busyThe thing is ... there are people with multiple minority traits. There are gay Asians. There are autistic Pagans. There are poor black lesbians in wheelchairs. And those people sometimes feel overlooked because the stacking effect can change their experiences so much that a single-trait character doesn't feel much like them. I've read essays upholding this end of the debate but couldn't find one to use as an example here.
My stance is that I write characters as they need to be. I have a lot of characters who are female/other trait because roughly half of humanity is female. Other combinations are less common but also appear. Brelig is a normal-sized Duurludirj man (which we'd consider a dwarf) and missing one hand. Maryam Smith is African-British, genderqueer, duoclass, and of illegitimate birth. I'm more likely to focus on minority protagonists than to use them as filler, something my audience seems to enjoy if you look over what's been published. I don't tend to write a lot of straight white Christian men, though, so the core of the mainstream doesn't get a lot of traffic from me. Meh.
Also, if I haven't specified a trait in canon, yes it could fall outside the mainstream. Characters have done this to me often enough, and my cultural awareness is diverse enough, that there's no permanent default. They may pop out an uncommon religion or sexual orientation or invisible handicap or whatnot, and they may do that after two stories or six poems or twenty years. I'm more likely to mention physical features such as skin tone and gender up front, because they're noticeable points of diversity. But I've also had characters refuse to reveal their sex/gender, and not just the ones for whom "I'm not telling" is their gender.
I'm interested in other people's perspectives on the matter of single vs. stacked traits.
Re: Thoughts
June 13 2013, 03:38:45 UTC 8 years ago
Saddened, yes; surprised, no. I've spent a lot of time telling various kinds of people that they have a right to exist, I can see them existing, they have a right not to be mentally or physically violated, and people who say otherwise are dicks who probably should not be listened to.
>> Seriously, in media, if you're multi, you're pretty much screwed. In media, the only way people seem to be allowed to be multi AND not completely at other people's mercy is to be evil. Which is pretty messed up, if you think hard about it. <<
And that's not an accident; it's an expression of how society feels about mentally challenged or neurovariant people. It wants them not to exist. It wants to scapegoat them.
Well, fuck that noise. I call stop-trope. This needs to be not done anymore until there's enough other stuff built up that it doesn't hurt people just by existing.
>> So true. It's a source of deep frustration for me that I seem incapable of writing multiplicity; all the tropes and frustrations have gotten so embedded in my skull, I can't seem to write fictional multiples myself. <<
Wow, that sucks enormously. Internalized isms always do. :''''(
>> I try to make up the difference by making nonfiction comics about it, but still, SO MADDENING. <<
You make splendid and useful resources; I am glad to have them.
You seem to do well at outlining the kinds of stories that *could* be told. Feel free to drop things like that into any of my prompt calls if they fit the theme. Oh hey look, July 2 fishbowl has "unlikely heroes & implausible villains." Maybe think about some ideas for functional multiples who aren't evil and don't die? Who knows, if we come up with something good, maybe you could illustrate it.
Re: Thoughts
June 13 2013, 04:33:52 UTC 8 years ago
Yeah, the closest I've gotten is a system who masquerades as a singlet superhero with a haphazard power set only one of them can utilize effectively. They're known for being surprisingly good with mind-controllers. Home field advantage, you know. I should do more with them...
You seem to do well at outlining the kinds of stories that *could* be told. Feel free to drop things like that into any of my prompt calls if they fit the theme. Oh hey look, July 2 fishbowl has "unlikely heroes & implausible villains." Maybe think about some ideas for functional multiples who aren't evil and don't die? Who knows, if we come up with something good, maybe you could illustrate it.
I really like this idea! I meant to hit up your dreams fishbowl, but I somehow managed to JUST miss it, much to my annoyance. I'll be sure to hit up your next one! I can at least INSPIRE work about multis!
Re: Thoughts
June 13 2013, 22:54:14 UTC 8 years ago
As an example, I know that even the specific and limited ability to change the color of a single small spot on a nearby surface could be used to play mind tricks on people, or communicate (in code or otherwise), or even to obscure visual details (like blotting out or altering part of a phone number or password). And what if that could be expanded to a full-on alteration across the entire target surface, given the right user?
So there are ways to involve specific skills, as well as integrative skills. Perhaps this hero group needs to improve teamwork and leadership skills, or even work on simultaneous fronting, to gain more effective use of their powers.
That'd be a heck of a storyline, I think.
Re: Thoughts
June 14 2013, 03:38:29 UTC 8 years ago
I think I'd set it so that the members had different skills. Another member might be able to use the same base ability, but not as well, and there might be certain techniques that only one member could do.
>> So there are ways to involve specific skills, as well as integrative skills. Perhaps this hero group needs to improve teamwork and leadership skills, or even work on simultaneous fronting, to gain more effective use of their powers. <<
It would probably start with a system in chaos. They would have to learn how to work together and discover their talents. Then they would logically be able to combine their efforts -- or divide them effectively to cope with several enemies at once. That would give multitasking a whole new meaning.
The origin story would be important, and the character's background in general. Most superheroes, like most multiples, have survived some pretty awful stuff. Then there's the question of how fast can they get out of the hot spot once the superhero stuff engages -- are they safe fairly soon, or is someone hunting them and trying to kill them for quite a while?
I'd want a good range of different superhero powers, too; probably slanted toward the metaphysical rather than purely physical. I don't think in this case that I want a shapeshifting character, because most multiples can't shapeshift and I want a relatable character. So I think that tones down things like speed and strength; they might get a little enhancement but probably not a lot. I could go with fast healing, though, that's always useful and some humans have a measure of it.
Re: Thoughts
June 22 2013, 01:16:32 UTC 8 years ago
No. The powers are innate with the vessel, and would have existed regardless of plural state. However, using them requires a certain concentration that not everyone can pull off. (The powers involve absorbing copious amounts of damage and deflecting some of it through a shockwave. For it to have any practical effect requires the vessel take what would normally be a lethal amount of trauma... and it can't deflect ALL of the damage. So the powers are intrinsically risky to use.)
If some members were shut down in some way, would any of them have great skill or power with a particular ability?
Not really. As I mentioned, the powers are innate with the vessel; if their face member goes down, some of the other members can sort of use them... but not at all reliably. And seeing how the powers work, that can be dangerous.
The skill can be used in more minor ways and still be helpful--it gives the system an illusion of being tougher than usual, when really they're just deflecting damage that's too small to create a shockwave. In theory, they could mimic a form of very minor, erratic telekinesis by doing something like--I don't know, smashing their hand against a wall hard enough to make tiny mini-shockwaves to push a very light object ahead. Definitely not the most intuitive use of them though.
I might actually practice that, though, have different system members using the powers in different, seemingly trivial ways that, if used properly, can make a big difference.
--Rogan
Re: Thoughts
June 22 2013, 03:05:02 UTC 8 years ago
That makes sense.
>> However, using them requires a certain concentration that not everyone can pull off. (The powers involve absorbing copious amounts of damage and deflecting some of it through a shockwave. For it to have any practical effect requires the vessel take what would normally be a lethal amount of trauma... and it can't deflect ALL of the damage. So the powers are intrinsically risky to use.) <<
This makes me wonder how anyone gets good enough to use the powers adroitly, without getting killed during the practice phase. Do some members just have an inborn knack at using the power for a certain purpose?
>>The skill can be used in more minor ways and still be helpful--it gives the system an illusion of being tougher than usual, when really they're just deflecting damage that's too small to create a shockwave.<<
Good idea. Also, if energy can be deflected, can it be crossed with itself? That can be a clever way to light something on fire, or whatever, as the peaks heterodyne.
>>I might actually practice that, though, have different system members using the powers in different, seemingly trivial ways that, if used properly, can make a big difference.<<
I'm quite a fan of using a small or subtle skill in just the right way to have a big impact.
Re: Thoughts
June 22 2013, 03:58:40 UTC 8 years ago
I plan on the system being trauma-based (stereotypical, I know, but it is what I know), and so they had to learn 'on the job,' as it were. The attacks weren't enough to cause the shockwaves, so they thought they were just tougher than average, until early in adulthood, where they got hit by a car and ended up destroying it. But it does require a certain mindframe that accepts pain and possible death calmly and controls it, and that's not something most people come with.
As someone who dissociates from pain, I hoped to tie the experiences together.
Re: Thoughts
June 22 2013, 04:50:54 UTC 8 years ago
That makes sense. Trauma does seem to be a prevailing source for multiple systems, though not universal. The earliest one I can think of from my own work is natural. The one I'm building right now is traumatic, but different from the usual stress fracture: the natal personality was literally sliced into pieces by a telepath.
>> and so they had to learn 'on the job,' as it were. The attacks weren't enough to cause the shockwaves, so they thought they were just tougher than average, until early in adulthood, where they got hit by a car and ended up destroying it. <<
Fascinating! I like this angle.
>> But it does require a certain mindframe that accepts pain and possible death calmly and controls it, and that's not something most people come with. <<
True. I've seen it occasionally in fiction, though; high-price magic is an established trope. It will be interesting to see where you go with this.
>> As someone who dissociates from pain, I hoped to tie the experiences together. <<
That should work.
The system I'm designing now has one member whose job is to handle pain, so the others don't have to; and that ties into energy powers in general.
Re: Thoughts
June 14 2013, 03:44:11 UTC 8 years ago
That sounds cool.
>> They're known for being surprisingly good with mind-controllers. Home field advantage, you know. <<
*LAUGH* And they have the enemy outnumbered.
I had something in mind, similarly, with someone trying dreamtheft on a writer. Oh hey, you are outnumbered and on my turf and what, you didn't expect my characters to tear apart your team whilst I turned into a dragon and ate you? Silly overlord, next time do your homework first.
>> I should do more with them... <<
Yes, that would be awesome.
>> I really like this idea! <<
Yay!
>> I meant to hit up your dreams fishbowl, but I somehow managed to JUST miss it, much to my annoyance. <<
Alas, that happened to several folks. For future reference, if you're not sure you can make it to the open fishbowl, you can leave me advance prompts.
>> I'll be sure to hit up your next one! I can at least INSPIRE work about multis! <<
I look forward to it. A multi superhero would certainly fit.