Anonymous asked:

Hi! I’m writing a story that has three main character, one of which is a person of color. the character design changed a lot as I was working on it, and one thing I noticed is that my character who is Indian ended up being the only one of my characters who has scars and a missing tooth, as well as seeming to have no powers for the most of the story. I’m not seeking approval as much as wondering if I need to rework my story so it doesn’t seem like my white characters are favored. Secondarily, is it better to give this character an ethnic south asian name even though she is american? I want it to make sense in the story.

You need to think about why you chose particular traits to be assigned to your individual characters, and consider any biases that may be affecting this. Take some time to deconstruct why you chose these characteristics and revise as necessary.

Do you explain why she has noticeable scars and a missing tooth? Along with why she seems to not have powers? If this is detailed well without denigrating her character e.g. making it about her ethnic background or making her the ‘weird character’, I think you’ll be on the right track. Give her nuance and make her a whole character. Give her more background than ‘Indian’; India is composed of multiple states and regions which all have their own unique cultural elements that you can find out about. Additionally, I’d suggest introducing other South Asian characters to contextualize her character a bit more. Make it clear that her lack of powers isn’t something that’s only specific to the South Asian characters you write.

Do all the white characters have powers? Is it a matter of training & opportunity or heredity? Do you have characters from other ethnic backgrounds as well? Consider the setting and adjust the demographics accordingly. As I said previously, consider your biases and how they come across to the reader. 

Re: the name thing. My name is Abhaya. I was born and raised in the United States by immigrant parents with their own unique Bhagnari and Odiya names. She can absolutely have a name of South Asian origin and have it make sense in this context. Do some research into a specific state/region to find names that would specifically suit your character, and try to find a name that is meaningful. Our naming guide is great for a starting place with this.

~ Abhaya

Inej Ghafa from the Six of Crows duology is the only brown person in the core group of characters and she doesn’t have any magical abilities or significant background unlike some of her friends. Nevertheless, she remains popular among readers and ranks consistently as one of the topmost beloved characters from all of author Leigh Bardugo’s works. When you are writing a character of colour, you are not just dealing with a racial identity but also putting in work to make your characters fleshed-out individuals with compelling backstories and development. 

As Mod Abhaya has stated, give your character depth beyond her nationality.

It would be good to see other South Asian characters who do have magic (even if they are supporting/background characters) to eliminate any uncomfortable racial implication. And as always, look to your own thought processes and try to analyse why you chose the sole brown character to have no magical abilities. 

Also PLEASE give her an ethnic name. I’m tired of reading Tiffany Sengupta and Angelina Mahmood every time Western authors depict a brown character.

- Mod Mimi

@nolongerheartbroken asked:

Hi, I’m writing a story where one of the main characters is coded as being from Iran/the Sasanian Empire (fantasy world) on his mother’s side (his dad is Welsh), and his character arc is about him becoming more confident, particularly to do with being more assertive and hyping himself up more, due to a perceived “failure” from his childhood.

I understand that the etiquette of Taarof is important in Iran, and can show up in ways like initially denying offers or downplaying your achievements. I want this character to be able to embrace his cultural heritage, and I also want him to be able to be really direct with what he wants and celebrate his achievements without considering others and how they feel.

The impetus for his surge in confidence is his ability to choose himself and what he wants, but since this is in conflict with how he acts based on Taarof, it might come across like his confidence is due to upholding less of his culture (and that’s not what I want to come across at all).

Is there a way to portray this character arc without erasing or misrepresenting his culture? For example, how might he explain Taarof to one of the other characters, especially if they think it’s a sign of him not being confident?

Note: In this post, I use Taarof as both a noun and a verb. If you’re not familiar with the Iranian etiquette of Taarof, this post won’t make much sense to you, so I recommend looking it up first.

Taarof is a social etiquette, and social etiquettes are context-dependent. They only work within the society that uses them.

It’s not clear from your question where the story takes place, and whether the character was raised there or has recently migrated from a different country. I’m going to answer assuming that your story doesn’t take place in the Iranian-coded fantasy country, but rather in a different country where Taarof isn’t the norm.

Culture clash and adaptation

A character who was raised with Taarof and then moves to a society that follows different norms will probably experience some culture shock at first. They will try to taarof and run into trouble (and/or hilarious situations). But as any Iranian who has migrated to a different country can attest, people adjust. It doesn’t take that long to realize that this social etiquette doesn’t work here and stop using it. Nobody wants to go hungry because their host took them at their word when they declined the food they were offered, and then they were too embarrassed to admit they didn’t mean it (true story).

It seems likely to me that, after an initial shock/adaptation period, your character will learn the new country’s social norms and change their behavior accordingly, because Taarof is a two-way street. You don’t do it if the other person doesn’t do it back. It would be like playing a game with people who follow different rules, or having a conversation with people who speak a different language. It’s not just that it puts you at a disadvantage. It simply doesn’t work.

The utility of social etiquettes

People use social etiquettes because they work. They’re a set of rules and norms that ensure social interactions run smoothly.

Here’s a concrete example:

According to the etiquette of Taarof, when you’re having lunch at a restaurant with friends, you have to offer to pay for everyone. The social script goes like this: Person A offers to pay. Person B protests and says they’ll pay. Persons C and D jump in and try to pay as well. Everyone gets out their wallets and tries to get their card to the waiter first. A melee ensues. Everyone else in the restaurant who’s not familiar with Taarof looks on in horror. The restaurant learns its lesson and bans all Iranians from ever eating there again.

Jokes aside, here’s the key: it’s a social script. It works because everyone involved is “in” on it. Everyone knows the script and follows it. As a result, it usually works out that over the course of several lunches, each person takes a turn paying and it ends up equitable. And if on a given day, Person A can’t actually afford to pay for everyone’s lunch, they can still offer, to be polite, and rest assured that they won’t have to follow through if they don’t fight too hard for it.

This would not work if only person A was trying to taarof and the others were oblivious to it. Person A would end up paying for everyone every time. Or maybe their friends would become uncomfortable with the situation and stop going to lunch with them. Either way, Person A would very quickly realize that Taarof doesn’t work here because it produces unwanted results and stop doing it.

Going back to your question: it’s true that culturally, Iranians won’t boast about their own achievements because that’s considered rude. But that doesn’t mean nobody’s accomplishments are ever mentioned. Instead, people will compliment each other and elevate each other. So the end result–everyone is acknowledged–is achieved anyway. But instead of each person talking themselves up on their own, people talk each other up. Different social etiquette, same practical purpose.

The same goes for declining offers. It’s considered rude to immediately accept something that’s offered, even if you want it. You’re supposed to decline, but it doesn’t end there. The other person will then offer again (you’ll decline again) and then another time, and finally you’ll accept. So, if you really need your friend to give you a ride to the airport, they will. You’re just being polite by declining their help at first, and your friend knows it, so they’ll be polite and insist. Again, it’s a social script that works because everyone participates. The game only makes sense if all the players follow the same rules.

Assertiveness, confidence, and Taarof

Just because people interact according to the etiquette of Taarof doesn’t mean they’re not confident or assertive. When I’m invited to a traditional Iranian house for dinner and I taarof, it’s not because I’m not assertive enough to say I’m hungry. It’s because I know how this game works, and I know that I will be offered food multiple times and I will be considered rude and greedy if I accept everything right away. (Also, self-preservation: if I tried to eat everything I was offered by a taarofing host, I might die.) 

Similarly, when I refrain from talking myself up, it’s not because I’m not confident. It’s because I don’t want to look rude and pretentious when I’m the only one doing it. And trust me, if someone wants to make sure an achievement of theirs is acknowledged in that situation, they will find a way to make it happen without breaking etiquette.

Code-switching

If your character is in contact with other people from the Iranian-coded culture, they will probably behave according to the conventions of Taarof amongst themselves, because it’s part of their shared culture. But when interacting with people for whom Taarof is not part of their cultural norms, they will behave differently. This is behavioral code-switching.

Now, if the character was born and raised in this country instead of recently moved there, then there won’t be any culture shock or adaptation period because they’ll have grown up immersed in both cultures. The behavioral code-switching will happen naturally. They’ll know to taarof with relatives and acquaintances who share the Taarof-based culture, and not with anyone who doesn’t.

Cultural values

With that being said, there is a difference between behavior and values. If the character was raised to value humility, they’re not going to stop valuing it just because they’re in a different country. They might be put off by what they perceive as* a lack of humility in the people they’re interacting with, and possibly judge them for it. And even once they learn to behave differently in order to adapt to the society they’re in, they might still not like it. Their internal monologue might show that it feels off and unpleasant to them to behave this way, but they’re still doing it because that’s what the situation requires.

*I say “perceive as” because, again, values are different from behavior and it’s possible to express the same values in different ways depending on social norms. In the previous restaurant example, Person A who was raised with Iranian values might believe that generosity is shown by offering to pay for everyone’s food, and might think that Western culture is selfish. Meanwhile, the friends who had a more Western upbringing might think Iranian culture is dishonest. Both of those conclusions are flawed because they’re using one set of social norms to judge a behavior that’s rooted in a different set of norms. But it’s very common to pass this kind of judgement on cultures we don’t understand, so it’s something you can use in your story to make it more realistic if the cultural discrepancy is great.

In summary

Keep in mind that your character will know to code-switch and won’t randomly taarof with people who don’t do it back. If you want to portray this aspect of your character’s culture, you can show them interacting with people who share that culture. And when they’re interacting with people who have a different culture and don’t taarof, use the character’s internal monologue to show how they feel about it.

The character arc you want where your character becomes more confident and assertive can happen regardless of how they behave culturally, because it’s first and foremost an internal transformation. When it comes to manifesting it in the character’s actions, you’ll have to remember that confidence and assertiveness will look different depending on who they’re interacting with and what set of social norms they’re using to navigate that interaction.

- Niki

Niki provided a ton of things to consider around etiquette and adaptation, but I’d like to pose a wildly different question to you:

Why is it important for your character to follow a character arc that is individualistic?

The first thing that struck me when I read this ask was that you had taken an extremely Western mindset—the concept that you “should” be assertive, and bold, and be an independent individual—and placed it within an Indigenous culture (Welsh people are colonized and Indigenous even in modern day) and a West Asian culture, both of which skew collectivist.

A collectivist-based story arc will look wildly different than an individualistic one, and I don’t see that level of cultural sensitivity in the ask.

Part of writing a diverse character is thinking about what a realized character arc would look like within their culture. How would somebody from a collectivist society make up for the perceived failure of their childhood? How would they go about building their individual identity and realizing who the best version of themselves is?

There’s a reason Niki answered as if the character does not live in a society that has collectivist principles: it’s because the character arc isn’t one that jives with a collectivist culture. 

If they live somewhere else, then maybe it’s fine, but this arc is automatically assimilatory because it prioritizes and prefers an individualistic mindset over a collectivist mindset. Yes, it’s possible to show he’s Iranian in other ways, but to me it looks like you haven’t thought of what “overcompensating for a perceived mistake in childhood” would look like in Iran, or even in Wales.

I say “maybe” it’s fine because individualistic cultures fall on a spectrum just like collectivist cultures, and when you’re looking at individualism you have to keep in mind that not all individualistic cultures will even value being loud and bold and assertive. 

You can take a look at websites like Hofstede Insight’s Compare Cultures tool to see what the score is for different countries you’re pulling from (unfortunately it does not have Wales as an individual country and instead lumps it into the United Kingdom, which will skew English and therefore skew colonizer).

To someone collectivist, this reads like a corruption arc. And maybe this is the midpoint of his arc, where he tries to go super assimilatory and… doesn’t get satisfaction because it’s betraying what he was taught.

It’s possible to be collectivist and selfish, yes, but why is it so important that everyone be an individual? Why is it so important that you ignore what others feel and only do what you want at all times? Why is that considered the “healed” way, when healing is not a one size fits all?

I’d suggest looking up concepts like “toxic individualism” which is getting populated with tons of articles as the pandemic rages on, like this one from psychology today: How America Fell Into Toxic Individualism. It details how “me first, my feelings above all else” has made it so difficult for Americans to take the public health measures required to stop the spread, which requires some basic degree of collectivism to do.

Individualism is fine in moderation; collectivism can become just as toxic as individualism when it gets to extremes. But having an arc that so heavily hinges on being selfish and individualistic is falling into Western-centricism and is, at its core, painting a Western emotional arc onto at least one non-Western society.

So I ask again: have you thought of what healing from slights looks like in a collectivist culture? 

You’ll probably find a more accurate, more resonant story if you at least look for the answers to that question.

~Mod Lesya

Ask published Oct 2021

Anonymous asked:

This may be an answer at your leisure question since I am not the writer.

I follow the writer and felt a bit uncomfortable with characterization in a recent update. They write for fun, share their work online, I’ve enjoyed it in the past. We’re both white, unacquainted. Seeking a second opinion on whether the fault lies with me (racism on my part) or whether there are legitimate concerns worth privately bringing to their attention. 

Fantasy setting. One of the main characters is white, trans (shown respectfully imo), and is resurrected as a weapon (but looks human). Implied there are others. The one sent to collect them when they go rogue is a bookish black woman schooled to believe said character is a tool and thus talks to them in a dehumanizing way. She also restrains them (w/out touching) in an iron neck collar and handcuffs which feels…a little tone deaf? Like not every black character has to be good, nor every fantasy setting have a history of black suffering, but divorcing fantasy from reality and having the white character suffer the most so far, in a way that carries such heavy visual baggage irl feels…very iffy to me. I know they’ll become friends, turn against the evil govt. with a visually diverse cast but…is there something there? How can I help?

I totally get where it would feel weird… Isn’t there another way in which the White character could be restrained, without the collar-handcuffs combo ? Because it kinda screams “slavery” with a hint of “reverse racism”. Also, the writer should be careful with having that character suffer *that* much. All of it should be useful for the character’s/the story’s development. Otherwise, it could seem “forced” and the Black character being one of the perpetrators, reflected in the way you don’t want to.

- Lydie

Anon asked:

Good morning/afternoon/evening! I hope this message finds you all well. Thank you for putting in all the effort you do into this blog! 

I had several questions about a specific character of mine. He’s an agender biracial individual (Japanese/white) and the tritagonist of the game. He was formerly the second-in-command of a corrupt military organization, but he betrays them in order to work with the protagonist due to a similar goal.

However, both him and the main character (a white nonbinary character) are nonhuman, cosmic horror-esque entities that came to be due to unethical research. He isn’t the only character of color in the story, however I worry that going the nonhuman route with his character may be demeaning. Both him and the main character have two forms, a human disguise and their more monstrous forms. Do you have any tips on how I can handle this aspect of his character in a respectful way? 

Another part I would like to ask about is regarding the “Green-Eyed Asian” stereotype / trope. He has complete heterochromia that gives him one green eye and one brown one, due to his white mother’s striking green eyes being a component of her powers. Similarly, he has piebaldism, a skin condition similar to vitiligo that gives him lighter patches of skin and a white streak in his otherwise black hair. Are these too akin to making him ‘unique’ due to him being half-Japanese? 

Finally, he’s a fairly intimidating character, standing at 6'8" and being pretty bulky / muscular. I try to emphasize that his reputation is the cause of his intimidation factor, but I don’t want it to seem as though he’s inherently scary. He has a pretty sarcastic and cynical personality as well, albeit one accented with a big heart. Is his appearance something I should avoid emphasizing?

Why? 

Your affection for this character’s design comes through in this ask. However from a narrative standpoint, I don’t know how much help we can offer. All you have told us is that he looks very distinctive, but you haven’t told us 3 critical points surroundings your motivations for these appearance choices:

• How his unique appearance will affect him
• How his appearance intersects with these experiences, particularly within the context of the military
• What experiences drive his personality

Without communicating these points, you’ve created a character utilizing multiple tropes without providing a sense of how these tropes relate to your story. I think for less experienced writers, there is a lot of attraction in making distinctive characters. It’s much less work for an author to create a plot that revolves around a few highly abnormal characters. The audience gets to see the cool, OP people do cool things, too. However, a compelling story requires more than a few charismatic OCs. Your plot and character dynamics are not necessarily enriched merely by making a character incredibly distinctive.

The part about his being in the military is especially key. Military organizations encourage homogeneity. Individuals who fall outside the norm draw attention that is rarely beneficial, unless your character thrives under scrutiny and increased pressure. For a 6’8” LGBT+, biracial individual with heterochromia and piebaldism who is the product of unethical research to rise through the ranks to a prominent position is not necessarily impossible. However, for there to be no discussion of the barriers, experiences and motivations that led them there, particularly within a corrupt organization where power only serves beneficiaries of the status quo, is a glaring omission. Based on the above, I don’t really see how having him be Japanese serves any purpose. I’ll leave Rina to explain some of the trope issues with the appearance choices you’ve made.

- Marika.

So the “Green Eyed East Asian” trope. 

It’s a little more complex when it comes to the representation of mixed people. 

ON ONE HAND: mixed East Asians can definitely have green eyes, and we have had numerous discussions on WWC as to how genetics are a crapshoot. It is important to never frame the green eyes discussion around whether certain genetic traits are “unrealistic.” 

HOWEVER: White/E.Asian mixes are overwhelmingly given the green eye treatment in media for a few key reasons: 

• Non-asian writers feel as though there’s no way to show the character’s Obvious Caucasity except to give them an Obviously Caucasian eye color or hair colour. After all, only white people have light skin or light eyes, of course. Park from Eleanor and Park is an example of that. 
• Mainland E. Asian writers feel as though a single drop of whiteness will contaminate a character’s E. Asian-ness and render them irrevocably foreign. And they want to show that. Think about Suoh Tamaki (“Pardon me, René Tamaki Richard de Grantaine Suoh” - Marika says as they die from laughter) from Ouran High School Host Club or Tamaki Ann from Persona 5 (TWO Tamakis?!). 
• General exotification of mixed-ness on a foundation of eurocentric beauty. Blue/green eyes are rare and beautiful, right? Wow! So are mixed people, right? ;))

This thread by mixed Japanese artist Yoshi Yoshitani makes some very pertinent and nuanced observations about the portrayal of mixed East Asians around the globe. It simultaneously acknowledges that while these green/blue-eyed mixed people aren’t unrealistic, they’re green/blue-eyed (and overrepresented as such) because of various cultural beliefs and agendas. 

I am aware that your reasoning for the eyes is to show hereditary magical powers, but this, too, is a tired trope unless you can truly justify why the power is concentrated in the eyes. This is especially because green eyes are in fact a natural eye colour; assigning magical properties to them can put that trait on a eurocentric pedestal. Why is the evidence of magic/superpower in the character’s eyes? Must there be a visible sign of this power, and if so, how are these magical characters treated differently? What are the worldbuilding implications of this? How about the worldbuilding implications of your other character design choices? 

~Mod Rina

In Conclusion

We think this Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot tritagonist sounds more like an OC than a fully realized character. We are curious to know if the strength of your character would still come through if you removed some of these visual characteristics. We also would have preferred to hear more about the actual plot, worldbuilding and character arcs. Please feel free to resubmit if you are able to answer these questions.

- Rina and Marika.

PSA to all of our users - Motivation Matters: This lack of clarity w/r to intent has been a general issue with many recent questions. Please remember that if you don’t explain your motivations and what you intend to communicate to your audience with your plot choices, character attributes, world-building etc., we cannot effectively advise you beyond the information you provide. We Are Not Mind Readers. If, when drafting these questions, you realize you can’t explain your motivations, that is likely a hint that you need to think more on the rationales for your narrative decisions. My recommendation is to read our archives and articles on similar topics for inspiration while you think. I will be attaching this PSA to all asks with similar issues until the volume of such questions declines.  

@waywayponponpon asked:

Hello, I hope this isn’t problematic and I heavily suspect this is the wrong place to ask this, but I’m unsure where else to ask. I’m creating anthropomorphized forms of the solar system celestial bodies and I’ve been struggling with Haumea and Makemake, since I’m neither Hawaiian nor Rapa Nui and not finding any info to portray these cultures respectfully.Would you know anyone who could help me? Anything I should have in mind to be respectful\avoid? 

Marika here with the astronomy perspective: I am rather frustrated with this ask as, per the FAQ, we are not meant to be consulted for questions that can be easily Googled. I advise you to review the wikipedia articles for both Haumea and Makemake and determine for yourself if these Kuiper belt objects discovered in the 2000s by the guy who famously killed Pluto are relevant to Hawaiian and Rapa Nui culture respectively. I believe Brown’s reasons for naming these dwarf planets the way he did was 

1. To buck the IAU tradition of naming planets after Greek/ Roman mythology
2. In the case of Haumea and her moons, to express gratitude to Hawaiian culture given that Haumea was discovered at Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawai’i Island. 

Constellations are very important to many cultures in the Pacific Ocean for their usage in navigation. However, not only are constellations in these cultures not often named for deities, dwarf planets are 

1. Not constellations 
2. Not visible from Earth with the naked eye. 

Particularly given the sensitivity of the politics surrounding the Mauna Kea Observatory to Hawaiian culture, I ask, does it make sense for you to be incorporating these planets as cultural entities in your story? 

- Marika.

What Marika said is quite an important point—the celestial bodies were named after the deities and were not associated with them by those cultures. An important question to ask would then be, is there truly a connection between these cultures’ deities and these celestial bodies past their names? If the answer to this question is “no”, then I recommend looking at other celestial bodies to research for this piece. 

- Ren 

@xcherry-popx asked: 

I have a Black man in my story. Some main features of him include 1) being an older (60+?) man and 2) being rather nervous (and likely having anxiety). I’ve also considered him having autism, but I wanted to handle the anxious aspect first since it will be more prominent.

when creating him, I started out with the idea of an anxious older man and then decided on race. I’m still working on how his anxiety tends to manifest, but my current thoughts include some anger (not violence) and self-soothing in ways like running his hands through his hair. [autism + anxiety is ownvoices]

my main concerns are that:

     A) having his anxiety manifest in anger could be seen as an Angry Black Man, even if he doesn’t hurt anyone (this is in a story where there are some incidents where someone is attacked by someone else, so its not as if his anger is being toned down for the audience)

    B) his anxiety-autism could be seen as infantilizing him (its not immediately obvious, and he is seen as a father figure by many of the other characters. he will probably mostly grow stronger on his own rather than relying on the rest of the cast [if he does use their help, its more indirect, such as someone’s courage inspiring him or another nervous character working through their problems together])

I haven’t heard a whole lot about ‘weak’ (used very loosely here) Black man stereotypes, but i wanted to double-check since i know i dont have a whole lot of experience

Do you think he may come across as an 'infantilized Black man’ stereotype, or to a lesser extent, an 'Angry Black Man’ stereotype?  

[ask trimmed due to length]

The possibility that he’s undiagnosed 

Depending on the context of the story, it wouldn’t surprise me if his autism and anxiety went undiagnosed (mental health can be a taboo among some Black communities). So one of the questions is : does he know or not ? 

Dealing with emotions / how he handles things

Also it’s hard to deal with really strong feelings, sometimes irrational when you don’t know why you react like that. Being undiagnosed could explain his anger. But judging by his age, he could have learned to live with it ? We don’t know his personality and his life so it’s hard to tell.

Also, I don’t see anything wrong with not being strong or just having weaknesses. It’s human. You just have to take your character’s past into consideration when writing about it, but the rule for the story is that he must evolve. It doesn’t mean he should finish entirely strong, without any weaknesses. It’s all about change and being a better person (or not, it depends on your themes and the message you want to convey). 

He hates being helped ? He learns to accept it and ask for help when needed. This is evolving. He could also find a relieving practice to sooth his anger, or that helps him control his emotions. This is evolving too. Or it could get worse, he could totally close up to the others because of the frustration of not being understood, of feeling weak for needing help. That’s life. He’s old and sometimes, people just stop trying. But again, I don’t know what your story is about so I can’t tell you if you should go towards a positive or negative character’s arc. Just remember : it’s all about his evolution.

Anyway, there’s only one thing that will probably prevent you from falling into stereotypes : make him as human as you can, with all his qualities and flaws.

- Mod Lydie

First of all, I second everything Lydie said, especially that first paragraph.

Undiagnosed (potentially) & coping

Being able to write part of this character from experience will be helpful, but you noticed correctly, being a Black man on top of that does have an impact. Like Lydie mentioned, he could easily have gone undiagnosed. There is a taboo in some Black communities, but keep in mind misdiagnoses and lack of professional support can happen as well. Though there are great psychologists out there, there are also those who will be influenced by racial prejudices, who simply won’t take people seriously, and Autism is still poorly understood outside of stereotypes a lot as well.

Going undiagnosed or even just a late diagnosis really impacts a lot of one’s experiences growing up and how you see yourself. It could be another deeply influential part of his identity that mixes things up again so do keep in mind if this is the case for him. Especially when he’s reached 60+, comorbid is very common aside from the anxiety (depression and C-PTSD come to mind). Not that you need to put those in there, especially because it really depends on his background and direct support group, but something to keep in mind as you further flesh your character out.

At such an advanced age one will probably have learned to mask a lot (though a turn to masking less can be seen in older people, especially men, as well). They might have grown used to being different, including feeling misunderstood, frustrated, could become withdrawn or a people pleaser as a coping mechanism, but all of this is all highly dependent on their character as well as their experiences. 

Dealing with his anger & stereotypes 

Thinking outside of the box of how anger can manifest could help as well. Sometimes people express their anger in less obvious ways, or the anger could be hidden under a secondary emotion. His anxiety and Autism will probably be affected by each other as well. Like sensory overload coming hand in hand with anxiety attacks of one leading to the other.

Your concern for having him turn into or interpreted as an angry Black man stereotype is something to look out for. Make sure you fully develop his character, show him to be multifaceted, and give him agency.

I personally don’t see how he’d be seen as infantilized as you described him in your concern B paragraph. It sounds to me like he’s doing to opposite, trying to be hyper self-reliant, but yeah, depending on how you let his anxiety and autism manifest, it could be an issue. It’s hard to really say a lot more than this without more specifics.

Characterization 

To me, this character comes across as one who could have a lot of depth and complexity to him. He would be flawed, he would be interesting, could easily be made relatable as well. But as you guessed, it will take work, care and research to pull him off without falling into potential pitfalls. Having weaknesses and having your character grow is a good thing (and mentioning for anyone who needs to hear it: Autism and Anxiety are in itself not character flaws or weaknesses, but they can lead to someone manifesting them). This is not only due to the stereotypes, but also because there’s not that much rep out there and you will be battling against ingrained biases and stigma as well. 

That said, this is the type of character I always look forward to reading. 

- Alice

@mistystarshine said:

I am considering writing a novel that takes place in a fantasy setting, and while I am content with most of my characters, there are two where I keep hitting a snag in regards to cultural context. They are a pair of step-sisters with parents who are hell bound to climb the social and economic ladder no matter the cost. They do genuinely care about each other, but are also very jealous of each other. The older sister wants to be a refined, pampered, and adored lady who is married off to a loving husband, but after inadvertently revealing herself to be a prodigy at taming (and later fighting) magical beasts, her parents milked her for all she was worth while she could still be considered a “child prodigy” before pressuring her into more or less joining a militia. (After all, they may have been the ones to push her in that direction, but having a daughter as rough and tumble as her around was unsightly.) She and her parents also happen to be playing a long-con in that while they are passing her off as a human with gifts that are normally seen in fae, she is actually a (even rarer, but also seen as highly distrustful) fae with the ability to lie. The younger sister is a normal human who is very beautiful and pretty dim on an intellectual level, but also incredibly emotionally intelligent. She does value knowledge (and admires how well her sister can memorize facts) and enjoys learning, but is a slow learner by traditional methods. She desperately wants to feel useful and like she is capable of making a difference in the world, but their parents only value her for her appearance, try to keep her from doing anything that might “jeopardize” it, and want her to marry into a nobleman and become a beautiful and obedient wife. She’s grown up being told that it doesn’t matter that she isn’t intelligent because girls like her don’t need to think, and really, it’s better if she stay quiet anyway. This has caused her to be skittish, distrusting, and even cynical despite her kind nature. It’s also given her a ton of self-esteem issues, made her deeply uncomfortable with her appearance, and adverse to comments regarding it. The sisters both want what the other has and feels a little resentful of the fact that /they/ don’t want it.

My question is this. I haven’t come up with physical designs yet and am thinking that I want them to have south asian characteristics. However, I’m not certain if the cultural context would fit well with the issues they face in regards to gender, expectations, and societal stereotypes. (I will note that I haven’t designed the in-universe cultures yet, since aside from some initial character concepts, I’m largely going to be writing by the seat of my pants. But I also figure that regardless of in-universe context, the audience will inevitably connect characters to real-world cultures and want to be sensitive and understanding in that regard.) How do I make sure it all clicks together, when I am largely only familiar with the experiences of American (primarily white) women in that regard? Or is this a situation where it would be better to just make them white rather than making them PoC and risk making a mistake?

(My apologies if this is a rubber stamp question. I don’t think so, but I’m not entirely sure either. But on the chance that it isn’t, I figured that in the time it would take me to ask if it’s a rubber stamp, I might as well go ahead and send it in. Do me a favor and message me if it does count as one, so I know for future reference?)

What Are “South Asian Characteristics”?

Thank you for taking the time to flesh out your story so thoroughly. I think this ask will benefit from you doing some more initial research as to what kind of background you want these characters to have. As I hope recent WWC posts on South Asia have made clear, South Asia is a very large, diverse place, so saying you plan to code your characters as physically South Asian doesn’t help us. Pick any human being on the planet. Now look at South Asia. You will probably find people who resemble that individual physically somewhere within the subcontinent. Similarly, from a cultural perspective, South Asia is very broad. It is home to over 1.5 billion people, 70 distinct ethnic groups, several hundred languages, and all major world religions. If this is not you have come across in your research, I would say your research is very much in the premature stage.

WWC has a great guide for describing skin tones and facial features of non-white individuals. If you have no South Asian cultural coding you wish to impart to these characters, I think your first order of business is deciding on the setting of your universe and what kind of world-building you wish to engage in. Don’t let the theoretical assumptions and biases of your readers trip you up. I look forward to hearing from you again after your world-building has progressed. There are many religions in South Asia with a wide variety of folklore involving otherworldly beings, but not all of them are can be viewed as equivalent to fae. Jaya has some great comments for you on Hindu-specific dimensions of cultural coding if you plan to use the fae in your story, which I think are important to keep in mind should you plan to culturally code your characters using any South Asian culture that draws on Hindu influences.

- Marika.

Cultural Dimensions: Fae versus Hinduism

I can say that we South Indian Hindus don’t necessarily have fae. (That hasn’t stopped me from adding them to some stories with Indian protagonists.) We have otherworldly beings like Gandharvas and apsaras. You may want to do more research if mixing the fae with Hindu mythology, assuming you’re going with that. 

To elaborate, the fae in European society have their own rules and codes of morality separate from ours. This is attributed to the fact that the Folk lack souls. Ergo, they lack the means to realize that a decision is morally wrong. That is why the Folk steal babies and replace them with mischievous changelings, or try to trick humans into eating Fairy food when the latter are visitors to mounds under the hill or fantastic castles. It’s all for entertainment, and laughs.

That doesn’t mean the fae are bad or will always harm people. You can ward them away by getting cold iron bars for your house, and holly for protection in the winter. Some Celtic folklore advises that you accept a fairy gift if you receive one, even if it’s feeding milk to your cows. Other lore says NEVER accept a gift, because you will be expected to do a great favor in turn. For the same reason, you don’t say “thank-you” or offer nice clothes to them, since it may insult them. Everyone agrees, however, that you never give your full name to the fae, because one of them will use it to lord power over you. 

In contrast, most magical beings in Hindu mythology abide by the same codes of honor and dharma. Everyone has a soul, thus the right to earn their way to either heaven, a good reincarnation, or nirvana. This means you can reason with them, and they are responsible for their actions. The asura and rakshasa demons have co-existed with the gods despite dethroning them a few times, while the humanoid monkeys say they’ll ally with the humans to fight important battles. Everyone agrees to a social contract where a king protects his people, the sages regardless of their shape pray for the common good, and you try not to be murderous or rude. Even if you are a tyrant, like Duryodhana or Ravana, you can still go to heaven if you’ve fulfilled your life duties, which is also called dharma, and remained honorable. Or if you are a bastard father like Hiranyakashipu, you may at least get purification in death if your son vouches for you and begs for your soul from the gods.  

Are there cases where the beings break this rule? Heck yes; there are always going to be a few demons, humans, and even a monkey or two that let the power trip get to their head. That’s when the gods intervene by sending a special human or reincarnation to handle the lack of honor. The new warrior restores the balance and gets rid of that dangerous bit of ego, usually by killing the would-be tyrant in question. 

The fair folk have none of this honor. If you put any being from Hindu mythology and a member of the Fair Folk in the same room, they would get into an argument of wills for hours. Few beings in Hindu mythology would steal a baby for laughs, and the fae would likely not understand the concept of sacred duty. Your story may not work for that reason so I’d advise figuring out how much Hindu mythology you want to add.

- Jaya