Questions of a beginner (long post)

[HomingPidgeon]

@GoldenSilver

This is likely going to be a long post, i am not a native English speaker, so there will probably be grammar or typing errors. I am Brazilian btw, nice to meet you all.

Welcome to the forum! Just let me know if you need me to explain any terms or use different words to make my answers easier to understand, I tend to use a lot of slang without thinking about it

@GoldenSilver

I feel like the discrimination and overcome of it is a major focus of the character, however from what i read this may not be good because some people may get offended to be mistreated (as it might mimic situations in real life), but it does have the option to make him change. I plan to have this relate to other companions and characters as well, on the base of religion, and maybe race.

In short, no, don’t include this content. Some discussion about a similar issue can be found here and in the following posts:

LGBTQ and Feminism Issues

I see, Do you think that portraying bigoted character in a negative way can be a good thing, then? Like for example when a characters that starts as a bigot is able to grown and learn over time? because I might be a fan of some of those stories. Anyway, thanks for clarifying, I know I can be a little annoying with my questions sometimes.

And the general consensus is that it’s not good to ask victims of discrimination to spend time with bigots, even with the goal of helping them change. If you’re going to portray a bigoted character, it should not be up to the main character to get them past their issues.

It isn’t that it’s a bad thing to show that people can get past these viewpoints, far from it, but making this man have a better life should not be the task of people he hates. I think it would work just as well for the viewer for him to have had these beliefs before the game started, and then have already moved past them before he comes into the game. That allows you to still let him vocalize how his life is better and richer now that he’s more accepting, without making the player have to talk him out of those beliefs.

@GoldenSilver

And how would having an evil aligned LGBT character be received? I have an idea for a trans woman companion, but she is not a good person. She is a chemist who experiments with chemical weapons on people without remorse. The trans aspect is a small part of her character, but i feel like it may seem like its portraying LGBT characters as evil. I am still creating her side story so i don’t have anything to say further about her yet.

A good rule of thumb is that you should have multiple types of representation–if you’re going to include a trans person that you view as an evil character, include another that is a good character. People can’t read it and say “this author views trans people as evil” when you have good ones too!

I think I would still recommend adjusting the character, though, either making her kinder or not making her trans. Transness has been equated with villainy a lot throughout media history, since being trans or queer is often equated with being “unnatural” or “deviant,” in a bad way. When oftentimes our identities are used as shorthand for “wrong,” it’s not unlikely that another portrayal of a bad trans person will make some of us bristle. But I have also not seen this character in writing yet, it’s possible that it wouldn’t bother me once I know her better. And a lot of stuff like this is pretty subjective, so other trans people might have different opinions than mine