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I’m starting this week off with a bang.  One that I’m sure I’ll regret once the comments start rolling in.  Nobody likes to poke the social hornet nests that we live with, but you have to at times.  It becomes essential when you reach a point where you’re considering doing something ‘controversial’.

So, how is using maligned or abused groups controversial?  It’s because you have to be delicate and one slip can cause people to take offense.  You might not realize you’re doing it either because many groups who are the targets of bias and hate are colored by stereotypes that those outside the group don’t realize are offensive.  For example, not everyone realizes the big nose and being cheap are insulting stereotypes for Jews.  This means that an author can accidentally trigger people, but the book is usually published by then and it’s too late in some cases.  So, many try to avoid the topics.

With Slumberlord Chronicles, I started thinking about this because two of the characters in the first book are conjoined twins.  They’re connected by their sides and were originally two women who wanted to get separated.  I kept wondering if this desire was insulting because they kind of hated themselves.  Tried to do research, but kept coming back to feeling like I was doing it wrong.  Them getting separated is a key component of the story, so I did a switch with one being male.  So, I thought male/female conjoined twins would make it clearer as to why they really want to get split.  Forget if genetics makes this possible since we’re working in a magical world.

Was this perfect?  No.  I still have some nerves about it even after making it clear that they love each other, but want to be separated.  It’s a comfort thing, I guess, especially since they have opposite personalities and interests.  One worships a goddess of joy and sex while the other worships the goddess of pain.  Needless to say, religious ceremonies are difficult and require sleeping pills for the one who doesn’t want to be there.

Anyway, that got me thinking about this along with someone asking me if I would ever write a trans character.  As I am now, I would say no because I don’t think I understand being trans enough to write the character correctly.  Also, Windemere wouldn’t be a place where they would be easily accepted.  In a world where you have orcs, dwarves, elves, humanoid dragons, cat-people, lycanthropes, and vampires, I don’t really think a person wanting to become the gender they feel is right would get any pushback.  Be plenty of spells and rituals to do it too.  A final reason is that I’m rather cruel to my characters and I think doing that to a trans character in current society would be wrong.  So, I’d have this character with ultimate plot armor and be too afraid to do anything that could be triggering.  Maybe down the road, but we’ll see.

That’s a big thing with touching on maligned and abused groups.  You need an understanding of those groups to make sure you get them right.  A wrong step can bring in anger from them, but it can also give fuel to those who hate them.  Last thing an author wants is to be praised by people who openly hate others simply for existing.  At least, it’s the last thing this author wants, which is why I get twitchy when I come close to sensitive topics.  Understanding and discussion can help clear things even after publishing, which counters me saying it’s too late.  You can’t change the book, but you can admit you messed up, try to show where you came from, and learn.  If it’s part of a series then you can work on fixing it in the sequel.  As long as you’re given a chance since there are a lot of ‘one strike and you’re out’ mentalities on social media.

I’m doing a ‘Questions 3’ on Wednesday, but let’s hear what people have to say in general about this.  Have you ever written a story with characters from groups who are hated for existing?  How did it go and what did you do to avoid stereotypes and triggers?  Do you avoid these types of characters for some reason?