ladybusiness | (Reply)

From:

It's not explicitly queer, but Tai Sui by Priest has a major supporting female character who sometimes crossdresses (and if my memory is correct, presents somewhat more masc even when not explicitly crossdressing) and who ends up living with another female character, they're very shippable, I might go so far as saying they're the closest thing to a canon couple in the whole novel (which is gen).

Torikae Baya (the manga I keep requesting from Seven Seas every month) is very gender, and features crossdressing in multiple directions -- the basic premise is that two siblings realized as children that they were better suited to be each other's assigned genders, so they were both raised trans, with their parents' full support. They both ended up with different court positions (this is Heian era Japan) and then due to court intrigue reasons (there's a pregnancy plot) have to switch places. So they end up both crossdressing as their AGAB. I haven't been able to read the manga, as there's not even a fan translation, but I read the novel it was based on (which was actually written in the Heian period) and I'm interested in seeing how the manga version plays out: although everything I wrote is true about the novel, I hear the manga is much queerer; the novel's ending--which might not even be by the original author, might be a later revision/addition--is very 'and they finally realized their true places in life and all was well' which I was not super happy about.

[Edit: I finally tracked down a digital copy of the original novel, and I think I may have been conflating some of my memories of it with my memory of a friend's commentary on the manga--the siblings' parents and the general attitude of the narration were not nearly as supportive as I had remembered. Anyway I hope the manga gets translated someday.]

How do you feel about the trope when "this character is a crossdressing woman" is a spoiler or is treated like a big reveal?