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tape-hiss · 8 years ago

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Hello! I've decided I'm going to put myself on a wonderful adventure by creating my first webcomic! You've been creating a beautiful story with tangible characters through White Noise. Do you have any advice for accurately representing a character with a different gender identity than your own, especially if this character is non-binary? Even more generally, how do I represent anyone with an experience different to my own in terms of gender/sexuality, race, worldview, etc.?

Oh boy! Grats on starting your webcomic. And thanks! I guess here is my advice:

Characters should be well-rounded people before they’re anything else. By this I mean, no one is *just* trans or *just* gay or *just* a woman. They have likes and dislikes, and other life experiences, and hobbies and pet peeves and all that stuff. Certainly a person’s gender identity/orientation/race etc will influence how they interact with the world and vice versa, but that’s not all there is to anyone in real life, so a character shouldn’t be like that either. That’s why (and I’ve said this before) a character’s orientation and/or gender identity is sometimes the last thing I figure out about them.

Read a bunch. Listen to people of the group you’re trying to represent. Realize that everyone in that group experiences everything differently. Example: not everyone who’s trans is trans in the same way. Not everyone experiences body dysphoria in the same way (or indeed at all); not everyone transitions in the same way; not everyone realizes they’re trans when they’re young.

Be aware of stereotypes and the missteps other people make. (This is an ongoing process.) Own up to it when you misstep yourself. Realize you are not the expert here. Being able to cast a critical eye on your own work is important.

GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND. If you’re writing a character in transition, google that shit! There’s so many resources. No more characters binding with Ace bandages.

I feel there’s so many different ways to be a human being that on some level ‘accuracy’ isn’t really a thing, but one thing I’d recommend you consider is what it says when you write a character a certain way, coming from *you.* An androgynous, flamboyant villain is all well and good, but coming from a straight author (for example) it harkens back to the whole ‘predatory gay’ trope. Your mileage may vary if it came from a gay author, but I’d be more prone to seeing it as a conscious reclamation of a trope. Depending. Context is important.

Maybe this is a bad example? Think of it like any old expert opinion. I don’t know shit about theoretical physics! I could write a decent paper on it maybe with some vigorous research, but an actual theoretical physicist’s opinion is just going to be more grounded in understanding than mine. You might like my paper, but you’d be right to be suspicious of it and how well I know what I’m talking about.

I think a lot of authors want the audience to consider the work as wholly separate from themselves, but when you’re writing a marginalized group to which you don’t belong, your viewpoint will almost definitely leak through even with some very careful self-reflection as you write. And that’s probably unavoidable! And some people reading may not notice! But I for one think we generally do ourselves a favor in life as a whole by being more self-reflective of our choices and why we think and do what we do.

(Also, I don’t think you could do that with a webcomic anyway. Your contact with the audience will be a lot greater than for a creator in most other media, I think. That’s just the way it works.)

Does this make sense? I’m sick and rambling. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not perfect in any of these regards, but. Anyway! Good luck.

#muffled catawumpus #skudplastr

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crystallinerays · 7 years ago

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This has been such a shitty fucking week.

SO work has been beyond exhausting, my bank has been acting like a jackass with my paychecks, i lose electricty for two fucking days, i was forced to out myself to my parents before I was ready, I covered the worst fucking shift ever on my day off and got yelled at my a soccer mom, and now there’s someone (ONCE AGAIN) starting shit with me about Destiny, a game that boosted my self confidence and self worth and introduced me to amazing friends and probably saved me from ending up a psych ward or something and I love it enough to get some of its symbols permanently etched into my skin.

I GET FUCKING DEFENSIVE ABOUT THAT SHIT, OKAY?

I’ll talk to them about the whole Destiny thing tomorrow after I’ve cooled down a bit, but seriously why am i not allowed to enjoy anything these days? Can’t get excited about anything anymore without someone trying to steal my moment or shoot me in the dick

WHATEVER THE EARLY ACCESS BETA FOR DESTINY 2 DROPS ON TUESDAY AND I AM GOING TO ENJOY THE HELL OUT OF IT, DAMMIT! I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS FOR A LONG ASS TIME!

I am just so tired and pissed off like @ the universe just give me fucking day where everything goes right please and fucking thank you!

but hey Desh technically killed a dragon yesterday so that totally evens all this cosmic bullshit out, right? /sarcasm

#[ muffled catawumpus ]#i just really needed to vent and writing is theraputic #there's nothing here but salt please move alone #Captain's log

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