Trans* Magical Girl plotting
May. 13th, 2014 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppet[Content Note: Possible trans*phobia/cis-sexism]
You may remember about a year back when I basically dumped a bunch of fic summaries in a post? And there was the one Teen Wolf fic that had a magical girl plot and I said I was thinking about scrubbing the serial numbers off and making it an original story? Yeah. That's gonna happen.
Except there's some things I need to take care of first, because scrubbing the serial numbers off of something is easier said than done. Right now I'm rounding up the stuff I know about the story and the stuff I know I need to work on and/or need input on. Concrit and other input is incredibly welcome, especially about negative tropes I may not be aware that I'm including.
Details below the cut:
For those unfamiliar, Magical Girl is a genre of Japanese anime and manga featuring a young girl (usually Jr High aged) who gains magical powers and typically a cute talking animal sidekick, and uses said magical powers to transform in to a sort of superhero with a very cute costume (usually with a very short skirt) who fights for love and justice and against the forces of evil. Sailor Moon is probably the most well known of the genre in the west, though there are a good many more. (They're also frequently vehicles for selling merchandise, which means they come with a lot of distinctive accessories/items.)
I want this story in particular to be very typical of the genre. There are rather a lot of atypical magical girl stories out there that are very good and/or are receiving a lot of attention, and I love the ones I've seen/read, but that's not the direction I want to go here. I especially want to make this a typical magical girl story because the main character is going to be atypical of the genre. That is, the main character is going to be a trans* girl.
Let's start with the theme. Most magical girl stories have a sort of theme that the plot and powers fall under. Sailor Moon's was based on the solar system; Saint Tail was about stage magic; in Tokyo Mew Mew, the magical girls had animal-themed costumes and powers (but their real names were foods). In this case, the fanfic idea was the progenerator, and the theme the main character's powers and the story's plot are loosely based on will be Red Riding Hood.
The cute, talking animal companion will be a wolf, though it'll mostly look like a Husky/Malamute puppy. It'll probably be able to transform into a full-sized, mature wolf when the main character uses her powers.
The villain(s) I'm more shaky on. The fanfic let me have a lot of pre-developed characters and plotlines I could use here, and turning it into an original story changes that considerably. Not only is it potentially too recognizable, the themes are too dark for a typical magical girl story.
For background, the Red Riding Hood story is based partially on an event that happened in the distant past: There was something evil, it invaded the minds of humans to make them distrust wolves, and compelled them to forcibly separate Red Riding Hood and her people (wolf-allied humans) from the wolves.The wolves were magical beings of some sort that helped guard the world/universe against evil, and that's why the evil power wanted them out of the way. Red was some sort of chosen warrior, who could help the magic wolves do their thing by forming a magical bond with them and transforming. Separating the wolves and Red severed the bond, and prevented Red from using her powers.
I'm not entirely clear on the evil power's motivations. I think it locked the magic wolves in another dimension so it could rule this one, but why? What's in it for the evil power? It really doesn't have to be complicated; it could be harvesting energy from humans to wake an even greater power that will swallow the world whole, for all I know/care. I just need a reason.
Flash forward to the present. Our main character, let's call her "Ruby" until/unless I get a better name, is just starting at a new school. Her parents are 100% supportive and accepting of her, because I want them to be. It's entirely possible that they even moved to a new town/area/school district to give Ruby a new start in life as part of her transition process. (The school authorities also know and are cool with everything.)
Meanwhile, the Animal Companion (who will have escaped alone from the other dimension) tracks down Ruby and tells her that she's the chosen warrior who will help free his people from the other dimension and destroy the evil power. Basic premise, go!
One of the problems I'm having is how to communicate that Ruby is trans*. I don't want to be too coy about it, because that's just complete BS, but I also don't want to just open with the introduction, "Hi, I'm Ruby! I like reading and cartoons and I just moved recently because I'm trans*." Show don't tell, yanno? It's how to show that's coming a little slowly for me. I figure that showing some of her pills would be a good start (hormone blockers and estrogen, I think? I definitely need to do more research here), but that wouldn't be a very clear signal to many people.
[Edit: July 22, 2014] After reading a lot at Bisexual Books on Tumblr, I want to say that I plan for Ruby to say, at least once and clearly, that she is trans*. I'm not entirely sure about when it will happen in the narrative, but it will. [/Edit]
I think I may have a friend who knew her pre-transition show up - like, really early pre-transition. Second grade or something. Except then all I can think of is that this old friend calls Ruby by her pre-transition name, or "mistakes" her for her pre-transition self, and I don't know if I want to do that? Said friend is probably going to end up as one of her magical warrior companions/one of the people who will help break whatever spell it is that is keeping the magic wolves locked in the other dimension, and will apologize to Ruby for messing up as soon as she figures out/learns what's going on and promises they're friends no matter what, but again: would this be something that's okay to include? I would do my best to focus on Ruby's feelings on the matter so it doesn't turn into being All About The Cis Person, which would be ultra shitty, but I'm worried that doing so won't help me escape that trap.
If I do go for that angle, there's also the issue of how I approach it in the story. I don't want Ruby's old friend to out her accidentally or without Ruby's permission, because that would be incredibly shitty and trans*phobic to boot.
Another thing is the question of whether I want Ruby's magical girl transformation to include more, *ahem*, physical attributes. Put plainly: Will the magical girl transformation include a genital swap/give Ruby boobs? It gives me a potential plot idea, of Ruby looking for really flimsy excuses to transform so she can feel "right" in her body, but I would also need reasons that she can't always be transformed. (Maybe it would draw too much attention from the evil power?) There's also the issue of magical transformation itself; the idea of a magical handwave that cures physical ills is all too common in speculative fiction, and casually erases a lot of PWD. What are the consequences of including a magical sex change for a young trans* girl, especially when tying it to the powers she uses to save the day?
Possible "solutions" to this include Ruby saving the day as her "mundane"/non-transformed self, and a trans* woman teacher at her new school. The trans* woman teacher could talk to Ruby about how she feels about sex reassignment surgery (I'm thinking that the teacher doesn't want it/isn't going to get it for various reasons in-story, and because representation for meta/storytelling reasons), and talk to Ruby about what she might want and why. Also, Ruby and Animal Companion might be able to reach a compromise and Ruby can be her magical self for one day a week or something.
The trans* woman teacher I think I want to include whether or not I go for the genital transformation approach. She'd be a great reason for why Ruby's parents decided to move into the area: there's someone like Ruby out and teaching at the school Ruby will go to. And, again, more representation is the opposite of a bad thing.
As for the romance element: I'm planning on it being with the animal companion. He has a human form, he's just locked in his wolf form at the moment because availability of magic and so forth. Ruby being trans* is going to be a total non-issue for him. He thinks she's brave and wonderful, but is waiting to pursue anything either because he's a giant chicken and/or doesn't think he has a chance with her (possibly because Destiny?) or because he wants to wait until the battle with evil is over and everything is sorted. Possibly both. But yeah, the trans* thing isn't an issue for him.
Most of the other stuff is details, like names and such (including for the town, the school, Ruby pre-transition (if I go for the friend that knew her then), Ruby's friends and companions, etc), but some of it is characters. I could use a few more magical companions for Ruby, at least for plot reasons. (I think some of the magic wolves escaped by hiding in human form? Maybe? And that's why they're still in this world. Or their descendants are, at least. Something.)
That's all I can think of for now, though. Any input is welcome, especially where I'm approaching or actually being an asshole.
You may remember about a year back when I basically dumped a bunch of fic summaries in a post? And there was the one Teen Wolf fic that had a magical girl plot and I said I was thinking about scrubbing the serial numbers off and making it an original story? Yeah. That's gonna happen.
Except there's some things I need to take care of first, because scrubbing the serial numbers off of something is easier said than done. Right now I'm rounding up the stuff I know about the story and the stuff I know I need to work on and/or need input on. Concrit and other input is incredibly welcome, especially about negative tropes I may not be aware that I'm including.
Details below the cut:
For those unfamiliar, Magical Girl is a genre of Japanese anime and manga featuring a young girl (usually Jr High aged) who gains magical powers and typically a cute talking animal sidekick, and uses said magical powers to transform in to a sort of superhero with a very cute costume (usually with a very short skirt) who fights for love and justice and against the forces of evil. Sailor Moon is probably the most well known of the genre in the west, though there are a good many more. (They're also frequently vehicles for selling merchandise, which means they come with a lot of distinctive accessories/items.)
I want this story in particular to be very typical of the genre. There are rather a lot of atypical magical girl stories out there that are very good and/or are receiving a lot of attention, and I love the ones I've seen/read, but that's not the direction I want to go here. I especially want to make this a typical magical girl story because the main character is going to be atypical of the genre. That is, the main character is going to be a trans* girl.
Let's start with the theme. Most magical girl stories have a sort of theme that the plot and powers fall under. Sailor Moon's was based on the solar system; Saint Tail was about stage magic; in Tokyo Mew Mew, the magical girls had animal-themed costumes and powers (but their real names were foods). In this case, the fanfic idea was the progenerator, and the theme the main character's powers and the story's plot are loosely based on will be Red Riding Hood.
The cute, talking animal companion will be a wolf, though it'll mostly look like a Husky/Malamute puppy. It'll probably be able to transform into a full-sized, mature wolf when the main character uses her powers.
The villain(s) I'm more shaky on. The fanfic let me have a lot of pre-developed characters and plotlines I could use here, and turning it into an original story changes that considerably. Not only is it potentially too recognizable, the themes are too dark for a typical magical girl story.
For background, the Red Riding Hood story is based partially on an event that happened in the distant past: There was something evil, it invaded the minds of humans to make them distrust wolves, and compelled them to forcibly separate Red Riding Hood and her people (wolf-allied humans) from the wolves.The wolves were magical beings of some sort that helped guard the world/universe against evil, and that's why the evil power wanted them out of the way. Red was some sort of chosen warrior, who could help the magic wolves do their thing by forming a magical bond with them and transforming. Separating the wolves and Red severed the bond, and prevented Red from using her powers.
I'm not entirely clear on the evil power's motivations. I think it locked the magic wolves in another dimension so it could rule this one, but why? What's in it for the evil power? It really doesn't have to be complicated; it could be harvesting energy from humans to wake an even greater power that will swallow the world whole, for all I know/care. I just need a reason.
Flash forward to the present. Our main character, let's call her "Ruby" until/unless I get a better name, is just starting at a new school. Her parents are 100% supportive and accepting of her, because I want them to be. It's entirely possible that they even moved to a new town/area/school district to give Ruby a new start in life as part of her transition process. (The school authorities also know and are cool with everything.)
Meanwhile, the Animal Companion (who will have escaped alone from the other dimension) tracks down Ruby and tells her that she's the chosen warrior who will help free his people from the other dimension and destroy the evil power. Basic premise, go!
One of the problems I'm having is how to communicate that Ruby is trans*. I don't want to be too coy about it, because that's just complete BS, but I also don't want to just open with the introduction, "Hi, I'm Ruby! I like reading and cartoons and I just moved recently because I'm trans*." Show don't tell, yanno? It's how to show that's coming a little slowly for me. I figure that showing some of her pills would be a good start (hormone blockers and estrogen, I think? I definitely need to do more research here), but that wouldn't be a very clear signal to many people.
[Edit: July 22, 2014] After reading a lot at Bisexual Books on Tumblr, I want to say that I plan for Ruby to say, at least once and clearly, that she is trans*. I'm not entirely sure about when it will happen in the narrative, but it will. [/Edit]
I think I may have a friend who knew her pre-transition show up - like, really early pre-transition. Second grade or something. Except then all I can think of is that this old friend calls Ruby by her pre-transition name, or "mistakes" her for her pre-transition self, and I don't know if I want to do that? Said friend is probably going to end up as one of her magical warrior companions/one of the people who will help break whatever spell it is that is keeping the magic wolves locked in the other dimension, and will apologize to Ruby for messing up as soon as she figures out/learns what's going on and promises they're friends no matter what, but again: would this be something that's okay to include? I would do my best to focus on Ruby's feelings on the matter so it doesn't turn into being All About The Cis Person, which would be ultra shitty, but I'm worried that doing so won't help me escape that trap.
If I do go for that angle, there's also the issue of how I approach it in the story. I don't want Ruby's old friend to out her accidentally or without Ruby's permission, because that would be incredibly shitty and trans*phobic to boot.
Another thing is the question of whether I want Ruby's magical girl transformation to include more, *ahem*, physical attributes. Put plainly: Will the magical girl transformation include a genital swap/give Ruby boobs? It gives me a potential plot idea, of Ruby looking for really flimsy excuses to transform so she can feel "right" in her body, but I would also need reasons that she can't always be transformed. (Maybe it would draw too much attention from the evil power?) There's also the issue of magical transformation itself; the idea of a magical handwave that cures physical ills is all too common in speculative fiction, and casually erases a lot of PWD. What are the consequences of including a magical sex change for a young trans* girl, especially when tying it to the powers she uses to save the day?
Possible "solutions" to this include Ruby saving the day as her "mundane"/non-transformed self, and a trans* woman teacher at her new school. The trans* woman teacher could talk to Ruby about how she feels about sex reassignment surgery (I'm thinking that the teacher doesn't want it/isn't going to get it for various reasons in-story, and because representation for meta/storytelling reasons), and talk to Ruby about what she might want and why. Also, Ruby and Animal Companion might be able to reach a compromise and Ruby can be her magical self for one day a week or something.
The trans* woman teacher I think I want to include whether or not I go for the genital transformation approach. She'd be a great reason for why Ruby's parents decided to move into the area: there's someone like Ruby out and teaching at the school Ruby will go to. And, again, more representation is the opposite of a bad thing.
As for the romance element: I'm planning on it being with the animal companion. He has a human form, he's just locked in his wolf form at the moment because availability of magic and so forth. Ruby being trans* is going to be a total non-issue for him. He thinks she's brave and wonderful, but is waiting to pursue anything either because he's a giant chicken and/or doesn't think he has a chance with her (possibly because Destiny?) or because he wants to wait until the battle with evil is over and everything is sorted. Possibly both. But yeah, the trans* thing isn't an issue for him.
Most of the other stuff is details, like names and such (including for the town, the school, Ruby pre-transition (if I go for the friend that knew her then), Ruby's friends and companions, etc), but some of it is characters. I could use a few more magical companions for Ruby, at least for plot reasons. (I think some of the magic wolves escaped by hiding in human form? Maybe? And that's why they're still in this world. Or their descendants are, at least. Something.)
That's all I can think of for now, though. Any input is welcome, especially where I'm approaching or actually being an asshole.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-15 02:39 am (UTC)Just got part two! Wanted to get a response done to part one before responding to it, but I also wanted to say that that wasn't something I'd thought of, and will definitely keep in mind/watch out for in the future and as the story progresses. So, thank you :)
no subject
Date: 2014-05-15 03:56 am (UTC)Aw, thanks! I appreciate your thoughtfulness. :3