#(also disclaimer i'm a In Hushed Whispers Truther i just tried COTJ once to see why people love it so much)

[icharchivist]

ok im sharing because it's been my theory for years and i was surprised when i realized it's not something i really see in the fandom? (granted i do avoid the fandom a bit but i've been lurking since da4 was announced)

But i'm like. convinced. deep in my bones. that the Nightmare Demons in DAI is actually Fear from Dirthamen's codex entry. And Envy is Deceit.

they're also mentioned in Falon'Din's codex entry like this:

Nightmare's realm is full of the Crow's status we usually see in Kirkwall, which would make sense to link to Dirthamen. (also note how the first pieces of Red Lyrium and Corypheus himself are found under Kirkwall, which has adopted the Double Raven's Iconography as its own. Note also that the Lost Temple of Dirthamen is on the other side of the sea, nearby the Free Marches, possibly implying the Free Marches used to be Dirthamen's domain -- especially since Inquisition calls the Double Raven's aesthetics "Free Marches" in the decor settings).

Yet we're in Orlais, and while the Fade does what the Fade does, it's odd to see this iconography here after we associated it to the Free Marches for so long. Unless it represents Dirthamen's minions even more so than the Free Marches. (especially since otherwise we see the Double Raven in Elven Ruins or, even more accurately so, in the Shattered Library, place of Knowledge (which is credited to Dirthamen), in which "Librarians" are currently turned into Terror Demons alike to Nightmare.)

Nightmare's realm is also where we find that one codex that is most likely about the Evanuris talking through the Blight:

Nightmare=Fear makes so much sense to me. It's a Fear Demon. It has knowledge of the Blight, the ravens are everywhere in this realm, and this codex would suggest it is working with Corypheus because it knows it can help the Evanuris be freed one day.

Meanwhile the other demon who actively helps Corypheus is Envy, from the Champion of the Just questline. A Demon who physically approaches the appearance of Terror Demons, who swap its appearances to look like the people it envies, deceiving people all around in order to start shit. In COTJ the Bad Future is told to us by Envy showing what it intends to do once it takes our appearance- making US be the one person to deceive our allies to do Corypheus' bidding.

in the myth, Fear and Deceit were left without master to wander the Fade and prey on the souls of the Deads. The idea that they could be lurking, waiting for someone with whom they could team up?

And who's best to help the ex-representant of Dumat, God Of Silence, than the two minions of the God Of Secrets?