how to print UTF-8

[Skaperen]

my string is already in UTF-8 form. that is, 1 to 6 byte codes (octets) in sequence per character and the codes are in range(256) (could have been in bytes but is in str). how do i tell the print function in Python3 and the print command in Python2 that the string is already in UTF-8 form? does converting it to bytes first, help to print it right? do i need to set environment variable LC_ALL to some value?