Not Your Mama's Gamer

Not Your Mama's Gamer features commentary, critique, and analysis by intersectional feminists. This is our companion site; check out the full site at http://www.nymgamer.com!

[quick-nip]

(via Saturday Morning Cartoons: Baopu #15) by Yao Xiao

words to remember

[openellbey]

Woah this is so important

[nymgamer]

TW: suicide

Looking back at the worst of it, I feel lucky, lucky in the same sense that I suffered “only” a general malaise instead of sharp, vicious incidents. Although, it might have been better to have suffered sharp incidents instead of the constant, dragging misery that they cultivated.

I was told that I’d get ahead in the company by sleeping my way to the top, and it turned out that rejecting at least one advance definitely affected my ability to get ahead. Additionally, I had to deal with receiving inappropriate comments, and, afraid of being flagged as unprofessional, I silently dealt with the fact that an ex-boyfriend working in the same office told me he counted how many times a day he passed my desk without me seeing him. In the end, I felt lucky that I didn’t have to deal with inappropriate touching or overt demands.

Knowing that other people were suffering, sometimes worse than me, made it feel like calling things out, and holding the staff accountable, was especially important. Many of my coworkers didn’t feel comfortable bringing up their issues to HR, let alone escalating the issue once the initial gauntlet went wonky. I don’t blame them. Every time I went to HR, I had to deal with another instance of not being taken seriously, or not being understood. I seriously got yelled at when I explained that referring to trans people as “transgenders” was analogous to calling people “blacks.” I had to explain what “streaming” meant to several people in HR, and even what Gamergate was to someone from corporate. It was so bizarre dealing with so many HR people in a gaming company who knew nothing about gaming, and little about how to create or encourage a safe space.

Read it all at NYMG. See part one here. 

[bluvixen]

Clearing the Air:The Goal of the BCDG and Our Goals

Given the vast number of posts my original post about the Game Mod discussion has received, I thought it was best to set the record straight on a few things since so many are spreading misinformation about the intent of the Bioware Community Discussion Group and are upcoming discussion on game mods.

I started the BCDG because I wanted to create a safe space for Bioware fans to discuss controversial gaming topics in a controlled, safe setting. Clearly, those of you who have chosen to reblog my posts with angry rants, tirades, and even some abusive and baiting comments directed at me have proven exactly why this space is needed. If one post can be taken out of context and and interpreted in the most racist/xenophobic way possible and enable attacks and harassment of members of the community, then it says a lot about the Bioware community at large.

Let me make this clear. The intent of my original post was never meant to be taken in any negative way whatsoever. I’m sorry that some of you misinterpreted it that way. The goal was to bring attention to an issue that has clearly caused controversy in the Bioware fandom for a while now. I picked the picture of the white Vivienne mod to illustrate the controversial nature of mods and why we as fans should be aware of them and have a moderated discussion on it (since we clearly cannot seem to hold a civil conversation online without throwing online tantrums and hurling accusations of racism, homophobia and similar insults at one another). I was in no way meaning to promote the white Vivienne mod. I also wrote out the topic with the mindset of covering BOTH sides of the debate (yes, there’s more than one, folks!). I chose what I did because I have seen arguments against mods and for them, with more neutral comments like, “If you don’t like them, don’t play them” (hence the whole “much ado about nothing” comment). I didn’t think I had to say this, but the questions posed in the posts were not reflective of my own views. They were simply meant to illustrate some of the viewpoints and questions I’ve seen come up in this debate. It would be unfair of me to frame the topic as solely “anti-mod,” and I did point out that this discussion would be about ALL mods - not just the race-changing or sexuality-altering mods.

I want to emphasize that this discussion WILL be moderated and that are group does in fact have PoC and members of the LGBT+ community in it (and were always welcoming new members!). We have never had any issues of people’s viewpoints being shouted down or people being harassed or insulted. So far, our meetings have been relaxed, engaging, and fun, which is exactly why I started the online group.

I also didn’t think I had to do this, but just to make my own stance on mods clear: I am generally neutral on them. I don’t play any of my games with mods because I like to enjoy the game for what it is. I do not support sexuality or race altering mods of any type. In my opinion, changing any character’s gender, sexuality, or ethnicity is wrong and does the characters and the people who wrote them a disservice. I’m against any sexuality altering mod, whether it is a mod that makes gay and lesbian characters straight or makes straight characters bisexual. HOWEVER - I will not judge anyone who decides to download and play the mods themselves. If people want to play them, it’s their business - not mine. The best we as fans and consumers can do is discourage others from playing the mod and ask the creator to take it down or report it if it’s offensive or abusive. I do, however, believe that the nature and reason behind modding games should be discussed. It’s one thing to say these mods are “wrong,” but it’s better and more thought provoking to try and figure out why these mods even exist? Why do people create them? By understanding and discussing the “why,” we can even tease at some of the big picture questions as to the as to the nature of mods, why they exist, and what to do about more problematic mods.

Anyway, I hope that has cleared some things up for some people. I’m not going to address all of the reblogs and comments on the original post. Not only do I not have the time nor energy to address and rebut them all individually, but some of the comments directed at me have been abusive and derogatory, and not worth my attention. If you wish to have a discussion with me about the game mod issue, my inbox is open. Even better, if those of you wish to join our talk on Saturday, you’re certainly welcome to. All I ask is that you be respectful and not come in with the mindset that we’re all a bunch of angry white heterosexual gamers diversity. We are, in fact, a very chill group that enjoy nerding out over games and discussing hot topics in the gaming community.

Also, in the future, I ask that you all please not make assumptions about others you know nothing about. I’ve seen this repeated in many fandoms and I’ve seen people mob, harass, and scare people off of tumblr simply for making a mistake or a misguided/incorrect comment. There are more productive and healthy ways of engaging with people online that don’t involve (the equivalent of) screaming at someone or outright bullying them. Mobbing blogs and bloggers does not help improve diversity in gaming. All it does is makes the community toxic and gives the fandom a bad reputation - and we can act better than that.

[cypheroftyr]

I’m sorry you were offended is NOT nor will it ever be an actual apology. Maybe if you’d actually engaged people instead of these passive aggressive non-pologie’s? There could be dialogue.

You have not responded to the criticism except in this manner. I’m not joining your discussion because you are not qualified to have it, it’s clear you don’t care about the people harmed by your original post or subsequent failures to actually show an iota of care of sympathy for our anger but instead cry about being bullied and assumptions made about your intent. Intent means NOTHING when you do harm, NOTHING.

There is no debate to be had, and neutrality isn’t an option. See @jessicalprice‘s response, copied here since you probably didn’t bother to read it the first time:

Being “neutral,” not condemning or condoning, on this stuff ISN’T neutral. it’s supporting the status quo, which is racist and oppressive.

Pretending that continued support for racist attitudes is “neutrality” and the position of people who just want to be objective and hear both sides and consider things fairly is a favorite trick of people who actually want to preserve those attitudes.

Why?

Because it allows them to paint people who object to racist attitudes and behaviors as radical and emotional and irrational, making them easy to dismiss.

And you can see @bluvixen doing just that here, claiming what have been principled and well-thought-out, well-articulated reactions are “typical knee-jerk reactions.”

Typical of… whom, exactly? POC?

Of course their reactions aren’t legitimate, and this is just people looking for reasons to be offended, right? I mean, there’s no chance that this stuff hurts them and their reactions are honest and legitimate and rational, right?

“Let’s hear both sides, let’s be objective,” is a stalling tactic, not an attempt at listening. We’ve already heard the other side. We’ve been hearing it forever. How many studies do you need showing the harmful effects of this crap? How many POC do you need telling you that this hurts them?

We’ve heard the other side as a culture. We’ve made non-white people jump through a thousand hoops to prove that they’ve been harmed, while giving our own resistance to what they’re saying the benefit of the doubt.

How much more do we fucking need?

At this point, “I want to hear both sides” is pretty much code for “I am comfortable with America’s racist attitudes and indifferent to the suffering they cause, but I know racism is seen as a bad thing so I don’t want to admit it.”

Be better than that, Bioware fandom. Because the games you love are better than that.

(It’s also sexist as fuck: one doesn’t see nearly as many mods for male characters, because they’re allowed to be the people they are, whereas female characters must be mutable, not claim their identity as their own, change to suit male desires.

And it’s also disrespectful to the people who made the game. They wrote these characters to be the people they are, not as placeholders in the narrative for people to replace with their “improvements.”)

So when you can actually heart criticism and learn from it? Try to have an actual dialogue then let people know. No one is going to come to you to hold your hand and make you get it. We’re done with the heavy lifting, especially with someone who won’t even lift the first pound or take the first step.

[thecheshirecass-deactivated2018]

Well said @cypheroftyr, well said. 

 Take a good long look at this post kids - this is what racism looks like. It’s not just burning crosses and old white dudes in bedsheets -it’s someone seeing the outrage of marginalized groups and dismissing in while trying to make yourself the victim and I’m gonna always call you on your shit. 

 For all my followers, OP above is exactly what NOT to be in fandom when dealing with marginalized groups. The self centering martyr complex is strong and painful. All they want is a safe space to be harmful and have “intellectual” discussions about shit that shouldn’t be up for debate. She then proceeds to tone police everyone who responded to her and act as if we’re somehow just bullying her because we misinterpreted her point. 

No, @bluvixen we haven’t misconstrued anything you said - you’re just to cowardly to own up to the fact you’re more interested in preserving your illusion of faux intellectual superiority than actually listening to the input of PoC. You’re to convinced of your own superiority and stuck in your own privilege to realize your actions are both racist and homophobic and harmful. No, there aren’t two sides to this issue, there’s right and wrong and you’ve chosen wrong. 

 I hope the members of the Dragon age fandom who actually care about marginalized people will give this group and their “debate” a serious pass. Now, like Cypher I’ll be blocking this woman like Nicki blocking the New York Times reporter.

[nyagosstar]

There is a distinct difference between a mod that puts flower crowns on all the players and one that makes Vivienne white or Dorian straight/bi. You can wear a flower crown, you can change your hairstyle. Straight Sera takes representation away from gamers who desperately want and need to see themselves in their games. Whitewashed Zevran takes representation away.

These mods also have the added bonus of showing up in fan works. It cannot be an issue of neutrality because even if I don’t play the mod, I’m still going to see the whitewashed screencaps in photosets. Those screencaps are going to be used as references for artists. I’m still going to see fan works on AO3 with F!Inquisitor/Dorian. These mods don’t happen in a vacuum and putting them on the same platform for a discussion as shaggy haired Cullen is both disingenuous and offensive. They’re not the same and you know it.

The only reason anyone would want a white Vivienne is because they hate black people. They may say it in a different way, or try to sound reasonable and calm, but that’s it. And giving them a platform to speak about this? Is utterly irresponsible.

Do I believe that your group is chill and doesn’t want to hurt people? Sure. But I also believe that you’ve stepped into something you don’t understand and aren’t willing to take a step back and own up to that mistake. This is not a fun debate topic. This is hurtful to a segment of fandom that is already marginalized.

[ineeddiversegames]

Emphasis on those lines ours. Marginalized identity is not there for lively debate.

This person has not apologized, reflected or done anything except ignore people they felt were “bullying” them with facts and logic. Their other answer was come to the chat it will be FUN!

No, that’s not our definition of fun at any time or place. In short:

[stand-up-gifs]

Kumail Nanjiani

[video]

[realgirlsgaming]

0_0

[thesadpilotclub-deactivated2025]

I just don’t understand where this concept of ‘fake geek girls’ came from. Like, AT ALL.

Cus when I look for fandom related stuff like 90% of the fan art and the fanfiction and the meta, zines, comics, etc. Like 90% of the shit that I’ve seen is created by women & girls.

And all that stuff take’s a lot of work and research and critical analysis and staring at reference photos for hours.

We are literally the most well versed and invested group in the fandom. So, like, What the fuck boys? You mad you can’t keep up?

[scifigrl47]

I saw an argument, and I can’t find it now, but it totally made sense, that there’s a gender split in fandom. Male fandom tends to be a curator fandom; male fandom collects, organizes, and memorizes facts and figures. Male fandom tends to be KEEPERS of the canon; the fandom places great weight on those who have the biggest collection, the deepest knowledge of obscure subjects, the first appearances, creators, character interactions.

Female fandom is creative. Females create fanart, cosplay, fanwritings. Female fandom ALTERS canon, for the simple reason that canon does not serve female fandom. In order for it to fit the ‘outsider’ (female, queer, POC), the canon must be attacked and rebuilt, and that takes creation.

“Male” fandom devalues this contribution to fandom, because it is not the ‘right’ kind of fandom. “Girls only cosplay for attention, they’re not REAL fans!” “Fanfiction is full of stupid Mary Sues, girls only do it so they can make out with the main character!” “I, a male artist, have done this pin-up work and can put it in my portfolio! You, a female artist, have drawn stupid fanart, and it’s not appropriate to use as a professional reference!”

In the mind of people who decry the ‘fake geek girl,’ this fandom is not as worthy. It damages, or in their mind, destroys the canon. What is the point of memorizing every possible romantic entanglement of heterosexual white Danny Rand if someone turns around and creates a fanwork depicting him as a bisexual female of Asian descent (thus subverting Rand’s creepy ‘white savior’ origins)? When Danny Rand becomes Dani Rand, their power is lessened. What is important to them ceases to be the focus of the discussion. Creation and curatorship can work in tandom, but typically, in fandom, they are on opposite poles.

This is not to say that there aren’t brilliant male cosplayers or smashing female trivia experts, this is to say that the need of the individual fan is met with opposing concepts: In order for me to find myself in comics, I need to make that space for myself, and that is a creative force. Het white cis males are more likely to do anything possible to defend and preserve the canon because the canon is built to cater to them.

[graceleewhitney]

This is genuinely the best post I have ever read.

[luminousfinn]

Comment bolded by me because effing important that’s why.

[aranel-parmadil]

This.

[codenamecesare]

“I, a male artist, have done this pin-up work and can put it in my portfolio! You, a female artist, have drawn stupid fanart, and it’s not appropriate to use as a professional reference!”

Seeing this spelled out was revelatory to me.

[mermaidsandcats29]

This. Is. Absolutely. AMAZING

[nymgamer]

The story of one former employee at a major game studio.

Every day, work was exhausting, not only due to the way the company itself treated women, but the way that the game designers treated women. Despite our status as a major game company with a reputation for on being progressive toward women, so many of the game design decisions were so backwards it was disgusting. Our recent main game launched with a plot that included the chance to rape a powerless woman, and to sexually harass other NPCs into sex. Where women were given sexy outfits, but there were no equivalents designed for male players. Where same-sex romance plots were slashed because the licensing owners didn’t approve.

Dealing with the designs that came after that was a constant battle. There were a lot of things that were overt: female NPC models were cut to make space for even cooler male versions of already-existing male versions. All outfits were designed for men first, and then stretched to fit over female bodies. Properly testing that fit for women wasn’t even part of the official outfit testing routine. Going against previous design philosophy, the designers created a canon version of the player for ads: a man, of course. Later, they tweaked the canon player to be “way cooler” by changing his face model to be Caucasian instead of Asian.

Read it all at nymgamer. 

[nymgamer]

All along, I’d constructed my Max as a little uncertain, maybe a little too earnest, but as someone trying to do good. I wanted to save people. I comforted those who’d been hurt. I tried to stop people from being hit with footballs and cars and all manner of things. I always helped poor, unlucky Alyssa. And doing the right thing, the only thing, had led to something horrible.

[freegameplanet]

Emily is Away is a heartfelt tale of friendship, love and relationships in which you chat you your friend Emily through a retro instant messenger chat client.

Played over the course of five years, Emily is Away features a well crafted emotional story with branching pathways affected by your responses during conversations.  You play the whole game through an instant messenger client, choosing responses, then tapping keyboard keys to type them out.  It’s a unique premise, and everything feels very authentic for the era – it even has nice little touches like choosing your screen name, selecting from a variety of 90’s pop culture avatar icons, and the ability to customise your text color.

Playing the game through the 90’s instant messenger client not only adds a warm sense of nostalgia, it makes everything feel more real and personal.  The writing throughout is also superb, with choices, responses and actions all feeling very grounded in reality – you’re not making right or wrong decisions, it just feels like you’re having a conversation with a friend.  But if you want more than that, things may get tricky…

Play The Full Game, Free (Win, Mac & Linux)

[lesmisconfessions]

I dont Think any of the les mis cast actors can be black. If you were black in France in 1800 you would be lower class. And it was before integration. It is not historicly correct that Javert, a police officer with High status, would have been black. I love norm Lewis, but no. And eponine cant be black, and have white parents. Im not racist, i repeat not racist

[pilferingapples]

Everything about this is factually wrong. -There very much were black people in high status positions in France in the 1800s. Here, check out the Dumas Family —General, famous author, and hey, another fairly successful author!.  Sure, most black people would not have been high status— most PEOPLE, period, were not among the social elite, because that’s how an elite works. And racism was certainly a complicating factor for anyone not white. But 1800s France was not 1800s USA, the systems in play were very different, and the options for racially marginalized groups were likewise different. -Speaking of social elites! Police inspectors were not at all in that number. (Also Javert may not have been exactly an inspector, Hugo appears to have conflated some duties) (And here’s some NSFW reading on what those duties might entail! Warning: lots and lots of talk of prostitution). Remember that even in the book, Hugo describes society “closing its doors” (which, OUCH) on two classes: those who attack it and those who defend it, meaning in that particular passage criminal and the law. Inspectors were poorly paid and poorly trained, with training/schools for the field not established until 1883.

- Eponine can totally be “black with white parents”. Or white with black parents! (cw:racism, both those links) SO COULD ANY OF THE CHARACTERS, Because Genetics. It’s a lot more complicated than people seem to realize!

All this, of course, on top of the realities of theater that I’ve seen other people mention in the notes to this post re:colorblind casting, the fact that we accept ENGLISH SPEAKERS in 1820s-1830s France (and Hugo didn’t talk overmuch about race but he has ACTUAL CHAPTERS to say on language), and, y’know, the singing thing (although there IS a surprising amount of actual singing in the Brick.) And anyone claiming to be Not A Racist might want to first wonder why they find RACE the objectionable adaptational issue, rather than the English, the singing, or the wildly inaccurate clothing in most stage productions (the xylophone, now, THAT would not have been happening. At least not on Enjolras. But I’m willing to go with it, aren’t you, OP?).

I’m going to guess it’s at least partly because, ESPECIALLY in the USA, ALL OF US are subject to certain cultural narratives that prioritize race as a focus and normalize historical racism, whether we ourselves want to believe those narratives or not.  Which is the only reason I’m posting here; it’s certainly not because I’m an expert in the field. I’m not one of the real heavy researchers,  I’m not equipped to answer fine-detailed questions about the history of race relations in France past OR present (and I expect to be offered corrections and criticism on this post really fast, AS IT SHOULD BE, because this is important!).  But that’s kind of my point; it took me all of thirty minutes to look up most of this (INCLUDING the non-Tumblr commissioner stuff, and there was more of that if I’d needed to construct pay records etc. on my own), and that’s on dialup. We don’t have to accept the whole “history is for white people” idea, and why would anyone WANT to?

[writingaboutmyrapists]

Title Painting. Portrait of a woman.

Creator LESAGE Pierre Alexis (1872—1932)., artist

Date XIX—XX century.

Description (Young black woman, dressed in high-necked blouse, turned three-quarters to the right.) 

Photo source: Menil Foundation/ 

Photographer: Mario Carrieri,

Repository NANTES., Musée des Beaux-Arts. 

Source The Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University

CORDIER, Charles. Cambrai, Nord 1827 - Alger, Algérie 1905

Mauresque noire Black Moorish Woman 1856 bronze, patines argentée oxydée, dorée, noire, brune et verte

buste 73 x 44,5 x 26

(source)

Title: “Said Abdallah from the Tribe of Mayac in the Realm of Darfour”, a portrait of Seïd Enkess, a freed Black slave who became a professional model in Paris.

Date: 1848

Material: Bronze

Artist: Charles Cordier’s

(source)

Charles Cordier

African Venus

France (1851)

Bronze, 39.5 cm.

Photo credits: galeri.uludagsozluk.com, opacity (flickr), The Walters Museum.

Charles Cordier

Nègre en Costume Algérien or Nègre du Soudan

France (a. 1857)

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN

Image of the Black in Western Art (Harvard University)

[x]

Sophie de Tott, Ourika, ca. 1793. From the frontispiece of Roger Little, Ourika, 1998. Ourika is depicted crowning a bust of the maréchal de Beauvau with a garland of flowers. The painting is in a private collection.

Anonymous, Portrait of Ourika, nd. Reproduced in Roger Little,Ourika, 1998; who reproduced it from Léonel de la Tourrasse, Le Château du Val dans la forêt de Saint-Germain. Private collection, Château du Val.

Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier

Capresse des Colonies

France (1861)

Bust in onyx and patinated bronze and stone on a pedestal of rose veined marble, 96.5 x 54 x 28 cm.

Musée d’Orsay

[x]

Caryatid Charles Henri Joseph Cordier

Anonymous Artist

Prince Louis Aniaba

Print for Illustration for Trajes de la Ordenes Religiosas y Militares: Gran Maestre del Orden de la Estrella de Na Sra (en Africa) segun andaba en la Corte de Francia.

France (c. 1780)

Engraving, Print on Paper; 350 x 230 mm.

At the end of the seventeenth century, Louis Aniaba was the protege of Louis XIV, and the first black officer in the French army.

See also:

An African Prince at the Court of the Sun King by Phillipe Halbert

Blank Darkness: Africanist Discourse in French by Christopher L. Miller, p. 32-36

Jean-Paul Flandrin: Tete d’un Africain (1830)

skemono submitted to medievalpoc:

Jean-Baptiste Belley was born in Senegal, kidnapped at a young age and sold into slavery in Saint-Domingue. Over the years he gained his freedom (some sources say he saved money and bought his freedom; others say he earned his freedom through his military service).

In 1793, he was one of three delegates sent to represent Saint-Domingue in the National Convention, and afterward the Council of Five Hundred. He served until 1797, thus being one of the people to vote to abolish slavery in French colonies the first time in 1794.

After losing his seat to Étienne Mentor, he joined Leclerc’s 1802 expedition to Saint-Domingue to take control from Louverture. However, he was arrested by the French and imprisoned in Belle-Île. He died in 1805.

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson

Portrait de C.[itoyen] Jean-Baptiste Belley, ex-représentant des colonies

France (ca. 1797)

Oil on canvas, 159x111 cm.

Château de Versailles.

[X] [X] [X] [X] [X]

Chevalier Joseph Boulogne de Saint-Georges, musician whose work influenced Mozart’s.

Ange-Jacques Gabriel

Mascaron, Place de la Bourse

Bordeaux, France (1730-1775)

Pierre-Antoine Demachey

El Preste Juan; Emperador de los Abisinios (Prester John)

France (c. 1760s)

Hand-colored lithograph.

NYPL Digital Collections.

Jean Discart

The Connoisseurs

France (1884)

Oil on Wood, 43 x 32 cm.

[x] [x]

Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault

Portrait of a Black Man

France (c. 1823)

Oil on Canvas

[x] [x] [x] [x]

Jean Discart

A North African Merchant

France (b. 1856)

[x]

Jean Louis André Théodore Gericault

Portrait of the Model Joseph

France (1818)

Oil on Canvas, 46.5 x 30 cm.

The J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University

Jean-Antoine Houdon

Portrait Bust

France (1781)

Plaster study for a fountain, 32 cm.

Soisson, Museé Municipal.

(Head of a black woman, her lips parted, looking slightly to the right.) The bust was damaged in World War I, leaving only the head intact.

The Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University

skemono submitted to medievalpoc:

Guillaume Guillon Lethière

Serment des Ancêtres (Oath of the Ancestors)

France/Haiti (1822)

Oil on canvas, 228x334 cm

Lethière painted this in 1822 from France, but it was never intended to display there. His son Lucien delivered the painting to Haiti in 1823. The scene commemorates the Haitian Revolution, depicting Jean-Jacques Dessalines (right), an ex-slave who led the revolution after Louverture’s arrest and crowned himself the first emperor of Haiti; and Alexandre Pétion (left), a free man of color who defected from Leclerc’s forces and became the first president of the Haitian Republic after Dessalines’ assassination.

The painting was damaged by the 2010 earthquake, and was temporarily moved to France for restoration. After it was fixed, it was displayed in the Louvre briefly before being returned to Haiti.

[X] [X] [X]

Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier; Workshop of De Manou

Africa from a set of The Four Continents

France (1786)

Wool and Silk Tapestry, 365.8 x 457.2 cm

The Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Bashi-Bazouk

France (1868)

Oil on Canvas, 80 x 66 cm.

Olivier Pichat

Général Thomas Alexandre Dumas (father of author Alexandre Dumas)

France (c. 1790s, not dated)

Unknown Artist

Portrait of George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower(1780-1860)

England (c. 1790s)

British Museum

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

French (Albi 1864 - 1901 Malromé) The Black Countess France (1881) Oil on board

32.4 x 40.7 cm (12 3/4 x 16 in.)

[x]

Edgar Degas

Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando

France, 1879

Oil on canvas, 117.2 x 77.5 cm.

National Gallery, London, Great Britain

[medievalpoc]

Did someone really just copy and paste half the MPoC 1800s tag as a reply to someone spouting nonsense about Le Miserables, including part of this submission…(screenshot from upthread)?

Well, glad to see it’s going to good use!

More tags you can check out on this: France, French Revolution, 1700s

[nymgamer]

The debut episode of Invisibility Blues is up!

Warning: This video contains in-game footage of violence. In this debut episode, we look at character creation in a variety of games, exploring those features that are and are not available, with a critical eye toward the impact of creation limitations. For more information on the Invisibility Blues series, and this episode, please visit http://www.nymgamer.com/?page_id=11620. For updates and more, visit http://www.nymgamer.com/ or follow us on Twitter (@nymgamer). Featured Games: Carnival Games Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Destiny Dragon Age: Inquisition Dragon Age: Origins The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Elder Scrolls Online Mass Effect 3 Fair Use: The clips included in this video constitute a 'fair use' of any copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of U.S. Copyright law which allows for criticism, comment and scholarship. Creators: Samantha Blackmon Alisha Karabinus Original Music: Mike Moody and Tim Childree

Update: There was a little problem with one of the titles, and we've annotated to fix the error. If you're interested in screening this video for educational purposes (or for any reason, really), get in touch and we'll make sure you get access to an updated copy. We're still making improvements all the time and each video should get better and better.

[nymgamer]

Invisibility Blues: Exploring Race in Video Games

A video series critiquing race and representation in contemporary games and game culture.

33 HOURS TO GO! Just the tiniest sliver away from unlocking two final series videos. LET’S GET THERE.

[cypheroftyr]

A black dude protag, gorgeous cinematography. diverse cast! I’m breaking my no Pre-order rule for this. I’d never been interested in the Mafia series before but DAMN, GIMME THIS GAME RIGHT NOW.

https://mafiagame.com/

Please note the site is age gated, ie you have to put in a DOB before entering the site.

[ineeddiversegames]

BRB FLAILING FOREVER OVER THIS GAME!

[diversegaminglists]

Boosting because protagonist is a black man and a Vietnam veteran.

[z4pp3d-deactivated20190602]

Fantastic #LifeIsStrange cosplay

[nymgamer]

...And now we’ve circled back to that word, realistic. It’s a troubling term for some; Kain, in the piece linked above, equates such usage to “thin-shaming,” and he’s not alone. Body positive advocates will often say the most realistic body is the one we each have, and we should love it and care for it regardless of look, shape, and ability. That may get us at what I think is a larger argument than whether or not the redone images are “realistic.” Perhaps the bigger question is not whether or not video game character bodies can or do exist in the real world, but instead whether or not the proliferation of thin, ultra-fit, scantily clad, slim-limbed, and heavy-breasted bodies as the only image in games is realistic. A quick stroll through the original images on the site, the images of pre-altered female characters, reveals a stark similarity in design. Every woman looks essentially the same, and no, that’s not realistic at all.

Kain argues for diversity in body presentation, and here, I do as well: let’s see a range of bodies in games, for both men and women, bodies that reflect role and environment. Of course, that can apply to more than just body type, but that’s a discussion for another day. Quibbling over what is and isn’t a realistic body is reductive, and a way to avoid the larger issue: as a whole, women in video games have not been historically realistic. Some of that’s changing… but is it enough? ...read the rest at NYMG.

[alpha-beta-gamer]

Disposable is a stylish platformer in which you play a small robot exploring a strange laboratory, using a very cool grapple/lash mechanic to get around and hacking terminals to open the exit door.

The terminals are scattered across the level in various hard to reach areas, luckily for you though your little robot is capable of some very nifty feats of agility.  As well as being able to triple jump upwards, you can grapple/lash across the various red and white nodes that are littered across the level – you’ll have to be very quick and precise when using these nodes though as there’s very little margin for error.

The current build is still very early in development, but Disposable impresses with it’s novel gameplay and beautiful pixel art animation.  An intriguing and remarkably tricky precision platformer.

Play The Prototype, Free (Win, Mac & Linux)

[dazzling-bow-tie]

Chloe price Cosplay

2015

Series: Life is strange

Taken in Essen, Germany. My FB Page:www.facebook.com/dazzlingbowti… Photographer FB Page:www.facebook.com/MaslowskiPhot…

[ineeddiversegames]

Game On: Announcing Techsdale's Pilot Program - Techsdale

After a months of campaigning, and more months of planning, it’s finally happening. Techsdale is ready to go. Through weekly classes that run for 14 weeks (16 August to 15 November) at Humber's North Campus, Techsdale will help students develop indie game portfolios through project-based learning, teamwork, mentorship, and skills training.

We’re working in collaboration with the Center for Social Innovation (CSI), Humber College, Lakeshore Area Multi-Service Project (LAMP), and Sandbox, Inc. to make our vision – creating opportunities for Rexdale youth, and helping to diversify the tech sector – a reality.

Ultimately, our purpose is to create a pipeline into the tech industry for individuals who typically face social and financial obstacles. Through Techsdale, we’re making a firm commitment to open the doors to jobs, careers, and professional networks.

Toronto’s tech sector brings in a staggering $52 billion in annual revenues, and employs approximately 200,000 people. Through our commitment to community-building, we will hel young people tap into the growing sector with mentorship support from Humber College faculty, as well as our brilliant and passionate volunteers

If you would like to be a part of the program, either as a volunteer or a participant, don’t hesitate to sign up:

Apply for the program Volunteer