I've read every episode and I've been patiently rereading them while we await Episode 15 and the conclusion of Part 1. While doing that, I've noticed a number of heterosexual relationships: the casual relationship between Nathan Scott and Jessica Nash, Josh and Kayla Yosef dating, Luis and Devyn flirting, etc. But, we haven't seen evidence of homosexuality anywhere. I'm just curious about whether those kinds of relationship exist in the universe of the series.
Touchy subject.
For the record: I have nothing against anyone's sexual preferences. (Excluding pedophiles.) What ever floats your boat is fine with me. I have gay friends, I have lesbian friends. I don't have any transgender friends (that I know of), but that's by design, I just haven't met any. (That I know of.)
I try to avoid the whole sexual side of things as much as possible, as it's not what I want to write about. (At least not in this series.) Whether such relationships will exist in future episodes, I cannot say. (Although I suspect that they might at least be hinted at.)
The fact is that I know nothing about such relationships, therefore, it would be difficult for me to accurately portray them. That may seem like a cop-out to some, but that's the truth of it. (That's the reason I don't write in the rather lucrative romance genre either. Because I know nothing of romance. Just ask my wife!)
As we venture further out into the lost colonies of Sol, I suspect we will see varying degrees of acceptance of 'non-heterosexual' relationships.
Personally, I wish that I had never written the encounter between Nathan and Jessica in episode 1. It was only later that I realized that I preferred my Sci Fi to be without sexual relationships. To be honest, every time I read one in someone else's Sci Fi, it reads like some poor writer who isn't getting laid much wrote it.
@rykbrown It isn't a cop-out. Isn't one of the most basic principals of being a writer "write what you know"?
The encounter between Nathan and Jessica does appear out of place in context with the rest of the series, but you have built nicely on the idea of there being an attraction between the two characters in subsequent episodes (i.e. Jessica holding Nathan's hand in the Corinaran command bunker as the missiles were launched against the Aurora in Episode 4 and Jessica kissing Nathan before departing for Kohara with Sergeant Weatherly and Naralena in Episode 13).
Something that has been strange to me though has been the sudden disappearance of Kayla Yosef and her relationship with Josh in the last couple of episodes. She hasn't even been mentioned I don't think. I know this isn't a romance series, but it is kind of odd that she just disappears without even a mention like:
Loki: "Hey, what happened to you and Kayla?"
Josh (groaning): "Don't ask, Lok."
Loki (concerned): "Josh, what did you do?!"
Josh (annoyed): "We broke up and what makes you think it was my fault?"
Loki (rolling eyes): "Because it always is, Josh. It always is."
I thought the Scott/Nash encounter was a nice touch, it made Nathan and Jess more real. They started out immature and grew into the story. Especially Nathan because his priorities changed so much. It has been a few books now since he looked uncomfortably unsure about anything.
I agree with not putting something into the story that you don't know about, but more importantly how do you bring up that someone is LGBT without seeming to be ticking boxes. I guess you could mention officers on one of the ships holding hands or something and being blasted for it (inappropriate behavior / not for being LGBT) Or maybe talk of what people did on they're Shore leave, but it all seems very pointed.
I don't mind one or two mentions of couples or flirting, but to be honest I find the highlighting of any relationship more then just briefly touching on it (Or to build the Characters) in a story to be an invasion of privacy and unnecessary in a space-war story.
Also I'm really not a romantic, I was kind of surprised in my 3rd reading of Ep14 when Yanni kissed Deliza on the cheek, I somehow missed it in my first two readings.
FYI Josh and Loki did have that conversation in one of the more recent books Ep13 I think...
@four-islands I wouldn't think that characters, whether officers or enlisted, would necessarily be "blasted" as you say for holding hands as long as it was done off-duty and the relationship didn't violate standing regulations. In modern militaries, relationships aren't aloud when a) the relationship is between an officer and an enlisted soldier/sailor/airman/Marine and b) the relationship is between two individuals in the same chain of command. Applying that in-universe means Nathan and Jessica shouldn't technically have a relationship that is more than friendship because she is his subordinate.
I'm afraid you've lost me on the whole "invasion of privacy" argument because we're talking about fictional characters here, but I agree that relationships between the characters shouldn't be a central focus on the series. But, including them adds depth to the characters, making them more like people than characters in a book.
Ah, the relationship between Yanni and Deliza has been building for a couple of episodes now.
They may have had that conversation in Episode 13, but I don't remember it.
