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Nov. 8th, 2020 02:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
babydracoWhen I say "genderswap" I really mean "cisswap/Rule 63", on A03 a tag for that is "Alternate Universe-Always a Different Sex". It's an AU in which at least one character who is cis in canon, is born into a world where they are a different cis gender than the one they are in canon. If that makes sense. They're unaware that there was ever another possibility. You have to take that, and figure out how the story would go, how it might change with this one simple alteration.
Of course you could take an existing female character and try to tell a different side of the story, or use an OC, but those are different genres. This isn't about trans characters and it's not about "hur hur, he woke up a girl!" or any sort of spell or curse. It's also not about wanting to write slash but being afraid to.I know that used to be a thing, but it hasn't been a thing for years, not since slash became a widespread, almost socially acceptable tradition. I almost never write het Rule 63 for a pairing I wouldn't write regular slash for. I've done it once, and that pairing is not one I ship, it's *supposed* to be weird.
I've noticed that the overwhelming majority of modern Rule 63 fic is first, concentrated mainly on swapping cis men to cis women, and second, written for canons which lack female characters or lack *good* ones or are deemed to have serious gender politics issues. I've been in the fanfic community for 20 years, and I can say I don't see much Rule 63 for canons which are ensemble pieces for female characters, or which feature a cast where the genders are pretty balanced. While I can think of a couple fandoms where I'd love to see a They're All Boys AU, I don't run into those often.
I'm a bit obsessed with Trial of the Chicago 7 at the moment, but I am able to admit it isn't good with the female characters. Like, there aren't any of real significance, which I'm sure can't possibly be historically accurate. Sorkin just doesn't do well with female characters. The emotions of the male friendships really stand out though, and people have commented that while he thinks political commentary is his strength, it really lies in his portrayal of emotional male friendships.
But I've somehow ended up writing Rule 63 for it. Because see above. When confronted with a cast where all the main characters/anyone with significant screen time is male, I immediately think "what if half these people were girls?"
Of course you could take an existing female character and try to tell a different side of the story, or use an OC, but those are different genres. This isn't about trans characters and it's not about "hur hur, he woke up a girl!" or any sort of spell or curse. It's also not about wanting to write slash but being afraid to.I know that used to be a thing, but it hasn't been a thing for years, not since slash became a widespread, almost socially acceptable tradition. I almost never write het Rule 63 for a pairing I wouldn't write regular slash for. I've done it once, and that pairing is not one I ship, it's *supposed* to be weird.
I've noticed that the overwhelming majority of modern Rule 63 fic is first, concentrated mainly on swapping cis men to cis women, and second, written for canons which lack female characters or lack *good* ones or are deemed to have serious gender politics issues. I've been in the fanfic community for 20 years, and I can say I don't see much Rule 63 for canons which are ensemble pieces for female characters, or which feature a cast where the genders are pretty balanced. While I can think of a couple fandoms where I'd love to see a They're All Boys AU, I don't run into those often.
I'm a bit obsessed with Trial of the Chicago 7 at the moment, but I am able to admit it isn't good with the female characters. Like, there aren't any of real significance, which I'm sure can't possibly be historically accurate. Sorkin just doesn't do well with female characters. The emotions of the male friendships really stand out though, and people have commented that while he thinks political commentary is his strength, it really lies in his portrayal of emotional male friendships.
But I've somehow ended up writing Rule 63 for it. Because see above. When confronted with a cast where all the main characters/anyone with significant screen time is male, I immediately think "what if half these people were girls?"
