#but how many more sacrifices would dorian have to make

[tiredqueermushroom]

There's definitely a dichotomy when it comes to Orym and Dorian. Both have vastly different experiences with loss, grief, and trying to honour their dead. Orym lost his husband and father at the hands of Ludinus, Otohan, and the vanguard; and has been carrying that weight with him for 7 years. He intends to honour them by making sure the vanguard can't hurt anyone else. Otohan is dead, and Ludinus will die, orym gets to have a semblance of justice, as well as save the gods and spare Exandria from the unknown.

This is in stark contrast to Dorian. He lost his brother and his two surrogate sisters (Opal & Fy'rai) at the hands of a betrayer God, and when a prime was called upon; she did nothing as it benefited the greater cause Dorian can't even begin to fully grieve, so it puts it away, locks it up inside of him, despite how heavily the loss weighs on him. Dorian can't get revenge. Can't even have justice. He doesn't get to honour his brother. Dorian has to live with that deep unfairness because the fate of the world demands it of him. What is personal grief in the face of every life on Exandria?

Expect now with Arch-heart's proposal, Dorian can finally reconcile these two waring sides within himself. His desire to save as many people as possible and get to have justice for those who were wronged by the gods.

[utilitycaster]

Robbie's been playing Dorian as fairly quiet since coming back (as Marisha-as-Laudna pointed out), and I think this episode put a lot of it into perspective.

Dorian is profoundly unsure of his place - in general. The Crownkeepers are scattered and while Dorian is welcome in Bells Hells - is a member of Bells Hells, without question - he's been absent for many of their adventures.

He is also, suddenly, the heir and not the spare to the leadership of the Silken Squall, a responsibility he did not expect to have and which he fled shortly before the events of EXU. He mentions his feelings seem unimportant, a reflection perhaps on both how powerless he's felt as of late regarding the events of the solstice, and much more long-standing acknowledgement of a childhood that pushed him into a role that did not fit him. Bells Hells make him feel important - which is more of the same issue. When Dorian is important, his feelings can't be because perhaps more so than anyone else in the party, he knows of the sacrifices of leadership. And now, both because of Bells Hells' involvement in world events, and Dorian's new and unwanted role as the crown prince, those sacrifices feel more necessary to him than ever.

He introduces himself as a bad liar, and now he's simply honestly stating that he's not sharing information. He also says he knows it will come from him; he's not just no longer a liar, but no longer a runaway. Even on the run with the Crown Keepers, something found him; what's the point.

It is unsurprising (and entirely understandable) that Dorian has no desire to make deals with the gods, given how that turned out for Opal, but his view towards the gods is a much more nuanced one than Braius or Ashton's. He remarks that the simple harvest-based cultural reverence Whitestone holds for the Dawnfather is perhaps the heart of worship - an opinion that lines up with, at least, Nick's interpretation of the Dawnfather. He seems affected by the revelation - new to him - that when Predathos first came to Exandria, it killed two of the gods, whom he knows from the Occultus Thalamus see each other as family.

There are two questions Dorian not only doesn't answer, but doesn't acknowledge. He doesn't answer Laudna's question about whether he feels responsible, but I think we know his answer. And he doesn't answer whether he would bring back Cyrus, if he can (and he might be able to). I don't know if he knows; something, certainly, is keeping him up at night.

The most piercing questions Bells Hells ask of each other this episode center around what they might do in a desperate situation: whether Braius will choose to harm the Platinum Dragon instead of stop Ludinus (as Asmodeus chose in Downfall); what terrible things Fearne might do to protect those she loves (as the Primes did in Aeor). Fearne declines that answer. Orym and Imogen express their doubts that they can ever know what's right. Only Ashton displays any confidence, at least outwardly; but only Dorian, I think, has previously been forced to consider a future where he might hold the fate of a group of people in his hands, and it has abruptly become a reality not just for the current crisis, but for the rest of his life.

[cringefaecompilation]

okay since i have felt i've been really negative i am going to be positive and talk about something near and dear to my heart. fanart redesigns!

this design of braius by @phi-guy is delightful, including the mustache variant. i'm not a big fan of him as a character, but this is a great compromise with the holstein patterns on his humanoid face that previously left a few furries disappointed.

fcg is a very tough character to stylize, given the whole... aeormaton of it all and that they're so intricately designed that any attempts to move any part of their body around tend to make things they do in-game not make sense. the blades of grass emblem being revealed as bloody fingerstreaks, for one. but this design by hugo cardenas strikes a good balance between canon and fanon where you don't have to sacrifice accuracy for imagination or vice versa

imogen sadly doesn't receive a lot of redesigns in fandom and even got hate (?!) for people putting glasses on her. but for the people that do a little more than that, i would have to give my favorite design to @rokiie! it's subtle, but i love that she's musclechubby and mixed, and her curly hair and ponytail is adorable. @jadequarze also has a nice looking mog, though theirs is more angular than bulky.

ashton is another character hard to redesign... because his original design is so damned complex it feels like a downgrade to change it. so not a lot of people do and focus more on his outfit and body type. so that's why these two, by @magscherer and @ladysantos are so great! little tweaks that make him fat or simplify him are so nice

@lyadrielle has the most complex chet redesign i've ever seen. i love how in-depth it is, and even if full head of hair chet isn't canon, i still adore the fluffiness of it. also quick shout out to @colealexart giving chetney a mustache because i love it.

conversely from her girlfriend, people love to redesign laudna, if not just to pump up her creepy factor over her "bizzarely beautiful" factor. @astoriacolumnstaircase and @paragonraptors do this in a fun-scary way! i love how spindly they make her, like a praying mantis. for a more scary-scary way, @cpprcoyote's laudnas are stunningly creepy and lovely. @galacticjonah's take on her is also very cute with her billowing fabrics surrounding her like a security blanket. good stuff!

being the mixed orym truther guy, naturally i love art that makes him a man of color, and this art by @therosecleric hits the mark for how i see him in my head. i love his curls, his jaw, and his strong nose, and it's always good to give him muscles in a way that don't make him look like a tween who powerlifts. the previously mentioned @magscherer's art of him is a bit more hobbit-y but still scratches the same itch. love me a brown eyed orym. @jennydolfen also gets points for her terrific hobbit/halfling proportions

@jam-etc's critical role redesigns might not be for everyone, but i love 'em all. dorian here looks so friendly and seeing his native culture depicted so overtly in his outfit is awesome! no whitewashed dorians allowed. on the same token, here's a repeat of @therosecleric's dorian art because it also is great to see him with curly hair and a wide nose. this design by @caitmayart with dark cloudy speckles on his body is incredibly nice as well.

and of goddamn course fearne gets the most art. it's fearne! there are so many good pieces of her i could not choose one. i love ones that play up her goat-y nature, like @willowbirds, @rainbow-roll-art, and @phi-guy again. and i love fat fearnes, like these two by @marmadelin and @countslimeula. this one by @maluspumilaa is so beautiful, making her a little more fey and extremely animalistic. all fearnes is good fearnes

[anneapocalypse]

On blood magic and the Inquisitor.

I think there is a lot to be said about how Inquisition handles the topic of blood magic, with regard to the Inquisitor and Hawke and the mage rebellion, and there are valid criticisms with regard to narrative framing and role-playing limitations.

However I also think that any discussion of blood magic in Inquisition and the available specializations for a mage Inquisitor is very incomplete without acknowledging that necromancy is considered blood magic in the south.

Tevinter, so far as we can tell from what we know, just straight up doesn't consider it blood magic (hence Dorian seeing no contradiction in practicing it while vocally opposing blood magic), and Nevarra seems to get away with not considering it blood magic, despite being nominally under the southern Chantry, for political reasons (and probably also geographic reasons). But anywhere south of that? Necromancy is blood magic. The first two games, set in Ferelden and Kirkwall, strongly associate animating corpses with blood magic. From the southern point of view, this is and has always been blood magic.

A necromancer Inquisitor is a blood mage. Mary Kirby agrees. Companions and advisors react accordingly. Here's a compilation if you're interested in seeing them all, but Josephine's reaction is especially telling. Keeping in mind that Josephine is a seasoned diplomat who is well-traveled, has a multicultural education, and understands the nuances of this situation better than most, she says this:

Outside Nevarra, most people think the Mortalitasi practice death rituals… and sacrifices…

To my ear, it's pretty clear what Josie means here. Because she is a diplomat, she is not coming right out and accusing the Inquisitor of being a blood mage, but let's be real, in this context what else could she possible mean by that ominous "and sacrifices..." She is making it clear to the Inquisitor that they are creating a PR nightmare for her, and goes on to say that she'll be keeping this as quiet as possible.

On the other end of the spectrum we have the reactions from Sera and Blackwall, the most common of your companions. Blackwell openly disapproves of the whole practice. Sera is clearly unnerved personally, but she also says:

It's scary to anyone smart enough to think for a second. You shouldn't be scary. You're the Inquisitor.

As someone who's vocal about the interests of little people, she's also pretty clearly trying to warn the Inquisitor that this is a practice that will alienate common people who are already frightened of magic generally.

From what I could find, it seems Cullen doesn't have a reaction to this specialization, which seems like a real dropped ball! I think that his reaction out of anyone could have really cemented how this practice is viewed in the south. (Edited to add: Cullen does have a line in a war table op where he says, "I can accept that necromancy is not blood magic," with seeming reluctance, but still strongly disapproves of the practice being used on fallen Inquisition soldiers.)

As for why there are no meaningful consequences for this, and why no one says the quiet part out loud, well, I think this comes back to the fact that everyone needs the Inquisitor whether they like them or not, and whatever shady shit they might be doing, not closing the rifts is undoubtedly worse. Not only that, the Inquisition has some major allies among northerners, so while it wouldn't do for the Inquisitor to be known as a blood mage in the south, it also wouldn't do to insult those allies by openly condemning necromancy.

In some ways, it is a shame that this aspect of the Inquisitor's character constrains other characters' reactions to them, to a degree. I think it would be fun to get more heated reactions from your companions for this specialization. But I can see why it's limited by the game's basic premise, as are many things, which is itself a whole other discussion beyond the scope of this post.

Anyway, the Inquisitor can be a blood mage, of a sort! Just a sort where nobody calls them that to their face.

[archonoclasm]

𝗛𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲. No, not just simply blood magic, a mere prick to one's finger, but specifically the siphoning of blood from someone entirely unwilling. Halward had wanted to change Dorian. Halward desired a more pliable son, an obedient son, and a child who would ask, if ever he were told to jump, 'how high, father?' before jumping off the cliff. Of course, wanting an heir, Halward had to alter Dorian permanently and at a very fundamental level, a goal that would require a very strong spell.

Dorian: I wouldn’t put on a show, marry the girl, keep everything unsavory private and locked away. Selfish, I suppose, not to wanting to spend my entire life screaming on the inside. He was going to do a blood ritual. Alter my mind. Make me acceptable. I found out. I left.

A strong spell in the case of blood magic, unfortunately, also means a greater cost. Where other forms of magic have mages tapping into their connection with the Fade, blood magic requires one to make sacrifices -- be it on their own accord and body or someone else's. This is where the line between a simple spell of blood magic crosses into blood ritual territory, as the demands of both seem to vary considerably.

As we learn in Inquisition, Magister Livius Erimond joins the Grey Wardens and has their outfit undergo a widespread blood magic ritual wherein Grey Wardens were sacrificed to be bound to demons. Furthermore, we know that the Magisters Sidereal had conducted a blood ritual in which they were able to physically enter the Fade, though not without murdering a devastating amount of slaves. These examples are given not to say that a ritual always needs many bodies, unwilling or not, but to highlighte rather that the threat of death is always a very real and very near possibility.

However, as Halward Pavus, is neither willing to let neither himself nor his sole heir die, that would mean that he would require the sacrifice of someone else. In this case, as man of stature, wealth, and as a influential and extremely powerful magister in the Imperium, one could reasonably believe that that means a slave -- one of the House Pavus' undoubtedly. Halward had prepared to kill off a slave, perhaps several, in his monstrous and harebrained attempt to have his son sire him an heir. It hardly even mattered that he might have lost Dorian in all ways but physical considering how dangerous, difficult, and risky this ritual was. Again, this is a ritual for a complete and permanent change in someone else. What mattered most to Halward, however, was their family name.

Inquisitor: Can blood magic actually do that? Dorian: Maybe. It could also have left me a drooling vegetable. It crushed me to think he found that absurd risk preferable to scandal. Part of me has always hoped he didn't really want to go through with it. If he had… I can't even imagine the person I would be now. I wouldn't like that Dorian.

All that to say, Halward, considering the scope and intensity of this ritual, would have been planning for a great deal of time. In my interpretation of Dorian, I would have imagined, as one could reasonably suspect, that Halward had to trick Dorian or subdue him as there's certainly no possible way that Dorian would allow this. As such, considering how heavy on the drink Dorian had been back then, the idea of lacing something in his bottle or glass would have, to Halward, made sense.

It's over dinner. Aquinea is sat with them, all three sat substantially far apart, more cold, more distant, and nothing too familial. Halward tries for conversation, his own strange flavor of temperate stoking both a wicked hope in Dorian's heart and a considerable wariness. In the end, it's silly, as most things tend to be with them, how Dorian finds out about his father's intentions. Dorian sought to slip away early, needing space, still, after their recent fight over his opposing his arrangement with Livia Heradanus. ("You are no son of mine.") However, Halward urges him to sit and to finish his dinner, and because Dorian is Dorian who seldom ever listens, now a step away from the table, Halward commands he drinks. It alerts Dorian at once who, glancing at his mother, notices the sharp line of her mouth had grown all the thinner. It can't be, he thinks, as he takes up the glass and levels his father with a glare all a flurry of emotion.

"Magnanimity to pair with the pudding? It must be a holiday," he says glibly, charm and honey and razored hurt. "But I'm afraid I already had so much the other night as I'm sure we've all doubtlessly learned. Perhaps you should like to finish this with me? We can think of it as a toast to my turning a new leaf!"

And Halward doesn't. Halward sits still as Aquinea carves her steak. Dorian watches them both, a deep pit of hurt gutting in his belly. "It was supposed to be simple, son," his father says as Dorian asks hotly what he'd put in the wine. "Something I'd only thought would make things easier for you. You'd forced my hand." Right. Of course. Bolting from the room, a servant-- the house Pavus' favorite -- finds him as he hurries down the hall. "Am I free to go then, Lord Pavus?" he asks him, as Dorian stands there speechless. His father comes from farther behind, his footsteps bounding down the hall, and it is all metronome and thunk-thunk-thunk.

"Remind me," he breathes. "Free you from what exactly?"

He fidgets. "I--I'm not sure. Your father hadn't said."

"Typical. Had he told you to strip down like that, too?'

"He had. I was instructed to wait here until you were done with dinner."

Oh. "Well, it seems we're all retiring early for the evening."

"Lord Pavus." A breath. "I was told to clear my cot before I came down here. I'm not -- I'm not being punished for some offense, am I?"

"Are you being what?"

"Not for your offense, no. But that of my son's."

They both turn about. Dorian spies Halward go cold and steely. "There are things to consider that go beyond you, Dorian." Oh. The drink. Their argument. Their slave's quaking fear-- "I can't sit idly by to watch our house fall with you."

A ritual.

"At least this way, you can do something other than disappoint."

Right. Dorian rears away. His heart bellows like a maelstrom in the seat of his chest. Betrayal snicks through his middle, rendering him cloven to bleed messily and thick. His father goes to see him when the morning sun rises, but by then, after a quick letter to Maevaris, Dorian's left. In the back of his head, he still hears the clatter of Aquinea's cutlery.

[danwhobrowses]

Since it's being brought up a bit again - at least from what I've seen - in the Critical Role fandom I'm just gonna vent some stuff about C3 mainly regarding the indecision of the god stuff. I will point out beforehand however that I still really enjoy C3, I love the characters, I like getting lore even from the gods and there's been a lot of great moments, but there are of course frustrations as there has likely been with every campaign

Spoilers just in case, up to 109 and a small 10th Oct 4SD mention

Okay so, the whole god stuff has been done a lot this campaign. I understand why Matt pushed it because it is a grand scale situation where a 'right answer' can differ from person to person, and I'm fine with the fact that there are members of the Hells who don't like the gods, because it's realistic that people who grew up differently would feel differently about these kinds of topics. But with us nearing 110 episodes, I am frustrated with how we're continually entertaining the idea of just doing Ludinus' plan after killing him, mainly in order to chase the pantheon away whether they want to leave or not, we've done the 'Is Ludinus right?' 'No he should be stopped' loop a lot of times now, to me this is just another flavour of that and while we have seen the gods do some shady stuff, I still don't buy the idea that them leaving will fix anything, let alone using a god eater entity to do it.

What frustrates me currently about this is that the Hells seem quite in unison that Ludinus should be stopped, they won't sacrifice one another, and that the gods shouldn't die, but for some reason these three valid points don't get focused on when deliberating the presented options of releasing Predathos. On 4SD Robbie got struck by a moment of clarity when asked how Dorian - notably on the anti-God side of things - feels about potentially sacrificing his friends Fearne and/or Imogen in an effort to make them - despite their preference to not be - a vessel of Predathos, and while it's perfectly fine that they suddenly realised this it does show that the majority of the Hells are experiencing a bit of tunnel vision and focusing on their ideal outcome rather than a compromise they can all unite on. It's not that it's bad to try and unearth more information about the unknown factors, but his reaction makes it apparent that the right questions still aren't being asked to the group;

"Are you willing to sacrifice Fearne and/or Imogen?"

"Are you okay with being just as bad as Ludinus and Zathuda by doing what they plan(ned) to do?"

"Is this what FCG sacrificed himself for?"

If any of the Hells - minus Braius since he doesn't know the group so well - would answer Yes to these I'd be shocked and honestly feel a little betrayed, because it's not in any of their established characters to do that. Believing that they'd answer No to all however bodes the question of why we're even considering releasing Predathos?

The whole plan has so many reasons it should've been shut down already, which is why I personally don't enjoy them talking about it as an option; not just because of the many unknown factors regarding vessels and Predathos, or the fact that Orym and Imogen know just how all-consuming Predathos' pull is, or because it'd mean betraying their allies in the Accords, or because it means risking one or two of their own, or because there's no plan for what comes after by any party, or because we've seen how at the mercy of Predathos' power all Ruidusborns have been both at the Key and on Ruidus itself, or even that the Matron's suggestion that Love - which while unlimited in individual willpower is not omnipotent - will allow the Vessel to subdue Predathos is a limp argument because unlike the previous Death God who allowed the Matron to usurp them Predathos very clearly doesn't want to be contained. All those reasons should've killed the idea anyway but one of the big and more personal reasons the Hells shouldn't be doing it is because releasing Predathos would vindicate Ludinus. All the horrible things he's done and all the people who he has let die all for the plan, the very things the Hells have tried to hold him responsible for would be justified by completing his plan, regardless of whether he lives to see it. Plus the encounter with the Matron once again reiterates that there will be gods who won't run, that some will choose oblivion fighting for this world over abandoning it. Since the Hells don't want the gods to die - including Ashton and Dorian, who want them to leave or at the least be accountable for their actions - releasing Predathos should be nixed here too. As a last resort it is valid but only as a last resort, when all better options - and that is a long list - have failed.

I understand that the table enjoy tough decisions and conflict, and that the majority of them are not in the same mind as the characters they are playing when it comes to the gods, and to reiterate the God lore has been juicy - I loved Downfall - but we are over two thirds through the usual lifespan of a campaign now and the group isn't even locked in on what they should do! I know others want it but I don't believe that a big PVP or an argumentative shouting contest is needed so close to the final arc either, it'd only risk breaking the group apart at a key moment, but at the same time it does need to be addressed to find a point of unison again, and discuss what outcome the characters can live with - what can be abided and compromised on and what cannot.

Matt has been vague with a lot of things this campaign and while in some cases that provides wiggle room for autonomy, exploration and creativity, it also means that when the god topic comes about we tend to go in circles, because everything is still vague and unclear. It doesn't help either that the way Matt has crafted god encounters so far have the ones who want to fight for Exandria either not contacting the Hells - seriously the Stormlord must be frothing to speak with Imogen right? How much more fighting does she need to do? - or in the Wildmother's case are only speaking to people they know won't argue or debate with them. It's kinda apparent that no god so far is truly humbling themselves right now; even the Matron and Arch Heart felt the need to test the Hells before presenting their stance on the situation to them, which is equally frustrating given that they need their help - plus given how the two are conspiring against the others, and Asmodeus is trying to deceive Braius, not even the gods are in unison about an end goal...but still have the audacity to let Lolth rip through Opal's memories and personality and kill Cyrus for the sake of maintaining their truce.

It is easy to point fingers from this side of the fence though, Matt is but one man and he has taken on a massive social and theological argument upon his shoulders which hits very close to home for many communities, but while there is intrigue on what the solution could be it does at times feel like we're pushing only the bad options. For instance, before the Arch Heart visit the plan seemed to be set that we stop Predathos from being unleashed, the Hells were content with it and we got all parties present in Vassalheim to agree to it too. This felt like and still feels like the best course of action because it achieves all 3 united points the Hells have while also preventing more needless bloodshed and establishing diplomatic relations with the now liberated people of Ruidus, it's not easy but it's the path of least unknowns, so why doesn't it feel like it's the prioritized plan anymore? Gods like the Arch Heart don't need Predathos to leave, it's just an excuse they're weaponizing to force the others to be as cowardly as them while also avoiding accountability as Predathos and whoever releases them are left with the blame. But, providing that Predathos remains sealed and new measures are put in place to perhaps further confine and banish it so a repeat doesn't occur, there's no stopping them from just stepping down, passing on their domain to another or simply releasing it back to where it initially came from, while also just chilling in a place close to their family - that still feels like it's possible. But at the same time, their followers are owed an explanation, whether the gods want to stay or leave they should be held accountable for their position and current stance, as well as their absence and/or selfishness, and they can't expect to just run or hide away from criticism for making such a call. Whatever the outcome Exandria cannot go back to how it was, the events of C3 has shaken Exandria to its very core and a new paradigm and direction will need to be taken to create a better tomorrow both mortals and gods alike envision for it, but you can't rebuild or improve things by being absent or by holding a gun to someone else's head, and it can't do either if nobody can agree on anything. Indecision and division has allowed Ludinus to get this far, even when that was spelled out everyone still seems to be falling for that same trap, which is why it taking so long to reach a decision grows more concerning the closer we get to having to fight him on Ruidus one last time.

On top of all this, the indecision isn't the be all and end all to the plot as a whole, deciding on a path doesn't mean the path will not have obstacles or go exactly to plan (when has it ever?) it just means you know where your A to B is, if the Hells decide on what path they take there is still an absolute wealth of things outside of Ruidus still needing to be done too; amassing allies not currently at Vassalheim, saving Ryn wherever they are, getting some more relics, dealing with all the magical items we have to see what to use/sell/absorb, getting to the bottom of the people who were trying to capture Chetney, PopCon, telling FRIDA, Dancer, D, Milo and Joe about FCG's death, laying FCG's remains to rest since most of him is still in the bag of holding, Ashton lore in general (they passed their last Path feature level wise so we'd need a new avenue for them to get Luxon/Dunamancy lore, also can they and Fearne talk to their titan shards for Titan lore? They helped seal Predathos too, is there more to tell about their family or the Hishari? Ashton feels like a gold mine or lore that often stays untapped), Chetney/Orym paternity test, Orym owning up to what his deal with Nana was, potential follow-up stuff with the Kryn or the Unseelie (or just Yu, if we can pry them from Ghosting in Yotei), plus all the previously imprisoned criminals and monsters let loose unto the world by the solstice's undoing of magical seals.

I trust Matt and the players, and I acknowledge that their entertainment is the priority over mine as a spectator, but I'd be lying if pretended I wasn't irritated by this stuff, especially with so much exciting and creative things left that we can do that isn't going back to the 'Is Ludinus right?' argument for the umpteenth time.

[acourtofthought]

Somewhere SJM claimed that Lucien and Dorian would be friends if they knew each other and that’s always kept me hopeful. Dorian is one of the most interesting characters in TOG for me and he is also surprisingly slow to find love, even though he’s a rake and he enjoys the company of women. His experience with Sorscha is the same as Lucien and Jesminda (losing their loved one and witnessing their brutal deaths at the hands of their fathers). Both characters are fair and good despite everything else going on around them, they enjoy reading and knowledge, they are ready to sacrifice themselves, they are both excellent candidates to lead due to their innate sense of goodness and fairness. And even their cheeky personality is similar in many ways. Dorian’s access to his own powers was manifesting slowly in TOG and it kept trickling in with each book and I feel like we’re going down that path with Lucien too. We learned in ACOWAR that he sees magical work with his golden eye, we learned that he can track this magic very well. We also learned about his spell cleaving abilities that even he seemingly didn’t know (or hid from others) and we know from his time in autumn that his brothers felt threatened by the power they could sense in him from the beginning. I think Lucien might go through a similar arc to Dorian as he comes into his full powers and that really makes me think about how he actually might become high king. I love Rhys but Rhys is first and foremost for his own people and he is so attached to just the Night Court that I don’t think he would do well with representing everyone. Lucien is essentially homeless in Prythian, he belongs to so many courts and has connection to so many that I can see him do well with such a big title.

Add Elain to this mix. Her powers could be very useful for someone in her position if she ends up high queen with Lucien. They are basically an unstoppable safety net for each court. Elain might see visions of conflict and trouble coming their way, she could aid in decisions about anything, especially if she masters her powers and could look into the future for various outcomes. Her love of nature and travel would definitely come in handy. She would want to protect those courts. Not to mention her love for social events and her ability to charm people. Could you imagine her helping smooth things over between high lords just with her wit and charms? I know a lot of people think she’s going to become a spy but for me she is always more of a politician/courtier and her qualities would shine in such a situation.

I agree and it gives me hope too. Not only did she say Dorian and Lucien would be good friends but Lucien would be someone she could see herself co-writing a book with because of his cleverness. Dorian would be someone she could see herself going to the opera with, who wouldn't mind if she took a long time to get ready (and we know Lucien takes care in how he dresses). Dorian was a human with unknown powers and he ended up having unlimited raw magic that could be shaped in whatever way he wanted. She's also set up Lucien to be someone with unknown powers, a future HL as Dorian was King. I do think there are differences between Lucien and Dorian but those seemed to come into focus after he finally was rid of his valg collar. I think a little bit of that darkness seeped into him and he became well matched for Manon whereas Lucien and Elain both individually and as a pairing embody light. My vision of Elain matches yours as well, where Elain will make a difference, not sneaking around in the shadows spying in the quiet but out in the open, influencing others with her loving, kind and wise personality.

[dragonagecompanions]

So I’ve seeing the ASOIAF author!Inquisitor AU has resurfaced. I have a curiosity: how does the DAI companion (perhaps also advisors) feel about the character Brienne of Tarth?

Cassandra: Sir Brienne of Tarth is without question or equivocation the greatest and most honorable character in any piece of literature. She is brave and unwavering in her loyalties, strong of oath and arm. Jamie Lannister does not deserve anything from her, but instead should be honored for whatever attention she chooses to bestow on him. Lady Stark could not have chosen a better champion for her daughters.

Years later, when the last book is finally written, Cassandra will receive the first copy. The handwritten note inside is simple and plain, but the Seeker will weep over it regardless and put it in a place of honor.

'I based her on you, Cass. I'm glad she meets your approval.'

Solas: A stoic and staid knight of little imagination who proves set in the thinking that might is right. Solas has no real opinion on the would be knight, for his attentions are on greater characters. But as Cassandra is one of the few companions willing to debate the merits of abandoning the North with real understanding he is willing to pretend greater regard than he might feel.

Varric: All he sees is Aveline, and while Kirkwall's resident author will never mention it to his friend it makes him smile. Somewhere far away Guard Captain Vallen is keeping his city safe with the same loyal tenacity-- he hopes Donnic sees the same parallels and points them out.

She still hasn't forgiven him for Swords and Shields.

Blackwall: She is fair and honorable, strong of arm and conviction. Everything a true lady knight should be. If she were real he would bet on her in the tourney. As it is her character is a welcome respite from those foul nobles in Kings Landing.

Vivienne: Madame de Fer can appreciate loyalty to one's charges and liege lord, even if Brienne's court manners would fail her utterly in the game. But she is a good role model for young templars in the circles Vivienne wants to rebuild, and so popular a series will help set the example.

Sera: Woof.

Dorian: Even if he is not romantically involved with the inquisitor (which he is, though it hardly grants him spoilers), it would not be hard to see that their resident Seeker is the basis for Brienne of Tarth. The necromancer fancies that his comment on Cassandra needing a blue scarf surely inspired the sapphire waters of Tarth, and is content with his addition to the Seven Kingdoms.

Now if only he can convince everyone else that Dorn is also a strategic name....

Iron Bull: She would be a hell of a sparring partner. The Qun badgers him enough about the books that even if he was not invested the Ben-Hassrath agent would have read them all. But he admires Brienne's singular focus, her loyalty and tenacity. Could use a bit more creative thinking, a little more ease with bending the rules. But she'd fit in well with the Qun.

She is added unanimously to the list of characters welcome in the Chargers. Krem will never admit his crush.

Cole: The characters are hard for him, when so many see them in so many ways. The books help--that is enough.

Josephine: She adores every character, except the Lannister's of course, and every winding path they take. Brienne would be about as difficult as Cassandra to train for social events, but just as useful. She does hope Jamie follows his heart and they wed though. That would be so wonderful!

Lelianna: She is watching greater characters, the horrors above the wall and below it, but something about the oath Brienne swears to Sansa reminds her of...

Of another, sworn long ago in far different circumstances with far greater sacrifices. It is a laughable thing, to sit in Skyhold a decade later and wonder how Shale would handle being compared to a fake human!

Cullen: He's just a little bit in love. It doesn't help that in some ways he sees himself in Jamie Lannister's redemption arc.

[fancytrinkets]

veilguard thoughts, second playthrough

I'm playing as a human mage Grey Warden, she/her, this time around and planning to play the Harding romance.

In terms of decisions, I'm doing all the opposite things this time. Which means I've just defended Treviso and Blighted Minrathous. It means I will also:

Have Harding let go of her anger

Push Bellara to destroy her people's history

Send the griffons to the Grey Wardens

Have Emmrich become a lich

Push Taash to embrace Qunari culture

Get a choice about Lucanis instead of Neve

Sacrifice Davrin

Have Neve get taken away instead of Bellara

Deceive or fight Solas instead of reconciling with him

I really liked being a Shadow Dragon elven rogue in my first playthrough, so I'm struggling a little this time. I did not like Blighting Minrathous and then seeing the gallows put up all around the city. (They killed Lorelai, and I felt attached to her given her storyline connection to Loghain's humanitarian crimes in the Denerim alienage)

Despite how much I liked the Shadow Dragons, I also feel good about playing as a Warden. Narratively it makes a lot of sense as the Blight starts showing up everywhere and Rook can handle it. (I sent the horrible mayor of De Meta's Crossing off to become a Warden, so I'm fully expecting to see him betray us all at Weisshaupt soon, but that's just my guess, so no one spoil it please!)

There have not been too many mage-specific dialogue options so far. When the lets-recruit-the-magekiller conversation comes up with Neve, she acknowledges that Rook is also a mage with a comment like "oh, don't worry, he won't target either of us..." But there hasn't been any "what was your magical upbringing/training like" kind of option for a mage Rook to compare notes with the other mage companions. I didn't expect it, but would've liked it.

I'm sort of guessing my human Warden mage was from Tevinter and went to a Circle there before joining the Wardens, because the mage background object she places in her quarters and talks about is, like, a fancy-ass magical device that she BUILT as part of her schooling. Not exactly the non-Tevinter Circle experience, I've got to say... so I guess it works for her as a human Warden with no national origin specified, but I'm thinking that same mage background object might not work as well with other faction-race combinations a player could go with

Beyond the Shadow Dragons and the Wardens, the other factions hold less appeal for me. Honestly I think it's because of the things I agree with about many of the critiques that are making the rounds: The lack of continuity from previous games, the jarringly widespread acceptance of magic and spirits beyond Tevinter, Rivain, and the Grey Wardens; and the politics feeling overly sanitized in ways I'm not finding plausible given the established lore to date.

These are BioWare's choices and I don't know why they were made, but I do think they remove some of the familiarity and depth from the world. And I do miss what's not there, but could have been provided.

That said, I don't feel disappointed in this game. I do experience a number of moments where I think, "oh, this part isn't my favorite and I would have liked to see it done differently," but I don't tend to dwell on those thoughts or have much emotion attached to them.

Overall, I think my general positive experience is very much tied to the fact that:

I like Solas as a character and I'm very interested in his backstory

I have now read all the novels, so can get more out of seeing side characters like Felassan, Valya, Isseya, etc

the Dorian romance has a lot of importance for me and I like how that continues into Veilguard and how Dorian's role in the story plays out

I was secretly hoping Varric would get to have an emotionally satisfying death in this game and I do enjoy how that played out

I'm letting my imagination run wild thinking about a Southern Thedas questline involving the Inquisitor, Hawke, and the Hero of Ferelden. It's occupying the writing side of my brain in ways that might give me a new fanfic project, and I feel like I need one of those right now, given the state of the real world where I live...

I am not sure how I'll feel after playing all the choices I didn't make the first time. It's going to be interesting, I bet.

[jerichoes]

spoilers for datv undercut (including endgame), i just want to ramble a bit about a bunch of things but i don't wanna tag it lmao

i think i've completely lost the thread on solavellan discussion because for literal years i've seen people talk about how their lavellan would go with solas. and now that that's a possibility. it's apparently not good enough?

would it make more sense to do a different thing on a second playthrough and save minrathous? yes! am i doing that? no!

i'm coming around on the lucanis romance. i think the way other scenes weave into it makes a nice story. could've maybe use one or two scenes more but eh.

everybody and their grandmother is seemingly picking the british voices for rook but i'm here to say that american male voice is great. thanks jeff berg.

they really put me into a trap with detonations to the point where i was constantly detonating things on the first playthrough. it's a bad way to play! don't do that!

this is the most fun i ever had playing mage, knight enchanter has been dethroned.

i've seen quite a few people try to... idk, decipher? i guess? the ultimate choice for the endgame sacrifice and it feels like a lot of them are trying to work backwards: "harding/davrin is this and that, so it has to be harding/davrin". and i don't think it works that way? they both talk about their lifes in the future, they both manage to sort of share their burden (harding with stalvart and his sister, davrin with whoever he entrusts griffons to) and they're both. like. the kinds of people who would do something like this. and i just don't like the number crunching to determine the most sacrificable one cause that's not the point of the story.

for how many times i've seen taash being a hypocrite mentioned NO ONE, not even ONCE mentioned their banter with lucanis, where spite smells a vendor at the treviso market and tell lucanis that the vendor was into him. to which taash scolds spite with a "do not smell other people! even if the vendor was into lucanis". to which lucanis says "how did you know the vendor was into me?". to which taash replies "caught her scent". to which spite has a literal meltdown.

there's more dorian and maevaris in the game if you save minrathous and yet here i am. saving treviso again. lucanis i hope you appreciate this.

one day bioware will have a jumping mechanic in dragon age that won't suck. i believe.

[rhaenizziettie]

Legacies 1x05 Rewatch:

The Dryad, I've missed her

I actually love how they show the evolution of the school with stuff like adapting to monsters and giving the students a voice

No because who takes over Raf's spot on the Honor Council when he dies

"YoU'rE nOt GoNnA lOsE tHe ElEcTiOn OvEr An OuTfIt." Why is it so hard for Josie to just support her sister for once.

"Lizzie Saltzman only cares about Lizzie Saltzman." You mean the Lizzie Saltzman, who does everything for her sister and sacrifices her life over and over again for every other student in that school?

"You still like it when I went low." "Oh, honey, you crush on me." Posie needed more than one season.

"We're not negotiating. Right, Ric?" "Uh ..." Dorian as headmaster would have been a great storyline.

Watching Rafael and Jed spar makes me realize that Finch never got to meet Rafael. What a wasted opportunity.

" You're mocking me." "Yeah but just a little bit." When I say Dorian and Alaric had more chemistry with the Dryad than they did with Emma or Mac ...

" Sometimes in the human world telling the truth can do more harm than good." OH THIS IS ABOUT THE MERGE. MM HMM.

"I see it in their smiles, in their laughter. I still see her sometimes." Going to cry thinking about that last scene in TVD

"You straight up refuse to swim across the lake." "Excuse the foster kid for never having swim lessons." And now he literally lives, immortal, ferrying across a lake.

Testing his ability to get away from you as fast as possible, Hope? Little Miss Hold on Tight?

So if Malivore's DNA showed up as literally everything, why did Landon's DNA show no supernatural history? Why didn't it raise any red flags?

"It's so nice to know you all love me as much as I thought you did." She's a comedian because I know she knows those kids hate her ass. They attended a book club reading of her diary. They laughed at her funeral. They did NOT love her and she knew it.

"Jackass Jed." If there's one thing the Saltzman twins know how to do best it's come up with nicknames.

"Say no more. I know how much it means to you and I would be happy to help." She needs a hug.

Tell me again how it's Lizzie who's getting in the way of Josie's romantic life?

What is the SBS sex ed class like because the amount of STD jokes those students make is kind of wild.

Not Josie giving away Lizzie's pink sweater ... like we never even got to see her wear it before you did that ...

"I've always wanted to be part of a power couple." Oh boy do I have news for you Lizzie

No, because Handon's "I don't want to be special" x "I need to be special" dynamic is so delicious

"You know, you can only hold out hope for so long and be hurt by so many people before it starts to seems impossible to trust someone new." "Do you trust me?" "Of course I do." Handizzie excellence.

Why did they have to do S1 Jed so dirty

"I'm trying to rise above it. So let me freaking rise."

"I'm a tribrid. The only one of my kind. No one can represent my interests but me." So does Lizzie finally get her spot on the council after becoming a heretic?

Did the Honor Council just disappear after Hope was forgotten??

Imagine if Lizzie had brought the truth orb with her when she hunted down Hope and confessed to being in love with her

Josie using her father and her sister almost dying since Landon arrived as an excuse to kick him out is kind of funny when you remember that later she kills her sister and doesn't care when her father stuck in a coma and on his death bed.

"This school is family." Guess nobody there can like each other now

That's TWO magical trees in the Legacies universe now ...

"What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?" No because one day I will write an essay on how all of Josie's love interests end up hating Lizzie for no reason and/or misinformed reasons and there's one common denominator.

"It's not about you. It's about how you treat Josie." Is that not literally about her. Like if your problem is that she doesn't exist solely to serve Josie, isn't that having a problem with her??

"Did you think to ask her if she wanted to run for council before you assumed you'd win?" DID YOU?? BECAUSE THAT GIRL LOOKED LIKE SHE WANTED TO DIE AS SOON AS SHE HAD TO MAKE A DECISION ON THE SPOT LIKE THAT.

The irony in Penelope telling Lizzie that she's left Josie with no room for herself when it's actually the opposite way around. Like real quick Miss Park, which one of them are you telling that they can't pursue their interests because the other twin might want it too?

I will never understand why Penelope acted like Lizzie and Josie couldn't both run for council. It was an open election. All she had to do was put her name in.

"She spends all her energy taking care of you." To recap in the past four episodes she has spent her energy trying to win over Rafael, trying to convince everyone to hate Penelope and not talk about her, trying to get offensive magic put into the school curriculum, trying to get everyone to lose the football game, and trying to drive a deeper wedge between Hope and Lizzie during community service. Now which part of that is taking care of Lizzie?

"You are a black hole of time and energy and love." Is the time and energy and love in the room with us right now?

"She won't ever burn you world down." The foreshadowing to her literally burning the school down ...

Every day I wish Penelope would have been around to see Josie in her black lipstick era.

No because what happened to pretty shots like the Handon kiss? When did TV shows stop caring about cinematic beauty and nicely lit shots and fantastic coloring??

Sandwiches are a Handon thing

"I have a family friend who's expecting you." The fact that we never see Landon with the Mikaelson family friend ...

Every time I see Raf and Lizzie's scene, I think about that post about how lesbians use hetero sex as a form of self harm and there has never been a better example to exist in all of history. Like what part of being told that you're the worst person in the world makes you horny??

Also Lizzie Saltzman kiss a guy without crying challenge. Like sweetie if you're crying every time you have to kiss them, maybe it's for a reason.

Every time I hear Someone to You on the radio I get chills because of this episode

[moltensmusings]

Veilguard act 1 spoilers. If you haven't recruited Davrin I'd keep scrolling.

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I desperately need the fandom to understand that there is not a "morally or logically" correct choice when saving Minrathas or Treviso. The whole point of the choice is that shit is fucked no matter what you do but inaction would be worse than making one.

Minrathas, as said by Neve in the very scene of the choice, is not only dealing with blight and a dragon, but a Venatori coup that has been planned through them working with the gods. Minrathas is the capital city in Tevinter. It's a massive place, heavily populated. To claim control of it is to take hold of Tevinter. A good portion of the powerful/influential mages in the city are Venatori and those that are employ templars, who I remind you are capable of subduing magic. Yeah there may be a few in decent positions to oppose the Venatori such as Dorian. But we also know that Maeveris has been ousted from and stripped of her magister title due to having enough enemies to take her down.

If you sacrifice Minrathas it falls under a facistic regime where innocent people are cut down in the streets and the one organization that truly kept the ventatori from gaining a proper hold, hunted down and publicly executed.

Now I don't have the visual on Treviso right now but I still know the cost of it. Blighted water that runs through tevinter and a merchant city in no way prepared to combat an Antaam invasion while also fighting a dragon. That level of corruption similarly would be incredibly bad for Tevinter. And once more the one faction with any sway in the city becomes borderline nonexistent.

In both cases innocent people get sacrificed. The people in Docktown aren't venatori, they aren't a massive group of bigots who are frothing at the mouth to be cruel. They're normal people getting by. Treviso is a night life town fill with community and beauty that is inviting to so many who find it's streets.

Neither of these choices are good to lose. Neither one of them is better than the other. The game tells you as much while also continuously reinforcing that no matter what decision you make it'll be a loss.

And beyond that: neither Neve or Lucanis have irrational reactions to not being chosen. If you play a shadow dragon and sacrifice your city why wouldn't your friends and trusted colleagues hate you. Why wouldn't the Crows have harsh words if you leave them to fend for themselves.

And if you aren't of the faction in the city that is ransacked, they are simply tired. Neve is initially cold and harsh in her tone once Rook reaches Minrathas but it's so obvious that it's just her being sad and angry at what happened. One of the Shadow dragons lashes out not at you not picking the city, but at all the events prior that led to this one.

Neve and Lucanis are incredibly understanding of a tough decision to be made.

I desperately need people to see the nuance in the choice. So many times we get choices like that in game. Both being valid but the main focus is on how the choice you make must be one you can live with. One you don't dwell on and lose yourself over.

[utilitycaster]

Whenever people are like "well LIAM'S characters never faced any backlash when HE played characters in the spotlight" and "no one will let WOMEN have negative qualities" when Caleb and Vax and Orym have received pretty constant hate for main character/sadboy/scene stealing and when meta writers outright stopped talking about Imogen because a particularly mindless set of hit dogs are still hollering about how she is so good and kind and how dare you call her selfish, it's really like...in the service of trying to make your failure of a point you've just said something that literally anyone with a memory lasting longer than the apocryphal goldfish length can immediately debunk, which in turn absolutely shreds your credibility going forward, if you had it.

More generally there's something very vile here, because on the surface this statement does look like an attempt, if one ignorant of pretty much any fandom conversation, to defend women. The thing is it's come from a place of defending Dorian and Ashton's plan - a man, and a nb person who would not identify as a woman - that requires a particularly great deal of sacrifice from the women of the party. So of course they just switch tactics. Instead of "how dare the fandom not think women are always best" it's "how dare the fandom disrespect a disabled nb person and a person played by an indigenous actor." And I'm sure they'll switch again. Because pretty much every character in this campaign is on some axis of oppression, and there's a few people in this fandom who, instead of considering these things as important details that inform these characters, seem to largely treat their minority statuses as ammunition. Feminism and antiracism and queer advocacy are all just part of a shell game to them - accuse everyone who disagrees with them of being a bigot, say that their opinions are inviolate because they match that of literally any character who isn't a cis het white man, of which Bells Hells has none. Unsurprisingly, it's that social media purity culture that's just the evangelical church with a gay hat: they are always the victim, and everyone who disagrees is the devil, and being a good person always happens to line up with what you already wanted.

There are several posts from the past day or so accusing people of liking Campaign 3 less than the two previous ones which refused to accept that this might be due to the hurry-up-and-receive-an-infodump pacing, the singular focus without much time spent on backstory, the gaps in party composition, and the fact that the plot manages to combine the weakest elements of each campaign - the fetch quest/NPC guidance heavy nature of C1, and the meandering/slow start of C2. No, it must be the awful, sinful fandom unable to handle the lack of a major M/M ship (false; Dorian and Orym aren't canon, but neither were Vax and Gilmore, and the latter was sunk far sooner) and the fact that a female character is at the center of the story (see above re: how hostile the same people making these accusations have been to anyone who actually wants to discuss Imogen in a way that doesn't fit their specifications). Just to repeat this: many fans have outlined a number of purely narrative and structural reasons why C3 isn't working for them. These people have assumed this is all a lie, because assuming otherwise that would require either addressing these critiques, which in turn would require admitting other people can have valid opinions that oppose their own without being horrible bigots - in favor of throwing out whatever random accusations they think might stick. It doesn't matter what's actually being said; they're not actually listening, and for all they might talk about fans of color they sure all seem to be white; for all they talk about misogyny and queerphobia they sure won't hesitate to immediately assume the worst of queer people and women who say things they don't like. And rarely do they address any of the actual ongoing bigotry that does exist in the fandom; it's all random accusations because you agreed with the white woman instead of the brown man or vice versa; or it's the constant dredging of years past discourse that, as the first paragraph indicates, they will then ignore whenever convenient.

These are all pretty transparent signs of a bad faith actor spreading misinformation. To be clear I don't think this is any kind of conspiracy or has any organization to it. I think it's a just handful of deeply self-absorbed people who either refuse or literally cannot comprehend that someone could disagree with them without being a bad person and who will gleefully cry wolf with these accusations of bigotry. But it's been going on for quite some time and it's been a problem this campaign in a way I at least do not recall it in past ones, and it's had an absolutely devastating effect on the fandom conversation. Ironically, by trying to boost Imogen and Campaign 3 by shutting down any criticism of them, they've shut down far more of the conversation, hopefully not irreversibly, and I think it's time to point that out.

[witchthewriter]

𝑆𝘩𝑖𝑝 𝑓𝑜𝑟 @perseephoneee.

𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐅

𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝐼 𝑠𝘩𝑖𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡 𝑀𝑐𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑙! You two would click so much!!! Honestly, he would feel so comfortable around you. He would support you 100%, and you would DEFINITELY feel comfortable enough around him to let your goofy side out - he would love seeing that side of you.

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔

You are his everything, girlie, he absolutely ADORES YOU. He thinks you're wonderful, you bring so much joy into his life!

Scott took ages to start calling you pet names, because he didn't want you to think of him as cringey. But when you started getting closer, he felt comfortable enough to call you names like, "sweetheart," "beautiful," "gorgeous."

You're the heart of the group, everyone seems to come to you whenever they have a problem or issue with ... anything. You're like the mother of the group while Scott is the father :')

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈

Take A Chance On Me by ABBA

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 

Aggressively Supportive & Protective Of One Another

Sun (You) x Moon (Scott)

You Confessed Your Love When Thinking He Was Unconscious

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖

He loves how courageous you are - he knows that even when Beacon Hills is infested with dangerous creatures, you don't cower and hide. You face it head on, even if your knees are shaking, you won't back down.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅  

Lydia! But I also feel like Stiles when you get to know him more while hanging out at Scott's place. Lydia and you had grown up together, and while there was a period where you were distant, she eventually came to her senses, and asked to hang out again.

𝐓𝐎𝐆

𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝐼 𝑠𝘩𝑖𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝐷𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛! (I'm sorry I didn't know which gif to use and I kinda like this actor for the role of Dorian anyway-) I was going to ship you with Chaol but I feel like he wouldn't ... get your goofy side. To me Chaol is too stoic. Dorian is flirtacious and mischevious and fun to be around. But he knows responsibility and has that stability you'd need.

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔

With his magic, he can do amazing things! He likes to show off whenever you're around, even when you've been together for a while, he still likes seeing that astonishment in your eyes

Will listen to you and support you no matter what. Dorian would always make time for you!

Shows you his love through gift giving, physical touch and words of affirmation. He loves holding you, peppering kisses over your face. And you have so many shiny jewels and necklaces and earrings and rings that you have endless choices of what you can wear.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈

Burning Desire by Lana Del Rey

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 

They probably hate me (You) x Deeply, passionately in love … is terrible at showing it (Dorian)

Bashful (You) x Shameless (Dorian)

Home Is Wherever You Are

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖

Dorian loves that he can be himself around you and not be judged. He hasn't had that with many people - and those that he has ... well they no longer live. When he realised that you're a safe person, he promised that he would protect you no matter what. Nothing was going to harm you.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅  

Lysandra! She would be the best girl best friend ever! She loves sleep overs and brings all your favourite snacks. Even though she lives in Terrasen, she still comes for visits and brings Evangeline and you have a girls' night. It's so sweet!

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐋

𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝐼 𝑠𝘩𝑖𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑃𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟! His personality is a lot like Scott - they both have this need to protect people, to help others and put themselves on the line so others will be okay. They sacrifice. And I think Peter would absolutely love you! I'm serious - he would feel so light around you, like nothing bad could happen to him.

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔

Most definitely takes you ... swinging? Flying? Oh you know! - the thing with the webs and you cling to him like there's no tomorrow. Yeah, he does that.

Strokes your hair whenever you fall asleep on him (he absolutely LOVES when you fall asleep on him). Even if you snore, or talk in your sleep, he wouldn't care one bit

Whenever he's nervous, you make him dance. Either with you, like hand in hand, or just standing beside each other and doing the most random movements. It really helps him get out of his head.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈

We're A Team by James Newton Howard

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 

You Fell First, But They Fall Harder

Malewife (Peter) x Girlboss (You)

Forever In Their Honeymoon Stage

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖

He loves your silly side! Peter hates having to think about everything he does, and how he must seem to everyone. He may not seem like the type who cares what people think - but he can't help it. And then you come along and show him that other's opinions don't matter. You teach him things, and that's what he loves about you too.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅  

Kate Bishop! You guys are quite similar, but I think you have a more solid way of existing - even though you don't have an earth sign in your big 3! You'd get into shenanigans with Kate, but help keep her head out of the clouds too much.

[thewardenisonthecase]

Wanted to answer the questions from @pupkinpumpkin about the HOF/Hawke/Inquisitor, and since it's quite lenghy, I'm making it my own post, but the questions can be found here too.

1. Do any of your protagonists have stretch marks or gain them over time?

Anneliese Cousland: For a long time she doesn't have them, but after getting pregnant, she does have many of them on her breasts and on her stomach. She's a bit insecure about them but considering all the shit she has to do, she doesn't think on it too often. Plus Alistair likes them, so that's a plus.

Elizabeth Hawke: She has some, mostly on her arms and belly.

Asala Adaar: Yes, she has a lot of them on her stomach, on her thighs, on her breasts, especially considering she's the biggest out of the three and she likes them a lot. She's a big girl and she's proud of it.

2. Are they good at a task or hobby? (Ex. Sewing, dancing, puzzles)

Anneliese Cousland: Embroidery! She didn't have a lot of time to do it during the Fifth Blight, but afterwards, she picked up the hobby again, and many of her handkerchiefs have a little thing she embroided. She also like it because she feels like she's stabbing something.

Elizabeth Hawke: Does killing people count?

Asala Adaar: Not something you can necessarily be good at but it's a hobby anyways, and that's reading. She really loves her books.

3. Do they have a good sense of direction?

Anneliese Cousland: No, but it gets a little bit better over time.

Elizabeth Hawke: Great sense of direction, rarely gets lost.

Asala Adaar: Kind of in the middle. For most of the time, she's good at knowing where to go, but she has her moments.

4. Did they have a crush or flirt with any other companions before getting with their love interests?

Anneliese Cousland: She slept with Zevran before Alistair made a move on her, and she ocasionally flirted with Leliana, but in both instances, she didn't feel like it would develop into more than that, as Alistair was the one she had the real feelings for.

Elizabeth Hawke: She flirted a bit with Anders, and a lot with Aveline during the Long Road. She also ocasionally flirted with Varric. She had a small crush on Anders too, but the crush on Fenris was stronger.

Asala Adaar: She flirted with EVERYONE, and even though she's in a relationship with Solas, she's still out there flirting with Dorian.

5. How are they with sharing their food?

Anneliese Cousland: She has to really, REALLY, like you for her to share her food. Otherwise, do not touch her food if you wish to live.

Elizabeth Hawke: She'll share her food and also eat others food.

Asala Adaar: She'll share if asked, but otherwise, she won't offer it.

6. How would they react if someone said a really bad pun to them?

Anneliese Cousland: Stare at them. Like a disprooving dad. She is not amused.

Elizabeth Hawke: She'll snort, and tell Varric later.

Asala Adaar: Awkward laugh.

7. What clothes do they sleep in?

Anneliese Cousland: During the fifth blight, a simple shirt and pants (hate to make this comparison, but kinda like what Astarion wears in camp, but with less frills.) Post origins, nightgown, just like a long, white nightgown.

Elizabeth Hawke: A big ass shirt, that goes over her thighs, and nothing more.

Asala Adaar: A top and a short.

8. Would they rather sacrifice themselves to keep their loved ones safe or sacrifice someone else with a family to keep their loved ones safe?

Anneliese Cousland: She's going to find some way that no one has to be sacrificed, but if she doesn't, someone else with a family. In this regard, she is selfish and she will sacrifice anyone else to keep herself and her loved ones safe.

Elizabeth Hawke: Sacrifices herself. She has lost too much and she refuses to loose more. Also, there's a part of her that says that if she died, it would be better, especially if it meant protecting her brother.

Asala Adaar: This one is a bit harder, but I think she'd also try to find a way to save everyone and if she can't, she'll sacrifice herself.

9. Do they use nicknames/pet names for their friends?

Anneliese Cousland: Not really, but she'll call Zevran and Leliana by 'Zev' and 'Leli' on ocassion.

Elizabeth Hawke: Varric's influence is too great and sometimes she'll slip, and call them by what he calls them. Merrill's the one who this happens most to, as Hawke will often call her Daisy.

Asala Adaar: She's not very good at coming up with nicknames, so she usually just sticks to their names.

10. Do they use nicknames/pet names for their love interest?

Anneliese Cousland: She'll often call Alistar 'dear,' 'dearest', and after they get married, and when she really wants to annoy him, 'husband'.

Elizabeth Hawke: Calls Fenris 'love' a lot, and 'Broody' when she wants to annoy him (which happens often).

Asala Adaar: In intimate moments, will call Solas 'kadan'.

11. How many scars do they have now compared to the beginning of their adventure?

Anneliese Cousland: A. FUCKING. LOT. Especially early on, when her armor wasn't that great, she collected various scars on her torso and back. During the final battle against the archdemon, she gets a really big scar across her face, and in her words "can't kill an archdemon without some scars to tell the story". She also gained a few more during Awakening.

Elizabeth Hawke: Doesn't have many, but gets a few during the fight with the Arishok. Considering she mostly stays out of melee, it's rare for her to get that hurt in combat. Also, Anders is really good at healing most of her scars so even the ones she gets, a quick visit to the clinic solves it.

Asala Adaar: Has very little at the beggining, but as the game progresses, she gets more and more, most on her back.

12. Were there any NPCs that they were kinda into or thought were attractive?

Anneliese Cousland: She had a crush on Ser Gilmore, she slept with Iona, he's a companion but I'd say Sten counts too so she was also attracted to him, she was kinda into Teagen, and she slept with Isabela so...let's say a lot of people.

Elizabeth Hawke: There were only two: Orisino and the Arishok.

Asala Adaar: To be honest, no. Outiside of her companions, she wasn't really interested in anyone.

13. Any weird habits?

Anneliese Cousland: She's often talking to herself, though she tries not to do it while others are around.

Elizabeth Hawke: She whistles and hums songs under her breath a lot.

Asala Adaar: She hates open doors, so she'll often be seen closing them around Skyhold when she has nothing better to do.

14. What do they do to calm down or focus?

Anneliese Cousland: Hit things, she'll ask someome to go spar with her, or when she has her things with her, she'll do some embroidery.

Elizabeth Hawke: Writes in her journal.

Asala Adaar: Goes somewhere quiet and just lays down and rests. It's usually on the grass, under some tree, just trying to focus on the earth and the wind.

15. How fast do they get drunk and how do they act when they get drunk?

Anneliese Cousland: It's really, really, really hard for her to get drunk, and she kinda just gets even more serious when she's drunk; just like, more silent overall, but also if you get on her nerves, she's more prone to burst in anger when drunk.

Elizabeth Hawke: Takes a little awhile for her to get drunk, but a few strong drinks will get the jon done quicker. Somehow gets even sillier when drunk, and just makes a big fool of herself.

Asala Adaar: She has only been drunk a couple of times, and that's mostly because she doesn't drink a lot. The few times she has been drunk, she was mostly sleepy and talking with a very slurred speech.

Bonus:

If you could romance one of the unromancable companions or one of the NPCs, who would it be? Or would you stay with the person you've already romanced?

Honestly, if Sten was romanceable, I'd romance him right away. I love his character, I love his companion quest, he has so much depth that he's the only companion that I'd see Anneliese possibly "ditching" Alistair for. Alas, no kisses for sten, so he gets the "besties" promotion instead.

Bonus bonus: Any fun headcanons you have about your protagonist and their friends/loved ones?

I have a few

Anneliese Cousland: She's a tall woman, and she's just a few cm shorter than Alistair, and she loves to tower over people to assert dominance. In the epilogue of Origins, she decides to take a small vacation to Seheron with Sten, and Alistair and Zevran go with her. Sten was not happy about it.

Even after she left the command of the grey wardens, as she assumed her role as queen, she would still visit Amaranthine from time to time and train with the recruits.

Bribed Zevran into being her personal spy, and ocasionally, has had him kill some people for her. Alistair is unaware of this tho.

She found the cure for the taint, after that, she and Alistair had three kids. Also, even though her friends are all scattered around the world, she routinely sends them letters, to know how they are and when she went looking for the cure, Zevran went with her.

Elizabeth Hawke: I don't have a lot of 'fun' HCs of her, but after being left in the Fade, she eventually got out with the help of her friends + Feynriel, and is now living peacefully in Kirkwall again, except for the few times she goes with Fenris to kill some slavers.

Asala Adaar: After the inquisition is disbanded, she actually goes live with Hawke in Kirkwall, and the two kinda help each other heal, and bond over being left by their boyfriends at some point. Also, post game, she and Blackwall end up getting together.

[pearblossommina]

ToG Read-A-Long, Empire of Storms, day 11

SOMEHOW I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW CLOSE TO THE END WE ARE. I think it’s because I checked this book out from the library virtually to make it easier to carry with me, and I’ve just been reading on my phone. I pulled out the physical copy to read this morning since it’s my day off, and now I realize this the last 100 pages. The traditional, SJM style, shit-hitting-the-fan smorgasbord.

(Bring it on)

Ch 65

Did anybody else try to pair the gods with their main cast counterpart?

“one that was of sea and sky and storms” Rowan

“one of many shifting voices, both animal and human” Lysandra

“one who saw all with wise, calm eyes” Elide? Or maybe Dorian?

“the one of darkness and death.” Lorcan

“the one with a voice of steel and shields and arrows.” Maybe Gavriel? Or Aedion, I guess?

“The one with three faces” Manon

“The princess whirled, her hunting leathers stained and damp, the gold tips on her braided hair clinking.”

NEHEMIA! I missed you so much, honey!

This isn’t Nehemia though, it’s just an echo, just a memory, but oh, it’s still so good to see her again 😭

Ch 66

“When Aelin and Manon had vanished into that mirror, Dorian suspected it was only Aedion's roaring that had made Rowan snap out of the blood fury he'd descended into. And only the throbbing bruise on Dorian's cheek that made Rowan refrain from giving him a matching one.”

He didn’t know what was about to happen though. Idk. I feel like it was a pretty genius idea, there was no way he could have known shit was about to hit the fan. And that they wouldn’t be back.

(They’re gonna come back, right?)

“Maybe Manon Blackbeak would help her do it. Maybe they'd rule over the ruins together.

He wished he'd had more time to talk to the witch. To get to know her beyond what his body had already learned.”

I wish you did, too, Dorian, but you were too busy being horny! Lol

(I can’t say I blame you)

(Live your best life Dorian)

Ch 67

“Rowan had not possessed an army of his own to give to Aelin. To give to Terrasen.

So he had won an army for her. Through the only things Aelin had claimed were all she wanted from him.

His heart. His loyalty. His friendship.”

Omg, Rowan 🥺

GET YOURSELF A MAN WHO GIVES YOU HIS HEART. HIS LOYALTY. HIS FRIENDSHIP.

That’s how you know. He’s top tier husband material.

If Maeve hurts Elide I’m going to scream.

I’ll riot.

I swear.

Ch 68

It’s so fucking devastating to read about Nehemia, plotting her own very violent death.

That shit was so traumatic.

NEHEMIA. I kind of don’t forgive you? Like, did you even realize? How fucked up it was? To die - so violently - so horrifically - but - you didn’t HAVE TO. Aelin was the one who HAD TO. You gave Elena your death.

And for what!

To traumatize your friend into action!

I hate it. I hate it SO MUCH.

The Elena pulling the strings behind it all reveal here. It’s very unsettling, in a high fantasy kinda way. I like the way it feels, that ultimate pain, ultimate sacrifice, chosen one trope, but I don’t believe for a minute that Alien has to die to save the world.

I know we can find another way to solve this riddle. Maybe that’s why Manon’s here. She’s nameless, too, in a way, since she was disavowed as the Heir to the Blackbeak clan.

Or maybe you can give up your name, symbolically. And then be truly nameless. Maybe you can trick Maeve into giving up her name, and kill two birds with one stone here.

Ch 69

(Nice)

This fighting continues.

ABRAXOS is back! Babyyyyyyy! ILU so much! Thank you for coming back so triumphantly!

Ch 70

It feels so unnatural to stop here

I wanna finish reading!

I wanna know what happens next!