#that's assuming at least romance options aren't gender locked?

[boilingheart]

i am personally so ready for you to lose your mind over baldur’s gate.

i am Also so fucking ready to lose my mind over it

because guess what.

i just fucking caved.

i need to fuck that vampire YESTERDAY

[batneko]

bowuigi A/B/O idea, except we're 100% going with alpha Luigi and omega Bowser (he wears a collar, he has a kid with no "mother," think about it people!!!)

So, in the Mario world there's a LOT of different types of people. Toads and mushrumans like Peach don't technically have gender at all, it's just outward presentation. And even the groups that have A/B/O dynamics don't always express it in the same way. With Koopas, omegas are quite rare but they're expected to be big and strong instead of dainty and swooning. Gotta protect the eggs, after all!

But there's a lot of social capital to be gained from Having An Omega, and no matter how respected and feared Bowser is it's never quite enough to stop some alphas from thinking they can own him.

(choose your own angsty adventure for where Junior came from)

That's one of the reasons he's so fixated on Peach. Not only does she not have any expectations because of his gender, but no one else looking at them as a couple will either!

Then along comes the Mario brothers, both of them reeking of alpha, repeatedly dominating him and taking away what he thinks is the key to a happy future... It's maddening.

-

Mario and Luigi were never exactly typical alphas. They're too short, too friendly, they cook and clean and help out around the house. Of course all those traits made them plenty popular with women and omegas (if the ladies don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy), so the occasional bully or rude comments stopped bothering them a long time ago.

It didn't take them too long to adjust to their new world, but sometimes they're still surprised by things. It's never occurred to them that koopas might have alphas and omegas. Aren't they reptiles? (No.) Although Bowser smelled sweet, they just assumed that was what the big koopas smell like (technically true) and didn't worry about it.

-

Then there's another villain trying to take over the world, and to get Bowser out of the way they dose him with hormones and trigger his heat. Mario doesn't hesitate to chase off the villain, but Luigi hangs back to make sure Bowser is okay.

Bowser is furious. Mad at the villain, mad at his own body, mad that he doesn't know any alphas he can actually trust. If there was somebody he could just fuck and get this out of his system, he'd chase that other villain down and teach them a lesson the hard way. But instead he's going to have to lock himself away until it passes, and...

And then he smells Luigi.

He's frustrated, angry, and his brain is only working on about half capacity. He growls, "Put out or get out."

And Luigi, who is still reeling from the realization that Bowser's scent wasn't a coincidence after all and is also only thinking at half capacity, says, "Are you joking or is putting out an option?"

-

Afterward, they don't talk about it. Luigi understands that it was an emergency and Bowser's not interested in him. And he's still adjusting to thinking of Bowser as an omega, so he can't exactly say he's interested in Bowser either. They defeat the villain, save the world, and Bowser seems satisfied with the beating he got to give. Job well done.

Later on Luigi sends a polite message to make sure Bowser is still all right and never hears back. In fact, nobody hears anything from Bowser for months.

When they finally run into each other again, Bowser is carrying a tiny baby koopa in his arms. Exceptionally tiny, actually, with big blue eyes and a tuft of dark hair.

Luigi is pissed. He and his brother are not quick to anger, especially not for alphas, but you don't just bear a man's child and not TELL him. He's been a papa for months and he doesn't even know the baby's NAME? Bowser didn't even ASK FOR INPUT ON IT? ITALIAN NAMES ARE BEAUTIFUL. THEY COULD HAVE NAMED HER AFTER HIS NONNA.

Bowser is absolutely flummoxed that this is the part Luigi is most upset about, but agrees that she can have a middle name.

(And then ✨awkward dad romance✨ ensues.)

[trekwiz]

For me, it's far more immersion-breaking/less-real when the romances aren't all playersexual.

They represent the totality of characters in the player's sphere who are attracted to you. Importantly, they're attracted to you regardless of how unattractive you design your character to be; i.e. the only innate trait that can possibly turn them off is your gender. That whole concept is completely ridiculous.

On top of it, it bothers me that my orientation is a reason to have less of the game to play. Why is my orientation solely enough of a reason that I shouldn't be able to enjoy these romantic storylines? It's content I'm entitled to explore by nature of having paid for the game: locking it off based on my gender is fucked up.

It also bothers me that they assume the hetero characters wouldn't be believable as bi or gay. But inevitably, at least one of the characters they couldn't believe as gay is exactly the kind of person I've dated in the past.

Liam from ME:A is pretty much the archetype of what I like in guys. But according to patch notes, they didn't find it "natural" that he could engage in a relationship with a male character. I've literally dated guys with his personality before, so whoever came up with that rationale can fuck off.

Like you, I also do wish the characters would also engage in pre-scripted romances if you don't romance them. I think that's the one thing that doesn't let me consider Stardew Valley to be perfect: why aren't there any gay villagers except for the one I romance? We should be in the world. But it doesn't have to come at the expense of losing access to romance options.

“BioWare shouldn’t do all bi romances! It makes the games feel more real!”

Yes, because I always expect realism from my fantasy game involving magic, dragons, and elves, dwarves, and Qunari...

Seriously, if your suspension of disbelief will die at anywhere from (depending on a game’s cast size) four to eight bisexuals in a single group of companions? You have some issues to work out, and probably aren’t as much of an ally as you think.

Or, if you don’t want to lose gay/lesbian representation (which, don’t get me wrong, I do understand this argument), then might I suggest that we advocate for increased NPCs as being in same-sex relationships? That there are high profile side characters who are referencing a same-sex partner, explicitly (not implied like Wade and Herren, but openly, similar to Celene and Briala), or have non-romanced companions get into same-relationship, like Dorian and Bull, or Sera and Dagna. Because then the companions are not restricted, but the game still has representation!

Look, this is a shitty situation all around, because we shouldn’t even HAVE to fight for representation at all, it should be everywhere. But until that time comes, if no matter what you do, everyone will be pissed off, I think it’s better for people to be pissed off while getting the most options possible, rather than being pissed off because the story they need to experience in their fiction is not available to them the way that they are most empowered by.