Why ALL your Characters Should be Bi (And it's NOT why you think) (ft Legend of Korra)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- My Artist looji.devianta...
Red's trope talks on Romantic Subplots:
• Trope Talk: Romantic S...
My twitter:
/ uniqueosaurus
My patreon:
/ uniquenameosaurus
Music -
Professor Layton - The professor's deductions
Evangelion - Fly me to the Moon [Karaoke]
Professor Layton - Moment of Rest (live version)
The End of Evangelion - Komm Susser Tod
![[Full Episode] MasterChef Junior Thailand มาสเตอร์เชฟ จูเนียร์ ประเทศไทย Season 3 Episode 13](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NlY2uzrALY8/mqdefault.jpg)
So, basically, don't write your characters so that they MUST be bi, but write them as if they are bi and then if it works out that they are, that's ok.
Yeah, that sounds perfectly reasonable.
Its actually not. Were not born in a void where sexuality is tacked on after we've developed a personality. Our sexuality informs how we interact with society and how our personalities are made. Getting rid of that is gutting depth from your characters for no reason.
Rave Scooper He is giving this advice to writers that aren't really using sexuality in any way to improve their characters.
The whole idea is to not have already decided that the characters are heterosexual from the get go for no reason other than a pre-disposed bias, when if their sexuality doesn't have any major effect on the plot nor the characters then it really shouldn't have to come up until you start to decide about maybe choosing a relationships for your character, preferably after they have had lots of interactions and chemistry with other characters.
If the sexuality IS plot or character related, then of course that falls into the more important things that should be already decided on before hand, as he mentioned, but if the sexuality doesn't even come up until the relationship stage then one doesn't need to decide on it before that stage.
Doesn't mean that there won't be any "coming out drama" or later characterization built on their sexuality, doesn't mean there will be, but it means that characters sexuality, if not important in any way to the story or their background and characterization (or at the least, not at the beginning of the story), then already limiting your future options because of a bias is a stupid habit that good writers should avoid.
Basically, "make every character bi" is just his way of saying "don't unnecessarily decide your characters sexuality before any relationship if you don't have to".
By not having a personal restriction on yourself without any reason, any future development on the characters can come more naturally, and for many writers and stories decisions on the characters sexuality can wait until it actually needs to come up.
A what I think is a good example of this is Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn 99 coming out as bi. When she does, it is meaningful, there is some drama and some heartwarming stuff, but it wasn't planned from the get go and it didn't change anything huge about her background or character.
Of course, coming out had its affects as character growth, but her character at the beginning of the series is still the same no matter what sexuality they would have had her with. She totally fits as a bisexual character, and she would totally fit as something else.
The writers had the choice to make her bisexual because they didn't limit themselves, and it worked out perfectly in my opinion.
Anyways, just wanted to share my opinion on this with you. Really didn't mean this comment to get so out of hand XP. Sorry for the length.
Wish you a good day :)
@@hudsonbennett9138 I disagree
Not every character needs to have there sexuality revieled
And actually some of the best ones never do
Look if it's done properly and with the knowledge of what your doing gay, Les,bi,ace all of it can work cause it won't feel forced
We who are against it don't have a problem with it being in the show but more so have a problem with how it's portrayed in the show
@@hudsonbennett9138
That'd be what you call "realism" which he mentioned like 50 billion times in this video so I don't know how you missed that. But the point is that these are fictional characters with continuously developing stories. He's not saying you can't make a character gay or straight, but that it should be something you implement /retroactively/. Meaning the character was technically always straight or always gay, or maybe they were just full on bisexual. But you didn't know that until the chemistry had formed.
Which in my opinion is more realistic anyways because most people don't know their sexuality until they explore and have some dating experience under their belt. You may be born with it, but I don't believe anyone who acts like they've been certain of their sexuality since day 1.
@Augustus Freeman
I don't really care for the nature VS nurture debate because it's completely irrelevant and as someone who has struggled with immoral urges(literally) in the past I have learned the hard way how malleable sexuality in general is. All that matters is that Homosexuality is not immoral, regardless of whether it's a choice or not.
But dude. Before puberty? LMAO NO. Kids these days talk like they know, but they are just talking on Gender and Sexual Preference to fit in with the tumblr crowd and pretend like they know.
Before puberty, you may feel non-sexual attraction and that may make you assume your sexuality. But is in no way an indicator of your sexuality. Most gay people felt disgusted by the idea of homosexuality and could have sworn up and down they were straight because of conditioning.
As a gay man I completely agree with you. Nothing bothers me more when a character's ENTIRE PERSONALITY is gay. There should be more depth in the character!!!!
Every Hollywood writer should be chained down to play Fallout: New Vegas and forced to explore every single story path of Arcade Gannon
There is no other possible cure short of dropping them all into volcanoes.
I used to hate a lot of gay characters, and I realized why a while ago. It wasn't the fact that they were gay, but the fact that that was basically their entire character, like you said
I need to make a footnote:
"See 'Leon' (Fire Emblem Echoes, 2017)"
@leo mendoza I think that has to do with overcompensation in *some* cases... when you get a lot of negativity for something that isn't the social norm you either bend, disregard it and blend in, or you rebel and everything kinda becomes a statement... (because being different is seen as it anyway) So instead of having to argue and explain everything to every new person all over again, telling everyone beforehand and wearing it like armor (quote Tyrion Lannister, GoT) becomes a good alternative.
Did I mention I mean >>SOME
PREACH I SAY! PREEAAAACH!
I seriously despise when a characters entire personality is that they are gay.
But sense I am straight and I am saying this I’m automatically a homophobe I guess.
I don't care about which sexual orientation the characters in the relationship have. I just want the relationship to be well written. Sadly, poorly written romance arcs are prominent in both the heterosexual and homosexual variety with few actually making sense and even less given proper development.
Literally just sumarized the vid
Tbh i can identify more with straight couples.
To me this whole relationship also kinda stupid. Its sometimes also about sexualisation. The same as us humans. We are straight or gay and meet people we can go well with. Just being comparitble with the person doesnt mean that it has to be a sexual relation ship. Great friendship also also a very good thing to display.
We also dont get to decide that we can love this person sexualy jsut because we fit together.
the only reason why some romances are poorly written is because the second character isnt rly developed in the story. Like in Naruto. We never saw a real reason for their love to each other. While i knew naruto and saskes view i never could say the same about about the girls. Heck i even have to think ahrd to remember their name. And thats just because Sakura is an easy one if you u know her haircolor.
Here's my two cents on why so many written relationships don't feel authentic. It's because writers are only people, and people in general have great trouble figuring out how love and relationships work. We can't write what we don't know. So we just write what we imagine things could be, or what we want things to be.
Torchwood actually did this quite well, most relationships were deliberately superficial, but the ones that were played to be serious were well-written.
honestly, a story doesn’t even NEED a romantic relationship including the main character. also, it’s worse to force a relationship just because aesthetic or sexuality. like, narusasu could have genuinely worked really well, and naruhina - although it wasn’t as badly forced as it could have been - just felt kind of out of place, not to mention sasusaku.
for it work there needs to be a genuine connection chemistry and friendship, every pair in naruto lacked that narusasu barely even interact or even have a sold friendship they argue and piss each other off they're toxic it's not as bad as sasusaku tho and naruhina is healthy but lacks any chemistry and doesn't rlly make sense, in the end any pair being canon would feel off and bland even awkward n forced
As a bisexual writer, I just want to say something.
Here's the thing: chemistry isn't inherently romantic. Chemistry is just when two characters, regardless of their relationship, work well against each other. Characters can have good platonic chemistry (Yang and Blake, Ruby and Jaune, Harry and Hermione, Zuko and Aang in later seasons, Aang and Toph), good familial chemistry (Yang and Ruby, Weiss and Winter, literally all the Weasley kids, Scout and Jem, Sokka and Katara, Joel and Ellie, Logan and Laura) or even good antagonistic chemistry (Vader and Luke, Zuko and Aang in earlier seasons, Zuko and Azula, Draco and Harry)
Just because two characters work well together and have a dynamic doesn't necessarily mean that they should get into a relationship. Friendship is just as valuable as romance and I'm kind of tired of people shunting it to the side in favor of romances that are out of place and don't make sense.
rwby is hot dogshit tho you must be a fanfic writer.
Although I will say that Shinji and Kaoru are the best relationship in the series. Suck it, Asuka.
But if the author wants a romantic subplot, it's way better to use the characters with the chemistry for a romance. That's why he mentioned Naruto and not Hunter x Hunter, since Naruto had a somewhat forced romantic subplot, whereas Hunters x Hunter had none.
What you're missing here si that while you can have chemistry without a romantic notion, you really can't have romance without chemistry. That's not romance. That's, at best, some really forced BS based on lust, not love. Without chemistry you have obligation, not believable affection. So yeah, chemistry is step one, regardless if you want a platonic or romantic relationship between characters.
Yuri Hinamura romance doesnt have to piggyback off of friendship tho, you could also have just added a completely new character that was an even better romantic fit instead of twisting friendship until it turns into romance.
EDIT: or you could have just made the fit from the beginning, it doesnt have to be added halway through the story.
"I want to have what they have, BREASTS"
Relatable comment
Lanabot Me_irl
#Goals
I'm not entirely sure why these comments make me happy.
Goodbye.
...Or maybe they shouldn’t use relationship arcs if they’re not necessary.
Chemist Web
disagree
If you are for example sake let's say a guy and a girl and you are constantly together
sharing life changing moments together and this person will do for you what almost nobody else would
You can only write them as really good friends or a couple
the issue come from
when a couple is together just because
Like cheesy or not it is normal for 2 people in those situation to become close and even date
So as troupes go it's pretty realistic
Axle Fullbuster
To clarify, I'm not against the idea of people in a close relationship dating at one point or another. My main contention is when characters that are merely together quite a bit due to the conflict forcing them together, and the story is written so that the characters end up in a relationship, whether or not they display any semblance of chemistry or deep interest in the other at first. If the relationship directly benefits the plot or the characters in the relationship, then it's fine to add the relationship arc, though it seems rather unnecessary otherwise.
I think what he means is let your story/characters evolve naturally. If you don't go into it with a strict mindset of "character A and character B must be together in the end" it feels less forced. What if you're writing and you discover Character A and Character C have great chemistry regardless of gender? Or that Character A wouldn't realistically have time for a relationship? I think this advice applies to more than just relationships, being incredibly rigid or formulaic in any aspect of your story can take away from it.
Just like Treasure Planet
Imagine if they introduced a female romantic lead for Luke after Leia didnt work *shudders*
I almost feel like the writers for She-Ra saw this video and made it their mission statement. The number of straight and gay relationships were split almost exactly 50/50, and yet not a single character's sexual orientation was ever referenced.
Hm, I heard somewhere that Shera had a „gay until told otherwise“ philosophy.
Of course what creators say and what is in the actual work are different things. But for Adora and Catra I feel it was planned in advance to turn out like this in the end.
@@Alina_Schmidt oh for sure it was the plan, had to be, but other character unless already taken werent, glimmer and adora had some chemistry too, tho adora i think was only into women? pretty sure.... hmmm, thinking about it, only glimmer comes to mind as having bi energy/moments, possibly scorpia... maybe im wrong and it was meant to be mostly gay?
So that everyone can ship everyone... Wait that already happens.
And like shipping everyone, you know? I remember when people from the Naruto fandom shipped him with his mother... there should be a line you don't cross, even in fictional characters shipping
The fuck, I don't think Naruto's mom was ever even shown in the show? Pretty sure she wasn't a real character because she instantly died or something, but correct me if I am wrong since I haven't watched it in forever and never watched the crap called Shippuden.
Ghost blowjob WOOOOOOOOOOO~
@@Poglavnit_Pferdefuhrer 2yrs late but
*WTF*
@@LilJbm1 Shippuden was when the show was good, actually. Until the literal last arc.
This video might be all over the place but I actually really liked it. It was refreshing hearing someone with an open mind talk about this topic, even if you're obviously not the only one.
It wasn't. They said their two points right at the start then repeated over and over again to hit ten minutes.
seigeengine: must be lonley on mount diapointment
Not really.
Sexuality doesn’t matter, the buildup and sense of realism is what’s needed
Abyss Auction True
yes
Abyss Auction this
Absolutely correct
Agreed.
Some people in the comments are taking this WAY too literally. It's not "make every character openly bi" but just be open to whatever chemistry naturally develops when writing the story and the character arcs. That doesn't even necessarily mean that you should only consider potential same-sex options for your characters, but just maybe something other than the other main character, whether that would be a straight romance or not. The point is, don't predetermine your romantic relationships in stories where romance isn't the main plot, but write your characters first and then see what characters have good chemistry... and leave the romance subplot be if you notice that there are no good options. That's my take on the video, at least.
Maybe he should change the clickbait title then.
@@shortstacksport Maybe. Be good if people watched the video they're commenting on too. Maybe both parties need to make a minor adjustment to things.
But that’s not how the world or writing works... by that logic I should make my character without any skill or tastes so it can be whatever I want based on my convenience, that’s lazy writing and the only thing you get from it its a bad defined character
@Jorge Baez how did you get that out of it? all Maria and the video are saying is basically dont force romance where it doesnt work and you twist it into well might as well take every character trait away.
its really weird because what you said about the character being wat you want based on convenience is basically what happens with bad romantic sub plots. when characters fall for each other eventhough there doesnt seem to be any chemistry between them thats the lazy writing you are talking about no? not writing the character with a particular sexuality in mind doesnt auto make it a bad character.
As someone who has picked up dnd as a hobby, this kind of writing is so important. I wish this was applied more in even more aspects of media. After forging stories to fit a flexible media, in which multiple outcomes are a must, it is the best way to write stories that feel real and organic. People are made of all thier choices, so why write characters for the endgame when you dont know what choices they will have to make between now and then.
Edit: and by even more aspects, I mean, not just to characters, but to the worldbuilding. The world should be just as flexible and change as much as the people within it.
i read your title with "ALL" in caps and i immediately imagined all the Legend of Korra characters in a big pile...
also i've learned not to put anything passed you, so...
nice vid, lol XD
Nux Taku what are you doing here?
nux i love your vids
Love u nux
stop making so many honest videos
Love the vids
Nux Taku "XD"
Are you a child, or something?
My problem with the whole relationship between characters bi or not, is that they never have a transition from friendship to a relationship, just because characters are really good friends for a longtime does not equal romance.
This is also a very valid thing but I don't think he's trying to say "get everyone together" either.
Just that if you DO write a romantic relationship, don't restrict a character arbitrarily for an option that doesn't make sense.
Basically, write their character's as if they could have attraction to any gender, so you can see which pairings do work best without limiting yourself.
Short, simple, sweet.
Exactly.
Sadly a few comments here missed the overall point.
But… why? In real life many - most - people aren’t attracted to any gender…? And it’s hardly like being same-sex-attracted is some random, arbitrary thing - in lots of ways it really does shape the way you navigate through the world, so… it just seems kinda reductive to act like everyone could totally just secretly be bi all along?
@@alexbennet4195 that is only the case because you (and many others) assume it is. Frankly, it just isn't representative of reality. Nor is it accurately representative of Biology. Fact of the matter is, the VAST majority of people who claim to be heterosexual just aren't. They've just been taught to be, assumed it so, never bothered testing it, and were mislead about the reality of gender attraction: all stemming from multiple millenia of colonisation by Abrhamic religions. In a world which is unlike our own, and had no such dominion occur, why would the same outcome happen?
Marceline and bubblegum is how you should write a gay relationship. The chemistry is genuinely good and it feels like a normal progression of the story and not a artificial push for diversity.
That is a good example of how to have good representation for gay relationship. A bad example is to just take an existing explicitly straight or straight coded character with a cult following and suddenly retcon them so that they are gay and always have been gay. Nobody was upset when Dumbledore was revealed to be gay. But some people would go nuclear if they suddenly announced that 'the punisher' or Wolverine has always been gay.
Love triangles.......love triangles everywhere
I swear I audibly cringed when I read your comment.
But yes, love triagles are an essential part of any story. Especially when they hijack the plot halfway through
dont you just love it when theres paragraphs of details about the love triangle and nothing about actual plot progression
Love dodecahedrons even?
Iain Hansen "Don't forget to add the love triangle!" - Terrible Writing Advice
upvoting under the assumption of satire.
No but seriously is "thicc" just well proportion fat I need answers
I second this
Uniquenameosaurus Wow senpai notice me lit
The best portions of fat my Boi 😎
Pretty much
I have come to the agreement that no one knows what THICC is and THICC is just subjective because I see stuff most people say is THICC and I 100% disagree, they could be a twig and people still say THICC. I would have said yes THICC is just well proportion fat, but seeing how most people use the term I would disagree and THICC is just something you can say about anything because everyone has derived it from what it actually is.
I think a lot of the commenterss here misunderstand the video's intent. I don't think the goal is for every character on show to be openly bi, but rather that from the writer's perspective, outside the story, we should consider them bi. Thus, any other character becomes a possible love interest IF the plot so happens to lead them there. They aren't just openly bi, except characters for whom being openly bi is part of their story arc. It's just that the writer views them as such. As relationships develop, certain characters can then possibly reveal certain preferences if related to the story, but the audience doesn't actually know what a character's sexual orientation is until they see it used in the story. Doing it this way, some characters never get love interests and those who do get more natural ones.
I came into this video with a rather skeptical attitude, but this has changed my perspective and I agree. Great job, great video.
What sounds worse about it? It doesn't affect anyone else. It's just a way of viewing your characters when you're writing a story. There is purpose in giving a character sexuality like this, as it helps inform you as to what they might value aesthetically as well. But, that said, this viewpoint isn't for everyone, and that's fine. Except this all happens in the author's head and doesn't affect anybody else, so if it helps some people, what's wrong with it? It's a novel way of thinking and it can be useful. I'm not sure how precisely it "sounds worse" than anything else. I honestly have no idea why you bothered commenting, let alone writing such a long comment if you didn't like the video in the first place.
Shiranova, it's not that the characters are actually bi sexual. His phrasing is just little more than shock value honestly. The main crux of his argument is so that writers who want to implement romance into their stories but not have as its main focus can maybe take a step back at a certain point and go "hmmm, I know I set this up but that is looking to make more sense." It's really nothing more than a little device or trick a writer can use to look at their own work.
Just like this one writing device where you just write out an entire character and have someone else just say a gender with no knowledge of the character you just wrote and have said character be that gender no matter what. Of course, not all writers are going to use that trick because it's very dependant on the type of story that is being told just like how using this bi sexuality trick isn't going to work for all stories. He even says that in the beginning.
It's just a means to explore your characters. You can better yet, swap out bi sexuality with asexuality to maybe help write character relationships better. It's not that the character are actually asexual it's a what if scenario.
My problem with this video is that there are too many styles of writing for this video to be declared “factual.” This is more like a George RR Martin style of writing, whereas many people prefer the JK Rowling style of writing where she planned out all 7 books before she even started writing. It depends on the writing the writer is most comfortable. Not having a romance planned can just as easily end in disaster as anything else. It depends completely on the author.
Maybe if you're writing a story one episode at a time or otherwise making it up as you go along, but I think the best stories have the endings and major events planned out from the very beginning. That way the author can put thought and effort into HOW things get there, and nothing fills like filler. Planning is the friend of good stories.
maybe sexually undecided is a better term
Feel like almost all of the comment section is misinterpretating you. I Genuinely think you have a good point
Can't... can't we just have truly great friends, without having it to be sexual?
Like Gon and Killua? (Hunter x Hunter)
It's perfectly fine to love your friends and family, in a non romantic way.
LordTakeo That's a very good point. I think he's just saying it for romantic plots
Was mostly saying it, because I saw the Naruto/Rwby bit, and some of his arguments had just excamples, that made me go: "Yeah. Thats what FRIENDS do, y'know?"
I agree with your points but if you want to have a romantic relationship it probably should be based on genuine connections in their personalities and what is shown in the show instead of having the lead male and female date because you just wanted 2 people to get together.
I mean RWBY romances have been hinted at and for the most part confirmed since very early. Monty himself said he wanted to have the characters develop in sexuality as the series continues.
This definitely a good counter point I should have looked into. Gunna keep watching comments but i'll write this down.
Or just write a good romance. Decide your characters' sexuality and love interests _before_ you start writing. Because if you dont you'll just end up with a half assed, mostly forced romance that isnt in the least bit interesting.
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, SOMEONE ACTUALLY GETS IT!
I knew you had that top hat screwed on straight you glorious Dorito demon.
Know who your characters are so you know where they will go or/and how they will get there.
Yeah but why? Tbh messing it up could be entirely plausible in the narrative. Its not "first times the charm but if you screw up then its over". Many people date quite a few people before finding a good relationship.
Sure you can plan who goes where beforehand, but changing midway also works if you write it well.
+CMEshai
And even _then_ you should plan it beforehand. It just makes things a lot easier and allows you to build up chemistry between the two characters, even if they have previously been in other relationships, ect. This is one of the most fundamental and important rules of writing and it can also improve this aspect of a story.
CMEshai If we are going by the logic of “most people do this” then we could say most people aren’t bisexual, which is true. It’s stupid logic to follow, if you have a meaningful story to write, then do so.
I don't think Gamora and Quill are an example of characters just hooking up for the hell of it at all.
Awsamazing Eden oh they most certainly are. They don't fit together at all. It's another example of how men and women apparently can't just be friends. There's really no reason for them to start romance or even have romance in the first movie. Knowing the comics I'm a little sad they didn't stick closer to those. A more badass Gamora opening up to a more serious Adam Warlock or Richard Rider would be great. Peter fits better with comic mantis, but not in the movies I guess because their personalities are completely unrecognizable.
Sir Strangefolk They didn't start a romance in the 1st one. Or the second one. (I would mention IF but Thanos demands my silence) Lindsay Ellis describes this better than I can but the 2nd movie and Peter both address that trope and, while it does acknowledge they are attracted to one another, it develops the fact that Gamora is too emotionally broken, Peter too immature and egotistical, and both too closed off and defensive of their emotions. The one thing they have in common is too many issues due to years of parental abuse to be in a functional relationship. So they aren't.
Awsamazing Eden that contrast between immaturity and emotionally broken is precisely why they don't work together. There is a scene in IW that perfectly demonstrates this. It's the conversation right before Drax is standing still. One of them is talking about one of the most important things in her life while the other doesn't take it seriously at all. It really doesn't work. And sure, they weren't formally together in the first one but they were definitely exploring a romance.
I don't think you can say they are a typical hollywood romance just hooking up for the hell of it since they aren't actually together. It subverts the trope because in a typical blockbuster they would have ended up together by now but both films explore precisely why that can't happen, subverting the trope.
Indeed, MaxSnow. I'd add that while there was sexual/romantic tension, it was just tension, not a relationship. They might have wanted more, but the films clearly brought up the things in the way of that. So they didn't force it as more: what we got instead was IMO more interesting.
Sadly, it seems that the clickbaity-ish wording has blurred the message for a lot of people, but hell yeah!
(though no romance at all is also an option)
I'm sooo bored with mainA/mainB ending up together because... they... met? at one point in the story.
Naruto is a perfect example of missed potential. Hey, ya got two people with great chemistry and actual backstory, whatcha gonna do? Stick them with those girls who's existences they barely acknowledged a couple of times. Urg.
It's funny that I recently commented about it on one of OSP's videos (the Mary Sue trope talk) since you mentioned both here.
i mean i don't see a romance between the 2 main leads happening either i mean could they not just be single?
You touch on something I've thought for a long time, I think the mentality of needing gay/bi characters for the sake of diversity has caused a lot of people to think of gay/bi characters as good ONLY for the sake of diversity. People pushing for more "inclusivity" have only strengthened the othering effect that makes gay/bi characters feel out of place or "special" and makes writers approach their stories completely different from straight characters.
We're normal god damn people, we don't have magical powers that make stories better or worse just by being present lol.
And you're 100% on point about having characters be non-overtly bi makes writing relationship arcs significantly simpler and have way more potential.
Also, ShinjixKaworu for life. I swear I like you more and more every time you upload another video.
Is it all right if I were to make a story and everyone is straight out of my own preference?
amen. i always considered myself leftist and had heated arguments with my right wing dad. but the recent 2 years have made me go more and more conservative for the sole reason that i feel alienated by the left wing hardcore progressive politics.
my best friend is gay, even he gets furious about leftist politics nowadays. i firmly believe this is why trump happened. the silent majority is fucking fed up with more and more extreme 'progressive' politics, its not helping that this change is happening way too fast and feels very forced upon people.
for the record, trump is incompetent as fuck, but you reap what you sow (im not an american)
Before this video I liked the idea of gay characters only because straight was overdone, now it is clear to me that the real problem is that straight is done WRONG all the time.
Agree. I myself am bi, but when I see token gay relationships or bi triangles, I just cringe, and in some parts even get mad at how fucking weird they are shown to be. A nice bi character I remember was "13" chick of Doctor House. Her sexuality was talked about in about 5 minutes, and then it wasn't that important anymore. She fucked some chicks and no drama or victimization was presented and no one cared. It was simple and beautiful.
The perfect click bait-but not actually click bait title.
yes clickbait isn't wrong, bad content however is
Uniquenameosaurus: *laughs in clickbait*
How is this clickbait? When were you lied to? Stop using words you don't know what mean.
Chill you sperg lmao. I'm not attacking him or using 'clickbait' in a demeaning way.
The video title is obvious clickbait (which I actually appreciate it) because on the surface it appears as if Unique is trying to imply he wants this sort of sexuality diversity everywhere, when really he's making a deeper point about fictional relationships and how to make them less shallow by not following typical writing conventions as stringently.
A more accurate video title would be "why NO characters should be shown to have ANY sexual preferences until an appropriate romantic partner has been found, even if that means the characters are later revealed to be non-heterosexual", but that's far too wordy and not as eye-catching as the title Unique gave.
He knew this was a great clickbait title, and what's a great sign of that is the minority of people who have downvoted the video, probably without watching and realising he's actually making a much broader point than simply "muh forced gayz".
Chill you sperg lmao.
The issue I take here is the implication that when two characters have chemistry, it should necessarily transition into some kind of romantic relationship. (Or it should if they're both single, I guess). Not sure if that's what you're saying, but I really enjoy a lot of bromances and more general strong friendships in media and I wouldn't want to have the writers see that stuff as only the first step towards some kind of romance, because that has a very different flavor.
That being said, I frequently don't enjoy a lot of romance arcs in media anyway, since they're often tangential to and draw time and attention away from the central elements of the story. So there's a clear bias on my part, I'll fully admit that. I guess my real point is "I don't think having more romantic arcs WOULD improve most stories". In fact, a lot of the time, removing them would.
But I mean, yeah, obviously Shinji/Kaworu is the OTP
Even when Sasuke and Sakura are married, the two share so little dialogue that Sakura barely remembers how he looks, and has to poorly Photoshop photos of them being together. Yet somehow, Sasuke always finds time to keep Naruto up to date about his activities and whereabouts, and somehow Naruto has perfect recollection of Sasuke's features. Even when they are married with kids they're still the better pairing, like WTF?
ShadowSaberBaroxio lol, great science
ShadowSaberBaroxio
Because they were rivals. Naruto wanted to be hokage and Sasuke wanted to be the best ninja clan.
What do you do to intimidate your foes? Some brags about how powerful they became, others overestimate their own power.
Because Sasuke communicates to naruto via messenger hawk. Kinda hard to send feelings and romance through one of those. Plus she's well aware that what sasuke is doing is worldly more important. Sasuke just doesn't seem like the expressive guy that goes and photo-documents every waking moment of his life or send "I
or maybe, u know, they were friends? like, I have friends that I love, and i wouldn´t date them, coz, u know, they are my friends, is a different love, a different bond
tbf, it's not like that never happens irl either...
While I agree, I'd rather not call it "make them all bi" over something like, y'know "write better pls"
_the phrase is only there for clickbait that I fell for yes yes I know I'm the fool here_
"Write better pls" is more vague.
Saying "make them all bi" is giving a hint that you can leave a character's options WIDE OPEN and when something clicks you aren't stuck behind "Well this would be nice...BUT HE'S GAY! I can't make him fall in love with this chick!" cus believe it or not, people have a habit of following a script to the letter even at the cost of the overall quality.
I would know, I've had to force myself to stop writing things a certain way cus the way I originally made it is bloody stupid and no they should not say that or go there!
@@TheGreatBackUpVIDEOS you're replying to a three-year-old comment have mercy
@@dragontyron Have fun remembering what you were talking about 3 years ago.
As writers, we need to prioritize character over representation. If we do, we will naturally represent everyone with great characters
thank you for your logic
And thank you for yours. You'd be surprised by how many people take offense to that.
thanks
Some of it is pandering for sure. I think others feel pressured into doing it. Others mean well and want to incorporate as many diverse characters as possible, which is noble, but a problem can arise here if the writer lacks an understanding of the people they are writing about. If so, you wind up getting an inaccurate reflection of those people. I think that's worse. In these instances they only represent those people on a surface level, which to me doesn't count as representation at all. If the writing is really bad, they might turn to stereotypes to fill out the character's traits. I've seen it done before and it's extremely awkward.
In short, write what means something to you. Write something you know you can write well.
Ik it's like 2 months later but that is exactly how I view writing should be for characters: write and come up with the character first, their flaws, their dreams, their aspirations, everything, decide what gender or sexuality they are later, because a character should not be made for the sole purpose of representing talking points, obviously there are caveats such as writing and presenting issues for both genders, but rather it should be a person going through experiences, if it's a female character whose lesbian with a single arm, Great. If it's a male character whose bi and whose best friend is a African American female in transition, who lost their legs from a war, cool. Write characters based on your story and what you want to write about, not a character meant to fulfill a quota for the story because that's how you get underwritten characters who don't feel real to the audience.
Okay, on the Naruto one I could see it and Kishimoto has gone on record saying that Romance arcs are not his thing and he minimised them as a result. Fair enough man.
But I will say I’m glad it wasn’t a gay relationship. Not because “Ew gay” but because Naruto had this whole journey to find him and personally I think it would have torn it down a peg if we learned it was because of the power of boner all along. I liked that he had a genuine, empathetic and platonic connection, that he could express his feelings and desire for that friendship WITHOUT it being romantic or sexual. It was a masculine friendship which I feel isn’t seen enough from an intimate level like those two.
That’s just me tho
I know my comment is pointless half a year later, but still
Thank you for saying that
I agree about just writing characters, I just don't like the whole 'make them all bi' thought process. I go by just making a character and whenever my mind sees a relationship whether straight, gay, or whatever. Then I go for it. I go by...can I see this character dating this or them?
Like canonically, I now have 1 gay character and 1 bisexual character, but that's because I can not see one ever getting with a female. And the other I can see with everyone. Like...I don't have the thought process of making everyone bi, just the thought process of...characters.
MeannCat that's what he meant. Bi until proven otherwise by writing
Shortstack
LOL, "everyone is genderfluid pansexual until proven otherwise by writing"
"nobody has race until proven otherwise by writing"
"everyone is ideal sphere in absolute vacuum, until proven otherwise by writing".
This is pure bullshit.
By the way, "everyone is bi" is already a trope. Some settings can contain it, some simply cannot. It depends on plot, on what an author wants to say (imagine plot set in Iran, where gay and straigth plotline would work the same!). Some characters work perfectly without showing any kind of romantic or sexual manifestations at all. And who the fuck cares was Shinji bi or gay or whatever? There are tons of complex feelings and experiences, except LUV and sexual attraction.
Вася Пяткин jeez my dude, all I did was restate his point in the video. Everything after that is you taking it to extremes.
Boi. Chill
Sounds like a good thought process to me
Here's a bright idea to future writers (including myself): In order for a relationship (regardless of orientation) to bloom, make the characters real, not cardboards (also not for the sake of shoehorning diversity)
yeah thats so anoying -_-
Ahh the old “shoehorning diversity” line. Just like people “shoehorn” straight couples into their stories right?
@@Lord_Sunday ...what?
@@Lord_Sunday that's not the point of his argument dow
Okay, you raise an interesting point but let me say this: that's really not how you solve the problem you mentioned. And yes, I *did* get your point: you didn't mean that every character's sexual orientation should be bi- just that as a creator, you shouldn't limit your character's romance options based strictly on a mentality of "as long as it fits their sexual preference" or pair them prior to fleshing them out as characters. And no, I don't think you are promoting any sort of agenda here. What you proposed however, is only half the remedy if not less, really. But yeah, take this with a grain of salt as it is my own response to the problem you are addressing.
Let's start by the fact that the choice of LoK as your "shinning" example of alternative pairing is unfortunate at best, in my opinion. The romantic relationship between Korra and Mako was shit for the same reason the romantic relationship between Korra and Asami was shit. The show fell short of its characters- bland and under-developed characters equate to non-believable relationships that nobody is actually invested in. The foundations of a relationship are the characters that are involved and if your foundations are shit well, your story is officially a loo no matter how original the concept behind it might be. Korrasami came out of nowhere. Fight me. Sure, they had a moderately good (by the show's standards) platonic relationship but nothing that actually signified any sort of romantic attraction. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't see how Korra's platonic relationship with Asami had objectively anything more special than the one she had with other people. All the arguments I've seen from Korrasami shippers are stretched make-believe that could be more realistically interpreted in non-romantic ways- there's nothing that's "undeniably there" which gives me zero reason to ship it. As for why they decided to pair Korra and Asami instead, I sincerely doubt it was because that was the right call creatively. To begin with, for some reason they decided that a romantic story-line was absolutely necessary, even if Korra had no romantic chemistry with anyone- that in itself, was a pretty bad creative decision from where I'm standing and part of the problem you are addressing, not an example to be used against it. What I gathered from the way they handled Korrasami in the ending was "Bisexual avatar! It's ONLY 2014, look at how inclusive and controversial we are but now you can't say anything about it because the show has already ended! Surprise and ta ta!". It just didn't feel at all like they paired them because the characters were good together but because "muh diversity" even if that wasn't their intention. But that's enough about LoK, let's address the matter at hand.
You proposed that a creator should treat all their characters as potentially bi (I think "potentially" is the keyword that many people miss here) to prevent pre-chosen couples. But let me tell you, some of the greatest couples in substance and banter I have ever seen have been later confirmed by their creator to be pre-chosen. That's because the creator assigned traits to these two characters specifically to make it work- and to make it actually work (and not be utter shit like the Mako-Korra relationship) you just have to make it believable. Focus more on the character development than the romance itself. The romance will adapt to the characters, not the other way around. They shouldn't give you the vibe that they are two characters conveniently flawed for each other and also a relationship doesn't have to be perfect or work out all the time. Things that people have in common bring them together as much as opposites attract. When done right, stories with pre-chosen romances often serve secondary goals plot-wise and in terms of character development in more depth than they probably would if you used the "spontaneous pairing" method. When done wrong, as you described, you get two characters who feel like they just don't belong together. The relationship feels forced, it will inevitably damage the story and overall experience, yada yada.
On the other hand, romantic subplots that you figure out as you go are not guaranteed to succeed either. LoK is a great example of how to NOT pair characters when you don't know precisely what the shit you are doing, as I explained above. When done right, you get two characters who have good chemistry and- in a way- feel as if they have "earned" being together. When done wrong, you get two characters who feel like they got together either because the creator decided that a romantic subplot MUST be implemented and tossed a coin to see which characters will make the couple or just because two particular characters scored more shitty fanfics than the others on Tumblr (I'm looking at you, Korrasami). So where does all this leave us? It all boils down to whether if you can actually write or not. If you can't write believable character relationships for shit, then you will fail no matter how you go about it. You shouldn't treat pre-chosen couples like the plague or spontaneous couples like the solution to the problem. The problem is not the method, the problem is people's poor writing and decision-making skills, as with everything in fiction- who knew? Writing characters without "a single personality trait" as you put it, is not inherent in pre-chosen couples but in simply bad writing.
I also can't quite get behind the assumption that two characters should be a couple just because they have great chemistry. Literature is filled with couples that have great banter and chemistry but bad or unhealthy relationships. Me and my friends have great chemistry, should we have an orgy? And I'm all for well-written power-couples with really witty banter, I'm just saying that the chemistry in itself is not what makes a relationship good or characters entitled to bang. A relationship shouldn't be just fanservice, unless it improves and elevates the two characters involved then I don't want to see or read about it. The idea of creators treating their characters as potentially bi certainly could help with having less forced diversity, but at the risk of abruptly bastardizing platonic feelings of friendship, respect and appreciation to romantic and sexual ones. Having flexibility in your choices is good for your story but defining characters' relationships is necessary too. Like I said, you do raise an interesting point, it's just that I have certain objections with it. I simply don't think that it will fix the problem you are addressing per se. You and I trace the problem differently, hence the different solutions.
So what's my suggestion after poking holes in your solution? It doesn't matter how you decide to pair two characters, just make sure you flesh them out each as an individual first and have them interact in a way that is true to them. If they are interesting characters and their relationship doesn't suck donkey balls (e.g. isn't abusive) people will ship it. Nevermind romance, that’s the mentality you write good stories with.
Chief Purrfect I liked most of your point. However, Korrasami did not come out of nowhere. It was subtle, but not in your face as a romance. It just took a close friendship as more. Where MaKorra was out of place and felt almost out of nowhere.
Sorry. This comment ended up longer than I meant for it to be.
I disagree with the Korrasami thing. They were only ever really good friends in the show, and honestly, asami and mako had the better chemistry. Not to mention that having a character spontaneously switch their gender preference at the end of a series is just a lazy way to get characters together. That's simply not how most people function. That kind of thing isn't usually that fluid, and it came out of nowhere for the two characters.
But then again, I'm not the world's biggest fan of LOK, and that's more than likely because I went into it with high expectations after TLA. By comparison the romantic subplots that happen in that show are set up within the first two seasons pretty well, it was actually implied rather than outright stated in pretty much every case other than Katara, but that's mostly because we follow Aang's point of view.
Chief Purrfect thank you. You said everything I was thinking.
It came out of nowhere, end of story
"but at the risk of abruptly bastardizing platonic feelings of friendship, respect and appreciation to romantic and sexual ones."
That EXACTLY sums up my feelings about this video. Unless it is pre-planned, romance should NEVER be a foregone conclusion in any relationship. The example of Naruto and Sauske is the perfect example of someone bastardizing a close friendship in favor of romance. It's that kind of mentality that makes people ship characters like Sam and Frodo, completely missing the entire point of their actual, deep, loving friendship, and cheapening their characters and story.
So basically just keep ur mind open, like people also dont HAVE to end up in relationships lol (asexuality and that whole spectrum, etc.)
Also YES OVERLY SARCASTIC PRODUCTIONS i need to binge watch their stuff lol its so good
Edit: also this explains y touya x yukito from cardcaptor sakura is such a good ship lol
Lmao yeah I binge OSP's trope talk playlist like every month, their videos are so good.
Characters should not be writing as bi-sexual for the reasons you stated because having chemistry doesn't mean sexual attraction (like best friend relationships in real life). If a character is written as heterosexual, bi, or homosexual, their relationship should fit their sexual orientation. Writing a character as bi-sexual might give an author more options, but that doesn't mean they are good. You will get about twice the amount of potentially bad pairings, but the ratio of good to bad potential pairings will, ideally, still be 1:1, like with hetero or homosexual pairings. The problem is the writing of SOME characters used as romantic interest later on in a series, not the author pre determining their characters sexual orientation (usually as their own). That doesn't mean EVERY author should write their characters as bi. Some authors actually have talent.
My characters aren’t all “bi” by default I just don’t consider their sexuality from the start unless it effects their story
I was going to comment that this would be better advice. Rather than make all your characters bi, just don't write your characters with a sexuality until you've determined who their best pairing would be assuming you want to include a romance subplot.
I actually had a character who i wanted to pair with another, but when i tried to think of their romance it didn't work. I concluded after many pairings that the character was just asexual lol.
no I meant asexual. She can form relationships with other people well enough, but sexuality just isn't part of her.
I thought this was an interesting idea. But I feel like people are taking the "make all your characters bi" thing too literal though. As I'm interpreting it, the concept isn't to have all your characters be bi, but to have all your characters be fluid. Characters are meant to grow over the course of writing and develop depth from the experiences that they have. During that development, they tend to have introspective conflict and learn new things about themselves.
A character that is fluid is allowed to be shaped by their experiences and environments. It isn't a matter of "who they are," but "who they are right now" throughout most of their story. If the character is allowed to freely change, then there should be no telling who they'll be most compatible with, as ALL of the characters are being written as products of their experiences within the story. The story goes on, your characters grow (hopefully naturally), and any interactions/relationships that occur and/or develop should feel just as natural. They aren't written as bi characters, they're just written as characters who are who they are. If they develop a relationship, it should make sense through their chemistry over the course of the story. Yeah, spur of the moment romantics can happen, but that's more a plot point than a story. And a relationship SHOULD tell a story, from beginning (initial attraction, genuine friendship, common ground) to end (the relationship itself).
So yeah, maybe "write 'em bi" wasn't the best way to say it, but I liked it nonetheless.
Alan Wade I completely agree
Preach 👍
Exactly the way I took it. He meant more "don't decide their sexuality beforehand" than he really meant "bi". I think the bi phrasing was just to catch attention
I clicked on this to see if it would be worth watching tomorrow or if it was just "Give us more sexual representation" but to a really stupid extreme.
Your comment was the only one so far to properly explain what the video was about and make me decide to watch it tomorrow, thanks.
I agree but he kind of worded it badly. I find it understandable that people would get confused.
"I want to have what they have... breast!!!"
Same dude. Same. I'm a biological female, but same my dude.
Addition: MAN! I LIKE YOU! IMMA SUB RN, YOU'RE HILARIOUS!!
When he made that joke my mind immediately went "r/egg much?"
I feel like this approach undermines the significance of platonic relationships. There is something to be said for a relationship formed between two characters who don't even consider each-other romantic options, or between a pair of characters in which only one considers the other to be a romantic possibility.
Josh Fox Well, it's not like bisexual people are attracted to everyone. You can still write platonic relationships.
@@raapyna8544 naaaaah there are no friends theres only PREY
I disagree with this comment a bit, you can still have platonic relationships when your characters are open to any sort of relationship, this is a personal example but I’m an openly bi person and I do have lots of platonic friends, many of whom are gay. You can have platonic relationship even with characters who can date everyone. But I wouldn’t say I shared the same kind of bind with someone I’ve dated than one of my friends.
The thing is, this opens up more for platonic relationships as well. In way too many stories, the lead man and woman are often forced into a romantic relationship when they could have worked much better as a platonic friendship, while all the romantic chemistry they have with a character of the same sex is rejected solely because of their gender.
Funny that the title says "And its not what you think"... Because it was exactly what i thought it was
^^^^^
6:45 "We got 0 blush from Korrasami"
Procedes to show the blush from Korrasami
Oh really? XD
There was blush from Korra though when Asami told her her hair looked good in season 4
He got a few of his examples wrong, like the "got coffee" thing (it was tea, but same shit), neglected that Adventure Time has way more episodes to work with than Korra, also that whatever Cartoon Network is willing to show is irrelevant to Nickelodeon, which he should know considering he ALREADY pointed out that they didn't even want to run the show because it had a female protagonist, then there was showing #NotYourShield as if that's not heavily bolstered by sockpuppet accounts...I think it's safe to say I had a lot of problems with this video.
OH MY GOD THANK YOU!
I have been trying to find a way to voice my thoughts on representation and you should said it perfectly!
Also the Naruto bit made me cry it was really funny
Honestly, I think the bigger problem that you're getting at isn't so much a limitation of options, as much as shoehorning romantic sub-plots into stories at the last minute without consideration for how it'll warp character interactions and generally not make sense, because romantic sub-plots are just expected...for some reason.
still agree with you, though. don't limit yourself.
also, am I missing something? what's with the dislike ratio?
"We got zero blush from KorraAsami"
>Shows Korra blushing at Asami in the next scene
Having the main guy and the main girl get together is not a bad thing at all. How it's executed is the important part, and yes, it gets botched up and uses the same cliches over and over again, but that's not the characters sexualities fault, it's the writers incompetence. Making them all bi leaves a lot of potential out, like a backstory on why they're gay or straight. Making your character sexually ambiguous doesn't make them good or interesting, how you execute the story will decide that. So no, I'll make all the characters straight if I want, because that doesn't make the story bad. You can make all your characters bi or sexually ambiguous and still have a shit romance story.
I wanted to comment to this video saying something similar. +1
I don't think that was the point of the video. Rather, I believe it was about instead of focusing about the sexuality of your character - considering the options available to them, to get a relationship that works for both characters, and the story - no matter the gender.
Holy shit did you miss the point of this video. He isn't saying "You should make all of your characters bi" he saying write them with no predetermined orientation in mind. You can have a character only date one specific gender, but keeping in mind that the character is bi means, even if you never out right state that fact, you have an opening for that character to end up with someone of another gender they stay together with for a good long time with out seeming out of character.
InoMercy lol calm down dude, i'm saying that you can write a character with an orientation in mind, that sexuality really shouldn't define who the character is. and yes, i know the point of the video, i'm just making my own point. so chill out lmao
Being bisexual does not mean being sexually ambiguos. Just like you can have a "backstory on how you're gay or straight", you have it for bisexual people. We're a real thing, you know.
The problem with this is the fact that two people can have a perfectly intimate relationship without it going sexual. And that's the problem with society today in general. Good points otherwise
Thank you for this! I’ve been struggling with a character I’ve been writing because I felt like making them gay would ruin all realism but idk your right, straight as an automatic assumption kind of limits possibilities to push the characters better.-- edit after people commented stupid shit afterward. Yeah no shit you can have gay characters and it be realistic, my issue is for certain stories having every single character being lgbt can be unrealistic, as someone who is bi you need to understand that certain social groups don’t usually interact naturally, hence why you see a lot of gays complain how hard it is to find a partner, so it might break immersion to have literally an entire cast wanna fuck the same sex. So I still like the idea of “make the characters bi” in the background writing however I also think you should still approach a story like any other, in that sometimes sexuality is complicated and not every person who stands next to each other wants to bang.
The character would come out as unrealistic no matter the sexuality if it lacks quality in other areas. Like basing a character as gay is as bad as basing it as straight.
For example two characters in the Borderlands series, one I love and one I hate, but both are gay.
First Sir Hammerlock, a gentleman hunter with all kinds of wacky stories and sidequests involving old fashioned manners and biological experiments and exotic trafficing. It's said that he's gay and is into BDSM in little nods, and it's an intresting trait, but the sexuality of a character nor any real human is never their main characteristic.
The second character is Janey Springs. She's introduced as a gay space mechanic, she has a sidequest where it's specified that she's gay, in the main quest there's more points of her being gay and in another canon spinoff title she's introduced again, with her new girlfriend. And that's why I hate her, everything else than her sexuality comes second and not first, I mean I get it if she's gay, but I'd rather know more about her than getting her sexuality pushed down my throat.
And if you're writing a story about a gay character's hard life, the focus should be more on the effects or his/her sexuality, or other downfalls in their life where being gay goes against those, giving a broader approach to making the character and being easier to bond with him/her. Rather than just being "I am Jack, I am gay, I have many problems because of it."
Having a gay character doesn't make something unrealistic. Gay people exist.
That applies to nearly every character except the main one, sure. The thing is, the main character is a free pass in a lot of ways specifically because the story is about them. Complaining that it's unrealistic because they're gay makes as much sense as complaining that they're heroic instead of mundane.
We choose who to write stories about. It's not unrealistic for the main character of a story to be exceptional, even if that's not what most people are. The same thing applies to them being homosexual.
The author has chosen to write about a homosexual. Unless you believe homosexuals do not exist, that is not, of itself, unrealistic. If they feel otherwise, I'd suggest it's just homophobia.
+ZenithOfJudith Well, there's a few reasons for that:
1. The vast majority of people aren't gay.
2. The archetype of the action movie was constructed decades ago in a less open time.
3. Most films you know of are mass-market products. They are meant to appeal to the larger demographics. Most people aren't gay, so most people won't relate as well to a gay lead.
+Kibate No, they get a free pass in general, because you CHOOSE who the story is about. I can write a biography about anyone, but I can't choose the world they live in. That's why the world matters but the main character doesn't. The author can write a story about anyone, and it's fine, because they have that choice. The world, however, should it not align with our expectations, can cease to feel realistic.
Korra and Asami seems unrealistic because it's blatantly obvious they were dicking around and pandering as they please. It's not Korra or Asami's sexuality that makes it feel unreal, it's trashy writing, fluid character "design," and the entire fucking show being the narrative equivalent of a hemorrhagic fever.
Stop being a mouthy twat. You're wrong. Get over it.
You're right. The shipping potential would be nearly limitless. I say "nearly" because, y'know, people can't get with objects and animals.
Just Some Guy with a Mustache you give shippers too much credit, look up scoobyxshaggy, i haven’t but i dare you, you will find something
You clearly haven't seen enough anime. Gijinkas exist for a reason! 😂
Have you seen the bee movie?
MoonBeam ya like jazz?
"yet"
It seems to me the issue you really have is that you are tired of writers forcing characters into romantic arcs without purpose other than for it to exist, in which case you should remember that not all stories need romance and not all characters that get along need to be fucking.
"In conclusion, fuck the traditionalism that forces straight relationships but also fuck the agenda that forces gay characters."
NOW THIS IS SOME RADICAL CENTRISM ILL FUCKIN GET BEHIND
the big problem that your suggesting this will fix is that "writers decide to pair up characters without considering how good/bad their chemistry is", which is far more of an issue of bad writing then narrow/close-minded thinking; if the decision for main guy and main girl to fall in love is made from the start then the writers should be building their personalities to compliment/fit each other from the start as well, same goes for gay pairings when writers choose to do that.
the only place this idea works as intended is long running episodic stories that aren't written out that far in advance, where the solution to intended pairings not working is have one or both of them under go character development to make their relationship fit if that relationship is important to the story, or at the vary least if having the two brake up would be detrimental to the other parts of the story.
now sure the "characters A and B were intended to fall in love, but character C had better chemistry with B, so we rewrote it so that happened instead" thing can and does happen, as Korra exemplifies(if poorly executed), same as any other instance of writers changing things about their story mid-production.
this suggestion could just as easily be made as "don't give your characters gender/sex until you know who is in love with who, then assign gender/sex and sexuality based on if you want them to be able to have kids or not(which in setting with magic or advanced technology might not require them to be straight, but not all stories will have that option you get my point), or other story/theme/plot/setting limitations", which would be useful for anyone that's making a complete(or at least most of the) story prior to starting production/publication.
I agree
I don’t think I agree with the message of this video, but I agree that most main-character romances are waaay overdone. I think chemistry between characters should come after the realization of the characters as separate people, sexualities and all. Any relationship formed over the course of the show should add depth and impact to a character’s arc whether it’s romantic or platonic. After all, the reason romantic subplots are so common is because the “kiss the girl” conclusion signifies the resolution of conflict, or the end goal of a fictional character.
Also, I’m just a really big supporter of friendships being platonic without having to turn romantic, because it’s rare to see a friendship represented so genuinely.
I think "make them all bi" is a bit off the mark, as bisexuality in and of itself is a unique experience that deserves attention and nuance within pop media. Perhaps a better way to think about is that all characters should have Schroedinger's sexuality: they are both all orientations and no orientations until observed within the narrative.
For example, I had this one character who was a sniper within a spec ops unit. Although he grew close with his comrades-in-arms, I couldn't write him into a romantic/sexual relationship without feeling like I was sacrificing some element of who he was, and I couldn't realistically get him to *want* that in the first place. It then dawned on me that this dude might be asexual. Now, I hadn't written him that way on purpose; the orientation just sort of emerged on its own from the way his personality made him interact with and think about other characters. So I read about being asexual, saw where the experiences of real-life asexuals lined up with how I'd written this sniper guy, and carefully sprinkled a few extra details into what I'd already written to make it look like I'd planned it.
N. L. G. Yeah, that's kinda what he ment to say, he just didn't articulate his point that well.
Schrodinger's sexuality is actually a great way to describe it, I think I'm gonna use that phrase from now on. He definitely worded it poorly. Probably half of the criticizing comments wouldn't be here if he had rephrased it.
I totally agree with you. Some of my characters are SPECIFICALLY one sexuality for a certain reason, half of one story of mine circles around a gay character who's facing his repressed sexuality after years of abuse, but for most of the other characters I kinda just decide "they're probably straight?" unless it would make more sense or improve the story if they weren't.
He said in the video that if you want to write a character where their development or the plot focus around sexuality that that is fine. If being gay is an integral part of the characters experience then it should be included, but if all you want is a romantic subplot then you should use the best pairing for it.
Ha! Schroedinger’s sexuality, I love it! Screenshotting this comment for further reference. Thanks for putting it that way!
As an asexual, I can confirm that I am a sniper. Lol
That's interesting because that's kinda like how realizing you are asexual goes. You notice these "relationships" around you and you want them because everyone tells you you should. At some point it dawns on you that you don't want relationships in the way other people tell you that you do. And eventually you look at everything as a whole and see who you really are. You find these other people like you and it's relieving. So um yeah, people are just the universe's OCs
I saw this video like a year ago and this writing tip has really stuck with me since, it’s such a great idea honestly. If you find a character dynamic you find works really well and you could see a romance happening between them, it removes gender from needing to be a part of that equation and you can go for it regardless of who the characters are gender-wise. Love it.
Yeah Sasuke had better chemestry with Naruto than with Sakura, but Sasuke doesnt really have that good chemestry with anyone. It wouldn't have suprised me if the guy was asexual.
What about Jugo? Honestly, they were pretty good together. I mean, the water guy, and the crazy uzumaki girl were not so good with Saske. But Jugo? He generally held a conversation with Sasuke, they were fighting good together, had similar problems while having opposite life-views. But that gave it a really nice chemistry.
Than he just disappeared and were pushed into nothingness by the author.
MamboJambo it was clear that Sasuke was not interested in relationships. It’s clear he was only shipped with someone so Boruto could have more Uchihas in the show
You Are
It is a very real possibility that Sasuke only had a kid with Sakura to carry on the Uchiha bloodline.
You Are
Well true, but at least those two characters had some chemicality. What did Naruto v Sasuke had? A couple smirky comments. What did Naruto & Sasuke & Sakura had? Absolutely nothing.
TenTen and Lee? They actually had a lot of good moments and TenTen even asked Lee how does he feel about relationships and girls. TenTen was shown to be interested in both Lee and Neji.
Compare that to the whole lead characters.
"-to carry on the Uchiha bloodline"
yeah that _would_ be how sasuke thinks
*Reads title*
This is the quality content I'm subscribed for.
Whatever happened to a real friendship arc? Romance has been done to death and is usually incredibly cringey when done in kids shows (LOK springs to mind)
I just clicked off an Overly Sarcastic Production video. Woah
Am I literally the ONLY PERSON who didn't pick up on Korrasami until I saw reviews on the series?
No one did. It wasn't well developed.
GIRGHGH Aka Girg OMG same!
You're not alone...
I didn't even see an underdeveloped relationship though...
GIRGHGH Aka Girg cause there wasn't one. Lol. They just threw it in at the end without thinking.
Consider the following: Not every character needs to have a romantic suplot, and not every pairing of characters needs to be a couple. By making characters bisexual to 'open them up to new possible pairings', all you're doing is creating even more romantic tension where there could be really good platonic friendships instead. Characters straight up not working together on a narrative scale is a much larger problem that can't just be fixed by giving the character a different partner, and writers have proven over and over again that they're incapable of making good, interesting romance plots.
Hey, I got an idea.
Rather than making characters bisexual, why not just... Write romances well?
heres.... another idea... let every character be bisexual.
He’s not saying make them bisexual he’s saying leave options open and that will help you write a relationship well
or,or, just do both
Honestly
I love this. Absolutely agree.
Then again, I actually never seem to actually write any romantic relationships of any kind. Mostly because I find them boring. Maybe because I’m ace XD
It’s just, I adore exploring deep, platonic relationships. They’re fascinating, and it’s a deep, fulfilling relationship which you can have with anybody! The majority of people you know aren’t ever going to be romantic options, but they might still be really close! Besides, the SECOND a relationship turns romantic, it goes flat. There’s no more exploration. There’s no more motivation. ‘Why is this character doing this? Oh, because they love her.’
Romance is.... weird.
hot take, but I actually prefer shows where the characters grow and learn from each other without entering relationships
'"I'm a designer. There's only one group I care about. The human group." I loved the way you did this part. The dramatic pause and music stopping. Not to mention the meaning and purpose behind it. Great video!
Why do I have this weird feeling I hard fucked this video?
I haven't been focusing as hard on my argument design lately. We'll see, I might end up redoing this and the fandom video at some point.
But I shouldn't trust my feelings right before release, I always feel like my stuff is bad…. So… yeah.
Guess we'll see.
Oh I have a twitter now. Check it out.
Flat chests are like a desert, there's nothing there but it's still fucking hot.
Wait, what was this video about again?
Big T. Larrity flat is justice afterall
you, my friend, are a spring of wisdom
Well done.
Love your argument
Don't really care about relationships but this was good food for thought
On the other-hand. Deciding you character is a certain sexuality and putting them in a position where they realized they actually are not might be a good point of story-telling too.
Seems like a lot of people think that you are saying that every character should be stated to be bisexual, instead of authors just treating every character as bisexual when writing. Dunno why though, I thought you put it well.
Yeah, I'm seeing that, even though he literally explains it several times though out the video.
Right? Like was I the only one that heard the whole Dont make a point of being all OH HEY WE HAVE BI CHARACTERS EVERYONE! I mean, it wasn't exactly subtle. I think what we have are people that skimmed hte vid, assumed hte content by the title and went off commenting because they already had opinions on the subject before even watching the video.
If Friends the TV Series does that, oh Wow, so many much more Juicy Drama.
...Why does every relationship need to be sexual, is the question. Why do they NEED to be bi? The video was kind of implying a lot that friendship can't exist without it being a sexual relationship. Sometimes you just need a friend, man.
The problem with RWBY is that both ships to me would make equal sense but the writers just aren't doing the legwork of actually setting them up.
Hmm, actually, the (well, one of the biggest) problem with RWBY is that the writers are doing this for everything, not just romances. Like the famous oppression that the Faunus suffer which is shown in one instance of school bullying by the same guys who bully pretty much everyone.
I agree, every character should be a binomial
Trinomial would be even spicier.
I would prefer it if they were attackhellicopternomial.
Well, you just triggered a bunch of anti-SJWs with the title.
What's wrong with bisexual people? Anti sjws don't hate sexuality
@@mavrickindigo yeah but they care about "identity politics"
No. Good chemistry =/= Romantic chemistry. Yes, romantic chemistry =~= good chemistry but that road isn't as two-way as everyone thinks.
I also think that you don't really understand being Bisexual if the idea is to have character's discovering their sexuality. Being bisexual means that you find both sexes attractive and that you are/can be sexually aroused by both sexes. That is is not the same as discovering one's sexuality. They are very different and conflating that two isn't a very good thing.
I think the idea you are going for is 'The best chemistry means the best relationship,' which I wholeheartedly believe is wrong and too narrowing in what relationships can be. Being great friends with a girl is very different than dating that girl. They require two different levels of emotional attachments and investments. My friend requires a different kind of support when he is down than my girlfriend and she needs a different kind of investment in important events than my best friend does. Relationships; both of the romantic and platonic kind are very strange beast that have their own different quirks and evolutions.
This also essentially destroys certain character relationships and story arcs that can make some characters more interesting. The unrequited love is great story arc for a character but if everyone is bi than it sort of rings hollow and stupid (I know you brought it up in the video but making everyone bi while attempting to write that story arc in is the dilema you can arrive at. If everyone is okay with everyone, that story thread is very much dead in the water). This idea of yours also very much embodies one of my favorite arcs which is the 'Better as Friends' arc. I wish I remember what it was but there was a old anime that had two character's eventually get together in the show. They had some great chemistry at the start and it was blast to see them play off each other but once they got together, everything feel apart because they expected very different things when in a romantic relationship. They still had the great chemistry and it came up when they weren't stuck in 'dating mode' but whenever it ended being the two of them, you could just see how they expected different things.The idea you proposed also means, that you really can't explore the growth that come out of bad relationships and relationships that aren't started with best intentions.
This is something that I've always hated and that is when two characters are said to be great in a relationships when all they have is good chemistry. NO! Chemistry doesn't mean I want you to show your dick is me or shove my dick in you! That isn't have romance works. It's how people who look at surface level stuff see relationships as.
You are think that making everyone bi essentially maximizes story output. That isn't a correct of looking at things. People/characters cannot be labeled in state blocks as efficiently as you think the formula goes. Look at Legend of Korra. I don't like the show very much but I can appreciate the episode where Korra and Bolin went out and didn't end up together. The reason is because it felt real and it felt like a natural progression between two people who like each other but don't aren't entirely sure of everything they feel about each other. Sure they didn't end up together but I honestly perfered them having that small character arc than the sudden Korrasami thing. That was a decent 'oh, okay' moment but even now, I very much believe that even that relationship won't last.
EDIT: Shit. This is more of an epiphany thing but you are somewhat guilty of the same thing you criticize in the first minute of the video! 0:22 Yeah, sure, that isn't what you are doing at all! I know this is a bit of low-blow or maybe a punching-the-weakest-point thing but you are essentially doing just that in this video! You are throwing two character together and sort of expecting that to work out! The only difference here is that instead of the two characters being the opposite sex leads of the story, your rule/condition/prerequisite is that they have good chemistry. Nothing else, aside from good chemistry which I have stated doesn't always mean romantic chemistry (or interest for the matter).
Hey Kettle!
What's up Pot?
I'm black!
(Also, nothing to do with the rest above but the last line of the video physically hurt me. I can't decided if it was over-pretentious or some version of egotism.)
Bisexual from a writing standpoint, as in they have to possibility to get with any character - so that IF a writer chooses to do a romantic plot at some point they aren't pigeonholed into cookie cutter matches.
JαmëŽǎɏe
Unless the story is a haren I don't see how having more romantic options is that big of a deal, the characters can still have a meaningful and impactful relationship without playing tonsil hockey. And let's say a character is straight from the begging of the story, and then in the middle, the writer realizes the character has the best chemistry with a person of the same sex, solutions: A) get them with the second best option. B) Make a new character that would have better chemistry with them. or C) let them be single. Making the characters into shapeless, malleable chess peaces is not a good way to go if you want them to be relatable and liked.
JαmëŽǎɏe
Yeah but then you're essentially removing sexuality from characters.
This may be just me but I believe the sexuality is a part of a character. It may not be the biggest thing about them but it is definitely linked to how they act in general and how it shapes their emotions and experiences. A gay character in the medieval times is going to have a very different experience and character than a gay guy in the renaissance or roman times. An asexual is going to have an even harder time in times before modern ages as back then; spreading the bloodline and continuing the family was a big thing. Their sexuality with affect there character experiences and their character interactions.
Turning everyone bi, even from a writer's standpoint where its essentially only know to the writer, cuts down a lot of characterization and will make every character in a bit of a strange way homogenized since what you've done is made everyone's sexual past and future a mandated number. You get rid of the possible flamboyant gay guy who loves dick and wants the world to know about and don't care if you string him up to the fire. You don't get the reserved asexual who can appreciate the beauty of both sexes but just isn't attracted to anyone at all. You don't get the self-hating heterosexual who hates the fact the they have very violent and graphic sexual thoughts about every person of the opposite sex the meet. You get rid of that really awkward moment between two girl best friends where one is a lesbian and the other isn't and they are trying on swimsuits together. When written with everyone being bi, they're interactions are going to change significantly since it means that they can both be attracted to each other sexually and romantically and that will play into the back and forth between the two characters. You loose the chance of the figuring-out-he's-gay scene since it means that with bi written characters, the guy would have no real reason to object to a girl very obviously flaunting themselves to him.
Again, I get the idea of 'maximizing options' but that isn't really the correct way to look at relationships in writing. You don't really gain anything from making a character's potential romance pool bigger than it was before and in fact you can loose things. You can loose the potential to just have great platonic relationships, the potential to have unrequited relationships and more onesided ones.
I think you might have missed the point, somewhat. The idea he's explaining is that if you don't write your characters as straight, unless you have that thought in your head from the beginning, then you don't run the risk of blocking yourself in future scenarios. I think the examples he gives aren't the best, given that LoK didn't really establish the potential relationship between Korra and Asami prior to them getting together, and Yang/Blake and Naruto/Sasuke have only ever come across as good friends. Its the like when Zuko and Katara had a good few episodes together to help establish their future friendship and to break Katara's cold exterior to Zuko and the fandom exploded into Zuko/Katara. But, I think the overall point stands pretty well, especially when you're talking about continuous stories, like TV shows. Movies are a little bit different. With shows, your characters are expected to grow and change, meaning that relationships might fall apart and new ones might develop. If they're not written to be strictly straight or gay, then you have more room to develop relationships with whomever has the best chemistry. I do agree with you that chemistry and romantic chemistry are two different things, but doesn't negate hus entire argument.
but just because people have good chemistry doesn't mean they should date
Shipping culture likes to shove platonic love aside, unfortunately.
Tikibird79 shipping culture ,like fandoms,and fan clubs are just another form of religion,ironic isn't it?
Kyle Walters I wish I could pin this
Yes but if you are choosing to pair up your mc, it should probably be with the person they have chemistry with vs the person they don't. The story is just better for it. If your not going to pair them up with someone that they have great chemistry with, then rather don't pair them up at all.
Fandom: "They have the best chemistry, they should date!"
Me: "But they are siblings!"
Fandom : ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Your heart is in the right place, but I really take issue with the idea that every set of two characters with good chemistry HAVE to be in a romantic relationship, and that everyone being in the best relationships they could be in is always what's best for the story, no matter what the story is actually about
Lazypackmule I completely agree. I don't think that is exactly what he meant but this entire video was a bit of mess
I also politely disagree with the video. He seems to be putting a good argument but it feels as though he is committing a golden mean fallacy at the end or his argument seems incomplete.
I think you are missing the point. I don't know his intentions, but I don't think he's saying that two characters with good chemistry need to be in a relationship, but it's better for two characters with good chemistry to be in a relationship than two characters with awful chemistry. He's not saying that if these two have good chemistry, they should f***, but rather, it would help the story more if the actually decent couple, like say the two that actually talk and hang out, got together instead of say... the girl who constantly abuses the main guy and he for some reason falls for her.
Yeah, no doubt. But the issue is that by making the characters definitely straight, people tend to side with the most obvious choice possible and pair the main guy and girl, or the ones that have crushes on them (looking at you Naruto) even if they don't work that well together, creating some of the most forced romances ever. He's saying less that you should make your characters bi, but rather, open yourself to the possibilities that would be had if every character was bi, treat your characters with the mindset that they were bi. While there are some gay couples that I think are just awful and need to be split in half with a hot knife, there are quite a few stories that would have been FAR better if the characters had been bi because it doesn't result in the two main characters who should NEVER be a couple pairing up.
I think he's talking about when it has to be a romantic relationship, given his videos tend to be a bit of a mess he probably just forgot to give better context.
Wow! This is really well thought out. The only thing I could see being a problem for storytelling is the case where the majority of the cast ends up being openly bi (AKA each single person is seen to have relationships with both guys and girls). This could come off as a bit unrealistic, since as you said, being bi is pretty much from birth, and the majority of people are not bi. That said, I love the idea of developing characters FIRST and THEN constructing relationships without regard to gender pairings. I think that would make many stories a lot more interesting and satisfying. Great vid.
My only problem is that you thought Naruto and Sasuke should have been a thing. No. Everything they did pointed to friendship and mutual understanding. Nothing signaled love. If you expect stuff like that to become romantic, it makes it significantly harder for writers to include strong friendships as well as LGBT relationships.
i thought his point was that they had better chemistry than either did with the girl characters they, respectively, end up with.
wizard of odd
True, and I wish they had similar, more intimate arcs with their respective girl characters as Naruto and Sasuke. But, I wouldn't put them in a romantic relationship because of that.
i thought they should have been a thing oops
Hinata is fine, she had her moments with Naruto that more than made sense of their relationship. It was the fact that you didn't see their relationship grow from those moments that is the problem. Naruto literally had to have a movie where he connected the dots. If Naruto started developing feelings for Hinata much sooner and started acting more shy around her then it would have been fine. Sakura on the other hand simply needed someone and Sasuke did too, their relationship was no doubt forced.
the creator shipped them so i mean
I think you mean not define their sexualty, more than be bisexual in and of itself, unless there is a good relationship you can make with those characters, I would say that you could say simply "Hey those too have some chemistry together" and then toss a coin (you know all that crap about "love is uncontrollable" so I think leaving to luck is the best option).
You know your argument could be summed up as "Writers, please write believable relationships"? Cause this has nothing to do with characters sexuality at any point in their lives, but the writer's abilities to make their relationship feels natural and true. Because it does not matter if characters are straight, bi, gay or asexual from the start or that two characters are destined to be together from the start. The results can be good and can be bad, there is no rule, only author picking good or wrong couple.
It is like with every other step of the creative process. It does not matter, that your starting point is a quote, a map or a complete backstory of the world. What matters is the end result, what you can do with that. For me, you showed an interesting method to craft potentially good relationships but presented it in the needlessly complicated way with too many assumptions.
I love how this video predicted Bubblegum and Marceline....RIP Adventure Time.
This is an interesting way to view relationships and something I'd never really considered before. Your argument makes a lot of sense, and I'm inclined to agree with you. Thank you for sharing.
Having a straight character is perfectly fine. Write what you want but consider the personalities you put together.
That was literally the point of the video, don't look at gender because they can be straight or gay but you gotta put the right characters together for good plot.
I think it's great Korrasami was made canon. I don't think it was great, however, that if was so subtly done they literally had to "confirm" they were romantically involved in an interview AFTER the show finished. It felt like a cop-out as if to say "oh look we are a progressive studio!" rather than a slow, realistic development of a romance that just so happened to be between two women.
Ellen Meerkitty The writer's said They did for Their Family Member's and Friends that are Gay. More likely it was because Nick was cancelling the Show. So They did it to be the first in the History Book's to have Cartoon characters who are Gay/BI .......even when there was so little pick up on....Hell They being like Sister's would have meant in the long run. All I know is I want Jelsa.............Disney don't go full LOK thank You.
The Simpsons have gay characters way before.
It only had to be confirmed because people were in denial.
It was pretty obvious in the show.
Caleb Meilink-Smith So when did it start?. From day one?. Because if the smiling in the Car bit is the Bedrock of it............then that will sink fast under reading into something way to much.
Fan shipping is not the same as being pretty obvious.
I think they just do it to please the fans.
I always thought it’d be an interesting dynamic in a story for two hetero male protagonists to be actual soul mates through a hardship; they’re straight and have separate girlfriends and all, but at the end of the day, even with sex left at the front door and sticking to platonics the two are still the best couple. I’m talking the bros who were the hardest bros in all of brohood.
In a story that I've been developing for years, I knew I wanted the main male character to end up in a relationship with someone near the end of the story.
I didn't want it to be either of the main female characters for various reasons so I was stuck thinking about what to do for a while until I realized that I could put him in a relationship with one of the other male characters.
That decision actually works really well for the story and I had no idea why I never thought of it before.
It's best to leave ALL your options open.
I like you a lot, son, but it sounds like your real beef is with the cancerous abuse of obligatory/gimmicky romances and you just needed a way to turn that point into clickbait.
No, I disagree. He clearly stated why he thinks what he does and how his solution can remedy it in a way that clearly explains why he thinks what he does, so how is this clickbait?
I mean, the title is certainly impactful and has the clickbaity element of "it's not what you think but I won't tell you see the video to know".
at least, do you know what a click bait even is?
this is obvious click bait bi boi
Antonio SCENDRATE GATTICO click bait isnt to get you to watch the video based off the title (otherwise any video that isn't literally just called "video" would be click bait.)
Click bait is to use the title/thumbnail in a misleading way to get people to think the video is about something that it isn't.
Like if he called it "Bi animé relationships are better than straight ones" and then continued with this video. The video is not about why Bi relationships (that sounds stupid. A person can be Bi, but not the relationship, unless it's polygamous. You get the drift though.) are better, but rather why it's better to use Bi characters to generate healthier relationships that feed off of things real relationships are made of, and not forcing characters together "cause they fit the agenda of the plot/fans."
This is such a strange argument to me, because it basically assumes you're already just bad at writing. If you have to write your characters before deciding who they're going to be paired up with, you're kind of doing it wrong.
Story and character should both be your focus, which means you can both decide who your characters are, and who they're paired with at the same time, which means you can decide what their genders are too, which means you can make each character have any sexuality you want.
Maybe if you're doing a long-running series this becomes a problem if you haven't already planned everything out from the start, but that's still basically bad writing.
Basically what I'm saying is if they'd made Asami a guy to begin with, they wouldn't "have to" make Korra bi for them to get together; they only did it 'cause their original pairing sucked and they wrote their way out of any other pairings. "Making all your characters bi" is just a writing crutch which you shouldn't have to fall back on.
Also congrats on mentioning EVA last so you could end the video with Komm Susser Tod. It's a great song, it's just weird how often this happens..
I support this 💯. The first thing I thought of as a weeb, was Ranma 1/2. It's a progenitor of many (harem) tropes but it's OTP makes sense because they share intimate moments (but they're too proud to get together right away.)
I think it would be better to word it as having your characters sexuality undecided until it matters to either the context of the characters or the story.
Eh, I disagree. I think you should write characters with a specific personality in mind, not flip flopping all over the place. I'd certainly feel if a character that had shown little to no interest in the same sex then suddenly started a relationship with another character for seemingly no reason, I would feel it to be forced and become detached from that character.
In general, write your characters to be how they are regularly then justify those character traits through story and development. Don't willy nilly change characters just cuz :/
Necroticowl Attraction to a gender rarely defines a character. I can't think of a single time a character would be harmed by introducing their bisexuality, if you have an example, feel free to reply.
INSERT USERNAME I just think you should introduce your character as they are instead of arbitrarily changing them on the way without an important event. It's nothing to do with gender, my argument has everything to do with character development and how it should be executed. An example of character development in this style is Zuko from AtlA, they introduce him then justify him afterwards. They don't introduce him then change things that don't matter, they change the fundamental things about that character through relatable events.
Necroticowl Name one character where non-attraction to one gender was an integral part of their character (or even a part at all).
INSERT USERNAME I said quite the opposite, I said that it matters so little it doesn't benefit the character in any way. If you want a gay character make them gay, don't suddenly make them straight because of outside influences.
Necroticowl How is opening up options for sexual relations NOT increase story potential?
There’s no counter arguments?
Also, just because they have “good chemistry” doesn’t mean they should date, that’s nonsense! If I like to hang out with someone and we’re cool with each other then that person is MY FRIEND.
2:14
this is one of your best videos to me, and I love this line. It might be because I’ve thought something along these lines before, but I just feel like this puts it into words perfectly. Unless the sexuality of your character is integral to the arc you want to tell, logically it makes more sense to maximize your options.
it’s such a streamlined and resource efficient mindset lmao
The key here is not establishing your relationships by Act 3. You can't have relationships take place that late in a story. You have to establish it on the creation of the story or world - or at least cleverly divert the story and world into its favour.
To look at your owned point, to be honest, I think that diversity, even forced, doesn't have to be detrimental to creativity. While not necessary, it can enrichen creativity. And I actually see where J.J. Abrams comes from, even if it can be seen as painfully obvious or unrealistic - the latter being just bad storytelling just by trying to cover every trope and every architype unnaturally.
In fact, in most of my own experiences, creativity has been fuelled by limitations and challenges, by using what's given to you and making it your own. A lot of my favourite characters, stories and worlds are that way because of how specific, niche and focused they are, results in unique, fleshed out and rich elements.
It kinda reflects on tropes also, if you think to broad, you end up emulating what you like or what you think makes a good story - which might end up having the same copy-paste generic white straight guy characters - in a copy-paste genre - in a copy-paste way
This is why most of the greatest creators search their surroundings, dreams, expriences for inspiration and ideas - because they are unique and also determined in some fashion.
I also agree with many comments down here too - you don't need even romance to begin with, how about more asexuality? Lots of characters we like in media don't have anything relating to romance. And most of the time, its lazily shoe-horned in, just because. So they shouldn't have it.
Basically write your characters like you want to.
In other words, this is a bad take which is defeated by itself within the first minute of the video.
Hardly.
change your title to "write your characters as if they were bi", it'll maybe stop people from needlessly disliking the video and get your point across better.
Himajama I agree! The title is too clickbait-y it almost made me not wanting to watch this video. It’s a good video and I agree on his points.
This is so relatable to me, because I'm pretty sure a big thing that contributes to my bisexuality is my inability to make a fucking choice and my obsession with keeping my options open
So the Christians and Muslims are right, it is a choice?
@@WhiskeyPatriot thats not how I see it, I believe your sexuality is not a conscious choice, but it can be influenced by experiences throughout your life I think. Just like if you like certain kinds of movies, music, food, etc. You can't actively change how you feel about those things, but they can be shaped by experiences and trauma from your life. I think sexuality works somewhat similarly and can sometimes be tied to your personality in a way.
I wholeheartedly disagree. The MakoXKorra could have worked if the characters worked out their various issues. The way I remember the series the MakoXKorra relationship imploded when Mako and Korra had a falling because Mako disagreed with Korra. That is all the proof I need to claim that Korra is an abusive control freak that demands submission from her lovers. You can't argue that this relationship with Asami is wholesome just because it is written to be an easy ride.
JM Dostie I would have liked it if Bolin had a thing with Korra too :/
If we take what you said as fact (Korra being controlling and abusive) it would mean Asami was dating someone like her dad...
Korra is also kind of a bitch
What issues did they have what proof did Korra have that they didn't work they just had disagreements and the current situation was more important than the relationship so they didn't have time I took their break up as not that they didn't work just that they didn't work at the moment and also Korra is the type of woman that wants submission and if someone disagrees with her then she has a problem
Hanmacx I'm actually kind of sad that Bolin didn't have a thing with Korra given the original thing.
I understand what you’re saying and have thought about this for a while, but I have to disagree. You can still have open romance and still set sexual boundaries, like people do in the real world. You can make a character strictly one orientation and then have them have good chemistry with multiple members who share the orientation, leaving many romantic windows open. Statistically, not everyone in your universe would be bi (unless it’s a rule that’s important to the story), so having EVERYONE be bi would come off as unrealistic and look like diversity pushing. My favorite example of this is the potential that could’ve been in “Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions”. Rika and Yuta are a great couple, but I wish the creators would’ve left it more open between Yuta and Satone because they had good chemistry as well and it would’ve been good to see an ACTUAL ROMANTIC CONFLICTION with Yuta. Both girls go great with Yuta, making the decision to pick one actually compelling. It adds a sense of realism and depth to the show. All of this could’ve been possible while keeping each character strictly straight.
Or the problem is that there’s not enough characterization in the relationships, so the real solution is to write characters to have actual chemistry? Not just: “EvErYbOdY iS bI, sO aNyBoDy CaN bE wItH aNyBoDy!” ????
So it isn't every character should be Bi, rather, writers should spend more time developing a relationship in a story