Oh in that ask where Fushimi cuts his own hair how do you think he'd do in Scepter 4? Like maybe it does get kinda long that Awashima complains about his bangs, so at some point he's getting set up to cut his hair and in walk the alphabet squad/Munakata. How would they offer to help cuz you know they would. . .

Maybe he tries to sneakily do it in the bathroom after he thinks everyone’s gone to sleep and that’s when he gets caught. Like say Fushimi’s hair has been getting pretty long, he managed to avoid cutting it for a while after he left Homra just by changing the style but eventually it just keeps growing. Oh maybe initially just Munakata ends up helping him cut it, since it’s at least a year or so between when he joins Scepter 4 and when he becomes third in command. Say the first time he tries to cut it is not terribly long after he leaves Homra, Fushimi’s hair had been growing out a bit more often than usual anyway just as a consequence of him slowing growing more distant from Yata, like imagine Fushimi sitting alone at his computer in the apartment idly running a hand through the back of his hair that’s getting awfully long and he starts to ask Misaki to cut it when he remembers that Yata’s still at Homra probably hanging on every word Mikoto says and he probably even forgot that Fushimi wasn’t there. Fushimi wouldn’t ask him either, like maybe before they join Homra Yata always noticed when Fushimi’s hair got long and said something but lately he hasn’t and Fushimi’s too proud to say anything himself, to him if Yata doesn’t notice it’s a sign that Fushimi’s being ignored rather than that he needs to speak up. Due to this though his hair is getting quite long and Awashima even makes a comment on it shortly after his initiation ceremony, that his hair appears a bit long and unkempt (not that Scepter 4 has any specific hair length requirements, judging by Gotou’s and Kamo’s long luxurious hair…).

So that’s how Fushimi ends up in the bathroom at like 2 in the morning with a pair of scissors and a hand mirror, trying to figure out how to trim his hair on his own. It’s been a long time since he had to do this and it irritates him how quickly he’s forgotten how to do it, annoyed with himself for relying on someone else to help him for so long. Fushimi’s determined to do this on his own though, even if he ends up cutting himself in the process. He’s still trying to get it right when Munakata unexpectedly walks in wearing only a towel, Fushimi totally freezes there with the scissors in his hand (actually this being Fushimi he probably tried to cut his hair with a knife rather than ask for scissors). Munakata’s just like ‘Oya? How strange to see you still awake so late, Fushimi-kun.’ Fushimi clicks his tongue and mumbles that he was busy, trying to look like he wasn’t just sitting there trying to cut his hair in front of the sink using the bathroom mirror. Munakata can tell what he was doing though and he notes that Fushimi seems to have taken Awashima-kun’s warning to heart, Fushimi says he was just in need of a haircut that’s all. Munakata wonders if doing it in such a way is efficient and Fushimi says it’s fine, he’s used to doing this himself. Munakata does not think such a thing is wise and though he finds Fushimi’s self sufficiency commendable there’s nothing shameful in asking for help either. Fushimi insists again that he can do it himself even as Munakata takes the scissors from his hands like 'permit me.’ Fushimi squirms a little under Munakata’s touch, feeling a little on edge suddenly having someone who’s not Misaki cutting his hair but somehow it’s calming too, like Munakata’s presence feels steady and it helps ease some of the tension.

From that point on Munakata is grudgingly allowed to cut Fushimi’s hair (maybe just a trim from time to time which is why Fushimi’s hair is such a mess). They usually find time for it when everyone else has gone to sleep because Fushimi refuses to get a regular haircut and he refuses to admit when he needs one. This works out fine for them for a while without getting caught until one day the alphabet boys return from a late night mission to find Munakata cutting Fushimi’s hair. Fushimi’s all mortified (it’s like he’s a little kid whose friends just found out his dad has been cutting his hair) but everyone’s all curious, they didn’t realize that Munakata could cut hair and that Fushimi would let him. Of course now everyone else wants to cut Fushimi’s hair too, like Hidaka can’t resist offering the next time it’s clear Fushimi needs it and Fushimi practically hisses at him to get him to go away. No one makes fun of him for it though and when someone asks why Fushimi doesn’t go to a salon or something and Fushimi mumbles that he just doesn’t want to everyone accepts that and is fine with it, like no one thinks he’s an immature kid or teases him for it and they don’t try to dig further, they just want to be helpful to him.

Finally watching season 4, is it just me or is it suddenly obvious that they’re being very specific about Gendering Pidge as a girl? It definitely wasn’t this obvious in previous seasons. (I’m only on episode 3)

First, before I start this conversation: for people who may not know or may not be as familiar with me personally, I am non-binary myself. For about the first twenty-two or so years of my life I was referred to exclusively by “she/her/hers” pronouns. So the whole concept of Pidge and her headcanoned non-binariness is something that touches pretty close to my personal life experiences. I just want to make this clear so that people don’t try to dismiss me as trying to wash away non-binary representation… I’m not, I relate hugely to Pidge, I want non-binary characters like none other in fiction, and I’m just saying what I think the writers have intended with Pidge’s character.

So the writers have always typed Pidge as a woman. At least, that’s how she canonically considers herself gender-wise now in the story. I think the reason why it feels that Pidge is suddenly feeling more gender-typed as female is because the moments in which we see her doing more societally female-coded things is in her past when she’s with her family. We didn’t get many family moments in S1-3. The fact we have more flashback scenes with her in S4, and the fact that she reunites with her brother in S4, means we’re going to get more of these female-coded incidences more frequently shown on screen.

Since the first season we’ve seen Pidge demonstrate some things that are coded in our society as female gender expression. One of the prime ways in which she shows female-coded behavior is through fashion. Consider the photograph she carries with her. While Matt is in his uniform, Pidge is dressed with long hair, a headband, and an adorable pink and white dress. Just a year ago, she was voluntarily wearing a pretty darned cute outfit that is societally associated with girls and women.

The flashbacks in S1E5 “Tears of the Balmera” do just show Pidge in her standard green shirt (how many of us don’t own simple unisex shirts though?). It’s to note she wears her hair in a side-ponytail, which isn’t exactly a societally prototypical male fashion. She’s also upset to cut her hair, muscles in her face notably tightening before she closes the scissors the first time. Pidge is attached to her long, female-coded hair.

But overall we don’t tend to see Pidge as markedly gender-coded female throughout the first three seasons because she’s not in the environment where the codes she relates to get brought up. Pidge starts VLD disguising as male to avoid suspicion when she enrolls in the Garrison. She wears clothes that she already owns, but intentionally picks the ones that are most gender-neutral and least revealing to her identity. And once we get on the Castle Ship, Pidge isn’t going to wear a lot of cute, girlie clothes when she’s only got that one pair of clothes she was wearing at the Garrison… and some awesome Paladin armor.

Because while it seems that Pidge enjoys wearing some feminine fashions from time-to-time, it’s not like she’s ever been a markedly “girly” personality in most of her interests, be it either here or in the flashbacks. Most of her personal passions are not societally coded as feminine… technology, video games, mathematics. So she doesn’t ring out as very gendery-wendery-feminine to us - we grow up in a societal culture where we might expect a female character to display a few more female coded things. So she gets translated to audiences as feeling more ambiguous…

…even though she herself makes it explicitly clear to the other Paladins: “I’m a girl.” Those are the words she uses. She thinks of herself as female, she tells the Paladins that, and it’s a pressing matter to her - she feels uncomfortable prior to the reveal, uncomfortable that she’s been disguising herself and being dishonest to them. She’s uncomfortable enough that even a common English figure of speech “man up” bothers her when it’s applied to her. Because it’s not who she is!

Pidge in the Castle of Lions just doesn’t have the proper context whereby we see the moments where she acts the most societally feminine, because the areas in which we see her act the most feminine are things like fashion, which she doesn’t have access to millions of lightyears from Earth.

But yes, even though we haven’t had as much context by which to highlight Pidge’s more feminine coded personal facets, she’s always had those codings in her character, down from the first episode in the first season.

Now S4 has rolled around. We see more flashbacks of Pidge, and with it, new outfits that also read as “feminine” to us. I absolutely love this little number with the leggings… she looks adorable:

And on top of that, in this very same scene with Matt, she tells him to call her “Katie,” not Pidge. She’s explicitly preferring a name that is for girls and women.

Of course we also get the pink dress again, giving audiences yet again more feelings of feminine coding.

Then there’s Matt parading around, calling Pidge “sister” constantly, so we get that “rubbed in” more.

This is all family stuff.

I believe that S4 is also one of the first seasons to use “she” pronouns in the actual script. Lots of times, characters have been speaking directly to Pidge, thus calling her “you,” which isn’t gendered, or mentioning her gender-neutral nickname, “Pidge,” instead of a pronoun. BUT. Even then… in the first comic book… which takes place during S1 times… Pidge is called “she” and “her” by her Paladin buddies:

This means in S1 material alone, Pidge has been called “she,” Pidge has called herself a “girl,” and Pidge has demonstrated some female-coded fashion sense. That’s the exact same material, in fact, as what we get in S4.

S4 just has that material happen a little more often. It feels Pidge is being more gendered as a woman this season mostly because we’re seeing her in the contexts where she’s the most feminine-coded. The flashback scenes with her clothing. The interactions with her brother, who is going to call her “she” and “sister.” It’s not that the writers are pulling out a harder “Pidge is a woman” card… there’s nothing new that they’ve introduced this season than they have shown in the past. Nothing new at all. We’re just in the context where we see the feminine side of Pidge a bit more frequently in 4.

I’ve personally never read Pidge as canonically non-binary. I’ve read her as “she has the potential to develop and realize she’s non-binary later” and “she is pleasantly easy to headcanon as non-binary.” But I do think that throughout the franchise, there has been nothing explicit to target her as non-binary. Please continue to read her how you read her, but this is my respectful perspective.

It’s sort of ironic in that people headcanon Pidge as non-binary largely in part because they use the same societal expectations of gender-coding that so many people across the same community are trying to destroy. Many people talk about how X shouldn’t be exclusive to women, but should be acceptable to all humans… but I do suspect lots of the reason so many people attach to Pidge as a potential non-binary representative is because she doesn’t scream those X gender-coded things. Gender expression isn’t the same as gender identity, so just because Pidge expresses herself in a certain way doesn’t mean she is one type of gender or another. I dress extremely feminine at times. Doesn’t make me a woman. Pidge has what society feels are gender-neutral interests. Doesn’t mean she’s not a woman.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a non-binary gender headcanon, and in fact those non-binary headcanons make me smile because it’s the feeling of people recognizing my own gender, my own identity. The headcanons resonate with me, too. I like them. Please, feel free to keep with your headcanons! There’s nothing wrong with them!

And there’s nothing saying the writers couldn’t develop Pidge canonically to reveal herself as non-binary! It’s totally feasible. Just because she liked long hair doesn’t mean anything about her actual identity, etc. etc. etc. Furthermore, I didn’t fully understand what it was to be non-binary until adulthood, where I discovered an identity that was always what I had felt about myself on the inside. Pidge could find that, too. This is something that often occurs later in life, so there’s certainly still time for that development to happen in a fifteen-year-old.

And if the writers ever did announce Pidge as canonically non-binary, you would bet I would stop the video, pump my fists in the air, and start screaming wildly “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!” Because non-binary representation is beautiful and important and meaningful! I would love for Pidge to be non-binary, let’s be real!

But at the moment, we’ve gotten four seasons of Pidge demonstrating societally-aligned female coding. We’ve gotten Pidge referring to herself as a girl - which is much more importantly indicative. Pidge not having many feminine gender-coded interests, and being confused at alien bathroom signs, isn’t enough to be a foreshadowing of her announcing a non-binary identity. I don’t suspect that Pidge will come out as non-binary personally. I’m completely fine with that.

Anyway. TL;DR. Pidge is showing the same sorts of female-coded things in S4 as she has in previous seasons. S4 just might feel as though the writers are gendering her more apparently because Pidge is being shown in the contexts where this is the most noticeable about her.

Emori & her hair

So I never really wrote about this, but I definitely feel a certain way about Emori’s head covering/partial turban thing -- when we first meet her it seems like it’s just because they’re out in the desert and everyone has their hair covered, but since then they’ve decided to make it a consistent part of her costume even when the climate no longer calls for it. Which now obviously codes it as something she does for a reason.

And we have no idea what that reason is, I’m sure they’re never gonna get into it because lord knows this show is spotty with the worldbuilding at best. :p There are obvious real-life religious connotations to covering one’s hair partially or completely with a scarf or turban. Whether it’s that or cultural, it’s interesting given everything we know about her history -- she doesn’t seem like someone who has faith or ties to anything, and yet she does mark herself in this way, even when it makes her subtly or totally stick out as an outsider. (And it has nothing explicitly to do with her mutation, as she wears it in situations where she’s trying to lay low and cover it, e.g. Polis.)

And honestly, it’s something I would just write off as a meaningless costume choice, there to remind us where she comes from, except there are a couple of REALLY SPECIFIC times she didn’t wear it -- when she’s totally and intimately alone with John Murphy, first in 3x05 when they’re in the cave arguing about her brother (and in the deleted sex scene), and also in the kissing/sex scene from the S4 trailer that we haven’t seen yet. And when she was in the City of Light.

The full mass-hallucination/computer program COL, where everyone’s in sort of “modern” clothes and Emori refuses to change or cover her hand... she’s also got her hair fully out and braided. And I can see a few different ways of interpreting that, but I guess personal-headcanon-wise, I always sort of liked the idea that with ALIE being a sort of “cult” god-like figure, when Emori was chipped/converted/assimilated, it replaced any other beliefs or identity she might’ve worn that for.

(Of course in the real world chipped!Emori was still dressed normal even when she wasn’t hiding being chipped anymore, but shush, the physical realm is nothing etc. she probably just didn’t bother changing.)

So the reason I’m pointing all this out now is this: in 4x08, they had taken Emori’s turban off when she was lying on the table. And obviously the entire storyline is a violation all around, but when I realized that on rewatch, it gutted me.

And like, then I stepped back and realized that was partly for headcanon reasons, and we don’t *know* textually if it’s really that significant to her, but that said... 3/4 of the past times we’ve seen her without it she’s been (a) half-dressed/naked or (b) brainwashed, so yeah. It felt very wrong to me and made her seem that much more vulnerable in that moment.