#yes their pronouns are she/they set interchangeable

[multigenderswag]

Multigender Survey Results Dec 2023: Language (part 1)

Number of pronouns 

Participants were asked “How many sets of pronouns do you use?” (single selection) and participants whose pronouns differed depending on slightly were asked to answer what they used most often. The options provided were: 

No pronouns: 2 (0.3%)

1 set of pronouns: 69 (9.3%) (nice)

2 sets of pronouns: 197 (26.5%)

3 sets of pronouns: 131 (17.6%)

4 sets of pronouns: 58 (7.8%)

5+ sets of pronouns: 98 (13.2%)

All pronouns: 72 (9.7%)

It changes regularly: 78 (10.5%)

Questioning: 38 (5.1%)

Number of pronouns vs number of genders

Participants’ answers to “How many sets of pronouns do you use?” and “How many genders do you identify as?” were compared and sorted into the following categories:

Number of pronouns is the same as the number of genders (for example, two genders and us two sets of pronouns): 109 (14.7%)

Number of pronouns is less than the number of genders (for example, all genders and one set of pronouns): 47 (6.3%)

Number of pronouns is more than the number of genders (for example, three genders and 5+ sets of pronouns): 56 (7.5%)

Number of pronouns and/or number of genders were non-numerical answers (for example, “I don’t know/I choose not to count them” for number of genders and all pronouns): 531 (71.5%)

Multiple pronouns

Participants were asked “If you use multiple pronouns, do you prefer that people use all of your pronouns interchangeably?” (single selection). The options provided were: 

Yes, and it is misgendering if they don’t: 81 (10.9% of participants overall, 11.8% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

Yes, but I don’t mind if they stick to one set: 366 (49.3% of participants overall, 53.2% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

No, I prefer that people stick to one set: 47 (6.3% of participants overall, 6.8% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

I don’t have a preference: 126 (17.0% of participants overall, 18.3% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

I don’t use multiple pronouns: 55 (7.4%)

There was also an “other” option in which participants could write in their answer. Written in answers were divided into the following categories:

It depends on context: 19 (2.6% of participants overall, 2.8% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

It depends on the pronouns (for example, using he/him and she/her interchangeably is preferred, using just he/him is okay, using just she/her is considered misgendering): 18 (2.4% of participants overall, 2.6% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

Preferences change frequently: 13 (1.7% of participants overall, 1.9% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

Yes, and I don’t like it if people stick to one set, but I don’t consider it misgendering: 11 (1.5% of participants overall, 1.6% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

Other: 7 (0.9% of participants overall, 1.0% of participants who use multiple pronouns)

Most common pronouns

Participants were asked “What pronouns do you use?” (multiple selection). For participants who only used a given set of pronouns sometimes, they were asked to select those pronouns for this question. The options provided were: 

He/him: 565 (76.0%)

She/her: 380 (51.1%)

They/them: 422 (56.8%)

It/its: 275 (37.0%)

Xe/xem: 199 (16.0%)

Fae/faer: 66 (8.9%)

Ey/em: 66 (8.9%)

Ze/hir: 52 (7.0%)

Ze/zir: 59 (7.9%)

Ae/aer: 53 (7.1%)

E/em: 53 (7.1%)

Ce/cer: 22 (3.0%)

No pronouns: 69 (9.3%)

Any/all pronouns: 135 (18.2%)

Any/all neos: 124 (16.6%)

Additionally, there was an “other” option in which participants could write in pronouns. With the given and written in pronouns combined, a total of 171 unique subject pronouns were used. 

Honorifics

Participants were asked “Which of these honorifics would you want to be referred to with?” (multiple selection). The options provided were: 

Ind.: 40 (5.4%)

Lady: 14 (1.9%)

M.: 151 (20.3%)

Masteress: 33 (4.4%)

Miss/Ms./Mrs.: 165 (22.2%)

Mistrum: 47 (6.3%)

Mr.: 339 (45.6%)

Mx.: 108 (14.5%)

Sir: 328 (44.1%)

Sirlady: 62 (8.3%)

No honorific: 311 (41.9%)

[mrhyde-mrseek]

Hellenic Polytheism UPG: Pronouns

I believe that the gods, being gods, don’t really have genders. So, a while ago, I decided to ask them their pronouns using a coin flip. Heads was yes, tails was no, and basically what I did was ask “do you use [pronouns]?” and flipped the coin, going through as many sets of pronouns as I could think of. I also asked them if they had a preference via coin flip. This is what the results were:

Hades: any except she/her, no preference

Persephone: she/her

Dionysus: they/them (preferred) & she/her

Athena: it/its (preferred), she/her, & neopronouns (owl, weapons, weaving, snake, & feminine-based neos)

Hermes: he/him, they/them, & neopronouns (messenger, wings, caduceus neos), no preference

Artemis: she/her (preferred), they/them, it/its, & neopronouns (moon & feminine-based neos)

Apollo: he/him & neopronouns (plant, healing, & archery neos), no preference

Aphrodite: she/her & he/him interchangeably (preferred), but will use any

[arecaceae175]

What head canons do you have that you haven't gotten the chance to share or want to share again? (Yes, I am asking you to ramble about the blorbos to your heart's content)

HELLO Happy Pride Month here are my favorite queer identity headcanons for the chain 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Time

Agender

Xe/xem

Asexual

Doesn’t care to label his romantic orientation. He loves Malon and he doesn’t care to examine if it is actual “romantic” love or not. He loves Malon in the way that works for them

Twilight

Demiboy

Intersex

He/they used interchangeably

Bisexual

Biromantic

Sky

Bigender (man and woman at the same time)

He/she used interchangeably

Demisexual, bisexual

Biromantic

Polyamorous

In a poly relationship with Groose and Zelda!!!

Zelda is pansexual, panromantic, omnigender

Groose is bisexual and a cis man, but enjoys various gender expressions

Wild

Trans man before the calamity

Genderfluid now

Any pronouns. Sometimes Wild will want to go by a certain set of pronouns for a few days at a time, other times any pronouns feel good

Aroace Lesbian

QPR with Zelda

Wind

Queer

Doesn’t use a gender label

No pronouns

If Wind has to use pronouns, it/its doesn’t feel dysphoric, but it doesn’t feel good like no pronouns does

Probably asexual? Hasn’t figured it out yet

Doesn’t use a romantic label

Wind knows Wind likes tetra, but isn’t sure who else

Hyrule

Non-binary

They/them or neopronouns (fae/faer and ze/zir are my go to pronouns for hyrule in fics)

AroAce, not interested in a relationship

Legend

Genderfluid, usually presents fem

Intersex

Mirror pronouns or neopronouns

Asexual

Biromantic

Relationship with Ravio

Ravio is on the AroAce spectrum but does have feelings for Legend

Warriors

Trans man

He/him

Gay

Gray-asexual

Grey-aromantic

Four

Genderqueer, transfem

She/they/ae used with varying frequency in that order: she the most, they sometimes, ae occasionally

Queer (unlabeled)

Had some sort of attraction to Shadow. She doesn’t know what kind and doesn’t care to label it. It was what it was

[imrinababy]

𝙰𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚎 𝚁𝚢𝚍𝚎𝚛 [𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢/𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖]

Get to know them below!

this has been sitting in my drafts + yes, you’ve seen this sim on my account like 3 posts down but those screenshots were from months ago & since I had no one to really share them with, I’d just take a quick screenshot of my screen to drag + drop into a convo but now I get to yap away here. 😎 They also got a small revamp (hehe)!! I’ll probably make little (lol) posts like this from time to giving backstories to some of my sims? idk, I always come up with a little story as I make them because I feel like you can kinda get a feel for them as you see how they’d “express themselves” through makeup or fashion. anyways enough of me yapping here, I’ll introduce you to Adrienne now.

𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙰𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚁𝚢𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝙰𝚐𝚎: 𝟸𝟷

𝙱𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢: 𝟹.𝟷𝟽 ♓︎

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛: 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛: 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛-𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚒𝚍/ 𝙽𝚘𝚗𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢

𝚂𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢: 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕

𝚁𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜: 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎

Adrienne is a freshly 21 year old, openly queer and business oriented person. They have periods where they present themselves more masculine or androgynous but they’re currently in their hyper-feminine era. They're a very ambitious but cheerful person, always the first to hype you up when you need it.

They consider themselves as “a human that isn’t limited by boundaries created by mankind” and refuse to use a set gender identity to refer to themselves as so they’ll use gender-fluid/ nonbinary interchangeably to avoid feeling chained to a particular identity. They’re the biggest believer in “You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone or anything, including yourself. Do what makes you happy, our time is limited. Love to live your life.”

They just got out of a two year long relationship with an ex-partner who wasn't very supportive of their gender identity or the way they'd express themselves. "Since I don't set limitations for myself gender wise, I don't mind if people call me "she" from time to time but he'd go out of his way to only refer to me by those pronouns or go out of his way to make it known that I was only a "girl/ woman" in his eyes. Although I had a lot of love for him at some point in time, he was no longer someone I could say I aligned with." They don't have a set preferences for their "ideal type" but gravitate to people who have very similar desires or goals as they do. They're very motivated to reach the goals they set for themselves and heavily desire to be with someone who can match that energy. They are very attracted to the way certain people carry themselves.

They have a HUGE passion for baking & cooking. It’s the best way they express their affection. Sure, they’ll say “I love you” or verbally express anything anything else but their skills in the kitchen is the best way they’ll respond to anything. Going through a breakup? Here’s your favorite type of cookie made especially catered with your tastes in mind. Stressed about school? Here’s a homemade meal with all your favorite ingredients! It’s your birthday?? Well hope you enjoy a day full of taste testing a bunch of dishes made especially for you to try and enjoy. Their dream is to open up a bakery and/or a restaurant to share their skills with the world.

Although they can say they have a support home life, it’s definitely far from perfect. They have an older sister (around the age of 29/30) that they lost contact with at a young age. She "disappeared" from Adrienne's life when they were 7/8 years old & their parents were going through a divorce. Their sister went with their mom and they stayed with their dad. Their mom passed 3-4 years after the split so no one really has heard anything from their sister since. They hate when anyone refers to them as “Lily” but have the fondest memories of their older sister calling them that. Their Dad is kind of hesitant to talk about the topic and avoids it as much as possible but that's made it so that hes more understanding + supportive of Adrienne even if he doesn't necessarily agree with something.

Adrienne's Outfits

Adrienne's style is whatever they think looks great on them. They're currently in their hyper-feminine era so theyre experimenting a lot with new dresses, makeup, hair etc. but they see makeup more as an artistic expression so even when presenting more masc, they still love adding a touch of makeup to themselves.

Everyday

Formal

Party

Sleepwear

Swimwear

Activewear

Hot Weather

Cold Weather

(tbh i was the least confident about this one so i might come redo it and edit this later but for now its staying this)

[practically-an-x-man]

1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10 for Kestrel and Quinn?

Thank you so much!!

Pride Themed OC Ask Game

1. What's your oc's gender identity? What's their relationship to their gender?

Kestrel: Genderfluid, and sees it as an inextricable part of themself. They're very comfortable with their gender, even when they get insecure about other parts of their identity.

Quinn: Transgender woman - technically she could call herself a demigirl since she uses both she and they pronouns interchangeably, but she personally doesn't feel as comfortable with the microlabels. She's a woman! Simple as that. Dysphoria comes and goes, but for the most part they're comfortable with who they are.

3. How did your oc discover themself? Did something cause them to question, or did they always know?

Kestrel: Always knew. The "default state" for a changeling is to be genderfluid, since every part of their identity is naturally fluid, and Kestrel has always known that they were a changeling.

Quinn: Discovered herself while in uni. She'd gone to a drag show with a couple of queer friends, and from there went from "oh that looks fun" to "I really like being perceived as a woman" to "holy shit I think I am a woman" with the support and encouragement of her friend group.

6. How does your oc feel about labels? Theirs, or in general?

Kestrel: Literally cool with anything. Will accept any label they're told unconditionally and without question. This has the benefit of simultaneously making fellow queer people feel comfortable and pissing transphobes off like there's no tomorrow ("And what are your pronouns?" "My pronouns are beep/boop" "Oh yeah, beep was just telling me-"). For themself, they tend to stick to simpler labels, but they're accepting of all queer folks.

Quinn: Kind of a similar story, honestly. She tends to stick to simpler labels and doesn't feel the need to label every intricacy of her identity (see answer to question 1), but she's absolutely cool with others' labels. Like Kestrel, she'll accept any pronouns she's given as a subtle fuck-off to transphobes; but unlike Kestrel, Quinn will straight-up punch a TERF in the face if the situation presents itself.

7. Is there something that could cause your oc to question their identity? What?

Kestrel: Their identity as Kestrel? Absolutely. It's not set in stone and doesn't feel innate to them, since changelings are made to be creatures of completely fluid identity and sticking to a particular persona/identity is a little unheard of. But in terms of their genderfluidity specifically... no, not really. They're more than comfortable with that aspect of themself.

Quinn: Oh, she's had a lot of ups and downs. First it was when her parents disowned her, and she wondered if it was worth "just being a boy" so that it would be easier. Then it was when she started experimenting with her style and presentation and wondered if she was "really female" when she didn't want long hair, didn't want to dress feminine, didn't want gender reassignment surgeries or hormone replacement, etc.. By now, she's comfortable with who she is, but it took a lot to get there.

9. Are there cultural or lore specific aspects to their identity? If applicable, does their species affect it?

Kestrel: As a changeling, their genderfluidity is inextricably tied to their identity. If you read Taking Flight, you'll notice that most (but not all) of Kestrel's gender shifts occur during or after them transforming into another type of animal - metaphorical, yes, but also showing how their fluidity is linked to who they are. I'm actually really proud of how I've put together the whole changeling species, language, culture, etc.. Exploring Kestrel's background is a big part of Taking Flight.

Quinn: Not really? She's a white girl from London, middle-class (at least until her parents disowned her, then she was effectively homeless), and not from a strongly religious family. Any cultural views on her identity probably came when she first joined the quote-unquote "wolf pack" after Billy found her - that little band of thieves had its own sort of culture, made up of a lot of poor folks from various backgrounds and minority groups, and it helped Quinn adopt a generally very open-minded view on culture and identity.

10. Does your oc celebrate Pride? How?

Kestrel: Not really? For one thing, they don't necessarily perceive their genderfluidity as a queer identity the way a human person would, so they don't entirely understand the desire to celebrate it. For another, they do a lot of travel for their job, and that usually doesn't like up with the schedules of Pride festivals and events, so they don't usually get the chance to attend even if they wanted to. I could see them enjoying a Pride festival if they did go, they just haven't really been introduced to it yet.

Quinn: She's attended a few Pride festivals while in uni, but hasn't been to any since she started thieving. First she was worried about cops at Pride, then she was just too busy with thieving jobs, then it wasn't worth the pain of standing and walking all day. They'd like to go to another festival someday, though.

[nothingunrealistic]

text translated from french by google:

The actress Eva Victor, revealed by the series Billions, divides her time between big productions and indie works. She came to visit us during her last stay in Paris.

In the series, you often play young people from Gen Z who question their environment. Are you as committed as the characters you play?     Eva Victor: I had the chance to play roles of people who try to do good. I like the idea that my generation wants the world to be better, that they at least have this hope. As I can be quite pessimistic, it's inspiring for me to play them.

You are on strike right now. Yes, in support of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA). I feel lucky to do it with the other members of my union, SAG, knowing that we are acting for those who are doing least well: many do not even earn enough to be entitled to health insurance (the threshold being set at $27,000 per year). This is insane.

Negotiations are moving slowly. Yes, because studios and streaming platforms want to continue making billions at our expense. They are not ready to give up what they have acquired on our backs. Right now, they want the right to our image forever by using Artificial Intelligence to eliminate our jobs. It's frightening. They don't want to recognize the value that we artists bring to the world. This is senseless, and devastating. There, they want to drag things out so that we end up giving up. We have to hold on.

You are also an author, with texts published in the New Yorker. If I couldn't write, I don't know what I would do. I'm so grateful that it was a job, that I was able to make money from my writing. People sometimes think that writing or acting are dream jobs, and therefore they don't deserve to be really paid. No, it’s work, daily, solitary, complex… It must be valued!   

You were born in Paris. How did you move from France to Los Angeles? Yes, I was born here, in the 1990s. My mother lived here for around ten years, she was an architect. And about a year and a half after I was born, she moved to San Francisco where she met the man who raised me with her.

How did you start acting? I knew I wanted to be an actress when I was 18. I studied theater in college, then I moved to New York and I was like, “This has to work!” I started auditioning, I acted in a few plays, I made my own little videos that I put online. I did that for about two years, it put me on the map. And I was on the set of a film for the first time and I understood that this was what I wanted to do.

On your social media bio, you put the pronouns “she” and “they”. I feel pretty fluid, and I think that attitude translates into everything we do. I wouldn't call myself an actress, for example, I just do what I want to do, when I can. Here you have "iel", but it's less common, right?

Yes, it remains within a restricted group of people. I love when people use “they” or “she” interchangeably, because it reminds me of my fluidity. And I like it when it confuses people. I think we live in such a binary world that this stuff deserves to explode and go beyond the binary.

Are you viscerally New Yorker? I love this city. But now, I left New York and traveled a lot for two years. Every time I go back, I tell myself that it is a magnificent city, like Paris, with its particular magic. You can walk, the streets are lively... It's difficult to feel alone there.

Unlike Los Angeles? I'm from Northern California. I spent a lot of time there last year to see my family and enjoy the nature which is more easily accessible there than in New York. There's something truly beautiful about being in a cabin, alone, in the California wilderness.

Do you need solitude? I need a lot of time to think. So yes!

Are your stays in Paris a kind of pilgrimage? I try to come back here once a year. To recharge my batteries, to visit the place where my mother gave birth to me. You imagine? It's the 1990s. This woman is pregnant, alone, American. I think what if she gave birth to a baby in the middle of the night in Paris, in a city where she didn't speak the language very well, and in a hospital surrounded by French nurses smoking cigarettes while she gave birth, I can do everything!

When you are in Paris, do you feel connected to her? Everytime! We each have the same tattoo of Île Saint-Louis on our arms. When my mom got the tattoo, she almost fainted, but it was really cute. One day, we will come and settle here to grow old together. A day.

note that the word translated as “actress” in the lead section of the article is different than the word eva uses when they say they wouldn’t call themself an actress. though the latter is the same as the word used to describe eva in the headline 😒

[pronoun-checks]

Heyhi Sol! Could I get 2 tests for 3 names?

The first is the name Horsie and the pronouns he/him, they/them, it/it/its/its/itself (sorry I can't remember if you said you wanted the full set for it/its), horse/horse/horses/horses/horseself, horsie/horsie/horsies/horsies/horsieself, 6/6/6s/6s/6self, and ze/zem/zer/zers/zerself. Info: I like horses (lol I bet you couldn't guess), weapons, music, I'm wtfsexual/romantic, and gay.

The second is two names but their interchangeable, Keeters and Parakeet, and you can use all pronouns (including neos and it/its) for this one. Info: I like music, cats (also have a cat!), crows, cacti, also I'm autistic, and my gender is yes.

Tysm!! Sorry for this being so long.

No problem!

Horsie he/they/it/horse/horsie/6/ze

Wait a second, is that Horsie? I think I see Horsie! Do you see him? He’s the one sitting by himself with his headphones on. I wonder what they’re listening to? They mentioned they like music when I spoke with them, but didn’t say what kind of music they enjoy. Do you know Horsie? No? You’ll have to meet it sometime; I think you and it would get along nicely. I’ve only spoke with it once or twice, but it seems nice. Horse likes horses, and I wonder if horse has a favourite kind of horse? I’ll have to ask horse sometime. Horsie also said horsie likes weapons, but didn’t mention what kind of weapons horsie likes. I believe 6 said 6 is WTFsexual and romantic as well as gay. Oh, hey! Ze’s looking at us now! Do you see zem? Do you want go to say hi to Horsie? Sure, let’s go say hi to zem! —

Keeters/Parakeet all pronouns

Wait a second, is that Parakeet? I think I see Parakeet! Do you see him? He’s the one sitting by himself with his headphones on. I wonder what they’re listening to? They mentioned they like music when I spoke with them, but didn’t say what kind of music they enjoy. Do you know Parakeet? No? Star also goes by Keeters, so maybe you know star as that? You’ll have to meet it sometime; I think you and it would get along nicely. I’ve only spoke with knife once or twice, but knife seems nice. Muse likes cats, and I wonder if music has a favourite kind of cat? I’ll have to ask music sometime. Keeters said ve has a cat. Maybe ve could show you vir cat sometime? Voi also said voi likes crows and cacti, which I think are neat interests! I believe she said she is autistic and described her gender as “yes”. Oh, hey! Sea’s looking at us now! Do you see sea? Do you want go to say hi to Keeters? Sure, let’s go say hi to sea!

[qierxing]

Under the Sea

Yan! Leona Kingscholar x Reader

Halloween AU

CW/TW: Reader is noted with both she and they pronouns interchangeably due to their fluid state of being but is still considered G/N overall

“If you choose to lock your heart away, you’ll lose it for certain.”

–

Dead men tell no tales, they said.

Sailing would be easy, they said. 

Did they think about the repercussions of unforetold supernatural problems?

The rancid smell of seaweed and brine makes your nose scrunch as you’re hauled up and thrown roughly onto your knees, shredding even more of your nice clothing. You doubt the cold hands cared though. After all, what is one puny mortal against a whole ship full of undead pirates?

“This one ‘ere’s seems to be the ca’pn, sir.” A guttural growl echoes above you, and murmurs of more crewmates surround you. 

It was a good run, you thought to yourself. You fought till the end, until your daggers and saber were knocked out of your hands, your skin slashed and bruised, and till they had to pin you down from causing more trouble. It was more than what you could say for your own crewmates, the traitorous, cowardly scum, leaving you immediately and trying to flee with their own lives. Didn’t matter though, because they were all immediately slaughtered without mercy. You’d have more pity for them dying in their own pools of blood if they didn’t abandon you first.

A barnacle covered boot tips your chin up, and you’re face to face with a smug man, piercing green eyes, dark hair like coal tied in dreads and braids, tall and lithe figure to boot. The captain of this crew, no doubt.

“You. Herbivore. What’s yer name?”

People back home called you many names. The looney merchant. A superstitious fanatic. Raving madman on the better days. Today, you can now safely say they’re all fitting.

“...[First]. [First] [Last].” You cough up, after the boot digs into the crook of your chin and head, causing an unbearable pressure on your throat. The pressure removes itself and you’re left choking for air while the man hums in thought.

“Well, ca’pn Leona?” The voice behind you asks. A scrawny, weasley sounding voice. Must be the one who binded you. “Dunno why you kept this one alive.”

You could practically hear the grin in the next words. 

“‘Cuz they got some worth to ‘em right now.”

–

“Have ye heard about the myth of Calypso?”

The name sets you on edge immediately. A pirate asking after the revered primordial sea goddess? That can only mean…

“Who hasn’t?” You shrug your shoulders flippantly. “Every child in a coastal town has heard about how she controls the seas and watches over sailors.”

An annoyed growl is your response. It seems your hunch was correct. “Not that, idiot. I meant about her curse.”

Aha.

“Curse?”

The captain gnashes his canines impatiently. “The one where she curses her lover for leaving her.”

“Ah, that. Yes, I’m acquainted.” You decide to stop teasing him and see where this leads. 

“I need ta find her ring.” Silence reigns. You furrow your brows and cross your arms.

“You mean, the one that so happens to be dropped into the ocean, never to be seen again? The one where Calypso, herself, has been rumored to destroy? That ring?”

“Yes, that damn ring!” The ghost snarls, banging his fist on the desk, causing documents and books to fall off. “I need to find that ring so I can finally–!”

“That ring has been gone for more than a millenia. Scratch that, it’s not even proven to ever have existed.” You interrupt, uncrossing your arms, leaning brazenly on the rickety oak desk. “And yet, you’re wanting to stake your undead life on this trinket?”

A knife is driven a finger’s width away from your hand. You don’t blink as the captain’s face becomes inches away from your own. “What does a mortal know about being undead?! What do ye know of–” He cuts himself off, a pained look clouding his eyes. You only observe as he breathes in deeply.

“Alright. I’ll help you find it.” His head whips up in surprise. “On several conditions.”

He smirks. “Negotiatin’? You’ve got guts. Name ‘em.”

“One, that you promise not to kill or harm me at any point, especially after our deal is over. Second, once this is all over, you’ll return me back to land. Third and finally, you return my belongings back from your loot.”

The captain mulls over your words, deep in thought. Beads of sweat run down your back. It was a daring bluff, but if you were kept alive this long, it had to be for something!

He runs his hand down his face, groaning. “You drive a steep price. Fine. It’s a deal.”

A crack of an incoming thunderstorm echoes as you both shake hands.

–

You were many things. You were once a privateer. A bartender. Even a librarian at some point, shelving books for hours till the daylight blended to blue darkness.

But never, in your entire life, have you been made to scrub deck floorboards.

The sun beating down upon your aching figure feels like salt on top of many wounds. The biting smell of lye only makes your head spin and fingers burn. 

Worth? Was your worth really amounting to just being a ship’s hands?!

Unbelievable. You end up slipping and nearly falling on your face into the bubbly mess. Left alive, but only to be doing dirty work for ghost pirates. If only the people back home could see you now…

“Shihehehe! Nice work, newbie. Cap’n Leona wants ta see you now, by the way.” The weasley voice! You look up to see squinty gray eyes and sharp teeth, all in a narrow face. There’s something unnerving about the way the ghost leans over you with his smirk, as if he’s a beast ready to devour its prey.

Shaking away the bubbles and your shame, you silently march right past him and into a sturdy chest.

“Oi, watch where ya goin’!” An angry rumble shakes you back to view the familiar face with silver hair and golden eyes that pushed you down back then. You stand your ground as the both of you stare each other down.

“My bad.” The man grunts as you push past him. “What’s their problem?” is the last thing you hear before you’re out of earshot.

You’re in a foul mood by the time you see Leona’s mug, and it seems he is too.

“What’s the hold up on finding the ring?!” He growls. His clothes are a mess more than usual, hair rumpled, and even his desk is near inhabitable. 

You huff. “If I wasn’t bogged down on ship chores perhaps I can work more on that map to get you there, Captain.”

“We’re short on manpower, if ye can’t tell. Also I can’t have ye havin’ enough time to go schemin’ behind me back.” You roll your eyes, walking up to his desk and yanking out a long parchment, causing a rather cute yelp from Leona.

“Hey–!” You unravel the aged parchment, scanning over the red lines and dots that circle the map.

“Wow, you’ve made no progress at all. Do you really wanna find this ring?” The parchment is snatched out of your hands as Leona angrily snarls. 

“Shut yer trap! I’m workin’ on it.” You heave a long sigh, walking over to his desk and starting to arrange the scattered papers and books. 

“What the hell are you doin’?” 

“What does it look like? I’m helping organize your space. Since you’re ‘working’ on it, nothing wrong with making your environment better, no?”

He only grumbles in response, but a strangely comfortable silence falls as you both do your tasks, seemingly in tandem. The sound of the quill scribbling is rather nice on the ears as you put back books and sort papers into neat piles. It’s only when you’ve finally refilled his inkwell that you lean over his shoulder and take a look and whistle.

“Nice work, Captain! Now we’re getting somewhere!” You clapped him cheerily on the back without much thought, making him scoff.

“This much is nothin’, herbivore.” If you looked closer, you would’ve seen how he leant into your palm, eyes softening as his voice resembled one of looking at a lover.

–

The night sky has always been beautiful.

And as the stars twinkle above, you can hear the pirates singing their drinking songs, raucous and loud, but with whatever soul they have left in their rattling ribs. 

Your drinks were pretty popular, once they found out you could make the most killer mixes out of whatever they had in stock. Ruggie, the silver eyed weasley pirate, became your instant friend as he handed out your brews to other eager crewmates.

“Shihehehe! Think of all the profit we could make outta this! Yo, Jack, come get some of this!” The younger man staggers under the weight of his drunk senior throwing himself onto him, grunting as he looks panicked.

When you break away for some peace, you find that your intended spot was already taken.

“Come ‘ere.” You blink, half turned in resignation at finding another stargazing spot. 

“Are ya deaf? Come ‘ere.” Well, it’s not like you can turn down a command. You settle yourself down next to the lazing captain, looking up wistfully.

It’s a perfect clear sky. You wish you had your telescope with you. From here, you can see a bit of the Crux and then bits of the Centauri–

“We’re close to the ring, aren’t we?” You turn your head to observe a still Leona.

“Yes.”

A long pause.

“Why did ye agree to help me? I didn’ even hafta threaten ye all that much.”

You hum, eyes still fixated on the stars. “I could ask ya the same question of why you spared me, Captain.”

Another agonizing beat.

“I thought ya were a fool.” He shifts, shoulders popping and cracking. “All yer crewmates had the sense to run but ye just stood ya ground like ye weren’t up against the famous dread pirate Davy Jones.

I guess I can admire that kind of stupidity, ya know?” 

You remain silent, throat closing in on itself. Silence returns, but you can no longer admire the stars before.

–

The shrine is ruined, as you expected. All that remains is a half buried altar in sand and broken shells and rocks around it. 

“What the hell is this?”

“It is what you’re searching for.”

For someone to have been searching for this ring so desperately, he looks furious, enraged even. He clenches his hand around the silver tightly, hands trembling. Perhaps you should’ve been more sensitive than just plopping the trinket into his hands.

“How do I know yer not just trickin’ me with a fake?!” He roars, the cave around you echoing. Water drips from stalactites, plopping down into puddles surrounding your area. 

You gesture towards the shrine carelessly. “Give it a try. It’s what you’ve been wanting all this time right?”

Leona’s eyes widened. “What do you–” “You wanted to be free, didn’t you?” You tilt your head, annoyed. “Well, this is it. Once you do the ritual with that ring and return it to Calypso, you’ll be free of your curse. Your love.”

“No.”

Your mouth purses at the ghost’s retort.

“I want to return to her.” 

Something in you snaps.

“You left me.” It is not you speaking, but the sea. It wails and groans as the wind howls. “You do not get to choose to come back to me, not now.”

Water rises with your temper as Leona begins to comprehend what is going on. The stalactites tremble, ready to collapse under the pressure the water pounds upon the rocks. You slowly reach out your hand.

“Give me back my ring.” Your eyes glow, your mortal veil falling away like sand. This is your domain, where he left you to rot and cry out for him for many nights, until you could only pick your trembling bones up and out into the world. Stripped of your emotions, left to rage and scream at the sky, as you walked along the seafloor. For many moons, you wondered if you could ever live without him. As year by year passed, you wandered dry land to forget the aching pain in your heart.

You will make him regret ever wronging you.

“No.” Leona steps forward against the sloshing tides, now up to his knees. He bares his fangs.

“I won’t.”

“What are you doing–!? Give me–” You howl in rage as your outstretched arm is snatched and you’re wrenched into his arms, writhing in anger.

“I won’t let you go, ever again.” He whispers in your ear, and the last thing you register is the feeling of metal on your ring finger.

—

“It seems like the ship was ransacked by pirates.” The old man sighs, leaning back in his rocking chair. 

“Really?” The child at his feet frowns. “But that nice sailor told me all sorts of cool stories…”

The old man shakes his head in disapproval. “Loads of tosh. That superstitious lunatic would only fill your head with stuff of fairytales. Forget it.”

The child looks out their window into the horizon, the sunset leaving shadows on the waves crashing onto the shore. He blinks, and for a moment, he swears he sees the silhouette of a large ship in the distance.

He rubs his eyes, and when he opens them again, it’s gone.

“How strange…”

He could've sworn the flag was a skull crossbones.

[multigenderswag]

Survey Results: Langauge

Pronouns

Note on categorization: Different pronoun sets with the same subject form were categorized together. For example, ze/hir and ze/zir pronouns were both categorized as “ze.” 

313 unique subject pronouns were provided. Of those, there were thirteen different subject pronouns that were used by over 1% of participants. In order, they are

“He,” with 1154 participants (78.18%)

“They,” with 965 participants (65.38%)

“She,” with 761 participants (51.56%)

“It,” with 646 participants (43.77%)

“Xe,” with 327 (22.15%)

“Fae,” with 207 (14.02%)

“Ae,” with 177 (11.99%)

“Ze,” with 171 (11.59%)

“Ey,” with 167 (11.31%)

“E,” with 123 (8.33%)

“Star,” with 22 (1.49%)

“Ve,” with 20 (1.36%)

“Pup,” with 15 (1.02%)

Number of pronouns

In a question asking the number of pronouns someone uses, the options provided were 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more, all pronouns, the number of pronouns changes regularly, and questioning. People who use different numbers of pronouns depending on context (ex: more pronouns with friends than with strangers), they were told to select the option that applied most often.

5 participants (0.34%) used 0 sets pronouns.

124 (8.40%) used 1 set of pronouns.

374 (25.34%) used 2 sets of pronouns.

343 (23.24%) used 3 sets of pronouns.

102 (6.91%) used 4 sets of pronouns.

184 (12.47%) used 5 or more sets of pronouns.

125 (8.47%) used all pronouns.

165 (11.18%) had a regularly changing number of pronouns.

54 (3.66%) were questioning the number of pronouns they used.

In a question asking whether people with multiple sets of pronouns preferred that their pronouns be used interchangeably, the options given were 

Yes, and it is misgendering if they don't (171, 11.59%)

Yes, but I don't mind if they stick to one set (781, 52.91%)

No, I prefer that people stick to one set (104, 7.05%)

I don't have a preference (314, 21.27%)

I don't use multiple pronouns (106, 7.18%)

Of people who did use multiple pronouns, 12.48% felt misgendered when pronouns were not used interchangeably, 57.01% preferred that pronouns be used interchangeably but did not mind otherwise, 7.59% preferred that people stick to one set of pronouns, and 22.92% did not have a preference. 

Gendered terms

Participants were asked to select the type of gendered terms they preferred to be referred to with. They were allowed to select multiple options. The options were

Masculine terms such as “man” (1010 participants, 68.43%).

Feminine terms such as “woman” (440 participants, 29.81%). This is less than the number of participants who identify as female.

Combined terms such as “manwoman” (520 participants, 35.23%). 

General terms such as “person” (996 participants, 67.48%).

Nonbinary specific terms such as “enban” (295 participants, 19.99%). 

Nonhuman terms such as “thing” (588 participants, 39.84%). 

No preference (104 participants, 7.05%). 

While the number of participants who preferred combined terms was very close to the number of participants who identified as both male and female (a difference of 12 participants), and the number of participants who preferred masculine terms was somewhat close to the number of participants who identified as male (a difference of 56 participants), the number of participants who identified as female was notably larger than the number of participants who preferred feminine terms (a difference of 210 participants). 

[judasrpc]

TIPS FOR WRITING TRANS* / GENDER DIVERSE CHARACTERS

This has been a topic that’s been on my mind for a while now, and I finally think I can share it in the way I want to! 

This post can be reblogged by anybody, but cis muns should refrain from giving commentary. Please respect and boost trans* voices.

Disclaimer: While I am trans*, I am white. My perception of gender non-conformity and gender as a construct are not reflective of the beliefs / experiences of trans* BIPOC. 

Similarly, my opinions are my own. Some trans* folk may disagree with points in this post.

BASIC REFERENCES

Trans* is an adjective and does not get hyphenated (re: trans man, trans boy, trans, woman, trans girl, etc.). 

However, trans-masculine and trans-feminine are combined or hyphenated, as they are specific adjectives.

When someone is transitions in a binary manner (female to male, male to female), they are not transitioning to 'the opposite gender'. 

Male and female are not the only genders, even though they are two binary genders.

NAMES / DEADNAMES

While it's common for trans* folk to change their name as they explore their gender identity and expression, it's not mandatory. Trans* folk with androgynous and gendered names may keep their name for a variety of reasons, including:

Simply liking the name

Respect for tradition / family

Being unsure of coming out / unsure of what name fits them

Generally, it isn't a great idea to include the deadnames of trans* characters in media.

Deadnaming is incredibly harmful to many trans* individuals, and regardless of intention, deadnaming someone is actively disrespecting them as a person.

A great example of how to address the past of a character through the lens of transition is Tell Me Why, an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment (yes, the same folks who made Life is Strange)!

Throughout the narrative flashbacks, Tyler (the trans* protagonist) is never referred to by his deadname. Subtitles refer to him as 'Young Tyler'. The townsfolk, even when actively attacking him / his character, refer to him as Tyler (though use other methods to demoralize him, such as insinuating that he isn't / won't be 'man enough').

That being said, I have seen other opinions on the matter, and some have detailed why using a character's deadname could be beneficial to the plot. 

Ask yourself the following questions if you are considering using a character's deadname:

Does it need to be used? Can the story be written without it and stay the same?

Do you, the mun, need to know it? Why would you need to know it? Are there other irrelevant birth details you're making note of?

Can you 'use' the deadname without using the deadname? Are there ways (e.g., dashes and static noises) that could convey its use without actively showing it?

PRONOUNS

Pronouns, especially neo-pronouns, are not a "modern" or trans-exclusive concept!

There are many examples of cis individuals using pronouns not typically associated with their gender identity (re: he/him lesbians and she/her gays). Cis people are allowed to use 'nonconventional' and / or neo-pronouns! Make it a habit to list your characters' pronouns, even if they're cis.

Neopronouns have been used as early as the late 1700s-early 1800s, with examples such as 'a' and 'thon'. Examples of more popular neo-pronouns include:

ey/em/eir/eirs/emself

xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself

ze/hir/hir/hirs/hirself

ze/zir/zir/zirs/zirself

co/co/cos/cos/coself

ve/ver/vis/vers/verself

On a similar note, some trans* people don't use 'conventional' pronouns! Some people's experiences with gender mean they may only use neo-pronouns. 

Similarly, not every trans-masculine person will use he/him, not every trans-feminine person will use she/her, and not every nonbinary person will use they/them.

Some people will use multiple pronoun sets! These can be in a preferential order (e.g., he/they with 'he' listed first to show order of preference) or in any order. 

Try to interchangeably use these pronouns within your work (e.g., 'He went to the store because he needed new work pants. I wonder if they found a good pair, or if I need to take them out after my shift.').

Similarly, some people will use any, 'mirror', or no pronouns (yes, no pronouns is an actual thing!).

Where no pronouns are used, refer to the character by name (e.g., 'Ace went to the store because Ace needed new work pants. I wonder if Ace found a good pair, or if I need to take Ace out after my shift.').

Where mirror pronouns are used, refer to the character with the pronouns of the person(s) they are talking to (e.g., 'Ace was telling Kelly that she needed to go to the story because she needed new work pants. I wonder if she could give her a ride after her shift.')

In short: gender =/= expression =/= pronouns.

TRANSITION

There are various ways an individual transitions, and not everybody has the same transition goals!

Some trans* folk may have medical goals (e.g., hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgeries), and some may not!

Trans-masculine individuals (binary or nonbinary) are not required to take testosterone, have top surgery, or have bottom surgery.

Trans-feminine individuals (binary or nonbinary) are not required to take estrogen, have top surgery, or have bottom surgery.

Medical transition is not a requirement to be trans*.

Some trans* folk may socially transition by changing their way of dress, behaviors, etc., and some may not!  Some trans* folk may come out, and some may not!

Some trans* folk may feel dysphoria, and some may not! Gender dysphoria is not a requirement to be trans*.

Suffering is not a requirement to be trans*.

Everybody's transition is incredibly personal, and it depends on a variety of factors such as personal relationship with gender and available resources (e.g., accessible healthcare, finances, etc.).

[camilosamor]

masterlist <3

about !!

this is an account dedicated to solely camilio madrigal !! ranging from gifs and pictures to full blown oneshots and fics :D and yes! i did make this blog because i have had a hyperfixation on a side character for the past two weeks.

also! about me specifically, i am latino & speak (some) español :D however mistakes do happen as it isn't my first language, so if i ever mess anything up (any language as i also have a reading disability) please tell me ^_^

requests are always open! i more than likely wont reject your request as long as it follows these simple rules !

not extremely triggering topics (abuse, s/a, murder, etc)

smut and lime ! camilio is a child and reader is always as well. see the citrus scale if confused.

reader using she/her pronouns

on the contrary though! here is a list of things that i will do!

light angst (opening up, panicking, etc)

orange ! may be the focus point of some head cannons and drabbles :D

reader using he/him, they/them, neo/nounpronouns, & different sets interchangeably.

camilio fics

nothing here ... yet !

camilio oneshots

nothing here ... yet !

camilio drabbles

nothing here ... yet !

camilio head cannons

nothing here ... yet !

[rjalker]

if your first language is English (I can’t speak for other languages) and you think you’re “bad at using neopronouns”, might I suggest that you are, in, fact, just bad at grammar?

Neopronouns are just making you think about rules you’ve never actually thought about before.

It’s not that neopronouns are especially difficult to use, it’s that your understanding of grammar has been limited to the pronouns “she/her” “he/him” and “they/them” for so long that you don’t even think about how to use them.

You already know them.

You don’t have to think about the different rules that applies to each of these pronoun sets--and yes! She/her, he/him, and they/them all have different rules! They aren’t interchangeable! You can’t just CTRL+F and replace them and have the sentence still work normally!--so now that neopronouns are forcing you to actually think about the way the rules work for pronouns, it seems a lot more complicated than it really is.

Neopronouns aren’t really going to violate any of the rules that already exist, it’s just that you’ve never consciously thought about the rules, so it seems confusing and new when it’s actually not.

Like, here is an example sentence to show off the rules that already exist, that you use every day without thinking about them:

She is standing in line, that’s her over there, she’s looking for her favorite color, she’s going to paint her new room by herself!

Now if we just open a word processing program and literally find and replace the she/her pronouns with he/him and they/them, here’s what you get:

He is standing in line, that’s him over there, he’s looking for him favorite color, he’s going to paint him new room by himself!

and

They is standing in line, that’s them over there, they’s looking for them favorite color, they’s going to paint them new room by themself!

 Yeah, doesn’t look or sound right, does it? That’s because she/her pronouns follow different rules than he/him pronouns do, and they both follow different rules from they/them.

“Her” is used for saying both “That’s her over there” and “That’s her room” 

For he/him pronouns, though, you should say, “That’s him over there” and “That’s his room”

For they/them, it would be “That’s them over there” and “That’s their room”.

As complicated as you might think neopronouns are just because they’re new to you, they aren’t going to be any more complicated than the rules that already exist.

If you write a sentence, and then later decide to change the pronouns you used, you can’t just find and replace them. You have to rewrite the entire sentence.

Neopronouns aren’t going to be any more complicated than using she/her, he/him, or they/them. You just have to get used to the new sounds and figure out which rules they follow. Practice makes perfect.

That’s why I created the blog @choose-your-own-pronouns. It has templates where you can swap out the “archaeopronouns” with the neopronouns you want to test or practice. There’s also a “how to use the templates” guide on the blog, linked in the pinned post, if you need more help! 

And if someone in particular has asked you to use neopronouns for them, you can always ask them which rules they follow, or even ask them to give you a few examples! Most people will be happy that you’re trying to learn!

-

TLDR: Neopronouns aren’t as difficult to use as you might think at first glance, they’re just making you consciously think about grammar rules you’ve never had to consciously think about before now.

[the-melting-world]

Strength | Side A: "Outsider"

art by @ ligiawrites

~ In which a secretive barhand becomes reacquainted with a Door…

The Trio Appearances: Kipling | Khleo | Ozy

Arcana LI appearances: Asra | Nadia | Lucio | Valdemar

Track Origins: “Outsider” by Blanco White

Not sure if this is the right track? The full album can be found here: Strength

Khleo is Non-binary and uses she/they pronouns interchangeably

cw: mentions of death, plague stuff

~ 3.5k words

After their meeting with their patron Arcana, Khleo travels back to the tavern to tie up some loose ends before they begin their journey back to the gardener…

< Are you sure you want to do this alone? >

~ Yes. I have to, Hefe. ~

< Call me if you need me. I won’t be far. >

With that, Hefe slunk out of the alley. Khleo watched her familiar go. When the large, pale cat disappeared around the corner, Khleo faced the door that led to the basement of the Chandrian. She stepped up to unlock it, swung it inward, and wheeled her cart of empty crates inside.

Once Khleo had put away the cart, she started tidying up the basement. After the floors and benches were cleaned and straightened, she went to the fireplace.

Khleo gathered some wood and rested it gently on top of all of their quilts. They tore down the curtains. Then they lit a match, lowered it to the logs, and watched them catch flame. Once the fire was alive and crackling, Khleo retrieved her poncho from under the minibar, pulled up a stool, and made herself comfortable a few feet away from the gently roaring hearth. She sat facing the staircase with her feet planted on the floor and her poncho draped over her lap.

Khleo’s brow bore no crown of flowers. Her shoulders did not bear the weight of an animal skin. There was no proper throne to support her back or provide rest for her arms. There was currently no lion companion at her side. Yet when the barhand closed their eyes to meditate, they felt the Doors of Strength’s realm echoing all around them. They felt their powerful arms tingle with the imprint of many divine strengths. Endurance. Compassion. Calmness from Within.

Khleo mediated and radiated the glow of fortitude at the seat of the only throne she had ever known, in the one kingdom she had been made to reside over for so very long. She lorded over that which was hers — that which had always been hers — and she waited.

The final blow was coming. Her fight was nearly finished.

Khleo waited for that door at the top of the flight of stairs to open so she could see this fight to the very end.

Well… it had been ages since Khleo had properly meditated and so it wasn’t long before she dozed off...

“What did you get that out for? You’re not fighting tonight.”

With a startled grunt, Khleo jolted into consciousness. She saw Otto sitting on one of the benches across from her, having himself a whiskey. Based on the way his arm was stretched across the surface of the picnic table and the rest of his relaxed body language, Khleo assumed he had been watching them for a while. He reeked of several glasses. It must have been four – five in the morning.

Khleo cleared their throat and rubbed their eyes. Conversationally, they said, “I’m just getting one last look at it.” They folded the poncho into a neat stack. “And then I’m leaving it here with you.”

Otto half-coughed, half-laughed into his tumbler. “You can’t go anywhere.”

Khleo’s voice was clear and calm, her usual rasp present but not holding her back.

“I am going somewhere. And I'm not coming back.”

Otto’s lip curled. “Somewhere. Yeah right.” He barked a laugh and took another drink. “Wohin?” The question came out like he never expected an answer.

Khleo’s dark brown eyes met his.

“Zum Biergarten.”

Otto’s snarl faltered, but his grip on the glass tightened. “That’s a fairytale, Khleo. Hans thought it was real too. Look how he ended up.”

Khleo blinked slowly. “You think Papa believing in fairies is what made his life shitty? Believing in his dreams — in himself — that’s what kept him going.”

Otto set his drink down on the table. Who was this person sitting across from him? He would have expected them to blow up by now.

“You’re quitting, right?” Otto narrowed his eyes, knowing that he could call them out on their bluff. “So then stop running your mouth and get the fuck out of my sight.”

But Khleo didn’t fuck off. They kept talking.

“You used to believe in him too, Onkel. I remember.” They swallowed thickly before proceeding. “I remember a time when you believed in things… when you were kinder to me.”

Since when did they talk like this?

Otto got up. He swayed a bit as he tried to point to the door. “I said get out.”

Khleo didn’t move. “Only, for whatever reason, you couldn’t believe in the beer garden. That was too hard for you, but you always believed in Papa. So when he died in the plague, that part of you went away with him too.”

“Shut up.” Otto was the only one standing, but Khleo somehow made him feel like the smallest thing in the room. His eyes burned for some reason. Maybe it was the whiskey.

“You’re wrong. I never gave a shit about my brother’s stupid dreams!”

“You did. Once upon a time.” Khleo lifted her chin. “I remember.”

Otto hurled his glass at her like she was a cockroach. The barhand didn’t flinch, but the tumbler missed anyway and shattered against the fireplace.

Khleo began to stroke her hand over the name etched on the back of the poncho. Quietly, she said, “It’s why you could never believe in me, isn’t it? You told me all my life that I’m more like Hans than you, but you could only punish me for it. You were too afraid to believe in anyone else again.”

Otto was too drunk for this.

“Khlee. Get. Out.”

He slumped defeatedly back onto the bench.

Khleo stood up and approached him with the poncho. She gently set it on the wood beside him.

“Not everything got burned after the plague. I kept the old wardrobe and whatever was left inside.”

The barhand dropped something else on top of the poncho. Otto reluctantly turned to see that it was an old photograph of him and Hans. Steins in their hands and identical beards stretched into jolly grins, they stood together under the beer garden sign.

Otto didn’t know how long he was staring at the photo, but when he looked back up, the fire was out and Khleo was gone.

.

.

.

.

~ The Empress’ Door ~

Hefe guided Khleo through the streets of South End until they arrived at The Empress’ Door, a plant and magic shop according to Hefe.

“This is where she works?”

< Your gardener and her magician, yes. I’m sure. >

Right. Khleo suddenly remembered. She wasn’t about to come face to face with just Kipling, but with Asra too. The day before, Hefe had said that the barhand was about to enter the territory of magicians. Now as they stood at the threshold of the magic shop, Khleo felt the reality of this. Asra’s magic was like a deep, refreshing stone well – seemingly bottomless and meant to replenish, to rejuvenate. While Kip’s magic was briny, more ancient and coupled with the springtime energy of earthen enchantments.

When Khleo entered the shop, her view of the front desk was obscured by a long open shelf covered with overflowing, potted plants. She followed the wall of thriving vegetation until she could see further inside.

She spotted Asra helping Kip lift a plant onto a shelf that was honestly too high for either of them. They giggled as they both struggled to keep the plant from teetering out of control. Eventually, they managed to secure the large fern and stepped back to return to their duties.

There was an awkward silence that followed when the magicians finally turned around and registered Khleo’s presence. There was uncertainty on all of their faces. Khleo cleared their throat several times, not knowing if they should be the one to speak first.

Asra looked like he wanted to be there and at the same time, didn’t. Kip seemed to be waiting on Khleo to make the first move. She placed a hand on Asra’s back to steady his nerves and gave Khleo an encouraging nod.

All the confidence from that morning had abandoned Khleo’s voice when she blurted, “What’s going on with you two anyway?”

Asra hid behind his hand and averted his lavender eyes. He muttered an apology right before – laughing? – into the fold of his red scarf.

Kip chuckled, but not unkindly. “We’re together, Khleo.” She waved a hand to the interior. “We own this shop and we both live here too.”

Khleo set her jaw. “Oh.”

Then the barhand quickly assessed the body language between the two magicians. It didn’t seem as if Kip and Asra were keeping anything from each other, so Khleo decided it was best to come clean.

“Um… Kip and I kissed yesterday. A few times.”

Asra was still blushing, but not as deeply as before. “I know.”

The last thing Khleo expected was for Asra to suddenly stride across the room and gather them up in an all too familiar embrace.

“You don’t have to say anything else, Khleo. I want you to find all the things you’re looking for just as much as Kipling.”

Khleo tentatively hugged the magician back, using his warmth to ease some of her fear and confusion.

Asra said, “I’m going to stay behind so Kip can show you the way.”

Khleo nodded as much as she could. “Oh. Alright.”

Asra withdrew some. Khleo let their strong arms loosen around his back and slide down by his waist before they let him go. The magician offered up one last gentle smile. Khleo’s hands fidgeted when he tried to turn away. They reached for Asra’s waist again.

“Hold on.”

They tugged on Asra a tad too suddenly. The magician stumbled into the barhand, getting a mouthful of rough curls while they pressed their face against his softer white tassels. When Asra was steady, Khleo spoke half in whispers, half in purrs.

“Thank you, Asra.”

Asra made a puzzled sound. “For what?”

Khleo locked her arms around Asra in a more meaningful embrace. “For that reading the other day… I needed that.” She sighed. “I was being a stubborn pain in the ass. But you were patient with me even after I snapped at you.”

Asra chuckled, his own hand coming up to sweep her hair out of the way so he could breathe. He said, “Would you believe me if I told you I have a friend who’s much grumpier than you? I’m used to it.”

Feeling a weight lifted off them, Khleo gave the magician one last squeeze and put some distance between the two of them. Asra offered up a tender smile before walking back towards Kip and saying goodbye to her. Khleo tried not to stare too hard at the private familiarity between the two mages, but her curiosity made it difficult to find interest in the plants.

When Asra left, Khleo approached Kip, who guided her towards the enclosed garden so the two of them could have a little privacy to themselves.

“Hey,” Khleo whispered as soon as they were both walled off in Kip’s miniature world of stone and greenery.

“Hey.” Kip replied softly, her syrupy brown eyes holding questions that she wouldn’t voice aloud.

Khleo exhaled. “I quit the Chandrian.”

Several emotions flashed across Kip’s face. Before she could act on them, Khleo took control, locking one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders. The barhand steadied the gardener against their chest and found her lips with ease. “I don’t want to talk about it yet.”

Kip’s response came out muffled, but Khleo picked up on the understanding all the same. She would have just been content with holding and being intimate with Kipling right there in the garden for as long as she could. They didn’t need to go anywhere or make any more new and terrifying discoveries into the past. This was much easier–

“Khleo?” Kip managed to wiggle her face out from inside Khleo’s claiming embrace. She slid her palms up the barhand’s starched shirt to establish a little more space between them.

“Do you know who I am? Who I really am?”

And there was the answer. Kip wasn’t going to let the two of them get lost in each other. Not yet. There were things that needed to happen first.

Khleo sighed and unraveled herself from around the gardener.

“I remember things. Sometimes I forget them. Sometimes I hold on. But no matter what, it always feels like I’m dreaming. And the dreamer, the one who I see in my body…” They closed their eyes and shook their head. “I don’t know that person anymore.”

Kip thrummed her fingers against the vine-like details in Khleo’s open collar.

“Can I show you something?”

Khleo grinned wryly. “Does it involve going through one of those wave tunnels?”

Kip matched their smile. “Yes... Does that scare you?” She went about unhooking her gauntlets from her toolbelt anyway.

Khleo watched her put them on. “I think it would if you weren’t here to protect me.”

Kip was almost done adjusting the second gauntlet. “The Doors are like old roads we used to play on as kids. Just give them a little time and you’ll find your footing soon. I promise.”

Once Kip had given them instructions and they were walking side by side inside of the wave tunnel, Khleo’s nerves faded a bit. Kip seemed to know what she was doing and she had been right earlier. These tunnels of rotating seawater felt almost as comfortable as the fighting ring for Khleo.

“I’m taking you to the place where you showed me how to open the Doors.” Kip gestured to the moving liquid walls. “Like this one.”

Khleo scanned the rotating ceiling, still mesmerized. “I’ve met a lot of mages, but… I’ve never seen magic like this in Vesuvia.”

“That’s because only people from our island are born with it.”

Khleo looked back down and over at Kip. “So, how does it work? Do you need a key, or?”

Kipling’s eyebrows jumped a little at the question. “I know how it all works, but I couldn’t even begin to explain it. That’s Ozy’s territory.”

The mention of the third umbra’s name sparked Khleo’s memory.

“Ozy…”

Kip glanced at them, her face unreadable.

Khleo furrowed their eyebrows. “Was he... the tall one who was always laughing?”

Kip nodded with a light of fondness in her eyes. “He was always making us laugh too.”

“So,” Khleo looped an arm around Kip’s waist and lightly bumped their hip against hers. “How did I lose it? The magic.”

Khleo was hoping that the contact would get Kipling to relax around the subject, but the gardener artfully slid out of Khleo’s hold and quickly replied. “We’ll get to that. Come on, Khleo. We’re almost there.”

Khleo shuffled after her, threading her finger through one of Kip’s belt loops so they wouldn’t get split up. Kip chuckled and paused to remove one of her gauntlets. She unlatched Khleo’s hand from her belt and fitted it against her own. A new warmth came over the barhand at the contact. Holding onto Kip’s hand like this made Khleo feel like she had finally come home.

When the two umbras emerged from the Door, they walked out onto a grove growing on a broad cliffside. Khleo did not know the names of the trees peppered about, but they were guayacan trees. Ahead of them was the ocean, breathing down at the bottom near the bedrock. It was a tealish, enchanting sort of blue. Like the piercings Kip wore.

“This isn’t our original island, but it’s pretty much an exact copy. Ozy made a bunch of them.”

Khleo had let go of Kip by now. She was wandering to the edge of the cliff, trying to steady her breath. The breeze was so warm and delightfully tropical. It kicked up her curls and stiffened them with salt crystals too small to see.

Khleo felt connected to this place. Like they belonged there. Like they belonged with Kipling.

The barhand lowered herself onto her knees and pressed her ear to the earth. She listened.

A pair of gardening boots came into view. Kipling squatted in the grass beside her friend. Stroking back the curls from Khleo’s freckled brow, she said, “You used to come here by yourself when everyone was asleep. This place was yours before you chose to share it with me.”

Khleo sat up and rocked back on her heels. Once again, she took in the ocean and the limestone rock. Sifting through the memories that came in waves, she saw a small child reaching up into the fabric of space and prying it open with every tiny muscle that their frame possessed.

“I came from... this?” Khleo whispered, as if they didn’t already know the truth and didn’t feel it so powerfully just then.

Kip watched them, eyes shining like some salt might’ve gotten trapped there.

“You did.”

Khleo dashed away the droplets cresting over their eyelids with the back of their hand. Another rush of memories flooded their mind.

All of the secrets Khleo and Kip shared here. All the bonding that happened between them under the moon. And years later, their first kiss under the sun and clouds.

… Khleo working slowly on a necklace, pouring every bit of love that they had to spare into the way they fed the black twine between grooved teeth of the individual cowrie shells. They had wanted everything to be perfect for Kip back then. Before they told her that they were starting to fall in–

“Can I show you one more thing?” Kip asked, breaking Khleo out of her reverie.

Kip brought Khleo to an underwater cave. The gardener had to convince the barhand that they were a strong enough swimmer to handle the journey. Khleo surprised themself when they came up for air in the underground pocket.

As Kip helped them climb onto one of the rocks beading out from the concave wall, she told them about how the two of them used to come there and scream as loudly as they could.

“What kind of stuff would we scream about?” Khleo asked as she clambered onto the slick, rocky platform.

Kip straightened up. “Whatever we wanted.”

Khleo didn’t need an invitation. Once she was steady, she started to shout absolute nonsense at the naturally domed ceiling.

Kip gave her shoulder a playful shove. “What was that?”

Khleo gave a lopsided shrug, reminding Kip of when they were much younger. “Doesn’t matter. Your turn.”

Kip prepared to come up with something when she noticed the way Khleo was looking at her. The gardener poked the other in the chest. “You’re just going to stare at me like that?”

Khleo caught her hand and teased the gaps between her fingers with her own. “What the hell else am I supposed to look at? The rocks? Go on.”

The umbras shared one more episode of cheeky glances before Kip closed her eyes and shouted too.

“I missed you!”

Khleo didn’t need to ask who Kip’s words were for. The barhand closed their own eyes, rocked back on their heels and roared, “I’m so glad you found me!”

Kip laughed before chasing Khleo’s echo with, “I’m glad I found you too! I want you to stay!”

“I don’t want to leave!” Khleo exploded, her shoulders shaking with emotion. “Not ever again!”

The barhand crossed her arms over her chest to hold her body together. Kip made a raw, tangled sound as she seized Khleo from behind, burying her face in her mop of wet curls.

Tears streamed down Khleo’s face. “Why did I leave you, Kip?” They choked on a sob. “Why would I do that without telling you that I…”

The ceiling opened up. Something came down.

Their descent into the water was neat and grand like a legendary sword slicing into stone. Or a long foretold comet burning through the atmosphere.

Whoever had just dived in during Kip and Khleo’s tearful reunion swam back up from the depths.

Oz’mandias broke the surface, inhaling deeply and throwing back his locs hard enough to spray Kip and Khleo’s ankles.

“Hello, Khleo,” Ozy greeted while he treaded water with absolute ease, as if he were born right there in the lagoon. “The Doors have been talking to me. They told me that they really missed you. Almost as much as I did.”

Khleo, with their face still red and tear-streaked, shot Kipling a look.

The gardener looked from Ozy and back to Khleo before asking, “Khleo, how much of Ozy do you remember?”

Khleo chewed the inside of their lip in uncertainty as they took another good look at Ozy. By now, the eldest umbra was propping his elbows on the rock.

It wasn’t a full answer, but Khleo started with, “I don’t remember you ever having that scar on your nose.”

Kip was close enough that Khleo sensed the ripple of tension tear through her body. The barhand looked over at the gardener and touched her shoulder in concern.

“You okay?”

Ozy interrupted, “Khleo, follow me.” He let go of the rock and pushed off through the water.

“I’ll show you the place where I got this scar.”

[the-ghost-king]

different anon but i know this is a little more what you hc for nico and i adore it and maybe the other anon will too: headcanons for nb nico who is fairly fem? idk feminine nb nico makes me so happy 🥰 i love that you make a fair amount of content for it i truly love to see it on my dash, i appreciate you so much

Firstly, thank you for the compliments; and yes anon, you would be correct, femby Nico is something I'm so down for:

So originally Nico doesn't know he's trans, he doesn't even know the word trans exists

He's one of those people who is like "most people don't care about gender it's not a big deal it doesn't matter" and he's quite confused when people enforce rules based off of sex/gender

He's stands there going, "okay?? but it doesn't matter?? it's not real??"

Gender just straight up confuses him

Anyhow, I think Nico definitly gets his further slightly more in depth explaination of queerness from Will, and Will is like "yeah then trans people-" or maybe Will is trans and tells him after they've been dating a short while

Either way Nico is like "oh, that's cool!"

Anyhow Nico doesn't really think about it for a long time, and kind of carries on without thinking about gender much.

If Will is trans in this as well, then Nico learns more about himself through learning about Will's gender... But if Will's not trans then maybe Nico finds out Lou Ellen is trans (I have a whole bunch of trans Lou Ellen and trans Will headcanons I need to write with Cecil too)

Anyhow basically Nico knows someone who's trans and there's a conversation of gender at some point where Nico's like "but gender isn't real?" or something similoar because he just doesn't understand the idea of feeling male or feeling female, it confuses him

So eventually he has a conversation with some friends who are cis, and he realizes that even they know they're a boy or girl, and so Nico is confused because "why does everyone have this figured out?"

So he starts asking more questions, and finds out about nonbinary and he gets nervous because he knows Will likes boys, but what if Will won't like him anymore because he's not 100% a guy

So he does eventually work up the courage to tell Will how he might be feeling and Will is super chill about the whole thing and he's like "Nico I like boys and girls, and most of all I like you" and Nico's happy because Will isn't going to break up with him

Anyhow they have a long conversation where Willl is like "please don't worry about coming to me with stuff I love you very much okay?"

Eventually Nico begins to try out different pronouns but just when alone with Will because he's not comfortable telling everyone yet

He decides he likes he/him, but she/her is nice too, and he dables in xe/xem pronouns but he has mixed feelings on them

In my last trans Nico post I said Nico would like alternating pronouns but maybe I don't think so... I think he would tell people what pronouns he wanted when/what day or he would say "you can use he/him or she/her" or something

and some people would use one set, and some people the other, and some people would mix his pronouns

So Nico starts getting more involved in fashion around this point

Mitchell and him are friends and Mitchell's dad is a fashion designer so free stuff!

Anyhow Nico finds all of this stuff fun, and eventually one day she gets the courage to try a skirt on and it quickly becomes her favorite type of clothing

Nico likes to wear skirts with tights and combat boots

Nico also falls in love withe leggings because "they're just so soft!"

He never really comes out he kind of just chooses to live life and if people know or find out whatever

Like he'll be somewhere with Jason and someone would ask for her pronouns and she'd be like "he/him or she/her is fine" and Jason is getting whiplash from how fast he turned his head to look at Nico and Jason's stumbling over "he/him" while looking at Nico because he wants to say congrats so bad

Or maybe Will is like "my girlfriend" and Percy's like "you have a girlfriend too?" and Will's like "no??? I mean Nico??" and Percy is confused af because he didn't even know people could be gay until recently- but people can be trans too?

(Percy has his own gender questioning that happens, although a bit smaller and he decides he/they and that dresses and heels are fun)

So Nico's friends all eventually know but they just sort of find out rather than a big coming out (this is how they all found out Nico was gay too, Nico was like “yeah so me and Will Solace are dating” or “my boyfriend” because Nico has a hard time saying “I’m gay” or “I’m trans” so he finds ways around it to make himself more comfortable).

Nico struggles a little bit with the concept, not as much as he did with being gay but there’s still obsticales there for him to overcome

When Hades finds out he’s just like “mhmm good for you okay love you… daughter?” and that makes Nico happy because he’s still trying to be a good dad

Anyhow immediately after Nico leaves Hades runs to find Dionysus or Apollo and is like “trans what does it mean? Daughter was the correct word right? I’m sorry tucking is what now??”

He’s confused af but also supportive af

“Nobody says that about my son-err daughter?”

“Both are fine, Papa”

And Will and Reyna are in the background silently giving Hades thumbs ups

Sometimes Hades buys Nico weird shit and is like “it’s for your gender” and Nico doesn’t need the stuff but his dad cares so she appreciates it

Dionysus is super chill about the whole thing when he hears it through the grapevine (ha!) and he’s like “new name or same one kid?”

Nico’s like “oh um, same name, just new pronouns”

And Dionysus is like “great sit your ass down you have therapy to do”

(Dionysus always gets trans kids name right and never even jokingly messes it up so he always asks)

Also, Nico loves little hair clips, you know the little ones that tik tokers wear? Yeah those he has hundreds of them!

Cloth headbands are also her best friend, she has so many of them… (they’re like square cloth pieces you tie and wrap a specific way and roll your hair around it… I don’t know the right word they were popular in the 50s)

Nico ends up growing out his hair because he likes being able to put it in a messy bun on top of his head and he likes having it in braids down his back too

She learns to do makeup from Hazel (Hazel had a makeup face and likes kpop I don’t take criticism on that) and it looks great tbh

Also in public all the time when people see Nico they’re like “Boy? Girl?”

And he’s like “yeah both is good, but also neither, I have all the genders and also no gender”

And Will’s standing in the background laughing his ass off at the confused look the cashier has on their face

Just imagine Nico and Will’s kids calling Nico both Mama and Papa interchangeably ~

She does end up changing her name from Nicolò to just Nico because Nico is gender neutral

So much jewelry… so much of it, Nico loves it

Nico ends up getting a leather jacket with “give us our roses while we’re here” printed/painted on the back of it and little roses built into the actual jacket as well

Nico always seems to have some new hair length going on, like sometimes her hair is down to her waist, sometimes it’s at her shoulders, and other times she has a mullet, while other times she has an eboy cut

He ends up dying his hair all the time, at first he does gold and silver highlights in really small spots so it looks like his hair sparkles with glitter when he moves

After that Nico does half of her head in blonde and the other side in black like a split down the middle type dye

And he ends up drying his hair a swirled blue and pink color as well when it’s short

When he grows his hair out long, he dyes it with the little egirl dye in the front

She also does that thing where you have a rainbow under your hair and a normal color on top

Nico gets an undercut at one point where she leaves enough in the center top to put it up in a bun or leave it down to her shoulders

He dies his hair a blue-green one time while lit’s long too and Will gets an ombre at the same time using his natural blonde and a bubble gum pink in his like “bangs” area (Will has like a halo of pink hair when he does that dye)

And yeah idk I’m out of ideas but nonbinary Nico is great actually

[trashcatsnark]

What’s your opinion on Kerry being available to only male V when it’s mentioned in-game that he’s bi (correct me if I’m wrong, I have terrible memory)?? I feel like they should’ve had bi romance options if they were able to implement both gay and straight ones.

Oh anon, oooooh anon. I love you dearly, but you intentionally or not might as well have thrown lit dynamite in my ask box. This discourse has been such a strange beast within this fandom and I have definitely shared some vague thoughts about it before. I’m putting everything under a read more, to help stave off some....harassment or putting it in people’s lives who may not want it. 

 I still remember I was frankly heartbroken and upset when I first learned Kery wasn’t romanceable by female V when the game first officially came out, but before I played it; River and Panam weren’t even really known about, cause they weren’t talked about much in the promo material,  plus Kerry was shown in romance scenes with what looked to be female V. So, if you go back far enough you’ll find me in December cope posting and being the saddest and angriest of beans, because other than Johnny who I knew was likely off the table. He was one of the only characters I wanted to potentially romance. Now, I’m further away from it, have  processed my feelings regarding it and am more rational I believe regarding the issue. 

But, that being said, a large issue of this sort of discourse is that; no matter what anyone says, someone somwhere is upset. I’ve been insulted, blocked, accused of fetishizing gay men, and so much over my opinion regarding this matter. I’m still currently debating if I even wanna tag this, cause the issue almost always brings negativity to my blog and to me. I have very little interest in being berated for this, so we’ll see how I feel after I finish typing this all out. I’m going to try to go through all my issues, my points, my troubles and feelings about the matter. But, at the end of the day, it is merely my opinion. If someone disagrees, fine, just don’t attack people or berate them over pixels in a video game. Just dont. That’s all I ask. Okay, so I’m gonna divide this into talking points and whatever, now. 

Firstly, Kerry is bisexual. Point blank, period. I’ve seen folks try to argue that his wife was like comphet, which if you dont know means that sometimes exclusively homosexual people will try to force themselves into heterosexual relationships because society has conditioned them to believe they have to be straight. While, I’m not negating the fact that this happens, as a bisexual/pansexual (I use the terms interchangeably to define my experience and feelings)  person I’ve struggled with it when making sense of my attraction to women. It genuinely is something that happens. This is not the case for Kerry; he doesn’t ever hide his attraction to men, between TTRPG lore and the video game he has had two wives , and he is stated by game developers and TTRPG creator to be bisexual.He is bisexual. Getting that out there, saying other wise, in my opinion is a level of bi erasure. That being said, I do still have my grievances with how the game chose to handle his bisexuality and bisexuality as whole, also imo, the game generally doesn’t seem...to treat players who are attracted to men well… 

But before I get into that, I wanna make clear, I feel like Cyberpunk 2077 should have had more romance options for every orientation. If you’re not going to create a player-sexual style of romance; ie where every romanceable character is attracted to the player regardless and wish to focus on each character having their own predetermined sexuality; only have one character for each sexuality is kind of bullshit. If you’re a lesbian player and you’re not into Judy, you get nothing, except a fuck around with Meredith (who I will get to later). You’re a straight woman, but not into River, shit out of luck. You’re a gay man who’s not into Kerry, sucks to suck bud. You’re a straight man who’s not into Panam (kind dont get how you wouldn’t be but who am i to judge), well, you can fuck Meredith… so woooo. Oh also, if you’re not attracted to women, you will still be forced to watch in first person pov a sex scene with Alt and if you want Johnny to like you, you gotta date a girl. Also, all the male love interests will be sidelined mostly…. Hooray… But I digress, either go in with all romance options bi/pan/player sexual, or give more options for romance. Cause now you have the issue of people not getting the partner they hoped for and not liking their only option. Now, you got people trying to make the Judy  bi, which is lesbian erasure and lesbophobic, along with people saying Kerry isn’t bi and can’t be with women which is bi erasure and biphobic. Whereas, if you had just gone in from the get go with either more options or a player-sexual romance system; we wouldn’t be here, CDPR. 

Okay, so next thing, now that I’ve addressed my issues with the entire romance system and that yes, Kerry is bi. Should Kerry have been able to be romanced as female V? Yes and no. Which sounds vague, but I’m going somewhere. With the current set up of it; Kerry being romanceable to a female V would have unfairly given female players an additional love interest over male players. Female V would have the option of Judy, River, or Kerry. And Male V’s would have the option of Kerry or Panam. That’s not fair. I get that, inherently. CDPR painted themselves into a corner, by only letting there be two romances for “each” gender, one for “each” sexuality, and then using a canonically bi character for one of them. They played themselves, they were either gonna have to give an unfair amount of love interest to one side of their gender system or make a bi character who will only pursue one gender. So, they went for the latter. 

Now, some people feel thats fine, because Kerry having a gender preference is fine and its okay for bi people to lean a certain way in regards to gender and its okay for them to not be attracted to people. And that is true. I am a bisexual woman who leans a little more towards men, I get that. However, I have only been given one reason for Kerry’s preference for male V over female V. And it was by a developer of the game who stated that Kerry pursues Male V and not Female V because Male V reminds him more of Johnny… And I hate that. I personally, hate it so deeply, because to me it does a complete disservice to Kerry and V’s relationship and Kerry’s arc. Because even with female V you see him being preoccupied with Johnny and V’s connection to Johnny, then you see him move past that. So, to then state, its still a deciding factor in him romancing V is so wrong to me. Like why???? Why would you do that to people who like Kerry??? Why would you put that in their heads, that Kerry on some level, subconsciously or not, was thinking about Johnny when he decides to romance V. Cause that’s not in the game, in the game you get the vibe he’s moving on past Johnny, like he’s growing, developing, genuinely likes V. But that stupid tweet, just radiates rancid vibes, whyyy???  

And then, outside of that nasty tweet, I have to ask what other reason is there for why he prefers male V over fem V.  They’re...the same characters essentially, just with different pronouns and body type. They also can look like whatever you want; they’re completely customizable. So, Its based off of what the game associates with  gender characteristics and nothing else, meaning, his attraction is rooted solely in their gender and he turns down fem V by virtue of them being a woman and nothing else. Which, yeah, bisexual/pansexual people have preferences but when that preference completely excludes a gender based on nothing but gender…. Uhh????? See my issue???? 

And I’ve seen people saying, well, its better than CDPR playing into slutty will date anybody bisexual stereotypes. But, the thing is...THEY STILL DO THAT which is what drives me up the god damn wall; they managed to do slutty bi stereotypes and I don’t even get kiss the boy, which again, I get the need for fairness but wow, just wow. And lemme explain. 

Meredith is the only character, other than joytoys, whom you can have sex with regardless of gender, body type, etc. She is the only character who shows that she is attracted to V on some level regardless of gender. 

She is a one night stand. Her sex animations are the same as joytoys. She treated like a promiscuous love phobic woman.  And having characters like that is fine, my own V is promiscuous and love phobic. But, we can acknowledge that in a video game by a AAA game company having the only character who is at least physically attracted to the player no matter what, be nothing but sex fodder...isn’t great bi representation, right? 

Oh, and Kerry himself still is a promiscuous bisexual man, he just won’t romance female V because apparently, according to a dev, they don’t remind him of Johnny enough. AND THATS THE DEVS WORDS, NOT MINE, I HATE THAT. Like, Kerry is shown to have people’s lingerie around his house. He’s stated by Johnny to be someone who fucks around. He gets a blowjob from a man in a stairwell. 

The two most blatantly canonically bi character in this game are promiscuous; one wont romance V at all and just wants sex, the other will only romance a male V because at worse, he’s comparing them mentally subconsciously to his dead friend and at best….because….reasons…. Literally, from what I understand for Kerry to romance V, they have to have the “male” body type and “male” voice. Meaning, fem V could literally by all appearances look like masc V, body type wise, but because she uses female pronouns and has a feminine sounding voice...no… the stars say no… 

In my honest opinion, it is bad bisexual representation and a not so well thought out romance system for a game. 

But, that being said, I literally never romance anyone, because I’m a Johnny simp. So, the fuck do I know.

oh god do i tag this.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[shinctogethcr-a]

hi so i’m going to add this to my rules and this isn’t being said because of anything anyone’s done, i would just like it known:

if you are writing with alex, i would really very much prefer it if you could try to use multiple, if not all, of their pronouns in your narrative. alex’s pronouns are used very interchangably, as you’ll be able to see in my own narratives, as that’s what makes him the most comfortable. and while yes, technically she can’t be misgendered considering she uses all pronouns, it still makes both them and i uncomfy when people tend to stick to using only one set of pronouns. so yeah, please just keep this in mind. it really is important to both me and alex, and it will be a lot harder for me to get alex’s muse to behave for threads where only one set of pronouns is used so this is just better for everyone. so yeah!