I Just Realized That My Heroine Could Be A Lesbian

Which is weird since the story she is in is a survival horror in which she must escape from a doomed city on another planet. At the start of the story the heroine has a boyfriend but is not sexually active. The only reason why I've only just now realized that this story could be a "Coming Out Of The Closet" story for the heroine is because of two other characters: Her best friend (an attractive female computer nerd) and the main antagonist (a demonic girl who sings love songs to the heroine in order to prey on her fear of being alone). It honestly wasn't my intention to imply lesbianism but just look at what I've got to work with! I didn't want a male hero because it just didn't have the same impact (on me, at least) as having a normal girl in a hellish situation and also because I'm just better at writing female leads.

My question is, should I pursue this new idea or should I focus more on the horror of being completely abandoned in a doomed city filled with monsters?

...characters should change based on what is appropriate to their character, not to fulfill the minority checklist.

That said, it probably works either way. Try not to abandon the horror for random character development, or vice versa, though...

You can write your character as a lesbian, but don't shoehorn it into the story unless it's relevant, otherwise it'll seem forced. Just let the events play out as normal, with your character's orientation in mind, and if it turns out to be plot-relevant, you can reveal it somewhere.

My realization actually came from looking back over the project. I didn't write the heroine and her best friend as lesbians, it was actually just a bizarre accident at best. The kind of thing that fuels Wild Mass Guessing. I'm just wondering if I should add fuel as a sci-fi horror story about a girl coming to terms with her own sexuality is an intriguing idea to me. Again, that was not my original intention.

So the main story is about escaping from the City of Horrors, but some subtext has grown in the natural course of the story between Heroine and BFF. Then it is fine as it is. It is natural. Putting in more subtext or taking it out would make your Story look forced.

Well, as long as you also explore the romantic aspect, it could work.

That's something to be careful with, though: there's a risk of it becoming a Romantic Plot Tumor if it's forced. My advice is, if it's not otherwise important to the story, don't force it in.

So, it's like an introverted version of Death of the Author, but before the thing is even published...

Weird. Fun times.

The way I have the story currently playing out is that for the most part the heroine and her best friend can only communicate through the abandoned city's computer network. A little later the demon girl does the first of her love songs just to play off her loneliness. Then the communication gets cut off from the city and the demon girl starts bringing in hallucinations of the heroine's best friend. This is the part where I noticed that the way I was writing the scenes made them look like the heroine was warming up to the hallucinations. Eventually the heroine manages to activate an emergency beacon and she must make a dash for the rescue ship. It's after she is reunited with her friend that the story just seems to fizzle out because nothing concerning her feelings about the hallucinations is resolved.

Demon girl casts a spell, dresses up as BFF and fucks heroine. Actually porn scenes are common in Horror, so you are not breaking Genre YET.

It's only when Alice says "But I never thought of Cathy that way." that it becomes an important plot point.

So far Alice/Cathy is background detail sub-text. If the ship sails as a natural result of stuff happenning in the Story, then so. Don't force it.

Villain's fortress xplodes Alice/Cathy hug and kiss and hug and kiss and tomorrow is the Victory Feast and La Résistance hands out medals.

Audience does not need to know what happened the night before the Victory Feast. Now you have a plot hook. Book 2 is will they won't they and the Villain of the Week is background detail.

edited 5th Sep '11 4:18:05 PM by Trotzky

My anti-heroine is implied to be bisexual. Or, she just doesn't care.

Hehe, it's funny you should choose Cathy as the name of the BFF because the demon girl's name is Carnival Cat. And no, she is not a furry catgirl. And the closest she gets to having sex with the heroine is in the flooded R&D department in which said demon girl shows up in a demonic swan boat when the heroine needs to traverse a "Toxic River of Love". That's when the demon girl sings a love song while practically groping the heroine as she tries to fend off monster attacks.

edited 5th Sep '11 4:24:11 PM by SandJosieph

@ Sand Josieph : I just assumed all your female characters were lesbians by default.

edited 5th Sep '11 9:14:36 PM by joeyjojo

Naw, that's how I view all female ponies.

Bump because I have a question: What is the usual reaction to finding out you're a lesbian? Not that any of you boys are lesbians because if you are that's just confusing.

I don't believe there is such a thing as "regular reaction". It depends on your character's personality by and large. Does she go into denial? Does she come to terms with it after a while of being stuck in confusion? Or does she just go "Oh, fuck that" and start embracing her nature literally? All are equally likely given the right character personality.

As long as it makes sense with your character's established personality, there would be no problem with any reaction.