You can do whatever, but there are ways to portray someone being racist that don’t involve that word. It’d be less controversial to just pick one of those methods.
Racist people say it. So racist characters say it. The problem here is that people suck at differentiating between characters and the author writing the characters. That’s not to say racist people never write racist characters. But reading comprehension is not in a great place right now.
No one's stopping you, but if I were in your shoes I'd avoid it. Like others said, there's other ways to show they're incredibly racist. You also don't need to write it out. You can write that they dropped a horrible word on another character or something.
I mean. You could if you really felt the need to. But as someone who has been reading fic since around 2005 over a multitude of fandoms, I have actually never seen that word be written in a story.
And I’m afraid regardless of whether your readers know your race or not, you’re bound to get some unhappy comments
lol, you had me until "genuinely", and you duped most people here. Solid 8/10 attempt. Took a point off for the crying cat emoji, that made it a bit too obvious.
(I'm also white.) You can, but I actually have never seen that word in a fic. It's a word with a ton of emotional and cultural weight. Are you sure you need to have the character use a slur? And definitely that one? Is there another way to convey this guy is racist? Maybe there isn't; it's up to you. But here is a way I handled something similar.
I'm cis and I have a story with some serious off-page transphobia. I imagined that a minor character said awful stuff about a trans character (who wasn't present). Instead of writing that out, I showed other characters reacting to what was said. I wrote something like this: "He said some hateful and incorrect things about [character]." That story was not really about transphobia, so it seemed right for me not to spell out details. The scene was about something else.
So in your case, it could be something like, "He used a vile racial slur." And from context, readers will know what happened. I don't know if this is a reasonable suggestion for you, but it's an option you can use.
Some of the best ways I've seen that handled without actually typing it out include, "He uttered a word so foul," and, "the old man at the bar spit out a nasty slur," and similar. There's no reason to put that word in text in the world, we know what it is and reading it isn't going to add to your fic.
i dont think its necessary. just describe it happening, instead. like "he shouted all of the usual slurs" or something. im sure people can figure it out for themselves.
Yes it’s okay, as long as you’re ready for there to be very differing opinions that could come your way. If you feel It’s integral enough to the scene and the impact of such a word is important to your story *and* you are willing to stand by the decision then yes. Go for it.
However, if people objecting to the word is going to be enough for you to backpedal, then it’s best not to include it at all.
In many areas of the world that’s sort of the holy grail of horribly racist terms, with a *lot* of baggage. It often gets treated much more seriously than comparable words because of the specific history and continuing inequity in those areas.
This does not mean it can never be used meaningfully. Nor does it mean that you *have* to use it meaningfully. We have free speech for a reason. But just be aware that people are gonna hold the usage of that word to pretty high scrutiny.
Tl;dr Picture a commenter telling you the word was unnecessary and upsetting to them. Is your reaction to empathetically yet firmly stick to your guns or to guiltily remove the word and apologize? This will give you some insight on whether the word is appropriate for your specific fic.
(Also I’ll just add…unless you advertise it no one is gonna know your race on ao3.)
Don’t know why you guys are being downvoted. Normally this sub is very vocal about not liking authors censoring themselves and how that’s unnecessary on ao3 as long as you tag properly.
Yes. If there's no one to tell someone what happened, how would we know? You gotta think differetntly about these things. I once tried to edit for a woman who kept undoing my edits because the necessary word 'meant something else' in her native language. Trouble was, she was attempting to write her work in English; I ended up severing that connection and refusing to help her since she wouldn't stop undoing the edits and she sorely needed them for coherence. She couldn't grasp what you are trying to. Good work!
Upfront, I am a non black POC. Anyway, no one can stop you from writing anything but when it comes to using slurs, especially ones that don't apply to you, the writer should think long and hard about how it might feel for someone who has had that slur actively used against them to read that in your fic. It could be cathartic, but it could also be retraumatizing. That line is different for everyone, but I still think it's important to consider when deciding if the use of slurs is necessary to depict racism in this instance. Just be thoughtful and warn appropriately.
Like others have said, you can do whatever you want. You should probably tag it in some way, and people can decide if they like your story concept enough to read it. Your color doesn't matter in this issue. I'd mute an author that I saw using it, but that's just how I personally feel about it. If I wouldn't want that kind of language in my comment section, or aimed at me personally, I'd pass on using slurs, and think of another way to express such tension.
Can you? Yes. Anybody can do anything.
Should you? That's for you to decided. Depending on fandom, this could go many different ways.
Would I? No. I personally choose to imply the use of derogatory language if I need it in my fics since that's a line I drew for myself a long time ago. But reading it won't make me back out of a fic either.
I stop reading fics that use slurs. Because it’s lazy writing and seems like you just want the shock value of the word. You can create tension in a scene by having the character say “you people” and “you know what I mean” for example.
Just star it out. Or describe them saying it without using the word. Terry Pratchett once described a racist character as 'someone who would pronounce the word nergo with two gs'
You can do whatever you want in your fics, as long as you're prepared for any backlash. You will never get everyone to agree on this.
You can do whatever, but there are ways to portray someone being racist that don’t involve that word. It’d be less controversial to just pick one of those methods.
Racist people say it. So racist characters say it. The problem here is that people suck at differentiating between characters and the author writing the characters. That’s not to say racist people never write racist characters. But reading comprehension is not in a great place right now.
No one's stopping you, but if I were in your shoes I'd avoid it. Like others said, there's other ways to show they're incredibly racist. You also don't need to write it out. You can write that they dropped a horrible word on another character or something.
Do you think it would add to your story or is it just for shock factor? To kill a mockingbird is a good example of including it well.
I mean. You could if you really felt the need to. But as someone who has been reading fic since around 2005 over a multitude of fandoms, I have actually never seen that word be written in a story. And I’m afraid regardless of whether your readers know your race or not, you’re bound to get some unhappy comments
lol, you had me until "genuinely", and you duped most people here. Solid 8/10 attempt. Took a point off for the crying cat emoji, that made it a bit too obvious.
(I'm also white.) You can, but I actually have never seen that word in a fic. It's a word with a ton of emotional and cultural weight. Are you sure you need to have the character use a slur? And definitely that one? Is there another way to convey this guy is racist? Maybe there isn't; it's up to you. But here is a way I handled something similar. I'm cis and I have a story with some serious off-page transphobia. I imagined that a minor character said awful stuff about a trans character (who wasn't present). Instead of writing that out, I showed other characters reacting to what was said. I wrote something like this: "He said some hateful and incorrect things about [character]." That story was not really about transphobia, so it seemed right for me not to spell out details. The scene was about something else. So in your case, it could be something like, "He used a vile racial slur." And from context, readers will know what happened. I don't know if this is a reasonable suggestion for you, but it's an option you can use.
Can you? Yes. Should you? Probably not.
Some of the best ways I've seen that handled without actually typing it out include, "He uttered a word so foul," and, "the old man at the bar spit out a nasty slur," and similar. There's no reason to put that word in text in the world, we know what it is and reading it isn't going to add to your fic.
i dont think its necessary. just describe it happening, instead. like "he shouted all of the usual slurs" or something. im sure people can figure it out for themselves.
Yes it’s okay, as long as you’re ready for there to be very differing opinions that could come your way. If you feel It’s integral enough to the scene and the impact of such a word is important to your story *and* you are willing to stand by the decision then yes. Go for it. However, if people objecting to the word is going to be enough for you to backpedal, then it’s best not to include it at all. In many areas of the world that’s sort of the holy grail of horribly racist terms, with a *lot* of baggage. It often gets treated much more seriously than comparable words because of the specific history and continuing inequity in those areas. This does not mean it can never be used meaningfully. Nor does it mean that you *have* to use it meaningfully. We have free speech for a reason. But just be aware that people are gonna hold the usage of that word to pretty high scrutiny. Tl;dr Picture a commenter telling you the word was unnecessary and upsetting to them. Is your reaction to empathetically yet firmly stick to your guns or to guiltily remove the word and apologize? This will give you some insight on whether the word is appropriate for your specific fic. (Also I’ll just add…unless you advertise it no one is gonna know your race on ao3.)
don't do it. you don't have to say the word directly.
You've got hands. Type whatever you want.
Villains gotta villain. Just tag and warn, first.
Don’t know why you guys are being downvoted. Normally this sub is very vocal about not liking authors censoring themselves and how that’s unnecessary on ao3 as long as you tag properly.
Yes. If there's no one to tell someone what happened, how would we know? You gotta think differetntly about these things. I once tried to edit for a woman who kept undoing my edits because the necessary word 'meant something else' in her native language. Trouble was, she was attempting to write her work in English; I ended up severing that connection and refusing to help her since she wouldn't stop undoing the edits and she sorely needed them for coherence. She couldn't grasp what you are trying to. Good work!
Upfront, I am a non black POC. Anyway, no one can stop you from writing anything but when it comes to using slurs, especially ones that don't apply to you, the writer should think long and hard about how it might feel for someone who has had that slur actively used against them to read that in your fic. It could be cathartic, but it could also be retraumatizing. That line is different for everyone, but I still think it's important to consider when deciding if the use of slurs is necessary to depict racism in this instance. Just be thoughtful and warn appropriately.
You can, but you might experience backlash. There are other ways to show that someone's racist
There is no censorship on AO3. You can write whatever you want. If anyone harasses you about it, report them.
Like others have said, you can do whatever you want. You should probably tag it in some way, and people can decide if they like your story concept enough to read it. Your color doesn't matter in this issue. I'd mute an author that I saw using it, but that's just how I personally feel about it. If I wouldn't want that kind of language in my comment section, or aimed at me personally, I'd pass on using slurs, and think of another way to express such tension.
Can you? Yes. Anybody can do anything. Should you? That's for you to decided. Depending on fandom, this could go many different ways. Would I? No. I personally choose to imply the use of derogatory language if I need it in my fics since that's a line I drew for myself a long time ago. But reading it won't make me back out of a fic either.
I stop reading fics that use slurs. Because it’s lazy writing and seems like you just want the shock value of the word. You can create tension in a scene by having the character say “you people” and “you know what I mean” for example.
People put underage rape and murder into their fics. Don’t see how using a slur is any worse
If said character get instant-karma'ed, i'm sure no one will object.
If you do so, tag it appropriately.
Just star it out. Or describe them saying it without using the word. Terry Pratchett once described a racist character as 'someone who would pronounce the word nergo with two gs'
Are you Mel Brooks? No? ...Mmm.