[quote=@BangoSkank] Depends on what you include in stereotypes, and getting into trouble about it doesn't necessarily mean it is actually a bad thing. They can be accurate or inaccurate or somewhere in that spectrum. They can also be positive or negative and have a lot of implications or very few. They can also be dealt with respectfully or disrespectfully. Delicate issues. A lot of it comes down to perception. The whole general "token" concept. If you're writing a woman who is in every way a male character except that you note in your intro post that she's a woman and you use female pronouns. That's one end of the issue. The other end is a character who is little more than a pile of preconceptions. If you write a Native American woman character during the days of the Wild West when one generation back her people roamed a huge chunk of Nebraska and moved with the seasons, but now her and her family have been moved to a reservation and they and their children are being taught new ways, new languages, and a new religion. If you write her in a way that is indie indistinguishable for a white male settler or a British railroad magnate, it's not gonna make some folks happy. It's not a very considerate way to write a character. [/quote] >I see. I'll admit that the reason for my confusion generally stems from making characters that aren't human, after all I think Draconians from Elden Ring have little in common with humans beyond being grey-skinned humanoids. Though I see what you're talking about with the Native American example. I can see how that would be offensive, not to mention confusing since the character isn't a settler or railroad magnate. But it would be a different context if said character was in reality an avatar of some eternal being living through various lives, and one of their old mannerisms bleeds through accidentally for a moment.