Later that week, Alex found himself suddenly added to a group chat with Stephen (the Dungeon Master from the game at the con) along with some other people that he hadn’t met. Apparently Stephen was finally following up on his plans to start a weekly Pathfinder game with a homebrew setting.

Alex hadn’t played any tabletops in quite a while and was all for this, but first he thought he better check something. Sending a private message to Stephen, he wrote,

‘Hey, so I just wanted to check, do you know if the other players are like cool about gender stuff?’

He heard his phone ding, only to see that it was an article about pronouns that Allie had forwarded him. Partway through reading it--interesting, it suggests people try using a different pronoun for a week just to see how it feels. I had always thought of that as more of a permanent, final decision, like you wouldn’t want to confuse people, but I guess it’s not really asking for that much--he got another ding and this time it WAS Stephen.

‘The group is gonna have two guys (including me), a girl, a nonbinary person, and you, and no one is going to be creepy to girls like at AX if that’s what you’re worried about. I made sure to only invite cool people :)’

‘That’s really great but just to clarify I meant more like…

‘Sorry, trying to think how to best explain this

‘Okay so like I’m a guy, but lately I’ve been wearing women’s clothing sometimes, like to work and stuff

‘Hopefully that isn’t too weird :/’

‘What, no, it’s not weird and it’s def fine. Like I said one of the players is NB and trans rights are human rights!’

‘Hell yea! Ok thank u good to know! And altho I’m not trans it’s still good to hear that <3. Oh, also, would it be okay if my gf joined the group? She’s been looking for a game too although she’s mostly played 5E before but she’s cool I promise :)’

‘Sure! The more the merrier. Well, except I’d rather not have more than six players. One time I was in a game with seven players and battles took soo long haha’

‘Lol yeah makes sense. Also, thx! I’ll add her to the chat’

***

After checking everyone’s availability, everyone agreed that their first session would be the Friday after next Friday, from 6 to 10 pm, and that they would make digital character sheets and share them in the chat before then.

After thinking for a while and talking about it with the other players, Alex decided to make a catfolk investigator, while Allie made a tengu monk. He realized he should pin down some other things about the character, however, after seeing that one of the other players wrote in their character’s pronouns (they/them).

I guess now that I think about it, I feel like the character makes more sense to me as a girl. Guess I’ll add that to the sheet.

He also ended up adding some physical description, writing about her “piercing, slitted golden eyes” and “lithe, androgynous body.” He was really looking forward to this game! Catective (final name to be determined) was probably his favorite Pathfinder character he had made, although maybe some of her backstory was a bit melodramatic.

Finally, the day had come. After work, he swung by Allie’s to pick her up before driving to Stephen’s house for the first time. Out of vague caution, the outfit he had worn to work was relatively unisex, although the jeans and shirt were technically women’s. Allie was wearing an amazing t-shirt that said “D&D&D&D&D” and had a drawing of Guy Fieri holding an oversized d20.

Stephen’s place was pretty nice, including a big living room with a central table, although his roommate who ambled by was weirdly silent. Finally, by 6:30 all the players were there and settled, and they began the game.

“In the world you all live in, day and night are not times, but places. The sun hovers suspended in eternal noon over the great, scorching desert of Dayside, while Nightside drowns in darkness, broken only by glowing fungus, creeping magma, and enchanted lights. Most humanoid races eke out an existence along the band of Twilight and Dawn, where temperatures are mild and a wind eternally rushes from Nightside to Day. Only a few highly specialized races, with strange physiology or powerful magic, can brave the extremes outside the Band, and so you find yourself starting in the small farming town of Daybreak.”

One of the other players, named Logan, asked “Isn’t the line between day and night called the terminator?”

Stephen laughed. “It’s also called the twilight zone, but I figured I would avoid those names or it might be a bit hard to take seriously. Oh, so does everyone want to go around the table and introduce themselves and their character?”

Alex went first. “Hi, I’m Alex. My character is Nygard Felynix, a catfolk investigator who can solve every crime… except for what happened to the love of her life, who mysteriously vanished. Oh, and yeah, she/her pronouns.”

Allie was sitting next to Alex, so she went next. “I’m Allie, and my character is Birbara Tenguska. She’s a cool bird who just wants to punch things while wearing sunglasses indoors. She/her or they/them pronouns, for me AND the character.”

Logan went next. “I’m Logan and I’m playing a dwarf gunslinger named Jebediah Rocksmasher III. He has a glorious beard and an okay set of guns. He/him pronouns for the character, and they/them or he/him for me.

“Jess, character is a half-elf cleric named Vulwin Miravalur, she/her pronouns for me and he/him for the character.”

“I’m Daniel or Dan, it’s really nice to meet you all!. Well, the ones I hadn’t already met. I know Jess and Stephen already. My character is named Roquanimus, Rocky for short, and he’s an oread paladin. Oh, oreads are like rocky guys, but mostly human. Growing up, he always felt like he didn’t quite fit in, so what he really wants in life is a sense of belonging.”

“Pronouns?” Stephen prompted.

“Oh, sorry, he/him, yeah.”

“Alright, awesome! So, this town you all find yourself in seems to have a problem. There’s a group of concerned and angry farmers and merchants and millers gathered around the main railway that leads to dayside, with wagons full of wheat and flour waiting to loaded onto a cart that hasn’t arrived…”

In the car heading home afterwards, Alex said, “I had a lot of fun! Seems like a good group, and hopefully we’ll actually keep the game going. I hope you had fun too? I know you didn’t really know anyone but it seems like you were all getting along pretty well.”

“Yeah, I had a good time! I really liked Logan’s character and the voice they were doing for him. Old-timey prospector slang is the best.”

The two of them hung out for a while at Allie’s place, until it got late and Alex drove home and went to bed.

***

In the next session, something a little weird happened. In a mid-session snack break, Logan remarked,”You know, it’s cool how female our group is. Like, majority. Most of the ones I found in college were almost entirely dudes.”

Alex thought for a moment. So there’s three guys, two girls, and a nonbinary person. Not sure what Logan means?

“Don’t we have more guys than girls? Maybe I’m just bad at counting.”

Logan looked confused. “Wait, do we not have three girls and two guys? I mean, I’m not that great at math lol. Let’s see… No, I think I was right at first unless I’m confused about anyone’s gender, in which case oh no sorry about that.”

Allie intervened. “I think the two girls are me and Jess, Logan. Who are you counting as the third.”

“Well, not Dan or Stephen, obv. Wait, Alex, are you not a girl? I could’ve sworn you said she/her… I mean, I know pronouns don’t always line up with gender like that, I’m sorry, shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Oh it’s fine, I was just a little confused by what you meant. Uh, I think I did say she/her but I meant for the character. Sorry, should have been clearer about that.”

“Oh, sorry! Guess I misunderstood. What… do you have a pronoun preference, then?”

Alex glanced at Allie, who leaned over to give him an encouraging one-armed hug, her cheeks bulging slightly from all the chips she had crammed into her mouth.

I did read that thing online that suggested people try getting friends to use different pronouns for a week, just to see what it feels like and if they like it, and compared to some of my other friend groups they all seem like they’d actually take it seriously. And, like, I don’t think I’m trans or nonbinary or anything, I just like women’s clothing even though I’m a guy, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just try it for a little bit?

“Uh… for this week, I guess she/her is fine, actually. Just trying it out. I might change that next week, though?”

Logan nodded. “Cool! Sorry about that whole thing, I really made an ass of you and ming. But anyway, I’m glad I met my new friend Alex. She’s really cool.”

Alex felt a mysterious shiver go through his her body, and beamed at Logan.

Allie squinted at Logan, her mouth still half full of chips. “Was that a Bojack Horseman reference?” she said through a mouthful of crumbs.

***

Later that week, Allie and Alex were waiting in line outside a popular ramen place when one of Allie’s friends walked by. She was named Savannah and exuded powerful lesbian energy.

“Hey, Savannah, this is my-” Allie glanced at Alex “-girlfriend Alex!”

“Oh, so this is the cutie you keep talking about?” Alex blushed in response. “You two are adorable and do my gay heart good.”

I’m surprised she thinks I’m cute. I’m just wearing jeans and a hoodie, and my hair is at that awkward length where it wants to stick out at the ends.

She was also surprised at how happy it made her to hear Allie call her her girlfriend. I always felt a little weird being called a boyfriend, but I thought that was because of intimacy issues. Guess maybe a little gender stuff got in there too.

Savannah had to leave after a bit, and about 15 minutes later Alex and Allie finally got a table. Allie took a short break from slurping up delicious noodles to ask something.

“Hey, it’s cool that I called you my girlfriend, right? I just figured with the pronoun thing you’re trying--not that people with she/her pronouns have to be girls, but I thought that maybe it would make sense, if the idea is just to test out how it feels to be referred to differently?”

“Yep, all good.” Alex gave a cheesy thumbs up. “But I may have to call you my girlfriend later, just as revenge.” 

“Oh no, woe is me, being a cute girl’s gf. What a cruel, cruel fate.”

The two of them burst out laughing, before Alex reached across the table and briefly squeezed Allie’s hand.

“But yeah, I really like being your girlfriend. More than I liked being your boyfriend, it turns out. I don’t know why, it just feels… more comfortable, somehow.”

“Well I’m glad you’ve found out stuff about yourself! Aren’t you glad I sent you that article? This is why you should always listen to Dr. Allie’s advice.”

“And what does Dr. Allie prescribe for after we finish this ramen?”

“Hmmm… Crepes! I wanna get one of the creme brulee ones.”

And so they did.

***