#“biological sex” is much more diverse

[vizthedatum]

If gender is a construct, then I'm choosing my own construct, and I'm telling everyone.

But I do wonder... what's out there beyond any one construct? Is it something that we can't even perceive?

[togglesbloggle]

Evolution, Metaphor, and the Meaning of Gay Alligators

A few times recently, I’ve run across discussions about animal sex that are wrong in interesting ways.  I don’t want to derail those conversations, and I certainly don’t want to call out anybody in particular, so I’m branching off here- but the most recent one was in the notes about the discovery (original paper) that most alligator sex is between two males.

Anyway, a not-uncommon element of these discussions is for somebody to frame animal homosexuality as ‘confusion’, particularly with simpler animals.  The idea behind this isn’t too tricky: it proposes that the animal’s sexual instinct is functionally oriented towards (or intended for) heterosexual coupling and reproduction, but that the perceptions and processing power of the animal’s brain are too limited to reliably distinguish between the sexes.  As a result, simpler animals of the same sex may occasionally copulate with one another by accident, as one of the failure modes along the way to biological reproduction.

If you are a card-carrying member of the Tumblrati, the word ‘heteronormative’ might well be in your brain already, and fast approaching your tongue.  You might be building an argument about how sexuality has social as well as reproductive functions, that a lack of human imagination doesn’t prevent evolution from building towards homosexuality for its own reasons, and anyway human sociolinguistic concepts are a lousy fit for animal behavior.  These are pretty good arguments, but I’m asking you to pause that line of thought briefly; it’s not where I’m going.

Animals confound us in an interesting way: their agency is without question, but their sapience is limited, and we struggle to imagine ‘what it’s like to be an alligator’ for that reason.  What is it like, after all, to be conscious but not self-aware?  So when we ask ourselves why an animal does what it does, we tend to use evolution as a way to paper over that gap, and say “well, the alligators must be having sex in order to reproduce and succeed as organisms.”  Persistently, in odd and elaborate ways, we make this assumption that animals are themselves pursuing adaptive fitness in a way that’s much more direct than humans do, as if natural selection were a motive for animal behavior and not just an explanation for it.

This is the deeper and more interesting error that I’m trying to chew on.  The ‘mistake’ theory of animal homosexuality assumes that animals are motivated to pursue biological reproduction, not because of what we know about them as individuals or as a species, but because of what we know about the forces that produced them.  This assumption gets silently made in the case of alligator sex in part because we often make this assumption, it’s nearly our default way of thinking about these things.  

I’m very sympathetic to this error!  Biology and especially anatomy is our go-to example of purpose in nature; questions like “what are your lungs for?” have obvious (if surprisingly sophisticated) answers.  Behavioral instincts are a little more complicated, but it’s still kind of the same thing- we can cogently talk about the reasons why we shiver when we’re cold, for example.  And every time we have this conversation, natural selection is looking over our shoulder waggling its eyebrows at us.  This kind of language can be very, very misleading, inviting a slip from “we <are born with an involuntary reflex to> shiver in the cold because it helps us survive,” to “we <agentically prefer or choose to> shiver in the cold because it helps us survive.”  It’s practically designed to trip us up like this.

I think this happened in our language because of the theological fights around evolution in the early days of its discovery.  You know how it was- Darwin, the monkey trials, all that nonsense.  Natural selection accounts for biological diversity and the seeming-purpose of natural forms in a way that requires no conscious designer (or Designer), and so what might have been a purely scientific discovery also ended up blowing a hole in the social and religious functions that that sense of purpose provided- and was called upon, in some ways, to fill that hole again.  Evolution got smooshed into a sort of theological shape, and now we have the sort of culture where the phrase “evolutionary imperative” feels like it makes sense to us instead of being an obvious contradiction in terms.

That theological shape comes back again and again when we try to speak poetically about natural selection, because it’s always lurking very shallowly under the surface.  In these failure modes, we talk about natural selection in almost filial terms, a generative entity that hangs out in a workshop occasionally holding up new animals for our perusal; it’s hiding behind Kipling’s ‘gods of the copybook headings’, NRx’s ‘gnon’, Scott’s ‘Goddess of Cancer,’ and so many others.  I did it a little bit myself, not three paragraphs ago!  I called evolution “a force that produced them,” like it was some sort of creator-deity sculpting gay alligators out of clay.  Like “what evolution wants” is something that a person can talk about…

Metaphors and language are hard, but I’ve been trying to think a lot lately about how to build a story about evolution in my head that doesn’t have this problem.  Something passive, you know?  Something that doesn’t have the property of being a designer, doesn’t tempt us into treating ourselves and the organisms sharing our world as if we were all agents of some Lovecraftian entity.

I’m not entirely satisfied with my answer just yet, but for now, I’m trying to let evolution be a labyrinth.  It’s filled with twisting corridors and strange rooms, dead ends and loops, and terrible, deadly traps.  It’s unfathomably large, and mostly empty- even though trillions and trillions of us have explored this maze, we’ve only really seen a small part of it, and out beyond the edges of our knowledge, there’s still mile after endless mile of quiet, dark corridors that have never known a footfall.  

It’s not a comforting place, and even though we were born here, it’s not really home; it’s not something built for us, or one that’s especially concerned with our wellbeing.  But the thing about this labyrinth is that most of the rooms have prisoners in them, strange and unfamiliar beings held in stasis and waiting for the door to open so they can spring into life and begin their own wandering.  And this is a treasure of a kind, if you want to see it that way; not wooden chests full of gold coins, perhaps, but something new and beautiful all the same.  And if that’s not reason enough to explore the maze, to go out beyond the relative safety of the room you were born in- then, well, there’s always the rumors that there’s a real exit, hidden somewhere among the twisting corridors.

It’s… not bad, I guess?  The metaphor has its uses.  

I think it does a decent job of capturing and illuminating lots of our moral intuitions; bioconservatism (and to a lesser extent, social conservatism) as a refusal to explore the maze, rejecting the insane dangers of exploration and the questionable rewards of the search and instead preferring to stay at home in the room where we were born– still trapped in the labyrinth, but at least alive, at least for a while.  It shadows that position with the correct amount of irony, reminding us that human existence follows from a four-billion-year history of discovery, adaptation, and mutation by nonhuman organisms; it reminds us that the discovery of human beings came at a terrible cost for those who came before us.  And importantly, it allows any given organism to be a thing-in-itself.  Sure, life originates in certain places and certain patterns according to the latent shape of the labyrinth (though my metaphor isn’t very good at describing that shape…), but it’s free to act as it prefers, and live or die by those choices.

My hope, anyway, is that by dwelling on this metaphor, and stepping back from all the talk about creators and purposes and imperatives, you’ll find it easier to see what ought to have been fairly obvious to us: alligators have gay sex because they think the other alligators are sexy, and they want to have sex about it.

The questions that follow after, like “why do alligators find each other sexy?,” are also important!  It is vital to learn as much about the shape of this labyrinth as we can, the better to traverse it safely, to explore it comprehensively, and maybe even to find the exit.  But those are different questions, and conflating them can only lead to confusion.  We must begin by acknowledging that we and our fellow-travelers on Earth do not exist for the sake of natural selection, and that any willful concessions to it are strategic, not moral.  The creatures all around us- human and otherwise- carry their own motives and their own reasons within themselves.  To live in the world as it is, we have to confront that radical pluralism head on, and not try to wipe it away by pretending these are all just masks over some domineering force of nature puppetting them towards inscrutable ends.

[whereserpentswalk]

You are going to get the chance to go to a university in another plane of existence for one semester. Everyone in your life will just think you're abroad somewhere. When entering the new plane you'll be given a new body that matches that plane's inhabitants, (most people probably won't believe you if you ad it you're from another plane). You'll also automatically know the language they speak there.

Your options are:

1: a university in a plane where no biological life exists, and instead the main inhabitants are advanced robots. Your new body will probably be pretty alien to the one you have now, so it might take soke time getting used to it. The technology of this plane is also more advanced than yours. And the university you'll be going to is inside of a massive pyramid.

2: a university within the plane of the faeries. This is actually one or the planes that's had the most contact with your own, though they don't look upon humans well. Faeries are diverse creatures, ranging from elegant humanoid, to buglike and fungal monasteries, it also seems they don't have a human concept of morality. Also note that their idea of a "school" is much diffrent from ours.

3: a university in an alternate timeline where the KPG mass extinction never occurred. The earth here has a single sentient species, who evolved from feathered raptors. This is an alternate earth instead of a truly alien plane, so it's not going to have diffrent physics, though you will be dealing with a species very alien to your own.

4: a university within a plane of endless sea. There are three main species here, one who have humanlike bodies but gills and mouths like jawless fish, one who have hard crablike shells that almost look like armor, and one who have long shark like tails but more humanoid upper halves with four arms. Humans also exist here, and live exclusively on ships and submarines, but they're rare.

5: a university in a plane similar to our own earth, but where magic, cryptids and monsters all exist and are known to exist. While the school is mostly humans, a few undead, lycanthropes and other strange creatures have attended here. The university you'd be sent here if you choose this to is in a major cultural hub, and while it doesn't teach exclusively magic that is an option. It should also be mentioned that humans don't have sex here and their bodies lack any sex characteristics, and how they reproduce is a mystery.

6: a university in a plane where demons, djinn and fallen angels come from. This is a vast realm, filled with caverns, dark forests, vast deserts, and massive artificial structures, with the university you'd be going to here being at the massive city in its center. The creatures here are far less evil than many think, and their forms are probably the most diverse of an plane listed here's inhabitants. This is also another plane which has had some interaction with yourse.

7: a university in a plane of endless forest, with trees so massive entire cities are built into their trunks. Nobody has ever seen its floor, and nonody has reached the top of the tallest known trees. This plane is inhabited by insectoid humanoids, of many diffrent varieties, and it seems that no vertebrate life exists here.

8: a school in a plane that exists entirely digitally. Some parts of it are static screens, others entire 3d or 2d worlds. It can be hard for mortals to adjust to this type of world, but if you've spent a lot of time on the internet or playing video games you kind of get how it feels to be here, just without any body required to interface with this location. Also note that there are some very malicious entities here that might harm you if you aren't being careful here.

9: a university in a desert plane where humans have become outnumbered by various types of undead, ranging from liches and phantoms to vampires. The undead here are sentient and have mostly assimilated into human society by now and most humans have adapted to their culture, and the war between the two kinds has long ended. While this world is at about a 21st century level of technology, there's proof it may have once been far more advanced long ago. Due to a past conflict humans here have lost what we'd consider 'afab' bodies, and require strange magic involving water to create offspring.

10: a school in a plane that consists of an endless city, constantly bathed in summer night. Technology here is slightly more advanced than it is in your world, and alongside humans, cyborgs, and robots are quite common, some of whom take on forums quite alien to humanity. Humans here also all posses bodies we'd consider 'afab', due to events long past, and reproduce using technology. The university you'll go to if you choose this one is in one of the most populated parts of the endless city, near the center of the known world, though they say strange and unknowable creatures lurk near the edges of the known city.

11: the university in the nameless city of yetoth.[Warning, this is a highly dangerous option and involves entities not cleared for human knowledge]

Reblog to teleport to the plane of your choice. Like to bring home a gift from where you went.

[fozmeadows]

As someone who hasn't read the works of radical feminists like Simone de Beauvoir, could you explain what's wrong and what bothers you about biological essentialism? I'm curious about your opinion after reading your post on radfems (and I'd like a perspective that isn't so based on biological gender essentialism, which I honestly have a hard time moving away from because I don't understand other perspectives well). 👀

The problem with biological essentialism is that purports to answer the eternally unanswered question of nature vs nurture in a wholly one-dimensional way - ie, with biological sex as The Single Most Important Aspect Of Personhood, regardless of any other considerations - while simultaneously ignoring the fact that biological sex is not, in fact, a binary proposition. We've learned in recent decades, for instance, that intersex conditions are much more common and wide-ranging than previously thought, not because scientists have arbitrarily changed the definitions of what counts as an intersex condition, but because our understanding of hormones, chromosomes, karyotpying and other physical permutations has expanded sufficiently to merit the shift. So right away, the idea that humanity is composed of Biological Men and Biological Women with absolutely no ambiguities, overlap or middle ground simply isn't true. Inevitably, though, if you mention this, people with a vested interest in biological essentialism become immediately defensive. They'll start saying things like, oh, but that's only a tiny minority of the population, they're outliers, they don't count, as though their argument doesn't derive its claim to authority from a presumed universality. To use a well-worn example, redheads are also a tiny minority of the population, but that doesn't mean we exclude them when talking about the range of natural human hair colours. But the fact is, even if humans lacked chromosomal diversity beyond XX/XY; even if there were no cases of cis men with internal ovaries or cis women with internal testes or people with ambiguous genitalia - and let's be clear: all of these things exist - the fact is, our individual hormones are in flux throughout our lives.

There are standard ranges for estrogen and testosterone in men and women (which, again, vary according to age and some other factors), but two cis men of the same age and background could still have completely different T-counts, for instance - meaning, even the supposed universal gender factor isn't universal at all. More, while our hormones certainly play a major role in our moods and cognition, so do a ton of other genetic and bodily factors that have nothing to do with the sex we're assigned at birth - and on top of that, there's nurture: the cultural contexts in which we're raised, plus our more individual experiences of living in the world. One of the most common, everyday (and yet completely bullshit) permutations of biological essentialism comes when parents or would-be parents talk about their reasons for wanting a son or a daughter. Very often, there's a strong play to stereotypical assumptions about shared interests and personalities: I want a son to play football with me, for instance, or: I want a daughter to be my shopping buddy. But even within the most mainstream channels of cishet culture, it's understood that these hopes are not, in fact, grounded in any sort of biological certainty. The dad who wants a sporty son might be just as likely to end up with a bookworm, while the mother who wants a little princess might find herself with a tomboy. We know this, and our stories know this! For the entirety of human history - for as long as we've been writing about ourselves - we have records of parental disappointment in the failure of this child or that to embody what's expected of them, gender-wise. More than that: if biological essentialism was real - if men were only and ever One Type Of Man, and women were only and ever One Type Of Woman, with recent progressive moments the sole anonymous blip in an otherwise uniform historical standard - then why is there so much disparity and disagreement throughout human history as to what those roles are? The general conception of women espoused in medieval France is thoroughly different to that espoused in pre-colonial Malawi, for instance, and yet we're meant to believe that there's some innate Gender Template guiding all human beings to behave in accordance with a set, immutable biological binary? And that's before you factor in the broad and fascinating history of trans and nonbinary people throughout history - because despite what TERFs and conservative alarmists have to say on the matter, our records of trans people, and of societies in which various trans and nonbinary identities were widely understood (if not always accepted), are ancient. We know about trans priestesses from thousands of years before Christ; the Talmud has terms describing eight different genders, and those are just two examples. All over the world, all throughout history, different cultures have developed radically different concepts of femininity and masculinity, to say nothing of designations outside of, overlapping with or in between those categories - socially, legally, behaviourally, sexually - and yet we're meant to believe that biology is at all times nudging us towards a set, ideal gender template? There's a lot more I could say, but ultimately, the point is this: people are different. While some aspects of our personhood are inevitably influenced by genetics, hormones, chromosomes and other biological factors, we're also creatures of culture and change and interpersonal experience. The idea that men and women are fundamentally different, even diametrically opposed, at a biological level - that the major separator in terms of our personalities and interests isn't culture, upbringing and personal taste, but what's between our legs - is just... so reductive, and so inaccurate.

We can absolutely have common experiences on the basis of a shared gender, but gender is not the only possible axis of commonality between two people, let alone the most salient one at all times, and the idea that we're all born on one side of an immutable biological equation that cannot possibly be transcended makes me feel insane. According to modern biological essentialism, intersex, trans and nonbinary people are either monstrous, mistakes or imaginary; all men are fundamentally predisposed to violence, all women are designed for motherhood, and we're meant to just hew to our designated places - which, conveniently, tend to echo a very specific form of Christian ideology, but which in any case manifestly fail to account for how variedly gender has been presented throughout history. It's nuts.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: California Sheephead Wrasse

A lot of people through history and the modern day have an overly simplistic view about sex, both in the sense of biological sex (that is, what gametes something produces) and sex as in the act of mating. A lot of people think that sex is just a strict binary between males and females, but nature is far more diverse and varied than that (even in humans. Intersex people do exist after all). Today I'm showcasing one of the animals that completely goes against the alleged sex binary: the California Sheephead Wrasse. And yes, this is a pride post.

(Image: a male California Sheephead Wrasse in a tank in the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a large fish with a bulbous head. The head and tail are black, midsection is pink, and the belly and chin are white. End ID)

The California Sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) is a large fish in the Wrasse family of Labridae. They are sexually dimorphic, with the males and females appearing distinct from each other in size, shape, and color. Males are larger than females, reaching up to 91 cm (3 ft) and 16 kg (35 lbs), though there is quite a bit of size variation based on food availability. They have flatter faces than females thanks to a bulbous bump on the forehead. This lump is the namesake of the fish, since it allegedly make it look like it has a sheep's head. I personally don't see it at all. Males have black heads and tails with a white chin and underbelly and pink midsection Females are smaller and colored silvery to a dull pink all over except for their white chins and underbellies. There isn't really a maximum size or weight for females for reasons I'll get into later. The fish have large canine teeth that protrude from the mouth and modified throat bones that form a grinding apparatus called the throat plate.

(Image: a female California Sheephead. It has a less bulbous head than the male and is a pale pink all over, except for the white belly and chin. End ID)

Sheepheads, like many wrasses, are sequential hermaphrodites. A sequential hermaphrodite can transition between sexes during its life (as opposed to a simultaneous hermaphrodite, who can produce both sperm and eggs at the same time). Every California Sheephead is born female and some will become male later in life, making them protogynous. Protogyny is the most common form of hermaphroditism in fish, with over 75% of known sequentially hermaphroditic fish species being protogynous. This transition is a one-way process, males will not turn back into females. The transition is triggered by a number of factors, primarily size and the local availability of males. If there are not enough males in the area, the largest female will transition to male to fill the role. This transition takes between 2 weeks and a few months depending on availability of food and other conditions (temperature seems to play a role) and the fish will be capable of producing sperm before fully assuming the male morphology.

(Image a male and female Sheephead swimming next to each other. The female is roughly half the size of the male. End ID)

During mating season (July-September), males will pick a territory and claim all nearby females as mates. A younger male without a territory may challenge an alpha male to try to claim his territory. These fights are often resolved with threat posturing, but if neither male backs down, they will fight with biting and raking teeth against the opponent. During mating season, females will release batches of 375,000 eggs almost daily for males to fertilize. During this time, the alpha male will patrol his territory to mate as much as possible while chasing off smaller males who may attempt to sneakily fertilize some of his female's eggs. The larvae are planktonic for their first 34-78 days, and will sink as they grow. Juveniles have a different coloration to the adults. They are orange, with a white stripe running down the body and dark spots on the fins. The average maximum age of a California Sheephead is 21 years, but the oldest individual on record was 53 at the time of capture.

(Image: a juvenile Sheephead. It is a small, orange fish with a white stripe running from eye to tail and black spots on the pelvic, anal, dorsal, and tail fins. End ID)

The California Sheephead lives on rocky reefs and kelp forests from southern California to the Baja peninsula and Gulf of California. They prefer shallow water between 3 and 30 meters (10 - 100 ft) deep, though males will occasionally venture deeper. Sheepheads are predators that hunt hard-bodies invertebrates including urchins, shelled molluscs, and crabs. Juveniles hunt smaller prey such as sponges, bryozoans, and barnacles. The protruding canines give the fish a better grip when trying to pry food off of rocks. They crush the hard shells of the prey with sharp teeth before swallowing. The shells are then further ground down by the throat plates. Smaller individuals have been known to break open urchins too large to bit by picking them up and hammering them into rocks. Sheepheads play an important role in kelp forest ecosystems by keeping urchin populations down. Urchins eat kelp and without predators keeping their numbers in check, can reduce kelp forests to urchin barrens. Sheepheads are known to have a high site fidelity, meaning they will return to the same places over and over. They will maintains a sleeping spot (usually a crevice they can hide in or rock they can hide under) and return to the same places to hunt. They are diurnal and return to their sleeping spots at night to avoid predators.

(Image: a male Sheephead trying to pick up a sea urchin with tis mouth. End ID)

California Sheephead Wrasses are classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. Their primary threat is overfishing. The Sheepheads have been commercially fished since the 1800s and their numbers have dropped. The hermaphroditic nature of the species actually makes things worse. Commercial fishers are incentivized to catch the largest fish and the largest Sheepheads are the males and females that are likely to transition to male. Unlike with other species, there aren't small males around to make up for the loss of large males to fishing since the small fish are the females. The loss of males and the largest females (who are the ones most likely to transition to male) means there aren't enough males around during mating season to keep the population high enough. The introduction of marine protected areas and fishing regulations have helped the population recover. The loss of the Sheepheads is a big deal since they're one of the species doing the most to keep the kelp forests healthy by eating urchins. Natural predators of the Sheepheads include sharks, sea lions, and giant sea bass.

(Image: a fisherman holding a male Sheephead on a boat. The large canines of the fish are particularly visible. End ID)

[joe-spookyy]

okay! so i’ve been watching a lot of smiling friends. and it would be out of character for me to watch something without doing some sort of intense hyper analysis. so here’s my thoughts on the biological classifications of the critters, humans, and maybe some other species of the smiling friends universe. my friend said this is how sheldon cooper would enjoy smiling friends. and i guess he’s right it’s very scientific. please read on.

first. we look at the wiki. who is defined as a critter? for this analysis, the specific characters that are designated as critters on the wiki i’ll be looking at are charlie, pim, allan, glep, dj spit, and mr landlord. so first, let’s take a look at the anatomical features of each of these characters.

charlie:

- large protruding nose

- eyes on the front of his head (i think?)

- head and some body hair (chest, stomach)

- 4 fingers

- primary and secondary sex characteristics (nipples and genitalia)

- belly button

- average height

- 27 years old

pim:

- no visible nose

- eyes on front of head

- no hair, one exposed nerve ending

- four fingers

- secondary sex characteristics (nipples) and presumably primary (genitals) given the fact that he is always clothed

- belly button

- short

- 34 years old

allan:

- smaller but still protruding nose

- eyes on sides of head

- no hair

- four fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, no clothing required, occasionally to accessorize (tie, bathing suit, floral vacation clothing)

- no belly button

- tall

- 24 years old

glep:

- can’t tell if he has a nose or if it’s just his upper jaw tbh

- eyes on side of head

- no hair

- no fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, only wears a hat

- no belly button

- incredibly short

- 1295 years old

dj spit:

- prominent nose

- eyes on front of head

- facial and body hair

- no fingers

- secondary sex characteristics (nipples) and presumably primary (pants covering lower half)

- no belly button (as far as i can tell)

- average height

- 23 years old

mr. landlord:

- prominent nose

- eyes on front of head

- hair on head

- four fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, does not usually wear clothes

- belly button

- tall

- unknown age

now. that’s a lot of variation! in My humble opinion i feel like that’s enough to designate different species since there is so much different between some of them, especially in the case of a lack of visible sex characteristics and the presence of nipples/a bellybutton, since the latter are distinct signs of a place tal mammal. however, regardless of what i think, it’s clear that there’s a significant amount of genetic variation in this population. what could have caused this?

theories:

here is what i and a few others who i’ve asked have come up with. scroll down to theory four to see the one i think is most likely, and therefore did the most research/explaination for.

theory one: there is no meaning to any of it and there is no pattern. they look the way they do because it is funny. is this a realistic take? yeah. do i like it? no. it’s boring. so i’m disregarding it.

theory two: the critters are just a species with an incredible amount of genetic variation. i guess this is possible and kind of goes with the first theory but there’s a little more nuance to it so i’m including it as a separate theory. again i keep going back to how i wish there was more specification, like certain breeds or races. different races, though, like the spamtopians, seem to be treated as completely different species. although they also have a lot of genetic diversity. additionally, many of the humans don’t look the same/have the same traits. so maybe there’s just high levels of diversity in each species, and there are other ways they’re each distinctly classified.

theory three: convergent evolution from a few different base species. this one could very well be the truth. several of the critters bear more resemblance to reptiles or amphibians, particularly the ones that are hairless and possess no visible sex characteristics. allan definitely has some lizard-esque characteristics, especially looking at the shape of his eyes, and pim kind of reminds me of a frog, and he does in fact refer to his youth as when he was “a tadpole”. glep also reminds me of a small lizard. the more mammalian critters, like charlie, could also have evolved from apes as humans did. maybe charlie and his big schnozz are distantly descended from a proboscis monkey. and dj spit from. something else ape like. idk. i definitely don’t know what to say about mr. landlord. he has some mammalian characteristics (hair, bellybutton) but he also lacks the sex characteristics. he could be the result of some intermixing but i’m truly not sure. additionally, some of the critters have forward facing eyes (typically indicative of a predator species), while some have eyes on the sides of their heads (typically indicative of a prey species). now, this rule does have exceptions, but i do think the possibility that pim is a predator animal is really funny. this one has its merits, but i don’t see why they wouldn’t be just split into different species at that point if there are distinctly reptilian vs mammalian groups, and the existence of those who are sort of in between, like mr landlord, adds to the confusion. additionally, it fails to account for how the critters all seem able to breed with/have relationships with characters classified as humans, because if there are some that are distinctly more reptilian than the more mammalian critters, it’s so incredibly unlikely that the reptilian descendants would be able to breed with humans, since, at least in our universe, humans cannot even breed with other mammals, so there’d have to be something going on for a primarily reptilian species to breed with humans.

theory four: all the critters we see, with a few exceptions, are a result of many generations of human/critter crossbreeding. this is the one that i am rooting for, and it makes the most sense to me. between all the critters, we can definitely see some that have more human traits, and some that have more animalistic traits. so, maybe charlie and dj spit have more human dna, whereas, say, allan and glep have more critter dna in their lineage. again, we do know that human/critter relationships are very commonplace, as both glep and charlie have human partners. in my opinion, it seems that glep is furthest on the critter spectrum, given his lack of any distinct human characteristics and incredibly high age. he could be one of the last remaining true Critters. on the other end, dj spit appears to be the most human. all the others fall in between.

additionally, many of the human characters don’t display Only humanoid traits. some are live action, some are rotoscoped, and some are traditionally animated. the different ways they’re animated (or distinctly Not animated) seems to indicate a little bit of genetic diversity as well. for example, mr boss is animated, and switches from five to four fingers, and has the ability to turn his face into a dog face. i guess there’s no proof none of the other humans can do that, but he does seem to be a little more non-human, when we take that into account along with his disproportionate features (eg. massive head). and i’m not even gonna open up the can of worms that is the fact that sometimes he has massive bazonkers that he can nurse jason with, and sometimes just has pecs. additionally, we can see that doug and professor psychotic, while presumably biological brothers, have a lot of different characteristics, with doug being rotoscoped, and professor psychotic being animated and honestly sharing more characteristics with dj spit (a critter) than his own brother. someone also pointed out that their mother may be spamtopian, as she looks like the waitress that pim and mr boss encountered on their visit to spamtopia. so, we can divide the humans into four groups, going from least to most human.

- wacky/slightly inhuman animated person (mr boss, professor psychotic, desmond, etc)

- regular looking animated person (zoey, marge simpson, etc)

- rotoscoped person (doug, etc)

(i cant find a good picture just go watch the show)

- live action person (president jimble, tyler, simon s. salty, etc)

(you know what a human being looks like.)

now there’s one thing that kinda throws a wrench in this theory: jason. jason is the son of mr boss and an unknown mother, presumably a critter. jason, while being the son of a character that is classified a human, looks the most like glep: meaning that he displays some of the most critter characteristics when compared to any other characters. additionally, he seems to share glep’s aging patterns, being 18 years old and still a nursing baby. so if he’s definitely part human, and appears like glep, maybe glep isn’t a full critter after all. HOWEVER. the way i have elected to combat this is through the use of a punnet square.

now, if H is the allele for presenting like a human, and C is for presenting like a critter, we can see that a half human half critter, when mixed with a whole critter, will produce offspring that are fully critter 50% of the time. now, with the amount of different critters that have varying amounts of human traits, we can assume that it’s a lot more complicated than two genes. but, if all the genes weigh together, it is definitely possible for jason to have inherited mostly his father’s critter dna instead of his human dna, which, when paired with his mother’s full critter dna, resulted in him looking like a pure critter, like glep. yknow, like how some dogs are mixes but they look exactly like one parent rather than the other. now of course, jason doesn’t stay this way, and ends up growing wings and all that jazz, which could be a result of the variant dna, showing that while he may initially look fully critter and age like one, some traits may emerge as he matures that show his differences.

so, to conclude this theory, here is what i think the spectrum of critter -> human is, and where the line between the two is drawn.

now yes, this is a simplification and does not account for any interbreeding between the less common non human/non critter species, such as spamtopians, demons, sentient animals, forest folk, and so on and so forth. but i think it covers the most likely line of progression between the two species and how they’ve presumably mixed over time, with more input from the less popular species as aforementioned.

thanks for listening like and follow for more overanalysis of stupid things.

[voidandabyssal]

Undertale, Monster beauty standards:

Beauty standards are always an important thing to consider within a culture. They say a lot about a lot more things than people realise.

Beauty standards are a pretty common component of every culture. A good indication of basic gender norms and values within a culture. So what could the beauty standards be for a gender non-conforming society?

Monsters aren’t restrained to just two (technically three) biological sexes like humans are. Every single Monster is born with the ability to impregnate and carry a successful pregnancy. Some Monster subspecies don’t even need another partner to reproduce! Asexual reproduction is not uncommon or strange within the Underground.

Monster society also doesn’t share a single standard look. Most human groups, you can imagine in your mind a basic ‘type’ from that group. E.g. you can easily imagine what a general Chinese person looks like.

Monsters are far to diverse and unique from one another for that too be a useful tool.

So aside from some more cultural specific standards for the different subspecies (which I will talk about later) Monsters the vast majority of the time rely on SOULS to project their attractiveness.

SOULS: make up the combination of ones being. It is you, it’s everything you are, you hope to be and that you will be.

To Monsters, a bright SOUL. One that is expressive, strong and powerful is a beautiful one.

Many Monsters find human SOULS to have a sort of alien beauty within them. The rainbow of colours all within a humans identity to project. Despite the many differences between the two species, much poetry has been written about the strength and beauty of human SOULS.

Of course, since Monsters SOULS themselves are stark white many take to dressing their physical form. Adorning it with fashionable clothes, keepsakes or powerful enchantments.

Dressing fashionable is like a Monster way of saying, “hey! Im beautiful! My forms beautiful! Come here and look (or be intimidated) by my masterful fashion skills!!”

Taking personal care of themselves is another indicator of beauty. Washing and brushing fur, removing dirt from between bones, horn care. Hygiene remains a focal point in their culture. Luckily, despite Monster society’s many diversities, they were all still able to access proper hygiene tools.

To not take care of oneself indicates a much larger problem. Depression is an especially deadly illness for Monsters. Many of the first signs of which develop through symptoms like avoiding taking care of oneself and managing their appearance. If you see a Monster struggling with these, maybe reach out? They are usually more open to their feelings than humans are.

Scars and injuries are viewed somewhat strangely by Monsters. Unlike many humans, Monsters tend to find scars to be intimidating or dangerous. The scarred individual dangerous or intimidating. Some scars are tolerated, if small and otherwise un obstructive to a Monsters form. Vice versa with injuries.

Monsters that suffer horrific, permanent damage are often considered unattractive or dangerous to be around. This doesn’t help the mental anguish the Monster is likely already under. Monsters like this can often find themselves self isolating or being ostracised from Monster society.

A struggle for those too monstrous for Monsters and too Monster for humans.

Monsters that have obvious diseases or defects are also considered unattractive. Dimming, an uncommon birth defect, is commonly considered to be an ugly trait to have. Again, anything that could indicate that a Monster may not be healthy or happy is considered to be an ugly trait.

Overall, despite all things said. Many Monsters find the personality and behaviour of someone to be the most attractive part of a person. The way another human or Monster acts or treats others is a very important part of this physical attraction. This of course is going to look different from Monster to Monster. Each Monster having their ideal partner’s personality and behaviour in their mind.

It’s hard to standardise such a personal thing. But if you want to impress your Monster crush, maybe dress up a little, put that extra couple minutes into grooming yourself

(Or just flash them your soul. If you really want to get their attention😉)

[kcyars99]

This is Imane Khelif. She is a boxer from Algeria. 🇩🇿

You're probably going to be hearing a lot about her from your bigoted uncle this weekend, especially now that everyone's least-favorite bigoted aunt, J.K. Rowling, has offered her incredibly worthless opinion on today's fight between two cis (aka BiOLoGiCaL for y'all that need that) women.

Things worth noting: 🇮🇹 The boxer who quit today's fight--Angela Carini of Italy--said her quitting wasn't political and that she was not passing judgment on Khelif's eligibility. She said the shot to her nose did something different to her than most hits she's ever taken.

🇹🇼 Last year, Imane (along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting) faced a ruling by the International Boxing Association that they--despite being cis or 'BioLoGiCaL🥴' women--had "advantages" of a genetic nature, leading to a decision not to let them fight.

🇺🇸 U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, celebrated as the greatest swimmer of all time, has a genetic condition where his body produces half of the lactic acid of a normal cis man. For this biological quirk (along with his hyper-mobility) he is lauded.

🇩🇿 Algerian sports officials and other Algerian athletes have spoken in Imane's defense, including national team soccer player ​​Ismaël Bennacer who said Khelif is "suffering a wave of unjustified hatred."

🥇 The Olympics do not recognize IBA or its rulings and carried out their own set of testing standards which every athlete you see competing had to pass.

🇯🇵 Imane also fought at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she was beaten in the quarterfinals by Irish boxer Kellie Harrington--another 'BioLoGiCaL🥴' woman.

🥊 For the weirdos who obsess over genitals, this person was born with a vagina. Meaning that by y'all's weird rules where you want to check in kids' pants before they compete, Imane would be deemed "girl athlete."

🏊 Meanwhile, Katie Ledecky today became the most decorated women's swimmer ever by pulling in a silver medal, after yesterday continuing her long streak of dominating everyone in the world in the 1500, where she holds the top TWENTY best times. Ever. And people on the internet spent the day calling her a man.

🧨 This should be a nonissue, but JOANNE and Elon and your bigoted uncle are latching onto it because they want to continue to push the deadly narrative against trans folks via any possible means. Even in a case where the person they're demonizing isn't trans in the first damn place. If she as a cis woman has more testosterone than other cis women athletes, well, that's not all that uncommon. Y'all wanna tell women with PCOS that they're not really women?

🩺 I don't know how many times I've shared that Open Ocean Exploration thread, by a literal biologist, explaining how common it is that people have sex variations that they don't even know about. I'll share it again since it's just about the most concise look at X/Y diversity I've ever seen. It's really wild to watch folks who copied off of my in high school biology act like they know more than actual scientists and doctors every single time I post it. --Find that post here:

#ParisOlympics2024

#OlympiansMadeHere

#olympicsboxing

(This originally called Joanne a bigoted uncle while still using her correct pronouns which I think conveys that she's basically the living embodiment of everyone's metaphorical racist uncle, gender be damned, but a few people felt it was misgendering her which was very much not the point so I changed it just to stop infighting since there's already plenty enough fighting with actual bigots to be doing.)

[bogkeep]

hmm

so a sentiment i've seen repeated many times over the years is "advocate for intersex people because we deserve rights, not as a gotcha to prove transphobes wrong" and obviously i 100000% agree with this, human rights are their own merit and argument!!!

HOWEVER i am struggling to wrap my head around, like... How do you educate about gender Without talking about the reality of intersex people? i will fully admit that i might just not be plugged in enough to the intersex community to have experienced the particular phenomenon that's being referred to. there's probably discussions i'm fully unaware of.

like, theoretically, even if sex WAS a very rigid, strictly binary phenomenon, we would still have to advocate for the rights of transgender and non-binary people on the basis that we deserve human rights and dignity.

but "biological sex" is NOT a very rigid, strictly binary phenomenon. to me, the understanding of biological sex as an incredibly diverse spectrum is FUNDAMENTAL to understanding gender. when i was volunteering for the queer youth organization, i was taking courses on how to educate teens about sex and gender. what that particular education initative had found, through experience, was that teens best understood what was meant by "gender assigned at birth" and gender as a social construct when we started the whole section by explaining that intersex people exist and that "biological gender" is a lot more complicated than we're often taught.

i think the thing is maybe, like, that intersex people as a category are frequently thought of as outliers, 'defects' even, when we're not. intersex people are a part of the natural diversity of humans. our existence is as natural as the existence of any non-intersex person. like that's the THING. is it a gotcha to reinforce the reality of our existence? to remind bioessentialists over and over that they're the ones denying the observable truth?

i also just think that advocating for intersex rights and trans rights are deeply intertwined in so many ways. so much of the societal fear around transition and detransition strikes me as a fear of intersex bodies. by accepting the capability of a human body to change, to exist within multitudes, to not be beholden to our silly little categories nobody has ever fully belonged to perfectly to begin with - to accept women with beards and men with boobs as not only possible but perfectly natural, to prioritize our own health, wellbeing and bodily autonomy above the tyrannical categorization of the gender binary...

idk!!! my personal intersex experiences are vital to how i experience and talk about gender and how i advocate for trans rights. i can't separate them. maybe it's different for me because i do self-identify as intersex. maybe i'm just clueless about what the criticism is directed towards. this is my personal and biased opinion, please don't take my word over that of far more established intersex activists :')

[ohyeahben10]

In honor of Pride Month, do you have any LGBTQ+ worldbuilding headcanons for any alien species in the Ben 10 Cinematic Universe, whether biological or societal/cultural?

Biologically, I consider Pyronites agender at default (inevitably by process of space travel and meeting cultures in which gender is prevalent there will be Pyros who think social gender sounds awesome actually and promptly trans their gender), we’ve only seen Pryonite transformations and hybrids as full characters, leaving them up for interpretation in my opinion. Any two of the species can mate, in which they will mutually erupt in flame until a rocky body is formed from their combined material and a fire inhabits it.

(Which results in a very interesting kink scene for other species with a thing for burning)

Vulpimancers lack a social concept of romance. Which in a way means they have an aromantic society but also not because they have no reference of what romance is to consider themselves devoid of it.

Necrofriggians are an agender and sexless species we all know this.

Anur Transyl has a very prominent queer scene, it effectively goes hand in hand with accepting so many different cultures as a multi species planet.

On that note, Ectonurites are a sexless species that reproduces via apomixis. Though they do have a cultural understanding of gender that translates to our understanding of m/f, but it has nothing to do with anything thing related to reproduction.

Tetramand culture has a very prominent f/f culture in its history. Many of female Tetramand that were unable to be defeated by any man were instead eventually bested by a woman and were promptly betrothed. These pairs were typically renowned as images of strength. M/m couples took longer to be accepted, unfortunately, initially being regarded as both partners being too weak to court a female.

Polymorphs are biologically sexless and socially genderless. Single cell organisms don’t have much to work with.

Lepidopterrians are a tri-sex species. Sexualities are thought us which of those the individual is attracted to. Three for exclusive attraction to each one, three for any combination of two of them, and one for attraction to all and any. Which of the three the individual happens to be is not considered.

Piscciss Volanns have the natural ability to change their sex when their current environment necessitates. Now however, it is used also as a way to transition for bodily dysmorphic transgender Volanns. Due to the larger size and different physicality of the females compared to the males, it’s a long and rather strenuous process, but is met with much celebration when completed.

Planchaküle treat genderfluidity as the default. They love their adaptations after all. Can’t leave one thing as it is for too long.

Methanosians have four sexes. Two which produce pollen, pollination functions with only one of them providing the pollen, but the two of them joining together in the act results in more diverse offspring and is the social norm. The other two are the pollinated. The first of them will always bare offspring of the two pollinator sexes, while the other will always bare offspring of the pollenated sexes. Perhaps not the most streamlined reproduction cycle but it seems to be working for them.

Cerebroian Currmary all default to male as a result of their biological programming. This was unintentional of the Cerebrocrustians, but they would claim otherwise. Many decide they prefer to be female, neither, or both however.

Galvanic Mechamorphs don’t have sex, but they do base their gender off of the Galvan’s because they think it’s neat.

That’s all off the top of my head. Happy pride to you anon!

[queering-ecology]

LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer History—chapter 09. Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands by Will Roscoe. part 2

Two Spirits in Native Tradition: Roles, Genders, Identities and Diversity cont.

In the twentieth century, ‘berdache’ “became the standard anthropological term for alternative gender roles among Native Americans. By the 1980’s, however, there was call for a change among scholars. In 1990, at a gathering of Native American and First Nations people, the term ‘two-spirit(ed)’ was coined. “Today, the term is used to refer to “both male-bodied and female-bodied native people who mix, cross, or combine the standard roles of men and women” (09-5).

The author acknowledges in a footnote that the term has its limitations (translation errors, and the fact that many tribes believe that all of us have the essence/spirit of male and female in us). But none of his reasons for these limitations match with my main critique both with the term two-spirit but mostly with the way it is often spoken of. Even within the acknowledgement of individuals who do not conform 100% to the Western concept of man or woman, the people are still fit into a binary. They are referred to as ‘male bodied’ and ‘female bodied’ two-spirited people.

To me, this often feels like an easy way for people to ‘short cut’ their understanding of native genders—as soon as they understand the way someone is sexed, they can still fit that person into a category, even if those categories are imperfect. Intersexuality is a ghost when topics of sex and gender arise. More and more, we understand that sex is not immutable, it is yet another social construction—the process of someone developing in utero and then continuing to grow and change in their lifetime is so complex that very often people do not fit neatly into either the distinct category of male or female.

(See the link below for a better image of this)

Whether that is their very chromosomes, hormones, secondary or primary sex characteristics—all these things and more combine to create a person. A person whose very sex is unique to them, as their gender is unique to them. Who knows the true reality of the two-spirit’s biological sex? No one—unless they are given extensive expensive testing that has only recently become available.

The truth is that intersexuality is natural and is common in humans, even in the Western world with its biopolitical control and its dualisms. The reason two-spirit people were and are held so special is because they do not fit neatly into these categories. To me it feels a kind of modern colonial erasure to try and sex the bodies of people who often very clearly and blatantly blurred all barriers. It feels as if it misses the entire point of the term two-spirit, as least as I understand it. But, I have not read much into what other two-spirits (especially elders) think about this concept. “Two-spirit males have been documented in at least 155 tribes; in about a third of these a recognized status for females who adopted a masculine lifestyle existed as well”. (09-6) But as Roscue later adds, “absence of evidence cannot be taken as evidence of absence” (09-8).

In general, the lives of “native women have been overlooked […] and obscured by Euro-American sexual and racial stereotypes. Taking a broader view reveals that women throughout North American and the Pacific Islands often engaged in male pursuits, from hunting to warfare and tribal leadership, without necessarily acquiring a different gender identity” (09-8). Roscoe then offers some examples of Indigenous women being awesome. The author then lists examples of traditional terms for two-spirited people across various tribes and explains that many of them cannot be literally translated into gender binary terms like ‘man-woman’. “These terms have lead anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists to describe two-spirit roles as alternative or multiple genders” (09-6). In fact, “many native societies are capable of accommodating three, four, and possibly more genders, or having a gender system characterized by fluidity, transformation, and individual variation” (09-7).

The author discusses how two-spirit children were identified often as youth by the certain type of activities they liked to participate in. Oftentimes ceremonies ‘marked’ people with two-spirit status. He then goes on to discuss the other ways two-spirits lived in society. “In many instances, male and female two spirits were medicine people, healers, shamans, and ceremonial leaders” (09-8). Certain ceremonial functions were specific to two-spirits and they were often seen to hold great power (09-8). “Because two-spirits occupied a distinct gender status, their relationships were not viewed as being same-sex” (09-9). !!!! This feels so important for some reason!!

Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native Hawai’i

This section further emphases that indigenous peoples have had genders that go beyond male or female, man or woman and also that colonial violence is a tragedy. While I respect and love the people of Hawai’i and their struggles are so, so similar to Native Americans, I believe that the vast majority of Native Hawaiians do NOT consider themselves Native American (or American Indian or even just American) so my covering on this topic will be limited.

Roscoe speaks about the mahu stones that have extraordinarily sacred significance—these stones have a powerful history and connection to the mahu people (their gender diverse term). (This summary is literally so terrible and not at all a true representative of how important and beautiful this topic is, I apologize). Like the people, the stones faced colonization and were figuratively and then literally buried—“in the 1920s they were buried beneath a bowling alley” (09-15). They have since been reclaimed and are now being properly respected but, for the native peoples, “the Land inheres as sacred—beyond human perception and conception, beyond our capacities for belief and imagination—in and of itself” (09-15) and “If there were no humans on earth, they would still be sacred” (09-15). The stone’s spiritual power ‘has never been interrupted’ (09-15).

[fiestylittlebeetle]

Piscciss Fan Lore

(a re-post because my old account is lost forever)

(Image courtesy of Abzû)

Hello! I have a bunch of lore I made up myself for Piscciss (and Piscciss Volann) because I generally did not like what we got in series. So this is a small compilation of headcanons I have for my own version of Piscciss, some of which I have shared before.

I’m open to suggestions but don’t be offended if I’m not interested in what you’re throwing out there qwq

Will continue to update when I feel like it, also they're in no particular order and I'm sorry.

Piscciss isn't just a giant empty ocean with a small planetary core like in canon. Its an actual planet that’s surface is covered in 99% water, and "land" that’s exposed is too small to be habitable by much more then some planets, insects, and small amphibious creatures.

The infinity map piece as presented in the Aggregor arch still exists, but instead it served as a geothermal regulator that kept the planets core from causing massive undersea volcanic eruptions

Piscciss Volann are Apex predators with no naturally occurring predators of their own

Piscciss is home to vast underwater cities filled with Piscciss Volann

They have an incredibly diverse ecosystem that they coexist in much better then say humans do in earth ecosystems

Female Piscciss Volann are typically larger then their male counter parts and its the only sexual dymorphism they have

The planet is ruled by a matrilineal monarchy (only Females inherit the throne)

Queens are especially large coming in at massive sizes up to 20 feet in length, they also have bio-luminescence across their whole body (as opposed to just their lure) and often have cultures of coral growing off of them.

The existence of queens started early in their species evolution as a matriarch with special abilities that would give their civilization the upper hand against predators, but as of currently they exist only as leaders.

However queens are not just figure head leaders, they also serve as military heads, and see something themselves, fighting to protect her people.

Pyros is the Star that Piscciss orbits

The Pyrosccian system is a binary star system, which means there is a second star present with the system

the wars that have been waged between Piscciss and Pyros have mostly been over who the solar system REALLY belongs to

The last war to happen was during Patelliday’s childhood

Piscciss Volann can change their biological sex at will (there are 450 species of fish that can do this so...)

Piscciss Volann partake in Funerary Cannibalism

Piscciss' primary exports are high pressure resistant crafts, and water friendly breathable and self healing textiles

Piscciss Volann are a species who like to sleep in the middle of the day so they dont have to put up with the sun when its at its peak

There are towns on piscciss located in shallower parts of the planet called tidal towns because during a low tide they would be pretty much exposed. Thankfully the moisture thick atmosphere of piscciss means breathing is a non-issue

Piscciss as a rather large moon close to their planet, the drags massivemountain sized tides incredibly slowly across the surface. Years are marked by tidal positions.

Piscciss has a second smaller moon orbiting much faster that causes smaller more frequent tide changes.

Piscciss Volann flirt via visual displays and hunting for eachother

Piscciss Volann reproduce sexually before later laying eggs, they can lay anywhere between a single egg up to a clutch of 5, anymore is increasingly rare.

Larval Piscciss Volann have semi-transparent skin, rounded faces with no defined muzzle, large eyes, very sharp and very tiny glass like teeth, and only have a tail. As they grow older their skin thickens until it is completely opaque, and around toddler age they gain the ability to switch to legs.

Piscciss Volann hold "hatching parties" for when their eggs are supposed to hatch, it is similar to a baby shower but the baby is arriving.

Hatching Parties give new born PV early life socialization

Adult Piscciss Volann are (literally) hot blooded which is why they are so sensitive to increases in temperature.

Their blood contains anti-freeze proteins that prevent them from freezing to death, and is also blue.

The bones in a piscciss volann's legs are segmented and flexible, and the skin and muscles are fibrous and can detach and reach to eachother allowing for an easier change between legs and tail (inspired by https://insane-mane.tumblr.com/post/650463030887530496/funnee-feesh-and-beeg-dawg-jk-ripjaws-was-fun )

The ability to switch between tails and legs is not naturally occurring and is a result of self genetic modification that appeared thousands of years before the shows current time line

Only 1% of the overall piscciss volann population has the original genetics

Not all piscciss volann with the gene develop the ability to switch their tails to legs, some have a condition that prevents the gene for it from expressing itself and preventing that ability from manifesting when it's supposed to

That being said piscciss volann can loose the ability to switch between legs and tail either because of naturally occurring reasons like being disabled, sick, or elderly. Although it is more common to loose their legs, there are also cases of them being unable to regain their tail.

Loosing their ability to transform can also be inflicted upon them through medical procedure

Piscciss Volann have nictitating lenses that they keep drawn over their eyes while out of water to prevent their eyes from drying out

Public nudity is not an uncommon occurance on Piscciss, like many other alien species Piscciss Volann often believe that clothes are ultimately unnecessary and optional. So don't be surprised if you see a Piscciss Volann swimming around in only jewelry or nothing at all.

Due to 80% of their evolution and social development being underwater, they had the downfall of not having access to fire. So as such they found other ways to develop technology and energy. The main being from animals. Starting with domestication to selective breeding of animals to use as tools, and eventually bio engineering even more organic organisms for special jobs. As such Pisccian technology is incredibly techno-organic, and they rely heavily on bio-engineered living tools and wetware.

Piscciss Volann are a type 1.5 civilization (in comparison humans are at a 0.7)

Piscciss looks very much like this planet and the purple is thick kelp forests

Pisccian language has a very similar appearance to cuneiform

Pisccian spoken language sounds like fish noises! It can't be spoken on land, and can't be heard by humans and other non-aquatic species underwater without special equipment

[transmascpetewentz]

I really want to know, why does it bother you so much that there are cis gay men in the world who do not want to have sex with afab people? it triggers your dysphoria and makes you feel bad, I gather that much, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to their sexual boundaries.

especially when there are countless posts made by gay people that are talking about same sex attraction that get dog piled by trans people feeling excluded, when they just are inherently excluded from some peoples sexual attraction.

gender and sex are different yes? and sexuality is based on sex. this seems to be something we disagree on. trans men are men, they have the right to live as themselves and transition, but they are still trans. not everyone is going to be sexually attracted to them, or have them included in their sexuality, especially people who are single sex attracted. I want to know what’s transphobic about this.

your crusade to get cis people to accept any genitals in a partner is actively driving a wedge in the lgbt community, I would like to understand your perspective beyond “this makes my dysphoric, I feel excluded, therefore I will create the term TEHM and make these people into villains on tumblr.com”

I ask this out of curiosity, I am interested to hear what your takes are in one place since it’s hard to find your whole POV across multiple posts. We don’t agree and probably won’t ever agree, but I hope you can see where I’m coming from and I hope I can do the same for you.

I was going to delete this ask, but this is the most politely that one of you has come into my inbox. I don't have the energy to write up anything that long about the subject but I'll try my best.

As I have stated many, many times, I don't care if an individual cis gay man doesn't date or fuck trans men. I really don't. The problem arises when cis gay men claim that they cannot be attracted to trans men, or that their supposed lack of attraction to us makes us any less male or any less gay.

A cis gay man making a blanket statement about never wanting to date/fuck a trans man in specific is like an allistic person loudly proclaiming that they would never date/fuck an autistic person, or a white person saying they would never be with a POC. While their individual choices don't matter, their "preferences" reveal that they are bigots.

"Trans men are men" is incompatible with the idea that gay men cannot be attracted to us. Hell, I'm a gay man, and I love my fellow trans men. If a gay man truly sees trans men as men, he will have the capacity to be attracted to us. The idea that sexuality is based on sex can be easily debunked by many examples of cis gay men dating and fucking trans men, as well as the fact that we have documented evidence of so-called "I'm only attracted to biological males!!!" type of men unknowingly fucking stealth trans men.

Now onto my more important point, the issue with TEHMs is not that they embarrass themselves by making a huge display about how they're so obsessed with hating boypussy, but that they try to claim that their own lack of attraction to trans men means that we should not be included in gay male spaces.

Not every cis gay man is going to be included in the attraction of every other cis gay man, but we don't see fem4fem cis gays claiming that masc cis gays don't belong in our spaces, do we? But because trans men are treated like shit even by other queer people, no one comes to defend us.

And as for posts that talk about "same sex attraction" being dogpiled by trans people, yeah, they deserved that. Gay trans men and transfem lesbians experience homophobia, and the vast majority of experiences that TEHMs call "SSA experiences" apply to us. Gay trans men are a very diverse group of people with very different experiences and daily lives from each other.

I also did not coin "TEHM." It was coined in 2017 by another Tumblr user who I don't remember the username of.

And before you go "but what about cis gay men who are trans allies who just aren't attracted to them 🥺" and to that I say, please show me someone. I have yet to meet a cis gay man who claims to have a genital preference or who says he would never fuck boypussy, who is also a trans ally. They all end up going mask off immediately. And so many of them try and make their subconscious biases that make them believe trans men are unattractive my problem.

It's true that we probably won't ever agree on this, especially if you're cis. If you're trans, I wish you the best of luck overcoming your internalized transphobia, and my blog will be waiting for you when that time comes. You seem to misunderstand the problem that I and other gay trans men have with TEHMs, and it comes from the bias that we're just entitled women who want to fuck gay men.

Obviously, when a gay trans man calls out bigotry, he can't ever have a point 🙄 it must just be someone refusing to play along with his fetish! (sarcasm)

[feministfang]

The lack of basic education in Pakistan automatically becomes apparent by merely giving a glance at the views on trans community held by Pakistani liberal feminists.

A few years ago, when I used to be a libfem, i was a big ally of trans community in this country. And it wasn’t because i supported these people with mental illness mutilating their body parts and transitioning into someone they are not, in fact, i didn’t even know something like this happen in many parts of the world. I was an ally like many others because i confused intersex people as trans people.

Now thankfully i have escaped that illusionary world, but more than 70% of the Pakistani feminists are still stuck there. They tend to conflate intersex and transgender identities due to a lack of awareness and understanding.

I have discussed and debated with many libfem activists here; a common belief they share is that intersex individuals belong to a diverse community known as 'khwaja sira community' which is equivalent to the transgender community. This community is recognised as a third gender category in Pakistan, with their own unique cultural practices, traditions and social structures.

It encompasses; Eunuchs, Transgender individuals, intersex individuals and gender non-conforming individuals. However, many Pakistanis conflate transgender individuals within this community as intersex.

Literally, in all their responses in defence of the trans people, they have provided me with the same biological information about intersex people as an evidence for the "natural" existence of transgenders. Anytime i tell them that males can never turn into females or vice versa, they send me a link to some site or recommend a biology book that talks about people born in variations in sex characteristics.

I have never seen someone being this confidently foolish, and this is why they get hyper-defensive over transphobic remarks or terfy opinions.

The issue doesn’t just end here; many Pakistani intersex individuals refer to themselves as 'trans people' as well. They are as much uneducated about their own identities as these paki libfems are.

Not once in my entire life there has been a trans person in my vicinity in this country, because those "transgenders" outside my car begging for money, dancing on streets, supporting women in women rights’ marches or sending their blessings to my family were all actually intersex people. However, they are commonly referred to as transgenders.

Also, this isn’t a problem in Pakistan, but the entire South Asia. A majority of the feminists in India and Bangladesh have swallowed this belief without chewing on one google research about basic differences between transgenders and intersex people. The so called desi "progressives" have accepted themselves as the most literate people in their backward societies that the thought of scratching the surface is not deemed necessary.

If you are a radical feminist from south asia, please know this and spread more awareness about what’s actually a trans cult in your community, society, social groups etc. I have been doing this since the day i woke up to the truth and i can see some changes in the feminist perspectives of those around me.

[foropinionssake]

bro thinks nature can be easily categorized into neat little boxes and has to fit within our understanding to be true!! bro does not realize the natural world is infinitely more complex and diverse than we can comprehend and to assume it will bend to the approximation of reality created by the words and terms we made up to desperately try to understand it is an exercise in foolish human hubris and ignorance!!! we live on the same planet as lichen, a *thing* so weird that it is literally two species acting as a singular unit, and you think we can easily split all of humanity into two discrete biological categories?? and us mammals are made up of many as well!! our brains and bodies are moulded and influenced by millions of different species living inside of our gut, all working towards something greater than themselves to function alongside their host as a unit. our own *cells* are organisms within organisms, to call a human being a discrete entity would be simplistic so what on earth makes you think you can do it for sex??

Why do you all think comparing plants and insects to mammals is even close to ok? You legitimately make me look so much smarter

[randomrabbidramblings]

Rabbid biology

[My headcanons for Rabbids' biology. Since this is more of a "scientific" take on them, I'll be using male/female/intersex to refer to biological sex. Slight NSFW warning for the reproduction part]

Part 2 is here

General

Rabbids are sentient odd rabbit-looking mammals. They are not rabbits nor true lagomorphs, but a sister group on their own and share traits of both lagomorphs and rodents. Rabbids are a very diverse group, but their general body shape is that of a bipedal furry creature with long ears.

Rabbids have very unstable genetics. As such they are often used as lab rats and guinea pigs (with or without their consent). Mutation processes can vary from laboratory-made to magic.

Appearence

Rabbid's fur is usually white with it being sparser around the nose, mouth and belly where the pink skin is visible. While white is the most common color, their fur can come in browns, greys, blacks and can have some light patterning as well. Unnatural colors are a result of genetic manipulation or simply dye. Their fur can be straight (common), wavy(uncommon) or rex/curly (rare) and can be divided in these categories based on their lenght:

Short: the most common one, the fur can be any texture and short, medium-short.

Lionhead: common, the fur can be any texture, it's medium-long only on the head and sometimes ears too while on the rest of the body is short.

Angora: very rare, the fur is straight or wavy and very long, usually hiding the Rabbid's body shape.

Lionhead and Angora Rabbids are able to style their head fur as hair. Dying it it's very common too. Standard fur Rabbids can have some "hair" fur as well, but only as short tufts, for this they are commonly seen wearing wigs. Facial hair can be seen in males and intersex of all fur types (being shorter in Short fur Rabbids) while Lionhead and Angora females can get a beard.

Rabbids come in all shapes and sizes, but they can be classified in these general groups (height measurements counting the ears too):

Standard: the most common shape. They have a small body relative to their head. This size does not surpass 1.50m of height.

Brute: this group of Rabbids are stocky built, with long arms and very short legs. They are usually very strong and can easily reach and surpass 3m in height. (ex. Rabbid Kong, Sweetlopek, Momma)

Dwarf: the rarest Rabbid shape. They're not very different from standard sized Rabbids, but they are very short, less than 1m in height, and usually they have baby like appearences. (ex. Bwario, Professor Backpack, Dryad)

Mutated: as Rabbids are very common lab rats there are a lot of them that have been genetically manipulated. They can have virtually any shape one can imagine, so in this group fall all the Rabbids that cannot fit in any of the previous. (ex Phantom, Madame Bwahstrella, the Sparks).

Rabbid eyes' natural color is usually blue ranging from deep blue to almost green, mutated ones can have more variations in colors.

Biology

Rabbids are a very social species, they usually search for eachother when alone and form very strong bonds. They are also very adaptable and nowadays colonize multiple planets, everyone with their own cultures.

Rabbids can be biologically male, female or intersex. The three genders are more or less equally distributed. There's very little sexual dimorphism: females and intersex's fur is usually softer. As such, depending on the individual, Rabbids express their gender with behaviours, clothes and accessories.

Rabbids are natural burrowers, they can dig a hole to fit in in less than ten seconds. To do this they have large palms on their hands and small black semi-retractable claws on each of their fingers (on their feet too). They're usually hidden behind the fur, but they can be easily be seen if the fur is brushed away or they can be made come out by pressing the Rabbid's fingertip, much like a cat's. These claws are also used for defense and while they're not so sharp, on a very angry Rabbid can cause it's fair share of damage.

Rabbids are very durable creatures. They can endure a lot of physical damage and still be unscatched. To do this they have a very odd skeletal system: some of their bones are able to bend and their skeleton is very flexible like a mouse's. This means a Rabbid can both reduce the damage on the bones and squeeze in very narrow spaces with no repercussions. With such a skeleton, they are also very flexible with even the most bulky ones being able to contort themselves.

Rabbids are omnivorous and will try to eat anything they find appetible even non-food items. For this they have very strong incisors and a remarkable bite force. They have pouches in their cheeks used to store and transport food. These pouches can also be filled with air to appear more threatening when the Rabbid is angry.

Reproduction

Rabbids aren't strictly monogamous, but they prefer sticking to one partner. They don't have mating seasons: females and intersex Rabbids experience heats lasting about a week once or twice at any time of the year and are fertile only in that periods. Intersex Rabbids can both impregnate and get pregnant. All sexes' reproductive organs are hidden inside a slit for protection with only the males' penis coming out for the mating (the testicles are internal).

They build a nest where the pregnant Rabbid will give birth. Both of the parents help with the nesting, with the birthing parent shedding the fur on their belly and the other providing soft building materials.

Rabbids can have up to six kits. Litters of single kits are less common and are usually seen in individuals on their first pregnancy. With so many kits, Rabbids have six teats in total: two on the chest and four on the belly. They are always hidden under the fur and are only visible on pregnant or nursing Rabbids. Only the two on the chest are considered femminine as they may form small breasts (more commonly seen in females and never in males).

Rabbid kits are very small in relation to their parents and they're born with very sparse fur and both eyes and ears closed, opening them only a week after birth. They tend to huddle together or on their parents to stay warm, but in litters with fewer or single kits the parents need to constantly keep them safe from the cold. Both parents take care of the kits, often taking turns as they start being active quite quick and wander out of the nest just as their limbs are strong enough. Rabbid kits make very distinct squeaky noises, but they can also scream when startled or agitated. Among all Rabbid cultures the kits' first "bwah" is always celebrated.

Behaviour

Rabbids talk in Rabbidese, an odd language composed of yells, grunts and "bwaah"s. After the events of Kingdom Battle, Beep-0 and Spawny came up with a translator, but it's unknow how it works as Beep-0 regretted creating it so much he deleted it's creation process from his memory. After this creation, Rabbids have shown to be able to pick on accents. They can make various other sounds as well: a content Rabbid can be heard purring, when very happy or playing they can make odd honking sounds and they can make brief hissing sounds when enraged. Rabbids express their emotions through body language too: they flop by throwing themselves on the floor when particularly relaxed and stomp their feet when angry or irritated.

Among Rabbids, clothes are mainly used to express the individual's style and/or gender. Nakedness is not considered obscene as a lot of them are fine walking around with little or no clothes. However, it usually depends on which Rabbid culture we're taking in consideration, as some of them are more prone to wear clothes than others. Also the environment they're in affect them wearing clothes or not as in colder climates all Rabbids will wear them, while in hotter places they may not do so.

Rabbids are known to be very curious and often they put themselves in danger due to their desire to explore. Nowadays they colonize multiple planets, everyone with their own means of transportation to get there. Their adaptableness and resistance allowed them to thrive in almost any enviroment.

Rabbids' intelligence varies a lot. It usually depends on the individual, but in general they don't seem very bright at first glance: they seem to behave in an almost childish way. However, this behaviour is jst a result of their curiousness. In fact they love problem solving, even if they often don't end up with the easiest or most logical solution. They have shown to be very productive building houses, tools, weapons and engaging in arts of every kind.