#and so many people seem to believe that if you're nonbinary you have to present as androgynously as possible

[nexus-nebulae]

wait so i had a thought. so if you're transitioning to a guy you would usually be transmasc. and transitioning to a girl would usually be transfem. but like. what about agender. transnothing??

[jacebeleren]

It bothers me so much that the only transfem rep in mtg cards is this like. Soldier military woman, like 'ooh look at this guy's we made a trans woman who's a part of a war machine' fantastic thank you magic very original

=========

Okay.

First of all, there is no "our" interpretation of the text. My thoughts are my own, and your thoughts are your own. Some of our thoughts might align, but I will not allow you to speak for me.

Second, I am sorry you feel so disappointed in the current state of transgender representation in Magic. I understand your concerns and I think they're valid concerns.

Third, your concerns being valid does not mean I agree with what you have to say, though. Don't come into my inbox complaining unless you're ready for me to honestly respond. Respectfully, your approach to these concerns makes it clear to me that you don't actually understand what you're talking about.

It's apparent that you follow me or have at least seen many of my posts. You appear to respect my opinions / analysis (at least regarding Jace and Tezzeret). So listen to me when I say this:

What constitutes 'good' representation is context-dependent, and it's not something you alone get to decide.

Yes, Alesha is a "soldier military woman", as you said. I understand that you have this complaint because you believe this makes Alesha an example of the stereotype that trans women are violent. But context matters. What you're failing to consider is the fact that she comes from the Mardu Horde, a faction on Tarkir inspired by the Mongol hordes of real-world history. In this context, Alesha isn't presented as violent because she's a trans woman. She's violent because she literally comes from a warrior clan based on one of the greatest military forces in human history. And honestly, with Magic being a combat-centric game, she's not any more violent than any non-Mardu Legends, either.

Do you seriously think a story about a trans woman fighting to proudly declare her trans identity in her culture and later becoming the accomplished and well-respected leader of her clan is bad representation? Does the fact that she's a warrior really outweigh the rest of the lovingly crafted trans narrative they created for her, to you?

It's fine if you feel that way. You don't have to like Alesha or her story. But just because something wasn't made for your taste doesn't mean it's bad writing / bad representation.

Anyway, I highly recommend you read Alesha's story, "The Truth of Names", since it seems like you haven't read it yet. It's a fantastic story-- the most beloved short story in all of Magic, actually. It was the most-read article on the entire Magic website for like 5 years, according to WOTC.

And if you're interested in learning more about transfem characters in Magic who aren't Alesha, I recommend you read about Xantcha, who first appears in the novel "Planeswalker".

Next, I need to make things clear about Ashiok.

Ashiok was never intended to be nonbinary representation. Ashiok was created to be a mysterious, unknowable villain. What makes Ashiok special is that we are not mean to know anything about Ashiok. We do not know Ashiok's species or plane of origin, for example. Another part of that element of mystery is not knowing Ashiok's gender, or how Ashiok identifies. Ashiok's original style guide from Theros explicitly instructs people to not use any pronouns for Ashiok at all (which I still follow because old habits are hard to break.) Official Magic sources did not begin to use they/them pronouns for Ashiok until 2022, in the story "A Garden of Flesh" (another excellent story, BTW.) And they only started using they/them for Ashiok because it is really hard to write a story where the character is mentioned that many times without pronouns.

All this to say: Ashiok as intentional nonbinary representation is certainly not the narrative WOTC is pushing.

Yes, there are many fans of Ashiok who interpret Ashiok as nonbinary, but those are their thoughts and you need not concern yourself with that, if it bothers you so.

As for Niko, it's weird that you say they're "non-existent" in Magic story when 2 of the 5 side stories ("Know Which Way the Wind is Blowing" and "Aim Through the Target") in their debut set Kaldheim were entirely focused on Niko. They're also a starring main character in 15 of the 25 issues of the BOOM! Studios Magic comics.

I'm glad you like my analysis of Jace and Tezzeret as transgender characters. Thank you for that, genuinely. But I want you to understand that the reason I have these interpretations is because I love Magic Story. And more importantly, I actually read it. I love Magic Story, and I have so much respect for the Magic Narrative team and the work they do.

What most people don't understand is that the Magic Narrative Team is in fact very careful and very loving in their approach to queer representation. You may not know this about me, but I'm friends with A LOT of people who formerly or currently work on Magic / Magic Story. Knowing these people personally, I know for a fact that the Magic creative Team does not create queer characters for "diversity points". They're not just checking boxes. The Magic creative team creates queer characters because the Magic creative team is full of queer people and allies who want to tell stories that reflect their own + fans' experiences. And they have to constantly fight to include more / better queer representation in Magic. They want good queer representation in Magic just as much as we do.

Am I going to defend everything they do? No! Are they perfect? No! They are just people. They make mistakes and they have blind spots. For example, in my essay about my analysis of Jace as a trans man, I explain that the reason my interpretation means so much to me is because there is currently zero meaningful representation for trans men in Magic canon. There are zero transgender male characters in Magic canon who have names. That's a HUGE blind spot considering the number of canon trans characters! That's something that disappoints and upsets me.

I'm not afraid to criticize Magic Story, and I do so very often. But I am critical of Magic story because I love it. My criticism does not equal hatred or unhappiness.

Sorry to hear that their efforts at including better trans representation in Magic would piss you off. I'm sorry that you've given up.

Lastly, I think Liliana is cis, but that's just my headcanon.

[hertwood]

"I do find it interesting that ppl will ignore the many many times Taylor Swift has publicly supported democrats just because she was friendly to her boyfriend's coworker's wife"

the "many many times" in question being an entirely self-serving activism kick in 2019 and 2020... she hasn't even spoken up about this year's (arguably more consequential) election Imao if normal ass people can cut off their own relatives for being bigoted then white woman of the year can certainly avoid snuggling with a loud and proud racist. i'll also remind you that the "political arguments" in question that occur between trumpies and normal people directly affect the lives and safety of millions of people both in the States and abroad but okay! sure! not everyone has enough empathy to care about that! whatever!

if you want to believe taylor swift is a bad person, or not progressive enough, or a performative activist thats fine!! you don't have to like her and you also don't need to justify it with any "good enough" reason!!! you can just hate the bitch you're allowed!!!

the point i was trying to make is it is weird as hell to be making polls and speculating if she's a republican when she's endorsed joe biden in 2020 and many other democrats since 2018, it really seems like a bad faith fucking conversation to me 🤷 i think the people who are having these discussions have already decided that she's a bad person and are discounting very significant data points to present their opinions like they're reality. if you think it was self-serving activism, that is actually just your opinion :) that you are allowed to have but that does not change the objective truth that she has never been vocally anything other but liberal in her political views.

i also think its fucking weird that people who hate her so much won't shut the fuck up about her TBH!!!!!!!

also acting like i, a disabled nonbinary dyke don't know how politics affect real people?????? bitch i'm one of them. and you're right, not everyone has enough empathy to care about everything wrong with the world all the time. not everyone has the capacity to argue with every bigot they meet 100% of the time without getting burnt the fuck out. it is not sustainable and also not very effective to do! most of these crazy assholes are not gonna have their minds changed with an argument. caring for vulnerable members of our communities is a far more valuable way to spend your energy. getting young leftist people registered to vote is gonna be a much more viable strategy for change than arguing with trumpies.

i have also, for the record, been kind to bigots. so fucking cancel me too i guess. i've said hey i'm not gonna start an argument bc my siblings deserve a christmas without all that. i've heard coworkers say bigoted things and said hey i'm exhausted from the work day i dont have a capacity to deal with this right now. and if you think i'm a bad person for that? dont worry you can unfollow me i will still sleep easy at night :)

i also think it's worth mentioning that taylor swift recently had to cancel a show bc of a real terrorist threat. i personally think it's very likely she's being advised not to say anything in order to not increase risk of another tragedy like the manchester ariana grande attack. if this is true and you still think that taylor swift prioritizing the safety of herself and her fans dying over speaking up politically, thats your right to think so!! but i don't expect my faves to be activists 24/7 personally, for any reason. i dont think thats fair to expect of people who aren't politicians.

but that's just me!!!

[marzipanandminutiae]

it just seems strange how many people are being weird *to you* about abby cox’s video… when it’s (imo) quite a lovely video. as an afab nonbinary person, i’m so so interested in her discussion of how people like me would have realistically navigated the past, and it’s not like she doesn’t acknowledge them! it’s just that the options were more limited than a lot of media presents them, but that’s what history IS and it’s not insensitive to discuss how real people lived realistic lives.

also you always get SO many asks when a topic like this comes up, it’s as though you’re the historical costuming rep for tumblr and people want you to defend them for perceived slights

I think it was just one person who sent several anons over the course of the day, in response to another person who asked why I didn't like L*ttle W*men 2019. I mentioned not liking that they put Jo in menswear from the waist up when they claimed historical authenticity and that choice- while not something that could never have happened; GNC women did exist, and like Abby Cox, I never claimed they didn't -doesn't make sense in the specific contexts in which they applied it.

But yeah, the vitriol over that video never made sense to me. Everyone seems to firmly believe that she basically said "screw masc-presenting women" and that's just. Not what it is at all? There's an entire section of the video about women who DID wear conventionally masculine clothing in the 19th century! She praises the costuming in G*ntleman J*ck (censoring for the tags) for threading the needle re: reflecting Anne Lister's masculine presentation but still acknowledging that she had to make concessions to the world she lived in!

(And don't even get me started on the whole Mary Wollstonecraft tizzy. Yes, she was a "quote unquote feminist" because the term "feminist" didn't exist yet and has connotations today that would be inaccurate to apply to her. Current scholarship usually calls her a "proto-feminist" or finds a more cumbersome but precise way to describe her views. Yes, she did say "cringey" things about women and fashion- namely, that the only reason women showed an interest in dress was that their Minds Were Caged By The PatriarchyTM. She was human. She was fallible. Why is that a sin to say?)

I don't know. I'm happy to offer my opinion on such things any day, but you're right- that particular Anon certainly was determined to Win the discussion, and waxed more than tiresome by the end.

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

I'm still not done playing Persona 4 but many people with no respect to a blind playthrough have long informed me that Naoto goes on to present as a girl/woman when the story ends, so. I probably know enough at this point.

Although it strikes me that whether it be with Kanji's sexuality, Teddie's love for kissing boys, Yosuke being flattered you'd choose to date him if you were a girl, or Naoto's gender identity, it feels like at least part of the writing board believed in their queerness and contributed to this mess without being able to take control, it seems to me that Naoto's storyline can unfortunately be read as actively transphobic.

It crossed my mind after hanging out with them (for the purpose of this post I will use neutral pronouns to refer to Naoto) in the evening. In this conversation they brought up a cool detective in a novel they looked up to, and they poorly tried to hide that they wanted to be just like him.

This reminded me of the narrative initially given around Naoto's presentation as a boy. Though what struck me the most was Yukiko's "so you're more comfortable being a boy?" "yes, that's right" "... but you know that's not true right? 🙂" the story that is being told to us is that Naoto wanted to be just like the cool detective guys in their stories, but that is ultimately foolish, because she is a girl.

Supposedly, their story arc (and unfortunately I don't think I'll get to complete their SL before the story ends) is to realise that their parading as a cool detective guy is foolish, childish, and they will eventually have to face the fact that they are a girl.

Just having to write this feels extremely transphobic in nature to me. It mirrors a real-life sentiment that a "young girl parading as a boy" is an immature girl who doesn't know better, and when she becomes an adult, then she'll accept herself as a woman. This rhetoric gets used to invalidate young trans men, AFAB nonbinary youths, and cis tomboys all alike. Naoto's identity as it is presented in-game reads to me as this exact rhetoric. "It's fine and funny and cute to pretend she is a boy while she's a kid, but she will/has to grow out of it."

More so than just pretending their masculine presentation isn't a thing, Persona 4 actively spreads an ignorant, sexist and transphobic idea.

[olderthannetfic]

Terf logic is like "since 2+3=12, and 12 is known to be purple, that means 2 is red and 3 is blue". It's utterly batshit insane if you know enough to know they're making things up and lying, but if you're utterly clueless and just take them at their word that 2+3=12=purple, you might just accept the things they present as givens and the rest of the logic follows.

They always sound so sure of themselves, and like no one with an ounce of sense would ever contradict something so obvious. So if someone knows nothing at all about the number 12, why would they expect them to be lying about it being purple? That anon seemed to honestly believe that trans people and women were competing needs sort of situation. They correctly identified that the terfs are extreme, but believed that trans people's needs and and women's needs are in direct opposition.

That's how they get you. If you're too nice a person to go full on terf from that belief, you're going to walk away thinking that trans people are never women and think about how to balance these competing needs.

It's horrifically insidious, the way they spin such an extreme yarn that they convince well meaning people who have too much sense to join them to still turn into transphobes who believe blatant lies about what trans people even are, ableit less violent transphobes than the terfs themselves.

If you're reading this, Anon, I'm very glad you came to OTNF's blog with this question. And just for the record, trans women are women who were thought to be boys when they are born, but they are women, first and foremost, and feminism is about them as much as it is about any other kind of woman. And you probably didn't pick it up from the terfs, but trans men and nonbinary people also exist, and are just as much their genders as cis people.

--

Yeah, it's a nasty brew. Especially because many of the ideas in and of themselves are reasonable, like the idea that most groups of people have some competing needs and no space can be perfect for everyone. Just... you know... not in the way TERFs mean that.

[gnometa233]

I think it's really telling that that person took "Don't assume someone is queer based on their appearance" as "Just looking queer does not mean you're actually LGBT"

Instead of yknow, the part that affects me every day of "There are queer people around you who don't look like a walking pride parade but are still very much LGBT"

To anyone who sees me I probably just look like some tall gamer girl nerd (okay thats a bit of a givaway that im a trans woman but thats with meta knowledge) but like I experience gender and sexuality counter to the social norm, so maybe dont assume that someone isnt LGBT just because they dont look like a dictionary portait of flagging.

I know I'm super fucking tired of people assuming I'm not a lesbian just because I'm not masculine presenting or wearing my pride flag pins that day and everyone thinks feminine women MUST like men. RRGHHH...

Unless you're that person who seems pretty insecure about it lol

Or hell, even just talking about the fact that you engage with lgbtq+ culture and support smaller lgbtq+ artists (many of which are my friends) means the most interesting thing about you is that your lgbtq+. Like, wow, i can't believe learning and giving back to people who need money to survive have no personality

Clothes have always been a source of contention in the lgbtq+ community and it still is today. Blend in? Stand out? Flag each other? There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

And you're absolutely right. I think people have forgotten the art of stealthing, which I know a LOT of people do. One of my friends i met in physical therapy looked like your normal, jock, average teenage boy, until i learned he had already completed physical transition and was on T for years prior. Another one of my friends looks like a stock, computer nerd guy, but they're nonbinary (and possibly a trans girl, they're thinking about it, but either way I'd support them, you'd actually like them I think!), Another one of my friends looks like your standard straight girl who sometimes wears croptops, and she's bisexual!

I think what bothers me the most about that post when they responded to my tags is the fact that they were so...dismissive. The sort of implication there is that everyone should want to signal to other lgbtq+ people that they're lgbtq, or else they're boring. Which can be really, really damaging, especially to those who do want to remain stealth.

Anyways if that person thinks i'm boring, let them. Sucks to suck, but I know I have a rich, inner and outer life and diverse interests. Some of us didn't realize we were lgbtq+ until later in life. We had to form a personality.

[jflashandclash]

Is it limiting to write TFMO after already posting TOO, is there any struggle to build the characters up to how they were in the beginning of The Whispers of a Snake?

I've been loving the younger Pax brothers and newer characters like Lou Ellen and Mercedes. It's also cool to see small differences like Pax playing more with gender which wasn't as present in TOO.

(Hi btw, glad to see you back after so long.)

HI JACE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ASKS! you have no idea how much they mean to me and how much they encourage me to keep at this!

*rolls up my sleeves*

*puts on my nonprescription glasses for effect*

Let's fucking GO--

Yes.

Yes there is.

Because of this-->

stoic piece of--

(I know. this is an old picture. He should have a combo of dreads, braids, and quarter shave in the old school version. And WAY less facial scars. I told myself to make drawings. one d a y.)

In my main series, you might notice that Axel....

Can be comically useless. Don't get me wrong. He's meant to be a bad ass and have so much complicated turmoil to work through. But, keep a counter on how many times he gets taken out of a final fight before he actually gets to fight. Or gets his ass kicked.

Book 1: Aphrodite kneecaps him. On a sinking ship he didn't want shipped.

Book 2: Brothers being Brothers, blasting Axel's bluster with a bullet

Book 3: he gets to fight. But. Almost dies by praetor. Almost drowns by human fire hose.

Book 4: Almost dies by childhood fear of water puppy. Almost dies by half-brother's mom's parental skills.

Most of Riordon's plots revolve around a Hero's Journey, often times. His characters are normally rising bad asses. Axel already had his hero's journey when you meet him in Traitors of Olympus. It is well established and agreed upon by the other characters that Axel is a bad ass, even though you rarely see him win a fight outright. I get a certain amount of pleasure from the "oooOoooo, he's a bad asssss, when he's fighting oversized pidgeonnnnns with a frying pannnnn--"

My secret with Axel is he spends more time In Need of Rescuing than doing the rescuing. This works (oh gods--it does work? Right? Right guys? He seems cool--please--) because he has the presence, both in how he acts and how others react, of someone who is used to being in command and can command well. People respect him because of past heroics, even if you're not seeing him kick ass here. (How many of his fights has he won against Reyna, hrm?) Otherwise, I spend four books emotionally had physically kicking the cho out of him.

..... then comes the prequel

"Oh, fuck, I need to make Axel ACTUALLY cool--"

Axel is meant to be many things. In the first four books, he was meant to be

I wanted to take figure that looked like he would embody everything of toxic Hispanic Machismo, and then make them a hyper-feminist, social justice warrior that super supports their nonbinary little siblings, someone to fight a nasty stereotype from when I was growing up

Worthy of Reyna. Yes. Axel was made for Reyna, and they STILL SCREWED IT UP--GSDI REYEL, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO--

But in the prequel, he's meant to be the parallel to the Greek's Percy and Rome's Jason. Lord knows (hail Kronos) that Riordan didn't set Luke up well for that. (I can do a different deep dive into this.) That means, not only does Axel need to progress, but he needs to rise above those around him. And he's surrounded by titans, mythical monsters, and serial killers like Jack and Flynn that can alter people's wills and health with words and songs. I'm going to end up truncating Axel's character development more than I want to, but, by all rights, he should have his own series-worth of adventures, and I believe he does.

It's just freaking HARD to go from humiliating and crushing someone for four books and then be like, "oh.... you need to... win here..."

Otherwise, Pax is relatively easy. Oh, except the Lamia thing. I might be, um, skipping over the Lamia thing. That is the one thing I just can't fit (we'll see) but the Trauma from--ehem, I mean the Massacre of Mount Othrys is more important to his character development. He has more pivot points, whereas Axel has long progression.

Jack was always meant to be a sweetie church boy that's got just a smidge of serial killer problem. Just a lil.

I'm SO freaking happy you like Mercedes and Lou Ellen. Mercedes is one of my favorite characters in Tales From Mount Othrys. <3 Her dialogue and scenes are tricky to write, but she's SO much fun to bring to life!

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ASKS!

[yourtotfaveisproblematic]

Your fave is problematic: 42

Well, we all expected that this would come. No one would argue that Agent 42 is devoid of faults, but it's about time we examine just exactly how problematic he is. None shall go unscathed.

As of the end of the party's time in Sinncitti, I'll be starting the continuous list for 42's crimes. I'll keep adding onto this if necessary. Otherwise, an entirely new post may be in order. Considering everything that's wrong with him, it wouldn't exactly be surprising.

The first and most obvious issue is that 42 is a man in a party of non-men. Not only is 42 a man in a party of non-men, but he does not ever make the effort to acknowledge his male privilege in a space where many nonbinary and femme-identified exist. Seems entitled to me.

The very first thing that 42 does upon waking up is get dressed up in a suit. Wow. Suits are inherently used as a class indicator. Not only is 42 a man, but he chooses to flaunt his masculinity and his status within his society. So, you're classist now, too, huh? Wow.

Next, 42 notably leaves a note for his roommate to clean the dishes. Wow. Ever the misogynist, huh? 42's roommate is a nonbinary and more generally femme-presenting individual, and 42 immediately burdens them with emotional labor and the task of household duties. These are the actions and demands of a chauvinist.

It almost goes without saying that 42's career choices are obviously problematic, but I'll say it anyways. Hitman. Enough said.

Also, 42 is a government lackey, meaning that his very existence upholds a toxic system that oppresses its peoples. In short: cop energy. Boo.

42 also clearly takes place in workplace bullying, as he chases after a poor unsuspecting coworker by the name of Agent 53. Remember, workplace bullying is never acceptable. Always notify HR if you have to interact with someone like 42.

42 is an animal killer and therefore abuser. Don't believe me? Ask Winthrop the Elephant.

Not only is 42 an impersonator and an identity thief, which is a terrible thing in and of itself, but he's also a known gaslighter. He impersonated Brandon Holder, Vincent's ex-boyfriend, to his face, and used Holder's appearance to gain leverage over and lie to Vincent. Actually manipulative and disgusting. #VincentDidNothingWrong

So, to summarize, 42 is misogynistic, classist, murderous, oppressive, bullying, animal abusing gaslighter. So don't you dare 'stan' him. 42 is fucking problematic.

Signing off (for now),

yourtotfaveisproblematic

[lgbtlunaverse]

Prev tags via @grayathena

Ok, first things first, when terfs say "sex-based misogyny" what they really mean is that they believe trans women aren't opressed because they're not 'biologically female' that's it. It's a dogwhistle. Trying to find a rational explanation for the term is countereffective because as a term it's not meant to explain misogyny, but to exclude and demonize trans women.

However, in the second half of your tags you seem confused about how menstruation and childbearing factor into misogyny because it's not usually why men dislike women, and I think that, seperately from my first point, it's worth explaining how these things contribute to patriarchy. Because even though not all women menstruate or can bear children, and not everyone who menstruates or can bear childen is a woman, it is still true that a majority of women can and that the patriarchy labels people who menstruates or can bear children as women, whether they actually are or not. Because of this, demonizing menstruation and controlling childbirth are useful tools for the patriarchy to subjugate women.

And I say tools, because there's nothing that misogynistic men hate intrinsically about periods or bearing children. Saying men hate women because they bear children is like saying that white supremacists hated less voluminous skulls and so they hated black people. You are mistaking an excuse for a motive. A misogynistic man won't say "ugh those women and their wombs, I hate them" he'll say "women are naturally suited to staying home and raising children, they're not meant to work." He won't say "I hate menstruation" he'll say "you're so bitchy, are you on your period or something?"

Restricting reproductive freedom is useful for misogynists because it takes away freedom from a group of people misogynists want to reduce the freedom of. The fact that this group also includes nonbinary people and trans men besides cis women doesn't matter, as the patriarchy doesn't like trans men and nonbinary people either.

Terfs use the above fact to say that trans men are still really women and to say that trans women, on account of not having a uterus, aren't women and aren't impacted by misogyny.

If you know literally anything about how trans women are actually treated under the patriarchy, you know that's false. Not being able to give birth also isn't a prvilege for infertile and intersex women, it's another axis of marginalization. They've failed to conform to the standard 'women' should fullfill and are punished for it. A patriarchal society like the one we live in only nominally has 2 genders. Politically (gender not as an identity but as a way society groups people together and treats them differently) it has more, but it presents itself as having only two proper ones: man and woman. And even if you perfectly follow the ideal, being inside the category of 'woman' is subjugating and oppressive. It's designed to be. But failing to fit into either the category of man or women makes you an Other, a pariah, a scapegoat. The patriarchy doesn't see trans women as women, but it also doesn't see them as men. It sees them as monsters. (And in many ways, like the way sexual assault is used as another tool for subjugation, its treatment of trans women significantly overlaps with its treatment of cis women.)

The absolute fucking agony and misery of trying to find posts about feminism that have any teeth and deal with reproductive health and the ways that the (in)ability to bear children has shaped the history of women is like walking through a trying to walk through a beautiful garden but the ground is covered in rakes, and the rakes absolutely HATE trans people.

[uncloseted]

but femininity and womanhood aren't the same thing. you even said it. you're contradicting yourself. "she wasn't girly like other girls so she probably wasn't a girl. or maybe she was!" that sounds insane and also it makes no sense. it's progressive now to say that if girls don't like to be feminine they (probably) aren't girls?. even if it's a common experience for nb people, no one would've guessed that miley cyrus would come out as nb. most people don't even remember or care. a lot of people

who might seem cis (and not just from the way they look) would say that they're "just a person" or "just me". and i don't recall franky being asked about her gender. people just kept pressuring her to come out as a lesbian. and also many lesbians identify as non binary or even transmasculine. you don't believe me because you're not a lesbian. you have your statistics and studies but i know the real people i've seen. and i know i'm really annoying with this but my only friend changes the subject

when i try to talk about gender, my therapist i can't debate with, and people at suicide hotlines have better things to do. i'm literally going insane because I can't believe I'm the only one who sees this

With all due respect, I don't know what you're expecting to get out of this message. I've given you my views on this several times. I've unpacked the metaphysics of gender and provided a biopsychosocial model of gender that I think is compelling. As you say, I've given you statistics and studies about trans and nonbinary identities. I've given examples that you might be able to relate to of what the trans experience is like and provided resources created by trans people to help you understand how they view themselves and what their experience is like. You don't have to agree with me. But you know my views on this. You're not going to change my mind by trying to catch me in hypothetical "gotchas" about fictional characters. And I mean this with all the love and respect in the world, but if you feel like you have to call suicide hotlines to discuss your views on gender, it may be taking up too much of your mental energy. At the end of the day, whether you "get it" or not, whether you agree with it or not, the way other people live their lives isn't your responsibility. It's okay to be like "wow, that's weird and I don't get it, couldn't be me" and then move on.

All that said, against my better judgement, I'm going to answer the questions you've presented in your ask. Not because I think it will change your mind, but because I think it might help other people who are seeing this post to understand.

The original ask was about why people felt like Franky should have been nonbinary and the answer I gave is what I think. Rightly or wrongly, nonbinary people saw themselves in Franky's experience and they wanted that to be an official aspect of her character. I think masc or gender nonconforming lesbians felt a similar kinship to Franky and wanted that to become an official part of her character, too. There's nothing wrong with wanting to see yourself reflected on television or relating to characters who present themselves similarly to you. I think because Franky's gender identity was never really explored in series 5, lots of different types of people could relate to her experience.

Gender expression is a very personal thing, and people can present themselves in similar ways for different reasons. It's like we were talking about the other day with "dressing like a lesbian" - a girl can dress cottagecore in a tradwife way or in a lesbian way, and it's hard to know which it is without more context about the way the person views themselves. The same is true for people who present themselves in a way that's different from the traditional presentation of their assigned sex at birth. Some AFAB people present in a traditionally masculine way as an expression of their non-binary or trans identity. Other AFAB people present in a traditionally masculine way as an expression of their lesbian or WLW identity. Other cis AFAB people present in a traditionally masculine way because they just like how that style looks on them, or because they deal with body dysmorphia, or because they're a "tomboy", or because it works better for the lifestyle they have and activities they engage in, or a hundred other different reasons. Without talking to them, you don't know what their reasoning is for presenting the way they do. It's less that "if girls don't like to be feminine they (probably) aren't girls?" and more like "if people who were assigned female at birth don't like to be feminine, one of the possibilities is that they're trans/non-binary/genderqueer/genderfluid."

In Franky's case, she dresses in a way that's gender non-conforming, so she might be a girl, or she might not. We never really get Franky's view on it in series 5 of the show. In series 6 the official answer becomes, "Franky is a straight, cis woman who was uncomfortable with herself in series 5, but now that she's feeling confident, she presents herself as femme." That was a disappointing answer for a lot of people, nonbinary people and lesbians alike, and I think is a big reason why people still talk about it all these years later.

Also, and I say this with no respect, you can fuck right off with your assumptions about my sexuality. I am, and always have been, a proud member of the LGBT+ community, to the point where I live in a historically queer neighborhood to be closer to my community. That's one of the reasons I care about this so deeply and fight to protect the trans people.

[doggiewoggiez]

There's an experience that's super common if not universal among larger, louder, more masc transfems, that I never see talked about. It comes typically from smaller, more petite and fragile transfems, the kind who put a lot of effort into things like passing (which there's nothing wrong with, and i hate that i have to specify that for this exact reason), where they're just looking for any reason to construe something you said as problematic in some way because they don't like you personally. It could be that they feel threatened because they see you as a big dangerous man and themselves as your potential victim. It could be that you and your presentation confuse them and that makes them angry. It could just be that this is how they treat everyone they're not currently having a discord petplay rp with. I've seen it all and more. But no matter what you do or say, if you reblog a post, they'll scour OP's account to find something problematic from 2018 that you wouldn't have found unless you were really digging, if you make a joke they'll say it was offensive or in poor taste and then turn around and make the same joke to universal applause, if you talk to them at all, they'll say you've been acting creepy and they're threatened by you.

Really, if you differentiate yourself from that vocal minority of the trans community that's all programmer socks and polycules, if you express an emotion that isn't uwu or >///< or ^~^ or :3, you're branded as hateful, violent, threatening, creepy, weird, or something else that just means you're the wrong type of tranny. God forbid you don't like something for some reason other than it's whatever the fuck "problematic" means. No matter how good your behavior is, they're repulsed by you, they revile you, but they've built this identity around softness and acting like a Steven Universe character, so they can't just say that outright. They can't even admit that to themselves, because it's unfashionable and doesn't match the soft aesthetic they're going for. So they make up reasons you're a bad person and then convince themselves before trying to convince others. And when they find or make up their nail in the coffin and you're branded a "bad person" it's anyone's game, they can be as shitty to you as they want without feeling guilty.

Obviously this is the oldest trick in the book, and it's gone by a million names. Tone policing, internalized transmisogyny, chronic grass touching deficiency, paggro, weaponized fragility, what have you. Trans women universally experience this from "TME" folks (because it's unfashionable to say AFABs, even though cis women and nonbinary people and transmascs can be equally hateful and vile about this), but I think it's something far more insidious when it comes from our own community. Does it make you feel like more of a woman to punch down like the others do? Does it make them smile and nod and pretend to approve of you long enough for you to feel something? Are you just going through the motions long after the people you learned this from have given you the same treatment, stalwart in the act of deciding that anyone who makes you feel that pang of discomfort somewhere between your stomach and your chest is a Bad Person, and it's not your fault that they're always the people who don't try for your ideas of femininity and trans womanhood? Are you too afraid to admit to yourself that, no matter how many posts you reblog about how there's no right or wrong way to be a woman, you don't believe it in your heart of hearts?

I'll never understand it, and it's not something that can be talked out. It's a treatment I'd bet money just about every transfem over 6'1 or 250lbs has gotten from someone or other. It's sad, too, because there's no concise way to articulate it, and if you say anything, you're just adding fuel to the fire, and you KNOW these girls who act like this just fully buy into it. It's completely cultlike behavior imo. If you or a friend seems to be suffering from this, if you look deep at your own behavior and question it, I advise you to really work hard at unlearning that shit. If the hurt you're causing others won't convince you, maybe the hurt you're causing yourself without realizing will.

[ir0n-angel]

I posted 17,622 times in 2022

That's 2,641 more posts than 2021!

104 posts created (1%)

17,518 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@madangel19

@crackinglamb

@steamcaptain

@lilbittymonster

@taygertot

I tagged 10,640 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#minerals - 1,851 posts

#hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha - 1,066 posts

#i'm hungry - 873 posts

#awesome art - 685 posts

#gaming dice - 496 posts

#sound on - 406 posts

#this - 249 posts

#but also - 241 posts

#cute art - 237 posts

#for reference - 179 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#can you imagine what the world would be like if our governments weren't run by people with fortunes tied to harmful environmental practices?

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Please use punctuation.

Please use punctuation, especially if you’re making a long post. I don’t care if it’s the wrong one. It can be all commas all the time. Or periods. Or be radical and use a semicolon. It’s hard enough to read walls of text. It’s impossible to read them when there’s nothing to break up the sentences.

This message brought to you by one of the millions of users with dyslexia.

18 notes - Posted October 2, 2022

#4

@fiadhaisteach 

A present for you.

21 notes - Posted November 23, 2022

#3

*skin crawls* *hits the block button*

Okay, because there seems to be a little bit of miscommunication here, please take note of the following:

I’m a bi/pan-romantic demisexual, ADHD sufferer, and I have a tenuous acquaintanceship with gender at best. I’m an atheist omnivore that believes black lives matter, trans men are men, trans women are women, nonbinaries are awesome, children are real people and not property, love is love, vaccines save lives, climate crisis is a real problem, platonic love is just as important as romantic love, abortion should be safe and legal and none of your damn business, social media is bad for your health, no one should own assault weapons, and diet culture and capitalism and cult of celebrity should die in a fire.

We got that? Good. I’m not interested in having a debate with y’all over this. I don’t care to hear your point of view and I don’t dance with devil’s advocates. I’m here for rocks, recipes, and the occasional awful pun. If it ain’t enough for you to sit quietly and enjoy the pretty pictures, get blocked. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Good riddance.

29 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

#2

If you have the spoons (& willingness), I am curious & would love it if you could tell me why so many pretty minerals look like red lyrium.

Manganese! Also traces of iron, magnesium and/or calcium. But mostly manganese! Manganese gives you red!

I assume we're talking about this bad boy right here:

Rhodochrosite.

Also known as manganese carbonate (MnCO3), it occurs as a hydrothermal vein mineral along with other manganese minerals in low temperature ore deposits such as silver. In its purest form, it creates beautiful crystals like the one pictured above. However, calcium (and sometimes magnesium and zinc) frequently replaces the manganese in the structure, leading to shades of pink, the most common color encountered:

See the full post

31 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

💙Back again for the third year in a row, with new prompts!💙

FLUFF-uary is a creation celebration designed to display all your sweetness and light for the whole month of February. There will be a prompt for each day and you can do as many as you like, in any combination or order.

Feel free to write, draw, edit photos/videos...whatever you're inspired to create. Have fun, it's not a contest. You can join in for the whole month, do one or two, or even come up with your own. Do it at your own pace, even after February is over. There's no word or size limits or restrictions other than to keep it sweet (no whump, please – we're all about the comfort zone here).

When uploading your fluffs, please tag properly with the prompt, the tag fluffuary2022, and any other applicable tags (like genre, characters, any content warnings if you decide to go NSFW etc.) Any questions can be directed @ir0n-angel​ and @crackinglamb.   As always, we hope everyone has a good time.

(reader-friendly plain text under the cut)

1. Holding Hands

2. Long Conversations

3. Trust

4. Being Silly

5. Moral Support

6. Shopping Together

7. Love Letters

8. Taking a nap together

9. Caretaking

10. Cooking Together

11. Compliments

12. First 'I love you'

13. Night Out

14. Mutual Pining

15. Love Bites

16. Flower Crowns/Putting Flowers In Their Hair

17. 'This Made Me Think of You'

18. Domestic Intimacy

19. Spooning

20. Acts of Devotion

21. Trying Something New

22. Bearhugs

23. Reminiscing

24. Wearing/Stealing Each Other's Clothes

25. Adopting a plant/pet

See the full post

358 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[skill7spark04]

To preface, I'm not trying to change your opinion or anything, but really this seems like an interesting potential for discussion on my take of how TLQ is represented:

I don't like the idea of TLQ realizing anything about gender norms, really. they are an existential god being, and I'm pretty sure that puts them above gender and physical sex in nature, placing them at a nonbinary standpoint. the choice to depict them as male is merely because TLQ sees it's other half as a princess, I believe, and for the sake of the story, that's what they become.

when they deny their godhood, they give up that rejection of the material to choose a path that neither thought possible. leaving together, as them. not as the gods they were, but the people they became.

arbitrarily saying "TLQ realising they are female" while an interesting story, undermines the premise that you, as TLQ, are not a self perceptive person. TLQ cannot see himself, in the game. ever. always shrouded in darkness, and the mirror of that self reflection illudes them.

it also undermines the point of the Narrator. in that they tell you what is and what isn't. whether you choose to listen or not is out of the question; you can only respond to what the narrator says. the point Is that they set the scene.

it also misses the parallel where the lines between hero and monster are blurred, in that TLQ is something similar to a Kenku of some kind, and clearly not human. you can be considered a monster. but you're told you're the hero. that you'll save the world. but the act you must commit is the common act of a monster in fiction. murder. of a helpless princess, no less. you are put into a literal grey area, and you define that grey area by shaping the shades with your choices. or to paint it over with the only color you'll see in game... blood. (monochromes can be argued as colors, but for the sake of impact...)

TLQ as a god: a they, because they go beyond such concepts. (this even may be stretching it, but TLQ originated as a concept, not a being, so I can say for certain that concepts are not bound by sex or gender.)

The Shifting Mound: a they, because they are many. (despite being clearly feminine, a group of people is referred to by They/Them to address.)

TLQ as a person: a Man, to fulfill their self perception of the story, one that the narrator states he has no control over, and is in fact, just reading out what happens so that TLQ can see and interact. the Narrator merely acts as eyes to the internal window of TLQ. TLQ sees himself as a hero, which is why that particular voice is ALWAYS present from the beginning. because the voices come about based on how TLQ perceives himself, actively or passively. this is why you get voice of the cold when you hesitate but still go through with slaying the princess. the cold would not hesitate, but in self reflection your actions as TLQ are percieve as cold.

to summarize as best as I can:

TLQ has no reason to question who they are. they were once a sexless genderless (maidenless) concept. when given form, the world they chose to make put them in the shoes of the hero. the Narrator puts you in the shoes of a monster framed as a hero. your beloved is a princess to you, signifying her importance in your existence, and also her helplessness by having her be chained in a basement.

to say they perceive themselves as male is perhaps something derived exclusively from the fact that their lover is a princess, and in the stereotypical "hero saves princess" stories, as TLQ perceives their world, obviously, have male knights saving princesses, plus the male voices.

I would like to think, just by the Voice of the Hero being a default, you are cleared as Male.

and as a god, you are nothing but a genderless concept.

but overall, it's a creative idea, especially if you think about it from the lens of having Multi-sex voices in their head, both male and female, due to their previous status as a concept.

I do not want to piss in your cheerios, as I find the concept you presented amusing. but I felt the absolutely nerdly-geeky desire to start a philosophical debate on sex and gods.

not just does the game not have to be about romantic love in particular, TLQ also doesn't have to be a man. Let me explain.

When you first start the game, you are greeted first with the voice of the Narrator, who is a man. Then afterwards we meet the hero, who is voiced by the same VA / has the same voice /gender presentation as the Narrator. Then you meet the princess, who is your only other external being in the story until the end.

Given that this is TLQ waking up, they probably conceptualise "voices" as men and "external beings" as women, simply due to the fact that the Narrator presents masculine and he sets that standard just by being the first character TLQ meets.

I wish there was a story about TLQ realising she and the voices have a different genders. Maybe TLQ thinking of herself as fem only to realise her body is male later down the line. Or maybe a funny bit about the voices all having their own masculine bodies they are comfortable in and TLQ, who is obviously a woman, being all like "Why are you acting like this I'm totally the same as you guys" with the others just slowly shaking their heads going "Idk pal..."

Non binary interpretations are also really cool! I love them, though I do have to say transfem headcanons (or just fem protags in general) are my favourites.

[tamamonomaes]

Clearing Up Misconceptions on How Gendered Language Works in Japanese

In specifically relation to Fate, how this effects how the characters present, and why these misconceptions could be interpreted as disrespectful to the Japanese trans community.

(DISCLAIMER: I am NOT cis like people seem to think! I realise you may assume that looking at me, but it's because of medical reasons. Corrections and input from native Japanese speakers welcome and encouraged!

1 The "I pronoun" is not indicative of gender as there is no such thing as a "personal pronoun. " The "I pronoun" is not primarily focused in gender, but rather, whether they are formal or informal, who you are talking to, sometimes your age, and what mood and tone you are trying to convey. "Ore" isn't a suitable option for a "personal pronoun" in the first place as it is informal and comes off extremely rude in some situations, like a job interview, so it is likely that the ore user is going to be switching to something more polite. For example, Astolfo's pronoun of boku is not indicative of them being male as its primary focus is to represent humbleness; yes it is "primarily" used for boys, however it is also considered "cute" for young girls; basically what Astolfo's use of boku can tell us about Astolfo is that Astolfo wants to be perceived as humble, and has an element of childishness to them.

2 Within the fandom, there seems to be this urge to binarise pronouns to support certain arguments that certain characters are cis and that certain characters are trans, when in actuality, the Japanese language is already far more diverse and expresses far more freedom in it's way of expressing pronouns and gender. The absolute biggest misunderstanding comes with the use of "ore" and "atashi." Basically, people believe that anyone who uses these pronouns wants to be perceived as either hyper feminine or hyper masculine, and if someone uses one of these pronouns, they want to be perceived as either female or male. However, this is simply not what these pronouns indicate at all. While atashi is traditionally considered feminine, gay men have adopted the pronoun as a means of talking casually without presenting; the same goes for ore. While it is true it is tradionally masculine, these days, it has evolved more to present the image of being casual, as well as youth wanting to sound tough. While a woman may not usually use ore irl, it is also true that anime characters don't actually talk like real Japanese people, and female characters in anime using ore is an actual thing.

You will often see this double standard that people will say they support pronouns not being idictitive of gender in English, ie, a he/him lesbian, but then binarise the Japanese language in the sense that atashi means you present female, and ore means you present male, like NB and trans Japanese don't exist. If you were told only women use atashi and. Men ore no shade, I'm just letting you know it's more complex than that. You see this particularly with ore as it creates a "tough" image, and people believe women don't want to, or even can't, be seen as tough. If you believe someone can use he/him and be female, for the sake of respect to the Japanese language and the nb community, I ask you to do the same for men who atashi and women who use ore.

3. Grammatically, Japanese doesn't actually require the use of she/him when reffering to others. This is why you don't see characters reacting to being misgendered because, quite often they just aren't there in the original. Since they are in English, this results in the translators own perception of the character affecting how they identify in the story. There are so many instances of transphobia in fate, however, because the series is handled by so many different writers and it's hard to track down who is responsible for what, I really shouldn't have to explain to you why it is disrespectful for you to put the Japanese writers at fault for getting angry because a character is being misgendered when you're literally reading a fan translation and the pronouns just aren't there in the first place. Please stop calling out "transphobia" on the writers part because you saw Astolfo being called a he in a fan translation, or even in NA where different translators with different views have to add pronouns in. There's bigger issues of transphobia you can be focusing on rather than non-existent pronouns. The only real way you can be sure if a character is being misgendered is to check the original Japanese. But reminder certain characters using the wrong pronouns, ie, Ophelia using she/her for Caenis does not necessarily reflect the views of the writers.

Contrary to what people think, Fate does actually have a way of acknowledging certain characters as GNC. This method isn't perfect and has problems, but Astolfo, Enkidu, D'eon and Avenger Nobunaga are all canonically considered GNC with the genderless attributes in Fgo. To me this includes trans as historically D'eon is a trans woman and Nobu a trans man, but nonbinary readings of these characters are still absolutely fair, so some may disagree. If you don't consider Nobu a trans man and instead nb, you could argue that the reason Mordred isn't included because the series may have a predudice to trans men considering they want waifus and have made historical men women instead.

[gettin-bi-bi-bi]

Is it harder to find out that you're a man when you're bi? I know that I didn't really know until I thought about how I'd feel if I were with any gender and they saw me as a woman and it was upsetting. I also thought of how I'd feel if I became successful and was well liked and got the option to tell people my gender and not be judged, that'd I tell them that I'm a boy. I feel that me wanting to be a guy with other people in any setting, is not tell-tale enough to decide if I'm trans. Advice?

The best advice I ever got when I was questioning my gender was when someone told me that cis people generally don’t question their gender. That may not always be true, but it sounded true enough that it allowed me to think of myself as ‘not cis’ without feeling like I was a fraud or like I had no right to enter ‘not cis’ spaces unless I was 100% sure. And exploration is really the key to becoming more sure. Trying on labels and names and pronouns and also clothes. Trying things out in secret, trying things out in public, trying anything and everything.

Realising I was bi was actually the key to me realising I was trans. When I thought I was just a straight cis girl, I repressed my masculinity in order to fit in and in order for straight guys to find me attractive. For years. Once I realised I was bi though, I felt like I could explore a more masculine style of personal expression because I was no longer only focused on what men found attractive because I knew I wanted to explore my sexuality with queer girls and I knew a soft butch look was normal in that community.

And once I let myself do things like stop wearing makeup or have shorter hair or stop shaving or wear more plaid button ups and boots and looser masculine clothing, it became clear to me how much I’d missed that kind of thing and how I never wanted to go back to trying to present as feminine. (Ironically around that time I actually did attract a straight boyfriend and I still haven’t explored my sexuality with a girl but that’s another story).

I started identifying as genderfluid at first and then nonbinary. And tbh I identified as nonbinary right up until I decided to start testosterone and around that time I identified as a nonbinary guy. So you don’t actually need to know if you’re a guy in order to explore your gender identity. You could be anything you want to be. And you can try on many different labels to see what fits you.

However, it seems like if you’re already thinking that you want others to see you and think of you as a guy, then you’ve already realised a lot about your gender identity. I think that’s a lot and I don’t see how it wouldn’t be enough of a sign that you might not be cis and you might in fact be a trans man. But if you want to feel more sure (more sure not sure, because I don’t believe anyone is ever 100% sure of anything and that’s ok) then start exploring. Meet new people, talk to new people, tell them you are a guy and see how you feel. You may realise you have more tell-tale signs than you thought.

Max