#yes i think ff is nonbinary

[ask-foofighters]

I'm so sorry to hear that non-binary people don't exist anymore

THEY DONT???

WHA

WHATS HAPPENING TO MEEEEEeeeee !!!!

[bri-the-nautilus]

Come To the Dark Side, We Have Hot Guys: A Star Wars Story

Spoilers below for S1 of Ahsoka and the first six episodes of The Acolyte.

I'm writing this with The Acolyte most of the way through airing its first season, with episode 6 having released earlier today. Say what you will about the show, but it's really brought out a lot of the uglier sides of the Star Wars fandom. Everyone and their mother has seen videos or Reddit threads dunking on the Critical Drinker or SWT and their mouth-breathing misogynist audiences at this point, so I don't feel particularly compelled to retread that ground. Instead, I want to talk about the... other side of the fandom, the hypocrisy therein, and how we're all being played for absolute fools by the creative team at Disney Lucasfilm.

Yes, this post is about Qimir.

Now I want to say that I have no problem with villain simping/shipping. Far from it. Most of my posts on this account are me simping for Shin Hati (we'll talk more about her later) or various Soulsborne bosses. Hell, my mutuals and I have a running joke about me having a weakness for evil blonde women. While I personally am too gay for my own good and couldn't care less about men as a concept, I absolutely see the appeal of characters like Qimir and Kylo Ren. I absolutely get why people thirst over them and love making fandom content for them. I think Qimir/Osha has the potential to be a really fun ship, actually. The point I'm making here is not "simping for these characters is wrong and bad," and I want to make that crystal clear before we continue.

That said, let's talk about Qimir, and how the landscape of the show and its surrounding discourse has changed since his reveal. Again, I'm ignoring the chud sphere here, partly because their little corner of the Internet has remained remarkably stagnant since then. The podcast bros still think it's woke, fucking Shadiversity is still whining about fight choreography (which as someone who actually has done HEMA/stage combat, Shad annoys me to no end, but that's an entirely separate can of worms), and it all seems to be business as usual over there. No, the most marked changes have been on the Acolyte-positive end of the fandom space. Here's what the top posts in "hashtag TheAcolyte" on Twitter look like tonight:

You get the idea.

Again, no hate to any of these people. This is tumblr ffs, we've all engaged in a little simping for a morally dubious hot person. I love seeing fans having fun engaging with something, and again I kinda dig the Osha/Qimir ship.

Anyways, if you were around for the Acolyte-positive discourse before the Qimir reveal, and especially the show's marketing and the reponse to that, you'll have noticed a marked difference.

Fans quickly began to see The Acolyte as " the gayest Star Wars ever." Showrunner Leslye Headland is an out lesbian, and her wife was cast as Master Vernestra Rwoh. Archetypical girlboss Carrie-Anne Moss was cast as Master Indara, immediately drawing comparisons to her role in the Matrix movies. Leads Osha and Mae Aniseya are played by the nonbinary Amandla Stenberg. The lesbian witches of Brendok were talked about in press releases before the show aired. Dafne Keen (Jecki Lon) stated in an interview that she portrayed the short-haired, serious Theelin as having a crush on Osha, something that fans were picking up on in their first interactions in the premiere before Keen even gave that interview. While Headland said in a post-premiere interview that she didn't set out specifically to make "a capital Q Queer show," it's an objective fact that no Star Wars movie/show has had as much potential in that area, and fans (especially the queer community) took notice. (For what it's worth, in the same interview Headland commented that she was proud of creating something that so many queer fans identified with.)

The show came out, and Master Indara was killed off in the first sequence, which I'm honestly fine with. It was a good scene and works on a lot of levels. Headland's aforementioned interview came and went. Episode three aired. The lesbian witches turned out to be even gayer than was previously thought possible, and people ate that shit up while the Critical Drinker's brain suffered a major cascade failure. Jecki became a runaway favorite in the premiere and episode four, as did lovable himbo Yord Fandar and the wise, paternalistic Master Sol. In Acolyte-positive circles, this was basically how it went. People thought Brendok was cool, the Yord Horde became the show's biggest social media sensation, Jecki and Sol cultivated devoted followings alongside Osha and Mae, there were a wealth of different ships involving various combinations of Jecki, Yord, and the twins... you get the idea.

Then episode 5 happened.

The writing was really on the wall when the Brendok coven was abruptly wiped out. Introducting such an interesting (and queer) Force-wielding culture only to exterminate them in the same episode was certainly a choice that somebody made. But episode 5 was a shock to the system for many fans, as the show's resident Sith revealed himself and killed Jecki and Yord in some of the most brutal recent onscreen deaths in Star Wars. To be clear, I think this was a great sequence. Two beloved main characters being suddenly and gruesomely killed off was a masterfully executed shock to the system, especially after viewers were lulled into a false sense of security by all the redshirt deaths in the previous scene.

This, understandably, completely changed the landscape of the Acolyte fandom. Virtually overnight, much of the simping and shipping involving Jecki and Yord dried up, and once the dust had settled as far as the "rip blorbo, gone too soon" posts went, what remained were the usual Sol/twins offerings and a wave of Qimir hype. Which is understandable. He's a badass emo Sith boy with a cool helmet who brutally murdered fan favorite characters in front of us and has palpable tension with the female lead. Who wouldn't love... wait a minute.

This feels familiar somehow.

But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

And just like that, "the gayest Star Wars" is all about the (straight) sexual tension between an edgy, murderous Sith boy and a light-side girl plagued by dark thoughts whose friends said boy just killed. This is all eerily similar to how the Sequel Trilogy focused on Rey and Kylo while abruptly dropping Finn and Poe's character arcs. Even the fandom discourse is the same. I mean Reylo was so ubiquitous back in the day that it became a derogatory catch-all for good girl/evil boy shipping. Multiple authors now have either gotten their initial start/fame writing Reylo fics, or straight up published legally distinct Reylo fiction after the fashion of Netflix's After. You had the occasional person piping up to say "hey they kind of just left Finn and Poe hanging after TFA, it would've been cool if they got together but at the very least don't relegate them to being side characters/comic relief in separate story threads," and that was it. The same thing is going on with The Acolyte now, only the sequel trilogy wasn't marketed on the strength of being a queer story by a queer creative team. The Acolyte is, which makes it all the more baffling that by the midway point of the first season, all the gays have been buried and the show seems to be heading straight for Reylo 2: High Republic Boogaloo. And the fans are eating it up.

As an interesting aside, I think it's an interesting exercise to contrast the Kylo/Qimir pattern with the broader fandom's treatment of Shin Hati (told you we'd circle back to that), and the ship between her and Sabine Wren. On paper, Shin is very similar to Kylo and Qimir. Villain? Check. Edgy-looking armor? Totes. Emotionally damaged/stunted in some way? Sure looks like it. Tension with the heroine? You betcha. If anything, the only major difference is that Shin isn't as evil as the others. Compare her actions in Ahsoka (clearing out part of a light cruiser with Baylan and making repeated attempts on Sabine's life) to Kylo (oversees multiple war crimes, kills his fan-favorite dad) or Qimir (orchestrates the murders of several Jedi before brutally executing two fan-favorite characters). She's definitely bad, but I struggle to see her as on par with Qimir, let alone fucking Kylo, in terms of evilness.

Which makes it all the more interesting to me that the Shin/Sabine ship has received so much more mainstream skepticism/criticism than the Osha/Qimir or Rey/Kylo ships. "They have no chemistry!" "She's an evil murderer!" "She's a blank slate!" "Sabine is taken!" I may be a touch biased, but from where I sit a large part of the fandom, even the ostensibly progressive side, seems to look down upon Shin/Sabine shippers while swooning for heterosexual variants with far more evil villains.

This isn't a monolith, and I can't stress that enough. I'm not trying to start shit here. Villain shipping is awesome. We support women's wrongs in this house. You do see the occasional person decrying Reylo or Osha/Qimir as toxic, which I think is fairly unnecessary. Like yeah, maybe it's a toxic dynamic, but these are fictional characters. For these specific characters, part of the crowd appeal is the toxic badboy side of things. I don't think we should really spend much energy attacking any fictional ship (between adults, mind you) as toxic, which is why it puzzles me that an as-yet-unconfirmed lesbian ship in a niche show receives such a large proportion of this sort of criticism compared to the canon relationship between two main characters of a blockbuster trilogy.

At the end of the day, this whole affair has been rather sobering for me on both Disney Lucasfilm and the Star Wars fandom. For all the support the Shin/Sabine ship has received from Ahsoka cast members Ivanna Sakhno (Shin), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger, the other character people like to ship with Sabine), and Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), I'm rather sour on the prospects of it becoming canon. The sequel trilogy dropped the ball on what many saw as a promising chance for an MLM romance between Finn and Poe in favor of trotting out the "why do good girls like bad boys" dynamic, and The Acolyte, "the gay show" overseen by a lesbian, has seemingly shifted to center a similar dynamic after killing off most of its prospects for a queer relationship among the main cast. Simply put, I think that Disney as an international company based in the frighteningly divided United States is reluctant to commit to anything beyond lipservice in terms of LGBT representation in their movies/shows, which again doesn't leave me feeling optimistic about WolfWren's canon potential. And the fandom takes the bait. People love the damaged evil badboy/good girl dynamic, and when the queer fandom suggests the possibility of a queer ship taking center stage in a show with no other extant relationships, even the more progressive side of the fandom tends to either ignore it or actively push back on its basis in reality until Disney Lucasfilm inevitably puts the kibosh on it. The amount of times I've heard people dismiss WolfWren for the same reasons they now like Osha/Qimir and liked Reylo (before that ship was fleshed out/canonicalized, anyway) is ridiculous, but at the end of the day you kinda feel stupid for expecting anything else. Again, I think Qimir is a cool character and I'm as much of a sucker for villain romances as the next girlie, but seeing how easily the fandom lets dangling heterosexual carrots lead it away from Disney Lucasfilm's broken promises of queer rep is a sobering ordeal.

[pruning-the-minds-garden]

Having a chuckle

So, I spent a while picking my name (Meru) that I just updated to. It is of course just my scene name so no it is not my street name and no I'm not telling you my street name don't ask FFS... but even so, I took some time to think about it. Yes, Meru is a character, I hope not a caricature but also not a fully realized representation of who I am as a person. They are parts of me emphasized more than others, parts de-emphasized, and therefore to a certain degree transformed. Based on, shaped by, but not beholden to, my life history and life choices and so on. So, in choosing my name I wanted to choose one that represented that, one that was appropriately expressive but also accessible for people and all that.

Also, I have seen many-a-meme about the ways transfeminine people and transmasculine people and nonbinary people (the third of which is my gender identity as of now) name themselves when they choose such. Things like "transfemme folk choose mythical and fae names like Artemis or Mab; transmasc people choose utterly simple and plain names Brad or Steve; nonbinary people choose object names like Rock or Cloud" and similar. I kinda hate stereotypes so yeah there is a part of me that wanted to rebel from that.

... and of course, Meru is the name of a fucking mountain. A really big rock. An object. A mythical object with a deep connection to my spiritual beliefs, and that is somewhat otherworldly... but still a fucking rock. Gdamnit, lol. I love the name so I'm not changing but I am going to have a chuckle about that.

[joannerowling]

Man PinkNews really can't stay away from Jo for too long lol, they're back at it again with more slander, this time with a supposed like of a pretty offensive tweet. And as always people are eating it all up.

Now I went to check and that supposed like wasn't there which makes me think it's fake(either that or much like few years ago when she liked and then unliked that one tweet-I forget what was it about, and if her like was real then it could be the same case again, an acidental like).

But like, I really don't get these people...I get it, they hate her, but why make up stuff? Is it cause perhaps normies are waking up and seeing that Jo isn't this evil person the likes of PinkNews and TRAs are trying to paint her as...it's so weird.

Well they can't exactly go and talk about anything wrong she would have actually done, can they, since when you look up what Jo really does with her money it's all charity and paying her taxes. We're still waiting on that list of anti-trans organisations she would have supposedly funded or donated to - you'd think they would line up to claim her patronage, and yet! Crickets! Strange, isn't it?

So they are reduced to this: dishonesty, defamation, and just making shit up when they run out of ideas. Take this week's example of what has the gendiboos shitting themselves: Jo liking a darkly humourous tweet saying "at least the Talibans know what a woman is". Someone tried to paint that as a) original tweeter was supporting the Talibans (yes, in this era where people can just say "kill yourself" to a celebrity over them claiming to like raisins); b) JKR herself implicitly supports the Talibans by proxy because she liked the tweet. Now, the person who said that claims to have received a cease and desist order. Gee, why would that ever happen??

… Yeah, i guess Jo's a little sensitive about that particular brand of defamation of her character. It's almost like, unlike these bozos, she actually cares about hate crimes against women.

Honestly i wish she'd actually take them to court, just once. She would absolutely wipe the floor with them and that would set the record straight for any more who wants to try her. And i'm not even saying that with her sake in mind tbh.

But for the sake of the ACTUAL WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUFFERING THROUGH ISLAMIC REGIMES RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

Like hey!! guys, gals and nonbinary pals! Maybe… just maybe?? we shouldn't use victims of horrible religious tyranny as pawns in some stupid gender wars?? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know we're all convinced in our heart of hearts that JK Rowling is a big bad meanie, but maybe we could act like the better people we pretend to be for once and treat this topic with the seriousness it warrants?? ufuckingwu!

And since i had the unpleasant surprise to see that in the tag this morning: same thing with Ukraine. No, JK Rowling is not friend with Putin, she has actually helped Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war, and the fucking Harry Potter store being maybe still up in Moscow on Google Maps is the last of Ukraine's problems even if she had the actual power to shut it down (assuming GM's infos are even actualised).

Like, i can sort of laugh it out when these idiots make up bullshit about the Goblins being antisemitic caricatures. (Except, it's not actually funny, not when you take two seconds to think about the implications that a whole generation of people apparently think that this is what antisemitism is, OR, care so little about antisemitism that they are happy to pretend that this is it.) It's a whole 'nother business to pick victims of current wars and religious extremism and make up a story about how it's all some writer you don't like's fault. Those are real people ffs. Whom JKR is tangibly helping. What the fuck is Pink News doing for them, hmm? Not even showing them an OUNCE of decency and respect, that's what.

Anyways, apologies for this outburst. To answer your question : why do they do it? Hatred. Hatred is the point. It goes nowhere deeper than this i'm afraid.

[weedle-testaburger]

fuck it. it’s pride month, and i feel like being self-indulgent, so have...

MY SP KIDS LGBTQ HCS (well some of em anyway)

Stan: pansexual, polyamorous and genderqueer (ik him being bi is more popular but as far as I’m concerned Stan the man is pan and polyam. And also not a man bc like, have you seen The Cissy?)

Kyle: bisexual, polyamorous and agender (I actually think Kyle’s more likely to be bi and Stan pan, bc Kyle is definitely the kind of person to give a lot of thought to what genders he’s attracted to while Stan’s like ‘hot people *barfs*’. The agender thing is because Human Kite is a gender-neutral kite alien, which honestly is kinda goals)

Kenny: pansexual and nonbinary (sometimes we’ve all just gotta be a kawaii princessu)

Butters/Marjorine: pansexual and genderfluid (he’s/she’s a bit more assertive about his/her gender than Kenny but will still totally smooch anyone given half a chance)

Tweek and Craig: gay (do not separate them)

Wendy/Wendyl: polysexual, polyamorous and genderfluid (2/3rds of this is already canon if you believe FBW, bless you devs)

Tolkien: bisexual (was tempted to say something not-cis bc of the bra bit from Professor Chaos but I’ll hold myself back)

Clyde: pansexual (he assumes he’s straight for the longest time but then gets bored of not being as popular with girls as he thought he was and realises he’s down with anything)

Jimmy: pansexual (basically the reverse of Clyde, he Always knew he’s into everything. This mf’s superhero character sheet says his sexuality is ‘yes please’ ffs)

Cartman: straight (I know he’s not but I sleep at night better denying it bc he’s one of the most cishet white men in all of media)

[cloudslexapro]

Duke for character bingo

duke is such a wild character for me because 90% of their character is completely made up in my head. they're nonbinary, they're transfem, they've been on HRT and had FFS, they're really superstitious and believe in ghosts and they're into wicca, they are a power lesbian, they get their way through sex, they have an eating disorder, they're five feet tall and they cook chinese and italian food expertly, they're vegetarian, they have pet ferrets they dress up in little outfits, they game with yugi online weekly, they would kill for tristan taylor. my insane head canons about this character never end. but mainly its really hard to engage with fandom about them especially fic because i can't stand he pronouns for duke (this is my own issue and no one else's lol) and people don't often give them more depth than like, a playboy. and im like yes but what else??? i think they're more of a mess than they ever like to let on. duke is like, goth regina george but also a huge nerd. i think they take a long time to feel like part of the friendship gang, bc yugi forgives quickly but everyone else is like are you serious?? and then duke dates half the friend group. they're chaotic. they're slutty. they have body image issues. they're my baby. tbh.

[demonicpossession]

This! There's a guy I follow on tiktok, cannot remember his name for the life of me rn, but he dresses very feminine, has long hair, essentially at First glance you'd think he was a girl, but he's not. Yet all of his comments are basically telling him to hurry up and come out as trans, like please, none of you would do this to a gnc woman, so don't do it to a gnc man, let him dress and look feminine while still being a man ffs, you cannot support people having freedom of their own gender identities while at the same time telling a gnc cis man that he's actually a trans woman. If he does come out as a trans woman at any point then amazing, but unless he ever says that he is a man, simple as. People need to learn to respect that, it also feels like its heavily routed in toxic masculinity too, the whole "oh you dress feminine so you HAVE to be a woman, there's no way a man would dress feminine", and yes, even if you are a woman or nb or anything else that's not male you can still be a part of the problem that is toxic masculinity.

Stuff like this is what also made me feel like I couldn't dress feminine as an nb myself, all the people disregarding the fact someone is nonbinary the second they aren't androgynous looking or dressing in a masc way, vice versa with amab nbs being told they're not nb if they're not dressing more femininely. It's exhausting how common it is on social media for people to just decide someone else's gender identity for them and definitely causes some issues with people who want to be themselves and dress the way they want but feel they can't because it's so drilled into everyone that you have to dress and appear a certain way.

Dress how you want, fuck what others think, block anyone who tells you to do otherwise or tries to tell you your gender identity based on how you dress.

I think it's important to let guys be gender non conforming without telling them they're a girl, cause actually misgendering people is still shit even when you are pro trans. "You're a girl, an egg waiting to crack, and that's ok" how about you are a boy and a man and it's still ok if you want to do something that doesn't align with traditional ideals of your gender. You can still be he/him in a skirt and makeup.

[theglitchywriterboi]

Lesbian: *Is nonbinary, butch & on T, has a beard*

People who are totally absolutely trans allies: "No you can't be a lesbian you look like a man so you are a man !!! Just be a man ffs. Honestly do you really think a lesbian would be attracted to you while you look like a man ???"

TERFs: "Well actually, she is a lesbian because even though she mutilated her body, she'll always be a woman. But yes how will any woman want her after she destroyed her body to look lile a man :("

Like.... How do the totally trans allies here not realize they sound exactly like TERFs....

Also these are both real things I saw

Just leave people alone, their identity isn't for you & just cause you don't want them doesn't mean no one will. & hell, even if no lesbian or bi woman wants them sexually or romantically, THAT STILL DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE NOT A LESBIAN !!!! Their identity isn't dependent on their desirability....

[blurred-cat]

Gloria Gaynor - I Am What I Am

here’s a link to that absolute banger it’s my nonbinary themesong. i would’ve linked the video but YouTube being itself in the year 2023 makes it agony to post their videos anywhere ffs Also notable: Latrice Royale did a nice lounge singer version of the song and it’s fantastic. her album is very good too. she covered “Here’s To Life” on that same album and it filled me with emotions. lyrics under the cut because who doesnt love a singalong or readalong?

I am what I am I am my own special creation So come take a look Give me the hook or the ovation It's my world that I want to have a little pride in My world, and it's not a place I have to hide in Life's not worth a damn till you can say "I am what I am" I am what I am I don't want praise, I don't want pity I bang my own drum Some think it's noise, I think it's pretty And so what if I love each sparkle and each bangle? Why not try to see things from a different angle? Your life is a sham till you can shout out "I am what I am" I am what I am And what I am needs no excuses I deal my own deck Sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces It's one life and there's no return and no deposit One life so it's time to open up your closet Life's not worth a damn till you can shout out "I am what I am" I am what I am And what I am needs no excuses I deal my own deck Sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces It's one life and there's no return and no deposit One life so it's time to open up your closet Life's not worth a damn till you can shout out "I am what I am" I am, I am, I am useful I am, I am, I am true I am, I am somebody I am as good as you, ah ha, ah ha Ooh ooh ooh ooh, yes I am Ah ah ah ah, ah I am...

[emersonfreepress]

For trans MCs, you said gender angst can/will manifest in the form of people who knew MC pre-transition can accidentally call them by their wrong pronouns and their deadname. I'm curious about the mechanics of it.

How will you handle the deadname part? Will we have to enter a name or will the narration be like

"And there is you, with the name you...

a) used to have (enter the deadname) b) still use even after transition (name remains the same) c) no longer use after transition. (skip entering a deadname)"

Related to it: will we get to be nonbinary and trans?

Can MC be nonbinary from the start even if cis? Like with the deadname option, will it be like:

"Before coming out as nonbinary, you...

a) used she/her pronouns b) used he/him pronouns c) ... well, you don't want to think about that time (avoid putting pronouns)"

Coding and narration-wise though, I can see that would be hard, especially if those few people who knew MC pre-coming out have dialogues or direct conversations with MC, or even just talking about MC's past to someone else.

Like using direct speech if pronouns and/or deadname is put:

""Yeah, then (Deadname) did (former pronoun) best," said Character A."

vs indirect speech if not:

"Character A said you did your best, using your deadname and former pronouns before apologizing and correcting themselves."

So I'd understand if you don't implement such options.

Ok, there's at least three questions here 😅 That's why it took me a while to properly finish this answer, I think I ended up confusing myself a few times lol

Regarding MC deadnames

I only plan for deadname customization around the time of the first scene it is actually relevant to, which isn't until Thanksgiving-times (typical). You'll be able to write in a custom one or choose that you've always had the same name. That won't extend to misgendered pronouns, though; it wouldn't be anything like the examples used here. Feels shoehorned/immersion-breaky.

Can MC be non-binary and trans?

We don't get assigned or raised as our gender, yeah? Non-binary is trans, so yes.

Can MC be non-binary from the start?

Yes, but with caveats.

I wasn't any less agender when I was using she/her pronouns for the first 20 years of my life; I just didn't have the vocabulary or established language to express it. I still had the queer feelings and thoughts, but I only had the words available to me through others and a ton of straight, cisgender media. I probably referred to myself as a tomboy or a person a thousand times more than I ever referred to myself as a girl. That word bothered me; not she or her. That was the word that was heavy to me, it meant too many things. It held the weight the of the expectations of my family, my peers, and the world at large. It shackled me to activities and mannerisms that I had no inclination towards, it forced me to conform to mannerisms and assumptions that never fucking fit.

When I still thought that not being a boy automatically means you're a girl, all I ever understood about myself was that I was not a boy and that I despised being a girl, wished I didn't have to be a girl, largely hated girls who naturally enjoyed conforming to things that tore me apart inside. There was a distinct hatred of being born a girl but an equally distinct disinterest in being born a boy instead. I didn't know "neither" or "none" was a box I could check or a thing at all and yet that is always what my gender has been.

ANYWAY let me hop off this soapbox ffs /personal rambling over. all of that is to preface the following:

As progressive and different as Emerson is, singular they as an indicator of gender identity and neo-pronouns were beyond obscure of a concept in the late 90s to the general American public; forget about it as an actual practice or show of respect. Book 2 takes place in 2008 and will introduce singular they/them as a third pronoun option if MCs want it. All the rest of my IF projects (🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾) will take place in the current day or the not-so-distant future (or literal Hell ☺️) and will have they/them and pronoun customization as options. Because moderntimes.

So! As it stands, Book 1 limits the MC to using one of the two binary pronouns (he and she) but both books will use 5 variables to represent MC gender: cis boys and girls, trans boys and girls, and non-binary kids. Non-binary MCs get the additional option to clearly indicate that they don't ascribe to, subscribe to, or generally mesh well with binary gender norms and expectations—they will be written as non-binary. it's kinda important to me

I also want the beta and final version to have a "gender angst" toggle that runs the game filtered in such a way that largely leaves out most gendered flavor text and most references to being trans outside of just a few scenes or lines. This would also let MCs use "they/them" pronouns throughout the game without fanfare. I talked about it a bit here.

Idk if it will work for all queer players... and it's possible this is an unsatisfying answer for some folks. But it's what this one queer coder wants to do for their game, so 🤷🏾‍♂️

Ultimately, this is all smoke and vapor until it is properly coded and written anyway. Execution speaks louder than planning, so I'll be trying my damn best ☺️

[whatever-nvrmnd]

When ur sister sees "she/he/they" in ur insta bio and instantly goes "oh my god, what is that, you said you're not like that". Then I managed to explain to her that I am exploring my gender identity since I've been confused recently and also in the past years I had randomly thought about either being male or nonbinary and so and so, anyways...

And she starts telling me how I am scarying her and that sometimes it's better not to think. Yes of course, you didn't grow up questioning gender and sexuality, ffs...

And then I literally said "I am ending this topic since I don't have much details yet and I don't wanna talk about it."

But anyway, if you feel safe and comfortable enough to share your story or tips on how to explore to kinda get a better idea on either being nonbinary or transmasc, feel free to message me.

[lovedaymorbid]

What are your thoughts on the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead? The good, the bad? What do you think about the upcoming tv adaptation?

Tell Us👁👄👁🍿

Ooooohhh bestie.

I started the series right after Shadow Kiss (book 3) came out. Found book 1 in Walmart and made my mom but it for me. Over a decade later and this series still has my soul in its clutches.

I adore the series in the way it was centered around Rose and Lissa and their friendship and love for each other and the problems that come with being each other's person.

And who is not a fan of the untouchable love interest with an accent? Dimitri is literally the reason I like men and influenced my type of guy. Am I married to a nonbinary person the complete opposite of Dimka? Absolutely. Changes nothing.

What I am not a fan of (like everyone else) is the age gap between Rose, Dimitri, and Adrian. I am 24 and I LITERALLY CAN NOT even think of finding a 17 year old attractive. Like yeah yeah different worlds and they have to grow up faster to be guardians but wowza. I re read the series this year and was appalled at some of what happened while Rose is underage (the cabin scene yes and jfc Dimitri she is your student and you're also her best friend's guardian c'mon). Adrian's character honestly rubbed me very wrong for the longest time. He gave off nice guy who needs therapy vibes. I haven't read the spin off with Sydney and Adrian so he could have redeemed himself. Idk.

Also hate how Rose treated Eddie. Like he honestly went above and beyond when he did not have to multiple times and she barely thanked him.

Lissa also not that appreciative of her friends.

Loved Jill.

Pour one out for our friend Mason.

Tatiana was that bitch.

Rip to Robert that crazy bitch deserved better.

I believe Tasha could have been either #1 Ally or and even better villain. Her being brought down to a woman scorned and having "her man" stolen by a teenager was literally the worst choice.

About the show: I'm interested. I like the cast for the most part except with Lissa. I love the representation but Lissa (and most royals) are Eastern European decent (hence the names and most being from/around Russia). I wonder if they'll just nix that or work with it. I do hope they age up Rose and co and lower Dimitri to like 22 or 21. Make it like a 2-3 year age gap and not 7 ffs.

I'm sure I have more but that's all I got currently at 3AM.

[ivanaskye]

I’ve been thinking about making this post for a while, since I finished reading Wheel of Time, a series whose first book I read many years ago and hated, a series which ended up being very much one of my favorite of all time if not my single favorite, a series that has my two favorite characters ever.

A series that is very flawed.

So behold, my long answer to the question...

Should you read The Wheel of Time?

I’ll split this into three sections (but not three posts): What Even Is The Wheel Of Time, Some Likely Dealbreakers, and Tl;Dr.

Under the readmore, of course.

1. What Even Is The Wheel of Time?

A system of circular time in which the same rough eras of humanity repeat

However, the fact that time in the series operates this way... doesn’t actually matter that much.

And out of seven total repeating ages, we only spend time in one, and only know anything at all about four others.

The last three? A mystery

Don’t worry about it

Okay, that’s probably not what you were asking. You were probably asking something more like: what’s the plot of this series?

Let me be straight with you about that one.

It’s a Chosen One plot.

But,

It also has a very large cast of characters, many of which are very Protagonist in their own right

Including the main character’s immediate foil, who is absolutely not a “Chosen One” except for the fact that she freaking chose herself, basically manufacturing her own call to adventure out of the main character’s. 

The six Most Main characters (by most fans’ understanding), can IMO be divided exactly into three foil-pairs: the Central Saving The World one, the Self Awareness Whomst? I Hate People Of Course I’d Never Help Anyone (Trips over 139289131 Pictures of Helping Other People) one, and the Study In Leadership one.

And remember that Chosen One I mentioned?

Yeah, he actually has a shit deal with being Chosen

Specifically: he is 100% prophecized to destroy the world. Whether he also saves it is a little more up in the air.

He’s also almost certainly fated to Go Insane.

(...Which is why the first ~3 books of the series are just him Running Away From His Fate at Full Speed, which--spoiler alert--Does Not Work.)

See also: Alienating All Your Friends 101, How NOT To Accept Being Polyamorous, It’s War Crimes Time

(Yes, there is canon polyamory.)

(...And a LOT of canon war crimes.)

But. In order to go any further, I have to talk about the Possible Dealbreakers of these series. 

2. So, About Those Dealbreakers

Broadly speaking, I’d say there are three: length, The Gender Binary, and Oh God Why Is Everyone Such A Dumbass.

Let’s go at these one-by-one.

Length

Let me be very clear here: WoT is over four million words long in total.

This has at times been calculated as perhaps the longest word count for any series... ever? It’s certainly one of the longest English-language series that occurs to random statistics geeks to look at the word count of.

For reference, in case you needed it... that’s longer than Homestuck. This is true even if you translate images, videos, and so on into equivalent word counts. And include the epilogue. And... yeah.

It’s like, shonen-long.

The upside of this, however... is that it’s really long.

That might seem like a weird upside, but if you’ve ever wanted to get really immersed in a series... especially if you read very quickly and usually get through things fast... well.

To put things in perspective, I often read 300-page books in one sitting without trouble. WoT took me about six months.

So uh

Do you want your life, mind, body, and soul to get eaten by a book series?

The answer to that question will probably tell you if you should read Wheel of Time

The Gender Binary

Okay, so here’s the thing: in the time period WoT takes place in, only women can use The One Power (the main form of magic in the setting).

The reason for this is that the One Power, despite being called one right there in the name, is divided into the Female Version and the Male Version. Only women can use the former, only men can use the latter. And the latter has been tainted such that any man who uses it goes mad.

Our main character is a man who can use the power.

The upside is that things actually go very un-sexistly from here. The different ways to access male (saidin) vs female (saidar) power don’t actually correlate to any consistent difference in personality or attitudes between men and women.

The fact that the MC is The One Man Using The Power and The Most Powerful, Because Chosen One... is actually also played shockingly un-sexistly. 

However, there very much always is that binary. Trans people? Nonbinary people? Uh... you can headcanon if you want, but the canon is not giving you that much to work with.

To make matters a little worse, men and women distrust each other to an almost hilarious amount in the setting. (My guess is something about Mostly A Patriarchy + Women Are The Mysterious Powerful Magic Users has really frayed gender relations in this society.) There are many, many in-character statements of “All men are [x unflattering thing]” “all women are [y unflattering thing]”, but these do not seem to in any way reflect the author’s beliefs, and are never actually true in-world; the characters are just Bad At This.

(A common example of this is “Women are all gossips!” *cut to a group of women* “Men are all gossips!”. Of course, the truth is that there are both male and female gossips and non-gossips in the series).

You would think this situation would lead to more just-women and just-men groups, but except from Magic-User Stuff, there isn’t that much of that, becaaaaause

~Heterosexuality~

Sigh, yes, this series is very het.

It’s not as het as it is binary; the Aes Sedai (female magic users) have a word for women who are having sex with each other, and there’s an onpage FF kiss in the prequel.

But it’s... not a lot.

So if you need a hit of sweet, sweet LGBTQ rep, it’s... not going to be here. Sorry. (Thankfully, a very large amount of fantasy books coming out today do have rep! It’s not that hard to find!)

Thankfully, most of WoT’s het romances are pretty good and believable/shippable. Though not all are.

And, the final likely dealbreaker...

Everyone Here Is A Dumbass

Listen. Nobody in this series drank their Having Brain Cells juice, uh... ever.

(Okay, exactly two characters--Min and Loial--did, but that’s it)

You know how I was talking about the gender mistrust? That’s just one example of an endemic problem of absolutely no one trusting other people, telling anyone things, or in any way having functional conversations

Min Literally Saves Lives By Being The Only Person Who Tells People Things

In addition to interpersonal problems, the characters’ problem-solving skills are uhh

Uhhhhhh

Uhhhhhhhh

Well, as I said, Rand, our main character, spends three books running away from his problems at full speed

After that, he’s only uh... dodging! Jogging away! Yeah

Meanwhile, basically everyone is doing the I Must Put Myself In Extreme Danger To Protect My Friends Who I would Never Accept Doing The Same (bonus points for when two people are doing this to protect each other at the same time) thing

And I Will Face God And Run Into Danger At Mach Speed

The upside is... you might like reading about these kinds of characters

But if you prefer characters who are not walking trash fires

Then I’m sorry

WoT is probably not for you

3. Tl;dr

In summary, Wheel of Time is an almost comically long series about a large cast of characters who have never functioned in their life trying to prevent the end of the world and having a really bad time.

(For some reason it doesn’t have a reputation as a Dark SeriesTM, but it actually is very dark at times. Although far from grim--every action seems to really matter, nothing is meaningless, it’s just that sometimes those actions are war crimes and people dying and a shit-ton of torture).

IMO, some of the other series that might be good predictors for liking WoT are Homestuck, Hunter X Hunter, and ASOIAF. In other words, other very long, large-casted series about trash fires.

If you want one other bit of enticement, the main character has the lowest nadir of any character arc I’ve ever seen, followed by the most impressive high and resolution. So if that’s your kind of thing, and if the dealbreakers don’t break your deals. Go ahead and give it a try.

[biromantic-nerd]

fanfic writer 20 questions

tagged by @mythcas thank you dear! 💖

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

61!! oh man that's so absurd, I can't believe it's that many

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

545,502 wow

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Okay listen,,,, a lot.

the main fandoms:

Spider-man, TASM specifically, DCU, Batman, The Untamed, Merlin, Daredevil, The Umbrella Academy, Harry Potter, Stranger Things, Naruto

the one hit wonders (aka fandoms I so far wrote ONE fic for):

Venom, The Witcher, Kingsman + Baby Driver (it was a crossover so I'm counting it as one), BNHA, The Dragon Prince (just the one, no more), B99 (just the one, no more), ATLA, K.C. Undercover, Agent Carter (though that one doesn't really count), Pitch Perfect, Marvel/MCU misc

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Devil's Food Cake - by a landslide victory of 3,258 kudos! I guess people really just like nonbinary Peter Parker hanging with the Daredevil group. Plus the baking of course

With Magic Soaking My Spine - my absolute pride and joy, probably my favorite fic I've written honestly. 1,539 kudos.

We Could Get Better ('Cause We're Not Dead Yet) - 1,536 so this and WMSMS are very close

City Too Busy To Haste - 1,076 kudos

With A Big Black Horse And A Cherry Tree - the sequel to WMSMS too makes the top five! 🥺❤️ 884 kudos

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Sometimes I'm very slow to do so (lack of spoons + too busy) but I try my best. It's just my way of enjoying some wholesome human connection 🥰❤️

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Ooh. I'm going to have to go with Then I heard your heart beating; you were in the darkness too, so I stayed in the darkness with you I mainly write happy endings however I've been told that the ending of this fic is open to very devastating interpretations

7) Do you write crossovers?

I do! City Too Busy To Haste is a Baby Driver + Kingsman crossover. I'm not sure if things like Daredevil + Spiderman count as a crossover but I've done a few Marvel mini crossovers like that. FF + Spidey, Deadpool + Spidey.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not yet and hopefully never🤞Closest I've gotten is someone who told me that they would have bookmarked the story but wouldn't since it was 'obviously abandoned' - I assume they didn't subscribe either and never realized it updated.

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. Tried that for a brief bit as a coping mechanism when I was a kid. Never retried it after I switched to healthier coping mechanisms, but since I'm sex-repulsed 50% of the time I probably wouldn't vibe with it nowadays

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Eh. Not really but kind of? Once someone left me a comment letting me know that someone had posted something that looked very similar to my story. I skimmed the fic. It had some direct lines taken from my story and a very similar plot premise. But it wasn't at all exact and had been also written somewhat differently by them, so I was like "well I wish they hadn't taken exact lines but I think they're just inspired and went about it the wrong way"

Never contacted them. Eventually what happened is that because I'm a slow author, their story caught up to mine and then updated before mine. And their plot was then different from mine - either because mine hadn't been posted yet or because they honestly didn't realize how similar the stories were in the first place. I think of it as someone wanted to "remix" my story and didn't intend to steal it. But to my knowledge that is the only time (which I don't even count) and hopefully it stays that way

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! But I would be thrilled if someone did

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! The Devil Drinks Coffee with 01nm, who has also beta'd a few of my other stories for me - I think around 3 - and sometimes they'll add lines while betaing. But even though it was great cowriting a fic with them, I can't imagine doing it with someone else. (Oh also just remembered that we cowrote a fic that's no longer posted actually.)

I really enjoy co-writing as a concept because I'm not very good at finishing stories or connecting scenes. But in practice? Probably wouldn't team up with anyone besides 01nm. It'd definitely have to be with someone I really trusted because it's a very vulnerable thing to do, which I hadn't realized until I'd done it. But bc my partner was so great, the boundaries were really good and so we established a really good method between ourselves so that we were both comfortable in the process of it.

13) What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Very hard to say. It depends, I suppose, on what mood I'm in. But honestly? Probably Merlin/Gwaine. I wish I wrote more of that because I really love it. It's just.... tender.

I'm realizing I don't write a lot of one ship, per se, since I'm so spread out between different fandoms. Also I've been focusing recently on writing non-romantic relationships

I just checked my relationship tags and lo and behold Merlin/Gwaine is tied for first (3 fics) with Peter Parker/Harry Osborn (3 fics)

14) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Posted? Goodnight, Sleep Well, I'll Most Likely Kill You In The Morning because it just has this massive plot that I should have written down a lot more of but - once again - foolishly thought I'd written enough down that I'd remember. I really love writing canon AU's but I don't often do it because of this! I can't keep track of timelines very well!!

Unposted? The DC outsider POV fic of a fashion designer who invents the material of the Batman suit without realizing it at first for Brucie Wayne. I want to write it so badly. It just isn't happening. Also the Stranger Things Robin/Nancy enemies-to-lovers fic. Yeah that one probably isn't happening either. Also the Eddie Brock with chronic pain fic; I didn't even start that actually it's not even partial draft yet just a concept.

15) What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I've been told that I can capture characterization well through dialogue - though I think that works better for me with fandoms where I can actually see the pacing of dialogue. (Actors in movies/shows vs characters in novels)

Self indulgence. Sometimes I wonder "is this too self indulgent?" and even though I will be anxious about it, I will stick to it and include it. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse - depends on who you ask. But everyone who enjoyed the lengthy nail polish scene in Chamomile, No Coconut or the plethora of tender Lancelot in With Magic Soaking My Spine - that was me being super self indulgent.

I feel like I can say unique plot ideas as a strength. This sounds like bragging but honestly my friends have asked me "how did you even come up with that?" and it is usually based off one extremely niche specific concept for one scene (1!) that spiraled out of control into a fic.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh baby it's definitely plot. Yes I am aware of the irony since I just listed plot as a strength. But I am so bad at writing out traditional stories (beginning, middle, end) mostly because I write different scenes that I can't seem to connect. I've been trying really hard to improve on this. I know that fanfic doesn't need to have a traditional format but I'd like to be able to have that option tbh! I'm just bad at it!

Especially since my plot organization is so terrible. I think I have the timeline figured out and then I go to work on my fic and my outline makes ZERO sense

Grammar too honestly. Also I have a lot of typos and try my best to self beta through my stories but like.... yeah typos.

Cheesy plots and characters. I enjoy sappy things and self indulgence. Sometimes that makes it cross the line into too cheesy instead of just regular cheesy.

Pacing. I'd also say pacing is something I struggle with. That's something that probably ties in with not being good at organizing + writing out plot. Probably doesn't help that I'll often spend a long time on scenes I personally like.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I've seen it done well and done very badly. I don't think I've ever done written it though. Probably won't either unless it is somehow critical to the plot to do so?? idk why that'd be though

18) What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

,,,,,it was Twilight.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I can't help but to love With Magic Soaking My Spine. It was one of those things that I'd had the idea (Because of the "Strength, Courage, Magic" bridge, Arthur and Gwaine think that the other one is Magic and not Merlin, while Merlin is caught up in the chaotic misunderstanding) for a long time but didn't think I'd ever actually write it. And when I finished it, I was initially disappointed with it bc it was a lot more serious than I had ever imagined it, and so I was worried that made it not funny. And I wanted it to be a comedy.

But after some time (and really kind commenters) I realized that the things that made it serious - the emphasis on tender friendship and Merlin's loneliness - didn't take away from the humor of the story. And when I reread it, I laugh even so I worried over nothing. Yeah it's probably my favorite story I've written. It's silly and also extremely self indulgent in tender moments of friendship.

To Want (For Nothing) is probably one of my favorites as well because I had envisioned a very specific feeling and I feel like I managed to convey that feeling. It's probably one of my prettiest prose wise, or at least I think so.

Also it's hard to choose a favorite of them but I am really fond of my DC fics. I rotate between being the most proud of certain fics. Right now my fave of the bunch is Take a breath and let the rest come easy

20) Who do you tag?

💖💖💖 @captainkirkk buddy captain pal, if you want to do so

💙💙💙 @romanticism-is-maudlinism I know you're busy right now though so do not at all feel pressured to do it, dear

❤️❤️❤️ @kadansten ily babe

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 245: The Second One

Previously on BnHA: We kicked off day one of New Internships with a fun-filled morning of shenanigans. Highlights included: (1) an old bearded man gallivanting around town telling everyone the world is going to end (and making a surprising amount of sense); (2) Bakugou and Deku attempting to rough up a group of impassioned hobos, only to have their thunder stolen from right underneath their noses; and (3) Hawks, the thunder-stealer himself, who proceeded to be all “what’s up fellas, hey Endeavor did you miss me?” Endeavor, who totally did miss him, pretended like he had not, and meanwhile Hawks introduced himself to Endeavor’s new trainees: Finger-Smashing Kid, Kid Who Used To Work For The Guy You Just Murdered, and Shouto (Just Shouto). Then he pulled out a copy of Re-Destro’s book and was all, “hey Endeavor have you heard of this book which was really important to the plot in the previous arc? I think you should read it, for reasons!!” and Endeavor just kind of stared at him, which wasn’t exactly inspiring. Anyways let’s see if these two idiots can manage to pull this off.

Today on BnHA: Hawks shoves the Liberation Army’s book into Endeavor’s hands while staring at him with the intensity of a thousand suns, and then, to avoid suspicion, proceeds to hand out another 500,000 copies of the book without even being asked. He then flies back to the PLF headquarters and is all “good news gentlemen, I gave out copies of the Army’s book to everyone in Japan!” and they’re all “that’s great, Hawks!” because somehow it turns out that this was actually a good plan. Back at the Endeavor Agency HQ, the kids meet Endeavor’s 30+ other sidekicks, who are all “now let’s all stand around and wait for Endeavor to tell us what to do.” Over in his office, Endeavor shrewdly deduces that Hawks was trying to tell him something, and pieces together the hidden code Hawks left in his book, which basically reads “IN FOUR MONTHS WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.” Back at the PLF, the League cheerfully discusses their plot to blow up the entire world come Springtime. Which apparently everyone is on board with. So, uh, does anyone else feel like they accidentally fell asleep during a really important part of the movie, because uh. What.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

okay so two things: (1) as I mentioned in a previous post, Caleb Cook reported that this chapter took him more than 4 times longer than usual to translate. so like, what does that mean?? guess we’re about to find out!

and (2) HAWKS’S REAL NAME. I started typing up this recap early just so I could liveblog my reaction, since it seems that the databook has leaked, and I figure I’m going to stumble across this sooner rather than later. so I’m just going to look it up now here goes!!

AHHHH TAKAMI KEIGO AHHHH

lol. I have no idea what that actually means. let me look up some more stuff about this

oooh thank you reddit!

ooh damn, I love it!? “hawk” + “vision” lolol HORIKOSHI BACK AT IT AGAIN. but “watchman” is a really nice bonus what with how it relates both to the whole spying biz, and in a more general sense toward what he is trying to do as a hero trying to protect society. plus the name “Keigo” just has a really nice sound to it in general. kind of a boyish, youthful sound. not too hard or soft. idk. I like it. that was my favorite character in Bleach too

also apparently both of the kanji used for “Keigo” mean “enlightenment” oooh. my god I could analyze this all day. this being Thursday night, I’ll have some time to ruminate before I read the chapter tomorrow, so if I have any epiphanies I will add them in later!

(ETA: no additional thoughts on this right now, but there is now a ton of other content out from Ultra Analysis, so let’s take a quick look at some of that!

Haagen Dazs’s gender:  I now feel vindicated in continuing to refer to him as a “he” even after the face reveal! let this be a lesson to everyone never to judge a shounen character solely by how pretty they are. not that it wouldn’t have been nice to have another female villain! anyways the important thing is that I still don’t have his name memorized and never will!

Thirteen’s gender?!: now this, I don’t really like. Thirteen was already in the previous databook IIRC and their gender was ambiguous. which to be frank was awesome. having a canon nonbinary character was sick. why you gotta do this now Horikoshi smdh.

Reason for Shouji’s mask: nooooo poor Shouji. people in quirk society are jerks! lol I get the arms being scary, but his face?? now I really want to see what he looks like though. it would be cool if he became more accepting of himself as a result of hanging with his chill classmates and decided to ditch the mask. anyways my boy needs a hug.

and there’s a lot of other stuff, including a whole series of cute segments showing the characters’ relationships with each other, but I think I’ll save those for another post because otherwise this would get way too off-track. but man, so far I’m really loving this.)

okay kiddos. it is now Friday, and time to take our horse to the hype town road. I have been waiting all fucking week for this shit so it had better not disappoint!

“Rising to Action” ooh, nice. guess this is not much of a “sit still” gang, here

okay so we’re picking off right where we left off, and guys, I just need to know, does anyone other than me find this kind of hilarious

like, I don’t know why but just. Endeavor’s face. omg. he just looks like he’s trying so hard to figure out what’s wrong. I think what it is is that this is the exact same bemused/perplexed expression that Shouto gets on his face all the freaking time, and it just tickles me to no end that the apple apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree. ahh Shouto I know you don’t want to hear this but damn boy you look like your dad

anyways. I think we can all agree Endeavor should not be looking this adorable and what the hell. let’s move on

LOOOOOOL

why is this so funny ahhhhhhh. they’re so fucking serious please stop. I mean, but of course they’re serious, though. the weird one is me, right? whatever!

so now here’s the handoff. between these two super-serious dudes

Endeavor you had better not do like me and be all “of course I’ll read it!” fully intending to follow through (really!) but then you never do and everyone is super disappointed and you start to read something else instead, all the while feeling incredible guilt! my point is, Endeavor, I hope you don’t have ADHD or we’re all fucking screwed omg

lol though thankfully we have a backup!

“oh boy!” clamors Deku, a gleam of excitement in his eye. “homework!”

OH MY GOD

WHO ARE YOU, OPRAH

ff now he’s just SLAPPING THEM INTO THEIR HANDS omg. this is amazing

love how Katsuki is keeping an extra 1.5 meters of space in between him and the others because cooties. or something

anyways! I really want them all to read it actually so this is awesome! KACCHAN YOU ESPECIALLY. I want you to read it and then give it a disgusted 1 star review on goodreads. show me how much you’ve grown kiddo

lmaooo

Todoroki Shouto. god’s perfect idiot. bless this child. someone explained Occam’s razor to him one day, and he just sat there nodding like “yes that makes perfect sense” and proceeded to apply it to every fucking thing in his life from there on out. “what’s Hawks doing carrying around 10,000 copies of The Book of PLF and just handing them out to strangers like an old lady on Halloween? processing... processing... oh I see, he probably just REALLY LIKES THE BOOK how keen”

this is what Hawks is up against. this squad of certified morons with two whole brain cells shared among them on a good day. boy literally brought three backup secret messages just in case Endeavor was too dense to figure this out, only to watch these kids exclaim, with perfect sincerity, “GOSH, HAWKS MUST REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK, HUH”

and meanwhile the best Endeavor can do is “............something.......... feels.... off.......” fml. we’re all gonna die. Hawks, I’m sorry. you tried!! next time give Momo your secret message instead!

so now he says that he’s actually recommending this book to all of his acquaintances omg. don’t tell me this handsome canary is actually going around handing out books to every single person he knows?? all to cover up this one action of giving Endeavor the book with the secret message highlighted in it?? okay guys help me decide: is this brilliance or stupidity? like, what is even going on inside Hawks’s head. “I’ll just fly around handing out copies of Atlas Fucking Shrugged to everyone I meet. that’ll seem really natural”

I s2g Endeavor if you don’t follow up on this...! THE WORLD IS COUNTING ON YOU YOU BIG MEATHEAD. GET TO READIN’. MAKE LEVAR PROUD

and now Hawks is flying away with his hands in his pockets

godspeed you dramatically casual bastard

now Deku is all “you know, he’s not much older than us, but he really seems like he’s got his shit together!” which, yeah. don’t you hate that? the truth is though it’s all an act, and he’s actually just as screwed up as the rest of you! the moral is: never trust any 22-year-old who seems like they’ve got their shit together. because, no. he sits on a throne of lies

Endeavor are you actually being thoughtful??!

oh my god. we may actually have a chance here. praise be

now we are cutting to the Endeavor agency! guys, fucking look at this fucking ‘E’, though

ngl that shit is dope. I’m mad. I would buy his merch just for the logo and I hate that about myself

holy shit

the... flaming hot... oh my god

holy shit there’s so many of them

(ETA: hold up -- “Bakugou” and “Shouto”? this is a crucial detail here; they’re using Bakugou’s last name, but Shouto’s given name. so either they’re calling him Shouto because they know his pop, or -- more likely -- they’re calling him “Shouto” because that’s his hero name. in which case, “Bakugou” most likely also refers to “Bakugou” as in the hero name, not his actual name. meaning that still is his hero name. meaning he is still undecided. fucking... Katsuki. honey. why.

ffff and the new databook seems to support this too. instead of a hero name, Horikoshi just wrote “XXX” indicating he still hasn’t made up his mind. welp. looks like it’s back on that slow burn character development train, folks. maybe by the end of this arc, though? please? Horikoshi? Horikoshi damn it look at me.)

so this is how the number one operates, huh. meanwhile All Might only ever had one sidekick, and reluctantly at that. he really was so far out ahead of everyone else that he was basically untouchable. crazy

anyways, yes! they don’t know anything about anything so please teach them!

good grief this girl says Endeavor has over thirty sidekicks?? lmao and her name is “Burnin’.” please tell me the missing g is an actual part of her name please I need this

wow, Burnin’ really went and tried to pick a fight with my famously hot-tempered son knowing full well what his personality is like. and just look at him keeping his cool and firing back though

oh, Katsuki. [hair ruffle] he will thrive here

damn these guys are passionate

Endeavor seriously picked these people as his sidekicks? that Endeavor? they didn’t annoy the shit out of him?? that man is an enigma

btw can we all just stop here for a moment and give a shoutout to this horse-looking dude because. look at him. amazing. new fave

anyway so now the mummy-looking guy is explaining how they organize their shift schedule

so professional. this really is the big leagues

yoooooo my boy is FIRED UP. READY TO SAVE SOME BITCHES! YESSSSS WIN AND RESCUE LET’S DO THIS

LET’S FUCKING GOOOO omg I love him so much. Kacchan you need to cool it or I’m going to spend this whole fucking chapter ruffling your hair

(ETA: incidentally, here’s something I neglected to point out earlier: in spite of being a belligerent asshole in general, Katsuki for the most part is actually surprisingly respectful to most adults, especially heroes. so it’s interesting then that so far, this doesn’t seem to apply to Hawks. he almost seems to consider him another rival rather than another mentor/teacher-type figure to learn from. I wonder if this is because -- as Deku pointed out earlier this chapter -- Hawks is much closer to them in age than the other heroes. it’s interesting that that was pointed out -- and that in the very next panel Katsuki was grumbling about how Hawks pisses him off, at that.

anyway. this BakuHawks rivalry seems to be an established thing now, so I’m very curious to see how this develops.)

lol now Mummy Guy is all “that’s great! now we just need to wait for Endeavor to tell us what to do!” and Kacchan is like “WHAT”

I mean, he’s got a point lol. “we’re so busy!” “great let’s get to work!” “actually we don’t have any work yet!” like, what a fucking tease. don’t worry Kacchan, they’re just waiting to make sure they assign you boys a job that’s plot-related so we don’t waste any time

ahhh, and now we finally come to the moment we’ve all been waiting for! the part that apparently took four hours to translate! ENDEAVOR READING A BOOK

yeah he was acting like he had a freaking gun to his head. why don’t heroes have secret code phrases they can use to let each other know some weird fucking shit is up? or maybe they do, but since he’s being recorded and since PLF has some heroes on roster who probably know those same codes (looking at you, Slidin’), Hawks didn’t want to risk one of them figuring it out. that makes sense

ahhh, here we go

don’t tell me Caleb tried to translate this whole thing. though I gotta admit I am hella curious

anyway. so the rest of this page is Endeavor metaing about Hawks, and it’s some good stuff, ngl

he really is fond of him, huh. look at all those pictures. how many mental snapshots did you take of this kid smiling?? he’s so adopted it hurts

and look at the concern in that last panel! “why is he acting so weird, that’s not like him, I’ve got to get to the bottom of this.” damn, Hawks really did put his trust in the exact right person and it’s paying off

ENDEAVOR STOP MAKING THESE SOFT WORRIED FACES ABOUT HAWKS RIGHT THIS INSTANT I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THESE FEELS

god damn!! I don’t know why, but I continue to be surprised and impressed at how the character development of Endeavor is actually a subscribe and save deal and not just a one-time purchase. fucking look at Todoroki Enji, proud annual recipient of a different “world’s worst dad” mug every Father’s Day, actually caring enough about another human being to notice the subtle changes in his behavior and realize something is wrong. bruh. good for you!! human compassion is a damn good look for you, negl. fucking growth right here and I’m here for it

anyways, on to the hidden code!

and here are all of the highlighted portions for your code-breaking pleasure

fucking feel like I’m reading Detective Conan right now. yeesh

oooh!

BINGPOT LOOOOOL WHY DID I GET SO EXCITED OKAY LET ME GO BACK AND READ!

“the” “enemy” “liberation” “army” ahhhhhh! HAWKS YOU SNEAKY SON OF A BITCH. GOOD JOB ENDEAVOR!

and now we’re cutting back to Hawks, nooooo I wanted to see Endeavor’s reaction! come on!

lmao although it’s worth it to see Hawks mentally roasting Endeavor exactly like I was mere pages ago omg

his fucking face omg. that’s right Hawks, he’s not the brightest crayon in the box. not the sharpest tack in the bulletin board. he’s a few fries short of a happy meal. the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor

but give him some credit, though! because he did figure it out! not necessarily because he was clever, but because he knows you!

oh shit lol

OH SO YOU PLANNED THAT PART TOO. WELL OKAY THEN

goddamn. he really is a clever bastard. and okay but in all seriousness, I fucking love that he has enough faith in this weird connection between them that out of all the ploys he could have gone with, this is what he chose. he seriously put all his eggs in the “Endeavor will figure it out from my face” basket. and it fucking paid off. this is awesome

AHHHHHHHHHHHH HERE WE GO

LOOK AT HIS EYE OH MY GOD. YOU CAN SEE THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN HE REALIZES HOW SCREWED THEY ALL ARE, YES, FUCK, THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR OH GOD

and we’re cutting back to Hawks again! I’ll just assume the rest of his message went something like “we” “are” “boned” and Endeavor’s face was like :o

BACK AT THE OL’ VILLAIN HOTEL!!!

LOL WHAT IS THIS

THEY HAVE A FUCKING COUNCIL NOW

whose seat is that over on the left? Hawks’s? is Gigantomachia actually wearing a shirt?? AND SHOW US TOMURA’S FACE HORIKOSHI YOU COWARD

lmao oh my god are they really buying this shit

look at him. so trustworthy. nothing to suspect over here! just a 100% sincere born-again villain committed to the cause!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NOOOOOO MY BABIES ARE EXPOSED. HORIKOSHI YOU BETTER PROTECT THEM I SWEAR TO GOD!!!

wow is the whole conversation just shifting over to the topic of Deku now, seriously?

oh my god oh my god oh my god. like. it’s been so long since the forest lodge and Kamino that I almost forgot that the League already knows these kids. they did fight Deku and Shouto briefly in the woods, and then they had an extended fight against Katsuki later on, although Dabi was unconscious for that part. anyways, shit. just like that they’re on their radar again I’m getting chills omgggg

(ETA: at least they’re underestimating them, though. “looks like he hasn’t gotten much stronger.” boy have you not heard about his bloop? that bloop will fuck you up just you wait!)

so now have some weird panels of Hawks walking through a door

(ETA: ohhhh you can see the door closing on the tip of his wing close-up! sneaky!)

ooh! wtf are you serious he can use his feathers to eavesdrop?!

(ETA: it only just clicked on my second read-through that Spinner of all people appears to be the mastermind behind this plan? like, am I reading this right? is he Tomura’s second-in-command now or what? damn, boy, good for you.)

okay, question. if he could do this the entire time, why did they even need him to pretend to join the League at all? I guess you never know when having a man on the inside who can possibly influence their decision-making will come in handy. but still, it seems to me like he could have easily done the spying bit without ever having to join up. ehhh but I guess there’s probably a range limit, and too much risk of the feathers getting caught and destroyed... eh, fine. I’ll allow it

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT EXCUSE ME WHAT?????

AND OF COURSE THAT’S THE END OF THE CHAPTER, LOL, FUCK. EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO STAND IN A CORNER AND SCREAM

lol “danger lurks” fucking you think?? what the hell! so they have an actual plan already, with the details outlined to the extent that they actually have a freaking timetable and everything? and the Liberation Army is on board with this whole thing too? the “destroying everything” part and all? this is too much to process all at once fuck me I can’t

okay! so four months from now is also when the kids will enter their second year! so that means Shinsou can get in on this action too. I’m trying to think of other significant plot things this could potentially imply, but none are coming to mind right now, other than it’ll be the anniversary of USJ. but that’s basically it. -- oh, wait, this also means that there’ll be a new first-year class of students at U.A. too! so that could be interesting. some potential new characters, and a chance for Deku and the others to be senpais. incidentally, to the best of my knowledge the kids will all stay in the same class and Aizawa will continue to be their homeroom teacher in year two. so nothing will change really aside from them becoming 2-A rather than 1-A. and Shinsou joining them, as mentioned. omg

anyway! let me see, any other stray thoughts before I wrap this up? I guess it’s worth noting that Toga’s eye is fine. the League has healed up pretty nicely in general actually. like, that’s seriously impressive for a group that doesn’t have Recovery Girl on staff. how long has it even been since Deika? a few weeks? this is almost ridiculous

and the “boom” -- is that literal? like they’re actually planning to blow everything up? or is that a metaphorical boom. fucking what kind of plan did they come up with where they actually think they can destroy THE ENTIRETY OF JAPAN all at once? is there a doomsday device?? what exactly is this “power” they’re talking about? HAWKS WHY DIDN’T YOU PUT THAT IN YOUR STUPID MESSAGE YOU BOOB

hahaha. anyways. it came down to the last two pages, but that certainly was a reveal worthy of all the hype. to sum: yikes

[undeadishness]

Okay so I think the thing that bugs me about about when people complain about a lack of their flag in a pride post, is that they almost always say ‘X flag is there! Seriously, x flag is there and mine isn’t!’ Becuase YES erasure of sexuality/identity is very serious and should be taken seriously, but the way people phrase it makes it look like the don’t find other identities important.

Like for example, someone was like ‘so the nonbinary flag is on here but the lesbian flag isn’t ffs??’ and like. They’re not interchangeable. It’s not one or the other. Nonbinary people aren’t less deserving of inclusivity and neither are lesbians like. Phrasing, dude.