#i feel like hes the kind of person who says hes agender because hes to cool for gender

[zoolitsky]

MORE HEADCANONS BECAUSE I’M ALL POWERFUL

Please don’t get upset if you disagree with any of these!! This is just how I see the characters ^^ More context about the headcanons under the cut!

Nami

Transfem lesbian!!

Basically married to Vivi (who isn’t pictured but she gives me demigirl bisexual energy with a preference to girls)

CHUBBY BECAUSE I SAY SO!!!!! 🧡🧡🧡

And she’s still beautiful and wonderful and Sanji still simps for her. Chubby people are gorgeous

She’s technically pale but tanned a bit from being outside so much

Aaand bandaid because she’s literally just a normal girl and is susceptible to minor injuries unlike the other weird built different ppl on the crew (aside from Usopp)

sPEAKING OF USOPP!!! She’s absolute besties with him like they talk about everything and anything and gossip and all that jazz. They’re so special to me.

I’m not sure if bipolar fits entirely, but there’s definitely something with her mood swings and the intensity of her emotions. If this is insensitive at all please inform me

Chopper

Agender aroace reindeer fella??? SiGN ME UP

Both male and female reindeers have antlers so I used that to my advantage because gender silly

I think Chopper uses they/he/it, but slightly prefers to be referred to by their name rather than pronouns

Chopper has attachment issues, but I couldn’t find anything other than avoidant attachment disorder (which doesn’t seem entirely fitting). But it definitely gets very attached to others when it trusts them and has a hard time moving on.

Also I just like to draw Chopper more reindeer-like than Chopper’s canon design but aside from that I don’t really make too many design changes? Just… floofy Chopper… 🩷🩷🩷

Usopp

Panromantic asexual!!

Down bad for Sanji (he has terrible taste /j)

I had a revelation after drawing this so Usopp isn’t actually cis lol- they’re a demiboy but in a genderfluid kind of way, some days he feels more masculine and other days they feel more androgynous

I have very mixed feelings about the hair highlights,, I lowkey might not keep them but it was an experiment

FRECKLES!!! USOPP HAS FRECKLES PASS IT ON PASS IT ON!!!! 💛💛💛 Bandaid like Nami because!! They’re literally just a normal teenager!!!

Usopp has anxiety and borderline personality disorder because the feelings of superiority and inferiority? The constant fear? Being immune to Perona’s ghosts from dealing with mental illness their entire life???

Luffy

Asexual grayromantic

If he had a partner it would be gay regardless of his own gender expression (I’m projecting because I feel gay when I’m attracted to anyone)

Genderfluid, some days they prefer different pronouns but most of the time they use all at once (also is this ironic bc Luffy can’t swim but is swimming in fluid pronouns)

King of the pronouns!!! King of the genders!!! Will steal your pronouns and gender!!! Watch out!!!

I gave her vitiligo on a whim to be 100% honest, but I feel like it’s very fitting and also very fun to draw ❤️❤️❤️

I only did a headshot here because I have another post with a bunch of other drawings of this Luffy

I feel like I don’t need to explain but Luffy is very very AuDHD to me

He has so much energy and is easily distracted and gets really focused on things and likes to talk about anything and everything

Sanji

Bisexual-est guy on the planet (loves all boobs /hj)

Down bad for Usopp (they have great taste)

Demiboy but in an interchangeable kinda bigender way, he’s just both enby and male at the same time

Darker roots!! Sanji’s body hair is always notably darker than his blonde hair so I decided on darker roots

CURLY/WAVY FLUFFY HAIR SANJI SUPREMACY 💙💙💙

Depression—WHICH THEY ALL OBVIOUSLY HAVE BUT

Depression in the sense it’s the reason he smokes. It’s a kind of coping mechanism.

It makes them dazed enough that they don’t have to fully feel their own despair

GIVE HIM HEALTH PROBLEMS ODA YOU COWARD. I KNOW HE’S UNREASONABLY BUILT DIFFERENT BUT LIKE

Imagine Sanji wheezing and struggling to breathe after a fight!! Emotional scene with Chopper trying to convince them to stop smoking!!

Robin

Pansexual

Married to Franky 💜💜💜

Intersex demigirl! Like- the whole being called a monster/demon her whole life and trying to find someone who accepts her is such a good (unintentional) metaphor for the gender discovery experience,,

GIVE ROBIN THEIR MELANIN BACK!!! I don’t care if it wasn’t their original colors… neither were the blue eyes but I’m giving both to them because they deserve it!!

I wanted to give Robin more of a curly hair texture but I was concerned it would start to not really resemble her. I might play around with it another time though and see if I can achieve something still recognizable

PTSD

Do I even have to explain that-

They are traumatized and get flashbacks and night terrors

Franky

Bisexual

Married to Robin 🩵🩵🩵

TRANSMASC. I AM THE BIGGEST BELIEVER OF TRANS FRANKY.

He was abandoned by his birth parents, he has a name he doesn’t use anymore, calls everyone bro regardless of gender, HE LITERALLY REBUILT HIS ENTIRE BODY-

Even though Franky’s a cyborg I gave him visible top surgery scars. I think he would show them off with pride and doesn’t necessarily need/want to be seen as a cis man. He’s just a man who once had boobs yk?

The underside of his hair is an even brighter blue because silly!!

ADHD—he hyperfixates like a madman and is also very loud and passionate. Also idk if this is an actual ADHD thing but like he’s super empathetic and cries easily? I’m like that too so idk lol

Zoro

Demihomoromantic asexual

Hopelessly, dare I say pathetically, in love with Luffy. I want to clarify that this doesn’t make Zoro less gay and this doesn’t make Luffy less genderfluid.

Also as much as I adore trans Zoro, I think the fact that he’s a cisgender feminist is important. So I headcanon him as cis.

FLUFFY HAIR ZORO FLUFFY HAIR ZORO FLUFFY HAIR ZORO 💚💚💚

I can’t decide whether or not I like the striped hair,, I’m still on the fence about it lol

Covered in scars because he’s done so much training and fighting, I know they kind of look like something else but they aren’t, don’t worry

Idk why but I always give him a dark green undershirt

Autistic!! He has a narrow range of emotions, makes nonverbal grunts, super into swords, he’s blunt, follows routine, etc.

Aaaand that’s all of them! Phew! Thank you so much for reading 💖

Reblogs, asks, and comments are super appreciated!!

[genderkoolaid]

I'm sorry but you people have demeaned the word lesbian so badly... the LITERAL definition of a lesbian is a NON-MAN who likes NON-MEN. How is that so fucking hard to understand? Not you specifically, but people like you have made it into something it's not; the whole "bi lesbian" and "straight lesbian" shit, saying trans men can date lesbians (which is literally just transphobic), straight up just saying lesbians can date men???? MEN???? DO YOU NOT HEAR YOURSELVES?

And now the whole butch discourse lmao. Sure, maybe in days long past it was a broader term, but today when someone hears the word butch, I can guarantee their minds will jump to a butch lesbian. If y'all want it to be the GBT community so bad then just say so

Also I can guarantee that you were one of the mfs laughing at lesbians who used he/him or he/they pronouns back in 2020 lmao performative ass bitch

Definitions of words do not descend from Heaven straight from the lips of God. We make them up! So I simply disagree with your definition of lesbian, as do many others. Personally, I enjoy the definition of "queer love/desire for women." For one, it centers lesbianism around women, instead of centering it around the exclusion of men. And two, "non-men loving non-men" is a definition which utterly erases nonbinary people. If an agender person is dating a neutrois person, they are not lesbians- or gay men- simply because y'all cannot get your head out of your binary asses for five seconds. "Non-men loving non-men" is a definition that attempts to be nonbinary-inclusive but only succeeds in making nonbinary & genderqueer identities palatable for radical feminism and political lesbianism. Honestly, I would prefer someone who defines lesbian as "woman loving woman" but understands that many people have complex relationships with womanhood while still feeling attached to the label of lesbian, than someone who uses this "NB-inclusive" definition and goes absolutely feral over genderqueers who are Doing It Wrong.

Anyways, speaking of radical feminism: acknowledging male lesbians and mspec lesbians is not "making lesbianism something its not." It is just recognizing the beautiful complexity that has always existed within lesbianism.

The lesbian community- which I'm using to refer to all kinds of communities organized around queer relationships to women & womanhood- has always been a haven for a lot more people than cis women exclusively into other cis women. The idea of sexuality-as-identity is very recent, and the idea of drawing a hard line between people who only like people of the same gender and people who like the same gender and more is also extremely recent. Beyond that, trans men and nonbinary people have always taken shelter under lesbianism. "Butch" in the context of lesbianism has always been a trans* identity, a way for people with a queer gender to find community and safety.

The reason why we have this idea of lesbianism as a strict category with hard borders is..... you guessed it..... radical feminism! And specifically "political lesbianism," which essentially placed woman-only relationships as the only true feminist relationship you could have. "Lesbian" became a political identity because of its focus on woman-woman relationships. But that meant that, for political lesbianism to be acceptable to radical feminism, it needed to conform to radical feminist beliefs about what makes a good feminist. Which meant:

No trans women or fems (because they are too male and probably predators)

No trans men or mascs (because they are too male and also traitors)

No bisexuals (because they are too male by association and are also traitors)

No penetrative sex, or at least no strap ons (because it imitates men)

No kinky sex (see above but with bonus "kink is evil" flavoring)

No butch/femme roles (because they imitate heterosexuality; everyone has to be neutrally androgynous).

I believe that much of modern lesbian discourse comes from trying to marry lingering radfem beliefs with modern attempts at trans-inclusivity. So you adapt the blatant transphobia: now, trans women are allowed in (as long as they are palatable to cis women), because they're women! And nonbinary people can also be allowed in- at first they were woman-aligned, and then later as long as they weren't man-aligned. Being butch/femme is Back In Style, but we have to soothe the gender anxiety that butches cause by assuring everyone that only True Lesbians can be butch, and butches are always women, even if they kind of aren't, but regardless they're definitely not men, because butch has always been a lesbian term (except it hasn't.) The discourse is haunted by the ideas that lesbianism is constantly under attack, more than anyone else, and that lesbian culture is unique and special and must be guarded from (male/-aligned) invaders who are probably also sexual predators.

To say that this is all just "days long pasts" ignores both that, in physical queer spaces there very much still are male lesbians and bi lesbians who are accepted parts of their local communities, and that you only see those days as "long past" because of the impact of radical feminism on lesbianism. The only reason you see these changes as a good thing is because you've swallowed radical feminist ideas without realizing it.

Also, "if you say butch most people will think of butch lesbians" is an extremely silly argument. Literally who fucking cares. If you say "man" there are still a lot of people who will immediately think of exclusively cis men (see: every feminist who says shit like "if men could get pregnant). Does that mean that trans men should just give up their identities because other people don't understand them? You dork?

Anyways. The funniest part of this ask is how damn confident you are that I was apparently hating on he/him lesbians three years ago. Idk how to tell you this but I'm a boygirl gaylesbianbisexual and have identified this way for years. I have been personally terrorized by shitty lesbian identity politics, the same ones you are repeating now, which told me that if I was even 1% male then identifying as a lesbian made me a disgusting predator. Which caused me years of suffering because no matter how hard I tried, I could not ignore my multigenderedness and how that affected my sexuality. Sowwy but you look silly as hell and your argument is bad and you should feel bad </3

[prince-liest]

The way you write Alastor sometimes comes across as very agender to me and idk if you do that on purpose but I love it

I do, actually! He strikes me as the kind of person who is invested in the performance of masculinity and being a gentleman because it's a part of the way he wants the world to see him, and I don't think he would be very tolerant of people trying to emasculate him in any way because that is an insult with heavy connotations, especially during the time he's from. At the same time, though, I feel like if he'd been assigned female at birth, he would see the presentation of his femininity (and anybody questioning it) exactly the same way.

I write him as seeing gender as a role performance that has important traditional social values, but not ones that are inherently related to who he is as a person. Basically, he's a demon and a monster first, and everything else... I'd say "second," but frankly he barely tolerates people seeing the humanity in him at all.

[negobeauriva]

The Windows95manifesto: In defense of Finland's performance for 2024

Happy first rehearsal week everyone!

The first wave of rehearsals is done, and with it, we have gotten a wave of comments about the performances. Some filled with praise and approval, but some others completely hateful and rude. And today I'm going to talk to you about this second kind of comments about one of this year's controversial entry: Finland's "No Rules!" by Windows95man (Teemu Keisteri) ft. Henri Piispanen.

Many people have said that this entry is a joke, or that it doesn't deserve to be in Eurovision because it's distasteful. But here I am, in defense of uniqueness and weirdness, not only because this entry is in my top 5 this year, but also because it's important to understand what "art" is about. Here's to all the "weird" Eurovision entries that have been called unworthy of stepping on stage because they've been misunderstood.

A special shoutout to @/tottakaibi on Twitter/X because she gave me one of the pointers for this article in particular! And she's constantly in the lookout for Teemu and Henri's projects.

Without further ado, step in and enjoy the read.

No Rules! is, undoubtedly, the most distruptive entry this year - the nudity, fast-paced music and unique mise-en-scene, all make for an entry that many have deemed nonpalatable or not artistic. But behind every art display, there is a story, and I'm here to tell you a little bit more about it.

To start, the staging of No Rules! refers to the Kalevala, a book of finnish folk poetry from the 19th century that contains the myth of creation: Earth was born from an egg, with the shells forming both sky and land. Goddess Ilmatar, mother of nature and creation, soon realized that whatever she touched would grow and her every move was an act of creation itself. And so, she gave birth to Väinämönen, the first man to ever walk upon Earth.

Teemu arising from an egg is a clear reference to the Kalevala myth of creation, and he's even referred to it in some way in a video recently posted by UMK, in which he tells the tale of how Windows95man was born and Henri, in the figure of an eagle, becomes his friend so he can walk on the rule-burdened Earth without caring much for the impositions. It's both a mythical reference and a song of liberation: to not care about what others think and what others say to live freely and happily. To disregard societal "rules" in order to pursue happiness (this, of course, in the sense that you shouldn't care about "neat" or "appropriate", and not about the lack of order).

This song has also been called an anthem of liberation for LGBTQ+ members: No Rules! refers to the absence of gender norms ("Quiet, as I speak / I am the king, I am the queen" // "Is there something wrong with the way I look? / Is there something wrong with who I am?") and to live your life expressing yourself in the way you deem the best fit for you. As an agender person who's constantly told what to wear, what to say and how to act, this song is very meaningful and close to me. It makes me feel a bit better about my identity.

Now, to the point that interests you the most - how can No Rules! be considered an artistic performance, with the disruptive elements that make many shriek in disgust?

Let's begin with this - art is subjective and it's meant to make you feel something, whether good or bad. Art is meant to move something inside you, to make you question things. Have not many artists in the past made paintings about poor people's lives to protest poor living conditions or to showcase how hard it was to get on by? To many, art forms like paintings and sculptures that we now consider artistic were once considered scandalous or distasteful. This is the exact point of this performance.

In a recent documentary called "No Shame", Teemu referred to this - the point of his art is to appeal to disgust, to weirdness and to what makes you question what's tasteful or not. Shock factor also plays an important part in modern art performances. It's about going into the raw parts of your psyche and make you uncomfortable.

Teemu has been a visual artist since 2008, under the name Ukkeli. Vibrant colors, strange outfits and drawings, uncovered butts as part of his art installations and the message "No Rules" as one of his oldest mottos (not surprising, considering that in an interview he said he grew up with hippie parents that were very permissive) are the main features of his work. It's reminiscent of early 2000's adult animation shows, who also had a big shock factor and were frowned upon back then.

In this appeal to weirdness resides the charm of Windows95man's performance - in making you feel uncomfortable and weird, you're proving the exact point of the song. You will be bitter about how Finland could've "sent something better", but that won't change the fact that Teemu and Henri were chosen by his people because they understood the art beyond the shocking display. They understood what living with no rules means, to embrace weirdness, to embrace unique, and not care about what others say. If it makes you feel happy, who says that you're not allowed to like or pursue it?

Let's take a look back - Go_A's Shum, who was also catalogued as weird due to Kateryna's bewitching voice and vocalizations, made it to 5th place with no problem in 2021. Zdob si Zdub & Advahov Brothers' Trenulețul 2022 got to number 7 in 2022, after being called disruptive noise, and Konstrakta's In Corpore Sano made it to 5th place even when it was called creepy by some. Mama ŠČ! by Let3 made it to an impressive 12th place last year, and 3rd place in Dora this year with their strange Baba Roga.

If every country sent the same cookie-cutter type of "safe" song to Eurovision, the contest would be very repetitive and monotone. Let's face it, the public loves unique, loves something that will blow your hats off for three minutes and wondering what happened. They love songs that go off the "normal" standard because it takes you for a trip and makes you jump off your seat. It's no wonder that, in contrast with No Rules! getting so much hate, along with Doomsday Blue (another of the misunderstood entries, reduced only to its wrongly called "satanistic" character), 5Miinust and Puulup seem to be favorites this year, along with Joost Klein, who is rumored to win. People either love or hate weird and unique. Sadly, Finland got the worst end of the stick, and I think that's very unfair.

There's also the double standard, many think that it's inappropriate for Teemu to show up in nude-colored underwear, but they had no problem with female contestants in revealing outfits in previous years. Here's the thing - it's either okay for everyone to wear revealing outfits, or it's not. The argument that 2022's Chanel is given a pass to wearing revealing clothes because "she's a sexy girl speaking about being sexy" is invalid. Beauty, much like art, is subjective. And I do think that Teemu is very beautiful. He is allowed to wear what he wants (of course, according to EBU's standards, and they seem to have approved of the performance as is) and you don't get to say what's tasteful or not based off an aesthetic standard settled in sexism.

To finish this off, let me sum up the most important points of my mini-essay: No Rules! is an artistic performance because it's disruptive, it has elements that refer to Finnish myths and it's a liberation anthem that is meant to reach all those who feel like being themselves is wrong, to make them forget about this world's standards for three minutes and remember that the only person they need to please is themselves. As such, this song accomplishes its goal perfectly and beautifully. To call Teemu and Henri's performance a joke is to bypass every element of its artistry and to insult the artist standing on stage. Finland chose them, and so we must respect their decision and refrain from sending hateful comments.

I do think that we need to keep high hopes for this performance. I know that the two of them will go beyond everything we know and expect and will blow us all away when the Semifinal 1 comes in May 7th. After all, Henri's vocal skills have improved greatly since UMK, and Teemu's charisma can only grow by the second. These two have everything to go far and to show everyone that sometimes, all you need is to not listen to your surroundings and act as your heart commands.

Sometimes, the only rule is no rules.

[infiniteeight8]

I've been thinking about this for awhile, so I'm writing it down to get it out of my head. It's not meant to be profound, or to be any kind of meaningful commentary on anything.

I've been having thoughts about pronouns. I'm very glad for the sake of everybody who's ever had to deal with misgendering that asking for/giving your pronouns is becoming more common. But there is, for me personally, one downside. It's going to take me a second to get there, please bear with me.

I do not care about my pronouns. Not in the slightest. My gender has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with who I am as a person. It would probably be accurate to call me agender if I cared about gender at all, but I care about it so little that I'm not interested in labeling myself with any kind of gender identity, including nonbinary and agender. I don't care if people use she/her (what I was assigned), he/him (I usually allow people to assume I'm male when gaming), or they/them (common when folks don't know which pronouns to use).

What does bother me is the increasing perception that gender is IMPORTANT and that I must pick a label and identify with it, whether that label be female, male, non-binary, agender, or something else.

I was way more comfortable with how people approached me when they'd just take for granted that I was female and use she/her and not make a THING out of it. It was just a random bit of grammar that no one put any weight on. (I have the exceptional good fortune to live in circumstances which make my exposure to sexism very minor).

But, as a result of people trying to be more considerate of gender identities--which is a good thing that I 100% support--it is now pretty common for people to ask me my pronouns and subsequently to PUT WEIGHT on my response. The real answer, the answer I want to give, is: "I don't care, use whichever ones you like." But that's not an acceptable answer to give, especially since I do not want to subsequently be forced to put even more weight on my answer by explaining. So I say "she/her", because those are the ones I've been given all my life and which I respond most naturally to. But I hate saying it, because it implies that the answer is somehow significant to who I am as a person, and it isn't.

I feel like someone out there might, at this point, suggest I switch to "they/them", perhaps with the idea that it is more "neutral". The problem is, it's not more neutral. It implies that not being female (or male) is IMPORTANT in exactly the same way that she/her implies that is IS. In fact, it might imply that even more, since it requires a lot of effort to get people to change what pronouns they use for you.

Kind of tempted to try out the, "I don't care, you choose," answer at my next con (where it is most likely to be received in the spirit in which I intend it). Except that I still don't want to explain.

I don't know. I don't think there's any solution for this.

[lureofthegallowsgame]

Game Update 8/14/22

Hello, everyone!

It’s officially here! The Twine demo is posted onto Itch.io, and it covers the prologue with both the Seer’s and the Naturalist’s POVs. There is also a fun little codex for your lore interests, a stats page, and a sappy little credits page.

It doesn’t look like much on the surface, I admit, but it feels surreal to be writing both player characters at once. The Naturalist is someone I have kept secret for the longest time, and I am so excited to introduce their story to you all.

In this update, you can...

Face the fire, and the devastation it ravages.

Choose your name, appearance, and begin making the type of choices that will have some very serious consequences later on...

Meet your childhood best friends and have an interesting first encounter with a dangerous stranger.

Meet Utah, a very good boy!

Commit a crime, depending on who you ask. Just a small one, though. Kind of.

Both desktop and mobile friendly! (Although the images are a little wonky on mobile. I’m sorry! Still readable, you just have to swipe to see the full title graphics. The text works great though, I promise!)

I also wanted to officially announce that through the writing process, I have decided that Leo is agender and using they/them pronouns instead of having it be the player’s choice. Leo just feels like the type of person to not care about their gender in that capacity, and I’m enjoying the process of writing them this way. Likewise, Eli is genderfluid and uses she/he/they pronouns on a cycle, depending on how they want to present at the moment. I figured they would like to collect pronouns and gender presentations, and again, I am enjoying this development to their character.

Honestly, the only reason either of their genders were the player’s choice was because I first published the game demo in 2018, and it seemed everyone had gender-selectable ROs. That’s it. As I’ve started coming out as transgender myself, I have decided that they deserve to be whatever the hell gender they want, and this is what they are. 

So... thank you all, truly. I say it often, but I really am endlessly grateful for all the support and interest my silly little game has. It has grown in ways that I could have never imagined, and it is all thanks to you for playing it in the first place.

Thank you. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

-

[PLAY THE DEMO HERE]

[impunkster-syndrome]

do you read cometcare? if you do, whats your opinion on it?

It's a mess and has problems with ableism similar to Sparklecare, but I think this format is actually what Kittycorn is better at than a serialized webcomic with a 100% concrete story like the main comic. Kittycorn writes and paces story beats better when she has input to bounce off of. I think that's why Sparklecare has so many writing issues- she's heavily trying to force a format that just doesn't work for her at this point until she works on her skills and does self-reflection.

Things I like:

- Cream's ARFID and sensory issues not being shamed, and accomodated.

- Blair being into the paranormal

- Sly

- Levi's balls on suggesting hentai to people. He'd be fun to be around in a sex positive sense because of that and I like joking about sex and being open about it with friends. The crypto shit's annoying, but get him hooked on Flight Rising or the Steam community marketplace and he'd have a better hobby. I don't care if you're supposed to find him despicable due to hentai- it's not my thing, but if he gets shit out of it and it's not illegal, I don't have a problem.

- Nearfamily terms are useful for ENM and polyamory to me as someone who is polyam. I don't plan to have kids, but I do see those as useful in explaining to others what polyamory is.

Things I don't like:

- Stop making fun of the person who is distressed by showering. I only shower once a week at times due to fatigue. It's ableist as fuck to make fun of someone for that, especially so obsessively.

- Eve sort of crosses the line from sibling teasing to being actually meanspirited a few times. She's not a fun person to be around or read. She's a bully. That being Kittycorn's self insert says a lot about her to me, to openly make yourself the most meanspirited character repeatedly (Barry in Sparklecare and Eve here).

- Making Doom agender just to ship with Carrie in the AU and retconning his canon identity for that. It feels gross and like Kittycorn has very rigid views of who can fuck based on identity instead of acknowledging attraction as fluid.

- Carrie's trauma and feelings in Kissmas are all downplayed and treated as less legitimate for romantic feelings towards Doom. I regularly have those feelings a lot about my own trauma because I never will get any justice for how the court system, CPS, and so many people were complicit in my abuse on a systemic level, and I am expected to be over that. It's possible to be upset for more than one reason, yes, but it feels very weird to only acknowledge one part of it as legitimate. Doom is basically an abuser. He can change, yes. But Carrie's feelings and trauma should not have been downplayed like that.

- Howie just personally annoys me due to the voice my brain has assigned him and the very different assumed (? It's a different text style, so I'm guessing that is what it is) accent. He's the kind of person I would block on social media because I could not read his posts after having seizures due to the way he types and my brain cannot always translate it well or at all.

- Polyamory in this feels very like bordering on quiverfull and I don't like that. Having too many kids leads the oldest to being adultified and having to parent their younger siblings often. Marco seems to have some of that resentment pent up. My mom grew up in a monogamous family of five kids and that resulted in emotional and physical neglect, with generational trauma. None of the cometcare kids are going to be alright. The presentation of it as good polyamory and not possibly unhealthy due to the amount of kids feels very strange to me. I don't care how fictionalized the family is- if people start presenting families with a large number of kids that are more than the number the parents can give the needed care for, I am instantly suspicious. (For those who don't know: Quiverfull is the belief that Christian parents should have as many children as possible in order to breed out non-Christians. It is eugenics and treats children like property.)

- Kittycorn needs to stop with the "You can do xyz with these characters" rules. It's ridiculous. Even if characters are fursonas/self inserts. You can be made uncomfortable without restricting others. It's a reasonable boundary to say "Do not send me x content" and not reasonable to go "You cannot do x with my characters because I said so" due to this being a public project. It's not the same on a Sparklecare level of public, but those rules are controlling.

- Do something with disabled characters with physical disabilities. Please. Similar issue to Sparklecare. Let the cripples be crippled.

Things I have mixed feelings on:

- Inclusion of otherkinity, but not seeming to include other kinds of alterhumanity that are not otherkin. No, I'm not going to expect her to know the shit I am because I'm an outlier, or like the intricacies or community politics of the Vampire Community vs alterhuman vampirism, but I just wish alterhuman representation would stop being just otherkin.

- Doctors are being uwuified. People can change. But we don't see anyone actually earn that trust so it feels more rewarding to see their growth. I feel like Doom/Any other doctor spending years recovering would be a better setup to approach any patients for the narrative.

[herofied04]

Social Identity

Autistic and Queer in Black spaces

masking my autism, and struggling with relationships Being close with your group of people is vitally important to one's survival. And throughout American history, community and family have been deeply important. Black families were separated in slavery, taken apart by slave-owners. And in the time since, there has been placed a great emphasis on sticking together with one's family. *Blood is thicker than water*. Family extends to one's friends, or really, whoever is close in the time of struggle that is being a Black person in America. But when you're autistic... it's hard to recognize this. It is hard to understand social relationships, it is hard to know why you receive consequences for doing things 'wrong' when you don't know you were. It is hard to continually mask to participate in family gatherings and it is hard to ask for help when you need it. It is hard to explain yourself. It is hard to know why you were brought into this world of suffering - why did your parents make that decision, logically? What is the point of this all? Because I didn't feel close to anyone in these family gatherings. I was always by myself, standing off to the side, trying not to explode from the sensory overload. I was *forced* to go to these events and not even told why. Why? Additionally, I faced bullying from other Black people. Bullying about my mannerisms, my social naivety, my evident frustration and anger - it was humorous. And it drove me away from other people even further. How am I supposed to feel connected with people who look like me if I am just going to be bullied, misgendered, and misunderstood?

struggling to participate in conversations about straight or male/female stuff I am taking a Women of Color in the US class right now. It is wonderful, I am learning a lot of things that I would not have known otherwise. I am learning about the intersectionality of race and gender and how that increases one's oppression, both in the past and present. Black women face sexism and racism at the same time. I am not a Black woman - I am a Black agender intersex... thing. And so I am misgendered all the time, called 'girl' and 'her/she' in one place and 'man' and 'he/him' in another. Neither of these things describe how I see myself. Actually, I am slightly benefitted here by the masculinization of Black women, putting me in the perfect zone of androgyny. Nonetheless, I can't exactly participate in these kinds of discussions, most especially because I have little understanding of the social constructs of manhood and womanhood. There isn't a western, patriarchal framework of nonbinary gender, and so i'm really in the void here.

Black and Autistic in queer spaces

guilt for not participating in activism I could say this is true for being Black as well, but not being able to participate in activism because of its unpredictability and ability to overwhelm the senses... I would like to, but I would not be able to add any meaningful input because my brain would be short circuiting. I think I would have a meltdown.

again, struggles with bonding and conversation Pretty self-explanatory. It's hard to talk about queer issues if its hard to talk in general.

talking about queer issues but not Black queer issues Much of the discussion of queer history does not talk about Black people's roles in that history, despite being such a large aspect. I cannot be the voice for all things though; I am already so exhausted. There isn't any discussion of how being trans or queer could amplify the racism or hatred one faces, because most of the spaces I have seen have been focused on 'queers' in general.

Black and Queer in neurodivergent spaces

Neurodivergent spaces few and far between, but discussions about unmasking cannot participate because Black Besides the ones online, there is only one space I know of at my school, and not many people go there. I have been there for as long as that space has been around actually, and there usually aren't a lot of people there. Regardless, the issues I would like to talk about there are far away from what everyone else talks about. I face racism on top of being autistic, and there isn't really a space or group for that dialogue there. It is very hard to unmask because unmasking means weird looks, bullying, or even assumptions of aggression by other people; at least this is what I have learned in my life. It is not safe to unmask, and masking will be expected of me. I will always have to fight for myself, which means speech, which is a thing my brain naturally does not want to do. Exhausting.

more queer people here, but still, male/female divide Much discussion about autism, when I've looked into it, was about how females are late-diagnosed and how masking looks different for them. While I was raised female, I sort of started to drift away from that by middle school. I can't identify myself in these Autistic Female spaces and discussions, also because they tend to be white. Apparently, it is difficult to look past the binary...

All aspects of my identity are vitally important and need to be talked about, but there exists no framework for my experience. These are just some of the reasons I advocate for a intersectional framework, an intersectional way of thinking about social labels, and also a recognition that social labels are just that - labels. And because they are labels, they are able to change.

[nerves-nebula]

hi there, i want to ask about your usage of it/its pronouns, sorry if this might make you uncomfortable or if its weird or confusing

are your it/its pronouns any different from it/its pronouns for an object? I don't know how to word it sorry, I'm just trying to understand more about other types of pronouns

It’s fine. They aren’t different from an objects it/its to me, because objects & animals & concepts aren’t inherently inferior to humans, so I wouldn’t really mind being in the same group as them conceptually.

It’s a mindset I haven’t fully gotten into but I’m trying to rework the way I see the world, inspired partially by the things I’ve heard native Americans say. Like, I am not better than the food I eat because I’m human. A bear isn’t better than me because they can eat me & kill me. Humans are a part of the earth and would do best to work inside of it and with it than to try to control it or put ourselves on a higher level than it’s other creatures.

I mean clearly we can’t be all that much smarter & more important, what with what we’ve got going on.

But anyway, my pronoun change was at first honestly just the most logical conclusion.

Here’s my train of thought: I didn’t like he or she, Im not a man or a woman. and they/them don’t tell you anything about my gender. If you hear someone call me they/them you aren’t even gonna know I have a weird gender!

Similar to how man and woman are genders, but Non-binary isn’t. Non-binary just describes what you aren’t, its an umbrella term not (inherently) a specific gender. it’s very broad and most nonbinary people I’ve seen & met still identify in parts with man and woman. They/them is so vague that no one would bat an eye if you slipped in a they while describing a cis person who clearly reads as their assigned gender.

And I’m too forgetful & lazy to use neopronouns so, it/it’s was the natural choice. It’s easier to integrate because people already use it/it’s for stuff all the time.

And see, here’s the thing: I have a gender, I’m not vague or in between or a mix. And it’s much closer to like, the idea of a Third Gender. This was something that frustrated me a lot in high school because I would go looking for labels and most of them were about proximity to manhood & womanhood. Or about being agender or neutral. Or about concepts I fully did not relate to. I am not one of those things.

Another issue I had was that a lot of these gender labels had “-gender” at the end which doesn’t make sense to me at all. It’s not mangender and womangender so I didn’t vibe with this naming scheme.

I was also hesitant to use a label a white person made because I’d noticed that white people kind of have a different experience with nonbinary gender than people like me.

Luckily I found the perfect label! Maverique! It had no weird -gender suffix and it was made by a black person who created it online after realizing neutral/agender didn’t fit right.

And yea so it/its is a signifier of me as a third thing. not male, not female, not neutral or in between or lacking gender- just a different kind of person.

And this isn’t even getting into all the ways that I related to monsters in media, which were frequently called by it/it’s pronouns. Or how being abused factors into seeing myself as a non human THING and how embracing that makes me feel much more alive & like a person.

So yea, that’s the run down :)

[nighthawkes]

i’m not here to speak polarizingly about daughterhood because I think Holly, as a baby, functions much more as an agender symbol for family and legacy than anything else but I’m also trying to wrap my brain around the kind of future Walt thinks he could have, on the run, with an infant who will become a little girl.

And I’m feeling the strong specter of his ever-slowly-growing misogyny toward Skyler coloring my perception, especially in the wake of his post-kidnapping Holly call to Sky at the house. (“Why can’t you do one thing I say? … This is what comes of your disrespect!! … You stupid bitch.”).

And my own personally biased reaction is creeping in and giving me the impression that he absolutely thinks he could shape Holly to be his perfect little princess and lie to her forever and that she wouldn’t grow up becoming familiar with the shape of his lies and how they sit when he projects them. And that Walt thinks that this would somehow honor the legacy of his family.

And he’s dying!!! He knows he’s dying! And he still feels like he deserves to have Holly, and what? Leave her to fend for herself when he passes? With a neighbor? To the system? Where is all his disdain for anyone he deems beneath himself, a category that the government definitely falls under?

He hasn’t unpersoned her as if she were an object, he’s done it as if her main purpose is an idea that supports his ideology.

Walter White, #1 child endangerer of the year 2 years running for the worst reasons anyone’s ever heard of.

[vrisrezis]

Aj the furry we are kissing /joking

. Reader is a furry animal like rocket . From the same place he was from too

Cw for like . Reader with internalized transphobia (kinda?) reader comes out to all the guardians individually so this kinda long

You had come to realize something, about yourself. Something you had never considered, something as to which you were unsure how to handle. Something you weren’t exactly familiar with, and you weren’t sure was exactly normal. Gender had been a topic you weren’t always the most comfortable with discussing, at least when it came to you. There was a point in time, you had considered yourself to be male, and another time you had considered yourself to be female. But as you’ve come to realize you do not find yourself comfortable with either label. You’re not sure what it could’ve been, as you find yourself comfortable with masculine compliments, feminine compliments too. However being referred to as a boy, a girl, specifically, felt uncomfortable. Rockets boyfriend, rockets girlfriend. This was something you forced yourself to shrug off, assuming this strange feeling must be related to your lack of self esteem in general. Of course you had an issue with how to presented yourself, you didn’t like yourself much at all generally speaking. You had been created by somebody else, your existence was not your own will. It’s only natural there are things you do not like about yourself, as certain things that make you… well… you, are not your choice. You were raised to be a weapon, a shield, a fighter, and yet despite all of that, despite all the power and strength you are granted it is not what you desire for yourself. Your personality shows who you truly are inside, a kind and happy soul. Not a cold heartless killing machine. Because there’s so much you do not like about yourself, this just feels like another thing about you that you wish you could change. Perhaps it has something to do with feeling like your own person, having your own will, rather than being nothing more than a pawn to someone else, rather than just some science experiment. You had built that for yourself, with the newfound family you have made. Because even with all that strength, they love you for who you are rather than for how competent you are.

On an evening where you were extremely drunk and emotional you had talked to gamora about this issue you were having, and gamora had came to a simple conclusion. “Maybe you’re neither, then. Or perhaps both.” she shrugged, “I wouldn’t say you’re agender, maybe you’re non binary.” as to which you stared at your friend blankly. “Those words aren’t in the Bible.” “Shut up and listen to me for once. Also, the hell is a Bible?” You shrug, “not sure! Pete mentioned it.”

Ever since your long conversation, you’ve come to the conclusion you’d like to be referred to as they, instead of she or he. And upon gamora using those pronouns for you, as well as gender neutral language when discussing you, you’ve found yourself significantly more comfortable in who you are. This took some time for you to adjust to but you found yourself loving it a lot. However the first step to allowing others to accept you, is accepting yourself first. Realizing that just because this way of gender expression is something you yourself never heard about, doesn’t mean it’s not a very real identity that makes people comfortable. You have had to realize the way you feel doesn’t make you weird, or a freak. There’s many people in the galaxy, it is preposterous to think there will only be two gender identities throughout the course of the universe.

“There’s… nothing wrong with me… is there..?” you ask, looking up at your best friend. She shakes her head, “No. Of course not.” She says, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I should hit you, for even thinking like that.” and that’s all you needed. Gamora was unyielding in terms of her support of you and who you are.

Next stage, which took a very long time for you to be ready for, was telling everyone about your feelings, about how you identify and how you’d like to be referred. Admittedly, you were scared. You were terrified of rejection, but you knew gamora would be right behind you and kick anyones ass that disrespected you. Especially any of the guardians.

You went to groot first, as you feared him the least. Groot was just a innocent baby, and you know he not only would accept you but he wouldn’t even question it. And upon telling him, you were correct. You explained to groot as delicately and as clear as possible that you don’t think you’re a boy, nor a girl, completely. From your understanding, despite the fact groot clearly uses pronouns like he and him to refer to himself, he doesn’t actually have a gender. He does not hold to traditional gender values that you and the other guardians may, so because of this fact groot is completely understanding. In fact for him, it’s common knowledge. It’s clear he doesn’t understand why you’re telling him this, because it should be as obvious as night and day, but regardless he shows his support and you’re thankful for the little tree.

You make him promise not to say anything yet, as you want to tell them first. Especially rocket! And the little guy agrees, albeit a bit confused as to why it’s being made such a big deal.

Next, was Mantis. Mantis is such a sweetheart, you could only hope she would also be supportive of you. If she isn’t, then you know how you feel cannot be possibly right. You feared that, if even Mantis didn’t support you there was truly something wrong with you. After all, Mantis is the one in tune with emotions. She’s the one always encouraging others to be more open about their feelings and being more vulnerable. That no feelings are bad, so long as you don’t act upon them in a negative way. You second guess yourself, as Mantis notices how much your sweating. Typically, when people like you and rocket sweat it is not noticeable, so the fact Mantis is able to notice simply by looking at you, means you’re sweating an unhealthy amount.

However, once you finally come out haha and say it, she seems relieved. “Why do you look so relieved?” you say, finally catching your breath, since you’ve been holding in so much all at once. You look so tired, just from that. Which lets gamora know that this coming out process might take more than just a day. This is something you really have to work towards. “oh, well…” mantis trails off, looking to the side before looking back at you, “I’m just relieved it wasn’t anything serious, that’s all.” her statement makes you feel even more tired. “It was serious!” “Oh…? Really? Well… I am very happy for you y/n! You have finally discovered who you truly are inside, and I’m very proud of you for opening up to me.” she says, and for a moment you forget how scared you are to tell the others. “I love you, you’re a dear friend. You’re family. But…” Mantis trails off again, and you’re almost scared for a moment. “I kinda already knew.” she says, as a matter a factly. “When I touch you, I feel your emotions, as I’ve told you many times.” she starts to explain, “one time I touched you and felt… confusion about gender expression and identity, you see. So I’ve known for quite some time.”

You sigh, “would’ve been great to know that sooner, mantis.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to ruin your … yknow… confession thing. It was very appreciated, I’m glad you trust me with this. I won’t tell the others, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Next on your list was quill, because for as big of an idiot that guy is, gender expression seems to be a huge thing for terrans as far as you know. They even had a whole month dedicated to people like you, and not only that, parades. “Clearly they are people that are celebrated” Gamora states, giving you more reason to open up to her boyfriend about such a matter. While you were a bit nervous, given that you told two other people, your nerves had calmed a bit in comparison to before. But seeing your friend in person, confronting him about these feelings you’ve felt for so long, you curled right back in at yourself. This was such a vulnerable position, and you could possibly be ruining the guardians as a group due to wanting to open up about feelings that can be kept to yourself. This was selfish of you to ruin something for everyone-

Gamora nudges you with her foot, given the height difference between you both she would’ve been unable to do so with her elbow. You shake your head, snapping back into reality. There was no turning back now that you’ve already began the process. You look up at your friend, who was probably expecting the worst given your nervous demeanor. You see the shock on his face as you come forth with what you’ve been wanting to say, and he shakes his head. You almost panic, before you see a smile etch Quills features. “That’s it?!” he asks, “you know I don’t care about stuff like that, y/n.” he says before patting you on the head. “Glad you came and told me though.”

Next, was the lovely drax the destroyer. To be honest, he’s one of the last people you wanted to tell simply because of his big mouth. His opinion was not one you found yourself fearing, and given how accepting everyone’s been so far you found yourself mostly at ease. However you did have to remind yourself of the people you haven’t opened up to yet.

Opening up to him proved to be less difficult, for you’ve known drax to be accepting of his family for all of their weirdness. He has never been overly judgmental. However, he seems to raise a brow at you for this information, making you regret your decision for a brief moment. “Why are you telling me this?” he asks, genuinely. “What do you mean?” you ask in turn, and he continues “has somebody been addressing you any differently?” he asks a second question, “I thought it was simply common knowledge you are not male nor female. Who shall I smash for disrespecting you?” ah, now you understand.

And finally, your boyfriend. The one you were the most nervous about. If this affected any of your relationships with the guardians at all, this was the relationship that would affected the most. Once again, you find yourself extremely nervous. And as gamora noticed, much more nervous than anyone else you’ve had to confront.

“You’ll be fine.” She reassured you. “I’ll be right outside the door” she says, wanting to respect your privacy with your boyfriend. You nod, thanking her before walking in your shared room with rocket. Groot lived in this room too, but he was out and about with quill currently.

As you strike a normal conversation with your boyfriend, he assumes things are as normal. He’s tinkering with something and you’ve come to bother him as per usual. However, something in your demeanor is off to him. He wonders if you’ve done something to possibly upset him, and are trying to break the news to him. Whenever you accidentally broke something of his, you did this. You spoke in that nervous tone and started pacing as you tried to talk about random things with him. It always ended the same. He pretended not to notice and then you’d be ridden with guilt and you’d say “rocket I have something to tell you!”

But he did not expect such urgency in your voice. The way you said it, sounded like it was much more serious. In the past, it sounded more shameful or embarrassed, this time it sounded much more than that. Like the shame and embarrassment was much deeper, stronger, and like you were genuinely afraid to tell him what it was. At that alone, he stands up, now done tinkering with a new potential bomb for him to randomly set up. He looks you in the eyes and nods for you to continue. You take a deep breathe, preparing what you were gonna say to him. You said these exact words to everyone else, it should not be any different with him.

“Rocket. Im non binary.” you simply say, as a matter a factly. “And I understand if that bothers you, but I cannot hide this part of myself any longer.”

In all honestly? He’s never seen you so serious. He can’t help but laugh, and your ears flop down for a moment at the thought of him not only rejecting you, but laughing at you. He shakes his head, “I’m laughing at you for a totally different reason hun.” he says, “I just can’t believe you seemed so scared to tell me something like this.” he laughs a bit more before grabbing your hand. “Listen, I don’t care what you identify as. Be who you are, me and you are surrounded by misfits and you think I’d care about something like this?” he asks, and suddenly you feel stupid. “I love you, as you are. And I always will. Flaws or not. Not that being non binary is even a bad thing anyway.”

You sigh, giving him a genuine smile. “Thanks rocket.”

“Anytime.”

[genderkoolaid]

A bit of an odd question, I know you've ranted in the past about people thinking nonbinary people aren't attractive w/o binary alignment, anyways the point is: what are your thoughts on terms like "ceterosexual" and "skoliosexual"?

Personally I like them.

The thing about exorsexism is that it's ingrained in our language and culture. We lack the language to describe being non/abinary/genderqueer because our culture enforces a binary. So I generally support any efforts to improve exorsexism in language, even if I personally wouldn't use it.

It's true that "nonbinary" does not refer to one single gender. But I would argue that "woman" and "man" are vaster categories than we give them credit for. There are people who are attracted to certain kinds of man/womanhood performance but not others, especially when it comes to queerness & ethnic cultures. Not every lesbian is necessarily attracted to the same womanhood performance, and the same goes for gay men & straight men & straight women.

And "woman" and "man" are also not synonymous with presentation. You cannot tell how someone identifies by how they present themselves. But we do use gender coding to call on cultural associations & send a message of what gender stuff we wanna be associated with. A gay trans man may dress much differently than a straight trans man, because he is trying to perform gay manhood. Similarly, an agender person may also perform things associated with gay manhood even if they don't identify at all as a man, because they want queer men to notice them. But the same things could also be done by a straight man who just enjoys things traditionally associated with gay manhood And, going off that, there are ways that nonbinary/genderqueer people signal ourselves as NB/GQ as well. Someone with brightly dyed hair, wearing lipstick with a mustache, in a skirt with a dress shirt, is performing a genderfuck-hood that can signal genderqueerness to others. Personally, I like presenting in a purposefully genderqueer way so that other queer people recognize me as "family" and will be attracted to me because of my genderqueer performance.

So, considering all that... I appreciate language that let's us express love and attraction and appreciation for genderqueerness and non/abinarity. Arguments against ceterosexuality/skoliosexuality tends to go back to "nonbinary isn't a third gender, and some nonbinary people are okay being aligned with a gender, so anything that ever centers nonbinary people and recognizes abinarity is transphobic!!!" which always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I've seen some people say you can use them but only Ina t4t way, which I also dislike; I am t4t and gq4gq but I don't like the idea that people who are cis aren't "allowed" to express attraction towards abinarity/genderqueerness because they must be chasers.

Also, I have the theory that genderqueer language always faces more stigma and is held to a higher standard than binary language. Partially because it's newer, but also because being genderqueer/nonbinary is viewed by transphobic society as unserious and ridiculous, and has also been associated with people assigned female & "weird femininity," which brings in misogyny (even moreso than transphobia already does). This is not to say people who personally don't want to use genderqueer language are doing anything wrong– but I feel like everytime someone comes up with a term to improve the lack of nonbinary visibility in language, it is immediately lambasted for being "cringe" and "infantilizing" and "just call me a slur" which I feel, on some level, comes from the association of binary things with normality & neutrality & adulthood, and nonbinary things with childishness & queerness.

The end goal of exorsexism is to smother any sign of sex/gender transgression it finds. I feel like the criticisms of nonbinary/genderqueer-focused sexuality are just another expression of this, but done in a "progressive" way. The underlying message is that nonbinary/genderqueer gender isn't as real as binary gender; our validity as people only comes from our identification with binary systems on some level; NB/GQ people always confirm to binary gender performance and we have no ways of communicating our genderqueerness on purpose; attraction to NB/GQ people must be dirty and objectifying and it can only be expressed via the language of binary attraction, even if the object of your affection is hurt by that.

[thatonelesbianfander]

My favorite Sanders Sides headcanons that I have that I will add to almost any AU I make:

This is a top 10 list of different headcanons that I have for every side + C!Thomas that I add to every AU I make of the sides. Also included are gender, pronoun, and sexuality headcanons as well as a few extra headcanons with the whole group

Small TW for weapons mention

(Quick little thing: When I’m talking about Thomas I mean C!Thomas)

This took so long to make I swear-

Cut off because this is a really long post

Remus

Achillean/Gay (switches between labels)

They/them nonbinary

1) Remus is autistic (I have a different post about that here so I won’t go into much detail)

2) They likes to doodle on their headphones, so all their pairs of headphones are just covered in stickers and drawings

3) They does pole dancing for sport and are really strong because of it

4) Sometimes Remus will end up falling asleep hanging upside down on their pole and no one knows how or why they do it

5) They have a weapon called a “jack handle” which is a handle with a button that can transform it into any weapon at will

6) Remus has octopus tentacles that they can summon at will, which they usually use as a hammock to lounge around

7) They are very dependent on attention and if they don’t get attention they will be very spiteful, and do things just to annoy people until they are given attention

8) A lot of times, Remus’ll just say the most unhinged things ever and then just be like “Anyways, today I saw a balloon :D”

9) Remus grows their hair out really long that they have to have Janus help them keep it clean

10) Remus likes having their hair played with and combed

Janus

Pansexual

It/they agender

1)Janus plays guitar and has actually written a few songs of its own

2) They work as a lawyer

3) They like to read in its spare time, but usually ends up having to keep Remus near them in order to be able to read for a long time

4) It can transform into a snake at will, which they usually use so they can get some rest while staying near Remus

5) Janus uses a scythe as its main weapon with their cane being used as a prop to give them a more dramatic flair

6) They cannot look casual without looking like a model, they literally do not know how to make a casual outfit because it’s so dramatic

7) Janus likes customizing its hat with different kinds of ribbons and bows for different occasions

8) They have a lot of snake like traits, a couple being bad eyesight, cold blooded, and being hard of hearing sometimes

9) Janus’s shapeshifting tends to go haywire when it’s stressed

10) They suffer from identity issues sometimes because of their shape shifting powers

Roman

Gay

He/she bigender

1) Roman is very protective of his family

2) He has ADHD

3) He is very artistic, being able to draw human anatomy really well, but usually gives up when it comes to faces, leading a bunch of her artworks faceless

4) She only really gets vulnerable about his feelings with people he’s close with and trusts

5) He is very protective of her loved ones, leading herself to get injured a lot trying to protect them

6) Roman has a hyperfixation on Disney, cartoons, and theatre

7) She is a very big theatre person, and performs in almost every community theatre production

8) He is fluent in Spanish, and knows a little French

9) She carries a bag with a sketch book and some art supplies with her wherever he goes

10) Roman can be pretty reckless at times but not as much as Remus

Patton

Asexual omnisexual

He/him trans male

1) Patton likes to bake desserts for all the sides

2) Patton is always the first one asleep in the house

3) He is usually the one who ends up having to stop arguments

4) He is very understanding of what the others need and will make sure to do what he can to help the others

5) He is very good with pets and it usually the person the others go to when they need help with their pets

6) He loves wearing stuff with pastel colors

7) Patton likes to collect stickers and basically everything he has ends up covered in stickers

8) Patton doesn’t like to fight and usually tries to talk things out with the person but will throw hands if he needs to

9) He is very generous and puts others needs before his own, opting to help others with their problems before fixing his own

10) Patton doesn’t have any weapons due to not liking fighting

Virgil

Bisexual

He/they demimale

1) Virgil is usually the last one asleep in the household

2) He likes to collect pins and buttons

3) They are very skilled with knife tricks, sometimes showing off the tricks he learned during gatherings

4) They mostly stay in their room which is dimly lit and quiet

5) He has his old season 1 jacket still hanging in his closet although they never wear it anymore

6) He has a horrible sleep schedule due to insomnia and usually takes a lot of naps during the day

7) They are very good at hiding and bending in due to their darker color pallet

8) They like to collect vinyl records and have a record player in his closet that he plays the records on

9) He is a very big horror movie fan, and watches a bunch of different horror movies (usually also accompanied by Remus)

10) Virgil still likes to use wired headphones but mostly uses Bluetooth ones since they’re easier to use

Logan

Polysexual

He/it agender

1) Logan is the cook of the household

2) Logan tends to get very caught up in its work, sometimes forgetting to eat lunch

3) He secretly loves to sing, and can sometimes be caught quietly singing to himself while working

4) Even though it tends to get caught up in his work, it still has a very good work schedule

5) It likes to keep to schedules and will schedule a bunch of stuff months in advance

6) He likes a lot of things that would seem “girly” to other people and thinks gender roles are stupid

7) One whole side of his room is just a library of books that he’s collected

8) It’s a really big fan of comic book but doesn’t admit it

9) It likes to volunteer as a librarian sometimes, and will help the local libraries

10) He has the most healthy diet out of everyone in the group

C!Thomas

Gay

He/him cis male

1) Thomas is a father figure to Remus and Roman, helping the two through anything they’re going through

2) He is the only one in the group who’s able to hold everyone together

3) He wears a flower clip in his hair with the petals colored to each of the side’s colors

4) He cannot keep a houseplant alive even if his life depended on it

5) He is very dedicated to his acting career

6) He likes to collect little trinkets like stones, shells, leafs, etc whenever he goes somewhere and has a big box of stuff in his closet

7) Thomas is very protective of the group but knows how not to put his life at risk while protecting the others

8) He is very thoughtful of the others feelings, and is usually the person the group goes to if they need comfort

9) Thomas loves to buy new Lego sets so much that the others usually have to convince him that he doesn’t need a new set

10) He likes trying out new things from time to time and sometimes picks up a new hobby because of it

Extras: Group

Ships: Demus/Dukeceit, and sometimes LAMP

Remus, Janus, and Roman are all best friends

Roman and Remus have a really good sibling bond, they like joking around with each other and will comfort each other when one feels sad

The twins will sometimes end up getting themselves into trouble because one decided to encourage the other’s stupid decisions

Remus and Virgil are very competitive when it comes to Just Dance and will both cheat each other over if they play together

Roman and Remus both have matching masks of those theater masks with Remus having the smiling one and Roman having the frowning one

Roman and Remus will have duals in the mindpalace for fun

[the-acid-pear]

so fun fact: i kinda have an au (and ask blog) for if Henry's wife Martha and son David had survived (the blog is ask-the-miller-family if you wanna send some asks).

long story short: neither of them really like him too much, but especially not Martha.

like, listen. i personally get it if people think that if Martha and David lived, then things would be better. i get it!! because them dying is technically what led to Henry learning about souls and thus getting kind of obsessed with learning about death and how to cheat it.

but...who's to say that he wouldn't have gotten fascinated another way? what if them living only delays the inevitable?

so...yeah.

Martha kinda knows what Henry's done, but like. That Was Back Before No Fault Divorce Was A Thing. she knows damn well what Henry's capable of doing and getting away with. and she doesn't want to potentially put David in danger as well.

David views Dave (our beloved purple man) as an older brother of sorts. so take that as you will.

Martha is an alcoholic and has issues with smoking (My Alcoholic Friends by the Dresden Dolls fits her pretty well), and uh. Henry's Bullshit doesn't help.

so now you're probably wondering: does Dave still go by...y'know, Dave since David's still alive?

and i have the funniest possible response to this:

so. Henry's son kinda eventually found out he was agender (he/they) later on in the timeline and started going by Dallas/Dally (based off that one Outsiders character, a book they were really into)

Dave started expressing how he would do anything to become Henry's son. Dally already views him like an older brother.

you see where this is going.

look, Dallas knew this was going to piss Henry off, but they honestly think it's fucking hilarious and also inherited the "Little Shit" gene in the family.

so long story short: Dally just kinda "handed over" the name to Dave. :)

- dogboyjackkennedy

OBSESSED OVER THE NAME PASSING THAT'S GENUINELY SO CUTE..... Though no shade on Dally but if someone told me they wanted to be my shitty parent's kid I'd have gone insane though no bullets enter Dave babygirl stubborn and blind when emotions are on the table so I get it.

Also I feel so bad for Martha fr what a dogshit life to live like even the weight of technically being complicit too bc she'd TRY stopping it but the cost of failure would be so high... Just sooo sad though that's also one of my fave songs so . hashtag girlboss? /silly

I'll def be checking out the blog tho let's hope I can fire enough neurons to send an ask too smfbgntb ^_^

[galadhir]

So I bought the latest Murderbot book, System Collapse as soon as it came out, on both audiobook and ebook, and I have to say that I was ever so slightly disappointed. It is a really good example of a Murderbot novella, just like the other ones in the series, but my problem is that with it coming after Network Effect I was hoping for other things.

When Network Effect finished with ART excitedly cleaning its interior because Dr. Mensah would be coming aboard, I was excited to be able to read about ART and Mensah meeting and learning to appreciate each other.

When we got the blurb for System Collapse and it became obvious that SecUnit was having something of a breakdown due to accumulated trauma, while Barish Estranza was up to its corporate worst, I was excited at the thought that Three might have to take over some of SecUnit's more running-about-and-murdering-people duties, while SecUnit had to take the trauma treatment.

I wanted to see how the Preservation humans and ART's crew got along. Which I guess happened with Ratthi and Tarik. But I suppose I had got used to the extra space and slightly more leisurely pace of the novel, and was not prepared to go back to the tight focus of a novella.

This is all entirely my fault for having expectations, rather than just trying to enjoy what I got for its own sake. And in fact I remember feeling a little disappointed with Network Effect when that came out, while now it is my favourite in the series. So I'm sure after a few more reads and listens I will also learn to appreciate System Collapse for what it is, instead of what it isn't.

And let's face it, SecUnit was due a collapse! And now I'm eager to find out if Three gets a starship of its own with Holism. I like the fact that they are the serious non-fiction nerds of the series, while Perihelion and SecUnit are the sci-fi geeks. Bless!

~

Also I'm excited (and a little nervous) at the thought of a Murderbot TV series.

I'm excited because

you can do so much with a series in which a SecUnit is the pov character - think about how you could tell a story from the perspective of a being who is regularly experiencing life through security cameras and flying drones and

I'm not sure I can think of another series with a protag like SecUnit, who avoids eye contact, expresses emotional discomfort by turning and facing the wall, is extremely touch averse, and above all is agender and asexual and quite vocal about that.

When have we ever had a tv series where the main character's pronouns are 'it'? If they only keep that, the series will be revolutionary.

But I'm nervous because

Look at the guy they cast as SecUnit. Did he have to be so white? MB lives in a universe where most of the important characters are black or various shades of brown. It kind of defeats the importance of having so many important characters of colour if they're mostly there in order to be rescued by a white main character.

The show runners are both male. It would be so easy for a pair of straight cis male writers to ignore the widespread queerness of the setting and all the things most queer/non-neurotypical readers find so endearing about SecUnit and turn it into yet another male power fantasy where a heavily armed and deadly cyborg solves everyone's problems with ultra-violence.

It would be so easy for them to call SecUnit 'he' and churn out something like Robocop or Judge Dredd where the uncommunicative white guy with a heart of gold and a big gun gets to be the hero again. That would make it more marketable. It would make it more relatable to the straight cis white guys who make up the desired audience for SF shows (or so I've heard.) And it would take away from this agender asexual person someone who was very rare and precious to them.

Honestly listening to cis people talking about Murderbot is painful enough now when they must have read the book and they must have been bombarded for thousands of words with instances of it being called 'it' and insisting that gender was inapplicable to it and it found sex distasteful. Somehow even after all of that they will insist on calling it 'he' or 'she.' God knows how much worse it could get if the TV series did it too.

[pooklet]

Hey pooklet!!! How did you discover you're non-binary? Did your friends go well with it?

Hey anon!

Short answer: "Girl" never felt right to me, heard about nonbinary as a concept in my 20s on a random livejournal, exactly one of my close friends was cool about it and she's now my wife, lol.

Much, much longer answer under the cut.

I know it's a trope to say "I always felt wrong in my assigned gender" but in my case it's true. For me it was very confusing because I do like a lot of the femme stuff that kind of gets pushed at you when you're AFAB. Pink and dolls and dresses and long hair, stuff like that. But the idea that those things made me a "girl" just never sat right. I remember being like 13 and asking my first boyfriend "would you still like me if I wasn't a girl" and he was like "ew no" and it made me feel so deeply sad for reasons I couldn't quite explain. There were a lot of little instances like that, but that one really sticks out in my mind.

I first ran across the concept of being nonbinary on a livejournal community that I don't think had anything to do with gender? I don't remember where, it was some fandom or hobby thing. Like, I don't think it was this exactly, but it was something as silly as someone posting pictures of their BJD and being like "I decided this doll is nonbinary!" Something like that. And I was like wtf and immediately went down the rabbit hole. Which was much shorter like 12-13 years ago than it is today, but what I found made me go "oh shit, this is the thing, huh?"

Around that time, I was also starting to make more of an effort to get involved with Native American communities and studying the history of my specific nation (Oneida). I was raised by the white half of my family so it wasn't something I really got to experience growing up. And in doing so I learned about being Two-Spirit, and even though that's not how I identify per se (there's a lot of debate around exactly how you define being Two-Spirit and who has access to the label, etc.) it felt sort of like, idk, permission? Like, "this is part of my cultural heritage, it predates the gender binary, I'm allowed to not be a girl."

But it wasn't an all-at-once coming out sort of thing. I kinda floated it at the people closest to me, like "how would you feel if I wasn't a girl lol wouldn't that be crazy lol."

One of my two best friends at the time was very resistant to me not being a girl, us not being best girl friends, who had the sort of romantic-Victorian platonic-but-intense girl friendship. So we ended up having no friendship at all.

The person that I was dating at the time was outright hostile to the idea. Abusively hostile. And the thing about it was he (pronouns at the time, don't know if he's changed them, not going to look him up to find out) had also just come out as trans. He/him agender. And when I repeated that same question that I asked my 13-year-old boyfriend "would you still love me if I wasn't a girl?" His response was something to the tune of "I guess it's fine as long as you still have a girl's body." Which was a wild thing to hear from someone who was also AFAB. Weren't too long after that we broke up.

My other best friend @skulldilocks, maybe you've heard of her, she was my oasis. She never judged, she was curious and interested and so kind about it. The second I told her "I don't think I'm a girl" she was like "yeah, okay, you would know best" and that was it. She was one of maybe three people in my life (the other two being my cousins) that didn't tell me I was wrong or pushed back at all. She called me by my chosen name, used they/them pronouns, corrected herself when she got it wrong, and that was it. It was just, idk, easy. And it made me feel like maybe this wasn't some forbidden, shameful thing that I knew was true about myself, but I still couldn't tell anyone.

So I started to assert my gender and pronouns in online spaces. I was really clumsy about it at first, and my terrible experiences with the people that I had been closest to had me feeling very defensive, expecting a lot of pushback. Aaaand, I got it!

Some of it was definitely my own doing, like, getting upset with people who misgendered me out of confusion rather than active hostility, but there was a big faction that went right to work on the trolling. Most of it was contained on simsecret at first, with lots of secrets as well as huge threads of people saying that I was lying, calling me slurs, discussing my genitals, claiming to know me personally IRL and to have insider knowledge that I really was a girl and I was just doing all of this for attention.

And then it spilled over from simsecret to GoS, to my livejournal, to every part of the community that I engaged with. I went into lockdown mode. Deleted my livejournal, changed my email, turned off commenting or messaging where possible. I left the community completely for about a year and a half. I still played the game, still shared pics with @skulldilocks but I had no intention of returning.

But then stuff just kinda changed. It didn't have anything to do with me, it was just that more people were starting to identify outside the gender binary, so it stopped being so stigmatized in the community. Forums started cracking down on people being shitty about gender. And some very kind people sent messages to me through @skulldilocks saying that they hoped I came back some day. So I did. I still get the occasional hateful anon message but at this point there's literally nothing left that they can say to me that I haven't already heard a decade ago.

And there is definitely more kindness and love, now. Turns out if someone treats you like shit, you can just leave! Tell her to give you back your Sailor Moon manga and to never call you again! Kick him out of your house and take custody of the cats! Excise the assholes, curate your online space, don't get involved in bad faith "discussions" about parts of yourself that you know to be true. Who you are just ain't up for debate.

Also, if you find someone who is your oasis, who never presumes to know you better than you know yourself, who can answer the question “would you still love me if I wasn’t a girl” with an emphatic “fuck yes,” get your shit together, tell her you love her, and marry her. 10/10, highly recommend.