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The other day, I saw that Guilty Gear Strive was on sale on steam. I bought it as I had been curious about it after watching some fighting game streams that featured it. Everyone talked about how good it was.

I'm a big fan of fighting games in general with my favorites being the Soul Calibur series, Street Fighter, and I dabble in Smash Brothers. I'm in no way the best at these games, I just really like them.

So, I wanted to play a new one. GG Strive looked very cool, so I decided to get it. It's playstyle is a bit different from other games, so it is taking some learning to get used to it. I've never played any of the Guilty Gear series before, so it's a bit of a curve for me.

I started out playing characters like Testament and Giovanna but just wasn't clicking. I was choosing characters almost at random. Then, I played through the arcade mode with Bridget. I just immediately started doing well with her. I really liked her flow and I was not doing the big combos just yet, but I got through at least the beginner level matches without dropping any, which I hadn't done on any of the other characters I had tried yet.

Then, spoilers for the story on a game that is 3 years old and a plot point that received a lot of talk at the time it happened, but at the end of arcade mode, Bridget comes out fully as a transwoman. You guys! I was CRYING! She was supported by the two people she was with (even though she was just fighting one) and seemed so happy! As a transwoman, it just hit all the happy feels for me! It's soooo good to see myself reflected in a game I enjoy like this!

Then I made the mistake of going online and looking at other people talking about it. Of course there are the usual anti-trans fuckheads that I just automatically ignore, but the ones that surprised me were the people complaining about how Bridget's arc in Strive took AWAY their representation. Specifically people who are men, but like to wear cute or "girly" clothing, but still view themselves as fully male. Some people call themselves "femboys" or other such names, but generally fall into that category. Some of them were saying that Bridget was their main and possibly only bit of representation they had in popular media and were upset that she is now canonically trans and therefore a woman.

It really got me thinking about other games that offer representation to underserved communities. I also wondered about anyone else here, if any of you had felt seen by any game or other media when previously you hadn't?

W8, doesn't RuPaul's Drag Race cover men that like to dress in women's clothing for popular media ? Though i do guess that has a more 80s feel, which is way different then the modern femboy aesthetic.

The Outer Worlds rpg by Obsidian. Not the second coming of New Vegas that some people had hoped it would be, but it was an ok little rpg. But one thing that stood out to me was the companions, particularly Parvati.



Parvati is the sweet natured ship mechanic, basically a Kaylee clone from Firefly, with one important exception. One of the ways the game handles your own character's backstory is through dialogue. If a character says they are from x planet, and you want your backstory to be you are also from x planet, you can select the dialogue option that says me too, or you can lie about it with a dialogue choice like "Me too (lie)". The game remembers these choices and fills in your character as you go along.

Another unique way the game handles romance is... well, you can't do it. You can't enter a romantic relationship with any of the companion characters, but you can act as wingman and help them with their romantic interests. Enter sweet Parvati when she meets the chief engineer of a space station, Junlei, and immediately becomes smitten with her.

As you continue talking to her, and discover she's holding a crush on Junlei, she starts to get very withdrawn and shy, which is odd for her. She's usually pretty easy spoken, so to clam up must mean something is bothering her.

Taking her to a bar to drink away her troubles, she finally reveals to you what has her so worried. Parvati is asexual. She doesn't use this word specifically, but describes herself as "Just not liking physical affection" and how hard that is to explain to people, and the problems it has lead to her trying to date people in the past. She then proceeded to speak about every fear I've ever had in the exact same subject.


"What if she's not ok with that? What if she is ok with that, but later... isn't?"

I don't consider myself queer, that's just not a title I've ever felt comfortable adopting. Pretty much all my friends are, I've definitely found myself most comfortable among that community, but always felt like an outsider myself. Maybe because the vast majority of people simply don't know I'm asexual. It's not like people notice you -not- having sex and jump to that conclusion. I've never been ostracized or bullied for it, no one's ever called me a slur over it, so I never felt like I 'deserved' that distinction. I know, classic imposter syndrome, but that's beside the point.

The point is representation, and this was and still is the only time I've ever seen asexuality represented in games. And immediately upon learning this, my character was given the option to say they understand and they are the same way. You're even given the option to specify that you're aromantic as well, though I didn't choose that option as, well, I'm not. And neither is Parvati. I immediately became invested in this storyline, in having my character bond with Parvati over their shared fears and troubles, and in setting up a successful date between her and Junlie, which I'm happy to say was a smashing success.

As a cis white male, -finally- a game had been made for me.

@Li3n said:

W8, doesn't RuPaul's Drag Race cover men that like to dress in women's clothing for popular media ? Though i do guess that has a more 80s feel, which is way different then the modern femboy aesthetic.

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Drag is performative, though. Femboy is more of a lifestyle choice. They prefer to wear girly or feminine clothing as part of everyday life whereas once the Drag show is over, Queens revert to men's clothing. It is not like Priscilla Queen of the Desert, they do not walk around in everyday life with the makeup, wigs, and dresses on.

I'm so overepresented in RPGs it's almost a joke. Cis White dude who is pan.

Frank said:

I'm so overepresented in RPGs it's almost a joke. Cis White dude who is pan.

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Shepard.

General Specific said:

Drag is performative, though. Femboy is more of a lifestyle choice. They prefer to wear girly or feminine clothing as part of everyday life whereas once the Drag show is over, Queens revert to men's clothing. It is not like Priscilla Queen of the Desert, they do not walk around in everyday life with the makeup, wigs, and dresses on.

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Weren't some of the contestants actually trans ?

But it's true that the outfits aren't exactly stuff you'd wear in the street, but more over the top pageant-wear. But then again a nun outfit isn't exactly street wear either. Though it is closer to the cutesy femboy look...

Like i said, it does make sense that the different aestehic would be a turn off for feeling represented, and that doesn't change much whether or not the contestants wear women's clothing in every day life.

Yes, some of the Drag Race contestants are trans, but there was a bit of controversy when the first one joined.

@Li3n said:

Shepard.

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Wrex

Perhaps Angel from the musical Rent counts as representation for femboys? Angel dresses in female clothing a lot, but is referred to as male almost all of the time. (There is one moment where a character makes a point of calling Angel "she", but that's about it.)

bhamv3 said:

Perhaps Angel from the musical Rent counts as representation for femboys? Angel dresses in female clothing a lot, but is referred to as male almost all of the time. (There is one moment where a character makes a point of calling Angel "she", but that's about it.)

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Well, Rent isn't exactly a video game. If we're extending out to non-gaming, anime is full of femboys, with Felix from Re:Zero being the most well known. For more western media, the twitch streamer Finnster was once the most well known femboy, though much like Bridget I believe Finnster recently came out as genderfluid and has started HRT.

Oh yeah, Rent isn't a game, it's just that people were talking about Drag Race so I thought we were expanding the scope of discussion.

General Specific said:

Wrex

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Shepard.

bhamv3 said:

I thought we were expanding the scope of discussion.

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The initial post said "representation they had in popular media", so it was never limited to video games.

Ravenpoe said:

much like Bridget I believe Finnster recently came out as genderfluid and has started HRT.

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It's been a bad few years in media for cis cross-dressers, i guess.

You're right about anime, I didn't think too much about that.

I’m as generic cis as you can get. I’m glad others are getting representation. It makes games and life more interesting even if sometimes I have to turn off decades of indoctrination to not feel uncomfortable.

General Specific said:

You're right about anime, I didn't think too much about that.

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Yeah, anime being mainstream is weird to me too.

Since we were originally talking about Bridget, who is the best girl and must be protected, I want to point out how fucking rad her themesong is in Guilty Gear Strive. Its constantly changing tempo tells a fitting story.

I'm a sucker for repeated motifs where context changes the meaning.