#transfic

my research question is the following: how does M/M fanfiction play a role in uncovering queer, transmasculine identities for those who participate in online fandom?

as a bisexual trans guy who has participated heavily in fandom, particularly M/M fandom, i feel this is a question worth exploring so we can understand how fandom impacts our identities and interactions with the self. i will be compiling the results of this survey - along with other data, findings, and anecdotal evidence - in a paper that i hope to submit to a magazine in my area.

if you are transmasculine and queer, this survey is for you! please feel free to fill it out and reblog for a larger sample size. and, if you are a queer, transmasc person who has engaged with M/M fic, let me know if you would like to participate in an individual interview.

Basically because I have ideas for a fic and would like to make Oliver trans masc, but the fic wouldn't be about that and the language describing his body wouldn't really make it obvious either way - I side more with using masc language as if everything's there and prioritising how I think they would want to talk about their bodies during sex

So basically is there any kind of interest in this kind of smut?

A New Chapter IS AWAY!

Sand Becomes Pearls Chapter 37: The Sizes of Things has been posted.

I'll do 7 here, only because I'm about to do 3 for another ask! 7. "What’s a troupe you love to write?"

Ack, I’m so sorry I haven’t answered this yet, I’m on vacation and I haven’t had time.  I hope you see this, anon!

First, to be clear, I really, really love transfic.  It was a transfic that originally started me on the trip to realizing I was trans, 8 years ago when transfic was very thin on the ground and the only thing thinner was trans representation in anything else, so it’s… more important to me, personally, than I can really express.

I have written a lot of transfic (the ones I have published on Ao3 are a Handmaid’s Tale (novel) fic, a Daredevil (MCU) fic, a Star Wars (Sequel Trilogy) fic, a Batfamily (DC) fic, and a Supernatural fic, but I’ve written a lot more that’s not on Ao3).  I’ve got two trans headcanon blogs, @onlytheforceisbinary and @transdctv.

I have the “Trans Character” tag search on Ao3 bookmarked and I have gone through all 1240 pages of it.  (In most cases only reading the fandom and scrolling down, admittedly, but I have read in full literally thousands of transfics.)

So my point is - I love transfic!  I really, really do!  But… it also has a tendency to piss me off, for a number of reasons.

There are a lot of tropes that come up over and over, like the Same Name Change (Once I was Thomas… but now I am… Thomasette!) and they make my eyes roll a bit but don’t really upset me.

There are some things that do really bug me, like making someone trans just for their body (e.g., so they can get a male character pregnant without technically writing mpreg, or a cis female writing a trans man menstruating so she can project the unpleasantness onto a favoured male character, or of course the classic PIV But It’s Slash).

But, as I said in the post a few days ago, a whole lot of my serious issues can be narrowed down to the Cis Savior Trope.

As I have it conceived, the concept is based on that of the “White Savior” trope.  Here’s Wikipedia’s description: “the white savior is a cinematic trope in which a white character rescues people of color from their plight. The white savior is portrayed as messianic and often learns something about themselves in the process of rescuing.”

And that’s what I find, over and over, in transfics.  There are two basic types: the Lover and the Mentor.

In both, the trans character is terrified to come out to the cis savior because of being “wrong”, “defective”, “disgusting”, “not a real [x]”, etcetera, etcetera.  Sometimes also reasons that come up more frequently in real life, like fear of being kicked out or assaulted, but the most common emphasis is on negative self-image.  Sometimes, the trans character has never heard of trans people before and just knows they’re “broken” etc.

Then, somehow they are outed to the cis character, against their will almost without exception - and shock!  The cis character is incredibly accepting, and unrealistically knowledgeable!

The Lover will say things like “It’s okay, I love you for you, not your parts, I’m not revolted by the mere sight of you”.  The Mentor will say “I have only learned you are trans three minutes ago but I have already planned to pay for your surgery which I assume you want”.

The trans character will be wearing Ace bandages and the Savior will be greatly distressed because of course all good cis people know you shouldn’t bind with bandages and they say “Never do this again, I can’t believe you would bind like this!  I will buy you a binder with your logo on it/in some other improbable pattern!”

If the trans character doesn’t know they’re trans, the cis character does.  Why, they know exactly what all these feelings you’ve been struggling with for so long are.  You’ve never googled somehow, but the cis savior has, has had extensive training in Trans 101 and can explain your own identity to you in detail.

While this is the most common storyline, the Cis Savior appears in many other shapes.  For example, in the afore-mentioned trans-guy-menstruates storyline, they start moaning and immediately the Cis Savior knows that they are in great pain because of their Curse and runs off to get chocolate and pads and so forth, and then comes back and hugs the sobbing trans character who is deeply comforted.

Or sometimes the Cis Savior (Lover subtype) will be with the trans character who breaks into a meltdown because their body is so disgusting and wrong but no worries - for the Cis Savior will make it all better with his magical healing penis!  They have Extremely Fulfilling Sex and then somehow all the trans character’s dysphoria is gone, because apparently they didn’t have issues within their heads but just needed to be assured they were still sexy to other people?  I guess?

In general:

The Cis Savior knows way more about transgender issues than is remotely realistic, and is instantly, immediately accepting (in a slightly more advanced form, the Cis Savior is mildly confused at first then spends a night devotedly googling out of Love and then becomes in the former condition).  Not only this, the Cis Savior knows more about transgender life and issues than the trans character does.

The trans character’s problems are all solved by the Cis Savior, including dysphoria, depression, and anxiety.  The Cis Savior accepting the trans character counteracts all self-hatred the trans character has - and they have a lot (they need acceptance from outside).

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12725459/1/Becoming-Jake

Jake Peralta age sixteen bounced his leg nervously, sitting on Gina's bed. "Out with it girl," Gina said pacing the room, Jana Peralta made her so damn nervous and she never figured out why.

"I don't know how to tell you," Jake said biting his lip a single tear threatening to leak down his stupid face.

"Girl, you can tell me, literally, anything." Gina said with a bright smile trying to reassure her basically only friend.

"Well that's the problem," Jake said sadly, Gina looked at him confused and almost angrily. "I don't think I'm a girl," he said finally.

A little Bonus-Scene for my lovers of domestic bliss 💕💕💕

📜 You can read it here: