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scans_dailyTitle: Dragon Age: Those Who Speak and Dragon Age: Until We Sleep
Creators: David Gaider (writer) and Alexander Freed (artist)
Posted: About three pages total from Those Who Speak #1 and handful of panels from Until We Sleep #1 & 2
Availability: Digitally from Dark Horse and Amazon, also available in trade
Some time back, there was a kerfuffle on Bioware’s Dragon Age message boards regarding their disappointingly offensive portrayal of a trans character in DA2. There was the usual tact and sensitivity you’d expect from the dudebros, but one of the game writers did step in, apologize for the poor portrayal, and say they’d try to do better in future.
Well, here we are.
Ultra-super, major-condensed version: Alistair, Varric, and Isabella are trying to track down King Meric, Alistair's father. The quest has brought them to Tevinter, in pursuit of a powerful mage named Titus.
Maevaris Tilani is introduced in Dragon Age: Those Who Speak #1. She’s unassumingly announced as a Tevinter Magister and part of Varric’s family. She promises to help them out as she can.
And, of course, trouble shows up in the form of Alistair deciding to pick a fight re: his dad's whereabouts as soon as Titus walks in the door.
The trio dashes off in pursuit of Titus, and Mae vanishes for the rest of the series.
Pick up again in Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #1, where Mae has been captured and interrogated by Titus for her betrayal...
...and this is where the reader is let in on Mae not having cis-female attributes.
Varric frees her and continues through the catacombs. He finds the quest object suspended over a pulsating magical artifact and, in the grand dungeon crawl tradition, decides that the best way to investigate it is to shoot a crossbow bolt into it.
He comes to in The Fade (the dreaming realm) some time later, shakes off his own bittersweet memories, and tracks down Mae.
Varric points out that they're still on a job; Mae is a little distracted by her reunion with her husband (and no little under the spell of The Fade).
Ah, yes. Priorities.
Further in, they find Isabella, who, after a run-in with the Qunari, has fancied herself as one of their warriors and attacks them outright. Even after they managed to shake some sense into her, she feels the pull of the Fade, and of how easy it would be to let someone else take charge of her life.
Eventually, they collect Alistair and fight their way clear of The Fade before dispatching with Titus and freeing Meric.
So far as Mae's portrayal goes, I think this was excellently done. Not once is there so much as a snide remark about Mae’s body conformation. She’s addressed with the proper pronouns throughout both series. She’s a person of accepted high standing among her peers and an undeniable asset to the heroes, not plunked down as a curiosity or so that the writers can show her off for diversity points. And she is not killed off for angst!
I’m still not hearing anything about the DA3 game that’s making me excited to pick it up. (Human Templar PC. Ugh.) But! If Mae’s one of the companions, I will put down money for it.
Creators: David Gaider (writer) and Alexander Freed (artist)
Posted: About three pages total from Those Who Speak #1 and handful of panels from Until We Sleep #1 & 2
Availability: Digitally from Dark Horse and Amazon, also available in trade
Some time back, there was a kerfuffle on Bioware’s Dragon Age message boards regarding their disappointingly offensive portrayal of a trans character in DA2. There was the usual tact and sensitivity you’d expect from the dudebros, but one of the game writers did step in, apologize for the poor portrayal, and say they’d try to do better in future.
Well, here we are.
Ultra-super, major-condensed version: Alistair, Varric, and Isabella are trying to track down King Meric, Alistair's father. The quest has brought them to Tevinter, in pursuit of a powerful mage named Titus.
Maevaris Tilani is introduced in Dragon Age: Those Who Speak #1. She’s unassumingly announced as a Tevinter Magister and part of Varric’s family. She promises to help them out as she can.
And, of course, trouble shows up in the form of Alistair deciding to pick a fight re: his dad's whereabouts as soon as Titus walks in the door.
The trio dashes off in pursuit of Titus, and Mae vanishes for the rest of the series.
Pick up again in Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #1, where Mae has been captured and interrogated by Titus for her betrayal...
...and this is where the reader is let in on Mae not having cis-female attributes.
Varric frees her and continues through the catacombs. He finds the quest object suspended over a pulsating magical artifact and, in the grand dungeon crawl tradition, decides that the best way to investigate it is to shoot a crossbow bolt into it.
He comes to in The Fade (the dreaming realm) some time later, shakes off his own bittersweet memories, and tracks down Mae.
Varric points out that they're still on a job; Mae is a little distracted by her reunion with her husband (and no little under the spell of The Fade).
Ah, yes. Priorities.
Further in, they find Isabella, who, after a run-in with the Qunari, has fancied herself as one of their warriors and attacks them outright. Even after they managed to shake some sense into her, she feels the pull of the Fade, and of how easy it would be to let someone else take charge of her life.
Eventually, they collect Alistair and fight their way clear of The Fade before dispatching with Titus and freeing Meric.
So far as Mae's portrayal goes, I think this was excellently done. Not once is there so much as a snide remark about Mae’s body conformation. She’s addressed with the proper pronouns throughout both series. She’s a person of accepted high standing among her peers and an undeniable asset to the heroes, not plunked down as a curiosity or so that the writers can show her off for diversity points. And she is not killed off for angst!
I’m still not hearing anything about the DA3 game that’s making me excited to pick it up. (Human Templar PC. Ugh.) But! If Mae’s one of the companions, I will put down money for it.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 09:01 pm (UTC)o_?
Date: 2013-06-10 06:16 am (UTC)That's an interesting event given that you can turn her over to the Quinari in DA2.
Also, I thought it was King Maric, not King Meric?
Re: o_?
Date: 2013-06-10 06:29 am (UTC)And you're most likely right; I've not dug deeply enough into the DA lore to memorize any names but a few of the companions.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 07:23 am (UTC)You're not supposed to be a templar. (at least last time I heard)
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Date: 2013-06-10 07:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 08:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 10:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 10:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 09:47 am (UTC)Also, why is Varric wearing an outfit that covers up his chest hair? Is chest hair considered indecent in Tevinter?
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Date: 2013-06-10 10:08 am (UTC)'Fraid I can't speak to Varric's roving fashion sense.
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Date: 2013-06-10 10:12 am (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBatUrTKk18
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 10:21 am (UTC)The scene plays differently if Hawke has slept with Serendipity. In that version, she greets Hawke familiarly, and hints that everyone at the Blooming Rose is looking forward to Hawke’s next visit. That’s what Tallis and Hawke are responding to, because I thoughtlessly did not write an alternate version of the middle or end of the conversation in the event that the player hadn’t slept with Serendiptiy. I just linked around the familiar part of the conversation to the same ending. So yes, in this version, the most reasonable assumption would be that the source of the awkwardness is not a discussion of Hawke’s popularity at the Rose in front of both their dates, it seems to be Serendipty herself, because no conversation has occured in this version of the scene. Tallis’ line doesn’t even make sense in this case, because there’s no topic to change. There’s nothing else for Tallis and Hawke to be reacting to. It’s an absolutely terrible scene, and I can see why it offended.Again, I’m very sorry.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 09:55 pm (UTC)that said... the voice acting for her made me cringe....
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Date: 2013-06-11 07:51 am (UTC)Not the depressingly common "we're sorry you feel offended" that condescendingly implies that those who are offended are the real jerks for not understanding the spirit in which it was intended, or the "It's a joke, lighten up" asshole excuse, but an actual "You're right, this was offensive, we screwed up and we're very sorry."
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 08:35 pm (UTC)Granted, "dudebros" IS also used as synonymous with "guy who plays Call of Duty." However, that's because the CoD Community has become rather infamous for its near-constant use of fag, n#####, c###, and harassment in general, especially of women and poc.
It's true that some gamers can be pretty damn elitist and flame CoD for its mainstream appeal, but the main reason CoD players in general have such a bad reputation that they are known as dudebros is because the community is objectively horrible.
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Date: 2013-06-11 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 05:18 pm (UTC)Just looked it up and it is kinda sweet, that the writer of this is the same guy, who closed the thread and thanked the author. If only more creators were like that.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 03:10 pm (UTC)And something about my favorite person
Date: 2013-06-10 06:55 pm (UTC)Do you guys think that would be good way to do it? Sorry, I know this isn't much about the scans themselves. The art s nice and the story seems fine. Never got to play DA2, is it really that bad?
Re: And something about my favorite person
Date: 2013-06-10 08:43 pm (UTC)There is progress inherent in the act of including a trans character who doesn't wind up as a corpse at the end of the narrative, but the bar should still be set higher than "awkward comic relief". It's one of the reasons Mae is such a welcome addition -- she's outgoing and a bit brassy and I can see where she might read as camp, but she's also powerful, loyal, and determined. There's more to her than the stereotype and the matter of which bits she was born with doesn't come up at all.
As for the idea, it looks good on paper (admittedly, this is from the POV of cisgender queer female, so you'll probably want to defer to a more knowledgeable source), but I think a lot of it would depend on execution and whose story it ultimately turns out being.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 08:16 pm (UTC)Now I'm not trying to be "trannier-than-thou," and say that medical transition or hormonal replacement is needed to legitimize trans identity, but most trans women do find it desirable, and Maevaris has obviously been socially transitioned for some time (perhaps most of her life), so I'd expect her to have some mammary development.
It also kinda seems like she was drawn flatter even with her armor/corset in the second comic (the first comic made it clear she was pretty flat, but there seems to have been some depth added by the inker and colorist that's not noticeable in the second).
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 08:40 pm (UTC)More seriously, there isn't a lot of mage-type magic in Dragon Age that deals with permanent body alteration (unless it's a case of corruption or whathave) or long-term enhancements. Some spells can shift the user temporarily into a non-human form, usually animal or elemental, but actual long-term changing of appearance is typically limited to desire demons and the like.
That said, the game does present a society that has your typical D&D chug-a-potion-heal-a-gut-wound portable healing magic. If nothing else, you'd think a safety net like that mean that there would be a lot more advanced options for something like surgical body modification. But I haven't seen a fantasy setting yet that's gone that route.
And yeah, I get what you mean re: the corset in the first issue -- there are even panels where it looks like she has the beginning of side-boob. I wonder if there was a communications breakdown somewhere.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 12:21 am (UTC)Now, if you ask Morrigan about whether she can shapeshift into other human forms, she doesn't exactly say it's impossible: she says it's pointless for her top try studying another human in order to become like them, because she already is human.
That said, just because Morrigan finds it pointless doesn't necessarily mean it IS pointless. A character like Mae might study a cisgender woman and then use low-grade shapeshifting to alter her own body to develop boobs and so on, if that's what she wanted to do.
Of course, shapeshifting requires magic and willpower in order to maintain your chosen shape. Get injured in battle, for example, and you revert back to your original shape, whatever it might be.
Which, I guess, will do for fanwank as to why Mae has boobs in her first appearance, but is flat-chested after being captured and tortured.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 02:10 am (UTC)Well, Dominic Deegan tried it.
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Date: 2013-06-11 03:27 am (UTC)She's been captured and tortured for what seems to be weeks or months-- perhaps whatever means she's been using to feminize her body (magical or otherwise) might've worn off by now. Plus take into account general loss of body fat and muscle mass since they probably don't serve prisoners eat-all-you-can buffet in Tevinter prison.
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Date: 2013-06-11 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 03:30 am (UTC)Works for me.
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Date: 2013-06-10 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-10 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 09:45 pm (UTC)(She does get bigoted comments from the bad guys, but not from the narrative.)