Pretty Penny (4/4)
Added 2023-03-03 08:00:03 +0000 UTCPenny thought things were strange enough with Rayna's request, but things only get more insane from there...
Comments
Yes, I'm not happy with the models, but I'm still very proud of the story. I'm sorry if it came across like I was trying to fill a quota.
TGTrinity
2023-03-06 23:20:32 +0000 UTCKaffeyette Lektor -- Thank you very much for your thoughtful, respectful, scientifically researched reply. I will carefully read over what you wrote, and I fully expect that I'll learn some new information which will enhance my understanding of the subject. Again, thank you. I hope you have a truly wonderful day. 🙂
Eris Brianna Caver Boyd
2023-03-06 16:36:00 +0000 UTCEris, Thanks for your response, but you’re acting very aggressive and defensive. I’m not attacking you. I apologise if I triggered you in some way. I may not be as ignorant as I may seem to you, and I've been through enough paradigm changes in science to know nothing is as certain as it may currently seem. I said, “Maybe, up to five percent of all humans have some intersex characteristics of some kind.” I didn’t say they were, ‘classified’ as intersex. We don’t actually know exact proportions because we haven’t tested extensively in some populations and so much is hidden, 'erased' or unknown because of fear and superstition. It’s all rough estimates. There are a lot of people who are not ‘classified’ as intersex but have characteristics associated with the sex opposite to the one they are ‘classified’ as. The ‘classification’ of intersex individuals is not uniform and is not constant. It is done differently in different spheres and in different societies and it is continuously evolving as we discover more. My statement does not disagree with yours. If only 1-2% of the entire human race are officially ‘classifiable’ as intersex under current, ‘official’ protocols, that does not conflict with my statement. Not everyone with some characteristics of the opposite sex would be classified as intersex. Thank you for offering to provide scientific sources, but I’m good. I’m actually a scientist. Thank you also for being so respectful to trans people too. I appreciate it. I find it curious though that you single out the trans people to be so respectful to, but not the intersex people, when the Venn diagrams overlap so much. Again, I'm not attacking you, just observing. You may know all this, because you’re up with the science, but I just like to put this stuff out there because not everyone reads scientific papers and it both blows my mind and gives me hope. There are several mutations within some species of mice that have different expressions of sex allowing 'sex reversal' under different conditions. In most cases the mechanism(s) is/are not yet understood, but at least one (I think it’s in Japan) seems to be somehow sensitive to relative imbalances in sex ratios within the population. This results in different expressions of sex within the ‘male’ half of the population, which are all hermaphroditic in this group. Expression of sex within mammals, while probably controlled by a critical complex, like the SRY gene on the Y-chromosome, is moderated by the effects of many other ‘upstream’ genes that affect expression of those ‘downstream’ sex-determining genes. Many of these moderating genes are sensitive to a variety of other stimuli, such as hormonal, biochemical and environmental factors and can completely shut down or enhance the effects of the sex-determining complex. A lot of these moderating genes are located in our 'junk DNA’ that we haven't really examined much, because we previously thought they did nothing important. While they don’t code for proteins themselves, some do affect the expression of genes that do. Inhibition of the sex-determining complex in early development can result in genetically male individuals developing as females. Removal of the inhibition can then allow some individuals in some species to develop male characteristics. I'm not sure if the population of mice I read about are a completely discreet species or a sub-population within a wider species. The 'females' express purely 100% ovarian tissue, but all the ‘males’ are hermaphrodites and will express as males or change to females under certain conditions. It’s not as common in gonochoristic species like ours, but there are individuals with various mutations that allow a change in visible sex at some point. In some isolated populations with significant in-breeding, these mutations can become relatively common. There are three individuals in the same family in the UK, who developed as males and live as males, but are actually genetically female. I’m not sure at what point in their development that they developed male characteristics, but it is apparently due to upstream interference of the sex-determining complex caused by a shared genetic mutation. I understand they can’t produce offspring by natural means, but they are all happily married. There were also Olympic athletes who were found to have a condition called ‘mosaicism’, back when we did genetic sex testing on medallists. Individuals with mosaicism have both male/XY and female/XX cells. These can be distributed evenly throughout the body or concentrated in specific organs, so it’s possible for these individuals to have some 'male' organs and some 'female' organs, although it's probably never 100%. There were famously some female Olympic gold medallists who were identified as male from genetic testing and stripped of their medals. They went on to get married, become pregnant and give birth to perfectly normal children. They eventually got their medals back. In the Dominican Republic and in Papua New Guinea, there are significant sub-populations of individuals with a common intersex condition, called ‘guevedoces’ and ‘kwolu-aatmwol’ respectively. They appear as and are raised as girls until about the age of twelve, when puberty happens and they develop male characteristics. Most of these individuals eventually identify as men, but they are often still treated as a third gender in those societies. Most genetic research is done on specially-bred mice or to a lesser extent, specific species of reptiles, amphibians and birds, so the existence of these different traits in mice is more frequently observed and investigated. The same characteristics have apparently also been observed in certain species of marsupials, although I don’t know which ones. I suspect the monotremes are up to something - they're weird, little buggers. Other species aren’t investigated anywhere near as much, so we don’t really know what’s going on with a lot of them (reptiles are apparently particularly unpopular as guinea pigs, so we don’t understand them much at all), but the conceptual model of a bunch of upstream genes having a net downstream effect on a major sex-determining gene complex seems to be evident in most species. The types of upstream genes, their sensitivities and effects are probably different in all species. My point is not to say that humans function like other species, but that if we can understand how these processes work in other species, we may be able to make it work in humans. Gene-doping is something that is already being used in my field. None of this 'sex reversal' science is my field, so I’ve only come across this in dribs and drabs. My field is(was) the expression of different human skeletal muscle protein isoforms and how various stimuli affected their relative expression in muscle and their conversion to different isoforms under different conditions. The analytical techniques I used were the same as used in genetic analysis and I actually had to do genetic analysis to become lab-accredited in my techniques, which was much easier to do than my stuff. Mouse models were also used extensively in my field, so I often came across other gene expression studies on mice (and turtles, frogs, rabbits and sheep). The ‘sex reversal’ studies always caught my eye because me, and I have trans and intersex friends who suffer a lot of abuse and violence, so I was always interested by research that might eventually lead to some way for them (me) to improve their situations. Thank you if read this far. I won't trouble you again.
Kaffeyette Lektor
2023-03-06 16:17:09 +0000 UTCKaffeyette Lektor -- I lost all respect for the validity of your comments the moment you ignorantly said some mammals can change sex ... which is in no way true. The fact that some reptiles can change sex has nothing to do with human biology. Also, less than two percent (less than 1 in 50) of humans have the chromosome abnormalities that classify them as intersex, and the more significant differences (such as a person with XY chromosomes but female genitalia or a person with “in-between” genitalia) affect only about 1 in 5000 people (i.e., 0.02 percent of the human population). I can provide scientific sources if necessary. Out of respect for the trans people who enjoy the author's wonderfully imaginative stories and works of art, I will not discuss their biology or other aspects of their lives. Take care.
Eris Brianna Caver Boyd
2023-03-04 16:19:08 +0000 UTCSome people are born that way. Maybe, up to 5% of all humans have some intersex characteristics of some kind. That's maybe around 400 million people alive today, greater than the populations of most countries. We're not certain of exact numbers, because intersex characteristics are often kept secret from fear of discrimination or violence, or some people don't even discover that they are intersex, because it's all internal. In some countries, visibly intersex children are murdered at birth. In the countries where human genetic variability is better understood, like mine, intersex people probably don't like being called, 'freaks'. It's considered inappropriate. That's all in addition to 'Transpeople', who may make up an additional 1-4% of all humans. Again, numbers are uncertain because most keep it hidden due to fear. It's not just in humans either. Intersex and Trans individuals can be found in most mammal species and birds. Some smaller mammals are able to change sex completely when needed. Sex changing is even more common in amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects and is 'de rigueur' or even essential for some species. Let’s not even get started on plants. There's nothing 'freakish' about trans or intersex individuals. They are everywhere, all throughout nature and have been for thousands, if not millions of years. It's perfectly natural.
Kaffeyette Lektor
2023-03-04 14:53:21 +0000 UTCWhat? Are you trying to build suspense and tension by not spelling everything out and forcing people to use their own imaginations to create expectations that you can then subvert? Carry on.
Kaffeyette Lektor
2023-03-04 14:19:49 +0000 UTCAs you more or less agreed in yesterday's comments, Heather and Rayna are just pretty bad models. For me, not even remotely pleasant to look at. But that's just my opinion. To each their own. The story was kind of fun at the start but then it just devolved with some really worn out tropes. This just felt rushed like you were trying to fill a quota. That said, it just proves that you changing the campaign is going to allow your true talent to come through, because you are the best and what you do. You and CBlack usually hit them out of the park and I know what's to come is going to be awesome.
RyPaCo
2023-03-04 08:38:15 +0000 UTCI can't say, and I'm not kidding ;)
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:46:35 +0000 UTCYou will get answers someday, just maybe not as soon as you'd like :)
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:46:17 +0000 UTCAnswers will come one day :)
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:45:47 +0000 UTCIt's something... I can't talk about :D
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:45:27 +0000 UTCI'm open to hearing any opinions or criticisms about my work, but please keep things respectful.
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:44:58 +0000 UTCI'm so happy you enjoyed it! :)
TGTrinity
2023-03-03 21:43:50 +0000 UTCSay you’re transphobic without saying you transphobic
Paper_Kitty
2023-03-03 19:21:47 +0000 UTCThis was a fun short story. Thank you Trinity
T
2023-03-03 16:43:19 +0000 UTCWell, that was depressing. Why did you give the one robber a penis again? As a woman, she was so pretty. Now he's a freak ... a man with breasts and a woman's face. It was unpleasant and disappointing. Oh, well ... as great as your stories are normally, not all of your stories can be winners.
Eris Brianna Caver Boyd
2023-03-03 15:26:07 +0000 UTCPinky again at the end, these are definitely leading to something much bigger,
Bob Fink
2023-03-03 15:01:02 +0000 UTCTrinity upon another look at the hair style in the ending…It might be Pink or it could be the girl from Trinkets🤔
Shoji
2023-03-03 11:35:51 +0000 UTCI like the different style for Pinky, especially the hair, but it's like she's not the same character anymore. Is this part of the plot? Is the misuse of magic actually changing Pinky, just like Kimmy/Zoey was changed into a Jasmine by Darci using that artefact in Powers? Are the new superheroes in Hanover corrupting Pinky's power, which then changes her? Is that why she's changing?
Kaffeyette Lektor
2023-03-03 11:07:11 +0000 UTCTrinity…is that Pinky at the end…are you kidding
Shoji
2023-03-03 09:02:42 +0000 UTC
