December 13th, 2020

Mind the salt in this, since it was spawn from a rather annoying incident.

So, there are many reasons to not make a minority character. Maybe you can't find a good faceclaim, maybe you fear you can't write it properly, maybe it just so happens the faceclaim and love interest you really, really want to use doesn't allow that. That is all reasonable reasons.

This is not:

(Note: I blocked out their name for a reason. This is old and may not represent their feelings now, and this is more about the comment than the person. Please, if you recognize it, don't give them shit. Someone's already explained it to them, and they seem to have just worded this oddly and misunderstood why keeping someone's differences is so important.)

Pal, buddy, my man, just use a different faceclaim.

This was about Millicent Simmonds in a faceclaim book. For those of you who don't know, Millicent is deaf actress, who became well known for The Quiet Place.

Now, I understand what they mean. Her deafness doesn't effect the book as it would a movie or show, since you're just using their faces. My problem is that it doesn't seem to be that their problem is something like feeling they won't write a deaf character correctly, it's basically "I like how she looks, I just don't like her deafness, so I'm just going to take what I like."

At which point I say, why not just use a different faceclaim? There are plenty of blonde females with short hair.

Generally, if I'm going to use a faceclaim with a difference (race, disabilities, LGBT+, etc) it makes sense to just use that with the OC. It gives something different for the character (especially important for Stranger Things and IT, where the kids being bullied for differences is a big thing.) If you feel you can't write it well, either do research or use a different faceclaim. Luckily, there are both many people who are invested in seeing these things shown properly (because they or a love one want to be represented) and a lot of other faceclaims to use if you just aren't comfortable.

I feel like the one that might confuse people the most is trans and non-binary characters. Why? Because it's hard to find young trans or non-binary actors (yes, I use actor for both.) Or, they don't know how to use a trans/non-binary character. Some claim you can only use them for trans/non-binary OCs, others say you can use them for a cis character of their gender (for example, a female to male faceclaim for a male OC because they are male, even if they're trans.)

Here are the general rules I go by, which you can use or judge (want to see your opinions):

(PS: I'm shortening faceclaim to FC.)

TRANS/NON-BINARY FC - TRAN/NON-BINARY OC:
This is the best possible combination. It representation in story and in the cast. It should be aimed for if at all possible. After all, everything can benefit from this (given new ways to take the story, and also representation.)

NON-BINARY FC - TRANS OC:
I can't imagine this happening often, as it's easier to find trans faceclaims than non-binary ones, but I suppose this could work. I imagine this would function in, say, a Stranger Things/IT/Any 80s story, which is set during a time were Non-binary wasn't really a thing with a name. Not having a name, or even a concept, could make it very confusing for the audience. I did this with Dan in Stranger Together.

TRANS FC - CIS OC OF THEIR GENDER:
With my example above, Female to Male faceclaim as a male OC or Male to Female faceclaim as a female OC. My opinion is that, while not preferred, this should still work. After all, they are the gender they identify as.

TRANS FC - CIS OC OF BIRTH SEX:
No. Unlike the one above, this not only ignores them being trans but ignores they identified gender completely. Trans people are not their birth sex. It'd be like using a male faceclaim for a female OC. It's weird, and in the case of a trans person, disrespectful.

CIS FC - TRANS/NON-BINARY OC:
Eh. OK...I get the reasoning behind this, you can't find a trans/non-binary faceclaim, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Especially when it's just someone using the same over used female faceclaim with trans/non-binary as the gender. I find this second one mainly in apply fics, and it just feels...lazy? Like they want the benefit of making a diverse character, but only want to do the work of writing trans/non-binary into the little gender section.

CIS FC OF BIRTH SEX - TRANS OC:
Please don't. At least use someone of their identified gender.

Now, because I don't want to be an ass. I know it's hard to finds these faceclaims. Which is why I'm including some of my favorite ones!

MILLICENT SIMMONDS
I used her for Sam Doyle in Firestarter/Firelight
Millicent is deaf, as mentions all the way up their. She has a good amount of gifs, her work in The Quiet Place could work for IT and Stranger Things. She also kinda looks like Gaten (the actor for Dustin Henderson), for all those who like making canon sibling OC. I mean, seriously, look:

LACHLAN WATSON
I used them for Dan Wheeler in Stranger Together
Lachlan is non-binary, though they're best well known for playing Theo Putnam, a female to male Tran character from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Also, they look like Finn (Mike Wheeler and Richie Tozier) so, again, more sibling stuff.

WINNIE HARLOW
Winnie has vitiligo, a skin disorder were patches begin to lose melanin (as as such lose color.) Honestly, I feel she's really pretty, and a lot of her gifs show a confidence in that. I feel like she could be awesome for a Steve Harrington fic where Steve's friends bully the OC for her appearance, OC doesn't give a shit because they know they're awesome and everyone else can shut up, and Steve ends up befriending them because he feels bad about the bullying (and is also impressed that she doesn't care about popularity.)

IAN ALEXANDER
Ian is a trans male. He has a lot of good gif, and I feel like he can fit into the 'soft, nervous' sort of character I know is popular.

NASTYA ZHIDKOVA
Nastya has albinism, which I think I saw once in a fic. I admit I found her because I was looking for a Targaryen faceclaim. Now, I would suggest looking up actual side effect of albinism, because there's a lot more than being pale.

ELLIOT FLETCHER
Elliot is a trans male. He's in his twenties, so that's be limited to the teens in Stranger Things, but I think he'd still make an awesome faceclaim.

HUNTER SCHAFER
Hunter is a trans female, and honestly I really want to use her for a fic. A lot of her gifs would make a really fun character (look at that make up!)

JOSIE TOTAH
Josie is a trans female. I wanted to mention her, but almost all of her gifs are pre-transition, so I would be careful using her.

AMANDLA STENBURG
From research I've found, Amandla identifies as non-binary and uses they/them. This might be iffy to use, as most people know them as female and a lot of their gifs are for female characters. There also seems to be a lot of confusion around it, but this is how they identify, and so I want to respect this (especially since Amandla is very popular for African American faceclaims.)

Basically, this is a long ass rant where I complain, then add some help at the end. Anyways, give me your opinion. Especially if you know more about it, because all of this is just what I've seen from looking at fanfics and apply fics and skimming the basics of these differences.