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averytreeI’ve been slowly collecting kpop RPF fics with characters written as trans for the past two years, and after sending batches of these links to friends at various times, I thought I should take an evening to type them up into a full rec list.
I am trans and nonbinary and for me all of these stories resonated with some piece of the trans experience in a really genuine way. But, everyone is different, so something that worked for me may not work for you, and vice versa. Take care of yourself around sensitive topics!
I decided to exclude stories that use A/B/O as a metaphor for trans identities, even though there are some stories that do that extremely effectively; that felt like content for another rec list, which I could make, if there’s interest. I also want to add that of course this is a very small sample, I know there are many many more out there, and if I have left off one you think is exceptionally good please do let me know in the comments! Stories are organized from lowest to highest rating, and as always, check the tags before you read <3
I am trans and nonbinary and for me all of these stories resonated with some piece of the trans experience in a really genuine way. But, everyone is different, so something that worked for me may not work for you, and vice versa. Take care of yourself around sensitive topics!
I decided to exclude stories that use A/B/O as a metaphor for trans identities, even though there are some stories that do that extremely effectively; that felt like content for another rec list, which I could make, if there’s interest. I also want to add that of course this is a very small sample, I know there are many many more out there, and if I have left off one you think is exceptionally good please do let me know in the comments! Stories are organized from lowest to highest rating, and as always, check the tags before you read <3
a boy for you by alexenglish
-rated G, 7K, complete
-fandom: TXT
-ship: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Yeonjun written as genderfluid/trans
-canon complaint, cis Soobin POV, navigating a loved one’s changing gender
-Podfic available!
-summary: Is Yeonjun noona?
It’s a good question, Soobin thinks. Of course, Yeonjun is noona in the way that the language used for Yeonjun is ‘noona.’ But, to Soobin, Yeonjun is still ‘hyung.’ Yeonjun has always been ‘hyung;’ Soobin’s only hyung.
Soobin hears the younger TXT members calling Yeonjun noona, but doesn’t know if he should as well. A really lovely, deft story about someone trying out new language, and a friend who wants to be really careful to use the right words, except that the right words might be a shifting target. The emotions are very deep and true, but the writing is so light and careful.
Named by cro_crocuta
-rated G, 1.2K, complete
-fandom: Seventeen
-ship: Kim Mingyu/Xu Minghao, Minghao written as a trans man, Minghao POV
-alternate universe not famous, established relationship, selective closeting, chosen names
-Podfic available!
-summery: The name was the hard part. Minghao understands his body - has always understood his body, what it needed, what it could be - but the name was trickier.
A very small, beautiful, warm story about Minghao introducing himself to his in-laws with his chosen name for the first time.
if you let me I might say too much by alexenglish
-rated T, 8.5K, complete
-fandom: Stray Kids
-ship: Kim Seungmin/Lee Minho, Minho written as a trans woman
-alternate universe non-famous, exes to something else, open but hopeful ending, cis Seungmin POV
-summary: Five years ago, during cherry blossom season, Minho sat with Seungmin on a bench and let him take pictures under the bloom before saying, "we want different things from life,” and breaking his heart. Seungmin sits next to her for the first time in nearly two thousand days and wonders if this is “different things;” if Minho saw this future and didn't imagine Seungmin in it.
An elegant, effective, moving story that wove in so many elements and facets to a complex relationship. Seungmin and Minho dated years ago, but broke up and haven’t seen each other in years. In that time, Seungmin has finally built a successful career, and Minho transitioned. When they meet again, they have to reckon with a continued attraction, but also the reality that their breakup gave them both the freedom to become the person they were meant to be. It ends with them trying to decide if they want to try again.
not my business (I got you) by signifying_nothing
-rated T, 3.8K, complete
-fandom: BTS
-ship: Jung Hoseok/Kim Namjoon, Namjoon written as trans woman
-alternate universe non-famous, derogatory language, light transphobia, being in love with your best friend, cis Hoseok POV
-Podfic available!
-summary: Hoseok's life is ruled by the mantra, "not my business" but it's hard to ignore the business of your best friend when you're kind of in love with said best friend.
Hoseok is there for Namjoon’s transition, but if he couldn’t tell her he loved her before, he definitely doesn’t know how to tell her after. This is a bittersweet little story of Hoseok treasuring a friend he doesn’t feel worthy of. There’s a lot of pain in his inability to see his own value, but they find their way to each other in the end. My favorite thing about this is how Hoseok see’s Namjoon’s happiness as the most beautiful thing he’s ever known.
I want a million days with you by noraphi
-rated M, 2.7K, complete
-fandom: Monsta X
-ship: Im Changkyun/Yoo Kihyun, Changkyun written as a trans man
-alternate universe non-famous, established relationship, domestic slice of life, oral sex, trans Changkyun POV
-summary: Just an ordinary day. They wake up, get ready for work, meet for lunch, do their job and return home.
One day in the life of Changkyun and Kihyun, longtime boyfriends who live together and work at the same company. This is such a sweet little domestic story, sexy and mundane by turns, showing the pleasure that can come from being intimately known.
no brainer by cro_crocuta
-rated M, 4.9K, complete
-fandom: Stray Kids
-ship: Han Jisung/Seo Changbin, Jisung written as a trans man
-alternate universe rock musicians, brief dysphoria, feeling realizations, oral sex, first time
-Podfic available!
-summary: Changbin took his sticks, so Jisung’s tapping out a beat on the fabric of his jeans using only his fingers. It’s a fast, simple pattern, more straightforward than the one he found in the bar, and bad fucking news as far as predictive signs of his mental status go.“Oh my god,” Changbin says, untangling his earbuds and shoving one in Jisung’s ear. “Here.” Jisung’s tapping speeds up then slows down as the first track starts playing. He sighs, recognizing the chill-out playlist Changbin makes him listen to when he gets too squirrely before shows. Songs and noises that make his head go staticky-but-in-a-good-way. Jisung gets kind of useless when Changbin plays it, so it’s usually saved for special occasions. Which, Jisung guesses, this technically is.
Very sexy, very funny, a wonderful voicy Jisung POV which captures a scattered evening in his brain after a show when his fellow bandmate Changbin takes him up on the proposition of a one night stand. It’s easy to read this Jisung as non-neurotypical, which I really enjoy, and it’s delightful and hot to see him getting taken care of so well by someone who knows his idiosyncrasies and hangups. The story also makes some great formatting choices which add a lot to the prose reading experience, and the podfic version is a particular fav.
the way the water flows by sharpa
-rated E, 7K, complete
-fandom: BTS
-ship: Kim Seokjin/Min Yoongi, Yoongi written as a trans man
-alternate universe not idols, established relationship, slice of life, oral sex, cis Seokjin POV.
-summery: They get distracted for a while, wandering the streets and pausing in front of various murals that have transformed once drab brick walls into colorful, beautiful art pieces. Seokjin finds the one of Jane Austen that he remembers from Goblin and squints at the English quote against the white backdrop. “Can you read that, Yoongi-yah?” Yoongi clears his throat and translates for him. “‘The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced I shall never see a man whom I can really love.”
“Huh.” He glances at Yoongi and decides it’s easier to be sappy on camera. “I can’t relate.” Yoongi makes a choked sound. “Stop it.”
“I’m just expressing my feelings, Yoongi-yah.”
(Or: Seokjin, Yoongi, and a quiet day off in Seoul.)
This is a soft, sweet story of a long-time couple taking a day off to wander Seoul. I love that it flips the script on common fic structures- it opens with an intimate sexy scene, then unwinds over a series of scenes how Seokjin and Yoongi met, how they started dating, and how they fell in love. The frame narrative is Yoongi asking Seokjin questions for a youtube video he’s filming and it works so well as a way to bring up several key moments from their past. It feels both very grounded and very tender.
찰칵! by alexenglish
-rated E, 3.6K, complete
-fandom: Stray Kids
-ship: Han Jisung/Seo Changbin, Jisung and Changbin both written as trans men
-alternate universe not famous, gym buddies, friends with benefits, oral and penetrative sex, trans Changbin POV
-summary: On the phone screen, in the mirror, Jisung’s eyes flutter as he takes Changbin’s fingers in his mouth. Changbin always forgets how sensitive fingers can be; the way it makes him hot all over to feel Jisung’s slick tongue and the smooth ball of his piercing and his spit, gathering there to coat Changbin’s fingers. “Fix your phone,” Changbin tells him. It’s tilting, slipping, and Changbin wants to see, wants to watch.
Short and hot, porn with feelings, and those feelings are about loving your own and your partner’s trans bodies! Basically an extended sex scene in front of a gym mirror, but with little glimpses of the backstory of their friendship and their extended queer circle (there’s a tiny reference to Hyunjin and Minho as trans lesbians). No dysphoria, only euphoria in this story. A yummy mouthful of T4T smut :D
beneath my glass house by sharpa
-rated E, 13K, complete
-fandom: Stray Kids
-ship: Han Jisung/Lee Minho, Minho written as a trans man
-alternate universe not famous, established relationship, mental health issues, financial struggles, hurt/comfort, angst, panic attacks, recovery, hopeful ending, cis Jisung POV
-summary: Two years ago, a mental breakdown derailed their lives. Now, Minho and Jisung are on a slow march away from the wreckage.
This is a heavy read, but it’s so worth it. Jisung has been through an intense breakdown, and current financial struggles that leave him and Minho exhausted and still broke at the end of long shifts. But the story itself handles these hard times with so much generosity and gentleness. There’s a wonderful scene of Minho coming out as trans and Jisung coming out as a virgin. I relate to that instinct of sharing a secret for a secret, and how being vulnerable often invites a return of vulnerability and a deeper intimacy. Their fights felt really real, interrupted and returned to, but with increasing levels of nuance. Through it all, Minho continues to want Jisung to be kinder to himself and have more hope for their shared future, as precarious as it may seem.
cope with me by strawberrv
-rated E, two stories totalling 14K, series marked as complete
-fandom Monsta X
-ship: Im Changkyun/Yoo Kihyun, Kihyun written as a trans man
-alternate universe college/university, friends with benefits, vaginal fingering, oral sex, awkward sex, mentions of eating disorders and transphobia, trans Kihyun POV
-summary: kihyun is coping. his number one coping method, unfortunately, is changkyun.
Kihyun is a struggling college student, who starts messing around with a shy, slightly pretentious richboy music major named Changkyun to avoid processing his feelings, but unfortunately, he just ends up with even more feelings. Most of the first story of this series is about a prickly control freak unwilling to let someone get close enough for genuine tenderness, but the second story softens the dynamic into something that surprises and delights them both.
bring me spring by sharpa
-rated E, 15K, complete
-fandoms: Stray Kids, TXT
-Han Jisung/Choi Yeonjun, Jisung written as a trans man, Yeonjun as transfemme/genderfluid
-alternate universe not idols, getting together, very affirming sex, gender euphoria
-summary: Jisung's always been a hopeless romantic at heart and he thinks that, really, he’s just been waiting for Yeonjun to arrive. Now it’s finally spring. (Six scenes charting the genesis of a relationship.)
Three drinks in, Jisung falls for a tall goddess of a woman at a club and impulsively asks her to dance, then if she wants to hook up, then if she wants to date. So begins the unfolding of a beautiful T4T relationship in which both bloom under the love and attention of someone who knows how to navigate around the difficult parts of being trans to find the delightful, affirming, celebratory parts. This story is a love letter to finding euphoria in the company of a likeminded partner, sexy and emotional, and ultimately so so joyful.
no sudden moves by averytree
-rated E, 8.4K, complete
-fandom: BTS
-Kim Namjoon/Min Yoongi, Yoongi written as a trans man
-alternate universe college/university, friends with benefits, hand jobs, strap-on sex, friends to lovers, cis Namjoon POV
-summery: Yes, Yoongi had suggested that first handjob but ever since then Namjoon felt as if he'd been coaxing Yoongi in, like an affection-adverse stray cat who'd appeared one day at his door.
And last, a self-rec. Namjoon and Yoongi are friends and fellow music majors who share a tiny studio on campus. Yoongi started a friends with benefits situation because he trusted Namjoon wouldn’t be weird about it; Namjoon wants to date for real and isn’t sure how to ask for it. This story is three intimate encounters woven through with flashbacks and introspection, including on how Yoongi’s identity impacts his music. Yoongi is skittish and a bit shy of both touch and tenderness because of some previous experiences, but Namjoon has enough patience and care for the both of them, and his desire to U-haul is too strong to repress for long.
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In case you or anyone reading this is into TBZ, Worth Waiting For by sinchun is a Changmin/Younghoon story that I really liked.
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I'll go ahead and rec these (all are BTS):
* Genderqueer BTS - 63.2k across 2 fics. First one is abt nonbinary Jungkook/cisgender RM (fic is rated Explicit), second fic is abt genderqueer Hobi/cisgender Yoongi (fic is rated Mature). Heed the tags.
* light like silk chiffon - 7k of nonbinary Jungkook and his boyfriend RM (who is cis.) This fic is rated Explicit.
* Yellow Beret - 79k of trans woman Jimin and Taehyung (who identifies as nonbinary by the end of the fic) have a TERRIBS first date. But Jimin give him a second chance. There's a lot abt being trans in Korea, the difficulties of navigating that world as a trans person, and also some nods to elder trans people. This is one of those fics that I hold in my heart. It's rated Explicit--though I have to point out that the emphasis of the story is more on Jimin's own journey as a woman + her romance with Taehyung than the sexy parts? IDK if I'm making a good rec, but yeah, it's deffo worth checking out. This author tends to write a lot of trans and nonbinary Vmin too, btw.
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And, ahhhh, I'm gonna interpret your rec of "The Way The Water Flows" as the universe giving me a nudge to finally sit down and edit my podfic of it. (I recorded it back in late September. /o\)
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