#beserker meta

[jazzmckay]

'Killing's what swords are for': an Oghren analysis

companion piece to my other meta, 'I am your Paragon': a Branka analysis"

upon walking into the orzammar commons, you encounter an argument between two groups of dwarves that turns into a fight, resulting in one being killed. this is your first introduction to the political situation in orzammar, to bhelen and harrowmont, and to dwarven culture itself. the captain of the guard laments that the warden--an outsider--happened to arrive in time to see this, as it makes the dwarves look violent and disorderly. he seems to disapprove of the fight being witnessed by an outsider more than he disapproves of the fight happening at all.

behind him, a grand bridge stretches across the city, a bigger and more eye-catching landmark than anything else around it, even the doors that lead to the diamond quarter, which houses the shaperate and the royal palace. this bridge leads to the provings, where dwarves pit themselves against each other, sometimes to resolve grievances, sometimes just to fight for fighting's sake.

the dwarves are fighters. with the constant threat of darkspawn pushing at the borders of what's left of their empire, they have to be.

orzammar is also thoroughly structured. the caste system defines who a person is--who they must be. everyone has a role, given to them by birth. there are rules, and the dwarves follow them strictly. duty is the most important thing, and the cost of rebelling is steep. if an individual should step out of these rigid boundaries, the only recourse is an honourable death by joining the legion of the dead. otherwise, the casteless are left in the destitute dust town, or they go to the surface; both options involve that dwarf being removed from their people's records, no longer a recognized member of their society.

between this strictly regimented system and the value placed on their warriors and defenders, dwarven society exists on the razor's edge between violence and order. in some ways, it's a blend of the two. in other ways, the impossible dichotomy can ruin a person who only ever sought to be what orzammar needed them to be.

oghren is a member of the warrior caste, and he is also a beserker. his purpose in life is to be a fighter, a defender, a protector. the warrior caste is the sword and shield of orzammar. without them, darkspawn would likely overwhelm the legion of the dead and then lay siege to the city, and so they are trained--and expected--to be as fearsome of a warrior as they can be.

as a warrior, oghren was successful, and gained respect and renown. being an exemplary member of the warrior caste, he was chosen to marry branka, who was an exemplary member of the smith class. oghren was already interested in felsi, but he did his duty to his people and gave her up to marry branka. they were both recognized for their accomplishments and upheld as role models, all the way to branka eventually being named a paragon, a living ancestor, akin to a god.

and then branka disappeared.

and orzammar gave up on her.

anyone you talk to about branka will tell you what a genius she was, about the invention of hers that earned her paragon status. they'll also tell you that she's been gone in the deep roads for so long that there's no way she's still alive. people have accepted that she's gone, and it's a waste to send search parties out after her, as they'll just lose more people in the process.

oghren can't let this go. branka is his wife, and it's easy to see how much she means to him--even though their relationship was rocky--in how he talks about her accomplishments, her cunning, her tenacity. to him, it's a disrespect for orzammar to give up on her and assume her dead. he's convinced she's still alive out there, and the lack of belief from others, the lack of action, is maddening for him.

oghren describes being a berserker as "mad rage". he says:

Oghren: The hard part is getting in touch with your rage. We all learn to hold that back. It's why we don't kill every duster who looks at us sideways. You need to shut that off.

being a beserker on behalf of orzammar means unleashing that mad rage in defense of the city, and when orzammar abandons oghren's wife, their paragon, he is understandably livid. this leads to him demanding action, and killing a lord's son who doubted branka was still alive, in a duel that was meant to only be to first blood. the warden first encounters oghren when he's arguing with loilinar ivo about the lack of support for branka, and he'll explain the situation oghren is now in, two years after branka's disappearance and as a result of him killing that lord's son:

Loilinar: It was a huge scandal. Oghren should've been executed, but he'd won honours in the Deep Roads. Instead, they stripped him of all weapons, and forbid him from engaging in fights within city limits. If he breaks the decree, he'll be exiled.

loilinar also aptly refers to oghren as "practically gelded". oghren is a warrior, and a berseker, who served orzammar well enough to gain honours and be part of an arranged match. his rage has been a tool for orzammar's protection. he played his role perfectly, up until orzammar abandoned branka. he gave everything to orzammar, and only lost everything in return. he may not have been exiled immediately, he may still be oghren of house branka, but house branka no longer exists in the eyes of most. the entire house, oghren excluded, disappeared, and is presumed dead. oghren is still allowed in orzammar but he isn't allowed to carry weapons, he no longer has his family, he no longer has his people's respect. the only thing that's left to him now is drinking away his sorrows and trying, again and again, to convince someone, anyone, that it's worth sending a group after branka.

when you first get to speak with oghren, he's drunk, angry, and distrusting. he calls you out for doing dirty work for one of the potential kings. he doesn't believe you genuinely want to help him find branka out of the good of your heart. and what reason does he have to think otherwise? no one else is willing to help him, especially not without ulterior motives. the warden is just a stranger, or worse, a lackey for the kinds of people who have disrespected branka and ignored his pleas. his rage has been simmering without an outlet for two years. his city has given up on him as much as it gave up on branka. the oghren you meet is a shadow of his former self, beaten down, practically a nobody.

oghren was orzammar's sword. killing is what he is for. all he ever tried to do was be what orzammar needed him to be, to fit in that strict caste system, but how could he, when he was taught to give into a wild, mad rage, within a society built on rules and order?

oghren himself says it best later on, when you ask him about the warrior caste:

Oghren: You get a sword or an axe and are told to go out and defend your city. It's the best thing in the world, that is until you try to live in the city you saved. I mean, they train you to kill, teach you to harness your rage at the first noise you hear, then try to set a hundred sodding rules about it. Like those Provings. Ancestors show their favor through the strongest arm, right? So why so many rules saying how to fight and when you win, and not to bloody kill? Killing's what swords are for! You toss a nug to a deep stalker, you don't expect it not to eat the thing, right?

while branka is lost and doomed in her drive to live up to orzammar's standards, oghren still has a chance for escape. after completing paragon of her kind, oghren leaves orzammar without any hesitation. becoming a surfacer is exile, it is to be casteless, and many dwarves are wary of what lies beyond their city, with that vast open sky above. but oghren doesn't hesitate, and he's hardly fazed. later, he expresses that he doesn't miss orzammar:

Oghren: What? Miss Orzammar? Are you mad, in addition to being ugly? They treated me like a puddle-fly back there. I'm never going back.

and that he prefers the broader, less strict world of the surface:

Oghren: No one has any idea who you are. Or what you're doing.

in essence, he's free. he has a blank slate. he isn't a member of the warrior class, he isn't the husband of a paragon, he isn't oghren of house branka. he is a companion to the warden, and will fight against the blight, but these are connections he chose and willingly aligned with. when all this is said and done, he can do anything he wants with his life.

oghren's personal mission isn't just about hooking him up with an old flame. it's about helping him get what he truly wants, if felsi will have him back, and a second chance at a life that will make him genuinely happy. in the awakening dlc, his personal mission then is about balancing the person orzammar made him into with having a family. everything that happened in orzammar has left a mark on him; settling down completely may never be possible for him. he feels like killing is all he's good at, and now he has joined the wardens as well, but with the right encouragement, he can embrace fatherhood.

it may not be the most picture-perfect ending, but it works. oghren has gotten to make choices for himself, and the grey wardens provide him an outlet, give him the chance to still fight orzammar's main enemy on his own terms, and to fight along comrades who are all equal, who see him as a brother-in-arms without any politics, expectations, or additional obligations in play.

in the oghren the family man quest, when encouraged to stay in touch with his family, oghren says:

Oghren: And hey, (chuckles) the little one will grow up thinking Daddy's a great hero.

and maybe that is all oghren needs to be happy, in the end, after giving all of himself to every fight he has faced: to be seen as a hero.

[jaybeess]

One Piece DND AU — Romance Dawn Trio!

Here is something I have been working on for a couple of months— One Piece DND! I wanted to mix DND lore and One Piece lore. Make them into playable characters that are balanced and fun! I am also making playable sheets and sprites— show some love if you would like me to post them!

Basic Back Info:

Monkey D. Luffy:

Aasimar Protector (wanted to do something based on his Nika origins… also his role as a leader. The flight can be revamped into his bounciness)

Pirate background (duh)

3 Barbarian Beserker (Wanted to show how he shrugs off his attacks and the damage, and punches twice as good. I don’t think monk really displays his rubbery capabilities. Maybe before the time skip— but as a barbarian berserker he still gets a lot of attacks)

5 Battlemaster Fighter (More of the leader and how he has special menuevers his his fighting abilities. I think he would want to protect his crew as much as possible) + Unarmed Fighting Style

Mobile Feat (Wanted to keep freedom of movement + be able to weave through the battlefield)

Cloak of Displacement (His build is less a tanky build, but more an avoid being hit build.)

—x-x—

Roronoa Zoro

Shifter Beasthide (I wanted to include some tiger aspects that he has and also include the animalistic aspects to his special attacks. I think his were mode can correlate to his demon mode without being a squishy tiefling.)

8 Samurai Fighter + Two Weapon Fighter (Kind of a no brainer)

Bounty Hunter

Dual Wielder Feat (AC Bonus)

Dragon’s Wrath Sword (Wado) + Alchemy Jug (Haha)

—x-x—

Nami

Summer Eladrin (I wanted to play more off of her connection to the weather and nature, that she often shows on the sea. I think also fey ancestry has to do with her trickery and summer with her fiery personality)

8 Storm Sorcerer (I wanted her to go crazy with the lightning damage and really have her be a fun build. I think meta magic also shows how clever she is in her fights. The flight plus the fey step makes her stay as far away as possible aswell.)

Ruined Background (Wanted to go into more of her backstory with Arlong and I think the Alert feat fits her well aswell)

Elemental Adept Feat - Lightning (Make sure she does all the damage with her lightning and thunder damage)

Staff of Defense (Climatact) + Magic Tattoo of Constitution - (Wanted to maintain her crappy AC while also being able to cast mage armor for free. Also can be workshopped to include Zeus as protecting her!)

That’s all for now will be posting the next three next.

[sapphire-weapon]

Dude

DUDE

I cannot tell you how much your meta-analysis made my life relatively just better. As a hardcore Cleon shipper I started reading ur analysis on eagleone and was like awwwww, and then I went back to play re4r and everytime Ashley was like “Leon watch out”, I’d honestly subconsciously reply “thanks babe”. To top it all off I’m pretty sure I started shipping eagleone out of spite (cuz of Aeons being assholes) and I am glad I never went back, CAUSE THEY’RE SO CUTE OH MY GOD THEY SHOULD KISS. Honestly at this point I would ship any ship where Leon doesn’t feel like he’s being manipulated or held at gunpoint.

Anyways I hope you’re having an amazing day and pls post more vids of u playing the beserker mod 💕

after staring at this ask for like 10 minutes and not knowing what to say i decided to grab a cat pic to best describe how i was feeling

[cosmicjoke]

Hello, I'm new here, so can I ask if you've done an analysis or meta about Berserk? If so, what tags should I go to to find them?

I actually have, haha. Mostly about Guts and Griffith's relationship, since I think it's actually the most vital one in the series. If you look under Beserk, and then add "Guts" and "Griffith" on my blog, they should come up. Hope that helps and thanks for asking!

[sortanonymous]

Max Haltmann, soup can sports curses, and some of the weirdest foreshadowing in Kirby fanfic history (Meta Knightmare III)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR META KNIGHTMARE III

In Chapter 12 of The Later Roller Coaster, among other things listed for what the Knights are doing post-RtDL, it's mentioned that Max got his face on the labels of ETHICALLY SOURCED cans of chunky chicken soup. Sound familiar? Because this does involve some real-life sports stuff, crazily enough.

So you know Chunky's Soup? And you know how athletes, especially NFL players, star in ads with them? Well there's a Madden cover-style curse, especially prevalent in the 2000s, where players in those ads would get injured afterwards. (If any 2000s Eagles fans happen to see this, then I am very sorry for triggering any bad memories.) So how does this all tie together to Max?

Well the curse got Max too, and quite badly. And by quite badly, I mean it killed him! No, it wasn't because of him flying out and getting trapped by Star Dream, or Star Dream going beserk and nearly killing Susie before he pushed her out of the way! It was that one soup can sponsership that sealed Max's doom! This is why you shouldn't sell out, kids! (For real, it's actually pretty ironic considering how much of a capitalist maniac post-Star Dream Max is, both in canon and in MKM.)

Yep! I seriously used a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to a C-tier sports curse involving soup commercials in a Kirby fic to foreshadow the altered death of Max Haltmann (who btw becomes one of the Meta-Knights here alongside Susie after happily finding her years before Planet Robobot can happen). All I can say is that when I was first thinking up this insane saga in late 2019/early, pre-lockdown 2020, I wouldn't exactly have expected it would come to this (for one, the only sport I was even a bit interested in starting in 2020 was NASCAR, hence the retired racer-turned-ship salesman in MKMI). But hey, in case you haven't noticed yet this decade, at lot can change in four years!

[marzipanilla]

pff I've already forgotten tabs, friendships died with tabs, true friendship began with 'randomly remembered tidbit'

Forgot to mention this in the other convo- but Jasper has motivation and drive and an actual personality! I can see the smashy smash paralells w BB but BB literally has nothing else going on xD (and also a tangent off another thing bc I realized I forgot to say but a good post-beserker freak out IS great for a character lol)

Yeah Mark changing suits doesn't signify anything bc I don't feel like I know who he was! Plus, the suit change wasn't even his decision! it just. happens to him. like so many other things...

bc of watching JL show my brain was kinda gnawing at me to try and configure an Omni-Man + JL thing which I prolly wont do, but then it got me thinking about Nolan and Peter Parker (im aware they're different universes my comic knowledge isnt that bad lol) interacting and just the hilarity of Omni-Man deciding to absolutely FUCK w Spider-Man and like, help JJonah out- not just the JK Simmons connections for meta hilarity. just. most powerful man on planet deciding to fuck with this one particular guy. I'll get you pictures of spider-man : )

The 'They weren't promoted at work, turns out they were a supervillain' support group would be fucking amazing. What are the can't be called to testify against a spouse laws like in 'their spouse can turn into a pile of magma goo and kill everyone' world.

We kinda touched on it in the rogues gallery sidetrack- but fr, why couldn't we have more villains who fought against Omni-Man showing up??? did he just fucking kill all the people who ever went against him?? forget ppl coming after Mark bc screw your dad- what about people offering him a damn JOB bc wow that man sure did beat the shit out of me once, wait? he's evil?? any chance you're evil now too son ??? lol. that would be great. People not just being angry at Debbie but being TERRIFIED of her bc she was with the most powerful guy on the planet AND HE MIGHT COME BACK. you will tell him we were nice to you, future queen, right?? and her just having to be like I'M NOT A FUCKING SUPER VILLAIN !!

The fact Debbie refuses to move is so wild to me lol Give us a reason why that house is do goddamn important to her to justify why they don't want to design new backgrounds !! lol

Her just straight up starting to call him Mr Stedman bc FUCK if I am referring to you like a friend/colleague whatever the fuck. Her just full on NOT responding if he tries and calls her Debbie. She can't stop him but she can stop interacting like all his bs is normal. she can be a nuisance even if she can't be a threat.

I've thought but couldn't figure where to go with- the idea that she finds the GDA cameras instead of Nolan's bloody uniform when she was searching the house bc, wtf, are they using magi-tech nano cams or something?? she tore the house apart how did she not find anything!! I'm also super curious to know wtf the 'passive monitoring' looked like when that woman was about to jump off a bridge. would he have teleported down there if she was about to jump ??? an agent pop out of a car?? not do anything bc fuck it they were only watching the house??

I feel like their budget has def been squeezed SO tight. and it's just so sad. we'll always have S1, I guess.

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[pocketramblr]

Will I end up making a post about the afo quirk like I did erasure

[ofmermaidstories]

What’s your least and most favorite thing about Bakugou (not physically)

I was going to say his dumb faces for both least and favourite thing about him, but then realised that was physical LOL, so I’m going to have to go with my second answer for both least and favourite thing which is, quite simply, his anger.

Despite being played both straight and for comedic purposes, Bakugou Katsuki’s anger is fascinating because it’s so…. horrific? The first few chapters/episodes are so hard to consume because Bakugou is genuinely so angry. It’s unhinged, like, genuinely so. And it’s made so, so clear that this works against him, time after time — the way it cripples him in that first training exercise where he tries to murder Deku. At the Sports Festival, when his disappointment at not being seen as a worthy threat by Todoroki ends with him being chained in front of literal millions, freaking out. The way his anger and the treatment it gets him by society at large ends up making him a target for the League of Legends. His bullying of Deku, in general, and how he eventually has to atone for that. And on a meta level — the way that his anger and what he’s done because of it can divide the BNHA fandom.

There’s something…. idk, terrifying and all-consuming about cis male anger. We’re all subjected to it, whether we like it or not, and here you have this medium written by a man, in part about anger and what it can do, what happens to the victims of it (Deku, Todoroki, Dabi, Shiggy) — and arguably one of it’s most popular characters is like…. a poster child for Anger Management. Anger by itself is…. brutal, it’s kind of the nature of it, but there’s something very specific and violent about male anger, let alone the brand that comes with cis teenage boys. The brand that comes with cis teenage boys who are also super-powered, and quickly building muscle and strength specifically so they can deal damage. I dunno if it’s because of the privilege and power they all inevitably hold, or hormones or what, but it’s scary. It’s scary, even coming from our favourites. Even Deku has it — the fandom uwu. It’s that gap between this boy who’ll cry because he’s happy/grateful and then the cold snap of him wanting to test out a new kicking style on a childhood “friend” who’s honestly been a shit to him since day one. It’s the thing that throws him into beserker mode. It’s apart of him, like Bakugou’s is — Deku just has a sweeter temperament overall to balance it out. That kind of anger can be alienating, especially in Bakugou, when it erupts.

Now, why is this also my favourite aspect of his character? Because I think Bakugou’s anger is also tempering him — I think he is learning to wield it, as oppose to wear it. The thing about anger is that once you live in long enough you learn to recognise when and how it can help you. Bakugou has learnt the downfall that comes with letting your anger run rampant — he’s sunk to the bottom with the stone of it around his neck, and now he has to find a way to break back through the surface, still carrying it. How do you turn a chain into something that can get you to freedom, as opposed to keeping you in place? Bakugou’s still a teenager — he’s still learning. But I like to imagine that as an adult he’s taken those chains and wrapped them around his fists to reinforce his punches, as opposed to keeping him from looking up. Just like his bullying of Deku will always be formative to who he is, so will his anger. And I think we all need the reminder to take the worst part of ourselves and use it to drag ourselves to somewhere closer to betterment.

[bern-the-bridge]

COMPARISONS BETWEEN SALEM’S LIEUTENANTS AND CINDER’S FACTION

Tyrian & Emerald

They are loyal to the point of obsession.

Their motives are tied to their respective leaders. (Metaphorically speaking, their weapons come in pairs, symbolising how the story can not have one without the other.)

The least likely to betray their leaders.

Watts & Mercury

They are arrogant and condescending and meant to ask about their leaders’ plans, but not necessarily rebel against or question them.

Their motives are mentioned or implied, but their stories are incomplete. (Semblances are meant to be an extension of oneself, so allegorically it makes sense for those two to be the only ones who don’t have semblances, albeit for different reasons. The writers have confirmed that Watts has yet to unlock his semblance, and it can be seen as meta commentary as us the viewers have yet to truly unravel him as a character. Mercury’s semblance was taken from him, so he is trying to fill that void, and he thinks villainy will do the trick for him.)

Toss up on whether or not they betray their leaders.

Hazel & Neo

They are the strong and silent type, quietly obeying orders, but also the only ones to have fought their leaders and had attempted to kill them before allying with them.

Their motives are blatantly clear cut and focused on revenge for a fallen loved one. (Both of their fighting styles are close quarters and personal, being literally up in their faces. Hazel fights very detachedly until Ozpin comes around and he goes beserk. Neo likes to toy with her opponents but went serious against Cinder.)

The most likely to betray their leaders.

[angstandhappiness]

@rex-shadao Tragedy is not a person’s sad sob story. It’s the downfall of a character caused by their own actions and poor choices. That’s why Macbeth is considered a tragic character despite being a murderer and a paranoid tyrant. Belos is on the same path, with his past coming back to haunt him as seen in King’s Tide.

YEESH

There is a small but noticeable group of fans who seem to think Philip was either born evil or was some kind of tragic villain. When neither is the case to me

Philip in the present is pure evil. There is nothing more left to him now then sadism, bigotry and ambition. Hence the theme of him being completely, utterly 'hollow'. Anytime it seems there could be a sympathetic side to him it's subverted. But that's not because he always lacked redeeming or human qualities. Its because he willingly threw away those qualities because of how much he enjoyed being a witch hunter. And that is arguably more evil then if he were simply born that way.

What's worse, being born without redeeming features, or having them and throwing them away for the most horrific reasons imaginable?

[divineslcyer]

Some more facts for Bleach!Mish in regards to her abilities; 

- She has no desire to move herself higher then the rank of a third-seat officer. 

-Mishil wears suppression beads, especially made and woven into her hair after the incident prior to her transfer to the tenth division ; between her disassociation, fear, and trauma --she has no plans on mastering her bankai or Zan. (there’s more to it but ill save that for a meta another time -and her growth per the episode arcs )

-She has a Beserker switch, one seen by Soi Fon and something she doesn’t wish to ever repeat again. She chooses to further discipline herself studying Shunko ( her element, naturally fire).

-To those who are AWARE of Mishil’s potential power and given abilities; they understand at the root of it; she simply despises the idea of harming others. While she does enjoy the spirit of fighting--she feels too acutely aware that even by accident, she could potentially kill someone innocent. Its why her circle of friends is very skewed, but they know that in her heart she has a very gentle soul that wishes to keep others safe.

[thevagueambition]

To disagree somewhat with my old meta about Solas as a Loki figure, while in terms of position in the pantheon and the relationship between Solas and Mythal, Solas is definitely Loki and the Solas and Mythal relation is the Loki and Odin relation, in many ways Solas is actually way more Odin than he is Loki

I'm a firm believer in the "Solas was a spirit of wisdom/pride demon originally" theory and this fits very nicely with Odin's domain over wisdom and knowledge. The way he approves whenever the inquisitor asks investigation questions reminds me of the way Odin would challenge people on their knowledge while in the guise of an unimportant figure

Furthermore, the duality of Solas as both this very controlled person we meet, who values knowledge for its own sake, and to some extent also the person from the more credible stories of Fen'Harel and the death of Felassan, strike me as similar to Odin's duality as a god of wisdom as well as a god of madness and berserkers.

Solas' role as a leader of people, both in the backstory and in the present of Trespasser and DA4, maps much better to Odin than to Loki. Loki is often portrayed as leading Ragnarok in modern adaptations and I do think that idea has similarities to Solas rebellion as well as his role in modern Thedas, although iirc I don't think the idea of him as the leader of Ragnarok is one that appears in the Eddas. Either way, Odin is certainly far more associated with both leadership and the way of pretending to have less power or knowledge than he does that Solas also engages in.

On the wolf thing, it's also worth noting that Odin is at least as associated with wolves as Loki is – Loki's association is through his son Fenrir, while Odin personally owns the wolves Geri and Freki and was not just the god of berserkers but ulfhednar as well (beserkers = bear warriors, ulfhednar = wolf warriors).

Of course Flemythal also incorporates both traits from Odin and Loki and the two gods do have a lot of similarities anyway so that's natural

But I do think for Solas' personality and behaviour, Odin is actually the better parallel than Loki is, while in terms of societal position and narrative role it's still my opinion tha Solas parallels Loki more.

[redjennies]

what is the best dragon age game to start with? ive never played and my whole familiarity is basically your blog lmao but i’m in need of a new game to play on my ps3

hmmm. okay so I'm going to put it like this. if you're not following me for Dragon Age, I'm assuming you're following me for Critical Role, and I saw someone else make this comparison that is actually pretty fucking accurate: "Vox Machina is Dragon Age Origins and The Mighty Nein is Dragon Age 2."

Dragon Age Origins is the first that came out. It's an epic story about adventurers who are goofy and fun and kinda dicks sometimes but care so deeply about each other taking on this big bad evil but also dealing with making alliances with big governing forces and fighting dragons. there's a guy who's secretly nobility, and a woman of the church who isn't as innocent as she seems. there's a guy who hits on every person he meets and a barbarian beserker who likes to drink and isn't very smart. there's even a talking tree. but it's also older and some of the storylines and jokes are little ehhhh to modern audiences. the game isn't quite where it needs to be yet and I can see someone being like "this isn't that fun" in 2020 where for me it was the best game ever I love it so very much but I also first played it in 2009.

Dragon Age 2, on the other hand, is very character driven. the heroes aren't heroes as much as just an eccentric band of misfit friends dealing with little problems and realizing they're in way over their head. there's a hobo mage who loves cats and a sweet girl who does forbidden blood magic and consorts with demons and a, I'm not kidding, goddamn pirate captain. it's so much fun and it's dramatic and it's short without being too short. your main character even has a family! (who you will get absurdly attached to and will still be writing meta about literally ten years later). it also plays more like a video game which will be better for someone playing on a console like I do. Origins was clearly made to be played on the PC and while it's still fun on the console, it's a little wonky in places. Dragon Age 2 is simply a game I can see appealing more to a modern audience.

(I do not think anyone should start with Inquisition. it's my least favorite game. I mean it's fun and worth playing, my url is even a reference to my favorite character from the whole series who's only in Inquisition. but I genuinely do not care about it nearly as much as the other two. don't start with Inquisition period.)

I started with origins and I want to tell you to start with origins bc I can't fathom not playing them in order, but if you read this and say "actually, I'd prefer the character driven small scale story to the more traditional fantasy story." I'd rather you play DA2 first, fall in love with it, and then play Origins than do it in order. still, wardens for life. DA:O is the best game ever.

[mor-beck-more-problems]

[meta] If your character was a trope of any kind, what would they be?

// A quick grab back of tropes Morgan fits into are: Beserk Button (messing over or attacking her friends). Consequently: Beware the Nice Ones. Stepford Smiler. Think Happy Thoughts (to make the smiling happen). The Determinator. Adorkable/Brainy Brunette. Has a Type (between Deirdre, Evelyn, and Miriam uuhh). 

If I had to pick something for her development, Break the Cutie/Corrupt the Cutie make for nice low-hanging fruit.

[beserkxr]

Friend in Need

Is a friend indeed.

If you hear a conversation between Crimson and her sister about a young man named Jerome Douglass, you just heard of Crim’s fellow Beserker.

True to some child soldiers in real life, Jerome Douglass had the misfortune of being forced drugs to increase his fighting abilities.  As a result, he became addicted to them.  In some cases, there were times when he became uncontrollable and killed his own men.  Despite this setback, Douglass is a trump card.

He is still inconsolable due to his true personality while sober.  He is loving and protective, and would rather die than kill his comrades.  He has gone somewhat insane due to his addictions and guilt.  However, after meeting Crimson again as a free man, Crimson was able to tell him her own recipe despite them from being from different clans.  Crimson and Miyuki thought of him as an older brother.

Last Crimson’s heard from him, he joined the Revolutionaries and pledged his allegiance to Monkey D. Dragon.

Meta Fact: Yep Douglass is named after Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and freed man from the American Civil War.   * However, Douglass is often called by his surname as a fellow mercenary.  He goes by his first name after resolving to join the Revolution.

[theoceanthatdrownthemoon-chaldea]

How Ishtar's interlude went in my Chaldea: Before Ishtar dragged me off to rob Gilgamesh's treasury, I have both a hunch and meta reason to know he'll show up. So I asked her to let me grab Santa Alter and Beserker Nobu before we headed there. I have no idea where Nobu got all those chicken buckets she kept giving Santa Alter. When Gilgamesh showed up and in the middle of lecturing Ishtar, I motioned by those two to attack him. His laughter cut short, his attitude mirrored Ishtar: robbed. He screamed and demanded an explanation.

All because Santa Alter was riding on Nobu's shoulder. Her answer?

'My reindeer is busy and a santa must always have her mount.' So he started to boast about how he could give her a better ride.

'Fool. Your attire fails you against the weather. My work is too important for me to be stranded in the snow. On second thought, go and try futilely build your endurance against the cold. I'm sure that goddess of Kur won't mind an ice sculpture for decoration.' She didn't hide the fact she's relishing in the warmth Nobu's fire. She also didn't care her Christmas aesthetic was ruined my the long red trenchcoat underneath her cape. Yes, that was the last thing he could use to argue.

So Nobu handed her that chainsaw guitar. The transference of weapon made her flames turned the same shade and color of Artoria's darkness. As for the gift sack, Nobu had her giant skeleton manifested to hold onto it. I witnessed a Santa that probably won't be that out of place in the underworld.

After we beat him up and sent him back to Kur, he still went off his script dialogue. However Ishtar gained consolation in seeing him getting a taste of his own medicine. It's more torturous for him back in Chaldea as he is kept underleveled there. Any attempt to exert force on X for vengeance or otherwise will backfire and that's not counting him getting ambushed by Nobu and/or the two Rider class Artorias.