Ok, I just got a note for this post again and I'm still not over it. Luna is so good at being transgender, it's one of her strongest traits, and I wanna talk about it. If you're wondering what character Thundamoo held the previous record for btw, it's Melrosa (using that name to avoid spoilies for other books), not Xena or Valerie.
So! The layers of Luna's transgenderness run deep, let's dig in. (Keep in mind the date of this post. I'm reading on Royal Road for broke reasons. I might come back to add new layers as they appear, which is likely.)
Layer #1: Canonically Transgender
Luna is canonically a transgender woman on HRT before her soul gets trapped in a slavery robot. She has many of the traits associated with going through that, including depression, self-esteem issues, abandonment issues, and a terrible relationship with her family, all through no fault of her own.
Luna is at the whims of another. No matter how much she struggles, how much she screams, a person holds the keys to her soul and tells her she is not a person. The writing can cover the whole wall to show how she has been abused, how her master is untrustworthy, and it will not change the facts. She is trapped.
Luna is a robot, and dammit she likes it that way! It comes with some... irreversible changes that make her dependent on people she hates... but aren't we all like that? Worth it for thinking clearly and not being depressed! She can't be honest about this part of herself outside very special circles without being deemed inhuman and a danger to children, in spite of the fact she is trying very hard to protect children and keep them from getting exploited systemically in the future. Also she has an advantage in sports! >:( /j
In public, Luna puts on the mask of a normal girl. She hides her voice, her natural mannerisms, curtiously slows herself down and keeps her emotions constantly hidden to seem normal. Another girl, someone she trusts, showed her how to put on this suit because she too knows what it's like to want to just look like a human girl. Luna's entire life revolves around the lie that she is nothing exceptional, to break the lie would require her entire life to come within a hair's breadth of ending.
Her perfect self lies in wait. Theoretically, she could access it at any time, be fulfilled. But she will never touch it, not until given permission by forces outside her control. When she does finally see herself for the first time, will she be able to maintain it, or will it slip through her fingers again and again as she is denied the resources to keep going? She doesn't know yet, and she won't take that plunge on her own. By the time she has the certainty to do it, it may already be too late.
Do you see what I mean!? She is simultaneously successfully transitioned, repressing, passing, and also completely unable to transition. She is so transgender it's hard to quantify, and all this is still ignoring the evil man walking around in her old body like Luna never existed, which is a long standing metaphor for detransition for a reason. Thundamoo, please keep doing these sick flips and shit, I'll go put your beer in the fridge for later.
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