#IDENTITY

[holdingcaulfields]

on identity

ojibwe / noah kahan / richard siken / unknown / elliott smith / oamisoa / cameron awkward-rich

[greatwyrmgold]

I don't think [redacted] is "being revived". This man will never be a boy again. He cannot become [redacted] any more than a river can flow uphill.

Instead, he's becoming someone new.

Someone more like [redacted] in some ways, it's true. But also someone different in other way, irreversibly different. This man will always carry [redacted] deep in his heart, of course, but he'll carry Roland Spoofy and Agent Twilight in his heart too. Much closer to the surface.

This man cannot become a boy again. He cannot rid himself of the trauma of war, any more than his wife can have a normal childhood or their daughter can not be scarred by secret experiments. Some things can never be regained once lost. You can't change your past.

You can only make a new future.

Is this a good time to talk about Twilight's development?... Yes, it's always a good time!

One of the most interesting points about Twilight for the fandom is the question of which identity will prevail until the end. I think the most obvious answer would be Loid Forger will be the identity that will stay, since that's the identity most people know him by (in and out of the universe), but things are more complicated when we remember [Redacted], the one that is supposed to be the "true" identity of the boy who lost everything in the tragic war…. And then…. where does that leave Twilight, the Westalis spy?

I think an interesting and collective perspective is that Twilight is slowly becoming Loid Forger, the character created to fulfill the Strix mission Right? So, Twilight starts to get more and more confused feeling that his fake family is more and more real to him. However, I don't know if this is really the route Endo is necessarily taking.

If we think about it, Loid Forger is someone who does not exist, is not a real psychiatrist, was not married and did not really have a daughter with his fictional first wife. We could say then that Twilight's fatherly and good husband moments are due to Loid's character.

Twilight alone, playing Loid as an exemplary parent usually has several problems. From chapter one we can see him sinking into a spiral of negativity when he sees that understanding a child is so complicated (even after reading a bunch of parenting encyclopedias), especially when Anya doesn't get the academic results needed for the mission. The same thing happens, or something similar, when being Loid Forger he tries to "seduce" his fake wife to keep up appearances, or make sure she continues with her role (just an excuse to kiss her, ok?).

I'm trying to say, when Twilight, the spy, transforms himself into Loid Forger he has serious problems. Being the perfect father and husband under the demands of the Strix mission is very complicated, trying to use his daughter (and wife) to get results usually always fails. So, the Loid Forger mask is not enough to transform Twilight into a REAL good father and husband.

So…. Twilight is becoming Loid?

I think this is not so accurate…. at least not yet.

Loid Forger by himself is nothing genuine, he is a mask. He is someone who at some point must cease to exist and with him the lies. So, when Loid falls, who is he who will really be left? What is his own truth?

What makes all those special Loid Forger moments meaningful and a genuine feeling of undercurrent that is NOT FOR THE MISSION, is [Redacted].

If you think about it, all those special moments are the moments where Twilight unwittingly puts aside his spy side and allows [Redacted] to show up: Like when he tells Yor that he's actually always been alone, and has no family to lean on, when he tells Yor about his own mother and how comforted he felt by her side, or when he told Anya how important friends were.

The real loving, fatherly side of Twilight doesn't derive from Loid Forger, it derives from [Redacted]. It's a side that's always been in him, but it's dormant, and it wasn't something that came out of playing that role of Loid.

So I think it's more accurate to say that "Loid is transforming into [Redacted]" ...."Loid's mask is becoming part of [Redacted]'s face on the surface"

Yes, [Redacted] had to disappear, and be buried for Twilight, the spy, to become his dominant identity in order to deal with the loss (it's just a protective shell). Loid Forger is becoming the new identity or the new mask for [Redacted] to resurface from the depths.

To paraphrase Nightfall "He is their buried heart".

Each time manga progresses further, we see Loid/Twilight showing a more genuine side of himself, a more human side. He is no longer someone who smiles (falsely) at his family, or is worried about appearing sympathetic to Yuri (he is annoying as a pain in the ass), or even shows no concern about them finding out that they are not a real family. Twilight has been relaxing, and has stopped worrying so much about appearances, and more about being a good father and a good husband

We even see him genuinely overwhelmed by being a spy, dealing with side missions. Because [Redacted] does not want to appear to be a perfect spy/man at all times, when he clearly wants to be at home with his wife and daughter, dealing with his upset stomach while drinking coffee (with a little milk).

.

So, I think those times when Twilight starts slipping and letting out phrases like "…I abandoned my family again" or "it gets very lonely" (if Yor isn't there) or "I'm genuinely proud", it's actually [Redacted] surfacing and displacing her spy side when it's no longer really necessary

Loid Forger is getting real because [Redacted] is real

It's funny, too, when Loid Forger's relaxed hair looks a lot like Redacted's hairstyle as a child.

.

Yes it may be that for Twilight the spy it is very easy to tell the difference between him and Loid Forger. But the line that distinguishes [Redacted] and Loid becomes increasingly blurred…. and it will be interesting to see how he and his mountains of emotional denial will deal with that.

However, it will be interesting to know what path Endo has planned. For practical purposes and congruent with the plot, all the characters who have met Loid (who don't know he's a spy) recognize him as the psychiatrist, Anya's father, and Yor's husband. So I don't know if this implies that Loid Forger will be his definitive civilian identity when he really stays with his family (because I know it will), or if his real name will be revealed, having to start a new life with his girls and his faithful dog.

.

.

Then..... What do you think?

[miamaimania]

"Identity Swap" by [Artist] ◆ The thinnest mask becomes the most revealing

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[bizarreaizen]

it's always "i don't judge !!" until a person is a therian or just alterhuman in general, their religion is something they don't agree with or don't see as a "real or a valid" religion [like satanism or autotheism], they identify with xenogenders and use neopronouns or xenopronouns, they have a unique style like emo, scene, goth, or harajuku fashion, they're disabled, they act childish and age regresses, they have extreme intrusive thoughts, they have "cringe" interests or hyperfixations, they don't have proper hygiene because of poor mental health, their identity "doesn't make any sense", they're "too fat" or "too skinny", or they're just "not attractive" stop cherry picking, you can't claim "you don't judge" when you can't accept these people, please be better ^-^ /gen

[weirdlookindog]

Clarence John Laughlin (1905–1985) - The Masks Grow to Us, 1947

[diana-andraste]

Photograph from Lithuanian countryside, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, 1970

This is AI, inspired by Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Thanks to @colonellickburger for the insight.

[itscolossal]

Spirituality, Nature, and Performance Converge in Victoria Ruiz’s Vibrant Photographs

[hexalt]

Hack the System! how to change your name and gender

(available on itch.io for download)

Have you or someone you know been wanting to legally change your name and/or gender within the USA? Are you unsure how to get started? Are you stuck on a step?

I use my legal and bureaucratic expertise to guide you through the process as someone who's volunteered at a legal clinic during law school and helped a couple of friends in different states change their names and/or genders over the years.

Whether you're trans or not, the process is the same, so even if you're solely wanting to change your name, this will still be helpful to you.

✬✬✬✬✬

This is my very first zine ever! I'm so excited to have finally fulfilled this lifelong dream of making a zine. It was hard figuring out what the first topic of my zine should be, and I finally realized that I have information not everyone has access to thanks to my education, personal experiences, and personality. I always wish I could help everyone get their legal documents changed to reflect their identity, so maybe with this, I can somewhat do that.

I got the DIY zine booklet paper from strangeandunusual.design/punchkisspress. Going to my local zine fest was extra inspiring for finally actually making a zine, and shout out to brattyxbre for all of her resources!

Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it more than you can imagine! Share this resource with anyone know who needs it, please. :) We all deserve to have our identities reflected in reality.

Published March 2025

10 pages

Each page is about 4.5" wide and 5.6" tall

[the-lion-guard-88]

HELP WHY IS “HOMOPHOBIA” ON THE LIST OF SEXUALITIES 😭

[zhezhezha]

Drew the moment when they just added vc in duo and that one composer gave me a whole lecture about deers to stay alive

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[infused-with-madness]

So, I'm a panromantic asexual, right? And that's a lot of syllables. I could use the short forms instead.

So, I'm a pan ace, right? And that's a lot easier to say, but it's not as cool as it could be. There's a word that already exists, though, that sounds kinda similar, and it works because of the aces and cake thing.

So, I propose this: I'm a pancake.

[magnetothemagnificent]

I actually don't think that the high percentage of autistic people who are trans/nonbinary has anything to do with how autistic brains work, and I think insisting that it does is a dangerous path to go down.

Rather, I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that people who are already othered in some way are more likely to question aspects of themselves and their identities than people who aren't othered.

Autistic people, and really, all neurodivergent people, are already the Other. Whether diagnosed or not, autistic people already feel different and already wonder why they're different. You can say the same about any Othered demographic. A cishet, white, able-bodied person in the US is less likely to question deeply how they feel because being of the normative class, they just assume others feel the exact same way as them (even if it's not the case).

Think about how many seemingly cishet people say things that make us as non-cishet folks tilt our head a bit, when they say things like "everyone is a little bi, doesn't mean you're gay" or "everyone's felt like a different gender, doesn't mean you're trans", because obviously not everyone actually feels that way and maybe these people could benefit from a bit more introspection, but they never considered it because they assumed everyone felt that way because everything else about their identity- whiteness, abledness, income- is considered The Norm.

So, an autistic person who already has felt different and othered their whole life, who has already been constantly questioning themself, is more likely to also question their sexuality and/or gender identity because they don't really have anything to lose and are already questioning anyway. Meanwhile, a neurotypical person with the same unaddressed feelings about their gender and/or sexuality is more likely not to address those feelings because they either think they're unremarkable or because they fear the repercussions of suddenly Not Being The Norm.

It's not that autistic brains are more wired to not be cishet, it's that autistic people, by being the Other, are just going to be more open to questioning their identity because their identity is already in question by everyone around them.