A Safe Space for Moogles

It's no secret that the video game industry is heavily skewed towards Those With Peens. Men are the main characters in the vast majority of games; when women show up, they are inevitably the Damsel in Distress, the Girlfriend, the White Mage, the Object at the end of the level, the support and foil for the male lead.* Sometimes I lie awake at night, languishing for want of a Strong Female Role Model and wishing to high heaven that the video game industry would just try making a female lead once in a while.

...And then I find stuff like this, and wish they'd just go back to making prettyboy male leads. -_-

*I know there are exceptions, but anyone holding up Lara Croft as a shining example of feminine empowerment will be kicked in the polygons.

On impulse, I bought this magazine titled 'Girls of Gaming.' It had Faith from Mirror's Edge (first game to make me wish I had an XB360) on the front cover, sitting looking all contemplative and cool. I picked it up, thinking I was in for a rare and valuable treat: a gaming magazine aimed at women, celebrating the rise of the powerful female in a male-dominated world.

What I got was gaming-themed softcore. -_- Pretty pictures, yes, but don't read the blurbs waxing rhapsodic about Chun Li's thighs.

It kind of makes me want to start a blog, actually. This kind of thing is something I'm passionate about anyway. I could identify strong females in gaming and ways in which the industry falls short; deconstruct games specifically aimed at girls (with lots of fun Ranting, of course), even interview women in the industry. It'd be awesome and fantastic and fill a gaping hole in the market that should have been filled long ago.

...And then my brain comes to a screeching halt. "Bitch," it says, "you've got fourteen springkink prompts, two long fanfics and a novel, two robot-gurumis to crochet, and you're still looking for a job. And you haven't updated your website in ages. You're BUSY."

Sometimes I hate my brain. Still, it's a project to consider.

And now, speaking of springkink, I have to go watch me some Saiunkoku Monogatari. Oh, what a cruel world is mine.

I had an interesting time today with my mom's family (cousin's being shipped to Afghanistan; put in a good word for him with your deity of choice if you've got a spare moment), but blogging about that will have to wait. My 'kick some ass' button is being pressed.

Brief overview and link roundup: a woman in the American military was brutally raped and murdered, and the investigation was halted and ruled a suicide. The mainstream media remains quiet on the subject.

Your Congressperson ought to be notified, but honestly I think it would be more productive to notify John Stewart.

I read this post first thing this morning, and it was like a shot of homicidal rage straight to the heart. Better than drugs, I swear. Anyway, it may have been the early hour or my tendency toward escapism, but I found myself thinking, "General Sephiroth would not stand for this shit." (Pre-Nibelheim Seph, obviously. Although I'd like to think crazy!Seph would dismember those responsible too.) And so, I wrote this. Changed the name of the lady in question, but basically it's the same situation picked up and dropped into Seph's lap.

( I'm channeling my agression into art. )

It's the first of May (and we all know what that means). It's beautiful outside, mid-70s, sunny, breezy. I'm trucking along on my schoolwork, no worries there. Aretha Franklin is wailing over my earphones. And I just took about three dozen pictures of omg fluffy baby goslings and didn't even get pecked for my trouble.

It's a good day. The only thing that would make it better would be if my uterus would quit with the Primusslagging cramps. -_-

In other news, a couple more things that get my fire going:

A rant on feminism by Tamora Pierce, one of the authors I grew up with. Is it any wonder I adore this woman? She informed a lot of my own beliefs, growing up. *hearts for eyes, shameless fangirling*

John Stewart's take on abstinence-only sex ed. YOU JUST UN-BLEW MY MIND.