this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2024
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So, Baldur's Gate didn't delve deeply into politics like, say, Disco Elysium did, however I agree with the sentiment of the article.
So very few stories that center LGBT+ characters are about who they are outside of LGBT+ trauma. The beauty of the story of Baldur's Gate 3 is that it envisions that world, where people are allowed to have trauma, but that trauma is not related to their sexual orientation.
That's huge, because while that trauma continues to be real, it's good to be able to envision a world where that's not the case. The characters in Baldur's Gate 3 all clearly have lots of trauma, but hardly any of it relates to who they choose to have sex with and/or love, or how many partners they love. Their trauma is about who they are, but trauma related to their sexuality is nigh nonexistent. They are allowed to have trauma outside of that scope instead of being pigeonholed into that kind trauma.
It's great at escaping LGBT+ trauma narratives, which are plentiful, and it also allows the LGBT+ characters to live out as fully fleshed out characters on their own, where they are themselves first, and their sexuality second. Too many narratives use LGBT+ status as an easy way to give a character trauma, and soon their sexuality becomes the centerpiece of their character, disallowing them growth outside of that pigeonhole. This narrative allows these characters to break free from that and become fully fleshed out characters, much like LGBT+ people in real life are so much more than their LGBT+ trauma.
Sure, it didn't get into "politics," in terms of heady theory and "taking sides." It had something else "political" to say, and I for one, am glad for it.
I mean, that's kind of by design, because they chose to make everybody polysexual. Sexuality was a player choice, even choosing for the NPCs, not a factor into the story.
It's nice that they gave everybody choices in whoever they want to ship and how, but I do think it subtracts from the story a bit, because people's sexuality is part of their identity. It doesn't have to be about trauma, or any sort of centerpiece to the story. I think the LGBT+ community, like any other marginalized community, wants this part of their identity to be normal, not a centerpiece. It just is.
But, a character like Astarion just feels like he's going to be bisexual AF, and it seems like that part of his identity was accidental, because of how Larian was crafting the romance system.