#nerds writes
So when I got @onaperduamedee‘s prompt for her Leverage Secret Santa, one of the requests was for the Redemption team in disco outfits, which was definitely a drawing prompt (and given the context of her blog, she may have meant Star Trek: Discovery). And anyway, I got VERY carried away by my Lord of the RingsAU
but it was a very funny idea to me, so please enjoy this tiny, contextless snippet featuring the team Doing Shenanigans. Now also on Ao3.
“So… please remind me again how this is supposed to make us look inconspicuous?” Breanna asked, tugging at the pink polyester bodysuit she was wearing.
“It’s disco night at the club,” Sophie explained calmly. “Wearing your usual hacker chic would stand out much more.”
“Okay, but the roller skates?” Breanna protested.
“It’s what all the bargirls will be wearing,” Parker said, skating by as she did a terrifyingly perfect turn to keep facing Breanna while skating backwards. She was wearing a halter crop top and matching bell-bottoms in an almost equally eye-offending shade of orange.
“C’mon,” Hardison said. He was in the van for this particular excursion, so he wasn’t wearing anything brightly colored or likely to melt at high heat. “You know how the lesbians love a roller derby girl. Now’s your chance to tap into that!”
Breanna waved her hands in frustration. “That whole fantasy is about girls who can crush you with their thighs! My thighs are not going to crush anybody! That’s not my game! I am all about the precision!” She wiggled her fingers.
“I am… not sure I want to know what’s going on here,” Harry said, walking into the room. He was wearing high waisted yellow pants and a plunging floral shirt.
“I can’t roller skate!” Breanna admitted.
“You didn’t teach her?” Parker asked, sailing perfectly past Hardison.
“I taught her hacking!” Hardison protested. “Isn’t that better?”
“Not for this job,” Eliot said from under his beaded headband. His shirt was alarmingly mauve tucked into bell bottom jeans.
“How come they don’t have to wear skates?” Breanna asked. “Or an amount of polyester that used up half a dinosaur.”
“I really do not think you understand fabrics if you think there is anything natural about this,” Harry said, plucking at his shirt with all the disdain of someone who owned a seersucker suit.
“Because they’re not bargirls,” Parker said. “And guests don’t have to wear roller skates. Also, it’d make the drug deal difficult. Fighting in skates sounds hard.”
Eliot shrugged. “Fairbanks in ‘07.”
Harry just stared at him.
“Man, fuck the patriarchy,” Breanna muttered under her breath.
“No,” Sophie corrected gently. “We use the patriarchy. And then they go fuck themselves.”
“And yet you’re still in a gorgeous suit,” Breanna said.
Sophie smiled down at her belted wide-legged trousers and matching red jacket. “Well, my darling, I am the director.”
My dad told me that he has a coworker who’s a trans woman. She was married to this girl before her transition and they remained together after it. Everyone at work respects her pronouns. My dad is in a chiefing position at his office and he told me that nobody jokes behind her back. She and her wife have two cute dogs together and I felt like I should share this story bc I want everyone to know that this positivity and respect exists and you deserve it. Don’t ever dare think that you don’t because you do.
Update: they have three dogs now
There is a non-binary person I work with who uses they/them pronouns. Their pronouns are in their email signature and the only time I’ve heard someone not use them was one person who had previously worked with them at a time they used different pronouns, and he immediately corrected himself mid-sentence, looked embarrassed, and proceeded. I’ve never heard him or anyone else not use their pronouns again, and my workplace runs the gamut from eighty-year-olds to twenty-year-olds. No one ever discusses their pronouns or anything about their identity behind their back unless it’s to choose a bar or restaurant to hang out (in non-pandemic times) and say “no, we can’t go there, that place doesn’t have a gender neutral restroom for them”. They have been married to a delightful person for ten years and (in non-pandemic times) she would often join for social activities. They have a toddler who is the cutest thing on this earth. They’re an absolutely brilliant engineer and I have learned a great deal from them as they’re much more experienced than I am, and I appreciate how patient they’ve been when I’ve made mistakes. Again, positivity and respect exists and you deserve it every bit as much as these people. Don’t ever forget it.
My dad’s company was hiring and the company sent over someone for an interview and the name was obviously female, but a man showed up. The hiring manager is a little confused, but the man just says that the employment agency had his deadname down. But he got hired, and I’ve never heard a single person misgender him. He recently got a promotion, and my dad is so thrilled that he’s there because he’s so great to work with.
Another employee is nonbinary and the only time anybody has ever been stressed about that is because my dad is the kind of formal person who likes to call people Mr./Ms. and didn’t know how to address someone who doesn’t use either of those, so he texted me in a panic because he wanted to be respectful.
Trans people are out here living their lives, doing great, and getting respect!
