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chicagocityofclans · 3 years

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Gendry Kingsley → Matt Smith → Witch

→ Basic Information

Age: 1435

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual/Demisexual

Powers: Archive

Birthday: 14th October

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Religion: Druidry

Mark: Whilem

Generation: 2nd

→ His Personality

There are some that would consider Gendry mad, a thought that is only likely to be solidified when they learn of his power and age. It is not uncommon for Archives to go mad with the amount of knowledge their minds contain you see. In Gendry this conclusion may be drawn from his habit of disappearing for days at a time, his tendency randomly jump topics in conversations, the fact he is often talking to himself or inanimate objects and that he seems to be ‘away with the fairies’ half the time. It’s hard to know what’s going on in his head but usually there is method to the madness as they say.

He is at heart though a kind man, a wise teacher and a storyteller. Friendships aren’t something he goes out of his way to form very often anymore but to those who stick around he tends to form a loyal bond to. They might not hear from him for a while but then out of the blue they’ll receive an invite to dinner like he hasn’t been gone at all. Sometimes these absences are as a result of travel plans he decided on last minuet or forgot to tell anyone about, other times he is simply studying or writing and completely lost to the world in the process.

Frequently he forgets that not everyone knows as much as he does and thus doesn’t often explain himself, presuming the other person will understand what he is going on about. He also has a tendency to start talking half way through a conversation, not realizing he’d been having the first part of it with himself in his head. The level at which this happens depends on the day. Somedays his mind is a whirlwind of information making it hard for him to see the wood for the trees, other days are much calmer and it is far easier for him to have cohesive conversations with people. As a result it can take a good deal of patients to be friends with him at times.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Records keeper, Mentor and Master Craftsman

Scars: A few

Tattoos: A triquetra on his right side & a triskelion on his left side

Two Likes: home grown fruit & rain storms

Two Dislikes: microwave ovens & shell fish

Two Fears: loosing his mind completely & knowledge projection

Two Hobbies: Cooking & book binding

Three Positive Traits: curious, cheerful & loyal

Three Negative Traits: chaotic, obsessive & vague

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Tobias Wilhelm (Father): Gendry didn’t know his father for the first years of his life. In fact he didn’t meet him until he was taken away from his mother by an uncle to be raised by the Wilhelms. He tried to like Tobias but the man always seemed ashamed of Gendry, or perhaps ashamed of what he’d done. Either way their relationship was never very strong.

Gwen (Mother): She was the daughter of a travelling bard, a strong first generation witch of an unknown mark and she instilled her love of story telling in her son. Though her life was not easy, being shunned by her father after having Gendry out of wedlock, she cared for him the very best she could. That was until a Wilhelm first generation found them and took Gendry away from her.

Sibling Names:

Unknown: He didn’t keep in contact with his father and so isn’t sure if he had any more children.

Children Names:

Gwendolyn Kingsley (Daughter): Gwen inherited her mothers adventurous spirit and has moved around most of her life finding new mentors all over the world. In her youth Gendry was careful to keep her out of the reach of their family but now trusts her well enough to let her make her own choices. She like him doesn’t like many of the things they do and has made her own mind up to stay clear of them. They have a very strong relationship and visit each other often. At present she is mentoring in New Zealand.

Romantic Connections:

Ada Kingsley (Wife/deceased): Ada was a free spirit who spent most of her time outdoors in nature. They were an unlikely pair but when their friendship was formed it quickly became something more. Gendry turned his back on the wishes of his family to marry her and has no regrets about it.

Platonic Connections:

Emmett Wilhelm (Wilhelm Family): It was clear to Gendry from the first moment he met him that he wasn’t like the main faction of their family. In his eyes this was an extremely good thing. It wasn’t long before Gendry thought of him as family, not just as someone whom he shared a mark with but as true family.

Lyla Wilhelm (Wilhelm Family): Gendry took to Lyla instantly, liking her disposition and appreciating her interests. He also think she and Emmett make a really rather lovely couple.

Audo Wilhelm (Uncle): Audo was clearly unsure of Gendry at first and he understood why so he didn’t push the relationship. Instead he let the younger man come to his own conclusion about it. Since he did they have been on good terms.

Maya ‘Flower’ Hanes (Wilhelm Family): Gendry doesn’t know Maya all that well but would be happy to get to know this other member of their extensive family.

Amberlynn ‘Amber’ Chase (Wilhelm Family): Amber was introduced to him by her mother when she first moved to the city. In the years since then Gendry has started to see Amber as a niece.

Ronan Cleirigh (Old Friend): The very first time they met is a little foggy in Gendry’s memory but he does know it was some time in their youth and that he is one of his oldest friends, if not his oldest. Sometimes they have gone almost a century without seeing each other but always manage to pick up right where they left off.

Averill Sookram (Old Friend): Averill and Gendry might seem like an odd pair but they hit it off from the first time they met and have been friends ever since. They have a running joke about which one of them will be the one to disappear for a few weeks without telling anyone next.

Eric Lasiter (Old Friend): Gendry was introduced to Eric when he first became a mentee of Ronan’s and a friendship naturally formed between them.

Brighton ‘Bee’ Genesis (Old Friend): Gendry met Bee when he was first mentoring with Ronan and they quite quickly became friends.

Roman Clerigh (Friend): Gendry first met Roman the way he met most of the Clerigh’s he knows - through Ronan. They became friends easily and have remained so since. He also credits Roman with saving his daughters life when she was born.

Judson Clerigh (Former Mentee/Friend): Gendry met Judson through Ronan and they instantly hit it off. So much so that when Judson asked if he could mentor with Gendry the elder witch happily said yes. It has been many years since he has been Gendry’s mentee but they still have a good friendship.

Ethan Clerigh (Former Mentee/Friend): Ethan is another former mentee that Gendry first met through Ronan. During those training years the two developed a friendship that is still going strong today.

Kady Gaines (Former Mentee): Kady is one of the few archives Gendry has mentored over the course of his life. He found it very rewarding teaching one of his own and is immensely proud of her for being a mentor now herself.

Hostile Connections:

Some of the Wilhelm Family (Disapproves/ Distrusts): Gendry doesn’t like many of the ways the family has operated over the years and has taken measures to distance himself from those who would like to see it continue as it has been.

Pets:

Gus: A ginger cat who is as likely to come and go as his owner. He’ll disappear for a week or two but always comes home eventually.

→ History

Gendry was never meant to happen. His parents weren’t married and were never likely to be. His mother was a beautiful, 1st generation witch but her mark was unknown, and she wasn’t considered a good match. This didn’t stop Tobias falling for her when he met her whilst travelling in Britain. For a while he stayed with her and her father, travelling round castles where they performed their songs and poems. Tobias loved listening to her but the longer he was away the more his family tried to pull him back. Eventually they won and one day he just woke up and left. When he did so he had no idea that Gwen was pregnant.

Years later he heard rumours of a pretty witch, with a beautiful voice travelling round Britain with her son who bared a 2nd generation Wilhelm mark. In his shock he told one of his siblings of his suspicion that he was the boys father. A few weeks later he found the boy, Gendry, had been brought to the family home to be raised amongst Wilhelm blood.

Those first years of his life spent with his mother are treasured memories for Gendry. They weren’t well off, struggling to get by for many years as Gwen was disowned by her father when he discovered she was pregnant. After a number of years though she started to gain a name for herself as a bard in her own right. Mother and son travelled the countryside visiting many castles and villages. Gendry loved learning all the tales, the songs and the poems his mother knew. He dreamed of one day telling them along side her. That was all cute short when his uncle came to take him away. Gwen put up a fight but in the end she simply wasn’t strong enough.

His magical training began straight away. No proper magic at first, just learning about their world. He absorbed all they taught him with remarkable speed so they started to test him, giving him scroll after scroll to learn. It wasn’t long before they knew for certain he was an archive. The training that then followed was heavily weighted in marks and family lineage as they groomed him to work in that area when he was old enough.

At first Gendry didn’t mind this, he loved learning about it all. Slowly though he started to see traditions and attitudes within the family that he didn’t like. The more he learnt the more his own views started to differ with theirs. As he grew older he took every opportunity to wander away from them that he could, meeting witches and warlocks of other marks, and reading things that hadn’t been given to him by the family. He then started to work on convincing them to let him mentor outside of the family, getting his wish before long. The argument that finally won it for him was his desire to train to be a Master Craftsman. So they allowed him to go off into the world, finding the best mentors he could to learn from. Once that had happened though, he never really went back to them. Especially after they forbid him from marrying the woman he loved.

Ada and he left his family far behind, seeking out the company of his friends instead. With them Gendry started to feel what family truly should be and more than once caught himself wishing he was a Clerigh instead. By this time he was already becoming a little chaotic, his mind so full of all the knowledge he’d learnt but they accepted him just as he was. It wasn’t long before Ada announced she was pregnant. He didn’t think he could be happier but that wasn’t going to last. His bubble was shattered the day Ada gave birth to their daughter. She was on one of her long walks she still insisted on taking even in her condition when she went into labour. Perhaps most women would have made it giving birth out there alone but Ada had the gift of aquakinesis and was prone to hemophilia and dehydration. It proved a deadly combination. Gendry heard the news from Roman after Ada’s ghost had appeared to him begging him to save her daughter. It almost broke him and the only things that stopped him burying himself in books and studying was that little baby girl and his friends. He loved his daughter from the first moment he held her and decided to name her after his own mother.

He kept Gwendolyn close to him through her upbringing, keeping a good distance between her and the Wilhelm family. She grew up to be as strong willed and adventurous as her mother, and with a love of music like his mother. They have always been very close, even after she flew the nest to find mentors of her own.

Since then he has lived alone, often in towns or cities where he had friends. He finds having them close helps him from getting too lost in his own mind or research. He has also had a continues stream of mentees but never more than a couple at a time. Teacher has always been one of his greatest joys but he is aware that too many at once would likely end in confusion for all involved.

His last moved was to Chicago just over a few hundred years ago. On moving he started to build a home for himself, to continue mentoring and to do more work as a Master Craftsman. He was also pleased to find that he wasn’t the only Wilhelm that didn’t agree with the old order, something he discovered when Emmett, Lyla and Audo moved to town.

→ The Present

Gendry still considers Chicago home, even though he often travels away for short periods of time. He is currently without mentees and has been spending time working on his library - expanding it in both the works it contains and in it’s physical size. He’s aware his mind is more chaotic than it used to be but has come to accept that that is who he is now. He’s just grateful that at the moment it seems his friends can accept that too. Looking to the future he would love to take on a mentee or two again, as well as continue to bridge connections with those of the Wilhelm mark that don’t hold with the old way of doing things.

#Taken #Gendry Kingsley #Matt Smith

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artsybanchou · 4 years

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I’m a big fan of 80s/90s anime and Ranma 1/2 played a big role in my childhood. The premise has sooooo much food for thought when it comes to looking at gender and specifically the performance of gender. I’m about to get INTO it, so, here’s your warning-- read more is a ramble. (LONG ramble)

Oh ho ho ho! WELCOME TO MY HELL!

Aight, so let me set the stage for you-->

Two people, who should not be parents, have a kid. The father, Genma, a fairly successful martial artist, takes their just-born son on a training journey without consulting the mother. By training journey, I mean that they travel all over the world with little to no money, either stealing from or scamming people in order to make sure they can eat, under the guise of training the son, Ranma, to become the greatest martial artist of the “Anything Goes” school of martial arts. One of the most frequent scams the father pulls is promising his son’s hand in marriage to various families in exchange for a dowry before running off with both his son and the dowry, never to be seen again. This-- inevitably-- comes back to bite them in the ass. But more on that later.

We don’t get to see a lot of Ranma’s childhood on the training journey, just the occasional incredibly horrific flashback to something that would become a national incident were it to happen in the real world. For example, at one point in time, his father finds a Chinese pamphlet of an ~ancient lost Chinese art~ that is INCREDIBLY POWERFUL!!!!! wow! It’s called Neko-ken. So he decides to teach his six-year-old this technique, although he can’t actually read Chinese so he does it based off the diagrams-- which detail a process of collecting a good number of cats, starving them for a few days straight, and then tossing his son, covered in fish sausages (possibly tied up, can’t remember), into the pit to fend for himself (and not be eaten alive) for hours on end. Surprise, surprise, Ranma comes out incredibly traumatized and with an intense fear of cats (something his father would’ve seen coming if he was able to read Chinese as the pamphlet says that someone would have to be crazy to try to teach someone this technique and that it causes severe psychological damage-- also could’ve been avoided if his father had any common sense or fatherly instincts, but hey that’s just asking too much of Genma). This is not the result his father wanted, so he tries to “fix” it by doing the exact same thing multiple times, just with different cat foods wrapped around his son because... I genuinely don’t know what his thought process was but yeah. So that’s just a tiny snapshot of what his childhood was like as well as how much of a massive idiot his father was. And since Ranma never interacted with his mother, guess who had the greatest influence in his development (yay........). (save him) (also this is based off my memory from watching the anime YEARS ago, so some small details might be wrong but the big, overarching “his dad is a terrible person” thing is still very much true even if some of these smaller details aren’t)

When Ranma is a teenager, his father brings him to a Chinese training ground full of cursed springs. The tour guide repeatedly tries to explain what exactly this place they’re visiting is, but the father and son pair are two hard-headed idiots and get right to sparring. Ranma knocks his father into a spring pretty quick only to be caught off guard when his father reemerges from said spring as a panda and grand slams our protagonist into another one of the cursed springs. Our manly man martial artist protagonist emerges from this spring as a dainty, busty teenage girl. /The horror./ The panic from both Ranma and his father’s deeply shaken fragile masculinities gives the tour guide enough time to reveal that they had fallen into the cursed springs of the drowned panda and the drowned girl (one guess who fell into which one) and that anyone who falls into a cursed spring will take on the form of the life form that drowned in it. They can return to their original bodies by being splashed with hot water but, from now on, every time they’re hit with cold (or even apparently lukewarm) water, they’ll change into these new cursed forms.

Now, I’m sure you all saw this coming from the type of man that Ranma’s father is based on everything I’ve said so far, but Genma is the worst(TM). So Genma is all, “no SON of MINE can be a GIRL! >:((((((” and Ranma, who has been raised for his entire conscious life by this man, and only this man, is also very much not Okay(TM) with this because he’s a man, a manly fighting man who was raised to be the manliest of fighting men who fight. He can’t be a GIRL.

Except he totally can. Because these two start taking advantage of Ranma’s feminine body pretty much immediately in order to continue running scams so that they can eat and whatnot while traveling. Of course, Genma constantly shames Ranma by saying things like, “I can’t believe my son is such a failure of a martial artist, being a girl! I’m so ashamed!” and whatnot at every opportunity but especially when they are in an argument and Ranma is winning or if he needs Ranma to do something for him. He frequently manipulates his son by using this kind of guilt-tripping language as though it’s Ranma’s fault that his body is like this. Nevermind that they both frequently profit off of Ranma’s female body for scams, Genma still puts Ranma down for having it and Ranma internalizes that because he’s 15 and his father is the only person he’s ever known.

And I’m sure we all hate Genma now, as we should, because fuck Genma. What kind of woman would ever marry Genma? (And we assume a woman is married to Genma because how could a man this bigoted do anything other than marry a woman all traditional and whatnot). If only Ranma wasn’t taken from his mother so young. Maybe he would’ve turned out a better person~ Well, uh, bad news, lads :/ So, by the time we meet Ranma’s mom in the series, we’ve known most of these characters for a chunk of time. It’s already quite well established how terrible of a human being Genma is. Ranma may or may not have started the episode out admitting he doesn’t know much about his mom after being asked about her. A standard set-up. I don’t quite remember all the details of the episode, only the important things-- here’s the important thing: Genma’s wife, Nodoka, made Genma swear something to her before he took their toddler on a training journey all around the world. He had to raise Ranma to become “a Man among Men” (and we’ll talk about how she defines manliness) and, if he failed, then both he and Ranma must commit seppuku.

Yeah, that's right.

If her son isn’t enough of a man by her standards then he has to commit ritual suicide.

Her son who now transforms into a girl every time he is touched with at least a ladle’s worth water that isn’t steaming.

(hey have i mentioned save Ranma yet? save him seriously)

Her definition of manliness? All the shit the misandrists of tumblr swear is the inherent evils to all men. She thinks her son needs to be unapologetically forceful in /all/ he does. Especially in his romantic forays :///// (yeah this is going where you think it is)

When she does decide he isn’t manly enough (because Ranma was being sexually harassed by an old man who forcibly put him in a sailor outfit, no im not kidding, happosai, said old man, is a whole other element of the show that like holy shit) and tries to get him to commit seppuku, the solution the cast comes up with is to have Ranma “peek” at (his friend? girlfriend? fiance? frenemy? roommate? it’s weird-- technically they’re the two romantic leads but their chemistry is like -5 because she constantly physically hits him for things that really aren’t his fault and just ://) Akane while she is bathing and that will prove his manliness to his mother so that he doesn’t have to literally die. Will having Ranma be a fucking voyeur prove his manliness to his mother, you ask? Yep. This is Manly(TM) and so Ranma gets to live another day. Yay. Once again, molestation saves the day. (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa) All of this is played off as a joke, for the record. No character is really acknowledged as being “a bad person” for any of this behavior-- not molester Happosai, not trying-to-kill-her-own-child Nodoka, etc.

So these are the people who made Ranma. Who shaped this kid with the ability to spontaneously switch between male and female bodies (presuming he has water on hand). Also, obviously, Genma had more influence seeing as Ranma never saw his mother between the ages of two and (I think) 16(?), but. regardless, these are the people who shaped his understanding of gender. For all intents and purposes, our lad should be such a pressure cooker of toxic and fragile masculinity that he just about commits seppuku himself every time he ends up in his female body.

But he doesn’t. In fact, Ranma is largely comfortable in his female body as long as his father isn’t trying to hold said body against him (wait did that come out wrong?). Ranma has no hesitations taking on his female form for something as little as a discount on ice cream. He makes the statement, “when it comes to eating out, being a girl is the only way to go”-- because he’s able to get an extra scoop for being “cute”

There’s a scene very early on in the series about exactly that which has always stuck with me. It opens with Ranma in his female body at a cafe with Akane and they both order fancy ice cream parfaits. Ranma is extremely excited and exclaims, “I’ve always wanted to try one of these!”

Akane replies with, “don’t tell me you’ve never had ice cream before.”

And Ranma proceeds to explain that he’s never had ice cream like /this/ because it would be too embarrassing for a guy. When Akane asks if he isn’t embarrassed now, happily shoving huge spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth, he responds with, “hey, I’m a girl now. It don’t count.” Akanes shoots back with a “REAL girls don’t eat like that” (because our lad is eating with such gusto-- he’s living, he’s thriving, he is demolishing that parfait and there is ice cream all over his face)

He goes, “I’ll eat it however I want.” And then finishes the whole thing off and proclaims that he wants to order the chocolate one next.

Moments like that were the ones where I loved the show the most. We can see Ranma’s insecurities about his masculinity (thank you /soo/ much for that genma) in that he isn’t willing to perform an ‘unmanly’ action in public in his male body. He can’t be *seen* eating girly ice cream. But when he is admonished for not living up to feminine standards in his female body (eat more daintily), he just goes, ‘i’ll do what i want’. Young me really resonated with that, being born with a female assigned at birth body and growing up in Texas.

It feels like there’s a trans narrative buried in the steaming hot mess that is this work by Takahashi Rumiko-- and it is abundantly clear that was never her intention so I wouldn’t exactly recommend trying to give her an award or anything. She said that she wanted to write a work with a male main character but was so worried about how many male readers she had, she made the decision to make (as she described) a half-male half-female main character (essentially so she could have her cake and eat it too if you will-- all the self aggrandizing fantasies of a male protagonist her male readers could imagine themselves as along with a copious amount of fan service-- the great majority of which was at Ranma’s unwilling expense in his female body which like ://////// (remember that old man I mentioned before??)-- with the female protagonist body). And, like, I’m not saying Takahashi Rumiko is a terrible person or anything-- I don’t know what her beliefs are, I only know her works which are quite old at this point. Takahashi Rumiko is a big deal in the mangaka world because she was one of the first big shonen mangakas who was openly a woman. Normally, men wrote shounen (which literally translates to boys) manga and women wrote shoujo (which literally translates to girls) manga-- the genres were literally divided along gender lines in terms of their intended audiences but also, to a certain extent, their creators. If a woman wanted to write/draw shounen, usually she had to use a pen name that sounded fairly masculine in order to not impact the perception of her work. Takahashi Rumiko was working in that environment so I would understand why she’d want to be careful but, at the same time, I still kind of hate a lot of the things that she normalizes in her works. Especially assault. Both physical and sexual assault she constantly used as a punchline. Not as much anymore. Her most recent work I’ve read was Rinne and the punchline with that one was that the male lead is super poor, literally penniless, and is constantly starving so hahahahha humor amirite? Pain being funny seems to be her through line now that assault is off the table. At least he isn’t constantly getting whole ass tables thrown at him by his love interest as though that’s supposed to be a cute relationship dynamic (Akaneeeeeeeee). I digress. Takahashi Rumiko’s works played a big fucking role in my childhood from Ranma to Inuyasha to Lum (which I encountered well into my teens and therefore didn’t jive with at all because I’d finally learned sexual assault =/= funny and this was one of her more dated works) and so on and just-- I don’t know if I can watch her older stuff the same way I used to. I’m scared to try, honestly. Because some of the ideas behind her works are so interesting-- like Ranma 1/2-- but then you have to sit through episode after episode of a teenage boy in a girl’s body being sexually assaulted by a remorseless old man only to try to fight back at which point he is physically assaulted but also he still has to grovel to and respect said old man because he’s his father’s master and therefore he has to learn martial arts from him but the old man is constantly wagering Ranma having to pose for him in incredibly skimpy outfits if Ranma wants to learn literally anything and alsso RANMA IS FUCKING FIFTEEN/SIXTEEN JESUS CHRIST IS THERE NO FUNCTIONING ADULT ANYWHERE IN THE VVICINITY SAVE HIM!

I NEED TO DIGRESS

It feels like there’s an unintentional trans narrative buried in this anime. It’s not a fun one (but most trans narratives aren’t either so). This is a boy who knows he’s a boy-- even when his body disagrees. He frequently asserts that “he’s a boy” even when in his female body because he is. He’s a boy. He’ll reference being a girl “in appearance” like with the ice cream parfait scene earlier, but when it comes to identity statements, he’s always a boy. This narrative is about him navigating gender presentation and societal assumptions in order to live however he wants. He’s constantly contending with his own forms of gender dysphoria, whether that be his own gripes about doing anything unmanly (eating ice cream) or the very real threat of his mother fucking killing him if he does anything unmanly (aaaaaaaaaaaa), and he navigates tons of threats by choosing how he presents himself.

There are characters that are in love with the male “version” of Ranma and want to kill the female “version” of Ranma (who, for the record, goes by the name Ranko) and vice versa. The Kuno siblings are a great example. Kodachi is in love with Ranma (and is not above literally fucking using date rape drugs on him to get to him) and wants to fucking kill Ranko whereas Tatewaki Kuno, her brother, is in love with Ranko (the lovely pigtailed girl, he calls her) and has literally sent assassins after Ranma. Ranma essentially has to choose between being sexually assaulted or physically assaulted every time he runs into either of them in terms of what body he is presenting.

I feel like I should let you know, ye who have actually read this far, that Ranma is able to protect himself pretty well from the assault. Like, our boy ain’t dead. Later on he literally fucking kills a god because he’s really passionate about martial arts so he puts all of himself into it and god damnit does his effort show but, honestly, his ability to protect himself shouldn’t mean that it is okay to assault him. Assault is assault. And just because he can fight back doesn’t mean he always does. Akane, his main love interest, regularly sends him through roofs and across town with the force of her Up + B (aka magically appearing hammer), usually for things that aren’t his fault in any way. Akane actually came to the conclusion that Ranma was a pervert when she (fully dressed) walked in on him (naked because he was in the bath) even though the bathroom was obviously occupied. She constantly gets mad at him for things that are beyond his control and then takes her frustrations out on him by literally beating him up and he never fights back-- which is admirable of him but also made me never want to root for their relationship because that isn’t a red flag, my dude, that’s a red planet. the whole of mars is out here trying to warn everyone that this relationship is the most toxic thing since RoundUp.)

Usually, when watching a show, you get really invested in the character’s aspirations. You want them to ‘get the girl’, ‘get the promotion’, ‘become the pokemon master’ and whatnot. All I ever wanted for Ranma was for him to fake his own death and run far, far away from everyone who ever knew him as “Ranma”. He’d have to fake his own death, obviously, because otherwise his father and Happosai would track him down because, for his father, Ranma is a walking meal ticket and, for Happosai, Ranma is a teenage girl he can sexually assault at any time. Those two would chase Ranma to the ends of the earth if they thought he was trying to get away from them so--

Ranma. Help him.

There’s so much more to dissect with this show. It’s kind of accidentally a great way to look at gender presentation, especially all the terrible negatives that come with constrained gender roles. I use He/Him pronouns when talking about Ranma because it is abundantly clear that he sees himself as a man and I respect that. Sometimes nonbinary-me is like, but think what a gender-fluid icon our boy would be-- literally switching perceived genders via fluids-- and I think that version of Ranma would be a lot happier than the canon one but, I think the canon Ranma is an important reflection of what a lot of people go through, cisgender, transgender, and beyond, when trying to parse what it means to present a gender and the roles you’re supposed to play.

Maybe Ranma can go on a journey of self-discovery with his own gender after faking his death and escaping Nermina.

I was all over the place writing this but this isn’t an essay and I’m not being graded so ha fuck you (excpet no not really fuck you because you either a) read this whole thing or b)scrolled down to the bottom to see if i’d get to the fucking point already-- which for the record, I don’t really-- and either way it means you were a little curious what I had to say so thanks I guess). None of this is exceptionally well-thought-out. I wouldn’t exactly stamp this with any kind of official gender discourse seal. It’s all just food for thought.

#my art #ranma 1/2 #dont click read more seriously youll regret it #i just ramble for a really long time about nothing #technically about ranma and gender #save ranma jesus chrsit he doesnt deserve all the bullshit

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