What’s up bitches. I thought today would be a good time for me to dispel some myths that may be floating around the interwebs about my new show. I wanted to explain a few things to clear up any confusion out there.

As complicated as this might sound, The Retro Witch is not THERAT in a dress. It is Stephanie Bri doing her own thing. In other words this is the real Stephanie showing her true colors. THE RAT is the mask she wears to go out in public and live her day to day life.

What about the Goth stuff? Isn’t that like posing or something?

No. I am not entirely Goth. It’s complicated like I said. Retro Witch is a character I play as a way to express myself. THE RAT is also a character I play. I’ve been doing both my entire life but only one publicly until recently. Stephanie is the real me. The woman, trans woman if you will, living inside a man who has never fully defined his identity. That’s not important. He isn’t the one putting on a dress, wig and makeup as the Retro Witch, I am, Stephanie Bri, me. The woman inside, him.

Great that’s all fine but I thought Stephanie was a gamer chick or a girly girl. Retro Witch is goth right?

Retro Witch is a character I play. Stephanie is the real me. The person I would be, would have always been if life had worked out that way. It didn’t. THE RAT had to get us a job. I can’t speak entirely for him but I can say fear played a role in our decision to keep Stephanie hidden. That is no longer the case entirely. Think of it this way. Stephanie has to hide inside a man’s world dressed as a man pretending to like man things. She also enjoys playing dress up and pretending to be other people. In a way it does look like a man in a dress. That is not the case. It is a woman trapped in a mans body portraying a fictional character that shares her inner feelings, to an extent. Stephanie is not goth. Retro Witch is.

Okay got it. Stephanie is not goth. Are there other characters then?

Yes and no. I mean technically THERAT is a character, specifically a mask I wear. It sucks but that’s the life I chose I guess. I dress up as The Retro Witch because it’s fun. I’ve always been a fan of Marilyn Manson. I wanted to be like him. Dress feminine publicly and also somewhat Gothic. I never wanted to be goth just wanted to play a goth character. I tell people this, I will be THE RAT, when I have to be, and Stephanie when I get to be. In the past I was always Stephanie but only visibly on rare occasions. As in, when I was alone, isolated and in the privacy of my own home away from prying eyes. I created the Retro Witch character as a compromise. A way for me to go out in public as a woman without giving up the mask.

How girly or feminine is Stephanie?

As feminine as you! Really ask any feminist and they will tell you femininity is not about the clothes or living up to stereotypes. If anything I want to be free from stereotypes. I would prefer to be allowed the right to enjoy my Barbie and Transformers toys equally without raising suspicions.  Or rather without being looked down on or judged for doing so. I prefer dresses over pants. I like wearing make up. I like dancing to pop music. I enjoy fantasizing I am a woman doing things only women can do. If science would allow me to become a woman, complete with all the right reproductive powers, then I would surely consider it. I don’t want to be female superficially. That has no appeal to me. I want to be able to say this is how I feel and express myself as such. I don’t want to be trapped in a box. I don’t want to live up to any one’s expectations but my own.

When will you begin presenting properly? When will you begin HRT? Is surgery in your future?

The answers to these questions are a resounding none of your damn business! I will wear whatever the hell I want. I will do what I decide to do with my body at my own pace and nothing is going to deter me from living my life my way.

I have a sister that is a straight tom boy I never ask her when is she going to transition to male or when is she going to dress like a real woman. I can wear pants, t shirts and a ball cap and still feel like a woman on the inside. Being trans, or whatever you want to call it, doesn’t mean I have to strive to fit YOUR image of what a woman is. That is all.

Great news. I recently purchased a copy of Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was the last game I needed to complete the first of my micro collections, I now have all three of the original Nintendo Super Mario Bros. games. It felt like a nice little achievement putting something on my shelf that felt like I completed something.

While I doubt my collection will ever be truly complete, I can at least take solace in knowing that I added a piece that has personal meaning to me while also serving a greater purpose. I recently began defining what my intentions were for my video game collection. Among them is laying out my goals as a collector. I don’t have the words full set on my sights at this time I am working on deciding which games will make the cut and which ones I will gladly ignore.

One thing I wanted to avoid in collecting was going for full sets. I figured if I did that it would only drive me insane as it would take likely decades to finish a single console set. Instead I wanted to have a more curated list of items that had more meaning to me. I didn’t want to be too strict with my collection sticking to an exact list but I didn’t want to be so open ended that there wasn’t an obtainable goal in sight. So I decided to put a few guidelines on my collecting that will allow me to maintain some sanity while also having room to grow.

For example, I don’t want to seek out full sets of entire console libraries, I do, however, desire to complete smaller, character or franchise sets with some restrictions. I fully intend to seek a complete Super Mario set. I have to define to myself what that entails. For me it’s simple. One copy of each game in that bears the name Super Mario but excludes the sports games.

This means Mario Party and Super Mario Kart are off the list. Instead I want to to be just the primary games. On the NES this would be Mario Bros. (Classic arcade game), Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. Over on Super NES it would be Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2 Yoshi’s Island and Super Mario All-Stars. Then from N64 on it would be Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. This does include New Super Mario games included handheld counterparts and Super Mario 3D World. Fortunately as a Mario fan and Nintendo gamer I already own the majority of these games.

I had to decide that for collecting purposes I will include Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2 Six Golden Coins and Wario Land- Super Mario Land 3 all in this mix. I will also include remixes like Super Mario All-Stars on SNES and the 25th anniversary release on Nintendo Wii as well as the Super Mario Advance line on GBA, which again I already own.

There are a few odder collections I defined based on my own interests. I won’t be seeking digital only games however.

Here are a few of the collections I want to go after.

NES Black Box Games

Nintendo Tetris games

Sonic the Hedgehog (non-sports no collections)

Atari Arcade collection Complete (This is one of the odd ones. Basically any game Atari released in arcades, including collections and compilations.)

Pac-Man collection (every game featuring or starring the character as a playable character with Pac in the title)

AVGN LJN reviewed games (All of the LJN NES games the Angry Video Game Nerd reviews)

Mortal Kombat Complete (Includes all single release ports, spin offs and compilations)

*Batman

*X-Men

*Spider-Man

*Comic book characters includes all games starring or featuring with exceptions. Must be playable and fully integrated into game not DLC, costume or cameo.

All of these are basically guidelines. Some of them are defined in my mind but I haven’t clarified those yet.

Of course this goes a little beyond just Nintendo games, it spans other video game consoles as well.

As time goes by I will continue to refine my intentions to ensure things closely align with my interests and goals as a collector.