#i have also described nash's gender as 'leave me alone' and 'i have a gun why are you asking me stupid questions'

[nyehilismwriting]

How does everyone view their own gender? What are their ✨feelings✨ towards themselves (and maybe about how the world views them) on that matter? Like, we know that Rhaxa doesn't really fit on the whole human gender spectrum and just uses they/them for convenience, but what about everyone else?? Has Leanna or Ki-ha ever questioned their own gender?? Spill the teaaa 😔✋

ough okay. got long and rambly so putting individual character breakdowns below the cut <3

as a rule, i think the hadea world falls somewhere between contemporary western society and an idealised future in terms of gender roles, misogyny, and transphobia. while nonbinary and trans identities are far more widely accepted and normalised as a whole, it’s a strongly wealth-driven society, which results in a fair amount of rainbow capitalism - nash and the commander, for example, are highly successful, well-regarded nonbinary people at the top of their fields in paramilitary espionage. the director is a powerful, driven, successful woman who orders corporate assassinations on a regular basis. it’s a combination of much wider personal freedom, with more limited medical access and a general idea that any group of people can be exploited for profit, regardless of their identity.

so rhaxa doesn't care, lmao. if i had to use contemporary terminology i'd describe them as agender - this doesn't 100% apply since it still assumes an opposition to other genders/an existing binary, which isn't something the aliens have. even within alien society, though, rhaxa's never had to put much thought into their role or position, which is part of the reason they're so relaxed about pronouns and the identities people might be projecting onto them. they're very confident in themself, and gender doesn't play any role in their identity so it's all just. 🤷‍♀️

i've talked a bit about imxa's particular pronoun use in this post - obviously, this is based on some not entirely accurate preconceptions about human ideas of gender, and missing some nuance about misogyny and such, but those aren't things imxa has much of a clue about. people tend not to try to be misogynistic towards you when you're a giant scary bug, strangely enough.

nash is... nonbinary. ik this is kind of a null statement but that's how they see themself: they're not transmasc or transfemme, they're just. themself. which I think is part of the reason they started identifying that way, and have done for a long time; they’re very firmly in the “i just work here” camp, with a side of “whose business is it anyway”.

with rohan, i kind of oscillate a bit; xe’s always pretty femme regardless of the pronouns you choose for xem, but i think xir gender is always a bit more of a Presentation. whatever it is xe’s doing - whether it’s leaning into hyperfeminity or gnc-ness, it’s always a bit of a performance. i tend to think of xem as a little more fluid than the others, and that’s definitely in part bc xe’s gender-selectable, but i think that there’s an element of using it as armour there, too; xe’s obviously got a lot of Stuff going on (got a ‘send rohan to therapy’ anon literally as i typed this answer) and the more layers xe can put between xemself and the outside world, the better. i also have a lot of thoughts about the gender-selection mechanic: i’m not fully decided whether i’m happy with the choice to describe xem as a man/woman/person as a way of deciding xir pronouns, and that’s something i might edit at some point, cause i do think regardless of what you choose, xe’s up to some shit, there. even if you choose she/her pronouns and end up with a feminine woman, there’s a lot of performance around that choice; it’s not a subconscious decision on xir part, it’s always very deliberate. at least in part, it’s a way of making xemself seem nonthreatening, both physically and socially.

leanna’s always been pretty settled into her identity as a cis woman; she’s a lesbian, which is a big part of how she IDs, but i think she’s spent most of her life in various lgbt circles. she approaches it from a fairly pragmatic perspective; she’s a cis woman, not because it’s the default or the ‘assumed’ gender for her, but because she’s decided that’s what suits her.

ki-ha...he’s a very private person. he has thought about it a lot, done the gender questioning thing, but i do have relevant stuff planned for him ingame so i’m gonna 🤐 same with skylar - i have a lot of thoughts for my lil guy that have yet to resolve into a solid plan. i just have to sit very still and not look at them directly until they come to me.