To be entirely fair, compared to the costs of transitioning in real life, that character recustomization is nothing and can be very handy in helping cope while the real life changes take their far slower pace. 😉
Granted, for me, it was the mere fact that I *chose* female avatars *from the get go* that helped guide me to my eventual realization (on top of many other factors, of course), but I just told anyone who questioned the expected “dudely” phrase: “I just prefer staring at a woman’s ass rather than a man’s if I’m gonna be playing them my entire time in the game”.
I’m sure some trans women have followed Zhusen’s road, here, likely having chosen their assigned gender at birth for their avatar initially to avoid ridicule from parents or peers, and then changing things over when they feel comfortable and start working things out. 🙂
Sure it’s like stubbing your toe compared to amputating an arm, but ten bucks, that’s like, two cafe coffees, or 20 freddo frogs (in my youth. More like 8 nowadays) or like 6 mugs from kmart, or postage and packaging of a parcel under 500g anywhere in Australia, or half a beer in a pub.
I think in Zhusen’s case, she (I’m gonna mess that up at some point. Out of the habit of considering Zhusen as a man, I mean.) didn’t know at the time. Her (That was a close one) character development about becoming more confident might have been what helped her (nailed it) admit it to herself, and have the courage to go public with it. Mind you, it’s an outsiders perspective, and you’re a lot closer to the situation than I am wth your experience (boost).
I didn’t really know, either. I only came out to myself (or hatched out of my egg, as some people call it) about 4.5 years ago, well after I’d stopped playing WoW.
I was just drawn to playing women avatars. Sure, part of the reasoning was that the men looked too muscled to be a Mage in my opinion, and by the time I started making serious alts like my Enhancement Shaman, I was just used to always selecting “female” in character generators. Fable 2? Girl. Mass Effect? Fem-shep.
Didn’t know why besides that I thought it was just a simple kink-fantasy, but some of it was that, deeply subconsciously, I wanted to actually *be* a woman IRL to “understand what it’s like”. Started as just wanting a few minutes, maybe an hour or day. But then it grew to wanting it for a month, a few months, and eventually after landing a post-college job and being there for a few months, I knew I *needed* it to be for life.
I just have to ask, how long has this aspect of Zhusen’s character been planned? Was it from the creation of her character, or was it that phenomena where you write an aspect of a character’s personality but only later realize *why* they are like that. I guess I’m asking cuz Zhusen’s apologetic/wants to please everyone way of acting works *way* better thematically imo with the new character design.
slow burn idea then, by going through Zhusen’s appearances in the archives by her tag, it’s been a month shy of 2 1/2 years. Well anyway, you’re in good company when it comes to webcomikers with Trans characters in otherwise focused stories.
I think by having it as part of her character in your head it comes out more true than if you had just gotten drunk last week and went F it hes a she now. With Zhusen it feels normal. if it had been xmurd I’d look at it as very weak.
This is amazing. I never picked up on this, but there WAS an interesting thing that happened a while back…
Six months ago, I wanted to make a D&D character based off Zhusen. But, when I tried, the “inner voice” of that character came out female, so I ended up playing a female character for the first time.
So, given that my Zhusen character insisted on being female, I’d say that you nailed it. Clearly, subconsciously I realised something was going on.
Thats what i suspected. Glad she cant get this kinda fulfillment at least virtually so soon. And like i said last comic i’m glad she’s realize she’s in a safe guild
I was hoping Zhusen simply turned out to be a shy girl with a male avatar. Love the character, though (inspired me to start a new, friendly druid). Hope nothing changes regarding the guilds acceptance of her 🙂
Is it a smirk? The mask doesn’t help at all, but it’s looks like a wince from the lower eyelids being brought up. My eyes aren’t all that crash hot, so it’s probably anyone’s guess
Heh
Same comment as last page, I know, I just don’t have anything better to type without going into a long text of stuff and other people could prolly do that better than me x)
Huh. I vaguely hecked this page early morning when I woke up to pisss, told myself “Pretty much what I saw coming” and fell asleep again, now that I’m awake I noticed that there as a LOT of comments in for the page and I was expecting a flame war.
I’m quite proud that it isn’t. Good job commenters.
Or Good Job Robin for excisin the cancer, if not.
I haven’t had to remove any comments. I was expecting some trouble after the shit that was stirring up in the last strip’s comments, but none of it to be seen today. /shrug
There was no shit stirring in your last strip.. people were being critical of your intent. They were worried you were simply putting in a token, no one expressed hate against transgender individuals.
If you tackle this right, you’ll be applauded; if you don’t, you’ll be criticized. And then if you try to tackle something serious that has been done poorly, or looks like it could be done for giggles, you’ll get questioned on it.
Like I said, I haven’t removed any comments. No one was being a complete horse’s ass, but there was definitely some sentiment against this story being done at all, regardless of potential quality.
And I certainly hope/aim to do it right. No one is more preoccupied with that than I am.
Then i don’t think anybody will have a problem with the story.
It’s not tokenism if it’s done right, tastefully and without preaching. And you’d be surprised at how many people are willing to read ‘n enjoy a story that may be outside their comfort zone if it’s done right.
I found your comic on a long train journey just over a year ago and though I’ve been hooked have never felt the need to comment til now. When I saw how many comments there were I thought there would definitely be some shit slinging (as there was when QC introduced a transplants character), I’m pleasantly surprised there isn’t. You’re awesome and so are your fans 🙂
Thanks for this it warmed my day. I have been reading for a while now and it is nice to see representation. I am trans myself and I always have a special place in my heart for webcomics that have trans characters.
I hope that the rest of the guild is as accepting as Keran but I have a feeling that there wouldn’t be drama if it was as such.
I use to have a friend that was having a very hard time transing from a woman to a man. We tried to support him but the amount of bullying he got in school once it was spread by another former ‘friend’, teachers being supportive yet not… He eventually committed suicide not able to take the pressure from school and from his own parents.. So thank you for this. Now I need to go.. someone is cutting onions here.
Oh my God, thank you!! The previous strip, I thought for a moment “aw wouldn’t it be cool if she were a trans girl” but never thought you’d actually do it!
One of my close friends in my guild came out as trans last year and this rings so true. Zhusen was already one of my faves; this just cements her in first.
I won’t lie, I am a bit confused as to why so many webcomics are adding transgender characters. Regardless, as long as Zhusen still stays the ever lovable and kind healer that we know, I couldn’t give a rat’s behind on what gender they are.
I’m honestly pretty happy to see this come up in your story. Considering a few other trans comics that I’ve read which have either ended or been discontinued (Venus envy… blarg I can’t remember the other one…) and the fact this started off as such a lighthearted series that quickly turned a bit more serious as you focused on more mature subjects that come up in online gaming, it’s nice to be able to touch on subjects that some people might consider difficult or a bit too sensitive to bring up.
it was hard to say with the last comic whether zhusen had just been a woman the entire time, but was too afraid to admit it to the guild for fear of judgement (something that does happen online, I was part of a guild with that exact situation for a time, or if zhusen realized (or knew the entire time) that she was trans thanks to a few hints you’ve sprinkled around, but considering the day and age we live in it’s nice to be able to talk about things like this, which are serious problems in modern society.
I really wish there was a way to change the way the world reacted to this kind of thing, and make more people feel comfortable enough to be able to admit to who they truly are.
So this comic, today — whoops I forgot to hit Post Comment after writing this, make that yesterday, — is my introduction to Experience Boost, and while it looks like it’s based more on WoW than on any MMO I’ve played… think I gotta carve out some time for an archive binge soon.
Reread this series *multiple* times and I just have one thing to say about this particular strip.
Panel 3 makes it sound like Zhusen is simultaneously transitioning IRL? That seems weird to me. In my own case, and others I’ve read online, we transition our online personas months or years before trying it IRL. Either to experiment and see if we’re comfortable with it, or just because it feels safer. Obviously I’m not gonna tell Robin she’s writing trans people wrong () but it just strikes me as odd.
It is a very common thing for people to transition online or play their new gender in games before transitioning in real life.
At the time, I definitely wrote this story as an outsider, but as it happens, when I did finally start transitioning myself, I kept my online life male presenting in almost every respect until I had been on HRT for around 6 months.
I had support from my spouse and felt safe transitioning and trying things at home, but I was absolutely terrified of coming out in most places because my online persona was very publicly me. My actual name was all over my social media presence, this site, everything. I wanted to keep a tight lid on my being trans until I felt ready to be out basically everywhere.
And now, retroactively, this is also true for Zhusen.
Also, as a side note, relating to being trans and playing MMOs: I’m playing WoW again lately, and being able to just go to the in-game barbershop and change all my characters to female without paying real actual money is so so good.
I came out in one place online before I started HRT a month later, then I waited 9 months to come out IRL and other online spaces. The one space was kind of where I started, and I needed somewhere to be me after admitting things. I didn’t want to come out IRL until I had some changes well under way. I didn’t want have most people know and be watching the slow transition of things, I wanted there to be a sharp difference when I came out and stopped hiding the changes.
Everyone is going handle these things their own way.
Glad to finally be reading this comic. Robin’s early coming out and transition comics were very important to me when I was figuring myself out. Honestly one of the 4 major things that helped me get my egg finally cracked (Two were a trans friend wielding Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and the other being Unknown Number).
Damn, I forgot how expensive cosmetic changes in mmos are. That’s gotta sting, but I’d say its worth it, given the circumstances
To be entirely fair, compared to the costs of transitioning in real life, that character recustomization is nothing and can be very handy in helping cope while the real life changes take their far slower pace. 😉
Granted, for me, it was the mere fact that I *chose* female avatars *from the get go* that helped guide me to my eventual realization (on top of many other factors, of course), but I just told anyone who questioned the expected “dudely” phrase: “I just prefer staring at a woman’s ass rather than a man’s if I’m gonna be playing them my entire time in the game”.
I’m sure some trans women have followed Zhusen’s road, here, likely having chosen their assigned gender at birth for their avatar initially to avoid ridicule from parents or peers, and then changing things over when they feel comfortable and start working things out. 🙂
Sure it’s like stubbing your toe compared to amputating an arm, but ten bucks, that’s like, two cafe coffees, or 20 freddo frogs (in my youth. More like 8 nowadays) or like 6 mugs from kmart, or postage and packaging of a parcel under 500g anywhere in Australia, or half a beer in a pub.
I think in Zhusen’s case, she (I’m gonna mess that up at some point. Out of the habit of considering Zhusen as a man, I mean.) didn’t know at the time. Her (That was a close one) character development about becoming more confident might have been what helped her (nailed it) admit it to herself, and have the courage to go public with it. Mind you, it’s an outsiders perspective, and you’re a lot closer to the situation than I am wth your experience (boost).
I didn’t really know, either. I only came out to myself (or hatched out of my egg, as some people call it) about 4.5 years ago, well after I’d stopped playing WoW.
I was just drawn to playing women avatars. Sure, part of the reasoning was that the men looked too muscled to be a Mage in my opinion, and by the time I started making serious alts like my Enhancement Shaman, I was just used to always selecting “female” in character generators. Fable 2? Girl. Mass Effect? Fem-shep.
Didn’t know why besides that I thought it was just a simple kink-fantasy, but some of it was that, deeply subconsciously, I wanted to actually *be* a woman IRL to “understand what it’s like”. Started as just wanting a few minutes, maybe an hour or day. But then it grew to wanting it for a month, a few months, and eventually after landing a post-college job and being there for a few months, I knew I *needed* it to be for life.
This is beautiful. I knew a transwoman pre and postop from WoW.
Thank you for making this. I’m glad to see how much trust there is between them all.
I just have to ask, how long has this aspect of Zhusen’s character been planned? Was it from the creation of her character, or was it that phenomena where you write an aspect of a character’s personality but only later realize *why* they are like that. I guess I’m asking cuz Zhusen’s apologetic/wants to please everyone way of acting works *way* better thematically imo with the new character design.
As I was drawing Zhusen’s first appearance, the thought struck me and I’ve been keeping it in mind since then, waiting to do the story.
slow burn idea then, by going through Zhusen’s appearances in the archives by her tag, it’s been a month shy of 2 1/2 years. Well anyway, you’re in good company when it comes to webcomikers with Trans characters in otherwise focused stories.
I think by having it as part of her character in your head it comes out more true than if you had just gotten drunk last week and went F it hes a she now. With Zhusen it feels normal. if it had been xmurd I’d look at it as very weak.
Very true. I think it’s because you put in all these little details in subconsciously along the way when you know your character from the beginning.
I’ve read this comic for a long time and I’ve never commented before but I have to comment now.
Thank you.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the comic/storyline.
This is amazing. I never picked up on this, but there WAS an interesting thing that happened a while back…
Six months ago, I wanted to make a D&D character based off Zhusen. But, when I tried, the “inner voice” of that character came out female, so I ended up playing a female character for the first time.
So, given that my Zhusen character insisted on being female, I’d say that you nailed it. Clearly, subconsciously I realised something was going on.
Looks like we got us a Psionic here.
Well done.
Thats what i suspected. Glad she cant get this kinda fulfillment at least virtually so soon. And like i said last comic i’m glad she’s realize she’s in a safe guild
That’s funny, considering I made an alt called Zhusen a couple of months ago and she’s a girl too. Prescience!
Well, HMS Zhuker is (probably!) sunk. At least it was taken out by a cool acceptance torpedo.
She said 10$, which further implies this is modern day real world and not aliens playing in the post apocalypse or something.
I was hoping Zhusen simply turned out to be a shy girl with a male avatar. Love the character, though (inspired me to start a new, friendly druid). Hope nothing changes regarding the guilds acceptance of her 🙂
… a little bit concerned about Murd’s reaction, tho… :-/
Kids today seem to be more accepting of gender fluidity than previous generations. But, we shall see 🙂
Have you ever met kids these days?
I have some. So, yeah.
Love this <3
^not sarcastic, contrary to my smirking avatar ;P
Is it a smirk? The mask doesn’t help at all, but it’s looks like a wince from the lower eyelids being brought up. My eyes aren’t all that crash hot, so it’s probably anyone’s guess
Wincing suits my personality more so ima go with that 😉
Thank you thank you thank you
Now excuse me I need to scream at all my Warcraft friends about this in glee
I’m going to get the murderbane avatar, I’m sure, but, seriously: well done.
Interesting to see where this goes.
Okay, now, gimme some lotto numbers.
(Great call on that one.)
I always seem to be murderbane. Not sure what that says about me.
Think it’s an algorithm based on your name. I always used to be Lys, then when the avatar options were updated I got Tolvir, been him ever since.
Heh
Same comment as last page, I know, I just don’t have anything better to type without going into a long text of stuff and other people could prolly do that better than me x)
First time commenter, full time fan of this webcomic.
This reminds me so much of what happened when i first came out to my guild back in WoW that i actually started to cry in happiness.
So thank you so much, and i cannot wait for more!
Huh. I vaguely hecked this page early morning when I woke up to pisss, told myself “Pretty much what I saw coming” and fell asleep again, now that I’m awake I noticed that there as a LOT of comments in for the page and I was expecting a flame war.
I’m quite proud that it isn’t. Good job commenters.
Or Good Job Robin for excisin the cancer, if not.
I haven’t had to remove any comments. I was expecting some trouble after the shit that was stirring up in the last strip’s comments, but none of it to be seen today. /shrug
There was no shit stirring in your last strip.. people were being critical of your intent. They were worried you were simply putting in a token, no one expressed hate against transgender individuals.
If you tackle this right, you’ll be applauded; if you don’t, you’ll be criticized. And then if you try to tackle something serious that has been done poorly, or looks like it could be done for giggles, you’ll get questioned on it.
I’ll admit.. i wish i didn’t get Murd for that comment…
Like I said, I haven’t removed any comments. No one was being a complete horse’s ass, but there was definitely some sentiment against this story being done at all, regardless of potential quality.
And I certainly hope/aim to do it right. No one is more preoccupied with that than I am.
Then i don’t think anybody will have a problem with the story.
It’s not tokenism if it’s done right, tastefully and without preaching. And you’d be surprised at how many people are willing to read ‘n enjoy a story that may be outside their comfort zone if it’s done right.
So good luck to ya 🙂
This strip reminds me yet again why I love Keran.
I found your comic on a long train journey just over a year ago and though I’ve been hooked have never felt the need to comment til now. When I saw how many comments there were I thought there would definitely be some shit slinging (as there was when QC introduced a transplants character), I’m pleasantly surprised there isn’t. You’re awesome and so are your fans 🙂
Also, now the downcast “cool guy” comment a little while ago makes sense now 🙂
Wait. Transplants? I hope that doesn’t mean “plant” or something…
My phone is a POS and likes to add letters every so often without me noticing. That should have read “transfer”
Oh fml, “trans”, it should have read “trans” both times.
Damn, all the comments are positive. I was hoping to say “Get over it shitters” at least 10 times!
You often come across as a troll and a jackass in these comments, but I see you are attempting to use your powers for good ^_^
Considering her attitude in the previous strips, I always thought she had a feminine personality. A guy can be both masculine and feminine 🙂
Thanks for this it warmed my day. I have been reading for a while now and it is nice to see representation. I am trans myself and I always have a special place in my heart for webcomics that have trans characters.
I hope that the rest of the guild is as accepting as Keran but I have a feeling that there wouldn’t be drama if it was as such.
Nicely done Robin. Going to have to reread the comics now, with Zhusen’s revelation in mind.
P.S. Holy crap just realised how feminine her name is
I use to have a friend that was having a very hard time transing from a woman to a man. We tried to support him but the amount of bullying he got in school once it was spread by another former ‘friend’, teachers being supportive yet not… He eventually committed suicide not able to take the pressure from school and from his own parents.. So thank you for this. Now I need to go.. someone is cutting onions here.
Zhusen is still my fave
Oh my God, thank you!! The previous strip, I thought for a moment “aw wouldn’t it be cool if she were a trans girl” but never thought you’d actually do it!
One of my close friends in my guild came out as trans last year and this rings so true. Zhusen was already one of my faves; this just cements her in first.
I won’t lie, I am a bit confused as to why so many webcomics are adding transgender characters. Regardless, as long as Zhusen still stays the ever lovable and kind healer that we know, I couldn’t give a rat’s behind on what gender they are.
::eyes tear up, hugs Zhusen:: You are awesome and this is one of the rare instances I’ve read where a trans character doesn’t seem forced. Well done!
I’m honestly pretty happy to see this come up in your story. Considering a few other trans comics that I’ve read which have either ended or been discontinued (Venus envy… blarg I can’t remember the other one…) and the fact this started off as such a lighthearted series that quickly turned a bit more serious as you focused on more mature subjects that come up in online gaming, it’s nice to be able to touch on subjects that some people might consider difficult or a bit too sensitive to bring up.
it was hard to say with the last comic whether zhusen had just been a woman the entire time, but was too afraid to admit it to the guild for fear of judgement (something that does happen online, I was part of a guild with that exact situation for a time, or if zhusen realized (or knew the entire time) that she was trans thanks to a few hints you’ve sprinkled around, but considering the day and age we live in it’s nice to be able to talk about things like this, which are serious problems in modern society.
I really wish there was a way to change the way the world reacted to this kind of thing, and make more people feel comfortable enough to be able to admit to who they truly are.
So this comic, today — whoops I forgot to hit Post Comment after writing this, make that yesterday, — is my introduction to Experience Boost, and while it looks like it’s based more on WoW than on any MMO I’ve played… think I gotta carve out some time for an archive binge soon.
110% worth your time. I started bingeing it maybe a month or so ago and have made it this far, do not regret.
Love for my enby siblings!
The foreshadowing in this comic is superb!
I wonder if Robin knew it back when this comic came out.
She did not.
My gender is also constantly a work in progress. hard relate there
Huh. Good for her! 🙂
:insert trans flag emoji here:
Never commented before, but I just had to mention how hard I smile every time I get to this point in a reread! It makes me so happy!!!
fucking weeping ️⚧️
Reread this series *multiple* times and I just have one thing to say about this particular strip.
Panel 3 makes it sound like Zhusen is simultaneously transitioning IRL? That seems weird to me. In my own case, and others I’ve read online, we transition our online personas months or years before trying it IRL. Either to experiment and see if we’re comfortable with it, or just because it feels safer. Obviously I’m not gonna tell Robin she’s writing trans people wrong () but it just strikes me as odd.
The “()” above was supposed to contain a sweat drop smiley, but apparently those don’t work here.
It is a very common thing for people to transition online or play their new gender in games before transitioning in real life.
At the time, I definitely wrote this story as an outsider, but as it happens, when I did finally start transitioning myself, I kept my online life male presenting in almost every respect until I had been on HRT for around 6 months.
I had support from my spouse and felt safe transitioning and trying things at home, but I was absolutely terrified of coming out in most places because my online persona was very publicly me. My actual name was all over my social media presence, this site, everything. I wanted to keep a tight lid on my being trans until I felt ready to be out basically everywhere.
And now, retroactively, this is also true for Zhusen.
Also, as a side note, relating to being trans and playing MMOs: I’m playing WoW again lately, and being able to just go to the in-game barbershop and change all my characters to female without paying real actual money is so so good.
I came out in one place online before I started HRT a month later, then I waited 9 months to come out IRL and other online spaces. The one space was kind of where I started, and I needed somewhere to be me after admitting things. I didn’t want to come out IRL until I had some changes well under way. I didn’t want have most people know and be watching the slow transition of things, I wanted there to be a sharp difference when I came out and stopped hiding the changes.
Everyone is going handle these things their own way.
Glad to finally be reading this comic. Robin’s early coming out and transition comics were very important to me when I was figuring myself out. Honestly one of the 4 major things that helped me get my egg finally cracked (Two were a trans friend wielding Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and the other being Unknown Number).