#Like it's basically the continuation of a bunch of plotlines I'm not particularly interested in

[acidxshark]

March 18, 1989

Leo Johnson stumbles into a cabin in the woods to discover the only interesting thing that happens in this entire episode.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @bardandbear 

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Interview with Kes

Kes and Dema talk DA homecoming, tragic plotlines, and inlfuencing you (yes you!) to buy a [redacted]

Dema: As an artist who creates a lot for the Dragon Age fandom, what inspired you to start?

Kes: Well, I've always loved stories and fantasy, but I wasn't really able to get into the visual (gaming) side of things until I built my first PC with my dad when I was 15. The first thing I did was dump an extraordinary amount of time into Skyrim, and then I was recommended Dragon Age Origins as a similar game on Steam. I'd always been sort of arty but never people - Dragon Age Origins really changed that and I desperately needed to draw a bunch of the stories I'd imagined (and written) for my Warden. The reader/writer to artist pipeline if you will. The DA storytelling was like getting to read a book, but instead I could interact with it and see it. Totally changed the game for me.

Dema: Were you playing them as they came out?

Kes: I think that was a little bit after DAO came out, but I played DA2 and DAI on release

Dema: Have there been any lulls in your Dragon Age devotion, or has it remained pretty steady?

Kes: My interest built up steadily but I went properly unhinged around DAI's release and the 3ish years following. Adulthood was a good distraction in the hibernation period between Trespasser and DA4, and I actually foolishly thought I'd been reformed, then the DA4 news really started dropping and I've completely fallen for it all over again. It feels like coming home.

Dema: I'd love to ask what specifically about it feels like a homecoming 💖

Kes: Nothing since DAI and Trespasser has quite scratched the Dragon Age itch - that very specific combination of its exploratory lore, very unique takes on magic and world-building and the character complexity. I've spent the whole time hungry for more of Thedas and wanting to know what happened/what will come next, nothing could actually fill that void. Enough time made me sort of forget about the intensity of said Dragon Age itch but after the gameplay reveal I was like, oh yeah, this is what I have been missing.

Dema: Right?? I think it's the depth of the character development for me, in particular. Do you have a favorite character or plotline? Something you get your teeth into and want to shake like a dog?

Kes: Oh so many. I adore the loneliness and isolation and despair of the warden Mahariel questline, Alistair actually asking your Mahariel what the Dalish do to mourn their loved ones in a game that had up until that point largely ostracised her continues to alter my brain chemistry to this day. Morrigan and Flemeth's deeply troubled mother daughter relationship is always so meaty to dig into, every time they resurface I think we get more tragic layers. I think the evolving plot over what spirits are is probably my favourite in the series though, the way they interact with the world, what they've become vs what they were? Makes me insane actually.

Dema: I am losing my mind over that glimpse of Morrigan in the DA4 trailer. Since this is also an artist interview: did any visuals in the game particularly strike you? A demon's design, a location, an object, or something else? And related to that, is there something from DA that you particularly enjoy as an art subject?

Kes: Like basically every artist in the DA fandom I'm fairly sure the DAI tarot card art style changed me as a person. In general the progression from DA2's stylisation to the DAI stylisation I think is really lovely and I've been trying to incorporate some of that texture and movement and composition into every artwork I've done ever since. Surprising absolutely no one, I've actually really loved drawing DA elves, so many of them fit what I call the 'elf lines theory' where they have this very 'geometric' shape / proportions. I feel like Solas does this in the most exaggerated way because there's no distraction of hair, but all elves are my favourite to draw for this reason.

Dema: Do you have any tools you can't live without? 

Kes: Unsure if this is allowed because it might sound like a bit of a shill, but I would like to shout out my trusty tablet that I've had for almost a decade and I still love using. For anyone who has been a Wacom user their whole lives, I really urge you to try Huion tablets.

Dema: Not a shill, I for one love to know what other artists like using! When you're working on a collaboration like this, what does that process look like for you?

Kes: Generally I will read/watch something and an idea will really 'catch' me while I'm doing that which I want to draw. What's really fun about this collaborative process is getting access to the artist that inspired me to really pick their brain and test my ideas against their vision.

Dema: Oh that's exciting! How's your progress on the Bang piece? Are you feeling excited about it?

Kes: I think the challenge has been the story I'm trying to capture has a lot of really rich progression of character over a long period, so I've had a lot of different ideas I wanted to represent, and I had a lot of original concept ideas that I've sketched and combined and discarded and taken elements from. It's been an evolutionary process but I think I did finally get to turn a lot of those ideas into a cohesive main piece I'm really excited to see finished.

Dema: I am very excited to see it, too! Thank you for taking this time to be interviewed, Kes, it's been delightful.

Kes: No problemo!