LGBTAitP Part 23: Et tu, ~Bianca?

[Asta Kask]

(twitch)
There is no fantasy world with a deity important enough that I would not punch them in the face for doing that.

Which of them? Or either one?

Could show the dangers of being outed when it's done by a source beyond reproach.

[KenderWizard]

Oh, that's... Really sweet of you, actually. They... Wouldn't check it, but they would make certain to find out what I got. They're kinda nosy... >.>

It shouldn't be too bad now, though - Dylan's girlfriend and I really hit it off. We've only been talking for like, 12 hours and we're already old friends.

We might even go shopping at some point. n.n


~Bianca

Okay, so, plan then would be to pack it with/in something else, that would be less suspicious, say a fantasy book. OR! A pro-LGBT+/feminist book, BUT WITH A DIFFERENT DUST COVER, plus a flattish bottle of nail polish in the spine. So then you could all be like "Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

But this Dylan's-girlfriend person sounds great, and is possibly a slightly less convoluted way of getting what you want. And sounds like a lovely friend to boot! Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do it until after my exams, so I'll be back-up, just in case. 'Kay?

Going to call Toupee Fallacy on this one.

Bam! You go girl!

Bianca, you are a badass. If you wore a lavender blouse and a skirt that was plaid made of different shades of pink, you would be very intimidating. And that is why you will have many friends, not for fear, but for your intrinsic awesomeness as a person.

Pointing out: nothing about lavender blouses or pink plaid skirts that's inherently not-intimidating. That's just culture telling us lavender/blouse/pink/plaid = girly and girly = not intimidating. Of course, since it's worked so well, it would seem incongruous to us. Buuuuut... Oh, whatever. Just wanted to point it out. Carry on, Supernerd!

[noparlpf]

Okay, so, plan then would be to pack it with/in something else, that would be less suspicious, say a fantasy book. OR! A pro-LGBT+/feminist book, BUT WITH A DIFFERENT DUST COVER, plus a flattish bottle of nail polish in the spine. So then you could all be like "Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

But this Dylan's-girlfriend person sounds great, and is possibly a slightly less convoluted way of getting what you want. And sounds like a lovely friend to boot! Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do it until after my exams, so I'll be back-up, just in case. 'Kay?

You're adorable.

[Lix Lorn]

Which of them? Or either one?

Could show the dangers of being outed when it's done by a source beyond reproach.

The latter.

The former would overall be kinda positive, as I constantly seek legitimacy.

[Arachu]

... Apparently Makayla (Dylan's girlfriend) has a crush on me. That was fast.

Dylan wouldn't be comfortable with us dating, though, so we're just going to be friends. It would've been weird anyway.

Okay, so, plan then would be to pack it with/in something else, that would be less suspicious, say a fantasy book. OR! A pro-LGBT+/feminist book, BUT WITH A DIFFERENT DUST COVER, plus a flattish bottle of nail polish in the spine. So then you could all be like "Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

But this Dylan's-girlfriend person sounds great, and is possibly a slightly less convoluted way of getting what you want. And sounds like a lovely friend to boot! Anyway, I wouldn't be able to do it until after my exams, so I'll be back-up, just in case. 'Kay?

Thanks. ^_^

Pointing out: nothing about lavender blouses or pink plaid skirts that's inherently not-intimidating. That's just culture telling us lavender/blouse/pink/plaid = girly and girly = not intimidating. Of course, since it's worked so well, it would seem incongruous to us. Buuuuut... Oh, whatever. Just wanted to point it out. Carry on, Supernerd!

Exactly; society says that it isn't intimidating. It'd give me the second I need to lean back for a decisive kick. *shadow-boxes*


~Bianca

[Lix Lorn]

"Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

Please write those books. xD

[Selpharia]

Okay, so, plan then would be to pack it with/in something else, that would be less suspicious, say a fantasy book. OR! A pro-LGBT+/feminist book, BUT WITH A DIFFERENT DUST COVER, plus a flattish bottle of nail polish in the spine. So then you could all be like "Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

If someone would be so kind as to write either of these titles, I would be so happy. The latter because it would be fantastically useful, and the former because it would send me into convulsions of laughter at the obviously repressed homoeroticism. That and its sequel: MACHO!MAN 4: EXPLOSIVE THRUST ENGINES!

[KenderWizard]

You're adorable.

... Apparently Makayla (Dylan's girlfriend) has a crush on me. That was fast.

Dylan wouldn't be comfortable with us dating, though, so we're just going to be friends. It would've been weird anyway.

That was fast! Sounds like you've got an adorable and tolerant like-triangle going on. May you have many happy triangular adventures together!

Also, Makayla is a strange name, but I like it! It's like a broader version of Michaela. Bet people spell it wrong a lot, though.

Exactly; society says that it isn't intimidating. It'd give me the second I need to lean back for a decisive kick. *shadow-boxes*


~Bianca

And THAT'S how we use ingrained sexism to take people DOWN, kids.

Please write those books. xD

I'm not sure I could do justice to either title!

If someone would be so kind as to write either of these titles, I would be so happy. The latter because it would be fantastically useful, and the former because it would send me into convulsions of laughter at the obviously repressed homoeroticism. That and its sequel: MACHO!MAN 4: EXPLOSIVE THRUST ENGINES!

*laughter everywhere!* Love it!

[Asta Kask]

MACHO!MAN 5: spurting pipes?

[Glass Mouse]

Story idea: A trans man is outed when the God of fate declares him Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

Or, if you want to portrait the God of Fate as a bastard you have hir declare a trans woman Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Think you're a woman? Sorry, the gods don't agree.

I'm, uh... kinda sorta already working on a short story with the same basic idea, only with vampires instead of gods, and drinking blood instead of declarations.

Spoilered for self-indulgent non-relevance story stuff:

Spoiler

Show

I'm going with a lore where vampires are cis-centric and need to drink the blood from the opposite gender. In earlier times (when everyone knew about vampires), it was actually used as a way to catch them - dress a boy/girl as the opposite gender, then lean back and watch as the vampire dies from drinking the blood.

My main character is a hapless transman who finds himself bitten by a lady vampire who starts dissolving, going mad... and gets bent on revenge. Run, little main character, run.

I'm aware that it's a minefield here, but I haven't decided what exactly messes the vampire up. It's either a) something purely biology-chromosome-based, b) actually based on gender, but weird because of dysphoria and a history of body/gender disconnect.
In any case, the effect on the vampire isn't nearly as bad as drinking from the same gender, which is what leaves our vampire with enough time to go on a rampage. So it's clear that transman doesn't equal woman.

But I'm not sure if I'm doing something offending here... I kinda want to keep the explanation mysterious and non-relevant and just kill off the vampire in the end. But I'm afraid someone will take the wrong lesson from the story (well... if someone is silly enough to take their lessons from vampire stories, that is).

Mostly, I just want to write a trans story for a competition where it might get published. Because there are not enough cool LGBTA+ characters in fantasy litterature.

The most annoying part is that this lore doesn't account for agendered or genderfluid people. But who knows, maybe that's why the vampires haven't taken over the world by now - they keep dying off

[Rawhide]

Exactly; society says that it isn't intimidating. It'd give me the second I need to lean back for a decisive kick. *shadow-boxes*


~Bianca

Wrong gender, but...

[Triscuitable]

Did you guys know it's suddenly a fad to be a transman? None of the guys at my school are openly trans, however all the girls will openly boast about being bisexual, or lesbian, or transsexual!

I don't know whether it's offensive or just stupid. It rubs me the wrong way, though. So I put this song here. I'm not sure what it implies. Maybe I just like it?

[Asta Kask]

Did you guys know it's suddenly a fad to be a transman? None of the guys at my school are openly trans, however all the girls will openly boast about being bisexual, or lesbian, or transsexual!

I don't know whether it's offensive or just stupid. It rubs me the wrong way, though. So I put this song here. I'm not sure what it implies. Maybe I just like it?

Is it possible that they don't want the boys to hit on them 24/7?

[Selpharia]

Did you guys know it's suddenly a fad to be a transman? None of the guys at my school are openly trans, however all the girls will openly boast about being bisexual, or lesbian, or transsexual!

I don't know whether it's offensive or just stupid. It rubs me the wrong way, though. So I put this song here. I'm not sure what it implies. Maybe I just like it?

Well, it makes a kind of sense in that to do so is a nifty way of rejecting society's authority, and like, being who you are, you know? I wonder how many of them would be quite so eager to do more than boast. Personally, I'd just chalk it up to teenage stupid and move on.

[Asta Kask]

Science is taking on the genderfluid.

I have no idea what she's talking about, but it sounds good.

[Triscuitable]

Oh look, I made a tumblr. Amazing.

[Arachu]

That was fast! Sounds like you've got an adorable and tolerant like-triangle going on. May you have many happy triangular adventures together!

Also, Makayla is a strange name, but I like it! It's like a broader version of Michaela. Bet people spell it wrong a lot, though.

I've never heard Michaela before... Though, I haven't heard Makayla either. The former explains the latter, though.

And THAT'S how we use ingrained sexism to take people DOWN, kids.

You gotta fight fire with fire - that's much easier to do if you grab one of the coals.

Note: NEVER grab a hot coal!

MACHO!MAN 5: spurting pipes?

Nah, that'd be the title of one of the HANDYMAN's.

Science is taking on the genderfluid.

I have no idea what he's talking about, but it sounds good. This is one of the bigshots. Take anything he says very, very seriously.

So... The genders correspond to hemispheres of the brain?

You know, I'm pretty sure anyone whose feelings keep changing on them would be a tad bipolar. I can't help but smell a false causality... >.>


~Bianca

[Asta Kask]

So... The genders correspond to hemispheres of the brain?

You know, I'm pretty sure anyone whose feelings keep changing on them would be a tad bipolar. I can't help but smell a false causality... >.>


~Bianca

Not absolutely of course, but he seems to think that there is a correlation. Remember, this is a hypothesis and a rather speculative one at that. And does Heliomance seem bipolar to you?

Also, for LGBTA anthem I suggest: We're not gonna take it!

What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's.

[Triscuitable]

Not absolutely of course, but he seems to think that there is a correlation. Remember, this is a hypothesis and a rather speculative one at that. And does Heliomance seem bipolar to you?

Also, for LGBTA anthem I suggest: We're not gonna take it!

What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's.

Child of the 90's. I suggest Don't Tread On Me.

[Reluctance]

Glass Mouse: Either go for hormone balance, or more likely, don't bother making an explanation. For earlier works, it's better to focus on making sure your writing is good than getting the world down to a T.

Spoiler

Show

As far as publishing goes, putting up free stuff online helps a lot. Publishers are conservative. Not in the political meaning of the word, but they're risk averse. Either make something already like what's out there, or show that you have a built-in fanbase willing to hand over money for a printed product.

Which does get into larger social inertia issues (I'd kinda like to talk social justice from a cynic's perspective), but I can tell you this much. If you can show that a trans protagonist will sell, that'll open the doors for anybody else with a trans protagonist.

Spoiler

Show

Or anybody trying to cash in on the trend, unfortunately. But welcome to cynic's social justice. It's worth asking if you want to support an annoying/troublesome trope, if it helps displace one that's worse.

Tris: First, remember this any time you call boys out on being annoying troglodytes.

Second, people who actually do that are distinctly harmful for the cause they supposedly champion. Call it the ally paradox. They draw on the identity for the positive associations. With their attention whoring, they quickly load the word with attention whoring or other similar connotations. (Linguistics. Words are defined by use.) Your personal disapproval will just encourage them in their worldview, but it's something to be mindful of as an ally or when you see an ally acting like a turd.

Third, for them specifically, they sound like it's being done mostly for attention. The best solution is to ignore them when possible, and be blase when you have to interact with them. Although if you feel like needling them, commenting on actual behavior (same-sex experience or HRT in these cases) is handy.

Asta: The gendered hemisphere thing made me as well.

The biggest question with definitions is where we want to set the bar. On the one hand, the higher the bar, the more clear it is that the people who pass it are clear cases of X. OTOH, the higher the bar, the fewer people who can make the cut. Real-world groups spend a lot of time going back and forth over just who's a "real" whatever for a reason. Never the reasons explicitly stated, but for a reason nonetheless.

[pffh]

Not absolutely of course, but he seems to think that there is a correlation. Remember, this is a hypothesis and a rather speculative one at that. And does Heliomance seem bipolar to you?

Also, for LGBTA anthem I suggest: We're not gonna take it!

What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's.

Psst the lead author is a she not a he.

[Asta Kask]

Psst the lead author is a she not a he.

Most embarassing

[Arachu]

Not absolutely of course, but he seems to think that there is a correlation. Remember, this is a hypothesis and a rather speculative one at that. And does Heliomance seem bipolar to you?

That's what I meant - I was just pointing out the confirmation bias. He seems to be assuming that the state change is some sort of seizure or something.

Also, for LGBTA anthem I suggest: We're not gonna take it!

What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's.

I still say I'm Still Standing - the video, however, seems to be unavailable... >.>

I was born behind my time.


~Bianca

[Asta Kask]

The latter.

The former would overall be kinda positive, as I constantly seek legitimacy.

So turn it to your advantage, Angry at the gods and determined to flee your destiny, you flee to the Accursed Mountains - so called because the powers of the gods do not reach there. There you free a handful of powerful spirits who overthrow the old gods and reinstate themselves as their successors. Which, of course, was your destiny all along. And the new gods have no trouble with recognizing you as a female. They may even make you one of them.

Nice symbolism, but a little heavy-handed.

[Mina Kobold]

I'm, uh... kinda sorta already working on a short story with the same basic idea, only with vampires instead of gods, and drinking blood instead of declarations.

Spoilered for self-indulgent non-relevance story stuff:

Spoiler

Show

I'm going with a lore where vampires are cis-centric and need to drink the blood from the opposite gender. In earlier times (when everyone knew about vampires), it was actually used as a way to catch them - dress a boy/girl as the opposite gender, then lean back and watch as the vampire dies from drinking the blood.

My main character is a hapless transman who finds himself bitten by a lady vampire who starts dissolving, going mad... and gets bent on revenge. Run, little main character, run.

I'm aware that it's a minefield here, but I haven't decided what exactly messes the vampire up. It's either a) something purely biology-chromosome-based, b) actually based on gender, but weird because of dysphoria and a history of body/gender disconnect.
In any case, the effect on the vampire isn't nearly as bad as drinking from the same gender, which is what leaves our vampire with enough time to go on a rampage. So it's clear that transman doesn't equal woman.

But I'm not sure if I'm doing something offending here... I kinda want to keep the explanation mysterious and non-relevant and just kill off the vampire in the end. But I'm afraid someone will take the wrong lesson from the story (well... if someone is silly enough to take their lessons from vampire stories, that is).

Mostly, I just want to write a trans story for a competition where it might get published. Because there are not enough cool LGBTA+ characters in fantasy litterature.

The most annoying part is that this lore doesn't account for agendered or genderfluid people. But who knows, maybe that's why the vampires haven't taken over the world by now - they keep dying off

Interesting idea, although it might be a good idea to imply in-story that the logic of the vampiric blood-gendering is flawed. That might easily be done by making it obvious that the vampire should have died had the vampiree been female, though.

On a related note, this story kind of made me imagine vampires only drinking blood from those befitting their living orientation. Then I realised that asexuals would be quite troubled if they get turned. First time I have ruined my own chances at being a vampire. ^_^'

Science is taking on the genderfluid.

I have no idea what he's talking about, but it sounds good. This is one of the bigshots. Take anything he says very, very seriously.

Interesting. I do not claim to understand it in its entirety, but I got most of it! ^_^

I do not think it is suggesting that the hemispheres themselves determine gender, however. Merely that the unusual degree or depth of shifting between them cause other processes in the cortex to differ as well.

A bit akin to how the Gregorian calendar keeps the seasons steady year-to-year, but the Mayan calendar loses synchronisation quickly.

EDIT:

@Asta: I'd read that. It sounds like a great story. :3

[Triscuitable]

Tris: First, remember this any time you call boys out on being annoying troglodytes.

DnD Troglodyte, or non-fictional, pre-human troglodyte?

[KenderWizard]

I've never heard Michaela before... Though, I haven't heard Makayla either. The former explains the latter, though.



You gotta fight fire with fire - that's much easier to do if you grab one of the coals.

Note: NEVER grab a hot coal!

Don't try this at home, kids!

Michaela isn't a super-common name around here, but I've known a couple. Makayla sounds like a variant on Michaela, but could be one of those cases where a similar name has a totally different origin.

[noparlpf]

I think I knew I Mikayla or Makayla or something in high school. She was a couple of surnames down the list from me at graduation.

[Lix Lorn]

So turn it to your advantage, Angry at the gods and determined to flee your destiny, you flee to the Accursed Mountains - so called because the powers of the gods do not reach there. There you free a handful of powerful spirits who overthrow the old gods and reinstate themselves as their successors. Which, of course, was your destiny all along. And the new gods have no trouble with recognizing you as a female. They may even make you one of them.

Nice symbolism, but a little heavy-handed.

Works, but doesn't negate the furious part, nor the punching.

[Astrella]

Why are you ordering the dress off Amazon?

*snip*

~Bianca

*Hugs*

That sounds really frustrating.

(HUGS)



I can counterbalance with my own story. I came out to my (previously mentioned as slightly bigoted) grandfather, and he was really supportive. Well, he was supportive about the bi part. He kinda brushed the trans part away... but better than I feared.

Well, that's alright, right?

*snip*

Yeah, it's a very "Hah, joke's on you" sorta feel, no?

I'm sorry about your dysphoria and the thing about the show. *hugs*

[QUOTE=KenderWizard;13109075That sounds so tough, fair play to you for getting through it. I hope you find a safe, inclusive, happy dorm. And cool about the leggings! Also, when you said you were looking for "dorms" I misread it as "doms" and I was like [/QUOTE]

Hmhm, I hope so too. (Also, *giggle*)

Thanks everyone for the hugs and feelgoodness.

Do you have any old games consoles or wardrobes?
Couple of hiding places

I have so many hiding places. My mum and privacy are estranged cousins. :<

Said trait was shared by all the vocal samples I've had available, so it led me to consider whether one could only go so far with vocal training alone.

Still, you could have a point.

Well, the testosterone will have it's effects; but I doubt it's a direct impediment, considering the wide variety and such in both male and female voices. (And it's pretty impressive what you can do with voices.)

Okay, so, plan then would be to pack it with/in something else, that would be less suspicious, say a fantasy book. OR! A pro-LGBT+/feminist book, BUT WITH A DIFFERENT DUST COVER, plus a flattish bottle of nail polish in the spine. So then you could all be like "Oh, it's the copy of MACHO!MAN 3: TOUGHER AND HARDER I ordered from a small bookseller ... uh, in Ireland. These books are so hard to find, due to the liberal-feminist-communist media bias, obv." But it would actually be "Lavender Lipstick and Vivacious Varnish: Beauty Tips for Wonderful Undercover Young Trans Ladies" plus nail varnish. I (fairly obviously) made those two books up, but the principle applies.

Haha, those titles had me giggling for a minute.

I'm, uh... kinda sorta already working on a short story with the same basic idea, only with vampires instead of gods, and drinking blood instead of declarations.

Spoilered for self-indulgent non-relevance story stuff:

Spoiler

Show

I'm going with a lore where vampires are cis-centric and need to drink the blood from the opposite gender. In earlier times (when everyone knew about vampires), it was actually used as a way to catch them - dress a boy/girl as the opposite gender, then lean back and watch as the vampire dies from drinking the blood.

My main character is a hapless transman who finds himself bitten by a lady vampire who starts dissolving, going mad... and gets bent on revenge. Run, little main character, run.

I'm aware that it's a minefield here, but I haven't decided what exactly messes the vampire up. It's either a) something purely biology-chromosome-based, b) actually based on gender, but weird because of dysphoria and a history of body/gender disconnect.
In any case, the effect on the vampire isn't nearly as bad as drinking from the same gender, which is what leaves our vampire with enough time to go on a rampage. So it's clear that transman doesn't equal woman.

But I'm not sure if I'm doing something offending here... I kinda want to keep the explanation mysterious and non-relevant and just kill off the vampire in the end. But I'm afraid someone will take the wrong lesson from the story (well... if someone is silly enough to take their lessons from vampire stories, that is).

Mostly, I just want to write a trans story for a competition where it might get published. Because there are not enough cool LGBTA+ characters in fantasy litterature.

The most annoying part is that this lore doesn't account for agendered or genderfluid people. But who knows, maybe that's why the vampires haven't taken over the world by now - they keep dying off

Hmm, I don't think it's a huge issue, but if it's really bothering you maybe revert it? Have the lady vampire bite a "guy" who's actually a trans girl that hasn't started transiting yet? (Or a guy vampire biting a pre-transition trans guy?)

Did you guys know it's suddenly a fad to be a transman? None of the guys at my school are openly trans, however all the girls will openly boast about being bisexual, or lesbian, or transsexual!

Is your school that supportive then that they don't get any flak for it?

-----

Also, a really cute comic.