I'm a Petanko who likes Petankos. and regularly attend sankaku complex without a login. i also look extremely young for my age. which i decline to specify. i also have a tomoyou daidouji fetish. i wear a black yukata as often as possible. (i have about 10 or 15) i am a gymnast, 1st degree black belt in kenpo, and a gamer, an anime geek, a small time cosplayer a petanko and a petankophile. unfortunately for you i am not posting any DFC cause it would violate the terms of service. and i prefer not to be photographed. i dropped out of kenpo recently. if you want a simpler name, nekogami-chan works too.
I have no idea what most of that means, but welcome here and hope you enjoy yourself.
Nekogami-chan, you sound so much like someone who would be a friend of mine(or in all likelihood, knows one of my friends). I'm sure you will be welcome here at Paizo, and you are certainly welcome at my table if there is room.I'm a Petanko who likes Petankos. and regularly attend sankaku complex without a login. i also look extremely young for my age. which i decline to specify. i also have a tomoyou daidouji fetish. i wear a black yukata as often as possible. (i have about 10 or 15) i am a gymnast, 1st degree black belt in kenpo, and a gamer, an anime geek, a small time cosplayer a petanko and a petankophile. unfortunately for you i am not posting any DFC cause it would violate the terms of service. and i prefer not to be photographed. i dropped out of kenpo recently. if you want a simpler name, nekogami-chan works too.I'm so confused...
may i ask your name and the name of this friend i sound like?
may i ask your name and the name of this friend i sound like?Nekogami-chan, you sound so much like someone who would be a friend of mine(or in all likelihood, knows one of my friends). I'm sure you will be welcome here at Paizo, and you are certainly welcome at my table if there is room.I'm a Petanko who likes Petankos. and regularly attend sankaku complex without a login. i also look extremely young for my age. which i decline to specify. i also have a tomoyou daidouji fetish. i wear a black yukata as often as possible. (i have about 10 or 15) i am a gymnast, 1st degree black belt in kenpo, and a gamer, an anime geek, a small time cosplayer a petanko and a petankophile. unfortunately for you i am not posting any DFC cause it would violate the terms of service. and i prefer not to be photographed. i dropped out of kenpo recently. if you want a simpler name, nekogami-chan works too.I'm so confused...
I'm Gary and you sound somewhat like a friend of mine named Jaime who I haven't seen in ages.
I'm Gary and you sound somewhat like a friend of mine named Jaime who I haven't seen in ages.may i ask your name and the name of this friend i sound like?Nekogami-chan, you sound so much like someone who would be a friend of mine(or in all likelihood, knows one of my friends). I'm sure you will be welcome here at Paizo, and you are certainly welcome at my table if there is room.I'm a Petanko who likes Petankos. and regularly attend sankaku complex without a login. i also look extremely young for my age. which i decline to specify. i also have a tomoyou daidouji fetish. i wear a black yukata as often as possible. (i have about 10 or 15) i am a gymnast, 1st degree black belt in kenpo, and a gamer, an anime geek, a small time cosplayer a petanko and a petankophile. unfortunately for you i am not posting any DFC cause it would violate the terms of service. and i prefer not to be photographed. i dropped out of kenpo recently. if you want a simpler name, nekogami-chan works too.I'm so confused...
than i guess we never met. i couldn't find any familiarity with you. as i may sound similar to the individual, i am not the person i remind you of. just because i sound like (Her?) doesn't mean i am. i am just another gamer on the boards.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
As re: Upthread posting regarding specific interests of an adult and consensual manner, well, I will repeat my BDSM mantra. One that has served me through years in 'the scene'. That mantra is "YKOK" it stands for "Your Kink is OK" and represents an openminded approach to something that I neither understand nor have any interest in. I usually paraphrase it to "Don't yuck someone's yum".
That sounds like a costal attitude, as most of the kinksters I know in the midwest like to think of themselves as open minded but aren't as much as they think they are. For the most part, I couldn't care less what consenting adults do behind closed doors.
(and some of the D/s events on the coasts should be burned to the ground and the earth salted, FSF anyone?)
As to orientation, it never bothered us. Until we lost a friend, our D&D group was made up of scene friendly and/or people in that scene. The best joke was the Domme of the group playing a priestess of Loviatar.
I'll also add we had enough sense to keep the game, and the table talk of adults, PG when kids were handy.
Same thing goes for religion, I'm a heritic, one of my friends is a pretty devout witch. We joke about me not burning her at the stake and her not turning me into a frog, but there's mutual respect all 'round.
|
The closet thing I can think of with a character in this regard was in vampire. A guy in our group played a cross dressing vampire (toreador for those that know the game) and payed a Tzimisce to give him a boob job and turn his character into a she male. Why he didn't start off as one I have no clue.
Ussually the extent of the type of charactes I see in our game is bi/gay/les characters that are fairly unkinky.
For me and our gaming group, as long as the character is played seriously and the topic is done in a mature manner and not just as a way to make fun of it. Then it's fine. Same goes for players playing cross gender PC's guys playing girls or girls playing guys. Long as they do it seriously and try to make them good characters we don't have a problem with it. If they play bad stereo types and use it as a way to make fun of others or turn it into a joke we have a problem.
I already mentioned the gay player in our group, we had another gay guy who on rare occasions would cross dress. He never did it at the gaming table but I was aware of it. I am the most out there member of my RPG group. I lean towards guys but other girls are a fun diversion and i am by far the least main stream among us.
|
|
As to burning and salting the ground, well, having never been to that event I wouldn't know. It seems a bit... off topic though.
I hadn't really meant to bring D/s, or SM into the discussion but it does seem to have come up. *shrugs*
Either way, I'm continuing to be very happy that the thread is going so well and would like to invite continued discourse.
Cheers!
M
That sounds like a costal attitude, as most of the kinksters I know in the midwest like to think of themselves as open minded but aren't as much as they think they are. For the most part, I couldn't care less what consenting adults do behind closed doors.
(and some of the D/s events on the coasts should be burned to the ground and the earth salted, FSF anyone?)
Yeah, that sounds very open minded and conducive to conversation... ::eyeroll::
|
Are you going to drone on and on about your umpteenth level half-klingon weredragon psychic ninja you played in this one game where your GM, Monty Haul, had apparently never heard the word "No" used in a sentence? If you are, please hold onto this delicious honeycomb for me while I release these bears. I don't want to play with you.
Am I going to have to explain how flanking works to you for the third time this session? If so, please help yourself to a nice, refreshing glass of live, angry scorpions. I don't want to play with you.
Are you going to argue with me about how I should follow your last GM's houserule that a character can store up to the quantity of an entire flask of alchemist's fire in their mouth for the purpose of making a surprise breath weapon attack? If you are, I'm sorry, that's stupid. I don't want to play with you.
If you're going to tell me you're an androgynous, plushie, Barbara Mandrell-worshipping communist sympathizer with a vestigial tail and a drinking problem, whatever. I don't care. Just please tell me you remembered to bring your character sheet this time, you lush.
|
|
If you're going to tell me you're an androgynous, plushie, Barbara Mandrell-worshipping communist sympathizer with a vestigial tail and a drinking problem, whatever. I don't care. Just please tell me you remembered to bring your character sheet this time, you lush.
You've played with my first GM, haven't you?
Might I, at this time, hand you the 'Best and Most Wonderful Snark of the Thread' Award? You've definitely earned it. And that makes me stupidly happy. Thank you for putting a smile on my face.
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
Yeah, that sounds very open minded and conducive to conversation... ::eyeroll::That sounds like a costal attitude, as most of the kinksters I know in the midwest like to think of themselves as open minded but aren't as much as they think they are. For the most part, I couldn't care less what consenting adults do behind closed doors.
(and some of the D/s events on the coasts should be burned to the ground and the earth salted, FSF anyone?)
I'm not going to link to any FSF pictures, but Zombietime is a good place to start.
"What people do behind closed doors" Please practice basic reading comprehension :rollseyes:
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
As to burning and salting the ground, well, having never been to that event I wouldn't know. It seems a bit... off topic though.
I hadn't really meant to bring D/s, or SM into the discussion but it does seem to have come up. *shrugs*
Either way, I'm continuing to be very happy that the thread is going so well and would like to invite continued discourse.
Cheers!
M
I don't plan to go to that event, so we're even :-)
Like I said, what consenting adults do behind closed doors doesn't bother me, whether it involves rope, duct tape, whiped cream or funny animal costumes or what ever.
It's when it becomes non-consentual, or is in public places that I take umbrage.
And as long as you keep it PG around the kids, I really don't care what you bring to the table.
|
|
Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).
|
At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
That is my understanding of the term as well, although I've usually heard in the context of people who play MMOs, Second Life, and things like that regularly as someone of the opposite gender.
As to burning and salting the ground, well, having never been to that event I wouldn't know. It seems a bit... off topic though.
I hadn't really meant to bring D/s, or SM into the discussion but it does seem to have come up. *shrugs*
Either way, I'm continuing to be very happy that the thread is going so well and would like to invite continued discourse.
Cheers!
MI don't plan to go to that event, so we're even :-)
Like I said, what consenting adults do behind closed doors doesn't bother me, whether it involves rope, duct tape, whiped cream or funny animal costumes or what ever.
It's when it becomes non-consentual, or is in public places that I take umbrage.
And as long as you keep it PG around the kids, I really don't care what you bring to the table.
If you don't plan to go, why send someone to burn it to the ground and salt the earth? ::double eyeroll...guess that would be a quadruple eye roll:: Why pass judgement, especially if you've never been? Unless you're leaving something out, which shoots basic reading comprehension practices in the foot.
That is my understanding of the term as well, although I've usually heard in the context of people who play MMOs, Second Life, and things like that regularly as someone of the opposite gender.At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
I usually make females for such games myself, although I rarely play them.
This thread is pure awesome. It's really heartening to read. :)
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
*amused at the compulsion to name everything*
Ah, I am enlightened. Amusing in a way, since I do bounce back and forth in my online RP a lot, do it at the table too. Apparently well enough to wig out people at the table and online.
At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
*amused at the compulsion to name everything*
Ah, I am enlightened. Amusing in a way, since I do bounce back and forth in my online RP a lot, do it at the table too. Apparently well enough to wig out people at the table and online.
Aren't you supposed to be good at that if you're running the game? I don't get why it freaks people out so, I've experienced that myself.
My thing is, as long as people aren't making it a problem at the table, it's all good.
Whatever you do in your bedroom is fine (and mostly ignored by me, unless you're seeking relationship advice) and whatever your kink is, it's all good because you aren't doing whatever at my table. Insofar as the transitioning and such, gimme a pronoun and I'll stick with it.
My issue comes when people are like "OMGLOOKHOWGIRLIE (or manly) IAM!" or whatever, I see people as people. If you exaggerate or choose to play to stereotypes, I'm going to call you on it, because it offends me to see gender/sexuality (which are very important to me as concepts) reduced to caricature. That pisses me off to no end.
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
Aren't you supposed to be good at that if you're running the game? I don't get why it freaks people out so, I've experienced that myself.At a guess, I'd say someone whose identity online, on MySpace, IM, and the like, is different from their physical gender. First I've heard of that specific term, but I've got a number of friends who are different genders online (what they self-identify as their real gender).Forgot to add,
What's a 'transvirtual'?
*amused at the compulsion to name everything*
Ah, I am enlightened. Amusing in a way, since I do bounce back and forth in my online RP a lot, do it at the table too. Apparently well enough to wig out people at the table and online.
Story
My character: You sell your body? For what? (remember, sheltered)"
DM: For sex, men women, doesn't matter.
Me: Really? For how much?
Coversation went on for a while like that until the DM needed a reality break.
Me: My female character is questioning your female character about gun runners, with a flirting side discussion about sex. I am not flirting with you. The ex did not traumatize me that much.
I'm amused at the labling of it, rather than the actualy occurance.
Story 2
Me: You're not going to have an issue if my character starts flirting with one of your NPCs right? Don't want to make you uncomfortable.
Him: Don't worry. I know you're straight, I know you're not hitting on me.
|
|
That is my understanding of the term as well, although I've usually heard in the context of people who play MMOs, Second Life, and things like that regularly as someone of the opposite gender.
Huh, never heard that term. But I, and most of my friends, play male or female characters pretty interchangeably in EverQuest, City of Heroes, Champions Online, World of Warcraft, etc.
(Granted, when your character is an Iksar lizard-person or a Horde Undead, you sometimes *forget* what gender it is, since it's not always visibly obvious.)
Worse, we're pretty sexist about it. Tanks and Fighters and Paladins tend to be guys. Clerics and Defenders and Mages and Blasters tend to be girls, with a few exceptions in either direction. One friend even hung out for a while in an all female guild, and was mistaken for being one of the 'real girls' by the other women in the guild (being an online guild, the vast majority of the guild were male players of female characters, but the 'real girls' had a little clique of their own, and he had to explain to them when they invited him to their private chat server that he was was an outie, not an innie).
The only MMO gamer I know to be a gay man, always plays male characters, somewhat amusingly.
I'm amused by the occasional person who insists that a character can't play a member of the opposite sex 'right,' as if playing an elf or vampire or robot or alien is somehow fine, but getting into the headspace of a fellow human of a gender that you are expected to spend the rest of your life living with is an unsurmountable task...
Creative Director
|
As far as I know, the word "transvirtual" was invented by a friend of mine to describe my preference for playing female characters whenever I do roleplaying stuff (either pen and paper games or computer RPGs). I wrote an editorial about the whole thing for Dungeon #144.
So, yeah. Transvirtual is a gamer who plays opposite gender characters. I should have copyrighted it! :P
|
|
The only MMO gamer I know to be a gay man, always plays male characters, somewhat amusingly.
That tends to be my observation. (What follows are generalizations based on my observations. Obviously there are millions of MMO players, so my observations amount to anecdotes at best.)
There are two types of "transvirtual" MMO players, I think:
There are those who consistently play those of the opposite gender because it is an opportunity to step into the role of that gender.
But I also know there are a lot of straight guys who play female characters on MMOs because they find them "easier on the eyes".
For myself and every other gay male MMO player I've met (although no doubt there are plenty of exceptions out there), the characters are almost exclusively male, because it combines both of the above. The male character is both an expression of how we identify ourselves, and "easier on the eyes".
(Despite the prevalance of drag performance, which is really about comedy, defiance, and "pushing the envelope", people who identify as gay or lesbian have no more inclination to identify as the opposite gender than straight people. The "T" is part of "GLBT" because transgendered people are up against some of the same sorts of issues as the "GLB" part of the equation, so it's valuable to work for a common cause, but it's not always safe to assume that they always or often overlap. [Also not singling you out - this is more of a general statement for those who are interested in the subject.])
|
|
...because it offends me to see gender/sexuality (which are very important to me as concepts) reduced to caricature. That pisses me off to no end.
Anything can be taken too far. I know a great many people who are flamboyant, but it's not a caricature it's just who they are. People who do it for attention, well, that's a different story altogether. *shrugs* I can speak for myself when I say that when I first came out of my respective closets, I was VERY flamboyant. Then I settled down and became the (IMO) fairly down-to-earth girl that I am today. I think it has been said upthread that while I do not choose to behave in such a way, I will die for anyone else's right to do just that.
But I also know there are a lot of straight guys who play female characters on MMOs because they find them "easier on the eyes".
Y'know, I've heard this about hundred times. It ALWAYS amuses me when the Incredibly Macho Super Hetero-normative Male in the party plays a Night Elf female or something similar "because it's nicer to watch her butt bounce when I'm running" And reconciling the voice on voice-chat programs (Ventrilo) to the character who's wearing top-of-the-line-watch-me-jiggle-night elf armor is always something of an exercise in cognitive dissonance for me.
I personally have just become comfortable enough with my own gender identity to start playing male characters. My iconic Paladin's polymorph induced sex-change from female to male probably had something to do with that.
|
|
But I also know there are a lot of straight guys who play female characters on MMOs because they find them "easier on the eyes".
That's the standard reason I hear from pretty much all of the guys playing female Monks (who tend to be scantily clad). It's also the reason why my Magician in EQ1 was a dark elf female. They were the only avatar who, when clad in the 'leather armor' graphic, had chaps with cut-outs revealing her butt-cheeks. Since you spend 95% of the time staring at your character's butt, it's always nice to spice it up.
On the other side of the fence, Age of Conan is the only MMO I've played that goes in the other direction. The male models are as sexualized as female models are in pretty much every other game, and I know some people found it off-putting (and cross-gender play was much less common, as Conan seemed to appeal to a different crowd, meaning that the predominately male-player base was surrounded on a daily basis by hundreds of very sexy male avatars, making it very much like playing an MMO set in a Frank Frazetta poster or on the cover of a John Carter novel).
MMO cross-genderism is pretty whacky, and no relation at all to sexuality, it seems. I've got a few friends that I would swear on a stack of Bibles are raving homophobes, based on things they've said, and yet are completely comfortable playing female characters both online and in D&D or V&V or whatever.
As for the original question:
I would welcome you as I would welcome anybody. Without the snark (because the Velcro Zipper's punchline was great without any repetition from me), I'd be more concerned that you didn't play a munchkin character, and you remember your character sheet.. and so on and so forth.
I believe we dislike, and to be more honest and accurate 'fear', what we don't understand or have never experienced.
A little about me: I'm in my 40's now.. but some 20 years ago I was your average semi-homophobic white teen. I'm honest enough to admit that. One day the world broke my heart so bad I couldn't see the point in living. I was too afraid to do anything about that (which was a good thing), but I looked around for some empathy and some compassion from the world. The only person who really gave a crap was a gay man. More importantly, he was a good man. It wasn't because he was attracted to me, but he just didn't like to see anybody broken in two and left in an emotional gutter. He didn't like the sight of suffering, and he had compassion where all my straight friends didn't have anything to say. There's a great line from the movie 'Scent of a Woman', Al Pachino gives a great speech. He says, "There is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that." Yet time heals all wounds, and when I walked away from those experiences, I found my criteria for judging people had changed.
People do become wiser with time. Sometimes you got to get close enough to folks to recognize the similarities you have with them, instead of all the differences.
All you have to do is be a nice person, and you’d be welcome.
***************************************************
On a related note, I GM for four guys.. all of whom to my knowledge are straight. I seldom play anymore, having found my niche as a GM.
Till about two years ago I played Amber DRPG for about a decade straight, and played with GBLT folks a lot. D&D and Pathfinder..? Eh, none.
So yeah.. I play female characters. And I delight in good storytelling. There's some good times to be had with some good old hack and slash.. but just as much fun to be had with a little romance.. and politics and mystery. It's all part of a good storyteller's toolkit.
One of the things I had to do with my current groups is *teach* them not to be afraid to think in terms of mature and adult relationships as something "icky", just because I'm a guy and I'm telling the story. Part of that is trust; in that I'm not setting them up to look foolish in front of the other players, or that they're going to be made to play out a scene that would make them feel uncomfortable. And once they let their guard down a little, I think I can say with confidence that they enjoy having a richer role-playing experience.
It's also a way to reflect something about the real world in a story. I never play female NPCs as fan service; but rather as I understand women to be as real people. and not just genders.
(Not to knock the beer and pretzel folks at all. They're having fun and I'm not presuming to judge them at all.)
So I'm a GM and I play Female Characters. That's part of my job and part of what makes GMing fun. :-)
|
|
Having now read the thread, in its entirety, once through, I would like to post something I hadn't originally. A statement of intent.
I am not pointing fingers, clucking my tongue or trying to herd cats. I am just making an amendment to the original post so that, hopefully, we can keep the thread on topic.
This thread, from its inception (and I'd know, since I'm the OP) has been intended to bring light to a section of the gaming populace that doesn't get mentioned much on message boards. To discuss how this group of people interact with other gamers. This, in my estimation, is why the thread was moved from 'off-topic' to 'gamer life'. (Correct me if I'm wrong?)
As such, it's about GAMING.
It's NOT, capital N, capital O, capital T, about:
a) Public events outside the purview of gaming.
b) What happens behind closed doors.
c) All of the above.
That said, I welcome all opinions and have truly enjoyed reading everyone's commentary. I invite everyone to join me in a continued reasoned discourse on the topic at hand.
Thanks in advance!
M
|
|
Yeah I do have a guy in my group who mostly plays female characters. He tends to do a very good job at making them believable. He says he started it long ago cause he had played pretty much every possible combo of race and class and wanted a RP challenge and then found he enjoyed mentally stretching himself and seeing things from the other side a bit so to speak. Ironicly he tends to make his male characters a lot more stereo typical.
As for the rest the gay guy sometimes plays females but not often and rarely well. On rare occasions he plays characters like the trans who became a shemale.
The rest mostly just play their own genders and don't get into gender and sexuality. Not that they are above hitting on any cute tavern wench or female NPC.
I did game with another girl who played genders about 50/50, at first she was pretty bad about playing guys but got a lot better. She eventually left the group do to a job offer that required her to move to AZ.
|
|
I believe we dislike, and to be more honest and accurate 'fear', what we don't understand or have never experienced.
This, more than anything else, is at the heart of most cross-cultural conflict. At least, in my earnest opinion.
And, in addition to my last post from a moment before, is why I believe this to be a very important topic.
Thank you, Watcher, for sharing your story. It puts a smile on my face and a bit of faith in humanity back into my heart.
My DM freaks out when i play adolescent females. he's getting tired of the amount of 12(ish) year old girls his creatures kill. how many 12 year old girls (mostly pickpockets, acolytes of sarenrae, and apprentice wizards) are celebrating thier 13th birthdays in The 9 hells?
...how many 12 year old girls (mostly pickpockets, acolytes of sarenrae, and apprentice wizards) are celebrating thier 13th birthdays in The 9 hells?Depends on the GM. *grins toothily*
My evil paladin was 14 when he died and was sent to the hells...*sniff* miss that little bastard.
My evil paladin was 14 when he died and was sent to the hells...*sniff* miss that little bastard....how many 12 year old girls (mostly pickpockets, acolytes of sarenrae, and apprentice wizards) are celebrating thier 13th birthdays in The 9 hells?Depends on the GM. *grins toothily*
why must all these adolescent children end up in the 9 hells?
i wonder, what cruel things are done to them there?
what do devils want with adolescent children?
some kind of fiendish experiment?
or are children truly vile creatures at heart?
Okay, NOW this is getting a little creepy.
Then again, I've never played a character younger than 16, so at least they'd been through puberty.
As to GreatKhanArtist, might I just say that your post was the most perfect use of gender pronouns that I've ever seen a person use online that didn't identify as trans themselves. Gold star!
Yay! (Does a little dance) In real life it's something I have to put forth quite an effort to do especially when my friend's five-o'-clock shadow is distracting from her lovely pink blazer. I'm not what to say in those situations so I try not to draw attention to the matter. Suggestions?
|
|
Okay just a strange little question, since you are now female, in and with a female, does that make you also count as gay, or since you are transgendered and you have a y chromosome even if you don't identify with it, are you labeled as transgendered straight. It really doesn't make a difference, i just got to thinking about it and wasn't sure.
As to GreatKhanArtist, might I just say that your post was the most perfect use of gender pronouns that I've ever seen a person use online that didn't identify as trans themselves. Gold star!Yay! (Does a little dance) In real life it's something I have to put forth quite an effort to do especially when my friend's five-o'-clock shadow is distracting from her lovely pink blazer. I'm not what to say in those situations so I try not to draw attention to the matter. Suggestions?
I know exactly what you're talking about. On a forum I'm at, one user - who calls themselves "not an ordinary T-Girl", for whatever that is worth - has, as an avatar, themselves in pink and black stocking, a denim miniskirt, and a tube top. They do not look like a teenaged girl (which is what they are dressing as). They look like a 35 year old skinny man trying to look like a girl, and failing due to facial stubble, stomach hair, and arm hair. They refer to themselves in the feminine, though, so I guess that's what they're supposed to use. It's hard to figure out a nice way of saying, "It doesn't bother me that you're dressing as your mental gender rather than your current physical gender, I just don't think you have the body to make that particular look work."
Okay, NOW this is getting a little creepy.
Then again, I've never played a character younger than 16, so at least they'd been through puberty.
agewise, my oldest character was a 26 year old prosthetic husk of a Scientist, and loosely inspired by Mayuri Kurotsuchi. second oldest is my current character, a 22 year old female meganekko bibliophiliac scholar. glasses and all, dm said no to labcoat so i settled for robes, i was going for a hybrid of Yomiko Readman and Sosuke Aizen. all my other characters i played were 12-16, all around 5 feet, less than 100 pounds and appearing towards the lower end of he scale.
agewise, my oldest character was a 26 year old prosthetic husk of a Scientist, and loosely inspired by Mayuri Kurotsuchi. second oldest is my current character, a 22 year old female meganekko bibliophiliac scholar. glasses and all, dm said no to labcoat so i settled for robes, i was going for a hybrid of Yomiko Readman and Sosuke Aizen. all my other characters i played were 12-16, all around 5 feet, less than 100 pounds and appearing towards the lower end of he scale.Okay, NOW this is getting a little creepy.
Then again, I've never played a character younger than 16, so at least they'd been through puberty.
Okay. Those are from Bleach, right? If Mayuri's the guy I'm thinking of, I mentally refer to him as The Nose, and Aizen as Lord Jerkass.
Then again, my favorite characters on that show are Kukaku Shiba, Tia Hallibel, Uryu, and particularly Chad.
Okay. Those are from Bleach, right?agewise, my oldest character was a 26 year old prosthetic husk of a Scientist, and loosely inspired by Mayuri Kurotsuchi. second oldest is my current character, a 22 year old female meganekko bibliophiliac scholar. glasses and all, dm said no to labcoat so i settled for robes, i was going for a hybrid of Yomiko Readman and Sosuke Aizen. all my other characters i played were 12-16, all around 5 feet, less than 100 pounds and appearing towards the lower end of he scale.Okay, NOW this is getting a little creepy.
Then again, I've never played a character younger than 16, so at least they'd been through puberty.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi And Sosuke Aizen are indeed from Bleach.
Yomiko Readman is from Read or Die.
the 12-16 year olds had small variations. but had similarities in size. such as different rogue builds, different types of wizard/sorcerer, or different domains as a cleric.
My youngest was Udo the runaway apprentice shoemaker who joined the town guard to earn his first level in fighter, then hooked up with some adventurers who were passing through after his term of service was up. He made it almost to 4th level before he got his head smashed to pulp by an Ettin.
|
|
As far as I know, the word "transvirtual" was invented by a friend of mine to describe my preference for playing female characters whenever I do roleplaying stuff (either pen and paper games or computer RPGs). I wrote an editorial about the whole thing for Dungeon #144.
So, yeah. Transvirtual is a gamer who plays opposite gender characters. I should have copyrighted it! :P
I like the term. Don't play female characters in P&P games but for World of Warcraft I do. Always female and always elven. Why? Simple, when I played WOW (too much, canned it now) I thought to myself, do I want to stare at a female bum or a male bum for 8 hours straight. See simple as I said.
Is it coming out to say "I'm a transvirtual WOW player and proud?" Or does it just mean I'm a sad pervert who likes female elven cartoon bums?
On another note the person I referred to in an earlier post is back playing D&D with us. We have found that 4e is a much better system for him as there aren't as many handles to optimize and thus obsess over. I'm glad, he is a nice guy just with his issues 3.5e was not really for him.
S.
Yomiko Readman is from Read or Die.
God, I love Read or Die.
God, I love Read or Die.
Yomiko Readman is from Read or Die.
i have both maga series (Read or Die and Read or Dream)
don't have the anime though. (really hard to find) (As are several other manga i want to read. i just got the clover omnibus last week.)
|
|
I believe we dislike, and to be more honest and accurate 'fear', what we don't understand or have never experienced.This, more than anything else, is at the heart of most cross-cultural conflict. At least, in my earnest opinion.
The internet isn't helping with this, as we all get to hang out only with the sorts of people we want to hang out with, and shop online and forget what our neighbors look like. We are exposed less and less to people that we haven't deliberately chosen to hang out with, and we are exposed less and less to viewpoints that are not tied to our own.
Even if, for instance, people of wildly different faiths or political philosphies, are all over this messageboard, it's easy enough to avoid the political or religious discussion threads here in Gamer Life and to continue living in our comfortable little mental boxes, tricking ourselves into believing that everyone else more or less thinks like us, and that anyone who disagrees is some sort of 'radical' fringe of moonbats or whatever. And so we get polls that indicate that 80% of the country supports something, and news shows and newspapers telling us that it's 'common knowledge' that we're all opposed to it, because we live in our little bubbles, insulated from truths that might disturb our comfortable little fantasy worlds.
The whole science vs. religion, democrat vs. republican, gay rights vs. traditional marriage, pro-life vs. pro-choice, etc. debates are, IMO, fueled into a fever pitch by people who surround themselves only with people who agree with them, in some sort of echo chamber, and come to regard anyone who doesn't agree with what they have convinced themselves that 'all reasonable people think' must be some crazy freak who wants to destroy America. If we all were forced to sit down on a regular basis with our neighbors and co-workers and family members who strongly disagreed with us on these sorts of topics, I think we'd all be a little less shrill about decrying opposing viewpoints.
Our media these days, in some cases tailored to specific worldviews, and willfully ignoring facts as convenient to 'provide a narrative,' only reinforces that division.
Back to gaming, the whole 4E vs. 3.5/Pathfinder kerfluffle had shades of this. There are sites I *still* get annoyed visiting because they still haven't given up on the Paizo bashing (and I'm sure they think that we spend all of our time over here talking smack about 4E!).
Meanwhile, I do *exactly* what I shouldn't do, and avoid 4E forums like the plague, convincing myself that I don't have anything to contribute to their discussion and not wanting to piss in their cornflakes, and yet only have succeeded in locking myself into my own bubble of never learning anything neat about the system. I let myself be scared off by the fans, and ended up not giving the system a chance.
|
|
Yay! (Does a little dance) In real life it's something I have to put forth quite an effort to do especially when my friend's five-o'-clock shadow is distracting from her lovely pink blazer. I'm not what to say in those situations so I try not to draw attention to the matter. Suggestions?
Tact and gentle discretion go a long way in such situations. I had similar situations myself fairly early on in transition. Like when my boyfriend's boyfriend ordered me a makeover. When I showed up and said "Here for an appointment for Mikhaila" they looked at me and literally said "Um, so where's Mikhaila?" Stubble is ... difficult. Transwomen such as myself are VERY sensitive about it. But if I had to choose between being scruffy and NOT knowing about it, and being scruffy and having a good, close friend come to me and whisper gently and with tact explaining "Hey, you're a tiny bit scruffy sweetie" or similar, I'd take the latter in a heartbeat with no questions asked.
Diplomacy is a very good thing.
Okay just a strange little question, since you are now female, in and with a female, does that make you also count as gay, or since you are transgendered and you have a y chromosome even if you don't identify with it, are you labeled as transgendered straight. It really doesn't make a difference, i just got to thinking about it and wasn't sure.
I identify as female, though I am XY genetically. My partner also identifies as female and shares my genetic makeup. We collectively identify as lesbian. Simply put female identified person + female identified person + committed relationship = lesbian.
If you'd like to discuss complexity, I've got plenty to go around. My legal paperwork (Driver's license, Social Security card, bank account, benefits and employment information) are all under the name Mikhaila Burnett. My birth certificate still has my birth name. My DL shows "Female" but my Social Security and birth certificate information shows me as "Male". I am legally married in the state of Texas. To a biological female. Whom I haven't seen in at least 10 years. (Pesky divorce costs and legal wranglings make 3.0 edition grapple rules look simple)
My wife's paperwork still all reads male, despite the fact that she can more easily go out in public without getting the 'Sir' treatment. (Her *ahem* top-most endowments are... significantly larger, for example) Furthermore, she has a daughter, who while she calls my wife "Daddy" knows that "Daddy" is a girl. Kids are wonderful that way.
So, yes, there are a lot of variables to track. In my experience, any dealings with persons of a non-gender-normative variety is to ask "How do you prefer to be addressed?" and then follow with their request.
Me, myself and I? We prefer to be addressed by the feminine pronoun set. She, Ma'am, Miss, Yo Lady!, etc.
I know exactly what you're talking about. On a forum I'm at, one user - who calls themselves "not an ordinary T-Girl", for whatever that is worth - has, as an avatar, themselves in pink and black stocking, a denim miniskirt, and a tube top. They do not look like a teenaged girl (which is what they are dressing as). They look like a 35 year old skinny man trying to look like a girl, and failing due to facial stubble, stomach hair, and arm hair. They refer to themselves in the feminine, though, so I guess that's what they're supposed to use. It's hard to figure out a nice way of saying, "It doesn't bother me that you're dressing as your mental gender rather than your current physical gender, I just don't think you have the body to make that particular look work."
"T-girl" is shorthand in the community for "Transgirl" which is in turn short for "Transgendered/Transsexual Female" (I am not going to get into the difference between Transgender (TG) and Transsexual (TS). It's semantic to me, though very important to some. Always ask which term the individual prefers when possible is a good policy.
As for the indiscretions of some transwomen, well I am no stranger to that. I have pictures that I force myself to look at from time to time just to remind myself of what came before. To remember. While we are undergoing a metamorphosis, we are not all butterflies. As I've said a few lines back, tact and diplomacy can go a long way. I've had people just check me with "Um, your arms are gettin a bit fuzzy" and such. If done tactfully, I'm like "Oh, yeah, I should fix that"
I can't and won't speak for others, but I can definitely say that there were stages (most of them very sub-optimal) between the person I was (physically, mentally, emotionally) and the person I am now.
People are people.
I like the term. Don't play female characters in P&P games but for World of Warcraft I do. Always female and always elven. Why? Simple, when I played WOW (too much, canned it now) I thought to myself, do I want to stare at a female bum or a male bum for 8 hours straight. See simple as I said.Is it coming out to say "I'm a transvirtual WOW player and proud?" Or does it just mean I'm a sad pervert who likes female elven cartoon bums?
On another note the person I referred to in an earlier post is back playing D&D with us. We have found that 4e is a much better system for him as there aren't as many handles to optimize and thus obsess over. I'm glad, he is a nice guy just with his issues 3.5e was not really for him.
S.
I don't really think it's anything more than an aesthetic choice, honestly. When I first started exploring what it meant for ME to be transgendered, I realized that all of my characters in MMO's, P&P games and every other sort of game, had been female for a very long time already.
For some people, it's a step. For others, it's a paraphilia. For yet others, it's just "I like looking at girl butt rather than boy butt"
All are equally valid points of view to me.
From my perspective, as a proud and long term member of the Horde on Hyjal server... I think that Tauren females are INCREDIBLY hot. That probably has something to do with my taste in RL women (I like 'em round and big as a favorite singer would say) Male characters in WOW, overall, are kinda stupid looking to me. But that's a matter of preference.
Transvirtual IS a good term, to my estimation. It captures the fact that "I'm XY but I play XX in game and that's just how it is" without getting into connotations. But that's my 2cp.
Just like this entire thread has been.
Oh, and Set, you just keep getting more and more awesome in my opinion each time I read a post of yours. Thank you.
Oh, and Set, you just keep getting more and more awesome in my opinion each time I read a post of yours. Thank you.
Yeah, There is a definite "known people" subculture on these boards, and I don't know if Set qualifies for it or not (I know I sure as hell don't).. but Set has been on my "must read" list for awhile.