Potential Trans coded Character in Y&tNP

[Koloss17 She/They]

Now, I’m late to actually theorizing on Yumi, so this might have already been addressed. If it was, please let me know!

So Masaka, the wonderful sleepless that she is, feels incredibly trans coded. She honestly tries harder to be human than any other sleepless we’ve seen, even going so far as to have a preferred name.

Quote

“Yumi,” Design said, “meet Chinikdakordich, the sixtieth horde of the Natricatich strain.”
Masaka pulled into her sweater a little farther, like a tortoise seeking the safety of its shell during the heat of the day. “We prefer the name Masaka,” she said softly. “We’re being human, Design. We’re getting very good at it.”

And to be more specific to it, she vibes very transfemme to me. She says this;

Quote

“Is it…so obvious, Yumi? We’re figuring out many things. Human girls like cute things. We like cute things.”

She looked up, and almost seemed ready to cry. “We made such a good human. You can’t even see the seams in our skin, so long as we wear makeup, and clothing with long neck portions!”.

 

Which with both this and the fact that she’s always wearing a sweater (all praise the dysphoria/euphoria hoodie), I relate to her on a spiritual level. She cares a lot about “passing”, and absolutely adores Yumi’s comment on beating a very cute girl.

I mean, that’s about the most clear representation that I’ve seen in a not explicitly queer form of media. My only wondering is how Brandon got the characterization across so well. Like-this is representation I would expect from another queer writer, not from a cis guy. Frankly, I think this is the best bit of queer representation (past maybe Shallan’s bi-ness) in the Cosmere at the moment.

Do we have anything on how Brandon got to making Masaka’s character?

[Firesong she/her]

2 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Now, I’m late to actually theorizing on Yumi, so this might have already been addressed. If it was, please let me know!

So Masaka, the wonderful sleepless that she is, feels incredibly trans coded. She honestly tries harder to be human than any other sleepless we’ve seen, even going so far as to have a preferred name.

And to be more specific to it, she vibes very transfemme to me. She says this;

Which with both this and the fact that she’s always wearing a sweater (all praise the dysphoria/euphoria hoodie), I relate to her on a spiritual level. She cares a lot about “passing”, and absolutely adores Yumi’s comment on beating a very cute girl.

I mean, that’s about the most clear representation that I’ve seen in a not explicitly queer form of media. My only wondering is how Brandon got the characterization across so well. Like-this is representation I would expect from another queer writer, not from a cis guy. Frankly, I think this is the best bit of queer representation (past maybe Shallan’s bi-ness) in the Cosmere at the moment.

Do we have anything on how Brandon got to making Masaka’s character?

She is definitely trans-coded, I actually just think of her as trans period. As Sleepless are always they or it (except when people think they are who they are disguised as), so that essentially acts as a AGAB for them, and she appears to associate far more with feminine presentation and identification. So I would say she does in fact qualify. 

Brandon probably did research and talked to people, as he always does with stuff like this (as he doesn't want another Adien), he likes accurate presentation, and does his best to achieve it. It is something I really appreciate about him.  

[alder24]

11 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Now, I’m late to actually theorizing on Yumi, so this might have already been addressed. If it was, please let me know!

So Masaka, the wonderful sleepless that she is, feels incredibly trans coded. She honestly tries harder to be human than any other sleepless we’ve seen, even going so far as to have a preferred name.

And to be more specific to it, she vibes very transfemme to me. She says this;

Which with both this and the fact that she’s always wearing a sweater (all praise the dysphoria/euphoria hoodie), I relate to her on a spiritual level. She cares a lot about “passing”, and absolutely adores Yumi’s comment on beating a very cute girl.

I mean, that’s about the most clear representation that I’ve seen in a not explicitly queer form of media. My only wondering is how Brandon got the characterization across so well. Like-this is representation I would expect from another queer writer, not from a cis guy. Frankly, I think this is the best bit of queer representation (past maybe Shallan’s bi-ness) in the Cosmere at the moment.

Do we have anything on how Brandon got to making Masaka’s character?

I personally always view Sleepless to be so alien that human concepts, like gender, simply don't apply to them anymore. They are a horde after all, something very different. But Masaka doesn't just pretend to be a human to blend in, she wants to be a human. She still calls herself "we" when exposed but she clearly wants to be treated as a human, not as a horde. Thus the concept of gender can be reapplied - I guess she is trans in some way.

Quote

“I think,” Yumi said to Masaka—who evidently couldn’t see or hear Painter—“you are doing an excellent job. You’re, um, a very cute young woman.”
“We are?” Masaka said. She smiled, then stepped closer. Yumi forcibly prevented herself from backing up as the girl—thing—took her hand. “Thank you, Yumi. Thank you. Here, this is for you.”

 

But there is nothing from Brandon on the origins of Masaka. It's worth asking him.

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

Slight necro, but I have thoughts! A lot of thoughts on trans rep lately haha. 

So first, I think you're absolutely right, she's very much trans-coded for the reasons listed. A transfem headcanon works really well. However, I would not go to the point of calling it representation, and I don't think Brandon was intending to write her as such. 

Brandon has a history of writing queer themes or queer-coded characters who are not, in the end, queer. I also think that if he had intended Masaka to be trans and identifying as a girl, he would have focused in on that particular aspect more instead of generally on how she is trying to be a human, with her gender being adjacent to that. Brandon's great, but when it comes to queer traits, subtle he is not. (Unless we're saying subtle in terms of them not showing up much...) I also believe that if he had had a sensitivity reader or talked to people about transgender stuff, he would have (and should have, tbh) mentioned it in the acknowledgements, as he has for past books - see RoW for DID and sexuality, and Tress for Deaf rep. If he'd written her to be trans, I think we would know it. 

I am not personally going to give him the credit for it as rep because until he comes out and confirms that this was his intent, I don't believe he deserves that credit. I want confirmed and intentional rep (and importantly, human rep in addition to all the nonhuman trans rep).

However, don't let me dampen the headcanon - the vibes are there, and I well know the feeling of going "this is queer and I'm gonna hold onto what I get because I don't get a lot" - that was me with Logna's fluidity in Frugal Wizard lol. 

On 8/13/2023 at 7:36 PM, Koloss17 said:

...she’s always wearing a sweater (all praise the dysphoria/euphoria hoodie)

mood 

[Koloss17 She/They]

2 hours ago, AonEne said:

Slight necro, but I have thoughts! A lot of thoughts on trans rep lately haha. 

So first, I think you're absolutely right, she's very much trans-coded for the reasons listed. A transfem headcanon works really well. However, I would not go to the point of calling it representation, and I don't think Brandon was intending to write her as such. 

Brandon has a history of writing queer themes or queer-coded characters who are not, in the end, queer. I also think that if he had intended Masaka to be trans and identifying as a girl, he would have focused in on that particular aspect more instead of generally on how she is trying to be a human, with her gender being adjacent to that. Brandon's great, but when it comes to queer traits, subtle he is not. (Unless we're saying subtle in terms of them not showing up much...) I also believe that if he had had a sensitivity reader or talked to people about transgender stuff, he would have (and should have, tbh) mentioned it in the acknowledgements, as he has for past books - see RoW for DID and sexuality, and Tress for Deaf rep. If he'd written her to be trans, I think we would know it. 

I am not personally going to give him the credit for it as rep because until he comes out and confirms that this was his intent, I don't believe he deserves that credit. I want confirmed and intentional rep (and importantly, human rep in addition to all the nonhuman trans rep).

However, don't let me dampen the headcanon - the vibes are there, and I well know the feeling of going "this is queer and I'm gonna hold onto what I get because I don't get a lot" - that was me with Logna's fluidity in Frugal Wizard lol. 

mood 

Honestly, I agree. I would love to ask him about the potential rep, or if it’s inspired by someone he knows, but sadly, I never end up getting a question in on the Q&As

[SheepAreFluffy]

I didn't read Masaka as trans at all when I initially read the book. Going back and rereading relevant scenes now, I can certainly see how she can come across that way, though, even if it's not really a viewpoint that I share. For me, she mostly came across as a parallel to Yumi as Yumi learns how to be a person.

From chapter 16 (Masaka's introduction chapter):

Quote

"I shouldn't have come here. I don't... know how to be a person, Painter."

This is right alongside Yumi interacting with not one but two non-human characters who are themselves learning how to be people.

Then in chapter 33 (in which Yumi learns Masaka's identity):

Quote

Nearby, Masaka had settled into her seat. And though she didn't say much, Yumi could see her contentment. She understood that. Being an outsider, then finding a place. Being alone, then finding friends.

Again, it's about the parallels between Masaka and Yumi and about learning to be a person, rather than learning to be any particular subset of person. At least, that's how it came across to me.

And while I recognise that trans people are not a monolith and all trans experiences are different, Masaka just didn't resonate with me personally. For me, the experience of transition and gender expression was a heady mixture of confusion ("wait, I'm supposed to do what?") and familiarity ("oh, yes, this feels completely natural"), whereas for Masaka I got the impression that pretty much all of her attempts to appear human were closer to the former. It felt more like "I have learned how humans work" and less like "I have always wanted to behave this way and now I have a place where I can". Even that is very much open to interpretation, though. Ultimately, we just don't get enough characterisation for Masaka to be able to definitively say one way or another, so a lot of it is just going to come down to vibes and personal interpretation.

13 hours ago, AonEne said:

I also believe that if he had had a sensitivity reader or talked to people about transgender stuff, he would have (and should have, tbh) mentioned it in the acknowledgements, as he has for past books - see RoW for DID and sexuality, and Tress for Deaf rep. If he'd written her to be trans, I think we would know it. 

Did he also include an acknowledgement for anyone helping him out with Steris in Era 2? I don't remember one, but I don't even remotely trust my memory for things like that. And in fairness, it's not hard to imagine that he might have talked to someone who prefered to remain anonymous. A professional sensitivity reader probably wouldn't have wanted that, but if he just spoke with a friend, they might very well not have wanted to out themself to the world.

13 hours ago, AonEne said:

I am not personally going to give him the credit for it as rep because until he comes out and confirms that this was his intent, I don't believe he deserves that credit. I want confirmed and intentional rep (and importantly, human rep in addition to all the nonhuman trans rep).

Strongly agree with this, especially the part about the importance of human trans rep. Aliens and fantasy creatures as trans-allegory are all well and good, but I've seen enough of them by this point and I want more.

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

On 12/31/2023 at 8:14 PM, SheepAreFluffy said:

Did he also include an acknowledgement for anyone helping him out with Steris in Era 2? I don't remember one, but I don't even remotely trust my memory for things like that. And in fairness, it's not hard to imagine that he might have talked to someone who prefered to remain anonymous. A professional sensitivity reader probably wouldn't have wanted that, but if he just spoke with a friend, they might very well not have wanted to out themself to the world.

This is fair! I know he knows people both on the autism spectrum and who are transgender (binary trans, anyway, I don't know if anyone on the team's nonbinary) but yeah, just checked and no one was specifically mentioned in TLM at least. 

On 12/31/2023 at 8:14 PM, SheepAreFluffy said:

Strongly agree with this, especially the part about the importance of human trans rep. Aliens and fantasy creatures as trans-allegory are all well and good, but I've seen enough of them by this point and I want more.

^^^^ love MeLaan and all but being nonbinary is a human thing toooooo. And the most I can say about Ral-na is that he exists. 

[bmcclure7]

On 8/13/2023 at 11:32 PM, Firesong said:

She is definitely trans-coded, I actually just think of her as trans period. As Sleepless are always they or it (except when people think they are who they are disguised as), so that essentially acts as a AGAB for them, and she appears to associate far more with feminine presentation and identification. So I would say she does in fact qualify. 

Brandon probably did research and talked to people, as he always does with stuff like this (as he doesn't want another Adien), he likes accurate presentation, and does his best to achieve it. It is something I really appreciate about him.  

 She is trans nothing. Sleepless are not human. Human concepts of gender and transgender do not apply to them.  They are not in transition into anything. They instead are a hide mind system made of a many parts some of which are male some of which are female.

 

 Perhaps in a sense you can think of them as agendered. But certainly not trans. 

[Koloss17 She/They]

3 hours ago, bmcclure7 said:

 She is trans nothing. Sleepless are not human. Human concepts of gender and transgender do not apply to them.  They are not in transition into anything. They instead are a hide mind system made of a many parts some of which are male some of which are female.

 

 Perhaps in a sense you can think of them as agendered. But certainly not trans. 

They…clearly are *people* though. Brandon Sanderson is a person, and as a person, has no experience living as a multi-entity hive mind of efficiently adapting creatures. He does, however, have experience being a human, and feeling emotions, societal norms, and complex neurological thought. And frankly, I would say that bleeds into him writing the Sleepless. Yes, they are meant to be non-human, and they do not experience life the same way humans do, and would not necessarily have the cognitive aspects that humans do. However, they sure are written that way.

Sleepless clearly have emotions, and can be puzzled, enamored, hyper-fixate, have friends, dissociate, and be traumatized. Therefore, I would say it is certainly possible for one to be trans.

Is Masaka trans? I’m not sure. I’d certainly like to think she is! She gives off signs that seem to point that way, and at the very least is euphoric at being treated as a human. If she was trans, would she be human trans rep? Nope. I definitely am on the human trans rep is better than alien trans rep boat, but I frankly take what I can get. 

[SheepAreFluffy]

30 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

Is Masaka trans? I’m not sure. I’d certainly like to think she is! She gives off signs that seem to point that way, and at the very least is euphoric at being treated as a human.

As a thought experiment, how do you think she'd react if someone read her as being a human male? Would it be "hooray, I am a convincing human!", "oh dear, have I made some mistake with cultural assumptions?" or "no! that's not who I am! I'm a human woman!"? There's no right answer to this, of course, since we don't ever actually see this happen, but I think that how you imagine that scenario playing out is pertinent to whether one can think of her as a trans character. If you think the third one is how she'd probably react, then I think it's more than fair to think of her as trans; if one of the first two, then she's at best an allegory for trans experience.

1 hour ago, Koloss17 said:

I definitely am on the human trans rep is better than alien trans rep boat, but I frankly take what I can get. 

It's an odd one, for sure. Any (respectful) trans rep is better than no trans rep, I agree. But just because getting table scraps is better than going hungry doesn't mean that I'm going to celebrating table scraps. Especially because there are other authors out there who are doing amazing things with trans and non-binary characters. And to be clear, it's not as if Brandon "owes" us a trans main character or any other nonsense like that. He doesn't. I would love it if he does write one, but I will still love his books even if he never does. But at the same time, I'm not going to give him credit for the table scraps. Which is fine, because he's already pretty heavily in credit for other things... You get what I'm saying.

23 hours ago, AonEne said:

^^^^ love MeLaan and all but being nonbinary is a human thing toooooo. And the most I can say about Ral-na is that he exists. 

*nods furiously* I'll add Morriumur to the "I love the character, buuuuuut" list. And I'd completely forgotten who Ral-na was and had to go look him up, which definitely does give weight to the "he sure is a character who exists" position.

[bmcclure7]

18 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

They…clearly are *people* though. Brandon Sanderson is a person, and as a person, has no experience living as a multi-entity hive mind of efficiently adapting creatures. He does, however, have experience being a human, and feeling emotions, societal norms, and complex neurological thought. And frankly, I would say that bleeds into him writing the Sleepless. Yes, they are meant to be non-human, and they do not experience life the same way humans do, and would not necessarily have the cognitive aspects that humans do. However, they sure are written that way.

Sleepless clearly have emotions, and can be puzzled, enamored, hyper-fixate, have friends, dissociate, and be traumatized. Therefore, I would say it is certainly possible for one to be trans.

Is Masaka trans? I’m not sure. I’d certainly like to think she is! She gives off signs that seem to point that way, and at the very least is euphoric at being treated as a human. If she was trans, would she be human trans rep? Nope. I definitely am on the human trans rep is better than alien trans rep boat, but I frankly take what I can get. 

 You're not making any sense if feeling emotions makes you trans and everyone is trans. Lots of people want to be treated as human  That is not transgender Exclusive trait. 

[The Sibling she/her]

1 hour ago, bmcclure7 said:

Sleepless clearly have emotions, and can be puzzled, enamored, hyper-fixate, have friends, dissociate, and be traumatized. Therefore, I would say it is certainly possible for one to be trans.

 

 

1 hour ago, bmcclure7 said:

 You're not making any sense if feeling emotions makes you trans and everyone is trans. Lots of people want to be treated as human  That is not transgender Exclusive trait. 

I don't think that Koloss was saying that having emotions makes you trans? Apologies if I'm interpreting incorrectly but the way that I read that was that Sleepless are similar to humans in some ways (as in having emotions) so maybe they are similar in other ways (like having gender). 

[Koloss17 She/They]

17 hours ago, The Sibling said:

 

I don't think that Koloss was saying that having emotions makes you trans? Apologies if I'm interpreting incorrectly but the way that I read that was that Sleepless are similar to humans in some ways (as in having emotions) so maybe they are similar in other ways (like having gender). 

Basically yeah. Though they are biologically probably most similar to a superorganism akin to ants or bees, but they are behaviorally most akin to humans. 
 

 

On 1/2/2024 at 9:49 PM, SheepAreFluffy said:

As a thought experiment, how do you think she'd react if someone read her as being a human male? Would it be "hooray, I am a convincing human!", "oh dear, have I made some mistake with cultural assumptions?" or "no! that's not who I am! I'm a human woman!"? There's no right answer to this, of course, since we don't ever actually see this happen, but I think that how you imagine that scenario playing out is pertinent to whether one can think of her as a trans character. If you think the third one is how she'd probably react, then I think it's more than fair to think of her as trans; if one of the first two, then she's at best an allegory for trans experience.

It's an odd one, for sure. Any (respectful) trans rep is better than no trans rep, I agree. But just because getting table scraps is better than going hungry doesn't mean that I'm going to celebrating table scraps. Especially because there are other authors out there who are doing amazing things with trans and non-binary characters. And to be clear, it's not as if Brandon "owes" us a trans main character or any other nonsense like that. He doesn't. I would love it if he does write one, but I will still love his books even if he never does. But at the same time, I'm not going to give him credit for the table scraps. Which is fine, because he's already pretty heavily in credit for other things... You get what I'm saying.

 

Honestly? I don’t know. I read Masaka’s desire to be human to have very similar feelings that someone with gender euphoria from being perceived as their desired gender to feel. Does the fact that she’s a human girl add on to that? Maybe. I think it’s fair to say that she’s trans-coded, but perhaps not trans. But the parallels certainly feel intentional.

and yeah, I get it. She ain’t human, and it is not an easy one-to-one comparison. It certainly isn’t proper trans rep, and it is completely fair to want better. However, the table scraps are still quite tasty, and I do love me a very cute sleepless.

Edited January 4 by Koloss17

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Maybe. I think it’s fair to say that she’s trans-coded, but perhaps not trans. But the parallels certainly feel intentional.

and yeah, I get it. She ain’t human, and it is not an easy one-to-one comparison. It certainly isn’t proper trans rep, and it is completely fair to want better.

To me, it seems like one needs to factor the fact that this is a Speculative Fiction Fantasy story - where simile and metaphor rule. A primary draw of the Genre is to explore things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction.

With that in mind, if a person thinks that "trans" is fundamentally:

• Biologically <something>, mentally/emotionally <something else>; and working toward making the biology match the mental and emotional framework

Then the parallels here seem to make more sense. It's not necessarily about gender - it's about Masaka trying to make her biological, emotional, and psychological framework match - and she wants that internal and external perception to be that she is human. So, she may "feel" like a trans-coded character because, fundamentally, there is a similarity - even if actual gender isn't the primary factor for Masaka. 

Edited January 4 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Koloss17 She/They]

16 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

To me, it seems like one needs to factor the fact that this is a Speculative Fiction Fantasy story - where simile and metaphor rule. A primary draw of the Genre is to explore things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction.

With that in mind, if a person thinks that "trans" is fundamentally:

• Biologically <something>, mentally/emotionally <something else>; and working toward making the biology match the mental and emotional framework

Then the parallels here seem to make more sense. It's not necessarily about gender - it's about Masaka trying to make her biological, emotional, and psychological framework match - and she wants that internal and external perception to be that she is human. So, she may "feel" like a trans-coded character because, fundamentally, there is a similarity even if actual gender isn't the primary factor for Masaka. 

Couldn’t have put it into words better myself!

[Faerie Braids she/her]

35 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

To me, it seems like one needs to factor the fact that this is a Speculative Fiction Fantasy story - where simile and metaphor rule. A primary draw of the Genre is to explore things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction.

With that in mind, if a person thinks that "trans" is fundamentally:

• Biologically <something>, mentally/emotionally <something else>; and working toward making the biology match the mental and emotional framework

Then the parallels here seem to make more sense. It's not necessarily about gender - it's about Masaka trying to make her biological, emotional, and psychological framework match - and she wants that internal and external perception to be that she is human. So, she may "feel" like a trans-coded character because, fundamentally, there is a similarity even if actual gender isn't the primary factor for Masaka. 

You captured my exact thoughts more eloquently than I could ever have managed!

I would also like to point out, regarding representation, that Brandon Sanderson has stated that he is holding off on making trans characters more involved and developed in his books until he feels more confident in his ability to respectfully portray them (I would cite the WoB if I had more time), and Masaka is very good practice for this ability, as she deals with similar emotions/thought patterns without  the more 'sensitive' trans context, while, at the same time, avoiding queerbaiting.

(Sorry if this is a little disjointed; some IRL stuff is making me feel a bit more scattered than usual)

[SheepAreFluffy]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:04 PM, Treamayne said:

To me, it seems like one needs to factor the fact that this is a Speculative Fiction Fantasy story - where simile and metaphor rule. A primary draw of the Genre is to explore things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction.

With that in mind, if a person thinks that "trans" is fundamentally:

• Biologically <something>, mentally/emotionally <something else>; and working toward making the biology match the mental and emotional framework

Then the parallels here seem to make more sense. It's not necessarily about gender - it's about Masaka trying to make her biological, emotional, and psychological framework match - and she wants that internal and external perception to be that she is human. So, she may "feel" like a trans-coded character because, fundamentally, there is a similarity - even if actual gender isn't the primary factor for Masaka. 

I agree with most of what you're saying here, but do want to dive a bit deeper into a couple of specific parts.

First, I'm not sure what you mean by "things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction"? That seems like a strange way of phrasing things. Because of course, transgender and non-binary identities can be and are explored in fiction of all genres. If the goal is just to explore trans identity then there are a lot of much easier ways to do so than to imagine a swarm of invertebrates with an emergent collective consciousness attempting to pass as human.

That said, there are things that you can do in SF&F that you can't do in other genres. One that's obvious to me is to explore what the social ramifications would be if it were significantly easier for people to change their bodies to match their identities through the use of magic or tech? There's a lot of fertile ground to explore there. But that isn't what's happening here. I don't think there's anything going on here that is saying anything about trans people and identites that wouldn't be said better by including a trans character.

I also think that it's worthwhile to differentiate between trans-coded characters and characters who are an allegory for trans experience. A trans-coded character would be one who isn't directly stated to be trans, but where it is implied through tropes, stereotypes, mannerism, and so on. It's all a bit nudge and a wink, plausible deniability, and "if you know you know". (See also: the Wikipedia entry for queer coding.) On the other hand, if this were intended as allegory, then we wouldn't at any point be supposed to ask if Masaka is trans. Rather, we're supposed to notice that there are similarities and parallels between her experience and trans experience. It's something of a subtle distinction, for sure, but I think a meaningful one.

On 1/4/2024 at 8:58 PM, Faerie Braids said:

I would also like to point out, regarding representation, that Brandon Sanderson has stated that he is holding off on making trans characters more involved and developed in his books until he feels more confident in his ability to respectfully portray them (I would cite the WoB if I had more time), and Masaka is very good practice for this ability, as she deals with similar emotions/thought patterns without  the more 'sensitive' trans context, while, at the same time, avoiding queerbaiting.

I was curious enough to go and look up the WoB for myself, so I'll share it here to save anyone else the effort:

Quote

Questioner

Are you planning to write any trans characters?

Brandon Sanderson

Am I planning to write any trans characters? I am, but it's a very... like, I need to have some people who can read who are themselves trans, and can talk me through it. I kind of dabbled in it with, like, MeLaan, but that's not a true trans character. So, I'm kinda trying to dabble my toes in it. But I really will need some good readers who can tell me, because it's one of those things that'd be so easy to get wrong.

Calamity Seattle signing (Feb. 17, 2016)

And while looking for it, I also found this one:

Quote

Loose_Combination

Is Lift trans? Some of the specific scenes and wording when Lift stole the food from Rock's son seemed to indicate that?

Brandon Sanderson

This was not intentional. I have intended Lift to be assigned female at birth. I wouldn't play so coy with something that would be so relevant to trans readers.

alercah

I think /u/Loose_Combination meant the other way around. She's experiencing body dysphoria very much in the way a transmaculine character would.

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, I apologize. I didn't read closely enough.

So yes, there is something here. More her body disphoria is related to aging, and secondary sex characteristics are involved.

General Reddit 2020 (Nov. 28, 2020)

(Bolding mine.)

I think that suggests that Masaka was probably not intended to be trans. If that had been his intention, he probably would likely have been much more unambiguous about it. Whether she was intended as an allegory for trans experience is more up in the air, I think. But even if she wasn't intended that way, it's still a fine thing for us readers to be able to draw those parallels ourselves (or make our own head-canons).

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, SheepAreFluffy said:

First, I'm not sure what you mean by "things that can't reasonably be explored through more main-line fiction"? That seems like a strange way of phrasing things.

I/m sorry for any confusion, that line was only meant as a generalization about Speculative fiction, not with regards to Masaka's case specifically. For example, the Cosmere deals heavily with the ramifications of what may happen when mortals acquire immortality and/or divine power.

I agree that I don't think there was any intentional correlation meant by Sanderson, I was only trying to extrapolate a theory on why some people may see a connection after-the-fact (because of the underlying non-gender-based similarity).

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

On 1/2/2024 at 7:49 PM, SheepAreFluffy said:

*nods furiously* I'll add Morriumur to the "I love the character, buuuuuut" list. And I'd completely forgotten who Ral-na was and had to go look him up, which definitely does give weight to the "he sure is a character who exists" position.

I have to admit that I had to look his name up to be sure I had it right too  

On 1/4/2024 at 8:20 AM, Koloss17 said:

She ain’t human, and it is not an easy one-to-one comparison. It certainly isn’t proper trans rep, and it is completely fair to want better. However, the table scraps are still quite tasty, and I do love me a very cute sleepless.

That's valid! People have headcanons for a reason, even if we strive for real rep at the same time. 

11 hours ago, SheepAreFluffy said:

And while looking for it, I also found this one: [second WoB] 

(Bolding mine.)

Thanks for pulling this one, I wouldn't have remembered that specific line. I appreciate that Brandon knows it's important and will treat it with gravity.