The following journal post is worldbuilding concerning New Gaea and Atrusius within the Shattered Verse setting. These facts are true to all of Shattered Verse settings, but not necessarily to my fanfiction, to the extent the underlying magic and science are valid within them. This is not intended to define what others can and cannot write in their worlds, or what makes good or bad handling of these topics -- only what is true within New Gaea, Atrusius, and the rest of the Shattered Verse.[hr]To understand the use and effects of magic on gender and reproduction, we must first have a fundamental knowledge of how magic, sex, and gender function. The easiest of these to understand is sex: the physical components of an organic being define the natural shape of their body, and there are four primary classifications among mammals -- eunuch, male, female, and intersex. Each of these is defined in most common uses by a question of what biological reproductive role an individual appears to be construted for, but at a casual glance and at a deeper medical level. For the purposes of this journal only, they shall be defined thus, without question or regard to chromosomes, biochemistry, social gendering, or other concerns:
* A eunuch is incapable natural contribution to reproduction. Most eunuchs are not visible at a glance, as the state typically refers not to the shape of their body, but the internal functioning of their reproductive organs. A eunuch may lack function, or even presence, of reproductive organs, but this is often not visible without medical examination.
* A male is capable of producing sperm which can inseminate an ovum, and is defined as having no other sexual function. They have the genital anatomy to fulfill this role, even if they lack hormone balance or are unable to fulfill this role due to age or other conditions.
* A female is capable of producing ova which may be inseminated by sperm, and is defined as having no other sexual function. They have the genital anatomy to fulfill this role, and no other, even if they lack the hormone balance or are unable to fulfill this role due to age or other conditions.
* An intersex individual is capable of producing sperm which can inseminate an ovum or ova which may be inseminated by sperm. They have the genital anatomy to fulfill both of these roles, even if the lack the hormone balance or unable to fulfill one or both roles due to age or other conditions.
* Lastly, a hermaphrodite is an indivuidual from a species which, despite sexual reproduction, naturally provides the potential for all reproductive roles to all individuals of the species. While this is rare among mammals, there are documented cases of species engineered or evolving in this manner, and the term shall be reserved only for discussion of species of this sort, not individuals outside of the normal range of exclusive sexual reproductive roles in a species that typically defines them.
This has no bearing on the chromosomes such individuals possess or their gender identity, and as the topic of this paper is solely on the use of magic in relationship to reproductive roles, we do not assume to speak to chromosomes, to gender identity, or to social sexual or gender roles and norms. We shall avoid using the terms man and woman, and shall attempt to refrain from any slurs or insults in our use of language to discuss how transfromation magic can impact reproduction.[hr]Our second hurdle is to establish the rules of magic, and within our current understanding, magic can be used to transform subjects in many ways. Our understanding, however, also paints a picture of the limitations of transformation magic. Testing on magically transformed subject has shown that of the mundane variety of magic, it is not viable to transform a person on a genetic level. Their surface form and internal biolchemical functioning may be changed, even their hormone balance may be altered, but they are still bound to certain limits of their bioology unless further intervention is used.
Magics can change the apparent species or sex of a subject without changing their bodily functioning beyond the physical limits of their nature. For one example, many furres have no keener of a nose or ears than they would have as a human, despite having the physical shape to their nose and ears of an animal. This extends to the fact that many furres have anatomy they might not consciously know about, and thus would never choose to have in their furre form, such as a knot, a flare, or barbs, and some of this anatomy evenf unctions differently from that of a normal human. Indeed, one well known group for having significant dietary requirements are the cetacean and shark furres, who often require a higher level of seafood than normal to maintain a healthy appearance to their skin.
With that in mind, the changing of a body's shape and functions does not require explicit genetic tampering where magic is concerned, and while it is non-trivial to create magical chimeras from two unrelated species, it is simply a matter of anatomical and chemical understanding to make the changes necessary to have a functional sex change transformation without altering a single gene. Many transmutation students play around with the concepts of gender and sex changes, and such magics are commonplace (in cultures which embrace magic) in the treatment of various bodily dysphorias -- while it is rarely used in Gaean Human cultures, it is widely accepted in the treatment of transgender individuals among the Adin.
Of course, with no changes to the genetics, this does lead to some limitations and unusual behaviours in magically-transformed individuals. One of the most notable is that it is easier to remove sexual features than to add them, if function is significant, though what this means precisely varies somewhat from species to species. For the remainder of this paper, we will assume, unless specified, that we are discussing those races naturally capable of interbreeding with humans and adin -- the elves and andurusians of Gaea. In all four cases, the sexual determination is handled similarly, and so similar quirks appear with sex-changing transformations.[hr]Our first note is that it is easier to change in shape and minor function than to change full function. Thus, it is easer to give a female a pseudo-penis capable of being flaccid or erect than it is to give a female the ability to impregnate others, and it is easier to give a male a pseudo-vagina and feminine bosom than is it to give him the ability to become pregnant or to induce lactation. Such magic is, withint he school of organic transmutations, one of the simplest as it simply repurposes existing material for a temporary imitiation of another thing. Most students of organic transformation magic can perform party favors of this sort, which is also the sort that would involve growth or shrinking or changing eye colors or giving a liar a pair of unobtrusive horns. These sorts of magics tend to be short-term and playful, fading quickly and usually with little phsycial discomfort at the onset or loss of the magic.
However, it is possible to perform more thorough transformations, including complete, long-term sexual alteration without a change of genetics. In the hands of a practiced bio-thaumaturge, a female can be given a functional penis in place of, or addition to, her natural sexual organs. A male can be given a vagina, and a eunuch can be given both, or neither. The functioning operates physically, but requires understanding from the thaumaturge of how to make the function work. The most common case is that a mono-sexed male or female will, in effect, trade their existing sexual organs for those of the other sex, with most of the parts being repurposed.
In such a case, a female trades her ovaries and vagina, labia and clitoris for testicles, vas deferens, a scrotum and a penis. With the appropriate understanding of function, the body will begin producing sperm from her genetic material quickly, which allows her to serve a male role in sexual activities, even for the purpose of procreation. Female to Male tends to produce swifter results for sexual viability, due to the constant nature of normal male gamete production.
The fact that most females do not produce new eggs, but only release them, means that a male wishing to have a functional vagina through magic requires a more knowledgeable practitioner, who can alter the function of the ovaries to produce ova, and not simply store them. In practice, it takes between 7 and 28 days after such a transformation before the ovaries release their first eggs, but they will typically do so n a regular cycle thereafter.
In the case of genderfluid shapeshifters, it is quite common for them to have both ovaries and testicles, with one or the other simply "non-functioning" based on the current sex of the shapeshifter -- due to this, shapeshifters capable of altering their own sex, despite harnessing innate magic, should keep aware of their mentrual cycles responsibly![hr]The practical side of all this is that it is entirely possible, with appropriate magic, to have XX Males and XY Females, but the limitations of their own genetics still play into the functionality of their reproductive roles. An XX Male will never be able to provide the Y-chromosome necessary to produce a male child with a female partner, while (depending on the source of the spell) and XY female may either have reduced fertility with non-functioning Y-ova or may have fully-functional Y-ova allowing the potential of YY offspring. Understanding the magic used to change your sex is important to understanding your fertility, so even if you don't use such magic directly, learn all you can about the specific magics you are subejct to in this area.[hr] The preceding announcement has been sponsored by the Clocktower Society's Bay Area Subterranean Enclosure, or BASE, in New Gaea Dimension 5X39. Member have access to Clocktower Reasearch Laboratories magitech research and prototypes, and can volunteer to help improve the human understanding of sex-altering magic!
The Clocktower Society concept comes from Manifest Harmony on FIMFiction.
. . . and I didn't quite mean to go so long on this, but yeah, these are all canonical facts about how magic works in New Gaea, and how it can be used. This is useful background since several of my characters have used magic to have children in same-sex pairings.
