#twdanf

It took a while but I finally did Clementine.

Gameplay: The Walking Dead a new Frontier

I get that games have such a pathetically small number of characters that are LGBT that Javi being bi kind of seems like it should be a big deal, and look I'd love to see the fandom fixing the problems of ANF, but I’m seeing people actually saying that Javi as presented in ANF is a good example of representation and

He’s not.

He just.... he isn’t. Not saying the fanbase couldn’t or shouldn’t expand on his character in fan-fic/fan-art/headcanons/whatever or even that people shouldn’t be happy to have a canonically bi character, but within the text itself, nothing about him is good representation for bi people or the LGBT community. And my goal here isn’t to make you feel bad for being happy, but to suggest that maybe we should push developers to actually give us good representation, and that praising them when they do the barest minimum might not exactly be helpful.

And I get the instinct to praise Telltale. Hell, as someone who is bi I was actually really put off by how DONTNOD presented Max’s sexuality as being either gay or straight based on player choice in Life Is Strange, and then the fact that there’s basically no other characters in mainstream games who are bi, so I 100% get the instinct to be happy about Javi being bi and praising Telltale.

But here’s the thing: In Episodes 1-4, there are no hints of Javi being bi. He flirts with Kate, Eleanor, and kind of Ava, but his behavior towards Tripp and Jesus is very different, and there’s no sense of his flirty/charming behavior that we see with most of the female characters. For most of the season, Javi is pushed into a relationship with Kate(no matter how many times you choose to avoid that, characters will keep talking about it and it becomes central to the conflict in Episode 5). There’s just, nothing for the majority of the season. In fact, there’s nothing for the majority of Episode 5. The only scene within the season itself that suggests anything is a short exchange with Jesus that is mostly played off as a joke and goes nowhere.

And then the writer  of episode 5 confirms that Javi is bi on the Telltale forums.

So, there’s nothing for the majority of the season, and what is there is played off as a joke and leads to nothing. I’m sorry guys, but a joke scene lading to a writer confirming his sexuality on a forum is not good representation, it is the barest minimum Telltale could have done, and rather than praise them, maybe hold them(and the games industry in general) to a little more of a higher standard? I don’t know, the whole situation is really... uncomfortable.

“The Walking Dead A New Frontier” is awesome!!! I like so much Javi Clementine is so beautiful and I love/miss Luke *cry* I drew this in one of my days of my vacation trip~

clementine: i wouldn’t know...

me: