This blog is both a plug for http://arz5a.com/azure.html and a general discussion of trans characters in my work. I have touched on gender and sexuality in science fiction in previous posts, and in this post I want to expand on the transgender characters within my work.



First off, in full disclosure, I am personally a post-op trans woman, though woman better sums me up these days. I give this not to out myself or invite a general discussion on trans related issues (though I am more than happy to discuss them), rather I want to show where I am drawing a lot of my ideas for trans characters from. As I have stated previously, I believe gender in any shade should only be a small part of a character’s make-up, and as such when I come to use trans characters this is how I invariably see them.

So, the first question has to be why do I include trans characters at all? The answer is because I happen to think Aquila is a great character, and her trans narrative plays into her overall personality, while also allowing me to explore trans issues through my writing. Her narrative is one of religious devotion to the Mater bringing her to sacrifice her masculinity to become a woman. She has no gender dysphoria, she was not born in the wrong body, and as such skips a massive part of the modern trans narrative (including my own). This aspect of her was one of the first elements I established about her, before all the other pieces fell into place. It is the driving force for her whole journey, one which she ultimately rejects and is therefore seen as an outcast by the majority of her own society. This in turn sets up tensions which I can play on and exploit later on down the line in the saga, without needing to set up a Deus Ex scenario to force her into a situation. By choosing this version of being trans, I am also challenging the very foundations of the trans narrative that we generally accept, while also using it to question religious devotion and the driving force behind why a person will do extreme actions in the name of their faith.

Which then in turn begs the question am I being tokenistic with Aquila? I would argue I am not, as I believe that a character’s narrative arc should both be organic, and should also play off the other characters around her. The fact that she is trans is a small part of her, and I would argue her religious decision to be assexual is a bigger aspect, as this causes more internal tensions that the gender. I do use Aquila as a mirror for misogyny, and there are plenty of choice comments in some of my other short stories to her nature from other characters. Aquila is not a special snow flake, she can more than hold her own, yet at the same time I don’t want to walk on egg shells around her. The Arz universe is designed to be a living, breathing organic place, where there is not one hegemonic view; rather, each person has a their own map of the world which colours their interactions. This is especially important for the main characters, as I want them to have individual agency to push the saga forward.

Finally, why then is it important for me to have trans characters in my work? I first conceived Aquila five years ago when I initially though out the saga, and at that point there were no mainstream trans characters in science fiction or fantasy. Indeed, aside from Krem in Dragon Age: Inquisition I struggle to think of a single SF/F trans character at all. To have a character like Aquila, for me, addresses this, and allows me to raise questions of what it is to be trans in a setting which is so utterly divorced from our own. In some respects she is a cypher for my own journey, and yet in others she is the antithesis of my own experiences. This also allows me to get out of my own trans comfort zone, and push past what people expect from trans characters. The fact she is a kick ass AI programmer, secret agent, and all round information whore are more important than her gender, so through my writing of her I want to expand the narrative of what it means to be trans beyond the idea of victim and bravery.

Above and beyond all of this, the most important element for me as a writer and creator is for Aquila, and my other characters, to be part of a saga and stories that people will want to read and enjoy. I am wax lyrical all I want about my motivations, but if the stories are no good then I will not have accomplished anything. I therefore need to ensure each and every story is compelling, and that the character arcs I have planned draw you in, enthral you, and then leave you wanting more. If I accomplish this, then my other connoted messages written into my works can come to the fore.