#and be like “omg... the struggles of girlhood... go off queen...”

[hi-intrepid-heros]

I am not usually one to assume a person's character based on their opinions around fictional media, but I know every one of you folks siding with Kipperlilly Copperkettle and saying how relatable you find her definitely drove someone in your high school to self harm from bullying and blamed it on your mediocre at worst home life

[creatingblackcharacters]

If this has been asked before, feel free to ignore it! Just wondering, what would you in particular like to see in Black characters being written? Like what tropes, genres, types of stories, etc. would you like to see Black characters in? Or like, what types of Black characters would you like to see more of in general? (This is a question the mods on Writing With Color put in their bios, that’s what made me think of the question, and I just figured it be fun to answer!)

remember that y'all asked me!

Things I'd like to see:

Revenge against authority narratives. Yes, I have issues lol. I'd just like to see a young Black girl or woman come back to those who were supposed to love her or do right by her, and show them why they had her fucked up. And let her get away with it too. Like The Glory, but for Black women.

"Crazy" Black women characters. Not in the "she's angry and y'all have decided to girl-power it" but like legit unhinged, "everyone in the narrative is two steps behind them what shall she do next" unpredictable characters. It's why I liked Swarm fr. Dominique played a really interesting character, bc at the end of the day, her character was wild ASF and very wrong lmao. Light Yagami level off the shits but Black would go so insane!

Black girls that are safe, loved, and doted on, unconditionally. Without hearing "omg she's a love interest?! Anti-feminism!" I'm real passionate about this one, esp with my own OC. If she's got resilience, let it be from the strength of her heart and her community. So much of Black girlhood is realizing that the world expects you to give of yourself, will treat you terribly in kind, and you're supposed to "find strength" in that. Struggle love, from the whole world. Fuck that. I want characters, from parents to friends to lovers, to surround Black girls with love in whatever stressful narrative they're in. The Strong Black Woman™ is so played out for me. There's no honor in letting everyone use you for your strength but you can't depend on them to be in your corner when you're weak or fuck up.

A revenge fantasy against racists. Yeah that would never make it to screens bc we live in a racist society that would vomit with hatred and fear, but omg. I've always dreamt of having superpowers and showing white supremacists what for. I'd love to see it on screen.

If it's going to be an interracial relationship, it'd be nice for the girl to be Black more often. It'd be nice to see people from different backgrounds find reason outside of familiarity to fall in love with us, that they love our beauty, that we're worth the time and effort to get to know and care for. I'm never gonna watch Bridgerton outside of Queen Charlotte, but that's what drew me into Queen Charlotte. She was allowed to be herself, and he loved every bit of her. It was nice to see.

This isn't a character or a genre, but COSTUMING AND WIGS THAT ACTUALLY FIT BLACK BODIES. Look. I'm a sucker for period pieces and fantasy. Queen Charlotte reminds me of that, bc while it was still regency white western costuming, the way they actually make Charlotte's hair look... Like her hair. That it doesn't look like you took a Black woman and shoved her into a bad dress and a sew in or a bad wig to mimic white hair texture that she logically wouldn't have with no effort. House of the Dragon has all that budget but that first season hair was abhorrent, which was annoying and clearly racist bc the white actors' wigs always look LAID. We have different hair- PUT THE EFFORT IN!