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Jan 2024

The MCs of my novel "Damsel in the Red Dress" (and it's sequel "Sun with a Painted Crown") are both mixed-hispanics (which sounds redundant, i know, when we literally exist in a state of mixed.) Navajo and Mexican for Alicia, while Kattar is Mexican and Korean.

And the MC of "Lion Proof" is African American.

I'm really hoping to see more stories with positive representations of both of my cultures where we can have no shady hispanic men, and non-"spicy" hispanic women, and for heaven's sake, non-angry aggressive black women. I'm so tired of that being the only way we're depicted.

(Art by Mariel Leister)

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    Dec '23
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    Sep '24
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28 days later

is the one with the guy with horns the sentient monster?

and more than one about fairy tales i would guess by the title of the second one you posted here

she says while having one fairy tale plot published herself and another on the way

late? not really. Does that woman have vitilgo? that's so cool

Yeah, it drove me nuts drawing as far as a design goes to draw over and over again lol But I made it through, worth it in the end I think!

My series has a rainbow of different characters (sometimes literally because a lot of them are LGBTQ+, lol)! Chiv, who's Hispanic, is the main character. And pictured with her is one of her best friends, Eleanor.

Chiv has kinda himbro gym-bro energy and impulsive tendencies, but she's very kindhearted and likes to give people chances. Eleanor on the other hand is not a fan of risk and drama, and uses her intellect and reason to kindly...point out how wacky Chiv is. 🤣


your art style looks sort of like it was painted, what medium did you use?

It's actually all digital! I use Clip Studio Paint, and they have some really cool options that make your brushes textured so that it looks a lot like traditional art. :^)

24 days later

Yay for the rep!! Also I get what you mean like I’m mixed Hispanic myself but Hispanic is already of many different heritages, example like someone who is Mexican with a Basque Spanish and Mayan background. But then there other parent could be from a totally different culture entirely.

One of the main characters for my webcomic is coded Nepali and Mexican, but it’s a fantasy story on a total different planet so she doesn’t say it outwardly, but I will show her parents eventually and you’ll get to see more of heritage throughout her castle, fashion, and food~

It’s Lady Lock!!!!!

20 days later

UBERNATURA stars a African-American!

Empath is the first character introduced, and despite making what seems like cameos at first, he eventually appears more and more until his character arc which so happens to be the final one... And backstory is one of the wildest! If only it didn't take so long to edit​:sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob:

that's cool, probably one of the few sci-fi series I know with a black lead

11 days later

So this is Inoa, one of two female leads in a comic i'm planning to make whenever I can afford a tablet lol. She's black Hispanic (Dominican.) Technically her full name is Innocencia. The other female lead is Filipino, so it's going to be a very ethnic comic I suppose. interestingly I conceptualized this comic before I met my creation partner who is Filipino while I'm Dominican. Weird coincidence

A moment of appreciation for Kimberly's braids, I nearly killed my partner (the artist) with this project but she kept fighting to do this beauty justice lol

https://tapas.io/episode/30959811

Also i've introduced my first central African-american character to the main cast of "Damsel in the Red Dress." To be fair, many of the characters probably already had African in them, from Shannon, to Etan, though I think there was less African influence in Mexico than in many other Hispanic countries, so probably not in the leads.

But now Emelia Howard. You're welcome. She's an extremely tall proffesor-ish quaintrelle. Not the typical way I see most black women written.


“Here we are,” Juana smiles, shaking hands with a very tall, very thin woman in square glasses and a pristine suit that smells like it was just ironed.

“I’m not late am I?” She laughs through a slight Georgia accent, “I tried to leave early, but the roads are all slick, and you know how I am about driving in the snow.”


15 days later

It's kind of a shame that novel format means that while I can describe the characters, people don't get the full experience of all the colors and visuals included the same way they would reading a comic or watching a show.

Even within my novel's characters of the same ethnicities (Andrew, Alicia, Kattar, and Mrs. Moon), they all have different complexions ranging from a sort of chocolate brown (Mrs. Moon) to a lighter peanut-buttery toasted cashew shade of brown that is Kattar.

Alicia and her little brother are in the middle, as Alicia has the complexion of cinnamon while her little brother is closer to ground coriander in complexion (excuse my eccentric use of foods as descriptions.)

And they have a wide variety of features and hair textures as well, but there's only so much time people are going to want to sit reading about the shape of someone's nose or how much coil is in their hair. The most we really get is the knowledge that Alicia's hair is actually curly enough to be considered curls while she always describes Kattar's hair as a black curtain or veil, giving you the impression that it's pretty straight.

I was actually talking with my dad earlier about Alicia's eyebrows, oddly enough, because I was drawing a doodle of her, and I was telling how I imagined her either with very dark or fairly thick eyebrows. It's a bold feature I feel like exists quite often in Hispanic girls, and by my dad's suggestion, she has both. They're not Groucho Marx eyebrows by any means, but they do stand out. It's probably her least dollish feature.

is he the main or one of the main characters?

He's a main character. I have two main characters. The story revolves around him finding his father.

27 days later

So my FLs bff in "Rigamarole" is African American, and very central to the plot, but since the actual ML is her little brother, I'm not sure I can consider it "starring" an African American.

He is however the first relevant character outside of their family to have an actual speaking part in the story.

I'm black and Hispanic too lol. So I have a lot of black and a lot of Hispanic characters. it feels like at least one (who am I kidding) like two or three per series

I remember talking to you about that! Suburban mixed kid!

And same here! It’s important to represent your own experiences and cultures as well as others! You never know who might relate to your story!

right? my first released series was about a black woman making an "afro-proof" hair care brand...because seriously. somebody help us

18 days later

The female lead of my newest novel "A Dozen Morning Glories," debuting June 15th if all goes as planned, is african-american, which will make her my first African American novel lead (released anyway, as I have others.)

Her name is Essence Walker, which also just happens to be one of my favorite character names so far XD.

Me coming back to realize this ages later. You said you're mixed Hispanic. I remember you saying you're Mexican, what other ethnicity are you? I'm mixed Hispanic too, African American on my mom's side and Dominican on my father's side.

Oh RIP I just saw this lol I am Mexican from my dad and then my mom is Italian/Sicilian, she’s actually a third generation immigrant while my dad was born in Mexico :sparkles: so I guess that makes me partially first generation Mexican American :thinking:

I get mistaken for being asian a lot irl but I think people just get confused by my eye shape combined with a pale olive skin tone. Especially when I moved up North people always asked me what I was :skull: I always found that super annoying but I like sharing with other writers/artists my ethnicity, especially because you’re also Hispanic :v: it helps give perspective on the work we create… but the randos just asking me what I am can back off lollll sorry I’m slightly traumatized from Michigan…

When I lived in Texas tho there were a lot more kids with multiple backgrounds, I actually have a few Afro-Latina characters for other stories! Yes I have a billion stories lol. Do you also have the problem of having a billion unfinished stories too or is just me? XD

Oh definitely. It's not just you lol. I'm just starting to finally finish stories in like the last year lol.

yikes, I'll be more careful about asking questions in future.

People usually assume I'm Haitian because I'm so much more afro-centric in my features than a lot of other Dominican's and have natural hair. That's not fun because of the treatment Haitians tend to receive here, but in the end it's no big deal if. I'm second gen American on my dad's side as both his parents were immigrants, but my mom has been in the USA for as long as anybody can remember as an African American. It's how it is.
My dad's much whiter in features than I am, because both his grandfather's were white, and he's pretty sure one of his grandmothers was indigenous, so only black from one grandmother.

Slanted eyes are a big thing in many Hispanic countries though aren't they? Lots of my relatives, myself included, have slanted eyes. My brother's are super slanted XD, to the point where people have called him "Chino."

I think I have quite a few Afro latinas, as well as more white looking latinas, and indigenous ones too. I have an absurd amount of Hispanics in my stories XD.