#ci plays dragon age

[nidstiniens]

"ciarra, you wouldn’t make the exact same inquisitor to play the game the exact same way for the 6th time, would you?”

WOULDN’T I THOUGH???

[new-austin]

Been fun seeing NPCs who are trans! Maevaris obviously, but also people like Governor Ivenci using they/them pronouns and Tarquin having a missable conversation about "Wanting to live as a man". I wonder if I missed any too!

[cowboyballads]

do people hate dragon age veilguard bc its woke or whatever or is there an actual reason

[quff]

yall: This character is a gay man. You cannot fuck him.

me: I'm not a woman

yall: This character is a lesbian. You cannot fuck her.

me: I'm not a man either

[housederiva]

As a queer person, it's so wonderful to see the dev team for Veilguard, a lot of whom have been with DA since the beginning of Origins, feel comfortable enough to say that they're a part of my family

Trick telling us that their name is Trick. Corinne not needing to hide that she's a woman. Solas' VA Gareth using he/they and Neve's VA Jessica using she/they. The amount of out non-binary people involved with this project to begin with was frankly unthinkable for the majority of AAA games to me. And here's the absolute legend that is BioWare going 'no we don't need to hide who our crew is to pander to a larger consumer audience' and I'm so happy and proud of that

The majority of people out there who are going to play Dragon Age are cis straight men who don't think about us all that often and unfortunately, a sizable amount of them that do have negative intentions and aren't kind people. I've skimmed through Reddit and Twitter and there's a lot of Gamer Bros that are mad about the queerness involved within Veilguard and it worries me

It's no secret that I'm not the best with words, and I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. But the coming months up to and after the game is released, we gotta be kind to one another and correct folks who aren't speaking out of malicious intent and ignore the ones that are

I feel like as fans of the series, we owe it to the dev team to support them anyway we can and a great way to do that is by calling Trick Trick and referring to Erika as he just as often as she and everyone else by who they are. Which is so damn easy to do and the bare minimum but unfortunately a lot of people who are going to buy the game put their hatred above respect. Our love needs to be louder

[weirdwitcheryart]

I just find it odd, that whenever a dude on YouTube talks about how horrible veilguard will be, they start out like "some of you will remember dragon age origins,..."

It's 2024. Things change. Grow the fuck up.

Really, I loved origins and dragon age was the franchise I always adored and was obsessed with, ever since origins, so I am one of the OG fans (yes, I am old) , and with the developments and the decisions they took with veilguard... I am still excited, I have preordered the game and I am still obsessed.

And I am looking forward to the new battle system and everything. If you want a game like DAO, then just play DAO. The game still exists.

I am not invalidating criticism, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but from my point of view it looks great and I am sure I will pour many, many hours into the game.

I just can't stand the hate and especially coming from (sorry) cis straight white men who think they are entitled, that every game is catering towards them and their preferences.

There are so many games that I didn't play, because they didn't resonate with me, as a queer woman, and that is okay, just like not every movie is catering towards me.

I've been waiting for this game for 10 years, please just let me and my fellow people who are excited for this enjoy this.

It reminds me of that one SNL skit about the "fisherprice well for sensitive boys"

"this is not for you, this is for him, because everything else is for you, and this one thing is for him"

[kitterkat100]

My thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard

So, I finished datv yesterday and now have time to sit and think about it. Now, obviously this is just my subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I am going to start with the good and go into the bad and then finish with more good (that teacher training coming in). Also, I learned how to do a read more for this.

I am going to start with the combat. I have made another post about this, but that was like 3 hours into my first playthrough. Veilguard has the best combat in the series. Usually Dragon Age games have combat that is a slog to get through, so much so that many people in the fandom say they don't play the games for combat but for the story. I have never been a fan of the real-time with tactical pause, I find it a little boring. I am not a big fan of turn-based, to begin with ( that is one of the reasons I still have not finished Baulder's Gate). In the past, if I wanted to play a good story game with fun combat, I would play Mass Effect. But I have fun just fighting enemies, if DAI's combat was this fun I would replay it more often.

Next the art direction. Now, I am no artist and I know next to nothing about anything. But I really like the art. I think the environments are beautiful. I like the character models. I know people were complaining about the models having small heads in the lead-up to the release, but I think it was because the game doesn't use heroic proportions. And you don't notice in-game at all, at least I didn't. Also the brought back some reused assets from the Inquisition, and some of the paintings that have been around since Origins.

Okay the companions. I might write a longer post for each companion later on. I am going in alphabetical order.

Bellara: I romanced her, and I love her so much. She has some strong Tali vibes with a strong dose of ADHD. I am a little sad that we did not even kiss until after the final battle, but I just read that as her being ace or demi (like me!).

Davrin: He is such a bro. I love him and Assan so much. His banter with Emmrich is so funny. The ending to his story line is a little weak, but I will talk about that in his own post.

Emmrich: I think Emmrich is one of the best companions in the whole series, flat out. I love this man, he going to be my next romance (Female Qunari Grey Warden).

Harding: Harding is great. I really liked all of the Titan stuff in her storyline. I did get her killed, so I am not sure what her ending is like. I did think her romance with Taash was cute.

Lucanis: I'm going to say it. I think Lucanis is the weakest of the companions, I don't dislike him. I don't if I missed a lot of content because I saved Minrathous instead of Treviso or if it was because his writer got canned during development. And what he did have felt bare bones. I thought we would be dealing with Spite a lot more. I will say his recruitment mission is a blast.

Neve: I played a Shadow Dragon so my character had a lot of in common with Neve. I like her, but I don't have any strong feelings towards her one or another. Her romance with Lucanis is a thing that happens. I might change my mind when I get around to romancing her.

Taash: I am cis, so take this with a grain of salt. But I think their storyline about being non-binary was oddly paced. I did like everything past that, I think it was much better paced. I do like them a lot. Also, they are really cute with Harding. I do wish there was more of a reaction to me getting Harding killed on Tearstone Island, but that is a writing complaint.

Speaking of the writing. It is really a mixed bag. Some of it is great and then some of it was giving slop comics from the mid-00s. The first several hours are story slog, some of that is because of all the lore dumps, and some of it is because it is oddly paced. The writing gets progressively better throughout the game. From the point of no return to the credits it is the strongest writing, maybe not in the whole series but definitely since the last third of DAI. That after-credit scene was a choice. I will probably talk about that more after I figure out how I feel about it. I think Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nan are the strongest villains since Loghain, it really helps that they are present throughout the game. There are definitely moments where you feel that Rook is HR, but not a lot, but enough that I understand why that made it into some reviews. I don't think it is any more quippy or Marvel-like than any other Dragon Age game, "Swooping is bad" comes to mind.

Finally, some random thoughts. I think this game really nailed the horror of the Blight, I can't get the image of Bellara wrapped in Blight tentacles during the final section out of my head.

I played a non-mage elf shadow dragon, and there was a lot of reactivity for the shadow dragon part, less the elf part. I know I missed a conversation with Tarquin about it, but still. It's like no one even noticed the pointy ears.

That's it for now. I might add more as think about it.

8/10, I had a blast.

[fereldanwench]

apropos of nothing and certainly not my tag rant from a few posts back

did you know that out of 150 popular video games released between 1985 and 2022, only 6% of them feature sole female protagonists?

did you know that prior to mass effect 3, female shepard was never used in any promotional material for the series?

(and there's no hard data available on this, but i very distinctly recall a lot of gamerbro outrage when me3 had an optional reversible cover so you could pick between male and fem shep on your personal game)

did you know that only 18% of players chose femshep in any shape or form (default or customized) during the original release?

(anecdotally, i know a few people who didn't even realize you could play a female at all in me1 bc of how the cc is setup)

did you know with the release of the legendary edition in 2021 the percentage of femshep players didn't even double (despite jennifer hale's seemingly enormous popularity amongst the broader playerbase over the past decade) and is reported at 32%?

did you know that dragon age inquisition has the same breakdown between male and female inquisitors (68% to 32% respectively)?

did you know during the playtests for assassin's creed odyssey, it was a 50/50 split between kassandra and alexios, and ubisoft suits actually thought when the game was released, kassandra would be more popular? and yet once again, about 70% of players chose the male protag

did you know evie and aya were both supposed to have a much larger roles in assassin's creed syndicate and origins but were forced into a smaller role bc the ubisoft marketing team didn't think the games would sell well with a female lead?

cdpr hasn't released data on male vs female v, probably because the game handles gender a little differently than just two strict options like many other rpgs, but it was revealed that panam was the most popular romance, sitting at about 68%, which means at least 68% of players chose the male v body. I'm sure some players did not make that choice as a cis male v, but i would also guess that those who didn't are a small minority of this demographic, and if you factor in kerry romancers, this split is probably very similar to other games in the genre

now i realize that a lot of the male v players who are in more transformative fandom spaces (like tumblr) are not the str8 gamer dudebros of reddit angry about pores on a female character's face and whatnot. i realize that a lot of you are also on the outskirts of the perceived norm and also feel under-represented by mainstream male protags and that's incredibly frustrating and alienating and i genuinely feel for you

but female protagonists and female gamers who want to play as female protagonists and who have a few niche spaces to celebrate female protags are not the reason for your lack of representation

and frankly you don't sound a whole lot different from the angry incel gamer boys when you say shit like "fem v gets too much attention"

so maybe try advocating for male protags who don't fit the generic boring gruff white guy mold without throwing women under the bus. we're should be allies in this fight, not rivals

[ma1eficar]

Thoughts so far on how Veilguard handling trans people

Vague spoilers. Critical but I also give credit where it's due

The good intentions are there and I appreciate them. I recognize that some of the devs are LGBTQ themselves and injecting some of their own experiences into their work, and that's valid as hell. And I like that the option to be trans is there at all, and actually gives you some relevant dialogue in the game instead of being an after thought that none of your friends acknowledge. That's certainly a big step forward over any rpg I've ever played.

I can also understand wanting to use the modern language to make sure there's no doubt about the characters' identities, and I can sympathize with lgbtq fans who prefer it this way.

But the more I think about it the more the way gender identity presented in Veilguard feels pretty off to me personally, as a trans NB person.

Veilguard frames the topic in a very modern and imo, western-centric way that just feels strange and out of place in Dragon Age. And the reason this matters to me is because I wanted to see the effort and world building go into how people like us would fit into a unique world like this-- I didn't want to be educated on how we fit into the real world, because I already experience that every day.

Like, I wanted to know what the elven, dwarven, Tevene, etc. Words for trans and nonbinary people are.

I wanted more exploration of how the qunari deal with gender, how it's tied to their role in life, how this could be freeing for some trans people and restrictive for others.

I wanted codex entries about using magic to transition, about what difficulties trans people in different cultures might face. And if there's time, maybe we could hear what spirits think of mortals and their gender roles, if some spirits might pick a binary gender simply because they like it, how their feelings about it might change or not change if they end up with a physical body.

We could've had all this cool fantasy trans stuff, but instead it feels like we kinda just got real life gender studies 101. Which I guess is good for a cis ally who just wants to understand us better, but for a trans gamer who lives this stuff it's just very bland. I just really wanted to see actual effort put into the world building around trans people

[witch-ix]

The Characters

Putting down the basic information's about the most important characters here. Everything from their full name, their ages and birthdays, sexual -identification and -orientation, family dynamics and relationships, to the titles and powers they have.

My rewrite will start on Earth in 2004, since that's when the first season aired.

One year on Magix is just as long as one year on Earth and Stella teleported herself there around the end of July but Alfea's school year doesn't start until about the 11th of September.

I'll list everyone's age at the time of September 1st 2004.

The Winx girls are around 18 years old in the beginning, as the three schools of Magix City are colleges. The boys are about to start their second year in Red Fountain and the Trix get in their third year in Cloud Tower.

Bloom Pietra

18 - brought to Gardenia on August 24th 1986, which she celebrates as her birthday actually born on December 10th 1985 nonbinary, bisexual (she/they) she was named Sera, daughter of Queen Marion, Priestess of the Hearth and King Consort, Sir Oritel - both from Domino. Younger sister of Princess Daphne who was the Nymph of Domino, but died at age 25, when Domino was cursed. Daphne saved Bloom's life by bringing her to Earth, where she grew up under the care of Vanessa and Mike Pietra, in Gardenia, Italy. They are amazingly supportive and loving parents. she considered Selina as her best friend, until she got into a relationship with Andy - Selina had confessed having romantic feelings for her, but Bloom couldn't return those. Andy and Bloom's relationship lasted for almost two years and ultimately ended in a big fight, resulting in her leaving their band (she played the drums). Bloom has fire magic and is the Keeper of the Dragon Flame, she will be a Fairy

Shining Princess Stella Luna-Ray of Solaria

19 - August 18th 1985 cis, pansexual (she/her) she is very close with her father, the Radius Cyrus, who is the King of Solaria. Rather distant with her mother, Lady Luna from Callisto. The two of them are about to be divorced. she was in a relationship with Amaryl, but they fought a lot and ultimately decided that it's not worth it. At the beginning of the story she's already in a relationship with Brandon - they've started dating half a year before. Her best friends are Sky and Nova. She knows about Brandon and Sky switching places, since she has always known Sky. Stella is the Fairy of Sunlight

Flora de Alyssa Rose

19 - March 1st 1985 cis, panromantic and demisexual (she/her) daughter of Alyssa and Lord Rhodos, both from Linphea. Very close with her mother, but broke off the contact with her father, since her parents got divorced. She is the older sister of Miele and they are very close. Their mother got together with Sage, who is very close with both girls and has two daughters herself - Rue and Clove. she is really close with her family members, but never had too close friends, since she always focused on studying. She went to Cloud Tower in hopes of becoming a Witch, but during meditation her Wings became visible and she had to switch over to Alfea. Flora is the Fairy of Plants

Musa Mai-Lin Song

18 - May 30th 1986 androgyne, bisexual with preference for women (she/they) child of Ho-Boe and Mai-Lin from Melody. Mai-Lin died when Musa was 12 and Ho-Boe moved with them to Magix City after that. Since then he was very distant and forbid Musa to pursue a career in music. Musa however, was able to keep contact with their grandparents in Melody. they were always distracted with school, or helping out their dad in the shop. But they were in a relationship with Darcy, at least until she became closer with her coven sisters. Musa is the Fairy of Sound

Tecna "Tec" Cryos

18 - Dezember 16th 1985 agender, panromantic and asexual (they/them) child of Magnethia and Electronio Cryos - both from Zenith. Older sibling of Neo Cryos. They are very distant with each other. was always very focused on studying and never made any close friends. Tec is the Fairy of Technomagic

Crown Princess Aisha Waters of Niobe, from Andros

18 - June 15th 1986 cis, lesbian (she/her) daughter of King Teredor and Queen Niobe of Andros. Younger sister of Princess Politea, who was the Nymph of Andros, but unfortunately died when Domino was cursed. Since then Aisha's parents are very strict and overprotective. she grew up very secluded, as her parents were scared over losing their second daughter. Growing up in the castle she had one friend - Anne, who also was her first crush. Through her Aisha found her hobby in dancing and sneaking out of the castle. Aisha however, hasn't seen Anne in years - since her parents caught them sneaking out of the castle. she will go to Alfea under a fake name - Layla Aisha is the Fairy of Morphix

Ísey "Icy" Skadis

20 - Dezember 5th 1983 cis, lesbian (she/her) both of her parents died when Ísheim was destroyed. Her older sister Sefira had to take care of her ever since. They were taken in by a woman in Eraklyon, who was very kind to them and taught both of them basic magic. when she grew up in Eraklyon she never thought of making friends as important, rather being focused on learning magic. Only when she came to Cloud Tower, met Darcy and Stormy and the three of them became a coven, she saw a point in becoming friends with someone. Icy is the Witch of Frost

Darclila "Darcy" of Griffin Aster

19 - October 5th 1984 cis, bisexual (she/her) daughter of Griffin from Callisto, younger sister of Darko. They don't know their father and their mother doesn't talk about him. she had some friends growing up, but only got closer with Musa, who she also got in a relationship with. They however broke it off when Darcy preferred spending time with her coven sisters over Musa. About one year later Darcy got in a relationship with Riven and they are still together. Darcy is the Witch of Illusions

Storm "Stormy" Donna-Wind

20 - April 5th 1984 doesn't care about labels but would put herself as nonbinary, aromantic and asexual (she/they) daughter of Lady Donna and Lord Bruce, both from Serenia and divorced. Stormy and her mother are estranged and she doesn't have a lot of contact with her dad. was homeschooled and didn't care about gaining friends, until she met Icy and Darcy. Stormy is the Witch of Storms

Riven of Arcadia

19 - October 15th 1984 cis, bisexual with preference for women (he/him) grew up in the orphanage of Magix City. His mother, the Dark Witch Mandragora, is form Arcadia. His father is from Melody, but he doesn't know him. he has some friends in Magix City but he's not too close with anyone, besides his girlfriend Darcy. Riven has void magic, which means the magic of others doesn't work on him at all, he will be a Paladin

Brandon Masonz

19 - September 23rd 1984 cis, bisexual (he/him) son of Sir Mason and Esme, both from Eraklyon and happily married. Older brother of the twins Jacky and Rayna, as well as baby-sister Fran. Very close with his sisters. He and his family consider Sky as his younger brother. As Brandon started being the Prince's squire from a young age, he grew up in the castle and quickly became Sky's best friend. They need to pose as each other, in order to keep Sky save from assassinations. Thus Brandon is an excellent fighter with swords. He got into a relationship with Stella about half a year ago. Brandon has metal magic, he will be a Paladin

Crown Prince Skylan "Sky" Erendorz Jörd

19 - March 20th 1985 cis, straight-romantic and asexual (he/him) son of Emperor Erendor and the Empress Consort, Nymph Samara - both from Eraklyon. Both are very commanding and distant. Younger half brother of Prince Thoren, who he is close with. But he's closer even with Brandon's family, since Thoren prefers to spend the least time possible in the castle. as long as he can remember Brandon is his best friend. But so are Stella and Diaspro. Sky has gravity magic, he will be a Paladin

Timothy "Timmy" Aella-Wind

20 - Feburary 15th 1984 agender, sraightromantic and greyasexual (they/them) son of Aella from Serenia and Bernard Cache from Zenith. Very distant with their dad, but close with their mom. Younger brother of Kelvin, who they get mocked by. they always had troubles when it came to finding friends and preferred working on their projects or helping out at their parent's lightning-farm. Timmy has electricity magic, he will be a Paladin

Helia and

Krystal de Rachel Lavandula 

Helia: 20 - September 2nd 1983 Krystal: 17 - March 19th 1987 Helia is transgender ftm, straight-romantic and demisexual (he/him) Krystal is cis, panromantic and demisexual (she/her) children of Queen Rachel from Linphea and different fathers. Grandkids of Saladin. They are very tight-knit with Saladin, but Rachel had to give up her family in order to become the Nymph of Linphea. Helia and Krystal live in Magix City with Saladin. Helia was always more focused on his art than being interested in finding friends. He was always very popular anyway, just didn't care about it enough. Krystal on the other hand traveled a lot to royal balls, even though she couldn't be too close to her mom anyway. She became close friends with Princess Galatea of Melody and soon started to spent a lot of time with her. Helia has blood magic, he will be a Wizard Krystal is the Fairy of Sand

Lord Nabu, Waters of Uma

21 - January 30th 1983 cis, bisexual with a preference for men (he/him) son of Duke Ophir from Andros and Uma, the Nymph of Serenia. Twin brother of Anemone "Anne". He is very close with his mother and sister, but doesn't get to see his father a lot. he's been homeschooled and after that focused on mastering Arcane Magic, thus never caring about making friends. He had some acquaintances, just no one he's keeping in touch with. Nabu has thermal magic, he will be a Wizard

Roxy and

Selina Morgan

Roxy: 17 - September 22nd 1986 Selina: 18 - Dezember 21st 1985 they were both Terrestrial Fairies, thus born genderless - Roxy doesn't care about genders or labeling themselves, they just say - none, aromantic and asexual (they/them) Selina associates as female, lesbian (she/her) they grew up under the care of Eldora and Klaus Morgan. A very tight-knit and loving family. Roxy has always had one best friend - Macy. Selina saw Bloom as her best friend, until she realized she was having a crush on them, when they began dating Andy. When she confessed they got into a fight after which Selina started to hang out with Roxy and Macy. Both Roxy and Selina are terrestrial witches, but they don't know about that yet and thus haven't decided on their sources

Macy Lilo

16 - March 20th 1987 cis, bi-romantic and asexual (she/her) daughter of Fred and Ariana Lilo, both from Italy. Her mother died when she was born, but she is very close with her father. she became best friends with Roxy when they were young. Macy is the first human born with the ability to practice magic - She has elemental magic, but doesn't know that yet she will be a Wizard

Princess Diaspro Wyatts Eraklyon

20 - Dezember 30th 1983 cis, lesbian (she/her) daughter of King Wyatt from Eraklyon and Queen Consort Iris, who came from Solaria. She is quiet close with her mother. she was homeschooled and spent a lot of time at Jörd's main palace, where she became friends with Sky. At royal events she spends most of her time with Stella. When she got into Alfea, she focused very much on her studies, but also became friends with one of her room mates - Anne. They dated for a bit until they came to the conclusion they'd be better friends. Diaspro is the Fairy of Crystals

Mirta, Flame of Brenda

17 - October 31st 1986 cis, lesbian (she/her) comes from a long line of witches from Domino. Of her family only her Grandmother Maia escaped. She had saved Mirta's live and moved to Magix City. They are very tight-knit. growing up in Magix City Mitra always had one friend - Lucy. Mirta has emotion magic, she will be a Fairy

Lucy Ray

18 - June 24th 1986 transgender mtf, lesbian (she/her) daughter of Sibylla, who is half arcadian, half solarian and Grey, who is half solarian, half zenithian. Very tight-knit family, who moved to Magix City when Sibylla became a teacher at Red Fountain. After moving to Magix City Lucy was able to gain a close friend in Mirta. She always wanted to be popular, but never quite got there. Lucy is the Witch of Nightmares

Princess Yùnyáng "Galatea" Lian-Shi Yijun

16 - September 30th 1987 nonbinary, pansexual (she/they) Galatea is her stage name, but she generally prefers it. she's the seventh of nine sisters and not too close with any of them, since she got popular with her music from a young age. she met Krystal at a royal ball, they have been best friends and hanging out almost everyday together ever since. Galatea is the Fairy of Melodies

Lady Nova Elaine-Ray

17 - June 23rd 1987 cis, bisexual (she/her) daughter of Duchess Elaine from Solaria and Aiden, who is half dominian, half callistian. Younger sister of Amaryl. Very close family, even though she and her sister are fighting most of the time. growing up Nova spent a lot of time in the Solarian palace, due to her needing lots of medical attention and the best sun-healers being there. Over time she became best friends with Stella. Nova is the Fairy of Warming Lights

Lady Chimera Cassandra-Ray

14 - June 22nd 1990 cis, straight (she/her) she grew up very sheltered due to her mom, who she is not very close with but gets controlled by. she's a student of Beta Academy for future Fairies and Witches, where she met her two best friends. Chimera has meteor magic, she will be a Fairy

[pinkyjulien]

I really, really hate the "Female V is canon" vs "Male V is canon" debate that been popping here and here in the tags those past weeks

Cyberpunk 2077 is a Role Playing Game, there is no "canon" protagonist, that's the whole point. We all have a different playstyles, different stories and headcanons, our custom V is The Canon V of Our Own playthroughs!

After Phantom Liberty dropped, I've seen a lot of players, on Tumblr or Twitter, voicing their concerne and disappointment in how much more Female V focused the official promo, videos and even in-game credits became

I was one of them too, expressing my feelings multiple times, sometimes awkwardly, frustrated that Male V players were once again brushed to the side, because that's how it feels like, right?

Well, it might feels like it, but this isn't the case AT ALL, far from it. This is only what I would call a "Fandom Phenomenon" and I want to talk more about it a bit

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine who works in the game industry and it opened my eyes on the matter, and I've since been really interested in seeing RPGs statistics!

Because it's really, really important to make the difference between the Casual Player Base (majority of players) and the Fans / Fandom Base (minority of players)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I always been lurking in fandoms here on Tumblr, since Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and now with Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3

First I want to drop some stats- might be completly wrong, but I'm only sharing my point of view here, in an attempt to explain why some people are frustrated with Female V being the focus (and why we shouldn't be!)

I think it's not wrong to say that fandoms are mostly occupied by women and fem-identifying individuals; fandoms are a safe place for players and fans to share their passions. Women are STILL HEAVILY harassed and hated in the gaming industry as a whole, it doesn't take a lot of digging to catch a vile comment on Twitter or on Twitch for example, you cannot go far without seeing someone either attacking or sexualizing them

This is a huge problem in the industry still, every games that release with a female protagonist get trashed- just look at the bullshit surrounding GTA 6 just because players will be able to play as a woman as an option

Fandoms are also safe for non-gender conforming people, non-binaries, trans people and queer men, but I think fem individuals and women are a clear majority, at least on Tumblr (only talking about genders identity here and not about being queer or not, not talking about sexualities or attraction) (not an official stat at all and only my point of view and experience from being on Tumblr since ~2012)

Now let's talk about Cyberpunk 2077- because this is my main fandom since 2020, and what prompted me to write this post in the first place

CDPR didn't share any stats recently, but it's REALLY SAFE to assume the MAJORITY of players are playing a straight Male V romancing Panam, followed by a lesbian Female V romancing Judy, but the player pools for both options are still majoritarly cis hetero men (and they are still the focus for AAA studios to sell their games, this is sadly just how it is)

However on the fandom side, Fem V was always the focus; virtual photography, mods, ships, OCs... She was always more popular than Male V, getting more interactions and notes and why trends like "Male V monday" were created and why there is still a lack of male V focused mods (non-binaries and trans fem folks and characters are also sadly under-represented in all type of content and art)

So, being yourself as a non-fem player, playing as a Masc V, seeing CDPR officially make the switch from Male V to Female V, when the space you've been in for the past 3 years has been overwhelmingly Female V focused on all front, was a bit of a punch in the guts; like I said earlier, I was reaaally frustrated with this too!

And I'd say it's "normal"? or at least "ok" to feel this way, it makes sense considering how little attention Male V in general get in the fans community

BUT. BUT... It's REALLY important here to realize how we sound and how we look like when we voice our frustrations on the matter; we sound and look just like all the misogynistic people over on Twitter who screams about "woke games" everytime there is a female protagonist in their "non political games". We have to remember that fandoms are suuuch a small part of the game industry

Baldur's Gate 3 recently shared their stats and this interesting tweet got into my dash

▶ tweet

Astarion is nowhere to be seen in the official most romanced companions statistic, but I'm sure a lot of people will agree that he's probably the most popular one in the fandom side!

Another stat here from Mass Effect and really interesting info coming from David Gaider about how the hardcore fanbase aka fandom's choices were WILDLY different from the casual / main player pool

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Getting my head out of the fandom bubbles and seeing the bigger picture, how much under-represented women still are in official medias (not talking about fan content) and how insanly misoginistic the game industry still is, both on the player and devs sides, helped me handle my own frustration on the matter, accept and even celebrate Female V being the focus for the Phantom Liberty campaign

With all that said tho, we all should be able to vent about the lack of Male, Masc and Non-Binary content in the fandom side, while still being aware of the industry state, it CAN co-exist! It doesn't make anyone a bad or misogynist person!

We are all humans and can be awkward and make mistakes, especially when voicing frustration or talking while in a negative mood. Let's educate one another in good-faithed manners when we slip instead of jumping to conclusion and throw accusations

Not gonna lie I kind of lost my train of thoughts and not sure how to finish this post, but I hope this can enlight some people on why CDPR made this choice!

Repeating this as a finale note; this doesn't mean that Female V is the "main" V or "canon" V . It's simply her time to shine, and it's well deserved! The industry needs it

[nidstiniens]

dao takes so long to play and I just want to move on to da2 and dai 😭

[ymbrynae]

Will Taash be the first gender fluid/nonbinary companion in Dragon Age The Veilguard?

Taash voice actor is Jin Maley (they/them), who identifies as non binary person. It's true that nonbinary people can play cis characters, but currently the industry is trying to cast roles with actors who will match the character (like ethnicity or gender identification).

In story "Luck in the Garden" by Sylvia Feketekuty, the main character talks about themselves from a first-person perspective.

They don't give their name, but it is known that they are the Lord of Fortune, they paint their face (which would explain how they could hide Qunari's gray skin) and and it is implied that they are gender fluid. Companion characters like Emmrich, Neve and Lucanis appeared in the other stories from Tevinter Nights, so it would make sense if another companion showed up as well

Taash was written by Trick Weekes, who is nonbinary themselves!

Also Veilguard is the first dragon age that will allow nonbinary or trans gender identification for the player character, so why wouldn't one of the companions be nonbinary as well?

It would be very cool if this theory turned out to be true. The representation of trans people in Dragon Age hasn't been great, and I hope that if Taash turns out to be cis, we'll get another character who can fill that gap.

Thank you for reading ❤️

[spritesitrus]

The Koopalings. Uh. Describe them. What are their exact personalities and dynamics? (In your AU?)

You just activated my trap card of never getting me to shut up

I'll also go ahead and just add their bios here

Ludwig

Name: Ludwig Von Koopa Age: 27 Height: 5’9 Species: Dragon Koopa Gender: Cis Male (He/Him) Orientation: Gay

A very proud and egotistical individual. He likes to be very dramatic and is a huge show-off.

A perfectionist to an unhealthy degree. He's very cautious and doesn't let himself relax and he can get really cranky because of this (though he's always cranky).

Extremely cunning within social situations, knowing how to navigate through them to further meet his goals and get what he wants.

He's not one to ever get emotional or talk about feelings and needs to be literally dying before he'll open up but he's getting better at doing this now.

Lemmy

Name: Lemmy Koopa Age: 26 Height: 4’8 Species: Dragon Koopa/Koopa Troopa Gender: Trans Male (He/Him) Orientation: Straight

He's much more friendlier than his siblings and more willing to hear people out to not fight if the situation calls for it.

Likes to be goofy and joke around to cheer people up and good at making people feel comfortable around him.

He's more likely to put others above himself and forgets to care about his well-being at times.

Becomes quite scary whenever he gets serious. It gets people get kind of whiplashed since he's always so cheerful.

Morton

Name: Morton Koopa Jr. Age: 25 Height: 6’1 Species: Dragon Koopa Gender: Cis Male (He/Him) Orientation: Ace

Quite grumpy and likes having his space to himself.

He is very prideful in his strength and becomes very confident whenever he's up against his enemies. 

Very reasonable and a patient person. It takes quite a lot to actually get him truly upset with you. Though he's not someone who sugarcoats things and will tell you like it is when you need to hear it (even if the person doesn't like what he says).

He usually doesn't talk much if he doesn't have to but if you mention something he has an interest in, he almost becomes like a different person.

Roy

Name: Roy Koopa Age: 25 Height: 6’1 Species: Dragon Koopa Gender: Cis Male (He/Him) Orientation: Gay

Boisterous and confident. He knows he's the coolest guy in the room and not much can bring him down

He's very impulsive when making decisions and will usually act first, then think later. 

He's more cunning than he looks and is really good at bluffing his way through things. Can get away with a lot of things due to his natural charm.

He's actually someone who can be moved to tears very easily. He's still going to try to act cool, but he'll just be crying while doing so.

Iggy

Name: Iggy Koopa Age: 22 Height: 6’5 Species: Dragon Koopa Gender: Agender (any pronouns) Orientation: Ace

Wacky and very laidback.

He likes joking with people and provoking them a lot which gets him into big trouble if he's not careful. He could just be a complete bastard at times.

Sometimes he's off putting because of these traits/his appearance and plays it up just to see what happens but he's actually pretty chill once you get to know him.

He's actually very observant in people's mannerisms, it does not mean he can navigate a conversation.

Wendy

Name: Wendy Olivia Koopa Age: 18 Height: 5’6 Species: Dragon Koopa/Magikoopa Gender: Cis Female (she/her) Orientation: Bi

While she seems intimidating, she's actually much nicer than she seems and has a very big heart.

She's quite easy to anger and can become pretty huffy when she's upset.

She's not one to back down quietly and is blunt with her words. She always has a comeback for everything.

Very upfront and honest about how she feels and doesn't like to beat around the bush when trying to get the message across.

Larry

Name: Larry Koopa Age: 16 Height: 5’9 Species: Dragon Koopa Gender: Nonbinary (He/They) Orientation: Pan

Chiller than the rest of the gang and has since accepted that he's the "normal one" out of his siblings.

He puts on a lot of bravado and acts pretty cocky but is actually much nicer when he's off the clock.

Prone to be sensitive at times and cries easily, which he hates.

Has become quite rebellious as he's grown up (normal teenager behavior).

And more stuff about them (this is like a short summary of my story for them which gets pretty long)

This story basically leads up to a comic I've been trying to write for literal years based off of the New Super Mario Bros Wii game, anyways on to rambling...

The Koopalings relationship to Bowser while growing up was that they were his students and only saw him as their boss. Even if he was like their guardian, they all knew their relationship didn't actually extend to them being like his children. So when Jr had come along, it was something they were all prepared for.

Before joining the Koopa Troop, each of them had a rough childhood one way or another and by chance had met Bowser who helped them. Because of this, it made each of them want to learn under Bowser to become strong like him and he couldn't get rid of them(in truth, Bowser's too much of a softie to anyways) so he decided to take them in as his students.

When the Koops were all officially teamed up, at first they all had troubles to what to refer to each other since associates was way too formal but they wouldn't exactly call themselves friends either(at the time). Bowser concludes that since they're all forced to stick together, they should just refer to each other as siblings which they all settle since it fit the most.

Around when Jr started wanting to cause trouble like his dad (and when Ludwig was 18), Bowser decides it's time to focus on training Jr and decides to let Ludwig to be in charge taking care the rest of the Koopalings and they weren't brought along his schemes related to Mario for a while.

It's not like Ludwig didn't want to but he already had all of his responsibilities of being a General and becoming a second dad for everyone else wasn't really something he was prepared for. He literally fought Bowser because of this and it really made things turn bitter between the two. In the end, Ludwig takes charge of everyone but declares he won't ever turn to Bowser for help for anything and he'll take better care of everyone than he ever did.

The bitterness of feeling like they were being thrown away begins to sort of make its way through the Koopalings even if they didn't want to admit it. Other than everyone else beginning to have less time to spend with each other due to their work, this later down the line causes everyone's relationship to become strained with one another as well.

This all comes to a head four years later, when bunch of other problems that were building up basically all happen at once where it ends with Lemmy and Iggy almost losing their lives and it basically splits Koopalings up in half.

Ludwig, kind of having burnt lot of bridges between his family, can only turn to Kamek for help. Kamek then has had enough and chastises Bowser for how he handled things with the Koopalings. Bowser-unsure what to do now that he's realizing that maybe his decisions were pretty bad in the long run-then decides that the best way to solve this problem is to bring everyone back on a kidnapping scheme like the good ol days. (yeah great idea dude...) ((and this is also the part of the story that takes place of the events in NSMBW))

So this is the first time the Koopalings finally come back in a super long time and Mario and the others kind of realize something isn't exactly right between everyone and basically Lemmy has to be the one to ask him to save their family.

So it's took a miracle for it to happen but basically while fighting Mario, Bowser finally has to come to terms that he really screwed up and has to make it up to the Koopalings and Jr for the choices he's made.

Thanks to Mario's help, everyone is able to reconcile in the end. At the end, Bowser finally has the long needed conversation with everyone apologizing for how he treated them and that he'll do better to look out for everyone from now on. He also lets them know that deciding to take them all in and raising them was the best decision he's made in his life and things finally start looking up for the family again.

A few months later, Bowser officially recognizes the Koops into the royal family, and has a coronation to officially adopt the seven of them into the family. Jr. is still the heir tho which is definitely fine with everyone.

Sorry if this got like way too long, this is like the bare minimum of my story not including all the other turmoil the Koops go through. And since I've yet to finish fully fleshing out everything, this is like a rough summary of what I planned, and its ofc prone to change in the future...

anyways thanks tho if you read all of this <3 qwq

[saturnselkies]

Thanks for the tag @i-mybrunettelady!!!😊 I did it for both my commander and wayfinder & if you're reading this and want to do it, you're tagged (and please tag me in your post! So I can read).

-- B A S I C S

name: Penelope Starbinder (formerly Ry). age: 34. She was born on November 1 (Season of the Colossus/Scorpio. I picture her with an Aquarius moon and an Aries rising!). race: She had two mothers, one is Canthan and the other was a Mist Being with draconic blood. gender: NB femme (she/her). orientation: Lesbian. profession: Holosmith and Commander/Champion of Aurene.

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: Currently a copper orange. eyes: Right now her eyes have a purple and yellow hue which is impossible in-game, but that's the kind of shade. skin: Tanned. tattoos/scars: She has a tattoo on the base of her neck, it's supposed to represent her title of Starbinder. I haven't designed it yet because I haven't had the opportunity to draw her back AJKFJSF but yeah. Scars: one on her left breast/shoulder from when Bangar shot her.

-- F A M I L Y

parents: Mimi Ry (deceased) and Nvaa (deceased). siblings: Her twin sister Deanna Starlighter (formerly Ry). grandparents: Unknown. Her human mother had no family of note. in laws and others: Jormag - not officially married, but… honestly they have 6 children together so. It makes the Elder Dragons family ig. LMFAOOO. pets: Starry shiba inu.

-- S K I L L S

abilities: Proficient in engineering and holosmith skills; on the same level of Canthan engineering. She would be classified as a genius (she just doesn't use it like asura do, so it's never really commercialized). Great eye for strategy and making small talk with just about anyone. Good at solving things quickly and has a stellar sense of direction. She can't cook good food or sew or anything like that; that's Jormag's thing lol. She doesn't have a hobby or other skills that aren't related to being a commander and she should rethink that. The burnout is real.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: Easygoing, extremely loyal, dependable. most negative trait: Martyrdom, impulsiveness, speaks without thinking at times.

-- L I K E S

colors: Purple, gold, cyan. smells: Lavender, coconut, beach. textures: Soft fur/hair, warm skin, weighted blanket. drinks: Energy drinks, cocktails, fizzy soda.

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: Not usually, but she has. drinks: Yes. drugs: Nope. been arrested: Well yes, canonically so. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- B A S I C S

name: Badri the Starstorm (alter ego: The Starfall Ego). age: Unknown, but definitely over 150. race: Unknown. gender: Cis lady (she/her). orientation: Lesbian. profession: Wizard and Wayfinder. Chronomancer. (Alter ego: crazily powerful elemental cosmic magic).

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: Mousy blonde, very soft and shiny. (Alter ego: very light lavender/iridescent). eyes: Pale with a golden sparkle. skin: Pale purple-blue. tattoos/scars: None.

-- F A M I L Y

parents: Unknown. siblings: Unknown. grandparents: Unknown. in laws and others: Isgarren is her father figure and Peitha is her toxic yuri. Isak and her share a pretty strong sibling bond even if they are not related at all. pets: Her moth skyscale, Belle, is very much like a cat to her.

-- S K I L L S

abilities: Learned chronomancy from her teacher Basira & her skills are pretty good. She learns any kind of magic pretty easily and with efficiency. She can cook, sew, dance, play instruments, sing, and many other stuff. She's like a swiss army knife of skills. She devoted most of her time to hobbies and reading because she wasn't allowed outside the tower.

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: Cheerful, tooth-rotting sweet and attentive, caring. most negative trait: Selfish, passive-aggressive, sheltered.

-- L I K E S

colors: Jade, lipstick, periwinkle. smells: Strawberry cake, peppermint, scented candles. textures: Velvet, encrusted gems, embroidery. drinks: Green tea, cocoa with chunky marshmallows, smoothies.

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: Nope. drinks: Nope. drugs: Nope. been arrested: Nope.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

All the reviews I try to watch (without spoilers) all come down to people saying ‘oh they have to say this’ on positive ones and then complaining about ‘not being how Dragon Age is’ on negative ones in the comments (and I know I know, don’t read the comments but… yeah.) and it’s… frustrating.

Dragon Age has always been an evolving franchise that has vastly moved away from its ‘Baldur’s Gate Successor’ state.

I never liked DAO combat, but then I’m a story person. I want a good story that’s intriguing and fun to play, which I hear is what is happening so far. That’s one thing even a die hard combat fan reviewer said is good. The story was interesting so far. And I’m excited for it. I want a good story. I want to have fun with the game. But even then, my brothers who both enjoy combat, call Origins mid. It’s not a great combat system for them and they find it kind of annoying that’s there’s so much that just doesn’t matter.

How many people actually use the poisons and the traps in game? How many of the specializations are that useful? Not many. And acting like Origins was flawless and ‘all the games should have been like it’ is just a bunch of elitists who can’t get over the fact the games rapidly change and grow over time. The franchise has always been a very fluid one. Inquisition wasn’t like Origins at all and half the diehards who complain about nothing being like Origins hated it despite Inquisition being one of the best selling BioWare games.

Then the comments on ‘what’s the play length’ are just as frustrating. Game play length is one of those things that honestly are hard to gauge anyway! ‘It has over hundreds of hours’ can be said about so many games. But how many are actually enjoyable hours?

I’m sick of open world bullshit where it’s the same 50 fetch quests in an area. I want to run around, have fun in a linear mission sense and have fun. This is my prefered game. Even the OG Mass Effect was more mission focused even if you could fuck off to run around planets for a while. If you focused only on the mission, I legit will say it took me three days to beat the first Mass Effect. And that is counting sleeping, eating and tedious tasks like a social life. I like those games where there is a mission and some side quests. I don’t want to have to run around a giant area full of nothing again.

Inquisition sucked in that regard. How many of us actually bothered with going to the Hissing Wastes more then once or bothered with the Shards more then a couple times? Fucking few I know.

So I’m excited about it being linear. I’m excited about seeing the combat. I’m excited about the story.

Everyone complaining lashes out about the combat, the art style and it being woke. But Dragon Age art style has always been fucking weird (let’s be real) and the combat has always been something to complain about.

And then the people going ‘oh you can just change names and it’s not Dragon Age’ you can do the same thing with Baldur’s Gate 3. Change the setting, edit a few D&D things and boom- same game. Same with Skyrim. Same with Call of Duty. Same with ANY game.

Also NGL- it’s telling a lot of the people I see do the most complaining are cis heterosexual white dudes. I legit have seen a couple ‘I’m not to sure’ comments from women but nothing to the level I see from the dudes.

Just putting it out there.