Maidenless Behavior

[rynling]

Since I got into Elden Ring, I’ve been listening to what I call “the Dark Souls podcast,” which is actually called Bonfireside Chat. Most of the Elden Ring episodes are currently only available through Patreon, but the hosts’ non-current games podcast, Watch Out for Fireballs, is free and open to everyone.

I really like Watch Out for Fireballs, as I value the hosts’ opinions even when I don’t share them. To give an example, a few years ago they posted a 4.5-hour episode about Ocarina of Time, and I think it’s fair to say that they didn’t like the game. I love everything about Ocarina of Time and play it every summer, but I still really enjoyed the episode. It’s not that I agree or disagree with the hosts, but rather that I appreciate their perspective.

Anyway, their most recent episode is about Ender Lilies. I was excited to hear the hosts talk about Ender Lilies, but I had to turn off the episode after seven minutes.

They did not like Ender Lilies because you play as a girl.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but that particular opinion isn’t great. What the hosts said was more complicated than “I don’t like it that you play as a girl,” but not by much, and they only dug themselves deeper into a hole by trying to explain what they meant. I’ll write more about this later, but damn. Sometimes I forget that mainstream gaming culture is like that.

Comments

[feast_of_regrets]

*closes eyes and reverberates with sympathetic agony*

I so hate running into those moments that remind that it's like that.

[rynling]

Thanks for being sympathetic! I always feel like I'm overreacting when this happens, but it just keeps happening.

I don't know anything about the hosts of this podcast, but I hope they're doing okay. Starting off an episode like this seems like a rookie move that perhaps they wouldn't make if they were on top of their game. I guess it's one of the dangers of being an independent media producer that sometimes your schedule compels you to talk about something that you're not in the mood for and haven't had the time to digest properly. But still. Still.

[feast_of_regrets]

You are definitely not overreacting. I gave it a listen just to see what it was like and I couldn't get past the part where they started talking about waifus. It's definitely a boneheaded mistake. I don't see any drama about it anywhere, though. They'll probably be fine. Here's hoping they have a long career in gaming meta ahead of them, and that they learn women are perhaps people, even people who sometimes listen to their show.

[rynling]

Thanks for following up on this! "A boneheaded mistake" is a good way to put it, especially since there doesn't seem to be any malice involved. I'm guessing that the hosts didn't expect their audience to expand so rapidly after Elden Ring became the next Breath of the Wild, and they're still adjusting to the expectations that accompany a broader and more diverse audience.

In all fairness, it's something that no one spells out for you - that you can't just "respect women"; you also have to learn to be tolerant of gendered fan cultures (like shojo anime fandom) that people in your subcultural in-group used to mock.

For me personally, learning to tolerate furry/anthro culture was a process, and I'm forever grateful I didn't go through this process on a popular podcast.

[lassarina]

....ah. ooof. When do I get to complain about all the times a game has made me play as a dude without looking like an asshat? Oh, right.

[rynling]

You can complain whenever you like!

I will get started: PLAYABLE ZELDA WHEN?!?!

As I write this, Nintendo just revealed that they'll post the final Tears of the Kingdom teaser trailer tomorrow. When I saw this on Twitter, I had a brief fantasy of there being an eight-second clip at the end of the trailer of Zelda's hand reaching for the Master Sword. My heart soared in that moment, before I realized that they would never.

[lassarina]

You see, I would actually buy that game, even if I didn't play it. (I watched the trailer today and was like, well, that's very pretty and also dear God I'm never going to play this. I simply...do not get on well with things that require me to have reflexes, which in retrospect is probably partially the worsening migraines over the last 20 years, but still.)