Gay TV, Movies, and Books

[Krista]

Slightly off-topic, but I have to get this off my chest. And, there are people who do play video games that frequent this community, I'm thinking.

I do not play very many games. I have three that I've followed: Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Sims. Admittedly, the writing for Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 were fantastic, I really loved it. I'm not a Sci-fi person at all, but it was easy to get into, and it progressed nicely. The Sims is something I get nostalgic with and play here and there, but it is way too riddled with bugs, some game breaking, and only working when modders and creators fix shit for the developers.

But, Dragon Age was at one time my favorite franchise. It is the game that I replayed numerous times. Origins needs to be remastered. I wish they would have done that, but since it is an older game the task may be too much for them. Dragon Age 2, was a rush job, but the writing was still decently strong, it fell flat everywhere else because they didn't have time to do much within a year and a half that Electronic Arts gave them. Inquisition became more open world, very meaningless task heavy, but the writing was still on par, it felt fleshed out and the characters were decent.

Now, Dragon Age: The Veilguard - sucks. They boasted about having a great Character creator, which they do, but you have to really work on making your character not look like a cookie cutter Pixar character. I've spent hours in it, then get into the game, and edit them for a couple more hours because even though they have a lighting preview, you can't see them in action. You have to be careful not to make them cross-eyed for example. The hair selections for males are limited at best. And we're just not going to talk about the Qunari's foreheads... it takes a lot to work around that.

The scenery is nice to look at as well, but weapons, attire/armor, and item customization is pretty much non-existent.

That's about all the good I have to say about it though. The characters are awful, none of your past progression in the series really impacts the game either. They took away your options to be 'mean,' as well. A lot of your response choices do not match the tone of the scene you're currently in. There's too much, "around the table.." talking, where every character has to self-reflect, analyze, and get validation. It sounds like a self-help group, not a group of people that are out to save the world.

Speaking of, despite the world crumbling around them, a lot of their reactions are light. The story around them is mostly done with a light and breathless touch... there's no flesh, bone, or meat to any character early on, if at any. If you're expecting that to change, like I did - you're sorely mistaken. The game doesn't get good until the final act, but damn that's hundreds of hours away. 

The villains just suck, there's so much about them that's one-dimensional, so they become laughable at best. They're supposed to be cunning old elven gods, but they're so stereotypical villain they lose their bite.

It is severely preachy on certain aspects of the game, that shouldn't be preachy in the game, with the time period it is set in and the like. It takes away from the dark fantasy element entirely, which is what the genre is about. I wouldn't even call it a Dragon Age game, since it does gut your choices from previous games, despite the storyline advancing from game to game. It should have included a lot of the past decisions on some impactful level, but it doesn't.

This was a rebrand with skeletal elements to hopefully get money from people that have been waiting for this game for over 10 years. That is obvious. The fact that these people had 10 years to write the story-line, villains, main character's voice/tone, and ability to respond to the world around them is frightening. This should have been a master class in writing, especially since they have so much source material to build on. They also had 10 years to write fleshed out, multi-dimensional characters to support your Rook as well.

My biggest issue is: There's no moral implications, or choices that really call into question any sort of morality. Some of  your companions belongs to factions that have a rather morally questionable past. The Crows for example, an assassin guild that don't blink an eye about killing people when they get handed a contract. They conscript children for training, and do illegal trafficking, etc. You cannot learn or question that, not even when you choose the faction in the beginning. Aside from a colorful gloss over, of your character origin, you don't get a lot more. The moral choices you make, have little impact, they always work out. The choices and sides you choose end up coming back to neutral or good...

It also, and I agree with a game reviewer that said: It feels like this was written by people who had HR hovering over their shoulders. - There's nothing  with any depth in the writing, like I said, nothing with any meat on the bones. Every conflict is resolved in 'validating' and self-reflective conversations. You cannot make people hate you in this game... it always comes back to this group therapy session stupidity.

I paid full price for this nonsense. It makes this game more laughable, because it is also in the running for Game of the Year... although, a late outside shot at it, but still. Save your money if you haven't bought it, wait for it to go on sale. 

Edited November 18 by Krista

[Zombie]

15 hours ago, Krista said:

HR hovering over their shoulders

yup, the root of all evil 👿

15 hours ago, Krista said:

there are people who do play video games that frequent this community, I'm thinking

no reason we can’t have Gay Games here

seems it is a thing - anyone playing?

https://itch.io/games/free/platform-web/tag-lgbt

[Page Scrawler]

6 hours ago, Zombie said:

 

No reason we can’t have Gay Games here

seems it is a thing - anyone playing?

https://itch.io/games/free/platform-web/tag-lgbt

Adding to that:

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/11934326-LGBTQ-Inclusive-Gaming/

 

One of my favorite games with LGBT characters:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129190/Our_Life_Beginnings__Always/?curator_clanid=11934326

Edited November 18 by Page Scrawler

[PrivateTim]

On 7/25/2024 at 8:09 PM, W_L said:

Has anyone seen the netflix miniseries "Someone Has to Die"? It's set in the 1950s Fascist Spain under Franco-Regime with a gay relationships and desires hidden among the wealthy elites.

Hotel Portofino on PBS in the U.S. is set in the 1920s Italy with the rise of the fascists and a gay relationship and desires hidden among the wealthy elites of Britain who traveled to Italy with an American Chicago mobster thrown in to boot.

[W_L]

Right now, I am immersing myself in several online stories before I head off on vacation around Dec 16-20. 

One of them, I think some GA readers might find interesting, despite the difference in culture.

It's called Back to My Youth, it's the story of a man, who goes back to the body of his high school self, and saves his best friend, later his boyfriend/partner, who would have died in a sanatorium due to the "treatments" for homosexuality. It's an interesting story as it comes from a Chinese cultural perspective. 

Here's a link for the fan translation

https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/btmy/

The website is also pretty good if you're trying to get access to underground published gay literature from China, though private gay publishing exists in China, it is too censored to be exported (unlike Japanese/Korean BL), so it's rare to find english translations of gay Chinese novels.

 

[Page Scrawler]

3 minutes ago, W_L said:

so it's rare to find english translations of gay Chinese novels.

Sounds interesting! 

Hallmark came up with a new reality series, titled "Finding Mr. Christmas". It's like a gay version of The Bachelor, with some mistletoe and holly thrown in.

Taking "Make the Yuletide Gay" to an absurd degree, methinks. 

[Zombie]

this plopped into my YT ‘in-tray’ - can’t think why  

not been mentioned here, so is it just fluffy dross?

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 01:37 AM by Zombie

[LJCC]

6 hours ago, Zombie said:

this plopped into my YT ‘in-tray’ - can’t think why  

not been mentioned here, so is it just fluffy dross?

 

 

YouTube knows you gay boy. It's time to come out.

Also, if I'm filming something like a naked touchy-feely scene with a woman and I'm getting a boner, I may be straight.

*glares at Taylor Zahkar-Perez*

Just saying...

[Zombie]

Chroniques Sexuelles D'Une Famille D'Aujourd'Hui (2012)

Has anyone seen this movie? It kind of qualifies here because the older son in the family is bi (or bi-curious) 

and also he’s hot 

It’s very French, quite funny, and shot in cinéma-vérité style - “a style of film-making characterized by realistic… films which avoid artificiality” and, uh *coughs* it sure does that  

You see, the film kicks off with the premise that the mum is confronted by the headmaster (she’s just been summoned to the school) suspending the younger son who’s just been caught at school in biology class “wiggling the weasel” under the desk and filming it to fulfil a dare by his classmates.

Which leads to mum+dad engaging with their sons about what they get up to and where they might have ‘gone wrong’. And so one thing leads to another as the cameras follow the various family members around while they, er, get up to what they get up to…

But here’s the thing - because it’s cinéma-vérité what you see is actually happening, not faked…

There’s an interview online with the film’s directors and the principal actor (the younger son) in French (link below) + an English translation I got somehow (also pdf) but I don’t know if a pdf on an iPad can be attached? 

https://www.toloda.com/sites/default/files/cs_dossierpresse.pdf