#nqk

[tervaneula]

I already made some friends sad with this and was going to make a funny haha part 2 but it’s been days and I just don’t seem to have enough energy for it, so y’all have to deal with this tragic re-enactment(!) of Théoden’s passing u_u

[gemini-forest]

They're playing a game

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2AL @elliwoods

Odd Man Out @threestripeslider

Mutant Ninja Midlife Crisis @mutantninjamidlifecrisis

Coin Toss Me

Not Quite Kintsugi But Close @tervaneula

We'll Meet Again Soon @chiangyorange

At My Worst @teainthesnow

[luckychild]

Do you have plans with writting NQK as non-binary in the future?

Short answer: No. Not the way most people seem to want, anyway.

Long answer: Not explicitly, and definitely not using Western terms.

There are many Doylist Reasons for this.

Since the fic is set in 1990s era Japan, the term "non-binary" isn't in use in Lucky Child's setting. The word just wasn't in use in that place or time. The modern Japanese term is "x-gender," but that won't be in use for a while yet in NQK's world (like the early 2000s).

Pronouns work differently in Japanese than they do in English, so requesting they/them pronouns or the term "non-binary" doesn't make sense for NQK.

I didn't come out as non-binary until the story was like 75% completed. Inserting a "coming-out narrative" into the story would take up time and space in a narrative that was not constructed to support one. I would have to completely shoe-horn it into the story, changing my intentions for the very important, carefully crafted final act. It would bloat an already crowded narrative with something the narrative doesn't need to deliver on all the promises it set up in previous chapters. Inserting a coming-out story so late in the game would not make for good storytelling.

There are also Watsonian Reasons.

There are hints of NQK's dissatisfaction with gender throughout the story. From challenging Minato's treatment of them to Botan's observations of NQK's wardrobe, it's easy to pinpoint moments where evidence of their shirking of gender norms shines through. (The signs of my eventual coming-out are very obvious to me in retrospect.)

But while the signs are there, NQK is a very busy person who has a lot on their plate. Preventing the end of the world, being embroiled in a plot involving gods and goddesses, maintaining canon... they have a lot on their mind. And honestly? Their gender is the last thing on it. They are too freakin' busy to pay it any mind right now. In a few years, maybe. But right now, they're too distracted to care much.

Frankly, if anyone asked Keiko what their gender was at this point the story, they would look at them and awkwardly laugh, perplexed. They would feel uncomfortable, and they would begrudgingly likely say they were a girl, and then they would try not to think about it because the answer made them anxious for reasons they couldn't quite articulate. But that's as far as things would go right now, and they would make no declarations of import. Not right now, anyway.

Circling back to a Doylist perspective, NQK's continued "pursuit of self" can be read as an allegory for a gender coming-out story. They are constantly trying to find and assert their independent identity apart from the one assigned to them at birth (the identity of "Yukimura Keiko"). It's very easy to find this allegory within the text considering my own gender, and it's one I suspect I subconsciously inserted prior to coming out.

Compounding all of that, I started writing this story before I came out. The version of me who exists in the story is based on the version of me who existed before I came out. My real self and my fictional avatar have grown in different ways and in different directions. To quote Robert Frost, "two roads diverged in a yellow wood," and NQK and I can each only take one of those roads at a time. I set her path at the start of her story, and I don't intend to pull her down a different one so late in the narrative.

I took one road. NQK took another. Perhaps down the line we will travel the same path again, and perhaps that path will bear the name "non-binary," but for now, we explore different avenues of the gender world.

So, to sum up?

NQK's pronouns right now are she/they, and while I consider them non-binary, they are not quite there yet in terms of their own thinking.

My pronouns, meanwhile, are firmly they/them, and my label is likewise firmly "non-binary."

[nights-flying-fox]

Dtiys for @tervaneula !!! Hope you like it!!! :D

[pommigranite]

psst *passes a note under the desk* here. the peepaw

here is my future leo design that looks pretty much like every future leo design until you see his full body that i dont have time to draw but trust me it'll be different (at least from the future leo designs I'VE seen)

@tervaneula (im sorry for tagging you lol) was a big inspo for this design, mostly bc im IN LOVE with the way she draw nqk!leo's stripes like you have no idea how much

[lowonthewilltolivemeter]

I can’t get into too much details (cuz spoilers), but i think my future Leo ‘Leon’ (for symbolic reasons that will be clear later) would be prone to hang out with: wmas f!Leo, itbotb f!Leo, and nqk f!Leo, and all for different reasons.

The first two cuz they mostly mach his vibe, the third one is just so nice (he will say some shit about how they deserve better from the would or about moving on and my f!Leo would hug him and cry for a few hours at minimum).

IDK they just give me ‘friend you’d call when having a breakdown’ energy.

[shittygaypornmagazine]

I shall use my Adopted By Ghost Due To Reasons privilege to say vote for NQK Leo or else...!

[snupy]

a little late night doodle if u may

[pastadorable]

Round one @rottmntpeepawpolls

It was a good fight @daedelweiss truly an honorable first battle!

Aus present:

NQK @tervaneula

WRORAU @weranoutofrats-rottmntau

Arm+A Leg @newellthedragon

WBBS @purplecatghostposts

Red Rover @red-rover-au

Shell Shock @lieutenantbiscute

FABT @cartoonhostage

[chiangyorange]

✨️✨️CONGRATULATIONS @threestripeslider !!!✨️✨️

your old man is considered the most well-adjusted and most unburdened of all the peepaws!!!

[annonimous1000]

SAILOR NQK!!!

2/4 done now! It’s a bit sad a lot of his stripes get covered by the pose and outfit, but he’s rocking them heals!

1, 2, 3, 4

@tervaneula

[tervaneula]

*is insane about own AU*

[gemini-forest]

Sketch commission of NQK scene of the Leos cuddling for the lovely @tervaneula

I'm really glad you love it I had a lot of fun drawing it!

[luckychild]

hi, what are the not quites favorite drinks :)

We talkin' boozy drinks or just anything? Aw hell, we'll do both.

NQKeiko - Sparkling water, Moscow mule

NQKagome - Chai, amaretto sour

Minato - Plain ol' water, a good beer (preferably Czech)

Cheers, and thanks for the ask!

[threestripeslider]

alt title of the announcement was going to be "your old man lied so hard everyone believed him when he said hes fine"

HES LITERALLY SO!!! MENTALLY ILL OF THEM ALL!!!!!!! HOW DID HE WIN IM BAFFLED. APALLED EVEN!!!!!!!

i am literally at a loss for words.

[proceeds to yell at everyone for 40 minutes]

[cptkitten]

@luckystarchild @luckychild

operation PUNishment is going... well