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∯ Alien Wizard
729
0
Sept 14, 2023 6:08:41 GMT
9,897
Ieldra
4,771
August 2016
ieldra
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
25190
6519
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Post by Ieldra on Jan 18, 2019 9:38:32 GMT
Emperor and Meghren were rumored to be lovers, causing much scandal as they were also first cousins." I must admit this always puzzled me somewhat. It is evident that the reason it became taboo for close relations to marry in some societies was that over time it had been observed that the children resulting from such unions often had some sort of genetic weakness. This of course is due to recessive genes coming to the fore but when the science behind this wasn't known, people felt that it must be the result of the curse of the gods. For this to have been the case in Thedas, there would have had to have been enough instances of this in the past for the taboo to establish itself, although since the Maker seems singularly uninterested in the sexual activity of his worshipers, it could hardly have been regarded as a religious taboo. Since Orlesians would have no objection to them being gay lovers and they certainly couldn't have children, it seems odd that it should have caused such scandal, bearing in mind they were cousins and not siblings. As others have pointed out, there are many royal families from the Egyptians onwards where marrying close relatives was the norm and whilst Christian societies might have baulked at siblings, there certainly seemed many instances of first or second cousins being paired off, probably in order to keep wealth and power in the family. So it is hard to see where this particular cultural objection on the part of the Orlesians does come from. I think this is a classic example of a writer not thinking things through to the end but inserting their own cultural conditioning instead. It can be quite difficult to keep all your lore active in your mind while you're writing up fictional history. And once written, probably it wasn't considered important enough for a peer review.
As others have pointed out, incest is considered somewhat problematic on Thedas, at least in certain cultures, but cousins are a borderline case even IRL. They certainly wouldn't be affected by the known effect that that prolonged close proximity in childhood makes sexual attraction later less likely - which is the natural selection mechanism to prevent inbreeding.
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inherit
∯ Oh Loredy...
455
0
Apr 28, 2024 16:29:04 GMT
26,666
gervaise21
10,788
August 2016
gervaise21
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights
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Post by gervaise21 on Jan 18, 2019 19:23:11 GMT
Just to add one point, if you play a Trevelyan, Dorian has a bit about being related. As a [img class="smile" style="max-width: 100%;" alt="[3" src="//storage.proboards.com/6576594/images/MFGWpSFCHdLUEeVIMZoU.png"] response, the Inquisitor can say that he'd prefer they weren't related, as that might make flirting awkward. Dorian responds that the connection was long ago, so they're "good to go." So the idea of incest being icky, even with same-sex pairings, wasn't just some throw-away thing in a DA prequel novel.
That line was even more silly. Dorian says they were related somewhere so far back that Trevelyan isn't even aware of it and yet you are meant to baulk at the idea of flirting with him because of it? One thing that geneticists say about people claiming to be the descendent of some famous figure in the past is that if they had a large family it is probably true of almost everyone. The Emperor Charlamagne is apparently a classic example where a great many people in Europe have some distant link to him, so technically they are all distant relatives. Even where there are cultural/religious objections to close relatives being in a romantic partnership, that doesn't extend beyond the first couple of generations.
Given how far the Tevinter Empire once stretched and the tendency of nobility to want to marry other nobility, it was actually not that surprising that one of Dorian's ancestors should have descendants in another part of Thedas. After all the Emperor Drakon was the grandson of a Tevinter Altus; his father was not magically gifted so came south seeking a bride among the Cirianne nobility in order to advance his status outside of his home country.
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Blaze
N3
Everyone seem normal till you get to know them
Posts: 893 Likes: 952
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1150
0
Mar 26, 2023 11:03:39 GMT
952
Blaze
Everyone seem normal till you get to know them
893
Aug 23, 2016 12:15:31 GMT
August 2016
blaze
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Post by Blaze on Jan 22, 2019 9:35:51 GMT
So the only point of loving someone and making love is to procreate and make babies... got it. That’s a completely insane interpretation of what I said, so much so that I’m not even going to try and argue with the alien starfish logic that led to your conclusion. In short, you do you, naughtynomad. I'm offended by the bias against alien starfish in this thread. being an alien starfish myself, i am also offended by the nonsense being spout here about my people. sure we are not the prettiest people in galaxy, but we know how to argue!
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Nayawk
N3
Posts: 476 Likes: 671
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183
0
671
Nayawk
476
August 2016
nayawk
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Post by Nayawk on Jan 23, 2019 0:11:37 GMT
I don't have a problem with incest being in the games, books or TV/film for the same reasons I don't have a problem with violence in my entertainment; it is make believe. The moment it enters the real world I will get my offended hat on.
That said I do live in the country where first cousin marriage is legal (New Zealand), so my tolerance to "incest" as some of the world sees it is quite high. Especially as first instance first cousin prodigy has no more danger of genetic problems than babies born to older women.
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4964
0
Jun 17, 2017 17:29:55 GMT
3,700
arvaarad
1,465
Mar 18, 2017 16:32:40 GMT
March 2017
arvaarad
Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Jade Empire
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Post by arvaarad on Jan 23, 2019 0:37:58 GMT
That’s a completely insane interpretation of what I said, so much so that I’m not even going to try and argue with the alien starfish logic that led to your conclusion. In short, you do you, naughtynomad. I'm offended by the bias against alien starfish in this thread. being an alien starfish myself, i am also offended by the nonsense being spout here about my people. sure we are not the prettiest people in galaxy, but we know how to argue! Indeed, alien starfish are known for their eloquent debates. Sadly, due to an unlucky coincidence in the evolution of their language, their most beautiful prose happens to use the exact same glyphs as an earthling shitpost. It’s a shame, really. All their attempts to contact earth are doomed to failure from the start.
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Blaze
N3
Everyone seem normal till you get to know them
Posts: 893 Likes: 952
inherit
1150
0
Mar 26, 2023 11:03:39 GMT
952
Blaze
Everyone seem normal till you get to know them
893
Aug 23, 2016 12:15:31 GMT
August 2016
blaze
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Post by Blaze on Jan 23, 2019 4:07:53 GMT
being an alien starfish myself, i am also offended by the nonsense being spout here about my people. sure we are not the prettiest people in galaxy, but we know how to argue! Indeed, alien starfish are known for their eloquent debates. Sadly, due to an unlucky coincidence in the evolution of their language, their most beautiful prose happens to use the exact same glyphs as an earthling shitpost. It’s a shame, really. All their attempts to contact earth are doomed to failure from the start. D:
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