#genderbend it either way and it gets better

[callixton]

passion could be good if it was gay and i don’t really remember my reasoning anymore but i do stand by it

[ironunderstands]

Dr. Ratios predictions, theories and ideas I have for his lore BECAUSE SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED AND I AM INSANE ABOUT HIM AAAAAAA

‼️INCLUDES DISCUSSION OF LEAKS SO BE WARNED‼️

So, I’m sure if you like Dr. Ratio even a little bit or have kept up with what leakers are doing, you have heard of a little something.

That little something being our new planet in coming in 3.0 is Ancient Greece inspired 

Oh boy.

And oh it gets better, thanks Sparkle for playing genderbend Ratio during Cosmoddesy because 

Yup, this is his planet.

I’m well aware it will be like 7 months before we start getting proper leaks about this place, but for now, let’s do some speculation shall we, because if there’s anywhere we are gonna get his backstory/lore/a story centered around him, it will be here.

So let’s begin 

Whatever the hell I think is gonna happen during 3.0

A) He will serve as a guide for the Astral Express in navigating this planet 

I don’t think he will immediately go to them to help, or they will immediately seek out him, but rather coincidentally or through the connivence of circumstance he will end up helping lead us around, at least partially until we really get roped into a conflict.

Or, it’s the other way around, where we kinda are left to our own devices a bit and then something happens and either by his own decision or something that’s forced upon him, Dr. Ratio now has to supervise from now on.

Personally I find the second option way more interesting and I think it has way more potential for angst so I’m going with that one let Ratio be dragged around by a malicious entity or his own experiences I’m so here for it. 

B) Something happens.

Wow, descriptive. 

Ok, what I really mean is that something bad happens like a prophecy comes true or the express breaks something or a stellaron comes to eat people’s grandmas and Ratio is implicated in it. 

And this is where the fun begins, as the nature of what this something is can completely shift the story in very interesting ways.

Perhaps he was prophesied to doom Amphoreous’s civilization with his presence or something, and was abandoned by his parents on another planet?

Perhaps he has connections to the leaders there who desired for him to be their puppet/tool, so he left to find his own path and now they are trying to force him back.

Perhaps he failed at a test of theirs when he was younger, some universal trait on the planet that he couldn’t live up to and was exiled because of it. Now that he’s back, they blame whatever bad thing happens on Ratio. 

I actually really like these particular theories as Ratio has a lot of themes about creating your own destiny, so seeing him resist one forced upon him would be compelling. Moreover, I feel as though an arc demonstrating how exactly he wanted to become a Genius/where he got all his insecurities and motivations from is not only necessary for his character but would flesh out the way we see the path of Erudition in general, even if I already really like the way they have gone with it so far. 

C) Resolution/Self acceptance 

I doubt they will permanently kill him, it just doesn’t suit his character at all.

However, do I think is he gonna get messed up by whatever that “something” is? Yes. 

If the story centers on this remains to be seen, honestly, I doubt it will considering we have the entire cast of the planet and its own lore to meet and learn about, but I do think Ratio will be a major player and I hope how he feels gets some of the plot’s focus as we have quite literally only have 1 full scene of him where we see who he truly is, and it’s all the way back in 1.6 (Ratio-Screwllum conversation my Roman Empire). 

Like guys I needed this man bleeding out screaming dying crying throwing up clutching his wounds looking up at the screen like a kicked puppy losing all hope in himself and others YESTERDAY 

I NEED SOMETHING BAD TO HAPPEN TO HIM FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND BECAUSE RATIO IS SO HIGH STRUNG THAT ANY AMOUNT OF PRESSURE WILL CAUSE HIM TO SNAP SO PLEASE HOYO LET HIM BREAK!!!

He needs another scene where he’s being sincere, he needs a scene where he’s being vulnerable, Ratio’s marble facade needs to crumble to reveal the man underneath and I need that man to pick himself back up again knowing he can allow himself to be human as well AAAAAAAAAA

His connections to Acheron 

If you have seen my other posts I have already talked about this at length, however the brainrot for this particular detail is all consuming so let me just demonstrate:

Dr. Ratio has the same philosophy as Acheron, an emanator of Nihility.

Look.

Essentially, they both believe that only in desperate situations will humans reach their full potential and begin to truly live for themselves. Moreover, they also both try and offer the tools to help people save themselves, Ratio with knowledge and Acheron with destroying the dreamscape, and that even if people can only become their true selves through struggle, it is the guidance and love of other people that will allow them to pick themselves up. 

Interestingly, pre-2.2 I also believed Ratio was walking the path of Nihility, due to how he engages with knowledge. That very viewpoint spawned from the 1.6 conversation I just showed you, as Ratio demonstrates to the audience that he does not care about knowledge in of itself, but rather the value it can bring to people.

Now, this sets him apart from the Genius Society members, who believe knowledge is inherently valuable and that it is what brings the universe meaning to them. Every person Nous has acknowledged has expressed this belief, which is why they were acknowledged and Ratio isn’t.

Before you say it, no, it’s not that he isn’t smart enough, quite the opposite actually.

Screwllum himself acknowledges his genius and time and time again are Ratios myriad of accomplishments brought up. In universe plenty of people believe he should have been instated into the society by now as well:

These are just the ones that implicate the society directly, as so many of Ratio’s character stories also mention just how accomplished he is.

Moreover, in 2.3 we are getting a new Sim Uni update made by Ratio himself, centered on humanity because of course it is, therefore he’s even smart enough to do the same things the GS members do, even collaborating with Screwllum to work on their favorite pet project.

So, what does this have to do with his lack of acknowledgment, and the path of Nihility?

I have established Ratio is smart enough and that he doesn’t view knowledge in the same way the other member’s do. Therefore, this difference in mindset is why Nous has never acknowledged him, because as much as Ratio thinks he is walking the path of Erudition, his personal philosophy and behaviors have never aligned with that, even if he thinks they do.

I mean, the man says it himself, even if he doesn’t realize the implications of it:

“The Path of Erudition has neither reason nor logic. While geniuses wander among the stars, the ordinary can’t even trace their footsteps.”

That is the path the Genius Society members walk, the path Ratio is criticizing in this sentence, the path he refuses to travel along himself, because what defines Ratio is that he will never leave the ordinary behind to stumble alone.

That is the path of Erudition.

And Veritas Ratio does not follow it. 

So what does he believe in?

Finding your own path. Forging your own future, in the face of a meaningless universe, that is the only thing we should do, the only thing we CAN do. 

“even a life marked by failure is a life worth living”

That’s what Ratio believes.

It doesn’t matter if the masses cannot escape their mediocrity, if they will never be geniuses, if their efforts will go unacknowledged, because the universe doesn’t care, therefore they shouldn’t either. There is no grand test, no final destination, no perfect goal people must attain.

Destiny is uncertain, and people’s fates are theirs to choose. 

Dr. Ratio believes people can still improve themselves, and that it doesn’t matter if people cannot reach the ceiling of knowledge, as they should still push themselves off the floor and stand up. 

He doesn’t think anything confines people from bettering themselves, and that it’s pointless to deliberate over whether one can achieve perfection or not, they should strive to improve themselves regardless and live their best lives because why not? Sure there’s nothing saying they can, but there’s also nothing saying they can’t, and in the face of a meaningless universe, devoid of purpose, one must create their own, and he dedicates his life to aiding others in realizing this.

Ironically, Ratio does not take his own advice. He can recognize the merits of the masses, but he cannot appreciate his own. Ratio is forever walking forward, but he cannot see the path ahead of him, or appreciate the lengths he has gone, the distance he has traveled, and the lives he has improved. 

Ratio spreads knowledge across the universe, believing that is what Nous desires, what the Erudition means, or rather should be, which is partly why he views himself as mundane, as a failure. 

Not just because he is as ordinary as any other person, but because Ratio thinks he hasn’t succeeded in his goal without Nous’s acknowledgement. I think he believes that he hasn’t done enough, that he isn’t smart enough, that he will never be good enough, therefore no matter what has happened, Ratio is doomed do be as mundane as everyone else, and his accomplishments will never be worth the gaze of the entity who inspired him to help others in the first place, as that’s what Ratio believes they would want.

However, helping others is not something Nous cares about, it’s something Dr. Ratio cares about. Even if he doesn’t understand or acknowledge it, Ratio’s accomplishments are meaningful, and he has walked his path further than most ever have. 

However, that path just isn’t the path of Erudition, it’s the path of Existence. 

Initially I believed it to be the Nihility, and in a way I’m not wrong, considering one must cross underneath the shadow of the Nihility to find the Existence, so in a way he is still approaching them.

However, as always, Acheron clarifies everything.

The Nihility envelops all, therefore it is meaningless. And before our final ending, our predetermined destiny (death), we have so many choices to make, therefore we should make them, as it makes both our life and death develop a completely different meaning.

As I have stated, this is what Ratio believes in, even if he attributes it to the Erudition, rather than the Nihility.

Ratio’s entire goal in life is to help others bring meaning to their lives and guide them in the right direction so they can begin to choose for themselves, using knowledge as his means to do so.

Which is exactly what Acheron does, “on the still waters of oblivion, I guide the wandering souls,” isn’t just a line she says because it sounds cool, rather, that is her goal as well. An emanator of Nihility, whose goal is to help others find their meaning in the universe. 

But Acheron doesn’t just want that. She is looking for the Existence, and to kill the Nihility (meaningless) forever.

Which is significant, because if Ratio believes the same exact thing she does, and is walking the same path as she is, then like Acheron, he is heading towards the Existence, not the Erudition.

And Nous will never acknowledge him, not because he isn’t smart enough, but because he never followed them to begin with.

In fact, we know what Ratio is, or rather, what he might end up becoming.

So far no Doctors of Chaos have succeeded in their goals, but perhaps Dr. Ratio, Dr VERITAS Ratio, will be the one to do so. After all, who else could it be but him?

How fitting that the man named after truth would be the one to find it.

That fuckass owl 

Glaux I want to throw you into a blender 

This is Professor Glaux, one of the figures from the Hanunue-Clockie Era of Penacony who did some things like bring the stellaron there, was a scholar of the Intellgenica Guild, became the first dreamweaver, inspired the paper birds, did some shit with the Nightingale Family and presumably died.

I know, horrible explanation, especially considering I haven’t even done the quest this guy is from, but hopefully that’s all the information you need for now so I can introduce you to this theory (which I did not create, sadly I don’t remember who did but it was someone on twitter somewhere so shoutout to them)

That being… Dr. Ratio is Glaux

I hate it I’m sorry. But I will attempt to explain where it’s coming from.

A) Glaux has very similar references to Ratio, aka they are both associated with Greek culture, wisdom and owls 

Glaux is the Greek word for owl and they are heavily associated with Athena, the god of wisdom.

Now Ratio has extremely obvious owl, Greek and wisdom association if you have looked at him for any longer than 2 seconds so I’m not gonna bother to demonstrate it, they have similar references, moving on.

B) The Intelligencia Guild + their titles 

They are from the same faction, and both are referred to as Professors (ratio gets called that more in the CN version I think), and at least Ratio dedicates his time to spreading knowledge, which I think is something Glaux shared.  

C) This occurrence in Gold and Gears

You know, the one where a student kills themself because Ratio thinks they are an idiot.

Well, it’s complicated because apparently the story told in Gold in Gears takes place a long time ago?? 

How long I don’t know as my brain melted in my skull when trying to piece it together, so please do correct me if I’m wrong, I’ll try to make sense of it later.

Moreover, this is also complicated by the fact that this particular occurrence was used by Herta to teach the trailblazer some mechanics of the sim uni, which makes me thing it’s not a part of the lore/timeline in it in general, and just something funny she added in anyways. Continually, there are also occurrences from characters like Argenti and of the Genius Society members themselves, so I don’t think every event is set in the distant past.

However, I think this idea comes from the other person in that occurrence, Dr. No5, but he also kills himself in it, and I can’t find anymore information on it, so I doubt it. (also apparently in the Chinese version the Ratio they refer to isn’t in the way they refer to Dr. Ratio/the one we know so idk)

Either way, what this means is that if this occurrence did take place a while ago, then Ratio must be super fucking old and he must have been part of the Intellegencia Guild during that time, like a certain owl aka Glaux, who was part of it.

D) Ratio’s weird origins

By weird origins I mean we know jack shit about his past (although we finally know the planet he’s from!) and for all we know the man could have spawned in one day, with some other theories even coming to that conclusion, like the infamous worm theory.

Essentially, if you put this all together, Ratio was once an owl-humanoid named Glaux who was from the Amphoreous, and then became part of the Intelligencia Guild a while back, which is when that occurrence happened. He then went to Penacony, did some stuff, faked his death and like came back as Dr. Ratio on that planet again, which is why we don’t know anything about his origins.

Can you tell why I hate this theory as a concept.

I find it to be dumb, nonsensical, a waste of potential and just straight up random as hell. However it is also objectively valid and could have happened within the plot of the game which is why I hate it so much because please hoyoverse do not go in this direction I will skin you.

However, I do not think Ratio has nothing to do with Glaux.

Rather,

A) The stuff Glaux did on Penacony is meant to parallel how Ratio acted there, as both served as a guiding figure for people on their respective timelines 

B) Ratio is the same species as Glaux/ they are from the same planet (Amphoreous).

Now this I fuck with heavily. Yes, Glaux is way more owl looking than Ratio is, however more human versions of his species could exist, and Ratio could just have the ability to like shift forms or something.

He also looks extremely similar to the owls on Ratios design, which I now deem it appropriate to show to you the metric fuck ton of owls in Ratios design.

(there’s a few more btw I just couldn’t fit them due to the image limit LMAOO)

Why do you have so many, and why is it the same fucking owl, same culture, same goddess referenced, same symbolism???? 

Like even if I hate the 1 : 1 Glaux-Ratio theory, they are clearly connected, and this is no accident on behalf of the developers. 

Therefore, I would keep an eye out for Glaux mentions in the future, especially on the planet coming in 3.0, as I 100% believe that they are from the same planet. There’s no way they can’t be connected in some manner, and if I am right about this I will be annoying about it for the rest of time. 

I can’t believe owl Ratio might actually be a reality. 

So uh, let’s put this all together.

We go to Ratio’s planet in 3.0, problems happen and we learn both his past and his connections to that owl species Glaux is from which likely causes even more problems. Bbg probably gets his ass handed to him in 3.0 and 3.1 and gets to make up for it in 3.2, ending the arc off more fulfilled as a person, and perhaps making some realizations about himself including that he isn’t actually following the path of Erudition. Then we skip all the way to endgame when the trailblazers are fighting Nanook and him and Acheron come in with the steel chair hopped up on Existence juice to give the trailblazer enough of a will to live as to not succumb to the Nihility because oh my god how can you defeat the embodiment of Destruction. We somehow win and Dr. Ratio gets married to Aventurine and they ride off into the sunset roll credits we all cheered. 

So, yeah.

If I’m even a little bit right about this I will be the most insufferable person on this planet. Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading this, and even if these theories don’t end up being true I do still think the speculation gives a lot of insight into his character.

[cios-correct-opinions]

@evilkaeya @aaabatteryy @starrynightarchive

see my other post about this here

to tl;dr this: when it comes to fandom and content creators, ppl tend to make content of the characters they already love and thus think about most often, which leads to, at times, male characters getting genderbent into women either thru cis or trans hcs, bc they are both genderbending, thats the definition of the term bc youre changing their gender, and getting mad at people for not, in your opinion, "appreciating" the female characters enough, is not doing anything except making people feel bad for not having the "correct" feelings about a character at best, or making them actively angry and thus fueling them to create more of that thing you hate out of spite at worst (for you anyway, not for the people who like it).

this doesnt mean they dont give a shit abt the other characters who arent their faves, but to create a work of art, you need to be able to like. care enough to do it. and that requires more care than just a general enjoyment or appreciation of a character, especially if the work in question is time intensive/would be time intensive, like writing a chapter fic/thousands of words long oneshot, or making a fully rendered piece of art, etc. obvi this will depend on the skill and energy levels of the artist we're talking about but yknow, on a general scale

op of this post blocked me so i cant respond directly on it but, for context

first of all: i'm not illiterate but i'm beginning to think some people on this post might be, given this response, because it is so clearly Not what i was talking about it's a little wild, actually!

also i hate to tell yall this, but the reason you don't often see people genderbending female characters to male anymore is bc of the spread of radfem ideology thru fandom spaces like wildfire. ppl genuinely lose their shit when ppl even have transmasc or trans man headcanons for characters assumedly cis female in the source material (which is genderbending btw. them being trans doesnt mean it isnt genderbending anymore you are still changing their gender thus it is genderbending thats the definition fellas) bc they fucking hate men and the idea of men existing

sorry not sorry but if you get mad at ppl who genderbend female characters into transmascs/trans men (transmascs aren't always genderbends, bc you can be transmasc and also a woman, but i digress/for the sake of brevity...) and go "you're TAKING AWAY a GOOD FEMALE CHARACTER!" i need you to stop for a second and consider why these people - most of whom are trans men/transmascs themselves - might be doing that to a character they like.

9/10 times when i see a cis genderbend of a male character to be female, the person doing it is a cis woman. when i see genderbends, of any kind, of a female character to be male or masc? it's almost always done by a trans man and/or a transmasc. and inevitably, they are almost always dogpiled for it with disgusting levels of hate. i've seen it happen so many times i stopped attempting to count a long time ago

don't come up here saying "you NEVER see-" because actually i see all of those things happen all the time. ppl love genderbending men characters into women, or emasculating/demasculinizing/feminizing them in order to make them personally more appealing, or saying "[mlm ship] would be better if it was two girls/wlw/two fem-aligned/etc" all the fucking time. and while i realize this is often a way for the people who say this to like, try to lash out at common misogynistic/lesbiphobic/transmisogynistic/etc sentiment irl, in doing so, they are not doing it in a way that allows for a nuanced understanding of their fellow fandom-goers. they make blanket sweeping statements and then dogpile people who disagree

the moment you start treating entire demographics of people as if they are a hivemind or a single identity, the moment you decide that something "never" happens bc you personally have not seen it? youve already lost any possible chance you mightve had at making a good point

[uraichievents]

Monday, June 26th, 2023 - Sunday, July 2nd, 2023

~

General Info

What is UraIchi Week?

It’s a week-long fanworks event to promote the Urahara Kisuke x Kurosaki Ichigo ship. There’s no sign-up, it’s just for fun, and everybody can participate. Completed works and wips are both acceptable, and any type of fanwork (fanfic, fanart, gifsets, etc.) is welcome. NSFW and/or potentially trigger-y content is allowed, although please remember to tag your works properly.

The ship itself can be written romantically or platonically so long as it stars these two characters together in some way. Poly ships are also fine so long as Ichigo and Kisuke are still the focus of the fanwork. And crossovers and fusions are also allowed even if it isn’t one of the given prompts for the event. Basically, anything goes, and the only criteria is that it has to be UraIchi-centric.

Posting:

For those of you with Tumblr, you can tag your stuff with #UraIchi Week 2023 in the first five tags of your post. I’ll be tracking that tag so I’ll see it and reblog it to this blog. (If it’s been a few days since you posted and I still haven’t reblogged it, something probably went wrong, Tumblr’s not always reliable, so just shoot me an ask about it and I’ll reblog it.)

For those of you with AO3, I will create a collection a day or two before the event starts, and you’ll be able to add your work to the collection when you post. (I’ll toss up a notice for everyone once the collection is up.)

And of course we have our Discord server (link is on the sidebar) so if you want to come and talk about what you’re working on or you just want to chat, feel free to join us there!

At this point, the UraIchi Server has definitely gotten a lot bigger than just UraIchi, but we do still have channels dedicated to UraIchi events.

~ Themes

The votes are in and tallied so here are the results that everyone’s been waiting for! It’s your choice whether or not you want to make a fanwork that includes all the themes of that day, or a fanwork for each theme, or a fanwork for just one. You can make something for each day of the week or just one or two days. And if your fanwork doesn’t fit any of the themes, there’s a Creator’s Choice option on the last day so feel free to bring your own ideas to this event. All prompts can be interpreted any way you want as well, it’s entirely up to you, any extra bits I’ve added is just to help get those inspiration bunnies hopping.

An extra note about the sentence prompts: feel free to change the tenses and pronouns as it suits you. If you’re inspired by a sentence prompt, then of course you should include it in your fic (as opposed to the quote prompts which are just inspiration in a general-theme-of-your-work sort of way), but if you need to change the tense from present to past, or if you’re doing a genderbend fic and need to change the pronoun, that’s perfectly fine.

And now here are the prompts:

June 26th, 2023 - Day 1: the passage of time is a game-changer, for better or for worse

Time Travel AU / Dimension Travel AU

"At this point, I've died so many times, once more isn't going to make a difference."

Post-Canon AU

"This isn't your responsibility." / "It isn't yours either."

June 27th, 2023 - Day 2: o if only the dead could speak— you would hear the stories they could tell, of the terrible things we did for love

Loyalty Kink

"Him or the world? That's easy."

Oaths / Vows

"Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it." - David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

June 28th, 2023 - Day 3: is there really so great a difference, between man and martyr and monster?

vs. Gotei 13 AU

"You could at least keep your pet killer on a leash."

Mafia AU

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you look when considering violence?" - Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

June 29th, 2023 - Day 4: i was never human to begin with (you made sure of that)

Feral

Eldritch/Horror/Supernatural Elements AU

Binding Contracts

"Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?" - Friedrich Nietzsche

June 30th, 2023 - Day 5: our love was forged across battlefields (we fought for every bit of it, every single day)

Soulmates AU

"I want you to stay. Am I still not being clear enough?"

Arranged Marriage AU

"We accept the love we think we deserve." - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

July 1st, 2023 - Day 6: redemption or destruction— which one will you be to me?

Touch-Starved Character(s)

"I've forgotten how to be kind."

Mask

"I desire the things that will destroy me in the end." - Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

July 2nd, 2023 - Day 7:

Creator’s Choice!

[vilevenom]

Dangit. I accidentally deleted the ask for this prompt. Whoops. Well, it was something along the lines of "Genderbend broppy, where Branch lost a limb, with hurt/comfort & fluff" Thanks for the prompt, Anon! I will just start off by saying that I don't personally headcanon the trolls as putting much stock in genders in general, since either gender can have eggs, and the only physical differences are eyelashes and choice of clothing. So, I will be swapping the pronouns in this ficlet for you, but I don't personally think that much else would change in regards to Poppy and Branch. I hope you enjoy! TW: Description of injury, blood

Poppy hadn't seen Branch in at last three weeks. Ever since she'd come back from her last scouting mission into the woods. Or, at least, Poppy hoped that Branch had come back. He'd seen the grey troll off, much to Branch's chagrin, but hadn't heard anything about her return. She was only supposed to be gone for a week, tops.

And so, Poppy found himself fidgeting nervously while standing over Branch's 'Go Away' mat. They weren't what Poppy would consider the best of friends, but he still cared about Branch, even if all of his other friends though he was wasting his time.

"Branch?" he called, kneeling to knock on the mat, "I…I really hope you're down there? I know you were supposed to be back by now, so if you're not, and you're still out in the woods I'm going to feel really dumb about talking to a hole in the ground. But if you are, I would really appreciate it if you would let me in, because I've been worried about you."

Poppy waited a few minutes. His hope began to waver that Branch was back, and had already begun to formulate a search party plan, when the mat slid to the side, revealing the entrance to the bunker.

"Oh, thank glitter," Poppy muttered to himself, before jumping into the hole. He glanced around the entrance, fully expecting an irritated Branch to greet him, but only found a handful of traps and the lever to the elevator. "Branch?" he called again, frowning when he didn't get an answer. "Well, this is only mildly creepy," he grumbled, but pulled the lever to lower himself into the bunker proper.

Once at the bottom, he stepped off the platform and looked around, once again expecting an exasperated Branch to be waiting. But there was no one. "Okay, this is seriously starting to give me the heebie-jeebies, Branch," Poppy called out, snagging a twig from one of Branch's shelves and brandishing it over his shoulder. "What's going on? Where are you?"

"You can put down the stick," Branch's voice came from the hallway, the soft sound of footsteps following, "I'm right here." She appeared, looking tired and irritated, but alive.

"You're alive!" Poppy cheered, absently tossing the twig behind himself as he rushed forward, only jerking himself to a stop at the way Branch flinched away from him.

"Did you think I died in the woods or something?" Branch scoffed, half turned away from Poppy, "You should know me better than that."

"I mean…I was worried. I'm allowed to worry about my friends," Poppy said with a light frown, folding his arms over his chest. "Why didn't you come tell me you were back?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you all about my comings and goings," Branch ground out, though there was little venom behind it.

"Yeah, well, a heads up would've been nice. What if you'd been hurt?! You know I'd want to know, and help!" Poppy insisted, blinking in surprise at the sudden look of shame that appeared on Branch's face. "…Branch?"

"Look, I-" she began, before scowling darkly and turning fully to face Poppy. The pink troll gaped as Branch raised her arms to show that half of her left arm was missing and wrapped from the elbow up in bandages. "I got hurt, but I took care of it," she said with a defiant glower.

"What happened?!" Poppy gasped, reaching out, but quickly pulling back as Branch dropped her arms and turned herself away again.

"I got too cocky when dealing with a growl beast. A second one snuck up on me. I managed to get away and stop the bleeding. Don't worry, I made sure I didn't leave a trail leading back to the village," she said with a shrug, rubbing absently at her left shoulder.

"I don't care about you leading them back here!" Poppy snapped, causing Branch to flinch and turn a startled look at him, "I care about you. You should have come to find me! What if it had gotten infected?"

"You know I have just as much, if not more medical knowledge than Doctor Moonbloom. And I have plenty of medical supplies down here. I don't need help."

"That isn't the point, Branch!" Poppy groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, "The point is that you know you have someone who cares about you! Someone who can check on you, just in case something does happen to you, and you can't get to the village. I just want to help, Branch. Please."

Branch stared at Poppy warily for a long moment, before letting out a slow sigh. "I guess you have a point," she muttered, her shoulders dropping. "I…I could use a hand with changing the bandage. If that's not going to be too much for you?"

Poppy perked up, clapping his hands together. "Sure, I can do that!"

Branch hummed disbelievingly, before gesturing for Poppy to follow her back down the hallway she'd appeared from. The passed at least half a dozen doors, before Branch lead him into a room that somewhat resembled one of Doctor Moonbloom's patient rooms. The walls were lined with shelves full of jars labelled as tinctures and salves, along with all sorts of medical paraphernalia. A single bed sat in the middle of the room with a small table next to it, a few rolls of bandages, a gauze pad, a bowl with water with a rag, and a jar of salve already set out on it.

"It's surprisingly difficult to wrap bandages with only one hand," Branch admitted quietly, moving to sit on the bed.

"I would imagine," Poppy said with a light laugh, standing before Branch and watching as she carefully unwrapped the bandages on her arm, trying to commit the pattern to memory so he could do it in reverse.

Once Branch was down to a thick gauze pad and a thin bandage wrapped around where her elbow should be, she glanced up at Poppy with a worried frown. "This is…well, it's gross, to put it bluntly. Have you ever seen a major injury before?"

Poppy shook his head slightly, chewing on his lip a little. "No? But, I still want to help. I can do this."

Branch sighed, shaking her head as she peeled the final bandage and gauze pad away, revealing the stump where the rest of her arm should be attached. The growl beast had apparently bit down just above her elbow, as the joint was gone and a bit of jagged bone was still visible. Poppy felt his gag reflex try and force his stomach contents up his throat as he watched thick, semi-congealed blue blood begin to drip from the Branch's arm. Scarring had already begin to form around the edges of the wound, but it was obvious it would take a long time to heal and close properly. Branch snorted as Poppy gagged.

"I warned you," she scoffed, reaching for the table and the rag in the water bowl.

"No, no!" Poppy insisted, waving his hands through the air and snatching the rag before Branch could reach it, "I said I would help, and I will!" He bit his tongue as his throat convulsed, going so far as to hold his breath as he gently began to clean the old blood from around Branch's wound.

"You look like you're going to hurl," Branch commented idly as Poppy rinsed the rag and went back to cleaning.

"Shut up," Poppy ground out, swallowing thickly as he finished up. He glanced up in mild surprise as the short giggle that Branch let out.

"What?" Branch's smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Nothing. I just don't think I've ever heard you giggle before," Poppy said with a shrug, setting aside the rag once he was finished cleaning the blood away. He glanced at Branch, who gestured towards the jar of salve.

"Don't have much occasion to," Branch stated bluntly, taking the jar from Poppy once he had it open.

"You should. It's nice."

Poppy grinned at the dark flush that spread over Branch's cheeks, even as she scowled and scooped a generous amount of salve out of the jar and applied it to her arm. He took the jar back once Branch was done with it and snagged the gauze pad, handing it over so Branch could hold it in place while Poppy wrapped the bandages.

"There," Poppy hummed once he'd pinned the bandages in place, "All clean."

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Branch. I mean it."

[broomsticks]

What was the HP fandom on AO3 writing in 2022?

some stats diving, ship- and femslash-focused.

default filters used for everything unless indicated otherwise: language: english, no crossovers. only on AO3 (obviously)

hmm someday i'll do a yearly breakdown maybe.

for reference, there were ~324,676 total works in the HP tag updated in 2022 and before, so the top ship Drarry makes up 16% of HP works.

ships in this list but not the former: jegulus, dorlene, and regulus & sirius.

ships in the former list but not this one: snarry, sevmione, tomarry.

harry the character is tagged in 42.7% of all HP works.

the list of "fastest-growing HP character tags in 2022" was almost identical to this. sirius, remus, james, and lily went up one place, severus and ginny down by one, and ron dropped by two. no change in the top 3.

i'm thinking of doing one for HP ships but am unsure which ships to do. you can get a rough estimation from graph #2 though!

A closer look at just the 2022 ships:

filters used: english, no crossovers, works updated between 2022-01-01 and 2022-12-31.

color = ship type by canonical gender. outlined = canon ship

Background vs main pairing ships:

most commonly tagged ships, with the otp:true filter:

very pretty spread of (canon gender, not AO3 category) F/M & M/M ships here.

notable: there is not a single snape ship in the first list, and two snape ships in the second (sevmione at #4 !! and snarry at #8). grindeldore is the other new entry, and

romione, dorlene and regulus & sirius fell out of the top 10

this is probably a better view though:

a mix of all ships in either of the top two graphs (excluding the platonic ship regulus & sirius by definition of the otp:true filter), plus remadora.

open to more ship suggestions, but at some point i need to think about a size cutoff

anyway: some interesting strata here:

snarry+sevmione at the >60-70% mark. (do all snape ships show this trend? just crossgen snape ships? what about other crossgen ships? to be investigated)

grindeldore is an expected outlier due to the different canonical time period

marauders era tends to have more fics-with-multiple-tagged-ships. unexpected - there are so many more named lightning gen characters! lightning gen fandom more splintered/fragmented?

clustering of canon couples at the 15-20% mark, surprisingly consistent across marauders vs lightning gen

oooooo i could soapbox about this dorlene outlier for days. (tldr: if you want to write OFCxOFC that's all well and good, but writing OFCxOFC as what's quite clearly a background ship and a background ship alone? i think we can do better.)

Multi-shipping & ship overlap

marauders era is dominated by one main fanon pairing. no other “/” pairing with either of these two characters makes the top 10 list. in contrast, wrt lightning gen, Draco, Harry, and Hermione are all shipped with each other, with all three combinations making the top 10 list.

there is one pair of marauders era ships with ship overlap, though. which means stats! also included remadora as an additional comparison point since that's another big overlapping ship

jegulus AND jily are tagged in 675 works, out of 3944 works (17%) where all three of james, lily, and regulus are tagged.

meanwhile drarry + dramione: 80 works tagging both ships, out of 8128 works tagging all 3 characters, with an overlap of <1% fics tagging both ships. these two do not mix.

actually ykw this all was very funny

---

✨ FEMSLASH! ✨

filters used: english, no crossovers, works updated between 2022-01-01 and 2022-12-31, and category:F/F.

ok so that's a complete nonstarter 😂

tried two ways of filtering down to just femslash ships without losing too much else in the process:

1) excluding works tagged M/M, F/M, and Gen (leaving 2765 fics)

dashed outline = cross-gen ship. solid = marauders gen. everything else = lightning gen.

oh, interesting, people are writing genderbend wolfstar? *checks fics* -- no they're not. 'nuff said.

2) instead, tried adding the otp:true filter (2402 fics)

very similar results -- both lists had the same 9 femslash ships. Bellamione (#1 on both), Fleurmione (#2), Pansmione (#3/#4), Dorlene (#3/#5), Linny (#4/#6), Cissamione (#5/#6), Ginmione (#7/#9), Marylily (#7/#9), Ginsy (#8/#10).

i don't see any obvious trends re. which ships are ranked higher on one list vs the other.

a real quick rating comparison between categories, using the otp:true filter:

"angst" and "fluff" were the top two tags used for most categories so i decided to try a bit of:

<1 = more angst works than fluff, >1 = more fluff works than angst.

the other top tags for each category:

F/F and F/M: both romance (#3)

M/M: established relationship (#3)

Multi: polyamory (#3)

Other: au canon divergence (#3). "other" was used to refer to a mix of NB/trans character, thingfic, and x reader.

Gen: au canon divergence (#1). i was worried about using the otp:true filter for gen fic but the top two tags were indeed & tags (harry & severus, regulus & sirius).

[punkeropercyjackson]

My stance on the Team Dad Jason headcanon/take is that there's as much canon evidence for it as there is against it.I get where Jason antis are coming from because fanon onlys make it weird and steal canon Team Moms' dynamics to give them to him and use child characters who he's hurt or wouldn't actually like him and they're right to hate him for it but there's a significant amount of canon moments of him loving kids and wanting to be good to them despite his faults(Him building up a good relathionship with Damian,him instantly getting along with Duke and riding for him-And i don't wanna to get 'infantalization' allegations because Duke was 16 when they met and Jason was 21 so speaking from experience Jason views him as a little kid even though he isn't and 16 is mentally and physically a child age regardless,those here and there instinces of him being nice to stray kids,him killing a guy with his reasoning being that he was a teacher who was a pedophile and possibly some more).So the problem is less making him a Dad Friend and more that they don't know how to write him while still making him Jason instead of genderbend Helena Bertinelli LMFAO-He dosen't need to steal her and Selina's 'one of my biggest goal's is to protect kids' things to be a good character y'all,he can just be a slasher-adjacent vigilante who's also a part time dilf and none of it needs to involve Mia,Lian or Roy and in fact should not because he's done a lot of damage to Arrowfam lore both canon and fanon and reeks of ableism,racism and misogyny.They deserve better and if that dosen't convince y'all,so does Jason seeing as they don't do anything positive for his character either and relatedly Mia being super close to Cass and on a team with her makes way more sense than he does in that position and Dickroy is a million times better Bat x Arrow ship than Jayr*y.Jason's my fave too but unlike that demonic shit version of Roy,i'm not gonna let that take away my backbone and personality

@insomniac-jay

[koco-coko]

Ikevamp OC: Tchaikovsky

(If Ikevamp can genderbend Jeanne D'Arc, I can genderbend Tchaikovsky.)

The Porcelain Composer

Sensitive x Docile

Full name: Pyetrovna Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

Nickname: Tchai

Nationality: Russian

Current place of living: Vlad’s Castle

Past Occupation: Composer

Birthday: May 7th

Likes: Flowers, Ballet, Snow 

Dislikes: Alcohol, Pessimism, Intense Emotions

Background: Like a spring flower standing against a winter storm, Tchaikovsky always keeps an optimistic air about her, no matter what the weather brings. Rain or shine, Tchai plays her violin and dances to her own melody, hoping to bring a smile to every face she sees.

All she wants is for everyone in the world to be happy, to be understanding, to love one another… Even if it comes at the expense of her mind and body. It’s a small price to pay.

“If my music can make one person smile– just one– then I think I’ve made the world just a bit better, don’t you agree? Maybe that's a bit selfish of me...”

Relationships

Mozart: A mutual respect for each other and their dedication to music. As a child, Tchai's cried at a concert recreating Mozart's symphonies and said concert inspired them to become a composer. He finds her passion for music quite amusing sometimes, seeing as she always has her violin in her hands and has a habit of breaking into song whenever it hits her. They share the music room when she stays over and play together a lot, though many times Mozart has caught her on the floor of the music room when her tremors flare-up. He usually has to force her to take a break from her songs. 

Vincent: If you put these two in a room together and peaked in, it would be like staring at the sun. They’re too pure and bright! They share an adoration of flowers and end up agreeing on many things. They go to flower shops together to look for inspiration. Theo does not like this, especially considering her… “cat” (aka a beast from hell the size of a human child). 

Vlad: The one who revived Tchaikovsky after learning of her intense desire to make the world a better place for all. Her heart is pure and not a single bad thought goes through her head– the perfect example of what Vlad wants from humanity. Vlad can be protective of her because of this and her disability, but they are also very good friends. They can often be seen gardening and playing duets together.

Faust: Acquaintances and nothing more. They don’t interact with each other often. At most, she goes to Faust when she’s having tremor flare-ups or needs a muscle-relaxer. Otherwise, she tries not to get in the way of his dubiously ethical experiments. She slightly confident he won’t hurt her specifically, considering he deems her too fragile for any meaningful experiments, but she still doesn’t trust him that much.

Charles: Combined, they create a single brain cell. When their hyperactivity syncs up, it can either be the brightest, sunniest day or it can mean chaos for all parties involved. Tchai loves to go visit children with him and perform for them, dancing and laughing the entire time. Other times, they will simply sit with each other and wallow in misery together. They always play off each other’s emotional states when they’re near each other. 

Pet, Svetlana: A snow-white Maine Coon, she’s almost the size of Tchai herself. Vlad adopted Svetlana when she was a tiny kitty, intending the cat to be a gift for Tchai when she was having a depressive episode. Tchai instantly fell in love with the cat and despite her size, still treats her like a small lap cat. She loves this cat with all her heart, cuddling her whenever she’s around and keeping her well-groomed and clean as possible. Svetlana is extremely friendly and prides herself on her cleanliness. When Tchai can’t take the noise or has flare-ups, she spends time with her favorite little kitty-cat. 

Physical Characteristics

Addictions: This girl will drink iced tea (preferably sweet) even if it kills her. She’s trying to stay away from alcohol in her new life.

Eye color: Lavender

Hair color: Pastel pink

Skin color: Pale as snow

Disabilities: Tchaikovsky has central nervous system issues. Large sounds and intense vibrations trigger intense tremors. Ironic, considering how intensely she loves music. Her tremors can grow intense enough to the point she can’t even stand without assistance, but she’ll strum her violin on the floor if she must.

Height: 5”4’ or 162 cm

Hobbies: Aside from playing her violin, Tchai collects flowers and presses them into a journal in her spare time. Vlad and her exchange flower crowns on occasion.

Clothing style: Tchai wears light, flowy dresses and ballet shoes. She likes having freedom of movement due to her bursts of inspiration.

Health issues: Other than her tremors, Tchai deals with bipolar depression. She uses music as her escape and tends to hide these feelings, staying as optimistic and kind as possible. She will spend some days locked in her room, unable to do anything, and a few days later she’s filled with energy and life.

Mental Characteristics

Fears: Tchai has an irrational fear of birds. If one gets near, she starts screaming and trying to cover her violin as if it were her own baby, thinking that the birds might pluck the strings out.

Self-confidence: Very low. Tchai does not see herself as worthy to be here or to help Vlad with his goal, but she’s trying her best.

Rational or emotional: Emotional

How could you upset this character: Almost anything can upset Tchai. She was called the “porcelain child” for a reason– she’s highly sensitive. Not just due to her nervous system issues, but her emotional state as well. She is a crybaby through and through. Any intense situations, good or bad, will have her sobbing.

Sleep habits: Erratic. Sometimes, she only wants to sleep. Other times, she’s so busy composing she won’t sleep for days and Vlad has to use his powers to get her to bed.

Emotional strengths: Tchai always looks on the positive side of things, shining with positive light wherever she goes.

Emotional weaknesses: Any strong emotions means tears will appear. A little kid complimented her skills? Sobbing. Someone pushes her aside and laughs? Crying. Her cat brings a dead squirrel? Wailing in pride.

Introvert or extrovert: Introvert

What would they change about themselves: She wishes she wasn’t such a crybaby.

What motivates them: The thought of bringing purity and love to the entire world, making pain no more and letting happiness reign. She hopes her music will inspire people to enjoy life and encourage others to be kinder to each other.

What scares them: Disappointing her friends/family and causing trouble for anyone.

What makes them happy: Music and flowers.

Give or take: Give

Nice or rude: Nice

Pet peeves: She hates unnecessary rudeness. 

Guilty pleasures: When nobody is around, Tchai will perform entire ballets by herself, dancing and playing violin simultaneously. 

Picrew:

[kikiwooo]

Hello!! How are you doing? I hope you are doing just well and fine <3

I am so sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this request and please don't feel pressured to do it.

I was wondering if you could do a yandere headcanons for genderbend Lesley, Fanny, Hanabi, Irithel, Masha, Selena and Valentina? (You can do more if you'd like, and obviously you can also do less I wouldn't mind either way☺️)

Again you don't have to do this and I hope you have a good day/night!!~

notes: yandere themes, genderbent character(s), gn reader

Do not like the DAMN post, reblog and comment instead. That's how Tumblr works if you don't know.

© @/kikiwooo

Lesley is a observer, nearly nothing can escape from his hawk-like eyes. His eyes are constantly on you, watching your every move, expression... He can be affectionate if you decide to obey him. Lesley can and will kill anyone he sees as a treat to both of your relationship, he's merciless deep down.

Fanny is strong, everyday he trains himself to the death, to be able to protect you better of course! He has quite a well-built body and the stamina of a monster. It's nearly impossible to outrun him...would you try to run away? With Fanny, he has two personalities, a lovesick puppy with you and a ruthless monsters to others who he sees as a treat.

Hanabi is a nightmare to deal with, he can pop off from every corner. Nothing seems to be impossible for him when it comes to you, his one and only. Hanabi is strict when it comes to his rules and expects you to obey them, however, he's not afraid to be a little rough with you. In the end he'd continue the relationship like nothing happened.

Irithel has a strong sense of protection when it comes to you, his mate. He often leaves Leo with you for that matter. He makes sure that you're well fed and warm, he cares whenever you're unhappy or not, being sad can make you sick y'know. He loves to get cozy with you, go on, lay on his chest. Irithel will try his hardest to not squeeze you here and there. It's pure adoration.

Masha can sometimes be overwhelming, he can't help it when he constantly worries over you. He is your shadow and he'll always be, if any treat, he'll be your shield. Masha uses the cold weather to his advantage, he's running warm and he knows it, he knows how you're inching to nuzzle him for warmth. Once you snuggled into him, Masha will trap you into his chest for as long as he likes, you really don't have a say in this.

Selena is a tease, a huge one at this point. He's just obsessed with you, not just you of course, the little things about you... The expressions you give him, ah aren't you just the cutest! Selena basically worshiphs you, his honey-like words are to fall for, he loves running his hands down your body, to him you're perfect. He can get quite dangerous if provoked, I suggest you to not get onto his bad side.

Don't even test Valentine, you'd only make a fool of yourself. He knows every possibility you can think and do, he observed you from the start and is still doing that. He knows every little things about you that you don't. Why don't you just be good and come sit on his lap? There's a glint in his eyes the way he wraps his arms tight around your waist.

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Genderbent Silliness

This won't be the same as my well thought Fate posts but I felt the need to make it. One of the things I've learned about Fate is that it's genderbends range from marketing, trolling, and "fuck it" reasons.

So let's go over some of the ones I've learned since I started this journey.

Artoria & Shirou

The iconic duo, the mainstays, and the first ones to be genderbend in the Type-Moon meta franchise.

What drew me to Fate and this duo initially was just how accurate Artoria's backstory is to the actual Arthurian legend in real life. In fact, you'll see that a lot of Fate characters stay remarkably true to their legends even if the gender is altered.

And I'm sure you expect me to give this big breakdown on how this affected Shirou and Artoria but there isn't one. No no. Shirou and Artoria had their genders altered from the initial draft of Fate Stay Night for marketing reasons.

No joke, they swapped their genders to sell the initial release of Fate Stay Night better...which was likely a good call since the original release of FSN had hentai scenes.

The scenes were relevant to the Sakura route and the rest was just service. So to appeal to the japan market way back when they made the lead (Shirou) male and his servant (Arthur) female.

The phenomenon that is Saber exploded afterward. Saber's design is so iconic and beloved by the series artists that they actively reuse it whether the reasons be jokes or serious.

This is the trend fans refer to as "saber face".

Proto Merlin & King Arthur

Since we're on the subject of King Arthur allow me to tell you about Fate/Prototype.

You see, even though the final draft became Fate/Stay Night, the initial draft was reused later to become Fate Prototype.

What makes Fate/Prototype unique to me is that many characters who had their genders bent in FSN do not in Prototype. Arthur is as you'd expect him to be, a young man of handsome build. Same for several characters.

Well, except for Merlin. Within the Prototype universe Merlin is female. The dynamic and backstory of both king and mage are the same as they are IRl or even in FSN.

I only point this out because I find Fate/Prototype fascinating (I hope it gets a show one day) but also because the voice actors for Merlin and Arthur swap roles.

The voice for male Merlin in most Fate works voices Arthur in Prototype. While the voice for Saber in FSN voices female Merlin in Prototype.

Even here they have a bit of fun with the concept.

Nero fucking Claudius

Of all the "saberfaces" and overall genderbends in Fate I consider this one the funniest I've discovered.

The true name of Red Saber from Fate Extra is Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Yes that one emperor, you know the one.

The sole reason Nero is female, let alone a near identical clone of Artoria, is a troll. When making Fate Extra they decided to design Nero like this solely to trick people into thinking the Saber they love was in the game.

There is no grander reason and I personally find it hilarious. I've yet to watch Extra since I'd rather play the remake when it launches but I know Nero has her own following.

I can't help but respect a troll like this.

The Genderless

Next is Enkidu. I'll admit upfront that I do not know what the logic was behind Enkidu however given how he is is written I believe it's done to be within character.

In the IRL epic of gilgamesh Enkidu is a big burly hairy wild man that is of equal strength to king Gilgamesh. He was created by the gods to reign the tyrannical king in.

Within Fate, that backstory is the same, but Enkidu is nowhere near burly nor hairy. I only refer to Enkidu as "he" for writing convenience and because Enkidu doesn't seem to care either way.

You see, Enkidu sees themselves as a tool regardless of how much Gilgamesh or the residents of Uruk say otherwise. Enkidu is also modeled from clay and is not actually human or even god at all.

The appearance Enkidu uses is modeled after the harlot sent to teach him. In the IRL myth she slept with Enkidu but given how Fate Enkidu is made it's more ambiguous.

Their feminine appearance is a way to honor this person though. This bend is neither marketing nor funny, it's more akin to a reflection of Enkidu's character and how they view themselves and thus worth noting.

"Francis Drake"

This is one I learned quite recently. Apparently the servant that presents itself as Francis Drake is actually a play on an old rumor.

See, it was rumored back in the day that Francis Drake would let Queen Elizabeth masquerade as himself and use his ship. The scar on her face is also possibly a hint at the small pox scars that Queen Elizabeth had. Both Elizabeth and this servant also have red hair.

Of course, FGO does throw out there that she was written as male in the history books because her crew could not see her as a woman. I wouldn't even be surprised if that is the answer Nasu would give.

But the parallels to queen Elizabeth and the rumors about Francis Drake letting her sail are just too funny not to bring up.

Saber of Red

I've talked a lot about Mordred before but I'm adding her here because I just find her to be a good complex character. I also won't delve into the whole debate around her since that already took two full posts dedicated to Mordred to do.

The whole reason Mordred has the physique she does is due to Mordred and Merlin's magics at work. Mordred is, in the simplest way I can explain, a homunculus/clone of Artoria and is thus female like Artoria.

BUT I do know there was concepts for a male Mordred at one point:

And a part of me kind of wishes they had stuck to this concept or reused it for one of the Fate timelines.

It would make the whole desire for the throne all the more compounded because, unlike their "father", this version of Mordred would be male and have even less reason to hide behind magics and lies like Artoria did.

It would also be interesting to see how this Mordred justifies themselves or reacts to the truth of their "father".

Though given the harsh upbringing, their idolization of Arthur, and their short lifespan, this Mordred may have been nearly identical to the one we have regardless.

Nagao Kagetora

I know next to nothing about this character both in Fate or IRL but I am adding them as my final gender bend of notice because it's oddly historical.

From what I've come to learn Nagao Kagetora was suspected to be a woman. Whether that was truth or just rumors to discredit a political rival is unknown but the Fate servant itself takes that rumor and uses it.

It's one of the few servants I know of where the altered gender may very well be a truth IRL. It's made me curious about how many there are in Type-Moon that I just do not know about due to my lacking knowledge of Japanese figures.

It also goes to show that not every servant it changed for a joke, marketing or just the writer/artists whims. Sometimes there's actual historical backing which makes that particular servant all the more interesting to research.

Yes, Francis Drake is technically similar but FGO offers an explanation. The whole Queen Elizabeth thing is just a fun parallel that might be true. Plus, both Elizabeth and Drake exist in Fate as two people.

Where as this servant possibly was a woman. Maybe they weren't, no way to know now and that makes it unique.

Finale

And that's all I got for now. There are plenty of other examples but these are the ones that have stuck out to me the most since I began watching/reading Fate.

Some servants were also just to convoluted for me to squeeze into this one post. Not for the gender swapping but their origins as demi-gods and the like. It kind of goes hand in hand.

Some servants are only a gender thanks to the body they're borrowing. Mash Kyrielight is an example of this because she's a demi-servant possessed by Galahad. Meaning she's a female version of Galahad in a loose sense.

Other servants may be from the "GUDA GUDA" side of Type-Moon which doesn't even bother to explain. If a figure is genderbend in a "GUDA GUDA" world story then that's just how that world's history unfolded.

Sakura Saber and female Nobunaga are two key examples of a "GUDA GUDA" genderbend.

========================

Hopefully you enjoyed this regardless. For my other experiences with Fate go here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

[necronatural]

for the send me a character ask game: madara (&if you’re willing to do another one izuna)

I always love hearing what you think about them!

Of course no pressure :-)

Madara

First impression: The incredible ice-cold neutrality I had to Naruto villains by that point cannot be underestimated

Impression now: YEEES BROTHER PROBLEMS YEEEEES YOUR FUNDEMENTAL PERSONALITY AT ODDS WITH YOUR LOVED ONES. It's so awesome his brother wanted peace but because he didn't trust Hashirama or the Senju Madara just threw it all away once he fulfilled his brother's dreams. Go king fuck up everything. The Uchiha don't even like you anymore

Favorite moment: That world war fight where he used his sharingan to fight a whole army. I'm sorry that shit was hot as hell

Idea for a story: I know I already wrote Madara getting doublecucked fic but what if it was from Madara's point of view. Wouldn't that be so funny

Unpopular opinion: A lot of fanfics posit it's Uchiha culture to be covetous of your family and so on but I think Madara as an individual has severe control issues and codependency from family trauma. I think he's tender enough to want to do better but definitely the type of guy to Yellow Wallpaper somebody. He did do that. To Obito. Also I think if you genderbend the characters you should leave Madara as male because almost all his behaviour is informed by his male chauvinism and I think he would not do the things he did if he were a woman. Madara is without a doubt a misogynist (You Will Never Understand A Warrior's Bond flavour) so don't forget that either

Favorite relationship: I have special yaoi favourites where I smile and laugh and clap at stupid fujoshit yaoi interpretations. Madatobi isn't one of them though. If they aren't being toxic and insane at each other it's not them and it repulses me. I don't care about topping or bottoming only mind games. Fluff reserved for Hashimada. I like Hikaku having a one-sided psychosexual obsession with him since adolescence but no one understands me

Favorite headcanon:

Izuna

First impression: O...lore [thinks about what this means for Itachi's motivations because that is his narrative purpose]

Impression now:

BLORBO SUPREME

Favorite moment: It was really funny how the anime added a line about how smug he was about the power of the sharingan and then Tobirama immediately utilized all the Sharingan's weaknesses to kill him. Way to kick a nothingdude while he's down

Idea for a story: In 2021 this is the only thing I was capable of doing

Unpopular opinion: Aro/Ace Izuna... And not only aro/ace but insane about it because he lives in feudal japan as a political entity who is sexy. Technically this is headcanon but the difference here is that I don't like it when anyone disagrees with me on this one. Tobizu is my NOTP

Favorite relationship: Platonic Tobizu wins for fucking ever!!!!!!!!!! Also I'm so obsessed with the idea of him as Kagami's post-grad sensei who sucks ass. He makes chuunin and studies under Tobirama and is like They Give You Guys A Curriculum?

Favorite headcanon: They're a romantic tobizu shipper but I believe everything Hinomori posts forever. Go into their gallery and know joy. Oh my god. Just remembering their posts makes me so sentimental. ⬇️frowing up

Sorry Izuna's is small but you have to understand 1. he doesn't real 2. anything that is real to me I wrote 300k words about

[rizaposting]

i thought you reblogged the ask game from me but i can't find it anymore! no need to answer if you don't want to play anymore but if u get a second to get around to it, i am actually to hear your answers for royai if u wanna give them!! and also. any other riza ships if u have them.

Waahhh I got embarrassed and deleted it because I thought no one wanted to play with me SAJKNDJKSAFKSKABFSA but i'll use any excuse to talk about my el wiwis!!! Thank you!!!

What made you ship it (royai)?

I first started when I watched FMA03, so while we didn't know just how entwined their backstory is back then, and even in 03 where their dynamic is different than in mangahood, you still got the sense that they knew each other better than anyone else in ways the audience wasn't privy to. They just had chemistry!

What are your favorite things about it?

I love the entanglement and the shared tragic past and the devotion to each other. I love that you can get whatever you want out of it: Are the childhood lovers? Are they in a secret relationship through the whole canon? Do they spend their whole lives pining and never get what they want? Do they make out in the hospital after the Promised Day? I could write the same premise 6 times 6 different ways.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I have so many, probably, LMAO. There's a lot of popular headcanons that are often treated as "canon" that I don't really care for. One weird-but-big thing for me is like... I don't know what it is about royai, but for some reason if you mess around with almost any aspect of their lives/dynamic I almost always immediately care about them significantly less. Roleswaps or genderbends or AUs that drastically change their dynamic or setting don't usually do it for me...? I'm not like this with other ships either it's SO WEIRD

AS FOR OTHER RIZA SHIPS.... Riza/Any tbh. I love her so much and I think all the other characters do, too. Though whoever else she's with has to accept that she and Roy are still incredibly important to each other. It doesn't even have to be romantic but any Riza/other or Roy/other ship that DOESN'T take into account their deep relationship is just... No thanks. Bad, even.

Recently I've been big on Team Mustang Riza Harem. Riza and Roy are dating and the rest of the team are just casually involved with Riza specifically and it's so Riza gets 1000 kisses a day and [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] by all of them :]

[dash-n-step]

Stealing my own tags to make into an actual post:

What people have to understand and remember is just how dire it was when Bridget was confirmed trans [in strive].

No bells or whistles, just "actual story about a character coming to terms with who she is and what she wants" and acknowledging it as a "trans thing" and being written in a way that's actively aware of people who would relate and having real world paralells that directly consider queer people existing.

But, unfortunately, if you look at how Bridget was treated beforehand and what she was (partially) popular for it wasn't great!

She was very much the "haha look at this prepubescent 'girlyboy' with vague religious tones that don't actually mean anything, constantly flashing their butt and getting upskirts haha, isn't it wacky how she's constantly hit on or confused for a girl" character.

She's literally sourced as one of, if not THE original "Trap" characters and her claim to fame was "everybody is gay for her".

AGAIN! PREPUBESCENT CHILD!

In terms of trans rep in fighting games, her coming out as trans is marginally better in that it's an acknowledgement of past failings and wanting to update a character for a more appropriate and open audience (at least, according to Daisuke's interviews, we've seen how some of the audience reacted).

But unfortunately, just about every (popular) (old) trans rep has some kind of fault you can find in either implications or implementation (when you consider Birdo and the horrible way she's been treated, Poison being "confirmed trans" through misogyny, transphobia and off kilter jokes, Samas Aran through interpretation/reclamation).

On the aside, there's Mai Natsume from BlazBlue but you can debate on how much of her is actually treated as a "character who is meant to be trans" and how much of is it just "genderbend trope that doesn't commit to acknowledging trans people exist" .

which is somewhat a genuine question, I simply don't know enough about BlazBlue

Because I love me a good genderbend story that delves into identity, but how often do they ever acknowledge trans people existing and how much of them are just "conform to society norms/how outside world will inevitably perceive you"?

If there's anything really good, there's probably Ladiva and Caligostro, but I also forget about Granblue in general. Far as I can tell, Ladiva is overtly written trans and her presentation being feminine but not conforming to expected body norms is treated sincerely and respected by everybody in the cast. She loves her body, and she doesn't want to change it.

Meanwhile, Caligostro is kind of a mix of the "just a genderbend trope" and "well, this is also just how she wants to look and present, she's actively pursuing looking like this", even if through magic.

However, due to the nature of the series, she and Ladiva get to communicate and discuss things like their gender and journeys, which actually give the "genderbending" trope actual weight.

Bringing it back to Guilty Gear, Testament is an interesting example, because they're cool and they are very much outside the gender norm and overtly agender in their presentation.

Which brings up the debate of what you're looking for in rep because there's "I want trans characters who look into the camera and go I'M TRANS and have it serve for character/story reasons" and there's "I want trans characters who are trans and it serves as a character description with ties to their personality, but ultimately isn't tied to the story and they're going to be sick as hell about it'' which like valid

[rozunderpressure]

Seeing the mention of it, the ML subreddit is. Horrible. Like the people on Reddit will scream about how Adrien was mistreated 24/7 then suddenly go "Ugh, this again?!" when Chloé is brought up and downvote you to hell for saying you like her?? The subreddit is VERY canon loving but when you try to bring up how good/competent Chloé actually was IN canon, they call you delusional and tell you to get over it?? Ok get over Adrien not being in the finale, Alya believing Lila etc then. I'm not salting on Adrien or Alya btw but like. Why is one dead horse okay to beat but the other gets you attacked lol. Also it's full of people who think Felix is the greatest fiction character ever and that people who hate him are just stupid?

Its kinda funny to how the legit personality reasons to dislike both Chloé and Félix are the same... They are both arrogant, assholish, rich kids who, tho for different reasons, in their core, basically believe they are better than everybody, but Chloé used to be a hero and is usually being manipulated through her emotions and has expressed regret a few times, while Félix did a genocide among other horrible shit and literally never expressed any remorse, but his gf say he is nice now and we like her right? So yeah, lets just believe that...

Like, here is the interesting thing about contrasting those two: It clearly shows the writers only think of physical abuse as abuse, the fact Chloé was emotionally neglected is not abuse in their eyes, and also denotes a certain deep form of misogyny that shows in BOTH the fandom and writers (because its one that is an undercurrent in our society to be fair); Chloé is very feminine in the most demonized way by nerds (kinda dumb, trendy, a rich bitch and snobbish) and Félix is very masculine in the most desirable way for nerds (quick thinking, skillful, intelligent in way that makes him smarter than everybody else around him without much caring about the feelings of others, east Asian gfOKJK on that one), so that is that...

I don't hate Felix... I don't care for his character, he does nothing for me personally, I find the kind of character he is incredibly bland and boring, (and I don't hate the MLB Reddit community either-- mostly I don't KNOW the MLB reddit community--) but I don't hate him because I blame the writers for everything wrong with this show.

I have more to say about Alya and characters being plot devices and not characters (which is why she fell for Lila's bullshit, she wasn't being Alya at the time, no salt on her, its the writing that sucks) and how Adrien is treated like a trophy and frail creature who must be protectec from the truth itself and his treatment illustrates why just GENDERBENDING the shitty traditional story structure so the damsel in distress is now a guy without an IOTA of investigating WHY those stories suck IN THE FIRST PLACE doesn't work but-- I fear I already wrote too much, this is quite the long rant XD

So yeah, I don't know anything about the reddit community... XD

[hollyparker]

✎﹏﹏𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘﹏﹏

➺ Name: Holly or Kiara (not my real name, though I wish either was)

➺ Birthday: August 7th

➺ Hobbies: Just reading (I'm boring, I know)...

➺ Zodiac: Leo (idk much about this, only about me)

➺ Personality Type(s): INFP-T or ISFP-T

➺ I really like Greek Mythology

➺ Multifandom (though, at the moment, I'm hyperfixated on HP)

➺ I'm pretty open-minded and like trying new things

➺ I love art, especially fanart! Artists have my heart forever and ever; they’re gifts sent from the heavens. Here to bless us with their glorious minds and talent 😚❤️✨

➺ I love genderbent or genderbending characters (i.e., fem!Harry, fem!Percy, etc), though there's never really any good fics about them. It's a struggle out here :c

➺ I'm a canon and fanon follower

➺ I’m a Golden Trio fan & Marauders fan (specifically the Potters).

➺ I actually really love Jily, Hinny, Romione

➺ Characters I stan: Harry (but I am the chosen one) Potter, Perseus (I didn't want to be a half-blood) Jackson, Sakura Haruno, Bonnie Bennett, Hope Mikaelson, Jean Grey, Wanda Maximoff, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Nightwing, Matt Murdock, Midoriya Izuku, Yuji Itadori. There's more, but I can't remember at the moment.

➺ I am a hardcore women lover (platonically, I think...), okay? So if you're misogynistic, then please stay far far away from me. Thank you!

Fun (or not so fun) Fact About Me ↓↓

• I'm very introverted and VERY indecisive (and I mean this for everything). I cannot, for the life of me, decide on what exactly I like or don't like. Especially in fandoms, for like ships and characters. Some days I'll hate a character (or a ship), then the very next day I'm swinging my feet, giggling, and jumping up and down reading a really good fic on them/with them or I saw some really good fanart or character analysis of them. Like, I'm not on anyone's (or maybe I'm on everyone's) side. I'm just in the middle, listening to everyone, being swayed back and fourth. I'm basically a double agent or spy (Severus Snape type beat, honestly). • I have the worse memory ever, and I really mean the worst. I not only can’t recall things from my childhood but I can’t recall what I did the previous day. I forget things so fast. I’m always forgetting if I’ve eaten or not.

My Other Socials & Stuff ↓↓

My (maybe) Controversial Takes ↓↓

➺ I'm anti Jegulus. Do I like Regulus? eh, it depends. Do I like James? Of course! 100% but do I like them together? ab-so-lute-ly not, hard pass. This ship is the one ship I can't ever get behind (but if I see some really good fanart of them and I really like it, you best believe I’m going to heart it or at least comment on it because, while I don’t ship it and never will, you, my brilliant, beautiful artist, did a fantastic job, and I hope to see more of your work.)

➺ While I love James Potter, I do in fact believe he was a bully because he was (as was Sirius). You will not and cannot change my mind on this. He was not all sunshine and rainbows and perfect. He was an annoying teenage boy who did annoying teenage boy things. He’s human, he’s imperfect, and he has flaws. Let them show and free my boy from the shackles of Fanon.

➺ I’m not at all a Wolfstar shipper (though I can tolerate it). I honestly think Prongsfoot is way better than it, whether it's platonic and/or romantic

➺ I don’t mind Blackinnon (Sirius/Mckinnon), Remadora (Remus/Nymphadora), Prongsfoot, Rarry/Ronarry, Harmione, Drarry, Dramione, Scorbus, Scorose

➺ I am neither a Snape stan nor a hater, but I do think he’s an interesting character or could be if people gave him a chance and explored him more instead of scrapping him and jumping straight to the next DE (death eater) they deem "good.”

➺ I honestly find the Death Eaters (or Knights of Walpurgis) and the Volturi (from Twilight) to be interesting. Though, I obviously don’t support or condone what they do/have done

➺ I actually enjoy “HP and the Cursed Child”, though it’s not because of the plot/story, it’s because I love Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. Also, the fact that Harry kept the Parseltongue.

Disclaimer (of sorts) ↓↓

• I'm not bashing or hating on anyone that likes different things from me, and it's never my intention too. If you happen to like a character/characters or a ship/ships that I typically wouldn't, then that's fine! there's nothing wrong with that, like what you want and who you want. Though, the one thing I can't really stand are those hypocrites that hate on/bash people for liking a character that they don't like because "they've done awful things or are an awful person" (which, ok, valid), but than turn around and like other characters that have done the same things or worse. Like....what? what gives you the right to hate on people for liking a character that has done bad things, when the character(s) that you like aren't/isn't any better? There is no high ground here, you're not special or better than anyone else. If anything all of your characters are bad people, so neither of you can really talk about the other, literally hop off. I would like to add that you don't have to like a character, if you don't like them than you don't like them, that's okay. It is only when you are actively bullying and downgrading real life people for a character that they like, that it's problematic. • Shipping isn’t my main focus. I’m here to have fun and focused more on the actual story, the friendships, adventures, and so on. So don’t come on here starting ship wars and demanding I tell you why I ship or don’t ship certain things.

• The most important thing to remember is if you don't like a character, ship, or anything that I happen to like and you take time out of your day to come at me for it. I want you to know that I read your comment, then I looked left, looked right, looked up, looked down, reread your comment, and still couldn’t find where I was supposed to care. I.do.not.care. Don't like it? Leave my page; it’s that simple! XOXO, I hope you have a blessed (or a better) day!

[quibbs126]

I’ve moved on to drawing characters’ parents now, because I just want to keep drawing character and shirking what I actually need to do

Okay that’s partially a lie, I am writing a PowerPoint thing with my notes (though so far it hasn’t gone much farther than appearances), but still, I guess I’m doing this now

Oh and also, I switched over to my normal marker pen because the thing I was using for the lineart, my normal sketching pen, gives me no real line weight, and it was bothering me so much. Though I might still switch again, likely over to the syrup pen, at least to try it out

So anyways, first up we have Norma, and now (tentatively) Juliet, Marcus and Julian’s parents

I had already designed their grandpa, might as well draw the parents too

So I don’t really know what Norma and Julius’ original roles were, they probably didn’t have any, but they were around, and Norma was outgoing while Julius more reserved and probably smart. Then I considered having them be dead, which I still might do, but I also don’t know

I am thinking though that the two are archaeologists or something, and that if they’re alive, they’re just out traveling for work, and someone else watches their kids (if Marcus and Julian aren’t adults I guess). In retrospect I’m realizing I could have had Anya be that, but oh well

So I’ve mentioned that Marcus and Julian are supposed to have half markings, half white fur, so basically here Norma has the white fur, while Juliet has the markings, like her dad

I also decided that Norma has some extra hair color at the end, mostly just to give her a bit more spice

One thing you may have also noticed is that originally, Juliet was named Julius, and that yesterday I said Jules had a son that was Marcus and Julian’s dad. Well today while drawing her and giving her long hair, I decided “you know what, screw it, Julius is a woman now”, and so now she is

And also by which I mean, I didn’t just flip her gender, she’s transfem. She eventually realized she was a woman and is much happier living as one with her wife. Not sure if she transitioned before or after their kids, but they’re probably chill with it

Admittedly I’m still working out what her new name would be, and I just slapped on Juliet so that I have a name. I was asking my Cookie Run Discord server for help, since I didn’t know who else to ask, but I didn’t really like the suggestions, so Juliet’s her tentative name right now

But I don’t really like Juliet much either, it really does sound to me like a poorly thought out genderbend name, like Sonic to Sonia or Sonica, you get what I mean. Slap a bow on and they’re now a woman

See the problem is, when I originally named the parents, it was sort of supposed to be like they mashed together their names in some way to make their kids’ names. Marcus and Julian coming (somewhere) from Norma and Julius. Not only that, but as I’ve now decided, the lavender hair side of the family has a naming convention of Jul-, so I wanted to stick with that, hence Juliet. So Juliet here has to somehow fit in with those rules. Honestly I’m thinking of changing Norma’s name alongside Juliet’s, to see if I can think of something better for both

Wait crap, I’ve gotten sidetracked. I still have some more to say about Juliet here, but just know that I don’t really like her name and it will likely change, along with Norma, and let’s move on

One thing I have thought about when it comes to Juliet is that she personally has issues with her own father, Jules. He was distant due to the Striker project and they never really saw eye to eye (Jules did care about her, he just didn’t say it out loud to her). It’s part of the reason she works in archaeology, because in her eyes it’s the antithesis to science, which is looking into the future, while she looks into the past

It’s not really that important, but her feelings and resentment towards her father would probably have some role in the Striker story, especially since Striker’s confusing Julian for Jules

Anyways, on to the last person, Anya

Straight up, she’s just here because I needed a third person to put here, and she’s supposed to be Nina’s mom, so

She was originally dead, but I’ve now decided she’s not, I have too many dead parents, she and Erik are just divorced for reasons. Maybe Erik later realized he was gay or something. Nina lives with Erik most of the time due to wanting to be a doctor like him, but she visits her mom on the holidays. I don’t know

I feel like she and Norma ended up looking similar due to the white fur, but they have white fur for different reasons. Norma has it for her sons’ marking weirdness, and Anya has it because Nina has white fur and I was trying to show that it came from her mom’s side instead of the albino weirdness it originally was (because I didn’t understand albinism at the time). Unfortunately I decided to put them on the same page, so their similarities are incredibly obvious

As I stated earlier, maybe I could make Norma and Anya related, like I don’t know, they’re sisters and Anya looks after Norma’s kids while she’s out. Though that means that Anya and Erik are probably living in the same town. I mean, I guess that can happen with divorced couples, I’m not really familiar with how they work, but to me it feels like they should be living in separate towns or something, I don’t know

Also it again brings the problem of “character who already has cousins on one side now has cousins on another”, just now with Nina instead of the other three. I guess cousins are somewhat common (I wouldn’t know, I don’t have any, at least not first cousins), but I feel like I’m using it too much. Granted, right now it really is only Nina, Mercury, Venus and Saturn that have it, so maybe not

I don’t know, forget about Anya. She’s not important and I didn’t really think about her when making her, I literally just needed a third person because I had made Norma and Juliet

And so yeah, I guess that’s it for today’s characters. Not that great, I need to think more on these characters before I draw them. I think I’ve got too much energy now and I don’t spend enough time thinking on things first, just drawing like crazy