@flyboyelm / flyboyelm.tumblr.com
Another procreate sketch. Based on a trippy, symbolic dream I had where “two beings loved each other their whole life, and when they died they turned into an angel”. My interpretation is something about opposites seeing each other without judgement, accepting and loving each other despite their inherent differences.
I’ve toyed with the idea of making a tarot deck. This sketch might become the base for the lovers. Or maybe a mix of the lovers and the star
I’ve been drawing some personifications of the planets as deities on my iPad. Here we’ve got:
The Sun
She’s the boss, the queen goddess. Inspired mainly by Mesopotamia’s Innana, but also Aphrodite. She’s confident and strong, but also demanding and sometimes arrogant. Typical leader-goddess
Mercury
The Sun’s attendant and messenger. Her closets confidant (they’re lesbians Harold). Based mainly on Mesopotamia’s Ninshubur. Very fluid and clever. Loyal to that which is most important
Venus
Peak feminine power as well as danger. A seducer, an entertainer, a protector and acceptor of those who’ve beed hated, a cunning strategist. A fairy and a shark at the same time. In conflict with Mars
Earth
Gaia. Curious and filled with wonder. Having a blast experiencing herself. Gets a little caught in the middle of Venus and Mars fighting
The Moon
Earth’s companion, watcher and guardian. Receives messages from an unknown force
Mars
The masculine warrior. A defender and boundary enforcer. Struggles with regulating emotions and figuring out what he really wants. Feels overlooked and misunderstood. Feels like he’s running out of time
Jupiter
An older order keeper kind of guy, as well as a builder. Has a lot of big projects going on
Pluto
The outsider, the one that gets blamed by those who want to point their finger at an easy target. The solar system is heading one way, this is the one who’s keeping a look out in the direction they all came from. What’s following behind? They know a lot about a lot
I’m very curious (especially after the last Beacon question): what was the process of writing non-binary characters into Steamworld like in general? I know you wouldn’t have been in charge of Fen’s earlier appearances but I’m pretty sure you were at least always on staff for the games they’ve appeared in, and I’m pretty sure Heist 2 has the most non-binary Steamworld characters in it. But I’ve also noticed Heist 2 handles Trophy differently from how Fen’s been handled (particularly in terms of how explicit the representation is) and I was wondering if there was much of a reason for that (that you knew, at least). Other than that I mostly wonder about how the decision to write non-binary characters usually goes under the largely mimicry-based principles of Steambot (and probably various other energy sources-bot, I’m pretty sure I remember one of the nefarious orbs using they/them) gender. Also I’m just personally curious: does Trophy use they/it or is the it more of a Custos and Edna thing? I mostly ask because I also remember Dora referring to Fen as a “thing” in the same vein until they asked her to stop, so I’m curious if it’s a science-y character thing or a Trophy thing, or a bit of both.
First of all, thank you for this question. I love all of them and I try to answer them in the order they come in, but I’ve got a lot to say here so this one gets to jump the queue a bit lol.
The history of non binary characters in steamworld (at least as far as I’m aware) actually begins with an NPC from the Heist base game. I’m not 100% on the name, but I believe they were called The Lone Sailor or something similar (named after sailor moon). They were an explorer out in vector space that Piper could encounter on a little space station or ship or something, and exchange some words with. There’s no real gameplay or story purpose to them other than a little world building. And I think they’re only referred to by a they pronoun once or maybe twice. Probably when Piper discusses the encounter with Wonky on the ship.
I’ll get personal here, but the reason the lone sailor is non binary is because I was on the team. I am currently a transgender man in my thirties, but at the time I was ten years younger and was in the process of figuring out who I was (lifelong process, innit). I identified as non-binary for many years, and I wanted to put a little bit of that part of myself into the game we were making (my first one!). At the time, I was young and less eloquent lol, and the world at large was less knowledgeable about queer identities. But because others at the company supported me (like Peter Broqvist, the narrative director for most SW games, whom I worked with on the steamworld stories right up until the end), we got that little sailor in, at least. Pelle Cahndlerby wrote the dialogue, and I can’t really recall it, but he’s a poet and I’m sure there’s symbolism in there that younger me missed, will have to replay heist 1 haha!
Anyway, pretty soon after that it was time to create Fen. I guess the idea of a nonbinary character, and especially a vectron one that was clearly more “genderless”, had had time to land a bit, we could go further. I was part of the discussion for sure, but I don’t recall the major decisions. I think there were discussions “up above”, and the chips fell in our favour. I even got to design original Heist 1 Fen’s visual look which felt awesome. I believe it was my first bigger playable character concept I got to do.
Throughout the years the steamworld team became queerer and queerer, and we ended up in positions with more influence. By the time of Heist 2, the team and the world around us had both grown a lot. It was obvious that Trophy was a they/it character (might be more on the they-side but yeah the “it” is still valid and different from the one Fen declines), and as the narrative lead I now had the “power” to make that call more confidently. I believe it was something like one conversation, and everyone going yeah that makes sense.
So basically, writing nonbinary characters in steamworld happened because we queer people were part of the team, and we pushed for it, and we had allies in our teammates. The nuance in the NB, queer and queer-coded depictions in the games’ world grew as we became more experienced and got more say over the development process. From basically “this exists” to “and now we discuss it a tiny bit” to eventually “this is just natural and doesn’t need to be mentioned as particularly different. Everyone’s different, after all!”
And by the way, seeing players react positively is what it’s all about. Because that’s why we’re doing this whole thing. For you guys, and for ourselves. To get to make something and put it out there and say something with it. Sometimes that something doesn’t have to be more complex than “we are here too”.
Was Beacon meant to use they/he pronouns or were the few times they used "they" a typo? Cuz he refers to himself as a "he" but pretty much everyone else says "they" but it's only happened a few times... I have noticed a few typos so I'm just wondering, I've also like never seen a he/they character in a game before I think so.... (I know the robots don't have genders like humans do but like. Let me have this....)
Also, there's the description for the Captain's hat that refers to Quincy with a "they" while the rest of the hat descriptions usually say "you" instead of referring to someone. Was the "they" a typo or is Quincy a he/they nonbinary icon?
ALSO also. Was Beacon meant to be Australian or did they say "c-c-crikey!" one time just to be different? I didn't remember this happening and when I found it while playing through the game again, it fucked me up so badly I had to get up and take a walk outside.
Picture attached is the hat description in question
Beacon is indeed a he/they king on purpose! Steamworld robots don't have biological sex, but they do pick and chose their own gender identities or lack thereof. In the beginning they were emulating humans, but so long has passed so I see it as just another way for them to vibe with who they are. Beacon's use of crikey! wasn't specifically intended for them to be australian-coded lol, we just thought it was a fun word. But hey, I am in no way opposed to aussie-Beacon. An early idea for Tempest Morgan was actually to have her and her gang be a bunch of whacky australian monster hunters haha.
The "they" in the hat text is more to keep a thin veil of anonymity for Quincy's feelings of inadequacy. But I don't think Q would take offence to a they/them now and again
