Plupps, Author of the Frequency Series

🏳️‍🌈LGBT Pride: Are any of your characters LGBTQ+? What are their identities? How did they realise they were queer?

Yes! :D

A non-exhaustive list of my queer characters include Cary from Wounded Reflection, Rain and Kasi from Kindred Spirits, Akita and Hazzin from Hellfire, Luna (and Rain/Hazzin again) from Shattered Gods, basically all of the main cast from Forsaken, Jesse and Claire from Apocalypse Gods, and a couple oddballs from my endless other back-burner projects.

Now, I am going to go through ALL of those listed above, so, strap in! >:3

(Colour coordinated for slight ease of separation)

Cary Loaras (from Frequency: Wounded Reflection) is gay. This isn't said explicitly (i.e. "Cary is gay"), but most of my characters' identities aren't — they are the way they are, clear to infer, but not said explicitly. Now, Cary would have learned this in his youth shortly after having lost his family. Then, he befriended a boy his age named Mont. Eventually, they both grew to love each other, and when Mont confessed, Cary realised he felt it too. For him, it's just how he'd always been.

Rain (the main character of Frequency: Kindred Spirits) recently went through some changes behind the scenes, and as a result went from being bisexual, to being bi and transfem. I don't know when she would have learned the latter, but it's before the events of the story. However, the former unfolds in the story. It isn't some big plot point, it's just shown that she falls in love with multiple characters of multiple genders.

Kasi (from Frequency: Kindred Spirits) and Luna (the main character of Frequency: Shattered Gods) are both lesbians! :3 Kasi is very in-tune with her emotions and desires, so she likely would have been keenly aware of this from a young age, likely when she started developing crushes for the first time. However, she also prioritises how someone's blood tastes over anything else so... she's also just a little weird (/affectionate). Luna, meanwhile, is very aware she's a lesbian from a similar age. However, growing up in England in the 1910's to 1920's... not the greatest time to be open about that. So, she tries to hide that a lot (very unsuccessfully).

Akita and Hazzin (from Frequency: Hellfire) are both aro/ace! Now, Akita doesn't really realise it, per se. Just... never ends up thinking about it, on account of not knowing he doesn't feel what others do.

Hazzin, meanwhile, is also agender! Now, that is in part because they aren't human. Hazzin is a demon, and demons have no concept of gender or sexuality/attraction (since they don't have any kind of reproduction, sexes, or really anything connected to those).

Now, quick segment break for the cast of Frequency: Forsaken!

First, Dusk is pansexual. He does not have any personal distinction between different genders, and only really cares about personal romantic/sexual attraction and connection with another person. Same as Akita or Rain, he just... doesn't realise this isn't the most common way of thinking. He just... is.

Zenith is gay, and unlike Cary he realises this quite late. For most of his youth, his Frequency's Flaw prevented him from feeling almost any emotions. But, it was his blossoming love for Dusk that broke said Flaw, and that's when he realised.

Dawn is bisexual, but isn't really aware of it on account of actively suppressing her emotions for the sake of leading the New Season.

Kyr is a lesbian. She's known since she met her first childhood friend. Pretty open about it, too.

Ino is here, too. But, well, Ino is Hazzin, so... more or less the same. After learning about genders, though, he does become a demiboy (is that the right term?), somewhat connecting to a more masculine identity, but still being something else. It's also why his pronouns change. Still aro/ace, though.

Last for the Forsaken characters, Viridis is someone I don't talk enough about. It's, uh... well I'm not sure I know the exact terms for it? See, Viridis before unlocking her Frequency's transformation ability was definitely not cisgender, nor heterosexual. However, not even she fully knew what she was. Then, it unlocks its Frequency's transformation ability (which lets it incorporate any parts of nature into its physical form). Any time Viridis is in its transformation, it uses it/its pronouns — she/her in human appearances. So, what's Viridis' gender/sexuality? ...I don't know..? None? Kind of? Viridis just doesn't see itself as human, but rather is its transformation. So, it doesn't really bother with gender or sexuality.

Now, let's finish this with Apocalypse Gods! >:3

Jesse Graves & Claire Gallows are both transgender. With Jesse being a trans man, as well as asexual, demiromantic, and gay. Meanwhile Claire is non-binary, lesbian, and uses they/she pronouns. As for when the two of them discovered their identities, it's shown in story in both of their backstories as a pretty integral part of it. But, it's generally both around their teenage years after puberty messes both of them up in different ways.

...and that's it for now! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Like I said, that is a non-exhaustive list. This would likely be twice as long if I included everything. I only decided to include just my main series to save on time.

In the process of condensing my words for this section, there's a chance I might have missed something or not explored enough on certain characters.

So, if you have any questions or curiosities, ask away! :D

(also, I obviously only have one perspective, so, any insight or helpful criticisms/advice is much appreciated!)

Now, onto the second question I'm doing! >:3

- - - - -

🏳️‍⚧️Trans Pride: How is the idea of gender/queer identities treated in your world? What was your character's experience like?

For the Frequency setting... it's more or less just Earth. So, for everything before Forsaken, it's set in the early 1900's. However, it's also set in a fictional country on a fictional island with a fictional history.

So, in that exact setting, it's mostly normal?

Now, that isn't to say there isn't bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, etc. However, it's far more accepted than other parts of the world at that time.

For most of the Pre-Forsaken Frequency cast, they aren't even aware they're different. Except Luna, notably, since she's not from said fictional country, but from Europe.

Now, Forsaken is set in a dystopian future. But, homophobia/transphobia/other forms of queerphobia are not really a part of said dystopia. To be honest, I just didn't want to make that a focus in that story since there's already so much going on in it.

Re: the Pre-Forsaken cast — most aren't aware they're different.

Now, in Apocalypse Gods, that is a main focus of the story. All kinds of bigotry and oppression are present in the story, and one of it's major themes is challenging and defying that hate/oppression and learning to embrace oneself in their entirety.

Jesse's experience is depression, self-loathing, and self-hatred. With his story being to accept himself and deconstruct his own internalised bigotry.

Meanwhile, Claire is about anger, resistance, and defiance. Her story is about rebellion and forcing others to respect her.

Personally, I generally don't include many direct examples of bigotry since most of my stories serve as escapes from that.

But, with stories like Apocalypse Gods, I do like to explore it to instead have a fantasy of overcoming and punishing that hatred instead of avoiding it entirely.

Both are valid fantasies.

- - - - - - -

*exhales*

...Okay, I think I'm done for now.

Happy pride everyone! :D But this was a lot to write up... (￣﹃￣)

Anyway, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to say them! I'd love to answer any questions, and I'm not perfect so I'd love to hear advice, resources, or helpful criticisms.

Writing

To be honest, I did not get as much writing done in May as I would have liked. There was a major slump in the latter half of the month that slowed my progress significantly.

But, recently, that trend has changed somewhat. And while I do have other matters to attend to, I can feel a bit of that flow coming back. For June, I plan to continue working on my Frequency: Wounded Reflection rewrite, as well as a short story I have!

Bitterness In Roses!

I'm not sure if I've talked about it before, but it's a lesbian/yuri short story about two strangers falling in love while confronting all of the toxic traits and circumstances between them.

The main gimmick for writing it is that it's two stories -- one from each perspective. So working out a consistent timeline and story arc has been a challenge.

I also have one more writing related thing, but I'm throwing that in "Other Stuff" for reasons explained there.

- - - - -

Music

Unfortunately, I don't think I have any new music related things to talk about. Like a broken record, I fell into a bit of a creative slump.

What I do have is a LOT of ideas!

Some of the live recordings I made I wanted to turn into various character's themes, but transcribing is in a pain, so I'm procrastinating.

But, I do have one song demo to show you! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ (+ a live recording after, of course)

[Warning: Audio Samples may be loud on some devices!]

Bit of a shorter one, but this is the climax/end of a song I plan to make. It's the theme of a scene near the end of Frequency: Wounded Reflection in which the two Starill siblings (Skyla & Kai) share a cool moment of working together to destroy one of the Ghast of Shorstone's hearts.

Of course, I only have the piano + strings done for this part specifically. I still need to figure out the melody + the rest of the accompaniment, like woodwinds, brass, and/or percussion.

- - -

More live music! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

This one is real light and sparse, reminds me of minecraft music a little bit. Especially with the bass part. (Also ignore the random creaking sound, that was my chair, (p≧﹏≦q))

I don't know, this one has just been rattling around my head for a while...

- - - - -

Other Stuff

Okay, to start with, about halfway through May I felt the creep of burnout and decided to do some reading. This led me down a spiral of reading nothing but Yuri for like a week straight.

That was extremely fun, don't get me wrong. However, I got nothing done, burnt myself out anyway, got emotionally overwhelmed to the point of a slight depressive episode, and then some back pain to top it off from my horrendous reading posture :D

So, that's about half the reason I haven't been super active.

The other half has to do with another project I've started recently! :3 (when will I learn what impulse control is?)

About a week or two ago, I decided to finally import over the last of my google docs I cared about into Ellipsus. In doing so, I had to dredge through my old D&D docs, which was a mind-numbing chore, to be sure.

When that was done, I was reminded of a massive homebrew game me and my friends did years ago, and it got be inspired.

So, I decided to start working on a ttrpg system! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

It's western fantasy, uses a dice pool system (I.e. lots of d6s instead of a d20 or d12), and prioritises customisation and expression more than anything.

Right now, I'm working on getting the skeleton done so I can start filling in the gaps. But I keep getting sidetracked and led astray by my brain's endless wandering (っ °Д °;)っ

I'm probably going to make this its own section in future update posts, but if you're at all curious about it, feel free to ask! :D

Beyond that, I have quite a few medical appointments coming up, so I do hope I can get stuff done in between them :,) (Nothing serious, just a bunch scheduled at the same few weeks)

Uh...

Hm... I think I'm out of things to talk about :/

Here, go listen to The Fox And The Bird (album) by OK Goodnight. Just sit down for a bit and take it in. That's a fun little thing to go and experience.

Oh, and here's my periodic reminder to go play Outer Wilds! :3

Okay, byebye! ヾ(•ω•`)o

- - - - - - -