"God's" identity is never directly stated in the angel-related Clamp manga (Wish, Legal Drug/Drug and Drop, Kobato, and all the associated crossovers) but given the fact that the original Mokona exists in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle because Yuuko and Clow modeled their own mini versions after them, I can't help but assume that Mokona is the creator of that world, too, even if there's not a direct crossover with Magic Knight Rayearth.
My original crack theory back in the day was that Ushagi is actually God in the Wish-verse and not just a messenger, if only because "God hanging out being a creature" is an established trope (and frankly would explain the obsession with turning miscreants into plushies in Kobato) but who even knows at this point. Either way, the theological implications are fascinating.
one problem, imo, with stories (or just readings) with the message that absolute power corrupts absolutely is that they usually give no opening to model or speculate on how to ethically use power when you have it. especially if it’s a power you cannot conveniently destroy or make so that no one has it. most irl power comes by virtue of occupying a particularly power-granting tension-point in the power-flows of the world(society etc) that will always be occupied by someone as long as the tension-point that exists by virtue of the arrangement of those power-flows of the world exist, those are easier to me to both think of ways to destroy or to think of ways to use well. but i actually am mostly thinking rn of power created by one’s nature or invention or chance. the how do you handle power if it already exists and the knowledge exists now and it can’t be un-discovered or un-invented.
the fictional solution is usually to destroy the power itself so no one can use it, but a) the authorial fiat that insists a way to destroy it always be available at all in every story is awfully convenient to the point of moral cowardice to still continue to repeatedly fall back on and shut the door on alternatives at this point 75+ years after the nuclear age started, and b) i haven’t actually seen one with as honest and inconvenient a kamikaze collapse—all enchantment/myth-scale power good evil and neutral collapsing to defeat the evil dimension of it and press evil into the realm of mundanity along with the rest—as lotr anyway. which might be just that i need more recs but whatever lol i’m not like. making a knowledgeable lit review just noting what types of narratives my generosity has drained on and why. (i’m much more interested in a) (as an explicit subversion of an absolute power corrupts story rather than a different sort of story from the beginning) anyway)
so i haven’t posted much about this on here but on discord and twitter i have talked about it more thoroughly, and i just wanted to say this for the record here as well, especially with the certain stigmas that circulate feminized designs or fem!au of canonically male characters and similar scenarios, i want to go into my intentions and the like when i participate in making content for these kinds of AUs!
this is just my take and experience/intentions on the matter, so please know i don’t speak for everyone who may also make or just like this kind of content, but under the cut i’m going to paraphrase what i said on my spicy twitter - i can’t really fully post the art here because of the site’s censoring, even if the nudity in the art isn’t inherently or purposefully sexual i don’t wanna risk it, but over there i’ve been doing some more artistic nude type designs of the whole harringrove/keg gang between things, to practice drawing their body types in my own style - as well as being able to add onto what i already posted without having to fight character limits!
this is a little lengthy as well, because i really tried to fully explain myself and my reasonings with things - i really am terrified of being misconstrued so at the risk of being repetitive i tend to write everything out when i probably don’t need to - but if you’re still interested in what i have to say and what my intentions are, there’s also a tldr; at the very bottom to summarize everything, although i do encourage you to look through the rest of what i have to say for any clarifications.
and lastly, please feel free to send asks or DMs about this, anonymous or not, or talk in the replies/tags if you have any questions or want to add anything on from your pov! i’m trying to keep this a healthy, proactive conversation like my last conversation starter post, also about art.
to start though, here are the tweets that birthed this whole thing if those are enough to get my point across, but if not, more in depth take under the cut!
as many of you probably know, i really enjoy fem!au harringrove content, as well as canon aligned harringrove, and iterations wherein billy and steve are both cis, trans, or may be nonbinary and/or gender nonconforming in whichever way the creator sees fit -- and any combo therein where they may identify as the same or differently as individuals.
basically, i just like several different iterations of these characters!
i enjoy fem!au too because i have fun translating character dynamics to different scenarios, backgrounds, settings, etc., but that being said, that does not mean i necessarily view these designs or iterations of them as being cis women! when i draw a fem au design, or even a more canon-aligned design of any characters, you can perceive my art of them however you want to, identity definitely included.
because i’ve been trying to draw more than just billy and steve in general - even if i am still mostly staying in the realm of ST with keg girls, keg boys, bucklway, tommy/carol, etcetera - in whatever iteration i happen to draw them in, i’ve also already done an artistic nude style design of fem!au tommy - who i know most other people call tammy, but i still call her tommy haha, sorry if that’s confusing - and am trying to tighten up how i do billie and steph/stevie as well. eventually i’ll do a canon-aligned tommy, as well as billy and steve (for the thousandth time, haha) just for practice sake as well, so expect to get some heavily censored practice designs at some point!
last night though, as a warm up, i wanted to start similar designs of robin, heather and carol just to get used to drawing them, so when i have more solid ideas for drawing any of them, i already have their designs mostly nailed down, and it got me thinking: when people see me do these designs, whether it’s billy or steve or tommy or a fem!au or anything like that, do they automatically assume that i’m drawing all these characters as cis because i, for some reason, tend to give them more gender conforming body types?
and like i said, in my art - unless i state otherwise - i don’t really have a clear intention of how those characters’ identities should be seen by everyone! when i write i definitely do make those things clearer, but whether the art of these characters that i’m doing is sfw or not, i still don’t mean to impose any specific identities onto these characters. and yes, i do draw art wherein i state otherwise very specifically - not that i’ve publicly really posted any of it though as none of it’s completely done, but i do have a good amount of trans guy billy art in my wip art folders, as well as trans girl billie, and i’ll be doing so for steve and steph at some point too! - but otherwise, when it’s not stated, the identity of the characters that i draw is totally up to you.
relating back to what i was drawing last night though, i do want to say that because i had this thought, and despite my usual intentions, with these designs in particular, i do want to do some ‘alternate’ designs of the characters as well, just in case it comes off as all the designs i’ve been doing so far makes the characters seem intentionally cis coded, and just because, well, i want to be more inclusive in drawing body types in general! they all deserve some love and validation!
it’s important to me as both as creator and a viewer too, especially one that’s nonbinary and deals with a lot of dysphoria, to healthily portray diversity in my art - and writing! - whether it be body shape/type, skin color, gender identity, etc., and i love seeing/viewing it as well!
honestly though i do think there are defining factors between healthy and fetishistic portrayals of trans and/or gnc characters, especially in visual mediums, and that fetishist interpretations of people and characters totally exists. i never want to intentionally come across that way just in trying to be more inclusive, or just by acknowledging that not everyone that may identity similarly is going to look the same.
so: i want to start doing these additional designs, at least of these current artsy-nudes for right now, for the sake of inclusivity.
with how my sketches are rn for both fem!au keg boys and ‘canon aligned’ robin, heather and carol, i can totally see how the assumption would be ‘oh these are cis women’. and yeah, to a degree i will admit that’s on me, but tbh at the same time, my problem with that possible initial judgement is just that 1. like i said, unless stated specifically, look @ them however you want so if that’s your iteration that’s fine but that might not be everyone else’s and 2. it kind of eliminates the factor that not all trans as well as gnc bodies - whether these cross over or not for you personally - are the same!
some people medically transition, or alter their appearance in some way for comfort, some don’t. and for those that do make changes, more permanent or short-term, there are so many different combinations of what they may or not choose to do, including HRT and/or top and/or bottom surgeries or alterations. it’s all up to the individual and nothing is right or wrong!
my intention with creating these additional/alternative designs of these - sorry i keep repeating this phrase - artsy nude designs, is to showcase more body types, especially if i’m going to be doing fem (or masc!) AU designs, and within that, sfw or not, as most characters that have fem/masc au counterparts are still seen as only/strictly being cis-aligned, or just as an excuse to draw cis-swapping because you don’t want to draw trans or nb characters.
in my case, that’s not what my intentions are at all, and that’s not what i want to do either. i can totally get people not liking a fem or masc AU because of the whole cis-aligned history it popularly has - and i’m not going to be using the word ‘genderbending’ at all because i don’t like it, as it’s invalidating and there are a hundred other issues associated with it - or (and forgive me for sounding salty here haha) just not liking it for... whatever reason they don’t like certain other AU’s.
but, using a pre-existing sample of one of these designs, you can, if you want, totally see the fem!au tommy i already drew as her being a trans girl or you can totally just see her as me drawing her cis, or her even being feminine but nonconforming - honestly however you want! - because you’re not right or wrong -- i just kind of drew what came to mind first. and, yes, like i mentioned earlier, i also did decide to draw her that way first or without a counterpart when i posted her initially for whatever reason, so i think it’s only fair that i draw her a little differently too, in a way that may be more representative of her having a less cis-coded, or socially gnc, body type.
why? agai -- because not all trans and gnc bodies look the same!
i just think if, in these cases, if i’m drawing a fem!au design of a canonically male character - cis or trans or otherwise, however you view them! - it’s only fair that if i draw this fem!design more ‘gender conforming’ or even ‘cis passing’, i should also draw them in way that’s maybe less ‘gender conforming’, and there are a lot of different ways to go about portraying that, so each additional design i do - or at least have the energy to do rn tbh, as the possibilities really are limitless - is probably going to vary!
tldr; in enjoying fem!au content as well as iterations of characters whose gender identities may differ from their canon content, or what’s at least alluded to being their canon identity, unless specifically stated otherwise, you are 100% free to view these fem!au designs - in this case! - as the characters being trans, gender nonconforming, just feminine, cis, etc., in these designs... really however you like and see fitting!
that being said, i know not everyone will view them the same way, and due to that it’s also important to note that not all cis, trans, nonbinary, and/or gnc bodies look the same, so to be more inclusive in my designs and takes on the characters in these kinds of AUs, i also want to do additional designs outside of the initial ones i’ve done to add some diversity by way of body type, taking into account whatever gender identity you project onto the characters in and out of these AU’s, as regardless it’s important to reflect that all bodies deserve love, recognition, and validation!
(meaning, for example, let’s say i draw billy; in my art, unless i state explicitly that i’m drawing him in an intentional way, ie like ‘i wanted to draw him exploring his genderfluidity so him trying this out came to mind!’ or ‘sorry, i just needed some trans billy getting some physical affirmations’ in my case, you are 110% welcome to interpret that drawing of that character in any way you want, especially by way of gender identity!)
the designs i’m talking about in this specific post are fem!au harringrove (+ tommy) artistic nude-style designs i’m currently working on between things, as well as more i’m planning on doing of billy and steve, robin, heather, and tommy and carol, to help with the way i draw them, but my intentions with my art in general being subjective by way of subject matter, characters’ identities, etc., extends to all my work!
i really just wanted to address here that in my iterations of fem!au designs, unless state specifically, i don’t have clear-cut intentions of how i want/need these versions of the characters to identify, that’s up to you and what makes you comfortable or what makes sense to you, but because of that, i want to create additional designs, both in and out of these kinds of AU’s - although i may not always do it, i’m only one man with a half-functional drawing hand - to showcase different body types, taking into account different bodies that aren’t strictly or necessarily cis-aligned or even gender conforming!
if you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and your patience! as well, feel free to send questions, opinions, etc.! and if you just read the summary and have questions as to what i specifically mean, i do still encourage you to read the above passage for extra clarification!
I really enjoy your thought-provoking metas on Elrond and Elros and find myself agreeing with you a lot. I have issues with certain popular fanons of the twins, but I tend to be insecure about countering and potentially disrespecting discussions on childhood trauma... However I do feel like their complex cultural identity and the theme of mortality and immortality that Tolkien said was central to his Legendarium aren’t given enough focus. The exploration on what it means to be Peredhil.
Rfdlcjvhkjbhjb AHHHHHH HI ANON YES SORRY I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS ASK my distraction it is eternal and powerful. THANKS SO MUCH I'M GLAD TO HEAR IT MAKES SENSE TO YOU. Regarding the first ask: i wouldn't worry too much about countering fandom norms with this though, since unlike some subjects.....cough.....that will remain nameless because there's more than i can remember atm, this one doesn't really suffer from like....people vociferously defending the popular viewpoint against other less common ones, as much as people like.....not considering that there is any other possible viewpoint at all and just passively passing along the most surface-level fanon without giving it much thought. I think plenty of them would have no argument with you if you argued this viewpoint, and in fact might enjoy it a lot! They just haven't seemed to have noticed it at all on their own for some reason lol.
Regarding your second ask: canon is quite patchy, dry, and ambivalent in most places (even if it's very vibrantly full of Explanatory Emotions And Personality in other places -- The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in Appendix A for example) so there's a lot of unconnected dots to connect in a LOT of different directions, and the dots i've connected are in large part formed by a lifetime of scrounging for mixed-heritage experiences, as a mixed-race/culture/nationality person myself. AND a lifetime of wholly personal fixation on immorality stories and general hatred of those innumerable eliding sour-grapes platitudes about immortality vs mortality in children's fantasy, not to mention a lot of (also quite personal) 'uhhhh......really??' about the fact that people were so ready to believe WHETHER OR NOT YOU GOT TO BE IMMORTAL OR GOT TO ESCAPE THE CURSED WORLD would just naturally (rather than arguably, for very specific personal reasons and loyalties that you may or may not have) be way less of a factor (or not a factor at all!!!??) in your fate-decision than what part of your heritage you ~vibed with more, and that the one you vibed with more fundamentally negated the other one. (ftr, many (though not all) mixed people i know, myself included, consider their identity to be primarily Mixed, as in their mixed-ness itself, is more prominent/salient a personal identity, than either of their separate heritages are. and there are like 426284 not-conclusive but still very suggestive pieces of evidence that Elrond feels the same and is also seen by outsiders as the same. However a very funny thing is that if we are mixed x/y, we also often feel very x when among a population of y, and feel very y when among a population of x. Fandom get on that! Peredhil feeling very human while among elves, and very elf while among humans??? Ideal????) Some people who......ugh.......ARE VALID I GUESS...........focus on uh certain other elements of Elrond and Elros's story (that I personally find kind of boring) to extrapolate their characters from, and I know those dots and the connections between them are as canon as the dots I personally focus on connecting instead LOL. But I'm of course extremely gleefully glad/prideful about people agreeing with ME! :P
“....keeps fitting into the slot inappropriate lenses and telling us we can see more clearly with them. In a sense we can, but we are not seeing what is there. And we are not seeing what is there.”
This book (Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem by Michael Schmidt) is one of the only pieces of good criticism i’ve seen in months
