The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club, by Doug Henderson (University of Iowa Press)
To begin with a disclaimer: I’m not a gamer, although I
appreciate both the imagination and the community-building involved. I found
the idea of a queer (in the most inclusive meaning) D & D club appealing. I
wondered how would this be any different from a mainstream (cis/het) club. The
answer turned out to be both not so much and a lot.
The players at the Readmore Comix and Games store’s weekly
game include both out and closeted gays, a transgender dungeon master, and a
confused maybe-bisexual. The group has become too small for a great adventure,
so when a new guy joins, sensitive, lonely Ben is instantly smitten. That is,
until his character is killed in the game, the boyfriend of the closeted banker
is accosted on the street, and the connections and parallels between the game
and real life become even stronger. The game characters, situations, and humor
reflect the changing worlds of the players.
Since I’m not a gamer, I didn’t connect with much of the
game action. I kept thinking I’d never write a plot line like that, while I tried
to keep in mind that games have a different story structure. What mattered to
me were the reactions and interactions of the players. I suspect that the
intended audience, queerfolk who are also gamers, would love the campy
atmosphere and the burgeoning sexual tension between Ben and the new guy.
In the end, though, I found the resolution too pat, the problems too easily overcome, and too many questions left unanswered. But for all that, it’s a sweet gay-gamer-geeky love story sure to bring a smile to many readers’ faces.
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