#Trans Stories Matter

[that-trans-autistic-guy]

The Dream of Being in DBD as a Trans Character: Updated

i've posted the original version of this here, but im posting this revised one here bcuz i live in a country that hates me apparently and im going to plaster my story everywhere bcuz its important. people like me are important and we deserve to be seen, along with our stories.

The plot begins with a client walking in. A ghost boy, no older than eighteen, comes in and asks for their assistance. His friend, who we’ll call Roy, had moved to the UK before the ghost, we’ll call Gilbert, passed away. The two were extremely close and Gil was Roy’s only real friend. Gil’s request is that the agency finds Roy and helps him deliver a last message to his friend. It takes some discussion, but the agency agrees.

We see a teen walking through a high school, head down, headphones on and clearly on the outside (think Edwin’s scene of walking against all the other students). Some jock in a varsity jacket slaps the books out of his hands. One particular book gets kicked down the hallway or something, and the whole hallway watches him go after it. His locker has all sorts of insults scribbled onto it, multiple of which are feminine in nature. Roy just sighs as he exchanges some of his supplies.

We watch him go through classes, just glimpses of classmates glaring, throwing papers at him, etc. He doesn’t respond to it beyond a few resigned expressions and sighs. A bell rings and the hallways are flooded by people going to lunch. Enter Crystal Palace, flanked by Edwin and Charles. She asks if he has a moment to talk and he says something like, “Look, I’m just trying to go eat without getting fucked up. So if you and your ghost boyfriends could just leave me alone, that’d be great.” He walks off, leaving Crystal and the boys extremely confused.

They didn’t think he would be able to see them. Gil had said he’d never said anything about seeing ghosts.

Crystal and the boys talk to the other students about Roy, posing as new/exchange students who’d noticed something about him. None of the students are particularly nice, saying he’s weird and abnormal. They also add in statements saying things like he’s “a girl playing pretend” and other statements in that vein. It confuses the boys, especially Edwin, but it seems to click for Crystal.

She finds Roy after school, hiding in the art/band room while the hoard of students goes outside to leave. His headphones are still on and he’s on his phone, but his head whips up the second the psychic enters so he’s clearly on high alert. Crystal sits across from him and asks why he could see ghosts.

Roy explains that when he came out, his parents stopped caring. They didn’t accept him, help him transition and refused to call him by his name. When he was seventeen, his appendix burst. He’d complained for multiple days that something was very wrong with his stomach and his parents ignored it. It burst at school and he nearly died from their negligence. 

He saw his first ghost at the school, as soon as he’d returned. It was a girl who had died the previous year in an accident, still attending classes with the rest of her classmates. He even spoke to the ghost a few times, but he never brought it up to Gilbert or anyone else. His classmates already bullied him and he wasn’t eager to give them more ammunition. Even so, he’d occasionally sneak into a bathroom to talk to the rather lonely ghost girl. He knew loneliness all too well and didn’t wish it on anyone.

After the whole ordeal, his uncle asked for custody and they gave it over without protest. Once he had it, his uncle, who we’ll call Josh, immediately worked on helping him transition. Josh got him to doctors who gave him HRT and helped him legally change his name. When Josh was told he would move to England for his high paying job barely six months later, he got Roy top surgery scheduled before they left. He enrolled in his current school, which had just as much bullying as his last. 

Crystal tells him that his friend, Gilbert, had contacted them to find him and help deliver a message. Roy’s shocked and asked if he could see Gil. The three agree, saying they could arrange something for that night. They make conversation until Roy deems it safe enough for him to leave. He gives them an awkward wave on the way out.

The two friends reunite that night. It’s tearful and emotional. We learn, through conversation or flashbacks, that Gilbert had died shortly after Roy moved away in a car accident. Roy had flown out to be at his best friend’s funeral and had been inconsolable. Gil’s family had let him sit with them, basically his own family. The boys hold each other like they might fade away, resting their foreheads together.

They talk. Gil reassures him that he was okay, that he was glad Roy was still going. He’s sad that Roy hasn’t made any new friends and the boy says he’s scared of letting in the wrong people. He says that maybe he can start with the detectives and Roy agrees that maybe he can. They talk a little more, the two stating that they love each other and similar statements, and Gil’s ready to move on. The blue light appears and he smiles sadly, giving his friend one last hug. He tells Roy to look after himself, asks the agency to look after him, too. Roy is holding in a sob but tells Gilbert to go on and that he’ll see him later, yeah? Gilbert nods and goes with Death, the light disappearing. As it does, we see the ghost boys holding hands, cast in blue light, reminded of their own deep friendship and unable to imagine parting.

Roy swipes at his tears as the agency approaches. They all offer their condolences, even a hug maybe, and he accepts. He asks if what they do is helping people move on and they say that it is. He nods and says that he’d like to help them sometimes, to which they all agree. The four of them hang out for a while, letting Roy tell the stories of Gilbert he’d been aching to tell.

When Roy goes home, his uncle is still up. The teen had said he would be out with potential new friends. Josh asks if the hangout went well and immediately worries when he sees his nephew’s tears. Roy is quick to tell him it was great, better than he could have imagined. He tells his uncle that he told them about Gilbert and even got to share his memories of him. Josh gets tearful as well when Roy says that he thinks he might actually have a group of friends he could be really close to. The two hug before the camera pans back to the agency. Perhaps the boys are deep in thought, perhaps they’re talking about the case and how it made them feel. But it’s clear that whether said aloud or not, the case had hit very close to home. And it leaves them with things to think about.

I like to think Roy would make a few other appearances, in a similar way to Monty. Edwin would ask him questions about his identity and queer stuff, notebook in hand. Charles and him would mess around, playing jokes on the others. He and Crystal would commiserate over neglectful parents, helping her as she tries to rebuild her life. When Niko comes back, they’d share shows and books they each like. 

Maybe the bullying gets bad and one of the ghost boys goes with him to school, casually tripping the bullies or being silly around them while the bully is oblivious. Roy slowly makes a friend or two at school, and overall comes out of his shell bit by bit. And he can almost see Gilbert smiling from beyond.

again, im posting this bcuz despite the last election, our stories matter and so do we. queer stories matter. trans stories matter. and if you don't like it, suck it up. cuz we arent going anywhere.

[rhfffas]

your average period drama: white/straight/cis, with annoying men who have egos and screen time bigger than the whole sky

aloto: none of these things above

#justice for aloto

[themnmovieman]

Movie Review ~ Will & Harper

Will & Harper Synopsis: After comedian Will Ferrell’s longtime friend and former SNL writer Harper Steele came out as a trans woman, they embarked on a heartfelt road trip from New York to LA to reintroduce Harper to the country as herself. Over 16 days, they revisit meaningful places, deepening their friendship and exploring their new dynamic.Stars: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele, Seth Meyers, Tina…

[donnstuart]

I may look innocent, but I’m not

[viviandarkbloombartylusversion]

What if i say that Sirius acted out as a kid, not because he didn't like his parents' beliefs, not out of mindless disobedience, but to get Walburga to look at him, to get her to shower him in attention the way she did Regulus, to get her to look at him with anything other than distant eyes?

[definedvines]

i've kind of changed my mind when it comes to naoto's gender in that it doesn't matter what exactly you headcanon them as, but an arc that essentially says "being forced to be a gender you're not to conform to society can cause you a lot of problems" is an extremely trans-coded narrative and one that can hardly ever be applied to cis people in the real world. they just had to make naoto's a technically cis one because, dare i say, atlus may not exactly have been writing their games' narratives as the biggest trans ally in the early 2000s

[blueboyluca]

Anyway the movie ends with lesbians and a kelpie puppy so 10/10 five stars no notes. 🌈

[loudmound]

i think where people are losing the plot in terms of making james and jim characters that have suffered more than what is initially apparent in the narrative of sh2 is that it tends to absolutely consume how they see those respective characters and takes that shit to the absolute extremes. james and mary having a tumultuous relationship when she was sick turns into "mary was james' abuser when she was sick." conversely, for jim, it's entirely possible that she was institutionalized and sa'd while she was there, then that somehow turns into "none of what she experienced in silent hill was real and she's been locked in that mental hospital for 20 years, actually." it's deeply unserious.

[moongothic]

Seen quite a few people comment how they believe it's more likely the Dragodile Divorce happened due to ideological differences rather than because Dragon was too straight to stay with Crocodile, and. Like I did suggest that (or at least tried to) in my Crocodad Giga Thesis (really I should've been more clear about it in my essay so I wouldn't be writing this now lol), but like yes, Dragon and Crocodile absolutely have drastically different beliefs on How One Overthrows The World Government. And that absolutely could have contributed to the two separating and/or Crocodile deciding to go his own way instead of becoming a proper Revolutionary

Because like, as I tried to imply in the essay (but failed to deliver); if Crocodile's goal had always been to get Pluton so he could just nuke Marijoa off the face of the earth by himself and end it all in one go, then Crocodile and his way of thinking could work as this, like... contrasting opposite to how Dragon believes things should be done. Some fans (unfairly imo) call Dragon a "fraud" because over the past 20+ years he has only attacked Marijoa and the WG directly just once, and even when he did, instead of doing something to stop their corrupt reign for good... the Revs destroyed... the Tenryuubito's... food storage..? Like. Sure, that'll bother them for a little while, get their panties in a good twist etc, but in the end they're just going to demand more tributes and more free food. The Revolutionary Army may be successfully inspiring more people and more countries to rebel against the World Government's corrupt rule, but the Tenryuubito are still in power and will continue to be in power for a long time. And that's kind of how Crocodile would greatly complement Dragon within the narrative. Dragon being arguably "too soft" with his slow, methodical way of overthrowing the WG, while Crocodile would just kill them all without mercy, even if it meant hurting innocent people in the process. The two would act as the opposite sides of the same coin, the different extremes of the same spectrum. Crocodile would become like a response to the complaints people have against Dragon.

And yeah, the two having such wildly different ideological views could VERY EASILY contribute to a divorce, for sure.

My thing is that... If (and this is an if) Crocodile is meant to go a character arc and grow as a person, if we're meant to see him as a sympathetic character at all and maybe even feel bad for him... It'll be much harder to write that if the Dragodile Divorce happened only because of the two having ideological differences. Like who's going to feel bad for Crocodile if the two got divorced because Crocodile wanted to mass murder people and Dragon wasn't okay with it? That's not a tragedy, that's not a situation where we as the readers would feel for Crocodile and want to root for him. That's not something that would give a character unprocessed emotional trauma to heal from and overcome. He'd just be a villian who'd need to have his beliefs changed.

Where as, if The Divorce was caused by Dragon and Crocodile no longer being compatible due to Dragon being straight while Crocodile transed his gender... Even in the most respectful of scenarios that is a heartbreaking situation, a painful thing to go through. That is a tragedy without bad guys, a story where you could feel bad for Crocodile and want to root for him. That is a situation that would give him trauma to heal from.

And that's kind of why I so strongly believe in Crocodile's transition being a more important, contributing factor in The Divorce. Again, this does absolutely depend on what Crocodile's actual role in the story is going to be and whether or not he's even meant to go through a character arc at all. Like if he's not going to be that important and if he isn't meant to go through an arc then sure, Crocodile's transition doesn't have to matter one fucking bit. But if he is meant to go through an arc, if we are meant to feel bad for him and find outselves rooting for him eventually... From a writing perspective, that'll be far easier to do if we can find ourselves sympathizing with him even just a little bit.

Also like. Yes, you can have queer characters who are just queer for the sake of being queer, their queerness does not have to be an important aspect in them or a huge plotpoint in their story at all. Crocodile could be queer just for the sake of being queer. Because that's what it's like being queer, you just are what you are. At the same time, from a writing perspective. What would even be the point of making him queer if it didn't matter to his character at all and have an impact on his character?

Also while Crocodile and Dragon clearly have very different beliefs on how the WG should be dealt with right now, we don't really know when Crocodile came to his beliefs. Like for all we know Crocodile could've formed his worldview years after the divorce. Hell, based on the way he spoke to Vivi about her ideals, and how we know he spent over a decade in utter emotional solitude, his current worldview could have been partially born from resentment towards Dragon (and his ideals) that's been simmering away over the years.

All of this to say; yes I think the two's beliefs could have been a contributing factor in The Divorce, but from a writing perspective (and based on the direction I personally want to see the story go), I find it far more likely if Crocodile's transition was the main cause, one way or another.

[kzlatkova]

School years came and went, and I kept struggling to be just enough of a girl to maintain what everyone thought to be the right kind of friendships. Then I met her, with her sunshine hair, golden skin, and honey eyes. I searched for her and found her everywhere. I read books, watched films, and sang songs that reminded me of Grace, and I thought, I do not want to play with dolls, but I would love to play with her. She was my best friend, and for a while, she was everything.

I clung to my bubble of bliss so tightly, that all the muscles in my small arms ached. I jumped, and danced, and I laughed with unburdened glee, as Katie Perry’s voice kissed me through the radio, and baptized me into the cherry tasting church of dance. Then my father burst in, roaring with disgust, and called me a freak. I said, “I like it,” at the same time she did, and his hand did the answering for him. He smacked the side of my head so hard; the impact launched me into the kitchen, and my skull dented the side of the fridge while cracking lights blurred my vision. I was ten years old. With eyes worshiping the ground and a bloodied crumpled face, I crawled up the stairs and climbed up to my bunk, where I wailed until my mind buried away the memories of star spun curls and lulled me into sleep. I still smiled for her, and dreamt about her, up to the very day my mother asked if I liked girls. As I felt my brain burn and my throat close, I laughed “No! Are you crazy,” and I climbed up to my escape once more. She did not ask anew, and I never mentioned Grace either. Soon enough, the honey eyes changed school and moved away. I never saw them again, but they left behind in me a life-long, unsatiable hankering for bees.

This is part of my short story "One Night at Garlands" which you can read on Wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/story/386854930-one-night-at-garlands), approx 10 min read. :)

Please let me know what you think, and if it resonates to your own experience, I see you and am here for you, now and always 🖤 

[defilerwyrm]

Ok. So. NSFW werewolf ask. Would a transmasc werewolf on T develop a knot as his clit/dick grows? Is the anatomical analog (analogue? I can never remember which spelling is right) present? I need to know this because that's what fanfic writers do: we need to get the porn correct.

DAMN RIGHT HE WOULD.

Like okay sure to my knowledge, female canids don't actually have analogous tissue to the bulbis glandis, but since it's pretty standard for testosterone HRT to masculinize the genitals and it's perfectly possible in humans for it to trigger the generation of tissue that isn't pre-existing (such as prostate tissue), so why wouldn't it do the same for werewolves?

Hell, if you wanted it to, it could go all the way to a normative dick. If this trans guy can grow claws, fangs, a tail, and full pelt of fur, what's stopping him from growing balls too? With exactly zero respect to the fuckwits who wrote explicit transphobia into that one edition of Werewolf: The Apocalypse (4e I think? who fucking cares, it deserves to die in obscurity), werewolves are magical/supernatural creatures and you can do what you please with them, including their genitals. There is absolutely no authority telling you that werewolves can't straight up change sex in full or in part when they wolf out if you want them to.

Trans erotica made by trans people serves two purposes: to be gender-affirming and to be hot. Besides, if your porno werewolf doesn't have a knot what's even the got damb point

[rosethorn-zz]

happy pride month from the walking pride flags

[toxifoxx]

How does it make you feel that M Preg is a canonical thing in FNAF?

i mean i kind of have mixed feelings it's obviously used as a tool of horror and is supposed to be gross and shocking, and it's always used as a shocking thing in the fandom too. not that it's unexpected but you can tell people think of a man being pregnant as something hilarious and outlandish/impossible, it's either something to laugh at or be disgusted by. and as a trans man myself it's just kind of like hmm. Hmmmm

[jeffmovieman]

Why Disney Cannot Get Away With Erasing Trans Rep From Win or Lose

I’m a bisexual person. I’m completely comfortable with who I am. My mind wasn’t poisoned. Nobody forced it upon me. I decided I was bi.

I have so many queer friends who are all the same way. This is who we are.

We need stories that TRUST us. We need stories that tell us we’re not “monsters”. We’re human beings just like you. The only difference is who we choose to be and who we choose to love. The only monsters are the ones conservatives create in their heads to justify their bigotry and hatred.

We depend on queer storytelling because it WELCOMES us. NORMALIZES us. HUMANIZES us. JUSTIFIES us. We depend on it because it makes us feel less alone. If we can’t even be allowed to see, hear, or even TELL those stories, then that’s telling us that we don’t matter.

Corporations erasing stories like this says to us that they don’t think we matter enough for them to sacrifice a few zeroes on their balance sheets. They’ve only ever cared about us JUST enough for them to not lose any money over it.

And any time they let the smallest amount of authentic queerness shine through in something they bankrolled, even the smallest bit of conservative backlash to us being represented will be used as a scapegoat if it doesn’t profit. As if it’s OUR fault they’re a little less rich.

It’s sickening that we’ve reached a point where they can be so transparently UNCONCERNED with us and act like they made the right decision in taking away our stories and our voices.

They’re not worried about parents.

They’re worried about their ROI.

Not people. Numbers.

It all boils down to cowardice. A fear to even dare to weather a little storm that will eventually part and give way to ACCEPTANCE.

If a CEO can’t muster the courage to take a stand for us and set aside their own self-interests for even a minute… what kind of leader are they?

When you erase a queer story, a story that was told by one of us, you’re not just erasing them… you’re erasing ALL OF US.

And we’re living in a world where the people in charge want to do the same.

Whose side are you on?

#QueerStoriesMatter #TransRightsAreHumanRights

[ikuneko]

My first finished read for Black History Month this year was Black Boy Joy, a collection of short stories by black male authors compiled by Kwame Mbalia. It was an absolutely wonderful read, and so, so important to showcase the happiness found growing up black, I feel like.

[moongothic]

It is kind of funny to think about how popular the Kuja Crocodile fan theory is when you take a step back and think about where that theory kinda originates from Now to be fair, I'm not 100% certain where the theory came from, I can only remember so much of what the fandom was theorizing back in 2008, so I may be speaking from my ass a little right now

But from what I do remember, back in Yee Olden Days, there was a lot of speculation about why the Strawhats got sent to their respective island by Kuma the way they did. A lot of people did notice how each island seemed meaningful one way or another to each Strawhat and tied into their characters except for Luffy, and everybody thought that was a bit odd. Mainly because we didn't fully know HOW Kuma's ability worked. Now, nearly two decades later, we DO know how Kuma's ability actually works; People don't magically travel to islands they have a secret connection to or anything, Kuma himself has to actively choose where he sends people off to, meaning Kuma looked at the Strawhats individually and picked out islands where he thought they'd be best off at. Luffy being sent to Amazon Lily is arguably no different; Kuma knew Luffy was the brother of the soon-to-be-executed Ace, but also a target of the WG (due to being Dragon's son). Amazon Lily was close enough to both Sabaody that Luffy would be able to return there relatively easily if he wished to, or he could try to befriend the Warlord Hancock, who was also being summoned to participate in Ace's execution, to hitch a ride from her to go and try to save his brother. The only challenge Luffy would have to overcome there was indeed befriending the Kuja, at least enough to be taken off from the island safely and alive.

But indeed, we only really know and can fully understand that now. Back in Yee Olden Days, the fans did just seem to think Kuma's ability might be a bit more mystical in nature, and thus people got really curious what Luffy's Secret Ties to the Kuja and Amazon Lily could possibly be. And naturally that lead to people speculating that maybe Luffy's mom was a Kuja. Because what other subconcious connection could Luffy possibly have to the island especially when it didn't seem like it would help him reach/achieve his dreams any faster either.

But then we get to Impel Down and Crocodile gets those transgenderism allegations thrown right in his handsome face (and people start shitposting about him being Luffy's other parent) And I think that might be where the streams crossed. People noted how Crocodile has his funny little reptile motif going on, and how the Kuja ""also have a reptile motif"", transgenderism allegations, badabing badaboom Crocodile could be a former Kuja, secret past SOLVED.

But the connection there is really weak though, isn't it? Especially when you considder that the Kuja don't really have a REPTILE theme going on with them. Yes, the snake motif is important to the Kuja, our beloved Hancock being The Snake Princess and the sisters having the Gorgon/Medusa (fake) backstory, but the animal motif is limited to just snakes, not reptiles as a whole (otherwise we could also speculate that Moria is a former Kuja because he's also named after a reptile). And more importantly, the Kuja have a big FLOWER theme going on for them, namely in, well, their names; each Kuja is named after some kind of flower/plant. Sure, Crocodile could have a secret deadname but we don't know if he does, there is no evidence to suggest either way (but also, depending on when you think he would have transitioned then him just being able to have a secret deadname is kind of up in the air (see: Crocodad timeline))

So if Kuma's ability doesn't have a magical way to send people to places they have ties to (whether the person knows it or not), and if Crocodile doesn't have any obvious, thematic connection to the Kuja, then the only reason people believe he could've been a Kuja is because... he might be trans. And... yeah. That's kind of a weak basis for a theory, isn't it