#asterisk symbol

[lairofdragonagelore]

Murals in DAI: The Death of a Titan

This mural is found in an Unknown Ruin, which location is unknown. We have access to it via a blocked Eluvian in the Deep Roads.

[This post is part of the series “ Murals in DAI ”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

On the titan’s body, we find a veilfire rune that triggers the codex  Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads. I already worked on some interpretations of it in Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara. If we read the codex while observing this image, and assuming that both of them describe the same event, we can conclude that the mural is narrating the codex in “three panels”: The elvhen attack, the death of the Titan, and the “something else”.

The codex, for a quick review:

In the light of the veilfire, the runes seem to shift, coiling and uncoiling like snakes. A thunderous voice shatters the stillness, shouting: "Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!"

For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire. The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers: "What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

The attack

According to the codex, the elvhen on the left could be Mythal. Her cape/cloak is made of ��green/emerald water” which is usually the description we have of the Fade, which was once the kingdom of the elvhen and spirits. This part of the mural seems to imply “elvhen from the Fade used a god-like power to attack a titan”. I assume the god-like power because the elvhen is casting a circle of gold in her hand, which is a colour that we have seen used a lot to represent god-related iconography and decoration.

We also know that Mythal was different and special from all the rest of the Evanuris. This idea is given to us not only because her statue always is present in all the Temples we visited [included Dirthamen’s], more often than not in a central place or in a place of importance. We also saw that, from all the Evanuris, she is the only one with a divinity halo behind her in the mosaic series [check it in Evanuris]. So, one can assume her power was far over the rest of the Evanuris, so she has a good probability of killing a titan. In any case, this elvhen could represent any Evanuris anyway, but again, I’m also working in relating this mural to the codex.

The Death of a Titan

Then, the next “panel” would be the way in which the Titan was killed

In the centre we can see an undeniable humanoid figure that has been attacked. It’s made of a brown colour, giving the idea of an earthy creature. Its dimensions are so big that it does not fit completely in the sphere. It is the titan. It has an eye drawn on it. This particular kind of eye has been seen in the murals “Self-Portrait” or in the “Removal of the Vallaslin”, which gives us the confirmation this is an eye in the fresco elven style [if we had any doubt].  

The body of the creature has been cut in two, across its heart/core. The heart has the asterisk symbol surrounded by a “halo” of gold [or it can also be understood as a Golden Ring]. Once more, we can see that the figure of a golden halo, or gold sphere or gold ring may be implying “Divinity”-like power and control. We also need to remember that in DA lore, divinity has been set as something related to the amount of power that a creature has instead of a particular nature [Solas’s and Morrigan’s words].  

Around the golden halo wrapping its heart, we see a fading glow of green. This colour matches the “emerald waters” of the figure on the left, so it’s a colour related to the Fade:  this may imply a relationship between the heart of a Titan and the Fade [could this be related to the codex Vir Dirthara: The Deepest Fade, where the skills to reach the deepest Fade are described very titan-dwarvish-like?] The interpretation of the heart needs a whole section apart.

The titan’s head has been removed. The cut in its “neck” seems clean, while the side of the head is “blasted” which may imply that it was affected mentally. Thanks to Cole’s lines along  Overlook, Excavated Caves, and Lower Walkways, we know the Titan has been removed of its will, it is sleeping, unable to awake, as the elvhen mined its body and did something with its heart.

The creature is surrounded by blue lines which branch shape represents lyrium veins. All are drawn in a radial way, with its heart as the central origin of all these extensions: we are seeing the Titan’s circulatory system.

The colour of this sphere where the Titan is trapped is coloured in red. On the bottom we see a bit of orange, giving the idea of fire. This is the “fire sphere” that the codex speaks about. So the fire sphere is about something done to a titan, that angered it, and produced something terrible that had to be hidden later and avoid “its wake”.

Titan’s Heart

The interpretation of the heart of a Titan and the elvhen orbs is very complex and vague. It requires some lore details first that seem to be unrelated:

The Elvhen Orbs

The Elvhen orbs have been shown in these murals represented by the asterisk symbol. This symbol has also appeared in the ground yellow mosaic, in the centre of what seems to be related to a sun surrounded by four eluvians/Mythal dragon shaped Gates:

It’s the same asterisk made of eight “rays”.

Tevinter co-opted [or maybe were taught?] about these orbs before the time of the magisterium and the Old Gods. The Tevinter orbs, called somnaborium, are translated as “vessels of dreams”.

Dorian: That orb Corypheus carries... are you certain it's of elven origin, Solas? Solas: I believe so. Why do you ask? Dorian: There are paintings in the Magisterium's archives of men holding similar orbs. They were depictions of a time long before the magisters. The ancient Dreamers, perhaps. The texts called those orbs "somnaborium"--"vessels of dreams." Could they be the same thing? Solas: Perhaps. The humans of ancient times took much from the elves. Dorian: And Corypheus isn't far removed from the time. Hmm.

These Tevinters that Dorian refers to may be the same ones related to the Astrariums. They seemed to have had a deeper relationship with Elvhenan culture. They also had interest in the constellations and the astronomy of Thedas in general, which originally had a lot more of elvhenan representation. This brings a lot of unanswered questions about this particular ancient group of Tevinters and the posterior Magisters Sidereal [title related to celestial bodies and constellations]. 

The “vessels of dreams” can easily be interpreted as “vessels of Fade energy”, the same energy we saw in the codex Raising the Sonallium, which allowed the creation of worlds. Now, this brings a question: is this energy infinite? What’s its source? Is it merely Fade? If the elvhenan created worlds from it, is this not an energy that seems to have “shaper/titan” properties? In codices like  Attentive Listeners or Homecoming, we see that the main power of the elvhen is to bend what already exists, not to create. 

I always questioned the real reason why the architects are fighting in Raising the Sonallium. I think it may be related to some unethical procedure in the creation of the world, or a question about the use of the energy of the Fade for this kind of useless creations. We know it cannot be about an aesthetic colour choice. 

Sadly, there are no many other sources to explore this train of thoughts, but certainly the idea that the Fade energy may be provided by the Titans themselves would have terrible in-lore consequences if it’s true: it would mean that the elvhenan kingdom was just the typical story of the created creature taking the power of their creators, rebelling against them, and abusing of the original power.

Anyways, continuing with the orbs: through the analysis of Fen’Harel’s orb, we know that the main function of these orbs is to accumulate Fade energy, which is used to the creation of worlds. Solas tells us at the end of Trespasser that he slumbered during a millennia while his orb kept accumulating energy that would allow him to destroy the Veil again.

We don’t know the origin and construction of these orbs, but we know there were many during the time of the Evanuris. In the Shattered Library we even find several of them, empty, spread at the borders of the Lower Archives. Why are they not accumulating energy? What process has been broken that the accumulation function has stopped working in them? These seem to be discharged or useless. Maybe the accumulation of energy needs of someone directing that energy?

These orbs also seem to be used in the procedures of creating pools such as the Well of Sorrow, through which the bound process of the servants of a given Evanuris is executed, according to the mural Removal of the Vallaslin:

So, when we connect the elven orb with the asterisk symbol, the mural of “The Dead of a Titan” can be understood in three different ways:

1) The Creation of the Elvhen Orbs is made out of the Hearts of Titans. 

We can think that these orbs are made of “extracted” Titan’s hearts. So, when the Evanuris won the war against the Titans, they took their hearts to create these orbs and the rest of their bodies were mined in order to obtain their lyrium to potentiate magic and to perform vallaslin slavery-rituals. 

Pros of this idea

Titans are always spoken in plural, meaning that there were many of them and since some codex speak of “pillars of earth” and some victories over then were attributed to Elgar’nan too [Vir Dirthara: Signs of Victory ], it seems that some kind of harvesting may have been possible in order to create several elvhen orbs. 

This concept allows the speculation that the red lyrium is Blighted lyrium even though we were hinted in books [The Calling] and in games [Uncharted Abyss] that some parts below the Deep Roads, potentially related to the interior of the Titan, are immune to the Blight and reject the darkspawn: it seems reasonable to think that while the heart exists, the lyrium in the veins is purified through a “circulatory system”, so we can find places likes the Uncharted Abyss where there is no Blight nor darkspawn. But once the heart is removed or dead, and the remaining lyrium gets stationary, the possibility of being blighted does not contradict the apparent immunity to the Blight that places like these seem to have. 

Cons of this idea

Size. I bet a titan’s heart is too big to compress it into that small ball that we see in the elvhen’s hands. Note: remember that the heart we saw in the DLC was not a Titan’s, it was a Guardian. Even the wikipedia of Dragon Age has that information wrongly [check The Wellspring].

If we assume Occam’s razor, there is no much sense in thinking a living creature could stay alive without their heart. Besides, there is no lore that states what happens with a titan once their heart is removed. Is it still alive? Is it dead? Is it in permanent sleep?  According to Cole, the Titan is still singing and sleeping, which seems to contradict the idea of “removing heart”=“death of a titan”. Two possibilities arise if we assume Cole is the one who holds the truth: Or removing the titan’s heart removes their consciousness but keeps them alive; or the heart was never removed.

The only hint we have of a creature without a heart that still lived is the Tale of the Avvar about Korth the Mountain-Father.  But he not only kept alive, he became cruel and violent. This image would fit an “angry titan” too, though. Was this tale shared with the Avvar via the spirits to represent what the Elvhenan did ages ago to a Titan? Hard to say for sure.

2)  With the power of the elvhen orbs, the Titans were killed, including their hearts.

This idea brings similar consequences from the point 1. The difference lays that it does not make use of the heart of the Titan, and uses the concept that the Titan is killed in the process. 

Pro of this idea

Similar to the previous interpretation. It solves the problem of keeping the size of the heart into consideration as well as a potential “life” after the heart is removed. We assume in this option that the titan is completely killed.  

This idea allows the concept of accepting that a titan dead body can be susceptible of being tainted, potentially giving the explanation of the origin of red lyrium as part of the procedure of decay and rotting of a titan’s corpse.

Cons of this idea

This is a good interpretation of the Mural we are seeing, but the cons are similar to the previous one: Cole keeps telling us that the Titans are alive, but in a vegetative state, sleeping, unable to awake because they forgot how to do it. So, the titan doesn’t seem to be dead. This argument is so strong that I would say that the whole idea of the point 2 should be discarded. The Titans are sleeping, stirring with big Fade-related events, and singing. Their minds seem to be trapped, but they are very much alive.  We even can bring into this idea the potential interpretation that their minds are trapped inside Redy Lyrium, since Whispers Written in Red Lyrium can be interpreted as the voices of trapped evanuris as well as titans .

Even if we consider this titan in the mural being the only one who has been killed in the history of the elvhenan, it seems a bad assumption because at the end of the codex we know that, whatever the Evanuris made experiments with the titan, it is still alive thanks to the sentence “Let no one wake its anger”, which implies that it is slumbering but alive. 

We have a good amount of reasons to assume that these titans were not killed. So, the title of the Mural is a fallacy, but I will keep calling it that way because we are not sure what truly happens with the Titan. The key is in the “something else”-part which we had no idea about.

3) With the power of the Elvhen orbs, the Titans were defeated, stealing their “mind” somehow, siphoning their powers into the orb, while the elvhen mined their vegetative bodies. Maybe they even experimented with the titan’s body.

Both the centre of the titan and the elvhen orb have the same symbol: an asterisk, but the colour of it is different, and the ray hitting the Titan maybe it’s more about a siphoning effect than an strike: the elvhen orbs may have become “vessels of the energy of a Titan’s heart” [this, again, would suggest that “the Fade energy” of the orbs is related to the mind/heart of a Titan, to their “dreaming” ability]. The “attack” of the elvhen may be the “golden ring” around the heart, implying control as the golden ring seems to represent in many the elvhen paintings, removing “heart and mind” [like it happens with the slaved elves]:

The centre of the titan [asterisk symbol] seems to have been accessed through a tunnel that has the same colour that the background around the asterisk. This structure makes me remember the Uthenera chamber found in the Deep Roads in Trespasser: Lower Walkways, we see a long deep well with an intense lyrium-light deep into it, suggesting that the well and the whole chamber is close to the lyrium spring. My speculation is that the Uthenera chamber may keep the Titans sleeping or without will [keeping the effect of the golden ring, maybe?], as Cole explains to Sera in Overlook: “Their [referring to dwarves] ancient shapers [Titans] were mountains drawn of all their wills, walking their memories into valleys of the world". In the Uthenera chamber Cole says: “Songs screaming far away. It wants to wake up but can’t remember how”. The Uthenera chamber may have a role in the process of making the titans “forget how to wake up”, as Cole seems to imply in "They made bodies from the earth, and the earth was afraid. It fought back, but they made it forget."

Once again, Cole repeats that the Elvhen made the Titan forget, and that seems to be a reasonable role for the Uthenera chamber found there, because as I said in other posts, it seems that the Ancient Uthenera had nothing to do with what the Dalish think it is [as usual in the Dalish pattern]. The main reason to suspect this is why would immortal beings go to sleep eternally in the Fade if they were already living in the Fade? It always felt suspicious. 

If the Elvhen drew energy from the heart/mind of the titans, who had the power to create worlds and shapes and bodies, the conflict with the Titans may have been more complex than only the shaking effect of the Elvhen cities that we read in Song to Elgar'nan. 

Pros of this idea

This hypothesis would explain why the titans were disconnected with their children: the dwarves. The elvhenan made the Titans forget too much, or may have even severed the Titan’s connection to the dwarves as the tranquils are severed from the Fade. If a Mage’s mind is severed with a brand of Lyrium [The Rite of Tranquility], maybe an inverse process may exist where a titan’s mind is severed by branding their mind with some Fade energy [golden ring?]. 

This interpretation gives sense to most of Cole’s comments: the titans are not dead, but vegetative.

Cons of this idea

This makes the explanation of the red lyrium as tainted lyrium a bit less possible, since they naturally seem to be immune to the Blight. However, we only have one source who claimed that knowledge, which so far seems unreliable: Bianca, who at the same time, got this information form an unknown source [read Emprise du Lion: Suledin keep]

Ironically, when we activate the puzzle in front of this mural, the heart of the titan has to be lighted with Veilfire, so there is an implicit message that the heart of a titan is burnt with Veilfire or fire. Or a titan’s heart/mind is the fuel for the powers of the Fade and Veil. Could this be the origin of the “weakening” stone that the dwarves believe in, where the power of a Titan is consumed by the Elvhenan orbs and this progressive weakening is what causes aberrations such as being susceptible of the Blight and then turn the Titan’s blood into red lyrium? Depleting a titan’s heart causes a progressive corruption? So many questions.

In any case, as we can see, the option 3 seems to be the most reasonable of all. The Titan has not been killed [it can sing and stir as they have been shown to do in repeated occasions], but turned into a vegetative creature that allowed the mining of its body for lyrium extraction and “something else”. However, the option 1 as a consequence of the end of the siphoning effect, as the effect of “what happened when they killed one”, still seems to apply to at least one titan, but not as a general practice executed on all titans. The problem is: if the option 1 is possible, it means that dead titans can still sing “angrily”. It ends up contradicting a lot of logical statements and assumptions done along this section. The only way to “save” this is that the Titans are not killed but weakened, and end up being corrupted without being “dead”. 

The “something else”

From the three options proposed above, the only one which provides a “secret” to be considered as a “something else” [while keeping the Titan alive, which is the case since they sing], seems to be the third one. Keeping this option in mind, we can try to interpret the “third panel” of the mural:

Here we find an elvhen holding the orb/sphere with the asterisk symbol, which is not the same one than the titan’s core. The Heart of the Titan is a yellowish sphere with a black asterisk. The sphere held by the right elf is a green sphere with a yellowish asterisk, the same colour than the sphere of the titan’s heart and the ray. This could mean  “redirection of the power”, encouraging the idea of the siphoning power. 

The fact that these orbs in Tevinter are called “vessels of dreams” makes us also wonder if they don’t drain the consciousness of a Titan [its dreams] as well and trap them inside an orb. And once more, we have to remember that it’s in this place of the mural where we put the Veilfire, giving the idea of “Fade-presence” in the “heart of the Titan”, or a Titan’s heart being burnt/consumed by the Fade powers.

The golden ring around the asterisk symbol in the Titan’s heart, now is seen as a halo in the elvhen head, a God was born [in terms of being a creature more powerful than anything else].  So through the heart of a Titan, Divinity is seized. Similar iconography can be seen in Valta’s tarot card

The divine halo melts and falls behind the elvhen, giving the impression that it transforms into a mountain, implying that now the elvhenan control more than the mere Fade with the siphoned power: they can control the Waking World, the world where shape is strong and can create like “titans”.

Hence the image of a range of mountains below. The left side of this elvhen also has some Fade-green colour as a way to show transition or also Fade nature [light blue square].

A second interpretation is that through this power of shaping the world, they may have abused of it, creating new bodies [Cole: "They made bodies from the earth. And the earth was afraid. It fought back. But they made it forget."], changing the shape of creatures, and experimenting with them, as The Horror of Hormak implies. Hence, the perfect halo of divinity is falling apart and becoming the underground of the mountains that had sealed horrors such as The Horror of Hormak. Sealing horrors seems to fit the last part of the codex  Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads. Like, “playing to be gods”, creating and shaping, ended up in a horror that “elvhen had to hide below collapsed caverns”.

The “something else”, then, can be related to the experiments and the abuse  [The Horror of Hormak] that the elvhenan may have done by using the powers siphoned from a titan’s heart/core.

Extra details

The background of the mural shows elongated inverted triangles, suggesting a world where Waking World and Fade were mixed, which is correct; by this time the Veil has not been created yet. They are painted in gold.

Neither the mural nor the codex said what exactly went wrong in this process, but something did it as the whisper in the codex says that they should not wake “its” anger [the “it” treatment seems to mean the Titan as usual] and suggests the people to raise against the Evanuris [I personally think this whisper is Solas’].

The dev’s notes say that this mural was drawn by Solas, in a determinant point in which he decided to stop the Evanuris, but making sure nobody learnt again what they were doing [probably to avoid temptation]. These notes seem to confirm that the whisper in the codex is Solas’. He is the first voice who speaks about the need to raise and stop the Evanuris. 

If we consider Solas’ words as hints of truth, the event shown in this mural should be part or be linked to Mythal’s death. Why? Because Solas said that the last straw to banish the Evanuris was her death, while here, the Dev’s notes tell us that the reason was this painted event. Solas has a good history of telling truths that need a particular context to be understood exactly in the sense he says them. And I think it’s not by chance that this mine has so many statues of Mythal in big sizes. The death of mythal, the corruption of this titan, and the red lyrium idol seem to be connected one another even though it’s all speculation what we can say about. 

According to the codex, this Titan, who is trapped or it’s part of a sphere of fire, was contained with vines. The detail of the vines immediately reminds me of the Blight, because as we saw in Murals in DAI: Basics and in all previous games’ presentations, the thorny vines were always related to the Blight and Darkspawn. These vines in particular were originally green and enchanted [since later they are described as runes], but after eons they weakened. Maybe the codex shows in this image the origin of the Blight as a degradation, or rotting process of a sleeping, angry Titan. I can’t help but relate “angry” energy with Red Lyrium, although the Red Lyrium seem to be more related to the Evanuris according the analysis done in The Creation of the Veil. However, nothing is completely said after all.

This sleeping, angry Titan was buried underground according the codex. “Terrible place sealed underground” can also be related to the The Horror of Hormak. 

Integral interpretation

The first part of the mural seem to represent an Evanuris attacking a titan. Most likely, it is Mythal, according to the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads. Her power wraps the heart of the Titan with a golden sphere or a golden ring. The golden ring is usually a symbol of control as we saw in some paintings of Nation Art: Elvhen.

We know the Titan’s will has been removed, so it is sleeping, unable to awake, as the elvhen mine its body for lyrium and do “something else” with its heart. If we understand the golden sphere around the core of the Titan as a golden ring, it would support the idea of an alive titan being "zombificated" as we saw the golden ring seem to do on elves. This forced slumbering of the titan may be done via Uthenera-related processes, since we find a chamber that Cole identifies as such, and he assures that these singing elvhen interact with the Titan’s song.

Siphoning the power of a Titan's heart may give the elvhenan powers related to creating worlds and shaping creatures. Abuses such as the ones seen in The Horror of Hormak may have been done with them, justifying the line “something else” said by the inquisitor about the codex/mural. 

However, if this siphoning process was continuous and ended up destroying the heart and killing the Titan, there are chances that the circulatory system of the titan, that may have given to it some immunity to infections such as the Blight, stopped working, turning the Titan into a creature of red-lyrium. This may refer to the angry energy of the sphere of fire.

The problem with this hypothesis that seems to offer a reasonable in-lore explanation for the origin of the Red Lyrium, is that it assumes the death of the Titan, which would mean Titans should not be singing and stirring as they do when big Fade-related events happen. So I’m inclined to think in the option where the Titan remains alive but corrupted.

Side note: I’m annoyed that is not clear yet which was created first: the Blight or the Red Lyrium, or if both are the same thing. Clearly both diseases are related to Titans and Evanuris, but the truth is still quite away from our grasp.

[hephaestuscrew]

Favourite Fleet & Clara quotes from High Vaultage 

(Page numbers from my Goldsboro special edition, I'm not sure how they line up with page numbers in other versions. Spoilers for all of High Vaultage.)

p27: Clara had met Fleet only weeks before. She had just arrived in London and started work as a crime reporter, and pursued a murder case alongside Fleet despite his repeated objections, until he eventually conceded - as Clara had known he would - that they were making a good team, and furthermore proposed - as she hadn't a clue he would - that they go into business together.

p51: "There you are, Fleet. Where have you been?" / Fleet paused, made some confused looks between Clara and the room he had just left, and finally pointed at the door. "Isn't this the waiting room for detectives whose partners have run off? They were quite a few of us in there. Quite a lot in common." / Clara suppressed a grin into something more disapproving. "You're not as funny as you think you are, Inspector." (More below the cut.)

p70: [After Clara successfully sneaks into the Iron Bridge Club] [Fleet] should have known Clara would make it in. Her tenacity had been clear to him since she had first left the police roping at a crime scene of his. It was one of the things he admired about her, even if she didn't always check whether there was somewhere to land.

p76: [After Clara's business card strategies work on Cosgrove] Fleet glanced at Clara. She grinned back, eyes wild with pride, before tapping her bag and mouthing the word 'Posner'.

p116: [After Professor McCabe says “Top marks, Miss Entwhistle”] Clara beamed, and flashed her eyebrows at Fleet while elbowing him in the ribs.

p132: "Don't think you can shake me off, Inspector. I'll come with you." / " I'm not trying to shake you off. It's just late, Clara.” / "You're always trying to shake me off. Ever since we met. Despite my constant usefulness." / "I'd say occasional usefulness," replied Fleet, maintaining a straight face. / Clara, with some effort, twisted her grin into something approximating outrage. "Frequent usefulness, surely!" / "No, but I'll agree to "regular usefulness"." / "Deal.” / “And I asked you to join me in business, Clara. If I'd wanted to shake you off, that's a poor way to go about it."

p154: [From Fleet's POV] Clara really was the sort of person - indeed the only person he knew - who could find genuine joy and wonder in a building site.

p172: [When Clara fears for her life at the display of the Lanterns] She thought of her brother, her sister, her parents... Her ridiculous detective.

p176-178: Clara without her usual pep was almost unrecognisable. [...] Normally that sort of reply would at least elicit some playful scolding. Fleet grew concerned. [...] "Do you want to talk about it?" [...] " What do you want to talk about?" [...] He tried to think of more options. Not talking about things was Fleet's speciality, but for Clara this signalled a worrying malaise. Things were dire. He was going to have to resort to small talk. "Would you like to hear about my day?" A brief pause. "Yes," she replied, with a note of hope [...] Fleet remembered the mess he was in before he switched to the task of cheering up Clara.

p184: When he saw her, she noticed his eyes were shining with a rare zeal, and he appeared bursting to explain whatever he was thinking.

p187: Fleet had, after all, taken her under his wing, even if she did have to thrust herself there initially. She thought about the door plaque he’d had engraved with both their names on it as his way of inviting her to be his business partner – typical Fleet, refusing to tell her so much as his favourite breakfast food and then to go and do something like that. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

p201: [After Fleet sees a magpie get electrocuted] Fleet looked at Clara, who thankfully had been facing the other way.

p214: [After Fleet falls into the frozen river] Clara, removing her cape and placing it over Fleet's shoulders 

p225: [Clara] had read several books on the subject - Surreptitious Sleuthing, Introduction to Ingression, Undetectable Detection, to name a few - but she always seemed to pick up more from her partner, whose years in the police had left him full of [useful tricks].

p235: [While navigating the Brunellian tunnels for the first time] "I still think my way is more fun." / "Escape, Clara. Escape and then fun." / "That's a promise, Fleet. You've promised it now.”

p259: “That's too much topiary,” said Fleet [...] Clara's eyes lit up at this rare revelation of a personal opinion from her colleague. “I didn't know you had such strong views on topiary, Fleet.”

p293: [When Crowe increases how much he'd be willing to pay them to investigate on his behalf] Fleet knew his answer, but felt he had to see whether Clara was still in agreement. He looked to her, only to be met with an expression of astonishment that he had taken even this long to respond.

p337: [After their falling out] Where do you even begin, she thought, let alone end, with someone you've worked with so closely?

p338: [After they squash the scone Fleet brought Clara as part of his apology] "You want me to eat an exploded scone!" cried Clara, stifling laughter.”/ “I think it says a lot if you refuse.” / “Fine,” she said, grabbing the bag, pulling out the crushed scone and taking an enormous bite. / The corners of Fleet's mouth twitched. Clara was sure he almost laughed.

p341: [Before they go into the Church of the Mechanical Man to look for Helena Evans] Clara smiled, and punched him in the shoulder. / "Ow! What was that for?" / Clara realised that in her excitement at Fleet's plan she had landed her friendly thump with rather more power than intended, so she clarified: "You're a good one, Fleet.”

p371: [After Fleet gets shot in the shoulder] Fleet thought he heard Clara scream his name, but he couldn't be sure. Suddenly she was next to him, checking his shoulder.

p371-372: Clara turned to Fleet. “Now I have an idea.” / “What kind of idea?” / “A terrible idea. Just the worst idea I've ever had.” / Fleet looked towards the distant exit, which could barely be seen beyond the fire, and then back to Clara. “I like it.”

p373: [As they anticipate an oncoming wave of molten metal] Fleet felt a sensation he did not recognise. Something like calm. Then Clara took his hand and turned him towards her. For some insufferable reason she was smiling again. He couldn't help but return it. [...] Fleet realised Clara still had his hand firmly in hers, and she seemed to be saying something at him that he couldn't hear. He tried to listen, but she stopped speaking, shook her head, threw her arms around him and hauled him down onto the ground.

p375: [When Clara won't tell Fleet whether she knew they were going to be saved by Helena Evans] “And you don't think this might affect how likely I am to trust your plans in the future?” / “Does it?” asked Clara. [...] “No,” said Fleet. “It doesn't.”

p381: Clara stiffened her posture, as though she might salute. "Archibald Fleet, I challenge you to a battle of business." / "We're partners, Clara. We're on the same side." / "A point for whoever solves a case first! More for trickier ones!" / "But we work together..." / "Let battle commence!" she cried.

[thedeadthree]

HEHEHEHE. (not technically wip day thing but a wip!! <3)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Ι saw your response to the ask about how you write your plots and just wanted to ask what program you use to write (and keep track of things) because seriously the fact that you are managing to keep track of 10??? plots is so impressive (and your writing is a gift!!!)

i switched to obsidian sometime after i finished cyanide! it has a lot of interesting stuff but quite frankly i only use it like a regular notepad just one that lets me open tabs and create folders. the only downside to leaving google docs is that i can no longer write on the go on my phone (google drive), but like- i hardly did that anyway. if i do come up w smth i just put it in the notes app n then transcribe it

i'm a pretty fast typer so that's never been an issue hahaha the perks of being able to type blind is that i can just look at the notes and type as i read LMAO

anyway yeah! obsidian has graphs and stuff, but like i said, i don't really use them? it's all notes and text. so if you're a bit wrong in the head like me you could just make do with google docs (or whatever else you use) and a notepad opened to the side tbh it's pretty much what i do

wrangling the 10+ simultaneous plotlines is more my brain knowing no peace than it is obsidian honestly even though it likely would be so much easier if i sucked it up and learned how the graphs work hahah;,,

[unnonexistence]

question: if i try to put footnotes into my post, like this,¹ do they show up properly?

¹ this is the footnote, it should show up as a superscript 1 after the word "this" in the title

[luigra]

do you have a typing quirk

u keep typing I& instead of I

Those are my& first person neopronouns 😭

[elshells]

Introducing the Writer Tag

Tagged by @writernopal, @tabswrites, and @crowandmoonwriting for this one! Thank you so much!

* * *

Hey there, friends! My name is Ella, and I'm a writer of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and occasionally poetry. If you're into found family, antiheroes, redemption, elaborate worldbuilding, witty banter, fight scenes, and wholesome LGBTQ+ relationships (both platonic and romantic), then I'm your girl! These tropes are the lifeblood of my stories and I love them to death.

I am SFW (young to new adult), although I sometimes write about drug use, characters who curse, and graphic violence (including blood and gore), so please be aware of that! Any of my works on Tumblr will include a page of content warnings so you know what you're getting into, along with a warning in the author's note so you can avoid or protect yourself from content you don't want to read. Tropes you will never find in my writing include enemies to lovers, love triangles, A/B/O dynamics, bury your gays, and erotica (any romance, if at all, will range from warm and fuzzy to fade to black).

In my humble opinion, my best work I've posted is Agent Ace, the first installment of my new sci-fi adventure series, Harmont Heroes, because over time I've fallen head over heels for the characters and world, and want to see how the story unfolds. Encore, my horror novella, is my newest project, and I still have a massive love and appreciation for my first sci-fi dystopian novel, EMBR of the Earth, but Agent Ace probably has the best representation of my current writing style. My all time favorite characters I've made are Tana Peng from EMBR of the Earth, and Janus, Sophia Colbo, and Jade de Soto from the Harmont Heroes series.

Something I'd love for you to know about my writing that isn't listed in this game is that I am in love with dialogue and imagery that engages all five senses, and I will use both to my advantage! If you choose to read something I've written, get ready to be immersed with the narrative XD

Thank you for reading! I'm leaving this as an open tag for anyone who wants to introduce themselves! Find the original post and blank template here. <3

[sallertiafabrica]

If you were to design your wishmaker-sona based around you, what animal would it (if it is an animal), what would your theme be, and what would your powers be?

/lighthearted. but sure, why not

Call me basic, but I’d stick to illusions. I want Trixx to be real and for them to adopt me.

[nyabby]

And so what if I get a “despite everything it’s still you” tramp stamp tattoo. What then.

[raceydays-hopelesshaze]

DC really doesn’t know and doesn’t care about what Damian looks like omfg

[object-show-rcs]

asterisk

[lairofdragonagelore]

Murals in DAI: Red Lyrium Idol

This mural has been shown in Dragon Age Official Teaser Trailer - 2018 Game Awards.

[This post is part of the series “ Murals in DAI ”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

The context of this mural is unknown to us. We don’t truly know if it was Solas who painted it. We can only guess it was he because it’s a piece of Nick Thornborrow who usually draws Solas’ murals, and because in general the context of the game allows us to assume so. We don’t know where it’s located either. 

The Background

As we saw in Murals in DAI: Basics, the inverted triangle seems to be used to represent the Fade, and it’s the symbol we see in the majority of the places in this piece that are not burning. I imagine that this may represent 1) the destruction of the Veil [or the barrier that surrounds the Black City), or 2) the “surface” of the Sphere of Fire [The Death of a Titan] that has been contained with vines which have worn-out over time. In any case, the fire is what overtakes the image, putting the Fade symbol on a secondary plane. 

There is also a line in the background that seems to suggest that there is a mountain, and what we are seeing is happening at the feet of a mountain. This could also mean a metaphor to link this image with the one related to the sphere of Fire in “The Death of a Titan“ [remember that the right side of that mural shows mountains that may suggest connection with the Waking World or even with The Horror of Hormak]. 

The Panels

Here, we find a scene that I think is happening in the Fade and against the barrier that isolates the Black City. The background, beyond the fire, shows inverted triangles in a greenish-grey plain colour. The place is set on fire, potentially connecting this scene with the fire sphere in “The Death of a Titan” or simply implying Solas is destroying this danger enclosed in the barrier of the Black City. 

I can’t say if this mural shows one or two panels. All the elements are so well integrated that I think the wolf, the elvhen, and the tree are in the same space than the white sphere with the idol inside. The whole scene seems to be a big allegory of what is going to happen. I was not sure if we should consider the white sphere as an independent panel, since the wolf and the elvhen seem to be focused on the white sphere. So, instead of trying to understand this mural in “panels”, I will explore each of the elements in it and see how they integrally connect each other at the end.

The Vhenadahl

The vhenadahl is a tree with a lot of mystery in the DA games. It’s naively presented as a cultural element kept by the city elves to remember Arlathan and the “Old Ways”. These trees are, curiously, painted in red with white lines and swirls raising up from their roots, which has a strange interpretation for the player who knows about the codex of “The Death of a Titan”: Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads.

In DA2, Marethari Talas has a very focused cinematic when she enters the alienage and looks at the vhenadahl, which is a bit strange. It can be considered as a scene that shows how the city elves respect her as a Dalish, but it’s curious that so many seconds of a cinematic were given just for that, in a game that has cut a lot of content with more plot relevance. 

In The Masked Empire, Felassan makes a very brief comment about this tree too:

Felassan paused as they came to a great tree in the market square. The vhenadahl was decorated with ribbons, and the dirt around it was marked with sticks stuck into the earth and decorated with bits of bright cloth hung as offerings. “The tree of the People,” Briala said. “Your people.” “And yours.” Felassan looked away. “Though you don’t think so.” “It’s a nice tree,” Felassan said. “Let it just be a nice tree.”

It’s not clear the implication of such comment, although I think it’s not a good one for an elvhenan. He seems to imply these tree are “not nice” at all for the ancient elvhen but they are “the Tree of the people”, understanding “the people” as the city elves. This means the elves who came after the fall of Arlathan, the mortal elves, the elves that ended up rescuing a slave culture thinking it was their original elvhenan one. If the Aravels were ships to transport slaves to centres of experimentation [The Horror of Hormak ], and the Vallaslins were the brands of the noble elvhen over their slaves, there is a big chance that this tree has another horrifying meaning that has nothing to do with the original culture of the elves [or maybe, ironically, it is another representation of the “old ways”, like the aravels and the vallaslins are]. Personally, I think it’s related to the vines that covered the “fire sphere”, but I will talk about it later.

In the elven folklore that barely survived, we have some city elf songs that may still have some weak connection with the truth of the real function of these trees for the Elvhenan:

In the original song of Where Willows Wail, the presence of the words vhenadahl seems to be related to the loss of immortality and the loss of the ability to dream into the Fade. The translation is quite rough to understand it, but it seems to have an elvhen slave origin [it speaks of trying to lead despite the worn-out brands of the vallaslin] and a conflicting relationship with their freedom [they are committed to it, but they describe this freedom as inevitable and troubling].  This way of speaking about freedom makes me think in Abelas and his people: servants of Mythal are more than mere slaves, they worked hard to become her servants, so they embrace this submission to Mythal as a duty, as a purpose, and as a service, so only in this case I can see why freedom may be troubling. This interpretation also makes sense to some degree since the original song has been found in the Temple of Mythal, therefore it must have been written by Abelas’ people, after all.  

If we see the original song, the first line use a negative structure [Tel’, Bana] with the name of the tree. The line translates, in my opinion, something closer to “never again the tree” [bellana= forever, banal=never]. They also speak of “abel revas” [abel= sorrowing, revas=freedom]. This encourages the idea of a freedom that has caused more sadness than anything: we know this applies for the Mythal’s servants who had suffered since she died. Maybe the tree is related to this event of losing Mythal too, so they say “never again the tree”. If we combine this with the codex  Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads, there are three elements that seem to be connected: the death of Mythal, the appearance of the vhenadahl, and the danger unleashed by the Evanuris that was the last straw for Solas. [Explaining my thinking process: Solas says to the Inquisitor that the Death of Mythal was the reason that made him banish the Evanuris; the codex seems to imply it was something else, more horrifying, and probably, connected with her death. Then, the Mythal’s servants suffer their freedom--because Mythal is dead--while sharing some mid-negative sentiment towards the vhenadahl. Hence, maybe the vhenadahl is also connected with her death and the “horrifying thing” that the Evanuris did. This is why I kind of connect these three events with one another]

The most curious detail in the song is that the last part of it is translated using the word "war”, but the original lines does not use the same word at all for that [in fact, we can’t detect any words that may mean “war”], so I feel there is something wrong in this translation or something tricky. The glory and the people were not lost to the war, but to something else which is not a word that can be repeated in both lines. And this “something else” that made lost the people and the glory is related to the “winning/failure” of the Wolf. 

I imagine the fact that the translation of win/fail is so extremely ambiguous  because the elven language uses a very ambiguous word on purpose, since the creation of the Veil--the only solution that the “wolf” found--caused a situation that was a win and a loss at the same time. But I still have my doubts about the “war” part.  Sadly, DA series tends to be a bit inconsistent in their elven language and they do not provide much vocabulary about it to have a better guess. Maybe is “am” war? Unlikely, it should be an independent word.

There is another iconic tree in DAI related to the irony of a peace tree turned into a war table. There is not much said about it than this. We can assume it may have been related to the Elvhenan simply because Skyhold was part of a series of fortress under the command of Fen’Harel, so far we can guess, but the construction of this table may have happened at any moment of the history of Skyhold, which has been handed over other races such as dwarves and humans. The symbols we see in the book Art of Inquisition suggest little.

The tree symbol on this stone can loosely be related to Vallaslins such as Mythal’s [which is too asymmetrical to be related to this one] or the superior part of the vallaslin of Falon’Din [which is symmetrical, but makes no sense for it to be here]. In general, I hardly see any historical link with the elvhenan and a supposed truce [so far, we were not informed that such a thing ever existed]. Plus, if this stone is related to the time of the Elvhenan, it should be related to Fen’Harel, who seemed to have used this fortress as part of his network of operations all over the Waking World and the Fade in his opposition to the Evanuris. So, in general, there is little to say with respect to this tree and I will proceed to discard it from now on when talking about the vhenadahl.

Another connection that I can make with trees and Elvhenan is the disturbing codex A Flowering Imago, which doesn’t show a tree but a vine. Through the codex found on the mural of “The Death of the Titan” [Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads], we know that a “sphere of Fire” was contained by using vines. I’m not sure how much these vhenadahl can be considered “vines” [or maybe its roots can be described as such], but maybe through them and in combination of both previous codices, we may be hinted a subtle connection between Uthenera [which seems to be connected with the vines via A Flowering Imago], and a power to control or restrain a danger underground. Of course this concept is super loosely for my taste, but it’s impossible to say more than this without turning it into a wild speculation.

In one of the last peeks/trailers that showed some DA:D images, we have seen that it may exist an extra meaning to these tree, since one of them appears in an ominous way.

In that image we can see a tree similar to the ones found in the Exalted Plains, surrounded by some Dwarf with long limbs statues and a lot of funerary urns that were used in Ferelden buildings as well as in Elven ruins. The tree seems to be covered by an ignited vine that reminds us a lot to the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads, where the vines cover a red sphere and the runes worn-out over time [associated with anger and fire] as a way of preventing a disaster.

In our exploration of the Exalted Plains [a place that was supposed to have ancient Elvhen buildings such as the Dead Hand or the Citadelle du Corbeau, but were retaken long ago by ancient Dalish around the time of Halamshiral/before the Exalted March against the Dales], we see many big trees with corpses hanging from them. I’m not so sure how many of them could be considered as consequence of the current War of the Lions [Celene vs Gaspard], or as remnants of the time of the Dalish Kingdom and the Exalted March that separated the elves into city elves and the different Dalish clans. If the ancient Dalish got some symbols right [like the wolves as protectors] maybe their interpretation of these trees could have some hint closer to the truth than the modern city elves have.

As a last link to the vhenadahl, we should not forget that Mythal seems to be related to a tree symbology deeply if we take into account her Vallaslin, so the vhenadahl may be related to her, who represented justice and motherly kindness, but we need not to forget that she also had a clear side of Vengeance and Revenge as we learnt in the Altar of Mythal  [A detail that has disturbed me a lot because makes Elgar’nan as another aspect of herself instead of being another Evanuris]. Mythal is also related to the Uthenera Chamber we saw in the Deep Roads,  Lower Walkways, so we find another soft link again between Mythal, tree roots=vines, and Uthenera.

So, if we keep in mind all these details, and return to the concept art of the vhenadahl, and use the symbols we have gathered along the games such as the swirls [check Murals in DAI: Basics], one could be inclined to think that these trees represent something that absorbs a red danger underground, maybe even controlling it. This power of control may be related to lyrium or Fade [swirls] which is also compatible with the idea of being related to Uthenera too. Once again, we can see the subtle link between this iconography and a “vine covering a fire sphere” from the codex  Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads. All this also seem to be potentially related to Mythal and her death. 

Considering all this context, we return to the mural: 

The tree we see at the left of the mural looks a bit thorny. If we can link this to a subtle interpretation of a thorny vine we know via Murals in DAI: Basics that this is a symbol related to darkspawn and the Blight.

It’s also true that this tree has no painted trunk, but we need to remember that only city elves paint their vhenadahl. These tree represent something more ominous to any elvhenan elf.

With the details explained above, I’m inclined to think that this tree may be related to containing and controlling a danger described in codices as a “sphere of Fire”. Its roots can be aesthetically interpreted as vines, controlling the danger underground. Via A Flowering Imago, we can relate vines with Uthenera. The vhenadahl may be related to lyrium, Fade, and potentially Uthenera in an unknown way so far. In this mural, it is suggested that the tree is on fire as well, unable to control the “thing that will destroy the world” after aeons passed [Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads]: Its protective power has worn out. Since the vhenadahl may represent the last barrier containing the “big danger”, Solas’ figure steps forwards to take actions.

The Elf and the Wolf

The elvhen figure, who seems to be Solas, has red eyes, same as the black wolf in the mural. Red eyes usually are a representation of anger, which in this case, and inside the context of having absorbed Mythal, could be interpreted as Solas acknowledging and indirectly working to accomplish Mythal’s revenge. I mean, I don’t think his main goal is to avenge Mythal, but his plan of destroying the Veil and fighting the banished Evanuris will have consequences that will fit such revenge. 

We know Flemeth had decided to avenge Mythal, to give her “a reckoning that will shake the very heavens”, but she also agreed to give her power to Solas, because, most likely, she may have known that this revenge would be accomplished nonetheless through his plan as a side effect. 

The elvhen figure is wearing a black robe with a symbol [a stylised dagger mark] that looks similar to the one I found in the Dorian’s tarot card. It’s still a bit different to the strange “dagger” symbol from the mural “The Creation of the Veil”. I really can’t guess with some decent justification what this symbol may imply. I didn’t see it in any other context/drawing of Nick Thornborrow. 

The red circle behind the elvhen figure seems to be a halo, since it’s centred in his head. It could be a representation of Divinity [in a sense that it’s a halo, which is a symbol always related to sanctification and divinity] but filled with anger [since it’s red] so my guess is that this red halo may represent what Solas has absorbed with Flemeth’s powers: the duty to accomplish Mythal’s revenge alongside his plan of destroying the Veil and get rid of the sealed Evanuris.

The black wolf has red eyes and some parts of his fur show the swirly details that the statue of the Howling Fen'Harel statue displays, so this wolf is Fen’Harel, the guardian/protector. 

Due to its grim-looking and the splashes of black ink around him and Solas [very similar to Solas’ last tarot card which shows black tendrils feeding the towering black wolf behind] it can also be associated with the Demon of Regret from the short story Callback from Tevinter Nights. This wolf in the mural can be a representation of Fen’Harel but also of this demon that Solas has been feeding since the day he created the Veil. It has a colossal size because that’s the amount of regret Solas has gathered in his long life.

Curiously, the ground where the elvhen figure is walking on looks like a part of a sphere or piece of land set on fire. Its border seems to show a certain kind of “dashed” line that we can interpret as a worn-out Veil-like barrier that we had talked about in other posts.

What if this piece of ground is a representation of the sphere of fire as well? Solas may be walking on the sphere of Fire that floats in the Fade [metaphorically speaking, this is art after all].

The white sphere and the Red Lyrium Idol

I always made a soft link between Solas’ words at the end of Trespasser with the murals “The Death of a Titan” and its codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads: the reason why he banished the Evanuris was “the death of Mythal”, but we also know it was more than that; it was about preventing the “release of something that would put at risk the whole world” [that it is implied in that codex] and that Solas kept in secret so nobody would be tempted to use it ever again [or maybe he kept it in secret so it would not be reflected in the Fade as well, and any reflection may be sealed inside the Black City]. In that sense, the Red Lyrium Idol seems to be the synthesis of both concepts in this image.

Due to the structure of this mural, the dashed border, and all our study of the iconography of the Veil in Murals in DAI: Basics, we can conclude that this white sphere with the idol represents something dangerous, and likely, related to all the symbols we saw that exist inside this kind of barrier in previous murals: Black City, red Lyrium, and Evanuris or pride creatures.  

This circle has the same border we saw in other murals [ Murals in DAI: Basics]. It represents a strong barrier, usually the one that forbids the entrance to the Black City, where neither dreamers nor spirits can reach to. This circle contains a danger: the red lyrium idol. 

The similarity of this idol with Mythal were explored in the post Red Lyrium Idol, and seems to coincide with Solas’ claim that the Evanuris were banished because the Death of Mythal [idol] and the whisper in the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads [potentially the red lyrium]. We need to highlight that the idol seems to represent the death of Mythal thanks to some common elements both images share like the spiked crown and the presence of a ring that looks like a Golden Ring [Elvhenan symbol].

Since this sphere is white, and it’s behind the wolf figure, it has an extra potential interpretation of a moon, but it’s not clear how much importance this has or how this affects Fen’Harel. The presence of the moon inside the DA lore has never been important, and it’s barely related to Elvhenan so far the games/books showed us. I know that the Dalish have some lore associated with it: Andruil is the sister of the “moon” [Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt], which may mean that the moon is Sylaise: the Hearthkeeper, but like I always say, this is extremely unreliable, and without another source that would guide us to see where the hint of truth lays, it’s usually a waste of time to make speculations only based on these legends.

Two of the seven semi-circles in here are still glowing in gold, meaning “divinity alive” or “god-like power” still alive. Inside of them there is an asterisk symbol. This may mean--if all our previous conclusions in murals like “The Creation of the Veil” or “The Death of a Titan” were correct--that the (power of a) "heart” of the Titans/ elvhenan orbs are related to the last archdemons: Moon-head creature and Beetle-head creature.

Thanks to one of the last trailers of DA:D, we see that the two semi-circles which are still active are related to the symbols of the creatures that appeared in the last mural of DA:D : the two remaining archdemons [further explanation about them in the post “The Destruction of the Veil”]

Integral conclusion

If we assume that this scene is happening in the Fade, according the inverted triangles in the background, Solas would be walking, metaphorically speaking, on the fire sphere related to the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads. The vhenadahl seems to represent the worn-out mechanism that was protecting the world [green vines] from the danger inside the fire sphere [we can assume that its roots can also be seen as vines, which are restraining this ancient danger underground]. It’s not clear if the vhenadahl has a relationship with lyrium and Uthenera processes even though there are some codices that may show a soft subtle link to one another. 

Solas walks in front of the vhenadahl since this last barrier has fallen and now all depends on Fen’Harel/Solas to fix the world, remove the Veil, and deal with the sealed Evanuris and the biggest danger that the world has ever faced for good.

Solas brings with him the ire of Mythal [red halo] while the black wolf also seems to join efforts against this battle, although it could also be a mere observer as he keeps feeding on Solas’ regrets. It’s not clear what function the big black wolf has in this mural. We can be sure it represents Fen’Harel [thanks to the swirly pattern on its fur] as well as the Regret demon that Solas has been unconsciously feeding since the day he created the Veil [due to the inky splashes around it].

The “big danger” seems to be represented by the white circle that should be containing the Black City. Instead, it has the red lyrium idol in the centre of the white sphere.

This makes a lot of sense when we see the mural “Destruction of the Veil”, where it is revealed that the Black City is contaminated with Red Lyrium too. 

This terrible danger is contained inside a dashed lined barrier we have seen before, which has seven gates and/or protectors, where only two are alive now. This reinforces the idea that the contention mechanism of this big danger has been weakened severely. Based on another trailer of DA:D, we can connect symbols to these gates/protectors, which seem to represent the Archdemons shown in the mural “Destruction of the Veil”. 

If we contrast this with Solas’ words about the Blight and his disapproval of killing archdemons, it seems to reinforce the idea that the dragons which are considered archdemons during the Blights are part of this mechanism of protection. Hence, there are only two dragons-archdemons protecting the world from this bigger danger. 

This white circle also seems to look like a moon. It’s not clear if the moon representation has an important role in Elvhenan lore. We only know based on the unreliable Dalish tales that the moon can be related to Sylaise herself. 

The most integral speculation I can make with all these elements is that inside the barrier that forbids access to the Black City even for the spirits, contains something that the Evanuris “unleashed in their lust for power” and it’s related to the death of Mythal. Maybe it’s the very thing that killed her [remember it’s hard to kill an Evanuris, because Solas implies they have some effective immortality going on, but they managed to kill Mythal anyway].  

Solas managed to seal this danger, probably with the Evanuris trapped inside too, in order to prevent further spreading, and buried all this underground and under the most cryptic secret so nobody would be ever be tempted to use it, and sealed its reflection in the Fade inside a powerful barrier that keeps Dreamers and spirits away [so, he made a double seal= in the Waking World underground and in the Fade, inside the Black City]. Somehow, all these concepts seem to be represented in the red lyrium idol, which reinforces our suspicion that it pictures the death of Mythal protecting “the people” [further details in Red Lyrium Idol ] and unleashing a disease hard to control, accidentally or on purpose is not clear, as a last gesture of revenge.

[autisticriddler]

i was writing a normal story and idiotic me almost wrote action with * around it. i’ve been using character ai too much it seems 😭😭

[userpeggycarter]

@lgbtqcreators creator bingo 💖 animation.

PEGGY WEEK 2024

day seven — birthday extravaganza 🥳

OMG its Blorbo Bleebus!

[in ● sp] [id under the cut]

gifset about Peggy Carter from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

gif 1 of 7. two close-up shots of Peggy are blended together. at the middle, there's a static image of Peggy with her arms crossed. the text says, "OMG this motherfucker is Peggy Carter".

gif 2 of 7. two gifs of Peggy are blended together. there are stats bars at the bottom of the gif. the pairings (extremities) are:

just some guy - the protagonist of life head empty - too many thoughts awful company - ray of sunshine hated by all - loved by all trauma 3000 - untouched by history sadistic for fun - helps others for fun stupid as shit - scary-smart 1000 weapons - 1000 tools enemy of god - at peace with life break the rules - change the rules

gif 3 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together, one of them being of Captain Carter. the text says, "evokes" and the options are the following:

spontaneous gushing powerful violent urges raw, unbridled affection the horny meta-posting on main creative drive defensive feelings distraction delight symptoms of projection absent-minded doodles on tabletops the most godawful takes known to mankind

all options have a checkmark next to them.

gif 4 of 7. two close-up shots of Peggy are blended together. there's a chart at the center of the gif, titled "subclass". the subclasses are:

angst lady enemy of the state friend shaped girlboss soft and sweet brain cell haver just like you fr aspirational character chew toy

the angst lady, enemy of the state, girlboss, brain cell haver and aspirational character options are marked with a circle.

gif 5 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together. at the center of the gif, there are three stats (intense, complex, and fruity) with 10 points each. Peggy has all 30 points. while the intense and complex points are green, the fruity ones have the colors of the bisexual flag (blue, pink, and purple). at the bottom left corner, there's a big asterisk with the following text next to it: if you or a loved one is attached to a character that fills all of these boxes, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

gif 6 of 7. two close-up shots of an animated Peggy are blended together. the text says, "you want them to have...". the list is the following:

a better time less trauma more romance more friends catharsis revenger sympathy a better situation more healing more sex The Realization and a trademark symbol next to it.

all options have a checkmark next to them.

gif 7 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together, a close-up and her silhouette entering a room. "select all that apply", the text says. the list is the following:

tragic backstory? orphan? frequently violent? divorced? has enemies? sidekick owner? no friends? pets stray animals? chronic insomniac? murderer?

there's a checkmark next to "tragic backstory", "frequently violent", "has enemies", "sidekick owner", "pets stray animals", and "murderer". each checkmark has a color that corresponds to a small static image at the bottom of the gif. the tragic backstory one is an image of Peggy crying. the frequently violent one is an image of her holding a gun. has enemies: a picture of Dottie. sidekick owner: a picture of her and Jarvis. pets stray animals: a picture of Peggy holding a puppy. murderer: yet another picture of her holding a gun. end ID.

[arecaceae175]

Hello! I noticed that some of your fics on Ao3 are tagged "Screen Reader Friendly," and I wondered what makes a fic screen reader friendly. Is it just about formatting, or does content matter too?

Hi, thank you so much for asking this question!!! Disclaimer I am not visually impaired so all of this information I have learned by seeing blind or visually impaired people talk about this issue.

It’s primarily formatting! I’ll list everything I do to try to make my fics accessible here.

Line breaks!!! Use the ao3 line break code instead of adding a bunch of symbols. This is the biggest thing I had to change once I realized my fics were not screen reader friendly.

HOWEVER some screen readers won’t pick up on the horizontal line, either. Another good option is to use a short series of symbols, for example: “~~” or “- - -“

Basically, just don’t use more than three symbols in a row. I used to use “~~~/\~~~” with a delta symbol in the middle to look like the triforce, but a screen reader would see that and say “asterisk asterisk asterisk delta asterisk asterisk asterisk” which is pretty annoying lol

Most screen readers don’t differentiate between regular text and bold/italics. It’s fine to have those in your story, but if the bold/italics significantly changes the plot or the implications of a sentence then it is not screen reader friendly

Screen readers can’t describe a line break that is just an empty space. For example, in one of my fics I have a character reading a note, and I have an extra ‘return button’ space before and after the note to make the note distinct from the rest of the text. To make that fic more screen reader friendly, instead of just an empty space, I wrote “[Line Break]”. That way, a screen reader can say “line break”, and readers still recognize it as a line break

If you have any sort of chat fic (AND this goes for hashtags on tumblr too!) with screen names, be sure to distinguish the separate words in the screen name. You can do this with by capitalizing the first letter of each word like this “ScreenNameHere” or with dashes in between each word “screen-name-here”. That helps screen readers and also people with things like dyslexia who have trouble distinguishing words if they aren’t capitalized or separated in some way.

Screen readers can read image emojis like this smiley face 😁 because they have embedded alt text, but they can’t read text emojis as an emoji, like this one “:D”. If you use any of those in your fic, add a description like this: “ :D [Image description: text emoji of a smiley face with a big, open mouthed smile. End description].”

Also, this one doesn’t have to do with a screen reader, but if you have an image embedded in your story, keep these things in mind:

Be sure to describe the image so anyone who is blind or visually impaired can still experience the image. I don’t think it’s possible to add alt text to the actual image, so I usually put this below the image: “[Image ID: description of the image. Note the important details, but be as concise as you can. /End ID]”. Including the image description instead of some sort of alt text is good for DeafBlind people who can’t see the image well enough but don’t use a screen reader.

Some blind or visually impaired people don’t use a screen reader and instead zoom in on the text. If an image is embedded in the story, be sure it is sized correctly. If it isn’t, it can make scrolling sideways to read zoomed in text more difficult because it makes the webpage much wider than the text itself.

Not all my fics have the screen reader friendly tag because 1. There might be a few I haven’t updated yet, and 2. I didn’t include the tag on fics that have weird formatting or are accent heavy. For example, in Kinship I wrote Twilight’s dialogue to represent his strong accent, and those kinds of things with apostrophes and half-words don’t come through well with a screen reader.

I personally don’t think it’s good practice to include a ton of apostrophes or shortened words to distinguish an accent. Even for people not using screen readers, it’s hard to read. For me, if I see a fic with things like that, I won’t read it. Maybe try having a few words that the character’s accent comes through on, or write something about their heavy accent outside of the dialogue.

The “Screen Reader Friendly” tag isn’t an officially recognized AO3 tag yet, but the more people who use it, the sooner it will be!

Those are all the things I can think of right now. If anyone has any other tips to add, please do so!!

[dazlingmy]

COME TO MALAYSIA BAEEE THE INFLATION MAKES IT CHEAP!! :3

THEY GOT A NINJAGO LIVE THEATRE IN LEGOLAND 😭😭

this ones in malaysia btw its called a 4d theatre thing whatever idk-