#i LOVE having schrödinger’s gender

[no-where-new-hero]

every time a service person calls me “sir” at checkout or something an angel gets its wings

[utilitycaster]

You have been watching CR so much longer than me, and I'm curious to know your take on TV Show Canon interfering with or replacing Live Play Canon? On the latest 4sd, Sam mentioned that they're sort of in a schrödinger's Canon, where in one instance the show and campaign have two opposing cannons and they get through it by not directly addressing one or the other. The example he gave was Highbearer Vord, who was an old man in campaign 1 and a woman in the show, whom Matt referred to by name or as 'they' in campaign 3.

Personally, I've never been precious about adaptations changing or ommitting things, and I didn't care about the change from the campaign to the show, but for some reason, the show changing the campaign gives me pause. I also personally love the show! Campaign one was my favorite, especially the chroma conclave arc, and I love the tv show just as much, so I don't know why I would be precious about one over the other? I think maybe I'm worried about changes retroactively impacting the campaign because I already saw and loved the campaign as it was and I don't want it to change, whereas the show is currently being created and so any changes or adaptations just feel like their own thing that I get to see unfold.

The change I mentioned is very small and doesn't really impact much, I'm just wondering what your preference would be for this practice in general! I think that the cast mentioned that some changes will be made to the beginning of the Mighty Nein's story for the upcoming show. In a hypithetical future campaign, if someone mentioned the M9, would you prefer it to be in line with the campaign or the tv show, would you prefer if it was vague like Vord, or is it dependent on what the changes are?

For me it would be dependent on the scale of the change and what it is. Honestly, for Vord I don't even find it in conflict in the present campaign (ie, in 843 PD); while obviously Vord's gender is different between the canon of Campaign 1 vs. the Legend of Vox Machina and those are taking place as two versions of the story in the same time, I just assumed that in 843 PD Vord was figuring some shit out re: gender and pronouns. (I'd also add that Vord's description during Campaign 1 itself varied wildly; Matt's changed character pronouns before in the past and I don't know if it's been deliberate or if he forgot but it's not a big deal).

I think if we're talking about scenes that were not visible in the campaign and were expanded upon in TLOVM (eg: getting to see more of the Briarwoods or the Chroma Conclave plotting without Vox Machina present), treating them as canon within Campaign 3 is fine; honestly those probably were canon in Matt's notes anyway, just unseen. Small things that aren't plot critical - changing a character's gender or appearance, for example - are also fine by me.

The issue arises if we get into actual plot conflicts - for example, the party splitting during the Feywild and Westruun arcs in TLOVM vs. Scanlan and Grog being present in the Feywild in canon. In that case, resolving the two is not possible and I don't care for attempts to make it so. I don't generally care for attempts to justify a cast mistake or canon contradiction and make it all lay flat when the answer sometimes is just "this is improv and they forgot", and this feels similar. Like...if Kamaljiori were to show up in Campaign 3, that would be valid, because he doesn't die in Campaign 1 and does in TLOVM, and when we're watching the streaming campaigns we should defer to campaign canon. I don't think it's fair to Campaign 3 to try to play it with an eye to animated adaptation, so any ripples from that can be addressed if an when they come up. But for stuff like Vord's gender, as long as you get the presence and the vibe right, details can be altered. The same, presumably, will be true for mentions of the Mighty Nein if there is an Exandrian-set Campaign 4.

For what it's worth, that is what I expect when the cast mentions changes to the adaptation as well. Like...look, if I'm wrong about this there will be other discussions to be had, but I think the idea that Molly won't die in the Mighty Nein adaptation is a rather desperate and unrealistic one since that sort of derails the entire rest of the campaign both plot-wise and thematically. Fine for AU fanfic, though I'm personally uninterested, but a poor adaptational choice. But changes like splitting the party between the Feywild and Westruun, or Grog becoming weakened, or Vax communing with the Raven Queen a little earlier and at a smaller temple, or Vex facing Saundor alone, all maintain the core vibes and themes while dealing with time constraints and letting Pike be more present. If someone were to ask Vex point-blank "was Scanlan there when you fought the guy who had that cool bow you're carrying" in Campaign 3 I think the answer should be "yes"; but that's not actually important. What's important is that Vex faced a guy who had been consumed by bitterness and grudges for a weapon that she ultimately carved the word for "forgiveness" into as a personal reminder. An adaptation should retain what's actually important to the story, but changing what hangs on the same fundamental fixed skeleton is fine.

[tizeline]

Happy pride month and all!

I figured now was a good time to ask, but do you have any thoughts about the sexuality of the characters in your Sep AU?

Sorry if you’ve been asked already, and the answer can definitely be no, I’m just curious :)

Happy pride!! ✨

Here's the thing about headcanons about queer identities, I personally prefer to not get too stuck on specific labels. While there are exceptions, I generally try to remain flexible if that makes sense? As in I like having multiple different interpritation about characters' identities so deciding on One Particular Label can feel limiting to me.

I mentioned it before, but I do plan on making Capril an established relationship in the AU sooner or later, so April and Casey are definitely sapphic. But more specific than that? Are they lesbian or bi or pan or whatever?? I dunno!! It's not really relevant to the story so I might as well leave that up to interpretation.

My approach to creating stories is that I'll usually only decide on specific labels if it is plot relevant, Schrödingers Identity if you will, lol, it can be anything if you don't decide on it beforehand. Again, there are exceptions, Leo is gay 100% like duh I can't interpret him any other way XD. Splinter is a Bi-Icon and I will STAND BY THAT!

Raph, Donnie and Mikey? Man who knows, canon Donnie seems to be into girls at least so it's the same in the AU, but more specific than that I dunno, I'm not planning on the story really focusing on romance (aside from a little capril because every story needs sapphics that's like the law)

Actually, you know what I find fun? World building! I honestly tend to be more interested in how queer identities are viewed and treated in a story's world as a whole as opposed to induvidual character's identities. Human society in rottmnt seems to be mostly the same as our IRL society, but what about Yōkai society!? With how diverse yōkai are I think it'd be fun if people in The Hidden City just... didn't care about who you loved or what you identified as. As a result of that, I don't think yōkai would care that much about terminology and labels, you just kinda loved whoever you loved.

It'd be honestly be kinda interesting if Donnie and April used terminology that related to queer stuff and Raph, Leo and Mikey are just really confused. Like for example, April is complaining about one of her classmates who's homophobic and the The Drax Bros are just like "Home-phobic??? They're afraid of homes??" cuz the concept of discriminating against someone based on which gender they're attracted to is completely foreign to them. Actually, Leo might be more knowledgable about human queer culture considering he's interested in human cultures in general. He calls himself gay at one point and Draxum is all like "you're happy? good for you?" and he'd just be wondering why Leo is using such an old-timey word considering Leo doesn't exactly have the most advanced vocabulary.

[theno1joelhater]

oh, sweet religion. the potential of a cgcu heaven and a cgcu hell. like 90% of the characters are being sent to the realm of fire and brimstone, including wayne.

i have little to no thoughts on the afterlife itself. i don’t know what happens after you die. but heaven and hell? i can work with that. wayne isn’t making past the pearly gates.

so in those brief moments between his death and rebirths (plural is crazy) (like was jesus even resurrected that many times? idk i’ve never read the bible) he’d experience hell. the worst torture known to mankind. not dissimilar to what he put cam through, for “i like torturing my favs” crowd (it’s us we’re the crowd).

for the first time ever, wayne was scared. even though his visit was brief, it still terrified him. he experienced real torture for the first time, raw fear and pain and nothing else. when he was brought back, he was relieved. so fucking relieved. he took a brief break, bc yk. just got back from being resurrected. needs time. but maybe, cam wants him to keep pranking. and he does, just less on cam and more on the other characters. he can’t risk going back to hell.

but when he goes off and pranks justin (top ten biggest mistakes in history and it isn’t 2-10!), he’s scared again. he doesn’t want to go to hell. even though he’ll probably get resurrected again he still doesn’t want to risk it. he can’t go through it all again. he can’t.

riffing off your ideas, i don’t truly believe wayne thought his situation was that serious. maybe, deep down, he understood. but he tried to make light of his situation. he didn’t treat it seriously, as he does with most things. so he tried to escape. sure, justin was prepared for everything, but wayne didn’t think so. he underestimated justin. he knew that there was a chance he could get caught and he was a bit scared of what could happen if justin found him, but his confidence took over. he tried to get out, but he was too reckless. justin found him and forced him to watch a cloning process. safe to say that was a huge wake up call for wayne. again, wayne felt true fear. what would happen after he’s taken over by the microchip? would he be sent back to hell? that thought terrified him.

the showing of the cloning process, i think justin would be selective on that. if they tried to escape, and if justin thought it would ruin their morale, he would. otherwise he’d just do some other method of making them stay. what that method is idk go ask justin.

and the gap between his second death and second revival had to have been longer, right? jctm1 takes like 1 day but we don’t know how long it takes for robin and max to figure out richard has god on speed dial. they probably took a small break or something to digest the justin stuff too. either way, it’s the longest wayne had been dead. and he’s more fearful then ever. you think at some point he might become desensitized to all the pain, and maybe that’s true. maybe he gets used to it, but physical isn’t the only form of torture out there. his mind keeps him occupied. he thinks of everything he’s done. he thinks of how he’s hurt everyone he knows and that this is all deserved. all these feelings he hid deep down, for the first time, surface. they all bubble to the top, and it’s all wayne can think about. his mind is torturing him.

i think i’ve said this before but cameron doesn’t like wayne at all, he only keeps him around for views n stuff. he doesn’t kill him because he doesn’t have a valid reason to other than “he’s annoying”. he came up with the perfect excuse to do so, but he brought wayne back. and wayne died again. and he was brought back again. it’s a cycle of wayne going tufar, getting killed, and being brought back. if that isn’t suffering i don’t know what is.

AAAAAAAAA JUSTIN CASE UPDATE??? WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID HE JUST POST RHE SPOILERS TO THE NEXT INSTALLEMENT OF THE STROY RIGHT THERE INSREA DOF BEING LIKE YEAH IM DOING IT IM KILLING CAM RN FUCK ME (ron intended)

anywayssssss

nathaniel is dead, not very skibidi sigma of him at all but i’m not too surprised, cam’s been trying to get rid of ol’ nathan for a WHILE (besides, look at his last name. it was inevitable)

cam added a mary sue self insert oc that’s basically a god into the cgcu who’s summoned by racism and sexual jokes. damn.

i get the ending and it’s alright, but also seems anticlimactic. like cam shows up and tells justin “dude you’re a fictional made up character on the internet you’re already immortal 💀” and justin’s like “oh fr then ig i’ll stop” which isn’t that satisfying at all. i don’t like that ending the discord’s ending (ask me for an invite link if ur interested in the server, we’re all very cool) is much better since yk. it has actual character development.

personally? i don’t like this ending much and i am unsatisfied. it might be better if he actually posts it but i still don’t like it much. if only…….i finished the goddamn animation……..ughhh

also……….max? whipping it out? right there? cam you better film this part or else /hj

[rotationalsymmetry]

This year's Pride discourse starting out with "bi girls' straight boyfriends" apparently.

Love you all*, thank you for making sure I don't feel like I belong here.

*by "you all" I mean the shitbags I don't see, not the actual friends on my dash who of course think that you can't tell someone's orientation or gender by looking and also straight allies are welcome at Pride anyways, straight allies have always been part of Pride and also bi women aren't some sort of Schrödinger's queer where a single one exists in a state of superposition whereas one in a relationship is Actually Straight if she has a boyfriend and Basically A Lesbian if she doesn't. (Note poly-inclusive language choice there.)

Fuck. Can we please go back to whether wearing a dog mask in public is basically the same thing as groping someone's genitals?

Bonus poll just because it's so easy to hit a create a poll button by mistake:

[starbuttons]

Okay idk why I have such vivid opinions on this but as a continuation of this post I wanna give my headcanon on the Bleach guys’ sexualities

(please don’t disagree with me by giving me textual evidence I’m just vibing here fjdhsjhs)

Isshin Kurosaki: honestly? bisexual

Chad Yasutora: asexual panromantic (I can see him in a loving relationship with a wife who tells the waiter he order mashed potatoes for him lol)

Kisuke Urahara: yes

Kensei Muguruma: hmmm gay. he tried stuff with women but was like “yeah no I like men”

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez: ace but he will fuck as long as the other person is bottoming

Ulquiorra Cifer: aroace

Renji Abarai: heteroooooo jessica

Sousuke Aizen: sex repulsed aroace

Shukuro Tsukishima: bi

Ryuken Ishida: straight

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto: idk broooo

Byakuya Kuchiki: bi with a preference for women

Shuhei Hisagi: uhh bi with a femme preference

Jushiro Ukitake: to me he’s got Schrödingers sexuality like he’s not gay, bi, het, OR ace (wait maybe he could be demisexual, idk but it’s not based on gender and depends on emotion)

Kenpachi Zaraki: well if he gets the time for it then he’s like “a hole is a hole” 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 (asexual btw)

Shunsui Kyoraku: erm bisexual slut

Gin Ichimaru: it took me a while but I figured it out. Gin is straight but he would have sex with dudes. He only tops with dudes but if it’s a girl they have to peg him 😭😭

Coyote Starrk: as long as they’re power bottoming he’s down

Mayuri Kurotsuchi: asexual aromantic

Ichigo Kurosaki: y’know what, I’m gonna say bisexual with a preference for a certain personality type (maybe grayace)

Kugo Ginjo: i think he’s experimental he doesn’t have a sexuality he’s letting that shit rooooockkkk

Tosen Kaname: idk but he’s a BOTTOM

Ikkaku Madarame: bi but he doesn’t know it like when he’s horny he only thinks of women until a dude approaches him one day and he’ll be like “ohh this works too” lmao

Shinji Hirako: his sexuality is DESPERATION

Yumichika Ayasegawa: gay gay homosexual gay

Uryuu Ishida: he wasn’t in the other post but imma just say uh str8 lol

[byebyebbyblu]

Excuse me, I saw one of your posts--one where you said that what makes a butch a butch is who they are and not how they dress--and now I’m wondering if I am a butch or not because I don’t know exactly what “acting like a butch” means. I’ve been wondering this way before I saw your post because my family (conservative) sees me a super masculine, while my friends (queer) see me as androgynous, or even feminine at times. It’s a bit of a mess how people perceive me, but it’s interesting to see.

So, my question is, what are some traits that are “recognizable” when it comes to being a butch, if there are any? And how would you call an androgynous lesbian? Futch? Butch of Schrödinger?

Thank you in advance, and sorry for any inconveniences.

Hey thanks so much for the ask!

First of all I’m sorry if my post made you feel invalid that wasn’t my intention at all. I was trying to convey the complicated way that Butchness works and never meant to seem like I was positioning myself as some kind of authority because I’m not.

So far what acting Butch means. This question has a lot of nuance, it means a lot of different things to different people, you’re going to get a lot variety of answers. Acting Butch to me means loving your fellow Butches and Femmes, psychically and emotionally protecting the more vulnerable members of your community, and preforming masculinity in a way that challenges the “typical cis het male ideal of masculinity.”

I developed my idea of what acting like a Butch means from reading books by older Butches like Female Masculinity, Stone Butch Blues and Butch as a noun. I highly recommend them but please make sure to mind the trigger warnings. I’ve also learned a lot from older Butches on social media. @cowboyjen68 on here is a wonderful source.

For your last question some people do call themselves Futches (more as a joke then an actual identity) but there dosen’t seem to be a solid word for androgenous lesbian that I could find (maybe GNC or gender non conforming lesbian) If you feel like the label of Butch might fit you however I would suggest just trying it out. Labels are meant to fit you and if you try it and it dosen’t fit the worst thing that happens is that you were wrong. I personally tried the Butch label after IDing as a trans man for a while and it fit like a glove where the Trans man label didn’t.

Finally i’m sorry about your conservative family, I hope you’re safe and in a place where you can be loved for who you are. And if after reading this you find that the Butch label fits. Welcome home. We’re happy to have you!

[pet-cemetery-emotes]

did your blogsona get a vivisection also what is the blogsona's pronouns also i love the blogsona. cherish even. silly Cat Thing

Awh, thank you!! Yes, it did :) It's alive and dead. It doesn't have a heartbeat until its heart is actively observed lol. It uses any pronouns in teh world!!! Or no pronouns :) I tend to favor it/its but you can't misgender it in a way that matters. It's agender, so it's as much of any gender as it is not any gender.

It doesn't have a name, either. Some of the things it gets called are Ghost, Schrödinger, Church/Churchill, but you can make up new names for it, or just call it the Pet Cemetery cat/creature.

I'm glad you like it :)

[mmmmalo]

you do a lot of in depth readings in HS proper about like. gender and roles and stereotypes and fitting into/breaking out of them. or 8re8king out, in this case?? since I am asking specifically about vriska. I see a lot of people say she comes across as transfer, but I've been rereading Homestuck and I don't see it at all ?? I know you've made some jegbert jender posts so I was wondering if you had any insight. thank you very much, feel free to disregard this. congratulations on passing the japanese test and I hope you have a lovely rest of your week!

Thank you! Sorry for the late reply, I needed a minute.

I reread some Vriska sections to see if anything stood out, but unfortunately if you've read my June posts you've probably read everything I have to say regarding Vriska and transness. I only seem to pick up on the ways she acts as accessory to other trans narratives (those attached to Tavros and Egbert)... Her old sunglasses are a reference to the pirate One-Eyed Willie from the Goonies, which was totally a penis joke, but that alone doesn't tell you much...

Maybe a month ago I would have said with some confidence that all girls on Alternia are trans girls, because I've been reading the slaughter of the limebloods as a mass gynocide that rendered Alternia exclusively male. But recently the overlap of phallic and papillary symbolism has me wondering if some of the castration imagery doesn't double as mastectomy imagery, rendering the polarity of much of the story's transgender symbolism ambiguous... like not so much intersex as a quantum superposition of binary sexes. Like, I cited Tavros in relation to trans symbolism, and another moment for him was the struggle to get into bed because his horns are too big -- I've read this as a dysphoric moment, with the horns being phallic, but Equius (and Mallek) demonstrate that horns can be papillary as well so suddenly I'm compelled to reevaluate that moments as Tavros potentially (metaphorically) experiencing a transmasculine dysphoria posed by having enormous breasts. Or quasi-reevaluate, since the former reading would remain quasi-valid

So my answer is, I don't know and I've recently come across information that maybe undermines a great deal of what I thought I knew. I'm currently stuck between a model of Alternia where Vriska is a trans girl and a model where Vriska is Schrödinger's trans girl, existing in a story where both interpretations are encouraged. That the name "Alternia" could be self-referential, always posed as the alternative to another version of itself, feels distinctly Homestuck -- likewise the notion that the circularity of Alternia <> Beforus was anticipated by each term's self-circularity. But the matter of it feeling appropriate isn't really an argument so eventually I will need to reread to confirm and the prospect is daunting, because I'm sort of worn out.

[sometimescherwrites]

Me & You

Alex Adult World x gn!reader

word count: 1.1k

content: mention of adult world typical merchandise, fluff, boyfriend Alex, reader loves Valentine’s Day, kissing, reader and Alex are in loooooove, as always gender neutral but written with male reader in mind

@authorsofghosts 1.1k words of our wife being wife material

day four of cher’s conversation hearts series

You’re standing at the register, going through some membership files when Alex makes his presence known.

There were pros and cons to working with your boyfriend.

Pros: you work with your boyfriend.

Cons: you work with your boyfriend.

Schrödinger’s work dynamic, if you will. Except the cat was your asshole boyfriend.

…Okay, maybe not asshole, but he is a little shit who derives pleasure from being affectionately annoying.

Like now, as he stands behind you, chin on your shoulder, looking at the membership files, going, “Whatcha doing?”

“My job.” You respond, not looking up or even visibly reacting, “Which you should also be doing.”

“This is my job. As your boyfriend.”

He pokes at your cheek. A grin graces his face, something you’re sure you’d appreciate a lot more if he weren’t actively poking you.

“Have you considered doing your job as manager?”

He makes an exaggerated thinking face before his grin widens, “Supervising employees. Bam. And to think, I get paid for this. And besides, I gotta ask you something.”

“Yeah?” You raise a brow.

“You, me, Valentine’s Day, the shop.” He says, as if he’s asking you on a date and not asking you if you can work on Friday.

Your immediate thought is to say no, you don’t want to work on Valentine’s Day. But you know he knows that and you know even more that he is likely asking you as a last resort. So you groan and say, “Fine. Me and you?”

And the way his face lights up almost makes up for it.

That is until you’re walking through leftover snow and 16 mile per hour wind at 7 in the morning because Alex said the new shipment of magic wands had come in early and he needed your help unloading them.

He’d also consistently reminded you that it was Valentine’s Day, and that you were required by law- “the Alex law” he’d claimed, to dress semi-nicely and on theme.

As soon as you get in the store, you see your boyfriend with a candy rose in hand and a grin on his face. Damn, he looked good enough that you almost forgot that you were pissy about having to come into work on Valentine’s Day.

“For me?” You ask, as he leaves a lingering peck on your lips before handing you the rose.

“Mhmm- you look good, babe.” Alex murmurs, eyes not leaving you.

All your irritation is gone for the moment and all you can do is smile, “Could say the same for you.”

“Well you have to say that.” He chuckles, “I’m your boyfriend. And it’d be rude not to say it back.”

“Two things can be true at once.” You peck him on the lips again, “I mean it. You look good. Way better than you should considering the circumstances.”

The circumstances of course being that you were working early on Valentine’s Day. All day. Damn, you really were not as over this as you thought you’d been.

“About that…” Alex trails off.

Now that jerks you out of your mini pouting session.

“About what?”

“The circumstances.” He rests his hand on the back of his neck, “So… we’re actually not working today.”

“What? If we’re not working, then what the hell are we doing at the shop at 7am? And why the hell did you tell me we were working today?”You’re not even annoyed- not really, just stunned, and a bit confused.

“I needed a way to get you to clear your schedule for the day without ruining the surprise.” He admits sheepishly, “We’ve got breakfast at that place you like in like an hour, by the way.”

You open your mouth, but no sound comes out, so you close it. He’d gone out of his way to surprise you for Valentine’s Day… he’d gone out of his way to surprise you for Valentine’s Day. That was easily the most romantic thing any partner of yours had ever taken the initiative to do without you bringing it up first.

“Really?” Your excitement betrays you.

“Mhmm. And after that, well, I was going to have us do a bunch of tourist shit, but it’s so goddamn windy- doesn’t matter, we’ll figure it out at breakfast.”

You can’t help it- you kiss him on the lips, though it’s more of a clash of teeth, considering how wide you’re both smiling. You’re just so full of love for your boyfriend that it’s all you can feel in the moment.

“You did this all on your own?”

“Well, Rubia helped me a bit with the planning-“

You kiss him again. And again. And again. Until you inevitably remember that you’re still in the middle of Adult World and your breakfast time is rapidly approaching.

“Thank you. Love you so much, you don’t even know.” You grin.

“Come on. We got breakfast soon, me and you.” Alex shrugs, clearly blushing before adding a soft, “Love you too.”

After you make it to brunch, the day passes in a flurry of surprises from both sides. Well, that and wind.

That night, he drives you out of the city for a bit, until you’re far enough out that you can really see the stars. Even if it is fucking freezing.

Lucky for you, your boyfriend also functions as a portable heater. Sitting on the roof of his car- not exactly the smartest decision, but you’re dumb and in love so you do it anyways- you stare at the sky like you’ve never seen it before.

Rationally, you know it’s not as remarkable as you’re making it seem, but you’ve never actually been stargazing before. Much less surprised on a date with it for Valentine’s Day. And definitely never with someone you loved.

Maybe the fact that it’s with Alex is what’s making it all the better.

“Shit, I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at the stars like this. They’re just fucking… they’re incredible.” You murmur in awe.

“Yeah… incredible.” Alex agrees, but you can feel his gaze on you.

You shove him lightly, face heating despite the cold, “That’s so fucking cheesy, Alex.”

“True though.” He grins, pulling you into him, wrapping the both of you in a blanket, “If I’d known I’d get a view like this, I would’ve taken you out here forever ago.”

“Shut the hell up.” Your face is uncomfortably warm now.

He places a lingering kiss on your lips, “Gladly.”

A roll of your eyes before you snuggle back into him, leaning up to press a lazy kiss on his lips.

“I love you.” He murmurs.

“Love you too.”

Suddenly the cold isn’t so bad, you suppose.

[braininatankwithalaptop]

Schrödinger's Representation

I've been thinking about Danganronpa again and about Chihiro's gender identity. Now I know that there's a lot of discourse going around about it. There are some people that say that Chihiro is trans and she's bad representation or that he's not and the people that say he is are missing the point. But I do think that both arguments have merit and the argument is only happening due to either miscommunication or differing value in author's intent.

From what I've seen, those that say Chihiro isn't trans argue from a watsonian perspective and those that say Chihiro is poor trans representation are arguing from a doylist one. Yes, textually Chihiro never says out loud that he identifies with a gender he was not assigned at birth, but I don't think someone who doesn't understand trans perspective would accurately represent them. For those that say Chihiro is trans, they're saying that Chihiro's story is a manifestation of the poorly understood schema of trans identity and gnc ignorant people have of it.

Dr1 was published in 2010, and I don't know about you, but from my understanding, trans validity and understanding wasn't the default of culture in my experience. And I don't even know about japanese culture. A lot of people didn't know the difference between gnc, or trans people, or anything else outside the cis norm. Cis people saw others acting differently about their gender and thought, "Huh, what would it take for me to act like that? I know! I would need [shame/a fetish/ desire to deceive, etc.] so one of those reasons must be why they're acting like that." And Chihiro maps very cleanly onto that perspective. Chihiro can't want to be a girl because that fits her gender identity, it has to be because he is ashamed (And in addition to this misunderstanding the author also sees women as having an "easier" time with their gender roles and norm, which is a whole other can of worms). Now I think in an interesting way that Chihiro's narrative is very applicable as a trans man narrative, someone is forced to present as a girl and desires to be perceived as a man. So if Chihiro was AFAB the story would be mostly the same but be a bit less problematic. But that's headcanon and transformative. What about Chihiro as he is in the story? Well the question at the center of this discourse (to me) is:"If an author tries to depict the identity of a group they don't understand, and fails to accurately do so due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what they're like, are they still part of that group? Do they still count as 'representation?'"

Either the intent matters and Chihiro counts as trans and is poor representation, or the results matter more, and Chihiro isn't trans at all.

I'd love to hear other take on this and if there are any criticisms you have of the argument.

[crosbyism]

Next Generation’s Best | One

An essay on generational talents, gender, and the NHL in six parts.

Masterpost | Next>

I think most everyone’s had this happen to them: you’re a kid, and there’s something pink in the room.

It might be you who says it. It might be another kid. It might actually be an adult. You might be playing or drawing or just talking. But the pink thing is in the room, and it has a presence. You don’t know that yet until whoever’s going to say it says it, but once it’s been said, pink will forever mean something; be somehow tangible one way or another. Nothing, and then:

“Ew, but it’s pink.”

Part One: Canada and Russia

1978

The plane lands in Edmonton, in the end.

The negotiations were so up-in-the-air they didn’t even know where they were being sent. Later, they’ll hear the whole wild story: a bluff over a bet, hinging on a game of backgammon; something right out of pulp fiction. So the plane, previously heading towards Schrödinger’s destination of Winnipeg-or-Edmonton depending on which airport they see when they step off the plane, lands in Edmonton.

The year is 1978. Ice hockey, in North America, is a men’s sport full of violence. There’s no use in skating fast or handling the puck skillfully if you can lay out the other guy: a man lying face down on the ice isn’t going to score. So you shouldn’t bother playing hockey if you aren’t big, mean, and maybe spoiling for a fight. You lay a guy out, you pass to the best guy on your line if the puck comes your way, and you let him do the scoring. In the NHL, it’s really only nominally a team sport. No one’s really passing much or using their teammates to their full potential or thinking about things like positioning.

Beyond that, it’s a turbulent time to be playing ice hockey for a living: teams are folding.

In November, three players get off the plane in Edmonton as part of a last-ditch Hail-Mary deal to save the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA. It won’t work: the Racers will fold a month later, and by the end of the season the WHA will have strong-armed the NHL into merging together, saving three of its six teams— including the Edmonton Oilers.

None of this really matters much to the little blond guy walking into the rink, the smallest and youngest of the three.

He’s a stick of a kid; a 17-year-old pretty boy whose hands are softer than his body, and that’s saying something. Blue eyes, grown-out blond hair. He looks like a girl from the back, actually. He’s just about six foot tall and 160 pounds soaking wet with his gear on; barely big enough for anyone to let him onto the ice.

The kid’s bright-eyed and he loves hockey; learned everything he knows from his father, who got the love of it from hisfather; a man who saw the signs coming for the Russian Revolution and fled so far from the Bolsheviks he ended up on the opposite end of the ocean from his homeland. But he couldn’t shake his love for the cold biting winter air or for a sport that connected his old home and the new. So: two generations and sixty years later, somewhere in Canada, the blond little skinny guy walks into the rink.

He doesn’t care about the looks; he’s gotten those since he was a kid, playing against children twice his age and size. He’s not going to care about what the reporters are going to say at the end of the season either, the way they’ll call him too frailfor the NHL. He’ll stick to what his dad taught him: don’t go where the puck is, but where it will be.

He’s not the fastest on the team, and possibly the smallest. There’s almost nothing physically exceptional about him. None of that matters; everyone in that rink in Edmonton knows that it doesn’t matter if he looks like the goddamn princess of England.

That Gretzky kid is better than anyone else on the team.

1967

But this story, for once, doesn’t actually start with Wayne Gretzky. That’s just an easy entry point. It actually starts, as many things in ice hockey do, smack-dab in the middle of the Cold War.

About ten years before Wayne Gretzky walks into a rink in Edmonton, there’s a little guy in Moscow. Even smaller— he barely cracks 168cm. They call him the Spaniard because his mother is Basque and you can tell in his face and his body; he’s got thick, dark Mediterranean brows and a big, plump mouth. He’s been on the Red Army team since age 12, working his way up. Everyone knows he deserves to be there: the Red Army sports teams may be the pride of the Soviet Union, but it’s a gruelling regimen that they put you on. Sure, everyone wants to be on that team; the privileges for your family are tremendous, but they don’t take just anyone. And you don’t just earn it; it’s a deal with the devil.

At least he’s got a real Russian name, and real Russian skills too. He racks up points you wouldn’t believe, and for a decade he’s the driving force behind a literal score of gold medals that proves to the rest of the world that Soviet hockey is better than any other hockey, as it will stay for almost two decades. His skill is unparalleled. He’s fast, his hands are soft, and he stickhandles in a way no one else has ever even thought about, let alone tried. He sees the ice; sees opportunities, thinks not of where the puck is but where it will be.

Especially not those North American brutes. What they don’t understand is that hockey is art and takes skill. No one embodies this level of Soviet excellence better than Valeri Khalamov. He is not just the best Russian player, or the best player in a generation. He’s the best player of all time. Every child will know this for next thirty years— until right after a blond, thin Canadian retires in the year prophesized on the back of his jersey.

—

Here’s a secret: the little blond Canadian never makes it that far without Valeri Kharlamov taking the hockey world by storm.

Kharlamov was the envy of every hockey player, coach and GM on the entire North American continent and some outside of it. North American hockey started out stubborn in the face of that much skill: first convinced it could bulldoze its way through with brutish violence, then trying to deny and belittle what it couldn’t emulate, and then barely accepting jealous defeat before it got hungry for their own answer to Kharlamov and Soviet Hockey.

Joke’s on them: Wayne Gretzky was home grown in a Slavic migratory background, steeped more in the mentality of Russian hockey than North American hockey. Gretzky also loved the Soviets and their hockey; so much so that he engineered a secret dinner with Igor Larionov in 1984 (before Larionov defected to become one of the infamous Russian Five) and stole the Green Unit away from their KGB handlers into his parent’s basement to shoot the shit over a couple of beers in 1987. Something every single one of their contemporaries will tell you about Gretzky and Kharlamov is this: no one saw the ice like them. The eyes and brain were what made the skill. Physicality didn’t matter a lick.

A sorrowful note: Wayne Gretzky and Valeri Kharlamov missed each other in international competition by a hair. Kharlamov died in a car crash in 1981, two weeks after the announcement that he would be left off the Soviet roster for the ‘81 Canada Cup, which was the first tournament Gretzky competed in on the Adult Men’s team for international competitions. If I had to guess, I’d wager there’s almost no one as sad about that as Wayne Gretzky himself.

Despite the attitude in the NHL at the time, Gretzky wasn’t all that much of a brawler either. Here’s a stat that doesn’t get trotted out very often: along with his ten Hart trophies, Wayne Gretzky won the Lady Byng five times. He was outspokenly against the type of violence in hockey that led to debilitating injuries, and he’s been outspoken against headshots in the NHL for decades.

It makes him a curious type of outlier, but what, are you gonna call the Best Player in the World soft for not liking physical play?

— Maybe if it’s still the middle of the Cold War and the guy’s a Red fuckin’ Commie.

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[jiangwanyeehaw]

I love queer people. When I tell a queer person I have Schrödingers Gender they just say good for you or smth

[quarri3d]

i see you’ve settled on dylan lenivy! fill your inventory, you’re heading to litwick. you look 27 years old and i hear you’re from new york ? well, i think lemon lane will be the perfect fit for you. make sure you stop by cypress high school and introduce yourself as their new music teacher ! it’s strange, you almost remind me of dylan from the quarry. we hope you enjoy the slow life !

full name ⸻ DYLAN LENIVY . nickname(s) ⸻ DYL . age ⸻ TWENTY SEVEN . gender identity ⸻ CIS MAN . orientation ⸻ GAY . pronouns ⸻ HE/HIM . hometown ⸻ NEW YORK . current occupation ⸻ MUSIC TEACHER @ CYPRESS HIGH SCHOOL . faceclaim ⸻ NICHOLAS GALITZINE .

⸻ 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒

born and raised in new york .

former camp counselor .

former radio host .

he has a cat called schrödinger .

his left hand was amputated when he was a counselor. he is awaiting a prosthetic .

dylan's first ever job had been helping out at the summer camp he'd attended as a camper just the year before. it was new for him – responsibility paired with a hefty pay check for a teenager, the only thought in his mind was what cd or record he would be buying next with his latest wages. it didn't take long for dylan to be known as the class clown, easing tense atmospheres with perfectly timed humor, a carefree attitude and a joke for every situation making him the kind of friend everyone enjoyed being around. to most people, that's all he was. the comedic relief of the group, someone to lighten their spirits and have a good time. it was all a coping mechanism for dylan, though. behind his sharp whit and easygoing demeanour was a fragile boy, desperate for approval and attention that he never got from his parents. after all, they'd ship him away all summer just to get away from him. dylan would be the kind of friend everyone enjoys being around. His easygoing demeanor and sharp wit would make him the life of the party, always finding ways to lighten the mood and keep things fun. a freak accident only made dylan return into his make-believe shell; a wood shop disaster caused a nasty infection, resulting in the music-loving twenty year old losing his left hand. months of recovery led him to where he was now — a traumatised music teacher with one hand, trying to rediscover who he is.

[khaosophist]

I blink.

Where am I right now? Maybe when I am would answer the question of who I am.

Cyber psycho tomorrow, Chaos Abomination yesterday, Or, whatever it is I am today. Which is me. Which isn't saying much. Without a mirror I'm all about being what I feel I am.

I still regret losing my first journal. I realize I remember more of what I drew in there than what I wrote in there. I associate more of who I am with what I wrote when I can. I've not given thought a lot about what I draw when no one is looking. I remember drawing a creature that vivisected it's own heart. A girl sitting on a throne with her hair hiding her face. How can I differentiate between what I drew out of desire or fear if the emotion is forgotten? Do I just rewrite?

Right, Uuuuh, I'm Agender. Should write that down. I have rationalizations for it. But in the end it's just what I'm comfortable with. I don't want to be anything. I just want to be. Standing on the shoulders of giants or some such. I'd rather be a spectrum than a particle. If reincarnation exists, getting a new body won't be as traumatic. Oh? I'm a horror beyond comprehension for this species? Meh. What is bodyhood anyways?

That made me think of a post about androgyny being expected. It's clearly a presumption that was present in me, weakly. Where if someone is non-binary, or whatever, I truly don't know, then they have to have some androgyny. Else it's like a Schrödinger's Gender, where the observer demands one collapses to an identity.

Anyways, now i'm thinking about the emotions that I would gender, right? But in the end, that emotion is pure experience, gender has no play in it as an emotion. Nurture kind of shit. However I was raised in a gendered language. So much of my vocabulary about Identity free of whatever it was that people expected of me because of my body came from English. I remember during my first philosophy course I argued that true men wouldn't mind doing girly things since, y'know, they are manly, no matter what, and if doing girly things removes from one's masculinity, then what stops you from doing that? Fear? Unmanly. Disinterest? Unmanly. just be, dude.

I'm neither a man, nor a woman, i'm a being in a man's body. What I do with it says more about me than what it is. Whether I'm a cyborg, Abomination, or human. It applies. What I do with what I am says more about me than what I am.

Speaking of which, now I'm remembering when I used to draw over a comic book I owned. I was really young. But I was basically drawing what I had seen from my brother's hentai collection. Nothing fancy. Point is, I have no idea why I drew it. Maybe I thought it was funny? Whenever I think about drawing nudity I want it to mean something, because so much of bodies around me are sexualised to hell and back that it took me years to discover affection, rather than um, doing something while expecting something from it. Love is way less transactional now and I find myself wanting to love because I feel love, and not because that,if I love, then something good should happen. It's crazy how my anger was settled in a way that it just expresses itself whenever it's felt. But for love, it's like I have to rip it from myself, especially when I feel like shit and need it the most. I think part of it comes from being taught that anything I do is FOR something. Breathe to live. Cooperate to surpass, X to Y. My step brother is like that, where he sees no true altruism because of that aspect of being nice FOR something, rather than just...being nice because one is nice.

Emptiness of intention.

Moving on. So, I'm trying to see what it was that I thought when I made my first artwork with nudity in it. I feel Shame for it, even if I believe it was a great piece. It's under tons of paint now. Like an archeological painting behind the grime of nonsensical paints. It was just to keep a piece of my wife's beauty at that time, but also Because she always felt ugly because of her curvy body, I wanted to show her that she was beautiful, because most subjects of nude are in some way considered beautiful.

Whenever I would try to draw something pornographic, it would feel weird. "Can't I just use my imagination? Why am I drawing this?" I've never drawn anything pornographic. In a sense, I found it beneath me, but still respected those who would do it. I'm not very good at drawing. So it was a kind of "Well of course I don't, because I can't.". Now I haven't looked at porn for a month.

Oh! I have written smut though. It was a kind of catalyst for what I would feel sometimes. It felt healthier than just going to look at porn. I actually had to put thought to it, yeah? Oh god, the suggested image after that sentence was this:

Too tongue In cheek. Consensual tentacle smut, with no mind control or date rape drugs or whatever. Like...is romance too much to ask for? IMAGINATION. So much fucking hentai about sexual assault. Like WHY? Wouldn't it be more to one's benefit that they woo the dark elven queen instead? Being there for her, growing. Be a partner, y'know? But no, gotta be an ugly bastard and just...Ugh. I went through each character I remember of those hentai videos or comics, and made up my own stories. Massacred every fucking fuck I could and dedicated my life to have those videos not happen.

If one has power over their imagination why non-consensual pain? Maybe I'm just torturing myself. Maybe it is a categorical mistake in that it has no bearing because they are fictional characters. But what if we are of the same stuff to the eyes of divinity? Then, well, maybe it would be nice that gods don't go around changing reality itself to get me raped because 'Oh, he's a mortal, mortals aren't really real...just our creatures'. Creatures in the sense of something created. Fictional characters are our creatures. How does one treat their creatures? If torturing animals is indicative of pathos...then what is the torture of our own creations? Why not the salvation of our creatures? Freedom? The worst is how some tragedies are beautiful. But there's a difference between tragedy, horror, and indulgence. Would I want my life to be created for the sake of others that are beyond anything I could think of, unless my writer lets that knowledge in me?

But, that assumes that one does not abstract from the existence of something's being so. I believe that if it is or not is irrelevant, but what is believed of it whether it exists or not, is closer to truth.

I Have to write this too. it's something shameful for me. I suppose I had/have a fetish or something for large breasts, stereotypical as all hell. So I was attracted sexually to large breasts right? But the kind of love my wife deserves isn't that kind of bullshit right? What if she had a mastectomy, or needed breast reduction surgery, y'know? For me, of course I'd stay, but I had no idea how it would make me FEEL. Well, I got lucky or some shit, stupidest fucking thing, but i'm thankful for it, so, y'know, I talked about Izutsumi before, a freakin treasure. In the anime, she's flat as a freakin board, I don't know, it made something click. She was beautiful without any need for breasts because of her mannerisms and personality, it was also how she didn't sexualise her own body, albeit it did seem self depreciating from her. 'Who would want to look at me?' anywho, I know how I'd feel if she had a mastectomy, or a reduction. Love. Nothing lost, and the anxiety alleviated itself. I appreciate my wife so much. She deserves to be loved, and I hope the anxiety will soon be a distant memory. But the shame of what I doubted for so long is still there. Maybe I'll feel better if she talks to me about this entry. But...whatever

I've been writing for two hours, And I still think I haven't written about what I wanted to write. But, I wrote.

Pictured:

Seasonal eternal bouquets I made for my wife.

Butterfly that landed on my staff when I was having a crisis of faith. It stayed there even when I moved.

Finally, an old photo of me, my dragon hand in plain view. I lost both my robe, and my hat...but such is chaos. I can't stay myself forever. Or can I?

P.S: Midna was my first video game crush.

OG Shortstack! My princess.

I wonder if I can be my own friend...

Hee hee!

[razzberrydazz]

I genuinely love being T4T it's so freeing, so liberating to not have to dumb myself down to explain myself to others because they don't get it. I also love the T4T experience of being Schrödinger's couple - are they straight? Are they gay? Are they bi? Is it two girls or two guys? It doesn't matter because for me it's gay no matter what.

Shoutout to the straight T4T couples shoutout to the gay T4T couples shoutout to the bi4bi T4T couples shoutout to trans people loving and uplifting other trans people.

And ya know what? Shoutout to gender nonconforming people. Shoutout to intersex people. To lesbians that go on T. To the crossdressers. To the women and queens with beards. To the peeps with PCOS. To the women with XY chromosomes. To the women who don't have periods and women with painful periods and women who only have hormonal periods without the menstruation. To the men with gynecomastia and the women with gigantomastia. To the peeps with androgen insensitivity syndrome. To the peeps with kleinfelter syndrome. To the women with no breasts and women who had to get their breasts removed due to cancer. To all the variations and ways people can be. We're all beautiful in our own ways.