Theo in College

If you've followed me for a while, you may be aware that I've spent a lot of time drawing art of the Parallels, genderswapped versions of myself and my friend group. I started drawing these characters early in high school, and since then I've developed a different understanding of my own gender and now identify as genderqueer. This has created some interesting developments in the character of Theo, the male assigned at birth (MAAB) version of me that I designed. Theo now, like me, uses they/them pronouns and identifies as genderqueer, but expresses it differently than I do. Whereas being "parallels" used to mean we were male and female, now the contrast is also based on us being femme and butch.

All the new elements of Theo's character design are based on developments in my life. Their slight cat's-eye glasses are inspired by the femme fashion of many of my college friends, and I also own a hand-stenciled "genderqueer" t-shirt, though mine doesn't have a v-neck and the letters are written in all uppercase. Since I recently got a new haircut and started practicing fancy tie knots, I decided Theo's hair has stayed long but now has distinct bangs, and they spends a lot of time practicing fancy braids and hairstyles rather than tie knots. Their floral necklace is similar to many I wore as a child.

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