Before the year of January 1, 2015, most of the content floating around my blog consisted of various posts by a majority of white people posted around the world who were really into anime and maybe a few video games here and there.  In 2014, I was two years out of high school and in my sophomore year of college. I was still consuming mostly slash fic, but more specifically, mlm slash fic. I lurked around Tumblr in 2012, saw that embarrassment of a phase in its entirety, but two years after all of that, I was mostly into comic books and anime.

During the month of January 2015, I was going to be bedridden for a month as I recovered from an intense surgery on my hip. I had seen a long time black mutual of mine posting up a few things about Dragon Age here and there, but I wouldn’t be fully invested in purchasing and playing the game until I saw Vivienne de Her in one of the trailers for Dragon Age: Inquisition. I had never seen an unambiguously black woman in a fantasy setting until I saw Vivienne. She was on the forefront of the marketing campaign and she was so elegant. I loved her and I didn’t even know her. But seeing that trailer made me want to get to know her and the Dragon Age series better. 

So, in December of 2014, one month before my surgery, I bought all three Dragon Age games and prepared myself for a month of gaming. 

I fell in love with the series immediately. For most of 2015, I followed people that were in the Dragon Age fandom and, yes, most of them were BNFs. A lot of them were writing fic with my favorite LIs and they were reblogging and boosting other, mostly white, fans’ posts, gifs, and memes relating to Dragon Age. I loved it. There were talking about my favorite characters and I thought it was quality content!

Then that thing with the Anders stans happened…..

I hate that this was my first fandom because it is literally one of THE most toxic environments I’ve EVER witnessed.

Just as bad, if not WORSE than the BSN.

Enjoy contributing to an unsafe space by enabling the most toxic people at the expense of the most marginalized. 

I refuse to be part of a space where we prioritize fan content for fake characters and make believe tales over real people.

I refuse to be sucked into contributing to an unsafe space where I can’t trust anyone.

If you still wanna follow me on my new blog, you can PM me or send an ask and I MIGHT give you the new url.

this topic and Ive read solutions ranging from ‘research a lot and avoid tropes’ all the way to ‘just dont do it’. When you talk about this problem, are you referring to it within the context of fandom, and fandom where ocs are created, or are you talking about it in the whole scope of the creation of characters in art and fiction outside of fandom? I saw an argument that you should write diverse characters but unless youre from that minority group, dont write about the experience ie if your not queer, include queer characters but dont write about being queer. So then, if the issue is within fandom, is the best solution for white people to make white characters only while supporting creators of color? Or should white should white people try and find a respectable ground of getting used to seeing ocs of color but not be patring themselves on the back for them?

The Brown Paper Dolls™ phenomena that I’m referring to is fandom specific. When you are talking about a game series in which you have the ability to play as anyone you want, I do not care for white people who play as brown people and make content about those OCs. I prioritize the OCs of color that belong to people of color because I know that they are putting their time, culture, and careful of nuance into their characters that are specific to their race. I know I can count on them to give me a compelling story about their OC. In fandom space regarding games like Dragon Age where you can make your own hero and play your own story, the diversity and representation I as a fan of color seek will always be in the hands of other fans of color. If I want a compelling black OC, I will read a black fan’s work. If I want to read about Asian OCs, I will find an Asian fan’s work. People of color in fandom space are creating the diversity that is lacking in fandom space but the problem is that white fans are not boosting those people’s works: they are boosting the works of other white fans with OCs of color before they are boosting works by fans of color with OCs of color. That is the main gist of Brown Paper Dolls™.

But when the content is original content belonging to an individual or group, then there should be diversity there. This is where it is crucial that white creators do their research regarding people of color to avoid using common racial stereotypes in their stories. And yes, part of that research means figuring out ways to respectfully portray characters of color. This will include not writing as if you have the experience of being apart of a marginalized community you are not a part of and being mindful about the things you write about those characters.

The Well of Sorrows

Yeah, I absolutely hate the dialogue with Dorian about slavery.

???

It’s the dialogue, “What about slavery.” Here’s a video of the possible conversation. He says he never thought much about slavery because that’s just “how it is.” When the Inquisitor gets angry at him, his response is, “Um well you guys have alienages and um I mean not all slaves are treated badly and um yeah it’s totally a grey area.” If the Inquisitor again calls him the fuck out, he ends the conversation by basically saying, “You just don’t know what you’re talking about.”

It’s easily one of the shittiest piece of dialogue with Dorian. There’s nothing grey about motherfucking slavery and the whole conversation is transparent as fuck. Not to mention that IMO, it goes against everything else we’ve been told about his character. One of his big things is that he wants to reform his homeland and recognizes that Tevinter is shit, yet, he’s willing to defend their biggest goddamn problem. IDKWTF Gaider was trying to go for, but ugh.

(1WOMEN IN ANCIENT EGYPT: 

WOMEN in ancient Egypt were the equals of men in every area except occupations. Historians Bob Brier and Hoyt Hobbs note how women were equal to men in almost every area except for jobs: “Men fought, ran the government, and managed the farm; women cooked, sewed, and managed the house” (89). Men held positions of authority such as king, governor, general, and a man was considered the head of the household but, within that patriarchy, women exercised considerable power and independence.

Egyptologist Barbara Watterson writes:

“In ancient Egypt a woman enjoyed the same rights under the law as a man. What her de jure [rightful entitlement] rights were depended upon her social class not her sex. All landed property descended in the female line, from mother to daughter, on the assumption, perhaps, that maternity is a matter of fact, paternity a matter of opinion. A woman was entitled to administer her own property and dispose of it as she wished. She could buy, sell, be a partner in legal contracts, be executor in wills and witness to legal documents, bring an action at court, and adopt children in her own name. An ancient Egyptian woman was legally capax [competent, capable].” (16)

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Aramis Stilton - Gay

Confirmed during “The Making of Dishonored 2 with Harvey Smith” (minute 43:50). Was romantically involved with Theodanis Abele

Billie Lurk - Bi

Confirmed in one of Harvey Smith’s tweets

Breanna Ashworth - Lesbian

Confirmed in one of Harvey Smith’s tweets

Delilah Copperspoon - Bi

Confirmed in one of Harvey Smith’s tweets 

Emily Kaldwin - Ambiguous

Her sexuality is, in my mind, left for interpretation, depending on how you see Wyman and Emily’s past relationships

Geoff Curnow - MLM

Confirmed to have dated a man in one of Harvey Smith’s tweets, is now married to a woman. I leave it open because of compulsive heterosexuality, since he murdered someone to keep his male lover a secret

Meagan Foster - Bi

Confirmed by one of her audio recordings that can be found on the Dreadful Wale, as shown by this video on minute 8:02

Mindy Blanchard - Bi Trans Woman

Confirmed Trans on multiple occasions, but also during “The Making of Dishonored 2 with Harvey Smith” (minute 43:50). Confirmed Bi on her letter “Goodbye Trevor”

Windham and Darion - MLM

Gay couple from Dishonored shown by this letter

Wyman - Ambiguous (Gender Neutral)

yeah that’s basically exactly it.

this may be surprising but I actually LOVE solas as a character! I’m so glad he’s in inquisition it’s like, holy shit an actual GOD’s on your team?? and all his backstory, lore, etc. is awesome. And his romance is very dramatic and well written and makes for good storytelling A+. 

when I say I hate solas I just don’t like him as a person, like, if he was real I’d be incredibly pissed off by him. I find him just completely arrogant and annoying. He thinks of anyone who’s not like him as not even a person which, although interesting for a character, is the biggest red flag ever irl. And it pisses me off that everyone thinks he’s this good dude when he literally is the biggest liar and threat to thedas of all time, he’s worse than a one man blight and um yeah he doesn’t see other people as people? AND what makes him see YOU as people is just agreeing with everything he thinks and asking him all about him. He’s so up his own ass that I wanna smack him. 

he is a smooth bastard though I’ll give him that…