It’d be several scenes over the course of the game. In my edits I’m planning on adding more additions based on earlier options. But this is just conjecture atm. As I haven’t decided to write a TransMC because I still feel id wreck it.
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Went ahead and corrected that for you. 
Short answer is, I believe trying to implement something like this would be very easy to mess up, although yes it isn’t inherently offensive. The thing to note is real life reasons for transitioning/not are very individualistic, and as such, accounting for everything is nigh impossible. Additionally I imagine for at least some number of trans people who want to but can’t transition, it could easily leave a bad taste in the mouth either way.
(As a more general note, personally I’ve never liked the whole ‘and magic fixed it’ approach, but then again, I don’t like that approach to anything, so IDK.)
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I think part of the problem is a magic wave a wand type solution often seems as if it makes things too easy. It’s as if it minimises the struggles of trans people by offering this as if it’s a quick fix solution to all of their problems. Not that a magical transition would fix all the problems.
I’d say don’t do it without consequences, without a price of some sort. It can’t be too easy. It’s a decision that should be thought about, talked over.
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I already conceded this. I said the desire, which has no bearing on whether or not a person is able or currently willing to actually do it.
This sounds like a great way to handle it. I haven’t played Monsters of New Haven High, I will definitely go take a look at it !
I wonder if this may be the reason we’ve been talking past each other earlier in the topic. Transgender seems to be a broader and more inclusive term than transsexual, and maybe these two have been conflated. Would the term “transsexual” be more appropriate when speaking of people who wish to transition ? Is this term even still in use, or is it considered deprecated ? (It’s hard to keep up with the changes in term usage, especially if you’re not part of the community. Thanks for defining these terms, it’s really helpful for a productive conversation.)
I also favor realism and dislike the idea that magic could fix everything. That being said, I have to wonder though if some trans people wouldn’t look forward to this type of escapism. I think the key would be having enough variety and nuance in the choices with which the player could respond to the offer. If done right you could offer the “easy way out” without offending anyone who doesn’t want to take it. If you force a price for it, as @FairyGodfeather suggests, that might equally upset people who don’t wish to face consequences for that choice in a game, when that’s what already happens in their daily life. The best way to make everyone happy, I think, is if you can craft a choice where there are no negative consequences associated with the spell/ritual, and another that presupposes paying a price.
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It depends. I’d say it depends on the setting. It depends on the themes of the game. I’d think a magical ability to transition without any sort of problems would be perfectly fitting for some sorts of games, like a Fairytale Game, for instance. If it’s an upbeat, bright, cheery, happy game then I think it fits.
I think it can fit as a background for a character too, been there, done that. Although it does risk falling into
And that’s something this thread is about avoiding.
I think even if you get the magic perfect transition, it’s still not going to make things, like a transphobic family, go away. There’s a lot of social issues that are likely to still be there. Unless of course the setting doesn’t have those sorts of issues.
I’d also still be wondering “what’s the catch”.
Is the catch just going to be infertility? Is there going to be something else. Is there going to be anxiety related to the magic wearing off?
How’re you even going to begin to explain it to people?
And where in the process of transition was the MC before they got the magic fix?
Are they going to feel guilty that the other trans people they know can’t get this fix? Is it going to make them feel apart from the trans community that has supported them to this point? Will they try and see that this is available for everyone, and if so what sort of price will that have?
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RETowers basically said what I would with the exception of the conclusion that it would be distasteful to a person because of circumstances or other reasons who is unable to transition themselves.
Transition is only one aspect; there are many other journeys for the person to continue with - for example, dealing with their mental health issues related to family, the past, etc.
Which leads me to something I feel is being lost here. Each and every person is an individual and just as a cis individual is multi-faceted, so too a trans-individual would be. It is not just the transitioning that would be different among the individual but every other aspect as well.
This is why writing individuals as such is the key to normalization - I have 15 characters, each of them complicated and unique; one is a gay/lesbian cis individual and one is a straight trans-individual. The former character would be written no different then a cis straight character as far as being an individual and thus the latter character should be as well.
The person I talked with for a while concerning @Nocturnal_Stillness’s question agreed with you and said it was because getting an operation to “magically” fix the physical was not the complete fix. There is a lot of complicated things going on with transition, much (which is what I’m told) is not really understood unless you’ve been in those shoes walking that road.
Back to lurking.
I actually left transsexual out for a reason, which you nailed. The term has largely become seen as outdated by the majority of the trans community, with only the very longtime members really using it often, and even then that’s only usually around other trans people (Example: An older member of the trans community will use that term in a meeting with other trans people, but not a meeting with the overall LGBT community in the area.). MtF/FtM were thought to replace it, and now they are being phased out for trans woman/trans man.
It depends on how it’s done. As someone trans, the idea of an instant transition is a dream and so incredibly unrealistic that I cannot fathom such an easy way out. @FairyGodfeather mentioned potentially some sort of consequences. I’d say, instead, have a leading up moment. Maybe a tense dinner with the RO and some shitty family members who don’t accept the MC being trans, or some shitty offhand comment around said RO about the MC. Maybe both at different points (Note: Said experiences are extremely real examples that I recommend making entirely optional beforehand, as in an OOC choice after creating a trans character to include people with anti-trans behaviors. I personally would take in those scenes because I like the reality, but it may bring up really crappy memories for others.). A lead up, and then potentially some sort of mini-chapter sidequest where you work with the RO to get materials to complete said transition, would probably work out well as opposed to punishing people who want that magic to ease their transition.
Also note that transition isn’t quick as it is. I’ve been taking hormones for about a year and a half now, and the bodily changes, emotional changes, and steps that need to be taken in order to both hide that you are trans and prepare for finally ‘switching’ are kind of major (And it’s all so slow. It’s puberty all over, and puberty takes years.) Some offhand comment about ‘you’re now the sex you identify with, congrats’ would be pretty terrible, as it doesn’t go into any depth whatsoever into the character changing the source of their dysphoria or any of their primary or secondary sex characteristics. Would it be like a Hollywood gender bender where it’s instantaneous and painless? Would it be a really dark and aggravating moment as your body is being shifted and magically forced to fit what you desire? If you have a strength or some other physical body-based stat, would that be lowered by some amount to reflect the fact that you are in a brand new body type that is somewhat foreign to you? Will there be text in the weeks following reflecting the MC’s surprise in how some minor things like shoe size and clothing size have changed, if they do?
There are a ton of questions that need to be asked while writing about a trans MC, and what you need to do to reflect a transition. It’s honestly overwhelming (There’s way more to add than what I mentioned) even if you are a trans writer with intimate knowledge of transition. By all means, please, if you desire to do so, try your best to illustrate it. I’m not attempting to dissuade you from writing about a trans MC with a real, tangible journey. It’s just a ton more work than most realize.
@FairyGodfeather mentions quite a few extremely important other points (Though I don’t recommend infertility as a punishment. That’s already a cost of transition that those of us who start transitioning recognize. I know I won’t ever be able to have kids unless there’s some major change in medical science in the next five years. Taking that away from the MC would be cruel to both them and the reader.).
Other note: I’d like to point to Midsummer as a recent choice game which kind of acknowledged a potentially trans MC without letting them be trans at the start (For reasons within the game), but also really didn’t go far beyond that. The MC could feel like they better fit as the sex they were pretending to be in some choices within the game, but as far as I could find those choices never had an impact within the story. It’s worth a read with or without those choices, but I do like where the author seemed to be going with it.
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I didn’t mean it as a punishment, and I’m sorry if my phrasing came across that way. Just that it would be something that I think would be considered by a character wondering if there’s a catch to all this.
It was one of the main problems for one of my trans characters in a fantasy story I’ve been writing. He went off on a quest and struck a deal with the fae to get a magical transformation, but it left him sterile, and the fact he can’t have children is being used to deny him the throne after his father’s death. So while magical transition was possible, it wasn’t without a cost. He’s also deeply in debt to the fae, and it’s never good to be owe them favours.
But that’s just how magic works in that world.
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The thing is that, if anyone wants to transition, infertility is already a cost, and a pretty major one at that. Before I first went to my doc to begin HRT I was nearly going to cancel because I want kids. I gave up being able to have kids (killing my family name at the same time, unless my sister or my uncle’s daughters keep their last name and give it to their kids.) in exchange for a future for myself.
So going through magically or through a ‘normal’ transition, infertility would probably be less likely with magic involved. Even a 99% chance of never having kids is better odds than 100%.
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Don’t be. I know the choice I made, and it was the right one.
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This is changing also. Here is a very long, very personal article on a trans-man deciding to give birth. Time Article.
Perhaps one day, more trans people will be able to have offspring to pass their heritage forward. .
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Eiwyn, that’s actually not anything new. Although it is one of the reasons that transgender people may choose not to undergo certain treatments so they can have children.
I think the new things coming along, is the likes of being able to transplant wombs, or create artificial wombs for trans women, so they can carry children. Most of the articles on that sort of surgery is focused on infertile cis women, mind you, and there’s some progress to be made before we get there.
Imagine if it gets to a stage where trans men can donate to trans women though? We’re not there yet but there is hope for the future.
Don’t forget the recent advances in penis transplants (i.e. the fact that they now work at all after transplanting them.).
Of course that line of research and treatments is also, for the moment, mainly directed at young, male veterans and people with severely damaging penile cancers.
To do the same transplant for a FtM male would still be orders of magnitude more difficult. Plus there is currently a “culture war” on trans people going on with those bathroom bills in the US (and parts of Europe too).
Of course even physically the penis is just one thing in order to make it fully functional they’d also need the one thing medical science can likely do, but doctors are very hesitant to actually get involved with and that would be testicle transplants.
Back on the topic of choice games though the old Switch wip was going to play around with the concepts of gender, power and privilege and had it come to fruition I was actually planning on making at least one FtM character there who would have really wanted to usurp the Prince and physically become and stay a boy.
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@LanaRose Sorry to hear about that. The future kids problem is the one I’m actually working on at the moment, and the last thing to get into place before I begin HRT.
Regarding the discussion of infertility, I mean at the very least it’s very real. It’s something that everyone that transitions ends up dealing with. Some people will really hate a story for that (those that don’t want to be reminded), and some will appreciate the realness of it. In either case though, I think such a topic in a story aimed at trans people would probably fall a little flat if just because of the ‘yea, been there done that’ feeling. I’d actually be more interested in seeing the reaction cis people have to a well done story that addresses the concept.
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It’s a larger issue than folks think because not a lot of trans individuals speak up. Like sexuality it’s not a topic a lot of people speak up about. So the whole ‘there’s not a lot of them so why bother catering to them’ argument isn’t all that easy to answer.
So in a world where it’s very difficult to be yourself at least in your escapism you should be allowed the option to be you. BUT if such a choice is offered it should have some sort of impact one way or another. Every choice should carry weight otherwise what was the point of the choice in then first place.
So in essence it is up to the author to make such options mean something. And in this I can say if you’re putting in that choice simply for the sake of having it then it often becomes a hollow and empty choice which is worse than not having it in the first place.
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Meaningful choices are dependant entirely upon ones perspective what is meaningful to me may not be meaningful to you. So arguing the validity of that gets us nowhere. But like I said all choices should have some impact or not be used at all. It’s entirely up to the writer.
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It’s not really up for anyone else to decide what parts of your identity are important. If I was intent on playing a game as myself, and it didn’t let me be a man (or at the very least left that up to my interpretation) then I wouldn’t be very happy about it.
I don’t think that’s a valid comparison. For starters, I’m pretty sure being transgender isn’t a disability.
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Well, I don’t think people get annoyed when you can’t pick your eye colour, hair colour, hair length, nose length or any other aesthetic choice that doesn’t really relate to one’s personality.
Well I would disagree with that, but the comparison wasn’t about it being a disability, it was that it’s a thing that people deal with that’s underrepresented in media. The issues faced by the transgender community are no more valid than those faced by the deaf community.
Funny you’re discussing this with a person that’s using a lot of those choices you mentioned… cept the nose. And the MC is mute.