Riley, who has not been living under a rock, [feels ideologically uncomfortable with Jaden's account](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch6p55/)—Riley feels morally obligated to be a good ally, but isn't personally zealous enough to correct Jaden's speech. Riley starts to [worry that her girlfriend Blaire will start a quarrel if transwomen come up in conversation when meeting Jaden](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch6p59/). (_Transwomen_ is spelled as one word in Riley's thoughts, but we imagine Blaire is the kind of person insists that it's two.) The meeting goes fine thanks to Jaden's continued obliviousness; [when Blaire asks Jaden what pronouns she prefers, Jaden (momentarily distracted by Riley nervously dropping a glass) mishears the question and replies, "The way you pronounced it just the was fine."](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch8p6/) Later, Blaire [asks Riley if Jaden might be trans](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p2/) [and not know it](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p4/), causing Riley to [grapple with the contradictions of the reigning ideology](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p6/) and [muse about her own "gender"](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p8/).
-_Lease Bound_ is actively updating. I'm really looking forward to the brewing ideological conflict (between Blaire's doctrinal purity and Jaden's normie common sense) becoming overt.
+_Lease Bound_ is actively updating. I'm really looking forward to the brewing ideological conflict (between Blaire's doctrinal purity and Jaden's normie common sense) eventually becoming overt—although the comic mostly isn't focused on politics ([the author's note on the last page of chapter 9](https://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p20/) says that next we're going to see more about Jaden's childhood), and that's healthy.
-----
-There are a lot of obvious and striking parallels betwen these two slice-of-life webcomics about unexpected sexual-minority roommmates keeping secrets from each other—even the titles match (two words, with the first alluding to the roommate-drama setting, Closet/Lease, Space/Bound). I like both of them, and I think it's sad that the natural fan demographic of each probably mostly hates the other's guts. Gender-critical lesbians aren't going look sympathetically on the protagonists of _Closetspace_, and trans women aren't going to read _Lease Bound_, which portrays them as predatory bullies. The conflict is understandable, but the magnitude of it seems ... _unnecessary_; I think a _smarter_ world would be able to compile all the relevant facts and broker some sort of Pareto-efficient compromise that gets everyone _most_ of what they want.
+There are a lot of obvious and striking parallels betwen these two slice-of-life webcomics about unexpected sexual-minority roommmates keeping secrets from each other—even the titles match (two words, with the first alluding to the roommate-drama setting, Closet/Lease, Space/Bound). They both have an "Everyone is [our sexual minority]" dynamic going. (In _Lease Bound_, the landladies are also lesbians—[the rainbow panel background when Jaden and Riley find out was a nice touch](https://leasebound.com/comic/c1p03/)—and [the neighbor whose son Jaden helps is gay](http://leasebound.com/comic/ch9p7/).) I like both of them, and I think it's sad that the natural fan demographic of each probably mostly hates the other's guts. Gender-critical lesbians aren't going look sympathetically on the protagonists of _Closetspace_, and trans women aren't going to read _Lease Bound_, which portrays them as predatory bullies. The conflict is understandable, but the magnitude of it seems ... _unnecessary_; I think a _smarter_ world would be able to compile all the relevant facts and broker some sort of Pareto-efficient compromise that gets everyone _most_ of what they want.
-Carrie has a compelling interest in being able to modify her body and social presentation without being socially punished for it: though humans [can't actually change sex with currently-existing technology](/2021/May/sexual-dimorphism-in-the-sequences-in-relation-to-my-gender-problems/#changing-sex-is-hard), one could at least be permitted to try to approximate it.
+Carrie has a compelling interest in being able to modify her body and social presentation without being socially punished for it: though humans [can't actually change sex with currently-existing technology](/2021/May/sexual-dimorphism-in-the-sequences-in-relation-to-my-gender-problems/#changing-sex-is-hard), one could at least be permitted to try to approximate it as best one can.
-Simultaneously, the proprietors of Yonique have a compelling interest in being able to declare membership criteria for their private club.
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+But simultaneously, the proprietors of Yonique have a compelling interest in being able to declare membership criteria for their private club. When the AGP Gang (the out-of-universe [canon name for the three troublemakers](https://lesbihonest-art.tumblr.com/post/653039004954083328/so-im-new-here-and-wanted-to-ask-whowhat-the-agp)) stops by, Jaden shouldn't have to _pretend not to notice_ that they're male, and when Jaden explains the club's policy, they should accept it with dignity.
+
+What if it had been Carrie, Allison, and Heidi? (Who ... have somehow traveled from Texas to Australia, and twenty years into the future? Don't answer that.) I'm imagining that Jaden would only deny entrance to Carrie. (Jaden [being unaware of trans being a thing should make it easier to Allison and Heidi to pass](/2020/Dec/crossing-the-line/), but Carrie's _not being on HRT_ is prohibitive.) Carrie would be distressed at being clocked—but not confrontational and entitled like the AGP gang; she would just leave. Heidi would go after her, but Allison (shocked at Jaden stating the obvious, and not wanting the stigma to bleed onto her) goes into the club. And then ... Jaden
+
+I don't actually have a direction for this story to go in.
+
+I just wish it were possible for the LGB and the T to be friends without a common enemy (Carrie's family didn't distinguish types of queer)
+
+https://lesbihonest-art.tumblr.com/post/654473007236005888/do-you-think-well-ever-get-that-nicolas-and-jaden
projects / Ultimately_Untrue_Thought.git / blobdiff