(via demyxix)

kurosu:

Let me tell you, Tumblr: nothing is more offensive to me than when other gamers treat “the gay option”, as they call it, as “fangirl fodder” or “pandering”, whether it’s in my personal favorite game or others that offer you the option, like Dragon Age, Fable II/III, and Mass Effect 2 (though it is definitely frownworthy that only female Shep can be gay, and not male Shep).

…That’s a pretty small list, huh? I’m talking in terms of the West here and what’s been localized for America, but I would call it a stretch to say that Japan does it much better in terms of games that offer you protagonists where you can truly choose their sexual orientation. Japanese VNs tend to go for one or the other - male protagonist with female harem, male protagonist with male harem, female protagonist with male harem, and less commonly, female protagonist with female harem. I have a lot of problems with the Persona system of every character having to be in love with the protagonist anyway but I do think if they’re going to continually implement that since Persona 2, it would be nice if your protag could at least express interest in someone of any gender regardless of their own instead of catering to heterosexual cisgendered dudebro fantasy of dating all the ladies. Persona 3 Portable only did slightly better on this by not changing the subtext in Aigis’s social link with FeMC and having Ryoji essentially admit that he would feel the same towards her even if she were a boy — but it’s problematic that these things don’t happen in the Minato side too.

I’m not going to lie; I’ve been incensed more than once re: Tatsuya and Jun when people call the option fangirl fodder or whatever — and no, it’s not because I’m offended on a level of personal preference, but rather that it seems that the option is treated by the other side of fandom as a joke. This isn’t cool, dudes. Why? Because when you write off a gay romance option in any game, you’re essentially claiming that homosexual romance is not as legitimate or plausible as heterosexual romance. And to that, let me say, fuck you. It is possible for a big powerful manly dude to love another man and not be any less awesome! To imply otherwise is pretty terrible, you know. It’s equally offensive to sit there and say the gay option cannot be canon for reasons like “but he has all these girls to choose from” or something similar. (Using the male example here for the sake of ease; there is an unfortunate lack of female/non-binary protagonists in gaming, and even fewer with a harem choice, and probably only one or two that actually include a homosexual option.)

Whether the creators included the option to cater to a larger fanbase or not is completely irrelevant; it doesn’t make it any less legitimate. And hell, why shouldn’t they cater to a larger fanbase? This might be news to some, but not all gamers are heterosexual cisgendered males who want to date all the ladies - some of us are gay, bi, or pansexual; some of us don’t fit into gender binaries. I read a quote on Tumblr once that encapsulated my feelings pretty well, but unfortunately I can’t find it now. However, it was something to the effect of: “It can be very lonely when you turn on the TV, or read a book, or watch a movie, or play a game, and not see any people like you, whether you are a non-white person, transgendered/non-binary, or anything other than heterosexual.”

You may be just taking a jab at fictional characters when you imply that anything other than the standard heterosexual options are pandering, but you should remember there are real people who value being given the option and who are happy to see people like them in media - even moreso when their role is not solely tokenism and the romance is a part of the natural story progression. (Surprise! Being gay does not mean your entire life necessarily revolves around being gay or fitting into a queer identity!) It’s unfortunate that media itself often treats homosexual romance as a joke or secondary to the Ultimate Heterosexual Ending, so it’s a huge bummer (though not exactly a huge surprise) to see it coming from fandom too.

When games give you the power to choose, it can be great. It means everyone can be happy. What is not cool is when people bitch about how their oh so manly MC can’t be gay because gays are not awesome or x/x is just fangirl fodder because gay romance only exists for icky yaoi fangirls to squee over. Give me a fucking break, man. People are actually not heterosexual by default! And if you’re going to give me a choice, then damn it, I don’t want my protagonist to be heterosexual by default, whether other characters will return his/her feelings or not. Homosexual romance is no less legitimate or real than heterosexual romance — and interviews confirming as much are actually not a joke and should at the very least not be treated as such!

Because you know if that Kaneko and Tadashi interview had been about Maya or Lisa, there’s not a single person who would call it a joke because they are women. But because it’s about Jun, suddenly it’s Fangirl Fodder. Bite me.

Yes, I know, y u takin fictional characters so seriously - like I said, that’s not the point or even the problem. The problem here is the attitude that when applied to fictional characters is often also applied to real life and hurts real people, whether people are aware of their own problematic thoughts or not. I don’t appreciate when people tell me things like “oh, you’re going through a phase” or “you’ll find a guy someday” — and those real life attitudes tend to unsurprisingly tie in towards ones in fiction.

(Source: gigamacho)