WritingWithColor (Posts tagged murder)

Am I handling the black woman character’s murder well?

Hello! My current project is a crime fiction set in KY, USA in which the instigating action is the death of a young black woman (W), with the first half being another young woman (L) investigating her disappearance and how it correlates with the disappearance of her close friend. That friend (P) is later found alive after having been kidnapped because he witnessed the crime, and is the POV character of the second half. He is also a white man, and him being white is relevant to other aspects of the story. My intention is for the “credit” for solving W’s death to go almost entirely to L (who is also a woman of color, specifically Romani), and for the tragedy to be centered around the unfair loss of life and the pain of her parents and others who knew W rather than how bad P feels about it.

My main cast also has two other prominent black women with arcs that extend outside this tragedy. All of this is intended to lend to one of the story’s major themes of social invisibility vs visibility. So does this exploration of that stray into harmful territory from the outset? I know successfully keeping away from any white manpain traps will take active caution while actually writing the story and I intend to get sensitivity readers as I work on it, but I wanted to get some feedback on my starting point before going too far down that road. Thanks so much for all you do!

It is important for us to know why this young Black woman was murdered to give specific advice.

Was it racially motivated, gender motivated, or both?
Wrong place, wrong time?
Did someone take revenge?
Was she involved in something insidious?
Was it truly an accident?

Depending on the reason, you should explore and acknowledge this violence and the existing societal problem behind it. For help, see the crime stats on violence against Black women.

…and for the tragedy to be centered around the unfair loss of life and the pain of her parents and others who knew W rather than how bad P feels about it.

Yes, give a voice to the people most affected by her death. Other Black women, people, and Women of Color. This will help further not make it about the feelings of a white man. He is absolutely a victim of the crime too, being kidnapped, so his trauma does matter and should be tended to. But ultimately, he gets to live.

On that note, his life being worth kidnapping vs. ending begs the question; why wasn’t he murdered while the Black woman’s life had to end? And for representation purposes, why couldn’t it be the other way around (Where the Black woman lives and witnesses the crime, and the white man dies)?

This is why knowing your reasoning for her death is so important.

Otherwise, if she was thoughtlessly murdered, it does feel like her life was incredibly devalued in your story due to her being a Black woman. It’s a serious and true problem, so I’m not saying not to write this. This just needs careful exploring. If you’re choosing to bring this real life problem into your story, it deserves full and respectful acknowledgement.

Please check out our resources on writing tragic material, Black suffering and abuse and avoiding exploitation.

More reading: tragedy exploitation tag

~Mod Colette

Death murder tw Black women Black person dies first Tragedy exploitation Black suffering

White Assassin in India/Tamil inspired country

Anonymous asked:

I’m writing a fantasy series, with four countries loosely inspired by/built on real-world historical cultures. One is based on ancient Scandinavia, and one on ancient Tamilkam (now southern India).
MC is an white assassin from the Scandinavia-based country who uses magic. In book two, she takes an assignment in the India/Tamil-based country. The son of a wealthy merchant hires her to stop his father from using a magic ritual to destroy a motha (there is valuable ore under the motha).
The son asks to be there to perform the proper funeral rituals immediately after death, but refuses to be the one to actually hurt his father. He already tried going to the local council, and pleading with the sanyasini to leave, but nobody believes his well-known father would do this, and he doesn’t know how else to stop his father.
MC does, with another (Latine-coded) character’s magic help, succeed in killing the merchant and stopping his magic ritual. The son performs funeral rituals and grieves, while the MC and other character have to flee due to the unrelated second storyline.
1. Would this be a white savior story? How do I avoid that?
2. How can I avoid portraying the Indian-coded people as only victims (plus one bad guy)?
I thought about having the son or another Indian-coded person help MC in the climax instead of the Latine-coded character, but that character is one of the main 3 in the series, and that moment is supposed to be a crucial piece in developing their relationship with MC. Also, it’s key to the plot that the merchant’s son isn’t a high-level magic user, so he wouldn’t be able to fill the same role in that scene.

At the risk of sounding negative, I’m afraid your current premise does read as a white saviour narrative. However, you can still fix that.

Reconsider if it is absolutely necessary to have the Latine-coded character help the MC while in India (why not give them a bonding moment on a mission elsewhere, or in a moment outside of a mission?)? If yes, then consider creating a third character- an Indian who works as a guide and a comrade in the mission. Removing Indians completely from the scene except for their capacity as a grieving, ineffectual son/villainous figure feels like ineffective representation.

Creating an Indian companion can drastically reduce the white saviour tone. They can guide your MC through unfamiliar terrain, get them acquainted with local customs and help them blend in so as to not arouse suspicion before the mission. In any event, it would be quite difficult for a Scandinavian to just waltz into Tamil Nadu and kill an esteemed merchant.

Consider your internalised biases.

Is the son really helpless?
Why write him thus?
Why hire a woman from a far-off land, aren’t local mercenaries available?
Why can’t an Indian assassin deal the blow, while your MC provides a distraction and/or performs her duty in a separate way, infiltrating archives for example, or trying to evacuate people from the ceremony?

The only way I see this working out is involving many Indian people as accomplices in the mission. A spy guarding the doorway, a priestess whose loyalties lie elsewhere, a travel companion, a boatman who helps them flee. Don’t make them drip in adoration for the MC, that reeks of white saviour, rather show them eager to get rid of the merchant for their own, well fleshed-out backstories and agendas.

Lastly, a gentle reminder. The figure of the white female assassin killing/taking advantage of people of colour is a very harmful, yet popular trope that seeps through a lot of popular Western thrillers and fantasy. In Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series, two Black women violently die to further the emotional growth of white characters, one of whom is a white female assassin. In the Codename Villanelle novels, as well as the show Killing Eve, white assassin Villanelle mutilates Chinese men (in the books, this horrific murder takes place in Shanghai itself) and terrorises an Asian assassin, proclaiming her own superiority. In Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight series, a young white assassin takes sexual advantage of a Black-coded man to attain her personal goals under training and he is later replaced by a white person as her love interest. Trace your logic and ask yourself if a white woman murdering an Indian man and fleeing the scene is something that is absolutely indispensable to your story

And here is my ko-fi, appreciate a tip.

- Mod Mimi

Asks Tamil Worldbuilding India murder murder tw murdered poc tw death white feminism trace your logic creator responsibility white savior tropes white tropes

Black woman helping Black man ghost (who was murdered)

@mugglebornslytheirn-blog asked:
I have an idea for a thriller/horror story. There’s a ghost going around killing people and it’s up to our main heroine to solve the ghosts murder. I want her to be a black woman, but the ghost that she is trying to help is a black man killed for a crime he didn’t commit. How could I best write this without falling into tokenism and at the same time not trying to speak for black people? I am a white woman, I think if I get it right a lot of people would like it. Any advice is appreciated.

Tread very carefully here. Black people getting killed for crimes they didn’t commit or getting killed for crimes that weren’t even crimes is a very loaded and sensitive topic. I do not think it is wise to feature that as the twist.

-Norma

Black ghosts Black women Black men black woman black man murder Crime

Writing a Horror Novel with Ghosts based on Japanese True Crime Case

Content warning: the most efficient content warning I can give you is just Don’t look up the Furuta Junko case. Otherwise, death, suggestions of murder.

~ Mod Rina

@quentintarantowo said:

(I know I asked a question about a different book I was writing but I’ve abandoned that story for this one!!) I’m writing a horror novel set in 80s Japan that focuses on the main character, Tsukiko, who becomes haunted by her own guilt/obsession over not stopping Junko Furuta’s death. She saw Junko riding her bike the night she was taken, and that interaction feeds into her growing depression and fear of public spaces at night. Junko is of course only mentioned in the most respectful way possible and the ghost that haunts Tsukiko’s dreams ISNT Junko but instead a younger version of Tsukiko from a traumatic childhood event where she was followed home by a group of men. Tsukiko also works as at a Suicide Prevention Hotline and starts getting strange calls from a boy that develops an obsession for her.
I have two questions: 1. As a westerner, I know that I have a very limited knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture, and I wanted to ask if this is an appropriate story for ME to tell? The story doesn’t focus on race issues but instead more on Tsukiko’s mental health issues. 2. Is this story idea offensive to Japanese people? If so, is there anything I can change or should I scrap it all together?

I’m glad you had this intuition because my vote is to scrap.

For me, it’s that you are already declaring yourself less knowledgeable in topics of Japanese culture as if that is a static thing, which suggests an unwillingness to research–particularly before you even sent in this ask. Second, you could very easily choose to tell the story of some other high-profile crime victim in your own culture (I’m sure there are many), so your ask doesn’t give compelling evidence of your personal connection to this story, if you have any at all. Japanese people can create stories about violent histories that are on the cultural consciousness, because they were impacted by them IRL through media and osmosis (though I must say, looking at the filmography of local adaptations on this incident, most of them also seem horrendous). Regardless of where you learned this case, I can bet that it did not affect how you navigated the outside world/society, even if you were a young woman. Why? The cultural and societal context is simply different, and I can also bet you’d relate much more highly to similar cases involving people who looked like you and that happened closer to home.

True crime stories already walk a narrow line between exploratory and distasteful, and writing a story about an incident that happened in your own culture will better enable you to take responsibility for continuing to circulate them.

Lastly, to any WWC askers who are curious about the context of this crime and why I don’t elaborate on it, please note that the Furuta Junko case runs the full alphabet soup of content warnings from misogyny to death/murder to (brutal) sexual assault. I can’t in good conscience recommend looking it up.

~ Mod Rina

Scrap. Rina makes excellent points. I will add that you further run the risk of sensationalizing this crime and its impact on your own character given that much of the information on mental healthcare and gender-based violence in Japan is behind a language barrier.

-Marika.

japanese murder murder tw mental illness death death tw misogyny sexual assault ghosts depression Crime horror asks

sora-the-mye asked:

In the story I’m writing there is a Northern African/Egyptian mixed women (still working on the kinks since it’s still a draft) and a 28y African American women who eventually fall in love. The American women is basically joining a hidden land of fey and the mixed one is actually 20k y old. It’s also later revealed that the American women is the reincarnation of the one the Mixed fell in love with 20k y ago but died 2k y ago and then mixed was forced to kill her on every 20th birthday as a curse(given by the villains) forcing her to reincarnate for years not remembering. During the time the story takes place it doesn’t happen thanks to the new queen fey who lifted the curse 15 y ago, allowing them to finally be happy. They slowly fall in love again, with the mixed being hesitant and finally admitting the truth. However, the American women chooses to remember the past but not her deaths so she can remember only the good of her. I know it’s horrible to have lgbt+ and POC deaths but I thought since it ends up happy and wholesome it might still be good......???? But I’m still hesitant and I really want to make this right.

Black lgbt woman murdered repeatedly by lover as part of curse, but with a “happy ending”

I am not a fan of a Black (and “lgbt”) woman character being murdered, over and over again. It may very well read like grotesque and needless suffering. Black stories in media are full of trauma narratives and this seems like yet another one, proving that even in fantasy, we aren’t allowed to fully enjoy escapism and must stay grounded in death, pain and suffering.

This goes beyond just a physical suffering; I could only imagine there’s a real psychological burden, knowing your lover has deprived you of life and murdered you for countless years (curse or no).

Not to mention, regarding the mixed African Egyptian woman:

there has to be an extreme level of trauma and guilt upon realizing you’ve murdered this person endlessly too.
There’s also an association with violence being placed on the Egyptian character. Such topics deserve exploration in the novel.

On both accounts, from a representation standpoint, it ain’t great. Do you have other African American and Egyptian characters with less tragic storylines?

I predict it will be difficult for readers to leave the story with the impression of it all being happy and wholesome, as you say it is in the end. The Black American woman choosing not to remember the “bad parts” (to put it lightly) allows the narrative to ignore the issue and avoid unpacking that trauma., However, it doesn’t let you off the hook, as the author, who chose to write this. We, the readers, remember.

Takeaways

You should really ask yourself “why?” Is there a point to creating a curse of this nature beyond an easy means for sensational shock value? Perhaps if I knew your motivations, this idea wouldn’t seem as alarming.
In what other ways could you give them a tumultuous past without resulting in the Black (lgbt) woman being subjected to death in every one of them?
Are you willing to respectfully explore the extreme trauma, suffering and implications that comes from the results of such a curse?

I suggest you alter the nature of this curse while keeping the dramatic stakes high. Explore a different means for the curse that keeps these lovers from being happy until now. One that doesn’t automatically equate the Black woman’s life as worthless, ending in murder at her lover’s hands.

~Mod Colette

I have Thoughts. Let us approach this clinically. I think it’s worth thinking about why you, the author, thought this curse from the villains was a good idea.

Firstly, the perspective matters. Whose perspective is this story from and how will this curse affect their character development (both in the past and present)? That in itself will give some indication as to the utility of the curse for the story.
Secondly, from a narrative perspective, what is compelling about being cursed to be killed by (or cursed to kill) a loved one over and over as a dramatic device? This isn’t rhetorical. I’m curious what particularly about this idea appeals to you; what you are trying to convey to your audience because I have no sense of your thinking based on this ask.

As a reader, even if both characters were white, I wouldn’t read this story because this feels like emotional manipulation via tragedy exploitation. That sounds either boring or unpleasant. I think if you can successfully parse what exactly you are trying to express, better options that don’t rely on BIPOC pain may emerge.

There is the separate issue of making a Black, queer character a repeated victim of violence at the hands of a trusted person (I mean, at a minimum this is both misogynoir and “Bury your gays” to quite the extreme, even with the reincarnation component), but shame and call-outs are rarely effective teachers. You are clearly aware this is a poor narrative choice and I’d rather you focus your energies determining what so attracted you to this concept and how to elicit the emotional reaction you are seeking without relying on cheap theatrics.

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.

- Marika.

sora-the-mye Black African lgbtqia bury your gays Black person dies first death murder murder tw romantic relationships reincarnation tragedy exploitation representation asks

lkeke35

The Glorification of White Crime

daughterofmulan

Take a facet of crime, and then look at television shows/movies that feature those criminals as protagonists.

White mobs.

White pirates.

White serial killers.

White political corruption

White drug dealers

I mostly want to talk about this as a TV phenomenon, but pick a crime, any crime, and Western media has probably made a movie/TV series/play/etc. with a white person that romanticizes the criminal activity. No matter what, a white person can do whatever terrible crimes and still have a TV/movie fanbase that loves them.

When you see black or brown people committing crimes on screen, you are to see them thugs and criminal masterminds and people to be beat down.

When you see white people committing crimes on screen, you see a three-dimensional portrait of why someone might commit that crime, how criminals are people too, and how you should even love them for the crimes that they commit because they’re just providing for their families or they’ve wronged or they’re just people and not perfect. This is particularly a luxury given to white male characters, since there few white female criminals as protagonists.

If and of the above shows were about black or brown folks, there would be a backlash of (white) people claiming that TV and movies are romanticizing criminals and are treating them too much like heroes and that it will affect viewers and encourage violence and “thuggish” behavior. And yet fictional white criminals get to have a deep fanbase who loves these white criminals, receive accolades and awards, get called amazing television that portray the complexities of human nature. Viewers of these characters see past the atrocious crimes and into their humanity, a luxury that white characters always have while characters of color rarely do. The closest that mainstream TV has come to showing black criminals as main characters is probably The Wire, and even then, the criminals share equal screen time and equal status as main characters as the police trying to stop them.

The idea that crime can be so heavily romanticized and glorified to such a degree is undoubtedly a privilege given to white characters. The next time you hear someone talk about Dexter Morgan or Walter White in a positive way, it may be an opportunity to rethink how white people can always able to be seen as people no matter what they do, while everyone else can be boiled down to nothing but a criminal.

lkeke35

If you don’t believe this is true then look at the reaction America had to Rock and Rap music. When Rock was being produced by black people it was the sign of the coming apocalypse. Or at least it was until white men appropriated the music and then it became the best thing ever invented. The subjects remained the same, sex and criminal activity. Only the races of the performaers changed. So much so that almost no one remembers that black people invented rock n roll.

When rap music started its rise to in popularity in the 80s, it was performed almost exclusively by black people. It and the performers were vilified by the media, people tried to ban it and place restrictions on it. The same reaction they had when Jazz (also invented by black people) rose in popularity, when rock music got popular and now rap music. Notice that these musical styles only go mainstream once they’ve been adopted by white performers.

This humanization of white pathology happens in all forms of media.

decriminalization criminalization white privilege media hollywood crime music resources murder reblog

backtoabnormal-deactivated20180

squarerootofcats:
“ anarcho-queer:
“ nicolestop:
“ I friend of mine were having a chat and she brought up that the US Government was found guilty of the murder of Martin Luther King in 1999 and this year this info started to re-surface and multiple...

Source: nicolestop

history black history american history murder martin luther king jr reblog

Anonymous asked:

Hi! I'm writing an epic fantasy novel and the main character is a black child. She's very young and i do describe her as innocent looking, but she also has powers similar to some of Raven's from Teen Titans and is forced to kill a man who was trying to sacrifice her. I'm worried about falling into the "black people can't be innocent" territory, especially since my only other black main character is the Captain of The Guard and not innocent at all. Any advice?

Black Child, Powers and Innocence

I think you’ll be fine here. I mean; this person is trying to kill her. She’s forced to kill him, as in it doesn’t seem like she’s joyous about killing the person but has no choice. Does she kill him accidentally or just do what she can to stop the man from making her his sacrifice?

If you portray her as not being a natural killer; as if killing was the last resort and needed to be done, I think it still preserves her innocence (somewhat; it might be hardly for her to feel innocent after taking a life.) But self-defense is different than cold-blooded murder.

Tell me when the book is out; this story sounds really cool!

~Mod Colette

powers innocence stereotypes murder tw murder black black women eer girl children Black stereotypes asks