#back to hof after this!!

[ihernglass]

Title: i would do anything (to feel your lips on mine)

Pairing: Ann/Kuina

Details: One shot, 3.2k words

Summary: The 5 times Kuina thinks about kissing Ann and the 1 time she does.

"The first time you think about putting your lips on hers, you are drenched in blood.

Glass shards embedded in your feet, muscles strained and tense from taking down the Last Boss, you run through the chaotic corridors, sifting through the sweaty bodies and chaos to find Ann. She is the only thing on your mind. That and whether she had solved the mystery of the Witch.

But never for a single moment did you doubt that she wouldn’t."

read on ao3

[exhausted-archivist]

OC Sketch Dump

I'm doing a meme thing... Trying to figure out their faces and hair again (ignore my handwriting).

[tcfactory]

WIP for an Dragon Age AU thing. I have no idea when I'm going to finish this, but I low key wrote a fic about it, so...

The only thing I got out of Veilguard is frustration and AU brainrot. If the writers are going to do stupid shit to the lore, then I'm allowed to go wild with it too and have Hawke, Sten and DA2's Arishok stand in for Rook, because they would bring some much needed drama and character to the role. We are all suck in this mess, but we do it in an entertaining manner.

[moghedien]

It does genuinely shock me how few people in the DA fandom are willing to acknowledge that the Grey Wardens are kinda extremely horrific and fucked up

[anominous-user]

What is your opinion about HoFi and HoO designs? Personally i think HoR, HoT and HoF are better. There's also people complaining about the main story, do you still follow it? I used to like it but since the end of ER arc it seems it's a lot more confusing, and with the OW headache i just skip it all :|

i'mma be honest i'm not a huge fan of HoFi and HoO's designs, the latter even more so. HoFi's design is fine on its own but it doesn't really feel like a new battlesuit, feels more like a HoF skin (specifically time runner, which I guess was foreshadowing. hm). there was also a missed opportunity to throw in some orange accents like in the other HotE incarnations which would have made the design better but oh well.

As for HoO it's...a mess. It absolutely suffers from overdesign in my opinion and the color scheme is kinda bland on Mei (even though I'm normally a fan of it.). only thing i like about it is the mask (which is funny because i keep hearing about how people hate it). i'm still getting her gears bc of the special supply but...i don't know man, it's my least favorite of the new trio designs.

i still follow the main story but I've just been getting frustrated w/ it ever since CH 31 Act 2, and lately for me it's kinda going in one ear and out the other (especially with the technobabble and metaphors used, i just go through the story now and reread the lore later on other platforms) ...so at this point I'm just like "alright let's get this over with" and whenever some shit happens that I don't like I just sigh and move on. Once Part 1 is over i may make another alt just so I can play through it again cuz open worlds are not replayable, though i'm not keen on replaying EE CH 31 Act 2 like. ever again so

(Also whenever Schrödinger I have to fight the urge to skip bc. holy hell)

[couslande]

like i do think tiarnan, if she had to pick between anders and the risk the chantry using force against ferelden and the other wardens, she would accept templars into the wardens and would try to make it work as best as she could (on the surface while quietly hoping they don’t survive the joining or suffer from tragic darkspawn accident) and yeah this would probably make her reunion with anders post-da2 so tense and horrible for everyone who has the misfortune to witness it because she feels she did the best she could with the choices present and had to make a decision that prioritised the safety of many people over one person, whereas he feels betrayed by the wardens as a whole because of her actions

[localgardenweed]

Tried to watch Love Stage cause i heard very little about it cause u live under a rock and thought “What could be so bad?” BIG MISTAKE. I FEEL LIKE THE LOVE INTEREST GUY IS ON A LIST SOMEWHERE I JUST KNOW IT, MC IS ALSO PROBABLY ON A LIST TOO THEY’RE BOTH ON A LIST FOR SMTH IG LOVE NEVER DIES TILL DEATH DO US PART IG, NEVER AGAIN YOU CANNOT WATER BOARD THAT SHIT INTO ME I WOULD JUMP OFF A BUILDING THAN KEEP WATCHING THAT SHIT, I WATCHED THE FIRST 2 EPISODES AND HAD TO DITCH IMMEDIATELY

[laluxea]

I AM STUNNED 🙀🙀🙀😻😻😻

JIMMY PAGE PLAYED LIVE TONIGHT!! At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - inducting Link Wray. On Disney+

he looks great!! Played Rumble. 😁

[imjustdelusionalok]

yandere!dc: goddess! darling

ⁱⁿᶠᵒ ᵃᵇᵗ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵈᵃʳˡⁱⁿᵍ۫ ꣑ৎ

darling is a god from another world who just so happens to immigrate into the dc universe after a very long time of probably embodying... well, everything.

firstly having to live for love as a human, and then ending it all to fight for the beauty of life as god.

she is the reason for existence, from the big to the miniscule.

(so basically op goddess reader who has wayyyy too much power in their hands-- ex: nothing can kill them, nothing can put an end to them, etc--)

the least you could do is seal away her powers, but even that would truly not be enough because your only sealing away 0.000000000000001%. (i mean that 💀)

*cough* anyway... aside from goddess reader backstory, lets go to the inspiration <33

she's a mix of Madokami from Puella Magi, HoF Kiana Kaslana from Honkai Impact, and mostly of Ishtar Ashtart/Space Ishtar from Fate Grand Order <3

originally kind and lighthearted after becoming 'God', but as time passes and stars dimmed, she has become... well... neutral. not good, but DEFINITELY not bad. like this!

"let me help you :)" to "...From the dawn of creation. Man has come from the ground not by his hand but mine. go back to the land and return to dust."

summary: lawful, void, alien... yet beautiful, destructive, human.

sooooo. yup.

:p

ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿˢ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ۫ ꣑ৎ

...she has met the justice league before. because, who in their right minds would ignore the giant falling 'star' that came out of a very visible tear in the sky caused by said celestial body???

dramatically crashing down the surface like a meteorite, you lowkey may have destroyed a 'few' buildings... whoopsies :p

they are surprised. this... girl, no- alien, exudes endless quantity of power, leaking from every blurred pore. it also seems like they might be power themselves...

batman goes bazingas at the amount of destruction caused by your fall leading to an airheaded you getting towed to the JL headquarters and any sort of refusal or fighting back is unallowed. (even tho your more than capable of destroying anything AND everything you still oblige)

though cool as ice, you are so confused deep down. head tilted, vacant expression, the usual from the emotionally detached goddess albeit with a little change. 'what are these humans talking about?' you think, 'what threat?' you think again, unaware that you are the threat being spoken of.

the white slits of the vigilante's mask narrows at your disposition. everything about you seems... off. from your oppressing aura, to the... heavenly allure your blankness brings.

"more alien than the actual alien," a familiar scarlet speedster jokes, in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood. (he failed horribly btw) said alien rolls their eyes and sighs. though he has to admit, you lowkey look kind of cute... but he stops, remembering lois.

once you say your side of the story, they go all shocked pikachu faces again. your a god from another seperate world??? i mean dont get them wrong though, they had their fair share of situations like these, as some dc villains and heroes they know arent even from here originally. but they cant help but feel a bit different about you, something about you makes their soul writhe... and its not in a bad way.

so once B confirms your not a threat despite your extreme potential to act like one, everybody is relieved. you just need a littleeeeeee supervision, thats all :3

and oh look at that, your actually not that bad. your cold demeanor fades once they got to know you, and that void in your eyes is filled with a light comparable to the twilight star's soothing glow— pure, tranquil, and ever so mystifying.

every step you take, life seems to exist and flourish all around you. life heals around you. not only that, but also... them. the dead part of them actually, that died from complications now too complicated to be retold and remembered.

you fill the void they never knew they had, and all their aching scars were no longer painful but tolerable. bearable even, and its all because of you.

at this point, everybody knows how this all plays out. this ordinary tune, twisted into a fanatic's song.

their once innocent admiration has now spoiled into something darker, the more you stay in this world. holy eyes peeked at it, not at them but at the abyss that is their 'love.'

...you were starting to get aware. and a rarity occurred, you were... 'saddened'. for eternities you lived alone, and in an attempt to reconnect with that sliver of humanity you hid and kept, you went here to feel something again. and you did, and you were so successful.

too successful, in fact.

they loved you; so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sooooo much. without you, they would die! :(

and that, in your eyes, is what makes you 'sad'. if your presence drives your beloved mortals to insanity's grip, then you must fly.

fly away from this despair, fly away from this madness.

your 'love' is your undoing, and ultimately also theirs.

their eyes widen as the sky is torn once again, and a familiar star flies back into it, meaning that you--- left. left? left. left? left... left.

something inside them breaks. both hearts any sense of rationality and morality left.

there is no reason to exist without you it seems, and they will do everything just to see you once more, even a second's glimpse.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

...you can't help but feel something you havent felt for a very long time. what was it again, sadness? anxiety? fear? you dont know. the endless rows of your ivory silks flutter even in the slightest movement. something tugs at you, your mind and heart. something tugs at you, telling... that it is far from over.

they call for you, their cries drowned in obsession masquerading as love.

you never answer, as your supposed concern and care for them lessens and your patience dwindles. reality is cruel, but never crueler than you. and that's when you realized it.

...they make your skin crawl. they make you want to vomit. they make you want to scream and cry. they make your ichor run cold. and if they touch you again, you'll--

...huh. who would have thought that was how you truly felt, goddess.

[shiftinglea]

I haven’t entered the void yet since it’s not really my priority, and I know I can manifest without it. But I still want to experience it for its own sake. I also want to experience it through meditation because I’m curious about the process from being fully awake to becoming pure awareness. I am not that interested in waking up in the void. So, I want to share some personal insights about the void state and what seems to be helpful for me. I want to note that there are many ways of entering the void state. What I do is not the only way 🙏

My main method for trying to enter the void state is meditation. I’ve tried many techniques, and I found that doing 3 rounds of Wim Hof breathing is like bypassing the whole process of relaxing and detaching. After three rounds, I’m just chilling and observing what’s happening. My mind is quite calm and clear after breathing, so there isn’t much noise. If I do get some thoughts, I just observe them and let them be.

What also helps me stay thoughtless is imagining collecting every single irrelevant thought—about work, home, things I need to do, stuff from the past, etc.—and putting them into a big metal box, which I then bury in the ground. This trick is very helpful.

I got closest to the void state when I wasn’t even trying to get there. Yes, my intention was to experience the void, but during the meditation itself, I drop this desire. My only intention is to just be and observe what’s happening without reacting to anything.

Whenever I start analyzing what’s happening and try to reach the void state by affirming more, I just don’t progress. But when I just chill, don’t care about the void, and allow myself to be and experience whatever is happening without analyzing or judging it, that’s when I feel like I nearly reach the void state. I felt like I was in a dark room, being pure awareness detached from my body. I know that if I had kept observing this state, I would have entered the void. But I started to get excited and analyze what was happening, trying to get even deeper into the state. So, the progression slowed down until I came back to my body.

It makes sense to me because meditation is about being, observing, and letting go. But when I try to reach the void state, it becomes an act of doing, driven by logic and ego. The void is a state with no ego—it’s just you being pure awareness, perfect as you are. So, it’s not about trying to reach it; it’s about realizing and embracing the idea of already being I AM.

As a bonus, I will share some screenshots from one of my favorite books by Neal Donald Walsch about how to reach the void state. It was quite helpful for me, so I hope it also helps you ❤️

[nevadancitizen]

-> CH. 10: EITHER FICKLE OR A FRIEND (OR A REALLY FUCKING FICKLE FRIEND)

synopsis: connor and you have a conversation. it's not uncomfortable, per se, but it's weird. connor's acting weird.

word count: 2.4k

ships: Connor/Reader, Hank Anderson & Reader

notes: me? projecting onto y/n? it's more likely than you think

HoFS taglist: @catladyhere , @foggy0trees0 , @princessofenkanomiya , @n30n-f43 , @igna4400 (if you'd like to be added to the taglist, just ask!)

HEAD OF FALSE SECURITY MASTERLIST

Connor’s sitting in his unofficially designated chair in the corner of the android autopsy room, and you’re puttering about, stealing glances at him out of the corner of your eye.

Again, the loud and prideful creature in you is baying and yowling like a dog near death. It’s telling you to kick him out – that his kind-of-aggression and kind-of-manipulation is completely unforgivable. It curses at you for your faults, for being weak for him when he feels absolutely nothing for you. 

But you swallow it. You stomp it down and tell it to be quiet for now. 

You pat the autopsy table. It’s surprisingly loud, and startles you a little. “Khm… if you’d like to get started on the memory transfer, you can get up on the table.”

Connor stands and moves over to the autopsy table. He sits on it and leans forward, his elbows on his knees. 

You pull a couple of cables from a drawer in your desk and plug them into the side of one of your computers. When you turn to Connor, you hold up the other ends of them. “I need to plug these into your ports.”

Connor turns his head to the side and presses behind his ear. The plastic of his skin slides back, revealing two small ports. 

“Jacking in. Don’t move.” You grab Connor’s jaw to steady him, then jack in the ports one at a time. 

You pull away and turn to your monitor before you fully register what you just did. You’re so used to doing it out of instinct that you didn’t realize you were holding his face. You feel the tips of your ears start to burn, but clear your throat and try to shake it off. 

“I’m going to sift through your memory banks,” you say without turning to look at him. “Have you had this… well, I usually call it an operation, but it’s not really one. Have you had a query run on your memory before?”

“Not by an external source,” Connor says. “But I do recall the events that happened throughout the day and process them while in standby or rest mode.”

“So you call queries on yourself?” You say. “Huh. Never heard of androids doing that before. But I guess you are a prototype.”

You put your head down and start to type. “Give me temporary access to your systems?”

A pop-up appears on your monitor:

> Android “Connor” (model RK800) giving admin access to Memory Banks. Accept access? Y/N

You click accept and multiple windows appear on your screen. You sort through them and find what you’re looking for. You quickly type:

RK800.memory-banks(location.search);

//=> ‘?Jericho’ {date=11-08-2038} 

A short clip comes up after a few seconds of load time. It starts with a first-person shot of Connor looking at you (god, did you really look that worried?), then takes off and charges the deviant. He connects with the other android, and then you see it: Jericho, painted on a piece of rusty metal, just like how Connor described. Then, Connor is ripped from his connection. The video ends.

“That looks like a…” you mutter to yourself. You don’t finish the sentence. 

“Looks like a what?” Connor pipes up from behind you. 

You rewind the footage from Connor’s memory banks and look at it again. “I was going to say it looks like a boat, but…”

“It’s highly unlikely that the deviants are residing on a boat,” Connor says. “There aren’t many abandoned boats along the Detroit River, and certainly not one big enough to house most of the deviant androids.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” you say. “It’s not like there’s just a freighter floating around for them to take.”

You put your head down again and put in the commands to copy the video to your desktop. After a few seconds, it’s done. 

“Okay.” You pull away from the keyboard and turn to Connor. “I’m done.”

“Actually, Officer?” Connor asks.

Your eyebrows furrow. “Yes?”

He glances away, then back to you. “Do you have the equipment required to run a diagnostic on an android?”

“Uh…” You let out an exhale of air with something between confusion and disbelief. “Yeah? Yeah, I do. Why?”

“Can you run a diagnostic on me?” Connor asks.

“Wh…” Your face twists in confusion. “Why would you want that? I thought you had the operating power to run diagnostics on yourself.”

“I do,” Connor says, and it’s almost like there’s a hint of defensiveness in his tone. “But… I’d just like a second opinion.”

You nod, slowly. “Okay. I’ll… I’ll get that up and running.”

You turn back to the computer and close the running programs to make space for the ones you open. When you’re done, you move over to Connor and remove the cables after warning him. You almost cradle his head as you press your left palm to the port behind his ear, your thumb on his cheek. (The proud creature inside you whines and barks and kicks your liver at that.)

The wires from your glove quickly replace the cables that were just there a moment ago. Connor’s eye twitches once. 

You look over your shoulder at the computer. It’s already automatically running the diagnostic you queued up – way too slow for your liking, might you add.

“Do you have any more books on Russian literature?” Connor asks out of the blue.

You turn back to him. “Yeah. Russians of the past loved to philosophize and think. There wasn’t much else to do when most of the year was spent below freezing for most people. Why do you ask?”

“I was just curious,” Connor says. “I want to know more about you.”

You do your best to hide the bitterness that boils up in your belly. You honestly can’t tell if this is Connor trying to make conversation or another one of his little manipulative tactics. You can do nothing but operate on blind faith.

Connor glances at you out of the corner of his eye, then looks forward. “What is Russian literature about?”

You hem and haw and collect your thoughts before speaking. “It has sobornost, metaphysics, religiosity, intuitionism, positivism, realism… but I like the ones that are more universal. The ones that can apply to everyone.”

“What do you mean?” He says.

“The books about the fear of failure, and the fear of death. How it sucks to be Russian.” You shrug with one arm, trying not to jostle Connor too much. “I mean, all national literatures are – only the name of the nation changes.”

“Hm,” Connor hums and looks down. Looks like you’ve given him something to think about for the time being. 

You look over your shoulder, and the computer screen shows that the diagnostic is nearly done. When it finally finishes, you disengage the wires, the palm of your hand and fingers cool where it touched Connor’s skin. 

You step back and turn to the computer, looking over the diagnostic report. Everything seems normal, and the ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL! message at the bottom of the page confirms that.

“Yeah, you’re fine,” you say. “Not a hair out of place.”

You turn and lean back against the desk. Connor is looking down at the ground. He stays like that for a second, then looks up at you.

“Do you have books on the history of the USSR?” He asks. You internally note his (maybe unintentional) dismissal of the diagnostic report.

“Yeah.” You open a drawer and pull out the first book you see, then hold it up for Connor. It’s a book that was published in the late 1900’s, named The Reversal of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: How the Death of Agent Ekaterina Nechayeva Prevented the Collapse of the USSR. 

“This one is about the Kollektiv 2.0 Disaster and how the death of Major Sergey Nechayev’s wife inadvertently prevented things from…” You think for a moment. “Well, not from going wrong, but from things getting worse.”

You look down at the book. “It’s the same butterfly effect Archduke Franz Ferdinand created, but in reverse. She saved lives by dying instead of ending them.”

“That’s interesting,” Connor says.

“Somewhat.” You put the book back and shut the drawer, then look back up at Connor. “Kind of like… you. You could’ve died killing that deviant in Stratford Tower – the station android. But you risked that to save human lives.” You narrow your eyes at him. “Why?”

Connor looks at you with those big doe eyes. He blinks and tilts his head to the side. “If the deviant succeeded in its mission of a mass shooting, it would’ve most likely killed Lieutenant Anderson, too. Like I said a few days ago, I need both the Officer and the Lieutenant for maximum efficiency when solving this case.”

“So you put your secondary mission above your first,” you say. “Because hunting deviants is your top objective, yes? So you put the safety of Hank above your primary mission.”

“I…” Connor’s LED turns yellow, then returns to blue. “Yes, I did. Because Lieutenant Anderson’s safety was compromised at that moment.”

You hum and lean back, crossing your arms. You didn’t exactly love putting him in situations like this – ones where he was forced to reflect inwardly, guided by your hand. How you both somehow rounded back to these conversations and topics was almost like a base instinct, spurred on by your primal reptilian hindbrain and his innermost motherboards. 

“Why do you keep doubting my non-deviancy status?” Connor finally asks. 

“I…” You exhale sharply. “I’m just not used to being around androids that are so expressive. I know it’s part of your… social relations program or your interrogation software, but still. Maybe I’m just a fool.”

You tap the front of the drawer you just shut. “Not a fool regarding books or cybernetics or polymer, but a fool regarding relationships.”

Connor looks at you weirdly. “Officer, we’re not… in a relationship.”

“Not like that!” You feel your face grow warm. “We’re two people that have met each other. By definition, we have a relationship.”

“Oh,” he says. “Well, what do you think of our relationship?”

“I mean…” You look up at the ceiling, your eyes tracing the outlines of the tiles. “I’ve always had trouble putting people into boxes. My mind seems to blur the lines between stranger, acquaintance, and friend. So most people, even friends, just default to some weird in-between.”

Your eyes return to Connor. “Are we… friends? Because I don’t know if we are. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just… truly don’t know.”

Connor tilts his head to the side. It kind of reminds you of a puppy looking at something it doesn’t understand. “I believe so.”

You allow yourself to feel just a spark of hope, but you’re careful to not let it ignite into a Californian wildfire. You bite the inside of your lip to keep from smiling too widely. “It would be nice to be friends. But… you have to promise me something.”

“Yes?” He says.

You steel your expression. “You admitted to basically manipulating me to get into my good graces. Please, don’t do that again. I don’t want you to be fake around me. I…” You swallow thickly. The creature of pride in your belly is baying and scratching at the walls of your stomach. “I don’t want the Connor who kisses ass at every opportunity, or the one who worships the dirt I piss on. I want the real Connor. Even if… even if the real Connor is just a machine.”

Connor just stares at you, almost unblinking. His LED is circling in on itself in a steady yellow. You feel your face start to burn hot with shame and you’re just about ready to fall through the ground. Your eyes fall to the floor.

“Uh, never mind, forget I said –”

“No,” Connor cuts you off. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ll try my best not to… ‘kiss ass’ in the future.”

You feel a laugh bubble up in your throat and you can’t even stop it before it spills from your lips. It’s so sudden that you have to bring a hand to your mouth to try to silence yourself.

Connor looks at you inquisitively. “Why are you laughing?”

“You…” You giggle, then clear your throat. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you curse. It sounds weird coming from you. Like it’s foreign.”

“I’ve always been able to curse,” Connor says. “I just don’t feel the need to.”

“I know,” you say. “It’s just… odd, is all. I’m not used to it. Like when someone tells you the sky is blue. You have to pause for a moment, then you think, ‘Oh, of course. That’s obvious.’ Not because you didn’t know that the sky is blue, but because you’re not used to people stating the obvious like that.”

“Huh.” Connor looks down at the floor. “You talk a lot. It’s useful for my machine learning algorithms.”

You perk up a little at that. To hear Connor say that he likes when you talk, even in a completely roundabout way, is… weirdly comforting. (You can faintly feel the dry grass around the spark of hope catching fire in your chest. The proud beast stomps out the growing flames and keeps it in check to make sure it stays just that – a small, flickering spark.)

“Well, khm…” you look away and scratch your cheek. “Thank you.”

Connor nods, but doesn’t speak.

You glance at the clock on one of your many monitors. It’s nearing seven in the evening. “I should probably get going. It’s getting late.”

“It is,” Connor says. 

You quickly save everything on your computer and shut off the monitors. You grab your coat from the back of your chair by your desk and shrug it on. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” You say. 

“Yes.” Connor’s eyes twitch and his LED flashes yellow for a moment. “Lieutenant Anderson has just alerted me that his request for a meeting with Elijah Kamski has been accepted. It’s set for 11:20 AM tomorrow.”

You nod. “And I’m assuming Hank will swing by to pick me up.”

“Yes,” Connor says. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Officer. Have a good night.”

You smile at him, a lightness in your chest. “You too.”

[herearedragons]

I COULD MAKE ISPHIRE SURANA INTO A GREY WARDEN ROOK

actually. could I make Adina into a Rook and probably have her romance Taash or Bellara

[lolilewenk]

This is my last promise Tomorrow I am going to enter the void in 3D

How am I going to achieve a state of pure consciousness?

I planned to do this earlier, but I couldn't wake up in the middle of the night. So I'll do it on September 20th! FINALLY! WITHOUT DELAY!

How exactly I plan to achieve this:

1) I set the alarm for 1:30 and 3:00. I wake up, turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. After the second alarm rings, I get up and go drink tea to wake up properly

2) Maybe I'll listen to subliminals or do some affirmations before I go back to bed. Basically, I need the whole family to sleep

3) I lie down and find a comfortable position, most likely on my back, so as not to fall asleep

4) I intend to do 10 rounds of Wim Hof ​​breathing exercises. ideally, of course, 15 or 20, to relax my body well

5) And the last steps: relax and affirm (I am, I am in emptiness, I am pure consciousness)

For someone who has entered the void in 4D a million times, this won't be difficult.

I know that I have an ideal void concept. I know that I am a master of the void. I am a master of the state of the void. And for now the master will affirm "I am"

[aymayzing]

Fate of Southern Thedas Rant

Okay, so

All in all, I enjoyed Veilguard. I have some gripes with the game and I can already point to a few things and go "yeah, I don't care what the game says. I am discarding that and filling it in with some headcanons" which happens with literally every Dragon Age game.

BUT

The main thing I dislike is what the game present as happening in the South of Thedas.

I've spent three games saving the South, piece by piece, I cannot accept it falling now, in a game that doesn't care about these parts of Thedas, so much so that it's only really acknowledged in codex entries.

I say - if for some reason the devs want Veilguard to be separted from the other three games, then give us LESS infromation about the South. I don't need letters telling me that the places I've saved once are now lost and therefore it didn't really matter. Tell me that the South is fighting its own battle and leave it there.

In a perfect world, however, here is where we'd have an acknowledgement of previous games.

Mention that mages in their new orgnization have been supporting the fight. Or that the rebuilt Templar order is leading the charge somewhere. If the Inquisitor encouraged Cassandra to rebuild Seekers new and better, mention that they're a great help with fighting demons. Bring up the conclusion of Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. If a truce was forced upon Celene, Briala and Gaspard, say that they're using the chaos to fight for power. Or that Gaspard, as a soldier, has been great at protecting Orlais. What about the decision regarding the Wardens? Say it sucks there aren't Grey Wardens in the South or how fortunate that they're here.

Mention HoF. If they're alive, they're protecting Denerim. If they allied with the Architect, say there's darkspawn infighting in northern Ferelden. That thanks to the Warden being an X, there's a strong bond between Orzammar/the Dalish/mages and Ferelden and they're fighting hand in hand or that the elves of Denerim have been especially well organized and are protecting their city.

And then it can all be in codex, in missives. It's a positive thing then. I get to know that the choices from previous games influenced something in this one and I'm happy to read about it in a codex or a letter from the Inquisitor. But my friend who's playing DA for the first time doesn't care and they can skip those codexes.

I don't think the South has fallen and will never get back up again. I see Rook defeating the gods as a deus ex machina. With them gone, everything else is saved. If Minrathous can be rebuilt after being thouroughly blighted and destroyed during the finale, so can Denerim, Kirkwall, Val Royeux.

But. I just wish it was stated in game and not something I have to come up with on my own based on some ending slides. I wish the devs didn't discard the parts of Thedas I've grown to love over the previous games twice over. I wish they made another decision here

[paarthursass]

not to advocate for MORE sexism in bioware games or anything like that but like...the "gender equality" in DAO is so poorly thought out and by that I am SPECIFICALLY referring to women in the Grey Wardens.

Sure yeah Alistair makes that off-hand comment about how "there aren't many women in the wardens" that's more indicative of the writing team's sexism than anything else, but genuinely speaking I think there's actually a valid reason for women to not be allowed in the Grey Wardens.

You cannot tell me that Alistair and the HoF were the first to discover what Broodmothers were and how they were made. You cannot tell me that Grey Wardens have been fighting back Darkspawn for centuries and they do not know about Broodmothers. And if the Grey Wardens know about Broodmothers, then they must know that sending female Grey Wardens down into the Deep Roads is a bad fucking plan.

I can understand concessions being made during a Blight; hell, being a Grey Warden is such a Shit Job that I can understand the Grey Wardens being willing to take in anyone. But like...the women who join cannot go down into the Deep Roads for their Calling. And I would argue that them going down into the Deep Roads at all is a bad plan unless they've got some equivalent of a suicide pill with them in case of capture by Darkspawn.

It honestly is baffling to me that there's NO mention of protocols for female grey wardens during their Calling or expeditions to the Deep Roads being different AT ALL. All it would take is Alistair saying something along the lines of "So that's why there's so few women in the Wardens" after they discover the Broodmother.

Because a woman joining the Wardens isn't just risking death.

She's risking a horrific, violating transformation that turns her into a creature that endangers everyone.

[hyperbali]

This seemed to go over well on r/dragonage, so I will also share it over here!

The question was:

Which DA Romances Do You Think Would Be Open To Having Kids?

DAO

Alistair - if he's got that Strong Theirin Bullshit going on, I think he's having a couple kids regardless of if it's with HoF or Anora. He's a great goofy dad but can't discipline worth a damn.

Leliana - Mmh... she would probably prefer to adopt rather than give birth, I think. Even then, she seems more like an auntie than a mother.

Morrigan - Did not ever foresee or want it for herself, but is a pretty decent mom by virtue of not wanting to be like Flemeth. Not a "cool" mom, but would let her kids have their independence.

Zevran - I can only ever see it being on accident, as beforehand he would have absolutely denied it - but once the possibility is in reach, he can't let the idea go. Ultimate Girl Dad.

DA2

Anders - Nope. Back in Awakening he liked his freedom without fetters too much, and over the course of 2 he gets too focused on becoming a martyr. Ain't ever gonna happen.

Fenris - Not something I think he actively wants, but is willing to take responsibility if it happens. He's the kind of stoic dad that it's hard to get an outward reaction from, but he's definitely protective of his kids.

Isabela - HAHA. That's adorable, kitten! (She probably just ends up kind of semi-adopting a galley kid, but in a way one would adopt a stray outdoor cat - leave it to its business.)

Merrill - Kind of taken aback by the idea, but secretly grows on it. I think she'd probably end up more of a mother figure to refugee elves, though.

DAI

Blackwall - Much as it's cute to think of him as a dad, I think what he did with the mercenary company is going to haunt him too much, even if he goes back to being Thom. He's content with the Inquisitor alone.

Cassandra - So long as she's not Divine, she would be willing to consider it - but would only want just one. Hard disciplinarian, but secretly a softie on some occasions.

Cullen - He's gonna end up having to build an entire farm community just to house all the impending kids and dogs. This man wants a BIG FAMILY.

Dorian - The thought of it is instantly repellant to him just on the basis of it having been expected of him for so long. He'd also be quietly terrified of ending up like his own father, hurting his own child while thinking he's doing his best for them... so no, definitely not happening.

Iron Bull - Hadn't ever really thought about it... ever, but if he's Tal-Vashoth, his heart melts when he sees any of his own babies for the first time. Any kid's got him wrapped around their little finger, and a whole host of aunts and uncles in the Chargers.

Josephine - She wants at least two, but preferably three - it simply wouldn't do for any of her children to grow up lonely. Hilariously, she's one of the strictest parents.

Sera - She sort of just wants to keep the Inquisitor all to herself for as long as she can, but if her wife really, really wanted it, she'd shrug and say why not? An alright mom, especially when they're still little, but I think she'd get really frustrated when they hit their teens.

Solas - He would like to say he doesn't wish it were possible, sometimes. He would like to say that.

DAV

Bellara - She would go nuts tracking down every single child-rearing research material she could and generally get herself anxious about it, but she'd turn out to be one of the best moms of the bunch.

Davrin - Willing to adopt after a while, especially once Assan starts getting older and leaving for longer periods of time as he gains his independence. That kiddo is definitely growing up with the best boy bird-cat-dog protector. Bit of a gruff dad, but he means well and can ease up with help.

Emmrich - Either way you shake it, probably not. Either he's content with Manfred and wouldn't want to chance leaving a young child behind when he eventually passes, or he just can't because he's a lich. For the latter, though, I think he'd be a great dadly mentor for the ages.

Harding - The ultimate in mommy cottagecore. TELL me you can't see her hiking through a forest with a bundled baby on her back, a kidlet skipping at her side, singing together as they head back home for the day. Adorable.

Lucanis - Incredibly unnerved by how much pressure is on him by being The Last Man Standing of the Dellamortes and what that means for their legacy, as well as being terrified over the possibility of what Spite could do to a child... but man, the thought haunts him. He wants to feel part of a close family again so bad. He would cry the first time he held his baby.

Neve - Probably not interested in having any of her own, but definitely ends up being kind of the boss-slash-denmother of a bunch of urchins in Docktown. She (lightly) bullies them into eating and sleeping, and they're her eyes from the shadows.

Taash - Their hang-ups over their mom are way too intense for that. Helping other Qunari and/or Tal-Vashoth adjust to a non-Qun life is about as far as that idea is gonna get.