#the untapped confidence of being a cis man

[fuitgummybat]

fact about me:

if I was born a cis man, I'm certain I would've become the next Neil Breen

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations ALEJANDRO! You’ve been accepted as PLANET X with a FC change to SANTIAGO CABRERA.

Alejandro, your application literally left me speechless. Seriously, I truly don’t know what to say other than this is everything I could have hoped for and more (like, a whole lot more) in an application for Andreas. There was genuinely a moment where I was bouncing between all the parts of the biography, wondering where it all connected, only to read the end and just have my jaw drop. Every sentence of this application oozed with such confident characterization of Andreas in the best way possible. I seriously can’t wait to see him destroy me and the rest of our mutants on the dash!

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Alejandro

PRONOUNS: He + Him

AGE: 27.

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: EST. I’ll be most often available during weekends, given the hectic nature of my profession + studies, with occasional popping up during week days.

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Andreas Guzmán, aka PLANET X.

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis man, he + him.

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:  

He wants you to see him as aimless. He wants you to see him as erratic. Uncertain as the X within an unsolvable equation. It makes it harder to see him coming that way, and it’s always far more damaging if you don’t know from which direction he will strike. A chaotic, whimsical, elusive figure in Miami’s mutant underworld, he sees the advent of the Chicago gangs as an affront but also an opportunity, an influx of new blood and interesting faces – new pieces within his chessboard, even, if he plays his odds right. If he is not seen coming.

The truth is, Guzmán’s power resides in how little it is known of him and his true intentions. Much like the planet he named himself after, Nibiru, he’s closer to a fiction than a fact, closer to mythos than reality, and he favors it this way; he has crafted a grandiose image of himself that goes beyond the confines of his birth name, beyond the confines of mortality, beyond the essence of man, because he needs to be more. Guzmán sees himself as a force of nature, as entropy, as a wildcard, an unpredictability that threatens any semblance of order or peace, and he will only reveal the reasons for his actions once the fruits of his labor have long ripened. He learned since he was very young that knowledge was a very powerful tool, and that just knowing more than everyone else wasn’t enough – he needed to control the very flow of information too.

So he is unknowable (as far as something can be unknowable) and he is unreachable (unless he deems it necessary to appear otherwise, and he often does), his mind fixated on the ever-changing, ever-morphing fabric of the world he’s living in, while he oversees the building of the next one. Building? Yes, he’s building a world after the death of this world, where he and his kind thrive as gods, and they’re given their rightful place: below him, but above all else.

BIO:

Content warnings: violence, murder.

OPTION ONE. A young man born to privilege and Texas oil royalty, with too much time in his hands and little in the way of scruples. His life already outlined well before he was born, a project molded with his father’s forethought, his mother’s aloofness, and a nonstop, near repulsive stream of cash. He was to become something great, just as those before him. He was to fit himself into the grand scheme of the Guzman family’s empire: a chief executive, a politician, a diplomat, a lobbyist, a lawyer, someone with authority and the charisma to move millions toward edge of the precipice, if so he happened to need them there. But there came one issue: much as they tried, the young man did not fit perfectly within this carefully constructed plan. While brilliant without compare, his brain was racked with maladies. He’d grown impulsive and hard throughout his upbringing, and worse still: enamored by celebrity, unwilling to listen, and prone to bursts of temper that rivalled his dad’s. It was during one of those heated arguments they liked to have that Andreas Guzman’s mutation blossomed: a passing comment and a venomous will transmuted to a tattered pulse and an itch on his father’s left arm. What is the likelihood of Edgardo Guzman spontaneously developing heart failure? Slim. He took care of himself. He was young. He had no genetic background that reasonably explained this development. And yet, it happened, a freak accident, a tragedy the likes of which you only see in movies. Edgardo died in front of Andreas, and while there was no possible way to pin the death to him, Andreas was convinced he’d played a role. He only later came to learn how.

OPTION TWO. A talent for numbers. Unbridled curiosity. And a knack for finding the most efficient solution even if it wasn’t the standard solution – those were the ingredients that made Andreas. A professor of Math 55’s course with a textbook middle class past, he came into the profession wholly on the desire to understand his gift and the world and pass his knowledge onto others. And as for the gift itself: he seldom used it, fearing its unforeseeable outcomes, anxious about its untapped potential, which was so much greater than anything he knew and so destructive because of it. Others weren’t so careful, however: when his mutant status was revealed and his exact mutation was discovered through an undisclosed examination of the university’s faculty, he was “persuaded” into accepting a job within Intelligence. Reluctantly, he gave in, hoping to be of service. You see, back then, he was innocent, an optimist with unshakeable faith, as all good mathematicians are, and it was only after years of deadening work as an Special Analyst, and years of exploitation by the emotionless, relentless hands of the State that the Andreas you know was born. This Andreas that granted the United States of America many a victory overseas simply by tipping the scales in their favor. This Andrea that fell ships, killed spies, manipulated foreign policies – all within the comfort of the little box they’d built for him. That Andreas – well, one fateful night, he ended up disappearing from the face of the Earth. Changed his name (he wasn’t born Andreas, of course he wasn’t) and bits of his face and killed his old life and resurfaced years later with fire in his eyes and one simple goal: Chaos. Turmoil. To strike fear in the hearts of those that had previously filled him with it.

OPTION THREE. A career criminal and kingpin, he was born in the slums of Venezuela to Chilean immigrants and had little choice in the matter of his fate. The streets were his teachers, the lessons hitting in a flurry between ages eight and nineteen; first lesson: lying; second lesson: theft; third lesson: robbery; fourth lesson: assault; fifth lesson: murder. He graduated with honors at the top of his class, and he had a talent for leadership that made other kids want to follow him. The boy was just lucky, almost supernaturally so, managing to survive more than one ambush and hit, making him evade prison more than once. Well before knowing about his mutation, he’d been using it, pushing its limits. It wrapped him up in myth, made his subordinates think he had some kind of pact with the devil or dabbled in witchcraft, and it was just as well because it made them develop near-blind trust in him. Over the years he upsized his operation, made it encompass whole regions of Central and South America – by this point, he sought mostly other mutants, giving them food, shelter, safety and dreams to chase after right by his side. He called this horizontal organization El Panteón (The Pantheon), and named himself its central figure. Together, they put small and medium-sized governments at their heel and switched policies in their favor – or simply murdered the dignitaries publicly if they did not cooperate. And in neither case it was enough for Guzmán. These bloody endings were still only the beginning. Eventually, at the age of thirty three, he settled in America – Miami, to be precise, with plans to expand The Pantheon to this untapped territory and bring about the next step of his plan. By the age of 39, the Pantheon had a foothold in Miami.

OPTION FOUR. The reincarnation of an elder being. Sounds crazy, but Guzmán honestly believes it to be true. The whole background of it came in the shape of dreams during his youth at an orphanage. What else could explain his predicament? What could explain the migraines? The premonitions? The ability to change what seemed unchangeable? In his teenage years he took to books of mythology, history, cosmology, mathematics, theology, conspiracy. Things none of his teachers, all nuns, would approve of if they knew. He learned about the presumed origins of mutations, about aliens, about ancient races and old forgotten gods that were very different to the God he was familiar with, that didn’t make sense to him. And he came to the conclusion that he was one of them. That mutants, as a whole, were, but they’d forgotten; their history had been taken from them. And just like that, at the age of seventeen, the malignant seed within his brain had been planted. Every action to be taken afterwards was just the means to his end as the truth’s very emissary.

THE ANSWER. None of these options are true. All of these options are true. To what extent? That is the actual question, and the answer is that Guzman won’t tell you. He will tell you, but only the false parts. He will tell you, but only if it’s a mix of falsehood and truth. Unreliable without compare, and with an ambition sharp enough to cut through diamond, Guzman will stop at nothing to see his vision materialized. The only things you can have for certain is that he’s charming, playful, hungry, and unable to see a scenario where he does not come out on top.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

RICHARD MALLORY.

When I think of Guzman and Richard, I think of the Nibiru cataclysm. If Guzman is Planet X and Richard is the Earth, it only makes sense to imagine a catastrophic collision between them sometime in the near future. To Guzman, Richard represents the status quo that he so abhors, a system that pretends to patch up a bullet hole with a Band-Aid and act as though it’s enough. Richard stands in the way of the destruction Guzman craves, and it just so happens that right now they have a similar objective, but for different reasons, so Guzman is willing to entertain a begrudging partnership.

On the character level, I see them as foils of one another. They’re both highly intelligent and even idealistic men (if you’re willing to accept that Guzman is idealistic, and not utterly nihilistic), but where Richard desires cohabitation (“peace, unity, amicability”), Guzman wants radical, violent change, and it’s simply not compatible with what Richard wants for Miami or mutantkind in general.

HANA MERCADO.

Hana is one of the mutants Guzman has kept tabs on for a little over a year now. In her, he sees ample potential. He sees power. He sees confidence. He sees someone worthy of the new world. He has employed her in the past for several of The Pantheon’s exploits, and he has been respectful of Hana’s wishes to remain an independent force. They’ve managed a friendly relationship out if it. However, with the arrival of the new gangs, Miami’s landscape is rapidly changing, and he knows it’s time for her make a choice. After all, the alternative to joining forces with him is to let the newcomers seize control of their city.

EXTRA:

ON THE TOPIC OF:

HIS NAME: Much speculation has been given to whether Andreas Guzman was born Andreas Guzman or not, and he’s not about to tell you the answer. But he, in fact, prefers if you would call him X, since that is how he’s known by much of the underworld in Florida. Friends and family and enemies call him Guzman. Nobody calls him Andreas, unless they want to displease him.

THE PANTHEON: Guzman’s organization, comprised entirely of mutants at this point in time. As it was mentioned above, unlike a pyramidal structure where Guzman reigns on top, it’s more of a flat, loose entity, closer to a cartel. He’s still in charge, but outside of his direct orders, it acts mostly independently under the direction of several sub bosses. It wields its most influence in South America and Mexico, with a centralized focus in Florida right now. Allegedly responsible for an outrageous number of assassinations, arsons, and massacres, they have been labeled as an anti-human, pro-mutant terrorist group by the FBI. It’s not widely known that Guzman is responsible for its inception and much of their work, and given his elusive nature, they don’t even know what he looks like.

HIS POWER: Guzman’s mutation is very powerful, yes, but it’s also incredibly difficult to work with and, if he’s not careful, it can be world-breaking. Years of trial and error have allowed him to hone his craft, but the carefulness still remains – it has to. It’s not just luck and likelihood, it’s also how they present themselves. Like a genie and its three wishes, he has to be precise about what he wants to occur, and plan for contingencies in case something gets out of control. On the other hand, it’s a very nifty tool for general mischief-making. He can let loose from time to time and probability meltdowns will take place: glass will shatter, tremors will shake the earth, and cars will crash. Sometimes they will happen without his input, this because the power has a direct connection with his mental status. It’s not pretty to be able to see the probabilities of everything and the millions of path you can possibly take. As such, on the worst days, he’s prone to nightmares, migraines, hallucinations, nosebleeds. He hides all this very well, but sometimes they can be debilitating. He self-medicates.

NARRATION: Guzman is an unreliable narrator. He’s plagued with delusions of grandeur, as a byproduct of his mutation, and many things he says will simply not be true. He knows how to lie. He knows what to say in order to get what he wants. But also, he genuinely believes things that have no grounding in reality. The idea, ultimately, is a gradual revelation of the aspects and bits that are true for Guzman – whenever the interaction allows it.

RIGHT NOW: The most succinct way to put what Guzman does for a living is: he’s a crime boss. He pushes drugs and weapons in and out of America. He also makes money using his mutation (he’s won the lottery a few times, won multiple sports bets, card games with six figure pots – through frontmen, naturally). He uses this money to keep tight control of Miami and fund his many projects.

MISC: sangrelobo.tumblr.com | mockup blog for the man himself.

ANYTHING ELSE: faceclaim changed to Santiago Cabrera.

[thewritingstar]

Guess I'll take one for the team number 1-30 Pls kind stae

1. What do you like and dislike about the way you were brought up?

-I liked how my parents never forced the “you’re gonna marry a man” thing on me. It was always “you’re going to marry someone who loved you no matter what and makes you happy” and that’s something I really appreciated. One thing I disliked was forcing me to go to church. It’s not a place for kids where they are forced to sit still for hours and be quiet and it was hard for someone like me where my focus isn’t as great.

2. What do you believe are the 5 biggest issues we face as humans now?

-global warming, lack of human morals, poverty, inequality between genders and races, the numbness people have with violence and how war and crime and shootings are seen as everyday things.

3. If you could write a novel what would it be about?

-fun fact I am writing a book now! I’m not gonna say what it’s about but it’s in the romance category and I hope that one day I’ll publish it!

4.  What are your beliefs regarding the universe and the nature of life and death?

-I think life and death are natural things and actually do have meaning and purpose but are in control of one another.

5. Talk about the best dream you’ve ever had. 

-hmm I think it was one where I was running down a hallway with stained glass shining on my face as my black ball gown was flowey.

6. Do you want children? Why or why not? 

-yes and no. A part of me would love to be a mom but another is me not wanting to raise a human being when I myself am not in the right space to do so. If anything I would love to adopt a teen or child instead of birth, cause that ain’t happening.

7. What are your views on gender equality? 

- 10000% for it. If we are not equal in the simplest way then there is a problem. No one should be treated badly or given less freedom and rights just for their gender whether they are cis,trans,non binary and everything in between. Equality is either for all or none at all.

8. How do you feel about cultural appropriation? 

-I think it’s disgusting but a lot of people won’t learn to tell the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation. I think that for some cases people want to experience other cultures which is good but please be mindful and don’t do anything that could offend or harm anyone’s way.

9. Where are the 3 places you most want to travel to and why?

-Italy because it’s beautiful, Japan because it’s Japan and I’m kinda a weeb, Disney Shanghai because WOW HAVE YOU SEEN IT???

10. What are some things you wish you’d been taught as a child that you weren’t? 

-hmmm my parents were pretty open about things so I feel like I didn’t not know things. So idk for this one. Because what ever they didn’t teach me, they didn’t know themselves.

11. Talk about some of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made?

-oof one time I drove through a red light thinking it was a stop sign

12. Do you feel you are in control of your destiny or do you believe fate controls the course of your life? 

-I would like to think I’m in control but there is definitely an influence of fate along these lines.

13. Do you believe is ghosts/ spirits? If so why do you think they exist?

-well for one whose to say they don’t? I don’t really think they do but I also don’t think they don’t ya know? I think it’s just a cool thought to think about the continuation of life after this time.

14. Do you think there are any other forms of intelligent life in the universe? 

-for sure. You are a fool if you don’t think so. It’s hard to wrap the mind around but imagine all the untapped potential that radiates out in space.

15. What do you think constitutes a truly healthy relationship?

-communication and desire. If you don’t wanna put in the time and work for a healthy realtionship, do not waste the other persons time

16. How would you like to live your life?

-full of happiness and pursuing what I want

17. Talk about a time someone treated you badly.

-growing up I’ve always been a victim of emotional abuse (not super harsh) but adults around me did not know that the stuff they had said hurt me. It’s hard when you don’t understand or know when you’re hurting something.

18. Talk about a time you treated someone else badly. 

-Hmm when ever I feel like I hurt someone’s feeling I always apologize. I guess maybe when I get angry I talk it out on my parents and act a little rude.

19. What is something you can’t do that you really wish you could? 

-idk be confident more. I just feel like I can’t but I know I can and should.

20. What are your initial thoughts when somebody tells you they’re religious? 

-I think it’s fine. I am not one to hate on someone for religious views. Now using your religion to belittle someone else does not go well with me but for the most part, it’s a beautiful thing that can bring people together and there’s no need to hate some one for their religion if they have one or not.

21. Were you more of the victim or the bully as a child? 

-probably a victim. I was teased by this one girl who I still hate after years and I always tried to be a nice person even if I didn’t get along with people but I probably have been rude to kids before because kids are ruthless.

22. How have you changed since you were a child and how have you stayed the same? 

-I’ve stayed the same i guess in my childlike wonder and ability to find the best in things. I’ve changed in a lot of ways. I notice and identify when something is right. Plus my anxiety has changed since I was younger.

23. Are you the kind of person who has a large group of friends or are you someone who has just a few people they’re close to? 

-I have a mixture. My group of friends consist of like 5 people but we are all extremely close and then I have another group of friends that I’m close with but not at that level. I’m just a friendly person

24. What qualities have you got from your parents? 

-my dads hard work and determination and my moms laughter

25. What is one thing you wish somebody would say to you right now? 

-drink some water and eat better you dehydrated slut

26. Describe your ideal partner? 

-I think someone who is compassionate and has a good sense of humor. I just want someone where they can make me laugh even when I feel broken. Also good hair. Like if you have that panic! Haircut, it does not matter who you are, I will instantly be attractive to you.

27. Describe yourself as a person?

-I would like to say that I am a caring and generous person who is always ready with a quick comeback and jokes. But even when I’m smiling I am burdened with mental illness that helps my delivery with puns. Im also kinda short.

28. What things don’t you do right now that you feel like you morally should? 

-I feel like I should volunteer more even though I don’t have time and spent a lot of my childhood helping at cancer volunteer stuff.

29. What is your star sign and how accurate do you think it is in describing you?

-Aries. If you met me then you probably would think so too. I mean even on here you could probably sense that I was a fire sign lol.

30. What sort of terms are you on with your exes? 

-I’ve never dated anyone so I don’t have an ex but you better believe that I would be that ex that still gets invited to things because the family loves me.

[brittapcrrys]

what are some fcs that you like but have some overdone tropes/stereotypes attached to them?

oooh okay okay, this is cool. i will say that, because some people do use available resources to inform the development of their characters, if most/all the gifs or icons for a given fc are from one singular role then the mannerisms and expressions and style of that fc are probably gonna rub off on the ocs of ppl who use those visual cues to aid their character creation, and that’s fine!! i’ve done it before myself and probably will do it again

from the fcs i just listed HERE, the only ones that come to my mind as frequently being played in a certain way or having particular tropes linked to them would be..... idris elba being done DISGRACEFULLY dirty in 1x1/indie circles as an overtly sexual (usually rich) black man pursuing younger women which is all kinds of racist and nasty, and lily james being played as either a free spirit (ty young donna in mamma mia 2) or like a dreamy wallflower kind of character?

i haven’t been in enough rps in the past couple years to know what’s common/overdone so much now, but im going to assume that a lot of the CW fcs are played.....like their CW role.... so i think Danielle Campbell’s cute but a lot of the time when I’ve encountered her the OCs have often had like tragic backstories and they’ve been closed-off and cold but secretly very kind and with an untapped confidence and power.... i never watched those vampire shows but i assume her char was like that. and phoebe tonkin sTILL gets done as ‘bitchy’ as her only character trait fjdghdgh wow. camila mendes and madelaine petsch?? i like them too but they’re so often played as really snobby, judgemental young women and it’s just............ at this point it does feel lazy.

this one i 100% get and a few years ago i almost fell into doing it myself, but zoe kravitz as either some kind of punk/rock/garage/grunge musician, stoner, hippy, tattoo artist or something.......

also for a while there every dichen lachman oc i encountered was being written as a lesbian and i was like WOW our minds (bc id done it to nfdjgdg) !!!  not sure if that counts??

jordan fisher tends to go one of 2 ways: cool, popular, jock-adjacent, heartbreaker, OR soft and awkward and nerdy “puppy” (eugh). i used to see a lot of the first version and i though  haha yeah i’ll take parts of that but make him less suave, less experienced, a lot more clumsy..... and then i started running into the second character type everywhere instead smh.

i used to kind of like sophia bush but some events have soured her for me, but she and a couple of other thin cis white women of a similar age are really often played as single working mothers reconnecting with their (wanted connection) baby daddies in so many town rps and im like ??? why... is that.... where u all landed with these fcs ??!

most of the other oft-troped/stereotyped FCs i can think of right now are fcs i tend not to take notice of, or i actively dislike/avoid for various reasons!

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

A theory.

Wacky comic book theory but here we go.

One way or another we all talk about representation these days and the ways in which it can be done well or badly, etc.

And when those discussions happen more broadly usually they boil down to representing 4 groups.

Females, People of Colour and queer/non-homosexual people, and trans people. Of course there are others too. Gender fluid could be counted as it’s own thing and frankly I see not much talk as far as disabled representation is concerned, be it physical or mental. But for the sake of argument let’s stick to those four.

As far as comic books are concerned female and characters and poc (especially black and Asian) characters are comparatively the best covered whereas queer characters ain’t. It doesn’t help that sometimes creators forget some characters aren’t straight or else the fact that they aren’t is such a minor point that people honestly don’t know (see Felicia Hardy).

But as poorly represented as queer characters are (off the top of my head, and I’m sure I’m forgetting people, Harley Quinn, Deadpool, Ice Man and America Chavez are just about the only queer characters headlining their own series right now), trans characters really are non-existent.

Which brings me to those pictures of Superman, Wonder Woman and Black Panther up there.

See I have a theory that for certain under represented groups in comic books (at least superhero comic books) what is needed is a sort of ambassador character, specifically one in the form of a stone cold power fantasy.

Now you could argue ALL superheroes are power fantasies to one degree or another, but if you think about those three characters they are taking the notion of being power fantasies almost as their core concepts.

I don’t buy Superman or most superheroes as on some level inherently MALE power fantasies for various reasons, but Superman was certainly a potent HUMANIST power fantasy.

Human beings are animals and as such we innately have a drive to survive which takes the form of self preservation and preservation of our species. Preservation mostly boils down to ensuring our bodies can function properly and also avoiding injury.

If you look at the myths and legends of cultures across the world and all eras of history you find figures that speak to these innate instincts. You find human or human like figures who have abilities beyond those of mere mortals. In Western culture the most famous examples of these types of figures are of course the Greco-Roman Heroes like Herakles/Hercules. A man with God’s blood in his veins who’s strength, stamina and resistance to injury dwarfs normal people. And he uses that to slay monsters to plague the land or perform feats that kick the natural order of nature in the ass like descending into the Underworld and emerging unscathed, or surviving terrible poisonous injuries for days and days or moving mountains, fighting off Titans from the Realm of the Gods themselves. 

Superman though maybe not intentionally came from EXACTLY the same innate human instincts to be more powerful than we are s we can survive threats and protect our fellow species. He’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall building in a single bound, he can survive ten exploding shells and later he can even defy gravity itself. And he uses those powers to protect the innocent and take down the bad guys who’d hurt them. Replace gangsters and citizens with the Hydra and the village folks and you essentially have the same thing as Hercules.

And we all know how Superman consequently ushered in...well literally the entire superhero genre.

Superman was a gateway character who opened the door to everything else and he did it in large part because he inherently embodied an indulgent wish fulfillment fantasy.

And Wonder Woman did the same thing except instead of being a humanist power fantasy she was an indulgent FEMALE power fantasy. Put aside how its a matter of record that her creator was deliberately aiming for that end goal, just look at her character. She comes from an island exclusively of women. That society is morally and technologically superior to the rest of the world, the rest of the world labelled as ‘man’s world’ which by default makes Paradise Island ‘woman’s world’ if you like. The Amazons were created and guided by the GodDESS Aphrodite, who is associated with (rightly or wrongly) stereo typically female qualities like love and beauty and elegance, traits she then gives to her Amazons. There’s a lot more to dive into but I won’t for now.

Wonder Woman opened the door to ALL consequent female characters after her. But it wasn’t MERELY because she happened to be female and come first. She did it an managed to endure into the silver age revival of superheroes when most of her peers didn’t BECAUSE she had substance to her and that substance stemmed from her being explicitly a power fantasy for a specific group of people.

And then Black Panther did the same thing, except instead of being a humanist or a female power fantasy he was an indulgent BLACK power fantasy. Sure he didn’t get launched as a headliner but that wound up working in his favour as he showed up and kicked the asses of (at the time) THE premiere Marvel superheroes. Obviously that will that automatically convey this guy as powerful just in general, but that isn’t really what made T’Challa resonate, nor was it merely the fact that he happened to be black.

For T’Challa being black was as vital to his character as being female was to Diana’s. He was someone ethnically native to the AFRICAN continent. He came from a country in Africa that had NEVER been colonized by anyone and was 100% autonomous, not answering to any larger organization nor in a submissive alliance with a more powerful nation. He drew his powers from traditions native to his African nation, which were tied up with an animal that was literally black and also native to the African continent. Shit, he even had BLACK in his name. 

Those traditions co-existed with a civilized and technologically proficient society. In fact it was MORE technologically advanced than America and the citizens (at first glance anyway) seemed far more content and at well provided for than America with it’s variety of social problems. It’s technological advancement came from a special natural resource EXCLUSIVE to T’Challa’s nation, no one else had it or had managed to take it from them. In fact when one evil white guy (dressed in stereotypically colonial clothes) TRIED to take it he was defeated. And if all that wasn’t enough Black Panther was not just a superhero who could own the F4 and came from this fantastic African nation...he was straight up it’s KING.

As much of a black power fantasy as Luke Cage was/is...T’Challa was on a whole other level pretty much from day one.

And whilst there had been black characters before him, T’Challa was the guy who really cemented the idea of black (and other poc) superheroes as being legitimately a thing. No T’Challa no Luke Cage, Miles Morales, Blade, Jon Stewart, Storm, etc. 

So what’s my overall point with this?

If Marvel and DC really want to make queer and trans heroes a thing like female and poc heroes are then they NEED to present a legitimate queer and trans power fantasy.

I’m not saying introduce a new gay hero or trans hero who can instantely own all the Avengers or anything. Even the Fantastic Four rallies around and managed to defeat T’Challa, and he was shown to have to really plan ahead to get as far as he did.

But I am saying introduce for example a trans character who exudes physical power and confidence and is a formidable fighter, not a hero in training learning the ropes. Somone who shows up on the scene already knowing how to kick ass. Then in ways I am not really qualified to speak to, make being trans inherent to not just their general life and personality, but their core concept, the source of their awesome powers. Make them someone who comes from a  fantastical advanced, society where being trans isn’t merely accepted it’s the inherent norm and part of the societal structure. 

But do it in a way that isn’t on the nose condemnatory towards cis people. Black Panther wasn’t ever implying white people are inherently bad or inferior to black people, hence why the Fantastic Four and Black Panther quickly become close friends and allies. Wonder Woman wasn’t explicitly saying men are bad or American society was bad. Steve Trevor and other male characters were portrayed as good guys and Diana herself as a patriotic ally to America, in fact in the stories America was held up as a bastion for women and their rights. Now...that was bullshit of course and I’m saying you have to go that far at all. But I guess make the story and series celebrate being trans without playing it as a put down to cis people or else something intended to directly challenge their thoughts about society.

That’s something to be done down the line once the wider audience has accepted a trans superhero character. If this hypothetical trans character is T’Challa then down the line you can pull out a Luke Cage type of character who does more directly challenge that sort of stuff and critically is FROM America, not a black power fantasy country. 

Whilst you can say we already have queer characters, their success rate is spotty at best and a lot of them were originally intended to be straight. So I think  gay, bisexual, etc characters would benefit from this approach as well.

And the best part (especially as far as trans characters are concerned) is that this is legitimately untapped potential. Marvel and DC can both grab the the MASSIVE historic claim of creating the first (major) trans superhero ever and make some real money off of it. Everyone’s a winner.

Bottomline: Create ambassador power fantasy characters for various groups if you want to make them stick around.