#team transition

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

butch is not a wlw-only term and is not even a woman-only term. i use it as one of my genders and i'm not the only one to use butch as a gender. if anyone has a problem with that they can directly send issue to me because i'm here i guess and i'm the one saying it not you :U it is typically a queer term. basically (slaps the nuance button a lot)

Ahh, okay, good to know! Thank you!

Sarah is a trans woman and that counts as queer, right? I know there are going to be Some People who think I'm doing something Wrong by letting her be a Trans Woman with Masculine Traits, but like. Trans folks don't have to perform gender for anyone. I'm Very Trans Agender with a presentation that very closely aligns with my agab, and I'm still agender, so if people want to complain about that, I will simply absorb their complaints and store it away for use in my next hex. lD

(Personally I think it's MORE insulting when a trans character, or that genderbend trend, presents the gender they transitioned to as a caricature of stereotypes. But then some people also find Refuge in the Camp. So I think my final take is: let people do what they want, it's their gender.)

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Fuck it, B-man scene I'm really delighted by! I didn't date the scene like I usually do, but the street address on the back of it indicates it was around 2013.

--

"Hang on," B-man said, pausing at the words and then flinging up a hand at the gesture. "I just did that, too. But there aren't any Horizon kids around. Is that narration actually about me?!"

The writer sighs and rolls xir eyes, hoping that if xe just ignores him he'll go on with the scene.

"No, wait, don't ignore me! This is my moment in the spotlight!"

Again, B-man, we have a scene to write here.

"HEY!" he responded indignantly. "You're breaking the fourth wall here!"

And your entire premise doesn't? I'm holding the pen here, B-man. And I'll break the fourth wall wherever I want to.

Oh look, his words have turned to displeased grumbles: "You're supposed to be writing in third person omniscient."

Are you critiquing my writing, oh spawn-of-my-words?

"Hmph. You just broke the pattern."

That's what this book is about, duh. Besides, I thought it'd be funny.

"Oh, yeah," B-man exaggerates with a very Zira-esque eyeroll. "You're a regular mine filled with comedy gold." And then he glares when he realizes I've compared him to one of his nemeses.

"Now you're changing tense!"

And you're whining, I'm smug as I write--using present tense, and I'll happily admit to you, dear reader, that I'm doing this just to bug him.

In the realm of novelizing, the character's protestations have become little more than a lowly gnat's buzzing--even though I'm usually HAPPY to go where my characters take me--it just matters a lot less when this particular character wants to be in a movie and isn't happy no matter what I do, anyways.

Well, it's been fun, guys--but B-man's not getting this chapter anywhere, and he's about to go off on another tirade. So I'll hurry this transition along to the much more interesting things happening at Transition HQ…

"What?" B-man cries in the background, but the story has already moved on.

Not like I want to let him follow us to the Horizon Headquarters and give away their location, agreed? Turn the page, my friend, and imagine I just gave you a wink.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

...Oh, that is fucking DELICIOUS.

I've never researched this before.

So, Delilah is my analog to Terra in the Team Transition stories. I named her Delilah because my dad had a corn snake for much of my childhood that was named Delilah. Bear in mind, corn snakes are usually a very gentle pet once they're tamed.

I have a scar from her biting me once, but that's not because she was aggressive; I was feeding her, and it was the first time in two or three months she'd been fed because sometimes my parents shouldn't have animals, and when she struck, and struck hard because she was VERY HUNGRY: she just missed the mouse and got my finger instead.

So here's the thing. I liked the idea of naming my Terra-character after a snake. (Often associated with sneaking and deception.) And a snake that accidentally left scars on me. Not because she was inherently mean / evil / aggressive; she just had needs that weren't being met and wound up hurting people.

(Contrary to popular belief, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to Terra, okay. I just don't like her and I don't forgive her.)

But I just researched the name Delilah outside of my very personal associations. And her name is Hebrew for "weakened" or "feeble". Which fits a Terra analog really well actually??? And also apparently in the bible there's a story where a woman named Delilah betrays someone and removes his strength.

Holy Fuck, That's PERFECT.

I didn't even do that on purpose but THAT'S SO PERFECT!!!

I am Never Changing Her Name now!!!!!*

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

dsghDDTJDYKFL

I’ve been Especially Sensitive to Sound lately so I didn’t NEED them, but I turned on the Subtitles to double-check what I was hearing, re: Past Tense re Ryou’s father.

AND I JUST REALIZED.

HER NAME IS SPELLED “SERA”?

My OC/worldbuilding heart freaking STOPPED for a moment.

BECAUSE “SERA” IS A SACRED WORD (form) TO ThE SERANATHEANS and it’s basically a conjugated form of their leader’s name so i was like “THAT’S NOT HER”--

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

I ran the generator for my OCs because they’re mostly All MAgical nad I’m a dork.

Dove: exhausted cosmic witch (HOW’D... YOU. KNOW) Srentha: disaster zodiac witch (i snorted into my rice holyshit) Leyla: emo flora witch (YEAH this kid LOVES plants) Kary: scientific zodiac witch. (ehhh not really though?) Kary take II: powerful solitary witch (TEHRE you go!)

And now for Team Transition, because now I kinda of want to draw them all as witches. (Zira, Starbie, Delilah, and Faith can all be considered “witches” already, especially Zira. But we’ll see what the generator says... >w>)

Zira: mysterious fire witch (Okay, Fire is way more Kary’s thing, but Zira’s definitely my Mystical Mysterious Intrigue character?) Sarah: Artsy candle witch (Okay you know what she totally WOULD love candle magic. She’s more “mechanical” than “artsy”, but she DOES do a lot of work with her hands...) Redwing: goth forest witch (snort. It’s funny because he wears all black.) (( he’s not really THAT goth though ;P ) Starbourne: retro cosmic witch (SHE’S LITERALLY PART OF AN ANCIENT STAR. THIS IS A GREAT FIT. WHAT) Garrett: 80′s fae witch (okay. okay i fucking HAVE to draw that. i’ve only ever drawn garrett like. twice. But I will draw him AGAIN because of THIS)

I’m having too much fun with this.

Cira: mysterious bog witch (...*snort* There aren’t even any bogs where she rules, but “mysterious” and “bog lore” is accurate as fuck.) Koren: 80′s candle witch (Wild but fun. Sure why not. He’s a fucking dragon who had ot learn to temper his magic okay so why the heck NOT) Karina: dumbass ice witch (OH  N O  she made Big Mistakes, but DAMN. She IS characterized by a good deal of distancing and quiet though;;)  Buster: vintage forest witch (he’s a stray dog in a forest. y eah okay) Alerina: retro astral witch (You know what? I can see it. Vividly.) Magena: ancient forest witch (Protection and healing are things she did and I associate with forests, so that’s really fitting. Again.)

Turen because I’m gonna want to draw this regardless: 70′s stellar witch (VILE EVIL SORCERER looking into a FUCKING DISCOBALL. OHGOD)

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

I’ve been thinking about My characters and Chronic Illness ever since the moment I saw that “how to write chronically ill characters” post.

So uhh, here’s a list of all my characters and the disorders, mental health conditions, and General Issues going on with their health, I guess?

--

Dove: PTSD (probably C-PTSD?), anxiety disorders (phobias), social anxiety, situational depression. +Kinetosis (situational, but it’s hellish enough to count).

Srentha: ADD, some kind of arrhythmic heart condition.

Leyla: ADD, inherited heart condition, probably some kind of genetic disorder that I haven’t figured out yet? (Because her genes put her body at war with itself. Not sure how that manifests, but It Definitely Does. Probably an autoimmune disorder? She’s also sterile because of it.)

Kary: PTSD (abuse survivor), perpetual fever (induced by the magic parasite thing).

Eric: Alcoholism.

Evangeline: (Diagnosable antisocial personality disorder, but it’s more of a choice of her conduct and total disregard for consequences/impact, than lack of understanding ‘why not’? Not sure how specific the criteria is there.)

Zira: depression (anhedonia and self-esteem issues especially), ???grief that’s Not Exactly PTSD, but she has night terrors sometimes??

Sarah: Autism Spectrum Disorder (labeled “high functioning”, but still exploring/researching her specific experiences.) Possibly manic depressive, but might just be reckless and emotional?

Garrett: Asthma? ?? Maybe? It’s really hard to figure out why his voice gets wheezy and squeaky; he might have asthma, but he might just be excitable. (Maybe both?? Not sure yet.)

Redwing: Probably high blood pressure, let’s be real.

Side-characters: - Karina: depression, PTSD - Alerina: PTSD, lower-key social anxiety. (Srentha’s mother had ADD too, but I never learned her name.)

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

....I really, really hope i get to publish my stories someday, if for no other reason than all the diversity and variety and identity representation that kind of just happened by accident. i mean you don’t get to see it in any of my current published stories because they’re all strictly, solidly based on canon... but. Team Transition (and the future home of all my OC babies, Dove and Kary and Leyla and Toby included!) is going to be a HUB for diversity. (Race, able-bodied and disabled alike, mental illness, gender identity, cultural diversity, orientation spectrums-- and all of this happening naturally; it’s not like i TRIED to make it diverse. That’s just the nature of the team-- misfits, for one reason or another, happened across each other by happy accident. And not a single damn one of my characters is an archetype. It’s just going to be incredible to have in the world.)

i’m so fucking proud. (it’s sad that we live in a world where realistic samples of People with Differences is an accomplishment, but i’m proud to be the one who gets to write it.)

That’s kind of what the whole point of making Team Transition was, to be honest. I *loved* that Teen Titans fanfics let me explore ANY genre in the world that I wanted. (Naturally, being the Raven fan that I am, I gravitate insurmountably towards friendship/family and hurt/comfort, spirituality, magic/fantasy, and psychological horror.) But Teen Titans fanfics don’t let me explore quite as MUCH diversity as I’d like to. So to create a universe where so many under-represented aspects of peoples’ identity can be aired and flaunted gladly, unabashedly... there’s still going to be conflict outside the team’s family, in the Real World where there are laws and bigots. But I just really love that underappreciated and often secreted aspects of peoples’ lives will be there.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

That awkward moment when you realize the name of a god essentially sounds like something out of your demon race’s language? (I was thinking about Christ. The word Christ. What language is that from, it doesn’t even LOOK Roman??? And then I started playing around with pronunciation because I didn’t care enough to look up the etymology.) And I realized if you pronounce it like “Tch-r-ihst”, with a hard CH and a short “i” vowel, it sounds an awful fricking lot like a word straight out of Tchairgnian. {XD;; (Tchairgn = demon sorceror creatures, basically. Transition ‘verse thing.) Chrrrrrist, the demons exclaimed!