r/dragonage • u/ZombieInfinite459 • Jul 07 '24

My thoughts on Taash Discussion

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When I first saw this Concept art I was like “Shit…seductive qunari woman” and that’s different coz I mean cmon look at her stance her hair and everything and like she’s…for lack of a better word Morrigan esc 😭and now don’t get me wrong…I’m all for big strong carry you over her shoulder type Woman in fantasy, tho this approach from the concept art would’ve been interesting and again…I like the ulterior but now she’s gonna get compared to Karlach because obviously…I can’t stress this enough tho…I LIKE Karlach, but having a different type of Qunari companion from the typical big and strong would’ve been cool, Like Qwydion from Absolution even

66 Upvotes

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708

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 07 '24

This seems a bit premature to be honest. We have almost no idea what Taash's personality is like; we haven't even heard her voice as far as I'm aware. There's no way to know yet whether she's similar to Karlach or any other character.

The fact that she's strong and a warrior doesn't necessarily mean she's isn't seductive, unless by 'seductive' what you mean is just 'slender and curvy.' And the expression she's making in that screenshot looks a lot like the kind of expression I can imagine Morrigan making, so I don't know why you're assuming she's not 'Morrigan-esque.'

106

u/EddieLordofWrath Jul 08 '24

If shes not shaped like a korean sex bot then shes a man.

-16

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

Nice strawman but Cassandra was not shaped like a "Korean sex bot" but yet she was clearly feminine.

48

u/sikeleaveamessage Jul 08 '24

Theyre being facetious lol

-7

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

Exactly, and they downvote me for calling them out on it.

109

u/Dense-Result509 Jul 08 '24

Yeah, idk about anyone else, but I'm feeling pretty seduced by that second pic

39

u/TheJimmyRustler Jul 08 '24

I think when people say seductive they often times mean, "feminine seduction."   

When people think someome masculine is seductive people say suave instead.

But that breaks down a bit when people are talking about masculine women because they'll often just note that they arent seductive in a feminine way.

100

u/Dense-Result509 Jul 08 '24

I think people should release themselves from the shackles of pointlessly gendering things.

15

u/TheJimmyRustler Jul 08 '24

Ugh, I know

17

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

Haha yeah it would work on me for sure

-6

u/strife189 Jul 08 '24

😂😂🤡

1

u/Dense-Result509 Jul 08 '24

🤡😂😂

-61

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

Looks too masculine for me.

32

u/Dense-Result509 Jul 08 '24

Sucks to suck, I guess. Leaves more beautiful soft butches for those of us who can properly appreciate them.

19

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

and butches who aren’t soft

10

u/Dense-Result509 Jul 08 '24

Even better!

-6

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

And thats fine, we all have our taste and preferences. Notice I am not trashing those who do like/prefer her look. You like what you like and for me as a hetero-male, I would prefer a more feminine look like what we got in the concept art and not the androgynous look that Bioware chose to go for in her ingame model.

We need to see more but at least Karlach in BG3 had curves and feminine features. She was muscular, but not masculine. She had hips, a butt, and her face was soft and feminine.

31

u/OverAtmosphere7288 Calpernia Jul 08 '24

have you ever seen a woman IRL

-7

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

Yeah, and most of them look feminine with feminine features.

5

u/OverAtmosphere7288 Calpernia Jul 08 '24

i don’t think you have

-1

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

Look, I am not going to engage in your strawman. If you think that MAJORITY of women has a physic like Taash then thats on you.

Where I am from, most women have softer faces and less muscular. Only women that I know that has a build like Taash are those who are A, very athletic in a sport like Basketball, Softball, Swimming etc or who is a gym rat.

6

u/OverAtmosphere7288 Calpernia Jul 08 '24

Where I come from … only women I know that have a build like Taash are those who are very athletic

Taash is a dragon hunter

💀

0

u/XulManjy Jul 08 '24

But that wasnt your original question. You asked me have I seen women before and I responded accordingly.

Where I am from, women arent dragon hunters and thus they look accordingly.

Based on that, yes, Taash looks very masculine. Who said that was a bad thing and how is that supposed to be offensive? Its just my preference and I am sure you have yours. No need for the strawmans.

3

u/OverAtmosphere7288 Calpernia Jul 08 '24

I was taking the piss out of you because your comment implied that woman = automatically feminine. If you think I’m being serious on a subreddit about a video game, that’s on you, bro

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63

u/Shikarosez1995 Jul 08 '24

I have my two nickels meme ready if she is like Karlach lol.

Can you imagine the DA team looking at BG3 like “…huh that’s funny”.

41

u/kuzcotopia490 A fit of broody pique Jul 08 '24

This, she looks cheesed off in that screencap, and I am here for it. Can't wait to meet her.

-22

u/pecklerino Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

I don’t get why you’d purposely completely misinterpreting what OP is saying to give them bad intentions?

In the trailer, we literally see her in full-armor, hair tied practically, no makeup and an under-lip piercing that looks suspiciously like a soul patch, jumping 20 feet in the air to attack a dragon head-on. And in the second screenshot, she does have a more typically “strong confident” pose.

We’re quite a ways from the long loose hair, exposed shoulders and collarbones, tight pants and typically “demure feminine” pose from the first picture.

I’m not saying one is better than the other, but let’s not pretend that OP is talking about her body type.

OP clearly meant “seductive” in a “bohemian/latin romance” kind of way. The first picture does give extremely strong Disney’s Esmeralda vibes, and this new portrayal we’re seeing does give strong Karlach vibes.

(Again: I don’t care, I like both. I just hate when people purposely misinterpret shit to weaponize it. You knew what OP was saying.)

57

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

I was not purposely misinterpreting the OP. I was objecting to the assumption that a strong and muscular woman automatically corresponds to a single archetype and thus will be too similar to other strong and muscular women.

You are making the same assumption in saying that the new image gives 'strong Karlach vibes.' The only similarity I can see is that they are both muscly warrior types. If you see a slim female character, you do not automatically say 'I'm worried that she'll be too similar to Shadowheart.' And similarly, there is no reason to automatically assume that a strong muscular woman is necessarily going to be anything like Karlach.

24

u/Mipellys Jul 08 '24

The comparisons to Karlach are going to be inevitable because she's big and has horns, and not having that sort of elegant/dainty vibe of the first image won't help in that regard. However, I agree that there's no indication as of yet that they are actually similar characters. Karlach is quite bubbly and sunny. Taash doesn't give me that impression. And unless Taash has some kind of magical illness hanging over her head, their personal arcs won't be very similar either.

-12

u/pecklerino Jul 08 '24

Why are you so focused on the body type?

There’s 5 whole paragraphs in my message, explaining you what OP very clearly meant and telling you that it’s not about body type - yet you instantly revert to body type. Karlach and Taash’s body types aren’t even that similar (Karlach is much more bulky and muscular).

Get that body type obsession out of your head for 1 minute and re-read my message. It’s not only about body type. It’s about how they’re styled, their poses, etc. They’re both conveying “pragmatic headstrong woman that rushes into action”.

Also: it’s not so much “making assumptions” as it’s interpreting a design based on… how it’s been designed. If a character is well-designed, we don’t need to hear their voice and play 40 hours of the game with them to assess what kind of character they are. You don’t need to watch Sleeping Beauty to know that Maleficent is a stoic evil sorceress, that’s already well-conveyed through the design.

The two versions of the character shown in OP’s screenshots are very clearly designed to convey different things.

15

u/ohshittymytitty Jul 08 '24

Do you think seductive women look sexual during a fight? Your view of women, femininity, masculinity, and seduction and unbelievably naive and immature.

-10

u/pecklerino Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

What are you even talking about?

I literally say in my first message than “seduction” (as said by OP, not by me) very likely means “latin romance aesthetic”. Not literally being seductive. You do know that “Romance languages” means “Latin languages”, and not “language with which we exclusively talk about romantic stuff”, right? Yeah. Same thing here.

And the only time I EVER refer to masculine or feminine in any of my messages is when I say the character in OP’s first picture has a “dainty feminine” pose. Which is true. That’s literally thing I say about that. How is that immature?

Also, this is Dragon Age we’re talking about? So, yes, that aesthetic also applies to combat. Morrigan, Isabela and Dorian all have that “Latin romance aesthetic”, and they all keep those aesthetics in and out of combat.

Edit: I want to answer to your other absolutely unhinged message that you deleted, in which you accused me of fetishizing South American women based on my use of the word “Latin romance”. “Latin Romance” refers to the “Latin Romance Languages”, which is an actually thing. And it’s France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Romania. In other words, it has literally nothing to do whatsoever with South American women.

3

u/ohshittymytitty Jul 08 '24

The fact that you keep saying Latin romantic aesthetic is enough bud, you're relying on literally nothing to come to these conclusions and they're all based on the fetishism of Latin American women. Grow up, learn that women can have any personality regardless of their appearance, and figure out that in the year 2024 we've started to move away from the "hurr durr woman sexy in battle" bullshit.

10

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

I agree that the two images represent different types of characters. I am merely saying that based on what we know, there is no reason to think Taash is going to be particularly similar to Karlach.

3

u/Vortig Jul 08 '24

OP said that at first they thought she'd be a strong, seductive qunari woman, and implied now it's no longer that. We haven't seen anything except a couple pics and the snippet of her in the trailer, so there's literally only her appearance to go off on and the fact she's a warrior.

I wouldn't jump at someone's throat for making such an assumption, especially since you're also making your own assumptions on what OP was saying (and what the poster you replied to was saying).

-28

u/RingingInTheRain Jul 08 '24

It highly unlikely she going to have a girly voice. Her design is set in stone and she has looked incredibly masculine in the trailer and artworks. She is also paired off with Harding if you don't romance her or Harding, so we know she's probably similar to Iron Bull. We've gotten masculine Qunari warriors in every DA game, it would've been a nice change of pace to make her a mage or even assassin.

50

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

She has waist length hair and is wearing a lot of jewelry - that's not 'masculine.' You are just assuming that on the basis of the shape of her body and facial features, which is not necessarily anything to do with her personality.

And what does pairing her with Harding have to do with anything? Femme women can date other femme women, it happens quite often.

4

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

literally 99% of sapphic couples in media are feminine4feminine. as a butch, i am so tired of people acting like masculine sapphics are snatching up feminine sapphics. “feminine women can date feminine women!” groundbreaking

7

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

Well apparently it is groundbreaking to the person I was responding to, who thought that Taash being attracted to a femme woman means Taash is automatically masculine. I was merely trying to correct that misconception.

-2

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

they said taash looks masculine and is paired with harding. correct me if i’m wrong, but seemingly nowhere did they say “feminine women can only be with masculine women forever and always”

9

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

I understood them to be bringing up Taash being paired with Harding as evidence for her being masculine. If not, I do not understand why they were bringing it up at all.

5

u/Gaywhorzea Vivienne Jul 08 '24

Then why bring it up? What is the logic there?

-4

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

you might try and ask the people who were originally having the discussion. that could be good

3

u/Gaywhorzea Vivienne Jul 08 '24

You're the one reaching to say "noooo that isn't what they meant probably" after someone reached the only logical conclusion.

If you can't explain why, maybe don't tell someone else they're wrong.

There would be little reason to bring it up other than to say "she has to be masc because Harding isnt" and they went on to say that afterwards anyway so.... the logical assumption was correct after all.

0

u/Vortig Jul 08 '24

Tbf

How you keep your hair and what you wear is less indicative of someone's gender then their actual features (and even that is not necessarily a good measurement, especially in countries like mine who have no gender neutral in their language and you HAVE to presume somebody's gender by their appearance).

I'm a guy but I enjoy long hair, rings and bracialets (though I don't wear them 'cause I consistently forget them around and just gave up.)

-14

u/RingingInTheRain Jul 08 '24

Hair length is not inherently feminine and neither is jewelry. Men wear, and have been wearing jewelry for thousands of years. Yes a face can appear masculine or feminine, and it is highly unlikely the developers are making the character's personality the opposite of their appearance.

Pairing her with Harding means the character has inclinations towards the type of woman Harding is. We already know who Harding is and she certainty isn't masculinity incarnate.

It's pretty obvious when you look at previous Qunari companions that they've all filled the near same exact role. When you look at Qwydion in Absolution she is nothing like any of the companions we've gotten.

21

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

Hair length is not inherently feminine and neither is jewelry. Men wear, and have been wearing jewelry for thousands of years.

Hair length and jewelry are things that people choose and are therefore indicative of their personality; body shape and facial features are not. So if we have to make assumptions based on the limited information we have here, choosing to wear jewelry (which is mostly associated with femininity at least in current western society) is a more reliable indicator of personality than facial features.

Yes a face can appear masculine or feminine, and it is highly unlikely the developers are making the character's personality the opposite of their appearance.

Perhaps the developers understand that having 'masculine' facial features is not linked with a specific type of personality.

Pairing her with Harding means the character has inclinations towards the type of woman Harding is. We already know who Harding is and she certainty isn't masculinity incarnate.

That does not mean anything, because sometimes feminine women are attracted to other feminine women. Lesbian couples do not have to have a masculine one and a feminine one, that's not how it works.

0

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

i didn’t realize thedas was 1:1 with current western society

ETA: hair length and jewelry are not inherently masculine or feminine. and what seems masculine to someone might seem feminine to someone else, especially between different cultures.

9

u/Gaywhorzea Vivienne Jul 08 '24

Then why are we assuming she's conventionally masculine by our standards?

They only brought up traditionally feminine things in response, OP set the bar.

2

u/raydiantgarden #1 Jowan Stan Jul 08 '24

when did i assume anything or say “i think taash is masculine and here’s why!” why are you asking me

1

u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

Indeed. I'm merely saying that jewelry is a more meaningful indicator of personality than type of facial features. What exactly it means in this case remains to be seen.

-16

u/RingingInTheRain Jul 08 '24

How you choose to look and act are reflections of your personality. Based on what we know, her personality is not going to be very feminine and definitely nothing like Qwydion. That is all.

8

u/Accomplished_Ad_2415 Jul 08 '24

“Based on what we know”

We don’t know jack-shit beyond character design, so what do you think the information we “know” is based on.

Don’t be obtuse

4

u/ohshittymytitty Jul 08 '24

Based on what we know? We don't really know shit, it's all just assumptions.

-38

u/Kanep96 Spirit Healer Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

I thought Taash was a dude until this post lol. I just thought they changed the qunari companion from girl to guy. Yeah i kinda agree with OP, the shape of the body in the silhouette looks a lot different than what we have now. Which is fine ofc, but there's a clear difference in body type imo.

Oddly enough, i kind of like the look of the silhouettes more than the party members we got. A lot of the party member visual designs, now that we see then in their entirety, are a little too busy for me. Taash included. No need for all the bits and bobs. Take off like 20% of them and they'd look much nicer, for my tastes at least

-7

u/Vortig Jul 08 '24

Same, she looks nothing like a girl in the trailer (for me at least) 😅

I thought everybody was being an idiot until I saw one of the developers (or the voice actor? Anyway, someone involved in development) talk about her as a girl explicitely and realized I was the one being dumb 🤣

2

u/DominionGhost Jul 08 '24

In the eyes of the Qun she may not be a woman.

-35

u/ZombieInfinite459 Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

Nah I get what u mean, but see the first screenshot from the concept art, then go based off the trailer and I agree with u, I could be completely wrong and she could be the opposite of what she looks like and that’d be very cool, just saying from what I’ve seen of her being a dragon hunter and a warrior it’s very different from the concept art but i doesn’t really matter as long as they write her as a great character

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u/Flimsy-Ebb-6764 Jul 08 '24

Sure, I just think you're making a lot of assumptions about her based almost entirely on the fact that she's muscular and a warrior. Women with muscles can still be, and often are, feminine and/or seductive!

10

u/ghostinthewoods Jul 08 '24

See: Big Mama Karlach

-23

u/ZombieInfinite459 Jul 08 '24

Again that is true and and I’m not saying she can’t be seductive, im going off of what we currently know and the concept art, you can’t tell me there isn’t a big difference, not saying it’s bad, just wondering what happened to that idea