A suggestion . . . . Potentially controversial

[Miyabi]

So I may be going into. . ..  no actually I'm sure I'm going into controversial territory here.  But before I go right out and make the suggestion I'm going to give it some kind of backing.

We have seen through history that literature has a strong affect on the way people think and view things.  When something is written about, the opinions that are expressed upon said thing are more accepted than others.  So if we speak badly of something, people think badly of it.  If we speak good for something, opinions of it improve.

Now, generally we have seen that these topics are chosen from the current social standings of the area, country, or even world that the writer lives in.  Now, there are many things in our world today that definitely deserve some time in the light and that need to be thought better of.  In some of Brandon's other books, Elantris in particular, there is much shown on people who use their positions of power for personal gain, which exemplifies corruption, no matter the organization, and sheds a disparaging light on it..

So here is what I'd like to propose.  There seems to be much going on with the acceptance of people being homosexual in recent years.  I may be bias do to my orientation, but I think that spreading good word about people having rights is a good thing.  We have seen in recent years more and more good media is coming about, but there isn't a lot in literature that is written by popular authors, therefore what is written doesn't gain much credence.  I would like to see a gay character in one of Brandon's books.  If even just a minor character we seldom hear about.  Things like this will better our world.

Now we can't just look at this as "The gay agenda" -BTW I wasn't aware we had an agenda in the first place, no one invited me to THAT meeting.-  But it has to be looked at as everyone's rights.  I mean, if we allow the government to take away our ability to live how we chose.  EVEN if it's just ONE thing. . . what happens when that one becomes two. . . two become ten. . .. soon our government has complete control over us.

Well . . . now that I'm done ranting a bit.  I would like to hear your opinions about this.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/412/Annotation--Idea
http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=5109.0
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/418/A--Note-From-Tracy-Hickman
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/51/EUOLogy-Dumbledores-Homosexuality

Read for context.

[GreenMonsta]

Ok. . . that was unexpected. Now dont read this and misunderstand. i fully agree that everyone should have their right to choose how they live. weather that includes same sex or anything of the sort. i also think that it takes a long time for a government and a people in general to accept change. i mean look at some of our states currently, there are still some places where rasicm is strong. as a homosexual you can fight for your rights but i wouldnt expect intant gratification. anytime a groupe of people want to change the way things are they are going to encounter resistance. that statement prooves true for any adversity, gay, racial, male/female, any thing. the reality is this topic is to generalized. yes i could see overcoming adversity for greater freedom as being seen as fighting for rights. the only thing is we as readers have the ability to choose for our selves what these instances mean to us. brandon writes about freedom of choice, and if i might add so do many other authors who write fantasy. look at Sword of Truth that whole series is about giving the populace the ability to make the wright decision. so to attempt to pick a topic to compare his writings to would be difficult seeing how you could pick just about any topic and say that his writings could stand for it. ok so im not trying to shoot you down but im just saying this isnt the best place to be discussing such topics, its a place to write about our apriciation of brandons writings and write about topics we as a group of fans might have valid input on due to our collective knowlage about his books. this is not a forum on socially diputed topics. im not telling you to stop expressing your feelings on said topics im just saying find the right place.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Miyabi was just giving context to his desire to speculate on what a gay character in Brandon's books might be like. That's perfectly reasonable, and it's something Brandon has considered before and will likely address SOMEtime in the future, as discussed in the links above.

[GreenMonsta]

i could understand the desire to see that represented. he has already cover race with elantris and the dulas, i dont argue that, i obviously misunderstood the satement. thanks Ook your always around to set us straight, also im there with ya miyabi i would enjoy seeing all aspects of human nature represented in these books. look at Jordan he has already on multiple occasions mentioned "pillow friends" who engage in special activities. so have the mord sith in goodkind. i have faith in barndon and his ability to incorporate differnt things into his stories and look forward to the opertunity to read them in the future.

Since people will read this topic sson i will use it for something off topic... sorry miyabi im not trying to steal your thread i just cant figure out how to add a pic to my posts. its probably simple but im also fairly simple and i would appreciate any assistance. once again im sorry for using you thread miyabi i didnt want to start my own for such a simple topic and i dont know how to get an answer

[Miyabi]

Thank you for those links Ook.  They were a very good read.

And yes Green I was simply saying that I've noticed he likes to discuss real world issues and the differences in people and was simply expressing a desire to see the way in which Brandon would portray such a character.

As far as the image thing goes it's [ img ]URL[ /img ]  without the spaces between the brackets and the img and /img.

[GreenMonsta]

thanks miyabi i apreciate the help, i also understand where you were going now that Ook straightened me out. i dont dissagree i think it would be interesting to see how he would portray it in a book

[Miyabi]

Oh and in Response to the blog Brandon.  I'm sure there are some of us out here who would be more than willing to help in one way or another in the properly expressing the gay character in a way that wouldn't be offensive.

[GreenMonsta]

hey if you want any insight on someone who jumps to conclusion way to often and then has to back track and apologize to people because they are jerk then feel free to contact me aswell

[apbadd]

I am not entirely sure it is necessary to label a character in a story as gay.  In general, knowing that piece of knowledge wouldn't necessarily have a large impact on a character's actions (except in one respect).  That being said, you could argue there are different types of gay people much as there are different types of other people.  My dad for example is gay, but if you were to right a story with a character for which he was the basis he would just seem like a rather liberal guy, but would otherwise be unextraordinary.  If a character in a novel were gay in the effect that it totally dominated their character then you could argue that this character's actions would greatly effect how he/she acts.

I am not to sure homosexuality is given the proper amount of treatment ("proper" meaning that characters in novels sexual orientation should relatively match up with the proportion of straight/gay people in real life society) because of the nature of writers.  Aren't most authors who write novels generally conservative much the way talk radio is conservative and other outlets of the media are liberal?  I have no basis for this but think this could be possible.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I've gotten the impression that most modern, blogging SF/F writers are either liberal or libertarian. See for example where John Scalzi says "I support the right of same-sex married couples to carry concealed weapons.." SF/F has long been a field of exploring different cultures and ideas—and military action.

[Phaz]

I love Brandon's story's and for that reason, wouldn't want him to make a character gay.

IMO him forcing a character into that role for the sake of having a character in that role could take away from the story.

That being said, I would have no problem reading one of Brandon's stories where a character was gay.

I (naturally) don't know exactly where Brandon's ideas and stories come from, but from reading his posts (here and on the blog) and annotations, he seems to let his stories just sort of play out.

A good example of this is Vin.  Brandon said that (I believe) in Mistborn Prime, Vin was a guy.  Then he just decided that he should try with Vin as a female, and immediately decided that is how it should be.

I think this 'natural' way of deciding what characters are and aren't is by far a better method then starting off with "I want to write a story with a female protagonist."

I wouldn't want him to make one of his characters gay just to have a gay character or be 'politically correct' or for any other reason.  However, if he decided that one of his characters was gay, because the character is gay, I would be totally ok with that.

[Miyabi]

IMO him forcing a character into that role for the sake of having a character in that role could take away from the story.

I wouldn't want him to make one of his characters gay just to have a gay character or be 'politically correct' or for any other reason.  However, if he decided that one of his characters was gay, because the character is gay, I would be totally ok with that.

I wasn't attempting to 'force' anything here.  I am just that I would enjoy the prospect and I think that he would do a very good job if he did.

[Phaz]

IMO him forcing a character into that role for the sake of having a character in that role could take away from the story.

I wouldn't want him to make one of his characters gay just to have a gay character or be 'politically correct' or for any other reason.  However, if he decided that one of his characters was gay, because the character is gay, I would be totally ok with that.

I wasn't attempting to 'force' anything here.  I am just that I would enjoy the prospect and I think that he would do a very good job if he did.

I suppose that wording was a little harsh.  I don't mean to say that you were suggesting that.

I also think Brandon would do an excellent job with this, as from what I've seen he does an excellent job with everything.

I just feel like if something isn't "natural" to a character, it's very very very difficult to make the story flow well.  I feel like the best stories are written by the authors in which the characters are real to them.  They don't really decide what should happen and how things should be, everything just kind of comes to them from some mysterious parallel universe and they simply write down that story as it takes place.

(Note: when I say "natural" here, I don't mean to imply "natural" in the way that some people say homosexuality isn't "natural".  But rather "natural" in the sense of what fits best with the character, like Vin being female instead of male)

[Miyabi]

IMO him forcing a character into that role for the sake of having a character in that role could take away from the story.

I wouldn't want him to make one of his characters gay just to have a gay character or be 'politically correct' or for any other reason.  However, if he decided that one of his characters was gay, because the character is gay, I would be totally ok with that.

I wasn't attempting to 'force' anything here.  I am just that I would enjoy the prospect and I think that he would do a very good job if he did.

I suppose that wording was a little harsh.  I don't mean to say that you were suggesting that.

I also think Brandon would do an excellent job with this, as from what I've seen he does an excellent job with everything.

I just feel like if something isn't "natural" to a character, it's very very very difficult to make the story flow well.  I feel like the best stories are written by the authors in which the characters are real to them.  They don't really decide what should happen and how things should be, everything just kind of comes to them from some mysterious parallel universe and they simply write down that story as it takes place.

(Note: when I say "natural" here, I don't mean to imply "natural" in the way that some people say homosexuality isn't "natural".  But rather "natural" in the sense of what fits best with the character, like Vin being female instead of male)

Ah. I see then.  Yes, I would agree on that matter, but the author does have some control over how/what their characters are.  Sometimes it's easier to write about different characters though, and sometimes other work better.