#aka it is very androgynous

[bat-the-misfit]

ok i googled and redid the test and now i can say with a little more of certainty that my range goes from A2 to F#5

[coachbeards]

Beard is Bi!! We love that!!

beard is absolutely bisexual <333 I think they were so close to saying it several times but wanted to keep that part of his mystery (I am delusional)

[nonuggetshere]

Saying fuck it and making transfem PK canon in my FaaF AU variant that follows Embrace the Void game ending (last 3 tags explain the AU roughly if you're new here good lird I need to make a master post)

Spent so long in the dream realm alone that it fucked with their gender, or rather spent a long enough time from how their subjects perceived them that they decided to get funky with their gender presentation

Gets on Bug HRT

Hornet's gonna jokingly poke at them whenever their voice cracks

[schrodingers-hoarding-problem]

why is my hair looking good rn

pls you're making me have second thoughts about cutting you off?

[illwilledomen]

Adults n’ babies.

Info below.

Villagers (and all Testificates)

- Children have tufts of hair, and bald during puberty.

- The darker pigment in their proboscis occurs during puberty. They also grow into their noses.

- Kids are kind of scrunkly and wrinkly, like Sphinx cat kittens. They’re also very small, and have huge growth spurts once they hit their teenage years.

- Adult villagers are incredibly tall, and lack much visible hair aside from fine body hair, light facial hair (like stubble) and eyebrows, which are bristly and whisker-like. Another noticeable feature is their short philtrum and near lack of a visible upper lip. Their noses are as sensitive as human lips, and are typically used in the same way for affection and gesture. Villager proboscis can scrunch, wrinkle and twitch, moving to follow scents like the noses of elephant shrews.

- Villagers have much keener senses of smell than humans, and can produce a wider range of sounds.

Piglin

- Much like villagers, piglets start fuzzy and bald into wrinkly adult piglin.

- Piglets learn to vocally emote first, then sign phrases later on. Piglin use vocalisations as emotional context cues for the more complex sentences they sign.

- Piglin sows have litters of up to six piglets. Most of these piglets will die, particularly if it’s a nomadic horde, so they only receive proper names at one and a half nether years, or when they begin to grow out of their camouflage stripes.

- Piglets are born with stripes and an earthier pigment to help them hide from Infernal predators.

Endermen

- Endermen give birth through their mouth. They do breed asexually, though some Endermen do recreationally partake in what is possibly intercourse. It’s hard for Enderologists to tell.

- The offspring spends ten years inside of a nutrient sac before emerging as an Ender-child. The Ender-child will slowly develop features like limbs and a complex digestive system, though it begins with only a torso, a brain and a pair of eyes. These eyes are non-functional as psionic communicators, which is their secondary purpose in adults.

- They excrete an oily substance that repels Endermites and keeps them moisturized enough to move. As the larvae matures, it will develop the velvety exoskeleton of an adult Enderman. It will also begin to omit psionic frequencies, though these begin as nonsensical bursts of information.

- They mature at 100 years old. Most of this 100 years is spend engorging on chorus fruit, stem and endstone mineral salts. They have no emotional connection to their parent, as eventually they will develop enough to join the Chorus and become one conscious Being. Alternatively, they can worship a void God and become an Endersent.

Players

- Players were primarily constructed by Rana of the Elphar Senate of Builders, or artificers under her command. Most players were raised either in the Garden, an enclosed sterilized “meadow” next to the Senate building, or within the ancient city.

- They have three brains. The Animal, aka a normal human brain, the Purpose, an information tablet which dictates their robotic instincts, Basic Information and function, and the Soul, which enables emotion and sapience.

- Steve was constructed as The Builder, Alex was constructed as The Hunter, and Hero was constructed as The Friend, but is commonly referred to simply as the first. Hero destroyed two other players before he was supposedly decommissioned.

- Players begin existence as entirely androgynous beings, and may transition into genders upon discovering them. Gender is not encoded onto the Basic Information tablet, so they may struggle to understand it. Steve has adopted a masculine identity, enjoys it, though expresses confusion at being called a “male”.

[fumifooms]

do you happen to have that page that talks about the beauty standards of each race?

Yeah sure. While scavenging pics for this I found this neat reddit compilation & chart & theory talk too. I had um, way more to say than I anticipated (I know you only wanted the one page. I have nothing to say for myself. Like most topics in Dunmeshi things snowball because they’re so interconnected. Mercy…) so, many races and observations are only mentioned near the bottom.

Beauty standards and race in Dungeon Meshi

Not pictured there’s also how elven society is harsh on visibly disabled people, and how the demon took away Mithrun’s silver eyes and ears to take away his pride. There’s also how Senshi might have fit in with the orcs more easily because of the dwarven wide body shape, and how they tend to have more body hair too I suppose. In the extra on orcs we see Senshi living with the orcs and he gets judged because of the hierarchy rather than his looks.

What is fashionable also differs from culture to culture, and there’s how tattoos only seem common with elves, though dwarves and others do also sometimes have some. They seem to not raise much brows, which makes sense since for many essentially they’re for professional (magical) purposes especially with elves. Gender roles also differ in type and importance, but generally they are similar to irl ones for the races we see. Elven society seems to be the least gendered, which would be an unsurprising logical outcome of having lesser sexual dimorphism aka they look more androgynous. Comparing fashions and gender roles and how they affect beauty standards would be a whole other compilation and conversation. Kui has great worldbuilding partially because she’s got such a good grasp on sociopolitics and geopolitics. History affects cultures and beauty standards greatly. Kui’s oneshot Distant Utopia was very eye opening on her way to worldbuild and the consideration she gives these things, I do really recommend reading it.

Out of the big 5, we know the least about gnomes, but their sheet does say both culture and region are similar to dwarves’ and they end up being confused together often, so we can imagine the beauty standards are similar to dwarves’ as well.

I wanted to touch on this in a post eventually, but how one daydream hour page said half-foots tended to be curvaceous like in the artwork below puzzled me for a long time, all the half-foot characters we see during canon are rather slender and lanky after all, Chil’s succubi also being more curvy than plump. Economics are for sure a factor in that I imagine, the half-foots characters we see are all implied to be some flavor of poor or malnourished, as are half-foots depicted as empoverished oppressed minorities in general. Even comparing the artwork with the half-foot sheet’s depicted average half-foot, the ones on the left seem bigger. Wouldn’t it make sense though, if unlike dwarves half-foots don’t have similar naturally wide bodies, yet due to idolizing dwarves they work towards having a similar body shape/type to emulate them?

It’s said half-foots tend to stick to pretty ethnically homogeneous regions (aka half-foots-only communities) unless they move to the big city with ambition to try and make it big (like Chilchuck and his wife & kids did), and that’s interesting imo because then that would mean that in a ton of half-foot communities, they rarely see or interact with dwarves whom they try to emulate. Of course, one thing about beauty standards is that when they get adopted, at one point it stops being "this is how dwarves look and so this is how half-foots should look" and just becomes "this is how half-foots should look", most people feel as though beauty standards aren’t learned but innate, so I figure the half-foots wouldn’t have any problem still seeking dwarvish traits when there are no dwarves around.

There’s also stuff you can glean here and there if you want to extrapolate more. Like how in the race swap artworks, Mickbell is only smiling in the dwarf portrait, and Rin’s elven portrait looks very close to her elven one- Rin who is stated to be beautiful in her profile blurb. Benichidori’s extra does teach us tallmen can definitely have harsh beauty standards, but also since the text portrays her as very dysmorphic that’s likely reflected in her thoughts to a much more intense degree than is common, not an accurate strict baseline to go off. Ah, Kabru’s blue eyes are also why he and his mother lived a rough life in Kabru’s hometown, but that seems to be regional. Good post here on the topic of Kabru’s blue eyes and ties to irl history. There’s a lot to be said about Kabru being a man that in many ways is close to elven beauty standards, and how that might have affected or been affected by his upbringing with elves + his persona as someone that can effortlessly charm most people. Marcille’s section here in this essay also goes into Marcille’s struggles to fit in with the ideal image of an elf.

Looking human

Also notable are beastkins and demihumans: Demihumans are all dehumanized which makes people treat them worse. So if you differ from the visual idea of "human" (an in-world subjective categorization just as much as demihuman is) most people do judge you negatively. Elves and dwarves get to fight about which type of human is considered the prettiest, but demihumans are below tallmen and half-foots, they are considered as simply below the beauty contest, incompatible with it.

Onis are perhaps the demihuman people we know of with the least cultural influence on the dunmeshi world, and with the least intensely different appearance than other demihumans—they seem to be technically categorized as human to people not from the eastern archipelago?— but even them are treated as lesser than human, treated as beasts to slain for reputation points or useful strength to have around and command. It’s said their "magnificient horns" and fangs are often shaven off when the oni lives in tallman towns, so you could easily make the argument that onis are denied the right to have their own beauty standards, having to conform to other people’s and going through mutilation to take away features they might otherwise have taken pride in. Inutade was bought by the Nakamotos from a dangerous sumo fighting ring that got one of Inutade’s tooth broken on her first and only fight, and kept as a low ranking servant ever since. Remember when I said different fashions existed in dunmeshi and how those could also affect beauty standards? Like the elves, if you look at the portraits pages which include a lot of characters that aren’t in the story you can see distinct cultures within the same races, for example one young elf is bald which is in sharp contrast with the usual elven long luscious hairstyles, and that’s especially true for onis I think. Maybe not only from different regions but different eras as well… They have a bit of population in the very north of the western continent, so I like to think some of the ogres live in very cold, maybe even subarctic or arctic conditions. The point I’m getting at here is that within a race, culture/ethnicity like with Kabru will also influence them it isn’t just tallmen as a whole, different communities will have differing beauty standards. The oni history blurb and third row first collumn portrait remind me of Mongolia (which historically was a lot of different nomadic communities with different cultural identities as well. Something something, the oni empire experienced a decline and then tallmen overpowered them, and now they’re governed and split apart by stronger social classes & slavers and the richness of culture was hurt for it especially if they have no real community left of their own), but obviously many of them are dressed and look rather japanese, makes sense considering living in/close to Wa, and first row second collumn portrait reminds me of ainus which again would be logical considering geographical placement, though I’m far from an expert. Interestingly, ainus are indigenous people both in Japan and Russia- Perhaps the northern western continent ogres are meant to be closer to Russia than Canada like I imagined? Ok tangent over.

The kobold sheet says they’re especially sought after as slaves because they’re "adorable", but locally in the western continent they’re repeatedly said to be seen more as ferocious and dangerous. The dehumanization is most apparent in the first comic below. The language barrier and conflicts no doubt worsen this by a lot, but I think it’d be hard to deny that their canine appearance makes the dehumanization worse. "They’re ferocious beasts, they’re demihumans, they can’t be communicated with". Most characters in Dungeon Meshi’s world are desensitized to slavery and most characters are prejudiced one way or another. Point being, kobolds are fully removed from human beauty standards, but no doubt for kobolds, other kobolds are more beautiful than humans are. They’re assumed to be an uncivilized bunch, but just like any other people they like to adorn themselves with nice clothes and jewelry and keep themselves clean and groomed; they too take care of their appearance and take pride in it.

And the orcs! This one we have the most contact with in canon, with not only there being foreigner characters from the ethnicity or hearsay of their homelands and culture but full on contact with a community. We get to see up close what they’re like and what they think, and of course in turn they’re our introduction to how demihumans are harshly looked down upon and seen as inferior, less human and thus less worth valuing and less dignified. It’s text that orcs are ugly to most humans and humans are ugly to most orcs. Since I judged they didn’t need accompanying explanation the pictures showing this are in the pictures dump at the top.

God forbid you sell vegetables to orcs my god- but then again they do basically mandate adventurers to kill any orcs they come across so yeah the world isn’t above that even a little bit.

So yes, my main point here is simply that orcs are yet another evidence of the physical ideal of "human" being an important beauty standard for human societies globally.

Izutsumi is our glimpse at how beastkins are treated in the world, and in Wa at least that’s ending up being caged and mistreated as part of a freak show. Izutsumi hates her appearance and wishes she could leave the feline part of herself behind to only be human. Interestingly, not that we have a lot of info on them so this is very much a take with a grain of salt situation, but there seems to be less stigma around artificial beastmen, those who can shapeshift at will. The main difference is of course appearance, that most of the time they simply look like average tattooed humans. Artificially creating humans is an illegal practice, and no doubt it’s not well regarded, but being able to hide that makes them less likely to be discriminated at any moment, or even just discriminated less intensely. Again, looking human is important, not only for belonging but for safety’s sake. Beauty standards rule the world with harsh hands.

Mermaids and fishmen

Ok we’re done now right? Right-! But wait… Wait…! Mermaids and fishmen are said to be demihumans too, special separate cases to the main three demihuman species however, which is also represented by how mermaids and fishmen both are in the Adventurer’s Bible chapter Monsters meanwhile ogres, kobolds and orcs are in the chapter World. They’re an interesting topic because they directly tackle this topic, not only in a meta way for the readers but also making characters themselves struggle to quantify their humanity with the goal of knowing wether they should be eaten or not, especially Chilchuck. Chilchuck’s "is it really just a matter of feelings?" mini arc.

The party asking themselves "Should we eat this?" is very common, and often they end up playing a little loose on morality, like eating the red dragon’s meat despite it having digested Falin. Not unsimilarly Marcille freaks out a little over the vegetables they harvested having been grown with fertilizer, aka largely human poo. Half of the motivation of "should we eat this perhaps sentient creature" is out of consideration and compassion, but more strongly and more often, the characters struggle with a sense of taboo at eating something too closely related to humans. Even, feel uncomfortable because of the deepseated impression that eating it would dirty them in some way. Cannibalism is an interesting and relevant topic in many ways, but what I want to mention is how there’s the more or less universal belief that committing cannibalism inherently taints you as a person and turns you more monstrous, morally but also literally depending on some myths such as w*ndigos and onis in some cases, like in Touge Oni. Marcille and Izutsumi both express a fear of eating monsters turning them monstrous. Maybe this is part of what Laios was hoping for, honestly. There are two fears here, if eating a demihuman monster constitutes as cannibalism or not, and so, will eating it taint you because it’s a human, or will eating it taint you because it’s a monster? You are what you eat, until it’s a little too literal. You morally are the means by which you get your food, and you physically are the result of your nutrition. Dungeon meshi manages to mix an exploration of humanity with the theme of food because our relationship to food is very deep and complex, psychological as much as physiological.

In the end, the characters sort of shrug and accept that they’ll never quite understand the world of mermaids and fishmen and how they operate, and what that means about them. Laios is the one always challenging these notions other characters take for granted, it’s not obvious to Laios why people are softer on mammals than other animals and plants, it’s not obvious to Laios why people would be afraid of eating a monster just because it’s a monster, it’s not obvious to Laios why some food is gross to Marcille but not fish testicles, it’s not obvious to Laios why you should immediately regard orcs and kobolds badly.

"Cows are probably closer to humans [aka closer to being human] than fishmen, though they’re clearly intelligent", dehumanization to lessen empathy towards them to be able to eat them. Meanwhile, mermaids seemingly have a less noticeable "civilization" or intelligence, they hunt in groups like fishmen, but they don’t use tools and such, they feel more primal and similarly instinct driven, and yet… Do they attract sympathy more? Mammals, humans, is it because of their nature or because of their appearance?

Both the nature and appearance of fish are ones people don’t typically sympathize with. "Fish don’t feel pain", "goldfish only have 5 seconds of memory", "it’s okay to keep fish in completely empty bowls too small for them until they die from it", so many lies and misconceptions exist that make people less considerate of them. The average lifespan of a goldfish is 10-15 years, the record is 43, but they’re not seen as lives that really matter, so a lot of goldfish die in a few weeks of bad aquarium conditions. There’s a lot of research on animals evolving to look cute and appealing to make some predators want to kill them less and parents want to care for them more, including humans. First good google research result gave me this credible short article on the topic. In Chilchuck’s weighing wether a fishman is far enough from being human or not to eat, "face is 100% fish" is his biggest argument for it being more acceptable. The face, the most important thing for empathy and recognition. The face, the decapitated fishman one that falls into his hands next chapter.

To quote @room-surprise: "Chilchuck can't explain why it's wrong to eat the merpeople, even though it's NOT complicated. But the problem is Chilchuck would have to accept and acknowledge that the merpeople might be people? And that's outside of the worldview he passively believes, so he can't just say that, because he doesn't think that's true. But that IS why he "feels" it's wrong. And it's all you'd need to say for Laios to understand! But it would require acknowledging that maybe the way they're treating and talking about the merpeople is wrong."

The idea of Chil not being able to grapple with how maybe some monsters are more humans than they seem, him who had been an advocate of half-foots rights, half-foots who get undermined and treated as inconsequential sacrifices… Grappling with how he could relate to the merpeople’s situation almost, and pulling away because it’s so existentially horrifying. I do not want to see myself into an hostile fish-faced warrior I can’t communicate with. In a way this also relates to Chilchuck being the only party member who doesn’t see Izutsumi as a cat in the relationship chart, the only one to treat her with full human dignity. He knows the struggle to be taken seriously, he knows being infantilized and he knows what it’s like to be treated as less than human.

Below, you will see Chilchuck draws the line of where they become not okay to eat as when "they already look like mermaids". Above, there’s speculation that the algae hair is partly to mimic "the mermaids’ beautiful female form". Is it because mermaids are their enemies and the ambiguity might give them extra seconds to attack or flee? Is it to trick adventurers instead? It’s striking to me that this is what works, with the adventurers. Sure the fishmen are intelligent, but explicitly here, what makes them no longer acceptable prey to Chilchuck is that they look close enough to a mermaid, close enough to human. Mermaids who of course themselves have this form to entice and seduce and charm the adventurers they prey on. Chilchuck considers the intelligence due to the tridents, but most of his internal debate centers around their appearance, and the image of a fishman skewered sickens him. The power of mimicry… Mimic being a beautiful human woman. Mimic being cute, babies being wired to make us feel protective and softened. Half-foots, sometimes pretending to be children for scams or help or avoiding trouble.

The mermaids are only concerned by their differences and not their similarities, and have no trouble treating the fishmen as food rather than peers. To an outside perspective like us, the audience, all these categorization of "more human" and "less human" between onis and orcs and elves and tallmen etc seem stupid and unfounded, but to the people living in Dungeon Meshi’s world, elves may as well be mermaids while onis are fishmen, not alike at all, unworthy of empathy and thus fine to eat.

Ultimately, Dungeon Meshi promotes unity. It’s about seeking to understand the unknown and the misunderstood, the dehumanized and the inhuman. It shows the good that comes from seeking to understand what you do not, even when that’s one another.

[grimoireroseart]

Made a new icewing oc Morning! Very androgynous butch lesbian who hates being a royal icewing animus and anything circles related (and most likely planning to overthrow their queen aka their mom Queen Luster)

Full ref sheet (base is relined joyang art by k9pestilence)

[the-royalgarden]

Regardless of your opinion on whether trans men can identify as butches, the truth of the matter is that so many trans men experience being a butch in public (pre-transition AND post-trans) even if they don't identify as one.

Something I think skinny people tend to forget is that fat transmascs exist, and do you know where a lot of the fat can go? In the chest. Even when I'm binding, at best I look like a cis man with gynecomastia or abnormally humongous pecs, and most people are automatically going to assume boobs = female.

And yeah, sure, testosterone deepens your voice. But it doesn't make your speaking mannerisms masculine, and some trans people on T still need voice training to vocally pass as men. For me personally, that isn't really possible right now, due to chronic fatigue.

Combine those both together with my refusal to conform to cismasculine fashion standards (aka daring to wear any color other than white, black, grey, brown, and blue when wearing ties and button downs) and I am viewed by the public as a very sexually androgynous (gay man sounding voice, and a mustache) butch.

Even when I try my best to pass (deepen my voice so much it hurts, bind, wear boring colors, don't mask so people can see my mustache thus GREATLY RISKING MY PHYSICAL HEALTH as I am immuno-compromised) I STILL look like a butch to everyone.

While experiencing being perceived as a butch never makes someone a butch inherently, you're seriously going to tell me with a straight face that I have no right to identify as something I actively experience being every fucking time I go into public? Give me a break.

[glisten-inthedark]

It’s very side-eye to me that things started going wonky with Mike and Eleven’s relationship after she started dressing more feminine, with the exception being season 1 when she wears the wig

In s1 she has the buzzcut and looks androgynous and is believed to be a boy by multiple characters, and then when she dresses up more “girly” it’s very doll-like and almost artificial. They later give her Mike’s jacket and she loses the wig and so it’s this interesting blend of feminine and masculine. The fact that Mike develops a crush on her here (if we’re going with bi Mike vs gay Mike) when there’s such a clear interplay of gender aesthetics happening is incredibly telling imo

In s2 when Mike sees her again she’s still dressed in a very androgynous way. It’s punk, her hair is slicked back, the clothes hide her figure, the makeup is dark and edgy and doesn’t pull either feminine or masculine. The only time we see Mike see her dressed in a feminine way is at the Snow Ball and that’s a whole other thing to unpack since he had asked her to go with him literally right before she “died” so there’s a lot of baggage there and a distinct desire to “fulfill” this promise and enjoy the night.

Season 3, Eleven has started looking distinctly feminine/“like a girl” in figure and with her hair now at her shoulders and styled more relaxed. But her clothes are masculine and oversized, hiding her figure. And it’s when her clothes are like this, masculine and baggy and hiding her feminine figure, that we see her and Mike kissing. Even in the final scene where they kiss, she’s back to wearing large flannels and duller colors and “Hopper-esque” clothes/hand-me-downs etc, a more masculine style, despite having gotten new clothes and working to find her style with Max. The brighter colors would contrast with the tone, and it’s likely they gave her a flannel in this scene so she can visually connect to Hopper as she reads his letter, but they could’ve blended the two styles together instead of having her revert so solidly back. It’s when she’s wearing these more masculine clothes that she kisses Mike again.

And in season 3, when she is finding a new style, one that is more vibrant and feminine, that’s when she breaks things off with Mike. It’s almost this visual representation of “Feminine Eleven = Not A Fit For Mike,” aka “I’m having to process and accept that my girlfriend is a girl and this is complicating things when it shouldn’t if I’m straight”

In season 4, it’s incredibly interesting because when they reunite, she’s wearing a flannel that looks like a hand-me-down from Will, but also a dress, and with duller colors. With all 3 of her outfits she wears a flannel, which to me evokes both Hop and Will. Her first outfit with Mike isn’t androgynous but it’s almost this struggle between masculine and feminine rather than a blend.

I feel like the most Truly Eleven outfit in season 4 is the one where she has both a flannel, a blue shirt, and a floral undershirt. (It actually reminds me of Meg Murry’s outfit in A Wrinkle in Tims.) The richer jewel-tone colors feel more El, especially s3 El, the floral bring in such a nice feminine touch, and the flannel being in richer, blue/red colors feels like an interplay between her s1 iconic outfit and her more vibrant and expressive s3 clothes.

Anyways imma stop here bc I need to take a nap before I go to class lmao

Hello! I hope you had/have a great nap time!

And honestly I have absolutely nothing to add on the subject.

All of your points are spot on! The more feminine El becomes, the less interest Mike shows on her and I wonder why? /s

I hope you have a good class and stay safe!

[tallysgreatestfan]

My biggest surprise about the Uglies trailer is that Dr. Cable now is feminine instead of androgynous, and that she doesn't acts out of the shadows anymore.

Both isn't necessarily a bad thing and could be thematically interesting, but its a change.

And while I am surprised that they cast Laverne Cox as her, since Dr. Cable is pretty much the only vaguely white sounding person in the book (crooked nose and creepy grey eyes), I think making her a black trans woman will only make her character even more interesting.

As I said in the trailer reaction, Dr. Cable sees herself as protecting humanity from it's worst impulses. If she now belongs to three, instead of one minorities which have historically been abused the worst, this becomes personal.

Sure, this could also lead to bigoted interpretations aka her being a dictator forcing children into plastic surgery (misunderstanding of gender reassignment surgery, but you don't become transphobe by understanding stuff). But also they would misinterpret her no matter what.

Not sure how much of that is directly described in the book and how much is just vibes, since it never lingers on what Dr. Cable wears or what her gender presentation is, but she seems to always wear her uniform, other than a scene (Pretties) where she sneaks onto Tally in a coat.

She is very not-gendered in the narrative in a way female villains hardly ever are. She doesn't revenge a dead husband or is a femme fatale and she is cold and calculating instead of emotional. She could be a man in the books and nothing about her narrative would change.

To be honest I am a bit sad to loose this, but also, while a white cis woman being feminine is expected and cliche, a black trans woman being feminine is empowering and subversive.

And hey, she still is a super soldier.

Her, the enforcer of this beauty culture dystopia, being feminine also actually makes more narrative sense, since beauty culture almost exclusively forces women to be traditionally feminine.

What worries me more is that now Dr. Cable, who in the books acts so hidden that Tally previously didn't even knew her unit exists, now holds a uncomfortably Divergent-like speech in front of presumably students.

That changes the role Dr. Cable and the other Specials play in the story a lot. I presume you could still do interesting things with this, but I can't really see which ones and this is somewhat more standard dystopia dictatorship stuff.

I guess we just have to wait for the movie

[gnc-polls]

i’m wondering if i am gender nonconforming, and i have a question that i haven’t been able to find the answer to from individual research so i want to ask gender nonconforming ppl themselves

so i am under the nonbinary umbrella and afab, but i always present very feminine (like, more than most cis girls)

the definition i’m finding for gnc is essentially someone’s who’s gender expression is different from the societal expectation

in this case i think that would fall under gnc, because the expectation for nonbinary people is to be androgynous, and specifically for afab nonbinary ppl to present more masculine as they transition, however i dress very femininely, in fact more so after i realized i was trans than before

however all of the examples i see for gnc ppl r afabs who dress more masculine or amabs who dress more feminine

i ask bcs while i feel undeniably more myself when dressed very femininely (like, i cannot stand to be otherwise without it taking a decline on my mental health), i do get lots of dysphoria knowing that ppl don’t see me as my gender bcs i don’t act “trans enough”, but being able to take pride in being gnc instead would make that so so much less horrible (like, even just the thought of that potentially being the case feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders). but i absolutely do not want to intrude on a space that is not mine, so genuinely asking, would you considering me gender nonconforming ??

The thing is, I will say though, that my blog might've further pushed the belief that you are only GNC if you are either cisgender or binary transgender, and explicitly express yourself in a way that doesnt align with traditional/conservative ideals of your gender identity, but being GNC doesn't have to be that. Another thing is that ok this blog, I usually just post other people's direct poll suggestions, and some submissions may have been exclusive of many (for example, one of the polls submitted here asked "GNC people: are you trans?" and didn't include a binary transgender option.)

GNC is being gender non conforming, aka not conforming to set preconceived notions of gender. A feminine/androgynous AMAB man may use the term GNC. A masculine/androgynous AMAB woman may use the term GNC. but I know some masculine people AMAB may consider themselves GNC, and some feminine people AFAB may consider themselves GNC. They could be binary transgender, or non binary, or something else. But they're still GNC.

In fact, a lot of people might feel like they fit the term GNC, and they don't have to be strictly binary female or male. Some GNC people express gender non conformity I'm the sense that their own concepts and ideas of gender don't fit the binary male or female. I know some non binary people/people with a more complex gender identity that would call themselves GNC on the basis of the fact that they're non binary, and not now they choose to externally express themselves. For example, someone that identifies as xenogender may consider themselves to be GNC, not because of how they express their gender, but just what their gender is itself - though I'm getting a bit off topic // Some people may not call any non binary people GNC due to the fact that being non binary is not as common, so there may not be specific overly popular or traditional norms of what a non binary person "should be". But gender and gender expression are both pretty complex, so I wouldn't gatekeep the term in GNC.

If you feel like the term GNC fits you, and feels right to you, use it to your will. Due to it being a social construct almost entirely, there are not strict rules. For me, personally, I never had to do research on whether I was GNC or not. I just saw the word and the looser definition of it, and accepted it for me, due to personally thinking it fits me. There might be people in this world who might not view me as GNC or "GNC enough", but I wouldn't care too much about them.

A non binary person might be expected to act as androgynously as possible by some people, and so if a nonbinary person expresses themselves in a way that does not align with gender norms or stereotypes set for non binary people, then, ifi were in that position, I would not mind the term GNC for me. This may wary from individual to individual, however.

In short, I don't think there are strict rules to being GNC, because I feel that kinda contradicts what being GNC represents in the first place - not conforming to expectations set by society.

Actually, I'd go as far to say that there are not RULES for being GNC, especially no strict ones. Some people would dare and say that you cannot be a GNC woman/butch if you have long hair, due to the fact that in many cultures, long hair is viewed as feminine - however, what those people fail to realize, is that they may be exclusive of cultures in which long hair is not viewed as feminine. which is important

Another thing - GNC to some people may be a meaningful label, and may bring a huge sense of community and acceptance and confidence, and for some other people it may be just another word that seems to fit them. To me, personally, many words are just that - names for things we experience. For many it can be comforting to know you are GNC. To some, they don't need a name for it. You might. Or you might not.

If you feel like it fits you, then go for it, call yourself GNC - you are not invading or violating anyone, lol. // But those are just my thoughts. Other people might have opinions that differ from mine. // There are many other things I could say, but this is all I have for now. Feel free to ask anything else if you'd like to hear my or anyone else's thoughts!

[unhetalia]

dreaming about historical model Alfred…..

This is purely self-indulgent

In a nations-are-known scenario: yk those videos that are like “hair through the decades” where they do the most popular hairstyles from 1890-2010 on one model. Like that but times a billion. I want magazine style fashion history. I want Georgian era clothes to 1950s retro to armor.

Realistically I think sightings of AFJ would be much more akin to Adam Sandler but in my heart he’s a model. & I also think (again, in my heart,) he has at least close to the ideal male proportions. Maybe not perfect but like… perfectly average while still being considered unique. Just enough wiggle room in the measurements to be uniquely pretty while still conforming to the ideal. Does any of this make sense. What I mean is he’s a good dress up doll and I want to play dress up with him.

Hi, I love this! I have no idea about Adam Sandler (is he not sighted regularly? Is that why he was brought up? Or do you mean he dresses terribly when he's out and about?) but here are my AFJ thoughts in a public AU (which, great timing, I have a fic I'm writing that features that so my brain is SUPER thinking about this).

In terms of public appearances — AFJ is seen out and about a lot. Probably the only one seen around more is Arthur, who is a diplomat and knighted and just a very prolific member of the British government. AFJ, unlike Arthur, is a private citizen, and in fact, his right to criticize the government is literally in the constitution (I want to get more into this at some point but not now), so not only is AFJ seen out and about a lot, he's chatty.

But in terms of his wardrobe — well, my thing has always been that AFJ doesn't give a shit, alas, but also he's... ethereal, and so despite not being fashionable in the traditional way he's a bit of a trendsetter. People will ask him where he got his shurt and his answer will either be the 1800s or an op shop, but he makes it WORK. There's a whole series of coffee table books that's just his wardrobe over the years.

I've mentioned before how in-universe I firmly believe Alfred's considered the most attractive, even among the Nations. I think his face is just... pretty. He looks youthful, with long eyelashes and large, doe eyes. Just androgynous enough to make him look unique, but not teetering towards looking feminine.

Body wise, I actually adore how Hima drew him here —

in that I LOVE the softness of his body even while he looks obviously fit. He doesn't have abs, you can see some softness around his tummy but you can also see that slight hint of muscle there, too, then it curves to his breedable hips. I think this is Al at a 'healthy weight'. In my head, Alfred sometimes loses weight because of disordered eating, both because he's the type of person who doesn't eat when working (canon) and also because he DOES have body image issues that causes him to diet (also canon). Due to the fact Hima has NEVER shown AFJ actually looking overweight while showing him despairing at weighing scales, it really built in my head this idea that Al has some body dysmorphia.

Shit? That got dark? ESPECIALLY because I think this is something the public would notice.

Back to lighter topics - there's an "eco friendly fashion" movement inspired by Alfred's ability to look stylish while also only buying secondhand/keeping clothes for a long time. It's actually very neat! People also acknowledge that Alfred's fashion only work on him because he's so beautiful anything he wears seem chic, but also people do some really cool stuff with secondhand stuff or even like. Making their own clothes. In order to encourage people to do this, they do competitions on best outfits and whoever gets the most votes actually has their outfit worn by Alfred aka LITERAL DRESSING AL LIKE A BARBIE JUST FOR YOU, ANON.

[don-dake]

R I P L E Y (2024)

***Contains SPOILERS***

A review (of sorts, but more a rambling opinion piece that veers off the main subject occasionally).

So I've watched R I P L E Y (2024), all eight episodes of it. One word: Bravissimo!

As someone who loves the Ripliad series of novels by Patricia Highsmith immensely, and having watched all the Ripley film adaptations there are thus far — Plein Soleil aka Purple Noon (1960), The American Friend aka Der Amerikanische Freund (1977), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Ripley's Game (2002), and Ripley Under Ground (2005) — I went into this new series (released on Netflix on April 4th) with expectations…

Not high, for I've learned it's never good to have high expectations or you'll more than likely just be setting yourself up for disappointment…but with expectations all the same!

Thus far, my favourite Ripley film adaptation had been 2002's Ripley's Game starring John Malkovich as an older Ripley. Had been. Until this series that is! I still love Ripley's Game a lot of course! (heh!) And there really should be no comparison given it's two different mediums and the two Ripleys are portrayed from different times of the character's life.

So saying, this new series definitely sets a new standard for a Ripley adaptation! And as someone who love the books a lot, I'm glad this series is very closely adapted from the first book!

The decision to go for a black and white cinematography, I was skeptical about that at first but after looking at the trailers and reading on the director's reasoning for going B & W with this, I can understand why, and generally agree with his decision.

Though at times, especially when looking at the wonderful interior sets, I'll be wishing I could see it in all its colour glory and thinking what a waste it was not to have it in colour, but that is but a minor hitch, for the B & W cinematography is done with superb mastery and skill, and it's hard to find fault with going this route. And it does contribute to getting into the film noir feel from films of yesteryear.

On the actors, I was skeptical on Andrew Scott as Ripley at first, but I'm happy to say he has proven me wrong and his Ripley, while not as young as Ripley should be at the start of the novel series, is one that is characterised the closest, and if Showtime/Netflix has any plans to adapt the rest of the novels, Scott will be perfect as an older Ripley, I think!

Maybe that was/is the plan…that's why Scott was chosen even though age wise, he doesn't quite fit in the beginning…one can hope! (heh!)

Moving on, just a brief rambling on the other main actors/characters because I'm getting tired:

Love Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood, she was exactly how I imagined Marge to be as I read the (first) book. A superb performance by Fanning I'd say!

Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf was underwhelming for me partly because in my eyes, Jude Law was/is the perfect Dickie (even if his — Law's — American accent was/is questionable), but partly also because I find Flynn is lacking charisma (sorry, Flynn fans!), I didn't get the sense of what was so fascinating about this Dickie that Ripley would be so enamoured with him or his lifestyle, enough to kill for it.

Perhaps the fault lies partly with the script too for I felt we the audience didn't get to see more of what drew Ripley to Dickie, besides his obvious wealth and status.

Eliot Sumner as Freddie Miles. Now this was the character that underwent the most drastic change as compared to the book and the 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley film adaptation. In both the book and the 1999 film, Freddie was described (and portrayed to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman in my opinion) as an American with carrot-red hair, stocky, loud and all round obnoxious from miles away sort.

2024 Freddie is slim-built, androgynous looking, with a cherub face and British…he's practically a whole different character except in name.

As such, it's unfair to compare I guess, but having envisioned Freddie as described in the book for so long, helped along by PSH's award-worthy performance, I'll just say this is not the Freddie for me.

But, that doesn't mean Sumner's Freddie was bad. In terms of being almost a foil to Ripley, Sumner's Freddie is still quite effectively annoying.

Special mentions to Maurizio Lombardi and Margherita Buy as Inspector Ravini and Signor(in)a Buffi (Ripley's landlady) respectively! I enjoyed watching these two characters.

Also a special mention to Lucio (Signor(in)a Buffi's cat), who, had it been able to speak, Ripley would certainly have silenced! (heh!)

Last but not least, a special mention to John Malkovich as Reeves Minot.

I was so excited when I first saw Malkovich in the trailer because not only is his casting a nice tribute to his turn as Tom Ripley in Ripley's Game (2002), I thought he would be playing Herbert Greenleaf at first, but he turned out to be playing Reeves Minot! Even better! Gives more hope that new seasons of R I P L E Y (2024) may happen!

Those who have read the books will know that Reeves Minot is a recurring character in the later books — I can't really remember how many exactly, it's been some time since I last read them (and I should again!).

To sum up, I did enjoy this series tremendously and will definitely rewatch many times to come, and I hope we'll get further adaptations of the other books with the same standards as set for this one!

P.S.: I've seen a few people mention “this (R I P L E Y) is like Saltburn!”. I never heard of the film Saltburn before looking at some opinion pieces, but after looking it up, dare I say, Saltburn ripped off the Ripliad stories and its characters (the Ripliad books first came out in the 1950s) and I think it's more appropriate to say “Saltburn is like Ripley”!

[meeks-just-wants-to-scroll]

Catman Worldbuilding Brainstorming

I’m bored and wish to brainstorm more ideas about what a world where catmen existed alongside Homo Sapiens would look like.

Western Society known now vs a western society that was conceived alongside catmen would differ for sure.

This is an open pool of my ideas and then anyone who wishes to add on can.

If western society didn’t changed (aka: modern western society)

- I am 100% sure it would just be crazy ass speciesism. People would use the same tactics used by racists but apply it to catmen and because they *are* different species, the see that as proof of their racists explanations being true.

- 🥲all the racist Christian’s who would say shit about man being made in god’s image and “god wasn’t a cat so you are frowned upon in his eyes” or some shit.

- Not to mention how Catmen (female or male) will look like a mlm relationship to humans.- also shit about catmen being born with fangs and claws and them being “uncivilized” for having animal characteristics. They would be seen as dangerous just because of how they’re born.

- efforts to hide tails, claws, paws, ears, or other feline features would likely be done; like wearing concealing clothes or trimming fur and whiskers.

- ^ adding to this: in the efforts to conform with western binary gender, catmen may ham up nonexistent differences between their sexes. Depends on if the catmen are in a group that values the gender binary forced upon them, of if they’re in a group that intentionally disregards binary gender.

That’s a lotta really depressing shit. But let us consider what if the jointed evolution of the two resulted in a more accepting society…

Alternate Universe Western Society:

- Catmen exist /migrated anywhere humans settled and traded so there would be differences across the world, hence why I focus on western society. My history knowledge isn’t incredibly detailed, hence why this is not going into a lot of specifics

- the main visual distinguishes between Catmen and humans is the cat features and the lack of sexual dimorphism.

- A society with these normalized would result in a wider acceptance of genders, sex, and visual looks (I would hope. Historically, just because two cultures differ doesn’t mean they’ll come shake hands and become buddies).

- btw, Catmen was a term given to them by humans. I don’t have a name at the moment for what they would have referred to themselves. Considering they live around the world, I am sure they too would take up a nationality-centric identity as opposed to labels that identify them as a member in the collective species. A little like how humans don’t say “ah, well I am a human!” to other humans. They say “I am *insert nationality, ethnicity, group or etc.*”

- catmen gender in their society likely differed from being binary. They lack sexual dimorphism and had no reason to draw lines between the sexes (that is unless they wanted to make a mountain out of a mole hill in relations to which sex carried the baby). Because of his, I bet gender fluidity, genders that would be outside of the western gender binary, would be common place.

- the diversity in appearances would surely create tension between human and Catmen even in this AU west society. Look at our own society, being distinct lead to stronger in vs out grouping which snowballs.

- but to inject some hopecore into this, let’s say Catmen and human interaction led to a better understanding of accommodating people’s bodies and wishes.

- ex: kids are taught to not touch catmen ears or tails without asking. It is also frowned upon to ask a catmen stranger “can I touch your fur?”

- Another ex: there are clothes and hats made to accommodate ears, tails, and claws. Toddler clothes are durable so the kids don’t tear the fabric as they get used to their claws and retracting them.

- being gay is hopeless less frowned upon. 🥲 catmen can present themselves very androgynous so at the very least, relationships and bonds between those who don’t resemble human male and female pairings would be normalized through exposure.

Misc additions and world building:

- to tie this AU back into RDR2 (if you aren’t aware, this is world building for a rdr2 AU), catnip/catmint could be a deadeye thing. It can be interpreted as calming the hand of twitches or energizing the cat and making them quicker at firing. So… maybe humans try catnip (to no effect).

- catmen across the world would of course differ, but in the west, catmen social groups are mostly familial with a loose collection of loners that join. There is no strongly defined hierarchy, it’s a group come together to help with hunting and survival. The offspring of a family often leave to join or create new colonies.

- ^ this idea can explain why being a loner / joining a group you’re not biologically related to is more normal. Society is so stringent on in and out groups, but perhaps catmen values can make the barriers for entry or exit from a group less barbed.

I’m running out of ideas and have a headache but yeah. Feel free to add on and have a conversation with me.

[zaragovica]

bsd fyodor appearance headcanons (AKA how I draw him)

OVERALL PRESENCE Alluring in a doll-like way. His charm is incredible and yet in equal measure unsettling and inanimate. Many often find him, upon first meeting, a person who triggers the feeling of the uncanny valley. To them, something is off. Nobody they know or have met looks like him, and nobody should look like him. Just like a stunning porcelain doll, he takes the form of a human, and yet there is little to his expression and mannerisms that indicates he experiences humanity. His face is always carved, perfectly made. HEAD AND FACE With long, silky, inky violet hair framing his oval face, the lack of any other embellishments or accessories on his head suggests simplicity and and a natural kind of beauty. His hair's color seems simple enough from far away, appearing black to the naked eye, but upon the direct shine of light, his hair is revealed to be a cold, dark purple. Under direct sunlight, it may earn a bit of warmth and brightness. He has a sharp nose. His deep-set downturned eyes, much like his cheeks, are sunken. These qualities make him appear mature, but not old. However, the dark circles, subtle glazed redness and half-lidded appearance of his eyes make him seem as if he has lived a hundred lifetimes. He knows. He knows that you know. His face is pallid and sickly pale. Though his skin is soft and comfortably cool, he also looks ill. There are small, pale rosy spots on it and there is very little color aside from that. His nose and lips have a subtle blush to them. His lips are dry. SKIN AND BODY

Devoid of warmth, his body is equally as fair and pale as his face. His skin is thin, elastic, translucent, and cool to the touch, creating the appearance of purplish and greenish veins wrapping all around his body like thin vines. Due to the thinness of his skin, any light damage dealt to it that would otherwise not affect other people is met with quick bruising or shallow scrapes and cuts. His skin holds little color as well, apart from some rosy spots and the purples, yellows, and grays of his bruises, just like on his face. His build is distinctly different from other men. For one, he is slender with a perfect mixture of gentle curves and strategically placed sharp angles. Many may opt to call him feminine due to this, but it would be more appropriate to call him androgynous, or perhaps masculine in his own special way. This is also supported by the fact that his appetite is quite poor, and he does not eat a lot as eating until he is full can become overwhelming. He has long limbs and a long torso. Spindly arms and willowy thighs and legs. He has what is described to be the perfect set of hands for playing instruments, specifically the piano, due to their dexterity, flexibility, and length. He is also incredibly flexible, and sometimes that would pose difficulties for him. His joints easily dislocate and he may have issues with any harsh movement or constant action. Sometimes, on particularly worse days, he may even be unable to withstand constant pressure on his legs and feet from standing, and he has to sit down lest it become excruciating. He may also go lightheaded, faint or dizzy at times.

WAY OF CARRYING HIMSELF

He is reserved and private, and it shows in the way he carries himself. Entirely independent, he is quite distant and keeps his hands to himself unless it is necessary. Despite this, he does not make himself appear smaller, nor bigger. He just exists as he does, and if his presence is imposing, or pitiful, then so be it. It is not his job to police how others view him, unless it gives him an advantage. OTHER STUFF

I unironically think he has iron deficiency anemia

he has Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (vEDS)

he runs colder than most normal people

his eyes were red as an infant and toddler but as he got older and gained a bit of melanin in his eyes, they turned purple.

He has brittle nails

his individual hair strands are weak and thin but his collective head of hair is very thick nonetheless

his voice can only reach a low-moderate loudness/decibel and if he tries to really scream out loud, screech or yell he risks losing his voice, or otherwise just creating a really unpleasant hoarseness in his throat that makes his throat extremely tender and painful.

That's it, thank you guys

[saitama-division]

Attention Everyone!

As I’m sure you all are aware right now, it is October! Which means that Halloween is right around the corner! Much like last year, I am here to announce that if you are planning to participate in this year’s Halloween event, you have approximately 16 days to prepare your costumes and what different types of treats (or tricks if you’re feeling particularly mischievous this year) to hand out. I will also be notifying everyone a week before the event starts as a final warning.

Now, in case this is your first time joining in or if you need a refresher about what the Hypmic OC Halloween Event is about, it is basically just…

Throughout the month of October or the week leading up to Halloween (your choice), you can set up an OC Ask/Prompt list for small headcanons or even scenarios, of course, these must be horror and/or Halloween related.

On Halloween, you can make a post detailing your OCs Halloween costumes as well as a line of dialogue pretty much saying whatever they want, quite simple.

Along with your OCs costumes, you have the option of either giving out a treat or trick, a treat obviously being candy or some other sweet treat you can either make up or give a name brand like Hersheys or Butterfingers. As for a trick, you can make up a prank, something simple but if you want to go the extra mile than feel free to do so note that I will not take responsibility for any and all prank wars that may or may not happen from this

It is completely optional but you can personally send other Division Blogs a special treat or specific trick of your own as a way to really celebrate with the community. Again, this is completely optional and you are not obligated to do so if you really don’t want to.

You can choose to make a costume for your OCs via Picrew, Neka, or if you so wish, you may draw your OCs costumes. However, if any of those options are unavailable for some reason than you can ask @saitama-division / @shinagawa-division (aka Me) to make you a costume, all you have to do is tell me what they’re going as (even better if you send in a reference photo) and I’ll try my best to replicate it as accurately as possible. This applies strictly to females as the dress up game I use to create outfit is highly on the feminine side, if you still wish to send in a male OC regardless, I’ll do the best I can do but please do not expect them to turn out as masculine as possible, chances are they’ll look very androgynous or straight up a femboy.

If you have any questions or inquiries about the event just DM me @saitama-division or @shinagawa-division and I’ll try my best to answer them.

Thank You and Happy Halloween!

🎃💀👻😈