#they are indeed androgynous on purpose���

[talonabraxas]

Gemini season always brings to mind the alchemical concept sometimes known as The Divine Androgyne. According to J.C. Cooper, “The androgyne is the united male and female principles whose reunion is considered the purpose and end of alchemy and, indeed, of human endeavor.” Regarding the key symbolic ideas related to the androgyne Cooper writes, “Primordial perfection; wholeness; the unconditioned state; autonomy; paradise regained; the reunion of the primordial male-female forces; the union of heaven and earth, king and queen, the two becoming the one, the all-father, all-mother. In Alchemy the Great Work is the production of the perfect androgyne, mankind restored to wholeness. It is symbolized by the male-female figure or the two-faced head of the king and queen, or the red man and his white wife.” On the human body, Gemini corresponds to the arms. This is a natural fit for the sign, given the dual nature of twin symbolism. This naturally evokes the concept of the 'left hand' versus 'right hand' path, a theme central to many myths involving twins. Some authors suggest that the Age of Gemini was marked by war and aggression. Similarly, the number two, represented by the Roman numeral for Gemini, symbolically links to division and conflict. In Babylon, the Gemini constellation was even depicted with the twins carrying weapons. Interestingly, to carry a weapon is to bear 'arms,' which connects to the 'armed' forces or 'army.' In many ways, being armed in and of itself speaks to dualism in its most extreme form. Symbolic Studies @symbolstudies Gemini is the sign of supernatural powers and courage. Courage is needed to handle and execute all supernatural powers. Wherever is your Gemini explore your superpowers in that area. Gemini, Zodiac series. 1974-75 Johfra Bosschart

[santoschristos]

Gemini season always brings to mind the alchemical concept sometimes known as The Divine Androgyne.

According to J.C. Cooper, “The androgyne is the united male and female principles whose reunion is considered the purpose and end of alchemy and, indeed, of human endeavor.”

Regarding the key symbolic ideas related to the androgyne Cooper writes, “Primordial perfection; wholeness; the unconditioned state; autonomy; paradise regained; the reunion of the primordial male-female forces; the union of heaven and earth, king and queen, the two becoming the one, the all-father, all-mother. In Alchemy the Great Work is the production of the perfect androgyne, mankind restored to wholeness. It is symbolized by the male-female figure or the two-faced head of the king and queen, or the red man and his white wife.”

On the human body, Gemini corresponds to the arms. This is a natural fit for the sign, given the dual nature of twin symbolism. This naturally evokes the concept of the 'left hand' versus 'right hand' path, a theme central to many myths involving twins.

Some authors suggest that the Age of Gemini was marked by war and aggression. Similarly, the number two, represented by the Roman numeral for Gemini, symbolically links to division and conflict. In Babylon, the Gemini constellation was even depicted with the twins carrying weapons.

Interestingly, to carry a weapon is to bear 'arms,' which connects to the 'armed' forces or 'army.' In many ways, being armed in and of itself speaks to dualism in its most extreme form. From: Symbolic Studies @symbolstudies

Gemini is the sign of supernatural powers and courage. Courage is needed to handle and execute all supernatural powers. Wherever is your Gemini explore your superpowers in that area.

[rebloggerandy]

happy late birthday mikami … heart emoji

[sarasade]

The Dragon Prince & Queer Subtext - Fandom and Media Analysis of Sort

Lately I’ve been pondering about the ins and outs of Viren and Aaravos’s relationship and why they give off such a queer vibe. So I ended up writing this 2 and half Word document pages long little breakdown because why not.

I think what’s going on here is about the underlying elements of the story- subtext and how their relationship could be perceived through a queer lens. Note: my brain has marinated in queer subtext juices my whole life and I have no intent trying to prove my reading is the only right one.

That Sweet Sweet Gay Shit- A Fandom Perspective

There is a lot of queer subtext between them. Homoerotic subtext even. Their scenes together definitely activated the search function in my brain’s queer coded villain trope lexicon. 

You know- mutual penetration with a phallic object (knife), sharing some kind of mysterious bond through blood magic, so, you know, bodily fluids are indeed involved, the classic slash fiction trope “we are close but we cannot touch” -gay pining because the mirror separates them. When Aaravos is shown for the first time in the mirror the camera does this Laura Mulvey Male Gaze 101 up-down pan shot of him from Viren’s POV. Something that’s usually reserved for female characters when male characters “check them out” in a movie. And then my personal favourite: Something that comes out of Aaravos enters Viren, comes out and then transforms into a creature with a toddler level intelligence- they made a freaky little metaphor baby together! Awwww!

And let's not even talk about the possession and Aaravos slowly taking over Viren’s body. The aesthetics of a toxic queer romance are all over their interactions.

No, Viren! Don’t express vulnerability as an intimidating male figure! Tumblr will babygirlify you!

Storytelling

So what about their interactions makes me perceive them in a queer way? By “queer“ I mean the broader concept of queer here; does the way the characters are depicted come across non-heteronormative and disruptive to gender norms.

I’m mostly talking about the season 2 here since they share their most intimate scenes together in that season.

1 Story Function

Aaravos and Viren’s interactions are supposed to have multiple purposes in the story: They move the plot forward, characterise both Viren and Aaravos, create emotional conflict and intrigue in the viewer etc. Viren observing Aaravos through the mirror is supposed to create mystery and spark the audience’s curiosity. Viren is a device through which Aaravos’s allure gets demonstrated to the viewer so of course their interactions come across pretty, hm, charged. Anyway there are layers of meaning here the audience can interpret in multiple ways both intuitively and through an analytic lens. The meaning naturally changes the more context we get. There are still three more seasons to come.

2 Gendered Tropes

There is a certain element of seduction present: Viren gives Aaravos more access to himself and his body little by little in exchange for Aaravos fulfilling his desires (for power). This could be read as having sexual undertones. Some of Aaravos’s first words to Viren are clearly something Viren wants to hear “How may I serve you?” Weaponising manipulation and seduction, where a character poses as submissive while having alternative motives, is something female characters traditionally do in stories. I don’t know about you but Aaravos’s character has a bit of a femme fatale thing going on if you ask me (haha!) There is something about him that defies gender roles that’s not just about his androgynous looks.

A traditional Femme fatale is often a tragic figure trapped in unfortunate circumstances. They are shrouded in mystery which prevents the audience from empathising with them or understanding their motives. The character often uses coercion to make their victim do what they want. And yes there definitely is an element of coercion and even a threat of violence present in Aaravos and Viren’s relationship. Their goals are aligned for now but what happens if/ when Viren decides to defy Aaravos? TDP makes me wonder (with horror) what it is that Viren has really agreed to.

3 How the Show’s “Camera” Portrays Aaravos

Even the camera emphasises him as an object of desire. Something he is from the story point of view as well. Viren desires access to Aaravos’s power after all. When the camera puts Aaravos on display in an objectified manner in the beginning of the season 2 it’s supposed to, in my opinion, heighten the feeling of Aaravos seeming harmless at the first glance. And by “objectified” I mean he’s portrayed without agency.

I joked earlier about male gaze and Laura Mulvey but I do actually think there is some truth to that. One of the biggest reasons behind me thinking Aaravos was a pretty pretty lady at first was how he was introduced in such a feminised way. And I wasn’t the only one. Just look at the comments under his TDP Wiki article. (Lots of het men being confused about their sexuality. Also shout-out to that one lesbian). This makes him appear less threatening so the story can build suspense around his true motives. It’s not evident that Aaravos is a completely sinister figure at first, at least compared to Viren who seems more like the main villain of the story prior to the seasons 3-4. Little did we know back then that Aaravos was the true alpha male of this whole sordid affair.

Aaravos in the mirror from Viren’s point of view, season 2, episode 3.

Why I’m not mentioning anything about Viren’s gender performance is because his story conflict is all about struggling with traditionally masculine gender expectations. Understanding how his character relates to hegemonic/ toxic masculinity/ emotional struggles men face in real life is a core part of understanding his character as a whole. That’s a broad topic and this post is long enough as it is so I’m going to leave it at that. (Maybe someone else has written about that already?)

4 The Audience Is Also at Aaravos’s Mercy

Aaravos’s submissive façade is supposed to fool both Viren AND the audience. The show plays rather cleverly with the audience’s expectations here. Slowly the roles are starting to flip until it’s clear that Aaravos is the one in control. Given Aaravos narrates the opening of the first story arc it raises even more questions: Is his control over Viren supposed to parallel his control over the whole world of the show? This circles back to the show’s themes of freedom vs destiny. It feels almost meta in a way how the story’s villain tries to gain control over the whole narrative.

5 Horror and Fantasy

The powerplay between the characters naturally creates a plenty of tension and it’s not unusual that this translates into something sexually charged in the audience’s minds. While this is the perspective I’m the most interested in, there are other layers to Aaravos and Viren’s scenes together.

For example this kind of breaking of bodily boundaries is common in horror as well. Aaravos is beautiful and mysterious but is also associated with repulsive things like larvae and blood and there is something very eerie about him in general. These kinds of emotional reactions of repulsion and attraction are essential to horror. The audience sees that everything isn’t definitely quite right about him but it’s also understandable that the audience (and Viren) find him fascinating. I think the key word for these scenes in the season 2 is “ambiguity“. Even if you aren’t invested in these characters this show would be much less fun without all the nuance their interactions have.

In a good story everything isn’t just literal. Especially since TDP is a fantasy story- A genre that’s traditionally been all about symbolism and intertextual references. I could go on and on about the genre traditions with similar flavour to what Aaravos and Viren have. Michael Moorcock’s classic sword and sorcery antihero Elric of Melniboné and his pact with the demon Arioch comes to mind.

Something Something Fandom

Viravos as a ship lives in the subtext but the subtext isn’t always black and white. Fiction uses metaphor and other storytelling methods to create meaning- To give a narrative experience. The queer subtext in TDP feels very elaborate to me and while I’m dissecting these scenes more analytically here my emotional reactions are the original source of that interest. No matter how much time passes I’m still a morbid teenage goth at heart and that part of me loves the dark fairytale aesthetics akin to TDP season 2.

I didn’t even touch on the element of Viren giving into a “forbidden desire” (literally his desire for power but- you know- multiple readings etc.) when making a deal with Aaravos. Something very typical to the horror genre as well. It’s a “deal with the devil” -sort of situation and those stories often paint the agreement as something corruptive and sinful and therefore transgressive. This post by Tiredsunrisesmeta got you covered on that. Also queer coded villains something something- Anyway, read Tiredsunrisesmeta’s blog for more.

Pictured: Yours truly

Last and Least

I remember when I saw a post here saying that “Viravos couldn’t be canon because it’d be too sexy.” and that’s just the funniest way to put it in my opinion. Their relationship feels a bit too, I dunno, mature? for this show. But what does “canon” even mean? Is a gay ship canon when two characters of the same gender kiss and declare their love? Get married? Have kids? Personally, I don’t want to see LGBT+ characters’ stories just copy straight romance tropes beat by beat all the time. I want something that feels authentic and what’s more authentic than Viren being a cringefail bisexual getting rejected by men and women and then getting his life ruined by the sexy femboy elf satan? Kinda iconic honestly.

[babyrdie]

Okay, this statue from the previous reblog really interested me.

On Wikipedia, it's described as "Joseph Pollet, Achille et Déidamie, 1854. Chambre de la Reine, Palais du Luxembourg." The frustrating part is that it's not very present on the internet. In a few rare instances, it's been reposted online (like the post I reblogged) and I've seen it used as an example of the work of Joseph Michel Ange Pollet, the sculptor, on a few sites (Wikipedia being one example), but that's it. The interesting part is that as I checked Pollet's work, I got the impression that not only was Greco-Roman mythology a common theme for him to depict, but more specifically women were also a common theme. Even the mythological pieces seem to be primarily focused on female figures.

And honestly, from the way he sculpts, Pollet seemed to me to be good at depicting bodies of both sexes. So I can only assume that the way he chose to depict Deidamia and Achilles in such a similar way might have been intentional. Like, Achilles is the clothed figure who is sitting, while Deidamia is the figure on the lap, but honestly I only know this because Deidamia is naked in a way that makes it easy to see that she has breasts while Achilles has one side of his chest exposed so it's also possible to see that he has no breasts. Overall, they both seem to have been sculpted in a way that makes them look delicate and soft. Even though Achilles has exposed skin, there was no attempt to emphasizing muscles, as is quite typical of statues that depict Achilles naked or at least with exposed skin. Although he carries Deidamia in his arms, he doesn't do so in a way that demonstrates his strength or heroism, but rather in a gentle (notice how relaxed his upper body looks) and even tender way, given the way he looks at Deidamia. Given the amount of female characters I have seen from Pollet, I feel that he was more than familiar with how to portray women, and his choosing to portray Achilles in such a way seems to me purposeful precisely to indicate the androgynous aspect that Achilles has in this particular myth. At first glance, Achilles and Deidamia actually appear to be two women…in the same way that Deidamia for a time thought they were two girls, in the same way that other people at Lycomedes court would see them interacting and see two girls.

For example, compare this to the way he portrayed Lucifer and Eloa. It's not hard to tell who's who, and you're never for a moment confused about who's supposed to be Lucifer (i.e. the male figure). The topic of tenderness is also reinforced, as the way Lucifer and Eloa interact doesn't suggest any tenderness (on purpose. Click the link I'll provide if you want to know the context of the statue), unlike the statue of Deidamia and Achilles. Lucifer has an angry and vengeful expression, Eloa looks almost helpless. She isn't relaxing on his lap, she is being carried by him. Eloa also doesn't approach Lucifer and instead rests her hands on herself, unlike how Deidamia rests one hand on Achilles and stretches the other behind her. Finally, both Lucifer and Eloa don't look at each other, unlike what happens between Deidamia and Achilles.

Eloa, soeur des anges, 1814 - 1870. Musée de Rouen.

There is also a bronze version that I feel makes the difference even more obvious, but I'm going to use the marble version because I feel the comparison is more fair when the pieces used are made of the same material.

Anyway, that's just me rambling. But I don't know, there's a strangely feminine sense of intimacy to me in this Deidamia and Achilles piece, but that might just be me projecting my experiences. After all, I'm not familiar with Pollet' works. To close the post, I just wanted to comment that Deidamia has a somewhat similar position to another Pollet work:

Une heure de la nuit. Louvre Collection.

Anyway, if it is indeed Deidamia and Achilles...very nice to know about it.

[androgynealienfemme]

"The main justification for invalidating butch-femme is that its an imitation of heterosexual roles and, therefore, not a genuine lesbian model. One is tempted to react by saying "So what?" but the charge encompasses more than betrayal of an assumed fixed and "true" lesbian culture. Implicit in the accusation is the denial of cultural agency to lesbians, of the ability to shape and reshape symbols into new meanings of identification. Plagiarism, as the adage goes, is basic to all culture.

In the real of cultural identity, that some of the markers of a minority culture's boundaries originate in an oppressing culture is neither unusual nor particularly significant. For instance, in the United States certain kind of bead- and ribbon work are immediately recogniziable as specific to Native American cultures, wherein they serve artistic and ceremonial functions. Yet beads, trinkets, ribbons, and even certain "indian" blanket patterns were brought by Europeans, who traded them as cheap goods for land. No one argues that Indians out to give up beadwork or blanket weaving, thus ridding themselves of the oppressors symbols, because those things took on a radically different cultural meaning in the hands of Native Americans. Or consider Yiddish, one of the jewish languages. Although Yiddish is written in Hebrew characters and has its own idioms and nuances, its vocabulary is predominantly German. Those who speak German can understand Yiddish. Genocidal Germanic anti-Semitism dates back to at least the eleventh century. Yet East European Jews spoke "the oppressors language," developing in it a distinctive literary and theatrical tradition. Why is it so inconceivable that lesbians could take elements of heterosexual sex roles and remake them?

*

It is June 1987, and I am sitting in a workshop on "Lesbians and Gender Roles" at the annual National Women's Studies Conference. It is one of surprisingly few workshops on lesbian issues, particularly since, at a plenary session two mornings later, two thirds of the conference attendees will stand up as lesbians. Meanwhile, in this workshop the first speaker is spending half an hour on what she calls "Feminism 101," a description of heterosexual sex roles. Her point in doing this, she says, is to remind us of the origin of roles, "which are called butch and femme when lesbians engage in them." She tells us the purpose of her talk will be to prove, from her own experience, that "these roles are not fulfilling" for lesbians. She tells us that the second speaker will use lesbian novels from the 1950s to demonstrate the same thesis. And, indeed, the second speaker has a small stack of 1950s "pulp paperbacks" with her, many of them the titles that, when I discovered them in the mind-1970s, resonated for me in a way that the feminist books published by Daughters and Diana Press did not.

I consider for several minutes. I'm well versed in lesbian literature, particularly in the fifties novels, and don't doubt my ability to adequately argue an opposing view with the second presenter. I am curious to see if she will use the publisher-imposed "unhappy ending" to prove that roles make for misery. I also decide I'm willing to offer my own experience to challenge the first presenters conclusions- though I'd much rather sit with her over coffee and talk. She is in her midforties and, although she claims to have renounced it, still looks butch. Even if she speaks of roles negatively, she has been there and I want to hear her story. Then I look around me. Everyone is under thirty. There are a few vaguely butch-looking women present who'd very likely consider themselves to be as androgynous as everyone else, and not a single, even remotely femme-looking women besides myself. I recall Alice Walker's advice to "never be the only one in the room." Quietly, I get up and walk out. I go to no other lesbian presentations at the conference."

“Recollecting History, Renaming Lives: Femme Stigma and the feminist seventies and eighties" by Lyndall MacCowan, The Persistent Desire, (edited by Joan Nestle) (1992)

[ryanyflags]

tneu anon

it's indeed shorthand. however, see these flags

https://radiomogai.tumblr.com/post/729494946335358976

https://www.tumblr.com/rabidbatboy/749121881962053632/tboy-flag-a-flag-for-transboystboys-in?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/vampitsm/734780025752190976/tmasc-tfem-flag-remakes?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/revenant-coining/753296604494184448/flag-rqs-tfemt-fem-also-tfem-tmasct-masc?source=share

they have their own flags and they can be used interchangeably if the user wants I guess

t-nbine/t-enbine/t-nonbine/t-nonbinarine

t-angi/t-androgynous ✦ t-genderless ✦ t-neu/t-neutral

t-mav/t-maverine ✦ t-ilyagine ✦ t-aporine

t-outher/t-outherine ✦ t-keno/t-kenoine/t-kenous ✦ t-xen/t-xenine

T- flags (˵ •̀ ᴗ •́ ˵ ) ✧

[here] ✦ [part 2] ✦ [part 3]

Original t-neu ask for context.

My understanding of t- terms is that they are both a shortening/alt to trans terms, can represent other terms starting with t (ask here), as well as be their own standalone terms (which makes sense, sometimes people feel described by one term, but not another, even if they are for the same definition).

Just wanted to state my ideas behind these terms. I mean for these flags to be inclusive, so if anyone connects to this in a way not really included by the definitions I listed, I think you can still use them.

Also, I wrote all the names with a dash, but they can be used without the dash, or different capitalisations too.

The flag formats are based off of @revenant-coining's tfem & tmasc flags. Which I assume are based off these trans flags, going by the colours. So I took various trans-gender-quality flags, without the white stripe, and mirrored them across the middle. (The removal of the white stripe is just for aesthetic/formatting purposes, not to take away from any meaning.)

For the sources of the middle colours, see this post. See also this post for keno/kenoine/kenous trans/tris/cis flags. (They weren't included in the first set post.)

Also, only t-neu was originally requested, but I saw the flag format, and it just works so well. I do really like making sets of flags.

[dreamnants-mis]

The newest chapter made me think about something make another analysis/essay about. Today's subject is about hair styles (and change).

Spoilers for up to Chapter 187!

Throughout this series, the concept of change has been a reoccurring one, from Gina (Unchange) to the fact the whole series began because of Andy wanting "the greatest death ever". Which is also fitting because we discovered one of the Master Rules is indeed Change. A subtle aspect of this comes from how a character's appearance changes throughout the series. For brevity, I focus more on hairstyles here.

Fuuko

Of course, we can't talk about this subject without discussing Fuuko!

Fuuko begins the series about to jump off a bridge with this hairstyle:

The hair is styled in a manner where it's evident it's much, much longer than it seems, by how it's bunched to have most of the length hidden by the jacket she's wearing. The middle bang in particular separates her eyes in a pretty striking matter. It highlights how Fuuko has closed herself off to the world out of fear of hurting people with Unluck, leading to her deciding the world is better off with her dead.

In this case, the long hair is a visual representation of Fuuko's loneliness and despair knowing she killed both her parents and hundreds of other people and hurt her friends. She can't even get it cut because she would risk someone's life.

But here is where Andy gives her a haircut, because he's Undead and therefore unable to die, without any fear, perhaps the first moment of kindness she's had in years.

This results in the short haircut we see her in throughout the 100th loop, where Fuuko steadily grows into someone that becomes the beacon of hope for the people around her, but especially Andy:

Come the 101st loop where Fuuko is now the new Union leader, her hairstyle changes again:

Her hairstyle now is actually a mix of both her appearance in the beginning of the series and the shorter haircut Andy gave her. Her bangs retain the ragged ones Andy's haircut gave her, but her hair has grown out again to the point she has to tuck her hair inside her clothes which resembles how she hid her hair in the beginning. The difference being sometimes, said hair is bunched in a manner that resembles a side plait.

However, the long hair this time isn't a symbol of Fuuko's despair but rather how she's grown into an endlessly kind and determined but also unhinged leader of Union. It's in fact implied Fuuko deliberately grew her hair out instead of simply being unable to cut it, making it more a conscious choice. Fuuko weaponizes her hair even to use Unluck to protect and help others instead of making herself an unwitting doom magnet to those she loves.

In fact, her outfit in the 101st loop actually is pretty similar to her original outfit in the early chapters, but it also symbolizes how Fuuko has changed from the suicidal shut-in we begin the series with.

Juiz

There's actually another character that has had a lot of hairstyle changes: Juiz.

Which is natural considering she was living for billions of years over countless loops. She begins looping with this hairstyle (when Juiz is all but stated to have been androgynous):

The shorter cut represents a sort of openness in Juiz when she was an emotional crybaby crying over Victor living over 2 billion years in the vacuum of space and the beginning of Earth that as we know slowly was beaten down by countless failures throughout the loops.

This leads to her hairstyle we see her through most of the series:

Juiz lacks clear bangs in her hairstyle (and its best described as a fringe instead), which may be because she's often wearing her helmet and that might have been for practical purposes. But the most striking element of it is how long her hair is. As we learn, Juiz has been trying and failing to kill God for 99 loops, and similar to how Fuuko's long hair in Chapter 1 represented her despair over her ability, Juiz's long hair could be both a symbol of her determination to keep trying but also her despair she hides over her failures that makes her become increasingly less connected to her own humanity out of desperation to succeed.

But as shown in a flashback earlier in the 100th loop, there was another instance of a hairstyle change:

AKA the moment Victor tried to cut her head off but ended up chopping off most of her hair instead. In an ironic parallel to how Andy and Fuuko's relationship began because of Andy's haircut, Juiz and Victor's partnership ended starting with an unintentional haircut. This incident also gave Victor a haircut, but I'll save that for a different section.

In this moment, Juiz looks a little more like her original style, but also with the fringe she's most commonly associated with. It does play into how Juiz sought out Remember to figure out where they went wrong but ultimately was forced to use it to seal away Victor.

So the haircut could also be a symbol of parting from the person she loved. In fact, considering this event was perhaps a major factor in the actions Juiz took in the 100th loop, it also was a point Juiz realized she was truly alone.

And now for what inspired this post from Chapter 187:

It's 101st loop Juiz time! Notably, while this Juiz looks more feminine than the androgynous Juiz, this Juiz also doesn't quite look like the Juiz we've become familiar with either, whether that be due to being much younger or another reason. Perhaps playing into what Juiz once said about reincarnation?

Regardless, this Juiz has a very short haircut and is an ever more close cut than the 1st incarnation of Juiz. But what is especially different is this Juiz has clear bangs that were absent in the hairstyle from the 100th Juiz (long-haired Juiz) but were present in the 1st incarnation of Juiz.

This shorter haircut could how this Juiz was freed from the burden of responsibility and despair the original Juiz had, and potentially a new beginning for this Juiz to finally accomplish the dream the original Juiz was unable to achieve. Perhaps this Juiz may end up a superior successor to the original by having a new interpretation of Unjustice that the original Juiz could never have achieved? Who knows?

Victor

I'd said I talk a bit about Victor earlier.

Something interesting about Victor is his hairstyle pretty much stays the same throughout the series.

Victor pretty much looks the same in the earliest loops save for being smaller and lacking the muscles we're familiar with now.

Even when he's in control of the main body in present day, his hair style is still pretty much the same.

Victor's hairstyle being the same does play into the fact he's lived for over 455 billion years and has therefore stagnated in a sense. He hasn't changed meaningfully or in any positive way in a very long time and constant failures have left him utterly nihilistic.

There's only one moment where his hairstyle changes:

When Juiz cut his hair counterattacking after his first attempt to kill her failed, it leaves a shorter cut. It's perhaps Victor at his most honest, which unfortunately means him at perhaps the height of his despair thinking the only way for Juiz to be happy is for her to die. What makes it more significant is that this haircut is when Juiz sealed him away, resulting in Andy having the hairstyle he does. So similar to Juiz, his haircut here is a symbol of parting in that this action of Juiz stabbing him with Remember and sealing him away creates Andy, who becomes the dominant personality.

Considering how the 101st loop version of Juiz from first glance already looks significantly different from how Juiz looked even in her earliest loops, will Victor also look different by the time we see him in the flesh again?

[cordofcommunion]

idk why i'm nervous to post this but i've been struggling in the gender soup for a few years but i'm coming out of it with many therapy sessions and it's finally starting to make sense to me and feel good again. it feels like i need a re-coming out party or something, like i have to celebrate overcoming the hit my identity took a few years ago going through domestic abuse and sexual violence while trying to orient myself against the information that i was indeed a lesbian and that no amount of trying to power through it was going to change that for me. or maybe not fully overcoming, but beginning to overcome it, making sense of it finally in a way that i can live with. i stopped purposely identifying as trans when this relationship ruined my life bc i felt i didn't deserve to be in community with anyone when i didn't understand myself anymore, like i wouldn't be allowed. i just became nothing. when asked i'd say i'm androgynous, i'd fumble to explain how i felt in between, like not a man or woman but i'd brush it off and say it wasn't important, minimize myself. it is important. i want to respect myself and see that again, speak myself into existence, stop isolating.

part of this process means i'll be shifting labels around, trying things on and shedding them when they don't feel right anymore. the process of becoming is important to me to document because i want to push myself to vocalize, to take up space. i'd be grateful if any friends could be flexible with me as i figure this out! i put some pronoun stuff in my pinned, it's pretty similar to what i usually go by. i may change my name in the future again, not sure if i feel right with this one but we'll see. not there just yet! this is what's comfortable for me right now. thanks for being understandingggg

[mlink64]

Sharing Clothes/Accessories

WC ~1200

Yeonjun

-Sharing crop tops and accessories

-OFC he’s gonna borrow your clothes since he likes androgynous looks

-You always roll your eyes when you see him wearing your clothes but you secretly think he looks really hot

-Usually, he borrows your crop tops because they don't usually sell them “for men”

-(Not that it stops him from buying them tho) 

-Tbh that’s pretty much all he can fit in of yours clothing-wise

-Buuuuut he also borrows your jewelry a lot

-Like a lot a lot

-The type to buy a piece of jewelry and say it’s for you but it’s secretly for him too

-The two of you love to go to antique stores and thrift shops when you have free time and look for unique jewelry and accessories

-Though he wears your clothes every once in a while, you wear his too and it does make him soft and gooey

-Especially when you wear his t-shirts and no pants because he thinks it’s cute and sexy

-He loves lending you his beanies because they’re really big on you and fall over your eyes and ears so that sometimes only your nose peeks out

Soobin

-Button-ups and cardigans

-You love layering his button-up tops over t-shirts

-Or just wearing the button-up as is

-If you’re just relaxing you like to just lounge around in his tops w/o bottoms

-You’re always cute and comfy but he finds it really sexy and kind of provocative

-You love that they’re light and loose and smell like him

-Depending on how many buttons you have undone you can get him really flustered if you’re in a teasing mood

-When you do wear his button-ups in public it makes him feel really happy and low-key cocky/manly because it shows that you’re taken

-When you just randomly throw them on its one thing but when you purposely style an outfit with one of his shirts he thinks it’s the cutest and most mind-blowing thing

-Many of the same things apply to you when borrowing his cardigans

-They’re the epitome of the boyfriend cardigan on you

-Really long and cozy

-You probably steal his cardigans the most tbh because of the whole vibe

-You always wind up with sweater paws and it makes this man weak I tell you

-Sometimes when you miss him you sleep with one of the soft, cozy cardigans 

Beomgyu

-Tee shirts

-This mans has a lot of tee shirts

-He finds you ridiculously cute in his tees

-Since he tends to wear baggy shirts they’re massive on you

-Especially the sleeves 

-He also finds it kind of sexy when the neckline is really big and slips off/down your collarbones and shoulders

-He often asks you to wear his clothes, saying you look so cute in them

-He always gets hella soft when he sees you in his clothes and he can’t keep his hands off of you but in a chaste, innocent way

-Always giving you back hugs, holding your hand, rubbing your legs, literally whatever part of you he can reach he’s touching

-Playful pecks anywhere on your bare skin

-He especially loves it when you relax around the house/dorm in one of his tees and a pair of spanx/workout shorts

-When the other boys are around you always pull the shirt up and tuck it in so you can see that you are indeed wearing pants

-Which often leads to the little shit pulling the shirt out again to hang about your thighs

-If you protest, mentioning something about the other members he’ll roll his eyes and smirk

- “Well they shouldn’t be looking at my baby like that in the first place” 

Taehyun

-Jackets and scarves

-Always giving you his jackets when you’re out because you get cold really easily

-He’s kind of extra when it comes to keeping you warm, as he sees it as a really easy, basic thing he can do for you

-When you two are out and it’s chilly he will hold your hands between his own to keep them warm or he’ll cup your cheeks if they’re all wind-bitten

-He also will hold your hand(s) in your/his jacket pockets

-He acts like it’s a ‘burden’ or ‘chore’ to take care that you stay warm but he’s actually soft af for it because you just make him feel melty and happy all the time

-He thinks you look super cute and even smaller than usual in his coats, they’re usually big on him so they’re massive on you 

-If you’re both cold, he will pull you into his chest so that he can wrap his coat around you as well 

-He just kind of does it without saying anything and lowkey ignores you because he’s actually super mushy and flustered

-But you can always tell because you can feel his heartbeat as you press your cheek against his chest to get as close together as possible 

-If anyone says anything he says it’s to share body heat or he just glares at them

-But if you watch a little bit longer you’ll see him try (and fail) to hide his soft, loving smile 

Hueningkai

-Hoodies all day every day

-He has so many hoodies that if you steal one, chances are he won’t even notice

-This boy will literally beg you to wear his hoodies tho

-He just finds you ridiculously adorable in them

-Especially when you have sweater paws

-He will probably squeeze his hands into the armhole and grab and hold your hands while in the sleeves

-Sometimes if you’re in a particularly silly/giggly mood you’ll pull your arms up so he can’t grab your hands 

-Which results in him winding up wearing the sleeves and squishing you into a hug

-Like Beomgyu, he also can’t help but be very touchy and affectionate with you when you’re all tiny in his clothes

-All he wants to do is snuggle with you because you look so cozy

-He loves it when you do the thing where you bring up the hood and kiss him behind it all sneaky-like even though anyone who sees you two will know that you’re kissing 

-Whenever you’re sad he always wraps you up in one of his hoodies and cuddles with you

-Sometimes if you’re really sad you’ll pull the hood up and pull the string so that you’re entirely cocooned in the sweater

-If he sees you like this he knows that something is wrong

-If he’s wearing a hoodie and puts his hands in the pocket you often wiggle your own into the pocket as well and hold his hands

-He will definitely do the same to you

-He sometimes puts  his hands into the hoodie, not in a sexual way but just to touch your skin

-Will 100% do the thing where you’re both wearing hoodies and you tie the strings together and pull so that you’re both all squished into the hoods

-The pair of you will also play fight with the sleeves, swinging them around like nunchucks

-If he bops you in the face you always pretend that it hurt and he falls for it every time

-He’ll stop immediately and come over to check on you and apologize, then when he gets close you strike, tackling him in a huge hug

[bestiarium]

The Umdlwenguli Obomvu [South African urban legend; Zulu mythology?]

To the Zulus, this monster was known as “Umdlwenguli Obomvu” but in more recent times, it was called “Pinky Pinky” or “Pinky Pink” in South Africa. I couldn’t actually find any good sources on the claim that the Umdlwenguli Obomvu are creatures from old Zulu legends, so please take that information with a necessary amount of salt. I did, however, find several claims from South African people that the ‘Pinky Pinky’ was indeed a creepy urban legend in South African schools. Supposedly, this creature was an androgynous humanoid creature with pinkish skin and a hideous, bald face. It speaks in a feminine voice, but its body is both male and female.

Children would tell each other tales of this monster that would supposedly wait in the school bathrooms for young girls to enter the room alone. If it could grab a victim, it would torment her, and it preferred girls with pink underwear. And “Pinky Pinky” often left bathrooms to stalk girls on the streets. In some versions, the monster would tell the girl a detailed story of where it came from. But if the girl in question later tried to recall the story, she would find that her memory of it has been erased entirely. Hearing the story also came with a price, and if the girl couldn’t pay, the monster would attack her.

In reality, this urban legend was started on purpose to dissuade girls from walking by themselves, since young girls were less likely to be attacked or kidnapped if they moved in groups. In other words, the story was born out of woman and child abuse, which is still a major issue in some places in South Africa.

Sadly, the myth also has a basis in rape. Indeed, the “Pinky Pinky” sometimes did more to girls than harassing or tormenting them. Rape is a very large issue in South Africa. During the Apartheid era, gangs such as the Tsotsi would abduct and assault girls and women.

One theory, according to Imperidox.com, is that the creature – partly – originated from stories of albino people. Sometimes called ‘pink people’, these men and women were often looked down upon in South Africa in the past few centuries, and sometimes even killed so that sorcerers could use their organs for black magic. In eastern Africa, these people were sometimes called “living ghosts” and were assumed to be supernatural in origin.

As it turns out, the truth is worse than the myth. But in an attempt to end this article on a less depressing note: some conspiracy theorists believe that there might be connections between the Umdlwenguli Obomvu and supposed UFO sightings. There are stories about naked humanoid aliens with pink skin who abduct people, and those people are later unable to recall whatever the aliens told them. This story has similarities with the urban legend. This is, of course, nonsense, but alien conspiracies are fun to think about.

Sources: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/art-artists/your-childhood-myth-tormentor-pinky-pinky-comes-to-life-in-this-conceptual-imagery-series-photos/ https://www.imperidox.com/pinky-pinky/ (image source 1: Brandon-Ellis on Deviantart and Artstation) (image source 2: Imperidox.com)

[celestialmango]

Speaking of Eclipse he had an idea for a prompt and got Moon to let him help get down before he forgot about it.

It's a staffbot reader prompt but he doesn't start showing up until later in it, basically reader starts off as a normal staffbot gains sentience, has internal crisis and despises their body, comes up with a plan that will either get them upgraded or get them scrapped, either way they can't stand looking how they are. So reader learns how to fix things, make themselves valuable in managements eyes, starts doing repairs on thing parts and services didn't manage to fix before closing, avoids being discovered till three months later where they start getting caught on camera on purpose fixing things.

They do indeed become a very very valuable asset, waits a few more months so it's set in stone, then purposefully let's themselves get caught by Moon, only they didn't realize just how scary and violent it would be to be torn apart. Trauma acquired, wakes later in an upgraded body , they're so advanced now, they have legs! Worker who made reader this sole project insists reader is practically their child now. Gotta go get uniforms but cheapskates are cheap so getting pieces of really old ones. Ends up with an androgynous punk like outfit. But before that find decommissioned Eclipse in a room collecting dust, ask the parts and service work they're now referring to as their parent who he is.

Gets a sad story, reader checks him out sees what caused some malfunctions basically going "his wires are fucked, can I fix him?" Proud parent moment for parts and services dad. Says he'll see what he can do about getting approval, asks why reader wants to fix the very large boy. 1 sad story and he didn't deserve this 2 they are now absolutely terrified of all the other sentient animatronics except Freddy because dad vibes. Wants someone who can guard them so they don't get broken again, mentions their traumatic encounter with Moon.

Their dad is like, I'll add that onto the reason they should let you fix him. Till then reader is getting guarded by security bots while they but the first time they encounter Moon again who doesn't know that they were the staffbot near the daycare he attack who surprisingly tried to run but he broke them anyways. reader fucking books it back down the through parts and services to hide in the room Eclipse is in and Reader is fast as hell. They stay their till power comes back on then get back to work but if the lights turn off they are going straight back to their new panic room to hide behind Eclipse again, the next morning they have approval because of the points they made.

Get to work fixing him, before he gets turned on parts and services dad tells reader about the condition management had, Eclipse guards them at night, but during the day works in the daycare again while it's open. When he wakes up cute readerbot is the first thing he sees, then the parts and services workers, finds out how long he was decommissioned for, finds out it was reader bots idea to recommission him. Is not happy to hear he was replaced and even less happy finding out one of the younger daycare bots traumatized poor readerbot.

Finds out his new jobs and he's fine with it, gets to go back to the daycare (and is gonna give Moon a piece of his mind, big gentle giant is angry) during the day and payback the little bot that basically saved him at night, reader of course will have to come to the daycare to give him check-up, at some point Moon's going to try to go after reader again after finding out they're the reason Eclipse is there and why he keeps getting lectured like a child, neither Moon or reader expected Eclipse eating Moon to happen but it does. Moon is basically on time out for the rest of the night, Sun is very worried that Moon hasn't come back yet.

Is absolutely horrified when Eclipse brings Moon back and spits him up, but the quickly turns into "well he definitely deserved that." After finding out Moon attack the nice little repair bot twice. Moon feels betrayed his own brother is again him, Sun is like well our older brother is right, you were being very naughty, Eclipse is touched Sun sees him as a big brother and Moon basically blue screens because what?(he didn't even think about the possibility that Eclipse was now the eldest and Moon is now the middle child.

Anyways since we got that down can start on the Naga Moon fic.

[definesanity]

'I' Hear Your Call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time, many moons ago...

There was a mysterious Intoner, who was gifted in the arts of science and doll-making.

Her dolls were her pride and joy; the acknowledgement of her skills. And yet, even still, deep down, she knew...

She knew it wasn't enough. Not enough to make Them look at her, if for but a moment...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 20:25, if the clock was to be believed. And, gazing outside, the stars of the night sky greeted her.

Three was, for the first time in a while, bored. At the moment, she was sitting down in her room cross-legged, resting her head in her left palm.

Her doll, that is, the doll in Their image, was still missing a vital asset of its brain in order to work. Its cerebrum, which controls the left and right hemispheres and responsible for many more complex functions, such as hearing, thoughts, speech and, most importantly, emotions.

Her other dolls? They are soldiers, meant to be heartless. But this doll, made in Their image? It is to be a companion to them.

Originally, she intented for it to be androgynous but, over time, began to use more feminine features, such as its hair, skin and voice. The reason is simple; they're much smoother and more soothing to oneself: exactly what They need upon coming to visit Their envoys.

Ah, and yet, and yet, and yet, none of the cerebrums her soldiers had gifted her were suitable enough for her doll.

...Perhaps she was just hungry. Getting up, she made her way downstairs of her little home where, oddly enough, was her Disciple. An old, yet quite... 'active' man by the name of Octa.

"Octa." she said, not displaying surprise nor curiousity for the old man. "Why are you awake at this hour?"

He jumped slightly and turned to face her, a hand on his heart. "My goodness, My Lady! You scared me!"

"And you're still awake."

"Ah, yes, well..." his eyes, usually glazed with lust, were perfectly clear, and looked everywhere except his Intoner's eyes. "I heard you were looking for something for your doll, so I thought I'd help."

He pushed a box into her hands, where he nodded, proud in himself. "Indeed, I daresay this will be of incredible value to you!"

"...I see. Might I ask how old it is?"

"It was from a knowledgeable lady and, if you're quick, only an hour--"

He hadn't even finished his sentence when his lady, her eyes wild, sprinted back upstairs.

...Ah, but how can he of all people blame her? He's quite invested in his own 'professions', if he's honest.

In her room, Three was smiling from ear to ear. The brain, it was perfect, perfect for it, perfect for Them.

Quickly, ever so nimble and with grace, she completed the brain. The doll, who has remained unmoving and unresponsive since its creation, will finally be able to live.

It might not be up to Their standards but, oh well, They'll surely understand her, yes? Of course, yes, They will.

She looked at her clock. 22:22, it read. And, looking at her doll a minute later... it opened its eyes, left being sky blue, right being emerald green.

"Where...? Who...?" ah, it was confused. Not to worry, for Three, too, was once confused of her purpose.

"Hello, little one. How do you feel?" she asked gently. Whereas she might have sounded 'creepy' to others, the doll gazed at her, understanding crossing its eyes.

"Are you... the one who gave me life?" she knew of her origins? Such knowledge, such comprehension! Three thought it too good to be true, and yet, it wasn't a dream, oh no, it was very much reality.

"I am. You, my perfect little doll, have a very important role. However, for now..." she yawned, looking at 'her' sleepily. "You need rest."

And rest 'she' eventually did, with the Intoner and, by extension her Disciple, soon following suit.

Ah, such amazing results in just a day... what will tomorrow hold, she wonders?

Whatever happens, she knows, fully well, that Llizel, The Bringer of Peace, will be at her side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite what I've seen, Four is still the most devoted when it comes to Llizel.

Three is mysterious, no doubt about that. And yet, her desires seem to be clear.

...I'll give you a full report later on. For now, I'll make my way to the Land of Sands, to visit the next Intoner.

I'll be fine, so don't worry. (Not that you would, anyways.)

--L. Corcea Gladiolus.

[a-room-of-my-own]

Have you read "An Apology to JK Rowling" by Petra Bueskens on Areo? I'm pathetically grateful to read something so clever and well articulated on the subject after the amount of abuse JK has been subjected to

It's a great piece so here it is, thank you anon!

 Rowling recently published an eminently reasonable, heartfelt treatise, outlining why it is important to preserve the category of woman. There’s only one thing wrong with it: it assumes a rational interlocutor. Rowling outlines why the biological and legal category of sex is important: in sports, in rape crisis shelters, in prisons, in toilets and changing rooms, for lesbians who want to sleep with natal women only and at the level of reality in general. Rowling marshals her experiences as an androgynous girl, as a domestic violence and sexual assault survivor and as someone familiar with the emotional perils of social media, in ways that have resonated with many women (and men). Her writing is clear, unpretentious, thoughtful, moving, vulnerable and honest. At no point does she use exclusionary or hostile language or say that trans women do not exist, have no right to exist or that she wants to rob them of their rights. Her position is that natal women exist and have a right to limit access to their political and personal spaces. Period.

Of course, to assume that her missive would be engaged with in the spirit in which it was intended, is to make the mistake of imagining that the identitarian left is broadly committed to secular, rational discourse. It is not. Its activist component has transmogrified into a religious movement, which brooks no opposition and no discussion. You must agree with every tenet or else you’re a racist, sexist, transphobic bigot, etc. Because its followers are fanatics, Rowling is being subjected to an extraordinary level of abuse. There seems to be no cognitive dissonance among those who accuse her of insensitivity and then proceed to call her a cunt, bitch or hag and insist that they want to assault and even kill her (see this compilation of tweets on Medium). She has been accused of ruining childhoods. Some even claim that the actor Daniel Radcliffe wrote the Harry Potter books—reality has become optional for some of these identitarians. Rowling’s age, menstrual status and vagina come in for particularly nasty attention and many trans women (or those masquerading as such) write of wanting to sexually assault her with lady cock, as a punishment for speaking out. I haven’t seen misogyny like this since Julia Gillard became our prime minister.

The Balkanisation of culture into silos of unreason means that the responses have not followed what might be loosely called the pre-digital rules of discourse. These rules assume that the purpose of public debate is to discern truth and that interlocutors on opposing sides—a reductionist bifurcation, because, in fact, there are many sides—engage in argument because they are interested in something higher than themselves: an ideal of truth, no matter how complicated, multifaceted and evolving. While in-group preferences and biases are inevitable, these exist within an overarching deliberative framework. This style of dialogue assumes the validity of a persuasive argument grounded in reason and evidence, even if—as Rowling does—it also utilises experience and feeling. By default, it assumes that civil conflict and opposition are essential devices in the pursuit of truth.

Three decades of postmodernism and ten years of Twitter have destroyed these conventions and, together with them, the shared norms by which we create and sustain social consensus. There is no grounding metanarrative, there are no binding norms of civil discourse in the digital age. Indeed, as Jaron Lanier shows with his bummer paradigm (Behaviours of Users Modified and Made into an Empire for Rent) social media is destroying the fabric of our personal and political lives (although, with a different business model and more robust regulation, it need not do so). The algorithm searching for and recording your every click, like and share, your every purchase, search term, conversation, movement, facial expression, social connection and preference rewards engagement above all else—which means that your feed—an aptly infantile descriptor—will quickly become full of the things you and others like you are most likely to be motivated to click, like and share. Outrage is a more effective mechanism through which to foster engagement than almost anything else. In Lanier’s terms, this produces a “menagerie of wraiths”—a bunch of digitised dementors: fake and bad actors, paid troll armies and dyspeptic bots—designed to confect mob outrage.

The norms of civil discourse are being eroded, as we increasingly inhabit individualised media ecosystems, designed to addict, distract, absorb, outrage, manipulate and incite us. These internecine culture wars damage us all. As Lanier notes, social media is biased “not towards the left or right but downwards.” As a result, we are witnessing a catastrophic decline in the standards of our democratic institutions and discourse. Nowhere is this more evident than in the contemporary culture wars around the trans question, where confected outrage is the norm.

This is why the furore over Rowling’s blog post misses the point: whether we agree with her or not, the problem is the collapse of our capacity to disagree constructively. If you deal primarily in subjective experience and impulse-driven reaction, under the assumption that you occupy the undisputed moral high ground, and you’ve been incited by fake news and want to signal your allegiances to your social media friends, then you can’t engage in rational discussion with your opponent. Your stock in trade will be unsubstantiated accusations and social shaming.

In this discombobulating universe, sex-based rights are turned into insults against trans people. Gender-critical feminists are recast as immoral bigots, engaged in deliberately hurtful, even life-threatening, speech. Rowling is not who we thought she was, her ex-fans wail, her characters and plots conceal hidden reservoirs of homophobia and bigotry. A few grandstanders attempt to distinguish themselves by saying that they have always been able to smell a rat—no, not Scabbers—and therefore hated the books from the outset. Nowhere amid this morass of moral grandstanding and outrage is there any serious engagement with her ideas.

Those of us on the left—and left-wing feminists in particular—who find trans ideology fraught, for all the reasons Rowling outlines, are a very small group. While Rowling is clearly privileged, she has also become the figurehead of a rapidly dwindling and increasingly vilified group of feminists, pejoratively labelled terfs, who want to preserve women’s sex-based rights and spaces. Although our arguments align with centrist, conservative and common sense positions, ours is not the prevailing view in academia, public service or the media, arts and culture industries, where we are most likely to be located (when we are not at home with our children). In most of these workplaces, a sex-based rights position is defined a priori as bigoted, indeed as hate speech. It can get us fired, attacked, socially ostracised and even assaulted.

As leftist thinkers who believe in freedom of speech and thought, who find creeping ideological and bureaucratic control alarming, we are horrified by these increasingly vicious denunciations by the left. The centre right and libertarians—the neo-cons, post-liberals and the IDW—are invariably smug about how funny it is to watch the left eat itself. But it’s true: some progressive circles are now defined by a call out/cancel culture to rival that of the most repressive of totalitarian states. Historically, it was progressives who fought against limits on freedom of speech and action. But the digital–identitarian left split off from the old print-based left some time ago, and has become its own beast. A contingent of us are deeply critical of these new directions.

Only a few on the left have had the gumption to speak up for us. Few have even defended our right to express our opinions. Those who have spoken out include former media darlings Germaine Greer and Michael Leunig. Many reader comments on left-leaning news sites claim that Rowling is to blame for the ill treatment she is suffering. Rowling can bask in the consequences of her free speech, they claim, as if having a different opinion from the woke majority means that she is no longer entitled to respect, and that any and all abuse is warranted—or, at least, to be expected. Where is the outrage on her behalf? Where are the writers, film makers, actors and artists defending her right to speak her mind?

Of course, the actors from the Harry Potter films are under no obligation to agree with JK Rowling just because she made them famous. They don’t owe her their ideological fealty: but they owe her better forms of disagreement. When Daniel Radcliffe repeats the nonsensical chant trans women are women, he’s not developing an argument, he’s reciting a mantra. When he invokes experts, who supposedly know more about the subject than Rowling, he betrays his ignorance of how contested the topic of transgender medicine actually is: for example, within endocrinology, paediatrics, psychiatry, sociology, and psychology (the controversies within the latter discipline have been demonstrated by the numerous recent resignations from the prestigious Tavistock and Portman gender identity clinic). The experts are a long way from consensus in what remains a politically fraught field.

Trans women are women is not an engaged reply. It is a mere arrangement of words, which presupposes a faith that cannot be questioned. To question it, we are told, causes harm—an assertion that transforms discussion into a thought crime. If questioning this orthodoxy is tantamount to abuse, then feminists and other dissenters have been gaslit out of the discussion before they can even enter it. This is especially pernicious because feminists in the west have been fighting patriarchy for several hundred years and we do not intend our cause to be derailed at the eleventh hour by an infinitesimal number of natal males, who have decided that they are women. Now, we are told, trans women are women, but natal females are menstruators. I can’t imagine what the suffragists would have made of this patently absurd turn of events.

There has been a cacophony of apologies to the trans community for Rowling’s apparently tendentious and hate-filled words. But no one has paused to apologise to Rowling for the torrent of abuse she has suffered and for being mischaracterised so profoundly.

So, I’m sorry, JK Rowling. I’m sorry that you will not receive the respectful disagreement you deserve: disagreement with your ideas not your person, disagreement with your politics, rather than accusations of wrongspeak. I’m sorry that schools, publishing staff and fan clubs are now cancelling you. And I’m sorry that you will be punished—because cancel culture is all about punishment. I’m sorry that you are being burned at the digital stake for expressing an opinion that goes against the grain.

But remember this, JK—however counterintuitive this may seem to progressives, whose natural home is on the fringe—most people are looking on incredulously at the disconnect between culture and reality. Despite raucous protestations to the contrary, you are on the right side of history—not just because of the points you make, but because of how you make them.

[thelemoncoffee]

https://twitter.com/danganronpawiki/status/1378167423715704835

NOW THAT WE HAVE THE FULL BODY DESIGNS!

i have some snazzy little opinions, so let’s just go down the line: 

!!Really long post under cut!!

-Makoto is a basic bitch, always and forever, and we stan that -Taka looks like a Penguin and you cannot change my mind -Byakuya is just trying to look rich- -Mondo’s outfit is so extra i love it- he even added some probably temporary dye to his pompadour that was hard to see due to the lighting in the group pic -LEON! everyone was calling his fit ugly in the group pic and honestly i’m salty because he and i have the same sense of formal fashion. work it king! -Hifumi’s honestly suits him just fine, i was iffy when i saw it in the group pic but it doesn’t look too awful in full -Hiro..... buddy- i- i mean- what do i say??? it’s ugly as shit and really nice at the same time?? -Sayaka’s formal wear is a massive step up from the outfit she wears in her splash art- i never really liked that dress that much- even if it does have a cultural significance the design the picked felt cheap. But this one is really nice, and i dig it way more -Kirigiri looks pretty, it looked waaaay more purple in the group pic, but looking back the whole thing was over saturated for the lighting affects they did, so i shall forgive. she looks oddly nice in blue actually.  -AOI LOOKS LIKE A BETA FISH AND I’M LIVING FOR IT! GO QUEEN!! -Toko’s dress looks way better in full than i expected, because so much of it was covered up i kinda didn’t like it all that much in the group pic, but i’m really digging it now -QUEEN SAKURA! BEAUTIFUL!! A DAMN SUNSET OF A DRESS!!! i love seeing her indulge in being a gorgeous queen despite people’s remarks on her physique -Celeste! also beautiful, but girl are you a vampire?? the layers on that dress- and that’s a massive veil- she’s gotta be overheating in that thing.  -JUNKO! Fashionista know’s what’s up! it’s alot less gaudy than some of her casual outfits, but in a way that’s actually pretty good. i love the masquerade mask, it’s a nice touch -Chihiro....... Lucky Charms-

-Hajime’s outfit actually looks better in the group pic than here, i think it’s cause the yellow is more vibrant due to the saturation filter, so it stand out more -Nagito’s outfit is great honestly, i love how they put the shirt design on the sleeves, and i love the half-up hair, and the crooked bowtie- it’s great! -Twogami is a king, all he did was invert Byakua’s outfit and he just pulls it off so much better -Gundham’s is honestly underwhelming. This is Gundham Tanaka for fuck sake! Junko’s is more in character than this. where’s the drama sir???? -Kaz... buddy..... the colors look nice on your jumpsuit, but not an actual suit. I love the suspenders though -Teruteru’s outfit actually make him a bit cute. i’m about 80% sure the brown is suppose to be mud as to reference the fact that he’s characterized as a pig in more ways than one, but i’m choosing to call it a cola pattern ‘cause fuck you i’m going to be nice to him for once -Nekomaru’s suit is... it feels like a cursed amalgamation of a noir detective, a car sales men, a mobster, and a casino owner- and i just works so well on him -Fuyuhiko! i love it, fits him well, but the rolled up slacks are odd and kinda distracts me from the rest of the design- showing off some Bi pride there boss baby? -AKANE IS A DAMN QUEEN!! GOD PLEASE SHE COULD STRIKE ME DEAD IN THAT AND I’D THANK HER -Chiaki’s is simple, but it looks really nice on her -SONIA MY QUEEN! the oversaturation in the group pic did her dress dirty! i saw the blue originally and went “that isn’t her color”, but now seeing it without all the lighting crap she looks alot better.... and also a bit Elsa-ish -Hyoko’s in a lovely Kimono, but she’s always wearing pretty Kimonos, so it’s somewhat underwhelming compared to the rest -MAHIRU YOU SUMMER QUEEN! Mahiru has the best sense of fashion in the whole series imo, her wardrobe’s vibes make me so very happy. I grew up in a christian household (i’m not religious anymore btw) and use to be brought to services, and her dress gives me mad Easter Sunday Potluck nostalgia that i just can’t un-notice -Mikan looks too much like a hooker- i’m sorry, they really just went with the fan-service crap here and i don’t like it at all. Even if it wasn’t meant to be fan service, the dress looks tacky and has a shine on it that signifies it’s latex, so that’s just gotta be uncomfortable as hell- and for a clumsy character like her to try and survive a party in??? -IBUKI LOOKS LIKE FANCY RAVE COTTON CANDY!! THAT’S ALL!!! -Peko’s Kimono looks surprisingly nice on her, she wasn’t a character i’d assume to look good in a checker pattern but damn. i also appreciate how she still has the sword, bet- Fuyuhiko tired to convince her to leave it behind but failed

-Rantaro looks like a Used Car Salesmen. -KOKICHI MY BELOVED!!! i already voiced how much i adore his outfit when the group pic came out, so instead might i point out that he’s wearing high-water slacks and tall socks? it’s just as jarring as Fuyuhiko’s bi-slacks, but this is Kokichi so i feel like he did it on purpose. -Kiibo??? he dead ass changed his plating i-???? idk what i’m feeling towards it, but boy howdy am i feeling -GONTA!!! i love his suit, it’s out there in a good way, and i also love how he’s holding what looks like his casual coat. -Shuichi looks lovely in that suit, and i’ll never forgive everyone ever for saying he looked like a grandpa in it. It make him look a bit more Sherlock-esque and i love -3- -KORK IN A DRESS EVERYBODY MOVE!! i love how Androgynous his outfit is, both in gender and in time. like- is it feminine? masculine? modern? 1800′s england? who the fuck knows! -Ryoma looks good, but the fedora- who tf on the design staff decided to get cheeky?? eh- he’s vibing, doesn’t look too bad so long as you don’t hyperfixate on the pointy groin-stabber fedora -KAITO YOU SNAZZY GALAXY PATTERN SNORTING BASTARD! i swear he’s allergic to putting his right arm in it’s sleeve-. anywho, i love how even his dress jacket has a galaxy lining in it, i think it would have been funny if he was wearing galaxy dress shoes too but Maki would have chopped his dick off for that one -Kaede looks like her dress was inspired by one of those cinnamon peppermints- ya know the ones, they have the pink center and all that jazz? -Miu looks like she’s ready to hit up a casino in LA and honestly that’s such a good vibe! her skirt is a bit funky so it took me a hot sec to realize it was indeed a pencil skirt and not a fancy jumpsuit. -Tusmugi’s looks nice, i don’t have much else to say- kinda fitting considering her Plain Jane shtick -TENKO LOOKS LIKE SHE’S THIS CLOSE TO BREAKING OUT INTO A TAP DANCE AND I’M SO FUCKING HERE FOR IT!!! GO QUEEN!!!! -Kirumi is- well- i don’t go to Genshin Impact, but she looks like that one Genshin character, you know the one right? i think their name was a Starbucks drink size- they have a harp?? yeah -Maki’s dress is really pretty, it is a bit odd for her to wear that considering her character, but i can’t say she doesn’t rock it like the queen she is. -Himiko would be nicer without the transparent extra part- it make her looks like one of those half sphere popper things my friends terrorized me with in middle school. Other than that, you go you cute little magical girl you! -ANGIE OH MY FUCK!!! i love- i- dfj;adgad;jdgd!#2342nh;werkw??? i have no clue at this point what culture she’s suppose to be from, but that definitely looks like some traditional garb she’s got going on and holy crap is is pretty

Over all, i think the staff did a great job with this, i love a good lot of the outfits alot more than i though i would from the group pic. I do wish they would have added at least Komaru and Mukuro though- gimmy my queens yo!

[pixelsandpins]

My Gender is Crab: How Fantasy and Sci-fi Helped Shaped My Non-Binary Identity

On Twitter and in casual conversation I have described my gender as the following: crab-person, one of the creatures from “Behemoth’s World” by 70’s sci-fi painter Richard Clifton-Day, a bird demon with a funny hat, the Pokemon Gengar, and “a lady, I guess, but…you know…not on purpose.” The non-binary experience is, by its nature, weird as hell in the context of a system that, at its best, describes itself as a spectrum between set points, and, at its worst, demands you fall into a discreet category of only two options. Are you neither? Are you both? Are you sat somewhere squat in the middle? And the answer is just sort of…yes? My relationship with my own non-binaryness is informed by a patchwork of neurodivergencies. At its core, though, it stems from a pervasive intellectual disconnect from existence as a human as we, collectively, understand it. Sci-fi and fantasy is both an instigating factor, and, as a writer, an exploration of that thought process.

The first time I feel like I saw a real deconstruction of the gender I was assumed at birth was in a book by Harry Harrison. In West of Eden there’s this species of hyper-intelligent matriarchal dinosaur people called the Yilané . Among the Yilané , the females run everything and the males are these little blobfish lookin’ dudes who get relegated to the breeding pen. And at twelve years old? My mind? Totally and completely blown. And this wasn’t because it was women in charge. Not really. I’d been raised on that unique brand of 90s/early aughts girl power already. Buffy, Xena, various Disney channel everygirl heroines, Powerpuff Girls, Daria, whatever the fuck Cleopatra 2525 was trying to do. I had been told that girls could do anything boys could do without sacrificing their femininity blah blah blah.

But the Yilané ?

They weren’t any of that bubblegum, spandex, high-kick pop feminism that my female cohorts vibed with so easily. They were morally complicated and intelligent and calculating and vicious. More importantly, they were the first version of “woman” I truly groked. Their whole existence wasn’t centered around either adhering to or being in defiance of some arbitrary standard of femininity. They lived unburdened by the expectations that my own horrific corporeal form had been saddled with. They were monstrous. So while I admired the Janeways and Hermiones and Dana Scullys and Zoë Washburns with which I had been presented as formidable models of womanhood, I didn’t want to be them. I wanted claws and teeth and the ability to smell blood on the wind.

“So you’re just a scaly/furry?”

Shush.

Shit, maybe?

It’s not quite like that.

I don’t/didn’t really want to be an animal necessarily (though, like, if someone offered to turn me into a dragon…who the fuck is turning that down). But when no version of womanhood, be it traditional or progressive, feels right and you can’t pinpoint why, just being a horned demon from one of the middle circles of hell seems like a way easier plan in the long term.

Over the years, without intellectually understanding that I was doing it in my writing, I started crafting sections of world and lore where the rules for sex and gender and the expression of both were different at a fundamental, biological level. Female elves became boxy and tall, almost indistinguishable from their male counterparts in androgynous elven clothing. Ariesians could only be told apart by the color of their horns. The dimorphism of drakkakens shifted from their initial designs in my early sketch books to favor, larger, imposing females. Goblins, that I finally got around to including in The Terrible Persistence of Memory, were designed as hermaphrodites. I’ve been working up the details for a band of tri-sexed species, tacking down their reproductive process, and a member of this clade appeared as the lead in The Center of the Universe.

Naxos was the first time, though, when proverbial pen was put to paper that the personal feelings about my own identity latched to a specific character. Ysa is a bull-creature. She’s been made into something weird and strange through a combination of her own will and magic that she doesn’t quite understand. And she’s me. And Ari, her romantic partner, doesn’t see Ysa in terms of any social construct. Ari doesn’t see a man or a woman or a monster. She sees Ysa. To make this as a story between women. To make and market it as a yuri game. For me, it was a radical reinterpretation of the role of “woman” I felt like I was regularly being forced into. That I couldn’t escape.

Since I put out that game in 2018, what began as a re-invention turned into what I realized had always been a rejection, one I hadn’t really figured out the parameters of, yet. One that had words I had only really just learned as an adult. That despite how much I wanted womanhood to incorporate that which I was, it just kind of….didn’t. But that it was, indeed, something I could escape. And the instant I gave myself a place, however fictional, to actually do so, I started to see myself hiding underneath.