So I was trying to scroll through Reddit to see if there was a thread about a female fan school, and, spoiler alert, there wasn't at all. (Which I find annoying, since I was looking for inspo for a future fic I'm writing.)

But in my failed efforts to do that, I found another thread discussing why some people don't like female Yuus. Basically, it boiled down to two reasons. One is just plain ol' misogyny. Honestly, that explanation is about as surprising as if Crowley did turn out to be the final boss, since it pops up in not just all fandoms, but everyday life. I do think that's a huge part of it. But the second one was that some people think a female Yuu "breaks their suspension of disbelief." Sorry, I have to call bullshit on that. In reality, a straight up female presenting Yuu is more possible than what one might think. Because...

Crowley is willing to bend the rules whenever it suits his agenda. With Crowley most likely being the final boss and the one that brought Yuu to Twisted Wonderland in the first place, him breaking the rules to have female or genderqueer Yuu stay to fulfill his plans seems super in character for him. Plus, even if that weren't the case, Crowley already allows a fae war general that is centuries old, a grown ass lion man, the son of a man who bribed him to into accepting him (which is highly illegal on both ends) and a literal fucking goddamn robot to attend there. If Crowley is willing to all that slide, I think he would do the same for a female or genderqueer Yuu. Yuu has nowhere else to go, so that gives him even more of an incentive to bend the rules in that instance.

News Flash— all male Yuus are "breaking the rules", too. Yuu is magicless in the canon and no one without magic is able to attend NRC at all. If Yuu was genderqueer or a girl, that's just an added reason and nothing more.

Female staff and faculty working at all-boys school is completely normal. Hell, my cousin's girlfriend even used to work at an all-boy's school as a cook, and she never had to hide her gender to work there. It's not that big of a stretch for a female Yuu to work as a janitor at the start and have others know about her presence and gender for Crowley to just give her a spot as a student like in the canon. The same could be said with genderqueer Yuu.

Outside of changing a couple lines, the game would be virtually the same. Yuu is already a blank slate and a self insert, so they could be any gender, race, sexuality, etc you want without it affecting the overall plot a ton.

I doubt any of the named guys in the story would care that much about Yuu's gender. Sure, the Sunset Savannah guys would be much less rough on her and be more helpful. And sure, I can see small to medium style changes to how the cast would interact with Yuu if she was a girl or female presenting. (Like for example, I can see Ace and Deuce being more protective of a female Yuu while Riddle would treat her the exact same as the canon.) But I doubt they would fuss over it and treat her like a princess like the RSA boys. Hell, if anything, I think the fact that she's a literal alien from another world where Disney is a thing would be far more lucrative to them, especially Azul, who is known for wanting huge secrets to use for his advantage. Not something as minor as her gender.

As for outsiders, it's revealed during Book 6 that Crowley lies constantly to the press and others about the overblots. I can't see him doing anything different in this situation.

Honestly, if we follow that logic to its conclusion, then the school wouldn't allow anyone of any other gender besides cis guys period, including non-binary and other genderqueer people, which is...yikes. While I highly doubt most people saying this are intentionally being transphobic nor would I ever accuse anyone of being that by saying that statement in of itself, but that's how it comes across to me.

Most important of all, there's a female Yuu in the Savanaclaw manga, who, at least far as I've seen, is not confirmed to be hiding her gender.

So, yeah. If you aren't a fan of female Yuu fics or RP, that's fine, and to each their own. You are certainly entitled to your opinion and preferences. Yuus of other genders are cool, too. I've read some great fics with male and gender nonbinary Yuus. I just think the argument that the universe and fan content would have to bend over backwards for a female Yuu to exist holds no water. In reality, it's more possible than what some want to think.

Fandom / Fic Goals 2022

I was tagged by @gracerene and @teacup-tai to set out my fic and fandom goals for 2022, thank you both! 2021 was a very odd year for me, fandom wise. My word count was way, way down on previous years and I felt really disconnected (in a fic writing and reading sense) from my two main fandoms, HP and 1D/Radio One. There were also some major life things going on that kept me busy like job stuff, a house move, a milestone birthday and submitting and defending my PhD thesis, which I finally passed at the end of this year, hoorah!

However, I really miss being part of fandom in a more proactive sense. I miss chatting about fic plans and headcanons regularly, fest participation, losing myself in stories I'm reading or writing and having fics and playlists to dip into and work on. I'm not one for NY resolutions but if I have one core general goal, it's to get back into creating, pursuing really indulgent projects and just having fun with them without taking it all too seriously.

1. Play Bingo. I love having short prompts as a starting point for inspo, so I'm going to track down a multi-fandom/ship bingo card (recs please if you know of good ones out there) and use that to kickstart my writing in the new year. It's fun, low pressure and will hopefully let me play around with lots of different characters and pairings.

2. Multi-fandom participation. No matter how many separating the art from the artist posts I made, I have really struggled with practicing what I preach and for some considerable time, for me, HP no longer offered a go-to safe space for escapism and creating. That desire to write and read HP fic is returning, but I am also excited about branching out into fandoms I have been interested in but haven't participated in very much previously. At the moment I'm delving into MCU having started working through the timeline over the holidays. I have several ships I'm already invested in which is exciting. I am itching to write Doctor Who fic too, I have been for ages, I just haven't had chance to sit down and work on the ideas. I'm also eagerly awaiting the second season of Good Omens.

3. 'Writ Reads' - A multi-fandom rec list. On a similar theme to the above, I would like to do some more reccing this year. I'm not a consistent or super organised reccer so I have set myself a loose once a month target of reccing a selection of fics I have loved that month, likely to feature a raft of different fandoms, themes, ships...

4. Finish stuff. I have so many things to finish, from fics that got close but were abandoned when my muse took a nose dive, to belated gifts that I want to give to the giftees as soon as I can. That is going to be my main priority over January. I can't say too much about the specifics as a couple of unfinished WIPs (all HP) may well end up in anon fests if I can finish them in time and find a suitable home for them.

5. Have fun. That's really no. 1, perhaps, or maybe it's just a note to self.

I think this has been going round quite a bit so if you haven't been tagged and would like to share please do so <3