#really hope i got across i wasn't trying to detract from the trans experience by mentioning my own ace experience

[violetren]

Transistor Chapter 2

She opened her mouth to do just that, when another little voice spoke up, reminding her that she was a trans woman, and that she had no idea if Anika would be willing to date a trans woman.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Fuckity fuck fuck. My feels.

We were warned. Or well anyone who follows @themollyjay on some platform or another and has seen her blog posts talking about the writing process and how much Transistor meant to her as she made it was kinda warned.

This book is a stand out in all of the books so far because it is the first one to have trans protagonist and all the depth that comes with that. Including exploring the (justifiably held) concerns that come up when looking for a partner, the anxieties about what they might think when they hear who you are and how you're different.

I knew this book was gonna have gender feels but like in the same way I knew the main character was gonna be into a lady named Anika but actually getting to experience the character and feel the gender feels is whole 'nother ball game.

While this is very much a trans narrative and this moment is very much a trans experience this does hold a strong degree of relatability for me not just from being nonbinary but actually more from my experiences being asexual. The hesitancy that comes with any situation that might lead to or mention dating because at what point do I mention sex isn't something I will ever want, and even if I do or they say they've been friends with an ace person that doesn't mean they'd want a relationship with someone who has no interest in what the world and popular culture insist is a fundamental part of romance?

The power of these stories like this one is to represent a facet of what it means to have a particular identity, to reach out to those who share that identity and say "you'll be ok one day just like this character", or to at least say "you have been seen and you matter." And to reach out to others and say "hey we're here, this is our story, we have rich lives and worlds too" but also as a part of that "Our experiences might not be the same but they can evoke the same feelings and maybe we can help each other cope with that."

We're only in chapter two. This is only the second really standout instance of anxiety stemming from being trans in a world that is similarly as imperfect as ours in terms of acceptance of trans folk (and other queer identities). Already I know this story is gonna be something special in how it shows Naomi dealing with her feelings about being trans while finding her place in this big new world that is about to open up to her.

It's going to be undeniably indelibly a trans story, and it's going to be the kind of story that manages to tap into feelings that make it relatable to other identities even as it focuses on the one closest to it's own heart.

And I feel confident in saying that because even if I am only at the beginning I have seen the care Molly puts into her other stories and those were phenomenal, but they weren't the one dear to her in the particular way this one is.

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