How do you write a gay character without having their sexuality be the only defining trait?

How do you write a gay character without having their sexuality be the only defining trait?

Same way you'd write a straight one.

They count since this couple didn't noticeably happen in the show and had to be clarified.

Was there any build up to this at all?

Give them other defining traits.

It doesn't matter what you do because you all will still complain.

This

The same way Bryke did it.

This. Maybe include a snippet here or there about what them being homosexual means in that universe's setting, if it means anything at all. Other than that, they should just be a normal character.

Just like your pic related.

Just write them as a fucking person and if their romance happens to show up, you'll know.

>How do I write a character with a huge, deformed hand without the huge deformed hand being noticed or shown or mentioned or relevant in any way?
Well, you could just not give him the deformed hand.

>But what if instead I WANT the plot to revolve around/be affected by the fact that he has a huge deformed hand?
Then you mention he has a huge deformed hand, because it is relevant and needed for exposition.

Jesus Christ is it this hard?
Sup Forums will call it jewish propaganda anyway, and Tumblr will complain about the misrepresentation anyway. Just write good stories for fuck's sake.

nope

Don't encourage people to write shitty characters.

As much as people might complain about the execution of the lesbians at the end of LoK or the individual characterizations of its cast, the show is probably a good enough example of doing just that.

For all you can say about Korra, "defined only by her sexuality" is objectively not a complaint you could validly raise

Pretty much /thread.

Thread/

Not really. There might have been some perhaps? I don't want to go back and watch the series for any evidence. I wouldn't have such a problem with this if it wasn't so badly done to the point where the creators had to tell the fans she went all lesbos.

Write them like any character. And if their sexuality comes up, well, just mention that they're gay.

/thread

This

And this.

literally this

bring it up casually, nonverbally one episode and only show it again a few more times, very rarely

Nailed it. Perfect gay or bisexual character.
Except never clarify if they're really gay, leave that to the fans it's more fun

How do you write a trans character without having their gender be the only defining trait?

You fucking don't.

>How do you write a character that isn't two dimensional?
Rip one off that isn't, or write them like someone you know. If gay's in your work order, have them do an internal monologue while fucking someone.

Make them a normal character, then after the episode, do an unironic, serious PSA about accepting different people.

So Hellboy? We can't all just copy Hellboy.

Yeah, they ruined Constantine more than ever by taking away all doubt that he also bangs dudes.

The same fucking way everyone saying in this thread. just write a PERSON. if them being trans comes up, it comes up.

You make them a stranger in a strange land. "The human", "the American", "the time traveller".

The point is not to clarify it with a label. Occasionally banging dudes kinda sounds within Constantine's character, especially to get at a mark

Just reference their mental illness if and when it comes up

Do this
There's a character in the show China IL named Pepper that's Trans and you wouldn't even know unless you saw the single ep it was mentioned. She never talks about and it's not a big deal.

Now if you're trying to write Trans Trender, well just have them bring up their Gender at every chance and complain about pronouns as if it was the most special thing about their identity, like that Gen Zed show or something.

Well, they have him doing it for recreation now, when previously they had only alluded to that, and showed him just once doing it to get at a mark.
>The point is not to clarify it with a label.
Yeah, labels are like metal shavings in a microwave souffle. You gotta change your ingredients or your cooking method. Either way, the world has made you change the recipe.

>But what if instead I WANT the plot to revolve around/be affected by the fact that he has a huge deformed hand?

Who said anyone wants the plot to revolve around the character being gay? There's a difference between having a gay character in a story and having a gay story about gay characters and their gayness.

Give them other struggles and life problems that don't involve their gender at all, but acknowledge their gender when it would be an issue in their life.

Sophia Burset

Canon homo happened way before tumblr, hi Achilles and Patroclus.

Don't think of them as a gay character, just a character.

Never says they're gay, but gently implies it: "SJWs are just seeing what's not there"
Never says it in the show, creators mention it later: "Fucking bullshit they just made up at the end to appease SJWs"
Say it in the show directly, even very slightly: "fucking pandering"

Just admit you don't actually want gay characters and it annoys you no matter how it's done.

GoT never got sledged for that, and it's got a few legbutts about the cast.

Basically, whining here over the slightest hint of a character not exactly like you in anything is fucking obnoxious, who cares.

But every conflict involving her involves her being trans.

Well said

Don't write a "gay character". Write a character. That happens to be gay.

ONLY bring up their sexual preferences IF it makes sense in context of the story/you want a romance subplot in your show. DON'T just bring it up whenever as a badge of progressiveness to pat yourself on the back/remind the viewer that YES THIS CHARACTER IS --->GAY

Have you been to /got/? It got sledged plenty for its SJW agenda. Along with lots of "fuck D & D for making Renly and Loras gay" although they were fucking in the books.

But D&D has always been gay. That's like complaining about a new flavor of ice cream being fattening.

Sup Forums will bitch regardless, but here's my take:

If it's a major plot point, don't make it the entire character. The character should have other characteristics, personality, etc. Not just "gay person".

If it's not a plot point, follow the above still. But go even further. Real gay people don't shout their sexual preferences very often (this is what pisses me off about LGBT supposedly being unrepresented in media, any number of your favorite characters could be gay or trans or whatever. It doesn't need to come up.).

I saw no one complaining about Jeff's two moms in Clarence or Tony from Earthbound. It's possible to write gay characters well, and the key is to not be obnoxious about it and write them as natural characters.

As someone who thinks of themselves as bi, it's kind of down the middle leaning towards no. There were definitely hints but only in retrospect, with the two big ones that I didn't need Bryke adjusting my hetero lenses to see being the hand hold at the end of book 3 and Korra blushing. I can sort of give them a pass because kid's network and whatever, the big issue is Korra and Asami had no real chemistry and the fandom wrote the ship, which has resulted in some really weird interpretations of their relationship.

Honestly if Mike and Bryan had said months in advanced that they think of Korra and Asami as bi (but they didn't because they admitted they waited until near the end of the show's production to go ahead with it) I'd have a more positive/lenient view on the ship, but they didn't. So they can go suck dog dick.

I don't think I really buy into this writing philosophy. It's possible to write someone different than you and keep their differences intact.

The fact that this thread has Korra as the OP honestly supports the view that the problem is with the audience, not the writer. Korra's bisexuality came up for a 2 second implied scene at the very end of the series. They could not have made a smaller deal out of it if they tried and it's still practically the only thing Sup Forums talks about in Korra threads.

I think the real answer is to stop asking the question or caring about the answer. There are going to be gay characters and it's not a bad thing for that to be a big part of their identity. That doesn't make them an invalid character.

You sound angry senpai

Start by having a story to tell that isn't ultimately about sex. It's harder than it sounds.

tfw the eds were perfectly subtly bi but Sup Forums will never accept it because
1) self insert to fuck waifu
2) an sjw shipped it

So what you want is for all gay characters to be shoehorned in last minute in canceled shows so the hack writers can them claim that anyone criticizing their shitshow is homophobic. Gotcha.

>it's still practically the only thing Sup Forums talks about in Korra threads.
That's because the only good part of the series is the porn, where it is an important topic.

Plenty of people complained

Although idealy the characters would be better written in general then they were

The thing is, having sexuality defining a character is not bad. Him from powerpuff girls, for example.

It can work, the issue is when they don't fully embrace it. I see it in many webcomics, the character is revealed to be gay and then this point is forgotten. Why would you make a character gay if you're not going to use it in your story?

People complained about pokemon being satanic for including something called evolution. No one sensible complained in a sane way.

>Korra's ending
>>>>Subtle
I bet you think Snyder is subtle too.

To handle those obnoxious cunts who always try to hook their friends up with everyone they meet.

Well said. Maybe if people intergrated gays as normal people instead of obnoxious and flamboyant people wouldn't have a problem. But no we need "muh special snowflake that's been oppressed and you can't ever understand."

Her son becoming an asshole had nothing to do with her being trans.

>Real gay people don't shout their sexual preferences very often

They do passively if they're dating or married. They might not go and scream they're gay, but they'll be with a partner. Even that sort of thing is considered pandering by Sup Forums/

>the eds
Ed, Edd and Eddy were bi?

You never mention it.
It needs to be organic, not used as a crutch, if the situation doesn't need to be brought up then don't, if the moment never ever presents itself for it to be mentioned, ackwoledged or alluded to, then don't, it's bad enough straights use it as a crutch 90% of the time without even knowing it, the last thing we need is more of it.

Just do Korra.
She wasn't gay until the very end.

Don't treat it like it's important at all.

FPBP

>No true Sup Forumsmrade

There were some hints in the 4th book and they were deliberate, but they were pretty small; only shippers saw them.

Ed definitely was
The other two are debatable but Danny let the female boarders put a fuckton of pandering in

In the books them being gay was only implied and off to the side, only mentioned as snide comments by his brothers under their breaths and Renly and Loras main character traits were their egos and family history as opposed to "hey they're gay here's another wiener party scene cause this is HBO"

>Why would you make a character gay if you're not going to use it in your story?
To have more varied characters
Also verisimilitude

I agree with this most of all. Characters can be gay, that can even be a one of the defining parts of their identity but you have to ask yourself as a writer, "why does it matter?"

Feel free to apply the same reasoning to being straight. Is the story about their relationship? If not then abide by Chekhov's Gun.

I have a gay radar built in, I can tell really easily who's gay and who isn't and I never saw this coming,it was pretty forced...then again my gaydar is successful with real people and these aren't so it might have been thrown off by it.

Be consistent in their portrayal, make them fun to read or watch, and make their sexuality a component of their character (even a big one, if that's what you want) but not entirely what they're about. See, for example, Devlin Waugh - ludicrously gay vampire hunter and Wildean aesthet.

The only difference is she likes pussies instead of dicks, making it a big deal is unnecessary.
Especially in today's world where its not a big deal anymore unlike the 60/70's.

>Sup Forums is 5 loudmouths who spend all day trying to derail threads.

Apparently dumping the same guy makes you gay for each other

>The thing is, having sexuality defining a character is not bad

But it is. Imagine a straight guy proclaiming he wants to eat pussy all the time without any other divergences.

False analogy.

>"Ok Bryan, we need to write the scene where Korra and Asami reunite."
>"Ok, great! This will be a good opportunity to hint that there could be something deeper between them."
>"Right. So Asami is in love with Korra, she hasn't seen her in three years, the last time she saw her she was in a wheelchair and depressed and she just found out that nobody, including her own parents, has seen Korra in over six months. What can she say to convey how much she missed and cares about Korra?"
>"Have her compliment her haircut."
>"Fucking brilliant. What should Korra say?"
>"Have her call Asami 'snazzy'."
>"Holy SHIT the fandom is gonna love this."

I don't have to imagine that. It's common.

No it's not

Treat it like it doesn't matter, and don't push a stupid "gay rights" agenda using said character as a cheap cudgel by leftist writers to bludgeon non-leftists into being "diverse" and "tolerant".

In other words, no social engineering Cultural Marxist bullshit. Leave the politics OUT. Focus on character relationships, battles, and personal problems related to be a superhero.

We want to try and integrate a gay character not simply for the fact that their gay and must be obnoxious.

Hi.

But, that's the joke with Johnny. He acts like a stereotypical "He-Man", and women beat him up with judo flips and kicks because he acts like a boob.

How much "build up" does one need to begin a relationship? I'm serious. As Bryke pointed out in their statements after the finale, they're literally just starting out on their relationship. How much preparation do you need to justify going out on a date (okay, a long travel "date", but it's not like they're unknown to each other, they don't have to start out with meeting for coffee and awkward flirtations, they can do something more adventurous) with someone?

It only needed to be clarified because people are ridiculously resistant to recognizing queer relationships in media. The imagery *should* be enough to spell out romance, and would be unmistakable if it were a guy & a girl, but because it's two girls, people trip over themselves trying to say it isn't.

I'll have you know that Johnny and Panty are complex three dimensional characters that are brilliantly written with a wide range of emotions and human depth that they begin to recede between fictional and real life.

There's a character like that in almost every cartoon though. There's several different archetypes of characters like that.

>Player characters always trying to get girls
>One-itis characters going on about a specific girl
>loser guys pining over how they can't get girls

yeah.
yeah, it is.
what's your point?

if you don't know, then you shouldn't be writing.

You look at how Korra handled it and do the opposite

Those who say it did have a build-up basically say that if you have a friend who is friendly to you and who writes letters to you, that friends wants to fuck you.

At least that's what I gathered, considering that's all the build up Korrasami had.

We need the dyke version of Johnny Bravo, constantly striking out with straight chicks. See if it still rings true.

Don't be a shit writer. A character's sexuality should be an, at best, tertiary aspect of them in most situations.

Dumbledore