#also looking at you blights

[fortyfive-forty]

im gonna be a dickhead for a second cause this is actually pissing me off:

i NEED y’all to deep the fact that most of these players do not care about what this man has done. carlos will probably shake his hand on sunday. maybe even a hug. they will compliment each other during the trophy presentation. no doubt the players will be asked again about the trial and no doubt the VAST majority of them will give the same non-answers as in australia. many of them are friends with him. many of these ‘friends’ are your faves. i’m not telling you to change your allegiance or find new players to be fans of or anything of that sort (this is the nature of sports, unfortunately a lot of them are very very flawed people, including many of the players i am a fan of). but i cannot sit here and watch all y’all go on saying ‘omg carlitos needs to defeat the evil on sunday 😣😖😫’ he literally does not care. most of them don’t. please, for the love of god, for everybody’s sake, i need us to understand this.

[dannydanoninoo]

Okay but this look of pure LOVE AND ADORATION?!

I'm rolling in the floor crying right now (not joking)

[tizzymcwizzy]

i believe in drawing his hair better supremacy (drew these right after seeing the poster and finally got the free time to post them ack)

[yardsards]

mostly joking toh theory: amity and emira are both trans girls, and the fact that they got to choose their names themselves is the only reason why neither of them ended up getting named "odalia jr."

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Are there any companions you can't stand?

I wouldn't say I have any that I can't stand. Something that's so engaging to me about DA is that the companions have good, bad, and a lot in between. Honestly, I don't hate any of them. There are companions that I have more issues with than others, but I like them all; even, and sometimes especially, the ones that tend to be heavily hated on by the fandom.

The only companion that might fall into this category for me is Sebastian, but I totally acknowledge that I've yet to make an effort to use him when I play DA2. I legit just forget about him. How am I supposed to have a good grasp of his character when I don't engage with him outside of his companion quests? Plus I usually romance Anders so Sebastian always leaves my party in the end with threats of bringing an army down on Kirkwall for not killing Anders, soooo... yeah. Not the greatest impression he's left me with.

I would like to have a more well-rounded opinion of Sebastian because the concept of him is interesting; he's this chantry brother who is also a prince, but his family was murdered so he puts up a bounty on the chantry board [which admittedly is SO funny] and his companion quests are about avenging his family and helping him decide if he should take back his lands or remain a chantry brother. But then I talk to him, I listen to him talk to the other companions, and it's like... oh, the chantry has become his entire personality because the dude was brainwashed and now he's saying shit like the maker was actually the one who freed Fenris from slavery, and when Fenris tells him a story about how Denarius killed a child in a ritual for more power, Sebastian just doubles down that the maker has his reasons, like....babe, c'mon now.

I feel like I've read pieces about him written by fans who love him that are more compellingly written than he is, if that makes sense. Really, I would love to be educated by those who love him, especially Sebastian romancers because of all the love interests in all of DA, he's the one I look at and go, "....okay but why?" I have a lot of fun with character discussions and other perspectives so I mean that sincerely.

Also I think it's worth noting that when I play, I tend to get super into the roleplay of my warden/hawke/inquisitor, but while they have party members they can't stand, I have opinions that are separate from them, y'know?

For example, since I've talked about it a lot recently, my mage Hawke and Aveline butt heads constantly. By the end of Act 3, they're rivalry is heated and Ed's surprised Aveline even sided with him in the end because THAT is how much their relationship deteriorated over the course of the game... but then there's my warrior Hawke who adored Aveline. The two of them were best friends and Aris always gave her the benefit of the doubt, like she had Aveline's back through and through.

I've complained about Aveline a lot in my posts so it probably does sound like I can't stand her, but that's not true. Aveline's actually a companion that fascinates me, like she makes me go, "God, you're such an asshole, tell me more right now." and it drives me crazy how she and Carver are foils, like I love it so much, I could go on and on about how foiled they are, it makes me want to bite something.

It's very easy to look at Aveline and think she's just a bitch, she's a cop, she's a bad character, #Aveline-critical, bad companion, etc. I see it all the time, and not just with her, but with every companion in dragon age, y'know? I'm not saying that's wrong or anything; some characters just don't vibe with you or you have legit reasons for hating them and that's fine. I'm just saying some of it's very surface level unless you make the effort to elaborate.

If you don't like a character, you're less likely to make an effort to understand or see anything positive about them. You're more likely to have confirmation bias, so whenever they do or say anything, you go looking for the worst interpretation. I try not to do this just because for me, that's the "boring" approach to games like this but as we've seen, I'm not immune either... y'know, Sebastian.

But Carver gets this a lot, too, and I think I've made myself clear that Carver is my favorite, I love him, the Hawke twins are S-tier companions and I would throw everyone in Kirkwall into the ocean if it meant Bethany and Carver's happiness.

Now that I'm thinking about it, the characters a lot of fans can't stand are some of my favorites?

Like a lot of people shit on Sera, and I'm like "Nah, that's my girl! Listen, she's got a LOT of internalized issues, but we're working through them okay! She's getting better!"

And Vivienne? Oh, don't get me started on Vivienne, I have a whole deal about her. She's also an asshole and I love her.

My canon inquisitor is Surana who escaped the circle and joined the dalish, becoming Lavellan. Vivienne is a reflection of what Ash could've been if she hadn't run away with Jowan. She played the game of the circle, she stepped wherever she needed to step because Ash knew she was at a disadvantage by being an elf, for one, and for two, not coming from a family with wealth that would give her special privileges. Her downfall was buying into her own hype and believing she couldn't be wrong about Jowan, believing that she could either prevent them from making him tranquil or help him and Lily run away, and believing she was above punishment because she worked her way into being Irving's favorite. Yet it all bit her in the ass and she had to run… so then years later after living outside of the circle and realizing just what the chantry is, how it conditions and abuses mages and shit, she meets Vivienne who also played the game well and came out on top, who now spouts the same shit Ash used to spout and it's makes their dynamic sooo chewable.

Then there's Cullen who's not a companion but I lump him and Josephine in with the companions anyway. They're advisors, they're in the inner circle, they count.

He's such a spineless ass in DA2 like believe me, I get all the criticisms he gets... but he's also fairly polite to Hawke even if they're openly anti-templar, he's softer spoken, and he's unwell after what happened to him in DAO and Meredith's clearly taking advantage of his state... but then he becomes an advisor in DAI who is so done with people's bullshit and blatantly honest about it, like he looks at Chancellor Roderick like "this fucking guy again" and he's so ready to just go for it, y'know? Well... unless you're a pretty lady who bats her eyes at him, then suddenly he doesn't know how words work. Like sometimes I feel crazy because I find him to be so funny in DAI, and overall a compelling character that I enjoy interacting with even when he's being a total asshole. Yeah, there's issues in his writing but I appreciate the vision the writers were going for, even if they stumbled... except for Sheryl Chee, I don't appreciate her contribution of those few posts on the DA forums that everyone uses as a smoking gun to "prove" awful things about him. Nothing gets under my skin more in character discussions than bad faith arguments and there's so much of that when it comes to Cullen.

Actually, while we're on that, can I just add a note that when I first got into this fandom, I saw someone's post about Chee doing an interview where she said all those bad things about Cullen wanting to assault the mage warden and I was like, "What? An interview? What interview?? Where??" and I couldn't find shit until much later when I read another anti-Cullen post that cited a DA forum as the source for her saying those things... so not an interview. I went digging for the forum, went into the way back machine to find it.... only to discover that this smoking gun comes from a fanfiction forum where Mary Kirby was also talking about Sten and catgirls and y'all expect me to take that seriously?

We can have discussions about whether or not Cullen's a bad person or a bad character, but the moment you bring Sheryl Chee into it, I know you're here in bad faith and your argument is void.

Sorry for the tangent and the long answer but this is the stuff I enjoy. I could talk about the characters of DA for ages unprompted that when someone does throw me a bone, I will discuss and gush about them all.

[causeimanartist]

Did you make those cosplays yourself?? If so you didn't have an art block, you shifted your focus to other mediums???

Hello! Late response lol, I did mostly make* my cosplays!

*The palisman were 3D printed by FishboneLynx on Etsy, I just had to paint them! I got the "magic staff" from Meijer lol, it's actually a garden tool

The Golden Guard mask, the Emperor's Coven pin, and Amity'a necklace all came from The Mystery Shack (online fandom store)

My incredible mother made the white cloak and I made the crescent moon charms!

And everything else was either from my closet (belts, boots, dress, black pants) or I bought at Target (blue suit and pants) or TJ Max (pink leggings and white button down)

-

All that being said, I definitely still have art block though. It's getting a little better I'm fighting it and anxiety at the same time. It's like, I want to draw but when I pick my iPad to draw I can feel my chest tighten up with dread and the more I struggle to get a sketch out, the more I start to panic. Fun times lol

It was fun channeling some creative energy into the cosplays though! I've been cosplaying as a side hobby for a few years. I want to cosplay as Danny Phantom and I have plans for Rei from Free! (Throwback lol). I have a lot of fun in the cosplays and a decent about of people wanted photographs which always makes me feel accomplished!

[nulfaga]

was no one going to tell me arl eamon named his son connor after his dad's gay lover. Did i have to stumble across that information on the da wiki myself.

[hassianlovebot]

My Palia oc!! Thank you @blighted-elf for the template!!!

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID: three digital illustrations based on episodes of the owl house. The first image is based on Understanding Willow and features Amity and Inner Willow. Amity looks at Inner Willow regretfully, holding a hand to her chest, as Inner Willow stands surrounded by pink fire, yelling at Amity with steam coming from her eyes. Lyrics are written crookedly across the background: "I'm not here for your entertainment/your the kinda guy that likes some fun/am I just here for a bit of amusement?/you'll never be my NUMBER 1!!!".

The second image is based off For the Future and features Willow and Hunter. Hunter hugs willow, his face obscured, as she sobs and vines glow green around them both. The lyrics this time are written more neatly in the middle of the image and read "are you bored?/or are you scared?/what happened to secrets we shared?/ Did I say something/? Have I crossed the line?/you know I never meant it/when I said I was FINE!".

The final image is both drawings on one canvas with no lyrics. Each image has a dark blue background. End ID]

Thinks about Willow's repressed emotions and eats glass. Cutely (song is Con Man by The Tuts!)

[uncreativebean]

I love how in the Champions Ballad quest you fight all the blights with what the other champions had as their weapons/defense just to see how difficult it was. I just really like that touch and oh my gosh it made me so freaking sad

[blighted-lights]

Little guy Little guyyy

Yeet

OUGHBHH THIS WAS SO SO SWEET TO SEE IN MY INBOX OHH THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!!

MY BOY!!!! YOU DRAW THEM SO WELL IM GONNA AUGH

the sleeping pose at the top is absolutely ADORABLE, i LOVE how you drew his head resting on his leg like that it's so fucking cute. it looks like he'd all tucked up im 🥺

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR DRAWING HIM!!! I WILL NOT GET OVER THIS EVER

[drachenfalter]

I want an AU where Odalia secretly helps the resistance - not because she wants to help people, mind you, but because she fully bought into Belos' spiel and realized that peace and harmony are antithetical to her business model.

After all, who needs "Home Security" in Paradise?

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

pausing your regularly scheduled drama to announce that camp tensions are finally relaxing ~

[tinyplanetss]

rereading good omens before season two comes out and i forgot how much funnier this line was in the book. to clarify, this

is a potato weevil. we were robbed tbh

[hood-ex]

Have a fic idea where Dick gets blighted like this. I just think blight is fun, don't you? 😌😊

[attractthecrows]

Actually no let's set the da2 crew aside for a second. I want to take Solas and Dorian to Soldier's Peak to talk to Avernus the 220-some year old Grey Warden Blood Mage. I want to see HOW BITCHY Solas can get. I want to hear Dorian's commentary on how exactly fucking stereotypical it is that the blood mage with unnatural long life is Tevene. I want the Warden Commander to look the Inquisitor's team full in the face and tell them to lose their biases *immediately* because the *only* goal of the Wardens is to end the Blights by whatever means necessary, and then walk into Avernus's lab and start bleeding into bottles for him. I want Solas to lose his fucking composure in that fucked up laboratory. I want it so badly. So So badly.