helen-louise's journal

I wish to register a complaint. There is precisely one canon gay couple in Skyrim, and they're both dead when you find them. No, that's not problematic at all.

I'm generally fairly easy-going when it comes to fictional characters. After all, we don't know the sexuality of anyone in the game for certain. People in happy, loving, opposite-sex relationships might identify as bisexual rather than heterosexual, just like in real life. Also, there are an awful lot of characters who aren't currently in relationships, and the game doesn't have speech options for you to quiz them about their sexual orientation. The best you can do is put on an Amulet of Mara and ask people if they're interested in marrying you. The same 60 or so characters are available for marriage, regardless of the gender or race of the character you're playing. And if they have a high enough relationship level with you, they will always say yes.

So Skyrim's a lot more generous than many games in terms of what it allows the player. Opposite-sex and same-sex relationships are treated absolutely identically. But the only characters who talk about being romantically involved are people in opposite-sex relationships. There may be same-sex relationships, but they're not overt.

The only overt same-sex couple are both dead.

The tale of Hrodulf and Bjornolfr is a tragedy which you only piece together if you have enough interest to do so. ( Technically, I should mark this as containing spoilers. )