#another one is the same thing but with nonbinary colors bc this is for me actually

[justeliiijah]

1:25 Siffrin!

submitted by @sammusbird my beloved <3

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

HOOO boy okay a lot of characters with anxiety, PTSD, and depression in media are shown as uwu soft or evil with NO in between and siffrin has a LOT OF NUANCE TO HIM. there was a lot of care and love put into how they react to the hopelessness of their situation and by god do i adore it.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

dude is so fuCKING shape. also SUCH fun nonbinary rep??? give more queers knives. i know a lot of us have them but more. more should have them. me. give ME a knife.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

how do i draw him in color he looks Wrong

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

ace attorney bc i think it wld be funny. they wld get framed for a murder that they did commit somehow i can Feel it

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

dont kill me bc this is kind of hilarious but the song is called Time Travel by Never Shout Never it's linked lol. u can extrapolate abt who's talkin to who in the song but i imagine it's loop and siffrin

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

[thousand yard stare] hot and transmasc next question

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

fuck that lad up yall ur doing great

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

as king of angst every time i see siffrin unburdened with trauma i lose ten years off my life span (i don't have any real pet peeves and am not super active in the fandom!)

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

i can't even be roommates with my roommates, man

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

unfortunately i am a bit of an asshole and i also have ptsd i think we wld kill each other with our eyes immediately

11. Would you date this character?

we are the same type of fucked up so that is a solid dear god no

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

ftm (i am projecting ok). they are canon nb i believe but i don't know if. like. there's a canon depiction of them w top scars or some shit but it wld fuck!!!

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

feel free to assume what i mean from this bc i'm not adding context

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

i am not a fashion bitch but i think someone shld give him a choker

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

surprisingly canon for once! isafrin <3

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

mira or odile w siff. those mfs are his besties stop trying to make them kiss. also mira is aroace

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

loopfrin. ironically my bf @codacheetah is extremely abnormal abt this one lol

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

mira and siffrin's relationship makes me fuckign emotional literally dont look at me???? but siffrin and odile too bc like. they share that lack of ability to Know where they come from (if only partially on odile's part). and bonn-- okay i think. i think all of their relationships are insanely complex and important ok

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

not applicable tbh. i do think that he shld kick the king in the wiener tho

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

mira my beloevd <333

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

i havent posted fic since like. 2017

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like?

i love the introspection abt the recovery i've seen!!! like, ppl showing how they think siffrin copes after the fact.

as for dislike,,, hm. i don't love the Other People Loop aus despite how intriguing they are because,,, well. there's a Reason to me that it was siffrin, a reason that their desperation to stay was so powerful. they are singularly capable of that level of need, i think.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

man its gotta be

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

ur gonna laugh but. like s4 jon sims. i think they wld get along but jon is far more of a loser

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

honestly i think i thought they were a very malleable char? like, that he wld change w the player's decisions. and i wasn't wrong entirely, because that's. how story driven gaming works, but siffrin has a much stronger personality and identity than i thought. i also thought they were in space for some reason i did NOT listen to coda's rants

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

hes a cutie :3

[vaugarde]

Sending another warrior bc of warriors brainrot but how about breezepelt?

sorry this is so late xmx i had this open in a tab and forgot about it

sexuality headcanon: hmmm idk tbh. i'll go with bi ace but he doesnt know it yet

gender/pronouns headcanon: nonbinary but also doesnt know it so goes by he/him for now but will eventually be comfortable w he/she/they

rate them out of ten: it has been a hot minute. i'm gonna go with like a 6 or 7 because the discourse about him is exhausting but also fans are not normal abt him so i kinda feel inclined to like him out of spite.

favorite thing about them: can't tell if this should technically be a bad thing because the erins absolutely wrote him the way they did to be like "oh look how much WORSE crowfeathers life is. dont you wish he was present in the three's lives and still with leafpool?? they arent as annoying as him!" but i do like that he's an unconventional abuse victim. like in fiction, authors like to portray abuse victims as only quiet and meek. which like, those people exist in real life so that's not an issue, per say, but people are VERY quick to suddenly say that a child deserves to be abused if that kid lashes out instead. so, personally i like breezepelt for defying that, but at the same time it wasn't meant to be subversive so like, fuck you erin hunter im stealing him

least favorite thing about them: uhhh kinda the above, its like a double edged sword.

why i first started liking/disliking them: it was half the scene where they say that no one in windclan likes him because. uh oh thats me. and half spite

do i relate/project onto/kin them?: sort of. i kind of understand the sheer rage he feels because of how he's treated in windclan even if its not seen as a "big deal", tho not to a murderous degree obviously. i also understand being seen as the obnoxious kid that no one likes and everyone thinks hes a baby that complains, and people saying that they're glad that he's gone because they think he's exhausting. like. uh oh family and school memories flooding back. dont relate to the dad issues tho

favorite quote/moment: not much comes to mind, hes just kind of a sad character so it feels weird to pick one. ig the scene where brokenstar manipulates him bc its a good representation of how fucked up he's become

my fav ship: idk tbh. ive seen breezeblossom get thrown around but i dont really like blossomfall that much tbh. which one of his ships gets the most vitriol (without age gaps or incest)? bc i wanna do that one to be funny

my fav platonic friendship idk how i feel abt breezeheather but i do at least like em as friends. im fine either way w them tho

a ship i hate: not much comes to mind

do i prefer canon or fanon?: well fanon is kinda weird so ig canon idk. i like the version of him in my head ig?

random headcanon:

what color do i picture them as: orange is what i associate, otherwise he's pitch black

cat breed headcanon: oriental cat

unpopular opinion: honestly i don't know why people take him trying to kill poppyfrost as like an end all thing to saying hes a bad character and not someone you should "side with" over crowfeather. like, i do know why but like this is the murder cat book. most of them kill. the book acts like its both scary and epic. like why are you mocking shadowclan and calling them stupid for mourning russetfur's death at lionblaze's hand after thunderclan invaded them and also clutching your pearls over this? when is it ok to kill in this society? and its also an outlandish action not grounded in reality, while crow's neglect hits closer to home. also breeze is a villain at that point lol hes supposed to do fucked up shit while crow's neglect is painted as misunderstood and uwu sad for him at the end of the day. so yeah i do think its fucked that he did that, but at the same time yeah im not gonna "side with crowfeather" and say he deserved the neglect over it. wtf

[jengarie]

Hellouu Kio gain djksjd

But now on anon not bc of fear but bc my main blog is completely random jfksnd. Also I realized I've been here before as "🍡", the amnesia drives me crazy sorry 🤡

If you ever do end up creating something and sharing it online, please do tag me or link it to me (only if you're comfortable of course!). I would love love love to check it out ❤

Everything I do is for myself rn, but sure ur so kind (really tysm for that), if I share summ I'll tag you🥺🥺💕💕

I draw them in a very self-indulgent way, which aligns to my gender identity/expression HCs for them. ❤

No way!! I also (usually) do that jajajaj also (idk if this had happened to you but) when you have one favorite character with whom you identify a lot and slowly starts headcanoning them with your "labels".

And now that I talking about headcanons I was wondering if you could help me with mines (I know is a strange question [mainly bc you have urs] but I just want another pov, ofc if this is not comf for u just skip it (go to "→"):

• Oke, so if u want to help me maybe it would be easier(? If u imagine you only have this options:

(my) Wwx:

- I've been thinking in a "non-binary man" (NB that considers themself man-aligned in some way. Flag: 💛🤍🩵💙🖤

- Or a "menbin/ masc-nonbinary" (NB that is masc aligned). Flag: 🩵🤍💙🖤

Similar but somehow different (at least the way it sounds. (If they r the same for you just help me chosing the flag colors pls 🥺)

→

No worries at all and I'm sorry about your past experiences! All I meant was that, I'd feel more at ease knowing if the person asking also likes bottomji, or is maybe seeking to curate their online experience.

Tho I appreciate it a lot, you don't have to be sorry about that haha, wasn't your fault!! And I do like bottomgji too so dw, kinda funny (for me) bc depends on if we are talking about Modao Zu Shi or The untamed, but i do like wgxn however they're represent so 👌🏻(I mean, I kinda prefer topji on mdzs and bottomji in TU, but both in both are 😏🍷)

So far, nobody has been mean to me, but the topji-bottomji discourse that I've witnessed before does scare me quite a bit 😭

Fr, sometimes people can be really intense, so glad ppl is kind w u, totally deserve!

Thx again for everything 🫶🏻💛.

Oh!! 🍡 anon!! Hello again ❤

Oh gosh 🫣 I definitely do relate to the headcanon thing LOL. This is actually the reason why I consider my gender and sexuality HCs for WX as self-indulgent LMAO

Personally, I prefer masc-nonbinary! I'm really fond of the idea that WWX has only a vague sense of his gender, so the idea that he identifies as masc (as opposed to man-aligned) really appeals to me. This lowkey ties in with my own gender HC for him so I may very likely be biased LOL

I hope people are kind to you as well. You've been so nice and sweet to me! Thank you!! And thank you for trusting (?) me with your HC! It was fun to think about ❤

[jnixz]

Very glad a common headcanon for Ford after we play PN2 is that that guy is totally bi and made this neat little poly hippie commune

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

urg many thoughts head full

[epic-sorcerer]

Queer imagery in BBC Merlin

Content warning: kink/fetish, fisting in particular but I show I big image containing a long list of different kinks, homophobia, dom/sub dynamics, sex

Merlin is shown wearing a purple tunic in s4, despite the fact he is a servant and purple(especially with such saturation) was extremely expensive bc purple dye was so hard to make. Gwen also has a light purple dress(or maybe 2? It’s hard to tell). Even though it’s definitely lighter than Merlins tunic, it’s still expensive.

it was illegal for peasants to wear expensive fabrics because of the Sumptuary Law. Basically it makes sure that lower class people are not fashionable. However, BBC Merlin doesn’t seam to care about that law, considering Merlins other bright clothing so take this was a grain of salt.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s no way they could have gotten their hands on these clothes without the help of nobles. Gwen might have, because she works with clothing and could have easily mixed blue and red dye together. Merlin probably not have because he’s never shown to be particularly materialistic or interested much in fashion, despite his bright clothes. Bright Purple would have been much, much harder to get.

It makes the most sense for Merlin and possibly Gwen too to have been gifted such expensive clothing by a noble for being a good servant. I’d imagine Arthur would be the one to give Merlin the tunic and morgana the dresses.

Why does this matter? Lavender(and also purple in general) was considered a queer color starting in the 19th century. Queer men especially were said to possess a “streak of lavender” and a serge of homophobia at the time was often referred to as the “Lavender Scare.” Purple and lavender is still used now to symbolize queerness.

Since Merlin is a modern interpretation of Arthurian myths, it would be perfectly plausible that this symbol was on purpose. Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana are both extremely popular ships and they are both shown to have a very deep form of trust(Gwen/Morgana being at the beginning of the show). Arthur and Morgana gifting Merlin and Gwen purple clothing could be show them they accept their queerness and/or signaling their own queer attraction to them.

Now, this next symbolism concerns only Merlin/Arthur.

Merlin is shown to have three neckerchiefs.

Navy blue, red, and light grey. Why does this matter? Well, let’s take a look at something called the handkerchief code, also known as the hanky code or “flagging.”

This code has its origins all the way back in time during the Wild West in the USA, but got more popular during the late 20th century in USA and UK gay bars. This code was used mainly by queer men and some nonbinary people to signal to other queers what they wanted sexually. While typically worn in people’s back pockets, a handkerchief could also be worn around one’s neck to show they are a versatile and experienced.

According to this code, Merlin is into;

Red: fisting and getting fisted. This color was hard to get an exact shade from, but the second best option was dark red for double fisting which is honestly so similar I’m not sure if it really matters much.

Light grey: stone topping and getting fucked by a stone top

Navy blue: fucking and being fucked anally

For any one wanting to make their own interpretations of Merlins neckerchief colors(the lighting makes it hard to tell the exact ones) have a look at this handy chart

Not only that, but Arthur is seen wearing a favour on his left arm in s3 ep 4.

What’s a favour? It’s a fabric strip of affection commonly given by maidens to knights before a tournament as a symbol of good luck. It’s often a very important scarf, hankcerchlif , towel, really any bit of cloth that can be tied around someone’s arm. This is also a popular trope in historical media for a female love interest to give a favour to a male one to show chemistry between them.

Regardless of your stance on Merlins gender identity, you have to admit how commonly Merlin is shown to be gender nonconforming(GNC) or otherwise be associated with “womanly” qualities. Especially in a society so heteronormative, the only “pure” option for a knight receiving a romantic gesture would have it be from a woman. If the token was from a queer man, it would also out the noble and cause lots of horrific chaos and destroy both of their reputations.

Even if it was common for women to give knights favours, queer men still existed and with that came romantic gestures—this time hopefully more secret.

Even though the favour on Arthur’s arm doesn’t look exactly like Merlin’s neckerchief, Merlin was the only person to speak with him while preparing for the tournament. Also, the original theorist who I linked in my sources also pointed out that Merlins neckerchief looks lopsided. Almost like Merlin tore off a bit of it and hastily tied it back on.

Although this theory is definitely flawed, it doesn’t matter. Arthur is still wearing a red handkerchief on his left arm. But what does that tell us exactly?

Regardless of wether or not it was Merlin’s, the red is the same shade and also implies Arthur is also into fisting. What about the placement? Sicne it’s on his left, it shows that he is a top/dom, meaning that he prefers to be the one fisting. Since it is worn around his upper arm, it shows that he is simply into the fetish, compared to what other placements mean. In another source, it shows taht upper arm means switch, but because Arthur is wearing it on his left it wouldn’t really make sense for him to signal being a “top-switch” compared to being a top and having the fetish in general.

If you look closely, you can see a different colored stripe on the favour. It’s hard to tell exactly what the color is, it could be yellow, gold, orange, etc. because the color is so dubious, I’ll just leave y’all with a list of color meanings that may apply to Arthur’s favour.

YELLOW: pisser/watersports kink

YELLOW, Pale: spitter/spit kink

MUSTARD: Has 8+ inch dick

GOLD: two looking for one

ORANGE: anything anytime

Also, it’s important to bring up what many in thsi fandom refer to as the “fisting scene.” Where Arthur threatens Merlin by showing him his gloved fist and pulling a bit at the glove.

In the blooper, you can see Merlin’s actor(Colin Morgan) breaking character and giggling as Arthur shows him his fist. Many in the fandom agree that this was a clear innuendo for fisting, and it is very well possible.

Merlin is shown hitting Arthur and saying he was just doing some horse play, but still indirectly convincing Arthur that he needs to teach Merlin a lesson. This is actually a common act in BDSM sex, where the submissive person purposely angers the dominant into punishing them in a way that somehow involves sex or fetish play.

If you look closely, you can see Merlin is wearing at kinky red fisting handkerchief, showing Merlin is perfectly capable of being a submissive fistee. Also, the hanky code also includes other symbols such as latex or rubber gloves that, surprise surprise, also mean fisting. Although it’s more likely Arthur’s gloves where made of leather, it can still further be interpreted as a fisting symbol if you want. Either way, Arthur’s favour still holds water as he is undoubtedly the dom in this situation.

Also, Merlin is very impulsive and a madlad. Tell me he wouldn’t wear his secret fetish symbols infrount of stuck up, Roman Catholics who are none the wiser. He’d probably think it’s hilarious which is probably why he wears them almost everyday. Merlin loves playfully misbehaving(and is also a brat sometimes) so it makes sense for him to have some dangerous fun.

Now, you may be asking. Why does this matter? At the end of the day, it probably wasn’t intentional. Well, there is alwyas room for doupt BUT I do have some ferther proof. One of the co writers of BBC Merlin—Johnny Capps—actually won a Stone Wall Award. You know, an award named after a core part of queer culture?

The award’s website and Wikipedia page say they give the award for art that describes the LGBT experience well. While I am unsure why or what Capps made to be nominated, it still shows he is very much in touch with queer culture. Capp himself even said at an interview about Merlin, “... in the end, deep, deep down it’s about sexuality and things you just can’t tackle head-on.”

Well, what says more about sexuality than the main characters fist fucking each other? That’s a lot of sexuality. While I am unsure of Capp’s age, he does look to be about middle age and it would make sense for him to know about a code popularized in a 70s to 90s. Especially for someone who has made multiple queer oriented stories in his life time.

Sources:

Why is purple considered the color of royalty?

Sumptuary law

How lavender became a symbol of LGBTQ resistance

How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance(part 2)

flagging opinicus rampant

Handkerchief code

DO YOU KNOW THE HANKY CODE?

Picspam: The Red Favour (Proof of Arthur Wearing Merlin's Favour in 3x04)

Five medieval love tokens

The Lady's Favour

Hanky codes

Nominees for Stonewall Awards announced

Merlin series 5 spoiler-free launch report

Pls reblog I spent hours on this /np 😭👊

[neon--nightmare]

How can a parasite devoid of all true emotions, only capable of emitting false personas taken from culture, consider themselves any gender identity?

Just because he has been called a he, and they have been called they, it doesn't define any gender. Sure, he can mean male, but they is used to define when you're unaware of someone's gender, so you use it to be respectful; it does not denote gender.

It is actually kind of disrespectful to people who are transgender, given that a "funky colourful skeleton" suddenly meaning transgender is rather offensive.

b. bro. I’M trans. i’m literally transgender, nonbinary transmasc, and have identified as such since i was ten or eleven? i’ve been diagnosed w gender dysphoria, i’ve been on T, and i plan to get top surgery in the future! I’m trans. (ofc those things aren’t necessary to be trans, but this is for my credibility on your end)

i say fresh is trans because he’s a very personal character to me, so i project that on him, and it makes me happy. i wasn’t born yesterday, man, i know the issue w the entire ‘nonhuman = nonbinary’ thing, bc, again, i’ve IDed as nb for almost ten years, and i would have when i was even younger if i knew the label existed! i wasn’t the one that created fresh or made the decision for him to be explicitly NB/agender, but it’s very personal to me as someone with the same label, so i’m reclaiming it. putting the rest under a readmore bc its long, and this ^ was the most important part imo

to me, it’s like someone who very closely identifies with mewtwo talking abt mewtwo being nonbinary. is mewtwo completely nonhuman and divorced from the human concept of gender? yes! but actual nonbinary people can see themselves in him, even with the negative connotations (that, again, has been a big issue in media for decades,) and reclaim it for themselves. it’s different than someone who isn’t trans or nb calling an alien or robot character nb, because we have the genuine lived experience, and if it makes us happy to do so, especially with such few nb characters in non-niche media that ARE actually human/aren’t some boy/girl fusion, i, personally, don’t see much of a problem with it.

i don’t joke about fresh being nonbinary because he’s a ‘funky colorful skeleton,’ i do it because 1. he’s a character that’s been explicitly identified as agender, 2. i’m agender and 3. he’s a character that’s very, very very personal to me, and it makes me happy to project my experience on him. obviously, he’s not trans, he’s a body-hopping parasite. but it’s something that brings me comfort and makes me happy, man, and that’s why i talk abt it, not bc hes the pinnacle of agender or aroace representation. (which, im also aroace! triple a, etc.)

it’s like how i personally project a lot of my autistic experiences on him, because even though he was never designed as autistic and it would be very harmful if he WAS, i see a lot of myself and my own experiences of completely missing social cues, not being able to truly understand or guess why others react the way they do to things so you come up w 1000 scenarios in your mind to ‘prepare’ before every conversation, and how once hes able to feel it leads to immense constant anxiety, the way letting urself actually feel is so so overwhelming and even tho it’s not healthy its easier to just bottle! was it intended to be that deep? no, but i still reclaim it, bc im just some guy on the internet who likes fresh way too much.

(I’m assuming you came here from my dumb fresh iceberg post, he is actually capable of more than anger and fear after loveball, he can feel joy, love, sadness, but he crushes all of it down because 1. allowing himself to feel those things will get him killed and replaced! by someone better. 2. he has extremely negative connotations with letting himself feel after a series of extremely traumatic events, (somethin else that’s also very very personal to me, and why loveball has been so important to me for years, but that’s another story i’m not goin to go into, esp not here!) especially since it would just lead to a future of horrible breakdowns and 3. his lifestyle and sense of purpose relies on not feeling. on convincing himself he’s still a hollow shell. in his mind, it’s his purpose, it’s the reason he was created. and if he ‘falls’ to the level of all the people he mocks and manipulates for feeling, than what is he?) fresh presents himself as an empty shell, even to himself, but after loveball, he isn’t. but he needs to be, so he lies to himself and tells himself that he’s fine. fresh doesn’t believe he deserves any kind of kindness or redemption. he can’t understand any of it directed at him. hes not just an empty shell or reflection of his surroundings, but he WANTS to be. bc its easier man! it’s less painful! but he cant go back to what he was!

ironically, to me, hes a very human character, while also being so fundamentally alien, he makes sense to me. ofc im not sadistic and i dont purposefully torture people for a living, but! hopefully this makes any sense. i didn’t pull any of this out of nowhere, and i can grab receipts off the top of my head if u need them bc i have so much pointless fresh lore memorized down to the wording (like how i remembered the wording for one of the asks was agendered instead of agender, it’s that bad. i have the Burden of knowledge)

[army-of-mai-lovers]

Re: misogyny in atla fandom post. I’m a butch/gnc woman and there’s so few representation for women like me. I really relate to toph and admire her for being androgynous and masculine but still being a woman. She shows that there’s no “wrong” way to be a woman and that you can reject gendered expectations and still be female. She’s the only character I’ve ever been able to relate to for this. I feel like it’s kind of misogynistic when people HC her as a trans guy or non binary with they/them pronouns. I’m all for HCing characters as trans, but with toph it feels weird.

She’s constrained by the expectations put upon her for being a girl in a patriarchal society and also being disabled, and how those two intersect. But her acceptance of being disabled & and a girl and breaking the stereotypes pushed upon her for those facets of her identity is the whole point! And as a disabled gnc woman, I feel like stripping her of her womanhood bc she’s masculine/androgynous is the same as stripping her of her disability because she’s strong. Idk

This is a really interesting perspective, anon! Outside of tumblr, I’m a prospective gender studies minor, and in my gender studies classes we have this practice called situating. Basically, I explain who I am, so you know where I’m coming from. Esp wrt things like race, gender, and sexuality, you can read and learn and listen to other people, but you’ll only ever truly know your own experience, and it’s important for people to know that’s where your perspective on a certain debate is coming from. So, hi, I’m Arthur, I’m an afab nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns, my gender expression is very much in a period of flux because I don’t have the ability to socially or medically transition as much as I’d like, so, at least for right now, most people interpret me as a sometimes gnc cis woman. Because I’m most often interpreted as a cis girl, even though that is not who I am at all, I experience misogyny, and that is unfortunately part of my trans experience. That doesn’t give me the authority to speak over women at all, but I do think it was a large part of me noticing the misogyny in this fandom and deciding to write what I did (and I’m so glad it resonated with you!) All of that colors the way I view gnc characters, as well as trans/nonbinary characters, and misogyny, within fandom and without. 

So, now that you understand where my thoughts are coming from, here they are. I definitely think it’s transphobic to hc Toph as a trans guy if you are not transmasc yourself. I’ve never seen trans guy hcs for Toph, but the idea of cis ppl equating this canonically cis girl character to someone who is unequivocally, indisputably, a guy, makes me super uncomfy. If there’s a trans guy out there who really relates to Toph and wants to create and develop that hc in a way that works for you, be my guest, but I do not have the authority or the desire to make trans guy Toph hcs. 

As for the nonbinary thing... I will admit, they/them Toph hcs make me feel seen, probably the same way you feel seen by Toph as an unapologetically androgynous/masculine cis girl. I answered some asks a couple weeks ago about lesbian hcs, and in that I talked about how since both lesbians and bi girls are underrepresented in media, hcs that might make one group feel seen and valued are gonna make another group feel erased, and I’m not really sure how to resolve that. The same goes for hcs around androgynous afab characters: butch women and afab* nby folks have so little representation that hcs that make one group feel seen are going to make another group feel erased. As a afab nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns, who has never connected with any concept of womanhood despite sometimes having a pretty femme gender expression, I do relate to Toph a whole lot. I’ve also had to navigate (and am still navigating!) a minefield of gendered expectations in a patriarchal society, and talking and listening to and reading about other trans people, it seems to be a pretty integral part of the trans experience (not that there is one sole trans experience, we’re all very different, but that’s a topic for another time). The gender binary is, after all, a central feature of Western white supremacist patriarchal constructions of gender, and if you deviate in any way, whether it’s through being gender nonconforming, or through being trans/nonbinary, you’re probably going to have to fight really hard to exist and survive and feel confident in your body and your expression, because society is constantly sending you the message that you are deviant and thus not worthy. And it’s nice to think of your favorite character as having some of the same experiences you do. 

I will say, I see they/them Toph headcanons more often than I see they/them Katara or they/them Yue, and I’d encourage people to really dig deep and think about why they’re more comfortable hcing an androgynous character as being nonbinary than they would be a more obviously feminine character (especially since nonbinary folk come in all gender expressions). I also would just love to see more transfem hcs! People for whatever reason seem way more comfortable hcing male characters as trans guys than they do hcing female characters as trans girls (and the reason is transmisogyny--Mae @transtenzin made a post about this a couple months ago about how most transfem atla hcs are characters like Smellerbee, while transmasc hcs can center around more major characters like Zuko or Sokka--a wonderful post that I would link to if tumblr’s search function weren’t absolute shit.) 

But at the end of the day, I am going to have to disagree with you on thinking of nonbinary Toph hcs as misogynistic, because I know as a disabled afab nonbinary person myself, I’ve dealt with a lot of the same struggles that Toph deals with in the show, and I’m sure there are a lot of other afab nonbinary folks who feel the same way. However, I understand feeling frustrated by people hcing a canonically androgynous female character as nonbinary. I hope what I’ve said here can offer you a little insight into the other side of this, and I so appreciate you offering me insight into your side. 

Another thing to note: while I haven’t seen trans guy Toph hcs, I have seen people hc Toph as a he/him lesbian. He/him lesbians are of course a valued part of our community, and I applaud any and all he/him lesbian Toph hcs. Pronouns =/= gender. 

Tl;dr don’t hc Toph as a trans guy unless you are a trans guy and even then I would tread lightly, gender and transness and representation is complicated and I’m not entirely sure how to resolve conflicts between different groups of marginalized people who are trying to find rep in opposing hcs of the same character, and imo hcing Toph as nonbinary is not misogynistic (but my opinion is not the final word on any subject!) Also, we stan he/him lesbians. 

*amab nby folks of course also receive very little rep, probably even less than afab nby folks, and that is a very important conversation to have, but seeing as 1) this ask was about hcs for an afab character, and 2) I am not amab and therefore very unqualified to lead a conversation about hcing certain characters as amab or the larger field of amab nby rep, I thought it best to focus on afab nonbinary people in this post. 

[jules-hoard-of-stuff]

Okay so. My gender.

Yes, I know, another gender ramble.

So, my gender is. Very strange. My head perceives things very linearly when it comes to like. My identity. I dont do fluid stuff, for myself. I'm either one, the other, or both/all. There is no none, there is no, kinda halfway option right?

I'm autistic and perceiving gender has been tough for me, soit's like. I've been looking for years for a label that fits me. And like, my brain is very dividing bc compartmentalism helps me cope.

This sucks when it comes to gender bc it automatically wanted to divide things by "man"/"woman." The binary. And part of me is DECIDEDLY NOT THAT so like. It was really difficult with my brain compartmentalizing that binary out of necessity when woman isnt something I am or want to be. I'm not agender, I have A gender. I'm not genderfluid, my gender isnt fluid at all, it's like two switches. They're either both on, or one is on. Never are they both off, and they arent dials or fluids, so fluid identities never felt right, and neither did things like demiboy bc I didnt feel. Just PART boy, I was all the time boy, or all the time other thing, or all the time BOTH. So like. It didnt make sense, because the second switch has been labeled female my whole life.

And today, I discovered BIGENDER.

And it's like someone handed me a NEW SWITCH to replace the female switch with

AND LIKE! NOW MY BRAIN COMPREHENDS IT LIKE. OF COURSE!!!

It's not like fluids, or partialities, *its like colored glass.*

Blue for boy, green for nonbinary, in my mind. Overlay em, you get teal. Does that mean they're suddenly one whole new pane of glass? No! Its *two panes of glass in the same space!!!* you're perceiving them both at the same time!!!

This is an equation my brain can ACTUALLY FIGURE OUT AND VISUALIZE

And so!!! Stay with me! Stay with me, suddenly if the female option in my brain is NOW a new shiny green nonbinary button, *all the 'feminine' stuff I was ashamed of liking bc I had to be one or the other suddenly makes so much sense bc my brain perceived it as androgynous enby presentation or Boy Wearing Girl stuff OR BOTH*

I JUST!!! IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE, I JUST HAD TO REPLACE THE, AIQJNFJFN I GET IT!!!

I'm just fucking excited bro this feels like a *quantifiable answer*!!!! WHICH MY BRAIN NEEDS TO COPE

I'm just

Very happy

Bc this feels like an answer I can hold and I'm fucking loving it

[minxyone93]

Hi, there was a scene in Ch. 13 that really spoke to me - Cas telling Dean he can talk about his bisexuality as much or as little as he wants w/ however many people was really nice! It was comforting to me bc I also recently started trying to feel more comfortable with saying it out loud & playing around with the label outside of when I’m around very few close friends (keyword being ‘trying’ as I’m still on anon but yk baby steps!). It’s lovely seeing him get to embrace it as well.

First of all, I'm so happy for you! Congrats! Coming out and finding a label that works for you can be scary, and it isn't for everyone - some people don't *need* that (like Cas - I don't think he cares for himself), but some people do (like me, and Dean in the fic) and it's perfectly okay either way.

I'm so proud of you! 🏳️‍🌈❤🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️‍🌈

(I wasn't sure what label you were referring to, bi or another, but rainbows are lovely and have all the colors so I hope you know that whatever label you have found, I support it)

Big hugs, nonny! 🥰

So, regarding Dean coming out - it just felt like he deserved to say it. This was very reminiscent of my own experiences, to be honest. I first realized I was attracted to women when I was 11 - promptly panicked and denied it, proceeding for years to say "oh, I just really admire women and their beauty" to both other people and myself (even after I had been with a woman. Like, yikes! The denial runs so deep! 😖) And I started the process all over again when I started to realize I am nonbinary! Smh.

So when I finally allowed myself to admit it to myself, that felt good. It took a while after that, but when I came out, I could NOT SHUT UP about it. 🤣 just like Dean. And it felt sooooo good so be able to freely say it. Everytime "I'm bi" came out of my mouth, I felt like I was breaking a chain that had been holding me down. When Dean says "freedom" - that's how it feels to me too.

But even so, coming out isn't something you do one time. You come out over and over and over again, with new people and in new environments. There are times, places, and people it doesn't seem worth the energy or even feels too scary to come out to, so I just don't. I live in a very red state. I'm not out at work because of that. Sadly, it could tank my career. For the right person, I'd be willing to do it - but I'm single and it's not anyone's business. I'm not out with my extended family. Same thing. Not their business. But my all friends, my internet friends, and my immediate family know and they support me, my doctors and my therapist know and support me. And depending on the environment, I tell strangers - when I'm at a nerdy con, I feel safe, so I wear my bi pride pin.

And that's okay! Unless you *want* someone to know, that's your business. You don't have to share your business with anyone you don't want to.

Your label is part of your identity, but your identity belongs to you.

You decide who deserves to know your heart.

Cishet people don't have to come out. Cishet people don't have to find the label that fits them. The nice thing about it is that it helps you find other people like you. That's all the label is really for. So you aren't obligated to share that label with anyone you don't want to, just like Cas said.

No one should feel pressured to find a label or share the label they've found if they don't want to. Conversely though, I know how good it can feel to share that part of your identity and allow yourself to say "yes! I am queer! This label exists because there are other people like me!" And once you start saying it, you feel a little more courage and freedom every time and it feels really good.

I know that got long, but I'm so glad that you are finding your label if that's what is in your heart and that the scene meant as much to you as it did to me. You have my total support.

🥰🏳️‍🌈💜💙💚💛🧡❤🏳️‍🌈🥰

If you ever need to bend an ear, I'm here via ask or DM for a virtual hug or just to listen (although, as evidenced by the length of this post and my fic... I have a lot to say too, lol). And so are Dean and Cas. There's a reason our community imprinted on them. Dean deserved to be able to say it, so I had him do it in the fic - but he was just as valid and just as bi before he said it too. Biggest hugs, and thank you for sharing how much it mean to you. That means so much to me as an author and a fellow member of the LGBTQIA+. Idk if I'm older than you or not, but I'm very maternal and if you need a queer internet mama, I'm here.

Sorry for the long post! Much love, nonny! 🥰

[thepandalion]

Happy pride month to all! Drew myself and my flags (and got my own eye color right, for once-), and this will probably become my main pfp now because. looking great there.

the version w/o the writing of happy pride (and also the list of flags and lil things I threw in bc extra details) bellow if anyone seeing this thinks its interesting enough to listen to me ramble-

Eyy

well, for flags, I believe the jacket being an ace mess is obvious, but the shirt beneath it is not only the aro flag, but also a play on the fact my other pfp had a green shirt with the same texture added here (which is really just me finding a picture of tv static and making it a low-opacity overlay-)

wings and wing-ears are obvious, because it’s still me and being me includes jackets, glasses (and, somehow, these are the actual glasses I have, randomly being uneven bc I read fics while laying on my side on a couch included--) and a lot of wings. the crown-halo is actually another thing I burrowed from Dandelion’s design, because I drew it and immediately went “oh, that’s so cool” and then proceeded to add it to my own lil sketches I do bc I’m too lazy to ink, occassionally.

anyways, back to pride stuff, nonbinary flag patch on the arm of the jacket and a pin next to it with my pronouns! (well, actually they/them and lun/lunar, but even I forget the second set sometimes, nevermind the fact a lot of people don’t know how to use that set, so, they/them is the one I use more commonly-)

also, rainbow scarf included based on the fact I actually do own a rainbow scarf (and suspenders and stockings, but those I usually only use on actual pride stuff, while the scarf I go with anywhere-)

also, the choker has a glass heart on it- I really struggled with it, because I do glass well only if it’s 3D and this is just. a panel of glass.

the eyes are something I had to actually go to my mom to ask about, because she’s known me longest and therefore must know what my eye color is (it’s sorta a fun story, but my eyes change color based on like, a billion variables, including lighting, weather and mood, mainly, so I usually default to my favorite shade for them, which is the neon green I get when there’s a good weather to take a walk and I’m feeling energized). her response was to send me a picture of a close-up of a cat’s eyes, which were the same shade mine are currently, and also somewhat like the color in the drawing (except more neon, I didn’t manage to put the neon in without disrupting the color pallet too much and I’d rather have something pretty than accurate, considering the fact I don’t have wings for ears, actually.

last thing to add is that, for once, I managed to remember my hair is actually no longer completely blond! I started coloring the tips purple a few years back, and though it fades pretty fast, it turns this pretty green/aqua color, so, I added the transition from purple to green to blond at the tips of my hair, which I made shorter than it is irl, because having incredibly long hair is impractical but having super short hair felt weird when I did so having it at shoulder length could be interesting (even if I love drawing it either mermaid-length or barely bellow my ears-)

Happy pride to all, anyways!! ^w^

[mueritos]

I’m kinda terrified of going to college bc in high school. Everyone I Knew knew I was transmasc so i felt safe in being gnc. But now I have to start all over and I don’t want to have to justify my existence all over again bc T hasn’t done much for me yet... idk if any of this makes sense

I’m gonna be honest with you, friend, and say that I felt the same way. But here’s the thing I learned about college, and it’s that nobody really gives a shit! I was pre-t/barely a couple months on t going into the men’s bathroom on campus and no one looked at me. I have other nonbinary friends who walk around campus (mind you its like all white and everyone dresses like athletes) in 5 in platforms, or another in three piece suits and a feather hat. Sure, people will look, but for the most part, everyone is so consumed in their own lives and their classes, majors, homework, that they will barely give you a glance. However, I know the feeling of being the only one, or being stared at, and there are always ways to combat those feelings.

1. Find a group of like minded friends/safe space

Most campuses have a LGBTQ+ club, and if you’re BiPOC, they usually have colored student unions as well. These can be great places to meet new people who are like you, give you a feel for the environment of marginalized folks on campus, and create a safe space for your community on campus. Once you take some courses and talk with other people, you’ll be able to find professors who will be on your side and a friend to you.

2. Stop giving a shit!

This ones a hard one but I had to learn it again when I settled into campus. I transitioned medically throughout my entire first year of college, and it was both exciting and jarring. It was difficult to manage my self esteem, anxiety, and stress as my body was going through changes, and I felt like everyone was staring at me for the way I looked physically and my clothing. Eventually I began to settle more into hrt, and I began to standout more on campus. Everyone on campus looks like your typical white boy and white girl, and there I am, the only queer kid in class wearing a battle jacket and chains. You’ll have to learn that you cant please everyone, and that some people are just not worth your time. You may be stared at, you might be questioned, but it should never make you doubt yourself. And Im not advocating for losing self-awareness, because it’s that sixth sense that allows us queer people to keep ourselves safe, but it is liberating to exist without allowing anyone’s expectations of you impact the expectations you set for yourself. 

Hope that helps!

[dwarrowdams]

Okay, so I am saying this here because saying it elsewhere might just be the end of my (fledgling) career as an author.

I’ve previously read and enjoyed books written by Brooklyn Ray/Taylor Brooke (a queer + nonbinary white author), but their social media presence was...not my fave.  I saw them drag readers over small things and eventually I couldn’t take the negative vibes so I just unfollowed them, even though something told me that there was more than just ~bad vibes~ going on here.

Giving myself some space helped me to figure out what about them rubbed me the wrong way.  Was it that they RT-ed a tweet that amounted to “free menstrual products are important, but please don’t bash on free condoms bc activists worked hard to make that happen” by saying the OP was tone policing people who menstruate?  Was it the fact that they said that you can’t be Christian and a witch?

Neither of those rubbed me the right way, but the thing that got me was them saying that they disliked POSE because of the queer stereotypes.

That didn’t sit right with me, because POSE is one of very few pieces of modern media that centers Black trans women.  If you don’t like it, whatever, but saying that it’s stereotypical ignores the fact that so few Black trans women have been allowed to exist in queer spaces.  Stories of queer folks with AIDS (or queer folks who are homeless) usually center cis white people, so seeing a story like this focus on Black trans women as stereotypical is...odd, particularly since Janet Mock (a Black trans woman) writes, directs, and produces the show.

Tonight, it all clicked into place.

The comment on POSE.

Their positive review of a book that readers of color have called out for racism (and of course their review doesn’t mention that there’s anything racially problematic in the book).

(White reviewers have mentioned these issues as well.) 

The fact that they released an anthology of stories by nonbinary authors and only two authors included were POC (again, please correct me if I’m wrong).

While that might seem fine (it’s the same number of authors of color as the recently released romance anthology He’s Come Undone, after all), there are nine stories in Behind the Sun, Above the Moon.

There are five stories in He’s Come Undone.  So compare the 40% ratio of authors of color in He’s Come Undone to the 22.2% ratio of Behind the Sun, Above the Moon.  It’s pretty damn telling.

Brooklyn Ray/Taylor Brooke is one of the White Queers who does not acknowledge the white privilege they have.  They are sidlining and ignoring queer/trans people of color and from my knowledge, they have not taken a step back and acknowledged that any of these actions are problematic.

I am tired of seeing white queers who don’t examine their white privilege and racial biases—and I’m white, so I can only imagine how tired queer people of color are of seeing white queers doing this.

While it may be tempting to do so, please do not @ them on social media about this—they can get really nasty with folks over very little, even if those folks are calm and polite (see image below or click the link).

(context: Taylor had vague-tweeted about an article praising Leigh Bardugo’s NINTH HOUSE and someone was asking for the link to the article)

Just stay away from them and use your energy to support trans authors of color: today, this month, and every damn day.

If this is something you want to talk about on Twitter, do so very carefully because I’ve also seen this author post screenshots of tweets where their name was censored out.  (Did someone send them the pics?  Did they poke around looking for their censored out name?  Idk, but something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.) I do hope that they learn to be a better ally to QTPOC, but I don’t want any of y’all risking your mental health by trying to confront them directly.

Fellow white queer folks, we need to do better so that the people of color in our queer community can openly be themselves without being criticized for not fitting the White Queer Ideal.

Update: As of today (6/29/20), Brooklyn Ray/Taylor Brooke/Taylor Barton has been dropped by their agent and all of their publishers. However, they are planning to self-publish the books they wrote as Brooklyn Ray (and perhaps others) using the same pseudonym and the same book titles.  The fact that they felt the need to harass me for telling others not to buy their books bc they’re racist + for speaking out against their harassment of other writers says a lot.

Also worth noting: the fact that everyone they harassed when they reactivated their @/BrookieRayWrite Twitter a couple days ago is a) a new writer with fewer industry connections b) trans/nonbinary c) a person of color, or some combination of A-C, is pretty damn telling.

Obviously they have not changed and their apologies were not sincere (especially not the “wah my team made me apologize” one).  They are not worth your time or energy.

(Note: I apologize for not having links/screenshots for all of this—I didn’t think to screenshot the tweets mentioned early on because I didn’t imagine I’d have to make a post like this, but I did try my best to find what I could.)

(Another Note: Edited to include the link to the screenshotted tweet and added links to reviews of Docile by white reviewers that address the racist issues of the novel.)

(A Third Note: Edited to reflect that there was one author of color in the nonbinary anthology; my thanks to the anon who corrected me.)

(A Fourth Note: Edited to reflect that there was another author of color in the aforementioned anthology; my thanks to the anon who corrected me.  Also added update on the situation and deleted the call for folks to share their experiences bc they absolutely have.)

[ajora]

I never played ff5 but ngl I kind of want you to answer ALL the questions on that meme because I like hearing your thoughts about it. (and faris for the character part, because hm. yes. butch lesbian pirate. I can dig this. and your otp for the ship part, obviously.)

Oh boy, settle in because this’ll be looong.

So, for everyone else: warning: this talks about being nb/butch, a taboo ship, and spoilers for FF5.

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Toss-up between Faris and Lenna.

Least Favorite character: I don’t actually hate him because his recurring crossover character status is hilarious and he’s got great theme music, but, Gilgamesh. His final words to Faris ( 恋でもして　ちったあ　女らしくなりな | essentially: go fall in love, then you’ll become more feminine) always rubbed me wrong. The love that defines her is the love she has for Lenna, even if you don’t interpret it as romantic love, and her love should never force her to become what she’s not. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Honestly, just Faris/Lenna. I’m chill with other people shipping other ships, but farilenna is my forever ship.

Character I find most attractive: I overrelate to Faris and Lenna is exactly my type. Gosh, but her squeak in DFFOO is adorable.

Character I would marry: I mean, I have a girlfriend I intend to marry, but Lenna would be a nice second option.

Character I would be best friends with: I’d probably get along with all of them, but realistically Butz is just the kind of no-commitment, independent friend I get along best with

a random thought: After the DFFOO event with Butz giving everything that makes him him to his dark world clone, I unironically want to redraw a SUF screenshot with someone taking Connie’s place to say that the only one who hasn’t had Steven Butz is Steven Butz. Largely because Butz shunts his personal feelings to the side to be the supportive friend and teen girl escort everyone needs.

An unpopular opinion: The GBA localization is great, but it’s not an accurate translation and sacrifices accuracy for the lulz. Which is fine!

My Canon OTP: I’mma reach and say Amano drew my otp holding each other on official art that got plastered everywhere in Japanese GBA-release media, so that totes counts as official, right? It’s the same argument the Butz/Lenna shippers used back in the day. (I even have this art in poster form)

My Non-canon OTP: Because FF5 has no actual endgame ships, obviously my otp. 

Most Badass Character: Look, Faris dove into a dragon-generated whirlpool that could have killed her to save her crew when she was 15. She fell off a cliff and crawled back up for Lenna. Faris, hands down.

Most Epic Villain: tbh the most epic villain was one who wasn’t in the game until he became an optional boss added in the GBA revamp: Enuo. He might not have been in the game’s present, but his shadow loomed large 1000 years after his death/sealing away.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Not personally a fan of shipping Butz with any of the girls, largely because he’s shaped like a friend and has been a fantastic friend to all of them, and FF5 really isn’t a romance. I’m absolutely happy to ship him with Squall in the Dissidias though. Butz/Squall is my otp for him. 

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Eh, I feel like the ending sequence for Faris could have focused less on her being a woman and more on her actual acts of courage. Courage being her whole damn thing and defining trait and all.

Favourite Friendship: Faris and Syldra. Gosh, but all the Japanese texts on them makes me mourn Syldra’s death even harder.

Character I most identify with: Faris bc butch/nonbinary reasons and huge issues with being shoehorned into one gender (male) but not really feeling it (Faris does, in Japanese at least, identify as a woman; direct translation by me: “don’t treat me like a fool because I’m a woman”) and also not wanting to 100% be compliant with femininity.

Character I wish I could be: Look, who doesn’t want to be a pirate.

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: 1997 baby. It’s been years and while I flitted out of FF5 fandom in the 2000s up til I returned now, I never stopped loving my ship

My thoughts: Yeah, the sibling incest complicates things, but also? They were separated very young, didn’t grow up together, and didn’t meet again until adulthood. There’s no actual power imbalance there. Even with respect to social status. Like, yes Lenna’s in line to be queen, but does anyone really think she’d abuse her position for anything? She adores Faris. Faris will destroy everyone in this room and then herself if anything happened to Lenna. 

What makes me happy about them: Oh, gosh, they are so good together. Also? I adore how muddled up they are together. Lenna is the Light Warrior of Water, her defining trait being conscientious kindness. Faris is the Light Warrior of Fire, her defining trait being courage. But Lenna will absolutely kill that dragon if she has to. She’ll hare off into the unknown with only a knife to find her father. She’ll trudge through poison to save that dragon she was gonna kill. Her sky dragon turns into a phoenix. She’s the spirit of Water, but everything about her screams Fire. Conversely, Faris is bonded to a sea dragon, nearly drowned twice that we know of, and over the course of the game she does become a kinder person than she was. She’s the spirit of Fire, and yeah she does have courage aplenty, but she’s so inextricably bound to water that her skills in DFFOO are water-related. 

What makes me sad about them: That they could never be together openly. Also? That modern/post-GBA fandom will absolutely shit on the ship’s fans. You’ve seen me talk in Discord about the hate I run across often enough. And it’s absolutely wild to me because I’ve been here since 1997, I’ve heard all the jokes about Faris/Lenna back then, and no one threw a fit about it like they do now. Nevar 4get the off-color FWAKs that were common back in the day. 

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Mostly just... treating the girls as Butz’s personal harem. And this is a small thing, at least. 

Things I look for in fanfic: Anything with my ship. Alternatively, anything where at least Faris isn’t straight. 

My wishlist: God I just want to talk to fellow Faris/Lenna shippers! And if I have to improve my translating-to-Japanese skills for it, I will. Also, I wanna get involved in a Faris/Lenna doujinshi someday. Or an anthology!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: their dragons

My happily ever after for them: A cottage by the sea, all regal responsibilities forgotten, with new dragon companions because theirs died over the course of the game and Highwinds must have dragons.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character: Superb. Fantastic. When I was a young butch in the closet with only Oscar to look up to, Faris stormed onto the scene with all her flaws and character development and a dragon friend! and yes, I dig this. Still favorite, though Lenna unseats her ever so often. 

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Lenna. That’s it, really. World of Final Fantasy floated the idea of Quistis/Faris, but didn’t provide a lot to go on. 

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Syldra! Although I have been known to ship her with Syldra too, back in the day. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: Faris is a very, very Asian trope character, her roots being in Oscar of Rose of Versailles, Takarazuka, and East Asian legends and histories of crossdressing women. I just feel really uncomfortable when white people, especially white cis people, ignore that, ignore that she herself says that she’s a woman, and insist that she’s a trans man. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I do wish the epilogue slideshow focused more on her deeds than on her feeling uncomfortable complying with traditional femininity.

Favorite friendship for this character: Syldra!

My crossover ship: Faris and Quistis becoming friends in WoFF after Quistis challenged her to a fistfight is just so Faris that I’d love to see fics exploring that. 

[ingayderzim]

not to be that person who asks a googleable question but wtf is hazbin hotel bc i googled it and the only “critical” thing i could find was a typo-ridden article of someone saying it has good animation and its haters are stupid. i was able to glean what it is/what it’s about but idk about the discourse lmao

Im actually so glad u asked this. Here's the lowdown, this is my definitive answer to hazbin shit from here on out, unless new info comes about of course.

Hazbin hotel is an independent cartoon by vivziepop. Most people (that ive seen) have agreed that the pilot of the show really isnt that great but the reason it has so many fans is bc of the entertaining livestreams, massive amounts of canon content produced (she has had these characters for years), unique art style, and the characters. (Ass ugly but unique.)

Its haters are totally justified bc of some of the "controversial" (read: bad) things vivziepop has done. Here's the conclusion that my friends and classmates (several of whom are Black, one Hispanic woman, and one trans woman...nellie if ur reading this i 💜 u) and i came to after discussing this stuff. I am NOT saying "well my black/trans friend said it's ok so i dont have to think about it!" this is based on a few different conversations that my friends and i have had about this topic so what im saying is that my opinion was formed by talking about this situation with multiple people affected by the controversy.

One controversial thing is a drawing u can easily find on google (called beastiality.jpg i believe?) It's a cropped (chest and up, but hes obv naked) drawing of vivziepops character, drawn by vivziepop, moaning, with a snake around him. The character is 17. Many people have interpreted this as child porn. I dont think this image is pornographic, i think it's a stupid joke (it was even tagged as a joke iirc) and completely inappropriate but since it's 8 years old on top of not being porn, i think it's just an example of a dumb drawing. That being said, i would NEVER argue that someone who is uncomfortable w the drawing (im uncomfortable with it! It's gross just not porn) or considers it porn is wrong. They are entitled to that opinion and i would never expose them to vivziepops work or talk about her stuff around them if they expressed to me that they disliked the image.

Another thing is that she drew a doodle of two racist TERFs. This is the one where my friends of color, my friends who are black, and my friends who are trans women took the lead. I sat back for this part and here's their and my opinion on this after talking about it and verbally going through this whole situation.

She was following these women (who had done blackface and stuff) and drew art of them. The art was a "quick doodle" that she did apologize for and she said she didn't realize the extent of their beliefs. She knew they werent great but hadnt consumed much of their content in depth. I believe her bc while ive never followed anyone as bad, ive certainly followed some pieces of shit and didnt notice for months simply bc im not online all the time and bc of the volume of people i follow, combined with the non chronological algorithms lately.

At the risk of screwing myself, im going to admit that there was about a year or so of my life where i enjoyed The Amazing Atheist. I was even subbed to him. I was a nonbinary lesbian (2 things he cant stand lmaoo) in catholic school and therefore i strictly watched his videos about theological stuff since thats what was frustrating me at the time. I had no clue the type of evil racist, transphobic, homophobic (yes ik hes bi), misogynistic things he thought, said, and did, bc i didnt watch those videos. I literally only watched select theological ones that could be of use to me while edgily debating my teachers (sorry mrs macdougal but u had it coming). I was about 15 at the time and im 19 now. Im sorry to everyone i hurt by ever having supported him. I had one of his quotes written in the inside of my religion notebook in high school. I regretted it and ripped the page out the moment i discovered the truth about him. I cant stress enough how much I HATE HIM. Thats an example of what i think happened here tho.

One of my friends who is a trans woman said (paraphrasing) "i think the worst thing shes done is that terf art but i believe the apology especially bc it was a quick drawing."

That being said, i would NEVER argue with someone who wanted nothing to do w vivziepop bc of this. That's their right. 100%. I would never expose them to her work after that.

The last thing i remember is something about a pedophilic couple in a comic but i heard it was a 17 year old and a 19 year old. Im 19 and if one of my peers did that i wouldnt say pedophile but id say ur a fucking weirdo, BUT, the kids were fake and being written by an adult so i can totally see her thinking that age gap is much less of a big deal than it really is. Like she forgot what it's like at this age. Idk how true any of that part is tho, i heard that info entirely secondhand.

Another thing to do with racism is that there's a joke within the show where one character says to the other

"don't get your taco in a twist"

"Was that supposed to be racist or sexist?"

"Whichever one pisses you off more"

I thought that was gross but one of my friends pointed out that vivziepop is of el salvadorian descent so that's her business. Like if i made a lesbian joke of equal or greater offensiveness than that and someone tried to call me lesbophobic over it id be like "that's literally my territory."

Oh speaking of which that character's name is vaggie and shes a lesbian but it's not pronounced w the same G you'd hear in "vagina." Vivziepop seems to name characters weirdly (like how in helluva boss theres a guy named blitzo and the o is silent) so maybe it's a pussy joke but i have no idea.

The animation was.................better than i could do, i wanna say the faces and gestures were good but god i remember there was a part with a car and my gf had to pause so i could laugh my ass off at it. I wouldn't describe the animation as a highlight but i liked the style in motion i thought it was a fun change. Vivziepops style is not appealing imo but i appreciate it as an art student and as someone whose friends all like she ra and steven universe where every character looks the goddamn motherfucking same, and while its chaotic and i dont care for it, the style actually works way better in motion than you'd think.

A good rule that i def use is to assume hazbin fans are guilty until proven innocent. If someone says they dont care about the discourse surrounding it and like it no matter what, RUN! They would support the show even if the creator was in fact a pedophile, or had done the blackface/was a terf herself! They probably support some horrible ppl and are probably "anti antis." A lot of them are minors tho so i'd say block and move on.

So, do i like it or not? Im an art student and all my friends like it so while i didnt think it was funny, i do fuck with it. At the convention this weekend my friends and i had a convo that led to me drawing an ahego hoodie where the faces were angel dust (a character's) face. It was a joke that i could make a killing by selling that in a booth at a con.

Theres really nothing compelling about the show but my friends like it so i join in on their conversations, and i do have a soft spot for angel dust bc he's like a worse, less amazing and gorgeous version of one of my characters, Candy, the love of my life.

A lot of people say the show was edgy/offensive and maybe im just desensitized but besides the taco thing i didnt pick up on that whatsoever??? The Archer episode "Swiss Miss" is worse than helluva boss and hazbin combined and even archer isn't offensive.

Im probably not aware of all the "discourse" (aka people being reasonably uncomfortable by weird and bad shit this random woman has done, and other ppl saying their opinions are wrong when it's literally just an opinion about a show) so if anything she's done isnt included in here it's not to defend vivziepop, this is genuinely all i know. I wouldnt describe myself as a fan of hers.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Fl4k Fl4k Fl4k Fl4k Fl-

i didn’t die i just fell in love with that skill tree creator and have done nothing for the past few days but make skill trees and sleep for 3 hour intervals. im very excited for the gameplay on Wednesday but oh man oh me oh my i gotta catch up on a lot of posts lol

tl;dr: Fl4k is a badass. Stop misgendering them or I’ll show up at your home at 3am local time every time and then eat your spine. Bonus: Mr. Chew being an ‘Eridian skag’ is probably due to some funky mutation from eridium/slag/eridian stuff. Kinda like how Threshers have the ability to make singularities because they are native to Elpis, which is a big ol’ Eridian base (which i totally addressed in this post lol). I also gave my opinion on Fl4k’s skills in general, if you’re interested in that. Overall, a very awesome trailer! Definitely lived up to the hype.

i said it before, this trailer was one of the best ones. definitely #2 for me, Zane is still at #1 because i actually laughed during it. the music in this one is definitely the best out of all 4 tho. seems like they’re all variations of the same song, i like this one best. I need this soundtrack sooo bad.

also i know probably no one else following this blog watches one piece but like

that first footstep with the studded boot and the sound effect immediately flung me back to katakuri. god katakuri was a badass. i was so excited to see that fight animated.

mr chew spinning around is my favorite thing ever. i love that you can tell the personality of the pets just from watching the intro. 

i know fl4k is like a real badass in this trailer, but i get the feeling they’re going to end up being at least a little soft for their pets. i mean... they have stuffed animals of them ffs.

so... we’re near Sanctuary-III in this trailer? I gotta keep my eye out then. i also want to see if that one claptrap area guess i had is correct or not... this looks like an entryway for the garage so im guessing i wasn’t, but let’s seeeee

there is a raised bit up and to the left

also im wondering if this means we’re going to have to rescue ellie from the CoV.

hmmmmmmmm

hmmmmm i don’t think the signs match up.

mr chew is the goodest boy. im so glad we can pet/interact with him!! i want to know what the names of the other pets are

also, a bit off topic but

i could have sworn fl4k’s jabber was cryo/shock. it was blue, wasn’t it? i wonder if they changed it or if it’s skill upgrades change its color. i thought the upgrades just gave it better guns.

yeah it was! i guess possibly upgrading it with the guns gives it a new color scheme? maybe? this could be the gunslinger upgrade!

it looks like their jabber went through the most design changes out of all of the pets. that or this is yet another upgrade (since each pet has 3 states). maybe this is the beefcake version.

‘bitch’. i love how expressive fl4k is with just the eye. very well done.

ohhh you know what that building is in the back?

[we’re near the intro to the game!]*

and tbh i don’t think this place has the building for Ellie’s Scrap in it... i don’t see it anywhere. maybe this is the actual scrapyard and the building is on the other side?

not quite sure tbh. but at least we know this place may also be near sanc-iii, just maybe not the same area as the actual Ellie’s Scrap.

i mean... there IS a shitload of cars everywhere. i wouldn’t surprised if it’s near her garage cause it looks like a scrapyard.

but also where in the fuck are all these ‘normal’ looking cars coming from?? it’s not like we see them being used on pandora. all the ones we see in bl1/2 are clearly dilapidated and rusting. big thonk. at least the vans/busses kinda make sense.

oh yeah that is definitely the same building. [it’s the recruitment center!]*

this scene with the rakk is my favorite out of all the trailers. so fuckin cool

i do hope the jabber goes back to being blue at some point. i like the red design too, don’t get me wrong, but i much prefer the glowy blue. it’s my favorite color and you guys know i love glowing things 👀

<Huge Selection!!!> lol

cat/doggo/monkey. mr chew is my favorite pet but i love the jabber panting like a dog lol

i never knew this is where spiderant mouths were

i always assumed they were below that... f r e a k y

“he likes to chase cars”

fl4k probably took them to the scrapyard for this exact reason ngl. fl4k being a big softie to their pets confirmed

(also, notice how fl4k uses ‘he’ for mr chew. it’s almost as if they understand the concept of gender, chose their own pronouns, and your argument that they only are nonbinary only because they “don’t understand yet” is invalid! Fl4k is canonically nonbinary and uses they/them/theirs pronouns as confirmed by both SungWon Cho and their in-game skills. 

Now that you know, use they/them/theirs for Fl4k or get off my blog. Because by not doing so, you are disrespecting the devs’ wishes for this character AND the nonbinary people who find representation in them and I won’t support that. if you feel like arguing your reasons to purposefully misgender them even after knowing this, please DM me so I can block you. thanks! 

For those of you out there actually making an effort: mistakes happen, especially if Fl4k is the first NB person you’ve learned about. Just make sure to correct yourself then move on, and we’re okay. Everyone has to learn sometime and it’s better to put in the effort than not care at all. It will become second nature.)

Fl4k is such a badass, they really are way different than i expected (personality-wise), but i am not complaining. gearbox knows me better than i know myself, so i know i’m going to end up loving Fl4k anyway. ProZD did such a fantastic job, i honestly did not recognize him at first! i can tell with certain words now, but wow i am blown away. 

i hope we’re able to climb that bird’s nest lookin’ thing in the back. it would be perfect for sniping and/or placing ur clone for maximum coverage.

seriously, what a badass.

idk i feel obligated to give my opinions of Fl4k over here since they were recently released. I am digging them 100%, tho i was kinda surprised (not in a bad way) they’re not as... i guess soft as i was expecting from their character design with the plushes and the face on the backpack and the smiley face pin, but i imagine that’s different when they’re interacting with their pets. im super curious to see how this VH group’s dynamic is going to go. 

mechanically, their skills seem perfect for people who loved sniper Zer0 and in general Mordecai, with a splash of Salvador tossed in for good luck. I am a dirty melee Zer0 main and i prefered Phasewalking over Bloodwing (altho i still play mordy bc he’s best bl1 VH) so, while I am definitely going to give Fl4k a go, they’re not my main bl3 Vault Hunter, that’s reserved for Zane and his lovely ability to befuddle enemies and run around. Funnily enough, I’m not even a fan of pet classes, so Fl4k being second in my play order is pretty funny. Tho, yeah, Amara being last is also pretty weird. I guess I don’t necessarily enjoy melee, I just enjoy messing with the bad guys lol

ohh, also, I am most interested in the upgrade for mr. chew that gives him the ability to create singularities and is called ‘Eridian Skag’. 

so I’m not saying my theory that the threshers on the moon were connected to Eridians was right, I’m just saying they’re the only form of wildlife we know that has a singularity ability (outside of Mr. Chew, apparently). 

im just saying gearbox, you should hire me to write your deep lore for you cause i’d do it for free

im wondering if we’ll be seeing skags with wormhole abilities in bl3. maybe the constant exposure to slag is starting to mutate them further beyond just elemental bonuses (on badass skags). We know Maya’s phaselock has a singularity ability (so does Amara’s phasegrasp), and that is sorta ‘occurring naturally’ (you know, as natural as siren powers can get) unlike the singularity grenades we encounter which use our known technology. plus, uh, whatever happened to the destroyer’s eye in TPS that made it create a singularity/wormhole by injecting it with a fuckload of slag. that probably has something to do with this as well.

but geez i really hope mr. chew is okay with being all slag/eridium-ed up. i guess being badass elemental skags doesn’t appear to hurt them, just make them more powerful, unlike humans. maybe that has something to do with sentience, if slag/eridium/eridian stuff actually is driving bandits crazy. could explain why/if the jabber doesn’t get an element like the skag (eridian skag) and spiderant (fire) do, since they’re described as semi-sentient...

anyway.

Fl4k is cool. Definitely a neat trailer- my second favorite for sure- and the skill tree drop blew me away because i was not expecting it. im expecting a lot of Fl4k mains in the first few weeks of gameplay because they look like a lot of fun!

EDIT: i was wrong, in the newest IGN vid, it turns out we ARE near the recruitment center, because that IS the recruitment center

they gave them little orange flags! good to know!!