#Transgender fashion influencer

[pumpkin-fairy02]

Not me stealing the famous @satans-knitwear knitwear selfie spot to take my own! So scandalous!

[triptychgardener]

i saw you mentioned that transfem!calliope was practically canon, could you maybe elaborate on that? (im not dissing your hcs btw im just confused on where its suggested in canon)

Hey so it took me a while to get to this just because I wanted to solidify some thoughts about it! Won't go into as much detail wrt my other posts, but we can at the very least start with her handle: uranianUmbra

Uranian is an old-fashioned term, generally used for gay men, though also used in different ways to describe other-gendered people or ways of being, occasionally used as a catch-all similar to how Queer is used today. Its history is complicated and occasionally uncomfortable, as a lot of queer history can be, but notably, one potential root of this idea came from Urning

Now obviously conceptions of gender and sexuality were a lot different then, and I don't want to simplify this, but in Homestuck, it's pretty undeniable that Calliope is a woman stuck in a man's body, and this is likely why Hussie used that very specific word in the first place: to foreshadow the eventual Cherubian Twist.

And not that framing: a woman trapped in a man's body. Cherubs (at least as we are told) have two equal halves who can predominate. But the framing of their entire dynamic makes it very clear that this is Caliborn's body, not Calliope.

Callie's ideal self, in Callie Ohpeee, her Trollsona, is positioned as something to be taken off to reveal her true self. She feels that she needs to conform her exterior to match her interior self, something Caliborn never has to do.

Hell, even as she goes to sleep for the last time, she removes her jacket to reveal Caliborn's shirt underneath. It's his body, not hers.

Not only that, but throughout the story, we see that Callie experiences something close to either dysphoria or body dysmorphia. She hates the way she looks, and affects an especially sweet demeanor in order to not scare people away. She sees herself as a monster because her body becomes the most hideous masculine monster the story has ever known! Literally Lord English.

And shockingly, even though it (in my opinion) handles it poorly, the Epilogues do give us a brief insight into cherub gender, where it basically illuminates that Aranea was kind of talking out of her ass about cherub reproduction, and that Cherubs have no actual biological sex or gender. Meaning that somewhere along the way, Caliborn and Calliope CHOSE their genders, likely influenced by the human and troll internet they were permitted. Callie perhaps forming her own gender in opposition to her brother. This also probably created the ouroboros through which gender became a thing in the first place but thats besides the point. Point is, Callie was likely not a woman until she chose to be a woman. I.e. transgender.

Now the epilogues took it in what I find to be a kind of boring direction, i.e. "well cherubs have no real biological sex so that means I have to be nonbinary now" which is just such a lukewarm take on the imposition of gender but whatever. Point is that Callie is transgender end of story goodnight!!!!!

[vermilionstarlight]

Made because I'm bored on the shitter. No shapeshifting because I know this website and I know my sphere of influence and it'll automatically sweep.

A statistically significant portion of you are transgender / therian / queer / autistic / otherkin weirdo freaks (affectionate) (loving) (I fit almost all of these descriptors wholly or partially)

OVERLY DETAILED ELABORATION BELOW THE CUT:

1. Flying - Top speed of Mach 1. You're immune to the negative effects of G force on your body, low pressure environments, low oxygen, low temperatures, and damage from air resistance.

2. Amphibious - Your swimming is not enhanced (you must learn to swim, same as anyone). Any water inhaled is magically turned into breathable air as it passes through your mouth or nose. You are immune to pressures up to and exceeding that of the Marianas trench, low deep-sea temperatures, and the bends. Wildlife that would otherwise be aggressive or dangerous will simply ignore you, and venom from aquatic or semi-aquatic creatures will not affect you. Basically, you're safe from hazards unless you explicitly attack something.

3. Teleport - You have the ability to place the portals (similar to those from the popular video game Portal) at your choosing, and they can be placed at any point in space that you can see. It can be any 2D shape, so long as it fits within the area of a five m^2 square. You can 'bind' the portal to an object (car, wall, article of clothing, yourself), or you can simply have it freestanding in the air and be stationary relative to the Earth's surface. You can only place two pairs of portals at a time. If you attempt to place a new pair, you must choose an existing pair to remove. If you close or remove a portal while something is passing through it, it shears that thing perfectly in two. You can't open a portal in a position or orientation that would have it intwrsect with a solid object, only liquids, gases, or plasma.

4. Time Loop - You can start a time loop of indefinite length at any time. It resets whenever you wish, or when you die, whichever comes first. You can end the current loop at any time, or begin a new loop with a new start point and reset interval/reset condition at any time. You can only have one 'start point' at any given time.

5. Telepathy - At any time, you can think of a specific person and project a thought, concept, emotion, or sensory experience into their mind. Once you do this, it establishes a connection that the recipient can use to transmit in the same fashion. You can create telepathic "group chats" between people, with a maximum of 10 participants (including you). Any participant can exit the connection at any time.

6. Inventory - When you're touching an object, you can will it into an extra-dimensional space. There are no weight or size limits. You can store singular discrete objects, containers and their contents, and "piles" of objects (like a mound of dirt). You cannot store living organisms, meaning any object put into your storage is 100% sterilized. Non-living organic matter (vegetable matter, meat, bone, dead bacteria) can still be stored. You can mentally access this space at any time, and can get a complete mental inventory of everything stored inside it at any time. Time doesn't pass for anything stored in this space, and qualities like arrangement and temperature are preserved. Whenever you wish, you can retrieve an object from the space, and it appears as it was when you stored it, and in any orientation you wish, so long as it's touching you as it comes out (e.g. it comes out of the space in your palm, at your fingertip, on top of your head, touching your ankle, etc.). If you attempt to retrieve an object in an orientation that would make it intersect with anything solid, the retrieval attempt fails.

7. Invisibility - You can, at any time, choose to switch between being visible and being invisible. This does not affect the way light interacts with you, but instead makes it so that anyone perceiving you will contextualize you as not being there, and never having been there recently. The fact that you are walking around, talking, and interacting with the world around them does not change that you are not there to them. Light still reflects off of you and hits their eyes, but they will simply be unaware of the fact that someone walked into the gas station two minutes ago and is standing in front of them right now. Because the you are not there at that moment, most suspicious activities do not register to anyone perceiving you, because you aren't present to them at that moment, and people that are not present aren't able to do things.

8. Healing - When you touch an organism, you are able to heal it of any given perceived malady, affliction, or harmful effect. This relies on the perception of the one receiving the healing, not on the perception of you, the healer. Cancer, aging, alzheimer's, even relatively "minor" afflictions like male pattern baldness or a mild tendency towards pimples. There's no specific limit, so long as the receiver perceives it to be bad or harmful. This also can heal congenital disorders. Specific afflictions can be targeted, so a "full heal" isn't always necessary. If you want to heal someone of a spinal disorder, but they were also raised Catholic and perceive their sexual desires to be inherently harmful and sinful and in need of removal, you as the healer can choose to only heal the former and not the latter, if you are uncomfortable with that. If somebody wishes to have their hearing damage healed, but they are also a paraplegic and consider that to be an important part of their person-hood that shouldn't be changed, it's possible to target specifically the hearing damage and not the paralysis. This ability is also able to affect mental afflictions, chemical imbalances, and the like. This will change the receiver's mind to be in line with whatever they consider to be "healthy," relative to their perceived affliction. It is not possible to apply healing without the desire of the receiver. Verbal consent is not required, only conscious desire for the affliction to be remedied. It's supernatural bullshit, so there's no gray areas. If they would have said yes to an explicit question of consent, you're able to do it even without verbal consent. If they would have said no, then you aren't able. This is specifically to allow emergency life-saving healing, in the case of someone being unable to explicitly verbally consent. Morally dubious, but generally very helpful. Also, so long as you and nobody you care about are killed instantly (or killed too far away for you to heal in time), you and everyone you care about is immortal for as long as any individual desires.

9. Mind-Reading - You are able to non-consensually probe the mind of anyone you can directly see (television screens do not count, there must be direct sight-line between you and the target). You can see any memories they have, though the clarity and veracity of these memories is context-dependent. You can glean their immediate surface thoughts, and you can perceive through their subjective experience. You aren't immediately made aware of their deepest most subconscious desires, but you can analyze and infer from their thoughts and memories to deduce such things. Unless you're skilled in self-reflection and psychology, it won't be easy to immediately understand their entire person-hood. This may be morally dubious at best, but it can be useful for vigilantism and the like, depending on your moral allowance for such things.

10. Skill Retention - Your brain just works better when it comes to getting better at mundane skills. You are not supernaturally more capable than a normal human, you are just able to rapidly get better at things within normal human limits. Skills come easier to you, and not just things like "playing the piano" or "throwing objects" or something. You also find it easier to improve with critical thinking skills, emotional awareness, general kinesthetic coordination, and other such things. Additionally, you retain these skills far better than a normal person can. You don't easily "get rusty" with any sort of skill unless you go entirely unpracticed for decades. You can learn how to perform advanced acrobatics, go unpracticed for 15 years, then pick it back up at almost the exact same level of technical skill. Some tasks require more than just skill and mental capacity, like sports, and you're granted no special ability to get more physically capable. However, this ability does make it significantly easier to learn how to keep yourself disciplined and stick to a routine, allowing you to become more physically capable anyways. You are the most average superhero ever.

11. Clairsentience - You are able to create a supernatural, intangible "camera" whenever you like. You can perceive sounds and sights through this camera, even if you are physically deaf or blind. Your brain functioning is changed so you're able to adequately process two simultaneous sets of sensory input without biologically blue-screening. You can move the camera around as you please, with no range limit, and it's able to move at speeds up to 0.99c (99% of light speed). You can spy on anything, anywhere, whenever you want. Spy on billionaires, spy on political backroom deals, spy on your asshole neighbor to steal their Dropout password.

12. Animal Speech - You can intuitively communicate with and understand any and all animals. Animals that are solitary and lack much social capacity like tigers, polar bears, and some shark species will mostly make for boring and/or antagonistic conversation, though they'll still be able to transmit and receive basic emotions and concepts (territory, fear, food, bright, dark, baby, sex). More social animals, like many canines and felines, will be far better conversation. They still don't have the complex language capacity of a human, but they'll be more amiable even if they aren't generally able to handle more complex concepts. Very intelligent and social animals like crows, orcas, or elephants will likely be mostly comparable to a full human person in terms of conversation, if not functionally the same. They have generally better language capacity than many other animals, and complex social intelligence.

[befemininenow]

My 495th caption and perhaps, the most special

After making over hundreds of posts, reblogs, and more, I never thought I would get this far from making basic captions. It was supposed to be my small safe space to share my thoughts as a closeted trans girl. But after seeing how other trans people also felt with dealing with their feelings, I also made it a goal to share captions based on how others POV.

From just a small amount of people liking my posts to seeing my captions shared on Twitter and reposted on other sites like Instagram where it gains hundreds of likes, it’s amazing how something so small can turn into something big that may mark an influence on the new generation.

As of today, I have over 800 posts and counting. However, I have around at least 494 unique captions made by me (if I count remakes, parts, and other, the number is higher). I wanted to make the post the 500th caption, but because of time constraints and the fact I wanted to post this on Transgender Day of Visibility, I rather just post it now and get it over with. Well, ladies and everyone, here was my 495th caption featuring yours truly:

Face reveal captioned pic for TDOV

Yup, that’s me. (Well, I used some touch up enhancements.) Believe it or not, I have not taken HRT yet. However, thanks to having an androgynous look and a gaining experience of learning feminine fashion, I seem to have an idea of the type of woman I’m looking to become in the future. This pic was taken a while back when I was still crossdressing in secret. (Yes, those are breast forms. I’m using a blonde wig.)

Now I have one question to ask all of you: What’s the first name you would think someone like the woman in pic have if you’ve seen her in person? Reblog your suggestion or send a DM with your guess. I’m debating on choosing a girl name.

[pansy-picnics]

Helloooo I just wanted to say that your trans Varian art is very special and comforting to me <3 it gives me warm soft feelings and it always makes my day thank you very much. The little details you include like what he uses to bind and his family supporting him and also him feeling comfortable enough to take his binder off at the end of the day or around certain people just makes me feel so seen and happy <3 I hope you have a lovely day

AUGHHGJGG THANK YOUUUU you have no IDEA how happy these kinds of comments make me,,,, 🥹🥹🥹🥹 i don’t even really identify my gender myself and im definitely not transmasc but varian is just So violently transgender to me and it doesn’t feel right to not portray him that way. i put a lot of effort into my portrayal of it so when ppl say my art makes them feel seen i literally. scream and cry and throw up /pos

and YES you get it omfg…..the little freak plagues my mind constantly he is SO loved and supported by his family. he’s a very practical guy to me so unless he’s going out for work or has visitors or something he can’t really be bothered to get dressed up or bind. he used to when he first started working in the castle,, but now he feels a lot more comfortable there and if he’s just gonna be hanging around at home he’s not gonna go through all the extra effort. and him feeling safe enough to do that is SO important to me!!!!! it makes me so unbelievably happy that people are able to notice all those details and i’m just so,,, oughggghh

ALSO!! the detail of the binder in particular is actually one of my favorite things i haven’t really gotten a chance to talk about it here…..i’m kind of a history nerd also and although tts doesn’t really have a set time period (and i honestly don’t want it to), i enjoy adding in some historical references here in there cuz i just think it makes the world feel a lot more immersive. but heres a fun fact for you if you want to read:

most modern binders are made up of some kind of nylon or spandex, both of which weren’t invented until around the 1930s or 50s. most people use bandages to portray trans characters in fantasy settings, but bandages by themselves wouldn’t really do much unless they were compressive, and compressive bandages as we know them today also weren’t invented until around WW2. THIS is where corsets come in.

corsets get a rlly bad rep most of the time honestly, because for some reason most people are still convinced they were like. medieval torture devices. and they were used to promote a slim silhouette a lot of the time but so were a LOT of other garments!! corsets alone were undergarments worn on a day to day basis, both by rich and working class women and even by some men in the victorian era. they were just used the same way we wear bras today!! it wasn’t any different!!!

but boned garments like this also had the ability to shape and form the body, and though obviously i can’t confirm anyone was making corset binders in the 1800s people have been able to make modern replicas with similar materials that have almost the exact same effect as a modern chest binder, which tells us that it would’ve been completely possible for someone to hide their chest with a corset like garment AND!! it was quite literally PROVEN to us during the 1920s flapper era!!!

i could go on and on about the flapper era and it’s influence on the general social culture but basically, a LOT of inherent gender roles were being challenged, so women were wearing shorter skirts and haircuts, and women’s fashion trends in general started to take on a much more androgynous silhouette to reflect that. a boxy, more boyish shape was actually strived for and a lot of women with larger chests would wear bodices advertised as “bust reducers” to create this appearance, a lot of which were made with similar materials to corsets of the time!!!

they obviously aren’t exactly the same as a binder we would have today but its shockingly similar i think, and it’s just neat to know that people really have been doing this stuff for centuries :’3

[hygienic-soap-dispenser]

HWS Nations and Gender

I’ve been thinking a lot about gender and gender identity of nations, specifically in the nationverse, so uhh I have written some thoughts below:

First, a disclaimer: I am cis, so I personally have never experienced living outside of the gender binary or my assigned gender, nor am I any kind of expert on gender or gender identity. As such, if what I write here does not resonate or if you feel that my writing here is inaccurate, please let me know!

Now, it is my personal headcanon that nations are ultimately genderqueer, in that they do not adhere to a strict gender binary, and the ways in which they feel or identify with gender can vary wildly from nation to nation. Some feel non-binary, some genderfluid, while others may identify closer to a binary gender, and others still may feel agender or genderless, and everything in between. Basically, the nations’ genders are as diverse as the world itself, and while some may identify closer to male/female, I feel that none would identify this way for their entire life. I kinda view their identities like water systems, flowing with the world around them and changing with every rock and turn that altogether encompass their life, nationhood, and the world at large.

However, the nations’ identities and gender expression are not only a matter of how they feel within themselves or what they think is right, but revolve around three core concepts: representation, influence, and culture.

More detailed explanation found under the cut :) <3

!!Long post ahead!!

To start, I think it’s important to disclose that my priorities with headcanons and interpretations are 1) flexibility and the ability to explore characters through many viewpoints and interpretations, and 2) comedy. This post will definitely feature the 1st point instead of the other.

I really believe that the best part about this fandom and its related content comes from the flexibility of the characters and how we interpret them as individuals and representations. I feel that the more possibilities and avenues for exploration we have, the better!! I will never judge anyone who wants to stick primarily with binary-gender characters or whatever else you choose; you do you! But exploring these concepts is fun and exciting, and these are just my personal interpretations on the nationverse <3333

As a preface, it’s important to know that the ideas of being genderqueer and transgender have existed for many, many millennia, and we have evidence for this in written records, oral histories, and in the archeological record found throughout cultures and societies around the world. These are not “new” concepts, and they never have been; like all expressions of gender, sexuality, and identity, these are all part of the human condition. Also, the ways in which societies have defined gender and related gender roles and presentations have changed so much throughout centuries and have so much diversity that I will not have the time to talk about them except for maybe 1 or 2 brief points.

Now, onto the main three points:

Representation

In the nationverse, a representation of a country is made to… represent a country. There are many ways in which one could express this: fashion, language, rituals, cuisine, and more. While nations are diverse in their cultures, ethnicities, histories, etc., and it would make sense for a nation to represent the majority of those populations for a majority of the time, how would one determine what’s the majority gender? While gender is indeed diverse in itself, the majority will, statistically, identify with a binary gender. This would mean that a nation living only within a gender binary would represent about half of their country all of the time. Now, you could look at statistics and say: there are more men/women here, hence they’d be a man/woman. But what about when that changes? Would they transition? Would they start to question their gender? Or would they identify… outside of the gender binary? If a nation changes how they express themselves culturally due to modernization or cultural shifts, why not then gender?

Additionally, cultural expectations, roles, and clothing can vary wildly within a country or culture depending on a person’s gender. Given that, why on earth would a nation want to restrict themselves so heavily by only representing one gender for all of their life? If a nation identifies as strictly male or female throughout their centuries or millennia-long lifespan, that basically excludes around half of the population and half of the lived experiences, and this can lead to many missed opportunities for story writing and exploration, the flexibility of which again I feel is really at the heart of this fandom.

Influence

It is a fact that for most of history, gender roles were heavily divided between men and women and the vast majority experienced these on a gender binary (of course, there’s always been flexibility to this, but let’s generalize for a bit here). Given that, a nation’s role within their own land would have to be set for them via these gender norms and societal expectations, again limiting their experiences as a representative of their land. However, a representation that falls outside of that binary may not have to be held to such norms, or would at least have more flexibility in their roles and experiences. As such, since these representations would end up being a minority meant to represent a majority for a majority of the time, how would the people around them react to their identities?

Would they be vilified and forced to blend in within a gender binary to avoid damaging their social status? Or would they instead be idolized, made to seem larger than life, and viewed so above their own folk so as to transcend their social standards? And in turn, how would this affect their relationships with each other? Would there be a unique kinship between nations, not only because of their unique circumstances, but because of how they identified between themselves?

There is also a political aspect to this if you’re into that: if politicians or diplomats knew of how they identified, how would that affect how business and relations are conducted? Would nations have to put up a façade of a false identity to not draw in any controversy or scandal, or to secure a deal? If you wanna get real freaky with it, maybe they’re more ✨magical✨ and can shift and morph their bodies to present a gender that would benefit them best at that moment or give the best advantage? I think these things would be fascinating to think about!

Culture

In my opinion, characters in the nationverse must first and foremost be culturally accurate to their respective country. In turn, it’s important to acknowledge that some cultures have historically been more accepting of non-binary genders than others. For example, we do have certain Aboriginal groups describing some of their people as gender-variant with their own specific gender roles, and with the specifics of it falling outside of our Western concepts of gender and sexuality.

Now, let’s say, for example, that we’re comparing the lives of genderqueer people in pre-contact Cree society versus 15th-century Catholic France. Which culture would you say would be generally more accepting of genderqueer folks? Probably the Cree, and I think it’d be interesting for the respective representations’ feelings about their gender to reflect this. Maybe some would only feel comfortable sharing their true identity with other nations, while others would feel more free to explore different avenues and expressions of gender if they so choose, while others still may focus on a more cultural-specific perspective on gender. This also ties in with aspects of influence mentioned earlier: how does being genderqueer affect their relationships with other nations, regular people, and themselves? How would their views and expressions of gender change with various cultural shifts? Maybe some would be more stubborn and hold onto things that are no longer considered feminine/masculine as they were before, giving an impression of increased gender fluidity?

As a last addition to shifting gender roles and expressions, I think it’s interesting to think about how things like stereotypes play into how we associate gender with national identity. For example, I remember when fans would complain that Hws Finland acted too feminine or weak or soft, and in turn people in the fandom would counter the canon by making Fin a manly White Death-sniper badass, and this was at least partially reinforced through the badass Finn stereotype stemming from WW2 and then through pop history. But funnily enough, if you go back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, Finland in media and literature was always portrayed as a woman. I believe there was even literature from that time that described Finns as stereotypically “feminine”, but this was primarily used as a point of comparison for more “masculine” nations as a means to justify their superiority via ~✨international sexism✨~. But then WW2 happened, cultural shifts happened, mass Finnish immigration to Sweden and subsequent stereotypes happened, globalization happened, and now we have a primarily male-presenting set of stereotypes for Finland, at least within Europe. Honestly I have ✨thoughts✨ about this and Hws Fin’s character, but really it’s funny how that works!!

TL;DR: Nations in nationverse have diverse/flexible genders and expressions, may change with time and culture, many questions and thoughts, water metaphor.

So uuuh yea that’s it! Thanks for reading!! :) <33333

[jankydem]

HI

drops this

Kenji Nakamura

Gender- Male

Height- 5’7

Weight- 127 lbs.

D.O.B- November 3rd

Likes- Yakitori

Dislikes- Socialising, Mint

Preference- Aro/Ace Bisexual

Notes- Ultimate Apprentice

Special person- Personal Maid/Mother Figure

Quickly Holloway

Gender- Male

Height- 6’0

Weight- 161 lbs.

D.O.B- June 26

Likes- Animated shows

Dislikes- Snow

Preference- Gay homosexual

Notes- Ultimate Illusionist

Special person- Unnamed Father

Himari Ken

Gender- Female

Height- 5’5

Weight- 129 lbs.

D.O.B- February 5

Likes- Smell of grass

Dislikes- Candy

Preference- Straight

Notes- Ultimate Cricket Player

Special person(s)- Cricket Team, unnamed cousin

Mitzuki Suziki

Gender- Female

Height- 5’6 (5’7 with boots)

Weight- 133 lbs.

D.O.B- December 17

Likes- Silver jewellery

Dislikes- Silence

Preference- Bisexual

Notes- Ultimate Guitarist

Special person(s)- Unnamed Band Members

Dimitrios Bouras

Gender- Male

Height- 5’8

Weight- 251 lbs.

D.O.B- July 10

Likes- Greek traditional foods

Dislikes- Soccer

Preference- Straight

Notes- Ultimate Polar Explorer

Special person- Unnamed Other Polar Explorer

Haru Ito

Gender- Transgender male

Height- 5’2

Weight- 112 lbs.

D.O.B- September 19

Likes- Debates

Dislikes- Judgement on others

Preference- Pansexual

Notes- Ultimate Rights Activist

Special person- Unnamed best friend

Your Shiomura

Gender- Male

Height- 5’10

Weight- 157 lbs.

D.O.B- August 21

Likes- Attention

Dislikes- Creepy fan letters, children

Preference- ???

Notes- Ultimate Movie Star

Special person- Unnamed mother

Keiko Hayashi

Gender- Male

Height- 5’6

Weight- 140 lbs.

D.O.B- June 9

Likes- Snakes

Dislikes- Vegetables

Preference- Gay homosexual

Notes- Ultimate Snake Trainer

Special person- Unnamed Auntie

Kyran Kadokawa

Gender- Male

Height- 6’2

Weight- 198 lbs.

D.O.B- February 4

Likes- Frogs

Dislikes- People

Preference- Omnisexual (female lean)

Notes- Ultimate Craftsman

Special person- pet cat ‘Mimi’

Kellise Akerele

Gender- Female

Height- 5’1

Weight- 109 lbs.

D.O.B- November 1

Likes- Flavoured water

Dislikes- Water Pollution

Preference- Lesbian Homosexual

Notes- Ultimate Lifeguard

Special person(s)- Unnamed little sisters

Caleb Harris

Gender- Male

Height- 5’6

Weight- 131 lbs.

D.O.B- October 12

Likes- Books

Dislikes- Ice cream

Preference- ???

Notes- Ultimate Pastor

Special person(s)- Unnamed twin sister, Unnamed father

Matsunari Chiko

Gender- Female

Height- 5’9

Weight- 120

D.O.B- April 6

Likes- Indie games

Dislikes- Men

Preference- Doesn’t have one

Notes- Ultimate Waitress

Special Person- ___

Yasuyuki Kaneko

Gender- Male

Height- 4’10

Weight- 83 lbs.

D.O.B- 31 October

Likes- Minecraft

Dislikes- Brainrot

Preference- Too young to bother with that stuff

Notes- Ultimate Genius

Special Person(s)- Unnamed Mum, Unnamed big sister

Miyu Datai

Gender- ‘Female’

Height- 5’7

Weight- 129 lbs.

D.O.B- ….

Likes- Popularity

Dislikes- Being told she’s wrong

Preference- Straight

Notes- Ultimate Influencer

Special Person- ‘Unnamed boyfriend’

Tokunaga Momoru

Gender- Male

Height- 5’9

Weight- 142 lbs.

D.O.B- 11 March

Likes- Old fashioned dolls

Dislikes- Doll related horror movies

Preference- ‘Bisexual’

Special person(s)- Two ‘unnamed’ best friends whom he sees a sisters.

Zaien Morifuku

Gender- Demi-boy (They/them pref)

Height- 5’4

Weight- 142 lbs.

D.O.B- 29 August

Likes- Early 2000’s style

Dislikes- Preppy style

Preference- Pansexual

Special person- unnamed grandfather

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Bernard Lane

Published: Mar 25, 2024

The dramatic growth of gender medicine clinics around the world would have been unthinkable without the promise of puberty blockers. Children born in the wrong body could simply pause the wrong puberty. And if their self-declared transgender identity proved wrong, it was a simple matter of unpausing natural development. Or so we were told. But now, England’s National Health Service (NHS) has announced an end to puberty blockers as a routine treatment for young people who are distressed about their gender, arguing that the balance between the benefits and harms of this medical intervention cannot be known because the evidence base for blockers is too weak and uncertain.

The impact of England’s decision has been reflected in recent editorials in The New York Post and The Times of London. The Post calls puberty blockers “deadly junk science,” while The Times has declared them “a medical scandal of the first order, a reckless exercise in 21st-century quackery,” explaining:

The case for puberty blockers was that they allowed troubled children to pause while coming to terms with their gender identity. These hormone inhibitors were characterised as an on-off switch that could be flicked with impunity. This was a startling example of medical arrogance.

Gender clinics from Stockholm to San Francisco, from Florence to Melbourne, have been running an uncontrolled experiment on children, while cloaked in the mantle of human rights and denouncing any critics as hateful bigots. It will take time to understand the implications of this experiment. Even those gender clinicians who sold blockers as safe have generally acknowledged one dangerous side-effect: low bone density. Hormone-suppressed teenagers are unlikely to get full benefit of the surge in bone mass that comes with puberty; as a result, they may be prematurely exposed to the brittle bones and fractures normally seen in the elderly. And there is another lesser known but potentially more profound risk: the effects of blockers on the brain.

The NHS decision to ban blockers rested heavily on a 2022 interim report by paediatrician Hilary Cass, who has led an independent review of gender dysphoria care. In her report, she writes,

It is known that adolescence is a period of significant changes in brain structure, function and connectivity. Animal research suggests that this development is partially driven by the [natural] pubertal sex hormones, but it is unclear whether the same is true in humans. If pubertal sex hormones are essential to these brain maturation processes, this raises a secondary question of whether there is a critical time window for the processes to take place, or whether catch up is possible when [cross-sex] oestrogen or testosterone is introduced later.

This question is not new. In 2006, Dutch clinicians, who had pioneered the off-label use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria—these drugs had previously been used for other, distinct conditions—stated that, “It is not clear yet how pubertal suppression will influence brain development."  

There was talk of a study to elucidate this, but it was never carried out. Despite this, by 2016, a key Dutch clinician was claiming that puberty blockers were “completely reversible.”  

And this was the slogan picked up by gender clinics around the world as they adopted the puberty blocker-driven “Dutch protocol” for paediatric gender transition. A crucial unknown had been memory-holed.

Puberty blockers came to be seen as a low risk, no regrets option in the popular press, too.  In 2015, men’s fashion magazine GQ ran a transgender zeitgeist article, featuring former Olympic athlete Bruce-turned-Caitlyn Jenner, “a beautiful, stylish lady.” The article cites Jenner’s fellow ex-Olympian, the gymnast-turned-doctor Michelle Telfer, who explains to readers that the onset of puberty intensifies the distress of gender dysphoria:

At that point we can start someone on puberty blockers. They don’t stop growth generally, or your brain from maturing emotionally and cognitively, they just stop the sexual characteristics from developing.

Dr Telfer is an adolescent medicine physician. In 2012, she took charge of the gender clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (RCH) which, under her direction, went from 18 new referrals in her first year to 821 in 2021. What were young patients at her clinic told about blockers and the brain? It is unclear. Neither the hospital nor Dr Telfer, who is now chief of medicine at RCH, have responded to my emails asking them to clarify this.

In 2022, however, the hospital did acknowledge that the effects of pubertal suppression on the brain are unknown, though it did so not in a public statement correcting the record, but in a gender clinic newsletter, which it sent out to patients and families alerting them to future recruitment of subjects for a new study of the effects of blockers on the brain. The newsletter states:

During adolescence, the brain changes considerably. However, it is unclear whether the hormonal changes of puberty help to promote these changes or if this development occurs independent of our hormones. Related to this, we do not know whether using puberty blockers affects development of the brain.

It is unclear, however, whether this new study will be robust or whether it will be yet another “gender-affirming” study whose weak design makes it impossible to deduce any clear findings. It is also unclear whether the consent information the clinic provides to its patients and their parents today provides a candid acknowledgement of the cognitive unknowns associated with blockers.  

The clinic’s gender dysphoria treatment guidelines were initially issued in 2018 by Dr Telfer and her RCH gender clinic colleagues. The Lancet lauded them as the first such guidelines specifically for children and adolescents. They include the claim that puberty suppression allows the young patient “time to develop emotionally and cognitively prior to making decisions on gender-affirming hormone use which [has] some irreversible effects.” That reassuring statement remains in the current iteration (version 1.4) of the RCH guidelines.

(The statement is also found in the hospital’s 2019 guide to fertility preservation for cancer and gender patients, accompanied by jarringly activist language that defies the normal understanding of biology. For example, the hospital advises “men”—meaning, females who identify as male—“to use contraception if they have a male partner” and states that “According to [government] Medicare data, >60 men give birth per year in Australia.”)

More relevant is the fact that administration of early puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones is likely to lead to sterilisation, sexual dysfunction, and lifelong status as a medical patient with symptoms that may puzzle mainstream doctors. Yet our popular culture has been bombarded with the largely unchallenged story that puberty blockers may save lives and that, if not, they have the virtue of being reversible. By uncritically repeating this and other contentious claims, Australia’s public broadcaster, the ABC, has served as an unpaid publicist for the gender clinics. For example, the popular ABC programme Australian Story recently featured an emotive profile of Dr Telfer, in which she repeats a claim she made on another high-profile ABC platform, Four Corners:

Puberty blockers are reversible. The only risk is that it can affect your bone density.

Such a claim would surprise anyone familiar with the state of the evidence base. 

Few researchers know the scientific literature better than Mikael Landén, a psychiatrist affiliated with Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and the University of Gothenburg. Earlier this month, the journal Acta Paediatrica published his signed editorial under the title “Puberty suppression of children with gender dysphoria: Urgent call for research.” In it, Landén makes the point that,

Unfortunately, the discourse surrounding the use of puberty blockers in gender dysphoria is often framed as a political human rights issue rather than as a medical issue. There is a prevailing assertion that puberty blockers are lifesaving, fully reversible, and always safe. Even though that would place gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists [GnRHa or puberty blockers] in a unique and unlikely category—there are no other known drugs that simultaneously meet these criteria—any effort to shed light on the balance between the benefits and risks of [this] treatment is misconstrued as an attack on the LGBTQ+ community.

The same journal issue also features a paper by neuropsychologist Sallie Baxendale on the scientific literature dealing with hormone suppression and the brain.

Baxendale’s paper had previously been rejected by three other journals—not because of any fault with the science, but because anonymous reviewers were uncomfortable with its findings, which suggest that there is little evidence to support the benefits of puberty blockers. Baxendale, who holds a chair in neuropsychology at University College London, elsewhere relates her surprise at the politicised reactions her paper provoked:

the most astonishing response I received was from a reviewer who was concerned that I appeared to be approaching the topic from a ‘bias’ of heavy caution. This reviewer argued that lots of things needed to be sorted out before a clear case for the ‘riskiness’ of puberty blockers could be made, even circumstantially. Indeed, they appeared to be advocating for a default position of assuming medical treatments are safe, until proven otherwise.

Professor Baxendale was also unsettled by the paucity of convincing scientific literature on the benefits of puberty blockers:

I was surprised at just how little, and how low quality, the evidence was in this field. I was also concerned that clinicians working in gender medicine continue to describe the impacts of puberty blockers as ‘completely physically reversible’, when it is clear that we just don’t know whether this is the case, at least with respect to the cognitive impact.

These are observations that should give any serious gender clinic pause.

Professor Baxendale is particularly concerned that not enough is known about the neurological effects of puberty blockers for children and their parents to make an informed decision about their pros and cons. She writes:

Vague hints from poor quality studies are insufficient to allow people considering these [hormone suppression] treatments to make an informed decision regarding the possible impact on their neuropsychological function. Critical questions remain unanswered regarding the nature, extent and permanence of any arrested development of cognitive function that may be associated with pharmacological blocking of puberty. If cognitive development ‘catches up’ following the discontinuation of puberty suppression, how long does this take and is the recovery complete? While there is some evidence that indicates pubertal suppression may impact cognitive function, there is no evidence to date to support the oft-cited assertion that the effects of puberty blockers are fully reversible. Indeed, the only study to date that has addressed this in sheep suggests that this is not the case.

These concerns are shared by Professor Landén, who was the corresponding author for the paper describing Sweden’s systematic review of the evidence for the benefits of hormonal treatment for gender dysphoria. In that paper, Landén writes:

Against the background of almost non-existent longterm data, we conclude that GnRHa [or puberty blocker] treatment in children with gender dysphoria should be considered experimental treatment rather than standard procedure. This is to say that treatment should only be administered in the context of a clinical trial under informed consent.

As Landén has pointed out, it cannot be considered “anti-trans” to scrutinise the evidence base for puberty blockers. Far from a risk-free way to pause an unwanted puberty, these drugs are a potentially hazardous treatment promoted by politicised medical societies and ideologically driven lobby groups. We should heed his warning:   

Insisting that [puberty blocker] treatment should not be evaluated using the same rigorous criteria as other medical treatments will ultimately harm patients with gender dysphoria. The view that conducting a thorough assessment of the impacts and potential side effects of [puberty blocker] treatment is offensive, obstructs individuals with gender dysphoria from accessing treatment supported by the level of evidence expected for any other patient group. Instead, the ethical imperative to safeguard our youth demands nothing less than a concerted effort to shed light on potential cognitive and other side effects of [puberty blockers]. The outcome of such research might demonstrate significant benefits with negligible risks, or conversely, that the risks outweigh the benefits. These are empirical questions that require careful investigation. Regardless of the outcome of such investigations, it is essential to ensure that the treatment of children with gender dysphoria maintains the same standard of evidence as any other medical treatment for children. Settling for anything less would amount to discrimination based on ideology.

[aaronymous999]

The Ghostflowerbyte Headcanon Post

All of them identify as Bi! And they’re all transgender by the way, Margo and Gwen being transfem and Miles being transmasc!

All of them are also autistic, possibly ADHD for all of them too? But not too sure on that one!

Margo and Gwen initially did not get along, but eventually they became friends when they bonded over their shared difficult home lives, this was before Miles came to the Spider Society by the way. Gwen is a bit awkward when introducing two separate friend groups to each other ( she just like me fr ) which is why she actively tried not to mention Hobie, Pavtir and Margo to Miles, her anxiety makes her worry that they’ll hate each other and all her friends will blame her. ( she just like me fr. )

As for pronoun headcanons! Margo uses She/They/It/Byte/Glitch pronouns, Gwen uses She/They, and Miles just uses He/Him.

Margo actively does not want her partners to meet her parents because she hopes to move out as soon as she is old enough and has the money to do so. Gwen’s dad is pretty distant from all of her friends but gets close to Miles first, and it takes a little longer for Margo initially because of her own home life, she worries that Gwen’s dad isn’t truly reconciling and is kind of scared of him, but eventually the two connect. Although Miles and Margo both don’t get that close to him. Rio and Jefferson instantly fall in love with Margo, Rio is just like “Who does your hair? You’re so beautiful honey, you’re such a good influence on our boy make sure to watch out for him.” Margo is obviously very happy about this because, parental figures who actually like her!! Rio and Jeff take a while to warm up to Gwen though, although Rio does so sooner.

Margo and Gwen trade clothes a lot, although this is usually their pajamas since Gwen’s normal fashion sense is a lot more alternative while Margo tends to stick to a cuter style. I saw that scene of her trying out different hairstyles and I don’t know I just feel like she’d love comfy and cute clothing, like an off the shoulder top and jean shorts.

Miles has his art… Gwen has her music and… Margo has her fashion! Of course I like to think her main hobby is more technical stuff like programming but I think she’d desperately want to sew when she moves out. She didn’t have the need to before because well- she didn’t express herself much as Margo Kess and really only did so with her Spider-Byte avatar, which is an avatar afterall.

All three of them are smug and snarky but in different ways and sometimes they all kinda tease each other and it’s amazing. Margo and Gwen are also pretty sarcastic but Miles doesn’t do sarcasm well and thinks they’re serious HWJDBJEE although if Margo and Gwen heard anyone outside of their friendgroup being sarcastic they’d be like????

Margo, Gwen and Miles go on a double date with Pavitr and Gaytari and Hobie is there too but chills in the corner casually being aromantic and teasing the alloromantics is his passion. Valentine’s Day is a capitalistic scam and you all are falling for it!

Margo: I just started taking estrogen! Miles: That’s awesome my top surgery is next week! Gwen: Wow I can’t believe we’re all trans and in love! Hobie: Ay I just murdered Norman Osborn haha

Gwen and Miles are the only sporty ones out of the trio and Margo will never understand it ( she just like me fr )

Um um um those are the headcanons :3 let me know if any of them are culturally inaccurate? My mind is always open!

[thirtiethelement]

asking you about your in-depth trans ranni theory

Oh, THANK you, I'm always happy to infodump about that blue nerd.

Okay, so, before getting into the core of why I think trans Ranni is textually supported, let's go over some of the in-universe history with her:

In the setting, there's a force called Destined Death. It is the natural law of mortality, dictating that everything must eventually come to an end. However, when Queen Marika and her Golden Order came into power, she managed to somehow pluck that law out of the Elden Ring (a massive rune outlining how the world functions at a basic level), hiding it away and effectively banishing death. This allowed for people to live indefinitely by being reborn from the Erdtree when they otherwise would have died.

Marika, along with three of the demigod children of her Golden Lineage (Miquella, Malenia, and Ranni) was an Empyrean - an individual with the potential to channel the power of an Outer God, like Marika and the Greater Will. When Ranni was young, her mother, Rennala, took her to a cloistered spot in Liurnia where she had some sort of communion with another Outer God: the Dark Moon. And she was vibing with it! Whatever ideology it expressed to her, and whatever power it provided, she ended up wanting to work with it. Only one issue: The Outer Will had a vested interest in not being displaced from its position of power.

The Outer Will made its power known not only through deifying Marika and maintaining the Golden Order, but also by sending a number of creatures in service to act as its enforcers: The Two Fingers. Despite how ridiculous they look, they're apparently incredibly dangerous and just about immortal, which makes the fact that each Empyrean is shackled to one to force them to toe the line all the more difficult. Somehow, the presence of one of these linked Two Fingers influences the destiny of an Empyrean, preventing them from supplanting the Golden Order. But Ranni, being clever, figured out a loophole.

Ranni, through some means, found out that the Two Fingers' power over her actions was somehow bound to her body. To sever that link, she chose to do the unthinkable: Working with a group of co-conspirators that included at least her brother Rykard, Ranni arranged for the thievery of Destined Death, and committed ritual suicide in a fashion that managed to kill her body without killing her soul - which, incidentally, did kick off the entire horrific state the world of Elden Ring is currently in, but she was being a girlboss, so it's okay.

The evidence I can point to for her being transgender starts here. To still interact with the world after killing her own body, Ranni chose to let her soul inhabit a finely-made doll instead. It seems as though this may be why she kept Preceptor Seluvis around despite how utterly untrustworthy he is; for better or worse, he's a brilliant magician when it comes to the magic and maintenance behind the doll constructs Liurnia is known for. However, Ranni DIDN'T choose to have the doll made in her own former image, which was presumably well within her capabilities given the in-depth planning that went into her stealing and using Destined Death in the first place. Instead, she had it made to resemble a witch, Renna, who had taught her at some point in the past. In fact, during her first meeting with the player, she outright INTRODUCES herself as Renna, keeping her true identity close to her chest in the face of an unknown variable.

So, that explains it, right? She chose not to look like her old body because she wished to live in hiding, open and shut. But this is where small details start to get interesting. Ranni the Witch is called out by name by Morgott during his pre-fight cutscene, in which he looks across the various thrones in Leyndell abandoned by the other demigods. Radahn and Rykard's thrones are both much, much smaller than the forms we find them in during the course of the game - but oddly enough, RANNI'S is sized for the Renna doll she inhabits, a body that's outright shorter than the player character. We can find her original corpse at the top of Liurnia's divine tower, and she's just as huge as one might expect of a demigod.

This implies that, between the Night of the Black Knives when she performed her ritual and the Shattering, when the demigods went to war with one another over who got to take control of the Elden Ring, Ranni showed up to court with her fellow demigods in her doll body. This would completely defeat the purpose of trying to hide her identity from those who could pose a threat to her. In addition, Ranni shows that she can either extend her consciousness to other bodies, or inhabit other dolls entirely; during the latter part of her questline, you find her inhabiting a miniature version of her doll body, suggesting that she may be fully capable of switching to a different form if she was so inclined.

As a result, my suggestion is that Ranni wasn't just abandoning her original flesh because it was linked to the Two Fingers. If that was the case, she likely would have just stuck to that original body's form when choosing a replacement body to inhabit. It's not like there's some sort of overriding tactical, strategic, or even just physical benefit to the Renna doll, either; Ranni clearly LIKES to feel tall, judging by the stack of books she sits on in her tower to stay above eye level with the player character when they visit. In addition, while there's plenty of portraits and statues of the other demigods how they appeared pre-Shattering (save for the Omen brothers, for obvious reasons), Ranni's image is conspicuous for its absence throughout the entire game.

Ranni has enough incidental bits and pieces scattered around the game to suggest that she had deep personal reasons to inhabit her current form, reasons which go well beyond practicality. And honestly, the fact that signs point to the rest of her family being outright supportive of her (Rykard, who has portraits of the rest of his family, conspicuously leaving her out despite the implication that they were close, the fact that her throne is sized for the doll, etc.) is really heartwarming in an otherwise bleak setting if you choose to make this sort of reading.

Anyway thank you for allowing me to infodump about my blue nerdy-ass wife

[raayllum]

So one thing I thought was cool was how 4x01 specifically focuses on the importance of names and titles for Callum, Terry, and Viren. Now, this is adjacent to the broader theme of Identity construction and reconstruction happening across the course of the whole season (which again, meta in its own right) but I wanted to highlight this case just because I thought it was interesting.

For Callum, he sheds any titles he can, moving from High Mage to Prince to “regular,” expressing the most discomfort with the title of high mage despite a mage being how he defined himself the most in S1-S3. 

Viren, meanwhile, is awarded more titles (some he no longer holds, as he isn’t a Lord anymore, and without the title he had of king either) and awkward formality by Terry, who is trying to make a good first impression and is being given absolutely nothing in turn.

Last but not least, we have the way Terry introduces himself. A bit sheepishly, very good naturedly (will we ever see Terry wear his adorable little glasses again? I hope so), and with more meaning we only discover later. But for now, we see the way he’s much more like Callum, extending familiarity rather than titles, even if Callum bears titles at all and Terry does not.

However, the season doesn’t leave it at that. 

We see Callum be hesitant to accept these titles because he’s very conscientious that he’s Viren’s successor, with a sense of agency precisely because what he’s inherited as a result of that relationship and of being a mage gnawing at his mind due to the possession. 

For Viren, he finally acknowledges and admits that he spent his life chasing things he didn’t have (“power, status, influence”) and all things that his titles as high mage and later king awarded to him, all ultimately leading to nothing, as well as his guilt over how he’s failed Claudia as a father in the first place. 

Then last but not least we have Terry, who reveals he chose the name Terrestrius and the ensuing nickname as a way to reaffirm himself. Although of course a lovely coming out scene, it gives us more insight that in spite of breaking new ground (geddit?) for himself, he still loves his people and has a certain respect for the world and history, wanting an old-fashioned and traditional name in the first place. I think the coolest aspect here, though, is that Terry chose his name. Not only does this reflect an experience a lot of transgender people have, but it’s also the perfect reflection of Terry having precisely the agency that Callum craves and that Viren was never satisfied with, so first and foremost it works incredibly well thematically, and I think that’s super fucking awesome and a whole other level of detail we don’t see with queer characters and their queerness all that often. 

[wanderinghedgehog]

Over analyzing my fashion choices to find out if I’m more influenced by the transgenderness or the sensory issues

[sophiegarand]

Sophie Garand / 9th of November, 2002 / she/her

(art done by @aegann)

Sophie is a bubbly herbo who loves to make new friends and beat up bad guys at the same time. Her family and friends come before all else.

-

Character Notes:

Sophie is not the most book smart person, but she knows how to get a read on people very quickly and accurately.

She was a very quiet and shy person during her childhood, and it was only later into her teenage years that she became more outgoing.

Despite how headstrong she can act, Sophie deep down is a people pleaser and hates engaging in conflict unless it's necessary.

Tries her best to do meaningful things for herself rather than other people, primarily due to how easily she can be manipulated.

Knows what she stands for and does everything in her power not to bend her beliefs unless thoroughly convinced otherwise.

She wants to be seen as an approachable person who is able to protect those that she loves most, regardless of how well it turns out for her.

-

Likes: Music, working out, food, hanging out with friends, hugs

Dislikes: School, anyone trying to harm her or her loved ones, bigots, isolation

-

Short Bio:

Sophie Marie Garand was born and raised during her early childhood in Toronto, Canada where she didn't have too many friends due to her unwillingness to talk to other kids. She was bullied into her later elementary school years which is when she came out as a transgender girl. She was eventually pulled out and homeschooled during her social transition for a bit before moving to New York City for her dad's new job. From there, she was put back into public school and thrived better than ever up until she graduated from high school.

-

Other facts:

Sophie hasn't gone to university yet, but has heavily considered becoming an entomologist (even if her dad doesn't approve).

She is quite fashionable, being that she grew up under her mother's influence for style.

Because of her interest in fashion, she has spent almost all of her savings on clothes, but never enough to bankrupt herself.

She can do good voice impressions which has gotten her in trouble once for pranking a teacher back in high school.

Sophie is a sucker for karaoke, her go to song is "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Céline Dion.

For whatever reason, she is more embarrassed of being French Canadian than transgender. It would take a lot of convincing for her to speak French to new people.

She is quick to trusting people, but unforgiving when her trust is broken.

[befemininenow]

The lucky 7 with over 1000+

About a year ago, I made my very first caption and since that first post, my blog has grown to over 400+ unique captions and more than thousands of likes and reblogs. With the low amounts of traffic that Tumblr has compared to other competing sites, I've never would have thought I would reach that level without your support. Yet, here I am, giving you guys and girls an occasional post.

Some of my older posts have been gaining traction for the past few weeks. Whether it's a reblog from me or from another fellow blog, it's a great feeling when I see a "forgotten" caption gain a renew of interest. But it feels even more unbelievable when a caption reaches a level you never thought was possible.

That being said, here are a few captions that have amassed over 1000+ likes and reblogs that I would like to share with you. Enjoy the post!

Number 7: Inspiring trans girls since forever

With over 1023+ likes and reblogs, this is a collection of pictures from transgender women who have been an influence for us. Some are well-known influencers and celebrities like Remi Richards and Kim Petras, others are occasional internet posters like Mikaela Ville and Michelle Alter, and some want to live normal like Ella Page. This collection is undeniably my favorite because they display actual trans women, hormones or not, and have been a few of my inspirations from growing up to right now.

Number 6: Remembering your first

My very first caption is from a well known drawing of a girl embracing her feminine side. It's a feel of ecstatic energy when you see your true self so happy looking back at you for the first time. With around 1,123+ likes and reblogs, it really resonates with a lot of people who love their femininity.

Number 5: Coming out the first time

With around 1,190+ likes and reblogs, this caption speaks volumes of how we react to our coming out. Due to current social stigma, many cisgender people often lump trans women as sissies, crossdressers, traps, and other unflattering names and slurs. The only thing we can do is to keep our heads up and walk out with grace. It's best to ignore with bigots like those, but it's also wise to keep an eye out.

Number 4: Desires

At around 1250+ likes and reblogs, this post surprised me the most! Although it was popular when I first uploaded it, it really didn't spike until recent reblogs were made! It seems that a lot of you also have a bit of gender envy, haha! But can I blame you? She's such a babe, it would be so much better being her than dating her, especially the nice rewards she will get on a nights' out. ;)

Number 3: Your fate is in those pills

*Note: This caption has since been flagged by Tumblr as "Mature". If you would like to see this caption, please set your filters to view this caption.

Bronze prize is the HRT post. At 1,279+ posts and reblogs, it's the third most popular post in my blog. This one was one of my first posts as you can tell by the font and the color scheme of the main caption. I'll be honest: I'm not really fond of it as I used to since it seems a little "sexualizing". To be fair, it was inspired by a caption I saw in an old "feminization hypnosis" video that is now gone. Still, that doesn't mean I fully regret making this caption as it gave me more motivation to improve my caption skills. I also remade this caption into a bunch of segments. If you like to check the remake, click on the link below:

Number 2: Simplicity is sexy

At exactly 1,350+ likes and reblogs, this caption takes the silver prize! It's incredible because this is one of several captions that resonated with a lot of you! I'm lowkey, happy that we have something in common.

I can't deny it is a sexy way of embracing femininity. All one needs is a pair of black leggings and a white tank top to appeal even the most normal of guys. Meanwhile, the women would definitely feel a sense of jealousy based on how a simple outfit compliments those curves of yours. Bonus if you have long black hair, but any haircut and hair color would do. Give this outfit a try and I'll guarantee you will feel so euphoric. I know from experience ;)

But as sexy as this caption is, this one was only a few numbers away from the crown, or tiara if you like being a princess. Before I unveil the ultimate winner, I want to share an honorable mention that may ring a bell for you:

Honorable mention: Once a boy, always a girl.

This one is less popular than the previous entries as it only has around 708+ likes and reblogs. So why is it ahead of the other one? Because the caption was reposted by a fellow blog with better exposure. In fact, I actually reblogged that post as a way of saying thanks. With the way blogs come and go, I don't really mind if my work gets reposted on several blogs. It's just a way of preserving a legacy if a blog disappears one day. Oh, and combining that repost with my upload, this caption has over 2,222 likes and reblogs!

Number 1: Coming out divine

If 3rd place questioned your decision, and 2nd place answered that affirmation, then 1st place is definitely well into your change. With over 1,367+ likes and reblogs, it is by far my most popular creation! This one was very difficult to make as it required a lot of editing from the original video, as well as making the GIF without a lot of slowdown. The end result came out better than I thought. A major plus what that it was a Vine video, which lasted less than 7 seconds. However, I am not planning on remaking this GIF for three reasons: I lost the original and edited files, it was a PITA to make, and I would rather not mess with finished perfection. If anything, I would just make the GIF bigger than it is.

You can take a guess why it's so popular. From her hot body, her sexy outfit, nice curves, and the way she sways and moves, she is goals! I definitely had gender envy and gender crush at the same time! Did I want to be her or to date her? To quote a period-correct meme, why not both? Btw, the woman in the GIF is... well, all I can say is she is one of Justin Bieber's exes and subsequently had minor hit song back a few years ago.

Here's to a complete year full of captions and shares! Thank you so much to all of you!

[kaetor]

would love love love to hear any thoughts u want to share on the weed smoking grandpas au i absolutely LOVE everything vlr and especially everything here

hi. life is busy so it took me a hot second to answer this but anon i love you so much. I shall explain quark and his weed-smoking grandpas to you to the best of my abilties

so basic premise

so this is an "au" (in that its not DIRECTLY contradicted by canon. but also is) from the minds of me and my bestie remy @argentsunshine (read his ze fanfic) where long story short quark is raised by aoi light and junpei who have been hanging out since the radical-6 pandemic happened

short story long this somewhat connects to 'apocalypse au' which is again, just canon, where at the beginning of the apocalypse junpei finds light (who is looking for clover) and on their way to try and find clover they find aoi frozen in one of those freeze pods

because akane saw the future and knew that aoi would get rad6 and die early on in the pandemic so in akane fashion she put him to sleep and didnt tell him anything

so now these three guys are just kind of hanging together trying to find akane and maybe clover failing to find clover experiencing complex emotions about akane kurashiki. about 35 years later give or take . they find a baby

more random shit under the cut.

aoi is very vehement that young children should believe in santa claus light thinks its pointless and stupid junpei is stuck in the middle of this. "okay santa"s are thrown around in such arguments often. quark isnt really sure what to think

aoi and junpei are taking on more concrete parenting roles while light mostly sits in the background dispensing fun facts and the energy of a wine aunt crossed with an actual grandfather

light field known transgender was partly at fault for the name 'quark' aoi hates this

the major influence light had on quarks upbringing is that one day he looked at aoi "stopped regularly attending school at age eight" kurashiki and junpei "not a great student who then also dropped out" tenmyouji and said someone has to teach this child. and started trying to teach him stuff that's so far above a child's level

from our google doc light aoi and junpei quote " spent a while searching slash forming an increasingly confusing polycule (aoi and light are together light and junpei are not romantically involved and not not romantically involved but a secret third thing junpei and aoi are. good question)"

junpei and light got married for tax reasons but aoi and light who you'd more expect to be married aren't so quark is very confused about what marriage as an institution entails

every time the topic of why him and aoi arent married comes up light gives a whole spiel on why marriage as an institution is heteronormative and outdated and then someone points out hes still married to junpei and light says what of it

anyways theres more to this but its split between an actual google doc and random screenshots of discord dms so that's all for now. if enough people like this post maybe i can bully remy into writing more actual stuff for this au

[darkangel1791]

GLOBAL RETAIL // JUNE 4, 2024

Queer influencers are feeling the Pride marketing squeeze

By Allison Smith

https://www.modernretail.co/marketing/queer-influencers-are-feeling-the-pride-marketing-squeeze/

For many queer influencers like Alysse Dalessandro, Pride is the biggest month of the year for brand sponsorships. Throughout the month of June, Dalessandro — a plus-size fashion and lifestyle blogger — posts videos on TikTok or Instagram featuring sponsored products that cater to her LGBTQ+ followers. 

In 2022 alone, Dalessandro worked with 35 different brands, and one-third of her annual income came from Pride sponsorships. 

But this year, those figures are looking a lot smaller, and Dalessandro says it’s because brands’ appetites for Pride marketing have weakened amid widespread pressure from anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives. 

“This year’s Pride will just be a regular month,” said Dalessandro in an interview. “Whereas I used to make one-third of my yearly income, I would say I’ll make one-twelfth of my income this year.”

The pullback comes just after Target announced earlier this month that it would be scaling back its Pride Month offerings. The retailer said its Pride products would only be available in about half of its nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S. and online, and it would no longer sell LGBTQIA-themed merchandise for children.

Protests against brands with Pride Month products and marketing campaigns reached a fever pitch last year. Target reported “gut-wrenching” attacks of violence in its stores against employees, prompting the retailer to pull some of its LGBTQIA-themed merchandise. Target’s earnings took a hit, which the retailer partially attributed to the controversy.

Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light faced boycotts last year after the brand worked with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a marketing promotion. The boycott was so severe that sales plunged, and Bud Light was dethroned as America’s best-selling beer by Mexican lager Modelo Especial.

While some say the protests have cast a pall across corporate America that is still being felt this Pride Month, others say brands are continuing to celebrate Pride with merchandise and promotions – but it’s being done more quietly and in moderation now. 

A majority of corporate executives and Fortune 500 leaders reported to Gravity Research that they are not planning changes to their Pride strategy for 2024. Thirteen percent were unsure, and only 9% said they were definitely planning changes.

Indeed, grocery store giant — and Target’s biggest rival — Walmart has plunged ahead with its LGBTQIA-themed merchandise for Pride this year. 

Still, Dalessandro isn’t alone in reporting a slowdown.

Matt Skallerud, president of Pink Media, expects more brands will sit on the sidelines this Pride as companies try to navigate an increasingly fraught socio-political landscape. 

“Typically, we have several Pride projects in the works that we would have had ready for a June 1 launch. But this year, there’s nothing. Zero,” said Skallerud. “When I talk to others in the industry, whether they’re smaller LGBT media companies or other marketing firms, they say they’re all suffering the same thing.”

In the U.K., a similar chilling effect is also being felt, according to Chris Dunne, co-CEO at Outvertising, a non-profit that helps marketers connect with LGBTQ+ audiences. 

Although Pride Month is officially underway as of June 1, “you’d be excused for not knowing that by walking the streets or walking through the mall, or any of the touch points where you usually see retail support for Pride,” said Dunne. “It’s suspiciously quiet, and I think all the indicators are that it will be a quieter Pride month from a commercial and brand point of view.”

Yet, total marketing budgets in the U.K. reached their highest levels in almost a decade in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a report. In the U.S., ad spend is similarly resilient. Three major ad forecasters have predicted improved U.S. media spend totals for 2024, Digiday previously reported. Retail is especially robust, with a 9% uptick in spend expected, according to IPG’s Magna unit. 

Brands, however, risk missing out on crucial dollars if these healthy budgets aren’t directed toward LGBTQ+ communities. Queer-identifying Americans represent $1.4 trillion in U.S. spending power, according to investment advisor LGBT Capital. 

“With one in five Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ, companies are really recognizing that it’s more important to have a relationship with this consumer segment than to perhaps respond to a vocal percentage of the population that’s actually quite small,” said Matt Tumminello, founder and president of Target 10, an agency that specialize in LGBTQ+ consumers. 

Moreover, many consumers support a swath of LGBTQ+ issues. For example, an Outvertising report found that 60% of queer-identifying people and 41% of non-LGBTQ+ people in the U.K. believe that brands should express their views on political and social issues. Meanwhile, 74% of Americans are neutral or positively impacted by knowing a company offers Pride merchandise, according to GLAAD, which advocates for positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ people in media and culture.

Despite this, marketers’ investment in the LGBTQ+ community is minuscule at only 2.5% of all advertising spend, according to ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing.

“We know that there’s a fringe minority that is very loud, so brands’ messaging and tone has been modified because marketers don’t want to get caught in the middle,” said Carlos Santiago, co-founder of ANA AIMM. 

According to Meghan Bartley, senior director of agencies, brand and engagement at GLAAD, brands aren’t pulling back so much as they’re retooling how they engage with the LGBTQ+ community. 

“Brands are reconsidering how they show up for our community. That may look like a change to a Pride campaign rather than the complete removal of a Pride campaign,” said Bartley. For example, she said brands are increasingly looking at how to invest in queer-identifying communities all year round as opposed to just Pride month. That can translate to fewer rainbow logos on LinkedIn, to appear less opportunistic, and investing more in LGBTQ+ causes rather than merchandising, she said. 

Bartley cited iHeartMedia and Procter & Gamble’s fifth-annual “Can’t Cancel Pride,” an event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, as an example of how brands are supporting the community in ways other than merchandising.

When Target said it would be selling less Pride merchandise this year, the retailer touted its year-round investments in the LGBTQ+ community, including donations to organizations such as Human Rights Campaign and Family Equality. Target also said it would participate in local Pride events across the nation and that it would continue to spotlight LGBTQ-owned brands throughout the year.

“There are some brands that are doing the work behind the scenes because they’re aware of a growing backlash,” said Outvertising’s Dunne. “But I don’t think that’s the majority. I think that’s the slim minority.”

Bob Witeck, a consultant who helps companies such as Walmart develop their LGBTQ-friendly policies, also hasn’t seen a pullback from his clients. In fact, he said some were doubling down on Pride Month in light of last year’s backlash. 

“In all of my conversations with the clients I work with, they have not shrunk at all,” said Witeck. “In fact, the conversations internally are more like, ‘We feel a deeper need to amplify what we say.’”