Monday, May 27, 2019
Baby Blue and baby Echo trying to catch the same treat
Originally posted to tumblr on December 28 2018. Reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Evelina deserved better (Dragon Age 2 spoilers)
Originally posted to tumblr on May 27 2017. Reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
Evelina: Do you have coin to spare, messere? My children are starving.
On my first playthrough I either completely missed encountering Evelina in Act 2 or had forgotten about her by Act 3. So when on my second playthrough I still had vivid memories of her horror movie esque appearance in On The Loose, meeting her three years before that happens and while she’s still herself was a punch to the gut. Hawke can give her money, but it won’t make a difference. She will still eventually have to go beg the Chantry for help to feed her family, and they will respond by locking her up in the Circle, leaving the children she’s been looking after to fend for themselves.
And, well, I don’t like the On The Loose quest, more on that when I get to it, I guess. But about Evelina specifically, I feel like she’s also kind of a victim of the devs, too, dropping the ball on her, even more than Huon and Emile who don’t get a very fair treatment, either, because you know who I had in my party when I ran into her? Anders. Who grew up in Kinloch Hold. Evelina is a Fereldan mage, who spent eight years in Kinloch Hold, only escaping the Circle to flee the Blight.
I’ve seen people wonder about whether Anders and Cullen recognized each other in DA2 and why not, but I think that one makes perfect sense. Cullen had only been a templar for a year at the time of the mage origin in DA:O, Anders spent a year (!) in solitary confinement before escaping for the final time, probably not long either before or after the mage origin. It’s entirely possible they barely or even never crossed paths in Kinloch. But Anders and Evelina should recognize each other.
And, well, I don’t like the On The Loose quest, more on that when I get to it, I guess. But about Evelina specifically, I feel like she’s also kind of a victim of the devs, too, dropping the ball on her, even more than Huon and Emile who don’t get a very fair treatment, either, because you know who I had in my party when I ran into her? Anders. Who grew up in Kinloch Hold. Evelina is a Fereldan mage, who spent eight years in Kinloch Hold, only escaping the Circle to flee the Blight.
I’ve seen people wonder about whether Anders and Cullen recognized each other in DA2 and why not, but I think that one makes perfect sense. Cullen had only been a templar for a year at the time of the mage origin in DA:O, Anders spent a year (!) in solitary confinement before escaping for the final time, probably not long either before or after the mage origin. It’s entirely possible they barely or even never crossed paths in Kinloch. But Anders and Evelina should recognize each other.
I’m trying to come up with other explanations than writing oversight,
but nothing else makes sense. Like did they forget when giving her a
backstory where one of Hawke’s companions is from, or…
Just a guess (Dragon Age 2 spoilers)
Wilmod: (Laughs) You have struck me for the last time, you pathetic human. To me!
Hawke: Do you think he was possessed?
Karl Thekla and BioWare's double standards in writing LGBT+ characters (Dragon Age 2 spoilers)
Originally posted to tumblr in 2016, reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
[tw: death, homophobia, biphobia, abuse]
Sometimes I’m hit with just how bitter I am at the way DA2 brushes Karl Thekla and his relationship with Anders under the rug.
Aveline and Anders have both recently lost their significant other, both with the same additional trauma of just how said significant other died, too. For starters, that’s a clear parallel between two of your Hawke’s companions, which gives insight into both their characters.
Karl is dead because of templars, people like Aveline’s husband Wesley, so Anders doesn’t feel inclined to be respectful to Wesley’s memory. Anders calling templars jailors of innocent people whom they abuse with little to no consequences is something Aveline tends to not want to hear, because her late templar husband was a good person, right? That Aveline and Anders don’t get along well enough to support each other in their loss is sad yet makes sense, though there’s potential for better understanding if only they both knew they have this in common. The emotional impact and context for the way they behave towards each other is certainly lost if the player doesn’t know it.
[tw: death, homophobia, biphobia, abuse]
Sometimes I’m hit with just how bitter I am at the way DA2 brushes Karl Thekla and his relationship with Anders under the rug.
Aveline and Anders have both recently lost their significant other, both with the same additional trauma of just how said significant other died, too. For starters, that’s a clear parallel between two of your Hawke’s companions, which gives insight into both their characters.
Karl is dead because of templars, people like Aveline’s husband Wesley, so Anders doesn’t feel inclined to be respectful to Wesley’s memory. Anders calling templars jailors of innocent people whom they abuse with little to no consequences is something Aveline tends to not want to hear, because her late templar husband was a good person, right? That Aveline and Anders don’t get along well enough to support each other in their loss is sad yet makes sense, though there’s potential for better understanding if only they both knew they have this in common. The emotional impact and context for the way they behave towards each other is certainly lost if the player doesn’t know it.
Fenris and Anders's idea of small talk apparently (Dragon Age 2 spoilers)
Originally posted to tumblr on May 10 2016. Reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
[TW: slavery, abuse]
They both lack some context in this conversation or it might go more smoothly.
Fenris: Why was your friend made Tranquil? Do you know?To be clear, which it apparently hasn’t been to many from the conversation itself, Anders isn’t making a suggestion for how the world should be with that comment about slaves, not even just to say something offensive to rile up Fenris. It’s an attempt to illustrate how wrong the magical lobotomy that’s Rite of Tranquility is. Anders compares the Circle system to slavery in several conversations with Fenris and other characters, and it’s not exactly untrue, either, considering the Tranquil especially are literally used as free labor by the Chantry while they can’t say no or make demands. I mean it is also offensive, but I don’t think that was the main point.
Anders: No, and it doesn’t matter. Nobody deserves that.
Fenris: I know some mages who deserve that.
Anders: Really? Perhaps they should start making slaves Tranquil—then they wouldn’t dream of escaping! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Fenris: Slaves do not attract demons that try to possess them.
Anders: Which clearly justifies it? What a perfect solution!
They both lack some context in this conversation or it might go more smoothly.
Thoughts on Fenris and helping mages (Dragon Age 2 spoilers)
Originally posted to tumblr on September 28 2015. Reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
I personally like my DA2 companions friended and my Hawkes pro-mage, and while that’s a bit complicated with Fenris, it’s really not that incompatible at all.
[TW: abuse]
I personally like my DA2 companions friended and my Hawkes pro-mage, and while that’s a bit complicated with Fenris, it’s really not that incompatible at all.
[TW: abuse]
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
A good scene
Originally posted to tumblr on December 2018. Reposted here for archiving of posts I want to keep.
Zia: Look at that.
Zia: Never thought I'd see one in real life.
Zia: She's beautiful.
Bi ladies holding lesbians while tearing up about dinosaurs together and
also ladies looking at ladies like they’re even more beautiful than
dinosaurs. Now, if only we had gotten a confirmation in the movie itself about at least Zia being a lesbian because interview-reveals don't count as representation, but for the first scene in the whole movie series that passes the Bechdel–Wallace test, not a bad way to go about it.
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