It all worked out alright in the end :)
I’m glad you cracked your egg this way, and maybe I’m reading into this too much, but I really don’t like reinforcing the idea that any man who chooses the female player option in a video game must secretly be trans.
Every time I boot up Sonic Advance I play as Tails. That’s partly because he has the best ability and partly because he’s by far the cutest, and the only thing better than playing Sonic Advance is doing so while staring at that adorable bean. That doesn’t mean I secretly want to see him when I look in the mirror.
Same. I gravitate towards female avatars for the most part, usually because I just like looking at them more.
Sometimes it’s more game specific. Mass Effect, for example, the stock fem Shep is just the canonical version of the character in my head. Had a cooler and more relatable face design. And perhaps most importantly, default masc Shep just really looks like every dudebro I’ve ever disliked in person.
Yeah, everyone’s got their preferences, fo sho.
Not to disagree with your general point, but the example you used kind of sucks. When neither of the options looks anything like you (or how you might want to look), and when they play differently, it’s not really analogous to games where you make a purely cosmetic choice between male and female characters.
It’s not reinforcing that idea. For the author of the comic, she played as women in games and later discovered she was one. You can play as whatever character you want to play as and it doesn’t have to say anything about you.
I always played as girls and women in games when I had the choice. I also gravitated towards books with female protagonists. Like the author of the above comic, I also ended up discovering my womanhood and transitioning. This community, egg_irl, is for trans people. Nominally for memes to do with things we did before we came out that now make sense to us after the fact.
Whether the author intends to reinforce that idea or not, the comic itself (having one character say “Honest! I just like looking at women’s asses better than men’s!” while the other one says “hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no I think you’re trans”) very much does.
The funny part is that I didn’t actually play female characters when I was younger. I’d go for longer hair and androgynous features, but I thought I had to make my character look how I looked at the time. I was honestly resistant to ever playing as a woman, because I thought I should only play as my AGAB.
The fact that I didn’t play femme before made me doubt myself for the longest time. I didn’t have The SignsTM, so I was just faking it. Turned out that my inability to recognize my own emotions was to blame. I feel gender dysphoria as exceptional discomfort and unhappiness with no obvious source. I felt like I didn’t belong, but had no idea that being a girl could fix that for me. I only rarely connected the dots on what upset me and didn’t get a hint at the larger picture till I was an adult.
Even though I didn’t experience the comic, it did touch on why I didn’t play as a girl: imagined judgement. The friend probably doesn’t mean anything by his comment, with Paxiti only imagining him calling her an egg. It could even be that the friend isn’t a person, but a reflection of how she imagines society will judge her.
In truth, dudes love riffing on their friends for not conforming like that, not because they think anything of it, but because they don’t. It took me years to understand that there was usually no hidden meaning and you’re just supposed to act like it’s meaningless as well. If you take it to heart, then they find it weird. I feel comforted when I talk openly about my feelings, but male dominated social groups often find that scary. It’s not universal, but in larger groups, it becomes nearly impossible to have personal conversations.
Games where I wanna project myself on the character I make the character look like me (or at least how I imagine myself).
But some games, especially MMOs, I like to make my character look wacky or attention grabbing.
Would be more accurate in the other direction.
Women identify with their avatar far more than Men.
I literally don’t want my avatar to represent reality in any way because it’s supposed to be escapism.
She is a woman though.
In FPS, where I don’t see the character, I usually pick men. But in the 2nd person games, always women. Because, yeah… I’d rather stare at a woman’s backside for several hours than a man’s.
It’s silly to make some Freudian thing out of it. I play black characters in some games; it doesn’t mean I secretly identify as black.
It doesn’t have to be a thing, but it can be a thing.
That is such a generally true assertion.
For what it’s worth: there are very very very few 2nd person games out there. What you mean is 3rd person games.
If i could make my character look like Leon Kennedy, then i play male. If they are more masculine than that, i play female usually. Justice for my Twink and Femboy brethren!
Seriously i wish we had more body options in games and more androgenous faces.
I get mad at games where they have separate clothes for male and female characters.
I love that in bg3 all the clothes are fine for all, though some when worn by a male are only shorts or trousers also have some upper clothes when worn by a female
Unfortunately there are no skirts, no dresses, a few robes
Never understood the 'I prefer to stare at girl ass than guy ass" argument. You’re playing a video game, if you’re staring at your own character most of the time probably not doing much playing.
If it’s a 3rd person game, your character’s ass is always there right in the center of the screen…
If Devs put that much effort in making games visually appealing, I should be able to choose the character that I find the most visually appealing to go with it. It shouldn’t be that controversial.
Listen, we play in third person. What’s front and center on your screen the entire time you’re playing?
If by “front and center” you mean in the lower quarter of the screen…
It’s posturing. Guys gotta prove they have the not-gays.
Yes, as we proceed to play dress up with the more outfit options.
It’s better to prove that you’re the gayest person there anyhow 😝
Now your getting it 😜
Maybe being bi is an influence on this, but I almost always play females when possible because, most of the time, the male characters are so overly masculine and that doesn’t appeal to me. Androgynous qualities are always what I’ve looked for when character customization is possible. In those cases I will sometimes play a male character, unless the customization is not varied enough (looking at you fallout 4) but when customization sucks or isn’t an option, I’ll go female every time.
And yes, if sex/romance is possible in the game I will slut it up with everyone I possibly can. Best of both worlds babyyyyyyy!
Edit: To give clarity on the line between too masc/fem, If you had the option to play as Zelda or Link in botw/totk, I’d play as Link (yes I know that playing as Zelda wouldn’t make sense, just go with me here.) So while I’m not egg, I think what I am taking way too long to say is I understand and support everyone’s decisions for their character choice in a game (even if it’s just to peep that badonk)
Really wish paxiti would move to bluesky
It really is about the cute asses.
Nobody wants the overly agitated guys hiding their insecurities behind aggressive behaviour and ridiculously “manly” outfit.
Big muscly men in manly outfits with aren’t all bad to look at 😋
