Striking Vipers explores the liminal space between fantasy and reality. In particular, the episode presents a scenario where two characters are able to express and satisfy their desires in a virtual space, unencumbered by social and institutional barriers surrounding sexuality and gender. There is a transphobic barrier, which Karl is able to trespass as “Roxette,” his virtual avatar in the “Striking Vipers” online fighting game. He seems gratified by assuming a female form, but this is something he only does in the virtual space – closeted – away from his “real” life where he only dates women. There is also the matter of Karl’s sexuality. He is heterosexual “IRL,” but in the online game environment, he has homosexual encounters/experiences with his friend Danny (whose avatar is the hypermasculine character Lance). Ultimately, when Danny and Karl decide to see if there is romantic chemistry between them in real life, they discover that it’s only in the virtual game space where they feel attracted to each other. Or at least, this is what they admit to. The episode asks, then, whether virtual gaming environments augment, supplant, distort or complete our “reality.” I put “reality” in quotation marks because in this age of online social interaction and connection, reality has gotten harder to distinguish from virtuality. That is, the line once draw between them has either blurred or disappeared altogether. Write an essay in which you explain the tensions between fantasy and reality, as depicted in Striking Vipers. Be sure to define what those tensions are, how they affect the episodes central three characters, and how the episode comments on our current age of a blurred distinction between reality and virtuality.