My brain does not steer
Feb. 10th, 2013 02:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethFell into TV Tropes. Now it is 2 in the morning.
*facepalm*
I can't remember what I started at, but I think I read all the things to do with crossdressing. I was thinking about characters that present as both men and women at different points in the story, and I could only think of ones where its comedy, or like where they're a soldier in armour and there's a Big Reveal that they were women all along and implications everyone should have noticed. Or films about transgender people where they're going from one to another and stay that way. Stories where people just get up and decide which to be today I do not so much recall. Or find in TV Tropes. Though there's a lot of Shakespeare and a lot of Japanese comics stuff where gender is very variable.
I have an idea about a biologically female character who lives as a man, marries a woman, and has a child with her. Only because of inheritance laws the child has to be believed to be from the pair of them, legal legitimacy and marriage all being tangled up, and once they've been married a while with no children some of the wife's relatives start watching her like a hawk in case she cheats, because they want to inherit, so the husband goes out to a part of the world none of her relatives are likely to willingly visit, dresses as a woman, finds a bloke, gets pregnant, comes home, makes sure everyone sees him leave on his next business trip, then spends the next six months hiding while his wife fakes a pregnancy. Then once the baby is born he hides a bit longer to be mostly his usual shape again, 'comes home' and officially meets the kid. Because of timing the wife's relatives still don't believe the kid is legit, but they're all focused on him not being the father, and he can swear on the magic truth stone that's definitely his kid, which would also be the result of any tests of bloodlines.
I don't know why that bit got so convoluted, originally I imagined they were a nice lesbian couple with a home that wouldn't have any particular opinions on how you dressed or who you lived with and one wife went off to get pregnant because they wanted kids but they didn't want a father hanging around thinking he was involved.
One way is sane, the other way is dramatic, and now I've thought of the version with complex intrigue I'm having trouble making them go back to happy nice world. I don't know much about happy nice world from knowing this happy nice couple, but if they have to go through all that complicated just to raise a kid together I know tons about where they live, even if it's stupid and annoying.
Also I remembered Blackadder's Bob, and temporarily lost my ability to take whole concept seriously. Blackadder is helpful like that.
I was also trying to think of stories where someone is taken for two separate people in their bloke and bird versions. Ones that weren't comedy. Ones where the audience/reader is also intended to be surprised.
I have an idea for writing two sets of stories where one of the characters is secretly the same character in different places acting different ways for Reasons. They'd be from different povs so it would be possible to get away with it as the narrator is unaware. But I don't know if readers would think that was kind of stupid or maybe cheating. Would it only be okay if there's clues? They'd have to be sneaky clues the narrator doesn't have the key to. Would it be boring? It would be kind of pointless to make a reader go through learning two different characters and then go 'btw, only one person!' ... maybe pointless. Sort of? Tells you a bunch about the world if they think there's Reasons to do that.
Most things I think would be boring.
And then I don't write anything.
I need a plan and a routine and I need it to include lots of studying and lots of academic writing and maybe some writing fiction for fun.
Instead I have waking up at 6pm after less than 6 hours sleep and being awake at 2 in the morning reading TV tropes.
*facepalm*
I can't remember what I started at, but I think I read all the things to do with crossdressing. I was thinking about characters that present as both men and women at different points in the story, and I could only think of ones where its comedy, or like where they're a soldier in armour and there's a Big Reveal that they were women all along and implications everyone should have noticed. Or films about transgender people where they're going from one to another and stay that way. Stories where people just get up and decide which to be today I do not so much recall. Or find in TV Tropes. Though there's a lot of Shakespeare and a lot of Japanese comics stuff where gender is very variable.
I have an idea about a biologically female character who lives as a man, marries a woman, and has a child with her. Only because of inheritance laws the child has to be believed to be from the pair of them, legal legitimacy and marriage all being tangled up, and once they've been married a while with no children some of the wife's relatives start watching her like a hawk in case she cheats, because they want to inherit, so the husband goes out to a part of the world none of her relatives are likely to willingly visit, dresses as a woman, finds a bloke, gets pregnant, comes home, makes sure everyone sees him leave on his next business trip, then spends the next six months hiding while his wife fakes a pregnancy. Then once the baby is born he hides a bit longer to be mostly his usual shape again, 'comes home' and officially meets the kid. Because of timing the wife's relatives still don't believe the kid is legit, but they're all focused on him not being the father, and he can swear on the magic truth stone that's definitely his kid, which would also be the result of any tests of bloodlines.
I don't know why that bit got so convoluted, originally I imagined they were a nice lesbian couple with a home that wouldn't have any particular opinions on how you dressed or who you lived with and one wife went off to get pregnant because they wanted kids but they didn't want a father hanging around thinking he was involved.
One way is sane, the other way is dramatic, and now I've thought of the version with complex intrigue I'm having trouble making them go back to happy nice world. I don't know much about happy nice world from knowing this happy nice couple, but if they have to go through all that complicated just to raise a kid together I know tons about where they live, even if it's stupid and annoying.
Also I remembered Blackadder's Bob, and temporarily lost my ability to take whole concept seriously. Blackadder is helpful like that.
I was also trying to think of stories where someone is taken for two separate people in their bloke and bird versions. Ones that weren't comedy. Ones where the audience/reader is also intended to be surprised.
I have an idea for writing two sets of stories where one of the characters is secretly the same character in different places acting different ways for Reasons. They'd be from different povs so it would be possible to get away with it as the narrator is unaware. But I don't know if readers would think that was kind of stupid or maybe cheating. Would it only be okay if there's clues? They'd have to be sneaky clues the narrator doesn't have the key to. Would it be boring? It would be kind of pointless to make a reader go through learning two different characters and then go 'btw, only one person!' ... maybe pointless. Sort of? Tells you a bunch about the world if they think there's Reasons to do that.
Most things I think would be boring.
And then I don't write anything.
I need a plan and a routine and I need it to include lots of studying and lots of academic writing and maybe some writing fiction for fun.
Instead I have waking up at 6pm after less than 6 hours sleep and being awake at 2 in the morning reading TV tropes.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-10 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-10 10:46 am (UTC)For the second storyline, the only things I can recall where the audience is also supposed to be surprised are police procedurals, CSI (New York or Vegas, or probably both), NCIS, and a vague recollection of others. However, those are disturbing. The trans character is typically the killer, and they're all M2F.
Also, the Shakespeare ones are comedies, as far as I recall.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 08:50 pm (UTC)I don't watch police procedurals, is too often the bad guy is a category and people like me tend to turn up as victims or killers, not heroes. Which is true too many places but particular annoying with police things. I not much like things with no aliens or magic in them anyway.
But yeah, have heard trans people are in those things being evils. Not good.
Shakespeare crossdressing is comedies, ends with weddings. Except for knowing all the girls is guy actors all of Shakespeare is crossdressing, even the tragedies, but that's a different level of story. Audience is meant to be fooled though, sort of, mostly.
Interesting reading material
Date: 2013-02-13 11:32 am (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Female_wartime_cross-dressers
no subject
Date: 2013-02-13 11:36 am (UTC)And the procedurals are depressing in their tropes. Yes. I tend to shut them down when I realise this would be the trope of the ep.
As for heroic warriors - You are probably aware of LOTR Eoen. It's Merry's pov and so the audience don't know it's her until the reveal (book. I didn't see what the movie did with her.) Also ends in a wedding, though.
Also, there's a whole historical trend too - crossdressing women in military. But not so much with the magic and aliens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlxphUEaL2k
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 03:51 pm (UTC)Can I link this from
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 08:46 pm (UTC)yes
no subject
Date: 2013-02-14 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-23 09:27 am (UTC)