No more slipping Soleil magic powder

The Western release of Fire Emblem Fates will be removing a scene that caused controversy last year, when some interpreted a subplot to be about the drugging and forced gay conversion of a lesbian character.

Soleil, a character in Fates, is frequently distracted or even faints when she sees pretty ladies. To get her used to working with said pretty ladies, she is slipped some magic powder that causes her to see all men as women.

Eventually, she falls in love with the playable male protagonist (who she sees as a woman at the time), and when the powder finally wears off, she decides she still loves him, despite her now knowing he is male.

Some argued that this was purely a practical way to get Soleil to work better with the rest of the team by solving her fainting response to seeing women, while others saw it as Soleil being drugged and having her perception affected so that she became attracted to someone under false pretense.

You can make your own mind up on how this scene is played out by reading the translated dialogue on Pastebin, which commenters of previous reports on Fates claim is accurate.

Talking to Nintendo World Report, Nintendo confirmed that this subplot will be removed from both the North American and European releases of the game:

In the version of the game that ships in the U.S. and Europe, there is no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging that occurs between characters.

Nintendo didn’t explain how the story will be changed to accommodate the removal, so it will be interesting to see what tweaks actually have been made.

I kind of hope it isn’t glazed over by making Soleil straight just to fit in the player romance arc, but we shall see what happens when Fire Emblem Fates launches for the 3DS on February 19 in North America. A European release date other than sometime in 2016 hasn’t been confirmed.

Fire Emblem: Fates Removes Controversial Support Conversation in Western Regions [Nintendo World Report]