Elara walked through the halls of the Emerald Oasis, her mind solely on the mission ahead: go after the woman who has her people's blood on her. She was on her way out the door before being stopped by a short, portly man with a thin mustache. A man who has a bone to pick with after her proud speech.

  "Hey you! The social justice warrior! Betcha felt so damn cool spouting that woke BS back there, eh?”

  Elara stopped, turning to face the portly man with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

  The man sneered, clearly eager to pick a fight. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. Acting all high and mighty, preaching about ‘muh cultural appropriayshun’ or some bullshit like that. Acting like you own the damn thing, huh?”

  Elara's eyes narrowed, her anger simmering as she remembered the auction from earlier. "It wasn't just some 'thing'; it was a historical relic, part of my people's heritage. You don't understand what it means to us, our connection to our past."

  The man scoffed, his tone dripping with mocking sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sure you and your people have a special relationship with that relic. Those ancestors and whatever you're bawling your eyes out for don't give a fuck 'boutcha! Your li'l fee-fees are one-sided!”

  Elara bristled at the sexist comment, her anger flaring even hotter. "I beg your pardon? Did you just say that women are all emotional creatures? I'm not just some oversensitive girl, you know. And this isn't about 'discrimination'. This is about respect and preserving history. You don't understand the importance of history because you've never bothered to learn anything.”

  The man chuckled, clearly reveling in his misogynistic remarks. "Ha! Women and their…ahem, ‘history’. Always harping on about things from a hundred years ago like it matters."

  Elara's eyes narrowed even further. "Are you seriously implying that history doesn't matter? That we should just ignore the past and move on? And why bring gender into this, anyway? Are you threatened by strong women or something?”

  The man, feeling emboldened by now, stepped forward. "Hell yeah, I am! These new modern women nowadays with their 'power' and their 'rights,' trying to take charge of everything. It's unnatural, and it's ruining everything! Women are meant to be subservient and obey their men! That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it should be!"

  Elara's anger was now reaching boiling point. The man's sexist tirade was the last straw. "You're disgusting. That way of thinking is archaic and oppressive. Women aren't some property to be controlled!”

  The man sneered, his demeanor growing uglier. "Oh, here we go with the 'archaic and oppressive' nonsense! That's just liberal jargon! Women are meant to be beneath men, period. It's the natural order of things. Women belong in the kitchen or the bedroom, not in positions of authority. That's how society functions!"

  Elara's fists were now clenched so tightly that they trembled. The man's views were beyond insulting, they were monstrous. "You can't be serious. You realize how backwards and sexist you sound, right?"

  The man kept up his act, his grin only widening as he continued. "Ah yes, sexist. You woke terrorists are already taking over the entertainment industry. There ALWAYS has to be a Black woman in EVERY movie or video game these days, yet WE'RE the racists for not seeing color, huh?”

  Elara, at this point, was struggling to keep her anger in check. The man's sexist, racist, and bigoted comments were becoming too much to take. But she took a deep breath and responded calmly, masking her anger with reason. "No one is taking over the entertainment industry. It's called inclusivity, something that you apparently can't comprehend. And that whole 'colorblind' narrative is a load of bull. Racism still exists, whether you acknowledge it or not. And people like you are part of the problem.”

  The man, undeterred by her reasoning, shot back. "Inclusivity, my ass! You're just trying to force diversity and political correctness down everyone's throats. What about the people who don't want all this wokeness forced on them? We're the ones being suppressed!"

  Elara couldn't resist rolling her eyes at his absurdity. "Oh, please. You're not being suppressed, you're just angry that your outdated views are being challenged. Welcome to the modern world, where equality matters."

  The man let out a scoff, unable to stop himself from smirking. "Equality? As in women in video games can't be sexy anymore without you libs screaming 'misogyny!'? As in, women in gaming always have to be fat, Black, Trans and all that BS nowadays? Yeah, so equal.”

  Elara couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at the man's ignorance. His comments were getting more and more offensive, and she was almost at her breaking point. "Your ignorance is astounding. Women in video games have more depth and character than their physical appearance. And what's wrong with representing different body types, races, and identities? It's about inclusivity, not propaganda. And don't get me started on your transphobic bullshit."

  The man roared with laughter as he continued, "Transphobic? Ha! You liberals and your buzzwords, I swear! How many more of 'em do you know? Humor me a little!”

  Elara had to physically restrain herself from punching the guy in the face. His ignorance was almost comical, it would've been funny if it wasn't so infuriating. "It's not about liberal buzzwords, you dense idiot. It's about respect, equality, and treating people with decency. But hey, I guess that's a foreign concept to someone like you."

  The man raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now I'm a dense idiot? Well, let me tell ya something, little gem sprite. The whole idea of 'respect' and 'equality' is just a facade. It's all a bunch of woke nonsense to put down straight White men like myself!”

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  Elara let out a scoff, her frustration slowly boiling over. "Are you serious? Do you seriously think that being a cisgender, straight, White man somehow makes you oppressed? You have privilege! You don't have to deal with the daily microaggressions, the casual sexism, the biases, the double standards, the discrimination, all of the crap that women, minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals have to deal with on a daily basis. You're not oppressed, you're just scared of losing your privileged pedestal."

  The man counted on his fingers as the gem sprite spoke, his grin widening with each finger he put up. "Eleven...twelve...thirteen! Damn! That's thirteen liberal buzzwords! You're on a roll here, ain'tcha!”

  Elara's nostrils flared as the man counted each "liberal buzzword." His mockery and ignorance were beyond infuriating. "These are not buzzwords, they're very real issues. You just can't understand because you're stuck in your privileged little bubble. It's easier to call everything you don't understand 'liberal buzzwords' than to actually educate yourself, right?"

  The man chuckled arrogantly, his expression one of superiority. "Oh, you woke libs are all the same. You think you're sooo enlightened, when you're just blinded by the propaganda that the media feeds you until you become the very thing y'all hate so much: bigots."

  Elara's anger was nearing its peak; she couldn't take much more of this man's bullshit. "Bigotry? We're the bigots? That's rich coming from the guy who's been spewing misogynistic, racist, and transphobic crap. You're the one spreading hatred, buddy."

  The man continued, his demeanor growing more and more arrogant. "I'm not spreading anything, I'm just speaking the truth! But let me guess, you're going to label me as an 'alt-right white supremacist' now, aren't you?”

  Elara rolled her eyes, scoffing at the man's ridiculous comment. "If the shoe fits," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You think that just because a woman in a stupid game doesn't look like a conventionally attractive bikini model, it's somehow an attack aimed at you.”

  The insult seemed to strike a nerve with the man, as his smile dropped for a brief moment before returning with a vengeance. "Oh, so now you're calling me sexist for having a preference in how female video game characters look, huh? What's next, you'll call me fatphobic because I prefer my women fit?"

  Elara responded, trying to remain calm despite the growing urge to punch him. "No, I'm calling you sexist because you're reducing women to their looks. Women are more than just objects for male pleasure, but I wouldn't expect you to understand. Actually, pull out your phone and show me an 'attractive' woman from any game or movie of your choosing.”

  The man raised an eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face as he pulled out his phone. "Oh, really? You want an example? Sure, I'll show you an attractive woman. Just don't get your panties in a twist."

  Elara rolled her eyes as she waited for him to pull up whatever picture he was going to show. "Hurry up, show me this so-called attractive woman, then.”

  The man scrolled through his phone, his smirk growing wider as he searched for a "perfect" female character. After a few moments, he found one and showed it to Elara. She looked at the image on the phone, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed character in the picture dressed in an outfit that emphasized her...physical attributes. She sighed, not believing this was the example he had chosen.

  The man was still smirking, clearly proud of his choice. "What's wrong? She's not your style? Too provocative for your sensitive 'woke' feminist tastes?"

  Elara couldn't hold back her sarcasm now that she had seen the picture. "Oh wow, a character with big boobs and a skimpy outfit? How groundbreaking! I've never seen anything like it before. Now show me an 'ugly' woman this time.”

  The man's smirk faltered for a moment, taken aback by the gem sprite's sarcasm. He scrolled through his phone again, searching for another example. After a few moments, he found one and showed it to Elara. "How about...this one?”

  Elara rolled her eyes as she saw the image. The character was muscular and had dark skin, face paint, and masculine facial features. This character also seemed to be screaming and looked aggressive overall. It was clear that this woman was meant to be the opposite of the previous character.

  "I know that character. This is a deliberate design choice; she looks like a bandit from a post-apocalyptic radioactive hell-world because she actually IS! It fits the character, whereas the last one wears revealing clothes for no discernable reason, nor does it match her character. At least the former makes sense for the setting.”

  The man seemed a bit taken aback by her answer. He wasn't expecting her to have a legitimate counter argument, but he quickly recovered. "Ha! That's the thing, y'all are always looking for an excuse! 'It fits the setting', 'it makes sense', blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! When it really comes down to it, it's all just to push your damn 'inclusive' agenda! Why can't we just have some good-looking women in our video games without you libs having a meltdown over it?!"

  "I have absolutely no issue with sexy women in gaming," Elara confirmed, her arms crossing under her bust, "But when the redeeming quality of a game is JUST how conventionally attractive the female character is and nothing else, then the game loses coherence.”

  The man grumbled, clearly not satisfied with Elara's explanation. "You're missing the point! It's not always about narrative or character development or whatever fancy words you use. Sometimes we just want to see something nice, you know? Something pleasing to the eye! Is that so wrong?"

  Elara let out an exasperated sigh. "You're just proving my point. You just want to see something 'pleasing to the eye', even if it's completely impractical or objectifying. It's lazy and demeaning."

  "Aha! You've just said my all-time favorite liberal buzzword of them all: objectification!" the man said with his widest smirk yet.

  Elara could feel her patience reaching its limit. This man was really getting to her with his ignorant and dismissive comments. "Objectification isn't just some liberal buzzword, it's a very real problem that negatively affects women. It's demeaning to reduce them to their physical appearance and nothing more. And don't even get me started on your comments about women of color, fat women, or trans women. You know what, actually, I think I will. How old are you, anyway?!”

  The man, still trying to assert his perceived superiority, replied with a smirk. "Ah, trying to play the age card, are ya? Alright, I'll bite. I'm 30, darling. Now what's that got to do with anything?"

  Elara's eyebrows raised in mock surprise. "Thirty? Wow, with all this immaturity, I thought you'd be much younger. Well, I don't have any more time to play with you, so here's a fact for you, buddy... you have male privilege." she ended, turning her back on him to leave, but not before the man doubled down on his arrogance.

  "Ah yes, male privilege when open misandry is the norm these days and the lefties are only fanning the flames! Checkmate, libtard!!" he taunted, sticking his tongue out at Elara.

  She didn't even bother to look back at him as she swung the back of her hand at his face. In terms of physical might, gem sprites reign supreme of all the races. Her hand easily caved his face in with no effort on her end, wiping the dead man's blood from her hand before continuing her way through the Emerald Oasis. With the previous discourse firing her up even more, it's time for her to put her skills to the test against Gabrielle at long last.