Question: Do sorcerers or humans with special powers count as human or not? Does a sorcerer turning a human into an animal (with or without consent) does the human still count as human? Basically so I can know whether to count those LGBT as human or not.
This is too subjective and there isn’t a firm answer that could possibly be right for every case. I can say that if your character is not humanoid in both shape and function for >~30% of the story maybe it’s not representation of a human LGBT character.
I personally think sorcerers and humans with special powers count as human if the people within the story consider that to be human. There are definitely stories where that’s not the case, but I think a lot of that is kind of lore-dependant, more than it is audience-dependant.
Are your sorcerer’s experiences and primary feelings and emotions something that read as clearly human? Or is every aspect of what they feel only relatable in theory?
I’m kind of thinking about how some vampires are written to be driven by something inhuman, but others are written like human beings who are dealing with addiction. I don’t think I’ve ever seen vampires written in a way where vampirism is a human condition, but I think it would be possible if a few things about them were modified to be more relatable. Like for example, taking away the lifespan tropes. If someone has a human shape and form and doesn’t have an extraordinarily long lifespan, what things would make them not human?
These are just things to consider.
TL;DR
Consider:
- if a character is seen as human, especially by other humans within the story
- the % of your story that shapeshifting characters are humanoid vs not
- whether the audience would personally relate to their emotions on a human level (if not relating to their experiences)
