#my reading + opinions on gender essentialism

[rollercoasterwords]

heyo! on your tags for the sports post i was curious if you could expand a little on getting rid of gender divided sports leagues?

i’ve never really considered the issue and my only frame of reference would be from my women friends who were undergrad athletes (mostly swimmers/ xc runners) that funded their education through sports and would not be performing at a collegiate level if there was no league for women.

i always love to learn more and while i’ve always been 100% in support of trans women competing in women’s sports, i have never thought about doing away with gendered sports completely so i was curious if there was any reading that shaped ur opinion on the topic!

i mean i think that post itself kinda sums up my own feelings on dividing sports leagues by gender--if the goal in such divisions is to 'even the playing field' by grouping competitors by equal skill or physical ability, then it makes more sense to just....do that. divide sports by weight class where weight would make a significant difference, or height class where height would make a significant difference, etc. or just....let everyone play together, because sports are never going to be perfectly 'fair' in the first place, bc everyone will have physical differences that lend themselves to different sports. again, based on my own personal experience playing in coed soccer leagues as a teen, it really just felt arbitrary to then go play in teams divided by gender; sure, sometimes the boys were better than the girls, but sometimes the girls were better than the boys. the park league i played in just randomized the teams so that there was a mix of skill level on every one, and you worked with what you had. granted, it was just something all of us were doing for fun or extra practice to complement more 'serious' teams we were also on, but still.

i think there's this conception that gendered sports leagues are like...the only thing that allows women to have careers in sports, but i honestly just think that's bullshit. if anything, gendered leagues relegate women to what is almost unilaterally considered a secondary or less important class of athletics--generally speaking women's teams receive less funding, less attention, less institutional support. maybe some sports would have a greater proportion of men playing at a professional level than women if we eradicated gendered divisions between teams, but others would likely have a higher proportion of women (there are already sports where women tend to make up a higher proportion of competitors, like gymnastics or cheer, but those sports are just undervalued because of our existing gendered dynamics in sports where boy sport = serious and girl sport = frivolous), and i also genuinely think there would be plenty of women who could compete on the same playing field as men in popular sports like soccer or baseball or basketball, etc. like. there a lot of professional women athletes who are really fucking good.

and the thing is, when i (and others) say "hey we should get rid of gendered sports leagues," none of us are envisioning this happening in a vaccuum; we're envisioning it happening as part of a wider project of fomenting gender equality (or, eventually, gender abolition)--working to change material conditions so that girls have equal resources to train and play sports if they want to, to make sure everyone has access to the sort of healthcare necessary to play sports, to food and clean water, etc. working to change sexist attitudes about what girls can or can't do or should or shouldn't do that lead people to devalue girls' athletics in the first place. i think part of the reason so many people balk at the idea of eradicating gendered sports leagues is that they imagine snapping their fingers and erasing women's leagues within the already-existing sexist system of current sports leagues, without contextualizing it as a wider project aimed at eradicating sexism throughout athletic culture, etc.

and like, with regard to your example of your friends who wouldn't be competing at the collegiate level without women's leagues. i guess my question there is like...why not? is it because they can't compete with the boys in those leagues? or is it simply because that's the existing structure, so their only option for competing is to compete in a women's league? obviously for people who depend on things like athletic scholarships this is a touchy subject, but again, for me it comes down to the fact that this whole issue doesn't exist in a vaccuum; in the first place, i think a college education should be free to anyone who wants it, and so the project of eradicating gendered sports leagues would ideally be happening in the context of a wider project of making education accessible, removing barriers to educational access, etc. like...these are all things we should be fighting for together.

at the end of the day, i see gendered sports leagues as a 'solution' to the issue of sexism in athletics that treat the symptom rather than the cause, and in doing so only reifies gender essentialism and this idea that women are 'biologically' inferior athletes (and also reifies 'women' and 'men' as two discrete prediscursive categories of being). eradicating gendered sports leagues while simultaneously working in other ways to eradicate sexism actually begins to address the underlying cause: gender essentialism. yes, any change would be slow, and there would certainly still be struggles w sexism in ungendered sports leagues. but just because change would be difficult doesn't mean it's a good reason to accept things the way they are, imo.

[cavegirlpoems]

Further thoughts.

There is a tendency to write settings - particularly for interactive media like ttrpgs, larps, etc - that are essentially gender-blind, where you can create whoever you want without that having an effect on the game. The decision to be gay, or a woman, or trans, or a gay trans woman with pink hair is an aesthetic choice that will not give you a meaningfully different experience in the game.

This rather kneecap's the setting's ability to tell queer stories, imho. If we take it as read that queerness refers to gender- and sexuality-based identities and behaviours that fall outside of the societal norms, then the experience of falling outside those societal norms is (rather tautologically) a key element of queerness.

So, in a completely gender-blind setting, one can't - tautologically - be gender-nonconforming. There is no expectation to conform to. The experience of queerness, of being outside of societal norms, becomes null and void. Such a setting will feature homosexuality, but it won't feature gay pride, and nor will it need to as none of the societal forces that led to the pride movement exist.

This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, a world where one is not oppressed for one's identity is an enjoyable world to explore for what should be obvious reasons. On the other hand, it becomes impossible to tell (say) a coming-out story in a world where there's no closet to be in to begin with.

There is also the element that whilst a setting may say its gender-blind, it's still written and played in by people from the real world, who still subconsciously inherit real-world biases, and this can be reflected in the world.

While (say) women might have just as much right to political power as men, if in practice the people with political power are disproportionately men, that sexism is still present. Far from removing it, the gender-blindness of the setting simply obfuscates it, and often actively proves an obstacle to addressing it; one cannot call somebody out in character for sexism in a setting where sexism doesn't exist, no matter how sexist they're being.

(Similar biases around sexuality, transness, polyamory, kink, aceness, etc also creep in).

(In many cases, this can also apply to other axes of marginalisation, such as race, etc. However, in a lot of settings this doesn't apply the same way. Many fantasy settings are deeply opinionated about a character's ancestry; see the D&D skull-callipers explaining that elves are just more intelligent and agile than everybody else, and this being a mechanically enforced fact in the world.)

My point, anyway, is that in these cases efforts towards inclusivity can paradoxically erase that which they seek to include. One cannot represent the lived experience of a marginalised identity in a setting that totally denies the existence of that marginalisation.

[pomefioredove]

okay after reading all the goth hc, I gotta ask. how do you think the guys would react (any of them but preferred Floyd and Idia ) to playing them goth music/show them a trad goth outfit/makeup look (suprise them maybe? For example: I hc Leona to just have the least slay music taste to mankind (beastmankind?) so you play him- idk let’s say Lebanon Hanover, and he’s like “wtf is this herbivore?” But then he kinda gets into it. no pressure to write for it btw!

-✨♥️✨

ANON I was literally thinking about making a post like this a few days before this ask... you have my heart. I'm doing a full post

summary: nrc boys and goth type of post: headcanons characters: nrc students additional info: platonic or romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is not specified to be yuu, half-headcanons half-x reader author's note: I'm assuming that goth as a subculture and a music scene already exists in this world. this post is also mostly about the music scene

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Riddle is essentially a baby bat

he's like, two bad life choices away from going full victorian goth at any given moment

he flat out refuses to listen to anything "vulgar" but secretly adores the dark, poetic side to goth

he's also morbidly obsessed with death, being a sad victorian boy and the child of two doctors. it works

as much as I hate to say it, Ace starts out as the kind of guy to say he wants a "goth gf" on multiple occasions

he proudly announces it to everyone at an unbirthday party once and Riddle almost kills him for being annoying for interrupting

thinks the music is too sad

...but he mellows out eventually (your influence)

both Deuce and Trey are not particularly interested

(Deuce leaned into punk music as a preteen but has since "given it up" because it's too unruly for an aspiring honors student, in his opinion)

Cater inexplicably already knows a lot about goth

won't talk about it unless you bring it up first but if you play him something semi-popular

he'll be like "oh yeah I know that one"

he has a few songs on his playlist he listens to when he's alone

is a goth magnet himself. pulls many hot goths. no one knows how

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Jack is also not really into it. not his thing

however I can see him secretly being into emo

make of that what you will

and Ruggie will never pass you the aux again. he calls it "halloween music"

Leona acts thoroughly uninterested for a long time

like, he'll listen to the music you give him, but doesn't really say whether he likes it or not

says he doesn't care about the scene (thinks it's too pretentious)

and pretends to be annoyed when you give him more song recs

but he gets into it. he starts listening on his own

he has a definite preference for gothic rock

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Jade is already goth (to me at least)

and very eager to talk about his favorite bands

loves giving recommendations

apparently the coral sea has its own goth subgenres and bands, which sound... much different from land ones

Floyd will listen (has listened, thanks to his brother) but he doesn't particularly care

he much prefers the aesthetic, it reminds him of home

...being that he's from the deep sea, where it's dark and cold

the flowy, dark, elegant looks are just enchanting to him. he can't keep his eyes off it

Azul couldn't be bothered

he's willing to learn, but isn't a huge fan of the general... strangeness

(he doesn't really understand why anyone would want to be perceived as strange in the first place)

and the music is so unmelodic to him

"that was just a man moaning and a gate creaking for seven minutes" and then he bans you from his office

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Kalim literally listens to goth already

I don't know how to explain it but I know he does

it's so funny because he never ever dresses goth or acts stereotypically goth but every once in a while he'll be like "who wants to hear my new favorite song? :D" and it's like, alien sex fiend. and no one can say anything about it

Jamil is an appreciator

depending on what you show him, he could really get into the lyricism and general mood

...if only because he finds goth dancing absolutely mesmerizing

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Rook is goth

he only dresses the part sometimes, but he's always been very passionate about the poetic elements of the music

...really into french coldwave

in terms of fashion he leans romantic goth

it just makes sense to me. he could find beauty in absolutely anything, and the dark and macabre are no exception

will talk your ear off about his favorite bands if you give him the chance

Vil is really more into the style than the music

he's dabbled in a little bit of everything; trad goth, romantic goth, medieval goth. he pulls all of it off

honestly, if anything, the gothic style compliments his features and tastes more than anything

he has such a respect for the subculture and the dedication that goes into the visual elements

Epel doesn't get it. sorry 😔

he will listen to the music you recommend because he cares about you, but he just doesn't like it

he's in the same boat as Azul. "was that a slide whistle?"

absolutely baffled, but he likes you and it's a small price to pay for your happiness

(and he thinks the fashion is too androgynous for his tastes)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

I feel like Idia also used to think he wanted a goth until he saw the e-girl vs goth discourse, freaked out, then spent two weeks reading about different subcultures

...still wants a goth partner

but now he actually knows what that means

will listen to any music you give him out of respect (fear) and won't say anything about whatever weird taxidermy-related hobby you have

he's surrounded by death all the time anyway who cares

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

you could get Silver to listen to the cure's entire discography and he'd come out of it really enjoying just like heaven and nothing else

it's just... not for him

(plus the slower songs put him to sleep)

Malleus somehow hasn't even heard of goth as a genre when you approach him

he is. a little disappointed it's not music about the architecture style

but he still warms up to it, especially as someone who enjoys finding the beauty in the dark and misunderstood

you can fix him. you can goth him.

Sebek joins only after everyone in Diasomnia gets in on it with you (he doesn't like being left out)

he loves it because silver doesn't and malleus does

peepaw Lilia is an old goth

he was around when the music scene started, and he also remembers the literature movement it was named after, and the popular architecture style that was named after, and...

...you get it

still, he's always pleased to learn about new bands and subgenres and styles and the like

could and will talk about it for hours and hours with you

he dresses the part, too

we love him

[officialspec]

can you pleeeeease post your dm sexuality/gender hcs on here.... 🥺 i don't have a twitter but i wanna know. it's like a pandora's box to me now i'm like scratching at the door. let me in

heres the link 2 the thread (mild spoilers btw) ill post a transcript under the cut for ppl who dont have twitter

first off i think laios relationship to sex is super removed for like 50 reasons without even getting into his actual sexuality

he grew up in a place with very repressed ideas about sex and has a lot of fear about asserting his presence in situations

his special interest takes precedent over any social interactions he has and the level of closeness he feels towards people

he has a hard time figuring out his feelings towards other people both bc hes autistic and bc he has freaky deviantart fetishes that make sex in his mind a very abstract concept <- this one is me projecting mostly

that aside, i feel like gender-wise hes attracted to ppl so infrequently it may as well be entirely case-by-case

the idea of him being gay appeals to me from the 'raised with traditional values he Does Not fit into/hasnt begun to question it yet' perspective, i lauve characters who put a lot of stock into performing a role thats expected of them and fail miserably for unknown (gay) reasons

from his perspective tho i dont think he would ever really label himself anything. hes going to pride parades in the shirt+shorts Ally Fit to clap for his friends

hes also 'cis by indifference' imo... i love tmasc laios hcs it just doesnt mesh w his personal history to me. i do think hes got some kind of therian gender thing going on (not trans or nb but a secret third thing) but i cant see him changing anything abt his appearance/pronouns to accommodate that post-canon. hes just doin his thang

falin is in a similar boat for gender. i LOOVE tfem falin but the village repression thing has been bugging at me so i dont think i subscribe to it anymore (canon purist sorry) BUT if u hold that hc i am clapping and cheering regardless

instead i was propagandised to a while back and i LOVEEE the idea that being fused w a male dragon and the residual traits she has after being revived have given her a type of gender euphoria she didnt realise she was missing. a little boygirl swagger if u will

sexuality-wise i also dont think she would care to label herself, shes a lesbian by virtue of only being interested in One woman and zero other people. without marcille i do think shes still exclusively attracted to women, and i like to imagine she might experiment around a bit during her travels post-canon (pre-relationship). hearing abt it might put marcille on the news though

marcille is very simple That is a transfem lesbian. she cant get pregnant, shes obsessed w being femme and all that combined w her half-tallman struggles to be seen as 'properly feminine' by elf standards reads very transfeminine to Me. also her bookboy crush REEKS of comphet its not subtle

i think a more comfortable marcy might have the space to experiment w being elf butch like her manga boys but thats mainly self indulgence for me. utena could have saved her

senshi is gay his whole thing is abt not being able to perform dwarven masculinity to a proper standard (soft hearted, not as strong or rugged as his peers) which is like gaycoding 101. also hes a bear. homosexuality be damned by boy can work a grill

adding onto this i rly think senshi got some type of euphoria from being an elf in the changeling chapters. he was feeling himself so much i think he was using it as an outlet to have fun being a little fem and fruity without needing to justify it. do u understand

i dont have any particular opinions abt him gender-wise beyond that. his bulge is an essential part of his character design but i also saw a transmasc senshi a couple days ago that made me nod my head thoughtfully so i could go either way

chilchuck is cis and bisexual this is just canon. not even just his old man crush on senshi altho i do think thats very funny but they put his ass on a cover themed like hes in a dating sim with all the men and women in the cast and then slapped it in front of a chapter called "bicorn". i simply cant pass up that kind of overt signaling. its so fucking funny what else is there to say truly

izu to ME is a transmasc aroace lesbian (this one has the least basis in canon i just know it to be true) shes a little genderfluid with it nd uses he/she i think. i like to imagine she consistently uses masculine personal pronouns to refer to herself either way tho (boku, ore)

i think izutsumis gender/sexuality is entirely secondary in priorities to her body dysphoria. she has a lot of learning and acceptance 2 do before that kind of self discovery is on the docket and in my mind eschewing gender on some level is part of that. get sillay

shuro is cishet but at least he feels bad about it. next listen listen to me i dont think he would ever actually examine this but i need u to put on ur tin foil hat with me for one second. i think estrogen could have saved her. i have more thoughts on this but im not gonna propagandise too much on this post just know that im right

kabru is a transmasc bisexual this is also practically text. his whole thing of being treated like a doll by milsiril to put in pretty dresses, plus i think it would be pretty easy for him to stealth in the west since tallmen are seen as inherently more masculine than elves

(i also think changing genders is just more common for elves. theyre androgynous enough that it wouldnt be hard and like who in their right miiiiind would be the same gender for 500 years. dwarves too)

i think he started presenting as male socially in the west but didnt need to consider medical transition until he moved to a more mixed culture where other races might see him as a woman

i dont have to explain the bisexual part. have u seen him

namari is a butch bisexual this is just canon straight up. shes not transmasc but i think the default settings for dwarven women is like 4 years of T regardless. shes a hit at all the local cruising spots despite her renfaire nerdisms i know this

and just bc im thinking abt em kiki and kaka are identical and kiki is tfem :} theyre both attracted to women but kaka is a sub so i forgive him

THATS ALL 4 NOW theres a lot of characters so i cant have thoughts abt all of them at once but i hope this was good. im right about everything forever as per usual

[nothorses]

I came across this paper:

https://www.academia.edu/71372307/Trans_masculinities_embodiments_performances_and_the_materiality_of_gender_in_times_of_change

I'm not well-versed in academic language so I can't really understand all of it, but it seems kind of gross and condescending, especially when it's using testimonials of transmasc's desire to be seen as men to, idk, prove that masculinity isn't really queer or something? I'm curious how other (smarter) people would interpret it.

I mean, your understanding of it is just as important as mine! I'm happy to add my thoughts, though.

My understanding is that their thesis is essentially "masculinity is related to maleness and the male body specifically, and we know that because transmascs want to have male bodies". They allow for some nuance here in references to other literature, and I agree with that angle of their argument overall, but their premise is fundamentally flawed in the exclusion of trans theory and trans narratives.

Like, yes, masculinity is in some way related to appearance and the "male body", and there are a lot of reasons for that! But is the dysphoria of trans people really ironclad "proof" of what maleness and masculinity are? And why don't they spend any time talking about what dysphoria actually is, what trans people think it is, why trans people think they feel the way they do, or what trans academics have to say about any of this?

I have a lot of other issues with this paper as well, and I could probably write a paper just as long as theirs going into all of the reasons for that. But I think that answers your biggest question; what they're trying to prove, how they're trying to prove it, and why that comes across so weird.

To your other question ("is it condescending?"): I think this is kind of subjective overlay, but the way they go about analyzing their data is pretty condescending, in my opinion. They tend to frame their participants' responses as kind of misguided or ill-informed, particularly Diniz- who they definitely discuss as "trying to justify his choices" to identify as nonbinary while also seeking medical transition, like this is inherently contradictory and must therefore rely on some kind of delusion or desperation. It's weird!

I do also want to point out, briefly, that they also really cherrypick which claims they bother sourcing, and how they try to back them up.

They argue that trans men have male privilege based on the opinions of, like, three of their 30 total participants- and then carry this as "fact" through the entire paper, uncontested. That's extremely fucking weird and super suspect in a paper like this! I just wrote my own qualitative research paper based on interviews (which is what this is), and it's pretty standard to acknowledge the limitations of your research, and to position your results as non-definitive. Like, that's been a major part of every discussion with everyone I've talked to about my research. I would not have been greenlit to receive my degree if I hadn't been careful to avoid framing my research the way these people frame theirs.

The other weird thing they do is cherrypick statistics- or rather, one single statistic- to "prove" that transmascs do not suffer as much as other trans people, or possess some kind of privilege. They only cite murder statistics from one source; apparently that's the only relevant metric for quantifying all oppression? They also fail to acknowledge any possible shortcomings of this statistic, like the issues of under-reporting and misgendering of transmasc victims.

I could go on; I have a lot of gripes. But I think your criticism is totally valid, this was a weird and frustrating read.

Also curious if @genderkoolaid has thoughts- you tend to talk about gender studies from an academic position more, and you probably have a lot more field-specific expertise than I do. I'll boost other additions too, I love a good academic discussion!

[maharellasa]

I've given it a lot of thought about making a post like this, because I didn't want to just add to the already extended discourse on the subject, but I keep reading opinions and I just can't stay out of it.

Before I continue I want to make clear that I've done high approval solas playthroughs and I do believe that a befriended solas cares deeply for the inquisitor. He respects and values them, and you could even argue that they forge a kind of sibling bond or a mentor/apprentice one. So for him to betray that, it's really a tragedy in the end—the inquisitor hurts deeply for their lost friend/mentor.

That said, and I am truly, honestly, not saying this as a solasmancer, but from a storytelling point of view, the story of a romanced solas is still far more impactful.

Please let me make my case before you draw conclusions.

I am not saying it's more valid, or that you should do it, or that it should be the canon. Just, simply, that it is a more powerful story narratively, and that acting like the high approval run somehow has an equal narrative value is completely unbased. It's a meaningful story, yes, but it does not have the same impact. (To be clear, I'm not speaking in comparison to other romances here since that's based on taste and preferences, just the case of befriended vs romanced solas specifically.)

From a creative writing point of view, the romance employs:

backstory relevance: fen'harel is an important part of lavellan's culture and upbringing. and yes, arguably, that's true for any lavellan, but in the case of a romanced one, there's the beautiful narrative device of—

tragic irony: she grew up specifically being cautioned about the dread wolf's treachery, hearing blessings like "may the dreadwolf never catch your scent" etc. and what does she do? she goes and falls in love with him.The dread wolf literally takes her. A befriended lavellan might love him, but will give him nothing so vital as her heart for it to be considered "a taking". And as for other inquisitors, well, they don't even know who Fen'harel is.

unique perspective: (edit because of comments on this post) solas reveals much more of himself to a romanced inquisitor than a high approval one. "it's not right", "it's been so long since I trusted someone", "it will be kinder in the long run", "you saw more than most", and to top that, the ultimate reveal of solas telling her he can remove her vallaslin, which is his way of showing her who he truly is.

denied catharsis: one of the most essential rules of storytelling is that after you've reached the climax of the hero's journey and you've dragged them through all their struggles, you should provide a form of catharsis. that doesn't happen in the case of the romanced lavellan. she ends up alone. I'm not even saying heartbroken, because losing a friend can cause equal pain, but a solas romanced lavellan ends. up. alone. After all that she went through, after having her personhood erased and being forced into a religion that is not hers, after losing her arm and potentially her clan, she ends the journey of the inquisition standing completely alone overlooking an empire that will never thank her. and added to that, we have—

continued torment: her lover still visits her in dreams and she can't even tell if he's real or her imagination.

Yes, high approval playthroughs are enjoyable and meaningful and as much a valid canon as any. And yes, it's really unfortunate that they limited such a beautiful romance to a specific race and gender in the game. But please, please, stop trying to argue that the friendship narrative is as powerful a storytelling as the romance. And stop treating solavellans like silly fangirls who can't see past their faves. I admit that there are those who are trying to force the romance as the only valid option, but I'm not talking about those, every fandom has its radicals.

This is not an argument of whether romantic is better than platonic or vice versa. And it's not an argument of whether solas cares more for a romanced inquisitor versus a befriended one. He cares deeply in both cases. It's about the fact that, narratively speaking, the romance delivers a far greater impact to the character and the story than the high approval run.

[god-syndicate-if]

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think I respectfully disagree with the last anon.

I mean Ares just has naturally violent feelings and tendencies towards everything that pisses them off. Yes, feeling the urge to hit people when you're mad isn't a "good" urge to have but it's consistent with the character, that's how Ares is and they feel it indiscriminately towards everyone.

If you're playing as a professional boxer then punching someone will all your strength is going to hurt them either way, it doesn't matter much if they're a man or a woman, because you're going to do a lot of damage either way. I don't particularly think that it's "worse" to inflict harm on a person just because they're a woman. In my eyes, a professional boxer could hurt anyone badly, and to me, inflicting harm on a man is the same as doing it to a woman because they're both equally bad. So I don't think the lesson should be "don't hit that RO because she's a woman," but rather "Don't hit ANY RO because hurting your partner is always bad and it shouldn't matter what gender they are."

But like you said, feeling the urge is not the same as actually doing it. I think it makes sense for Ares to be feeling these feelings towards everyone/anyone, regardless of gender. You can't control what emotions and thoughts pop up, but the difference is that we have some control on when to act on them or not act on them.

(Plus, even fem dame is probably not exactly defenseless, they're still a god with healing and powers, and have a lot more going on than an average human who can't stand up for themselves)

So I did delete the ask that you're referring to so most people reading this wont get the full context of what the previous person said. but Essentially yeah. There are a lot of themes in this project I'm working with. Violence being bad and thoughts not equally action are two that kind of come up a lot. Hell the entire point of the project is how violence is bad and you shouldn't do it even if you really want to. Like if you didn't get that from the prologue then I'm sorry.

In general this type of discussion is going to be difficult, especially through anon ask/poster. So i probably won't answer any more like these just because of that. I feel like I can't really express my full thoughts on through asks because there are potential spoilers and stuff too.

[fozmeadows]

As someone who hasn't read the works of radical feminists like Simone de Beauvoir, could you explain what's wrong and what bothers you about biological essentialism? I'm curious about your opinion after reading your post on radfems (and I'd like a perspective that isn't so based on biological gender essentialism, which I honestly have a hard time moving away from because I don't understand other perspectives well). 👀

The problem with biological essentialism is that purports to answer the eternally unanswered question of nature vs nurture in a wholly one-dimensional way - ie, with biological sex as The Single Most Important Aspect Of Personhood, regardless of any other considerations - while simultaneously ignoring the fact that biological sex is not, in fact, a binary proposition. We've learned in recent decades, for instance, that intersex conditions are much more common and wide-ranging than previously thought, not because scientists have arbitrarily changed the definitions of what counts as an intersex condition, but because our understanding of hormones, chromosomes, karyotpying and other physical permutations has expanded sufficiently to merit the shift. So right away, the idea that humanity is composed of Biological Men and Biological Women with absolutely no ambiguities, overlap or middle ground simply isn't true. Inevitably, though, if you mention this, people with a vested interest in biological essentialism become immediately defensive. They'll start saying things like, oh, but that's only a tiny minority of the population, they're outliers, they don't count, as though their argument doesn't derive its claim to authority from a presumed universality. To use a well-worn example, redheads are also a tiny minority of the population, but that doesn't mean we exclude them when talking about the range of natural human hair colours. But the fact is, even if humans lacked chromosomal diversity beyond XX/XY; even if there were no cases of cis men with internal ovaries or cis women with internal testes or people with ambiguous genitalia - and let's be clear: all of these things exist - the fact is, our individual hormones are in flux throughout our lives.

There are standard ranges for estrogen and testosterone in men and women (which, again, vary according to age and some other factors), but two cis men of the same age and background could still have completely different T-counts, for instance - meaning, even the supposed universal gender factor isn't universal at all. More, while our hormones certainly play a major role in our moods and cognition, so do a ton of other genetic and bodily factors that have nothing to do with the sex we're assigned at birth - and on top of that, there's nurture: the cultural contexts in which we're raised, plus our more individual experiences of living in the world. One of the most common, everyday (and yet completely bullshit) permutations of biological essentialism comes when parents or would-be parents talk about their reasons for wanting a son or a daughter. Very often, there's a strong play to stereotypical assumptions about shared interests and personalities: I want a son to play football with me, for instance, or: I want a daughter to be my shopping buddy. But even within the most mainstream channels of cishet culture, it's understood that these hopes are not, in fact, grounded in any sort of biological certainty. The dad who wants a sporty son might be just as likely to end up with a bookworm, while the mother who wants a little princess might find herself with a tomboy. We know this, and our stories know this! For the entirety of human history - for as long as we've been writing about ourselves - we have records of parental disappointment in the failure of this child or that to embody what's expected of them, gender-wise. More than that: if biological essentialism was real - if men were only and ever One Type Of Man, and women were only and ever One Type Of Woman, with recent progressive moments the sole anonymous blip in an otherwise uniform historical standard - then why is there so much disparity and disagreement throughout human history as to what those roles are? The general conception of women espoused in medieval France is thoroughly different to that espoused in pre-colonial Malawi, for instance, and yet we're meant to believe that there's some innate Gender Template guiding all human beings to behave in accordance with a set, immutable biological binary? And that's before you factor in the broad and fascinating history of trans and nonbinary people throughout history - because despite what TERFs and conservative alarmists have to say on the matter, our records of trans people, and of societies in which various trans and nonbinary identities were widely understood (if not always accepted), are ancient. We know about trans priestesses from thousands of years before Christ; the Talmud has terms describing eight different genders, and those are just two examples. All over the world, all throughout history, different cultures have developed radically different concepts of femininity and masculinity, to say nothing of designations outside of, overlapping with or in between those categories - socially, legally, behaviourally, sexually - and yet we're meant to believe that biology is at all times nudging us towards a set, ideal gender template? There's a lot more I could say, but ultimately, the point is this: people are different. While some aspects of our personhood are inevitably influenced by genetics, hormones, chromosomes and other biological factors, we're also creatures of culture and change and interpersonal experience. The idea that men and women are fundamentally different, even diametrically opposed, at a biological level - that the major separator in terms of our personalities and interests isn't culture, upbringing and personal taste, but what's between our legs - is just... so reductive, and so inaccurate.

We can absolutely have common experiences on the basis of a shared gender, but gender is not the only possible axis of commonality between two people, let alone the most salient one at all times, and the idea that we're all born on one side of an immutable biological equation that cannot possibly be transcended makes me feel insane. According to modern biological essentialism, intersex, trans and nonbinary people are either monstrous, mistakes or imaginary; all men are fundamentally predisposed to violence, all women are designed for motherhood, and we're meant to just hew to our designated places - which, conveniently, tend to echo a very specific form of Christian ideology, but which in any case manifestly fail to account for how variedly gender has been presented throughout history. It's nuts.

[shamebats]

Genuine question as someone female with gender dysphoria: How do you feel about the argument that trans identification is an expression of self-infantilization I've consumed a lot of radical feminist/gender critical material on the topic and I want to hear it from the opposing view. What I've read suggests as follows:

Only children have bodies without secondary sex characteristics; a desire to have a body which doesn't reflect your adult sexual development is a childish desire to escape adulthood

A lot of female transgender people love things like cartoons, anime and video games for children

Many of the same people also reject being called "women" and prefer terms like enby or boy, which are childish-sounding or usually only applied to children

A lot of transgender people, especially on Tumblr, can't drive, don't work, don't have sex and don't want to have children

Reading this has demoralized me a lot; I'm very proud of being an adult, I'm happy being employed and living a life that would be unthinkable to a child, I don't want to have an identity which will essentially turn me back into a child again, so this has definitely put me off trans identity. I wanted to seek a second perspective and you're pretty vocally pro-trans. I promise this isn't a troll ask- I do have radfem/GC beliefs but I'm open to other opinions. Thank you!

I have no idea what you're talking about. That's genuinely so much generalizing.

Darling, I'm on testosterone specifically to get hairier, more muscular and look older/my age for a man, the exact opposite of what you're describing, that's what testosterone does. I'm nearing 30, I haven't lived with my parents since I was 18 and have been working for about as long too, I have a career and a partner of 11 years who I'm getting married to next year. So I have absolutely no idea why you think that description of transness would fit my experience in any way? Except for maybe the no driving part which... babes, some of us live in these cool places called ✨ cities ✨.

Your stereotype is basically just your judgemental description of someone who might be unable to work, young and literally just asexual. Those are all perfectly fine ways of being and yes, some people on Tumblr will fit that description and logically, some of them will be trans/non-binary.

Some people want to have few to no secondary sexual characteristics, but that's not the most common trans experience, not at all? It's actually more common to just be fine with what nature gave you, especially for non-binary people.

You made up a strawman of a trans person you're inclined to feel angry about because of bigoted views you hold. Which makes you come off like a judgemental, mean person.

You know what being a mature adult means for me? Being capable of minding your own business and keeping inside thoughts on the inside, where they belong.

Most mature adults do not, in fact, spend as much time debating fictional teenagers in their heads as you seem to be.

It's so embarrassing for you, but don't worry, you can work on that! You can start by examining why that little made up trans person in your head is making you leave short essays in random people's asks about how displeased you are about how they're choosing to live their imaginary little life and what this obsession of yours says about you.

[wlwcatalogue]

Yuri Subtext (?) Anime List

A supplement to my earlier yuri anime masterlist, this list covers anime which aren’t marketed as yuri but which prominently feature F/F pairs, whether canonical or subtext! Since subtext is so subjective, this post only includes series which I’ve actually watched, and so is by no means intended to be comprehensive.

Also, since the above description would not cover certain series with well-known yuri pairings, I've also included a few "bonus rounds" for the curious (although these are still limited to series I have watched).

At-a-glance list:

Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997)

NOIR (26 episodes, 2001)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (12 episodes, 2011)

Haibane Renmei (13 episodes, 2002)

.hack//SIGN (26 episodes, 2002)

Read or Die / R.O.D. the TV (26 episodes, 2003)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (24 episodes, 2022)

Black Rock Shooter (8 episodes, 2010)

Izetta: The Last Witch (12 episodes, 2016)

Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (movie, 2019)

Canaan (13 episodes, 2009)

Ga-Rei: Zero (12 episodes, 2008)

Bonus rounds:

Sailor Moon S3 (38 episodes, 1994) (subtext)

Mai-Hime (26 episodes, 2004) (canon)

Psycho-Pass (41 episodes + 3 movies, 2012) (canon)

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (24 episodes + movie, 2020) (canon)

Summaries under the cut!

1. Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Copied from the Yuri Anime Masterlist post, since technically it wasn’t marketed as yuri)

When she was a child, Tenjou Utena (Kawakami Tomoko) was saved by a passerby prince, so she decided that she too wanted to become a prince as an adult. Fast forward to high school, and she hasn’t forgotten that conviction: Utena gets sucked into a series of duels while trying to protect her best friend’s honour. After winning the first duel, she becomes ‘engaged’ to the eccentric “Rose Bride” Himemiya Anthy (Fuchizaki Yuriko), and the two start living together in the same dormitory.

First things first: there are a million content warnings for this series, including implied rape, sexual assault, incest, and homophobia. Although the issues are handled well (in my opinion), it does go to very dark places, so those wanting a light, fun anime to unwind to should look elsewhere. Second, this series is very much a psychological drama utilising the episodic duels as a way of hone in on Utena’s opponents and their stories, so Utena and Anthy’s relationship – though important – is definitely not the focus of the anime. Third, the TV series is limited to hinting at the romantic relationship between Utena and Anthy, not to mention that they spend most of the series being little more than acquaintances rather than actual friends. The movie Adolescence (which can be taken as a retelling or sequel, depending on your perspective) is much more explicit on this front, but also suffers from a significantly shorter runtime and a much more opaque approach to storytelling.

That being said! If you’re okay with all of the above, this series is pretty much essential. The simplistic premise belies a much more complex and nuanced story about gender roles, sexuality, and human relationships and remains one of the smartest anime ever made, over twenty years on.

2. NOIR (26 episodes, 2001) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The first in anime studio Bee Train’s “girls with guns” trilogy, NOIR follows globetrotting assassin duo Mireille Bouquet (Mitsuishi Kotono) and Yuumura Kirika (Kuwashima Houko) as they partner up to search for Kirika’s missing memories and the truth behind Mireille’s parents’ deaths. The series is pleasingly restrained despite the sensational premise, alternating between “business trips” to far-flung locations and snapshots of the pair’s domestic life in Mireille’s Paris apartment, and devoting more time to the unfolding of the relationship between the prickly Mireille and puppy-like Kirika than to action sequences. I won't say too much due to spoilers, but their relationship numbers among my favorites due to how naturally it is developed throughout and how it is very much at the heart of the series both narratively and thematically.

This is also the first anime soundtrack entirely composed by the legendary Kajiura Yuki, heralding a long collaboration with director Mashimo Kouichi, and her mix of classical and modern sounds provides the perfect accompaniment to NOIR’s atmospheric cityscapes. Also, for fans of Mitsuishi’s work (Sailor Moon! Utena! Evangelion!), I’d say NOIR is a must-watch for her performance alone; her Mireille is brittle and proud, and she brings so much humanity and nuance to the role. In fact, I don’t care if you’re a fan of Mitsuishi or Kajiura or assassins or whatever, please just try the first episode— this anime deserves way more love!

3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (12 episodes, 2011) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Puella Magi Madoka Magica opens with ordinary middle school girl Kaname Madoka (Yuuki Aoi) standing in the ruins of her hometown, watching as a lone girl struggles to defend what remains of the city against a much more powerful enemy. A little rabbit-like creature informs Madoka that the girl is sure to lose without her help, and so Madoka decides to become a magical girl right then and there— at which point she wakes up and dismisses it as a strange nightmare. But then that very day, her school receives a new transfer student who looks just like that mysterious girl, and she also finds a hurt animal that closely resembles the rabbit-like creature from her dream. Madoka is then faced with certain questions: do magical girls actually exist, and will she become one herself?

Since Madoka Magica was all the rage back in the early 2010s, I don’t think it too much of a spoiler to say that the cheery first three episodes hide a dark, gritty story which uses the concept of magical girls to explore the tumultuousness of adolescence. The queer subtext only comes in at the end but tight plotting and inventive presentation make this show a quick watch— and if you’re the type who likes queerness in fiction to be intense, world-shakingly significant, and a wee bit problematic, the payoff should be more than enough. A word of warning: there is a movie sequel called Rebellion, but if you’re happy with the ending of the anime, it’s best not to watch it (although I love the movie, myself).

Side note: I won’t go into it too much due to spoilers but if you liked Madoka Magica you might want to check out Serial Experiments Lain – even if most of it is utterly incomprehensible (as it was to me), it’s worth watching until the very end (wink). Also, for the rare fan of Rebellion, Adolescence of Utena is a must-watch if you haven’t checked it out already; so much can be said about its conceptual and aesthetic influences on Rebellion!

4. Haibane Renmei (13 episodes, 2002) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Note: slight spoilers about the tone and overall themes of the show – but I think it’s necessary for the purpose of writing a more representative summary.)

Written by ABe Yoshitoshi – character designer of cult classic anime Serial Experiments Lain and author of the very unfinished manga which this show adapts and significantly develops – Haibane Renmei starts off as a light-fantasy slice-of-life anime following freshly-arrived Rakka (Hirohashi Ryou) as she searches for a suitable job in the town of Glie, before transforming into a nuanced exploration of grief and depression about halfway through. To say more would be really too spoilery, but I just want to say that this has probably the most grounded and sensitive depiction of depression I have seen in an anime; it shows that sometimes people struggle even if everyone around them is kind and supportive, but remains hopeful about the healing power of time and understanding. The subtext is between the protagonist and Reki (Noda Junko), the first person she meets, who also helps her get acclimatised to her new life in Glie. Again, I won’t say more, but their relationship really is wonderful. That being said, this show does touch upon suicide and suicidal ideation in the course of discussing these themes, so please steer clear if that is something you are wary of.

5. .hack//SIGN (26 episodes, 2002) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A standalone spinoff of the .hack PS2 games, this show was the most well-known anime about players getting trapped inside a multiplayer game before Sword Art Online’s arrival in 2012 (ironically, Kajiura Yuki composed the music for both). Rather than being an action-adventure story about a heroic protagonist trying to find a way back to the real world, SIGN stands out as an introspective piece, far more interested in the psychology of those who play online games and the issues of human connection and identity. In fact, the female protagonist is all too happy to remain within the MMORPG as male player-avatar Tsukasa (Saiga Mitsuki) after becoming unable to log out; the story is more about how the player grows to accept the real world with the help of the other players she meets, rather than about figuring out the exit route.

On the F/F side, some way into the series, Tsukasa makes an instant connection with fellow player-character Subaru (Nazuka Kaori) and they soon start spending a lot of time together. I really love their scenes together; the series' masterful use of body language, framing, and music all comes together to create these beautifully tender moments of intimacy. Although there’s no kiss scene nor explicit discussion of dating etc., a lot of the other characters talk about their relationship and perceive it as being romantic, to the point where one gets homophobically “worried” about Subaru when they find out that the player controlling male avatar Tsukasa is female. Tsukasa and Subaru's relationship becomes a lynchpin for both characters' development, and in general is used to illustrate the series' underlying themes in a thoughtful and heartwarming way.

6. Read or Die / R.O.D. the TV (26 episodes, 2003) Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A spinoff of the Read or Die series which takes more from espionage thrillers and Hong Kong action flicks than shounen anime, R.O.D. the TV takes the unusual approach of starting with its main character - elite paper-maniuplating superspy Yomiko Readman (Miura Rieko) - being nowhere to be seen after burning down the British Library in a dramatic resignation announcement. Instead of focusing on her, or the spy agencies clashing in her absence, the story instead follows her friend Sumiregawa Nenene (Yukino Satsuki), who joins up with a trio of sisters with paper-manipulating powers and criminal connections in her quest to find out what happened to Yomiko. The queerness is mainly implied through Nenene's focus on Yomiko, which is unrequited and sadly fizzles out narratively speaking in the back half. Unfortunately, this is coupled with an increased focus on more heteronormative topics, such as Yomiko's grief over her dead male lover, and the child one of the characters had with the villain of the OVA. That being said, I also want to shout out this series' surprisingly earnest depiction of budding queerness in a young (like, elementary-school young) side character - something that is rare in fiction even now.

7. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (24 episodes, 2022) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The most recent entry on this list by far (the final episode aired just a day ago at time of writing), The Witch from Mercury initially seems to forgo the Gundam franchise’s usual grand scale, being set in an academy run by the corporate giant Benerit Group. Main character and new student Suletta Mercury (Ichinose Kana) - the franchise’s first female protagonist since its beginnings in 1979 - accidentally bumbles her way into fighting a mecha duel, and, when she wins, is shocked to find that she is now engaged to the sole heiress of that self-same corporate giant, her classmate Miorine Rembran (Lynn). So far so Utena, but after the first episode, things start to diverge significantly: though the duels continue, the focus shifts to how big-picture tensions such as the manoeuvring within the Benerit Group and the conflict between the space colonisers and people on Earth play out within the student body, and how the arrival of Suletta and her mysteriously cutting-edge mecha start to shake up the status quo… until things come to an explosive head.

For those who curious about G-Witch due to Suletta and Miorine, but who wouldn’t normally be interested in Gundam or space operas, I’ll just say that if the hype has led you to expect a big queer romance where Suletta and Miorine shout their love from the rooftops, well, that’s not how it goes. It’s a mecha anime first and foremost, after all! But lower your expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised. Season 1 offers plenty to enjoy in terms of Suletta’s earnest attempts to be a good “bridegroom” and the tsundere Miorine’s bouts of jealousy over Suletta. And while their relationship takes a bit of a back seat in Season 2 due to there being So Much going on, it remains one of the key elements of the series and their scenes together are the emotional peaks of the season.

Side note: Some might criticise Gundam for taking so long to have a female main character, but let’s not forget about how the even older Ultraman (1966), Kamen Rider (1971), and Super Sentai (1975) franchises still have not had a single mainline series featuring a female protagonist… Come on guys, I’m dying for a female-led Kamen Rider over here!

8. Black Rock Shooter (8 episodes, 2010) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

One of the two anime inspired by the Hatsune Miku song of the same name, this Okada Mari-penned series hones in on the passionate friendships and jealousies of a group of middle-school girls. In a twist that feels informed by the psychological allegory of the popular Persona games, this interpersonal drama plays out in the surreal battle world of the music video, with the titular Black Rock Shooter being the main character’s alter-ego. Of particular interest is the first half’s focus on the blossoming friendship between protagonist Kuroi Mato (Hanazawa Kana) and her shy classmate Takanashi Yomi (Sawashiro Miyuki), which has strong overtones of two girls developing crushes on each other – it doesn’t go smoothly, but hey, that’s life.

9. Izetta: The Last Witch (12 episodes, 2016) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Set during what is basically World War 2, Izetta: The Last Witch asks the daring question of “What if a small European country about to be invaded by alternate-history Nazi Germany could fight back with magic… and what if it was (subtextually) yuri?” The show follows politically-minded princess Finé as she and her best friend (read: girlfriend) Izetta think up ways to leverage the latter’s witchy gifts to save the country from invasion – a rare case of a military anime where female characters are significantly involved at the strategic stage. Those who enjoy the classic princess-and-knight trope may find something to like as long as they are fine with Finé and Izetta not having much relationship development (as their dynamic is established from the start) and them not having many one-on-one scenes together (as the series’ main focus is on the political manoeuvring). Note that this show is also pretty heavy on the fanservice – IIRC there was at least one moment of egregious sexualisation per episode.

Side note: those who like Izetta may also want to check out Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, a female-focused dieselpunk anime with a lot of military strategizing and a very cool world setting, though Izetta is better-paced and the main relationship is much more plot-significant. (That being said I do like the relationship between Fam side characters Tatiana and Alistair… Tatiana is probably the adult character with the most screentime in Fam, being the main characters’ commanding officer, and although it’s very background, she has this cutely settled dynamic with former piloting partner turned wife right-hand woman Alistair.)

10. Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (movie, 2019) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Note: this entry’s a slightly weird one, it only covers the first 40 minutes of this movie due to it being basically two episodic stories smushed together into a single package, and only the earlier story is relevant to this list.)

In this standalone spinoff of the Violet Evergarden anime series – itself an adaptation of the light novel series by Akatsuki Kana – the titular protagonist Violet (Ishikawa Yui) takes a break from ghostwriting letters to serve as companion to aloof young noblewoman Isabella York (Kotobuki Minako) in her last months of finishing school. The story is a quiet coming-of-age tale focusing on how the kind (and rather dashing!) Violet helps Isabella to open up, or, in simpler terms, it’s fodder for butler-and-lady fans. Don’t get your hopes up too much, though: Violet learning about her romantic feelings for her deceased male superior is one of the main throughlines of the anime, and this (half of the) movie also ends with a heterosexual arranged marriage for Isabella. That being said, this movie is really a feast for the eyes, its historical-fantasy setting being brought out with beautiful backgrounds and detailed linework, so it’s worth checking out if you don’t mind the very Class S narrative.

Side note: if you want F/F butler-and-lady or princess-and-knight vibes I would really recommend watching Fate/Zero for Saber and Irisviel – yes Irisviel is already married to one of the (male) main characters and yes Saber is absolutely the main love interest for the famously-straight Fate/stay night, but their dynamic is really good and Saber gets to wear a stylish suit and be all chivalrous to a woman… Please watch the third episode of season 1 at least…

11. Canaan (13 episodes, 2009) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

There’s quite a lot going on in Canaan – perhaps unsurprisingly so for a spinoff of the FMV visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble, which is famous for its intertwined storylines – but in true action-movie blockbuster style, all you really need to know is that the titular mercenary Canaan (Sawashiro Miyuki) is on a hunt for her mentor’s protégé-turned-murderer, and a lot of flashy fighting is involved. Also, there's no need to worry if you haven't played the original game, as Canaan is pretty much a standalone work and all of the significant characters are original to the anime. Yuri-minded viewers may enjoy her clashes with the villain Alphard (Sakamoto Maaya), but the main source of F/F subtext is her relationship with the young photographer Maria (Nanjo Yoshino), for whom she cares deeply and must rescue on multiple occasions. However, do be warned that the one canonically queer character in the show – Alphard’s subordinate Liang Qi (Tanaka Rie), who is fixated on her boss – is handled very badly, being portrayed as a raving predatory lesbian who is mocked, rejected, and finally killed by the object of her affections. Canaan and Maria’s relationship is also framed very definitively as friendship by the end of the series, although they don’t get paired off with male characters. IIRC there’s also some fanservice but I can’t remember the details as it was a long time ago, sorry.

12. Ga-Rei: Zero (12 episodes, 2008) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Back in the old days, I had heard this show talked about in the same breath as yuri classics such as Kannazuki no Miko and Mai-Hime, and, well, like those series it comes with significant caveats (though thankfully there is no sexual assault). Although it’s a prequel to the Ga-Rei manga by Segawa Hajime, the anime is basically standalone and focuses on original characters Kagura (Chihara Minori) and Yomi (Mizuhara Kaoru), the latter of whom welcomes protagonist Kagura into her family and demon-hunting squad, only to leave the team in a devastating betrayal. After the explosive opening, the series jumps back to explore the events leading up to that point; fans of director Aoki Ei’s work on Fate/Zero should note that the dark tone disappears in the third episode and never quite comes back even when things get serious. Viewers should also keep their F/F expectations in check, since despite the premise I would say the series is more plot- than character-focused, and on top of that a significant amount of time is devoted to Yomi’s relationship with her male fiancé (Yomi and Kagura have more screentime together, but there’s not much development whereas Yomi and her fiancé are given a whole romantic arc). There is one very fanservicey scene between Kagura and Yomi in a car early on (in episode 3?) which viewers may want to skip, but IIRC it’s an outlier and the rest of the series is nowhere near as bad.

Bonus Rounds

1. Sailor Moon S / Season 3 (38 episodes, 1994) (subtext) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Possibly the most widely-known F/F couple in anime, Haruka and Michiru (Ogata Megumi and Katsuki Masako, respectively), make their first appearance in episode 3 of the third season as mysterious newcomers who refuse to work alongside the Sailor Senshi. Apart from being consistently framed as an ideal couple throughout (they practically cruise to victory in a couple’s contest in episode 5 of S3), they also get some juicy narrative moments, being the main subject of the excellent episodes 17 and 21 – the latter being the mid-season climax. They return in S5 but I haven’t watched that season yet.

Side note: Utena fans may be particularly interested to hear that the aforementioned Haruka-and-Michiru-centric episodes 17 and 21 are helmed by key Utena creatives. Both were written by Enokido Yoji, Utena's lead scriptwriter, while episode 17 was directed by Igarashi Takuya (who storyboarded 5 Utena episodes) and episode 21 was directed by Utena director Ikuhara Kunihiko himself.

2. Mai-Hime (26 episodes, 2004) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Way back when, Mai-Hime was very popular among yuri fans for including a canonically queer female character who was in love with another female character… even though, like in Kannazuki no Miko which was broadcast the same year, she commits sexual assault against her. For those still curious, Mai-Hime starts out as a quirky fighting-monsters-and-going to school anime but turns into a battle royale where characters fight each other using robots – the twist being that the robots symbolise their love for the person most precious to them, and if destroyed, that person will die. The queer storyline comes in only in the last quarter or so, but is compellingly told and at least the queer character isn’t quite as maniacal or otherwise demonised compared to some others (looking at you, Liang Qi in Canaan). It's a fun reveal, so I won't spoil it here even if you're likely to have heard of it already.

3. Psycho-Pass (41 episodes + 3 movies, 2012) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Psycho-Pass is set in a dystopian world where people are rated on their criminal tendencies; the main characters’ job as police officers is to arrest those whose tendencies exceed a certain level. The F/F is canon but very, very background; one of the surprise twists of the finale is that forensics expert Karanomori Shion (Sawashiro Miyuki), whose appearance screams “sexy doctor character” but is played with surprising warmth by Sawashiro, is actually in a relationship with seemingly aloof field officer Kunizuka Yayoi (Itou Shizuka). I only watched the first season and so can’t comment on the rest, but apparently they are still in a relationship in the third season.

4. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (24 episodes + movie, 2020) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

An adaptation of Yamaguchi Satoru’s popular light novel series, this show headed the wave of reincarnated-villainess isekai, focusing on the bumbling Catarina Claes (Uchida Maaya) – in actuality an otaku who has been reincarnated into an otome game – as she tries desperately to remove her character’s image as a villainess and thereby inadvertently attracts the attentions of many a suitor. Among this reverse harem are three female characters Maria Campbell (Hayami Saori), Mary Hunt (Okasaki Miho), and Sophia Ascart (Minase Inori).

While the female suitors’ romantic interest in Catarina is generally not undermined or played as a joke, they are not necessarily treated as equally valid options compared to the male suitors - it doesn't feel like Catarina has a real chance of ending up with any of the female characters. I've heard this starts becoming more obvious in S2 (which I haven't watched), which apparently focuses on Catarina's relationship development with one particular male suitor compared to the others. Also, the VN spinoff had 6 routes in total (all 4 male suitors + 2 original male characters) but did not include a single female route, despite being non-canon in nature.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for considering making a call out post about a well known fandom blogger who was transphobic towards me/ others?

We're both in a fandom that has a very large transmasc fan base, and they themself aren't cis (Bi-gender), so their post really caught me off guard... Especially because I was mentioned in it??

Let's call them Pink.

Earlier that day, yesterday, Pink had reblogged something from me. Someone sent Pink an Anon message saying that I had "trans misandry deniers dni" in my bio. The Anon then said they "didn't want to start anything" but knew Pink's opinion of it.

I had that in my bio because of the amount of people who think trans men don't face transphobia and that we have it easy.

✨Info break time✨

For those who don't know, trans misandry or transandrophobia, is the specific type of transphobia experienced by trans men/ transmasculine people. Like how trans fem peeps experience trans misogyny.

Ex. the idea that because we identify as men/ with a masculine gender, we are inherently dangerous/bad, are "joining the oppressors", or abandoning womanhood to gain male-privilege. And that we don't experience the hardships that most AFAB people face.

It has nothing to do with misandry against cis men, which on a systemic level I don't believe in at all.

✨back to the story✨

Pink responded to the Anon essentially saying that anyone who believes in transmisandry: is overemotional, shouldn't be taken seriously, and is the same as someone who believes in cis misandry.

This was... Super odd?? Like, the fandom they main is like 70% transmascs, they see us all the time. Why would they think that it's ok to say we don't face discrimination? It affects our lives so much and it weirded me out how they could think it was silly. And even posting my account's name for everyone to see was SUPER weird.

I was really hoping that Pink didn't understand what transmisandry was, and was just thrown-off by the word "misandry" being used. Because that's a common occurrence. So, I sent them a DM in hopes of explaining what they may have misunderstood.

In the DM I said I wasn't mad though I didn't appreciate them making the post about me, but I didn't think it was made in bad faith. I told them that my bio was referring to the specific type of transphobia I and other transmasculine people face and not CIS misandry. I ended my message saying that if they'd like to understand better, I'd be happy to answer any questions they had... and then they blocked me. I think I may have overstepped by doing this, but they did publicly ridicule me so ehgeh?

I don't know if they read my message or not because they didn't respond. I don't want to make anyone feel hurt bc they are pretty popular in the fandom and people like what they post. But I want others to be aware of how Pink feels about the probable majority of their followers and the fandom base they frequent.

So AITA and overreacting and let it alone?

What are these acronyms?

[coinandcandle]

Dearest Coin,

I have a Tarot deck that i got from a kickstarter (it looked cool), but I do not understand how Tarot works.

Could you tell me or lead me to somewhere where I can find the right information?

Oh boy do I!! I think a lot of people initially found me through my tarot posts lol. Here is a list of posts that aren't too long and can hopefully get you started from this masterpost.

The Origin of Tarot

The Suits in Tarot

Numbers in Tarot

Tarot Archetypes

Court Cards in Tarot

Shadow Cards Ask

The best way for me to learn was to figure out the basic meaning behind the suits, numbers, and imagery. So I used essentially an "If A and B then C" formula:

So if I pull the two of wands upright:

2 can represent Partnership, unity, balance, security, decisions.

Wands can represent Spirituality, Energy, Passion, Work

-> Then I can assume the two of wands means that there is likely a decision needing to be made or a next step to take involving a partnership, project, or job. This decision will probably be taking stability and balance into account. There will be a lot of energy put into either this decision making OR it will result in energy being placed in the decision actually made.

Then I look at the imagery. Is there a person? What are they doing? Does it seem to be a male, female, or gender ambiguous figure? If there isn't a person, is there an animal, or perhaps symbols? What do they mean to me?

Reversals

Some people don't read reversals, in my opinion this doesn't make sense to me and I feel it limits the potential of my deck BUT I am not going to yuck someone's magical yum.

Reversals are not necessarily the opposite of the upright, but can be the lack of what the upright is suggesting. So for the two of wands the reverse could be that you are stagnant. It's not that a decision doesn't need to be made, but that you are holding back on making a decision, one you've needed to make for a while. Or that you need to plan your next step before you jump in, perhaps because you have history or running in head first and now it is telling you to be patient.

Ultimately I will tell you that you should keep a guidebook with you, at least at first. Eventually things will stick! You've got this!!

Also link the tarot deck, bestie 👀

[dungeon-meshi-tournament]

I Am Late and only just now found this blog, SO may I say:

I find Thistle vs Laios to have been an interesting matchup, because it essentially boiled down to “queercoded gender” vs “queercoded sexuality”.

Thistle is, in my opinion, easily the most gender nonconforming male character that we have. (And among some of the most GNC characters in general.) Long hair (which we see styled in many different ways, showing he cares for it), a jester outfit which is somewhat dress-like (among many other dress-like outfits in official art; including some that can be argued to be straight-up dresses), many classic queercoded villain-isms, and (imo, the most damning evidence) the art of him in a gender-neutral swimsuit. Male characters wearing gender-neutral swimsuits is EXCEPTIONALLY rare in animanga, and art / culture in general, unless the artist very specifically wants to give off the impression that the character has a queer gender, and thus, specifically looked for gender-neutral options.

Laios, on the opposite side, can easily be seen as queercoded in sexuality. Between not understanding what women are interested in, stating he finds Senshi to be handsome, and one of his points of guilt not being able to find a woman and give grandchildren to his parents, he is very easy to read as gay. He is also very easy to read as on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrum, due to him not really responding to the succubus. That, plus the fanon interpretation of him as a monsterfucker (very easy to read as related to kink culture, and we all know how queerness and kink are associated historically).

I mean, regardless of who won, he would’ve been bodied by Fallin, but, again, I find that they ended up going against each other, and the results thereof, interesting.

.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

I’m not super familiar with TSATS (have only heard secondhand things about why it sucks) but would you be willing to speak about the issues you have with it?

I'll try to keep this relatively short (future Alder: HA) and to the point, because, well...there's a lot of ground to cover. If I missed anything, or if anybody else wants to add on their own grievances, consider this your ready-made platform!

Also, if you did like TSATS, this is your warning to scroll. I respect your opinion, and simply ask you to respect mine.

In no particular order (and as they come to mind-)

Hades sends Nico to Tartarus

This makes ZERO sense because Hades was the one to BAN Nico in the first place. Furthermore, he sends Nico because he, Hades, cannot just scoop Bob out of Tartarus...but then later does just that with another character. MAJOR plot hole, and a dumb one too.

this also makes Hades the WORST godly parent btw. at least Zeus didn't send Apollo to superhell.

that moment when you're an even worse parent than Zeus...a canonical abuser...

2. Where Are The Campers

For SOME ODD REASON Nico and Will are the ONLY demigods at CHB. Only ones. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that they are the ONLY year-round campers, especially since this directly contradicts- you know, already-established canon. Austin and Kayla are both year-round campers. Damien White and Chiara Benvenuti. Billie Ng. Miranda Gardner and Sherman Yang. Harley. Cecil Markowitz. They are all year-round campers, and have been established as such since The Hidden Oracle.

There is NO WAY they ALL suddenly decided to be summer campers.

Not to mention...with some focus on Will, you'd think we'd get some attention- even a bit! - towards his siblings, right?

NOPE. AUSTIN AND KAYLA ARE OUT OF THE PICTURE RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

oh and the three newest Apollo kids- Jerry, Gracie, and Yan- just don't exist I guess. rip the new kids because THEY ARE NEVER BROUGHT UP.

3. The Tone & Pacing

Look. I know TSATS is aimed towards mainly middle schoolers. But so is the rest of the RRverse.

And you know what TSATS does that the rest of them don't?

It treats the reader in a condescending manner.

Or at least, that's what I felt. When I was reading, I got to the part where we meet the god of nightmares, and then we're suddenly hit with a PSA on gender identity and I was like "...okay. there's no need to shove it down our throats. you could have just had them correct Nico and Will without giving everyone a lecture. especially since GODS WOULDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT GENDER IN THE FIRST PLACE." <- Canon! See Apollo's return to Olympus in Tower of Nero! He says mortals have strange conceptions of gender! It's fucking canon.

There was no need for that PSA. There are much more natural ways of incorporating LGBTQ+ identities than constantly talking down to the reader. Children are not dumb. They do not need LGBTQ+ topics dumbed down to understand them. I was 12 when I first read House of Hades, and after a bit of brain buffering because I wasn't exposed to much LGBTQ+ things, I understood that Nico liked guys and not girls. I understood he was gay.

And there was no PSA needed for me to understand that. Just as there was none needed during the entire series of Trials of Apollo, narrated by our first bisexual protagonist, Apollo. The only time where it could get PSA-y is when Apollo breaks the fourth wall for a split-second to essentially tell homophobes to fuck off.

Something along the lines of- "What's that? Oh, are you wondering if I'm okay with my son dating a dude instead of a girl? HA! Of course I am lol do you know who I am."

And that's that. also solangelo fic writers who make apollo homophobic...you best stay away from me, okay? okay. i know you exist.

Magnus Chase introduces Alex Fierro without getting preachy about genderfluid or trans people. because guess what! THEY ARE JUST PEOPLE.

Plus- the RRverse books are fun reads for adults too. I'm able to reread just about any book ('just about' because of tsats now...) without feeling like I'm being treated like a 5 year old.

which was what reading tsats was like tbqh.

As for the pacing? It's. So. Slow.

tsats has 60 chapters.

HOW COME HALFWAY THROUGH - AND I COUNTED BTW - WE AREN'T EVEN IN TARTARUS?

in the words of a mutual- "I shouldn't be rooting for the gays to go to Hell already."

by this point in a normal RRverse book, we'd already be on the road, had a few near-death experiences, perhaps some actual death, character bonding and growth, ect ect.

Instead we get...whatever happened in the first half. so unimportant that i honestly don't care to remember.

but i will for this post and that will be that.

4. UwU Nico & Cardboard Will

If I haven't already pissed off the stans...I am going to now.

So. Many. Times.

So many times Nico is treated like the poorest, most tragic uwu emo boi who has suffered more than anyone else. and it's done in a very off-putting and rather irritating way.

not to mention, Will suffers as a result. He didn't feel like a person in tsats. Instead of building up a character for him, everything falls flat.

Example? Will admits he feels guilty over killing Octavian. Great! Perfect time for a character moment! Dealing with trauma-guilt! How has this affected him?

What we get? Nothing. It's not treated as any sort of trauma, and that becomes a trend in this book with Will.

Apparently, Will has not suffered. Not like Nico, the poorest of meow meows. Will has no trauma. Yes, even after fighting through two wars and stressing out over the possibility of losing his father (who he loves and adores very much) for good, Will is trauma free!! He knows nothing of suffering!! Yes, the majority of his siblings were ruthlessly slaughtered, going from 20 to 3 campers by the time of ToA, but no!! Will has no trauma!! because he's sunshine hot therapy boyfriend!!

This Will does NOT feel like the Will we met in Blood of Olympus, or like the Will in ToA. These Wills are stubborn and kind, fiercely loyal to their father, and most importantly, feels like a human being.

Which brings me to my next point...

5. The Apollo Conundrum

A couple things to say here.

Will keeps acting like he hasn't seen Apollo in forever. That he never came back after going after Python.

A complete, blatant, lie because Apollo did come back after going after Python! He was there when the fucking tsats prophecy was made in the first place!

Did Mark even read ToA. At all.

One good thing came of this, I guess. At least Apollo wasn't character assassinated, even if you could argue he was anyway because he never shows up.

A direct contradiction to where we left off in ToA.

FURTHER. you know what infuriates me?

Apollo's arc about being able to change, no matter what you've done in the past or who you are, is shoved onto Nico in a very half-assed manner.

That pissed me off. Nico did not NEED such an arc. He is VERY MUCH ACCEPTED AT CAMP. WE HAVE PROOF BECAUSE THE ORACLE OF DELPHI WAS ABLE TO MOVE ON TO RACHEL.

pardon me i need to scream.

FUCK

okay. i'm good.

...for now.

6. The 'Coming Out' Scene

oh my lord and savior jesus christ this GOT ON MY NERVES.

so on paper, sounds good right? solangelo comes out to CHB, in a positive, welcoming environment! very nice!

...EXCEPT THEY ARE ALREADY OUT AND IN A RELATIONSHIP IN TOA. THERE WAS NO NEED FOR THIS AT ALL.

not to mention just how utterly ridiculous it's handled. apparently, solangelo inspired other campers to come out- a good thing- but...

this is so laughably dumb because there is NO WAY the campers aren't all cool with the LGBTQ+ community.

wanna know why?

BECAUSE THEY CAN HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS. HELLO KAYLA, THE OG MPREG DAUGHTER

you're gonna tell me that CHB is NOT an open environment for LGBTQ+ kids? that they did NOT normalize it? really? are you really gonna tell me that? you're gonna look me in the eyes and say that?

"but sometimes it's hard to come out even in a welcoming environment!" yeah you're right there. it can be hard to do that. and i would know. because i have done just that. was shaking in my boots when i told my mom and stepdad that i was queer. despite knowing they were both supportive of queer rights.

and yet i'm saying this anyway. IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR CHB TO NOT BE AN OPEN LGBTQ+ ENVIRONMENT. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING WHO THEIR PARENTS ARE, AND THE FACT THEY CAN HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS.

Nico was barely at camp pre-ToA. I can totally buy him not knowing CHB is pro-queer because of how little time he spent there.

BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT HE IS AT CHB FROM BOO TO THO, AND IS IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH WILL BY THO. ONE THAT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT.

and yet...tsats thinks it's a GRAND IDEA to do this coming out scene.

again. DID MARK EVEN READ TOA?

you know what else ticks me off about this? it's that Will is made to come out...by Nico.

you know. Nico. the one that the fandom flipped out over because he was made to come out. by Cupid. who is vilified for it.

and yet. it's treated by the narrative as the Right and Good thing for Nico to do. because Nico is Always Right and Good and Knows What's Best For Will.

it drove me up the wall.

also personally i'm not a fan of bisexual will. it's used too often as a 'will cheats on nico' thing in fics, so i was already disillusioned to it, and in tsats it's really only there for will to briefly thirst over persephone for some odd reason. let us have a gay4gay couple please i am begging you. but that's a personal opinion and i get it if you like bi will. that's just my thoughts.

7. The Bob Thing

this is something that's been on my mind ever since i first heard of tsats.

Is rescuing Bob even necessary? Like...okay, from a worldbuilding perspective...what does he add? Or was all this just fanservice done to 'save' a character who, by all rights and purposes, should be double dead. worse than dead. nonexistent.

like. first of all...how did Bob end up trapped by Nyx, when he was fighting Tartarus? Tartarus who, btw, is able to disintegrate you and cause you to cease to exist. Which is what- canonically! - happens to Damasen.

I guess Bob is different? But...so is Damasen. Since they are fundamentality different from their respective brethren...shouldn't they both have been safe from Tartarus's power? And not just Bob?

Look. I like Bob. I was so sad when we lost him in HoH. But honestly?

I think bringing him back cheapens his & Damasen's sacrifice.

Not to mention...I vividly remember earlier in the book, Nico for some reason takes a pot-shot at Percabeth, assuming that they wouldn't care about Bob.

Like. Hello?? That pissed me off too because it's such a gross misjudgment of both Percy and Annabeth that I had to take a few minutes to cool off before continuing the incoming shitshow.

8. Will's Powers

another hot take alert.

I don't subscribe to Plague!Will. Fun headcanon, have read fics with it (subscribed to a really good one too, in fact), but not something I would accept as canon.

even if tsats "made it canon" (BIG quotations there)

here's the thing. Will doesn't need a Cool power to be useful. He has healing and light. Defensive abilities, good for a healer! Which is what he wants to be!

there's no need to give him an offensive ability. he managed perfectly fine without plague powers before this.

(coughs in "Nobody hits my boyfriend and nobody kills my dad!")

This also ties back into the whole 'Will doesn't have much of a character' thing. like okay, we've introduced this new ability! cool! it's a dangerous one, and the exact opposite of everything Will is. do we explore that? do we do anything worthwhile with it? perhaps we could take this as an opportunity for some father-son discussion?

Nope!

also for some reason Will can grow the Curse of Delos flowers by singing. something he has previously been established to not be very good at as far back as BoO- "I'm just a healer" and all that.

also also. that's not how the Curse of Delos works...they only grow on Delos, and around Cabin 7. no where else. magically growing flowers isn't even an Apollo kid power, and yes the Curse is Apollo's flower but that means nothing because Apollo kids don't grow flowers. that's Demeter.

sobs in so many contradictions

9. The...Cocopuffs.

groans dramatically.

first thing's first- What The Actual Fuck.

It's emphasized that the cocopuffs are Nico and Nyx's children.

Children Nico did not want.

Guys this is literally rape. This is literally rape why is it treated as a good thing??

i'm chill with them being manifestations of Nico's trauma. i'm NOT chill with this!! Or with Nico's trauma apparently being magically cured because of them, when he's, you know, our only character who canonically goes to therapy?

it feels like the help therapy can give is cheapened here.

plus...the Cacodemons (as they are actually called) are not good demons in the mythology. they are not good. at all. they are specifically evil spirits, and personally, I don't like the connotation that trauma correlates to them.

a better choice would have been a daimon, a neutral spirit. something that just Is and isn't bogged down by definitions of "evil" and "good".

also this is literally rape :) get it away from me.

10. The Retcons/Continuity Mistakes

Bianca Is Not Nico's Mom Get Your Damn Facts Right How Could You Make That Mistake It's So Dumb Like Oh My God Did You Even Do Any Reading For This-

ahem.

I will give tsats ONE point. The ONE THING I think it did right.

i know. shocking. Alder giving tsats one (1) W.

Will's mortal anchor when he fell into the River Styx.

It was Apollo. That is something I can definitely buy as canon. Will's love for Apollo is ever-present in BoO and ToA. That makes total sense for him!

(Plus, I'm glad they didn't make it Nico. cause like...come on. we already have romance with Percy & Annabeth, and we also have siblinghood with Apollo & Meg, parent & child would be the next, very cool and logical step!)

Too bad Apollo is shunted to the side in tsats and we never get to see him with Will... (oh, except in that one nightmare-induced hallucination. but that doesn't count because that's not actually Apollo. strike against you tsats.)

this is all i got. definitely not exhaustive list because i am NOT subjecting myself to reading tsats again. i will not be losing more braincells.

anywho, if anybody would like to add on their own grievances with this book, go ahead! i probs missed some.

and again. these are just my opinions/observations. this is NOT an invitation for discourse.

[pinkcrocss]

On Andre...

So, I've been picking up on a lot of negative feelings towards Andre within the fandom (some warranted, some unwarranted in my opinion). And I think it comes down to two things:

-Andre is probably one of the least developed of the core group in terms of writing.

-Andre's actor (Chance Perdomo) has some problematic views irl.

I want to focus on the first point however, cuz I'm interested in the character not the actor (Patrick Schwarzeneggar and Claudia Dumit also support Isreal, so I'm choosing to focus my feelings on characters, not the actors if I want to enjoy this show at all).

When I first watched Gen V (before the hyper fixation had kicked in), Chance's performance had been one of my least favourites. I didn't like the weird voice he was doing (turns out he was Brit doing a pretty decent attempt at an "American Jock" type accent) and I thought the actor kept doing a lot of awkward stammers and tics that didn't feel in line with the character (I assumed, that's just how the actor was irl). That is until I watched a cast interview and I learned 2 things:

He is a Brit.

He's actually a very smooth and clear speaker. Which means those mannerisms were an intentional choice by the actor.

Later, once the hyperfixation had truly set in, I was watching a boatload of cast interviews, when I caught a comment underneath one of those videos that totally changed my view of that character and performance during my 4th (maybe 5th) rewatch.

You know how each of the core group's abilities hurts them in some way and thus works as an allegory for some form of personal issue that they are overcoming? i.e.

Marie -> Cutting/Self Harm

Emma -> Eating Disorders

Cate -> Consent

Jordan -> Gender Identity/dysphoria

For a while, I don't really see how Andre's abilities could serve as an allegory for anything. like, yes later on we learn that his powers will cause him damage over time, but that kind of seemed ham-fisted at the last minute, and not really connected to his ability to bend metal.

But back to that one Youtube comment. I can't remember word for word the comment, but to paraphrase, essentially:

The commentor spoke about how they connected to Andre's character a lot because when they were in college, they had developed an auto-immune disease that essentially made them chronically ill.

They talked about being unable to keep up with their peers, while they were supposed to be in their prime physical years, and how much that taxed on their mental health. Constantly feeling left out, constantly self-medicating, and the chronic pain that they just had to grin and bear.

And as soon as I read that, everything I didn't quite understand/connect with in Andre's character suddenly made sense.

What is one of Andre's core personality traits in the group? He's the stoner.

From episode one, there's a scene of him doing drugs in every episode. Cate is constantly asking him if he's high... he's self medicating.

The slow way he talks, the constant blinking and squeezing his face (note the scene when he's yelling at Tek Knight, or after he takes that first hit from Sam, or after he stops the helicopter)... he's in pain.

So many tics and nuances in his behaviour that I initially wrote off, was actually a much more nuanced performance from Chance Perdomo.

And it all coalesces in that final scene when Andre is at Vought tower and learns of his dad's diagnosis. His powers are slowly killing him, making him weaker (like an auto-immune disease. the body attacking itself).

And the doctor asks him if he ever feels light-headed? has he noticed any uncontrollable tics? Andre is hesitant, almost like he's in denial. But you look back at his actions/behaviour throughout the show, and he's been showcasing both those things.

Finally, the scene with the helicopter. Where it's more or less confirmed that Andre's powers are doing to him, exactly what his dad's powers did. I've seen people very critical of that scene. Saying things like, Oh! He's all of a sudden being affected by the use of his powers, but we hadn't seen that previously (which I disagree) and how it seemed "too convenient".

But keep in mind, stopping a decelerating helicopter is the biggest feat of Andre's abilities we'd seen so far in the show. Of course it's going to take a bigger toll on him than all the other times (not to mention he was in pretty big emotional distress. His dad, Cate's betrayal, an attack on the school...). Stress exacerbates illnesses.

The other critique I've seen is, why are Andre's abilities having this affect now? He's supposed to be in his 20s, but his dad made it all the way to his 40s/50s before it was detected... and that's a fair question. I have some theories:

Like certain genetic illnesses, this issue is hereditary. It's not Impossible, that Andre just inherited a stronger ability than his father, and thus stronger blowback on himself.

Andre's chronic drug use might be a chicken or egg situation. Where maybe his chronic drug use exacerbated the damage his abilities were causing him, and as a result he started self-medicating with more drugs, causing a continues cycle of him increasing the damage to himself.

His dad has been shown to have a very stubborn personality (note how he refused to acknowledge when Andre revealed to him the damage their powers were causing them). Perhaps, he had started feeling the symptoms around the same age Andre had, but just kept ignoring it and pushing through up until he reached his limit in his 40s/50s.

Some other reason that writer's haven't revealed yet. The show has been renewed for a second season, and it's obvious these characters have been set up to be integral to the overarching storyline of the boys as a whole. It's entirely possible that there is more potential development for Andre's character in the future, and I think it's fair to give the writers leeway to explore that.

All in all, I just wanted to get my thoughts out about this, and maybe see how everyone else views Andre's character. He seems to be one of the least discussed in the core group, and I feel like his character has a lot of room for more development in the future if the writers approach it correctly.

[copperbadge]

Hey Sam. Considering some recent posts I thought you might be interested in this article.

A deaf and blind mind: What it's like to have no visual imagination and no inner voice?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-01/aphantasia-no-visual-imagination-inner-voice/103649486

Hope you enjoyed the long weekend! Cheers, Kate.

Oh, thanks for this! And apologies my response is like a MONTH LATE :D

It's an interesting article because it's more about the study than the topic directly -- which is not a bad thing, it's cool to see people working in that space getting profiled and hopefully getting attention/funding on account of it.

Especially interesting was the discussion of ways of "having" thoughts and the fact that Derek doesn't pre-hear his speech. I do actually often rehearse what I'm going to say but primarily, I think more like Loren, when I'm writing -- I may, for example, get a question on Tumblr and go about my chores for the next half hour kind of mentally laying out how I'll respond, but it's not like I hear my own voice, I'm just structuring the response. And I don't usually pre-hear spoken thoughts -- I don't pre-hear them at all, but if I'm going to give a presentation or have a difficult conversation I will often work out some modes of speech/response ahead of time.

I'm of two opinions about the reference to the mind being "deaf and blind" -- my knee-jerk reaction is that it's an actively bad way to describe aphantasia, because it implies that there's an impairment to cognition itself, which I don't think is the case. On the other hand, we don't think of hearing or visually impaired people as lacking senses, just as having a different experience of them, which does line up with how aphantic cognition happens, at least I think. It's true that unless I'm actively working at it, I don't see or hear anything in my mind, and even when I'm working at it I generally can't "hear" -- I can recite song lyrics mentally and they will be in the rhythm of the song, but I don't hear the music or the singer.

There's a highly stupid "test" that's gone around that's meant to indicate if you're transgender, which asks you to imagine a stick with a red end and a blue end, floating vertically in front of you, with the red end on the bottom and the blue end on the top. You're meant to imagine it rotating three times end over end, and then say what position the colored ends are in (which is on bottom, which is on top) after the rotation. Apparently depending on whether you have a "male" or "female" mind, you'll read "rotate three times" differently and a different color will be on top. This is self-evidently dumb but also when I encountered it I had to keep re-reading it because I couldn't picture something so abstract, let alone picture it moving, and I kept forgetting what was supposed to be where. Gender essentialism: defeated by neurodiversity!

In any case, I don't have the deep, profound grief that some people who were diagnosed with cognitive disability post-adolescence have, I think in part because my ADHD is mild and I did okay -- not great, but sufficient -- without treatment. But I do think that if I had been diagnosed with ADHD or known about aphantasia when I was a kid (not that it was conceptually present in the field when I was a kid) I would have probably gone into neuroscience or some related profession, or I would have stuck with my psych degree in undergrad. The longer I do this reading the more I wish I was working in that space. I don't think I have it in me to go back to school for a hard science, especially not if I continue working, but in a different world, I would have liked to have been a contributor to this kind of work.