foggyoldfogey

[foggyoldfogey]

Hey everyone, I know it's going to be a busy day for a lot of people, but Google enrolled everyone over 18 into their AI program automatically.

If you have a google account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off.

Then you need to go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini and turn off all Gemini activity tracking. You do have to do them in that order to make sure it works.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long this will last, but this should keep Gemini off your projects for a bit.

I saw this over on bluesky and figured it would be good to spread on here. It only takes a few minutes to do.

[foggyoldfogey]

I love pulp and camp art (and writing!) and Dragon Age is ripe for the treatment.  I tried to include everyone, and I wanted to hit three of the major genres- Detective stories, Adventure stories, and Men’s interest.

As a note- Originally, in the third image, Josie was the damsel in distress, but my husband argued against what he called her “debasement” and campaigned for Dorian to take her place on the grounds of him being a more attractive storytelling target (”it’s also more like Dorian to be bound,” says he).  That argument worked for me, and here we are.

Stock referenced from syccas-stock!

[foggyoldfogey]

HangAr = where Aircraft Abide

HangEr = where you hang up Everything Else

IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

[foggyoldfogey]

But - but - there are only two of these that I don't see as "Must Try THIS One!" material!

OK, so that's ten playthroughs right there...yeah and???

Let me know why in the tags (or any other origin you'd like to play that isn't listed)

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At this point, my only emotional investment in DA4 is the desire to see what fresh chaos (and associated lore) is going down in the rest of Thedas so I can figure out how it’ll affect my Warden’s continuing adventures in headcanon.

I’ll be sorry if there’s never a DA4 game release, but with so many of the original team gone, I’m not quite sure how much a DA4 would feel like actual Dragon Age, regardless.

Bioware laying off 20% of their people, Mary fucking Kirby among them, reaaaaaally doesn't bode well for DA or ME. -.-

I mean, I've been one of those who look at DA:D with scepticism for a while already, but I alwayswas certain it'll come out. Not before 2025, but eventually. Now? I'm no longer so sure.

[foggyoldfogey]

My headcanon approaches Templars and lyrium use (and how that might fit Alistair’s situation) a little differently.

First off, mages also canonically use lyrium to enhance and extend their magical capabilities, without instantly becoming addicted - so what are the Templars doing differently?

Second, also per canon, contact with raw lyrium drives mages mad. So the form of lyrium that mages use must be altered (processed) in some way before it’s given to mages.

I can see two paths to that, not mutually exclusive. Templars could use a more raw form of lyrium that hasn’t undergone whatever processing makes it safe for mages...and/or they might mainline their lyrium, which seems like a faster pathway to deep addiction than oral consumption anyway. (Recruits might be introduced to first-tier Templar abilities during training in this way, while still receiving their first official dose of “real” lyrium at their initiation.)

Either of these possibilities has room for Alistair to use mage-safe lyrium potions to power Templar abilities without developing the same dependency as Chantry Templars. For Duncan, Alistair would have been willing to test the possibility of doing things he’d seen fully initiated Templars do, for the benefit of the Wardens.

Similarly, a warrior Hawke might also reasonably pick up the Templar specialization this way, given the high visibility of both Templars and lyrium-seeking ex-Templars in Kirkwall.

As for Fade-sensitive Templar trainees, such as the children of Circle mages - the greater the sensitivity, probably the sooner and more severely they exhibit the negative side effects of lyrium dependency. In the case of the most sensitive of all, the potential mages, some trainers might notice and send them to the Circles to be Harrowed...but others would cynically keep them in the Templar ranks, knowing full well that they (or at least their sanity) can’t survive the initiation; why fill the Circles with mages who know the Order’s secrets?

my personal preference for headcanoning the contradictory alistair-templar-lyrium issue is to say that templar recruits do, relatively very late in their training—considering that most of their training is just swordplay and brainwashing—begin taking lyrium in small controlled quantities specifically to enable the practice of their magical abilities. alistair either did so as well, or he got fast-tracked for training with other fade-sensitive recruits who were able to begin this training without the aid of lyrium. either way, he obviously quit before completing his training and taking his vows, never experienced the effects of addiction and withdrawal, and then came away with the impression—being able to continue to use his abilities without lyrium consumption—that templar lyrium use is entirely a scam sold to templars by the chantry (I mean... he's right), and is thoroughly unaware of his own fade sensitivity or that it does make him somewhat unique in this regard.

[foggyoldfogey]

This is definitely believable.

We do know from the ending screen where the Inquisitor, Cassandra, and Leliana are seen targeting an area of the map of Thedas (even if the Inquisition is disbanded) that at least a kernel of the Inquisition remains intact and active, just secretly.

I doubt that the Dreadwolf crew will get much, if any, face time with the Inquisitor, as there are far more variables involved than there were with Hawke - but it seems all but guaranteed that Leliana and Cassandra will have some involvement.

CONFESSION:

I wonder if we’re going to play as a spy/soldier of the Inquisition in the next game. Even if the inquisition was disbanded they mentioned having a small ‘task force’ like group of trusted people.

I can see it happening and wouldn’t be surprised. I think it’d actually be kind of cool

[foggyoldfogey]

Warden: You can choose between several origin stories for me and make decisions that will impact the whole playthrough, depending on the origin story you get to know my family and/or friends and the choices you make will impact my later relationship with them, my personal tragedy is the catalyst for the my journey

Hawke: I have only one origin story but my family members are complex and well-written characters, my adventure is very personal and my losses and failures are heart-wrenching moments in the game

Inquisitor: HEY GUYS I JUST WALKED IN HERE WHAT'S UP

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With all the Gollum game stuff going on, I’m going to pitch yous my cursed (cough) idea for a Túrin Turambar game.

You play as Túrin (naturally) and you’ve got a curse gauge that fills up as you play. You can’t stop it completely, but you can try to slow it down through the various choices you make through the game. BUT, being Túrin, it’s not as simple as Good Choice = slows gauge and Bad Choice = fills gauge. Sometimes if you make the Good choice, Morgoth will go off to sulk, so the gauge stalls. But sometimes, he’ll be so pissed off he’ll accelerate it for a bit, just out of spite. And sometimes just making the Good choice has an equal and opposite reaction that wreaks devastation on you and the NPCs around you.

Sometimes choosing the Bad option will slow the gauge down, simply because Morgoth is too laughing his ass off at you. Other times it’ll accelerate the gauge because from a purely objective standpoint HOLY FUCK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Every so often the gauge fills up and unleashes something terrible. Your best bet is to be somewhere relatively isolated so the damage is minimal. (Or you might be one of those sickos who likes to watch the world burn, so you plank yourself in the middle of a crowded marketplace or slap-bang in the halls of Menegroth to watch the fireworks.)

There are several romance options. None of them end well.

Gurthang talks to you as you move around. Usually telling you how awful you are, usually at the most inopportune times, when you’re trying to line yourself for a tricky jump, or in the middle of a stealth mission where silence is key. After the first few times of this you’re ready to eat your controller in rage.

There is no good ending.

Also, naturally, because it’s a Túrin game, the whole thing is bugged tae fuck.

(After you complete the main storyline, you can unlock a secret mission where you play as Tuor, trying to navigate Ivrin without attracting the attention of the strange man in black.)

[foggyoldfogey]

That’s got nothing on Origins. After 14 years I am still not sure which I’m (still!) saltier about:

1) that Wynne wouldn’t teach my first-and-canon OC about Spirit Healing

2) that after my girl scrimped and saved the 15 gold sovereigns to buy the blasted book -- TWICE, since on the first trip to the Wonders of Thedas the party got waylaid by Alistair’s supposed sister before they got to the store -- unlocked once turned out to be unlocked forever, and every other character afterward got to start the game with that specialization for free.

the thing thats crazy abt dragon age inquisition is that u have one companion per specialisation and then they dont even teach u the specialisations

[foggyoldfogey]

Yeah, it’s not only miserable game mechanics, but a bit out of line with the lore as well.

For immersion’s sake, I headcanon that during the Mage-Templar war, the Templars specifically targeted spirit healers, so there just aren’t enough openly practicing SH left for the Inquisitor to have access to one.

After all, we were told in Origins that while it’s a useful specialty, the Templars always kept an especially close watch on spirit healers because of their frequent interaction with Fade spirits...and that was before they had Anders-in-Kirkwall to point at for “proof.”

CONFESSION:

I keep hearing a lot of people want to bring back Origin's backward and antiquated gift giving system and all I can say is HELL NO!  The gift giving system was great in 2009.  We're halfway into 2023.  It would be a lazy copout to bring that back. I want more depth to how any character could either hate or like or love my protagonist.  I don't want instant ass kissing or instant hatred.  The only Origins thing that should be brought back is healing. 

[foggyoldfogey]

None of the above. Oh no, somebody better teach this Gen X'er how to hold a pencil already!

i personally do lateral tripod. dynamic tripod is the "proper" way and i believe most common, feel free to correct me.

[foggyoldfogey]

#snap: thumb and middle finger, both hands

(i just want to know im not alone with my weird hands)