#anyways as i was saying... i need this lore

[rokonrrc2]

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post-graduation trip airport looks

[sammakesart]

Castles in the Fade, or What Was the Point of the Veil Anyway

Something that will now haunt me until the end of time is why was the concept of the Veil ever introduced into this series.

We’ve been hearing about it since the very first game. There’s a codex entry about tears in the Veil in Origins. Tamlen mentions a thin spot in the Veil if you play a Dalish elf. Sandal has a prophecy in Dragon Age 2: “One day the magic will come back—all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.” Admittedly, this is just one line said by a character who often says odd things, but it hinted to the fact they were planning to do something with the Veil from the very beginning. The state of the Veil is repeatedly brought up. It all had to mean something! Or so I thought. 

When I saw “The Dread Wolf Rises” quest in Veilguard, I said, “Oh, here we go!” The Veil is coming down, magic is coming back, and it’s going to set up such an interesting story for the next game. 

Alas, no. 

I hadn’t really enjoyed my time playing Veilguard up until this point. It felt like the game was ducking and dodging every bit of world building and lore that could possibly bring nuance or complexity to the story. Every returning character or faction was a cardboard cutout of themself. They shoved Solas is a time-out box and gave him nothing to do. They refused to let him have any impact or influence on the story when he had been set up to be our main antagonist back in Trespasser. This game used to be called Dreadwolf! And while we learn about his past… we never talk to him about it. In the present, he’s in stasis.

Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are our villains. And they are your typical evil for evil’s sake villains. They are mad, bad, and only as dangerous as the narrative will allow as to not give Rook and co too much trouble. They are surprisingly patient while Rook fixes all their companions’ problems… until Elgar’nan moves the moon to cause an eclipse. A vital component in making his own lyrium dagger. For some reason. This guy can move a satellite!? And he just let Rook walk away in previous encounters… twice. Ok. Sure.

The Evil Duo need their own dagger ostensibly to tear down the Veil, because they want to unleash the full force of the Blight onto the world. Because they are evil. And they were thwarted last time they tried to Blight the entire world. Why do they think Blighting the world is a good idea? What’s the point of ruling a world if everyone is dead? I guess they haven’t thought that through, because of the madness and the evilness.

Ok, I thought. Perhaps the gods will be the one to tear down the Veil. Or maybe we’ll have a choice to let Solas do it his way before they can, which will be less chaotic and less full of Blight. Because the Veil has to be coming down one way or another? Why introduce the concept of the Veil, especially a Veil that has been thinning and failing since the series began, if it’s just going to… stay.

There is a principle in storytelling called Chekov’s gun. If something is mentioned in a story, it must have a purpose. If you keeping mentioning that gun hanging on the wall over the fireplace, it’s because at some point in the story, someone is going to take it down and use it. The Veil felt like Chekov’s gun to me. Chekov’s Veil, if you will. It’s been here from the beginning of our tale, the spectre hanging over our protagonists’ heads for multiple games.

The Veil has been a character unto itself. It was the central focus of the third game, and its dissolution was set up to be the core conflict of the fourth game. We learn everything we thought we knew about the Veil was a lie. It was not created by the Maker to separate the Fade from this world because of jealous spirits, it was created by a guy named Solas to trap the elven gods and the Blight from destroying the world. Also, the elven gods were never gods, and they are also evil.

This reveal will surely throw the Andrastian religion into chaos! This puts the very existence of the Maker into question! The Evanuris are a lie; it’s only fair Catholicism—oh, I mean—the Chantry is a lie too. We briefly touch on that in Veilguard… then it is quietly discarded. Religious crisis averted.

But I digress.

When the title of the fourth game was changed from Dreadwolf to Veilguard, I started to see the writing on the wall. Still, I held out hope the Veil would have some greater purpose in the story. That its introduction as a concept was for a reason. That something in this world would change.

Instead, from the get-go, the question of the Veil is no question at all. We only get Solas and Varric making oblique or catastrophizing statements about it. Solas says little beyond he has a plan. If I ever wanted to hear a villain monologue about their plan, it was now! Varric, on the other hand, decries Solas’s plan. He warns that should the Veil fall, it will destroy the world and drown it in demons. And that’s that.

We never really learn why Solas wants to tear the Veil down, or why he thinks it will help anyone. “The Veil is a wound inflicted upon this world. It must be healed,” he says. And that’s basically all he says about it in Veilguard. In Inquisition and Trespasser, we learn it took the immortality from the elves. It cut most of magic off from the world. Spirits are trapped and are being corrupted into demons, and most of what we know about spirits and demons is wrong. There are ancient elves possibly asleep? That part is left vague, but ancient elves are still about. We meet some in Mythal’s temple. There seems to have been some merit in bringing it down, because elves were flocking to Solas’s cause at the end of Trespasser. He had agents working for him already. What do they know that we don’t know?

Apparently nothing, because by the time Veilguard rolls around, there are no mention of agents. He is working alone. His only motivation now seems to be he’s too deep in his sunk-cost fallacy. The Veil is unnatural, so it must be removed—consequences be damned. We are never given any reason to think Solas has a leg to stand on in his pursuit of tearing down the Veil. We never hear any kind of counter argument from anyone, not even Solas, as to why the Veil should come down. We are only told it will destroy the world. It will drown the world in demons. This is all Solas’s fault.

There is no nuance. No complexity. No moral quandary to mull over. The game gives us vague warnings with no explanation as to what exactly is so world-annihilating about the Veil coming down. We must take Varric’s word at face value. We’re the heroes; Solas is the villain. Stop him.

It makes me wonder why Solas was ever a companion in Inquisition, let alone a romance option. Solas was presented to us as a complicated character in Inquisition. We had the potential throughout the game to make him see the value of this world, to help him realize he was wrong about it. “We aren’t even people to you,” the Inquisitor says in Trespasser. Solas replies, “Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong...again.” He began the third game viewing the world as tranquil, seeing the people in it as nothing more than figments in a nightmare, just as we saw our companions in the In Hushed Whispers quest. He ends the game having made friends, having recognized he was mistaken. He might have even fallen in love. (Or he may still seen no merit in this world if the Inquisitor antagonized him the entirety of their time together.) But something makes him continue with his plan to tear down the Veil, despite recognizing this world is real. He must know something we don’t. Something we’ll learn about in the next game.

We’ve been hearing about the Veil for three games now. We’ve set up our complex antivillain for the next installment, and he’s going to tear the Veil down. We swear to stop him or save him. But it has to be more complex than that. It can’t be so straightforward. Uncomplicated. Simple. Boring. Right? Right?

Nope. He really is just the villain, mustache-twirling and all. He apparently had no greater motivation, no as of yet unrevealed knowledge that would put this whole Veil thing into a new context. It was really as simple as the Veil falling will destroy the world, so Solas must be stopped. There is no new information that is revealed which makes us question what we are doing. Solas is never given any nuance or complexity to his actions. Nuance and complexity have actively been taken away. Both him and the Veil are looking like they are the worst things to be in a story: pointless. Why introduce the Veil if it’s just going to remain unchanged? Why introduce a character like Solas, bother humanizing him (for lack of a better term), giving us his backstory, setting him up as a cunning antagonist, only to make him look stupid, then put him on a shelf until the last ten minutes of your game?

Solas was the trickster archetype of this tale. He was our version of Loki from Norse mythology. What is the role of the trickster archetype? To challenge the status quo. To bring about events of extreme change, like say, the tearing down of a Veil that holds back all of magic. Loki is a huge contributing factor in Ragnarök. Through his manipulation, he causes the death of the beloved god, Baldr. This ushers in a long winter, which signifies the beginning of the end. Loki is imprisoned for this crime. When the final battle between gods and giants begins, the sun and moon are swallowed, plunging the earth into darkness. The earth shakes and Loki is freed to fight on the side of the giants. The world burns in raw chaos, falls beneath the sea, and is reborn. The world is remade, and a new realm of the gods and a new, better earth is formed.

It really felt like this was the setup they were going for. Solas causes the death of Mythal, and this is his catalyst for creating the Veil, which ushers in a world without magic. This could be seen as equivalent to the long winter. Solas falls asleep, trapped in dreams. He wakes and sets in motion bringing about the apocalypse. It’s not a perfect one to one, but it’s there if you squint. We have a war against the gods in Veilguard. I was expecting a few remaining Titans to wake and join the fight. But we don’t get any of that. There is a final battle, but it does not end in the end of the world. Or a better world. It just ends, and everything is the same.

It seems our trickster god caused his apocalypse thousands of years before our story started, when he created the Veil. His role in this tale was over before ours began, and he really is just some relic from a long-past age. He has no role, no purpose in this story. He is here to be thwarted. He is no Loki at all.

If you can’t tell, I wanted the Veil to come down. Did I think the Veil coming down would be painless? Have no negative consequences? No. Of course not. But keeping it up has negative consequences too. And it made for an interesting story. Or at least it could have. But we never explore that. The game presents no counter argument to having the Veil stay up, which, again, begs the question: what was the point of introducing the concept of the Veil at all?

Did I think the Veil coming down was actually the best solution to help Thedas become a better place? I don’t know, and I never will, because the game never argues for it one way or another. It just tells you to want it in place and to stop asking questions. In real life, a catastrophic event is not the best way to solve any of the world’s problems. But this is the realm of fiction. We have gods and monsters, magic and myth. We have introduced the status quo of Thedas, recognized it needs to change, then our trickster god appears ready to fulfill his role in the narrative. 

Instead, it all comes to nothing.

I got to the end of Veilguard… and everything was more or less the same as it was at the start of Origins. Veilguard actually tries its hardest to pretend any previously mentioned problems don’t exist, so of course the Veil coming down has no merit. There are no problems to solve in this world, apparently. Solas is just stuck in the past and can’t get with the times. Silly Solas.

The Veil isn’t even a permanent solution. It wasn’t to begin with. It was some duct tape wrapped around a broken pipe, and we’ve just slapped an extra piece of tape on it. It’s still leaking. It is still unnatural, and will fall eventually one way or another. Large amounts of bloodshed weaken it, so I guess Thedas better achieve world peace real quick to avoid any battles. There were seven super-powered mages holding it together… now there is just one. Ironically, the Veil was going to fall after two more Blights anyway. The Wardens were doing Solas’s work for him! It would also have released the full force of the Blight at that time… which Solas was trying to avoid, I presume.

It feels like keeping the Veil up just pushed a big problem onto Thedas’ future generations. We’ll keep slapping bandaids on it until it all falls apart. Someone else can deal with the fallout, but we’ll be dead by then, so who cares.

Primarily, I wanted the Veil to come down from a storytelling perspective. The Veil was an interesting concept and I wanted the story to do something interesting with it. Conflict is what makes stories stories and the Veil coming down could create so much compelling and complex conflict. And the Fade is weird, and I like weird. Stories are also about change, and I wanted to see Thedas change. Yet, Veilguard is over, and barely anything has changed. Instead of magic coming back being a conflict for the next game, they went with Fantasy Illuminati. Oh.

The Veil turned out to be a nothing-burger, and no problems in this world are even close to being solved. Slavery is still rampant in Tevinter. The elven people are still oppressed everywhere. Mages have no more rights in the South than they did in Origins. Spirits are still trapped and being corrupted. The Calling still exists, though might be different somehow now? They don’t really get into that. The Chantry’s validity is still not allowed to be questioned. The Blight still exists in some form, but again it’s vague. Oh, and we learn the dwarves have been gravely wronged, and the Titans are still tranquil. At least if you redeem Solas and a romanced Lavellan joins him, they can work together on healing the Blight and helping the Titans. Oh, good. One problem is being acknowledged and some action will be taken. Offscreen. Hurray? Solas doesn’t have a really great track record of fixing problems, so Lavellan is definitely going to need to be there to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.

For some reason, this game seemed terrified of letting us think about anything for more than two seconds. It shied away from complexity or nuance at every turn. The game is called The Veilguard—ironically, that word is never uttered in the game—but we are given no real motive for guarding the Veil. We’re unquestionably the hero. The villains are uncomplicatedly evil. Save the world… never wonder what you are doing or why.

I wanted the game to make me question if the Veil staying up or coming down was the right choice. I needed to be given a real counter argument. Convince me the alternative would actually be better or worse, because as I mentioned… things suck quite a bit in Thedas already for a lot of people right now. Let the Veil’s fate be a difficult choice to make. If the conflict cannot be what to do about the Veil, it should be am I doing the right thing about the Veil. If the heart of your game is so thin on motive, everything else falls apart around it.

I hoped they were setting up a complex, Thedas-sized existential conflict for this game in Trespasser, but no. I wanted something to happen, but nothing did. 

I want to feel challenged and changed by a story, not left feeling empty. I’m tired of superficial entertainment. I want to sink my teeth into a narrative that doesn’t paint the world in broad strokes of black and white, good and evil, heroes and villains.

Ultimately, I think my issue is why even introduce a concept like The Veil if you’re not going to do anything interesting with it. Or anything at all. What I thought was Chekov’s Veil turned out to just be a MacGuffin. And that’s disappointing.

[aniisol]

gonna start crying from the implications of the lore stream and Martyn Inthelittlewood saying Martren was a form of torture. like

Ren genuinely wants to be kind. even when the "DNA abomination was taking over his brain" he was fighting it, rambling to himself that he couldn't hurt anyone. I made a post about this before, but Ren doesn't want to kill people or keep secrets. he only does when he has to, like someone he loves' life is in danger. usually that's Martyn, and for Martyn, usually that's Ren. take all of it how you like, but they're attached to each other, and love each other, and that's the only emotion the Watchers can't stand.

the Watchers forcibly separated the characters who were attached to one another with Double life (disregarding Grian and Scar, since Grian is a Watcher and allowed to manipulate the game as such). however, Ren found Martyn anyway, so, at the end of Double life, they took Ren away. this is where we see Martyn "become more selfish, a more self-absorbed character, willing to do what it took to win." the Watchers took away his moral anchor, the man who wanted to be kind.

after the two games that we see (there could've been more) Ren is back in Wild life, and he and Martyn head straight for one another. this is what the Watchers DIDN'T want, and after Martyn died, it was the Watchers who created "the DNA abomination." Martyn called it a kind of "gentle torture," both as a way to get back at Ren AND to see how "hosts" could affect the game, the intensified emotional output by multiple players in a single body. and since Martyn was "someone Ren held dear, someone he loved" it probably had a heightened effect. (please send help)

the Watchers proved that Martyn was willing to kill in Limited life, so would splitting him with Ren finally overcome Ren's desire to "be good?" are they torturing Ren with pain and confusion, or is it just the fact that he became what he became? I used to think Martren was his fault, a way to keep Martyn alive and in the game, but it wasn't his choice at all. Martyn Inthelittlewood we need to have a talk

[phillygrilly]

Alright.. listen up twinks I may start posting stuff about me and my friends roleplay show server thingy.. cuz.. I NEED. TO POST ABOUT IT ANS IF NOT I MAY CRASH OUT. if anyone wants to know the full lore in not very good detail add me on discord “phillygrilly” or I’ll just explain in the comments thingy.. ANYWAYS HERES GAY PEOPLE. ARES (this guys retired..) AND ALECTRYON (..he’s rooster..) credits borb and jesse for ares and ALECTRYOn designs..

I know no one gonna read what I’m saying cuz IT LOOKS A MESS HELP ME

And now I’m gonna show polites cuz why not

Okay bye

[seas1mping]

Jackmas Day 22/23: REDESIGN!!!!

My redesign is done, this time in COLOR!! or at least digital instead of pencil. BUT YAY!!!! I love LJ so much I love my redesign she's so cute I love her anyway yap in the read more <<3333

EDIT: I put a little red silhouette behind her so you could see her hair better cause the image is transparent <333

tw: child death (1 year old),

cw: oc x canon, implied canon x canon, fankids, angsty themes (see above tw)

in her last one it was mostly about her backstory and stuff but i want to explain some of the design choices here too as well as some minor beginnings of polycule lore (mostly just her and reena)

If you have eyes, you'll see that she has hearts broken and unbroken all over her. LJ was born to take care of Isaac, and when he went to boarding school and abandoned her, she finally experienced all of those negative emotions that he did. When she killed him, she was left with all of them, and she became heartbroken, because she was made for love and to be loved.

Candy Pop comes along, and LJ feels like they've been reborn. The love feelings they thrive on come back in full swing, and they have hope that this feeling will last forever and they can finally move on from Isaac. It doesn't.

Candy gets nervous, scared to be in one place after the Night Terrors assimilation, and leaves. LJ doesn't want to leave, they're content where their house is, and they don't see why he's trying to uproot everything just because he's being a baby.

Candy Pop leaves LJ a couple days later, and their only correspondence is a few text messages here and there for years. LJ falls back into that pit that she was sure she wouldn't ever go back to.

When Reena comes through, struggling with her newfound visual impairment and her baby, they begin to become friends, and this makes LJ feel nauseous. Reena could try to leave her all alone again, especially after getting on her good side and being understanding about her aversion to Nari.

LJ tells Reena she can have the house to raise Nari and anybody else who she wants, and says that Reena doesn't have to worry about LJ anymore, that she's leaving first so Reena can't leave them.

The surprising note, Reena immediately freaks out, asking LJ what she did wrong because she can't leave her too. She'll give her anything. Please don't abandon her too. And LJ realizes how stupid they were, just because it happened more than once doesn't mean its a cycle.

LJ betters herself from then on, helping to take care of Nari, mourning Nari after her death, sitting with Reena while she grieves, making Nari's new doll body so Reena can have her daughter back.

what

Nari is next in line for CREATION, and its gone so long without a proper host that waiting for the next generation isn't an option. Meaning that if Nari dies, so does it. LJ, being CREATION's personal (and favorite) assistant, is tasked with creating a vessel for Nari's soul to stay in until she grows up to be merged into the entity. (froggy reference??? /j)

So LJ works tirelessly to create the best possible doll that captures everything about Nari, even pushing little pins in to resemble her horn bumps, or adding boning to the lower to make her digitigrade legs.

When she's all finished, and Nari is infused in the doll, LJ leaves her in a drawer because she's technically not alive yet, the soul needs to attach to the body (PLEASE DO NOT REALLY DO THAT TO BABIES)

They kind of. forget. about Nari. whoops.

It isn't until LJ comes home from a meeting with CREATION that she sees Reena holding a real baby and looking up at them. Neither of them say anything, LJ can tell Reena knows, and Reena can't believe she's holding her daughter again.

Reena sets her baby down on the bed (surrounding her with pillows so she can't get hurt by some invisible force (or roll off)) and goes over to LJ.

LJ and Reena's first kiss is a memory they both look back on with fondness, salty from Reena's tears, and suspiciously candy scented from LJ (they just naturally smell like that)

Reena squeezes LJ so hard, they're sure if they were human something would be dislocated, and they stay like that until Nari makes a loud noise because it's hard work connecting to a vessel!! She's hungry!!!

sighs i love my goobers....... sighs,...........

[vesanal]

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊The 22nd Day of Writemas₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

NO WAY. YALLLLLL. The end is near :(. Now I have to work on my character intros and lore drops. Nooooooo. I’m too lazyyyyy. Oh welll, it’s time to enjoy the last 2 days of writemas!! Today I’ll be using these prompts! If you need to look over at the rules again or want to see what the challenge is all about check out the invite post here! 

Prompts used:

(Used all of the dialogues, they were just so fitting!!)

Dialogue: “You would leave me in the cold?" + "It's a time for celebration, wipe that frown from your face." + "How could I be cold when I have you?"

More Melina! I think she is pretty cool and the prompts just really, really, reallllyyyy, fit her today. SO, we are taking a blast back to her past again(for like the 3rd time jeez, but I swear I cannot write for her in present day since she kinda deleted her entire personality and goals and became just a lackey to her Queensman, because she wanted to reset her life over so she doesn’t talk a lottt which is kinda lame to read from her POV) to when she became mayor of Elares! She definitely won through fair and non-corrupt means! I mean, it was basically her birthright! Haha, uh, anyway don’t think about that too hard ;). Oh no I’ve said too much.

Read about the WIP here!!

Enjoy the slimeball tehe >:)

------------------------------

The ballroom echoed with joy. Laughter and happiness filled the air as much as heat waves from the above heaters did. A celebration was held in the middle of the Harrier estate. All for Melina and her triumphant victory. Watch out, there was a new sheriff in town, and she knew how to run things smoothly, as in, for her own glory.

She held her win as a badge of honor, boasting about it to every person that came up to her. In the banquet hall, Melina and another girl stood together with interlocked arms in fancy dresses. Though only one of the girls seemed to enjoy the glamourous new title of ‘Mayor of Elares’.

Looking down her shoulder to her girlfriend, Astraea, Melina could see that something was bothering her. She knew that it meant something was wrong. The poor girl puts up with so much. Why was it now that she was hesitant? Melina caught odd looks coming their way as Astraea’s expression saddened further. They had other things to focus on, this would just bring attention away from her victory.

"It's a time for celebration, wipe that frown from your face, dear." Melina smiled with smug eyes staring right into her soul, grabbing onto the back of her arm. Now wasn’t the time for feeling sad, Melina had to look the best she ever could be. 

“Mel, you have been ignoring me all night. How can I not be sad? You are dragging me around like a decoration to your accomplishments, as if I had nothing to do with it! Does none of my hard work and support mean nothing to your cold heart?” Astraea whispered sharply in Melina’s ear, trying to keep her anguished facial expression to a minimum.

Melina smirked wider, "How could I be cold when I have you?”

“Please, Mel, stop being so rude to me. Why are you all of the sudden changing up on me? What’s going on with you?” Astraea pleaded with her partner.

Melina rolled her eyes. Excusing herself from the party temporarily, she walked her girlfriend, hand in hand, out of the estate.

Arriving just outside the doors, Astraea spoke with a stern voice, yet still trying to keep quiet, “What did you want to say, would you like to apologize for the way you acted?” 

“Yeah. No. Sorry, doll, but it looks like we’ve run our course. It’s time for you to go.” Melina said with simplicity, pulling her hand out of her newly made ex’s, “It wasn’t going to work anyway, I’m just climbing the ladder of life while you are doing, whatever you are doing.”

“I’m working on my herbalism fascination. An education like that has got to mean something to someone like you!”

“Yes, sure. Whatever you say.” Melina replied callously.

“So, you would leave me in the cold?" Astraea said, her nectarine voice softly wavering, “I have done nothing to you. Please reconsider!”

Astraea took a step back from her. Melina’s face turned sour with bitterness. Her words became venom in an instant.

”Neither have you done anything for me. It’s not hard to understand why I have to let you go. I’m trying to leave my options open for someone worth the horrible effort that a relationship takes. Relationships, if not controlled and manipulated, can really drag you down in the world. That’s not something I really want in my life right now. I have better prospects to get to, along with more people to meet. Really, you are just in the way.” Melina’s smile faltered a bit to give another condescending addition to her statement, “If it makes you feel better, I never loved you. You didn’t lose someone who cared about you.”

Melina left the girl to wail in sorrow to get back inside, it was her party after all, she had to be there. Impressing people was her responsibility, and, coincidentally, her favorite activity.

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(PLEASE tell me if you wanna get added to a tag list here because I genuinely don't know who to tag lol. I'll edit this and add you in!! <3 )

TAGLIST SO FAR: @sunflowerrosy @seastarblue

@thebookishkiwi @viridis-icithus @corinneglass

Our wonderful host <3 → @agirlandherquill Have a lovely day everyone!!

[ideas-on-paper]

Wow, thank you both for all that info! It certainly made me learn a lot about the Asari.

I suppose it's difficult to imagine what exactly I want to do without knowing the full context, so I'm going to give you a brief outline of my story concept and Aethyta's (potential) role in it:

My fic is going to take before and during the Morning War/Geth-Quarian War, and while most of the plot is going to be centered around my own Quarian and Geth OCs, there's a side character I dubbed "the Asari inspector" for the time being who is going to have a brief, but rather significant cameo.

Officially, she's sent to Rannoch on a "diplomatic visit", but the actual purpose is an investigation into the suspicions of illegal AI research the Citadel Council has against the Quarian government. (Which is going to be a pretty major plot point in the story.)

The reason they have to do it in this sort of "official way" is because the Quarians have very strict controls of who enters their territories. (This headcanon is sort of derived from my observation that the Quarians - like the Geth - are quite isolationist, but I like to believe that even before the Morning War, the Quarians were sort of secluded and doing their own thing in their corner of the galaxy.) You can still enter Rannoch as a foreigner, as we see with Erinya's bondmate (who, btw, is also going to have a cameo), but it's quite complicated and not too many people do it, which is why any non-Quarian on Rannoch will immediately stand out.

Now, the reason I've been considering Aethyta for the role is because she's one of the few characters confirmed to have seen unmasked Quarians. (And she would've had plenty opportunities for that if she visited Rannoch.) That being said, the concept is far from finalized - in fact, as I said, I've been considering whether Asari/Council authorities would even place her in that position, and I can totally see how her personality might not be the most suited for it. (Especially since the Asari inspector is going to have some interactions with an OC of mine who is the textbook example of a sycophant; needless to say, he'd drive Aethyta up the wall.)

However, I think you might actually given me a great idea how to solve this - currently, I'm at the point where I need to decide whether I want to create an OC for the role of the Asari inspector or cast Aethyta for it. However, given what @dr-jekyl said above, I could almost see myself doing both - maybe Aethyta accompanies an actual Asari diplomat as an assistant/bodyguard so she can gather intelligence?

Anyway, the whole story is still very much in development at this point - I created an info sheet I shared with my betas, since I wanted to gather some feedback from ME enthusiasts before moving ahead with it; actually, if you're interested, I can send you the link as well.

Also: Like I said, I'm extremely specialized in my knowledge of ME lore. I'm fairly confident in my knowledge about the Geth and Quarians, but I might have "blind spots" regarding the other species. However, since the Quarians' interactions with other races are also something I want to take into account, I really want to get this right, so please don't hold back with pointing out any lore-related issues! :-)

(The only thing that might be a problem is that I've only shared the link with my betas via DMs so far; @crapeaucrapeau if you're interested, maybe it would work if I sent it to you as an ask?)

The New Aethyta Lore from Mass Effect : The Official Cocktail Book (yes I'm doing that you can't stop me)

Immense thanks to @felassan for the work !

"And do take your Citadel recommendations with a grain of salt when you’re there (barring the guide currently in your hands, of course). Especially ones coming from the hotshot human Spectre making the rounds – that one will endorse anything for a discount."

PERSONAL HISTORY

"Nine hundred years (give or take)" ; in a previous post, @dr-jekyl noted that in ME3, Aethyta mentions having passed the 1000-year milestone. Note that Aethyta is trying to obfuscate by using the "Ambree T'Sia" persona.

"a variety of careers and aliases later" : very Aleena/Aria. Possibly also a form of misdirection.

"Yes, I’m a criminal. I’ve been a pirate and an insurgent, and my hands are far from clean."

"Before my commando days, I started running with a krogan merc group who were looking for a biotic. I didn’t have a lot of experience with krogan back then, and I admit they were an intimidating lot. Our first night together, the boys took me out drinking and I, wanting to seem just as tough as they were, did my best to keep up. Until they started ordering Krogan Burukh."

Presumably afterward, once she had more experience with krogan but before she joined the military : "I used to run with a Battlemaster in my early days whose wit was as dry and vast as an Asterian desert. We survived an Eclipse double-cross by the skin of our teeth, and when we got back to our dingy little hideout, he toasted our fortune with a Tuchanka Sunset. His own personal recipe. He claimed the bartenders at Afterlife know how to make it, if you ask. Now, I love a good sunset drink and as such was appalled to watch him dump black rum on top of an otherwise flawless concoction. Sensing my shock, with a wry half-smile he said, “Well, yeah, wouldn’t be a sunset on Tuchanka without a choking cloud of toxic ash to ruin the view now, would it?”" => Note that Eclipse was founded in the 2170s, which is far too late for Aethyta's "early days".

Probably during those krogan times, but possibly afterward (see below) : "I still remember the young krogan merc I renamed after a night of tossing back these nutty, bubbly little things together. It’s been a while, but I do sincerely hope Urp is doing well out there."

"a former asari huntress, I left the military bureaucracy to lead a small covert unit of ex-commandos focused on espionage and assassination outside of official channels. More effective and more fun that way." => So it appears Aethyta was a soldier, rose in rank, got bored at the command level, then became a black ops squad leader for asari military intelligence. Plausible deniability and all that.

"The more I relied on bars and nightclubs to gather intel, the more connections I made with the key players. Not just the ones in the back office, but the ones slinging drinks with closed mouths and open ears. I started posing as a bartender myself and got quite good at it. Enjoyed it, even."

Possibly after she left the military bureaucracy (but see above) : "I still remember the young krogan merc I renamed after a night of tossing back these nutty, bubbly little things together. It’s been a while, but I do sincerely hope Urp is doing well out there."

At some point between 2157 and 2186 : Aethyta "once led a raid on a CAT6 outpost that nabbed enough high-end military gear to outfit my crew for a long, long time"

At some point, James Vega hit on Aethyta, who tried to make himself attractive with "pull-up contests and cute little nicknames". It worked. They had a one-night stand. Since Huevos Rancheros à la Vega are explicitly referenced later on in the book, I choose to believe he made some for Aethyta the following morning. "I also picture him cracking the eggs with his biceps, but maybe that’s just me."

PERSONAL TRAITS

As an asari bartender, really believes that you're doing a subpar job if you're not using biotics : "For that authentic touch of frost, I recommend harnessing biotics to give your stick the right amount of swizzle." See also : "Be sure to shake [the Dark Star Vespertini] well – for the nonbiotics who need to do this task manually, I liken it to the amount of time until you start to worry your arm will fall off. If it feels like you’re giving the tumbler a quick ride in an M35 Mako, you’re doing it right."

"[Blue Thessia] is my favorite [mixer] for its taste and versatility"

"But as someone who tends to move around a lot due to my… profession (I’m a master of the Asari Goodbye)" : what's that reference ? The [Nationality] Goodbye ? Do you ghost people a lot, Aethyta ?

"I tend to lead a minimalist lifestyle." Her main expenses are "Guns and bribes".

"your girl is nothing if not quick to make a quick cred"

"[Blue Thessia] is my favorite [mixer] for its taste and versatility"

Aethyta thinks she has (and likes that she has) "taste and versatility". She can't stand nonsense/bullshit.

"As a former asari commando, I’ve certainly enjoyed my fair share of loud explosions, but I pride myself on having mastered the finer, more subtle arts of combat: espionage, assassination, and superior intel."

"I’m a Matriarch with a Maiden’s tastes: I like a pretty young thing on my arm, a warm Acolyte pistol, and a heaping bowl of human ice cream. Chocolate, if you’re taking notes."

Aethyta considers that krogan poetry is "thicker and sweeter than expected". She's not a fan ; it bores her. She considers Blue Rose of Illium to be a good (read : bad) example of the genre.

Serial dramas like Dynasty of Stars (apparently infamous for its plot holes) nauseate her.

However, "This one unironically loves the Blasto franchise. The acting, the writing, the backdrops? High camp, babe. A human essayist, Sontag, wrote, “You can’t camp about something you don’t take seriously. You’re not making fun of it; you’re making fun out of it.”  And what’s more fun than adding cream to grape Pucker? It creates a hanar in every shot. Try my favorite drinking game: gather your friends, fire up Blasto Saves Christmas, and throw back a Blasto Sting every time he says, “Enkindle THIS!" - Aethyta has a Blasto-themed drinking game.

"I simply love a flair for the dramatic: thieves leaving calling cards, villains monologuing, or devils bargaining. It elevates the stale and mundane, forcing you to reconsider traditional assumptions."

About asari : "Don’t underestimate young asari. Yes, there is a strong drive for at the Maiden stage to explore and experience. Curious and restless, some look for the nearest bar to dance in. But that’s no reason to let your guard down. Many don’t realize their mistake until they’re telekinetically slammed into the nearest concrete wall." ; "We asari tend to take biotics for granted."

About salarians : "excitable", "opportunists"

About humans : "I understand humans consider [four years] quite the span of time – how quaint." Aethyta finds "human Alliance officers to be particularly dull and single-minded. So new to space, with such a short lifespan, few know how to relax and have fun."

Laments "the rigidity of turians". Later on : "Turians may be imperialistic, inflexible, stringent, and bullheaded, but I appreciate that they rarely suffer nonsense."

About hanar : "Don’t let their eminent politeness fool you. Hanar know how to party"

About quarians : "There are two things quarians do better than anyone else: curse (say it with me: bosh’tet!) and get drunk."

Not fond of batarians : "Even batarian mothers raise their kids with better manners than that." ; "I… don’t know what “other” blue meat it’s referring to. I hope it’s not asari, but I wouldn’t put anything past the batarians."

A SELECTION OF AETHYTA-ISMS

"If you like your drinks stiffer than a turian’s carapace"

About uncut batarian ale : "It’s mean, it’s green, and it will leave your insides clean."

About Doran from Flux : "this little macaroon from Irune"

A joke : "An asari, quarian, and volus walk into a bar. The bartender asks, “What can I get you?” The quarian and volus motion to the asari, “Talk to her, we’re just here for the atmosphere.”"

"Not here to judge, if you need a list of extranet sites involving romantic relationships between organics and synthetics, I can recommend a few that’ll really spin your hard drive."

There's so much lore I'm probably going to have to make a post for it.

[exoscreamsoda]

i know next season is supposed to be lestat focused (and im currently having a breakdown imagining him as a rockstar) but i would give ANYTHING to see a glimpse of how louis and armand were living in the current age before they invited their couple therapist. theres no way they figured out how to use the internet to its full potential. did rashid come over one day to set up their wifi and then ended up their little henchman. are their man snacks found on craigslist or something. armand said he didnt want daniel there so i can only imagine louis was annoying him 24/7 while he was trying to read on his kindle in peace 💀 the way louis is so adamant about getting this book made makes me think he was watching tv and one of those reality shows that covers old musicians came on and he saw lestat and started tweaking because no way did he think about old man dan's book out of no where

[sideblogdotjpeg]

ive been thinking about the red string superstition recently and also sol bufo always and it makes me sick how uncannily caldwell tanner has made sol to perfectly target me personally

(+ cropped versions !)

[baeshijima]

u know what would be a cool genshin fic idea? isekai/transmigrated reader, but instead of appearing within the general timeline, you come into the genshin world 500 years prior to the start of the storyline in khaenri'ah.

honestly it could be either a little before the cataclysm, giving enough time to delve into some relationship building + explore some world building with characters like dainsleif, traveller's sibling (which would probably be lumine bc i actually do like her as abyss sibling & aether as traveller), and npcs like halfdan (still crying over him to this day ;w;) and possibly the khaenri'ahn royal guards (assuming you either join them or have a good enough relationship with them), OR it could be you appear during the crisis, completely and utterly lost as to why you were brought amidst the chaos and bloodshed as you watch everything you barely knew about this nation crumble before your very eyes.

either route will still result in reader's existential crises and constant "why am i here? just to suffer?" monologues because really, who would be fine after going through that after coming from /our/ world? and not to mention you've had to endure the next 500 years wandering with no real set path because you don't know this world— this era of teyvat or of genshin. you're merely stuck, unable to die, and forced to live a life of uncertainty with no clear direction for you to go to.

despite it all, you've at least been able to see dain during this course. while your meetings pass far too quickly for your lonesome, and his solemn demeanour is something you're yet to be accustomed to after having been with him before the fall of khaenri'ah (assuming it's the route where you appear before the cataclysm), you're glad to see a familiar face every now and then. after the messy departure with the lumine who left for the abyss order, you've come to appreciate his quiet presence more and more each time.

and then you decide it might be time to settle. you soon realise it's difficult to do so when your lifespan has become far more than that of a human's — of a mortal's — and so you find yourself becoming used to staying in one place for a few years before setting off for the next. rinse and repeat. over and over. it's come to a point where you've witnessed the nations undergo various changes each time you visit. you know change is inevitable, and yet your heart stings each time you witness it; a testament to how the world is ever-changing, yet you're stuck in place as a bystander.

one thing you're grateful for, however, are the bonds you've established amid your back-and-forth over the centuries. from archons like zhongli and venti to long-life beings such as neuvillette and the adepti to regular mortals who have showed you kindness as if one of their own... you've grown to cherish those memories, often reminiscing them when the nights get too long and surroundings too quiet. it was difficult at first, and still is, but you've become used to the inevitable change and the passing of those you once knew.

and after 500 years, you find yourself face-to-face with one you haven't seen since before you appeared in this world; the protagonist of this world, and the one you eventually join in hopes of finally finding a means to an end, aether.

little side notes/extras:

from /our/ world, you would probably know the storyline from up to around current (5.0) or maybe a little after the fontaine aq conclusion. it gives a lot to work with, but you definitely won't remember a lot of the lore after so long other than some main events, especially since most of your knowledge is pretty irrelevant for the next 500 years,,,

i think it would be cool if you had an inteyvat on your person as a little homage of khaenri'ah, which may or may not invoke some opinions from certain characters (*cough* aether immediately being reminded of lumine and having an existential crisis *cough*)

post-cataclysm you would go through a, uhm, long phase of helplessness, wondering why you were even brought to this world so far back if you couldn't even make any contributions. it does eventually morph into a resolution to do what you can to help those you come across if it's within your capabilities, but the nightmares and helplessness come back every now and then as a reminder for what you can't do :D yippee :D

honestly i'm on the fence whether you would have a vision or some other type of abilities (think on the similar lines of aether/lumine's and dain's), but i think having some type of purification mechanic would be a must in your arsenal !! would definitely lead to some moments between you and characters like dain or zhongli who suffer from the erosion as you give them a slight reprieve from what rages within and corrodes them

a little self indulgent, but i'd like to think your first /proper/ meeting with zhongli happens during a lantern rite festival, wherein you're admiring the lanterns in the sky after making a wish of your own and he comes up from behind with "they're beautiful, wouldn't you say so?" and !!

also as for love interests, as much as i would love for human/mortal characters, a part of me feels like this story would be better suited for the immortal/long-life characters as love interests?? idk i feel like considering that 500 years is, well, a long time, the bonds you would have with them compared to characters like, say, alhaitham or diluc would be way too different ?? though i would definitely still add them as love interest bc i am a sucker for so many of the human characters ;w; it would also add to the angst and hurt/comfort ahahha...

anyway thank you for reading this massive brain dump of a fic bc i absolutely would put this as a long term project, and if u made it this far then i would like to say that dain solos—

[arsenicflame]

It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.

At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return. 

It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzy’s face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.

Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug. 

“Israel-goddamn-Hands!” he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging “Samuel-fucking-Bellamy”, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he can’t keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.

(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)

By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still there’s an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mate’s aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.

When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.

Knowing that something’s different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal he’s been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. “Israel, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safe”

And Izzy… hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam “...We’re staying in port for a week. Ask me again then”

That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.

[airenyah]

i need to talk about this line here for a second, because it's an attack on me personally. but not the english translation of it, no, it's the og thai line that really gets to me. because he says:

มันโอเค​นะเว้ย ที่จะมีความรักอ่ะ [man - oh-keh - ná wóiie • thêe - jà - mee kwaam rák - àh] it - okay - [particle] • that - will - be in love - [particle]

he specifically uses the term มีความรัก which is more like "to be in love". which means rather than "it's okay to love", this line is more accurately translated as:

It's okay to be in love.

and as someone who really really really struggles with self-acceptance for my own romantic feelings for others, this distinction is really important to me. i can deal with loving others. i love my family. i love my best friend (you really don't go here but hiiii @magsimags i love youuuu 😘 (i know you're rolling your eyes reading this as usual)(i don't care)(i love you)). i love my other close friend. i love my summer camp gang. i love my friend that style reminds me of. i love each and every single one of the friends i've made in this fandom over the past few years (you know who you are 💖). i KNOW it's okay to love. i do it all the time. loudly. as evidenced by the fact that i just HAD to tag my best friend in this post to publically tell her i love her even though she really doesn't care about my thai blorbos, just because i really couldn't NOT tag her to tell her i love her. anyway. i can love. loving is fine.

but to be in love??? that's a whole different story. having (in my case romantic) feelings for someone feels like a heavy burden. it feels humiliating. i hate it. i don't want it. it stresses me out. and the person i have feelings for especially can't ever know about it. see, i will talk about my crushes/romantic feelings, but mostly to family and friends (the better they know the person i have feelings for, the harder it gets for me to admit to it), and even then the word "be in love" won't ever come out of my mouth in my native language. in english it's easier, but in my native language i just can't say it. it feels heavy. it makes me cringe. being in love is horrible.

so when style said "it's okay to be in love" specifically? that was a punch to my gut. because this is a truth i have not yet managed to accept for myself. and if the person i had feelings for specifically told me "it's okay to be in love" so firmly and so earnestly? yeah, i would crumble too

[plusultraetc]

I'm so sorry but ever since that teen Hawks page was translated on twitter I can't stop thinking about it. like. Mera treated him like a person. he was assigned to Hawks when he was already a teenager. did no one treat him like a person before then? was it such an uncommon occurrence that it seemed special when someone did? I mean, they didn't even let him have a person's name. they gave him a hero name, and to the HPSC, that was the name of a tool. of a product. they basically bought a child and treated him so coldly that Mera stood out to him because he treated him like a person. the bars of my enclosure.

[ollylotl]

a dream of home

[front-facing-pokemon]

[loosethreadsofyoursoul]

how did tristan’s metaphor about combining two things he loves turn into an i don’t want to share speech. babygirl you were so close