TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter
(aka: Helicopter Story)

Go To

I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter, also known as Helicopter Story, is a very controversial work of fiction by the pseudonymous author Isabel Fall.

The plot of the story involves an individual who was once a woman named Seo Ji Hee and is now a pilot only known by the call sign of 'Barb.' Barb's brain was altered by the military to have the gender of 'attack helicopter.' This was done to make Barb into a better pilot; thanks to the alteration, warfare is now part of Barb's gender role and Barb thus feels more comfortable and natural while fighting in a helicopter than while doing other things, in the same way that Seo Ji Hee had once felt especially comfortable while wearing dresses. The story follows Barb along with the gunner 'Axis,' who also has the gender of 'attack helicopter,' as they fight a battle. There are also parts where Barb reflects on gender roles more generally.

The story is largely known for the intense backlash it generated. Fall's biography only stated that Fall was born in 1988; but because nobody had heard of Fall before, because the title of the story referenced an anti-trans Internet meme, and because '88' has associations in Nazi cultures, rumors spread that Fall was actually a man who wrote the story to mock or harass the transgender community. The story was quickly withdrawn from publication at Fall's request, and except for one interview, Fall dropped out of public life entirely.

The piece was not without its fans, however, and the story was ultimately nominated for a prestigious Hugo award. Fall consented to have the story be republished under the new title of 'Helicopter Story' so Hugo voters who hadn't read it yet could do so and judge it fairly. While it didn't win the award, some fans were happy just to be able to read the story again.


This story contains examples of:

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Barb and Axis have been sent to battle an out of control AI credit union called the Pear Mesa Budget Committee; whatever the Committee is doing, it's serious enough that shooting its forces is considered an appropriate response, so presumably it's pretty bad.
  • Ambiguous Gender: While Barb's introduction mentions that she used to be a cis woman, whatever Axis used to be is up in the air. Barb avoids using any pronouns for Axis and even the description of them having sex focuses on Barb while avoiding describing Axis's body beyond fingers and muscle. Barb does mention Axis having a flat chest, but that's a description that could apply to someone with small breasts as well as someone with no breasts.
  • Cool Plane: The helicopter gunship that Barb and Axis pilot is the AH-70 Apache Mystic, presumably an upgraded version of the AH-64 Apache. Not only is the Mystic electrically powered, it is completely quiet and has a plasma shield that blocks radar and laser lock-on.
  • Crapsack World: In addition to the obvious horrible things that the military is doing to its own troops, it's noted that the attack on the high school occupied by the Pear Mesa Budget Committee kills innocent teachers and janitors, but nobody cares.
  • Downer Ending: While Axis and Barb get away from their pursuit, they're both still stuck in a nightmarish world, and the brutal war between America and the Pear Mesa Budget Committee seems like it will continue indefinitely.
  • Fighting from the Inside: A variation. The operation seems to perfectly rewire the part of the brain that maps gender identity into a military identity instead....but Axis still feels the equivalent of gender dysphoria over being an "attack helicopter", implying that their true gender is resurfacing.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: The evil AI has the innocuous-sounding name of the 'Pear Mesa Budget Committee.'
  • Global Warming: It's noted that the mercenaries are comprised of climate refugees who are trying to earn enough money that they and their communities can move north or south to get out of scorched regions.
  • Hired Guns: The unit which pursues Barb and Axis is noted to be made up of mercenaries hired by the Pear Mesa Budget Committee (as opposed to robots or somesuch that are part of the committee itself).
  • Military Science Fiction: Gender politics aside, this story is an example of the genre, with lots of detail on the mechanics of how Barb and Axis launch their attack and then evade pursuit.
  • Sex Is Violence: Since their genders have been replaced with military roles, Barb and Axis experience flying and operating as an attack helicopter as almost sexual acts.
  • Speculative Fiction LGBT: Set in a future where the military alters people's brains to make soldiering their gender identity. The story is from the point of view of Barb, a cis woman who notes the similarities and dissimilarities to her experience of being a woman and being an attack helicopter, and Axis still finds uncertainty and discomfort in their new gender, causing Barb to wonder if people like Axis will create a "new queerness".
  • Super-Soldier: A twist in that the alterations are mental, not physical. The whole point of the operation is to make being a soldier part of a person's fundamental identity by replacing their brain's gender with a military role.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Barb at one point thinks of how Soviet women fought hard in WW2, suffering and dying to defeat the Nazis. Then when the war was over, they were shunned by society for violating gender roles and excluded from military parades.
    Barb: They had violated their gender to fight for the state, and the state had judged that violation worth punishment more than their heroism was worth reward.

Alternative Title(s): Helicopter Story

Top