Episode 107: Geek Interview: Creating Feminist Characters with Game Developers Genese Davis and Seb Le Touze
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a video game about a young girl on a quest to save her land from the Evil Mage. And we’re joined by her Lead Writer, Genese Davis, and Game Director, Seb Le Touze, to talk about how they created such a compelling game and character who is, without a doubt, a feminist role model.
About Genese Davis and Seb Le Touze
Genese Davis is the lead writer of Ary and the Secret of Seasons. She’s an American novelist, online host, and video game creator, best known as the author of The Holder’s Dominion and writer for MMORPG.com. Genese is also a speaker and writer about video game culture and its development within society and has made contributions to the Gamer Lit genre.
Seb Le Touze is the Game Director for Ary and the Secret of Seasons.
About Creating Feminist Characters in Ary
How excited are we for this incredible interview about Ary and the Secret of Seasons with lead writer, Genese Davis, and game director, Seb? Full disclosure, we received a copy of Ary so that we could do a full review and also be totally prepared for this interview.
The team put so much thought into every aspect of creating Ary and the Secret of Seasons. And honestly, they NAILED it. Genese talks about all the ways she brought Ary to life, the quips she gave the other characters in the game, and how they dealt with social and health issues, such as worthiness and Alzheimer’s Disease.
When asked if they set out to create a feminist role model in Ary, both agree that while it wasn’t fully intentional, there was definite thought into creating a strong female character to empower everyone: girls, boys, and adults alike. We love Ary and feel she’s a fantastic role model – both of us wishing we had more games with characters like Ary to look up to when we were growing up!
Genese talks about a scene in the game where Ary is trying to speak amongst a group of men and getting totally talked over. Girl, haven’t we all been there?? Her face says IT. ALL. The reason Genese wrote this scene in this way was from so many personal experiences and she’s just tired of that shit (our words, not hers. She’s WAY more polite!)
Genese is pushing the convention with her work. It doesn’t matter what you LOOK like, you have the ability to step into any role you want to.
We have a great conversation about the realities of being a women in the game’s industry. While it’s getting better, there is still a long way to go. Genese explains, as well, her experience ranking in MMORPGs and how it was a very unfriendly environment for a woman.
From Seb’s point of view, as someone who hires for games, he is desperately urging more women to apply. We cry out for more female representation from the development side, but in order to get that, we need the women to apply.
So there’s your mission, Herringtons. If you want that job, APPLY. We’re all gonna strive to #BeMoreAry. You in?
You can read our full review of Ary and the Secret of Seasons!
Quotes
“We can make her have blonde hair and a cute dress and she can still be the scientist. I’m always trying to change that and trying to put my own two cents that you can look like anything and also step into any role.”
“Had I not made that one decision and stuck to my guns, my career as a writer would be very different, if not exist at all.”
“Instead of always relying on asking someone for advice, actually go and do the work. Actually go and take a class on what you want to do. Dip your feet into the pond and really feel what it feels like to do the job day in and day out.”
Find Our Guest Online
You can find Gense Davis Online / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn / YouTube!
You can find Seb Le Touze Online / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn!
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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!
- Geek Interview: Life as a Professional Feminist with Virginia Mendez from The Feminist Shop
- Geek Interview: Plus Size Nerding it up with Nancy Basile!
- Geek Herring Reviews Feminists: What Were They Thinking?
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Geekily yours,
Amanda & Monika