Thanks for the House of Reveries Quest (Discussion CONTAINS SPOILERS)

mjharper

Recremen wrote: »

Since there seems to be some confusion about whether or not Alchemy really is trans and what her primary motivation was for joining the House of Reveries, I have screenshotted her entire post-quest dialogue and placed it here below the spoiler warning.

It seems obvious to me, given the following, that she is absolutely trans, but that her primary motivation for joining the House of Reveries was because she wanted to be an actress. Her being trans seems to be just another facet of the quest that adds nuance to the story.

I love the inclusion of this line:

"It's a personal matter to some, and not everyone is comfortable talking about it or educating others."

Linaleah

mesmerizedish wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

platonicidealgirlfriend wrote: »

DamenAJ wrote: »

platonicidealgirlfriend wrote: »

alchemy is wonderful. it's interesting to see that some cis players were taken in by the red herrings, as I and the trans players I know who did the quest all seem to have seen right through them.

it's a good start and nice to finally see the T represented where before we really only had LGB and a handful of borderline offensive facsimiles, like the elf or whatever that wanted to be a khajiit. i'd like to see more, though, and while the house of reveries quest we got had a lot more to it than just trans 101 i'd want future characters to be similarly defined by a lot more than their trans-ness. that is to say, thieves or mages or artisans or whatever whose characterization is subtle, like deploying a trans voice actor and designing them with a trans physicality.

I think one issue that ESO "struggles" with representing trans people, is that... Well, Gay couples are treated absolutely no differently, so I wonder if trans people might be treated the same? I always loved that ESO was so gay friendly, but if trans people can use magic to transition, and no one is a jerk about it, you pretty much never know. My two cents on that anyway.

That's fair and that's why I said the characterization should be fairly subtle, as it often is in real life. At the same time, Alchemy has post-quest dialog that discusses different ways in which people transition in-universe, so there's space to explore these narratives and how they manifest in different ways in Tamriel. I think it could be interesting.

logarifmik wrote: »

Personally, I found "Murder In Lillandril" much more better written, than the quest discussed here. Narrative of "Manor of Masques" is... cute, but I guess that's all I have to say about it. And, as I see it, Larydel motivation to become Alchemy is not a feeling wrong about his gender, but obsession with art. Or did he said different somewhere? I fail to recall it, really. Besides, his personality is more likely a reference to travesti, not transgenders.

Also, have you, guys and gals, ever noticed, that all "non-formal" characters are necessarily good? If this become part of the lore and one of the main trend in the western writing tradition, why not to make some badass gays/transgenders as well? More interesting and fair approach, no?

Alchemy uses she/her pronouns.

Vulsahdaal wrote: »

platonicidealgirlfriend wrote: »

alchemy is wonderful. it's interesting to see that some cis players were taken in by the red herrings, as I and the trans players I know who did the quest all seem to have seen right through them.

Im not trans, but wasnt taken in by the others. I dont think trans or cis had much to do with it.

I believed it was Alchemy right away and Ill explain why. When questioning the others, one of them, I forgot which one though lol, mentioned that after being 'selected' there was a celebration involving costumes, makeup, perfumes etc.. I remember reading in the book, that the brother came home smelling of perfume etc one night. I then figured the brother had 'made it' and was no longer a 'hopeful', which ruled out the others, except for Alchemy.

This said, I still am confused as to what some others are talking about, I think I missed some things? Contrary to what some here say, to the best of my recollection, the sister never found out which one was her brother. When I told her I believed it was Alchemy, she denied it and said it was not possible. There was no 'affectionate hug' I remember or being called 'little sister'?

After I spoke with Alchemy I suggested that it would be best to wait until after the sister left and then write her a note explaining, and it was agreed. The sister wasnt too happy, that her brother sent the message rather than telling her in person but said she would leave.
I either missed a part of this quest, or perhaps it has different endings?

I didn't mean that all cis people would fall for it, just that there was an anecdotal correlation. Also, there's a different ending if you tell Alchemy to tell her sister in person. They hug and say some affirmational things.

if you pick that ending does sister still go on to

sapiachs, or does she stay behind? my main motivation for suggesting that alchemy writes a letter was to make sure that both of them get to live their authentic lives, and I was worried, along with alchemy that if they talk now, she might stay behind.

She still goes off to Lillandril to become a Sapiarch.

thank you! I'm going to pick that option from now on!

Voxicity

Can't stand politically correct stuff pushed on me in video games

This quest however was pretty cool. Didn't really push it too much which I appreciate

Kalgert

Kalgert wrote: »

Eh? The person's transgender?

I just thought it all came down to an illusionary trick or whatever. And honestly, I think I'll see it as that. A case of actor illusionary tricks as opposed to... I don't know, Alchemy using surgery to become a lady with breasts and everything.

[Edit to remove bait]

So apparently my post was edited. How quaint.

I still feel the same way as I did when I posted the comment before it got edited. In the late 2010's I see a lot of this transgender discussions and people talking about how they identify themselves as something else.

[edited to remove baiting comment]

VaranisArano

[edited to remove quote]

Or, you know, it could be a sign that with increasing societal acceptance people are finally feeling safe and free enough to start openly talking about something they've always felt and making a space for others to talk about it.

And perhaps ZOS isn't just following a trend by including this quest, but instead also understanding that including the trans community is valuable too and they decided to do that now.

ZOS_JesC

Greetings, as we've continued to remove comments that were venturing into the discussion of politics and policy, the thread has started to derail. Since the conversation could not remain on the quest line itself, we have decided to close this thread. Thank you for your understanding.