"Just Flower", Part 1.chelonianmobileSeptember 17 2011, 20:26:06 UTC
Hope I'm handling this okay. The characters have no reason to know what transgenderism is, but I swear I do know more about it than they do. ~~
"Hey, Flower?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you wanna hang out with us, anyway?"
Flower rolled over and looked up at Bambi. "What?"
"Well, why don't you go play with Faline, or Thumper's sisters?"
Flower's lip trembled. "Y-you don't want me to play with you?"
"No, no! We like you and stuff, we don't want you to go. I just wondered why you didn't want to play with the other girls."
Flower shrugged and played with the tip of her tail. "I like you and Thumper better. The other girls are weird."
"Weird how?" asked Thumper with a yawn, sitting upright.
"I dunno. Just weird."
"They can't be that weird." Bambi laughed. "Hey, I got an idea - why don't we pretend you're a boy, and Thumper and me are girls? That way we can see what's weird."
Flower giggled, stood up, and bowed neatly. "Okay, princess."
"Now you gotta wear flowers! Uh, not you, Flower, real ones." Thumper swept up an armful of daisies and strung them on Bambi's ears, then curtsied. "You look very pretty."
The youngsters collapsed in giggles.
Later, as they looked up at the stars, waiting for their parents to call them to bed, Flower said "Uh, guys?"
Flower initiating a conversation was unusual enough for Bambi and Thumper to sit up and take notice. "What? Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I was just thinking ... when we were playing and I was being a boy earlier, um ... would you mind if I kept playing even when you stopped? It was kind of ... nice. And, you know when Thumper thought I was a boy when we met? I really didn't mind."
"What, you want us to keep calling you a boy?" Thumper asked, wrinkling his nose in puzzlement. "Well, I guess if you want us to, okay, we will. Right, Bambi?"
Bambi shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
Flower's eyes lit up and she - or he - blushed and beamed. "Aww, thanks, guys." She - he - didn't hug them as they expect, but patted them on the back amicably, as Thumper would do to Bambi. It didn't feel like part of the game; it seemed like it came more naturally to him than his previous femininity. They looked at each other and wonder, but their mothers called, and they were forced to bid each other farewell for the night.
As time passed and late summer turned to autumn, they found themselves continuing the game every day. Flower didn't insist, but the sad look on his face whenever they called him "she" or treated him like one of the girls was enough to make Bambi and Thumper keep it up. Strangely enough, it seemed to suit him, though they couldn't think why. They discussed it briefly when he wasn't there, once, and came to the conclusion that he must be trying to fit in better with his two best friends. Thumper suggested asking him, but Bambi warned against it; they didn't want to get him upset again.
Winter turned to spring. Bambi grew tall and strong, and his antlers spread wide. Thumper changed less, but his stubby limbs grew longer and stronger and his voice dropped. Finally, when the last snows melted, they waited in their usual clearing for Flower to awaken from hibernation.
"Bambi! Thumper! Hi!"
Rabbit and stag turned to see an unfamiliar skunk, waving at them and scurrying into the clearing.
"Um, have we met-" Bambi started to say, then took a closer look and blinked in surprise. Thumper hopped forward and sniffed at the skunk.
"Flower?"
"Yeah, it's me!" Flower looked bashfully at her - his - feet.
"Sorry, we thought ... um ..." Thumper found the words "thought you were a guy" sticking in his throat. Flower still looked like a female, smelled like a female, but no longer really seemed female. His voice had dropped, though it sounded a little wobbly, as if he was consciously holding it an octave lower than it naturally would be. He moved like a male, tail not swaying. He still looked shyly down when speaking, but that no longer seems like a specifically feminine mannerism.
Bambi bent down to look Flower in the eye. "The whole boy thing ... that's not for getting along with us, is it? It's for you."
Flower's eyes widened, he chewed his lip, and almost imperceptibly, he nodded.
Thumper patted him roughly on the back. "Well, why didn't you say so?"
Re: "Just Flower", Part 2 of 2.chelonianmobileSeptember 17 2011, 20:58:28 UTC
The female skunk has no canon name, so I went with "Whisper". No offense meant with inaccurate terminology in this - keep in mind it's from the characters' points of view. ~~
They get reacquainted rapidly, and though they expect things to be awkward after Flower's revelation, they aren't. They can't put their respective paws or hooves on it, but it feels less like a change than like putting into words something they already knew. Flower is still Flower; the skunk who befriended Bambi on his first day out in the forest, who played with them throughout their childhoods. They try to imagine how things would be different if he still seemed female, or if he'd started out seeming male, and can't imagine any real difference. When, blushing and stammering, he asks them if they're okay with it, they assure him it is.
"It's all okay, really," Thumper tells him. "We're happy if you are."
"Yeah." Bambi nuzzles Flower's side, lacking the paws to hug him. "You're still just good old Flower."
In the moonlight, Flower and Whisper huddle together, tails entwined. He sighs and looks away from her.
"What's wrong?"
"Well ..." Flower fiddles with his claws. "Aren't I wrong? For you, I mean? Wouldn't it be better for us both to go find real males, and start families?"
"Do you want that?" Whisper asks, placing a paw over Flower's. He shakes his head firmly, gripping her paw in return. "Why would it be better to do something neither of us want?"
"You're okay with it?" Flower asks, honestly surprised.
"Of course." Whisper pulls him into a hug. "I don't care whether you're 'really' male or not. You're Flower."
Flower returns the hug, blushing and feeling happier than he ever has, just to be Flower.
Re: "Just Flower", Part 2 of 2.chelonianmobileSeptember 17 2011, 22:41:45 UTC
Aw, thank you!
Just realised I changed tenses in the middle of this fic. Bugger >_< I dunno, it was begging for present tense throughout and I didn't notice when I switched over. Oops. Hope nobody minds.
Re: "Just Flower", Part 2 of 2.chelonianmobileSeptember 18 2011, 20:55:24 UTC
Thank you! ^_^ I figured that since they have no reason to know what transgenderism is, they also have no reason to dislike it. (Not suggesting for a minute it should be disliked, just that they haven't absorbed any of the unfortunate cultural attitudes.) Plus they're cute fuzzy Disney animals, and I can't imagine any characters of that type being anything but happy about something making their friends happy. And there needs to be more trans-centric fic in which people are accepting, because maybe it's wishful thinking but I can't help but hope that'll help spread the attitude in real life.
~~
"Hey, Flower?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you wanna hang out with us, anyway?"
Flower rolled over and looked up at Bambi. "What?"
"Well, why don't you go play with Faline, or Thumper's sisters?"
Flower's lip trembled. "Y-you don't want me to play with you?"
"No, no! We like you and stuff, we don't want you to go. I just wondered why you didn't want to play with the other girls."
Flower shrugged and played with the tip of her tail. "I like you and Thumper better. The other girls are weird."
"Weird how?" asked Thumper with a yawn, sitting upright.
"I dunno. Just weird."
"They can't be that weird." Bambi laughed. "Hey, I got an idea - why don't we pretend you're a boy, and Thumper and me are girls? That way we can see what's weird."
Flower giggled, stood up, and bowed neatly. "Okay, princess."
"Now you gotta wear flowers! Uh, not you, Flower, real ones." Thumper swept up an armful of daisies and strung them on Bambi's ears, then curtsied. "You look very pretty."
The youngsters collapsed in giggles.
Later, as they looked up at the stars, waiting for their parents to call them to bed, Flower said "Uh, guys?"
Flower initiating a conversation was unusual enough for Bambi and Thumper to sit up and take notice. "What? Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I was just thinking ... when we were playing and I was being a boy earlier, um ... would you mind if I kept playing even when you stopped? It was kind of ... nice. And, you know when Thumper thought I was a boy when we met? I really didn't mind."
"What, you want us to keep calling you a boy?" Thumper asked, wrinkling his nose in puzzlement. "Well, I guess if you want us to, okay, we will. Right, Bambi?"
Bambi shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
Flower's eyes lit up and she - or he - blushed and beamed. "Aww, thanks, guys." She - he - didn't hug them as they expect, but patted them on the back amicably, as Thumper would do to Bambi. It didn't feel like part of the game; it seemed like it came more naturally to him than his previous femininity. They looked at each other and wonder, but their mothers called, and they were forced to bid each other farewell for the night.
As time passed and late summer turned to autumn, they found themselves continuing the game every day. Flower didn't insist, but the sad look on his face whenever they called him "she" or treated him like one of the girls was enough to make Bambi and Thumper keep it up. Strangely enough, it seemed to suit him, though they couldn't think why. They discussed it briefly when he wasn't there, once, and came to the conclusion that he must be trying to fit in better with his two best friends. Thumper suggested asking him, but Bambi warned against it; they didn't want to get him upset again.
Winter turned to spring. Bambi grew tall and strong, and his antlers spread wide. Thumper changed less, but his stubby limbs grew longer and stronger and his voice dropped. Finally, when the last snows melted, they waited in their usual clearing for Flower to awaken from hibernation.
"Bambi! Thumper! Hi!"
Rabbit and stag turned to see an unfamiliar skunk, waving at them and scurrying into the clearing.
"Um, have we met-" Bambi started to say, then took a closer look and blinked in surprise. Thumper hopped forward and sniffed at the skunk.
"Flower?"
"Yeah, it's me!" Flower looked bashfully at her - his - feet.
"Sorry, we thought ... um ..." Thumper found the words "thought you were a guy" sticking in his throat. Flower still looked like a female, smelled like a female, but no longer really seemed female. His voice had dropped, though it sounded a little wobbly, as if he was consciously holding it an octave lower than it naturally would be. He moved like a male, tail not swaying. He still looked shyly down when speaking, but that no longer seems like a specifically feminine mannerism.
Bambi bent down to look Flower in the eye. "The whole boy thing ... that's not for getting along with us, is it? It's for you."
Flower's eyes widened, he chewed his lip, and almost imperceptibly, he nodded.
Thumper patted him roughly on the back. "Well, why didn't you say so?"
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~~
They get reacquainted rapidly, and though they expect things to be awkward after Flower's revelation, they aren't. They can't put their respective paws or hooves on it, but it feels less like a change than like putting into words something they already knew. Flower is still Flower; the skunk who befriended Bambi on his first day out in the forest, who played with them throughout their childhoods. They try to imagine how things would be different if he still seemed female, or if he'd started out seeming male, and can't imagine any real difference. When, blushing and stammering, he asks them if they're okay with it, they assure him it is.
"It's all okay, really," Thumper tells him. "We're happy if you are."
"Yeah." Bambi nuzzles Flower's side, lacking the paws to hug him. "You're still just good old Flower."
In the moonlight, Flower and Whisper huddle together, tails entwined. He sighs and looks away from her.
"What's wrong?"
"Well ..." Flower fiddles with his claws. "Aren't I wrong? For you, I mean? Wouldn't it be better for us both to go find real males, and start families?"
"Do you want that?" Whisper asks, placing a paw over Flower's. He shakes his head firmly, gripping her paw in return. "Why would it be better to do something neither of us want?"
"You're okay with it?" Flower asks, honestly surprised.
"Of course." Whisper pulls him into a hug. "I don't care whether you're 'really' male or not. You're Flower."
Flower returns the hug, blushing and feeling happier than he ever has, just to be Flower.
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Just realised I changed tenses in the middle of this fic. Bugger >_< I dunno, it was begging for present tense throughout and I didn't notice when I switched over. Oops. Hope nobody minds.
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I have a fic on a similar theme about King Julien - he's a Dreamworks critter so I can't bring it over here, but I'll give you the link if you like.
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