The Witcher 3 y la cosificación de la bisexualidad

Antes de nada y para que nadie se me rebote: en este post voy a hablar específicamente de The Witcher 3, el videojuego. Nada de la serie ni de los libros, ni de las entregas 1 y 2. Igual me atrevo a hablar de la 2 en el futuro, porque Philipa y porque siempre me interesa el tópico de la lesbiana terrible (si os mola el tema, leed a Francina Ribes, Ausencia y Exceso, es maravillosa) pero para eso tendría que rejugármelo, y no sé si estoy preparada. Dicho esto…

Que quede por descontado que me encanta The Witcher 3. Muchísimo. Es un juego al que le he echado un montón de horas y me lo he pasado genial con él. Pero de la misma manera que me encanta, me enfada. Me enfada un montón. ¿Y por qué?, os preguntaréis.

Pues porque, amigues míes, es la perfecta definición de la cosificación en videojuegos. De la cosificación de la mujer (porque, seamos sinceros, Tris, Yennefer y todo el resto de personajes femeninos con los que Geralt puede acostarse son más objetos consumibles que personas; descansa en paz, Keira) y de la cosificación de la bisexualidad. La bisexualidad femenina, por supuesto. La masculina no existe en este juego, que a nadie se le ocurra decir que Geralt puede ser un poco maricón. O Jaskier (amén de la serie) o Regis o cualquier otro tío, por esas mismas. No se nos vayan a ofender nuestros pobres jugadores cishetero que ponen el límite en lo que les levanta la polla y lo que no.

(Sí, me acuerdo del señor de White Orchid gay que le habían matado al novio, el cazador que te ayuda al principio y cuya sexualidad prácticamente puedes obviar si haces una lectura diagonal de los diálogos o no estás muy avispado en tu primera partida, basado en hechos reales. Wow, qué representación más buena y más positiva para nuestra comunidad.)

Porque… vamos a ver, ¿acaso nos creemos que la bisexualidad de Ciri está diseñada para algo distinto a excitar y alimentar las fantasías sexuales de los señoros que juegan?

Al final, es un poco el mismo caso de por qué no me gusta Bayonetta. No considero disruptiva ni activista ni desafiante ni empoderada ni nada cualquier personaje femenino diseñado por señores y para señores, con el objetivo de hacer que el público cishet masculino de entre los 13 y los 55 se haga una paja.

Que no me malinterpretéis. Adoro la ficción LBT, creo que necesitamos más y además consumo toda la que puedo. Lo que creo que no necesitamos más es porno fetichista que coge personajes femeninos (Ciri, Philipa, Yenefer, Tris…) y los pinta como objetos de consumo en escenas de sexualización tanto lésbica como hetero.

Es decir, que lo que no necesitamos es la óptica de los machirulos haciendo cosas de machirulos con modelos que han sacado de años y años de porno, porque la única mujer real a la que conocen es su madre.

(Shoutout a todos esos que filosofan sobre lo que es y no es un cuerpo de mujer real: primero sal del sótano de tus padres y luego ya hablamos.)

Al fin y al cabo, vamos a analizar esto. Ciri pone de manifiesto su bisexualidad en UNA línea de diálogo que además es elegible. Es decir, que si el jugador heterito se siente incómodo, se la puede saltar y coger otra cosa. Y como la única opción “romántica” de Ciri es un pavo, hasta puede dar a entender que es hetero. Aunque en los libros esté confirmado que no porque tiene una novia por ahí con una relación super chunga o unas movidas rarísimas, da igual. Es tan fácil que el jugador haga oídos sordos a la condición de bisexual de Ciri, es tan fácil pasarlo por alto y seguir con tu gameplay como si aquí no hubiera pasado nada que, qué queréis que os diga, en este punto el juego me enfada. No supone una representación real de un personaje bi, supone una opción exclusivamente planteada para jugadores (en masculino) y para que se puedan poner horny si tienen el fetiche. Como las escenas de Geralt, que no son más que una presentación de un personaje femenino como objeto de consumo, una paja rápida y un gatillazo al ver los calzoncillos que lleva nuestro amigo brujo.

(Qué calzoncillos. Qué bajona. Todavía no he superado ese trauma.)

Bromas a parte, me encanta Ciri. Del Witcher 3, es uno de mis personajes favoritos, sin lugar a dudas. Y me encanta que sea bi, porque necesitamos representantes como ella y necesitamos personajes queer cuyo rasgo principal no sea su sexualidad, y todo el resto de su trama gire en torno a eso, pero claro, también necesitamos que se vea, que exista. Por eso lo que no me encanta es cómo se plantea ni cómo se manifiesta. Como un accesorio del personaje o un plus de erotismo y cosificación, una especie de rasgo que te incita a dejar de verla como su propia persona y meterla en el saco de “Caras y Cuerpos sin sentimientos con los que me haría una paja”. Es decir, que sí, muy bien, Ciri es bi, pero eso no sirve para nada más que cosificarla automáticamente .

O estigmatizarla, porque seguro que sí en cierta adaptación de Netflix se atreven a hacer ruido al respecto (no sé cómo lo están llevando ahora mismo tbh) y a plantear una representación bi digna va a aparecer una horda de señoros gamers soltando burradas machistas y homófobas sobre cómo ahora todo tiene que ser progre y que si el lobby LGBT y blablabla.

Que existimos, Manolo, entérate. Existimos y estamos ahí.

Total, que el problema en ningún momento ha sido la bisexualidad de Ciri ni la sexualidad de otros personajes femeninos. El problema es su representación. El problema son esos desarrolladores misóginos y homófobos que (a veces sin darse cuenta y sin asumir que lo son, porque, sorpresa, micromachismos) imponen cánones que creen inamovibles o piensan que una “inocente bromita” no significa nada, y no entienden o no quieren entender que cada línea de diálogo cuenta.

Y para todas esas desarrolladoras que están por ahí. Os necesitamos, chicas. Necesitamos aire fresco y nuevo.

I am once again praising .hack//SIGN (2002)

Queer headcanons are important because they create representation in otherwise heteronornative works and allow lgbt members like me see themselves in their favorite characters. Here's a short list of characters I can only see as Queer.

Granblue Fantasy: Jin- He has an overwhelming gay himbo vibe that's hard to ignore. Everything about him is so flamboyant and screams bottom energy.

Warframe: Equinox and Nezha- NONBINARY- They're the most androgynous characters and they just have gender nonconforming energy.

Tekken: Leo- NONBINARY- They definitely don't care about gender norms and go out of their way to present as gender neutral.

Jojo: Rohan- ASEXUAL- Hard to imagine him ever being remotely interested in sex.

Yotsuyu Yagiyami- NONBINARY- It just suits them.

Giant Robo: Professor Go Gakujin- GAY- He totally has a crush in Chujo and it's hard to blame him.

Pokemon- Archie and Matt- GAY COUPLE- they're just perfect together.

i think the most helpful way you can get someone to understand marginalized identities is to say what they are and then just tell them how that's expressed in a word.

I don't have a gender, I feel like it's just absent from me. I also sort of feel like I have every gender. in order to express that, I use the word agender. some people who feel the same may use a different word and some people who use the same word may feel different, and that's okay, because it doesn't effect me.

i don't have a desire for a romantic relationship nor a sexual one and I've never had those kinds of feelings towards another human. in order to express this, I use the word aroace. aro and ace exist as separate words, but I mush them together since I identify as both. some people who feel the same may use a different word and some people who use the same word may feel different, and that's okay, because it doesn't effect me.

to people unfamiliar with the terminology, this is one of the best ways to introduce them to the idea, and it also separates identity from label.

Ramble card!! Ramble about anything and everything and literally whatever. :D

AHH I'm so sorry for not replying to this yet, especially considering all the exhaustive replies I used to give, but lately my motivation is down the shoes and I haven't been doing much if not playing videogames when I can and doing stuff for school because we're doing our finals and I'm trying my best to have good grades <:3

I have several things I want to talk about mainly since they've been in my mind for a while now,, although they may be controversial statements considering the actual state of the gothic literature fanbase on tumblr at least, but I don't really care considering I don't use this social much,, In general I'm more active on discord, because I have my own server and roleplay there.

1. Most of the reading keys the fanbase on tumblr uses when it comes to Jekyll and Hyde are extremely boring, especially when the novella has many holes (as in: parts which Stevenson purposefully left up to interpretation, so like 90% of the book) which have to be filled by the viewer, and see them constantly rotate around LGBTQ+ is kinda disheartening in a way(?) while I do personally think that there is more to Jekyll and Utterson's relationship especially in the musical, I don't get why the only relevant thing about the whole product has to be the fact that a character may be potentially gay— I genuinely never saw any interesting portrayals of Jekyll and Hyde as a piece of media set in the victorian era, because they always revolve around queerness. Comically enough, these are the same people who complain about The Glass Scientists for things which are present in their own interpretation too. I don't know, maybe it's because I have a 180 degrees view of the product, but I really hope that someone will make a fanfiction where the queer coding is actually a subtone and not the whole thing. I want mad scientists, not Heartstopper.

2. I don't really know how to put this into words because my head is spinning about POTO lately and my thoughts don't really have a coherent string, but I personally think that Raoul is a very interesting character, at least in the way the videogame portrays him; it's very interesting how he immediately gets suspicious (although for a good reason) and angry the moment he finds out that there is another man in Christine's life, and actively tells her that he will do anything in her power to make sure that she will be her own and, basically goes insane the moment he isn't close to his loved one— I think he follows the yandere archetype perfectly, and that he has a lot of parallelisms with Erik; they both are possessive and actively attempt to isolate their loved ones, and both have this intense fear of getting abandoned by Christine, which eventually becomes reality. In a way, I feel like Raoul was afraid that the angel of music is better than him: what we know about Raoul is that he severely lacks musical talent, nothing really interesting happened in his entire life, arguably doesn't know Christine that well considering that they spent an entire decade apart and only met again when they were around 17-ish(?) and, Raoul was busy with academy, not to mention that he is a viscount, but yet people laugh at his face because he is known as the Black Sheep of the Chagny Family. He has to fake his brother's signature to get what he wants and apparently he has also done it several times before, considering that he is pretty skilled at faking signatures. People don't take him seriously, and Raoul will always be the imperfect shadow of his brother, who like everyone else in the 1800s, has a façade of perfection, to the point where Raoul thinks that the only reason he was ever enrolled in the military + he was getting sent to that expedition in the Arctic, is because his brother wanted to kill him over inheritance. Not to mention, that he has never gone to Philippe's funeral, his justification being that he was not worthy, and he never made an attempt to look for his two sisters who were desperately looking for their baby brother. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Erik. He is Christine's teacher and has seemingly been spying and has been with her ever since she joined the opera populaire, he managed to make her shine when she seemingly didn't have any musical talent (although through guilt tripping/manipulation), and definitely knows a lot about Christine, considering how he toys around with her so that he can obtain what he wants. Not to mention that he has immense musical and academic talents and he is seemingly self-taught, he is an architect, able with the punjabi lasso, built a torture chamber and a whole underground house, has a gas which makes people faint, is intimidating and actually taken seriously and he actually gets through his threats, and IS one. Compared to him as a pretendant for Christine, Raoul is quite literally a loser, half of the man that Erik is. And in the end, if we choose to make Christine go away and make Raoul understand that he was basically forcing Christine to make an immediate choice through similar means which Erik used, in a way, Erik won over Raoul again— Christine will never be wed to a man and, like we see in her 40s she's traveling the world and doesn't have any male suitors, no earthly matters distracting her from her passions. That's the thing, Erik wins depending on the choices which we make Christine do in the game, and Raoul just proved to himself that no matter what he does, he will never be someone special in the romantic way for Christine. Just...imagine how all of this must feel for someone who's so frightened of abandonment and losing his favorite person, getting replaced— Raoul's reaction wasn't anything grand, and I think that was out of apathy. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel that moment, and it's very sad. Raoul and Christine are star-crossed lovers, and that is referenced in Christine's design itself, with her hair fading into a starry night.

Introduction Post

Updated 12.22.23

name: Oberon

pronouns: they/he

occupation: CS student, gamedev hobbiest

misc about: 20 y.o, neurodivergent, transmasc, midwesterner, witch

what this blog is for: documenting my gamedev journey, as a form of both self discipline and fun. if i post about it: then it exists. otherwise: it lives in my head rent free. also sharing and saving queer videogame projects

what im passionate about: stories revolving around faeries, pirates, witchcraft, and otherwise fantastical and/or fictionalized elements. amplifying and creating stories by and about queer people.

programming details: primarily studying and using C++, Python, and Godot. currently a CS minor, will be a first-year CS major next year. general free-program and open-source enthusiast, and user of Krita, Pixelorama, Blender, Twine, and more to be added and/or discovered.

interests: worldbuilding, traditional art forms, fiber arts, videogames, psychology

tagging system: WIP

#kingsoriginal : posts made by yours truly, to seperate from reblogs

#kingsreblogs : vice versa of above

#kingsdesign : posts about design progress and processes, may post sketches and wips on occasion

#kingscode : posts about coding stuff im learning about or am writing

blog disclaimer:

NO "AI". no exceptions: no training, "inspiration", etc. all art of mine, posted or otherwise, is my own creation, and i will always credit my inspiration sources directly. anyone found to be disrespecting this boundary will be blocked and reported.

RIP Jennell Jaquays 💜

Sat on a couple panels with her six or seven years ago and she just left such a deep, positive impression on me and my friends; she had such a passion for making great games - whether levels or zines or art or or or - and such a fire for doing things herself and her way, and so much practical wisdom and experience to share. It really felt like I was meeting a luminary in my field in a specific way I rarely experience.

This DIY approach to a career in games is really celebrated -- especially in ttrpgs and indie videogames -- but historically the dominant narrative rarely highlights folks who make art as well as write/design/code, and even more rarely foregrounds women and queer folks, and it was so meaningful to talk with someone who'd been exploring that space through these lenses for so long herself.

In summary, it was a privilege to get to meet and talk with her, and I hope her memory and legacy will continue to shine and inspire the public, and give comfort to her loved ones.

If you want to help with all the financial costs of illness and loss, there's a gofundme from her hospitalization here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennell-jaquays-has-a-long-road-back

Ways I've tried to sum up videogame's plots and themes to my girlfriend

Danganronpa: Evil teddy bear makes kids kill each other then roleplay judge Judy to decide who did it

Ace attorney series: Court game where you try to prove your client is innocent. Like 75% of the cast is queer coded in some way and the ships in the fandom are wild

Yakuza series: Either the most heart breaking drama you've ever seen or complete cartoon chaos. No in-between

Twisted Metal: Demolition derby with psychopaths

Psychonaunts: Go into people's brain to fix them and get camp badges

Silent Hill: Personal hell + cults + the strangest things being sexualized

{HARRIS DICKINSON, 21, MALE, HE/HIM} Is that EDWARD MORRISON? A JUNIOR originally from MANHATTAN. They’re THE PROUD ELITE on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance. 

tl;dr: eddie responsible, pragmatic, methodic but he is also frustrated that he still hasn’t found his path in life and is too scared to live life the way he wants to without disappointing his family. i feel like, right now, he’s at this crossroads where he wants to be young and find his path and have fun, but he is too scared this will put all the great things he has in jeopardy.

-– the basics:

full name: edward rufus morrison nicknames: ed, eddie, rufus (if you want to annoy him) + whatever your muse desires age: 21 birthday: march 13th, 2002 birthplace: new york city, new york major: computer science + literature gender: cisgender male sexuality: bisexual

stats - pinterest board - playlist - wanted connections

multimedia character inspirations:

henry winter (the secret history), dickie greenleaf (ripley - 2024), julian fromme (these violent delights), art donaldson (challengers), declan lynch and richard gansey iii (the raven cycle/the dreamer trilogy), kendall and shiv roy (succession), logan dellos (westworld), nate archibald (gossip girl), mahdi (blocco 181)

background:

middle child of the morrison family;

grew up as the family's perfect little golden boy;

his parents always deposited in him the expectations of one day taking on the family business;

was always sort of a conflict mediator at home, which is one of the reasons why his parents love him so much;

always enjoyed reading and studying;

didn't have any big issues growing up aside from sporadic ideological conflicts with his parents;

spent a year in france as a part of an exchange program in high school;

personality:

kind of nihilistic;

matured way too early so he kind of just wants to be young and dumb for a while but will not allow himself to be happy bc he feels like being his dad's ideal of a man is more important;

very creative and artistic;

on the outside he's a conformist, on the inside he's super liberal. he refrains from dabbling in politics, though bc as aware as he can be abt his privilege, he would never give up the nice things he has;

roy-siblings coded: he will do anything to impress an unloving parent because there's no drug more powerful than parental validation

can be very practical when he needs to be, but is usually very much the opposite

he is very VERY lost in life, very frustrated, very unhappy, thinks he's trowing his life away and regrets like 75% of his life choices;

he can be a bit selfish and narcissistic;

thinks he's smarter than everyone;

cannot muster up the courage to confront his family about anything so he can often be found looking forlornly at the horizon wondering abt everything his life could have been;

headcanons

fatally allergic to hornets. he WILL die if he gets stung

loves videogames;

kind of an art/history nerd;

annoying film-bro that carries a mubi tote around and has a criterion channel subscription (also hit him up if you want to borrow any criterion collective exclusive releases);

would have been an actor in another life. LOVES shakespeare;

eddie is kind of closeted with his bisexuality, mostly bc he feels like his parents might start looking at him differently (a few ppl know and he doesn't make a point of hiding it but he won't openly label himself as queer, it's a weird thing but you know where i'm going with this right)

also LOVES winter sports like and is an amazing tennis player but doesn't care much about other sports;

mildly near-sighed

slightly allergic to polyester (as per a collective gc decision lmao)

other tropes: princely young man, gentleman snarker, byronic hero.

RELATIONSHIP TO GREER: Most of his life, Greer was like a best friend inside of their home. Someone with whom he shared most of his fondest memories, like summers in the Hamptons, Christmases in the Alps, and Halloweens at Disney World. Yet, when you grow up in a Succession-esque household, there are certain unspoken rules about loyalty and comradery. Siblinghood was always a game – fun, for the most part, but competitive and always marred by the inevitable awareness that there was always a great deal at stake and that one could end up finding himself on the losing side. Luckily, for most of their lives, the Unfavorite gracefully assumed that position – which neither he, nor Greer ever questioned. But Edward knew that there were always boundaries to his relationship with the golden girl, there were secrets to be kept from her, lies to be told to appease her, because he knew – as his twin did – that Greer would gladly throw any of them under a bus coming in at full speed if she knew that would expand her advantage in their parents’ rankings.

HOW THEY EMBODY THEIR SKELETON TROPE: The linen shirts, the tailored suits and the cashmere sweaters attest to his love of all things fine and luxurious. Edward is the stereotypical Barbie of northeastern rich men: his favorite sport is skiing; he loves a good glass of premium aged scotch; and his go-to Holiday getaway is quick trip to Europe. All this privilege makes him a little out of touch with reality. Sometimes he just doesn’t get the so-called “small pleasures of life”. And all this luxury at his full disposal might make him appear a little too self-assured. He doesn’t do it out of malice or hatred of the less privileged, though, he just loves his life too much not to be all-in in it… 

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: tennis, sailing, writing club, fencing club

I was on tiktok and I found some interesting takes...

---

Again, the pro in proship is a prefix and it stands for "in favour of", in opposition to anti in antiship that stands for "against of". This is literally basic grammar.

I grouped together these two because they were similar. These are the same take of "metal music turns you into a serial killer who worship Satan" and "videogames make you violent and become a school shooter". Or, you know, the same logic behind conversion therapy. All of this has been proven wrong again and again, yet antis like to think they are oh so different from their conservatives parents.

Ah yes, my favourite take. "Morally wrong" according to who? Homophobes who think that gay people are "morally wrong"? Racists who think that interracial couples are "morally wrong"? Is it "morally wrong" if the two character are from different social classes or religions? Since most of the antis are from the United States of America, I'm guessing we (the entire world) need to follow what's "morally wrong" there. So, which state? The ones who think is "morally wrong" to teach kids about queer people? The states who think is "morally wrong" to have an abortion? Or to own more than an X number of sex toys? Or to do butt stuff? Or to have premarital sex? And is it "morally wrong" to drink before you turn twenty-one? Is it "morally wrong" to not be patriotic and be against the army? And, gasp, is it "morally wrong" to be a socialist and in favour of free health care? Ah, no, we have to follow what's "morally wrong" according to the antis. But which one? The ones who are against two siblings in a relationship, or the ones who think that it's incest when it's two childhood friends that get together? The ones against a minor x adult ship, or the ones against any kind of age gaps? Or the ones who think different heights are "child coded"? Or when neurodivergency is "child coded"? Or is it "morally wrong" to be a teenager with boobs? Forget enemies to lovers, but then is it "morally wrong" if the two characters have a fight and therefore it's "abuse and toxic"? The newest take is saying it's "morally wrong" if the characters have not met in canon or if it's not already a canon ship/a possible canon ship. "Morally wrong" according to who?! Too many variables.

HADES: Un análisis a la moda de la Grecia Clásica.

O por qué el Hades es la victoria de los bisexuales.

Y no, no me refiero solo a que todo el mundo esté tan horny que el puñetero Hades sea una trampa mortal para cualquier bisexual o para cualquier persona con ojos en la cara. Vale, debo empezar aclarando que soy parcial con este juego porque me encanta. Por todo. Por la historia, por los personajes y porque puedo jugarlo durante horas sin aburrirme. Pero como persona queer y bi lo viví tantísimo cuando lo jugué. Y ahora, al volverlo a jugar para esto (me desvivo por estos análisis, ya lo iréis viendo) me ha vuelto a pasar lo mismo.

Voy a dar por hecho que sabemos todos de qué va el Hades para que esto no sea eterno y voy a centrarme en la representación LGTB+ en el juego, porque al fin y al cabo este es el punto del blog, analizar la representación queer (o la falta de ella) en los videojuegos que me voy encontrando y si esto influye o no en la jugabilidad. Y si el punto de vista al aplicar esta representación es feminista, mejor que mejor. Pero vamos al meollo. ¿Qué pasa con el Hades?

Para empezar, estamos en pleno Inframundo griego, señores y señoras queer everywhere. Sobre todo señores. Dejando a un lado el machismo de la Grecia clásica, que por suerte SuperGigant Games decide omitir (gracias, gracias, cualquier otro lo hubiera mantenido para hacerlo “históricamente correcto”) lo que se queda ahí es que hay más mariconeo que vasijas rotas, y en un rouge-like eso es mucho decir. Digo mariconeo con toda la buena intención del mundo, porque para maricona yo. El caso, encarnamos a Zagreus, príncipe bisexual del Inframundo. ¿Por qué esto es importante? Porque lo vemos. Porque se refleja en el juego aunque sea una parte secundaria de la historia. Ya no solo en los romances y en esa parte más cercana a la visual novel, no. Las relaciones de Zagreus (y las relaciones sexoafectivas en este caso) traspasan la barrera de los vínculos, los corazones y regalar Ambrosía e influye en el modo de jugar.

Una manera de ver esta historia reflejada en las acciones del juego es el romance con Thanatos antes incluso de que sea romance. La primera vez que le regalamos néctar a Thanatos, su regalo es una mariposa que potencia el ataque cada vez que Zagreus completa una estancia sin recibir ningún daño. No sé vosotros, pero veo una manera de protección mediante incentivos. No te hagas daño y yo te haré fuerte. Thanatos busca proteger a Zagreus de la única manera en la que puede, y esa relación entre los dos se transparenta en la jugabilidad de una manera sutil pero efectiva. A través del regalo y a través de los corazones de centauro que le da cada vez que le gana en un encontronazo, que habla de lo mismo. Sobrevive. Vive.

La metáfora de los gestos de Thanatos deja patente durante las partidas la naturaleza de la relación entre la muerte y la vida misma, y es uno de los pilares de la bisexualidad de Zagreus. Más allá de eso, es un pilar de su propio ser en el códice de Aquiles, que lo relaciona con la sangre, con la vida. El otro pilar, por supuesto, es Megaera, porque al final tener una pareja de cada sirve para hacer la representación más gráfica posible. Evita otras posibles lecturas casi al 100% y aunque es una táctica con la que no concuerdo mucho (no es necesario haber tenido una relación con alguien de cada género para sacarte el carnet bi) desde luego es efectiva. A los señoros gamers no les ha podido quedar lugar a dudas, le digan que sí o que no a Than.

Ni tampoco sobre el temita del poliamor, porque somos dioses griegos, y siempre es mejor que tus novies te empotren juntes a que desaten una guerra por tus afectos.

El Hades está lleno de pequeñas perlitas queer, momentos estrella pero incapaces de pasar por alto, en especial en todos los textos y conversaciones, todo el lore de los personajes más alejado de la jugabilidad pero que enriquece toda la experiencia al no dejar a Zagreus como el único representante queer. La historia de Aquiles y Patroclo se tiene que resolver sí o sí, y en este juego no cabe la típica lectura de los historiadores de oh, qué buenos amigos eran (oh my god they were roommates). Caos, como buen ente primigenio, nace antes que el género mismo, y se ve que no le interesa lo más mínimo afiliarse a ninguno. En la traducción al español usar el neutro se les ha dado regular, pero esto queda muy claro cada vez que se refieren a Caos desde el they/them o cuando Nicte lo denomina su ancestro en inglés. 

Solo se le puede sacar una queja a Hades y el mundo queer: la falta de representación sáfica. Sí, puedes shippear a Perséfone y a Nicte, pero realmente nada en el juego te evidencia esa posibilidad. Y luego están esos comentarios de Artemisa sobre sus ninfas, Callisto y las muchas ganas que tiene Zeus de encontrarle un marido… pero, de nuevo, no tienes una evidencia clara. Puedes leer por debajo, el famoso subtexto, por supuesto, pero personalmente, echo de menos a algunas señoras empotrándose entre ellas. 

Con un poco de suerte Mellinoe nos solucionará eso ;)

"My Next Life as a Villainess" is hetero actually... 😅

I really appreciate that we got a reverse harem anime that includes female love interests and I hope for more queer anime like it but MNLAAV (making this easy for myself lol) does not do the sapphics any justice. Not to rob any girls or queers of their enjoyment of the anime but for myself, I was pretty let down with just how straight the series actually is.

Fewer female love interests

Especially as the roster expands, no new women have been added to the list of romantic options and it's overpowered with male love interests. The switch game only lets you pursue the male characters and the upcoming movie seems to center around a new guy.

The female characters honestly just feel like supporting characters after their initial introduction which is the height of their romantic endeavours. After that, they kind of just exist to fill up the harem but never make any progress. The male characters get to assert themselves romantically and it's treated with significance but the girls have been doing that since the beginning yet it's waved off for comedy. In the pajama party scene, Mary directly states she wants a woman as a partner and says she likes Catarina but Catarina says it should've been given to talk about a man??? She ends up being coded as straight which defeats the whole purpose of a bisexual harem.

Sexist Writing

Besides Catarina, the girls designs and personalities are super feminized that appeals more to straight men than queer women. Mary is the most assertive of the three but it's portrayed comically and ultimately futile. Sophia prioritizes her brother pursuing Catarina, putting herself second despite her special connection to her. Maria feels like the most important candidate out of everyone as the videogame's protagonist but she's the most stereotypically written and ends up getting sidelined too. All three of them are also written to always need help from Catarina or the men when the guys never need help from them back.

On top of that, a lot of the conflict in the series are perpetrated by women. Only female classmates harass Maria but we hardly ever see men being antagonistic. The only time we do is the male love interests doing it to each other which is framed more romantically, unlike the vapid portrayal of women's jealousy.

The same goes with the trope of girls flocking around men that the anime uses handsomely. Why do none of the girls have a swarm of men? They're canonically attractive and popular but it's never shown unless it's through jealous women.

Even Catarina's mom is usually the character to scold her despite in the beginning of the anime, the mom and dad came off as equally doting. It just feels sexist to portray the mom as the nag and the dad is just basically uninvolved unless we need a "good parent" moment.

What we need

I want a reverse harem bisexual anime that doesn't have questionable dynamics (like incest and age gap considering Catarina is technically in her 20's surrounded by 15 year olds). It needs an equal amount of male and female characters and it should have gender queer/gender nonconforming characters too! The girls should be just as much romantic options as the guys, just being there and being attracted to the heroine isn't enough. I need to see her get flustered with the girls and have genuine romantic moments! They should get to kiss and hold each other and have their feelings taken seriously! And the protagonist should actually be queer?? Even if she's oblivious, she can't dismiss women's advances based on heteronormative assumptions. And all the love interests should still respect the heroine's boundaries.

🇵🇸🕊 There is currently an ongoing genocide happening in Palestine! Please do whatever you can to support Palestinians, stand up against genocide, and amplify Palestinian voices in your spaces. And remember to never lose hope! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

If you have a few dollars to spare, please check out @/nabulsi’s post with donation links for Palestine! You can also go to arab.org and click the link to help for free - their ad revenue is donated to UNRWA! We’ll also include @/palipunk’s Palestine master post so you can learn more about Palestine! 🕊🇵🇸

🐾 *sniffs you* Hello! 🐾

We’re a DID system who collectively goes by Halberd (or Hal) and uses it/its and they/them pronouns.

Frequent fronters:

Alucard 🦇 (any scene or emo neopronouns)

Cecil 🎙 (he/him or xe/xem)

Ghost 👻 (he/him or canid neos)

Kip 🐢 (sea neos)

Margo 🌸 (she/they/fae)

Parker 💫 (he/they)

Ralsei 💚 (they/soft/fluff)

🎶 We love music - here are some of our beloved artists 🎶

We are very weird, very awkward, very tired, and very gay (we’re all dykes, fags, and queers here!). We identify collectively as transgender and therian or some other flavor of nonhuman, and we struggle with a few severe mental illnesses besides DID.

We’re aplatonic-spec and don’t make friends often or easily. Please don’t DM us with expectations for friendship as we seriously struggle to make or maintain friendships. We still do love our mutuals though and might tag y’all in posts from time to time!

We are collectively a gamer at heart. A big special interest of ours is videogames, especially on the Switch! If you’d like to add us as a friend, our code is: SW-1578-5514-9108

Currently playing: Fallout: New Vegas

Our tags and sideblogs are listed below the cut!

Tags:

#aut tag: autism stuff

#bpd tag: borderline personality disorder stuff

#breaking bungus: breaking bad

#burn it down tag: current events and apocalypse stuff

#caretaker tag: parenting/caretaking tips

#critters: cute animals/creatures

#in love with outer space: outer space!!!!

#kin tag: various kin tags (canidae, turt, birds of prey, etc.)

#lesbeon: lesbian stuff and lovely women

#mochi tag: tag for our wife @kugo 💖💕🌈

#path to healing and self acceptance: recovery

#pokes: pokemon

#positivitag: positivity/chin up tag

#soft friends: plushies

#systuff: system things

#sys.tunes: music!

#sys.txt: text posts

#watership tag down tag: a vent/kin tag… TW blood, gore, animal death

Sideblogs:

Tumblr recently made us delete some of our sideblogs ;-; so here are the ones we have left!

Mutuals can DM us for FEN’s not safe for work blog!

@multiplicity-positivity our system positivity blog

@xx-tr4nsven0m-xx Alucard’s scemo sideblog

@kipandkandicore kip and alucard’s blog. syscourse and personal/heavy stuff.

@jellyfish-jellies …spongebob blog lol

im curious of what you think about the yiik characters. i need to know what other yiik fans think. alex is my personal favorite (i want to kick him down the stairs) but i like michael a lot too. theyre all stupid nerds. honestly if you have any headcanons id love to hear them.

OMG THANK YOU FOR ENABLING ME TO BE ABNORMAL I HAVE SO MUCH THOUGHTS ABOUT THESE GUYS OKAY SO im putting this under a cut just so its not super long on ppls dash here

first off every YIIK character is queer and neurodivergent becuz I'm queer and neurodivergent and I said so, the specifics of that depend on my mood and what sort of au bullshit i'm coming up with at 2am in a VC with my friends tho

Alex is complicated. i hate him hes a massive douche but also I really do get what the devs were trying to with him. the occasions when he's being nice and having fun with his friends are where he shines and honestly at heart hes just some guy who needs to get a grip and get his shit together (relatable). if i knew him personally i'd probably slap him and then we'd be good, he probably specialised in sci-fi/fantasy creative writing for his libarts degree and definitely wrote an essay at somepoint about videogames as an art form. He has tattoos but they're all probably really cringe and embarassing because they were super trendy when he got them and then fell out of fashion, he has one of those barbed wire ones around his upper arm.

Michael is my FAVORITE GUY OF ALL TIME HES SO SILLY but also i've made him horribly angsty in my brain as well it's so. i think him and alex have a really good "friends who are used to each other's bullshit" dynamic but also i ship them a little bitty bit just cuz i'm a sucker for besties who are obliviously in love with each other as a trope. He would hate-watch ancient aliens and buzzfeed unsolved because he thinks he knows better than them. If you read his comments on ONISM he also seems to be a really sweet and supportive guy with the userbase and thats rlly cool hes such a guy Aside from that though he has the most unexplored depth as a character imo, since it's confirmed he isn't from the present reality and at some point definitely becomes aware of that fact I like to think underneath the funnyman bestie thing he's probably having a crisis about who he is and stuff because even before he's consciously aware of it he probably felt this vague subconscious feeling of like,,,Not Belonging ig? idk i think he probably knows this isn't where hes really meant to be and hes trying to truck through it but the impostor syndrome is definitely there. I love michael so much he is a certified blorbo

Rory is sooo mecore I stole his name online because he's so mecore we are both emo/scene kids and his canon favorite song according to some questions directed at the dev team is a brighteyes song that i also love its like fate. ANYWAY I feel really bad for Rory because i think his character is probably handled one of the worst just with the tonal whiplash a lot of his character-centric moments has. I bet he listens to weezer and radiohead. If YIIK was set now he would be into creepypasta and he would get michael into it since it ties in with his paranomal urban legend stuff, they would vlog hunting for slenderman together. him and alex run a gaming channel together (THIS IS AN INSIDE JOKE BUT I HAD TO PUT IT IN I COULDNT HELP MYSELF)

Vella is pretty and I think she's super cool, one of my besties LOVES her so I kinda let him be the friend group CEO of vella stuff but my biggest takeaways from her is that I hope she gets back into making music again, but for her own fun this time instead of to fulfill some success pressure. maybe she starts a crappy little garage band with some of the gang and they write terrible songs about aliens who smoke pot and dance the macarena and she's the only one there who can actually play but they have fun with it. She also knows all the videogame cheat codes and keeps setting high scores that alex and michael cant beat. Also her mind dungeon reminds me of yume nikki and thats super cool cuz i love yume nikki

Chondra and Claudio deserved way more time for their characters to develop and also their lore is weird and confusing and I think the whole missing brother thing is rlly weird too becuz of the reveal of how that all works with alex and shit. BUT if they had been handled bettter they probably would be my favorites because I think claudio is super fun and his VA sounds like he's really going for it and he's just such a chill guy and he's super passionate about his interests and i respect that and 100% would be his bestie chondra is super cool too, she's clearly really into sports and I bet she hangs out at the local skate park and impresses everyone cuz of her roller skates and also probably gets vella into skating too and they go together and have matching customised helmets just for the extra cool factor. alex and michael and rory come and watch them but are too pussy to try (alex has had enough from that stupid skateboard ability you get in vella's dungeon). Maybe she goes to some competitions for it and stuff too

uhhh some other various stuff the essentia is really cool but also confusing and it took ages to make sense of her lore but i LOVE her voice the effects to make it robot-y are *chefs kiss* and essentia 995 is just SO idk how to describe it the part when she says "often it is necessary to lie to oneself to get a tough job done" hits really hard for some reason. shes metal as fuck, metaphorically and literally. sammy is literally a caricature of a real life dead girl and i think that's pretty fucked up and they shouldnt have done that, but she would have been really cool if it wasn't for that big yikes. in general i really love a lot of the influences yiik has i'm a huge fan of rpgmaker horror and murakami books and a bunch of the other shit that it references so hehehehehe thats cool

this is long but also this is everything I can think of off the top of my head thank you for letting me be abnormal about this stupid game i hate it and love it so much :D

On Guilty Pleasure

Been a while since I've done a,, navel-gazing kind of post, so here's a brief, meandering, possibly pointless look at my relationship/history with the concept of "Things you like that you're hesitant to tell other people about".

So for me, I was pretty much unashamed of what I was into until I hit Grade 6 in school. Before that point I went to a small, close-knit school where everyone in the same year was more or less friends. But in Grade 6 we moved to a new building, taking in kids from a bunch of different elementary/primary schools and things became kind of... fractionated, cliqueish. Suddenly I was ostracized, not just by the strangers but by my best friends as well. Why? Because I didn't like football. Or South Park. Because when we were told to do independent reading, I had the audacity to actually read. Because I enjoyed Digimon. And videogames that didn't say "EA Sports" on the back of the case. It sucked, and I stopped mentioning the stuff I was into because of that kind of social sense of shame. But hey, happy ending, near the end of the school year I finally fell in with other kids who were also into the nerdy shit. I still talk to most of them even now. But there was still stuff that was too nerdy even for them. I could talk about anime and CCG's and Final Fantasy and sci-fi books with them, but they'd get a little... non committal when I talked about fanfiction. Which, I get, not for everyone, I just enjoy fanfics in private and don't talk about it, but unlike Grade 6 I still actually have friends, so that's nice. But it kind of set a precedent.

I started backing off of stuff that I was into and my friends weren't. Eventually I stopped reading fanfiction. I changed what music I listened to, none of it was forced, and it's not like I didn't actually enjoy the same stuff my friends were into, I just took the path of least resistance. Years of stuff like backpedaling on my enjoyment of Code Lyoko, or half-heartedly defending FFXIII when a friend called it irredeemable. Eventually I got over it. I matured, my friends matured, eventually they stopped feeling the need to judge the worthiness of every piece of media and I stopped tying up my own value in the approval of my friends over my own interests. When I got into pro wrestling after checking out a new podcast from Internet Funnypeople LoadingReadyRun, I hid it at first, then started slowly sneaking in jokes and references. When I admitted I was a wrestling fan now I hedged and justified and my friends...didn't care. Eventually I fell back into reading fanfiction and I started sharing funny moments from a Slyvanas/Jaina political marriage AU while we were playing WoW together, and they fully laughed along with me. The worst anyone said was that they didn't like Slyvanas as a character. Now I'm kind of over the idea of 'Guilty Pleasures,' I enjoy the things I enjoy, and I don't feel any guilt or shame over it, so I don't hide it. The closest I get is that some stuff just doesn't come up. For example, until FlashFictionMonth a couple years ago it was never really relevant that I have a particular fondness for sweet romance stories about queer women where one is a single parent (For the curious my infection vector on that one was First Time at a Second Chance by TheGreatWeissShark, It's great, but does contain some smut; I think you get warned about it when it comes up but I can't recall for sure, so just go in aware). Or more recently I've come to greatly enjoy stories about trans folks coming out (cracking their egg/hatching is a term I've seen used?) and getting love and support from either their family, friends, or even strangers; I find that kind of thing beautiful, but it's also the kind of thing that's not necessarily the kind of story that's mine to tell, you know? (Putting Myself Together by AmaraWolfe is where I first realized I had a pattern in regards to that kind of story)

Yeah this is another one of those rambling posts that doesn't have a point. I guess what I'm saying don't be afraid to like what you like? Or to talk about it with your friends, because even if they don't share your interest there's a strong chance they won't care. Or at least not for very long.

Global terms on fanworks, modding, commercial products, and monetized videos for my games (UPDATED 2023)

The terms below are valid for every game I (Meiri) have worked on in the past, and will develop in the future. These terms are subject to change.

(LEIA EM PORTUGUÊS AQUI)

Do not reupload my games to other sites. The only sites you can download my projects from are itch.io, the Google Play Store, and tumblr (hosted on Google Drive). If you're making a translation, I'd rather you let me host it myself.

****ON FANWORKS, COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS, MODDING, STREAMS AND VIDEOS:

Overall, please consider that I'm a solo hobbyist spending hundreds of hours working on free videogames for everyone. I write, code, draw, and do promotions for my games by myself. I want to keep sharing cool games with everyone.

Accepting individual commissions involving my characters is okay. However, making merchandise or attempting to involve any monetary gain with the game, its characters, its graphics, or its music, is not allowed. E.g: you can't sell keychains or prints on conventions, but if someone commissions you for a portrait of Mafuyu for personal use, that's fine.

If you're livestreaming or recording the games, please link it properly and do it in good faith, considering the free work many have allowed me to use in them. And let me know - I'd love to watch it!

ADDENDUM: The majority of let's players who have played my games are extremely small hobbyist creators, and I have no problem with them monetizing their videos featuring my games. Unless you're getting millions upon millions of views out of them, monetizing your playthroughs and streams is completely fine!

Creating NON-MONETIZED content involving the game is accepted. Fanart and fanvideos are allowed, as long as they are not monetized.

Ripping the games' graphical or musical assets is not permitted, e.g programs to unincrypt encrypted CGs.

Using the games, its characters, or its assets to promote hate speech, be it against sexuality, gender identity, race, religion or otherwise, is not allowed.

ON MODDING (UPDATED 2023):

On mods, I allow some modding, but there has to be a clear and concise warning that the mod is non-canonical and not made by Meiri. Moreover, I will not fix bugs caused by the use of mods. Please clearly state this on the mod's download page.

It is the modder's responsiblity to aid the players with possible technical issues caused by the use of their mods. Mods should only be distributed as downloadable files.

Those are the things you CAN do in your mods:

Add new routes, choices, endings, fan characters (expansions are ok)

Add new music and artwork made by you that does not aim to replace the original content.

Create new scenarios that include the game's cast (AUs, fan sequels, 'what ifs')

Edit in memes, edits, audio bits, or other crack-adjacent content, such as changing Mafuyu's theme song to Caramelldansen or turning everyone into skeletons.

All of the above must not be presented as canon content and must be labeled as fanmade.

The things you CANNOT do in mods:

Rewrite the original story or replace the graphics and music with the intent to 'fix' or 'improve' it. I am not comfortable with these kind of mods. This include mods that replaces portraits. This clause is here not to impede on your creativity, but to keep myself comfortable.

Mod in content that breaks the terms written at the earlier in this post (no hateful content, bigotry, racism, etc). This includes making the characters say slurs or wear offensive clothing/imagery.

Add any kind of pornography, nudity, or explicit sexual content. Consider that my games have underage characters.

Erase the game's characters' sexuality, gender expression/identity, or race. No straighwashing or whitewashing is allowed. 99% of my characters are queer.

ON OTHER TOPICS:

Regarding the use of the 'HD assets packs', please read the terms and respect them.

FInally, in the event the games are taken down for the breaching of the terms above, I ask you not to reupload or share it any longer.

If you don't know whether your content breaches the terms written here, message me and ask.