#but while I think Varric doesn't get all of his reasoning

[lillotte17]

I don't want to jump on someone else's post and Start Something, but like...

Varric and Harding explaining that Solas wants to bring back the world he knew is NOT wrong? It might be simplifying things a lot, but it's still accurate.

The conversation that Solas has with Dorian about Tevinter "destroying" Arlathan is not comparable. It's a different conversation completely. That's about ARLATHAN. That's about the elvhen EMPIRE. Their empire was not the world, even if it was the greatest power in it at the time. He's telling Dorian not to romanticize the Empire, because it was flawed and corrupted and built on the backs of slaves, and if Dorian wants to do right by the people that he thinks his own people destroyed, then he should start by freeing all of their slaves and becoming better than the elvhen empire ever managed to. Of course, Solas has a smaller sense of loss when it comes to talking about the downfall of the empire, he was actively fighting against it!

He's not sorry the empire ended. He's not sorry the evanuris got pulled down and sealed away. Those were his goals the whole time!

The WORLD is a different matter entirely. He DOES miss the world before the Veil. The loss of magic. The trapped and tortured spirits. The aging and enslavement of the elves. The confinement and abuse of mages. (I'm not sure how the Veil ties in with everything that happened to the dwarves and the qunari, but I'm sure it effected them, too)

I agree that a lot of people misinterpret Solas' motivations because he said he wants to "bring back the world of the elves," but that phrasing is SO important. It's the WORLD not the EMPIRE. And that's what Varric said as well- that Solas wants his WORLD back. Which is true! It's easy to conflate one with the other, I agree, but I think Varric deserves a bit more credit. And so does Solas.

[felassan]

What's all this about Solas speaking in iambic pentameter? English isn't my first language so I never noticed anything odd about the way he talks, but your blog is the first time I've seen it mentioned by anyone

hello! ◕‿◕ Solas sometimes speaks in a specific pattern or rhythm. It sometimes gets described as or compared by people to iambic pentameter. (which is a type of rhythm common in traditional English poetry. Shakespeare used it in his sonnets and plays.) Though, I'm not sure that it's actually literally that or always that. The main point is that at those times, he's speaking particularly poetically, with a specific poetic rhythm in his speech. (Like where the stress on syllables is and the 'beats' in his speech.) Occasionally, the Inquisitor's dialogue line[s] in response to him are the same.

When Trick Weekes wrote Solas in DA:I, they wrote some of his key scenes to KD Lang's cover of the song Hallelujah on a loop. They talked about some of their process and the reasons for the use of this technique in terms of Solas' characterization in this DA:I-era blog post:

Trick Weekes: "When Solas talks about things that he saw in the Fade, things that speak to a distant past, I needed him to sound ever so slightly otherworldly and wistful – someone remembering a dream with a sense of both sadness and inevitability. If you follow [that link] and look at some of Solas’s lines, you may notice a familiar rhythm come out. It would have been forcing it to give lines the same rhyme scheme, but giving the words the meter captured some of that wistfulness and made Solas sound ever so slightly otherworldly. (In the rare cases the player got into the same rhythm, there was always an approval bump from Solas. For that brief period, it was like the player was thinking like he did.) I used this a few times over the game, and I love what it did to his voice. Also, Cori (who edited Solas) is exceedingly kind for putting up with my request that changes to those lines keep this surreptitious rhythm."

[source]

An example of when it happens in DA:I is:

"I've journeyed deep into the Fade // in ancient ruins and battlefields // to see the dreams of lost civilizations. I've watched as hosts of spirits clash // to reenact the bloody past // in ancient wars both famous and forgotten. Every great war // has its heroes. // I'm just curious // what kind you'll be."

Compare this with the song's lyrics:

"I heard there was a secret chord // That David played, and it pleased the Lord // You don't really care for music, do ya? Well it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth // The minor fall, the major lift // The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah // Hallelujah // Hallelujah // Hallelujah"

An example from Trespasser is:

"I lay in dark and dreaming sleep [I heard there was a secret chord] while countless wars and ages passed [That David played, and it pleased the Lord] I woke still weak a year before I joined you. [You don't really care for music, do ya?]" etc.

Recent mentions of this are:

Q. Will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter? A. “Massive kudos to Patrick, who always writes Solas so well. Again, Solas is a returning character. It’s the same Solas you know and love (or hate depending on who you are). The same writer. So I think the answer is yeah, it’s Solas.” – John Epler

[source: BioWare dev Discord Q&A on June 14th]

User: "you really went off with solas. but the iambic pentameter makes writing fanfic dialogue for him so treacherous..." Trick Weekes: "It doesn't always have to be in the cadence! Just when he's deeply feeling The Old Days! He's written in standard prose 99% of the time!"

[source]

I think he does it a bit in the gameplay reveal video [Veil ripping scene with Varric] too. hope this helps :>

[msg refs this post]

[For the developer Q&A from June 14th on Discord: Notes are here, re-watch link is here]

[ellana-lavellan-official]

Why so much Solavellan hate?

Whether I was blissfully ignorant or simply lucky before, but I never have seen so much negativity towards people, who romanced Solas in all eleven years of being a part of the fandom as I did in the last weeks.

"Solas doesn't care about her", "It's been 10 years, they moved on", "You are not default Inquisitor, stop asking for much", "Stop asking for solavellan content in DATV", "This story was never about Lavellan, Solas woudn't spare her", "Stop being delusional - Lavellan isn't special, his friendship ark has the same impact".

First of all, why the fuck do you care? It's a single player game. Everyone has the canon they create. My choices does not impact yours in any way.

Secondly, who are you to tell me what my character is feeling? What can and can't I hope for?

Thirdly, it's you who are delulu, if friendship and love is the same thing in life. While friendship with Solas still impact his view on modern people, Inquisitor isn't the one solely responsible for it. To get "You showed me that I was wrong" line in Trespasser, you have to have 1 approval from Solas. Again, one. His banter with companions (Cassandra, Varric, Dorial, Iron Bull, Blackwall, even Sera) - all of it shows how gradually he opens up. He is ready to challenge his views. He does change them. In Teviwnter nights or comics taking place after Trespasser, Solas doesn't want to hurt people. He tries to minimize the risk. He talks with Varric ffs in DAV prologue. All of it exists even if Inquisitor and Solas hated each other. So no, neither Inquisitor, nor romanced Lavellan is the reason why Solas decided not to be cruel. It's in his nature.

The romance is not about "loving her convinced him not to kill modern people". It's about respect, patience, kindness and being gentle with each other. It's about understanding and accepting that trust is hard for Solas. It's about understanding and accepting that Solas has to hurt Lavellan by leaving her to spare further, much bigger pain of realizing men she is with is a persona. It's about forgiveness and love persevering. It's not about his plans for the veil/evanuris/spirits etc. It's about Solas and Lavellan as two people who fell in love.

Solavellan as a group kept this fandom alive during years of silence. It has gathered numerous fantastic, beautiful and talented people who made art, researched lore, shared fanfics. Why does it bother you when someone finds something to enjoy and isn't hiding it?

ffs

those haters didn't even listed to Solas and Lavellan banters, and they think of themselves as judges of truth, smh

[spawnofbhaal]

Some speculation re: Solas and his role in the story, based on what we know from that article:

I think he somehow becomes trapped either in the Fade prison where the Evanuris previously were (which would be very bad since it's full of Blight) or in the new one where he planned to move them (which hopefully isn't Blighted, but . . .)

So unfortunately I don't think he will be visually in the Lighthouse while we are using it. I think the Lighthouse is definitely in the Crossroads, not the Fade. I'd love to be wrong about him not being there in person, but IMO they are keeping Solas off the board for the beginning of the game (because he is too powerful to be a player while Rook gets established). I think he will be an advisor of sorts and will help guide Rook from the Fade.

However, I don't think he is going to be sitting idle. There are multiple elven tales where Fen'Harel escapes a trap, either by "chewing off his own tail" or by pitting his enemies against each other. IMO this stuff is foreshadowing that he will indeed escape at some point, but at a cost (giving up some of his power? becoming Blighted? We still don't know if the knife he was using in the ritual is the lyrium idol or if that's something still to come).

I also don't think Solas is going to be perfectly aligned with Rook. At the start of the game they have to work together, but Solas' goals remain and he doesn't have any reason to particularly like Rook (yet). Solas spent a year with the Inquisition, even potentially befriending the Inquisitor or falling deeply in love, and still left to pursue his goal and has spent the last 10 years doing so. While I think Rook's relationship with him will be important like the Inquisitor's is, I don't think Rook is going to change his mind by themselves just because they can (maybe) speak telepathically. There is going to have to be more to it, and I think the Inquisitor's relationship with Solas will play into how open Solas is to Rook's influence.

(Also to really speculate I've seen Solas fans who playtested the first part of the game express anxiety about redemption, which signals to me that he does something naughty at some point instead of being a stable ally, lol. Hopefully it isn't killing Varric, but IMO it's more likely he tries to sacrifice Rook like a chess piece at some point. I'm 100% a Solas redemption truther, but I don't think it will be simple or easy like he's suddenly just toothless).

So, while I think the Evanuris will be the main villains to defeat, I also think Solas will dance between ally and antagonist throughout much of the game. He is a trickster/anti-hero/anti-villain character, after all. The mid-game is always a great point in terms of story beats for the protagonist to have a major setback (like Haven to an extent, Spellhold in BG2, Act 3 in Rogue Trader, etc.) so I look forward to seeing what happens then and how the story pivots.

[galadrieljones]

In regards to Varric's flagged death

- he's getting up there in years. He's reaching toward the wise old mentor trope, and those don't usually survive

- it would be a pretty emotional opening and an immediate reason to be angry with Solas/Rook - especially new players

- his writer was let go from bioware

- Varric has always been willing to let others take the spotlight, but this time, he put himself in the most dangerous position possible to try to talk Solas down while Rook ran the slidelines.

And then there's this:

https://www.tumblr.com/corseque/753195522694774784/im-sorry-if-other-people-saw-this-already-but-i?source=share

Hmm, yes. I saw that post, and I reblogged. Just playing friendly Devil's Advocate here. I think most of this is interpretive. Killing off a "wise old mentor" takes a while longer. Varric hasn't really been a wise old mentor. I don't recall that really as his role at all in Inquisition. He's terribly reluctant, in fact, to be there. Plus, he's what, like fifty? Maybe I'm old, but that is not that old lol. And even if he is a "wise old mentor," wise old mentors, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Hershel Greene from The Walking Dead, typically die as self-sacrifices after having completed their narrative purpose in a truly meaningful way. That is not what's going on here with Varric. If he's just getting stabbed by Solas, then like, that's not meaningful at all.

Also, the writers really don't need a reason to rally us against Solas. If a player is so new that they don't know Solas, then they don't know Varric either, so killing him off would be largely meaningless to them and instead would just alienate older, more loyal players. Killing Varric in the first scene would feel very "The Last of Us 2" in that it would seem to serve no real purpose other than to create moral hardship for the player, in a way that has no connection to their choices. That's not really Bioware's style.

The writers have also expressed a lot of sympathy toward Solas. Why would they have Solas stab Varric?? Even if Solas was so far gone, he's just killing everyone left and right (the trailer doesn't communicate this at all, btw), why would Solas stab anyone with a knife? Solas can kill people with his eyeball lasers. We've seen it.

I suppose that if Varric dies, and it's an accident, then that is different; however, this would, I feel, betray his character in a way that would greatly disappoint me and many others. His writer being laid off is also not really a reason to assume they'd kill the character she wrote, too. If anything, I would think they'd try to preserve his integrity, unless we think they're just sadists, and if we do, why are we playing their games?? Maybe it's wishful thinking, and possibly it is, but killing a beloved OG like Varric on day one, with the player having zero choice in the matter, just to piss people off and also because Varric is getting a little "old" is illogical. It would, I think, betray their tendencies up until now. If it happens, it's probably a bad choice. Just my two cents, of course!

[siribear]

her party is still just as chatty on the way back to base camp from the shrine of dumat. varric, dorian, and bull keep themselves entertained well enough without her input.

which works just fine for her - she's sore down to her bones. it wasn't enough that she was singled out and carried deeper into the red templar encampment via a charging templar brute. no - she absent-mindedly rubs at her neck - carol smited her and would have drowned her if not for her mark.

she could have saved herself with blood magic. but it's already the reason why she's lost the trust of most of her companions. the ones with her are all she has left of those who trust her.

even cullen, paces ahead of her, has barely spoken to her even while going after samson. but she deserves it. she lied to him.

annwn.

a chill runs down her spine.

'did you need something?' she asks, turning in her saddle to face varric.

he looks away from laughing at a joke. 'didn't say anything, cousin.' and neither did the others. she doubts cullen said anything. he doesn't address her as anything less than inquisitor, now.

just the wind, then? or she's hallucinating. but she could have sworn -

help me.

this time, a child's voice, low and scared.

again, it seems no one noticed.

the same shiver washes over her as they pass by a large, empty mansion. the first time they came through it gave her an uneasy feeling, but she wasn't hearing voices then.

without a word, she directs her horse toward the mansion. the air beyond the gates hold a chill despite the bright sun shining overhead. the yard is lush and green - but overgrown.

her horse whickers and throws its head up when she tries to urge it closer.

'another home no doubt abandoned during the civil war,' dorian says, pulling up beside her. 'someone ought to tell them they can come back. this place looks awful.'

near the rim of a distant fountain, a skeleton lays collapsed in the overgrown grass.

'i don't think it was the war that emptied this place, dorian.'

'what are you doing?' he asks as she dismounts. 'shouldn't we get that rune back to skyhold?'

'well, yes, but - ' she chews her bottom lip. 'there's something here. and it's the inquisition's job to bring stability to the area, right? so - '

'alright, alright. let me get the others, though.'

she hadn't even noticed she was already halfway through the front door.

and when it shuts on the five of them, it's with an echoing finality before all the light goes out.

-

'boss, i think the door just locked.'

from the shadows, cullen appears with a torch, and she only jumps slightly (she swears) when he asks for her to light it.

the iron bull tugs at the door. pushes. rams his shoulder into it. but the solid wood doesn't give. through the glow of cullen's torch light (what she can see now is just a borrowed sconce), they can see that all the curtains were drawn the moment they entered.

'why did we come here again?' the sound of varric drawing bianca echoes through the main hall.

all eyes turn to her. 'i thought i heard - i don't know. someone calling out for help?' and her name. very clearly her name.

a door creaks open at the end of the hall. light spills through the doorway, only partially illuminating their path.

'that's not creepy at all,' bull grouses. dorian murmurs a soft, 'i'll watch out for you.'

amell leads the way. inside the chateau is worse than outside. they step across broken glass and toppled furniture. scattered parchment whispers at their ankles. amell doesn't hear any more voices besides her companions.

'at the risk of sounding like solas,' dorian begins, 'the veil here is incredibly thin.'

he isn't wrong. it's gossamer thin, like walking through endless cobwebs. somehow it makes walking through a lit hallway unnerving in a way that has nothing to do with the fact that they watched each sconce flare to life just before they reached it.

as they step through the door at the other end of the hall, the next room looks nothing like the rest of the mansion. it's warm and lit, but small, and doesn't match what they saw outside. to their left, a hearth is blazing. the shadow of the stairs beyond it angles upward to the loft, so dark they can't see past. when amell turns to look behind her, the door is gone.

'hey, wait a minute. this place looks familiar,' varric says. 'it looks like - '

'annwn, what is the meaning of this?'

a woman, dressed in noble finery of a make she doesn't recognize and her blonde hair done up in a tight bun, points sharply at the burning hearth.

'mamae?' she whispers to herself, and then the woman stomps her way.

the sting of the slap makes her eyes water. amell touches her fingers to her cheek, and when she looks back to the woman, she's at least two feet taller.

'do not call me that word. i am your mother. now tell me why the fireplace is lit.'

'i-i was cold!' she stutters, her voice high and childlike. 'i was cold. we - ' there is an elven man standing in the shadows, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there. the one who referred to lady amell as her mamae. ' - we couldn't find your matches. so - look!' little amell holds a mote of conjured flame suspended between her hands, then claps it away. 'i can do it myself!'

her mother grabs her by the wrist and squeezes hard. she feels the bones start to give. 'come with me. now, annwn.'

tears pour freely and her mother glares, unmoving. 'i'm sorry! i'm sorry, i won't do it again. please, mother - '

'come. you're going with the templars. bad enough that my sister ran away with one, but now my only child...'

she digs her heels into the carpet and tries her best to pull back. 'no, no, please, mother. i'm sorry! i don't want to go, please, please, i'll be good, please - '

something - someone - pulls her back before she can be dragged through the door. into inky blackness and a cluster of glowing eyes that wait. varric slams the door shut.

'inquisitor.' cullen holds her by her shoulders. 'you aren't going anywhere. was that...?'

the tears carried over from the illusion of the memory, and fresh ones join the tracks already there. 'the moment i was sent off to the circle. i was eight.'

-

she composes herself away from the others. what's going on? why would the fade show her that memory, out of all of them? later, after she rejoins her party, no longer visibly shaken, she learns.

as they're lead through the mansion, papers fly up to greet them, caught on sourceless gusts of wind. a note from a father, who locked up his child who began to show an affinity for magic. more worried about his family name than his daughter's well being. a note from the girl, so lonely and all she wanted to do was leave her room and make friends. and then one found her.

scraps from foolish books: ways to ensure your child isn't born a mage. amell briefly wonders if her mother had tried any of them.

led up to the final room upstairs, past a large, hanging sculpture of a dragon that bull moons over, amell hesitates at the door. she knows - they all know - what they'll find on the other side. a demon possessed child. connor all over again.

she pushes through.

in the middle of the large room, surrounded by a ring of toys, sits a little girl, perhaps a few years older than amell was when she was taken, in a floral day dress and wild brown hair. she sits up when she sees them and drops her dolls to the floor. 'hello! are you new friends?'

amell shares a look with the others before stepping forward. 'actually, we're looking for a way out. can you help us? what's your name?'

the - girl? - frowns. 'my name is nanette. my other friend told me you were here to be friends with me, though. there's no one else here to play with.'

amell kneels before the girl, who blinks up at her innocently. 'nanette, do you know what's happening? do you know... what your friend is?'

nanette hangs her head. 'i think everyone's gone. but i still have my friend.'

'how long have you known your friend?'

'um. a few months?' the girl tilts her head to the side and nods as if listening to someone whispering in her ear. 'yes, a few months.'

behind her, bull grumbles. 'okay. i'm going to talk to my companions here for a moment.' when she makes to stand, nanette reaches out to grab her hand.

'you can't leave me though. i've been so lonely.' the girl yawns. 'no one else has been... here... '

amell cuts off the spell and catches the girl before she can collapse to the ground. the air is silent.

'is she okay?' asks cullen, of the possessed child.

'sleeping. but with the demon so close, i'm not sure how long it'll hold.'

dorian strokes his chin. 'months like this? i'd be surprised if it wasn't just the demon toying with us. there's no girl there at all.'

'so, what, we just make the demon come out and kill it? then we can go home?' varric hopes aloud.

'doesn't feel right.' bull sniffs. 'killing a kid.'

'i agree,' says, surprisingly, cullen.

'what do you think, boss?'

she led them here. it's her decision to make. kill a child - if it is one - to free them. or - 'arl eamon's kid was possessed in redcliffe during the blight. some time between... between when i left for ostagar and when we arrived after the battle. less than a month, but... connor was still in there.'

she looks to nanette, slumbering softly, little hands opening and closing like a kitten kneading the air. 'there's a... very small chance she could be, as well.'

it would make killing her harder, though necessary.

'what do we need to do then?' cullen steps forward. 'how did you save connor?'

she blinks, drops her hand away from the dagger at her belt. 'more mages than we have here. no offense, dorian.' he shrugs. 'if you remember, we took a handful from the tower when we left.'

'so, what, we - we murder nanette to free ourselves?'

'i - ' i kill her, amell thinks. i brought us here. it's my fault. she exhales heavily. 'there is one other option.'

jowan taught me how to perform the ritual. i can do it without - without the mages or the extra lyrium. but it would require me to use blood magic.'

and a sacrifice, but she could probably make do without...

'i would need everyone's help, though.'

'our blood, you mean.'

she looks cullen straight in the eye when she says, 'it's that or i sacrifice myself so dorian can exorcise the demon in the fade.'

'could you not... open a rift? draw the demon out that way and slay it?'

amell shakes her head. 'not without killing nanette. or risking more demons pouring through in the interim.'

varric steps forward, one hand tugging up his sleeve. 'what's a little blood between friends, right? come on, let's save this kid.'

-

'i'm sorry,' amell whispers. blood beads and spills from the shallow cut on cullen's arm. he holds out his arm like the rest of them and lets the blood drip to the floor.

amell stands between cullen and varric, completing the circle, and slices deep into her palm. cullen shouts in alarm, but she raises her bloody hand to silence him. her blood spills and travels through the grooves in the wooden floor to meet the others. when it all connects, power erupts beneath her.

last time she did this, she was the one being sent into the fade. to be the caster and the one to go under - it's taking more out of her already than she imagined.

the girl stirs in the center of the spell, but when she rises its with jerky and inhuman movements. her eyes glow the sickly green of the fade.

'come on,' she taunts. 'it isn't the girl you need anymore. that's why you called out to me, isn't it? why you showed me that memory?'

'what are you doing?' cullen hisses.

'drawing it out,' she explains through gritted teeth. 'it has to let her go before i can - '

a dark chuckle. sweat beads on her temple. she feels the first tremor in her arm.

'she isn't strong enough, and you know it! you want more power.' there's an echo she can hear to her own voice. more demons than the one she wants closing in. she's drawn too much attention to herself. the mark flares, and the voices subside. 'nanette can't do that, now can she?'

nanette's body falls to the ground hard, but the glowing eyes stay in the center of the circle. if she squints, she can see the outline of the demon beginning to take shape.

it's enough.

amell closes her fist, and at the last drop of blood to hit the floor, the world goes white.

-

amell once again finds nanette playing with her dolls, though the room is only half formed in the fade.

'oh! my friend said he wanted to see you. come on, this way.'

she follows behind as broken rocks and landscape coalesce into the halls of chateau d'onterre. a roar rumbles in the distance.

when nanette finally sees the true form of her friend - a tall, spindly limbed terror demon - she shouts and makes to hide.

amell turns quickly and takes the girl by the shoulders. 'nanette, you have to wake up. wake up from this. my friends will be there to help you, okay? but you have to go now.'

thankfully, the girl nods and leaves, running back from where they came until she quite literally disappears. awake. amell sighs with relief.

'we all know who you are, now, mage,' says the demon with no mouth. 'we've seen you.'

'good for you.' her staff appears in her hand. 'i'm not here to listen to you, though.'

impossibly black eyes narrow. 'you offered yourself. you and your terror. you fear all of your friends will leave you. that you'll die alone.'

'you don't know me at all.'

with barely a thought, her staff is wreathed in lightning, and, at another, arcing across the distance between them. the demon might have held onto nanette for as long as it did, but with the girl's abilities barely honed the demon's powers have stagnated, and it shows.

in what feels like only a moment, amell has the demon trapped in a cage of lightning. it shrieks every time it throws itself against the walls, but they hold steadfast. she brings her hands together. the demon's flesh sizzles and pops as the lightning closes in. it ends with a crack of thunder that echoes across the limitless fade, and then the demon is nothing but ash.

amell allows herself a weary sigh. she's more exhausted than she thought she'd be. when she turns to follow nanette back across the veil, she stumbles.

in front of her is that avatar of fear, hundreds of eyes trained on her. it opens its maw, lined with an infinite number of teeth.

i know your fear.

amell screams.

-

she comes to, with that scream tearing out of her throat and something holding her, stopping her from retreating. she beats her fists against it and tries to push away.

'it's me. it's me!' says cullen, and then she realizes it's his arms around her. her back propped up against his knee, she's laid across his lap. she lowers her fists. her right, with the deep gash still bleeding, stings when she opens her hand. 'it's safe. the demon is gone.'

'nanette?'

'safe. the others brought her to a different room... just in case.'

she closes her eyes and sighs. 'good idea.' she opens them again, and cullen is looking down at her, worried. 'is everyone else okay? are you?'

'yes.' he tries to help her to her feet, but her limbs feel leaden. he lowers her to sit next to him. 'your hand...'

'right.' she raises the other over it, but before she can cast the spell to heal it, cullen pulls it over to him. he rests it on his knee as he twists to dig something out of his pack. 'what are you doing?'

he turns back with bandages, a poultice, and his canteen in hand. 'you're drained. and while the demon is gone, i don't think it safe to prod at the veil still.'

she watches him curiously as he gently splays her fingers. he wets the end of the bandage with his canteen and sets to cleaning her palm. she winces when he brushes too close to the wound.

'i'm sorry,' he murmurs, and the next brush is so soft she barely feels it.

when her hand is clean, he applies the poultice with that same gentleness. her fingers twitch every time he runs his own across her palm. next, he wraps the bandage around her hand, one thumb holding it in place at her wrist. when he's done tying off the excess bandage, the tingling in her hand has nothing to do with the numbing properties of the poultice.

she doesn't know when she rested her head on his shoulder, but even when he's finished he doesn't push her away.

'thank you.' she doesn't know where they are now - if she should call him cullen or commander, so she leaves it off.

'were you serious about sacrificing yourself?'

she lifts her head and looks at him then. 'i - ' her gaze drops to her hand, the one with the anchor embedded in her palm. a contrast to her self-inflicted wound on the other. 'mostly.' after witnessing the future in redcliffe, she knows she's more useful alive if only for the anchor. 'the other option was to sacrifice someone else, and i wouldn't do that.'

cullen hums in thought. 'can you stand?'

'yes, i think so.' she stands without his help, only to end up reaching out for him to steady herself. 'i'm fine, i'm fine. just - sitting for too long.'

before they can reach the door, varric opens it and waltzes through. 'ah, good to see you're okay, cousin. when dorian said you were taking too long we were starting to get worried.'

'it took a little bit longer to recover than i anticipated.' out of the corner of her eye, she sees cullen shift and duck his head. she can almost feel him blushing. 'is everyone - ?'

'ready to get the hell out of this creepy mansion? yes. i can't believe i'm actually excited to get back out into the humidity of the emerald graves.' he groans.

varric takes over in helping her across the balcony of the second floor and down the stairs. by the time they reach the main entrance she can walk by herself, at least.

with nanette on his shoulders, iron bull opens the door with ease and leads them back out into the light.

as she stands in the sunlight and promises herself she isn't seeing eyes in the eaves of sundappled trees, cullen brings her her horse. though they still aren't talking, he rides next to her. occasionally she catches him checking on her.

which is fine. because if she closes her eyes for a second too long, the avatar of fear stares back.

[thekingofwinterblog]

Varric Tethras - The Proud Dwarf

So it's not a big secret that the best companion Bioware ever created was Varric Tethras, the lovable rogue, crossbowman, author and handsome Viscount of Kirkwall.

There are ao many reasons to love Varric, but one I don't see much discussed, is the subtle, and contradictory relationship Varric has with his own race, the Dwarves of Thedas.

Varric makes it a point of always putting his seeming disdain for his own people out in the open, always making it clear how much he dislikes the traditional Dwarven culture, wqy of life and so on.

He describes Orzammar, one of the great wonders of the world as cramp tunnels filled with shit and body odor, he never fails to mention how much he hates the deep roads, and he often mocks dwarven pride at any opportunity with his usual wit and charm.

On the surface, Varric might seem like he has a lot in common with Sera and her racist views on all elvhen kind, but that really, really is not the case.

Because under that exterior of seeming disdain, is a man who both understands Dwarven Culture in all it's flaws, but also loves it and hates it in equal measures.

Varric has always made it clear how much he loved the Hanged man, and essentially made his room there his office, his real home away from the uber dwarfish merchant guild.

And do you know what he fills it with?

The dwarfiest architecture you can imagine. Varric has a dwarf table, a noble dwarf chair, dwarven artwork on the wall, and even a dwarven stone bed.

All expensive and traditional stuff which he would have had to had personally paid for to transport into this room out of his own pocket.

Varric for all his harsh words on the Dwarven people, WANTS to live in a home that looks utterly Dwarven.

The most obvious moment that puts Varric's love for his dwaf ancestry on full display is of course the act 2 quest from da2, where he and an insane(temporary lucid) Bartrand has a heart to heart where both puts their real feelings on the tragedy of their situation on display.

Varric chastises Bartrand for in his madness having thrown away every bit of his dwarven nobility and honor on a stupid trinket, and Bartrand ends up begging his brother not to let house Tethras fall with him, in this display of utter madness and dishonor.

The entire thing is a deeply tragic display where the two brothers show that deapite all their differences, they really did love each other deeply, as well as the fact they had a shared love of their ancestry as Orzammar Nobility.

Of course Varric almost never comes out and says it nearly this clearly anywhere else, as showcased in another side quest where you give him back the Tethras family signet ring that Bartrand had to pawn to finance the expedition.

He doesn't come out and say it, instead focusing on the bad aspects of Orzammar in this quest, but unless hawke is rivaling him when he gives him the quest, varric has a huge approval boost in response to getting his family ring back, showing the thing really did mean a lot to him, despite his disparaging it and Orzammar in said quest.

Later, in Inquisition, Varric never misses a chance to badmouth Orzammar and tradition, but he reacts with incredible sadness at the prospect of Orzammar one day possibly falling.

When Solas asks him about Dwarven literature, and whether there is a lot of Dwarven tricksters, varric gives a smartass remark summing it up as Dwarves tend to write how they want the world to be, while humans write how they think the world is, eith the latter being clearly superior.

It's a good scene, but it has a deeper meaning that ties into Varric's deeper views on Dwarven culture.

Varric knows how Dwarves write, because he has read Dwarven liturature, and understands it completely as both a dwarf, a reader, and a writer, and how it in turn differs from human literature.

For all his grumbling on dwarves in Orzammar being obsessed with their ancestors, he himself is the exact same way as shown in legacy when you find the original Tethras and gives him to the stone, able to shortly remember every bit of his own family lore on the spot and being moved to tears by the tragedy of it all.

Varric defends both surface dwarves and Orzammar dwarves against Solas accusation that they have given up against the darkspawn threat, though in his usual way, he makes it out like surface dwarves are clearly superior.

Varric genuinely loves and cares about so much of Dwarven culture and history, and he understands it deeply.

Which in turn also is the reason he genuinely hates so much about it.

Like all of the DA2 companions, Varric has something he is deeply, deeply obsessed with, something that drives him as a person, and motivates his actions through the entire story. The difference between him and everyone else, is that this obsession never reached a conclusion, because Varric doesn't get to actually face it, and confront it.

That obsession is, of course, the Dwarven Merchant Guild.

Varric HATES the Dwarven Merchant guild, and though he uses his regular humor to portray it, in this case it's actually the opposite of the way he will always be critical of the Dwarven people. Because Varric hates the guild far, far more than he ever pretends to hate Orzammar.

Varric always talks of how shitty the guild is, how it embodies the absolute worst parts of dwarven culture, and essentially how it ruined Bartrand from ever being able to function as anything other than a cutthroat businessman. He time, and time, and time again, refuses to interact with the guild, breaks the law hard to not have to participate, and all in all cold shoulders them and their cutthroat culture completely.

There is a very important, significant moment in act 3, that is incredibly easy to miss, but completely recontextualizes varric's entire motivation for wanting the deep roads expedition.

Varric talks about the real reason why Bartrand wanted to go through with the expedition, of how it represented the one chance he had to get AWAY from the guild forever, just by being rich enough he no longer had to deal with them anymore.

Varric portrays it as Bartrand's big wish and motivation, hut it's incredibly obvious if one pays attention that this was a wish the two brothers actually shared, a mutual desire in the world. Which in turn is one of the reasons why Varric is so incredibly angry at his brother when he goes off the deep end due to the idol and betrays them.

Him and Bartrand got into this venture to finally, once and for all get out of having to deal with the worst parts of surface Dwarf society, and here his brother seemingly willingly turned his back on all of that, showing the only thing he ever cared about was pure greed.

In other words, everything both he and Bartrand hated about the Merchant Guild.

Varric hates the Caste system. He hates the division between surface and "regular" dwarves, and he thinks Orzammar's nobility has a collective stick up it's ass. And yet despite all of that, he loves the Dwarves. He loves the idea of nobility and the ideals it is supposed to represent, he loves Dwarven architecture, their grand ability to make shit, and the incredible grit and romanticism about the Dwarves long, unending struggle against the darkspawn.

The only part of Dwarven society Varric has no love for, is the Merchant Guild. It is Orzammar's nobility without anything resembling virtues, nobles who lost their caste, and yet still enforces a brutal hierarchy of blood, and cares for no ideals, no honor, no cause, except for the clink of money.

Varric is such a deep character, and I really wish that in the future, we get to see this aspect of him fleshed out even more.

[dareactions]

Would you write some headcanons for Dorian’s lover having his entire body being covered in giant, deep scars? Like they’re the badass of thedas, and everyone always reacts to immense disgust to seeing them because of the scars, and often ‘knows’ they aren’t worthy of Dorian, and also is in constant pain because, giant ass scars?

Sorry if this isn’t very clear I ramble more than like, specify lmao, message me if you need it cleared up yeah?

Going to put the warnings here of: Body dysmorphia, self-destructive thoughts, and mild sexual undertones.

Sometimes you just need to worship your lover a bit. No gender-identifying body parts mentioned, just the scars! he/him pronouns used for this, though I might've slipped w a they here and there lmao.

Dorian glances at the Inquisitor's face with a mild frown, he is covering it with his arm and the words that just left his mouth makes him want to cry a bit. ''Amatus, what in the world are you on about?'' He feels his heart break into a million pieces as the man he loves refuses to look at him. Now, Dorian was aware of the pain. It was hard to miss really, with the frowns and deep ragged breaths. Potions, balms and long baths were practically a part of daily life. Dorian had absolutely no issues with letting his hands carefully go over the scarred skin, it's just another piece of the man he loves in the end. But he hadn't been quite aware of how deeply upset the Inquisitor had felt about it in the end.

''First of all, get that word out of your head. Worthy, I'm not a sword in a stone here.'' Dorian huffs, sitting next to him on the bed. ''Second of all, Amatus, while you may not find joy in your body- I do.'' He wasn't ever quite good at this, riddled with his own anxieties and insecurities. He'd been there too, thinking about if he was deserving of love and affection- if maybe he was better off not receiving either. ''Your scars, they're part of you. Do I wish you could live a life free of the pain they bring you? Absolutely, but not because they're an issue aesthetically, love.'' He remembers the first time he saw them, during feverish kisses and the panicked Inquisitor scrambling to blow out the candles. He hadn't really understood it, but he had accepted it.

''You've been through a lot, we both have. There's not a person in this group whose body is not ridden with scars that tell stories, and yours tell of survival no matter their origin. I love your body, scars and all. They are also proof of a reason why I love you, your heroic and stupidly compassionate heart.'' Dorian gently takes his hand, kissing it gently and feeling the rough sensation of some travelling scar tissue in a thin line against his lips. ''I'm sorry people have looked at you with scorn, I can't change that it has happened- but know they're wrong.''

''Scars doesn't change your worth, or beauty, absolutely none of that. You don't have to be worthy of me. I love you, you love me. That is all there is to it and all there has to be to it. And I know that this won't stop the pesky voice in your head, but we're going to work against that voice together.'' He carefully watches the Inquisitor, his eyes refusing to meet his own. Dorian wishes he really could whisk all the pain away, he truly does. Instead he glances towards the bathroom, the edge of the large bathtub visible from here.

''Let me tell you one thing though. When I see your body? I am in awe. To me, it's still the most amazing thing I've seen, I think the fact that I've made enough lustful comments to fill one of Varric's horrid novels is proof of that. To me you're as handsome as any statue or hero of tales, and I'll gladly tell you in deep detail whenever you need me. Even when you don't.'' He gently tugs at his hands, standing up was always a bit of a fifty-fifty. Sometimes the Inquisitor's face would knit up in pain at the act and other times it'd be fine. ''Come on. Let's take a bath, and I'll gladly show you exactly how much I love that body of yours. I'll even write you a bloody sonnet if you need me to, I'll sing and everything.'' ''Dorian, you are not singing about how hot you find me.'' ''Oh, I absolutely will, you'll go deaf from it but it'll be very romantic. I'll have candles and flowers, the whole thing.''

The Inquisitor's laugh things out and Dorian calls it a victory. Self-love isn't something that is born in a day, he knows this. But with time it can find its place in their lives, he knows it can.

[darkfeanix]

Feanix Reads Dragon Age Comics

#1: The Silent Grove

I'll be posting my thoughts on each series as a whole, rather then individual issues. Below the cut are all the thoughts I had while reading The Silent Grove.

WARNING: It does get a bit Alistair critical, as I feel like this series really brought out the worst in his character, which in turn brought out the worst in me.

Anyway, here they are, my thoughts:

The Silent Grove (I)

So, first thing's first, it's strange seeing young Varric here. It's a bit surprising how quickly I've gotten used to silver fox Varric in The Veilguard promotional materials, with the longer hair and a bit of beard growth. Younger, cleanshaven Varric just looks weird to me now. The art style also doesn't help. I'm pretty sure the art style was one of the things that turned me off the first time I tried to read them when they first came out.

I'll admit, as far as protagonists go, King Alistair wasn't a huge draw for me, and even when the comics were first releasing, I don't think I actually read them until after the final issue of Until We Sleep had been released. I was always more of a Morrigan boy, and even in the first game, there were times when Alistair grated on me. We'll return to that point later.

Now, Isabela on the other hand? Yeah, she's the reason I even started reading these comics. I do love my captain.

I'd forgotten that Zevran is mentioned by name in this story. Apparently he was meant to be in the comic in Varric's place, but was "cut due to concerns about party dynamics", which to me sounds like a skill issue. Zevran has a pre-existing relationship with both Alistair and Isabela, and it's well-established that Varric doesn't like going out (to the point that the entire party will roast him for it in Trespasser no matter who you have with you).

This is baseless speculation on my part, but I feel like they went with Varric because Varric is probably more popular than Zevran.

The Silent Grove (II)

Okay, I'd like to lodge a complaint: Isabela deserved a new outfit. Varric and Alistair both got spiffy new outfits. Isabella doesn't even get pants. And it's meant to be freezing cold. We open with a guard complaining about how cold it is (cold enough that we can see his breath). Then we cut to Isabela climbing out of the sea. Does she not feel the cold?

She obviously feels the cold; later in this very same issue we see Alistair putting his cloak on her. Why didn't Isabela get an outfit upgrade again? (Don't answer that, we all know why.)

I feel like Varric literally questioning what he's doing there proves my point; maybe it's fitting with his luck that he gets dragged into this sort of thing, but his role just as easily could have been filled by Zevran. Of course, that being said, I do enjoy it when he narrates his circumstances out loud. It's a fun character quirk.

I appreciate that we see a Vashoth (or possibly even Tal Vashoth) as a member of the Crows; it emphasises that the Crows really do take anyone into their number. A pity that all the others basically look like human men. Not elf or dwarf in sight, and no women.

I wonder if the intention was for the reader to believe the prisoner was Maric. He says it's too late, and Alistair's narration says that his quest has failed, but I'm trying to imagine reading this for the first time without having spoiled everything for myself. I feel like I would assume that the man Alistair finds is Maric.

The Silent Grove (III)

First shot of Yavana, flashback, from behind. No pants. Pretty sure she is only the second named female character in this series so far, and neither of them have been drawn with pants. I can literally see Yavana's butt cheeks. Ugh.

Lack of pants aside, she does have a really cool design, though.

This part felt like a lot of exposition, some pretty scenery, and Alistair saying that high dragons are worse than darkspawn. Really, Alistair? You fought during the Blight, and you think that high dragons are worse than darkspawn?

"In my life so far, I've taken the sword to three dragons. The big ones, I mean – not the ones that look like scaly, tooth dogs and love horse meat, but the high dragons that make the earth shake. Not even darkspawn are that savage. A dragon feed on anything. A dragon exists only to kill."

This reminds me way too much of Iron Bull's speech about dragons.

"Dragons are the embodiment of raw power. But it's all uncontrolled, savage… So they need to be destroyed."

Ugh. At least right after Alistair gives that speech in his narration, the dragon literally chooses not to kill him. He never gives any indication that he learns from his interactions with the dragon, though – at least, not that I remember. Maybe the next two issues will prove me wrong.

Anyway, we will come back to this later as well.

The Silent Grove (IV)

I love Yavana. No surprise, right? She's Morrigan's sister, and she's written almost like a mix of Morrigan and Flemeth. I do wish we could have gotten to know her more.

"In destroying what it does not understand, mankind would destroy itself."

But gosh, I really dislike the way Alistair is written… well, I was going to say here, but the truth is everything about his interactions with the dragon and Yavana makes him come across as narrow-minded and really unlikeable to me.

"Meaning you don't understand either, but it's what your mother told you."

Yeah, we'll come back to that later.

Claudio is… eh. He's a bit player. His connection to Isabela's past makes for some interesting plot developments, and he's obviously tied to the larger story involving Maric – though, as above, I'm not sure if I would have made that assumption if I hadn't been already spoiled the first time I read this. I probably would have assumed he was just planning on ransoming Alistair back to Ferelden or something. Or, heck, putting him in that prison like Maric was.

I appreciate Isabela deciding on the spot that she's not going to abandon Alistair. She's grown a lot from the women she was at the start of Dragon Age II.

The Silent Grove (V)

Isabela marching back into the Silent Grove and yelling Yavana's name is very funny to me.

I'd completely forgotten about Isabela and Varric making a deal with Yavana. That makes me even more annoyed about the ending of this arc. But we'll come back to that later.

"You wanted me alive. Now you have to try to keep me."

Okay, I'll admit, that's a good line. Some of that charming, funny Alistair shining through. A shame there's so little of him in these comics.

I do wish slut shaming Isabela wasn't something that the writer felt the need to carry over from the game. Even with Claudio being a bad guy, it comes across as really distasteful considering they've designed her character to show as much skin as possible.

Badass final page with Yavana standing over Claudio's body and talking about how getting the truth even with him being dead.

The Silent Grove (VI)

"You almost missed the fun. Evidently we're going to ask Claudio how it feels to be stabbed in the chest."

Oh Isabela, how I love thee.

Yavana's idea of a séance involves a lot more pyrotechnics than one might expect, but it is quite exciting. I am curious if she burned his corpse, or if it was some magic of Titus's to try to keep his name out of Claudio's mouth?

Yavana's explanation of the Hall of Sleepers, and what Maric's deal was, really convinces me that Alistair was wrong and that she does understand what she's talking about. In the same way that Morrigan prioritised sparing Urthemiel's soul from death even after Flemeth is killed. I don't think either one of them (certainly not Morrigan) does what they do simply because their mother told them to.

Which brings us to possibly my least favourite part of this entire eighteen issue series.

Fuck you, Chantry Boy.

It's later, so here we are. I hate this moment. It makes me hate Alistair, for doing exactly what Yavana says mankind has always done and killing what he doesn't understand. And yes, he says he does it because he blames her for everything that happened in Ferelden after Maric left, but here's the thing: Yavana didn't make the fucking deal with Maric! Flemeth did!

And the thing is, two issues ago he accused her of simply parroting what Flemeth told her. He accused her of not understanding what she was doing. Which is it, Alistair? Is she another pawn of Flemeth's, or is she the wicked witch who took your daddy away?

Except she didn't take him away, Maric made that choice on his own. He made a deal so that he would be able to save his country, and then he held up his end of the bargain by travelling to Yavana.

Uggghhh!

Issues ends with Alistair bemoaning his own status as a pawn and saying he's going to kill Titus.

And then his final narrative just feels so shoehorned because it's close to the kind of humour we're used to getting from Alistair in the game, but this isn't that Alistair.

"My name is Alistair Theirin, and I'm king of Ferelden. Long live the king, long may he reign! And so forth. Pray to the Maker he doesn't do something stupid…"

You just did! Seriously, fuck you, Chantry Boy.

Final Thoughts

Oof. It had some okay moments, but to be honest, the best part of this comic for me was Yavana and, well… Yeah.

The thing is, I don't feel like I'm familiar enough with Alistair's character to say whether or not he's acting out of character. Is all of this something that a hardened King Alistair would do? Or is it the writing emphasising all the worst parts of him without balancing it with what made Alistair so popular?

Anyway, not a great start to the re-read. I really hope I have more fun with Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, but I'm done for the night.

[ocean-in-my-rebel-soul]

I'm trying to think of what, if anything, would motivate my main Hawkes to involve themselves with the Inquisition, and while I can't pin down Adrian's thing, Garrett's is definitely Anders.

I don't have a unified worldstate between all three games, though my main playthroughs of DAO and DAI are connected (my Elves Save Thedas worldstate), so I'm not sure where my Hawkes would fit in there, but I figure the only thing that could convince Garrett to step away from the rebellion would be that the Inquisition is reasonably confident that they know Anders is alive and well, and they have the resources to track him down. They'd have an interest in doing so to cement support for the Inquisition's mission, because the faithful still want blood for the Mage-Templar War, and because if the MTW hadn't happened, then the Divine wouldn't have died, and because they want punishment/justice for Elthina's death and the fall of the Gallows. If Garrett thinks that playing nice with the Inquisition is the only way he can save Anders, he'd do it. He's moved by the Corypheus issue, sure, but his immediate concern is Anders. He's lost everyone else in his life; he's not gonna lose him, too.

This is a purple Hawke that went more and more red as the Acts went on. He's not about to put his neck on the line for a holy war on the side of an institution he hates unless there's a super compelling reason. And Varric is ostensibly the only civilian who knows where they are (they've been running a safe house in Nevarra) since he and Garrett still communicated over the years. Sparingly, since Hawke knows that part of Varric hates him and Anders for what happened in Kirkwall, but also because they were in each other's pockets for so long that it's hard to extricate themselves fully. So when he gets Varric’s letter saying that the Inquisition is closing in on them, Garrett is furious.

I imagine that maybe Varric saw it as a warning, as well as an ask, but Garrett saw it as a threat. "Do this or I'll make sure they know where you are." Varric's already let the Inquisition know that Garrett and his companions had dealt with Corypheus before, so why wouldn't Garrett think he'd sold them out this way, too?

Garrett wouldn't willingly come to the Inquisition's aid if not for Anders' sake. There's nothing in him that would volunteer to align himself in any way with them. They are just another branch of the Chantry, no matter how much the Inquisition and the Chantry try to distance themselves from each other, and once Garrett knows that Cullen is in charge of its military? Fuuuuuuck. Varric warns him of that, too, but that tidbit just adds to why Garrett sees that letter as a threat.

Garrett's involvement with the Inquisition marks the end of his and Varric’s relationship. He doesn't even offer to sacrifice himself in the Fade; it's simply not an option for him. He was up against Stroud, so why not let the Wardens clean up the mess they'd made? He's got maybe another good fifteen, maybe twenty years with Anders, and he's not going to waste them trying to fix a problem he didn't cause and doesn't have any power over.

Varric doesn't really understand the end is coming, though, because he saw the letter as he'd intended it: as a last-ditch effort to get more firepower against Corypheus. Though Garrett isn't an expert in how Corypheus operates, he at least has some experience with him and can relay that to the Inquisition. He's upset but not really surprised when Garrett cuts him out, and his bitterness toward Anders only grows. He definitely sees him as a, if not *the*, reason why he and Garrett aren't close anymore. If not for Anders' zeal, Garrett wouldn't have been so involved in Kirkwall, and maybe he wouldn't have been so quick to ally himself in Anders' plans. Varric doesn't really understand the depths of Garrett's resentment and outright hatred for the Chantry and its treatment of the mages, though he tries. He just can't relate to it. If Anders hadn't been so set on bloody revolution at the end, he thinks Garrett wouldn't have been, either.

I mean, he's wrong, but he hopes it, anyway.

So yeah. Garrett only works with the Inquisition under duress and aligns himself with the conscripted mages all the while. I imagine this particular worldstate would probably lean more pro-Chantry/Templar than my usual approaches, so this doesn't fit into an established playthrough, and I'm thinking this is probably gonna have a Trevelyan Inquisitor. There would be an interest in keeping Starkhaven from annexing Kirkwall, so there's also the political machinations happening behind the scenes there. The Chantry is going to be invested in having another pro-Chantry viscount in Kirkwall, and so they're gonna try to find a suitable person there. Starkhaven taking Kirkwall would potentially destabilize the region by throwing it into more internal political turmoil (can't have the Prince trying to take over sovereign states, after all, else the others would stand against him and go to war over it), so it's in the Chantry’s interest to keep things calm there and reestablish its foothold in the city. It wants to eventually rebuild the Circle to make up for the loss of both itself and the one at Ostwick (and since Starkhaven's own burnt to the ground in 9:31). Finding and executing Anders would drum up even more fervor and support for the multi-pronged efforts the Chantry and the Inquisition are trying to pull off.

So yeah. Anders is the only reason Garrett would go, and they'd pull up stakes and torch the safe house before going to ground again immediately after Garrett escapes and gets home.

[star--nymph]

how does eurydice cope with feeling ill? what foods does she eat? does she have a set routine like, how does she get comfortable and feel better?

Ask me a question pwease!

how does eurydice cope with feeling ill?

Eurydice copes with sickness with technical correctness, in that she does what she's supposed to. She makes her medicines, drinks her teas, isolates when she can, studies her symptoms and side effects. Much like with other people though, Eurydice has no concept of bed side care or self care, and tries to power through. If she believes she can walk, then she walks, even if she's drenched in sweat and swaying side by side. It goes hand in hand with the idea that she doesn't trust anyone to take care of her besides maybe three people before the Conclave: her deceased grandmother, her sister Melia, and Keeper Deshanna. Her grandmother was really the only person she ever felt truly cared for and she's been dead since she was about four. Melia and Deshanna tried but you try forcing an elf who has climbed a tree and is clinging to the trunk. Eventually, you give up and wait for her to pass out. (this isn't to say the clan wouldn't have cared for Eurydice if she was sick--the strangest member of the clan or not, she's still apart of the clan and they will have her live) The Inquisition was different for various reasons but most of them was that the Inner Circle did genuinely care about Eury's well being and Eurydice was just not used to that. She bristles against it most of the time like a hart with a wounded knee shoving itself into a small corner to get away from a helping hand. She doesn't take well to fussing or coddling, so I suspect as much as she loves Josephine and Varric, the only people she allows to help her are Vivienne (who just has her lay down in her lounge and has things brought to her) and Cullen who just doesn't take no for an answer. He's lucky she finds his fussing cute because sometimes when he starts acting like she invalid, she wants to claw his face off and using magic to throw him outside.

what foods does she eat?

Eurydice enjoys light foods; fruits, greens, nuts, produces made from halla milk. She's always been a picker eater and I think flavors and textures can overwhelm her. Her favorite foods are, of course, peaches and blackberries--if you give her anything with those things in it, she'll gobble it down. She can eat meats, she really has no dietary problems with it, she just doesn't usually like it much. If you give her a roasted leg of lamb, she'll eat it because it's food but it's not her first choice on her plate. She does also like traditional dalish breads and treats. Clan Lavellan has a special recipe for 'sweet beatles' which is exactly what it does like--beetles that are dipped in honey and brown sugar crystals. It's crunchy and sweet, she used to pop them into her mouth as a kid when she listened to stories told by the Clan's Storyteller.

does she have a set routine like, how does she get comfortable and feel better?

Oh! I have this written down somewhere actually! She has a very detailed one she has for Skyhold specifically and if it's broken, it can ruin her whole day.

Wake up (if she slept at all, anyway) at first morning bell.

Either stays in bed or wanders the room for a while to think about what she needs to do for the day (or talking to Cullen, depending on whether or not she’s with him that morning)

Do paperwork or check her research notes from last night.

Drink something. Stuff a piece of fruit in her mouth.

Get dressed.

Deliver any work, letters, codex, or information to Josephine. Has a cup of tea if Josie requires more time to speak to her.

Visit stables and start early morning grooming/takes her mounts out for a ride.

Daily War Meeting/Missioning Briefing. 

Visits either Vivienne, Dorian, or Solas to discuss spell work or spars with Cassandra (depends on the day)

Visits garden. 

Visits Cullen promptly at Noon and takes their daily walk together (even if the routine is busted, this usually never changes. She made a point to prioritize this every day for both her and Cullen's benefit, mostly because this is also the time where she reminds him to eat).

Enters her workshop so study, experiment, or work on projects.

Has afternoon tea with Vivienne (also a permanent fixture that can not and will not be changed) occasionally joined by Leliana, Dorian, and/or Bull. 

Enters undercroft to either speak to Dagna, Harritt, or work on her own crafting.

Visits stables again for afternoon grooming/feeding.

Has dinner (either with Blackwall at stable, in the tavern with Bull, Sera, Dorian, and Varric, or with Cullen).

Goes to Cullen’s tower.

Nightly walk promptly at 9pm (with or without Cullen) (another permanent routine).

Either returns to Cullen’s tower to spend the night with him or returns to her quarters.

Breaks out her jewelry making supplies and works on her bracelets.

Reads in bed or goes to sleep (depends on whether Cullen’s there or not because, again, has a set time for him to be in bed by, which is no later than 1:00 am).

[mako-designated-driver]

If you won't get the chance to read the comics but still wants to know what happened, I got you. A ton of bullet points of dubious quality coming right up (I also summed issue 3 if you missed it too)

Dragon Age: The Missing #4 Spoilers ahead

Our dashing duo of rogues, Varric and Harding, arrive at Minrathous. They start arguing almost immediately, as Harding claims that they lost too much time hunting the Venatori assassin and should be focusing on Solas, while Varric believes that there is a connection between the two that shouldn't be ignored.

Harding counters that it is one more reason to focus on Solas and that they don't even have a plan to deal with him when they find him. Varric says that he is going to talk to Solas and Harding answers that talking may not be enough. She then concludes that they need help.

If you guys remember issue 1, that's a bit strange, since Harding says Varric were "his friend" and "could talk to him. Make him understand". Furthermore, in a flash back, Varric says to Charter that bringing Harding is a "terrible idea" because she "sees the best in people, and Solas can use that to manipulate her, get her to hesitate". The roles they played in the first issue were reversed in this one, but I'm not sure if this was intentional (in fact, I'd bet it wasn't)

Varric smiled and replies that he knows a woman in Minrathous. If you are thinking about his awesome, stylish and powerful magister cousin Maevaris Tilani... guess again, because Varric asks for the help of the private investigator Neve Gallus (sorry Neve, love u too)

They meet at a tavern. After some banter between the two, Neve says she is tired of hearing Solas name and says that he attacked some Venatori, stole artifacts from them and freed a group of elven slaves while he was at it (that's our egg)

In addition, those elves are now causing trouble in the city, presumably in the name of the one who freed them. Neve asks if they are sure if they wanna be mixed up in all of that, and Harding replies that the trouble in Minrathous is just the beginning. Varric, however, doesn't agree with her and points out that they don't know that yet.

They argue again. Harding says that Solas clearly doesn't want to be found and Varric should prepare himself because the only way to stop Solas may be with an arrow.

Varric answers that the Venatori only got what was coming for them and that he "will knock some sense on the fool" when he sees him. Before Harding can say anything else, he asks Neve if she has any leads.

She does. As they walk towards the hiding place of some escaped slaves, she talks about the Shadow Dragons, a group that works with her and has been helping fred slaves. They may be working for Solas, but that just mean that they will be one step closer to him.

Varric spots their Venatori "friend", but they don't try to follow him this time

Neve shows where some of the slaves are coming to find food and, fortunately, two happened to be there at the time. They got startled when they say two armed (probably three) strangers aproaching and ran. Harding did some cool stuff with her bow to stop one of them from running, but the other vanished.

Varric offers the remaining guy (an elf btw) coin for answering his questions. He accepts and say that Solas freed them, but he doesn't work for him. He also says that Solas helped more than anyone else, and that he is leaving Minrathous via the canals.

The elf says: "He saw what they had done to us – his kin". However, by the time Trespasser ends, Solas doesn't think of modern elves as his kin. His views may have changed or, more likely, it's just this guys interpretation, doesn't need to be true

He finishes by saying that if Neve actually want to help the slaves, there is going to be a meeting by the docks that night so they can figure out what to do next. Neve replies that she heard about a big Venatori operation was going to happen by the docks that night.

Varric and Harding realize that it's all linked: Solas annoyed the Venatori, so they started following the rogues in an attempt to track him. Since they overheard the tavern meeting with Neve, they think that the slaves are Solas agents and are going to come for them at the docks. Neve says to the elf that they should call off the meeting, but he replies that there is no time.

Varric and Harding decide to protect the slaves, if it means losing Solas trail.

At the meeting, there is a woman saying that the Shadow Dragons offered them a chance to "restore their dignity", "get back the lives stolen by the Venatori", and make sure they don't have to scrabble in the dirt for food and warmth. She thinks they should take that chance, but never gets to finish her speech, as the Venatori arrive.

The Venatori leader taunts and tell his goons to take some of the people alive for questioning, but Varric and Harding swoop in and kill two of his guys.

The slaves were armed, Neve shows up with even more guys and a fight breaks out. The Venatori assassin that was following Varric and Harding is killed by the elf from earlier and can't be questioned.

Talking about Harding and Varric, they agree that they did the right thing, even if Solas is now long gone. After they leave, Harding starts wondering if Solas freed those slaves in an attempt to delay the two, as he knew they wouldn't resist helping. Varric agrees that they were tricked because Solas knows them too well, and says...

"Maybe it's time we brought in some fresh help. Someone Solas doesn't know. Someone he won't see coming."

The end!

[ell-vellan]

Iron Bull Banters that informed my opinion of him the most, part 2

Ben Hassrath/Spy Bull

part1 part3

Bull was raised to believe there is no line between thought and action, justifying re-education and the need for Ben-Hassrath. He also doesn't allow himself to think "illegal" thoughts under the Qun and actively squashes any line of thinking that would lead to anything contradicting the Qun. His Tama noted that he had a sharp mind and that he was "too wise." He can't let himself turn his wisdom against the Qun because he would find the places it doesn't work and he isn't allowed to argue, to pick the shaky logic apart; that's not his role. He puts up walls in his own mind so he doesn't break the rules. There was the dialogue "one day I woke up and couldn't think of a damned reason to keep doing my job." That's when he had had enough, when the pointless bloody misery of Seheron made him question his being there, question if he was actually doing any good at all -- in effect, questioning the Qun's wisdom. Which he isn't supposed to ever do. Weapons don't have opinions. And Bull so wanted to be a good, obedient tool of the Qun that he submitted himself to be tortured back into thought-obedience.

Even after he becomes Tal Vashoth he doesn't externally engage in conversations that go against the Qun. He doesn't take the bait when companions say things like "you're free" because becoming the monster he used to fight still stings. Because imo he's only just starting to learn it's safe for him to deconstruct his worldview. He just assures everyone he's fine, and since he adopts this easygoing persona who never seems to take anything seriously ever, all the companions leave him alone about it. (I wish we could have reassured him and given him a safe place to open up in-game as his friend, but alas, saving the world takes priority)

One of the examples of Bull describing (and downplaying) what his job as a spy has been. This and "fighting, drinking, writing notes, that's all it really takes." You could take this as him buddying up to Varric early on and making himself seem less of a threat, while at the same time the fact that he's doing this is also part of Being A Spy. He never outwardly reveals how good he is at changing his persona to match who he's chatting with.

With Varric he specifically and purposefully calls being a spy drinking fighting and writing notes because HE KNOWS VARRIC. Varric is famous as an author and friend of the Champion of Kirkwall. Bull knows he's friends with Isabela, who at one point had the stolen Tome of Koslun in her possession and therefore is of interest to the Qun. Bull absolutely got briefed on the Inquisition and its most important members at some point. He is so good at obfuscation that even Varric can't pin down his true nature - he's doing the subtle machinations right in front of Varric's eyes this whole time. He knows Varric's onto him from the word go and would see any tricks coming. So he shoots completely straight with him to get Varric on the back foot and make him question if Bull is really even a spy at all

Bull's razor-sharp spy observation skills used against Solas and against a Tevinter spy in a village they pass. Companions comment their surprise of his abilities. Bull quietly takes the initiative to tell Leliana about the Tevinter spy, trusting her own spy skills to handle it. Not pictured, but Bull also quietly notices a change of the guard rotation that tips off his own assassination attempt, after which he notes that he's been dosing himself with the Qun poison they used on him, and that he previously took years of Ben Hassrath training to hide his facial expressions

The insight of Bull's mother figure into his personality, and a glimpse of the Qun bureaucractic fallout of losing him as an asset. It seems like the Ben-Hassrath went back to the source to see where they went wrong with Bull. Being a spy meant Bull wouldn't have to conform to the rigid, unquestioning role as a soldier, but it gave him just enough freedom of thought, just long enough of a leash that he was able to finally break free

Bull's thankful to be given a window into the mindset of probably one of the only people left in the Qun who might still love and know his original self. I think he's relieved that his Tama doesn't hate him being Tal Vashoth. Interestingly, this glimpse of another member of the Qun who's not a warrior or spy is a softer person than we otherwise get to see in the game. She remembers Bull, remembers key details about him all this time later, is crying over him, but isn't angry with him like Bull assumes, as far as we can tell from this

Tama "smiled sadly", either because he was leaving her to go to the Ben-Hassrath or because she could see the writing on the wall with Bull even when she spoke those words to him. IIRC kids get assigned their roles in the Qun at age 12. Tama's probably raised a lot of other kids since Bull left; he's at least in his 30s. He was raised by someone who truly loved and cared about his well being, and I think that shows through the kind of person he became: selfless and caring in return. She knew how the Qun would use his skills and intelligence and I think the "He got away" can be intrepreted as gratitude that he's no longer chained by the Qun and will now be allowed to exist as he was meant to, a fully realized individual.

[shivunin]

So I saw your tags on the types of love ask and I'm also obsessed with the first weeks and months after Fenris and Hawke break up lol!! I would love to hear more of your thoughts about what Maria and Fenris are feeling/thinking esp wrt fighting together, how the kirkwall group sees them, and just generally how they cope with not being "together" but still being around each other all the time.

Oooh anon, I tried to keep this a reasonable length and I failed haha. In my defense, I have 30k words of unfinished fic answering this very question and I pared it down as best I could.

So:

I think the immediate aftermath is, of course, the most painful--but it's also the most careful on her part. Analysis sets in for her pretty quickly about a day later, when her head is more clear: she loves him and she doesn't believe that loving him gives her a right to take his friends and home away. Hawke is very aware that she has the power to do this if she isn't careful.

What can she do about it? Give him space. Make sure he knows he's still welcome. Keep inviting him to things where many of her other friends are present. Never touch him unless she has no other choice, because she knows she'll give herself away. Look at him directly as little as possible (this one is for her own sake---watching him is like putting her thumb on a bruise to make sure it's still there). Be alone rarely, if ever, and if alone then at a great distance. No more walking home together; no more late nights reading in her library before the fire; no more long goodbyes at her door. She tries so hard to be careful with him and instead she is stiff and overly polite.

It hurts. For both of them. I've talked before about how friendship is the bedrock of their relationship to me, and for a while they lose that, too. Maria's fatal flaw is that she thinks she can perfectly read everyone around her. She assumes that the boundaries she's drawn are good for both of them and she never, ever asks Fenris what he thinks or wants---because that would mean talking about it.

Fighting is rough for a while, because one of them is now dedicated to not paying attention to the other. They both get hurt, badly, in the few weeks immediately after that night. Fenris occasionally slips and calls her Maria (he can't get it out of his head no matter how much he'd like to). Hawke occasionally slips and pats his shoulder or elbows him to make a joke before she remembers and pulls away again.

At last, they get in a really big argument over what Fenris says to Merrill during Mirror Image. Maria loses her temper (she usually keeps a very tight leash on it) and says some things she doesn't mean---the subtext being, if she is a monster then I am a monster. If you knew that before, then why did you ever pretend you wanted me? She does not say this explicitly, because I think she doesn't actually want to know the answer. She apologizes as best she can without actually acknowledging what happened, but now that is festering between them, too.

All of their friends definitely know what's going on. They had front-row seats to the budding flirtation, the tiny gestures of affection...and now they also get to see Hawke putting herself as far away from him as possible, Fenris's absolute refusal to discuss any of it, the pained way he looks at her when she isn't watching, and so on. How can they not know? I think Varric and Isabela try to discuss it with Maria, in their respective ways, and she laughs it off. I think Anders probably makes a pointed comment and she bats that away, too. (Actually, Aveline might be the only one who's still oblivious, judging by the dialogue in her Act 2 quest.)

She does eventually confide in Sebastian, because he's supposed to take confessions, isn't he? Surely this is not so bad a thing to carry, in comparison to everything else. In the end, all she really wants is her friend back and she doesn't know how to get back what they've lost. She blames herself far more than she blames Fenris (Hawke should be able to fix everything always, obviously). Before she can come to any conclusions about how to patch things up, Leandra dies and she really starts spiraling.

When she finally emerges from the big blank space immediately following the funeral, Hawke is erratic. She gets drunk and sloppy, she throws herself into fights she couldn't possibly win, and she stops being careful with Fenris.

(For the record--I think he prefers the minor arguments to Hawke being polite with him. Maria is polite with Meredith and Marethari and the Viscount and the Arishok. She is friendly or charming or crass with everyone else. Being on the receiving end of cordiality was far, far worse than anything she pulls while she's grieving.)

Again--it takes something big to knock her out of this spiral. Luckily, Kirkwall has no shortage of shitshows. Hawke faces down death, comes to terms with the fact that she's just going to have to be in unrequited love with Fenris forever, and acquires a new title, not necessarily in that order. Fenris watches her die, acknowledges privately that he would rather be with her than without her regardless of what they are to each other or what dangers they face, and is there with her when she needs him the most.

Some of those boundaries stick around--she doesn't look at him often or for too long, which he hates, and they don't spend much time alone together. But slowly, slowly, they rebuild their rapport. Hawke and Fenris respect each other deeply; I think that's what makes the rest of it possible. Love is one thing---messy and busy and too heavy by far---but respect is something they both understand, and it's a good enough foundation to build on. She does love him; if she could make it into a purely platonic love, she absolutely would. More importantly, Maria trusts him and he clearly feels the same. It takes time, but they get back much of what they lost.

I want to be clear: she never thinks of any of this as biding her time for him to realize he wants her; she knows that he never will. She also knows she has to be okay with that if they're going to be friends again, and that matters to her most of all. It would have broken her heart to lose him because she couldn't move on.

For Fenris's part--I don't know how much of his reaction is guilt and how much is being caught essentially flat-footed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to work up to wanting to be emotionally intimate with someone (physical intimacy entirely aside) and then have that comfort entirely ripped away because of something he feels solely responsible for.

So, anon, to answer your question:

They deal with it by letting what happened between them be the third party in the room, ultimately. They both know what happened; they know that talking about it by now is more likely to open up wounds than it is to heal them. What they have is immeasurably valuable to both of them. If he still dreams about holding her, if she measures every suitor at her door against Fenris, well---that's for them to handle alone. Nobody else needs to know.

[deusexlachina]

Wannabe Warden Part 11: Bethany has a teen emo phase at age 23

In which I reunite with my newly Wardenified and darksided now.

A very special episode about sisterhood, depression, and why you shouldn't be an assassin if you don't like to kill people.

After things have calmed down a little, I check my mail and get a letter from Bethany. She tells me that she doesn't feel lucky to have survived the taint, because the taint is between a stomachache and instant death. King Alistair once said "One good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." He must have meant his countrymen's consensus on euthanasia, which is impressive because they cannot agree on anything else.

She's worse than I thought. I need to become a Grey Warden as soon as I can to support her and help her avenge Carver. But I get a rare opportunity to visit her - a duke has bought one of my Deep Roads treasures and invites me to Chateau Haine, where Bethany is also staying. Why is Bethany there, in this decidedly non-darkspawn-infested locale? That is Warden Business. Are you a Warden? I didn't think so. I'm not about to question a rare chance to visit my sister.

Despite this being one of few trips where I'm not going to war or working for some faction or another, I am stopped by assassins who kill Varric's friend and try to kill me. Unfortunately for them, I have an ace up my sleeve. No, it's not Tallis. She's there but she helplessly flails around, missing constantly and only surviving because she's invincible. It's the fact that I waited until level 17 to do this mission, so I have new armour and a new sword. It's very pretty and well-kept for equipment that's broken to pieces.

I flirt with Tallis by telling her she has some fine moves. I especially like the one where she helplessly staggers and screams as the enemy stunlocks her. It helps make them overconfident. Mind games.

All my friends just look at me judgmentally, because I'm flirting with a Qunari spy. You'd know that if you were able to sit through even a minute of Dragon Age: Redemption, so it came as a surprise to many players. But Aveline wouldn't have any reason to know that, except that Tallis routinely utters Qunari curses in battle and, in case that was too subtle, is wearing the Qun symbol on her tummy, because she is very bad at her job. This is presumably what the "mark of the assassin" is. I like to think, since the Qun took her in at a young age, that she just thinks that's a perfectly normal decoration. I mean, that thing's everywhere!

But I know what I'm doing. The Viscount told me to cooperate with the Qunari to prevent a war, so I'm doing just that. Me not noticing that Tallis, the obvious Qunari spy, is a Qunari spy is just a ruse to get her to let her guard down, because I would never really be that gullible. So Tallis gets me to go along with a heist at the Chateau, to retrieve a jewel called the "Heart of the Many," which anyone who speaks Qunlat would know is a direct translation of "Benn-Hassrath," the Qunari secret police.

This sounds like a codeword for something else, and it is, because she's actually hunting a former Benn-Hassrath before he leaks the names of Qunari agents. But she's not talking to any other Benn-Hassrath, just me, meaning there was no reason whatsoever to risk me knowing any Qunlat, which is an unwise assumption given that I'm a good friend of Fenris, who's fluent in it, and have the respect of her Arishok, who has the habit of routinely translating any Qunlat terms he uses so you're not standing around awkwardly while people have a conversation entirely in Qunlat.

I rope Bethany into this heist, which she signs up for because she either has not learned her lesson about following her irresponsible vainglorious sister into deadly situations or precisely because she knows how much danger I get myself into and she doesn't want to lose both her siblings to their Leeroy Jenkins habits. Presumably at the behest of Other Aveline, she addresses me as "Sister." This may be a reference to the fact that we are sisters.

After Bethany calls me "sister," Tallis then asks if Bethany is my sister, because she is very bad at her job. Bethany says she WAS...before she got THE BLIGHT!!!

I think to myself, yeah, teens are like that, but then I remember my sister was born in 9:11 of the Dragon Age, meaning she is currently twenty-three. Bethany has been Hardened. Her personality is much darker than it was before, and darker even than if she had been imprisoned for life in Kirkwall's Circle, where mages are executed or made Tranquil at world-record rates. "At least then I wouldn't feel anything," I can imagine Emo Bethany saying. This isn't my hopeful, innocent sister. This Bethany has a heavy heart. She sees the gravity of her situation. You might even say she is a gravity mage.

To impress the Duke, we lure an Alpha Wyvern, which can charge, severely damaging multiple companions at once. But Bethany is a Hardened veteran. All her spells are geared towards keeping enemies slowed and locked down so they can't charge at you, in case the Wardens are exploring the Deep Roads and she ever comes across another Ancient Rock Wraith ever.

With the hunt successful, the party can begin, and we meet another person at the party who can relate to being Hardened - Warden Morwen's ex-girlfriend Leliana, who has the least stable personality in Thedas. From her backstory to Inquisition, she goes from edgy to idealistic and then back to edgy and then she can become idealistic again, or even edgier, or just kind of depressed. She's terrific.

Leliana makes a show of recognizing Tallis, subtly warning the enemy agent that she's being watched so she doesn't do anything dumb like everything Tallis does. She does this without any reference to either of them being spies, because Leliana is good at her job.

We infiltrate the Chateau, but are caught. Tallis, who is an assassin, slits his throat, but she says she doesn't like killing because she is very bad at her job.

This seems like the situation with the Arishok, where someone has been conditioned to rigidly fill a role they're not really suited for and which is a poor fit for the situations they're dealing with. Except the Qun didn't put her up to this particular mission, so this one's all on Tallis.

Along the way, I find some adorable miniature paintings for Bethany. I tell myself this will surely cheer her up from having up to 27 more years to live! But I'm not talking to anybody, and I'm not fooling anybody, either.

This is a fetch quest with three paintings to collect for Bethany, and before I even finish talking to myself I see one of three medallions to collect for Isabela. There are two of these three-part fetch quests? No, da'len. There are eight, one per companion including Sebastian even though he's a side character but excluding Merrill even though she's mandatory. You'll only ever get two, though, since you can only bring one party to this mission and for some reason they need to be there for these objects to exist. I would balk at this but two is more than enough, and I bother to do them only because all the pieces are clearly marked on the map and on the linear path through the Chateau.

There's also a more involved companion quest where Isabela can save some of her colleagues from an ancient curse. All it takes to free them is the Dagger of the Four Winds, which they broke into four pieces, scattered throughout the Chateau...

It's not even a thing that comes in four parts. They broke it themselves. I am sorely tempted to leave them there for making me do any more fetch quests. Luckily for them, the pieces of the dagger are with the rest of the treasure. This is the sole reason I brought Isabela, since this entire mission is extremely poorly-suited to dual-wielding rogues, being full of enemies that are extremely dangerous at close range.

Well. It's dangerous for most dual-wielding rogues. Normally, dual-wielding is a weapon style that deals massive DPS, but at the cost of having the shortest range of any weapon in the game. But, just like Tallis likes the rules of the Qun while being a free spirit and likes being an assassin without killing people, she likes having double daggers that she can throw. It makes sense that she can throw daggers, though not so much that she can keep throwing the same daggers. She can throw as far as Bethany can shoot while stabbing as stabbily as Isabela can stab, meaning her attacks have no downside whatsoever. Wow! She's so cool!

Tallis and I get caught by the duke, who reveals that he knew Tallis was a Qunari all along, presumably because of the Qun symbol on her tummy. In prison, Tallis explains what the Qunari means to her, but I can't relate to you exactly what that is because I wasn't really paying attention and also it didn't make sense anyway. Bethany and Isabela search for us, but they needn't have bothered because Tallis is able to just pick the lock on the door. Wow! She's so cool!

But Tallis is not the only one with unfair weaponry. The duke has a high-tech crossbow, like Bianca, except it can shoot his choice of bolts, explosives that instantly kill you, or luminescent goo that shows his enormous pet Alpha Wyvern who to kill. He also has dozens of guards and a seemingly endless supply of dogs. That means that he's nearly as dangerous as the Ancient Rock Wraith which was the boss of Act 1 for some reason.

But with Warden Bethany's help, we prevail. Tallis flirts back, which Isabela says is cool with her as long as Tallis asks her nicely. This is because Isabela thinks she's my girlfriend, even though when I slept with her she said not to bring feelings into it and I agreed because I was planning to eventually romance Anders because he's a Grey Warden. To my immeasurably small disappointment, I ended up locked out of hatefucking Anders. You let a woman visit your house and have passionate piratey sex one time and she thinks it's a thing. Anyway, Emo Bethany is just sitting there silently watching my rogue harem negotiate the terms under which they can have sex with me.

I tell Tallis she's free to come along with my merry band of misfits, because she deals over 120 damage a second at long range and is immune to stun and slow. She doesn't think she could fit in, but she's jealous of what we have - all my loving friends and family, my nice big warm house with my mom and dog. At this point you can see Warden Bethany turning her head and looking Tallis straight in the eye with the same cold, bitter eyes that watched as she killed Duke Prosper and his men.

At least Warden Bethany won't have to envy me for having mom for very much longer.

[imagine-silk]

hullo! May I please request varric dating a reader who acts a lot like a detective? (Basically they really like to solve mysteries and help people and be a bit eccentric)

A strange detective covers a lot of ground, so I went with a noir Sherlock Holmes. I don't know, the thought of a melodramatic noir detective in Dragon Age is so out of place it humors me greatly.

Art by Benjamin Carre

You first met in the Hinterlands when Berand asked the herald to find his lover. They found you over her body reading the letter and you quickly explained you found her like this and needed to find her lover. When they told you where he was you got really sad claiming the hunt and satisfaction of finding him was gone.

You joined them to deliver the news a little displeased but immediately perked up when the party off-handily mentioned this was the second person you were hired to find. Excited you asked who they were and joined the inquisition.

Through all of this Varric wanted to laugh. He knew he shouldn't think this was funny in the middle of a war but you were so strange and Trevelyan thought so as well.

Working for the inquisition satisfied your inquisitive nature. Whenever there was a person or object to find you were on the case and you solved them quite quickly.

Because of the ongoing war with templars and mages you were always busy. So much so you never really talked to the inner-circle or anyone really that much not until after Haven is attacked. During the journey to Skyhold it was Varric who checked on you. He had never seen you distraught about anything unrelated to your work. While everyone is getting settled he notices no one really checks on you so he takes it upon himself to do so.

He learns quite a bit during your talks. Proper checking for cause of death, deducting suspects, talking to the victim's family. You also have more personal talks explaining how much you enjoy your job, your extreme highs and lows, your close relationship with death, your need to figure things out and how all of these things make it difficult to be palatable to others.

You also learn about him. He doesn’t really say much about himself that's not cryptic but for you he doesn't need to. Not saying you fully understand, you probably never will, but you get a general idea. As much as you want to press for detail or find a paper-trail you know he wouldn't like that and a stepping stone in your relationship is you learning to be content with that. (And no, he won't tell you the story of Bianca.)

At some point he writes a book that is based off of you. It becomes very popular even to people outside of his fans because it is one of the only book of his where the main character survives and has regular wins, a lot of losses but consistent wins. It wasn't hard to write, he mostly just rewords what you tell him and embellishes it.

A lot of people saw the change of the MC over time. MC started as a strange excitable person obsessed with solving intricate crimes who was petty and difficult to deal with but later turns out to be a person isolated because of their eccentric nature and constantly working because it allows their mind to run as fast as it can without waiting for others.

Readers also noticed when there was a growing romantic tension, like they were suddenly reading this character in the most flattering light. But they had no love interest. It's not very clear if Varric was envisioning his lack of romance or yours. (Cassandra picks up on it and is ate it up)

The only real reason he allowed it to be published was because his beta-readers loved it to pieces and he knows you won't read it due to your lack of time and lack of interest in it. You hate when writers get something wrong but specifically in Varric's case you already knew what happens. And your right, your not going to find anything new other than things he embellished.

By then people have kind of sniffed out the growing interest you both have. An interest you both don't seem to want to act on. Varric's self-loathing is infamous, he would never give himself a happy ending and you know this. You also have reservations due to your very dangerous job and insane working habits. You both are quite content to keep what you both know unsaid.

It gets to a point the inner-circle start to intervene. They don't succeed but they try. Trevelyan gives you less work so you have more free time but having less work pisses you off big time. Cassandra tries to get you to read his books but you keep telling her no and Varric is irked by her attempts. Cole tries to fix your hurts but for both of you it's too little too late. Josephine and Leliana get you to social events but Varric is a socialite and entertains crowds and you are known as a very impressive detective and a main character in a book, you both occupied the whole night. Depending if your fem or masc, Sera or Dorian will ask if you need any advice for the bedroom to which annoyed you. Vivienne got peeved enough to invite you to a spa day and brought Varric along with her, apparently he was under the same impression, so out of spite you both enjoyed your time using her paid day off to do nothing. Even Blackwall and Solas try to ask if either of you are interested in someone, though they're a lot more teasing.

Funny enough Iron Bull is the only one content on letting things play out. He knows something would need to happen for the spark to turn into a flame.

The beginning of your official romance is not very romantic I'm afraid. You leave on a particularly interesting case and don't come back. And he panics. Fully thinks your dead but doesn't give up on trying to find you. He asks news from the scouts, checks taverns and towns when he goes out, even asks Cole if he knows where you are. Cole says, "Panicked, prancing like a headless chicken, they're probably scared as I am. Or maybe their fine. Or maybe their dead. Just another regret. My answer won't soothe your hurt no matter the what I say." He knows the kid is right. If he said you were perfectly safe he would doubt it and if he said you were unsafe or dead he would never forgive himself.

When you come back bloodied and bruised it's almost like you never left. No one reacts and you don't want them to. Because of this Varric doesn't know you’re back. He spots you sitting on the battlements and runs. You turn to see a flushed sweating dwarf staring at someone he's not sure is a ghost, like if he blinks you’ll wisp away. The conversation starts like all the others and for a long time you sit casually talking. A long pause is broken by Varric, "You scared me." to which you replied a quiet I know, and silence takes over once more. You put your hand on his and he pulls you into a hug. When you pull away you look at each other and with no words see everything unsaid. Neither of you knows who started the kiss but it's long and chaste, sweet and tenderly slow.

After that you're just an item, no real talk necessary. It takes a while for others to figure it out, y'all don't act mush different. All of your kisses are stolen, flirting is no more than usual. Varric takes things slow which is fine by you.

When your gone you send letters back and forth. It's a bit difficult because you're on the move constantly. Your letters mostly consist of current events but as the time apart grows it will detail how you miss one another, sometimes it's spicy.

In your extreme highs he listens intensely. Your excited nature making him feel like everything is right in the world. In your extreme lows he learns how to help you. Lack of work? He tries to get you to focus on doing something, like a puzzle or finding a specific item. Saw something horrible? He'll ask you to talk about it. Just down? He tells you it's okay and either does a little spa day and spends the day pampering and goofing off or he takes you to the tavern to have fun, which usually end in some 'fun'.

Varric is also a bridge to having a better social life. You don't stop being strange but he brings out your sweetness and humor allowing others to enjoy it as well. You are also the muse of his latest book and high society folk are nosy so in places like Val Royeaux you will be swarmed. But in taverns and the like it's just an good time.