#Replaying Origins right now so I'm very curious to hear about what's going on with the Wardens these days

[marianchurchland]

Davrin and Assan <3 <3

[three--rings]

So it's time for my "alt-right dudebro gamer" Dragon Age opinions.

(Note: I'm a 45 year old womanesque queer person who mostly plays indie and Japanese games.)

(To further my cred I was super excited to meet and hear Karen and Patrick Weekes talk about this game in development at Havencon a couple years ago...it's a small queer con in Austin.)

Dragon Age is my all-time favorite game series. I adored Inquisition, though DA2 has my favorite characters overall.

My opinions about the gameplay reveal are:

The environments and background graphics and effects look awesome.

The character design still bugs me quite a bit. The faces, ESPECIALLY the female faces look Disney/anime/Overwatchy in structure. The textures looks a lot better in game than in that trailer. I miss my Not Particularly Pretty Female Characters. They have sameface now.

There's something off in the lip syncing. Mouth animations looks weird. I can't define it more than that but I noticed it with multiple characters and it through me out.

Varric's hair annoys me SO MUCH. Someone pointed out he looks like Blackwall and now I CANNOT UNSEE.

The structure of the game/quests/whatever looks fine, this reminds me of all the moments running around Haven at the beginning of Inquisition. Some of my least favorite moments, but yanno.

The combat. I'm very worried about the combat.

I am 45 years old and I have arthritis in my hands from gaming and knitting. I gave up knitting to keep gaming. I cannot play some action games. Like Hades, I tried but simply couldn't continue more than an hour because of the pain. And that's with my hands in good shape these days.

Some action games I can play, but only on easy, and sometimes only if I limit my playtime. This is simply a reality I've had to get used to, but it does kill me sometimes.

Do you know how enjoyable it was to pick up Baldur's Gate 3 and be able to put it on a higher difficulty, to be able to actually struggle through combats and have to use tricks and my brain and try and fail and do it again, all without worrying about my hands? Makes me think I need to replay Origins again.

So I'm concerned. The combat in this game is focused on attack type, dodging, parrying, countering (according to bioware)....all stuff that requires quick and frequent button mashing, which is what I can't do. So I'm looking at a game that I can probably only play on easy and maybe even not then? In my favorite game series.

The question we don't really know is how different it will be from Inquisition, and I find it hard to tell from the footage since we can't see what buttons are being pressed. But I'll say that while I love it, Inquisition was the game that first hurt my hands. It made me aware of the problem and made me have to start limiting my activity.

IDK . I just hate the idea that devs have that turn based games can't do well and are inherently not exciting.

Fucking Solas motherfucking killed Bianca! That was the first time in these reveals I've been 100% reacting as a fan. NOT BIANCA!!!! HE MUST DIE!

Oh I did like the Rook in the gameplay and his face looked good. Again I feel like it's the character design and not the engine that is the problem.

As for the plot, it's interesting that Solas has gone from Main Antagonist to Opening Antagonist and I wonder if he's actually going to transition to an ally later in the game to undo whatever the fuck has gone wrong in this clip.

I do still have some worries about the writing. "She's greatest detective ever and she has a lead on Solas." So do you think that lead is the giant glowing thing in the middle of the city spitting out demons? Did you need a great detective?

And basically nothing I've seen so far has super MOVED me, as someone with serious connections to this world and the characters, other than the fucking Bianca moment. I'm hesitantly curious about some of the new companions. And if the griffon thing had come at a moment other than me going WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS? in the trailer I may have been a lot more excited.

So yeah, call me a hater or whatever. But that trailer reveal CRUSHED me emotionally. I was so depressed the rest of the day Sunday. These are my true reactions to the gameplay footage today. I don't have an agenda, other than I want the game to be good and I want it to do well and my confidence in EA and Bioware is at a very low point.

I've tried to keep a realistic mindset this whole time, but keeping in mind HOW MANY PEOPLE have left Bioware, how few OGs are left, the constant turnover in leads, the game being scrapped and redone like twice from scratch. And the game industry as a whole at this time, I have to be somewhat skeptical in general.

I'm not a skeptic overall, I was both a Cyperpunk 2077 enjoyer (but not apologist) and a Starfield defender and frankly there was a lot less reason to be skeptical of those games before release. So am I going to say "well I've been a Bioware fan since KOTOR 1 released, so I'm gonna hype it up and not point out flaws I see?" No. I'm going to be honest.

I'm not a casual Dragon Age enjoyer. I can't react casually to this stuff.

Will I play the game? Almost definitely, but am I going to wait till the release reviews? Probably.

[jourquet]

3,11,29

3. Tell me about one of your fics you think is underrated/underappreciated. that would the magnetic affection duology ( electric kiss + static touch ). it combines the fandoms of fifty shades of grey and the tv series mr robot. also the series i'm currently writing on, which is the last book in that duology; static touch. it takes up topics such as government vs privacy, terrorism and also how toxic romances can be extremely destructive in wrong hands. i do not shy away from taking up topics such as american imperialism, how far people are willing to gain high social rank, and how mental illnesses plays into all this. 11. Share a favourite comment a reader has left you.

Joey! You know he was one character I found myself oddly attached to for someone we only really saw like once before everything went to hell. I remember I replayed the game like twice before I figured out it was him doing the creepy whistling all the time, but I honestly think I felt bad for him. He never wanted to go out into the field, was completely content being behind his desk all day, and then he was one of the very first to die. But now he’s here! Which I’m still highly suspicious of because sir aren’t you supposed to be dead? Is he already infected? So many questions! I’m really excited for what’s to come. I think I said this last time but you’re great with building up a certain atmosphere, and there’s something about the way you write your descriptions of the monsters that really puts me on edge. ”Its long legs spider-like, a big head, and what appeared as fucking wings on its arms.” I think I got so desensitized from replaying the game that I truly forgot how terrifying these things and the situation they’re in are. I’m reminded once again I’d never want to see them in real life, let alone a cave with no exit in sight. And then there’s Jason hearing voices? We got confirmation that the creature he met in chapter one definitely isn’t the one chasing them now and I’m so curious as to when it’ll make another reappearance, but in the meantime who is this Alpha and who’s speaking? Was that Jason understanding the clicks for a second there? Or something else? 😂 See I told you I had a lot of questions. Until next time! Thank you for the lovely chapter! from my stay frosty ( house of ashes fandom ) fanfic, chapter 2.

29. What's your most popular fic? that's stay frosty ( pairing jalim, if i recall shipping name right, aka jason kolchek x salim othman ) on ao3 with its 1,940 hits, 99 kudos, 17 bookmarks, and 27 comments. the fanfic is unfinished, i plan to get back to it at some point. but i've people on wattpad who has waited far longer on my stucky, hannigram, and merthur fanfics. i've always the rule of prioritizing the people who has waited the longest so they don't feel ignored and it has functioned pretty well thus far. on wattpad, my most popular fanfic is the first fanfic i ever wrote ( which is also completed on ao3 as well ) that's called incarnation with the destiel pairing. the original idea was to write two separate AUs; rockstar and god verse. i decided in the end to combine both. it has a happy ending even if its major character death for all main characters. it will make sense if you ever read it yourself, why that is the case.

Fanfic Author Asks

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 043: "Oh no! Super-heroes!" (SSM 16-18)

MASTERPOST

Today?

A cop, an angel, homoeroticism, and Spidey's most vicious enemy...

The Beetle.

Before we begin with the storyline, let's check out reader's letters!

Well, that clears some things up. First, people are still complaining that the mag doesn't live to its name, and you know I completely agree, but it seems like things are going to be better in a few issues. We'll see!

There's also the matter of the big fish in Peter's flat! It was a mistake after all, he doesn't have two different fishes. I feel serene now.

I also agree that the treatment of Peter and Flash's friendship was excellent in the last batch (particularly its first issue, which I noted).

I don't mind the lack of intertwining: I'm fine if both mags have their own storyline. I actually enjoy it! Spectacular had the Sha-Shan plot, and Amazing had the mystery of who took pictures of Peter and his clone. The latter in particular was stretched very thin, as in, you wouldn't hear anything for many issues, then it would appear. At least, when Wein concluded his storyline, it was extremely good, dare I say great, but compare this to the more involving plots of previous eras.

I'm curious to see what this new era will bring.

SO.

Our story begins with a cop, Macone, doing heroics to catch a bad guy with Spidey's discreet help. Eager to get a picture of the new celebrity, Jameson entrusts Peter with the task to go to his place.

Mary Ann just doesn't get it, man! The appointment is short, and Peter quickly concludes that he never imagined being a cop or married to one could be so difficult. Shh, no one mention that cops are among the most abusive partners, Naive Peter could not handle such a reveal.

Meanwhile, the Beetle tries very hard to make me believe it's a good villain and is focused on stealing something from a precinct house. Soon, the whole city is ablaze with various thieveries and other commotions. Only one cop stays at the precinct...

Uh-oh.

The beetle tries to retrieve an item there, but Spidey's there to stop him.

As he's being thrown around, Spidey ponders on the fact that he cares about May's health and gives gifts to his friends on Christmas to make us believe the magazine cares about Peter's secondary cast.

Wanting to help our beloved hero, Macone mixes water with heroin to throw the result at the Beetle. He quickly gets yeeted, but it's always nice to see people help Spidey in battle. Or. Help him at all.

*sigh* I feel like I know where this is going.

...Except I don't, because Macone doesn't die! There he is, a few days later, telling the whole city that the attache-case the Beetle was after contained fake money. OoOh!

That's actually a great ending to this issue. I kind of enjoyed it! Macone is surprisingly neat.

Onto #17! This time, the action is set in California. That's right, we're going to Sunnydale, guys!

"Palm trees and 80 degrees in January?! I'm going to come down with a cold--I can feel it!"

Okay, so guys, I was mindfucked for a minute. I thought Peter had missed his 9 am plane flight for Los Angeles and had thus done NY->LA by swinging and ARRIVED AT 10 AM THERE.

I was like, "IN WHAT WORLD DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?!" and turns out it didn't and I had to read more carefully.

Looking at it though, it looks nice to just take a bus and get lost in the US wilderness... aaah, I think I should replay Life is Strange: True Colors!

Peter's unlucky though, he's barely set his foot there when he has to be saved by X-Men Angel!

Turns out Peter was sent to take pictures of the Champions before they got disbanded... but he's too late! Furthermore, his camera just got broken!

However, Angel, who's a rich guy (Warren Worthington doesn't sound like the common people to be fair), pays him a new one. He's nice!

I gather that Bobby Drake's comphet runs deep.

Damn, he was almost the original Jean Grey, outing people without their consent! Careful, Angel!

Warren says everybody left, but Spidey has a feeling he was lying, at least about Iceman's disappearance. Hmm!

And he was right to be cautious!

Fighting ensues.

I presume it his Bobby under the mask, considering his gay tendencies are put on display here (good for him).

And I'm proven right essentially right here and there. The homoerotic tension between Angel and Iceman is something I didn't expect, but it's definitely there and I enjoy it.

In #18, while Clarke has been knocked down by the almighty power of electricity, Iceman is still a menace.

This is the second time Bobby calls Warren "daddy". Make of that what you will.

The fight continues and one driver has the best reaction ever.

Spidey is an ally!

Anyway, we don't care about all that, because in New York, at ESU...

Good for them, I guess!

For maximal immersion, picture that there's two pages of commercials before that terrible cliffhanger gets resolved... in the best way, actually.

Yes yes yes! I'm very happy to see him again.

The last page touts that next issue features a "mystery". I'm eager to see what it is, but I have to lower my expectations because these never end up being satisfying, hahaha

In the next post: Peter graduates! Can't miss that now, can we? I'm actually curious to see the aftermath of the Green Goblin arc.

To close out this post, I'd like to share a comment that I found fascinating.

Yes, it really is.

[bananasfosterparent]

Despite being in 5e for BG3, when it comes to vampire lore, most DMs reference the 2e guide because it is the most extensive work about them in the lore today. That said, Larian only took so much from 5e too. I'm not saying that what AA does is 100% absolutely the bride thing. I'm saying that, if you want that sort of narrative, you can roleplay it easily because of the way Larian sets up the scene and how open ended they have it. It's a likely thing that happens. The clues and events can align for that to be accurate if you desire it as the player.

However.... you are right. Everything you are saying is correct. You're not actually wrong. I'm not trying to say you are wrong.

But there is a very important factor here being very overlooked:

Everything after that first bullet point is your personal opinion and interpretation.

While many do share that interpretation with you, that doesn't make it the only one or the "true" correct one.

Astarion is not a real person. He's an object, a concept, an idea with a face. He (like every origin character and the game itself) is a piece of art...and just like every piece of art, he is freely up for interpretation.

There's no reason to not believe what he says in game, if that is how you want the narrative to go.

Karlach just isn't the right person for AA. He throws a temper tantrum (as he always does, both spawn and AA) which isn't right, but it's understandable why he'd be upset in general. She can't accept the one way a vampire lord would show (and share with) his love. Same goes for if your Tav breaks up with him. They have no excuse not to know what they're getting into. They know exactly what he's about, what he wants, and why. He's been vocal about it from the start and they've been actively/directly supportive the entire time. Then they suddenly don't want him or the relationship anymore? So he gets a little mad. He might say what he knows they want to hear to solidify their opinion. 100% up to you and how you interpret it. You can absolutely roleplay your Tav being that naive, but that doesn't mean all Tavs are going to feel/think/experience that.

But I don't play as Karlach and my Tav has her own personality and viewpoints.

I witnessed the same events and game dialog as you. I went into this blind. I started playing the week the game released and was doing a co-op run with my husband. I was locked out of romance for Astarion in that run, but I was curious about him so I started a solo run and decided to go evil since we were doing a good run already. I was not a part of the fandom at this point and just went into the AA romance completely blind. Truthfully I was just hoping it would be a better experience than romancing The Red Prince in DOS2. I had no idea how it would go or what would even happen. For a moment I thought Astarion might even turn against my Tav and she'd have to fight him. But that's not what happened and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Because of my own trauma, because of my personal experiences, because of my personal biases and because (more importantly) of the narrative I was telling with my Tav, I found only comfort and joy in doing the Ascended ending. And I kept doing it. I've replayed/recreated that Tav 6 times now and each time is different but I never feel differently about AA. I find the things he says and does a complete joy and it all fits into my perception of who he is. Yes, there is an underlying story for the character, however once your own character is thrown into the the mix, you are in full control of the narrative.

Does AA become abusive in the future? Up to you.

Does he smother Tav so much they want to leave? Up to you.

Does he neglect Tav so much they want to leave? Up to you.

Does he share a deep and passionate love with them and they return the same feelings? Up to you.

Believe it or not, most things you probably find abusive or icky about AA, I find comforting and cheeky. I don't see any abuse in-game. No examples of it provided. Not because I don't want to or out of spite. I literally just do not interpret it in that way, at all.

For example, the "I'm always watching" line makes me giddy. It's one of my favorite lines of his. I never perceived it as a "threat" because it's a comforting line for me. And for my Tav, it makes sense because she's quite feral and doesn't want to be at that party anymore than he does. Well that, and I feel he's also just watching for drama.

My Tav is living her best (un)life and there's nothing that happens to her in her playthrough(s) and personal narrative that says otherwise. And someone else's interpretation of their own playthroughs definitely can't say otherwise.

There is no law of the land that says when you indulge in a story with a character like AA it HAS to go a certain direction. Why pigeonhole yourself to a tragedy and invent abuse for the story, when you can have a revenge fantasy with a fun villainous power couple vibe where the villains actually win, for the fun of it?

I'm not trying to tell a deep, moralistic story and teach people a lesson. One Larian cowriter wanted that, but their word is an opinion, not canon. And even if it were canon, they can't stop people from interpreting things their own way. And wanting that is defeating the entire purpose of it being a roleplaying game.

As long as you're healthy, believing that AA loves your Tav does no damage irl. It simply makes for a fun story. I am a 29 year old adult woman with a stable job, a wonderful and loving husband, and a supportive family. Indulging in crafting a vampire villain couple story in a video game is not going to destroy me, or anyone else who can separate fantasy from reality.

Look... we could go on for hours. For every argument you can make for why you feel he's abusive, I can bring up a counterargument for. Because truthfully, it isn't a right or wrong thing. This isn't about which one of us is right. You are just as wrong and right as I am.

I don't want you to see AA the way I do. I don't want you to abandon your vision of AA and to start preferring that ending. I want you to dislike or hate him all you want! Dislike the idea of him being happy with a Tav!

I really just want you (and others) to simply understand that not everyone interprets things the same way as you and to simply respect that without trying to "correct" it. Because there is nothing to be corrected.

And people saying "You can enjoy this buuut you have to acknowledge/admit/prove that [fill in a negative] in order for that enjoyment to be valid." is not respect.

No one owes anybody anything in that regard. Respecting that some people enjoy AA and view him and his words and narrative a completely different way from you is saying "I don't see it that way, but I can understand why you would and I'm glad you're having fun with that interpretation of it." Then blocking if the content does not spark joy for you, or just letting them have their fun.

Just thought of something, let me know if that makes sense -

I was just reading another "Tav is not a spawn to Ascended Astarion because he calls them consort" type of argument and something struck me.

I remember reading somewhere before that Astarion insists on not using the name "spawn" and use "consort" instead much like Cazador avoided the "s-word" and used "family" instead.

Because.

Of course he would call his spawns his lovers. Of course he wants a harem of consorts, he thinks his only talent is sex. As ascended he never really got to the other side of thinking about himself, he never left the form his trauma molded him into, this hypersexual, emotionally avoidant (teasing and alluring) type of seducer. He never let go of the notion that his only value is his body and what it can provide in terms of sexual services.

I also think of the way ascended Astarion is dumbfounded when realizing he doesn't have all those powers Cazador was supposed to have. Perhaps those will come with time, but I think there's a real possibility that Cazador never had/was supposed to have them to begin with. He just lied to his "family" to keep them in check, to add another layer of control over the very real physical control he already had over them. But all he ever did at the height of his cruelty were things a mere human could do: bury someone alive, starve them, imprison them, isolate them, brainwash them. None of those are mythical and exclusive to powerful vampires.

What breaks my heart even more for Tav-spawn is that they'll never be The One. They'll only be the first. The first one, much like Astarion was one of Cazador's first. Cazador's very first is not even in the game to be found or mentioned anymore. Perhaps they got away, but more likely they became a liability, as they saw Cazador's vulnerable beginnings and became a threat to the "all-powerful influential vampire" myth he was weaving around himself.

Tav is just the beginning. They're just a test drive. A trampoline for ascended Astarion to help him learn manipulating his future consorts and pitting them against one another. Pull them just right and push away at the perfect time. Just enough to give them a taste and leave them wishing for more.

And seeing how many fans of ascended Astarion there are in real life, it's already working. His harem is in the making.

[tank-grunt]

hi i've read through this blog like 5 times now (help i have tank grunt brain disease) and i'm wondering why you think transbian egg buck? i can't word it correctly, but i'm just curious to know if there's a specific reason or not. i'm also wondering if you think tank (or even Johnny) would have any sort of positive relationships with any other character from the sim 2 ds/gba(other than Johnny, of course)? sorry if this is confusing but i like hearing your opinions

honestly its hard to describe its like a mix of things - the general theme of the grunt siblings not really fitting in and being what buzz wants them to be, none of them really being capable of conforming to his ideals, buck’s interests and bio reminding me of friends who are trans in an abstract kind of way, the way ive seen people say that buck seems gay but also supposedly being one of the few sims coded to be attracted to a single certain gender despite being a child - none of that is really factually indicative of a person being anythiiiiiiiiing on their own or even together like that but its just what personally feels right to me, i guess?

hmmmm as for the second question

tank - i’m pretty sure in ts2 for gba he’s friends with dusty hogg, at least. several episodes involve the two hanging out and their banter has the kind of familiarity that suggests it’s not an irregularity. because of that i think he’d have a pretty good relationship with mamma hogg too, even though we never see them interact. though i suppose with the age difference it’d likely be more of a surrogate mother/son dynamic than casual besties you’d go drinking with though. same with frankie fuscili. 

johnny - ok given he’s literally a npc with zero lines of dialogue in ts2 for gba it’s hard to really gauge who he’d seem close to that he doesn’t already have connections to in the shipped out vanilla original pc game or isn’t actually around by ts2 for gba - or really how he even acts at this point, so it’s all gotta be pure conjecture on my part what fun. anyways i could easily see him getting along with tristan legend which is easy to say because its tristan legend but i just mean that i can see them having similar tastes and they dont have personalities very likely to conflict much. not too sure about anyone else by that point in time, tho :/

not ts2 gba but... like... outside of all basegame premades, stella terrano. i’ve always seen her as friends to both of them, since she always wound up befriending them whenever i’d send strangetown teens to college in any save i’d done

side note this ask really makes me wanna replay ts2 for gba ... again...