Pride @ Pixelberry

As pride month draws to a close, what better way to celebrate than to look back on some of our favorite queer characters in Choices. Our team reflected on the development process and what these characters mean to us…tl;dr, they mean a lot!

These characters only represent a handful of identities. With each new world we create, we strive to bring new voices to Choices… Stick around to meet for a sneak peak at the end of a new character, Sally Forth, who will be making their debut in our upcoming book, Miss Behavin’!

Zaire, Terror Fest

Subverting the status quo of typical horror movie tropes was a big driving force behind a lot of the decisions we made in Terror Fest. Zaire was born from the idea that Black and queer horror fans are used to seeing their representation be killed off first… so why not flip that on its head and make them one of the final survivors? The result was that we were able to spend a lot of time with the character, really getting deep into who they are, and we found this champion for justice who broke free from the small town mindset they were surrounded by as a child and found their place at their HBCU. Zaire is a testament to the fact that you can’t heal in the same environment where you were hurt. Sometimes, you just have to take a chance and go where you’re celebrated.

Fun fact: Initially, Zaire was going to be a “person-in-the-chair” style character who we only heard from via video calls. The thought was that they would be a proxy for the voice of reason player, the person who would’ve seen the writing on the wall and got out of dodge while the getting was still good. While we thought the idea was a lot of fun, it limited how much we were able to do with the character, so we opted to make them a little suspicious, keep them in the thick of things, and make them one of the love interests instead. Just like that, they were fully involved in the storyline– even if it did make keeping them out of harm’s way a little more difficult.

While Pride is a cause for celebration, it started as a riot. As an aspiring defense attorney, Zaire would pass the occasion by acknowledging that they stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before them, people like Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and Stormé DeLarverie. 

- Bre

Saffron, Kindred

Saff! I miss her so much. When we were brainstorming Kindred, we knew if witches were femme-only, we needed to be very careful about what that said about womanhood. We didn't want to come forward with a prescriptive definition of "womanhood". We ended up with at least one side character who was nonbinary and more or less femme-presenting. But for the core cast of sisters, we really wanted to include a woman who was transgender. 

Maggie and your character have the luxury of generally not having to think too hard about their womanhood, because it's never been called into question by anyone in their lives. Saffron, on the other hand, is especially close to her feminine energy. It's intentional – something she nurtured and protected and built for herself over years of struggle, particularly given that she didn't get much support from her mom, the one female role model in her life growing up. 

What we wanted to try and convey with her was that often, queer people who didn't get to be openly themselves during their childhood compensate for it in their young adulthood. Saff is a little flighty and irresponsible at first because she's reclaiming the girlhood that she didn't really get to experience. She had to grow up with her mother's disappointment over the fact that she's a girl. Regardless of the fact that it stemmed from her mother's fear of the prophecy (which required three sister witches to come true), rather than bigotry, the end result was still isolation and a lot of pain that poor Saff didn't deserve.

I was happy that she got to have the sisterhood with Maggie and your MC that she always wanted, and that she and Penny got to live happily ever after. She deserves nothing but happiness. I think in the future she and Penny will probably adopt a couple of orphaned witches and teach them how to be planty.

- Cat

Zeph, The Elementalists

When we were first brainstorming The Elementalists, the whole team was super excited to intro Choices’s first aro-ace character, especially since some members of the team had overlapping identities. And so Zeph was born! In shaping his character, we wanted to make sure he didn’t fall into the stereotypes many people have about aro-ace individuals (prudish, cold, repressed) so we made him a social butterfly and the life of the party. We ran into some roadblocks along the way, as we got some notes that his identity explanation felt clunky, but we fought to keep it in, knowing just how little representation aro-ace individuals have in media. It was also Zeph that inspired us to give players the options to experience TE’s story without any romance! As for how Zeph celebrates pride, you know he goes all out. I can easily picture him decked out in his flag colors, and while he might not like glitter as much as Shreya, he’d 100% fling handfuls at anyone walking by. But most importantly, he wouldn’t celebrate by himself. He’d be running around, painting pride flags on people’s faces and dragging them onto the dancefloor. Pride is a party, and parties are more fun with friends!

- Emi

Tess & Brad, All of Us

When coming up with the whole cast of All of Us, we wanted to represent a range of sexualities. Your character's specific sexuality is, of course, up to you, but then we had to decide what to do with our love interests. With Brad, we wanted to show some love for the bisexual guys out there who aren't often represented (or seen as valid) in a lot of media. Brad likes a lot of traditionally "masculine" things, but he's comfortable enough in himself to be open about his other likes and hobbies, too - from his lavender lattes to watching drag wrestling and falling head over heels for his boyfriend.

With Tess, there were early conversations where we almost made her a lesbian. It was my call to make her identify as queer, which for her means "not into guys, but not exclusively into women". That's how I identify, and it's something I almost never see represented in media, especially since it's hard to boil down into a single word. (This is also why we included it as one of the sexuality options for MC in Ch. 1 - I know there are a lot of folks out there who use that word, too, and it can mean different things for different people!) It was really rewarding to put a lot of my own feelings about being a queer woman into both Tess's arc and that main character's arc.

Last thing: it was important to us that both Tess and Brad were out, proud, and had generally supportive social circles. Other Choices characters have beautifully explored the struggles and joys of coming out (I am a Kaitlyn Liao stan until the day I die), so we wanted to show what already being out and living your best queer life can look like. If you're still in the closet or struggling with that part of yourself, I know how hard a brighter future can be to imagine. I hope this book gives you a chance to live it while you're still finding a path to your own future full of love, warmth, and pride ♥️

-Olivia

Asher & Lupe, Alpha

When we brainstormed your pack, we knew we wanted at least two or three of them to end up being highly critical to the plot, since your pack relationship is just as important as your romantic one in Alpha. Channing is canonically bisexual, as is Kala, but I knew from the get that I wanted Lupe and Asher to be lesbian and gay respectively. Because in a single-LI, dual-gender-MC book, we don't have the luxury of making a character canonically lesbian or gay, it felt important to me to introduce characters who are. Enter: Asher and Lupe.
Asher and Cal were a sure thing from the start. We wanted to include a gay couple that's drama free and completely committed. Lupe and Kala was something that didn't pop into my head until the final chapters of Alpha 1. I wrote an exchange wherein Kala was taking care of a drunk Lupe, and the banter came out so natural and sweet that we just ended up shipping them. This means that the girl Lupe dated in Alpha 1 was promptly kicked out the door in favor of letting Kala and Lupe shine. 

(Sorry, Emmy. You didn't really stand a chance though. Have you seen Kala?)

They're both fun to write, obviously, but Asher has a special place in my heart because he's just so damn sweet. He's less of a wolf than he is a golden retriever. He's lucky he has Cal behind him to make sure he doesn't put his shoes on the wrong feet (or forget his beanie, which he simply can't leave the house without). What he lacks in street smarts he makes up for in endless charm. I mean, how could you possibly be mad at that face?

- Cat

And lastly, our sneak peak of none other than Sally Forth!

Teaser: Sally Forth, Miss Behavin’

Sally Forth was inspired by a mix of drag icons, stage moms, and every tough-love mentor an underdog needs. She’s Glinda meets RuPaul with a dash of Broadway stage manager. Before she was a legendary coach, Sally was a drag queen working the underground pageant circuit, long before it was mainstream. She knows what it means to fight for the spotlight and make space for others once you’ve claimed it. Sally celebrates Pride the only way she knows how -- showing up for her girls, loud, proud, and fabulously overdressed. Sally stands for chosen family, second chances, and the fierce voice that says, “Get up. We’re not done yet.”

- Kat

I feel gay in this Chili’s tonight, and I hope you do too. Who are your favorite queer characters?