T
The_Murky_Night
Guest
I'll get right out there and say that I'm a gay man, and I find it really difficult to not come up with a story that does not involve a gay male character. I'm not sure if it's just me extending myself to my characters or if I'm just really that incapable of sticking to heterosexual characters. Either way, there's always the problem of working out how homosexuality works in a fantasy world.
I like to feel immersed in my world, and I'd like anyone reading to feel the same. Thus, a rough sense of realism is ideal. Since my world is set in nations that are vaguely medieval European and Middle-Eastern, something like homosexuality would not be accepted and would be kept secret. That brings the touch of realism to this world, because we know it was like that in our world. With this, I'm a immersed within that world. When I've attempted to read fiction that describes a fantasy world that's a bit like a paradise of LGBT people (nothing from a book, just writing people have posted online), I'm automatically unimmersed. I'm taken out of that world and immediately know I'm just in the bedroom reading someone's fiction.
But, I know that fantasy is fantasy because it's not actually our world. A fantasy world can be outlandish is it's creator wants it to be. So my question is, how do you recommend incorporating gender and sexual minorities in a way that is still immersive?
I like to feel immersed in my world, and I'd like anyone reading to feel the same. Thus, a rough sense of realism is ideal. Since my world is set in nations that are vaguely medieval European and Middle-Eastern, something like homosexuality would not be accepted and would be kept secret. That brings the touch of realism to this world, because we know it was like that in our world. With this, I'm a immersed within that world. When I've attempted to read fiction that describes a fantasy world that's a bit like a paradise of LGBT people (nothing from a book, just writing people have posted online), I'm automatically unimmersed. I'm taken out of that world and immediately know I'm just in the bedroom reading someone's fiction.
But, I know that fantasy is fantasy because it's not actually our world. A fantasy world can be outlandish is it's creator wants it to be. So my question is, how do you recommend incorporating gender and sexual minorities in a way that is still immersive?