The Character Romance thread (Official)

"When it comes to writing gay stories, or racial stories, perhaps the straight white people just need to take a step back and ask, Do I really need to be writing about this? (No.) Is there someone else who can do it better? (Yes.) Have there been other such stories told by straight white people that show their perspective over the minorities? (Very many.) Is there value in adding another such wok to the pile? (No.) Can I write about something else I do know about? (I sure can!)"

In there I see at least three limitations.  Straight White people should be limited in writing on certain topics because "they don't really need to" "it has been done before and better" and "it will be inherently worthless and thus not worth doing" therefore I should stick to what I know, which I guess includes fantasy and science fiction, but not people I know.

go figure

No. A variety of reasons does not mean there isn't a "major" reason. I would read up on that in more detail. 

Yes. I agree with that notion. Because there are mediums produced by straight people that I enjoy, and acknowledge that they're well written.

But then I wonder how many lgbt+ material I've read, watched, or listened to, are produced by lgbt+ creators. There isn't that many unless I go deep into the indie scene.

Saying that there should be more lgbt+ writers doesn't equal there should be less straight writers on lgbt+ material. No matter how much I look at Andromeda and grimace. But there should be more opportunities for lgbt+ writers to write their own stories and be given support for it in the mainstream.

Actually, I said straight writers should be banned from writing LGBT content, and a lot of people seem to have taken it more seriously than I meant. Obviously such a ban could never exist as anything other than a thought exercise, there is no practical way to enforce it. Bunch of straight people getting #triggered about a total non-issue, lol.

I am, however, 100% serious about providing exlcusive platforms for LGBT creators, which is really a separate issue from whether or not straight writers are capable of not sucking at LGBT shit.

If I'm being perfectly honest, the BEST BioWare M/M romance (from our limited pool) is, in my opinion, Anders in DA2, written by Jennifer Hepler, who as far as I know is a straight woman. Kaidan is a close second.

David Gaider, by comparison, is a gay man, and his M/M romances SUUUUUUUCK. I dunno exactly what his issue is, but they are overstuffed with more toxic shit than a pizza pocket.

Zevran and Fenris are victims of sexual assault by men. When Fenris leaves, we "get" to ask if it's because we're dudes, like it's just a GIVEN that he would have a problem with that.

And Dorian. Fucking Dorian. Where to start.

We are approached by a CHURCH OFFICIAL who asks us to TRICK HIM into meeting his estranged father, who tried to CONVERT HIM with blood magic. We are given the option to convince Dorian to RECONCILE with his dad, but not to be critical. In fact, it is made clear that reconciliation is supposed to be the happy ending!

A grown-ass gay man should know​ better than to inflict this garbage on other gay men, some of whom have actually endured sexual assault or conversion therapy in real life. There's no excuse that justifies it's existence. I don't care if the story is a personal one based on Gaider's own experience. His experience is shit. It's painfully obvious that he's never suffered sexual assault or conversion therapy, or serious abuse from his father. If he had, he wouldn't​ write such stupid things.

The only good thing you can say about Gaider's writing is that he excels at taking extremely serious issues that plague LGBT in real life, and diluting them until they can be digested by the delicate constitutions of a heterosexual audience.

So if there really are straight writers just DYING for a chance to write gay romance (which nobody has deprived them of, by the way), your bar has been set. Just suck less than Gaider.

You realise that To Kill A Mockingbird is a fictionalized autobiography, right? That Harper Lee based it heavily on her own childhood? That the court case in the book is based on an actual court case where her lawyer father acted on behalf of the defense?

You also realise that the book is narrated entirely from the perspective of a little white girl, and does nothing to communicate the perspective of African Americans?

What about the fact that all that "long-lasting praise" comes from other white people?

What about that fact that I've really talked about all of those points and don't feel much like repeating myself when I've got the answers to those questions elsewhere in my previous posts.

Not a one.

But I can talk about African history if you'd like.  Fun fact, just saying I'm wrong doesn't make it so.  The big problem for your theory is that African population densities have historically been quite low throughout the majority of the continent (with three notable exceptions), only in the past century has Africa developed a massive population that is not dependent on subsistence agriculture. There isn't a long tradition of labor being cheap in Africa.  Quite the opposite in fact, land is cheap, there's tons of it there, but because of low population densities and improper infrastructure (as well as poor soils in much of the continent) there hasn't been the ability to mechanize, to say nothing of the economic problems that have plagued most of Africa since the Colonial Era.

I just wish certain folk would stop making other people's vents all about themselves.

I just feel like we should do some more on topic posting.

Is Reyes a top for sure?

Does Gil like writing poetry for Scott more or less if you cheated on him in poker?

If you romance both of them-are they going to both kill you when they find out, or are they happy with the specifics?

These are all things that require serious discussion.

To Kill A Mockingbird isn't even a good example for making his point. It's not about race, except in the most tangential way. At best, it's about a white woman's perspective on racial issues. The black characters are minor, and she doesn't make any attempt to write from a "black perspective", which is for the better.

She didn't write it for the benefit of black people either. If she intended it for any audience, it was other whites.

In fact, To Kill A Mockingbird is a very apt comparison for what we get from BioWare currently. A milquetoast examination of minority issues, filtered through the perspective of a character who isn't affected by them and doesn't understand them.

I feel like Reyes could be written as a vers or bottom. Think about it this way: he's trying to gain control of Kadara (and succeeds if you let him), so maybe he likes to release control in the bedroom to Scott. There's a lot of different reasons why someone might want to bottom, regardless of their out-of-the-bedroom persona.

As for Gil, I think he writes more poetry if cheated on in poker, but it's more humorous poetry with lots of parodying and biting sarcasm.