How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? – LGBTQ Heroes In My Fanfics (FEEDBACK REQUESTED. IF OFFENDED, PLEASE DO NOT READ)
So, this time I’m dropping all pretence and basically being honest here: As you know, I’ve done a number of DC fanfics under the same alternate universe setting…which I still haven’t named. Speaking of which…
…Anyway, I’ve been planning on having as diverse a cast as I can for my fanfics. This is actually easier than you might think, because, while they don’t all get as much attention as they should, DC superheroes/superheroines do come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, colours, ethnicities, and characteristics. They have African-Americans, Brazilians, Asians, Russians…I think only a couple of Canadians, but hey, we got Captain Canuck and frakking Wolverine elsewhere, so not a big deal. They have handicapped people, like Vengeance Moth and Proxy (who I hope comes back with Steph next year). They have bisexuals, they have homosexuals. Heck, one of them is in one of my fanfics, that being Batwoman in Birds of Prey: Dark. But there are some types of superheroes they don’t have, at least not to my knowledge: Transsexuals, hermaphrodites, transvestites, or having had surgery (or I suppose magic, since hey, it’s comic books) to change their sex. Now, there IS a transgendered character, that being Alysia Yeoh (Batgirl‘s room-mate), which IS awesome, but unless she’s gonna get in a costume and fight crime (which I would not be against, Gail Simone, just in case yer wondering), there are no transgendered heroes or heroines in DC Comics.
So that’s when I started thinking: My fanfics exist in an alternate reality of my own creation. Meaning, I could either make a whole new character that is one or more of the above, OR I could change a pre-existing character to be LGBTQICTA-whatever-the-hell-else-there-is-that-I-would-count-but-there’s-too-damned-many-of-them. The only question is, if I went with the latter, who? Well, I DO have a few options that I thought of. Dick Grayson would be an awesome possibility. And NO, I don’t mean making Batman and Robin the Ambiguously Gay Duo, I JUST mean Robin. Raven would also be a good choice, and would actually explain a bit since she’s one of the seven children of Trigon that represent the Seven Deadly Sins called the SONS of Trigon.
What do you guys think? Lemme know in the comments below whether you think I should do this or not, whether I should do so with a pre-existing character, and if yes to both, who you think that should be. Ja né!
Related articles
- What Should I Call My DC Fanfic Universe? (FEEDBACK REQUESTED) (jygersrant.wordpress.com)
- It’s not a bird or a plane, it’s just me writing about that stuff (wwwdotjasonmacaskilldotcom.wordpress.com)
- What adding fanfic has done for my website/blog (lissywrites.com)
- “Comics are Gay!” A Flash History of LGBTQ in Comics (graphicpolicy.com)
- Williams bids farewell to “Batwoman” (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
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- Let’s get this straight: DC is anti marriage, not anti GAY marriage (comicsbeat.com)
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- When Will the Perception of Women in Comics Catch Up to Reality? (usnews.com)
Posted on October 18, 2013, in How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? and tagged alternate universe, Batgirl, Batwoman, Comic book, Comics, DC, DC Comics, DC Universe, Ethnicity, Fanfiction/Literature, Gail Simone, hermaphrodites, LGBT, LGBT themes in comics, Parallel universe (fiction), Transsexuals, transvestites. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Jyger's Rant 
Raven, I guess. It would explain the “Sons of Trigon” bit.
I think its a pointless cruelty to subject characters too… if a character is woman, i am just going to make her a woman. Not put her in the wrong body, it feels almost sadistic and cruel.
I might be biased though since I have my own prejudices against transgendered people, which I hope to overcome… but at the same time I feel that our culture has fetishised the female form to such absurdity that I cant take it seriously.
or maybe I take it too seriously… we as a society basically have convinced men that they are the ugliest things on the planet, I actually worry that half of what we consider “transgendered” people are just upset for having an ugly body?
You wouldnt know, because nobody really takes the time to talk with transgendered people… we just compliment them, and tell them they are strong, and powerful…
and how can they understand themselves, and how can we understand them… if nobody is talking about it?!?!
Also food for thought, transgenderism is the only thing where someone is unhappy with their body, where we encourage self-mutilation to make them feel better.
My breasts are too small = They are fine the way they are.
I am too fat = no you arent be happy with your body, you are beautiful no matter what.
Too many wrinkles = They make you look mature, and you shouldnt be ashamed of that.
My penis is ugly = CUT IT OFF CUT IT OFF AND THROW IT AWAY AND MUTILATE YOUR BODDYYY YOU ARE AN UGLY HORRIBLE THING AND YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY TILL YOU CUT IT OFF
Am I the only one that sees a fucking problem here?
Not to mention that transgendered people believe in gender roles so strongly, that they will mutilate their bodies before living how they want to live. That is sexism, and self inflicted…
We have created a culture that ultimately shames people into wanting to change their gender, and until we can fix this broken aspect of the culture we live in… can we truely understand transgenderism.
As for the concept of changing characters sexuality… I do not agree with it, makign characters transgendered that never were is pointless. BUT so is making a character specifically to be the token transgendered person…
Sex is not the be-all-end-all of human existence, we shouldnt be creating characters just to be icons for transgenderism. Characters existence shouldnt revolve around sex, their physical sex/gender, their internal, their whatever…
And what about straight characters? do you even realize that comics right now seem to be shaming women for being heterosexuals? in fact… EVERYTHING IS SHAMING WOMEN FOR BEING HETEROSEXUALS… there are people out there that think its wrong for women to be straight.
Characters should be written as human beings…
Now if I had to absolutely make a character transgendered… they would have to be up front about it… no shame… maybe have a line like “technically Mr. but I prefer Ms.”
they in this instance dont even have to hide their physical gender, maybe they arent ashamed by it even? That would be a very unique take on transgenderism, someone who is physically male and is by all outward appearances male, just prefers to be treated as a woman in personal situations.
and if I had to pick a character… the lava-monster-woman that superboy fought in that one superboy comic in the new 52! WHY!!! Because she is a newer character without a fully developed backstory!
And because she was an alien, and alien technology could be used to explain the lack of maintenance she needs for her feminine form. This is another problem with Transgendered characters, they need a lot of… maintenance…
you cant have them be in a dungeon for three months, the hormone therapy would work its way out of their system….without constant maintenance they start to revert somewhat. And while this may be interesting story-wise… it will piss off pro-lgbt people