so. its looking like the german translation of paper mario: ttyd is continuing to erase the existence of trans people in the world of the game.
(terribly written article, good ol’ sebastian ruppert has no idea how to talk about trans people, but im linking it as my source)
this is another grim reminder of the importance of a non-exclusively america-centric worldview.
here in the german-speaking world, several counties both in germany and in austria (jury’s out for switzerland, i dont know anyone from there), trans-topics remain extremely controversial and are often used as fodder for right-wing extremists to implement oppressive legislation.
language, as always, is a major focal point to these people. many politicians and ideologues (even ones supposedly on the political left) here weather against language-centric concepts such as “gendering” (i.e. using more gender-neutral avenues of referring to groups of people or individuals), and in a few counties in austria and germany (bavaria in germany and lower austria in austria, for example), its actually fucking outlawed now.
i have faced a lot of discrimination even in the more nominally progressive capital city of austria. an austrian cab-driver once asked me if i was “one of those american tr*nnies”. people here believe that it is the united states that “import” lgbtq+ topics to us, but really, the main thing imported from the united states and their political landscape is the “anti-woke” rhetoric of the right.
i will still celebrate; this character (vivian) means the world to me, and so does this game. but never once forget that every win, ANY win, is hard-fought, and that there is more work to be done in places other than the anglosphere.