🌈 LGBT+ OCs discussion thread

Posted 5 years, 5 months ago (Edited 4 years, 21 days ago) by fuelli

Hi! Following some discussion in the "TH pet peeves" thread, I've decided to create a discussion thread specifically dedicated to discussion around LGBT+ OCs. This is not a "show me..." thread (I'm sure there's plenty of these in Character Discussion already), it's a thread where you can share your thoughts or ask for advice!

Share your thoughts: Ramble about your experience with LGBT+ OCs and give ideas and tips to other OCs creators! Venting about negative experiences or tropes is allowed, but try to be constructive! Talk about things you want someone with an LGBT+ character to explore, how this character could be more relatable or realistic, or how a character that fits a caricature or stereotype could be given more depth.

Ask for advice: Share your character ideas or profiles and ask for feedback, or ask a more specific question about something you're unsure about! However, please try to make research before posting, as there are lots of resources and tips available already. LeoLeonis has created a Google Doc masterlist listing all topics that have already been mentioned and info that has been given on here; give it a look if you have doubts! I'll try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.

Feel free to ping me if things heat up or if anything needs to be added in the OP. Have fun, and please keep things civil ♥


Similar threads on different themes:

 Donovan Ventris physics

Raddishes there's something really nice about building characters on your own experience - i find its great introspection and its great thinking about how other people are reflected in the characters they make too!

something i find extra neat thats happened to me and other people i know is when you like... make a character that reflects your identity before you even realise your identity?? you just feel extra connected to them and then way later youre like. fuck. Donovan here is the quintessential example of that for me.... a trans guy before i knew it!! i really cherish how characters can be safe avenues for exploration like that before your mind even realizes whats happening. 

not directly related to your post but it reminded me of it and i thought id share! if anyone else has had this kind of experience i'd love to hear :-0

Lilina

The only characters that I ever give an orientation to is Alucard and Rosa, though the latter for the most part is a bit misleading...? Rosa is a heterosexual, but her profile states that she's not interested in love and it makes her uncomfortable. I think I need to add something that has anything to do with her sexuality, but unfortunately, I'm more of an artist than a writer. Any advice on how I would add something about her being hetero? Also, any thoughts on that? Thanks.

Actually, I'm not going to scratch that out since some people were confused. What I'm trying to say that if a character's hetero, I need to decided whether or not there should be something about her sexuality written in Rosarot's bio, and how that written bit explains her heterosexuality. I'm not good at explaining things, but I hope I cleared this up.

Kirbygal

Historia Hi, I may not be the best to speak on this but I also have a character who is not interested in love and romance, so for now I have him listed as Straight, but after that I added Aro Ace as well. I've debated leaving out the straight part but I'm still not sure. Anyway, I guess you can add aromantic to her bio on the Orient. Part and that suggests she's not interested in romance just fine ^^;

Lilina

Raddishes and Kirbygal

Aye sorry about that

Anyway, thanks for the advice both of you. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Lilina

Zeetheus

Aaa no worries. I don't think you sound very aggressive when you said that. Everything is fine.

circlejourney

Oook, so, since aromanticism was brought up, this seems like a good place to ask. I'm writing a pair that might be in a queerplatonic relationship, and I'm still trying to fully grasp the difference between romantic relationships and qprs to figure that out.

Briefly: Character A experiences crushes, but isn't interested in exclusive lifelong commitment or deep physical intimacy (really mostly like to be snuggled/hugged, though they do like the occasional mouth kiss ig). Character B is quoiromantic I think; for them, there is nothing emotionally distinguishing romantic from platonic, and they think you can simply express love without putting it in a box. They are pleased to receive and express affection in whatever form both parties consent to, and what matters to them is that it's an expression of trust and care.

Ultimately, they probably carve out a space that they are both comfortable in, defining the boundaries of their relationship based on their own wishes instead of any externally imposed model.

I'm not aromantic myself, so something tells me there's some aspect of the concept that I'm missing. Is it enough for me to think that their relationship doesn't fit into the traditional model and say they're in a queerplatonic relationship, even if they might sometimes do romantic-esque things? Something tells me this has a lot to do with cultural standards of intimacy as well.

Also...do you think things like blushing and embarrassment can be a response to receiving platonic affection, or does that signal "romantic"? I feel like this might just be me clinging to affection tropes but maybe it is actually common to be flustered by affection of any kind, not just romantic?

EDIT: and what do aromantic people in general think of relationships where only one party is romantically attracted to the other? I imagine this one could be bordering on that sort of situation, but they're both OK with it. Is this a thing?

circlejourney

Zeetheus hey, thank you so much. I appreciate that you went through the trouble of writing a full rundown on the subject, something I just never knew where else to find. I think I'm more confident in how to go about writing this now and honestly QPR sounds right as a general descriptor, if what you're saying is that it's committed relationship that challenges amatonormativity.

(Not relevant to you necessarily, but I misspoke about character A not wanting lifelong commitment; what I meant was that even though they experience romance-like feelings, they feel no strong desire to pursue them and be in a committed romantic relationship. Just getting my character thoughts down in a forum post as I often do lmao)