lore-friendly transitioning methods

[ZooExorcist]

i've dabbled in making trans characters in the xiv universe before, mostly getting roadblocked by gender role dynamics of some of the races...

but as far as transitioning goes, what do ya'll use for your characters' lore?

guess my easiest fix is "the allagans/garleans have hrt" lol

[Cleretic]

So to start with, Fantasias are on some level canon. They're of nebulous availability, not really believed to exist by the wider world, and broadly wouldn't really work for a lot of 'trans stories' people might want to write, so they're not that viable an option, but they're the elephant in the room player-wise and if we don't mention them then someone's gonna careen in with an 'Um Actually'.

For other options, Garleans don't confirmably have HRT, but they do have really good plastic surgery, so that's an angle. Glamors and other magic also might do the job, but that's a harder answer, for me it's in 'if you've got a pitch I'm listening' territory.

And looking at the broad level of technology the game is at, while only the Garleans might understand hormones specifically, the rest of the world is plausibly in the territory of 'found the answer, not the working out'; prototypical forms of HRT existed before we knew the mechanics for why it worked, so we're easily in the range of knowing the result but not the why.

[Cilia]

Given as this is a setting where (transmogrification) magic and alchemy are both functioning systems in-universe that have been figured out to a science, I would be more concerned if gender reassignment options did not exist for those seeking them out (medically or for other purposes).

Since the game focuses on heroic adventures and not gender identity drama, however, it is not really elaborated on in-universe.

[Cleretic]

Since the game focuses on heroic adventures and not gender identity drama, however, it is not really elaborated on in-universe.

Yeah, this is fundamentally an element of storytelling focus; trans stories just don't intersect enough with the game's focuses on Big Action and character drama for stuff like 'medical science intricacies' to really turn up in the story except as an implication from some side-deal. The plastic surgery I mentioned was from a story beat largely about espionage, and glamors and transmogrification only get used to that degree in a few fight mechanics and, like, one 2.x quest about the sylphs that I think got cut. You'd think Alchemist would be the best suspect for related lore on this, but its storylines instead ended up focusing on, like, forensics (which is fair, forensics is a cool place to take alchemy). As a result there just isn't clear info on this.

The only times when the game's stories have linked up with transness are debatably Sadu and Mitron, and even more debatably the 'gender is complicated and/or unimportant' figures like the pixies, Omega, or the dragons. In all of those cases, transitioning, be it medically or socially, isn't part of the story being told, and their gender situation is just an extra piece to who they are. I personally find that disappointing in the game's totality--I think the game could do it and would do it well--but individually all makes complete sense; Sadu and Azdaja do not need that element to their stories even if I would like if they had it.

[Moqi]

Through aether all things are possible. If it can create gods, it can act like 'mones.

[RaionKansen]

Fantasia already exists. Beyond that there's nothing lore-wise that would be similar to transitioning. The concept would be lost on the people of Eorzea anyways.

Anything outside of being straight in FFXIV, like most Japanese Entertainment, is just used as a cheap punchline

[Cilia]

Through aether all things are possible. If it can create gods, it can act like 'mones.

While the applications of aether are manifold, there has yet to be an honest capital G "God" in the setting. No matter how powerful, there has never been an actually divine being in the setting. (So far, anyway.)

Anything outside of being straight in FFXIV, like most Japanese Entertainment, is just used as a cheap punchline

Hey now, while I agree there's a lot of bias against more diverse gender identities and sexual orientations in Japanese media (as one might expect from such a conservative country), it's not all just throwaway jokes in (what wider audiences would consider) bad taste. Eden is a thing, and the clear romantic subtext between Ryne and Gaia and Mitron's ambiguous gender identity is never really treated as a joke. (Yuri romance is more acceptable for reasons that still elude me! ... but it is what it is.)

[Cleretic]

It's also kind of xenophobic to just say that all Japanese media treats LGBTIQA+ people and identities as a 'cheap punchline'. Honestly, Japanese media's probably hitting a higher average on LGBTIQA+ representation in media than America right now, it's just that most of it's not crossing over because most of it rarely crosses over.

It probably feels great to blame an entire country for this, but the truth is, FFXIV is behind the 8-ball on this one over there, too. Final Fantasy has always been behind the 8-ball on this one; 'the first openly gay character was in 2023 and died' was also shameful in Japan. They can do better, and it wouldn't be somehow culturally verboten to do better, they just haven't done better.


And the fact they haven't done better means that all the answers to the OP are scant, and have to come at it kinda sideways. As a trans woman who roleplays I've approached this one myself, there's no better options than the ones that've already been said, and Fantasias honestly aren't a good answer; chances are if you're trying to approach this from a trans perspective you want some depiction of the journey in the long term, some ownership of the process on the part of the character, and potentially (not always, but for me it's essential) some reflection of the difficulties that we have in real life. None of that's there for 'I drink a potion that apparently tastes like water and wake up looking how I want'; that's a cute little bit of worldbuilding that it exists, and I like how they generally refuse to make them publicly known/available, but it's not really an answer to the question from a 'trans person wanting to reflect the trans experience' perspective.

[Netharia]

I've always figured Sharlayan would have the most advanced hormone regimens and surgeries, because sit here and tell me they don't have a bunch of autistic trans researchers going apeshit refining that to levels heretofore unconceived!

[Cilia]

It really wouldn't make much sense for them to pursue HRT and surgery as an avenue for gender transitioning except from a "pursuit of knowledge" angle. In a setting with magic that's been worked out to a science, considering magic is easier, quicker, more comprehensive, and easily reversible if the patient isn't taking it as well as they thought...

Unless you're trying to shove a real-world transgender drama plotline into a setting where it's really both unnecessary (this is a heroic fantasy story) and moot (surely magic to facilitate this exists), it would be pretty pointless for Sharlayan to have information on HRT and gender reassignment surgery. (I mean, they probably do but just for hoarding purposes, not because it's practical or necessary for the most part when magic exists.)