Is this a good idea? (A Character's Race)

[ghostly]

So I have a story with two main male characters who become a couple. One of them is a prince and the other is a witch/sorcerer. I wanted to make the prince a black man, but my problem is that the prince dies multiple times for plot reasons (he doesn't stay dead, but his deaths are always in relation to the witch, aka trying to save him. Sometimes, those deaths are violent.) and I know it's something touchy for black people and I'm white.

Now I could make the witch a black man, but I wanted the prince to be black because I haven't seen much of those in other books(from non-black authors at least). Now, none of his death would be because of his skin colour or him as a person. In fact, his deaths are because he's in love with the witch, whose race has not yet been decided, and every time, he tries to protect him. Again, he never stays dead because the witch finds a way to reverse it(won't say how haha)

I could maybe make them both black? I'm not sure if I want to make one of them white, because I already have too much white male ocs.

Any ideas and opinions on this? Especially if you're a Black person!! Thank you!

[IndigoShirtProd]

As a black person I don't particularly find an issue with this, but this a pretty surface level assessment. I don't know the ins and outs of your story where there may be other elements that are unknowingly sinister. I would recommend having the race of the witch not be white, if only because have this black man dying for a white person, no matter how romantic the gesture, may come off as his life not being as important as the white character's life, which is why he's so willing to forfeit it so frequently. I do like how the black character is a prince, if only because you don't see that super often .

[domisotto]

If you are writing fantasy, you can always go to a fantasy race with a different appearance than humans to avoid any conflict with RL

[Tanako]

you should defiantly make both of them black, remember there are different shades of black so that's something you can explore

I like your idea. matter of fact due to the lack of dark skin characters and lack of AA characters, is one of the reasons why I have decided to change my course as an artist. I focus more now on drawing multi race instead of just one specific race.

[Tanako]

sorry I didn't mean to @ you in my post lol

[IndigoShirtProd]

I was wondering

[foxnflames]

I’d say first and foremost, do your due diligence and do proper research when it comes to creating black characters and characters of color, especially in the descriptive sense. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having him die multiple times, but if you take as much care with him as other characters, then the reasons will come through.

I’d also agree that if you make the prince black, that he and witch can both be black. Because you don’t want to fall into a white savior trope. Also, whenever you want to add characters of color, assess why you want that diversity. It’s nice and well that you want to add diversity to a genre, and I’d love to read about more fantasy characters who look like me. But, if it’s strictly for diversity sake, you run the risk of creating a flat character who is no more than a token and you do more harm than good

[ghostly]

I also thought about the fact that the black man always dying for a white one could be seen like this. Now, I do plan on showing how much they love each other and that the Prince is not the only one risking his life for his lover. It's just that why he's the one that always dies is for a plot reason, though I realize as I write this that it really could be seen as if his life is not as important as the witch's.

I didn't want to say how the Prince doesn't stay dead, but yeah. So the witch returns back in time each time, but no matter what he does, the Prince will die in another way later. Also, the Prince never technically remembers dying or even getting hurts, but the witch does. The reader will obviously know this, so I'm not sure if this is still a problem? I still don't want to make the witch white though haha

[IndigoShirtProd]

I think the issue is resolved if the witch is a non white character of any other race, fantasy or otherwise.

[ghostly]

@domisotto This would be a good idea, but I want to make them humans for this story!

@Tanako Thank you! I absolutely want to do this! I realized recently that since I mostly create female or nonbinary characters, that I do have multiple female black characters and one(not enough) nb black character, but zero male ones?? I never realized it until I search for one on my Toyhouse and couldn't find one. (Except for a Sims, but that doesn't count!)

@foxnflames Thank you for your comment! I will definitely do research! While the story is fantasy, I refuse to fall into the trap of not doing research on ways that my writing could be offensive! I also plan to get a sensitivity reader(or multiple!) to be sure. As for the risk of creating a flat character, I will make sure that it doesn't happen!

[foxnflames]

That’s good! Sensitivity readers and/or thorough research are important for topics out of your range. Good luck on your story! The premise sounds interesting

[paracosmosfiction]

As a white male writer I often find myself worrying about issues like this regarding my writing as well. Not just from a race perspective, but from a gender perspective as well. Fortunately, I have a great reference as my Fiance is both non-binary (fem identifying) and a POC, so any decisions I make before I post regarding women or characters of a different race I always run by her before settling on them.

It can be difficult because you want your writing to be inclusive and diverse, yet you don't want to inadvertently step into a pitfall due to ignorance of the culture you're trying to represent. If someone gets offended because they don't like how violent my work is, or because they think it's too vulgar, or something like that, I really couldn't care less. That comes down entirely to a matter of taste. But if someone is offended by my work because they think it's demeaning to women or supports racial stereotypes, that's a different issue entirely.

Ultimately, because of my race and gender identity, there's very little I can do beyond a ton of research. Because a lot of my work is set in Japan, I try very hard to be respectful of that nation's culture in my portrayal of them. Even if it's not one hundred percent accurate, I at least try to make it believable and not fall into racial or cultural stereotyping.

I don't have much advice to contribute beyond that. Do your research. Do your homework whenever you're about to start writing something you don't know much about. And if you can, always get the opinion of someone you're close to who can speak for whatever race, gender, or culture you're writing about. I think it's great you're making your writing as inclusive as possible, and that's something I strive to do as well.

[foxnflames]

I’d also add that asking one person isn’t always enough. It’s good to have people who are close to you because you feel more comfortable with them, but varied opinions make for a better scope. Especially when it comes to race, asking one POC could give you a narrowed lens due to different upbringings, socioeconomic status, colorism, etc.

[paracosmosfiction]

Very true. While I do trust my Fiance on these matters I know that ultimately my readers are going to be my biggest source of critiques regarding my portrayal of race and gender. I'm especially interested to see what my readers think of my portrayal of women. As a cis-male, I'm ultimately going to be writing from a cis-male perspective. But I try really hard to make my work appeal to other genders as well. Or failing that, at least keep it approachable to them.

[elyss]

I'm personally fond of a Black prince and White witch. Media often associates witchcraft as negative and by grace of negative, dark and then you have a black person. Or you get a White prince and a poc who breaks their back in 'servitude' for the White higher being. I'm not saying yours is any kind of servitude, I look forward to reading this. I'm black btw, if you wanna know.

[GoldenHoneydew]

There's nothing wrong with both of them being black! However, I noticed a trend where non-black people can be scared to get creative with the characters' physical traits. If this is a novel then don't be too scared to branch out a bit when it comes to describing skin color, it gets extremely tiring to see black characters get described as "caramel" or "dark chocolate" or "cocoa butter." I've read novels where every single black person's skin color was described as a product or food of some sort. if there's going to be drawings don't be too scared to get creative with hair, I'm not exactly sure what era this is going to be set in but the hairstyles from the Christmas movie "jingle jangle" are good references and it's okay to take inspiration from the hairstyles of black singers, actors, musicians, artists, etc. I wish you luck with this story of yours!

[rajillustration]

So first off, I'm white, but I'm just gonna throw out there that the trope of the black character dying first isn't about how in a lot of fantasy stories your characters get resurrected. Getting resurrected can happen to any race in any fantasy. That's just most fantasy that you read. People die violent deaths. They come back. Welcome to fantasy.

The negative stereotype in media concerning black people dying so often is about horror and action movies where the black character, who is usually added for diversity as a legal requirement, gets like 4 seconds of screentime before getting axed. It's a problem because it gave black characters smaller roles that didn't pay nearly as well as the leads. They're throw-away characters. But in your story it sounds like this character is a main character...their role is huge, and they don't stay dead. So...perhaps this falls into a different trope, but just because a black person dies in your book doesn't automatically make it racist.

And as far as the white savior trope goes, it isn't really about white people falling in love with black people, either. The white savior trope is about a white person who goes to a native culture, becomes better at the native culture than the natives, and then becomes their king and savior (like James Cameron's Avatar.) If you have a white person who falls in love with a black person and happens to save that black person they're in love with, that doesn't make it racist, either.

It sounds like the witch's race is currently undecided anyway, but writing a mixed race relationship is like...not a negative thing. Especially since it sounds like he isn't really dying for her, but just blissfully unaware he's about to die. And that she isn't so much saving him as going "woops, Ctrl-z" and going back in time to try and change fate. Like it sounds more like a fate story than a race story, to me.

But then again, I don't know the whole story, so do what you think is best, run it by people if you're still concerned before you post.

[ghostly]

@IndigoShirtProd @tanako @foxnflames @elyss @GoldenHoneydew (Update!)

Hi so here's an update on the characters!

First of all, the Prince's name is Kasuli and the witch's name is Sabidi. For now. I'm still not sure about them though. (They aren't real name, they are from name generators) I decided to make them both black men.

Here are some character sketches I did for them. Those are really bad haha And I'm not sure about the designs or their hair.

And here's a more detailed sketch for Sabidi.

Opinions? Thanks!

[foxnflames]

@rajillustration white savior trope isn’t just for a native group, it’s where a white person helps any non-white race in a self serving manner.

And depending on how the story goes and how often the prince is resurrected and their overall relationship, a power dynamic may be developed that is perceived with the opposite intent.

As far as the design goes, i don’t think it’s cute, I love the hair. The only thing I’d be mindful of is depicting certain features. I’m not sure if this is an overall style choice, but be cautious of how you draw noses and lips

[Tanako]

wow looks great. I really like the idea of vertigo on his skin.
be careful of asking for too much opinion. remember its your story and whatever you want goes. remember that.