Dear "but it's just a character" people, explain to me where you think stories and inspirations for characters come from? Genuine question because I am getting angry every time a part of fandom starts to be atrocious towards a character, despite their backstory and explicit things that are said.
Since I will use him as an example:
SPOILERS FOR ASTARION'S (BACK)STORY IN BALDUR'S GATE 3
One of my old English teachers always said something that confused me a lot. "There are only around 10 unique stories in the world." Hyperbole of course, but there is some truth in it. If you look across different cultures, with their folklore and stories, gods and traditions, you will find a lot of overlap. The reason is that we as humans go through a lot of the same struggles, joys and overall experiences. What does this have to do with my initial point? Yeah, I am getting to that.
The to date first art we have found are cave paintings from 45,500 years, where this person painted a pig. Why a pig? Because this animal probably lived in this area and was a good inspiration. Why is that relevant? Because I think humanity in its core still does exactly this. We take what we see and experience, or people close to us do, and work through it through art.
Art imitates Life. Life imitates Art.
So, back to my question from the beginning. When you see a character, do some inappropriate art (that does not mean NSFW in general) in any way about it, and excuse it with "it is just a character!". You know that someone wrote this character right? Someone took real experiences and put them into the story. Ideas aren't born out of thin hair. And yes, I know I cannot keep you from doing it but maybe have you think about it?
So...for my example. Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 is an absolute fan favorite, of course he is, and a lot of that comes from his looks and charm. I also romanced him in my first run, and I don't regret it. But there is an important part, that I feel numerous people still ignore. Cazador, the vampire lord who turned and enslaved him, made Astarion use his beauty to lure innocents back to his master as food, condoning them to their death. In one cutscene you can get in act 2 he opens up more about this topic after you clearly state that he has self autonomy, which is a foreign concept to him by now. He says, "I don't want anyone to think of me in terms of sex." Yeah surprise, the trauma did damage to him. And I AM NOT condemning putting him in any sexual settings, that is bullshit and would be so disrespectful towards SA victims and how they cope because plenty of ways are valid. But many things I saw early one were some not thought through shit, and critique was answered with "but he is fictional". I can't even tell if it is ignorance or malicious intent, but that doesn't invalidate my argument.
Yes, he is. But people, who went through traumatic experiences with sexual abuse, being objectified, etc. are real. And they might see your work, and feel unsafe about how their experiences are seen or if they would be taken seriously. Stories are not pulled out of thin air, there are people for whom those stories are their reality, so please take criticism and think about the things you publish a moment before you click on post.
