Frustrating relative lack of LGBT NPCs in this game

[kelevra13]

Hrothgar have a queen and Viera men are mentioned explicitly. It's just that Hrothgar have very few women and Viera practice strict segregation of the sexes.

IIRC, the Viera segregation of sexes has indeed been mentioned in FFXII.

[xxvaynxx]

TitanMen's wellspring of trolls ran dry it seems.
Your earlier ones were more funny, you've really lost your touch. :l

Idk.
This thread is pretty funny because apparently gay dudes are better actors than straight dudes.
Can't wait to see more scientific studies.

[OniKimoto]

Am I the only one who caught all the sexual references and innuendos and personalities in this game? You can't be serious if you think NPC's or story characters are all straight. And what relevance does it have to the story and gameplay? None. It doesn't matter.

[Mhaeric]

If you ask me that's the kind of representation you want though. Because, while representation is nice, actively championing a "representative" makes it seem like an exception and not the norm. In cases like the ones I mentioned they are treating it like any other common relationship, not making it a grandiose spectical to appease the masses. I mean there is clearly a distinction between relationships such as Beatin and Gairhard, Sanson and Guydelot, Aymeric and Lucia, and Y'shtola and Runar, compared to ships like Cid and Nero, or Alphinaud and Estinien. If you ask me queer coding is the proper way to show representation. Cause why are all NPCs considered "straight" until proven otherwise. Why can't they be LGBT until proven otherwise?

Explicitly mentioning a character's queerness is not a "grandiose spectical [sic] to appease the masses." That statement verges on being homophobic. By contrast, queer coding is what actually exists specifically for the purpose of appeasing the masses; it is used to appease a minority audience while simultaneously not rocking the boat of a majority audience. When "that's the kind of representation you want" is said about queer coding what is really being said is "that's the kind of representation that makes the majority feel more comfortable so you should want it too."

To answer your question, "Why can't they be LGBT until proven otherwise?" While queer coding like that is not inherently negative on its own, when it is the only thing being offered and deviating from it is termed a grandiose spectacle then it is a problem.

These videos are very film-centric discussions of queer coding both its negative and positive aspects, but the ideas apply to all fictional media and are both generally pretty good analyses of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsO4...ellgren-Fozard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKV...nel=RowanEllis

[KaitoAsaha]

Idk.
This thread is pretty funny because apparently gay dudes are better actors than straight dudes.
Can't wait to see more scientific studies.

Yeah that post was just wild. All credibility on the subject just went right out the window.

[KayRadley]

To be fair, that may indirectly imply Viera are generally ok with playing around with the same sex, much like Amazons. Either that or the females give the 'death by snu snu' treatment to the few males that visit during mating season.

It may well be the case that Viera women have romantic relationships with one another and only have sex with men for the purpose of bearing children, not unlike how men of ancient Rome had relationships with men in addition to their wives.

Of course, this isn't explicitly stated in the lore, but there's enough wiggle room in the lore to make this a valid headcanon.

[Driavna]

One thing: FFXIV is a game from Japan and there a public demonstration of affection is not the norm, that's something you do in private. This rule applies to every sexual preference.

[Bearded]

I'm not honestly sure if I can recall any memorable partnerships in the storyline of FFXIV - regardless of the genders involved. Partnerships is portrayed as simply ancillary information mentioned in passing. There have been a few of the same gender but there are as unremarkable as the rest have been. I'm all for portraying any NPC partnership in a more involved way as long as it makes sense from the storyline and is not done simply for a means to an end.

However, FFXIV is not a dating app

[Floortank]

Agree with OP, but doubt it will happen. There aren't really any serious relationships anywhere in the game.

[Eloah]

Explicitly mentioning a character's queerness is not a "grandiose spectical [sic] to appease the masses." That statement verges on being homophobic. By contrast, queer coding is what actually exists specifically for the purpose of appeasing the masses; it is used to appease a minority audience while simultaneously not rocking the boat of a majority audience. When "that's the kind of representation you want" is said about queer coding what is really being said is "that's the kind of representation that makes the majority feel more comfortable so you should want it too."

To answer your question, "Why can't they be LGBT until proven otherwise?" While queer coding like that is not inherently negative on its own, when it is the only thing being offered and deviating from it is termed a grandiose spectacle then it is a problem.

These videos are very film-centric discussions of queer coding both its negative and positive aspects, but the ideas apply to all fictional media and are both generally pretty good analyses of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsO4...ellgren-Fozard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKV...nel=RowanEllis

I'll start by saying I haven't watched those videos, yet.

That being said, stating that my statement verges on "homophobic" is severely misrepresenting the meaning. By grandiose statement I was talking about a biased representation, where you state a character is LGBT because they act a certain way. Like if a male character acted very flamboyant, but wasn't evil, cause apparently that's a thing, but most people would presume that character is gay based on stereotyping, which is a bad thing to do. How someone acts doesn't necessitate their sexuality. Having characters show signs of LGBT is fine because real life is on a spectrum. Someone could be homosexual but then enter into a heterosexual relationship and vice versa.

A good example of what I mean can be found in the anime Yuri on Ice. None of the characters have any perceived sexual preferences, and even early on the main character is considered heterosexual. But as I'm sure most people are aware he enters into a relationship with a man. That's why the anime was praised for it's realistic expression of LGBT individuals. They weren't just a stereotype played up to explicitly make people aware "hey look at me I'm LGBT". Even the one character in that anime who could be considered a stereotype is a subversion, or maybe a double subversion, because it's not part of his sexual preference but his personality as a skater.

Another good example is from the new She-ra reboot. The showrunners actively said they weren't sure if they would be able to portray the relationship they wanted for Adora and Catra, so they added in subtleties that could go either way. Hints at a possible future relationship or just a very deep friendship. This way they could have the characters just be themselves, and not anything that needed to be "altered" later on.

One good example, "turned" bad, can be found in the new Voltron. Shiro is gay, he was written that way from the start. And people were "okay" with that. What they weren't okay with was when things were "added" and then glossed over to show he was gay. Specifically the ending were he gets married to someone we never even see him interact with, that we as the viewer know, because other characters do interact with him. Those moments were superficial, just to show "yes he really is gay". Given the context of the show, the viewers didn't care about him being in a relationship. What they did care about was the promise of showing these relationships and not delivering.

So do you see what I'm trying to get at? Representation is good, no question about that. But it has to be realistic, it can't just be there because people "want it". People shouldn't see themselves in fictional characters because their sexualities align, but because of their personalities.