What is sexuality? Baby don't hurt me~
I've been wanting to type about this for some time... months even. But either I was shy or distracted and IRL's gotten in the way a lot too. More noveltalk, this time centering on one of our main characters.
The novel takes place in a fantasy world where toys come to life. Our two leads are a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy doll, and well... their experiences aren't quite as syrupy and adorable as that of their predecessors. Namely our primary antagonist, a nutcracker surgeon named Dr. Medlock, wanted to kidnap both of them for experimentation and was only successful in capturing Ann, leaving Andy as a fugitive trying to rescue his sister and avoid getting caught. While Ann deals with the secrets and horrors of Dr. Medlock's lab, Andy is pursued by a mysterious illusionist and his abominable creatures and magic.
Now here's the thing... Raggedy Andy is gay.
Obviously, I'm not talking about Johnny Gruelle's original Raggedy Andy. Novel!Andy, on the other hand, eventually falls in love... with another boy. Nothing's offscreen either. Hugging, kissing, the whole gamut. I've been trying to think about what this means in a world of Living Toys.
"BUT PURI, TOYS CAN'T FEEL SEXUAL ATTRACTION!111!1 THIS IS WEIRD!!1!111"
Didn't stop Woody & Bo, Buzz & Jessie and the Potato Heads in the "Toy Story" trilogy from falling in love, did it? 'Sides, it's my book, my world, my universe. I make the rules around here. Comments like this will be torpedoed and I don't appreciate them. That said, if you're not too wigged out by this, let's go on.
I imagine that toys have a different view of sex and sexuality than humans do. They don't have external genitalia, and they can't reproduce to have kids. The closest to anatomically correct (for a human woman) you can get is Barbie's breasts, but I think parents would sue if they had nipples on them. If toys had sex, it'd be for fun, intimacy, etc. To make things more complicated, the type of toy depends on how they get aroused. Plushies are about rubbing, but with plastic toys and robots, mechanism play and wires may be involved. Marionettes have their nervous system in their strings, and in turn, their erogenous zones.
If a toy had a family, they would either A. Be part of a set, like residents for a dollhouse. B. Live together like siblings (the case for many households, where toys grow up living in their owner's room) C. Homemade and built from the same materials (in the case of Raggedy Ann & Andy) D. Adoption.
Unless a toy lived in a church/temple/mosque/etc. or a religious household, it seems unlikely they would know about religion at all. There's also the question of whether or not homophobia is brought up and/or endorsed.
Besides maybe gender and "toy" stereotypes ("Man, marionettes are so full of themselves!") and possible "classism" (Expensive porcelain dolls are supposedly "superior" and more "valuable" than ragdolls), would homosexuality even be an issue? Especially in a toy museum where you've got all different toys from around the world with different cultures and life styles?
I'm thinking this because while I'm used to writing slash and yaoi fanfiction, original fiction is a different universe all together. I've been doing my best to avoid the usual cliches, like "DURRRR EVERYONE IS GAY" or "FEMALE CHARACTERS DON'T EXIST" (Say hello to Raggedy Ann, Jelly Jane, and Luna!) and any instance of misogyny is fired with an arrow through the heart. Misogyny will not be tolerated in my work. >( No "Bury Your Gays" here either, as I detest that trope.
Speaking of LGBTQ tropes that drive me up the wall, it's "gay message" fantasy.
Raggedy Andy already has enough problems in this book. He's being chased by chimeras, trying to protect his new friends, subjected to High Octane Nightmare Fuel situations, and later is in a race against time to save the dying Raggedy Ann. I really don't think he needs to be burdened with "OH NOEZ I AM The GAY!11!11" He's a regular guy... he's not campy or obsessed with fashion, and he doesn't hit on anyone who looks remotely male. In fact, we probably don't even know he's gay until all the subtext with Marius builds up and Andy finally gives him his first kiss on the cheek. Neither of them deny being gay or make excuses like "if it's you, it's okay! But I'm still not gay." They're gay and they're fine with it.
Or would that be too "out of the blue?"
I've wondered about writing a flashback scene where Andy "came out" to Ann ("Ann? Do you think I'm... different?"), but I have a feeling that it'd be drenched in preachiness and "gay message" cliches, and I don't know if the scene would really be needed in the first place.
What do you guys think? How would toys view homosexuality?
This post has been crossposted with Dreamwidth at http://shamanicshaymin.dreamwidth.org/24331.html. Pick your poison. Mwoiiiiiiiing~!
The novel takes place in a fantasy world where toys come to life. Our two leads are a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy doll, and well... their experiences aren't quite as syrupy and adorable as that of their predecessors. Namely our primary antagonist, a nutcracker surgeon named Dr. Medlock, wanted to kidnap both of them for experimentation and was only successful in capturing Ann, leaving Andy as a fugitive trying to rescue his sister and avoid getting caught. While Ann deals with the secrets and horrors of Dr. Medlock's lab, Andy is pursued by a mysterious illusionist and his abominable creatures and magic.
Now here's the thing... Raggedy Andy is gay.
Obviously, I'm not talking about Johnny Gruelle's original Raggedy Andy. Novel!Andy, on the other hand, eventually falls in love... with another boy. Nothing's offscreen either. Hugging, kissing, the whole gamut. I've been trying to think about what this means in a world of Living Toys.
"BUT PURI, TOYS CAN'T FEEL SEXUAL ATTRACTION!111!1 THIS IS WEIRD!!1!111"
Didn't stop Woody & Bo, Buzz & Jessie and the Potato Heads in the "Toy Story" trilogy from falling in love, did it? 'Sides, it's my book, my world, my universe. I make the rules around here. Comments like this will be torpedoed and I don't appreciate them. That said, if you're not too wigged out by this, let's go on.
I imagine that toys have a different view of sex and sexuality than humans do. They don't have external genitalia, and they can't reproduce to have kids. The closest to anatomically correct (for a human woman) you can get is Barbie's breasts, but I think parents would sue if they had nipples on them. If toys had sex, it'd be for fun, intimacy, etc. To make things more complicated, the type of toy depends on how they get aroused. Plushies are about rubbing, but with plastic toys and robots, mechanism play and wires may be involved. Marionettes have their nervous system in their strings, and in turn, their erogenous zones.
If a toy had a family, they would either A. Be part of a set, like residents for a dollhouse. B. Live together like siblings (the case for many households, where toys grow up living in their owner's room) C. Homemade and built from the same materials (in the case of Raggedy Ann & Andy) D. Adoption.
Unless a toy lived in a church/temple/mosque/etc. or a religious household, it seems unlikely they would know about religion at all. There's also the question of whether or not homophobia is brought up and/or endorsed.
Besides maybe gender and "toy" stereotypes ("Man, marionettes are so full of themselves!") and possible "classism" (Expensive porcelain dolls are supposedly "superior" and more "valuable" than ragdolls), would homosexuality even be an issue? Especially in a toy museum where you've got all different toys from around the world with different cultures and life styles?
I'm thinking this because while I'm used to writing slash and yaoi fanfiction, original fiction is a different universe all together. I've been doing my best to avoid the usual cliches, like "DURRRR EVERYONE IS GAY" or "FEMALE CHARACTERS DON'T EXIST" (Say hello to Raggedy Ann, Jelly Jane, and Luna!) and any instance of misogyny is fired with an arrow through the heart. Misogyny will not be tolerated in my work. >( No "Bury Your Gays" here either, as I detest that trope.
Speaking of LGBTQ tropes that drive me up the wall, it's "gay message" fantasy.
Raggedy Andy already has enough problems in this book. He's being chased by chimeras, trying to protect his new friends, subjected to High Octane Nightmare Fuel situations, and later is in a race against time to save the dying Raggedy Ann. I really don't think he needs to be burdened with "OH NOEZ I AM The GAY!11!11" He's a regular guy... he's not campy or obsessed with fashion, and he doesn't hit on anyone who looks remotely male. In fact, we probably don't even know he's gay until all the subtext with Marius builds up and Andy finally gives him his first kiss on the cheek. Neither of them deny being gay or make excuses like "if it's you, it's okay! But I'm still not gay." They're gay and they're fine with it.
Or would that be too "out of the blue?"
I've wondered about writing a flashback scene where Andy "came out" to Ann ("Ann? Do you think I'm... different?"), but I have a feeling that it'd be drenched in preachiness and "gay message" cliches, and I don't know if the scene would really be needed in the first place.
What do you guys think? How would toys view homosexuality?
This post has been crossposted with Dreamwidth at http://shamanicshaymin.dreamwidth.org/24331.html. Pick your poison. Mwoiiiiiiiing~!