-something was way more interested than Luigi was comfortable with]]. An exasperated Link just lets it slide.

{{quote| '''Zapp:''' Leela! So it's you I've been attracted to! Oh God, I've never been so happy to be beaten up by a woman!<br />

{{quote| '''Jerry:''' I'm not gay?<br />

* In ''[[Mulan]]'', we have Captain Shang, who grows close with young soldier [[Sweet Polly Oliver|Fa Ping]], an awkward klutz who eventually [[Took a Level Inin Badass]] and earned everyone's respect and friendship. When he finds out that [[Samus Is a Girl|"Ping" is in fact a girl]] (namely Mulan), he is of course shocked, particularly because during those times, a girl joining the army is a crime punishable by death. Fortunately, Mulan had saved his life earlier and he repaid the debt to her by merely abandoning her. When she manages to save the day a second time, Captain Shang's feelings for her become obvious to everyone except perhaps him.

* Inverted with Anne Bonny and Mary Read, a legendary pair of 18th century female pirates. When they met, Anne Bonny was openly female, but Mary Read was a [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]. Mary eventually revealed her gender when Anne developed a crush on her. They later went on to become [[Back-to-Back Badasses]].