There’s lots to like in the early hours of The Outer Worlds, the new sci-fi RPG from Obsidian. The colorful alien world. A disdain for capitalism. Dropping endless points into a dialogue stat. But more than anything, what stands out is Parvati Holcomb, a shy but infectiously curious resident of Edgewater who’s retained a sense of optimism under the crushing weight of a company town engineered to break spirits. But it’s not just charm that’s granted Parvati an online fan club. People see themselves in Parvati, a character who identifies as ace—a sexual orientation in which people commonly experience no or little sexual attraction—and bi, an uncommon combination, even for a genre known for a wider range of characters.

“It's been quite overwhelming, honestly,” she told me during an interview recently. “It's been unexpected the degree to which people are connecting with the character and reaching out to me personally—not just through like the support tickets on our website, but through my personal website, on Twitter. It’s been it's been a lot, but most of it's been very, very good and very sweet. So I feel weirdly blessed in that way.”

In most games, especially at the scale of The Outer Worlds, it’s difficult to find anything made by a single person; it’s a collaborative effort. This is even true for Parvati, a character conceived by writer Chris L’Etoile before they left the project, and then passed to narrative designer Kate Dollarhyde. She didn’t create the character model, rig the animation, or provide the voice that helps bring the character to life, but Dollarhyde was largely responsible for one of the biggest reasons Parvati continues to stand out: the writing.

“I have never seen myself represented in media the way I have with Parvati,” said one player on Twitter, when I asked why they responded to the character. After encountering a dialogue option where the player can also self identify as ace, they set the controller down and cried.

“Companions are a little unique in that they tend to stay with the writer who was assigned to them,” she said, “unless there are significant extenuating circumstances, as happened in Parvati’s case. But other content gets shuffled around all the time, and it's really not abnormal.”

When Dollarhyde was handed control of writing Parvati, a few essential parts of the character were already in place from L’Etoile, including the fact that Parvati identified as ace. When L’Etoile left, Dollarhyde was handed a “very long concept doc” for Parvati, and a bunch of dialogue that spanned the game’s first area, the player’s ship, and various quests. Dollarhyde said it’s actually pretty unusual to be handed that much material for a character.

Dollarhyde pointed to one line in particular, when Parvati describes how people have, in the past, called her cold, almost as if she’s a robot.

During development, before any of this became public, Dollarhyde was given a chance to imbue Parvati with her own real-life experiences. This is most present when Parvati joins the player’s crew and travels to Groundbreaker, an independent trading post in a galaxy mostly controlled by corporations. There, Parvati meets Junlei Tennyson, an engineer trying to keep the place from falling apart—and who quickly takes a liking to Parvati. Surprising herself, Parvati is interested in Junlei, too. This is where the player, if they ask the right questions, can learn why Parvati is understandably nervous about engaging in a romantic relationship.

“In doing these interviews I've had to basically out myself to the internet and all my coworkers, which is a very weird feeling,” she said. “So now everyone who reads an article knows that I'm ace and knows that I'm bi, and so does everyone on the internet. And some of them knew that before, but not all of them did!”

What made pairing Dollarhyde with Parvati unique was something they shared in common: Dollarhyde also identifies as ace. Now, Parvati had a very personal voice behind her writing. This wasn’t the reason Dollarhyde was assigned Parvati; during the development of The Outer Worlds, she wasn’t publicly out. But all that changed after the game was released, when Parvati, and by extension Dollarhyde, has suddenly become a face for the game.

“That's a line directly taken from my own life,” she said.

The apprehension over how to talk to Junlei, about the fear of rejection, was hers, too.

“This person that she loves might start a relationship with her and be gung ho, maybe over time, they'll realize ‘I can't actually do this. I'm not. I'm not capable being in a relationship with an asexual person and dealing with those challenges’ and they gotta bounce,” said Dollarhyde. “That is a fear that has persisted through all of my adult life, so I wanted to put that directly in the text to speak to those people who I assume probably feel the same way.”

“In doing these interviews I've had to basically out myself to the internet and all my coworkers, which is a very weird feeling. So now everyone who reads an article knows that I'm ace and knows that I'm bi, and so does everyone on the internet. And some of them knew that before, but not all of them did!”

Part of what makes this moment remarkable is that it’s not remarkable. Parvati being ace is not treated as a plot twist, but simply one of many characteristics that make up who she is. Dollarhyde mentioned comments she’s seen from queer players of The Outer Worlds who see Parvati not as pandering, but a fully developed person. That reaction was intentional.