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 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.