Gals in Gaming

A collection of women characters in video games. Fanart, news, and more!

[galingam]

Diya

First appearance: Crush House (2024). She is an optional castmate that can star in the players season of The Crush House. An ex-model who thinks she is too good for reality TV, Diya has recently left her modelling career to join The Crush House - she's currently trying (and failing) to quit stress smoking.

Sadly, the cast members don't have much for unique personalities or storylines. It does get repetitive as well since the characters aren't significantly special. I understand it would be difficult to come up with distinct interactions between each character, but it would make the game so much better. Just wanted to highlight this quirky game.

[galingam]

Long time no post.

The Sims 4 released a new pack this month. Businesses and Hobbies. In the pack are two characters brought over from the Urbz games. Crispin Black and Cannonball Coleman.

As a teen, I played both the Gamecube version and the DS version and enjoyed them both. So seeing characters from the Urbz brought into the Sims gave me a hit of nostalgia.

The story that Crispin Black adopted the female main character (Jayde) of the Urbz and Skid Mark's child was some TEA. It literally was me getting some juicy gossip about "people" I knew in high school.

Anyways, riding that nostalgia wave I went to YouTube and The Sims Wiki to recolor the foggy memories I have of the game.

Honestly, some of the soundtrack for the console version of the Urbz still slaps. High NRG from Neon East is timeless.

Speaking of Neon East, it was definitely one of the most memorable districts in the game for how distinct and colorful it is. I always picked Neon East as my "home district". There I was accepted for my love of anime unlike real life where I was mercilessly bullied for it. I could wear my Naruto headband proudly. The character pictured above, Mazuiko Jackson, was my BFF/お姉さん.

Returning to the present, where I've since realized my teenage dreams and now live in Japan and speak Japanese, I've noticed that her name isn't exactly some made-up Japanese name.

It's got two parts. Mazui and ko. 子(-Ko) is a typical suffix for girls names in Japan usually meaning child. Nothing out of the ordinary here...

まずい mazui

I-adjective (keiyoushi)

1. bad(-tasting); unpalatable; unsavoury; unsavory; awful; terrible; unpleasant​

すき腹にまずいものなし

Hunger is the best sauce.

2. poor; unskillful; unskilful; bungling; clumsy

彼の筆跡は大変まずい。なにがなんだかわからない

His handwriting is very poor, I cannot make head or tail of it.

3. ugly; unattractive; homely; plain

4. awkward; problematic; troublesome; unfavorable; unfavourable; unwise​

In other words, her name is something like "unpleasant child". Which could be in reference to her being a sushi chef who specializes in the deadly fugu fish dish or a number of raw seafood items. (Sushi wasn't as popular as it is now. It was even considered disgusting. My mom still won't eat sushi. Too "exotic" for her.)

Could also be in reference how she worked as a stripper. She's 18 according to her bio info in the pic above, was she working illegally underage somewhere!? Or was it a short stint after she turned 18?

The early 2000s and Urbz games were wild.

[galingam]

⚠️–Long Post Warning–⚠️

For Women’s History Month, I read the Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. https://d-pdf.com/book/5244/read

What was most striking to me was how little has changed in the sixty years since the book was published (1963). Other things I read were frightening in how they’ve gotten worse! I want to share the parallels between what Friedan was writing about in her own time and what’s currently happening in the world today. 

-In chapter two and some further comments in the epilogue (which comes from a later edition of the book as there are details of events in 1970), is how the media wants to constrict women to “one passion, one role, one passion” which is: housewife. The current manosphere consisting of blogs, YouTubers, and the such is the most vocal on pushing this ideology on women. Occasionally, it does reach the mainstream. Not that long ago, there was widespread concern from educators about the young boys who watched the creator Andrew Tate and his influence upon them. Despite Tate having been arrested, this hasn’t dampened the spread of his misogynistic views. There are still plenty of other YouTube channels, Twitter accounts, and more parroting the dangerous ideas. 

-Chapter four touches on the “trend of some women clinging to the ‘old image of glorified femininity.’” For today this certainly would be the infamous posts found under the ‘tradwife’ tags on platforms such as TikTok, Tumblr, or YouTube. Connected to this is how some of these tradwife women who reject feminism say they are the way they are because they see only the sensationalized versions of radical feminism which portrays all feminists as man-haters. Using the same rhetoric as anti-feminists back in the 60’s. 

-An issue then and still an issue now is how the American workforce is very uncompromising towards women who are pregnant, recently haven given birth, or have small children. The persisting problem for women who want to get married and have children in extremely demanding careers still need to make a choice between the two. It’s very difficult for a researcher in a lab to take time off for maternity leave and then jump back into their work. 

Let’s take a moment with this quote: “Because the race to get ahead, in the big organization, in every profession in America, is so terribly competitive for men, competition from women is somehow the last straw.” This is talking about keeping women out of the workforce or out of positions of power. While now Title VII is enforced and anyone regardless of sex, religion, race, and national origin can easily find paid work, yet even today the glass ceiling is a well-known phenomenon. This competition has resulted in what some call a full out gender war in South Korea. Men there are frustrated that they must now compete with women for employment. This has led to the 4B counter-movement by South Korean feminist women. This is a good time to mention that this isn’t an American only dilemma, and that it spans the entire globe.

-Perhaps many don’t know, but I was engaged to a man here in Japan. Obviously, we did not end up getting married. I would say he was anti-intellectual in general, despite him being quite intelligent, being fluent in English and managing a popular YouTube channel all by himself. He told me he believes that education is useless, but especially for women. He was one of those concerned about the declining birth rate in Japan and blamed it on educated women. Echoing the sentiment of the men in Friedan’s time. The sad thing is that, I know there are more men out there who hold the same belief. More so concerning is that those men are in powerful positions in the government running the country. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/japans-deputy-pm-blames-women-for-nations-falling-population

What scares me in what has gotten worse since the book was published is how much a house costs has grown. She mentions that a split level ranch in the suburbs used to be $14,990 to $54,990. A quick glance at Zillow or any other popular real estate site shows that a split level ranch in the suburbs would be well over $200,000-$500,000 today. There are other points brought up by Friedan about the ill effects of capitalism and the consumer society we live in that still plague people today, but I want this post to focus more on women’s issues. 

-Abortion rights being stripped away from women in America is the other thing that horrifies me. Friedan says the right to abortion is one of the critically vital things in maintaining women’s independence and autonomy. 

-Hindsight makes Friedan’s prediction of “By 1976, I predict, even the Republicans will have a woman running seriously for vice-president, if not for president” come off as overly optimistic. It wasn’t until 2020 did America finally have its first female vice-president and she is a part of the Democratic party. 

I am so grateful for the thousands of women who came before me and fought for all these rights I can enjoy. But the feminists' fight for equal rights for all is not over.

Not mentioned in her book, but still an issue that continues on is equal pay. https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1237505064/equal-pay-day-women-gender-pay-gap

As well as violence against women which has been a global dilemma that has been around probably even before written history.

Happy Women’s History Month! ♀️

[newfaith]

Hands you a Her

[gatoburr0]

fuckin forg

[rottenhoney]

i am not normal about her

[galingam]

Heket

First appearance: Cult of the Lamb (2022). She is the second bishop the player fights in the game and is the leader of Anura. While progressing through her domain she will occasionally make an appearance and spread hunger and famine amongst the player's cult in an attempt to dissuade them from progressing.

When the player does finally confront Heket, she is a moderately aggressive boss. While she tries to get closer to the Lamb, she does not attempt to stay glued to them. All of her attacks, except for when she tries to hop onto the player, are indirect or ranged.

Heket's slit throat represents the phrase "Speak No Evil". It is also the name of the achievement for defeating her.

Due to her injury, her dialogue is wavy and rendered in smaller text (aside from a few choice lines), implying that her speech is more strenuous than that of other characters. Her voice is also deep and gurgly which could reference the effects of her injury or be attributed to her species.

However Heket is still able to speak despite her injury and this is likely due to the power of the Yellow Crown. Supporting this theory is the fact that when she loses her crown, and is converted into a Follower, she's shown to struggle more with speaking. Without her crown she says fewer words and takes longer pauses between statements.

Heket represents the Horseman of Famine. She inflicts hunger upon your followers and the achievement for killing her without taking damage is "Sate"

Heket references the Egyptian goddess of fertility who shares the same name, also often called Heqet or Heqit, as well as also being represented in the form of a frog. Though Heqet is associated with fertility, Heket is associated with famine. Followers of Heket worship her to stave off starvation. They pray to her for a bountiful harvest and to keep the famine at bay[3].

Her name also references the greek goddess of magic, Hecete (sometimes spelled Hekate)

[galingam]

"There are some clerics saying that necromancy shouldn't be taught in wizarding school." "I think we should be teaching necromancy."

"This way apprentices don't end up accidentally raising armies of the dead or doing any other inappropriate spells."

"Such as bringing back their dead lover?"

...

"I just want everyone to practice safe hex."

This is an allegory for teaching sex education in schools. 🍆💦

[galingam]

Ultra Violence and Butthoven

Preface: This is a criticism against what is acceptable by society and NOT a criticism against video games or their content. TW for descriptions of violent and sexual acts.

I was watching all the fatality finishers for the new Mortal Kombat 1 game on YouTube. It was about 18 minutes of the most over the top, gory, and bordering silly depictions of ultra violence. A lot of dismemberment and blood splattered every where. Some of the gruesome deaths I could imagine someone having unfortunately perished in this way in the real world. When someone was disintegrated bit by bit by a black hole or torn apart by spirit dragons, this I knew was just to play up how intense and powerful a character is.

Disturbingly, the most reaction I had to all this was perhaps a tense leg muscle. I didn't wince nor look away as the character met their demise in a myriad of painful (being a dire understatement) ways. After the video I questioned my own sensitivity towards violence. How was I okay watching everything I had just seen? Why wasn't I disgusted? This brought to mind the 1993 moral panic where the "realistic" depictions of ultra violence caused the US government to regulate video games. 1993 graphics are nothing compared to what we have available now. Amazing how far we've come in 30 years.

I digress. Again, I'm not saying we should ban games like Mortal Kombat. There is a different point I take grievance with.

Now this video was something suggested to me by YouTube. The whole thing was uncensored. I watched every second of each fatality. However, I'm also very into the new Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) game and have been seeking out videos to watch on my own.

Parts of these videos ARE censored. What's the difference? Surely the violence in BG3 is mild in comparison. It is! Yet it's not violence that is being censored, but the romances. At least, the scenes where characters are depicted showing their, if not love, lust for each other. There are a myriad of sex scenes in BG3, complete with anatomy on display. Whenever someone's butt is on screen there is some sort of censor slapped over it.

I've always been bothered by how society is perfectly okay with showing violence but loses their minds when something sexual is shown. I've always felt it should be reversed. Sex can be violent and hurtful, but most of the time it's a pleasurable thing. Violence is always hurtful by nature. Why not show the positivity of two people having a good time with each other? I faintly recall Playboy even pointing this out in a single-panel comic.

I'm sure if a femme-presenting character had a quick nip slip during a finisher in Mortal Kombat that would be censored, but no one bats an eye at a guy getting his heart pulled out of his chest and flung around by his intestines.

I offer no solutions to this predicament. I just wish to bring it to attention. I'd be more than interested in hearing other peoples' thoughts an opinions on the matter.

[prokrastinartiya]

[zxid]

Mileena, Tanya, Kitana and Jade for fun.

[p0m-p0m]

I missed my girls so much 🤧😭

[galingam]

Kitara

First appearance: Mortal Kombat II (1993). Princess Kitana is 10,000 years old. Prior to joining the Earthrealmers, she was a cold, arrogant, and ruthless assassin.

Kitana started out as an unplayable herald-type character called Kitsune during the early development of the original Mortal Kombat game in 1991; his inspiration at the time was the character of Princess Mariko from 1984 video game Karateka. Kitana was one of the most popular characters in Mortal Kombat II, and was the character that many fans used because of her combos, which always ended with a fan throw in mid air. During the early production runs of Mortal Kombat II, Kitana became notorious as an unbeatable character, as her "fan lift" move could be done in such a way as to completely immobilize the opponent in the corner of the screen, allowing the player using Kitana to defeat the opponent with a series of uncontested punches.

Kitana has a "Kiss of Death" Fatality in every game but Mortal Kombat (2011) and Mortal Kombat X.

Kitana's iconic "Kiss of Death" Fatality was inspired by the demise of the villain Mr. Big (Dr. Kananga) in the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, adding that it was a favorite finishing move of MKII and one of the best examples of their attempt to combine violent and humorous elements in the game.

[timidusaquilae]

iced cream

[theeyeofthetigger]

In hindsight, Firestarter should have been a little more obvious

[crowberriesart]

One of my comfort games fr

[galingam]

Willow

First appearance: Don’t Starve (2013). She is a young woman who is obsessed with fire. 

“Willow always regarded being brought to The Constant as a new beginning. It allowed her to leave everything behind, after all. From a young age, Willow seemed to possess a knack for attracting bad luck. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live in a children's home with cruel caregivers, she soon found her nights plagued by shadowy visions of terrible creatures... creatures that could only be held at bay by her faithful teddy bear Bernie. But when Bernie was taken away as punishment for what her caregivers saw as unfit behavior, Willow was left to fend for herself when the shadows came for her. That's when she learned that nothing holds back the darkness like a roaring flame. Nothing is more comforting than watching your troubles light up and crumble to ash... It wouldn't be the last time Willow burned it all down to start anew.”

According to her examination of Bacon and Eggs, she might be colorblind, either this or she was talking about real life eggs which have a yellow yolk rather than the eggs displayed on Bacon and Eggs, which appear blue.