Originally Posted by
sunofdarkchild
The question is what either being gay or being in a relationship would add to Illyana as a character. I honestly don't think her being gay would add anything. She's an abuse victim who has gone on to abuse others, namely Pixie and Colossus. She's trying to change and treat people better, but she knows how easy it is to slip up and revert to old habits. That alone would make her terrified of getting into any sort of relationship. She could be afraid of being abused again or of being the abuser. Add to that the idea of parenthood, where she might not know if the demonic traits or connection to Limbo can be passed on or if dark forces may come for her child, either for the child's potential or to get at her. There's a lot of story potential there, and if done right I can see it doing for Illyana what becoming a mother and marrying Luke Cage did for Jessica Jones. Making her a lesbian in my opinion doesn't effect the idea of being in a relationship so much, but it does put the kibosh on the child aspect while also not adding anything to the abuse aspect.
Potential ideas for love interests: Since she represents the demonic having her date an angelic figure has a built-in opposites attract appeal. I did something like that in the Age of Marvels fanfic universe by giving her a boyfriend who was a young Lumen Sage from the Bayonetta series. That sort of relationship can also have the built-in drama of opposition from an entire faction. Not sure what angelic factions there are in Marvel though.
Another idea is for her to look for someone who can provide a sense of normalcy she's never known. This is what I think appeals to people who ship Illyana with Doug Ramsey, as he is the most normal person she knows. I could have easily seen 80s Illyana in a relationship with Doug, especially with her over-protectiveness towards him, but since Bendis had her give that 'there is no normal' speech I don't see it anymore.
These are ideas that would either further develop her as a character or naturally create drama and story. To me the Leah/Illyana thing we saw in Secret Wars did neither and did nothing other than depict 2 badass women kicking ass. There's nothing wrong with it, but it served no purpose to the characters or the story other than fanservice. A canon 616 lesbian relationship can be more meaningful than that, but I feel there's just more potential for her character with a heterosexual relationship that leaves open the door for a biological child.