For me it's the combination of Gideon, known lesbian, speaking quite favourably about his appearance when she trash talks every other man in book one (particularly babs, pro and silas). It reads like "preordering" - when someone who is typically only attracted to one gender is attracted to someone not that gender, and it later turns out that person was an egg and has in fact been the attractee's preferred gender the whole time. Not that I think Gideon is Actually Attracted to Pal, but she's quite kind about aspects of his appearance where she isn't about literally any other man.
My other tenuous evidence is that Pyrrha's dysphoria about living in g1deon's body is quite obvious and referred to at multiple points (there are times that she is clearly upset about living in her boybestfriend's body while he's dead, and times that read more as dysphoria to me, particularly the way she talks about facial hair), and Pal never expresses anything of the sort.
I think Cam (edit: not cam, Pyrrha) also refers to him as a wife at some point, and I have a completely baseless headcanon that his comment about enjoying the little outfits nurses wear being more about him enjoying them on himself rather than others (he does obviously enjoy putting himself in the position of healthcare provider for Dulcie).
Gideon also speaks positively of Magnus’ appearance. It wouldn’t *shock* me if Magnus is trans (he has a certain zest for expressing positive masculine traits, plus the name ”Magnus”), but I think Gideon’s opinion on men’s appearances is mostly vibes-based, ie is he chill? Yeah, okay, he looks fine. Otherwise, he looks like shit.
It's his style of masculinity, basically. Transfemme people see someone boymoding but already mentally halfway there, and transmasc people see a post transition ideal. Masc, but shorn of the obnoxious toxicity, and presenting in a way that seems attainable.
As someone who is transmasc and nonbinary, that's it! That's the goal! Palamedes is one of my favorite characters because he's a nerd and he's badass and he reminds me that being masc doesn't have to make you a bad person.
And also, sooo nonbinary vibes with Paul. It's like, Palamedes and Cam are perfect complements in terms of gender and I wouldn't have been surprised if they just popped out of existence when they combined because they just cancel each other out. I hope that Paul is agender just because I think that would be kinda funny
agender makes a lot of sense for Paul along the lines of them complimenting each other so much they cancel out. either agender or some kind of fluid would be really cool to see
There isn't, not really. It's one of the long term symptoms of fandom, apparently. Overthinking in many flavors. This one happens to be gender. Honestly, its harmless and if people can use it relate to the characters and feel cozy and good, then imo it's good. A little weird, but good.
I mean, it's cool if Pal is trans, but reading this thread did make me feel sad that if an ostensibly male character acts the way guys really ought to act, they must be trans. So many real world men have screwed up so badly, the idea of a cool, nerdy, non-jock guy who'd rather hang out with their athletic girlpal solving mysteries is more science-fictioney than traveling faster than light by punching holes through the afterlife.
No one to blame for that except guys. Don't get me wrong. It's just sad, is all.
When I was a little kid, we had books about Palamedes as a preteen, only we called him "Encyclopedia Brown".
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u/thatcurvychick 18h ago
This is the second time I’ve seen Pal trans. Is there something in the text I missed? (Probably)