Guest_Faerunner_*
My two cents on this:
*cough*if Dragon Age ever feels like it's meant for a human playthrough it might be because the person playing is human *COUGH*sympathetic*COUGH*I wouldn't know, though, I always play as an elf when I can, and I dig the depth it goes in to if you're an elf in this game. I could really care less what was held -in mind- whilst writing the thing. It goes well for all playable races. The dialogue differences, everything. Bioware does a great job at that. I think the most important thing to remember if you fling those sorts of accusations around are that it -was- originally thought the humans were kind of like the conquerors, and the elves the wildlings that became sickened and slaves. The best stories take from experiences and histories we can associate with. Now we know that there was an ancient culture that pre-dates the fall of the elves to their lack luster selves, and they warred amongst each other to bring about their own demise. The humans were just picking up the pieces. But then again, I have my own theories on where this game is headed and the canon that will sprout in future releases :>Also, when mentioning Mythal's story and outrage at her choosing a human over an elf, if you ask her about it -- it goes something like Flemeth had a lover, and her husband killed him, then imprisoned her. That betrayal and desire for justice is what put a kinship between Flemeth's soul and Mythal's. Not a pair of pointy ears. It's also worth adding that the 'elven gods' are intelligent, so Mythal would have known the status quo when she possessed Flemeth (Flemeth being of nobility)... which would highlight certain theories that Flemeth used her influences to help the Dalish. I think those are only theories, though.
Oh. And someone else asked about Flemeth's age or something, I think? I'm curious about that too, since it says she takes her daughters. But as far as I'm aware, Flemeth/Mythal have shared the same body for many years... (I presumed life extension from being possessed).
I don't think its a big deal, at least Elven characters are actually relevant to the story, maybe more so than Trevelyans, whilst the Qunari and Dwarves stand outside in the rain. I think Flemeth and her daughters are all human because they descend from Andraste, Mythal chose Flemeth over an Elven lady for a specific reason, "she was betrayed as I was betrayed."
Merrill was fiddling about with an artifact that got two of her own clan-mates killed or Grey Wardenised, I can see why they would tell her to wind her neck in. She is also a bit of a tool in general, not someone I want rebuilding a potentially deadly device.
Most of the more prominent characters are human because humans dominate Thedas. Elves and Dwarves are nearly extinct and the Qunari are up in the north shaking their fists at Tevinter.
If I've misunderstood the point of your post, I apologise, I tend to do that a lot.
And you're both ignoring how I said that it isn't just that Mythal prefers a human host and human daughters or just that the protagonists are consistently written to be human in mind:
BioWare based Andrastian humans of European Christians (and the Rivaini on Moorish Spaniards), and elves based on real-world minority people; Jews, Gypsies, Afro-Native Americans, etc. Rather than treating this distinction with sensitivity, they feel no qualms about applying real-world problematic tropes with real-world problematic connotations by having white European Christians human characters consistently upstage indigenous folks elves with their own lore/culture/technology.
Human characters in the Dragon Age universe are consistently shown to understand and utilize elven lore, magic, knowledge, and technology better than the elven characters can.
Finn from Witch Hunt figures out that Eluvian is an ancient elvish word that means "mirror" while the Dalish Ariane had no clue, and he figures out how to use ancient elven magic rituals to track the eluvian to find Morrigan while Ariane just follows along and gives her blood to fuel the ritual at the end.
Morrigan, a human, researches eluvians and manages to reconstruct one from scratch and is treated as though she knows exactly what she's doing. However, when Merrill, an elf, tries to reconstruct an eluvian from scratch, the narrative treats her as messing with powers beyond her control and technology too great for her to understand. (Even though she explains several times that the only reason the mirror hurt Tamlen and Mahariel was because of the darkspawn taint, so once she used magic to purge the shard of the taint, it was no longer any more dangerous than an actual piece of glass. Yet every character in the game and even the devs treat it like Merrill trying to fix the eluvian itself as the problem, and she just doesn't know what she's doing, and that the only way for her to "get better" is if she completely destroys/gives up on the mirror like a good elf. And it takes Mighty Whitey Human Hawke to show her the light.)
The Elven mother-goddess? She's human. The elven mother-goddess's daughter? She's human. The character to tell the Inquisitor all about the Eluvian, the Cross Roads, the Arbor Wilds, the Temple of Mythal, ancient elven lore, Well of Sorrows, etc? She's human. The character to drink from the Well--the last scrap of ancient elven knowledge? Most likely human, since the devs have arranged it so that only either Morrigan or the human-intended protagonist drinks it.
Elves may be turning out to be an important race in the lore, but so far they certainly aren't shown to be active players in their own history, lore, culture, magic, technology, fate or future. It's human characters (Flemeth, Morrigan, human intended protagonist, etc) who are consistently shown to understand and utilize it better than they can; somehow showing that human characters master not only their own culture, knowledge, and technology, but the elves' knowledge and technology better than the elves can.
And that's what I have a problem with.
Retour en haut
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but intense feels. Really good reads.
