Stacking vs. Not Stacking

>> Well, some of those could go together by cause and effect. <<

That's an excellent point, thank you.

>> Being crippled traditionally results in poverty: 'crippled beggar' is a stereotype -- or are you trying to avoid stereotypes? <<

I prefer to avoid stereotypes in my writing. However, trends are different; a handicap does pose a barrier to self-support, which may be minor in one culture and devastating in another, even for the same handicap. Many cultures do a crummy job of integrating people with handicaps, which results in many of them being poor. I'd say, if you throw in a crippled beggar as a bit part without thinking, that's a stereotype; but if you pay attention to why this is going on, how society responds to people with handicaps and without money, then it's social commentary.

I haven't heard of Aliens Stole My Body. Sounds like quite an adventure.

However, it reminds me of another quasi-multiple series. Ukiah Oregon is an alien, and he has been physically separated into different people, some but not all of which later rejoin. This series has some of the most fascinating explorations of consciousness and identity that I've ever read. Oh, and his human mother was Cayuse so he is not white. And I think you would appreciate what his other-self Atticus has done to his sexuality in the last book.

Another good example: Aang in Avatar has memory of his past lives, who sometimes appear as spirits he can talk with. This is not exactly the same as single-lifetime multiple personality, but touches on many of the same motifs as experienced by people whose alters are walk-ins or soul groups. And as the whole fandom roared over miscast movie, Aang ain't white.

If I were still going to cons, I'd have the beginnings of a panel rec-reading list at this point.

That's my benchmark for best multiple in fiction, yes. And the alters are well rendered as having different sexes and shapes. I think one of them is black (the body being white and strawberry blond). The backstory is traumatic cleavage, but the current plot is good.

Oh, another one: Mark Vorkosigan and his Black Gang. They're all male but totally different personalities and abilities. Heck, even Miles Vorkosigan has an alter, Admiral Naismith; more aspected than true multiple like Mark, but still close. Good family dynamics throughout the Vorkosigan series.

>> I can't identify with a LOT of gay/trans protagonists, because being gay or trans is their Big Thing, and I can't identify with that. <<

I've had people tell me I couldn't possibly be genderqueer, because it hasn't ruined my life. For fucksake my current body is not my preferred size, shape, sex, color, or species; but I am a shapeshifter and can cope with variations. I'm supposed to wig out over one particular divergence? WTF, no. It's an aspect of my personality but not the most salient one.

>> I was furious when I found out I was gay... mostly because I was dealing with the multiplicity and my gender at the same time, and I was REALLY FUCKING TIRED of being "special." >>

Ouch. That's gotta suck.

>> Say what you will about the quality of 'Set This House in Order,' I found it wonderful to see a multi that was trans and just couldn't care, because they had so much other shit going down. <<

*nod* I've noticed that effect, where there's so much happening that some of it just isn't as important to the person compared to something else that is seriously on fire. But to a different person with only that one thing rocking their boat, it might seem like a much bigger deal.

>> Multi representation on its own is awful. <<

Agreed. This often bothers me in literature/entertainment.

>> Hell, yesterday, I involuntarily bellowed, "SON OF A BITCH," while watching Batman with friends because goddammit, the villain was multiple, with an evil alter and Jekyll/Hyde set-up. THANKS GUYS. <<

0_o That sounds full of FAIL.


>> I just avoid all multi work now, because I know I will just get mad, and anyway, good luck seeing any multis who aren't white, predominantly straight, and evil. <<

I'm sorry to hear that. I feel that this is an area that really needs more representation, and you know a lot about it, and I value your input on what's gone wrong so that those things can be fixed.

One of my oldest characters has an aspected personality, spanning different genders and even cultures. The bandit-self is a horse. And absolutely none of this shows unless you know exactly what to look for or are told outright, because this is the sanest person I've ever met. Except that outclan think everyone from Waterjewel is crazy by dint of being too sane to make sense to those who are differently civilized.

I'm prone to writing shapeshifters as multiples, because of how body influences thought: if you are sometimes human and sometimes a wolf, you will necessarily interact differently. It's kind of like how thinking in a different language changes your thought patterns.

I'm open to the idea of writing more characters who are multiples, if anyone wants to prompt in that direction.

>> Almost too obvious to be mentioned, but in many cases the setting of a story will automatically suggest that the majority of the population is going to be of a different ethnicity (religion, native language etc.) than your other "typical character trait." <<

Apparently that's not obvious. I mean, it is to me; that's how I usually write about diversity. I put it in the foundation. But then other writers act like I'm doing something weird. The standard approach seems to be picking out traited characters one at a time and writing a story "about" their salient trait(s). Sometimes I assemble a team, and if I do that in any kind of multicultural setting, I'll aim for a diverse team; and I generally tend to have a mix if the setting allows for it. But I really like settings where the defaults differ from where I happen to live.

>> Beyond that, mentioning characters whose, say, religious minority status makes them relevant to the plot (in the sense of dissatisfied with the current regime's treatment of minorities) will lead to a lot of "stacked" traits. Ditto characters who acquire physical disabilities over the course of the narrative. <<

Those are both true. And some other folks pointed out that certain traits lead to others, like disability and poverty.

>> I expect that this is a question of write what you can handle, write what the reader can handle. Needless to say, plenty of people are stacked, and thus know how to juggle more than those not called to deliver. <<

Also, write what the story needs.

>> (Really, being white male middle-class middle-brow able-bodied straight is improbable, right? ;) <<

Yes, hitting ALL the approved categories is uncommon.