#wildly different from someone binary trans using it

[menlove]

when ppl say "the line between butches & trans men/cis drag queens & trans drag queens/etc is thin" I think yall hear "these identities are the exact same and I am going to call every butch a man and trans women are just drag queens"

when in reality what people are trying to point out to you is that when you go into the real offline world and mingle w the community, there is a huge overlap between these identities. not even just historically, although that's a huge part of it as well, but right now in 2024 there are huge overlaps

like for example I'm a transmasc butch. I'm on testosterone & I've had top surgery and I have a beard. in public, I get read as a man a lot. if I do get read as transmasc, I rarely get clocked as butch and most people assume I'm a binary trans man. I relate to many experiences of trans men.

there's people who blur the line constantly within our communities. there's drag queens who identify as cis but involve themselves heavily in the transfem community bc they relate so deeply to their experiences & live a similar life and just don't choose to label themselves as trans for whatever personal reason. there's butches who do the same. there's trans women who are also drag queens and their drag personas are wildly different from their irl presentation and they identify as queens first. there's nonbinary drag queens who don't want to fit in either category. there's trans men who are not binary men at all but choose the label "trans man" for convenience or broad understanding.

like we aren't telling you there's no difference between us or that you shouldn't respect someone's gender identity. but when you actually go into our communities and interact w them instead of screaming and throwing fits online about how people identify, there's a ton of overlap

[the2amrevolution]

People who are like "Iggy Pop and David Bowie and Prince and all these other 80s artists did XYZ and no one cared!" are... so clueless.

They cite "dude looks like a lady" being a hit as evidence, but, like, so many people did not know the actual lyrics to songs or used the song as a joke, despite the song being about having no problem with the stranger they're hooking up with being femme, in drag, or trans (since its ambiguous).

Now, the response to it by the LGBTQ community of the time is much harder to find, you'd need to ask them, and a lot of them are dead. Song came out in 1987. We lost so much of that generation to the AIDS crisis. But to think that it and other similar songs or artists were considered the norm and the cultural standard at the time is so wildly incorrect.

They got the "entertainer exception," where it's fine for them to "be like that" because that's how "those types" are, but your average person better not or they'll be run out of town (at best). There was conservative outcry and campaigning against rock musicians to the point of congressional hearings. It was both the most popular music genre and also still counter-culture depending on where you lived and what artists you listened to.

"Dude looks like a lady" was received by a huge amount of people as a joke with LGBTQ people as the punchline. A "omg that's so gross" gag. People still hear the song that way.

The writers' story is that it came from having thought Vince Neil's long blonde hair belonged to a woman, hearing Motley Crue use the word "dude" constantly, and a song they'd already been brainstorming about "cruising for ladies." "Dude looks like a lady" fit what they already had, and they purposefully created a story to use the phrase but not make it an insult. The song's protagonist meets someone he thinks is a hot woman, that person is a man, and the protagonist is still totally into it.

Honestly, there's still no problem with that song, imo. If it were made to be clearly about a drag queen? Zero issues there. Have a bit in the video where the song cuts and the drag queen pauses and says "You know I'm in drag, right? I'm a dude," and then Steven Tyler goes "oh, hot" and they carry on.

It's 100% the type of song that a current, bi or pansexual artist could make. Or even a gay man with the concept being that he's looking for a beard but finds a guy in drag or a man who likes to present as femme instead as a happy accident. The point that dudes can look like ladies and people can have zero issue with that is timeless, really.

A lot of younger queers outside of evangelical majority areas have zero concept of how any ounce of gayness was (and still is some places) a potential death sentence, and so when people did embrace the ways the were different from the norm, there was an all or nothing, might as well get weird with it, attitude. If kissing your partner on the cheek has the same penalty as experimenting with gender presentation, if that's something that interested you, then you might as well.

The progression of social acceptance of queerness created this "right way to be gay," intercommunity policing that says that the closer to heteronormative you are, the better, because that's easier for the hets to understand.

There's where the "LG without the B or T," "non-monogamy isnt LGBTQ," "non-binary trans people are misogynists/misandrists," and "queer is a slur" stances come from. People who are afraid that being associated with people that they don't personally understand will damage their reputation with the heteronormative majority.

Shaping yourself closer to heteronormativity to avoid discrimination and violence is not acceptance. It is not pride. What we need is for people recognize that they don't need to understand someone else's experiences or choices for them to be valid and respected.

People in those exclusionary circles pander to the overall fear of difference embedded within our society. They fear difference as well, but they want acceptance of their own difference. "It's okay for me, but not for you."

If we want true liberty for all, we must reject the idea that different equals bad. We must reject that being queer - literally weird or strange or not understood - is inherently harmful to others. When a person's strangeness only harms them in a social way via rejection, then that is actually society harming that person.

When a person's unique experience only harms them according to a religious standard, then it is their decision if they want to follow that standard or not. If a religion tells people that one group gets to control another and that we are judged based on the actions of others and not just our own, well, that religion is trash, frankly, and the diety that would judge in that way can get fucked.

Telling my dad he owns me and that his salvation is based on how much he makes me follow his rules and his religion? Yeah, that doesn't sound like an abusive manipulation tactic at all 🙄😒 Literally a hostage situation. Slaver type shit. "If you don't do what I say, the boss is going to 💀 both of us." Except there is zero evidence that the boss exists at all. So the only one benefiting is whoever the religion puts in charge. So "if you do what I say, I will get more social status and leisure time and capital, and if you don't our imaginations will be tortured for eternity."

Tl;dr: Ronald Reagan let our LGBTQ elders die horrible deaths because he was a slaver, and now people don't know their history and continue to empower the very structures that are used to enslave them in hopes that someone else will get enslaved more than them. And slavery exists because of greed.

We're still here. We're still queer. People who still can't deal with it do not need to have their discomfort platformed. Different is not bad.

[danmori630]

i want to be the anecdote of someone who believes girlhood and boyhood are completely different from womanhood and manhood.

my relationship with femininity ends at puberty. i was never a woman—i am a girl who grew into a man. i don’t understand what it’s like to be a woman. i only know what it’s like to be a girl. i’m trying to learn how to be a boy for the very last few years of my youth, or at least how to come to terms with trying to be a better man never having been one.

most girls become women. some become men or non-binary. most boys become men. some become women, or non-binary.

i don’t believe i was a little boy in a girl’s body. i was a little girl. i lived and thought and was treated like a girl. when i grew up, i realized i was not growing into a woman as would be expected, but that i was growing into a man.

some trans people don’t relate to that experience AT ALL! some people always knew they were different when they were young. some people even socially transitioned when they were young. that’s great for them! the whole amazing thing about people is how wildly different we are, and how we can talk about that! and listen to other people’s perspectives! and learn about what it means to be human! what it means to be queer!

i am a very, very old-school kind of trans guy, save for a bit of flamboyance or androgyny that may come from being intensely bisexual. i hope that i can go on t and move on with my life from all of this, being a very standard man with a very standard idea of manhood. (though while still being an advocate of queer rights.)

but shunning how people express their identity is a very good way to shun people’s specific and non-standard identities! people may have weird, specific reasons they identify as transsexual or as a transvestite. maybe a transsexual finds it a very important aspect of themselves that they’ve transitioned all the way, in nearly every sense of the word. maybe a transvestite is simply a crossdresser! it doesn’t matter why or how people use the words they use. self-identity is the widest spectrum out there and it’s important to live and let live as long as they aren’t hurting anyone—and i don’t mean you think the word is harmful for no real reason other than it doesn’t reflect your experience—i mean unless they are literally devaluing other people’s identities with their own, somehow.

don't use "ftm" it's outdated and offensive. it implies that the trans person was their agab, which we never were. i was always a boy, never a girl who became a boy.

i'm 35 years old. i've been IDing as trans or something similar to trans for nearly 20 years. i was probably calling myself FTM while you were playing tag during recess, anon.

i WAS a girl. i IDed as a girl early in my life. i recognized myself as a girl, called myself a girl, lived as a girl, and was a girl. who then IDed as a man. hence, F t M.

spend more time worrying about yourself instead of strangers on the internet, anon.

sorry not sorry if this comes off as needlessly hostile, but i've been getting a lot of shit from a lot of teenage trans kids about the language i use to describe my own goddamn experience, and i'm growing real fuckin weary of it.

i have elder trans friends who call themselves transsexuals and transvestites and trannies. are you going to seriously go to a 60-year-old trans person who survived the reagan years and tell her she's not allowed to use certain language to describe herself because it might offend the delicate sensibilities of some teenager on the internet?

do yourself a favor and log off, find some real-life trans people who are over the age of 20 or 25, and spend time talking to them instead of getting all holier-than-thou at random strangers on tumblr.

[the80srewinders]

Debunking Myths About Dissociative Identity Disorder

Myth 1: DID is multiple personalities the person doesn’t know about, but everyone around them does because the persons multiple personalities are wildly different in presentation and personality, talking differently, wearing wigs and are like different people. The most common DID myth.

DID is a covert disorder to the people who have it and the people around them. Most people don’t even know they’re dissociating themselves, so others wouldn’t notice. When DID is “overt” it presents itself as daydreaming, behavioral problems, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or OCD. The person usually doesn’t change clothes when an alter switches in that doesn’t like the clothes or wear wigs. The average person with DID has a covert presentation and is in the mental health system for around seven or more years before diagnosis.

Myth 2: People with DID are dangerous to themselves and others. This idea was around for a while, but the Billy Milligan case didn’t really help matters.

People with DID are often dangerous to themselves, but rarely dangerous to others. 70% of people with DID have attempted suicide, and even more have self harmed. Criminals with DID are rare, with most criminals having other traumagenic disorders instead, usually antisocial personality disorder.

Myth 3: There is an original person born in the body, an original child at the time of trauma, a whole personality that splits off and is fractured. Often associated with “the original person is the host who owns all the alters and they revolve around the original person” or “the original person is the traumatized inner child the alters form to hide.”

There is no original person born into the body. The personality starts as lots of fragments that are different modes of the child (happy me, hungry me, etc.) These parts integrate into one self state with one memory around 6-9 years old. Long lasting trauma causes dissociation, which stops the parts from integrating into one self state. The personality does not split, it was never one piece to fracture.

Myth 4: People with DID are always suffering because of it and can’t have fun in life.

People with DID suffer from persecutors, disagreements with alters, fear of never coming back when another alter switches, and trauma, but people with DID can still enjoy themselves. With psychotherapy or proper guidance, a person with DID can manage life and enjoy themselves a lot. People with DID go back and forth from suffering because of the symptoms and being able to manage them.

Myth 5: All people have alters. The alters aren’t their own self states, but integrated parts of the personality.

I call bullshit on this one. All people without DID/OSDD have integrated parts of the personality. They switch between different parts thousands of times a day. They do not have their own consciousness, opinions, perception of how they look or memories. These are parts of one consciousness in one integrated personality. An alter is a self state with its own consciousness, opinions, perception of how they look and memories that started out as one of those very parts as a child that integrate in people without DID/OSDD. All people have parts of the personality but not all people have alters.

Myth 6: Most people with DID color their hair the whole rainbow, are alt/goth egirls and eboys, afab non binary or trans ftm, and are edgy and homicidal and liberal/communist with an intimidating demeanor and use TikTok.

This is the most fake idea of a person with DID. In reality, people with DID hold all values, beliefs and aesthetics. Many people with DID never used TikTok, and the ones who do are often uneducated on their own disorder. Some people who claim to have DID on TikTok are faking because they think it’s the trend, when most people think poorly of someone for having DID, feel sad for them and don’t think it’s cool, or never heard of DID, and if they have it’s a stereotype. There is no aesthetic associated with DID. Don’t try to associate an aesthetic with it either, thanks and you’re welcome. From an actual DID system.

Myth 7: People with DID don’t have fictives. All people with DID have all of these alters: the little that holds the trauma that caused DID and is a version of who the person was at the time, is stuck in trauma time, is frightened, and acts like a child when it fronts; the protector that fronts to get abused for the host, and always remember the host is the original child because why not; the persecutor that internalizes the abuser to protect the person from the abuser by making them more like the abuser and torturing the person in their own head to hold the abusers values; and the gatekeeper, the manager of the persons head that keeps the alters in order and makes the alters switch when it wants because all fear the mighty gatekeeper.

People with DID often have fictives. Once the brain learns to develop alters in response to trauma or stress that it can’t process into one of the alters that exist, the brain never stops doing this. If the subconscious brain sees traits in a fictional character it deems the alters need, it will introject that character. Autistic people with DID often have fictives, sometimes many.

Myth 8: Switching is always noticeable to others. The person comes to in a place they don’t remember going to.

Switching looks like a brief daydream or zoning out for a few seconds. Most people wouldn’t know they saw the person switch. Amnesia of the switch itself covers up amnesia of what the alter did. The person will usually not even know they switched. They’ll feel like they were zoning out or like what happened was a dream, if they notice anything. Most people have no idea they switched alters until they find out they have DID. Its covert even from the person who has it.

Notes:

Alter egos are not alters. Alter egos are consciously created personas, often by celebrities. Alters are created subconsciously.

People with DID can have the “typical” alters I listed. Not all people with DID have all of the “typical” alters. It varies by person.

Alters are not their own people and are not supposed to act as if they were. Different alters shouldn’t have different partners without the partners consent. DID is not an excuse for adultery.

If one alter does something all the alters are responsible. They share the same body that did it, they all have to pay for their actions in the same body. Alters are not an excuse for mistakes and crime.

[knackeredforever]

An overly long tumblr ramble about funny armoured sci fi protagonists because I feel like writing this right now:

The character type of armoured sci fi protagonist who barely speaks(mostly) and simultaneously mows downs hordes of aliens(most of the time) is one of my favourite type of character next to traumatised homosexuals so here are some of my thoughts and head cannons regarding some examples of them:

Part 1 Samus aran:

Samus Aran (Metroid): one of my favourite protagonists in any game ever the perfect silent protagonist in my opinion. Gaming’s og girlboss while every other female gaming character in the 80s was stereotypically feminine samus was a complete badass although I’m using hyperbole as this was in the original Metroid the frustrating glitchy (While yes wildly influential for its time) duck tape held together mess it is. Although the series would transform after one other game that hasn’t aged that well then create super Metroid one of the greatest games of all time created the Metroidvania genre and was so influential that…..

I have gotten massively off topic. This was originally about my thoughts about her one thing I love to think about is what samus is like when she’s not in combat on alien planets. I’ve always loved the idea of outside bounty hunting samus lives a relatively chill life considering she rarely takes off her helmet or even speaks. It’s canonical that a lot of people in the Metroid universe despite her fame don’t know she’s a woman. So then I doubt she gets recognised in public ever. So i imagine a scenario where samus lives in a modest house in a rural town on a planet probably somewhere in galactic federation(gf) controlled space where no one knows her as that famous universe saving bounty hunter. But as that one friendly over 6ft tall buff lady who has a large amount of pets from tons of different alien planets who she cares for obsessively but never says how or where she got them from. She occasionally goes on long “business trips” off planet probably hires someone to take care of her pets while she’s gone and Samus comes up with some excuse with what she was doing so people don’t get suspicious. If Samus wanted to she could live a life of constant fame and luxury outside of her bounty hunting in some huge mansion in a gf major planet but she enjoys the simple life outside of her demanding job despite the fact she has near infinite finances from her bounty hunting and helping out the gf so she could live any life she wants she chooses the simple one.

Also another point on samus’s sexuality and gender cause I always see a lot of discussion about that on tumblr so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring. First off while I like the lesbian or bisexual Samus headcannons I’ve almost always seen samus as aroace personally outside of friends her closest companions are probably her many pets and she’d probably be satisfied with that when it came to romance I think when she was younger after she started bounty hunting but before the events of Metroid she probably was asked to go on lots of dates by lots of people of any gender or sexuality or even different alien species probably cause Samus is an incredibly conventionally attractive over6ft buff blonde but I doubt Samus enjoyed them, probably going on them with people cause that what normal people do but Samus didn’t have a normal upbringing. Her parents were murdered by a pirate space pterodactyl and she was raised on an alien planet by her two bird dads in complete isolation from the rest of the galaxy given a magical battle suit that defies physics even in universe and dedicated her life to stopping the people who took both her families from her. So she probably was never really exposed to normal conventions of attraction so never really found any reason to get into it and she’s happy like that. As for Samus’s gender this is also a hotly discussed topic with many seeing her as non binary of trans masc and I don’t really have an opinion on this if Nintendo were to turn around and say samus is nb or trans I would be cool with it cause it’s in perfect character for her case in point her dialogue in Metroid fusion. Discussing Adam and how her referred to her as lady while not as an insult it still is implied that no one had ever focused on Samus’s gender like that probably because it didn’t matter to them in a military environment or as a bounty hunter it probably only mattered that she could get the job done to other people. So it was never a big deal to other people and I think it’s not a big deal to Samus either she probably doesn’t care what people think her gender is which is why she isn’t going out of the way to correct people about it she simply does not consider it important I guess that means I see Samus as genderqueer but I’m not really sure regardless it dosent matter what her gender is she’s still gonna reduce the space pirates to dust anyway or any other threat to the galaxy. Anyway I think I’m done talking about Samus now I highly doubt we’ll ever get these ideas about samus built on in future games and we don’t need too there not necessary for the games or to appreciate Samus and her excellent characterisation in recent games especially dread but I certainly won’t have a problem if they do or who knows maybe the reason that they restarted the development for prime 4 was so they could implement the all important lesbian sex scene.

End of part 1 I’ll be doing a ramble on other chat that fit into this category later on originally they were all gonna be in one post but this took like an hour to write so that’s not happening welp next up is John halo so I’ll write that up some other time byyyyyyeeeee.

[neurodivergantizzetwitch]

though i think this idea has merit, the execution here is not great, and im gonna go on a lil mini rant about it:

so, i have been diagnosed with autism and adhd, and i am a trans girl, so amab; but answering as such on this would in my mind not be giving accurate information.

i got diagnosed with both autism and adhd after i had started transitioning, and at points in time where to outside observers my gender was probably varyingly ambiguous.

because of this, and because i'm (as a young person with long hair) able to pass decently well, i have experienced a lot of sexism in my journey to be diagnosed with autism and ADHD. i have also experienced a lot of transphobia in that journey, too, and a lot of privilege in it from being white, both that i think are important to talk about in relation to being diagnosed.

so, here comes the issue: what should i choose? do i choose the amab option? it's technically accurate, but it lumps me into a group who had a wildly different experience with this in a way that is exactly what this survey is trying form a deeper understanding of. should i choose the afab option? it's more reflective of my experiences, but it's not actually true, and there undoubtedly has been at least some amount of patriarchal privilege i have experienced.

this feels very binary, and in a way that completely disallows me from even participating in it. which is especially frustrating given the correlation between autism and being trans.

i doubt any of this was meant by op, they likely were using amab and afab in the ways the popular consciousness has adopted them, ie; as shorthand for male and female, but even if they weren't, the way this quiz is structured means that i as someone who has an experience different to the mainstream cant fit into the boxes set up by this external power.

and fuck, if that doesn't make my point clear i don't know what will.

I’m just curious to see how many of y’all are diagnosed and undiagnosed between amab and afab neurotypicals scroll past thx y’all

[eroticcannibal]

Pretty much every time I've seen someone use "abled ND", it was specifically in the context of "ablebodied ND", and not "not disabled". From the absolute beginning of this shitshow people have been saying, repeatedly, that their intent is not to say that ND people aren't disabled. Remember that this whole stupid fucking drama started because ND people wanted to join a physically disabled support community.

Here's the thing: we're all disabled. But speaking as someone who is psychotic, autistic, AND unable to walk... the needs and experiences of those with physical disabilities aren't the same as those who are ND and otherwise ablebodied. I don't like comparing disability to queer stuff, but both me and my buddy are trans. One of us is a binary trans woman, and one of us is genderfluid. Do we experience transphobia the same way? No, we don't. The broad strokes of transphobia are the same, but the details are wildly different. It turns out that, wow, actually, different marginalized groups experience oppression differently! Who knew!

Like I don't know how to say it any clearer, the point is not that "ablebodied NDs aren't disabled", it's that "ablebodied NDs have different experiences with disability and ableism and differing support needs."

Sorry to go off like this in your inbox ritsu that anon just fucking sent me lol

Good fucking take

[fubukiswifenoimnotjoking]

One Punch Man ship reviews bc I’m bored

WARNING: BIG ONE PUNCH MAN WEBCOMIC AND MANGA SPOILERS

GenoSai: do I even have to say it?? They compliment each other so well and are already besties. They make me so happy and I love their love. Genos literally came into Saitama’s life and brought so much new life and excitement when Saitama thought he’d never get any. Genos gives him love and appreciation all the time and never abandons him. Saitama isn’t connected to his feelings, but he cares about Genos and would do just about anything for him, to keep him safe. Genos constantly teases Saitama and Saitama grumbles and takes it with some banter, Genos is super emotional and Saitama does his best to comfort him, they fucking love shopping together and just hanging out period, they talk about the dumbest shit and somehow they still understand each other with the one brain cell they both share. It takes Genos forever to realize his feelings are deeper and Saitama has to be TOLD by their friends that he should fucking realize his feelings already. Just...I could keep going but I’ll stop! 2718873737839439/10 (let’s not talk about the age gap btw, 6 years isn’t bad and Genos is a legal adult.)

FubuSai: the stereotypical straight ship ppl gravitate to. Eh. I can see it, but at the same time I feel like they don’t completely compliment each other. Are they a hot couple? Duh. But I feel like their pride and communication issues would get in the way. 4/10

TatsuSai: hnghhhh. Someone mentioned this before, can’t remember who, but Saitama literally thinks she’s a child in canon. So that just....makes it gross. Same problems as FubuSai but worse. I’d rather see them as hesitant friends w a weird bond. 0/10

SonSai/SonicSai/idk the ship name: eh, toxic. Cant see them getting past communication issues and pride, again. Plus Sonic wants to kill his ass. Also, I just feel no romantic tension?? Even in fanfic it just falls flat for me. 3/10

MumenSai: a favorite!! Wish I saw it more, it’s very cute. Mumen is so kind and would absolutely be there to help him w self esteem and just help him be a better person period. And Saitama would have a cute little kind guy to tease and open up to. I could maybe see Mumen’s kindness getting on Saitama’s nerves when he’s in a bad mood bc Mumen almost never snaps and Saitama feels shittier, or maybe Mumen being mad at Saitama for being kinda lazy at home while Mumen is working his ass off and he’s like babe I just got home, please stop playing the fucking game and pay attention to me I have a concussion again. Prob too nitpicky on this one, heh, but 8.4/10

Genos x Sonic: wtf? As a crack ship, sure. That’s hilarious. But as a serious ship, 1.3/10 bc I could MAYBE see them bond over their love of my chemical romance or sum.

Anyone x Puri: -128382839287473828739219833468282/10. Fuck Puri.

TatsuKing: eh. Indifferent on this one too. I can see them getting along and Tatsu being the mean but supportive gf in public, but a sweet gf in private. King could be like her calm oasis of video games and sweet blonde shy bf. I sway more towards ace/aro King and queer non binary Tatsu, but this is still good. 6/10

FubuPsy/Fubuki x Psykos/idk: hell yeah!! This series NEEDS more wlw ships, both for me to project onto and to cry over. Prob my fav Fubuki ship, cuz they’ve known each other since they were young and had a tenuous friendship. I didn’t use to ship it until I saw that scene in the wc after the MA arc (u know the one) but here we are. They’re big personalities so any interaction is bound to be chaotic at first, but I really think they’d work. Pride put to the side, Psykos could be someone for Fubuki to finally rely on other than the Blizzard Bunch, someone to confide in, a badass partner to fight monsters with, talk about nothing for hours with, be a super fashionable #girlboss couple with, and someone who would really see her for who she is-especially w Psykos knowledge of her from the past. Hell, Psykos might even know her better than Tatsumaki. Fubuki could be an anchor to her like she currently is in the wc, providing a quiet comfort and making her open up little by little. Would prob be toxic at first bc of the MA arc and their desire for power, but is a very good ship I think. 9/10

Speedal/Sonic x Mumen: an old fav! Sonic would have a hard time not hating Mumen at first bc he’s the picture definition of a hero, sum he hates. But hanging out with him would show him Mumen is a GOOD guy genuinely and he’d be like ohhhh shit I’m in love w this man. Mumen would thoroughly appreciate someone to make him live a little, break some rules and stand up to ppl when they talk over him. He’d DEFINITELY be upset when finding out Sonic is an assassin, but would prob be conflicted bc he knows Sonic is a good person despite that. Would prob make Sonic give up on killing for them to be together. Sucks bc of the assassin thing and bc they haven’t met in canon! So we’re not sure how they’d interact with each other, sigh. 7.4/10

Okamaitachi x Bushidrill: a very underrated ship! To be clear, I headcanon Kama as a trans woman and so does most of the fandom. Anyway, very sweet and already built as a friendship bc of their partnership under Atomic Samurai. I can’t remember who writes fic and makes art of them on tumblr but AAAAA it’s so good! Very sweet. Basically depicted Bushi as a nervous himbo who’s honest about his feelings but scared to say them and Kama as a sweet lady who’s crazy about Bushi. Very sweet. Want more of them!! 6.1/10

OneZon/Zombieman x One Shotter: never even thought of the ship till I saw @megidolan art work! Very wholesome, and from what little we know of Shotter we know he’s a sort of nervous yet strong willed guy, and Zombieman would totally help him calm down bc he’s so chill. I could see them sharing cigarettes and talking shit on heroes while cuddling u know? 7/10 only because I don’t see enough of it but very good concept.

Mumarou/Mumen x Garou: a lot of ppl are gonna hate me for this but....I don’t like it. I’ve tried! I just—idk. I’ve read so many good fics about them that make me like it a bit, but the concept is just eh. I think their relationship is, in most reps, really cliche angsty stuff. I wish I could elaborate I just...gah! Basically, there’s better ships for the both of them imo. Sorry!! 4.3/10

Sonic x Flashy/SonFlash: yes!! Prob my fav Sonic ship. They have soooo much tension, it’s almost worse than Genos’ tension w Saitama. Flashy LITERALLY poisoned Sonic so that he wouldn’t be forced to kill him at the ninja graduation. He cares. They’ll never say it out loud, but they care. They have someone who understands what they went through in each other and someone they’re both so similar to, yet so different from. Sonic is more vocal about his expressions and let’s people know it while Flashy often keeps things to himself, they could really influence the other to be more this or that. I could see a lot of comfort with these two, and not much is needed for relationship development; they already have so much unspoken between them after meeting for the first time in years. Love it. Wish I saw it more! 10/11

KingSai: wonderful! Out of the few ppl Saitama is close to, def my second fav pick for a ship for him. There’s a post saying how Saitama doesn’t cut King off when he’s going on rants about games and stuff bc he’s talking TO Saitama, not at him like Genos tends to do on accident. They’re already great buddies! Saitama could find a shy gamer man who he can talk to about manga and stuff and also a passionate bf who could break out of his shell w Saitama and be himself with no lies. King can have someone to protect him, duh, someone who finally understands his weird sense of humor, and someone to shower him in the love and kindness he deserves when Saitama is in the mood to be all out like that w his affections. Plus he’s Saitama’s anchor and brings him back down when he’s super anxious and depressed and tells him what’s up that he needs to fix without sugarcoating it. Would def have a bunch of inside jokes and go on dates that are just staying inside playing video games all night. Domestic af. 10/10

Fubuki x Mizuki: my first wlw Fubuki ship! Hard to find but very good. Mizuki is this big ball of kindness, energy, and raw power that would make Fubuki go ‘Ohhhhhhh, big pretty lady make brain go brrr.’ I could see Mizuki grounding Fubuki when she’s in over her head, giving her random gifts bc she saw sum and thought of her, doing a marathon run and wildly waving at Fubuki in the crowd, and all around being a dependable woman confident in herself and in love with a mysterious esper. Prob a little shy when it comes to anything physical bc she loves Fubuki so much and is overwhelmed by the realness of being w her. Fubuki gives Mizuki advice on ‘acting like a proper hero’ or whatever and though Mizuki thinks she doesn’t need it, Fubuki still helps her a lot w her career and being taken more seriously by others. Would give Mizuki someone who loves her for who she is and would go wild on her in private when she can be open about her affection, would be someone Mizuki could exercise with and listen intently to Mizuki’s physical knowledge, and would absolutely bandage her when she’s all banged up. Hnghh love this ship. It’s only behind the FubuPsy ship juuuuust a little bc they haven’t met in canon so we can’t be sure about their interactions and stuff. 8.8/10, I love WOMEN

Batarou: how could I go this far without mentioning them?! They have SOOOO much tension in the centichoro fight, like come on. Both snarky assholes who are huge softies one the inside, Badd being the more logical one (still a himbo, tho) and Garou being the more chaotic one. Probably take forever to admit their feelings bc they’re so prideful and stupid <3 flirt through constant wrestling matches and it takes Genos saying ‘they should kiss already, they’re getting on his nerves’ for them to finally realize what’s up. (@rayadraws has a great au where Garou Genos and Badd are a chaotic friend squad and Genos is the only brain of the group, haha. Very good au y’all check it out!) Would constantly pick on each other affectionately and switch into concerned SO when the other is hurt like the big teddy bears they are. Raise Zenko together for sure. Garou would fumble being romantic and Badd would find it both hilarious and cute. 11/12

Zombie mask/Amai x Zombieman:

So. I don’t like Amai Mask and I used to hate him, BUT the webcomic and fic have really helped me calm down on him (he’s still a dick tho), so it’s easier to want to ship him and stuff. Bc of Amai’s anger issues and controlling behavior, I could see this relationship being super toxic and icky—but I think they have some form of understanding that pulls Amai back from being a complete dick, you know? Start off as fuck buddies and slowly form something else from spending companionable time together other than screwing. Zombieman pulls Amai back from his angry fits and soothes him over with his logic. Talk maaaaaad shit about heroes, but only when they’re alone because Zombieman knows Amai will talk loud af about the heroes they’re roasting and Zombie doesn’t wanna stop a fight from happening. Zombieman loves making Amai flustered and has a secret check list in his head of all the things that get Amai red faced. Loves to listen to Amai rant about things for hours and loves to watch his face go through almost cartoon like expressions as he talks. He won’t admit it, but Zombie loves to be spoiled by Amai’s shit tons of cash and often takes rides in Amai’s limos when he wants to smoke and think to himself. Amai has a hard time realizing how his feelings have changed, but gets hit hard with it when he wakes up to Zombie making them breakfast one morning while wearing Amai’s underwear. Amai also loves to spoil Zombie and takes him out to restaurants and buys him cool new weapons on the weekends. @batneko has pretty much gotten me into this ship and I strongly suggest looking at their works! 7.9/10

DemonKnight/Genos x Zero/Drive Knight: I’m pretty sure this used to be a crack ship before the past like 10 manga chapters—and now here we are! Not a fav bc 1. ZERO LEFT GENOS TO SELF DESTRUCT AFTER THEY COMBINED TO FORM THE FUCKING JET HE WAS JUST LIKE lol bye SO LIKE if he left him to die that’s super hard for me to forgive and ship grrr 2. Disregarding the manga’s canon and looking at the wc, while I love the little trip they went on where Zero demonstrated his abilities and helped Genos kill monsters, it’s super sus. He knew alllll of this info on Metal Knight and was super supportive and understanding when Genos said he needed time to think. Like,,,what are his intentions? We know so little about him—is he trying to trick Genos or was he being sincere? THAT STUFF ASIDE, they’re a really fun ship. They’re both huge fucking nerds and can keep up with their talk on robotics for hours, they’re both cyborgs so they understand each other’s pain, and they’re both super cool and angsty. I think they could really settle into a deep bond that can go platonic or romantic, just depends. Genos needs more ppl in his life so hell yeah! Plus, he can really let go with Zero bc they don’t have that teacher/student relationship and Zero, if he’s really a sincere and kind guy like in the wc, can be there for Genos and listen to him. Don’t have much to say on this ship other than @wellthisisembarrassing makes GORGEOUS art of them! 6.3/10

Webuiko/Suiko x Webigaza: YEAH I KNOW THEY HAVENT INTERACTED IN CANON AND WE DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM BUT HEAR ME OUT. Webigaza—cool af determined cyborg idol who’s surprisingly down to earth when talking with Child Emperor. Suiko—sassy and honest fighter who doesn’t take shit and is very passionate. Suiko would go to talk to Web then immediately freak out bc aaaa she’s way prettier than she thought, she can’t do this! Web would have to gently encourage Suiko to talk and at first is like ‘ah man, must be an adoring fan, ugh I’m so tired. At least she’s hot’ but when Suiko snaps out of her shyness Web is like oh! She’s super cool wtf. Always bump into each other during fights and help each other get fixed up, Suiko using her muscle power to lift Web’s pieces (and give Web a great view of Suiko’s muscles holy SHIT) and Web would patch Suiko up. Not to be stereotypical, but they’re def a masc/femme couple. I love the idea of this ship soooo much and I really hope they interact! 6.6/10 only bc they haven’t met 😭😭😭 look them up on here! There’s some great art of them by a few blogs

Dr. Kuseno x Bang: pretty sure @baldyborg came up with this one! Super cute. Just two old dudes finding a nice friendship in each other, maybe after Bang helps carry Genos to Kuseno’s after a day of fighting. Bang would find Kuseno to be a very cute little nerd man and would be sooo impressed by Kuseno’s mad scientist skills. Kuseno would be super impressed when seeing Bang in action too. They’d prob talk as soon as they meet each other and Genos would be in the background like you guys it’s been an hour, please fix me I’m on the verge of death 🧍🏻Bang would give Kuseno advice on training techniques to teach Genos and advice on making his bodies more martial arts ready or sum, meanwhile Kuseno would give his take on how to be kinder to Garou so that Bang would learn to repair the relationship with a gentleness he’s seemingly lacking (yes I’m talking about the chapter where he and Garou start fighting and Bang is just not doing enough to reach out to Garou, he’s being a callous old man! So yeah I’m still mad about that). Genos and Saitama would prob be out on a date and Saitama would be like oh theres Bang, wonder what he’s doing? Then Kuseno would walk up and kiss Bang and Genos and Sai would be shocked like SIRS 👬 Genos would tell Bang he doesn’t need another adoptive dad and Bang would be like....ok.... I see them retiring in a cottage together and Bang would become a huge softie. Yes I’m actively ignoring chapter 141 of the wc, shut up. 7.6/10

TankTop master x Mumen: they have a nice friendship going on in the manga right now! Just bros supporting bros. Tank is the picture definition of a muscly himbo and Mumen is his cute passionate bf. Also workout buddies af!! Don’t have much to say other than pretty good ship, just not a fav. 5.2/10

To sum it up—

GenoSai: 2718873737839439/10, Batarou: 11/12, SonFlash: 10/11, KingSai: 10/10, FubuPsy: 9/10, Fubuki x Mizuki: 8.8/10, MumenSai: 8.4/10, ZombieMask: 7.9/10, Dr. Kuseno x Bang: 7.6/10, Speedal: 7.4/10, OneZon: 7/10, Webuiko: 6.6/10, DemonKnight: 6.3/10, Okamaitachi x Bushidrill: 6.1/10, TatsuKing: 6/10, TankTop Master x Mumen: 5.2/10, Mumarou: 4.3/10, FubuSai: 4/10, SonSai: 3/10, Genos x Sonic: 1.3/10, TatsuSai: 0/10, anyone x Puri: -1283828319833468282/10

If there’s any ships I left out, it’s bc I don’t know them, don’t wanna talk about them, or just don’t have an opinion strong enough. Also, I know there are some poly ships like Genos x Saitama x Fubuki, but I’ve read only one fic about that (it was pretty good, here’s the link https://archiveofourown.org/works/5406992 ) so I don’t feel like talking about it. Hope no ones offended! All my opinion here :)

[scriptlgbt]

I'm wondering about bad tropes/stereotypes when writing an LGBTQ+ character being married to a non LGBTQ+ character?

Helpful term: Lavender Marriage

A lavender marriage is a [usually] male–female mixed-orientation marriage, undertaken as a marriage of convenience to conceal the socially stigmatized sexual orientation of one or both partners.

(Definition edited from Wikipedia)

Do you mean like a beard relationship (eg. a lesbian marrying a straight man for social appearances) or something else (like a bi woman marrying a straight man for love, or a trans person marrying a cis hetero person)?

Those aren't the only options either, this could be a peach fuzz relationship (where a QPR is referred to as a romantic relationship for social appearances).

Each of these things kind of come with slightly different implications. If you send an ask about more specifics, we can hone in on that better.

If I'm making a list of my Biggest Beefs with rep for this stuff in general, here's some no-nos:

allocishet characters using a partner's identity as a bargaining chip for something/otherwise weaponizing it against them. This can ofc be done if you want to make an easy villain, but it's wildly over-represented in media. I even see it depicted in relationships between two LGBTQ+ characters way too often. "Are you ashamed of me or something? People should know" is just so... Done. It's toxic. And usually closeted folks in relationships find ways to live as their true selves separately from people they want to be closeted to, at least if they have any privacy from those folks. This may be my own biases as someone whose parents aren't a part of my life anyway, but it doesn't actually seem like, at least in my experience, we deal with the same "meeting the parents" social obligation, at least overall. It might be important to a given individual and that's totally fine and normal and valid, but domestic tenderness and family is different for me.

referring to bi women in relationships with men as having "straight passing privilege" I know this is controversial for a lot of people: but this is just biphobia. (This is not up for debate here.) Hypervisibility and erasure are both shitty things with a lot of drawbacks. Even if there are situations where one acts as a variable in a good way, it's not the same as real privilege, because that variable will snap back into oppression in a different circumstance. For example, domestic violence rates against bi women are astronomically higher than both lesbians and straight women. I'm not saying this in order to say that there's any kind of WLW that has privilege over a different kind of WLW. I'm just saying that it's ignorant to call one group privileged over another just because of their relationships. We are oppressed for who we are on a fundamental level, for our desires, wants, needs, for our identities. A lesbian who never dates is still a lesbian. We don't gain privilege when we become single. It just doesn't work that way.

chasers and other fetishizers of LGBTQ+ people being treated as a good thing, or in any way condusive to a healthy relationship. [a chaser is a term for someone who fetishizes trans people. The term is sometimes heard as "tr*nny chaser" -- but I rec avoiding that version of the term unless you're reclaiming the t-slur for yourself and are qualified to do so.] It's okay to be attracted to trans people, but fetishization is subhumanizing. I wrote this article in 2016 a few years after a relationship with a chaser, covering red flags that indicate when a partner is fetishizing you. I haven't read the article over in a few years, so take it with a grain of salt, but I remember it as having some good examples of that. If you want to depict this kind of relationship as a problem, there are ways to write it responsibly. But I would strongly rec a sensitivity reader who has experienced this kind of thing, since it's easy to fuck up.

There's also just a Lot of complicated stuff around trans people in relationships with allocishet people. For even the most well-meaning, there's stuff to learn.

There's also just something different about the ways that being connected to queer culture impacts the way our relationships are carried out. I've heard a lot of bi cis + binary people talk about how their relationships with other bi people feel different on a fundamental level to relationships with straight cis binary people. (I've never dated a straight person so I can't speak to comparison, but if anybody wants to add on their own experiences, please feel encouraged to do so!)

- mod nat

[my-darling-boy]

i am non binary and eventually want top surgery. i can't get it yet bc i'm a minor and i can't come out to my parents, but i'm gonna be 18 soon and have a question. if i want to get top surgery, do i need to tell the truth about it? like, do i have to come out and say the true reason behind it, or can i say it's for another reason? and what would be easier in the end? i'm really scared of having to be out like that to get surgery

Sorry for the length of this!

Some trans people give false reasons to their family for wanting top surgery, and this can be the case if you’re using parents’ insurance and don’t want them to know what you’re using it for. The problem with this is that if you don’t cover your tracks with the lie, your family can still find out, especially if you still live with them. While being over 18 (at least in California where I live) prohibits your family from accessing your health info because you are now legally an adult entitled to confidentially, it doesn’t stop them from opening up mail from health insurance or surgeon offices that arrive at the house. While the mail I was sent states my approved procedures were “Bilateral Masectomy” and nipple grafts, it CLEARLY states under the diagnosis section on the front page “female to male” and “Transsexualism”, regarding the diagnosis of gender dysphoria I needed for the surgery. If a parent doesn’t know you’re non-binary and they go digging through your mail, there is always he possibility they may see words related to the surgery being gender related.

For the medical setting, it’s much trickier to do completely in the closet. For top surgery, most places around the world—with some exceptions—require one or more of the following for insurance/medical reasons: a recent written and signed diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a licensed therapist, signed and written proof of hormone replacement therapy for X amount of time from either a physician or endocrinologist, having lived at least 1+ years socially using the name/pronouns you intend to use, or statements from close family members and/or friends that you exhibit dysphoria or that you have been living socially with the name/pronouns you intend to use. Those are the typical ones I’ve seen, but because surgeons/laws/and insurances or medical groups have varying definitions of what grants one permission for the surgery, it can vary wildly from person to person, and what can complicate this further is that insurance and surgeons will have different criteria you need to abide by. Some surgeons are very relaxed and will simply give you the surgery provided they deem you medically fit while your insurance company says you need dysphoria and Hrt for them to cover it. Which brings me to my next point.

A bilateral/double mastectomy is deemed a “cosmetic or non-essential surgery” by most insurances (unless you are a cancer patient, at least in the US) which means insurances don’t like to cover all of the cost. I’ve seen this procedure range from $3,500 all the way to $18,000. The average price is $5,000-$10,000. I don’t remember the cost of my overall surgery, but I know my office consult alone was $1,200. Using my parents’ insurance, I only paid $15 copays. The only way to get my insurance company to cover what could have been a $10,000 surgery was to make them see it was “necessary” and this is why they require the dysphoria diangosis. While I don’t believe you need dysphoria to be trans or have top surgery, unfortunately insurance usually asks for it (“dysphoria” for an insurance company basically tells them you have a mental health issue that is negatively impacting your life and the surgery is needed to correct the dysphoria). With this in mind, it might be near impossible to get coverage for a bilateral masectomy coupled with chest contouring while in the closet to everyone, unless you’ve had a serious medical condition such as cancer since “restoring a breast isn’t considered a cosmetic procedure. It’s reconstructive surgery. Since it’s considered part of the treatment of a disease, the law says insurance providers must provide coverage.” (x) Alternatives would be chest liposuction, however liposuction is still cosmetic and therefore probably not eligible for full, if any, insurance coverage and there are zero ways for chest contouring or nipple resizing.

And which route is easier? In my own opinion, if you’re not comfortable going behind your family’s back or you need their insurance, you might need to tell them the truth, provided you feel in a position to talk about it with your family, and I only say this cos there can be instances where not telling them the whole truth can have consequences for you in the end. Some trans people report issues where coverage was denied after they got the surgery and have to give a $6,000 bill they can’t pay to their parents, letters show up to the house referencing being trans and parents can open these and read them, and an insurance company or surgeon may need written proof from family members that you have been living under x name/gender for x amount of time to provide coverage or surgery. If you’re fine hiding the process from your parents and using your own insurance or paying out of pocket, then that’s an option. But the situation can get sticky if you pursue surgery and are still living at home or have lgbtq-phobic parents and need to hide any evidence of what the surgery is for. I understand coming out is a Huge Thing, but the unfortunate part about this sort of surgery is it can be impossible to go about it trying to conceal all your intentions. And from what I’ve been able to gather during my own process, it doesn’t appear to be possible to go through with this procedure and have it all covered by insurance without mentioning gender.

Again, I’m only speaking from the perspective of someone who lives in California and had my own set of experiences dealing with the hurdles of insurance and the process in general, so if anyone knows it’s different somewhere else or how you could do this in the closet to either family or to doctors, you’re welcome to add! I’m afraid I’ve never run into anyone who went through with surgery completely in the closet with everyone involved. The systems in place for this are based off an outdated binary “male or female” scales, which can make things uniquely difficult for non-binary people to obtain care.

You may find this article particularly helpful about receiving surgery specifically as a non-binary person.

TLDR; successfully acquiring top surgery while completely in the closet to your family or medical staff/insurance groups would be very difficult in most circumstances unless you go completely behind your family’s back and/or bring attention to your gender identity in a medical/legal setting.

[kitkatopinions]

I’m probably over thinking/over complicating things but Ironwood and Penny have been really bothering me. It because prior to the moment that destroyed Penny’s arc the show and Ruby were really pushing that Penny not matter her body was human and that’s a very positive I like that especially when it comes to characters of Penny’s nature.

So my problem kicks in when I think of Ironwood. Namely this part in his song:

“What if it's true as they say

That I don't have a heart

That I'm more a machine than a man?”

Like wtf. I mean I “get it” especially with that dumbass line of Winter. But when it’s talked about Ironwood it was always in reference to the fact that his body is half robotic and there for we are meant to see the correlation between his body and his character.?

Put next to Penny’s message that really bothers me. Even more so since Penny gets a “reward” of becoming human, but the writers push that Ironwood sacrificing his arm to stop Watts and replacing it (a medical decision that could be debated given that he wanted to be up and able immediately to handle things not to mention that fact that nerves and muscle are severely fucked up) with a new (uncharacteristically uncovered) prosthetic means that he’s moving away from humanity. This thought has been driving nuts for a week.

I don’t think you’re overthinking at all. The writers have been pretty blatant about what they think of disabled people.

On the topic of James, 1. They wrote their triple amputee character to be coded as losing his humanity. This is suspect from the get go, but writers imo need to be especially careful and sensitive when they display things like villains with prosthetics. CRWBY is not careful and sensitive. 2. They specifically connected the loss of his limb to the loss of his humanity outside of the show, and as you said, his new prosthetic is uncharacteristically uncovered as well, and there were some pointed shots showcasing his arm and emphasizing it before showing Ironwood doing something wrong as well as a shot that particularly bothered me of them having James fall to Winter when his aura broke and then them immediately flashing to a fallen, broken robotic soldier. Tying the loss of someone’s humanity to them losing a limb / gaining a prosthetic in any way is wrong imo. There are better ways to display someone’s loss of humanity than villainizing the loss of his arm, and I don’t care what justifications people have for ‘they just meant to say that he was too impatient to-’ Idc. Tying the loss of humanity to the gaining of a prosthetic is wrong. 3. They never once treated Ironwood’s clear PTSD, history of mental health problems, and trauma with any sympathy, instead spending their time ragging on him for not wanting to feel his pain anymore and condemning him for... Trying to control his emotions. 4. CRWBY also gave him a semblance and explained how it worked by saying he hyper focused, talking about how James’ passive semblance that he can’t control forces him to focus on one single goal and fixate. I’m not disabled, but I do hyper fixate. It’s not something I can control, and to see it used as a justification for evil (in one of my favorite characters in the series who reminded me of my father lol) and being treated as something bad... It doesn’t feel good. I can’t imagine how other people must feel who are much more affected by this than I am. 5. As you say, the writers go out of their way to reference his metal body as being more ‘machine than man’ and make lines about him being heartless. And yeah, I get that he’s an allegory for the ‘Tin Man’ from Wizard of Oz but ffs the Tin Man had always had a heart and I honestly thought that was what they were going for in V3 with Qrow commenting that sometimes he thought James didn’t have a heart and the audience seeing Ironwood’s actions as questionable, only for the entire show to tell us repeatedly that he actually is a caring and good person who’s willing to destroy all the forces he was proud to show off if it means saving lives and was actually pretty freaking blameless in the Fall of Beacon and was super kind to the kids and when the chips were down, Qrow and Glynda both absolutely knew without even questioning that James would never ever willingly hurt the world or fully betray them and had absolutely no hand in the Beacon attack. Like, I’m sorry, but between Penny and Ironwood, season eight is the season of taking well done character allusions and throwing them out the window for the exact opposite moral done incredibly poorly. And anyway, getting off of that rant, making a ‘more machine than man’ sentiment tied around a triple amputee character is incredibly harmful and hurtful to people with disabilities and only propagates the real world stereotypes against people like James.

So, yes, their treatment of Ironwood, his mental health, and specifically his disabilities was so badly done, harmful, incredibly insensitive, and frankly, appalling that it came from grown adult writers in 2019-2021! But, as you point out, it’s not just Ironwood. And here’s where things really get bad for CRWBY. Because Ironwood alone is enough for me to say they were ableist - unintentionally or otherwise - and ought to apologize for the hurt they’ve caused their fans. But when you get into the rest of their treatment of characters with metal prosthetics or non-flesh elements to their body, it becomes a pattern.

Penny’s entire body is removed from her on threat of death, with the justification that it’s hurting her and that her body is just a machine and not part of who she is, contradicting Penny’s earlier themes of self-acceptance and validating her humanity in the body she already had. She then dies by assisted suicide in a way that feels unneeded, after having asked to be killed earlier in the narrative. So many people have talked about how destructive her story became in V8 and how it personally hurt them, especially non-binary people, trans people, autistic people, or disabled people who saw themselves in Penny or saw in her arc something that they could relate to, only to have Penny’s differences stripped away from her, having her conform to normal body standards and have her previous body type invalidated by her friends, and then they had her killed via assisted suicide in an unbelievable way, insisting as well that she never made a choice before she was a flesh-person and couldn’t feel things right. It’s all horribly done, but it’s important to remember that while Ironwood is accused of losing his humanity as he loses a third limb and gets a third prosthetic, Penny’s earlier validation is taken away and is instead only granted and she is only justified as a person when she loses all her ‘nuts and bolts’ and becomes a flesh person. And then she’s killed anyway.

Yang’s prosthetic is the least ill handled, but it is still dismissed as ‘just extra’ despite her former fairly strong arc of coming to terms with her disability and making it a part of her. She casually justifies what’s happening with Penny despite Penny not being in a position of adequate consent. Yang’s trauma and PTSD also vanished when Adam died at the end of season six and in my opinion, that situation was handled very badly.

Maria and Pietro, two other disabled characters, disappeared, left when Amity fell and were not even mentioned iirc since. Not even when Penny is awake, not even when they’re evacuating, not even when Penny is choosing to die. She never brings up her father. And Ruby’s supposed ‘mentor’ who never had an actual narrative role that couldn’t have been filled by Qrow and has had nothing to do since season six even past that is also forgotten out in the tundra and not mentioned again.

The writers go out of their way to have Winter say that because she was just following orders (a statement that contradicts her previous character imo) and pushing down her emotions, she was the real machine, whereas Penny had been human underneath her apparently easily tossed aside and destructive previous metal body.  And I don’t know if this means anything, but in that scene where she and Penny meet when Penny is dying and transferring the maiden powers to Winter, Winter is in her V7 character design, instead of wearing her assistive brace. Like I said, I don’t know if I’m reading into that, but with everything else, it feels like an iffy choice.

So yeah. In the past season CRWBY specifically cultivated a pattern of disrespect, dismissal, and villainization of any non-flesh attributes in my opinion. It seems pretty intentional and clear to me, but I’m willing to accept that maybe this was just a wildly bad uneducated mistake. Here’s the thing about that, though, after the Faunus/Racism allegory, the CRWBY writers should’ve learned their lesson and not touched on any real world topics that they weren’t willing to do the research on and treat with the sensitivity and care and respect the topics needed. Their Faunus/Racism allegory was harmful and hurtful and frankly could’ve sunk them in the water, they should’ve learned to put much more care and effort into their work or stayed the hell away from anything that could further spread the negative stereotypes surrounding real world people. But they didn’t learn their lesson and they’ve continued to push harmful narratives with no awareness or sensitivity. I don’t think you’re over-reacting at all, I think this is something that - intentionally written or otherwise - the writers should be called out on, or they’re just going to continue writing harmful narratives.

Also, I am not disabled, many of my opinions on the treatment of these characters comes from posts I’ve seen from many disabled or neurodivergent RWBY fans (or former RWBY fans,) or other people more affected by these narratives - minus the thing I said about Winter appearing without her brace when she talks to Penny, as it was something I just noticed while typing out this post. Since I’m not disabled, I’m not the best person to talk about these things, so if I got anything wrong in this, anyone more affected, please know you can let me know and I can edit and fix.

[nothorses]

"Not to mention that trans people have existed for as long as people in general have, even in societies that lack any formal gender concept for trans folks." Can you elaborate on that? How can we be certain of things that far back in time? What exactly are formal gender concepts, and can you explain what lacking them looks like? I don't know how I could identify as "transgender" in a society with no genders for me to, yknow, *trans* across/over/against/within/etc

In the quote you brought here, I’m using an extremely basic understanding of “trans”: someone who doesn’t fit the mold of “woman with vagina” and “man with penis”

These folks may not have considered themselves trans- aside from the fact that the word itself is extremely novel, the concept and experience is wildly different between cultures. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been people in history who don’t, in some way, deviate from perfect cisgender norms.

By “formal gender concept”, I mean that various cultures and societies have had different ideas around what genders do and do not exist. Modern western society has “male” and “female”. “Hijra”, as an example, has long been a recognized “third gender” in India/South Asia. Some Native American cultures, as well as some indigenous cultures worldwide, have had terms for genders that are not strictly “male” or “female”; as well as terms for all sorts of gender expression variation.

Those alternate genders- or gender concepts, or whatever you want to call them- are also how we know that being trans is nothing new.

As another example- in Ojibwe cultures, ikwekaazo ("men who chose to function as women" / "one who endeavors to be like a woman") and ininiikaazo (”women who functioned as men" / "one who endeavors to be like a man") were allowed to live the lives of the opposite binary gender to the one they were assigned at birth. [x] This is fairly similar to our modern understanding of “trans”, though the reasons people fell into these categories were likely different from modern trans people in, say, North America.

Not every culture was accepting of variations, and not all the terms created to describe what we now understand as trans and/or gay folks were respectful; nor do they align with modern, especially western understandings of gender and orientation. But they’ve existed.

I don’t know the exact history of gender as a concept, back to the start. I think much of what we do know is clouded by the heavily western-centric/euro-centric lens that’s applied to a lot of historical knowledge. But I think it’s extremely fair to deduce that being trans (in this usage of the word) is not strictly social: people have been breaking the strict boundaries of “woman with vagina” and “man with penis” for thousands of years, regardless of how accepted it was at the time- or what their culture defined their concepts of gender by.

[catharsis-in-a-bottle]

ALL MY THOUGHTS ON GENDER:

A brain dump / essay-ish thing

Hello, dear humans! I had no particular inspiration for this massive chunk of text beyond “it’s late and there are thoughts in my little human brain.” And so here are all my current thoughts on gender - all of the thoughts that I can... think of... at least. Disclaimer: much of this is speculation and personal opinion. This isn’t a research essay. This is a brain dump. These are thoughts that have been shit out of my head, tidied up, and sprayed with perfume; proceed, therefore, with a critical mind.

There arises a thought, and likely a rather common one among those who think about gender on a regular basis. What if this heap of gender baggage - the expected appearance, personality, and occupation of a given sex - did not exist? What if people disregarded genitalia in favor of raising all sexes with the same status quo, or perhaps even without expressional expectations?

My question is: what, then, would become of gender dysphoria? If the differences between men and women in society were not so heightened - if the existence of nonbinary people was something normalized... I don’t think I would be dysphoric. My mind would be nonbinary - as gender itself is possibly an intrinsic part of neurology, whereas the gender baggage (roles and expectations) is socially constructed - my mind would be nonbinary, but there wouldn’t be an ideal body to ‘transition’ to. So what would I do? The only difference now would be biological sex. And perhaps, for some, this alone is enough for incongruence and/or dysphoria.

And if all sexes were raised not only equally, but better yet encouraged to express themselves as they wished - how might the face of the earth be changed? In terms of fashion, form-fitting clothing would not be made only to accentuate “feminine” curves. Maybe it would simply accentuate *human* curves and features. If the only recognized differences between sexes were natural physical appearances and roles in reproduction, and we DID NOT create gender roles to accommodate those roles in reproduction... Our world, the products we create, the ways we act... everything could be very, very different.

This imagined world is, of course, an unlikely outcome of our societal evolution. In the animal kingdom, different sexes are assigned different roles and jobs. Why should humans be any different? The task of physical labor to men arises from the sole biological factor of higher potential muscle mass - and in our prehistory, that muscle mass was real. Everyone was working hard as hell in the fight for survival.

And so the differences in sexes grew and grew. With a gap in the jobs they were expected to perform based on their reproductive and physical capabilities, societally recognized men and woman drifted apart. And as humankind grew, these differences were portrayed in wildly different ways in differently developing cultures. So in our prehistory, there were hunters and gatherers, caretakers and fighters; but in the beautifully diversifying cultures developing across the globe, the gender baggage differed. Ideas of femininity, masculinity, neutrality, and combination of expression were quite different as one moved from place to place. In western culture, neutrality was rejected and stomped upon, while in many non-western cultures, neutrality, ambiguity, and overall third genders received their own baggage and thrived in the gender arena (which is now a term, thank you very much.)

Gender expression and gender roles were socially constructed. But what of gender itself? What is gender? We say it’s a personal identity, what’s in our minds and hearts. Is it neurological? If so, that would explain gender incongruence at the base level - feeling that incongruence based solely upon one’s sex. If not, if gender itself is in fact entirely social construct and not just the baggage, what of transness? What would it mean to be trans? That’s not my place to answer, because I don’t know and all of these rhetorical questions are sheer speculation. Whether or not gender is an intrinsic, neurological part of our individual selves, trans people still exist.

And not only do trans people exist, but we deserve to live as the height of our true personal expression. Freedom is so fucking important. Speaking your mind and being yourself and showing the world, or showing a loved one, or knowing and loving who you are - this is all freedom, this is all personal expression. For trans people it is emancipation and liberation from the shackles of all of that gender baggage. In one way or another, gender differs from biological sex, and the sheer difference in what each gender is supposed to do, present as, act as - that difference is what feels so absolutely, goddamn confining. If we returned to my unrealistic little scenario in which we somehow suppressed the evolution of gender baggage, the societal confinement would not exist. It would be biological confinement. And who knows what that would entail; certainly not I, a non-omnipotent little Homo sapiens.

Being a woman and having society tell you you’re a man is confining. Being a man and having society tell you you’re a woman is confining. Being nonbinary and having cultures in which that is simply *not historically a thing* tell you that “you’re whatever’s in your pants” is confining. In my own personal experience in western society, this enby confinement is different than that of binary confinement, as a neutral role - a good old nonbinary baggage suitcase - is a new thing. Nonbinary PEOPLE are not new; a nonbinary suitcase (I love making terms up) is new though, once again illustrating the difference between the gender baggage and gender itself. The struggle of nonbinary people is not to be compared to that of binary trans people, as it is a separate category. They are related but not the same. Binary trans people push against gender baggage that has developed, evolved, and existed for centuries; nonbinary trans people are making a new category (in cultures in which that isn’t a defined gender role). And we don’t necessarily want to create any more ‘baggage’ for nonbinary people, as once again this is what causes that suffocating feeling of confinement within society.

Xenogenders are sort of similar in this sense - an entirely new category is surfacing. At first I did not understand them. But not understanding something is never a basis for disrespect. I don’t know the people identifying as xenogenders, and I don’t know how they feel or what their personal struggles are, so who am I to say “ahahaha trender”? Their existence does not affect me. “But they make the trans community look like a joke.” Well, people with xenogenders are not the face of the trans community, and those who think they are simply cherry-pick the “cringiest” examples in a varied community that they can find, which is already shitty in itself. And also, the problem is not “trenders”. The problem is people with already transphobic mindsets, whether that be passively transphobic or actively transphobic. That mindset is just being extended to this emerging group of people. I don’t give a shit if someone uses neopronouns or describes themself using a neogender, because I do not know them and their existence does not affect me negatively in any way, nor does it affect the trans community negatively. By simply their identity, they are not hateful or discriminatory. And so what trans people should really be fighting against is passive and active transphobia within society - the actual, real life problem. We shouldn’t be turning inwards and setting our own dogs loose on each other.

Here we are in the world. Femininity, masculinity, neutrality and ambiguity have become established fashion codes and expressional standards in my good ol’ western society. Occupational gender roles still exist heavily, because that’s literally an intrinsic part of our evolution as humans, but these occupational roles are being fought against. Which is due, because anything otherwise would be archaic and non-progressive. Personality and personal expression are still heavily scrutinized when differing from one’s own assigned gender. The latter is an issue; the fashion codes and expressional standards have their deep problems, such as violence on the basis of expression, but once femininity, masculinity, neutrality, and ambiguity have been extended and allowed to all genders and socially accepted, these issues should fade. It’s sad that we must base the resolution of violence on social acceptance. But we must push for this social acceptance. We must push for the elimination of confinement, and for the absolute freedom of personal expression for all people; once real, true freedom of expression becomes normalized, becomes the status quo, it will no longer be met with challenge and hate.

That’s one thing we want deeply in life. To exist as we wish to exist without challenge and hate.

That concludes my... words. I hope that entire thing could be perceived as relatively orderly. I encourage you to leave your thoughts in the notes or ask a question or whatever you want to do.

[ivanaskye]

@morlock-holmes since you asked in good faith about the difference between transgenderness and transracialness—

(but on already a pretty long post, which is why I’m making my own)

here’s my two cents as uh, a cis white person (so maybe not the most helpful, but I’ll try.)

I think a lot of the difference really hinges on how new “race” is as a concept compared to culture or ethnicity.

Like, there are plenty of people who don’t feel at home in their culture of birth, who eventually encounter another culture that suits them better, make many friends of that culture, perhaps marry someone of that culture and have kids in that culture.

If birth culture vs new culture maps onto a national boundary, we often call those people immigrants.

And often, such people will... speak the language of their preferred/new culture, wear clothes of that culture, perhaps even do some culture-specific body modification like tattoos or piercings.

This... is not what people call transracial.

Which brings us to the second point where being transgender differs— it often has a lot to do with embodiment.

Many trans people who go on hormones report feeling notably different on them, which makes senseww, as body chemistry... affects the experience of living in a body.

There is no equivalent thing regarding race, because different “races” do not have different body chemistry.

Like, the difference between what people call races just isn’t that big.

But the difference between cultures can be, which is why throughout human history there have been people who have moved into a different culture.

But race as a set of heritable body traits? That’s largely a past-few-centuries invention.

There are, of course, body modifications besides hormones that many trans people choose. (And many trans people who do not want hormones or any body changes for a variety of reasons, from economic to suspecting that coming closer to their ideal body will only exacerbate the bad feelings of the parts that can’t be changed.)

But the bodily experiences of existing, living, and moving around with vs without breasts, or with vs without a penis, are more different than the bodily experiences of.... skin color? Hair type?

I don’t want to imply that either gender or sex are strict binaries, because they’re not, but there generally has been some conception of them as things throughout human history, even though that conception could vary wildly between cultures. Race does not have that sort of long history.

And, again, while the biological reality of sex and gender is fuzzy at best, there is nothing at all worth pointing to regarding a biological “reality” of race. Race is so fake that it makes gender look real.

Now, I mentioned embodiment and body modification, and there are a few other traits where people attest seeking and much preferring a different type of body than they have.

One of these is weight, which is tricky because of the current societal pressure to be as thin as possible... or thinner than possible. But there are people who have gained weight and reported being more happy and at home in a fatter body than a thinner one, and I think that’s a relevant data point here.

(Again, I have seen nothing of the sort for... feeling more happy and at home with a darker skin color? But you don’t feel skin color from inside yourself, so that makes sense.)

Limbs/amputation status is another one, and the experience of phantom limbs is very much a thing. (However, worth mentioning that amputees are by no means a monolith regarding whether they would prefer to have a body with all limbs or not, or even if they feel phantom limbs at all—but some do.)

This brings me to another data point, which is that while I have never encountered someone who professes that they would feel more comfortable in the body of another “race”, I have very frequently encountered people who profess that their body “should” have wings, tails, long and mobile ears, that they “should” be quadrupedal, etc.

In other words, people who could be called transspecies.

Which again makes more sense than being transracial, because different species have actual differences in embodiment.

Different races (“races”) do not.

In fact, the entirety of humanity has very low genetic diversity compared to many other species.

So, Tl;dr—

Transracialism isn’t a “thing” the way transgender people are, because

If someone were to prefer to be another race because of differences in embodiment, this position would be nonsensical because different “races” do not have such differences in embodiment.

If someone were to prefer to be another race because of differences in culture, they.... already do this actually, people join and participate in and have friends of and get married to people of different cultures all the time.

Basically, it boils down to “race” as a concept having very little basis in reality.

If there were still multiple subspecies of humans around (ie neanderthals), this might be a different story, but as it is, there are not.

[pkmnsdarkqueen]

Take on the dash

Might as well address the elephant in the room. 

Honestly alot of what’s happening rn reminds me of what happened when Lysandre was brought onto the scene. 

Some people utterly demonized the character, other’s embraced the character flaws and all. For awhile there was a stretch where Lysandre accounts received a ton of hate from one side because of people’s disdain for their actions. Here’s the thing bout that though,

When it comes to pokemon the way a character is presented often changes wildly depending on what medium you see them in. Continuing with the Lysandre example in the games he comes off as very linear minded, and almost weirdly detached from the other characters Add on that one scene where he cried and he’s pegged as this over sensitive antisocial person by most people who’s just so emotional they’re kinda batty. 

You see him in the anime though and suddenly he becomes a character that’s acting off of deep hurt and betrayal with yes an awful goal, but someone that in some aspects can be sympathized with and needed help. 

Many accounts played him in the morally gray stance basing more off the anime, where you as the mun could develop one opinion knowing more details about the character where as the muse may develop a totally different opinion only knowing so much. 

This started well, and was a fun environment until some got up in arms going so far as to rail into Lysandre accounts as playing pokemon hitler. This was obviously wrong, awful, and turned many people away from the community. 

If someone wants to play a villain as all bad then fine. There was a Ghetsis account that did an excellent job of straight up being,”Yeah my character is a bad person.” But it is up to the mun to decide how they’re portrayed. If a character is morally gray then you can’t run in to demonize their character as a mun because things aren’t so one dimensional which as a mun having access to the character’s bios and other stuff written you can see this. 

Honestly some characters get pegged as being on one side of the tracks terribly easily due to how they’re labeled in the media.  example: ENTIRE JOHTO LEAGUE, all once villains who have committed horrid crimes most of them with VERY little next to no justification or good intentions behind their actions but because they’re elites and a champion in the present media they don’t get any flack.  Lysandre and Rose characters that the muns paint as morally gray who’s character’s honestly seem to be the definition of ‘well intentioned do gooders who went too far.”: Villains scum of the earth, have to endure a period of hate. 

This is wrong, an awful way to treat other accounts, and almost feels like some sick hazing period that no one should have to endure. 

If you are gonna play a villain though, and you bring up hard to talk about topics just tag appropriately and if someone needs to tag better KINDLY go in and ask them to do so. 

(I once wrote a drabble and in the start explained this would be intense, what was in it, and I wasn’t sure how to tag it but would like feedback if I tagged wrong. Guess who got death threats for not tagging right.)

~~~~~~~~~~Side note~~~~~~~

Just want to also add in. If someone wants to play any character as non binary, a part of the LGTQ+ community, straight, trans, etc. Leave them to it. Again pokemon is awful at letting us know where a character is in terms of sexuality or gender so let people do as they wish in this regard because honestly it makes the muns happy and lets them write the stories they’re comfortable with. 

[recentanimenews]

Sympathy for the Devilman: The Legacy of Go Nagai's Magnum Opus

I've always had a thing for villains. Unlike my brothers, as a kid I'd always choose the "bad guy" action figures. If they went for the ninja turtle Leonardo, then I'd go for the uber-buff Super Shredder. I personally identified with villainy because of how it connected to the idea of "evil." I personally see evil as a generalized concept that expresses antagonism toward violent and dominant societal structures. Due to a coercive religious upbringing, I now see how my younger self unconsciously found ideologically-oppositional comfort in "evil" art. This eventually led me to one of my most cherished pieces of fiction: Devilman.

Devilman has left an indelible mark on manga and anime creators over the last few decades, inspiring major industry heavyweights such as Hideaki Anno, Kentaro Miura, and Kazuki Nakashima. The series was created by Go Nagai, a manga auteur also responsible for Mazinger Z, Cutie Honey, and Violence Jack (which is a Devilman sequel). Although Devilman retains much of the explicitness native to Go Nagai's usual fare, it uses these graphic elements uniquely to deliver a haunting, unforgettable, and compassionate message.

Let's explore the surprisingly relevant political and social significance of Devilman, along with a few of its animated offshoots. Read on but be forewarned, this article contains major spoilers!

  Devilman (original manga, 1972) 

via Seven Seas Entertainment

  The Devilman manga is a dark antiwar narrative in deep contrast to the standard monster-of-the-day, "evil fights evil" set-up of the anime (which ran at the same time as the manga). Ryo Asuka — who turns out to be Satan, the leader of all demons — helps convince the world that anyone dissatisfied with the status quo could turn into a demon and needs to be killed. Every nation starts a war with each other, and Japan creates the "Demon Busters" to murder anyone suspected of being a demon. This plot twist is the most explicitly political angle in Devilman and a clear critique against the genocide of marginalized peoples. One page features a taste of the global hate brewing around the world: a collective white desire to murder Black communities, the renewal of German anti-Semitism, and hatred for any protestor. There are also many moments that display the horrors of historical genocide when Akira and Ryo travel through time.

Devilman builds additional nuance around this theme with Ryo's character. In the manga's final scene, Ryo describes how demons were once oppressed by God, and that they in turn preyed upon humans in the same way that God preyed upon demons. Ryo recognizes that he continued the same cycle of genocidal hate and marginalization he once suffered. This is a striking moment that functions as a cautionary warning against abusing imbalanced power dynamics, and how even once marginalized groups are still capable of enacting horrors against those with less power. 

via Seven Seas Entertainment

  Ryo's character also made a groundbreaking stride in the representation of marginalized gender and sexual identities. His true form as Satan is easy to interpret as trans, possessing emotional, mental, and physical traits that defy the standard gender binary. The manga also makes it clear that Ryo considers Akira more than a friend, and is actually in love with him. Amazingly, Go Nagai does not use Ryo's trans-coded self or his queer love for Akira as fodder for insulting or disrespectful commentary from other characters. Ryo's gender-variant form is certainly mentioned, but it's never negatively framed or conflated with his murderous attitude toward humanity. Additionally, the manga never suggests Ryo is evil because of his romantic feelings for Akira (a simple, yet important distinction). It feels all the more impressive when you remember that this was made in 1972. Devilman's subversive portrayal of non-normative gender and sexual identity could still be considered groundbreaking even by today's standards.

Devilman OVAs

  The first OVA, The Birth, covers Ryo and Akira's discovery of demon existence, with a very brutal early sequence that shows the bloody survival-of-the-fittest origins of life on Earth (which beautifully expands upon and mirrors the same sequence from the manga). It concludes with a gore-soaked finale where we see Akira's fateful transformation into Devilman. The sequence is filled with face stabs, top-notch body horror, and decapitations galore as Devilman rips apart demon after demon in a nightclub setting.

  The second OVA, The Demon Bird, had the same crew that worked on the first OVA and contains a very similar feel. This OVA is more action-oriented than the first since it doesn't spend time on the build-up and exposition leading to Devilman's initial appearance. The animation and art design is probably even better than the first episode, which is most notable during the fight with Sirene. On a side note, the Manga Entertainment dubs for these first two OVAs are absolutely essential if you're seeking a fun evening with fellow anime nerds with a decent sense of humor. Their typically sleazy dubs — where Manga Entertainment excessively hyped up the seedier, more "adult" side of anime in order to market their products as wildly different from cartoons for kids — contain an assortment of unnecessary profanity and generally crude dialogue compared to the Japanese source material, to great comedic effect.

The third OVA, Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman, is based on Amon: The Darkside of Devilman manga, an alternate-universe offshoot by Yu Kinutani. This OVA contains a reworked version of the end of Devilman and has a much darker edge compared to the first two OVAs. This entry in the series has an ugly, grim quality to it – such as the horrific depiction of Miki and her brother getting slaughtered by an angry mob — that initially felt off-putting to me. I started to enjoy it more on subsequent viewings however, when I remembered that, well, the entire Devilman mythos is pretty damned bleak in general. I think the desolate mood would have been more bearable had Akira felt like the compassionate, tragic hero of the manga.

Actually, overall I'd say that Akira's portrayal is one of my biggest complaints about these OVAs. He displays a cold lack of care for human life — like in the Demon Bird when he unconcernedly tears through an airplane while fighting Sirene and allows its passengers to presumably plummet to their deaths — that for me, offsets one of the biggest strengths of Devilman's core: that although Akira has the body of a demon, he never loses the tender heart of a human. With that in mind, let's explore Devilman Crybaby. 

  Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is my favorite animated incarnation of Devilman, period. I might be in the minority with that opinion, but I think there's a lot to love. Masaaki Yuasa is already one of my favorite recent anime directors — Kaiba, Mind Game, and Lu Over the Wall are highlights  — so it's no surprise I'd be head over heels for his take on a classic Go Nagai story.

Yuasa impressively shifts the '70s setting of the original into modern-day Japan: The group of surly highschoolers from the manga are replaced with rappers and smartphones are everywhere. In the hands of a lesser writer, a modern setting would be no more than a cosmetic, surface-level change of scenery to an already-written narrative. In contrast, Yuasa avoids this trap by using the modern setting to make incisive social commentary relevant to our times: social media is the means for both horrendous and beautiful moments in the show. It leads to Miki's murder when she posts on Instagram to defend Akira, but also serves as the online catalyst that unites Devilmen across the globe (in contrast to the original manga, where a set of demon-possessed psychic monks unite the Devilmen). Yuasa explained this in a 2018 Japan Times article:

"Today's situation is a lot closer to 'Devilman' than it was when Nagai wrote it in the '70s," he says. "The popularity of social media means people are a lot more connected, for good and bad – like someone getting shot over a video game. We learn about unarmed black people being killed by police, people being tortured and the rise of nationalism in politics. In Japan, too, where a lot of problems are openly blamed on foreigners.

"But it can also help spread good that we wouldn't otherwise know about. We see people coming out as gay or trans on social media, and there's a greater opening up and acceptance of different opinions and lifestyles."

  Another beautiful aspect of the show is how Yuasa amplifies the queer elements present in the manga. Ryo and Akira's relationship feels even more loaded with romantic undertones, and Yuasa also introduces two queer characters unseen in the original manga. One of the characters is named Miki Kuroda, initially portrayed as a jealous antagonistic foil to the Miki we all know and love. Miki Kuroda changes as the episodes progress and she becomes a Devilman, and we eventually see her sacrifice herself in an attempt to save Miki Makimura, who she confesses her love to before dying. It's refreshing to see a queer woman represented in a story that previously had none, and incorporated in a way that feels organic and thoughtfully integrated within the larger narrative.

  In contrast to the Akira of the OVAs, I absolutely adore this incarnation. Yuasa did a stellar job showing not only Akira's horny goth-jock side but also his compassionate traits. As the name implies, there's a lot of crying in Devilman Crybaby, and Akira is responsible for at least half the tears throughout the brief 10-episode series. Akira evokes such intense compassion and cares for people around him, which is a noticeable deviation from his cold demeanor in the OVAs. The human heart at the core of Devilman is on full display here, taking the emotional elements from the original and turning the volume up to 11. Though the art style and setting might be drastically different from what you'd typically expect of a Devilman remake, Yuasa did a masterful job honoring the source material while injecting it with fresh life and even fresher modern resonance. 

What other aspects of Devilman  — or its many incarnations  — did you find important or interesting? Let me know in the comments below!

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