Warning 110% understood. This was a very large fuckup on my part and I sincerely apologize. When I hit the point where I can't protect my raw spots well enough to keep it together, the right thing to do is go somewhere else until I can. I'm sorry it got to this point before I realized it was time for a hiatus.

I'm sorry. I was wrong to post what I did- hasty, unclear and hurtful, and that's not who I want to be. I've tried to clarify things below, although I understand it may only be the start of what I need to do to repair the situation.

I've posted a clarification below. I posted in haste when I should have edited (and re-edited) at leisure, and it was the wrong thing to do.

I'm sorry. I wrote something that really should have been edited several times before I posted, and I seriously fucked up w/r/t other trans Readers here. I've tried to clarify my thoughts in a longish reply to persiflet, but I understand that this may not be enough to resolve things and I'd like to do what that takes.

So, having taken time to organize my thoughts…

First of all, my poorly thought-out initial comment notwithstanding, I’m not out to shit on anyone or their headcanons. I fucked up, and I’m not proud of it. Being sorry doesn’t change that.

(Vague mentions of future trans content in rot13.)

Gur snpg erznvaf gung genaf Qvfpjbeyq snaf unir gurfr urnqpnabaf orpnhfr nyy jr trg va pnaba vf uvagf naq fgrerbglcrf naq onq wbxrf naq pvf crbcyr ernpgvat gb nalbar gurl creprvir nf bhg bs gur beqvanel. Jr trg punenpgref jub pna or vagrecergrq nf genaf, ohg being able to read a character as trans and being able to read a character who IS trans are two different things.

I think on a certain level most trans Discworld fans have a strong need to see ourselves reflected on the Disc. We look for people who look like us, just like everybody needs to see people like them in the media they consume. There’s nothing wrong with being desperate for representation as an underrepresented minority… or if there is, it’s not something that’s wrong with *us*.

What bothers me- probably more than it should, and for a variety of reasons- is people saying that because a work dances around the idea of trans people and has characters that can be read as trans, it serves as trans representation.

...That's what I meant to say when I went off, anyhow. I hope this clears up a few things.

Thank you for saying it. I'm so tired of people using Section 28 like an excuse in this situation.

I'm sorry, but I knew that.

I realize that I was quite blunt, and I'm sorry that I've offended you. Not my intention, but that's not relevant now that I've done it. I'll be more careful in future.

However, I would like to point out that this is the first time that any trans Readers have had any issues with any opinions I've posted, so I'm not basing my views of the community on the responses I've gotten from trans people. And pushback from trans people when I fuck up is vastly different to pushback from cis people when I speak up.

Maybe because it's fun to look at the six thousand ways I could have written it better? And it's really hard to find books that *aren't* shitty and cissexist? And I didn't realize how shitty MR is about gender until I'd had to deal with the same bullshit over and over and over in REAL LIFE because cis people think it's funny?

Yeah, it was certainly an easier read for me when I was still closeted and didn't know as much about cis people as I've been forced to learn since. Now it's more like eating a dish that normally I like... but which the cook has thoughtfully laced with broken glass because it's the current fashion and every other restaurant that does it is getting great reviews. (Those oversensitive people complaining of internal bleeding just don't appreciate cutting-edge cuisine, after all...)