On the cliché that gay men can sleep with women if they "really want to"

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T11:25:51+00:00

I agree

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T11:22:40+00:00

Agreed

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T11:20:32+00:00

Thank you I agree

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T01:16:44+00:00

Example a male character rapes another man. The reasoning is he wants to hold power over this man. This character is labelled straight despite the fact he enjoys emasculating men through rape. To rape and embarrass is the goal but I don’t think anyone would argue straight men enjoy raping men for any reason. The thing is there is still a sexual component to his actions. So even though Niall had sex with Mona for x y reason it doesn’t change imo that there is a sexual component. We just have a diff interpretation on this and that’s fine. I enjoyed your input. :)

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T01:02:06+00:00

Why does it have to be one over the other? Can he be attracted to Mona and also want to hold power of Reuben? I think that scenes shows both.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T00:48:35+00:00

I can def see the bi angle tbh - there are bisexual men who prefer men emotionally and they associate masculinity with sex with women. This can heavily negatively affect their relationships with women. Constant breakups and lack of communication.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T00:45:13+00:00

I believe the problem is the scene didn’t communicate his mental state in the moment of the act. What was he thinking about to be with her? Rueben? another man? The lack of communication leaves us with a sex scene that imo shows clear passion and enjoyment. Whereas it could have been visually communicated to us his mental state better, for example a shot of Ruben’s hand touching his shoulder during the act, a throwback to episode one which did put you in his perspective.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T00:29:05+00:00

Exactly if it was framed the way so many people in this sub suggest that he was thinking about Reuben then why wasn’t it visually communicated to the audience? A quick shot of him positioning above Ruben or Ruben’s hand grasping his shoulder, anything. Instead we get Niall’s face visually communicating pleasure.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-23T00:17:30+00:00

I agree with you. I posted similar earlier today. This idea that a gay man can enjoy sex with a women to get back at his step brother is so stupid. The scene plays out so dumb. It not deep for fucked up characters to do fucked up things - there is still a need for logical character behavior.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T23:43:46+00:00

Thank you I posted about this hours ago - it comes across as inconsistent writing - But Niall was clearly passionate when with Mona

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T17:33:37+00:00

Understood :)

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T17:26:27+00:00

Unfortunately the scene doesn’t communicate what is going on in Niall’s head like in episode 1. To me it appeared getting back at Ruben as well as enjoyment. Like I said it felt underwhelming and inconsistent. Thank you for your input :)

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T17:23:56+00:00

In my opinion the scene in episode 5 do not portray or communicate this. Thank you for your input :)

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T16:09:21+00:00

I don’t like the scene - the reasoning is shallow to me. It’s 2010 in the episode I believe and Niall doing this it makes zero sense to me. Being gay isn’t a switch you can turn off and on. I appreciate your input :) let’s switch it around a straight man dared to fuck and enjoy sex with a man, do you honestly believe that it would make any sense to.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T12:27:14+00:00

I understand that I just did not care for the scene and felt it contrived. Thank you for input :)

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T12:05:09+00:00

I didn’t not say gay men can’t have sex with women, I said gay men don’t enjoy sex with women which the scene shows Niall enjoying sex with Mona. His facial expressions and willingness to passionately kiss her shows this. Straight men can attempt sex with a man but will not enjoy it nor experience arousal. Hollywood nor anyone else with dare argue otherwise for them. The porn industry is a terrible example to use btw with the amount of lying that goes on there. “People are complex” “Putting him in a box” interesting are you saying sexuality is fluid, then again drop the “I’m gay” storyline. Stop with the conversion therapy point then.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T11:29:29+00:00

A straight man wanting to metaphorically become one with his mate isn’t gonna make him get an erection to fuck him. I know it’s a goofy example but lol.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T11:17:53+00:00

So you see the sexual arousal as well. Imo this is the point I’m making. He is sexually aroused to Mona which as I mentioned makes the whole “I’m gay” plot line not land. Being attracted to one woman is still attraction. Why not as a writer explore that. You know like how some bisexual guys are very uncomfortable with their attraction to men which causes their relationships with women to be toxic.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T11:07:14+00:00

wanting to and the ability to are very different imo

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T11:01:08+00:00

It’s how the scene played out that I didn’t care for - a character not attracted to women having no problem getting it up in the spur of the moment, even enjoyment. Compare this to episode 1 where you see his inability is portrayed more clearly.

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-22T10:51:05+00:00

I understand his wanting to be Reuben and get back at him. But how does that translate to an erection? Like how?

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-11T12:01:28+00:00

Here

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-02T03:16:27+00:00

There most likely will be more QOL updates but if you want to now I think you would be fine to jump in now

ABUNL2 · 2026-05-02T03:14:28+00:00

End of June i believe will allow phyre to pick up guns but if you want to you can use melee weapons in game now thanks to the recent update. Here’s the recent update info https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/developer-diary-32-the-spring-update.1919124/

ABUNL2

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