#but then I think by canon time period he’s still pretty young for an elf

[boydykedevo]

Rotating Taagnus ethersea au and i guess since elves don’t really exist in ethersea Taako would be a human… (I’d still give him the ears tho if Devo gets halfelf ears it’s only fair)

I’m just trying to think how old I want him to be. I guess the question is whether I’m thinking IPRE ages or BoB ages, like if Mags is 20 or 32. Cuz if he’s 20 Taako’s a couple years older. But if he’s 32 they’re around the same age

[theharellan]

An incomplete list of my Solas’ names, listed semi-chronologically:

Da’Fen. An affectionate name given by Wisdom when he was young, and likely was invoked by it throughout their friendship until its death. Only a few know him by this name, and fewer still ever took physical form.

Fen’amelan. A name given by Mythal, more or less translating as “wolf guardian,” it references his role as her protector although later was adopted by the People to represent his expanding role as their guardian. One of the most common names to refer to him by, up until he took on the name Fen’Harel. Obviously when writing with a Mythal this headcanon is flexible and won’t be forced upon them.

Fenara. A name given by the People, but often used by friends. He wore many disguises to walk among the People unnoticed, and eventually earns a name to reference the habit-- “the wolf that wanders.” He had a particular fondness for this name, especially when it was invoked by people who just figured out who he was. Often such cleverness was rewarded, either through a gift or recruitment.

Fen’Samahl. A name almost exclusively used by friends, although I’m sure that there have been people who picked it up after overhearing those close to him use it. It just means “the laughing wolf” and is more or less the ancient elvhen equivalent to “Chuckles” because his laugh has always sounded Like That.

Fen’ghil’an. It means “the wolf that guides” and was given to him by the faithful, mostly invoked by lost travellers, traders about to make a long journey, or on more dire occasions by Andruil’s sacrifices. I should note here that this is a feminine name, and that Solas was not exclusively seen as a masculine entity-- in fact, most often he was seen as neutral (most ancient texts likely refer to him with the neutral len over lan or lin), but there were those who would exclusively or occasionally use she/her pronouns when referencing him.

Fenvir / Fen’an. Two very niche names used during the period just before he broke off to ultimately become Fen’Harel, and only by those who knew his heart. Fenvir references the new path he is on, and Fen’an represents his changing heart. They also likely could have been used after his turn for those who didn’t want to call him something his enemies had named him.

Fen’Harel / Fen’Harellan / Fen’Harillen. Names given to him by his enemies, intended as an insult but adopted by the revolution and by Fen’Harel himself. It means both “wolf traitor” and “rebel wolf” and can invoke either a terrifying god-monster bent upon destroying the people he was meant to protect, or a person who has upheld the meaning of his ancient names even if it meant turning against those who gave them to him. Fen’Harel is a strange name which contributes to Solas’ ill feelings towards it, to some it is a god’s name, to others it is a hero’s name, to others still it is a monster’s name, albeit a divine monster, rarely is it is his name. Especially after the creation of the Veil. Also interesting to note that the gender of the noun associated with the name is feminine.

Solas. A name he chose for himself after he wakes, representing both his own self-admitted pride and the pride of the elves. Pride isn’t an inherently negative thing, least of all to a race of people whose pride has been purposefully stripped from them, and I don’t believe every Fade denizen who represents Pride is necessarily demonic or violent in nature. But getting into that would be opening up another discussion about the nature of spirits so we won’t be getting into that. One thing I should note is that if someone notes that “Solas” is a strange thing to name a child, if he has a positive relationship with that person he will mention that he wasn’t born with that name, although if someone responds by asking what his real name is he will greatly disapprove. I have written a little fic about Thora and Solas discussing his (and hers) names and their meanings here for an example of what I mean. In addition to those who knew Solas in the Inquisition, those who are close to Solas and understand ancient Elvhen naming conventions and his feelings about his own names are likely to call him Solas, too. At least under certain circumstances.

Chuckles. It counts as a name in his mind, and one of the few he’ll accept as gladly as he does Solas. How you interpret the meaning of Varric’s nickname varies and I will leave that up to any Varrics I write with, personally I tend to see it as literal rather than ironic as the first time he invokes it in-game is after Solas snort-laughs. I also think he had this nickname before you as the Herald meet Solas or Varric (they obviously know each other if Solas is giggling over the prospect of Varic being with the Chantry) but again I ultimately leave that up to Varrics.

Vhenan / Sal’shiral. Affectionate nicknames given to him by Ian over the course of their relationship, but begin to feel as real as any other name he’s been called, especially when they rendezvous in the Fade and the full meaning of what Ian feels when he says it can be felt. Shout-out to Ala (seahaloed) for giving me feelings about this.

Many of his old names may provoke negative feelings in Solas, as they’re names associated with his false divinity or are easy to project onto on a scale that can be disorienting. When people called upon Fen’ghil’an or Fen’amelan for protection, they called upon him, but also they didn’t. It’s one reason Solas is a more comfortable name for him, it’s the one he owns completely.

And one final name:

Lavellan. You may have noticed Solas has never had a last name! In my modern Thedas verse he does invent one, but he doesn’t put as much weight in them as he does first names (I don’t think Elvhenan quite had surnames, as nuanced meaning could be put in one name or dispersed over several). In the Dragon Age not having a last name is pretty acceptable for lower classes, and therefore suitable for an apostate elf dressed in rags. However, when Solas does marry Ian he takes his last name as a symbol of their joining. In modern Thedas it’s the first time he ever gives his students the option to call him by his last name, as before he typically instructed them to call him by his first name and the more polite students would just have to suffer or call him “Professor Solas.”

This is all 100% fanon/headcanon and diverges from canon, please don’t reblog this unless we’re rp partners!

[holyblackspear]

For the OC OTP prompts - how about,,, every other emoji :3

Ahah, thank you for asking dear, I was in the mood for some writing about these idiots! I’m going to continue with Johnathan and Bull as in the previous ask ;) Since it’s long, I’m putting this under the cut!

❣️ When did your OC first realise they were in love? How did they react to the realisation? I’m actually writing a fic about this I hope to post soon, but to sum it up: On a mission, when Bull got hurt in his place and risked his life for him. It made him feel horrible and guilty, but they talked a few hours later. They both opened up a little about their past, and that gave him perspective about his own story and about how he wanted Bull to be happy. It was the first time he consciously realized he cared for the Qunari, that it wasn’t just about desiring him physically but rather something far bigger and more rooted in his heart.He didn’t take it well. Actually, he got terrified. He had seen Bull for being the type to sleep around, his upbringing not contemplating the idea of a stable relationship. Love had hurt him in the past already, so he was more scared and upset about his feelings and their impossibility to be reciprocated (that’s how he thought to be back then) than happy.

💝 What kinds of gifts does your OC receive from their partner(s)? What kinds of gifts do they give in return? Jonathan knows Bull likes dawnstone, so he likes to collect it when he’s on missions so he can forge weapons and stuff for him with it. He’s also aware of his love for food, so he likes to sneak away silently from the group and fetch snacks here and there to show him all of a sudden. The one he likes to give him the most is chocolate, since it’s canonically rare.He insists with Bull that the best gift he could receive from him is his time and presence, but Bull doesn’t listen (luckily). He’d bring the elf books about the sky and its stars and planets, something Johnathan is very passionate about. He’d also bring him herbs for his pipe since he’s kind of a heavy smoker (though he’s trying to slow down a little).

💕 Describe an ideal date form them! Ideal date? As stated here, obviously for these two dorks: Hunting down a Dragon! The surprise when seeing one, the adrenaline pumping as they face the beast and the triumphant shout when they come out of it alive and successful … I mean, can you think of anything more romantic?On a more common note, however, a night spent stargazing talking about their lives would be perfect. Johnathan loves the sky and the stars and loves hearing about Bull’s stories. It makes them feel closer to open up under the infinite mantel of the universe, giving them a sense of intimacy that nothing else can.

💔 Has your OC had a bad breakup or nasty ex? If so does this have any affect on their current relationship? He did, and a very bad one actually.Back to the days when Johnathan was still young and unmarked, around fifteen years old, he had fallen for a wandering elf that had asked to be taken in by clan Lavellan for a while, waiting for the spring to come and the weather to get more clement. He was older than him and his knowledge for life, hunting and human culture fascinated him. Plus, he was a teenager eager to experiment with love and sexuality, so the elf’s flirting and teasing flattered and excited him.Having no previous examples of how a relationship should work he didn’t interpret the plenty of red flags that were there. He didn’t complain about being left alone for long periods of time, about not receiving proper attention after they got physical for the first time and most importantly he didn’t think it was bad to have sex in a rush, sometimes without explicitly consenting, only to be left alone after his partner had climaxed.To top it off, he kept it a secret to everyone else because he was shy and feared to be seen badly by the clan for liking a man (since the elves are usually concerned about having children to continue the race exterminated by the humans), so nobody could actually tell him. Plus, when he expressed the possible desire to open up to at least his friends and parents, his partner would get mad and oppose strongly.The real hit came when Spring actually arrived. Johnathan thought that he was going to stay in the clan in the name of the love they shared, but the man simply went away with a shrug, telling him he had a wife and children to go back to in the clan he belonged to. Of course, poor Johnathan was shattered, and his heart considerably hardened in regards to romantic love.He didn’t become untrustful, however. Years passing by made him realize that what he went through was an exception, rather than the rule and that most people weren’t anyhow similar to him.

💘 What do they love most about their partner(s)? What do their partner(s) love most about them? Johnathan loves Bull’s beard. Seriously! He doesn’t grow it, it’s scratchy and black, perfect for snuggling (and even better for … added sensation)That and the half-smile he makes, that sort of little grin Bull does. It drives him mad in a positive way.Bull likes his eyes and ears. Johnathan is a very serious person, mostly has a resting bitch face. Those two traits, however, are always highly expressive. His ears twitch and move, plus they’re long and sensitive, so it’s fun to tease the elf. And his eyes, well … they’re big, they’re colourful, they’re freaky, and the truest and most sincere part of the Inquisitor. So much’s hidden behind them, only waiting to be seen by a sufficiently attentive glance.

💖 What are some little subtle ways they show that they love each other? Bull stops Johnathan while he’s working, sometimes, cups his face and kisses him. It’s brief and simple, sometimes not even on the lips, but when he breaks away and whispers “Kadan” with his soft voice, the elf remembers he’s not alone, and that he’s loved more than he ever thought possible.Johnathan, on the other hand, takes care of him. Bull’s not very good at doing that himself, so the blond says nothing and simply acts, putting balm on his horns, massaging the leg when he wears the brace and such. Also, both of them do little things for each other. Sharpen the other’s weapon, fill in a document while the other’s asleep … things like these.

💗 Describe your OC’s partner(s) from their point of view! What do they really think about them? He thinks Bull’s a beautiful man, both in and out, that has suffered too much and still managed to remain kind like few others. At first he’s scary, he’s good at lying, too good at hiding what’s not quite right underneath his skin.But he’s sweet and caring, sometimes too selfless to believe. Plus he’s a walking paradox, so full of antitheses it’s funny. He’s surprising, knowledgeable and unexpected and all Johnathan could ask for and more. His heart tightens every time he stares at him for a while and his mind starts wandering.

💞 What do their respective families think of their relationship? Since Bull doesn’t have a family in the common sense of the term, I’d say the Chargers have nothing against it. They grew accustomed to the Inquisition and to Johnathan more specifically, seeing how caring of a leader he is. They probably tease them for being their “mommy and daddy” since they’re always worrying about their safety. The mom is Bull, of course.Johnathan’s parents, on the other hand, had a brief moment of disbelief and implicit opposition. They were hoping to see their child happily married with one of their kind and to have grandchildren, so being told their little boy was in love with a Qunari mercenary was … a lot to take in.It lasted very little, however. Johnathan’s dad saw how he was starting to get emotional and how his son was hurt by their reaction, to the point he was almost crying. He hugged “his little elf” while talking to his wife, both realizing that the whole Inquisition had changed their son and how he was happy with the man at his side. Eventually, the grew found of the Qunari (who has the same shitty dad humour of Joni’s father) and found happiness in their son’s. Plus, they adore their adoptive grandchildren.

🖤 Have they ever had a really bad argument where they almost broke up? I don’t think so. They’re both rational men who don’t let their feelings drive them. They had fights, most likely, especially about how careless and selfless the other was being towards himself, but never so bad they’d get close to breaking up. I think they’d rather spend some time alone to figure it out before sitting down and talking it out.

💌 Write a love letter from your OC to their partner(s). BONUS: write a reply! Fun fact: Johnathan is not good at expressing his feelings, let alone if he has to write a long, heartfelt letter.So the exchange would probably go like this:(Fancy letter with sigil and rice paper from Johnathan)Bull,let’s find and fight a dragon.My necklace’s missing the thrill of the fight.Yours, JohnathanI’m not even joking.

💜 Give a random fact about their daily life together! Sometimes Johnathan wakes up still tired and complains about the make-up he has (wants, rather) to put on. Bull is happy to apply it for him, all focused and dead serious.The result is close to atrocious, but Joni doesn’t have the heart to kill his toothy smile and leaves his quarters regardless, proud of his green racoon eyes and the fard too heavy on the cheeks.Pretty much everyone has figured out what’s going on. They find it very sweet, though it looks ridiculous.

[greetingsfromeboncreek]

BEHOLD the rest of the commentaries. They’re pretty short in comparison to the others, and I wrote them pretty stream of consciousness, so I can’t guarantee how much sense they make, but it’s done, dammit. 

BTW, my overall favorite characters (in no particular order): Arthur, Charlie, Meredith, Alaster, Iggy, Bael, Mara, Junior, Solstice

My thoughts on 33 different characters below the cut:

The New Friends:

Kirk: Like Nick, probably could have been written out and not much would be changed. However, he gets a pass because he was never really meant to be in the main storyline to start with, being born of a short lived prompt based adventure on the MSPA forums, who got phased into the main storyline. However, unlike Nick he has a genuinely interesting motivation (evil goon gone good, determined to avenge his mistreated coworkers). I also love his overall cheery and easygoing personality, he seems like a very nice guy. Interesting backstory- he was apparently in the army reserves, but got hired by a private company, if I’m remembering correctly? That means that he might not have had any family in Ebon Creek- which means there may well be people still out there looking for him and worried about him, orrr they’ve just been told he’s dead, which is a sad thought. Also has an adorable dynamic with Morty- I could easily imagine him with that one gif along the lines of “I’ve only known Morty for 15 minutes, but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in the room and then myself.” I also liked how he’s the only human member of the “good guys” to have any actual combat training- in an AU where nobody has demon powers or magic, he could probably wipe the floor with everyone else. Overall, very nice dude, love his abilities (cool weapons and shouting out power names is really fun), REALLY liked his aegis design, love his dynamic with Morty, grade A character.

Arrie- Another really cool lady! I really liked how she slowly went from confused but not incompetent, to really taking responsibility for the situation in Ebon Creek later in the storyline. It’s awesome to hear she’s going to get a more prominent role in the reboot, I ADORE her new design, and I’m quietly guessing her treasure chest motif pockets have bag of holding style portals in them. Would have loved to have seen her reunion with Azgrut, but ehn, we can’t have everything. Also love her clever use of portals- I think it works really well with her intelligent personality. I also really enjoyed her dynamic with Sally while they were teemed up- rough and tumble lady with a prim, proper and intelligent young woman, both happily beating up their opponents. Wonderful.

Victus- I’ve always had a soft spot for dry, logical characters, and Victus is no exception. I think as a fellow military dude, him and Kirk would have gotten along quite well if they had had more time to talk to each other. However, above all else I love his relationship with Bael- from how he initially turned Bael’s parasitism around on him, to how he, (in my opinion at least) ended up in a near-father figure position. It doesn’t matter how edgy Bael acts, Victus is there to pat him on the head in a patronizing fashion. Sure kid. You’re real cool. (While also taking into account his mental state and showing sympathy.) And frankly, if anyone needs that kind of support, it’s Bael.

Trevor- Always liked this guy! A very useful font of exposition, and a genuinely nice guy. I also really appreciate the fact that he’s not used to the chaos of Ebon Creek, and of horrible situations in general. His moments of vulnerability/near breakdowns (and Eric’s for that matter) remind the audience that everything that’s happening… isn’t normal. He’s the closest thing we have to an ‘audience insert’ in the Asylum arc. Loved his gadgetry based fighting style, would have been interesting to see what sort of demon powers he would have developed, but overall not too bummed about it. Really REALLY happy he got to rebuild his friendship with Azgrut, that was one of the things I was most pleased about with the ending.

Eric- Very similar to Trevor in terms of ‘audience insert’ and ‘nice guy’ and ‘hadn’t been completely traumatized by the start of the comic leading to mental breakdowns’, but rode along with the villains instead of the heroes. Poor thing ultimately ends up suffering more than Trevor though, for obvious reasons. It would have been cool to see someone actually learn how to be a zombie though; Sam and Jericho have been like that for years, and we missed Alaster’s adjustment period, but it would have been amusing to watch Eric slowly get used to it.

Also, he committed the biggest instance of ‘Nice job breaking it, hero’ in the whole comic. Way to revive King Law, Eric. Real smooth. Also very, very interesting in that he was one of the few that SIGVALDI found interesting. Eric’s likely up there on the list of cleverest characters, and I hope he’s doing ok after the end of Suppression.

Assorted Goons:

Grenner- I love this man. I draw him looking perpetually exhausted for a reason. He’s a very good man who blames himself for some very bad things, and while he outwardly holds himself together, is grasping at straws to figure out how to make things better. Is a man that’s plagued with guilt and also the actual plague, but has an INCREDIBLE mental fortitude- it’s been explained that perceiving one’s demonic infection as a separate entity is what kills you, but Dr.Grenner did that… and won. I also love his relationship with Iggy- once pretty good, now strained with Grenner trying very hard to put it back together. I’d really like to see them make up someday. (Iggy takes after his dad a lot tbh, loathe as he is to admit it.) ...Id also like to see Grenner show everyone Iggy’s baby pics. You know he’s got em somewhere.

Kolt- Noooooooo. Probably...my least favorite of the villains. Certainly the one I find the creepiest, for reasons I went over in my commentary with Sally, but also the one I found the least interesting in terms of characterization and backstory. Was really pleased to see his “death” and how he got repurposed into a different character, buuuut it’s less encouraging knowing he was going to come back. Please, you creepy bastard….just stay dead…..

Santris- Changing directions, one of my favorite villains. Unlike Nick, his small number of appearances works in his favor, considering he usually shows up during plot important moments, prodding things in one direction or another. This is a man who KNOWS things, and I love it. What is he up to? What’s his motivation? That’s all part of the intrigue. His power set links into this perfectly, which is to say he doesn’t really have one- he’s the only character that fights without magic or plague powers, leaving his real powers- if he has any- a mystery. There’s only one thing I feel fit to speculate on with this guy, and that’s the fact that he’s PROBABLY an elf, going by his eyes. Even that can’t be confirmed though, and makes things even more strange due to the fact that he seems to mostly work with humans, with little to no contact with Thal’nasia.

Azgrut- Another ‘not technically evil, just a victim of tragic circumstances’ character. Being murdered as a child, brought back as a zombie, and forced to build weapons or else be killed again doesn’t leave a guy with a lot of options. However, the weapons he’s building are his life’s work, and probably the only thing that brings him any real happiness or, failing that, satisfaction. It’s probably why he’s so protective of his work, and why he’s so pissy when anyone comes and bothers him. His magitech based fighting style is cool as heck to look at (And to compare/contrast with Trevor’s), and he has an EXCELLENT general aesthetic to him. Tron line zombie, hell yeah. Overall, his situation was even more miserable and ultimately hopeless than Sam’s, and I’m REALLY glad he got a happy ending. Though it’s a shame that because Arthur raised him, that means he’s still ultimately under control of the Wights, which was his whole goal with the phylactery thing. Wait. Azgrut’s still alive at the end. Which m…..FUCK. ARTHUR’S NOT DEAD, THE CAVE IN DIDN’T KILL HIM. I JUST FIGURED THAT OUT. FUCK

Maggie- Okokokok I’m cool, it’s cool. It’s cool. Arthur’s not dead, fine. I’ll just pretend he’s stuck under a rock somewhere, it’s fine. Ok, Maggie. She’s so. Fucking cool. So goddamn cool, I love her so much. I love her ease and sense of confidence, and the implication that she’s the one wearing the pants in her business relationship with Bartleby, even if the people they work with get the initial impression otherwise. She also probably wears the pants in their romantic relationship too. Which like, might not be a thing, not confirmed for canon, but it’s fun to think about. Also has a bitchin outfit, and the coolest ‘element’ out of everyone in the comic, I think. Gravity powers? There is so much room for shenanigans and cool fight scenes out of that. I’m really looking forward to seeing her in the new comic- judging from the number of stripes on her shoulder, she seems to be the boss in the reboot as well. Keep on rockin, girl.

Bartleby- Look. In almost every piece of media with a lot of villains, there’s always one brightly colored, egotistical and flamboyant one. I think for Suppression, Bartleby is that dude. I’m not even kidding- if you look at the big reference sheet of Suppression characters on Degulus’s Deviantart, there’s only 3 patches of bright color and those are Overload Charlie, Azgrut, and Bartleby. However, unlike other villains of that type, where their biggest flaw is their sense of pride, Bartleby’s motive is that Thal’nasia isn’t proud ENOUGH. He believes that elves are genuinely better than humans, but aren’t acting like it, and that needs to be fixed immediately, by way of violent take over of the government. That is a DELIGHTFUL motivation to have. I’m aware that a lot of Suppression’s villains match up with the seven deadly sins (though it’s not too strictly enforced), and envy is a hard one to pull off. However, Bartleby does it and does it well! (Side note: love this dude’s outfit, and double love the fact that he’s the only character who’s teeth you see on a regular basis… where those teeth aren’t sharp. That’s wonderfully unnerving. A+. )

Tyburn- This dude’s more of an honorable mention because he never actually shows up. You only hear about him in passing, so there’s not a LOT for me to say. It’s some hilarious irony that Azgrut doesn’t know what happened after he died (and neither does Iggy for that matter) so he just lists the completely wrong generals and Iggy just essentially nods and goes “Sounds legit.”. I feel like there’s a lot of mysteries around Tyburn though… like I said, we never see him, so who WAS this guy? Why did he defect? (Is he secretly still alive…?) However, the Blood Red Rebellion seems like it was pretty much a feature exclusive to the original comic, so we’re not likely to get anymore info. I’m fine with that tbh- not everything has to be explained to death. Sometimes a dude is just a dude.

Lexi- First of all. Love this girl’s aesthetic. The cropped haircut? The >:3c face? The goggles? The outfit? Yes, yes, and yes. She’s also the only character in the comic that has a very… ‘big sister’ sort of feel to her. Really she’s just an overworked babysitter who got handed a kid that she is in no way equipped to handle, but she’s doing her best to not mess him up too bad regardless. I get the feeling that she’s a dumb kid who was asked “Hey you wanna do some Villainy (™) “ and she was totally down for it before realizing much too late that. Villainy is not as fun as you’d think and ESPECIALLY not when you’re the replaceable mook.

Junior- Hhhh I love this boy. Look, I love art and drawing. I also love robots n stuff in media. I also have Aspergers, and so I have a tendencies towards anxiety, seeming ‘odd’ to other people, being baffled in situations that others would find normal, and obsessing over certain topics. As a result, those who have seen Junior can see why I love this child so so much. It can be kind of embarrassing to admit it, but I see a lot of myself in this character. I’m glad that he has someone that “gets” him and is looking out for his best interests (you rock, Alaster). We don’t really find out what happened to him, Lexi, Alaster and Maggie after the comic, but I like to think that they all got out ok and are just chilling out there somewhere.

Wight Family

Maxwell- Stern, serious, imposing heads of families are relatively common villains, and it’s pretty easy for it to become a boring, flat stereotype; for a character to become nothing more than, essentially, a villainous rock. Max is not this. Max is trying very hard to be this, but doesn’t always measure up, and that is infinitely more interesting than the evil boulder archetype. His character profile straight up says that he’s only trying to be cool and collected. In reality, he’s surrounded by (what he considers) idiots and is trying very hard to keep this show on the road, and his facade of dignity isn’t nearly as impregnable as he thinks. I love the idea of a cold, collected villain going from complex swordplay to an undignified bar brawl the moment he thinks no one’s looking. Just “Fuck it, fine, I’ll do this the easy way. This idiot doesn’t deserve me at my best anyway.” Unfortunately, while his character is very fun to read, the downfall of having a character that doesn’t go into villainous monologues...means that he never explains his evil plans. Which means I’m STILL not really sure… what it was he was trying to DO. Most of my ideas come from Degulus’s explanations in the comments, which is uhhh probably not the best way to communicate that to one’s audience. I’m pretty sure he was planning on altering the course of the leyline to change the laws of nature, and then controlling the world as an immortal zombie but… trusting Arthur to manage that? Yikes. Maybe not the best plan buddy, but you tried your best.

Arthur- Ohhh this bastard. Who is apparently still alive/undead. This bastard… is actually one of my most favorite characters. Like, irrevocably top 5 (I could never pick a #1, but he’s up there). He is an absolutely terrible person. Lazy and cowardly, but in a way that is loathable and malicious instead of sympathetic. Doesn’t seem to think highly of himself, but...doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of anyone else either. Killed his own kids. Killed his brother (s...sort of. It wasn’t very clear.). And today I figured out he didn’t even get comeuppance for it. (Unless, of course, he’s just trapped under a rock in a caved in cave for all eternity with his phylactery sitting on a desk somewhere. That’s kind of hilarious.) However… despite all that, he is an incredibly fun character to hate. His dialogue and reactions were always funny to read, and there’s something about his desire to just lie down and do nothing that appeals to everyone, I think. In a way, he’s similar to an audience insert or ‘straight man’- the one that says “You realize this plan is stupid and never going to work, right.” and is promptly ignored. In summary, terrible person, HORRENDOUS father, but a GREAT character.  

William- Ok technically not a person, but will still be giving commentary. A golem made of souls is an amazingly clever concept, though probably my most favorite part of William is getting to describe him as a “sack of angry ghosts” to my friends. It’s interesting how William appears to be at least partially sentient though- either that collection of souls does have some hivemind sort of consciousness, or that’s some faaaancy spell coding on Sigvaldi’s part. However, due to the fact that he’s a juggernaut superweapon of necromancy, he’s less a character and more a...almost environmental hazard that the characters have to work around. A unique and interesting superweapon that was a blast to read about how they worked around him, but… doesn’t leave me a lot to talk about in terms of character commentary.

Jericho- Ah, the poor narratively-proclaimed D-list villain. Nobody really likes him. Got waylaid by the events of the story, and as a result never did anything of much significance, but it was lampshaded and he later got a huge upgrade. I feel like that matches his personality quite well though. He takes after his dad a lot more than he’d like to admit; he has pride in being undead, and as a member of the Wight family, expects everyone to cower before him… and it’s really funny to watch how frustrated he gets when people don’t immediately do that. I think the combo with Kolt was a good idea; it gave him a much needed power boost and source of intrigue, being a possessed zombie. I was also really interested in seeing where his relationship with Iggy and Azgrut was gonna go! On an unrelated note though...I found out the other day that he’s only 2 years older than Samantha. However, Samantha’s backstory showed that she died as a little girl, and I thought it was implied by the “go get your brother” comment that Jericho died shortly after… but that would make Jericho have the body of a young teen/preteen at most. Sooo I guess that either wasn’t the day Jericho died and Arthur wanted him for something else, or acid zombies can age. Hmmm.

(PS. If Alastair calls Samantha Sam and Meredith Merry, does that mean he calls Jericho Jerry? Because if so, that’s hilarious.)

Samantha- The undying voice of nihilism, in a travel sized package. Sam didn’t get a huge role or a ton of appearances, but she’s one of the few who got what I considered a complete character arc. She had a problem, finally admitted that problem, got assistance with the problem and got her comeuppance. Her story was sad, but god if that didn’t make it all the more satisfying watching Arthur get thrown around like a toy by King Law. You could almost hear the squeaky toy sounds.

Alaster- I have a lot of respect for this guy. In the beginning of the story, he comes off as one of those mysterious, unhinged villains that gives a dramatic speech and then vanishes. However, the course of the story revealed layers of personality and backstory that made me genuinely feel for this guy. He’s proud to be a Wight, but somewhat paradoxically hates his family- this later turns out to be because his dad and uncle are terrible people, even to their own children, and he’s trying to actually create something resembling a “family” instead of...well, a soul-drowning pit of misery. He’s trying to make the Wight family a better place for the members of his generation. He’s trying to be a good brother, a good role model, and is friendly to Sam even though she doesn’t seem to want his kindness. He doesn’t mind though, he gets it. It’s so nice to see the younger members of “villain” half of the cast have someone in their corner willing to throw down for them no matter what. Alaster is an A+ older brother, A+ babysitter, and honestly probably would have made a good dad if he ever got the chance. Well, except for the ‘teaching kids how to murder’ part. But that’s just a traditional part of Wight education, I can give that the slip.

Meredith- My first thought upon seeing Meredith was “Oh my god she’s adorable.” Since then, my opinion has not changed in the slightest. She’s like Sabrina the Teenage Witch but evil. She wants to make a team of US presidents with chainsaw arms. I want to SEE her make a team of US presidents with chainsaw arms. Honestly, she’s a breath of fresh air in the Wight team. She’s good at her job, but young and enthusiastic. After so many dreary, depressed, gothass villains, it’s nice to see one that’s a straight up ray of bubbly sunshine who also wants to rip out your soul and use you as her cute lil familiar. I bet she can ride that scythe like a broomstick. She’s got the wind powers, it could work. The sad part is though is that...while the old Wights might have survived the cave in, and Arthur definitely survived, Meredith was the only one in the room who wasn’t undead or a lich which means she’s probably. Permadead by the end of the comi- AW FUCK THAT MEANS ALASTER’S DEAD TOO. AUUUGH. Oh fffuck I hope Alaster managed to get Junior back home before he just. Dropped dead next to him.

King Law- Unlike Max, this guy is a lot closer to the “villainous rock” stereotype; he even has an elemental affinity to Earth! While I find him a little more boring than Max though, I’m still drawn to him by his bitchin character design, and intriguing sense of ethics; he honestly has some good points on the nature of goodness and the fact that having a sense of right and wrong is worthless if “right” isn’t being defended. He seems to be the concept of “lawful evil” taken to a reasonable endpoint, whereas Sigvaldi would be the “chaotic” end of the scale.

Nora- Ohhh yes that’s the ticket. This is exactly what I wanted. It’s implied that...terrible things happened to the Wight kids’ mothers. (Ok they’re not really kids but you get what I mean.) However, that leaves a very obvious dearth of Wight ladies, leaving me with a hankering for more. Nora hits that spot so well. She’s elegant, refined, but also has a giant, badass fuckin’ sword (ok well she is the sword but still), and will happily kick the crap out of everyone that messes with her family, despite the drama. Is there a ton of depth and backstory? Nah, she was there for like...10 pages and died (thanks, Charlie), but her very existence is a much needed breath of fresh air. Also I need to draw her in a bunch of fancy outfits starting, like. Now.

Sigvaldi- So, I got one of my friends to read the reboot with me entirely on the off chance that Sigvaldi shows up in it based on the few snippets of the old comic that I showed him, so that certainly speaks wonders for Sigvaldi’s character. Granted, it’s mostly because he’s a lich and this friend loves those, but my point stands. Sigvaldi is great. I love characters with a unique worldview and sense of morality, and Sigvaldi is no exception. He is well aware that he creates monsters and commits sins against the laws of nature, and accepts this...what he truly loathes is those who do monstrous things and try to make it look like justice. Now THATS interesting. I also just generally enjoy his omniscient observer role in the story, popping up to give warnings and make predictions. I should also talk about the end of Suppression, while I’m talking about him, specifically those mysterious voices who’s ranks he joined at the end of the story… I’m not sure who they are, but I sure as hell cant wait to find out! I have a few guesses, but 0 evidence, so I’m gonna hold those cards close to my chest for now.

Other Characters

These guys diiiidn’t get a lot of screentime and also I’m feeling really crappy and sick right now so I might not have a lot to say, sorry.

Figaro- An elf with a BEARD. So good. I like how self aware he is about the nature of his job, and how light hearted he stays about it all. Sometimes, your coworkers are incredibly powerful mages that can control the very forces of nature themselves. And sometimes they’re idiots. And sometimes they’re both at the same time and you just kinda gotta roll with it.

Coin- Had pretty much just one conversation so I don’t have a lot to say about this guy. I like his near-naive dedication to heroics and justice though. That can be interesting in done right, especially if it’s from a character who isn’t actually naive and is instead willing to fight for that ideal. I actually find his family more interesting- he has a last name that’s been mentioned a couple times in different contexts. His family certainly gets around, huh?

Mara- Probably my favorite of the elves. I can understand both sides of peoples opinions of her. On one hand, she’s absolutely a child soldier. There’s definite negative effects to this that she straight up doesn’t have the experience or maturity to understand completely, and even though this frustrates her, the people claiming it are absolutely right. However, I can also understand her desire to be taken seriously as a person, the difficulty in repairing the good name of the Red part of the army, and the massive pressure on her as the last remaining heiress of the Kuin family. She’s got a lot of weight on her, and while I want to see her do well… I also wish she had the opportunity to. Well, be a dumb teenager. Very interesting character, but also very specific to the pre-reboot continuity, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen to her now.

Phylo- This is also a reaaaally good one. I love how much care was taken to write his disabilities- he’s competent and well respected, but his missing arm and blindness are taken into account and addressed reasonably. I especially loved how he has to take his arm off during the winter because of the chill that creeps up it- that shows a lot of thought put in, that not a lot of other comics would. A+ writing on that front. Normally I don’t think I’d like his grumpy, but still managing to brag sort of personality, but in this case I think it works because the other characters mentioned that he was the grumpy one; his behavior isn’t treated by the narrative as being a good thing.

Kevin- Admittedly not a huge fan of this guy. I mean he’s ok, I liked the kamen rider leystone power suit, that’s cool. And granted, we might not have gotten the best introduction to him, considering he was exhausted and it was the middle of the night when we met him. But overall, he seemed to me to be a guy where people kept saying that “he was a nice guy, really” despite being whiny and aggressive the whole time. He kept acting really distrustful, but none of his protestations really affected the plot, so I just spent most of the time waiting to move on from this guy. I get the feeling I also would like him more if I watched any episodes of Kamen Rider, as there’s supposed to be a lot of similarities buuuut I haven’t, so. Still, he’s supposed to be getting a lot of focus in the reboot, so hopefully he’ll be able to stand up on his own virtues.

Roni- Noooot a lot to say about this one. I’m interested in seeing what animal-based life magic looks like in practice though. Plant life magic is easy enough, it’s just plants, but is animal husbandry magic like...being able to control/talk to animals? Or is it kind of horrifying fleshcrafting. I also didn’t think she and Cerene were that similar, but I’m still looking forward to the sister relationship they’ll have! (I’ve also always wondered if that promised hang session with her and Cerene was going to lead up to a meeting and confrontation with Lexi… that would have been interesting.)

Torblad and Esra- Wasn’t a huge fan of these two either. I’m not sure if Torblad was just pretending to have gone crazy, or if he was supposed to actually have some sort of illness from his time travel shenanigans, but overall it just felt weird to me. The tone of his ‘prophecies’ was so different from the rest of the comic that I thought he was a one off joke character or a cameo of some other thing (like how Kirk was a character who was originally from a MSPA fanventure, I thought Torblad was a character from the original RP a lot of the elf characters came from that was going to be a tip of the hat one-off, tonally inconsistent cameo and then we’d more on.). Imagine my surprise when he ended up being responsible for the end of the comic! With Cerene’s help, of course. Overall, he just seems...out of place to me. With the rest of the cast being written well enough in terms of physical disabilities, the effects of trauma, and mental illness, Torblad’s sort of… lolrandom sort of craziness feels cut from a different cloth. I don’t even really have anything to say about Esra- she seems to be there pretty much entirely to interpret for Torblad, soooo I got nothing. Sorry, Esra.

Solstice- Aw yeah, there’s the good stuff. Take this with a grain of salt though; I’m not entirely sure if I’m interpreting her backstory correctly, as we only got bits and pieces of it. She was an excellent introduction to how much things were going to change for our “heroes” when they walked into Thal’nasia- instead of snarky comments and scuffles, they got someone that was spooked, shy, and wondering why the hell they were there in the middle of the night. She’s a bit awkward, but seems friendly and genuine; a much needed change of pace and a breath of fresh air. However, the story is quick to give her more depth than that. She used to be a lot sadder, a lot angrier, a lot more aggressive, and it’s taken time and effort to recover from that. She has a useful, unique worldview due to her golden aura color, but is estranged from society due to her differences and her odd personality as a result. And yet… she’s still become a kind person, with a helpful personality, and I have a lot of respect for that. It’s one thing to become a snarling badass in the face of adversity. That’s cool, and I like that too. Hell yeah, punch those who hurt you. But something we don’t get to see a lot is people recovering, getting better, realizing that while that aggression helped them at the time, it can become self destructive. It’s really nice to see a character that shows that stronger isn’t the be all, end all solution to one’s problems. (Though she could probably still kick your ass if she wanted to. Just sayin.)

[garden-ghoul]

more HoME misc

“in which the ghoul pages desperately through a 3500 page document with no search function, looking for the shibboleth of feanor”

I’m not blogging leithian mk 1 any more but I just want to note that Chris included a detailed list of all the things that are long and tall, as an end note. He like, spent his entire life trying to decipher Johnald’s notes, so he could bring to us the faintly-pencilled name and origin of Nan, the giant of the south.

As I got lost somewhere in the beginning of “the tale of turambar” I started wondering why so many of our human heroes are intimately involved with Doriath, “the secret kingdom no-one can go into.” If we add Gondolin (”the other even more secret kingdom that REALLY no-one can go into”) I think ALL of the human heroes of the Silmarillion are involved with one of the two. Not counting heroes like Haleth who tragically didn’t get any dialogue. Is it just that the only humans who are heroes are the ones Special enough to trip into hidden kingdoms? Fate junk? Probably fate junk.

I was sort of skimming through Turin stuff and my eye was caught by Saeros (”Orgof”) insulting Turin’s... uncombed hair? Cute. In this one Turin throws a cup at him, killing him instantly, and everyone just kind of sits there silently at the overturned table as he runs out of the hall.

Turin laved his hands in the stream without the doors and burst there into tears, saying: "Lo! Is there a curse upon me, for all I do is ill, and now is it so turned that I must flee the house of my fosterfather an outlaw guilty of blood -- nor look upon the faces of any I love again."

Aw, Neithan. You neith’d yourself, dude.

I also want to mention (again?) that I really like Melkor being well known as a guy with an actual kingdom, where people worked. Granted, they were all Thralls, but he seemed a lot more like all of the other immortals who established kingdoms in Beleriand. I didn’t get the impression in the early drafts that like Everyone Was United Against Him. He was just an asshole neighbor? (later, in the Nauglafring story, we actually get the line “and there was peace with Melkor.”) This makes me suspect that the Porous Shadow of Doom overlaying the world in the final Children of Hurin would be a lot less huge and pervasive. But I’m not actually going to read it, just skim it. It was like 8 liveblogs long, or something, geez.

A manifestation of this lessened Porous Shadow of Doom is that when Turin returns home it’s late summer rather than winter; the grass has grown tall around Morwen’s house, and when Turin makes it to Brodda’s hall he doesn’t even pretend to be cowed, he immediately starts fucking things up. So, in that way, the original version of CoH was a lot less about Depression.

Also in this version Nienor doesn’t lose her ability to speak, so when Turin finds her and names her Niniel she can actually say “no don’t call me that.” He calls her that anyway. When she goes to live with Turin’s friends in Brethil they all constantly say “Would that the Valar would lift the curse on Niniel!” I can only aspire to be that obviously cursed, yknow.

AH. AT LAST HERE IS THE NAUGLAFRING. I can’t even remember if I’ve read it before but I Have Been Waiting.

I’m taking a break here to eat dinner because not eating makes me really stupid. Have you eaten recently? Are you stupid? If so, maybe have a snack! Sometimes I wish the internet would periodically remind--oh, no, I have a Personal Device for this exact purpose. Mm. peace out.

I’M BACK. After reading a couple paragraphs of this I realized I have read it before, but I didn’t blog it because I was procrastinating on CoH. Hurin has brought a bunch of cursed treasure to Tinwelint (do you like my horrible mixture of “canonical” and “noncanonical” names) and departed without taking any, in a huff. Then everyone in Menegroth starts murdering each other over this treasure; Tinwelint wins, and his wife (now named Gwenniel; I don’t understand how Tolkien could fail to get attached to ANY of the names he put in his first drafts) soothsays to him that he should dump it in the river because it is TRIPLE CURSED. He does, but then he stares at it for a while because, cursed. Gwenniel tells him that this isn’t even worth a third of what a Silmaril is, but like, are Silmarils useful for anything? Do they, strictly speaking, have any worth beyond the prestige value associated with possessing something super evil rare?

Some visitor says that it’s a crime to let all that gold go to waste when it could instead be used to make pretty things (natch, he is a guy who hangs out with Naugrim) and Tinwelint looks at his jewelry and is like “dang. I am a king and I do not look NEARLY that fine. please make something nice for me.” but he also grabs the elf guy and takes him hostage in a really impolite way. I have seen a lot more polite hostage-takings in the Silmarillion! Some so polite that the hostages didn’t even notice!

There’s a bunch of stuff here that I actually really enjoy, mostly descriptions of treasure, but I’m not going to blog it because I’m too lazy. I just want to note that I really enjoy the descriptions of treasure made by the Naugrim (in captivity). It’s very much the same impulse that led me to page for hours and hours through the LotR prop jewelry recreations magazines that my household for some reason received monthly when I was young.

Mm and then there’s a bunch of naugla/elda murders that I don’t care about. UGH and halfway through this story he changed Melian’s name back to Gwendelin. STG Tolkien!! Later someone is trying to kidnap her and we get this great bit:

Then said Gwendelin: "Thief and murderer, child of Melko, yet art thou a fool, for thou canst not see what hangs over thine own head." By reason of the anguish of her heart was her sight grown very clear, and she read by her fay-wisdon the curse of Mim and much of what would yet betide.

Then did Naugladur in his triumph laugh till his beard shook, and bid seize her: but none might do so, for as they came towards her they groped as if in sudden dark, or stumbled and fell tripping each the other, and Gwendelin went forth from the places of her abode, and her bitter weeping filled the forest. Now did a great darkness fall upon her mind and her counsel and lore forsook her...

The moral of the story is there’s a fine balance of anguish you have to maintain to be really good at seeing the future. IMO it’s probably “really sad but not depressed.” Oh um also, Huan is there. He works for Tinwelint now. I’m extremely offended, because this means Tolkien killed him EXPRESSLY because he was dating Luthien and Beren in the final lay. He killed Huan just so we couldn’t have nice things! And to make a point about Huan’s death metaphor, I guess. It was very artful, but I’m still mad we can’t have gay.

There’s some more murders. The asshole with nice jewelry is haunted by Gwendelin’s Glare. Oh! Luthien actually gets to meet her mom again! Haha Gwenelin says not to wear Nauglamir because it is SUPER CURSED but Beren is like “don’t worry about it! The Silmaril is so holy it cancels out all curses!” Which reveals a severe misunderstanding of what a Silmaril is, I think. Unless the Silmaril curse is stronger than all the other curses and it eats them, maybe? Like helpful strains of E. coli. Except then it mutates into a harmful strain of E. coli again--no, I’m sure there’s a better biology metaphor for this that I’m not thinking of. it was a harmful strain in the first place.

After this there’s more murders, this time feat. some Feanorions. And with that (skipping the story of Earendel) we have come to the end of Lost Tales pt 2! Next one is Lays of Beleriand, which I am going to attempt to skip because I have read all the good ones already. But I have to skip it manually so we’ll see I guess.