#obviously these are not the only genders

[elumish]

There's not necessarily a specific piece of writing advice here, but I think that people's writing is actively improved by the ability to conceptualize of and engage with female characters as equivalent to male characters. This is true across both the media you consume and the writing you do. Women are just people!

#female characters #representation #obviously these are not the only genders #but they're the main genders that people write

[dragonzzilla]

The whole "A male is only born to the Gerudo once in a hundred years" presents a fascinating psychological crucible

By accident of birth, you're othered from the rest of your people. There is literally no one else like you. No one alive at least. You are born in the shape and in the shadow of long dead monarchs, Great Men.

But what does it mean to be a man in a society that is otherwise comprised entirely of women (I do not believe in gender essentialism; but I do believe in societal pressures). You are a boy and are constantly reminded of it. A boy without a father, without brothers; and when you become a man, you will never have sons of your own or even nephews. You're a single drop of masculinity in a ocean of mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, nieces; awash in femininity but forever separate from it. You are a man and that makes you king.

Before you're out of swaddling, you're placed on a pedestal. Elevated, in some regards. Afforded the greatest privileges available to your people. But they're not quite your people. However thinly it is presented, there's always going to be a degree of separation from everyone you know and care about. Your otherness is constantly reinforced, celebrated even. You're going to be a king. And you don't get a choice in the matter. You must stand alone, forever.

There are other men in the world, but they are not Gerudo. There are Gerudo, but none of them are men. The only people who could understand your struggle exist only as imperious statues and aspirational legends. They are Gerudo men, just like you, but they're not people anymore. They are kings, conquerors, shapers of history, children of destiny, great men. You are a man and that means you are destined for greatness.

Try not to crack under the pressure.

#legend of zelda #gender thoughts #this doesn't preclude the existence of trans gerudo #and they obviously don't see men as superior to women #look at the way they treat outsiders #being a Gerudo Man though... oh boy (literally) #basically Assigned Leader At Birth #that's a lot of pressure to put on a baby #the reins are put in your hands but you're bound to the cart #also btw even though you're a king among us – that pointy-eared shlub over there lives an easier life than you will ever have #just take pride in the fact that you're a king and Super Special! :D #no wonder Ganondorf is nuts #when your only idols are ghosts

[atopvisenyashill]

i was thinking more about characters Performing Gender, but not necessarily Transgressing Gender. I wound up focusing on Ned and Sansa bc I feel like I understand them the most but-

Sansa as a hostage is imo the most obvious (bc it’s so well done) moment of someone clearly Performing Gender but not being transgressive in that performance. Which isn’t to say it’s not a complicated performance; it’s a fine line Sansa walks between weaponizing her gender to protect herself without seeming too fake. She’s trying to placate the Lannisters by playing the perfect, dedicated, air headed betrothed because it’s the only defense she has - if she outwardly rebels, she will be punished in a likely violent and/or sexual way (which isn’t even conjecture - when she says “or maybe he’ll give me yours” Joffrey has her struck with an armored hand). She’s not quite successful in being convincing but that’s because it’s a rather extreme situation; despite no one believing her, she does make herself seem meek and stupid enough that no one suspects she’s plotting to escape with Dontos until she’s well away from KL. The fact that she even has Dontos to confide in is because of Sansa’s relationship with gender! When she saves him, she covers her rebellious slip by playing up Joffrey’s intelligence & his role as King; she reaches for “tools” of her gender AND of ~proper manhood~ to save a life and herself from another beating. Her retreats into the godswood and silence are very much Sansa attempting to recharge from these draining interactions, the same way a knight would need to stop and eat and rest after a fight. She is fighting, constantly, by forcing herself to stay within the narrow confines of a specific type of gender performance as a way of shielding herself from harm.

Ned yelling at Cat is another big one, and I’ve seen the scene referred to as Ned using his patriarchal power to scare Cat, which is a great description. It feels like a Performance because Ned is putting on this terrifying Lord Stark mask in an attempt to get Catelyn to stop asking about Jon (and Lyanna). This is not how he usually acts with those he loves! When Ned is with His People, he is welcoming of questions, curiosity, emotion, even transgressive thought (to a point! the idea that Ned is a feminist because he lets Arya learn to fight is Not accurate but you can’t deny he allows significantly more flexibility wrt gender expression than most of the fathers we meet in this series. the bar is in hell tho). Yet when Cat asks him about Jon’s mother, Ned scares her so well she stops asking & still remembers the moment bitterly over a decade later. And if that snippet we see through Bran’s eyes of Ned praying that Cat will forgive him does come after she asks (like it’s suspected), it’s clear not only that this is a performance he’s putting on & weaponizing against Cat, it’s one he does not like using as a weapon against someone he is close to. After using the power his gender gives him to cause harm, he retreats to the godswood and silence to pray and rest, much like Sansa. A spiritual cleanse, the way a soldier may pray after battle, to reset and reconnect Being A Proper Man to Being A Kind Man.

I think there’s something interesting in that two of the characters most widely defined by how well they adhere to Westerosi gender norms both dislike feeling like they had to weaponize their gender. They are exhausted by the performance, because it’s a performance. This isn’t Sansa getting excited over tourneys, or Ned teaching his sons to fight; it’s toxic masculinity, it’s structural misogyny. It’s something they’re good at, excel at, and connected to something they enjoy but when it’s paired with violence, whether done by Ned or done to Sansa, it crosses over in their minds from an innate part of themselves (The Gender) to a performance necessary due to survival (The Gender Role). And that after these performances, both retreat to nature & god as a way of resting and cleansing from the experience.

#valyrianscrolls #ned stark #sansa stark #getting on my soap box #there’s something here too about romanticism. like shelley and coleridge and whitman. the need to return to nature to undo society’s harm. #especially with the way various romance movements and romantic tropes are played with by their characters. #i can’t even remember who said it which just shows u how shitty an english major i am aksjd but about how. #like society is necessary but just as necessary is the ability to escape into nature. i *think* it was coleridge i’m probably wrong. #the gender war makes corpses of us all #gender politics in asoiaf #obviously you can point to several moments for both of them. sansa calling petyr father. ned’s relationship with theon. wherein they both #are clearly performing something for an audience. #there’s like 12 other branches of this in my head. jaime’s romanticism. being knighted bloody & the sacrilegious nature of the sept sex. #and his inability to escape his gender performance the way ned & sansa do. ned being willing to cry in front of others but robb only ever #crying in the dark with his baby brother after he loses ned. cat’s tower stuff & finding solace in sewing. #i’m gonna try to write up something about loras & renly here too. tomorrow. #also i wrote this at the train station after work so if there’s errors or it makes no sense just pretend u never saw it skskdj

[vaxieth]

#vex #vax #keyleth #scanlan shorthalt #caleb widogast #mollymauk tealeaf #fearne calloway #chetney pock o'pea #critical role #my posts #this has been in my drafts since i saw a ‘gayest critical role character’ poll forever ago #(this is only canon characters obviously) #(and i’m using bisexual as a blanket term for being attracted to multiple genders) #(obviously you could argue/headcanon some of these characters are pan/omni/fluid/queer) #i have a feeling this will come down to liam o’brien on liam o’brien crime but i still want to see #and before anyone says ‘CHETNEY?’ #he propositioned the entire gender spectrum offering his ‘sexual healing’ after the bells hells reunion #yes chetney

[alexkablob]

not to wade into discourse about shows online which I swore to stop doing but I think some of you need to recognize that not every piece of media is about you, and that focusing only on the themes that you personally identify with while erasing the ones you don't is Not Great

#some of you only know how to analyze things through a VERY specific queer lens that matches your own personal experiences and it shows #and I just think there is a lot more to enjoying narratives about having a complex relationship to gender in a very specific historical era #than arguing about what specific pronouns and labels they would use in 2023 #and that white queer people reducing stories that are about a character's struggle with being multiracial #to *only* the queer elements that we identify with is. not great??? #you can't separate these things you can't just ignore them #I'm obviously not equipped to do in-depth *commentary* on that aspect of mizu's character because I am in fact a white queer #that is for other people to speak about and I'm enjoying reading their takes on it #but like. you need to engage with media that is not about you. you need to assign artistic merit beyond what you personally identify with. #you can find things that resonate with you in them but you should not make the whole thing about you

[joseigamer]

Patalliro! is fascinating to me because of stuff like this. It's unapologetically gay - even within its anime which aired during primetime hours in 1982 - in a way that many later BL manga would never be, like the ones from the early 2000s which would never dare to call their characters actual homosexuals. Patalliro has actually aged quite well in this regard, there's something comforting about how campy it is.

#i still dont really understand how they got away with this kind of thing honestly #female VAs i get that - but first m/m kiss in an anime in episode THREE????? #theres also the maraich/thomas episode where they are *Both* voiced by women....advanced yuri #patalliro #i love how bancorans gender expression is pretty much explicitly to attract only bishounen #you blushed - so you must not be a girl #etc #i also love how joyful it all is #theres never anything sad or tragic about being gay - only that bancoran is forced to kill the bishounen spies/assassins/etc #when bancoran finds out that gay sex feels good after demian; in the manga he is elated. its basically a positive thing #he awakens to his true power...lol #also notable is that while bishounen youth is glorified maraich is still 18. #besides making the show more palatable; this means it portrays being gay as an adult as normal #according to the NYT japan's psychiatric body called homosexuality a mental illness until 1995 #im not going to say patalliro changed that or anything lmao but its just significant to me that banmara get to live their lives happily #especially contrasting that with kaze to ki no uta and other manga of the time (no shade intended) #yaoi #<- for tagging purposes #obviously it also got away with a lot by being a gag manga. but still! #months later edit: want to say im not intending to moralize BL manga from the 2000s either. like gen. no hate on them. #as a gay person i just appreciate when characters who act gay are considered gay textually #and its kind of disheartening how gay-as-identity was treated as something incredulous in those manga a lot of the time #even the mere suggestion of attraction to men as a whole and not just the other male lead...yknow

[sentientsky]

Crowley as played by Vicki Lewis (in an alternate reality)?? U see the vision, yes?

#okay obviously I love David as Crowley #but also I feel like Vicki (esp as she is on Newsradio) would also be interesting #my parents love that show. I’m only there bc girls pretty and I’m gay :) #Vicki Lewis #newsradio #good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #good omens 2 #aziraphale #aziracrow #go2 #ineffable lovers #ineffable wives #good omens season 2 #aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale #okay wait but Vicki Lewis using he/him pronouns w fem! presentation!?? the MOST gender #he would be so slay #crowley x arizaphale #gomens #gomens 2 #David tennant #fem!crowley #ignore my terrible editing skills pls

[uncanny-tranny]

Honestly, attachment to sex rather than gender as a social construction won't create a utopia without the subjugation of one's presentation, background, or experience from existing. Recognizing that sex and gender are both socially constructed and while they sometimes inform one another, they won't always, and that trans people absolutely can attest to this and are integral to making change for a better world are insurmountably important. If your desire for a "better world" coincidentally doesn't include us, what you desire isn't a better world where people are free - it is subjugation by a different name.

#trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #mtf #nonbinary #and this is why i stopped really buying into the odea that abolishing gender alone would save us #because people still believe that sex is this Divine thing that Never Ever Is Influenced Or Is Seen Socially As Anything... #...that whatever is seen as 'right' by societal standards is inherently true... #... it's the idea that a person existing is simultaneously natural AND unnatural only in context with what /everybody else/ thinks.. #i just find that people are super enthusiastic about obtaining a utopia for them that just ~coincidentally~ will naturally exclude transness #like 'without gender you trans people wont NEED to exist 🥺🥹' and it just shows that you don't WANT a better world. #what you WANT is a hierarchy where you are naturally ordained at the top #at best it shows a lack of understanding of the trans perspective and at worst appears genocidal #exactly HOW will you prevent us from existing? because closing your ears and going 'lalala you don't exist!' obviously hasn't cut it #offtopic completely but i am watching my spotify wrapped and what the fuck #why the Fuck did i listen to time warp 314 times (i Know Why) #i am shocked that weezer wasn't in the top fove artists. i am thankful too

[biracy]

I think it's deeply unfortunate that conversations about "representation" have become dominated by the issue of gay representation and That's It. I'm someone who thinks mainstream gay representation matters, but I also understand why it's easy for so many people to go "well I don't NEED boring lame high school romcoms for LOSERS. The only 'representation' I need is like, idk, weird furry comics made by the fagdykes online! Become unmarketable!" when the only issue on the table for them is sexuality. But I think it's not useful to take that mindset and apply it to "representation" as a broader concept, because in my experience at least it becomes quite different when the issue is less "the only mainstream representation for me is something I find kind of boring" and more "I don't think I have ever seen a person who Looks like me be presented in mainstream media in a positive or desirable light" (which applies to all sorts of stuff including trans stuff, body stuff, disability stuff, race/ethnicity stuff, etc.) Obviously I love subcultures and I love niches and I love Finding Community With Other Freaks or whatever, obviously I love that! But I also, as someone who is of Many Overlapping Marginalized Identities, Kind of want to see people who look and act and live like me be presented as People. Visibly trans characters who have things going on besides just experiencing transphobia or gender dysphoria, openly Latino characters who have things going on besides just experiencing racism or xenophobia, neurodivergent or mentally ill or socially disabled or whatever characters who have things going on besides being Weird or Creepy for the sake of a joke, chubby or fat characters who have things going on besides being demonized or mocked or A Message About Body Positivity. Characters who are People, the way like. normie white guy characters get to be lmao, and not just tools to teach some kind of lesson. "You shouldn't look for that in mainstream media/pop culture" well why not? Why shouldn't a culture's popular media represent the people that make up that culture? Not everyone is an online 20something attuned to the best queer indie art of the decade, yknow, and people who exist outside of our subcultures deserve "representation" too. Ever since I was a little kid I had an affinity for openly Latino characters on TV or in books, and that hasn't gone away. Different kinds of people Exist and deserve to be seen in art that isn't relegated to being "alternative" or "niche." Because while I am alternative, it's not my body or my upbringing or my social problems that make me that way. No human being should be considered a "deviation from the norm." Don't let art and culture forever belong to those who have deemed themselves "the norm" through continued subjugation

#open mick night #lgbt #boricuaisms #selective mutism #gender #and all the other shite i post about #oh also all of this also applies to discussions about 'slurs' re: people using 'slurs' to literally only ever mean homophobic slurs #and obviously none of this is exclusive to the specific identities i bring up (latino neurodivergence etc) that's just My lane

[tswwwit]

What are some ideas you have floating around that you don't have any plans on writing but like to entertain as a thought?

Many of them, in fact! Though they sort of vanish from my memory if I don't make a record of them, here's a few ones I jotted down when they came to mind.

For a domestic one: Bill thought he'd hate a lot of being married! Even though he loves Dipper, he thought he'd rebel against the chains of domesticity - and in some ways he still does - but one major benefit he's found is not having to be 'on' all the time.

No need to be perfectly performing all the time! No shoving around for social influence, no intimidation, or clever tricks. No commanding attention or taking up the room. Hell, there's surprisingly little upkeep! Bill can undo his tie and pick his nose and bitch about his day to someone who isn't bending over backwards to agree with him on everything. Someone who doesn't give him a weird look and sneer if he, god forbid, actually wants to sit down, read a book, drop the grin for an hour or two.

The concept in question is Bill's very first moment of great surprise. That when he isn't being the most charming, terrifying, and exciting guy in the universe, and just chilling out for like, five minutes, Dipper comes over and snuggles up to him on the couch, or wraps his arms around his shoulders and kisses the top of his head. And when Bill asks 'what was that for?', Dipper shrugs and goes 'eh, just felt like it'. It's both baffling and extremely compelling.

A short where Reincarnated Dip is Definitely Sure he's Not Gay!!! Especially not for this Hot Demon Man who is getting so close and touchy with him with his big smile and horrible wiles. Yep. Just keeping an eye on him to make sure he's not up to something Nefarious ™.

A discussion between Dipper and Bill where Dipper insists that Bill should understand this, or not do that, because, like. Y'know, Bill's a guy! There are guy things! Making Bill stare at Dipper like he's an idiot. He proceeds to informs Dipper how that's stupid for multiple reasons! First, that Bill's Not Human to begin with, his gender can't be put into a little box! And frankly, he never filled out the paperwork for his original one, come to think of it. Sure, he/him's fine, but c'mon, sapling, thinking of the whole shebang like a binary is dumb as hell. Now Dipper has to do some mental readjustment re: his own issues with masculinity/gender.

#answers #None of this is very coherent I just saved this ask for a while and dumped some thoughts in #Though I do have like a whole scene in my head for the gender one #Probably it's Bill cajoling Dipper into wearing a dress for something. Which Dipper obviously rebels against. #Bill's very convincing but Dipper shoots back well. He's never seen *Bill* wear a dress. Thinking he's making a point #But Bill just gets the metaphorical equivalent of a lightbulb over his head. Hey! Good point kid it's been a while #Oh ho!!! I see! Pinching Dipper's cheek - you want us to *match!* Surprised to see any fashion sense outta you #Hold on a sec. Bill will whip up something in a jiffy. A real nice one #Now Dipper's spluttering. He thought it was a good counterargument but Bill didn't even *flinch* at the idea of wearing one himself #But like. C'mon Bill Guys Don't Wear Dresses!! You're a guy you shouldn't- #Bill stares at him like he's an idiot. DIpper shuts up. Dumb move actually now that he's thinking about it #Both because telling Bill he *shouldn't* do something absolutely means he's looking into doing it. If not already in the process #And second. Uh. Oh hell. Dipper remembers. That Bill's only wearing that body. Not human. Triangular so - Wait. Is he *not* a guy?? Uh. #Bill's perfectly fine with his human body and his pronouns. Even with the presumptions that his husband has made over the years #But Dipper having this idea that those mean Bill should STOP doing certain things annoys him a lot #Bill politely - for him anyway - reminds Dipper that he's very much *not* a guy. None of that crap applies! #As Dipper has seen! And hey the ideas Dipper's working with there are outdated even among *humans* what the hell #There's probably a mini-rant that's rather scathing but frankly that's Bill on easy mode for his husband #Dipper's well-intentioned and knows how things go but he struggles with masculinity especially regarding himself #Turns out being bullied and trying so hard to be Socially Acceptable means a lot of issues to unpack #Also re: the Domestic one #Dipper is present with Bill while he chills out for those five minutes. Just watching from across the room #Bill knows he's there. But he's not puffing up trying to be impressive. Not being dismissive. Just accepting. And now Dipper's *fascinated* #It's so rare to see Bill NOT 'on' that he couldn't help it. No big show. No big grin. Almost.... not 'vulnerable' he's terrifying always #But so so relatable. God does Dipper know the feeling of just wanting to find some peace and quiet after a hectic day. But for Bill. That's #Rare and strange and so - Dipper *knows* he's the Only Person who could ever ever see this. Being in Bill's presence for a full ten minutes #Without Bill flipping some internal switch to 'Impress or Intimidate'. This is Dipper's own little secret to watch and absorb and treasure #And. In a way. When Bill's not vibrating with potential energy for parties or violence he's even MORE handsome #He just HAS to kiss him. A little bit. On the cheek or on the top of the head. Maybe curl up next to him where it's warm and touch his ches #Bill spends hours afterward wondering where the hell that came from and WHY. And it'll take him *so much* time to figure it out

[robintherobiner]

male character gets turned into a female and it shows him the experiences his female friends go through and it teaches him to be better? incredible fic, i'd so read it.

male character gets turned into a female and everyone around him starts treating him gentler and fussing over him and he suddenly becomes super emotional? ew. what are you doing. thats a de-aging fic. not a gender-swap. being a women doesn't make you weaker or more emotional or more in need of protecting.

#thats why i hate genderbend fics because why do you make a dude a girl and suddenly hes incapable of doing anything himself #“batmom would be a better parent” SHUT UP WHY DO YOU THINK THAT? WHY DOES A VAGINA MAKE BRUCE BETTER AT PARENTING WEIRDO #obviously not every fic does this i've actually read a few really good ones but jesus they're rare #i think the only exception to this is if its an all one gendered family? like a family of dudes and one gets turned into a girl #then it makes sense for them to freak out because they dont have any? #but in the batfamily that makes no sense because CASS STEPH BABS ARE RIGHT THERE. FEMALES ARE NOT A NEW PHENOMINOM TO THEM. #dc comics #dc universe #batman comics #batfamily #batfam #genderbend #genderswap #fanfiction #fanfiction icks #how is that not a tag #reading icks #ohhh there we go

[sugarcoatednightshade]

Tired of seeing fic on ao3 claiming to be based off dune the book series when it’s very obvious that the writer has only seen dune the movie(s).

Yes, it matters. Yes, these are very different works. You’re probably doing this for visibility; I don’t care. Archive Of Our Own is a fucking archive, stop labeling your works with a tag you know is factually incorrect. It makes it impossible for me to filter for fics I want to read.

#ao3 #dune #dune books #dune messiah #written because I’ve seen so many fics claiming to be based off the book who have no idea who Alia is #like girl! that’s my girl!!! #if your fic doesn’t contain Alia The Murderous Toddler then I don’t want it in my house in my home in my life #also the fight between feyd and paul went so differently in the books vs the movie. like it’s barely even an obstacle for Paul in the books #the differences are subtle in fic but really obvious if you’re expecting to see one thing and then all of a sudden it’s something else #(did I just describe all of fic? yes. but I hope y’all know what I mean. we are working off of different canon baselines) #seriously Alia is 15 pounds soaking wet three year old child. and she kills the baron . for fun… #also the fremen are not prudes. most people get this. but really neither is the rest of the empire??? I mean the harkonens obviously were. #.like that.. but also I get the feeling that no one else really cared #I’m only on the second book so I could be wrong. but from here it seems like the dune universe has a very fluid understanding of gender and #and sexuality. and polyamory. and drug use. #shout out to face changers gotta be one of my favorite genders btw #anyway. ugh. #long rant is long

[nobodymitskigabriel]

Personally I don't actually see Sam as a woman in a literal sense and I understand the term "woman-coded" isn't totally free of baggage but to me it's more about being boxed and perceived in a certain way that colors the pattern of treatment he experiences by the narrative that feels allegorically gendered. Especially since they're often applied to him without his desire which is very similar my own experience with gender as well. Like just the ways that monstrousness is treated when is manifests in sam versus dean are SO different and it feels fair to analyze them in a gendered way e.g. demon blood sam being physically restrained and locked up, sam being solely blamed for something that was objectively multiple parties fault; moc dean continuing to roam free during his descent into violence, everyone's expected to believe him when he insists that he's fine. This is obvious not a feminist debate or analysis it's just one interesting lens to view the character imo.

#sam being raped on its own has nothing to do with the woman thing and he's not the only man who was sa-ed #and obviously this show does have a huge misogyny problem which deserves its own attention #i obviously dont think sam is the face of feminist tv analysis i just dont see fluid gendered interpretations of media #as something that should be “off limits” or inherently problematic when they've been around for like ever #sam winchester

[cangrellesteponme]

would you like some doodles of sebastian being a cutie? i have a few :)

#i too enjoy being toxic in my little outfits #i was dressed in a very cute fit at the bar where i drew these 😌 #anyway #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitsuji fanart #black butler #black butler fanart #my art #sebastian michaelis #oh and obviously #genderfluid sebastian michaelis #(i truly only use this tag so i have a list of posts to look at like 'ah... gender <3')

[cherubytes]

the pronoun hierarchy thing opens up a whole realm of possibilities, but whats mainly on my mind is what you can do to the ferryman using this info

#wake up babe new type of gender angst just dropped #something something not only having to mutilate their body in an attempt to get into heaven #but also to get rid of a part of their identity in order to fit in #something somethign. transgender allegory #this obviously varies depending on your interpretation of the ferryman etc. but the fact that a decent amount of people #automatically use they/them :) and now this comes out hehehehehe #idk its dping things to my brain #im still cooking #ferryman #ultrakill #praying that this is my last post before i go to slee #ferryman ultrakill

[r0semultiverse]

My ideal gender presentation is a changeling that looks terrifying by default & makes people scream "what the fuck is that?" but without being able to hate crime me or even hurt me because I'm too strong & cooler than them.

#I hope the feeling i'm trying to convey is coming across #this is my ideal physical transition #this is peak gender form to me #cryptid that scares the daylights out of you if you're a coward #pass me the monster hrt #I want to scare away the boring people & only attract people into freaky cryptids like me #& I would eat the disrespectful chasers too obviously #real if you can't handle me at my blank you don't deserve me at my blank & it's just horrifying to goth fem adjacent #horror gender moments #human you couldn't possibly handle my true form but if you're down you're in for such a treat #tentacles included obviously I want extra appendages & things :) #op #mine #trans #transgender #nonbinary #enby #genderqueer #agender