Stage7_4

Well, good for Nintendo on addressing it rather than just letting it slide (either due to the NDA or the other nasty stuff). But I digress.

I already recanted my stance after seeing the official Nintendo statement about homosexual options (seeming to promise more than we got, but written in a way that they're not technically lying - the worst kind of lying). But I want to clarify that at the time I had heard that the Sothis and Rhea S-supports with F!Byleth weren't romantic too, so I thought it was all equal that S sometimes doesn't mean romance. But now that I know it's not the case and that M!Byleth is the only one with S-supports that aren't romantic, then yes I agree that this is queer-baiting.

It's unfair to blame Nintendo on IGN or other review sites mishandling their review, as by that logic then the guy that struggled with the Cuphead tutorial was right to criticize the game. The IGN reviewer made an assumption without confirming when they put up that support list. But to recognize your point, some of Claude's dialogue does come across as a bit baited, especially that dance cutscene. I think it's rather minor (and the worst of it came from a leaker, not a sponsored reviewer) but I can see your point. Look, I'm frustrated too but there's so many more valid criticisms to give Nintendo/IS on how they handled this that we really don't need to dip into the fringes. Edit: What official Nintendo announcement about same-sex relationships? Edit2: Nevermind, I found it. An interview with Automaton and Nintendo of Japan. In Fire Emblem Three Houses, it is possible for the Protagonist to have same-sex relationships with certain characters. However, we cannot explain this topic in more detail as to not ruin the excitement of all users who are looking forward to it. [read: spoilers] Regarding character raising, we have prepared a lot of options, so please kindly anticipate it. Okay, everything I said about Nintendo not baiting anyone? I take it all back. This really suggests something much larger than what we got.

As much as I'm disappointed and of all the things I want to call Nintendo and IS, queer baiting isn't one of them. You can't really be baited when you're leaking info from an unreleased game without the full context, that's our own fault. We have every right to be upset about the lack of mlm options though.

I can't confirm but I think you're right. We know Cup of Tea Productions is doing the voice acting, and historically they've worked with 8-4 (the ones that localized Awakening and Echoes). So unless they've changed business partners, then Nintendo Treehouse probably didn't localize this game.

In the same tweet acknowledging the Dimitri and Claude mistakes, the IGN writer admitted they didn't mark Sothis and Rhea as bisexual because he didn't finish those supports yet. He can see from the screen that they are S rank-able, he just wanted to confirm they are romantic first. So it's likely that there are still 5 wlw options, and 3 mlm. ...and I'm still salty about it Whoops! Someone mentioned it already.

That's not a new character, we've seen it before. It's just been a while since we've gotten new info, so some thought he got cut or something. If you look on the Three Houses page, he's already on the character sheet.

Homophobia is a spectrum of behavior and can leak down into the tiniest of actions, that's why the term micro-aggression and internalized prejudice exist. Someone (or in this case some developer) might not be (as you put it) "criminally" homophobic but through their actions can support a prejudice against the queer community is still homophobia. Personally I don't think IS nor Nintendo did this intentionally, I honestly think they thought these three options were a boon to the gay community. But you can not intend to do harm and still display homophobia, and the fact that the mlm options play into stereotypes and are very much lacking in comparison to others is homophobic. But at this point if you're going to dismiss every argument on this board is not valid enough for you, then we are just going to spin in circles. So let me respond in kind: you're wrong.

But we all have a right to have harsh criticism of the developers and demand better, as myself and many others believe these options (and the lack of options) do display homophobia. Probably not explicitly but an internal prejudice portrayed through stereotypes and lack of representation in comparison to others. If you don't believe that and refuse to acknowledge the arguments, then frankly you're just plain wrong.

If your point is that you don't fundamentally see a problem in the mlm options, on a forum thread predominately about people fundamentally finding a problem with the mlm options (all of which have posted valid and supported arguments at to why this is problematic), then it seems you're against the point of the thread itself and I have to wonder why you're here?

At this point Riva I have no idea what point you're trying to make, other than being contrarian and argumentative just because and defending the fact that you like Gilbert as a romance option (which is not under fire). Whether or not you personally are okay with a 20+ year age gap, as evident of this board and many others is that a large majority of people have a problem with it. And it's not something you can really challenge nor argue, we all have a right to be upset about this and criticize IS for it. The fact that this Fire Emblem game's primary target audience is teenagers isn't even a point of contention, that's just business facts. Sure they want the money of older fans too but the eye is always on the prize (the 13 to 19 age demographic). So a teenage queer male playing this game and realizing that their only true mlm option is playing into a feminine boy stereotype while wlw gets at least three good options including a main protagonist (eliminating Sothis and Rhea just to be fair about age gaps) and that heterosexuals can romance the entire male or female student body can't help but feel IS and Nintendo has excluded them.

How? Lon'qu didn't actually dislike women at all and never suggested preferring men instead (other than Vaike's misunderstanding in Harvest Scramble). The whole aversion thing was just past trauma ala Guy from Tales of the Abyss. If I were to localize Soleil (and the option to make her flat out Bi was off the table) I think I'd make her class skill "Girl Power" and work a feminist angle, where her supports are more about empowering women rather than flirting. Like a sorority sister. It would make an interesting counter to Inigo, a shamless flirt has a daughter that's a SJW. It would at least wipe out most of this awkward writing while still maintaining the spirit of it. Again, only if just flat out making her Bi was vetoed, since that would be way easier. Don't exactly know how to work out the fainting thing though.