Warning potentially controversial fandom post. This is meant to promote discussion PLEASE don’t attack anyone over this.
Hey what are people’s opinions on changing character’s sexualities, genders, and races?
I was thinking about this recently specifically sexuality and wanted to know what other people’s opinions/general consensus is.
Also important to point out this is a very nuanced discussion and I don’t think there is a right answer.
Note: These opinions don’t have to be hard and fast rules! There are many fanworks that I LOVE that don’t fit my personal preferences. As mentioned there is a lot of nuance here and these opinions are inherently generalizations.
Sexuality: I am of the firm opinion that unless specifically stated all characters are either Asexual or Bi/Pan. Additionally when changing this, I take a stance of “it’s OK to add but not remove”
Like if a character likes girls in the source media I have absolutely no issue with them also liking boys in any fan work. But stories where they suddenly don’t like girls at all feel off to me. (And vise versa of course) The only potential exception to this is making a character Asexual. I don’t know why, it might be my personal bias because I’m Ace or it could be because asexuality is a spectrum so it could just be argued that it is just turning something down rather than removing it.
However if their sexuality is explicitly stated changing it feels wrong.
Gender: If we are talking about art I’m all for it. Fanfic though my thoughts are a bit more complex. If you are changing it just to change it (maybe you just want that character to be a different gender or maybe you want a ship to be gay/straight) then i don’t really care one way or the other but if there’s some specific reason you changed it, like maybe playing with and/or subverting peoples expectations of gender or something, then that’s my jam!
Similarly making a character trans is also really interesting. Being trans is inherently a journey of self discovery and growing into your true self and can add an interesting dimension to a character. I generally prefer if a character is trans to their canon gender but it’s interesting regardless. Especially if the character is Nonbinary or genderfluid, those stories are really interesting. (Gender can just be an interesting way to explore a character but if I were to share all my thoughts I’d be here all day so I’ll end it here)
Just like in regards to sexuality though, if a character is already trans or otherwise feels strongly about their gender then I feel bad changing it.
Race: I personally don’t touch race unless I absolutely have to. (Like if I want two characters to be related or something) And even then I would probably mix their race rather than completely change it.
I don’t have any strong feelings about other people changing a character’s race for whatever reason (as long as it’s in good faith anyway)
Again like in sexuality and gender if a character’s race is important to their characterization/story it feels wrong changing it.
Anyway those are my thoughts please feel free to share your own. It’s an interesting subject and I want to know what other people think
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