Hello! All this week Eurogamer is celebrating Pride with a series of stories examining the confluence of LGBT+ communities and play in its many different forms, from video games and tabletop games through to live-action role-play. Next up, Dr Lloyd (Meadhbh) Houston on a certain Tall Vampire Lady and what they can teach us about the process of disidentification.
To say that the internet collectively lost its mind over all nine feet and six inches of Countess Alcina Dimitrescu would be an understatement almost as colossal as the Lady herself. As a quick glance at DeviantArt, TikTok, and Team Eurogamer's Let's Play videos will confirm, from the moment fans first laid eyes on Tall Vampire Lady, their desire to have her pursue them, pin them down, and step on one of the more sensitive parts of their anatomy was virtually irresistible.
Though straight, cis-gender men were far from immune to Lady D's vampiric charms, it was queer gamers who seemed to take her most enthusiastically to their hearts (and most willingly proffer her their throats). Indeed, in a recent TikTok AMA, Maggie Robertson – the mo-cap performer and voice actor who brought the hulking haemovore to life – aligned House Dimitrescu firmly with the cause of LGBTQIA+ rights with characteristic flair.
