every thistle i draw/write is nb transfem (in 21st century terms lol)! i like reading about any gender hc because it's interesting seeing ppls interpretations, but that is the one i like best and it works with how i explore his character in relation to his race and adopted family/culture.

i see his relationship with gender as both an intensely private thing that he doesn't want to share with others, and also a very public thing because of how he presents and how he's treated as a young elf by tall-men. in the society he grows up in, he doesn't connect with any idea of masculinity and feels more aligned with women because of that, but he doesn't feel 100% the same as these tall-man women either. examples though of how he feels like a woman are not just appearance, but in socially-constructed roles: mother, homemaker, nurturer.

there's an idea of "thistle is thistle" that he finds the most comfort in, and even though his differentness others him in the golden kingdom, it is also a source of pride connected to his pride in being an elf thinking...it's my hc that elves in dunmeshi don't have strict gender roles like other ppl and that gender isn't really like...a relevant cultural concept to them until they have to interact with other cultures. thistle, as an elf raised by tallmen, inhabited a role closer to "girl" or "ungendered child" than "boy/man".