and what’s worse is when a show gives you hope, makes you think that maybe you don’t have to search for that kind of mirror anymore because maybe it’s here. and i don’t know if you’ve ever had to do this kind of searching, but it can hurt. for someone else, that would mean two men in love. for me, that would include a bisexual with a preference for women. There are so many people in the world, in this fandom, who are searching the genres and mediums they love, looking for a love story they can see themselves in. it’s about the fact that genre fiction (aka, sci fi, fantasy, etc) with same-sex relationships in the forefront are practically nonexistent, and those that do exist are, mostly, small indie productions with no audience or marketing capabilities. it’s about the fact that media containing f/f or m/m relationships usually end tragically. it’s about the fact that 95% of popular media still only allowed m/f relationships to be shown in a positive light. You have to understand that it’s not about being ‘cool’ or ‘hip’. Some fans (a lot of them queer themselves) felt like it was "more of the same" of what they were seeing in mainstream media, where bisexual characters are stirred towards heteronormative relationships that make it easy to erase their queerness. The problems and negativity escalated even more when Vex, second canonically bisexual character on the show, pursued a relationship with a member of the opposite gender as well. However issues with Vax's bisexuality and it's portrayal on the show started showing up in fandom when Liam decided to take Vax in a different direction and develop a relationship with Keyleth. Soon after that Vax/Gilmore became one of the most popular ships. Vax was the first character established as other than straight (thanks to episode 14 and his heavy emotional flirtation with Gilmore) and fans celebrated this admitedly unexpected plot twist, especially after Liam O'Brien confirmed his character as bisexual, which a lot of them took as validation of how they "read" the character. Though, admittedly, before that when Mercer referred to a creature/character as "it" (clearly trying to avoid gender specific pronouns), a fan asked him on Twitter to use "they" next time, as it was more respectful towards queer and non-binary genders. There have been NPC established as non-binary, with cast making sure they used proper pronouns. Major NPCs like Gilmore, Allura and Kima have been established as queer, with Kima and Allura being in a relationship. Zahra is also heavily implied as bisexual. Both twins ( Vex and Vax) have been confirmed as canonically bisexual by their players. Critical Role has a decent LGBT representation when it comes to their PCs and NPCs.