arashi is literally a canon trans girl dont use he/him for her???
i’ve always known i’d get an ask like that, so my answer has been ready for a while.
i’d like to stress that as of now, the story material that’s out does not allow for a clear perception of arashi’s gender identity. it may be due to the fact there’s several writers possibly not consulting each other’s work, or simply due to indecisiveness or an overall unwillingness to take a clear stand on the matter, but nothing allows to clearly say arashi’s gender identity is one way or another. i’ve dug into stories and only found inconsistencies or blatant contradictions, leading me to think there’s no clear answer, and i invite you to check it out for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
i’m a firm believer personal headcanons are to reign free when canon doesn’t give a fixed answer to a question. given the prevalence of the オネエ/onee character archetype in women-oriented material, i gave it no more thought and wrote arashi off as an onee character. for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the concept, an onee character is a male character with “traditionally feminine” mannerisms, speech patterns and hobbies. onee characters usually identify as male, and the character trope is not about being transgender. i simply tend to associate arashi with that trend. the onee character trope is rather similar to the “otokonoko” trope and generally brings about the same issues in western fandoms.
of course, anyone’s welcome to have their own feelings and headcanons about the subject ! i’ve actually had very interesting arashi discussions with anons in the past, on this very blog. i think it’s very much alright for you to hc arashi as a trans girl, but please do not attack people by waving your hc as “fact” or by being aggressive. i’m also iffy about the fact male characters cannot express an interest in femininity without being labelled as trans girls by the fandom, but that’s an entirely different debate, and one that leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.
regardless, i’d like to thank you for your input ! - mod mademoiselle
