"beg that I may succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty" elaine/20+/she/they/aggressively filipino video games & occasional writer. icon by kalidels, header by kidovna
rent lowering gunshots to anyone new from the da fandom who followed me ig is that in 2025, I think it's quite loser behaviour to still be worked up over mage rights discourse. Some of us have actual real societal problems to deal with instead of yelling endlessly about one of the worst fictional allegories for oppression. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
and because because you all love to claim that you have been here since 2014 and are a #veteran fan, surely you have witnessed all the times when a poc dares to like cullen or vivienne or sebastian or mentions that they ever sided with the templars and how every time, some mages rights person would berate and bully them for that, right? like you all saw that. like you all saw how ultimately useless the mages rights discourse is
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I feel like if people didnt latch onto lucanis in the pre-release, started making up stuff about him, how his romance was gonna go based on the minimal characterization he got from the wigmaker job or just the title "magekiller" alone, ppl wouldnt have so much to say about him in the free-form. vivienne, sera and taash, I can see why they'll have so much criticism written about them in the free-form, whether that's this fandom's bigotry or legit reasons to criticize their writing/storylines for being offensive. Harding baffles me a lot but even i can understand bc she's a returning companion with a characterization that ppl dont expect.
But Lucanis? Lucanis's crime is being an underwritten character.
This series has tons of those and what ppl usually do for that kind of character is ignore them and/or make up headcanons to support them being underwritten but otherwise would not have written so much in the free-form about why they suck. I know this bc all of my canon romances are underwritten characters. One of them gets treated as the people's princess to mask how much...nothing he has going on in the game. The other are often ignored so they cant even see how underwritten they are.
Really Lucanis should've been similar to Josephine in terms of the kind of reactions the fandom has about him. I love Josephine a lot but you cant argue that she's kinda underwritten even in comparison to the other advisors. But bc he was leading the polls on who people would romance first (90% in some of them) thats literally impossible.
I think the fact that the census shows that only 1.9% of dragon age fans are trans women stems both from the text itself (one of two canonical TMA characters in the games is a transmisogynistic caricature and both are fairly minor npcs) and from the fandom (I've seen blogs get hate mail for hcing Alistair as a trans woman, for example). The former obviously can't be changed (though we can change how we talk about the text and its transmisogyny when talking about trans representation in the series as a whole ofc) but I think in regards to the latter, DA fans have a responsibility to center & celebrate trans women and loudly & vocally oppose the not-insignificant transandrobro and terf presence both in this fandom and in the website as a whole.
Okay I needed to find the source of the Solas speaking to the tune of Hallelujah thing because it's so fucking wild and yet. True. It's true and fully stated by Weekes themself.
In "The Sound and the Fury: What we listened to while writing Dragon Age: Inquisition" posted on the BioWare blog on December 12, 2014, Weekes says the following:
When Solas talks about things that he saw in the Fade, things that speak to a distant past, I needed him to sound ever so slightly otherworldly and wistful – someone remembering a dream with a sense of both sadness and inevitability.
So I took k.d. lang’s cover of “Hallelujah”, and I wrote key scenes to that single song on loop.
If you follow that link and look at some of Solas’s lines, you may notice a familiar rhythm come out. It would have been forcing it to give lines the same rhyme scheme, but giving the words the meter captured some of that wistfulness and made Solas sound ever so slightly otherworldly.
...
(In the rare cases the player got into the same rhythm, there was always an approval bump from Solas. For that brief period, it was like the player was thinking like he did.)
I used this a few times over the game, and I love what it did to his voice. Also, Cori (who edited Solas) is exceedingly kind for putting up with my request that changes to those lines keep this surreptitious rhythm.
Anyway yeah I 100% understand how many people can find this more gimmick-y rather than charming. (I'm personally just kinda baffled.)
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I hope this is the last time I need to post, desperately, for help. But my situation has gone from bad to worse. While I do have a ticket to NS available for me on the 31st, thanks to my mom, I need to scramble about and get the travel papers I need so I can actually board said train.
I also need to clean out this apartment, and I need to hire a team for this because I am too weak and sickly to do it by myself and I am severely overwhelmed. They already sent me a quote for the work and it's beyond what I can do - I barely have any money for groceries - the 90 dollars in my account is for the documents I need to expedite so I can leave and not be homeless.
But this is causing me so much stress - I NEED this help, this needs to be done. I'm desperate now. More than I ever have been. You've all helped me before, and once I make this goal I shouldn't need help again. I should be with my mom, I should be getting a job and finally getting back on my feet. Mom already scouted out three places and put my name in for consideration, and my indeed profile. So. I will have work and a roof over my head.
It's just the GETTING there that I need help with.
So please. Spread this life wildfire, donate if you can. Once I am safe I can work on commissions again and start fulfilling obligations and thanking people properly.
But for now, I'm stuck with begging.
Thank you in advance; and I'm also sorry for how annoying I'm about to be, sharing this myself.
Census Survey Results, Pt. 1 - Intro & General Demographics
We're finally here! Because of how lengthy these posts will be, I'm going to have to split them over multiple posts. The plan is to have this intro, posts focused on each game and its main responses, and then a further few posts dedicated to each game's responses on the optional opinion section along with a selection of the free-response text box answers. They'll all be tagged with '#census survey', and once they're all out, I'll link them all in the pinned post so they're easy to find :)
Here is a list of pretty interesting patterns and findings I got from the results before we dive into the answers themselves!
When it comes to the free-response section, Veilguard inspired far more writing than any other game, with the highest comment count, response rate, average word count, and total word count
Solas inspired the largest number of people to say something, with the highest raw comment count and highest response rate. Cullen, Loghain, Anders, and Oghren also all broke 200+ optional text responses.
Sigrun had the least text responses (though she was rated positively by 85.2% of respondents and negatively by virtually nobody), with all the Awakening companions getting between 80-100. The non-DLC character with the fewest responses was Inquisition Leliana
Josephine inspired relatively few and relatively short responses, but 94.7% of respondents rated her positively
Taash generated the most intense free-response engagement, with the most total words and average words per response
Anders was the character who inspired the least indifference - only 1% of respondents selected "I'm indifferent" for him
Cullen was the most polarising, with his ratings fairly evenly distributed. He also had the highest negative percentage, narrowly ahead of Oghren
Oghren had the highest percentage of "mixed/conflicted feelings"
Tallis inspired the most indifference, with 43.5% of respondents selecting "I'm indifferent" for her. The next highest result was Sebastian at 25.4%
The top five characters with the most "I love them" responses were Dorian (75.4%), Zevran, Morrigan, Merrill, and DA2 Varric. Dorian was the most overwhelmingly positively rated, with 94.2% positive answers, 0.8% negative, and 1.4% indifferent
Vivienne, Sera, Taash, Harding, and Lucanis all had very positive ratings as characters, but their free-response text boxes were generally criticism-heavy, with people citing issues with their writing and storylines
Opinions on Oghren don't differ by gender - men were slightly more likely to be mixed rather than negative, but otherwise percentages were broadly the same across the board
Opinions on Taash differ pretty clearly between cis and trans/nonbinary respondents. Trans and nonbinary results are almost identical, but cis people were broadly less positive on Taash. 6.4% of trans and 5.6% nonbinary respondents rated Taash negatively ("dislike" or "hate") compared to 16.8% of cis respondents. 38.5% of trans and 38.6% of nonbinary people specifically selected "I love them" for Taash, compared to only 22.8% of cis respondents.
Men were substantially more likely to love Anders - 41.2% of women loved him vs. 61.5% of men.
Women were substantially more likely to love Cullen - 28.9% of women vs. 13.1% of men - and men were substantially more likely to hate Cullen (10.1% of women vs. 25.3% of men).
Sera was loved by 52.6% of men vs. only 35.3% of women
Some other interesting patterns: Neve was more positively rated by nonbinary people and men than she was by women, and Iron Bull was much more positively rated by nonbinary people than by either men or women
People who like Solas are almost twice as likely than others to also like Blackwall
Anders and Fenris fans aren't generally opposing camps, though Fenris fans are more likely to dislike Anders than Anders fans are likely to dislike Fenris. Among people positive about Anders, 97.2% were also positive about Fenris.
Ace-spec respondents lean slightly more positively toward Lucanis, but the difference isn't statistically significant
Older respondents (for this purpose 36+) like Cullen more than younger respondents do, while they like Loghain significantly less. Older respondents are also notably more likely to like Lucanis, Emmrich, and Aveline. Velanna, for some reason, peaks significantly for 23-27 year olds
Bellara was rated positively by every single person who said Veilguard was their favourite game
People who romanced Alistair in Origins tended to romance Fenris in DA2 and Cullen in Inquisition. People who romanced Leliana in Origins heavily favoured Josephine in Inquisition. Merrill romancers strongly gravitate toward Josephine and Bellara. Isabela romancers overwhelmingly favour Neve in Veilguard. Zevran romancers favour Dorian and Lucanis. Blackwall romancers divide strongly between Emmrich and Davrin.
The most common favourite romance pipelines were Zevran > Fenris > Dorian > Lucanis and Zevran > Fenris > Dorian > Emmrich
The fandom is very consistently pro mage, with 97.8% siding with the mages in Origins, 95.6% in DA2, and 89.7% in Inquisition. Only 1 respondent out of the 760 who answered the question for all three games chose the Templar option in every game.
To back up the common complaint in the free-response boxes about Veilguard forcing a harmonious team with no ability to disagree with companions, Rook was dramatically more likely to get along with everyone. The percentage of people who said their protagonist genuinely got along with every companion was 28.9% for the Warden, 22.1% for Hawke, 28.3% for the Inquisitor, and 72.2% for Rook. The most common sources of friction: For the Warden, Oghren, then Wynne; for Hawke, Sebastian, then Aveline and Carver; for the Inquisitor, Vivienne and Cullen, then Sera and Solas; and for Rook, Lucanis and Taash, but at much lower rates than any previous game's conflicts.
Certain pairings of characters were very often loved by the same people; some examples were Aveline and Cassandra, Morrigan and Isabela, Velanna and Merrill, Isabela and Neve, Isabela and Sera, Zevran and Fenris, and Nathaniel and Carver.
Cullen fans were more likely than other players to dislike Velanna, Merrill, Sera, Vivienne, and Isabela.
Inquisition players who chose the mages usually allied with them, but players who chose the Templars usually conscripted them.
How old are you?: 28-35 (48.3%), 23-27 (24.6%), 36-45 (18.4%), 18-22 (6.3%), 46-55 (1.9%), 13-17 (0.3%), 56+ (0.1%)
What's your gender identity?: Cis woman (48.2%), nonbinary (31.5%), trans man (10%), cis man (2.3%), trans woman (1.9%)
Write-in responses were mostly more specific nonbinary labels, people who didn't know their identity, and those who weren't comfortable disclosing gender identity but chose not to skip the question.
Where do you live?: North America (61%), Europe (31.5%), Australia/New Zealand (4.5%), Asia (1.3%), South America (1.3%), Africa (0.5%)
Which Dragon Age games have you played?: Inquisition (98.5%), Origins (96.9%), DA2 (95.8%), Veilguard (84.2%)
Which is your favourite Dragon Age game?: DA2 (40.6%), Origins (29%), Inquisition (24.1%), Veilguard (6.3%)
Which was your first Dragon Age game?: Origins (62.9%), Inquisition (26.5%), DA2 (8.8%), Veilguard (1.8%)
Which difficulty do you generally play on?: Normal (49.7%), Casual (37.4%), Hard (9.4%), Nightmare (3.5%)
Which platform do you generally play on?: PC (69.4%), PlayStation (17.1%), XBOX (13.5%)
Which of the spin-off games have you played, if any?: None of the above (66.1%), Dragon Age: The Last Court (25.8%), Heroes of Dragon Age (15%), Dragon Age Legends (6%), Dragon Age Journeys (3.8%)
Which of the animated/live action screen media pieces have you watched, if any?: Absolution (53.6%), none of the above (37.9%), Dawn of the Seeker (31.7%), Redemption (16.5%), Warden's Fall (8.3%)
Which of the tie-in books have you read, if any?: Tevinter Nights (43.4%), The Stolen Throne (40.6%), The World of Thedas Vol. 1 (40.5%), The World of Thedas Vol. 2 (39.7%), Asundder (37.8%), The Masked Empire (36.3%), The Calling (34.7%), none of the above (28.5%), Last Flight (26.7%), Hard in Hightown (17.6%)
Which of the tie-in comics have you read, if any?: None of the above (52%), The Silent Grove (32.7%), Those Who Speak (30.4%), Magekiller (30%), Blue Wraith (28.3%), Until We Sleep (28.3%), Knight Errant (25.9%), The Missing (22.9%), Deception (20%), Dark Fortress (18.8%)
Which additional spin-off media have you engaged in, if any?: None of the above (56.6%), the Vows & Vengeance podcast (32.4%), the Dragon Age tabletop RPG (21.7%)
worst mistake u can make w your male oc is giving him a sister that's cooler than him..... like sorry idw hear abt him anymore can he move tf out of the way
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I’m not gonna say what the complaint was because I don’t want to come off like I’m criticising one person in particular, but I saw a tweet gain a lot of traction with a complaint about something that supposedly happened that showed poor attention to detail and sloppy writing and I just did the quest it was in and it was just. Blatantly not true. Like the thing they’re complaining about didn’t even happen. And they were doubling down on it in comments implying something even more blatantly not true happened.
And like. This is the state of veilguard criticism. People will just straight up make shit up that’s blatantly not true, if you point out it’s not true you get ignored at best, then people don’t play the game based on that criticism, never learn it’s completely made up, and then repeat the criticism as what they heard about it. So it becomes part of peoples opinions despite never being true.
This is an issue with bad media criticism in general, but for years before Veilguard released, I had always said that the way people have been basically planning DA4 in their heads for so long... there was always going to be a massive freakout. People in the DA fandom (generally, in this part of fandom) get so invested in their own characters, headcanons, speculations, elaborate fanfic storylines, and stuff that "fixes" canon (you know, making things up for fandom) that I honestly think that the canon/fanon lines are super blurry for a lot of people.
And if you're already pissy at Veilguard because it didn't do something you wanted or you don't like the aesthetic -- or, at this point, you've made hating Veilguard part of your personality because you apparently have nothing better to do -- then you're going to be so negatively biased that you just start making shit up lol
It was not a good time in fandom to be a fan of Solas/Solas-shipping in particular when Veilguard came out if you enjoyed it. I unfollowed and blocked so many people who acted like the devs had dropped an anvil on their house because Solas was... the villain.
Which we knew he would be. For ten years.
And they were still "hurt" and "betrayed" and scarred and whatever because Solas acted like canon Solas instead of the many variations of fanon Solas (who is generally softer, sadder, and less of a jackass). You can't argue with someone who's emotionally attached to hating something as a social activity; even if they do soften or come around or just start getting over it to do something else, they're not going to stop Being Like That about Veilguard, even if they have to make up new things to get mad at. It's all kinds of silly goose behavior that has nothing to do with whether the game is good or not.
I'm pretty forgiving of a whole lot of nonsense, my grouching aside. But I do judge this thing in fandom where grown adults are experiencing ~emotional damage~ for months or YEARS after their thing of choice ends in a way they don't like. They can do what they like, obvi, I'm not the boss of people's emotions, but I do get to judge. It's ridiculous.
I’m not gonna say what the complaint was because I don’t want to come off like I’m criticising one person in particular, but I saw a tweet gain a lot of traction with a complaint about something that supposedly happened that showed poor attention to detail and sloppy writing and I just did the quest it was in and it was just. Blatantly not true. Like the thing they’re complaining about didn’t even happen. And they were doubling down on it in comments implying something even more blatantly not true happened.
And like. This is the state of veilguard criticism. People will just straight up make shit up that’s blatantly not true, if you point out it’s not true you get ignored at best, then people don’t play the game based on that criticism, never learn it’s completely made up, and then repeat the criticism as what they heard about it. So it becomes part of peoples opinions despite never being true.
I've seen a bunch of "fandom etiquette" posts on my dash today and I'm going to say something that is maybe going to be unpopular but;
The absolutely pervasive mentality that unwanted criticism or critique shouldn't be given and should be ignored is why fans of color don't stay in fan spaces.
And I am not going to mince words here:
A lot of you are racist. A lot of your fan works are racist.
That might have been difficult to hear. And if it was, you should probably reflect on why that was.
"Fandom etiquette" has created a space where fans of color either bite our tongues and eventually leave or say something, get dogged on, and then eventually leave.
So much of "fandom etiquette" seems to be about insulating creatives from Feeling Bad and hostility to any kind of negative feedback is a pretty big contributor to why bigotry festers in these spaces.
#imo the potluck analogy applies- it would be rude to critique someone's icing technique at a potluck bc it wasn't as good as at the bakery #but if they had decorated their cupcakes w hate symbols it wouldn't be rude to tell them that's gross and gtfo #in fact it would be inappropriate to NOT say anything in that situation #or to complain that another guest who did point it out was 'ruining everyone's potluck' #and pointing out racism in fan works is 100% the second thing not the first! (via destructions-daughter)
i think one of the worst things the left wing internet ever did was push the idea that oppression is basically a virtue, and being oppressed is a sign of your morality. it has made it like…impossible for some of you to hold the idea that most people are privileged in some ways and oppressed in others. AND a lot of you seem to have it in your mind that terrible people cannot be oppressed, and that oppressed people cannot do terrible things, which is a dangerous rhetoric to hold imo.
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It's nuts how common it is to not allow children to be angry, even (especially) in households where adults are angry all the time. As a child I knew my own anger was unacceptable--not just expressing it outwardly but feeling it at all. So now as an adult my immediate reaction to my own anger is often to feel guilt instead of like. Noticing when someone is being rude or unfair or my boundaries are being violated or whatever. fucked up.
to this day "who is allowed to be angry" has been an incredible benchmark for teasing out who, in abusive situations with mutual accusations and DARVO happening, is being abusive and who is being abused. one of my favorite resources about this, the Creative Interventions Toolkit, phrases the question "who sets the weather?" in the relationship and I think about it so so often when I think about my own childhood. I was parentified in a way that set me up for future abusive relationships, because I had to soothe my parents' anger while not being allowed to feel angry myself. I am extremely grateful to everyone outside myself - friends, therapists, partners - who's gotten angry on my behalf about how I'm treated or let me know something I'd been excusing or blaming myself for was actually Not Okay. I guess the good news here is that it's possible to learn how to access anger again in a healthy way, it just takes support, like doing physical therapy for a muscle that didn't develop quite right.
This is not to say that feeling anger is abusive; it's human to feel anger. But if you've ever felt like your anger was "unjustified" or were afraid to express it outwardly because you expected it to be dismissed ... ask yourself how you would react if the roles were reversed. I find that a lot of folks who were The Grown Up in a relationship with their parents hold themselves to much different standards than they hold other people.
I've seen plenty of situations that involve two or more people hurting each other and not admitting any fault because they want to protect their own egos. But. Notice when you think you're not entitled to be upset about something. When someone tells you you shouldn't be upset. There's a difference between taking your anger out on other people and just. Being allowed to feel angry.
