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Well Laka has both sets of genitalia so they're intersex. I know hanako used Spivak for Magical Diary so E, em, eir, eirs, but that also required a class explaining why it was used (intersex, none binary sex species at the school). The few transgender friends I have tend to hate the word it because it sounds so impersonal and cold.

I guess it depends on how you want Lakadema to speak. If Laka uses a lot of 'This One' or a weirdly formal language then you could make up your own pronoun for the species. Or since Laka's the shy archetype you could always include a dialog where Josh/Lisa asks them what their preference is on a binary level and depending on their response tag future dialogs with the 'correct' pronoun depending on player choice. So if someone sees laka as male then the pronouns change to him and so on, but I don't know how hard that would be to code and keep track of.

'This One is unfit to be in your presence..'.

'So what do we use, you know, for Lakadema?"
"What do you mean?'
'You know, to call, her, er, him, er them?'
'If it pleases you Joshua, this One accepts either terminology.'

Which could go either interesting in addressing her species slavery or get squicky...yeah I don't know.

Yes I like the idea of letting the player choose how to call her, good suggestion! also Lakadema will be a slave in the Empire, but a guest amongst the Marada

I haven't had any time to delve into the brains of the characters yet, especially the new ones, so species quirks haven't been established. I will definitely consider anything that makes it easier for the player to relate to him/her. I really like the idea of the player choosing, however, with three options: he, she, and perhaps Spivak or Ze, since I've seen both commonly in use. Ze/zir/etc attracts me only because this is sci-fi and you gotta have Z's everywhere. It wouldn't be difficult to keep track of your choice. Laka, on the surface, seems very accommodating, so this feature would not be against her character. I don't wish to offend anyone, so if I'm insensitive at any point, you all should tell me.

@Jack I'm not surprised the Empire isn't very 'supportive' of aliens. Then again I don't know of a lot of Sci-fi/fantasy Empires that are.

@Aleema I like the Ze's too for the same sci-fi feel. I'm not transgender myself, I only know what I've talked about/heard rants over. I only have personal rants about bisexuality (what I am) and even those are purely personal experiences and feelings. I've found if someone is obviously living their preferred gender it's easy to use the correct pronoun, but if there's confusion sometimes I've kept quiet until I heard someone else use the preferred pronouns or I'm comfortable enough to ask them what they want me to use.

So maybe channel that kind of confusion into the game. Or since this is far into the future people are familiar with the species and it's not a big deal. Jacob was pretty savvy about a lot of the species on the planet as was Rumi so either of them could easily toss some casual information around. If most of the characters don't make it a big deal, it won't be. Lakadema's species will just be part of their lives.

It could also tie into Empire side versus Alien side, but then that might feel like the Empire is against LGBT characters when they're really against aliens...which just makes them unlikeable xenophobes. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the introduction of Lakadema's species, but I can also see where they can be tricky to include. It's still a great challenge and a nice change. Sadly, you simply don't see a lot of transgender characters in video games at all.

pysali wrote:@abnaxus I miss Rumi too, she was my favorite Joshua romance, but hopefully she's bad ass and awesome in the sequel. Have you seen her new sprite? It's adorable.

No... characters look different in sequel?

Yes since several years have passed (have yet to decide the exact amount but at least 3-4) they have some different hairstyles. I mean, nothing earthshaking! But Rumi's new hair is a bit hilarious to be honest do you think I should keep that? Going to look where I posted a preview to link here.

*throws in two cents*

It might be nice since there's a new influx of people around *waves at everyone* if you did another sneak peek of the new character sprites as a teaser. Especially since work is going to resume on the game this year (throws confetti).

I kind of love Rumi's new hair it's ridiculous, but adorable.

Here it is (not the full cast):

Philipp looks *very* angry...

Hehe, Philipp looks like he returned to his work as bounty hunter...

Is Rebecca impossible to romance if you choose to side with the Prince?

(and I suppose, similarly, Rumi impossible if you choose the King?)