#religion coding

[writingwithcolor]

Culture based on ancient Israelites, but they worship the sun and have tattoos

@mangomura asked:

Hello there!I’m writing a fantasy ethnoreligious group based off of the Ancient Israelites and Illyrian sun worshipers. In my story, these people are a nomadic group that worship a sun god known as “Shemesh.” (the Hebrew word for sun) They generally have light olive skin and wavy dark brown hair. As part of their culture, women and men tattoo their hands and foreheads with sun symbols. (This is based off the traditional tattoos among Catholic Croatian women that originated from old Illyrian and Celtic tribes.)

From what I’ve researched, tattoos are sometimes considered taboo in Judaism. I know it’s a fantasy culture, but I still want to be respectful to Judaism since I’m drawing some inspiration from the Israelites. With that being said, would tattoos be offensive in this setting? Is drawing from two cultures with different views on tattoos problematic?

For reference, I’m a Japanese, Mexican, and Black Catholic. So I’m not personally familiar with Judaism. Online research and articles have been my only resource.

I appreciate this blog so much and would value any opinions you could give. Thank you!

I’m not sanguine about having something coded as ancient Israelite that worships observable natural phenomena. A great deal of our cultural narratives about our early development specifically places us in contrast to cultures that worship something other than a formless, omnipresent God, and often specifically sun worship. Many Jewish people, both who do and who do not believe that Torah is divinely inspired or historical truth, believe that the intent of many of the laws, especially ones like the law against tattooing one’s body, may have been intentionally designed to set us apart from neighboring cultures, to create a cultural identity that was not compatible with assimilation with cultures that ate pork, had religious tattoos, or worshiped the sun. 

Many people credit that distinctness of identity, that separateness, with the survival of our culture through the centuries, so to see something coded Jewish, that is, implied to be us in some meaningful way, mixed together with those opposing attributes, would not feel like positive representation.

You don’t say a lot in your ask about what aspects of Jewish or ancient Israelite culture you’re using to code this group, other than a generally Mediterranean phenotype and your use of the Hebrew word for sun as the name of their god--if that’s about the extent of it, then you don’t have a lot of revision to do to keep the bones of your idea without directly associating recognizable Jewish coding with sun worship. What if you name the sun-god something else, and include inspiration from other Bronze Age cultures along with the foundation you drew from Jewish, Croatian, and Celtic sources, to create something that skips the discomfort of muddling Jewishness together with other systems? 

Basically, I don’t think it’s necessary to tear your idea down and start from scratch, just make it not overtly Jewish and you’ll have avoided a discomfort I’m sure you didn’t even know to look out for. Good luck!

Meir 

[writingwithcolor]

Is "adjusted her hijab" a realistic way to announce that this character is a muslim? I've never see muslim women adjusting them as they seem to usually be pinned to stay in place, but I wanted something to announce that said character is wearing an hijab without just plainly saying she was wearing a hijab.

Adjusting hijab in order to code Muslim character

She could be fiddling with it without adjusting it? Hijabs are also not the only type of head covering Muslim women use. Some types of head coverings are very securely held in place. Others are very loose and can be adjusted. Where is your character from? She might wear something other than a hijab depending on her culture. Also, lots of Muslim women don’t cover their head at all (and lots of women who aren’t Muslim do). A hijab is not the only way to indicate your character is Muslim. 

-Niki

You can have a certain scene (for example, introducing your character for the first time) in which she is in a bathroom outside her home redoing it since many times, no matter how secured, the scarf loosens and starts to slip. Or she can be complaining in her head about the material and how it does not suit her…etc. Also, take into account what Niki said; you need to have in mind what scarf style your character is wearing 

-Asmaa

[writingwithcolor]

Hello there, thank you for creating this wonderful resource! Your post about lizard people really opened my eyes, as I was not aware of it being an antisemitic trope specifically until now. I absolutely love making reptile heroes and villains alike, but I'm not Jewish myself and I’m now concerned about a dragon character I have as a main antagonist for one of my stories. Your other posts regarding this topic do point out that having one aspect of the trope does not guarantee that it will evoke the trope itself, but I'm afraid that this character has several aspects of it without me realizing prior to now, and I'm looking for advice on what to do with him. I did not intend to make him Jewish at all, but if I were to use other ways to specifically show that he isn’t Jewish/a Jewish equivalent in this fantasy world (and I definitely will when I reach the scripting/panelling phase), I’m still concerned that even the base idea for this character will read as such regardless. (I also apologize for the length of this ask, feel free to cut it down as needed when posting it) Dragons, lizards, and other reptiles are not considered evil or vile in this universe, in fact there is an entire kingdom that worships a dragon god to the point where things like their clothing and architecture resemble them. Having even a fabricated appearance of a reptile (or any other animal for that matter) is encouraged and celebrated across all the kingdoms, so this isn’t meant to be a “humans vs reptiles” or “humans vs non-humans” story, even if humans are still a dominant species. That said, this character is still an outsider to the monarchy (in fact his and the protagonist's status as non-royal is deliberate), and his appearance as a dragon man is the reason he is able to sway this particular kingdom so easily. The general populace views him as a second coming of their god, even more so than its current royalty, so I’m not sure if that makes his case better or worse here. (I know this isn't a visual design blog necessarily but if it helps, this is the most recent design I have for him. If you have any critiques about the visuals as well then I'm all ears) He is not motivated by greed as I thought the “dragon hoarding treasure” angle was overused already, but he does intend to overthrow and abolish the monarchy of all of the kingdoms in a “burn them to the ground” kind of way, so I’m concerned that his conquest of this and the other non-dragon kingdoms will still read poorly from the manipulation/government takeover perspective. The protagonists that ultimately defeat him are each from different parts of this world, one of whom is the princess of the dragon kingdom and is fighting to get it back from him, though she resembles a bat more than a dragon visually (they share the same wing type). Would adding more scaly/lizard characters on the side of good help matters? This antagonist’s own cohorts are also from various parts of this world as well (i.e. not a group of lizard people), which is intended to create a parallel between them and the group of protagonists thematically, but he’s still the leader and mastermind of his group's schemes. So with all that in mind, do you think this concept could still be used/reworked or should it be scrapped entirely? Do you have any advice on writing lizard folk villains specifically when it comes to avoiding antisemitism? Are there questions I’m not asking myself about this particular story concept that I should be? I'm happy to clarify any further questions about the world building as needed, though admittedly there are a lot of details that need ironing out regardless. In any case, thank you for your time, I appreciate it!

Dragon antagonist trying to overthrow a kingdom

Having him be an anomaly in dragonkind, and having the good guys be more dragonlike, will help. Because then it shows that reptilian-ness, in your world, is not the reason he’s a bad guy. So yes, you’re right that adding more good lizard characters would help.

How do you feel about switching his character design with the bat princess character? Or even making her more dragonlike (without making him less so necessarily?) Just some thoughts.

--Shira

I’d like to gently move you away from looking at this as “am I inadvertently checking a box that I don’t want to check?” and toward “What are the ways in which I am and am not playing into a constellation of tropes that might or might not add up to something I don’t want to say?” Dragon = reptilian = antisemitic is a decent start, and it’s good that it got your attention. Taking a deeper look will help you evaluate what’s happening with your character development.

“Lizard people,” as in the accusation of literally being reptilian, or the use of “Lizard people” as a dog whistle to imply “Jewish” without saying it, grew into significance in the 90s, but it builds on tropes that had been established in art and literature for the span of Western history. “Lizard people” works as a dog whistle because of how many of the tropes for negatively portraying Jewish characters also work for negatively portraying humanoid reptilians. So instead of simply giving the sign-off on whether “dragon-man” is a subset of “lizard person” and therefore antisemitic, let’s look at the various components of the trope and how a writer might find themselves upholding, bypassing, or directly counteracting any selection of them. 

Here’s a short list of character design elements often linked with negative Jewish coding in male characters (the tropes for non-men Jewish characters can overlap with these but will also have their own components). 

Note that a lot of them are only negative if the context establishes them as negative:

Skinny and nerdy, not physically strong or imposing, gaining power through trickery rather than force;

Fat and lazy, not physically strong, gaining power through financial pressure or tricky contract language;

Narrow, pointy nose and chin, close-set eyes, high forehead, black or red curly hair, olive undertones to complexion; portrayed as negative in contrast to the fair and square or rounded features portrayed on non-Jewish-coded characters;

Cowardly in a setting where physical violence is a virtue, violent toward family members or politically bloodthirsty in a setting where the virtue is pacifism, but never personally a warrior and never willing to take personal safety risks;

Never shown wearing armor or holding weapons except in 20th-21st century settings;

Elements of autistic coding including monotonous, robotic, cracking, or otherwise “unmasculine” voice;

Failure to dominate women, romantically or in his own family, but also failure to respect women who are outside of his family. Pursues women who have made it clear that they are not interested. Not a supportive or attentive partner;

Dismissive of others’ boundaries, whether sexual/romantic or just personal space;

Excels in careers that don’t require charisma, especially in math and technology fields. 

Lacks loyalty to the group that includes them: that is, lacks a sense of noble patriotism in settings where patriotism is noble; lacks loyalty to the revolution or resistance movement where those are the heroes; even when an antagonist will show disloyalty to the other antagonists. This will be the case either because he values nothing above personal gain or because he has a stronger loyalty to another group or nationality than the one he is betraying.

Unpleasant, unlikeable, unappealing: even people who work for him find him repulsive and follow him because they have been manipulated out of other options or are villainous themselves.

Right off the bat, we see that some of these are contradictory. Your character--and any other character we hold up to it--might wind up upholding one of these elements specifically by intending to counteract another. Some of them are only understood as negative when placed in a context that specifically extolls a different virtue. Historically, Jews have been a handy all-purpose antagonist: to capitalists, Jews are communist, to communists Jews are capitalists. To radical Leftists Jews are faking being marginalized and to racists Jews are faking whiteness. In the face of this, a checklist attempting to encode tropes to avoid would quickly become too sprawling and unwieldy to use. Since “vibes” are hard to convey in text, though, let’s do our best to figure out what applies here.

Your character is an antagonist who gains power through trickery, by using his draconic appearance to gain the trust of a people who revere dragons. He’s also red-toned, armored, and motivated by something other than greed, characteristics which generally run counter to negative Jewish coding. You have a two-sided task: to make it clear that he isn’t intended as a dog whistle, and to avoid implying that the actions he takes that make him an antagonist are inherently results of his Jewish-coded aspects. 

What are his other attributes?

Do people follow him because he offers them kindness or because he tricks them into contracts or maneuvers them out of options? 

Does he respect and listen to his allies? Is he loyal to them? 

Does your story frame his motives as noble even if his methods are misguided? 

What would it take to get him to sell out his allies? 

Would he do it for money? To save their lives?

Is he heroic on the battlefield, a formidable foe, or does he send others to take risks he wouldn’t take? 

Does he have romantic relationships? If so, how does he treat his partners? 

Is he loyal to a long-term spouse? Is he predatory and coercive? 

Does he have genuine friendships and loving familial relationships, or only yes-men? 

I’m not saying that your bad guy has to be a good person; rather these are some openers to considering what the coding of villainy consists of, and how one codes for evil without employing antisemitic coding as a handy shorthand. 

- Meir

[writingwithcolor]

Do small hints of a character’s Jewishness work, or do more harm than good?

@oatily asked:

I’m writing a HP fanfic and the mc has a Jewish friend. He’s really politically active, the one who radicalizes mc on stuff like the oppression of werewolves, the slave labor of house elves etc. Generally really smart passionate guy. I grew up atheist and pretty much completely outside of religion. I think I would need to take multiple college courses to fully understand any religion, but I still want to provide good rep. I’ve read a lot of Shira’s blog, but are there any subtle ways to include his faith without having an in depth understanding of the religion? Or should I just not mention his faith at all if I do not completely understanding the details of Judaism? I’m willing to put in the time to research ,and I already have quite a bit, but I think it would take me years and many classes before I felt proficient in my understanding. I guess my question is: Is it enough to put in small hints like the character eats kosher and goes home for Jewish holidays or does only mentioning these surface level things do more harm than good?

WWC NOTE: this question was answered to fill a gap in coding questions around Jewish characters, and it just so happened to be about HP fic. We at WWC, including specifically the Jewish team, do not condone the TERF-ness (or racism, anti-semitism, transphobia, or fatphobia) of JKR. We hope that the principles we used to answer this post will be useful for writers of other fandoms and for original fiction as well.

Mentioning surface level things is fine if they’re the right surface level things.

For example, someone who “goes home for Chanukah” is clearly only going home because that’s when the Christian-rooted school calendar says there’s a holiday, but if someone went home for new year’s (Rosh Hashanah) or Yom Kippur in the fall, or for their family’s Passover seder in the spring, that would feel accurate.

One way you could make sure that your surface level mentions are the right details to add rather than subtract verisimilitude, is to trade beta-readings with a Jewish friend and ask specifically for suggestions of places in the story where the little mentions would make sense. For example, if they’re in a history class and the teacher is talking about a particular time in history when we weren’t allowed in England, the kid might chuckle aside to his friend “my ancestors weren’t even allowed here that year.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_England

(Or less depressing, “oh hey, that’s the same year my folks came here from Russia/Germany/whatever”)

Kids in that series are also sometimes around the right age to become b’nei mitzvah, or to have had that just happen, so “and now on top of all these spells I have to learn my Torah portion?” or to mention some amusing incident that happened at his bar mitzvah reception if it was a couple of years ago, that’s another way to throw in a casual reference. If the kid is magic-born maybe the kiddush cup or fancy pen or whatever that his parents gave him for his bar mitzvah has magic properties. Come to think of it, going home over the weekend for his little sister’s bat mitzvah would be another good thing to work in, speaking of that age.

--Shira

How does the character's faith shape his passion for social justice?

Hello 😊 I love the sound of your activist Jewish character and the fact that the character’s existence actually addresses some of the problems with the source material.

The word you’re looking for is Tikkun Olam, an important Jewish middah (value) that translates to ‘healing the world’. One way to include the character’s faith in the story is to lean into how it shapes his passion for social justice:

· Does he have a particular rabbi or other spiritual leader who is his Tikkun Olam inspo? For example, my brother is Orthodox and vegan, and he loves to quote Rav Kook, a 19th/20thC rabbi and advocate for environmental justice and animal rights, as they exist in Jewish thought.

· Does he have a chavruta (Torah study buddy) and is he learning something that supports his views on discrimination?

· Were his ancestors activists at key moments in Jewish or world history?

As for other aspects of Jewish identity, there is actually already a fanfic about this, so I would recommend starting there. Again, not sharing this in support of JKR’s views – see below – but the fandom belongs to the fans, not the author.

- Shoshi

What does the character do on Saturdays?

I think the key to a lot of other questions about this character is going to be, “What does he do on Saturdays?” That is to say, what denomination is this kid from and how observant is he personally? This may only directly come into play if you’re specifically writing a scene stated to occur on a Saturday, but it’ll inform what mentions of Jewishness even make sense for his character. So let’s think through Jewish life at Hogwarts for a moment:

Denomination:

Are there enough Jewish students that they have a weekly visiting rabbi holding services on campus? Do Jewish students go off-campus to services at Temple Beth Anakim or Congregation Adath Kesem (Reform and Orthodox respectively) in Hogsmeade (I just made them up)? If so, an Orthodox or Masorti group of kids might go to Hogsmeade before dinner Friday and not come back until Saturday night, and thus be missing from action that took place in between, while a Reform group might only be away from Hoqwarts for an hour and a half Friday evening. Or he might choose not to go at all, either because he’s from a secular or non-observant family, or because he’s not comfortable in services for reasons of his own, or because the plot needs him around, in which case maybe pretending to be sick to get out of going to services without raising attention could give him some rounded characterization.

Observance:

As ever a quick reminder that denominational affiliation and personal observance are related but not 1-1 correlated. A character who regularly attends Orthodox or Masorti services might not personally have a problem writing, using money, or doing other activities that observant Jews typically avoid on Shabbat, or they might do them but have Feelings about it, or they might scrupulously avoid them. A character who regularly attends Reform services may not have an inner conflict about doing these things on Shabbat, but they might be sick and tired of being judged by more observant Jews about it--or they might be more personally observant and have to defend that practice around other Reform students.

Now, I’m not saying you have to include a detailed examination of your character’s inner feelings around their Shabbat observance in order to have them pop into the plot, say “Hi, house elves should have rights, see ya later,” but knowing the answer to this will help you come up with what does fit in your plot as far as what’s actually Jewish about your Jewish character.

You offered some beginning thoughts about this, but here are some additional quick questions about Jewish life at Hogwarts:

Does your character keep kosher? Where does kosher food at Hogwarts come from? Does the castle kitchen have a separate kitchen where specially-trained house elves prepare meals for the Jewish students? Is it apparated in from outside? Is it the same, better, or worse than the non-kosher alternatives? If he doesn’t keep kosher, does he have feelings about it? Does he joke about kashrut while eating a cheeseburger (have house elves heard of cheeseburgers?) or does he eat his black bean burger on a separate plate while wishing it tasted as good as your main character’s cheeseburger smells?

Shira mentioned b’nai mitzvah; If your story takes place in year 1, 2, or 3, your Jewish character is not only learning the difference between leviOsa and levioSA, they’re also learning how to decode and pronounce a not-insignificant portion of Hebrew scripture, as well as chant it according to a pre-medieval system of musical notation. Who are they studying with, and when do they practice? If they’re older, then did your main character come to their Jewish friend’s bar mitzvah? Why or why not?

Shoshi mentioned continuing Jewish education and connection: aside from the technical study, how does your character study Jewish history and culture, that he can draw on it to power his progressive politics? A chavruta would be another Jewish student they meet with specifically to study Jewish text, while a Jewish professor might be a role model or may be teaching them extra subjects on the side.

Ultimately, though, what hints you drop that reveal your character’s Jewishness are going to get easier to figure out when you can be confident answering what does your character do on Saturdays.

- Meir

[writingwithcolor]

Drawing inspiration for Magic from Disparate Sources: Hinduism, Māori culture, and Japanese Buddhism

@marinerofthestars​ asked:

I’m working on a series of fantasy books set on nine different worlds mirroring the Nine Realms of Norse cosmology, which are broadly inspired in terms of magic systems and themes by the Elder Futhark (the world with the rune for “justice” has a magic system that require you to abide by certain guidelines, the world with the rune for “death” has a magic system that lets you interact with spirits and the afterlife, and so forth). However, in terms of how these broad themes are expressed in individual worlds, as well as the minutiae of how magic systems operate, I plan to draw inspiration from various non-European sources, such as Hinduism, Māori culture, and Japanese Buddhism.

I’m going to do extensive research on these cultures beforehand to avoid handling these topics in a way that could be offensive to real-world minority groups (while Japanese people technically don’t exist in this universe, there are people on one world with similar cultural elements and physical features to Japanese people, and I’ll make sure to avoid writing them as characters from this ethnic groups as stereotypes) and I’m going to strictly avoid using specific elements from closed cultures. For instance, although one of my magic systems revolves around a series of focal points for energy throughout your body, these points aren’t called chakras, and they don’t have the same symbolism as chakras do in Hinduism. The only similarity is that there’s a network of energy nexuses in your body, but would even this similarity be acceptable for me to use? Or is even the broad concept without any of the specific elements forbidden to outsiders?

Also, I know that having a fantasy world inspired by elements of different cultures (ex: Avatar the Last Airbender) that portrays them respectfully is fine, but is doing the same thing with cultures that aren’t from the same geographic region (ex: merging aspects of Norse and Hindu magic) acceptable? I read an ask from 12/13 where you said having a Sikh protagonist fight Greek gods would make the story inherently Eurocentric, but I’m unsure whether the same standard applies here since I’m writing an original world inspired by IRL religion and magic rather than our world with those actual religious and magical systems. (Note that in the few instances where I do have POC protagonists interacting with more specific European-inspired supernatural entities, I do want to explicitly acknowledge how race and culture factors into things. For instance, one of my planned books has a character from a nation inspired by Bihar culture and Hinduism fighting European-inspired faeries, which is meant to parallel India’s history with colonialism.)

Is AtLA a Useful World-building Reference?

I should inform you that AtLA does not enjoy the unanimous acclaim here at WWC as assumed by many non-Asian writers. This post explains why. For the purposes of world-building with disparate cultures, I believe many of the problems described in the linked post will help you determine what world-building assumptions to avoid. Personally, as an Asian Buddhist who has done martial arts, I thought AtLA succeeded in its presentation of Chinese martial arts, but I didn’t find its portrayal of Buddhist philosophy or coding of Asian Buddhist cultures to be especially compelling.

- Marika

Christian Supremacy and Norse Mythology

I feel like it is very important to keep in mind that Norse mythology only exists in a Christianized form. We literally have no idea what pre-Christian Norse myths were, because it was only the Christians who wrote them down multiple hundreds of years after the Christianization of Scandinavia. 

As a result, a lot of myths were almost certainly shoehorned into being Biblical allegories of some sort. When you strip them down to their bare bones, you get a lot of Jesus stories. For example:

The old gods were painted as terrible people

The result of Ragnarok was the cleansing the earth of such old evils and replacing them with good, new gods.

Loki and Baldur as Jesus figures: Loki as the cleanser and Baldur as the perfectly good new head god.

There was a political agenda to writing this down — to unify all Viking-settled places under a single king, while appealing to their old heritage and new religious beliefs.

One does not need an advanced degree to see the inherent bias of this situation.

I’d suggest looking at any video Overly Sarcastic Productions has made on Norse mythology where Red yells very loudly about how we’ll never know what Norse mythology was like before the Norse became Christian, unless someone invents a time machine, because all the old oral records around what the myths used to be are long, long gone*. She has done videos on Loki and The Poetic Edda, along with a handful of others. The two I linked are the loudest on how Christianized and politically-motivated Norse mythology’s original written records were.

You can’t separate out Christianity from the Norse myths like you can with a lot of other ancient religions, because unlike those ancient religions, none of the original pagan traditions left records. There’s nothing pre-Christian to go back to. Thus, even if the setting is using Norse gods, the way those beliefs are structured is inextricably and irrevocably Christian.

Indirect Christian Colonialism

I bring up the above for an important reason: Norse mythology’s Christianization and Christian parallels mean that forcing other, non-Christian religions into a framework of what is, and always has been since its writing down, only a Christianized framework, is pagan-rebranded Christian colonialism.  By placing non-Christian beliefs within that framework, you reinforce Christian supremacy and recreate Christian colonialism.

This means the story doesn’t exactly play well with any culture that hasn’t been Christianized willingly. Which means it doesn’t play well with most cultures, especially religions that have experienced missionary trauma at the hands of Christians, like the Maori and most Indigenous peoples. You’re basically limited to Europe, some West African kingdoms like Ethiopia (so long as their historical Christianity isn’t too wildly different from European Christianity), as well as pockets of cultures dotted around the rest of the world with localized traditions that haven’t been soaked in blood in the past 200 years.

I would very strongly suggest reading the world-building tag as part of your research. Many concepts you’ve presented here are addressed in the pages of that tag, up to and including how far apart cultures have to be in order to safely influence each other (hint: it’s not very far, and is limited to direct trading partners/neighbours), and cautions against making Fae, an Indigenous-coded fantasy concept that comes from colonized cultures (Gaelic, primarily), as colonizers.

~Mod Lesya

*There’s some etymology breadcrumbs for Loki in particular, but they aren’t enough crumbs to know what the loaf used to be, just that it was probably made of this stuff.

Further Issues with Fae versus Hinduism as a Colonialism Allegory

Echoing Lesya, I think the biggest issue with your proposed conflict between fae and Hindu supernatural figures as an allegory for colonization is it doesn’t fit with what happened historically.

Firstly, elements of Gaelic culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other parts of Europe were either co-opted or quashed by Christian forces, much like how Muslim and Christian forces, respectively, tried to eliminate aspects of Hindu culture in South Asia from the Delhi Sultanate through the Mughal Empire through British and Portuguese colonization to Christian evangelical groups in the present day. I can sort of see the logic of West versus East as the basis for a colonization narrative, but given the above histories, it feels erroneous when neither mythology is based on a monotheist religion.

Secondly, as Jaya has pointed out before (see here), conceptions of morality and capacity for morality differ for Hindu supernatural entities and the fae. The former play by the same rules as humans. The latter don’t. Colonization is an economic choice often backed by maximalist beliefs of superiority. I have difficulty believing creatures from two mythologies that don’t even view humans the same way would have any reasons to compete over resources. To that effect, here is an old post by me and Mod Lydie (see here) where we discuss why colonization is not often necessary to depict conflict between opposing groups in fantasy settings.

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, like Lesya, I anticipate problems in trying to adapt Norse cosmology to sources that are removed from each other. See this post on blending mythos successfully. You are better off coming back to us after you have done your initial research and have a sense of which mythologies work together and which don’t. As I’ve iterated before, WWC is better consulted towards the end of the research process rather than at the start as there are multiple ways one could go with this. You are telling us much of what you plan to do. I’d much rather hear your ideas when you are in a position to tell us what you have already done, how you’ve done it and why you made the choices you did.

- Marika.

[writingwithcolor]

All of my Characters are Dragons, How do I Represent POC?

Jax asked:

I’m working on a science fantasy story where all the characters are of the same species, dragon shapeshifters who have elemental powers (fire manipulation, water manipulation, earth manipulation, etc) that are magical in origin. One of the main pieces of advice you give people is to have multiple other characters who don’t have a certain trope to balance out a character that does. But I feel like that’s not really a possibility in a setting where all characters are the same species and have the same type of powers. I’m definitely doing a lot of research to avoid other tropes and create nuanced, multidimensional characters. At the same time, I feel like people could still read it as “this character has powers because of their ethnicity” since there aren’t characters of that ethnicity without those powers and magic is inherited. Plus I don’t know how I could possibly offset tropes about shapeshifting or nature powers or reptilian traits when those are defining characteristics of the species. Should I just scrap the idea altogether? If not, how would you suggest I proceed?

This feels a bit like you’re trying to address race allegorically through a different medium. If they’re dragon shapeshifters, are they human or humanoid at any point? I would address issues of race in this scenario as they are rather than pulling a JKR and attempting to overwrite race with a created set of biases and prejudices. Since writing doesn’t occur in a vacuum, you have the opportunity to address race as it is–humans are all the same species and yet we still have systemic division.

Balancing tropes isn’t limited to race–how is it not a possibility? Let’s say your antagonist has earth manipulation. You can balance this by ensuring that there are other characters with earth manipulation that ensure that the trait itself is not assigned to general antagonism, and just make sure that the character is nuanced and multidimensional.

You can get around ethnicity as a basis of magic inheritance by showing exceptions and establishing that there are characters of many ethnicities with these types of magic. You could expand upon the system of inheritance and play somewhat into nature vs. nurture–can a character learn a different system of magic and apply it to their own? How much of the skill is cultural and how much of it is inherent?

Also, I would try not to translate ethnicity wholesale if you’re not sure of your bases. There are many ways that could go wrong, not only from a racism standpoint, but from a writing standpoint. Be careful to understand the cultures you want to represent and the stereotypes you want to avoid and how that could come across in your writing.

~ Abhaya

Echoing Mod Abhaya, I’d like to link this post on coding non-humans as human cultures.

I may also suggest looking at the cultural differences between the concept of “dragons” across the world. 

Perhaps you’ll use the Chinese 龍 (lóng), which typically carry rain powers (not fire-breathing), to code a dragon as Chinese. (I’d also suggest looking at the different depictions of it in different Chinese cultures, stories, and superstitions. Incorporating 風水, fēngshuǐ, with vibrant color symbolism would be interesting as well.)

In Vietnam, we also have the rồng, which is similar to the lóng in some elements (and element- rain) but with different stories and appearances as well. Obviously there’s Chinese influence on Vietnamese culture, but I typically think of Vietnamese dragons much more snake-like in appearance than Chinese dragons as they’re much more influenced by nagas. 

Here is a rather comprehensive thread on Vietnamese vs. Chinese dragons, including differences in time period.

There are dragons (and serpentine-like creatures) present in other East and Southeast Asian cultures, as well as West Asian, South Asian, North African, and many more. Readers, please feel free to chime in with dragons from your own cultures!

I feel like people could still read it as “this character has powers because of their ethnicity” since there aren’t characters of that ethnicity without those powers and magic is inherited

In my opinion, this wouldn’t be an actually offensive thing if you did the proper research on the kinds of dragons that are specific to cultures? i.e., it’s a very Eurocentric thing to associate “dragon” with “fire-breathing” as many Asian cultures don’t have dragons with these traits.

~ Em

Just wanted to add a link to our most recent discussion of lizard people and Jewish characters since someone might wonder.

Lizard People and Antisemitism: Avoiding Dogwhistles

Of course, in a story like this where everyone is a dragon, it doesn’t have the same predatory/alien/othery implications. But it’s just something to keep in mind, and it’s okay for you to leave us out of something like this. The alternative, writing a Jewish dragon shifter more carefully, is going to be a lot of work (unless you’re writing from the inside, which is absolutely fine and in that case please disregard this paragraph.)

-Shira

Ask originally published October 2021

[writingwithcolor]

OwnVoices: Including Hindu elements in a fantasy world

@alyssavelaryons said:

Hi! I'm Maharashtian, and I wanted to write a fantasy world with faeries where the water kingdom is heavily based on Maharashtrian culture. I wanted to include the chandrakor (a crescent shaped bindi maharashtrian women wear), however I'm feeling a bit hesitant on whether I should include it considering it represents the sixth chakra in hinduism, and hinduism doesn't exist in my fantasy world. What are your thoughts?

This is your culture, and I encourage you to embrace that fact. Compared to many non-Maharashtrian writers, you are in a much better position to decide how to best represent aspects of your culture in your work.  Speaking as a terrible Hindu, regardless of your religious background, the fact that you are Maharashtrian means that Hinduism has shaped the culture of your region to a certain extent. Whatever you do will be fine!

I repeat: Whatever you do will be fine!

Given that Hinduism doesn’t exist in your world, and Hinduism is not widely written about by insiders in fantasy stories, I do think you have an opportunity to introduce some Hindu-coding into your world-building in a way that would be both interesting to non-Hindus but also compelling to Hindu readers. Jaya and I have written about the mismatch in motivations and behaviors between mythical creatures in Hinduism versus Celtic mythology (see here), so it would be interesting to see how you resolve any contradictions should you choose to do so. That said, you could certainly just make the chandrakor a purely aesthetic thing, but wouldn’t it be fun if there was some kind of significance attached? This meaning might not necessarily have anything to do with chakras or Hindu principles in general, but even something as minor as a marking on the forehead turning into a tiara during a transformation sequence (Yes, I’m talking about Sailor Moon) can be a fun way to reference religious/ cultural stuff in non-religious ways.

- Marika.

[writingwithcolor]

Fantasy worldbuilding: Thailand, Hinduism and India

Ella submitted:

Hi, first I would like to say your blog has been a huge help to me as a white writer. I write fantasy, and I have two characters I would like to ask about + some worldbuilding stuff.

About the first character. Her name is Kanda and she comes from a country based on Thailand. She practices a religion which resembles Theravada Buddhism. Are there any harmful stereotypes relating to Thai people? This is a question I have researched and pretty much everything has come up blank. She also refuses to kill anyone, and is very uncomfortable after one of her friends kills someone.

Second, the other character I want to ask about. Her name is Jyotsna and she practices a religion that resembles Hinduism. She, Kanda and the other main character (A white girl named Bellamy) meet on a ship, all travelling for different reasons (For instance, Bellamy is fleeing a plague). Jyotsna has run away from home hoping to learn magic in another country, however I’m not sure if this would be ok as a Hindu coded character. Would it be better if the character running away to learn magic is Kanda? Or someone who doesn’t practice a religion? Jyotsna does not have overbearing or really strict parents. In fact, she intends to return to her parents after she has a decent control over magic (Unfortunately, the universe has other plans). She does, at certain points, injure some people (Who Bellamy kills), but she deeply regrets it afterwards.

Here is a short explanation of magic in this world. Basically, there’s magic (Necromancy is possible, but no important characters use it), and it is not good or evil. The kind Jyotsna ends up learning is magic which allows her to control light (For instance, if the sun was very bright and she wanted

 to sleep she could make the room darker using magic). Some countries, although they have not banned magic, do not allow it to be taught inside their borders, and that is why people often travel outside of the country to learn magic.

Finally, questions about worldbuilding. I would like to ask about some countries I’m creating. One is based around (Religion, geographical features) Thailand, and is Kanda’s homeland. The other is based (Religion, geographical features) around the Madhya Pradesh region of India. Is this offensive? If not, is there anything specific I should keep in mind when writing these countries? And for the Madhya Pradesh based country, is using a caste system a good idea, or could it be considered offensive?

All three of the main characters get in dangerous situations and save each other, and have a strong friendship by the end of the story (Although they start off arguing quite often). Are there any problems here?

Pacificism and Buddhism

“She also refuses to kill anyone, and is very uncomfortable after one of her friends kills someone.”

It’s not clear to me if Kanda’s pacifism is attributed to her being Buddhist-coded or rather an aspect of her personality that has little to do with her interpretation of her religion. Spoiler alert: Buddhists kill people, too! Much Buddhist scripture advocates nonviolence, rather than pacifism, and that too, for the purpose of inner peace rather than external peace.

The Four Noble Truths, are less rules but rather a thesis statement on the nature of the world:

“Life sucks because we all get sick, grow old and die, so you might as well achieve inner peace by following the Eight-fold Path and exit Samsara (The reincarnation cycle) by achieving Nirvana (Enlightenment).” (I’m paraphrasing heavily here).

The Theravada Buddhist for interpretations on the Eight-Fold path are specific in their rejection of killing and violence, but judging from the state of Theravada Buddhist fundamentalism nowadays, it’s clear being a Buddhist doesn’t preclude people from violating basic religious precepts.  Please research the religion and the philosophical implications in full. Without knowing why she is a pacifist, I can provide no insight on this point.

Non-Essential Questions

“Jyotsna has run away from home hoping to learn magic in another country, however I’m not sure if this would be ok as a Hindu coded character. Would it be better if the character running away to learn magic is Kanda? Or someone who doesn’t practice a religion?” 

Many times when askers send us questions that aren’t issues to the culture they pertain to, the asking indicates a lack of familiarity with the subject matter that translates to a lack of confidence.

I know people are tired of me saying this, but WWC works best not as your starting point for research, but as a resource to consult after you know what you don’t know. We are not a substitute for the grunt work of reading resource books, wiki articles, periodicals and other normal things one would consult if writing a non-fiction research paper or essay on the topic at hand. Please do more research on how to code the philosophies of these religions and their adherents for a fantasy setting and resubmit your question once you are better prepared.

Caste

As to caste, we have several discussions in the archives from desis on non-S. Asians using caste in their stories. If you enter the word “caste” into the blog search bar, they should readily appear. I have just checked to confirm.

Regarding Names:

Consider creating equivalent naming using conlangs for both languages instead (See Mod Rina’s post here). Kanda is a Thai name. Jyotsna is a name derived from Sanskrit.

For an ambiguous S. Asia fantasy setting where you haven’t yet landed on what kind of Hindu culture you are seeking to portray, I don’t like the idea of a non-Hindu pulling a name found in real life and marketing it as a “generic Hindu-inspired fantasy name” for a Hindu-coded character.

However, the above is YMMV. Other Hindu mods have said they feel Jyotsna is free of religious contexts to the point that they don’t mind. My reasoning is that creating naming conlangs would be better world-building, and if you decide to go that far, why not be more original with your character names?

A Final Note:

I think what bothers me most about your ask is the concern over being perceived as “offensive” or “problematic”.

We exist as a resource to help people write well: to tell compelling stories with diversity that resonate with the majority of one’s audience as opposed to just the white part. We do not exist simply to provide laundry lists on how to avoid being called out. No such lists exist. Your ask lacks information about where you want to take this narrative, what messages you plan to impart to the reader or what kind of story you want to tell. To that effect, I advise you to read our explanation for our Movitations PSA (See here). I think many of your decisions will be clearer when you have reduced your internal anxiety about how your audience will perceive you.

- Marika.

Calling all Thai followers and only our Thai followers! We do not have an active Thai mod at present. Based on the above, we ask for your feedback based on the information OP has provided.