Deheriana is very clearly a female name. And come on, there are more types of relationships out there than just dating/married. 'Mate' probably refers to them being in a steady relationship (hence no 'girlfriend') which did not involve a priest blessing it (hence no 'wife').
On a side note - you're grasping at straws here. While I enjoy slash and am a slasher myself, it's really tiresome when people try to see slash where there is none. ("Look, those two blokes appear in the same frame, like, three times in this episode! Must be love!" "Look, that guy says he's a widower, but I never saw his wife! Must be just a cover!").
So, if you want to make a poll about BG1 NPCs ambiguous sexuality, at least go for something more supportable. For example - what was the deal with Xzar and Montaron? No-one seems to know the answer. ;P
What struck me about Kivan's biography is that there are instances where the author could have used a pronoun or other gender marking word to refer to Deheriana, but chose not to. If I had written Kivan's biography myself and knew Deheriana was female, I would have referred to her as such at least half a dozen times in that paragraph. The fact that no pronouns are used seems unnatural, like it was planned.
There are times in real life when I have written or spoken about someone and intentionally refrained from using any pronouns. I usually do this if I don't know the gender of the person I am talking about and don't want to offend anyone by using the wrong one. There are also times when I have omitted pronouns to be intentionally vague because I am talking to a person I know or suspect is socially conservative about people in homosexual relationships and don't want to draw attention if that's not the point of the conversation.
When I have written or spoken in such a way, my writing/speaking style is very similar to that of Kivan's biography. When I read his biography, the first thing I thought was that the author was intentionally vague about the gender of Kivan's "mate." Since this was shortly after I read the Minsc sexuality poll and that was still fresh in my mind I immediately thought of the potential implications and that people on this forum might be interested.
There is more contention over Valygar as the stoic ranger, you know. In much of his dialogue with Viconia, she will insinuate that he is gay; he gets quite frustrated at this, and denies it. Even so; he never intends to copulate with a woman, so who knows? Kivan, I do believe, mentions Deheriana's gender during his dialogue with some characters.
@ARKdeEREH Hm, yeah, but Kivan's an elf. For some reason a lot of writing I've seen when it comes to elves does that gender neutral thing regardless of sexuality. I don't get it, but I see it a whole lot.
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There are times in real life when I have written or spoken about someone and intentionally refrained from using any pronouns. I usually do this if I don't know the gender of the person I am talking about and don't want to offend anyone by using the wrong one. There are also times when I have omitted pronouns to be intentionally vague because I am talking to a person I know or suspect is socially conservative about people in homosexual relationships and don't want to draw attention if that's not the point of the conversation.
When I have written or spoken in such a way, my writing/speaking style is very similar to that of Kivan's biography. When I read his biography, the first thing I thought was that the author was intentionally vague about the gender of Kivan's "mate." Since this was shortly after I read the Minsc sexuality poll and that was still fresh in my mind I immediately thought of the potential implications and that people on this forum might be interested.
Maybe we should try Gorion?
Poll about how big is Sarevok's gun?
Or if Bhaal was gay?
@Quartz I have better one:
In much of his dialogue with Viconia, she will insinuate that he is gay; he gets quite frustrated at this, and denies it. Even so; he never intends to copulate with a woman, so who knows?
Kivan, I do believe, mentions Deheriana's gender during his dialogue with some characters.
Hm, yeah, but Kivan's an elf. For some reason a lot of writing I've seen when it comes to elves does that gender neutral thing regardless of sexuality. I don't get it, but I see it a whole lot.