#any concrete label that doesnt allow for fluidity is imo too restricting for what shu has going on

[mihai-florescu]

This is not in any way to start discourse, i would really love it didnt happen actually, but i want to share why reading Shu as transfem wouldn't be actively going against who they are. I actually agree with most of the points in this ask, but i think there's a bit of unclarity regarding the term transfem itself? It does not automatically mean trans woman, but someone who identifies with femininity.

Shu's relationship with gender is more complicated than just easily defined boxes "man", "woman". You're right, it's not implied at any point that he'd want to transition into a woman, but he does mention a sense of dysmorphia and dissatisfaction regarding puberty's effects ("When I first met Madmoiselle, it was still prior to my encounter with the accursed thing we call puberty... I was a sweet, young boy with rosy cheeks- I would probably have been indistinguishable if you had lined me up next to those dolls over there.") Of course his relationship with dolls goes much deeper than the surface level of femininity, as they represent innocence, purity and perfection that humans lack, as well as an escape. I haven't seen Victoria's original japanese text, I don't know whether the translator took liberties, but the story lends credibility to a Not Cis reading of Shu's character.

As for Raison d'etre, the story makes parallels between Shu and his grandpa, who went to Paris at various points in life and took on different identities that would've been forbidden back home, including that of a woman. Identity is fluid and can change throughout a person's life. It isn't a reach to imagine that at some point Shu might start experimenting with a more feminine gender presentation. He says it himself in the epilogue, the same femininity that was present in grandpa was passed on to him (present even prior to the war and splitting into the Madmoiselle alter).

Shu's gender is a grey area that can't really be argued into a clear answer. Different people will interpret it differently based on their own life experiences (cis gnc, transfem nonbinary, agender etc) ultimately Shu's not a real person. But his relationship with gender resonates with people of various labels. But I didn't come here to argue the validity of the concept of labels, just to say that a transfem reading is not radically shifting Shu into something he's not.

I completely agree with the afab headcanon being redundant and contradictory though, that one actively ignores Shu's story, struggles and journey.

It really weirds me out when people hc Shu as trans, especially transfem, because if that were true he’d be a completely different character.

If he was transmasc, that implies that he’s AFAB. This in turn means that the whole point of his childhood, that being that he was shunned and bullied by his peers and even family members for being a boy and liking “girl” things, wouldn’t even exist because he would’ve been confirming to gender norms the whole time.

If he was transfem, it would make that whole point of his personal journey/story about defying gender norms completely moot. You’d just end up shoving him right back into the box that the whole purpose of his character is set to break, and that’s not a good thing from a storytelling perspective.

I’ve seen a fair handful of people celebrating that he’s “officially implied transfem” after Raison D’etre, and that simply isn’t true. His grandfather is the one being implied to be trans. The way Shu interprets the story of his grandfather is one of two men, and in the play him and Mika put on that’s how it’s portrayed. This is because Shu was looking to relate to the story, contrary to Mika who was looking for the “truth”.

Shu has never been trans, nor has that ever been implied to be the case, he’s always just been gender-non-conforming. I see it as somewhat inherently invalidating to his canon identity to try and push the idea that he’s transfem just because he likes dolls and dresses (especially since most of the people in this fandom seem that have pretty progressive mindsets, so you’d think that a canonically GNC cis character would be well received), regardless of the fact that unlike someone like Arashi he has never expressed a want to actually become a woman.

The same concept would apply to Hajime as well, and I think in his case in particular it’s worth noting that he actively has said he dislikes being seen as a girl, and yet people will still have those transfem headcanons. This is not me trying to say I’m against that type of hc in general, it just frustrates me when it’s used on a character where it actively goes against who they are.

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