Okay, that may be a strange way to put it, and maybe “plot” is over-stating what I’ve got here. But this is something I know I’ll never get around to writing. So I thought I’d just put it out onto the ‘net in case anyone else wanted to use it.
This is more a kernel of a situation, a set-up, than a true plot, really.
So you know the old folklore motif about the “seventh son of the seventh son” being blessed with x, y or z great power? (Yes, you can easily guess what movie I was watching when I thought of this.) So I’m pretty sure that somewhere, in something, I’ve seen the same apply to the “seventh daughter of a seventh daughter.” (In all honesty, I suspect it was in Discworld. But I’m not positive about that.)
Anyway! In a world where both the seventh son of a seventh son and the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter is blessed with power, what happens when the following situation occurs?
A seventh son and a seventh daughter marry. They have six sons and six daughters, and then their next child is born XXY. (Though most likely this would not be set in world where chromosomes would be acknowledged and understood, mind you.) So not quite a boy and not quite a girl…and thus having access to whatever benefits would be gained from both the seventh son of the seventh son and the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter.
Technically, I suppose that’s actually just describing who and what the protagonist is more than the plot or even the set-up, really.
Anyway, as I said, I think this could yield a really interesting character/story, but it’s not something I’d ever get around to writing. (I’m probably never even going to get around to writing half the things I feel more determined to write as it is!) But I wanted to give this character/story a chance at life despite my lack of time to write that life, so I thought I’d put this tiny seed out there in case anyone else wanted to nurture it. (Especially since what I’d have written probably wouldn’t have lived up to the idea’s potential anyhow. My writing usually does that.)
This set-up could be great for a Young Adult novel with a transgender lead, since the protagonist literally isn’t sure if she’s a boy or if he’s a girl. I know there’s a need for more diversity in Young Adult novels, so if any aspiring authors looking to write fantasy (?) YA think this sounds promising, please take as much or as little of this set-up as you’d like! (Not that there’s really much to take, of course.)
(Given how little I’ve provided, I obviously don’t require any credit in return, though I would love to read any stories/novels born out of this tiny seed, so please let me know about it if you write anything!)
We're All Mad Here! 