Runewriters Genderswap, Part 3!

“Ever wonder what your story would be like if [the main characters] were [the opposite gender]?”

Part three of this post! LAST BUT NOT LEAST: TARETH.

How would the character change: I was surprised to realise that TARETH ACTUALLY CHANGES LOADS. As a boy, he’s pushed instead of coddled, urged to function in society and to find a nice girl despite his struggles (being both deaf and terribly shy). At 17, he should be helping to run the shop, at the least, not just watch it when his mum is gone and stay out of trouble. He speaks more as a boy, out of necessity, but also has greater crippling self-esteem issues because of the expectations he has to live up to.

If Severian is also swapped to be a lady, Tareth’s continuing attachment to her probably makes his parents very uneasy. They want him to outgrow it, move on, and start his own family. Lady!Sev is just not the kind of lady they want their son to end up with.

The story would change so much. He’d have a much harder time stepping forward to follow Sev out of town, for one, and his parents would be far less likely to support him in that endeavour since they’d see it as a shirking of responsibility rather than a sign of standing up bravely. Reaching out to help Jonan (regardless of Jonan’s gender) would be unthinkably intimidating and terrifying for him. And that’s only the first two chapters!

How would a fandom react: He is immediately shipped with every male member of the cast.

Runewriters Genderswap, Part 2!

“Ever wonder what your story would be like if [the main characters] were [the opposite gender]?”

PART TWO of this post. This time, Sev!

Severinaaaa? Idek.

How would the character change: Lady!Sev complains constantly about how dumb it is for a shapechanger to have to wear a top despite the fact that she’s still NOT REALLY WEARING THAT MUCH. But other than that not a lot changes! She’s still just as brash and overconfident as ever, but the people around her are more likely to find the attitude  off-putting, coming from a girl — so she’s probably more used to be ignored or not trusted (while Guy!Sev seems to be shocked when people aren’t required to pay attention to him.) Some of her backstory would flip around a tiny bit, but the basic gist would remain the same.

Sev’s actually my favourite of the genderswaps. I really like how Sev’s ethnicity looks with a more feminine face, and I also like the idea of this weirdly overbearing, protective, and rashly adventurous lady sticking with Tareth. If there weren’t WEIRD ISSUES with making her a girl (and if I hadn’t already started the comic) I might seriously consider making the switch for reals. 

How would a fandom react: Tumblr can’t decide if it’s thrilled to see a non-skinny POC lady as a protagonist, or utterly horrified that she’s scantily clad, transforms into animals, and is referred to frequently as a “Savage.” (oops.) Either way, having a tentacled lady as a major character means Shazz is never able to convince anyone that Runewriters is not a fetish comic ever again.

Runewriters Genderswap, Part 1

“Ever wonder what your story would be like if [the main characters] were [the opposite gender]?”

SO SOME TIME AGO Rynnay was pondering how her story would change if her three main characters swapped genders, and it was super interesting to actually look at the potential character shifts that would happen, so I started thinking about it too!

AND THEN I HAD TO DRAW THEM.

First up: Jonan

How would the character change: JONAN ACTUALLY CHANGES THE LEAST.

(idk should it be Joann or)

She’s still unreasonably harsh and ill-tempered, and still does her best to dress like a villain. In fact, she almost makes MORE sense as a lady, feeling the need to act as cold as possible to be taken seriously as a dangerous necromancer. (and we all always suspected Jonan was PMSing anyway)

As far as MY opinion on the swap, I think it makes things a little more boring in this case! It’s a little too easy to chalk her weird and occasionally contradictory attitudes up to her femaleness — She’s mean b/c she has to prove she’s a tough lady! She’s occasionally nice because she has girly emotions! INSERT MORE PMS JOKES. It’s basically way easier to interpret her very simplistically.

I like her dress, though. c:

(Also it’s really a lot harder to like the “ice-cold bitch” type character, even though that’s probably one of those SUBTLE SEXISM things.)

How would a fandom react: “Joann” may not be popular, but still ends up becoming the victim subject of an alarming amount of “sexy” fanart, most or all of which downplays or ignores her apparent advanced age.