#like gender euphoria! for example! (aka this post!)

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

Corentin discovers the joy of fashion after being re-introduced to clothes that aren't saturated with blood and gore for the first time in over a decade

Bonus:

[novella-november]

Queer Writing Pro Tip: Neopronouns

If your main character uses neopronouns, and you are using the first-person perspective, so we never actually "hear" (read) the pronouns they use regularly, please, *please* take the time early in your first story, and reinforce it throughout the whole series, to firmly, canonically, *in the text* state what their pronouns are, and correct people when they are misgendered.

If you want a character who uses neopronouns to be more than token representation, they need to be more than a background character, or a first person narrator with in-built plausible deniability for the audience to not use the correct pronouns because they're so rarely used in the text and only by outsiders speaking about the main character as property or a second class citizen.

If you want to have a character who is actual representation for people who use neopronouns, you can't just use the neopronouns a handful of times scattered across five pages total, and then shove them off screen never to be seen again.

You need to use the as constantly and regularly as you refer to he/him and she/her characters. You need your audience to not only learn to use them through reading, but learn to respect them as well.

You should have more than one character who uses these neopronouns, to further normalize them, and especially, you need to have, in fantasy and scifi stories, have these neopronouns not be exclusive to a single fictional race, with no humans or other aliens using them ever.

Say, for example, you have some aliens in a scifi setting who use xe/xem pronouns and are monogender + monosex as a general rule for their species (aka, they ""don't have gender"" and are ""all the same sex"")

Because this is the accepted *norm* for this species, this is not inherently any kind of queer representation from them, merely an example of neopronouns and speculative biology.

If you *do* want these species to have queer representation:

what kind of pronouns and gender identities would *they* consider to be strange? What identities would be marginalized in their society?

Perhaps within their society, neopronouns are ze/zir, fae/faer, or ae/aer, and the people who use these pronouns identify as something other than the standardly-accepted "nongender".

What would this look and feel like for these queer identities? How do they interact with the larger society, and what kind of pushback do they receive? What kind of joys and euphoria do they experience when they find like-minded people who accept them?

And what about when different alien species meet and interact with other planetary cultures?

You could have a species of sentient, genderless, sexless robots who use a single pronoun across the board meet and interact with humans, and then gradually find that some members of their species strongly identify with the alien gender known as "female" and the pronouns "she/her" and adopt that as their own identity :) *. You can also have those same sexless robots have a thriving queer culture of different identities and language expression that we get to see on screen, and especially interacting with real human queer characters and culture.

*(Hi, Transformers, I'm looking at you. Give us some on-screen trans representation of a robot who uses the default he/him pronouns realizing she's actually a woman and using she/her)

Anyways. Long post short: if you want nonbinary, trans, and neopronoun representation in your stories, please don't just throw in a token one-off character: normalize characters asking people their pronouns or introducing themselves with their pronouns, and use the neopronouns regularly and normally in the book.

It should not be up to audience interpretation whether or not your main character uses neopronouns or what those particular neopronouns are, because they're so rarely used in the text it is difficult for the average reader to even grasp that what is happening is neopronouns, and not just dehumanization the character needs to overcome.

If your main character uses it/its, xe/xem, ze/hir, they/them, or ae/aer pronouns, that needs to be stated explicitly within the text by that character so the audience can't ignore it, or the whole story needs to be done in third person to actually have the audience learn how to use and respect neopronouns, instead of just tossing them into out-side dialogue only, once in a blue moon.

If you have a different character to your main protagonist be the one who uses neopronouns, do not make them a side or background character: give them a prominent role, such as the main character's best friend, partner, party member, etc.

[mimikyuno]

trans representation: my hopes and fears about mizuki5 🏳️‍⚧️

im writing this post so that i can keep a record of all of my current thoughts on the upcoming n25 event, which im fairly certain will come soon (september?). i just. i have a lot of thoughts on this topic and i wanna share them before the event drops.

disclaimer: i am tme, and while i am not cis, i am not transfem.

depiction of transfeminine characters in anime has been quite… how do i even put this into words. trans women are depicted as either a joke, or as an “otokonoko” which for brevity’s sake let’s translate to femboy (i highly recommend on reading on the history of the term though). the trope of “tr*ps” was quite common, and used for comedic effects. i think of ruka from steins;gate, who is clearly a trans woman; she has dysphoria, asks okabe to go back in time so she can be born biologically female etc. yet, her womanhood is never taken seriously. “she’s a dude after all.”

i have already written a small post about the history of the “otokonoko” label and the way trans women consistently get third gendered in the anime scene so i won’t repeat myself. the thing is, many transfem characters i have seen in anime are either uncracked eggs or, when out, are often not taken seriously by the rest of the cast. a lot of transfem characters i know of fall in between being an uncracked egg and being out; these would be the very many “girly boys” who identify as male, while living their lives as women and being happy about passing, while people around them who know about their agab either treat them as men or third-gender them. for example, kuranosuke from kuragehime stays an egg throughout the series. as i mentioned in a previous post, i see makoto from the currently airing senpai wa otokonoko as a closeted trans girl struggling with internalised transphobia. she has dysphoria, is happier and feels like her “real self” when presenting as a girl, displays gender euphoria when she passes, and more. narratively, she is coded as a girl. i havent read the manga, but i know the author drops the ball, and makoto never gets to come out in the series.

i can only think of a handful of trans women who are both out AND are taken seriously within the narrative. for example hana from tokyo godfathers, nao-chan from skip and loafer, or isabella from paradise kiss (iirc). though i have not watched these anime, i know that lily from zombieland saga, alluka from hxh, seiko from lovely complex and shuuichi from wandering son also tick both the “out of the closet” and “taken seriously” categories.

the situation is slightly different in manga. in manga, i have always found more trans representation (both transmasc and transfem). however, before we move on to mizuki, i really want to talk about one of my favourite mangas, namely “love me for who i am”, aka fukaboku (anime adaptation when ;-;). this manga revolves around mogumo, a non binary teen who is struggling to make friends. their classmate, a cis boy, mistakes mogumo for an otokonoko, and invites them to work at the crossdressing cafe that his sister (a trans woman) owns. mogumo is initially upset; they are not a girly boy, they are non binary. mogumo is reassured that the cafe is a place for people to be who they are, and they dont have to identify as an otokonoko to work there. this strikes a nerve with mei, one of the kids working there, who is a closeted trans girl. throughout the manga, these characters all come to be more and more unapologetically themselves. lgbt themes are addressed constantly (they even go to a pride parade!!) and the trans women depicted in this manga are some of the best written ones i have come across. because they are actually acknowledged as women.

the reason why i want to talk about fukaboku before discussing mizuki, is that the 4 kids who work at the cafe cover the spectrum of “crossdressing boys” we usually see in anime, though taking it a step further with mogumo and mei. firstly we have ten-chan. he mostly identifies as a boy. he likes anime and manga and cosplaying, he’s into girls (but also hinted to bi maybe? i need to reread this), and he’s an adorable weirdo. to him, dressing as a girl in the cafe is fun, clothes have no gender to him. then there is sou, who is gay and also identifies with his agab. sou has a boyfriend, and the cafe is the only place where he gets to gush about him and feel accepted. he likes cute clothes but always dresses masculinely outside the cafe. then there’s mogumo. as mentioned, mogumo is non binary. they like cute things, so they sometimes like feminine clothes like the maid uniform they wear at the cafe, but they actually prefer a cute androgynous style (they often wear shorts instead of skirts). lastly, mei (my fave, my daughter, light of my life). at the beginning of the manga, mei is a closeted trans girl. initially, she resents mogumo for rejecting the “girly boy” (otokonko) label that she thought she had to embrace to survive and be who she is. thanks to mogumo’s courage, and the guidance of two older trans women (one of which is the owner of the cafe and the other is her friend, who works in fashion), she finds a more stable sense of herself, and canonically and textually identifies as a girl.

AND NOW, onto mizuki. first things first, i see her as a trans girl. her struggle with her identity, the way she presents, her history of bullying, dysphoria (the covered mirrored), and depression (in middle school, before transitioning), visual metaphors (all the pink and blue symbols, i should make a post about this tbh) all hint at her being trans. i really dont think mizuki is an otokonoko; typically, in anime narrative, when there is an otokonoko, the fact is revealed early on, and the struggles are about being accepted as a boy who dresses like a girl or as a funny gag (tr*p). tbh, i think it wouldnt make sense for mizuki to be an otokono. if she were, her main struggle would be to accept that she wants to dress as a girl. once accepted, the arc should be resolved. and she wouldn’t be scared to say “hey im a boy” when people assume she’s a girl. especially with niigo? they met online when she was still pre-transition, if she was an otokonoko it would have made more sense if niigo thought she was a boy, and then irl saw that she looks like a girl and THAT would have been the obstacle. but that is not the case with mizuki. she is happy in people assuming she is a girl, and is terrified of being outed. that is not in line with the trope of otonoko. in fukaboku, we have two characters who are Actually “girly boys”, ten-chan and sou, and neither are like mizuki at all. they dont present femininely with their family nor at school. mizuki is way more similar to mei, when it comes to gender presentation and identity. characters who are similar to mizuki from other media and who dont identify as girls all share the same trait: they are commonly regarded as eggs.

my hope for mizuki5, is that she gets to come out as trans to ena and the rest of niigo. mizuki being confirmed trans, indirectly or not, would make the most narrative sense, looking at her story, imagery, and the build-up for the reveal. and while i desperately hope this is the case, i am overwhelmed by fear. times are changing in the anime scene, and we got canonically gay and trans characters in similar games (the lesbian couple in d4dj or the trans girl in enstars). however, project sekai is massive in japan, and quite renowned internationally too. and that comes with expectations and pressures. when gundam witch from mercury finished airing, bandai namco had to issue a statement that the relationship between miorine and suletta was “up to interpretation”, despite the fact that the two literally get married. gundam is also a huge franchise, and bandai namco chose to issue a statement that would give them plausible deniability. not only is project sekai huge, but as i previously mentioned, representation of transfeminine characters overwhelmingly labels them as an otokonoko. i think the label of “otokonoko” is very useful when it comes to plausible deniability in media; u can see this character as a closeted trans girl, or as a crossdressing boy. you pleased the transgenders, and you pleased the transphobes. expect, u didnt please us. im gonna say it, i hate the crossdressing boy trope in animanga. in most instances, it’s a way to deny the character their identity, and in others, it’s treated as a means (willingly or not) to perpetrate violent and harmful transmisogynistic jokes and stereotypes. tho i will admit, i love a lot of “otokonoko” characters, tho for my mental health i tend to view as transfem nb or just trans women.

project sekai, with the massive reach it has, has the opportunity to give its audience a canonically transfem character. a character who is a fan favorite, whose story has, so far, been handled with so much love, kindness and understanding. mizuki could become the new standard, she could change the way transfem characters are portrayed in mainstream animanga for real. i know we have to let go of the expectations that queer characters have to verbally and explicitly state their identity for them to be taken seriously by the audience but fr i hope this will be the case for this event. i dont think most people would get it otherwise, and will just keep seeing mizuki as an otokonoko. which is in itself sad; being cishet is such a default, that gay and/or characters who never explicitly come out are either misunderstood or seen as a sign of “queerbaiting” (dont get me started on yuribaiting and how insane some of y’all are calling a show with gay women “yuribait” if they dont kiss or say “I AM A HOMOSEXUAL WOMAN).

mizuki’s and ena’s VAs told us to please be kind and understand the characters in preparation for the upcoming event. i hope they go for it. i really, really do. this could for real be a huge game changer in the industry. i see how project sekai keeps inspiring other shows and games (i should make a post about this too lol), so i hope mizuki won’t be third gendered, or shoved into the otokonoko label. i hope she gets to be herself. a girl. and be accepted as one by ena and the rest of niigo. it could be huge. or it could be a flop. no in between. which is why im both excited and terrified of this event. SEGA pls-

[intersexbliss]

I have a question — a post on intersex you shared said you can’t transition to be intersex. Why not? If mtf, aka male to female, and ftm, female to male exist why is it not possible to identify as intersex, and to do so without being “biologically” intersex? Isn’t it just as bioessentialist to demand people be born with the sex traits medically assigned or recognized as intersex to have an intersex identity? This isn’t a casual question to me. I have been questioning my gender identity and forming my transition goals for a while and it is actually coalescing around a specific intersex amab masc but with some seen as femme physical characteristics identity. I see myself as transitioning to intersex as well as to male as I go ftm. The characteristics and lived experience I will have will fit a number of intersex conditions just as well as I will fit male, and so if we don’t question one identity why question the other? Why act like it’s bigoted to identify as trans intersex when we don’t see it as evil to say be mtf even if afab people have unique struggles from the physical aspect of being afab that TYPICALLY happen? We know it’s wrong to alienate trans women and anyone else mtf or mtnb/mtx just because they can lack those experiences same as it is wrong to alienate cis women and trans men and other ftm or ftnb/ftx people who lack those experiences. In short just because my experiences as trans intersex aren’t the same as a natal intersex person doesn’t make that part of my identity invalid or my connection to an intersex identity false or a lie. It seems very transmed and transphobic to say otherwise.

It is incredibly disrespectful to be saying this to intersex people who are defending a label and identity that we have had to painstakingly advocate for using to describe our personal experiences instead of medicalized, derogatory language. Intersex is a label and identity that is entrenched in a unique history of found community.

Even without this context, according to my knowledge, the mainstream AND scientific communities are in agreement that intersex is a term that refers only to those with variations in sex characteristics that are congenital, meaning present at birth. Interestingly, it is the intersex community that has advocated for more inclusivity with the label and identity, and the scientific community that has sought to restrict it to merely describing genital variations. So, intersex is already as inclusive as it can reasonably be, but it is still not something that shares definitions with being transgender.

For example, Cary Gabriel Costello, an intersex transgender scholar who specializes in discussing the intersections of the intersex and trans communities, notes in a 2016 publication:

Trans* individuals share with the intersex community this problematic pressure to be normalized to the sex/gender binary. Unlike the case of intersex people, who are born sex-variant, (nonintersex) trans* people are born with bodies that are considered satisfactorily to conform to the dyadic sexes they were assigned at birth.

In conclusion, I hope this provides you with more understanding, and I wish you well on your journey of self-actualization. It can be a long, and sometimes difficult, experience that may have no guaranteed answers, so I hope that you find them and that you experience euphoria as your true self. The intersex and transgender communities are not opposed to one another, as we have historically fought the same fight against sociological binaries, but we do not have one-to-one experiences, and that is okay. Happy Pride Month. ❤️

[jupiter-on-the-compupiter]

what discoveries have you made since the 2021 ghostkin / cloudkin post ? :p

Omg hi! Little warning for a ramble that might sound incoherent and "weird" to people who don't know how to have fun lol /lh (aka: I'm talking about my non-humanness, lol)

Warning! this gets VERY long, VERY specific and personal (not in a vent way, but in a "I'm rambling about myself" kind of way), and, somehow, incredibly scientific. Like, actually talking about a physics phenomenon and chemical reaction. I don't know, but yk how it is lol, I may be cringe but I am free

Well! I am indeed cloudkin and Ghostkin; rather, I've realized that I mostly feel like a cloud-looking spirit of sorts, inhabiting a human body if you will. I know some of my features (antlers, fangs, multiple eyes and dots and markings) but they're slightly shifting since my form isn't stable in itself!

Also, I know I'm fictionkin to some degree... Except I'm... not? See, I'm part of a system. I keep referring to myself as otherkin instead of just being a non-human sysmate because, despite this not being everyone's experience (completely valid), I technically "am" "the one that was here before the others""", rather, I was just here pre syscovery even if I know I've been plural for longer than that; but I felt so at home with kin terms that they felt right to use even when I don't see many systems referring to their individual members as X-kin. However, I did eventually realize that my connection to a certain character (I'd hide who it is... But I post about Dream sans on an almost daily basis and they've been the mental representation of myself for about five years now, like. They're me) but it didn't feel like being fictionkin to me; I AM some sort of introject, a semi-fictive I'd say. Plus Dream is a little ball of golden energy inhabiting a skeleton body... And so am I, a golden-looking spirit inside a body! So I'm ghost/cloudkin, galaxykin (simply because of the shifting nature and because my mind always feels so -vast-, like my body's too small to contain it, and it felt right to think of myself as a galaxy, and it was a good metaphor until it was just... intrinsically tied to who I am) and starkin for similar reasons (glowing mass of continuous chemical reactions... Me relating myself to chemistry doesn't end here, keep reading and you'll notice lol)

Stupidly enough, because this is so specific and no one ever seems to talk about stuff like this, one of the things I've realized about myself is what I'm made of; as in, which chemical-

It's something I've known for a while, before I went by Júpiter I went by Jay because I knew I wanted a name that started with J bc J and Q are the only letters not in the periodic table and I was like "oh, my name starts with J because I'm the missing element"; and then way before I had my gender figured out, the easiest way to explain my feelings was to talk about myself in pokemon types... I'd be a ghost/poison type, something about poison types always made me relate in a way? fitting lol

I think I had a huge species euphoria moment when we did the gold rain experiment (link leads to page explaining how to do the experiment) in my lab class. To put it simply, it is a mix of lead nitrate and potassium iodide that crystalizes, and then forms this snowball kind of effect, it looks like THIS:

I don't know, the mix of something looking so glittery, yet being so toxic (8g of lead nitrate are enough to kill you lol) made me go OMG ME

I want to also add that as a physics student + chemistry enthusiast, me feeling species euphoria from physics/chemistry concepts extends to more; for example I learnt about the De Broglie wave length and I haven't been normal ever since... idk how to properly explain it, so here's the wikipedia definition lol, shorter than what I was gonna write: "Matter waves are a central part of the theory of quantum mechanics, being half of wave–particle duality. At all scales where measurements have been practical, matter exhibits wave-like behavior. For example, a beam of electrons can be diffracted just like a beam of light or a water wave." And I don't know how to explain the inherent non-human euphoria I got being "related" to waves like light; like, yes!! I feel more incorporeal and more wave-like! I'm a ghost! Of course my specific properties aren't really "realistic" but come on, no one's trying to (dis)prove my existence.

I think I've just become very comfy in being non-human since 2021, maybe it's because my partner is also non-human and we've related a lot to each other in that regard; I just do the things that make me happy about it. I hide in bed with my prized possessions, makes me incredibly happy in an animalistic kind of way!

Other people find where they came from, who they were at some point. Personally, I do not have a spiritual past related to my non-humanity, I am a creature inhabiting a human body, so I don't have hearthomes or kin memories... I have weirdly specific attachments to physics concepts (part of the reason I must study physics, I need to understand the world on a deeper, non-human level) and feel euphoria over the weirdest shit lmfao

[lokavisi]

Two days in a row I've posted a long UPG story. Well, here goes...

If you're reading this close to the time of posting, you can clearly see that my blog name here is Lokakind. AKA Loki's child. I know a lot of people use -son or -dottir as suffixes to denote their devotion or relationship to deity within the Norse pantheon. I chose a gender neutral variant since I'm nonbinary. Though when I was originally contemplating this name last year, I was searching general Old Norse words to use to make a name. Like, "Loki's wolf" or "Loki's fire," for example. Ultimately, I felt that I could never live into any of those names, so denoting the established relationship made the most sense. That said...one of the names I originally considered was Lokavísi, which means "Loki's Prince." Being transmasc, I quite liked the softer masculine term. The second the idea popped into my head Loki got all silly. Like He took my hand to kiss it and dramatically say, ~*♡My prince....♡*~ while fluttering His eyelashes. (That is typed as correctly as possible, lol.) But as much of a reaction as it got and as much as it gave me some gender euphoria, I still felt like giving myself a royal title felt presumptuous.

Cut to a few days ago when Loki and I started talking about family, and when he said my name (Rory, which I chose as part of my transition) it sort of hit different? I can't really explain it that well. It made me feel good to hear him say it, but he's said it before. There was nothing remarkably different in the circumstances of our conversation from previous ones. I just noticed a positive feeling within myself when he said it. I brought it up and he starting asking if I'd prefer another name like Tim or Boozlebub. (Yes, that is a name he said, and yes, that is how it was said/spelled. No, he did not misspeak "Beelzebub.") Anyway, in talking about names he said he liked me thinking of myself as His Prince. When I asked why he said, and I'm paraphrasing, that such a title still denotes lineage (being His child, if he is a King) while possessing power. Inherited power that, as a child of His, I am able to (or already) possess. He also reminded me that Rory means "red king" - I already "chose royalty" years ago.

So here I am now, typing this, to say that I might change it. And, returning to the words and names I looked up originally, I looked up the meaning again. The website I found some words from listed "vísi" as the Old Norse for "prince." I recognize subtler meanings can get lost in translation, especially with old languages, so I looked it up on other sites. From what I can tell, it's related to the Old Norse adjective víss, meaning "known" or "wise." The more precise definition for vísi was poet, leader, or chieftain. Visir means king, so also a leader, and as the weaker masculine nomative vísi would then be prince. If I understood everything correctly, anyway. Please feel free to point out any errors!

But this extra little bit of knowledge really intensifies the point, I think. He wants me to recognize the wisdom (and the power that comes from it) that comes from within myself and from my family of the Jarnviðr (aka the Ironwood), and make it known - show others that I possess it, that I know who and what I am, and am not afraid to be just that and utilize the power given to me. That allows me to be a great leader if in no other way than leading by example in how I live my life. As He said, I already chose leadership with my name anyway. But as Lokavísi, I would be doing so while acknowledging my relationship with him. It still feels intimidating to try to live into that name. I'm not just putting myself on the line - I risk smeering His name, too, if I chose to claim it and prove to be a shit leader. Though again, as He said, I already claimed leadership in my name, and I know He's gonna be a part of my life and leadership anyway. So is it really that scary to take on that name that I could already maybe be sort of living into anyway? I guess it's really not.

So yeah. That's probably change. And that's why. Not that I'm saying all this to justify the change to you. I don't care about that, lol. I wanted to share because our conversation and what came of it was so meaningful to me, and if it in any way resonates with others, I'd like to share that you all. I hope Loki's wisdom blesses you all ❤️

[swimmingleo]

What if complicated freak is about the same freak as little freak? Aka harry herself?

I would write about it but I’m not even a part of the 🏳️‍🌈community so I think that would be a bad idea. Have you thought about it in does terms?

yes, I think there could be some link to be made! The use of 'Freak' is definitely very specific because that's not a term you casually throw around to describe people unless you're mean. It's technically derogatory, but for some there is a real thrill and comfort in using those kind of terms to describe their own queerness. And I feel like this is what Complicated Freak and Little Freak do in different contexts.

She got wrapped up in somebody else

I’m wrapped up stuck in love with myself

I think the first lines kind of sum up the whole song, so having sex while being completely high on that gender euphoria. The speaker is into their partner but equally feeling themselves in that moment: She's fully out and wildin'. The ''you'' could be both the partner and She. For example the ''pulling my hair'' line could be kinky AND a metaphore of pulling your own hair out cuz it's all so... ~complicated

But I miss her skin on me now/But I miss how she kissed everywhere/I still crave it

That is reminding me of ''Maybe we'll do this again'' line in Little Freak! It's too hard to just be yourself at times only, in specific contexts. You want that all the time. Missing her skin on me>Feeling good in my skin. the skin part would sound a bit like a buffalo bill moment but bill is terrible horrible terf wank so I'd prefer to think of Leatherface putting make up on his skin masks. I feel very much for the big dude isolated in the deep countryside, who has been raised to fill in the 'nuclear wife' role by his conservative patriarcal family, and so the only way he found to express his femininity is through his masks: he is otherwise silenced and punished when failing his householding duties, like all women were. ITS SO WEIRD TO SAY IN REGARDS TO HARRY SORRY BUT we're in a ~Freak theme and it's ~Complicated right ummm unhinged gender free of constraints and expectations and stuff

Turned up too late one too many times/Bad choice of words in my alibi

Similar to I disrespected you/You'd make fun of me for sure. Reflecting on all that time you spent not being you, lying to yourself and others, making excuses, and how damaging it can be.

I've seen some posts comparing Complicated Freak to Only Angel as well! Both written in the same period and using crudeness and even violence in relation to femininity. In comparison, Little Freak is like a soothing caress <3 which is really heartwarming, we love ambivalence

[lycandrophile]

im transmasc myself and while i agree w the stuff in your pinned readmore thing im a little confused on how we are supposed to have grown up inherently different from cis women, or how our dicomfort with our gender is somehow innately different because we came to the conclusion we are men or otherwise trans. i dont think i completely agree. i think a lot of cis women go through much of the same, and possibly the exact same, discomfort we do because being interpreted as girls in society, or being dfab, is a difficult experience for most, especially for people who are gnc.

i think it really comes down to how we decide we are going to label ourselves or whether we pursue medical transition? a cis woman may be dysphoric in the same way we are, but decide she is not trans and is going to try to be comfortable with her body the way it is for whatever personal reason. she wont face the same stigma we do navigating society as transmasculine people, but we dont have to have an innate difference from her for our identities and our systemic oppression to be real, ykwim? like i can share the exact same thoughts and experiences as someone who decided they werent trans and still be trans myself, because being trans is an action i have taken to treat my dysphoria. i dont have to not feel like other girls (not saying this in a demeaning way just phrasing it like the post you made)

here's the thing: being trans as someone who was afab is about WAY more than just discomfort with being seen as women

first of all, it's not just about the discomfort - my experiences of gender euphoria are far more indicative of my gender experience as whole than my dysphoria is - sure, a cis woman could feel uncomfortable with what being perceived as a woman is like, but do they feel the same absolute joy when they're called a boyfriend or a brother or a dad or when they see their name next to "mr"? do they feel like everything in their life just makes more sense when they fit into it as a genderqueer man (in my case), or do they just not like what it means to fit into it as a woman? because there's a big difference

my point is, at the end of the day, it is impossible for me to have the "exact same thoughts and experiences" as a cis woman because those thoughts and experiences include Not Being A Woman, so anyone who shares my exact thoughts and experiences is necessarily not a cis woman

i think the real problem here is that you're viewing transness purely as a series of actions (social transition, legal transition, medical transition, etc)

sure, it might be that to you, but for the majority of trans people, it's so much more than that - i'm not trans in order to treat my dysphoria, i'm trans because my gender isn't the one i was assigned at birth, and that would be true regardless of what actions i take, because for me and most other trans people, transness as an identity and transitioning as an action are two separate (albeit often closely related) things

sure, our experiences don't HAVE to be innately different from cis women's for them to be valid, but that doesn't change the fact that (at least for most of us) they still are innately different - sometimes things are just true even if they don't need to be

and i would caution you to be VERY careful generalizing the idea that being trans is nothing more than a treatment for dysphoria, because that's the exact logic a lot of t/er/fs use to argue that we should just find "other treatments" (aka usually conversion therapy) and not let anyone transition

and on top of the t/er/f issue, this logic also suggests that discomfort is the main experience of being trans, which allows cis people to keep portraying it as a mental illness / generally bad thing, and also fucks over anyone who wants to transition to achieve euphoria even if they don't have the associated dysphoria (for example, i'm not dysphoric about my lack of facial hair but i AM euphoric when i see myself with facial hair so one of my transition goals is getting some facial hair - it doesn't matter that i'm comfortable without it because i would be even more comfortable with it and that's what SHOULD matter)

to give you a somewhat simplified answer to your question: our discomfort with womanhood is different from a cis woman's because our discomfort is part of a much larger internal experience of a different gender, and theirs likely wouldn't be solved by living as a different gender because that wouldn't align with their internal experience (as evidenced by the cis women who have transitioned and later realized it wasn't the right path because that wasn't the real source of their discomfort), so while the discomfort might feel the same on the surface, it comes from a different place and will have different experiences attached to it

[pickle-the-lad]

Okay, so I know I have been following @/justlgbtthings for a good amount of months and them posting landscapes, edits, and art of LGBTQ+ flags are utterly amazing--10/10. But seeing on how that one person was utterly so upset about her landscape LGBTQ flag thing made me utterly confused and whatnot.

Plus, I even looked at their blog and whatnot and I thought I was looking at an extreme SJW because their blog was just...ugh. So much.

Apparently, this person/woman thinks that everything seems to be problematic for ze (yes, I am using the person's pronouns). But it honestly looks as if they looked up the word "bad" and now is just going ballistic over everything.

Now, I am not trying to start discourse, but I will say that this person is extremely nonsense. Like, for one thing, zei's mad about cis men who don't understand period cramps and that they are the reason that "heterosexuality is mainstreaming"--uhhh, what? Even I was confused.

And then there was wanting to ban the term "ladies" for its "racist, misogynist, murdering, etc" and then using words such as "Blxck" "trxns" "pxople". Apparently, the regular word "people" just refers to as the binary cis genders 🤦.

Again, not wanting to start discourse, but rather just some things wanting to be said and pointed out.

My goodness! I had no idea of any of this!!

If what you're saying is true, ze is definitely an SJW, and these tactics are very transphobic, virtue signalingly, blind to reality.

[For anyone who doesn't know]

There's a lot of people who need to expand something for them to understand it. Which is why if you meet someone who doesn't understand something like: menstrual cramps, if they and you are willing to, sit down with them and try to find an example they would understand: is the best tactic. Just yelling "misogynist!" Will only create more actual misogynist and breed ignorance.

Most trans and non-binary people see adding the "x" to gender-neutral words (such as Autumn's examples) as transphobic.

It's depersonizing to replace a letter in people with X to make it "more inclusive".

The only time I can see adding an X to a word is in case when someone identifies with that changed word!

As for the words ladies and Lady: Just like every single word in the English dictionary, it depends on the context.

A lady is a respectable woman. the context is the sincerity in calling the woman respectable.

AKA the misogyny isn't in the word, it's in the mouth of the one who says it.

If you prefer language with an X in it, and or don't like the ward lady being used with you. Put in a pinned post that, that's the language you're using cuz it gives you euphoria/ otherwise give you dysphoria. But stating anything as universal is inherently harmful.

Thank you, Novas, for bringing this to my💖 attention

[jurassicsunsets]

Sponges in the fossil record

Welcome back to another fun-filled week here at palaeofail-explained, which is apparently sponge central now. Last week I wrote a bit about sponges and why they’re great. You might wanna read that now, because this post is going to build off of that!

(Image: The fossil demosponge Astylospongia, a roughly spherical sponge with a hollow in the middle. It’s been broken to reveal the interior. [Source])

Sponges are some of the first animals to evolve (Perhaps the first - a controversy that’s made a bit more complicated by the ctenophore problem, which we’ll hopefully get to in a future installment) (Oh, and they might make up a paraphyletic grade in the way that monkeys and fish do, meaning that we might be just advanced sponges!).

Where was I? Ah, yes. Sponges are some of the first animals to have evolved, and consequently, are some of the earliest animals to appear in the fossil record. Or perhaps i shouldn’t say appear, because the earliest sponge fossils we have are not of sponge bodies at all!

What’s preserved are steranes. Steranes are a type of organic compound—specifically, a type of lipid, or fat. They are a highly degraded form of sterols, which are organic molecules found in many living things, especially eukaryotes (things whose cells have a nucleus). Examples of sterols include cholesterol, as well as testosterone and estrogen.

(Image: Estrogen, a sterol. It consists primarily of a bunch of carbon atoms bound together in four rings. Put this in a rock for a few million years and you get steranes. Put it in a semi well-known palaeontology blogger and you get gender euphoria. [Source])

The particular sterol that’s of interest to us (besides estrogen) is called 24-isopropylcholesterol (gesundheit), and today it is unknown in any living organisms other than demosponges. What does it do? I don’t know. Ask a sponge chemist. 

I mentioned before that sterols, when degraded, turn into steranes, and so we sometimes find examples of 24-isopropylcholesterANE in the rock record. This makes it an example of a molecular fossil. And what’s most exciting is that these molecular fossils are the earliest known evidence of animal life on the planet!

See, back about, oh, 700 million years or so ago, during the cryogenian period, the earth was covered in ice. Like, I mean, ALL OF IT. It’s a time in the history of the earth that we call “snowball earth”, and it’s a time when the Earth turned into the ice planet Hoth. But instead of tauntauns, there were only microbes living on Earth. And apparently, also sponges, as evidenced by molecular fossils.

(Disclaimer: there remains some controversy over these molecular fossils, and some possibility that they were produced by non-animals. I think they were most likely made by sponges, but time may tell.)

The earliest body fossils of sponges come from the next period after the cryogenian - the ediacaran, aka the age of pancakes.

(Image: Not a cellphone in sight, just rangeomorphs living in the moment. An Ediacaran scene with the pancake-like Dickinsonia in the middle, fern-like Charnia next to it, and a bunch of other things I don’t recognise around them. [Source])

This is all before the Cambrian Explosion, which you might have heard of before. The pancake guys lived a little less than 600 million years ago, but we’re not actually focusing on them. Rather, we’re focusing on the small shelly fossils that are around them. These are scientifically termed the Small Shelly Fossils. 

(Image: Scanning electron microscope photos of apparent sponge spicules in the Small Shelly Fossils. These particular ones are actually from the early Cambrian, but still before the Cambrian Explosion. [Source])

As you might have guessed if you read that caption, the Small Shelly Fossils of the Ediacaran and early Cambrian include sponge spicules, which if you didn’t read the sponge overview, are what make up sponge skeletons. So that’s something that can’t be so easily contested as molecular fossils.

One early group of...animals?? that appear in the fossil record are the archaeocyaths. These are the kind of things you might have seen at a natural history museum, looked at for 0.5 seconds, and then moved on to look at the pretty trilobites. These displays don’t do them justice, because they’re pretty interesting little guys.

(Image: Stapicyathus, an archaeocyath from the Early Cambrian, in top view (left) and side view (right). It’s shaped a bit like an ice cream cone, or like a bunch of sticks bundled together. [Source])

If you have heard literally anything about archaeocyaths it’s likely that they are, quote, “the first reef builders”, and indeed they were. It’s rare to see them in the form I showed above; normally, you just get cross-sections through them. 

Archaeocyaths are known exclusively from the Cambrian, and they occur on literally every continent. They’re used a lot for Cambrian biostratigraphy - in other words, correlating the fossils between different sites to determine how old they are. 

What did archaeocyaths do? It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems like they had a hole in the middle and porous walls—a lot like sponges, so it’s assumed (with good reason, I think) that they filter-fed like modern sponges. They also built skeletons out of calcite (limestone), hence their reputation as “reef builders”. They seem to have been common in shallow, warm-water environments, where you might expect filter feeders to live. 

One thing that’s peculiar about archaeocyaths, though, is that they start out entirely lacking pores, and occasionally will grow their skeletons to the point of entirely blocking off their pores. That’s strange for something that’s ostensibly living like a sponge, and it’s led some (i.e. the folks at Palaeos) to speculate that the structure evolved as a way for the earliest animal-like cells to live together, providing scaffolding for the cells to prevent them from being smothered. They make the case far better than I could, so it’s worth giving a read if you’re interested.

(Image: Generalised anatomy of an archaeocyath. Most of the details aren’t really important - what matters is they’re shaped kind of like an ice cream cone, with a hollow middle and porous walls. [Source])

Now we get to the tricky part: What are archaeocyaths?? They’re generally assumed to be animals, and sponges, but this is based mostly upon people not really being sure what else they could be. Having not studied them in depth, I myself have no clue, and I’ve gathered that the state of the literature seems to be “we have no clue”. They might be sponges. They might be some other group of animals. Heck, they might not even be animals. Maybe one day this’ll be illuminated with molecular fossils! It could be you! Whatever. I’m putting them in the sponge post for now.

(Image: A bunch of plus sign-shaped spicules clumped together on rock. [Source])

Once the Cambrian Explosion came in the mid-late Cambrian, actual real for-sure sponges got bigger and more recognisable. Those spicules in the image above belong to Protospongia, a sponge that lived in the Burgess Shale with your other favourite critters. It’s been referred to the hexactinellida, or the glass sponges, but I’m not sure how accurate that is due to spicules being notoriously convergent in different sponge groups.

(Image: Diagram of a stromatoporoid, looking like a lumpy lasagna. [Source])

Continuing the trend of “things you saw in a display cabinet and walked past” are the stromatoporoids, a group sponges from the middle palaeozoic ( about 300-400 million years ago). In fossils they’re normally seen in side view, but sometimes in top view as well. What’s more, we’re pretty sure they’re a group of demosponges. They made calcite skeletons, but palaeozoic forms lacked spicules. Mesozoic forms apparently had silica (quartz) spicules. 

Anyway, they’re the next “reef builders” after archaeocyaths died out, though there were also corals doing their thing at this time. They did...normal spongy things, it seems. Just your normal sponge fare.

And....”normal sponge fare” is pretty much the rest of the sponge fossil record. They make different shapes, different skeletons, different sizes, live in freshwater, live in saltwater, live under antarctic ice, and generally just do...spongy things. I’ll leave you with one interesting example of a sponge fossil—evidence of the Boring Sponge Cliona, preserved as the holes it bored in the shell of a mollusc.

Many people look past sponges as being too “simple” or less interesting than the more familiar fish or mammals or dinosaurs, but I think that just because something is a Boring Sponge, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a boring sponge.

[gender-chest]

gender rant / possibly coining when i figure out the name

8/8/20 edit for those who stumble over this post: i ended up coining a term called “Dialian“ please look on my blog if your curious abt that term!

//rant start

my gender feels like... a bunch of dials switches with different settings on them, i dont get control over what theyre set to but ik whats on them (i think)

some examples of what could be on the dials:

what the gender feels like and how intense it is are dials that are constantly moved to random settings (aka how i got to my conclusion of being genderfluid/flux)

however, the difference between fluidflux/fluix is that theres a dial that flows between quoigender (or freaking out over my gender idk) and gender apathetic (the middle ground is where i feel confident or ok and aware abt my gender) that change how those will feel

and then the last one is basically my dysphoria/euphoria switch/dial thats like “are you ok with these settings yes or no?” except i dont get to choose so its either feels like the gender the settings add up to be are right or something feels misaligned (usually becuz of how im presenting or how ppl see me)

it could also explain my confusion on why genderfluix didnt feel specific/didnt cover all of it, and also why it felt like saying im just genderfluid thru tons tons of genders in my genderhoard didnt feel quite right either, i mean it worked if i can find a gender that matched what im feeling day to day but it feels. inefficient ? (more power to those that describe themself this way tho this is just a me thing)

it also sometimes felt like i was just having different feelings of genderfluid stacked on top of each other ? idk

if i tweak the definition to be less specific or wordy maybe ill coin it if people feel the same? does anyone even feel the same way?

//rant end

[throwawaygenderjourney]

Wednesday, January 29th, 2020

Turns out the therapy sessions also are gonna take a bit more time. For the same reason. Not a lot of therapists deal with these issues and when they do, often there’s other conditions. For exemple, an adult clientele. 

This seriously bums me out, I felt like I was making so much progress and now it just stops. I knew this whole journey wouldn’t be just fun and games all throughout, but that doesn’t stop me from being sad about it. We’re still trying to find the right therapist at the moment of writing this, and I’ll post more news about it when we make more progress.

I mentioned how I spent more time watching and reading trans content online. And I realized that the more I do it, the more I become dysphoric. If you spent any amount of time in this community, you already know what it is but if you don’t, here the gist of it: Basically it’s the feeling that you’re not in harmony with your sex assigned at birth. For example, for a trans woman, facial hair can cause dysphoria, making her unhappy with her body.

Now that this is out of the way, I want to bring gender euphoria into the mix. which is the opposite of dysphoria, aka being happy with your body. Without looking at it like an idol, watching all those “successful” trans women could be what brings dysphoria. 

Before consuming trans content this often, I only felt gender euphoria. Not in the sense that I was happy with my gender, but that I would feel so much better as the other. Because if you think about it, one can't really exist without the other, how do you know you're euphoric if you've never been dysphoric? This doesn't mean euphoria isn't valid, or that dysphoria is more important. Dysphoria is just more present because people talking about it usually aren't happy with where they are in their transition (which I think we can agree, nobody will ever be happy with that). And the majority of the vocal trans community (members that express their feelings online) are in this state. A simple exemple is me, right now, that’s what I’m doing.

All in all, I’d say they're both present and valid, and in my opinion, feeling one more than the other doesn't matter. Yes they should both be taken in consideration before a transition, but don't refrain yourself from being happy because your feelings don't match with other's.

[evilasiangenius]

Ekstasis end notes

Usually I wait until I’m done with the story to write up end notes, but Ekstasis is looking to take some time to write.  So before I forget the details (and I’ve already forgotten some things) I thought I’d post the notes here. 

Note: this is a working draft; I’ll be revising these since I still have some other stuff to go through.  

Chapter 1

Ekstasis starts after Furiosa has lost her arm but before she goes to visit Angharad and the girls at the end of Fortuna.  That part I haven't come to yet.

The Ace talks more in detail about putting on mourning scars in chapter 12 of Gloria.  It's assumed that many people have already put on mourning (Coil, Morsov, Nux, etc.) since it's been some time since Acosta's death.

Imperator Acosta dies in chapter 4 of Fortuna.

Coil had been doing the bulk of caring for Furiosa at night, mostly when she was very ill, until the Ace was well enough to take over.  He could only come later in the evenings due to work.  Furiosa does not remember those early weeks of recuperation when Coil was by her side and never learns about it until many years later in Gloria.

Furiosa and Coil's earlier relationship is explored in Tenera.  In chapter 4 of Euphoria, their friendship and relationship is damaged at the last War Games.  They haven't been as close in recent months as they were before the War Games.

Chapter 2

This is the car that Nux drives in Fortuna.

Morsov was assigned to Nux as his Lancer in Fortuna.  He's surprised because Furiosa is not wearing the white and is basically topless.

Morsov saved Furiosa's life on top of the War Rig in Fortuna.

Rose the Blackthumb is a character that can be seen in the movie, a heavyset War Boy in overalls that is doing auto body work on the Interceptor when Max makes his wild run through the lower warren of the War Tower.

The higher number the gauge, the thinner the steel.  22 is more along the lines of contemporary cars, which are far lighter and more fragile than classic cars of the 20th century.

A War Boy of War Boys is one who has survived the desert initiation run, which is written about in L'Arbre du Ténéré, a three day walk with no food or water.  

From the moment Slit accepts Nux's proposal, several days pass, up to a few weeks.  I think I had this figured out when I was writing Tenera, that it would take a week or two to get everything ready.

Nux had probably been using a communal wheel up until this point, probably some nearly unadorned one that is used by the daily patrol drivers whose vehicles are assigned at random as opposed to the more ornate and decorated wheel that he and Slit put together.

If Slit had left Nux alone in the car overnight, it would have said something rather unpleasant about their relationship to others.

Slit's bracer then is a copy of Rictus' bracer.  Copying elite goods using ordinary materials is archaeologically attested as far back as the Chalcolithic.

In the short story Our World, Nux tells Capable that his bracelet is welded on, but he's not telling the truth there.

The story of the hex key is in chapter 2 of Vulnera.

So far, Slit is careful to keep his self-harm to parts of his body that are covered by his clothes.

Chapter 3

Some of the work done on Furiosa's hand is described in chapter 5 of Rota.

There are heavier and lighter deka- weights (since it's base-10 metric), and War Boys know from context which one is which.  So either dekagrams or dekakilos.  This idea originally came from Italian, which uses etto to signify 100 gram measurements.

Morsov, your Buzzard is showing.  Stop staring at Rose literally like a piece of meat.

A few weeks have passed since Furiosa left the infirmary in the first chapter and her arm is finally completely healed up.

In lieu of traditional fats for soap making, soap at the Citadel is made from petroleum distillates.

Coil has been sick with worry that Furiosa would die.  He's already lost one partner and the stress of possibly losing another partner has been hard on him.

Petroleum jelly is naturally black.  The idea here is that there is a more expensive purified clear one that is used medicinally, and otherwise the regular black one is used decoratively.

Stonker's backstory and childhood is explored in later chapters of Vincula, starting at chapter 9.

War Boys that have an interest and skill in drawing sometimes end up learning how to brand.  Win definitely did this too.

Acosta had been Ace's friend since they were both teenagers.  This can be seen in various chapters of Vincula, starting around chapter 4.

Morsov's childhood and his being rescued out of the waste is explored in Refuge.  

The Ace putting a crewmate under the wheels is discussed in chapter 4 of Rota.

More on Morsov's relationship with his former Driver Elvis can be found in chapter 4 of Euphoria.

The music box plays Hushabye Mountain.

Chapter 4

Bioluminescent glowworms are native to Australian caves.  The Buzzards cultivate them when they can for extra light.

In the dark, Buzzards all wear a small red piezoelectric LED bulb.  Red light helps them keep their night vision.  Their cars also are fitted with red bulbs.

Tran and Dart were Coil and Furiosa's rival team in chapter 3 Vulnera.  They've all been buddies since (see Lamia).

The current hierarchy, from top to bottom, and rating War Boys by experience is Furiosa, the Ace, Tran, Coil, Dart, Morsov.  However since Morsov trained directly under the Ace, he's been put in charge.

War Boys eat mostly non-meat foods.  The only meat that's eaten in this part of the wasteland is human, which as far as the War Boys know, only the Buzzards eat, though the War Lords are known to indulge, such as in chapter 6 of Vulnera.

The cohort of War Pups are those specifically chosen to be trained to be future Lancers and Drivers, which is a small percentage of the whole (less than 20%).  All the other kids are Organics, which means they do little jobs around the Citadel and work on the farms.  Sometimes non-cohort boys can work their way into the Revhead world and ostensibly get trained up to be a  Lancer, but that sort of promotion is not as common as it was in the past during Ace's youth for example, since there is more available labor now and those in charge can afford to be picky about who gets promoted to do what.

After the War Party in Fortuna, many captives and vehicles were captured.

The War Games are described in chapters 3 and 4 of Euphoria, and live training is described in chapter 3 of Vulnera.

The Ace fell off the War Rig during a battle in Fortuna.

Stonker is defined as “something that is very large or impressive of its kind.” I first came across the word reading BBC Formula 1 Grand Prix highlights (“That was a stonker of a lap!”).

The goggles Morsov gives to the Ace were the ones that Morsov brought with him when he came to the Citadel in Refuge.  Of course, rubber parts have been replaced over time, but he gives these to the Ace, who wears them from now on.

Chapter 5

Nux lesson plans as part of his daydreaming, among other things.  Visualization is important for many athletes, actors, and others in general (e.g. the book “The Inner Game of Tennis”)  Specifically for this story, I envisioned it as how Formula 1 drivers do a lot of visualization.  A dramatization of this can be seen in the movie Rush where James Hunt visualizes the Monaco Grand Prix course.  Look up 'Internal Motor Imagery Rush 2013' on Youtube.

The Tertius and Quartus Imperators are the two Imperators seen on top of the Gigahorse in the movie.  I think some fans call them Frank and John (John and Frank?).  I don't know if they're fraternal or identical twins.

The very formal speech of the twin Imperators is partially to show their status, but mostly because Immortan Joe demands propriety in his presence.  As soon as business is over, they drop the formality, but notice that they pick up the formality again with the Ace, suggesting they have some serious official  business with him.

The different emblems can be seen in the movie: The Prime Imperator wears the full emblem, made from metal, and the Secundus (aka Composite) Imperator wears a leather badge.

Furiosa changes her manner of speech to be more deferential to the higher-ranked Imperators.  However throughout the series, she hasn't changed her manner of speech much unless she's talking to someone higher-ranked, which sort of suggests that she's always a little bit off in contrast to the other War Boys, never quite fully acculturated into War Boy Society, though her style of speech turns out to be very suited for the way an Imperator speaks.

Imperator Acosta's given name is taken from Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso's last name.

“Extended family of the long run” means that the Imperators have known the Ace since they were all survivors of the long failed run to Walhalla, a place in the mountains.  This story is told in Rota.

The Tertius and the Quartus know Coil because Coil is their son, by a Milking Mother.  Coil does not know this however, as parentage is kept secret.  For those curious, Coil's mother has already appeared in the series as a minor background character.

Tribal affiliation is more important than race or gender in this world, so Morsov will always be slightly ostracized because of his Buzzard origins.  Bandits and ferals are considered opportunists and many of the children they might have may be captives themselves or claim to be captives, but Buzzards are hated enemies.

Dart's the mathematical one.

At 11.25 hands, Stonker is just shy of 6'6”.  Unlike Nux, who stayed very small until he grew very suddenly, Stonker has always been tall for his age, so he had been promoted quickly to account for it, making Driver before he grew too tall to be a Lancer.  It also didn't hurt that he was well-connected.

Many minor War Boy characters are named after friends' pets.  Bucket is no exception.

Stonker must have made an official offer to Bucket at the War Games, because it was at the same War Games when Morsov's Driver broke up with him.  Of course, Morsov losing his ride was probably not official for a few days, so Stonker wouldn't have known.  Once Stonker asked Bucket properly before the community, there would be no way to back out of it politely.

Paired War Boys often smooth out each other's rough spots.  Dart does this for Tran, and Nux does this for Slit.

Dart's too far-sighted to be very helpful doing close-up work.  He passed his Revhead qualifications by being strong in his understanding of theory and concepts, even though he can't see well enough to do the fine work.  He's more useful as a scout, a look-out, and a sniper.

As Miss Giddy says, there is always a girl called Splendid.  (Euphoria, Chapter 3).

The new Secundus is Elvis, Morsov's former Driver.  The prior Secundus died in battle.

Chapter 6

In the Iliad, Patroclus is addressed as 'O my Rider'.

Win is quoting an old Middle English song, “Sumer is Icumen in”.

Coil and Win are hiding out in the old warren, which is the same place that the Ace hides Morsov in Refuge.

Coil signs “crazy about you”, similar to Jessie in the original Mad Max movie.

The Ace talks more about what happens to Imperators' bodies after their deaths in chapter 5 of Rota.

Moki came from a Trader family.

Frances is the Ace's older sister, who is described in Rota.

This is a long time before he is known as The Ace, so he's merely called Ace.

Nothing goes to waste; anything that can be eaten will be eaten.

Ace is of course, ace, but not aromantic.  But Acosta doesn't understand, and thinks it a blow to his pride.  I haven't written it, but the reason Acosta suggests that Coil should fool around with other War Boys during the War Games (mentioned in Euphoria, chapter 4) is because that's what Acosta did himself after his break with Ace years ago.  It's very quietly hinted at in Vincula, but Moki became Acosta's lover, which gave Moki a lot of influence (and thus furthered both Win and Stonker's careers).  Moki loved Acosta despite the fact that he knew Acosta always loved Ace more.

In Vincula, it's revealed that in the past, Elvis also courted Coil when Coil was a Lancer.  He is much more respectful toward Coil than he is toward Morsov, because Coil is very well-connected and has many friends.  In contrast, Morsov is poorly connected and socially ostracized, which gives Elvis more freedom in abusing him because there would not be social pressure to make Elvis stop.  What Elvis does to Morsov, he would not dare to do to another Lancer.

Weight requirements can be very strict on pursuit vehicles, where Drivers and Lancers both want to be as strong as possible without overly weighing down the vehicle.  This follows any formula of racing cars where driver have to keep down their weight, which is much harder for tall drivers than smol ones (see Nico Hulkenberg vs Fernando Alonso).

In this case, the shopbound Revhead Bristow probably worked their way up from an Organic and never trained to fight.  It's not always the case that someone is shopbound because they screw up or they're too tall.

Gastown and Bulletfarm War Boys are a lot poorer than Citadel War Boys; in general, they aren't fed or watered as much.  Of course things are different with their Imperators, but the War Boys in general just are not as strong or healthy compared to Citadel War Boys.  This is my theory as to why Max can cut a swathe of destruction through the Polecats; not that Max is inherently stronger or a better fighter, but that even a Citadel bloodbag gets more to eat and drink than a Gastown War Boy.

Win is singing, “In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain.”  Besides symbolic reasons for this song, it also shows how the world was extremely international before it was killed, so culture was spread all around.

Chapter 7

Tin boxes in lieu of cardboard, since cardboard is more costly to produce.

I never described the internal construction of the tanker, but the way I imagine it, besides a large interior with which to haul goods and slaves, much of the tanker is lined with a water compartment that insulates the goods once it's full of water.  There is a subcompartment within the water compartment for milk, and the water around it keeps it cool and insulated.

Balanced packing is important so the tanker does not tip over when its lowered down on the lift.  If it's unbalanced, it could cause a lot of trouble.  There is a famous example of a military cargo jet that floundered and crashed in Afghanistan due to improperly secured vehicles leading to an unbalanced load.

The triangle run is referenced in both Vulnera and Gloria.  It is a reference to the historic transatlantic triangular trade of slaves, sugar, and rum.

Numbered Imperators serve Immortan Joe directly.

Runs to Bulletfarm and Gastown don't require more than a small crew because the Citadel territory is guarded very fiercely.  Long Bartertown runs require big escorts to protect the goods as they go far from Citadel territory.

The Wretched support themselves by working the mills.  These millsworks are mostly in the lower part of the Third Tower, and the Wretched are segregated from the War Boys to prevent any possible spread of disease, though there are some Organics and Imperators that oversee their work.  These people are paid in food and water.  Fighting War Boys never interact with such people.

These little terrace gardens are as close to private ownership of land as it gets for War Boys.  Some Revheads and Organics may tend little plots, trading off surplus foodstuff or giving it to families down below.

The hook seen in Max's long run is used to run a small cable car between the Immortan's Tower and the War Tower.  It helps move goods easily between the towers.

The idea for calling the motorcylists Moto-Lancers came from MotoGP, a major international motorcycle racing format.

Hundy is a slang term for a $100 bill.  It's also the name of a friend's pet.

Support trucks double carrying gear and fighting War Boys.  Some of them have mounted flamethrowers or guns.

Furiosa inadvertently builds alliances with War Pups by feeding them.

The Lift Imperator is named after the farmer in Babe, Arthur Hoggett.

Rule of three is first mentioned in Vulnera and is a vehicle safety principle for Lancers.  It means making sure to have three contact points with the vehicle, ideally at all times or at least as much as possible.  So both feet and one hand, both hands and one foot, etc.

The Immortan's drummers of course are the Doof Wagon drummers.

Chapter 8

An early idea I had was that some War Boys got sick from from painting the dials of their cars with radioluminescent paint, much like the radium girls poisoning cases in the early 20th century.

For various ideas on how War Boys would wear their blankets, I went looking at fashion blogs since oversized scarves, aka 'blanket scarves' were (are?) popular.  So Cosmo and various other sites gave me some good ideas on how to wear blankets since I wanted individual War Boys to have their own styles.  

Of course Furiosa has no idea what's going on in Morsov's personal life (ain't no Imperator got time for drama), but she would probably agree that as long as it didn't interfere with work or morale, that it would be fine.

Stonker's 'strange background' is described more in Vincula, chapters 9 and above.  The strangeness is that he is probably one of the only War Boys around to have been raised by a parent, Win.  This is the same Win who was Coil's former Driver.

Before he was rescued by the Citadel and became a War Boy, Win came from a Trader family and had always worn a condenser.  Some notes in Vincula talk about this more, but generally the idea is that without regular and certain sources of water, Traders relied on condensers, recycling even their exhalations.  This is of course similar to the Fremen in Dune (though possibly not as smelly since Traders don't wear stillsuits to recycle sweat and waste).  

I noticed in the movie that there is this thing that sort of looks like a rolled curtain tucked against the ceiling of the War Rig between the seats.  I imagine that this is a privacy curtain for the Imperator, so they can get some privacy and rest.

A bollard of course is something that can be used to block traffic.  This is to stand in for 'bollocks', which would be the more correct way of cursing.

Not all War Boys are sexually inclined.  This particular support truck has a couple asexual War Boys.

Bucket has had his teeth filed to sharp points, which suggests that his origins are from outside of the Citadel.  

The top belt, the one that many War Boys wear is used both as a practical safety measure (e.g. clipping it to the vehicle in order to take a little nap, in chapter 1 of Tenera) and also as an erotic symbol.  For example, in Delicia chapter 2, Win tells Coil to undress for sex but to keep his top belt on.

The Ace had intentionally left Furiosa and Coil alone.

Note that the Nux car had a crummy seat stuck in beside the Driver's seat, which gives us an idea of where Nux and Slit are headed in this story.

A temporary seat was bolted in the FDK when the Ace and Slit came to pick up Nux out of the waste in  L'Arbre du Ténéré.

Stonker is telling Morsov a story that Win had told him ages ago (Vincula).  As babyrubysoho asked me, is this Bedtime Star Wars?  The answer of course is, yes.

Slit's probably going to have to reopen his wound so his mouth can open more.  More on this later.

Chapter 9

I had an idea recently that the Buzzards were also called such because of their buzzing staticky radio code, not just because they were carrion feeders and scavengers.  More on Buzzards later.

When the Buzzard's backhoe tears off half of the front gunner's nest, paper and all sorts of other debris goes flying.  I suggest that it's full of accounting papers and radio logs, among other things.

The War Boys are definitely playing travel chess or checkers.

Youtube has many examples of people using Morse code on the radio and it is evident when people have practiced very hard at being good at it.  Of course, cryptography and language mixtures have warped the standard Morse code so that the War Boys have no way of deciphering what is being said.

The new binary of the world is 1-2 and not 0-1.  So banging on the roof of the car to notify the Driver comes in pairs, the War Rig needing assistance/speeding up the convoy sounds in pairs.  Furiosa giving Max the kill switch code is also in this binary code (1-2, red-black).  Of course the exception is that the Ace pounds on the top door three times to notify Furiosa about flares from the Citadel, but that's probably because he's seen something very unusual.

At a guess, food bars range between 400-600 calories a bar.

Eating five times a day is first referenced in Vincula, which is what the agricultural War Boys do during times of heavy work.  I borrowed this idea from agricultural workers in rural Taiwan who apparently eat five times a day during the rice planting because of how hard the work is.  In this case it's not so much that they're eating a lot, it's more that they're spreading out small meals over the entire day to stay more focused and alert.

Kashi now makes some savory bars that remind me how I imagine War Boy food bars.  Costco on the other hand has some veggie burgers (Don Lee Farms Veggie Patties) that remind me of the War Boy mush.  Mmm-mmm, McFeasting!

Slit's quote comes from Vulnera, where he talks more about his past.

The principle of aiding stranded vehicles in the open waste is something like the way ships are obligated to help out any other ship in distress.

The concept that the heliograph was much safer is because it needs a direct line of sight and to intercept it, someone would have to know exactly when the message was being sent and be in that direct line of sight, which would be very difficult since the road between the Citadel and Gastown is very well-guarded.  For example, the Buzzards probably use radio because otherwise they would have trouble coordinating their attacks.  However, being on a radio frequency opens them up to being overheard by Citadel forces.  

The way the Ace estimates the caravan capacity is by counting the vehicles.  (4 trucks x 2) + (3 cars x 2) + (5 motorcycles x 1) = 19.  (4 trucks x 3) + (3 cars x 3) + (5 motorcycles x 2) = 31.  He's giving a reasonable estimated min and max, though of course it could be a few people more or less.

A glass bottle like this can be seen mounted on the dash of the War Rig.

The bottle the Trader carries is basically similar to the one that is tied to the horse when Max gets sent to gulag in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Sharing water is a show of trust as water is incredibly valuable.

I used a Wiradjuri online dictionary for names and pronunciation. https://wiradjuri.regenr8.org

The Noongar are traditionally from the southwest of Western Australia and the Wiradjuri are traditionally from central New South Wales near the east coast of Australia.  The mix of people from different parts of the continent is intentional, and to suggest that people everywhere have been displaced because of historic calamity.  Besides being a place name, Narrandera is a clan name of the   Wiradjuri, and also a moiety, from what I understand.  Narrandera also means prickly lizard or frilled lizard.

Not all Traders use the same naming conventions.  So Win gave his family name first as many Asians do, but Garru is giving her given name.  Garru is a Wiradjuri word for magpie.

The clothes that the People Eater wears (the three piece suit) is very much like what Traders would normally wear.  Though usually not with the exposed nipple rings...

It hasn't been developed much, but I thought that the People Eater should be a false Trader, someone posing as a Trader but who is not from a traditional Trader family.

Garru just taught Furiosa the two-fingered salute and its more impolite variant.  Now she can flip anyone off!

Garru has to get the other Traders' attention before signing.  

For example, soldiers stationed on the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea tend to be picked for height, supposedly to intimidate the other side.

I haven't gotten there yet, but this description of Nux was to suggest that before he falls sick, he was actually heavier built.  The idea was that when we see him in the movie, he's already lost at least 20 lbs which can be seen in how his clothes don't fit as well (notice how loose his trousers are compared to someone like the Ace).

Instead of having proper lights, the Trader truck has a bunch of flashlights stuck to its front.

The colors of the Traders were picked from Lazytown's three main characters: Robbie Rotten (red check), Stephanie (pink stripe), and Sportacus (blue).  You can blame Elinekeit for this.

Aunty Entity is of course the ruler of Bartertown, portrayed by Tina Turner in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

“Pinkie” aka Marlee is an albino.

Stonker should have used 'a little' or 'some' but instead he picks the wrong word because he is not super fluent in Trader.  This was written to suggest how someone who knows their second language better than their first might use their first language.

Nguyen is Stonker's given name, but as Stonker's mother was deaf, she only named him with sign language.  The name Stonker was given to him by the Tertius Imperator.  Nguyen is pronounced “Win”.  Stonker does not know any of this.

Unfortunately I don't remember where I found the name Marlee (because I remember changing the spelling around but I don't recall the original spelling), but I seem to remember it was also a bird name, like another kind of magpie or crow.

Stonker's not related to these Traders, but the Traders might know people who are related to him.

I recall using the U-Haul rental truck site to get an idea of how much a truck might carry.

Note that the People Eater wears black as well, aping high-ranked Traders.

“Afghanistan is a big place” is a quote from Metal Gear Solid V.

“Remember him when you look at the night sky” is a quote from the original Mad Max movie.

In Vulnera, Furiosa helped Coil shave.  It says something that Nux is doing it himself without Slit's help.

The beam of light coming from Bartertown is to suggest the Luxor Sky Beam in Las Vegas.

Chapter 10

Sometimes I make sure that imagery ties together from scene to scene and chapter to chapter.

That's definitely Stonker and Morsov.

This is Bartertown in the future, so it has expanded from the Bartertown we saw in Beyond Thunderdome.  A small town has formed outside the gates, similar to how the Wretched encampment has sprung up around the Citadel.

Despite the Citadel being a very rich settlement as the waste goes, Bartertown is even richer, so there are actually animals like dogs.

The Vuvalini visit Bartertown too.  But they run the opposite of War Boys, on moonless nights.

The entry into Bartertown has changed.  I imagined these queues as a cross between Disneyland and the county fair.

In Thunderdome, the signs said “Pigs = Power”.  However, I have removed the pigs from the story as they have mostly died out.  This is because pigs are harder to keep than cattle, goats, or sheep, since they eat the same kinds of food as people do, as opposed to the former who can live off scrub.  In addition, pigs need to be kept protected from the sun.  There are scholarly articles on why pork was not eaten in the ancient near east because pigs directly compete with humans for food and require shelter, which cattle, sheep, and goats do not need.  The assumption I am using here is that Beyond Thunderdome was set closer in time to the present pre-collapse day, therefore there were still a lot of animals around (monkey, horses, camels, pigs, dogs, etc.) but that between that time and the time the story is set, there were many periods of environmental hardship where many of these larger vertebrates died out.  Pigs therefore are no longer used to power the methane farm; it's now human waste.

In Thunderdome, you could also see the Collector's abacus on the little desk.

The title of Assayer is made up; there wasn't a name for this character in Thunderdome, not that I am aware of.

The Assayer is probably used to seeing all sorts of homemade artificial limbs.

When I thought about it, Furiosa's bodice could not have feasibly survived daily wear for years.  At some point it probably wore out, and now she has a shirt that's sort of similar, though it will probably have to take a beating for the next two years and change before we get to Fury Road.

This section was actually written in fall of 2015.  Originally, Ekstasis started in Bartertown, but I realized I had to backtrack because there were a lot of ideas to explore with the characters.  I don't regret it, but it's really taken some time to get to this point where I could use this section.  It's taken some moderate editing to match this with the current story and I had to take out some things I really liked, like Coil picking up a sizable wound but being very proud of being able to have a scar to remember Furiosa's first run as Imperator.

From Beyond Thunderdome we can see that Bartertown is heavily fortified, built up against a plateau.  I would suggest that beyond excellent geographic placement, it has good, reliable access to water, which is what's kept it an important center of trade through the years.  Now that many generations have passed since the initial founding of Bartertown, the plateau itself has been carved through with canyons and planted; there are many farms and even some livestock.  Of course access to those farms is very limited; it is all fully owned by Aunty Entity.  There is an inner city closer to the plateau where the more wealthy live and work.  The outer city is spread out further, though the Thunderdome and Aunty Entity's tower are still in their historic places.  The existence of the inner and outer city suggests social and economic stratification over time.

The Tomi Caf  is the Atomic Cafe.

Some of the buildings in Beyond Thunderdome look like they are plastered brick or mud brick, which also implies water wealth since if water is very scarce, one would not waste it on building materials.

Notice that Stonker refers to the kid consistently as a 'pup' but Morsov calls it a child.

The tailor's man is probably a servant as opposed to a husband.

In the ensuing generations after nuclear annihilation, we are starting to see a slow return to a cash-based economy.  This was pioneered by Immortan Joe in early runs to Bartertown, which is discussed in Rota.

Sandals with the words “follow me” imprinted on the bottom were used by prostitutes in ancient Greece.

For reference on the iconography, I imagine that one of Morsov's arm brands is the moon wheel and the other is the sun wheel.

The 'Aqua-Cola slaves' reference is definitely meant to be commentary on the modern garment industry.  

Notice that the Vuvalini in the movie wear scarves that are shot through with this rust-orange color that perhaps was once red.

The Many Mothers as a tribe culturally have higher respect for elders than War Boy society, which is more about respect for rank than age.

Some work would take a year not just because of intricacy but because the person making it was often not a full-time weaver, so it would be harder and longer work for them.

The bracelet on Coil's wrist was made from Furiosa's old dust wrap because she had no present for Coil on the night they were paired up.  He's been wearing it since.  It's intentional that he wears it on his right wrist, because some elements elements of Coil's character was meant to parallel Max in counterpoint.

I thought that War Boys who were too short to be Lancers (below 9.5 hands) ended up being sent to Gastown to be Polecats.

The oxen are actually much smaller than current oxen.  I calculated them to be about 1200 lbs a piece, which is on the smaller end of the spectrum for bulls.  The idea of course is that environmental stresses and selective favored smaller, more hardy animals that needed less water and food.

Why oxen?  Partially because it is an ostentatious sign of wealth for Aunty Entity to keep animals this big just to drag around a cart, but mostly because the Merovingian kings also traveled around in an ox-cart, dispensing justice.  There is also some ancient near eastern imagery connecting bulls to kingship.  This is to tie back to the idea that they are living in a time similar to the dark ages.

Working oxen need shoes similar to the way that working horses need horseshoes.

The historic iconography of the ruler is one who holds the scepter and the orb.  Here, Aunty Entity continues that ancient tradition that dates back to at least the Roman Empire.

Like the kings of the dark ages and the medieval, Aunty Entity is believed to have the power of healing.  The paint chip will likely be resold as a relic.