#like an actual non binary character played by a non binary actor

[3gremlins]

we've been watching star trek: discovery now and it's honestly a little upsetting how much latent star trek knowledge my brain apparently holds.

like they were looking for a person and found someone else who was like "i'm kind of the person you're looking for but not exactly" and i started shouting at the tv "ARE YOU A TRILL?!?"

and the next scene is like "so do you know about the trill??" XD

[eternal-moss]

When people continually whitewash my favourite characters.

[ID: A black and white, rough digital drawing of someone sitting at a desk and clutching their head in their hands. End ID.]

^thank you @describe-things

[p4nishers]

idk how many times i can say this but: it CANNOT BE QUEERBAIT IF THE CHARACTERS ARE QUEER!!! please stop this "i saw the leak and im worried it still might be queerbait" ????? HOW ??? they're both NON BINARY!! HOW can it be queerbait if they're, in canon, genderless beings?? SHUT TF UP EVERYONE PLEASE

[gaytistic]

My thoughts on Descendants: The Rise of Red

The Queen of Heart shouldn't have been the ruler of *all* of Wonderland

King of Heart (the Queen's brother) would possibly be an interesting character.

Red should've used her glitter bomb powers throughout the whole movie and her lightning powers since she clearly has some

Idk if Maddox is Red's age but they should be. Also they should've been just a little more deranged. (Non-binary Maddox anyone?)

I hate Prince Charming's blue streak in his hair so much😭 (He should've been blond because of Chad's hair colour) also I think his outfit should've been more white and blue. That way Chloe could've had all three as her colour pallet. Also Red having Red & Black is such a nice contrast to that.

RITA ATE

I like the headcanon that Red's real name is Quinn and they just call her Red. It would be cool if her mother calls her Quinn and Red keeps asking her to call her Red but she doesn't until the end of the movie.

Chloe's outfit doesn't show off her shoes enough

Love ain't it's slow soft start low-key sucks, also there should've been a chorus closer to the start, probably instead of the "Could it really be her" part cuz it's so dumb. These extras💀😭

Queen of Heart's outfit changing is so weird (ate tho)

RITA ATE

Is it just me or did Chloe's hair change?

Chloe so obviously checking Red out💀

Fairy Godmother shouldn't have been Ella's age, she literally her godmother like-

AND HER RUN😭

"Think what you want to boo" 💀💀

-> Think what you want to, Blue (Chloe nickname)

Chloe's hair changed again

Why is young Brigette American?

"cALl uS JAlLadEN"

Who tf is Uliana? WHO THE FUCK IS MORGANA? SERPENTINE? You could've just used more villains like Maleficent💀 Like why wasn't Evil Queen there? Her and Maleficent were canonically friends when they were younger

The VKs actors really ate, I wish the movie could've reflected their awesomeness better

Also this background music is low-key fire

The flamingo scene? That was so embarking like- Maleficent would NEVER hang with those dorks

CHLOE'S HAIR AGAIN

I love Ella, she's so well written

This crew is getting on my nerves, they're just way too random. I love Morgi but who is he? Also he's basically just Gil. This crew is just Uma's crew and it's so unoriginal. Like if you're gonna be unoriginal why not use the OG VK's parents? That would've been so much better

Chloe and her goddamn hair

'fight of our lives' playing in the background of the GlassHeart moment

Brigette dancing to nothing💀 You could've just given her a radio 💀 AND HER WIG

I'm so sick of Chloe's FUCKING WIG CHANGES

'Get your hands dirty' is actually such a good song

'It was time to lose the glass shoes' LESBIANS

Stealing shoes? Ew.

Red is deffs in love with Chloe

The only reason I can think for Maleficent and Hades to be there but no other major villains is that them being in permanent detention means Mal is never gonna be born

Imagine Bridgette playing 'hearts' while doing the shuffle of love

The Chloe & Cinderella reunion is a bit off

RITA👏 ATE👏

Overall really fun and enjoyable movie

[chiyana]

I mentioned if I had the power I would have included Nightcrawler in the Deadpool/Wolvering movie

but I feel I should mention if I actually had that kind of power first and foremost I would make a TV show about Gotham and her vigilantes

Like ostensibly it would be 'Batman TV show!' but a lot of the focus would be on everyone around Bruce/Batman and a bit of Gotham itself, how they interact with him, with each other, the history and culture of Gotham, why it's Like That™

the only big name actor I would really care to get would be Tom Hardy for Batman - not because he played Bane, but because he has zero shame or hesitation in really digging into the deeply pathetic and wretched inner psyche of outwardly 'traditionally masculine' men and heroes, and I know he's capable of performing wildly different aspects of the same character

outside of that big name actors can show up as cameos or Rogues, but I'd rather have everyone else be largely unknown or just small-time actors (meta commentary on how Batman is the big name everyone recognizes to the exclusion of the rest of the characters around him that are just as important - especially in establishing and developing Batman's character!!! all the recent movies for Batman completely cut the role of Robin and the other Gotham vigilantes out of the equation, and they're so important for actually developing Bruce/Batman as a character! without them he's just interacting with his Rogues who only reinforce a binary 'they're different because Batman is good and they are bad' whereas Batman's allies show where he draws lines in the sand on how to be good, what is or isn't acceptable, differing and contrasting and conflicting philosophies on how to operate and what's important and *distant muffled screaming*)

the Joker would also only BARELY exist in the show. Like he's there for flashbacks or as a specter, looming over a lot of the interactions between Bruce and Jason or in Barbara and Jason's flashbacks, but as far as actually showing up and doing things? Never. He's locked up in Arkham and he can just sit there and rot. If I could get away with it I wouldn't even put him in the credits, just complete non-entity the fucker (I would not do this, whoever plays him deserves credit even if he's barely there. Or I could make a puppet of him? Get the Henson workshop to make some hyper-realistic but definitely uncanny valley humanoid puppet. The puppeteers would deserve credit, but I'd probably have other puppets in the show so I could lump them all together.)

the prequel show took the name 'Gotham' so I'd probably use a title like 'Gotham's Knights'

[mielwriting]

Would I enjoy Honkai: Starrail?

So I was just thinking how between Genshin and HSR, it's a shame that I don't see of the dragons being women (Genshin has Apep, but she's not playable and we don't even know what she looks like when she's not covered by a sandstorm so I'm not sure she counts) and then I find out Hsr is getting a new character, Lingsha, and she's a dragon!

Maybe this is what finally convinces me to sign up. But as interesting as the lore is, I'm not convinced. Below are some things I'm concerned about, and would like answers to before I get sucked into another gacha game:

I didn't play Honkai Impact or any of the previous games. I'm vaguely aware of some white-haired (robot? I think?) lady named Kiana who vaguely resembles Genshin's Unkown God and ascends to be some sort of cosmic deity herself. I'm also aware of some red-haired lady who died in some sort of tragic sacrifice, and I think there's an item of hers on display somewhere in hsr as an easter egg. And the Herscherr of the Wind (whatever that is) Wendy, Venti's counterpart, died too. But besides that, I have no context. Without having played previous Honkai games, would I be incredibly lost, even if I got caught up on the limited-time events that I missed?

I've heard Hoyo favors Hsr, and it's better in storytelling: for example, the Trailblazer is more plot-relevant than the Traveler, and unlike Genshin, hsr playable characters are actually standing around the map as npcs, and the player can interact with them, even when there's not some quest that just finished. And that the map feels more alive because of that. Is that true?

I love open-world games. Never before have I played something like Genshin. In a lot of games I'm used to playing, you have to stay on the specific path that's relevant to the main story. You cannot climb on top of that house. You cannot even walk into the forest off the path. Genshin, however, lets you go everywhere. Who cares if it's relevant to the plot? You can climb on top of that house, you can go to the top of that mountain. Most of the time, there's a chest up there or an achievement for making it that high up. I'm told hsr is not like that at all. The Trailblazer can't even jump. Would I still enjoy it? How limited is the exploration exactly?

I also love Genshin's representation of queer and disabled people, both in npcs and in playable characters (admittedly some of it is subtext). There's Arlecchino and Zhongli with their gender fluidity, there's Wanderer with his trans allegory, there's Venti who was described as non binary to the voice actor, there's Lyney and Gorou and Furina and many others who wear a bit of the opposite gender's clothes, there's eimiko and kavetham and beiguang with all of their subtext. There's Dunyarazard and Collei and Baizhu who are chronically ill, there's Chiori and Albedo and Alhaitham who are probably autistic. Etc. I've heard Firefly is disabled (chronically ill with a curse or something?) and I know Ratiorine is a popular ship (I'm attached already). But how close to canon is all that? Are there lots of queer and disabled characters?

I also love secret identities as a trope. My favorite archons are the ones who spend their time pretending to not be archons. I love Kaeya's angst about secretly having been sent as a spy, and Albedo secretly being not-human who may be forced to kill everyone he loves, and how both of them may or may not be scared of the Archon, and yet the archon in question seems to like them. Love that drama. Are there characters with similar Secret Identity drama in hsr?

I love the religious themes and how one theme central to Genshin's story is how gods (and god-adjacent non-human characters) are still people, with flaws and fears and basic social needs. It's sweet. Does hsr have similar themes of divine beings being human at heart?

I also love the escapism of Genshin -it's bright and colorful, both in marketing and in the open-world itself. Also, there's no internet or cell phones or anything. I know that if you pause hsr, whatever character you're currently playing as pulls out their phone. I've heard Penacony compared to the tourist areas of Las Vegas (derogatory). It looks so grey. Is hsr truly so much more grey and modern compared to Genshin? Is it just as escapist?

I feel a similar amount of freedom in Genshin's combat system. I'm told Hsr's system is turn-based, and you the player barely have to press any buttons during those moments. Would I find that fun?

I don't need another gacha game, and I definitely don't have the same amount of time to devote to hsr and I already do genshin. But still, I'm hoping for people to prove my misconceptions wrong.

[spanishskulduggery]

Btw, I made it through Dragon Age: The Veilguard in English, so when I go through in Spanish I'll let you know how they handle the non-binary characters everything in translation

As far as I know, the Baldur's Gate 3 translation into Spanish (at least the version I played) was Latin American. The Dragon Age one tends towards Spain

[I've seen vosotros which isn't necessarily Spain given that they tend towards using that in historical fantasy sometimes - but I have seen vale so I'm assuming Spain]

I'll be interested to see how the translations and everything work

I believe the dub options are for English, French, and German so very likely there will be French and German adaptations of the non-binary or gender neutral language too which is cool to see/hear (there are more subtitle language options - but I mean the voice actors for French/German would have to actually be speaking the non-binary options out loud)

I'll update further - this is a long game and it takes a while to get there if I remember right lol

[baku-usagi]

It is endlessly sad to me watching all the taash hate, not that there isn't some valid reasons, they are annoying, but they're also so complex, and it's gotten to the point that when I'm watching reviews or analysis on the game, and the creator says they hate taash and didn't finish their quest line, I click away.

Veilgaurd is a weak game, and is mostly poorly written with a few shining moments. I've still enjoyed playing it but it has a lot of wasted potential.

However, taashs character arch is actually one of the better written character archs in the story to me.

Perhaps half the reason I find taash so annoying is because they actually do feel like a real person to me. They say stupid cringy shit that real people would say. I know taashs in real life ya know?

Every single character in this game has a lot of very cringy marvel/Disney type dialog/one liners, so unfortunately taash doesn't grow out of that, but you get to watch them process things. I see a lot of people talking about how taash is non binary but speaks about others in a very binary way. And I think that's a really big part of their own conflicts. The qun is rigid, it holds little space for Grey areas, and taashs mother did still raise taash by the qun so even though they have lived in rivain for years, they are still living and engaging with others under this binary. They themselves have only just started to accept the nonbinary title for themselves, that doesn't mean they're going to. Immediately understand that others exist outwide of binarys in many ways. And you watch them process through some of that.

They ask for blunt questions or make rude assertations because that's what they know, and its also a challenge to themselves. They almost always come around to new understandings by the end of the conversations. Taashs story was simple, it wasn't as big and intimidating as forgotten old gods like bellara or taking down a old blighted warden like davrin.

Taashs story is about change, it's about grief, and love, and learning that there is a whole world outside of what you thought you knew, and it's about family, and acceptance as well. Getting to the end of taashs quest line, I did get a little misty eyed. The voice actor delivers the blood curdling scream, "Tama" or mother, as taash realizes things the hard way. There is rage which is standard to taash, but then we see something else,

We defeat the dragon king and taash cradles their Mother, and instead of snapping at you, being demanding or blunt or aggressive, they weakly speak, they cry softly and they have a moment of true vulnerability, asking you to grab their mother's feet, that they might be able to make the body. And when you tell them there is no time, they accept with a unusually soft mourning.

Taash is not my favorite character but they are incredibly well written, and I respect them very much.. It bums me out that they get written off so fast by people who are being blatantly or thinly veiling, their hatred of the lgbtq+ community.

Taash I may not like you babe, but I love you deeply. You don't deserve the hate.

[dinolich]

FAQ

One click spot for frequently asked questions, pertaining to HELLAWEEN and art in general. This will be linked in my bio and updated over time.

HELLAWEEN -What was the inspiration behind HELLAWEEN/How did it come to be?

In 2014 I had just graduated college and moved across the country for a storyboard internship at a film studio. I had a huge quarter life crisis when the environment clashed with me in every way, which left me questioning if I had made a massive career choice mistake. To help take the edge off I decided I needed to come up with some characters that were as self indulgent as possible. So I asked myself "What if there was Halloween level of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game?" and "What if My Chemical Romance wrote the soundtrack to Scooby Doo?" and thus, the main cast was born. Originally I didn't have any plans with them, I was just having fun drawing them for inktober and developing their personalities. Once the internship ended and I was able to set my career back in motion with some significantly better studio atmosphere fits for me in California, I started getting more serious about developing a linear story. I spent some time pitching different versions to tv studios and shorts programs. Got some great feedback but no real bites. Fortunately, I had a post blow up that caught the attention of my publisher who reached out to see if I was interested in doing a book instead and I LEAPED at the opportunity! HELLAWEEN is very much inspired by my own teenage years, growing up in the Bay Area, being surrounded by alt and skate cultures in the 2000's. As well as exploring identity, and growing up queer but the words for "how" didn't really exist yet. Plus a deep love for spooky cartoons and stylish anime, of course.

-What kind of music pairs the story/characters?

Great news I have playlists for everyone

Gwen- Ashnikko and My Chemical Romance Miles- 100 gecs and Oingo Boingo Sloane- PUP and The Cure Hiro- Gorillaz and Maximum the Hormone Bea- AFI and The Used -Do you have any voice claims for the cast?

I’d mostly want them to be played by actual teenagers. But I have a couple in mind that I think could work—

Gwen I could see Valeria Rodriguez (Lagoona and Spectra on the current MH series) Miles maybe someone like Zeno Robinson (Hunter Owlhouse) Sloane I have no idea, but definitely a VO who’s non binary who can sound like a strong leader.

With Hiro and Bea it’s impossible to not hear Dante Basco and Grey Griffin in my head. The Jocks I would kill to cast any actor from Riverdale I could get my hands on. The rest I have no idea.

-What are the character's pronouns/orientations? Gwen- She/Her Miles- He/Him Sloane- They/Them Hiro- He/him Bea- She/Her Jarrahdale- She/Her Headless Horse Kid- He/Him Fritz- They/Them Whitney- She/Her Hazel- She/Her Kyle- He/Him Dom- He/Him Ester- She/Her In general I don't want to define their sexual orientations. I'm an aroace author and it's not something I'm interested in writing about. Ideally, I'd like to give the audience room to project themselves onto the characters. Don't get me wrong this book is QUEER and themes of identity are important, just don't expect any kissing in the canon story. Headcanons on the other hand, go nuts!!! The Jocks however, are all bi or pan. Can I get HELLAWEEN in ____ country/language?

Getting it published outside of the US is not out of the question, but at the moment I don't have any concrete info on that. I've heard folks have had good luck getting the book through their country's Amazon site or Bookshop.org Can I draw fanart/make my own playlists/write fanfiction/make a character?

oh my GOD yes ART Who are your artistic inspirations?

Jhonen Vasquez and Aaron Alexovich, FLCL, Jamie Hewlett, The Muppets, Mike Mignola, Mob Psycho 100, Rem's Devil's Candy, early Tim Burton, 2000's Neopets, Pokemon, plus online artists I’ve looked up to for years or grew up drawing with. What programs do you use?

Comics- Clipstudio Paint Sketching- Procreate Storyboarding- Storyboard Pro Writing- Final Draft/Google Docs What ink markers do you use in your sketchbook?

Copic markers, pentel pocket brush, pilot brush pens, micron fine liners Check out my episode of Creative Block!

[doberbutts]

(asking in good faith) do you not think any trans men experience male privilege, and if so, do you think anyone truly experiences male privilege, and if not, what do you think male privilege is, and what sort of man experiences it?

I think that the privilege conversation as it exists both online and in progressive spaces irl is extremely bastardized from its original context to mean “have” and “have not” rather than an actual complex look at what’s going on.

Do trans men have male privilege? On an individual level, at times, if perceived as men, an individual trans man may benefit from male privilege during a specific interaction. On a societal level, it very much depends, because the transgender part of his manhood impacts the way society treats him.

Is it easier for a trans man to have an abortion than a cis woman? No, in fact, it’s often harder. Is it easier for a trans man to receive government aid? No, again, it’s often harder. Do trans men win more of their court cases? No, most of the time they lose, if they manage to survive whatever encounter led them to court in the first place. Are trans men in STEM and other high paying jobs at similar rates to cis men? Are they there more than trans women? To the first, not at all. To the second, it’s difficult to find an exact number due to these high paying jobs almost universally requiring stealth or being closeted, but I’d wager it’s probably equal. Are trans men free from worry about rape or domestic violence? No, it’s often occurring at higher rates than cis women. Have trans men historically been free from being considered their family’s property to be sold to the highest bidder for their husband? No, in fact, some trans men still experience this to this day. Have trans men historically been able to perform male-dominated or male-only jobs? Not unless they were stealth, and if they were found out they were usually immediately jailed or killed. Have trans men historically been able to own property, have credit cards, or use bank accounts in their name? No, to the point where when this began to be challenged entire laws were written up to prevent this from happening. Are trans men free from the societal shame regarding menstruation cycles? Not unless they’ve had a hysterectomy or have some other reason to not menstruate, just like a cis woman. 

Has there ever been a trans man as president or otherwise leader of an entire country? Have any trans men held any meaningful office for long enough to actually create policy and write laws? Are trans men running huge multi-million or multi-billion dollar companies? How many CEOs are trans men? How many characters in the media are trans men- actual trans men, not “trans-coded”, not “probably transgender”, not “popular fanon trans”, but actually trans men? How many of them are played by actors who are trans men and not just cis women? How many religious leaders are trans men, and how many religions value trans men as actual men instead of as woman-lite or disobedient women?

Again, in specific situations, an individual trans man who passes in the moment may benefit briefly from male privilege. A particularly lucky individual may be able to live as stealth for the bulk of his life and never be questioned. But the mistake of considering “passing privilege” the same as “cis male privilege” is especially egregious when considering that this just isn’t the life of the majority of trans men- not even taking into account that many trans mascs are not men, they are non-binary, but they are being lumped in with men all the same despite not being men or passing as men at all.

I think all privilege, not just male, is highly conditional when in individual contexts and depends incredibly on the giver’s bias rather than the receiver’s identity. A gay man may have “straight privilege” if he is closeted, and may enjoy a life free from homophobic attacks due to being perceived as straight, but that doesn’t mean society at large somehow got better for gay people. It just means he had to hide in order to be spared, and I don’t think being forced to hide is a privilege.

Rather, I think when discussing who “has privilege”, it’s better to consider the broader picture of society rather than pointing at an individual and deciding for them how their life and experiences worked. Certainly, if that individual tells you, “I’ve never thought of [blind spot]”, that is an example of that person’s privilege. But I think it’s better to say male privilege is better shown in the examples I brought up, and how it’s societal, rather than pointing to someone you don’t know and saying “you’ve never had to deal with this”.

Especially when the discussion becomes warped to the point of “trans men received male privilege from birth because they’re men.”

[darklinaforever]

Nah i have so many arguments on why Alicent is 1000 times better than Rhaenyra, but are you mad cause im stating straight up facts? Emma is ugly. They look like a man lmao it's just awkward 😭 the photoshoot with Olivia was like beauty and beasts, two men and a gorgeous redhead woman.

Rhaenyra is hypocrite weak ass and useless just like her father. Only good to cry, spread legs and giving birth. That's what your so called “rightful heir” did the whole season. I hate Daemon too, but i enjoyed when he choked her out, it was actually good scene. I would have done much worse to her. I hope he will in the next seasons, and the leaks is saying he's treating her like shit. Sounds good to me, are you ready to cry Daemyras? 🤪 Ryan is coming to destroy you all 😂

It's funny, because Alicent only expression throughout the series is watery-eyed... (We can literally make compilations about this ! ) But Rhaenyra is the one who's only good for crying ? Good joke.

Rhaenyra is a hypocrite ? It's funny, it seemed to me that it was Alicent who was hypocritical throughout the show ! Are you sure you didn't swap roles ? (Or simply being a hypocrite yourself, in addition to being stupid perhaps...)

I don't know which is more disgusting. Your comments on the physique of Emma D'arcy who is non-binary.

(Also, no what you're saying is not a fact, beauty is something purely subjective, and many find Emma D'arcy magnificent whether you like it or not. In fact I totally imagine that this reality makes you enrage. Oh. And I'm not sure Olivia Cooke, the Alicent actress herself, would appreciate this kind of gratuitous nastiness towards one of his friends... In any case, from the moment you decide to attack the actor because you don't like the character that this actor plays, you have a real problem in your head)

Or the fact that you enjoyed a scene of abuse against a female character, while hoping that she would suffer even more. (My god, what is wrong with you ?!)

Also... the deep misogyny you must be feeling !

Because I guess when you talk about spreading your legs, you're talking about Rhaenyra having to deal with her own sexuality, like it's some kind of shame ? Once again pathetic.

How long will Rhaenyra be blamed for having a sex life as if it were some kind of crime exactly ? (Again, hello misogyny)

I also want to say that Alicent also had children during the series. So she must have given birth at some point on her own, even if we didn't see her. The fact is that she also had children throughout season 1. So I don't really understand this criticism about giving birth / having children to Rhaenyra specifically... (While Rhaenyra must literally producing heirs, it's one of her obligations. Plus it's logical that we see her give birth since obviously having children is something that scared her at the start of the season ! Especially since we sees her having only 2 births out of 6, what's going on...) another proof of misogyny I guess ? Even Laena and Aemma have been pregnant and had childbirth. So frankly, apart from a gratuitous misogynistic remark, I don't see what you mean. Even in Fire and Blood the births of children are listed for several female characters ! So...why specifically blame Rhaenyra for having children/giving birth ? My god, this is so ridiculous...

You are truly a disgusting person.

Also, who really has nothing to do but come and annoy people. Once again, you're pathetic, except this is on an even more critical level than I thought.

And we call Rhaenyra the rightful heir because... well that's what she is ? She was designated by her father the king as heir to the throne, so that is what she is. Quite simply. A reality that you apparently have difficulty integrating. (Also, in Fire and Blood, Rhaenyra actively learned to be a future queen... And from what we saw in episode 6, she seems to have politically logical thoughts at the council table facing a Alicent poor in arguments)

I also would like to know what Aegon II, the son of Alicent whom she absolutely wants to place on the throne, did apart from harassing his own brother, twiddling his thumbs, drinking, raping women and forcing his illegitimate children to fight in an arena ? Does Alicent's son seem more worthy than Rhaenyra ? I do not think so. At least Rhaenyra learned her duties as heir. (As she says in episode 10 to Lucerys)

And I don't care what the show does. It has its own canon and is essentially fanfiction. The series is not the book. And as long as the book exists, I don't care what happens to this show. They are not the characters in Fire and Blood and never will be.

Your precious little Alicent from HOTD is just the massacre of the real Alicent Hightower who would be ashamed of this ridiculous counterpart that you all defend like crazy.

Alicent and Greens stans leave this in my inbox.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Someone recently claimed that the new Davies era of doctor who has no more wokism* than the show used to.

Now, maybe I've just changed in the past few decades, but from what I've heard of the 60th anniversary specials it does seem a tad more concentrated. Cherry-picking SPOILERS, sweeties.

- Donna got married offscreen. To what I can only assume is the last black cab driver in London.

- Her kid is trans. Specifically, non-binary, female presenting, says the wiki.** - In the next episode, we learn the Doctor is gay/bi when he thinks Sir Isaac Newton is hot. I'd smugly say this bit has no real relevance, but...the actual scene does carry the episode theme of accidentally changing reality. It's just the queer bit that seems tacked on. Though it does carry forward themes from 10s era. - Sir Zack himself is played by a half-Indian actor. It's not exactly hard to tell. I'm assuming they're running on Bridgerton logic. https://twitter.com/frozenaesthetic/status/1731332492282429950 - This episode is basically just Donna and the Doc exploring a weird location, and running into monsters, who happen to look like them. It would be a bottle episode, except for the large vfx budget. And yet ol' Rusty somehow managed to awkwardly wedge in an  progressive issue. - In the next episode, the villain explains how he's just exploiting the divisions that already exist in human society, including cancel culture. - no wait he's got a point. Jpg - This is ironic, given that Davies and/or his broadcasting house masters are pretty blatantly on the team that a) coined the word,  b) cancels people the most often, and c) defends the idea of Internet lynch mobs*** (***as long as they're left wing. If not, they're *ist "trolls", even if they're just complaining about the latest sacred cow.) Maybe the Davies was criticizing his own team. * Because the Toymaker was kind of racist back in the day (white dude dressed like a stereotypical Chinese dude), Davies made the new version a bit racist "as a callback to his original, problematic depiction back in 1966." - TVtropes, ref. DW Unleashed. On the other hand, the Toymaker also mocks and dresses as several other cultural archetypes. All the ones I've seen were white European ones. He just does this to everyone, apparently. - Toymaker also weaponizes the Spice Girls hit "Spice Up Your Life". No, I will not explain. Though I will note that a line about the "Yellow man in Timbuktu" was apparently drowned out in the episode. Probably for being a tad spicy. - One new UNIT character is a lady in a wheelchair. When the new Tardis - no, I will not explain - has a wheelchair ramp, she happily points it out. Which makes me wonder why the blue box would be so limited, considering it often deals with alien species. - Also, the same actress played a disabled Companion in the Big Finish audio dramas. I'm not sure why it was considered essential to do so in an entirely audio format, but there have been controversies over this sort of thing before (EG Artie on Glee, various racial voice acting controversies). - At this point, casting Ncuti Gatwa as 15 doesn't even register. Not really a blip on my radar. Black Doc? Whatevs. His sonic screwdriver has Rwandan words on it? So? I go to church with lots of Africans. Heck, I'm a black immigrant to ol' Blighty myself, just from the other side of the pond. Ncuti is, chronologically speaking, more British than I am. - Though given that he's Rwandan-Scottish, there may be some debate on the "British" part. - Wikipedia says the actor is pretty left-wing, but the actor seems good so far, so I'm willing to give him a sha-

Oh, come ON!

Maybe the original person speaking was comparing it to the Chibnall “history has always been a whitewash” era, which had a character who was a paper thin Trump satire. A tad ironic, when the whole point of bringing Davies, Tennant, and Tate back is to play on nostalgia.

*Tangent: that word was apparently voted  the most annoying words in English. Which is kind of hilarious if you know that it was originally created to self-describe certain progressives. And the "you can't even define that word!" meme was almost certainly ripped off from the right wing "what is a woman?" Meme. ** This is apparently because she's part Time Lord, through Donna. It seems a tad interesting to me that a few works featuring non binary characters happen to make them enby due to some sort of supernatural (Omniscient Reader) or sci-fi (SW Squadrons) influence which the vast majority of IRL enbies don't have. ...As far as I know.

[higheldertala]

doing a little rant about the doctor and gender. i gather this discourse is getting stale but im gonna give my two cents anyway.

anyone who’s read my opinions on the ch*bnall era will know i really didn’t like how the doctor’s gender was represented during this era and unfortunately that seems to has passed on to the rtd2 era. not that the topic of gender in doctor who is new, i would say the topic of specifically time lords and gender became more prominent with our favourite misogynist st*ven m*ffat when he introduced missy, explicitly claiming that she could never call herself the master while being in a woman’s body. thanks m*ffat!

i think it’s safe to assume that time lords shouldn’t care about gender. at least not in the way humans do. they’re aliens, they wouldn’t follow human societal gender constructs. that would seem like a simple conclusion but apparently not to the white boomer men writing the show. even within the show the doctor has stated that time lords don’t ‘obsess’ over gender as written by said m*ffat (before of course immediately contradicting this just one episode later, showing time lord do actually obsess over gender to the point where it’s literally ever other line of their dialogue).

okay back to the point. as within the ch*bnall and now the rtd2 era the doctor’s gender is ascribed upon by others. no where in these eras does the doctor ever proclaim their own gender, it is simply assumed by other characters and then never questioned or challenged, much to my frustration. and sure perhaps the doctor doesn’t care what human gender humans assign to them but for me this greatly robs their character of agency. even from a genderfluid or agender perspective, if the doctor just says this out loud then that would be enough for me to be satisfied that the doctor gets a say in it.

secondly the doctor’s gender is still just being used as a joke. the doctor’s gender (and ability to change bodies) isn’t treated seriously and more just a funny little quirk the audience can point and laugh at, being presented as ‘lol i was a man/ woman 5 minutes ago isn’t that so funny’. not only is this such a cisgender/fixed binary way of viewing gender it’s also really insulting to actual genderfluid people who do change their gender. their gender and the ability to fluctuate gender isn’t a joke, it’s a person’s identity and should be treated with respect.

in the star beast, gender comes up in the resolution of the episode where it has no place to be. it’s makes no sense to add gender to the equation as it provides no further explanation of the resolution. and the line about the ‘male presenting time lord’ is completely baffling in every single way. rtd has clearly shown he understands the existence of the spectrum of gender and non binary gender yet with this single line contradicts this by resorting back to gender stereotypes and essentialism stating ‘a man could never understand emotional intelligence of letting something go ’. in an attempt to make GirlBoss™️ moment, rtd has just created average sexism. truly two steps forward then one step back. and to further bring this back round, again timelords would not care about gender and are unlikely to perform gender sterotypes this way so why bring it up at all. the doctor’s emotional vulnerability whilst present as a flaw in their character, is in all incarnations regardless of the gender of the actor playing the doctor. to suggest that the 13th doctor would be immune to this flaw is again sexist and also a fundamental misunderstanding of the character, with 13 has been one of the most emotional constipated and closed off incarnations. it honestly makes me question whether rtd has even seen the 13th doctor’s era at all.

unfortunately i think my desire for gender to be discussed and explored within the show seriously is not gonna happen any time soon, and honestly to prevent further frustrations i would rather the topic is not raised at all, if it is gonna be treated so carelessly and flippantly.

[specialagentartemis]

Having listened to the Graphic Audio full-cast audobook for All Systems Red, it was fun but I have some thoughts about the voice acting and direction. So now I’m just daydreaming about “if I had Billionaire Money I would buy the audio rights to TMBD and direct and produce another full cast audio version with voice actors handpicked and paid lavishly by Me.”

The cast being:

All Systems Red:

Murderbot: Kevin R. Free is the voice of Murderbot to a lot of people. I would think very hard about this but it would be a foundational return to form. However I feel like I want to reach out and find a non-binary VA because it's a niche that's been tragically underrepresented in Murderbot VAs. I joked before about Vico Ortiz playing live-action Murderbot but do they want to try their hand at voice acting?

Mensah: Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs. Voices Captain Lovelace on Wolf 359. Has incredible talent and range and does the Intrepid Galactic Explorer so well.

Pin-Lee: Emily Woo Zeller. An audiobook narrator I've consistently liked.

Ratthi: Stephen Dookie. He plays the part of Polites in Epic: The Musical and he's excellent in a very sweet, upbeat, friendly way.

Gurathin: Sungwon "ProZD" Cho. I'm picturing somewhere in the range of his Miles Edgeworth voice for this.

Arada: Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey. She's a singer not a VA but her voice sounds so nice.

Overse: Tanja Milojevic. Her range is incredible.

Bharadwaj: Rukhmani Desai (Captain Tripathi, The Strange Case of Starship Iris. She has that calm, reasonable, rational, desperately kind character voice she plays well in Starship Iris that I think would go well for Bharadwaj)

Volescu: Zach Valenti. The vibes are right.

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti. Yes all of them.

Artificial Condition:

ART: Janelle Monáe and I mean it

Tapan: ItMe of InCo Podcast

The ComfortUnit: also ItMe because an important part of listening to faer acting is realizing in awe how fae voices so many characters at once and make them all sound distinct.

Tlacey: kinda thinking Ariela Rotenberg. she does smugly confidently evil very well. However we cannot discount casting ItMe for this role also

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti.

Rogue Protocol:

Don Abene: Emma Sherr-Ziarko. She also deserves to be an intrepid space leader again.

Miki: ItMe again in InCo Season 2 Updated SAWA mode

Wilken: me. I want a part. I could totally be a badass evil space assassin

Gerth: does Gerth even have any lines.

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti.

Exit Strategy:

Serrat: Zach Libresco. this casting + Janelle Monáe as ART were what drove me to make this post in the first place.

The Combat SecUnit: Ellen McLain in GLaDOS mode. All 2 lines it has.

Network Effect:

Amena: Ishani Kanetkar (The Strange Case of Starship Iris, The Godshead Incidental, excellent VA for a proud and curious but scared young person)

Iris: Jordan Cobb (Janus Descending, Primordial Deep, excellent VA for a gritted-teeth calm scientist in a strange and dangerous place)

Seth: Avery Brooks (I know it is not the 90s anymore. but. Captain Sisko. I can imagine <3 )

Martyn: Alexander Siddig / Siddig El-Fadil (Dr. Bashir). They're TV actors but! I want them as the Ship Captain Husbands

The rest of ART's crew: other podcast VAs I love who I haven't come up with a role for yet. Kristen DiMercurio, Beth Eyre, James Oliva.

Supervisor Leonide: Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova on Babylon 5 <333 )

Eletra: Michaela Swee who is very busy working at An Actual Hospital but I have a billion dollars in this dream scenario so I can pay her to take a day and record like 4 lines

Ras: Zach Valenti. This is very important.

Three: Jackie Andrews who plays R. J. McCabe on Starship Iris and Elinor Lopez on The Pasithea Powder has the right Vibes For This

Zach Valenti as the Additional Voice of every goon and target who gets the shit scared out of them and/or dies.

Fugitive Telemetry:

Indah: Molly Olguin maybe. she could Be Indah. Absolutely means we need Jackie Hedeman to have a role in FT too.

Tifany: Michelle Agresti (Wolf 359, Arden)

Aylen: Tracey Sayed (also Arden)

Jollybaby, Tellus, Balin: I would open the floor to the delightful Murderbot fandom. Who wants to voice a Preservation bot

Additional voices by--well you know the drill.

[kalinara]

So there's going to be a Murderbot TV show! Great! It might be good. It might be terrible.

I admit, I'm a little befuddled by the casting choice. The actor is very pretty, but I'm not really sure that Murderbot really needed to be yet another white actor.

But I have to admit, some of the fan reaction I've seen is bugging me a bit. And it has to do with gender.

I mean, look, obviously Murderbot has no gender. And thus, the ideal casting choice would be a non-binary or agender actor. I would agree with that. I have no idea how many openly non-binary or agender actors there are right now, so I honestly can't judge the efforts made to find one.

But one of the first comments I saw on one of the articles was "Murderbot should be played by a woman."

And irrationally, I bristled at reading that. I don't know the commenter from Adam, and it's very possible that the commenter meant something like "these sort of action lead characters tend to be portrayed by men and thus, since Murderbot does not have a gender, this is an opportunity for more visual variety."

But one thing I've noticed is that folks tend to be more accepting of the idea of non-binary folk in general when we're AFAB. I think that there's a certain percentage of the population for whom "non-binary" just means a cute androgynous girl.

An AMAB non-binary person doesn't exist. Or gets a lot of the same shit that a trans woman does. We've seen those "women and non-binary only!" statements before. How welcoming do you think they are to a non-androgynous AMAB NB?

I'm not saying I have a lot of faith in Apple's ability to actually portray Murderbot's gender (or lack thereof) in the context of the television show. BUT, assuming they do a good job with the writing, then there's no innate reason why a six foot tall action dude couldn't play a character without gender.

Murderbot's only description in the text, that I recall seeing anyway, was in the one short story from Mensah's point of view. I think it was something about it being lean. Everything else is fair game.

TLDR: It's perfectly understandable to be disappointed by the casting choice for Murderbot, but it's also worth re-examining our biases when it comes to gender and the lack thereof.

[thesquirrelqueer]

okay actually speaking of foreign productions and re: asking you things, what’s all the info we know about the unofficial German production? I think I’ve seen like 2 tiktok bootleg moments but when I went digging for more all I found was promo YouTube/insta stuff. Apparently there are 3 squips???

Okay so I knew about as much as you did going into this, but I was able to get into contact with Kevin Flemming, the actor who played Jay/Jenna and this is what he said (also if you have more questions about the production that I don’t answer here I’ll try to ask him later)

How did the SQUIP work if there were 3 of them?

The SQUIP was a puppet and the 3 of them were the puppeteers. Two of them worked the arms and the other worked the legs. A lot of the dialogue and singing was split between the three of them, but they also did 3 part harmonies.

Besides being translated from English to German, were there any script changes made?

1. The role of Jenna became Jay and they were explicitly stated to be non-binary and use they/them pronouns. There were other ideas for the role such as making Jenna be a drag role or changing her to a stereotypical gay boy named Jason, but ultimately they settled on making them non-binary.

2. During the hospital scene, Rich tells Jeremy that he had a crush on him

3. Since they were using the Two River script, they didn’t have Loser Geek Whatever but they did add in the “I’m tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am” section of upgrade

4. Mr. Heere and Mr. Reyes became Mrs. Heere and Ms. Reyes, they are played by separate actors. When casting, there were no men who were old enough to play Mr. Heere so it wasn't a surprise when she became Jeremy's mom instead of his dad. The Ms. Reyes gender change wasn't known until the full cast list came out.

5. The SQUIP was changed to "sound like Siri" but it also had options for Alexa and Google

6. There were some adlibs at the end of the smartphone hour and in the pitiful children

7. They added 2 new characters, Tessa and Denise, who were the ensemble