Moff
Member
he could still be bi
I hope it's not emily as a lesbian, if she would romance another girl that would just pander the white male gaming crowd. it would actually be more effective if she was straight and would romance a guy.
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Dishonored 2 to feature prominent LGBT characters
- Thread starter theecakee
- Start date
he could still be bi
I hope it's not emily as a lesbian, if she would romance another girl that would just pander the white male gaming crowd. it would actually be more effective if she was straight and would romance a guy.
Lux R7
Member
you know a LGBT character's story doesn't need to revolve around their LGBT-ness? You do know they're normal people, with normal issues, right? Apart from shoehorned love interests, a straight white male's story barely revovles around their heterosexuality.
also, AC:S ... so good
This, thank you.
Emperor_Uriel
Member
They already mentioned in an interview with GI last month that, once they realized people "cared about Emily's sexuality" they decided not to confirm it one way or another.
That's not what I was hoping for though.
Let's be honest, her sexuality is only in question because she has short hair and is a serious, physically-capable assassin. Would've been a great opportunity to say "masculine women can be straight too, you know."
That's not what I was hoping for though.
Let's be honest, her sexuality is only in question because she has short hair and is a serious, physically-capable assassin. Would've been a great opportunity to say "masculine women can be straight too, you know."
Theanine3D
Member
You really need to stop operating on the assumption that "straight = default/normal," because that's where dumb statements like these comes from. You are treating LGBT people as a deviation or an abnormality that needs to be justified.
I've lived most of my life having to play as straight protagonists. As far as I see it, straight people have been "shoehorning" their sexuality into games for far too long. See how it feels when your statement is reversed?
No it's not relevant at all, most of the games gain nothing by explicitly telling people their characters sexuality, for an example a character like Faith from the Mirrors edge doesn't gain anything if they decide to set it in stone if she's straight or not.
What? I wasn't saying that at all. Being gay is perfectly normal it and i'm not "treating" the LGBT people anyway differently, i just don't see how most of the games gain anything by announcing the sexuality of the character, sure if you have a game set out to explore those themes then sure, that's perfectly fine. We know that games don't tackle themes like this well and i really don't trust Dishonored 2 to do it either.
Basketball
Member
You jest, but I do hope it's not a checklist some Bethesda exec past over to Arkane and they are actually well-realised, relatable and not fallen prey to certain tropes.
It depends. I am not expecting a ground breaking, fleshed out character, but I don't want LGBT stereotypes or characters which our used as comic relief (not saying that this is happening with Dishonoured specifically).
That was my point earlier.
If it comes off as pandering that means the writing is shit.
I'm guessing never. Those are the kind of dumbasses that when a writer reveals that a character was gay three years after a book/comic/movie is out, they still rage and rage and call it shoehorned in despite it never affecting the story even a single time.
They make minorities feel happy and represented. Isn't that enough? Especially when it doesn't negatively effect anything, ever?
Dragonslayer_023
Banned
I think you hit the nail on the head and this is exactly what they're going to do.
Ones where they can easily misinterpret that they're straight. Examples of this include Kung Jin from Mortal Kombat and Bill from The Last of Us.
Would wonder about that part as well. The way Dishonored is structured it wouldn't be a surprise if at least one of them is a target.
Especially since him and the younger scientist who made all your equipment could be an obvious couple (assuming you got the good ending and they were both alive at the end, they're both excitedly and very animatedly discussing things in the second to last level and end up curing the plague together.)
D
Deleted member 465307
Unconfirmed Member
If you can play through this game non-lethally (apart from the targets? I dunno, I never played the original), then I might play this eventually. I'm always down for some good ol' representation.
Confused Cheeseburger
Member
I'm kinda hoping it's not Emily though. I really like Emily in the first game and she looks awesome in the second. The reason that I'm nervous if Emily is gay or bi are the troupes that she may fall into. "Slender, white, independent man-beating woman is gay and we've cartoonishly contrasted her from perceived notions of female fragility to make sure you get it". If she ends up like Ellie from the last of us, that would be great but it is a fine line between writing from a different perspective and writing into disenfranchised trap-holes.
broken_sword
Banned
Only straight white men like the idea of attractive lesbians getting it on?
Lol, okay buddy.
It's very clear that most lesbians in games are intended as eye candy for guys.
I think they meant devs think straight men find the idea of gay men getting it on repulsive and will get upset, so they go with two lesbians instead as its "safer".
No, that's not what he said.
He's not all that wrong. "Girl on girl action" is pretty much the "easy" way to add homosexual characters to their game, where the presumed straight male gamer would react the least negatively.
"that's hot" as opposed to "ewwwwww."
as sad as it sounds.
Theanine3D
Member
Ah okay, sorry for misinterpreting.
It's just 99% of the time when someone uses the word "shoehorn" in these discussions it's because they're doing what I thought you were doing. lol
But there it is. Don't make it a theme that needs to be tackled.
Ned Wynert was a valuable asset and a helpful NPC to the player character. His gender identity wasn't adressed with a single line of dialogue.
Not every black dude needs to have a story of the hardships of minorities, not every jew needs to have some sort of "jew story" - why can't a trans character or a gay character be exactly that - a regular character, who is also gay or trans.
Harvey Smith is a really good guy. And pretty outspoken on stuff like that.
Also a good chunk of the game was written by Cara Ellison.
Like, nah bro. This is not some arbitrary top-down doctrine. (Also kinda lol at the insinuation that it is. If anything, that stuff works the other way around.) This is absolutely what these designers and writers want to do. And I'm excited for it.
That would be too typical tbh, especially with the androgynous looks and hair.
Let's not conform to it for once !
Edit: Oh I was thinking of Emily for some reason.
I don't see why it "have a game set out to explore those themes" is somehow always brought up whenever this topic comes around. This is a sequel that had you protecting your daughter and avenging your girlfriend in the first game. This is not a "straight" theme, and there doesn't need to be some big in depth gay version of it either.
There's dozens of games a year with basic straight relationships that are background noise (and some are in the foreground, like Uncharted 4). Are Days Gone and God of War 4 exploration of straight themes because the heroes are saddled with dead wives and families? Are they shoehorned in? Are they announcing anything by showing you that clip of Days Gone Dude remembering his wife? I mean, Dead Wife Memories is a pretty tired trope, but it's hardly met with much animosity or wondering what they're going for with it.
There's dozens of games a year with basic straight relationships that are background noise (and some are in the foreground, like Uncharted 4). Are Days Gone and God of War 4 exploration of straight themes because the heroes are saddled with dead wives and families? Are they shoehorned in? Are they announcing anything by showing you that clip of Days Gone Dude remembering his wife? I mean, Dead Wife Memories is a pretty tired trope, but it's hardly met with much animosity or wondering what they're going for with it.
Sweeney Tom
Banned
Day one
So excited for this. Game of the show (E3) for me.
The fuck.
So we should just not have lesbian characters because confused straight boys think that
lesbians are just there for their entertainment? lol
The fuck.
So we should just not have lesbian characters because confused straight boys think that
lesbians are just there for their entertainment? lol
don't twist his words like that. of course lesbian representation is fine, but more often than not, it's used / portrayed in a way that still panders to the straight male audience, because "girl on girl" isn't really all that gay, but totally, like, hot, dude.
It's the LGBT inclusion of least resistance, which is why people would prefer something else - a more meaningful inclusion.
Then again you could also say making her lesbian would just accentuate the belief that Lesbians can't be feminine looking and only masculine or androgynous looking.
Edit: Also the post above mine.
Waylon Drums
Member
"I sure hope there's justification for the inclusion of straight people."
-No one, ever
-No one, ever
If theyre the sole lgbt character in a game, probably poorly. Otherwise in a game with decent representation Id hope it go over well
I'm not twisting words. It doesn't matter if straight guys find it hot, there's a lot of homo and bi woman out there that would appreciate this.
And it's just as meaningful when (for example) a film like Carol comes out as any Brokeback Mountain.
You'll have a long career on GAF, I'm sure.
If it doesn't play a role in the story then why does it matter? Why is it "forced" unless it plays a role in the story and does nothing? Because straight is normal ?
That line of thinking is problematic.
And like Bish correctly predicted.
...
Man now I just want a Call of Duty campaign where the playable character and his partner are dudes and then at the very last mission before the intro ends and you gain control, the both of them kiss because it's a dangerous suicide mission they might not come back from.
And then everyone goes back and realizes all the chatter between the two characters in all the missions beforehand was actually them flirting or something.
Gnome Scat
Member
Cool.
hairygreenpeas
Neo Member
Ngl, it certainly feels like some people genuinely do think that lesbians in games are purely for the entertainment of straight dudes. It's quite unfortunate, especially as a queer lady myself who enjoys me some LGBT representation and same-sex romances. :/ I suppose I do somewhat understand that perspective though given that there are still quite a number of developers out there who continually pander to their male audience despite the growing amount of female gamers they could also take into consideration. It's obviously not just restricted to video games, as other entertainment mediums are guilty of this as well.
I'm honestly just happy about the inclusion and the (mostly) positive portrayals of LGBT video game characters in the past couple of years. I don't even give a shit if they're well-written/rounded characters, because god knows most straight male protagonists aren't (... though, I'm certainly not opposed to it. ;D) I feel like the recent social changes and progress made concerning the LGBT community have done a lot of good in the inclusion of LGBT characters in video games. If people think it's pandering or some shoehorning nonsense - then, game developers, please continue pandering to us and continue "shoehorning" LGBT characters in video games. <3
haha, that would be the next CoD's "shocker scene", the one you have to opt-in before starting the campaign.
How does it feel to accurately represent a negative stereotype?
DOWN
Banned
You are betting it will be "you know I'm trans right?"
First off, what game handled their story like that? Second, why can't it be normal and you just understand it in normal conversation? Or even more so, why can't it be significant to the story?
That's quite a reaction to a dev answering that yes, a real life common thing is also in the game
Maybe Im a lot more touchy on this because I have to see my friends fight for representation in the media they consume all the time, but this attitude of "Sorry lesbians dont count as meaningful representation because it makes straight dudes hot and bothered, itd be more radical if she was straight 
" is so fucking gross to me.
It feels like such a nonargument just to shoot people who want representation down when they're barely getting anything as is.
" is so fucking gross to me.It feels like such a nonargument just to shoot people who want representation down when they're barely getting anything as is.
Garrett Hawke
Member
Omfghaha, that would be the next CoD's "shocker scene", the one you have to opt-in before starting the campaign.