Oh dear, this is starting to hit weirdly close to home. My closest friend in Japan , whom I've known for the last ten years or so, is gay. His husband is Japanese, as is my wife. Was back home a few years ago talking to my best friend, whom I've know since we were five, about what Gil (the gay friend and I) talk about. We sit and bitch about our spouses. Just like two stereotypical straight men (or straight women, for that matter). It's not my place to give details, but apparently not putting things away properly, or interfering in the kitchen, or staying awake fiddling with a tablet in bed etc etc cross sexual orientation boundaries. Best friend's reaction? "No shit?" But anyway, on to the bears. Gil is my supervisor at work (echoes of @Wreybies being a mod here), and it's Japan, so basically, if he says it, it's not an inappropriate comment. And he's convinced that everyone can fit somewhere on the Bear spectrum. So we have a really nasty habit of asking the new guys (we only have one female employee), out of the blue, frequently at lunch in the cafeteria, "So, new guy, what kind of bear do you think you are?" If they survive that round with their sanity intact, we proceed on to a discussion of various perversions niche sexual practices which I won't list here.
If the writing is authentic, then go for it. Why choose gay characters if it's not essential to the plot or theme? What is the reason for our characters and their traits. Having a reason is important to writing. I'm not African, but I have an African character. I'm not from Mexico, nor Israel, nor a woman, but my main character is a Mexican/Jewish female. Should I throw her out and make her a white dude from Michigan? Why be a writer if you can't write about all types of characters. And yes, avoid cliches, stereotype and anything bigoted and I don't see a problem. Peace, Tex
When bundled up for winter weather, I not infrequently refer to myself as Paddington Bear, because I feel as wide as I am tall. I assume that this doesn't fit into this conversation...
I believe the only kind of bear you* qualify (conditionally) as is an Ursala, which is a lesbian Bear. AFAIK that's the only place on the Bear spectrum for women, but we could petition the Grand High Gay Council** to add a Paddington category, if you'd like *Nope, don't know a damn thing about your sexuality. Or your build. Just found out you were female last week, IIRC **I assume there is one
I don't think that is quite the same as Mistress Lorelei talks about in her book. Pretty sure she is using it in regards to a manly crossdresser that likes to be dominated by a a strong woman. Also it was written in 2000, which is a tad bit before something like True Blood came out (approx. 8 Years before). On an aside. I found the book The Mistress Manual (The Good Girls Guide To Female Dominance) to be a bit of a fun read. It has a bit of humor to it even though a bit topical to content. Bought it for the ex-wife, but I am the one who wound up with it and decided to read it. Not in my opinion the go to per se, when it comes to getting into the Lifestyle. But it was a fun 170 pages into a new perspective on how one could go about it. ( I will not be speaking of my own exp. on the matters of the Lifestyle.)
To the OP: One of my oldest friends is gay, but there isn't much that would "give it away". He's just a guy with feminine and masculine interests (which are highly subjective concepts anyway). Maybe one thing that separates him from the straight guys I know apart from who he wants to date is that most of his friends are very good-looking women . When we were in high school, I didn't even know for the longest time that he was gay as he wasn't particularly interested in dating, LGBTQ issues, or whatever might "give it away". Another friend I've known since I was 14 is lesbian, and the only stereotypical thing I think of her is that she's super duper feminist but I'm not sure how much that has to do with her sexuality since basically as long as you live your life as a woman, women's issues will be your issues regardless your sexual orientation. I guess my point is that things like your character's upbringing, personal likes and dislikes, core personality, the company he keeps, and so on will more likely define the kind of character he is rather than who he wants to sleep with. Not saying one's sexual identity wouldn't have an impact on their lifestyle, choices, and even personality, sometimes "gay" is the first thing they might answer if someone asks "what word best defines you?" while to another homosexual it could be "soldier" or "brooding" or "weeaboo". I think it's good to be aware of stereotypes, but avoiding them at all costs isn't necessarily the best or only way to go about it. After all, they are stereotypes for a reason, and to some people they may be very important when it comes to their identity. Aaand I realize now this probably wasn't an all-that-helpful answer... But I wish you luck!
<tangent="random curiosity"> Are there any actual bears naturally occurring in the UK? I'm thinking no, but I'm not sure. Are they part of your native fauna? </tangent>
Nope we used to have eurasian brown bears but they were hunted to extinction circa 1000 AD We have no mamallian top predators at all bears, wolves, lynx etc are all extinct ... our largest terrestial mammal predator is probably the badger or possibly the wild boar depending on how you class predator (and the largest terrestrial herbivore the red deer)
Meanwhile, in Canada - I got a bulletin about a week ago about a mountain lion in my neighbourhood who's been preying on small dogs. My neighbour found some tracks in her back yard that she thought might be the cougar, but we poked around until we found the prints from the back feet - it was only a black bear, not a cougar. And I mean "black bear" in the traditional, zoological sense...
Well my big soft moose is about 60cm tall so yes (and no that isn't a metaphor for anything else). His name is Chris - he was a chris moose present - and he sit on my bedside table, I put my glasses on him during the night so I can find them easily real moose/elk (that is what the Canadians call moose and the scandi's call elk) are another species to go extinct in the British Isles
I deliberately went with "mountain lion" to avoid that, but... you're too clever for me! ETA: Oh. I slipped up, obviously. No good using "mountain lion" the first time and then switching back to "cougar". Grrrr...
heres a thought leading on from cougars. In the same way that the straight community have MILFs Mothers I'd Like to... ahem.. Fornicate with, does the Bear scene/ Wider homosexual community have FILFs and if so what do you call them ?
I don't know if this will help, but my work "Second Chance" involved fantasy and two gay characters falling in love. It tended to coincide with Alpha-Beta-Omega Dynamics, and I found myself writing it pretty decently. I wrote it as if it was a heterosexual couple.
I'm predominately writing gay guys as my MCs. I love it because it's so unique and it gets under the skin of people at school.
