Due to the overwhelming amount of views and comments I've received on this video, I am unable to answer each and every comment. Please read my FAQ here:

1) nonbinary identities are 100% valid. Even if you personally don't understand it, that doesn't mean they don't exist. Nonbinary identities have existed for so long even if the word "nonbinary" wasn't used back then.

2) nonbinary identities are part of the trans umbrella. There is no need to be trans-exclusionary. Trans = person whose gender identity doesn't match the one assigned to them at birth. Nowhere in this definition does it imply that it's only a binary thing. Transgender is the more general term, nonbinary is a term that falls under the trans umbrella (person whose gender identity doesn't match the one they were assigned at birth, and specifically doesn't identify either as a man or a woman).

3) I am not trying to say that my own experience and opinions as a trans person are the only valid ones. I understand that some people took the wrong message when I discussed the surgery scars. I said that I personally don't understand why someone would want to have surgery scars, or why they would want their character to have them. That doesn't mean that everyone thinks the same as me. Some people do take pride and enjoy their surgery scars, and thus it makes sense that they may want to create a character who has them. I still think the Dragon Age setting doesn't make logical sense to have such scars, but that is my autistic need for everything to make logical sense and I know that plenty of people are fine with things that don't fit the setting of a fictional story.

4) you don't have to defend an IP from a multimedia franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars published by an international corporation just because you think it's your duty as a person of (insert identity here) to do so because you are represented in that piece of media. The representation is of poor quality, the writing is terrible in general (even outside of the representation issues), and the gameplay is mediocre at best. Veilguard is not above criticism simply because it has queer and trans characters in it. In fact, we need to analyze any and all media which represents us, understanding that such representations can have a genuine impact (positive OR negative) on how people like us are perceived and treated in the real world.

5) some people have insinuated that I only made this video out of some kind of need for... attention? Validation? I'm not sure. I'm autistic and I genuinely do not give a sh*t about what people think about me. I made this channel for myself because I wanted to have a place where I could talk about things I care about that are related to games and storytelling in games. This video could have gotten a few hundred views for all I care; I made it because representation of "otherness" in media is something that I have cared about for many years and studied for years. If you don't agree with my perspective that is fine, but I would prefer that you keep things civil in the comments section and abstain from insulting me. You may forget this, but I am a human being worthy of respect just like everyone else.

There's probably a bunch of other common things I see people write in the comments which are ignorant or disrespectful, but I simply don't have the time or energy to answer everything. If you made a disrespectful comment in bad faith, or misunderstood what I was saying in my video and decided to insult me due to this: shame on you. To everyone else who has left respectful comments even if they disagree with my opinions, thank you. It's absolutely fine to disagree, but please do so respectfully.

Taash is written so comically bad that I genuinely considered the writers were transphobes writing a character off negative stereotypes

Trans bro here. The Taash coming out scene was so bizarre, because the writers already had the vocabulary to describe a character as non-binary/trans. All they needed to do was have Taash declare that they are “Aqun-athlok.” It has a precedent in the lore, and it avoids the jarring modernity of “non-binary.” This is the ideal situation to introduce a non-binary into the franchise, and the writers still somehow screwed it up.

The “ah” from Neve seemed pretty obvious to me as her realizing that Taash was struggling with gender or self hatred, like “ahh, I see where this is going”.

That scene with Taash and her mom is so painful. The mom is trying so hard to understand—even apoligise—but Taash is a total shit to her. How did they expect anyone to like this?!

It seems like it would be more behaviorally appropriate if Tash was like...12.

Anyone else weirded out by the amount of therapy speak in this game? It felt so out of place. Rook was definitely a shrink before getting recruited

I am not trans, but I am disabled. I would hate to be represented by a character whose sole personality appears to be, "I am disabled." I have found it interesting to listen to your perspective. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

As a woman with a bit of spice, the coming out scene was so fucking painful omg.  Like no one talks like this, your mom is being supportive wtf is wrong with you.  Half the dialogue in this game is just UNCOMFORTABLE.  I feel like a kid at a friends house and they start arguing with their parents and youre just there awkwardly petting the dog trying to pretend it isnt happening and hoping your mom comes to pick you up early.

When I came out to my dad he laughed and said, "I just thought you were a crossdresser"  queue me finding out we had a doorbell camera and hed been seeing me go to the local gaybar in full getup every weekend the whole time and just didnt say anything.  The conversation was filled with love and hugs and reassurances and even though he had questions and got some things wrong it would have never in a billion years accured to me to treat him the way taash did their mom.  Honestly I was mostly just relieved I wasnt being disowned, which I thought was a possibility.  Even when I came out to my mom, she was a little more hesitant and it took more gentle explaining but by the end of it it was the same way.  I'll never forget showing her a picture of me the way I actually am and her saying, "Wow youre prettier than I am"  LMAO

Anyway yeah honestly hate this game for how it portrayed us and giving the wrong kinds of people more ammo that they didnt need.

What’s insane is that Taash was written by Patrick Weekes, the same guy who wrote Lair of the Shadow Broker, Samantha Traynor, Javik, Tali, Mordin Solus and most importantly relating to this: Krem.

In fact this is what Weekes had to say when it came to writing Krem: “Talking over drinks at the bar later, we hit two major challenges. First, any conversation about the subject had to come up naturally in-game. A minor character like a shopkeeper would have no reason to explain that he is trans, so either the conversation would never come up or it would come up because his voice was clearly masculine, at which point it would look like a joke to most players, no matter how we tried to write it. Second, the character had to serve a purpose beyond ‘being there to be a genderqueer person.’ Every character in our game serves a purpose — reinforcing the theme of a plot, character, or area — and we do not have the budget for someone who is just there to tick off a box."

The same guy who said that and wrote an excellent portrayal of a Trans Man with Krem and amazing characters like Javik, Tali, and Mordin Solus ended up being the lead writer on Veilguard, and we end up with Taash. Honestly the only thing I can think of is this time Weekes didn’t have input from the trans community like he did for Krem and/or he likely fundamentally misunderstands trans people as he’s shown in the past that he can pretty much misunderstand things. If you’re a fan of Legion from ME2 and the Geth and hate how he and the Geth were portrayed in ME3 you can thank Weekes for that as he fundamentally misunderstood the Geth and the Quarian-Geth conflict. I think when it comes to complex topics like transgender identity Weekes just draws a blank and without input from the community he writes based off of his own experiences.

"Girls smell good"
-Writers with millions worth franchise

another trans guy here. Thank you for making this video.

My mother, when I came out to her, reacted with questions. Not out of hostility or rejection, but from curiosity and uncertainty, which are perfectly understandable and okay. The way Taash reacted to their mother - so hostile, self-centered and entitled, it made me genuinely angry. And then the fact you can't even call them out on this bullshit, and have to be supportive? Absolutely ridiculous.

It is such a shame. Bioware has historically made queer representation that was respectful, fit well into the setting, written as complex people who happened to be queer. This instance almost feels like rage-bait, although it's probably a delusional self-insert of someone.

The way Rook talks about transitioning reminds me of a gym bro talking about their cruntch routine.

Holy shit Taash’s notes are crazy

Thank god, a space to be critical of veilguard's god awful writing where the comment section isn't flooded with rampant transphobia

If someone walked up to me and said "I'll pay a million dollars to write the most transphobic, non-binary, trans character you can." This is legit how I would do it. Seriously, it's like either some extreme self-insert and they are using Taash as a walking therapy session or they just...I honestly don't know, it's so bad.

The bit I found most despicably galling was the scene that occurred shortly after the end of the Bharv clip shown.
Bellara had eaten the last biscuit on the snack table yet it turned out later that Taash had really wanted it (hadn't called dibs though).
Bellara apologizes deeply as if she had committed a heavy offense, Taash reacts awkwardly (as if okay but hurt but they'll deal with it), and then Rook steps in with a chat option saying "You messed up Bellara, you know what to do".
After being instructed to do a Bharv she then does it while the rest of the group stands in a circle around her mocking her lack of fitness and her inability to do push-ups correctly.

Commanded by her team leader to punish herself physically and then mocked while trying to do it, all because she ate the last biscuit that Taash would have wanted.
Can't even eat a biscuit without asking yourself first if Taash deserves it more.
I can't think of a more efficient way for the writers to demonize Taash, the underlying message here is horrifying.

Just had to add that as a fellow fan of Isabella I found that apology scene so insulting, I literally thought "has none of the people writing this BS ever played the second game?"
Given her character, if anything she would have mumbled an apology about making a stupid mistake and then totally switched the topic. At least IMO.

It's impressive how much Bioware missed the mark by making Rook only able to be nice to people. As much as the character should be better written, if Rook was able to be a jerk to his teammates and disagree with them, there is a good chance fewer people would hate Taash so much even as Taash is written.

What also annoys me about that coming-out scene is how Shathann is set up as someone you're supposed to dislike when she says that your Rook is not good enough for Taash. Shathann barely knows Rook, so, how would she know about Rook's emotional maturity or lack thereof to come to such a conclusion?

To me, Taash isn't just a self-insert but also a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Depending on your choices with that stone tablet, Taash basically turns into some sort of messianic figure for the Qunari. Add to that they can never do wrong and all you and your other companions can do is agree with them. Someone is clearly working out their mommy/daddy issues through them while indulging in a fantasy.

Also, the choice of having a Qunari as representation who acts as Taash does simply makes no sense because the Qunari not only have a term for people like Taash (aqun-athlok), but are also accepting of them. A human or elf would've been far more fitting here. Though I wouldn't be surprised if elves, having been around for far longer than humans, had their own terminology/acceptance of such matters.

I wonder what went wrong with the writing for this game in general. I've been joking about how, maybe, the original script got lost and that this is what they hastily cobbled together in a week. I've read Weekes' novel and short stories for DA, and I really enjoyed them. This is so far below what I had expected from them, I'm honestly shocked. It reads like bad Tumblr fanfiction written by a 14-yr-old, not something an accomplished author would produce. And as you said, who the hell approved it?!?!?


Anyway, great video!

(And I agree with you. I'm so glad there are no lesbians in this game, being one myself. I shudder to think how miserable and embarrassing that would've turned out.)