Well yes I do believe that if a person's sexuality is changed then they would probably meet different people and see things in a different view and be interested in different things (both sexual and non) and be a different person all in all.

Of course the sexuality changes that I usually see can be just downright ridiculous and just to force two characters to like each other or act in a way they want as if the character was a puppet to be manipulated at one's whims, even falling irrationally in love with someone that they are originally supposed to despise (if I were to despise someone I don't think that would change even if someone could tinker around with my like of the sexes).

So in a personal non established case, yes they will be different... but not the way some fandoms will potray them, its all about levels not switches

Opinions? On MY Internets?

I think it depends on what way you're doing it. If it's just for some yiffy fanart (like Sonic/Shadow tongue-kissing) then go for it. For work that you want to be taken seriously however, I think there is definitely a line. Like, it would take one _hell_ of an author to get me to accept a Mal/Jane pairing in a Firefly story. Of course, it also depends on the character, too. Some people are easier to imagine with a fluid sexuality. Dale, for instance. ;)

cannon characters should be considered I think as default straight as the majority of the population is. ANd If they exhibit straight or gay qualities or epsecially if they are practicing one type of love in the media then its silly to change it to what youd like it to be.
Sexuality doesnt make a character but it is an imprtant part of who they are so it does change them some.say Sonic being gay would ceetainly ruin any Sally or amy love stories .
Though I do have one out,theres mutliple universes as sci-fi concept. When theres hundreds or millions of versions of a character in the mutliverse then some of them would be of every orientation and life circumstances you could imagine.like maybe out of 1 million Tails,one of them ends up being a violent rapist or something,another has some change in his mind and is self castrated and desires no sex what so ever, etc..

Well, the sexual orientation of a character is often a big part of their costruction, whether they're a canon character or otherwise. Altering such a basic part of the character results in a fairly radical change, resulting in a fan character that would probably horrify the canon character if they ever "met".
This doesn't mean we should stop or something crazy like that.

Why is it such a big part, though? What does it really change other than the gender of choice?

Mostly it changes the reactions of the character to the other character around him or her. A lot of the series' that we're discussing focus on the interpersonal dynamics of characters, and with such a change as gender preference in one, the balance of factors that keep the characters together is altered.
In short, You don't just change one character, you alter how that person acts towards the other characters, and how they act and react to that character.

Not on an individual basis, but very few characters are in a world by themselves. Sexuality affects the way you interact with other people. But this is not at all a bad thing; I'd rather people NOT just replicate an established character. Honestly I'd rather they create their own unique character, but thats another issue entirely.

It depends on the character themself in my opinion. Sometimes you can change one or all of the sexual traits of a character without changing the character themself because it wouldn't affect their personality, or what makes them who they are. But others are the exact opposite, where their sexuality is deeply entwined with their core personality, so changing it would result in what would effectively be a completely, or at least significantly different character. That's what I think at least.

Gender Preferance isn't a developed personality trait, I think.

It can go either way. It depends in large part on how fast and severe the change occurs. If somebody goes from homophobic to bi at the drop of a hat, then it doesn't make any sense. On the other hand, if a character slowly starts to consider a change, and has a valid reason (or reasons) for said change, then it becomes far more believable. There will be a change to some degree, like anything else in life, but it doesn't require a change to the base personality except in extreme cases.

Only if the character is already given a sexuality. For example, Simba isn't gay because his mate is Nala. Scar, however, doesn't have a given sexuality. [At least, not in the movie. In the play, he wants to marry Nala... ]

Interesting that ever since my character Tommy got into herms he's turned from a brooding heterosexual tough guy into a happy-go-lucky cumslut manwhore.

Not really trying to mince stereotypes, I'm just saying. It's like I get the impression that folk think he's less of a man because he doesn't mind a little cock now and then.

heh well what I think is that yes for a chari it would change the base story line of it since we must admit, people when creating a chari put alot of difference in its life based on its sexual preferences, thats just my opinion and I think it would be totally different for a real life person ^^;, though for something like tails you could do alot since he(well was originally gonna be a she) was technically a nudist kid when running around with sonic so alot can change

But how? Why does it change them so much?

well most people tend to think that a homosexual chari would act so much more like the old idea for the gay community, you know the extremely effeminate kinda thing and all that, some people don't mean to but they usually end up slipping abit of it in somewhere

Yeah. I hate that image. I'm not anything like that, and yet I'm seen as the weird one for it.

heh well sadly there are some mental images that cant be changed so easily, no offense to any people reading this but how long do you think the black people took to change there look around from what people originally saw them as? sure homosexuals have been around just as long but they haven't been accepted as long

I think changing a canon character's sexuality does fundamentally alter their personality, but past the point of believability? That's a case by case issue, not something across the board. And just because I use the word "fundamental" does not mean the change is necessarily radical. With some characters, switching their preferences from boys to girls (or girls to boys, or girls/boys to girls and boys) wouldn't do much other than alter the object of their affection/lust. With others, it would make for a very different life indeed, and therefore a different personality.

What usually disturbs me about changing a character's sexual preference-or assigning them one if there isn't an obvious preference beforehand (especially in the case of characters who are children in canon)-is the idea that somehow, their new preference is the "true" one, that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter are "clearly" lusting for each other, which is what provokes their fighting. Of course, I'm bothered by any change to canon characters that doesn't seem to make sense, but most of the time I can shrug it off-it's not a big deal, and raising a stink about someone's love of homosexual fanart/fanfiction just shows that I don't have the good sense to step away from something I find distasteful or disturbing (or just don't have an interest in). I can't let it go when it not only flies in the face of the original work, but does so with a sense of entitlement, as though the author/artist creating the fanart or fanfiction understands the characters better than the creator or creators. Of course, that isn't what you're asking about, but that's what I thought of in composing my response.

I agree, the pomposity needs to stop, on both sides of the situation.
I don't know that children are necessarily exempt from these types of things. Being that most of us were gay to start out with and just never realized or were forced to suppress it.

Well, I don't mean that people suddenly choose their sexuality when they hit 12 or 13, but I know that I didn't have any sexual thoughts about girls as a kid. And as much as having the kid character say things like "Ew, girls are yucky" or "boys are gross" is a cliche, it's a cliche because it has an element of truth. Of course, I am basing all of this off of myself, so I'll admit, I don't have any hard numbers or research to back me up.

There are tropes of "boys are gross" and "girls are icky" due mostly to societal standards. If you've never witnessed any culture but our own, it's easy to see it only one way. But what I'm purporting is something even further separated than most people here are touching down with. I'm soon to make a journal expressing my own opinion on the matter, but I wanted to get opinions on it first.

Prejudice forced me to be straight, although I don't see anything wrong with gay people

The way I see it, if they're the same exact character as their canon selves except for the sexuality, then they'd have the same personality. It's like an alternate universe look. For example, Hero from canon universe, or universe A, is straight. But Hero from Universe B is homosexual, but is supposed to be the same person with the same background as Hero from universe A. Would Hero B act any different from Hero A? No, because he's been homosexual his entire life, just as Hero A has been straight his entire life. And that's my opinion.

I believe it can only be judged person to person. Some may be able to successfully hide their sexuality. Some have it merged into their everyday life. Unfortunately, the latter has a tendency to color the former.

you are asking for tailsko right?! because i haven't problems with that maybe with the fem characters transformed into a male or herms charas.(the shity coments belongs to the shity mind)

Uhhh, no. I was asking for any character.

ohhh well i keep the same opinion after the tailsko's coment

I think it depends. Some characters it's entirely believable that they'd have an interest in the same sex, even just an experimental one. The problem I've seen is things when, to establish this new sexuality, the author completely rewrites their attitude to match it. Sonic/Shadow is potentially possible, but highly unlikely without altering them as such.

It annoys me to see characters that are established as completely hetero (Naruto & Sasuke) put into that situation. On the other hand, any adult art that's hetero would ALSO be out of character. It just appears disproportionate.

I suppose my problem is that anime and furry fans seem to want to add 'gay' to everything. Case in point: There's m/m stuff of the Redwall cartoon.

Another thing I notice: M/M occuring between hero and villain/not-good-guy. It's so common nowadays that I just ignore it. Sonic/Shadow, Harry/Malfoy, Mario/Bowser, Starfox/Starwolf and so on and so forth. The concept always supposedly being 'that they just fight to keep up appearances'.

I try to steer clear of it, honestly, M/M being very much 'not-my-thing'. M/F and F/F is cool, but I prefer my canon chars to keep their established sexuality.

So how would you think a character would have to be altered to make it appropriate or believable?

I think the best way to do it is to have it be a slow thing to show. I mean, a person doesn't just sit up in bed one morning and go 'OHMYGOD I JUST WENT GAY'. Or so I'd hope. Although honestly, that would make for a hilarious picture in any setting.

There's no one way to make it beleivable, but for writing normal works, I try to put myself in the perspective of the character I'm writing. If the character is hetero and is developing interest, how would you go it if you were that character? ((It's harder to put to words than it is to actually do, I'm afraid.))

All in all, though, sexual preference is just one part of a character. It doesn't have to change their entire outlook on life, after all.


Sonic: "OHMYGOD I JUST WENT GAY."
Tailsko: *sighs* "I'm female. We've discussed this a hundred times."
Sonic: "Oh, that's better. Knowing you and Shadow are women takes a load off my mind."
Tailsko: "..." *bites lip*

My opinion: ... people say that? Really? Would these be the same people who change the actual gender of the characters, or give them a radically different body type, or make them an even more cliched personality than what they already had?


Any characters people say this sort of thing about in particular? Maybe some of them are supposed to be gay.

DO A BARREL ROLL!

Let me put it in simple terms. If Authur was gay, he'd try to tap ass for half of the day. He IS a watery jello thing, you know.

Nicolette: Don't put images in my mind T.T

THE GOOEY TRANSLUCENCY OF THE BUILD AND STUFF <flexes>

Nicolette: MY EYES!!! IT BURNS THE PUPIL TO A WHITENED CRISP!!!

Yeah...

All I can say is that's a complete load of bull.
Take Amy and Lita from Sailor moon.
Wait, were they cannon lesbians, or was that fandom, it's been so long that I don't remember any more...

Actually, that was Michiru and Haruka, Sailors Neptune and Uranus respectively. So you were close!

Ah...







Wait, then why have I've seen more pictures of Amy and Lita together than those two?

I have no clue. Ask the fanartists!

I don't think that would change the character too much. But it will change the underlying image that the fan will have. Take The Piper from "the flash" or "Northstar" Outwardly, they were still the same characters with the same storylines, but writers tended to try and play the gay angle too much in the jokes and the scenes. Its not an overal change of who they are, its how the situations treat them that may change the characters.

Yeah, that's a very good point. It often has nothing to do with the character themselves, but rather the rest of the world.

I'm gonna go tangential here, but I promise this is relevant.

This is similar to the argument that an author has to be the same orientation as the protagonist; if they aren't then they can't convey a "genuine" feelings of romance. (e.g. Can straight yaoi fangirls and straight yuri fanboys write characters that act, feel and talk in romantic situations as "real" gay and lesbian people do?) Sure, there's personal variation in how characters and "real people" act and say, but some general attitudes that are consistent sometimes aren't replicated in writing (either fanfiction or original writing). I personally feel that if you have 1/3 a brain and don't lapse into some overly mushy and excessively detailed hawt seks actz, then it's very possible to do so.

As for your argument, I think that the believability really depends on the situation and also in the tone that the work's written. If you're writing for your own amusement, then anything goes. But if you try to make it a seriously toned work, then it's compromised by being horribly contrived and epically fails. The sexual preference does more than just that, it forms a character's psyche and that becomes reified in things like body language, tone of voice, word choice, and actions throughout the course of a written work. However, I'm of the opinion that fanfics are literary junk food and if you want to devote some effort into something, then do an original work instead of perverting someone else's hard work and ideas.

Well, see, this wasn't just having to do with fanfiction. I was asking the question in relation to any character, established or just created in your mind right now. Also, that's not what's on trial, here.

I'm really really curious as to what you mean when you say that their sexuality alters their psyche. How is it different? And why does it automatically fail on premise?

I thought I explained that well enough.

...that becomes reified in things like body language, tone of voice, word choice, and actions throughout the course of a written work.

Well, but... you're only telling me that it changes, not how or why or in what way?

OK, let me try going about it in this way.

If you have someone that has a set sexual preference, it affects the things I've mentioned above. If you then tamper with it, you'll have to change what/how that character reacts to thing and also change traits above to remain consistent or you'll have a personality non-sequitor and will leave the reader scratching their heads. You will have then created a token character or to exhibit a trait and simply mention it in passing. Either way, it's lame and doesn't have any meaningful contribution and isn't a meaningful change.

Oh! Well, changing sexuality mid-stream is not what I'm talking about in this journal. Sorry if I confused a bunch of people with that, but I'm actually comparing a character that is homosexual versus a character that is not, from the start.

I had it confused. I though you were talking about that OR just switching a character's sexuality for some kind of sordid fanfic.

Then if that's what you're asking, I'm not sure what you're asking for. I don't think it'd make any real difference because that's how the character would be—from the start—and each character expresses the aforementioned traits within a framework that's molded by their life experiences and not so much (but an influence nonetheless) by their sexuality.

I think that changing anything about a character would alter their personality, and i can't really see a reason why sexual preference would be any different. In essence, a character is a sum of the various traits and qualities that make up said character, and altering any one of those individual things would create a different sum. Therefore, yes, I think changing a person's sexual preference would make him or her a different person, just like changing his or her view of morality or any other aspect of his or her personality.

I think the distinction here comes with the phrase "passed the point of believability." That point probably varies for every different individual, there-by making this an impossible question to answer in objective terms. Someone who claims to have a different sexual preference every month would probably be much more likely to believe a character's preferences could change than someone who's decided to be straight all his or her life.

Overall, I say you should do whatever you want with a character (legally, of course). There will always be some people who like the changes you make, and there will always be some people who don't. It's better to have done something debatable than to have not done anything at all.

As many people already said here, it all depends on the character. but it also depends of the kind of stories you do, and the environment the characters is supposed to live in.

For example, my character Pinton the Pig is a super macho guy. If I make him gay or bisexual now it would look out of character, because we have seen him chasing female ass all the time. (actually I made Pinton gay once, but it was an "alternate universe" story)

The environment is important too. My comics take place in a distant future, so I can invent any kind of society I want. I have invented alien civilizations where bisexuality is the norm.

It also depends on the kind of story you are doing. If its a humorous thing, there is no big deal making everyone gay just for fun, because people won't expect any deep character development or complex psychologic structure on cartoon porn.

But if you are making something a little more complex, you would need to think about the background of your character and handle things like "how long has him be homosexual" and "how come he came out of the closet just now and nobody else noticed anything all this time".

Tricky to say... some charaters it wouldn't matter how you put it... Alot of the regular/Top charaters in most shows animes and such don't have too much of a reap preference in the main ideals of things... Charaters like that it wouldn't matter what there preference is... LIke for instance... Tails. He's too yongue to be thinking about it and hasn't shown much of an intrest either way so why would it matter? Then in another sense for a charater that has expressed an intrest it would depend on how... Well Over the top they put it. I could take someone like Kunckles and make them Gay or Bi and it wouldn't make any difference... he only talks about the Master Emerald to begin with so is there a point?

Put a gay or Bi sticker on Sonic and everyone get's pissy cause of the stage setting of SallyxSonic sceens that would break charater alittle... then we could even go as far as making a charater like.... Tenchi Gay... Then what's the point in having a house full of girls, And a Girlfriend.... Besides thte fact that not wanting all of them would mean he was initially gay... *shrugs* The charater doesn't change... just the views and fan service makes little to no sense when people wanna keep them in 'ONE' light. That's my opinion... ^^;... and ramble...

Ironically, I think you've put your thoughts together in the most organized manner I've ever seen.

0_o... what?!? >_< DAMN IT!!! I get in trouble when I organize my thoughts like that... Bad doggy... badd ba dbad... Stright to the point... 0_o;.. i'm hardly viewed as stright in alot of senses cause people think I'm a girl... x_X;... or gay... Though the thoughts haven't change me none... 0.0... H-e-y... ^_^... I'M PROVING MY POINT YEA!!! ;P

Technically it "shouldn't". Think about it. Did Dumbledor change when people realized he was gay?

If an overly radical sex change occurs, that's one thing. But if you simply put a new label on an already established character, it shouldn't "really" change his actions or behavior unless it's a dramatic change. AKA, a plot device.

i dont think it changes much at all. i mean it just gives a more varied possibilty of interations than it would if you went with the normal what is to be expected aproach. i dont think it would change thier base personalitys.

take tails for instance. if he were straight and paired up with amy or rouge or some other female he would be shy at first but then become more assertive once he got a little more confident throughout the encounter. if her were gay or bi and with sonic hed still be tails and still be shy at first but get a little bolder as he got more confident throughout the encounter :D

I suppose it really depend on the character involved- If a person's identity is wrapped up with an SO or their sexuality, yes, it does on a base level change who they are. On the other hand, if a character's sexuality is not clearly established, or even mysterious, establishing it won't really change who they are (Unless said mystery is part of their character), but it will definitely cause character development in a different direction.


Your sexuality is part of who you are- can you honestly say that you would not think, or behave differently if you were attracted to a different gender?

Honestly? Yes, I can. I act, think and appreciate exactly the same way I did when I thought I was straight. It really hasn't made one iota of difference in my life that wasn't spurred by the outside world's difficulties.

Would you be in love with the same person?

If they were a different gender! *laughs* But to address what you're getting at, the effects of a relationship are dependent on the other person, not their gender; noone holds the monopoly on good or bad traits that work to or against one's favor.

Well, you're sort of missing the point, Yes, hypothetically, you might have fallen in love with another person if they were a different gender and you were straight- but they're *not*, and you're not. Even if you met someone exactly the same, but they weren't the gender you preferred, its unlikely you'd have ended up in a romantic relationship with them. And yes, the effects of the relationships depend on the person- that's the point- being in a relationship with a specific person changes you, for good or ill, and the fact of the matter is, your sexual preference led you to chose them, at least in part- same with those "Outside Difficulties" you mentioned- having to deal with the issues made you think and act in a different fashion than you would had if you hadn't had to face them.

Your personality is not in a vacuum. The issues you face and the people you interact with have an affect on it. and having a preference of one gender over another changes those issues and sometimes the people, or at least the way you interact with them.

No, being of a different sexual preference doesn't instantly make you a different person, but it will inevitably lead you down a different path in life, which in turn *will* make you a different person.

I don't think it does. I think that's a popular myth. People are who they are, and there's a lot more variety among people than we tend to believe.

There is, in social psychology, what is known as the Fallacy of Outgroup Homogeneity, which in plain English means, we tend to think everyone in a group we don't belong to is the same. So straight people want to characterize homosexuals as being certain ways, when the truth is, there is just as much variety amongst them as there is among straight people.

Also, I've had friends make the transition from straight to gay or lesbian, and while some of them felt peer pressure to alter their lifestyle, I can't say any of them fundamentally became different people.

It's the problem I've always really had with Yaio fangirls I've met. They get all squeely over random pairings that make little to no sense.

In comics or what not, if a character is suddenly going to have a sexuality change then there better be a damn good reason other than "we wanted to try to boost ratings". If a character changes sexuality in a fanwork then they better have a reason other than "I wanted to bang so-and-so" and make it well written.

Just my opinion, I'm all for keeping characters true to canon when used in fanworks.

To paraphrase Pilate \"What is canon?\" Given all the retconning going on in the various comics recently?

Rofl. Good Point. With the retcon-punch and OMD stuff going on, who knows.

Besides, I'm sure we all sleep so much better NOT knowing Robotnik's sexual orientation.

I'm not asking, I don't want to know, and I think that secret should never be released into the world.

Given current pop culture, who can safely assume that characters AREN'T gay or bi and still in the closet?

Just a thought.

Eviscerator is right.

This question is only relevant if the character's sexuality is a crucial part of the storyline. For example, Sonic could totally be gay for Shadow for all we know. The way he talked to Shadow in STH raised my eyebrow a few times.

If the preference is clearly part of the canon however, then you can argue that the character is different. People just seem to assume that characters are straight unless there are hints of the contrary, and thus they interpret the character to have certain feelings about other characters based on this assumption. This is why they argue that gay is different.

It depends... for me at least. If the character's personality is heavily based on his sexuality (eg: a womanizer), it can break his entire persona. Jiraiya can't be anything else than Hetero >.>

Pairings like Sasuke/Naruto and Sonic/Shadow on the other hand, are acceptable because said characters already have an unhealthy obsession with each other, so why not push them across the edge XD

Looking down at my comment I see I rambled on a bit. Hope you can sift it and get the points out.

Me and a friend have had discussions on this very topic. He considers it a major change to their personality. I just see it as one more personal trait that you can't see from afar, and I consider other things to be much worse in terms of warping a character. I only dislike "slash" fics when there's a change to the characters' personalities outside the preference. I'd say, personality is then about what kind of, for instance, men a character likes. Not the gender itself. That's more like whether they can drink milk without getting sick and if they were born with red hair. That is, it's a part of them, but not to do with their personality at all.
Me and my friend discuss this now and then, and are both fascinated by the difference in opinion. (it did help me to understand why he was so negative towards fics / art with the theme) But he also considers homosexuality something unnatural - which I don't. That has to play in. Bisexuality is, to him, more OK because it still is "halfway right". XD

I don't know if it matters, but for me there's been a lot of hours and energy going into debating my own preferences with myself, and once I arrived at "probably bi" the whole issue sort of stopped being such a big deal. It really suddenly just let go and now I also find it very hard to think that it matters so much to who a person is. I do find it something you can lie to yourself about, which complicates things - you can't lie about your eyes or your puking if drinking milk - but it's still there, and it's not something that develops over time and through decisions.

I used to think it was way past weird with homo / bisexuality in itself as a little and a slightly bigger kid, but somewhere along the line my view changed. Like new glasses. I think it had a lot to do with deciding what seems right to me, instead of the populace or "the book" (whichever book one follows). Lucky me or I would've had real problems ;) No seriously... when I went to school as a kid, it was commonly accepted that homosexuals were some kind of disturbed people who were really really bad for you. Smashing windows or drowning cats would probably have been more accepted in those circles. I think a lot of that thinking is still out there, in many people, the way most people avoid and fear anything else that they don't really know.

Like a real human being when I create a character it's personality is written in stone. Arcice (an evil magician of mine) is actually genophobic. and always will be. And if you remember Kyros, he is hetero and always will be. My little star to shine here (wich is not yet posted is Yurix Nega. She is not the picky one.

I hate to sound harsh and nasty, but if your character's behavior is wildly based on their sexual orientation, they're sluts for sex. Now I know sexuality is a very powerful and potentially great component in a character's personality, but I see so many 2-bit run of the mill demon or bad ass characters with a big stiffy for themselves, that I'm utterly disappointed by the shallow minded, vast majority. But the point that I'm dragging myself by the teeth to get to is that sexuality in a character - if changed - does in fact change them in a baker's dozen of ways.

I guess one thing to note is, let's just say, homosexual characters often have a much sharper interest and affinity for their sexuality and are often vocal about it. (If not, ear stinging and eye watering about it.) A character who orients their behavior in public, in occupation, and in private around their sexuality obviously have a personality that is effectively wrapped up the same way, that supplied with a change in orientation might have a dramatic change. Egos, dominant characteristics, and even reservation can increase and decrease. You're basically looking at one character as gregarious versus introverted because their need to be expressive is stymied. Let's face it. Homosexual characters are very expressive and Heterosexuals aren't exactly trying to get the word out on the concept. (Since it's kind of initial.)

Please keep in mind, I'm trying to not to sound like some hard up jerk with a beef with something. I'm simply applying what I know and what I've studied from a neutral stand point. As my own personal opinion, I try to avoid making a very sexually oriented character unless the situation strenuously demands it. It's also hard for me to take such characters seriously as they come off as pretentious and even shallow at best. Perhaps it's that I'm admittedly a bit genophobic, but I do know that one shouldn't avoid sexuality in a character entirely. Last thing you need is an utter prude. Hehehe.

I think you're arguing two points at once that are not necessarily mutually true. The first one is that there are a lot of characters that make homosexuality their only feature. I agree with that, and it gets so tiring to see. It's like a token black or disabled character.

However, I do kind of take issue with the 'homosexuals are expressive' thing. I don't necessarily think that's true; as a matter of fact, tons of homosexual characters have had very reserved personalities for the very same reason that others had outgoing ones- societal acceptance. You seem to be working off the idea that the character is already defined by their sexuality, which is not quite what I was asking.

Ahh, I see. I guess I have seen much different crowds then for my experiences. Perhaps I also may have misunderstood the question at some point.

Honestly, it really depends upon the character. It REALLY really depends upon the character and the character that's chosen to pair them with. There are a lots of variables that it depends upon and it's also up to people's perceptions, as some people are more inclined to believe certain things than others.

It's a matter of opinion, basically.

*shrugs*

Take Sonic for instance. Could I see Sonic in a relationship with Tails? Of course, regardless of which gender Tails is (because it's never REALLY specified totally). So yeah, that's believable. Knuckles? Okay, somewhat believable. Sexuality is never a big issue in Sonic, so it's not really addressed, and Sonic isn't really all that attracted to Amy (yes he cares for her, but he's also annoyed as hell and there are times when she's downright psychotic). But he's a free spirit and I can see that kind of interaction going.

Now Sonic and Shadow? I... dunno. They don't seem like they'd do that. Shadow seems very anti-sexual, or he'd be the kind that'd take out his frustrations in a sexual manner, rather than having a healthy relationship with someone.

Now Eggman... I'd prefer not to think about that.

And I'm rambling. XD

changes in a character's sexual orientation in a story usually oversimplify the complexities involved when the situation begins to dawn on them, unless the person is a VERY good writer, and can think both inside and outside the shoes of such an individual while writing it. It is not something which most people can easily identify with, and I think a lot of writers completely miss that somehow, because they either assume the reader will understand something that they won't, or the author doesn't really understand it themselves.

When this happens, the rapid change in a character's personality becomes difficult to follow, and furthermore, many viewers can feel alienated from what they might have had in common with the character. This can be made worse when the author's ego is used to "play god" with the characters and retcon them in ways that go unexplained, and thus hard for the viewer to believe. It is very difficult to explain a change like this in details that both the viewer and artist can relate to, and furthermore, such a subject does have personal prejudices and stereotypes which come into play :V