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athena1138 · 4 years

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Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday, and Happy Pride Month! Tell us a little bit about how gender and/or orientations are expressed in your world

Oo!! You’re gonna spoil me lol. Thank you!!

So, it varies from race to race. On the whole, the general tone of the world is, “It’s whatever, man.” Most races don’t care about gender identities not matching sex, nor about if a relationship is hetero or not. A lot of hate and stigmatization of the subject has long since been eradicated or at least toned down from the places where it existed. It happens, of course, but on a much, much smaller scale. Drevora is a pretty damn gay place. Deets below the cut.

Humans are as they are irl, there’s “2″ very distinct sexes with associated gender roles, but it’s beginning to break a little thanks to increased interactions with other races and their cultures. Things like gender fluidity and transgender identities are a little less stigmatized and beginning to emerge a lot more than they have in the past. Orientations are traditionally very m/f, but the past 200ish years have shown a large-scale acceptance of same sex relationships, though there does still exist a resistance to it.

In the Mountain Folk tribes, it’s not so much what’s in your pants as how well can you wield a weapon. There’s very few gender roles and as for presentation, it’s pretty much whatever. Typically, the differences are subtle and easy to change. Like, if a MF wears their hair a certain way or wears a specific necklace, those are easy ways to present. Which also means agenderism is very common. It just kind of depends. In their tongue, there are no words for “she” or “he” or anything following, it all just translates to “they.” The only time it’s ever taken into consideration is when the desire to have children is involved which is its own thing entirely. Same sex or even polyamorous relationships are super common among the tribes and very rarely a problem, unless there’s a particular case. (Like Theni, who is very, very gay, but who is soon to be the chief of her tribe and whose marriage to the male son of an up-to-now-enemy tribe has been arranged since her birth. That’s a pretty big problem because promises like that cannot just be broken in the MF culture.)

Dwarven culture is also fairly agender but that’s because Dwarven women also grow facial hair, and their muscular frames make it difficult to at first glance determine if one has breasts or not. To an outsider, distinguishing male from female can be quite difficult, but within their own culture, they know. There’s braids which only females wear and which only males wear, there’s subtle greetings, etc. But, like the Mountain Folk, these are all easy presentations to change, so it’s very common for identities to change from one day to the next, and it’s not questioned at all. With the introduction of surface races and their cultures some 3 or 400 years ago, things have changed a bit. Things like makeup and tight clothing have found their way into Dwarven society. The old ways still persist, the old forms of presentations and the like, but they’re accentuated with the new ways. (Like, my Dwarf Marynn, she shaves her beard maybe once a week, wears makeup, and wears tight clothing like shirts whose V’s go down into the waist band of her pants. And it’s not a problem at all, that’s just how she is.) Queer relationships are very, very common, but due to the reclusive nature of Dwarves, it is hoped that most couples would endeavor to have at least one child in their lifetimes. Medical practices on par with in-vitro and an extensive and accessible adoption system have been common place for centuries by this point, so it’s generally not a problem.

Elves are a little more staunch, like humans, but not aggressively so. It’s not unheard of for a male Elf to wear a gown and let his hair down every now and then, but it is a little stigmatized, just as it is for a female Elf to wear her hair up and don “male” robes. It’s more... private. It isn’t questioned, and it isn’t against any rules, but it’s just... not something which is spoken about. Queer relationships do happen, but it’s not a very loud thing. Indeed, in some places they’re seen as even a little taboo. Not illegal or worth disowning, but... taboo. (This rigidity is what lead to Darsys being sent away from her home.)

Dragonborns, since they produce asexually, really don’t give a shit about any of it. The whole concept of gender and its correlation to relationships just... don’t exist. They high-key think the mammalian races are fuckin crazy with that shit (which is valid.) There are some DBs, (like my girl Ellie,) who have observed the notion of gender in other races and decided that they enjoy that idea, so they adopt it for themselves. It’s not common, but it happens. Within the DB culture, this can either be seen as unnatural and gross, or it can be treated like these individuals are just of another soul and seeking their true self.

Orcs are patriarchal af, like humans squared, so the idea that their genders could be different than their bodies in any way is frankly very affronting. They are not generally a tolerant people. They care a little less about relationships because sex is just sex, but lifestyles are a different matter.

Gnomes and Halflings both are fairly chill. Like by nature they are a very chill pecies. It’s unusual but not a big deal for an individual to present differently than their body, and usually same sex relationships are alright. They’re like the hippies of this world, it’s just whatever, man. It’s so whatever that one of the first questions a Gnome or Halfling will ask a new person is, “What are your pronouns?” A common way for them to ask sexual orientation is, “What pronouns do you seek?” (though this is usually reserved for individuals seeking to begin a relationship. It’s a fairly rude question.) (These habits are fairly deeply ingrained when raising a Gnome/Halfling child. Idani, despite having been raised within a temple by humans for 20/30 years of her life, she still remembers them.)

Let’s see. Gah, there’s so much going on here.

Oh, Sirens. Yeah they don’t give a shit. It’s very, very rare that Sirens will form connections with others because they’re just... So damn reclusive. So, relationships at all, let alone queer relationships, just kinda don’t happen except for producing offspring, so it wouldn’t really matter if it was hetero or not because it’s still gonna be weird as shit. As for presentation, it doesn’t really matter. Nobody would know or care if your identity didn’t match your organs, so it’s not a big deal. There’s more important things to worry about anyways, like protecting the literal entire world from the Realm Beyond, like Iko does.

That’s about all I have the brain space for right this moment, but there’s probably more still. Thanks again!!

#shut up becca #becca writes #becca's owip

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