Sketchety Scribbles

Guide to making a TRAnS oC (wooooo)

YOU FUCKING FURRY

I'd be more comfortable with drawing anthros if the fandom wasn't so sexualised and shitty. Anyway this is just a ~filler trans oc which I will never use ever again but I can say I have a trans character now!!1!1!~ and here's a guide to make actually ok trans characters (no more stale bread!)

Guide in the form of a thought process:
I drew a really nice oc, with a great concept surrounding their universe but I should really make some diverse people now, and a queer/not cis one is really overdue. I can't imagine how to add anything because then that's all they are to me, they aren't a complex character who happens to be trans, they are instead my "trans character".

I will draw them as a child! I won't bend their gender or orientation just yet, because that comes when I redraw them as an adult. That way I can design the plot by saying "when they grow up, they will be/do.." As opposed to planning both the future and past of said oc! And I am not swayed by the attractiveness of my character because they are like 6. (It makes you think more "aww what a pure and sweet BABY!" Rather than "fuck meeeee".)

I now have the ability to clearly think about their birth name, sex (not gender), personality, future as an adult/teen and I am not overwhelmed with the need to make a trans character. I can decide they way they'd dress if their guardians let them pick, if they have any traits or tendencies that might last/not last into later life. (Trans male might subconsciously pick out fire trucks and boys clothes while still deemed a "girl" by parents, genderfluid person might have a v drastic wardrobe going from a princess dress to football kit while still a "girl")

If I have made a male character and have childised them, I have drawn them as a male kid, but if I want to redraw them as someone who isn't cis- I will try not to tie their story to their gender, unless a part of their story could be about struggling with being trans. But I can still change their gender then so it's about being mtf!

My boy-child oc would look good as he is now if he grew up, but let's think about:
Can I change their orientation?
Can I genderbend their lover to do so without ruining the plot?
Can their race be bent? (More PoC making than queer but still good if you make a lot of one race!)
Does this oc look good as the opposite gender? Or a non-binary gender?
What pronouns suit this oc? ("Riley looks like more of a xe to me!")
Do they break the stereotype of that gender? (Does your androgynous kiddo like having breasts and curves? Does your bigender person hate she/her pronouns?)
Did my character go through a period where they thought they were xyz? (Did your demigirl think they were agender once? Do they still have a soft spot for that community?)

If I struggle with trying to assign a different gender to my male oc, I will redraw them as androgynous as possible before my final adult redraw and see if I can interpret their gender without facial hair/masculine poses or features in my way.

Now I have decided! My babitty boyo suits the role of a trans girl! I WILL NOT CENTRE MY OC AROUND THE FACT IT IS TRANS AND INSTEAD ONLY MAKE A SIDE FACT UNLESS THEIR STORY IS ABOUT THE LIFE OF A TRANS PERSON. I WILL ALSO NOT WRITE OR DRAW ABOUT THE STRUGGLES OF A TRANS PERSON WITHOUT EXTENSIVE RESEARCH IF I DO NOT EXPERIENCE THIS KIND OF STRUGGLE. I WILL ALSO TRY TO GET A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF TRANS STRUGGLES IF I AM NOT SO. I WONT BE AN ASS. I WONT BE AN ASS.

It would help for me if I maybe looked at some before and after transition pictures or saw the before and after of someone on hormones (if my character uses them). If I did not know already, I will look up the affects of hormones and maybe the result of makeup on very sensitive/inexperienced skin. If I wish I can look up why trans women might not shave/not have surgery both above or below. I might look for some accounts of what dysphoria is like, or the inconveniences and pains of transitioning. (Also look at binding, tucking and sock stuffing kind of stuff if they hadn't had surgery or they aren't ok with their cis appearance)

Aw sweet! My new oc, Saffron, is a trans woman! On top of my already complex and meaningful character arc for her, she's just the start of a more diverse oc collection! Also, when I draw her, I do not need to make her seem more masculine than a normal woman, (seriously guys, not every mtf looks like a man in a wig, people put care and time into their transitions too) and if I have looked at the flexibility of a face shape in either hormone b and a pictures or just plain ol face refs I will notice so.

If you guys want I can draw a visual in the next chapter with my example of Jake to Saffron.

Also take time with transgender preferred names, they aren't always just the genderbent version of their birth name and sometimes they keep their birth name. Srsly if I see aNOTHER SAM TO SUE I