#Gender identity hcs haven’t I figured out yet

[pzyii]

My vision this is canon btw (it's not) harry and d’arcy are just besties. They hold meetings about how to keep asta the happiest and safest (she’s the only reason either of them have faith in humanity)

[pumpkinsouppe]

Here's my interpretations of all the OOT sages!! I have closeups of each sage and my thoughts behind their headcanon design changes below ^_^ (im alsooooo thinking of selling these as stickers if i ever figure out my silhouette)

Zelda

I headcanon Zelda is half Hylian half Sheikah with Impa being their aunt (mother’s sister, mother being full Sheikah and died when Zelda was young)

I also hc Zelda/Sheik as either transmasc or gender fluid depending on the interpretation of OOT I’m using, in this art Zelda is gender fluid and since I’m talking about sheik and Zelda a lot here I’ll just use they/them

Combined Zelda’s design with Sheik’s to make it more believable that they’re the same person this includes:

A skin color closer to Sheik’s concept art

Heterochromia, which is why sheik was hiding one of their eyes (and Zelda was forced to wear contacts or use magic to hide being half Sheikah post civil war)

Hylian pointed ears, another characteristic sheik had to hide (more info under Impa’s notes)

Lighter blond hair to be closer to Sheikah white hair

Sheik’s eye shape and eyebrows

Textured long hair, sheik would have a braid like in smash bros

Not pictured but if sheik is broad shouldered and muscular, then so is Zelda!!!!

Big forehead Zelda truther

Impa

Shares some traits with Zelda since I hc them as being related such as similar nose shape, eye shape, and skin tone

Textured hair styled into locs, tied into a short ponytail

Sheikah pointed ears, since Sheik hides their ears I thought it would be fun to have another different characteristic between the human races such as differing ear shapes. If Sheik showed their ears it would be a giveaway that they are not fully Sheikah

The rest is basically the same

Rauru

Rauru is perfect as he is all I did was give him spots on his skin to give him more accurate skin of an older person

Saria

So one thing I hc about Saria is that she was Link’s caretaker/mother figure in OOT so my main goal was to make her look childlike but have a more mature face

So I gave her rounder cheeks and made her smaller compared to everyone else and gave her larger eyes and a button nose but I also gave her some lines around her eyes to suggest age, I also gave her thinner eyebrows similar to a kid

I changed her eyes to brown bc I’m tired of all these blue eyed characters, there’s a severe drought of brown eyed characters in tloz

I gave her freckles

Her ears are also pointed upwards. I think the great deku tree did his best to make the kokiri look Hylian especially for link’s sake but he couldn’t get the ears right and they turned a little more animal-like since they live in the middle of the forest and are used to animals than humans. So kokiri look identical to Hylian children except the one difference is their ears being a different shape

Everything else is basically the same

Ruto

RUTOOOOOO ‼️‼️‼️‼️💕💕💕💕💕💕💕‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💕💕💕💕

Her size is much larger bc why are all the royal male zora 20 stories high but not the female zora, she would be almost as tall as Darunia at this age

I changed her eyes to be like all the other zora, it’s weird all the other zora have full color eyes yet she has human eyes 😭😭 you can tell the Zelda team was terrified about being called monster fuckers by committing fully to making Ruto have all the same traits as other zora

I also gave her freckles and added more spots on her to give her more texture and bc I love the way the Majora’s mask zora look

I haven’t drawn her body so I don’t have itemized changes but I’d make a couple more changes, other than that she’s perfect. Only smaller changes were made to just make her more zora-like than the design the devs used bc they were scared of idek what. Women can be beasts and monsters!!!! Cowards

Nabooru

Nabooru had the most changes besides Zelda but technically Zelda was a mash of two designs rather than fixing all of the issues with Nabooru’s design

My goal was to make her look like an actual person rather than a caricature such as changing her over exaggerated nose to be a hooked nose, removing the white on her lips, etc. If there is anything I need to change about my new design for her please let me know, I want to keep her recognizable without using the harmful designs the devs gave her

I gave her a darker skin color and gave her moles

I toned her red hair so that it looks more natural

I haven't fully decided on her clothes but considering she's in the desert i gave her long sleeves esp bc the area you find her in has crazy sandstorms

I'm still deciding if i keep her yellow eyes or not, i like their contrast and how it matches her eyeshadow but also I want more brown eyed characters

Darunia

The one big change about Darunia is making him more animal like by giving him more of a snout and a dog-like nose. I don't like how Gorons are designed in games like twilight princess and the white lips they have in majora's mask so my main goal was for him to just seem more animalistic and non-human

i also added lighter color around his nose area to suggest age similar to a dog

nothing else changes other than that

[quietwingsinthesky]

@archangelsammy is right they would cancel you for samifer but also I think twitter'd cancel you for off-color trans hcs too (aka for having good opinions <3)

Which, ftr, is stupid and I very much enjoy them. Archangels + complicated relationships with gender my beloved

Reason #436 I have never gone on Twitter: my gender thoughts r too powerful.

Also yes yes yes archangels and complicated relationships with gender, my much beloved! I was actually thinking about that this morning, plus apartmentverse thoughts, leading to me realizing like. I have, in separate fics, talked about Adam and Nick being trans, and there is literally no one who could stop me from carrying that detail into apartmentverse in order to examine just how it would be to exist as a creature with no sense of gender (or to have one that cannot be translated to any sort of human-adjacent concept) but to have a body that was, at one point, kept by someone to whom it mattered very much how they presented.

In my head, the easiest word to apply to all of the archangels is agender (or, maybe less to Gabriel, who does have experience with human gender and has fun with how he can play with it, but that doesn’t mean he’s all in on human gender, more that he’s figured out how to translate his internal experience into ‘ha ha skirt go swish!’) Sorry, Gabriel tangent.

Anyway, what I’m saying is, agender is the right word because from a human perspective, they don’t experience gender. But they are living in a world that is soo concerned with gender at all times, and there’s a sliding scale of what things they might want to change about their presentation and how the world looking in affects them. I’m thinking like. Raphael getting irritated with the insistence on gendering them as female, not because they’re bothered by that specifically, but by being gendered at all. Would not be less irritating for them to be seen as a guy in their Donnie vessel, you know? Which is alienating in a world where they are already a stranger due to Not Being Human!

Whereas Michael has these memories of Adam’s where being perceived femininely hurt, it was upsetting and Adam made efforts to prevent it, and yet Michael does not carry that same pain when he is seen as a woman. If anything, it would probably bother him more to be infantilized with terms like ‘young lady’ and such, because he is literally the oldest person in any given room. Or bother him most if he’s out with his siblings and gets referred to by someone at a store or something as a sister because his role as the oldest brother is sooo firmly tied to his identity, but it’s in such a weird way where brother has ceased to be a gendered term? If that makes any sense. Like the experience here is that Michael is being misgendered. Technically. But his internal experience can’t really work it out that way because he doesn’t exist like that, but ‘sister’ just Is Not What He Is. it’s complicated! It’s. You know. A system doesn’t care about how you identify, only how it can perceive you, and because Adam died and got brought back at nineteen and lived in the early aughts, it’s not likely he got access to hormones or anything until he was basically an adult, so his body gets gendered female more often than male. Would Michael choose to continue that? Out of respect for Adam’s wishes or for himself? Because the thing is Michael isn’t even! A Guy! He’s just Michael. His gender is Brother. His gender is Son. (oh the evil alternative of him being seen as like. Gabriel’s younger sister. Is him getting seen as Nick!Lucifer’s daughter. Absolutely nightmare scenario for him. He will cease to function for hours.) So, maybe he would want to go back on T. Maybe not. I haven’t really worked that out yet for my fic lmao.

Okay, okay, Jesus Christ, I rambled a lot here, but point is: Archangel gender is weird. Having to live in a gendered system is even more weird.

[dittomander]

Do you have any LGBTQ+ headcanons for EoA?

heck yeah I do 😎 and yes they change all the time lmao.

(second anon: I'm assuming you mean for EoA - you didn't actually specify, but that *is* kinda my brand of answered asks, so if you meant something different you'll have to let me know)

I don't know if I've actually talked about this in a post before, but it's actually very rare for me to have "true" headcanons in the sense that I treat them as "canon" in my head, for sexuality or gender or anything else. I'm prone to rotate ideas around at a moment's notice if I want to explore something else. I like alternate interpretations, y'know? That said, I do still have some common patterns that I tend to fall back on, and some of these are definitely more concrete than others:

Main Cast (in no particular order):

Gabe: bisexual, with a tilt toward women. He kiiinda knew he liked guys as well when he was younger, but sort of put it on a back burner until he joined the guard and very abruptly found himself having to confront it. Pretty casually out to most everyone, except for his parents. (Blanca knows - she’s also bi. Roberto hasn’t figured it out yet, though post-Olaball he’d be very supportive, if a bit confused, if he were to find out.) He's a little in love with all of his best friends.

Naomi: also bi, also with a tilt toward women. she thought she was gay when she was younger and initially came out to her parents as such, and then again later when she realized she was actually bi. the first time was very carefully planned out and rehearsed and maybe a little defensive, which it didn't need to be - she hadn't been subtle, and her folks had already figured. The second time was a blunt and casual "so turns out - 'm bi" through a mouthful of eggs at breakfast one morning. She and Gabe joke about having very similar taste.

Elena: aspec, and that’s about how much I can narrow it down, because the particular variety of aspec I hc her as changes pretty much daily, if not more often. The two I toggle between the most often though are demi-pan (romantic & sexual) and aroace. she's not especially tethered to her gender and wobbles along a line between demigirl and agender, but still generally uses feminine terms for herself - sister/granddaughter/prima and princess/queen are titles, not genders. despite being aspec (or perhaps because of it), she always ends up being the person her friends go to for dating advice.

Mateo: a roulette wheel full of question marks, and I don’t mean that I haven’t thought about it; I mean that I’ve thought about it a lot and I still have no idea, and honestly I don’t think Mateo does either. I think he thinks he’s straight. I doubt that he is, although I do have transhet Mateo on the aforementioned roulette wheel, so I haven't ruled it out entirely. I've got his gender on rotation as well - my most common take is "his gender is Wizard", because let's face it, that's a more significant part of his identity than anything else ever will be.

Isa: a true scientist at heart, she feels the need to both A: experiment, and B: categorize. she does a lot of research into microlabels and neogenders and rotates through several, taking notes on how she feels about each one and trying to codify the distinctions between how she feels about different people so that she can get the exact precise label to describe herself. Elena initially assumes Isa is doing it out of anxiety, but the specificity is part of the fun for her. I'm not sure what she settles on, if she ever does, but whatever she's into includes girls.

Esteban: gay and/or aspec. Definitely had a thing with Victor when he was younger. Definitely ended badly. The two of them were just getting on speaking terms again when they met Shuriki, and, uh, we all know how that one ended.

Francisco & Luisa: bi and closeted & the ultimate straight ally, respectively. They're the Cool Grandparents when it comes to their grandkids' and their friends' identities. Raúl's side of the family was a bit more traditional than them back in the day, but Francisco and Luisa's own marriage was considered "non-traditional" once since Francisco married outside of nobility, so they're very open to a lot of very queer stuff just on principle.

Assorted extras/recurring characters that I have opinions on:

Victor: very bi, with historically very terrible taste. Also as the only non-acespec of the pre-Shuriki amigos, he was the resident member of the friend group that was always like "isn't so-and-so the hottest person ever?" and all his asexual friends were just like "Victor this is just some guy. what."

Carla: aromantic allosexual - she treads a line between wanting a romance and feeling uncomfortable with the concept. she likes it in theory and used to fantasize about getting swept away by a prince when she was little, but realized as she got older that that was more about the comfort and stability than anything else, since when she was actually being presented with romance she was feeling uneasy (the sheer vibes from her little grimace when Elena is telling the romantic sunflower festival story, and from how quickly she jumps from the novelty of her parents being back together to thinking they're being gross...)

Marisa & Marzel: listen.... if you line up Elena, Marisa, and Marzel in Song of the Sirenas, their outfits make the bi flag.... I’m just saying.... that said! they'd be bi/pan by human standards, but sirenas don't exactly operate on the human gender binary and are generally much more fluid with their gender identities than humans, and by extension, with their sexualities. there are chemical signals in their tails that are visible to other sirenas (and possibly under UV light? undecided if this is a science thing or a magic thing) that change with their current gender to communicate information about it to others.

Feli: heteroromantic asexual. she thought she might be gay when she was younger since she knew she wasn't quite into guys the same way her straight peers were, and pre-Shuriki, she and Elena briefly experimented with a romantic relationship. It didn't work out, for obvious reasons, but ended very amicably, and Feli eventually figured out what her deal was. Ricardo was straight, but respected Feli's boundaries, and her asexuality was a big part as to why the two never had kids.

Val: I waffle between bi and lesbian for her, specifically. she tends to process her attraction as frustration, of the "get out of my school" variety. she likes someone? okay, so she's gotta be better than them- She mellows out with age and with a more robust friend group.

Alonso: I generally hc him as bi as well but honestly I do kinda think it'd be hilarious if he was the royal friends' Token Straight. He took his lessons about honesty from A Lava Story to heart, but it does take him a bit to realize that what he would consider impressive might not be to someone else.

Chloe: bisexual, with a preference for men. she tends to be very over-eager in romantic relationships the same way she is with friendships, and needs someone that is both very clear about defining their boundaries, and also very clear about confirming hers.

Rebeca: pansexual. she often gets very anxious before dates as her perfectionism starts to get the better of her, especially for big events like holidays or anniversaries.

Tomiko: oh, well she's just a massive lesbian, isn't she? she's got a pen-pal girlfriend at Cariza's science academy that she met when Isa and Cat decided they needed more hands on deploying the gondola project. Elena is very much her and her girlfriend's celebrity crush.

Vee: she's a demiromantic lesbian with a big 'ol childhood infatuation with Naomi that she'd been hanging onto for years. She fully expected to show up in Avalor and completely sweep Naomi off her feet, sail off with her into the sunset, all that jazz, which didn't quite go as planned. Having seen how Naomi changed over the years, she was finally able to let go and move on to seeking a different partner.

The Royal Guard: Rico is gay and Miguel is bi. In a sort of inverse situation to Gabe's, Antonia used to think she was bi and then after joining the guard and being around men far more frequently than she had been she was kinda like, "hm. maybe not," and now identifies as a lesbian.

Ixlan: nonbinary and sapphic. they mostly use gender-neutral language to refer to themself, but typically won't correct people on using gendered language unless they're directly asked. It's not that big of a deal to them to be considered one gender or another or multiple, they just won't talk about themself that way. There's a specific word in Maruvian for the gender they consider themself, but it doesn't really translate into modern Avaloran.

Rafa: oh, the possibilities! I like the idea of aroace Rafa, who never wanted a partner but did want a kid and so recruited a friend in town to help (or else just dug around in the basement for stuff to make a Potion of Spawn Child); I like the idea of lesbian Rafa, who figured that out from the tryst that resulted in Mateo and didn't exactly have time to get into a new dating pool before she had a kid to take care of and is getting to start fresh and really embrace her identity now that he's moved out; I like the idea of mspec Rafa and the wide range of possible backstories and post-canon stories it affords her; I just like the idea of Rafa lmao

Julio & Carmen: the more business-minded and methodical Julio is pansexual, while the more artistic and outspoken Carmen is asexual.

Doña Paloma: aroallo, like Carla, but she's had a few more decades to sort herself out and find her sweet spot as far as relationships go. she likes a good time but her heart will always belong to her business.

Antonio Agama: despite being something of an idealized, masculine sex symbol by some Avalorans, he's actually asexual. while he likes the adventuring in its own right, it was also always a convenient excuse to not have to spend the night with one of his admirers. "ah, but I can't resist the call of adventure! you'd only miss me in the morning - it's not meant to be, señorita." ...also he has an unrequited crush on Mendoza, who mostly finds him annoying.

[glitchy-anime-fan]

He/They Chuuya Nakahara (hc)

I was talking with a friend the other day and we had this idea of Chuuya using he/they pronouns, so here are my hc’s for it! I’m also including they/them nb Dazai as a little treat

I tried to keep it as wholesome as I could, I’m not the best at angst and there are some struggles that I personally haven’t faced so I don’t feel comfortable writing it! Though, I hope you all enjoy anyway!

TW: Mild swearing, mention of violence (nothing to bad), and mention of suicide (it’s only once, and nothing is in detailed)

Chuuya had always thought he felt comfortable with his gender identity, he never felt that he had anything to feel uncomfortable with

He was aware of his petite figure and more feminine features, and as annoyed as it made him when someone called him “short”, he never got offended when he was mistaken for a girl

Okay, he may have glared or scared off the person that accidentally misgendered him, but that’s only because he had a reputation to uphold as the King of Sheep!

Though despite the way he responded to being mistaken for a girl, he never took it personally.

“I know I look like a girl, and as much as it annoys me there’s no point in wasting the energy on worrying about it.” Chuuya had told Yuan one day when she asked about it after a pedestrian called Chuuya “Ma’am” on accident and he said nothing.

Chuuya always chalked it up to him just being comfortable and confident with his masculinity, so being mistaken as a girl never bothered him

That, or maybe it was the influence of Arahabaki who didn’t care about anything but chaos. What was gender to a literal god?

Though when he joined the Port Mafia, his mindset started to change slowly but surely

It started when Chuuya began his training with Kouyou

“Oh you have such a delicate face!” “If I didn’t know better I would think you were a girl!” “You would look so cute in this!” We’re all things Chuuya heard daily from Kouyou’s girls

The first thing Chuuya was taught was how to play into his femininity; working on being more gentle when needed, allowing himself to be vulnerable during missions, and humbling himself out

He would also spend “bonding time” with Kouyou where she would teach Chuuya how to properly apply makeup, do his hair, etc.

“Why do I have to do this again?” Chuuya had asked while Kouyou was applying a subtle amount of eyeliner to the ginger's eyes.

“To help you get more in touch with your feminine side. You are very lucky to be gifted with such a petite frame and delicate face.” Kouyou stated simply as she finished with the eyeliner, placing the little container and brush onto the vanity table.

Chuuya huffed. It wasn’t the first time he had heard this speech, Kouyou’s girls always fawned over his looks. Of course he didn’t mind the attention, it was something he didn’t get when he was with the sheep, but he could only listen to the same phrases so many times before he lost it.

“With the right training you will probably be able to get farther in undercover jobs than even Dazai.” Kouyou added with a knowing smirk. That’s all Chuuya needed to hear to sit quietly for the rest of his make-up session.

And you know what? Chuuya would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy when Kouyou did his make up.

She always applied just the right amount of blush to make it look natural and not like he was sick (blush was not Chuuya’s strong suit), and he honestly felt more confident with the simple makeup than he honestly would have ever imagined.

And though he still chalked it up to either his own comfort with his masculinity or Arahabaki, Chuuya definitely felt something change in the way he felt about himself, he just didn’t know what yet.

Though makeup and wearing dresses were two completely different things. At first at least.

“No! There is no way in hell that I’m wearing a stupid dress!” Chuuya had yelled as Dazai, Kouyou’s girls, and Kouyou herself tried to convince him to wear the azure dress.

“Oh common hat rack! It’s just for one mission, an hour at most! Maybe two if things go south. Besides you already wear makeup, what's the harm in a dress?” Dazai had said as the brunette inched closer to Chuuya. Chuuya glared at his partner, then the dress, then back at Dazai.

Chuuya was fine with wearing makeup; It made him feel confident. Chuuya was fine with being mistaken as a girl; it had happened so often he didn’t always notice at first. Chuuya was fine with men wearing dresses; it’s their life they can do whatever the hell they want.

What Chuuya wasn’t fine with, or what he thought he wasn’t fine with, was himself wearing a dress. Chuuya had been with the Port Mafia for a year now, and he had discovered a lot about himself. But there was something about the idea of him in a dress that made him...uncomfortable? Or was it scared? Scared that the moment he put on that stupid blue dress, it would confirm something in Chuuya that he wasn’t ready to confirm yet.

“Maybe we should give him some space, Dazai. Let him breathe a little.” Kouyou had suggested noticing the nervousness Chuuya was trying to hide behind his anger.

Chuuya finally let out a defeated sigh and aggressively snatched the dress out of Dazai’s hands.

“Fine I’ll wear the damn dress! But you only get this for an hour. One. Hour.” Chuuya finally huffed as he walked behind the changing screen. He knew he was going to regret this, and it’s not because Dazai would have ample black mail material. He just couldn’t place what it was he was going to regret.

And to Chuuya’s surprise, he didn’t really mind the dress

Dresses weren’t something he would ever wear casually. He found them hard to move in and he hated heels with a burning passion

But wearing one on the occasional undercover mission didn’t result in Chuuya getting goosebumps or having to fight with Dazai about wearing it.

And Chuuya had been right to think it would confirm something in himself, because after the first mission Chuuya began noticing that he didn’t always feel like a guy

Sometimes he felt like he had felt for years. He was fine when someone referred to him with he/him pronouns, or called him ‘sir’

Other days he wouldn’t respond right away when a lower ranking member called him ‘sir’, or he felt weird when someone used masculine pronouns

And most days he just didn’t care all that much. It didn’t matter to him what he was referred to by other members.

Surprisingly Q was the first person Chuuya ever opened up about this too, and eventually they were the first one Chuuya came out to

“Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?” Chuuya asked, eyebrow raised as he wiped his face with his napkin.

“You’ve been acting weird lately Chuu.” Q responded matter-of-factly as they played with their food. It was Chuuya’s turn to babysit Q today and he thought taking the 7 year old out to lunch would keep them out of trouble. Though Chuuya felt like now he was the one in trouble.

Ever since that first mission with the dress Chuuya had started to feel different about himself. He had always been so confident in his gender identity, but with the weird feelings he had been getting he wasn’t so sure.

‘Am I really that bad at hiding it?’ Chuuya thought to himself as he swallowed his mouthful of food nervously. He had never opened up about his gender struggles and the fact that a 7 year old could pick up on it made him feel a little nervous.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about kid.” He lied.

“That’s a lie and you know it, Chuu! You’ve been all weird since that undercover mission with the dress!” Q said, pointing an accusing finger at Chuuya. Chuuya had to admit the kid was surprisingly observant, probably from being around Dazai.

“Would you quiet down! The entirety of Yokohama does not need to know about that!” Chuuya hissed. The other occupants of the restaurant glanced their way at the noise but lost interest pretty quickly. They didn’t need to know that the two of them were from the mafia.

“Anyway, what does it matter? It’s not like my work has been impacted-“

“Yet.” Q cut in before Chuuya could finish. They had since forgotten their food and was instead placing all their attention on the ginger.

“Eh?” Was all Chuuya could get out as a response.

“It hasn’t impacted your work yet. But if you keep it bottled up then it’s going to impact more than just your work.” Q said as if it was something any 7 year old would say.

‘When did this kid get so mature?’

“And where did you learn that?” Chuuya asked, an amused and impressed smirk on his face.

“Ane-san! And have you ever heard of something called ‘demiboy’?”

“Eh?”

Yeah, turns out this ‘demiboy’ label Q mentioned actually fit what Chuuya was feeling pretty well.

It wasn’t until he did some research into the term that Chuuya realised the weird feelings he was getting was because he wasn’t as connected to his identity as ‘male’ as he first thought

He had decided to do a little more research into the nonbinary/transgender spectrum and had decided that he related most to demiboy.

He even helped Q realise that they were, in fact, non-binary (Q had never told them their gender, so they always used they/them. Guess it wasn’t a bad thing after all).

Though, while Q liked having the label, they felt it was very fitting, Chuuya did not.

He was fine with trying out he/they pronouns, he felt they fit him much better than just he/him. But what he didn’t like was feeling constricted to just one label

“I don’t need the label, it feels constricting.” Chuuya claimed. He liked the freedom to just exist without a label attached to him.

The second person he came out to was Kouyou while she was getting him ready for an undercover mission.

“Hey, um...Ane-san?” Chuuya had asked sheepishly, breaking the comfortable silence between student and mentor.

“Is something wrong? I’m not brushing too hard am I?” Kouyou asked as she stopped brushing Chuuya’s hair to wait for his response.

“Oh no you’re fine! It’s just...um…” Chuuya paused for a second. This was going to be harder than he thought. As he wracked his brain for the right words he glanced up, seeing Kouyou’s gentle smile in the mirror calming him. She was waiting patiently for him to calm down and find his voice again.

It was a comfort Chuuya didn’t realise he needed. He took a deep breath and tried again.

“Ane-san, can you start using he/they pronouns for me? It’s more comfortable that just he/him.” Chuuya finally got out, nervously glancing at the mirror not sure what to expect.

After a few seconds of silence Kouyou’s smile widened and she ruffled Chuuya’s hair a little.

“Of course, Chuuya. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”

If anyone asks, Chuuya did not tear up. He did not!

Though Dazai did raise a curious eyebrow when Chuuya came walking down the hall, face towards the ceiling

“What’s wrong with you, slug?”

“I got a hair in my eye and I don’t feel like ruining my makeup”

Dazai noticed Chuuya was exceptionally more cooperative than usual that day.

Hell, Chuuya was more cooperative than usual even after the mission.

He didn’t yell at Dazai quite as much, he didn’t nag his partner for their poor living conditions, and it was starting to scare Dazai.

Like legitimately scare Dazai, and the executive didn’t like this new feeling

That day Dazai was determined to get to the bottom of why their chibi was acting so strange!

“Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Oh I see! A boyfriend then!”

“What!? No you idiot!” Chuuya said with a flushed face.

It had been like this for the past hour. Dazai and Chuuya were spending one of their rare days off in Yokohama’s shopping district. There was no way Chuuya was going to keep allowing Dazai to live like a rat, so he forced his partner to go shopping for apartment supplies.

Better furniture, tables, chairs, cooking supplies, a lamp or two so the apartment wasn’t so dark, etc. Right now they were looking for a desk for Dazai’s room, in the hopes the brunette might actually do their work for once. It was a small hope, but one that was still there.

“Hmm…” Dazai hummed as they sat on one of the chairs, deep in thought. “Oh I know! You finally got your hands on a bottle of that fancy wine you like so much!”

Dazai was very confident in this guess, an expecting gleam in their one visible eye as they waited for Chuuya to answer.

“No-wait actually Ane-san did give me a bottle last week. But why do you care so much? And come help me with this, damn it!” Chuuya said after a moment, dragging Dazai from their perch on the chair. Dazai had been practically interrogating him since they left, and it was getting on Chuuya’s nerves.

“Because you’ve been acting weird and I want to know why! I miss the chibi that would yell and kick at me when I teased him!” Dazai whined as they crossed their arms over their chest. Despite the childish attitude, they were being serious. Chuuya had known Dazai long enough to tell when the brunette was being serious even if they didn’t sound like it.

“Aw I didn’t know you cared so much, mackerel.” Chuuya said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “If you want me to beat your ass so bad then I’ll be happy to.”

“Are you doing okay today sir?” One of the shop clerks asked as she walked up to the mafioso’s with a smile. Though her smile dropped a little when Chuuya didn’t answer right away.

“Sir? Are you alright?” She asked again, this time with a hint of worry. Noticing this, Dazai turned to Chuuya and elbowed him in the side and glanced back at the worker.

When Chuuya finally turned around and noticed the worker, his face flushed a little in embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah, sorry we’re alright.” Chuuya stuttered out with a nervous chuckle. The worker smiled a little at the teens, nodded, and left them to their shopping.

“Chuuya, are you sure you’re okay?” Dazai asked with a hint of concern. Dazai wasn’t sure why they suddenly felt so concerned, but the Chuuya they knew wasn’t so spacey.

It was at that moment that Chuuya remembered; he never told Dazai about his change in pronouns.

Chuuya’s face paled a little at the thought of telling Dazai. How would Dazai react? How would it change the weird friendship they had formed? Would Dazai even respect his pronouns if he told him?

“Chuuya?”

Chuuya had tried his hardest to prolong telling Dazai for as long as he could that he actually forgot that Dazai didn’t know

Though realistically, Chuuya probably figured Dazai had already known. Dazai wasn’t stupid, and they could read Chuuya like an open book

At least that’s what Chuuya told himself to try and persuade himself that he didn’t need to actually tell his partner.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Dazai, their whole partnership was built on their blind trust in each other.

What he was worried about was Dazai not taking him seriously. Dazai had a tendency to joke and laugh things off, and Chuuya didn’t want this to be one of those situations.

‘He has to find out at some point’ Chuuya thought to himself. Keeping secrets from Dazai was a lot harder than it seemed.

So Chuuya took a deep breath and told Dazai, fully prepared for whatever negative reaction he was going to get from Dazai.

What he wasn’t expecting was for the slight guilt in Dazai’s visible eye as they gave their response.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Chuuya?”

“W-what?” Was all Chuuya could get out. He was too shocked to form any other response.

‘This was not what I was expecting.’

“You should have told me about this sooner, I would have done better to use your preferred pronouns.” Dazai said, angry at themself for not noticing the signs sooner.

Dazai jokes about a lot of things, but someone’s gender identity and sexual orientation were two things that were off limits. They knew personally how hard it is for some people to just be who they are, they didn’t need to be part of the problem.

It would also be kind of hypocritical since Dazai wasn’t even cis gender; they were nonbinary and used they/them pronouns. Though now that Dazai thought about it, they weren’t even sure if they came out to Chuuya either.

Yeah that was something Chuuya was not expecting to come out of his partner's mouth.

Though he honestly wasn’t sure specifically what to expect anyway. Even after a year of working together, Dazai was still a mystery to Chuuya

“You’re not mad or going to laugh or do anything?”

“Wait is that why you never said anything? Chuuya this is a really hard thing for some people to open up about, I would never laugh at that.”

Chuuya did not start crying in the middle of the store. Mostly because Dazai dragged him to the park instead, for a bit more privacy.

Though he wasn’t crying because he was upset or embarrassed. He was crying because he was relieved that Dazai was so accepting of him

Dazai was probably the one person Chuuya was most worried about coming to. And with Dazai’s acceptance, it felt like a weight had been lifted off Chuuya’s shoulders that he didn’t even know was there.

And Chuuya could finally admit that he felt truly free

They did return to their shopping after Chuuya calmed down, and Dazai even suggested going to one of Chuuya’s favourite restaurants for lunch.

Dazai also used lunch as an opportunity to come out to Chuuya. He felt it was only fair.

“Wait you’re nonbinary?”

“Yeah, that's what I just said, isn't it?” Dazai rolled their eye and took another bite of their sandwich.

“Wait if you’re nonbinary why didn’t you ever correct me when I misgendered you!?” Chuuya almost yelled. They were sitting outside, so he didn’t have to be as careful about the volume of his voice.

Dazai just shrugged in response. They weren’t really sure why they never corrected Chuuya. Maybe Dazai just didn’t care, or maybe they were also secretly worried about how Chuuya would react.

“I suppose it didn’t seem like it mattered. You know me, always trying to find new ways to commit suicide, so I guess I didn’t feel the need to put the energy into correcting you.” Dazai finally said nonchalantly.

Chuuya sat in silence for a moment before chuckling to himself. ‘Classic Dazai. Not sharing important information until the end’

“What’s so funny, slug?”

“Oh nothing! Just thinking that makes three of us who aren’t cis; You, me, and Q.” Chuuya said with a small smile.

“Hmm...Oh! We should start a club!” Dazai exclaimed, hitting their palm with their hand. Chuuya just rolled his eyes and sighed.

Over all, the pair elected this a successful mission. They even planned to start their little club when they got back.

After coming out to Dazai, Chuuya seemed a lot happier. He had been noticeably happier and was working a lot more efficiently.

Mori thought the change was interesting, even thinking about asking Kouyou if she knew what was going on. But in the end he figured if Chuuya was getting work done, he didn’t really care as harsh as it may sound.

Chuuya noticed pretty quickly that Dazai was very adamant about correcting anyone who misgendered Chuuya

Especially on his days were he preferred one pronoun set over the other

“You know it’s fine right? You don’t have to act like you’re gonna kill someone every time they slip up.”

“Yes I do, slug! They’ll never learn if you don’t correct them!”

“Threatening to cut out their tongue is not correcting them Dazai.”

Though in hindsight Chuuya shouldn’t have been so surprised. Dazai had done the same thing for Q so why would it be any different for him?

Chuuya did find it funny though that Dazai never corrected anyone on their own pronouns, so Chuuya did it for them

For Chuuya’s birthday, Kouyou gave Chuuya a set of leather bracelets (you know the ones that are like a couple thin strands connected together)

Kouyou explained that they were ‘pronoun bracelets’. Each colour represents which pronouns Chuuya preferred for that day to help the others from accidentally misgendering him

Blue was for he/him, white was for they/them and Grey was for neutral/either pronouns (based off the demiboy flag colours 😌)

Chuuya absolutely adored the bracelets and uses them everyday

He even wears them when he goes undercover. If anyone cared enough to ask, he just said he liked the bracelet. That was usually enough for most people

Chuuya is still oblivious to the fact that Dazai was the one to actually get the bracelets. They just gave them to Kouyou to give to Chuuya for them

After the truce between the Port Mafia and Agency was formed, Chuuya completely forgot that the no one in the Agency knew what his pronouns were

That was until he overheard Dazai absentmindedly correct Atsushi once when he stopped by the office one day.

“When do you think Chuuya-san will get here? He left some stuff here during his last visit.” Atsushi had asked Dazai that morning. Chuuya was supposed to stop by the office to drop off some reports, so Atsushi wanted to make sure the executive picked up the things he forgot.

“They.” Dazai responded with on instinct as they stared at their laptop.

“Huh?”

“They. You said “he left some stuff” but it’s one of the chibi’s they/them days. So what you mean to say is ‘They left some stuff here during their last visit.’” Dazai corrected as if it was something the brunette did every day.

Old habits die hard I suppose

“The chibi can be very particular with their-“ And before Dazai was finished, they received a good smack on the head.

Atsushi yelped in surprise as he noticed the port mafia executive standing behind Dazai, an annoyed look on the ginger's face.

“Would you stop scaring him! This isn’t the Port Mafia you waste of bandages!” Chuuya scolded, putting a hand on their hip and sighing.

“Aw but Chuu, I was only correcting Atsushi so he knew for the future!” Dazai whined from their chair, now rubbing the sore spot from where Chuuya hit the brunette.

“For the last time idiot; Threatening is not the same as correcting!”

“I wasn't threatening Atsushi!”

“So you can look me in the eyes and genuinely tell me that you were not about to say that I would cut out the kids tongue if he misgendered me?” Chuuya asked and watched as Dazai turned around with an innocent smile that they knew all to well was fake, and confidently said;

“I was not going to say that you would cut out Atsushi’s tongue if he misgendered you!”

Chuuya growled as they glared at their partner and ran a hand through their hair. To think Dazai would still be up to their old tricks. Chuuya shouldn’t be surprised.

“You’re such an ass sometimes you know that?” The ginger finally said with an annoyed huff.

Chuuya then glanced towards where Atsushi was standing. The poor kid looked like he was about to pass out; he was shaking slightly, sweat dripped down his face, and he looked like he might cry.

“Hey kid,” Atsushi jumped but nodded. “Forget whatever weird crap Dazai said. I’m not gonna hurt ya’ or anything. It’s not like I ever told you all what my pronouns are, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”

And it seemed that was just the thing Atsushi needed to hear because as soon as Chuuya finished, the weretiger physically relaxed. Atsushi let out a sigh of relief, gave Chuuya a small smile, and apologized.

“Don’t apologize, you didn’t know. Just don’t let this idiot scare you about it.” Chuuya responded, returning Atsushi’s small smile, and then smacking Dazai again.

Chuuya ended up staying at the Agency for an hour longer than planned.

Atsushi was curious about Chuuya’s pronouns, and wanted to know how he would be able to tell which ones he preferred on a specific day

Chuuya was more than happy to explain his pronouns and the bracelets he wore to the Agency members

Though Chuuya noticed Atsushi, Kenji, and Kunikida seemed to have the most slip ups

Kunikida and Atsushi mostly slip up because they forget to look to see which bracelet Chuuya was wearing

Chuuya didn’t mind, it happens every now and again even at the Port Mafia. And they both usually used the right pronouns after their slip up

Though Chuuya once had to spend ten minutes calming down Atsushi after he slipped up and would not stop apologizing.

Kenji on the other hand had some trouble just understanding pronouns in general. He was from the country so it wasn’t something he was exposed to quite as often.

Though luckily for Kenji, he had friends that were more than willing to help him out!

And Chuuya appreciated that Kenji was clearly trying to understand the concept, so a slip up here or there was no big deal to him.

For Chuuya, seeing the people around him actually make an effort to respect his boundaries and pronouns, that’s all that mattered to him.

It made him feel appreciated and wanted for who he was and not for his power which is all he had ever wanted. To be loved, appreciated, and free to just exist as he is.

He just wanted to feel free

Okay so I think this came out really cute! Like I said, I tried to keep it as wholesome as I could. I have a very supportive social circle, so I didn’t feel comfortable trying to write about experiences that I’ve never faced. Though I hope everyone still enjoys my take on He/They Chuuya! And if any of the wording sounds weird please let me know so I can fix it!

I also want to mention that the reason there are more dialogue bits in this post compared to my Shin Soukoku post, is because I felt there were some things that just came across easier in that format.

[generous1ty]

Hello! I was wonder if it is possible you could do headcannons with Nekomaru, Imposter and Teruteru on how they would confess/ tell reader they have a crush on them? Gender neutral pronouns please! Take your time and have an amazing day/ evening!

hihi! :)

i haven’t written for these guys before, but it feels very refreshing to write for them! the hcs might be a little off, but i had a lot of fun!

thank you for the reassurance, i hope you have an awesome day/evening as well!

lots of love! <3

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Nekomaru, Imposter and Teruteru confessing to their S/O HCs

genre: fluff warnings: gn!reader, pining, kissing... after, it’s just fluff! :)

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Nekomaru Nidai

since Nekomaru’s schedule was just filled with sports n teams, he has no experience whatsoever in the romance aspect of his life. the closest thing he has to base off his feelings for you is when someone from one of his volleyball teams tried to ask him for relationship advice.

surprisingly the guy and his love interest got together

so, by himself, he would be great at hiding his feelings for you. only because he doesn’t know he likes you more than a friend.

he loves being around you, craves your attention, and overall is really soft around you. he felt this because you two were close friends, a team manager/team relationship, and friends usually feel like this around each other.

he’s not too dense, so when his heart starts to speed up, or when he does “it” to you and suddenly feels self-conscious about where he’s touching, he realizes something is... wrong.

so, he asks his other ultimates about it. without you in the room-- and Akane is obviously the first person he asks. she does the usual Akane move,

“maybe you’re just hungry! you know your brain can’t work properly without food, so why don’t you just ask them to go out to eat with you?”

well, she did have a point-- you and Nekomaru did stretch your schedules to train a little longer. so, once you head back into the room, he invites you out to eat for dinner. :)

he’s very hyperfocused on everything-- where to eat, what to eat, where to sit, how he spoke-- this went on for a while... sometimes he’d stutter, other times he’d go silent, thinking about what he wanted to say before saying it.

it wasn’t like him at all-- getting anxious or nervous. he hadn’t felt like this since way back when! but his feelings were all over the place. he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

Nagito is in pain watching Nekomaru’s blind pining for you, so he just straight up tells the buff man--

“if you have a crush on (Y/n), just tell them. they obviously like you back,”

and then, suddenly, something awakens within Nekomaru.

it’s like he was suppressing his feelings, even though it wasn’t necessarily on purpose. he immediately goes to find you, because all this pining has practically made him go crazy.

once he does find you, he grabs your wrist and gives you the face he makes when he’s really stressed or really needs to uh... go to the bathroom.

“I... well, you see...”

there’s this awkward silence because he can’t quite get it out of him, so instead he just kisses you. :D

and you kiss back

and then you’re dating, yay!!

everyone is super happy because watching Nekomaru pine for you yet not knowing how to put it in words was physically painful

Ultimate Imposter

their identity has always been a problem they couldn’t seem to tackle by theirself. although it was never something they thought they’d need to get to, with you, it dawned on them that they can’t just mimic someone while they want to date you.

it’s hard for them to find theirself. they want to find how and what they are, who they are, and what they are before they even get to asking you to go out with them.

and you help out! you try to help them figure out what they like and dislike, what they enjoy doing, what they’re good at, what they want to be, etc. without them using their ultimate talent.

it really helped them, and honestly-- just made them fall in love with you more.

they’re really attached to you because of your kindness and how you helped them with something they couldn’t find by theirself. it’s something they’ll never forget.

they’re really timid about their feelings towards you-- but gets flustered super easily. it doesn’t take much before their face turns red because of a subtle brush of the hands or even a friendly/comforting rub on the back. it makes them super happy that you’re there with them, reassuring them that they are what they need to be, and that they are enough.

it takes time for them to build up the courage to make subtle moves towards you; hinting that they like you, and actions that are a bit more intimate than just friends; intertwining your hands...gently and lovingly caressing your head...kissing your cheek...

all of it with consent, of course!

you get the gist before they actually confess, but you wait to hear it from them directly before you jump to any conclusions.

despite saying that you’ll wait, you probably confess first. unable to stand the tension between the both of you any longer, you tell them how much you like being around them, and how much their company makes your heart flutter.

they might get a little emotional, embracing you with a hug.

they’re so happy they fell in love with you. you, the amazing person that accepted and helped them find who they were.

Teruteru

honestly, you probably wouldn’t catch on to Teruteru having feelings for you. he makes dirty jokes all the time, so it’s hard to differentiate his flirting with you and his messing around.

however, once he figures out he likes you, his messing around with the others dies down. like, a lot.

this is practically the only way you can catch on that he has feelings for you.

all his teasing and messing around is targeted at you, as well as his suggestive remarks. no flirting with anyone else, no words from others turned into something dirty--

instead, once you say anything that could be seen as “dirty”, he teases you for it. an ounce of innocence in your words? he turns it against you, taking something you said and interpreting it into something else.

it flusters you, and fills him with satisfaction. he enjoys your flustered face, and he finds it cute that he can get you surprised.

his feelings grow deeper the more you decide to spend time with him, and as you spend time with him, his teasing becomes more softer.

at times, he’s just really soft. he mumbles things under his breath with a small smile, his face a little flushed as he mutters to himself(about you).

he’s very secretive about his feelings to you-- as soon as you pry, he immediately switches to another subject. things like, “do you have anyone you like?” or “what do you think of (Person)?” are questions he avoids.

avoids telling you his feelings about you in general. he eases the tension sometimes, sure-- but he also makes some people uncomfortable. what if he makes you uncomfortable with just his feelings? he’d hate to lose the friendship with you-- where you’re comfortable and nice to him. he feels as if he belongs with you, because he feels like he’s at home when he’s with you.

when he decides to just go for it(with the support of the class!), his accent accidentally comes out as he stutters. he becomes even more embarrassed because of that and backs out--

but, you just give him a little peck on the cheek before he goes.

he’s very relieved that you feel the same, and super happy you don’t think of him differently now that you both know.

it might be a little while before you actually start dating, because he’s nervous to be bound by the title “relationship” and is scared to cross any lines. but you reassure him he’ll do fine! :)

[himborpheus]

all

1) Are you pansexual, panromantic, or both?

both! i am demiromantic when it comes to girls though!

2) When did you realize you’re pan?

probs when i was like 12?? ik i was babey

3) Are you out? If so, when and how did you come out?

i’m out to my mother! my mother already knew i identified as bi because she went through my messages and stuff when i was younger which wasn’t pleasant, i kinda just said ‘oh im pan not bi’ one day like last year and its been fine since (she doesn’t quite get what pan means bc her friend uses a different definition but she’s supportive)

4) What’s your favorite thing about being pan?

the flags really pretty! also all the puns

5) Do you have any gender preferences?

as i said, i’m p sure i’m demiro when it comes to girls!

6) What qualities do you look for in a partner?

as long as they’re nice ! i genuinely have no preference for who i date most of the time dshfhds

7) What’s your favorite part of pan culture?

p u n s (as i said)

8) Do you have any stories from Pride?

i haven’t gone to pride :(

9) Who’s a pan character or celebrity you like?

Janelle Monae!

10) Do you have any pan headcanons?

i hc brooke lohst as pan!

11) What’s your favorite thing about the pan community?

everyones pretty much very accepting!! i also like the pan bi solidarity!!

12) What’s a myth about pan people that bothers you?

that we’re biphobic it makes me :/

13) What labels did you use before settling on pan?

pretty sure i just used bi before i realized i was pan!! i know there was a point when i questioned if i was ace then a lot of things on the ace spectrum but overall my panness has stayed the same

14) Do you have any pan friends

@space-dyke-too-gay we’re pan mlm/wlw solidarity babey!

15) Is there anything you’d tell your younger self?

it’s okay to take time to figure yourself out! there’s no rush!!

16) Do you use any labels besides pan?

demiromantic! (as i said, i only use this label towards girls)

17) Do you have any pan pride merch? If so, what?

no :(

18) What are some of your favorite pan blogs?

i haven’t followed any yet on this acc!

19) What are your pronouns and gender?

he/him and they/them, demiboy

20) Write out a message for panphobes.

we! are! not! biphobic! bi people are valid and so are we!!!

21) What’s some advice you have for younger pan people?

this isn’t towards really pan people but more just younger lgbt+ folks in general, take your time! there’s no rush to figure out your identity and ily!

[arojenniferwalters]

No canon straight characters; using labels needed for canonicity? and period accuracy in fanfic

These are some random thoughts I have on couple of posts I've seen on my dash lately, so I'm just randomly writing down my thoughts:

1) most characters are not actually straight on canon because they don't specifically say 'I'm straight' or 'i'm only romantically and sexually attracted to people of the so called opposite gender'.

This is very true. In fact, most character never identify as straight unless there are non-straight or trans characters in the work as a counterpoint. Grace Adler says she's straight. Jennifer Walters is not lesbian. Peter whatever from Doubt is still straight when dating a trans woman. Kenzi from Lost Girl reciprocates Bo's coming out.

I recently wrote a long meta on another sideblog about how a character never identifies as straight and how the writing and portrayal lead to credible non-straight interpretations even though I know he's supposed to be straight.

So basically, straight characters are usually explicitly straight when it's known that not everyone is. If there exists character who are trans or not straight, other characters then might also express their straightness in response.

But mostly it's cisheteronormativity that makes us accept that unless they state otherwise, they are supposed to be cis and straight.

(Of course this gets complicated when we talk about rep bcus 'they didn't say they aren't x or y' doesn't really count as proper rep. But it's complicated, but like headcanons are fair game. Like, 'you shouldn't hc this canon straight character as not straight' isn't a good argument, because few character actually *are* canon straight. Most characters just have the potential to be or are in m/f pairings but that doesn't mean that straight is the only thing they can be.)

2) Labels are great. Labels tell people without a doubt who that character is and it is incredibly validating to see characters identify the same way you do (shoutout to Aled Last!). But does a character need to use a label to properly count as having this identity, if there is strong coding and word of god?

I'm conflicted. I really am. Because you can do a decent job of making characters gay/lesbian/m-spec without necessarily using a label (although not using it can be obnoxious, especially with m-spec characters), that's not necessarily the same with a-spec characters. Because there's not enough rep for us for people to read in and accept the subtext/coding. (Canon ace, coded aro is another issue but that's semi besides the point)

Here I'm mainly thinking of Raphael Santiago in books vs TV show, and comparing 2 word of god demi characters; Rivka of Mangoverse and Julian Blackthorn of The Dark Artifices.

So, book!Raphael for a long time was barely/maybe coded aroace and after he was killed off he became a word of god aroace through twitter. Then came 2017 and the tv show and new book appearances and suddenly he got to verbally say ace (and/or aro) things without using the label. I haven't read-read the books with that canonization yet but it seems to be very clear now that he is sex and romance repulsed aroace. Great.

The tv show canonized his aceness before the books did but they did it without using labels and basically making a mess of his romantic orientation (is he still aro? Arospec? Alloromantic who just didn't feel rom attraction much? He never did pursue a romantic relationship with Izzy after the addiction mess even though they acknowledged that they cared for each other, but was it romantic from Raph? We don't know! *throws hands in the air in frustration*).

As much as I love show!Raphael, "I'm just not interested in sex." isn't necessarily the best way to establish aceness. Mostly because if you google 'not interested in sex', you get articles on libido and how to increase it, with one article talking about aceness, but not in the title. But the fact that Raphael says he's always been like this, that he's never pressured into having sex and is at peace with his orientation does, to me, make it good rep. I still kinda wish he'd used a label though.

Then the demi rep: neither Rivka nor Julian identifies as demi in text. Shira Glassman didn't at first realize she was writing Rivka in a demi way, in fact the backcover identifies her as straight (kinda as a 'there will be no romantic tension between Rivka and Shulamit' way, similar to Bo and Kenzi in section 1). But when people mentioned that she seems like a hetro demi, Shira embraced that and while the world doesn't do labels the way we do, she is still demi. I love her and I am happy she exists and she is accepted demi rep.

Now, Julian is a different thing. In TDA, he is 17, the year is 2012 and the Internet exists. After the 2nd book, people started speculating that Julian is demi based on how he thinks about never being attracted to anyone but Emma, and how he had started to feel different from his peers when he didn't start experiencing attraction like they did. Someone asked about this from Cassandra Clare and she answered the ask privately, saying that if he was a modern, non-Shadowhunter teenager and he had access to information about the identity, that he would identify as demisexual. The issue is that considering the timeframe (2012) and everything about his situation, he doesn't have access to that label so he doesn't use it.

So. Here we have a canon demi character, based on coding and word of god who has semi realistic reason for not knowing the label and thus not identifying with it, even though he would if he could. But a lot of people don't want to accept that. And that's where my issues come from: Julian says and thinks some very demi things, and to me doesn't do anything that invalidates his deminess. Why is that not enough? Like, I absolutely want him to use that label, I want to read him say it and find comfort in it. But why is his character not demi rep enough because he doesn't use the word?

Rivka has similar reasons for not having the label (not our world and the terminology doesn't exist) and while I doubt there are that much overlap between the 2 fandoms, I am curious about the difference. Neither one is not identifying as demi because they aren't demi, they don't identify as demi because they don't know the identity exists. Yet both are still demi characters.

How much does a character have to emphasize that they've only ever been attracted to one person/very few people, with the author validating that reading, before they are acceptable demi rep?

Another point is Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess. That one has at least one demi character and maybe two acearo characters but they don't use labels. I love them all, but I feel uncertain about talking about Cid as an aroace character because she hasn't been talked about in that way the way Jayla has been. And I love Quinn and I cried when I read that the (pirate) ship has characters who identify as demisexual in a creator letter, but again, no one is using a-spec labels. It's frustrating. But it doesn't invalidate the rep.

3) I think the level of knowledge characters have on queerness should be an in-character discussion. Like, I've written characters as demi without the character using the label; I've written characters discovering a label; I have one fic where there's little possibility of the character having knowledge of the identity (because it's possible the label hasn't been coined yet). I try to stay in character about whether the character would know or have use for label and keep in mind the timeframe. There's a demi pairing I can't really write because neither characters exist in 2006 and beyond. Someone once complained that a book published in 2003 didn't describe the character as demi when the label hadn't yet been created while asexual worked as an umbrella term which included demis, so it still makes sense that the character would identify as asexual.

I don't think it's wrong to have a character be very knowledgeable about queer things if that's what you want to write, whether or not that's in character or realistic within the timeframe. Fanfic is about self indulgeance after all.

Some of that relates to what I'm in the mood to write. My magnum opus is 'this character is demi in all 78 eps of the show, but he'll only figure it out towards the beginning of the last season, just because I want that' and then I have another that's 'screw it, he has a better idea about his queerness but realizes the full picture in s4'.

I do try to be period accurate and think about whether or not the character would have access to the term. But sometimes I just want to have my faves identifying the way I want them to.

4) These are some very random, semi connected thoughts and I'm not even quite sure what the point was. I just feel like writing more about these things.

I am interested in discussing these issues. How much coding does a character need to be accepted as proper rep if the label isn't used? Can rep be valid if a random person reading it doesn't realize that there is that specific coding? If the book has queer readers, is there more leeway (sp) to not using the label, assuming that people reading a book with bi and trans characters or an f/f might also pick up the demi/ace/aro coding? If the author unknowingly wrote a demi character, does it still count if they accept that reading of the character and keep writing them as demi?

Anyway that was a lot of randomness.

[theclaravoyant]

What do I mean by “using hetero/cis normativity as evidence” (in this post)? Some examples:

“there’s no reason for that character to be gay/bi/pan/ace/nb/trans/etc” - you all know this one; the idea that there has to be a ‘reason’ for queer identities while there’s no reason required for cishet identities is cishet normativity at work

“that person has only been with people of the opposite* sex so they can’t be [anything but straight]” - aside from the fact that hcs are very welcome to ignore canon altogether, bi, pan and other multigender attractions exist; the character doesn’t necessarily have to be homosexual - BUT ALSO, they CAN be!! compulsory heterosexuality is the feeling that we must perform heterosexuality and therefore most gay people do date people of the ‘opposite’ sex, especially before they realise and/or come out, or while they’re figuring themselves out, & this is sometimes for a long time! This is a very real experience for many homosexual people that is hideously underrated in a media environment that expects gay people to have ~always known~. sometimes gay people want to see that experience represented too!!

“that character isn’t hideously depressed about their body/pronouns/etc, [so they can’t be trans]” - a) while not universally agreed upon, many trans people & groups agree that dysphoria isn’t necessary to be trans, and b) dysphoria isn’t always ‘if I don’t get breasts/a penis I’ll kill myself’; it is often a lot more subtle than that, a discomfort or sense of mismatch between one’s assumed or assigned gender and what one feels. This is not well captured in a media environment which does not handle trans issues or experiences well (to be polite about it)

“that character doesn’t look trans” - bro u gotta know this one. come on. a) we all know they’re being played by cis actors 99.99999999999% of the time don’t be ridiculous b) there are many stages to a physical transition process, c) there’s no one way to ~look trans~, must I go on

“you’re reading too much into it” - HOO BOY this is one of my favourites, bc see, even if we DO provide ~evidence~ for the above things (eg. that a character may have had same sex relationships, or may experience dysphoria), we’re often told that whatever evidence it is, isn’t enough. (and this relies on the default position being “cishet until proven queer” and it’s the critics that get to set the bar for the burden of proof, which in my book, also counts as using cishet normativity as evidence). What do I mean by this??

this character used gender neutral language such as “ex” or “partner”, which suggests they may not only have had relationships only with people of the opposite sex - uh you’re reading too much into it, straight people use gender neutral language all the time, partner is just more mature than girlfriend/boyfriend, exes is just easier to say than ex girlfriends/ex boyfriends, etc etc... 

this male-presenting character clearly experiences strong discomfort when being insulted using feminine-coded pronouns, names or traits, perhaps it is because they are trans and are feeling misgendered - uh you’re reading too much into it, it’s clearly because of toxic masculinity, that’s the only option, toxic masculinity is a problem that causes this and therefore it must be that, don’t you even care about toxic masculinity???

this character uses a similar look, line of dialogue, piece of music, etc when interacting with their hetero canon love interest as they do when interacting with a member of the same sex who is also significant to them; could this be romantic coding? - uh you’re reading too much into it, the hetero love interest is romantic coded bc it’s canon not bc it’s hetero, the dialogue/music/etc just means they’re important, do you hate close platonic friendships bc it sure sounds like you do why do the gays always ruin close friendships by reading into everything ugh

this female-presenting character clearly experiences strong discomfort when being insulted using feminine-coded pronouns, names or traits, perhaps it is because they are trans and are feeling misgendered, or are experiencing dysphoria but haven’t realised they’re trans yet - uh you’re reading too much into it, it’s clearly because of sexism I mean who likes being called lady/sweetheart etc etc it’s gotta be sexism or internalised misogyny bc they are problems that cause this kind of behaviour so it must be them in this case there doesn’t need to be some other ridiculous reason bc these are real reasons and real problems don’t you even care...

YOU GET THE IDEA

I’m sick of being expected to provide evidence for lgbt+ headcanons but I’m even more sick of that ~evidence~ being thwarted by cishet normativity, especially when the people who wield it think they’re being super clever and/or insightful, or get defensive or even aggressive. It’s not necessary, it’s not fun, and it’s kinda not the point of headcanons at all

[theypissedonme]

HEADCANON.

If one had to apply labels to Jack’s romantic/sexual orientation, he’d likely be pansexual and gray-aromantic. Romance is something he’s honestly never been interested in, in the traditional sense- not beyond its role in literature and art and history, anyway. He’s unlikely to fall in love with anyone, really (though he does enter unusual/complex/indefinable relationships regardless), and certainly not without a solid friendship first. This is also to say nothing of his complex relationship with Anne- my headcanon for which is that, yes, Jack is in love with her and will likely always be in at least some regard, but ultimately he’s willing to be whatever she needs him to be. 

(I also HC Anne as a lesbian struggling with heteronormativity, and that her relationship with Jack- while no less important or valuable or meaningful- does not continue to be a sexual one after she commits herself to Max. Obviously, I’m not playing Anne, so that will be interaction-dependent I suppose kfjndfnfg.)

As far as sex goes, Jack enjoys it for its own sake now and then, and he’s most definitely not on the ace spectrum, but it’s still not something he’s particularly invested in. He tends to need something other than just pleasure in mind to even seek it out in the first place- we know from canon that he’s into kink, aka restraints and possibly breathplay (the dishevelled handkerchief still around his neck, anyone?) and probably other shit, that he’s easily distracted during sex and may have to be in a particular mindset to get into it, and that while he most certainly enjoys himself it’s more likely to be Anne’s idea whenever they end up in bed together- Jack just doesn’t tend to think to initiate it particularly often.

(On a related note: remind me to write about his relationship with gender at some point, too, because as much as we like to joke around about Jack being our favourite he/him nb lesbian, there’s actually something to that- aka, something to be said about his relationship with gender/masculinity/etc in general. I haven’t entirely figured out what it is yet, exactly, but I suspect that in another time period where he had access to other named identities, yeah, he definitely wouldn’t be identifying as a cis male.)

[disruptiveawesome]

Some HC FAQs from a CRUX HC regular.

I guess First…What is HC? HC is Homoclimbtastic. HC is a group and, more specifically, an ‘event.’ It was founded by blah blah you don’t care about this part. Go to the HC website if you wanna read more directly  

So why are you writing, Matt?  Someone asked me some specific questions about HC as relates to CRUX… and I’m on 10 of literally 22 hours of flights right now… so I figured I’d put them in a doc and share them for everyone. Please bear in mind that all of the non-hard-facts in here are just my opinions. I don’t work for Homoclimbtastic. I am fortunate to count some of the organizers as friends and climbing buddies and I’m trying to do right by the spirit of the event… But I’m just a dude who has been 4 times and likes the event a lot so for you NYers who I love, to provide some context in case you haven’t been and are interested. I figured I’d give you my perspective on some of the Frequently Asked Questions…

Where ‘is’ this area?

This is “more-welcoming-than-makes-a-NYer-feel-comfortable” Fayetteville, WV. It’s situated in the heart of the New River Gorge. Good hiking,  white water rafting, kayaking, boating (on Summerville lake–I’ll get to that), sight seeing, natural beauty, and, of course, climbing.

Where do we stay?

But like, okay. Lemme show you the place we stay at. This is Cantrell Ultimate Rafting, or as we call it “Cantrell’s.” The thing to note is that this isn’t a ‘nice camping’ area like what you’d get staying in a state park, or an AAC campground. It’s the extended lawn/back yard of a white water rafting outfitter. The cool thing is that it’s central, small and pretty much *ours* (the HC campers/climbers). I’ve only seen other campers there a few times and usually they keep pretty to themselves and away from us–and anytime they get near us, they are given a thorough ‘explainer’ by the Cantrell’s staff that this is *our* safe space and weekend (I’ve seen them do it myself). 

Green is cabins. The office/bar/club/drag stage/and some restrooms are upper right in the red. Blue is anywhere you may wanna park. Yellow is bathrooms. Pink circles are where I’ve seen CRUXers (including me) pitching tents. But you can see there is a lot of space. Now, it should be noted that if there is a ton of rain, some of that open space, like where the ‘parking’ area is above the big cluster of CRUX tents are, its a bit waterlogged. Bring raingear/a rain fly. Oh, and bug spray. 

The whole place is pretty small and you can go everywhere in under 2 minutes’ walk (See the 50′ key)

What’s the address?

Cantrell Ultimate Rafting is located at  49 Cantrell Dr, Fayetteville, WV 25840

What size tent can they accommodate 

As you can see, ANY. The area that Cantrell’s has is pretty huge. :) 

Can you cook on campsite 

Yes, many do. 

Do they have fresh water

Yes. You won’t need to bring your own in. 

Do they have electric onsite or nearby

They do. They even have a camper hookup if I’m not mistaken. Electricity is available inside the bathrooms, and there are some exterior outlets at the bar/office/club/breakfast nook space.

Bathroom facilities? 

The restroom/shower facilities are right there on the campsite. The restrooms and shower facilities are gendered, however Cantrell’s and HC have (I thought stated somewhere, but now I can’t find it) rules that people should use the restroom they feel comfortable in/fits their gender identity/expression. I would refer you to HC on that one to get anything more specific. 

Are CRUX all together?

Not exactly. Some of us stay in cabins some in tents dotting the landscape of Cantrell’s. But we do try to keep everyone going to Cantrell’s so that we can have time with each other. 

How far is parking from the campsite?

Super close, again, as you can see. 

Any fast food places like McDonald’s nearby? 

A few. But also wanna let you know that breakfast is made for us for a decent cost at Cantrell’s which is enough for me. And I personally like Tudor’s Biscuit World for to pick up cheap and easy pre-made crag foods (though I know some people find it gross). But omg I can’t wait to have sandwiches from SSS! AND PIES AND PINTS OMG. 

Any hiking areas if I wanna just go off and do my own thing? 

Yes, omg so many. <- Link from the site of Stav Basis, an adventurer/web genius/sometimes CRUXer, and I think fellow ‘this’ll be 5-years’ HCer who hikes a ton. Hey CBF! Another thing to note is a lot of the approaches at the NRG are longer than at the Gunks or a few other places we go to regularly. If you’ve been there, think maybe not as strenuous as some of the longer approaches at Rumney, but just as long. Up to 30/40 minutes, so if you’re climbing you’re getting a bit of a hike in anyway.

 Are there swimming areas?

Oh god yes. It’s one of the best parts of that area. Typically, on Friday or Saturday, a WHOLE CRAP TON of HC basically spends the whole day at Summersville lake just climbing and swimming and hanging out on pool floaties:

And usually on Sunday we go to a different part of the lake and Deep Water Solo there:

I heard that this is really only for hard climbers! 

This touches on a bit factual data and on the history of HC and its evolution. The New River Gorge doesn’t have a ‘ton’ of ‘easy’ crags. the area really opens up if you’re a solid 5.11 outdoor climber–that’s just the truth of the numbers. But like *everywhere* the places shown on the guidebook aren’t climbs that many of us more casual climbers are ready for (yet). Another fact: HC was originally founded by climbers who *could* climb pretty hard. Which is great inspiration for all of us queer climbers! But that doesn’t mean there aren’t *ANY* places for easy/moderate leading. We have found a bunch of great crags over the years with a bunch of ‘easy/moderate’ sport routes and bigger areas to spread out in which can accommodate groups.  And, like, there is so much fun stuff and there isn’t really anything like this anywhere else, so, over time HC has grown from a more strictly ‘hard climber’ thing to a more all-encompassing thing with lots of different levels. Over the last 5 years, the attitude of the organization about ‘non hard’ climbers has changed. 

But know yourself: If at HC, when there are tons of people around, when maybe you drank a bunch last night, and you’re nervous about that one person you think is hot not thinking your butt looks good in your climbing shorts, or whatever… maybe that isn’t the best atmosphere to get on your first 5.11 where the guidebook states that if you blow the crux move you could deck. If you don’t know how to clean/rappel, *AT HC, TAUGHT BY SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW, AT THE TOP OF A CLIMB, ABOVE 20 LOUD PEOPLE, IS EXPRESSLY NOT THE PLACE TO LEARN IT*. There are a few more snarkyish things written in several posts/manifestos/etc. by the dictators. The ‘chaperone/guest’ thing is ‘strict’ but I think the best way to think about it is if you’ve not climbed outside, you should partner up with someone who has their skills dialed in. 

And, just like at CRUX events: Leave No Trace is the order of the day. 

So is being good crag citizens and don’t put top rope on all 5 of the moderate routes right next to each other if another group looks like they may want to get on them, too. 

And though we’re well known (HC, not CRUX per se), it’s always good to remember that not everywhere is universally friendly. 

Edit/Addition: It should be noted that the fact that there are a ton of awesome climbs in the 5.10/5.11/5.12 range should be a really great motivating factor, so even if you’re not yet there, once your skills are dialed in, you can star going for those harder grades. Many of us HCers did our first 10s 11s or 12s there, but the key is to have your safety (and belay skills) TOTALLY ready:) But I get that it's something people sort of have to 'be in' to believe, just like climbing in general. How many times have we all replied "come and I'll show you that's not true" to that person who, when presented with "i'm a rock climber" says "OH I COULD NEVER..." that's what an outdoor 10/11/12 can be.  

I also heard that you have to like be a super social justice warrior or else you’re not really welcome. 

Not true. 

(EVEN THOUGH I PERSONALLY WOULD BE FINE WITH THAT BECAUSE I’M A BRATTY SJW AND I DON’T CARE *CACKLES SOCIAL JUSTICELY*). *cough* 

Anyway, this is a ‘national’ event. There are various levels of ‘wokeness’, or whatever you’d like to call it, present within the ethos of the various groups and people who attend. But as an organization the people involved are from my perspective, *deeply* interested in making sure that HC expands its attendees’ horizons and isn’t simply a gay, white cismale experience and event and they are rigorously pushing for a higher degree of inclusivity, and representation (including in their leadership) to make sure that happens. 

What does that mean, really? I think that in spirit, it means ‘don’t be an asshole’. In practice, I think it means: don’t talk about/make jokes about people whose groups you’re not part of. Be how you are within CRUX and you should generally be fine. If there is an issue, someone will say something, but I don’t think of that as a thing CRUX members have typically had issues with on the whole–everyone is capable of having issues, but we’re a good group of good people.

And we’re all adults. So, assume positive intent, and if you get called out just listen and don’t be defensive. Even if you think you’re right/it was just a joke/but, but: It won’t hurt you to listen to someone without having to respond/defend yourself. It’s an exercise each of us should probably do more often.  Anyway. This has gone on long enough. See you there. Climb On.