#''dragon age fans hate every dragon age that comes out''

[childofthestone]

"oh the veilguard team had no time!!" dont make me tap the faderifter post

[dalishious]

(I can’t believe I finished this so fast… I basically blacked out and then it was done lol… Anyway, please remember that this is all just my personal opinion, and if you feel differently, that’s fine!)

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

Objectively speaking, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a fun game that the average player is going to enjoy, especially if that average player is coming in without any prior knowledge to the Dragon Age franchise. I believe this is a good jumping-in spot for people who are curious about the world of Thedas. But in contrast, I have seen a lot of criticism from other hard-core fans that I largely agree with. However, it just so happens that most of the criticism I have is not enough to prevent me from overall enjoying the game. That is to say, for pretty much everything I did not like, there was also something I thought was great… Unfortunately, that makes it a little difficult to give a review. So, I’m going to do my best to keep things as clear and concise as possible by splitting up the “good” and the “bad” aspects of DATV.

The Positive

The best thing to come out of DATV is the new cast of characters that make up your companions and supporting associates. While I do think that some of them could have benefitted from more development time to flesh things out further, just judging what we ended up with, is mostly great. I especially found Emmrich and Bellara to be stand-out examples of strong personalities to grasp onto, whose personal stories really touched me in an emotional way.

DATV also has fun with some returning characters. For example, now that Solas is no longer hiding his identity, we get to see a character that both believably honours his part in Inquisition, while also providing a new, refreshing side to him. There are also a number of characters introduced in Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights that appear in the game, like my personal favourites Teia and Viago, who are an absolute delight to interact with!

I think the three act structure is good, albeit with act three being quite short. There are a few sequences that are an absolutely phenomenal mixture of storytelling and engaging gameplay, like all of Weisshaupt! I also really enjoyed stepping out of the main story every once and a while, and into Solas’s backstory through the Crossroads memories – what ended up being extra special about these is how they mirror Rook’s struggle so well, by the end. They are a nice touch.

The locations are beautifully constructed with smooth interactions of climbing, zip-lining, and essentially parkouring your way around, making them fun to explore! They also came with such distinct flavours and character in themselves that influenced a sense of truly experiencing different parts of Thedas, with different cultures.

The mechanic of building up strength with the different factions, and that actually having a huge impact with the ultimate showdown in the end of the game, makes side quests feel far less inconsequential than in Dragon Age: Inquisition by comparison. That, and they number far less.

I like that the story mode actually feels like a story mode; there were only a couple instances where I really had to worry about death, and even then, I was able to just toggle off the death with the customizable gameplay mechanics and continue on.

Finally, it would be remiss not to say that the character creator for DATV is the best BioWare has ever put out. I’d go as far as saying it’s one of the best in any RPG I’ve ever personally experienced. From the flexibility in morphing a character’s head and body between custom shapes, to the little details like sclera colour, vitiligo, and top surgery scars, makes it a shining example of what RPG’s should strive for. (My only critique here is that it would have been nice to have more skin colours.)

The Neutral

I hated the combat for pretty much the entire first act of the game. I found it too hard to keep up with, and too much like Mass Effect bullshit. I can’t say that it’s completely grown on me yet, but I don’t hate it anymore. It’s fine. So, I’m giving this a special little spot before I get into what I didn’t like all the way to the end.

The Negative

As mentioned above, I do think that there is more that could be done with some of the characters to really achieve their full potential. Davrin and Lucanis—while to be clear I still really enjoy as they are—come to mind first, in terms of those who would have benefited from more development time. Most of Davrin’s screen time just revolves around Assan rather than Davrin himself, and Lucanis is so restrained that it takes a while to really crack him open. Both of these characters have intentional personalities that make them harder to get to know, I understand that, but I feel that it would have been all the more rewarding to have more time dedicated to their company after earning their trust and possibly endearment. Instead, it feels like their romance and friendship with Rook are only half-complete, and then rushed to finish.

There are some companion interactions that are just… cringe. There is no other word for it. Now, this is nothing new for BioWare games, but I feel like the “pulling a Bharv” scene for example, was hitting an entirely new low. (If someone misgendered me and then just started doing push-ups instead of just saying “hey sorry about that, I’ll try to do better” I’d be annoyed, not satisfied.) I also felt like most of the temporary rivalries between companions were artificial in nature, rather than organically part of their characters that actually served a purpose. We already knew Emmrich likes books and Harding likes nature; we did not need a whole cutscene with them bickering about camping. (The exception to this is Davrin and Lucanis, who genuinely had room to grow as people out of their multiple confrontations, not just a one-off scene.)

The music in DATV is, for the most part, forgettable and bland. There is one piece that really stands out, and that’s “Where the Dead Must Go”, which is a real banger. I am not a fan of Hans Zimmer’s OST otherwise; I think it is phoned in, just like most of his work. I deeply wish BioWare would have just stuck with Trevor Morris. The best parts musically in this game are just Morris’s work re-used from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

There are certain parts of disjointedness that separates DATV from the past games that are just… bizarre. This is especially the case when it comes to elven lore. For example, Bellara saying she is afraid that elves will be harshly judged for the Evanrus, or Harding saying that elves are “thriving”… as if modern elves are not deeply persecuted across most of Thedas. It made me question more than once if there just was not time in development to do a proper canon-compliancy check with everything, perhaps?

I want finish this part by bringing up again that the biggest flaw in DATV is that it feels very corporate. To repeat what I said in this post: It is as if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance, in an overcorrection to be “safe”. But now that the edges have been so smoothed down to make a block into a ball, it can no longer support anything.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see a lot of creativity went into the creation of this game… but it is also easy to make assumptions on how that creativity was constrained by development hell and corporate oversight. In the end though, Dragon Age: The Veilguard succeeded in being an overall good time, one that I will no doubt be putting just as many countless hours into as the previous installments in the franchise. 7/10.

[felassan]

Snippets 🐺💜

Users report that pre-orders they made to TFAW of the DA:TV artbook The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard have been cancelled (since its listings were taken down like Dark Horse's were)

Blair: "The Shadow Dragons have some great black leather combos, less feathers though." [source]. shrl: "The Mourn Watch have leather and skulls." [source]

John: "it's been a pleasure and an honor working on this with you Brian" [source]. Brian: "The feeling is mutual." [source]. Trick: "It's been amazing watching it all come together, and I am so grateful for everything you've done to make that happen." [source]

John: "the day this game ships is the day i will finally retire the sleeved blanket i bought back in 2019" [source]

John: "the wildest thing about being creative director is that about once every two weeks someone says 'hey this bizarre thing here is part of your job can you do it'. and it is a thing that you KNEW someone did but you never thought about which someone. congratulations, you are that someone" [source]

User: "The Evanuris are banished forever, he says. 👀". Trick: "Forever-ish" [source]

John: "me: it’s weird how a lot of fans think I hate Solas, it’s absolutely wild. also me: I should photoshop Solas into the ‘we demand to be taken seriously’ picture" [source]

Carly: "i can see the light at the end of the tunnel, everyone,,,, s o o n 🥴" [source]. / "I honestly can’t wait til we share more !" [source]. / User: "do you ever look at people’s reactions and theories on here like 🙂‍↔️ you people have no idea what’s coming". Carly: "Oh absolutely lmaooo" [source]

Carly: "I deleted it but I posted in our slack like “pls just tell them smtg, the clowns make me sad ):” lolol" [source]. (note: fans have been joking around and calling themselves clowns hhh, in the age-old tradition of DA clowning) "this is me empathizing and feeling bad we aren’t giving as much info (altho epler be goin off), rereading it sounds like I’m going *points* look at how pathetic those clowns are lol" [source]. / "its like we can finally yell about our work but only in limited quantities and basically at the same time fans find out things lolol oh ya and the ea snipers" [source]

Violet: "I might be screaming into the wind, but there's nothing underhanded going on. Release date is coming in August like we already said (so very soon)" / "roadmap will be very soon with some nuggets of what will be coming in August." [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Violet: "I made the announcement [in the Discord about Edge magazine's article], and it's kinda damned if you do, damned if you dont. If you do, people that ONLY want the biggest beats get mad. If you don't, people that want any scrap of news get mad. Personally, I think going towards the latter is better overall. But I'm sorry it wasn't what you expected. I am also a DA fan and care enormously about this project." [source: the official BioWare Discord]

User: "How do we all think the companions for Veilguard flirt?". Violet: "depends on the companion fsfs" [source: the official BioWare Discord]

Violet: "soon™️" / "(not trying to be a shit, it will be soon! its a holdover joke from my last studio, i have to put the ™️ every time, its a sickness)" / "real talk, im just as feral as you guys when it comes to DA" / "[re: John being aware of a meme] that doesnt surprise me, [John] gets around 👀" [source: the official BioWare Discord]

[kaija-rayne-author]

Dragon Age, as a series, deserved so much better than Veilguard.

Spoilers for Veilguard and maybe other DA stuff.

Obligatory 'I'm not an asshole' disclaimer. Feel free to jump to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I was on media blackout while I played DAV. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Note. None of my writing on DA, but especially DAV, is edited. This is just my off the cuff writing. I don't have the time, energy, or heart to edit them properly.

The Solavellan romance deserved a much better end than 'die and go to fade prison'. I agree that Inky would likely be happy to leave. She's as traumatized as Solas for having to lead when she didn't want to. But I needed more than a craptastic Romeo and Juliet ending.

I refuse to do the heavy lifting for the writers. If it wasn't shown in the game or in supplementary materials, it didn't happen. Showing us the story was the writers' and devs job, not mine.

I mourn what will never be, even as I work on a Solavellan fix it fic.

How could they betray the IP so badly?

How could they betray their fanbase so badly? The fanbase that kept hope for that game alive for 10 years. I've seen so many people saying they've lost their interest or passion for the entirety of Dragon age. That they're not even remotely interested in another game because absolutely none of the choices we made in previous games matters anymore. They've wiped everything clean... or blighted it anyway. (I have absolutely no interest in another DA game. Not with Epler/Busche/Weekes involved. And whoever designed that ridiculous fighting system.)

The only way I could possibly be interested in another game would be if they loudly decanonized DAV, gave us a DLC (they've already confirmed there will be no DLC) that showed us Solas and Inky happy and not in a horrible place. One that showed us that somehow, something changed for the elves.

But that's so unlikely it's laughable.

The elves deserved a better ending. Are the survivors still enslaved or living in alienages? What actually changed for the elves except the largest portion of the Dalish being dead from blight? (That’s a real elvish win, isn't it?)

I'm a stubborn person. I refuse to let Epler's 'hate-revenge on Solas fan fic' ruin something I've loved for years. I still have the first 3 games. I'll make an actual happy ending and a decent romance for Rook in my fic.

And by the fact they paid a fortune to big gaming magazines while denying game keys to bigger honest reviewers... they knew.

They knew gamers wouldn't like it and tried to blow so much smoke up our asses with the interviews and AMAs.

How do they even sleep at night?

I'm a creative too, I write, do graphic design, digital (learning) and traditional (good) art.

My stories are important to me. They deserve not only an ending, but an ending that respects the characters, lore, and world that I've created.

My readers deserve that, too.

I, as the creator of my stories, deserve a decent, respectful ending.

Dragon age deserved it, too. A good, well thought out, and well written ending to the story of the Dreadwolf storyline, which, if you're paying attention, is intertwined through all 3 games. It's not just in Inquisition. One that made sense to the collected Lore, his struggles and mistakes, his literary role as an anti-hero.

I would never be able to do what they've done to a beloved series. I could never knowingly mislead fans like they did.

It's just a really painful reminder that beloved stories can be utterly destroyed in the wrong hands. And a reminder that there's so much talent and skill in Fan fic.

Busche worked on the Sims. No wonder the companions often feel as interesting as wet cardboard. Most Sims NPCs do, too. (I actually enjoy the Sims, but the NPCs aren't why I like it.)

And she had the gall to blame 'culture wars' and 'identity politics' for why the game is tanking. Rather than take ownership of the incredibly bad calls made for DAV.

It's just gross. I wish I could stop thinking about it. But Dragon Age got me through some tough times. It means a lot to me.

And it just deserved better. So did we.

[cryptbabe]

I just find it odd, that whenever a dude on YouTube talks about how horrible veilguard will be, they start out like "some of you will remember dragon age origins,..."

It's 2024. Things change. Grow the fuck up.

Really, I loved origins and dragon age was the franchise I always adored and was obsessed with, ever since origins, so I am one of the OG fans (yes, I am old) , and with the developments and the decisions they took with veilguard... I am still excited, I have preordered the game and I am still obsessed.

And I am looking forward to the new battle system and everything. If you want a game like DAO, then just play DAO. The game still exists.

I am not invalidating criticism, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but from my point of view it looks great and I am sure I will pour many, many hours into the game.

I just can't stand the hate and especially coming from (sorry) cis straight white men who think they are entitled, that every game is catering towards them and their preferences.

There are so many games that I didn't play, because they didn't resonate with me, as a queer woman, and that is okay, just like not every movie is catering towards me.

I've been waiting for this game for 10 years, please just let me and my fellow people who are excited for this enjoy this.

It reminds me of that one SNL skit about the "fisherprice well for sensitive boys"

"this is not for you, this is for him, because everything else is for you, and this one thing is for him"

[usuallydyinginside]

Dragon Age Veilgard Spoilers 👇

TLDR: I never want to hear anyone criticize Neve about “the choice” in Act 1 ever again.

I’m on my second play through for DAV, and one of the things I was most curious about was how the Act 1 choice changes the game. I’ve seen endless hate for Neve and the way she acts if you don’t save her city, and was curious if Lucanis is like weirdly graceful and forgiving about it by comparison.

lol, NOPE.

Here’s the thing, friends. Yes, Neve’s upset when you don’t go to her city, but Lucanis is so much worse about it AND HAS SO MUCH LESS JUSTIFICATION?!?

If you save Treviso:

You’re told upfront that the Venatori will take over if you don’t save Neve’s home. What you aren’t told is that their first order of business before you can even show up post-dragon is to immediately find and wipe out the Shadow Dragons. When you next visit the city, you’ll find a bit of damage from the dragon but there are literally corpses and gallows littering every street—many wearing Shadow Dragon uniforms. Every NPC that you meet at the Shadow Dragon headquarters is either dead or only shows up very occasionally for quests. The entire SD base is deserted, and they basically tell you that everyone but like four people have been killed. Keeping in mind, of course, that this is an org made up primarily of regular and poor people who are fighting against a corrupt regime to end slavery. That was their crime.

Oh, and to top it all off, Neve tells you that her own m little apartment was destroyed too. She has a whole conversation about how the Lighthouse is her only home and your team is most of her remaining family.

Even with all of this, even with how angry and grieving and hurt Neve is, she still forgives you. You can still fully romance her or raise her friendship high. You just have to work for it.

MEANWHILE…

If you save Minrathos:

To me, it sounded like it would be way worse. They put up a big show of how it’ll be mostly civilians who are harmed and how the water will be poisoned. Hence, the first time I did it, I went the other route and saved Treviso.

Except it’s comparatively not nearly as bad?!? The Crow headquarters is, by my count so far, missing only 3 people (Fletcher, Heir, and guy I am suddenly blanking on name who gives a couple quests). All the important Crows are not only still alive—they’re still exactly where you expect. They talk about how empty it is, but it’s really not very and outside in the courtyard it’s downright crowded with crows. Illario is alive and well (haven’t gotten to other surprise family member but I will be shocked if they aren’t also just fine). Teia and Viago are fine. Even Jacobus is so far just fine.

Lucanis still has a giant ass mansion, a fortune, his family, and the majority of the Crows. The Blight is presumably fixable by the end of the game (unlike the Venatori taking over), and the city shows a lot of signs it’ll recover just fine. The only corpses are from the dragon attack which would have really been there anyway despite what the game shows cause either way a big ass dragon attacked.

However, Lucanis becomes immediately dropped as a romance option if you don’t save his city. He reacts objectively more severely after losing far less.

To be clear, I don’t even mind him reacting that wqy! It makes sense if either of them do. What I mind is how many fans are channeling their internalized sexism into dissing my girl Neve.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[utilitycaster]

As someone who hasn't watched majority of c1, reading your thoughts on how tlovm compares is really interesting! I've been in the fandom since c3 began and have seen all of c2 and c3, and I've picked up a lot context.

However, I watch tlovm with a friend who has only seen tlovm at all (and like, 1 hour of exu calamity e1 that we never continued lol, so he did recognise Zerxeus' name). From his perspective of seeing the show as it is on it's own, he's been having a great time, something I do think speaks to the strength of this adaptation - that one of the things CR set out to do was to make something that stood on it's own, and I think they've succeeded in that.

How do you feel on that aspect of tlovm?

I agree - I think a lot of the criticism does come down to disappointment that we're not seeing some of the peak moments of Campaign 1, and I want to be clear that I share some aspects of that disappointment! It is just that like, again, I don't see how you make a scripted show where A Bard's Lament hits if you haven't seen the original, or where Glintshore hits in the same way at all.

I've been thinking about this a lot because I have gotten into some things for which I am unfamiliar with the original/prior installments through mutuals. For example, I have now read some of The Wheel of Time series (gotta get back into it) but I watched the show without any sentimentality for the original, and I think many people who haven't liked it have been mad about changes from the books, not how the TV story holds up. Similarly, I'm very intrigued by Veilguard despite zero past knowledge of basically anything Dragon Age, and I know a lot of longtime fans in particular are mad about changes. The challenge of adaptation, or further installments, is to straddle that line of appealing to new fans and old fans alike. And it's possible - I think TLOVM could have done some things better, but I'm here and I'm not mad about it and while I cannot claim OG C1 fan status I was around in time to have watched C1 and backed the kickstarter, but at the same time it's clearly working for people unfamiliar with the source.

I don't think you should totally abandon everything old fans liked about a series; but the fact is, old fans are a spectrum ranging from people who will love it no matter what because it's their blorbos some more! to people who will nitpick the fact that a specific phrase they have an emotional attachment to didn't appear, and everyone in between. You can't gain more old fans; you can only lose them. And in the end, you should tell a story that works for the medium and what you are trying to do. That doesn't mean every series or adaptation is good, to be clear; I think people who hate on Game of Thrones are 100% valid and not just bitter ASOIAF fans, and we all know that the MCU's attempt to build both a coherent universe but also be accessible to new fans turned it into an absolute trainwreck. But I think that an adaptation should not only be the original but in a new medium, and it should be something a new viewer would enjoy, and yes, I think TLOVM achieves that.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Steven Universe: A Complicated Relationship

I’m starting to fall out of love with this show. I used to be obsessed with it and it was important to me as a way of figuring out my gender and sexuality. Yet, my relationship to it has become more complicated as of late. I’ve defended it myself and have been passionate about it, yet seeing the way a lot of stans have acted has kind of ruined it for me especially due to dismissing any criticism. This is not me saying I hate it or think it’s irredeemable Nazi propaganda but not everyone who dislikes it watches Lily Orchard and there are valid things to criticize about it.

There’s definitely bad faith criticism of the show such as flanderizing Steven into a crybaby with those Jack Horner/Hitler memes or claiming it was made to attack Christians but some people do have valid points. The episodes Bismuth and Gem Harvest may have not intended to come off as racist but one could interpret them as forcing people to forgive their abusers or bigoted relatives. As someone who’s Asian and knows about the way we’re represented, the way Priyanka and Doug were portrayed in the early seasons as tiger parents has not aged well.

One other criticism I’ve seen is that the show copies a lot of old sci fi or anime tropes without recognizing the issues with them or removing them from their original context. I and others have compared the show’s ending to the Highbreed arc from Ben 10 Alien Force. The difference is that the Highbreed were treated as supremacists who needed to be stopped, not as abusive family. People can debate over whether they should have gotten more consequences but they were not treated as dorky relatives. The only one Ben befriends was a low ranking officer who became the new leader and convinced the high council to accept having their DNA changed. There’s also the human zoo, another sci fi trope that’s aged badly with the racist implications.

The series is also compared to a lot of anime. There’s references to Ghibli, NGE, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball and many have compared the show’s idealism to that of magical girl shows like Madoka Magica. The difference is that those shows didn’t use subjects like colonialism as a backdrop for family drama. SW suffers from that as well especially with the rebels only wanting to restore the old liberal system while taking imagery from the Viet Cong. People who wanted a revolution story weren’t necessarily wrong as that’s what the early seasons did set up.

Some will accuse me of fandomizing the war but I’ve noticed a lot of the hardcore stans are white queers who support Israel or demand complete support for democrats. Not saying every SU fan is a bad person btw. There are a lot of decent people who are anti Zionist and like the show but a lot of these pop progressive cartoons as well as SW, Disney and Marvel/DC are used by people with gross beliefs to infantilize themselves and dismiss any criticism from POC fans. If mainstream kids media is where you’re getting your all political takes from then maybe you do need to branch out and watch more mature stuff. Watching NGE helped me grow up a lot and learn nuance.

As a recap, I’m not saying SU is a bad show or that people are bad for liking it. It was important for my own development as well as a lot of lgbt youth and was a jumping point for a lot of my current interests such as classic anime or Lisa Hannigan, who’s an amazing musician and is pro Palestine btw. Future did help me a bit with mental health yet people are allowed to dislike it or find that even if it wasn’t intentional, there are some implications that should be addressed. I don’t hate it and there’s some stuff worth defending in it but it’s not the greatest show ever and people who get all their politics from it need to grow up. Between it, TOH, Dead End and She-Ra, I think a lot of the pop progressive media that we have today will not age well and that’s something we need to accept.

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I've been a fan of Dragon Age since Inquisition came out. I was young and naive back then and always participated in every discourse I saw. Now I’m an adult and looking back, I just cringed at my younger self. It’s exhausting to see the toxicity of this fandom. I learned that I don’t have to participate in every discourse I see and I shouldn’t let the fandom influence me because most of them are hypocrites and self-righteous. For the past decade I've seen a lot of repetitive discourses and harassments towards fans and devs. I’ll admit this fandom is insufferable, that's why I distanced myself from them. Since then, I've just been sticking with my few friends and close mutuals and my experience with the game has been more fun than before when I started not listening to the opinions of others. DA: The Veilguard is coming out soon, I’ll just enjoy the game along with my small circle while ignoring the hate and fandom.

[hybe-girl]

⎯⎯⎯⎯ 𓈒 ˙ Profile of PARK SORA

✽ ˖* 𓂃 Park Sora ( 박소라; born May 11th, 2000 ), known professionally as Sora is a South Korean singer, rapper, actress, model, songwriter, Global Ambassador, and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group MUSE under 21 studio. They debuted through the animated series with the same name MUSE. They also made their Korean debut on August 1, 2019, with the digital single, “Abracadabra“. Sora is the leader, main vocalist and dancer of the group & is also the daughter of actor and actress Park Joon-Woo & Kim Yeona.

✽ ˖* 𓂃 𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙴𝚁.__ BASICS

. + ° Birth Name: Park Sora (박소라)

+ ° English Name: Serenity Park

+ Birthday: May 11th, 2000

+ ' Zodiac Sign: Taurus

+ • Chinese Zodiac Sign: Dragon

+ • BIRTHPLACE: Seoul, South Korea

+ • RESIDENCE: Seoul, South Korea ( current )

+ • ETHNICITY: South Korean

+ ° Height: 167.8 cm (5'6")

+ ° Weight: 46kg (101lbs)

+ Blood Type: B

+ • MBTI Type: INTP

+° Representative Symbol: Heart

+ ° Instagram: @/parksora

✽ ˖* 𓂃𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙴𝚁.__𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

. + ° STAGE NAME: Sora ( 소라 )

. + ° GROUP: MUSE (2019-present )

+ ° Position(s): Leader, Main Vocalist, dancer

+ ° COMPANIE(s): SM Entertainment ( Former), 21 Studio

+ °OCCUPATION(s): Singer, Actress, Model, Songwriter, Global Ambassador, Voice Actress

+ ° DEBUT DATE: August 1, 2019

+ ° DEBUT AGE: 19 ( Int.) 20 ( Kor.)

+ ° STRONG SUITS: her vocals • public speaking • acting • promotions • modeling • variety shows • stage presences • composing • stunning visuals • vlogging • being global ambassador for many brands

+ ° INDIVIDUAL ENDORSEMENT(s): Valentino, Romand, Chloe’, Cartier, Ralph Lauren ( Polo, Purple Label, etc. ), Jimmy Choo, Estée Lauder, Lancôme international, Fendi, Hyein Seo, & Liu Jo.

. + ° SKILLS RANKING:

•vocals ability : 10/10

•rap ability : 4/10

•dance ability: 7/10

•visuals: 10/10 ( Korean Standard )

•Stage presence: 8.5/10

•producing ; song writing ; composing: 7/10

•choreographing: 7/10

•public speaking: 9/10

• Variety show: 9/10

✽ ˖* 𓂃𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙷𝙴𝚁.__𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

. + ° PERSONALITY TYPE: INTP

. + ° PERSONALITY: Sora is a very kind person. she seems rather mean or 'cold' on the outside due to her resting face, the way she holds herself, her preference for alone time or her love for peace and quiet, but when people really get to know her, they see her as one of the most warming and caring people.

. + ° STRENGTHS:

loyal: one thing about Sora, is that she will strongly defend her loved ones when they're receiving hate or wrongly accused of something. fans warn people to not mess with her as she will easily call out people if they say something to her loved ones.

confident: although it is inevitable to not get insecure or doubt herself, Sora knows her worth and strongly reminds herself of it every day.

. + ° WEAKNESSES:

perfectionist: although this is something she's working on, Sora likes things to be in an order where she can easily reach/do them. at first, she would do this by overworking herself or practicing too much to the point of exhaustion. what she does now is she lets the boys mess up her room so she can clean it again and destress herself.

self-isolating: this is also something Sora is working on, but as she's still not so good with voicing her emotions or feelings, she'll often stay in her room and ponder over her feelings or the situation by herself without telling anyone.

. + ° SEXUALITY: straight

. + ° RELATIONSHIP STATUS: in a relationship ( for 7 months )

. + ° FAMILY INFORMATION: father, mother, two older brother, & older sister.

Sora comes from the illustrious Park family, a name synonymous with excellence in South Korea’s entertainment industry. The Park family’s legacy spans three generations, each contributing significantly to the world of acting and performance.

The legacy began with Sora’s grandparents, who were trailblazers in Korean cinema and theater. Their pioneering work set the stage for future generations, establishing a strong foundation of talent and dedication. They were celebrated for their groundbreaking roles and contributions to the arts, earning a place in the annals of Korean entertainment history.

Sora’s parents continued this proud tradition, becoming prominent figures in the industry. Both achieved great success as actors, with numerous acclaimed performances in television dramas, films, and stage productions. Their work not only garnered them individual accolades but also helped elevate the Park family’s status in the entertainment world.

. + ° FATHER: Park Joon-Woo

Park Joon-Woo ( 박준우; born october 17, 1970 ) is a South Korean actor. Considered one of South Korea's most successful actors, he has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, three Screen Actors Guild Award, two Critics' Choice Television Award, ten Baeksang Arts Awards, two Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for Academy Awards( Oscars) and a Gotham Award. The success of Park Joon-Woo works internationally established him as a top Hallyu star. He married actress Kim Yeona in 1995, who is Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful actresses & beauty pageant titleholder. They met & fell in love on the set of one of the highest-rated and critically acclaimed dramas in Korean television history, Where they played the main characters in the historical love triangle drama, The King’s Heart ( 1995 ). Aside from his acting career, Lee is also a businessman, having launched a chain of restaurants in Seoul, as well as founding several businesses including the development company Kim & Park C&D. He owns several of his businesses with his wife Kim Yeona. Following the success of his career, Park decided to take a break from acting & to care for his children in 2008.

In 2012, Park Joon-Woo & his wife Kim Yeona opened an art museum; Yong, Museum of Art. Which is named after his great-grandfather, Park Yong. The museum exhibits traditional and modern art works by Korean and international artists. It is considered one of South Korea's top three private art museums and the couple are known as the most powerful art collector in South Korea. As of February 2023, the family’s net worth was estimated at around US$1 billion & making them one of the wealthiest people in South Korea and was ranked 15th on Forbes 2019 list of 50 Richest Koreans.

• + ° birthdate: october 17, 1970

• + ° ethnicity: South Korean

• + ° birthplace: Seoul, South Korea

• + ° Education: Daewon Foreign Language High School & Seoul National University ( He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian history ) & got his Master of Business Administration degree from Keio University

• + ° occupation: Actor

. + ° Gender: male

. + ° Pronouns: he/him

. + ° Sexual orientation: heterosexual

. + ° Romantic orientation: heteroromantic

. + ° Relationship Status: married ( 1995-present )

. + ° Significant other: Kim Yeona

. + ° Children: two sons & two daughters

. + ° CLOSENESS: 9/10

. + ° MOTHER: Kim Yeona

Kim Yeona ( 김연아; born March 3rd, 1973 ), is a South Korean actress. Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful actresses, and beauty pageant titleholder. At 16 years old, Kim Yeona was casted when she was on her way home from school due to her beautiful face to join the Miss Korea pageant, where she later became a Miss Korea winner in 1989 at 16 years old and represented her country at the Miss World pageant that same year to become runner-up, earning her the title “nation’s golden visual”. At 17 years old, She made her acting debut & rose to stardom via her portrayal of the evil stepsister in the teen drama First Love, First Heartbreak ( 1990 ), which became a tremendous sensation across Asia and sparked an international breakthrough for Korean cinema. Where she went to become the youngest actress to win Baeksang Arts Award for Best Leading Actress.

At 22 years old In 1995, she started alongside actor Park Joon-Woo in of one of the highest-rated and critically acclaimed dramas in Korean television history, Where they played the main characters in the historical love triangle drama, The King’s Heart ( 1995 ), Where they fell in love on set and got married in the same year. In 1998, She started alongside Jackie Chan, and Chris Tucker, the film Rush Hour, where she made her breakthrough in Hollywood. Kim won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy Award nomination. She also won her first Screen Actors Guild Award. She won the Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review and became the first South Korean’s actress to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film. In 2001, she made her appearance again alongside opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2. Where she established herself as a formidable force in Hollywood.

In the same year, Kim starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise in the action film The Secret Agent ( 2001), where she played the role of a spy. The film established Kim among Hollywood's highest-paid actresses, earning $10–15 million per film for the next four years and she was given the President's Award at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards. Following the success of her career, Kim decided to take a break from acting & to care for her children in 2005. Many young actresses have cited Kim as a role model.

In 2012, Kim Yeona & her husband Park Joon-Woo opened an art museum; Yong, Museum of Art. Which is named after her husband’s great-grandfather, Park Yong. The museum exhibits traditional and modern art works by Korean and international artists. It is considered one of South Korea's top three private art museums and the couple are known as the most powerful art collector in South Korea. As of February 2023, the family’s net worth was estimated at around US$1 billion & making them one of the wealthiest people in South Korea and was ranked 15th on Forbes 2019 list of 50 Richest Koreans.

• + ° birthdate: March 3rd, 1973

• + ° ethnicity: South Korean

• + ° birthplace: Uiryeong County, Gyeongsang province, South Korea

• + ° Education: Ewha Girls' High School & Ewha Womans University ( majoring in art studies ) & got her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School

• + ° occupation: Actress

• + ° Gender: Female

. + ° Pronouns: She/her

• + • Sexual orientation: heterosexual

• + ° Romantic orientation: heteroromantic

• + ° Relationship Status: married ( 1995-present)

• + ° Significant other: Park Joon-Woo

• + ° Children: two sons & two daughters

• + ° CLOSENESS: 7/10

. + ° 1st brother: Park Jaewon

Park Jaewon ( 박재원; born April 2nd, 1997 ) is the first son of actor Park Joon-Woo and actress Kim Yeona was born in Seoul, South Korea. He attended Kyungbock High School and graduated from at the age of 12 and then earned a bachelor's degree from Yonsei University School of Business and Technology at the age of 16, and Following his father’s footsteps, Park got his Master of Business Administration degree from Keio University at the same time, becoming the youngest person to ever receive their masters at sixteen years old.

In 2018 at eighteen years old, Park founded and started the online gaming company QUEST by launching the game “Mystic Realms: The Enchanted Quest”. The game is an open-world fantasy RPG where players embark on a magical journey to uncover ancient secrets, battle mythical creatures, and restore balance to a world on the brink of chaos. The game features a rich storyline, diverse characters, and a dynamic environment that reacts to the player’s choices. The company quickly went on to become one of the world's largest online games companies & QUEST has expanded into movies, e-commerce and online music. By 2020, Forbes reported that the company was valued at $700 million and in March 2021 valued the company at $900 million.

• + ° birthdate: April 2nd, 1997

• + ° ethnicity: South Korean

• + ° birthplace: Seoul, South Korea

• + ° Education: Kyungbock High School, Yonsei University School of Business and Technology, & Keio University

• + ° occupation: CEO, Gaming developer

• + ° Gender: male

. + ° Pronouns: he/him

• + • Sexual orientation: heterosexual

• + • Romantic orientation: heteroromantic

• + ° Relationship Status: in a relationship

. + ° Significant other: Wang Liena

.+ °Closeness: 10/10

. + ° 2nd brother: Park Si-Woo

Park Si-Woo ( 박시우; born July 07, 1998 ) is a South Korean actor. He gained widespread fame with his role in the historical fiction as Prince Lee Wan, Moonlit Dynasty ( 2015 ), which also earned him the Best New Actor – Television trophy at Baeksang Arts Awards. His other notable works are television series The brightest star in the sky (2016), Only for Love (2017), Wonderland (2018), and You are my glory ( 2019). He achieved international fame for his role in the 2019 critically acclaimed dark comedy thriller film Parasite, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, and The actors won the Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards. Park is also the son of actor and actress Park Joon-Woo & Kim Yeona.

• + ° birthdate: July 7th, 1998

• + ° ethnicity: South Korean

• + ° birthplace: Seoul, South Korea

• + ° Education: School of Performing Arts Seoul

• + ° occupation: Actor

• + ° Gender: male

. + ° Pronouns: he/him

• + • Sexual orientation: heterosexual

• + • Romantic orientation: heteroromantic

• + ° Relationship Status: Single

.+ ° CLOSENESS: 7/10

. + ° Older Sister: Park Ji-an

Park Ji-an ( 박 지안; September 1, 1999 ) known professionally as Park Jian or Jian is a South Korean figure skater. Park is the second South Korean figure skater to win a medal at an ISU Junior Grand Prix or ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event, the ISU Figure Skating Championships, and the Olympic Games. She is the first female skater ever to win every major international competition, namely, the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the Grand Prix Final. She is also the first figure skater ever to complete a Career Super Grand Slam by also winning the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Junior World Championships. She is one of the most highly recognized athletes and media figures in the world. As a result of her numerous accomplishments and popularity, she is frequently referred to as “Ice Queen” or the “nation’s princess” by various media across the world. Park is also the daughter of actor and actress Park Joon-Woo & Kim Yeona.

Park was the highest paid athlete in the XXI Olympic Winter Games, the 5th, 7th, 6th and 4th top-earning sportswoman in the world in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively according to Forbes. The business magazine has also listed her in their 30 under 30 and Philanthropy lists. She was included in Time magazine's annual Time 100 of World's Most Influential People in 2015. Park was the first to top Forbes Korea Power Celebrity and was ranked in the Top 10 from 2010 to 2017 and in 2020 and the youngest. Park lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

• + ° birthdate: September 1, 1999

• + ° ethnicity: South Korean

• + ° birthplace: Seoul, South Korea

• + ° Education: Ewha Girls' High School & Korea University (majoring in art studies; BA )

• + ° occupation: figure skater

• + ° Gender: Female

• + ° Pronouns: She/her

• + • Sexual orientation: heterosexual

• + • Romantic orientation: heteroromantic

• + ° Relationship Status: in a relationship

• + ° Significant other: Choi Jihoon

• + ° CLOSENESS: 9/10

[mjrtaurus]

Monkey D Urpi headcanons (source: Oda shared it with me in a dream)

- She’s gotta be atleast 6 or 7 feet tall for logistic reasons yes but also because Tall Women ❤️

- Idrk how face claims work but I imagine her to look something like Simone Ashley

- As all other members of the Monkey family do, she’s got a scar on the left side of her face

- A tattoo that wraps around her wrist, almost like a bracelet

- Her and Garp are 2-3 years apart in age (they’re beating the weird age gap grandparents allegations fr)

- Hips length hair. At least 25% of Garp's paycheck gets put into hair care, hair ties, combs/brushes and lint rollers, he'd never ask his family to change but god does it get EVERYWHERE.

- She was the one to make the first move officially (had asked Garp to accompany to a cafe she had gotten a flyer to, face turned away to hide the flush settling on.)

- Big reader, mostly on the varying plants and ecosystems of the different islands on the Grandline and occasionally dips into the mythology of the Blue Sea (just to see what else they got wrong)

- Do not bring up Noland the Liar around her, whatever’s in her hand will shatter and she’ll begin to mutter very quickly under her breathe

- Skilled fighter but actively hates having to fight. It’s less about being scared for and more perpetuating a cycle, violence will only bred more violence. It has its uses but she’d rather not use it at all

- Garp made the mistake of asking her to join the Marines exactly once. The look she gave him was so venomous the topic of enlisting wasn’t brought up again until Dragon was born.

- Has possessed Mantra/Observation Haki from incredibly an early age and developed Armament Haki through training with Garp

- Instantly goes into mother mode around younger people. Physically cannot help it. She just has to dote on them. Definitely takes it up a notch when she’s grandmother age

- Would certainly approve of the ASL's dreams of being pirates/revolutionaries. Who is she to stand in the way of their search for Freedom?

- She and Crocodile get along swimmingly! They discuss mushroom foraging and she shows him all the best for it on Elbaf!

- Consistently refers to Kuzan as her ‘second born’ before someone (usually Sengoku) reminds her that she did not in fact birth him. She would agree and then do the same thing the very next day.

- Big fan of the newspaper since it keeps her up to date on the happenings of her family. Keeps all issues they are mentioned in pristine condition and chronological order.

- Gets intense waves of guilt for ‘leaving her people behind’ and would often wonder if she deserves that happiness she found here.

- Has no inherent ill feelings towards Gan Fall anymore but definitely didn’t like him back then. She’s still a little taken aback when Luffy mentions what a help he was during his time in Skypiea

- Is relentless in her pride of Dragon and everything he has accomplished. She had watched him grow from a sweet little boy who cried when a Den Den Mushi had to be decommissioned to a man who was out to save the world. He is her every wildest wish come true.

Taking down these notes because I might just have to put her on a canvas at some point.

Some additions I would also like to add!

- her surprising proficiency for Mantra/Observation Haki was inherited by Dragon, and she helped him train it.

- When Dragon found her on Elbaf (and let’s say after the WG falls to hell where it belongs) he makes time to take her and Garp to Shandora to hear the Bell that their grandson reclaimed.

- While up there, she reunites with her little sister Nina, and meets her grandnephew Wyper.

- she always had mixed feelings about Dragon joining the marines, but she understood his heart was in the right place. Shame the rest of the Navy couldn’t say the same.

- Dragon’s desertion was a hard time for everyone, but they all knew it was inevitable. Her boy would climb higher and higher in the ranks, and his eyes would have less and less of their warmth. By the time he attained the rank of Admiral, there was hardly anything of her sweet, gentle soul of a son left. It tore her and Garp’s heart to shreds.

- Dragon’s desertion was a planned thing. He had been stationed at Ohara to oversee an expedition, and he had seen the archaeologists be given bounties for the sin of doing their job. He showed up on his parent’s doorstep in the dead of night to tell them he was going to have to be on the run from now on. Urpi gave him her earrings. They are the only thing she had left that had survived her fall from Skypiea and her journey across the seas. They would go with him now on his journey.

- The bounty posters that had been released of Nico Robin following Ohara’s destruction gave her pause. Dragon had mentioned working with a Nico Olvia during this expedition, this child certainly looked like her mother if you looked at the bounty posters side by side but… her complexion, the coloration of her hair… a quick tally of the dates and she can’t help but wonder if she inherited her father’s wings, too.

- when she saw Dragon again after so long, she hugged his neck. His eyes were warm again. He had his hope again. It was tempered with Nika knew how many trials, but he was still the loving little boy with the downy wings that she sang to sleep every night so many years ago…

- she was intrigued by Crocodile. She had heard these “devil fruits” could do wonderful things, but to change a body to match the soul within it… it was incredible. To know her son had helped set this man on that path to change made her wings fluff up with pride. She wishes she could have met Olvia, too.

- after coming to Elbaf, she NEVER covers her wings. She cuts holes in the backs of her clothes for them to fit through, sews clothes using patterns and stitches she knows by heart… as much as she lover Garp, Goa had been stifling. Upon seeing the cuts and mends in the backs of Dragons shirts when he visits, she can tell he suffered the same.

[redjennies]

i see you sometimes in different dragon age tags like "oh yeah the lae'zel fan with the redjenny url. who also likes oghren. extreme good taste" and then as an anders girlie i see your "anti"-anders post and im like "yeah they even have good taste in the way they hate my guy"

aw I really appreciate this! I'm really glad people like my takes on Oghren. I almost posted this long ass meta about him while doing my Brosca playthrough but ended up saving it to the drafts because I was like "girl you are the only person going to bat for this man and everyone else is just tolerating your right to be ornery about disliked characters." I just think about him at the Temple of Sacred Ashes a lot. to anyone reading this, if you've never brought him there, you are truly missing out on some fucking wild character work. he is a gem.

truthfully I'm not even really that anti-Anders when I'm not actively in a mood about how much this fandom annoys me. I'm extremely critical of him as a person and full disclosure, without trauma-dumping too much, I do have a personal history that makes it hard for me to not see him as very manipulative if not outright abusive. but I actually quite enjoy him as a character. I think he's got a lot of flaws and strengths that are really interesting to examine how they coincide with Hawke's larger story. how Anders and Hawke are arguably more intrinsically linked to each other than Varric and Hawke are. it might surprise people but I intentionally max out his friendship every time with my main Hawke because I think their particular story is more tragic if she has fully drunk the Anders kool-aid because he's the first unapologetic apostate she's met outside of her family and because he saved Carver in the Deep Roads and she feels like she owes him. even more of a surprise possibly, I love Sebastian and don't like Anders, but my canon ending is Hawke sparing him one last time and asking him to leave because I think that's the best ending for how I play their relationship. like "no, you have asked so much of me and I have done it for you over and over but I'm not going to give you this, even at the expense of my other friendships. you don't get the easy way out. you have to live with this and you have to do it far away from me." like fuck man! the drama! the poetry! the divorce!

honestly most of my vitriol towards him comes from over a decade now of having an extremely negative experience with what I fully recognize are not all his fans but a vocal group of people who plague the Bioware fandom who are just as bigoted as your average fanboy but in a way they can dress up as "social justice." I've said a lot about how I think the Circle and apostates is just straight up a bad metaphor for systemic oppression (see also: any setting with supers and/or legitimately dangerous monsters as stand-in for oppressed people.) and I won't get into it too much here, but it's worth mentioning because I believe the mage rights discourse and Anders particularly attracts this crowd because you know he's a cute queer whiteboy with legitimate problems and pseudo-radical politics. but I was in the DA Tumblr fandom when Inquisition dropped I remember what group of fans on Tumblr who were particularly rabid in their hatred towards characters like Vivienne and Sera (who are both critical of mage freedom, mind.) 'Twas not primarily the Cullenites calling Vivienne an Uncle Tom, no matter what people will tell you now.

and I also get that there's this way Anders haters talk about him that makes even more otherwise reasonable fans dig their heels in about him. like any critique of him that boils down to "Anders bad because he did a terrorism and terrorism bad" is not really useful to me because yeah, I'm not super keen on bombings as the best course of political action, but terrorism is a very politically loaded and at this point somewhat meaningless term that is mostly used to justify extreme violence against a person or group by the state. I don't need to bring up real life examples because the politics of who is and isn't labeled a terrorist being shorthand for who is and isn't a person deserving of basic human rights has become so obvious over the last three decades that everyone knows at least one example of what I'm talking about. on top of that, I'm a big believer that fiction does not and should not exist in a vacuum and good art should provoke discussions about how we view people who do similar things that these fictional characters do. who are we being asked to give empathy to and who are we not? who are we naturally extending empathy to and who are we not? how do we immediately feel about these things? are we outraged? disgusted? moved? does sympathizing with these characters change our understanding of our personal ethical lines? are certain actions justified under dire circumstances or are there certain lines that should never be crossed? are people forever defined by it when they cross said lines? etc etc. none of these questions can be meaningfully answered by "no, thing bad because thing bad."

that being said, I still come down on the side of Anders is a shitty person at the end of the day. not because he blew up that church or even because he tried to kill that girl, but because there's a consistent lack of compassion for the suffering and/or oppression of others the second someone doesn't fit his mold. because he's honestly pretty sexist and racist in universe. because his romance plot is just a series of progressively worsening red flags in a way that's in my opinion, less sexy and more like he's gonna start punching holes in the wall right next to you. because he's lowkey a tankie. and I've said it before and I'll say it til the day I die, we can have a discussion about how ableism influenced his writing, but at the end of the day, as a mentally ill anarchist, I know buckets and buckets of mentally ill leftist whiteboys who act like this. shit I know women and nonbinary people who act like this too. while I can understand that Bioware wasn't necessarily coming from the same perspective I am and think people are right to call his overarching storyline a tired centrist liberal take on the dangers of radicalism, his character writing still feels not only coherent as a character but very true to a particular type of ain't shit anarchist boy I have encountered over and over. i cannot dismiss his flaws and worst moments as bad writing because I feel like I personally know this asshole.

for example, I once made a post about Dissent years and years ago where I was talking about Anders/Justice/Vengeance/whoever we're calling him depending on what's most useful in the moment's outburst of violence towards Ella through the lens of male entitlement even in leftist circles and like yeah I was being a little tongue in cheek about it because a) I'm pretty tongue in cheek in general, b) I have a tendency to get even more tongue in cheek when I'm talking about things that hit a little too close to home to me, and c) that quest is frankly terrifying if you've lived a life that makes you relate more to Ella in that scene than to Anders. I think it was something along the lines of "people can call Anders a revolutionary all they want but when a mage girl was afraid of him instead of grateful for his rescue, he tried to kill her. [insert anarcho-feminist ranting here]" and I remember someone arguing with me about how that's not what happened at all and how even though I was being pithy, their take on the situation was so utterly removed from what occurs that I had to go back and watch the scene to make sure I wasn't the one completely misremembering it which made me realize just how much Anders has been completely rewritten in parts of the fandom consciousness.

which in and of itself is not really a problem. I know some people just don't care for interacting with fanon at all and want to stay as true to canon as possible and I'm like that sometimes, but there are lots of characters I'm like "oh, I don't like how their story went in canon or think the writer had a neat idea but is too misogynistic to handle her in a way I like and I'm going to basically put them in an AU where they developed their traits in a different way and I can recognize this is more or less my version of them." there's characters I don't care for in canon but I love someone else's fanon version of them. I'm even fine with people doing this with Anders, if they want. I've read really good fic with him that is not my take but hey you do you, this is what transformative fandom is for after all. but I do get more than a little prickly when I'm interacting with my reading of canon that is of course informed by my experiences but still discussing something that just literally happens and someone tells me I'm wrong because of what basically amounts to their fanfics, you know?

anyway that's my very long post about my complicated and extremely nuanced Anders feelings. great character, shitty person, his fans are either really cool or really fucking not. also it's been almost fifteen years, and I still think we should've had Jowan in DA2 as a familiar face helping out in the mage underground to both flesh them out more and to serve as a middle ground between the more circle-aligned Orsino and the initially representing the mage underground before getting progressively more Kaczynski-esque, Anders, instead of Cullen just kind of hanging out in the templars not really doing anything.

[dalishious]

My Five Biggest Fears for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is highly anticipated by BioWare fans. At one point, I would consider myself to be excited for it too, however, unfortunately the long wait with zero information about the game has only wrecked my personal anticipation. Will my hype return once we actually start to get some regular news about the game? Most likely. But until that time comes, all I find myself doing is just… worrying.

These are the five biggest things I worry about.

5. Big, beautiful maps of nothing

In both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, most of the open world maps are very… empty. Instead of creating an adventurous feeling of excitement to explore, it just makes travelling those maps a tedious task. Games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or the new Baldur’s Gate 3 have open maps too, but those developers actually made use of their space with level designs. Skyrim is full of caves, ruins, etc. content to stumble upon. So is BG3, as well as introducing new dynamics to a fight depending on which direction you approach the encounter from. These games prove an understanding of how to best equip an open world concept that BioWare has only executed in a few maps across both their most recent RPGs. I do not want to see Dragon Age: Dreadwolf be yet another case of luscious forests where developers spent far too much time making look visually beautiful, and not enough time actually filling with game content.

4. Shoddy attempts at retcon

For those of you who don’t know what “retcon” means, it is short for “retroactive continuity”, and refers to the phenomenon of fiction introducing new information that is inconsistent with past information. The purpose is to revise old material. Dragon Age: Inquisition had more than one attempts at retcon that were terribly executed. For example, the player is told not once, not twice, but three different times—as if repeating it enough will erase all the extensive lore up to that point saying otherwise—that the Dalish get rid of their mages if they have “too many”. This is despite the previous games and extended materials showing that the Dalish practically revere their mages.

Now, not all retcons are bad. For example, in Marvel Comics, the superhero Karma’s real name was recently retconned to be Xuân Cao Mạnh, a real Vietnamese name, after spending years and years with the made-up Vietnamese name, Xi'an Coy Man. This is an example of how retons can be used for a good purpose, like fixing a long-lasting mistake. But what exactly is the mistake in saying the Dalish are good people who don’t hate mages like most of Thedas? That was just a cheap, transparent excuse to villainize both elves and mages further.

Cheap, transparent excuses like that make me lose faith in BioWare’s writing. It concerns me with what other lore they view as needing “correcting” in order to reinforce their idea of Grey Morality™ where it doesn’t belong.

3. Imposter characters

One of the biggest grievances I had with Dragon Age: Inquisition, was how the Hawke written in that game was in no way the same Hawke I played in Dragon Age II. I understand that it would be impossible to capture the exact customized character, but the Hawke in DA:I was placed into the game with an anti-blood magic agenda, and wouldn’t shut up about it. This is hilarious, considering how many players chose to make their Hawke a blood mage personally!

With this in mind, I am terrified that my Inquisitor, who will very likely make an appearance in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, will be used for whatever new agenda needs to be pushed. I better not hear a single anti-Dalish comment from my Lavellan, is all I’m saying.

2. Whitewashing ahoy

For all the talk about #diversity values, BioWare has a very extensive criminal record when it comes to whitewashing their own characters. Almost every single one of their most prominent visibly non-white characters have had their skin lightened or completely washed out, as well as ethnic features erased, at some point or another. This is why I cannot share any excitement or desire for existing characters to make a return; the fear that we’ll have to see Zevran next looking like Chris Hemsworth next haunts me too much.

But this particular fear runs even deeper than individual characters. Why? Because we know that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will be taking place in northern Thedas, which up to this point has been consistently depicted as having largely non-white demographics. I’m not saying there are no white people in Tevinter, Antiva, etc., but I am saying that if I see the same mix of 80% pale tones and 20% “everyone else” we’ve gotten from the last three games, I will absolutely flip shit. White characters should be in the minority for a change. Otherwise, what is the point of shifting focus away from the dominantly white countries in the first place?

1. This will end of the Dragon Age franchise

Is this the most likely to happen of all fears? No; it is probably the least. But after the pathetic failure that was Anthem and the lacklustre response to Mass Effect: Andromeda, I would not be surprised if BioWare is on thin ice in EA’s eyes. (Which is ironic, considering the demands made by EA to chase after multiplayer fads and micro-transactions are what got BioWare into such a mess in the first place.) Electronic Arts is a garbage company run by garbage people. That much has been proven time and again. The executives behind BioWare itself aren’t clean, either. Unfortunately it will be average employee that suffers the most punishment and blame if the game does not meet the likely very high standards set out for it. In some ways, they are almost set up to fail.

It’s not fair, and there’s not we can really do about it, because the gaming industry is run by selfish idiots. It’s because of this that if events come to pass that the Dragon Age franchise was put “on hold indefinitely” so BioWare can work on clunking out an Anthem sequel, I would be very upset, but not very surprised.

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[quitealotofsodapop]

Nezha in the Century Egg au;

Almost forgot our perfect lotus boy!

In the Century Stone egg au; Wukong entrusts Nezha with waking him up/taking a peak at the cave every so often, but he doesn't let him in on *why* Wukong is "meditating" for 500 years. Wukong fears Nezha pulling a DBK-level move and he can't risk it .

Nezha agrees, but obviously he's pulling double duty as is with guarding the Map to the Samadhi Fire, so he sometimes forgets what he was meant to do. He sometimes runs into Princess Iron Fan when he visits Flower Fruit Mountain, and depite being former comrades, he feels no hate towards her. Nezha understands that Wukong is one of the few connections that PIF has left in the Mortal Plane, and thinks it's perfectly reasonable for her to be on standby until the monkey wakes up from his deep sleep.

Then one day, as Nezha is *actually* meditating; he's flipping through some requests/prayers to him when he gets a very unusual prayer from FFM;

Ao Yi, hands clasped and crying: "Nezha, Patron God of Children - please ensure my little Mei is found safe and well!"

Nezha: "What the- dragons don't pray to me..."

And they don't. After the incident with Ao Bing, dragons as a whole would rather due than be caught praying to the Lotus Prince. Even to request the safety of their children.

Feeling very sus, Nezha flies down to ask the dragon parents whats up - especially since PIF told him that very few souls are able to even reach the Monkey King's island without permission.

The two dragons are completely distressed, explaining that they were relaxing on a camping trip and that their toddler-aged pup had wandered off into the jungle after what looked to be a supernatural flame.

Nezha manages to brush off the weirdness of his "clients" being dragons enough to zero in on where the little pup had run off too- and she's in Brother Wukong's cave!

Nezha zips towards Water Curtain Cave with the dragon couple at his heels. He bursts through the waterfall only to see the dirty dragon pup digging around in the soil with.... Wukong's Pilgrim brothers?

And whats that statue of a monkey doing here??

PIF: "Oh, Nezha. Glad you're here. Hold him for me please.* PIF: *hands Nezha toddler Red Son* Nezha: "EH!?" The Monkey *statue*: *starts cracking like an egg* Nezha: "?!?!?"

Its a very odd family reunion.

The lotus prince has to be filled in on some details once Wukong wakes up, and he will have things to say about Wukong burying himself for 500 years to have a baby. And he's seconds away from throttling the monkey when he hears that the process is potientially lethal no matter the immortality.

He accidentally sorta joins the Noodle Shop gang's found family? Mostly cus Tang mentioned that the Lotus Prince died as a child, and the rest got super protective of him.

The real confusion for the Lotus Prince comes about when he's called to act as baliff at the trial of Sun Wukong vs the Heavenly and Infernal Court!? What?! How did this happen- "Oh hi Macaque."

Nezha is trusted as a high-ranking officer to keep the Six Eared Macaque detained for the trial. Nezha wonders why Macaque is pretending to be held by the ropes/handcuffs.

Nezha delivers a pretty solid testimony/character witness for Wukong, as I do believe he defended Wukong while in the presence of a Boddisattva in Jttw, and he pretty much considers the monkey a brother figure.

Nezha is one of the gods to glance over at Wukong when the Monkey King started shifting uncomfortably in his seat. His godly powers told him *something* was happening, but being a mental teenager, Nezha couldn't think what.

Then the Monkey King goes into labor in the middle of the Heavenly Court while pleading for the soul of his mate.

Nezha naturally freaks the frick out.

[a-gay-bloodmage]

I'm curious...

Fellow Dragon Age fans, did you ever come up with a nickname for Varric to call your Inquisitor / Custom Hawke? Seeing as the man seems to be incapable of calling most of his friends their actual names, I figure that he'd give the Inquisitor one, even if he doesn't in-game!

I'd love to see people reblogging and tagging / replying with their PCs' nicknames... and maybe why or how they got them! My own Inquisitors' nicknames are under the cut! It'd be a very long post, otherwise...

Mallory Trevelyan: Girly, a very literal nickname. Before coming out as a cross-dresser, there wasn't a moment where Mallory (or Mallie) wasn't in a full face of makeup. He was always worrying about getting his hair messed up or complaining about having to wear things like pants or unflattering, manly armor. Even when Varric learned that Mallory was actually a man, the nickname stuck around. It still applied, after all! Mallory doesn't mind the nickname, but he does find it hopelessly unoriginal.

Kiora Trevelyan: Pep, a clear joke of a nickname. Kiora, a somniari, struggles with narcolepsy caused by her strong connection to the Fade. Both Kiora and Varric think that calling the girl who nods off after half an hour of sitting down in a loud tavern very funny.

Aelon Lavellan: Twitch, an unfortunately literal nickname. Aelon hates it, and Varric can't help but be amused the way that Lavellan's nose and ears twitch every time Varric calls him by the nickname. Lavellan is a very anxious, slightly paranoid person, and he certainly fits the nickname.

Ashavise Lavellan: Cuddles, an affectionately ironic nickname. Ashavise is one of the least cuddly people he knows, clearly not very interested touching anyone in the world of the living for the majority of her time in the Inquisition. Even if it's a joke about her, Ashavise does think that the durgen'len's stupid nickname for her is kind of funny. Not that she'd tell him, of course.

Ademamar Cadash: Big Guy, an obviously ironic nickname. Ade is about an inch taller than Varric, but the two of them are obviously the shortest men in the Inquisition. Ade's constant flirting with the Iron Bull only makes Varric think the nickname is all the funnier. Ade likes it, and cites it to Bull when he's trying to convince the quinari to sleep with him.

Harta Cadash: Madame, a literal and relatively respectful nickname. While she and Varric are friends, he tends to be a little careful around a woman still very deeply tied to the Carta. Especially since she admitted, very cheerfully, to having met Varric before the Inquisition, her family having wanted to check up on one of the Merchant guild men involved with the mess in Kirkwall. Harta loves the nickname.

Ozol Adaar: Willow, an affectionately literal nickname. It took him a while to come up with something that wasn't too obvious. He finally settled on Willow, even if a tree joke was a bit basic. The combined factors of Ozol's towering height, strength, and his long silver dreadlocks made Willow a perfect nickname. Ozol thinks it's very nice. Far better than most of things he's called by bas.

Semiha Silva-Adaar: Bouncy, a soft and literal nickname. Semiha's personality is very go-getter and cheerful, and she tends to fidget by bouncing a little on her heels. Her twin puffs of silvery afro hair only add to the perpetual motion. She thinks it's a great nickname, and smiles every time Varric calls her it.

[magicmindless]

I'm not sure if you are taking hc requests anymore or something but if you are can you do Drakson (or Orion)

Feel free to ignore this!

I was actually quite excited for Drakson ngl... but it still came out kind of rushed so apologies for that😅

A HC List but it's just Drakson

I like him in a babygirl way

Though he’s irritable and stubborn, he’s actually a good guy with a soft spot for his fans, and will absolutely jump into the crowd to break up fights

Has chronic resting bitch face which he used to be insecure about, but he embraces his intimidation powers now

Asexual. He doesn’t date much nowadays due to being busy with the band but he does wish to have a partner of sorts in the future

Liezel’s older brother. He was one of the first people she came out to as transgender and he will murder anyone who is transphobic to her

Around the same age as Orion but slightly older by a few months. They’ve known each other since babies and have been writing songs since teenagers when they didn’t fight as much, and even if they did it was mostly bantering (they still banter sometimes but nowadays that might lead to fist-fights)

The cousins have slightly different reasons for why they don’t get along with the other nowadays but Drakson’s reasons are that he doesn’t trust that Orion will stay in the band, and hates how overgrown his ego is with being the lead singer and all

Now this is something some fans wonder about often: Why doesn’t Drakson just let him leave? Well, it was because of a promise they made as teenagers that no matter what, they would make it big in music and stick together for as long as they breathe, and Drakson with his determination and iron-willed stubbornness is still trying to keep that promise

His fashion sense consists of primarily edgy and alt elements, even dabbling in pastel punk/goth. He does most of his clothes shopping at thrift stores because he absolutely HATES every single fast-fashion brand

Likes Sanrio and kawaii-themed things pretty openly, and if anyone judges him for it he tells them they can suck it. Even the most brooding of people need some whimsy in their lives

Has a massive sweet-tooth. He’s eaten cake for breakfast more times than he likes to admit but he does it because no one can stop him (though the problem is that no one can stop him so then he gets a tummyache)

Loves horror movies. He isn’t easily grossed out by anything so he tends to have a bit of a morbid/raunchy sense of humor

Has a lot of body tattoos. I don’t know what any of them are but he has a lot of them. One of them is definitely a dragon

Frequents the arcade once a week or so. His favorite arcade games are Stomp Stomp Institution and anything that involves shooting a gun and he gets Orion in on them. They make a surprisingly good team for the multiplayer ones

Kind of a nerd. He likes card games like Pokémon or Magic the Gathering and plays DND in an online server (the server involves Didar, Simone, Skyler, Brody, and even Rithy)

I don’t know exactly what Rithy’s relation to the other 2 would be but I can see him as another cousin who Drakson treats like a little brother

Dyes his hair himself using the dyes from Twizzy’s cycling through different colors throughout the years like white, green, pink, and right now it’s to his signature purple. Orion tells him that he’s gonna go bald soon from the amount of DIY hair-dying he does

Was one of those kids forced to learn an instrument at a young age because of his strict parents so he chose the piano which he doesn’t hate them for since he ended up enjoying it

Speaking of which, there are some rough spots when it comes to his relationship with his parents. He says he doesn’t hate them but admits if he was never able to move out he would’ve lost his mind

Has a melodica which he might occasionally use for fun at shows but he also uses it to annoy the shit out of Orion

His reputation in the band is the token “bad boy” and there is no surprise why. While he usually doesn’t mind being called that, he doesn’t like it sometimes because it made people think that he’d be all mean and tough and he was even speculated of being a playboy once which is very far from the truth, so in public he tries to be as polite as he can and maybe crack a slight smile if he feels like it (it’s very rare of him to smile so any clips of him smiling go viral online)

In an interview with DJ Honey Buster (Hugo), he said that if he didn’t become a musician he probably would’ve ended up as a nurse like his parents wanted him to