#alter hof

[thedragonagelesbian]

the hero of ferelden (all grey wardens tbh) are paladins. theyre fucking paladins ok. they have been called upon to service a higher power not as the voice of their divinity but as its hands and feet standing bloody against the tide of darkness. and they can struggle with that calling and regret it and resent it but at the end of the day, the grey warden still becomes--still chooses to be--the hero of ferelden.

[joostsblog]

I love love loveee your writing for Joost!!

Could you do a longer one shot, where Joost is playing the reader his album (preferably Fryslân) with Florida 2009, a she comforts him? Would be amazing <3

Leyla, write one fic as it was requested challenge, level impossible 😅 so I altered your request to be about Liverpool bc I didn't think I could do it justice with florida 2009 being such a personal song, I hope you understand ❣️

Liverpool ~ Joost Klein oneshot

My masterlist here ✨💌

Pairing: Joost Klein x female!reader

Description: Your boyfriend Joost shows you his new album and the end of Liverpool holds a little surprise for you which will change your relationship forever.

Word Count: 0.8k

A/N: Here I am still writing something while I said I wouldn't do so on vacation lol ☀️ if you liked it, you can show your support by leaving a reblog 🫶

Warnings: not proofread

"I think I'm ready," Joost stood in the doorway of your shared apartment.

You looked up from your phone and your face lit up as you knew what this meant. Joost was a perfectionist and avoided showing you rough mixes of his songs because he wanted you to experience them as they were intended - perfectly finished. He had only shown you two finished songs from the album he was working on and now he was finally ready to play the album front to back for you.

"Are you sure?" you asked as you got up from the sofa and walked towards him. He nodded and you could tell that he was nervous. "I'm sure it's gonna be amazing," you said and gave a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Don't sing your praises too early," he laughed.

You sat down in his makeshift home studio and he handed you a pair of headphones, putting some on as well. You put your hand on his knee as he was looking up the files on his computer. Just as he was about to press play, he looked at you again.

"I'm not sure I should even look at you," he laughed nervously. You gave his thigh a reassuring squeeze.

"Do whatever feels comfortable to you," you said with a smile. "I'm gonna love it."

Joost nodded took your hand into his and pressed play. Before you closed your eyes to focus on the music you gave a quick peck to Joost's cheek.

As you were listening through the album, you bopped your head along, smiled and noticed all the shy glances Joost was giving you to check for your reaction. You were right, you did love it. As the last song Liverpool slowly came to its end, you could tell that Joost was watching your face very intently now. The song ended with a series of shout-outs to Joost's friends and collaborators, which warmed your heart.

Shouts-out to Tantu Beats

Shout-out to Joost Klein

Shout-out to Dylan meine brudi

Shouts-out Stuntje shouts-out Wim Hof

Shout-out to Jack Parow out in South Africa

Shouts-out to Apson

Shouts-out Nathan Vandergunst

Damn, shouts-out Enzo Knol

Shout-out to (Y/N)

Shout-out you for listening to my album

I fucking love you man

Your heart skipped a beat as you heard your name appear in the song and your eyes immediately began to water.

You and Joost had both agreed pretty early on in your relationship to keep it private. No one knew that Joost was in a committed relationship and especially no one (except for your friends and family) knew that the person he loved was you. It was the right decision at the time because it allowed you to love and live in private without any unwanted attention. But the longer you had been with Joost, the more the both of you had talked about wanting to actually express your love for each other publicly as well. You just didn't expect that Joost was ready for a step like this - putting your name in one of his songs.

As the song finished you both put your headphones down. Your eyes were still welling with tears and your smile was wide.

"I can take it out if you want to," Joost offered hesitantly and you shook your head no immediately.

"No, please keep it," you said and cupped his face with your hands. "I love it," you said before kissing his soft lips which curved into a grin.

It didn't take long for fans to pick up on your name in Liverpool after the album dropped. Fans took to Twitter, TikTok and Tumblr to voice their opinions of the album and also their confusion about that unknown name.

"Who tf is (Y/N)?"

"IKR? I swear I've never heard that name before"

"Maybe she's his manager???"

"I doubt it, why would he thank her last after all of his friends?"

"Wait, let me check something, I think I've seen her Instagram account before!!"

To your surprise, it also didn't take long before fans found your Instagram account with just a few hundred followers just because you appeared on Joost's follow list and he commented on your posts frequently. There were no pictures of the two together on your account but through puzzling together locations and outfits, some fans quickly found out that you spend a lot of time together.

The follows, likes and comments slowly came flooding in and you realised that your relationship wasn't so private anymore. But even the few nasty comments didn't make you regret your decision.

So when a few days passed and the comments persisted ("is she Joost's gf?") you decided to upload a picture to your story.

the cat's out the bag, you captioned a picture of you happily cuddling with a cat in your arms, another hand also visible stroking the cat. A hand with a 1983 tattoo.

[random-brushstrokes]

Amelie Ruths (German, 1871-1956) - Alter Hamburger Hof

[explodingchantry]

OK I found the source and, genuinely, what the fuck?

Varric is apparently an important character within veilguard but we don't get to express whether the inquisitor left his best friend to die in the fade?

The wardens are a big part of veilguard but we don't get to express what the inquisitor did with the southern wardens?

MORRIGAN is apparently an important character in veilguard and we don't get to express whether 1. We had her have Kieran and 2. If she drank from the well or not?? You know this important decision that was meant to impact the rest of the drinker's life, and was meant even more vital when inquisition revealed Flemerh was Mythal? I literally just replayed that quest and they genuinely make a huge point out of this decision being life altering. But it's not, is it, if both characters who could've drank show up in the next game but the effects of the well aren't present.

"northern thedas is a blank slate" is such a weird take. What happens in ferelden and orlais (and the free marchés if we bring da2 into it too) absolutely matters to the rest of thedas. These things ricochet upwards. You literally choose who leads orlais, one of (if not The) most powerful and influencial nations in all of thedas. You get to choose the fucking DIVINE. Yeah sure that might not matter in Tevinter, but it matters everywhere else?? The rest of northern thedas follows the chantry even if they might not be as horny for it as the south????

And that's only speaking of inquisition choices. I already made a post somewhere about how very few of the decision input on the keep mattered in dai and how filling the keep often felt pretty pointless because of that. But at least the gender of the hof and who they romanced came up, and the leader of ferelden came up however briefly and flawed.

Honestly dragon age was never actually good at bringing up and taking into account old choices. Da2 had a good excuse for it (set in a completely different country whilst the choices the hof made were central to ferelden only, and hawke being just Some Guy who wouldn't get involved in a lot of influencial stuff the hof had a hand in. And even THEN there's plenty of background dialogue about ferelden that does mention it.) Dai does have a lot of nods to a few things; the ruler of ferelden shows up in in hushed whispers, or if you kept Alistair/recruited loghain they show up for here lies the abyss and might even have a discussion with Morrigan with whom they had a CHILD with. If hof romanced leliana she mentions them quite a bit. Morrigan can show up with the full ass child she can have in Dao and that's probably one of the biggest differences the choices you made make. Some other decisions from Dao are referenced; like who rules Orzammar. And as for da2 it's very true that a lot of the decisions made are much harder to reference due to being more interpersonal, so it does make sense to an extent that the decisions are referenced there through simple dialogue (though that dialogue is flawed as hell.) If it doesn't like some of your past choices it'll retcon it, like if you killed leliana in Dao. Or like, for example, just a random example, you got one of the Dao endings where Cullen goes mad, kills mages and runs away. Never mentioned again that one. Weird.

Bioware loves to give you big influencial choices to make you feel important only to turn around the next game and kind of shrug their shoulders as they do the bare minimum with them. And now, don't get me wrong - some of these choices are really hard to integrate. We basically can never go back to Orzammar because its king changes everything. It's too much to take into account and would change what quests and storylines the player experiences.

But then don't fucking write it that way to begin with lol. At least with Dao you can give the benefit of the doubt with things being meant to be part of a single story - but by da2 they knew dragon age was a franchise and inquisition was written and made with the knowledge there would be another game afterwards. They could actually plan things out and figure out if maybe a choice you could make would require too many resources to implement in the next game, and thus just not actually give you the choice in inquisition. Because the divine, for example, makes a HUGE difference. I fully get that it would be extremely difficult to take all three choices into account - reference them but make them not so integral that the story of the game can only happen if one of those was made.

But then don't make us fucking able to choose who the divine is. I'd rather not have as many influencial choices in a game, but have them referenced and have them matter, than... This.

Who you romance. Whether you disbanded the inquisition. And what you think of Solas. Nothing from Dao, nothing from da2, and only this from dai. That's a fucking joke. It's a joke. A spit in the face.

Many of the fans will have replayed the series in anticipation for veilguard, carefully crafted their choices to be their main world state. Especially with the nice little sales you've had during veilguard's promotional period. And now, only now, after they will have done all of that, you spit in their faces and say that none of what they did in the past games mattered. So why should I finish my inquisition replay? Why should I care?

Meanwhile, plenty of events from the books and comics will not only be referenced but be integral for the story. Fuck you for playing the main games, you're stupid for thinking they mattered. Obviously the static stories of our external media is more important. Totally respectful of the fanbase to do that.

[catyo90]

So i have a thought on the Veilguard World State.

So I have been racking my brain on how choices may come up in the best that we chose but not in the way we expected. I remembered the Witcher 3, and how they brought over choices in the Witcher 2. if you play that game there is a moment where Geralt is basically asked about his quests and how his choices have altered him and the world. Information that has to be verified for the Nobles. I'll put a video below so you can see what I mean.

Now Bioware might not do this, but if anything I sorta of hope this happens when speaking to Harding, Varric or Solas. I'll be it there are only five question given to Geralt but if you think on it. it could work like.

"you know of the hero of ferelden?" -Harding

"on my travels yes, i heard they died killing the arch demon" or "Yes, my fellow wardens spoke of how they survived and become king/queen." rook

Something like this could at least set into stone or at least make the playthrough easier on those who care alot about their worldstate.

Side not: five questions alongside the Three main that bioware already showed. Would give us 8. My top five would be.

HoF Status

Hawke Status

Ruler of Orlais

Well of Sorrows

Divine Choice

[vigilskeep]

Who do you think Bea is going to back for new Divine?

And who would Minerva most approve as the new divine/who would she most like to work with as new divine? I'm wondering if she'd actually value Vivienne's politically savvy achievable changes for the circles over Lelianas hard freedom stance that while ideal may be too much too quick for the world...

softened leliana i very much expect!!

a younger minerva, who believed in working within the system as a first enchanter to control it and mitigate its damage, might have preferred vivienne. that’s the minerva who trusted in irving’s methods and believed in things like that setting an example as the hero of ferelden could really change mages’ circumstances. but even by the end of dao she was talking about freeing kinloch hold, and she’s pretty much been locked in direct conflict with the chantry since the templars went after anders and made him run. that was a declaration of war to her, an assurance that even wardens would never be left alone, and it disillusioned her and fundamentally altered her approach. her being the HOF never changed anything. rebellion did. she was involved in the background of a lot that was happening in da2

minerva in my heart also has a son of her own, a young mage. you can understand why that crystallises the fact that she can no longer tolerate the existence of the circle under any circumstances

so yeah she certainly has a use for vivienne wielding some amount of power, but for all the little care she once had for a chantry sister’s idealism, it’s her old friend she wants on the sunburst throne

[voidarchivefiles]

About

This blog was an archive of void posts that contain methods, tips or resources. For void success stories, see my other blog @voidsuccessarchive.

Status: No longer active Posting when I have the time & feel like it

Please read: Important

There's a lot of ways to enter but in the end it's you who puts the power in it. Only take what resonates for you personally. Not all advice or methods may resonate for you and that's okay. That doesn't mean you can't enter as every single one of us is pure consciousness (the void) at our natural state!

Remember to be kind to yourself and don't overconsume information. Consider this place like a library for you to check out only what you need and you don't need to read every single thing. This won't be a comprehensive archive of every single void post on Tumblr, a lot of it stems from things mentioned in success stories (see voidsuccessarchive) & the rest will be things that I think are useful/helpful.

If a particular blog resonates with you and you want more information, check out their blog and master list.

Index

About the void: The I AM state, A basic intro & FAQ

General tips or steps on entering: 1, 2, 3, 4

In-depth advice: 1

Methods: Wim hof breathwork, WBTB reclined sitting (simplified), Theta waves + I AM, Alpha waves, Lucid dreaming, SATS or Wim hof + Shifting hypnosis meditation, Silva centering method

Manifesting methods: Lullaby (OG post), "after all", ROE, intention setting practice

Using resources: Delta waves, guided SATS meditation, revision meditation, DMT activation audio

Guides: Lucid dreaming guide

Other: My posts

How they did it - tips from success stories: loajaydawayda, anon, stxr-kill (using FILD), teenageangeldiaries (SATS/Lullaby), anon, ninisworld444

Motivational posts: For the drowning gang, You already are pure consciousness

Challenges: Roselleworkshop (void challenge, silva challenge), Gorgeouslypink: (3 day void concept, FILD), littlemissprettyprincess (void challenge, new year's wish, santa method), angelria111, trynafindbarbiee, wonyoung challenge, fleurlx (I AM + Living in the end, badass alter ego challenge), prettymindset111, halokisses

[sowhatifiliveinfukuoka]

Sonic Youth

Alter Bahnhof, Hof, Bavaria, West Germany (1983-11-02)

© yogi

[olivianyx]

I am planning to permanently shift to a better CR DR. Where i can easily manifest things + where my aunt is still alive. When she died nobody told me about her in fear that i might get into depression and they told me after 3 days. She and me had very great bond more precious bond then my own family and my parents. Even though she no longer here in this reality I still feel like she is still alive and I want to see her again and hug her again tell her about my achivements because she was the only person who listens to me and believe me on whatever I said also supported me whenever I needed. That's I wanted to enter in void state and permanently shift to better CR. But I have been struggling a lot no matter what I tried. I have entered the void state 2 times but i wasn't aware about it when i was in void state and when i wake up from there i always had mental breakdown. Can you please help me?

Hi! Thanks for the ask honey ❣️

So basically you're planning to permashift to a reality where your aunt is still alive right? Okay, but you don't need the void for it sweetheart. Ik how you're feeling rn cus trust me I've been there too. I understand how you feel. First of all why would you assume that you can't enter the void no matter what you do? You enter the void everytime you're asleep. Yes you do. But actually to permashift you don't even need the void. You can do with just a command or by living in the end, or using subliminals, affirming, visualising, whatever. I mean I don't understand why the void is too overrated and people seem to overcomplicate it in this community. I personally don't like the void even though I've entered it after 2 years. But there's sats, lullaby method, alpha state meditation and many more. The lullaby method and sats are equally as powerful as the void honey. You don't gotta stress about the void.

Second of all, please do work on your self concept and stop overwhelming yourself. Actually I believe self concept isn't necessary but if you're having a hard time please do work on for a week and go on with the void.

If you really wanna enter the void, then I'd recommend doing psych-k sessions and the Wim hof breathing technique with pink noise.

Just remember what ever you do, please make sure you're fulfilled internally. That's the only key to achieving anything ❣️

You're pure consciousness, you're awareness, the God of your reality. Why would the creator be upset or stressing over his own creations? He knows he created it and he has the power to alter it too. So stop worrying baby. You can do it! I'd recommend putting on some music and imagining it (the distraction technique) and then zone out which practically is your pure awareness state where you aren't bothered by your physical realm.

If you still got doubts, you still can dm me, I'd like to help you honey ✨

You can do this! Lots of love ❤

[napunk-history]

D.O.A.

Alter Bahnhof, Hof, West Germany (1984-03-19)

[bigfan-fanfic]

Windows Through the Past (HOF!Reader x Cullen Rutherford)

Requested by @iliumheightnights for  Another fic request! Cullen reuniting with his long time crush the HOF. Now the hero is a super powerful mage capable of fighting entire armies himself and he's been invited to help the inquisition for a mission?

"I believe the Commander is quite well-acquainted with this ally," Leliana smirks, still not revealing her plan, and Cullen has just about had enough of it.

She gives a giggle behind her hand once more before she states that she has invited the Hero of Ferelden himself to join the Inquisition's march on Suledin Keep.

Cullen is absolutely stunned.

And not all in anticipation of seeing the Hero again.

He had been stationed in Kinloch Hold, where the Hero had spent most of their years before the Fifth Blight took hold.

And had a quite awful experience with abominations as the Circle broke and demons ran rampant, capturing and tormenting him, using the image of the Hero himself to toy with his mind and heart.

He hadn't been kind, last he saw the Hero. And couldn't imagine that anything that Warden Amell may have heard would change that.

After all, he had acted with, shall we say, less than graceful manners at the uprising among the mages in the Gallows, and only when presented with the city's destruction did he take a stand against Meredith.

Cullen immediately resolves not to engage with the Hero. After all, he was trying to be more sensitive of the feelings of the mages serving in the Inquisition, and did not want to bring up any traumatic memories.

But then Leliana states (with an infuriatingly offhand tone) that Amell was actually quite looking forward to seeing Cullen, and now the poor man can't think at all.

It causes him no small amount of stress, puzzling over why Amell would wish to see him, and he comes to the conclusion that it's to enact justice for his crimes.

He can't even bring himself to argue this theoretical point, and resolves not to resist. He'll even alter the guard patrols to make sure Amell has a clear escape.

The Hero of Ferelden shall be his judge and executioner, a hand of the Maker given flesh.

Amell was rather stoic, last time he recalled seeing them. A side effect of the Harrowing, a temporary disorientation. But now, ten years later, the mage seemed... well, downright peppy.

Amell has decimated armies in fire, wiped out a darkspawn horde in a whirl of wind and ice, and summoned a rain of holy light, but now he - you - seem so... soft. Happy.

Cullen smiles despite himself. "You look well, Warden Commander."

"There's no need to be formal, Cullen. I've known you since your hair was still curly." you tease, and Cullen actually laughs.

"My apologies. We have not seen each other in so long, and our parting was... under unfortunate circumstances."

"I understand. I was glad to hear you were with the Inquisition."

"May I ask why?"

You tilt your head and sit. "Well... after Kinloch. I heard about you and Kirkwall. It wasn't great, what I heard."

Cullen nods. "It wasn't great living there, either."

"I feared you had lost your way, but seeing you here... working with mages once more - free mages at that! - I knew the man I once saw was still there."

"The man you once-"

"You weren't very subtle, Cullen. I know how you felt about me in Kinloch."

Cullen blushes. "My deepest apologies. I had never meant to-"

You raise a hand. "I liked you too, but... you were my jailer, Cullen, no matter how handsome and kind you were. I hoped, that after the Blight, you might come to see the truth."

He winces. "I fear I am not the man you seek yet. I... the Inquisitor asked me my view of the Circles, and I responded that I see their necessity. For teaching, for ensuring abominations do not occur."

But you are patient. Far more than Cullen deserves. "And yet you saw in the Gallows, in Kinloch, that the Circle as it is does not do that. I agree that the Circles should still exist as places of instruction and learning, but not as prisons. Not to rip children from their parents. Did you know I had a brother, Cullen?"

"N-"

"Neither did I. That I had a mother that wished to see me and a father that never got to. That Irving was tricking young mages into pursuing blood magic. That the templar order, the Chantry, wanted us all turned into Tranquil."

Cullen would've denied it if it were anyone else. But you have lived it, as he had. You say it so concisely that Cullen cannot refute it. Not now that he has seen red lyrium, seen how easily the Templars fell.

"I struggle, sometimes... knowing that the world after this Inquisition will be far different. I am trying... but I have done so much ill towards the mages. I still fear the power of magic even as I know the wrongs the Circles and the Templars have done."

You grin at him. "The Cullen I had known would not even be questioning it. You have far to travel, Cullen, but you are on the road I hoped you would be."

He looks at you and the words tumble out before he can bid them stop. "Would you ever be able to consider me something other than a jailer? I would pledge myself to you in an instant if you desired it of me."

Immediately Cullen winces in horror, ashamed of his outburst, of asking this of you considering your history together, but you simply tilt your head.

"How about we simply see what the new world after the Inquisition holds? Continue on your path, and I shall endeavor to help you see the signposts. And perhaps someday I might see you as a companion."

Cullen nods. "Then let us proceed with the battle plans, Ser. We must hasten the new dawn."

[bookofmirth]

I feel like Sarah’s latest projects Acosf Hosab and Hofas have felt kinda different from the og acotar books and the throne of glass series, tho i don’t know if it’s maybe just me connecting them less. I was entertained with all three. Especially with acosf which I don’t think it suffered as much as the cc books. But in all three Sarah’s writing feels off.

Now I’m no specialist in criticising English books in depth but I think you said once you’ve studied literature and that’s why you make mostly analyses of the text.

So I was wondering what’s your take on this, if you’ve noticed it too or not and if yes why or how you believe the writing is off

I've been having a lot of conversations about this with people and we had different ideas, though none of them are certain.

I think that the crossover played to Sarah's weaknesses and took away from her time to write to her strengths. I think that she's at her best when she is delving into characters and emotions, and at her least effective when she's trying to do all this big plot and world stuff.

The points in her series where you can see people starting to wonder what the hell is going on, is where you can see her trying to manipulate the plot in order to set up other stories she wants to tell. The best examples of this are acowar and the acosf/hofas arc. acotar was originally going to be a trilogy and then she manipulated acowar to set up more stories. CC was going to be a trilogy until she came up with the crossover and decided to set up more stories. If she could just stick with her original plans, everything would go much better. The points at which she decides to expand the world or plot or characters, those are the places where she begins to falter. (Some people I think would include HoF in this, but I do not.)

Sarah's writing style is to not outline - she is on record saying that she does not do extensive world building, that she isn't good at it, that she doesn't outline, that she let's the story take her where it will. All of those are fine, valid ways to write! However, they make it nearly impossible for her to pull this crossover off successfully. You absolutely cannot go about such a massive undertaking and just bang out 100k words in a week, or whatever ridiculous pace she worked at this time, and have it make sense.

She is also on record saying that the crossover came to her while she was writing hosab. That means she was thousands of pages into acotar and hundreds of pages into CC before she decided to do this huge, series-altering thing. That's... not just poor planning, it's a recipe for disaster. This is why there are inconsistencies, the weird pacing, and dropped plots from hosab. It was too much and she's not the kind of writer who can take on those sorts of tasks and make it still compelling and cohesive. She just isn't.

One of my big concerns about the crossover was the genre shift - CC being urban fantasy and ACOTAR being high fantasy meant that it wasn't going to fit together. There was going to be some friction, no matter how good a writer took it on (and imo a better writer would have known that and not done it in the first place). It's not that it can't be done, it's just that both series need to have an equally strong foundation to work from. The world building in CC was much more intense than it was in acotar, and so trying to fit those two together was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

ToG never suffers from this because Sarah never tried to make it something it wasn't. She always had a clear vision of what kind of person Aelin was and why, and even though she doesn't outline, I would bet a lot of money that when she started writing ToG, she knew that at the end, Aelin was going to end up happy and on the throne of her own kingdom.

Also - and I'm sorry, I know that I am babbling haha but since your question was about acosf/hosab/hofas specifically, I do think that urban fantasy is not Sarah's genre. She clearly reads it, but... it's not the genre for displaying her strengths as a writer. All of the swearing and sex and drug use had me rolling my eyes constantly because she was just beating us over the head with how hardcore and adult the characters are.

So there are a couple of things, really, that made those three books feel off in comparison to the rest of them:

urban fantasy is not Sarah's genre,

the crossover took her energy and attention away from her strengths (emotion, character) and made her emphasize her weaknesses (plot, world)

It feels like we are watching her become a worse writer, and not better. I'm going to chalk it up to her experimenting a little bit with hofas and it not panning out. Optimistic!Lele says that now that this is out of sjm's system, we can go back to our regularly-scheduled emotional journeys with some magic stuff sprinkled in. Pessimistic!Lele doesn't trust sjm farther than she can throw her.

All of this has made me really nervous to read anything ToG-related that she might come up with in the future. I would love more ToG content from 2016 Sarah. 2024 Sarah? I'm honestly not that interested in more canon ToG stuff from her.

Sorry this got long, and I'm not even sure how cohesive all of this is, it's just been on my mind since I finished hofas!

[random-brushstrokes]

Amelie Ruths (German, 1871-1956) - Alter Hamburger Hof Dovenfleet

[finelyageddragons]

Currently in love with the relationship between the Grey Wardens and being doomed by the narrative, especially with how the HOF subverts that relationship so here's a 3am rant about it. Enjoy! The wardens are ghosts. They are born by letting go of everything you had before and drinking poison to bind your fate to the darkspawn and promise that your life and perhaps more importantly, your death belongs to them. The whole joining is a terrifying experience, you're drinking the blood of monsters and seeing a corrupt god in your mind and waking up to see those who died around you and being told you'll meet the same fate soon enough you've just been given more time to get there because to sacrifice, to die is a warden's purpose. Even if you survive becoming a warden, your best case scenario is sacrificing yourself to end the blight but it's far more likely you'll die fighting darkspawn or even more likely lose your mind and have to go to the deep roads to be lost and have your death be your last act of defiance in the face of this overwhelming wave of evil waiting to rise again. The best thing that can happen to a warden is to die in a meaningful way because you gave away your life the moment you drank that blood. All you are now is a soldier waiting to die in war and hopefully take the enemy down with you. It is tragic and haunting and noble and so full of grief. Grief for the live you gave behind and for the one you'll never have. Every warden spends every day of their life hoping not for a future or any life for themselves but simply to make their death mean something which is an incredibly interesting mental state and I could go on about how that effects individuals and messes with their values so that corruption is rife but what started this whole thing is Fereldan.

A wonderful post by @sapphim (which I don't know how to cite but I wanna give credit so if there's a way please tell me) discussed how beneficial it was for the wardens that the fifth blight occured in Fereldan and how much they lost by it being solved so soon. To put it simply, they wanted to sacrifice Fereldan as a lost cause and use it as an example of why they wardens shouldn't be neglected. They wanted it to be known of how much of a sacrifice they make an how important their duty by letting the country of Fereldan be an example of what happens when no one is there to do it and that the narrative has doomed everyone, that the world's crimes will be paid for unless someone is willing to be selfless and bear the burden to give the world another chance. Andraste would have been a great warden I'm sure. In the eyes of the warden, Fereldan is tainted just like their blood, it is promised to the darkspawn just like they are, willingly or not it bears the duty that all wardens do and must make the sacrifice they do too. For the greater good. To stop the darkspawn. It's better you having a death that matters than a life that lasts. This is the psychology of the wardens and they are applying those same beliefs to all of Fereldan. Why must they be the only ones doomed by the narrative? There is no surviving this story and there is saving the world there is only killing the darkspawn before it kills you. Thedas is at war with the archdemons and until they're all dead, there is no peace, there is only preparing for the next battle. There is no building a life, no building a country, there is nothing to protect because it is all doomed.

The way duty and sacrifice and the promise of the Grey Wardens must alter their values and perspective on life is fascinating and there is so much to explore here but what's important for this post is that the foundation of their entire order is that they are already dead.

This then brings us to the HOF and cheating death. Duncan is like the grim reaper in Origins the way he comes and snatches your soul at the end of each origin which I honestly love and it ties in so well to the idea that wardens are ghosts given you die in every other version of the story without him but that's the story of all wardens. They all die a symbolic death at the joining so that's okay but then Ostogar happens. Flemeth happens. You should have died. Fereldan should have been lost. Remember, the duty of the wardens is dying not surviving but you did survive, snatched away by a god. Every other warden has died thinking their paying the price for an absent god yet this goddess not only favours you, she changed fate for you. Every other warden throughout history has paid the price but not you. Not Fereldan. You get to cheat the fate while it dooms everyone else. Can you imagine how that must have felt for the other wardens? How much they must hate the hero for stealing the martyr Fereldan was set to be and making all their losses naught but a tragedy when it could have been so much more? Not only did you escape your own death but you stole the value of theirs. You survived which goes against everything the wardens are made for.

Going even further than that, you have the dark ritual where you can actively choose to cheat death again. When every other warden has had to give their life, had to sacrifice and lose and grieve and poison their humanity as they did their bodies, you get to escape it all. Wardens have struggled for decades to have a foothold in Fereldan but you'll go so far as to choose their ruler for them without any consultation. You have been a warden less than a year, ended a battle that they prepared for over hundreds of years and sacrificed more hundreds of years fighting in the past and not only have you defied everything they defined themselves by, you have made them look like fools and decided their fate for them. You have stolen the meaning of the death of every warden, you have stolen their martyrs and the justifications for their actions and by keeping your own life and humanity, by resisting their poison you have made them all look like monsters.

The hero was doomed by the narrative as all wardens are but they rewrote fate, they stole their life back so many times and by surviving, they created a whole new narrative that ruined everything the wardens were built upon. The wardens were made to be ghosts, not heroes. They're meant to die and be remembered nobly so they can be redeemed for they had to do to get there but not you hero. You get to shame us all, don't you?

[the--blackdahlia]

An Analysis of Scott Hall (As Told By Me)

1.) American Starship Coyote (AKA American Airplane Coyotoe; Starship)

Oh man, the 80's were a time. Got some very creative names for wrestlers. And also, giants. Plus look at that mustache. Everything about this just screams 80's. Also those tights can't contain the thighs.

2. Texas Scott/Big Scott Hall (AKA Save a Horse)

Oh yeah he was ;) Still not giving up that mustache and keeping those thick curls going. Gotta keep the 80's alive one way or another.

3. The Diamond Studd (AKA Stripper Wrestling Connection)

Now that is a stud if I've ever seen one. Big meaty man slapping meat. He made normal-sized people (Dallas) look super small and always put on a show. Plus, he knew audience participation was key. Who here wanted to be that person that got to rip the pants off him? Just me. Okay, moving on.

4. Razor Ramon (AKA Him Not Being Cuban is the Reason I Have Trust Issues)

If you don't try to act like Razor every time you see a toothpick, you've let the Bad Guy down. Purple was definitely his color, and he just was so cool. There was so much potential for Razor storylines, but money, or the lack thereof, got in the way.

5. Outsider Scott (AKA You know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here)

There aren't too many people who can change an entire industry while wearing a Canadian Tuxedo, but Scott was one of them. Showing up on Nitro unannounced and cutting the promo of the year fired the first shots of the Monday Night War. What a time to be a wrestling fan.

6. NWO Scott (AKA The following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order)

Who would've known that three men who went by three letters would completely alter the face of wrestling? The charisma of Scott, Kevin, and Hogan got people who weren't interested in wrestling to watch. And he looked good while doing it.

7. Drunk Scott (AKA Fuck you Bischoff)

Fuck you Bischoff

8. TNA Scott (AKA He's the one dressed like Elvis)

Some love his TNA run, and some hate it. He was trying so hard to keep doing the thing he loved, but sometimes those demons swim. I for one, enjoyed many of his TNA matches. It just wasn't his past endeavors. But I'm proud he kept trying.

9. Hall of Fame Scott (AKA Long live the Bad Guy)

Honestly, the only HOF speech that I remember. He overcame a lot, and saved his life with help from his friends. Just remember that bad times don't last, but bad guys do. Long live the bad guy.

[wingsxndfury]

Shadowsinger Name: Azriel; Schattensänger Alter: 500+ Wohnort: Velaris, Hof der Nacht --------------------------------------------------------------- Wesen: Schattensänger Zugehörigkeit: Innerer Zirkel, Hof der Nacht Stellung: Meisterspion --------------------------------------------------------------- Aussehen: schwarze Haare, haselnussbraune Augen Körperlich prägnante Merkmale: dunkle Schwingen am Rücken, flammen-vernarbte Handrücken, Schatten, die sich dicht an seinem Körper aufhalten, kobaltblaue Trichtersteine