Video Games – Digi-Dive!

Stardew Valley: A Landmark for LGBT+ Gaming Representation

The video assignment that inspired me to make this post!

Stardew Valley, on its surface, is a very simple game. You come across a deed to your grandfather’s farm, and decide to move out of the city and away from your crappy office job to start your life anew. You grow crops that change with the seasons, sell them for money, raise livestock, and live out your dream of relaxing in the rural country side. However, underneath this super simple premise lies a deep, rich, and complex story, with different intertwining threads that make up the collective personality and community of Stardew Valley.

It’s also a place where things like bigotry and horrible viewpoints contained in our real world just don’t exist – the most offensive thing that can happen in this game is an older grandpa telling you he doesn’t like how you loiter around the town, or if you accidentally gift your neighbor a piece of trash, and that’s about it. It’s a place where you can change your appearance at the drop of a hat, and express yourself however you please. Most importantly, it’s a place where you can fall in love with whoever you choose, no matter what gender you select at the start of the game. This game allows you to be unapologetically you, and it doesn’t care about who you are, what you identify as, or where you’re from.

As someone who is openly queer, representation is a huge battle the LGBT+ community fights for everyday. We strive to just be seen as normal people, not some tragic love interest that gets killed off for the sake of plot, or an oversaturated perception of outdated stereotypes. Whenever it’s made public that a new movie or TV show will have a queer character make an appearance, ignorant people see it as shoving a “homosexual agenda” in their faces, when in reality we’ve been force fed horrible heteronormative plot lines for much, much longer. In video games, it’s sadly not very different. Even in the world of farming games like Harvest Moon, one of the main inspirations for Stardew Valley, you could only marry male characters if you played as a female, and vice versa. You couldn’t even customize your character; you were just stuck with whatever cutesy model that was assigned to you.

This brings us back to Stardew Valley. Stardew Valley is a game that doesn’t “force” you into any particular camp when it comes to who you love. You organically build a relationship with all the different characters over your time living in their community. You learn about their likes and dislikes, their hobbies and interests, and even their goals and aspirations outside of this tiny rural town. You start to learn each character’s unique daily routine that changes with the seasons, and you can even do favors for them and bring them certain crops or other items they may need. Stardew Valley is simply a game about exploring at your leisure, taking the time to enjoy every second of everyday, and get to know everyone at your own pace.

This is exactly why Stardew Valley is a huge step in the right direction for queer representation: with the friendly environment and the fact you can take everything at your own pace, it’s easier to feel safe to express yourself how you want to be truly seen, and to love who you want to without fear of judgement. LGBT+ people’s lives are constantly put in danger simply by the act of being their true selves, with significantly higher rates of being bullied, discriminated against or abused, and along with that the rate of suicides in LGBT+ youth are up to three times higher than that of their straight peers. The world is not safe for LGBT+ people by any means, even with the fact we’ve made significant progress within the last 10-20 years.

This is why I love Stardew Valley so much. It can provide a safe environment for those who feel pressured to hide away their true selves from society and those they’re close to. It’s a get away from the horrible world queer people have to face on a day to day basis. It’s a place where they can be safe, and most importantly, it’s a place where they can love and be loved, unconditionally.

To be honest, I could go on for hours about the other types of amazing representation in this game, especially outside LGBT+ characters. There’s Kent, a war veteran father who you don’t meet until you’ve gone through your first year of farming, who struggles with PTSD and trying to adjust back to civilian life with a loving wife and two sons. There’s Shane, a struggling depressed alcoholic trying to get by in his day to day life, who loves to take care of rare blue chickens and his goddaughter, Jas. There’s Alex, the classic jock football player who dreams of playing in a professional league, and also lives with his grandparents since both of his own parents tragically passed away a few years before. There’s Haley, a know-it-all popular girl with a secret love for photography, and a deep love for her great grandmother, who she has a bracelet from that she keeps on her at all times. The character development in this game is outstanding, and this barely even scratches the surface of what incredible stories hide beneath this game’s easy-going surface.

So I guess, in summary, Stardew Valley isn’t just an important game for LGBT+ youth. It’s a game for people in all walks of life, with all types of issues, to come together and feel safe and happy, and feel valid with adequate and accurate representation.

And really, who could ask for more than that.

The Prowess of The Protomen!

A fantastic example of how combining popular video game culture and music is a creative powerhouse unlike any other.

The Protomen performing live in Austin on February 28th, 2020.

Video games have quickly become one of the most popular forms of creative storytelling within the past few decades. With so many ideas and stories to be put into a playable experience, along with a wide range of genres and depth, it’s no wonder how they’ve become a major source of inspiration and creativity for many people. From artists using popular characters as models for their drawings, to people creating their own original characters within those universes to write their own takes on a franchise. I’ve certainly used video games as an inspiration in my life, most recently for smaller pieces of writing I’ve been working on for the better half of quarantine. However, I’d like to argue that no one has meshed their own creative pursuits with a passionate love for video games more than the band known as The Protomen.

The Protomen are an incredible eight-person ensemble dedicated to telling the story of the Mega Man series, but with a super dark and gruesome twist. Through their self titled album, as well as its later-released prequel, Act II: The Father of Death, the story follows Doctor Thomas Light and his pursuit to free himself and the world of its corrupt overlord and his former colleague, Doctor Albert Wily. It also follows the story of Mega Man and the trials he faces in fighting for justice, as well as his wrestling with his own self-consciousness and where he truly stands in the fight for freedom as a robot himself. With a beautiful blend of 80’s-inspired synths, intense sound production, and amazing storytelling, they weave an intricate tapestry with powerful reoccurring themes such as love, loss, corruption, betrayal, revenge, and above all, hope.

The band came to be from a group of college friends in Middle Tennessee State University’s recording program in 2003. What had started as a simple track recording class project later became their first official song, Due Vendetta, which then became a smash hit upon official release. This resulted in the writing and completion of the rest of their first album throughout their senior year. They went on to continue from their Nashville HQ post-graduation, and along with members coming and going throughout the years, they’ve become a huge success, and a well known name in the Mega Man community. They were even at one point personally invited to perform at San Diego Comic-Con by CAPCOM, the company that created Mega Man way back in 1987. They’ve taken their grim fairy tale of robots and revolution across the United States, and even across the world, inspiring crowds with their amazing rock n’ roll attitudes.

Though the band comes from humble roots and has been around since I was basically a toddler, I only learned about them within the last year or so. As an avid storyteller myself, I was drawn into the band’s concept as a rock opera group, something I had never really heard of before. And while I’m certainly no expert in Mega Man lore, I’m still a massive nerd who can appreciate the hard work and fantastic storytelling they provide through their albums. I was thankful enough to get to see them perform live in Austin at the end of February, along with the band TWRP, right before the Corona virus pandemic really kicked off. At the time I didn’t know many of their songs, but as I watched them on stage and saw how much energy and life they put into their performance, it made me want to know their lyrics and their story.

A signed poster someone from the VIP section gave to me at the Austin concert I attended. The first eight figures are the members of The Protomen, followed by TWRP.

Thankfully with the time I’ve spent in quarantine, listening to their music has helped feed my creative engine that’s severely lacked fuel while being cooped up inside. It’s also brought me a lot of joy and energy to hear the lead singers Raul Panther and Gambler Kirkdouglass’s amazing voices scream about robot anarchy in my ears for hours on end (not to mention I recently hurt my neck while jamming out to the band’s amazing cover of Mr. Roboto off of their 80’s cover album).

While I would normally end a blog post like this by linking to the band’s socials (which I will still totally do here and here) or simply recommending their music, I would mainly like to draw attention to something they’re currently offering on their online merch store. While they were on tour with TWRP, their hometown of Nashville was hit by a huge tornado, one that destroyed lots of properties and homes, and even a former concert venue they had performed at earlier on tour. They were initially going to host a huge benefit concert once the tour ended, but of course the Corona virus pandemic made it virtually impossible to do so. So, to compensate, the Protomen have released a limited run shirt, one where all of the proceeds will go to Hands On Nashville, a charity dedicated to tornado and COVID-19 relief to help the local communities get back on their feet. I highly recommend to check it out and purchase one if you’re interested and are able to, since it’s a very good cause, and you also get a sick piece of merch out of it. I’ll link the merch here, as well as a direct link to donate to Hands On Nashville if you still want to help but might not have the means to spend that kind of money.

Together, we can only hope to show the people of Nashville that hope doesn’t ride alone.