Bad Woman (HER fanfic)

Author's Note

Hello, my dearest readers,

It is I, TheLesbianTragedy, rising back from the dead. And honestly, you should have noticed the pattern by now. Whenever I suddenly disappear without explanation, there is a very high chance that I will eventually crawl out of my grave carrying a brand-new fanfic that absolutely nobody asked me to write.

Speaking of disappearing and then coming back to life, do you know someone similar to that? No, I am not talking about Jesus Christ. IT'S OUR GIRL ARPO.

Yes. If you have read the tags and the story description, then you already know that this is a HER fanfic. If you have absolutely no idea what HER is, or you're one of those people who already decided to hate a series that hasn't even aired yet, then what the fuck are you doing here?

PEP NEUNG! Don't leave yet.

I KNOW. I know the pilot trailer raised a lot of issues. I know that 3 minutes and 48 seconds somehow managed to cause approximately seventeen years' worth of discourse. And I know a lot of people have been judging Namtan to the bone even though, from what I've seen, she genuinely seems to be trying to listen, learn, and understand the trans community better.

And yes, there are things in that pilot that made me raise an eyebrow too. But at the same time, a GL series centered around a trans woman?

NamtanFilm?

Junior and Aye?

The amount of dedication these actors seem willing to put into their characters? YOU EXPECT ME NOT TO BE CURIOUS???

Of course I'm curious. And more importantly, the possibility of seeing a trans woman at the center of a sapphic love story genuinely appeals to me.

So before we go any further, I want to say something sincerely. I am not a trans woman. I also don't have anyone particularly close to me who is trans, so I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I personally understand the experience of being a trans woman.

Does that mean I can't consume or write stories about trans women? I don't believe so. But I do believe that if I'm going to write a trans character, I have a responsibility to approach her with care. I have to research. I have to listen. I have to be willing to learn. And most importantly, I don't want Arpo's identity to exist merely as a plot device.

If you've been reading my stories for a long time, then you already know how much I care about my characters and the stories they tell. I will make them suffer because apparently that's my brand, but I will LOVE THEM while making them suffer.

Hence: TheLesbianTragedy.

So let me give a little shout-out to two trans women characters I've loved over the years: Nomi Marks from Sense8 and Elle Argent from Heartstopper.

And since we're already here, I want to make one thing very clear:

Trans women are women. And a love story between a trans woman and a cis woman is a sapphic love story.

If you fundamentally disagree with that, then you may respectfully exit. Seriously. We don't need to fight. I don't need an essay in the comments. You don't need to announce your departure. There is a little back button somewhere on your screen. I believe in you. You can find it.

This story isn't for you.

For everyone still here, HELLO, WELCOME TO THE CHAOS.

Now let's actually talk about the fanfic. I did my best to incorporate the scenes and ideas from the pilot trailer that I personally liked, and you'll probably recognize some of them immediately, especially in the prologue.