Ok guys, this is starting to seriously piss me off.
Disclaimer, I have nothing against poeple who headcanon characters as Trans ok? Everyone are entitled to have opinions and headcanons are harmless.
Still, when only one character is being headcanon as trans, especially in the context of a queer ship, especially if they are at the receiving end in a sexual situation, there is a clear intent behind the headcanon and that is to make this character the "female" of the relationship.
Like, tell me why in so many Bloodymary fanfics Grace is the Trans one, and in each of them he's the submissive bottom? Not to talk about the ones where he's being clearly feminized. Do you guys remember that post I made when I talked about how Grace is often being portrayed as a twink despite him being described both in the book and in the film as very muscular and despite him being taller than Simon? that. It happens in almost every fanfiction under the Bloodymary tag.
Again, if both Simon and Ryland were being headcanoned as trans, or if Ryland had this headcanon outside of smut fanfictions, it wouldn't bother me, but it's not like that. There is a clear reason of why this particular character is being made out to be trans, and it's rooted in the believe most people have that
Openly showing emotions outside of rage is a feminine trait. Men should not cry under any circumstances, least they are considered as a sissy. Grace is a crier, and he's very open in expressing his emotional states, so obviously he has to be born a female.
Being on top in a sexual relationship is exclusively for the male. It's considered the appropriate way to approach sex, and any male who may enjoy the other way around is, again, considered as less of a man. And this belief is applied to queer relationships too, so the one being in a position of power and dominance in bed has to be the male/female who's more masculine presenting. If both the members of the relationship have masculine traits, one of the two has to be made in some way more feminine in order to justify why they should be bottoms, either by taking those traits away or by making them originally females.
A lot of people, maybe unconsciously, are applying this stereotypes without taking into account the canons of both pieces of media.
Simon is not an aggressive man. He's just put in a situation where he's in constant survival mode, where stress and fear make him strike in anger first. But every time this happens, he immediately feels horrible after because he's not a murderer, he doesn't like to act with violence. He isn't a "lone wolf" who likes solitude either, he grew up in a cult! He's used to have people around, he craves human companionship and he has a clear religious mentality. He's terrified and in pain most of the film, begging to be left alive, promising that he's worth saving and that he'll be good if they give him the chance to get out.
Grace on the other hand is much more stoic and firm in his opinions, more in the book than in the movie, but still. He doesn't like backing down, to the point of getting verbally aggressive with anyone who tries to discredit his ideas (even after they were proven factually wrong, lol). He's the second in command, taking a role of leadership so naturally that even he doesn't realize it. He gives orders and people listen. He challenges Stratt on the daily when no one else dares to, even telling her that she can't have everything she wants by using the excuse of saving the world. He's a very confident man in the way people competent in their field of work usually are, he's just not the "arrogant asshole" type of confident we associate with most men. Yes, he cries a lot, yes he has no problem with openly being scared, sad or affectionate, there is nothing intrinsically feminine about that.
Arguably, the fanfictions that gets closer to their actual dynamic, in my opinion, would be the ones where Simon sees Grace as an angel, and acts accordingly.
So, one last time, there is nothing intrinsically bad in making Ryland trans, but depending on which situation and in how you portray him with this headcanon, it could come out as not so progressive as you think it is. Quite the opposite in fact.
