Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

Yeah, that was my impression too. Though not just Hawke, but all the people from Ferelden fleeing to Kirkwall.

The word exodus comes from Greek and means 'mass departure of people.' It's also used to refer to the act of leaving or going away from a country done by a group of people because of war or forced migration. So a person or people are forced to [for whatever reason, be it malevolent (e.g. persecution), of their own doing, or completely out of their control (e.g. a natural disaster causes a loss of home and livelihood which then leads to hunger and poverty)] leave behind the country where they were living. Hence its use when talking about the Israeli fleeing after slavery from Egypt or when referring to times in our history when persecution forced the Jews flee from different countries.

In addition what Hrungr and SomberXIII already said, I remember reading the devs mentioning that the Exodus was suggested as a name also because all of our party members were originally "outsiders" to Kirkwall, be they plain refugees or fugitives:
The Hawke family - fleeing the Blight, originally from Ferelden (apart from their Kirkwaller mother). Carver (and Hawke) also possibly army deserters?
Aveline Vallen (neé du Lac) - her family fled from Orlais to Ferelden. Also a deserter?
Varric Tethras -  his family was exiled from Orzammar, though he himself was born in Kirkwall
Merrill - banished from her Sabrae clan for practising blood magic, and her original birth clan was Alerion
Isabela - a shipwrecked Rivaini trying to evade the Qunari "justice"
Anders - originally from Anderfels and fleeing both the templars and the wardens
Fenris - originally from Tevinter and trying to escape slavery
Sebastian Vael - "the exiled prince" from Starkhaven

EDIT: So a certain "uprootedness" (= to tear away from a native place or environment) defines all of the people above.

Everyone on Twitter keeps saying that image of Blackwall looks like John Wick

I'd also add a note re: the Sabrae Clan themselves to the Exodus analysis, they fled Ferelden across the sea to another country to escape the Blight.

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Karin Weekes @karinweekes
20 years of partnership and sacrifice have culminated in this glorious moment: The team Roll-The-Upright-Oreos-Across-The-Table/Catch-Them-Without-Using-Hands event at the @bioware Valentine's Day celebration. 💞 (Video credit: @ccorfe) @patrickweekes #powercouple



Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes
You roll 'em up, I knock 'em down, Damsel. ❤️

Rob Donoghue @rdonoghue
Twitter is a garbage fire populated by people I love beyond all reasonable measure. It is full of unexpected delights, but also a lot of re-used content.

What I’m essentially saying is that Twitter is Kirkwall.

Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes
W o w

GipsyDangeresque @gipsdangeresque
I mean, Varric *is* essentially a professional social media influencer.

Patrick Weekes @patrickweekes

Most of my Hawkes never "came to terms with" Kirkwall and would have left after Leandra's death in Act 2 if given the option.

But many stories from fantasy are pulled from real word events. 

Imperator Furiåsa @devilkitten

I played some Dragon Age Awakening and got so pissed at the brood mother that I had to write about it. Men’s fear of women’s sexuality is mind boggling at times.

Ugh. Never dive deep into problematic enemies in your favorite games because man did I find issues with the broodmother and the banshee.

Okay. So the Banshee from ME3. Lets take a look at the origins for that. Banshees are made from Asari, a mono gendered race of aliens basically on the lookout for other species (we all know it’s a race aimed towards human men, okay?) to knock them up. Asari breeding with Asari ->

-> we know is a bit of a taboo. That’s established in the first game of you talk long enough with Liara. If an Asari does have children with another Asari this results in a pure blood. Pure bloods are sort of taboo because pure bloods can become Ardat-Yakshi. Ardat-Yakshi are ->

-> more or less Asari whose sexuality is unrestrained and it will kill you if you have sex with them. The only _acceptable_ Ardat-Yakshi are those who renounce sexuality and become celibate. Can you see where I’m going with this? Okay. And lo and behold, Ardat-Yakshi is what ->

-> the reapers use to create Banshees, thus turning the Madonna back into a murderous whore. I think I would have been less upset about this if there had been just ONE male enemy in ANY BioWare game (tips are welcome!) that used the same level of care and utter horror ->

-> to introduce them to the player, but the two enemies I’ve found that play on both sexuality, procreation and body horror in a BioWare game are both originally women (or coded as women). This only goes to show you should never start thinking too much about the games you love.

(I’m of course talking about the broodmother and the banshee with regards to the two enemies mentioned.)

Was the body horror of Turian reapers or the Architect related to their sexual characteristics? It’s specifically that idea of “haha, you thought this type of body was sexy but now that sexuality has been TURNED AGAINST YOU!”



For the record, I maintain that the best way to solve this is by adding hot-but-also-gross monster bfs. No need to subtract anything, make everyone feel Uncomfortably Horny equally.

I mean, using human sexuality taken to the grotesque is a long used horror technique. Just look at the Xenomorph.

That said, I’ve never thought of “sexuality” when looking at broodmothers or banshees.