By the very nature of my marginalized identities (queer and crazy) I often don't know whether someone shares them or is simply closeted.
I love love love the Chinese novel mo dao zu shi, which is *probably* by a heterosexual woman, although because she's Chinese she might very well be queer and closeted. It does have quite a lot of the "isolated queer" problem you mention though (the only non-protagonist gay character dies before the book begins). It also has probably my favorite autistic character of all time, Lan Wangji, although again I have no idea if the author has autism.
NBC Hannibal has a really deep understanding of what it's like to be autistic, psychotic, Crazy Not Otherwise Specified, and a victim of psychiatric abuse. I assume that Bryan Fuller isn't crazy because all of the things he says about being crazy in interviews are extremely stupid.
Revolutionary Girl Utena was directed by a cisgender and heterosexual man but I and many other lesbians and transgender people I know found it deeply resonant with our experiences.
It's not quite a marginalization, but I also want to mention that several of my otherkin friends have read Amends and they universally love Sharptooth. Some of the shibboleths aren't quite right, but you did a really good job of writing *what it's like* to be an otherkin.
Oh, these are good points & good examples, thanks! And lol the thing about Bryan Fuller's interviews is so true. You can craft a great character and then make a wild fool of yourself trying to explain what you did... which is comforting, in a way.
And thank you for the note about Sharptooth! I feel great ambivalence about how I wrote her, but I did put a LOT of myself into her (except that she's much more kindhearted than I am... I put my ill-intentioned side into Medea and my well-intentioned side into Sharptooth) and I am very glad to hear that it worked for your friends.
Hi Eve. I have a movie example too, which is The Fits (eerie magical story about a Black girl directed by a white woman). I could also read for you. Just a disclosure that I'm not African American, technically. My parents are from Africa, Cape Verde to be specific, but I would like to help or pass this along to my friends.
Oh man, I LOVE The Fits. And yes, if you wouldn't mind emailing me at eve_tushnet@yahoo.com I will give you details about the project etc! I am seeking a fairly wide range of readers, partly because the main character travels through many different social strata and subcommunities (many of which do include first- and second-gen African immigrants) but also partly because lol nobody is The One True Black Voice.
By the very nature of my marginalized identities (queer and crazy) I often don't know whether someone shares them or is simply closeted.
I love love love the Chinese novel mo dao zu shi, which is *probably* by a heterosexual woman, although because she's Chinese she might very well be queer and closeted. It does have quite a lot of the "isolated queer" problem you mention though (the only non-protagonist gay character dies before the book begins). It also has probably my favorite autistic character of all time, Lan Wangji, although again I have no idea if the author has autism.
NBC Hannibal has a really deep understanding of what it's like to be autistic, psychotic, Crazy Not Otherwise Specified, and a victim of psychiatric abuse. I assume that Bryan Fuller isn't crazy because all of the things he says about being crazy in interviews are extremely stupid.
Revolutionary Girl Utena was directed by a cisgender and heterosexual man but I and many other lesbians and transgender people I know found it deeply resonant with our experiences.
It's not quite a marginalization, but I also want to mention that several of my otherkin friends have read Amends and they universally love Sharptooth. Some of the shibboleths aren't quite right, but you did a really good job of writing *what it's like* to be an otherkin.
Oh, these are good points & good examples, thanks! And lol the thing about Bryan Fuller's interviews is so true. You can craft a great character and then make a wild fool of yourself trying to explain what you did... which is comforting, in a way.
And thank you for the note about Sharptooth! I feel great ambivalence about how I wrote her, but I did put a LOT of myself into her (except that she's much more kindhearted than I am... I put my ill-intentioned side into Medea and my well-intentioned side into Sharptooth) and I am very glad to hear that it worked for your friends.
Hi Eve. I have a movie example too, which is The Fits (eerie magical story about a Black girl directed by a white woman). I could also read for you. Just a disclosure that I'm not African American, technically. My parents are from Africa, Cape Verde to be specific, but I would like to help or pass this along to my friends.
Oh man, I LOVE The Fits. And yes, if you wouldn't mind emailing me at eve_tushnet@yahoo.com I will give you details about the project etc! I am seeking a fairly wide range of readers, partly because the main character travels through many different social strata and subcommunities (many of which do include first- and second-gen African immigrants) but also partly because lol nobody is The One True Black Voice.