hiii here’s my lamia transgenderism thoughts finally.
what is it like to be a trans person in radiant garden and [gunblues setting] respectively? like general cultural attitudes, community with other trans people, and access to gender affirming care?
for gunblues specifically, assuming the culture is somewhat close to our reality, i’ve been thinking about how lamia’s transness interacts with themes of dehumanization, (literal)objectification, and autonomy. how does their status as property affect their ability to access gender affirming care (or other medical care for that matter) (though i imagine that’s connected to their character arc as well)? i like to imagine that transitioning and changing his name and pronouns is a way for him to exercise autonomy, in addition to being a part of his identity.
i also have thoughts on how being afab interacts with their objectification at the hands of the anthrogear program but those aren’t very coherent yet.
also i am so very verrrrry curious about gunblues xigbar’s backstory :) can’t wait to see what you do with him <333
HEE HEE HEE HEE GRINNING SMILING!!
yes yes youre absolutely correct that Lamia's transness intersects with those themes! and correct that Lamia transitioning is a way for him to exercise autonomy!! one of the recurring themes in gunblues is going to specifically be about Lamia's freedom—his deal with Organization XIII to have his contract dissolved and become his own person—and what that means to him. what he wants to do with his freedom once he attains it, what choices he's willing to make to get it, and what choices he isn't willing to make. because even if there's a contract out there that says he legally belongs to another person, he's still capable of making choices—and one of the choices he makes while still legally belonging to another person is the decision to socially transition!
at present im gonna have a scene where Lamia explains this last point to Axel, who's like "..................................................huh........" [loud egg cracking SFX]. she (i think Axel will use she/they?) has her own arc that im excited to explore. smiles.
and then Xigbar is also trans. full social legal and medical transition, top surgery, genital transplant (sterile cis-functioning penis), still takes testosterone for the Libidinal Effects. Xigbar has probably interacted more with the queer subcultures in Bastion than Lamia has—Lamia isn't very social; most people find them pretty offputting even before they start saying weird shit and being an asshole on accident—though both of them have primarily interacted with those subcultures sexually. that's also Themes; Xigbar maybe could find earnest companionship (including platonic) in the queer communities around him, but he substitutes emotional intimacy with physical intimacy without making any deeper friendships. and also people find him pretty offputting once he starts saying weird shit and being an asshole on purpose. themes and parallels. smiles
the broader culture in Bastion (the city gunblues takes place in—roughly analagous to LA) is a mixed bag, and Lamia only comes out to people he feels safe coming out to. so, like...he'll give the name "Lamia" to a cafe, but he won't correct an employer deadnaming him. the Organization does know his gender, which he hates, and it claims to affirm his gender, which he takes with a whole shaker of salt. i havent decided the degree to which i want to depict Lamia facing intentional, malicious transphobia (or racism, or even ableism)—i don't think it's wrong to depict transphobia, i just havent decided what balance i wanna strike....
wrt Radiant Garden, I've been interpreting (at least the original society pre-Maleficent) as like a...mostly progressive social monarchy? and one that culturally emphasizes conformity while making gestures at appreciation/accomodation of diversity. i think there's still racism and queerphobia and ableism in RG; people just usually have the sense to keep it behind closed doors, express it in more socially approved ways, or choose the "correct" targets. Lamia, being a combination of autistic, nonwhite, and gender-nonconforming, has been a "correct" target for his entire life, and experienced a lot of bullying from peers and adults because of this, even from people who might otherwise call themselves queer allies or anti-racist or generally compassionate to autistic people.
there's some queer community in RG—it isn't a coincidence that Lamia's only two real friends are a lesbian (Aerith, who we've met) and a gay man (another OC, Arno, who we've not met and who i absolutely need to write about because i love him and hes interesting)—but i imagine RG culturally is more likely to try to sublimate queer culture into the broader culture than to be very tolerant of a large subculture developing. like (joking description for effect) RG frantically throwing a pride parade because they dont want people walking around in mesh shirts and dog collars in protest of anything. RG is progressive!! it's accepting!! just be more Normal!!!
in terms of gender-affirming care in RG: Lamia has a binder that they wear from time to time, and post-fic goes on testosterone and gets top surgery. (I also think Xigbar moving into a replica body post-fic counts as gender-affirming care LOL.)
uhhh i think i answered all of your questions/addressed all of your points? if i missed anything or you have anything else you wanna add/hear about LMK!
Also Xigbar's backstory is normal! ^_^ don't worry about it! ^_^ i cannnt share it even a little bit yet but it Does exist in conversation with his story in KH canon and just dont worry about it ^_^ !!!
