fireheartedpup

[fireheartedpup]

Hello to all Australians seeing the post! It is currently the 28th of March 2025, and the election has been announced for May 3rd!

If you are eligible to vote, make sure to check if you’re enrolled to vote and ensure that you’ll be able to vote!

This is a very important election so we’ve all got to do our bits!

[fireheartedpup]

Someone else in the notes (filter for comments only) said it's wallpaper.

Tianjin Binhai New Area Library - Tianjin, China.

[fireheartedpup]

I am not going to be over this scene anytime soon. Ft. Callin de Riva and the moment "Promise?" became one of my favorite sentences of all time. (Seriously, how amazing is Rook's voice acting in this game. There are moments it tore my heart out.)

[Photo ID: Seven screenshots from Dragon Age: the Veilguard, with Lucanis Dellamorte kneeling in front of my Rook, a male elf with long silver-lilac hair, and reassuring him that he's there and not still trapped in the Fade prison. The dialogue is as follows:

Lucanis: You're here.

(Lucanis kneels up to kiss Rook)

Lucanis: You're really here.

Rook: Promise?

Lucanis: I swear.

The last screenshot is Lucanis moving up, about to lay down over Rook on hte couch.]

[fireheartedpup]

Her putting out the clean version for this woman’s daughter in particular KSKDKWKDKSKFJSK

[fireheartedpup]

the "dire wolves are no longer extinct" stuff is gonna be the most annoyingly persistent science misinformation for the next decade at least

[fireheartedpup]

The Demon of Vyrantium

[fireheartedpup]

little 3 page snowstorm comic on early access!

[fireheartedpup]

put a finger down if you were just talking to your 70 year old dad and one thing led to another and you ended up having to sheepishly explain omegaverse and he was asking more and more questions so eventually you were standing with your face fully covered stammering out “a-and they go into… heat… cycles…” but he was still curious so now you’re listening to him read reddit posts about mpreg and yaoi aloud at your kitchen table

[fireheartedpup]

we all agree that da2 has the best banter but personally i think this is my favourite piece of overworld dialogue

[fireheartedpup]

A hero at heart ❤️‍🔥

[fireheartedpup]

I've got an additional lil piece of info re:testosterone effects on mood, it's only kinda related but yea. So my younger brother and I both started T a few years ago, and something that we noticed is that even tho there was a clear positive change in both of our moods, a fair few people DID actually think we were more irritable.

Well, turns out humans tend to deepen our voices when expressing anger and irritation - so when T deepened our voices, people mistook our new natural voices for a pissed of tone.

It caused the whole family to get a bit snappish for a little while until we figured it out, cause people would think we were mad at them and would reply in kind.

Basically just giving a heads up to anyone starting T that vocal changes may cause misunderstandings you don't anticipate - maybe this way someone out there can avoid the months of snappishness we went through lol

Thank you for adding on, this' great info to know! (For anyone wondering, this is about this post!)

[fireheartedpup]

Just two girl boss frenemies on a journey to get over their cannibalistic ex goddesses

[fireheartedpup]

i love the feeling of getting “clearer” as you get older, like with each year there’s less room for messing around or pretending or playing a game with something you know deep in your heart is not right for you. it’s like your brain just gets better and better at cutting you off as you consider something and tells you “no that is not for me” before you can jump in. and it’s not as if things get more serious, but the opposite. you have freedom in giving yourself more and more permission to purposefully live life and go after whatever you want and to love freely knowing that things are secure in your heart and mind.. at least when i am struggling i know that the “clearing” is really what’s happening

[fireheartedpup]

Sneve (snail Neve)

Anonymous Friendo, I need you to know this is how I discovered the gastropod Aliger gallus, so, behold:

[fireheartedpup]

dragon age: the veilguard | varric tethras 2/?

[fireheartedpup]

Let’s talk a bit about the Solas-Rook Fade conversations! I feel like those are some of the most consistently written parts of the game, and they’re also the most video game-like in the best possible way.

First off, we have this cool setup where we, as players, know Solas as a character, but Rook doesn’t. Rook only has Varric’s account to go on, which is already colored by his personal biases and limited knowledge. This creates an interesting dynamic where the player’s prior experience with Solas in Inquisition inevitably shapes how they interpret these interactions. If you saw Solas as a tragic figure before, you might be more willing to trust him; if you already viewed him as manipulative, you’re likely to be more wary. But the real trick here is that the game expects you to play along with Rook’s ignorance. If you fight against the setup too much—if you refuse to engage with Solas at all—the conversations can lose some of their impact.

What’s really clever is how the game re-establishes a rapport with Solas in a way that wasn’t fully possible in Inquisition. He’s still the same character, but this time, the player has more freedom to push back, joke with him, or question his motives. Despite that, Rook remains dependent on him, at least in terms of information. And it doesn’t stop at just knowledge—Solas offers what seems like genuine help and support, further complicating the dynamic. The game makes sure that every interaction feels like a choice, like we’re shaping the relationship ourselves.

The Regrets of the Dread Wolf quest is a great example of this. It gives us more insight into Solas and his regrets, but it also reinforces the sense that Rook and Solas are being paralleled in some way. The game constantly blurs the line between manipulation and mutual understanding, making it difficult to tell whether Rook is being granted true agency or just being guided down a predetermined path.

On my first playthrough, I felt completely in control of my relationship with Solas. It felt like Rook was an equal partner in these exchanges, someone who could hold their own against him. But on a second playthrough, I started noticing the ways in which Solas manipulates Rook—just as the game itself manipulates the player. The Fade sequences are especially effective at creating this illusion of control, only for the game to pull the rug out from under you.

And no matter what you do, no matter how combative or trusting you are, the “Earned the respect of the Dread Wolf” message still pops up. A message not aimed at Rook, but at the player. It’s a brilliant, a meta-level trick, reinforcing that even when you think you’ve outmaneuvered Solas, you’re still playing right into his hands.

[fireheartedpup]

Something I don't see talked about enough is the disabled representation in Veilguard, so I'm going to talk about it.

Specifically Neve Gallus

And how she is just allowed to exist in the game without being pity or inspiration porn

But Red, I hear you cry. What makes you a person to talk about this.

A decent question and one I'm happy to answer. I'm disabled, simple as.

Now I am not an amputee like Neve, but I use a wheelchair and while the disabled experience is not one size fits all there are some things that are universal

So just to reiterate, I am not speaking for all in the disabled community. I am speaking for me and how it makes me feel.

Now to continue

Most games, heck most media, they'd of drawn attention to her prosthetic. Then we'd get the sad music and the tragic story of how she lost her leg, and everyone would talk about how brave she is and how much they admire her.

Which is bullshit and I hate it. I'm not brave or an inspiration. I'm just existing.But not in Veilguard

There's some dialogue between Neve and Taash which is A+ AMAZING AND NO NOTES!!!

I'll include it here

Taash: Hey. Neve. Let me know if you need help on ladders. Neve: Ladders? Taash: Your leg… thing? One of the lords. Benst. He lost a hand. Climbing ladders hurt his shoulder after. Taash: He told us eventually. Then we helped him on the ladders. Taash: Your foot's got a hook shape. It might get caught. Neve: My work leads strange places. If ladders had my number, I'd be out by now. But thanks for asking. Neve: Although, your horns have a hook shape. You worry about them getting caught? Taash: Shit. I do now. ─────── Taash: Hey. Benst can help you if you ever need someone on locks. Taash: I'll ask him if you want. He likes me. Neve: Sure he does. You're not bad to work with. Taash: I'm not? Neve: When you lose a limb, you have a metal leg or a hook for a hand, some things get harder. Neve: But if you ask for help with one thing, and people think you can't do anything. Taash: That's vashedan. No one can go toe-to-toe with you in magic. Neve: Thanks for noticing. Not everyone does. ─────── Taash: Hey. Neve. Benst also had a jeweller add some stones to his lock pick-hand. Pretty gems and stuff. Taash: I can get you a name if you want. Neve: Why would I want gems on my leg? Taash: Cause it's like a boot you wear every day. Might as well look nice. Taash: That's what I did after I broke my horn. And my horn will grow back. Neve: I work Minrathous. Put gems on my legs in the morning and they'd be stolen by lunch. Neve: Besides, I like to keep a low profile when I'm hunting. Taash: Oh. Sneaky. Makes sense. ─────── Neve: Does your jeweller work with inlay, Taash? Taash: Why? You change your mind? Neve: If I save up enough, I might want a new leg — a choice of looks can't hurt. Taash: Ooh. Nice. How about gold with a ruby inlay? Neve: I bang my leg all the time. Gold gets dinged up. Neve: Ruby inlay, though. I can work with that. Taash: Lemme know when you're ready. I'll get you a discount. Neve: Thanks, Taash. Taash: You deserve nice things.

Do you notice how Taash just offers help if Neve needs it but accepts gracefully when Neve says she's good?

DO YOU SEE IT?

That shit does not happen a lot IRL

This line of Neve's

Neve: But if you ask for help with one thing, and people think you can't do anything.

Is most definitely the experience I've had. I've had people treat me like a child or talk to my partner instead of me, even if I'm the one that has asked the question. Or they have offered to help me and then refused to take no for an answer. I had a woman follow me round the shop, asking if I should be out on my own after I refused her help. The shop staff had to intervene. Like actually get between me and her so she couldn't get close to me.

Anyway, back to Veilguard.

I still don't know how Neve lost her leg. And I don't need to know. The only thing I know is that her prosthesis is dwarven-crafted metal. And that's only cause I looked briefly on the wiki cause I had a brain fart of spelling her surname and wanted to check I hadn't missed a dialogue. But it's not there. At all. And from a quick Google, a lot of people didn't even realise she had a prosthesis until many hours into the game.

This is so rare. I mean getting disabled representation in video games is bloody rare but treating a character with a disability as just a person rather than a stereotype is unheard of. Especially from such a mainstream studio and publisher. Like, I am honestly surprised that EA let Neve exist at all.

I give massive props to Neve's writer Brianne Battye and the rest of the Veilguard team that she saw the light of day. A disabled woman of colour who is an actual character rather than a cardboard cut out stereotype.

Also give a shoutout to the Inquisitor. I know they've lost an arm and how. Anyone who played Trespasser knows how they lost their arm.

But it's barely mentioned in game, except in some text. I haven't had a single character mention it, but I haven't done all the dialogue options as yet, so happy to be corrected if it is mentioned in dialogue rather than in text.

And again, there are people who didn't play Trespasser that didn't realise the Inquisitor had lost an arm until they saw someone talking about it online.

More of this, please. Make disabled characters that are just there and no one makes a big deal out of it.

Disabled people exist, and we need more representation like this.

Oh, and if you don't like the term disabled, then you don't have to use it. But I use it. I am disabled. That is my choice and my term of expression. And if you don't like it, then move along. If you try to make a problem about it, just remember I am older, meaner and have worked retail for over 20 years. I am all out of fucks and last nerves