Gay Characters on Soap Operas - A need for Happily Ever-afters

For the most part, I don't know how many of you watch Soap Operas. And usually, I don't. But as a MM writer and an Ally, I kept hearing about all these LGBT breakthroughs of LGBT characters on these shows and about three months ago, I found this wonderful habit on youtube. You see, fans of the MM storylines, will get the shows, take out all the MM parts and put them together in their own little episodes. This is great for when you don't want the other BS stories, you can just watch what you want!




While I am super excited that more MM characters are hitting primetime and day time,  I've noticed a rather disturbing trend in Soap Operas within North America, Australia and New Zealand. You see, they will put MM characters in the shows but they will then proceed to torture the hell out of them.


Let me first point out that yes, there are a few that end happily. I think this is where I say stop reading here because there might be some spoilers.


Don't care? Let's go!


Happy ending - Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish from One Life To Live. Let's get over the fact for a second that they named this dude Fish. This show knew how to write a

Oliver Fish & Kyle Lewis

good MM storyline. Sure, the characters had their drama and ups and downs but it was beautiful. The downside to this was, the characters were written out of the show because apparently they brought the show's ratings down. I don't believe that for a second because if you check their vids on youtube, they are in the millions.


The story line sent all kinds of emotions through me-fear, anger, happiness, confusion, more anger, more fear, a little more anger then a blissful awww moment that makes me go back repeatedly just to watch the storyline again and again. It was well written, the actors were amazing, and the feels were real people! They were so real I cry every time I watch it.


Then there was Syed and Christian. First of all let me say I may be a tad biased because this is the first mainstream interracial gay couple I've seen on a soap opera. I mean, yes, there was Chad and Vincent on Passions but Vincent went crazy and tried to whack a bunch of people. Syed and Christian hails from Eastenders and I am in love! You see, Christian is this sexy as hell, stud that is openly gay and Syed, well he was so far in the closet that I am not sure how Christian's light found

Syed and Christian

him. Then add religious obligations, familial obligations, Syed's own demons, a girlfriend who seemed a little nutty, a child he didn't realize was coming, a few fires, an explosion, a roof collapse, gay bashing - and omg the rollercoaster my poor heart went on I damn near died.


At one point I found myself thinking "if these two ends up alone or without each other I'm gonna burn things!" Thankfully, the writers were kind. I mean after all the hell they went through, the tears, the anger, the back and forth until Christian was like "I'm done, Syed." I don't think I cried more than with these two. In the end, they wound up together and went off to travel the world together then moved back to England to live close to Syed's baby girl who, by the way, is a constant visitor to their place to see her daddies!


So yes there are a few ones that were well written that ended in a way that made me satisfied.


Let's begin the downward spiral with Ste Hay of Hollyoaks. Lord have mercy where do I even start? I didn't start watching this show from the beginning of Ste's relationship because lord knows my heart

Ste Hay

cannot handle it all.  This kid has been through all manner of evil that, if he was in real life, he would be dead. His character was introduced in 2006 and lawd-ha-mercy...The first time I saw him was because he was dating the town's resident fuck-up John Paul McQueen (and don't even get me started on his life. He fell in love with an in the closet Priest who finally comes out then winds up dead - I'm not sure if it was suicide or if the crazy guy going around pushing pregnant women down the stairs killed him but Kieron (the priest) is dead). Ste has two kids (yes, with a woman) who seems to be evil as hell because every chance she gets to torture him, she does. So, let's run through some of the issues - Drug addiction, custody of his babies, dear death (more than twice), domestic violence, abusive childhood, and in the upcoming season, he's about to go to court to try keeping his kids--again because the writers are bastards. He's been with Noah, John Paul, Doug, Harry...and these are just the ones I know about right now. Even fans on youtube are getting fed up. I just spent the last hour or so having an in depth conversation with a couple of them and they are tired. While we understand bad things happen, you'd have to watch this show to see what we mean. At this point enough is enough!


Aaron Livesy  - This guy is in Emmerdale. Lord, where do I start. I've gone back and watch from he began acting out. He was the pain in the ass for the village, always getting into trouble until he met Jackson. Jackson was the sweetest, funniest, gorgeous-iest, nerdiest man ever and I adored him hard. He finally got Aaron out of the closet and BAM! Car accident left him paralyze from the neck down.

Aaron Livesy

He winds up going through assisted suicide because he didn't want to live that way. Aaron was totally gutted! Then to add insult to his misery turns out he was raped as a baby (by his own FATHER) and he's been keeping that on his mind, his mother is a crazy and nosy but she means well, he was arrested and charged for murder so he was in jail a bunch of times, then when they began dealing with the father thing, turned out he has a half sister who turned into a little shit even though he tries to protect her the best he can. In all of that he meets Robert and they HATED each other--Turns out Robert was in the closet and the two begins the tug and war to get Robert to either stay in or come out. Rich people with money are now involved (Robert's family), car accident, fights, lies, betrayal - He is happy right now but from what I can see, right now we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.


And I would go through Christian and Ollie from Verbotene Liebe - but how much time you got? And they still didn't wind up together.


There are more but who has that kind of time?


The point of this blog post isn't to be long and dragged out. It is to show a trend that breaks my heart. Yes, we'll put gay men in our mainstream soap operas but then we're going to screw them every chance we get. Their happiness is not possible - what kind of shit is that? If you go into Dutch or Portuguese soaps, the characters go through hell and sometimes they go through the whole storyline without a kiss due to censorship but in the end they're happy. Like Lucas from GTST - he went through HELL. Abuse, cheating, fights, betrayal, gay bashing...Then finally he winds up with Menno and *sigh*

Menno & Lucas - GTST

It breaks my heart because I keep watching these shows and these men rarely ever get their happily ever afters. It's like these writers are trying to tell young, gay men that sure, it's okay to be who you are, just know you won't ever be happy. It's really sad and I really wish there was something I could do to help change that. But when it comes to screenplays I have ZERO skills. *sigh*


At the end of the day, those with power control it all. The casting and writing of these shows are no different. It sucks that gay men are portrayed in the light they have and not being given a chance to prove that no, gay doesn't mean a life of doom. I really hope these writers would reconsider and try putting a little more light and a bit more fairytale within the lines of these shows. We need that--why? There are young gay people out there who have no friends and family. They watch these shows expecting a little hope and all they can see is Ste Hay finally being happy only to be stuck in rubble, talking to his fiancée who, incidentally is already dead and he just doesn't know it yet, or John Paul McQueen who thinks, finally he's found a good man in Kieron who winds up dead. Or Ben Mitchel (Eastenders) who figures YES! Paul is the one! Only to have himself and Paul kidnapped and beaten so bad that Paul winds up dead, or Christian and Ollie who fought through so much to be together for YEARS (I am not kidding) only to wind up apart. Or poor Aaron Livesey--


We need more happily ever afters. We do.


Hugs,
Remmy D

My Confession - My Blasian Affair

I confess that I am a culture-holic.

There....I said it.

When I attended University, I was away from home, family and old friends. Still I made the best of a bad situation and met new people and started my downward slide into the wonderful world of Asian Dramas and Music. From my love affair with Garo, Liar Game and X Family, I gravitated toward the music starting with BigBang, Rain and Se7en (Pronounced SEVEN).

Shinwha

It started out innocently enough - I was in my dorm room and heard this song playing. While it wasn`t in English I could hear the sadness in the singer`s voice and darted down the stairs to see where that haunting song was coming from. Up until this point I hadn`t really spoken to my housemates. They were mostly foreign students and I was terrified. Turns out the song was coming from the dining room so I asked the girl sitting there what song that was and who sang it. I knew it was in Korean--that much I was good with.She explained it was a band called BigBang and that the song was Haru Haru. That late evening we spent the next five hours down the Youtube black hole watching video after video - we went from BigBang, to Shinwha to Rain to 2NE1 and Jang Woo Hyuk and I was hooked.

At first I was addicted to their voices. Then their histories, then their dance moves and one day I sat back and thought - Oh wow, he`s beautiful! I was referring to M from Shinwha. After that, it was all downhill from there. I dug more into these bands on my own, studying their voices - I hate to say it but the members in these bands look eerily similar to each other so knowing their faces sometimes is not possible for me. So I learn the sounds of their voices, the way they move, the way they dress, and that`s how I usually tell them apart. Shinwha I`ve been a fan of for so long I know all their members as well as BigBang (who incidentally I recently saw in concert in Toronto as a part of their MADE tour and OMG I am in love more!lol).

More recently I've become addicted to Lunafly, HISTORY (Kungl, BTS, SHINee, N'UEST, Zhoumi, EXO (M and K) and the list goes on and on.

BTS

So how does this tie in with my writing?

A few years ago I got this bright idea to write a story about a Japanese American Marine who lives in the united states, served his country and comes home to nothing. His fiancee took everything and vanished like a fart in the wind. Because I wrote only interracial stories at the time, and because I was a bit of a shit starter (still am by the way) I decided to pair him with a black character. I never saw it as a big deal - I mean I'd just gotten out of a relationship with a man who was born in Tibet but was raised in India who was half Chinese/Half Japanese so to me, this pairing was a no brainer. I wrote the tale, edited and began shopping it around to different publisher. The first house I sent it to sent me back an email asking me if there was any chance I could change the Japanese Marine to a Native American man. At first I was baffled. I didn't know why that was. So I emailed back to ask why. The reply was "no one wanted to read a story about a Japanese man." I was shocked but life goes on, right? The second house I sent it to, asked me to take the black guy out and make him white.

Again, I sent a reply back asking why. I was quickly told that Japanese people did not "like blacks" and that the Japanese thought "blacks were dirty because of the colour of their skin."

Now, for those of you who know me personally, can see the flames shooting out of my ears just retyping that garbage. I was so pissed off I didn't even reply to that email. For a while I was

BigBang

absolutely gutted. I loved this guy so much how dare they speak for a whole culture? For the longest time I had the story sitting around on my computer. The debate was whether to change the black guy or the Japanese guy.  In the end I decided I wouldn't change either. I re-edited for spelling and grammar then subbed it to another house. I was determined this story would be published if not by a publishing house, then self published. I have this stubborn streak in me that can sometimes be a bad thing but it hasn't failed me yet. It was a good story. I enjoyed writing it and if you're not going to take it give me a reason like "we don't like it" or "it doesn't fit our style" or something. But racism? Oh hell to the now!

 Luckily, the third house said yes and CAGED hit the world.  Then after things went downhill with another story, I had to gut and change a bunch of things so I changed the second hottie to a Korean American NYPD officer name Leo. That story is LOVE LIES BLEEDING now at Wilde City Press.

Later, I got this bright idea for a species of Demi-god-esque characters called SHIVERS and the second book in that series include a sexy Samurai turned SHIVER and his African American real estate mogul human lover! OSAKI was accepted by Pride Books.

Daniel Dae Kim

Lately, readers have been emailing to ask for more Blasian (Black and Asian) stories from me. One reader said I had this way of infusing culture and language into my story and they want to see more of that. One reader who I am friends with on facebook has asked me repeatedly to write a Yaoi for her - for those who have no idea what that is click here. I started it but other ideas keeps flooding my brain and life just keeps getting in the way. But I digress.

Yes, I love writing Asian men - Recently I wrote a story with a Korean man that I can't wait for readers to get their hands on. It's a little sexier than most of my other stuff but hey, we live and we grow, right?

Writing these stories make me so happy - It pushes me to dig through food, language, fashion, all these beautiful little things that make up a people!

Over the past few years I began looking into cultures deeply. I've learned that just as how they have their own ways of doing things, they have things that make them sexy.  To write Interracial romance/erotica, you have to delve into these new worlds, learn what makes the women/men go gaga over each other and see if it is something you can get behind.

So I guess that's my way of saying, yes

With me, I've immersed myself into the music and I think I can honestly say, blasian tales will always be a part of my book list.  While CAGED is no longer for sale (The contract was up and it needs a good gutting since my writing has developed since then) and then I will re-submit it again.

Love,
Remmy Duchene

Thug Life- Not for Me

Over the past few months, I've been getting these emails about the kind of black men I write. No, they aren't the good letters, they are the letters that are asking me why my black men had to be so proper. One lady even go as far as to tell me that my black men aren't "real". Confused, I emailed her back and asked her what she meant by "real." She told me they speak too well, they are educated and "real" black men are not like that.

I took a breath, walked away from the computer, cleaned my whole house, drove my mom's car and washed it then finally sat down in front of my computer to pen a reply. Now, I know most of you reading this is thinking I shouldn't have responded to her because there is no hope for people like that, but I like trying to help people before I completely just walk away. I asked her what kind of black men was she hanging around with?

Ever since I was a child, I was never then one to conform to stereotypes. I watched Power Rangers instead of adult programming, I wore long, elegant skirts instead of booth shorts. I read books instead of going out and getting into trouble-I've been a strange against the grain girl since I was little.

One of the reasons I started writing M/M is because I got tired of the M/M I was reading.  I've read books that I only finished reading because I paid for the things and would find it a complete waste if I DNR them. The gay romance/erotica I was reading were so deeply entrenched in stereotypes I wanted to cry every time. Either the men were too feminine, or they weren't at all very bright. One book I read had the main character sobbing from the fifth line of the first page and didn't seem to stop until the book ended.  I'm not saying men don't cry, it's just they don't sob over every little thing--that is not sexy.

Which brings me to my black men.  My black men are suave, intelligent -even if they aren't book smart they're street smart and they know when to be polite when when they need to be naughty. They don't talk thug. Sometimes there will be a splash of jargon in there but nothing too overtly offensive. I don't find thugs sexy.  I don't like my men wearing their pants down showing the cracks of their asses. I don't like the flashing gang signs with "thug life" tattooed to their necks and saying the N word after every syllable.

It's like watching the newly coined "thug porn." The moment they start screaming "N word this" and  "N word that" I clock out.

So, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with liking that or wanting to watch or read that kind of thing. If that's what you love then whatever floats your boat, but do not expect me to write that kind of thing. It is definitely not me and I don't accept that every black man out there has to talk as if they never heard the word "school". There are plenty of other people out there who write that kind of thing. I just want to make people see the other side of our black men. The side where they pronounce their words properly, who dress appropriately and who speak to people the way they would like to be spoken to.  I write men who are positive role models, who are passionate and always seek to do the right thing.

What people fail to understand, is my brain works with things that I like. If a thug doesn't turn me on I cannot hope to write one that is as sexy as my man who works two jobs and is looking for love. I am tired of seeing black men in these roles that makes them seem as if they're the devil's offspring. This is another reason why I disliked the tv show GANG RELATED so desperately. It was another cesspool of the blacks were thugs holding their guns sideways and carrying out drive-bys, the Asians were Triads, the Latinos were Mexican cartel - it was just downright pathetic.

People are more than just the colour of their skin or the label we give them. People are better than the way a small a portion of fools from that culture. Look past the negative and see them as human beings deserving of love, laughter and happiness.

I chose to be that different voice that see through the horrible to the good. I chose to write men that I would date, that I find sexy and desirable. In my writing, I chose to be me.

Love,
Remmy D

Dance anyone?

After much ado--DANCE FOR ME (written with Allison Cassatta) is here! It's sitting pretty over at ARE and ready to being in your hot little hands!

Lo... When they dance into your heart and falling can't be helped ...ve

Alexander Benton is used to getting what he wants. With his wealthy parents MIA most times, he is left to rule Juilliard and half of Manhattan with impunity. He hides his misery behind meaningless sex and condemning behavior.

Augusto Catalan grew up poor. To make a living, he dances at a local gay performance club and survives on the poverty line. His crappy New York apartment and simple life make him happy---except for the death of his lover, his brother being in a war zone and his life-long dream of getting into Juilliard slipping away with each passing day.

When Alex meets Augusto, he knows there is no way this ghetto boy is getting into /his/prestigious school. Then he sees Augusto dance

On Valentine's Day

At some point last year I heard Sara York was putting together this anthology and I jumped at the chance to be a part of it. My story "Impromptu Valentine's" is a part of the ON VALENTINE'S DAY anthology with some wonderful company.  My story is Interracial (BM/IM). You can snag this where ever you snag your Ebooks like Amazon and places like that.

Or just click here to grab your copy!


Here are the blurbs:

Louis Hated Valentine’s Day by Sue Brown - For Louis it meant long hours making bouquets for men who handed over a dozen red roses and ignored their spouses for the rest of the year. No one appreciated the language of flowers except Arnie who came in each week, buying flowers for a man didn’t even listen to what Arnie was trying to say.

Moonlight Masquerade by Raine Delight - Mysterious roses keep popping up on Skylar Everclear's doorstep. No idea what is going, a little disturbed by this secret admirer, he tries to forget it all since he just got rid of the latest line of loser boyfriends and just wants to do his job at the local bakery. But when he meets his new neighbor, Marc Douglas, he finds himself drawn to the quiet young man even as he tries to not let his libido take over. But on Valentine's Day, a mysterious rose again pops up with a note to meet his admirer that night. Will Skylar take a chance that this time, love is right there waiting for him?

Impromptu Valentine's by Remmy Duchene - Allam Dalliwal’s mother, his everything, has died. After her funeral, unable to handle it and being a cop as well as the fact that his most hated day was coming up (Valentine’s Day), he knows he has to get away from the city. He runs to his friend’s cabin on Fergus Hill, over-looking the ocean to get back some feeling in his life. When he walks into the bedroom to see a chocolate Adonis asleep in the only bed there, Allam is appalled. That is until he finds out, this man is Derek and friend of a friend’s and isn’t a threat. Then Allam’s body begins showing just what he truly thinks of Derek Walker.

Private Investigator Derek Walker is at a point in his life where being a snoop isn’t in his blood anymore and his body is exhausted. Fleeing to his friend’s cabin is the only think that catches his fancy. When he wakes up to a gun in his face, he can’t help but notice the cop holding the gun is sexy as sin. How as he going to go a week, with the Indian hottie without claiming him as his own?

Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson by Geoffrey Knight - When seven-year-old Mikey Madsen makes a Valentine’s Day card for someone named Bobby Bryson, it would seem to those around him that the very cornerstone of society might crumble. His teacher has a melt-down, his school principal goes into damage control and his single mother Kate isn’t quite sure how to handle the fact that her young son has just declared his love for another boy.

Will Mikey’s teachers and grandparents convince him that he has made some sort of ‘mistake’? Will society’s perceptions of romance forever alter one young boy’s understanding of true love? And just who is Bobby Bryson?

Champagne Kisses by JR Loveless - Their date cancelled on the most romantic day of the year, Sam Evans feels betrayed by Dean, who often puts work before their relationship. Brooding about his lover's lack of commitment toward him, he leaves work early only to be stunned by what awaits him outside the door.

Love Letters by Patricia Logan - Fourteen-year-old Jared Yates has developed a monstrous crush on the hottest guy in school. Eighteen-year-old Thad Maxfield is the high school varsity basketball center and the handsome six-foot three inch babe wouldn’t look Jared’s way if he was the last kid on earth. Jared decides to confess his love for Thad in a series of love letters stuffed into the older guy’s locker each morning leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Once the notes begin to arrive, Thad is suddenly flattered, wondering who the girl could be. Thad formulates his own plan to find out who his admirer is and stakes out his locker early one morning, only to finding to his utter surprise, Jared Yates, a kid he knows only from his face at basketball games and the local burger joint, running away from his locker. Thad decides to start a note campaign of his own, intrigued by his own awakening feelings for the young man. When Jared and he finally meet in the sports equipment room, the sparks ignite in a sweet and special way, turning Valentine’s Day into a day neither boy will ever forget.

Captain of His Heart by Michael Mandrake - Mario Dagosta has just broken up with his high school sweetheart and hasn’t dated since. Downtrodden and not able to cope, he spends many of his days at home. A very eclectic young man who prefers Tom Clancy to gay or m/m romances.

Cooper Delaney is a retired general who watched his forty something lover walks out on him. Always upbeat and confident, he knows he will find someone suitable to be his man.
Mario has it bad for the mature man and wants more but will he be deterred by the mocking from his best friends about his choice for a mate?

The Hearts Have Wounds by Kharisma Rhayne - Tyler knew Ken as his true love. After four years together things got out of control. Ken, who’d never admitted to his parents he was gay, broke up with Tyler and broke his heart in the process.

Would time heal Tyler’s wounds or was there really only one true love for each person?


Cat vs Dog 2 by A.J. Llewellyn and Serena Yates - C.A. Tallus has done what he previously considered unthinkable: he has fallen in love with a werewolf. Gay Ski Week in Aspen a year ago was such a success that he has even moved to Colorado to be with his lover, Bryan Braun. Despite the odds and the doomsayers' predictions, they are happy together, and with Valentine's Day in sight, Cory is hoping for more. More time with his busy wolf, more romance, and definitely more loving in and out of the bedroom. Bryan, busy pack alpha though he may be, has planned it all down to a T. Or should he say D? They are off to Disneyland's Gay Day and LA for a long weekend of fun. Taking their friends James, the ex-scrimper, and Tommy, the beta wolf shifter who is also James's dog named Tank when he chooses, seemed like a good idea at the time. But when Tommy threatens to reveal it all to an unknowing James, will they survive the fallout?

Sweet Happenings by Sara York - When Matt Wilson is dumped on Valentine's Day he never expects to find love again. His bakery is enough, until Robert Baxter rolls into town and show him what love really is. But Robert doesn't live in New York full time and he and Matt struggle to make a relationship. Can love win out in the end, or will their relationship be just another sweet happening in Matt's life.