#trans female characters in a lead romantic role

[shaylogic]

Queer Experience Watching Barbie - AFAB Masculinity

I started to go into this in tags on another post but I wanted to type this up separately and try to develop my thoughts a little more. . .

Ryan!Ken’s arc in Barbie (2023) has been buzzing in my head for days.

I got fixated on it for a couple of major reasons:

1) We rarely have seen a feminist movie take time to address men with compassion in how patriarchy harms them too.

2) As a trans masc person, I think it hits a specific part of my identity that I don’t consciously let myself think about for too long. Something about being raised in a female world with sisterhood and community. Then being isolated in adult manhood without the tools to prepare you for that. Conscientious of respecting women and being unbothered by feminimity around you, but not knowing your place in the world.

How do I put it?

I know it’s not the direct intention of the film itself, but I’ve seen other trans folks (especially transmasc), reacting similarly to the feeling we get from it.

Ken’s arc feels pretty reminicent of the struggle afab lgbt folks go through when considering masculinity in their identity (butch lesbians, afab nbs, trans men, etc.)

How to make peace with masculine aspects of yourself without losing the women in your life? (One can argue Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie has aspects of this as well.)

Of course, then Ken goes off on the adopting patriarchy ride, which IS the point of the movie, and may skew a bit from the transmasc read on it--though I have known a trans guy here and there who avoids being misgendered so hard that they can become somewhat sexist. To which I say: “You don’t need to have a dick to be a man, and you don’t need to BE a dick to be a man.” But I digress.

Something about Ken being comfortable in a woman’s world but not understanding why he’s being shut out from socially bonding with them (in any sense! Romantic, Familial, Platonic Friendship. . .)

The overall theme of the movie for both Barbie and Ken--in an allegory of heavy gender roles harming all--leading them each to have to figure out who they are in themselves, regardless of others. . . 

Trans masc folx can relate to both Barbie and Ken’s arcs.

I don’t want to detract from Barbie’s arc being the main point of the movie.

I think the reason why we get hung up on Ryan!Ken’s character is because. . . we’ve related to the Barbie plot in other movies and shows before, thinking back to our “girlhoods” as children.

I have never seen the arc Ken has in this in any other story!!!!

There are some Man Movies that have attempted to discuss the struggle of Being a Man--but they often come off as too dismissive of feminine experiences, and are therefore as offputting to transmasc people as women.

Because of the nature of the two worlds exhibited in this movie, and Ken’s backround in his setting, personality, and purpose in relation to the Barbies, he’s a Man living with Female Socialization, in a Woman’s World; he’s a male character that inherently admires and respects women in his nature (until the real world influence distorts it).

This isn’t a perfect example of a transmasc experience either, but it’s a lot closer than most of us generally get to see! That’s why so many of us are getting caught up in this.

Please, other trans folx (transfems, too!), I really need us to have a discussion about this. What were your experiences and thoughts around this movie?

P.S. Yeah, we kinda get that nonbinary allegory from Allan (not a Ken, not a Barbie, siding with Feminism in the Gender War), but he wasn’t in significant focus of the plot the way Ryan!Ken was. If I try to read into Allan, I don’t have much to work with.

[andi-rigby]

Alright, y'all. Poll time. Synopses of your choices are under the cut, if you want them. I can't decide between my upcoming original stories (I'm gonna write them all eventually), so I'm inviting y'all to choose for me.

On a related note, if I hit 15 followers before this poll expires, I'll do a follower lottery and the lottery winner will get to name a character in the winning story! (More details on that also under the cut.)

Synopses

Adventures in the Gaywild, a queer contemporary portal fantasy with an ensemble cast of queer & disabled adults just trying to live their lives, but who have said lives interrupted regularly by their hometown’s proximity to the fey realm. Beronsgate is a cute little coastal town with a major problem: sometimes the door you open doesn’t lead where you wanted it to. Monster-of-the-week episodic sitcom installments with an overarching denial-of-destiny arc. (If this wins, the "winning story" will be the first installment of the series.)

The Death of Santa, a sapphic Christmas adventure with a transgender Mrs. Claus who’s unhappy in her role as the token female holiday persona, and escapes the North Pole only to find herself in a strange land of eternal winter. Kristina takes shelter in a fortress built over a gate, and finds deadly traps, warped Christmas monsters, and the woman she married 900 years ago. Transgender themes, trans joy/power, and mistaken identity feature heavily in this high-action novelette that tries not to take itself or Christmas too seriously.

Liberty, a gay cowboy friends-to-lovers between a cattle baron’s heir and a gifted horse trainer. Aaron and James have kept their romance a secret for almost a year. When Aaron’s mother makes a big stink about him turning down yet another farm princess, he’s got a tough choice to make: follow the herd, or follow his heart. Forget coming-of-age—let’s talk coming-out, love and support from unexpected avenues, and being true to yourself.

Double Tide, a seaside low fantasy adventure about a dockworker and the inquisitive merrow they met in the local tidepools, who become fast friends despite language barriers and local taboo. When a new fishing technique threatens the local merrow population, they discover whether a lone dockworker and a social pariah can really make a difference. Try this gender-agnostic, hopeful Romeo and Juliet (without the tragedy) that explores the meaning of love and friendship.

The Siege of Helen, an exploration of neurodivergence and (mis)communication in a romantic relationship. Helen’s new pregnancy has made her mood a thousand times more volatile, and her husband is spending more and more time at the office. Hephaestus, already overstimulated and dysregulated from trying to provide for his now-growing family, realizes in the nick of time that there’s only one way not to lose the woman he loves: he’s going to have to talk to her. About his feelings. Short story companion to my novel-in-progress, By Any Other Name, following Ambrose’s parents as they try desperately to keep their marriage from falling to pieces.

The Library, a heartwarming zombie survivor tale about a weary now-single dad and his last remaining foster teen who fight to preserve the ruins of a great library against those who would destroy it for their own short-term survival. Take refuge in the Charles J. LaRose Memorial Library, and let Kaylen tell you about the time they fought off zombies and men with guns to make a safe place for travelers like you to rest and recuperate in the desolate hellscape of the zombie apocalypse.

Lottery Info

Lottery will happen if the total follower count (less myself) on this blog reaches 15 before the poll in this post expires. I'll choose via random selection & contact the winner via Tumblr to confirm you want to participate. If you don't, or I can't contact you via Tumblr because your messages are closed, or if I don't get a response to my initial message within ~24 hours, then I'll choose a different winner by the same process. And so on until someone bites.

Lottery winner will receive a short bio of the relevant aspects of their character (appearance, mannerisms, and plot role), and the name they choose will be used for the described character. I will not accept names that are offensive or that would be considered offensive in the context of the story or character, and I retain the right to ask the winner for a different name if the chosen name is, for some reason, really really not going to work in the context of the story.

[pinchinschlimbah]

On "Coming Out" and Noel Fielding

I mentioned forever ago that I had this post in mind and then never got around to it, but now with the new interview quote I was yelling about recently it feels like a particularly good time to get it out of my brain and onto the page! tl;dr: musings on the concept of "coming out" as it has evolved over time, whether it's something that should continue to be necessary or expected of queer people, and why Noel is particularly inspirational to me in that regard since this is, after all, my brainrot blog. This may be extremely long and a bit disjointed but I hope some of y'all will enjoy it!

So a while ago myself and several friends were discussing the concept of coming out. All of us are some flavor of queer both in gender and orientation, but each is in a different place along their self discovery and identity journey, with some being long since out and proud, and others just starting to dip their toes into exploration past the expected cishet.

This discussion actually was prompted by a different discussion about Noel, spurred by comments we'd come across slamming him as being homophobic/transphobic on Bakeoff for making comments suggesting he has romantic or sexual attraction towards Paul, referring to himself with female-centric terms, playing female characters in the skits, and a particular moment where he brings up Old Gregg while talking to KimJoy and says "he was a sea transsexual....quite a demanding role for me" while laughing to indicate that that last part was said in jest. Hey fellas, is it homophobic/transphobic to be a little bit gay and trans? This got us talking about how the current culture of queer identity has evolved to the point where "coming out" feels more like something the public feels they're owed in order for them to view one's expression as valid, rather than its original purpose as something one does for themself in order to live most authentically. I don't think I need to go into detail about how many artists have been harassed by their "fans" into coming out before they were ready because people wouldn't accept the validity of that person's work without knowing exactly how that person identified, there've been plenty of articles and video essays and better written tumblr posts about that, but it's definitely a concerning trend. It can be particularly dangerous when it comes to people who aren't feeling confident or safe enough to come out, who end up being criticized and shunned by the queer community as being somehow problematic for not being able to fully articulate to a group of strangers the ways in which they're experiencing their identity. In this situation, the people who are struggling the most end up with the least support. Forcing people to either declare an identity or get out just leads to more people staying closeted out of fear of doing it "wrong" and never getting the chance to explore the most authentic and joyful versions of themselves, or even worse, feeling the need to out themselves before they're in a safe place to do so and suffering the resulting consequences. Questioning or cautious people deserve space in the community to experiment even if they haven't yet or maybe never will come out! My high school's Gay Straight Alliance was comprised entirely of "straight allies" when I was there. There was not a single "out" person in the school at the time. Nearly all of us in the GSA ended up being some flavor of queer or trans years later after graduation. But whether it was intentional closeting or just feeling an innate affinity towards something we couldn't quite pinpoint at the time, we all knew we belonged there and made that space for ourselves and others like us. Back when "coming out" first became a concept in the public consciousness, it was during a time where cishet identity was not just considered the default, but the only option. By coming out, queer people were giving genuinely revolutionary representation for themselves and others like them by telling the world that, as the old saying goes, we're here, we're queer, get used to it! Nowadays, we're lucky to live in a culture that is much more cognizant of queer identities being a thing, so in many cases coming out has become less about having to explain to those around you the basic concept of queerness existing, and moreso about which specific identity you fall under, and that's where things get messy.

My friends and I shared our own thoughts and experiences. One is currently identifying as "unlabeled" because they haven't found a term that feels correct yet, and therefore hasn't come out because they wouldn't know what to say. One spoke about how when they first came out they were much more insistent on what terms or pronouns people used for them but as time has gone on they've grown to find joy in being inscrutable and letting others wonder what they're perceiving. One expressed that given the state of the world they've been retreating somewhat back into the closet for safety reasons rather than being super outward with their queerness like they used to and is working on learning to embrace those parts of themself again. One said they felt like they'd already been existing as queer and expressing that queerness "before I even had the terms to come out to myself" and is now working on catching up on the conscious end of figuring out what's what. I myself never really had an official "coming out", I just became increasingly visually/socially/vocally queer as I became more and more confident in who I was and what I wanted to be and who I had on some level always been, and decided if people didn't get the hint that's their own problem. I came into consciousness of my queerness during the early 2010s original tumblr MOGAI microlabel boom, where there was a ton of focus on figuring out the hyper specific identity labels that exactly described what you were experiencing. I did a lot of digging and soul searching and experienced a lot of unnecessary stress trying and failing to find my perfect labels and landed on clumsy terms like "full time drag queen" because it was the closest I could get to what I was feeling about my gender, only to be told it was problematic for me to call myself that as an AFAB person because drag "belongs to cis gay men" (don't get me started on that statement, that's a whole other essay lol) It was a real wake up call once I distanced from these aggressively labeled and segmented online spaces and made my way into real world queer communities where I was relieved to find that in fact no one there asks to check your membership card before letting you in, if you feel like you belong there you're welcome no questions asked.

I had other people in these communities referring to me as "queer" and "fag" and "gay" and "queen" before I felt comfortable doing so myself based on online Discourse I'd experienced over who is Allowed to use certain terms, and having these community leaders I respected recognizing those things in me and welcoming me in like that gave me the confidence to really find my own footing in ways that attempting to find my exact correct identity label so that I could officially proclaim it never did. Once I could answer the question of what I was with a shrug and "queer I guess!" things became so much easier. Microlabels can be incredibly helpful and liberating for some, don't get me wrong if it works for you that's great, but let's not pretend that everyone is going to have the same experiences.

So anyway, back to Noel. Noel has never, to my knowledge, ever had any sort of official “coming out” or explicitly referred to himself as queer. So I know there are people out there who will disagree with me considering him to be queer. But so much of what he’s said and done throughout his several decades long career has indicated to me that this is clearly someone of queer experience navigating the world as such, and just as the queers in my local community welcomed me as one of them before I knew to do it myself, I extend that welcome forward. 

Let’s take a look at some of the facts. In the public span of his career, Noel has.....(in no particular order, also if anyone wants to add additional instances of note in the reblogs or comments please feel free, this is by no means a fully comprehensive list) -repeatedly called himself "the woman of the Boosh" or Julian's/Howard's "wife" in ways that suggest that's how he actually felt about it rather than it just being a punchline that he was mistaken for female in the show [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] -referred to himself at the GQ "Man of the Year" awards as "never been a man" and "a sort of girl, he/she" -been referred to by Sandi Toksvig as being "on the cusp" in regards to gender, to which he reacts with amusement and acceptance -consistently expressed excitement and appreciation when others refer to him with feminine terms or say he looks like a girl [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] -said "I love being a man-woman, it's much more interesting than being one or the other" and expressed that the loved shooting the Boosh Electro episode for this reason -referred to Vince Noir (a character who he's been pretty open about being based on himself) as "wasn't seemingly one gender or the other" -expressed that he felt most free and happy when presenting femininely [2] -had Julian, one of the people closest to him, express that Noel and Sandi (an out lesbian) may have "real sexual chemistry" because Noel is "all over the shop, he's a different sex" -used the "Confuser" line of "Is it a boy? Is it a girl? I'm not sure I mind" to refer to himself rather than Vince, and express that he's had to work to find new ways to feel as androgynous as he'd like now that he's older -referred to himself as a lesbian [2] -said that he "sometimes looks in the mirror and sees a woman", in the same interview that Julian implies that Noel is in fact a girl -referred to himself as a "girl/boy" -consistently referred to himself with feminine terms on panel shows and bakeoff -made a joke on bakeoff about not being a testosterone-based person -responded positively when asked about the ways Boosh had influenced queer and nonbinary youth -has said he's "quite obsessed with the man/woman mixup thing" -has said if he was an animal he'd want to be a seahorse because the males get pregnant -Had Lee Mack, who Noel used to live with, refer to him as "the little transsexual one, yeah I think she's fantastic" in a Boosh documentary and "a young lady who came out here happy to be herself" in response to Noel's Wuthering Heights drag performance -had his own mother refer to him as "the daughter I always wanted" -described his own appearance as that of a "transsexual witch" and when an interviewer attempted to make fun of him for calling himself "a transgender witch" by showing Noel a drawing the interviewer clearly found repulsive, Noel responded that the interviewer was "holding up a mirror" and called the image his passport photo

And I'm not even going to bother citing sources on the countless times he's made comments suggesting romantic or sexual attraction towards men. Literally just watch any non-character appearance he's ever done, it's kind of his whole thing??? Not to mention his penchant for picking up explicitly queer and gnc character roles, and also just [gestures vaguely to everything Noel and Julian have said about each other suggesting romantic and sexual tension between them and how they used their characters as an excuse to explore those feelings in a less scary way, again that could be a whole other essay on its own but ooh boy] I also think there's something interesting to explore in the idea of Noel repeatedly referring to his appearance as transgender or transsexual rather than identifying himself as such- at what point does the appearance of something become reality?

It all begs the question- is it even a joke anymore if it's that consistent? Either it's not a joke and it's an authentic expression of his real feelings and experiences, or he for some reason really really wants everyone to believe that he's queer when he's not, with this behavior spanning back to a time before the concept of queerbaiting was on anyone's minds and when being publicly queer could mean the end of your career. Which scenario do you think is more likely? And, does someone who’s been conducting themself like this for their entire career really NEED to come out? Honestly, I find this level of simultaneous authenticity and inscrutability aspirational.

In this Velvet Onion interview from 2012, Noel compares his penchant for dresses to both Grayson Perry and Eddie Izzard. This is interesting because those two people represent pretty opposite intentions behind their presentation- Grayson identifies solidly as cis male, and for him the shock value of crossdressing is the point, saying “I signed up for a gender and I want them to be very clearly delineated so I know I’m dressing up in the wrong clothes.” This doesn't seem particularly in line with where Noel is coming from given him famously referring to himself as "the Confuser" and stating in that same Velvet Onion interview that he "never even bothered giving it a label, I never went oh I'm a transvestite, I just went yeah if I fancy wearing a dress I do, never really thought about it really" Eddie on the other hand has famously said "They're not women's clothes. They're my clothes, I bought them." indicating that they were a genuine part of her authentic expression rather than a crossdressing costume, and has subsequently over the years identified more and more solidly as transfemme. I find Eddie's trajectory particularly fascinating because it's been so non-linear. In the 90s when the language for transness was much less public knowledge, she referred to herself consistently as a transvestite- a cishet man who enjoyed dressing as a woman, as well as using terms like "male tomboy" and "male lesbian" and "a full boy plus extra girl". Despite doing most of her standup shows in femme looks, most of her acting jobs were male-presenting, and there was a period of time in the 2010s where she dropped the femme presentation entirely in an attempt to be taken more seriously as the "crossdressing" was seen by many as a gimmick. Swinging back around more recently, Eddie has been explicitly identifying as genderfluid and transfemme, and in recent years has made the decision to "be based in girl mode from now on", and use primarily she/her pronouns. Since this announcement, in her trans advocacy work Eddie has described herself as being "out" as trans since the 1980s despite all of the above. She always knew who she was, it's just she's gotten access to more accurate terms over time to describe what she was experiencing, as well as feeling more safe to do so the more that transness became a known and accepted concept in the public eye.

The interview I mentioned at the very start of this post isn't really a coming out from Noel. And I don't think we'll ever really get one from him. In my opinion Noel has spent the past several decades conducting himself as someone who is in fact already out- it’s pretty clear Noel knows and is proud of who he is regardless of how he chooses to describe that identity. At this point, making some sort of official statement would just be for the benefit of others looking for clarification on their own perception of him and people who want to be able to put him in one box or another, and that’s not what coming out should be. The statement in the new interview is not "I am genderfluid", its "I've always been genderfluid", simply putting an accurate name to what's always been publicly visibly true now that he's got the terms to do so.

[couldtransitionsaveher]

GUREN ICHINOSE from OWARI NO SERAPH/SERAPH OF THE END

JUSTIFICATIONS:

"Ichinose Guren was born into a religious Sect which was created five hundred years ago in a political conflict in which two brothers from the main house fought over an Ichinose woman. She had chosen the younger of them and as punishment she and here lover were violeted and disowned. The outcasts created a new sect in their name. Guren is believed to be their saviour, the one destined to liberate the Clan from their oppression, paralleling her role. The main Clan, Mikado no Oni, view Guren and everyone of Gurens family as naturally weak and subservient in a way that clearly mimics patriarchal oppression. When Guren was five years old she met Mahiru Hiiragi, heir to Mikado no Oni. Guren was very obviously jealous of her and their meeting is used to symbolise Guren learning her place in the world. Continously throughout the Guren refuses to give up on Mahiru despite her quite frankly ruining Guren's life and being unable to catch up with her. Guren gives up her humanity to inject a demon all for purposes of protecting her friends and striving to liberate her clan, while also chasing after Mahiru and her power. This eventually leads Guren to cause the apocalypse in a first act of free will. (forced to choose between the strength she desires and her own emotinonal "weakness") Mahiru mends with Gurens weapon taking over as her demon, causing Guren to become a namanari (a half demon made from two separate personalities, Gurens and Mahirus in this case who's human personality slowly starts to adapt the demonic traits). In consequence of this Guren acts all the more feminine when striving to get what she wants (to ressurect all of humanity. I think thats also trans because its a sort of rebirth in metaphor for transition.) Transition could have saved her, as i believe her gender envy for Hiiragi Mahiru caused the apocalypse." - @cannibalfrodo

"im really shit at writing out media analysis i either do it solely in my head or via fic so yall are just gonna have to trust me for this one.

the writer really horribly sucks at writing female characters but it's clear from the start (in catastrophe at 16 most noticeably, but even in the manga too) that guren isn't written like any of the male characters (even the other male protag of the manga, yuu) and much more resembles the female characters. a lot of her personality and identity is heavily sculpted by the traumatizing and pressuring life she's lived so far (being brought up as the head of a scorned branch, beaten by adults for simply being born in the way she was, raised with a lot of crunching expectations, etc). most of her actions in ca16 come from a deep want to please who she's with, or to not cause trouble with herself (#same bestie)—she knows she needs to be a son for her father, for her clan, for their retribution. she knows she doesn't have time to think on her emotions or wants, which is very evident throughout all of ca16 until the final book as more and more shit piles up on her plate and she's forced by her romantic interest, mahiru, to finally confront her "human sin" (which is loving her friends. and also being trans).

she never fully opens up to anyone, this includes mahiru, but nonetheless their relationship IS different (guren is very much like "i love you, you're so much like me but braver, i wish i were you" @ mahiru). in their first meeting again as teenagers she compliments how beautiful and powerful mahiru has grown, and does so multiple times throughout the books, most of which are immediately after her inner monologue beats her down and she goes into great depth on why she's so weak and unworthy (especially compared to mahiru).

she's not allowed to be herself, as a man and definitely not as a woman, throughout all books and manga & i believe that if she came out to her friends (who love her so much and would support her through anything) everything bad she ever does in the future (which i didn't even begin to COVER the main series) could be prevented because she'd be much more happy with herself and spectre in her relationships.

also she experiences the end of the world. truly just a girl in the world" - @9ureshin

Reminder: Submissions are always open! Submit here!

Did you make your daily click today?

[jasper-the-menace]

Hey, since you're interested in scorpion biology, I thought you'd be interested in the idea of... intersex Chima scorpions! Well, sort of.

There's a specific character that's been bugging me a bit. Scutter is kind of the scorpion equivalent of a centaur; he has two torsos, one anthropomorphic, and another of the scorpion body. With scorpion anatomy in mind, it's easy to reach the conclusion that Scutter's reproductive organ would be heavily altered because of his body, making him intersex to a certain extent.

I hope this makes sense. I'm trying to look for possible trans rep in Chima characters (like in this example). What do you think of this idea?

Oh friend, you don't know the essay you just inspired.

You Opened This Can Of Worms, Now Lie In It

Some important bulletpoints before I get going, just to get all of my followers on the same page:

Disclaimer: I am a transgender nonbinary perisex individual. This means I am not intersexed (to my knowledge), I don't identify with the gender I was assigned at birth, and I don't identify as male or female. The closest thing to describing my gender is literally "no".

I am a strong advocate for making as many characters transgender as possible, regardless of "realism". That's why, in my own writing, half of the Scorpions are retroactively transgender (though they don't understand gender on the whole and most of them would probably be nonbinary if someone took fifteen minutes to explain gender, variable social constructs, and the concept of genitalia tying to gender roles) and also Razar is too on account of I said so.

Being intersexed does not inherently mean being transgender. There is a lot of discussion and individual choice between intersexed people about whether or not they're part of the queer community. It's a very individual thing, and I am not part of those discussions on account of not being intersex myself.

When it comes to humans and other beings with a level of sentience and sapience, the term "hermaphrodite" and its derivates are considered slurs. When talking about animals, hermaphrodite and its derivates are scientific terms. So in something like the Legends of Chima series and other humanoid-animal media, the proper term is "intersexed". (I noticed you used the term "intersex" in your ask, and I appreciate it!)

I know too much about scorpion mating and birth.

We're talking way too much about genitalia and gender tonight in regards to fictional characters.

I am genuinely delighted that you decided to drop in here to discuss this, because boy howdy do I have a lot of thoughts about transgender headcanons/representation and scorpions specifically! Scorpions are just. So damn cool.

Note for my fellow arachnophobes: There are no images attached to this post, but it's really easy to find videos of scorpions doing various things on YouTube, which is actually how I've been studying them.

Scorpion Sex, Mating, and Genitalia

Scorpions of both "genders" have genital opercula (singular: genital operculum), and their asses run up into their tails. In order to mate, they don't just do like horses. No no, buddy, they have a really weird, specific method!

In order to start wooing his potential mate, the male scorpion will lock chelae (pincers) with the female scorpion, and they will start to "dance". The male scorpion will drop a sperm packet onto the ground and lead the female scorpion over it. If the female scorpion is down, she'll basically squat and absorb the sperm packet into her body, which is then followed by a "mating plug" to keep it in while it does the fertilization thing.

(It's important to note that the courting process also contains "juddering", aka the male scorpion doing the dance that the stickbug meme did, and may also contain clerchical "kisses". Honestly, pretty romantic for an arachnid. And possibly tail-rubbing and sexual stinging. Scorpions are very kinky!)

(It's also important to note that some species of scorpions have been reported, though not reliably, to reproduce through parthogenesis.)

Post-coitus cannibalism has not been scientifically seen in scorpions, so the male scorpion is generally safe as long as he scadoodles.

Gestation in some scorpion species can last over a year, and different species can have anywhere from 2 to 100 little scorplings - the physical size of the scorpion is not necessarily tied to how many babies they'll have.

Also, scorpions give live birth!

The baby scorpion is essentially folded like a Fedex package and launched out of the womb. It will then unfold and climb on top of the mother to make way for its next sibling. These will hang onto the mother until their first molt, which happens as a group and launches them into the juvenile stage. After this, they will still stay with their mothers until their carapace finishes hardening and gaining color, at which point they hunt prey on their own and will wander off on their own terms.

Hey, Jasper, That's Pretty Fucked Up, But How Does This Tie Into Chima?

I'm getting there, hold your centaur scorpions!

This is where we get into the worldbuilding of the Legends of Chima series, the Character Encyclopedia, and our poor boy Scutter.

See, the Legends of Chima as a series is very much a product of its time. There is some rife ableism and questionable word choices in regards to the Crawlers (and Sir Fangar, but this isn't about him). According to the Character Encyclopedia, Scutter is "less evolved". There's a looong history of racism in using phrases like "evolution" in regards to other humans, so taking that and applying it to an animal world leaves us with some very strange dissonance, because it's used in Chima to mean animals turned into a more humanoid form by the Chi.

Because really, what is the Chi? It's a magical substance that, depending on how you read it, could be the animist spirit of the land (I say, as an animist myself), or it could be drugs. Or it could be any number of other things! I know one person who writes Chi as the blood of dead gods, which is metal as fuck!

Ultimately, it depends on how one is writing the Chi that makes the usage of phrases like "less evolved" more or less questionable than it was intended. We're all dragging around the corpse of a Lego theme across our writing desks anyway. And the way I go about answering the question of "what is Chi" is definitely different from others. (Again, see the dead god blood part.)

The question of whether or not the Scorpion Tribe, namely Scutter, would count as intersexed relies on 1) defining intersexuality in regards to genitalia arrangement (scorpions don't have penises and vaginas by default; and the Wikipedia article on scorpions just uses "genital orfice" or "genital opercula"); 2) determining if the Chi has magically changed how genitalia works for Scorpions (admittedly, I do this because I didn't want to have to use the term "genital opercula" over and over); 3) determining the humanization extent of the Scorpion Tribe as you write them (I lean more towards human than you do, just from what I've seen of your work); and 4) deciding if such terminology even exists in Chima.

But looking at Scutter and going with the assumption that the back end is fully scorpion... No, I wouldn't count him as intersex by default. Intersex implies landing between the two human biological extremes (which, as we all know, is not as cut-and-dry as high school biology taught us), when really he's kind of a secret third thing (a Scorpion who probably doesn't have either a penis or a vagina).

(Of course, there's also what you said, paraphrased to my own wording: the Chi may have just decided to fuck up this poor man's genital situation and do a half-ass job.)

That's not to say he can't be trans. I mean, I made Scorm and about half of the Scorpion Tribe trans already. That's also not to say they're not all trans by default, considering scorpions without the ability to think wouldn't have the concepts of genders anyway.

Okay Jasper, So How Do You Write Him?

So, here's the thing. I'm aromantic-asexual, and I also write smut and, to a lesser extent, romance, which means I think about fictional character genitalia too much. But thinking about Scutter has left me utterly baffled.

On one hand, I usually write the Chi as a magical animist force of the land of Chima on the whole, and part of that is that the Chi tries to get everyone on the same playing field, physically speaking, which is how we get retroactive transgender man Scorm in my Tales of Chima series.

On the other hand, look at him. Look at him. He's a centaur arachnid. I know he can pass the Harkness Test, but I still feel weird thinking about his genitalia. If I go with my theory of the Chi giving everyone penises and vaginas at random, then I don't want to think about how much that would get in the way for the poor boy! On the other hand, his lower body is still mostly scorpion instead of, well, Scorpion, so who's to say he doesn't have a genital operculum?

Too Long, Don't Want Details About Scorpion Sex

Alright, spoilsport. Here's your TLDR:

It genuinely depends on what the Chi does in your version of the story and how bad it fucks up. It depends on how dedicated you are to scientific accuracy. It depends on how much you want to think about scorpion genitals.

And being intersex is not necessarily trans rep, unless it is, unless it isn't. I'm not intersexed, so I'm not going to say what that falls on myself. There is an intersex pride flag that was created by Morgan Carpenter in 2013.

Trans characters can exist outside of being intersexed, you don't have to conflate the two in order to have transgender representation. Just hit the characters with the Transgenderinator 5000 Beam. Fuck realism, this is a series about walking talking animal people. Who's going to stop you? The fun police? Transphobes? Eat them.

Further Reading

Start at Wikipedia and go from there through its sources for anything of particular interest:

Intersex flag (in case you're curious about it and its history, which can also launch you into further reading about humans being intersex)

Scorpion (morphology section)

Scorpion (mating subsection)

Scorpion (birth and development subsection)

So, uh, yeah! Thanks for coming to me with these questions, it's really touching that you value my thoughts this much, and I love talking about my boys and scorpions and the complicated web! I apologize for any errors or too-crass sections, because I wrote most of this in one sitting after playing wayyy too much Skyrim today.

~Jasper

[mystarmyangel]

[FULL TRANS] 240201 YoonA – Vogue Hong Kong February 2024 Issue Interview

February cover story | YoonA : “Love can make this world a lot warmer” Editor note: Anyone who loves K-pop will know Lim YoonA’s name. YoonA has been standing at the forefront of the Hallyu wave since she debuted in 2007 with Girls’ Generation (SNSD), becoming the most dazzling presence be it on stage or on screen, and more so becoming the global idol of many. In our February issue, she exudes limitless charms in Miu Miu’s latest wear and Qeelin’s jewellery. After all, she is the one and only Lim YoonA.  YoonA has recently once again become a hot topic as ‘King The Land’, the Korean drama that she starred in, topped the Netflix’s non-English TV chart. In the drama, she plays as the bright and cheerful hotelier Cheon Sarang, and this name means ‘love’ in Korean. This time, she poses as the cover girl for our February issue with the theme ‘love’ as well. In YoonA’s heart, what is the meaning of ‘love’? She said: “I think love is something so necessary and important in life, no matter what form it takes as love can make this world a lot warmer.” Q1: You recently starred as the female lead of ‘King The Land’ that was ranked number 1 globally on Netflix. Were there any unforgettable moments when you were filming this project? Also, can you share with us some of the behind story? What I remembered vividly the most was the super cold weather, it is especially so when we were filming for outdoor scenes, we were like fighting a battle in the cold. (Laughs) The behind story that I thought of right now was that when we were doing interview before the drama aired, I said that I hope that ‘King The Land’ can be ranked first globally on Netflix, and this wish indeed came true.

Q2: What is the one distinguishing feature you like about your character Cheon Sarang? Do you two have any similarities? What I like most is her positive and professional attitude. I think our smiles are similar.

Q3: The drama ‘Big Mouth’ was a noir genre, which was a huge contrast to the ‘King The Land’ which is a romantic comedy drama. As an actress, how do you prepare yourself when acting different characters? I would consider stylings that fit the characters, and also portraying emotions that suit the character’s personality. I will also do my research on how to best convey the character’s emotions and story to the viewers.

Q4: You first stepped into the limelight when you debut as a member of SNSD in 2007. It has been 18 years since then, looking back, what insights and growth have you gained? I do not think that I have make major transformation, my personality is still the same as before, but I have matured a lot in this 18 years. The insights and wisdom I have gained through experiences over the years have make me grown to who I am today.

Q5: As a celebrity, how do you constantly grow and improve yourself? I think that I am steadily walking forward, a step at a time. As my filmography continues to expand with each passing year, I have also continued to grow constantly, among them, there were new challenges as well as projects that are well received by the audience. I hope that in the future I would be able to welcome more meaningful challenges that will allow me to grow even more, and to continue to work hard and move forward.

Q6: What is the most memorable moment you spent with SNSD members? There was a period of time when we were really busy, we travelled to numerous places due to our global concert tour, for example going to the hot springs and amusement parks, those left me with really beautiful memories, that I would cherish deep in my heart.

Q7: How would you describe your personal styling? What is the one item that you like the most? During winter, I like to wear comfortable and warm knitwear, and in summer, I especially like wearing one piece dress, because you can complete the whole styling with just a piece of clothing.

Q8: What role does jewellery plays in your everyday styling? How do you match your outfits with jewellery? If the outfits that I’m wearing are fanciful, I would pick simple jewellery to match, and if my outfits are minimalistic, then I would use jewellery to add flavour to it. Just like what people always say, “simplicity is the best” (Laughs)

Q9: If you can say one sentence to the 17 years old Lim YoonA that just debut, what would it be? I will say, “I hope that you can continue to walk every step steadily according to your own thoughts, just as how you have been doing right now.”

Q10: What is the next plan for Lim YoonA? Are there any new things you would like to try, be it in music or acting field? Whenever I am in touch with a new project, I would always feel like I am challenging myself. I do not restrict myself in a certain field, instead I will work hard to explore every different sides of me. My next project is a movie called ‘2 O’Clock Date’, I believe that everyone would see a refreshing side of me, please look forward to it!

Source: Vogue HK Trans: mystarmyangel

[onewomancitadel]

Cannot stop thinking about the idea that women represent sites of cultural anxiety, Whore of Babylon to the 'welfware queen', it's misogyny as a communicative device within society - reassuring in some ways, symbolic othering in others, scapegoating in most. I often think about the utility of misogyny (that is, incentive to be misogynistic) because I don't think its existence is arbitrary, and in this case the idea I'm very specifically interested in is its use as a narrative device. Because in their own ways, these collective archetypes represent projected cultural anxiety, not just because women are responsible for everything, but because the signifier of woman is so significant. It's a related thesis to the role of women's testimony in the Bible (the Mary Magdalene finds Jesus after resurrection) or women's speech in ancient Near Eastern texts (Epic of Gilgamesh) and even the Homeric, in that because of the absence of women's speech within society, it is significant when they speak (and potentially carries magical qualities).

I was thinking about this for a few reasons - the role of women in storytelling generally, an emergent curiosity about feminine archetypes in fiction - and I suppose what I would call a dissatisfaction with the easy position that mostly when you're talking about female characters, you're talking about the presence, or lack thereof, of misogyny. It feels limiting in its own way I suppose, because then I think that leads to the current problems we've got, which is that writing women is a feminist responsibility, and not a work in the human condition, and in which case the didactic responsibility of that depiction - have you or have you not empowered women? - effectively stymies storytelling abilities at all. It's the natural answer to the idea that the work of storytelling for 4,000 years was specifically to disempower women through depiction, and to be entirely frank I think that gives too much power to narrative. This is actually an extremely common issue encountered in the disciplines of archaeology and anthropology, that is, relying on cultural depictions through mythology to draw conclusions about that extant culture, and in which case I would say is also an ongoing source of contention, so you'll not find a definitive answer from me - I think from the get-go, a 1:1 assumption about how women (and indeed goddesses) are depicted is some sort of representation of an 'ought' model in society is probably wrong, though.

The reason I made this post just now is I was thinking about Grimes, because she just released the music video for So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth, and it made me think about how she takes on the cultural otheredness of her erstwhile romantic companion and billionaire, E/lon M/usk, and how female artists (especially trans and/or Black female artists) represent the cultural decay of celebrity, and the complicated cultural responsibility celebrities are endowed with. Just look at the furore over Taylor Swift's ability to potentially sway the vote in the next USA election, or the failure of her to speak on the I/P conflict (because if she did, this speech would be powerful). She's a site of political discourse, and worry about the emerging picture of the American Democrat voter, who happens to be female (both politically irresponsible for not voting for a third party, or not joining the communist revolution, or caring too much about abortion/trans rights/racial justice, or being one of those feminist harpies responsible for the collapse of civilisation), as it's projected that men are swerving more conversative - which women are also responsible for - including the new topic of straight men's loneliness (read: sexual/romantic loneliness) which women are responsible for and which only women can fix. Woman as site of inevitable decay!

But also that Grimes in this case represents the worst of the feminine artist - makes her own music (this is called into question by gossipmongerers), acts strangely, dares to have children mid-career and therefore compromises her artistic identity - to listen to her music is as bad as supporting her. No, I'm working towards a point here - I think there is something specifically anxiety-inducing about people choosing to consume women's art, who represent those sites of cultural anxiety, because it's considered tantamount to having the same opinions as her - that women's speech is actually dangerous because of this potent cultural symbolism. (I worked in the women's testimony thesis). The same sort of anxiety is not applicable for male artists, not generally speaking (people wouldn't ordinarily harrass you for it, or performatively demonstrate their not listening to it - Chris Brown is still charting by the way), because it simply doesn't carry the same cultural symbolism - men's political beliefs, moral actions, injurious behaviour, etc. is considered distinct from their cultural output. I'm not saying one or the other is worse - or necessarily a discrete phenomenon - women in general are expected to be both conscious creators and conscious consumers. Just look at environmentalism - more women are environmentalists, and there's a perception (I am not citing the survey here but I'd say this is generally true) that eco-friendly products are girly. Women as sites of environmental/cultural anxiety. Birth rates dropping? Thesis evolving.

The reason I think it's interesting that women carry this cultural symbolism - that misogyny here is achieving something within society, in some way, that this type of anxiety comes with a function not arbitrary, or at the very least enjoys useful application if not origin - is effectively also to say that women are models within society. That they are models of beauty, moral sensibility, the general fertility of society, the political growth of society, the decay of society, the power of women as guides in every walk of life - is actually pretty significant, and I don't really see this idea discussed when deconstructing and trying to challenge misogyny. Nowhere am I trying to suppose that misogyny is good - what I am trying to say is that if you feel despair as to why it persists, it's a much more complicated issue as to why it does at all.

I also think that there is generally an exhaustion with misogyny - the discussion of feminism's purpose, its aims, what it can achieve (which seem to be always everything and nothing at the same time) - and within the frame of storytelling, I think that the didactic aim, whilst noble (attempting to empower women?), misses the point. To identify why it doesn't work - that is, to recognise what purpose misogyny served in storytelling before - is necessary to understand how to fix it. So what do you do with that cultural symbolism and weight? What do you use it for? I introduced the celebrity element - is that even a responsibility they ought to have at all? Now, if you were to turn the thesis on its head, that is, what do male characters enjoy in storytelling - is that better or worse?

Better or worse in what sense, one supposes - because the storytelling quality of women, women's speech as magical inducement of delusion, or corruption - is in itself pretty potent, here I'm thinking of Odysseus, it seems to me that if the essence of storytelling is its humanistic quality, then you would hope that all characters would be able to enjoy this range in their own way. You're going to laugh, but I can't help thinking of the fandom belief that in RW/BY, Cinder is responsible for I/ronwood's actions in V7/8 - that his actions are depersoned by attribution to a woman's actions. Isn't that dehumanising in its own way? I'm not saying this is tantamount to violence - what I am saying is that I think it's strange how this idea of moral responsibility or lack thereof goes unchallenged.

But that is the convenience and the utility of women's culpability - because it is lazy, and useful. Sometimes, I fear that the simplest answer to misogyny - transmisogyny, misogynoir - or racism, or ableism, or homophobia, is that it's lazy. Not always, of course, but let's say you have a best friend who sexually assaulted another woman at a party (he touched her without permission), a girl you don't know, do you do the hard thing and cut off that friend, get justice for a stranger, or support the person you know? Too many people spend their time considering these situations in thinkpieces and not looking at the reality around them. This isn't just misogyny - this is Jake deciding it's too hard to stand up to his friend. If you knew Jake, you might decide just to tell him to fuck off - that's your interpersonal decision - but what I am also thinking is that Jake is spineless. This is something a lot of us go through. It's very hard being alive and trying to make the right decisions, and to decide whose testimony to trust, and sometimes I think it does us all a disservice when we only read this through the lense of [MISOGYNY 1+ / -1] and not the world in which that misogyny functions.

More specifically, how it is that storytelling interacts with, and reflects human motivations interests me, but also that it is a deep mysterious pit of the human psyche. When it comes to the question of writing a 'good' female character, the position seems to be - well, before, the bad female character conveyed the figure of women to be oppressed, now she is endowed with the opposite power. I think that this is untrue in both senses. I think that this is limiting, and not interesting, and speaks to the belief that storytelling bears social responsibility, not just is a reflection of those attitudes (of everything), which ends up with characters who are dehumanised anyway. If the empowered female character must represent every woman, bearing that cultural weight of responsibility women are already endowed with, I suspect you've not achieved much.

[femalemonsterhunter]

Info about me

Hello! And welcome to my main page/blog, though. And also, you already know me well as Missy-Khrysty-Art (formerly Hrystina) on DeviantArt or khrystynahirdraws (formerly hrysti-howl) on Instagram, so here I am now finally, last month, back more than five years ago when my account was locked out by TFA until now thanks to Tumblr's management accepting my request by enabling TFA lock through on messages in my Gmail page. And also, from my accounts of other social networks, I like to publish older and newer pictures I had from time to time (however, despite the fact that the Tumblr algorithm is quite likely to blur the perishable qualities of the sizes of my photos in the posts).

And also, I have to slightly reinforce the rules that you (or what if you are new followers) should have known carefully in a better way:

This blog is allowed to pass as:

- Multi-fandom/media or original-related arts (including Corpse Bride as my most favorite Tim Burton’s movie of all time along with Monsters Inc.).

- AUs or Crossover-related stuff (including if applicable: AHiT Role Swap AU, AHiT Cursed Birds AU, Corpse Bride Monster AU, my unfinished/upcoming crossover AU fanstory/fanfic/project called Star Heart, etc.).

- Ship-related (this is like: OCXCanon, OCXOC, Self InsertXCanon, Canon and Fanon (AU version only), Crossover, MaleXFemale, Gay/LGBTQIA+, HumanXMonster, HumanXAnthro, HumanXAlien ships that I like to do this).

- Pregnancy or Male Pregnancy/Mpreg-related; however, I am sometimes a bit shy to use this clearly, however, it should be comfortable and generally fluffy for me to arrange; yet, regarding mpreg, if you don't like it rather than a basic female pregnancy, I will respect your opinions then don't comment on it and look away from it! Thank you (But as a non-fetish/kink and SFW only; but also, without such unpleasant topics as just kink, fetish and NSFW, which is make me very uncomfortable to do this; and even again about mpreg for each ships, I only prefer MaleXFemale ships than gay ships, but I do like gay couples, but I immediately to draw them if they were together or with their children without any fetishes/NSFWs that I will not allow to do this, mainly pregnancy; I also rarely draw male characters as pregnant if they are supposed to be just as males or trans in the general AUs or HCs; and please, DNI if you feel too horny about my stuff if it is not convenient for me to suffer like this, because I persistently block you if you inadvertently violate my rules!).

- Tim Burton's creative stuff and the dark/gothic themes/vibes.

- Historical and periodic creativities (It's more like, Victorian/Romantic era, Roaring 20's, Soviet times (sometimes; but with the dark/devilish theme only), etc.).

And this blog is not allowed to pass as:

- Fetishes/kinks or NSFW/sexual contents/topics are not welcome!

- Every proship or other illegal/problematic ship are not welcome in my blog, such as: pedo/hebe/ephebophilia (mostly AdultXMinor/Child; and, of course, AdultXAged-up Minor/Child, which is still not okay at all, which you have to understand for sure), zoophilia/beastiality (mostly HumanXFeral/Animal), necrophilia (mostly Human/Living BeingXZombie/Dead Being; for example, Victor Van DortXEmily from the Corpse Bride), incest/selfcest, etc.; And especially on proshippers, otherwise I would block them at once!

- NFT and AI-related “arts” (if some of you support them, then get the F*** out of here on my account or you’ll be permanently blocked for that!)

- No spamming or scamming!

- Do not copy, tracing, reposting or stealing my arts WITHOUT my permission!

- No causing drama, death threats, stalking, whiteknighting, bullying, swearing at me or anything for any reasons!

- Racist/Anti-LGBTQIA+/Hate/R*pe-related arts

- RPs; because now I don't do roleplays with anyone anymore, because it will also lead to my stressful and nervous problems (such as, scandal, getting irritated, squirm in confusion, uncontrollable denial, etc.) as if to disturb my peace and long rest for such reasons; and please don't ask why again!

- Do not interact with me if you are a minor, which will make me uncomfortable as you suddenly encountered me on my page with my suspicious habit if I am now an adult. But please be careful for your safety and also be nice to communicate and respect me only with very friendly ways rather than anything else. Or if you disrespectfully started to violate or do not want to listen to my important advice and rules, then you will literally be blocked and ignored, even go on and leave me alone for better than sorry!

- And anything that made me very uncomfortable.

And therefore, these are all the rules and it is important for you to understand them exactly. I wanted you to be very respectful and nice to me, or if not, when you excessively broke all the rules that did not affect you at all, then I immediately unfollow you and block you with your bad or toxic behavior!

In addition, let's start with art statuses:

- Request: I, unfortunately, am not taking requests anymore and as well as for use in the Q&A box and all that, just don't ask me why for multiple times!

- Commission: No! I'm not taking commissions anymore, because I haven't opened to earn money yet, okay?

- Art Trade: I will, but with friends/mutuals only; however, regarding new encounters like other artists who always appeared in the note/chat/profile comment with interest to ask me to AT with them, but it doesn't bother me or don’t mind me to try that, after if they fully understood my rules so properly.

- Art Gift: I will, however, it is with friends only, as I occasionally draw for someone myself without accepting their requests. I'm serious!

- Collab: I could try, but with friends only; However, I only tried it with my friend on DeviantArt for the first time in two or three years, but I would definitely ask someone else to accept my sincere offer!

And that's all I had so logically. Well then, thank you very much for reading and understanding my rules. I wish you have a nice day/night.

- Khrystyna A. Nahirna.

[just-your-average-tangerine]

^^^^

I'm dealing with something similar right now. My goal for college is to get enough experience acting in male roles that I can take female roles I've played previously off my resume. Just so I have a resume that doesn't immediately out me as trans. But it's hard to get roles as an openly trans person.

No one wants to cast a questionably passing trans man as a romantic lead. So I get ensemble work. Which don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have, but when I show up to an audition with a director I've never worked with and all I have is ensemble work, they're going to hesitate to cast me in any kind of major role.

Even in a trans inclusive theatre company. The company I'm with plays with gendered casting all the time. The show I'm in currently has several characters that are men in the script but women in our cast. My director is fully willing to cast that way as long as it 'doesn't change the story', which typically means smaller roles. With my earlier example of a romantic lead, all it takes is one audience member reading me as a woman, or as trans, and that 'changes the story'. So I get roles like 'boatman who shows up once just to act as a red herring in the murder mystery that happens later' and 'ensemble dancer'.

I still have yet to have someone coherently tell me how a non-passing, non-op, no-hormone, non-transitioning trans man has any power or privilege over a cis woman. Both of these people are named Julie and wear makeup and skirts and work the same thankless cashier job. Where is the privilege coming from here???

[catherine-batty-author]

So, here we are! I’m really excited to finally share some of this story with you.

I SEE YOU is a romance / thriller set in 1950’s Paris and is the story of Roberta and Pierre.

I have specifically chosen today, 31st March, to share more about Roberta with you  - because today is International Transgender Visibility Awareness Day, and that matters because Roberta is a transwoman.

So often in media and literature, people who identify as transgender have very poor representation, and it rarely seems to be positive. Trans characters are often portrayed as sex workers, and the depiction of sex work is typically purely negative, with no nuance. Even worse, they're often murder victims. How many stories have a trans woman as not only the main protagonist, but also one of the romantic leads? I wanted to try and change that.

Here I present the prologue and first 2 chapters (which are still unedited and a work in progress) but as a teaser for the rest of the story to come, hopefully late 2021, or early 2022.

I will state these chapters are rated mature which includes sexual content.

Also, I will add as a trigger warning, that Roberta is in a relationship that falls under “dubious consent”. This will become clearer as to why as the story progresses, however it is not down to her gender identity – if you want to know more, please message me!

 

Once the full draft is completed, I will be looking for people to complete sensitivity reads. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please message me!

I hope you enjoy the teaser. I SEE YOU is important to me, and I hope this story, when finally released, is able to add some positivity to trans representation in the media.

 

[theabigailthorn]

do you have fav type of character to play, and/ or do you get typecast as a certain type of charter often? do you resent that typecast?

I get sent up for a lot of 'high status lady' roles, but really I'll play anyone so long as they're interesting! I'm lucky too because that's a casting that will broaden as I age: right now I'm too young to be playing a lead female villain but in 10 years time or so those sorts of parts will start opening up. I do enjoy playing romantic leads but my height is sometimes a factor: they don't like it if you're taller than the leading man!

Actually one of the nice things about being among the very small number of trans actors is that we all get sent up for every trans role, even if we're totally unsuited for it, so I get to audition for quite a broad range of parts, which is fun!

[ghost0loxer]

Imagine, a gender fluid teenager like myself has a favourite/feel-good film and that film is “Just One of the Guys,”from the mid 80s.

Picture this: theatre class, we watch “She’s The Man”, a dreamworks film from the 2000s. And yet, the social justice issues within the film are glaringly obvious to today’s society. Don’t get me wrong, it can be a funny film in a group setting - but then there are scenes that are just uncomfortable. Now, we discussed these themes in class, but I just can’t help but think about the film that came before it. Yes, StM (she’s the mans) is a modern day adaption of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” but I was thinking about the modern day adaption before StM, “Just One of the Guys” from the mid 80s.

I love this film. For multiple reasons, which I hope to discuss.

Number one, our main character. Terry Griffith is stubborn. If she thinks something is right, she won’t let anyone say no or get in her way. Now in some cases, this is great. It’s definitely a shift in the usual romantic comedy female lead (especially for the 80s). But it’s one of her biggest flaws. In the beginning, Terry doesn’t win a contest for a part-time job at the Sun Tribune. She believes her article was amazing, but she speaks with her English teacher and he gives it to her straight. “You don’t have what it takes to be a reporter.” Her article is boring; it’s about the nutritional value of the lunch menu in the school cafeteria, of course it’s boring. But the words her teacher tells her has her convinced it’s because she’s a woman. Thus, she leaves school for two weeks and transfers as a buy to another school who are holding the same competition. Once she gives her article, she is told almost the same thing, but this time, she’s given proper feedback to improve it. Of course, there was some irony with this scene between Terry and the teacher. “Just because you’re guy, doesn’t mean you can’t be sensitive or light.” Thing is, she doesn’t give up, she strives to fix it and finds a new angle. I love her determination, I love the way she doesn’t let others push her around. Furthermore, her transition to a man. In StM, Viola as a guy is made to be cringey and comedic, you watch and think, there’s no way a guy would do that. But Terry, having grown up with a younger brother and is actually smart, manages to nail the role. Sure, she has slip-ups, but she stays afloat and she’s not being over the top. She’s chill and convincing, yet you as the audience can tell she’s trying to appear masculine. Her lines are witty and she’s sharp. Someone has something to say, she’ll be able to backtrack and answer with a joke or sarcasm quickly. I like smart characters.

Another point, the way women are written in this film. A lot of women in this film are treated like shit, but it’s probably a realistic depiction of the 80s. Everyone is talking about dating and sex, it seems to be the only topic the women in this film speak about, unless they are Terry. Terry seems to be the only character in this film whose main goal is not romance or sex. She strives to be a reporter, she wants to prove herself, and she rejects the advances upon her frequently. Whether it’s the boys asking her on dates in halls, or her own boyfriend attempting to seduce her when her parents aren’t home, she doesn’t put them above herself, yet she still lets them down easily, unless they become more pushy (case in point, her boyfriend, Kevin, in the beginning). She can stand up for herself, but she’s not the only one. Her best friend, Denise is one of the many women looking for love, nevertheless, she holds standards. I will admit, I didn’t like Denise’s acting in the beginning; she’s not a great character, but even she manages to reject men’s advances constantly. She’s not afraid to say it bluntly and she expresses her true emotions when certain guys try to ask her out. She tells it to them straight, and I respect her for that (despite her lack of empathy for some). Terry’s brother is constantly hitting on Denise, but she stands her ground. She doesn’t hit him or curse him out, she spins words around him and always lead back to the key word “no.”

This is my third, and maybe final point, (because I’m not great at writing but I’m starting to get tired) the way they handle sexual orientation. It seems if you’re going to make a film about a cross-dressing woman who falls in love with a man, you have to discuss sexuality and this film is not afraid to. That was my biggest beef with StM, when Viola confessed her love to Duke, the made it blatantly clear that it was “weird” and “unusual”; the editing and music cuts. It was done for comedic purposes, but in that moment, it just made me cringe. Even when the principal marched onto the field during the big match to expose Sebastian as “the woman he was all along,” he used a big megaphone and said to the whole crowd this man is in fact a girl. If it were to happen in the real world, and this character was a trans male, that would be traumatizing and so so insensitive. I couldn’t help thinking the way they handled the reveal in StM was poor and shitty.

But with JOotG (just one of the guys)? It’s done respectfully. Throughout the film, Buddy, Terry’s younger, sex-obsessed brother (I have thoughts on this character), often refers to Terry as a transvestite or sexually confused. They make references about her dating other women and jokes. It’s not treated like taboo, but just something people normally talk about, and as a questioning kid when I first watched the film, I really needed that. Although it was used for jokes, the fact that it wasn’t treated like a silent topic made me think more of it and discover who I was; it was media like this that made me accept myself.

Even with the reveal. Kevin, Terry’s boyfriend (or ex boyfriend by the end), stomps up to Terry after she’s wrestled with the school bully and was dumped into the waves at prom. Rick, who’s been Terry’s friend (and is the male lead) throughout her time at his high school, immediately questions who Kevin is and he responds with a harsh and sure “Terry’s boyfriend.” Of course, that doesn’t expose Terry as female, but makes Rick assume she’s a homosexual. But instead of calling her weird or replying negatively, he answers Kevin’s question calmly and says he’s just a friend. There is no prejudice, no disgust, Rick is shocked, but that’s expected. Furthermore, this reveal not only does not alienate homosexuality, it puts the center of focus on the main characters rather than have the whole audience/prom witness this exchange. Sure, the rest of the school is watching but the camera never pans over to them, and even then, Terry drags Rick away from the crowds to a secluded area to explain more.

Even once they’re secluded, Rick doesn’t yell at her or is homophobic. He just says “I understand, you’re gay.” As we know, Terry is not in fact gay and she reveals this to him in a similar fashion as StM, at least it’s not flashing a whole crowd. But the thing that hits me, is the fact that it’s not used as a joke or for comedy. Throughout the film, they’ve mentioned homosexuality and being transgender, but it was used as a light-hearted joke (nothing insulting or derogatory). In this moment, it’s not a joke, and it’s the bare minimum for a emotional scene like this, but it always hits me.

Of course, Rick gets justifiably mad that he’s been deceived and he storms off. Terry’s flaw catches up to her here, as she kisses him in front of the prom guests, stubborn to make him realize how much she cares. ( I didn’t agree with this action to be frank, I cringed ). The crowd gasps and it’s the usual reaction to a homosexual kiss and Rick just pulls back, says “It’s alright everyone, he’s got tits,” and leaves with Deborah.

In true romantic comedy fashion, life moves on. Terry gets the job at the Sun-Tribune after writing her article about posing as a guy and everyone who was longing for love in the beginning has found it, except Terry. The ending, however, is Rick coming back for her after a couple (days? Weeks? Idk all I know is it’s summer by the time he comes back, how much space between prom and summer?) and they kiss, go on a date and all is good.

Now after writing this long ass post, I’ve come to realize the main reason I like this film. Sure, Terry is a good character (not morally sometimes, but she’s interesting to watch), the way women are presented also is good, but my main source of affection for this film (in comparison to StM) is the way they handle the switching of genders. I’m gender fluid, I don’t always like being a woman or a man, I switch almost daily and half the time can’t decide if I want to grow out my hair or cut it. Seeing Terry, originally a woman, manage to convince people she was a guy made me wish I could do it too. It made me realize, I don’t always like being a woman. I want to be a guy sometimes, and I want that to be accepted. It was media like this, like Ouran High School Host Club, like Bare: A Pop Opera, that made me understand my gender and sexuality. (Even media that didn’t have any relation to LGBTQ+ helped).

When I first heard of “She’s the Man”, I had hoped it would be like these pieces of media. And it wasn’t. It was an alright film, but made me feel disappointed and somewhat let down. And that’s why I just prefer Just One of the Guys. Maybe it wouldn’t float in today’s political climate, maybe I’m wrong for seeing these points as reasons it’s one of my favorites, but its still better than StM and is one of my favourite films.

[mangacapsaicin]

any recs of anime or manga with butch characters? ive seen all the standard ones like sailor moon, oniisama e (rei is always on my mind), and standard yuri animes. i just would love to see more masculine female characters :/

i’m butch myself, so seeing this in my inbox made me smile. but before address the question, i want to cover my bases and clarify a couple of points first:

“butch” as a wlw identity doesn’t really exist in japan the same way it does in like, america for instance. the japanese lgbt scene has its own identities, roles, and lexicon which are embedded within the history of japanese lgbt people. while the terms “neko” and “tachi” are often mistranslated as “fem(me)” and “butch”, they aren’t actually the same thing, and have completely separate histories and social contexts in which they exist.

however, you seem to be using the term butch here to loosely mean “masculine woman”, rather than as a wlw identity/role, so i’m gonna follow your lead. generally speaking, women’s masculinity in japan has a very different history and set of standards than that of western butchness. japanese masc women, as a result, don’t present the same way as western masc women, and so in many cases they may not read the same way to a western reader as they would to a japanese one. stuff like that is important to keep in mind when looking at how masculinity in women is portrayed in japanese media. 

as an aside, i generally dislike the use of the descriptor “masculine female” to define “butch”, as it can be interpreted as exclusionary to butch trans women. while obviously trans women are as female as any other woman, there’s significant precedent for terfs using the term “masculine female” as a catch-all which homogenizes masculine cis women, nonbinary people, and trans men while simultaneously excluding trans women entirely. so i tend to be pretty careful on how i use terms like “male” and “female” in this context.

with all of that being said:

my #1 rec is obviously gonna be revolutionary girl utena, the anime (moreso than the manga, which while due plenty of credit as the source material, is bogged down so much by chiho saitou’s own heteronormativity that it fails to reach its own narrative potential; this is a rare case where the anime adaptation is leagues above the source material in quality). that is, if you haven’t already seen it (not sure whether it falls under your definition of “standard”). the crux of the show is about deconstructing the role of womanhood and its impact on those who live within that role’s relationships both with men and with other women. it is, in my opinion, an indispensable work of art.

similarly, you should definitely check out rose of versailles by riyoko ikeda if you haven’t read/watched it already (you may well have, if you’ve already read oniisama e). it’s not a yuri (unfortunately...it should have been smdh) although it is a staple of the dansou theme in manga, and takes much inspiration from the yuri genre; the female lead oscar, who has lived her whole life within the “male” role, has a very romantic friendship with her friend/mentee rosalie.

golondrina by est em is definitely worth checking out too; the main character is a masc lesbian pursuing the traditionally male-dominated sport of bullfighting, but it isn’t focused on romance (although it does come up, especially later in the series). some might fund the subject matter questionable, although the ethical concerns surrounding bullfighting are discussed, the way it’s romanticized by the main characters is bound to make some people uncomfortable.

i also highly recommend you check out ebine yamaji’s yuri manga, pretty much all of which feature somewhat more “tomboyish” bi women or lesbian main characters. love my life is her most well known work, and it’s my all time favorite work of hers as well. they’re less overtly masculine, and i doubt any would self-describe as such. still, it fits the bill close enough and i can’t resist recommending ebine yamaji every chance i get, so sue me.

tsuki to suppin is another yuri manga you might like, with one of the main characters being rather tomboyish, particularly relative to her more feminine girlfriend. although like with ebine yamaji, it’s more androgyny-based and isn’t the sort of “masculinity” readily intelligible with butchness. if you like soft lesbian slice of life this is a great manga to check out.

karubania monogatari by tono also fits the bill, and is not dissimilar in many ways to rose of versailles as far as both the old-fashioned political elements of its setting and the princely (well, duke-ly) role of the main lead, although i recommend it much more hesitantly than the above, because it has some majorly problematic elements that ultimately lead me to drop the series, but you’re still welcome to give it a go.

to note a couple of non-manga graphic novels from other countries that fit this bill as well:

the manhua tamen de gushi has a distinctly masc/fem lesbian couple as its primary focus. it’s very slow-burn and generally inexplicit, at least in part due to having to circumvent chinese censorship laws, but is still a very sweet read and the characters are very likeable.

the american graphic novel roadqueen by mira ong chua also centers on a masc/fem lesbian couple, and takes a huge amount of inspiration from the yuri tradition, as well as women’s biker gangs. it’s action-packed and a ton of fun.

ah, that’s all i can think of for now. hope this helps! 

[for-hunger]

Hello my INSANE Will-Graham-Is-Trans-Coded essay is about halfway done at this point and I’m posting my progress here in hopes that someone will give me some kind of feedback? I’m literally just writing a goddamn manifesto for my own enjoyment/hyperfixation/therapy as I haven’t written an essay since college. I’m also citing various peoples’ metas and stuff from here. CW for the usual Hannibal stuff as well as liberal use of the words vagina/female with regards to transmasculinity, mention of SA/r*pe

First, because of the depiction of Will Graham’s mind as vaginal, and because of his alienation from traditional masculinity that that vaginality causes him, I am defining him as a metaphorical transmasculine figure: a man whose talent is coded as debilitatingly female. Graham is introduced as a thirty-something professor at the FBI academy, antisocial despite his intelligence and physical ability. The reason for his alienation is his “pure empathy” disorder, a way of “[feeling] way too much” (“It’s a Matter of Taste"). This is a pure fantasy invention, explained at points as “too many mirror neurons” (cite). He describes it as manifesting “[close to] Asperger’s and autistics” (1.01). This makes him a medical and psychological curiosity, although he avoids professional attention, as well as leading to his recruitment as an FBI Special Agent by Jack Crawford. Crawford gives him a job as a criminal profiler; he visits particularly brutal crime scenes and, alone in the room, imagines himself acting out the crimes of the murderers, including their feelings. The murderers’ thoughts, feelings, and actions, lingering at their crime scenes, penetrate his overly empathetic (empathic?words lol) mind. Unfortunately, he cannot compartmentalize these penetrations. Like a trauma survivor, he finds motifs, urges, and feelings from these scenes following him into his psychic life. At times, his control slips, and he will blurt out a thought from one of the killers rather than himself (cite?).

Will constantly being described as “liquid”/ “fluid”

Graham’s power, rather than lying in a masculine field such as analysis, forensics, or violence, is distinctly feminized; his mind is a psychological vessel for violent men, whose penetrations corrupt him, body and soul.

Secondly, Graham is non-functional socially as a masculine figure. He has no close personal relationships, instead rescuing stray dogs. At one point, he initiates a kiss with his colleague, but she rejects him because he is “too unstable” (cite). In his past as a police officer, he retired because he was unable to shoot and kill a dangerous suspect, an obvious phallic failure in a show full of weapons. In addition, the show sets up Will’s unfulfilled longing to be a parent through Abigail Hobbs, the daughter of a serial killer who he catches and kills in the show’s opening episode.

Throughout the narrative, Will’s masculinity is contrasted with the masculinity of his boss and paternal figure Jack Crawford. Crawford, despite his tenderness and care for Will, often misunderstands him, either patronizing him or treating his unique needs with impatient scorn. In the first episode, Crawford asks him about his autism, leaning down to gently push up his glasses and force him to make eye contact (Fig 1). Crawford and Graham frequently clash over his inability to compartmentalize and deal with the workload Crawford puts on him, emphasizing how Crawford misunderstands the toll the work takes and expects him to be functional in ways that he’s not. In Jack’s world, the properly emotionally repressed, masculine world of the father, there is no reverence for either Will’s vulnerability or his talent. In addition, Jack’s relationship with Will is caught between the personal (as his quasi-father-figure) and the professional. Jack ultimately values Will’s importance as a tool over his personhood, and a tool that needs to function correctly within its place to be valuable. This further communicates to the viewer that Will’s existence is something unique and dysfunctionally extra-masculine.

If Jack Crawford represents the morally correct masculinity of the father, Hannibal Lecter is a morally neutral, but highly destructive masculine power. It is not a functional masculinity, but a pure force of masculine power that exists beyond good and evil, and even beyond traditional gender and sexuality roles. Hannibal’s pansexuality- Tobias, Will, Alana 3some. The show’s creators represent Lecter as he sees himself, as a godlike figure. A few sentences about Hannibal and god?

Although Lecter is somewhat queer-coded, he’s also by far the most functional, moral, and successful character on the show, a kind of modern renaissance man who charms and is useful to everyone around him. His life is immaculately groomed, planned, and predictable, “without friends, family, or messy romantic attachments” (ailichi). However, as a surgeon and a serial cannibal, he is deeply involved in the work of life and death through bodily violence. At one key early moment, Graham watches Lecter perform emergency surgery on a dying man in the back of an ambulance. Graham and Lecter make sustained eye contact while Lecter is wrist-deep in the man’s chest. At this moment, Graham realizes Lecter not only has the skill set to be the killer, the Chesapeake Ripper, but also more broadly that he possesses the great power to reach into bodies and determine who lives and who dies- he is not simply some fussy European with strange taste.

In general Lecter’s cannibalism is in contrast with his overtly immaculate life- it is a “‘dirty’ crime; gore and liquidity and uncivilisation”. It reveals his true “fertility and passion and eroticism in the quiet abiotic clinical sterility that is his life … his only vice in the eyes of the world… is actually the only thing that humanises him” (ailichi). His dinners with the other characters, in which he feeds them his victims, represent not simply a joke he is playing on them, but also his only ability to provide for and connect honestly with those around him.

Lecter therefore for the viewer and for Graham, comes to represent the truth of a masculinity that can be accessed by them- an amoral masculinity that includes breaking the boundaries of the body, as is Graham’s mind’s power. Lecter and Graham quickly connect intellectually; he is in a unique position to understand the violation, the pleasure, and the shame involved in Graham’s work, because his own humanity depends on his ability to break the boundaries of the body and mind in a way that is too messy and bodily to be simply masculine. The abject as corrupting the gendered?

[princessnijireiki]

every time I remember devery jacobs auditioned for rey in star wars I hate that I can envision the ripple effect of disney + fandom racism it would have caused...

like realistically either oscar isaac or john boyega would not have been cast, though boyega might've gotten to retain his accent vs her adopting an english one. kelly marie tran certainly wouldn't have been cast. they might not have even created the tico sisters if there was no need to drive the white + black leads apart and into other characters' arms...

the whole reylo ship would never have exploded with obnoxious fans the way it did, because of racism, which is annoying because yeah I hate the ship, but it would've been scrapped to brutalize an indigenous rey— rise of skywalker & last jedi would never have been scripted the way they were with a woman of color at the helm— or worse tbh, it would be both more brutal AND still romanticized in-script or by fans (it's no coincidence when you see what other ships people who adored reylo support, and I've been blocked by enough people who got mad I publicly agreed w boyega specifically calling out twitter nerd racism to feel very comfortable talking shit about the distinct media consumption patterns they have in common lmao)... and if her casting meant we've gotten whitefinn, finnlo would be the ship we'd all be hating on in its place.

hell, finnrey might not have even been initially plotted in the first place (ik it was officially scrapped by disney/lf despite the seeds of it being established enough in the initial script it had to be stricken from the tfa novelization, but we might not have even gotten as far as having something TO scrap). or tbh maybe rey would've been sidelined for a whitefinn more... or maybe both would've been sidelined for extra kylo screentime.

it's honestly just all very shades of legend of korra vs avatar the last airbender—

like what are the choices you make with the indigenous female character when she's a love interest? would her brutalization at the hands of the story's "bad boy" be racialized & personalized in a nastier way than said villain's interactions with every other character, as with zutara? would all her accomplishments still be in service of somebody else, her mastery still come behind the person she in fact teaches, because she's not THE hero? does your follow up story leave her in a far more passive role than her male or non-indig counterparts, with far less screentime & influence even in her own family's lives than her romantic partner?

and then you flip it around to korra, and what kinds of torture are you willing to put the indigenous female character through that you weren't willing to do to your LAST main character/hero? what kind of torture will you say she deserves or needs to overcome to be "worthy" of a role someone who came before her didn't have to be physically broken into? what kind of nasty white gaze cultural genocide pro assimilationist subplots will she be turned into a mouthpiece of in-story? what kind of busted ass romances will she be made to test drive without being given an ON SCREEN unambiguous canonical happy ending?

and I'm sorry, but to take all that, which is frankly a HIGH bar compared to some lucasfilm properties, and put it in the hands of... what, people who have made multiple racist projects in a movie universe with multiple racist films already?

and I love the mandalorian tv show, don't get me wrong, but the franchise's best talents have come from star wars tv shows & the eu, and in mando we STILL got a scene of "a group of mandos led by an inexplicable white woman immediately tried to hate crime old ass boba fett because they heard his maori accent"?

admittedly that's one of my biggest mando-specific gripes (vs things I sort of generally hate about the star wars universe), but like, in 20+ years the universe has had ONE... ONE indigenous subplot going with django & boba fett + the clones (longer if you include to ot but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since we didn't see boba's face until the prequels; I'm also graciously ignoring the tusken raiders narratives, but mostly that's bc it falls under the umbrella of my general sw hates since they are literally the kind of background texture racism you'd see in a john wayne flick and I don't have the energy or sustained interest to unpack all of star wars' racism, it is a neverending chain of clown handkerchiefs). but from the moment we were introduced to django and boba as unmasked people, the franchise hasn't avoided racial fuckups around them even with literal decades of practice to work out the narrative bugs.

like I wish it could've been good, but ultimately, you gotta be honest with yourself & recognize the people running the circus would've found a new way to fuck shit up even if they'd managed to avoid kathleen kennedy's "white english brunettes" hangup, because there's plenty more equally fucked up baggage where that came from, AND fandom is frequently & consistently of the fucking devil. even my own false optimism couldn't sell me that bridge in new york, y'all.

[rosheendubh]

Concept AU-Star Wars (orig trilogy to first 3 Zahn/Thrawn books...reworked), Keltiad inspired star systems in conjunction with FireFly-Serenity progressing from the events of Miranda...

*This concept is sitting on my IPad in some extremely confusing stream of consciousness notes right now...

*This really is spoof filk, bringing in ultimate Evil vs Luke, and the Heroes of the Galaxy, combined with a 70s/80s/90s/2000s pop SpaceRockOpera...there will be a tavern scene where Jayne, Mal, Lando, and Han rouse it up to ‘Fat-Bottomed Girls (make the world go around...)’...

*Princess Vespa from SpaceBalls has crossed the Wormhole to entrepreneurial interests on Tatooine, buying out Jabba’s Palace to open a megaplex mall, spa, and resort with a GastroPub called The MegaMaid-still going from Suck to Blow...

*Celtic and classical myth plays a big inspire here with the Mabinigion, some Irish tales relating to the Danu, the triad of Gwythr ap Greidiol-Creiddylad-Gwydion ap Don reflected by Luke-Thrawn battling it out, and OFC, Rhyanon ferch Garwen (combo of Daenerys and Marevel’s Valkyrie-maybe Scarlet Witch-with some added nanotech/healing-biomolecular manipulation capacity-she’s a Human psionically gifted CRISPR basically...lol), as the balance between the 2...

*Mara and Karrde (eh, if you don’t picture Aquaman-Jason Mamoa in that role, you need to spend useless diversion hours perusing some Karrde fan art, and Aquaman...) are definitely in this ring...

*Rhyanon/Yana has a female lover who’s a Dathomiri witch based off Kalinda from ‘The Good Wife’ (b/c I love Kalinda’s character...sultry/confidant/intelligent/all around kick-ass female...)-Yana does become Luke’s lover eventually-after a good bit of angst and animosity-there are complicated sexual tensions and emotions running all through this thread...again, Mara...

*Am I the only being in the multiverse who envisions Zoe Washburn and Lando Calrissian interacting...potentially in a romantic way? She needs some comfort after Wash’s death...

*This tale involves a Wormhole of course, drawing the distant quadrants of the Terran Federacy and The Republic Alliance-Galactic Empire together...

*and Vader-Anakin survives the DeathStar-while he’s not necessarily Evil Vader, he’s also not entirely benign Light Side either. He resides on Dagobah in self-imposed exile, due to the years of PTSD wrought by the war crimes he’d committed-Ashoka there as his mentor/ally as he reconciles a new role-still devoted to the Sith, and opposing the revival of the Jedi Order of the OldRepublic-wanting his son and daughter to understand the corruption, stagnancy, and ideological prejudice which had inundated the old Jedi order, necessitating it’s downfall-believing a more enlightened path possible balancing the nuances of Dark and Light to be less exclusionary and restrictive than the Old Order had become...

*Luke still holds a military position within the Republic Alliance a Fleet Commander now, occasionally leading squadron assaults, but now on his own battleship—“while he was no king, he fought beside the kings of Britain”—drawing some inspiration from Uther (Anakin), and Arthur (Luke), and Aella (Thrawn)...

*Zombie-looking Luke in the ArtManip isn’t DarkSide Luke in this version. More like Luke, sacrificing himself-simultaneously combining forces with Thrawn, who’s tapped into an extremely ancient prototype archaic genome (oh, that was my own conception, but I realize ‘The Expanse’—perhaps the finest example of modern Space Opera ever, combining Science with Fiction, and a lurid and lyrical storyline, deploys a similar concept—nothing new under the sun, as they say...) he Uses for hybrid clones (think ‘Alien’ here...), which have become increasingly powerful and difficult to control, while buying the Empire military superiority vs RepublicAlliance. Thrawn inoculated himself with the nucleic acids, which has brought on an expression of new powers over matter/time/space influencing the presence of the Wormhole, and the primordial creature behind it-and the new hybrid creations existing in a sort of multidimension DarkMatter/AntiMatter state seeking to colonize and spread across the galaxy now that they’ve been awakened. The Terran Federacy/Firefly segment has also discovered these archaic genomic sequences, which ties in with the creation of the Reavers, and the fallout from Miranda...and River Tam’s part of the travesty of a tale...

*Luke, in a stand-off with Thrawn, and the *unnamed Primordial DarkMatter Creature dating to the beginning of time*, is wounded, mortally, by DarkMatter creature (otherwise, cheekily referenced as QKZM-Quantum Kracken Zombie Monster), and the only way to prevent his death-more like Total Zombie TakeOver as he‘s assimilated into the QKZM’s hybrid beings-is for Yana, with her own powers over the manipulation of genetic molecular structures, to join with Thrawn in allowing *archaic genome conscience* into Luke’s body-sort of Pirates of the Caribbean-like with the heart of DavyJones providing a sort of cursed immortality. Problem is, Luke can only now reside in the dark places/planets which have been annihilated-and seeded with—the hybridized DarkMatter beings, and in the weird parallel shadow dimension where the DarkMatterAncientGenome Being inhabits. The purpose here is that Luke returns with Thrawn/abducted to this OtherWorld-UnderWorld in order to stymy the malignant spread of the nearly unstoppable QKZM, which places Luke in a perpetual state of using the Force to keep from being completely transformed into a minion of QKZM, while he and Thrawn try to navigate the DarkMatter dimension-trapped in the wormhole destroyed by the explosion of a fusion drive-which has also severed the connection between the Quadrants...Thrawn’s particular alien constitution makes him resistant to being completely dominated by the archaic genome mutated with his own biology...

*Yana, with River-Leia-Mara (like the 3, or 4 Queens of Avalon, who escort Arthur’s body back to the Otherworld), are left with trying to repair the massive devastation wrought across the galaxy, while trying to find some way of restoring the trans-spatial anomaly (Aka, Le’ Wormhole...), and Yana-in a reverse Eurydice-Orpheus kind of spin, ventures to find some way to follow Luke into that dark plain, and retrieve her lover-this involves ancient UnderGround pools on Earth That Was/Old Terra, which exists in a sterilized portion of space called the Wasteland (like that Arthurian theme?), now a blasted out expanse of light-years devastated by a massive surge of radiation flaring from a huge SuperNova 500-1000 years before (relating to the human inter-stellar diaspora alluded in the FireFly universe, with my own added strokes...)-as well as ancient trees existing in subterranean pools-yes, DarkSide Tree on Dagobah is a part of the web found on various planets, and is subsequently nicknamed Yggdrasil-wherein these ancient arboreal pools hold protoplasmic genomic sequences, but of less nefarious design than the DarkMatter Entity trying to conquer the inhabited galaxy (implied MilkyWay...)-all dating from the great cataclysm of the Universe’s creation. This segment inspired by the fact that it’s Rhiannon in the tale of the Mabinogion, who pursues her son, Pryderi, into the Otherworld w/o hesitation-as well as Inanna who dares the 7 Gates of Hell to prove her worth as Queen of Heaven-and the ancient tale of the goddess, Freya, who wept tears of amber pursuing her lost husband-lover, Svipdaeg-Odr (variance of Odin), across the world to return him to her side...

*I‘m sorry?