The Cosmos: Sexy Tyrannosaurs Rex

[Reverance]

[member="Cryax Bane"] Agreed.

 

[Dredge]

[member="Cryax Bane"]

Thank you Cryax. I honestly am not calling people bigoted at all. I'm just saying thank you and that if you are considered writing a homosexual character then go for it.

 

[Felix Dunst]

Taking a step back and thinking about the characters sexuality is a good thing. I think that people should spend a bit more time thinking about choices like that when it comes to writing male characters

In my experience in tabletop games and other roleplaying boards, 95% of the time it's the opposite of a good thing. Sexuality and romance aren't something that should be forced upon a character or be one of their main characteristics because the character itself and the player who controls it suffer as a result. If you attempt to make it one of the more defining features of your character, you either end up with hilarious parodies that nobody will take seriously or something out of the twilight zone that nobody dares touch because it feels too unnatural / forced.

If people wish to do relationships, be they whatever they want it to be, then that is fine by me but let it be a natural progression. Don't wake up one day and think "I want to start dating X" without proper back story and motivation behind it besides brownie points for being "diversifying" or being "inclusive." Those are all traps that lead to bad writing and bad characters. I'd also like to point out that this is, to my limited knowledge, a freeform RP board based on the Star Wars universe and not one massive game of FATAL, since I'm pretty sure there was no requirement for anal circumference on the character sheet.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Even though here at Chaos, anyone is free to make whatever kind of LGBTWTFBBQ character they please, of course that isn’t good enough.

Now we need more of them.

It’s not that we need more Stormtroopers. We don’t need more Rebel pilots. We don’t need more anti-hero Sith, or more Republic senators, or more morally questionable Jedi, or more droids, or more people with mauve lightsabers.

No, no. See, it’s all about what set of genitals your character prefers. That’s what makes them unique, and apparently most worthy of celebrating in Dredge’s eyes. But no, you’re not trying to push a social agenda or anything. I wonder how could anyone be getting that idea?

Well thanks Dredge, for giving us your special permission to write a gay character. I feel so liberated and tolerant and diverse now.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

LGBTWTFBBQ

My new favorite term.

 

[Cryax Bane]

How about a compromise? Let's have more gay Stormtroopers.

 

[Dredge]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]
You're welcome

 

[Isaac Ideus]

How about a compromise? Let's have more gay Stormtroopers.

My next character will be a transgendered non-binary pandakin battle droid with 7 headmates who's triggered by force users

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

This started out as a happy little blog post about "Yay! Queer characters!" and now people are making me sad.
Look at this. This angry kitten is sad.

Well, was sad. Because hey, this is the internet, doesn't really matter much! So people raising eyebrows, saying that celebrating "LGBtRJRUERGETHETH" characters is silly because all sorts of characters deserve celebration, and people taking offense to non-offensive statements means nothing. Nope. As [member="Dredge"] said we're all entitled to our opinions. Even if they seem stupid or weird or actually offensive or silly or whatever. We can all disagree with each other but it doesn't mean anything. All it decides is who we're going to be friends with.

Sexuality is not a main point of any character. It does not define them. Whatsoever. Same as in real life. All someone's sexuality does is decide who they end up loving, how certain people treat them, and what stereotypes people might try to force upon them.

There is nothing wrong with praising well-written queer characters. NOTHING. There's nothing wrong with praising any types of well-written characters. NOTHING. Praising characters is awesome! Great! WONDERFUL! Yup yup yup! Well-written characters are great no matter what they are. Queer characters are subject to stereotypes, as are other sorts of characters, just different sorts of ones. Rising above those is an awesome thing! We don't need more queer characters, we need more great characters.

We're praising well-written characters here. Not because they're queer, but because they go past the stereotypes about queer characters that society has put in our heads (often without us even realizing it).
This isn't saying that characters deserve praise just for being queer. That would be silly. Really silly. You don't get a pat on the back just for being gay, lesbian, homosexual, pansexual, asexual, heterosexual, transgender, gender-fluid, agender, or any of that. You don't get a pat for roleplaying a giant talking lizard either. You get praise for writing well.

So writing a

My next character will be a transgendered non-binary pandakin battle droid with 7 headmates who's triggered by force users

means nothing. In fact, writing a character that queer would be considered a joke. It, as far as I can tell, is a joke. An attempt to poke fun at this whole thing. That's irritating to some degree. Not because I'm offended (and I could be if I was a more... sensitive queer person). But because this started out as a high-five to people.
This isn't a call for more queer characters. This isn't a way of saying "let's write diverse characters because diversity rules". Dredge just internet high fived the people who write characters who aren't walking queer stereotypes.

I'm high-fiving those people. A++ to [member="Cryax Bane"] and his boyfriend who's name I've forgotten. This is a high five to [member="Ashin Varanin"] and [member="Spencer Jacobs"]. This is an A++++++ to well-written queer characters. This isn't saying that other characters aren't worthy of praise. This sure as hell isn't saying that queer characters are 'most deserving' of praise.

Can't we praise well-written characters without assuming that we don't care about the others? Because I kind of feel like a couple people are acting like that one Birds Rights Activist meme. And for once it isn't funny.

So, to finish this off:
A+++++ to well written characters
A+++++ to well written characters who don't rely on stereotypes
A+++++ to characters who don't have a defined sexuality
A+++++ to characters who do have a defined sexuality
A+++++ to characters
A+++++ to people
And A++++ to this cat:

A+ TO ALL CATS.
ALL CATS DOES GETZ PAT ON BACK FOR BEING CAT. WELL, A GENTLE STROKE ON THE BACK. I BELIEVE HUMANZ CALL IT 'PETTING'

 

[Dredge]

[member="Drapeam Nyx"]

*gives all the hugs and high fives*

 

[Reverance]

[member="Drapeam Nyx"] Woah woah woah! Where is my high five?!?

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

[member="Reverance"]
I was busy high-fiving the well-written, stereotype ignoring, sweet-ass defined as queer characters. Rev can be considered queer, now that I think about it, to some degree. But more importantly he's well-written, stereotype ignoring, and sweet-ass in all areas.
You, sir, get all the high-fives.

 

[Reverance]

[member="Drapeam Nyx"]

 

[sabrina]

I have to say

Sabrina is hetrosexual, but would have slept with anyone if necessary. (possibly to kill them) Though she know going to change, due to [member="Rexus Drath"].
Flora burns is try sexual, I named her after margarine as it spread easy, and apparently std burns. There again she a pirate, what did you expect.
Harley not decide yet, though she joined the zambos so I guess she going to find out
Elaine thul is going to use it, as poltics

others never played them enough to decide

 

[Felix Dunst]

We're praising well-written characters here. Not because they're queer.

The thread did start out as praise for homosexual characters being just that. At the end of the day that was the purpose of this thread as far as Dredge made it known, to praise people that wrote characters whose sexuality was not straight. Their quality of writing and consistency could be even better, but if their sexuality was heterosexual, they wouldn't be brought up.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with the notion of praising well-written characters and writers who take this seriously and invest their soul into writing stuff no matter who they are or what they play, as well as most of what you outlined in the post, but that doesn't change the initial purpose of opening post.

 

[Artemis Vahl'Nyx]

[member="Felix Dunst"]

Now what I'm saying you should NOT do is write a gay character and have his only personality trait be that he's gay. And you could see that a lot in Hollywood movies and various films and TV shows where you have these one dimensional characters whose only aspect is that they are gay. Don't write characters like that, it's offensive and it's not good writing. When you write a character and you choose to make him gay you should definitely not make him a walking stereotype, add personality traits and what not. Again another good example of a great gay character we have here is [member="Cryax Bane"]. If you need a reference then definitely look at their threads, they are awesome in portraying a homosexual man in a relationship.

I choosing to interpret these bolded sections as a way of saying "Queer characters are good if you write them well." I'm taking what he's saying as focusing on the well-written ones. I'm seeing him point out that if you want to write a queer character, you should do it right. Building them around stereotypes is silly. Stupid. Queer people are capable of having any personality types- just like straight cis-gendered individuals. Queer characters can, indeed, also have some stereotypical qualities. Trust me. I've met gay men with high-pitched voices. I've met lesbians with short hair who wear only flannel. Holy crap I'm pretty close to your stereotypical lesbian. But is that my only feature? Haha, nope.

Dredge has focused on moving past stereotypes. Now, ignoring stereotypes is not a guaranteed way to right well.
But it's a start.

In addition I'm focusing on praising the well-written characters. So have a few others who have responded to this.

Also,
Catz

 

[Felix Dunst]

[member="Drapeam Nyx"]

Well written characters will be well written characters, their sexuality or gender shouldn't matter in the equation as he suggested in the earlier paragraph, by suggesting we as writers should take a step back and more deeply examine the sexuality of a character in a universe that is known as being a space opera filled to the brim with galactic wars and political intrigue. As I said earlier, their sexuality should mean very little in a universe plagued with constant war and destruction, as there are more pressing matters on the minds of the people than who X is shagging on a regular basis.

In other words, I'm tired as hell and it's late where I live so I might not make much sense. But the basic idea is, if you're gonna praise people, praise them for more than just writing homosexual characters. When you bring up people like [member="Cryax Bane"] onto a podium and shower him in adoration, don't make it because the character is homosexual, make it because the character is a complex and realistic individual. Praise the character for having understandable motivations and goals you can relate to, and who has gone through heartwarming and heartbreaking adventures. Praise the writer for being able to write out some excellent quality paragraphs in a short time while molding his own writing style to that of his partner to offer a better visual appeal to a thread. Not because the writer has the common sense and decency to not write a pride parade twink fairy.

And yes I am being serious in what I wrote above, that wasn't me being a smarmy sarcastic jackass towards Cryax.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

well-written, stereotype ignoring, sweet-ass

What if someone is well-written and has a sweet ass, but is a stereotypical tyrant archetype villain?

 

[Boethiah]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

Does his ass have a beard too?

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to.

XOXO

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]