A long time ago I was in that camp of believing that transformers and gay people should be left alone because back then, that's what they actually wanted. They did legitimately face discrimination and hate for things they couldn't control. With the advent of social media, specifically tiktok and twitter and the glorification of mental illness along with tolerance being higher than ever, bad actors started taking advantage so they could huff their own farts and spend the rest of their lives being coddled like babies so they wouldn't feel bad about their life choices. So much now that the people who just want to live their lives in peace without bothering nobody have now been swept up in the crossfire and regular folk like me started getting so fed up with their smarmy, smug sense of superiority and narcissism that I find myself rolling my eyes at the sight of anyone claiming to be some special snowflake. Gradually over time, I watched this fucking mental disease infect and destroy everything I loved. All because a bunch of depressed people wanted to play pretend instead of working out their personal issues.
Yeah, before we reached peak troon insanity a few years ago, I tended to be live and let live. I had encountered a couple of transgender folks in my life, including one working at a QVC in Las Vegas. Just people living their fucking lives.
I don't give a fuck what people do in the comfort of their own homes/in private. But I get pissed off when I see the harmful effects condoning and normalizing this bullshit has had on younger generations (we're starting to see a trickle of troon regret that is going to turn into a tidal wave in the coming years as people come to their senses), on things like sports (scholarships, as well as sports being a place for women to accomplish, learn, and do things), personal safety (in semi-public spaces, but also in jails), and so on.
Those of you who've been in the thread for a while know how strongly I feel about transformers. Particularly, I don't feel positively toward them, especially the MtF troons. Those motherfuckers have a grudge against me because I'm a true and honest woman and their constant presence in FF14 grates my nerves on a molecular level for every turquoise and pink monstrosity I'm forced to look at. The moment one of those cumstains discover I'm an actual female, they make it their life mission to undermine me in every way they can think of. And that's not when they are demanding that I turn into a "lesbian" for them. That's a whole other can of worms.
I absolutely feel sorry for any woman who is playing this game and just trying to have a pleasant time, especially since there is a not inconsiderable portion of the franchise's fanbase that are women.
Every single woman I know in XIV has had to deal with these insidious fucks and has a story or two. Actually, no, sorry, I know of one that, to my knowledge, wasn't propositioned by a troon, but she compensated by creating a polycule and a mountain of drama around her that everyone who wasn't a retard kept away from.
That isn't to say that 'normal' (read: non-troon) dudes don't also cause problems (just go to the XIV subreddit and you're likely to find a sex pest story as the drama of the week), but when I hear about That Guy being a weird sexpest on Discord or in PMs, it's not surprising. I've also seen a number of adventurer plates that have something like 'This isn't a dating app / Not interested in edating' in more than a few profiles.