#Also - I wrote this with Sera in mind! :D

[ofhope]

Oh was the lightly-polluted air of Penacony enlightening. Winter-stiff muscles grew warm beneath lamplight, the smell of fried foods coalesced his senses, and last but not least: more precious faces to lovingly swindle out of hard-earned cash, trade secrets. It wasn't malice that inspired Sampo, no, not quite curiosity either; but for every step, drive. Never life-shattering, at least not directly so, and few times did Sampo charge any-which-place bearing a blade of any sort... what good were knives, spears, whenever you had secrets?

Once rumblings of mishandled paperwork met his eager ears, Sampo would be a fool not to indulge — bonus benefits? A pretty face, but Sampo wasn't one to complain... simply: many such people focus best on their work when aided by visual, or auditory appeal.

Sampo was neither, but maybe, just maybe, this could be his good deed of the week.

“Say, I hear you're hurting for paperwork! What say you - how's about I lend you a contact of mine? I can't guarantee her prices, economy ever fluctuating, the price for kidneys always in that uncomfortable, rocky middle of not worth enough to stomach the itchy stitches, but enough to pay for a month's worth of rent. I'm kidding, buuut ~ she does require some cash up-front for her services. 'Least you, or I, can do, given the... questionable legality of the situation.”

Evering a new world did have its caveats. So many forms to fill out, so many things to sign up for, so much life insurance to invest... so, if Sampo could lend a helping hand... why not?

@crimsontwins // starter!

[dankusner]

“Que Sera, Sera”

TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 2019, Hollywood icon Doris Day died at 97.

The American singer and actress released over 600 songs in her lifetime and was featured in dozens of movies.

Doris Day’s Biggest Hit Is a Song She Could Have Done Without

“Que Sera, Sera” is synonomous with the actress and singer who died on Monday at age 97, though she was never a fan of the tune she called ‘a kiddie song’

Hollywood icon Doris Day starred in dozens of movies and released more than 600 songs in her lifetime.

But the box office star, known for her singular voice, never came around to the hit that might have been most associated with her career, “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera).”

In fact, Day, who died at age 97 on Monday, May 13, never wanted to sing the song in the first place.

As it turned out, almost everyone involved with the tune was a bit reluctant to make it.

Here’s what happened.

Doris Day was cast in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much alongside Jimmy Stewart.

Hitchcock did not originally want Day in the film, but to get Stewart onboard, he had to agree to also hire Day and give her a song in the film penned by the famed songwriting duo Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, the writers behind such classics as “Silver Bells” and “Mona Lisa.”

Hitchcock agreed.

His instructions to the songwriters were vague:

“I don’t know what kind of song I want,” he said. “But Jimmy Stewart is a roving ambassador and it would be nice if the song had some foreign words in the title. Also, in the picture, I have it set up so that Doris sings to their little boy.”

With foreign inspiration on their minds, the team wrote “Que Sera Sera” after watching the Ava Gardner film The Barefoot Contessa, where they noticed the inscription “Che Sera Sera,” or “Whatever Will Be, Will Be” on the fictional family's Italian villa.

Inspired by the phrase, the team changed it to Spanish (it also works in French), and wrote the composition (they had called it, simply, “Que Sera, Sera” before realizing another song by that name already existed).

Hitchcock declared the song perfect.

But Day was not as thrilled.

In 2012, she told Terry Gross at NPR’s Fresh Air that she did not understand why such an upbeat, lilting song would be in a movie about a kidnapped boy.

“I thought I'm not crazy about that,” she recollected. “Where are they going to put it? You know, for what? Is it when I put him in bed sometime and I sing that to him or something? I did that in another film. And I thought maybe that’s what it’s going to be. And I just, I didn't think it was a good song.”

Martin Chilton at The Telegraph reports that Day also called it “a kiddie song,” but her third husband, Martin Melcher, who was also her manager, convinced her to record it.

In the movie she does sing it as a lullaby.

Playing Jo McKenna, one-half of an American couple whose vacation turns tragic after their child, Hank, is taken, she and her husband (Stewart) must follow various clues to find him, ultimately realizing he’s being held at an embassy.

There, Jo performs the song in hopes that Hank will hear it and recognize his parents are near.

Her performance won the film the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the song reached the No. 2 slot on the Billboard charts.

Day reluctantly accepted the popularity the song garnered.

“So maybe it isn’t a favorite song of mine but people loved it. And kids loved it,” she told Gross. “And it was perfect for the film. So, you know, I can’t say that it’s a favorite song of mine and I think it’s fabulous but, boy, it sure did something. It came out and it was loved.”

The song became so associated with the star that it ultimately became the theme song for “The Doris Day Show,” a sitcom that aired between 1968 and 1973.

In her 1976 autobiography, Day revealed that she was contracted to do the sitcom by Melcher and hadn’t even been aware of the arrangement before his death in 1968.

She didn’t want to do a television show, much less one with that song as a theme.

Luckily for Day, she wasn’t called upon to sing "Que Sera, Sera" after that.

When the series ended, she retired from showbiz, moving to Carmel, California, where she dedicated herself to being an activist for animal rights and sang whatever songs she so chose.

[saintobio]

Know what? I was chill before Ch 10 dropped like heu I don't mind if I'd read this later because I was satisfied with out Ch 9 ended but after reading the update, now I can't wait for the next chapter because I'm so curious what Satoru wanted to talk with Y/N about "at home", IF either of them do go home 😄. I'm also curious about what he was about to tell Sera after chasing her because initially I'd think he would still console her, maybe tell her that he just had to say what he had to say but now I also remotely get the feeling that he'd finally end things with her. Like he'll tell her to stop ruining it for him when he's trying to win his wife back and that he didn't even want her there anyway 🤡

These two women were victims of his indecisiveness ngl but Sera manipulating him, too, kinda makes things worse for them?

The decision would have been easy, really, if she just let go but she doesn't want to.

"You deserve what you tolerate."

I found this trending in my country last year (ig?) and it kinda has a valid point don't ya think?

And what were these about 🧐—

—DINNER WITH THE GOJOs—

"Conception dream"

"Grandchild is coming along soon"

"Your husband's FACE TURNED PALLID"

"HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS PANICKING INTERNALLY"

—BOWLING AREA—

"hand rested on HER BELLY" 🤨

Oh and that bit with Naoya and Toji did not totally reminded reminded of 🥺🥲

Thank you so much for putting great effort into making every chapter. Those 8k-13k words for each chapter you wrote didn't feel that long to me because I was too absorbed reading it that I didn't notice that I've read that much already! Please give yourself a pat on the back. I'm giving hugs too 🤗. I'm not into heavy angst because I do cry reading 'em but I still wait for your every update because I enjoy it 😅

—🌾

most of these will be answered on the next chapter so ig i'll leave it at that. chapter 10 is mostly a filler to the climactic arc that will begin soon. so probably the next 2-3 chapters are full of drama, then the next 2 will be calmer again, and then more drama until the last chapter :)

thank you for reading <33 8k-13k words may seem short to u guys, but it takes a collective 36 hours worth of sleep from me ahahah but it's ok i love writing for this series :D

[lunchador]

so when do we get the long post about your feelings about dragon age inquisition!!! i dunno if u wanna wait until dlc or not! i am i n t e r e s t e d (also its ok if u dont feel up to it im just!!!! again, interested in ur opinions/feelings)

kajsldkjf PLEASE I HAVE SO MANY DA FEELINGS ALL THE TIME and Inquisition was twice as long as the others so might as well do a word vomit now and I can always do another after the dlc (which several people have assured me are worth playing )

SO

Yeah so inquisition is long. I dislike open world games so a lot of the (super repetitive!!) side quests did grate on my nerves and that docks this game a few points but over all the LORE IS SO GOOD, and it tying in so many choices in from 1+2 is the greatest butterfly effect I ever experienced in video games. I thought telltale + Until dawn were fun for that but good LORD bioware has showed up all of those games and I am really stoked to try mass effect when its out later and play more bw games. I only played Anthem before this and that game seemed...idk, gutted against BW’s wishes.

ANYWAY

Yeah, I managed to go into the whole DA series knowing very, very little, despite how many artists I followed did fanart for it. Once I started playing, I added all the words I could think of to my blacklist but a lot of untagged stuff came through (fair, series is 10+ years old and inq is like what 4-5?). I allowed my friends to pressure me into playing an elf mage for the lore and to romance solas cuz they said he was as important to the story as alistair was. A lot of online followers said I should play how I wanted, which I def would recommend to anyone else, but honestly I can see where they came from and while he never would have been my first choice, I think he actually paired REALLY well with my Inq and how I was playing her. I put her as sensitive but trying to put her responsibility above herself, she was definitely the least funny of my 3 characters, but not incredibly serious. A bit reserved? Just more mature. She’s got faith but she didn’t think she was the chosen one but she’ll do her role the best of her ability. She makes hard decisions and then sobs her chest empty over them because how is one to ever feel like its the right one? I really like how the game lets you choose how you wanna approach the responsibility. Like i said, I wasn’t a reluctant chosen one, but she will do what she can. Versus my friend playing at the same time as me said he played as the second coming of jesus essentially lmfao Having so many characters come back for different roles was so GOOD!!! Like everyone told me Varric was in this one but were like ‘teehee you still cant romance him though’ but you how you play drastically changes your relationships with each person. Tons of characters I met I knew would be personal favorites but I ended up interacting way less because others were more fitting to my inquisitor. So i.e while I love Varric and would’ve smooched him a heartbeat with Hawke, I didn’t get that vibe with Clover. They were really good friends, he was a grounded friend with a sense of humor that was a good escape from everyone else and the ~inquisition~. At least, until the Beyond the Abyss quest. That obviously heavily fractured their friendship and hurt them both :( And i felt that for a long time, until the end. He looked tired. Poor guy is gonna be borderline dead in 4 at this point. But so many side characters you talk to coming back like Dagna and Samson??? Speaking of that quest, I got Stroud because, yeah...Alistair was dead for me and APPARENTLY IT COULD ALSO BE LOGHAIN??? If he stays a grey warden??  wish I did that so def would’ve preferred to save Hawke even if I think the wardens are more important as a concept but like.......i wanted to behead him, so....But yes even tiny details like..Varric wrote home to kirkwall to Carver for me because the rest of my family was dead and I never completed a full romance in 2 lkajslkdjf but the fact that changes based on your play through. BUT YEAH THE way this game weaves all your decisions in and how yeah, overall the story is the same but it makes it so personal to YOU and so different from everyone else ;w;

But I could see my Inq genuinely falling for Solas, and I see her best friends as Cassandra and Blackwall/Thom. Really close to Leliana and the Iron Bull as well. I just loved all their interactions. All the characters were so cool to get to know?? Like I thought I would’ve hated Cullen (hes a dick in O) and tbh I just got into the series as the VA was being a complete shit. But I liked him a lot!! I love the work buddies vibes between the Inq and the advisors. I thought I was going to love Sera!! And like, I did, but she hated my Inquisitor and their personalities clashed a lot. Shes the only one i didn’t get a cut scene for in the end :’) I loved coming back from story quests and having to take like 20 minutes to go around skyhold and make sure I talked to /everyone/ for their new dialogue. You genuinely feel connected to all these wonderful npcs ljkasljdf

I wanted to make Cassandra the new divine but I made leliana on accident and kinda dug it so I stuck with it. VARRIC IS THE NEW VISCOUNT??? h i l a r i o u s.

One of the things I loved the most in this game in particular, and while this is something in all of them it just really struck me in this one, was....everyone gave up so so much to devote themselves to the cause, y’know?? Like, it’s almost heartbreaking how much everyone loses and they’re still looking towards you with their belief and willingness to follow you to the end ;-;

The final fight almost felt, Idk, underwhelming? Dude dragons are way tougher than him asdkjhfkhjd. I even went up a difficulty in this game after feeling like I got the hang of the series. But at the same time, we just spend how many hours knocking down each and one of his advantages so fuck him lol.

But yeah there are so many things I wanted to do but I felt so worn out by mindless sidequests and story being level locked in comparison to the previous games. askdjhflkd

One of the things that blows my mind is so so many people were stoked i was playing DA and they couldn’t wait til I got to Inq, and so I find out most people I know only ever played Inquisition? TBH if I didn’t play O+2 I think I would’ve dropped inquisition and never finished it *shrug* all of the build up just means SO MUCH!!! Everyones argument seems to be the older games are ugly and yeah O has rough battle system but its easy to get over imo. Like, you need the chaos of 2 to get the real weight of the mage/templar stuff?? Theres so many characters and story and dialogue that go over your head without Origins?? Like yes inq can stand alone pretty well but, idk, I’m in love with this entire series and the world building and THE!! WAY!!! IT!!! ALL!!! CONNECTS!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how a quest can go differently by whos in your party, I love you can have more dialogue based on lore you’ve managed to pick up around, I love HOW COMPANIONS BICKERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! The lore of these games are so good. It’s like playing an epic line of novels. It’s so immersive and I don’t think I’ve played too many games to this level.

I didn’t like the skill trees to being a mage in this one, Idk why. It wasn’t nearly as fun for me as 2, but then  again I really fucking liked being a force mage haha. I wanted to be a rogue to complete a diff class per game but everyone said mage brings a lot more interesting story/lore stuff so

but yeah I love having the full context now and seeing other peoples Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors and asking people how they played and how their options differed from mine and THERES JUST SO MANY POSSIBLE DECISION TREES!!!!! No wonder the fans play over and over.

but yeah ultimately so much fucking happened?? I’m probably missing a lot of key points.

[johaerys-writes]

The Bum End of The Library

Everything started when @pikapeppa sent me this incredible comic  by @knightofbunnies of a modern AU where Dorian is a substitute librarian. Then we got to talking about how cool it would be if her OC Rynne Hawke and my OC Tristan Trevelyan were there (with Dorian and Fenris, of course). One thing led to another… AND NO, WE TOTALLY DIDN’T COME UP WITH A CRACK ONE SHOT THAT HAD ME WHEEZING THE ENTIRE TIME I WROTE IT XD

This is dedicated to @pikapeppa whom I adore endlessly for enabling my tomfoolery, and for the banter ideas that ARE ABSOLUTELY GOLDEN AND I CAN’T DEAL. (also, title courtesy of @solas-disapproves! :D)

********************

“Why are we doing this, again?”

Tristan sat on the plush armchair tucked at a small corner of the library. He flicked idly through the book in his lap -something about rune casting or other- and took a sip of warm tea spiked with brandy from his flask. He was still quite sleepy; Dorian had dragged him out of bed first thing in the morning, with a promise to get him a warm berry tart from the bakery on their way to the Kirkwall University library. Tristan had gotten the tart, but that hadn’t improved his sour mood one bit.

Dorian was on the narrow ladder leaning against the sturdy bookcase, placing a thick leather tome on the shelf. He shot him a sharp look.

“We, amatus?” he asked him poignantly, carefully climbing down the ladder. “We are doing nothing. I am filling in for Felix while he’s away on that research trip of his. You were supposed to come and help me sort this mountain of books, but all you’re doing is sitting on your arse and-“

His eyes widened considerably when he saw the flask in Tristan’s hands. With a sharp exhale, he strode over to him and snatched the flask away, oblivious to Tristan’s glare.

“No drinking over the books! How many times do I have to say it?” he chided him. He screwed the cap back on the flask and carefully placed it in his coat pocket, but not before taking a tiny sip himself.

Tristan flashed him a teasing smile. Dorian rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help a small smile of his own. “Oh, wipe that smirk off your face, will you?”

Tristan arched an eyebrow at him. “Make me.”

Before Dorian could respond, a cheerful voice cut through the quiet of the library.

“Dorian!” Rynne exclaimed, running up to him.

“Well, if it isn’t my favourite girl,” Dorian said, returning her grin as she went up on her tip toes to hug him.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked, still holding him by the shoulders. “I thought Felix was in charge of the library!”

“He still is. I’m only substitute librarian while he’s away. What brings you here?”

“Oh, I was just passing by to return some books on Pyromancy. They were incredibly dull. I almost died of boredom while reading them,” she replied, her raspberry lips pursing in a small frown, which instantly melted away when she looked up at Dorian. “When are you going to write a book? You do know how much I love reading your research!”

“Ah, always the flatterer, aren’t you?” Dorian said, pinching her chin. “When I write a book, you’ll be the first to read it.”

Rynne’s beamed at him before her eyes fell on Tristan. He returned her animated wave with a nod, returning to flipping the pages of the book in his lap.

“Oh, dear,” Rynne said, lowering her voice, “he’s not very talkative today, is he?”

Dorian shot him an amused glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s just upset that I didn’t let him sleep until late afternoon.”

“I heard that,” Tristan grumbled.

“Good! I meant you to,” Dorian said with a sweet smile.

Rynne laughed softly as she glanced at the books Dorian was still holding in his arms. “Let’s see, what do we have here? Alchemy, more alchemy, rune forging… Treatises on Fade magic! That’s quite interesting,” she said, picking the book up. A smaller book fell through the bundle as she did so, and her amber eyes flashed with interest.

“Oh, and what is this? Is that the latest instalment of Swords & Shields? And a very smutty one, too. You dirty dog,” she laughed, tapping him playfully on the arm.

“I was only returning it to its proper place! Besides, it’s not like I didn’t read it as soon as it came out.”

Rynne shifted on her feet somewhat uncomfortably and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “That makes one of us, then.”

Dorian’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? You are always the first to finish them! I know that Varric gives you some of his manuscripts to read before he publishes them, too. What happened now?”

“Oh, well, you know how it is.” A faint blush crept up Rynne’s cheeks and she glanced behind her.

Dorian chuckled under his breath, following her gaze towards the white haired elf that was browsing some books on a shelf across the room. “I most certainly do. No time to read about the Knight-Captain getting it on, when you’re getting a fair bit of it yourself, hmm?”

Rynne’s barking laugh rang across the library. “You could say that!”

Dorian gave her a knowing look, placing his hand on his hip. “He is very charming, I won’t lie.”

“Are you kidding me? He’s gorgeous! Just look at him,” she said and let out a soft, dreamy sigh. “And he’s kind and thoughtful and caring… Not to mention he has the nicest butt in all of Thedas,” she said, elbowing Dorian and winking cheekily at him.

Tristan scoffed. “I find that hard to believe,” he said, not taking his eyes off his book.

Rynne shot him a look of honest curiosity. “Really? How so?”

A small smile curled Tristan’s lips before he spoke. “Everyone knows that Dorian has the finest rear end in Thedas.”

Dorian let out a loud guffaw and turned around to blow him a kiss. “You know best, amatus.” He looked at Rynne and tapped her sympathetically on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, my dear, but the title of the best behind in Thedas is already taken.”

“Nonsense!” Rynne exclaimed. “I am sorry, because you’re about to be dethroned. Fenris has the best butt in Thedas, and that’s final.”

“No it isn’t,” Tristan said.

“Yes, it is!”

Dorian huffed in mock exasperation, and snatched the book she was holding. “Did you want this magical treatise or not?” he said teasingly.

“Hey! I need that for my Fade course!” She tried to take it back, but Dorian held it well over his head.

“By all means, continue to debate my fine assets - pun entirely intended - but did you really need this book? Something tells me you didn’t. Perhaps you’ll be able to pass that course without it, if you’re very lucky.”

Rynne stretched her arm to grab it, laughing all the while. “Just give it back, you horrible man!”

“What is happening here?”

Fenris’s deep voice echoed in the circular rotunda. He was a little way away, his brows furrowed. He crossed the distance with a couple large strides, coming to stand protectively beside Rynne.

Varric, who materialised as if from thin air from behind a cubicle shot him a wide smile. “Everything’s happening here, elf,” he chuckled. “Everything.”

Fenris shot him a sidelong frown. “Where did you come from?”

“Oh, Fenris!” Rynne exclaimed excitedly. “Dorian, Tristan and I were discussing who has the finest butt in Thedas. I was saying that yours is the best, while Tristan-“

A crimson flush spread on Fenris’s cheeks and up to the tips of his ears. “You did what?”

Tristan let his book fall closed and stood up, walking up to them. He tilted his head to glance at Fenris’s back, then shrugged. “You have a point,” he told Rynne. “His behind is quite shapely.”

“See? I told you!”Rynne said, her face brightening up, while Fenris glowered at him.

“… but I insist that Dorian’s is better,” Tristan continued with a sly smile.

“He’s right, you know,” Dorian said, as matter-of-factly as if they were having an argument about the weather. “Not to sound vain, but it is quite incredible. I picture it in marble.”

Fenris folded his arms before his chest and gave Dorian a bored look. “You do realise how ridiculously vain that sounds, I hope?” he deadpanned.

“Oh! Oh! I have an idea!” a voice behind them said.

They all turned to see Sera perched up on the railing of the rotunda, watching them all as they bickered.

“Why don’t you both have your arses carved in marble, and then we can have people decide whose is best?” she suggested with a grin.

“Now, that’s an idea I can get behind,” Varric chimed in, barely suppressing his amused grin. “Then we can have the carving that wins outside the library as a tourist attraction.”

Everyone laughed, except for Fenris, whose mouth twisted in a snarl. “Not. A. Chance.”

“Oh, come on, Fen, it will be fun!” Rynne said. “We could throw a huge party with drinks, and music, and we’ll invite all our friends-“

“No, Hawke,” Fenris insisted, even though his scowl lessened considerably when he glanced at her.

Rynne opened her mouth to retort, not doubt intending to persuade him, when a head emerged from the nearby cubicle, and a very disgruntled Solas glared at them.

“Do you mind?” he asked pointedly. “Some of us are trying to read.”

“Hey, Elfy!” Sera said, jumping off the railing. “You never told us who you think has the best bum.”

“And I won’t,” Solas said, his tone flat and dry. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a very important essay to complete.”

Sera shrugged and waved dismissively behind his back as he turned to leave. “Oh, forget him. Elfy’s just bitter that no one’s arguing about his arse.”

“I most certainly am not!” Solas replied, a look of indignation on his features, while the rest of them burst into raucous laughter.

“Well, you always have a friggin’ opinion on everything else,” Sera said with a sneer, “so I think you’re very bitter.”

“Alright, alright, let’s all play nice,” Varric said placatingly, wiping a tear from his eye. “How about we settle this over a couple drinks at the pub? The atmosphere there is much more inviting for discussions of this sort.”

“Absolutely not,” Fenris growled, his mouth set in a tight line.

“I’m in,” Tristan said, grabbing his coat from the armchair.

“So am I!” Rynne said, clapping her hands. She pulled at Fenris’s arm enthusiastically. “Let’s go, it’ll be fun!”

A look at Rynne’s smiling face had Fenris letting out a defeated sigh. “Fine. But you dimwits are paying,” he said, looking at Varric, Dorian and Tristan in turn.

Tristan placed his palm on Dorian’s back and winked at him. “Winner’s treat.”

[obsidianarchives]

Slavery in Thedas: How BioWare Could Bring Nuance to Dragon Age

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), video gaming’s most prominent trade show, has dimmed its lights and shuttered its doors until next June. One game that was conspicuously absent was the highly anticipated fourth installment of the Dragon Age franchise from EA-owned BioWare. This isn’t so surprising since a Kotaku article detailed the turmoil going on at BioWare that led to a truly abysmal reception for its latest game: their first try at an online loot-and-shoot adventure, Anthem.

Still, I must admit that I have thought about Dragon Age every day since The Game Awards of December 2018. That’s when BioWare dropped a 65-second teaser and launched a hashtag that had me hooting triumphantly in my living room, #TheDreadWolfRises. I even wrote an article about who from the past games should appear in the next.  

I have met some of my all-time favorite characters and gone on my most beloved adventures while traversing the carefully crafted world of Thedas (The Dragon Age Setting). A big part of that is due to the broader themes of how theocracy, colonization, and war affect the marginalized and enrich the powerful. 

Creating worlds

of adventure, conflict and companionship

that inspire you to become the hero of your story.

The statement above is only one of the many messages on BioWare’s website that highlight how much they value story and characters in their games. This attitude has served BioWare well. Its last unqualified success, single player RPG Dragon Age Inquisition, earned a whopping 130 Game of the Year Awards in 2015 and had professional critics specifically praising its story. 

Of course, not everyone has been impressed. BioWare frequently gets criticized by what I like to refer to as the “dude bro army” for daring to include PoVs that aren’t in lock step with the dominant culture. Read: “Y’all have too many queers, coloreds, and non-hot ladies in your games!” Back in 2011, the lead writer for the Dragon Age series at the time, David Gaider, wrote a response to one such gamer on their now-defunct message board that was so well crafted it garnered press. Gaider, an out gay man himself, challenged the notion that video games should cater to the fabled  “straight male gamer” that all such close-minded dude bros evoke when complaining about diversity. As a bi Black woman gamer, this endears BioWare to me even more. 

All is not perfect, however. In addition to sex and sexuality, racial oppression and hegemony are two frequently explored themes in Dragon Age games. There is an allegorical connection between the systemic and situational anti-elf sentiment found throughout Thedas and the anti-Black sentiment that runs rampant in our own world. The problem is that many of these experiences are written and crafted by folks who have never been on the receiving end of this kind of oppression. Although talent and empathy carry the stories surprisingly far, the devil is in the details.   

In fact, the usual formula of giving players the freedom to choose how they want to act allows for just as much conquest, haughty disinterest in ethical decision making, and even slave profiteering as opportunities to fight those evils. (I try not to think of how many players across the globe regularly sell elves to slavers for a few in-game bucks while I’m murdering every slaver that the game will allow.) 

This is why when another Kotaku article reported that a Dragon Age project set in Tevinter—the slave trade capital of Thedas—was scrapped, I didn’t share in the disappointment that bubbled throughout fandom. Quite frankly, I was relieved. I unfortunately don’t see BioWare being able to craft a story taking place in Tevinter in a way that won’t be chock full of obliviousness, microaggressions, and straight up triggers for Black players. 

How can I think this way about one of my favorite game franchises of all time, you ask? Well, in Inquisition, it was not only possible, but extremely easy for someone playing as an elf to make a mistake and wipe out their entire clan while assigning missions on the war table. Because this process takes place over multiple in-game decisions and hours of gameplay, there was no way to go back and fix it. What’s more, no one even acknowledges that it happened in the game.  

To be fair, the developers admitted that this was a problem, but saw it more as a design faux pas akin to other similar war table missions that went awry. To me, it resounded particularly loud to see an oppressed people who were frequently set upon by aggressive humans get extinguished like a flame all due to my actions. What’s more is that this is my Inquisitor’s family and the only society she’d known until the beginning of the game. To say it jettisoned me out of the heroic role play fantasy for a while would be an understatement. 

Later in the “Jaws of Hakkon” mission, when it is revealed the first Inquisitor was also an elf but the chantry (church) scrubbed all records of this from history, the game similarly ignores the profound implications this would have for an elven Inquisitor. I have spent my whole adult life trying to sankofa (go back and fetch) all the history of my people that has been deliberately obscured or warped by a western school system. This connected to my life in a way that was never even partially explored in the game. 

Other ways a few high ranking Black developers could have helped BioWare is with Dorian. Sure, he’s one of their most dynamic, fun, and charismatic characters in Inquisition. But he’s also an unrepentant slave owner who, even late in the game, vacillates between vacuously apologizing to Solas for Tevinter’s fabled domination of Elvhenan and encouraging the annoyed elf to enslave spirits to do his bidding.

And then there’s Vivienne, the one character designed as a Black woman. Look, I’m not suggesting that tough as nails, power enthusiast Vivienne should’ve dropped her unfriendly Black hottie status and held hands with everyone. But how much more nuanced and mindful would Vivienne’s characterization have been in the hands of a Black woman who has spent her academic and professional career modulating her voice and carefully curating her demeanor to avoid the scarlet letter of being dubbed “angry” or “difficult”? What made “The Iron Lady” into the cold, calculated defender of the status quo? The horrors and indignities she must have faced in the Ostwick Mage Circle that led her to create her impregnable persona are never even hinted at.

Furthermore, Vivienne is immediately and permanently pit against the most lovable character in the game, Cole. No one in the game seems to understand her position. She is a Circle mage that was taught to mistrust and fear demons before she was able to read. Of course she’s scared to death of Cole! Instead, the game just casts her as an irrational bigot and a danger to ‘innocent’ Cole, a being that even admits he is potentially quite dangerous.

And that's not to mention Sera's internalized elven racism and self-hatred that could have used more nuanced handling from someone of a community that deals with such things.

I just…Hire some Black writers and developers, BioWare. 

That way when you explore these themes common to our experience there will be a level of authenticity Black players can appreciate and identify with immediately while non-Black players get to enjoy a narrative shaped by people with a deeper connection to the subject matter. Having multiple queer writers helped the sexuality content immensely; it’s time to do the same for the racial commentary.

Patrick Weekes, the current lead writer for the Dragon Age series is an immense talent. He wrote my favorite character in the entire franchise, The Iron Bull, and two others in my top 10, Cole and Solas. I have no doubt that he and his team will create an incredible yarn, but if BioWare wants to level up and reclaim their former glory after their last few games have struggled, leaving their brand a bit tarnished, they are going to have to evolve and invest in more diverse, authentic voices.

[ocean-in-my-rebel-soul]

Hearts Day OTP Answers: Elara Lavellan and Blackwall (2/7)

Because I never know when I’ll have spoons for ask games (and to actually ANSWER THE ASKS, Jesus, Ocean), I’ll just do it myself! :D

All questions from this list

[Part 1]  [Part 2]  [Part 3]  [Part 4]  [Part 5]  [Part 6]  [Part 7]

==

4) What was their relationship like before they got together?

They were good friends. Great friends, in fact. The night of the siege on Haven, Elara wrote a letter to Deshanna that ended up never getting sent about her infuriating love for him, and how much the Keeper would admire him.

But Elara has complicated feelings about love and relationships, and they get even more complicated when considering human or non-Dalish partners; the Dalish often ostracise or otherwise exclude members who take non-Dalish lovers, as it’s taboo and seen as a direct threat to the clan and way of life. She also has some baggage over the fact that she’s a lay-priest of Falon’Din and has a martial and spiritual duty to her clan as their Emerald Knight; she tells herself she is unable to be away from them, and thus unable to commit to a relationship anyway. It doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Anyway, before they realized they had feelings for each other, Thom and Elara were fast friends. She was taken in by his gentleness toward others, even as he’s rough around the edges. She sees his friendship with Bull, Varric, and Sera as a mark of his character, how these very different people get held high in his regard, and she values his skills as a fighter and craftsman. He sees in her honor and duty, a firm moral compass, and he’s both intimidated and impressed by that. It takes a lot of spine to see the breach and not want to cower (or, at least, to not do so publicly) and he appreciates that. He also appreciates that, when you get past her initial coolness, Elara has a tendency of roping one into her own personal little clan. He initially sees this as a coping mechanism, of being homesick, but when she extends her hand in friendship he can’t help but recognize that she just really is that magnetic.

5) How would they describe each other?

Elara, about Blackwall: He just... is. He is a fact of life. He’s just there. Thom puts himself between you and danger and knows he’s strong enough to take it. He doesn’t overestimate himself and doesn’t underestimate you.

Blackwall, about Elara: power in a surprising package. Diplomatic, courteous, and kind. Something feral on the battlefield, though, and is a sight to behold.

6) What do they love about each other?

Elara loves that Thom doesn’t pull his punches with her. There’s no flowery talking around an issue. There’s no insulting restraint when they spar. He doesn’t find her stature (muscled but lean and short, like a short-ish Cassandra) to mean she’s weak. And he doesn’t underestimate her for being an elf and/or a woman, which is a nice break. He trusts that she can handle herself, and the fact that he keeps an eye on her is based on his need to protect, not the idea that she needs to be protected.

Thom loves that Elara shares things with him that she doesn’t with the other. The level of trust there. She goes off and does her own thing - like running off to the Marches to try to help her clan after Wycome’s attack - but she doesn’t turn him away; instead, she allows him to come with her. She trusts him to see her in grief and sorrow when no one else gets to. And that’s even before they get together! He loves that she lets herself be vulnerable and open with him and, later, with others because it’s too easy to keep one’s secrets and feelings to one’s self.

(Not that he knows anything about that, mind you...)

==

Stay tuned for more! Feel free to ask your own questions, and I’ll tag you in the responses!

[Part 1]  [Part 2]  [Part 3]  [Part 4]  [Part 5]  [Part 6]  [Part 7]

[mintchocolateleaves]

You wrote an experimentation quite a while ago with kaito x everyone and holy shit dude, it was amazing. If you don't mind can you do it with another character x everyone? I don't mind which character because I love them all and it'll always be interesting, like Ran looking for a substitute to who she's waiting for, or perhaps a rarer character like kazuha? I honestly don't mind who, and I hope you find the inspiration to write it xx

Hey Anon, I hope that this as an experimentation is around what you meant? I chose Ran. And I hope you enjoy it, because as many issues as I have with it, I also kind of really enjoyed writing it! :D

-

“You think you got everybodyfooled don’t you?”

-

Kazuhais the first.

Theirsis a whirlwind romance, which spans an entire train journey, brief but not anyless for how quickly it ends. Both of them travelling on the Kodama train, fourhours from Tokyo to Osaka.

They’realone, which is probably the only reason why. In the recess of their own traincompartment – private, just for them,somehow they’re so lucky – they lose themselves in one another.

“Whatabout Kudo-kun?” Kazuha whispers, and a jolt of something sparks down her spine, an electrical impulse that forcesRan to lift her hand up and shush Kazuha, pulling her nearer, bodies close, herhands roaming, searching, exploring.

Kazuhadoes not stop her. In fact, when Ran leans back, as if acknowledging Hattoriand the boundaries that make them unable to pursue this kind of moment, sheurges her on.

“Whathappens on this train ride,” Kazuha says, “is just between us.”

Rannods, smiles. And with too many buttons undone to be considered anything butimproper, she pushes Kazuha down against the seats, offers a grin and says, “thisis everything and nothing.”

And thatis what it is.

For fourhours, it is everything, and as soon as they step off the train, it meansnothing.

-

“But not me, Ran,

I’ve known you too long.”

-

The nextlasts a little longer than four hours.

This onelast months.

Sonokois Ran’s best friend, and the thing with best friends is sometimes you canoverthink and wonder if there is more there. And well, yes, maybe Ran’scompletely horrible because Sonoko has Makoto,but Makoto is not here and she is.

And Sonokodoes not seem to mind.

She isan innocent soul, someone that Ran doesn’t question the motives of, simply curlsinto during sleepovers, ankles wrapped around each other, face nuzzled in toSonoko’s neck.

It’snice, and they share the company, hearts intertwined while Ran places chaste kissesinto Sonoko’s collarbone, never going lower, never crossing that boundary.

“What aboutShinichi?” Sonoko whispers, one night as Ran wraps them both together in ablanket, the two of them sitting too close, watching each other’s lips for silentacceptance.

“I love you,” Ran whispers, as if that’sexplanation enough. “Not him.”

And maybeMakoto will come back soon, and maybe it’s a lie, but it’s what they both wantto hear, want to believe if only for a little while.

-

“And no matter how hard you tryto deny it,

I can tell you care as much abouthim as he cares about you.”

-

Thethird is in the spur of the moment.

See,that’s the kind of person Hattori Heiji is. He acts in the heat of the moment, actsbefore he thinks things through, and maybe Ran’s a little similar in that sensebut that’s just who they are.

The Osakanis visiting – he’d been hoping to catch Conan for a day out, but Conan’s withthe professor – and it’s just the two of them, both reeling from bad days.

Therehad been a case. That’s usually how things progress with detectives, and maybethey’re both seeking comfort from the brutality of it, wanting to convincethemselves of the good in the world.

But oneminute they are just sat talking, and the next there is a distinct lack ofclothes, hands setting Ran’s skin alight.

It is asif for a few hours, they don’t need to think about dropping boundaries, aboutopening up, and it is peaceful. Comforting that even with everything they’veseen they can still open up.

Just onenight.

“Fuck,”Heiji says the next morning, when they’ve both woken up, and he’s searching forclothes, “what have I – you an’ Kudo?”

Ran sitsup, and feels her cheeks redden. Of course – this is Shinichi’s friend, not hers, and of course it’s going to get backto him now.

“There’snothing between Shinichi and I,” Ran says, lifting the covers up around her andresisting the urge to hide away. “But you and Kazuha…”

Theyboth pale at that. Heiji zips up his jeans. He sees the lie, deduces the reasonbehind it, and thankfully decides to stay quiet.

“Itstays between us,” Ran says, “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

(Heleaves in a hurry, doesn’t even have the time to say hello to Conan, who’s onhis way in.)

-

“So admit that you love him,

And I know that you do.”

-

Perhaps it’sbecause he’s so flattering that Ran tests the waters with Eisuke.

He’s clumsyin person, and that carries through to how he acts when trying to be romanticbut Ran smiles and waits and enjoys his company anyway. When they kiss, theirforeheads always clash together before their lips can.

Andsometimes, when he goes to lean over, he trips and they’re in compromisingsituations, but Ran welcomes it, because these flustered expression’s – well,she’s never received them before.

(A voicein her head says that another detective she knows would grow extremelyflustered as well, but she always smothers it.)

He is clumsywith his words too, and Ran can see it in every interaction. And maybe sometimesit’s a little irritating, watching him stumble over the words, but mostly it’sflattering.

All too pleasantuntil Eisuke takes a step back and says he’s going back to America. Then, itfeels like he’s just been nervous, awaiting some sort moment where he feels comfortableenough to let Ran know that he’s going.

And Rancalls him on it.

Why didshe have to tell him at the last moment, rather than as soon as he’s found out.Why couldn’t she prepare herself for missing him. She spends the night outragedonce he has gone, because he gives no warning.

Lookslike he did learn something from Shinichi after all. Eisuke always had beenwanting to meet him.

-

“That little persistent kid hassomehow gotten in under the wire.”

-

Dangerous.

That’swhat Sera Masumi is.

Ran walksa tightrope when it comes to Sera. The girl grabs hold of her heart, tells herthat Kudo be damned, if he’s not herethen I’m going to make you mine, and rips the organ straight out of herchest.

Which,sounds violent, but for once Ran’s alright with someone else holding onto herheart. Even if it does mean that sometimes she wakes up with a hole whereShinichi used to be, Sera makes up for it.

Mostly, anyway.

She’sanother detective, and God, what is it with Ran always falling for detectives, because she is. She’sfalling for Sera ever so slightly, and it’s wonderful because the times shespends wishing for Shinichi are starting to dwindle down, less thought over.

And thenSonoko goes and ruins it all. She whispers, “hey, isn’t Sera kind of like Shinichi?”

And Ranstarts to realise the similarities. They’re both eager for mysteries – Sera disappearssometimes, seeks out cases where there shouldn’t be any… So much that Ran hadn’tthought about goes noticed.

And wow,isn’t this dangerous? Tiptoeing so far, not knowing how far she could fall, howbroken she will leave herself when Sera takes the similarities too much andjust disappears.

LikeEisuke. Like Shinichi.

Rancloses her eyes, cuts the tightrope and holds on for dear life even as shefalls. And then, she steals back her heart, places it back in her chest cavityand hopes the palpitations aren’t going to be permanent.

-

“And that’s what’s happened, huh?”

-

Perhaps it’sonly natural that when she steals her own heart back, a thief appears ready to stealit for himself.

KIDarrives in her life, and Ran knows that he could be anyone, wear any face butthere’s only really one that she wants to see. And it’s not fair on either ofthem but Ran forces it.

KID pretendsto be someone he’s not.

And he’sa good copy, but at the end of the day, he’s only a duplicate, not the realversion, and it’s frustrating for them both. And Ran starts to get confused, wonderswhether pretending is the same as believing and maybe–

She doesnot mind being together with Kaitou KID.

Clotheson or off, she captures him in her embrace, curls up around him. She pulls himinto her, lets him take what Shinichi never would, and pretends until shebelieves.

And it’sas she begins to believe this is as good as the real thing that KID asks,

“Butwhat about me?”

Randoesn’t know what he’s talking about, but as soon as he asks it, she seems torealise that he’s finished. What’s between them is fake, and maybe he’s grown tiredof it, but he’s ready to move on to a new role, one that doesn’t include playingthe part of detective.

And Ran’sleft, wondering why pretending seems so comforting, up until the moment someonebrushes the illusion away.

-

“Admit the truth–”

-

He comesback.

The realversion, Shinichi.

And thereis not as much of him as there was before. He’s missing some part of himself, andyes, he’s gained some more, but he is altogether different to how he used tobe, and part of Ran is scared by that.

Is shesimply in love with the idea of him, or the real version?

Shedoesn’t know anymore.

“I’vewaited for you,” Shinichi whispers, “even when I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

So, he knows.Ran doesn’t know how to feel about that. Glad, mostly, that she won’t have to lieto him.

“And Iwill continue to wait.” Ran shudders at the sound of his voice, broken, butsomehow unwilling to give up. “But only if there’s a reason to continuewaiting.”

And now,Ran really looks at him. Even now, he’s like a ghost. Physically, he’s here. Butthere is some element to him that is missing – there’s an absence of light inhis eyes. He’s been waiting, but somewhere along the way, he’d realised thatRan had given up.

Randoesn’t like the thought of being someone to give up.

“It hurtsto wait,” she whispers, and Shinichi nods. He doesn’t smile, doesn’t offer anythingother than quiet understanding.

“But I will,”Shinichi says. And for a moment, just onemoment, there’s a light in his eyes again. “If you’ll wait with me too.”

Ranbites her lip. And she says, “why do we need to keep waiting for each other, we’reboth right here, aren’t we?”

(And the light goes out.)

-

“You love him, don’t you?”

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 6X21 Let it Bleed

whelp let's see what happens

oh it's chuck isn't it

oh it's not

it's the past

oh this man is dead

and this is why we don't live alone

LOVECRAFT??

that is 100% not how howard Phillip Todd Screwdriver lovecraft died

DEAN'S SAD AFTER THE BREAKUP ASAPIFDJAS

Moishe

"or read the copy I had already made"

"hi, bobby singer, paranoid bastard, nice to meet you"

oh nice I love that

HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO HP LOVECRAFT IS

Who wrote this

ah sera gamble

man she's a good writer but she doesn't like Dean and it SHOWS

Take Lisa and Ben and kill her bf

man Lisa does NO deserve this

Dean went Dad Mode SO QUICK

This scene HURTS ME

SHIT IT'S CROWLEY

ah shit mans is spiraling

is...Crowley hitting on him

to be fair, Crowley at least understands when somethings a threat

oho RITUALLL

FUCKING BALTHAZARRRRR

I LOVE HIMM

his face??

he's bluffing

Balthazar is all they had huh

Isn't...HP lovecraft...taught in schools?

what?

mans is a fan

any lovecraft fan is Red Flags

the other guy?

CASSS WAS HERE!

THAT EXPLANATION WAS SO FUNNY

the trench coat really does help as a descriptor

ahaha "it's never friendly...I imagine"

ah so it must have worked

Cas took them

Angel powers and No Morals is...heh

they summoned and then it killed them

mental ward, that's comforting

the dual angle is fun though

"we're making a few inquiries" *GRUFF SCREAMS*

shit hell did a number on him huh

whiskey and coffee DEN NO

yeah he's taking this how you'd expect

Sam calls Cas huh

oh he's THERE BUT NO ONE SEES HIM OH MPGIDFAPIFA

I love the invisible thing it hurts so bad

Crowley...

Crowley they're actively looking for you

Crowley this didn't work

call on the bat phone huh?

BalthaZARRRRR

YA BOI

they placed him taller

...oh he sucks up the souls

ah

godstiel

aw he's grumps

"That won't happen"

well he picked up ultimatums from dean at least

Cas has been there too

"do you believe in monsters" "yeah" OOO

ah possessed his mom

first person who believed him :(

SHIT DEAN THE DEMON TRAP

the man is running on f u m e s

cAS?S?

he has a point, Dean cannot trust for SHIT

and he HAS earned the trust

come on Dean, you do have to

D E A N

I hate you

ah the professor

of course Bobby dated her

o H SHIT IT'S THE BOY'S MOM

900 YEARS?

aHH

THE SETUP

ah he's also mad because he slept with her

she wants purgatory closed Neat

I changed my mind I LOVE HER

EVEN MORE

"drinking your feelings Sam" BALTHYYYY

BALTHAZAR WINCHESTER TEAM UP

"I'm officially on your team...you bastards"

yeah cas and crowley...do not trust each other

BALTHYYYYY

whoopsie sam

sjskss

the thudding noises

jesus christ Dean

hey

hey remember the exorcism you used in season 1

DO YOU REMEM-

jeez she does know how to pick her insults

shit she used herself as leverage

female bodies in supernatural are

glass in mouth yum

...dean is...out of character I think

everything else is ok?

HE WOULD NOT HIT KID

that is a lot of blood

she'll be dead by midnight? :(

"she'll wake soon" SHe-S FUCKING INTUBATED

DEAN

Boy this is not how relationships should work

both of them are SHIT at this

ah amnesia

"lost control" uh

at least he still gets to apologize

man the struggle to smile HURTS

boy he has had a SHIT few days

and now he will no longer be talking about feelings

boy he looks miserable

honestly it...bodily autonomy but also...idk

they need to be Out

dammit Cas

ok so

1. Dean and Cas are like. both are exhibiting unhealthy behaviors and the other is too shit at people to figure out that what they're doing is fucked.

2. Female bodily autonomy and lack thereof is like...a running theme here, I'm sure you could track it.

3. Sera Gamble wrote Dean out of character. Just slightly, but it's there.

4. I fucking love balthazar

5. I fcuking love Bobby

6. I love the monster professor lady literally so much more now she's SO COOL

7. I hope Lisa and Ben are safe, and yes overwriting her memories is a shit thing to do, but also getting her killed is a shit thing to do

8. None of you people know how trust works

[randomnonsensedragonage]

~Ship-a-thon~

Tagged by @ariannadi. Thank you!

So, I’m not a very ship oriented person (despite all evidence to the contrary), and even though I’ve been involved in fandoms for awhile I didn’t really get into ships for their own sake until a couple of years ago. But this looks fun, so I’ll do my best!

First ship you ever read fic for: If we’re talking about the first ship I ever encountered in a fic, it would be Hermione x George (or was it Fred?). If we’re talking about the first ship I ever sought out fic for, it was Alistair x Warden

First ship you ever wrote fic for: Again, if we’re talking about the first ship I ever included in a fic, it would be Xaldin (from Kingdom Hearts) x OC (the ship wasn’t the focus). If we’re talking about the first ship I ever wrote a fic specifically for, it was Cullen x Lavellan 

Ship you write the most now: Alistair x Warden, because I’ve been trying to get through my Warden’s story and wrap it up lately

Ship you read the most now: Nothing specific. Maybe Solavellan because I follow a lot of people who like Solas?

Newest ship: My Solavellan ship is the newest one I’ve made a character for, but the newest ship I’ve written for is Isabela x Hawke :D

Rare ship you wanna read more of: I wouldn’t mind more Nathaniel Howe ships in general. I also like Sera x Dagna (is that one rare?)

Your taboo ship: Nothing specific, but, in general, I’m not a fan of non canon ships (in DA or otherwise). I wouldn’t call it a taboo, though. I’ll still read them occasionally (and write some. Because I’m a hypocrite), but, in general, they’re not my favorite thing. Oh, and if a ship strikes me as unhealthy (like they hate each other in canon), I won’t read it

They never met in canon ship: Caron x Blackwall (just a vague idea I have, but still)

Your unexpected ship: Caron x Blackwall I guess. I also have an idea for an Anders x oc-who’s-not-a-player-character ship (see? Here I am being a hypocrite)

The ship you always forget to give love to: Caron x Nathaniel. I like this ship in theory, but I have trouble making it work in writing

Ship your OC with a canon character (if applicable): Nearly all my ships are oc x canon character, and that’s one of the reasons I got into DA ships. For whatever reason, I’m not that interested in exploring romantic relationships between two pre-established characters. It’s just never been my thing (again, this is in general, not never)

A ship you’re embarrassed to ship: None

Your most romantic ship: My Cullavellan ship. Alistair x Surana is a close second.

Your sexiest ship: Cullavellan again XD Maybe Isabela x Hawke if I write more for them.

Your most tragic ship: I ship my Surana with a few people (Alistair, Zevran, and Cullen, depending on which of my canons I’m using), and they’re all tragic because bad things keep happening to her, like death :( Caron x Nathaniel and Hawke x Anders are a bit tragic because they don’t work out, but no one dies

A ship you want more content for: More Nathaniel!

I shall tag... @somevirtualnolife, @galadrieljones, @ma-sulevin and @thevikingwoman

[elizabethrobertajones]

Hey so, you've probably been asked this before and if so you can just completely ignore this. But. I know there's been plenty of talk about the differences of Dean and Sam's personalities and families in It's a Terrible Life, but I've yet to seen anyone (as far as I remember anyway) talk about theories of why Sam's fiancé is Madison, and not Jess? Or Sarah? Far as I've come on that theory is, maybe because of the Werewolf thing? And how it relates to Sam's own "demons"? Thoughts?

I like your optimism that I have already been asked all of *the* most obscure questions :D Hehe

The fact Sera wrote both episodes is my first port of call, and Madison would be her own character so faster to mind. I think Heart is also one of her pet favourite episodes although do not ask me how I know that because It’s almost certainly something I read 7 years ago :P 

I would also have to assume on a boring technical level that they were trying to come up with uncanny valley lives, and Dean’s fake life already collected up Bobby and Ellen and Jo, while Sam’s life was deliberately meant to be the less well-developed one because Zach had just thrown together enough to stop him realising the game was up *immediately*, while not bothering to make a complete enough backstory that Sam wouldn’t help motivate Dean because without the much bigger cracks through which their old life came, Sam wouldn’t be able to motivate him in the same way. I don’t think he made many mistakes in the set up except mildly underestimating Dean (while still getting exactly what he wanted out of him by the end of the episode - in the short term, in the long term that’s when Dean gives him the “stab you in the face” warning :P), since he would have been constantly watching them, like an ant farm, and could have fixed Sam if he WASN’T meant to poke at his own backstory. Sam was never really their focus since Ruby had him under lock down doing her side of things and the angels by that point were all aboard on starting the apocalypse.

So I think the last most obvious reason it’s Madison is because Sam was just being mocked as a disposable character, and it really comes across that way when you know the whole story and who set it up:

SAMYeah, ‘cause I only moved here 'cause I just broke up with my fiancée, Madison. But I called her number and I got a damn animal hospital.

And in that sense, Madison is really tragic for us to know was a really awful thing that happened to Sam romantically since Jess, but also has this set up to be mocked and a too-easy joke for Zach. I think if it had been Jess there would have been the danger of him remembering too much, in character, and out of character if the writing process was casting around for a love interest to have a “hilarious” joke from Zach about them, Sam’s girl of the week options are limited and Sarah and Lori from hookman in the first season were both fairly sweet and survived the episode without much interpersonal drama for Sam, while Madison was also very tragic so mocking her and what Sam went through with her, is a very blatant example from the first couple of seasons of Sam being put through the wringer - I think he cried more in that episode than he’s done for the rest of the show since :P There’s much more obvious material to make a joke from than most of his other romantic connections and the only one who he actually cared about (since season 3 had him mostly just being set up for Ruby, while lusting after Bela a little… and honestly at this point trying to think who else Sam has been linked to, the Bad Writer Voice in my brain that comes up with all the junk pile snark suggested that old woman from 3x06 who pawed all over Sam - “But I called her number and I got a damn retirement home.” … So let’s be glad it was Madison :P)

Anyways, if there’s a wider meta purpose you probably got it… Madison is one of the monsters that Sam’s been connected to romantically, and actually Dean seems to think Sam’s got together with a lot more monsters than he actually has because in 4x14 he has some line about what is it with Sam and monster chicks or something, thinking he’s sleeping with the siren (whoops) and he’s reacting to Sam saying he and Ruby are together. Madison is really the only other major example, although Dean also thought Sam had a thing for Ava who he might not have qualified as a monster at the time, but *would* have classified as like finding like if he thought Sam had a crush, since they both had psychic powers and by season 4 that’s all the backstory to Sam’s struggle with humanity. (I mean honestly, Madison seemed to traumatise them both for different reasons so I could get if she stuck out in Dean’s memory even if he seems to tease Sam for it, it would be making light of it as a coping mechanism to the awful stuff they’ve done on the job.)

I’d also get if the show wanted us to think Sam had a bigger history with this than he does - hence the line in 4x14 AND this reminder about Madison - because they like making generalisations of their history to tell the story, focusing on one or two incidents and making it sound like a life-long pattern (despite Jess being Sam’s defining romance and characterised by the normality and that he lied to her about monsters to protect a bubble of normality). We won’t find out about Amy Pond until season 7 aka they don’t write it until then, so it’s retroactively adding to the pattern that was barely a pattern in season 4, but if they want to build up the image of Sam being attracted to monsters as part of the question about his own nature, trying to remind us that Ruby isn’t his first is a good way to go about that. 

Then they end the season with Dean or false representations of him repeatedly telling Sam that he’s a monster or he isn’t human any more and Sam picks Ruby over Dean, and throws his own humanity away blah blah blah we all know the story :P (I say, blah-ing away one of the best season finales on the show.)

… TBH the show trying to set up this narrative that you are what you sleep with just reminds me that in the version of the Winchester Gospels where Sam doesn’t drink demon blood, this is all excellent supporting narrative/examples to build up the ridiculous counterpoint Destiel subtext going on on the other side :P Which is kind of a joke I make but season 4 is told a LOT through their sexual preferences and encounters. If I was going to write a serious academic paper about the show where you don’t need to make the same disclaimers about intent and interpretation as you do on Tumblr it would be excellent to examine season 4′s main arc and plot points as told through the representations of their sexuality, because the Sam/Ruby, and Dean/Cas/Anna major narrative parallel of you are what you sleep with is barely scratching the surface… It’s a huge thing. The siren episode doesn’t just *happen* to be in this season and it’s not a random isolated incident, it’s one of the many ways this undercurrent of the season shows up. And that puts the Sam and monsters subtext directly next to Dean and dudes, which lines up perfectly with playing Sam/Ruby off Dean/Cas for the length of the season. Hey and lo and behold in 4x17 Sam has a history with Madison, and Dean has a hot co-worker he hangs out with, and a deep insecurity about the idea of Sam hitting on him in the elevator (… at work), and some queercoded behaviours, and a complete lack of love life mentioned in the main text, including shoving Jo hard into the sister box in the same exchange we find out about Sam and Madison…

[saintobio]

IM LOVING THE GEN AND YN INTERACTION!!! because it just shows how much she loves her little sister! Yes YN told her to mind her own business because i think YN wants to hint to Gen that she can handle it! It's just "siblings having each other's back" moment!!

Also i read some of the asks and I'm genuinely confused with some of the readers 👁️👁️ when Saint wrote in the previous chapters that Gen can and will fuck up both Satoru and Sera, yall excited for that... But when Gen actually shows us her ability to execute the said baddassery, yall be like "omg noOoooOo"? I'm amused yall😂

C'mon now pls yall just trust Saint😤😤 also the Gen and YN interaction just showed us how different the LN family and the Gojou family functioned as👀 Gojo didn't exactly have a pillar in his family now that Nana is gone... Well, yes there's his mom but she didn't know 3/4 of the things that happened in the Gojo household.😤 Meanwhile the LNs are being a healthy family ...yes they're small family with only the 3 of them left, but their bond is so strong😤😤 Preparation for any possible outcomes is a smart thing to do and it just shows how capable Gen is as a leader 😤

To my beloved Saint, pls rest now!!!! Take it easy okay🥺🥺 Drink water and eat your fav food!! Love you!!😍😍

thank you <33 and i agree with what u said abt yn’s family, they do have a really close bond. it’s unbreakable. they stick together bc they formed a very healthy relationship even before their mom d worded y’know :(((

[agalanthe]

2020 & Moon tales

[ Version française cliquez ici ]

The time for wishes has arrived, so I wish you a happy new year 2020 !

So, what can we say about this new year ? Well, not to change, it will still be MOON TALES ! If you don't know what this project is about or if you want to discover some new details, I already invite you to read the following text :

MOON TALES, WHAT’S THAT ?

Moon Tales is first of all a webcomic (an online comic book) scripted by Pierre Coppet (author on many french role-playing games, such as - most of the following links are in french -  Agone, Capharnaum, Trinités, Venzia, Nautilus, the new editions of Ecryme and Bitume, etc.) and drawn by myself. The story of this comic is set in an imaginary world that we are developing together.

In 2017, I wrote on this blog : "It will be episodic, constant, free and readable in english and french (but don’t worry, I’m not the one who will translate it in english !). Moon Tales will be an urban fantasy soap, with some pulp adventures. Located in an imaginary world, it’ll tell the destiny of several heroines and heroes." This hasn't changed and this comic will therefore be a soap opera to be read online, on a mobile phone (but big mobile screen = the better) as on a more classic computer.

To specify a little bit all that, the action will take place in a big modern imaginary city like New York, plunged in the night, but in a more fantastic (the "fantasy" side of urban fantasy will be very pronounced), halloweenian and gothic way. The world all around extends from deep countryside, where witches reign, to more remote and wild lands, whose ancient lost civilizations still have much to reveal (the pulp adventure side). There will be seven main characters : four women (including Follet - cf. his drawing  below) and three men, with their magical talents, more or less complicated relationships, stories to be discovered, and so on.

Okay, admittedly, it may still sound very vague when presented that way, but we just don't want to reveal too much at the moment.

MOON TALES IN 2020

As I wrote last year in the 2019 post, the Moon Tales webcomic has been my priority since the end of the Capharnaum Anniversary edition. A relative priority that only concerns my projects related to drawing because, for those who don't know, I have another job on the side that allows me to eat. Also, for the few interested people and those who sometimes read this blog, maybe they will have the impression that Moon Tales hasn't progressed since I've been talking about it... And yet ! Although we don't show much, I can assure you that the work continues on a regular basis : the webcomic takes up a lot of my evenings, weekends and holidays. In spite of this, the speed of page completion is still far too slow for my taste and I hope, with time and experience, it will accelerate. We also need to get a head start (and therefore to finish a lot of pages) in order to keep the weekly publication pace we have planned.

To make you - possibly - wait, we will sooner or later start a little design diary, right here on this blog, to tell you about the background of this project, our choices, our desires, the problems we encountered, etc... Moreover, as passionate role-players, it naturally (and very quickly) came to our mind that we wanted to develop the Moon Tales universe outside the strict framework of its comic book story. So we have some ideas to develop this world in a playful framework, in a role-playing game in one form or another.

Finally, and most importantly : Moon Tales is a project that we do for fun and because we really want to develop a comic book story and the whole universe - world and characters - that goes with it. The "webcomic" and "role-playing game" are the media that best match us and are the ones in which we will thrive creatively the most. Enough to give the best of ourselves in this adventure !

To finish this New Year's post, if you haven't already done so, I invite you to visit my new web page, which has been online since June 2019 ! 

Also, feel free to check out my Instagram (and follow me there !), as it's the place where I post the most drawing pictures - and often the most recent ones.

See you next time !

[ Note : you can comment this post on my facebook page, at this link ]

***

French version below

Le temps des vœux étant arrivé, je vous souhaite donc une excellente année 2020 !

Alors, que dire à propos de cette nouvelle année ? Et bien, pour ne pas changer, cela sera encore du MOON TALES ! Si vous ne savez pas ce qu'est ce projet ou que vous souhaitez en découvrir quelques nouveaux détails, je vous invite déjà à lire le texte suivant :

MOON TALES, QU’EST CE QUE C’EST ?

Moon Tales est d'abord un webcomic (une bande dessinée en ligne) scénarisé par Pierre Coppet (auteur sur maints jeux de rôle, comme Agone, Capharnaüm, Trinités, Venzia, Nautilus, les nouvelles éditions d'Ecryme et de Bitume, etc.) et dessiné par moi-même. L'histoire de cette bd se situe dans un univers imaginaire que nous développons conjointement.

En 2017, j'écrivais sur ce blog : " En bon webcomic, la parution se fera sous forme épisodique, régulière et gratuite, en français et en anglais. L'action de Moon Tales prendra place dans un monde imaginaire contemporain, dans lequel sera narré le destin de plusieurs héroïnes et héros, au cours d'un soap urban fantasy mâtiné d'aventure pulp." Cela n'a pas changé et cette bd sera donc feuilletonnante et prévue pour être lue en ligne, sur téléphone mobile (mais plus grand sera votre écran, mieux ce sera) comme sur un ordinateur plus classique.

Pour préciser un peu tout ça, l'action se déroulera dans une grande cité imaginaire moderne comme New York, plongée dans la nuit, mais en plus fantastique (on appuie bien sur le côté "fantasy" de urban fantasy), halloweenienne et gothique. Le monde tout autour s'étend en campagnes profondes, où règnent les sorcières, jusqu'à des terres plus reculées et sauvages, dont les anciennes civilisations perdues ont encore beaucoup à révéler (le côté aventure pulp). Les personnages principaux seront au nombre de sept : quatre femmes (dont Follet - cf. son dessin plus haut) et trois hommes, avec leurs talents magiques, des relations plus ou moins compliquées, des histoires à découvrir, etc.

Ok, on l'admet, cela peut paraitre encore très vague présenté ainsi, mais c'est que nous ne voulons tout simplement pas trop en révéler pour le moment.

MOON TALES EN 2020

Comme je l'écrivais l'année dernière dans le billet 2019, le webcomic Moon Tales est ma priorité depuis la fin de l'édition anniversaire de Capharnaüm. Une priorité toute relative qui ne concerne que mes projets liés au dessin car, pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, j'ai un autre métier à côté qui me permet de manger. Aussi, pour les quelques personnes intéressées et celles qui lisent parfois ce blog, peut-être auront-elles l'impression que Moon Tales n'avance pas depuis tout le temps que j'en parle... Et pourtant ! Bien que nous ne montrons pas grand chose, je peux vous garantir que le travail continue de façon régulière : le webcomic accapare nombre de mes soirées, week-ends et vacances. Malgré cela, la vitesse de réalisation des pages est encore bien trop lente à mon goût et j'espère, qu'avec le temps et l'expérience, cela s’accélérera. Il nous faut également prendre énormément d'avance (et donc réaliser beaucoup de planches) pour que nous puissions ensuite tenir le rythme de parution envisagé, à savoir hebdomadaire.

Pour vous faire - éventuellement - patienter, nous nous lancerons tôt ou tard dans un petit journal de conception, ici même sur ce blog, histoire de vous raconter les dessous de ce projet, nos choix, nos envies, les problèmes rencontrés, etc.

Par ailleurs, en bons rôlistes que nous sommes, il nous est naturellement (et très rapidement) venu à l'esprit  que nous souhaitions développer l'univers de Moon Tales en dehors du cadre strict de son histoire en bd. Nous avons donc quelques idées pour développer ce monde dans un cadre ludique, en jeu de rôle sous une forme ou une autre.

Enfin, le plus important : Moon Tales est un projet que l'on fait pour le fun et parce que l'on a vraiment envie de développer une histoire en bande dessinée et tout l'univers - monde comme personnages - qui va avec. Les médias "webcomic" et "jeu de rôle" sont ceux qui nous correspondent le plus et c'est ceux dans lesquels nous nous épanouirons le mieux au niveau créatif. De quoi donner le meilleur de nous même dans cette aventure !

Pour terminer ce billet de nouvelle année, si vous ne l'avez pas déjà fait, je vous invite à visiter ma nouvelle page web, qui est en ligne depuis juin 2019 !

N'hésitez pas également à aller faire un tour sur mon Instagram (et à me suivre là-bas !), car c'est l'endroit où je poste le plus d'images - et souvent les plus récentes.

À une prochaine fois !

[ Note : vous pouvez commenter ce billet sur ma page facebook, en cliquant sur ce lien ]

[spiralatlas]

PAX Australia 2017 Day 3

There are no notes for Day 2 because I spent it socialising a little and sleeping a lot.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

David Gaider Q&A

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

Misc: I spent a chunk of the day in the diversity lounge which was fun. I met some great people at the Gender Diverse card game, and got to the semi finals of the Xena Nintendo 64 Fighting Game Tournament (there were only three rounds, but given how much I suck at fighting games this was still a happy surprise, and a sign of what a random button masher the game is)

The gender neutral toilets near the diversity lounge were very well done, unlike GCAP the original signs weren't visible and "with stalls/urinals" was in small letters like an afterthought.

I didn't break anything on Day 3 but did break a mug the next morning. Also the cinema in the Crown Casino is surprisingly inaccessible.

Despite the various mishaps I had a great time and will definitely come again next time we can afford it.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

I missed the second half of this to see David Gaider, feeling very annoyed at the programmer.

Anny Sims @ChattyAnny on twitter (I was too slow to get the others!) Keely Thirkell Hayley Williams Soap Pejovic

Most queer characters are just queer coded, with plausible deniability. "It's up to you".Tendency for queer characters to be villains. Indie games tend to be more queer friendly than AAA games.

Lesbians: First known queer character in games: 1986 Moonmist had side-character who was a lesbian murderer.

Other notable lesbian characters:

KOTOR 2003, Juhani, first queer Star Wars character

Gone Home 2013

Dragon Age Inquisition Sera (I thought Sam Traynor from Mass Effect 3 came first?)

Tracer from Overwatch 2016

Trans characters:

1988 Birdo from Super Mario Brothers 2 "A male who believes he is female"

Lots of others but all terrible. Jokes and villains. Trans women seen as threat. Poison from Final Fight 1989, "so you can hit a woman".

Krem DAI 2014 trans man, You can't go "Ok, cool".

Hainly Adams MEA 2017 trans woman. Tells you her deadname, this was patched.

Horizon: Zero Dawn 2017 trans man

Dream Daddy 2017 trans man. One throw away line about wearing a binder, had to be clarified by writers. Non binary people and cosplayers wear binders too!

How do you make it clear they're trans without them implausibly outing themselves or just having it be word of god?

Gay men:

1993 fmv Dracula Unleashed has speaking role

Tended to be background characters, jokes and villains again. No m/m relationships shown onscreen.

Dreamfall: the Longest Journey 2006 (not made super clear until 2015)

Steve Cortez Mass Effect 3 2012

Dorian DAI 2014

Dorian knew exactly what his sexuality was. Coming of age narratives get boring.

Bi Characters (no picture because they're invisible):

1993 Ultima 7 part 2 bi character propositions character regardless of gender.

"Slutty bisexuals". A lot of characters are playersexual and it never comes up outside the relationship.

Zevran DAO 2009

Borderlands 2009

Fable 2004 let player be bi, Fable 2 2008 added bi PCs

Playersexual:

Only queer in the context that they will date players of both genders, but you don't see that unless you play as both.

Dragon Age 2 2011, Anders only mentions his ex-boyfriend if you play as a male PC

Fallout 4 2015. Did have background queer characters.

Stardew Valley 2016

Non Binary:

1995 Chrono Trigger villain

Often robots, aliens or other non human

Frisk Undertale 2015

Life is Strange 2015

Zer0 Borderlands 2 2012

Turing Read Only Memories

Some games let you have gender neutral pronouns.

David Gaider Q&A

1999 Working on Balder's Gate 2, didn't talk about his sexuality at work. Figured he would always be writing stories for straight people.

He was shocked to hear Jade Empire was having same sex romance. Got to be lead writer on DAO after that. "So I can put same sex romances in, right?". More economical to have bi romances, but he would have been happier having some gay characters.

Feeling iffy about playersexuality after DA2, he asked for 2 straight, 2 bi, 2 gay for DAI. "Minority content" is weighed via the percentage of those who play it and those who appreciate it. Eg 5% play dwarves but most see it as a positive thing to be able to do.

Most of his time was spent on the actual plot but Dorian was the most personal writing.

He was targeted by Gamergate but it doesn't compare to, for example, how much Jennifer Helper was targeted.

10 years on Dragon Age was enough, his head would explode if he had to write another story about templars and mages.

How did you get the job: His story is very specific. He was managing a hotel and a comic book artist in his spare time. A friend was a character artist at Bioware but Gaider wasn't really aware of the specifics. Bioware told their employees "If you know anyone who does game related writing let us know", the friend gave them Gaider's LARP rule book without asking. Got a call, gave the stories he wrote in highschool, got offered a job. He said no, it didn't pay enough, but then he got fired from the hotel. It felt like a sign.  

Who do you think will take the romance torch from Bioware: he’s not sure they're giving it up? EA treats romance fans as a reliable audience who don't need to be advertised to, even though it's why a lot of people play in his experience (though obviously those are the kinds of fans he will tend to meet). There is an underserved audience.

Most proud of: Lots of stuff he's not proud of. Wishes he'd been more involved in community discussions early on. Proud that the team tackled issues as they started arising. Proud of the company for standing by them. Most proud of Dragon Age 2 despite the mixed response. They had very little time to create it. It’s like a very big first draft. They had a plan but didn't get to compare notes once things were written, so he had to trust the team would stick to plan as much as they could despite things being cut on the fly. Team said they were happy in a post-game survey, didn't feel he was too dictatorial.

What does your writing look like, a screenplay? A cutscene does. But it’s generally structured like a tree that expands and then contracts back to the core path before expanding again. Flow charts.

Favourite relationship in a game? Morden in Mass Effect. Cried more than in a movie. Tali was his space girlfriend. Of the ones he's worked on, Morrigan will always be closest. She represents Dragon Age to him. Joyous time working with Claudia Black, first celebrity he'd worked with. Flemeth was originally Arabic, but that actress couldn't do it so they got Kate Mulgrew. They stopped looking for an Arabic actress for Morrigan and looked for someone who matched Kate Mulgrew. Claudia Black's audition tape was her reading Smack That like a beat poet. Gaider was very nervous, he'd never spoken to any actor before. First rule he was told was don't compare them to another celebrity, so naturally he said "I had Helena Bonham Carter in mind when I wrote Morrigan". Claudia Black said "So you're saying I'm a cheap Helena Bonham Carter ;D". She would say "Does he want me to do it more like Helena?" during recording.

Has being so closely associated with diversity had downsides? He may be gay but he's still white and a dude. He feels like it's all he talks about conventions sometimes. Teams need to sit down and look at what they've made. Lot of things made individually without concern for the bigger picture eg only 15% speaking roles in DAI were female until they stopped and looked at it and fixed it.  

"We didn't think about it" is no longer a defense. He wants to help with that, but we should be helping other marginalised voices get into the industry and amplifying their voices.

Wishes it could just be expected and we didn't have to discuss it.

He likes dating sim mechanics in the context of a larger story. But he does like the idea of romance not being as tertiary as it's been in Bioware games, romance as part of the adventure eg a romantic adventure. He's not really interested in social sims or day to day relationships. "My idea of a spicy relationship is to have my life threatened."

Why do you think most AAA companies try to avoid discussions of lgbt stuff, why is it taking so long? Because it's Pandora's Box. There is more being added casually. But if they do nothing they get lumped in with the rest of the industry. As soon as they do anything there are 2 sides: 1. why are you doing this, you're politicising your game. 2. Why aren't you doing more, whatever you did is wrong and not good enough.

Not that flawed attempts should be above criticism. But by mostly focusing criticism on the games that did anything rather than nothing, people have increased the feeling that it's Pandoras box. He understands that it feels like those developers might listen to criticism but the dynamic is sending the wrong lesson.

My question: How do you think inclusion of non binary player characters can work with including gay and lesbian love interests instead of just having playsexuality? “We've thought about it”. He defined playersexual for audience, like Shroedinger's sexuality. He doesn't like it when the only way to have something show up is to have the character talk about it. eg asexual: character would have to sit you down and explain what asexuality is. Is unsexy as a feature. Explaining nuances of sexuality is off putting. If there was more nuance across the industry that would mean no one game has to do everything. Any one game can have only so much within it.

(This doesn't actually answer my question. I discussed it with my husband afterwards and even he didn't understand what I was asking, so I may have garbled it in my nervousness)

Are some choices "canon"? One of the features of Mass Effect and Dragon Age was the continuity of choices. No "canon" but there is a default. A lot of people feel like they have to play the whole series to get the full experience, was off putting, and he found the Keep a nightmare as a writer.

They had editors keeping track of which choices were incompatible. And that was just the third game. "Can you imagine for a fourth game? Phew! Not my problem :D"

Have you thought about the morals of gamifying romance, saying what people want to hear to get sex? Dragon Age didn't work that way, sex was not at the end. Some characters in DAI had no sex scenes, sex is optional for Dorian's romance. It's a game, everything is gamified, you can't simulate actual relationships. For proper reactivity you’d have to mark every response and keep track of inconsistency, but that’s too much work. Same with polyamory: too many variables!

Maybe get away from the approval system? Pay more attention to overall choices in major quests etc instead of individual lines.

Bi characters in DAI were bi from the start. Not the first thing that comes up during character creation eg Dorian started out as "the good Tevinter". Helps avoid too many assumptions based on sexuality. But once characters started solidifying they would think about who worked for what sexualities. There's no set way to write someone "as" bi, but the writer can have them talk about relevant things in other scenes. Sera's writer is a straight dude, he didn't want to write About The Lesbian Experience, and got lesbians in the company to check out what he was writing.

Have relationships gotten more or less complicated? In Balder's gate 2 there was a single sequence of romance scenes which you could get kicked off. Dragon Age had approval. If it gets complicated but the player can't see it or understand how reactions relate to their previous actions it just seems random or predetermined. Unless they say "I am angry at you because of X", but noone says that.

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

lostandhound1 on twitter

His notes.

He's not blind himself, and while he obviously cares a lot about accessibility had an unfortunate tendency to treat disabled people as a separate, if respected, "Other" to himself and the audience, even though I was right there in a bright red mobility scooter. He advocated person first language, "a person with blindness" etc, but not all disabled people like it and it shouldn't be presented as unambiguous best practice. I'm building up the energy to talk to him about it.

He's a sound designer.

Audio games: designed for people with a vision disability.

Audio game jam: the games tended to be about blindness as a bad thing. It felt victimising.

How can we make people feel powerful?

He was inspired by his dog's amazing sense of smell. The mechanic is that you follow an invisible trail using sound cues, a humming noise that gets louder and quieter.

Sighted people struggle with extracting information from sound. The game is more difficult for sighted people.

He had to add fruit on the ground as an accessibility measure for sighted people.

All music is diegetic: happening inside the world of the game, eg characters are singing.

There's a lack of much budget for audio games, since they're never going to make much money.

In 30 years current 30-something gamers will need accessible games.

Accessibility tends to be added as an afterthought or accident.

For example Pokemon has unique sounds for materials, collisions, monsters that accidentally make it accessible.

Sony reader: US only

Microsoft narrator: good but hard to use as a developer

EA: Proactively adding blind accessibility

Fighting games are often in stereo, blind players can play and even win tournaments.

Demand more from your games.

Developers: find a consultant. Address accessibility early.

It's about empathy. People with disability deserve the same stories to take part in as everyone else.

gameaccessibilityguidelines.com

daisyalesoundworks

binaural sound is going to make a big difference

audiogames.net: where blind gamers go to play games. They're supportive if you ask for advice and feedback.

People don't mind if you don't do immersive, game specific voices and just rely on the screenreader

Sound designers need more love to make VR accessible.  

Braille games?? He doesn't know much about it.

Curb cut effect examples: curb cuts for wheelchairs but also useful for prams etc. Subtitles. Think about short term problems that benefit from accessibility as well eg the screen is broken, there's sunlight on the screen etc.  

Sounds of a blind person navigating their desktop. To me it sounds like a mangled garble of little bursts of cut off computer speech, here’s a description of what’s going on.

[captusmomentum]

Excessively detailed asks: 1-19 odds only for Inan, 20-38 evens only for Tace plz :D

fuck me running this is a lot OKAY HERE WE GOOOOOO

INANALLAS

(heads up the pronouns are gonna jump around here bc inan uses they//them and she/her so hopefully doesn’t get too confusing rip)

1. What does their bedroom look like?

Surprisingly Clean. They’re exactly the type you’d expect to be super messy but thanks to living in such small spaces like aravals all their life they’re very good about keeping things in come kind of order. This stands even for modern verses, they’re very good about it. In verses they’re inquisitor they actually rearrange the room a lot, putting their bed on the balcony and making the main floor more of an office/living room as well as creating panels to help block out some of that sun bc HOLY SHIT WINDOWS, they also have a panel set to block the view of the bed which is really just wedged between it and the railing. The little bed alcove is very cozy and the main floor is much more functional and better for have friends up :D In modern aus, like say amd, they’re one of those people who’re like ‘ live in an apartment that’s only 90ft big :D’ and when they show you how it’s like part science miracle and part acrobatics bonanza. Like look at any tiny home or tiny apartment type show/place/thing and thats’ how they Roll. Mainly bc they’re fucking Broke AF, creative/innovative and well trained by dalish life for it. So bedrooms are usually like, lofts and shit like that which can mean it’s not much more than the essentials of Snoozing. 

3. Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?They do! Inan works out pm everyday in pm every verse. Their style of magic is very, very very physical so it requires a lot of working out and training even in verses where they’re not constantly murdering ppl like canon ones they gotta get diesel for magic. In most verses they primarily do a variety of martial arts (or just one elf/dalish one? depends on how deep into worldbuilding you wanna get here honestly) and then things like running, weight lifting general kinda fitness exercise things. I imagine in modern verses and such (maybe more canon ones too tf do i know) that places like Arlathvhen’s there’s like, a sort of pow wow/olympics type event that goes on and clans have people representing them and Lath was disqualified for cheating bc she’s Weak in the temptation of Victory so Inan is the Obligatory Contender in at least some of the mage events, usually like, dueling bc it’s ironically her specialty. So she really does have to stay sharp when in verses where there’s no fighting bc she’s gotta bring home gold for clan Lavellan. 

(if u wanna get a sense of how inan fights it’s a LOT like pm anyone from avatar the last airbender/Legend of Korra especially Korra and Katara(atla) )(apologies about the katara vid and that shit music there’s So Little out there sobs)5. Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

Inan isn’t the most organized or together person which is combined w/ their dalish upbringing is why they’re Hyper Organized. Things have places and they go there ALWAYS otherwise they’ll never be found again ever. Also lots of labels. Their own living spaces are more organized than their work spaces, generally bc other ppl touch things or put things on their desk. Every time someone touches their things they have a small heart attack bc it means that something CRITICAL might have been moved and will never be found again. Seriously they are held together only by the power of their aesthetically pleasing organization and labeling. So school is Really Fun in modern aus (read: i’ve considered having them be a high school dropout for Various Reasons).7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

They Dream of wasting time. They Long to waste time. Everyday they pray they can waste time. Usually a lot of her time goes into things like Clan Stuff, Magic Stuff and Work Stuff so any chance they get to dick off they do. They fave method in modern verses is tv or youtube but in canon-y verses its Tavern w/ Bull or Tavern w/ Sera, the 2 people most likely 2 not call her out for Ditching Shit. Drinking w/ Dorian and/or Varric is very high on the list in all verses.9.Makeup?

Naaaahhhhhhhhhh. Generally too lazy for it and doesn’t like feeling of it on her face. Also it’s a real Bitch bc she’s always got tats on like 70-90% of her face and freckles (which she actually likes) so like foundation’s a Nah but you can’t do things like cover her dark circles w/o foundation otherwise the difference is Too Obvious like it’s just a Disaster. She can be convinced to wear it at special events and things but someone else has gotta do it. 

11. Intellectual pursuits?Some and very disorganized. Generally answering any Burning Mystical Questions they have regardless of worth or importance, debating (fighting) about topics involving analysis in books and things, Fade Stuff, Learning Elvhen. They don’t really actively pursue a lot of things bc they’re doing so much shit normally, they really only pursue it when the interest strikes. Also, proving that the occult is Real and Valid.13.Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?hoooooooooo boy dksjlgjfdsgfk, pansexual demisexual/grey-asexual is probably the best description. they don’t know they just like people and they don’t think about it they don’t think about Sex Stuff or ppls orientations it’s all W/E IDK and while they’re not prudish or squeamish about it they will run screaming for the hills things get too raunchy. Sex –especially sex involving them– has them looking for the nearest exit, not necessarily bc they’re sex repulsed but they are Extremely Anxious and Scared of interpersonal interaction so kissing is yiKESSSSSSSSSSSSS15.Biggest and smallest short term goal?Hmmmmm that’s really hard. Biggest is usually like: Not Die. Smallest is something like: whatever is next on to do list. They live a life of unnecessary extremes. 17.Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dressGoth mori/strega fashion vibes. Lots of skirts and layers and looking very much like a peasant wizard. Usually they just dress for the weather and put on as many layers as they can to feel safe and protected (and snuggly). There’s a lot of similarities in their logic about it with Uthvir but with miles of soft fabrics instead of spikes. Usually darker colors with an emphasis on blues. There’s not too much in the way of ritual around it since they’ve tailored their wardrobe so they can grab things put them on, and look good w/o any real effort.

 here’s the for inan fashion stuff 

19.What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

Usually they go through a very specific ritual when going to sleep since they’re a dreamer to help keep that shit on lock which involves a lot of emptying of the mind and relaxing and preparing to deal with Fade Shit. If they don’t it’s just existential dread, anxiety and depression shit and panic. So they don’t not do the thing…….

TACE

20.Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?Tace wasn’t really sick much more than the normal amount and kinds as a kid and was the kind who conks out the whole time and doesn’t say, try to get up and play. As he got older and his dreamer abilities started to kick in he reacted to it like someone who was very sick, fevers, hot and cold, sweating. slept too much or not enough. He began to have trouble keeping food down and lacking an appetite which he still has problems with to this day along with sleep trouble and exhaustion. 22.Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?either doodles of dicks and such or a rude, raunchy or somehow unacceptable letter to someone whether he knew them or not he wrote for a laugh with no intention of sending. He’s very mature24.Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?He actually excels in a lot of things, he’s a pretty gifted mage. He just Hates the Circle and all that academia type shit so regardless of his skill in them he doesn’t want to do them. He thinks intellectual pursuits are on a whole a waste of time because they’re mainly just there to make people feel more important and fancy.26.Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t workout?NOPE. NONE. past maybe ‘consult with that statue of Eleni Zinovia back in Ferelden about what to do w/ my life’ and ‘get a boyfriend’. 28.Who do they see as their best friend? Their worst enemy?hoooooo that’s Rough. Probably Banal though he’s more a father figure. He wasn’t very close to his other mages and hated the templars. Later when he meets Keshet and Shalev I guess they become his best friends which is...... very gay and lame.

Worst Enemy is Cullen and Meredith but Meredith is dead so fuck youuuuuuuu Culllleeennnnnnnn.30.Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies)Boy This Sucks [Drinks like a monster even more than usual] 

he’s pretty desensitized to tragedy but also a shambling mess so it’s really just his usual self but like 1000000000000000% worse for a while

32.Thoughts on material possessions in general?

MORE PLEASE. he loves shit give him all the stuff he wants to lounge in a gaudy parlor on a opulent chaise. He never got to have much in the way of possessions in the circle so he lots shit now. also he’s just a material little shit.

34.Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?)He doesn’t care about other people’s privacy pretty much at all and loves getting into people’s shit but he’s VERY intense about his own privacy. He’s deeply protective of himself and his things and privacy. So he’s a wildly hypocritical guy.36.What makes them feel guilty?Not fucking much. He occasionally feels bad about how he’s treated someone but it’s not often and he’d never say it out loud. just kinda adds it to the pile of fuel for self-loathing.38.Would they consider themselves a Type A or Type B personality?

He’d be a Type A if it weren’t how his life has gone so I guess he’s like, a burnout Type A. 

[acroamatica]

i feel like you all need to know how long i debated this post. but one of the things i'm trying to get better at is self-promotion, not reflexively assuming nobody likes what i do if it doesn't immediately get the traction i want it to. but some things do sort of get lost, whether it's because of timing or audience or what - i don't know.

so fuck it. it's my birthday (everywhere right now). i can ask for comments if i want to. right? right. :D

there are 26 fics on my ao3 here. but i have a few i'd like to recommend in particular.

encore 

Maestro Hux of the Erste Orden Sinfonie has survived the big gala concert and won over obstreperous piano virtuoso Kylo Ren and hopefully his board of directors too. But now Ren's gone back to New York, and mysterious rumblings from the wings suggest that perhaps not all is as serene as it seems.

did you know i wrote a sequel to downbeat? i think a lot of people maybe don't know that.

blackbird, fly 

One sunny afternoon in the mountains of Washington state, Ben Organa-Solo walked out into the woods.

He never came home.

Six years later, a journalist specialising in missing-persons cold cases decides to follow his footsteps and see where they might lead.

do you like creepy stories? do you mind if the premise ensures that i have to tag for mcd? this one requires basically no grounding in canon and is guaranteed to give you the feels. it’s sad. but i think it’s worth it. featuring splendid art from @vetranyx.

whomsoever i shall kiss 

Acting is a complicated business. Around Danny Bloomfield, it's doubly so. And Oliver Foley, despite being one of the greatest actors of his generation, isn't sure he's up to the challenge.

my first thackeray - meaning it's original fiction, but if you know who this is, you know who this is. probably up for a revision later this year but for now, an achievement i'm quite proud of, and my first non-fanfic in so long i can't remember.

shadowplay 

Percival Graves' life got a lot less exciting when his metal band imploded and he went to work A&R for his friend Sera's record label, MaC USA.

But the mysterious young guitarist playing under the name "Obscurus" is about to change all that. Assuming Graves can fucking sign him.

okay, this one isn't doing so badly, but i really really like it and i’m going to do another little thing in this verse soon so i'm going to shove it at you again.

ET FINALEMENT.

alone and palely loitering 

Late one night, at a bar, two people meet over a cigarette. One of them is a cab driver. The other may or may not be real.

yeah, i know i only posted this this morning, but hey. it's my birthday. :D (also WHO BOUGHT THE BOOK YOU ARE MY FIRST SALE LET ME LOVE YOU)