NO NO WAIT transgender Henry Oak actually means SO much to me. I don’t know it just adds so much to his character I think. Like...
Henry loves nature. Henry loves Earth. So he gets transported away from the Forgotten Realms and onto Earth and he decides to start transitioning, right, and it’s such a hard choice for him because he finds beauty in all things living and he wants to find beauty in himself but he isn’t happy with his body as it is. He isn’t happy with how it represents him.
We need to see the fucking amazing potential in a transphobic Barry. Guys are you telling me Barry “keep your shit in check and act calm all the time and repress everything and go with nature / the natural way of things” Oak WOULDN’T be SUCH a good narrative foil for Henry who wants to be loved by his father but also wants to be nothing like his father LIKE.... GUYS. GUYS. Henry’s story is so incredibly transgender I’m thinking about it so hard.
So he starts transitioning and you know what. You know what happens? Henry starts to look exactly. Like. Barry. Not in everything- Barry doesn’t have his sunburn / tan, Henry’s more expressive than Barry ever is. But the resemblance is fucking uncanny. Henry used to be able to find his mom in his femininity but now all he sees is his dad. He tries to get as far away from “Hen” and Barry as possible and only ends up feeling like he got closer. He parents his boys in the exact opposite way Barry parented him but still feels like a fuck-up.
And then. And guys I really am freaking out here. Henry gets back to the Forgotten Realms, and all the sudden- he’s alone with these people he doesn’t know. He’s trans. He’s off his testosterone shots. He’s already Different from the other dads(PARALLELS TO HIM BEING THE ONLY ONE WITH POWERS). It’s a lot for him okay. And then.
He discovers his dad is one of the purple cloaked people.
Henry is off his T-shots. Henry’s body starts to change- his fat deposits are shifting, he’s not growing his beard anymore, and none of it is sudden but it’s still upsetting. Henry transitions as a way to express who he is(i.e. becoming as different from Barry as possible because Barry had expectations for who he should be) but then gets sucked back to his dad and his hard work starts coming undone. Take my Henry-gets-his-period-back the night that they rescue the kids and find out who the purple cloak people are headcanon and THINK ABOUT IT because I certainly am!!
Henry is transgender. Henry comes back to the Forgotten Realms; he starts detransitioning against his will, and his confidence he built up about who he is starts to fade as he remembers his dad and his past and his Difference. Henry is transgender.
Lark and Sparrow look just like him. They look like what he’s built up, what he’s worked for- they act how Henry wanted to be when he was young and not yet used to the rules. They love nature and Henry watches them love life- they’re rowdy and chaotic but they’re happy. They’re so happy.
They look nothing like Barry.