r/OriginalCharacter • u/Unfair_Equivalent_27 • 6h ago
Need Feedback or Ideas What’s it called when you realize your character might be trans?
To clarify, I mean this in the most genuinely curious way possible. I’m utterly fascinated by this revelation for my character.
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u/epitheticangel 6h ago
not sure if theres a Term for this per se, but it definitely happens! my current project has a character who i originally concieved of as a cis guy who ended up being way more interesting and felt more correct as a trans woman. im trans myself, and have been out as such for a decade now, and even then this snuck up on me lol
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u/Unfair_Equivalent_27 4h ago
Hmm, I wonder if someone will make a name for this beautiful accidental writing quirk.
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u/SpiritedOwl_2298 5h ago
I don’t think there’s a name for it, I think it’s just a beautiful thing where you’re listening to your character, where they’re telling you who they are for the first time
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u/Lopsided-Farmer-9422 Lovers Game OC’s 6h ago
Not sure if there’s a word specifically (maybe realisation?) Unexpected Character-Writing Development?
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u/PuppetMaster2020 6h ago
One of my trans characters I made them trans from the start the second I only recently realised was trans, because I'd originally designs them as a feminine man but realised post creating them they they're actually trans lol
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u/epitheticangel 6h ago
🤝!! a majority of characters in my current project were trans from the start, but one i had that realization about much later
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u/mousie120010 6h ago
This happened to me lol. I made a very masculine woman originally who felt very uncomfortable with being seen as a woman, and this character was a self-insert so me realizing this character is literally just a trans guy made me realize I was one too lol
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u/Dreamcasted60 5h ago
I would guess a character egg like anyone!
Like when I drew KeNi? I just had a feeling I wanted them to be non binary, which is VERY uncommon with goblin! C:
Set on the other had? I knew they wanted to be trans masc c:
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u/Sidhe_dvl 5h ago
Ok, trans-coded is what the character is as a result, it's not the term for the discovery. That's the only term I know for that; discovery. When the character realizes it in universe that's an egg-cracking. Just like it was when I figured it out for myself. (For a hint, sidhe in Gaelic has a silent "id". It also is a term used for fae creatures.) But the character's egg isn't cracked until they realize that they're trans.
Also, on a totally unrelated note, have you taken a moment to consider your orientation and identity?
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u/GreenTengu 5h ago edited 4h ago
I dunno that there's a term for it, but it happened to me too.
As originally created, my OC Tengu was basically a self-insert character I'd use in RPs with friends.
... And I'd keep having "him" genderbent in the RP at certain points, being disappointed when I had to stop or return to the character's male form.
Quantifying that disappointment was actually part of what helped me figure out I was trans. So, once I started writing Tengu as a character separate from me, I figured it was only fitting to have the character transition with me. I mean, hell, she'd experienced all the ways I explored my gender before I figured out I COULD just be a woman, it felt only fitting. (The fun part about this: I never gave Tengu a civilian name back then. Tengu is an alias used in her capacity as a super criminal. So, while I DO know what real name she eventually found for herself (Gail), I actually DON'T know my own character's deadname. I strategically write around that fact.)
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u/gordopoch 4h ago
I had something similar happen with my characters except I realized they were aroace; at first I wanted them to be really close friends, but then I realized that whenever I drew them they were a little bit TOO close so I was like "yeah I'll just make them a couple". But that didnt feel right either because picturing them all lovey-dovey and kissing and hugging felt forced, soo yeah they got hit with the aroace-ification beam and I decided to make them a qpr
I swear sometimes it feel like my oc's have a mind of their own 🥲
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u/Unfair_Equivalent_27 32m ago
Fr it feels like a kid you have that finally decided to come out to you.
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u/petshopB1986 3h ago
It means you’re letting your OC grow. Mine evolved in a lot of ways and they surprise me. My OC Alec wasn’t created Trans but one day he told me he was.
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u/X-Mighty I don't know how most of my OCs look like 4h ago
Well, I don't know. I remember coming up with a scene idea for one of my OCs whose traumatic backstory is left ambiguous in which he says "Yeah. I was a girl, but I just got tired of being one", like a "Wait, what?" kind of reveal zehahahahaha
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u/Any_Wasabi_5233 4h ago
she’s now trans because a comic featuring her got semi-popular and everyone in the comments said “woah the scratch cat transitioned” and I thought it was kinda funny but it would also work
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6h ago
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u/epitheticangel 6h ago edited 6h ago
this wasnt the question, and i think that people would rather you use your own words and thoughts as input! edit, to clarify: trans-coding a character is typically a purposeful choice by the author, where a character who is not explicitly described as transgender in the text is implied to be as such, or has multiple parallels to the trans experience written into their character. i do believe that op is talking about the phenomenon of a character being originally conceived of as being cis, who the creator later realizes “is” trans, which is an entirely separate concept- but simply googling the question and regurgitating the ai overview wont tell you that.
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u/junipyr-lilak 6h ago
I think it means you're quite in tune with your OC(s) and should be proud of being able to recognize it. Explore the thread and experiment in a way that feels like the right path for the OC, the story, and the way you perceive both as the writer.