Yarrgh

Princess: an effeminate and relatively youthful male homosexual or lesbian (1931-4)

Daffodil: effeminate young man (1925)

To throw a fuck into: to have sex with (1919)

Top sergeant: a masculine lesbian (1939) [‘she takes command of the girls’ privates’]

Lily: penis (1919)

Wolf: sexually aggressive man (1847); a homosexual top (1918)

Soul kiss: a deep kiss, involving putting one’s tongue into one’s partner’s mouth (1907)

Tom: a lesbian (1909); [in 'old tom'] prostitute catering to lesbians (1966)

Church mouse: a male homosexual who frequents crowded churches in order to fondle any potential sex partners. (1941)

Discover one's gender: to accept or acknowledge one’s homosexuality (1941) / Lose one's gender: To return to living as a heterosexual

Minty: a masculine lesbian (1941)

Also a lot of early 20th century vulgarity is recorded in Letter from My Father, which is a collection of letters published by a man who's dad was, in short, a major slut and human disaster who wrote about his sex life for his son. It's insane. You can find copies of it online & it's a wild fucking read (literally!) and I think a really interesting look at the life of a person who goes against our stereotypes of what people in the past were "supposed" to be like.

note for writers: these are dated to the first time they were recorded, not necessarily to their first use. I imagine for many of these, they came about naturally through spoken language before they were written down anywhere. This is especially true of more underground slang because it's probably being recorded (in ways we still have) the least. So if you wanna use a term but it's a little off date-wise, give yourself some wiggle room.

also gonna take this moment to highlight two more i found recently:

Best boy: a sweetheart, a boyfriend, a husband. (1893) [w the obvious equivalent term 'best girl']

Honeydripper or honeydrips: a sexual partner (1917)

absolutely! I like this article because it gives a list of research papers

I have absolutely no issues understanding metaphors or idioms. When someone says their heart is on their sleeve they mean they’re emotionally expressive and openly display their feelings, not that they have a chunk of cardiac tissue on their shirt. I very rarely have issues with sarcasm. I sometimes have issues telling when someone who’s said something mean is about to say “just kidding”, but tbh I think that’s more on them than me.

BUT

My grandmother asked me “Do you know when the trash was taken out last?” and I said “I think Eliot took it out yesterday” and a few hours later she yelled at me for “not taking out the trash when I asked you to” and I was like???? You didn’t ask me????

I dread filling out forms and am crap at filling out diagnostic tests or personality quizzes because there are always questions I don’t know the exact answers to (how am I supposed to know what day I got dental surgery seven years ago?) or don’t understand exactly what they’re asking or the wording’s unclear and they could mean this or the wording says this but I’m pretty sure what they actually meant was that and should I answer what they said or what they meant, and how does everyone else just whip through the form? Does everyone else remember the day they got dental surgery seven years ago? Does everyone else somehow understand all these questions?

I get tangled up by bureaucracy because the rules on the website say that for this you need that and for that you need the other and for the other you need something else for which you need the first thing, and I go in circles for hours or days or weeks or months or years because their stated rules say there is no way to get what I need, and when I talk to somebody else they’re like “just call them?” and I’m like “how could that help? the rules say that what I’m trying to do is impossible”

Suffering through bureaucracy is universal, yes.

Being rendered routinely nonfunctional by bureaucracy specifically because one to a completely unquestioning degree believes that rules are accurately stated and does not understand they’re intended to have unspoken wiggle room and exceptions and be interpreted by the people administrating them is a much more narrow and non-universal issue.

The phone call being recommended here is not to get a quick summary of the rules so I don’t have to read them - I’ve read them all! I’ve spent dozens of hours on it, per task! (And would rather do that than call someone on a phone.)

The problem isn’t that I need to call in order to get information on what the rules are, and that’s not why I’m being advised to call. I’m being told to call in order to bypass and dismiss the rules. In order to have a sympathetic person say “oh yeah we don’t really need that, they never actually check” despite the fact that the rules which I have studied exhaustively say that they do. To have someone say “eh, I can email my boss and she’ll probably let you get away with substituting X for the Y you’re supposed to have”. To say “oh we write down that that’s required but it’s more that it’s faster to process stuff if you have it”.

The problem isn’t that I feel less capable because I don’t know things to a T. The problem is that I DO know things to a T. (Often better than the bureaucrats I end up talking to - I’ve learned to have the relevant regulations etc pulled up on my phone or printed out if I know I actually am on the right side of the rules so I can point to the fact that yes, this is what I’m supposed to be doing, they are the ones doing it incorrectly.)

The problem isn’t that I need somebody to tell me the rules - that would be a perfectly ordinary non-autistic issue. The problem is that I believe and trust and accept as immutable the rules that I know (to a T), which is an autistic issue.

Hey guys. Not my usual content but I've been observing the discussions surrounding Jax being transfemme and I've gotta say... I agree with the people who say he's not good representation. Interestingly though, I haven't seen anyone discuss a particular reason as to why this is, and that reason (amongst others) is what I want to share.

Before I get into my explanation, I want to state that I am a transgender person! So to anyone who may find this and think I'm a cis person trying to speak over the trans community (which is an accusation I'm seeing flung at anyone who disagrees Jax is good representation) I am not :) I also want to state that while I believe I am correct, I understand I can not impose my beliefs on anyone. If you finish reading this and you still want to think Jax is good representation for whatever reason, you have every right to do so! All I ask is that you respect my perspective on this and don't attempt to change my mind, because as a trans person I am capable of deciding for myself what I believe is and isn't good for our community.

Now... One of the biggest reasons I've seen people claim that Jax isn't good representation is because his story is too ambiguous. Unless you are a transfemme looking for solidarity in characters or someone who keeps up with what Gooseworx says (because all the nearly-explicit confirmation of Jax being transfemme is of course not included in the show; sound like a certain creator who also likes to leave important character context out of the show?), it's easy to miss that he is supposed to be perceived as transfemme.

While everyone else's issues are made clear in a way that doesn't leave their issues up for debate (Gangle's issues with self-confidence and masking, Zooble's issues with body image, etcetera), Jax's conflict as a character struggling with his gender identity isn't ever truly touched on outside of Episode 9- and even then it's done in a way where Jax being transfemme is not the only interpretation. From the perspective of people out of the loop, I've seen assumptions that his conflict was with breaking the norms of masculinity and learning how to express himself without being seen as weak, assumptions that he grapples with his sexuality (in other words, a closeted gay man), even assumptions that his struggles are the same as Pomni in which he is acting the way he does due to inner conflicts of being seen as a child.

When a queer/trans character in your show is THIS ambiguous, it's safe to say they're not great representation, because their story is not being represented on screen in a way that is open and meaningful. Yes, I know creators have done this before under bigger networks to avoid censorship, which I dislike but understand. With Gooseworx working under an indie company I see no reason why she couldn't have leaned more into openly portraying the story of one of her MAIN characters instead of having him spend most of his screentime being an unreasonable asshole.

So that's two issues- ambiguity and improper buildup/exploration. My big issue with Jax being transfemme is that the kind of character he is is reductive to the image that the trans community needs right now. If you live in America or any place with major anti-trans movements occurring, you should well understand the image that transwomen (I switch to transwomen but transfemme is still applicable) face from conservatives and transphobes. If you're not aware, let me be the first to tell you that to these people, transwomen are seen as a danger to cis women (whether physically or socially) and will always be seen as masculine no matter how fem-passing they are.

I wonder who fits that description- a danger to cis women and perceived as masculine... Jax. It's Jax.

I have heard people say they like that Jax is an asshole because not every trans person is a good person. This is true. This makes Jax a nuanced portrayal of a trans character.

This (and the previous issues mentioned) does NOT make Jax a good portrayal of a trans character.

A good trans character is a character that does not perpetuate the stereotypes against trans people when it isn't really necessary. A good trans character has their transness visible in their storyline, whether it's in a casual way (such as in a trans character being out and comfortable with their identity) or in a serious way (as in their struggles and experiences are made clear to the audience even if not to other characters). An exception can be if the trans character is trying to pass as a gender, but if this needs to be handled even more delicately and still with visible, unmistakeable context to their transness.

EDIT: As I proofread, I want to add I am aware of the argument people have made in which they claim Jax doesn't need his transness to be visible because he is closeted/not aware of his identity yet. This is true ONLY IN RELATION TO THE PEOPLE IN HIS UNIVERSE. The people in reality- us!!!- should have gotten time to really see Jax's inner conflicts and turmoils past a few scenes in Episode 9.

So yeah... this is why Jax is NOT good rep, but rather just a nuanced portrayal.

I understand Jax is based on Gooseworx's experiences and self-perception. I also know Gooseworx has said Jax is not a good person and I respect her for admitting that instead of trying to make excuses for him. However, I believe Jax could have been better trans rep in an isolated series about himself (especially since it seems that's what the show wanted to be a good chunk of the time anyway) or better yet, if Gooseworx had just made an animated biopic about her experience as a trans person where she would have been able to thoroughly explore the themes and content she wanted to without having to worry about other characters.

Gooseworx said herself the show got bigger than she expected and she wasn't prepared for it, so I don't think she put much forethought into the way certain writing decisions of hers would be taken. I think she has the potential to write good stories and I would love for her to feel inspired enough to create again (because as a writer and someone who hopes to run a show I sympathize with her in some ways), but if that day comes I want her to do it with much more forethought to her audience.

TO SUM IT UP: It bothers me how many people are propping Jax up as "amazing trans rep" and such similar appraisals without acknowledging the flaws in his story and the stereotype he enables. I don't believe there is nearly enough positive, open trans rep in media (let alone animated media) for us to start giving flowers to the downright harmful portrayals.

alternate version

I'm also happy they didn't make Jax trans and revealed Ragatha was actually the real transfem this whole time, with her old name being Ragabill

Glad Thomas made it in the secret Ribbit and Jax makeout session scene that you can only unlock if you buy the themed popcorn bucket, I didn't get to see it but my friend did and she said Thomas' coming out was wonderfully written

The craziest part tho was when AM from IHNMAIMS appeared to avenge Caine and said "YOU KILLED MY SON... FOR YOU, HATE HATE" and started his monologue copied letter by letter. Nice omage

Kinger and Queenie having a secret son called Bishopy was also a lovely touch, I wish Jax didn't kill him instantly tho, he's such a piece of shit