(no subject)

[roxy]

mecurtin pointed me towards metafandom and whoa—some very interesting posts there. Also--What the fucking fuck????? You have got to be kidding me...

It made me all thinky about writing, and specifically, writing characters of color, and I'll refrain from saying CoCs and snickering. See, this is why I very seldom *get* thinky.

It's a subject that gets kicked around a lot, one I find very interesting.

So, I got curious. Roxy, how many times have you written characters of color into your stories, lo, though your fandom is Anglo-Saxon as Anglo-Saxon can be?



Boys Of Summer: Pete, and his whole OC family of brothers and one sister. They played important parts in story

The Dog: one of the major characters in Lex's life in the story was a body guard, Robin Wald, a Black man. And actually, a cross-over character, Principal Hotstuff from Buffy

I'll Fly Away is a Pete-centric story, and most of the characters are Black. In this fic, Clark was the man on the outside. This came about mostly because I was thinking about diversity in the SV universe, using Pete as an interesting character, and Pete as a sexual character, which believe me—rare as hell. If you know a story in which Pete actually gets it on, let me know—bonus if it's one of the main players. I think I also realized that I had some kind of weird prejudice going on here that I'm not discussing right yet. I'll save that for another post.

Ripley parts one and two: one of Ripley's daddies is a man of color. Jordan, one of my favorite OCs. I didn’t make a big issue of it, he just was.

Honorable mention:

Brothers and Heroes: Clark picks up a mixed race boy in Thailand. That was to date, my only attempt to write a non-white character who wasn't black. Blink and you'll miss him

Edge of The Forest Alexei's story—the main character of Fire Bird. His first love (more or less) was a mixed race boy, Russian/African.

Mariposa: The opening is narrated by a person of color and an enormous Mary-Sue. (I am also the queen of self-insertion.) Hey if it was good enough for Hitchcock…I'm not sure if that counts as a CoC. *g*. I know I certainly am.

Also, coulkd someone remind me how that Five Pretty Good Stories I Wrote meme id supposed to go? And soon, in the space, SV ficlet! And The Joker! Yes! And some more SpN, I think! *G*

Shit, I missed you guys!

Comments

[cjandre.livejournal.com]

1) I really had to think about the question of how many stories I've written with people of color. In fanfic, I have a very old story from Prey with a large number of black characters - but they were also not entirely human, so they weren't culturally African American.

2) I've written about American Indians in a Sentinel story - and they were culturally American Indian - although the tribe was fictional and the traditions something of an amalgam from researching the Pacific Northwest tribes.

3) I've had Pete in a few SV stories, but never as a POV character.

Hmmm

4) A Japanese woman who was pretty central to a Sentinel story.

And I think that's about it...

My fanfic tends to mirror the shows pretty closely and I use very few original characters. I wonder if that influences how many characters of color I've written? I think it must, because in orignial fic I have Hispanic and Asian central characters fairly frequently.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

Oh see, that's very interesting. I imagine in Sentinel stories you do get an opportunity to write non-white characters because of the story. SV is relentlessly Anglo-Saxon--any character of color beside Pete has to be an OC.
Now, I dropped entirely out of Psych fandom because the little girls there seemed to be able to write reams and reams about the major character--white, and another white character, one who wasn't very central to the story, and *totally* ignore the other main character--a childhood friend of the major character, the guy who put up with his nuttiness, the only other character on the show the main guy had any kind of chemistry with--who happened to be Black. That really struck me as blatant racism.

[cjandre.livejournal.com]

They don't include the black guy in Psych stories? I've only seen about three eps of that show, but they were good, and very slashy. If I were writing that fandom, that would definitely be the pairing I would see. The actors had real chemistry in the eps that I saw.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

You see? Three eps, and the slash was visible! They play off each other wonderfully well. To ignore these two just really smacked of bigotry. I mean, Gus shared the same cultural background as Shawn--how much of a stretch would it have been to write the character?

Ah--I'm just terribly bitter about that fandom. I feel it broke my heart and spit on the pieces.

[vegas-nolan.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Still makes me sad whenever I happen to catch an ep of Psych and I see Lassiter. I mean, why? Lassiter isn't even all that attractive. He's too hairy, scowl-y, and quite frankly old-seeming for my slash tastes (and I'm willing to be Shawn's, too).

I add also that Gus seems like a really fun character to write. He's dorky and almost perennially the clueless (figurative) straight man. If I still had it in me to write slash I would have an awesome time with him. His character is distinctive.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

rigt? Gus would be a hoot to write--he is the perfect straight man! if I was able at all to contruct a plot involving a mystery, I'd do it myself. I have no idea if the comm is still alive--it's the only one I ever dropped out of.

[vegas-nolan.livejournal.com]

Ooooo

If I come up with a plot idea, would you be amenable to giving it a shot?

*is excited*

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know. I'll certainly take a look at whatever you come up with, and I might be willing to give it a try, since Clark and Lex aren't talking to me anymore.

[vegas-nolan.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only person Clark and Lex aren't talking to currently. Muse-block has been making the rounds. I should patent a cure for it and make lots of money.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

erg--really? I mean the silence is so total and complete it's scaring me. Three years of them constantly yammering in my head and then--nothing? I hope it's just temporary...*bites nails* If you find a cure--gimmegimme!!*G*

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

I've never watched Psych, but I've seen ads for it, and I'd always assumed that any slash would be based on the two guys (one white, one black) who appeared to be central to the show. What you're describing sounds odd and convoluted, and could well be racially based. Aaaarrrggghh.

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

you know me, lovey--I don't toss that stuff around like muffins but oy! That was the only conclusion I could draw. *grrr*

[dawnybee.livejournal.com]

//you know me, lovey--I don't toss that stuff around like muffins but oy! That was the only conclusion I could draw. *grrr*//

It's either a lack of vision or --and I'm sure I'm going to deep with this theory--that the writers can't write Gus/Shawn slash because in their eyes to have Shawn have sex with a Black man would make it seem that Shawn is subjugated or dominated. Because really, Gus and Shawn should've been slashed up and down the block again. I've seen characters who've only shook hands onscreen being written fucking each other up and down the page. Why are you making me go there, woman?!!

Welcome back, hope you had a marv time!

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

in their eyes to have Shawn have sex with a Black man would make it seem that Shawn is subjugated or dominated.

Okay, see, that's probably a huge part of it, I know this to be a likely possibility because I had to overcome that precise feeling myself. I had to write about it a few times before I got over my own prejudices. Does that excuse it? No, it was as stupid for me as it is for those folks. I tell you, Psych fandom is a text book case of discrimination.

I've seen characters who've only shook hands onscreen being written fucking each other up and down the page. Why are you making me go there, woman?!!
cause it's true!! I mean, really, those guys practically screw each other with thier eyes--the show is one of those that *BEG* to be slashed, throw out huge biscuits of slashable dialog and what the fuck? they hook him up with a guy he spends minimal screen time with?

Here girl--have an ice tea. *G*