Queer as in Magic and Death

[lonespark]

I think maybe it's inevitable that you're going to queercode your magic users. Liminality and deviance are just where magic lives. It's a way a around the ordinary rules, by paying costs much of society shrinks from.

So that's why it's super disappointing that so many deviant weirdo magic users get depicted as villains, even if they're sympathetic ones. I want those people to be heroes, and to show that existing in liminal spaces and breaking your culture's expectations can be a strength. Yeah, they can go too far and give up too much, but so can the dude with the sword and the "honor," and those people do it with society's blessing much more often.

I do like a good combat wizard doing both, but again they're rarely as weird and queer as they could be if they're heroes...

Which brings me to Odin, and this amazing poem I will never get over:

https://manygodsnomastersblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/07/poem-rassragrmol/


There was a period where I had recently watched The Dragon Prince and I ended up reading three stories in a row about evil sorcerors.

One of those was opposed by another strange wizard and a lesbian queen.

And one was specifically pointed out as "A sorceror who Went Bad, unlike all the other ones who helped the chief and served the ancestors but are Not Appearing In This Book."

I forget what was up with the third one.

But what I was craving was the effeminate dude, or the sneaky subby silver-tongued weirdo of non-standard gender, who is the hero of the story, the helpful advisor, the protector of kingdoms and bringer of victory. We have that in myths and folktales, but we keep not putting it in our kids's cartoons with hot dads and it's past time for that nonsense.

Then I remembered The Graveyard of Empires is a thing, and a new chapter was uploaded, and all the trans witch princess warrior Goth goodness blessed my crops and my family. It can do it for you, too:

https://manygodsnomastersblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/21/the-graveyard-of-empires-0-prologue/

Comments

[silveradept]

Writing a transgressive magical hero who remains heroic and sympathetic is not impossible, not even for children's shows (Steven Universe is the easiest example to pull to mind), but I have a sneaking suspicion that to do it right and proper and put it out in front of children as acceptable childrens' entertainment, you have to have people who are transgressive doing the writing, animating, directing, and creating. Which is regrettably a lot easier to do in fanworks than it is in the mainstreams of publishing, animation, television, and movies. It's getting better, and so I'm glad that we're starting to see those things show up much more commonly, but there's still a long way to go, and it's disheartening.

[lonespark]

These are good thoughts, to which I meant to respond earlier.

And yes, I hope it is a trend. Same for animation not being treated like it's just for kids, nor just a gross violent rapey reaction to the kids' stuff.