AGAIN FOR THE BENEFIT OF ONE SCALY BASTARD

Why is my right eyelid puffy? I didn't do anything to it. I haven't been crying or anything silly like that. I thought I was just imagining the sensitivity of the right side of my face because I stupidly imagine oversensitivity sometimes with random parts of my body and I used to have a horrible whining window in my bedroom that triggered it. And now anything that lingers on the right side of my face too long triggers it.
WHY IS MY RIGHT EYELID PUFFY. THERE IS NO LOGICAL CAUSE FOR THIS.
I normally wouldn't mention it but it's bloody well creeping me out.

Anyway.
MASCS/FEMS IN THE LUNARVERSE. EXCITING STUFF, EH? And at request, no less. This is the first time anyone's actually specifically asked to know more about a particular aspect of one of my universes.

I think I'll put down the question too so I don't forget what was specifically asked for:
"You should write a blather on masc/fem in your universe and what all it entails--what it means, what they go through, all that."
I am also going to try to write this in CONCISE, STRUCTURED FORMAT without any ADHD-wandering. I'm aware that's kind of the point of what blathering is supposed to allow to encourage the flow but I want this to be informative, thus it has to make sense.

DEFINITIONS: Masc/fem refers to an individual, specifically heterosexual, who has switched gender roles. Mascs are women who naturally possess masculine attitudes, in every way--clothing, manner, and thought. They are basically just like everyday men, they just happen to be women and (assuming they've settled on their identity as a masc and aren't in a questioning phase that teens go through) experience no confusion over their sexual or sexuality identity.
Fems are the same, they're just men who are feminine, in every manner, dress, and thought.
I'll briefly explain what I mean by thought, just in case it isn't clear--fems think like women do and mascs think like men do, to the extent it can actually affect what are considered to be scientific rules, such as women not being as easily aroused or preoccupied with thoughts of sex as men are based on hormones. Masc women are often considerably more easily aroused and think about sex more than typical feminine women, and are the aggressor in sexual intimacy in a relationship. They are almost always the ones to initiate or at least pursue sex(fems are just as likely to go "Sorry, sweetie, I'm just not in the mood" as women are. That's right. Men that will TURN DOWN SEX. PREPOSTEROUS?). While many women may enjoy male strippers, not many may be genuinely aroused by them as men will be by female strippers. With mascs, they are almost often as easily aroused by a fem stripper as a man would be by a woman one. The difference in this is that mascs have much more sensitive taste--a fem stripper must be healthy and fully beautiful in appearance, whereas a woman stripper would probably get by just for wearing lingerie and having boobs. Mascs are very sensitive to body type and facial structure. You are not likely to find a masc who will "settle" for a man of unattractive appearance just because he has a solid job and a good personality. They idealize physical attraction in fems just as much as men do in women.
When it comes to personality attraction, mascs can vary wildly depending on what they want from someone. For a masc looking to have fun, she won't care about personality in all likeliness. For a masc looking to settle down with a relationship, being attracted to the fem's personality is as important as being attracted to them physically--a masc may not even be capable of being aroused by a fem who's an absolute snotty bitch. This is one of the very key differences that still exist between mascs and men--"their personality was a total turnoff" may end up being an absolute truth instead of a justification for why they couldn't get in bed with someone hot.
I've mentioned to some people how a man being pretty and feminine is often enough to make me fall in love with him, and to an extent that does ring true. However, in the future of Dollface, where mascs and fems are becoming commonplace despite society's best efforts, I believe this probably wouldn't be true for many mascs. I fall in love with a pretty girly boy on sight just because they're so rare and I'm ready to take any chance I can get. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm desperate in a society where chances of me meeting a man I find attractive on the street are -.001%. In a city with clubs full of them, I'd have the luxury of getting picky.

As for fems, much of the parallel is true with some exceptions. Fems are often much more completely obsessed with their appearance than actual women and intensely more insecure. Many of them feel they have a lot to make up for since many of their features are "naturally masculine." They'll undergo operations to make their features more delicate, physique as well as face, and many often apply makeup and wear female underwear--man-tailored bras included--under their clothes just for the feminine feel of it. Most mascs do find these girly enhancements attractive, but others may also be attracted to what society considers to be a more masculine appearance--a toned body and an aggressive personality. There is a subcategory of fem called "sex-fem" which refers to men that aren't necessarily feminine, but are attracted to mascs and are submissive in bed. They don't wear women underwear and if they could be considered girly it would be the punk, tough-ass sort that isn't actually girly but more tomboy than anything. It's hard to explain. You'd have to see it to know it. (Sil is actually attracted to both fems and sex-fem types. Glow falls somewhere in between, which is probably for the best. He's feminine enough she'd never dare get physically violent with him, but his personality also develops into something tough enough that he doesn't submit in every way. Lyre is attracted only to fems. She privately considers sex-fems "uncouth" and entirely a turn-off, but would never be so impolite as to disregard them socially for this.) Sex-masc does not exist, and the closest thing to it would probably be a dominatrix. However, there are feminine women who end up with fem men(usually the man hasn't come out until after they're in the relationship)and end up being okay with it or enjoying it. They usually still require the fem to be the aggressor in the relationship, which will cause difficulties at times.

Fems and mascs are not attracted to one another's masculinity/femininity rooted in their appearance. Mascs may still find jugulars and the shape of a slim man's body attractive, while fems are still attracted to breasts and smooth necks. A fem is attracted to the masculinity of a mascs's personality and not firstly her body. Fems still undergo operations to slim and prettify themselves, and mascs still take steroids and height enhancers, and the two find the traits these result in within each other attractive--fems are attracted to muscles and height and mascs are attracted to pretty faces and slim waists. The idea is that neither of them consider the other's body to be the representation of femininity or masculinity in the human race. Fems do not consider breasts feminine and mascs do not consider jugulars masculine because in this future among this subculture such roles have been pretty much entirely severed from body parts.
Fems being attracted to muscles has to do with the strength and power they rightly represent. They are not attracted to breasts because they represent beauty or femininity--they're just attracted to them for the same reason mascs are attracted to flat chests. Sexuality.

The terms masc and fem are specified to refer to straight individuals to prevent confusion among sexualities. It's all very well and good to call yourself an open-minded straight woman, but regardless you aren't going to be pleased if you accidentally make out with a woman you thought was a fem while you were drunk. In Lunarverse homophobia is largely nonexistent, and disgust has nothing to do with the morning-after revelation and entirely to do with frustration and irritation at being deceived, whether intentionally or no. It is for this reason there are masc/fem exclusive clubs just like there are still gay-exclusive clubs. Gender-trad friends are allowed in if they're vouched for and it's considered most polite that the voucher introduce the gender-trad to as many people as possible so word and description of the trad girl who just came in with her masc friend gets around to prevent any misunderstandings. It is also an unwritten rule that trads stay off the dance floor after eleven pm. This may see controvist(shorthand for controversialist, those specifically against gender-traditionalism just as there is gender-traditionalism against gender-controversialism aka the masc/fem movement)but it's meant for the best of all involved. When it comes to actual employment at these clubs, there are no policies against trads working there, but it is likely that a masc/fem applicant will be chosen over a trad just because it is harder for them to get work.


The sorts of things mascs and fems go through are pretty on-par with what happens with gay people and trans people nowadays.

"If this is your fault, I swear to God I will vacking kill you," Violet snarled, jabbing a finger in Sil's face.
"Down boy," Sonny said hoarsely. "It's not Sil's fault."
"How would this possibly be my fault?" Sil demanded angrily, glaring at him. "Why do I keep getting blamed for shit like this?"
"Because it usually IS your fault, sweetie," Glow sighed, sitting on the edge of Sonny's bed.
"How?" Sil demanded, glaring at him next.
"Well, if you hadn't been in the gang when Sonny came around, she wouldn't have gotten shot the first time."
"You're still going to tell me about that," Violet muttered threateningly to Sonny. Sonny winced and tried to grin innocently.
"If I hadn't been the gang, I never would have owned the garage, and we probably never would have even met Sonny," Sil argued. "So technically--"
"Sil," Sonny cut in. "I just want to stop you because you're about to go somewhere really vacking stupid with that thought and I just wanted to warn you not to before you did."
Sil paused and thought about what she had been about to say, then looked at the look on Glow's face. It was the look of I am right and that is the end of it and if you really say what you're about to say you are sleeping on the garage floor tonight.
"...Whatever," she muttered, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning sulkily against the ward wall.

Gay people and transsexual people at this point have the advantage of court rulings and constitutional rights, because society considers there to be something tangibly different about them--a different sexuality, a need to physically alter their born gender to their true gender. Mascs and fems are considered to be just plain freaks. There's no brain chemistry or differing sexuality or genetic difference(there is physical editing of their bodies, but that just adds to the blasphemy of the issue) nothing that can be named and scientifically studied. Mascs, prior to any physical enhancements, don't have higher testosterone levels than women and fems, don't have lower ones than men, yet they still display behaviours originally typed to levels of testosterone and estrogen. There's nothing that can be pinned down and labeled about their difference. Most of society considers them to be gender or sexuality confused, transgender people or homosexual people in denial about their true nature. Because of this, they aren't taken seriously by many organizations who could help or defend them at the least, while the rest of society hates them for arguing the one last thing many people consider certain about human nature. Gay people can change gender roles because they're court-ruled to be different. Transgender people aren't changing gender roles, they're adopting the roles that truly belong to them. Women "pretending to be men" and men "pretending to be women"(though that isn't what they're doing) are clearly just trying to fuck around and make life difficult for everyone else.

I have to go for the time being and I'll finish this when I get back. Hope you enjoy it so far!

Back again for a little while, I'll try to squeeze in some more before we head out for the festival again. Fortunately I am not in fact getting a headache after my scare with Starling! She was also a perfect little aristocrat at the vet's with the very excitable catahoula dog that kept barking and lunging. She growled a little when another dog came in, but I'm pretty sure at that point she was just starting to get stressed and irritated. It got to the point where she was so annoyed with the catahoula she sat facing away from it. It was adorable.

After some previous social upheavals with transgender and homosexual (and all the other sexuality) rights movements settling down, this being a couple decades or so previous, human society is settling back into itself when the masc/fem movement comes along and stirs everything up again. You'd think most people would just roll with it by now, but no. Human society considers the masculinity of heterosexual men and the femininity of heterosexual women to be one of the ultimate basics, the rock solid foundation on which all things of our society are built and rebuilt. It's the one thing you can take for granted. The last certainty you can count on. No one SAYS you HAVE to be gay or pan or straight or bi or whathaveyou, no one SAYS you HAVE to be a girl if you're born physically a girl. But the one thing society still pounds into people's heads is men HAVE to be MANLY MEN and women HAVE to be, whatever they do or think or want out of life, feminine. It's the one politically incorrect thing people are not only allowed, but encouraged to say. "Boys will be girls and girls will be boys" but by God boys and girls WILL ACT their gender at least.
It is for this reason that in a hyper-modern society where everything is acceptable there is still massive, intense hatred against the masc/fem movement. In almost any level mascs are raped or gangraped in school to be taught what a real woman should feel like, and the rapists may be protected or even encouraged by their parents. Fems are beaten up to be taught how to stand up and fight like REAL MEN. Revealing yourself as a masc or a fem will get you ostracized from almost all levels of society, from highschool to the work force to the social network. Some consider it worse than before when mascs and fems weren't recognized or named--when people just recognized you as a very odd, eccentric girl and couldn't say anything out of courtesy. Of those that prefer the days before, most are mascs who used to be able to walk down the street blatantly in drag and were merely mistaken for dykes or transsexuals or simply pretty men. Very few fems prefer the before, as before they didn't ever dare walk out in public in drag(if they did they had to do it in large groups of gay friends and it was almost impossible to meet a masc). Now they are still afraid, but take strength in numbers. Many are still in hiding, but just as many are walking out and about now.
Levels of violence range from insults to outright rape and in the lower levels, to murder. Fems and mascs "travel in packs" to keep themselves safe and these are very close-knit groups. One or two may be kidnapped and used to lure the others into a back alley where they will be shot execution style. Most mascs are raped before they're murdered, in many extreme cases fems are also castrated.
Very little is done about this. Rape is taken much more seriously in the hyper-modern society, but when it comes to mascs there seems to be a regression to the "she was asking for it" attitude. If the cases of murdered mascs and fems fall on the desks of male detectives they may never be investigated at all. If women detectives investigate they run the risk of facing hostility from male cops. The first ten years of the movement are the worst, harsh, brutal, bloody, and outright inhuman. Not merely inhumane, just plain inhuman.
The first ten years are what Sil is born into. She lives in the levels that draw the line between middle-class and lower regions. Her mother, a born-and-raised wilder that moved to the city, suffers from culture shock-inflicted depression, but won't go home because her husband won't let her bring Sil with her(immigrant spouses are not allowed to leave the domes with children that have been born in those domes without written consent from the other spouse.) She dies when Sil is around twelve. Whether it's suicide is never ascertained. Sil becomes the epitome of the angsty, angry teenager. She smokes, does drugs, and gets involved with a gang at first to piss off her dad, then because she enjoys the power and security.
Masc gangs in these levels are among the most common types. They are comprised mostly of bitter, angry, scared women. Many of them have been sexually abused after revealing themselves to be masc. Many of these develop man-hating attitudes that bring abuse into relationships they may have with fems including physical violence, emotional abuse("You're fat, you're ugly, you're weak and disgusting"), and minor paranoia about the fem's fidelity. Yet many masc gangs attract fem groupies seeking the protection they've earned by brutal, bloody conquest among the other male-dominated gangs. Mascs are more cutthroat, brutal, outright cruel, and bloodthirsty than gangs run by men, purely because they have to be. Every now and then fems are allowed to join the gangs as actual members, usually after sick hazing rituals to prove their loyalty and submission. Masc gangs usually only have one or two actual fem members, and are similar to lion prides, except the male isn't exactly king. The females hunt, fight, and protect while the male often provides purely sexual services. The lower levels are a savage, primeval place.
Sil narrowly avoids this attitude, largely because of her interaction with Lyre, who Sil met in the early days when her dad and mom still visited Earth with frequency. Lyre is Sil's closest and only friend, though she comes close to losing her a couple times as she goes through some incredibly angry stages in life. And then she meets Glow, who cements her personality the way it is and prevents her from becoming like the other mascs in the gang.



For most mascs and fems, their identity is certain to them from a young age. Fems have the easiest time figuring it out when they surpass age 5(the age at which gender conditioning usually sets in) and realize they still want to play dressup with Mommy and keep some of her clothes. Mascs usually have a little more difficulty, since at this point in the future it's still considered alright for girls to engage in "boys'" activities for much of their life, such as sports and wearing pants. It usually hits them when they realize they actually find that fem two rows in front of them in Mrs. Cherry's Algebra class, seventh grade, to be very attractive, while they aren't attracted at all to that pretty good-looking football player who keeps trying to get their number. Many mascs will indulge in somewhat feminine activities and clothes until they realize themselves, at which point they will usually do an abrupt about-face and throw out any clingy shirts, dresses, and invitations to tea parties and sleepovers and then fall into the habit of stealing clothes from their brother(s), dad, or try to get them from male friends. Fems who attempt to communicate their nature to their mothers at an early age will usually have an easier time coming to terms with themself--mothers with younger children who fear for them will be quicker to reach out with the other mothers at daycare who seem to have similar "problems" with their little boys. Such mothers, feminine as they are, may come to terms with their sons early on and become fiercely protective of them as they grow and mature and deal with their natures.
Mascs usually have a harder time of it. Mothers want their little girls to grow up and be bigger girls and be the prettiest young lady at the prom. Meanwhile, the sympathetic element is rarely to be found in Dad, who wants his daughter to be his little princess, and thus they have little to no guidance on masculinity from either parental figure. Brothers of their generation may be more sympathetic or wish their sisters would grow up and starting acting like girls. Mascs often band together at a young age for companionship, and then later to feed off each other for any sort of masculine advice they may be able to glean from observation of others. Depending on how schools are set up, say, if a school is all one campus, middle school mascs may swarm(meaning the manner, there's rarely more than two or three mascs that have realized themselves or come out about it at that age)highschooler mascs seeking guidance and a role model. It is less common for fems to reach out to other fems purely because they're older and wiser; they band together for the sake of being together, rather than seeking guidance.
Sonny's somewhat unexpected, sudden attachment to Sil and persistent attempts to win her approval are actually completely normal. They're from very different backgrounds and social classes, but Sonny's need for direction and a masculine figure to learn from drives her beyond this--it's also likely she is one of the only mascs at her entire school. She is intimidated and a little afraid of Sil at first, but this actually intensifies her desire to befriend her--she wants to be like Sil. Tall, strong, intimidating, experienced, and (in Sonny's mind) not afraid of anything.
Meanwhile, Sil sees Sonny as what she could have been if things had been different for her. And she sees Sonny has the drive and ability to achieve impressive, possibly even great things. She wants to teach Sonny how to be strong as a masc so she can be strong as a person, strong enough to face the awful things many mascs have to face. Sil is by no means a kid person, but Sonny is by no means a kid. Many mascs and fems mature ahead of other kids out of necessity--they are faced with real, violent danger often at an early age on the playground and then turn around and seek explanations for and refuge from this, usually from older homosexual and transgender people, who don't sugarcoat the truth of what they're likely to face as they get older.

SURGERIES
Since their identity is often clear from an early age, fems and mascs will usually try to start getting treatments as early as highschool. This is usually impossible for them, because of parents and because very few places will treat for the enhancements they desire. Because of this mascs and fems are also driven to get jobs and to befriend older people that can drive before most other kids, so they can finance their own treatments and get themselves where they need to go. Many are driven to independence prematurely of "normal" kids. Many of them may resort to posing as transsexuals in order to get what they want(psychological therapy is no longer a necessary process, but a recommended one)and get another older fem or masc to pose as a parent to sign off consent.
Because treatments start early, by the time many mascs and fems are coming out of puberty mascs will be as muscular and tall as average boys their age and their testosterone levels will be similar. Fems usually manage to remain shorter and have gotten their features feminized to be pretty. There are more dangerous treatments to detracted muscle and bone from the hands to make them smaller and more petite, but these are not yet perfected and considered dangerous, possibly resulting in permanent nerve damage and weakened bone structure(Violet lost mobility in half of his left hand for a year when he was sixteen, and the bones in that hand remain very delicate today.) The bone structure may be easily broken and may not even be capable of growing back together when splinted.
Lower levels fems, unfortunately, are often incapable of taking these treatments for reasons that have nothing to do with parents or finances. Because of the dangers they face in lower levels many fems decide to limit their treatment to prettifying the face and slightly editing their height. Even this may be out of the question, if they live low enough that being recognized as a fem is simply too dangerous. Lower level fems need the advantage of their muscle and can't afford to be flamboyantly fem. Julian retains most of his natural muscle mass and even works out a little bit to stay strong enough to take care of himself. He tweaked his face a bit and enhanced his eyes, and he does do flamboyantly fem despite this, mostly because he's a cocky idiot and is going to get himself into trouble.
Honestly, though, Julian spends most of his life locked in his room at home or at masc/fem clubs. The streets pose the most danger, but again, he and Tris are usually travelling in a small pack of mascs and fems.
Mascs in lower levels can't afford not to get treatments, for the same reasons fems cut back on theirs. They need to be able to protect themselves. If a masc can't get it done professionally they'll resort to illegal steroids and unlicensed doctors, which can be dangerous and without being advised mascs can overdose themselves. Sil mostly avoided doctors and took new drugs on the market to enhance her height without operations. They made her violently sick when they interacted with the steroids, but it paid off. Sil tops off at 5'11".

Glow was thirty years old when the masc/fem movement kicked off, and seventeen years into being a cyborg. For the most part he was a total recluse from society, getting by doing cheap repairs on cars and other mechanics. A few new cyborgs added to Skar's little kingdom in the Burnouts were the ones to introduce Glow to the movement, one masc in particular who went by Theo. She talked him into trying out the sex-fem aspect, and Glow, insecure and very lonely(he doesn't LIKE being a recluse), let her have her way. It turned out he liked it, and he cautiously explored more of this fem thing. While Glow never got into makeup and skirts, she convinced him to get in the habit of wearing tight clothes and taught him to embrace his submissive nature. Theo dumped him a year later for a prettier boy and Glow's reclusive nature responded like whiplash. He retreated into the confines of his little den for several years. Fuschia barely managed to coax him out of it to start making money again when his nitro stock started running low.
Yes, he was wearing tight clothes when Sil met him, and at the track where she met him for the second time. No, he doesn't wear them now because Sil can't help herself when he does and he can't help himself when she can't help herself.
That's all I can think of for now and I'm very hungry. Post any more questions you may have that I didn't think to answer!