Line #61 Webcomic/VenusEnvy


1	[[quoteright:263:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/venus_envy.jpg]]
2	''[[http://www.venusenvycomic.com/ Venus Envy]]'' is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} transgender-centered]] SliceOfLife webcomic which is notable for portraying the subject matter more realistically than most at the time, rather than taking the TransformationComic route. The comic was written and illustrated by Creator/CrystalFrasier under the name "Erin Lindsey."
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4	It originally started as a simple gag comic about a trans girl, but the nameless lead character soon developed into the comic's heroine, Zoë (assigned name Alex) Carter. The story itself is a [[TeenDrama Teen]] {{Dramedy}} that centers around Zoë's life as a girl in her new town, where no one (with a couple of exceptions) knows that she was Alexander Carter just a few months ago. The title of the comic is, of course, a pun on UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud's thesis of ''penis envy'', which obviously fails at a girl who's actively trying to get rid of her penis.
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6	The webcomic briefly succumbed to OrphanedSeries syndrome, due to the author's then-waning interest and busy real-life. Due to the original comic's cliffhanger ending and popular demand, ''Webcomic/TransGirlDiaries'' did a fan follow-up (essentially a webcomic {{Doujinshi}}), [[http://transgirldiaries.com/?p=2193 here]], which mimicked the style of the original comic and was well received by the VE fandom.
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8	The author herself seems to have been pleased by this: The comic kept being updated, albeit sporadically, and [[ShoutOut seems to be following the basic outline]] [[AscendedFanon of the aforementioned doujinshi.]] Since January 2014, ''Venus Envy'' is on indefinite hiatus. A backup of the pages can be found [[https://archive.org/details/venus-envy-webcomic-archive here]].
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12	!! This webcomic contains examples of:
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14	* AboveTheInfluence: Eric turns down Zoë at the prom. [[spoiler: He can tell her drink was spiked.]]
15	* ACupAngst: Zoë is a bit touchy about her breasts because, so far, hormone therapy hasn't been particularly generous in that regard.
16	* {{Animesque}}: The more recent comics have moved away from this style, though.
17	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Zoë's little brother Richie, who calls her a fag, "queer", and "perverse".
18	* ArcWords: "Hello Alex. Don't you look pretty in that dress."
19	* ArtEvolution: So, so much. In a rare example for a Webcomic, it goes ''away'' from a {{Animesque}} look as it evolves.
20	* AttractiveBentGender: Chris, the crossdresser, makes a very attractive girl. Also, Zoë made an attractive boy.
21	* AuthorAvatar: Erin herself occasionally appears in non-canon strips (sometimes to deliver an AuthorFilibuster), along with her evil [[GiantSpider spider-clone]], Erin 2.0.
22	* CrossOver: [[http://www.venusenvycomic.com/index.php?id=273 This page]] crosses over with the webcomic [[http://www.jadegordon.com/leanonme/ Lean On Me]].
23	* BerserkButton: If you want to avoid a trip to the emergency room, Larson is ''not'' "Marie", or a [[ButchLesbian lesbian]], for that matter. And don't call Nuke "Literature/HarryPotter". Just don't.
24	* BigFancyHouse: Lisa lives in one of these.
25	* BigFriendlyDog: Bergy
26	* BoomerangBigot: Cody [[spoiler:called "Alex" (pre-Zoë) a faggot... then raped "Alex", whom he considered a boy and who still lived as a boy then.]] Disgusting on so many levels, but also a hell of hypocritical.
27	* CannotSpitItOut: Larson and Zoë
28	* TheCasanova: Eric, in a more overtly creepy way than most examples. [[spoiler: Like recognising the symptoms of a date-rape drug]].
29	* CerebusSyndrome: The comic was never exactly light, but as the art changes it gets progressively darker and more serious, with [[spoiler: Nina]] as the KnightOfCerebus.
30	* CheekyMouth: Moreso in the earlier comics.
31	* ChekhovsSkill: In a crowning example of the use of the trope, Zoë's Tai Chi. [[spoiler: Useful when a murderer is charging you. Of course, then you go and hug the murderer...]]
32	* ComingOutStory
33	* ContentWarnings: While the comic is fairly worksafe, there are rather frank discussions of gender and sexuality issues, as well as the occasional [[NippleAndDimed nipple]].
34	* ChirpingCrickets: [[http://www.venusenvycomic.com/index.php?id=242 parodied]]
35	* CuteAndPsycho: [[spoiler:Nina. Oh gods, ''[[AxeCrazy Nina]]''.]]
36	* DaddysGirl: Downplayed, but Zoë actually is one. Her father also scolds her when he's annoyed by her behavior, but he protects her from her mother's more unkind treatments, supports her transition as she's visibly happier for it and, when Zoë's mother wants to make her dress like a boy, he brings her girl's clothing including a necklace to cover her Adam's apple, causing Zoë to squee in happiness.
37	--> '''Zoë''': I love my Daddy!
38	* DirtyOldMan: One of the members of the LGBT support group; he first hit on Zoë and then apparently tried to grope Larson, who proceeded to beat a tooth out of the guy's mouth. Note that both of them are visibly underage.
39	* DoesNotLikeMen: Lisa, who won't even speak to boys other than Chris if she can help it. The sheer fact that someone has a penis makes them [[AllMenArePerverts a potential rapist]] in her book.
40	* {{Dramedy}}
41	* EasySexChange: Completely averted. We see the lengths Larson and Zoë have to go to cover their anatomy in everyday life, the psychological stress caused by regularly consuming several medications and hormones, the partly really awful attitudes their families have about them, the vastly subduing effect it has on their love lives, self loathing, doubts, depressions... it is definitely anything but ''easy''.
42	* EroticDream: Larson and Zoë each have one about the respective other, much to their confusion.
43	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Coach Lonov teaches the girls various Russian phrases to intimidate the opposing team.
44	* FanSequel: Provided by ''Webcomic/TransGirlDiaries''.
45	* FakePeriodExcuse: To get out of an embarrassing situation, Zoë claims towards a teacher she needs to go to the toilet to deal with "female problems", despite her being, of course, unable to have a period.
46	* FallingIntoHisArms: Zoë falls straight into Eric's arms.
47	* FemmeFatale: Grace.
48	* FourEyesZeroSoul: Grace. [[spoiler:Nina too.]]
49	* GenderBlenderName: Although she changed it anyways, Zoë's assigned name is Alex.
50	* GoodAngelBadAngel: They show up for Zoë a lot.
51	* GroinAttack: Zoë getting hit by a soccer ball in the crotch and chest is a running gag.
52	* HiddenBuxom: Larson, using the tape as breast-bindings. Lisa caught a glimpse of them in the shower and assumed they were for wounds; when asked about it, Larson said he was secretly part of an underground kung-fu ring.
53	* HiddenHeartOfGold: Larson, oh so much. It shows for the first time when he brings Zoë, to whom he'd only been antagonistic so far, estrogen after her mother took her hormones away. Around this time, it also becomes more apparent that Larson is not so much ''spying'' on Zoë as ''watching out'' for her.
54	* {{Irony}}: Nina thinks [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} Zoë]] is [[http://www.venusenvycomic.com/index.php?id=911 the perfect girl.]]
55	** Also, the poster in the last panel of [[http://www.venusenvycomic.com/index.php?id=10 this strip.]]
56	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Richie, Eric, and Larson.
57	* KissKissSlap: [[spoiler:Zoë and Larson]]
58	* KlingonPromotion: [[spoiler: Nina attempts this twice.]]
59	* LethalChef: Zoë.
60	* LoveDodecahedron
61	* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Eric]]
62	* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Coach Lonov. Lampshaded when the entire team starts spouting off random Russian to scare the other teams.
63	* MyBelovedSmother: Zoë's mother doesn't want her to go out alone in the evening, because she thinks "someone like her" is even more endangered than "a normal girl". Seeing that Zoë went on a date with a boy, not a girl, she completely loses it. There's also the fact that, one day, she tries to bond with her kid, the next day she plots to manipulate Zoë into giving up hormone therapy because she just doesn't want to acknowledge that Zoë is happier and more self-confident ''because'' she lives as a girl now.
64	** Though, in all fairness, when it comes to dating, Zoë's father shows [[BoyfriendBlockingDad a bit of the same streak]], if not quite as extreme.
65	* OpenMindedParent: Subverted. When Zoë is trying to tell her mother that she's transgender, her mom says: "It's okay, honey. We love you even [[TransEqualsGay if you're gay]]. You will always be our little boy." As Zoë tells her that she's indeed a ''girl'', her mother shows to be completely unwilling to accept this.
66	** Humorously inverted with her father. When Zoë's mother comes up to tell him, "our son thinks he's a girl", the father replies: "'''Thank God!''' I was afraid he was ''gay''." Her father really seems to be more open-minded altogether, as he's the first of their family who starts referring to Zoë with "girl" and female pronouns, gets used to her new name, and acknowledges her positive development as a young woman. He also steps in when Zoë's mother threatens to burn her dresses and deescalates the fight.
67	* OracularUrchin: Brianna plays with this, having a rather unusual look (most of her head shaved) and the reputation of being psychic, but really, she's just good in reading other people. She makes mysterious prophecies occasionally, but their veracity has yet to be proven.
68	* OrphanedPunchline:
69	-->"... so I stabbed him in the eye with a fork!"
70	* PenName: The author uses one of these; members of the HateDom have semi-recently tried to "out" her legal name on various wikis -- including this one.
71	* QueerRomance
72	* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:Zoë was raped in seventh grade by an older student when she first tried on a dress she had created for the play she was working on. This was before she was living as a girl and was the first time anyone outside of her family saw the real her.]]
73	* ReallyGetsAround: Lisa is a rare lesbian example of this trope, and is somewhat infamous for it.
74	* SchoolPlay: ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', to be exact. Zoë has ''very'' good reasons to object to being cast as Juliet, as it turns out.
75	* SeriousBusiness: A small time high school production of Romeo and Juliet: SRS BSNS. [[spoiler: So serious that apparently Nina is willing to kill whoever it takes to land the lead]]
76	* ShadingColourDissonance: Zoë has dark red hair that's shaded in a manner that makes it look blonde.
77	* ShownTheirWork: The artist is a trans woman and has a fairly first hand view of what a young UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} teen goes through in the US. Taken to horrifying extremes during a FillerStrip when the artist relays the time she was sexually assaulted at college.
78	* StupidSexyFlanders: Lisa finds Chris a bit hotter than she would like to.
79	* TeenDrama
80	* TheAtoner: Eric.
81	* TherapyBackfire: Zoë's mother tries to find therapists who convince Zoë that she is indeed male. The therapists instead agree that Zoë has GID, and a couple recommend therapy for her mother.
82	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted and played straight -- Zoë's new town doesn't have a specialist in her type of therapy, but her old therapist does come to visit. In addition, it's shown early in the comic that Zoë's parents kept taking her to different therapists trying to find one that ''wouldn't'' suggest Zoë visit a specialist in Gender Dysphoria (aka Transgenderism). One even suggested ''they'' get therapy to try and get over their problem with this.
83	* TransRelationshipTroubles: Zoë deals with this early on. While on a date with Lisa, the latter accidentally finds out that Zoë is transgender and freaks out. She gets upset and accuses Zoë of being a {{crossdresser}} trying to date a lesbian.
84	* TransTribulations: In the beginning played for laughs, but ever since Zoë became a real character with a name and story, her (and Larson's) troubles are presented in a realistic light and thus not always comedy.
85	* {{Tsundere}}: Lisa, Larson
86	* TwoScenesOneDialogue: Zoë talks to Lisa, her mother to her father about their deteriorated relationship, both of them choosing pretty much the same words about the other's unwillingness to understand or compromise.
87	* UnmovingPlaid
88	* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Happens to Lisa twice. She reacts very poorly.
89	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The science teacher, Mr. Cluck, is a ''chicken''. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Larson in one comic.
90	* WantedAGenderConformingChild: Zoë's mother is in deep denial about her, still insisting on calling her "Alex" and referring to her as ''he'' and her ''son''. She genuinely thinks that the self expression as female is just "Alex"'s way of overplaying insecurities and that "he" would be happier if just accepting "himself" and building a confidence on that, but her behavior occasionally lapses into emotional abuse, such as when she makes Zoë wear masculine dressing against her will, forces her to present as male when they go to church, or takes away her hormone pills.
91	* WebcomicTime: The comic's been running for over 12 years, and only a few months have passed in-story.
92	* WhamEpisode: The 3/4/10 page. ''Wow''.
93	* WhatTheHellHero: Brianna chews Lisa out for her shitty behavior towards Zoë after their date.
94	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Chris is a happy, healthy, emotionally balanced young cisgender man who just happens to enjoy occasionally living out a side of his personality by wearing women's clothes.
95	* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Zoë's parents' (particularly her mother's) reaction to her being transgender. Even when it is repeatedly diagnosed by independent therapists and she is repeatedly referred to a specialist for treatment, they continue to try and find a therapist who will tell them that Zoë's insane and that they will cure her for them. In the end, at least one therapist suggested they get therapy to help them deal with their reaction while Zoë was in therapy.
96	** Zoë's mother continues to play this trope straight -- outright blackmailing Zoë into going to church as Alex and generally not being supportive in the least. Amusingly, the people at the out of town church they go to mistake Zoë for a ''lesbian'', not for a boy -- and are more supportive than Zoë's mother (one tries to hook Zoë up with her niece), to boot!

Context Webcomic / VenusEnvy