Originally published Oct 09, 2011.
I think I would write a lot of things differently if I were to start over today. I came up with Dark White when I was a kid. This was way back in the 90s. We didn't have LGBTQ+ studies and we had pretty strict gender roles at school... I was definitely exploring something with Ramses, but didn't have vocabulary to describe the character. More like a feeling...
It's hard for me to describe Ramses's gender, even now in 2024, because I see so much of myself and my own queerness as something that's hard for me to describe. What's the best way to describe the character I'm trying to convey? Gender fluid, gender non binary, gender non conforming? But still using He/Him pronouns at the start of the story? Will that change over time as the story evolves?
Just like my own queerness has evolved and I've come to know more about myself?
I want to explore more on how Ramses sees gender, but I think that's something I'll have to save for a later chapter.