#trigger warning: unintentional deadnaming / misgendering

[wettblanket]

It's not his sister standing on the porch when Ford swings the front door open. The person leans away from his crossbow and he forces himself to blink the blurriness way from his bloodshot eyes.

In a voice that is too deep to belong to Ford's younger sibling, the person says, "Well, I can always count on you for a warm welcome."

It sounds like they smoke a pack a day, deep and rumbled in an oddly familiar way. Ford readjusts his aim. His arms are starting to shake again. The coffee is wearing off.

The person scowls at him, their thick eyebrows furrowing. The black beanie they wear is thread bare and littered with holes. Dark greasy brown hair sticks out of it and curls in a tangled mess past their shoulders. Their maroon jacket is stained with various substances. Their jeans are even worse, practically bleached white from wear and covered in spatters of something long dried.

Ford is sure if his nose was functioning right now this person would smell as bad as him. Maybe even worse. It doesn't look like they've showered in a long time.

Acne runs rampant across their boxy face. Their nose is big and reddish. Ford fights the numb urge to touch his own in comparison. Their stomach pouches out, almost like a beer gut, but their hips are just as wide set and curvy. Their chest is hard to make out. There's enough of a bump there that they could have breasts.

Could this really be his sister? Or is this the shape shifter trying to gain access to his home?

"Constance..." Ford hesitates, still trying to decipher the puzzle in front of him. "Did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?"

The person who doesn't look like his sister scoffs. "Eh, hello to you too pal." Their eyeroll isn't subtle. But it is achingly familiar. Constance used to do the same thing when Ma tried lecturing her about how to behave like 'a proper lady'. "And you know my name, genius. Call me by it."

Ford lowers his crossbow at the mention of the forgotten nickname of childhood past. He'd not called his sister anything but her given name since high school after Pa sat him down and warned him off of indulging in his twin's bad habits.

"...Stan."

It rolls of his lips uncertain and stilted. Wrong. Ford doesn't have the time to waste on frivolous things like preferred names. The world is at stake.

He lunges forward and gets a fistful of Constance's collar to yank her into the threshold of his home. His other hand drops the crossbow for the pen light nestled in his coat pocket.

Up close it's easier to find the similarities between the version of his sister Ford remember and this dilapidated mess of a person. There's a familiar faded scar by her temple from a boxing accident. Another scrape on the side of her cheek where that one patch of acne never went away. Deep honey brown eyes that dilate when under the light.

As Ford flicks his wrist to light up her other eye does Constance seem to react. She makes an unhappy, maybe even disgusted, grunt and shoves him away. Ford idly notices the fact that she's wearing black gloves and the faint dampness of melting snow on her shoulders.

"Hey! What is this?" She slaps his arms down but once Ford backs off she stays against the wall. Her face is twisted up into something Ford's cloudy brain can't make out right now. What she's thinking means nothing. He has a job for her.

"I wasn't making sure you weren't - " A horrifically familiar high pitched giggle whispers past Ford ear and he can't help the way his eyes dart around. "Ah, it's nothing. Come in."

Ford retreats further into his house. He clutches his coat closed and digs his nails into the seam and buttons there to ground himself. He's not dreaming. He's awake. This is reality.

Constance shuts the door and her dull footsteps follow after him. Ford doesn't stop until he's standing in front of the secret entrance bookcase.

"Look," She says with a touch of exasperation, "you going to explain what's going on here? You're acting like Ma after her tenth cup of coffee."

Ford has probably drank twice that today. He lost count after seven. "Listen, there isn't much time." He grabs his journal off the messy, paper covered desk, and whirls back around. Constance's eyebrows are furrowed again. It almost looks like concern. It's the same expression she'd get when she was trying to figure out if someone had messed with him and caused his bad mood.

"I've made huge mistakes and I don't know who I can trust anymore." Ford twitches as he comes to a stop beside the skeleton he can't remember why he kept in the house to begin with. He automatically turns its head away from them. He can't stop moving. He can feel sleep buzzing in the back of his head, crawling its way toward his eyes like starving ants.

"Hey, easy there." Constance keeps her body facing him as he paces past her. It's a minimal comfort. "Let's talk this through, okay?"

Her hand, so much larger than Ford remembers it being, lands softly on his shoulder. Ford drinks the solid weight in. A brief anchor to reality. He is awake.

This is where Ford tripped himself up thinking and overthinking and analyzing the best way to go about this. Constance was headstrong on the best of days. To give her a direct order was like asking her to do the complete opposite. The only real option Ford had was to ask.

The idea of doing so gave him violent shivers, however. Ford twists around to face his twin again. He's asked things of her before. Back when the world made sense. Back when his sister was his solstice.

Things have changed. Drastically. But who could Ford turn to in a situation like this? Constance, despite her faults, had been endlessly loyal to him and him alone. The likelihood of her turning against him, of being swayed by Bill or other supernatural forces, was practically impossible.

Ford knew deep down that if he managed to ask, she would do it. She had always done as he asked. It was just the embarrassing cycle of actually expressing what he desired.

But this time wasn't like any of the lasts. This wasn't a teenagers pathetic attempt at intimacy. This was the fate of the world.

Ford offers out his journal, ignoring how badly his hands are trembling. "I have something to ask of you."

Constance reaches out and the moment her fingertips brush the cover, it's like the weight of everything that's been crushing down on him lifts, just a little.

She turns it over in her hands, oddly reverent and careful. Ford feels his body twitching involuntarily and knows he needs to get her out of here as soon as possible. He's starting to fall asleep. He can't afford to let Bill take over. Not with her so close. Not with everything the demon knows about her. About them.

"Remember our plans to sail around the world on a boat?" His eyes water as he struggles to keep them open. Constance blurs into a dark colored blob in front of him. "Take this book, get on a boat, and sail as far as you can! To the edge of the earth. Bury it where no-one can find it."

Thick silence stretches after his bold exclamation. It gets harder to keep his eyelids from dipping closed. The room sways around him. The only thing that remains steady and immovable is his beloved sister. She'll fix everything. Just like always.

"That's it?" Constance's voice is rough and whispered. Ford almost doesn't hear her, with her timber much lower than he's used to. "You finally want to see me after ten years and it's to tell me to get as far away from you as possible?"

Something in her tone isn't right. Why is she fighting him? Why isn't she just listening like normal? Can't she do anything correctly? Ford is asking for so little and she can't even try to mend the gap.

"You have no idea what I've done to 'mend the gap', you pompous asshole." Constance snarls and stomps past him toward the front door. Ford struggles to keep up with her flurry of movement. He can't tell if she still has the journal in hand or not.

"Wait, Constance!"

"It's Stan!" She roars. Ford instinctively flinches back. Years of childhood fear comes flooding back. She sounds like like their father. "My fucking name is Stanley! Not that you give a shit, if you ever did in the first place."

The words cut and leave Ford's chest throbbing in pain. His vision swims but he stumbles after his twin. This isn't right. Reality is melting away from his grasp. Constance can't been here. He can't let Bill near her.

He can't lose the only person he's got left.

"Get out of here."

Constance says something in response but it's muffled and milky. Ford's world tilts and spins, the muted colors of his house blurring together in a dizzyingly ball of watercolor. The blob of red waves in and out of focus as Ford's body finally gives out and his mind detaches to drift above it all. The warped noises dim into oblivion and the world goes hauntingly dark.

The last lingering thought Ford has is that he's let the wrong person into his house. This person cannot be his sister.

[thefichoard]

Rock Out!

This one will include: tiny!¾ SBI, some Clindyduo :O, as well as Trans!Tommy! Specifically Transmale!Tommy. (also the POV switches a lot)

Possible Trigger Warnings are: deadnaming (unintentional, Tommy is not out to his parents in this fic), and unintentional misgendering

Content warnings: Fear, unintentional fearplay(????), mentions of being squished (not often), and implied dysphoria but not a lot

If I need to add any content or trigger warnings please let me know! :3

Basic Summary: Philza, Wilbur, and Technoblade are borrowers who are half-wild in a sense. They live in a vacation home. The caretaker will stay for a few days and then leave for a could moths, so they stock up what they can when the caretaker is there, and then forage for other items they may need. But this summer is a bit different! There’s a new family coming to stay in the house. But, surely it will be no different than usual, right?

~~~

There were three, Technoblade noted from his spot crouched in the window. Three humans had just arrived at the cottage-- that’s what the usual human called it in his mutterings.

Two parents and one that appeared to be their daughter.

Technoblade raced off before they came inside, running off to tell his family.

“Three, are you sure?” Phil asked, pausing in his clothes washing. Technoblade nodded.

“And I overheard them saying they’ll be staying for the summer.”

Wilbur frowned into his cracker. Phil sighed, hanging the clothes up.

“Well, we’ll need to be extra careful, then. Oh, and, you boys should bring in your foraging gear. There’s rain on the wind, and from the looks of those clouds, we’re in for a big storm.

Wilbur and Technoblade brought in the foraging items they’d left out to dry-- they’d had a run in with a stream, long story-- before closing up the hatches as they went, just in case there was a little flooding. Luckily, most of their house was higher in the walls, so they should be fine.

Hopefully.

It did flood that one time…

But it hasn’t happened since-- the humans did something to prevent it-- so Wilbur was reasonably certain that it wouldn’t happen again.

Shockingly, it was only a light rain that night.

The two adult humans left the house, calling goodbyes to their daughter Samantha. 

“Come on,” Phil said. “We need a few things, and this is a good time.”

There was a rumble of thunder in the distance that made the three borrowers nervous. They always hated thunderstorms. The sound of the rain and thunder always rattled their home. Not to mention, it always made them lie awake in fear of flooding. Phil wanted to get a few things in preparation for the surely awful night to come.

Music began as soon as they reached the exit to the tunnels. Creaking the door open slightly, they saw the teen human. She was dancing around, wearing a baggy sweater despite it being boiling outside. Her hair was pulled out of her face, almost hidden by the back of her head. She danced around the kitchen, mouthing along to the song blasting loudly from her device.

She jumped, landing with a harsh thud that rattled some of the dishes near the borrowers. Wilbur swallowed a little. They were lucky they weren’t attempting to run past her as she danced, they would have been squished for sure.

The borrowers carefully darted from hiding place to hiding place, but the girl didn’t seem to notice as she spun around the kitchen again and again with her broom, hardly doing the sweeping she was supposed to.

“Tommy!” they could barely hear over the music. Samantha-- Tommy?-- froze on a dime, much to the amusement of the other person.

“I thought you said there were only three!?” Wilbur hissed to Technoblade. His twin furrowed his brow. 

“There was..”

“Come on, big man, I don’t want to get squished!”

The three borrowers watched with frozen shock as Tommy bent down and swept something-- no, someone-- off the floor. A borrower was in her-- er, his?-- hands. But instead of screaming as he spun around, now singing loudly and off-key to the still-going music, the borrower laughed loudly.

“Put me down already!” He cackled, sounding out of breath already. “I’m gonna puke if you keep spinning me around.”

With one more heel turn, Tommy pivoted, deposited the borrower on the counter surprisingly softly, before twirling the broom and getting back to ‘sweeping’.

The brunet borrower just laughed, clambering up the windowsill, unknowing to the small family gaping at him nearby. He wore a brown and yellow long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, and jean overalls. They looked to be made out of cloth, but they weren’t doll clothes as there was no Velcro or snaps. It seemed like the outfit was made for him specifically.

He looked out at the rolling clouds, before turning to survey the room. His eyes landed on the frozen family in no time. For a few moments, both parties simply stared at each other, before the brunet beamed, hopping down from the window and skipping over to them, seeming to have no issues with revealing them to the human. He stuck out a hand.

“Hello there! My name is Tubbo! What are yours!”

None of them answered at first, before Wilbur whisper-shouted;

“What are you doing out in the open? And with a human?!”

Tubbo cocked his head. “What? It’s just Tommy.”

He suddenly gasped, seeming to be hit with an idea. “You should meet him!”

“No-!”

Philza and Technoblade grabbed too late, as with more strength than he appeared to possess, Tubbo hauled Wilbur into the open. Wilbur tried to shoo his family away as Tubbo screamed for Tommy to turn his music down. Though there were many silent protests, Techno ended up dragging Philza back to the hole in the wall, and just in time.

Wilbur turned back as the music shut off, Tommy’s eyes landing on him. He blinked once, twice, before grabbing a stool and scooting over to the two borrowers. Wilbur backed up as he leaned over, resting his arms on the counter, and his head atop his arms.

“Hey there,” Tommy greeted casually, as though he wasn’t speaking to a borrow. Wilbur didn’t trust this… human child. “Name’s Tommy, ‘ow do, big man?”

Wilbur was quiet for a long moment. Tommy seemed content to wait there forever, while Tubbo seemed to begin getting antsy. Both borrowers jumped at the loud cracked of thunder. The next moment, rain was pelting harshly at the window. Tommy checked his music device.

“Mum and dad are held up at auntie’s,” Tommy said, gently leaning against where Tubbo had pressed himself to his cheek. “They’ll be staying the night.”

Wilbur jumped at another thunder crash. He hoped Philza and Techboblade were alright. At least they had each other for comfort. Wilbur curled in on himself.

“You want a blanket?” He whipped back to Tommy, who just stared right back at him. Wilbur wasn’t sure why he was surprised, but he was startled to see Tubbo curled up on his hand, pressed to his chest. “You look cold.”

“I don’t want your fuckin blanket.”

“He speaks!” 

The next jump of fright nearly sent Wilbur tumbling off the counter, only to land in Tommy’s hand. He froze. Tommy stood.

“Don’t worry, I’ll set you down real soon. I just figured the living room would be more comfortable for all of us.”

Philza and Technoblade watched with varying degrees of anger and fear as Wilbur was taken away from the kitchen.

[justmenoworries]

Not Up For Interpretation - An Essay On Nonbinary - Erasure

(Trigger Warning: Misgendering, Transphobia, Nonbinary-phobia)

If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know this was a long time coming. I’ve made several posts about my frustrations concerning this topic and how much it hurt me just how socially accepted erasing an entire identity still is. While representation marches on and things have become better for nonbinary people as a whole, we still battle with a lot of prejudice - both intentional and unintentional.

In this essay, I want to discuss just how our identities are being erased almost daily, why that is harmful and hurtful and what we all can do to change that.

Chapters:

What does Non-binary mean?

Nonbinary- representation in media

So what’s the problem?

How do we fix it?

1. What Does Non-binary Mean?

Non-binary is actually an umbrella term. It includes pretty much every gender-identity that’s neither one or the other so to speak, for example, agender.

Agender means feeling detachment from the gender spectrum in general. If you’re agender, you most likely feel a distance to the concept of gender as a whole, that it doesn’t define you as a person.

There are many identities that classify under non-binary: There’s gender-fluid (you feel you have a gender, but it’s not one gender specifically and can change), demi-gender (identifying as a gender partially, but not completely) and many others.

Sometimes, multiple non-binary identities can mix and match.

Most non-binary people use they/them pronouns, but like with so many things, it varies.

Some nonbinary-people (like me) go by two pairs of pronouns. I go by both she/her and they/them, because it’s what feels most comfortable at the moment. But who knows, maybe in the future I’ll switch to they/them exclusively or expand to he/him.

There is no one defining non-binary experience. Nb-people are just as varied and different as binary people, who go by one specific gender.

There are non-binary people who choose to go solely by she/her or he/him and that’s okay too. It doesn’t make them any more or less non-binary and their identity is still valid.

If your head’s buzzing a bit by now: That’s okay. It’s a complicated topic and no one expects you to understand all of it in one chapter of one essay.

Just know this: If a person identifies as non-binary, you should respect their decision and use the pronouns they go with.

It’s extremely hurtful to refer to someone who already told you that they use they/them pronouns with she/her or he/him, or use they/them to refer to a person who uses she/her.

Think about it like using a trans-person’s deadname: It’s rude, it’s harmful and it shows complete disrespect for the person.

Non-binary people have existed for a very long time. The concept isn’t new. The idea that there are only two genders, with every other identity being an aberration to the norm, is largely a western idea, spread through colonialism.

The Native American people use “Two-Spirit” to describe someone who identifies neither as a man nor a woman. The term itself is relatively new, but the concept of a third gender is deeply rooted in many Native American cultures.

(Author’s Note: If you are not Native American, please do not use it. That’s cultural appropriation.)

In India, the existence of a third gender has always been acknowledged and there are many terms specifically for people who don’t identify with the gender that was assigned to them at birth.

If you’re interested in learning more about non-binary history and non-binary identities around the world, I’d recommend visiting these websites:

https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/History_of_nonbinary_gender

https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Gender-variant_identities_worldwide

https://thetempest.co/2020/02/01/history/the-history-of-nonbinary-genders-is-longer-than-you-think/

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/gender-variance-around-the-world

Also, maybe consider giving this book a try:

Nonbinary Gender Identities: History, Culture, Resources by Charlie Mcnabb

2. Non-binary Representation In Media

The representation of non-binary people in mainstream media hasn’t been... great, to put it mildly.

Representation, as we all know, is important.

Not only does it give minorities a chance to see themselves in media and feel heard and acknowledged. It also normalizes them.

For example, seeing a black Disney-princess was a huge deal for many black little girls, because they could finally say there was someone there who looked like them. They could see that being white wasn’t a necessity to be a Disney princess.

Seeing a canonically LGBT+ character in a children’s show teaches kids that love is love, no matter what gender you’re attracted to. At the same time, older LGBT+ viewers will see themselves validated and heard in a movie that features on-screen LGBT+ heroes.

There’s been some huge steps in the right direction in the last few years representation-wise.

Not only do we have more LGBT+ protagonists and characters in general, we’ve also begun to question and call out harmful or bigoted portrayals of the community in media, such as “Bury Your Gays” or the “Depraved Homosexual”.

With that being said: Let’s take a look at how Non-binary representation holds up in comparison, shall we?

This is Double Trouble, from the children’s show “She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power”.

They identify as non-binary and use they/them pronouns. They’re also  a slimy, duplicitous lizard-person who can change their shape at will.

Um, yeah.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Did I mention they’re also the only non-binary character in the entire show? And that they’re working with a genocidal dictator in most of the episodes they’re in?

Yikes.

Let’s look at another example.

These three (in order of appearance) are Stevonnie, Smoky Quartz and Shep. Three characters appearing in the kid’s show “Steven Universe” and it’s epilogue series “Steven Universe: Future”.

All of them identify as non-binary and use they/them as pronouns.

Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz are the result of a boy and a girl being fused together through weird alien magic.

Shep is a regular human, but they only appeared in one episode. In an epilogue series that only hardcore fans actually watched.

Well, I mean...

One out of three isn’t that bad, right?

Maybe we should pick an example from a series for older viewers.

Say hello to Doppelganger, a non-binary superhuman who goes by they/them, from the Amazon-series “The Boys”.

They’re working for a corrupt superhero-agency and use their power of shape-shifting to trick people who pose a threat to said agency into having sex with them. And then blackmail those people with footage of said sex.

....

Do I even need to say it?

If you’ve paid attention during the listing of these examples, you might have noticed a theme.

Namely that characters canonically identifying as non-binary are either

supernatural in some way, shape or form,

barely have a presence in the piece of media they’re in,

both.

Blink-and-you-miss-it-manner of representation aside, the majority of these characters fall squarely under what we call “Othering”.

“Othering” describes the practice of portraying minorities as supernatural creatures or otherwise inhuman. Or to say it bluntly: As “The Other”.

“Othering” is a pretty heinous method. Not only does it portray minorities as inherently abnormal and “different in a bad way”. It also goes directly against what representation is actually for: Normalizing.

As a general rule of thumb: If your piece of media has humans in it, but the only representation of non-white, non-straight people are explicitly inhuman... yeah, that’s bad.

So is there absolutely no positive representation for us out there?

Not quite.

As rare as human non-binary characters in media are to find, they do exist.

Here we have Bloodhound! A non-binary human hunter who uses they/them pronouns, from the game “Apex Legends”.

It’s been confirmed by the devs and the voice actress that they’re non-binary.

Nice!

These are Frisk (bottom) and Chara (top) from the game “Undertale”. While their exact gender identity hasn’t been disclosed, they both canonically use they/them pronouns, so it’s somewhere on the non-binary spectrum.

Two human children who act as the protagonist (Frisk) and antagonist (Chara), depending on how you play the game. (Interpretations vary on the antagonist/protagonist-thing, to say the least.)

Cool!

......

And, yep, that’s it.

As my little demonstration here showed, non-binary representation in media is rare. Good non-binary representation is even rarer.

Which is why those small examples of genuinely good representation are so important to the Non-binary community!

It’s hard enough to have to prove you exist. It’s even harder to prove your existence is not abnormal or unnatural.

If you’d like to further educate yourself on representation, it’s impact on society and why it matters, perhaps take a second to read through these articles:

https://www.criticalhit.net/opinion/representation-media-matters/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-on-screen-representation-matters-according-to-these-teens

https://jperkel.github.io/sciwridiversity2020/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/05/22/why-is-equal-representation-in-media-important/?sh=25f2ccc92a84

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-representation-the-media-matters

3. So What’s The Problem?

The problem, as is the case with so many things in the world, is prejudice.

Actually, that’s not true.

There’s not a problem, there are multiple problems. And their names are prejudice, ignorance and bigotry.

Remember how I said human non-binary representation is rare?

Yeah, very often media-fans don’t help.

Let’s take for example, the aforementioned Frisk and Chara from “Undertale”.

Despite the game explicitly using they/them to refer to both characters multiple times, the majority of players somehow got it into their heads that Frisk’s and Chara’s gender was “up for interpretation”.

There is a huge amount of fan art straight-up misgendering both characters and portraying them as binary and using only he/him or she/her pronouns.

The most egregious examples are two massively popular fan-animated web shows: “Glitchtale”, by Camila Cuevas and “Underverse” by Jael Peñaloza.

Both series are very beloved by the Undertale-fanbase and even outside of it. Meaning for many people, those two shows might be their first introduction to “Undertale” and it’s two non-binary human characters.

Take a wild guess what both Camila and Jael did with Frisk and Chara.

Underverse, X-Tale IV:

(Transcript: “Frisk lied to me in the worst possible way... I... I will never forgive him.”)

Underverse, X-Tale V:

(Transcript: “I-It’s Chara... and it’s a BOY.”)

Glitchtale, My Promise:

(Transcript: (Referring to Frisk) “I’m not scared of an angry boy anymore.”)

Glitchtale, Game Over Part 1:

(Transcript: (Referring to Chara) “It’s ok little boy.”)

This... this isn’t okay.

Not only do both of these pieces of fan-art misgender two non-binary characters, the creators knew beforehand that Frisk and Chara use they/them-pronouns, but made the conscious choice to ignore that.

To be fair, in a video discussing “Underverse”, Jael said that only X-Tale Frisk and Chara, the characters you see in the Underverse-examples above, are male, while the characters Frisk and Chara from the main game remained non-binary and used they/them (time-stamp 10:34).

Still, that doesn’t erase the fact that Jael made up alternate versions of two non-binary characters specifically to turn them male. Or that, while addressing the issue, Jael was incredibly dismissive and even mocked the people who felt hurt by her turning two non-binary characters male. Jael also went on to make a fairly non-binary-phobic joke in the video, in which she equated gender identities beyond male and female to identifying as an object.

Jael (translated): “I don’t care if people say the original Frisk and Chara are male, female, helicopters, chairs, dogs or cats, buildings, clouds...”

That’s actually a very common joke among transphobes, if not to say the transphobe-joke:

“Oh, you identify as X? Well then I identify as an attack helicopter!”

If you’re trans, chances are you’ve heard this one, or a variation of it, a million times before.

I certainly have.

I didn’t laugh then and I’m not laughing now.

(Author’s note: I might be angry at both of them for what they did, but I do not, under any circumstances, support the harassment of creators. If you’re thinking about sending either Jael or Camila hate-mail - don’t. It won’t help.)

Jael’s reaction is sadly common in the Undertale fandom. Anyone speaking up against Chara’s and Frisk’s identity being erased is immediately bludgeoned with the “up for interpretation”-argument, despite that not once being the case in the game.

And even with people who do it right and portray Frisk and Chara as they/them, you’ll have dozens of commenters swarming the work with sentences among the lines of “Oh but I think Frisk is a boy/girl! And Chara is a girl/boy!”

By the way, this kind of thing only happens to Frisk and Chara.

Every other character in “Undertale” is referred to and portrayed with their proper pronouns of she/her or he/him.

But not the characters who go by they/them.

Their gender is “up for interpretation”.

Because obviously, their identity couldn’t possibly be canonically non-binary.

Sadly, Frisk and Chara are not alone in this.

Remember Bloodhound?

And how I said they’d been confirmed as non-binary and using they/them pronouns by both the creators and the voice actress?

It seems for many players, that too translated to “up for interpretation”.

(Transcript: “does it matter what they call him? He, her, it, they toaster oven, it doesn’t matter”)

(Transcript: “I’m like 90 % sure Bloodhound is a dude because he could just sound like a girl and by their age that I’m assuming looks around 10-12 because I’ve known many males who have sounded like a female when they were younger”)

(Transcript: “I don’t care it will always be a He. F*ck that non-binary bullsh*t.”)

(Transcript: “Bloodhound is clearly female.”)

(Transcript: “I’m not calling a video game character they/them”)

(Transcript: “exactly. The face was never fully shown neither was the gender so I’d say it means that the player is Bloodhound. So it’s your gender and you refer to “him” as yourself. It’s like a self insertion in my eyes.”)

So, let me get this straight:

If a character, even a player character, uses she/her or he/him, you can accept it, no questions asked.

But when a character uses they/them, suddenly their identity and gender are “up for interpretation”?

This attitude is also widely prevalent in real life.

Many languages only include pronouns for men and women, with no third option available. Non-binary people are often forced to make up their own terms, because their language doesn’t provide one.

Non-binary people often don’t fit within other people’s ideas of gender, so they get excluded altogether. Worse, non-binary people are often the victims of misgendering, denial of their identity or even straight-up violence when coming out.

People will often tell us that we look like a certain gender, so we should only use one set of gendered pronouns. Never mind that that’s not what we want. Never mind that that’s not who we are.

Non-binary people are also largely omitted from legal documentation and studies. We cannot identify as non-binary at our workplace, because using they/them pronouns is considered “unprofessional”. We don’t have our own bathrooms like men and women do. Our gender is seen as less valid than male and female, so even that basic thing is denied to us. I’ve had to use the women’s restroom my entire life, because if I go into a male restroom, I’ll be yelled at or made fun off or simply get told I took the wrong door. It’s extremely uncomfortable for me and I wish I didn’t have to do it.

And since non-binary people aren’t seen as “real transgender-people”, we often don’t receive the medical care we need. This often renders us unable to feel good within our bodies, because the treatment and help we get is wildly inadequate.

It’s especially horrible for intersex people (people who are born with sex characteristics that don’t fit solely into the male/female category) who are often forced to change their bodies to fit within the male/female gender binary.

And you better believe each of those problems is increased ten-fold for non-binary people of color.

We are ignored and dismissed as “confused”, because of who we are.

Representation is a way for Non-binary people to show the world they exist, that they’re here and that they too have stories to tell.

But how can we, when every character that represents us is either othered, barely there or gets taken away from us?

We are not “up for interpretation”.

Neither are the characters in media who share our identity.

And it’s time to stop pretending we ever were.

For more information about Non-Binary Erasure and how harmful it is, you can check out these articles:

https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/common-non-binary-erasure/

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/nonbinary-people-racism/

https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Nonbinary_erasure

https://traj.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16995/traj.422/

https://medium.com/an-injustice/everyday-acts-of-non-binary-erasure-49ee970654fb

https://medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-diversity/the-invisible-labor-of-liberating-non-binary-identities-in-higher-education-3f75315870ec

https://musingsofanacademicasexual.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/dear-sirmadam-a-commentary-on-non-binary-erasure/

4. How Do We Fix It?

Well, first things first: Stop acting like we don’t exist.

And kindly stop other people from doing it too.

We are a part of the LGBT+ community and we deserve to be acknowledged, no matter what our pronouns are.

Address non-binary people with the right pronouns. Don’t argue with them about their identity, don’t comment on how much you think they look like a boy or a girl. Just accept them and be respectful.

If a non-binary person tells you they have two sets of pronouns, for example he/him and they/them, don’t just use one set of pronouns. That can come off as disingenuous. Alternate between the pronouns, don’t leave one or the other out. It’ll probably be hard at first, but if you keep it up, you’ll get used to it pretty quickly.

If you’re witnessing someone harass a non-binary person over their identity, step in and help them.

And please, don’t partake in non-binary erasure in media fandoms.

Don’t misgender non-binary characters, don’t “speculate” on what you think their gender might be. You already know their gender and it’s non-binary. It costs exactly 0 $ to be a decent human being and accept that.

Support Non-Binary people by educating yourself about them and helping to normalize and integrate their identity.

In fact, here’s a list of petitions, organizations and articles who will help you do just that:

https://www.change.org/p/collegeboard-let-students-use-their-preferred-name-on-collegeboard-9abad81a-0fdf-435c-8fca-fe24a5df6cc7?source_location=topic_page

6 Ways to Support Your Non-Binary Child

7 Non-Negotiables for Supporting Trans & Non-Binary Students in Your Classroom

If Your Partner Just Came Out As Non-Binary, Here’s How To Support Them

How to Support Your Non-Binary Employees, Colleagues and Friends

Ko-fi page for the Nonbinary Wiki

The Sylvia Rivera Project, an organization who aims to give low-income and non-white transgender, intersex and non-binary people a voice

The Anti Violence Project “empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy."

The Trans Lifeline, a hotline for transgender people by transgender people

Tl:DR: Non-Binary representation is important. Non-Binary people still suffer from society at large not acknowledging our existence and forcing us to conform. Don’t be part of that problem by taking away what little representation we have. Educate yourself and do better instead. We deserve to be seen and heard.

[nonbinaryeddiekaspbrak]

seriously?

rating: general audience

fandoms: be more chill, dear evan hansen

relationships: evan hansen/jared kleinman, evan hansen & jeremy heere, jeremy heere & brooke lohst, jeremy heere & jared kleinman

characters: jeremy heere, brooke lohst, evan hansen, jared kleinman, luna hansen

other tags: kind of twins au, reunions, arcades, service dogs, brooke isn't taking any of jeremy's shit, trans jeremy heere, nonbinary jeremy heere, trans jared kleinman, luna's a good dog as always, alternate universe - college/university, post canon, maybe ooc?, im pretty sure brooke isn't usually this direct in the musical, jared is a dork, so is evan, brooke loves pacman, reminder that jeremy uses they/them, they're also vv nervous at all times, projection? in this au?, definitely, absolutely, 24/7

trigger warning: anxiety, unintentional misgendering, deadnaming

summary: jared and evan decide to take a break before finals season starts and coincidentally, so do brooke and jeremy. this leads somewhere no one saw it going.

or

jeremy and jared have a lot of catching up to do

"-have to take all of them," Evan says, throwing his hands into the air. Jared hums, looking up at the sky. Evan glances back over. "You're not- you're not even going to say anything?" Jared looks away from the oncoming clouds and over to Evan.

"What is there to say? Study harder?" He huffs, pulling a little farther ahead as the two stride across the center. The golden retriever at Evan's side lets her tail thump against his leg as she wags it. Evan smiles as he looks at her. Then he looks back up at Jared.

"I- I don't kn- know," he says, looking away again. The conversation grows quiet after that, neither of them knowing what to say. Jared turns his head back to the clouds, noting that one of them had taken the shape of a dolphin. Evan looks back down at Luna, her tail still thumping against his leg. She stays gazing ahead since she was still in work mode. Evan smiles again before looking straight onward. A faint bell rings in the distance from an old church, signaling that it was noon.

"How long until you have to go to class?" Jared asks, an idea in mind.

Evan looks down at his watch, frowning a bit. "About an hour, why?" Jared nods, grabbing Evan's hand and dragging him towards the parking lot. "Jared?" Jared doesn't answer, still walking towards his car. "Jared, what- what are you doing?"

Jared turns back for a moment, giving Evan a soft smile. "Just trust me." Evan feels a blush creep across his face.

"Okay."

~~~~~~~

"See?" Jared gestures to the somewhat tall building behind him in a sort of ta-da pose. Then, he pushes his glasses farther up his nose where they had slipped, before looking back at Evan. "Isn't it awesome?" Evan leans to the side, reading the sign behind his boyfriend.

"An arcade?" Evan asks, an eyebrow raised. Now don't get him wrong, he loved arcades, it's just- "How is this supposed to help?" He leans back so he could look at Jared. 

Jared smirks at him. "With stress! Remember when we went to the arcade, like, a few buildings away from your house before finals?" Evan lets out a small snort.

"You mean what we- what we did to avoid studying for them?" Evan smiles, one eyebrow cocked. "We almost failed that- that semester!" He half shouts at Jared, but Jared retaliates by sticking his tongue out.

"So we almost failed, we had fun, didn't we?" Evan shrugs, and Jared shoots him a look saying, "really?" Then, Jared backs up, leading the three of them off the sidewalk and into the arcade. A few people look up when they enter, but no one seems to want to bother them so far.

Evan immediately lights up when he sees the skee ball machines. 

"No way!" He grabs Jared's arm, dragging him over. He reaches into his pockets, coming up empty before turning to Jared, who already had a quarter out.

"I'm not going to bring you here  without  adequate change, Ev." Evan answers by taking the quarter and sliding it into the slot. 

"Rude."

~~~~~~~~~

"Jeremy! Let's go!" Brooke grabs them by the hand away from the car as soon as they've closed the door. Jeremy lets out a chuckle but follows the energetic blonde through the doors and into the arcade. As soon as they step foot inside, she's dragging them over to the Pacman machine. Luckily, she had change since they had neglected to grab any.

"Gotcha, " they hear her mutter to herself. They chuckle a little before deciding to leave her to her thing and walk around the arcade to find something to do.

Thankfully, there aren't that many people in the building, so they don't feel too nervous. Out of the corner of their eye, they see two highschoolers, most likely skipping. On the other side of the room, they see a familiar blond that they had noticed in a few of their classes. What was his name again? Ethan? Jeremy decides the best way to find out is to approach him, but the moment the thought enters their head, doubt settles in. Did they really want to bother him?

Right as they are about to turn away, they hear Brooke's voice. 

"Jeremy?" They turn, seeing her looking at them with a confused look before spotting the blond behind them. When she does, a knowing look appears on her face as she grabs their hand. "You're not getting out of this." 

"Wait- wait, Brooke!" They try to stop her, but she's determined enough that nothing they say will deter her. 

"Hey, Blondie!" She calls out, and the guy turns, confusion crossing his features. The two of them are close enough now to see that he had brought someone else with him. Though, something about the other guy seemed familiar, almost like Jeremy knew him from somewhere. 

The guy with the polo seemed a little nervous as they approached him, but he relaxes a little when the other guy grabs his hand. So that settled that. Though the other guy looked to be a little on edge until he saw Jeremy, and his face shifted to one of confusion as well.

That is until that confusion slipped into a mixture of recognition and awe.

"Oh my-" The guy in the polo cuts him off with a jab to the side. "Ow! Evan! I was just going to-" He gets cut off with a glare this time. On the other hand, it was nice to know the guy's name now. 

"So you're Evan," Brooke points at Evan and then turns to the other guy. "Now, who are you?" 

He holds out a hand. "Jared Kleinman, at your service." Jeremy frowns. That name sounded familiar for some reason, but they couldn't for the life of them figure out why. As Brooke continues talking to the two, they take it upon themself to inspect Jared to maybe get a clue as to why he was so familiar. Jared's hair was a light brown and sort of wavy, almost as if he flat-ironed it a while ago, and it was just now getting back into shape. Then they notice his eyes. They were mostly brown, but there were also spots of blue in them, and for some reason, that brought out a memory of someone else.

"Sarah," they mutter to themself, eyes wide. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Jared, for the most part, takes over the conversation with the girl, Evan and the other guy being mostly quiet as they talk. That's when he realizes something.

"You never said your name," he says, gesturing to both of them. She seems to realize he's right and introduces both herself and the guy next to her.

"I'm Brooke, and this is Jeremy." She smiles a little as she says his name, which leads to the thought that they might be together, even if she does look out of his league. Then she goes back to what she was saying. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jeremy watching him, a focused look on his face before it turns into something else, and Jared hears a name that he hasn't heard in years.

"Sarah," he mumbles with wide eyes, and Jared has to repress the urge to flinch. Brooke looks over at him.

"What?" Jeremy looks from her to himself, looking to be at a loss for words. Then it seems like he settles on something to say since he looks back at Jared.

"You look different." Jared nods.

"You too." Then Brooke interrupts them.

"You two know each other?" Jared glances over at Evan, noting that he looked confused as well. Then he and Jeremy share a look.

"Yeah. We do."