Chapter Text
Tintin & Captain Haddock - Deeper than Skin
Tintin is a boy. He has known this since he was just a child.
When he was small, he had put on the clothes of a boy and identified himself that way to the adults. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time. Actually, it had just made perfect sense in his very young mind, and since his features hadn't developed yet, people believed him.
He was an orphan with nothing to identify him, and so he was sent to a boys' home without anyone knowing the difference. It was very lucky that he'd decided he was a boy back then, because everyone treated him like a boy and he got all the opportunities that came with that.
He was very much independent, and set out on his own as soon as he was able, so no one saw him developing into an adult. They never knew the difference.
The years went by the same way. He is a journalist now, works hard and makes a difference in the world. He has had many opportunities and so many exciting experiences, and he isn't even that old yet-- just barely a man!
There are so few things that remind him of his secret. He would forget, really, if it weren't so important that he keep it hidden. After all, the world may be a big and fascinating place, filled with strange and unusual people and customs, but there are so many people whose minds are not as broad as Tintin's, not equipped to handle the people and things that they do not understand. He is a boy, and that is good enough for them, all they need or want to know.
So Tintin remembers his secret and he keeps it hidden well. He bandages his (thankfully small) chest to keep it flat, and he carefully marks his cycle so that his periods won't get in his way-- even though he can't often control when adventure will come calling.
These things don't hold him back at all. He is Tintin, brave and strong, whose mind is broad and open to the world. There is no place he won't go and no culture he won't explore. There is nothing that holds him back, including the rebellious body of his, which had tried to make a girl of him.
He doesn't know what life would have been like if he had gone along with his body's decision, and been a girl. He doesn't dwell on it either, but he thinks he probably would have been adventurous anyway, so even then if he had been a girl he wouldn't have had much time for being 'feminine', because he would have been out exploring.
It's much easier for him this way, so he counts himself very fortunate. The world might not be able to understand him, but thankfully it doesn't have to. He is so good at keeping himself hidden from it, even while he is busy trying to learn all its secrets. No one will ever have to know-- and that's how Tintin likes it.
After all, Tintin is a boy. He has known this from childhood, and everyone who's ever met him has known it too. ☆