I made this edit a few days ago. It got me thinking about characters though. My own original characters, and maybe even how I would wanna be represented as someone's favorite character.
I want to see more tomboy characters.
Biological female characters that present masculine but they're still with men and are as equally desired.
My desire for more representation of this comes from personal experience.
I'm a girl, and I'm bi, with a leaning attraction towards men. The issue for me was never liking girls though. It was and still is the combination of liking guys and my own self expression.
Guys don't like masculine women. At least, that's what society tells us. I've experienced it first hand. Comments from people saying they don't understand how my partner, who's male and extremely masculine himself, is attracted to me. That it's a shame and a waste and he should be with a girl who's more - well, girly. That he's gotta be at least a little gay to be with me.
It's always left me second guessing, and needing reassurance that I'm actually desired. It doesn't help that I don't see myself in female characters a lot and more specifically, character couples that look like mine. It leads to a lot of wondering.
For the longest time, and even still, I feel guilty that I don't resonate more with female characters. I don't dislike them. l've just never seen myself, my style, in one before. It's frustrating.
I've resonated more with male characters and their designs.
Ryland Grace? I want that nerd, and I wanna be that cute nerd. I want his style and his fluffy hair and his boyish charm.
Holland March? I wanna lick his sole patch and also look that good in a suit for myself. A suit just like his too. Not a compromise suit, that's only okay for a woman if the blazer accentuates her boobs, and it's paired with high heels.
No. I would want it to be just like March's.
Luke Glanton? Same thing.
Would a character like Luke be attracted to a woman just as masculine and grungy as he is though? Would Holland March be seen dating a woman in a suit identical to his? Would Grace fall for a girl whose main style is a punk Adam Sandler? Lmao.
Why am I attracted to the characters I want to look most like?
Why don’t we see character couples like that?
The ragtag girl and the conventionally "masculine" guy. Together.
I know it can be argued that most of Rygo's characters aren't the most masculine themselves per se lol but conventionally speaking, they'd be accepted as that.
I watched a show recently that fueled this train of thought too.
It left me feeling a little bummed. Every single female character had the largest chest imaginable and there was so much fan service. My frustration there doesn't actually come from lack of representation. It's the opposite.
I have those and don't want them. I hate them.
Yet, here's another show, practically saying hey this is what all women should look like. This is what guys want. What's deemed attractive and desired.
I don't wanna look like that though. So where does that leave me? If I desire barely any boobs at all, for myself and my personal style, will guys still like me?
Obviously, I know this attraction does exist out in the real world. I say all of this because I want it in our created universes too. I want representation.
Give me girl characters that want A cups and only wear baggy clothes. Give me girl characters that do blush because of their boy crush, but she's also a genuine friend too, and they’re actually friends. She doesn't just exist for the sole purpose of being his love interest.
Give me male characters that are obsessed and losing their minds over the ratty female tomboy character. Male characters that actually let their guard down with them and treat them like a real person and not just a girl they aim to win.
I say this because I want better female characters across the board, and I really want to start working on my own original characters. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in that though. Most people searching for fics are seeking out the already established character, not the insert character.
In my past writings, l've tried to keep everything vague enough that everyone can place themselves into the moment, but would you guys be interested in more in-depth insert characters and world building with my ocs?
Tell me about your favorite characters too and if you got to be a character, how would you wanna be represented?
