Hunter awoke with a start, not immediately sure where they were. The pillow was… warm? And moving?
As they sat up, their head cleared a bit and they realized they were still on Mel’s couch.
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake!” Mel said loudly in a bad Scandinavian accent. “Cool, I can finally go piss.”
“Oh, sorry!” Hunter said. “You should have just woken me up.”
“It’s fine!” Mel shouted, already halfway to the bathroom. “You looked too comfy to disturb!”
Hunter stretched and yawned. “What time is it, anyway?” they muttered to themselves, and dug their phone out of their pocket to check. It was still mid-afternoon, and not all that much time had really passed.
They checked the Discord. Should I tell the Discord what’s going on with my gender? They decided to ask Mel when she returned from her surprisingly long bathroom break. In the meantime, they started looking through various channels. They mentally sighed as they saw that trans_rites and yaoiMaster69 had gotten into an argument in #gender.
yaoiMaster69: ok sorry i didn’t realize anyone considered the word “femboy” offensive
trans_rites: it’s used by alt-right types to provide a false alternative to identifying as a women, to help them recruit those trans women with especially severe internalized misogyny
trans_rites: it’s not offensive, it’s a dog whistle
trans_rites: 4chan speak
yaoiMaster69: dude i just saw it in manga okay
yaoiMaster69: i thought it was better than tr*p
yaoiMaster69: what word should i use instead
trans_rites: PLEASE don’t call me dude
trans_rites: that’s misgendering me and causes me dysphoria
trans_rites: there’s nothing wrong with the term “crossdresser”
trans_rites: which BTW falls under the “transgender” umbrella term
trans_rites: it annoys me when people say manga characters “aren’t transgender” because they’re crossdressers
yaoiMaster69: okay i feel like that has really different connotations to it but sure
yaoiMaster69: TIL
yaoiMaster69: so I was reading pretty fluffy manga where the main characters are both crossdressers but not much of it had been scanlated, but I was excited to hear it’s getting an official localization for the US!!
Hunter glanced up from their phone as Mel finally emerged from the bathroom.
“I also ended up shidding. And farding,” Mel proudly announced as she approached the couch.
“Cool story,” Hunter said. “Can you take a look at something on the Discord? In the gender channel.”
“Oh, okay, gimme a mo.” A second later, Mel plopped down on the couch next to Hunter, and immediately draped her left arm over Hunter’s shoulders while her right hand started scrolling. “God, why is she like this? Aaah.”
“Do you mean Rites?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah! Her name is Evelyn, by the way. Or Lunaria? She seems to use both.”
“Good to know. So, uh, do you think we should do anything?” Hunter asked.
Mel shrugged. “It seems to have worked itself out. I think Evelyn is being unnecessarily aggro, but Yaoi really backed down so it ended up being okay. I’d just be concerned for the future if she ends up conflicting with someone who’s more angry or stubborn or whatever.”
“That seems fair. Do you think we should institute some kind of policy to curb the risk, and if so, what?”
“Uh… hmm. I’m not really sure. I’ll think about it. Anyway, I’m pretty much out of videos I wanted to watch anyway. I have an idea of a game you could watch me play, maybe?”
“Wow, so our roles will be reversed,” Hunter said. “How the turntables. Sure, what game?”
A wicked glint appeared in Mel’s eye. “Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV?”
“Oh, so you’re a catgirl,” Hunter said.
A laugh burst from Mel’s throat. “Fuck. Yes, I’m a catgirl. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
“If you want to be more like your cat, maybe you could try falling asleep on top of me later,” Hunter casually remarked.
Mel wiggled her eyebrows. “Owo~.”
A bit intense, Evelyn. But at least it didn't escalate. And maybe now yaoiMaster69 will seek more information on the topic and may get better informed to spread that in their own circles.
Really cute chapter, now that it's no longer April Fools Thanks
Honestly she probably has a point but I'm not sure I entirely agree with her. Idk, I don't actually have a strong opinion on the word femboy but I can understand if people do. Also haha what if yaoiMaster69 was an egg
@BethOfTheWild I'm sure she has her reasons to be a bit more defensive than ideal, and she clearly has a defined sense of self, but had it not been like this, not even if it was someone "more angry or stubborn or whatever" but rather someone simply just as "clueless" about the topic, maybe interested (if you know what i mean), but coming from a more rigid background, her attitude could push them away from finding out what lies beyond their current bubble.
I know I would've taken it wrong if I made an honest mistake and was met with belittlement, and since no one else voiced their opinion (as far as we see) you'd assume that's how "these people" are, and maybe close yourself to try to understand them.
I also don't super agree with her opinions, but I'm not fighting her over them, I'm sure she'll relax them if she finds herself on a more comfortable state of mind and if she doesn't, that means there was nothing i could've discussed with her either.
@BethOfTheWild I don't have any strong opinions on this, but femboy is a pretty reclaimed term, like queer. And idk if I could agree with Evelyn that crossdressers are trans. Gender non-conforming, yes. Trans? No. They typically still identify with their gender assigned at birth, making them cis.
@ahhhhVixen Yeah that seems pretty fair
@Anne_Belle Yeah I fully agree with that, and I think approaching people who are well-meaning but clueless with this kind of immediate anger or stubbornness can backfire for sure
@BethOfTheWild I think trans people can crossdress, eg. A trans woman wearing men's clothes, but crossdressing is an action, while being trans is an identity, I don't think they're comparable.
@BethOfTheWild She's giving me very chronically online vibes