#(as merrill puts it)

[chanafehs]

da2 posting again. I'm so normal about Merrill

[lelianasbong]

Templar Carver cracks me up. Man is working for Cullen "mages cannot be our friends" Rutherford and Meredith "I protect you mages from your curse and your own stupidity" Stannard and when Merrill starts stressing about being caught he hits her with the softest most sincere,

"Don't you worry. It wasn't - and won't - be me. Have your fun :)"

HAVE YOUR FUN. Like she's knitting tea cozies in her free time?? Baby that's blood magic you are a TEMPLAR Carver you're so fucking funny. The man that you are

[lizzybeeee]

DATV explaining the 'Regret Prison'

A REGRET PRISON IS STUPID AND I'M TIRED OF PRETENDING THAT ITS NOT

TL;DR: a prison can serve as a metaphor but it shouldn't be entirely comprised of a metaphor.

From what I understood from what the game gave us: Solas has made a new prison to move the God's too - since bringing down the veil would free them from the Black City. This new prison is separate(?) from the fade or so far removed/contained that bringing down the veil would not compromise it...apparently. We interrupt his ritual, Solas gets sucked into the new prison he made, and the elven gods are free.

When Rook gets kicked into the fade they're physically there - which means it's a physical place in the fade, like how it was a mixture of physical/thought when we entered it in DAI. Which makes sense - the gods are real and living beings, they need to be in a place, there must be some aspect of physicality to it.

Alright, cool, it's a Black City 2.0 - I assume it's better defended to prevent people breaking in/out again?

NOPE.

We get there and it's a 'regret prison'?? It's tied to the regrets of those within it? Composed of regrets??? Solas had to wait for the right moment for Rook to be sufficiently 'full of regret' that they could switch places?

So is the prison tied to Solas's regrets? If so, how can Rook escape? The prison seems to work around the idea that it relies on the regrets of the person it's holding to work - which is how/why Rook was able to be trapped and later free themselves (along with whatever remains of the team apparently being able to do something on their end, not that we hear about it).

WHICH IS STUPID!

Are you telling me the prison intended to hold to megalomaniac elven gods was going to imprison them based on their own regrets? Is Solas assuming that Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are as self-pitying as he is? They'd break out quicker than Rook did! He made a time out corner for the elven gods to sit in and gave them an out if they reflected on their emotions/regrets or decided that they don't regret what they did. Elgar'nan, a spirit of tyranny, is not going to 'regret' his actions - he is going to justify them by telling himself and others that he knows what's best.

We can come across some of Solas's regrets in the prison if you run around a bit and explore:

Remnant of Failure - talking about the orb from Inquisition.

Remnant of Parting - talking about Mythal

Remnant of Reflection - more vague, talking about the Titans I believe.

So maybe he altered it - maybe he intended the prison to be 'locked' with his own regrets because after a millennia of having a pity party he still can't bring himself to self-reflect and look to the future. But what if Solas died? Or if his guilt lessened - would it diminish the strength of the regret prison?

We already have pre-established lore (though DATV has shown they don't really give a crap tbh) that once the being that has claimed/altered an area of the fade is slain, it's influence diminishes both in and outside of the fade. So if the prison was tied to his regrets then it would require Solas to basically live forever to keep it stable - especially if he brought down the veil and removed the one barrier that kept the world and the fade apart.

Rook and Solas needed some assistance to exit - but it doesn't seem like it was much! Solas used his dagger and Rook just...got out through a fade tear? This is Solas's 'more secure' second prison? It has a worse track record than the Black City! If Rook - who is not an elven god - managed to escape the regret prison what is to stop anyone else from breaking in and out of the prison?

And what did Solas intend to do with the blight - the bulk of which is apparently in the black city?? If bringing down the Veil would free the gods in the black city doesn't that mean that the blight would also be released?! Did he have a plan? Why does he go fully ahead with bringing down the veil at the end if the black city is still there and filled with blight?!

I get it: the 'regret prison' is a metaphor for how Solas holds onto the past and how Rook can move past their regrets and grow. He's trapped by the past - it's a prison. Cool. But this prison is supposed to by a physical place to contain the gods - not just to solely contain Solas. The mission is literally called 'A Cage for Gods'.

The Black City is an actual place that's so far out of reach of anywhere else in the fade that no mage can ever reach it while in dreams - let alone physically, which was only done once and took tremendous effort/blood sacrifices. It made sense - it was cool to see floating in the sky in DAO!

Though it's not said specifically, it's strongly implied that Arlathan is the Black City. You can see in the concept art that floating elven city is exactly the same as the black city in DAO! It's this foreboding thing just lurking in the sky - a constant reminder of the sin that led to the horrors of the blights and darkspawn. A real place with lore and history that also serves as a metaphor for the hubris and destruction of those who call themselves gods and act as tyrants -> for both the evanuris and the magisters.

I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS BIOWARE!

WHAT IS THIS KINGDOM HEARTS NONSENSE???!!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Every time I see someone earnestly say that Carver hates Hawke, I have to exercise such restraint to not scream.

Every day I get closer to writing a deep dive about him because that's my guy. He's so interesting. He feels so much. He tries so hard when talking to the other companions and some of the dynamics he has with them are so good. He can be so fucking funny and sweet and awkward. He so badly wants to be wanted and appreciated and to protect everyone he loves.

Carver Hawke, they could never make me hate you.

[l3irdl3rain]

my mom picked up a stand mixer for me and the cats are all extremely thankful for it because it came with a wonderful box

[mourn-and-watch]

merrill dragon age isn't The Character in terms of being the guy with the juiciest backstory details or protagonist material but she is The Person. The Heart. she was working on one of the most important researches of elven history and no one believed in her. not her keeper, her teacher and mother figure. nor her clan, the only family she's ever had. nor hawke's friends, the only people who were surrounding her for six years. the only person who can actually place their faith in her is hawke but if they don't she won't mind. she is used to it, being on her own. and, despite everything, she believes in people. she knows it matters. better than anyone.

she has never heard a nice word from fenris, but she still tries to cheer him up from time to time. she has never heard a nice word from anders either and she still feels for him. varric annoys her when he tries to distract her from the eluvian, but she appreciates it because she knows he means well. aveline refers to her work as senseless and potentially dangerous for the city, but she is still happy for her when she falls in love.

if hawke sides with mages in the last straw merrill is the first to support them. "I believe in you, hawke", she says, when everyone else is consumed by doubt. and then she's the only one who openly suggests sparing anders. so he can put things right.

she knows the feeling. when you're on your own and everyone thinks you're beyond salvation, undeserving of compassion or understanding. and this is the best she can offer for people she cares about: her unconditional faith, her sympathy, a second chance. the things she was desparately looking for and never had. she believes in people because she knows: there's no one else to believe in them

[boatboys]

In honor of me trolling through a billion pages of discord messages sorted only by "has:image" for unrelated reasons; some roach!Riches from the long-ago that I somehow never ended up posting when I first started this blog. Feat. Rich's cute little mouse cuff tattoo

[goodluckdetective]

Playing BG3 honestly makes me nostalgic for DA2. It’s the thing about being a little group of funky queer people, doing little quests and stealing anything that isn’t hammered down.

[gre4zerz]

Dallas just trying to go to sleep when a spider crawls on his arm. He's cussing and screaming trying to murder it until Buck eventually goes upstairs and gets rid of it for him.

He refused to sleep in that room until it got thoroughly cleaned of all spiders.

[coffeeworldsasaki]

"why are they bringing back this character that absolutely has to be brought back because OF THE HUGE CHOICE AT THE WELL IN DAI when they could bring back this other character that can die and they'll have to waste an immense amount of resources to replace them with another character for those world states"

[dvasva]

i find it hilarious how yall are so eager for asexual relationships in dragon age but sebastian vael asks for a sexless marriage and yall go 'ew, prude'

[luckyguyy]

when Petrice is getting absolutely shut down by the Grand Cleric and then suddenly she gets shot in the chest with an arrow

and then it’s revealed a Qunari archer has snuck in

and then he shoots her again in the fucking head

and then you’re all just standing there looking at each other

and then Grand Cleric just calmly and coldly goes “Please, send for Viscount Dumar” from the staircase

FUCK

game of all time for real

[hollyand-writes]

My draft and unfinished artwork for the @dragonagereversebang last year, which I unfortunately had to drop out of. Hoping to finish this someday, and colour it in. 1920s AU Carver/Merrill!

[grapecaseschoices]

the way fenris wont even consider turning in mages in the team bc it would upset hawke.

the way sebastian DOES considerate but struggles because there is no middle ground.

[pechebeche]

if they were going to go "but the lords of fortune looting historical sites arent that bad, they have a Sensitivity Consultant TM!", they couldve at LEAST made the sensitivity consultant merrill so that the merribela truthers get thrown a bone

[l3irdl3rain]

I got these self grooming cat things specifically for Petunia since I can’t pet her but Merrill understood what they’re for right away