at some point, when i was still planning out the first claya fic, back when Aya was not much more than a self-insert, i was briefly considering making her trans too.
in theory, being a trans woman as well, it should make things easier for me, since i chose to tell the story from the first-person perspective. and as much as i'm sure that Claudia would be a literal sweetheart to her, as cathartic as it would feel to write their interactions (even more than it ended up being), there were rather good reasons for me to not go that route.
their heart-to-heart in the fic is structured so they switch places confiding in one another, growing closer as they learn how much they have in common, in spite of it all; them both getting an even share of stories to say. i already had the outline for it ready and changing anything would put Aya more in the center of attention, while i didn't only want her to be comforted by Claudia, but vice versa as well - instead i would be just making her already traumatic experiences possibly much worse. that would be also a lot of stuff to plan out, treat with the right amount of respect and write, for a smut that started out as a dumb joke. it could've also hit too close to home, though i'm not even sure if i went that far thinking about the idea.
the elephant in the room was the actual smut part. while it obviously should be easier for me to write it, it would probably result in unnecessary dysphoria, not the comfort i wanted. Aya already had a task, as someone experienced with women contrary to Claudia, of slowly leading her into it as they were getting intimate. i already had a few actions of hers straight cut out, since i didn't feel too good writing her being dominant in any slightest way - it felt masculine, in a way, which is dumb. but i can imagine how much worse it would be if Aya had a different set of genitalia. i can know my truths, but since at the time i wasn't even feeling alright writing a cis lesbian being, well, a lesbian, there was no reason making it even tougher on myself.
that being said, sometime after writing it, i actually wanted to go back to it, rework it and release a version with Aya being trans. as i said, there's still a lot of potential there for something very self-indulgent, but if i'm not mistaken, i already made Yori trans at this point, so the need wasn't internally there anymore.
Yori, being a would-be-won't-be girlfriend to Aya, and a natural born caretaker at that, just naturally made me want to create an entire AU where they end up together. writing sex from her perspective, with how lovely she is, would be much easier too, whether it would be with Aya or her canon partner - Shera. and they both, just like Claudia, would be perfect girlfriends to someone like her, giving her a proper amount of consideration and care, making her feel loved and safe. it's actually funny how similar they ended up being, coincidentally so. i even had Aya share this observation with Shera post-crisis.
so yeah, i could have the entire trio end up being trans at some point. still, thinking about the possibility of that first claya fic being from a perspective of a trans woman is warming my heart in a very pleasant way. it's a cute thing to think about.