: Re: Subverting the essence of fictional and/or religious entities; is it acceptable? I talked to a critique partner not too long ago about an angel in my book. I said, he was a subversive character,

@Annie587

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Deviating from reality or conventional understanding can make a story more interesting ... or it can make it confusing. Or even offensive.

A lot depends on what the purpose is for your deviations. If any.

If you wrote a story in which you portrayed the Red Cross as a major corporation that sells cars, with no explanation, readers would just be confused. It might take them a while to figure out that in your story the Red Cross is not a humanitarian organization but a car maker. What would be the point? If you need a corporation that sells cars in your story, normally it would make a lot more sense to use a made up name that sounds like a car company or refer to a real car company.

If in your story the Red Cross is a front organization for an international criminal conspiracy, used to gain access to many countries under the guise of providing humanitarian aid, that might make an interesting twist for a thriller. You might also be getting a libel suit from the real Red Cross.

Jews, Christians, Muslims, and other religions generally see angels as messengers of God to do good. Portraying angels as evil or morally ambiguous characters may annoy, maybe even offend. They might see if as an attack on their religion. Speaking as a Christian, I've come across lots of stories that present the teachings of my religion as proven false or present some religious or supernatural events that conflict with Christianity. And I think it's tricky. If it comes across as simply a fantasy, not attacking my faith but just building a fictional world with a fictional supernatural, I can enjoy it as a story. In that case I see it as little different from reading a story with faster than light travel or anti-gravity machines. Impossible in light of current science, but it's not attacking anyone, it's just a fictional device to make a fun story. But if I perceive it as attacking my religion, than I just find the story tedious. I'm not about to organize a mob to attack the writer's home, drag him into the street and beat him to death or anything like that. But I'm also not going to spend my time reading a story that's just a gratuitous attack on my faith. And if I know in advance what the story is like, I'm not going to pay to buy a book or attend a movie that deliberately attacks and insults me.

(This is not the same, by the way, as a serious criticism. I've read books by atheists attacking Christianity so that I can hear both sides of the debate and see if maybe someone changes my mind.)

So I think it comes down to how it's presented. If it comes across as, this is an alternate world fantasy where angels are different from how they are in the real world, that's one thing. If it comes across as an attack on Judeo-Christian beliefs about angels, that's quite another. If your intent is to attack Christianity and this is a story designed to appeal to atheists, then that's something else again.

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