#xanth rambles

[jesncin]

not attaching it to the poll so I don't rain on the parade for Xanthe fans- but if you want a story where magic respects a character's transness, then might I recommend Dreamer/ Nia Nal (from cw Supergirl)?

I get that Nia's kind of got the reputation for being bland and boring since she had to pave the way for trans superhero representation on tv, but her story actually engages with how her family's magic system created a rift between her sister and herself- where coming to her own as a superhero caused conflict with her family. One of the few plot points that made Nia really interesting.

The part where Nia makes herself smaller so that her sister can inherit powers she feels she's entitled to as a cis girl? That's genuinely a great way of allegorizing uncomfy trans feelings through the superhero genre. This resonates with me way more than talisman shenanigans at the family dinner after being dead for 15 years. Seriously give Nia a shot. Her graphic novel is written by the trans actress who plays as her on Supergirl.

[jesncin]

MARTIAN FAM I CALL UPON YOU ONCE MORE!! Okay even if you were to randomly pick a single martian to be put in the androg bracket, if it were J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter himself:

Comfortably shapeshifts into women and has been known to try many forms to not only better understand humans, but himself as well.

KNOWN MAN KISSER J'ONN J'ONZZ not only shapeshifts into women but that identity specifically ("the Pearl" in the new 52 MM solo) represented his heart. J'onn has canonically stated he is asexual, likely meaning agender from aged terminology (JLA 1997 #63).

peek my dissertation on all the other gendercunty instances of martians for further elaboration but to not repeat myself I am ending this post by re-emphasizing the cunt-fashion-forward world of the martians. Their androgyny is beyond human comprehension that gendered clothing isn't even a concept for them. They're all slutting it out like nobody's business. They've entered gender enlightenment.

[dailycass-cain]

Birds of Prey #13 ends the "second arc" of the series aka the Birds finding out who was targeting Babs. Was it a rewarding finish? What about the Cass and Spirit World?

Well, here are my thoughts on the issue.

So I'm just gonna start off with the negative stuff I have to say about the issue. #1 being I was a bit disappointed at the entire resolution of it all. It is not so much how the Birds got free from the world hoping, but more about how the arc's villain, Maia was dealt with.

She just leaves and-- I guess she goes back into the portal? I mean that's what the characters say she did but it's never really implied on the pages.

In that regard, I felt a little meh on there being no real resolution. The Birds are free and all, but Maia isn't really beaten. She could still target Babs or do something else to make the Birds' lives hard.

#2 is a nitpick but Xanthe and Constantine just don't interact with Cass at all. I get it, given she wasn't with them until after getting Cela out. And man the comic got crowded. But zero interaction left me 😞. Not even Xanthe seeing Barda which I kind of wanted to see.

This is kind of a "hope" with the new Cass series is that well if this series does do well, I kind of want to see Cass interact with these characters (and new ones).

Like how is it we've seen her meet Richard Dragon? Or seeing Bronze Tiger again in Cass's life?

We're just getting Oynx and Grace in the next arc. Both have some strong ties to Cass that I'm REALLY curious where writer Kelly Thompson goes (sides the Barda stuff).

I'm rambling so back to the issue itself.

The final nitpick is a real nitpick. Cass was just called Cass at the intro. While Babs got the Batgirl/Oracle combo bit.

Come on DC… we've got two Batgirls in this issue. Just throw us a little bone here.

So I'm done focusing on the negatives so let's talk the positives now: the Cass and Cass/Cela portions are probably the strongest bits of the entire issue.

Like, the way Cass figures out how to end the loop and get Maia to open a portal and them to escape was quite genius. She a smart small bat.

Using the Spirit World proxy to "summon" her dead sisters was a nice touch to freak Maia the heck out. It also is a nice way to touch on last issue's cliffhanger with what Xanthe was feeling.

Same goes for all the Cass/Cela interaction. Like, Cass being Cass always is an open heart to anyone, and Cela has that and other things that Cass can relate too.

Again their interaction was the highlight of the issue as you could feel Cela's hope in seeing her fallen sisters and wanting to stay in "Spirit World". Or that she left Cass, and left on the downer note with her.

In all honesty, I kind of hope we see Cela again and she isn't lost like Christine or Harper in lost female "friends" that Cass strikes up with and it's completely ignored by others.

There is potential here with Cela in that she could try and find the real Spirit World, and there's an adventure with Xanthe to be ringed in with.

Besides the stuff involving Shiva and Spirit World too.

But that's more to the point I said prior. Just see more of these connections.

This was still a fun issue with the problems. There was still more good I had than the bad. But there was a bit more compared to prior outings.

Still, the art by Gavin Guiday and coloring by Jordie Bellaire were nice.

For Bellaire's coloring did a nice job homaging the prior coloring by Sebastian Chang (colorist on Spirit World) making the colors pop. Just felt so short in this variant. I guess it just makes me want to see that place again.

So yeah, the arc concluded but it does feel kind of rushed. I don't mind it given next we get Oynx and Grace Choi.

But there is a few things I hope Kelly gives us more stuff with like Mirai Maps.

A friend said they felt Mirai Maps felt "there" and we got nothing (other than answers to her tech). I agree we do need more on Mirai Maps more so why'd she stick around.

As for Cass? Yeah, it's obvious which character Kelly does favor most given Cass steals the show again. Though I'll admit she is kind of outshining Dinah a bit too much. But I digress we got Dinah's characterization in Kelly's side story that same week.

So, here's to the next arc and whatever we get with Dinah in Green Arrow! Just wish she had another series to read. I feel like there's one but nope just Green Arrow and Birds of Prey. A real pity.

[popatochisssp]

I LOVE the new boys, i have SO many questions and thoughts about them, you have such amazing imagination, What would a relationship with them be like? Would they have the initiative or us? how would they do it?, You don't have to answer i'm kinda rambling sorry, your work always makes me smile

Thank you! I did have some thoughts about that!

Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): He plays hard to get… except he’s not really playing, he…he actually is hard to get. As much as he can see lots in you worthy of love and admiration, himself… Well. He’s complicated, you know? Emotionally and logistically, in more ways than one. You can certainly find someone better suited to appreciate you than him…but he has a hard time staying away, and if you chase after him, he probably won’t be able to find it in himself to run. He falls into a relationship with you like planets fall into orbit—a slow, synchronous dance as natural and irresistible as the tides.

PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): He’s absolutely taking the lead, the one to approach you and actively try to charm the pants off you possibly literally. He finds you interesting, fun, and how else is he supposed to find out if you’d like to play with him if he doesn’t ask? He’s bound to be a little light-hearted and flippant about your relationship at the start, maybe not taking it as seriously as you’d like. He’s got his head in the cloud, and all the data and information and free access to everyone and everything on the planet in there is a lot to compete with—but don’t doubt you’ll win out in the end. He’ll serious up as time goes by, but no matter how serious he gets about you, you’ll never stop being his favorite plaything.

Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): He’ll take the initiative but he might come on a little strong, or…weird…because he’s weird. He’s very genuine and open with why he’s interested in you so the straightforwardness could either be refreshing or uncomfortable, depending on how it lands with you. Mostly, he just wants to get to know you more so he’s fine with whatever pace you set from there, as long as he gets to be around your energy. In a relationship, he likes to go with your flow, just be and do and feel with you and see where the wind takes you both—wherever you end up, he’ll have had a great traveling companion for the road.

Piper (Ascendswap Piper): It could go either way with him. He’s certainly not too shy to approach someone he’s interested in, but neither does he dislike the ego-boost of getting someone to come to him. In both cases he’s a smooth operator, his ‘trick’ not required. In a relationship, he makes a point of being your Prince Charming, whether it’s your first date or your hundredth, and all the time in between, too. For all that he’s genial and pleasant from the start, he will take some time to really warm up and trust you—to introduce you to his family, to share his past, to let you see more than just the clean and polished parts of him—but once he does defrost, he’s all yours.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): If he’s interested, he’s letting you know immediately with…varying levels of respect (on the low end, ranging between a double-take and a maybe-not-meant-to-be-out-loud ‘goddamn’). He likes to flirt and talks a big game but… he’s actually pretty new to this kinda thing, and in a relationship, he probably wants to keep things casual for awhile, nothing too serious too fast. He just got out of lockup, he’s not really looking to settle down right away, y’know? But he’s perfectly willing to adhere to the rules of engagement, so if you don’t mind casual for awhile, he’s plenty of fun, a great plus-one for everything, guaranteed. And if you are willing to wait him out, the ‘not too serious’ thing isn’t forever, of course. What, like he’s gonna let The One get away over a bit of commitment? Pfft…

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): It’s gonna be down to you to make the first move, he has no idea what he’s doing and is still kind of figuring out what he’s allowed to do or ask for, even if he’s very smitten with you—and why wouldn’t he be? He definitely needs to be told that you’re open to having him in your space, as part of your life in that way, or he may not want to risk upsetting you. For the same reason, he needs patience in a relationship because he moves slowly and doesn’t really know how to talk about his feelings. A little grace as he navigates a new kind of relationship with way different rules than the other kinds goes a long way, and with it, he warms up quickly to some of the perks that non-platonic affection and intimacy allow him. He tends to speak more with his gestures and actions than what he says, so never mistake a lack of words for a lack of feeling—he feels a lot, and he just needs to figure out what do with it all!

Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): Most likely to make the first move, but… he has no charm whatsoever, and a very direct approach that might be a little off-putting. …Then again, ‘weird guy rizz’ alone might at least (somehow) score him a date, or two, or three, and you could go from there. He’s committed from the jump and puts as much thought and care and meticulous planning into your relationship as any high-profile political assassination he’s ever managed…which is probably something he shouldn’t say to you, another one of those awkward, off-putting things… He has his issues, of course—secrecy, insecurity, emotional constipation—but he always takes you very seriously and never wants to lose esteem in your eyes. You are someone he doesn’t want to lose.

Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): Yeah, he’s taking the initiative and doing it well, he’s a good flirt, fun, and persistent, and he has a way of getting people to go home with him against their better judgment—hey, he doesn’t mind being a guilty pleasure and in fact, maybe he could be yours…? As far as a relationship goes, he doesn’t take too much seriously, so it’s bound to be pretty casual for awhile, like a game of tug-of-war played with a (poorly-behaved) dog, back and forth, give and take, just a fun game you both play. …However. At some point, a switch will flip in his head when he decides he’s your ride-or-die, full commitment and no more playing games about it. This could happen at basically any point, very early in your relationship or very late. He cannot tell you when it will flip, and nothing you do or don’t do will influence the flip, because neither he nor anyone else has any control over the switch. Such are the pitfalls of trying to romance a heavily-mindfucked former assassin, but you two will figure it out eventually.

Kohl (Descendtale Sans): It’s complicated. Honestly, he’s probably so deeply in denial that he’s into you that it’ll take a Category 5 Inciting Jealousy Incident to get his head out of his ass about it make him admit his feelings. He’s a bit of a pigtail-puller if he likes you, but he’s also a kind of a pigtail-puller if he doesn’t like you, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for the distinction of him seeking you out or spending time with you on purpose—he tends to remove himself from situations where humans are involved as soon as it’s feasible, so if he’s lingering around you, or coming to find you, or seeming to make a deliberate nuisance of himself as soon as someone else has your attention, he might be a little bit interested. If you’re not content to wait for him, you may need to do what he does and needle the hell out of him until you make him admit it but don’t do so lightly—he’s like a mousetrap, if you spring him, you’re stuck with him, he’s yours and good luck returning him without the receipt. In a relationship, he’ll keep up his hassling and assorted shithead behaviors, but there’s a softening towards you and he will actually be capable of some tender, intimate moments. …Some.

Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): Definitely making the first move and just enough of a gentleman to not come on too strong… At least not at first—it wouldn’t do to scare you away right off the bat! There might be some pitfalls a bit later on because he is probably going to want to move a little faster in the relationship than you do, even if you’re a fast mover yourself, but that’s just the abandonment issues talking. He’s very sweet and responds well to constructive criticism about his pacing issues, such as ‘It is too soon to talk about living together’ or ‘I’m not ready to get married until…’ Mostly his concern is that you are happy and comfortable and enjoy spending time with him! Because he enjoys spending time with you and he wants to be able to do that a lot! (You see? He said ‘a lot’ instead of ‘forever’ that time, he remembered when you said that sounded like ‘some horror movie shit’!) In any case, he’s very affectionate and accommodating in a relationship and with maybe some steps taken to mitigate the separation anxiety, he’s a loving and attentive partner for as long as you’ll have him.

[shyjusticewarrior]

DC Comics Incorrect Quotes Pt 55

Harley: What are we celebrating this pride month? Great question. Passionate ramblings about which Muppet characters are gay.

Tim: Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't think Gonzo's a lil fruity!

Harley: Labeling minor inconveniences as homophobia.

Selina: My cis straight boyfriend didn't wanna hang out today, I'm just gonna assume he's homophobic.

Harley: Subtle indications of our identities.

Xanthe, draped in pride flag accessories: Do you think anyone's gonna get that I'm nonbinary?

Harley: And expressing confidence in our fashion.

Jules: Too masculine, too feminine. I'm trying to reach maximum thembo potential here!

[jylesthejester]

Okay, multiversal casino staff and a bit of lore before I get too sucked into my hyperfixations and forget about it

[NOTE 1 !! If you want to make a similar concept feel free but do not take my concept entirely! You can make something SIMILAR but not EXACT replica please! I don't mind inspiration but do tag me in any art or rambles because I LOVE to see people be inspired by things or something I make!]

[NOTE 2 !! Some of these characters may act out of canon when I draw them (If I do), some of their Lore might be different, there is an explanation for it here, don't pummel me for it please.]

Origin/Main concept : The multiverse casino was originally made to be a hangout spot for people from other universes, somewhere where they could relax and discover other universes. This worked, but eventually they needed more Staff to help out on all the floors.

Why these specific characters for staff members? (Staff members are shown later) : I picked from my favorite characters from various fandoms (excluding any of my favorite children characters (theres only one here cause theyre celestes friend.)) and threw them here, they're all categorized by the card categorization I have.

Categorizations : There's both the card symbol organization, there will be a section for it at the end of the staff lists.

How does the multiverse casino get its staff? : they find almost exact copies of the universe they're trying to get a staff member from, and they talk to the person they're trying to bring in and see if they'd like to join. Old staff members get their memories of the casino entirely wiped before being returned back to their universes like nothing happened (this essentially happens whenever I leave a fandom)

Owners : Maxie Kanth (Minty) and Stella Novaflare (Sleepy)

Co-owners : Reagan Caballero and Kaede Archemoros

Staff members (fandom characters) : Popee The performer(PTP), Kedamono(PTP), Sammy Lawrence(BATIM), Boris(BATIM), Sun(TSAMS), Moon(TSAMS), Eclipse(TEAPS), Puppet(TEAPS), Frank(TSAMS/TEAPS), Francis(TEAPS), Jack-o-moon(TSAMS), Molten(TSAMS), Lunar(TSAMS/TEALS), Vegeta(MAFS/TEAPS), Dr Panik(Block City/HMF), Henry(Block City/HMF), Henric(Merge City/HMF), Dr Kalm(Merge City/HMF), Casey Jones(TMNT 2012), Panikbot(Block City/HMF), Jim davis(HMF), Therapist(HMF), Action(HMF), Rickutto(HMF), Darko(HMF), Hooper(HMF), Brandon(HMF), Aris(HMF), Rage(HMF), Mist(HMF), Birdie(HMF), Frosty(HMF), Little Ropo(TLC), Little Jack(TLC), Scuba Steve(TLC), Sharky(TLC), Luke(MCH), Peter(MCH), Goldy(MCH), Donald Duck(Ducktales), Pigsy(LMK), Redson(LMK), Googz/Parker(RTGC), Playtime(Baldis Basics), Tiger/Kotetsu(T&B), Jyles(OoO), Jon(LJ), Davis(LJ), Casey Jones(TMNT 1990)

Staff members (ocs) : Celeste Kanth Novaflare, Reagan Caballero, Alix Caballero, Gacey Xanthe, Kaede Archemoros, Palin Rockefeller, Lila Gear, Kaypen, Orbides, Inky Inkwell, Party Favor, Gelatin, Nova Starstruck, Tobey<3, Al Sokolov, Zin Sokolov, Ekko Hamato Jones, Jyles!!, Donavan Adamski, Ooze, Mutagen, C.A.G.E., Cain, Adaliah, Kuiper, Vortex, Raka, Juno, Epona, Zola, Lennox, Kay, Mirage, Asy/Asylum, Runaway, Jester, Gore, Clowny, Unalive, Intrusive, Joker, Ricin, Jimson, Chrome, Lily, Caleb, Kat, Boo, Loi, Noir, Moichii, Florence, Boyd, Cherub, Disco Cat, Karmen/Candy, Draven Adamski, Annabelle Sokolov, Beatrice Sokolov, Ohnn Sokolov, Tails Sokolov, Marij Achlys, Viper Jones, Lee Achlys, Lyra Cezhial, Atlas Cezhial, Celestino Cezhial, Helios Cezhial, Sammy Corvus, Crow Corvus, Hanahaki Corvus, Zeru Feller, Toxinz, Moichi, Zim/Theo, Chester, Jyles, Lyco, Gyre-Vortex/Malachi, Klown, Tom, Red, Carolyn Achlys, Wade Achlys, Kurtis Jones, Circuit O’Neil, Cyber Achlys, Lyn Achlys, Amaris Jones, Callisto Jones, Saturn Jones, Martin Jones, Alix the Arachnid, Gala, Dae, Bubble, Melanie, Finn, Gabriel, Mono, Xavier, Jassie, Axel, Flare Starstruck, Lala Tunes, Marie Melancholy, Chat Swoop, Lunar Lovelock, Bisty Isty, Dipsy Dip, Seraphim Sphere, Stephan Squared, Staine Sharp-Sphere, Glacier Glitters, Pluto Prince, Gale Games, Chassy Charcoal, Bea Buzzy, Diamond Dazzle, Tipsy Ticks, Benny Bronze

Old staff members : Tenya Iida (MHA & Might come back), Bakugou Katsuki (MHA & Might come back), Shinsou [forgot last name] (MHA), Shota Aizawa (MHA), Sundrop (FNAFSB), Moondrop (FNAFSB), Cuphead (Casino Cups), Mugman (Casino Cups), Sans(Undertale), Papyrus(Undertale) [Theres more but I can’t remember)

Original staff members that are still here : Popee The Performer (PTP), Sammy Lawrence (BATIM)

(The category things only apply to fandom characters)

Card organization :

Popee The performer(PTP) ♦️

Kedamono(PTP) ♠️

Sammy Lawrence(BATIM) ♠️

Boris(BATIM) ♠️

Sun(TSAMS) ♦️

Moon(TSAMS) ♦️

Eclipse(TEAPS) ♣️

Puppet(TEAPS) ♠️

Frank(TSAMS/TEAPS) ♠️

Francis(TEAPS) ♦️

Jack-o-moon(TSAMS) ♦️

Molten(TSAMS) ♠️

Lunar(TSAMS/TEALS) ♦️

Vegeta(MAFS/TEAPS)❤️

Dr Panik(Block City/HMF)♣️

Henry(Block City/HMF) ♠️

Henric(Merge City/HMF) ♠️

Dr Kalm(Merge City/HMF) ♣️

Casey Jones(TMNT 2012) ♦️

Panikbot(Block City/HMF) ♦️

Jim davis(HMF) ♦️

Therapist(HMF)♣️

Action(HMF) ♣️

Rickutto(HMF) ♦️

Darko(HMF) ♠️

Hooper(HMF) ♠️

Brandon(HMF)❤️

Aris(HMF) ♠️

Rage(HMF) ♦️

Mist(HMF) ❤️

Birdie(HMF) ❤️

Frosty(HMF) ♠️

Little Ropo(TLC) ♣️

Little Jack(TLC) ♦️

Scuba Steve(TLC) ♠️

Sharky(TLC) ♣️

Luke(MCH) ♠️

Peter(MCH) ♦️

Goldy(MCH) ♠️

Donald Duck(Ducktales) ♣️

Pigsy(LMK) ♦️

Redson(LMK) ♦️

Googz/Parker(RTGC) ♠️

Playtime(Baldis Basics) [celestes friend] ❤️

Tiger/Kotetsu(T&B) ♠️

Jyles(OoO) ❤️

Jon(LJ) ♣️

Davis(LJ) ♠️

Casey Jones(TMNT 1990) ♦️

The card symbols don't exactly determine where in the building they all work, it just really depends on their shifts.

Each of the main ocs in this story(Maxie, Stella, raegan, etc) has a favorite character they like to hang around, so heres that :

Maxie - Popee The Performer (PTP)

Stella - Sammy Lawrence (BATIM)

Raegan - Dr Panik & Henry (Horrormashfriends)

Lix - Jack-o-moon (TSBS)

Kaede - Mist (Horrormashfriends)

Gacey - Action (Horrormashfriends)

Palin - Frank (TSBS)

Lila - Redson (LMK)

Uhhh yeah that's the staff- :3

(Skitters off [I'll likely come back w more art n stuff])

[livingfictionsystem]

Would you ever open up about the types of cults you survived? My bad if you have this posted somewhere and I missed it. I am also a cult survivor, and a lot of my traumas sound similar to yours.

Well, lucky for you, we've written two books about it!

Living Fiction: Cheeky Memoirs of How a D.I.D. System Became a Manipulator's Personal Puppet Show. Twice. (Living Fiction Duology Book 1) https://a.co/d/coeOEYm

But specific questions I get on here and all aren't behind a pay wall. I just don't want to ramble on about Everything when you're looking for specific answers.

Now, the first cult-ish situation we were in at the age of nine, we've had to remain vague about because many alters, including myself, don't remember what happened. All I know is that it was at least RAMCOA-adjacent and that a lot of our inworld gods/rules/species came from that.

The tagline is that we survived a cult Twice. It could reference that first situation only a few of us are allowed to remember. It could reference how Apollo turned my system onto his made-up vampire religion that was probably based on Blood+ or Trinity Blood. It could reference the second cult Seran tried to invite me into. It could be that I survived both escaping the Faerie Cult, and survived their revenge.

It's left ambiguous on purpose. But the faeries apparently weren't our first and almost weren't our last.

-Xanthe 🪶

[noveldivergence]

a Plague of Shadows? 👀👀👀

Oh my god this is my current main WIP so I can say SO MUCH about it. I have the intro post here, but I'm gonna pop the opening paragraphs below and then ramble a bit :3

It was Sixth Hour Standard in the Capitol’s eastern restaurant district, and the glare of the city biodome’s light was only muted by the tint of the cafe’s windows. Ottilie’s fingers itched for a trigger. She’d never fired a phaser before, though it was a simple enough process. It seemed terribly cathartic. Utterly useless in the face of the current enemy, but better than the complete non-action that had seemingly overtaken the entirety of the Coalition’s governing council. As the ice in her drink clinked down, melting from the heat of her gripping hand, she imagined the vessel as the stock. Fingers searched for any dimple in it to pretend it was a trigger.  No such satisfaction came. The synth-glass was the perfect-smooth of all replicated objects on Talome. She could hurl it down on the floor, against stone tile replicated to be stronger than anything nature could provide, and the synth-glass wouldn’t even give her the release of shattering.

Ottilie is probably one of my favorite of my protaganists. Don't get me wrong, I love my protag for The Apostates too, he is the most sopping wet little meow meow and the antagonists are who really shine in that series, but Ottilie is just amazing.

She's autistic in a false utopic society, where difference is aggressively frowned upon, but she's gamed the system to be her special interest. She's convinced herself she's this perfect patriot, who'll be a shining example of humanity in a system that till recently didn't give much thought to the species. In the face of the adversity of the plague, she gets a chance to "prove herself" and be a credit to humanity along with Xanthe (WHOM I ALSO LOVE).

When she starts to realize the oft-villainized Imperium is...well, I won't make excuses for the bad shit the Imperium does but! They are very human-despite-not-being-human, and there are also huge reveals of the sins of the "utopic" Coalition, which leads Ottilie to have to make some BIG DECISIONS regarding her loyalties.

I also could gush tons about the ships in A Plague of Shadows but! I am heavily leaning towards not having a romance for Ottilie as that doesn't feel like it's central to the narrative journey she is on--she'll still express multi-spectrum attraction to men, women, and people outside that binary, but I don't think a relationship is core to her character atm.

BUT her narrative of realizing the way she was raised was imperfect, abusive, and deceptive and that the "great evils" of the universe are just imperfect beings in various positions of an imperfect system is VERY IMPORTANT TO ME AS SOMEONE WHO LEFT FUNDAMENTALIST EVANGELICALISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Especially as someone else who is autistic and afab.

[xanthezhoupropaganda]

Welcome, Redditors! Important things to know about Tumblr:

You've probably seen this, but add an icon and create or reblog some content before you follow people.

Pay attention to your grammatical style and language use. People find it offputting if it changes a lot from post to post, and you'll probably end up in a social cluster with people who communicate in similar ways.

People like to ramble in the tags. This is the equivalent of whispering to friends (followers). If you really enjoy what someone said, copy the tags and add them to the main post.

There's a lot of fandom content on here. You should pick a few favorites you can talk about in case someone asks, especially a favorite character and what you like about them.

It should be Xanthe Zhou. Everyone here loves Xanthe. You need to go read the Spirit World comics right now.

[zorilleerrant]

Jason's favorite coffee shop was full - the downtown branch was closed due to another gas leak, Gotham's infrastructure was fucking bleak - so they had to get their coffees to go, which was not winning Jason any points on the whole tour of Gotham front. Not that he was about to show Danny the tourist spots. Except maybe that fountain Dickie faceplanted in that one time, because everyone deserved to see that their first trip to Gotham.

But at least it was a nice day for a walk. Gotham had a lot of decent days in the summer, but it was hit or miss in the fall, with the cold settling in too fast or too often. Jason was comfortable in just their sweatshirt, and Danny looked like he'd be fine even without the thin track jacket. He also looked like he absolutely had no idea who Jason was, which was great.

Not that everyone who knew gave a shit about it. Xanthe tore Jason a new one about Wayne Industry policies and then never brought it up again, which was why Spirit World Bakery was his favorite. Plus they didn't mind if people brought in outside drinks, as long as they bought something. "You like cookies?" Jason asked.

Danny, goggling at Gotham's skyline - not helped by her dozen espresso shots, probably - snapped her attention to Jason and said, sounding fairly offended, "who doesn't like cookies?"

"Well," Jason began, because Damian's lack of sweet tooth was fairly well known, and a possibly subtle way of bringing up who he was in the scheme of things, when he was interrupted.

"Oh, no, I don't mean that, obviously lots of people don't like cookies! And that's totally cool for them and there are so many other foods that are so great and, like, aren't even sweet at all, or have different textures, you know, or like. I don't know, some people don't like snacks and things, that's fine too," Danny rambled out, looking pleadingly at Jason and, much to their delight, blushing.

"No, sure, my brother hates cookies,"Jason said, smiling just a little too tellingly at the flush spreading across Danny's nose. "I mean, he doesn't hate them, he loves Alfred's, but he's really picky about what sweet foods he's willing to eat and when. He won't go to bakeries." Jason's smile quirked up even farther at the corner, imagining Damian's reaction to being dragged into Xanthe's place again, even despite the stickers. As if it was Jason's fault that everyone else in the family loved the place.

"Yeah, right, exactly!" Danny said, latching onto the comment with all their might, nodding ferociously and then wincing as their hair landed in their eye. "So you have a brother! That's great. That's so normal, that's such a normal thing to chat about. Tell me about your siblings. Or, I mean, your family. Or not! No pressure!"

Jason was amused to see the blush was back in full force, not that it had receded completely, although it was undercut a little by the hammer that was listing out all their siblings. If Jason wanted the gorgeous stranger to learn exactly who they were, well, that was the least subtle way to do it. "I have a lot of siblings," they fumbled out, and then immediately walked through the bakery door, unfortunately letting it hit Danny behind them.

Danny yelped, catching the door with a particularly loud jangle, and glaring at Jason. He had to wince in sympathy as Danny stretched out its fingers and shook them, still flexing even as the glare left its face to be replaced by a look of awe. "What is this place?"

It was a little ridiculous for Jason to be pleased with himself, of course, because it wasn't like he'd had a hand in decorating - except that one picture of his family Xanthe had let him put up - but there was something about the extremely careful lighting that made cityscape on the walls and ceiling pop out at the viewer. Or, rather, disapear off into the distance, like they weren't inside at all. "Oh, this is just Xanthe's bakery," Jason said nonchalantly, sidling up to the counter, where Xanthe was just giving him that look again.

"Jason, stop using my bakery to impress your dates," they said, looking Danny up and down. "If you can't pull on your own merits, I'm not here to be your wingman."

"Oh, no, we're not," Danny began, as Jason tried to simultaneously not laugh and beam gratitude at Xanthe for poking the new guy, "it's totally not a date, we just met, not that people can't date if they just met, I mean, we didn't meet to go on a date, we met at the library. Studying. Jason and I go to college."

"It's fine, kiddo," Xanthe said, handing over a paper menu that Danny managed to bury her face in despite it being only a page long, and turned back to Jason. "Don't be mean to the tourists."

"Mean? I'm not being mean," Jason told him, waving an arm around at the mostly empty bakery. "I literally took them to your lovely establishment, what more do you want from me? Danny, tell them I'm being a good host." Jason gave up on that line of questioning fairly quickly as they noticed Danny engrossed in the menu for real this time, sipping their coffee and sharing a look with Xanthe.

"You have sesame buns?" Danny asked, staring up at Xanthe with a wide-eyed look that, in all honesty, made Jason a little jealous for unprecedented reasons, "sesame buns are my favorite, and the bakery near my dorm will only do red bean, this is excellent! I'll have those. Oh, and the, uh, cookies. For Jason."

"I mean, our red bean buns are excellent as well, and don't let Bowen hear you saying they aren't," Xanthe said with a laugh Jason was a little afraid Danny wouldn't pick up on his sleep deprived state. "Are you sure you don't want to try the almond cookies? They're Jason's favorite. I assume that's why he brought you here."

"Oh, shit, wait, are you allergic to almonds?" Jason asked, a little suddenly given that half their siblings had peanut or tree nut allergies, hoping the answer was no, because otherwise how could they share the world's best cookies with Danny? And then second guessed themself a little bit, given that Danny was a stranger and didn't necessarily need to eat cookies at all, and what was it to Jason? Not that there weren't other cookies here.

"No, I love almonds. I'd love almond cookies," Danny said, with a hopeful look on her face that Jason couldn't quite interpret, because it didn't seem to be about the food, but also they could tell she was sleep deprived enough to be referencing things no one was going to think were there after a good night's sleep. "Do you want to split both? I'm dying to try the sesame buns."

"Oh, no, my treat," Jason said, firmly, because he wasn't about to let a college student shell out of its tiny budget to afford fairly expensive treats, not given what he could do about it. Except then he realized it had implications in context.

Well. He didn't so much realize as he noticed that Xanthe was making a face at him before they said, "on the house. Welcome to Gotham." And then left immediately to escape the awkwardness.

"So," Jason said, trying not to drum their fingers on the countertop, which Tim assured them was their most annoying habit. They tried to run through the normal subjects, major and classes and where people were living, except that led straight back into business, to help with Wayne Enterprises. And avoiding classes that Dick or Aunt Ivy taught. And living at Wayne fucking Manor. Help.

"So," Danny agreed, drumming its own fingers, in a way that evoked the kind of jealousy even someone else getting Danny's full on smile never could. Jason should've just drummed his fingers in the first place. Danny's grin wasn't easy anymore, just kind of twitchy, and it kept sipping its coffee for an excuse to look away. When Jason finally opened his mouth to say something, Danny interrupted with, "I have a sister, her name is Jazz. You said you had a brother?"

Jason sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable, and said, "yeah, I have brothers. Dick, Lance, Tim, Cullen, Hank, Turner, Terry, and Matt. I mean Damian likes me to call him my brother, but you should stick with sibling. And Carrie, they're also my sibling. And my sisters, Cass, Helena, Harper, and Claire. Duke is fostering with us, but his parents are getting a lot better, so he's hoping to go home soon, so he's getting a little touchy about the word brother at the moment. Steph, Babs, and Bette are friends of the family, but they're around so much they might as well be our sisters. Oh, and our neighbor Maps keeps showing up and insisting they're our sibling, so I don't know, let's also count them I guess."

Danny gave them a deadpan look and pointed straight at the wall, at the frame Jason had put up not even a year ago. "That's you, isn't it? The picture. The giant family portrait right smack dab in the middle of all those pictures of famous people." He looked back over at the freeze frame of Jason's family, as if it could tell him anything Jason couldn't. Then, in confusion, "you're a Wayne?"

Civvie Danny/Jason, Fluffy

@nerdpoe

“Um, I’m sorry,” a voice said, interrupting Jason’s reading. He looked up into deep blue eyes mostly hidden under unruly bangs. Jason idly wondered if the other was growing it out for a mohawk with the way the sides were shaved or if they just liked having the gangs to hide behind. “Can I share your table? It’s just that…”

They pulled their hand away from rubbing nervously at the back of their neck to motion at the library around them. It had gotten busy while Jason has been reading. There really were no open tables, though there were other seats. That made Jason curious, but weary. Between his size and his fame as a Wayne, people usually avoided him as the first choice to bother. That, or the bee-lined to him in hopes to get in his good graces.

Still, they seemed more apologetic than fame hungry. Jason gave a little shrug and reached out to pull in his spread of books a little. “Sure.”

“Thanks,” they said, gratefully, and sank heavily into the seat. “Most of the tables with plugs are full up and my laptop only pretends to be portable with the shit battery life it has. Wow, sorry, you so do not care about that. I’m only like, day two and a half of no sleep and my mouth tends to go off on its own… as you’re hearing right now. I should really just shut up.”

Their cheeks were bright red as they practically hid behind the truly ancient behemoth of a laptop. It made the freckles that had been nearly invisible on their tan skin before stand out like constellations.

“Hey, it’s fine, we’ve all been there. College is just like that,” Jason said, wanting to assure them for some reason. “I’m Jason… he, they.”

Tim and Cass had been encouraging him to use his pronouns when introducing himself. He was still getting used to it, but it was freeing. Besides, he could ignore any shit looks he got for it, it wasn’t like the bigots could hurt him.

That blue gaze peaked back out from under the bangs and they smiled a little. “Danny. Any, really, but people use he mostly.”

Jason returned the smile before turning his attention back to the book he’d been pouring through. Maybe in an hour he’d ask if Danny wanted to go get coffee. He bet by asking he’d get to see that blush again.

-

Feel free to add onto this if you want!

[jesncin]

A Queer and Asian review of Xanthe Zhou + Spirit World

I haven't exactly been thorough about how I specifically feel about Xanthe Zhou as "representation" for people like me and a part of me didn't want to be too harsh since they're a fan favorite and I'm sure the writer did their best and what not- but there is this sense of "I'm not even whelmed I'm underwhelmed" by Xanthe as a character. I don't dislike them, but I can't say I'm a fan if I don't find them particularly interesting.

I'm sure for a lot of people the idea of a Chinese non-binary anime sword wielding, bomber jacket wearing, shaved cut having, envoy between the living and spirit world character is a novel concept. But when you've lived the reality this character attempts to represent (ghosts and spirits are a tuesday where I'm from) and have sought out that representation from within your own communities, Xanthe pales in comparison like a really corporate product. So I want to talk about intersectional storytelling and what a holistic queer Asian superhero could look like.

Again I'm aware Spirit World was written by a queer Chinese author (+ an all Chinese team) and as a fellow author who has to navigate mainstream publishing and deal with attempts at sandpapering authenticity for capitalism I want to stress that I Get The Struggle. But I'm allowed to be critical of how the final product turned out. Some of this is subjective musing even.

Here's the premise of Xanthe Zhou's character: When Xanthe was a very tiny kid, they were run over by a car when they were walking alone at night in the rain. They're resurrected by a powerful spirit called Po Po to be the half-dead, half-living Envoy of the Spirit World.

Everything about Xanthe is exhaustively corporate for me. Like industry planted representation designed to be as safe as possible and attempts at being intersectional are limited. Spirit World features Cassandra Cain Batgirl and John Constantine Hellblazer because that's how we get Asian and queer DC fans to hop onto out new queer Asian character! Xanthe doesn't get to stand out in their own world, or have an established cast system the way Kong Kenan gets to. Spirit World suffers from being a follow up to an Event comic, with all these characters crossing over- but it didn't rise to the challenge of including Batgirl and Johnstantine in meaningful ways. The story would've been better if they were replaced by characters unique to Xanthe's cast system.

I've become pretty cynical about scenes like this one. It's a scene where Xanthe is forcefully invited to have dinner with their family they haven't seen in years. The transphobic dinner pages made rounds on social media because "ooh look at John Constantine gendering a non-binary person correctly even when Xanthe's family keeps misgendering them", and "whoa even the magic system respects a trans person's name". It's free marketing, you can see comments on these posts asking what comic this is from to read more. People will start discourse over "Constantine going woke" and the defenders will pull up receipts that "John has always been a lefitst" and so on and so forth. I saw the promos for Spirit World, but these panels were what piqued my interest early on.

My twin and I were taking turns reading Spirit World- Jes asked Cin (who finished reading first) "so what about that transphobic dinner scene? Was it there? Are there other scenes that talk about it?" and Cin said "nope that's it. The rest is magic fight scenes and spirit world stuff." And honestly that feels calculated. It's like that Jenny Nicholson Star Wars Hotel thing: "whoa if they have this droid and this animatronic alien performer, imagine what else they have!" but nope. That's it. Just enough to fit in a tik tok promo. Just enough to fit in a tweet and make rounds. It's not like Alan Scott's Green Lantern solo, where his queer identity isn't limited to one scene designed to go viral. The whole narrative holistically discussed what it was like to be a gay man in that era. Spirit World on the other hand felt like it had a representation quota to fulfill before moving on to the generic Superhero Stuff- an entirely separate plot.

Then there's Xanthe and John. As a Hellblazer purist I already knew this was going to be a hard read for me since I'm not a fan of DC!Constantine but I've talked before about how Spirit World still has that appeal for me because sometimes og Hellblazer is a pain to read as a person of color. Maybe I can enjoy the fantasy of Constantine being an ally to an Asian person instead of fetishizing them like he did in those old Vertigo comics (people love to leave that out when they're defending Constantine as an ally but whatever). And people kept talking about how this is an elder and younger queer friendship dynamic and I love those.

So where was that? Sure, John genders Xanthe correctly over transphobic dinner and comforts them afterwards. But nothing he says or does is specific to a queer elder. Any ally or character can say these things or do these gestures. He doesn't speak from personal experience about how "it gets better" or "I know what it's like" it's just. "yeah throwing up in Gotham is great I do it all the time". Excuse me if I don't think that's substantial.

Ooh but the ghost of Johnstantine's ex boyfriend Oliver showed up! And then there was a bi joke about how John hooks up with a clone of himself a "dozen times" because he's such a slut amirite, gays. Diversity win. I expected bi jokes from DC!Constantine but marketing this as a queer narrative or generational friendship is a stretch.

Spirit World would've been a more holistic queer narrative if Wan Yujing, the villainous corrupted spirit that wanted to be remembered properly (or reincarnated, depends on the writer's mood)-was revealed to be a queer person. This would've been a fantastic opportunity to recontextualize Xanthe's personal transphobic encounter with their family into a larger systemic theme of queer historical erasure. The original meaning of a "dead name" is the idea that when a trans person dies, their family will put the wrong name on their grave. It's literally their "dead" name, erasing their legacy in writing. So why not include that in your conflict?

Wan Yujing is revealed to be a famous poet, slowly forgotten because "time erodes everything" (vague and bad writing btw). Why not pitch something more motivated and specific? Make it so that she wrote queer literature that was destroyed. Make it so that her lover was rewritten in history books as her "friend". Then when Xanthe makes the promise to remember Wan Yujing as she truly was, it'd be a holistic act of queer recognition and solidarity. But instead the resolution is just Xanthe Zhou promising "hey I'll remember you" and Wan Yujing just takes their word for it.

Can we talk about the huge missed opportunity of what this dialogue implies? Xanthe proclaims that they are both living and dead, granted the living's power to remember and the dead's immortality. Why was this not thematically paired with their experience as a non-binary person struggling in a cis-heteronormative world. Heck, why not pair this with how they're a queer Asian American, a perpetual foreigner wherever they go? Not Asian enough for traditional spaces, but not white enough for a majority of queer American spaces. Are we worried we'll scare off the white audience if this got too intersectional?

Xanthe gets more fleshed out under a different writer (Jeremy Holt) for one of the DC Pride stories (2023). Here, Xanthe talks about how being in the land of the living feels like going about a routinic obligation; "Reminding me that home isn't necessarily where the heart is". This is so much like the disassociated way trans people go about life before figuring themselves out. It's also like how a perpetual foreigner doesn't fit in anywhere. But it's not paralleled to that experience. The fantasy aspects of Xanthe Zhou the Envoy, are completely separate from the very few personal civilian parts of them. Like they're a Superhero first and a person second. The later half of this story gets overtaken by a team up with Batwoman, because once you have a new character set in Gotham you are at the whims of being absorbed into the greater Batfam conglomerate.

There's interesting concepts at the center of Xanthe's character. But it's hard to give credit to writing that doesn't follow any of that through. Xanthe's a hero motivated by making sure the dead are remembered and respected. That's a decent motivation in general, and a pretty resonant one for a queer hero-but everything surrounding the execution of that idea feels so half-assed to me. Xanthe's origin story has so many plot holes, it feels like it was thought up in 5 minutes.

Why was their death just some random car accident and not something more motivated? Why did the all powerful Po Po decide to resurrect them specifically? Where's the tension in any of the many excessive fight scenes in Spirit World, if Xanthe's apparently immortal? Also they age? What are the stakes for a character like this? This isn't even covering the shoddy writing for their transphobic family drama (Why did they just stalk their family after being resurrected? Why did their mom recognize them even though they've been gone and have aged for 15 years? so many questions ugh).

(why was this toddler walking around alone in the rain with their own umbrella. In Gotham. What is this-)

I casually propose that instead have Xanthe's origin be that they died as a runaway trans teen who went missing and was murdered. Maybe because the way police and society in general don't look into the disappearances of trans poc, Xanthe's death went completely unnoticed. Maybe as Xanthe's dying, Po Po sees their determination to fight for the forgotten and chooses to resurrect this kid specifically. Then we'd have a really motivated origin story that ties their identity to their heroism. Instead we get these over the top fantasy concepts + transphobic dinner with my talisman wielding mom.

Spirit World is a fun enough action fantasy with troubled pacing and generic MCU-quippy dialogue. It's so overwhelmed by it's own spectacle that we don't get a chance to get to know our new hero. What is Xanthe's character development? What flaw do they grow out of or overcome? If I'm honest outside of the attempt at quippy banter, what even is their personality? The ending is rushed; not only is the conflict resolved with Xanthe just promising to remember a dead poet, but they also make a deal to work with the Spirit World authorities. Because it's always so fun to watch queer people assimilate to the powers that oppress.

In one of these action sequences, I guess the writer decided there needed to be a semblance of themes to make it feel like the readers' time isn't being wasted. So while Cassandra Cain Batgirl from Detective Comics and John Constantine from Vertigo Hellblazer are holding the giant anime sword, Xanthe goes on an internal monologue about how change is natural and people's fears make them resistant towards it. Xanthe says that to embrace magic, "you need to look at everything you think you know about the way the world should be...and imagine something new."

It's a nice sentiment that isn't reinforced by anything else in the story, but it does make me think. What is "new" about Xanthe Zhou to someone like me who seeks out representation like this? I've seen queer characters with the shaved hairstyle, I've seen queer coded Asian girlies with the bomber jacket, heck I've even seen the giant anime sword. I kinda cringe at seeing "giant spiritual sword" at this point even. But you know what I don't see as often? In real life I've seen the bravest Asian queer people reclaim cultural hairstyles, clothing, practices and beliefs (that originally excluded them). I've seen them join communities and create entire subcultures and lingo in a way that would be unrecognizable to the typical queer readers who enjoy Hellblazer-but I certainly don't see it reflected in fiction a lot.

(Is it really new if I've seen it in a Disney movie)

The premise of a Chinese American non-binary half-dead-half-living Envoy for the dead is something so metaphysical in its intersectionality, world building, stakes and themes that it would require Sandman-levels of out-the-box creativity to pull off. Which is why getting a generic action adventure (+ one scene about transphobic dinner with the family) feels so disappointing. I wish Spirit World took its own words to heart; I wish it took everything we're used to, everything we've known about how the world is and dare to imagine something actually new.

[livingfictionsystem]

Thinking about how years ago, I was rambling on about how I was a 'walk-in soul' from the Victorian times with scarce connection to the body's past and how I felt like an entirely different person than whoever was in this body before me. I thought it was some spiritual possession sort of thing.

Thinking about how I was explaining this to a friend of mine who had a roommate with DID.

And how that conversation was essentially, "I'm a Victorian ghost!"

"Cool, can I ask you some questions from the DSM-5?"

-Xanthe

[xanth-the-wizard]

You're strange and delight me. Any tips on DMing? I actually have a fair amount of experience now, but I'm making a homebrew setting soon and it's. Daunting.

I’m full of DM'ing tips! I want to eventually make a series about how to create your own campaign (which I believe I’ll be holding off until I can make some videos) but I understand completely feeling like the task of crafting everything yourself as being pretty difficult. I’ve got some tips for you on how to tackle this.

1. Establish the Main Idea2. Draw a Map3. Populate Your World4. Conflict & History5. How Does Magic Work?6. You Don’t Need to Know Everything

1. Establish the Main Idea

I believe that in order to create a new and exciting world you need to have a strong central idea to go off of. Some random examples:“The Gods are dead and now the power they wielded is up for grabs in the objects they left behind.” “The world is a desolate wasteland after an apocalyptic catastrophe. Nobody remembers how or why but what we do know is that the only way we’ve been able to stay alive is with the help of travelers from beyond the stars.” An example from The Adventure Zone being: An organization that defends the planet below from powerful artifacts in a world full of powerful magic.

Starting with an idea of how you want the world to be is a great start, and it doesn’t need to be incredibly complex. Try figuring out your Main Idea by creating a hook that is only a couple of sentences. This is also a great way to get your players excited about the world they are going to be exploring.

2. Draw a Map

Honestly, I’ve found that creating your own setting is a lot easier when you are drawing up your own map of the world. Sometimes you don’t even think, you act. Ideas flow much easier that way for me. Why did I make a huge volcano in the desert? I don’t know but damn that could be cool. Maybe a dragon lives there or is home to a society of goblins who worship and craft armor built from the magma itself. Just draft something up and don’t be afraid of making something dumb or poorly drawn. You can always create a more finalized version later.

3. Populate Your World

Now that you’ve got a map it’s time to decide who lives in this world of yours. Start big with Kingdoms/Empires and other big cities. Who are they and how do they feel about one another? Is there a Queen who rules over a rich gold mine and controls all trade in the north?  How does the RedLion Kingdom feel about the GreenEagle Kingdom attempting to colonize close into their territory? Once you know who runs the world shrink down your scope a little bit and build smaller villages your players could reasonably live in.

And let’s not forget, you need to create specific NPCs that live in these places. Create characters you want to run and help guide or hinder the players. What are their goals? Are they Chaotic Neutral or Lawful Good? You can also create NPCs that sort of represent where they are from. A Bard from the RedLion Kingdom may act as a someone who thinks they own everything or perhaps they are the exact opposite. They think the rich steals from the poor and their goal is to take back from the elites.

4. Conflict & History

Of course, introducing factions, kingdoms, and varied characters is bound to create conflict. After all, what is a campaign without conflict? I got into this a little bit above, but figure out what are the BIG conflicts in your world. These can tie into your Main Idea and in fact I would say they should, at least in some capacity. Is there imminent war? Does a malicious Wizard think they need to right a wrong in the world? Are monsters running rampant through the world and need to be destroyed before the problem worsens? There are so many ideas and potential hooks you can insert into your setting.

Any world is not complete without history. You don’t need to develop this so much that it takes weeks to concoct. Instead I’d say come up with some really general ideas that you can use to strengthen your understanding of the world. Even something as simple as, a hundred years before a great war was fought and with it society has changed forever. And make sure you have some idea of what earlier history would have been. Who are these forgotten civilizations and why are these dungeons here? Who used to own this treasure? Again, you only need a general idea before you develop this more (or not) as your continue through your campaign.

5. How Does Magic Work?

Magic is important to tabletop fantasy games. Maybe your world is without magic or magic is rare and unexpected. Perhaps everyone has magic within them. There are so many possibilities. And while magic is a big one, there are other questions you should tackle. How important is religion? Are science and medicine still early in their practices? These questions can always be answered later. Brainstorm and come up with as much as you can before the campaign begins. However…

6. You Don’t Need to Know Everything

This is the most important thing to keep in mind if you are feeling stuck when try to develop your world. There’s so much to developing a setting that it can feel impossible or too scary to attempt. Don’t let this type of thinking stop you! Honestly you just need to lay out the foundation of your world before starting your first session. Your players aren’t going to need to know EVERYTHING about the world and neither do you. As you run you will develop ideas, characters, locations, villages, conflict, etc. This will make things more flexible and fun as you DM for your players. So relax, draw a map, write some ideas down and set a goal for when you will start session 0.

Thanks for the question, I hope you find this helpful as you begin prepping your world! Good luck and let me know if you need any other ideas or feedback!

Edit: Also! Here’s a link to another ask I answered with some DM’ing tips I forgot to add earlier.

[jesncin]

this is so mean to me lmao but well. As a reminder J'onn (and all of the martians) are also canonically genderfluid.

It's not just "shapeshifter stuff" too, J'onn has chosen the forms of women that he felt represented himself best and in the New 52 Martian Manhunter solo where J'onn is split into multiple personas, his identity as a woman represented his heart. J'onn has comfortably explored multiple forms as a means of understanding not just humans, but himself as well.

As a bonus, J'onn has also canonically self identified as asexual (though in context he likely means agender):

and this is only J'onn btw. Tons of other martian characters have shapeshifted into all sorts of people in the comics and adapted media.

[aceofvernons]

imagine friends to lovers!hoshi where all you’ve known for the past couple of years is the silly squishy giggly drunk hamster goof of a man. like you’ve always known he’s super passionate about dancing, he talks about it all the time, but you’ve never had the chance to see it until now. he personally invites you to one of his performances and once you do. holy shit. you had no idea he could look like that. there was an allure to him you didn’t know he could have, and your brain all but short circuited at seeing his abs. this was a completely different side to him you didn’t know he could have and it left you reeling. you can’t look him in the eye or look at him in the same way ever again and he’s so smug about it because he did this on purpose.

[floopsboopdedoops]

Never will I stop finding it amusing that I've shown 3 separate people, on their own, my fakemon fire starter's final evolution, and all three of them wish to not only have one but protect and care for any abandoned ones