ditch

it/they, arospec lesbian, autistic + ADHD, white • mostly Dragon Age, though I ramble about various other games and topics as well

[dykieran]

trying to get across that dragon age has a problem with lesbophobia sucks so much because you'll say "it kinda makes me uncomfortable that the two canon relationships between queer women in dao are explicitly abusive and predatory. also the game was absolutely made with men in mind and despite leliana being bisexual, she has a lot more romantic interactions/reactivity with a male character, and overall it just makes a kind of uncomfortable effect where it feels like the intention was Saving this poor abused women from her evil bitch ex with the power of your manly heroic ways" and people will just respond with "yay toxic yuri i loveeeee toxic yuri!!! also leliana is bisexual just romance her as a woman lmao" and completely ignore that you were talking about. like. the intention of the writers. and then you'll say "It sucks that sera is so mistreated by the game and ends up getting paired off with a side character she has no interactions with if you don't romance her" and they'll respond "that's just because she's unlikeable" and completely ignore that part of the reason she's so "unlikeable" is because a lot of people just genuinely do not like lesbians

[tired-fandom-ndn]

Sometimes "rarepair" means "you are literally the only person who posts about this on tumblr dot com" and you have to learn to be okay with that.

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[shouty-y]

Lesbian knights ⚔️ - Prints

[kvitravvn]

Enderal

by AnnaHelme

[xfreischutz]

lady daisy

[floralprintsharks]

[ID: a digital drawing of Merrill from Dragon Age 2 holding a bouquet of daisies. Her eyes are closed and she’s smiling as she holds the flowers up to the side of her face with both hands. Behind Merrill’s head is a sunburst, she’s surrounded by white symmetrical lines and constellations, wearing a green dress with a dark green cape draped over her shoulders. End ID]

[dalishious]

Lets be real though. It is a goddamn shame that the opportunity to really explore a) what it means to be a woman in Thedas and b) what it means specifically to be a woman who loves women in Thedas, is never really seized to its full potential. Like, the setup is there to easily talk about how women are idolized as a theoretical thing (Andraste) but treated like garbage in practice (pretty much every female character ever).

And the moment a female character becomes unavailable to a male player, either because she's a lesbian or "too mean" to them? They make the Straight Sera mod and Slap Morrigan mod, etc.

And then of course there is specifically the misogynoir over characters like Isabela and Vivienne and even minor characters like Teia I've seen some real bad behaviour from fans about... Let alone the treatment they get from the actual devs themselves, because that shit is like a disease the way creators and fans just pass it back and forth.

[asharaks]

lets address my favourite topic: dev bias in writing. "i don't like sera because she's annoying" the guy who wrote sera also wrote jacob taylor. can we take the marginalised romances away from this guy. he hates black people and he hates lesbians. there's a certain impulse in some of these devs to take...i guess schadenfreude?? in writing romances that "punish" the player - from gaider's "alistair is a manchild and terrible partner" to whatever weekes says about solas - there is something in particular in these devs' loathing for women (or people playing women) that makes them willing to weaponise unimaginable bigotry in punishment.

kristjanson writes a lesbian, and gives you absolutely no opportunity to extend her kindness or empathy: sera is marginalised across several dimensions, both in- and out of-of-universe, as an elf, as neurodivergent, as a lesbian, and her romance is marked by scenes you are intended to read as hysterical, irrational, unreasonable. your reward for being interested in a neurodivergent lesbian is getting shouted at, having a bow pointed at you, don't you regret this? and again, in mass effect - you romanced Black man and he leaves you without a word, he takes up with another woman and starts a family behind your back, what did you expect?

kristjanson's writing is so full of racist, homophobic, bigoted tropes that are levelled against the player and the romance in a way that feels like punishment, like he wants to make sure no-one (no woman) can have a joyful, fulfilling relationship with a marginalised person, like you don't deserve to be successful in these relationships without conditions. and i love a difficult, unconventional, even tragic romance in games, but in contrast to the treatment the other romances get it is notable to me that kristjanson singles out the lesbian and the Black man for treatment that not only punishes the characters involved but leans heavily on stereotypes particular to those groups.

if you are a woman, or playing a woman, devs feel all too comfortable belittling and insulting you for pursuing the romances they choose to make available in their games, to the point of self-sabotage, and that is a significant factor that needs to be taken into account in any analysis of how these storylines play out.

[sleepyrogues]

Pro hag, anti ai

[stonesense]

i just think marethari has a lot of nerve reacting so strongly to merrill bargaining with a demon when she herself has some kind of mysterious debt to flemeth we never hear more about that she was willing to move the whole clan to sundermount to fulfil in the first place. like let’s talk about YOUR pacts with strange and dangerous entities

[lesbianholyspirit]

I should draw more enderal porn. I was going to do more but then I got distracted. Curse of the adhd. The world needs more highly self indulgent enderal porn.

[nctinmotion]

Source: This

[brindlefern-deactivated20210619]

[xcziel]

[cellophanes-princess]

I really needed the last one

[dragon-age-tournament]

Ship Tournament — FINAL / Match 1 of 1

Isabela/Merrill

"It has everything: chemistry, contrast, disaster potential, and a surprising amount of softness. Merrill’s awkward sincerity bounces off Isabela’s confidence so well, and there’s something really compelling about a dynamic where one of them masks so much with bravado while the other wears her heart much more openly. They’re both outsiders in different ways, both judged, both underestimated, and I think there’s a lot there. Also, frankly, the idea of Isabela being charmed by Merrill’s oddness while Merrill is completely sincere about finding Isabela exciting and wonderful is just incredibly fun."

"Apart from the obvious, which is that they are very cute, I feel like Isabela is one of few characters that not only treats Merrill as a person, but also doesn't infantilise her. She seems to take her seriously, she always tries to help and protect her but she doesn't do it in a condescending or controlling way like most other characters do. Merrill also repeatedly states that she wants to be in on the dirty jokes and wants to know the context, which Isabela readily gives most of the time. On the other hand, while most characters constantly demean Isabela for how promiscuous she is, Merrill actually seems in awe of her confidence and knowledge of the world. They're a great combination of a character that's worldly but hurt and a character that's been sheltered and yearns to experience more."

"I love how Isabela calls Merrill kitten 🥺"

"bc Isabela calls Merrill Kitten 🥺 And Merrill seems so fascinated by Isabela, and Isabela is such a softy for Merrill. DA2 is full of friction which, don't get me wrong, is also great, but I just really love how sweet these two are with each other"

"Isabela calls her 'kitten' :3c"

"The constant 'kitten's are reason enough."

vs. Josephine/Leliana

"These two already canonically have a solid friendship and are both willing to navigate the Game. Leliana is already protective of Josie if the inquisitor romances her. I think there’s an interesting dynamic that could develop in Leliana thinking that she isn’t good enough for Josie with her hardened persona in inquisition but Josie helping to soften her again anyway. I also think scenes in both their romances with the warden/inky could work well with each other. Leliana having to be straightforward about her intentions to Josephine (much like the dialogue line the warden has about staying up to write in their diary instead of picking up on Leliana’s hints) and of course the duel scene with Josephine’s fiancée!"

"They were friends (or more?) when they were young in Val Royeux, and partying wildly. They're still friends (or more???) in the Inquisition, though older and different. There are so many different ways to think of it: did one have a crush when they were young? Are they exes who get back together? Josie brings the young hopeful woman back out in Leliana, and it's cute."

Which is the better ship?

Isabela/Merrill

Josephine/Leliana

Voting ended onJun 4

[beadyeyes]

The illusion of choice

[witchofanguish]

[mahead-ithurt]

Always remember that the EU did a study in 2013 about the effects of piracy on media publishers and found that there is no correlation between piracy and sales! (And then they tried to hide that study bc that's not the result they wanted)

So piracy is at worst not even a problem, and at best it's free advertisement.

Source: (the link to the actual study is in the article)

EU withheld a study that shows piracy doesn't hurt sales - Engadget

In 2013, the European Commission ordered a €360,000 ($430,000) study on how piracy affects sales of music, books, movies and games in the EU

[thewardenisonthecase]

and honestly the worst thing about the vg darkspawn is that. putting aside the whole 'darkspawn aren't people' thing because bioware has ignored that plot since awakening. its also the fact that like. darkspawn have always been portrayed as Intelligent. people may view them as not-people/creatures but people do know darkspawn dont fuck around. even before awakening, we already knew darkspawn could speak bc i remember there being a mention of darkspawn throwing orders to each other during battle in the calling + emissaries exist. they create weapons, they make armor, they know how to fight and in a way thats not just. flinging arms around but like Actual combat (dao darkspawn often have the same abilities that rogue/warrior/mage class has! hurlocks can knock you out with war cry, genlocks can do stealth etc.), they can create traps, and lead you to bad situations. they're even fucking able to pick up cailan and prop him up like a bad rendition of jesus christ. like. darkspawn are scary not just bc of their appearance or the fact that they can make you sick and die. they're scary because they're also really good combatents who have an upper hand where even if you kill them, they can take you out via infecting you with the blight. they are formidable warriors who dont have to worry about hunger or thrist or so many things that make life harder for people. they are super well organized warriors with a goal and are far more resistent then the average person. so veilguard not only doubling down on the "darkspawn aren't people" but then pulling a "darkspawn arent intelligent" is just. maybe ghil's darkspawn aren't intelligent but all of the other darkspawn in the games were

[angrysexyshortstack]

Cis people simply don’t understand that the entire harry potter franchise is basically a hate symbol these days