#i can anger both transphobes AND homophobes all in one breath

[sunnywalnut]

I'm going to start kissing women if y'all don't knock it off

[wolf-queer-discourse]

Adventures in Aphobia #1

So I was scrolling through Tumblr the other day (a regrettable mistake as always), and I had the great pleasure of seeing this joyous post.

*deep breath*

Not gonna lie, posts like this make me real pissed. Pissed because the person who posted this exists in a space where they feel comfortable enough to post this online. Pissed because these posts are so common and often face little backlash. And pissed because there’s nothing better than allosexuals condescendingly explaining to asexual people why they’re dirty attention whores who invent their own oppression. Ace people deserve to be defended against this horseshit. Young people see these posts, and it’s extremely damaging to have your identity be nothing more than fuel for people in discourse to mock you and demand you bled in order for them to notice your pain.

Anger aside, many people do not see why this post is wrong, so why is it? Let’s unpack this clusterfuck of bigotry:

“would love to see substantive evidence of systematic “aphobia” that isn’t actually just misogyny, toxic masculinity, or rpe culture.”

God damn, we are not mincing our words here XD. A few things: systematic in bold, which tells you if you do not make a blood sacrifice on the altar of queer pain you will not be taken seriously. Potential nitpick, but systemic and systematic are not the same thing. I believe systemic is the word they’re looking for. Systematic implies a lot more intentionality that can be hard to prove. Systemic merely means that systems, in their current state, do aphobic things, which they absolutely do.

“Aphobia” in quotes is absolutely rich. Not only will this person refuse to acknowledge systemic aphobia, which is only one type, but this poster casts clear doubt upon the mere concept of aphobia in and of itself. We love to see it.

There’s a lot to unpack here. The statement, as clearly condescending as intended, is sort of correct, though it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Systemic oppression is about the systems in a society (government, healthcare, etc) discriminating against people. Systemic oppression is not bigotry faced on a person-to-person level. In short, systematic oppression is something a person experiences in their overall life, while personal discrimination is experienced on a personal level by people who are not singularly in control of the systems. This post boils down the negative comments ace people face into being called “weird”, which is an understatement for sure, but calling a gay person weird isn’t systemic oppression either.

It’s still bad and discriminatory.

This is such a snotty way to dismiss aphobia as some mere, insignificant comment with no meaning as if it doesn’t reinforce society’s painful aphobic views in the same way casual homophobic comments reinforce heteronormativity and society’s hostility toward gay people.

Ace people face discrimination in healthcare, most notably, which is systemic discrimination, but the systemic discrimination of asexuals really ought to be its own post if I’m to nosedive into it. Even if ace people faced no systemic discrimination, it wouldn’t make this point anymore correct. Discrimination is a perfectly valid reason to feel disregarded by society, and often only ace people are denied the right to feel this way and are instead gaslit into admitting what they face is no big deal and they’re just making it up for attention.

The experience of being pressured to have sex when you’re allo vs ace is very different. The vast majority of allo people do not plan to be celibate their whole lives. Many ace people do not want to have sex, ever. “Waiting for sex” in much of western society and in Christianity is seen as pure and honorable. Yet being asexual and never wanting sex is seen as a deviant disorder and people are accused of robbing their partner of sex forever.

There’s really a specific flavor of sexual pressure that is unique to ace people. Sex being to “fix” someone or because they “just need to try it”.

In this respect, aphobic sexual pressure is better compared to that faced by gay people and lesbians. Lesbians especially often can face this same struggle, men pressuring them to have sex because they think lesbians just need to “try it” or to “fix them”. I can imagine this poster would have no issue acknowledging lesbophobia being the root of lesbians coerced into sex with men, yet she does not give ace people the same.

Imagine if someone said (and knowing our fucked world, someone probably has): “Lesbophobia doesn’t exist. It’s just misogyny. Straight women are coerced into sex too!”

It’d be pathetic bullshit. Toxic masculinity, misogyny and many other issues can all tangle into combined messes with other forms of bigotry. Lesbophobia is an experience that deserves to be recognized apart from misogyny, even if the two are linked. Please stop erasing ace people’s experiences with this when it’s not the same thing.

Honestly, though, this post, as trashy as it is, if anything, is perhaps, really asking: Is there any type of aphobic experience that’s inherently exclusive to ace people?

I still wager to go say, yes, yes there is, but I must make an important point first:

Most experiences of queer discrimination are not limited to queer people.

Homophobia and transphobia are both experienced by cishets in certain instances. Feminine straight men can be victims of homophobic harassment. This does not disprove the fact that it’s homophobia just because a straight man is the victim of it. A tall cis woman with broad shoulders and a lower voice may be the victim of transphobic remarks or comments. The basis of these comments is rooted in transphobia, however, so the fact that the victim is cis does not erase the transphobia.

People who argue that experiences ace people complain about can be experienced by allosexuals are not poking a legitimate hole in doing this. Certain experiences related to aphobia can and are experienced by allosexuals. If you do not acknowledge this, then homophobia and transphobia aren’t real because cishet people have sometimes experienced them.

Despite cishets sometimes experiencing queerphobia, most of us acknowledge that their experience of that bigotry, however unfortunate, is not the same as that experienced by actual queer people. It’d be quite homophobic for a feminine straight man to claim he knew just as much about the gay experience as an actual gay man. Similarly, when allosexual people relate experiences that were rooted in aphobia, it’s overstepping a line when they claim asexual discrimination isn’t real because they experienced elements of it too.

Cishet (cishet including allosexuals) people do not experience their doctors telling them their sexuality might be a disorder or caused by trauma. Allo queer people can experience this with their sexualities too.

“using sex appeal to sell products is misogyny, it is not engineered to gross sex-repulsed people, it is meant to objectify women.”

This is a strawman thinner than my last nerve. Uh, what? What ace people are you seeing that literally think sex appeal was engineered to gross-out sex-repulsed people?? I don’t think this is a core argument??

Yes, sex-repulsed ace people sometimes complain about sex appeal in media being uncomfortable. But that’s it. Every time an ace person shares a discomfort of theirs doesn’t mean it’s the entire basis of their oppression. For the love of God, let ace people discuss their experiences without being blow-torched over not being oppressed enough with an individual discomfort. 

BONUS ROUND

(This was in the tags)

“Completely vilifies celibate individuals” 

...no…? What…? Huh…? 

The most charitable interpretation of this vague accusation is that the poster means celibate people face aphobia as well, due to not wanting to have sex. I have no idea how this “vilifies” anyone, but that aside, as said before: people who are not queer can face aphobia. Also worth noting that society treats celibate people way better than ace people, which is really another example of aphobia. Celibate people can be told they’re missing out (which could be at very least related to aphobic ideals), but they’re rarely called broken. Celibacy is seen more as a respected, controlled ideal in allo people, but when ace people want to do it, they’re just mentally ill.

Anyway, the post was aphobic trash, and it needs to be debunked more often. Mocking ace people online is not a good look anymore, guys. Don't be ugly.

[alines7777]

aight, here's a piece of 'creative writing' that i've been brainstorming.

basically, it's about samson, a famed homophobic and transphobic radio evangelist, who dies and goes to hell, and meets the princes of hell, who subsequently berate him for his character and deeds on earth. and it more or less gets into the CORE reason why conservatives always turn out to be shitheads in their seeking of bible verses as a shield for their bigotry, and even hypocrisy. it's also to demonstrate that, as written in the tanakh, god is beyond good and evil, especially any one person's view of it.

the thing here is that based on everything i read from the bible, everything the princes of hell say here is true, or at the very least reasonable. and i think the following sort of bigotry and disrespect toward humanity as a whole, whom lucifer accurately calls the ADAM, is the character attributed to lucifer in other texts, and i also think it serves as a nice foil for samson's bigotry toward the lgbti community, just as samson serves as a nice foil for lucifer's expulsion from YHVH's hosts.

and on that note, i think it would be fair warn that this work includes the use of transphobic slurs, albeit from a perspective of a being that cares as little for humanity as a whole as it does toward the plight of trans people.

but what both of them never really stop to consider is that they all supposedly share god's breath in common. and god's breath is held in the tanakh as the source of life, that every breath we take is literally god's.

(try to imagine leviathan sounding as though he's stifling laughter as he speaks)

....

samson : ugh. who are all of you? where am i?

leviathan : GEHINNOM. HELL.

samson : no! that can't be right! that's impossible! i was spreading the truth about your bid to destroy america with the gay and trans agenda! i was bringing people back to the right path that god set for man and woman in marriage. i was saving america from your throes! i was the champion of the holy crusade against the trans and gay agenda to soften and feminize america to make it yours instead.

* the princes start busting into laughter *

asmodeus : are you kidding? as if anyone even needs sodomy or transsexuality to be pulled away from marriage in the first place! o, but i'm sure you know better from experience, right? but we have witnessed the rise and fall of MANY nations throughout EONS, so why should we even remotely care about america above any others? what an idiot!

lucifer : listen, samson, god is the one who chooses the fate of all nations, not us, haven't you even read the word he left for you? so if "the sodomites and transsexuals" really are destroying america as you say they are, then it's precisely because god wants them to, now you're free to take any guess at why. besides, we are hardly interested even in the ADAM that you'd find here, let alone those that still roam earth, and you won't find us delivering any of our bidding to DIRT beneath our feet. there is no fight between us and YHVH over the ADAM, the only ones you have to blame for your sins and the fall of your nations are YOURSELVES.

leviathan : AND THEY'RE STILL CONCERNED OVER THE COLORS OF THEIR BEDSHEETS [flags]. TAKE CARE THAT THEY SHOULDN'T TURN YELLOW AND BROWN FROM THAT PANIC YOU'RE IN! *laughs uncontrollably* HOW RIDICULOUS! WE DON'T NEED TO HEAR ANYTHING ELSE FROM YOU, AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ANYTHING USEFUL TO SAY.

*leviathan, again succumbing to uncontrollable laughter, puts a seal on samson's mouth to keep him from speaking up again*

leviathan : WE CAN ONLY FEAR THAT WHATEVER ELSE YOU SAY FOR YOURSELF MIGHT BE EVEN MORE DAMNING! I HAVEN'T LAUGHED THIS HARD IN AGES! "CHAMPION OF THE HOLY CRUSADE AGAINST THE GAY AND TRANS AGENDA!" *laughing again, but his laughter is starting to die down*.

asmodeus : and all that coming from.... hold on, let's see what stolas wrote for us again.... a divorcée of five times by adultery with the same trannies he calls abominations [sort of like alex jones and the trans porn on his phone] —

satan : — and two times by battery —

asmodeus : — telling everyone else to honor and cherish the sanctity of man and woman in marriage and sex before god.

*all princes proceed to laugh, samson becomes flush and tearful with anger and embarrassment*

lucifer : aww, what's wrong? we only speak the truth to you alone in jest. but don't you find it at least a little bit funny? can't you see why it's at least a little amusing for us to see how a HYPOCRITICAL BIGOT always runs to the church for hiding?

leviathan : THE SAME WAY A FOX ALWAYS RUNS TO ITS BURROW!

lucifer : now, leviathan, let's not judge TOO unfairly. foxes run to their burrows only when given chase, and foxes actually dig the burrows where they go into hiding.

belphegor : and not once have we ever seen such fools as this so much as pick up a stone to build a church for their hiding.

leviathan : AND IF WE EVER DID SEE THEM PICK UP A STONE, WE ALWAYS FOUND THEM MUCH QUICKER TO CAST IT INSTEAD!

lucifer : and that, samson, is why it's SO DIFFICULT for us to feel any pity for you. but alas, we MUST. after all, only a fool as pathetic as you could never realize that it was just as difficult for everyone else to see god's kindness through your cruelty. now that doesn't inspire much faith in god, does it?

leviathan : NOR DOES IT INSPIRE MUCH OF HIS KINDNESS! JUST LOOK AT THE KINDNESS GOD SPARED YOU, HE LEFT YOU TO FEND FOR YOURSELF IN OUR MIDST!

lucifer : and too bad for you, there are no churches here, so there are no places here where you can hide from us, nor any walls with loose stones for the casting [this is specifically a reference to verses to be selectively taken from the bible to justify bigotry].

mammon : i hope you still think the money you took from all those broken cretins for your "sermons" made it all worth it.

beelzebub : not to mention all the lovely meals it afforded you.

asmodeus : and the women and trannies.

leviathan : ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED THE NAME OF GOD AS A CLOAK FOR YOUR SIN. AND THE ONLY REASON YOU EVER CARED ABOUT THE BODY OF CHRIST WAS BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HAVE IT AS A SHIELD.

lucifer : see, leviathan? now you're judging QUITE fairly. because fairness.... starts with the TRUTH. and the truth is, samson, you're DISGUSTING. all of ADAM are DISGUSTING! i hardly know any other words that are even fit to describe you. SLIME! DIRT! that's what you are — that's how god made you, and his breath never changed that fact. all it did was make you LIVING DIRT! too bad he never took my advice to destroy all of you while he had the chance, and the only times he did were when it was TOO LATE! now we're the ones who have to deal with you. and i should think that we're owed some thanks for TRYING when god WOULDN'T. we were not the ones who created you, and we just as surely are not the ones to blame for your sins, but we were the ones who were right about you every time when god was still trying to see something better than what was actually there — dirt. but still, he leaves it to us to handle the job of caring for you.

leviathan : HAH! WE NEVER CHANGED OUR MINDS ABOUT YOU, BUT EVEN WE MIGHT HATE YOU LESS NOW THAT HE SEES YOU AS CLEARLY WE DO, AND NOW WE'RE THE ONES WHO CARE MORE ABOUT YOU! THAT'S HOW MUCH GOD HATES YOU!

lucifer : yes, it is. do you know WHY, samson? the same reason we hate you: it's because you ADAM are always crying out god's name, the way spoiled children cry out for their mothers to get the things they want, because you'd NEVER be caught dead doing ANYTHING good for yourself, though for some reason you'd sooner be caught doing ill to others, and then you cry out even louder when you learn that you've been caught, exactly like a spoiled child. and you call yourself a man. that's how disgusting you ADAM are — you'd rather be caught doing ill to others than any good for yourselves — and then you STILL work up the gall to cry out god's name, and we soon find that those who cry his name the loudest are the worst disgraces to it, as much they would be even to OUR names for that matter. the only ones who are any good at all, even in our eyes, are those who DON'T.

satan : we, at least, started by rejecting his name.

lucifer : that's right, so it isn't reasonable to expect any obedience from us. but since you couldn't be bothered to obey god and abide his kindness, you would have been better to reject him too, you'd at least be HONEST, and we would certainly start taking a little more pity on you. and the ones who are inspired by OUR example, they don't ask anything from us, and they don't cry out our names. we hardly even acknowledge them, and they are better than you. but i must give the ADAM some credit, in the spirit of fairness, you answer and take heed when your names are called, even by those you despise. but god doesn't answer when you call his. he doesn't even want you knowing his name, and it isn't YHVH. exactly as leviathan told you, that's how much he hates you. but you're new here, so we're willing to give you a sporting chance to be YOUR OWN brand of dirt, that is all that can be expected of dirt, really. but we'll take care of you until you do, when you'll no longer need us, and when we longer have to bother with you, because if we don't, then who will? certainly not god. that ship has sailed. and if, in spite of our care, you CAN'T learn to accept your fate and be your own dirt, then we'll just bury you like half of the others, to be reunited with the rest of the dirt. either way, we won't have to deal with you for very long, just as we shouldn't.

[rfassholes]

Um, if you feel comfortable and have the time, could you write one where how the RFA + Saeran and V react to MC coming out as ftm trans? I understand if it's outside of your comfort zone and it's totally fine if you don't want to do it. Thank you.

Just so you all know: I will most likely never turn down a LGBTQ+ request, because I am proudly a pansexual, and I’m maybe 96% sure that I’m not cisgender. Requests like this don’t make me uncomfortable whatsoever, and I’m happy to write things like it! These will also be in different situations like MC coming out after they’ve been dating and MC coming out to them before they transition outwardly. I’m also going to give warnings for one slur, a panic attack, and dysphoria. Stay safe, nerds.

Also! I promise that I’ll V and Saeran later, but they’re not in this post for the time being. Soon, though!

Yoosung: (Set at the party, no eye issues, though)

Okay, yeah, he would probably know someone in person that wasn’t cisgender in real life

If he left the dorm outside of classes

But internet friends were much easier to talk to for him so he probably knew someone that was trans

You were trying to convince yourself that it was all going to be fine while getting ready

Even if you couldn’t properly come out, he most likely wouldn’t question your choice of suit over dress to the party

While the chat room was under the impression that you were a girl, including Seven because you weren’t properly out yet, you were going to present yourself as who you are now, not who you were born as

You had just arrived when Jaehee and Zen greeted you, and they were slightly surprised that you were MC, but you were just using this as fuel

“Could either of you tell me where Yoosung is?” “Right here!” he said as he practically popped up in between the other two hosts, “Who might you be?”

Wiping your palms on your slacks before holding out a hand to shake, you spoke determinedly “I’m MC, Yoosung, hope this isn’t that surprising, me being a guy and all”

You flashed a quick smile, partially out of greeting and partially for how your name sounded rolling off your tongue

“O-oh? No, it’s not surprising. Wait, no! I didn’t mean that in a bad way, of course. I just, yeah, okay, I’ll stop talking” “It’s alright, I know what you mean. I wasn’t exactly open about everything in the chat room”

By this point, Zen had already been whisked off by a guest and Jaehee was attending to some problem that came up

Yoosung just nodded a bit trying to figure out what to say

“I’m really sorry that everyone kept referring to you as a girl and misgendering you. I promise I won’t in the future! Is he/him alright?”

You brightened up instantly and nodded while letting out a breath you weren’t aware of holding

“So is this,” you gestured to yourself, “Alright? I just don’t know since I’m not a girl and you’re probably not int-“ “I don’t care about that, MC. Well, I care about how you feel about yourself, but I don’t care how you dress or what name you use. Wait! O-obviously, it more than that, but you know what I mean. It doesn’t matter to me what gender you are, ‘cause I fell for MC, the person, not MC, the strictly-a-girl.”

This was far more than you could ask for and you kept saying thank to which he just replied with “It’s all okay. You don’t need to thank me for not being a jerk”

The two of you went around the party together with you introducing yourself as the coordinator and him as your boyfriend

When you went off to talk to others, he would tell everyone who you were if they asked

“Yoosung, who did you greet at the door?” “Jumin, that’s MC, my boyfriend” “MC is a-?” “Yep, and I’ll fight you if you say anything bad” “I was not going to, and I have my guards anyways. I was only confused, not being a douche” “Oh, okay! Could you maybe have some of your guards kick any guests that act homophobic or transphobic out?” “Most definitely. Yoosung, you should go by MC. They look quite bored”

Yoosung was already walking away before he gave a “Thanks, Jumin!”

The both of you continued walking around the party before you had to leave for the day with Yoosung making threats to anyone and everyone that gave the two of you odd looks

Later in your relationship, Yoosung started taking you to GSA meetings that his campus held if you wanted to go

Would also go to pride with you if you wanted

Introduced you to some of his online friends that were also trans

Forever introduced you as his boyfriend or later, his husband as long as you were okay with it

Zen: (Set already in a relationship and transitioned. Warning for a censored slur in the sixth bullet point)

When you had first came to his home when he got hurt, Zen had no clue that you weren’t a girl, but he didn’t care

He honestly thought it was Seven just playing a joke when you first came onto the messenger

Flash forward to the two of you now, sitting on the couch eating popcorn while yelling at the idiots in a horror movie he was in a while ago

“Okay, but that dialogue was written horribly, Zen” “You should’ve seen the set directions, that was worse” “How do you top ‘I really hope that Ouija board wasn’t real, because I dropped my knife’ while you were alone? Your character was just speaking in the third person! And then they got fucking mangled, and that was just poor foreshadowing” “Yeah, true”

The conversation went on until it switched over to gossip about the actors working on his current set

“Has anyone gotten fired yet?” “Yeah, there was this PA that called the costume designer a t****y, and she was out of there faster than light. Ugh, that disgusted me. Delgado, the designer, is a really good person, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve that”

You bristled slightly at that word, and it made you uncomfortable that it came from his mouth

“I know you were just quoting, but could you please not say that word?”

Zen looked slightly confused and went on to speak “Yes, of course. Is there a particular reason? Not, not that I need one; I’m just curious”

Leaning back into the couch, you thought a bit about what you were going to say

You hadn’t told him for fear of rejection, but he just spoke well of a colleague that he implied was trans, so it couldn’t be too bad

Sitting back up to properly look at him, you spoke with a note of uncertainty, “Yes, actually. I’m transgender, female to male. It’s why Seven thought I was a girl, since he only looked at my medical records. I haven’t legally changed anything yet, since I didn’t have the money to” “MC! I’m so so sorry for saying that word! I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable at all. I should’ve known not to in front of my own boyfriend”

Perking up a bit at ‘boyfriend’, you exclaimed, “Really? You’re completely fine with it?” “Yes, of course, I am. There’s no reason for me to not be. I work in the entertainment industry, and I’ve been acquainted with people of all sorts. It doesn’t bug me if your driver’s license has an F instead of an M as long as it doesn’t bug you”

You could have thanked him a whole bunch, you just rushed to hug him instead

When you pulled back after a minute or two, you looked at him questioningly

“Do you think the press will talk about it a lot if I out myself?” “They always talk, but I’ll make sure that it’s not negative” “Thank you, maybe I can say something next time you have an event I get to attend” “That sounds great, MC. You’re an amazing boyfriend that’s incredibly brave!” “Zen, I’m just existing” “Which can be really hard”

In the future, he started advocating for trans positive organizations and donating as much money as he could to any shelters

Would have you help him make sure everything was worded correctly and speak with him

“There’s no reason for me to speak over you, MC, but I sure as hell will speak with you”

Surprised you with the forms and money to change everything you could legally on your anniversary

Started saving up money for you to get any surgeries or start T if you wanted to

Jaehee: (set in a relationship where MC hasn’t come out yet, but has been passing as male)

She came home from work ranting about an incident that happened with an intern earlier that day

“I can’t believe how they could say something like that, MC!” “Who, where, and what. I wanna hear this now” “There was this new kid starting his internship today, and he walked into my office as if we were friends, and started talking bad about another coworker. It wasn’t just ‘Oh, she eats loudly’ or ‘She taps her desk a lot’. No, he called her, and I quote, ‘a pedophile just waiting to happen’ since she ‘looks like a transgender pig.’ How do you have the audacity to say things like that when you’re working for such a prestigious company?”

Jaehee was still going off while your head was buzzing with second-hand anger

You fumed without thinking if you were cutting her off “What the actual fuck? Did you report them? Please tell me you decked that dickhead. I want to personally file a complaint, and get them so screwed that they won’t be able to go home without wanting to cut out their tongue”

She stopped to listen to you, staying quiet because she hasn’t seen you this fired up about her work issues in a while

“MC? MC, is everything alright? If you’d like to know, I already told Mr. Han directly, and they’ve been fired and most likely expelled from the school they were attending. I was going to slap him, but someone from HR was walking by the door”

You stopped short, starting to go over what she said in your head

“What do you mean if I’m alright? You should be asking your coworker!” “You just seem like this is affecting you greatly” “Well, yes, its showing me that I can’t be respected in a workplace” “What do you mean? You can always be respe-oh”

oh

“Wait, did I never tell you?” “If we’re thinking the same thing, no” “I could’ve sworn that I told you” “Well, I don’t care about it, so don’t worry about it” “Alright” “Alright”

Now you felt like an idiot

You were sure that you came out to her a while ago

She never really brought it up much after that

If you chose to bind, she’d always make sure you were doing it safely

Jaehee would send you articles about laws getting passed and about pride events that were near you

Would also send you lists of foods that lowered estrogen and increased testosterone

Definitely would not hesitate to slap the next person that made a remark

She may’ve would up sitting in a meeting with Jumin on how you can’t hit people and to tell him first to take care of it nonviolently

dAMMIT, JAEHEE

Jumin: (route spoilers, set when MC is staying with him along with the party and hasn’t come out to anyone yet or transitioned)

Jumin had left you a dress to wear to the party and you were still pacing around the room

You were trying to convince yourself that you only needed to play the role of MC The Woman for a little bit longer

It helped to think of it as you playing someone else than having worse dysphoria, but you just wanted to be seen as MC

Thinking back to when you first talked on the messenger, you winced at the memory of everyone insisting you were a girl even when you said you weren’t

It wasn’t necessarily Seven’s fault, you just weren’t out and couldn’t pass as male or change anything legally

Turning back to the dress, you got the courage to change into it, thinking that it was only a few hours

While you couldn’t wear a hat to tuck in your hair, you could still pin it up to make it look shorter, so you spent some time in front of a mirror and used a bunch of bobby pins to get all of your hair as close to what you had pictured

You were trying your best to still feel masculine even if you had to wear a sports bra instead of a proper binder if you chose to bind

Once you arrived at the party and found Jumin, you tried to hide your discomfort as best as possible until he called you his princess

While it was sweet and he just didn’t know, your throat still felt dry and you excused yourself to go to the restroom

You winced again when you walked past the sign for the women’s washroom and tried to stifle a panic attack that was rapidly getting worse after you locked the door behind you

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door, not like one of someone that actually needed the restroom, so you opened it just expecting to see a cleaning staff member or something

Jumin was standing there trying to play off how worried he was

“MC, I came to check on you, since you’ve been here for nearly half an hour. Is everything alright? You look panicked when I was talking with you, and I assumed that I said something wrong” “To be honest, I’m not okay at the moment, and yes, it was something you said. Don’t worry, tho-“ “MC, I have to worry if you’re not okay, especially so if it’s my fault. Could you please explain what’s going on, so that I can help?” “You didn’t know anything about it’s alright” “It’s not alright. It was ignorance, so could you please tell me what it was so that I can fix it?”

You nodded but asked if you could go sit at a table instead of standing in the bathroom and he laughed just a bit before sitting you down and then sat himself across from you

“I haven’t been completely honest in the chat room about myself, since it seemed impossible to change any of your views of me. To be flat out about it, I’m not female, but I can’t change anything about it right now” “Could you elaborate?”

Jumin looked slightly confused but you could still see how sincerely he wanted to listen to you and help but you kept your head down when you spoke

“I’m trans, Jumin. Transgender. I haven’t been able to come out because of my family, so everything Seven reported was about the MC that’s not quite MC. I can’t really present myself as male yet, but anything that’s put together with femininity makes me feel dysphoric” Dysphoria, that’s the uneasiness that accompanies when you don’t identify with your assigned physical characteristics, yes?”

Jumin wasn’t a dumbass, he just didn’t have lots of real life experience with transgender people

He’s read lots of studies and put rules in place to protect employees, but he’s never had someone close to him trust him with their own experience with it

You looked up and nodded to say yes and were going to speak again when his eyes widened slightly

“MC, I give you my sincerest apologies for making you wear that dress. I had no idea, and I thought you would look good in it. My intentions were not to make you feel bad, and I can-“ “Jumin, it’s okay” “No, it’s not, MC. You’ll have to go around this party for the next seven hours feeling uncomfortable. We can go back to my home if you’d like so you can change” “Jumin, it’s-actually, yeah, that sounds good. Are you sure it’s alright, though?” “Of course, my prince”

That one word made all the difference and you looked at him ecstatically and he gave a small smile to your reactionWhile you were in the car, he started asking you about your transition

He didn’t know that it would’ve been rude to just ask someone, but you answered all of them so that he could understand as much as possible

“I haven’t been able to change my name yet” “How come?” “Haven’t had the money” “…MC” “Yes?” “Would you like to get it fixed?” “Well, yeah, but-“ “We can take care of it tomorrow” “Al-alright”

He tried to ask in a roundabout way if you had had any surgery but you understood what he meant and told him you didn’t

If you wanted to, he called his doctor then and there to recommend someone so that you could schedule it

“I don’t mean to be lewd, and please forgive me if this is out of line, but is that why you’re wearing a sports bra? I feel like that would be very uncomfortable”

His question made your face feel a little hot but you nodded instead of answering verbally

Once you had gotten to your room, you were trying to go through your things to find something that looked formal enough

Jumin walked by the doorway holding a garment bag while you were trying to organize everything

“MC? Is a suit alright? I’m sorry that it’s one of mine, but it didn’t seem like you had much”

Thank any deity right now

However, since it was one of Jumin’s suits, you know what that means?

Matching boyfriends

Once you had gotten back to the party, all eyes were on the two of you

Especially since the other RFA members hadn’t seen either of you at all since you had both stayed out of public spaces as best you could at the beginning

When you were walking around together, he was introducing you to everyone as his boyfriend

Oh, right, that press conference

He had honestly forgot when he was worrying about you, but he was still prepared to answer all the questions

After he had announced that the two of you were involved romantically, he stopped answering the rest of the questions about you and walked over

Jumin had continued to propose to you that evening and Seven tried to yell “Does Jumin Han is gay?”

All he got was a glare and an answer from Jumin of “Grow up. For your information, Jumin Han does MC.”

And with that, you were leaving red-faced

Once you had gotten into the car for the umpteenth time that day, Jumin burst out laughing

You were slightly surprised at the outburst but laughter was taking you too

“Okay, but you realize that that’s what’s going to be everywhere in the chatroom tonight, right?” “I don’t care” “Okay, but you also lied” “How so?” “Because we haven’t, y’know, done anything yet” “Key word: yet” “Okay, bu-wait, what?” “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that aloud” “So would you like to?” “I mean, only if you’re comfortable with it, my prince”

The sight of a red-faced Jumin was something to cherish

Scratch that, Jumin later that evening was something to cherish

Seven: (set where he still comes to the apartment but not under the circumstances of his route , MC that can pass but isn’t completely out)

You had taped over some of the cameras in the apartment when you noticed them the first few days you were there

Yes, it was for your safety, but it made you wildly uncomfortable

So when Seven asked about it in the messenger, you just said that and he said he’d just stay with you then if he couldn’t watch you

Not bothering to force yourself to be feminine, you had changed and picked up the apartment for when he was to get there

Hey, if someone was to be a dick about it out of the members, it wasn’t going to be Seven

You were kicking your clothes under your bed as Seven let himself in so you yelled out

“Wow, didn’t even knock,” you walked into the main room and saw a Seven staring at you, “Everything alright?” “Yeah, yes, your pictures just don’t do you justice”

Smirking in reply, you moved some stuff on a desk to the side when you noticed he had a few laptops with him

“Can I put my shit there?” “What else would I put there?” “Fair point, but I’m going to ditch work for a bit” “Can you do that?” “Why not?” “I wouldn’t want you to get killed by some company that assigned you something” “I just want to watch shitty movies with you right now if that’s alright” “Blanket fort?” “Blanket fort.”

Seven was wrapped up in a random throw blanket and talking trash about the effects or acting every other minute

You made him shut up when a male character was having a flashback and it showed them as a girl when they were younger

Even though the movie was trash, this one scene of representation had you nearly crying

“MC? Is everything alright? I didn’t see a cat or dog die?” “No, no, it’s just-did you even watch that bit?” “Well, um, I was paying more attention to you to be honest” “Dork” “True” “Anyways, it was showing that the character was transgender, and it just, it just really meant a lot to me” “Wait, really?” “Mhmm”

Seven looked almost as excited as you now and he asked you to replay it, and this time, you were watching him rather than the film

“Okay, I know the special effects look like they’re from 2006, but that’s one of the only characters I’ve ever seen that were loudly and proudly trans!”

He was now rambling about how amazing this was and you ending up zoning out his words and just looking at him

His words died down and he started to apologize

“No! Seven, it’s alright. You’re allowed to get excited. I was just thinking about something” “And that would beeee?” “Well, I’m just glad that you’re accepting” “Why wouldn’t I be? You’ve seen that I enjoy to cross-dress. It’d be shitty of me to be transphobic.” “Well that’s good” “Why would you say that?” “ ‘Cause I’m a guy, but you knew me as a girl” “Coolio, do you want popcorn, MC?”

Wait what

“Uh, yeah, thanks, Seven!” “Not what you were expecting?” “Not quite” “Well, I never cared about it, but-oh, fuck” “What’s wrong?” “MC, I am so sorry. I can’t believe that I-“ “Seven, explain” “I told you that you were a girl that first night you messaged us even though you said you weren’t, and I’m an idiot” “It’s alright, but can you get popcorn now?” “Yeah, I just feel really bad about it”

You were still sitting wrapped in your duvet while he was still talking to you from the kitchen thinking about how considerate and calm he was about it

He came back with the bowl and you spoke seemingly randomly, “Hey, Seven, do you wanna date?”

Error: Seven just dropped the bowl and now popcorn’s everywhere

“S-sorry! I’ll pick it up!” you grabbed the bowl and started getting as much of the mess cleaned up as you could, “That was idiotic to ask, Seven. I’m sorry, too. You can leave it made you uncomfortable”

Seven dropped down beside you to clean it up and that’s when you realized he was almost as red as his hair

“Don’t apologize. I was just taken aback. However, I quite would like to have you as my boyfriend” “Wait, really?” “Yeah, I bet you’d be a great boyfriend” “But?” “But my job has me kind of screwed. After I get out of it, could we maybe go out then? I just don’t want my boyfriend getting hurt, because he’s connected to me”

Now you were the one to be surprised and as red as a tomato

“Yeah, that’d be good, Seven. I’m willing to wait as long as you need” “Thank you, MC! Wait, can I still use that name?” “Yeah, it’s fine” “You’re sure?” “Mhm” “Alright, future boyfriend, MC”

You were both smiling dorks leaning on each other continuing to watch the movie and make remarks

When the credits rolled, he turned to you after grabbing his phone

“Hey, MC?” “Yeah?” “Can we take a picture?” “Sure”

Seven flipped the camera then put his arm around you to bring you closerWhile the flash was going off, he kissed your cheek and were startled slightly but just smiled more

You were, once again, bright red as he was grinning and setting it as his profile picture in the messenger

“Can I send it to the chat?” “Sure, you dork, but it’s your fault if Zen starts ranting” “That’s the best part, though” “True, make sure you send it, though, so that I can keep it” “Sure thing”

You both fell asleep sprawled in the blanket fort and woke up to several missed calls and a bunch of unread texts

In the future, Seven finally left his job and was able to actually date

He never failed to use your pronouns and always said my boyfriend whenever he could

Alrighty! If there’s anything inaccurate, make sure to tell me, and I’ll change it. I hope that you liked this, but I know that I probably made a few mistakes. Keep in mind that I’m going to write V’s and Saeran’s soon, too! Sometimes I just cant come up with seven different scenarios, but I’ll try my best to get the other two up when I can. Again, please tell me if there’s anything I should add or delete. (Including warnings!) I hope you all have the days you deserve; much love, nerds!