something to think about

imperfectwriting:

let’s bring this back

Last Chance

dollhouse:

My first thought was “is that Hermione?” 

And then: “#behold your new hermione headcanon”

same ^^

definitely Hermione

i think velanna would actually get along with everyone in the kirkwall crew

except aveline

she’d hate aveline

this would be especially apparent after the incident with the elves during act 2, when aveline and her guards did nothing to give them justice

that’s pretty much where Aveline lost all my respect

those elves had every right to kill that rapist fuck and the Arishok had every right to take them in

The ultimate cat toy. [video]

Anders vs. Dorian

i’m so glad i live in 2016 so i dont have to deal with these massive terrifying animals except the blue whale, but shes gentle and good

HELL PIG

Loghain fucked up a lot but he did have a point

Why The Treatment of the Dalish is Personal and Not Okay

“The Dalish started off as the wandering Rom (or g*****s, if you prefer) but evolved into something more akin to North American Natives (and, really, the Native situation is also a good analogy for elves as a whole).” - David Gaider

Right there. Said from a writer himself. The Dalish mirror First Nations. I saw a connection right away, and hearing it confirmed makes me both happy and very angry.

I’m happy because holy shit, it’s nice to see something relevant to aboriginal peoples in media. It happens so rarely. To see a reflection of my people in a huge game franchise such as this is frankly awesome. I can connect with that, and it builds passion. I personally think that anyone who is a minority in some way can probably connect to the Dalish. 

…Which brings us to why it is totally not awesome, and makes me angry. You say the Dalish are influenced by a minority group. You admit yourself that the Dalish are a minority. You then proceed to do your best to retcon a lot of lore and change things to try and remove sympathy and produce victim-blaming, all for the sake of forced grey morality. (I say forced, because Dragon Age was already pretty grey, a good amount of grey when it was unintentional.)

Because here’s the thing: You created a world built on racism and fear of that which people did not understand. But you could have the chance to play as a hero who can be a beacon of representation to their people! That’s what it seemed like in Origins, at least. But does a Dalish warden who asks for land for their clan actually change anything? No. In DA2 we see zero change, as if it never happened. Then there’s a Dalish inquisitor “setting an example for all elves.” Yes, an example of assimilation, where people are constantly belittling their culture, or flat-out trying to erase it from them. Perfectly exhibited with the case of Ameridan.  DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING HARMFUL ASSIMILATION IS?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG-LASTING ITS EFFECTS ARE?! Honestly, I think THIS makes me angrier more than anything! Because if you did, you would not choose to assimilate a fictional race based on a real race that knows more about assimilation than pretty much anyone!

Ugh… I need a sec.

I understand your goal was to try and make the oppressors more sympathetic. But you should not have gone about it by making the oppressed seem less so. You could have instead chosen to have the racist repent, and even work to help reverse the effects of the long history of tyranny, because words are only as good as the actions behind them. It would have been harder, yes, but it would have been worth it. It would have been an actual redeeming story-arc. But no.

The Dalish are indeed a great analogy. That has never been made more clear, if this is what you think First Nations deserve as representation.

…This is the part where I’d normally apologize for getting angry, but I don’t feel like it this time.

I hadn’t realized Gaider had come out and said as much. But I noticed from the beginning that the Dalish and City Elves represented different survival strategies by an oppressed group, particularly indigenous peoples who often end up divided between those who try to maintain complete separation and those who try to survive within the oppressive culture. I thought Rom and Jewish ghettos might be the models they used too, minorities resisting destructive assimilation.

And yes, the victim blaming they have done since DAO, creating incident after incident in which they seem to justify the treatment of both Dalish and City Elves has been infuriating. They even made it easy for people to blame the Exalted March on the Dales on the Dalish elves. And while I love Solas, his intentions basically justifies all the horrible genocidal acts likely to happen now to people who will be as much his victims as anyone else.

It’s also one of the reasons I have major reservations about them moving to Tevinter. They’ve already demonstrated that they’re drawing their ideas about how slaves think and view their enslavers from long discredited narratives written by the enslavers. Fenris’s sister Varania complaining that life as a freedwoman was harder. Orana who is written as witless and completely helpless. And other examples. Frankly, if they continue mining such biased sources, I suspect their foray into Tevinter will be the end of my interest in DA. There are a thousand ways they could demonstrate slave resistance while they present a face that will avoid punishment or retribution. But they won’t. They’ll make those public, protective faces their real ones, just like they don’t give you the chance to really call Dorian on his statements about slave conditions in Tevinter…

Also: not nearly enough elves look like actual POC. It’s ridiculous you need a mod to make DA2 Merrill brown again. 

Solas looked much better in his concept arts.

Qunari too went from Sten to Iron Bull.

Have I mentioned I want to have all Chantry fucks and Orlesians nobility guillotined? Oh, and most magisters too. And Celene.

And then your Dalish Inquisitor doesn’t even have the option to say “shut the fuck up, shemlen bitch, you don’t know shit” to Morrigan.

listen……i fucking hate bacon culture SO much……..bacon isnt even that good please calm down

the shitty American bacon sure isn’t 

behold 

the TRUE bacon 

the szalonna

and that’s just a few types

damn, now I’m hungry

name a more iconic trio. ill wait.

Luke, Leia, Han

How about X-men? I feel like it fits the whole mage-templar theme very well

oh gosh yes, it definitely pushes the same buttons. i refer a lot to the comedy of those shows and the shenanigans of the da2 crew, but that would be an awesome crossover too :D

as someone who supports Magneto just as much as I support Anders FUCK YES