#ask vivienne

[abyssal-ilk]

Its a cool idea but don't think Vivienne would care enough about the Inquisitor or Dorian to do that. She has no reason to stick around after the game ends

that post was actually specifically based on this dialogue from the trespasser dlc, where we see vivienne clearly showing concern for the inquisitor and at the very least a willingness to work together with dorian to help them! and i'd have to very firmly disagree on the idea that vivienne doesn't care about dorian or the inquisitor. like. very firmly, lol.

[theoddest1]

Tw : SAbuse (Animated) /Hazbin Hotel Leaks

.... There's another scene of season 2 that has been written and is being turned into an episode, that centers around Vox "fixing" Alastor... The one asexual character in the whole serie.... If you know what if mean.. I'm feeling sick 🤢

Ima hold out hope that it ain't what I think it is

[abigail]

bag update btw ! ♡

[bee-draws-blog]

Just don't mind me joining in here, in some birds they have perks to them for example an owl gives a silent flap of wings for a good for hunting or attacking, Falcons on the other hand can actually can travel and very top speed going downwards for hunting, in some seabirds they can dive through water or like penguins can go through water and swim like with their wings. And bat wings are waterproof so it's quite useful in a way. ;)

But there's some dose birds that just use their feathers to show off like a peacock or some other birds.

-Bee and Me

@0-riya

hey Vivian why are your wings diffrent from the others

Here's some info on one of the most important yellows' parts from the pro pilot!

[heraldofsomething]

Dragon Age: Inquisition The Imperial Enchanter

"Madame Vivienne, I humbly beg your pardon!" "You should."

[crooked-wasteland]

Honestly it annoys me how both the show and the fandom treat Angel dust’s situation like a typical abusive boyfriend and not literal sexual slavery. His trauma is too fantastical to be written in a way where the only way to cope with your abuse is by not crying about your pain and confronting your abusers

If you want to know more specific rewrite ideas, this sort of Ask is how you get me off my soap box and more into the creative aspect of the story.

The issue with the contracts is a serious world-building flaw. Based on the Rosie and Alastor leak, there is no way to end a contract, making the theme about consent entirely moot. The other aspect of Angel Dust's contract is how it doesn't really have any clear payout for him. It seems like he just handed himself over to Valentino with no expectation as to what he was supposed to get in return.

I personally would have made the contracts more like real contracts. Each party offers something in return for something else, and either side can renege if their terms are not met.

Taking Alastor for example, since we have an idea of what he was supposed to get in return for his soul. He gets to be the most powerful Sinner in Hell, but only if he does what Rosie wants. If he acts out of Rosie's best interest, she can return his soul and take back the powers she gave him. On the other hand, Alastor could also tell Rosie that she isn't meeting his expectations and take his soul back, knowing he will lose the powers she bequeathed him in the process.

That means Valentino must have offered something to Angel Dust in exchange for Angel's soul, but we have no idea what that could even be, and the show really wants it to be that AD needs to be rescued.

And that's something we see in all the "contracts between Helluva and Hazbin: one party has no say in the contract. Blitz isn't the one who proposed sex for the book, nor did he have the opportunity to barter the agreement. All he could do, all the situation allowed for him to do, was agree. Because he doesn't just need to have sex with Stolas, he also has to return the book.

Blitz is the one who has the book currently. The ball should be in his court about whether or not he even accepts Stolas' offer. It doesn't play out that way because Stolas can just kill him with a look. There is no ability to barter here and that's why the deal is only able to be seen as coercive.

In terms of the Sinners, Valentino cannot die any more than Angel Dust can. So there is legitimately equal footing under the idea of the contract. And even if Valentino is an Overlord, that doesn't really mean anything to us. Maybe the show will add to their classification, but the main point is that, Overlord or not, Angel Dust should have agreed to receive something back in exchange for his soul. And whether that exchange is fulfilled or not, desired or not, should be fluid enough that either party has the opportunity to break that contract.

[dalishious]

It really shocks me how unstable Vivienne's situation is at the beginning of the game. Her lover is ill and dying, Morrigan has effectively replaced her as court mage, and perception of mages seems to have dropped to an all-time low, which is bad for the remaining loyalist mages Vivienne says she leads (and no doubt protects). I feel like the Inquisition was akin to something god-sent for Vivienne, a way to avoid losing everything, and a stepping stone to regaining something when mages are kept from politics and such. I'm sorry, I'm just having Vivienne feels today. ;_;

Vivienne feelings are welcome here! And yeah, she's in a precarious situation made even worse because she can't even show any sign of weakness or vulnerability on the outside, lest she be viewed negatively. But I like to imagine that an Inquisitor who gains her friendship can become something of a close confidant for Vivienne; someone who she can truly share her concerns with, without fearing backlash or betrayal.

[ataraxianne]

My favourite part of "The Circus" is when Blitzø literally tried to fucking kill Stolas

But being an Owl his neck rotates 180 degrees no prob so he just

Kept talking

[invinciblerodent]

Okay I feel like my experience of DAI might be a bit.... I guess I could say unique? because my main Inquisitor is a human who is a devout Andrastian, AND pro-mage/pro-elf (it's a long story, he goes through some Character Development), but since last night's post, i've been mentally pacing up and down, thinking about how the "truth vs. lies" narrative throughline applies to Vivienne and her personal quest.

Because... well, hers is the only one (iirc) where you can choose to lie to her. Not tell her to keep up a lie (Blackwall), or lie because she's asking you to lie (Sera), or to conceal what she's discovered (Cassandra), but just straight up lie to her face when she's expecting the truth, and whether she's lying to you or not in general is not even the focal point at that juncture: she just comes to you requesting help, and you can either give it, or deny her.

And regardless of what you do, the facts, the events, don't change, which is what gets me. Nothing tangible happens if you decide to screw her over: whether you give her the heart of a snowy wyvern or just a regular gurgut, her formula will always fail, and Bastien dies. The only difference your lie makes is in her feelings about you, and in her knowing that you're not above stabbing her in the back.

Because if you do choose to accept her request (even though you can just turn it down, and nothing happens besides some approval loss), agree to help her, and then betray her, Vivienne knows. I don't think the game says when she finds out (be it while preparing the potion and she just forges on, hoping that it'll work anyway, or upon looking into it after it fails to see why it failed), but she tells you that much: that she is well aware of your deception, and she doesn't mince her words in voicing her contempt for you.

And man, Vivienne in general is just so fascinating to me.

I mean, she's simultaneously one of the most honest and caring companions, and also one of the ones with the clearest ulterior motives. She, like Bull, basically comes right out the gate and tells you the moment you meet her that she is in this for the power and the opportunity that you present, essentially admitting to you that you are little more than a stepping stone, and early on, her approval can swing wildly: maybe more than for any other companion. And what I keep noticing about that is that these swings are most affected by conversations, where you can lie, far more than your actions, which kind of leads me to believe that she either values your agreeing with her, or in other kinds of setups, you having the good sense to tell her what she wants to hear even if it's not true.

And like, I don't have the brain power at the moment to dissect her deep-seated fears and caution, how her general disapproval tends to boil down to risks and danger, and her whole Deal with why she, as a mage, is so opposed to mage freedom, I'd have to replay the game again to be able to articulate all my thoughts and feelings on that, but it just..... It generally fascinates me how her approval can be maxed out through pretty much conversation alone, while making all the "good" but risky choices that she disapproves of (mage alliance with full freedom, allied wardens, etc.), and before you'd even talk about Bastien's family with her.

And, if she sees an ally in you, man, she's so kind. If she likes you, she's one of the only people to ask you if you're alright after Haven, she offers advice and tries to help the best way she can, and she approves of helping the people of Haven, and of you "yes, and"-ing her, and not wallowing in empty platitudes but letting her have her space to mourn how she wants to, and I just......

Gaaah, I love Vivienne and I keep thinking about her. She makes a terrible fucking Divine, but I just... I'm just looking at her with stars in my eyes, ready to agree with whatever she says and then fuck off to do the exact opposite, knowing that I got a good grade in agreeing with her anyway.

[geekgirles]

This is everything I never knew I wanted

[abyssal-ilk]

thinking so so hard about vivienne's defensive reactions to dorian and cassandra trying (and failing) to comfort her over bastien's passing. chewing on it. thinking about her inability to talk about bastien, even to an inquisitor when the player tries to talk to her about him.

and then her banter with blackwall, who is one of the companions she has a mostly negative dynamic with, yet it is him and not dorian or cassandra that she responds kindly to.

blackwall doesn't dance around it or try to lessen the blow of bringing it up like dorian and cassandra do, and i think she appreciates that directness. she still doesn't open herself up to him, though. she is so,,, agh

[theoddest1]

So Viv has left Twitter and moved to BlueSky

Nah her ass went and crawled back to Twitter after leaving for like 2 or 3 days😭

And has the nerve to act like she could at all relate to Arcane creator's struggle like her work is anywhere NEAR as good, I HAVE to laugh.😭

[exhelluvafan]

I saw someone posting about how Vivzie is disrespect Alastor's asexuality by making radioapple Canon or insinuating it could be? I've looked around and haven't found anything is this true or?

As far as I'm aware, Anon, there's little to no signs that Radioapple will be an endgame ship, given that there's also a frame leak showing Lucifer on the ground, probably dead.

But take all of this as a grain of salt, and as to why people are actually expecting that to happen, well, it already happened with Huskerdust and Stolitz, and it wouldn't be surprising that Viv makes Radioapple canon, despite the chemistry being nonexistent between the two.

(Also, sidenote: There's an increasing possibility that Viv is going to make RadioStatic / Alastor x Vox canon due to a single frame leak that depicts Alastor restrained on a chair inside of Vox's bedroom, so take that as you wish.)

[whatlovelybones-if]

What was the ROs "When you know you know" moment 👀

i’m gonna assume you mean the lana del rey song cause i don’t know what else it could possibly be

for context:

j park: while they had feelings for the MC from the moment they met as kids, the moment they knew was when MC gave them their lunch after defending J from the bullies. it was MC’s favourite food, yet they gave it away because J had told them earlier that they skipped breakfast.

t kaufmann: when they started getting hints that the killer’s next victim will probably be someone from the hospital, all they could focus on was keeping the MC safe and close to them. all those occupants and employees in the hospital and the only person the detective truly wanted to protect was the MC.

vivienne malhotra: she’s the type of person to journal a lot when her feelings spiral too much. you can only guess how she knew when she tried to write down what she felt for the MC but she started rambling and listing out everything she loved about them 😭

sebastián navarro: similar to J, he started having feelings for the MC from the moment they met. the moment he knew was when he visited the hospital to get a prescription for meds and couldn’t stop subconsciously smiling when his eyes landed on the MC.

[crooked-wasteland]

I think what annoys me so much about the way the show blasts Blitzo for being a cold and unromantic partner is that it’s a perfect example of ignoring worldbuilding to make a character look worse.

By human standards, Blitzo abandoning someone when they tell them that they love him is pretty cowardly and understandably upsetting. But in Hell standards? Verosika should’ve fucking known he’d run away because Hell seems to look down heavily at the concept of love. This is like knowing that it’s taboo to kiss and then getting mad at a character for not kissing you. You can’t blame someone for being adjusted to what society expects of you. Verosika can still be hurt but it’s genuinely insane how much she clings on to this hate like he did a crime.

And the fact that we just skip over seeing their relationship is also infuriating because I get the feeling that Viv was both not interested in actually showing us what Verosika was like and also afraid to make her do anything that feels more in line with her character which is act angsty and spiteful

I've had a thought about Verosika. From the we've seen this season, the writers have actually listened to and addressed criticism for the show. The Ghostfuckers leaks show an overhaul of the original story, the fact that episodes got shifted around at the start of the series, the blatant un-writing of the assassination plot, and the fact that Unhappy Campers was the only pre-special episode to not be in the season 2 trailer (most likely because it was still in the early stages of animation due to massive rewrites to incorporate more Millie) are all evidence to this. It's obvious the crew is not happy about it, but they are listening.

With that in mind, the show has repeatedly been accused of extremely sexist writing in favor of the male cast. As such, it's not surprising to see the pivot more towards "humanizing" the female characters in specific. I remember seeing a lot of comments about how they wouldn't forgive the show if they made another female character irredeemably cruel and brainless following The Circus, and even louder after Western Energy.

What fans had wanted was a complicated or even toxic dynamic where both characters weren't perfect, but still held Blitz accountable for his actions, fairly. What they got was the cheapest, laziest writing I've ever seen. Not only does it not make sense in regards to the established world building of Hell's attitude towards love, it still makes no sense for Blitz to run away just because Verosika said she loved him, only to then adopt a child. He explicitly goes to the pound looking for a pup, pivoting to taking in Loona out of pity. It's like saying marriage is too much of a commitment, but still having kids.

Instead, Medrano overcorrected to pander to critics the same way she panders to her fans. Verosika is not an irredeemably cruel and stupid, spiteful woman. She's a perfect victim actually. Not only is her only crime falling in love, but the relationship ended so fast and sudden that she didn't have any time to do anything.

All these choices feel not only deliberate, but resentful in how little care went into the writing. The most drastic overhaul being to Ghostfuckers where the entire narrative trimmed down and immensely reworked already existing elements into the script. It goes to show the level of improvement possible to an idea when given better direction, but it also shows the limitations of not having actual writers on the team.

Ghostfuckers does an amateur's best and comes out generally okay, but still suffers from over reliance on tropes without narrative substance. It's the genuine best that can be done with this team. And unfortunately that's still not good enough.

[dalishious]

Sorry but I wanted to ask your opinion on this thought: Vivienne is unable to understand not everyone is as privileged as she is in regards to leaving the circle at first. She honestly thinks it’s that easy to find a patron and be allowed out.

It’s one of those things I notice a lot in certain communities I’m part of: those who are better off sometimes cannot understand why it’s hard for others. People whose parents have money don’t get why other people with the same disabilities as them are struggling to hold down jobs. Vivienne lucked out in her own way by getting into a somewhat decent circle and then having Bastion fall for her, so Templars wouldn’t risk pissing off a noble man.

What are your thoughts on this?

"Every person within each tower had an experience of Circle life unique to themselves. Some people suffered, and some were content. Some were cruel, some compassionate, and some indifferent." —Vivienne, when asked about Circle life

Now, one could certainly argue that the above quote is a cop-out. I certainly think it's part of the larger thread of Inquisition's push to make the Circles seem like they weren't that bad, despite every bit of previous lore showing and telling otherwise. But regardless, here Vivienne does acknowledge that she is aware to some degree that there was suffering.

"Nobody "winds up" at court, my dear. It takes a great deal of effort to arrive there. I caught the eye of Duke Bastien de Ghislain, an advantageous connection that opened many doors. When the position of enchanter to the Imperial Court became vacant, I was able to secure it." —Vivienne, when asked how she became court enchanter

Here, Vivienne says that she had to work hard to get her position, and I believe it. While luck played a role in terms of her love life with Duke Bastien, rising in power and connections and playing The Game from the disadvantage of being a mage is a challenge she had to overcome.

Vivienne has shown to be a uniquely talented and well spoken player of The Game. But 9/10 mages aren't going to have that skill, and they shouldn't have to just to have the small freedoms Vivienne won. And I say small freedoms, because let us remember that as Duke Bastien's lover, as court enchanter, her freedom is still entirely reliant on others. She must maintain good graces with those higher up on the Orlesian privilege scale in order to be treated as a fellow person. She is not allowed to slip up, even once, or she risks everything. It's no wonder Vivienne constantly holds herself with such structure and high standards.