#Hira

[notebooks-and-laptops]

One thing I enjoyed about Dragon Age: Absolution is the way it shows how being brought up within a specific culture can passively affect your outlook without you assuming it will.

Our villain, Rezaren, believes that he sees Miriam and Neb as his siblings, despite very obviously seeing them as slaves. The pervasive culture he's been brought up in assumes ownership; and so he continuously views Miriam and Neb in that lens despite the fact that he thinks he's not (better posts than this one have been made talking about this but specifically such things as: does not believe they have the right to say 'no', believing he can do whatever he wants with Nebs body/soul without consequence, wanting to take Miriam back as a tool to fulfil his dream etc.)

But Hira, who was brought up in Tevinter, left due to the Venatori and joined the inquisition is ALSO deeply affected by the culture of Tevinter and how it views elves. Hira is willing to bargain the freedom of a woman she loves, and there's something about ownership there. We don't know much about Hiras family and whether they participated in slavery, but I would argue that Hira's ability to rationalize her actions stems directly from an unconscious bias about slavery and elves.

And I think that's really interesting. It takes a lot of time and energy to break our unconscious biases. Love isn't always enough, even if the people experiencing that love (platonic, romantic like Hira or familial like Rezaren) believe that it should be, or that they're not participating in these wider cultures.

I hope we get an arch for Hira where she realises this, and grows (although not necessarily for end game Hira/Miriam I think Hira has gone too far), or a Tevinter character in DA:A that is desperately trying to put in the work to change these biases and recognsie them as a sort of counterpoint/flipside. But in this show, I enjoyed that the two Tevinter characters, despite their supposed love for Miriam, couldn't break free of the unconscious biases and culture they were raised in.

[beaulesbian]

part 2 of #pointing at the screen excitedly

(part 1)

[bl-bracket]

Most Unhinged Round 2: Hira (Utsukushii Kare) vs Kiyoi (Utsukushii Kare)

[Submitted Reasons Under Cut]

Hira: "Idolship at first sight. This man completly skipped the love phase and went straight into obsession. While very much attracted to and in love with Kiyoi, he is also intensly devoted to their inequal power dynamic, to the extent that he often ignores (or as some might put it kindly, is oblivious to) Kiyoi's feelings to preserve his ability to worship Kiyoi. To him Kiyoi is like a star or a god, and Kiyoi really just wants Hira to acknowledge that Kiyoi has feelings too and isn't some unfeeling piece of plasma floating in space. Kiyoi also frequently refers to Hira as his stalker, which Hira seems to like?"

Kiyoi: "He hides it better, but he's just as unhinged as Hira"

[nukbody]

I cannot comprehend how strong of a grip this series has on me

[vegasthehedgehog]

Kiyoi

There is something about the way Kiyoi has always been independent, aggressive, and often following the "I don't need anyone" archetype . This shows that he doesn't know what healthy relationships look like or why they matter. He never had anyone he felt he could rely on. He did not even want his friends to know what his dream was or that he took the idol thing seriously. He did not have anyone he thought would be his support if he failed and most likely assumed he would lose the artificial friendships that he did have if he showed his real self to them. His whole demeaner screams lonely, hurt, and scared.

Kiyoi has always been so sure that nobody is around him for any reason other than to use him. He does not think anyone takes him seriously. He doesn't trust that anyone could ever be sincere. That is why when Hira comes into the picture, he doesn't trust him. He seems to see it as a way to go from being used to using someone. He never truly accepted that Hira truly just wanted to be around him because of him. This is most likely why they parted ways like they did.

This has been on my mind because of the development we see later on. It becomes even more clear that Kiyoi does not want to be aggressive or the one to make the choice. He has always wanted someone to prove they take him seriously, that they want him, that they love him unconditionally.

We see Kiyoi struggle to open up and communicate and how hard it is for him. We see his tendency to flee when he is scared or hurt. We see there communication suffer because of misunderstandings. But most of all we see them fight for each other even well fighting against each other.

This leads me into the bathtub scene. Kiyoi is no longer this mean aggressive man that we once saw but instead someone who is quietly asking Hira to give him more physical attention. This is a big deal because we start out with him physically throwing Hira to the ground but now we are here.

I am leaving so so so so much out but this show really took over my brain and I don't have anyone to talk to about it. Its been a while since I watched it and these scenes still live rent free in my head.

[dalishious]

[bw2gold]

I'm hoping they'll make an appearance in DragonAge4.

[yakazakalb]

“Kimseden daha iyi olmadığınızı anlayacak kadar mütevazı, herkesten farklı olduğunuzu kavrayacak kadar bilge olun.”

İbn Rüşd

[archie-sunshine]

magma doodles for today

(feat. @ultravioletsodapop 's hira, @maxicaiman's aerin, @welcometothesewers's baph, and @icypolargirl78's glitch

[warden-commander-of-ferelden]

“No one sees a slave.” —Written in secret by slave scribe Solvarin Brann, 8:65 Blessed

[destinyapostasy]

Hira and Miriam from Dragon Age Absolution

[copdog1234]

Its such an interesting choice for DAA to make the main character and former slave POC and queer, her slaver a White Man that doesn't understand that she doesnt belong to him and cant take "no" for an answer, and her problematic love interest a White Woman who agrees that there's things wrong with the system that has oppressed the main character, but is very much absolutely willing to bargain the main character's freedom to meet her own ends.

[bl-bracket]

Most Unhinged Round 1: Hira (Utsukushii Kare) vs Prom (Playboyy)

[Submitted Reasons Under Cut]

Hira: "Idolship at first sight. This man completly skipped the love phase and went straight into obsession. While very much attracted to and in love with Kiyoi, he is also intensly devoted to their inequal power dynamic, to the extent that he often ignores (or as some might put it kindly, is oblivious to) Kiyoi's feelings to preserve his ability to worship Kiyoi. To him Kiyoi is like a star or a god, and Kiyoi really just wants Hira to acknowledge that Kiyoi has feelings too and isn't some unfeeling piece of plasma floating in space. Kiyoi also frequently refers to Hira as his stalker, which Hira seems to like?"

Prom: none submitted

[silver-horse]

I read some of the reviews for Dragon Age Absolution on IMDB and it’s so funny that people seriously give reviews which just say “everyone is gay 2/10.”

Dude, what did you even expect? This is Dragon Age, there are always gay characters, it’s one of the gayest series you can find.

Look at this review, hilarious:

Clearly written by someone who knows nothing about the series. They incorrectly refer to the characters with D&D class descriptions and they call the qunari mage “some kind of giant goat lady”. LOL It’s actually quite funny to read, but... if someone starts watching a tv show that is part of a larger series and then they get angry because it depicts the usual themes and topics of that series, well they have only themselves to blame. Hate gay characters? Maybe be aware if a 13 year old series has gay storylines and don’t act like the most recent entry has an “agenda”. Ridiculous. Homophobes always assume there is an “agenda” so they don’t even bother to check whether or not gay characters are actually new to the series they are watching.

[fallenumbra]

𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯

[dalishious]

I better not see anyone calling Hira white btw. The gal is Asian.

Her design reads as East or Southeast Asian. Also her VA is Filipino and Thai and almost all the VAs are respectively cast as the race of their characters.