DA:Inquisition - Gaider on the Female Perspective

David Gaider, Lead Writer for Bioware's DAI, has a rather interesting post on his tumblr site discussing an earlier version of a plot involving Leliana. (spoilers ahead, so you've been warned). Gaider taks about a demon named Envy has taken Leliana's form:

and Leliana is there asking odd questions and testing the player's responses.One of these things had Envy-Leliana attempting to seduce you. It was creepy and weird, and one of the places where the player was allowed to go, "Woah! This definitely isn't right!" But the player also had the opportunity to accept. There were going to be severe consequences for accepting, but regardless of that the thing that was pointed out was how the creepiness of the situation went beyond the demon-seduction itself and more how it seemed to be a sexual violation of Leliana by-proxy.

I do not normal make comments on news bit, but I can't see how this can bee seen as a
"sexual violation of Leliana by proxy". Do you?

More information.

Bah.
Leliana character transformation is shocking in any case. From Jesus' sister in DA1 to deadly mistress of doom in DA3.
Not that I'm complaining, I love her new crazyness and especially PTSD Leliana if you side with… Spoilers!

They were probably worried about it offending the Sarkeesian/Polygon/SJW crowd which is probably why they cut it out.

Entire DA:I game seem castrated compared to previous installments, no sex scenes, no lust demons, no seduction, no slavery, no courtesans or brothels, no boobs, ugh. Also lately i find myself irritated by rape craze, people see rape everywhere and interpret everything as a form of rape.

Thanks for the warning.. Not that I planned to play DAI anyway, but …

Originally Posted by domein
Entire DA:I game seem castrated compared to previous installments, no sex scenes, no lust demons, no seduction, no slavery, no courtesans or brothels, no boobs, ugh. Also lately i find myself irritated by rape craze, people see rape everywhere and interpret everything as a form of rape.

Are you sure that you played any of the DA games, because there is no lust demons in the setting (if you mean desire demon, DAI has one), the sex scenes in the series have always been clothed until DAI (fully naked), DAI is the first BioWare game to show naked boobs, slavery is kind of a plot point despite the game being in Southern Thedas where it is illegal and you can have a conversation with the Tevinter companion about it.

The only accurate thing is that DAI doesn't have any brothel, but I'm not sure it would have made sense to find one in forests and deserts away from civilization or battlefields where people are currently fighting.

Then I seem to have chosen a wrong romance interest, because most they would do is sneak away to shyly kiss under a tree in the garden.

Originally Posted by aries100
I do not normal make comments on news bit, but I can't see how this can bee seen as a "sexual violation of Leliana by proxy". Do you?

Yeah, that's a bit strange. But I'm male, so I'm falling directly onto the gender line that Gaider is describing (none of the male writers thought it was bad, but all of the female writers did). (SPOILERS): It's just Envy, who's made herself to look like Leliana, if I recall correctly. Envy did not take control of Leliana's body. That would be much worse IMO, because if it was Leliana's body under Envy's control, then Leliana was present but couldn't consent. I suspect where I see a big distinction (the 'real' Leliana wasn't actually there), a lot of women would see a tiny one that doesn't completely take away the sense of violation.

It reminds me of an episode of Star Trek: TNG where an ensign had programmed the holodeck so he could act out fantasies which included 'relations' with hologram versions of the main female characters on the show. There was a heavy degree of discomfort conveyed when the actual characters discovered the holodeck program and had to watch fake, sexed-up versions of themselves fawning all over a guy they worked with. It did seem vaguely rape-y, even though no actual violation had occurred.

"There were going to be severe consequences for accepting, but regardless of that the thing that was pointed out was how the creepiness of the situation went beyond the demon-seduction itself and more how it seemed to be a sexual violation of Leliana by-proxy. Never mind that it was Envy initiating it, you thought (or seemingly thought) you were sleeping with Leliana, and it made for uncomfortable follow-up trying to imagine whether that was something we could just let slide and/or whether it should be something you could address with the real Leliana…or whether it should be allowed at all."

Is it just me or could that be an interesting story plot ? Especially the discomfort and arkwardness that should arise of it.

I'll actually agree with gaider in a way for once though, DAI isn't the game to shove this kind of a situation into a players face and making it some kind of optional encounter just wouldn't work.

As I read it, Envuy (the demon)has indeed make herself look life Leliana. And it is Envy disguised as Leliana who lures the male? or female? player into - ahem -bed. Or with Gaider's words are 'trying to seduce you' (as a male player?) . Also, this is not a, imo, a violation of Leliana by proxy. If Envy had taken control of Leliana's body directly, this would indeed have meant a violation of Leliana by proxy.



I also do not agree with Gaider that this a man contra woman thing. I think it is more of a cultural thing. I come from a culture (Denmark, Europe) where I'd like to think that most women won't look at a plot point like this as a violation of Leliana by proxy. How can it be? When it is Leliana (or Envy) who actually is doing the seducing? To me, and most women in Denmark, this would not been as what Gaider describes. And here's why: Most women in Denmark, Europa are ok with their sexuality; many Danish women go out looking for a man to take to their - ahem - bed. Sometimes only for one night or three nights. To me, as a Dane, this is what Envy is doing here.

If the women in Bioware's office mean what they do I think it most be because they don't see women as having an active sexuality they can use to say seduce men and women. Also, to get back to the topic at hand, I remember Leliana from DA: Origins. When asked about Marjolaine and how it was to stay with Marjolaine, Leliana clearly says that it was nice and that's how she learnt to become a bard. And more relevant to the topic at hand: She also clearly tells you (or more precisely your warden) that this is how she learned to seduce people, smile, dance, glance, prance, and to get people to fall in love with her. Or have affectionate feelings for her. Since sometimes! this was the only way to get close enough to a target in order - to ahem - assasinate her target.

As such, the Envy plot point which was (or were?) planned in DA:I fits with Leliana's character development and her character type as described in DA: Origins. Because Leliana as a bard is described as being very seductive….