by Evelyn Grey | Nov 28, 2022 | Essays, Features, Video Games
Or: I struggled my way through Dark Souls and all I got was this lousy gender.
Spend more than five minutes browsing Dark Souls content on any social media platform and you’re bound to see some mention of transfeminine people being absolutely feral about (and uncannily good at) any Dark Souls game. It isn’t uncommon to see Twitter users joking about getting “girldick” by asking a transfem to explain the “deep lore” of Dark Souls or any of the games in its offshoot “Soulsborne” genre. Dark Souls is notoriously difficult, cryptic, and hostile to the player both in its mechanics and atmosphere. It’s no surprise that such a series would attract a devoted cult following. But why are transfeminine people in particular associated with this cult following? Is taking exogenous estrogen really the secret to “gitting gud” and getting past that boss you’ve been stuck on for weeks? (more…)
Evelyn Grey is a media critic, cryptid, and Forever DM. She writes at the intersection of queer experience, class, and games.
You can find them tweeting at a brick wall over at @Sidereal_Star. When not speaking to inanimate objects, she’s probably retweeting Pokémon fan art and game news.
by Alenka Figa | Mar 2, 2020 | Features, Tabletop Games
Fans of tabletop roleplaying games live in an exciting time. The TTRPG world is blossoming, and the popularity of shows like Critical Role and The Adventure Zone (TAZ) are encouraging a boom in tabletop media outside of traditional Twitch streams and podcasts. TAZ has already been adapted into a series of graphic novels drawn by the wonderful Carey Pietsch, and is now getting an animated series! At Sidequest, we’ve not been shy about our love for TTRPG podcasts, but the growing number of adaptations made us wonder how we’d like to see our favorites adapted. (more…)
Alenka Figa is a queer librarian obsessed with D&D podcasts that have solid queer rep. They frequently tweet about them @alenkafiga. Catch their reviews of zines and indie comics over at Women Write About Comics.
by Heather Wells | Jan 24, 2019 | Essays, Lists, Video Games
Let’s face it: playing multiplayer video games sucks. You’re just here to have a good time, but you made the mistake of calling out your next move in voice chat, and now some dude has made it his mission to loudly denounce the fact that “girls can’t play video games” and everyone’s picking apart every little mistake you make and why do you even play this game again?
It’s a frustratingly common sight in online games if you’re often perceived as femme or feminine. One casual interaction that leaves your teammates thinking they know your gender and now you’re being whispered to take off your armor and make your character dance; someone you’ve never met before heard your voice in chat and now they want your Steam ID and Battle.net tag so they can “hang out sometime”; you’ve got some twelve-year-old on a mission to call you every gendered slur his prepubescent brain can cook up. I’ve been playing MMOs for the last 15 years and, let me tell you, I’ve really heard it all. (more…)
Book reviewer, game player, writer, and editor, Heather can be found on Twitter @terminality_, where she mostly posts about her cat.
by Melissa Brinks | Aug 16, 2018 | Opinion, Video Games
I’m not a big fan of video game violence. It’s a tired, overused method of engagement, whether it’s abstract pixels shooting one another or lovingly rendered, 4K HD blood and guts. Games can and should do more, do better. (more…)
Melissa Brinks is Sidequest’s editor in chief, co-creator of the Fake Geek Girls podcast, author of The Compendium of Magical Beasts, and an aspiring beekeeper. She once won an argument on the internet, and tweets at @MelissaBrinks.
by Samantha Puc | Feb 5, 2018 | Essays, Tabletop Games
Some of the best fanfiction in the world is the kind that explores an author’s Very Special Interest. I’ve read novel-length fanfiction that puts characters in competitive whitewater kayaking communities, hyper-realistic coffee shops, real-life academic programs, localized bike repair shops, and more. The level of detail put into these stories is truly staggering, and, for some, it’s too much.
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Samantha Puc is the co-creator of Fatventure Mag, as well as a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared places like The Mary Sue, SheKnows, Chickpea Magazine, and The Tempest. Samantha lives in Rhode Island with her spouse and three cats. She likes Shakespeare, space babes, bikes, and dismantling the patriarchy. She also likes vegan food.
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