#I hope no one minds bi Solas bc

[eeriemothz]

I've made a deal with myself to let Bull and Solas interact a lot in any Solas fics I write (which won't be too long or plot heavy until I'm happy with how I write Solas) bc I think their dynamic is really fun. I need them to give each other shit and by the maker I'll be the one who makes it happen.

[wizardsix]

oh cool, thanks for sharing your thoughts too. I completely agree with you (especially your second paragraph). it's very frustrating to see people believe that creating/consuming media about bad things means you approve of said bad things, which only proves how people can't think for themselves...

this increasing trend is unfortunately a decline in media literacy and increase in short attention spans. people don't know how to "read between the lines" anymore and need their hands held. if something isn't explicitly stated, it doesn't exist. we're at the point where people need to be told shit like "misgendering is bad :)" instead of showing us how this could affect trans characters and the kind of pain that comes from knowing people don't see you as who you really are. there needs to be a balance of showing and telling, and also not being biased. I don't doubt that there are talented writers on the team (currently and formerly) as there is good writing to be found across the franchise, but most of the time bioware can never find that balance and I don't know why.

(and yeah putting relevant lore and plot from the games in books/comics etc, like varric and harding searching for solas, should have been in veilguard. it's not established how rook and varric even got to this point, which alienates the new players they so desperately wanted as well as people who can't afford them or don't want to follow a bunch of different mediums just to get a coherent story. there's too big of a gap between inquisition and veilguard that should have been mended somehow)

as for the romance... I do agree here but it's important to have gay and lesbian characters bc even though our experiences overlap with theirs they are ultimately different. in my opinion I think it just depends on the amount of companions. like dragon age 2 worked fine bc there were only four romanceable ones, so making them all bi for balance made sense (idk if that's why I'm just assuming here). whereas in inquisition there were eight, so they could stand to make two of them gay while making the others bi or straight or whatever (and with the replayability, someone could just make a new oc and experience those. especially since being gay is a big part of dorian's grief, it just wouldn't work if he was bi or god forbid straight). it's definitely our lack of preference speaking, since I also wouldn't mind bi being the default, but we can't leave the rest of our community behind. representation helps normalize what the masses think is abnormal. at the end of the day though, writers should not base a character's personality around their sexuality and gender identity because we are more than that. if it's important, there's always a way to do it well without it being yet another coming out story... and here's where taash was done dirty.

taash's story had potential to be about questioning their identity as a whole, and I was really hoping that their gender was just the tip of the iceberg, but it just. didn't go anywhere. im a second generation immigrant (greek-canadian), so it did hit close when taash was questioning where they even belonged, but then bioware ruined it by watering down the immigrant experience to one choice where you have to encourage taash to either choose rivain or the qun... which, to put it bluntly, was incredibly stupid (especially with bioware's racist writing of making the qun/qunari and everyone who follows it bad, most people would just pick rivain).

why do they have to pick one? why are we deciding that for them, especially when we barely know them? why can't they learn how to create a new life And reconnect with what they lost? a lot of immigrants hold onto culture bc it's all they have despite being disowned by their own people for "abandoning their country", but still live their new lives without sacrificing their roots. like to this day I still question if greeks would ever accept me because I was born in canada. my relatives and greeks as a whole just see me as another stupid american with no culture, "not a real greek", even though I know the language and still celebrate greek holidays/practice certain parts of the religion because of my mother. this struggle and disconnect doesn't just go away overnight, and it's incredibly sad how we could've had a character who is a pillar of perseverance and represents the loss/reclamation of identity be reduced to... a joke, I guess. it's a real shame.

that one conversation between emmrich and harding and the argument between emmrich and rook..... why is bioware trying to make the age gap an issue and why is their age even mentioned. why are they trying to make rook a fresh-faced adventurer. what if someone is playing as an older character huh. idk what's so wrong about two consenting adults in a relationship but ok

[bpdanakins]

Name ten favourite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) then tag ten people

I was tagged by the dear @gffa who clearly enjoys making these lists and seeing everyone else also struggling with just choosing ten. It’s hard but I shall do my best sdfk <3

1. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider Okay, let’s just get it out: I prefer reboot!Lara. idk I know some people think she sucks and the games suck for whatever reason, but I found the games and their mechanics super fun, and Lara’s story really compelling. She was a young girl who was determined to make her own way in the world, and instead went through something extremely traumatizing. She kept pushing through, kept getting back up no matter what the world threw at her. She went on this clear journey that was compelling and fun and messy. She wasn’t perfect. She pushed people away, she fucked the world up because she was determined to find the answers she felt would make all she went through make sense. Her survivor’s guilt was present really well in RotTR but most especially in SotTR. People were dying but she was so focused on finishing her personal mission. She was numb to it despite the fact it still horrified her. And her arc ended well. She finally was able to reach a place where she was able to let go of her losses and try to join society again. And I’m gay for her. So, you know.

2. Senua - Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice I cannot recommend this game enough. It’s tough to play bc it’s not just a horror game but you feel a lot of Senua’s anxiety, which is part of the point to the game. Senua’s a Celtic warrior who suffers from psychosis, and the game devs worked directly with both professionals and those who experience psychosis. There’s a whole mini doc to it which is great, even if you can’t stomach horror. You’re in Senua’s head with her throughout the game. You see what she sees, you hear all she hears, and she talks to you directly at times. But the beauty of the game is Senua’s true journey. She goes on a quest to try to rescue a loved one she lost to Vikings, but the real story is about a girl realizing she’s not a monster for seeing the world differently. That the abuse and ableism she faced weren’t her fault at all. There’s so many little things I can point to in this game that just made me so emotional, and it’s such a beautiful and necessary story to tell. Senua is great and deserves a hug.

3. Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars If you asked me at what point in my life Anakin became one of my favourite characters, to the point I frequently talked about him even on my main blog at random intervals, I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t the faintest idea; he just was. And if you asked me why he was a fave early on, I also couldn’t tell you lmao. It might partially be that I grew up on the prequels, and maybe at such a young age I didn’t really grasp at first that this was a story about a guy who was already revealed to be a villain, but I haven’t the faintest clue. He just is now, and I’m so passionate about his story. He’s complex and difficult and written so well. You want him to be happy, you feel heartbroken seeing a good character fall so deep, and you want to smack him upside the head a whole lot. You laugh at his silly dialogue (which he has as Vader too smh), you cry when you see him struggling, you become horrified by his actions. His story’s also a great inversion of the Chosen One trope - whereas usually we see Chosen Ones struggle, become imperfect and undoubtedly traumatized, they remain heroes the whole time. Anakin doesn’t. He becomes the bad guy, one of the worst in the series (Palps takes the award tho). But even then, when you think this guy has nothing to offer but an intimidating villain, he’s shown to have good. And then we see how much good he had all along, the good he forgot and was punished for and hated himself for. His heart that had good intentions but he chose the worst actions. He’s complicated and I love him. And more over, I love how many people who struggle or have mental illness can relate to him. I love that he wasn’t treated as a guy whose actions were glorified, but that were honest in both the good ones and the bad ones. Anyone can fall, and anyone can get back up, if they choose to. I just. Love him. He means a lot.

4. Commander Shepard - Mass Effect I know that Shep is technically the player’s character and can be any combination of person, but anyone who’s played Mass Effect would get why they were put here. The original trilogy for Mass Effect touched on so many things, and was a really emotional one. You had your great moments with friends, you had your struggles against both unknown horrors, and horrors close to home (so to speak). There are so many small moments that stick out to you, and idk how many people can say that playing this story didn’t impact their life in a meaningful way, bc I can’t see how it couldn’t. I’ve played the games many times, but even after all of this, there are moments that I not just still get emotional to, but take on new meaning as I go through my life. And Shepard’s the hero of the story. They’re not perfect, and they can downright be an ass if you play them that way, but their story is one of perseverance, of fighting on even when entire worlds are being lost and everyone is still looking to them. Everyone needs them to find a solution. But even then, it’s a story about friendship too. About tons of amazing characters that all have their own motivations, their own pasts and goals and hopes and failures. About how all these varied characters become a found family. And so Shepard’s the hero of the story, but their companions aren’t just there to be sidekicks, but end up with all their own accomplishments and arcs and you go on this journey with all of them. idk the whole series is great dsalkkljads

5. Lexa & Clarke - The 100 Let’s not talk about how terrible this show got and how messy it was because we all know. But it started with a really compelling story that was interesting, and to see two characters on screen who were flawed but understood each other, and to have them both be women - one who was a lesbian and one who was a bisexual?? It made me so excited and it’s a really flawed show but it meant a lot to me at the time to have a couple like that on a tv show, and so despite all its flaws, that relationship still means a lot to me. 

6. The BAU team - Criminal Minds Yeah, I put the entire friggin team down, and that means all of them. There was only maybe two or so characters that were on it I didn’t like so every iteration is put down. Criminal Minds isn’t exactly a complex show; it’s a typical crime drama, and its unique feature is that it looks into the behaviour and minds of criminals instead of finding the science, like we saw with CSI. But the episodes were compelling and entertaining to watch, and, what do you know, there’s a found family at the center of it all and naturally I’m a sucker for it. Strangely enough this show is kind of a comfort one to me, bc it’s entertaining but not always overwhelmingly emotional. I can put it on at any time and just have it on in the background, or when I’m not feeling well, and I’ll enjoy myself. Also strangely enough, I’ve seen almost every episode enough times that there’s a game in my house to see how long it takes for me to recognize the episode and its plot once a rerun is put on lmao. There’s a lot of good shows like this out there - I enjoy SVU a lot too - but something just draws me to the characters on this one. We’ve been with them for, what, 14 seasons?? And we’ve seen them go thru some shit, we’ve seen them grow and change and they’re all really unique. It’s not a complex show but it is good enough to just binge. A part that plays in it is probably the time in my life I started getting into it too, but I’m alright with standing by it.

7. Korra - Avatar: The Legend of Korra I probably don’t need to wax poetic about atla or atlok much at all. I just love her journey, as a brash and overconfident girl who realizes that being the Avatar is hard, the people expect so much and there’s a lot put on your shoulders. That, when things go wrong, people will blame you. She went and became this giant blue monster thing, but her struggles were all human. Her PTSD was shown really well, despite it being a kid’s show. She’s fun and her journey is lovely and it’s definitely true that Korrasami did it way better, and both characters are bi women too (◡‿◡✿) We Do Not Talk About That Dumb Love Triangle Nonsense Though

8. Chloe & Max - Life is Strange What can I even say about this game? I don’t know. If you’ve played it, you’ll know why it’s here. It’s.... way deeper than you’d think it’d get at first. I love the story, and I love the journey Max and Chloe go on together. I love their friendship, how Chloe was always trying to uplift Max and encourage her to follow her dreams, and Max just doing the impossible for Chloe. I love their relationship, because it was built on support and love and struggle. I love their complexities, their flaws, their strengths, their times together. I just fskljdjlksfd love them, I love this game and all its various stories and character arcs. It’s all so beautiful and raw and unique and yay, another pair of ladies loving each other is on this list.

9. Solas - Dragon Age: Inquisition Okay. There’s a TON of characters I adore in Dragon Age, and to be honest, I don’t know he’d be my absolute top one. But I do like his story. I love Dragon Age companions, because, like in Mass Effect, they’re all their own characters with their own stories and journeys. Solas is flawed. Like, really flawed. Here’s another guy on my list who went and fucked up the world a bit. His worst actions (and the consequences of them) were built on good intentions, on his desire to help his people. We can get into the way this direction BW went with the elvhen religion was icky, but it’s a different conversation. I adore elvhen lore and I love exploring theories on it all the time. For Solas, I just like that he’s complex. I mean, he’s still silly and kinda weird, and he loves to hear himself speak on topics and loves Lavellan for encouraging him to never shut up, but most of all I kind of like their relationship? A friendship with Solas is still great, but I like that it’s an asexual one (don’t fight me on this, idc, it’s how I see it). It’s soft, built on mutual respect, one with no pressures or expectations. Solas asks for time and Lavellan gives it. There’s no fade to black s.ex scenes that so many times aren’t optional in BW games. I just really like my asexual wolf god egg ok

10. Mulder & Scully - The X Files Okay, it’s super hard to choose characters for this holy heck. BUT I really, really, really love their relationship. Mulder is an idealist who believes in the supernatural, and Scully his pragmatic scientific counterpart. And we could talk about how Scully’s character as a woman in science meant to a lot of people, and how Mulder’s tenacity to not give up on his beliefs is a nice one (when it’s not getting him into trouble). Their relationship is the slowest of slow burns in television history, I think. But it’s good that way. Scully starts out thinking Mulder’s just a delusional guy, one who’s intelligent but wastes his accomplishments, and he knows that. Then they go through shit, they’re a team and many times it’s them against a whole bunch of unbelievable stuff (and their own government). What I loved most was also their son, and I’m literally deleting all knowledge of the new seasons from my brain bc I think it was gross and took away from the story, but I liked that they were so close, loved each other so much despite there not really being a romance yet, that Scully trusted to go to Mulder to donate to her bc he was the only one she could think of for this. It’s another asexual relationship on screen, and it’s built on a love that happens over time. I just fljksdfkjl could go on about it too.

-

This was hard lmao. I wanna give an honorary shout out to Peggy Carter since she had wonderful lines like: “I know my value. Anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.” Which is *chef’s kiss*. Peggy was the true unsung hero of the MCU and they gave her and Steve a weird ass ending.  

idk who to tag bc I’m not sure who’d be into this, but if you’re willing, I’d love to hear from @sapphicfinalpam, @mariaromanovs, @vinterskald, @zombiefishgirl, @nb-aziraphales, @serkonans and anyone who feels like doing it. Feel free to obvs ignore this, or only make a list without rambles, idk. I am never too sure about who’s into this or not, but if I didn’t tag you and you wanna do it, you can just say I tagged you and I definitely wanna read what you have to say!

[crown-of-ashen-flamess-blog]

OC Tag thinG!!! yes i have ocs what

so this was stolen from @thekeeperlavellan hope u dont mind. 

they used it for a DA oc im using it for a DA oc too who’da thunk it 

anyway heres the actual thing have fun learning abt my oc that i cant draw bc im shit at art ANYGAY 

B A S I C S

full name: Ashiyana Lavellan gender: Female  sexuality: Bisexual pronouns: She/her O T H E R S

family: She considers all of the Lavellan clan her family. birthplace: She doesn’t remember. Somewhere in Orlais. job: She hunted for the clan, and gathered herbs and such like. phobias: Spiders, drowning, falling from great heights, losing control of her magic and killing someone she cares about. guilty pleasures: Reading Varric’s novels. Disguising herself as a human villager and joining them in drinking and dancing in pubs and such.  hobbies: She loves to dance and sing, she also loves to show off her skills in magic while dancing, like twirling frost around her fingers and entwining harmless fire-like magic in her hair.  

M O R A L S

morality alignment? Chaotic neutral.  sins: Desire / Despair / Envy / Fear / Hunger / Pride / Rage / Sloth virtues: Charity / Chastity / Diligence / Humility / Justice / Kindness / Patience

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert organized/disorganized close minded/open-minded calm/anxious disagreeable/agreeable cautious/reckless patient/impatient outspoken/reserved leader/follower empathetic/unemphatic optimistic/pessimistic traditional/modern hard-working/lazy

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: Ashi x Sera Acceptable ships: Ashi x Solas, Ashi x Josephine, Ashi x Cassandra (shutup shes totally bi okay??;;) Ashi x any OC!!  ot3: Idk really she tends to date one person at a time brotp: Ashi and Dorian for sure!! Ashi and Bull as well notp: Ashi x Cullen. No. He a creep. He wasn’t redeemed. 

also in case im wrong in the coding, mine is Bold - 100%, whatever this is, italic i think - only sometimes/kinda and normal is not at all. 

thanks for reading abt Ashi!!!