Vampires, blood, queer culture and interactive fiction... What more could you want this spooky season?
At night they stalk their prey, the darkness obscuring their craven acts. Is that smudge of red in the corner of her mouth lipstick… or blood? Is this a kiss or a bite? Is the pulse quickening from danger or from desire?
In The Ruby Court, a fresh spawn treads lightly across the world of vampires: a world of status and high tastes, where reputation is everything. With each step carrying them higher into the upper echelons of vampire society, so too are they thrust into greater and greater danger as they continue to hide a defect that gives them a distaste for blood.
This session of Women, Trans, and Gender Diverse Gamers Club celebrates Halloween with The Ruby Court, an interactive fiction game of vampires with themes of the queer experience.
Claire Osborn-Li
Claire Osborn-Li is a writer living in Naarm/Melbourne and interested in art, videogames and digital culture. In 2022 she received her BA Honours at the University of Melbourne in Art History. Her work has appeared on the ACMI website and in Cordite, ArtsHub, GamesHub and Memo Review. She's played many videogames but among her favourites are Mutazione (2019) and Red Dead Redemption II (2018).
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Community Code of Conduct
Everyone participating in an ACMI Women & Non-Binary Gamer Club event — including, but not limited to the meets, clubs and talks — is required to agree to the following code of conduct. This includes all attendees, speakers, performers, patrons, and volunteers.
ACMI Women & Non-Binary Gamer Club will enforce this code during its events and throughout the year. We expect cooperation from everyone to ensure a safe, diverse, and welcoming environment.
The condensed version
ACMI is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion (or lack thereof). We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.
Sexist, racist, discriminatory, or harassing language and imagery is not appropriate in the ACMI Women & Non-Binary Gamer Club community, in person or online. Participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event and premises, as well as all future events without a refund at the discretion of ACMI.
The less condensed version
Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
Exception: discussion or images related to sex, pornography, discriminatory language, or similar is welcome if it meets all of the following criteria:
— It is necessary to the topic of discussion and no alternative exists
— It is presented in a respectful manner
— Attendees are respectfully given ample warning and opportunity to leave beforehand.
This exception specifically does not allow use of gratuitous sexual images as attention-getting devices or unnecessary examples.
Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are required to comply immediately.
If a participant engages in any of the aforementioned behaviour, ACMI may take any action they deem appropriate, from warning the offender to immediately expelling the offender with no refund.
Reporting and enforcement
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact an ACMI Women & Non-Binary Gamer Club team member immediately. If you can’t or don’t wish to speak in person, or prefer to talk privately or electronically, contact us via gamerclub2@acmi.net.au.
All reports will be handled in the strictest confidence.
With thanks
This document was based on the work of XOXO Festival, JSConf, Geek Feminism, confcodeofconduct.com, and inspired by resources provided by Ashe Dryden.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.