Second Son, a Game for the Gays

You know, the more I think about it, and the more times I play this game, the more parallels I see between the oppression narrative it plays out and the real life struggles not just of random marginalized peoples, but specifically LGBT folks.

Throughout the game--most prominently on a Good Karma playthrough--Delsin and Reggie specifically invest a lot of energy in going back and forth about what exactly Delsin is and what his new status means for him.

• Delsin panics as he realizes that he's "one of them" and his brother and Betty deny it for him and assure him that he isn't a monster. Specifically,
  • "You can't be ashamed of what you are. You can't help it. You were born that way."
• When it becomes apparent that he isn't normal and is a Conduit, Reggie repeatedly denies that Delsin is the same, and consistently tells him he's different--as in, he's the exception.
• The relief workers won't let Delsin on the bus with them and threaten to get off of it.
• Delsin specifically says "just because something isn't normal doesn't mean it needs a cure". LGBT people have been struggling with straight and cis people trying to "cure" them of their "condition" for ages, a tactic Reggie sticks to until the game is nearly over.
• Delsin insists Reggie not use the "b-word", which he reminds his brother is just a slur made to separate Conduits from normal, decent people.
• Delsin calls out the news casts for trying to heighten fear of Conduits by pretending targeted, contained killings of drug dealers are random murders of innocent civilians.
• Delsin constantly has to remind Reggie that he, too, is a Conduit whenever Reggie bad-mouths them or dismisses them, usually leading to above insistences that Delsin is the exception.
• The DUP now test people for gene matches, and lock up the ones who test positive before sending them to an isolated location.
• Conduits are hated to the extent that parents will call the DUP on their children if they exhibit powers.
• There's a series of activists called "Lifeline" that protest the rights of Conduits and want them dead, bringing to mind many anti-gay rally-goers. They become Fetch's newest targets in the Bad Karma route. There's suspicion that they're funded by the government.
• When Delsin yells "You tortured my people!" at the end when battling Augustine, by then it's clear that he's not just referring to the Akomish, but the Conduits.

There's also little hints that make me wonder if not only is Second Son hinting at LGBT struggles, but maybe the fact that their protagonist is almost definitely bisexual or maybe even gay.

• While the Bad Karma route portrays Delsin and Fetch hooking up, the Good Karma route doesn't go so far. In fact, it goes the opposite way. For all Delsin's talk of teaching Eugene how to pick up girls, he fails at flirting any further when Fetch responds to his light-hearted teases, and looks a little put off by how close she got. Immediately after the implications that they spent the night together, Delsin commends Fetch, saying her brother would be proud of her--and would probably like him a lot, too. 

All in all, this game got me very hype because not only was it an oppression narrative done right, but a lot of the points hit close to home for me. Delsin gives me a lot of bi vibes, and I have never been less convinced of a protagonist's heterosexuality just by the feel of him.