5200: A Thousand Words
JFC, I knew it was a bad idea to click that thing I clicked that erased my whole post for no reason =_=
Anyway, it's been a while, huh! And it's been sort of an eventful day! ...well, relatively speaking... and if you're the type to consider finally updating userpics [but not keywords] "eventful"...
So, there's a nice little blog post going around that, for lack of a single [but VERY IMPORTANT] letter, goes on a rather worthwhile tangent about the pitfall of "male as default." It's worth a read, and I don't really have anything to add except that I personally trend towards male characters [perhaps unconsciously, but I still do it] because it feels uncreative to just clone myself as female creators are vitriolically accused of doing [though that may be in response to ANYTHING female creators do, TBH]. It took me an annoyingly long time to realize that too many male creators didn't feel remotely the same way, and now it's like that irritating thing you can't unsee once someone points it out.
So I thought, for funzies or whatever [and because cataloguing is apparently rather relaxing for me after years of struggling with never being able to finish anything], I would go through and examine whether I genuinely scrutinized the sexes of my characters in the process of creating them, vs. making them "male by default." [Spoiler: Most of the NAMED ones are now female as a knee-jerk reaction, which I guess is okay but doesn't feel as organic as it could have been.] The links are a little incomplete [*curses!*], so some of them might not be familiar, especially since my art archives are hardly comprehensive, but at least it's kind of an overview of my mind.
BTW, I'm using "male" and "female" because man/woman and boy/girl are somewhat ageist and inaccurate, and I think of my characters in terms of their entire lifespans rather than in snapshots of time.
SGP:
Hysteria (Haha): Originally an in-joke representation of me. Personality like Julie Winters of The Maxx. Definitely female. Definitely not the case for the entire species, but of the named Hysterical, she's the one "female" to two (little-used) "males"--though sex is a bit moot for them.
Scatter: Named for a specific entity, represents a specific dismissal of masculine qualities. Female version is Kimmy.
Kimmy: [light spoilers] The little girl that wants a boyfriend because she's been raised to believe she does, but wouldn't know what to do with one once she has one. Could have been male, but the "growing up" impact wouldn't be the same.
Johnathan: Defined by the name. Female version is Jacquelyn.
Jacquelyn: See Johnathan.
Kitkat: Could have been either, character design seemed to scream "voiced by Zachary Braun." [Light spoiler: I've played with this in TTB.]
Steppe Hutchinson: Could have been either, somehow got the notion to have kiken voice him. Blame primarily male friends.
[the kitten]: Male counterpart to another character, felt "unfair" to copy the character's feminineness.
Forte: A bit like Bob Fish (Bob and Margaret). Didn't feel like making Margaret.
Kicks: A long time ago, an alternate universe version of Knuckles the Echidna. Female, because.
Doey: Based on the plush form of Elliot from Pete's Dragon. Could have been female but has a sister, Cosy, to balance that out.
(others): Not defined enough to matter.
B2S1:
Darian: My animus. Male because fuck you, that's why.
Alex: Female for greater ostracization impact. Blame sexism. Also for predictable light spoilers.
Kotaro: Male, to play off Darian w/o the "obvious" pair-off. Would reek of desperation if female, because sexist double-standards.
Red: Defined by name. A bit unbelievable as a female, definitely unsympathetic as male, as per the goal.
Frau Greif: Sorta based on my French teacher, but creepier as a male. Blame "reverse" sexism.
Sunni: Defined by name. No, I didn't want "Sonny."
Callisto: Supposed to have been defined by name, accidentally female w/ masculine name. My Risa Hawkeye/Lin Beifong.
Sammy: Defined by plot.
Darian's parents: Could not have been reversed, biology doesn't allow it. Universe is not Brave New World or whatever.
Alex's parents: Could have been reversed, but doesn't matter. Slightly less believable if reversed, FWIW, but too late to change for the sake of change.
Kotaro's parents: Defined by name, effectively identical.
Lammergeir: Male because they're stronger (but prolly contains both??). Misspelled, also, but eh, a little kid picked the name.
(others): Generally, defined by name.
MLCS:
Versa: My anima (or whatever). Female version of Darian, sort of. Couldn't have been male for endgame reasons.
Vice: Had to be male. Female version is Amy.
Rush: Defined by name--couldn't work out a female version I believed. Blame sexism.
Saga/Epic: Opposite-sex twins. Personalities play differently if reversed, went with what I did because I needed to finish the story.
Crystal: Defined by name.
Fender: Named for a female classmate, left alone.
Rothe: Named for a female classmate, left alone.
Lester: Named for a male classmate, left alone.
Simon/Amy: Opposite-sex twins. Reverse felt redundant, plot-wise.
(others): Predefined/undefined.
ToHKBS:
Hound: Male chauvinist stereotype. No, "Bitch" would not have worked.
Stag: Absolutely would not work as Doe, because Hound.
Ogre: Absolutely would not work as Ogress, because Hound.
Collie: Defined by name, also by role.
Holly: Defined by name, somewhat by role.
Caan: Defined by name and role.
Sue: Defined by name and role.
Pére Aside: Defined by name and role.
Jen: Defined by name. Barely plays a role, anyway.
Reg/Tairan: Because. Could have switched their roles but didn't.
Luke: Because.
(others): Defined by name.
So, at least in terms of named characters, I feel like I've let their *characters* decide their qualities, which is as it should be, vs. trying to meet one quota or the other. It feels a bit forced no matter what I do, though, just because shoehorning in diversity really IS extra work, regardless of whether we should be doing it... I mean, specifically writing in--say--a trans* person, vs. letting them be assumed in the background, takes away from the flow of the story unless there's a specific reason to mention it, after all.
Not to say I won't try, but it's certainly a battle.
Anyway, it's been a while, huh! And it's been sort of an eventful day! ...well, relatively speaking... and if you're the type to consider finally updating userpics [but not keywords] "eventful"...
So, there's a nice little blog post going around that, for lack of a single [but VERY IMPORTANT] letter, goes on a rather worthwhile tangent about the pitfall of "male as default." It's worth a read, and I don't really have anything to add except that I personally trend towards male characters [perhaps unconsciously, but I still do it] because it feels uncreative to just clone myself as female creators are vitriolically accused of doing [though that may be in response to ANYTHING female creators do, TBH]. It took me an annoyingly long time to realize that too many male creators didn't feel remotely the same way, and now it's like that irritating thing you can't unsee once someone points it out.
So I thought, for funzies or whatever [and because cataloguing is apparently rather relaxing for me after years of struggling with never being able to finish anything], I would go through and examine whether I genuinely scrutinized the sexes of my characters in the process of creating them, vs. making them "male by default." [Spoiler: Most of the NAMED ones are now female as a knee-jerk reaction, which I guess is okay but doesn't feel as organic as it could have been.] The links are a little incomplete [*curses!*], so some of them might not be familiar, especially since my art archives are hardly comprehensive, but at least it's kind of an overview of my mind.
BTW, I'm using "male" and "female" because man/woman and boy/girl are somewhat ageist and inaccurate, and I think of my characters in terms of their entire lifespans rather than in snapshots of time.
SGP:
Hysteria (Haha): Originally an in-joke representation of me. Personality like Julie Winters of The Maxx. Definitely female. Definitely not the case for the entire species, but of the named Hysterical, she's the one "female" to two (little-used) "males"--though sex is a bit moot for them.
Scatter: Named for a specific entity, represents a specific dismissal of masculine qualities. Female version is Kimmy.
Kimmy: [light spoilers] The little girl that wants a boyfriend because she's been raised to believe she does, but wouldn't know what to do with one once she has one. Could have been male, but the "growing up" impact wouldn't be the same.
Johnathan: Defined by the name. Female version is Jacquelyn.
Jacquelyn: See Johnathan.
Kitkat: Could have been either, character design seemed to scream "voiced by Zachary Braun." [Light spoiler: I've played with this in TTB.]
Steppe Hutchinson: Could have been either, somehow got the notion to have kiken voice him. Blame primarily male friends.
[the kitten]: Male counterpart to another character, felt "unfair" to copy the character's feminineness.
Forte: A bit like Bob Fish (Bob and Margaret). Didn't feel like making Margaret.
Kicks: A long time ago, an alternate universe version of Knuckles the Echidna. Female, because.
Doey: Based on the plush form of Elliot from Pete's Dragon. Could have been female but has a sister, Cosy, to balance that out.
(others): Not defined enough to matter.
B2S1:
Darian: My animus. Male because fuck you, that's why.
Alex: Female for greater ostracization impact. Blame sexism. Also for predictable light spoilers.
Kotaro: Male, to play off Darian w/o the "obvious" pair-off. Would reek of desperation if female, because sexist double-standards.
Red: Defined by name. A bit unbelievable as a female, definitely unsympathetic as male, as per the goal.
Frau Greif: Sorta based on my French teacher, but creepier as a male. Blame "reverse" sexism.
Sunni: Defined by name. No, I didn't want "Sonny."
Callisto: Supposed to have been defined by name, accidentally female w/ masculine name. My Risa Hawkeye/Lin Beifong.
Sammy: Defined by plot.
Darian's parents: Could not have been reversed, biology doesn't allow it. Universe is not Brave New World or whatever.
Alex's parents: Could have been reversed, but doesn't matter. Slightly less believable if reversed, FWIW, but too late to change for the sake of change.
Kotaro's parents: Defined by name, effectively identical.
Lammergeir: Male because they're stronger (but prolly contains both??). Misspelled, also, but eh, a little kid picked the name.
(others): Generally, defined by name.
MLCS:
Versa: My anima (or whatever). Female version of Darian, sort of. Couldn't have been male for endgame reasons.
Vice: Had to be male. Female version is Amy.
Rush: Defined by name--couldn't work out a female version I believed. Blame sexism.
Saga/Epic: Opposite-sex twins. Personalities play differently if reversed, went with what I did because I needed to finish the story.
Crystal: Defined by name.
Fender: Named for a female classmate, left alone.
Rothe: Named for a female classmate, left alone.
Lester: Named for a male classmate, left alone.
Simon/Amy: Opposite-sex twins. Reverse felt redundant, plot-wise.
(others): Predefined/undefined.
ToHKBS:
Hound: Male chauvinist stereotype. No, "Bitch" would not have worked.
Stag: Absolutely would not work as Doe, because Hound.
Ogre: Absolutely would not work as Ogress, because Hound.
Collie: Defined by name, also by role.
Holly: Defined by name, somewhat by role.
Caan: Defined by name and role.
Sue: Defined by name and role.
Pére Aside: Defined by name and role.
Jen: Defined by name. Barely plays a role, anyway.
Reg/Tairan: Because. Could have switched their roles but didn't.
Luke: Because.
(others): Defined by name.
So, at least in terms of named characters, I feel like I've let their *characters* decide their qualities, which is as it should be, vs. trying to meet one quota or the other. It feels a bit forced no matter what I do, though, just because shoehorning in diversity really IS extra work, regardless of whether we should be doing it... I mean, specifically writing in--say--a trans* person, vs. letting them be assumed in the background, takes away from the flow of the story unless there's a specific reason to mention it, after all.
Not to say I won't try, but it's certainly a battle.