#Return of the Living Elves

[sapphoismymuse]

rewatched aragorn’s coronation scene and i just realized you can see elrond’s heart breaking as she goes to join aragorn

like, that is the face of a man who was promised eternity with his daughter, a reunion in the west no matter what happened, only to lose her forever to love

[confusedsiewmai]

Sometimes, I don't like looking at Frieren fandom things is because it feels so alienating as an aroace person sometimes.

I relate to Frieren in a lot of ways. The way she goes through life at her own speed, the way she has a certain way of doing things that is hard to change, the way she struggles to fully understand others but is still compassionate and tries, and last but not least, the way she doesn't feel romantic or sexual attraction the way most people do.

So when a fan posts something about how elves like Frieren don't really feel romantic or sexual attraction and it's wonderful that Himmel's unrequited love with her is still portrayed as something beautiful, healthy and valued, but the comments section is just filled with people being like: No!!!! That's not true!!! Frieren loves Himmel even though she doesn't realise it!!!!

Or even the more "generous" ones are like: No!!! She is just falling in love with him years later!!! The whole story is about how she regrets not pursuing it until it was too late!!!!

And like, every person has their own interpretation and ships. But it really is a bit saddening as an aroace person that sees Frieren also as an aroace who probably would never feel as much romantic love for Himmel EVER. People have almost this... need to correct people that Frieren loves Himmel romantically.

[spiderwarden]

Not me listening to this and always imagining how when Karlach ( @infernaliscor ) chooses death, the scenario in my head is that she shoved Minthara away from her so she wouldn't burn up with her. Then Minthara crying outright as she crawls back over to her and pushes her hands into her ashes and collapses onto her knees. Staring down at what's left of her love, her darling love, and just cries before she barely has enough lucidity to gather as much of her ashes as she can into a leather pouch. Where she then has two swords made from them, two swords that she carries on her back as she goes into Avernus herself, just as she promised Karlach, and enters the blood wars to make Zariel pay for ever laying eyes on her. With Karlach protecting her back just as she did in life ... swords she will plunge into the Arch devil herself, still killed by Karlach even in death.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

ok thingol headcanon time. my hc is that he and his brothers are the grandchildren of enel and enelyë. and that sometime before the war of the powers enel and enelyë both vanished, presumed to have been taken by morgoth. thingol was close with his grandparents -- but he never saw them again after they disappeared, and even until the end of his own life he still had no idea exactly what had become of them. he could only hope for their sakes that they were dead already, but during some particularly bad days, the thought that they might somehow still be out there somewhere, suffering, tore at him

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

i have a new wip idea someone please talk me out of it

(or talk me into it either works)

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

return of the king messes me up every time i watch it. like. you can’t go home, home will never be the same because you have changed. you will never return from this journey. physically you may go back, but mentally a part of you is left behind. something is missing. you become changed by the grief and it never really leaves you. there was something i told my mom a while back. i told her i hadn’t felt truly happy or excited for anything in a long time. she told me that was part of being an adult. even if she didn’t mean it this way, i think i understand.

[scribeofmorpheus]

removing the “by omission” from his status quo of “god of lies” is what ultimately hurts his characterisation so much in datv--

emphasising the "betrayer" but neglecting the multifaceted politics of the "rebel" part of his persona is also to blame

which is why i play veilguard the way i read multi-pov books (i simply accept that everyone is an unreliable narrator--especially if the game really wants me to believe a certain thing; i.e: companions saying he didn't care who he sacrificed when he had to kill his blighted agent… like, hello? he just spared us the pain of witnessing such a cruel/inevitably kinder end IN THE VERY MEMORY!)

My Thoughts on Solas in *Dragon Age: The Veilguard* (DATV)

It’s been about a month since I played Dragon Age: The Veilguard and I finally feel ready to talk about Solas. Yes, *that* Solas—the one who’s sparked endless debates in the Dragon Age fandom for over a decade, inspiring some of the most fascinating character analyses I’ve ever read. Unfortunately, the Solas we get in DATV feels like a shadow of his former self. Instead of the nuanced and controversial figure we know, he’s been reduced to a one-dimensional scapegoat with inconsistent writing that just didn’t do him justice.

Solas has always been such a compelling character—complex, flawed, and full of contradictions. But in DATV, the trickster archetype, he represented, was so poorly handled that I sometimes wondered if the characters in the game and I were even getting the same information. Take the moments when we uncover Solas’ memories: the reactions from other characters came across as weirdly more venomous toward Solas than even Elgar’nan, who was a literal tyrant. It felt like (some of?) the writers were trying to strip away any sympathy for Solas, but if anything, it had the opposite effect, if we judge from the percentage of people who chose to redeem him. (Pro tip for game writers: players don’t like being told how to feel about a character!)

Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not here to excuse Solas’ actions. He’s done some truly awful things. But reducing his complexity to make him easier to blame? That’s not it. What made Solas fascinating wasn’t just his lies, treachery or rebellion but his wisdom and the fact that he cared too much. Even when he convinced himself the people of modern Thedas weren’t “real,” he still supported acts of kindness and mourned unnecessary loss. That sentimentality made him sympathetic, even while he was pursuing some pretty despicable goals. It’s that balance—the caring, sentimental dreamer weighed down by his own ruthlessness —that made Solas the perfect trickster figure and harbinger of change.

That’s why some of the decisions in DATV just didn’t sit right with me. Solas has always been willing to sacrifice others for his ideals, but that includes himself—*especially* himself. Din’an Shiral, anyone? The reveal about Varric should have been this devastating, mind-blowing moment, but instead, it felt cheap. Solas manipulating Rook by hiding Varric’s death? Totally in character. But actively using blood magic to control their mind? That felt like a shortcut, and a boring one at that. Especially, after those heated debates he had with the Iron Bull in Inquisition about how important freedom of thought is for him.

This was such a missed opportunity to dive into heavier themes like the manifestation of regret and grief—both of which would’ve made Rook more tragic and relatable. What I wanted to see from Solas, was a tragic hero who’d fought for so long he ended up becoming the villain. Not unlike his mortal enemy Elgar’Nan. What I got instead was a caricature of the trickster archetype, stripped of all the depth we saw in Trespasser.

Another thing that bugged me was how DATV framed Solas’ rebellion. The in-game conversations by the Veilguard team seem to suggest that he started it out of spite toward Mythal and/or Elgar’nan, which just isn’t true. Solas rebelled because he believed—to be more precise convinced himself—that the Evanuris were waging war on the Titans in the name of freedom. And realising that this wasn’t the actual motive was his first attempt to “fix” his mistakes. In other words the part he played in the war, and at the same time protect his people from tyrany the worst of fates in his eyes. That’s such a crucial part of his story, and seeing it misinterpreted by the cast, felt like such a disservice to the complexity of the character.

That’s not to say everything about Solas in DATV was bad. The dialogue was exquisite and stood out as classic Solas, especially when it came to the contrast between his wisdom and cunning or the need to offer guidance vs the manipulation (props to Trick for really nailing those moments). The animations were incredible, too, and perfectly captured his aura. And, of course, Gareth David-Lloyd absolutely killed it as Solas. His performance brought so much life to the character, even when during the moments when the writing fell short.

Still, I can’t help but feel disappointed. Solas has always been my favorite DA character, and seeing him reduced like this was frustrating. He’s a character built on contradictions—sentimental but ruthless, idealistic but pragmatic, sympathetic yet maddening. DATV had the chance to explore all of that and take him to new depths, but instead, it just… didn’t. And as a fan who’s loved his journey for years, that’s hard to swallow. Needless to say I would still devour any novel or media about him, because I’m definitely left wanting more from his story.

[niofo]

shartan would be a pr disaster during landsmeet. not only he joined the wardens after killing a noble and he openly doesn't care about shems - he then told loghain and ser cauthrien to get their shits together, refused to rescue the queen, killed ser cauthrien, on landsmeet announced that he wouldn't lift a finger for denerim if not for the alienage, defeated loghain and a bunch of guards, told the queen to fuck off, executed loghain. anora is only alive bcos she got the memo that he's giving people only one single warning. there's a zero amount of fuck he's giving about shems' squabbles. looking between him and alistair ferelden nobles would happily accept alistair as a king just to please only deal with the nice grey warden from now on.

[markrosewater]

Im really torn between the fact that my favorite set of all time Will be seeing the light of the day again ( lorwyn) and my gut feelings of how It Will be fucked up by the new superbland mediocre art style and the real world politic agenda ( not so) subtly pushed in late sets, in a CARD GAME. We want to see stories of faeries, kithkins, elves, goblins, Giants,merfolk and cinders in their beautiful fantasy setting, no trans they/them faeries that think they're kithkins

Two points:

1) When returning to a world, we’re very cognizant of the aesthetic of the world. We understand returning to Lorwyn requires embracing what made people love it the first time around. Obviously, there will be updates, as the game has evolved much since our first visit, but we’re very aware of the need to recapture the plane’s essence.

2) For far too long, fantasy, as a genre, was used as a way to reflect the worldview of those in power. It leaned into stereotype and reflected how the privileged wished the world was. Modern fantasy is more reflective of the actual world, which includes the wide variety of life experiences that exists.

Trans people, people of color, and women playing a larger role, are all part of modern fantasy because they’re all part of the actual world, and it’s important that our stories and world building be reflective of that.

“I want to return to a time where we could ignore the existence of certain elements because I was happy living in that ignorance” is not an excuse to deny real people and their real life experiences.

Entertainment is at its best when it lifts everyone up and isn’t used as yet another means to ignore certain people’s reality.

[victorie552]

Hey, you know how people move somewhere far away and change their names when they want start fresh, at least in stories?

...Can elves do that? In Middle-Earth OR in Aman?

[thesummerestsolstice]

The voyage west at the end of Return of the King is extremely funny to me, because just look at who's on board. You've got:

Frodo Baggins, hero of the Shire, in need of healing but also excited to see Valinor and meet the legendary elves who live there, a gentle soul

Elrond Halfelven, as kind as a summer, looking forward to peace west of the sea, probably wants to go chill out in a cottage with his wife for the next thousand years

Which seems fine. And then we get to everyone else.

Gandalf, cheeky bastard who's gotten so used to being a weird old wizard in Middle-Earth that's he's forgotten what Maia are supposed to act like, will immediately cause problems

Bilbo Baggins, noted storyteller, definitely planning to break into Aule's halls to see his dwarf friends, will ask all the elves weird questions and then sing about their lives and deaths in front of them, will immediately cause problems

Galadriel, who came to Aman half for Celebrian and Elrond's sake and half to taunt all her cousins about being the only one of them to survive the First Age, enjoys causing problems, will immediately cause many problems

(Also, to be clear, these are not three isolated problem-causers, they absolutely spent the entire trip to Valinor actively planning to give Amanyar society and the Valar an aneurysm.)

I just love the idea of Elrond, now reunited with Celebrian, and Frodo happily having tea with Elwing and Earendil, with nothing to interrupt them but the gentle sounds of the tides.

Meanwhile Galariel, Bilbo, and Gandalf are collectively bullying Mandos into releasing Maglor Feanorian from the halls because:

Bilbo wants to read him his translation of the Noldolante, which is written as a cheery Hobbit drinking song

Elrond always complained about how Gandalf and Maglor were both insufferably vague about advice and Gandalf needs to make sure he's more infuriating than Maglor as a matter of his wizardly pride

He still owes Galadriel money

[angelynmoon]

Fic thought:

Jaskier gets tired of how Witchers are treated, he's spent decades with Geralt, watching him be spit on and payment shorted, despite his best effort his songs have done little to change public opinion, and other Witchers have it much worse.

It's after the Mountain, when he and Geralt part ways, not for long, it's never for long, no matter how mean Geralt can be in a moment, the Witcher always finds him again, a gift as a peace offering and apology both, that Jaskier stumbles upon an execution, a Witcher accused of leaving a monster unhunted, but Jaskier knows that no Witcher would do such, he knows that.

That moment changes everything, changes the very course of Destiny, because there is no way that Jaskier can stand idle and watch a Witcher be killed for no reason.

And so Jaskier saves the Witcher, a Letho of the Viper school, who in turns swears his life to Jaskier's protection despite, or perhaps because of, the Bard's protests.

Jaskier returns home for the season, trying to figure out what to do with the Witcher he now has in his service, and he hears of a Cat Witcher that's been enslaved by a King and it's then that Jaskier makes a choice and a plan.

It's easy enough, Letho has toppled kingdoms before, he's a Kingslayer after all, only it's not Letho's sword that takes the King's life, it's Jaskier's.

Jaskier takes over the Kingdom and Court quickly, roots out treason and lies thanks to the Cat he frees, who also pledges his service, he has no where else to go, his past removed before the King bought him, he remembers only what he is, a Witcher, and Letho who can hear lies.

Eventually the rest of the Cats and Vipers find their way to Jaskier's growing Kingdom, as do Elves and like creatures when they hear that Jaskier's Kingdom is a refuge for the odd and mistreated.

Jaskier's not entirely sure just how it happened but by the time Geralt comes to apologize, Jaskier has been a King and been running a Kingdom for at least a year and has an Army that is at least half Witcher, he's been getting marriage offers from people that turned his family down when he decided to go to Oxenfurt to learn music.

Yennifer offered to be his Court Sorcerer, for Melittle's sake.

Jaskier just wanted his Witcher and his people safe, he didn't intend for this to happen.

-

Because accidental Warlord!Jaskier would be hillarious.

No one lets Geralt live down the fact that his Bard conqured a Kingdom so he'd be safe and treated better, also they definately call him Queen Geralt, or at least Lambert does.

[jupiter-dragonsong]

Thinking obsessively about what it’s gonna be like if/when Harrow gets back.

Imagine you’ve been trapped in the form of your dead pet for almost ten years. You come back home— except your house is burned down, hundreds of years of your family’s history are ashes now and you weren’t there. Everything that belonged to your wife is gone.

You come back (to the place built over your) home and to your son, who was ten years old when you last saw him and is now an adult leading a government. He’s so serious now. You remember him stealing sweets from the kitchen and now he’s lead battles. You’ve missed all of his teenage years.

Also, he’s best friends- blood brothers, really- with a dragon. A dragon who’s the spitting image of your wife’s murderer, whose father was the closest thing you had to a mortal enemy. And here they are, chatting and eating jelly tarts and ruling alongside each other and acting for all the world like siblings. Nobody sees anything strange about this.

Last time you saw your stepson he was an awkward teenager with low self-esteem and a schoolboy crush on his friend. Now he has been through hell and back, achieved feats never thought possible to humans, and committed unspeakable acts for those he loves. He’s also married to one of the assassins sent to kill you. Your entire life you’ve been taught that elves were monsters and now you have one as a daughter-in-law. But she’s also a really nice girl? You’re actually really glad he found someone like her. You weren’t there to give him advice. You weren’t there to see them married. (It would be interesting if Harrow finds out he’s going to be a grandparent… @tategaminu) You also have to see the leader of elven assassins at family functions now. Which is awkward but he seems to really care about your sons now?

Your sister-in-law is also married to an elf. A elf queen, actually. One she’d been fighting against for years before… everything. She really, really hated elves back in the day. Now she’s married to one. Whiplash.

Your best friend is dead. He went directly against your orders and that is why you are here. He tried to have your sons killed. He took over your kingdom. He awoke ancient evils. The man you knew was gone long before he died but you can’t stop yourself from mourning. His sweet, quirky daughter has gone down paths darker than you thought were possible. His son, among the most loyal of your guards, has grown out of being a bully and is now a devoted friend to your children.

Everything has changed. The world you knew, the family you knew, is completely unrecognizable. And yet… the cycle of hate is broken, just like you always wished it would be. Even if it’s going to be hard for you, this is what you wanted for your kids. A world with open borders, ruled by a narrative of love.

Also the world is ending really soon! You are finally there for your family again and they are living with the threat of death looming over their heads. You have returned to your kingdom and it may soon be destroyed. This is not what you wanted for them.

Someone write something please.

[balrogballs]

I have never had a normal thought since I realised Aragorn/Estel would have been around 10 years old — more like 7/8 considering his heritage — when Thorin's Company passes through Rivendell, so here are some brainrot headcanons (continued under the cut):

Estel is obsessed with Thorin. Just completely obsessed. Follows him around everywhere like a cat, begs him to play with him, offers to run errands for him. Literally every elf in Rivendell is completely stunned at the behaviour because Estel is, normally, a card-carrying ankle-biter.

The Dwarves, on the other hand, are shocked by the fact that by a few days into the visit, Thorin seems to like Estel too. Gloin would have sworn that he expected Thorin to throw the child off the banisters the minute he made him hold his pet python. Thorin didn't just hold said snake, but played with him, let him do little odd jobs, even letting him sit up with him at the dining halls. On two evenings, he even takes Estel out with a wooden sword, to show him how to "fight like a Dwarf lord". All the Dwarves are just as shook as the elves, minus Kili and Fili, who knew Thorin as Uncle Thorin and are completely unsurprised that he is so wonderful with little Estel.

Lindir and Elrond find a content python snoozing in Elrond's study. Lindir and Elrond are both utterly and irrationally terrified of snakes. After much screaming and climbing on sofas, every member of staff swears Estel had been in his mother's quarters all day. Nobody thinks to mention that they saw Bilbo and Thorin hanging about outside the study, because what relevance could that possibly have?

When the company left Rivendell, Estel was understandably quite unhappy because he'd miss them, also they were going to see a dragon, and he begged to go with them. Thorin does what most parents do before going on a trip, and promises to bring him a present from the dragon's lair when they returned.

Bilbo returns without Thorin, but with the promised present for Estel. He visits the boy in his quarters and they hold each other and share their grief. Bilbo then shows him the present. He explains how Thorin wanted to give him something more substantial than a golden cup scraped off the floor of a dragon's lair — he had told Bilbo, the night before the battle, to give the boy Thorin's own solid gold wristband.

On the same return trip, Elrond expressed his condolences over Thorin's death, and enquired if there were other casualties. When he finds out that Kili and Fili had also died in the battle, a strange, terrible expression twisted across his face and he said, almost reflexively, both? both together? good. that's good. The remaining Dwarves and Bilbo were all stunned, thinking it was Elvish apathy at best, and deliberate disrespect at worst. After all, they had no reason to know that Elrond, like his immortal brethren, found it somewhat difficult to gauge the ages of mortal beings — and had thought the two late brothers were twins.

Decades later on the night before the Fellowship were set to depart, the elderly Bilbo Baggins found it hard to sleep from worry, and wandered onto the balcony, and saw a lone man practicing sword moves in the courtyard. He realises both man and combat style seem faintly familiar, like the heavy striding and swinging and slashing are the steps to an old dance he once used to know, which now lives in a deep, forgotten place within him, under layers of unravelling memories. He can't quite put his finger on it. But there is a strange comfort in the sight, so soothing Bilbo's eyes start to close, falling asleep curled up right there on the balcony. He slips off into a wonderful old dream, lulled by the rhythm of fallen leaves crunching in the courtyard — where Aragorn "fights like a dwarf", solid gold wristband twinkling under the light of the stars.

[rpgchoices]

Davrin's past and his Dalish clan and his vallaslin (all mentions I could find)

So much in the game is hidden behind banters between companions (which is ahhhh a bit annoying) so I compiled all the banter and information I found about Davrin's past.

Not really plot spoilers, just Davrin spoilers.

At the end I will summarize everything in a bullepoints list.

Bellara and Davrin banter:

Text here (link)

There are also a few other banters I did not record where it is implied Davrin does not care about the gods or some other late game revelations. The only thing he cares about (and mentions again later in game, in a main scene) is how people see Dalish and elves, and how to minimize the risk of humans hating elves even more.

Taash and Davrin's banter (text in description for each image)

Davrin's quests information:

Here are other mentions from Davrin first quest: Rook: How did it go? Davrin: Poorly. They felt like I rejected them. Rook: Did you? Davrin: Yeah, I suppose. Clan life wasn't for me. I had to get away. Rook: So then what happened? You're out in the world, looking for adventure… Davrin: Got my ass kicked. Went broke. Davrin: I couldn't go crawling back to my clan a failure. Doubt they'd take me back. It forced me to figure out what I was good at. Always had a knack for hunting.

Other info we get from the Halla quest is that: Davrin spent summers tending Halla as a kid alongside Eldrin, who is not his uncle, but like an uncle. So this is a case of Davrin wanting to spend time with Hallas, or being made to by his clan. Eldrin's vallaslin is Ghilan'nain:

So it could be that Davrin's new vallaslin might be Ghilan'nain too. But I think it is Andruil's or a mix of the two.

Davrin could have gotten the vallaslin to honor Eldrin (we know he is the only member of his clan - if he is part of his clan - Davrin has no trouble contacting, even if they seem to have not met each other's in a while). But we also know Davrin was a hunter.

Eldrin was also the one who taught Davrin what to hunt basically. In his first quest Davrin says "When I was a kid, I'd hunt just about anything. Rabbits, deer, fox. Eldrin gave that purpose. Taught me the Way of Three Trees. The Way of the Arrow, Way of the Bow, Way of the Wood."

This is from Andruil and if we look at all three vallaslin:

Emmrich and Davrin:

(they have some discussions about Davrin not believing in the Fade or liking it, this is the one which mentions the Dalish clan)

There are also a few other banters at the Lighthouse that mention the Fade and the sky. Mainly they are about Davrin being uncomfortable with the open space and stuff about him disbelieving the Fade: "Good. Because it's not the sky. Emmrich says it's the Fade. Me, I don't know what to think."

Final banter with Davrin:

So basically, the summary of what we know for certain is:

Davrin left his clan voluntarily because he felt restless, he did not care about tradition and lessons, and he wanted to see the world

He felt like he did not fit in his clan since he was a kid

He was also hunting everything he could find until Eldrin taught him the way of the Three Trees and to protect life by hunting darkness (monsters)

Eldrin is like an uncle for him and lives isolated (unsure if he is part of Davrin's clan) and Davrin used to spend summers helping him with the hallas

Davrin feels like he pissed off his clan, he rejected them and both Davrin and Bellara agree it would be hard for him to go back

In another dialogue, he says he actually did not think the clan would take him back at all even if he crawled back asking for help ("Like a failure" he says)

He does not regret joining the Grey Wardens and looking for adventures, but he seems to regret that came at the cost of leaving the clan and not being able to return or keep in contact with them

Also, he says the outside world was different from what he imagined

PART 2 HERE

[lillotte17]

You know, I made a different post about it before, but the way Solas talks about wanting to return the elves immortality in Veilguard really has me convinced now that Romanced!Solas is at least partially motivated to tear down the Veil BECAUSE he loves Lavellan, and if he leaves things as they are, even if he gives up everything to stay with her... She's going to die.

Her lifespan is such a tiny fraction of his, and I think if he had fallen in love with a human or a qunari (not sure how long OG dwarves bound to Titans lived) he could maybe come to terms with the fact that it was just natural and he had to accept it. But with Lavellan it is different because she's an elf. She is going to die because of something HE did. And if he gives up his duty, he's going to have to sit there and WATCH her die because of something he did.

And tbh that's such a tasty little complexity? He's got all these High and Righteous Big Picture reasons for fulfilling what he thinks is his duty to the elvhen people, but like...I wish that had come up somewhere. I wish that little scrap of selfish reasoning peeked through his armor at some point.

I mean...I wish we got the chance to talk through his reasoning IN GENERAL, for the choices he made, but that is a whole other kettle of fish.