The Ultimate Queerly Trans Superpower
My response to a superhero writing prompt
CW: Sex, Misgendering.
Excelsior!
This is a story of fantasy and whimsy, dear readers. A tale of superheroes and their superpowers. Purely personal prose of transgender longing and innate transgender potential. And an ultimate answer to an interesting question. So, with legendary leaps and bold bounds, let’s jump in and peruse a plethora of possibly potent powers.
Like most kids growing up in the 90s, I was a fan of The X-Men.
I spent many Saturdays in the early 90s enveloped in footy pajamas and cartoon fantasies. One of my favorites was Jubilee who could shoot fireworks and pyrotechnics from her hands. A silly superpower? Maybe. But I’d bet she would be a ton of fun at parties.
Another was Jean Grey, whose powers came to light after suffering trauma as a kid; something I was not a stranger to. But it was her Phoenix incarnation that I found most fascinating. This cycle of death and rebirth is a theme I’ve appreciated my entire life. And a source of internal power that I still rely on to this day.
One sweet sapphic comment and I will completely melt into a puddle.
At 10 years old, I developed my first crush on a fictional character.
Alex Mack, from The Secret World of Alex Mack, was an outsider and misunderstood even before she developed superpowers. Alex had telekinetic abilities in addition to working with electrical currents and turning into a silver puddle of kinetic liquid that could somehow talk without lungs, vocal cords, or a mouth. I totally identify with that last superpower these days. One sweet sapphic comment and I will completely melt into a puddle incapable of audible speech and yet somehow, able to communicate.
In rewatching the pilot episode for this article, a few things caught my attention that explains, at least in part, why I would have identified with this character. At one point, Alex’s best friend says he’s excited to join the school band and meet some girls. Girl-type girls, of which tomboy Alex implicitly was not. Later into the episode, after Alex has been doused in an experimental chemical granting her superpowers, the bad guys are unsure who was involved in the accident, and Alex is subsequently misgendered multiple times.
Significant themes of Alex Mack’s secret world were ones of secrecy, masking, and distrust of all forms of authority including her parents, most adults, and the chemical plant at the center of her company town. Lessons I took to heart as means of survival. Feminism and environmental storylines were prominent as well and another reason I’m happy I had this show to watch at the onset of puberty. I felt seen, if only secretively.
It would take me another twenty-one years to realize that I do, in fact, have this superpower.
The introduction to the live-action X-Men movies came during high school and with it another superhuman favorite.
I would tell my male friends that Mystique would be the best girlfriend because of her ability to look like anyone. I was unable to admit, including to myself, that what I truly wanted was to be her, that I wanted the power to transform into someone else. It would take another twenty-one years for me to realize that I do have this superpower. I have the power to become who I want to be. And so do you.
I would sign up for this premium power in a heartbeat.
I’ve come to appreciate another group of genetically divergent humans with superior talents in the past year. The Wachowski sisters, all three of them, were involved in creating Sense8; one of the best representations of queer I’ve seen to date. Eight individuals awaken one day to find that they are all telepathically linked to one another. This amazing telepathic bond allows them to share talents, languages, and know-how collectively regardless of where they are in the world. Talk about the ultimate polycule.
These eight sensates and their chosen family are an incredibly diverse group of many nationalities. The cast of characters includes a transgender woman in a relationship with a cisgender lesbian, a throuple composed of two gay men and a voyeuristic woman, another woman who fans suspect is asexual, and eventually, a hinge or v-style relationship between a woman, her husband, and her boyfriend. Oh, and sometimes the eight engage in superhuman telepathic orgies. I would sign up for this premium power in a heartbeat. Mainly for the instant access to a myriad of languages and talents, but orgiastic telepathy seems pretty cool too.
Side note: I surprised myself, watching Sense8, that the character I most wanted to be and could identify with was not Nomi, the trans hacker, but Daniela, the voyeuristic third in the queer throuple. I’m not at all into watching sex between two gay men like Daniela is {no shame}, instead, I find the genuine love portrayed by this threesome to be so sincere and heartwarming that it’s become a personal goal; I want that out of life. So, with that in mind, I am now accepting all applications from couples looking to upgrade to a trio. @MarvelousMsTori
A couple of months ago, fellow writer, Logan Silkwood asked a two-part question on Twitter. In response to this question, I had ample answers. Ten, all told.
Which superhero power would produce the most interesting sex? Why?
I concluded, at the time, that shapeshifting was the best superhero power that would produce the most interesting sex due to the potential plentitudes of possibilities. And looking back, it seems I’ve held this belief ever since high school, if not longer. After careful thought and all due consideration, I have since realized dear readers, that I was very wrong.
The ultimate superpower, at least if you’re in the queer community, and especially if you’re me, is in fact, without a doubt, and with 100% certainty…
Teleportation!
Because the most interesting sex is the sex I’m having and if I could teleport, I’d be having a lot more of it.
Concupiscent regards,
💜 Victoria Quinn 💜
P.S. Usually, as I’m writing, things get dark towards the end and I have to push myself to find a silver lining. Not the case this time, things just got progressively hornier and I am absolutely here for it. Mainly because I can’t teleport, if I could, I’d be over there for it. 😋