#gender-fluid

go to merriam webster website time traveler function which lets you see when a word was first used in print

Just use fae/it.

And still be a girl.

Noelle has so many fun interpretations!

Trans masc: perfect daughter of the mayor in a small town who wants to break that mold and express himself as who he really is. He wants to not be Noelle. The weird route Noelle dialogue resonated with a lot of trans mascs for a reason. It makes the weird routes underlying heteronormativity being shoved onto Noelle and Kris even deeper as he’s being shoved into “girl” even harder. I think a feminine boy or androgynous boy Noelle both have interesting discussions. Ideas for possible names: Nick or Nicholas, a name from dragon blazers, or keeping Noelle because it is both a boy and a girl name. Transmasc lesbian Noelle who uses He/she is a very interesting concept.

Trans fem: Noelle transitioning very young and feeling a need to be traditionally feminine and a “real” girl. She could be dealing with the general societal expectation that she’s transitioned to being a girl so now she needs to act like a girl. I like a more butch transfemme interpretation after she’d figures herself out. Chose Noelle because it’s Christmas themed and also gender neutral. I imagine Carol is supportive but required Noelle chose a Christmas themed name for the aesthetic. If you run with a butch Transfem Dess than you can add baggage around Noelle wanting to be her own person and feel like she can’t because she doesn’t want to replace Dess.

Non-binary : My personal favourite. Noelle has the same expectation of being the perfect daughter and wanting to break free from it. They struggle with not being a boy or a girl and not fitting into a specific box. Also maybe a struggle with identifying as a lesbian but not being a she/her girl. I’d flavour this one more androgynous or butch. Noelle as an ice mage who everyone thinks is a soft snow healer but straight up stabbing people with icicles. Interesting parallels with Kris who is non-binary but seems to lean more fem in my personal headcanon. Non-binary people do not owe you androgyny!

Gender-fluid: another interpretation of Noelle struggling with defining how they feel. Could also have some struggles with Carol wanting to preserve stuff but Noelle’s feeling are fluctuating and not easily frozen or contained. I think a gender-fluid Noelle would alternate between fem and masc clothing.

Agender: Noelle is so focused on living up to the expectations of being the perfect girl that Noelle never realizes they actually don’t feel gender and only do it because it’s what is expected of them. Could lean into the dissociation and wanting to be “Not Noelle”

Identifying your past self as a girl or boy, as a man or woman or as neither or both is valid and doesn’t invalidate whatever you are now.

I was a boy at one point.

I grew up to be a woman.

I’m not a woman now but I still recognize myself as having been one.

These are all selves that I have been and recognizing them doesn’t mean to abandon my true self now.

In the same way you’re allowed to embrace your true self now while recognizing whatever past selves you have been. They’re part of you as well.

Shoutout to all Native Hawaiian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Samoan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tokelauan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tuvaluan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tahiti LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tongan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Guamanian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chamorro LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Mariana Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Carolinian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Palauan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Yapese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chuukese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Pohnpeian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kosraean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Marshallese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Fijian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Papua New Guinean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Solomon Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Māori LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Rapa Nui LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to Uvean and Futunan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Cook Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kiribati LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all West Papuans LGBTQ+ folks.

Take pride in it all. Your culture, your identity, it’s all so beautiful. Celebrate where you are from and who you are. It makes you you, and that is something to be proud of.