lavanya_six (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lavanya_six) wrote2010-02-01 06:49 pm
lavanya_six) wrote2010-02-01 06:49 pm
Entry tags:
Abandoned Fic -- Sokka Genderswap (Yuri?)
Or, the fine line between inspiration and theft.
This was a somewhat stream-of-consciousness fic inspired by QuGoneJinn's amazing "Your Fixed Point" Iron Man genderswap fic. The only problem was that, as I was writing this girl!Sokka fic, I realized I was less inspired by "Your Fixed Point" and instead was just plain stealing its voice. So I killed my fic.
Title: Alike in Heart
Official Summary: "I am a warrior. But I'm a girl, too."
The Plot Bunny: Basically, how would Sokka be if he had been born a girl? And what would girl!Sokka's relationship with Suki be?
Let's Break Down The Idea: In the very very first version of this fic, a version so pre-alpha that it never actually grew beyond a quick note jotted down on a legal pad, it was going to a lemon with Suki and girl!Sokka. And then because I'm a joyless bitch who has to justify PWP, I started thinking about the relationship dynamic between Suki and girl!Sokka. How would they deal with being lesbians in addition to their pre-existing cultural differences? It seemed to me that the Kyoshi Warriors, being who they are (all girl team) from a prosperous and self-sufficient island, would have a different attitude towards homosexuality than the near-extinct, subsistence-level Southern Water Tribe.
I eventually arrived at the conclusion that girl!Sokka wouldn't be a warrior at all. Not at first, anyways. I've read a few genderswap AtLA fics -- not that there are many to begin with -- and most of them were 1) short fics and 2) didn't really alter the characters that much. A boy!Katara was still sewing up clothes, for example. But I just didn't grok why a girl!Sokka would become a warrior. She wouldn't have the background training from her father -- we get no indication Katara is taught about warriorhood, unlike the boys of the SWT -- and the ambient sexism that gave rise to canon Sokka's behavior early on in AtLA would seem to give social pressure on a girl!Sokka not to pick up a sword.
I wrote a few bare bones background scenes and came to some more decisions about girl!Sokka's characterization. She would be clever like Sokka, and just as sexist. Her relationship with Katara would be different. Katara would be less motherly as a girl!Sokka would be expected to carry her weight in "woman's work" after Kya's death. Katara would act as a fuller partner to girl!Sokka, an extra pair of hands with chores, but would be #2 in the pecking order of sisters. Girl!Sokka would know how to use a spear and a net -- someone would have to catch meat for the village after the men left -- but everything she knew about "manly stuff" like hunting would be learned simply because she had to do it. But girl!Sokka would really enjoy hunting, especially with Katara helping her out. Because what good is a really clever plan to ferret out that tasty animal if there's no one around to watch the plan go off without a hitch?
Girl!Sokka's relationship with Suki would change, too. That relationship crystallized for me in the following scene:
** Note: Girl!Sokka's name was "Sokkara" because 1) this fic is unoriginal and 2) I couldn't come up with anything better.
"Sorry about yesterday," said Suki. "I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar."
Neither being nor having a massive prick, Sokkara reads the fine print between those lines. "I... I'm sorry too. I, uh, need to explain..." She trails off, not exactly sure how to give voice to what kept her up last night.
Suki waits.
* * * *
"Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down."
It's the flippant, casual dismissal that makes Suki lose her temper. She's worked all her life to be worthy of taking on the mantle of leadership for the Kyoshi Warriors, seeing to the training of her team and of the little girls who'll one day carry on their traditions. It's hard for Suki to remember a time in her life that didn't involve katas, drills or exercises.
And this little bitch laughs at her.
This little bitch laughs at her, like she isn't a girl too.
* * * *
Action is better than thought, so Sokkara swallows her fears and kneels down to the dojo floor. "I'm sorry."
Suki asks her, "For what?"
* * * *
When the spirits want to destroy you, her grandfather used to tell Suki, they first give you what you want in the worst way possible.
What Suki is expecting is an apology. She gets it.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
What Suki really wants is an explanation. She gets it.
"I treated you like a girl," the Avatar's companion says, her blue eyes still fixed on the wood grain of the floor boards, "when I should have treated you like a warrior."
* * * *
Sokkara hears rather than sees the confusion writ on Suki's face. "I am a warrior. But I'm a girl, too."
Aaaaaand it's at this point that I realized how much I was ripping off "Your Fixed Point" and stopped writing out of shame.
So... it's abandoned fic.
For the record, I'm not sure if this would have eventually resulted in porn or not. I think the Sokka/Suki relationship would at least be a close friendship filled with mutual admiration, perhaps even a romantic friendship, but I'm not sure now if it would have an erotic aspect. It's a shame that I was ripping off "Your Fixed Point" so much, because I like this extended mentor/student relationship I had planned for girl!Sokka and Suki. Girl!Sokka would also have had a terrible time at the North Pole; no Pakku-esq pass for her trangressing gender roles.
This was a somewhat stream-of-consciousness fic inspired by QuGoneJinn's amazing "Your Fixed Point" Iron Man genderswap fic. The only problem was that, as I was writing this girl!Sokka fic, I realized I was less inspired by "Your Fixed Point" and instead was just plain stealing its voice. So I killed my fic.
Title: Alike in Heart
Official Summary: "I am a warrior. But I'm a girl, too."
The Plot Bunny: Basically, how would Sokka be if he had been born a girl? And what would girl!Sokka's relationship with Suki be?
Let's Break Down The Idea: In the very very first version of this fic, a version so pre-alpha that it never actually grew beyond a quick note jotted down on a legal pad, it was going to a lemon with Suki and girl!Sokka. And then because I'm a joyless bitch who has to justify PWP, I started thinking about the relationship dynamic between Suki and girl!Sokka. How would they deal with being lesbians in addition to their pre-existing cultural differences? It seemed to me that the Kyoshi Warriors, being who they are (all girl team) from a prosperous and self-sufficient island, would have a different attitude towards homosexuality than the near-extinct, subsistence-level Southern Water Tribe.
I eventually arrived at the conclusion that girl!Sokka wouldn't be a warrior at all. Not at first, anyways. I've read a few genderswap AtLA fics -- not that there are many to begin with -- and most of them were 1) short fics and 2) didn't really alter the characters that much. A boy!Katara was still sewing up clothes, for example. But I just didn't grok why a girl!Sokka would become a warrior. She wouldn't have the background training from her father -- we get no indication Katara is taught about warriorhood, unlike the boys of the SWT -- and the ambient sexism that gave rise to canon Sokka's behavior early on in AtLA would seem to give social pressure on a girl!Sokka not to pick up a sword.
I wrote a few bare bones background scenes and came to some more decisions about girl!Sokka's characterization. She would be clever like Sokka, and just as sexist. Her relationship with Katara would be different. Katara would be less motherly as a girl!Sokka would be expected to carry her weight in "woman's work" after Kya's death. Katara would act as a fuller partner to girl!Sokka, an extra pair of hands with chores, but would be #2 in the pecking order of sisters. Girl!Sokka would know how to use a spear and a net -- someone would have to catch meat for the village after the men left -- but everything she knew about "manly stuff" like hunting would be learned simply because she had to do it. But girl!Sokka would really enjoy hunting, especially with Katara helping her out. Because what good is a really clever plan to ferret out that tasty animal if there's no one around to watch the plan go off without a hitch?
Girl!Sokka's relationship with Suki would change, too. That relationship crystallized for me in the following scene:
** Note: Girl!Sokka's name was "Sokkara" because 1) this fic is unoriginal and 2) I couldn't come up with anything better.
"Sorry about yesterday," said Suki. "I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar."
Neither being nor having a massive prick, Sokkara reads the fine print between those lines. "I... I'm sorry too. I, uh, need to explain..." She trails off, not exactly sure how to give voice to what kept her up last night.
Suki waits.
* * * *
"Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down."
It's the flippant, casual dismissal that makes Suki lose her temper. She's worked all her life to be worthy of taking on the mantle of leadership for the Kyoshi Warriors, seeing to the training of her team and of the little girls who'll one day carry on their traditions. It's hard for Suki to remember a time in her life that didn't involve katas, drills or exercises.
And this little bitch laughs at her.
This little bitch laughs at her, like she isn't a girl too.
* * * *
Action is better than thought, so Sokkara swallows her fears and kneels down to the dojo floor. "I'm sorry."
Suki asks her, "For what?"
* * * *
When the spirits want to destroy you, her grandfather used to tell Suki, they first give you what you want in the worst way possible.
What Suki is expecting is an apology. She gets it.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
What Suki really wants is an explanation. She gets it.
"I treated you like a girl," the Avatar's companion says, her blue eyes still fixed on the wood grain of the floor boards, "when I should have treated you like a warrior."
* * * *
Sokkara hears rather than sees the confusion writ on Suki's face. "I am a warrior. But I'm a girl, too."
Aaaaaand it's at this point that I realized how much I was ripping off "Your Fixed Point" and stopped writing out of shame.
So... it's abandoned fic.
For the record, I'm not sure if this would have eventually resulted in porn or not. I think the Sokka/Suki relationship would at least be a close friendship filled with mutual admiration, perhaps even a romantic friendship, but I'm not sure now if it would have an erotic aspect. It's a shame that I was ripping off "Your Fixed Point" so much, because I like this extended mentor/student relationship I had planned for girl!Sokka and Suki. Girl!Sokka would also have had a terrible time at the North Pole; no Pakku-esq pass for her trangressing gender roles.