About That Locker

[Gurgeh]

Legitimately insane takes.

The Chais are a married couple who showcase their romantic love multiple times as you get to know them through the story.
Estinien is 32 years old and they both see each other as siblings. Alphinaud specifically says something along the lines of "the brother he never had" and looks up to him.

Can't believe I clicked on show message from a muted user for this. I should mind my business more lol

Agreed. Especially on Estinien, I'm clutching at straws. Why would you unmute me for this. This is what matters to you(?).

[Hallarem]

Only confirmed gay couple Ive seen in game is from ARR and they said their villages or something shunned them because of their bond. But no idea if its because of them being gay or them being from different races. Might be a regional thing on both accounts. Like in Gyr Abania that one Miqo'te has no issues suggesting a family with one of the midlanders.

I understand shipping Gaia and Ryne, but they might as well be just good friends. But thats nothing new to the culture, a character in any media sneezes in the direction of another and they are a couple now. So many people just mistake close friendship with being a couple.

[pyxls]

I definitely think it's just you thinking something that's not really there to begin with.

Obsessions like that don't have to be romantic-level at all, especially sycophantic-like followers that are exactly that toward their idols.

[Reimmi]

Sounds like you're reaching to me

Not once did i ever see asahi having romantic interest in zenos either lol

[Ephremjlm]

No hate to the OP but im pretty sure this is one of the most LGBTQ+ positive games out there right now, as far as whats in the main stream. Could be wrong though I guess since there is VR chat and second life.

[StormChase]

No hate to the OP but im pretty sure this is one of the most LGBTQ+ positive games out there right now, as far as whats in the main stream. Could be wrong though I guess since there is VR chat and second life.

I'd say it's a mixed bag. Players can get gay married but canon LGBT NPCs are pretty few and far between, and sometimes it feels like the explicit or more strongly implied NPCs are the butt of a joke. To be fair the MSQ in particular doesn't focus much on romantic relationships, but when it does they're almost always if not always straight.

[Ephremjlm]

I'd say it's a mixed bag. Players can get gay married but canon LGBT NPCs are pretty few and far between, and sometimes it feels like the explicit or more strongly implied NPCs are the butt of a joke. To be fair the MSQ in particular doesn't focus much on romantic relationships, but when it does they're almost always if not always straight.

I mean heres the thing though, you don't want to force those things. This comes down to the writers ability to even write this in a good way (not confident about that currently), cultural norms in Japan (I think it's accepted but I don't live there so I won't say by how much), and also statistically if they are just a company trying to keep it safe and the game "for everyone" the stats ar like 3-5% of the world is actually gay. LGBTQ+ seems a lot higher, but I don't think I've seen any concrete data on that that doesn't eventually have a bias or skew conservative or liberal.

Honestly I would say for the writing alone they should hold off until someone can actually tell a good tale so the inclusion feels natural and isn't butchered, and in turn cause it's own backlash.

[Halivel]

cultural norms in Japan (I think it's accepted but I don't live there so I won't say by how much), and also statistically if they are just a company trying to keep it safe and the game "for everyone"

It's kind of "whatever" in media, in Japan, and for the actual community it's a hit or miss. There's no violent prejudice, but a lot of families and corporations have a "what people will say" reputational thing going on. Basically, it's not horrible, but it's very nuanced.

The game, however, is on global market, and they have to keep in mind that it's also played by people from countries where these kind of topics are heavily tabooed, and making open announcements might be putting the game at risk of being banned there. As result, the ambiguous writing we have right now (and which they're arguably good at) is most likely the most we'll ever have, which has its pros and cons.

[Jeeqbit]

I didn't know they'd revealed anyone's relationship interests hardly. Usually, only time they have is when they've clearly been married like Chai-Nuzz. They avoid getting into the subject so that you can use your imagination, and focus on what matters: the fight we are tackling against whatever threats we face.

[Sililos]

If you read the notes you see that he's totally obsessed with Calyx for how brilliant he is. He admires him not loves him.
Its fanboying obsession, not Romance.

Sometimes, there isn't reason to be screaming accusations against a dev team.
Not everything needs to be political or oppression against a minority group/exclusion, Otherwise we end up with Netflix Bingo and it becomes forced and disingenuous pandering.