#Dd1

[v60lt]

Being carried throughout the fight but you get the last hit so technically you killed the boss

[mikaikaika]

[uchivstheworld]

My favorite moment from Dragon's Dogma, Griffin's Bane at bluemoon tower

[olessan]

Disappointed that DD2 has no canonical male romance options? HELP FIX IT!

In Dragon's Dogma 2 you can choose almost any NPC to be your beloved/romance option, like in the first game. You can literally pick anyone, including random road guards, to shower gifts upon and raise their affinity.

However. Only two NPCs are canonical romances.

Ulrika and Wilhelmina, both human women, have unique romance quests and scenes that conclude intimately (without any platonic option). Those are the only NPCs in the entire game that have them.

No hate on the girls, they're among my arisen's best buds, but having them be the only two with fully fledged romance arcs in the entire game is a bit absurd.

Pre-release marketing highlighted Ulra, Wil, as well as Guard-Captain Brant, Prince Sven (who tbf seems pretty young), elven siblings Glyndwr and Doirieann, and Empress Nadinia of Battahl and her Guard-captain Menella (who I assumed were a couple). Any of those characters should also have had unique scenes like Wil and Ulra, but they don't. That effectively makes Ulra/Wil the canonical options.

None of the npcs care about the arisen's gender. The main issue is that there are no male options with equivalent romance quest. There's nothing but crumbs for the guy enjoyers, which is somehow a step back from the first game where there was at least Julian.

There are three dudes who would have been strong candidates according to their plot importance:

Brant is the arisen's first and most important ally in Vernworth,

Sven could have been DD2's Aelinore (young noble in need of help) and could've caused loads of plot drama,

and Glyndwr is your introduction to the elf culture through his curiosity.

Do they get unique quests beyond their initial ones? Nope.

Anyway, we can potentially influence some getting added officially instead of as mods:

Capcom has released a player feedback survey.

The survey has questions on what you like, dislike, and would like to see in future content updates. It runs until April 21 and may well influence the future additions to the game.

I laid it on thick about them adding more quests and romance quests, and also about a Bitterblack Isle-type expansion.The more people that bring it up these issues the better.

Go forth, arisen <3

[orinthered]

the 8k slowburn aelinore/mercedes fanfic in my mind

[doe-drawz]

Soo because reynauld never fails to steal everything from me in dd1 i figured i’d doodle dismas witnessing the worst robbery ever truly, good news the king and the doctor are preoccupied

[staircasecleric]

I will make my fandom crossover ideas work no matter how absurd. Yes I will toss the Mighty Nein into Darkest Dungeon yes I think they'd be tired of its bullshit SO FAST

[ladymissfit133]

Been thinking about Dragon's dogma and its reoccuring stories about women navigating a patriarchal society and how individual action will never succeed against systemic oppression. How even women of noble birth are stuck following the whims of the men in their lives. How Aelinore's romance is all about her grabbing on to the little bit of agency she has and holding on to it with all of her power, to get but a taste of freedom, only for her ultimately go from the oppression of her husband and back to that of her father. she's probably never been as happy as she was in those sewers, not having to think of how she appeared, who saw her or what she was doing. it was just her and the person she herself chose to love. as someone who's never been able to make her own decisions, just dealing with the consequences of the one decision she made for herself must've felt incredibly liberating. And in the end the system still takes her back. she can't truly escape, to fight against something so much stronger than herself.

And Mercedes. Naive and foolish Mercedes, who wanted nothing more than to be seen as a knight. A position she as a woman is simply not allowed to have. Her individual wishes goes against what the system could ever accomodate but she does not understand this. She does not know that she will never have what her brothers have. She thinks that the system will give her what she seeks should she work hard enough. but that is not how systemic oppression works. It will never bend for an individuals hard work. She is merely deluding herself thinking the men around her see her as an equal. But she never will be. They will never give her that chance, hell, even when she insists on taking a job the man overseeing her sends you to make sure she is unharmed. And in the end the system wins and the best she can hope for is the respect of two people to allow her an uninterrupted duel. But she's still a woman. And the system will not allow her that same respect. And then there's Madeleine. Flirtations and pragmatic Madeleine, wanting nothing more than her own shop, yet obtaining such a feat as a poor peddler is difficult and she is forced to resort to illegal means in order to reach it. Means her male peers likely would not need to. And despite her craftiness she is still found out and forced to leave her hard-earned successes behind.

time and time again Dragon's dogma gives us stories about how individualism can not win against systemic oppression, but together we can do something. None of these women can escape their situation - they simply do not have the means to do so on their own. These are the kinds of narratives that games seldom tackle, and yet Dragon's Dogma does it in a very honest and brutal way: an individual is powerless against the wider structures. on your own you are powerless. It's a game that should be talked about more for its feminist themes i think, because they are there and they are strong. and then there's Dragon's Dogma 2. DD2 takes the more gender-blind approach to its own world. Where gender doesn't really matter at all. I can understand this approach, and a lot of times i think it is a good approach: unless you have something to say you should just let people feel like they belong in your world. Women are plentiful in DD2, they hold positions of power and make up half its instututions. this should be the default approach. But it also means DD2 can not say anything important about the struggles of groups, only about individuals. Because no one is truly oppressed based on their identity anymore. And i think that is a genuine shame because the first game had a lot to say about it. (and yes, i know about the beastren, but they're a fantasy race and thus do not count)

[bi-naesala]

Dismas and lovers

14. Occultist

What was once born out of necessity, has become something of a habit, a ritual they concede to themselves after a long expedition, admitting that either of them were in the condition to do it – it isn’t always the case, unfortunately.

Alhazred has to admit that he’s come to treasure these moments of peace, which are getting rarer and rarer as they progress through their quest, as they get closer to the heart of the problem. A slight shiver runs down his spine at the thought of what is behind all this; they’re so close to the truth, so much that if he were to reach for it, he could already be grasping at it with his fingers.

“You’ve been awfully quiet today.”

Dismas’ voice shakes him from the thoughts in which he had found refuge, brings him back to the present. His tone doesn’t sound accusatory: it’s just a statement, though there is a hint of worry that Alhazred is able to catch – Dismas has never been a subtle man, but nonetheless with time he’s become better at reading him. It is true: usually, he’d be running his mouth about a new discovery, a hunch, anything in particular at all, as long as he spoke, as Dismas likes to hear the sound of his voice, even though he doesn’t always understand what he’s talking about.

Even after voicing his concern, he doesn’t stop tending to Alhazred’s hair, brushing his long locks with a softness that, at first, had been surprising; to tell the truth, he hadn’t been expecting it, the first time this event took place: he wouldn’t consider himself a vain person, but – unlike some people who would do well to follow his example – he does take care of his body; after all, what is a brilliant mind without a functional body to serve it?

Fate had it that after a particularly grueling expedition, he wasn’t in condition to take care of his needs himself, not with his useless arm kept together by only a stick and a piece of cloth, the best treatment he could get before he could be taken to the sanitarium. He had tried summoning an infernal help for his wounds, but all it did had been making the bleeding worse, so he had sagely refrained from trying again, knowing how easy it was to upset such powers.

After getting a better medication for his arm, he managed to wash all the grime and blood from his body one-armed, but he soon realized that he would’ve had to ask for help for what came after. He turned to his temporary companion – they were to share the room at least for the night, before being considered healthy enough to leave the place – and frowned: Dismas didn’t exactly feel like the best candidate for this, but Alhazred had no other choice; it was either him or the nurses, which weren’t known for being that careful in the first place, so Dismas it was.

He grumbled, when he called to him – he obviously didn’t want to be disturbed, and he would’ve left him alone if he had the possibility – but when Alhazred explained his situation, he was less reluctant to help than he had anticipated; it was surprising, how someone this gruff was able to be so delicate, though Alhazred supposed it made sense: his tools for combat couldn’t be handled roughly, and required constant maintenance, so he must’ve been used to it. It was a pleasant surprise how good it felt when Dismas passed the brush through his hair, carefully untangling it from the mess it had become, though that might have had something to do with the crescent feelings Alhazred had been finding himself harboring for the man, feelings that, he suspected, were returned, but he still hadn’t found the right time to act on that hunch of his – their circumstances weren’t the best when it came to pursuing a romance.

Still, it was a nice experience, one that Alhazred was certain would be unique, so of course he was surprised when Dismas came to him, after a much easier expedition, and asked him if he needed any help again. It seemed that he was joking, but Alhazred would’ve been a fool to let such an opportunity leave his grasp, so he took it seriously, and well, Dismas hadn’t needed much convincing to begin with, thus a new tradition was born.

“You’re doing it again.”

“Ah, apologies. It seems I am distracted, today,” Alhazred manages to say, this time. He’s been lost in his thoughts once again.

Thankfully, Dismas seems more amused than upset at this point, which is good: Alhazred would’ve felt bad for making him worry over nothing. “And what’s distracting you? It must be something important, if you can’t think of anything else,” he asks, still intent on brushing his hair – he’s fallen in love with those long dark locks, and can’t believe he’s one of the few people Alhazred would grant the privilege to see him in such a way.

Alhazred’s lips curve into an amused smile. “Would it be too much of a cliché to say that I was thinking about you?”

He can’t help a small laugh, hearing a now embarrassed Dismas grumble something incomprehensible in reply.

“That’s low,” he complains, once he’s recovered; this time Alhazred manages to hold himself back, figuring that he wouldn’t enjoy being laughed at – though it would’ve been done with affection.

“But true,” he responds. “Or shall I lie, next time?”

More grumbling on Dismas’ part. “… No.”

Alhazred smiles, content enough of his victory that he doesn’t feel the need to push it further. Meanwhile, Dismas returns to his previous task, brush in hand, and silence fills the room once again, though the atmosphere is more relaxed, now that Dismas knows that the reason behind Alhazred’s silence is nothing he should worry about.

He enjoys listening to him ramble about any topic of his choosing, but he has to admit that he doesn’t mind this either, as long as they’re close, as long as they get even a small moment of respite, before the horrors commence once again.

[unqualified-therapist]

gegg speech. we are gegg.

[ink-asunder]

I can't tell if DD1 is a harem game with a monster hunter mechanic or a monster hunter game with a harem mechanic

[dany36]

uhhhhh hello??? HELLO???? this whole quest had me going "wtfwtfwtfwtfwtfwtf"????? LIKE...

ok not only is the duchess FOR SOME REASON already in love with the arisen EVEN THOUGH they've spoken once??? and we haven't done anything for her??? like hold up lol people were complaining about ulrika and wilhelmina being all over you in dd2 but at least you help them out (ulrika more than once like you literally save her life) before you get max affinity with them, but the duchess....?? you meet her once?? and she's already like "how can i show my love is pure" lady!! i don't know you and you're married!! 😭🙈 (even though i thought you were the duke's daughter at first whoops) and ugh what baffled me the most was the fact that the arisen put their arm on her shoulder?? like WAT WHY ARE YOU INTO THIS. STOP RIGHT THERE.

but ugh ANYWAY. what. was. up. with. THE. DUKE!! what the hell was that?? why was he trying to literally kill his wife and looking possessed/out of it while doing so. creeped me the hell out!! 😦

AND OK. i know the whole quest involved you not getting caught and i'm not sure if it's possible to just leave while aelinore is being assaulted without the duke noticing, but what i was trying to do was run and grab/tackle the duke a-la dd2 allard style lol but...upon being found the arisen just stands there?? like hello, the duke was trying to choke out his wife and we're just gonna stand there and do nothing, oh ok. i wonder what happens if you do manage to sneak out...? does aelinore end up hating you haha. edit: OMG i just looked it up and apparently the duke literally kills aelinore if you don't interfere!!! WILD!! 😦😦😦😦 sheesh good thing i stepped in even if i ended up looking like a fool!

either way omg this whole quest was crazy, i can't wait to find out more about what the hell is up with the duke!!! i'm not sure i dig the whole duchess-being-in-love-with-the-arisen thing but sheesh i wouldn't blame the poor thing if this is what she has been dealing with.

[mikaikaika]

Expectation Reality

[larkscribbles]

Thank you old man for releasing the eldritch horrors in the basement it was truly an experience (I beat DD1).

[olessan]

I was half joking but I'll take it

(pawn ID JY0ZRS6KJYNZ)

[brinehater]

thank you Dragon's Dogma, I love you too Dragon's Dogma