#if any character was to have a gender based on your own interpretation it would be your vessel. you know. the one you expressly built befor

[the-meme-monarch]

damn, that sucks. misgendering sucks. I really wish people would remember that frisk/chara/kris' pronouns are they/them

not because they're the fill-in for the player, but because literally everyone calls them those pronouns. jesus.

anyways you're right I wouldn't touch xtale with a 10-foot pole

i appreciate the ask bc someone Literally just gave me the most misinformed and dumb fucking take

[sickgraymeat]

Bonnie was not assigned a gender at birth but her concept of gender is so heavily based on her perception of human society and the narratives she creates around its ruins like. She is a woman by her own definition, informed by her interpretations of old human stuff, because who else could have defined “woman” for her???? Being a woman, to her, means being powerful and creative and taking care of your loved ones. Not to mention, there’s no way that little tadpole nub just grew into a human shape!!!!! She made herself look like her perception of a human woman/girl On Purpose!!!!! Gender is a puzzle and a series of observations, just like everything else about people and relationships and society. So like. Yeah when she first encountered the expectation that women/girls should have boyfriends, she trashed those magazines for her rat to shit on like any ambitious tween lesbian piece of gum would!!! But then someone she created herself reinforced that expectation, and then so did so many other people, and maybe she thought she had no choice or maybe she felt guilty or maybe she was just tired.

But again. We are all just fucking playing with little dolls in the game of life or whatever. Some more than others (……………… yeah Bonnie lol) BUT LISTEN gender is obviously a construct that we understand first and foremost through observation BUT our (or at least 20th century/PW’s generation’s) human perception of gender and the characters’ observations and interpretations do it are so goddamn important to every single character in this show. They are all performing a role and a big part of that role is gender. Once again BMO is the most flexible about this performance because BMO is the most childlike (emotionally/mentally youngest in this case bc obvs many children develop awareness and self consciousness around gender roles very very young) and therefore the least bothered by society’s expectations!!! Just like in real life!!!!

To start out, all Bonnie knows of femininity and womanhood is that mothers are women, and princesses are girls, and mothers and princesses are powerful and caring. And then she finds out that girls and women are supposed to have boyfriends, and that seems really wrong to her, but she has to be a girl/woman because she is a mother and a princess to the extent that she understands those roles!! Meaning not 100% in line with the human definition (mothers don’t raise their children the mammal way, princesses are inherently the highest rulers of their kingdoms) but rather based on her perception of it. Which like GET THIS!!!!! Our perceptions of human definitions of gender and societal roles ARE the definitions of those things!!!!!!!!! I wanna scream abt it it’s so fuckign interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway tangent but in conclusion Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum is the most transgender character ever to NOT actually have any gender assigned at birth to be transing (unless the MG whispered it to her ig) and that’s just how cool she is!!

[cinderella-ish]

Fruits Basket Queer Headcanons

The more I watch and read Fruits Basket, the more I get the sense that no one is straight here. Well... almost no one. So, in honor of pride month, here are my queer headcanons for the cast of Fruits Basket!

(Disclaimer that these are my own personal headcanons, obviously nothing official, etc... I try to draw on evidence from the text, but I'll admit I'm occasionally going purely off vibe. Also, I'm bi and genderfluid, so that's the lens I'm bringing to this. I'd love to hear your headcanons, especially if they differ from mine! Enjoy!)

Genderfluid and/or genderqueer: Ayame and Ritsu

I (probably somewhat controversially) think a lot of the gender non-conformity among Fruits Basket characters is just that: gender non-conformity. Momiji is one example; he dresses in girls' clothing (though not "like a girl") until his growth spurt, but it seems important to him to be seen as a man from at least that point forward.

Ritsu is someone whose gender identity and/or nonconformity really should've been explored more in the manga - as written, it feels like Ritsu's exploration of gender was viewed as something he'd grow out of, rather than a search for understanding himself. He doesn't really seem to mind being identified as either male or female, though he obviously feels a lot of shame about his comfort with wearing women's clothes (though no one around him when we meet him really seems to mind, which is nice-- I also appreciate that Ritsu was shown to have friends who adore him outside of the Sohmas). Anyway, the fact that he seems okay with being referred to as both a man and a woman is the entire basis for this headcanon.

Ritsu also idolizes Ayame, and I think part of this stems from Ayame's own security in his non-traditional gender presentation. We don't really get a lot of Ayame's thoughts on gender, despite his line of work, but he strikes me as the sort of person who would enjoy playing with his own gender presentation and would be more than open to exploring his gender identity (and probably has!). I think Ayame would lean more toward having an expansive view of masculinity rather than dressing more feminine when he feels more feminine, but I also think he would embrace the different ways people might perceive his gender.

Transgender Woman: Akito Sohma

This I think is quite clear in canon. Akito was assigned male at birth, then transitioned to female.

What makes it hard for some people to see Akito as trans is that the reason she was assigned male at birth was not the typical reason people are assigned male at birth in our world (it was her mother's demand, rather than a guess based on the shape of her genitals), but I don't think that makes her any less trans.

Under the Ace and/or Aro Umbrellas

This umbrella is a little tricky for several of these characters, because they've been forbidden from dating, or had very controlling parents, or thought they'd only hurt anyone they loved, so they haven't necessarily had time to figure out whether they've just repressed that part of themselves or they just don't experience attraction at all/without a strong emotional connection first. (Not everyone needs time to figure that out, though!) But anyway, here's who I think would eventually find themselves under at least one of these umbrellas!

Asexual/Aromantic: Kazuma

I love the tidbit that Kazuma tried dating women, but talked so much about Kyo that he never got a second date. I like the interpretation of him as a gay man, but to me, he reads as asexual/aromantic. Dating just doesn't even seem to be on his radar!

Demisexual/Demiromantic: Kyo, Shigure, Machi

A lot of the fandom sees Kyo as demi, and I'm totally here for that interpretation of him. He generally seems annoyed by or frightened of girls who aren't Tohru (frightened either when there's a risk of transforming, or when Kagura is involved). Also, it's CUTE that Kyo takes after his dad (Kazuma) in this way.

At first blush, it seems very unlikely Shigure is under the ace umbrella, but I couldn't stop thinking about his brief relationship with Mayu. He's the one who suggested they date, yet he seemed completely disinterested in her. He did sleep with Ren, but that was only for revenge and because he imagined Akito would look like her if she'd been allowed to grow up as a woman. I genuinely believe all his "high school girls" ickiness was an act, much like most of his personality.

It doesn't seem like Machi can totally tell if/when she likes something (or someone!). This makes me wonder if she's just never had feelings for anyone before Yuki.

Demiromantic: Rin, Hiro

Rin seems open to sexual relations with people other than Haru, but I genuinely can't see her having romantic feelings for anyone other than him. I see Hiro similarly with respect to Kisa. I think, if they ever split, it would take an extremely long time for him to even be open to falling for someone else.

Under the Bi/Pan+ Umbrella

So, I'm not making a distinction between these two (and other orientations that fall under the same umbrella, like poly- or omnisexual) because that seems like a very personal, internal conversation. I know some people make a distinction between the way bi and pan people experience attraction, but some don't, and that feels too prescriptivist for my purposes here. So, these are characters who I think experience attraction to multiple genders!

Tohru obviously falls for Kyo, but she also thinks Akito is cute, she thinks Rin is "shapely" and "beautiful" (her words!), and she goes along with it when Saki talks about them getting married.

Yuki ends up with Machi (and I love them together!) but I think Kyo was his first crush. His arc is also very relatable for a lot of queer folks (myself included!). And he's a disaster. Long live bisexual disaster Yuki Sohma!

Shigure is tricky, because the flirtation between him and Ayame could just be a joke, but I personally think it's a joke that arose out of some fun nights spent together...

Akito obviously likes men, but she also flirts with Tohru when they first meet.

Saki talks about marrying both Tohru and Kazuma. She's probably joking about Kazuma, but she's generally a very literal person, so I don't think she's joking about Tohru. She also marries a foreigner canonically, and that foreigner is probably a man.

Momiji talks about finding an amazing sweetheart-- not an amazing wife or girlfriend!!-- one day. I think he was being very intentional in not specifying his future partner's gender.

Hatori is the one I feel least sure of, but my headcanon is that he gets so annoyed and embarrassed by Shigure and Ayame because he doesn't want anyone to know he was totally part of at least a few of those trysts...

Mutsuki and Hajime are definitely together, right? And it seems like the fandom mostly sees Mutsuki as bi, which... yeah, that tracks.

Hatsuharu's first love was Yuki, and his last love was Rin.

Kakeru has a girlfriend, but for some reason, I have it in my head that he always refers to Kyo as Yuki's "hot cousin"? Did I just imagine that? Anyway... even if I did make that up, I think his backstory is a great analogy for the experience of coming out. He was trying to fit in a box and decided he was done with it. Pure chaotic bi energy.

For Ayame, see Shigure and Hatori above. (Also, “I am a bottom ALL THE WAY!!!”)

Mine is admittedly here just based on vibes.

Mitsuru likes Ritsu even though she's not entirely sure of Ritsu's gender!

Kimi is also here purely based on vibes.

Gay and Lesbian

Hiroshi has always struck me as gay. I can't really explain it. I usually have absolutely awful gaydar, so it's odd that he gives me such clear gay vibes. I wrote him as gay in my longfic, Bloom Within Us, and I'll probably always write him as gay.

President Takei obviously has a crush on Yuki. We don't really see him show interest in anyone else (partially because he's such a minor character). He also seems to still be a bachelor in Another, which could be because he can't legally marry yet...

My headcanon that Kunimitsu is gay kind of popped up as I was writing Bloom Within Us. There's no particular reason, and he doesn't give me strong gay vibes or anything.

Hajime and Mutsuki are definitely a couple! (Right?!) And it seems like most of the fandom sees Hajime as gay which... yeah, I can get behind that.

Akimoto (Arisa's senpai from her gang) is another character who gives me such strong vibes that I thought it was canon that she was a lesbian. Whoops. Anyway, I headcanon that Akimoto is gay, and referenced that in one of my oneshots.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Controversial omission: Arisa Uotani. She says she likes Kureno because he reminds her of Tohru, but she doesn't like Tohru? Yes, she gives me major queer vibes but this to me points to her being straight. Also, based on the way she reacts to her friends developing crushes or falling in love (and the way they react to her falling in love), I don't think there's anything between her and Saki or her and Tohru (as much as I love fics that pair her with Saki!). I also think not every relationship with lots of physical affection and strong feelings of love has to be romantic.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading my queer headcanons! This has been in my drafts for months, so I'm really glad Pride Month gave me a reason to finish this post!

Happy Pride!

[markantonys]

"Rand's misguided chivalry is a central flaw of his character. If you remove it from his character in the show he's not the same character anymore." I have seen this argument few times about Rand and I have never understood it and strongly disagree. I always felt that his central flaw was believing he has to do everything alone. And his chivalry as it's depicted in the books simply wouldn't work with how show Rand has been characterized thus far.

Like, show Rand actually respects women as individuals whereas book Rand puts them on pedestals (I love him but it's true). I am curious how the show is gonna handle his conflict with the Maidens cause I can't see show Rand forbidding them from fighting cause they're women. The only thing I can think of that the show might do is he's hurt when they in particular die cause they're all he has left of his birth mom cause she was a Maiden.

100% agreement! imo many readers mistake "X is a big thing in the books" for "X is an important thing in the books" (though of course, we all have our own personal opinions on what is important or not based on our own individual interpretations of the story, so MY opinions on what's important or not are hardly right all the time either!). is misguided chivalry a big thing with rand in the books? yes. but does it affect the story or his character development in a significant way? i'd argue it doesn't, in the sense that the same narrative purposes can be accomplished by making his attitudes gender-neutral. if you change "rand has a problem with women dying for him" to "rand has a problem with anyone dying for him", or "rand wants to protect women" to "rand wants to protect everyone", or "rand/LTT is traumatized by his murder of his wife" to "rand/LTT is traumatized by his murder of his whole family", that doesn't alter the core of his story & character. the core of rand is someone who's so afraid of and guilty about hurting the people around him that he pushes them away and tries to carry all his burdens alone; there's no narrative need for him to have a specific hangup about women getting hurt, and that core doesn't change if that hangup is removed.

plus, multiple male characters share the same hangup about women getting hurt. how can misguided chivalry be soooo central to Rand Specifically when mat and perrin also suffer from it? when practically every society in WOTworld is set up to keep women from being soldiers or participating in situations where they might be harmed? even the aiel & seanchan place restrictions on what women are allowed to be warriors (only the unmarried & childless, because as soon as you become a man's wife or a child's mother your most important duty is now staying alive and safe For Them; meanwhile husbands and fathers have 0 restrictions from being warriors in any WOTworld society). imo it was much more of an internal cultural bias on RJ's part than it was a specific character choice for rand and rand alone (which is not a knock on RJ; all storytellers have their own internal biases that they bring to their stories, it's human nature! but not all of those biases are required for the story to work, and it's also human nature for adaptors to replace the original creator's biases with their own.)

it's also worth noting that the show is being made in a different time than the books. no matter what some readers think, a story being told in a different time HAS to be altered to better suit the audience of that time. we're supposed to sympathize with rand, but most viewers in the 2020s would find his benevolent misogyny irritating and frustrating, and it would turn them off of his character and make them find it difficult to understand or sympathize with his actions or his trauma. as someone who came into WOT brand-new in the 2020s, i had absolutely ZERO sympathy for any of rand's moaning about Must Protect The Women and all of that stuff accomplished nothing besides making me want to bang his head against a wall (i still love him though lmao). it was genuinely detrimental to the pain i was supposed to feel from rand's arc because i kept getting annoyed instead of sad! and i would be FAR from the only brand-new-to-WOT-in-the-2020s person to feel that way if the show had included that angle. for example, rand struggling to hurt lanfear ~because she's a woman~ and moiraine "dying" as a result would have 2020s audiences screaming at him for being a fucking moron, and a sexist fucking moron to boot. rand struggling to hurt lanfear because he's wrestling with extremely complicated feelings for Her Specifically due to the situationship she manipulated him into and moiraine "dying" as a result will be a hell of a lot more sympathetic to 2020s audiences and will allow the genuine tragedy of that moment to come across.

that's really what adaptation in a different time is all about: look at the intended emotional effect of a scene in the original work, and alter the scene as needed in order to inspire the same emotional effect in these different times. because 1990s audiences are different from 2020s audiences and sometimes it takes different methods to give them the same emotional reaction.

as for the maidens, in addition to your reasoning, it'd be super easy to simply say "the maidens are the sub-group among all rand's armies that he feels emotionally closest to, hence their deaths hit him the hardest." there's a really familial relationship that develops there - of course rand would be cut up when members of his Found Family die! there's no reason it needs to be related to the maidens being women. rand's behavior with them would change 0%, it would only be the motive behind that behavior that's different (different and far less annoying, and thus more moving and emotionally impactful).

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/740284683556929536/

Omg I'm so sorry! I wrote that anon when I was sleepy so it had very ham-fisted wording. Yes, I meant to ask about portraying self-esteem issues about bodies. I thought guys don't talk about it much.

To that one person, why would dudes comparing dick sizes be considered smut? I can see it being rated M. Are you suggesting the rating go up to E?

--

Ahahaha.

Uh... anon... if that's truly what you were trying to ask... I think maybe you need to work on your writing a bit more. The vibes you give off are odd, to say the least...

Like, creepy pervert angling for foot fetish photos while lying about what they want-level weird.

It sounds like you want to heavy-breathe while reading guys' descriptions of their own penises, not like you want help with writing.

--

The reason your ask reads so "She breasted boobily down the stairs" but from the other side is that guys, at least from what I've seen, do not stand around comparing their dicks, at least not in the way you implied.

The people who most commonly compare their junk out of curiosity are toddlers.

This is something tiny children do. Anecdotally, some teens do it, but a lot don't, and there are clickbait articles about athletes sizing each other up this way, but they are just that: clickbait. I'm not saying it never happens, but you wrote about it like it always happens.

It is fucking weird to have a grown-ass man routinely doing it outside of maaaaybe some weirdly homoerotic scene in a stoner comedy or something.

People joke about this practice because it's a thing that exists, not because it is ubiquitous.

That's also why it reads like porn. IRL, if some dude is like "I think we should compare our dicks... uh... and they should be hard so we can compare properly", many other guys are going to interpret that as sexual. And also self-deluding. Which is a good reason to say no.

--

Most people in locker rooms and public bathrooms try to give each other a little privacy if they can, regardless of gender. Openly ogling is what you do if you're about to proposition someone for sex. Or, if it's hostile, you stare because you're about to beat them up.

I'm not saying a guy couldn't sneakily see the size of another guy's junk and have a response, but the whole way you described this sounds like you've never spoken to a human before. Did you seriously get this idea from those clickbait articles?

Among other issues, penises become erect. They look different in different states of arousal. Surely, you've heard of "growers vs. showers"? Temperature also matters. There's a whole fucking bit on Seinfeld that everyone quoted for like years and is probably still quoting about "shrinkage"—i.e. a guy is insecure that someone saw him when he'd just gotten out of the pool and his dick looked small because he was cold. Hopefully, the locker room isn't that cold, but you still don't know what a dude's dick looks like all of the time from catching a glimpse of it one time.

So an adult man who is not completely unfamiliar with penises is not going to 1. openly stare at another man in the locker room and 2. look only at his penis and have some crisis about "Mine looks different".

I suppose for the right character in the right circumstances, you can sell any kind of goofy-ass reaction, including the "breasted boobily" stuff where women think consciously about their tits in a way that actual women generally don't and male authors love to write. But you have to make it a whole Thing. She has to have some reason why her nipples are super sensitive today and thus she pays attention when she normally wouldn't.

Instead, you keep asking these dumbass questions like you're 12 that boil down to "Literally all men are the same cardboard cutout based on their D&D stats from this character sheet. Please tell me some facts about these stats!" instead of approaching people as individual humans who all react differently. You haven't even said anything about what kind of culture these characters come from. Both personality and specific culture (not just big things like nationality but shit like whether they're athletes who change with the same guys all the time) are going to affect how and whether men talk about self esteem and bodies.

You're boiling this down to "What does the penis-having alien species all do?" despite already getting several answers that told you to stop doing that. You either didn't listen or didn't understand what people meant so badly that it's pointless to keep giving you help.

This is not a good way to write three-dimensional characters.

--

Now, I'm not saying nobody has ever snuck a peek in a locker room. Lots of people, regardless of gender, do that. But we're talking covert looks and that kind of looking gives you glimpses of many body parts and not always a very clear look either.

Most actual men on most actual days of their lives are going to feel insecure about their bodies relative to someone else because the other dude looks better at the gym or grows chest and facial hair more easily or is much taller or isn't going bald.

We love to make jokes about penis size, but in my experience, the level of perpetual crisis dudes have over potential baldness is way higher. There are a shitton of ways to be insecure about yourself and your body. That goes for any gender.

Maybe a dude feels insecure because the other guy is much less body-conscious and has an easier time changing in front of people or because he's paid five times as much and is changing into a thousand dollar suit.

Many of the markers of masculinity and attractiveness have very little to do with penises.

There's also a vast difference between your POV character thinking some other dude's huge package is admirable and your POV character thinking he himself is inadequate. He could think his own dick is average and that it would be nicer to be hung like a pornstar without being insecure about it. He could also have a big dick yet still be insecure about it because he's a weirdo who's obsessed with penis size. He could be a size queen who wants to take a ride on that. He could have an ex girlfriend who thought big penises hurt and be creepily fascinated and wonder whom this guy fucks and how they manage.

--

All this shit is a character point. Stop treating it as immutable truth where someone can give you the Correct Answer™ for you to slot into your writing or spank bank fantasies.

[god-syndicate-if]

I hope I'm not being rude by asking this, but why is Dame's name Damiana regardless of gender? Maybe it's my Spanish speaking brain the one who is confused about it. See, Damiana reads as femenine, always, and looking it up in Google I have not seen any interpretation of the name being gender neutral (although I may be wrong). Is this intentional? I assume so, since you could included that a male Dame would be Damian (or Damien, I'm not sure when it comes to English) if you intended for the name to change.

And I understand if you prefer to go with just Damiana. It is way easier to code, and you probably are going to use Dame more anyways. Which, funnily enough, is also a femenine coded word. But I could see it being a nickname that could be understood outside of the obvious gender implications it has.

Now, I hope this doesn't make you change Dame into just female. If anything I was so glad to see a male Aphrodite option! I love the idea of playing a gay version of Ares and Aphrodite's love. It's just I was curious as to why the name was by default always femenine? Since I always see, with gender selectable RO's, that the name is either gender neutral, or it does change based on the gender of the RO.

I'm not suggesting you change anything, by the way. Especially if you have a narrative or thematic reason as to why you took that decision. I just wanted to ask about it since it struck me as unusual.

In any case, I'm excited for when the demo eventually comes! I really had been liking Ares a lot lately, so it was a delightful surprise to stumble upon your IF project.

Have a nice day.

I chose the name because a damiana is a flower, and an aphrodisiac. If I made male Dame change his name to "Damian" I think it would lose that context and make people feel that the female Dame is the more canon type. Which I feel like people are already going to have issues with, seeing as how Aphrodite is a female god. I want both male and female to be seen as canon.

I think regardless of the god, the gods have been any and every possible gender I don't think they'd really care about gendered names.

Also, just as a personal thing for me, I really do not like gender selectable characters changing their names in IFs. I know its stupid and purely just something I have my own issue with, but I just don't really like it. This way I like better, and I think the character, regardless of gender, is a character that would like the name "Damiana".

[suzukiblu]

i want to write and post kinky things, but i can’t get past this base level of… shame, i guess. or embarrassment. or anxiety over judgement. it feels weird to ask just another blog, but yet i still am… how do you do it? did you have to get over the same thing? if you did, how?? sorry. i love your writing

You're good, friend, don't sweat it! ❤️ Honestly I don't remember if I was ever particularly ashamed or embarrassed by the idea of doing smut or not, but I WAS once ashamed and embarrassed by the idea of writing and posting things that I thought were too id-driven or too self-indulgent or just Too Much.

And then I thought, "okay, but if I'm not having fun and not being authentic and not doing what I want, what's the point anyway?"

So I just slooooowly step-by-step stopped reflexively reining myself in, and then I found out that actually the world is full of people who are exactly as id-driven and buck-wild as I am and they are both delighted and GRATEFUL to see my hyper-specific opinions about gender and yes they WOULD like to read about this character being the exact kind of queer I am interpreting them as and no there is NOT any such thing as "too much" hurt/comfort or too many fix-it AUs or too much focusing on your favorite character and yes they DO wanna see those kinks explored too; actually, you should probably write all your fave things a few MORE times and commit even HARDER this time. Like, the more niche and self-indulgent I get, the more enthusiastic and involved the people who read my stuff seem to get, in my experience. People LIKE the stuff I thought I'd get judged over. Like, a lot of people! Not EVERYONE, but still, way more people than I ever would've expected when I was regularly thinking "no one will like my stuff if I get too carried away and do what I REALLY wanna do".

I realize you're asking about specifically porn here, but that was sort of an overlapping thing for me in terms of the KINDS of porn I wrote, and like . . . I really do think making the things you really WANT to make is always gonna resonate harder than just making the things you think you're SUPPOSED to make.

I don't know if any of that was sufficiently helpful, but personally I always say you should just do what you want, in situations like these. You're not gonna be eighty and going "gosh I wish I'd had LESS experiences and tried FEWER new things!", you know?

(also if all else fails, there's always the good ol' "make a throwaway NSFW account to test the waters on your own comfort level and go from there" option)

[kirabook]

Can people stop complaining about Starboy challenge

I think it's a little odd there's a push to say Starboy and Asha are incest. Like, you take such harmless fun and try to twist it and make the worst out of people.

Starboy had MANY concepts. He was never just "one" concept. At one point he was literally just a star in the shape of a boy. In another, shapeshifting animals. In another, they went with the "younger grandfather" route. And finally, they arrived on the marketable star plushie. That's 4 that we know of.

You can see in the multiple concept arts that not all Starboy's are the same. Not all Starboys were meant to represent her grandfather. (and he's literally not her grandfather anyway but whatever I can understand the ick in that case... IF that was the version people were shipping Asha with, which they aren't)

Either way, WISH still would've been a better movie whether Starboy was a romantic interest OR if he was the embodiment of her grandfather. Bot interpretations are a million times better than the final product so why do people have their panties in a twist?

If you hate the romantic not-grandfather Starboy concept and prefer the grandfather one.... then why don't YOU put some fan content out there about the power of familial love and how even beyond the (assuming?) grave her grandfather found a way to help her and jumped into danger with her to save everyone?

It's still a really fun story either way so.... what is everyone's deal?

Like, I'm a family feels truther all day but you know what? All you guys do is complain and haven't put in any work to make your interpretation of the third Starboy concept a reality.

If you've ever written an original story before, surely you know drastic things can change? I've been writing an original story on my own time for years and the amount of times I've changed the origin of some characters based on how the rest of the plot is developing or how I think it would work better.... it's a lot? Sometimes I create new characters out of thin air just for one purpose. Sometimes full out characters I made completely disappear. Sometimes they change races or colors or even genders. That's how the creative process works.

Starboy is at least 4 different people/beings. Most people liked what seemed to be the original version, aka not-grandfather potential romantic interest.

To summarize, people need to firstly, calm down. Secondly, mind your own business and stop trying to squash other people's fun when they expand on the concept of when Starboy was just Starboy and not yet reimagined (probably for the billionth time) into someone else.

Internet discourse has rotted peoples ability to mind their own business, read, and get an imagination I swear

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Sorry if this has been asked before but thoughts on ace and/or aro spec Eddie? Because it is near and dear to my heart. Especially with everything we’ve gotten both on screen and in interviews from Ryan.

I have not gotten this question before!

I would like to preface this by saying that I am not aro/ace so I am speaking in what my understanding of the asexuality spectrum is from my ace friends, so i apologize if I misspeak or say something that is not entirely accurate to the experience of ace/aro people.

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own interpretations of fictional characters, and I am never going to tell someone they are right or wrong for their interpretation of a character’s actions. However, I personally don’t view Eddie as aromantic, and if I were to place him on the asexuality scale, I would place him more towards demi-sexual than completely asexual. We know Eddie enjoys sex, but he still has a very complicated relationship with it when it comes to the women he has been with, and that could be for a myriad of reasons.

Of course one of these reasons could be that Eddie simply thinks he enjoys sex bc he grew up in a repressive religious environment where he was probably to scared to feel any other way, meaning he could very well be asexual and his seeming enjoyment of sex could be an act he puts on to ignore the part of him that he is repressing.

As a gay eddie truther, I believe this idea partly bc I believe he is trying to convince himself he is into women because that’s what he grew up to be taught that men should be attracted to women. However, I could see this being a pathway for Eddie to be introduced as somewhere on the asexuality spectrum, my personal belief being that he would lie more towards the demi end.

As far as him being aromantic, i personally don’t see this. I think we have seen plenty of times from Eddie that he craves that connection with someone but he actively sacrifices his own desires because he thinks he has some obligation to finding a mother for chris. I feel like what Kim said to Eddie in 7x9 about Eddie having too much love to give is true because he so badly wants to be in love with someone for himself, but he has convinced himself he can’t gave that because he views Christopher needing a mother figure as the more important quality in his romantic partners.

All of this to say, these are just my own thoughts and observations. I am obviously biased as a gay person who relates deeply to eddie for many reasons, and so my interpretation of his actions/words are through that lense. It’s hard for me to really see him as anything else, but just because that is my interpretation does not mean it is the only interpretation or even the right or wrong one. Until we get some form of confirmation from canon that Eddie is queer (which i think is very very very likely to happen this season) all we can do is speculate and theorize based on our own personal interpretations of him as a character— and i think that goes along with Ryan’s quote about how much he loves that such a wide range of people can see themselves in Eddie; and i think that no matter what, he is such a powerful and complex character that no matter what sexuality he ends up being confirmed as in canon so many fans of different sexualities and gender identities will still be able to find that deep connection with him and that is so beautiful to me.

I hope this answered your question! I love getting to have these kind of deep talks that dive into the complexities of human sexuality and all the nuances that come along with it (which is why i almost love the idea of them making Eddie unlabeled even though I personally perceive him as gay!)

I hope you have a lovely morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are! and thank you again for the ask 💕💕

(again, apologies if anything i said misrepresents/misunderstands the aro/ace spectrum, it is not my intention to say anything that is incorrect, but I am not well-versed in the aro/ace spectrum aside from my ace friends)

[casualtydept]

one of my favourite things to come from the leaked mgsv script docs is this chart of what personal pronouns and forms of address the thought the characters should use for each other in japanese, so i thought i'd make an english/romaji version of it and provide some notes!

initial notes

to make it clearer to understand, the left column indicates the speaker, and the row along the top indicates the character being addressed. the top line in each cell is the second person pronoun they use for that person (first person in the case of the character talking about themselves), while the second row and below are how the character would call the other by name/title.

so first of all, this obviously doesn't fully reflect the final game, and there's still a lot of uncertainty over certain pronouns and names evident by all the ?s indicating the staff member(s) working on this weren't 100% confident in their assumption, or didn't make a guess at all. empty cells also indicate they thought a form of address simply wouldn't be used - code talker having no reason to ever talk to ishmael, or volgin never speaking to address anyone at all, for example.

something else to be aware of is the presence of a few unused names in here, namely geronimo for code talker, which was an early name for him presumably based on the real life apache leader. at this point in development they also seemed to be sticking with liquid for eli's form of address

there's also "neocon" as skull face's nickname for huey, which interestingly doesn't seem to come up anywhere else in any of the scripts! we can assume this is a play on his son's future nickname "otacon", while also referring to him as a neoconservative which is frankly so hilariously awful i can't help but feel we were robbed of this.

a crash course in japanese personal pronouns pt. 1

next i want to briefly explain what all of these pronouns mean, for those unfamiliar. this comes with a big disclaimer that i'm not japanese or even close to fluent in it, so do your own research if you're interested in this just in case i'm misrepresenting any of the incredibly specific cultural connotations everything in this language seems to have

俺 ore

most characters in the game use this when referring to themselves, it's an informal masculine pronoun that can emphasise masculinity or status around those with lesser status, although around close friends it has a different connotation of casual familiarity.

ore is used by snake, ishmael, miller, ocelot and liquid

僕 boku

this pronoun is used mostly by young boys, but can also be used by adults. it has connotations of humbleness, its use by older men suggesting they feel young. non-threatening and casual.

boku is used by both mantis and huey in each of the two contexts described above.

わたし watashi

your standard gender neutral formal first person pronoun. casually it's only really used by women, a man using it in a casual context suggests aloofness or a businesslike attitude.

quiet and skull face are the only characters that use watashi, you can interpret this as suggesting either formality or casualness for quiet, and the usual formality for skull face.

in the notes this is written in hiragana, rather than using the kanji 私, i'm unsure if this indicates anything in particular or perhaps was to avoid confusion with watakushi, the more formal variant of this pronoun which uses the same kanji.

わし washi

this is a mostly male pronoun, used frequently in fiction to represent your stereotypical old man character.

as such this is the pronoun code talker uses.

a crash course in japanese personal pronouns pt. 2

now for the second person pronouns.

real spoken japanese doesn't really use these pronouns as freely as we would with "you" in english, since in a conversation the "you" part of the sentence is usually implied from the context and using a pronoun puts specific emphasis on the other person in a way that can be seen as cold or rude.

i'll leave it up to you to see which characters use each of these towards others rather than listing them since many of them use different ones for different people depending on their relationship with each of them.

お前 omae

a very informal pronoun mostly used by men. as you can see this pairs with the first person ore, and has all the same connotations of status towards subordinates and casualness among peers. wikipedia says men use this towards lovers so... there's that i guess.

あなた anata and あんた anta

anata is the standard second polite form of "you", often used on forms or in ads when referring to someone in a general sense or used for someone you don't know anything about.

anata is almost exclusively used here by mantis, which fits his distanced nature.

anta is a shortened form of anata that is more informal, suggesting anything from contempt to familiarity, and stands out as rude in a strictly formal context. it can also be used to suggest a sense of defiance and disrespect of authority - as if the character respects the other to some degree, but not enough to use anata towards them.

anta is liquid's pronoun of choice for all characters but mantis, drawing on the latter connotation. it is also used variably by some of the main characters to refer to each other, suggesting their familiarity, rather than rudeness.

君 kimi

kimi is a reasonably informal pronoun used mostly by men to subordinates, or their equals. it can be rude when used to superiors or elders.

this pronoun tends to pair with the first person boku, and as such it get used both by huey and Mantis - although mantis only uses it for eli, demonstrating their closeness.

i find huey's use of it to be kind of a humorous way to draw attention to how convinced he is that they're all one big family and absolutely nobody here wants him dead or anything.

(zero isn't included in this sheet but he exclusively uses this pronoun in the tapes, referring to paz, skull face, kaz, ocelot and big boss with it. up to you if this is a blanket You Guys Are All My Subordinates thing or if it can suggest closeness with some of them)

貴様 kisama

less of a pronoun and more of a insult. often translated as "you bastard/son of a bitch/etc."

as you can imagine the only person they figured would use this was kaz to paz. so in this case i suppose "you spying bitch" would be the best translation.

i can't believe you read all of this

since this was made during development and reflects a lot of uncertainties and some unused ideas, i do want to go through the script and make an updated version of this with the pronouns used in the final version of the game just to have a complete resource. but for now i hope this proves interesting!

[21pearls]

Sims 4 Tarot Legacy Challenge

Tarot Legacy Challenge

Google Doc Here

Hello everybody, and welcome to this absolutely massive 22 generation legacy challenge I came up with and figured I would share. This took so much time and heart to complete, so I hope you all enjoy it.

In real life, I love to collect tarot cards, so I thought that a tarot-based sims 4 challenge would be really cool. So off I went searching to see if it had been done before. I managed to find only a few instances of a similar challenge being done before, but I felt I wanted to give my own spin of it a go, and so I started writing my own. A full tarot deck has 78 cards, which is entirely too many generations, but following the 22-card journey through the Major Arcana seemed much more reasonable. Each card has such personality that building a unique gen for each was much more straightforward than I anticipated.

The order I followed was that of the traditional Rider Waite deck in the upright positions; the meanings and characterization I give for each card are based off interpretations from a few different tarot websites and from referencing my own collection and their guidebooks. Some cards have somewhat similar themes, so whilst some traits and skills may appear more than once because of this, I did my best to make every gen unique from one another in their own ways. I highly encourage you to research each card as you get to each gen to gain a better feel for their character and better understanding of the vibe each card presents. And hey, if you don’t feel my character interpretation is accurate to the card, feel free to change up the generation to a characterization that fits better for you! At the end of the day, tarot is all about personal interpretations and reflection, I see no reason a challenge based upon it can’t be the same.

(Please note that I designed most of this before Lovestruck was released, so it was not included in this challenge.)

Anyways, without further ado, I hope you enjoy my Tarot Legacy Challenge!

Ground Rules

-aging must be on, lifespan is up to you though

-cheats allowed to enhance the story if desired, but are not encouraged

-your heir may be whichever child best fits the next gen unless specified

-aspirations, skills, and career tracks should be completed before moving on unless specified

-I wrote each gen as the gender they appear on the traditional tarot cards, but you do not have to follow the genders that the tarot cards imply (ex. the Empress may be male or nonbinary, they do not have to be a female sim)

- I only designed certain generations to feature supernatural sims; these gens must be that supernatural type, but you are free to make any other gen supernatural. If you think being a supernatural makes sense for a specific gen, feel free to do so

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana is the core of the tarot deck; it represents the major themes the soul goes through in the journey to enlightenment. The Major Arcana follows the journey of the Fool as they set out into the world. We follow them through all the ups and downs they experience across the Major Arcana until they finally reach the completion of their journey with the World.

0. The Fool

Beginnings, freedom, spontaneity, adventure, idealism, innocence

The Fool often represents the start of a new journey. He steps confidently into a wide-open world that he is ready to embrace. He is often optimistic, and almost childish in his idealism about life. The Fool may also represent the beginnings of a literal journey. Love with the Fool is passionate and exciting, but he sometimes lacks commitment in his eagerness to begin new adventures.

For as long as you can remember, you have always wanted to see what the world has to offer. Now that you have grown up, you are ready to set off on your adventure! Your family may see you as naïve, and people may judge you for never seeming to commit to anything for too long, but you love the thrill that trying new things and seeing new places gives you.

-have the childish, noncommittal, and adventurous traits

-complete at 2 levels each of the City Native, Beach Life, and Mt. Komorebi Sightseer aspiration.

-achieve maximum level 5 in at least 6 different skills, focusing on one at a time. You can achieve less than level 5 but should not go over level 5. These 6 skills should all be full skills, meaning they require a level 10 to max.

-do not commit to one career; every time you reach level 4 in a career, you must quit it and start a new one. If you take a part-time job, you must quit it after you have been in it for 3 in-game weeks. You may quit your jobs before these benchmarks are reached if you wish.

-you must visit each world (including vacation worlds) at least once over your lifetime. You do no have to commit much time to each world, visiting a lot once for a few hours in enough. You must also live in at least 4 different worlds.

-have multiple whirlwind romances, but never truly settle down long-term

-no limit on children, but your heir must be a spellcaster

I. The Magician

Resourcefulness, logic, influence, commitment, willpower, manifestation, skill

The Magician is a representation of willpower. He already possesses all the skills necessary to succeed and he knows it. He has the power to manifest the outcome that he desires. He is often a person of great ability and wisdom, and he does not hesitate to use his full potential. In love, the Magician is deeply committed and serious in his intentions.

Unlike your parent before you, you are committed to finishing what you start. As you grew older, you developed powers that none of your siblings seem to possess; as with all you do, you will not rest until you understand them. You commit yourself fully to understanding the mechanics of the world, and find great aptitude in designing the very things you long to understand.

-have the ambitious, genius, and overachiever traits

-master the logic, robotics, and charisma skills

-complete the nerd brain aspiration

-Reach the top of the mechanical engineering career

-You were born a spellcaster, and you commit fully to your magical studies as well as your human ones. Reach Virtuoso rank spellcasting and learn every spell and potion. You may also complete both spellcaster aspirations if desired.

-have one strongly committed relationship with a sim that shares at least one trait with you

-have one non-spellcaster child

II. The High Priestess

Mystery, spirituality, intuition, the unconscious

The High Priestess speaks of our inner voice. She listens well to her intuition and seems to hold knowledge of things mysterious to the average person. She may seem mysterious and sometimes otherworldly due to her calm exterior and innate knowledge of all things spiritual. The High Priestess may appear highly attractive to those around her; she values honesty in her relationships and is very passionate once you get past her calm surface.

You grew up surrounded by magic, and whilst you may not have any of your own, this made you a deeply spiritual person. You believe that there is magic everywhere and in everyone, it’s just not always so obvious. You understand the powers of the world so well that you turn readily to meditation and the soul world. You find peace in yourself, and you plan to help lost souls around you find theirs.

-loves outdoors, vegetarian, and good traits

-master the wellness, medium, and piano skills

-complete the Zen Guru aspiration

-earn your money through teaching yoga classes and guided meditations

-You find peace in the world around you, so you grow and maintain a flower garden throughout your lifetime with sections dedicated to each season. Befriend at least 3 ghosts.

-find and marry a sim with all “good” traits

-have at least 2 children

III. The Empress

Fertility, beauty, sensuality, nurturing, divine feminine, abundance, creativity

The Empress represents all things feminine. She carries beauty and joy with her wherever she goes and is often a highly creative person. She tends to be very caring and nurturing and is often a mother figure to those around her, if not an actual mother. She values her family highly and will do as much as she can to ensure their happiness. In love she is highly caring and leans towards stable and serious relationships.

Your parent before you found happiness in the spiritual, but for as long as you can remember the thing you wanted more than anything was a big and lively family of your own. You commit fully to your children and spouse, and they are the centre of your whole world. Aside from your family, you have a strong creative side, and a soft spot for all things pretty and girly. Your home finds itself overflowing with pretty things and the art you have created.

-romantic, creative, and family oriented

-complete the Super Parent aspiration, and then start the Big Happy Family aspiration

-max the parenting, cooking, and painting skills

-Sell your paintings to earn your money. Before you start having kids, you may also work in the barista career

-You love your family more than anything; have a strong relationship with your spouse and all your children. Have a dedicated family day at least once per week. Your family day does not have to be the same every week. Some examples can be a movie night, a day at the park or pool, a family activity, etc.

- you must stay in a happy and committed relationship with whoever you choose to marry for the rest of your life

-have a large family with at least 4 children

IV. The Emperor

Authority, practicality, stability, fatherhood, structure, discipline, leadership

The Emperor represents organization and control. He represents masculine energy and stands as a father figure to those around him. He values family highly but believes in a more disciplined approach of raising his children. He is decisive and clear in his goals, and often resides in a position of authority. The Emperor approaches his relationships logically, and he often looks for a traditional relationship. He is often well established and may be older when he fully commits.

You grew up in a big and loving family, and because of this you would love to have a big family of your own. You see yourself as a natural leader and feel you would easily be able to raise your children to follow in your footsteps. Your children sometimes say you are too strict, but everybody you’ve met respects and looks up to you as the great person you know you can be.

-perfectionist, neat, and loyal traits

-have the successful lineage aspiration

-master parenting, logic, and research and debate skills

-Master the politician career

-You are a loving but strict parent; all your children should have at least 2 positive character value traits upon age up

-Have a simple elopement with a YA sim whilst you are an adult. You should be the main breadwinner of your household

-Have a large family with at least 4 children

V. The Hierophant

Tradition, conformity, education, conventionality

The Hierophant represents embracing tradition. They like to stay within the bounds of what is known and prefer to conform rather than branch out. They are often extremely set in their ways and traditions. They also often fill a mentorship position to many people. The Hierophant often has a very traditional relationship, often choosing a partner who they view as safe and respectable to those around them.

Your parents raised you well, some may say a little too well. You live a very modest life, and you are happy for it. You pursue a respectable teaching career, marry an acceptable person, attend weekly services, practice a safe hobby, own a picture-perfect picket-fence home, and have the ideal 2.5 children. You may never do anything “exciting” in your life, but you are content.

-proper, bookworm, and squeamish traits

-complete Lord/Lady of the Knits aspiration

-master the education career professor branch

-master knitting and 1 other “traditional” hobby (cross stitch, cooking, fishing, etc.)

-You are a religious person. Dress up in your best clothing and attend religious ceremonies with your family on the same day every week, as well as on every holiday. Have a nice, sit-down family dinner on this day too (add a weekly holiday for this, and edit existing holidays to have this tradition)

- Marry your high school sweetheart. They must be someone socially acceptable that your parents approve of. Don’t woohoo or move in together until marriage. Stay together until death.

- have 3 children

VI. The Lovers

Love, unity, relationships, soulmates, romance, partnership, balance

The Lovers represents the ideal relationship. They have a deep trust and unity with one another, and therefore have a very deep and intense bond. The Lovers are true to themselves and each other; they do not allow society to decide for them what it is they should believe. In love they are deeply committed and are the perfect representation of soulmates; they may also have to make sacrifices if they wish to commit to the relationship.

Your parents always called you too fantastical when you didn’t grow out of it, but all you ever dreamed of was finding your own one true love. You spend your days designing flower arrangements and bouquets for weddings and anniversaries so other people can celebrate their love, until one day you meet a new coworker who fits into your life like a missing piece. Your parents don’t approve of them, but you have finally found your soulmate and you couldn’t be happier.

-romantic, generous, loyal

-complete the soulmate aspiration

-max charisma and singing skills

-master the floral designer career

-Love and romance are a big deal for you; have a weekly date night with your spouse

-you find your soulmate in one of your coworkers; you work well together in every aspect of life. Your parents should not approve of this relationship as your partner does not fit their conventional ideals, but you love them anyway.

-no limit on children

VII. The Chariot

Victory, ambition, willpower, strength, hard work, success, control

The Chariot represents victory due to determination and self-control. He is usually strong in body and will, and almost always emerges victorious in what he pursues. He is confident, focused, and bold, and this may sometimes come across as aggressive due to this. In love, he may be split; he needs to have a clear understanding of what he wants in life before he can choose the right path for himself.

Your parent always told you to chase your dreams no matter what anybody says, and you fully intend to. You want to be the strongest you can be, and nobody will stop you. Other than your occasional temper, you have very good self control which lends itself well to your military career. One day you decide to rescue a dog, and you quickly find great joy in training your pet up to peak performance alongside you so you can be an unstoppable team.

-ambitious, hot-headed, and active traits

-complete the Bodybuilder aspiration

-master the military officer career

-master the fitness, rock climbing, and pet training skills

-Once the gen starts, always have at least one large dog; You must dedicate time to fully training your dog, and even after completing their training you should still have them practice what they know each week. All dogs you have must be fully trained before you can adopt any more.

-be caught in a love triangle. Both options are very different people, and you are uncertain who to choose. Once you complete your aspiration, you know what it is you truly want out of life, and you may choose which sim to commit to.

-have 2 children

VIII. Strength

Courage, inner strength, compassion, self confidence, perseverance, bravery

Strength is representative of inner strength and mastering your emotions. She is compassionate and calm and shows great inner strength rather than external strength. She always has time for those she cares for and she is extremely patient, and often appears quite fearless. In love Strength is compassionate and empathetic; she may attract a partner with a wild side that she balances out.

Your parent was always a little hot-headed and valued strength above all else, but you don’t see it that way. You always thought true strength came from within. You intend to find your own inner power and find great joys in the little things in life. You give yourself freely to those around you and offer a level head to them when needed. You find yourself smitten with a person who turns out to be a little more “wild” than you thought, but you find your calm ways perfectly balance out their more aggressive tendencies.

-self assured, good, and cheerful traits

-complete the Inner Peace aspiration

-max the wellness, dancing, and violin skills

-write freelance books for money

-You always make time for those you care for; every time somebody calls to go out or come over, you should accept it. Complete the feather collection.

-marry a werewolf. Your partner should have the jealous trait. If they are a part of a pack, it should be the Wildfangs.

-no limit on children, but the heir must be a werewolf

IX. The Hermit

Introspection, withdrawal, solitude, self reflection, inner wisdom

The Hermit represents the search for the inner self. He spends much of his time in solitude in order to better look within himself and search for his inner voice. He works hard to discover who he truly is on the inside, and often appears wise and as a guiding figure to those around him. The Hermit needs time to decide what he truly wants from his relationships. Once he has taken the time to reflect upon himself and those he loves, the bonds he forms are very strong.

You never felt that you truly knew yourself, no matter how hard you tried. Your parent tried to help you as best they could, but they never could fully understand you. You never really connected with the wolf side of yourself, so you do everything in your power to find out what it is you really want to be. You join a local werewolf pack to better learn your wolf side, but as much as they respect you, you don’t feel you fit in and you prefer to spend your time alone with your insects and candles.

-loner, bookworm, genius

-complete the Werewolf Initiate, Emissary of the Collective (except for becoming alpha), and then the Cure Seeker aspirations

-as a teen, have your parent help you master wellness. Max cross stitch and fabrication skills

-you keep bees and craft candles with their wax. You earn your money by selling honey and candles at a weekly market.

-In an attempt to understand yourself and your condition better, you join the Moonwood Collective werewolf pack. You prefer your alone time but commit to them when needed. Your pack should respect and look up to you. Gain the rank of Beta in your pack before you cure yourself, but never take over as alpha. Complete and display the insect and Moonwood relics collections.

-Find your fated mate. They are fully ready to start a relationship with you, but you need time to find yourself. Once you have cured yourself, you finally commit to a relationship with them. They should also take the cure before you have your child.

-have one non-werewolf child

X. The Wheel of Fortune

Fate, change, luck, cycles, destiny

The Wheel of Fortune represents the ever-moving cycle of life, fate, and destiny. Life comes with both good days and bad days; both are necessary and cannot be avoided. The Wheel of Fortune is always turning, and life is always changing. Fate will come to pass whether you fight it or embrace it.

Your parent may have felt the need to change who they are, but you embrace what fate has in store for you. Every aspect of this gen is randomized.

-Randomize all your traits, your aspiration, 2-3 skills to max, and your career.  If your aspiration requires a specific career, you may choose to either reroll your aspiration to get one that does not require a specific career, or you may commit to the career your aspiration requires.

-roll from 1-8 to see how many children you should have. If you never get a solid partner, you may adopt or have science babies. Ensure whichever child you choose as heir is human.

-if you wish, use an online Sims 4 random events generator at least once per week for an extra layer to this gen

-every in-game week, roll 1-6 to see how your love life pans out

              1. If you are in a relationship, break it up

              2,4, or 6. No change in relationship this week

3. Start a new romantic relationship. If you are currently in a relationship, this means cheating on your partner (unless you have the loyal or good trait, in which case you break any current relationship before starting the new one).

5. Take your existing relationship to the next level. (boyfriend/girlfriend > engaged > married)

XI. Justice

Justice, karma, law, truth, honesty, integrity

Justice represents fair and equal judgement. She is someone who always carefully weighs her decisions and recognizes that the choices she makes will have long term consequences. She seeks out the truth above all things and pays no attention to any unfounded opinions others may hold. She is often a mediator, and whilst not everybody will love the stances that she takes, she is highly respected. Justice recognizes that relationships take work; she puts in effort and treats her partner fairly and expects fair treatment in return. She values honesty highly and will work find out the truths of her partner; she will always find out if she has been disrespected or betrayed.

You always felt much more grounded than your parent. They believed in the power of fate, but you believe in facts. You believe in facts and truth so much that you build a career out of judging what is true or not. You value those around you highly, and strongly believe that everyone deserves a chance at fairness and respect. Whilst not everyone agrees with your stances, you make yourself open to all and become a pillar of your community.

-proper, perfectionist, and loyal traits. as an elder gain the wise trait.

-complete the Neighbourhood Confidante aspiration

-max charisma, logic, and research and debate skills

-master the judge career

-be active in your community; always vote on NAPs, attempt to fix bad relationships your friends and neighbours may have, donate to charity, volunteer, and host neighbourhood get togethers regularly.

-find out everything you can about your partner before marrying them. You should know their traits, preferences, job, and you should have a decent relationship with all their immediate family members before you propose. (i.e. their parents, siblings, and any children). If your partner ever cheats on you, you will find out and must leave them.

-have two children (preferably twins); one has a more “proper” approach to life, and the other (the heir) is a bit more wild

XII. The Hanged Man

Waiting, sacrifice, uncertainty, lack of direction, confinement, perspective

The Hanged Man represents one who makes sacrifices for the good of progress. He is stuck in a place in life that he does not enjoy and even feels trapped in, but he sees this as a necessary sacrifice for his goals to be achieved. He puts his life on hold with no issues and waits patiently to pick it back up again, sometimes for a very long time, until he is certain the best results are inbound. The Hanged Man is patient when it comes to love. He recognizes that either he or his partner may not be ready for commitment and knows that sacrifice may be needed in order for his relationship to survive.

Your plan for life was never very traditional. You have a passion for the slopes and spending your nights having fun, and that’s enough for you. That is until a surprise pregnancy wrecks your life plans. You may not be anything like your parent, but they did raise you to always do the right thing, so you get married and quit your dream to support your new baby. You aren’t necessarily happy in your new life, but you love your child fiercely and will do anything for them.  If that means giving up your dreams until they can support themselves, then that is what you’ll do.

-Start out life with the cheerful, active, and bro traits. Every second promotion after you get married, change a trait until you have the gloomy, lazy, and squeamish traits. After you reach level 8 in your career and your child is a teen, you may change these all back.

-have the extreme sports enthusiast aspiration; complete max 2 levels of it before you stop pursuing it. Only finish your aspiration after you rekindle your passion.

-as a teen/YA master either skiing or snowboarding and dancing skills; once you get married stop practicing these skills; start practicing again once your child becomes a teen, and you have reached level 8 in your career.  You can try out multiple new hobbies over your lifetime, but only reach level 3 max in each before you decide its not for you.

-early YA make money through snowboarding videos or teaching ski classes (available at level 10 of each skill), and through completing odd jobs. After marriage, join the salaryperson career to support your family. You may quit your job and re-chase your passion after you find yourself again

-You have a wild youth; sneak out as a teen, slack off in school, etc.; as an adult throw parties or go to bars or clubs every night, have a lot of no-strings woohoo with many different sims, and generally have a good time. After marriage, fully commit your time to your job and raising your child; go all out for holidays and birthdays for your child but spare no time for anybody else in your life. After you find yourself again, you may rebuild a social life and throw weekly house parties again (albeit more mature ones now).

-whilst a YA, get pregnant/get another sim pregnant after a one-night stand. Marry them before the baby is born because you believe it is the right thing to do. You can be friends with them, but do not max your romance bar with your spouse (cheat this back down after marriage if needed). You do not realize how much you love your spouse until adulthood after your child becomes a teen and you reach level 8 in your career, wherein you can finally max your romance with them.

-Your first child is your heir. You may choose to have more children in late adulthood once you realize you truly love your spouse.

XIII. Death

Endings, change, transformation, letting go, transition

Death is representative of change, most often positive ones. Death tells us that the past must be left behind in order to embrace the future – no matter how hard letting go may be. Death tells us that sometimes our old self must die so our new, more true self, can be born.

You watched your parent wither away your whole childhood until they finally found their joy for life again, and you decided quickly that that would never be you. You intend to squeeze everything out of life for yourself that you possibly can with no care for how it hurts those around you. That is until you experience a brush with death, and completely change your views on what life means. Now you live your life (or what’s left of it) with a full focus on making both yourself and the world into the best that they possibly can be because life is too short, and the future should be cherished.

-Start your life with the mean, self-absorbed, and snob traits. Change to the green fiend, recycle disciple, and loves the outdoors traits after your “death.”

-as a teen/early YA have the party animal aspiration; after “death” complete Good Vampire aspiration

-max the gardening, vampire lore, and charisma skills

-master the Conservationist, Environmental Manager career

-as a teen/early YA, you are “attacked” by a vampire and turned. This “death” compels you to become the best person you can be for yourself and spurs a desire to help the world. Fully clean up Sulani. Make sure the neighbourhood you live in has a green eco-footprint. Support green-initiative NAPs. Become self-sufficient.

-as a teen/YA, have a “troublemaker” boyfriend/girlfriend. After your “death,” you must breakup as they no longer fit the life you want for yourself. You may choose to stay single, or find a partner who also has eco-centric values

-have one non-vampire child

XIV. Temperance

Balance, peace, inner calm, harmony, tranquility

Temperance represents balance and patience. They are a calm individual who does not let anything get to them, and one who avoids extremes in their day-to-day. They are a person who has found their own peace; they work well with their community and find great purpose in their life choices. In love, Temperance is patient and understanding; their partner may require these qualities in order to find true harmony in the relationship.

Your parent gave their all to fixing the world around them and trying to make it a better place. You’ll leave the fighting side to them, but you did inherit their love for all things green and living. You grow and provide food for your community and find a great purpose in doing so. It may be a simple life, but it’s yours and you find peace and happiness in it.

-loves the outdoors, animal enthusiast, and cheerful traits

-complete the Country Caretaker aspiration

-master gardening, handiness, and fishing skills

-live on a farm and sell the goods you’ve grown/produced at a local market for income

-Live in harmony with your land and community. Have a strong relationship with all your animals, and any wild ones that come into your land. Have a farm cat and farm dog. Have the simple living lot trait. Regularly participate in your community by running errands for people and competing in the Finchwick fair.

-marry your soulmate, who should have the hot-headed trait. They may be fiery, but you have great patience and always work things out with them in the end.

-have 3-4 children

XV. The Devil

Addiction, obsession, excess, dependency, powerlessness, temptation, vice, self-destruction

The Devil represents addiction. He is a being of indulgence, giving in to his urges for luxury and materialism. He finds himself addicted to all things pleasureful, including substances, material things, and lust fueled actions. He may feel powerless to fight these urges, and often has no control over his impulses. The Devil gives into lust and doesn’t always commit, which can harm his relationships if he does not learn to openly communicate with his partners.

Growing up your life was pretty plain. You never could find anything that really brought you happiness the way your parents found theirs. You start indulging your darker urges in an attempt to find some joy in life. These simple indulgences soon grow into a lifestyle. Eventually you start brewing you own drinks, and soon you find yourself mixed up in a bootlegging business. Turns out, you’re pretty good at it. You still aren’t passionate about anything in particular, but you find plenty of ways to make yourself happy, if only temporarily.

-materialistic, glutton, and kleptomaniac

-complete the Serial Romantic aspiration

-master the mixology, nectar making, and juice fizzing skills

-Master the criminal career, boss branch

-you have a drinking addiction and struggle to control your impulses. After you get into making drinks, your sim should drink a lot; drink at least 3 drinks per in-game day and get dazed from drinking at least once per week. Try to complete whims rather than decide for your sim what to do.

-Have multiple ongoing partners; you may get married and divorced as much as you’d like, but always have multiple partners even if you say you are monogamous

-no real limit on kids

XVI. The Tower

Chaos, upheaval, trauma, disaster, destruction, sudden change, catastrophe

The Tower represents sudden and major changes. The change the Tower brings is not always a bad thing, but it is often chaotic and scary as it happens. The Tower shakes who you are to the very core and completely breaks apart who you are. It sometimes heralds deeply traumatic events on the horizon.

You grew up and got immediately recruited into your parent’s bootlegging business, which was never really your speed. You wanted to cause mayhem, but apparently this was the best you could get. That is until one day on the job when you get caught. The people that caught you offer you a deal, work for them as a spy inside the family business and you won’t get thrown in jail. You do this grudgingly until one day, a chance to be the bringer of chaos you always wanted to be presents itself.

-erratic, non-committal, and paranoid. Take trait changes whenever they come up, but always keep the erratic trait.

-complete the Chief of Mischief aspiration, then randomly swap your aspiration very few days

-master mischief and programming skills

-Start out in the family crime business. Get recruited into the secret agent career. Master the secret agent, villain branch.

-you are the embodiment of chaos, and your life is therefore chaotic. Move homes multiple times; decide if you will be friendly or mean to everyone in your life with a daily coin flip; break into people’s homes to prank their appliances and make messes; hack into things; cause general mayhem.

-Every relationship you start must result in marriage; every marriage must end in divorce. Have at least 3 marriages.

-Have one pregnancy per marriage. Your heir must be human

XVII. The Star

Inspiration, rejuvenation, hope, positivity, healing, renewal, positivity

The Star represents renewal and hope. The Star has the courage to step away from the chaos of the Tower and is therefore able to heal from the damage it has caused. The Star holds great inner strength and is resilient and hopeful. She is very positive and calm, and she knows that everything will turn out okay. The Star has an optimism that draws people to them. When it comes to love, the Star may sometimes find that a person from her past will re-enter her life in a new, deeper way.

Your parent lived a life of mayhem and pain, and the relationship you had with your family was always toxic because of it. As soon as you are able, you completely cut off your family and start fresh. You build your own little family of friends and start healing yourself and find a passion for healing those around you too. You find ways to share your joy with those you care for and make your own happiness. That is until a face from your past comes back into your life, and completely changes your plans all over again.

-good, ambitious, and cheerful traits

-complete the Musical Genius aspiration

-master the guitar and baking skills

-master the doctor career

-completely cut off your family and any early life relationships when you become a YA. Take no money from your family and move into a cheap apartment to start out with. Join or start a club after you move out and have at least 3 strong friendships with the people in it. Regularly attend club gatherings. Play music for and share your baked goods with your friends and neighbours. Host holiday parties that you invite all your friends to.

-Have a childhood friend that you lose contact with when you cut off your family. Meet them again later in life but develop romantic feelings this time around. Get married to this sim.

-have 2-4 children

XVIII. The Moon

Illusion, intuition, secrets, complexity, the unconscious, anxiety

The Moon represents an illusion. The Moon calls you to trust your intuition to navigate the illusions that surround you. Secrets are being kept from you. Either it is your mind playing tricks on you, or the truth is being concealed from you, but the front you see is not real. You must put in the work to truly see the realities that surround you. Past experiences may cloud your judgement; try to fully understand those around you so as not to put your relationships in jeopardy.

You grew up happy and always thought the best of people, until someone that you loved deeply and trusted implicitly completely ripped out your heart and broke all faith you had in others. You became convinced that the world was out to get you; that those around you are hiding things from you that you have a right to know. All you want to do is discover the truth of what’s around you. You fell in love again, but you can’t bring yourself to have faith in them like you’d like to. They keep disappearing for “beach trips” which must be a cover for them cheating on you, right?

-paranoid, nosy, and socially awkward

-complete Strangerville Mystery or Seeker of Secrets aspiration

-master programming and photography skills

-master the detective career

-complete the space prints and seashell collections

-when young, have a partner who constantly cheats on you; find out and leave them. After this, marry a mermaid, but you are not aware of this, and they do not tell you; you are convinced they are cheating on you (all those visits to the ocean are suspicious), but you can never prove it. Find out the truth when one of your children grows a tail in front of you.

-have 2 children from your mermaid spouse. The heir must be a mermaid

XIX. The Sun

Happiness, optimism, vitality, joy, confidence, success, abundance

The Sun represents joy, success, and vitality. The Sun is strongly optimistic and happy, and this rubs off on those around them. People are drawn to the Sun, who is often able to share their success with the people around them. In all their relationships the Sun is happy and fulfilled, and this makes them a very attractive individual.

Your parent always hated it when people were keeping secrets, so you grew up always showing off your true self. As it turns out, people love you for this. You have a passion for acting, and your infectious attitude helps find fame in it quickly. The world seems to love your bright and open nature, and if letting people speak with you is all it takes to make their day, then you’ll speak to as many people as possible. Bringing the world joy is your pleasure.

-cheerful, outgoing, and self assured

-complete the Friend of the World aspiration

-master acting, singing, charisma, and comedy skills

-master the actor/actress career

-Reach 5-star celebrity status and have a pristine reputation. Be a source of light in the world; donate to charity, volunteer, host events, and always make time for fans. Earn a lot of money that you have no problem sharing. Do not hide your scales; you fully embrace your mermaid heritage and let the world know who you are.

-marry a sim with the cheerful trait

-have 3-4 kids. Your heir should be human

XX. Judgement

Awakening, renewal, self-evaluation, purpose, reflection, choice

Judgement represents the moment when we step back and evaluate our past and our actions. Judgement calls us to reflect upon the past to form an understanding of who we are and who we want to be. It is also about choices; what we do has a profound effect on our lives. Judgement tells us our choices have consequences, and what we have done will either pan out, or come back to haunt us.

Your parent always had plenty of friends and people skills that never really rubbed off on you. You found peace more in books and history than you ever did other people. You fall in love, get married and have a kid, but your spouse seems to have an issue with how you live your life and leaves you. For all your knowledge on the past, you just can’t seem to look properly at your own and see where you went wrong. Once you finally achieve your dreams, you are finally able to take a step back and see for yourself just where it is that you went wrong and decide to try to fix what you have broken.

-genius, book worm, and clumsy

-complete the Archeology Scholar aspiration

-max the archeology, writing, and parenting skills

-earn money through selling artifacts and archeology books

-you are always willing to learn. You should regularly sign up for skill classes at the university, and you should work to having a full library at home with at least one copy of every book available. Read books to raise your fun level. Collect all Omiscan artifacts and treasures.

-get married and have a child; you and your spouse must gain a negative relationship with one another due to you always being away for your job and divorce. After you have completed your aspiration and your child has become a teen, restart your relationship and get married again.

-have one child

XXI. The World

Completion, achievement, harmony, wholeness, fulfillment, celebration

The world represents completion and wholeness. The world recognizes it has travelled far; that the self is connected to all other things and plays an important role in the movements of life. The efforts you have put in have paid off and you can withstand any challenges. You have achieved all your goals, and this is worthy of celebration. You have completed the journey that the Fool once started, and the world is at your fingertips.

Your parent was a scholar, and they raised you on stories of the past and of the wide world around you. The places they took you growing up fascinated you, and you always wanted to see more. You long to explore what the world has to offer, so you set out as soon as you can on your own adventure. You take your time to experience all that life has to offer, finding fulfillment and joy in all that you do. You are the heir to a great legacy, and you are content in who you are and the choices you have made to get where you are today.

-Have the adventurous trait, and 2 other traits of your choice. Whatever feels most fulfilling to you

-Finally complete the Beach Life, City Native, and Mt. Komorebi Sightseer aspirations that the Fool started so long ago.

-Max the same 6 skills that the Fool never completed

-Choose whichever career you as a player most enjoy and find fulfillment from.

-you enjoy travelling and experiencing what the world has to offer, but you take your time in doing so. Visit each world at least once, but this time make an effort to spend time with the locals and spend at least a full day in each. Collect a souvenir from each world/an object that represents it as you visit and display it in your home.

-Your life will be fulfilling to you no matter what you decide. If you choose to stay single, get into a relationship, have kids or not, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you do in life will bring you joy.

Congratulations! You have journeyed far and have experienced the ups and downs of what the Major Arcana has to offer. Thank you so much for reading.

 I hope you enjoyed my Tarot Legacy Challenge! <3

[vveakfish]

do you have any thoughts about the core four whose gender(s) are basically just a trans fruit cocktail that you would like to talk about? because I would love to listen

oh boy DO I !!!

I have So Many thoughts about them Anon, so thank you for giving me an excuse to try and put it into words beyond “Damn, these bitches trans! Good for them.”

Honestly, there are so many different ways to explore these characters genders based on how you choose to interpret their life experiences, and their aesthetic changes, and their relationships with each other. I am of the belief that any of them could be trans in any direction

But, that said, I Do have particular gender headcanons for YJ that i am very fond of, so thats what I’ll be talking about today.

(Small disclaimer. I have not finished all of the comics referenced in this. I am using the information i have to inform these, but you know, i might come back to this post at some point in the future and look at it like “wow, i don’t agree with any of this anymore.” And i think thats okay.

I’m just here to have fun, and i thoroughly enjoy these little guys, and think abt them alot, so enjoy

(also if you dont want to read 4.1k words of blorbo gender analysis, or would like to avoid spoilers for Superboy (1993), Young Justice (1998) & (2019), and Red Robin (2009) in varying degrees of detail, or you just want to see what lables i assigned them, scroll down to the bottom <3))

lets get started.

Bart:

Bart's gender is the most complex, but his thought process about it is also the most simple. I think his view of gender would be very much influenced by the fact that he grew up in VR in the future like…

A body is just an avatar, do what ever the fuck you want with it.

That said, the lil guy has always given me transmasc vibes. These vibes, however, are by no means binary.

He understands that in the 21st century a lot of people do not have his sort of “throw things at the wall and see what sticks” approach to gender, so he’s okay with being put in the box of Boy™. But his gender is a lot more * hand waves vaguely *

Clothes don’t have gender in his eyes, they’re fabric you put on your body. Wear what ever you want forever!

Bart in skirts is something i have seen many people draw/talk about before, and its something i agree with wholeheartedly. He likes hair clips, and like, those loud (actually loud and visually loud) beaded bracelet type things that ravers wear. He like nail polish. He doesn’t grow facial hair, but he wouldn’t care if he did. He’s not on hormones, but he definitely considered it for the bit. “Gotta drink my boy juice” Kind of vibes.

For him gender has Nothing to do with performance, its all about comfort. About wearing what feels right, regardless of whether or not he’s adhering to expectations of masculinity.

Yes, he Will wear that god awful outfit out of the house, haters can die mad

Cassie:

Anon, I need you to understand how much i love early yj98 cass. She is everything to me — her process of coming to terms with herself, and being able to watch her start to feel at home in her own skin. It makes me absolutely feral.

lets see if i can explain why… succinctly

When we first meet her in yj98, her identity as “Wonder Girl” is this sort of amalgamation of What it Means To Be A Hero in her eyes. She has her party city blunt bob wig (Because Diana is who she looks up to), the gloves, leather jacket, goggles combo (that so clearly take inspiration from Kon).

At this point in her life Wonder Girl is not really her. Its very clearly a mask she’s putting on. which is what makes it the perfect avenue for her to explore gender expression without it having to actually be about her gender.

I think the part that specifically makes me feral though is her… we’ll call it admiration of Kon.

The girl is a self proclaimed Superboy stan + theres all the weird not-drama between Cassie and Cissie over wanting attention from Kon. (And i say Not Drama bc its like… Kon flirting with cissie (which like… have you met 90’s Kon?? he flirts with everything that moves) and Cassie being upset that he’s Not flirting with her. and cissie is just along for the ride. She’s not quite as much of a flirt as kon is, but she has her moments)

All of this to say i feel like its impossible to have a conversation about Cassie’s gender without also talking about her experiences with comphet and lesbianism.

At the beginning, Cassie sees Kon — this cocksure, conventionally attractive boy with powers that (at first glance) seem very similar to hers, and felt something about it. And, in the way of teen girls who have been told since grade school that they’re supposed to like boys, Cassie comes to the conclusion that what she feels for Kon must be romantic in nature, right?.

All of this, the jealousy over Kon and Cissie flirting, basing her costume off Superboy’s (intentionally or otherwise), the fact that she wont let her team see her without the wig and goggles at all for so much of yj98. To me it all reads as the tangled mix of undiscovered lesbianism and gender dysphoria that the poor girl simply doesn’t have the words to define yet.

So, then what IS cassie’s deal with gender???

i am so very glad you asked.

She, too, is a transmasc of the nonbinary variety.

I think her relationship to femininity is complex, and ever changing. She doesn’t feel comfortable performing femininity the way the world expects her to, but she is also part Amazon. And i think having a relationship with both Diana and Donna would greatly influence how she felt about femininity as a whole.

The Amazons are strong, their femininity isn’t about beauty, or being soft spoken — it isn’t about Men at all. On Themyscira, to be a Woman is about bravery, honor, skill, and in some ways, divinity. Getting closer with her Amazonian sisters would change her relationship to womanhood immensely.

But it still wouldn’t feel Right. She would be able to see that womanhood can be defined differently, but that wouldn’t change the connotations that womanhood had as she was growing up. She’d never be able to lean into it the way Diana or Donna do — they both grew up only having woman defined as strong and brave and confident. Their experiences are not analogous.

The baggage of growing up a girl under the patriarchy wouldn’t just… vanish because she sees that it Doesn’t have to be that way. In some ways, the knowledge that it didn’t have to be that way could make her dysphoria all that stronger (especially if she hasn’t quite deciphered that dysphoria is what she’s feeling).

but i think there would be a point where two things sharpen into focus for her.

fiirstly she has a big fat crush on cissie king-jones.

and second (which would only come AFTER realizing her feelings for cissie) is that what she feels for Kon is Not the same as what she feels for Ciss.

She didn’t want to be with Kon romantically, she just wanted his gender.

I could see her experimenting with wearing a binder, liking that she can get rid of her boobs if she isn’t feeling them that day.

She already has her short hair, and her leather jacket and jeans, and shes big and buff and strong (because she deserves to be butch!!! okay???).

I still think she would use she/her pronouns, but she wouldn’t be picky ab it (if she gets called sir while at the pizza place, she’s not going to correct them.)

But here’s the kicker — I think leaning hard into her masculinity would be EXACTLY what she needs in order to actually ENJOY expressing femininity again.

When putting on the mask that is ‘womanhood’ becomes something that she can Choose to do, rather than something that is being forced on her, it can be pleasant. Like playing dress up.

She has a new appreciation for it, especially since her friends respect her gender, and she knows at the end of the day, when she takes the makeup, the clothes, and the wig off, underneath it all she’s just her.

(Small addendum re: TT’03 Cassie’s fem phase. I have Many thoughts about this as well, and while they end up in roughly the same place, i exploring her experience with comphet and her decision to dress in a more traditionally feminine in that run is something id like to explore in another post (once i’ve actually read the run too.)

Cissie (bonus):

This one should be shorter than Cassies, mainly because my reasoning for it is much simpler.

YJ'98 (#11)

She lists all these names, all of them feminine except for Fucking Ralph. “One weird phase” she calls it.

To me, Cissie is a transgirl through and through. She has this huge list of femme names she tried on while she tried to find the one that fit best. She mentions ralph in this off handed way, as if its not important, and i think thats just her way of dismissing her deadname as something of little consequence.

(that said, i think there’s lots of fun to be had with transmasc cissie, or tried transing-her-gender and realized it wasn’t for her Cissie. But as a transfemme, tgirl cissie is So important to me <3)

Kon:

other people on here have made posts about Kon’s gender that are much more coherent than this will be, but i’m putting the words down anyway. bear with me.

Kon’s experience with identity (especially in his earlier years) is almost entirely about the external rather than the internal.

Kon has his whole life planned out for him from the moment he opens his eyes. It’s simple really — become Superman.

So you have this freshly hatched teenage boy, saving the world as Superman (not the Only one, but definitely the coolest one (Kon would argue)). All eyes on him, all the time. In some ways, performance is inseparable from who he is. From the very beginning, everything he does is on display.

He starts his life with a Name (Superman), a life path (…again, Superman), and all the confidence of a sixteen year old jock with nothing but wins under his belt. then it all gets taken away.

Turns out Clark ISNT dead, and the world doesn’t need its pint sized superman anymore now that its got the real thing.

enter Superboy

Kon’s entire identity, his whole purpose for being alive, was to step into the shoes of a dead man who is no longer dead. So where does that leave our genetically engineered test tube baby?

lost, and extremely confused.

But he’s good at using his charisma as a shield, and even better at keeping himself busy. His problems aren’t there if he doesn’t have the time to think about them, right?

and i think that’s true about his gender as well.

Similar to Cassie, his discovery and exploration of his gender feels incredibly tied to his sexuality (to me). If you’ve read sb93, you know Kon’s deal with women. He is cute & conventionally attractive & he's like superman with a fashion sense, so of course there are people fawning over him.

And he loves the attention. He likes that people want him, or that they are looking at him. The issue is he doesn’t have the life experience to realize that their reasons for paying attention to him are often very shallow, manipulative, or selfish.

He isn’t treated as a person very often. He’s a brand, a product, a tool, a weapon. He’s arm candy, he’s a photo op, he’s a headline, he’s a paycheck. And it takes him a long time to be able to tell the difference between someone Liking Him & someone Using Him.

For the longest Time, Superboy is all he is. He doesn’t have a name outside of that identity (except for the various pet names the women in his life give him (kid & pup, mainly)).

And even when Clark does give him his real name, Kon-El, its still Attatched to his identity as Superboy.

I dont think that he would really even be able to start dissecting how HE feels about his identity until he’s much older.

Part of this would come from the space to be someone else that gaining a civilian identity would give him. As Superboy, the goal has always been to stand out, to be seen, to shine like the sun.

As Conner Kent, he has to blend in. He doesnt want to draw attention to himself, or the Kents, or Clark. He has to fit in, which was never something he had to do as Kon. And i think it would kind of chafe at him — but he wouldn’t really know why.

I think he’d chalk it up to how different of an experience it is. Not being loud, having to be normal™. And so i think he’d just… continue to play the part. For a while anyway.

And like, part of being Normalest Boy Conner Kent would also involve actively un-queer coding himself for the sake of fitting into the ecosystem of Smallville High. and its like…

Young Justice, as a friend group, is SOOO queerplatonic. The lines between romantic and platonic intimacy are so blurred, and Prior to Kon’s YJ days he he was also like… living with these woman who he had complicated relationships with that also blurred the lines between platonic, romantic, and sexual (…looking at you, Knockout).

So learning where the line is when it comes to how he can acceptably interact with his civilian friends (particularly the boys) would Really open his eyes to just how close he is with Bart and Tim, and how similar his feelings for them are to his feelings for… lets say, Simon Valentine.

But i dont think That is what would actually tip the scale. I think realizing that these feelings for his friends aren’t considered ‘normal’ would make him shove them down deeper. As ‘Conner’ anyway.

from here it could go two ways, right?

Either we get Teen Titans ‘03 t-shirt Kon, who sheds his GNC 90s swag in exchange for adhering closer to traditional (read; boring) masculine gender roles.

or we get a Kon who leans Harder into his punk roots, but its a conscious choice now.

(this isn’t even digging into how he would feel once Jon comes into the picture, because while Kon cares for that boy Deeply, his feelings abt the new kiddo in the family could also be very complicated. But that’s a post for another time.)

Personally i prefer the second one.

Kon has always been a curious kid, i love the way he makes pop culture references, and how he bases his behavior off of 90’s teen tropes that he Most Definitely learned from TV. In his early days this wasn’t done in a research way necessarily, but he Did want to learn what it was like to Be a Teen™, and TV was the easiest way to figure that out.

(and, playing in the space of Kon adaptations, his love of media/pop culture, and just over all thirst for knowledge, are present both in the Reign of the Supermen Movie, and in his iteration during the n52 (which is one of the few things i personally have internalized from reading n52 Superboy/Teen Titans)).

But post gay awakening, i feel liked he’d be interested not just in behaviors, but also the context of them. Digging into punk as a subculture rather than as an aesthetic. Learning about its connections to queerness, and community, and self expression. And i think this would be extremely freeing for him. (especially if this were around the time of Jon becoming Superboy v.3, but again, not the point of this post.)

this all culminates in Kon being like yk? gender just… isnt for me. Like, it takes im a long time to get to this point, but realizing that the path that was set out for him is just one of the potential paths he can take, and while he might not know where this new path will take him, its his, that that matters.

And also like, Because his friends are who they are, he’s seen different versions of queerness, and transness, but i think it would take him a bit to see himself as someone who Isn’t Cis bc like… he doesnt have dysphoria in the traditional sense.

He’s still the beefcake he’s always been, but i think he’d start playing with makeup when he realizes it makes him feel good (he shows up the the cave one day with smudgy eye liner and Cissie is immediately like a) you look so good and b) can i Please do your makeup? (and then she does it, and he looks so pretty, and he gets these weird giddy feelings that he doesn’t realize is gender euphoria until his friends start talking abt gender euphoria)

His uniform starts to get more personalized too, like the designs where he has knee patches, and all his little belts, and stuff. maybe he starts experimenting with showing skin. bc he deserves it

(’its for maximum sun exposure!!!’ is the what he tells clark… he’s not sure if clark bought it or not)

And hey, exploring gender presentation more as Superboy might help him do the same as Conner. Cassie will take him thrifting, he’ll try of a flowy skirt or a sun dress or something and then its Over. Gender euphoria part two, electric boogagloo.

In the end, its about realizing that adhering gender roles (and truthfully, any socially imposed ‘rule’ about self expression) is something he can simply Choose not to do. And i think this freedom would be something that benefits him in his civilian life as well.

His gender is: literally what ever, man.

Tim:

Ok, here’s the thing about Tim and gender, right? I think he’s kind of just comfortable as he is. He’s good at playing the roles he needs to in what ever situation hes thrown into. ‘Robin’ and ‘Tim Drake’ (and even ‘Tim Drake-Wayne’ if you want to split hairs) might be masks he wears, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less him. if that makes sense. like…

Lets look at the differences between Bruce (or Brucie) and Batman for a second. They really are different people. Batman is who bruce is at his core, ‘bruce’ is this sort of liminal space between the cowl and his public persona, and then theres Brucie™, and well, you know how he is. These are personas that Bruce puts on.

With Tim its like he just highlights different aspects of himself when a situation requires it. (oh no, the autistic!Tim head canons are being loud today.) But like, he’s Always been masking. And i think this is something he would look at as like… getting a good grade in adapting. or something. He’s comfortable, all the roles he plays are ones he’s familiar with, and he doesn’t really question who he is outside of who he needs to be.

That is, until Caroline Hill makes an appearance.

I feel that the decision to go undercover as a woman was a wholly practical decision in the moment. It’s what the mission required, and therefore tim stepped up. Its just another mask, right? Surely this wont awaken anything in him…right?

But this is an entirely new mask. And i think it might like… shift the way he looks at/thinks about the other masks he puts on. He was able to step into a role that was very foreign to him, and it Worked. (and he felt pretty, which like… woah, thats a new feeling. and he kinda liked it? file that under ‘thoughts he doesn’t have the bandwidth to process right now.’ Bruce needs him back at the cave! its time to debreif! and he has a biology test tmrw! no time for gender scaries!!!).

I think it would take a while for him to be able to admit it to himself though. Because like… hes Not uncomfortable with his body, but he also keeps thinking about how good he felt dressed up femininely, and how he felt powerful, in a way. That putting on that mask felt just as good as putting on his domino.

Personally, i think itd be funny if instead of coming out right away, Tim doing undercover missions essentially in drag becomes a recurring thing. And i imagine some people give him a hard time. (not in a transphobic way or anything, i just mean like, teasing him fondly or what ever.) (Also, i like to imagine that when cissie Did kons makeup, bart and Tim jumped in there too bc like hey why not, and hoooooo boy, if Tims egg hadn’t cracked before then, it sure would have cracked after.)

The thing about him is, i’m not sure if he’d come to the realization himself. You know, that he would like to present femme sometimes, in a situation that has Nothing to do with a mission.

I could see Tim convincing himself that its a pointless or frivolous desire, which is Why he relegates his time presenting femme to when he can prove that it’s useful.

but i have this image in my mind, right? Of him, taking his makeup and wig off, and hes chatting with whoever is in the room with him (literally anyone else mentioned above… or Dick). And Tim’s just talking about how he wishes he could present this way in situations other than missions.

and the other person in the room is just like… i mean, you literally can.

and hes just like…. shit you’re right. i Can :0

I could probably go further into depth abt this, but i think this just frees him to start playing with gender more as Tim. and start to recognize when he’s feeling more masculine, more feminine, or somewhere in between.

His gender isn’t consistent, its this thing he’s constantly listening to, and trying to understand. but in the mean time, he can paint his face, and wear pretty clothes, or dress like just Some Guy, or be a hedgehog dressed in traffic light colors, or what ever his heart desires.

As far as like… how He describes his gender, i think he’d say something corny like bi^2 (bi of both the sexual and the gendered varieties). Or shrug, handwave, generally give a non-helpful vague description. Or tell who evers asking to buzz off.

(small addendum wrt Kon and Cassie in TT’03. I haven’t read this run yet, so i didn’t really include it in this post. But i Do have thoughts about what might cause the two of them (my gnc besties from my comics books) to lean sooooo hard into traditional gender roles after being So Queercoded in their other appearences. Before i talk abt that though, i want to read the comic. So, that will have to be a post for another time)

ANYWAY, heres that TL;DR i promised.

Bart: NB Transmasc Cassie: NB Lesbian (of the transmasc variety) Kon: Agender Tim: Fluid (bi-gender) + Cissie: Transgirl

Thank you soooooo much for giving me the opporrtunity to ramble abt the silles and how Not Cis i think they are. Love you forever.

[neonscandal]

jjk having queer-coded villains seems to be an intentional choice. what are your thoughts on this

Anon comin in hot today! I feel like this doesn't really need a spoiler warning though it does detail info about characters yet to be animated so read at your own risk.

To be honest, I wouldn't even say that it's coding, JJK has an assortment of characters with varied identities from our protagonists to our antagonists which includes:

Megumi - a lot of fans interpret his non-gendered answer to what his type is, focusing instead on personality, to mean that he's pansexual.

Mahito - genderless ✨ and/or physically lacking reproductive organs that would typically define gender binary

Tengen - presumably assigned female at birth, has since transcended gender or is more non-binary

Kenjaku - another character who's just.. lived so long that they're just kind of gender fluid? Though, considering their history, intersex may be more appropriate? We know that, as Noritoshi Kamo, he mixed his blood with what would become the cursed womb paintings but she actually consummated with Jin for some extra razzle dazzle

Uraume - canonically they/them

Kirara - assigned male at birth (though I believe canonically referred to as they/them) with an androgynous gender expression

Please note: I don't consider myself an expert on the matter as gender identity, expression and sexual orientation exist on spectrums. Subsequently, if you think any of the above characters belong elsewhere based on canon or headcanon, I get it. If, based on canon, I'm outright incorrect, feel free to drop a comment and I'll edit accordingly.

With the distribution of the above in mind, I don't think it's unilaterally something focused just among the antagonists. Though, ironically, some of my color coding is also debatable at this point, I suppose. I think the more interesting observation is that, with enough time, such labels aren't as binding or lack the need for definition. Like, Tengen has all the time in the world to be whatever they want to be and they simply become. In fact, unrelated but kinda related, you see a similar idea in Hell's Paradise with the mercurial gender fluidity of the Tensens, too. Honestly, that's another show to watch with a curious lens.

All that to say, I think the varied representation is more interesting due to the conversation around the mangaka's own identity. Gege Akutami's anonymity has been shielded by their pen name but, also, I don't believe they have confirmed pronouns. While people argue that they went to an all boys' school previously, they also, during a stint as an assistant on another manga, unveiled themselves with a femme presenting avatar. Seemingly to avoid being defined by visual perception (or to pre-emptively avoid recognition by devastated fans..), they appeared in a video interview dressed as Mechamaru. Couple that with the fact that there is a notable lack of romantic pairings within the story, especially those that would be typical of a shonen story. Arguably, that could leave a lot of Aro and/or Ace characters that I'm too obtuse to have picked up on. In fact, one could interpret Akutami's previous comments about Gojo accordingly.

Subsequently, I don't think the intention is to vilify queerness just because some of the antagonists fit the bill. I think, if anything, there's just representation that isn't necessarily cultivated around "othering" queer characters or using their diversity as a plot line, if that makes any sense? Which isn't just concentrated on the "bad guys". For the most part, these are just subtle realities of the characters... okay, Kenjaku's identity can definitely be charged to the plot though. 👀 Seemingly contrary to what I just said about diversity as a plot device, I'm now having mixed feelings specifically with Kenjaku because their identity does inform the plot but also intrinsically brings nuance to them as a character. The more I think about it, this diversity is actually what humanizes them which, connotatively, still seems like a positive thing. Hm. Maybe I'm a hypocrite? Not sure but I'm curious as to your thoughts so feel free to leave them below 👇🏾

[783-ultimates]

The following post (and honestly this entire blog) contains Spoilers for Danganronpa V3, so read at your own risk

So, something occurred to me recently. In the V3 continuity, if the mastermind is to be believed, V3 is the 53rd interpretation of danganronpa. The 53rd killing game. So, assuming every ‘season’ of danganronpa that we didn’t see had only 1 killing game in it, and that every one of those killing game had 16 students, and making sure not to count Rantaro twice…

That's 783 Ultimates that we never got to meet.

783 Ultimate that were forced into killing games. 783 characters, each with their own talents, quirks, backstories, and character arcs. 783 Ultimates that canonically may not even exist.

So, that got me thinking… How hard would it be to make 783 Original Ultimate Characters?

I mean, anyone whose made an oc knows it can take a lot of time to make one, and even more time to perfect one. Making that many would be incredibly difficult bordering on impossible. But… what if I tried anyways?

So, Welcome to 783 Ultimates!

How this will work is that you guys will send in a prompt for a character in your ask. I’d like you to tell me what Ultimate Talent they should have, but you can also include some other details you want to the character to have. Then I make a danganronpa oc based around what you sent me! In theory, I’ll keep doing this until I have 783 original characters! I probably won’t get that far but a guy can dream! If I don’t have any prompts, then I’ll show off an oc I already have.

Here’s an optional template you can use for asks! Remember, only the ultimate talent is required, the rest are all just optional. In fact I’d rather you only fill in 2-3 of these. Part of the fun for me is building a character off little info

Ultimate Talent;

Age:

Gender:

Sexuality:

Other details:

If they were in a killing game what would their role be?:

What influences should inspire this character?:

Likes and dislikes:

Anyways, if you like this idea send in a character prompt, and get ready to go on a crazy (and very long) journey to 783 ocs with me!

Quick disclaimer: every talent has to be somewhat realistic, and can’t be something too sexual or offensive. I don’t make characters with talents like the Ultimate Dominatrix or the Ultimate Cat Strangler.

[distortedkilling]

Hii, it's the same anon from before! I really enjoy reading your comments about Mahito's character and also curses in general, so thank you for answering it! (Also your commentary on Mahito's more masculine design due to masculine violence was something that I also thought sometimes, I think it's really interesting)

About the sexuality stuff, it was the same type of questions to be honest. Like, how does he and other curses perceive it, how would maybe he identify himself with, etc. I've read this interpretation once that curses do not feel any types of sexual desires, and instead their instincts are more leaning towards violence, so bloodlust would be a type of lust for them, but this is just one of many interpretations, lmao. Have a good day/night again <3 I love your blog

Hello again! Thank you for the kind words and interest. Sorry this was delayed. My brain has been a struggle and I haven't much liked how writing my answers to this has gone. asdfghjkl I'm glad to hear you've had similar thoughts! I'd be very down to hear them. ouo

So I can only speak for my interpretation of his character. When it comes to sexuality with Mahito, I kind of lean in a similar way to how I described his gender. In which, it's a concept that isn't given much thought.

I am about to use the word 'sexual' a lot in here, lmao. Excuse me.

Curses in general, in how I perceive and write them (since I like writing the disaster curses as secondary characters, though that has mostly been on Discord at this time), aren't inherently sexual beings. Unless they were born from something indisputably sexual. But given curses can manifest in different ways despite what they are born from, I'm inclined to consider that even sexual ones may not act or look like what they are. Which I think is fitting, given how visuals and behaviors aren't always indicative of someone wanting sex.

Examples that come to mind: A curse born from the fear of sexual intimacy may appear alluring but carves out all sexual components (genitals, specifically) of their victims. Or a curse born from extreme lust could result in it appearing disfigured and being one that consumes humans to satiated his own hunger. Which we see some of these kinds of representations throughout different folklore and mythologies across the globe. I wouldn't be surprised to see curses who murder their victims but the scene is sexually charged. Similarly to human murderers or serial killers who are guided by some sort of sexual drive or reasoning.

I don't think curses, even sentient ones like the disaster crew, really perceives it. It makes sense for Mahito to come across it and consider it, given the type of curse he is. But the disasters (sounds like a band name lmao) are further removed from humans despite desiring to possess a status like they have. Because it's not about becoming like humans, but being recognized as a people. Equality - even if they have no desire to change their ways.

Mahito is far removed from humanity in a morality sense and by nature. He's his own doomed narrative of being so close to humanity that he can reach out and run his fingers along it but keeps running towards being something monstrous. He's never running from his emotions, he just has never experienced anything to trigger something beyond his usual boredom or amusement so he doesn't know what anything is like. Which is why his ending is so impactful, imo.

I think Mahito understands the concepts and sides plaguing humanity over sexuality (orientation and gender) but it's from an outside stance. He sees, observes, reads about, etc. but there is nothing there that applies directly to him - so he doesn't care. He isn't human, he doesn't need (or even want) to think like them. I wouldn't be surprised if his sexuality was as fluid as his gender. It's all based on convenience and curiosity, what he doesn't know about he'll look to discover answers to - provided it interests him.

I think getting other curses that don't have this curiosity drive would make it harder to get their interest in carnal things. It's more likely a deeper understanding could be formed with general intimacy and revealing shared similarities - since the disaster curses are bonded deeply on having an understanding of one another.

With Mahito I think he'd be more easy to persuade or gain the interest of. Sexual desires are just not a factor to him on the day to day, not a thought in his head on the matter. Not when he's so focused on his own growth. But if likes someone enough and they have his interest, he could be made curious on the matter. Whether by their prompting (easiest means, likely) or eventually coming into his own interest (potentially).

In regards to the bloodlust angle, I wouldn't be too surprised for that being a thing. I think it depends on the curse. Bloodlust is a type of lust, yes, but by definition that doesn't make it inherently sexual. Jogo's love for destroying humans and doing them harm is an example, or Hanami coming into full bloom when they ceased restraining themselves and had fun acting upon their bloodlust.

It comes across to me, especially by the disaster curses, that there's a higher chance of general intimacy to be found because they want to be understood and seen. Mahito doesn't necessarily care about that, which makes him all the more fickle. A sexual outcome with the disasters I feel like would be a slow burn, right? If it were to happen. But with Mahito, there's no predictions that can be made because it's entirely based on the dynamic he has with the other involved.

I don't mean dynamic as in trope, but the individual themselves. What he likes and dislikes, how he views them. If they ignite that attraction, if they propositioned him would he be interested enough based on who they are and the relationship involved? At the same time, it's possible something just clicks right across the board and there's less of a buildup.

Which could be the bloodlust angle you're bringing up. The thrill of a good fight, whether it's someone keeping up with him in combat or someone just surviving him exceptionally well (accounting here for sorcerers and humans who aren't combat leaning). Maybe things are vibing just right. Violence and sex are very often interwoven in terms of what the body experiences, or how it's perceived by humans on a philosophical level. I think Mahito would need a trigger of some kind to still get that into his head, though. He has no experience. He isn't even on the same level of a human virgin because the concept of virginity and sex wasn't even a thought bubble in his head. So he'd either have to know about sex and have that curiosity going into a scenario like that, or discover that idea during.

Oh, sorry, did he grab you a little too provocatively without realizing and you moaned? Did you just do something that made him make a god awful sound involuntarily?? That could be enough, sometimes. It definitely all just depends on the circumstances and how it unfolds, but I definitely think it's possible because he's absolute trash that would love that lmfao You have angles like: hate sex (whether it's nicer or meaner), fear of intimacy that he preys upon, harboring no trust in Mahito but sharing a mutual attraction that also applies to his nature.

I think the only issue with the bloodlust angle in general is remembering that these known curses by nature aren't born from anything sexual. Humans have those instincts in them by default because you know, breed to survive and all that. Base instincts, outside of aces of course (or aces that don't feel that at all, I know there are nuances there). So applying instincts to the equation won't work the same way here, in my opinion. Because Mahito's instincts are geared towards his core attributes and nature, followed by his interests that are more violent leaning. I feel like he's more-so restraining himself from causing violence than anything else so that he can keep himself entertained.

But! I think because he is a human born curse he stands a better chance at engaging with this side of humanity. On top of being curious and knowledge-seeking, if the right individual and circumstances present themselves he'd take the opportunity. Which means, while those instincts aren't inherently present within him - they can be awakened. In which case, good luck dealing with this new insufferable side of Mahito.

Thank you again for the ask! If I missed answering anything, let me know. You're always welcome to drop in and share your thoughts or ask things. ^^ <3 Have a lovely day/night yourself.

[makriiii]

A kinship, of sorts. (Frank Heck × freader)

Word count: 4.5k

Summary: As a member of the O’Driscoll's, the handy work for Colm led you places far and wide, which thereby led to meeting folks on a spectrum far and wide. As it was now, you found yourself having to choose between the life you wanted with the man you desired or escaping the life that chose you.

Authors note: This was initially a oneshot idea, which spiraled :') it's also so hard to find pictures of this man

Warnings: 18+, cursing, guns, nothing too bad yet..

Tags: Slight slow burn, found family, eventual smutt.

♡

(You can skip this if you'd like.)

This is something I've been thinking about writing for a while after I saw an old painting that gave me the idea.

I also decided I'd incorporate that plot into this Frank Heck fanfic I wanted to write, since I've never seen anyone write a fanfic about him (cries)

For those who don't know, he's a deleted character, but you'll see him on the collectable gunslinger cards in game. I think he's sexy hot and cool so therefore I will write down my fantasies about him🤑

Anywho, because he is a deleted character, and 1911 Jack only gives a short story about him, I believe he is open for a lot of interpretation.

So, I wanted to base heavily him off of Doc Holliday, of whom I also believe to be a certified sexy master, plus he respects women so I'm like aguhhh 😫 however Doc Holliday has an intellect and wit on a level I could only hope to match, but I will do my best :)

This is also something you could take to be part of y/n's backstory in caught. If you'd like it to be cannon or not cannon to the caught story, that's up to you since I didn't write anything about it in caught. I like to keep y/n's character open as much as possible, so you guys never feel alienated from any backstory elements of my own choosing.

But enough from me, read my story 😈

♡

"For the last time," grunted your fellow O'Driscoll, his tone serious compared to the two that chuckled lightly beside him as you rode up. "Get out of here kid, we got no business with you."

You raised a brow as you got off your horse to see what the commotion was about with your gang members and this... random kid.

He nearly buckled at the knees, his hands together in prayer. "But why can't I?" He begs, hoping his words would strike a chord. "I know how to shoot and steal! I can help you guys."

The boy, average in height and a bit unkempt, looked to be about fourteen or fifteen as he pleaded at the feet of Cormac. A gruff and often stern Irish man, not the one you'd go asking for things of this nature.

"You want to join us?" You question with a disbelieiving smirk. "What on God's green earth for?"

"Finally!" His sputtering siezed as he whipped around to meet your face, the one who let him speak his mind. Though you could tell he instantly questioned you due to your gender. "You ride with them?"

If the iron at your sides didn't make it obvious, you weren't sure what else would. "Sometimes I wish I didn't." You tried making it sound displeasurable, as he seemed to be one of the young men who liked the ideal of being an outlaw.

"Oh, please miss!" Now his badgering was directed solely towards you, but not before Cormac ruffled his hair harshly and pushed him aside.

He and your other two buddies scoffed in disbelief at the kids incessant pleading and started heading off, ushering you with them. "Colm wants this done today, don't waste your time on him."

You nodded, giving the kid one last glance before following them off the veranda.

Before you knew it, you felt your shirt being tugged at from behind, a desperate attempt and a ballsy show of determination.

You were quick to turn around and glare at the boys unduly behavior. "Now is that the best way to ask something of someone?" You question harshly, fixing your shirt.

Your buddies hadn't noticed your absence behind them, as they kept on in their direction, leaving you and this boy to conversate without interruption.

"You're the only one who seems to listen, so please hear me out, would ya?" His gaze turned soft and mushy, like you had just stolen and sucked down his candy. Tears were in the forecast if you weren't mistaken and here you were, feeling somewhat bad for him.

Glancing back once more, you finally engaged him fully. "Whats your name, boy?"

"Nathaniel. Nathaniel Clarke, ma'am." His voice shaky but hopeful.

"And where are your parents, Nathaniel?" That question seemed to shake him up more, though he didn't let it show for long. You could tell he wanted to be tough.

"Dead, Miss." His hazel eyes fixed on the ground as he dug his heel into the warped wood below him. "Doctor said he couldn't do nothin' for 'em."

"And this is the life you think they would've wanted you to turn to?"

Once again, no eye contact as he hesitated.

"I reckon not."

You huffed out a great deal of your guilt that was slowly building with each question. "Then take my advice and find yourself honest work. This ain't some rough and tumble fun, it's your life. Go find some cattle ranching work, somethin' or rather."

Breaking his eye contact with the ground, he finally met your eye. Searching for any semblance that you might change your mind. But now it seemed you'd finally broken and tamed the boy.

"I-" he mutters, perhaps now rethinking his decision. You gave him a bit of patience before checking behind you again, the rest of the boys nearly out of sight behind a building.

"Listen, kid, you wait here and think about it. If you're here when I get back, I'll consider it." You caved. Unwillingly, but you caved nonetheless. You saw in him yourself, and that did you in.

He shot up like a rocket and nodded, more than elated with that prospect.

"Okay!" He pumps his fist with victory and immediately situates himself on a bench no more than a few feet away. "I promise I'll be here when you're done."

The fire in his eyes and the excitement nearly made you smile, it was contagious, yet you knew what taking a path like yours would entail.

You turned and picked up your pace to catch up with the rest of the men, the walk giving you time to reflect.

As happy as he was, you could not share the sentiment for long. You debated wether you should come back at all. You didn't want this for a boy like him, his whole life still open as a plain. Not narrowed or dimmed to a single path of stone.

All you could do was hope he would find himself something better to do. Yet, the thought remained, if he didn't - would he find a different, possibly worse person to beg, one that would accept?

You felt responsible for a kid you had just now met, worried for his well being.

---

The town lay quiet and dim, only noises from the saloon sounded throughout the place. Fog had picked up and it was no doubt late.

You, Cormac, Conor and Willis were all far from home - or atleast the area that you were better familiar with. You were in Blackwater, the up and coming city where leads were plentiful.

"Whats the time, Cormac?" You asked, fighting off a yawn as you trudged through the slightly damp dirt below.

"Quarter to one." He responds, his voice heavy with exhaustion. The lot of you had just gotten done with an array of things. Gambling, negotiating and sorting some... 'pal's' of yours out. "We oughta get back soon to Valentine."

"Lest we want Colm to have our balls for it." Willis starts giggling while gesturing to his lower parts, which riles up Conor.

You couldn't believe the four of you were the ones Colm entrusted his most important work to. Perhaps Cormac and you, but Conor and Willis were just the two you babysat together.

Both of them had their humor, some of which you found funny, but not on this particular night. Cormac neither, though a bit harsh, he was calmer like yourself, leading to a better partnership between the two of you.

"No one unpaid would willingly take a look at those, but perhaps you'd both quiet down without them." You chime mockingly, rubbing your tired eyes. Not often did you stay up so late due to the trade off of getting up early.

Cormac stayed quiet, but you could tell he enjoyed your retort.

"We'd pay you to nab our balls! Itd be much more enjoyable than Colm doing it." Blurts Conor, getting quite the rise out of Willis. Their accents making them sound ever so silly.

Your horse was further away from where they had tied theirs, thankfully, leaving you guys to split not long after Conor and Willis's joking.

Cormac shoved Conor and Willis away toward their horses for you and nodded your way as you separated.

"I won't be coming back tonight to camp, I have business elsewhere, Cormac."

"That's fine. But Colm'll want you back in Valentine in due time." He replies, arranging himself to get up on his horse. "I'll tell him."

"Aw, don't tell us you're leaving again, y/n!" Willis pouts, whether he was serious or not you'd never tell. "She's goin' off to cheat on us again."

"With that Mr. High and Mighty?" Conor fires, annoyed in your choice of men.

"Who else you think? Dunderhead."

Conor slaps his friends shoulder, glaring. "Colm's gonna get fed up with your eloping soon, y/n."

"What can't two fine lads such as ourselves offer that he can?"

"Precisely. " Conor agrees, "two for one deal."

You sighed, they were cleaning your ears right off with all their badgering. "You both have a face only a mother could love."

"Ahh," Conor hissed out, "let me show you what a real man can do."

"Yeah and what about you taking a look at our-" Slapped upside the head by Cormac, he finally relented, a muffled snicker coming from him and Willis.

"Good riddans, you bothersome bastards." You couldn't help but laugh after all their talk, only to get shut down by Cormac.

You thanked him and made your way back to your horse. As you put away your earnings, aloof and in a rather good mood despite the fatigue, you heard soft snores.

You listened for a second, confused on whether you were hearing things or if someone was laid out sleeping close by. A drunkard probably.

When you peeked around your horse through the dark, on the bench, the realization slapped you in the face.

There was that Clarke boy. Asleep but stationed right where he promised he'd be.

Observing him for a short while, you thought on it again. The option of just leaving still available.

He slept peacefully. His hat over his face and his pistol hidden by his grasp on it.

It crushed you - the decision that was to be made. He had waited all day for you to come back. His determination from earlier evident, no lack of it at all.

Hesitating, you finally walked back up the steps and sat beside him.

It was quiet out, peaceful, despite the ambiance of the saloon.

You thought of what to say, of what his life would be like with the gang, with the O’Driscolls. You may ride with them but you didn't think them good. But that's why you rode with them, you weren't neither.

With a light shake on his shoulder, he jolted up, which took you by slight surprise as well.

He fixed his hat quickly and shakes himself out of his drowsy state. "You see? I waited!"

"So is evident." You couldn't help but smile at his excitement, but still the guilt ate at you. "I'll let you ride with me for a bit, but then, we are finding you a proper place of employment."

"You mean it, really?" He questions, his face serious but excited.

"I do." You got up, returning to your horse, the Clarke boy scrambling up behind you. "But only for a bit, you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" He stands to a salute instantly, demonstrating his understanding.

You unraveled your horses reins, rubbing her face lovingly before she kindly snorted all over you. Thanking her sarcastically, you looked over to the boy who still stood with proper posture.

Giving him a look, he questioned you back, unsure of what you were getting at.

"Your horse, boy, where's that at?"

He considered you for a moment, standing perfectly still before looking beside you and pointing at one of the critters tied up by the saloon.

Now you both stood there staring at eachother. Him, an innocent, mindless stare, and you, one that saw right passed it.

"So, you don't have one yet."

"Is there really any harm in taking from the bastards here?" He reasons, taking a stroll over there to examine his choices. "I'll take one who's ill-taken care of. It'll be like a good deed, no?"

"I aint got much of a problem with it, I suppose. Just don't get caught."

After you mounted, he had chosen his steed. A deep bay, not much bigger than your average quarter horse. A stallion, as it looked to be, was ribby and a bit weak looking. Under fed at best.

"You sure?" You affirmed, examining the horse and the Clarke boy.

"I'm sure. I like this one." He jumps on quickly, scanning behind him making sure the owner wasn't happening out of the bar.

"Right." You nod, kicking your horse into action, following the road out of Blackwater. "We got a long way to go."

You had heard rumors of another gang around these parts as of recent. Van Der Linde's gang. You knew of them, but hadn't run into them as of yet, and planned on keeping it that way. Especially now that you had this boy to keep alive.

Colm had always wanted you off anything that could potentially involve them. You were valuable with what you could perform and Colm wanted you to have no dealings with them.

"Where you takin' us?" The Clarke boy questions, no undertone of worry in his voice at the fact that he was leaving with a stranger. An outlaw at that.

"South." You relay after checking your small, brass compass. "Seein' a buddy of mine."

His new horse seemed to be having a bit of fit, perhaps due to the fact it was unsure of who was now on his back. The young boy seemingly more than capable to handle the tantrum.

His hands remained loose on the reins, patting the stallions neck, soothing him best he could.

Atleast the he had a handle on horses, you weren't sure about what else he had for skills, but you were sure to find out in time.

"Who's the buddy?" He questions, he wasn't afriad of asking too many questions.

You gave him a thoughtful look before deciding wether to tell him or not, though seeing as he would be meeting him soon enough, you let it be known. "Frank Heck."

"Frank Heck!" He repeats in a loud burst, completely focused in on you now. "You know the Frank Heck? The gunslinger?"

It was this particular reaction that had you afore contemplating. "I suppose so."

"How'd- how? You actually know him? The gunslinger Frank Heck!"

You sighed out deeply, leaving your reins loose to run your hands through your hair. You definitely were to have a case of hat head, bad at that.

"I mean!" He's positively gobsmacked. "I read stories about him, he's famous!"

"Why, yes he is. He's somethin'."

"I get to meet him? Really?"

"You do. Don't worry." You were tired, and unable to understand how he had so much energy at such a late time in the night.

You just needed to find a place that was safe enough for the both of you till morning.

-----

It didn't take long for you to realize that, your drowsy state from last night had your judgment lacking. Heavily.

You didn't have nearly enough supplies to get you to New Austin with the Clarke boy in tow.

It was enough to get you by - barely, but you'd both be sun baked human jerkies before getting all the way to Armadillo.

The sun just barely greeted the land around as you sat with the company of the crackling fire you had just revived.

Your horses snorted every so often, grazing on what little half dead grass there was around the edges of the plains. Your horse and Clarke's new ride got along well, which made things a bit better.

That boy was still sleeping soundly, on what looks to be rather uncomfortable. A saddle and dirt, but he made do. His mouth wide open, drooling on his saddle.

So far, you didn't mind the company, albeit the company did have quite a lot to say.

Mousing away from Colm and the rest of your gang was something you liked to indulge in as often as possible. Colm didn't like it so much at first, but eventually came to allow it once you did for him decent work.

Now on your mind was Frank. What has he been up to during the time you'd been away from eachother?

When you'd met him, you saw him as nothing more than the typical law hating gunslinger who dressed well enough to be gawked over. One who gambled with more than just money.

And now he offered you a way to spend your time that wasn't either traversing alone or traversing with O'Driscoll's.

While some of the men, like Cormac, were decent enough company, you didn't actively prefer their company.

Frank interested you and you, him.

When you had left, you mentioned you had business to attend to in Armadillo. He found himself relating, mentioning that he'd wait for you there.

You weren't entirely sure what would compell him to stay in a town like that, with the lives there being amongst the lowest you could come across.

Criminals of all kinds crawled about the place like fire ants to a hive, their presence easily detected by the pandemonium they caused. The Del Lobos also made their appearance quite often, the stars of the show. The scarlet fever outbreak helped none either.

"Aghh." Groaned the sleepy Clarke boy from behind you, effectively spooking you out of your thoughts.

He started coughing and spitting quite suddenly, for whatever reason for, was beyond you.

"Damn bug in my mouth!" Wiping his tongue off throughly.

"Put that in there for breakfast" You teased, pushing yourself up from the ground. "Figured you were hungry by the way your mouth was hangin' open."

"Did you really?" He gasps, staring down at the grasshopper who'd trespassed, crippled on the ground, twitching.

"I told you. Gang life isn't what you expected."

"You feed eachother grasshoppers whilst asleep?"

Teasing the boy was certainly something fun to do.

"It's how we care for eachother when food is sparse."

He watched you closely, trying to glean any deception on your face. "You're fibbin', I aint never read that in any of my books."

"Well, your first mistake is trusting those silly books. You usher him up with a gesture, to which he promptly obeys. "Your second is trusting a stranger."

"So you were fibbin'!"

"I might actually next time."

"I needn't that, Miss, dont worry." He was quick to relieve you of any such duties. "Hey, wait.."

You gave him a glance of acknowledgement, then continued packing your horse.

"What is your name anyway? You never did tell me." His curious nature reminded both yourself and him, that you'd never given him your name.

"Y/n L/n. You ain't oughta keep callin' me Miss, though." You answered, mounting your horse, now just waiting for Clarke.

"Payin' respect where respects due, Miss y/n." Nathaniel explained, "you were kind to me and took me in."

He watched the floor as he spoke, a long on him you couldn't quite place.

"Get on your horse, Clarke. I'm gonna tell you a story."

His was quick for his horse once you told him that. By the recollection of his books, stories were something that interested him.

"I'm all ears!" He chirps, his stallion quick to be by your horses side.

You click your horse forward to resume the direction you'd been traveling the night previous. "When I was younger, I wasn't so dissimilar to you. A bit older perhaps when I met someone who took me in."

He listened in intently, almost leaning out of his saddle for the rest that was to come.

"He was kind, at times, he gave me what I needed, clothed me, fed me... I'm here now because of it. But as it were, the man he seemed to be, was only ever temporary." Your speech drawed out at times as you recounted the earlier days of being with Colm O'Driscoll.

"I can't say he changed - that's who he always was. When I realized, I had already done myself in." You left the details bleak, the story flesh gapped, you didn't find yourself enjoying the retelling. "He did various things to me I wasn't fond of, but I did whats needed, and now I get off lightly at times. Like now."

"You can't just leave?" Nathaniel whispers, his voice at a lowest record volume.

"I try. Only ever temporary." You did your utmost to drive the point home that gang life was truly not something to be actively searching out for. "I do what I do for that gang, I have no choice, and I ain't want you nailed to the same chain."

He seemed to have a bit more understanding now, fiddling with his stallions hair as he pondered the words of warning.

You gave him his time to contemplate, shaking off the rest of the memories and regret that left your conscience heavy.

"Then what else is there for me to do? To live for?"

It hit you like a stream train. You quite honestly had nothing to say for a minute.

"My ma was a waitress, my pa, a retired Sheriff. They did their best with what we had but.." he hesitates, peering off into the cactus covered horizon. "It didn't last. So I had to figure something else out. Just, I don't know what now."

"You think bein' an outlaw is the only way?" You were light with any judgement.

"I think it'd give me something to do. I can get money, go west. That's where everyone keeps talkin' bout anyway."

The west. The golden west. That was the land of opportunity. A better path for the boy, no doubt, but the way he desired to aquire it, wasn't right.

"Keep yourself straight, kid. It wouldn't give you anything worth while to do."

---

Nathaniel was perfectly described as near ghastly, the time under the sun certainly showing it's toll on him now.

Just in the distance was the dim lights of Armadillo. It was comforting, in the sense that there was to be some sort of food and water. But the company on the other hand...

His eyes were shut, leaning back in his saddle, blind trust in both you and your horse. You gave him a pat on the shoulder, alerting him to the sight ahead.

"We're 'bout near our destination. You are aware of Armadillos reputation, right?"

"I read about it in the newspapers. It sounds exciting." Nathaniel announced proudly, as if this place was a party.

"Exciting?" You fret, unsure of just what exactly these books he'd been reading had been telling him. "Just stay close to me, and don't speak to anyone. I mean it."

"Whatever you say, Miss y/n. I swear to you."

Upon your arrival in town, the place wasn't nearly as quiet as Blackwater. Some occasional yelling, people of many various bearings spread about the desolate town.

You eyed Nathaniel, making sure he stayed close. Constantly scanning for anything that'd bring either of you harm, but also for a Frank.

"I'm so hungry.." He grumbles, rubbing his stomach as you dismounted and tied your horses.

"Me too, my boy, me too." You agree, your spurs jingling as you stepped up the stairs. "This place has food, but dont get too roused."

"You'll get me something?" He swiftly stomped up the stairs behind you and into the saloon to keep close.

"Well, seeing as you didn't like breakfast."

He snorts out a little snicker, taking a seat at the bar next to you. You could tell he was uncomfortable, his initial impression of the place hadn't come 'round like he wished.

The people of Armadillo gave you lot stares. The two of you sticking out particularly sorely.

You let him pick out what he wanted from the very sparse choices the bartender offered, ordering after him yourself a drink.

"Whats that stuff taste like anyway?" Nathaniel wondered aloud, his face getting much too close to your glass than it should be.

You flicked his hat up, having him scramble to keep it from flying off. "Like something you shouldn't be drinking-"

Two men interrupted your banter, Nathaniel's staunch attention now directed towards them.

"Hey, little lady." The man, rugged as a bear, leaning against the counter, stared a burning hole through you.

"She got a little boy here." Scoffs evily his partner, sure to add the observation.

"You aint from here, are you, amiga?" His voice heavy with a Spanish accent. You knew exactly what occupation he held by the gun belts adorning his chest.

You stayed quiet, observing him intently. You didn't want any trouble, especially not with Nathaniel in tow. He was thankfully keeping your rule in mind.

Their chuckles were sinister and breathy as they surveyed you and Nathaniel. They weren't out to make friends, hopefully not to kill either, but to intimidate.

The first Del Lobo raised his hand to touch your green scarf. Rubbing it between his fingers as he inspected it.

You'd forgotten to take the damn thing off, preoccupied with watching over Nathaniel.

His eyes met with yours as he stood over you menacingly, raising your chin up with his dirt smudged finger.

"Hey!" Nathaniel barks out his opposition, coming to a stand, his hand now resting on his revolver. "Don't you be touchin' her."

You sat him right back down, the two men reveling with the reaction they could get out of him.

"Keep your boy in check, eh? 'Fore he gets himself hurt." Hummed the first man, a sickly satisfied look in his dark eye. "You're an O’Driscoll, we dealt with ya before."

"Sure you understand we aint like visitors." Crowed the next, shorter and skinnier, yet just about as threatening.

"Why, surely that's not who I believe it to be." Came yet another voice, one soothing, a familiar silvery voice.

His hands laid themselves on your shoulders, a scent you could pick out anywhere quickly filling your nose. "My darlin', y/n!"

There was Frank. A sweet talker at times.

Nathaniel's eyes lit up as he saw the, well, in book terms, a legendary gunslinger, acting particularly comfy with you and nonetheless aloof as described in the texts. His whole body siezed with the whole situation, overwhelmed and not sure what he was to do with himself.

"Hello Frank," you greeted warmly, side eyeing the two men who seemed slighted by the abrupt arrival of this man. "I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see you." You turn to embrace the man you thought of ever so fondly since you'd met him.

"Oh, I'd never mean to keep you waiting." he promptly apologized, "Now, what is it we arrange for you mannerly individuals?"