hunter schaefer .ย lesbian .ย transwomanย .ย she/herย .ย museย letterย u .*ย ย |ย ย omgย โฆย wasย thatย rosa diazย ย iย justย sawย pullย upย inย theirย harley sportster sย ย ?!ย ย noย ??ย ohย โฆย iย guessย itย wasย justย ย echo m. thibault.ย youย know?ย theย ย twenty-sixย ย yearย oldย tattoo artistย iย wasย tellingย youย about.ย iย heardย theyโveย beenย livingย inย ย hollowpoint forย ย ten years,ย evenย thoughย theyโreย originallyย fromย ย los angeles, ca.ย aroundย commonย ground,ย theyโreย knownย forย beingย ย protectiveย andย ย steadfast,ย butย iย wouldnโtย beย surprisedย ifย theirย ย skittishย sideย showsย upย afterย oneย tooย manyย ย large black americanosย ๐.ย whenย theyโreย notย ย making artย orย ย drumming on something,ย theyโveย gotย ย i am not a woman, i'm a godย ย by ย halsey blastingย inย theirย headphonesย โย fitting,ย consideringย ย she used to be in a popular rock band.ย letโsย hopeย theirย ย engraved lighterย lastsย themย untilย ย easter.ย seeingย asย theyโreย aย ย taurus,ย itย shouldnโtย beย tooย hard.ย |ย pennedย byย ella .ย 31 .ย est .ย she/they .
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tw: transphobia
full ย name ย , ย nickname(s) ย : echo paige madison-thibault , eky
age ย , ย dob ย , ย zodiac ย :ย ย twenty - six, may 2 ย , ย taurus
hometown ย :ย ย los angeles, ca
gender ย , ย pronouns ย : ย transwoman ย ,ย she / her
orientation ย :ย homosexual, ย homoromantic
occupation ย :ย tattoo artist
biography.
childhood: raised by the streets of la, it did not take long for echo to fall in with the wrong crowd. her mother died in childbirth and her father was a deadbeat, so she was raised by her maternal grandfather, who did his best but was definitely not equipped for the job. she was first arrested at age 11 for tagging an abandoned building with her friends, but that kind of behaviour would not be deterred that easily. the only thing that even slightly kept her out of trouble was her art. she was constantly drawing, sketching, or painting. sure, sometimes it was on buildings, public landmarks, and peoples' garage doors, but it was still art.
adolescence: (tw transphobia) at 14, echo came out as trans to her grandfather, and he was extremely supportive. however, the people she had once called friends were less so. they became angry and violent, even going so far as to set their house on fire with echo and her grandfather inside. the fire was small and did little damage beyond a couple of rooms, but it was still extremely frightening. knowing it would only escalate from here, and not wanting to put her grandfather at risk, echo ran away from home. she bounced around the country for about a year before settling in chicago shortly after her 16th birthday.
adulthood: within weeks of moving to chicago, echo had joined a band, pretty baby, as a drummer. they were already well established in the chicago music scene, and were looking for someone to fill the empty seat for their first ever tour. that tour turned into a rocket ship to the top of the charts. after 6 years, the fame became too much and she had to step away, returning to chicago and putting her art skills to use by apprenticing as a tattoo artist.
now: she has since risen in the ranks and has opened her own tattoo studio, focusing specifically on hyper-realism, hyper-colour tattoos. she lives a quiet, relatively peaceful existence. however, she still has that itch to cause trouble and blow her entire life up. maybe that will never fully go away, no matter how happy she is.
future: while she is happy with her current life, echo dreams of travelling the world one day. she wants to settle down for real with a bunch of dogs and take a bunch of vacations and tattoo everyday for the rest of her life. of course, this is all a fantasy. we'll have to see how it plays out.
it takes a moment for them to recognise echo's voice, since they're off in their own little world. once they do, however, they let a smile cross their features and claim their coffee with a low 'thank you' to the woman behind the counter, before sauntering to a nearby table. they pull out a chair and gesture to it, silently offering echo the opportunity to join them. a thoughtless habit. after all, they want the company, and they like to be chivalrous.
once echo is seated, alex flops into their own chair and slouches comfortably. "why do you think i'm still riding? once the snow's here, i'll stop." they always do. it sucks, but it's not worth the danger.
"next coffee's on me, by the way. americano, right?"
echo sipped her coffee as she slid into the chair they pulled out for her with a soft thanks. she set her cup down on the table and leaned back into the chair. "i think i might have to stop soon. that wind is just getting too cold for me. although i'm a weakling, we know this." it was a joke, of course, and the opposite of their usual debates, where echo insisted she was stronger than alex. "yep, americano. black. don't wanna waste the calories on milk and sugar, when i'd rather just mainline the coffee straight into my veins."
her brows furrowed, โ that sounds frustrating. does it make conversations tricky sometimes, too, or is it mostly movies? โ her voice held no judgment, only interest. so many of the films she watched didnโt offer reliable captions, or they lagged; she could only imagine how that would affect echo's experience. her fingers wrapped around her mug, welcoming its warmth. โ youโll have to tell me what you think. unless you think it's shit, โ the corner of her lips quirked up into a teasing smirk. โ then, respectfully, keep it to yourself. โ
"yep, conversations, podcasts, and audiobooks. it's whatever, though, i'm used to it by now." she never really attended school much, as she found it very difficult to focus. that, plus the dyslexia, which made reading difficult. she spent more time getting into trouble than she did in class. "i promise to be nice, even if i hate it. every movie is someone's favourite for a reason, right?" echo loved movies, even the bad ones.
ninรซeve had been caught off guard โ properly blindsided โ by a shaft of sunlight that seemed to set everything around them agleam. she felt warm all of a sudden, could feel her cheeks turning a rosy shade as she hunched her shoulders a little and nodded. she always worried about what to say โ or what not to say โ when faced with such euphoric, buzzing monologues about things other people adored; she worked much the same way herself. โ your nameโs echo? โ was the first thing to slip from her mouth โ and it was something new, something pleasantly odd. she liked eccentricities like that. before she could introduce herself, the barista called her by her nickname, โnini,โ making her smile with a bit more confidence after her third extra-shot flat white in under an hour. she thanked him and turned back to the woman, her slight shoulders shifting with a kind of sardonic nonchalance. โ ginger snaps so jennifer could body, you know? itโs obvious one fed the other โ and we all know which came first, eh? โ she teased, friendly and playful, letting out a warm laugh as she followed echo to one of the tables. she pulled out a chair for herself, sitting facing the door, every so often blowing across the surface of her drink before taking a small sip. โ so then, echoโฆ aside from your fascination and pure devotion to jenniferโs body, what else is there thatโs interesting about you? โ
people were often surprised by her name, even before she had transitioned. "yep, echo. e-c-h-o. the only gift ever given by my mother." she had never known her mother, who had left shortly after echo was born. however, she'd had long enough to dwell on that and it no longer bothered her. "nini. i like that. simple, easy to remember. not that you're easy to forget anyway." she said with a playful wink. the other girl was mentioning ginger snaps and echo perked up. she was right, of course, jennifer's body wouldn't exist without ginger snaps. "ginger changed the world for the better, and we all owe her for it." she had only seen ginger snaps a handful of times, but it was hard to forget such a classic. "interesting? about me? oh lord, i don't even know where to start. everything about me is interesting." sure, it sounded cocky, but echo meant it. there was very little boring about her life.
eleanor hummed her agreement to echo's words, having found herself in the same situation many times, most recently when she was trying to torrent a norwegian film. โย subtitles are essential. you always hear better when you can read.ย โ she had left the gallery for a midday pick-me-up, preparing for another late night. a new shipment meant rearranging the gallery to complement the new pieces.
the brunette mulled over an answer while the barista finished making her latte, chuckling, โย where to start?ย โ as easy as it was to listen to echo's devotion to her favourite movie, she struggled to call to mind one of her own. her taste changed with the seasons, and sifting through the endless films she watched in a year to pick a favorite was a challenge. it took the entire walk to their seats for even one title to surface. resting her elbows on their table, she folded her hands beneath her chin, finally meeting echo's eyes with an answer. โย bonnie and clyde. the original one from the '60s, not theย half-assed remakes.ย โ it had been her mother's favorite, too, before she claimed it over long weekends and endless packets of popcorn. โย itโs one of the healthiest early depictions of bisexuality. the original 'be gay, do crime.'ย โ perhaps the movie was what she had to thank for her early gay awakening. โย have you seen it?ย โ
"i also have audio processing issues so like, without subtitles, i usually have no idea what's going on." she sighed softly, wishing her brain was different. it made movies difficult to watch without captions. she could see eleanor's struggle on her face and felt a little guilty for making her choose a favourite. she understood the challenge of picking a favourite, and if you asked her on a different day, her answer would always change. "bonnie and clyde? interesting." echo had always loved their story, the whole runaway loves embroiled in a life of crime. "i haven't seen it no, but it's definitely going on my list now." it was a glowing review, and echo made a mental note to bump it to the top of the list.
HUNTER SCHAFER at the GQ Global Creativity Awards, dressed in a custom hand-painted Marni gown inspired by Vincent van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' (11th April 2024)
dae had long been a dear friend of echo's, ever since their first collaboration while echo was still performing with pretty baby. dae had featured in a few of their music videos, and the two bonded very quickly at the shoots. they hung out frequently since echo returned to chicago, and dae was echo's favourite person to hit the clubs with. "so, what do we think of the mono-silver look?" she asked, feeling a little self conscious. "or what about the slinky black dress?" she picked up one of the dresses laid across her bed. she had way too many clothes, some of them bought, others given to her by designers, and most importantly, ones made for her by friends.
echo was exhausted in the best way. in the kind of way that meant she was actually going to sleep well tonight, which was great, since she was a notoriously bad sleeper. it was so hard for echo to be so bad at sleeping when she loved it so much, but alas, she could never manage to shut her mind off. but this morning's spin class had taken it to the next level and wore her out thoroughly. it was the best part of her week, if you ask her.
the others were leaving class, but echo never took off that quickly. she always hung around to chat with asena, the instructor. she hung around her stationary bike, towel slung loosely across her shoulders, her blonde hair up in a bun. "great class, babe. truly, one of your best." she greeted her friend with enthusiasm, honestly one of asena's biggest fans. "i loved the playlist you chose today."
"you want whatever? does that include dessert? i think we might have maybe on cannoli and a slice of tiramisu if that is calling your name at all?" aurora offered, seeing as her (hopefully) final customer of the day didn't seem to be causing too much harm. hell, they even wanted to maybe help her out. "i'll discount your order if you help me sweep up and wipe down a few tables. i'll consider it my one good deed of the day."
when the other mentioned tiramisu, echo almost started drooling all over herself. "oh my god, if you have tiramisu, we're getting married. like right now. i'll find us an elvis impersonator and we'll get married right here in the shop." echo was only half-kidding, and probably would have been far more serious if she didn't have someone waiting at home for her. "i'm happy to help out however i can, although i should warn you, i'm not steady on my feet. so i might be slow." as if on cue, she swayed slightly, looking as though she might stumble before righting herself. "i am heavily intoxicated." she said with a giggle.
"god, yeah. my first tv in my room back home was one of those big box ones with a dvd player built it. now i have to actually have a dvd player to plug into my tv, but it's worth it to me." charlie was definitely one of those people who would have worked at a blockbuster twenty years ago who would go around telling everyone her recommendations. now it was just a battle against streaming and that was way less fun.
charlie had to stop the shock from playing on her face, though she probably didn't do a good job of it when she gasped. "what? never? oh my god, it's a classic. i mean, i guess it had been out for like a decade by the time we were born, but still. miss honey was definitely a gay awakening for little charlie." she could ramble all day about movies she loved so she had to control herself at least a little bit or else she and echo would be here all day. "yeah! i don't know what stage they're at but i heard they're working on a script. all i hope is way gayer this time." the one make out scene was engraved in her brain but come on, let the girls be gay and eat boy together.
echo thought back to her own childhood home. she didn't have a television in her bedroom, but they had a large cathode ray tube tv in the living room, connected to a vhs player. "i used to have one of those giant crt tvs, but we never had a dvd player. i couldn't watch dvds until i got my first ever ancient laptop." she reminisced on the good old days, if you could call them that. life was certainly simpler then, even if it wasn't necessarily good.
she couldn't help but grin at the other's reaction and barely concealed surprise. of course, echo wouldn't disagree with charlie that matilda was a classic, but it was a classic she had missed out on. "see, my gay awakening was selene from the underworld movies and i feel like that explains a lot about how i turned out." echo wore way too much leather to be anyone other than someone who grew up watching the gothic vampire super-hunter. "well, i'm praying it's gonna be here soon, because i can't live without this." even though she didn't know the movie was going to be made until moments ago.
oh, creativity, for sure. echo is the least practical person you will ever meet. she's constantly being artistic, through a variety of mediums, even though skin is still her favourite.
๐โโโwhatโs your unintentional daily ritual?
echo has a very ritualistic commute to the tattoo studio. it's only a few blocks from common ground, so she walks to the coffee shop every morning, gets her large black americano, and walks to the studio. she steps over the same cracks, dodges the same obstacles, and always makes it to the studio at the same time every day.
echo is a secret softie as a whole so it doesn't take much to soften her, but her favourite thing in the whole entire world is when her girl puts her head on echo's shoulder. it melts her instantly and she becomes a sniveling pile of sap.
echo is only afraid of three things. dying alone, enclosed spaces, and people dressed in mascot costumes. the first two are pretty obvious and stem from issues in her childhood, but even she has no idea where the fear of mascots comes from. there's just something deeply unsettling about someone in one of those large, overly fake animal costumes.
