Why's that silly, you ask?
Basically, it's silly because in the past I've pretty much only chosen girl characters while playing Animal Crossing games.
There are a number of reasons for that, of course--with the main ones being that I think they're cuter and I prefer their selection of clothing and accessories--but that's really neither here nor there. The fact is that I usually go with a girl, no question.
So, why am I hemming and hawing about going with one this time around?
For starters, with New Leaf, I'll undoubtedly spend some of my time visiting friends' towns and otherwise interacting with fellow players while making use of the game's online capabilities. That's virgin territory for me, as all of my previous Animal Crossing forays have been completely solo affairs.
In that kind of situation, I was able to lose myself in the character and world I created--much like how I've been losing myself in the characters and world of THE "DENPA" MEN 2 over the last few days, or how I lost myself in the characters and world of Fire Emblem: Awakening and EarthBound before that.
Throw some honest-to-goodness, real-life interaction--especially with people I know--into the equation, though, and all of the sudden I have a different perspective on the experience before me.
Are people expecting to interact with "me" while traipsing around my village or theirs? And, if they are, does that mean I should play as myself rather than as a girl with rosy cheeks and pale pink pigtails?
Those are only a few of the questions currently swirling through my brain, though. A few others: will people think it's weird or strange or odd that I've chosen to play as a girl rather than as a boy? And, as such, will it make our online interactions awkward or uncomfortable or weird?
I know I'm likely over-thinking things, but I decided to share these thoughts and insecurities and feelings here anyway because I think it's interesting to suss out where they come from and what they mean.
I also think it's interesting to consider why I even care if people think it's weird or strange or odd to choose to play as a virtual character that's of a gender different from my real-world one. After all, given the name and content of this blog, I clearly don't much care if people have a problem with me being gay, or liking the color pink, or enjoying games with "cute" characters and settings.
So, why do I care if people have a problem with me preferring to play as a girl rather than a boy character in New Leaf?
I'm not sure, to tell you the truth.
I'm also not yet sure how I'm going to answer or solve this particular conundrum--although my current solution is that I'll make two different characters: one of whom will be a boy character who resembles my actual self (and who will represent me when I convo with friends, most likely) and one of whom is a girl who exists simply to look cute and don fabulous frocks.
With that out of my system, what are all of you going to do once you get your hands on a copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Are you planning to create a character who at least somewhat mirrors the real-life you, or will you create one who's little more than a figment of your imagination?
