Hints of Beyond Thedas in DA4?

Yeah, I want to know why the qunari fear the kossith. As for humans, I remember one of the devs saying Rivaini came from a different place hence why they are analogous to black people unlike the Neromenians.

And yeah I would have vastly preferred Antiva being used for that game, instead of wasted in DA4. Maybe them and the First Nation of the new continent we land in, so we can experience both sides reaction.

This doesn't really add to the debate as just because someone is the VA of a character doesn't mean they necessarily have to look like them.  In fact this picture of Allegra Clark alongside that of Josephine clearly shows that AC has a lighter skin tone than Josephine.

This highlights the problem of comparing modern day or even ancient cultures in our world with the nations they are said to inspire in Thedas. Just because Venetian medieval culture is said to have influenced how Antiva is portrayed doesn't equate to the native population looking exactly the same. I've also explained in an earlier post why even if the native population of Antiva may originally have been lighter skinned, inter marriage with the natives of Rivain, particularly among the aristocracy, which is after all the class to which Josephine belongs, could have resulted in darker skins such as we find on Josephine.

The issue with a black Anne Boleyn is an entirely different one since she is a real historical person in our world for whom we have actual portraits. Thus it was as ridiculous as having a white person play the part of Nelson Mandela. Where it could have been justified would have been if they were using the story of Anne Boleyn but then placing it in an entirely different setting from Tudor England. As for example a Japanese film maker did with the story of Macbeth as portrayed in Shakespeare, or was it King Lear ? Shakespeare's historical plays were simply his interpretation of history; the real Macbeth not being the villain he made him out to be, so taking the source material and then reinterpreting it in another setting is just playing with fiction not fact. This has also previously been done with the play of Julius Caesar, so instead of Ancient Rome it was placed in a modern setting with corresponding military and civilian costumes. This works because you then focus on the themes at play rather than the historical accuracy of the characters.   So in this context, they could do the play Julius Caesar with entirely black cast so long as it was clear it was not set in Ancient Rome.

Personally, I feel the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn has been done to death with dozens of historical dramas, movies, books, docudramas using the source material. The only thing original about that series was the fact they cast Anne Boleyn as black. I watched the first episode and frankly felt sorry for the actress in having to deal with such poor material. As many people pointed out at the time, there is such a wealth of genuine black history that has not been covered by writers and film makers, why not write something totally original to cast talented black thespians in?

Don't get me wrong here. The fact that Antiva is meant to be based on Italy and they used an Italian actress to play her is a good thing, particularly if they want to replicate the accent of a genuine Italian for Josephine. She just doesn't necessarily have to look like a modern Italian, particularly when you take into account the likely intermarriage of the aristocracy with the natives of Rivian, that we know from Isabella are darker skinned.

He's done both. Kurosawa, Akira Kurosawa. He made "Throne of Blood", which is Macbeth and "Ran", which is King Lear.

Anyway, another reason I want to explore beyond Thedas is because I’m curious how the world developed without the issues Thedas faced, such as Blights. Will they be a lot more advanced?
Or crazy time, is the Veil only a bubble around the continent, so are they far more magical? Or the opposite and the Fade is a bubble, so the world outside it never had magic?
Are there other advanced races out there? We’ve heard a brief mention of the Fex but know nothing of them.

That was another idea of David Gaider that he threw out as a possibility but has never officially been more than something he was toying with when he was lead writer. They were allegedly meant to have been the original inhabitants of Par Vollen I seem to recall but since they were never part of official lore it is entirely possible they were never more than a figment of his imagination. There was certainly no mention of them in WoT2 among the other civilisations that are rumoured to live beyond Thedas. Of these, I find both the Par Ladi and the Voshai intriguing.

The fact that the Par Ladi, if they do in fact exist, seem to have superior magic that keeps them shielded from outsiders would suggest magic isn't confined to just Thedas and that possibly the Veil only covers the Continent of Thedas and not beyond. The Voshai were said to have reported a massive cataclysm in their own land. Was this natural or magical?

However, much depends on where the Executors originate from. If they literally serve those "across the sea" then what has aroused their interest in Thedas? Did the Breach affect them as well? Do they consider the "Wolf" a true threat to them or are they just wanting to remove him from the picture to leave their own way clear? How does he know of them because clearly he does consider them a threat? If they are the figures we have seen with magical bows, then it would appear their magic is far more advanced than the majority of Thedas. Could it be because they are not affected by the Veil in their homeland?

A blue skinned race would be interesting but I already equate humans with the sea, thus giving us one race for each of the primal elements. This would also raise the idea that may be Mythal was never really an "elven" goddess since in the Dalish myth she is born of the sea the earth's tears, whereas the original elven god, Elgar'nan, was born of the Sun/Air. May be the reason that Mythal ultimately chose a human, Flemeth, for her new mortal form is that she actually identifies more closely with the humans (people of the sea) than the elves.

When Patrick Stewart wanted to be Othello, he did his own entire production of it, where he was Othello and the entire rest of the cast was filled by black actors. And let's not forget ScarJo-st in the Shell ("but that's her ROBOT body so it's NOT whitewashing!") and the 47 Ronin adaptation that put in not just Keanu Reeves, but a bunch of english pirates and a whole ton of magical bullshit. That's a true event in Japanese history that Hollywood utterly mangled for the sake of an assumed white audience. And not to mention nearly every major gay or trans character has been played by straight and cis people. Can't help but notice that nobody has ever suggested that The Danish Girl or Dallas Buyers Club would have worked better if they were set on Mars or some bullshit.

Theatres in Britain have been practising "colour-blind" casting for ages and the practice is simply moving over to tv and films and such. Casting a black woman to play Anne Boleyn does not mean the show is claiming that she was black, or intending for the audience to read her as black. But if they are (I wouldn't know, I haven't seen it), they could be positing a hypothetical alternate history, like Bridgerton does, don't see the problem with that. There've been dozens of iterations on the "what if the nazis won" concept and people manage to watch Man in the High Castle without gesturing wildly at the TV and screaming "THE NAZIS LOST! STOP TRYING TO GERMAN-WASH EVERYTHING!"

Why is anyone struggling with this? You all managed to wrap your brains around Hamilton, right? You know Alexander Hamilton didn't really rap, right? Right?

Anyway, not that this segway into what race has what nose and when its okay for black people to be on television hasn't been *highly* entertaining, but back to video games:

FFXIV (yes I know I've been mentioning it a lot lately, but it's what I'm playing at the moment and I'm trapped in a snap lockdown for at least 7 days) has all kinds of kooky beast-people and wildlife. I hope that, in the event we move beyond Thedas, that we find more fantastical enviroments, creatures and races, and maybe even get to play as them. I've discovered I have a lot of time for games that let me create a twunky lil cat-boy and dress him up in slutty outfits.

Actually, there was some suggestion of this at the beginning; something about this may or may not have been true (although there was no suggestion of this in the advanced advertising). However, with regard to that particular production, you missed my point. I was quite prepared to watch a black actress in the role but was hoping for some original insight besides that fact because for some reason people are obsessed with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and every so often another series or one off special pops up about them. I wouldn't have bothered watching but for the controversy that surrounded the casting, which I suspect was the whole point in casting her because the writing itself was inferior to other productions on the same subject matter. As I say above, the actress in question deserved something better to showcase her talents and I very much hope that in the future she will get it.


And I believe this has been raised previously.   I would note though being gay is not something necessarily visually obvious and in the past there have been many gay actors playing straight roles with no one being any the wiser until they chose to reveal themselves.

I don't know, I miss Dragon Age being successful, and I really miss the watercolor world that felt real.

You're right, I just hate what Dragon Age's become since Origins/Awakening/Witch Hunt, their latest I never successfully completed.

And it makes me real sad, because I liked what Exodus aimed for doing, but Inquisition underwhelmed me to a degree I had never felt before.

I just do not want more of that bloated dime a dozen high fantasy.

I have saw this coming.
I understand your point, even if for me the human race rather represents all elements and thus symbolizes the dare for me.
With your point of view, my Point would no longer make sense. if you don't use the Asian elements with metal.

Mi'qote and Viera are no Problem for me. (people with animal characteristics)
What i don't like is Hrothgar or Skyrim's Argonians and Khajiit. (beastmen)


So something like this isn't weird enough for you i think, right?

or

(year, i maybe a little bit Hellboy influenced)
or