The Sunset Samurai

(Note: I don't expect many to agree with me on this, and that's fine, but I've had it up to here this week with people arguing with me about how I'm out to destroy other women over a fucking video game. Yes, it's happened. Yes, I got told I was dishonoring Andrea Dworkin's spirit, which is a badge of fucking honor for me. So whatever.)

This week there's been a shitton of controversy about an upcoming beat-em-up game by Vanillaware called Dragon's Crown. It was the last game I expected to cause a journalistic shitstorm because I'm a stupid optimist, but here we are. What's got everyone in a tizzy?

Tits. Boobs. Women.

The game contains two characters called Amazon and Sorceress. As you can see by clicking their names, they're rather blatant and exaggerated characters with strong features. Cue the internet collectively shitting itself because apparently they've never seen some boobs in a video game or in real life before. We're acting like this is some new phenomenon when it's existed for centuries before video games and it's like are you fucking kidding me? Why pretend to be outraged now? I bet you're just scared the Amazon could crush you and your masculinity to bits. Asshole.

I have a lot of problems with how people, especially men, are deciding to go on about this.

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I wanted to grow up to be a knight.

For as far back as I can remember, that is what I wanted to grow up to be and nobody was going to stop me. Nobody told me to do this. At least, not anyone in my family or any friends I had. Heroes did, though. I would read book after book of grand tales of those in shining, polished armor, holding mighty blades, slaying foul beasts, saving damsels. I was given Dungeons and Dragons material at age 5 and while I couldn't fully understand how to play it then, it started my career as a worldbuilder, character creator, and my habits of self-inserting into any setting I found to get a better understanding of it. Video games like Dragon Quest let me name the protagonist after me and I could see me saving the day and killing things and gaining legendary equipment. In some universe, it was me, and they actually were hailing me as a hero.

I don't know if it's because of stories like that, games like that, if it was what I was meant to be should fate exist in any way, something else entirely, some combo of these things, or none of the above, but dammit, I was going to be a knight. I picked up many toy swords and shields and played with them far beyond an age I really should have. These ideals shape me even now and I have lived my life trying to be whatever the real modern world equivalent of this can be and always will. It's what I am.

I'm also gay. And nobody told me that was what I should be, either. The sad difference is I had no heroes to show me this.

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