#and honestly im happy we got companions that felt unique

[ohsweetflips]

my neutral dragon age trait is that 50% of the time i'm like "the more i critique the games, the more i love them. i can appreciate each game for what they are but my criticism and frustration over what they could be are a sign of love" and the other 50% is like "this is the writing of the dragon age series. sure. why not. this may as well happen."

[dancing-withthedoctor]

i finished the timeless children and i have so many thoughts. i usually post on mobile, but bc i know there are people like me who are new to doctor who, i switched to my computer to add the read more thingy. so beware spoilers for the timeless children below the cut !

this is going to be a long post of bear with me

the doctor and the master

OKAY SO i first want to start off with the theory i had: when the master first mentioned that the doctor wasn’t who she thought she was. I had mulled over what it could be and the theory i came up with was that she was immortal and that gallifrey wasn’t her home planet. it was the only way it would make sense and i’m honestly glad i was right in that regard. however, my theory also included the master. i had thought that he had burned gallifrey to the ground because they lied to him about who he was. i really wanted the doctor and the master together in this because the master even said “they lied to us, we’re not who we think, you or i”. so imagine my disappointment when it was revealed that the timeless child was only just the doctor. the implication that the doctor will live forever is heavy, but making it so that the doctor’s enemy, her friend, her rival, her lover would also live forever is even worse and that’s what i wanted. 

the relationship between the doctor and the master is unique to say the least and they’ve been through ever single kind of relationship with one another. thirteen had anxiety and stress over this for episodes over who she is. the way her mind goes a million miles a minute, no wonder she was so on edge the whole time. obviously it annoyed her that the master knew more about her life than she did. if the master was also a timeless child, i think it would have hit home more. like they’re destined to revolve around each other all the time, always intersecting. also the episode is titled the timeless children, was that supposed to be misleading or? the fact that the master cheats death more than the doctor does would be a perfect plothole filler for the whole missy dying and not being able to regenerate thing. the doctor literally got handed extra lives from river and from the time lords. as im typing this all out, i am getting a little upset at that choice. it’s not like the master deserves to live forever (far from it honestly), but if he did, wouldn’t it have been better for the doctor to be the one to keep him in check. obviously, it’s not her job to make sure that he doesn’t hurt or kill people forever, but i think with all that infinite time, they’d be able to reconcile. that was the hope at least. 

yaz, graham, and ryan (aka the fam)

i said this in a brief post earlier that i was so happy to see yaz act like and essentially become the doctor while being separated for her. personally, i felt like yaz was in the background for a bit, but she really shined through in this episode. the way she was constantly encouraging the people around her even though she was scared herself. literally walking in the doctor’s footsteps. 

the conversation between graham and yaz was really touching to me. i started tearing up the same time yaz did. the way graham said “You said to the Doc that you thought she was the best person you'd ever met. But you know what, Yaz? I think you are.” melted my heart and it’s so nice to finally see them bond like that. i know that ryan and graham aren’t in the flux special (im very excited to meet dan) so it feels very bittersweet for him to express his feeling like that to her. and the fact tat yaz literally rushed into the boundary without a second thought because she knew the doctor was on the other side. if that’s not love then what is?

ryan sinclair my beloved. first off, i wish they did more with his character. i think he had so much potential as a companion. the way he threw that bomb made me feel like a proud mother watching her son grow up lol. also, when he said he wasn’t sure about using weapons was a callback to their first adventure in ghost monument when the first thing he did at the sign of trouble was pick up a gun. to see him hesitate to resort to violence was a really nice nod to how much he’s grown as a person.

overall i think the episode was fantastic. im going to be thinking about this for a long time. i know i still have the flux to go, but it makes me wonder about the future of doctor who. rtd is coming back and with his genius writing skills, I’m hoping we can really flesh out the whole timeless child thing. and as for future predictions, i hope the show eventually takes us to go beyond the universe we know, so that maybe we can eventually find the doctor’s real home planet. maybe even their family? one can only hope :) 

and last but not list a list of quotes from the episode that i will never stop thinking about:

“You said to the Doc that you thought she was the best person you'd ever met. But you know what, Yaz? I think you are.” - graham

“And the history between us does mean something. It's the rage and pain in my hearts.″ - the master

“I ransacked the Matrix of the Time Lords, distilled all the knowledge, all the experiences, all the discoveries, into these brains up here. All the Cyber knowledge, all the Time Lord knowledge. Put it together, what do you get? Absolute supremacy in the universe. Choose me.” - the master

“You always behaved like you were different, like you were... like you were special. And you were. You can see... you can see why I'm angry. A little piece of you is in me. All I am is somehow because of you, and believe me when I say, I cannot bear that.” - the master

“You think you've broken me? You'll have to try harder than that. You've given me a gift. Of myself. You think that could destroy me? You think that makes me lesser? It makes me more. I contain multitudes more than I ever thought or knew. You want me to be scared of it because you're scared of everything. But I am so much more than you.” - the doctor

“You may have made me, but I have destroyed you. Become death. Become me.” - the master

if you read this whole thing, ty for taking the time to read this. i love you mwah <3

[askdragonagecompanions]

Can you please do one when the companions meet a blind mage inquisitor?

[personal headcanon im going to be using so I hope you don’t mind: but the mage inquisitor doesn’t wear shoes, just the foot wrappings we see the dalish, solas, and fenris use because they learned how to adapt a minor spell so that when they tap their staff to the ground the can kind of identify the layout of where they are and how many people are there. Kinda like Toph from Atla]

Dorian: At first he didn’t even realize that the Inquisitor was blind. Granted they met in the heat of battle. Even then he didn’t even know until the fight was over and he went to properly introduce himself. The Inquisitor was quite adept and never hit a friend, or him thank the maker. When he realized the Inquisitor was blind it was because their eyes were quite pale and out of focus. He felt a little foolish for not having realized it sooner, he wouldn’t have held out his hand to greet them. Honestly he’s fascinated by it. They’ve managed to adapt a simple spell one learns at an early age to work similarly to a bats echolocation. They can’t see but the vibrations and feedback alerts them to structures and people as well as enemies. It’s exciting and he can’t help but ask his questions on how they learned to do it and how it works. His mind has a million questions, and he’s quite grateful that the Inquisitor doesn’t seem to mind too much. Dorian knows sometimes his constant questions can be a bit much. As their friendship grows Dorian works with the Inquisitor to try and maximize the spell. Their battles keep getting bigger and more intense and he worries for his friend, not that they’re not capable, he just wants to make the feedback process faster so that they can have more time to react. He isn’t bothered by the fact that they’re blind. At first it’s more of a fascination on how they’ve adapted and it turns into respect and a want to help improve on that method.

Solas: Like Dorian he’s quite impressed with the Inquisitor’s ability to adapt a spell to work for their advantage. He wonders how draining it must be to their mana. Solas holds his questions at first. He watches the Inquisitor in battle and stays near to them just in case. After all they are in this situation because of him and they need to survive to close the breach. It’s amazing to watch them in battle. They wait until they have the precise location of their enemy and let off a barrage of spells and then wait again. He knows its because they need to make sure that the target has not moved too far, but he’s also seen that this technique alerts them to enemies he didn’t even know were lurking. Assassins hiding themselves. They rarely are able to get the jump on the Inquisitor. It isn’t really until Skyhold that he asks the Inquisitor how they learned to adapt the spell, he notes how the way they bed the fade to their advantage is quite unique. They get into many conversations on how since the Inquisitor can’t really see they rely more on their senses, hearing, touch, sometimes smell. They had to learn how to cast a little different from others, they can feel the magic and focus on that feeling and willing it into a certain shape or when they use their one spell as they tap their staff against the ground (a motion barely noticeable unless you were watching for it) they imagine it as sending out ripples and get a sort of image in their mind. It’s hard to describe. Nonetheless Solas is quite impressed. 

Vivienne: Vivienne does quite a bit of research before inviting the Inquisitor over. The “Herald of Andraste” is quite a big title and she wants to see how they live up to it. The only thing that surprises Vivienne is their style of footwear but then it clicks. If one is going to use the vibrations to map out where everything is you can’t really have thick soles blocking out the vibrations. Ah well they’ll just have to compensate on the rest of the outfit to make sure no one glances down. Clearly the Inquisitor is quite capable on their own. The way she helps the Inquisitor is on their outfits to wear around Skyhold. She learns that they like soft fabrics and materials, ones that aren’t scratchy or heavy to wear when not on the battlefield. She makes sure that not only is the Inquisitor comfortable with what they wear but that they look stunning as well. With their permission she helps them decorate Skyhold as well. Sometimes Dorian joins in and while he can be pompous he does have a great fashion sense. She also works with the Inquisitor trying to learn how they do it so that it can be used for other mages who are blind which the Inquisitor seems thrilled about. The Inquisitor is an inspiration to many, not just mages, or those fighting against Corypheus’s madness, but to the disabled people of Thedas as well. It is no secret that the Inquisitor is blind. Vivienne just makes sure they look amazing when they’re in public. She also makes sure to help coach them on how to approach the nobility and not let them get under the Inquisitor’s skin. 

Varric: He’s one of the few that had the pleasure of meeting them on the battlefield. If it were a novel it was a great plot twist to learn that the mage who just jumped down and started blasting demons left and right was actually blind. He makes a mental note of that on the off chance he actually does survive and writes a book about this whole thing. He saw them in battle and know they can take care of themself pretty fucking well. What he decides to help them with is make sure they’re not trying to put on a brave face and internally freaking out. They need someone to talk to, someone to let them know its okay to freak out. This shit’s crazy. As they get closer Varric sends word to his publishers that they should start selling some print in braille. Sure Josie does a good job of getting as many spell tomes written in braille as she can, but it has got to be so boring just reading about that all the time. As soon as he gets one of his back, The Tale of the Champion no less, he slides it over to the Inquisitor. He also works on getting a deck of Wicked Grace cards made with braille.

Sera: Okay so she’s the first to admit her first reaction with the Inquisitor wasn’t the coolest or whatever but she was excited. They fought so good, and yeah they were a mage which was a little scary, but they were only going for the shitheads so that was nice. It wasn’t until the bad guys were gone that she realized the Inquisitor was blind. She couldn’t help but ask how the Inquisitor knew how to hit all those people and be so good at it. She probably should have worded the question better or something… but the Inquisitor didn’t take it badly so that was good. The Inquisitor does try to explain it and she gets the gist of it. They use a spell it sends out vibrations like when you stomp your foot real hard, and then uses those to get like a map. Its a little confusing and she doesn’t really understand the magic part of it but she’s also really excited. It’s so bad ass especially when the shits they fight realize they just got their ass handed to them by someone who’s blind (someone who’s amazingly talented and cool and blind) but still usually their enemies don’t care to learn how cool the Inquisitor is. Sera waits until they’re closer to ask just how much their magic map thingy lets them see, but then rectifies that by asking if they can still do pranks. It makes the Inquisitor laugh and Sera takes it as a good sign. Sera makes sure to describe everyone’s faces when they get pranked to the Inquisitor so they can enjoy it just as much as she does. So the Inquisitor might be a mage, but they’re the coolest mage Sera knows. Definitely less creepy than Dorian bringing undead into battle eugh. (unless the Inquisitor picks the necromancy specialization then Sera groans because “And I thought you were the cool one. You’re still cool I guess just creepy now.” )

Cole: It does not bother him that they cannot see. What he does to help comfort them is different, he focuses mainly on scents and sounds that bring them peace of happiness. The Inquisitor does much for others and sometimes forgets about themself. He notices there are days where the Inquisitor wonders if they are a burden to those around them, and on those days he brings him to his favorite spot. It’s a small glen, most call it quiet but they’re not listening. The wind makes the leaves rustle. The bees flying around fill the air with a soft hum. It smells of lavender, and on a very good day the sun shines through and warms it all up. Sometimes he can even coax a few nugs to cuddle with them. He waits until the Inquisitor’s mind is less clouded before telling them, “You are not a burden Inquisitor. You inspire, you fight, and you protect. You are a hero to the people and amazing to your friends. Do not doubt yourself. You are loved.” They have a bright soul, only made brighter by the anchor. Their magic is different than the other mages in Skyhold. It isn’t sharp or electric like Solas or Vivienne’s, and it doesn’t tear at spirits like Dorian’s. Their magic is fluid, easily shaped and easily sent out like waves only to rush back with information for the Inquisitor’s mind on where everything is. 

Iron Bull: Bull never planned for his first meeting with the Inquisitor to happen in the middle of a fight, but apparently the assholes that attacked the Chargers and him didn’t get the fucking memo. What he does notice right away is that even for a mage they fight differently. They’re like a spider weaving their web. As soon as someone even starts to approach them the set off a barrage of spells and take em down, then they way again, waiting for the next person to get close to them or even one of their allies. They don’t seem to dodge the arrows flying straight towards them even if they were someone obvious to see. He has his suspicions and they only get confirmed when they properly meet. He’s up front with them, he’s Ben Hasrath and will be sending reports back to the Qun, but he and the Chargers are also good in a fight and more than willing to help. He waits until they’re closer to ask his big question, do they think someone without magic could adapt something similar to that trick of theirs. He waits until they’re closer because one he wants to make sure its okay to ask about it, and two he wants to make sure he can trust them. The reason Bull asks is because he wants to have a fall back plan if he ever ends up losin his other eye. He’s not the type to just stop fighting, and if the Inquisitor can keep fighting so can he. The Inquisitor thinks for a while but then gets really excited and tries to think of a way to adapt the spell into a physical action or item that could be used by those who do not possess magic. Bull’s more than happy to act as their guinea pig cause there’s no real magic at play and he’s the one who asked about it in the first place. They don’t get it nailed down perfectly, but they’ve started. It’s gonna take a while to learn, but Bull’s determined and stubborn as hell so he’ll get the hang of it one day. It also helps him get a better understanding of the Inquisitor and honestly he’s really impressed with them. It’s easy to just sit back and accept what people tell you, that you’ll never be able to fight being blind, and yes there’s a lot more challenges but damn. The Inquisitor didn’t give up and they’re great in battle, just not so much against weapons that aren’t connected to someone like an arrow. Bull always tries to take the archers down first so that the Inquisitor doesn’t become a pin cushion.

Blackwall: Blackwall has worked with plenty of soldier’s in his time, seen many go blind, lose limbs, so he knows better than to ask the Inquisitor about their sight. He figures they’re a mage, they’re great in battle that’s all he needs to know about the subject right now. The more he fights with them the more he notice they seem pretty vulnerable to archers, so he brings the subject up to them, being polite and apologizing if he’s crossed the line. The Inquisitor doesn’t seem to mind and explains how their “sight” for lack of a better term only works for those touching the ground. It makes more sense now. Blackwall thinks about it and suggests having a code word or sound when archers are present so that the Inquisitor can throw up a barrier spell to act as a shield so they don’t get turned into a pin cushion as often, which grants a chuckle from the Inquisitor. 

Cassandra: Okay so her fist meeting with the Inquisitor was not under the best circumstances. It didn’t matter if they were blind. They were still very much a suspect and her anger may have blinded her in realizing that they were blind. It wasn’t until she brought them out of the dungeons to see the breach that she realized it. Most who saw the breach the first time had a look of horror, the Inquisitor had just looked uncomfortable before mentioning that they couldn’t see. Didn’t mean they couldn’t feel it though. They described it as if the fade itself was bleeding into their world, which was an… odd way to put it if they couldn’t see (granted looking back it made total sense with the Inquisitor being a mage). She was prepared to protect her prisoner and that they wouldn’t be able to fight, much to her surprise she was wrong. She told them to put down the staff before realizing if they could fight it would be better for them to have it. There were going to be many demons before they got back to the forward camp. She made a mental note not to underestimate the Inquisitor again. They were strong. As they grew closer she apologized for her behavior. She thought they had killed the Divine and there seemed to be no other suspect. As they get closer she actually trains with the Inquisitor especially since they are fighting against red templars. If any of them keep the ability to dispel magic the Inquisitor will need to be prepared for such things. Cassandra doesn’t go easy on them in training either. The Inquisitor is quite capable in battle. Through their practices the Inquisitor learns how to sense in a way the sudden dark spot that’s growing as someone dispels the magic and avoid it. Cassandra’s impressed to say the least.