griffinsanddragons

[griffinsanddragons]

i do think the argument of "oh you're being EXTRA harsh on veilguard for being racist/misogynistic/etc! what about all that stuff in previous games??" is actually in very bad faith.

bc firstly: people have already talked about previous games at length. it is weird to expect old arguments to be rehashed when a new thing is available to discuss.

and secondly: yeah, i will actually hold veilguard to a higher standard! i don't think that's unreasonable at all. time is linear, and 10 years passed in between the last game! there have been so many highly public social movements since then, the entire world has changed. most people have had growth in their awareness of the world and how they understand history and politics in that time, just from being alive and reading the news occasionally. they SHOULD have improved! i was never expecting it to be showstoppingly good or like a masterpiece of writing, but... i think "not getting worse, and perhaps being 2% better" is a completely reasonable expectation.

but, it did not improve, and did actually get worse, unfortunately! i do not think it's reasonable for a game published in 2024 to have such a regressive, flat way of depicting women; their implications on the worldbuilding became incredibly similar to irl racist or antisemitic conspiracy theories, while the writers crowed about how they were so proud of ~giving the elves a win~; the portrayal of the qunari only got more flat and islamophobic, somehow; and the entire idea of "i can excuse being nb but i draw the line at being an immigrant" is so stupid that it sends me into space.

i think it's completely reasonable to expect better from Progressive Writers™️ in this modern era! this is a very low bar to exceed, and they still managed to dig under it, on such basic topics as "can women visibly age or be rude and still be major characters". previous games were managing to reach this standard, minor as it was! whether it's a failure of the writing itself, or corporate interference, it is completely valid to expect better.

[griffinsanddragons]

Wait. Not Tumblr alerting me of something I was tagged in 10 years ago.

[griffinsanddragons]

[griffinsanddragons]

I didn't wanna do this

but here goes

I'm very tired of being in this hole and though I know we're all passing the same 20$ around and that there are other folks who need it too or need it more, I am hoping against hope that someone has something to spare. If not, I get it, I just ask you pass the plate around (reblog)

Thank you 💜

P@yp@l: tknaber

C@sh@pp: tknaber

V3nmo: tknaber

Zelle: DM me

[griffinsanddragons]

Duality of Anders and Justice

[griffinsanddragons]

pet peeve is when a fellow hater conducts their haterism such that they leave the hater community vulnerable to attack. “i think characterizing Character A in x way is boring and annoying” = beautiful, flawless, unimpeachable haterism. no one can tell u that u aren’t allowed to find a certain characterization boring. “it is morally/objectively wrong to characterize Character A in x way” = sloppy, reactionary, overcommitting. you have left our eastern flank open to attack girl what the hell….now my dedicated hater troops are taking fire from YOUR enemies fuckkkkk

[griffinsanddragons]

pet peeve is when a fellow hater conducts their haterism such that they leave the hater community vulnerable to attack. “i think characterizing Character A in x way is boring and annoying” = beautiful, flawless, unimpeachable haterism. no one can tell u that u aren’t allowed to find a certain characterization boring. “it is morally/objectively wrong to characterize Character A in x way” = sloppy, reactionary, overcommitting. you have left our eastern flank open to attack girl what the hell….now my dedicated hater troops are taking fire from YOUR enemies fuckkkkk

[griffinsanddragons]

GALE + 'The Invitation' Armor from DATV 

[griffinsanddragons]

When you spend 20 years attempting to bring down the child slavery, murdering, human trafficking exploitation ring that stole your childhood, murdered your friends, and killed countless innocents only to have them rebrand as 'Noble Freedom Fighters™' off-screen.

[griffinsanddragons]

Happy almost Christmas to all who celebrate! ❄️

[griffinsanddragons]

hey rook i know our first mission against the gods went really poorly because they’re so powerful, so we think the best corse of action is to take a break and relax and reflect on ourselves and focus on self-improvement #metime 🩷🧘‍♀️✌️

girl southern thedas has fallen and people are dying

[griffinsanddragons]

Hello 👋,

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Aziz, and I’m reaching out with a heartfelt plea to help my family find safety and reunite with our mother. 😞

The ongoing war in Gaza has torn my family apart. My mother and newborn sister are stranded in Egypt, while I, along with the rest of my sex family members, am trapped in the midst of the genocide in Gaza. We have not only been separated but have also lost our home and are enduring unimaginable hardships. 💔

Your support can make a difference. Whether by reading our story, donating, or sharing our campaign with others, you can help us reunite, find safety, and start anew. 🙏🕊

Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for your kindness, compassion, and solidarity during this difficult time. ❤🍉

https://gofund.me/58268669 🔗

Please help in whatever way you can!

[griffinsanddragons]

Solavellan sounds like a horror movie to me to be honest. Especially if Lavellan agrees to having her vallaslin removed

Like this young woman in a relationship with a man who continuously belittles her culture at every opportunity, expresses distaste every time she acts like she’s proud of it, encourages her to distance herself from her peoples culture and then tells her that one of the most important cultural rituals her people have is actually a really horrible thing that used to mark you as someone else’s property and encourages her to let him remove it.

And then when he’s removed it, removed the thing that signifies her kinship with her people, removes the thing that is a mark of adulthood within her people, he breaks up with her. So now she has been distanced from her culture, and had the markings on her face that signified her place in that culture removed. She would struggle to return and be taken seriously, even if her clan is nice about it they would certainly find it odd. And she doesn’t even have the relationship she did it for

Or alternatively, when she refuses to change this thing about herself, refuses to let this man who has repeatedly belittled her culture cross that line, he breaks up with her. And she’s left feeling like sticking to her culture, who this man has repeatedly belittled at every opportunity, has caused this breakup.

And then instead of being allowed to get over him, she continues to pine. First for three years, at which point she discovers that this man has lied to her about everything, is several thousand years old, is one of the GODS from her pantheon (holy mother of power imbalances), and not only did he not consider her a real person who’s life had value and meaning for the entirety of their relationship but the reason he broke up with her was because that realisation made him feel bad about his plans to kill most people in the world. And instead of like. Changing those plans. He chose to ignore that knowledge and kill everyone anyway

And then TEN years later, never having spoken to him again, not being allowed to move on, most likely not being allowed to reconnect with her family and culture because she’s been distanced from it by a man who lied to her and abandoned her to kill everyone, most likely facing ridicule for being in a relationship with the man who’s trying to destroy the world, she abandons her home and her duty and traps herself in the fade with him for eternity.

That’s not romantic. Take away the magic and the elfiness of the situation, if you heard about that happening to someone you’d consider it emotional abuse and manipulation. It makes me super uncomfortable to even think about.

Why has she not been allowed to move on? Why has she not been allowed to recover from this betrayal? From this man who belittled and controlled her? Why is it that 13 years later, having not even spoken to him for a decade, she is throwing herself into the fade with him for eternity? Where are her family? Where are her friends? What is her life outside of Solas? Does she have one? Is she allowed to have one? Why is nobody able to save her?

[griffinsanddragons]

I am honestly happy for everyone who enjoyed Veilguard. Good for you, I wish I was among you.

But for me that game was disappointment of a decade and I don't know if I'll ever recover.

[griffinsanddragons]

"Arishok"

--

You can find me here too:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renatacunhart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/renatacunhart

DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/elvhenglory

[griffinsanddragons]

Video games constantly revealing how racist people are

[griffinsanddragons]

okay datv devs that's enough