#so look out for queer people and poc!!

[vangbelsing]

Ever since Veilguard was announced, there's been an absolute tidal wave of hate ranging from vitriol for the art style, gameplay changes and overall feel/aesthetic of the game, to outright racism, homophobia and transphobia, as well as attacks on the devs and fans trying to enjoy the game. So I want to just put this out there.

It is valid to:

Not enjoy the art style, as no one should dictate what your aesthetic preference is

Prefer the systems/gameplay of previous DA games

Prefer to wait until the game is out before you buy into the hype

Distrust EA/Bioware due to its past and its current actions/situation

Criticize what you dislike about the game in your own posts

Simply decide that this game isn't for you

I encourage you to:

Speak out against the mass layoffs and often inhumane practices by EA and to elevate the voices of those impacted by them

Speak out against and bring attention to the problematic or harmful things EA/Bioware has/will engage(d) in, do, say, etc, willingly or unknowingly, in the future

Criticize EA, Bioware, the devs/team and Dragon Age itself about the things on which they can improve, as it is not too much to ask for someone/something to do better

Spread awareness of what EA/Bioware have done, what they are doing, and what they do in the future. Let people know the history of these companies so they can make informed decisions and to improve the working conditions for the teams at these studios

What you shouldn't do:

Attack or harass people who are excited for and showing support for the game.

Comment under the posts of fans or official trailers/interviews with the sole intention of hating on the game to ruin the excitement or fun for others. If you don't like it, don't interact with it.

Spread misinformation about the game in an attempt to negatively impact it

What is absolutely unacceptable:

Being a hateful fucking bigot

To all the hateful fucking bigots out there:

I keep seeing a repeat of comments like: "this isn't my Dragon Age!" "Dragon Age is too gay!" "Dragon Age has too many black/Asian, literally any person who isn't a cishet white male or a conventionally attractive straight white woman!" And you know what? You're absolutely correct! Dragon Age is gay! Dragon Age is a space where people of all colors, races, cultures, ethnicities, identities, sexualities, orientations, and all walks of life exist, both in world and in its fan base!

And as for this being "not your Dragon Age", again, you are absolutely correct! This isn't your Dragon Age, because Dragon Age isn't for you. It never has been, and it certainly isn't now. The co-creator is a gay man, the devs have always included queer people and poc, and despite its many flaws and the numerous ways in which it has let down the people belonging to those groups, it is still a space for them, which are created in part by people like them.

Dragon Age will always be inclusive, as it has been from the very first game that you love acting like you care about so much. There are gay, lesbian, bi, pan, trans, black, Asian, and all other kinds of people both in and behind these games! If you can't handle that, then fine! We don't want you anyway!

To the people who actually care about this series and who want this game and team to succeed:

I encourage all of you to let your voices be heard by the devs. Tell them exactly how you feel! Let them know what landed, what made you feel seen, what resonates, what you think needs work, where they stepped out of line; all of it! More than anything, there are real people behind this game, and they've poured years of their hearts, souls, time and talent into this piece, and it seems a lot of them genuinely care for their fans and this game and want to deliver the best game they can to us! And those people matter! They deserve a fair chance to see their work pay off without having to be negatively impacted by people who just want to spread hate and see others fail.

No one is above criticism, no matter how good their intention of how pure their desires are, so when they misstep, speak out! But while we should be sure to let the devs know how much this game means to us and how much what they do matters, let's also push for the fair treatment of everyone who was unfairly laid off or mistreated by EA/Bioware and who are still fighting for their due compensation for their hard work. Let's advocate for them in the months leading up to DA:TVs launch and the months after. And let the devs know how important it is to have those people's names in the credits!!!

And most importantly... Please be kind to and look out for one another!! There's so much going on in the world right now, and there is so much hatred being spread against minority groups, and we need to be compassionate to each other! Let's allow the game to be a thing that brings us together and gives us something to escape into and enjoy!

In closing:

Hate the game or love it, if you are transphobic, racist, homophobic, antisemitic, misogynistic, or any other kind of prejudiced bigot, THIS GAME IS NO PLACE FOR YOU!! NEVER WAS, NEVER WILL BE!!!!

Thanks for your time! Fuck TERFs and racists and all the other bigots!

[saturnniidae]

I miss being younger and believing the queer community was actually a safe space

[starlooove]

“There is no fanfic on Stephs treatment I have checked” that’s like the whole point.

[martyrbat]

blocking so many people tonight because how the hell do you post this without an ounce of self shame? 'there are people out there who are just as scared as you are' are you including the people your candidate has funded a genocide against? are you including the people Israel targets and opresses with the US regularly funding its crimes against humanity? the people who cant just go have a snack and talk to their friends because they watch their friends be murdered and theyre facing starvation? are you including the people you called the genocide of as a necessary sacrifice and something thats a 'lesser evil'? do you take into account their fear and trauma for a year of nonstop bombings, drones, missiles, shootings, invasions, etc?

'the world is going to be tense' its already fucking tense, you people just dont give a shit about anyone that isnt white or cant play into your ultimate victim complex to excuse your eager participation in genocide. you cant call for people to just 'survive' when you helped put a heavy asterisk next to who exactly expected to stay living if your war criminal wins.

[GO DONATE TO DOCTOR MOATH]

[badolmen]

“I don’t know why the op said this happened yesterday when this news is four months old”

This may shock you but it’s an election year in the US and even “the lesser evil” utilizes propaganda.

[ratcowboy69]

we need more movies that are shitty in a fun iconic way and less movies that are shitty in a “these people had a lot of money to make awesome special effects but somehow failed to make an actual plot” way

[intramoon]

.

[crunchycrystals]

i follow pjo tags that im usually fine seeing on my dash and i keep seeing people posting about some Discourse thats popped up again since the comic con card photo things came out about leah and like. i guess i curated my dash well because im seeing literally none of that

[laesas]

Seeing someone's awful, self-righteous, bad faith, rage bait take and realising that you already have them blocked for their other dogshit opinions 👌👌👌

[spid3r-trans]

does anyone have a spiderverse discord that’s not full of evil people

[foxgirlmoth]

My alarms were ringing while watching *that* Amy Cuddy video during a class today and I gotta say I might be fully right thinking that. Quick searches show she was taking a stance with someone claiming being trans is harmful (not surprising when a chunk of the talk is saying that Testosterone makes you aggressive/more forward, a major talking point people try to use against trans women and poc and also calling it the dominant hormone) and also someone mimicked her experiment with a lot more people and it seems that power poses didn't do anything. It also seemed like she was trying to evoke some inspiration porn (while talking about IQ, another thing I'm always wary about) and made no mention of what helped her get through college and saying it was just power poses. Did you get help going through college??? You're still a white cishet woman like. I can 100% seeing you having no problems paying for school and not having to work during that education. People doing these kinds of things recognize that privilege exists please.

[phoenyx-rising]

Its bs like this that leads to inaction/ our politics going right. If you actually think this, please educate yourself on history and how politics in this country work, and stop spreading hopeless rhetoric. Some of us arent ready to surrender yet

screaming "we can push them Left!" when all the while they've been pushing you Right.

[theamazingannie]

Being mad at the people who have been influenced by the terrible stuff they’ve seen rather than be mad at the terrible stuff is honestly such a crazy way to live like how do people do that

[drtanner]

There's a very specific pattern of events that occurs with every new medium or platform. Every single one, without fail. It goes like this:

A new medium/platform arises.

Sex workers and pornographers, having been chased away from the platform/medium they were using previously, adopt the new medium/platform and become its pioneers.

The sex workers and pornographers popularise the new medium/platform. Lots of other people start to use it, too!

The owners of the medium/platform are making lots of money now. They decide that they don't need the sex workers and pornographers anymore.

The owners of the medium/platform make new rules that make sex work and pornography forbidden there. The sex workers and pornographers are chased away.

Once the pornographers and sex workers are gone, the medium/platform can market itself as respectable and becomes appealing to mainstream audiences. It becomes very popular.

The new people who have come to the medium/platform are painfully normal and very sheltered. In order to make the medium/platform more comfortable for themselves, they start to chase away other "undesireables" too, e.g., queer people, PoC, religious minorities, etc., etc..

The owners of the medium/platform allow this, if they aren't already actively encouraging it themselves, because they're making lots of money now and undesirables are broke.

Anyone who offends the delicate sensibilities of the medium/platform's main cohort of users is now being chased away, with the blessing of the medium/platform's owners.

Oh no. This is a Nazi bar now.

Meanwhile, having been chased away from the medium/platform, the sex workers and pornographers are looking for somewhere to go.

A new medium/platform arises.

Sex workers and pornographers, having been chased away from the medium/platform they were using previously, adopt the new medium/platform and become its pioneers.

Rinse, repeat.

This has been true for every medium/platform since the advent of fucking VHS, if not film itself or even earlier; indeed, many pioneer towns were built up around brothels that were later legislated out of existence when they weren't needed anymore. It's a betrayal that plays out again and again every time a new medium or platform comes up and grows popular enough to stand without the sex workers and pornographers who made it so.

For all of us who are currently searching desperately for a new medium or platform that won't eventually betray us in this way, good luck. 💜

[vtori73]

Did... did the straights forget we don't have anywhere near as much representation as them again? Like I get y'all are use to EVERYTHING catering to y'all's taste but seriously? Seriously? like yeah, nowadays you can find more, ESPECIALLY when it comes down to indie stuff... it's still NOTHING compared to how much cishet media is out there. Also did y'all forget when we DO get romance it tends to be double edged sword what with the whole "bury your gays" thing popping up often or gays just being side characters with little on screen romance thats often sanitized for homophobic mass appeal? Not to mention media rep varies VASTLY between queer person (ESPECIALLY bipoc who are often left out of romance, even when it comes down to HETERO relationships).

Like... sorry but our media is not created equal, if y'all are so annoyed with platonic love not being depicted enough why don't yall go beg/demand it from the majority of media out there that just feels like it HAS to shoehorn cishetero relationships into everything? Hmm?!

not to sound like a homophobic straight dude but I think yall should just let some characters be Friends not everything has to be about romance

[homoquartz]

hi!! if you would like to join me in being angry, please consider this new gem of journalism bestowed upon us peasants today:

(Article link is here)

In case you doubt it, yes, that is correct. Major studios will now assemble panels of racists, homophobes, transphobes, and misogynists to dictate how much us squirming pathetic little brown queers get to be represented on screen.

They were already doing this, but now they're comfortable saying it outright. As I have said before, THIS SHOULD ALARM YOU.

This post is long so the rest is below, backed up with data:

Disney is tacitly admitting that they canceled The Acolyte because they would rather alienate their marginalized fanbase than their rabid, genocidal straight white male one. And you can be damn sure this is also why the likes of Netflix and HBO Max are so comfortable discarding highly acclaimed queer shows like Warrior Nun, Our Flag Means Death, the Owl House, and Dead Boy Detectives.

The only shows about marginalized people allowed to go on are the ones that, against all odds, become hit successes (eg Heartstopper), at which point their earning potential outweighs their sin of being brown or gay. I want to emphasize that these shows must be breakout hits - shows that perform on par with straighter, whiter releases aren't given this grace.

These companies are going to obscure the reality of their actions by talking about profits and public image, but rest assured they would find a way to justify this even if the vast majority of viewers were brown and queer. Because it's about maintaining power. It's part of a nationwide surge against inclusion.

Do you remember the IGN article that just came out that revealed Disney's insistence that Riley be made to look "less gay" in Inside Out 2?

Do you remember the Autostraddle article which crunched the numbers to show that queer shows are cancelled more often and earlier than others?

How about GLAAD's breakdown of queer shows cancelled last year? Here's a snippet of the data:

❗️Both Autostraddle and GLAAD have found that 1 in 4 queer shows are axed. This is DOUBLE the rate for streaming shows overall, which is just at 12%.

Variety has a data breakdown here. What's interesting is that Netflix is actually pretty moderate with its cancellations, yet the majority of cancelled queer shows belong to Netflix.

I had a harder time finding data for shows featuring leads of color. If anyone has links, I'll add them here.

In conclusion:

They are banning our books. They are cancelling our shows. They are silencing our stories. You know why.

You can help in a few ways. One is to stream as many cancelled shows centering POC and/or queer people as you can. Another option is to cancel your streaming subscriptions and vote with your wallet (this is what I have done).

There's also a bunch of petitions for cancelled shows I strongly recommend signing. Pick a show and google it plus "petition" and it will turn up.

You can go to Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB and 5-star your chosen shows, as well as each episode.

You can message the streaming services on social media requesting renewal. Reaching out to influencers in spheres related to this topic, as well as media outlets, is also a good idea.

Finally and most importantly, talk to your friends and family. Ask them to do something. Ask them to tell people. The more people who stand against a hateful status quo, the less powerful it becomes.

I believe this can be turned around if we make enough noise. These streaming services should revive their queer shows, market them properly, and support them like any other show.

I sound silly now, but watch this space in two years.