mark_asphodel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mark_asphodel) wrote2011-10-29 09:49 pm
mark_asphodel) wrote2011-10-29 09:49 pm
Entry tags:
- au,
- fanfiction,
- fe11,
- fire emblem,
- food,
- genderbent,
- writing
Fic Update: "Honesty is (Not) the Best Policy," Ch 2
Huh. This is the only thing I've worked at all on in the second half of this month, and most days I haven't even touched 'fic. I think of things during the day, and I'm too tired to write when I finally get the chance at night. Meh.
Anyway, in this chapter, we get to spend a bit of time inside girl!Marth's head, which an annoying hurdle for the writer in any genderbend story, IMO.
The easiest way I can sum this up is, yes, she identifies as a girl. The world of Archanea, sexist as it is compared to other FE worlds, is not divided up into men who fight and girls who sit at home, after all. At this point in the story, Marth has seen Minerva and her knights. There are girls with messy hair who wield axes, ride dragons, and kick serious ass. Rejecting the idea that all "girls" dress like Linde or act like Nyna is not rejecting being female. So having girl-bits doesn't remotely conflict with running around the continent in the company of men, skewering the bad guys.
Having girl-bits is a serious obstacle to being a ruling prince, and as Marth also identifies as a prince, here is the basic conflict of the story. Put simply, when your job description consists of a) use magic sword only dudes can use and b) father a line of male descendants who will do likewise, even with (b) being negotiable, being female throws a spanner into both of these. And we know pretty clearly from canon that Marth's identity is aaaaaall wrapped up in being Prince of Altea. From the opening scene of FE11's Prologue to the finale, that's what it's about. Normal human relationships come second. Inconvenient facts of biology, therefore, are also going to come second.
So, instead of a warrior princess, what we have here is a girl who insists that yes, she can too be a prince. She has to be. And she's going to hang onto anything she can to prove it and make it reality.
Fortunately, this is not an Utena crossover.
PS: Beer as a secret ingredient in chicken stew works really, really well. Hard cider would do likewise, I'm sure.
Anyway, in this chapter, we get to spend a bit of time inside girl!Marth's head, which an annoying hurdle for the writer in any genderbend story, IMO.
The easiest way I can sum this up is, yes, she identifies as a girl. The world of Archanea, sexist as it is compared to other FE worlds, is not divided up into men who fight and girls who sit at home, after all. At this point in the story, Marth has seen Minerva and her knights. There are girls with messy hair who wield axes, ride dragons, and kick serious ass. Rejecting the idea that all "girls" dress like Linde or act like Nyna is not rejecting being female. So having girl-bits doesn't remotely conflict with running around the continent in the company of men, skewering the bad guys.
Having girl-bits is a serious obstacle to being a ruling prince, and as Marth also identifies as a prince, here is the basic conflict of the story. Put simply, when your job description consists of a) use magic sword only dudes can use and b) father a line of male descendants who will do likewise, even with (b) being negotiable, being female throws a spanner into both of these. And we know pretty clearly from canon that Marth's identity is aaaaaall wrapped up in being Prince of Altea. From the opening scene of FE11's Prologue to the finale, that's what it's about. Normal human relationships come second. Inconvenient facts of biology, therefore, are also going to come second.
So, instead of a warrior princess, what we have here is a girl who insists that yes, she can too be a prince. She has to be. And she's going to hang onto anything she can to prove it and make it reality.
Fortunately, this is not an Utena crossover.
PS: Beer as a secret ingredient in chicken stew works really, really well. Hard cider would do likewise, I'm sure.