#to write abt societal bigotry

[northern-passage]

one of the reasons why TNP is one of my favorite IFs is because the cast is trans AND Hunter can be trans too and it will be acknowledged. when it was revealed in the story that Lea and Marry are trans too I was so happy!! there are barely any trans characters in IFs and VNs, even less of them are genderlocked/always trans no matter the chosen gender.

thank you! i always found it very transparent when a game only allows the mc to be nb (very few of them have actual options for binary trans people - it's too hard to do more than just code "they/them" pronouns and be vague i guess) and in my opinion that's way more immersion breaking, because that's not how the real world works. you will see trans people, every day, at like.. target or whatever. and this isn't even just about trans people but also diversity in general.

obviously when it comes to trans characters, this is an attitude that has changed a lot very fast over the past few years, so looking back at older games i don't necessarily expect there to be trans options, nor do i expect everyone to be out here writing complex "transgender" narratives, either. most people that accuse us of that are just bad faith actors. in my experience, people are just looking for basic acknowledgement; they want to see people like them existing and going on fun adventures, too. that's what i want, and that's why me, a trans author, likes to write about trans people being trans in the genre that i like - but rarely get to see myself in.

i also think when it comes to fantasy or scifi, how boring do you have to be to allow for fantastical world-building but draw the line at societal expectations? and if you want to really be specific about world-building, then why would a gender binary exist in a world where there was never a colonial power enforcing it? why do you want sexism, racism, and homophobia to exist so bad? why does it upset you so much when it doesn't?

#obviously there are stories where those things are an important part of the narrative and im not saying it's automatically bad #to write abt societal bigotry #(i have to say that or people will misinterpret me) #but i do think it says a lot when ppl insist that those things HAVE to exist #or else it's not 'accurate' #or else it's 'breaking your immersion' #like idk how to tell you this but trans people ARE real. like for real in real life #if you can't comprehend that... i think that's a you problem #and you should go read something else lmfao #also this isn't even about representation (a word i am really starting to dislike) #it's literally just... how can you not comprehend or empathize with people that may not be exactly like you? #why does it upset you so much to see other stories being told? #i should share a writing advice video i watched recently where a writer talks abt how empathy is a huge part of writing #she's right!! and it's a huge part of reading too #ask #anonymous

[barrenclan]

I wanna say that I REALLY liek how dis comic approachez sexuality, bc liek. i can rarely get behind when a WC story has homophobia or transphobia or what have you bc. why would dey? I get why some people do it and far be it from me to judge em but I’ve never cared for bigotry in WC storiez. and I think you did a super good job of Pinepaw having a reasonable societal conflict abt his sexuality (‘oh god everyone wants me as a tom to have kits but I can’t bc I only like toms’) that doesn’t make th Clan homophobic when dey have much better thingz to worry about. like, dere’z a Reason for more traditionalist catz to be upset about it instead of inexplicable cat homophobia. if that makez sense. that on top of Slugpelts reaction of ‘I’ve never thought of it but I love you’ being very true to life w confused but supportive parentz is super great and I just love th approach dis story takez :-)

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that the story's been connecting with you. I think a large part in how I write sexuality in this comic is that I've been trying to not approach it from a purely human perspective. Of course, I am a human writing for humans, so I want to make it more easy to connect with, but I don't think that animals with some amount of sapience even in anthropomorphized story would approach it the same way we do.

Doesn't mean that everyone's totally understanding, doesn't mean everyone's totally an asshole. I just think it's an interesting topic to explore, and also with how it clashes against BarrenClan politics.

#ask #surprise. i tricked you into reading a comic about Cat Politics

[icykalisartblog]

previous anon, I liked your explanation and it makes a lot of sense! I feel like bi Julian is mostly to make sure it goes hand in hand with him dating Leeta and Sarina (ugh) and later Ezri (also ugh, also she's gay too) but I can see gay Julian if you don't follow those later developments in canon. Could you see a version of him that is gay with that happening, though? (continued)

“(continued) I think the trouble I have with Star Trek and reading characters as closeted gay is that it's a supposedly post-bigotry future, and we know from ‘Rejoined’ that no one batted an eye about Jadzia being with another woman, it was the reassociation that was the problem. But obviously with Julian's augment storyline, ableism is still a thing, and it's just so easy and JUICY to read him as being closeted/performing heterosexuality to perform normalcy and see that storyline as abt closets“ Yes, I definitely can see that too. I mean, homophobia in various forms has been around for hundreds of years, and even if it did disappear in the future, it could totally become a thing again after a huge societal restructuring like the formation of Starfleet etc.. And you’re right, Bashir being gay makes total sense even in the show as it is—I mean, doesn’t it suggest that something that Ezri notices that Bashir suffers from suicidal ideation after they get together, but decides to put off doing anything about it? And that Bashir describes himself as “unnatural” in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?” But there were such missed opportunities in the show and some of the ways Bashir’s character was utilized were so terrible that I’d rather not deal with canon as it was when I write fic and stuff lol Especially not when things like “Little Achievements” exist now!

#Doctor Julian Bashir #I need an analysis/meta tag