#carta and commander

[vigilskeep]

did the treveylan loose a lot of their standing for having not one but TWO mage children? ( a la amell)

yeah hugely! they’re canonically “noted for their piety and connections within the chantry and the templar order”, so based on that i can only imagine having two mage children out of nowhere was pretty crushing. i think it’s also a pretty much open secret that bann trevelyan tried to hide arthur’s magic for a while—it got revealed at a public event, it wouldn’t be hard to notice that he and arthur already knew—which is pretty damning. nobles obviously get away with that kind of thing all the time, just look at eamon and isolde who afaik face no repercussions for the horrors of redcliffe, or look at the de launcets or whoever, but with the trevelyans’ reputations so based on their faith it makes them a bit of a laughing stock and they lose all their traditional connections. there’s also just the sheer loss of two of their heirs, three if you include losing evelyn to the templars, leaving them only with the least suitable (rip maxwell)

that’s a big part of evelyn’s motivations. she watched herself and her family be humiliated, she didn’t even get to be in on the secret, she’s constantly faced with her inadequacy in comparison to her father’s idea of arthur when she’s unable to salvage the family reputation diplomatically. so she’s finally “saving” that reputation the only way she knows how, and making up for her siblings’ shame in the eyes of the maker but also in the eyes of the rest of the nobility, by joining the templars

[mourn-and-watch]

there were no fereldan grey wardens in inquisition because they're too unhinged for this game. i mean they would absolutely ruin the narrative and the stakes. amaranthine squad is literally a dalish mage with a pure disgust for humans and especially their attempts to erase other cultures, a casteless member of the legion of the dead who used to work for carta, a drunkard who keeps finding himself in the weirdest situations possible and getting out of them almost without a scratch and a son of disgraced war criminal and all of them also happened to be buddies with a certain apostate and a spirit of justice. these guys don't give a shit about andraste's supposed herald and they already managed to kick one magister's ass or even reason with him. they would crack some kirkwall boom joke in front of the whole inquisition and then call corypheus a pretentious dumbass and nathaniel would bother to stop it only because he promised the commander they would behave and not cause problems if they left them on their own for a while

[daitranscripts]

Trespasser Credits Dialogue

All This Shit is Weird

Trespasser Masterpost

—

Cassandra: What is this? A new book? “All This Shit is Weird.” Oh, Varric. That is a terrible title. What are you even thinking?

Cassandra: “The sky churned like a roiling sea on a dark and stormy night, centered on a gaping hole that led to the ass-end of nowhere. A hole that spit up many things that day: comets, demons… and a whole lot of trouble.” (Gasps.) It’s about the Inquisition!

Cassandra: “The din of the tavern cut the silence like it owed the Carta money. In the middle, in her element, Red Jenny. She looked me up and down—mostly down. ‘Not playing, weirdy,’ she said, gesturing with, and dismissively eating, a sandwich. ‘Don’t write that. Seriously, piss up a rope.’ Sera made the subtext text, which suited me fine.”

Cassandra: “The court enchanter swirled into the room like a drop of beautiful poison spreading in a wine glass. She sized me up with a glance. ‘I’m so glad you made it, my dear,’ she said, ‘I am Madame de Fer, the most terrifying person you shall ever meet.’”

Cassandra: “Leliana enfolded Alphonse in an embrace as warm as a serpent’s kiss. ‘I always knew I could count on your support.’ The count did not feel the bite of her poisoned dart until it was too late. ‘Even if it requires… your death.’”

Cassandra: “Drops of rain glistened on the griffon medallion grasped tightly in Blackwall’s hand. ‘The Silverite Wings of Valor. They mean nothing.’ He flung the medal to the cold and uncaring ground. ‘You don’t know what I’ve done! You. Don’t. Know. Me.’” (Sighs.) So romantic.

Cassandra: “Cole moved like a shadow that also moved like a knife, a shadow wearing a hat where dreams came to die. ‘It’s a riddle,’ he whispered. ‘A cold riddle that gnaws at your mind, but you’ll feel better when it’s gone.’” That… makes as much sense as anything Cole says.

Cassandra: “‘Do you place your Herald above the law, Ambassador?’ ‘Whose law, my lady?’ Josephine’s eyes glittered like angry opals. ‘The law destroyed by rebellion? By civil war? By poor fiscal management? We are the law!’”

Cassandra: “We left our mark on Adamant, but the dust hadn’t settled… and neither had Harding. ‘I can offer you a drink, if I catch your meaning.’ ‘If you’d caught my meaning, you’d have offered a double.’” What is even happening here?

Cassandra: “The Iron Bull was a great slab of muscle with horns that could hang a tapestry. One eye scanned for threats, while the other hid behind an eye patch like a Chantry sister’s old sins. ‘Come on,’ he barked, not looking back as he entered. ‘The dancer with the great rack comes on in five.’” That is… spot-on, actually.

Cassandra: “The commander had the look of a templar who had seen the worst of humanity, yet still had the time to style his hair. ‘This isn’t just a war,’ he said, his gaze steely like a dull blade. ‘It’s the only war.’” Cullen! That’s Cullen!

Cassandra: “The mage wore a class of handsome sneer cultivated by a thousand years of Tevinter elitism. ‘The name’s Dorian,’ he glared. ‘D-O-R-I-A-N. Spell it right, you marble-headed lump, or it’s… toad time.’” A toad? That’s hardly credible.

Cassandra: “The bald elf spun, mage staff crackling like the city after a good man’s murder. ‘You’re crazy!’ the red templar cried in terror. Moonlight glinted off ears like the knives you never see coming. ‘Better to fade out than burn away.’” Ugh. Varric.

Cassandra: Wait, where am I? I don’t… oh, here it is. “The Seeker clutched at my vest, her tears as desperate as they were pitiful. ‘Varric, I was wrong about everything,’ she sobbed. ‘Could you find it in your noble heart to forgive me?’” That dwarf, he… he… He put me in the book! (Giggles.) I’m in the book! I am reading the shit out of this.

[kaija-rayne-author]

DA 4 Veilguard predictions

Okay so I wanted to get a whole ass post about what I think is likely to happen in DA 4 done before the reveals but I haven’t had the time between work and life.

There are MASSIVE spoilers for every Dragon Age game, book, comic, and most internet theories in this post. Proceed with caution.

Also I swear like the truckers I grew up around. So CW on language.

First and foremost, I’m going to warn you all that I’m a die-hard Solavellan. If you don’t like that? Don’t bother reading this. And for gods’ sake don’t bother arguing with me about it. Depending on my mood, I’ll either first roast your face off and then eat it with bbq sauce or if I’m feeling generous, I’ll just block your ass. You like what you like about games. I’ll like what I like. I don’t shit in your porridge, I ask you to not do it to me. As I’m writing this, I’m 47 years old and I’ve been gaming since I was 9. Which means I’ve been gaming longer than a lot of you have been alive. Stop yucking on people’s yum. There’s far too little joy in this world. Go find your own.

So, this is just a partial post (albeit, in true to me fashion, an incredibly LONG one XD). It will cover stuff I think we might see revealed in things this weekend at either SGF or Xbox whatever (I have no idea why they’d bother with the Xbox thing since they hold such a small share of the gaming market these days but whatever.) We’re seeing something between Friday and Monday. Hopefully, enough to give hope to the masses.

Depending on how much time I have before I have to serve dinner I might add some more of my theories.

It’s a bit silly of me to be so obsessed about this game because my computer definitely won’t be able to handle it, and because I’m a disabled, neurodivergent author with a family to support… well… the likelihood of me being able to buy both a computer able to handle it and the game itself any time in the near future isn’t good. So, I won’t be able to play it. I am going to add my links and a go fund me to the bottom of this post (which has taken me hours to research and write so if you would like to donate to the cause I would be so deeply appreciative. Dragon Age is one of my AuDHD special interests, and it’s killing part of my soul to know I can’t participate when it comes out. I promise I’ll write all sorts of interesting stuff about it!)

But I can’t help myself. Letting my research-oriented, lore-obsessed brain noodle about Dragon Age is one of my very favourite special interests. So, without further ado… here goes!

CLASSES

I think we have a good chance of seeing some of these as playable classes.

Knight-Templar ❌

Lord of Fortune ✅

Antivan Crow ✅

Mortalitasi (Nevarran necromancer) ✅

Grey Warden ✅

Shadow Dragon ✅

Shaper/Carta/Kal-Sharok/Sha-Brytol Dwarf ❌

Veil Jumper ✅

Fen’harel Fanatic (not his usual people, the fanatical ones detailed in Tevinter Nights) ❌

Companions

A lot of these ideas come from the supplementary material that I’ve read at least three times each. I’m obsessed. What can I say?

Qunari: ✅ Tal-Vashoth Sarrebas, maybe Qwydion? ❌

Rivani Lord of Fortune: ✅ ‘Hollix’ maybe? That would be fun, plus they are canonically non-binary! Please please please? With sugar on top? ❌

Tevinter Mage/Magister: ✅��Maevaris Tilani ❌ would be so cool, but I’d be equally as happy to see Neve Gallus. ✅ Honestly, they both have benefits for me. Mae is trans and Neve has a prosthetic leg. Alternatively, I liked Myrion ❌ well enough that he’d be a cool companion too. And he’s canonically bisexual from what I read between the lines.

Grey Warden: ✅ Please let it be Antoine! ❌ (Antoine absolutely has ADHD and I would love to see more of that rep in a AAA game.) Evke ❌ could be fun too.

Templar Knight-Commander: Rana Savras ❌

Spirit Companion: I really hope it’s not Audric. 1. He’s not really a spirit, he’s a higher undead, which is a Zombie by any other term. And all the poor guy wants is to organize his library. I’ll be quite disappointed with the writers if they go this route.

So, we’ve had Faith/Wynn, Justice/Anders, and Compassion/Cole. There are two other widely known benevolent spirits in Dragon Age canon. Valor and Hope. Given what I think is gonna happen in DA4, my money is on a Hope spirit. ❓

Antivan Crow: ✅ Illario Dellamorte. ❌ (I really really hope it’s not Lucanis Dellamorte. 💩 He’s so damned annoying and gods that is NOT how an assassin operates. Here's my professional editorial opinion of why Lucanis is an absolutely terrible character.

Veil Jumper/Dalish/City Elf: ✅ Strife. ❌ Please please please? He’d be so awesome as a companion character. He’s not young! I want an older companion character. (And it would let them get away with the white hair on a darker skinned character without it being racist as fuck.) I just really hope he looks better than he did in the comics. The art style in those was just fucking terrible.

I am hoping that we can somehow romance Lace Harding. ✅ But I just don’t see how she could fit in with the reported likely classes and things I’ve personally considered.

That gives me 8 even though reports say we only get 7. But did you notice in this picture that there are 8? So either we’re gonna get a ‘secret’ companion like Loghain Mac Tir. (Three guesses who that will be and the first two don’t count.) Or they have a surprise for us. Or the art is off.

I could also see Kieren ❌ as a companion. (Morrigan’s son) He’d be just about old enough if we get the time jump reports are saying we will. He was roughly 12 in DAI. + 2 for Trespasser puts him at 14. Ten years minimum between Trespasser and DA4 puts him at 24. So, it’s possible. I could also see Vaea as a companion. But I’m not exactly sure how she would fit with classes.

Potential Advisors

Some of these I’ve got as potential companions as well because I could see them fitting either.

Dorian Pavus for Tevinter Magisters (I think this is very likely given Tevinter Nights.)

Maevaris Tilani (Same as above.)

Charter (I think we’ll see Charter stepping into Leliana’s place as Spymaster given what we saw in Trespasser and Tevinter Nights.)

Myrna/Audric (Mortalitasi)

Ramesh (Grey Wardens)

Genetivi (Scholar) (given what happened in Tevinter Nights I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again under a new name)

Viago De Riva (Antivan Crows)

Andarateia Cantori (Antivan Crows) I’d love to see Zevran again but considering what he was up to in DAI I think it’s unlikely. Although something did happen in Tevinter Nights that might make it possible.

Lavellan: With how the story in DAI ended and what we saw in the end scene of Trespasser, I think they’ll be important in some way.

Fenris: (Wandering Warrior)

Cameos we might see:

Fenris

Isabela

Arishok Sten

Antaam Rassan

Kieren (Morrigan’s son)

Zevran

Vaea

Sebastian Vael

Viago De Riva

Andarateia Cantori

Lavellan

People I don’t think we’ll see or if we do it won’t be for long.

Cassandra (thank gods)

Morrigan

Leliana (sads)

Most of the cast of DAI and the previous games.

Bosses we’re likely to fight.

Solas. He’ll be a mini-boss and maybe one you can talk out of a fight.

FleMythal

Elgar’nan ✅️

Ghilan'nain ✅️

Andruil. She and Ghilan’nain often go together.

Critters/bad guys we’re likely to see.

Bone creatures from the necropolis.

Changed darkspawn/humans from Ghilan'nain’s labs. ✅️

Tentacley sea creatures from Minrathous and other ‘experimented upon by mages’ monsters.

Werewolves may make a comeback.

Antaam.

Venatori. ✅

Fen’harel Fanatics (these are different from Fen’harel agents).

Whatever or whoever the people across the sea are.

Carta dwarves

Titans

Sha-Brytol dwarves

Antaam Rassan

Antaam

Things I think we’re likely to see.

We’re going to see trans/non-binary rep. ✅ I deeply believe this is happening. I will be so sad if I’m wrong.

Sad as I am to say it. Varric is gonna die. The writing has been on the wall in drippy red marker since they fired his writer. I hate this, personally. I grew up listening to Brian Bloom (Varric’s VA) and he’s just one of my absolute favourites. But I don’t think Varric is gonna make it.

The how? I think, narratively, they’ll do it in a way that hurts Solas a very great deal. In DAI, Varric is one of the few people that Solas listens to. Apologizes to and actually talks to with a sense of respect in his tone that he rarely does with anyone else. Given events in the comic The Missing where Solas saves Varric several times… yeah. ✅️

If I were writing it? It would be an angsty as fuck scene where either something Solas does accidentally kills Varric in a friendly fire isn’t friendly sort of situation or that Solas can’t get there in time to save one of the few people he actually probably considers a friend.

So, the pain of Varric’s death will be what in the writing/editing trade we call a pinch-point for Solas’s character arc. How the player decides what happens will likely be one of those crucial choices matters points that will turn Solas down a darker path or possibly toward a redemption arc.

Flemythal isn’t dead. I’ve talked before about how she is not the happy fluffy bunny version of a mother goddess. Sure, she might be a mother goddess. But she’s the type that reminds us that mother nature is often more red in tooth and claw than nurturing.

And the lady is bent. Bent on revenge. Bent on using people to get her revenge. Just… if she ever was the good and kind person that Solas remembers? She definitely isn’t anymore.

I have a feeling given one of the stories in Tevinter Nights that FleMythal has infected Solas (vs sharing her power in a simple power up to help him save people move) with the dragon soul. Which could have been part of Mythal's soul even before the dragon had it, if some theories are correct. There’s been a lot of imagery and description of a dreadwolf like creature that is half lupine, half dragon. So, something is going on there.

And honestly, I think that’s going to be Solas’s breaking point with mommy dearest. (Please, please don’t let them have been lovers, that will squick me out so fucking bad.)

“Betrayal is always worse.” Is one of Solas’s really heartfelt lines in DAI. If I’m right, and FleMythal somehow manipulated that dragon soul she got from Kieren (talk about fucked up action right there) so that it’s gonna change Solas into a half dragon half wolf demon thing… welp.

I think FleMythal will find that Solas has a bit more backbone than he ever had in the past. He’s not alone now. He knows he’s not alone. He’s got friends. He’s got someone who deeply loves him in a romanced Solavellan playthrough. I don’t think Solas is going to be very happy with his dearest ‘best of them’ Mythal.

Best of them? Yeah. It doesn’t mean she was actually good.

So Mythal isn’t dead. I think she’s likely to be one of if not the BBEG along with whoever that voice was at the end of the teaser. My money is on Troy Baker ❌️for the VA and I’m really curious if I’m right. I’m thinking that’s probably Elgar’nan. God of Vengeance. Perhaps Mythal and Elgar’nan patch up whatever divine argument they’ve been having via celestial couples therapy or something. Who knows.

I think we’re going to see a split path depending on the choices of the player for Solas. Depending on our choices, he could go really dark, or he could have a redemption arc. Patrick Weekes tweeted to me that ‘there’s a possibility of a happy ending for Solavellan’ so I still have hope. I trust Weekes to write a satisfying conclusion to the Solavellan Romance. (I just don’t trust Bioware as far as I can throw them.) Weekes was the lead writer on this game, so I think it’s a good possibility that that’s how it’s going to be structured.

I think the game will very possibly be a multi-act structure like DAI. The first act is possibly going to be like the Hinterlands leading up to Coryphyfish blowing the hell out of Haven. I think the veil coming down is going to either be what starts off the game ✅ (like the explosion of the conclave in DAI) or will be the final ending situation of Act 1. Again. Player choices will likely affect this to some extent.

But y’all? That veil is coming down. ✅ And yes. I’m aware of that silly new name for the game. I don’t like it. (That ‘the’ was a mistake. Veilguard by itself would’ve been much better linguistically.) But if you’ve been following my ramblings about Dragon Age for a while, y’all will know I have issues with their linguistic usage and editing already.

Dumped Drunk and Dalishious did a fantastic piece on her blog about the veil. It’s here if you haven’t read it. Firstly, the veil was never meant to exist in THEDAS in the first place. If you deep dive the lore (and trust me, I really have. A LOT.) It’s obvious that the veil has been the cause of more problems than it has fixed. It’s been slowly killing magic in THEDAS since its creation. It has to come down. It’s also as holey a granny’s doilies anyway. Solas taking it down in a controlled fashion is very likely going to prevent far more deaths than if it keeps just falling apart piecemeal like it’s been doing forever. It’s unfixable and it really really needs to go. ✅

So once that veil drops… I don’t think it’s going to be as horrific as everyone has been bellyaching about forever. Solas’s often misquoted and wildly overblown lines from Trespasser (seriously do y’all even know what the word genocide means? You make me doubt.) are very likely a red herring at best. People are being willingly misled. ✅ I can’t really blame y’all.

Weekes is an absolute Master at playing people’s expectations and assumptions off of their preconceived notions, then throwing a bomb of ‘oops you were all wrong and it was right in front of you the entire time’. They’ve even said they really love to write things like that. I want to write as well as Weekes does when I grow up.

Humans existed before the veil. Why wouldn’t they afterward? Given some of the lore, Qunari also existed before the veil. Why wouldn’t they continue to? Will there be chaos? Yup. ✅ But change is often painful. And if anything needs change it’s the world of THEDAS. (Both for story reasons and for gameplay reasons.)

One of the changes I think we’re likely to see is the implosion of the Chantry. (I am absolutely hoping for this. I’m not a fan of organized religion on a grand scale like that and the Chantry has soooooo damned many skeletons in its closets and atrocities under its belt that I will absolutely celebrate when it burns to the ground.)

Which will happen if it comes out that Solas put up the veil in the first place and took it down too. The Chantry either outright claims or strongly insinuates that the maker put up the veil. It’s the cornerstone of their entire faith. Also, in the story Genetivi Dies in the End in Tevinter Nights, Genetivi is absolutely wrecked by the discovery that everything he’s ever written as a travelling Chantry Scholar has been a lie. The Chantry is going down.

So, there’s gonna be some chaos there. And that’s not going to be Solas’s fault because that veil is coming down anyway.

And can you imagine the absolutely hilarious chaos that’s gonna happen when word leaks that an elven god-mage was the one who is technically the ‘maker’ by Chantry doctrine? With all the horrific racism and sheer awfulness the Chantry has done to elves over the centuries? I’m popping popcorn.

I think we’re gonna see Felassan again. ✅️ Cause that elf isn’t dead. And no, Solas didn’t kill him. Please trust me, I’ve combed through all the lore, I’ve read The Masked Empire where it supposedly happened several times, and there is not a shred of actual proof that Solas was the one who did the deed. It’s a Weekes misdirection again. They've got the nickname Tricksy Weekes for a reason.

The actual facts about the 'murder'.

It was someone Felassan worked for.

Someone he knew.

Someone who he knew wouldn't listen to his reasoning. (Solas has been shown to actually listen to his friends and let them change his mind.)

Someone who could very likely have been female because Felassan likens the murderer to Brialla.

It was someone who could fade-walk or move in the fade.

Mythal can do that.

A Somniari/Dreamer can also fade-walk.

Probably most of the still extant Elvhenan can do it (which there were quite a few of in Mythal’s temple).

And we know from DA2 that at least one modern born Somniari/Dreamer exists in the world.

Point being, there’s no actual ‘Solas killed Felassan’ spelled out anywhere. No, not even in Cole's lines in Trespasser. Those lines only indicate that Solas knows about Felassan’s ‘death’ and that he’s sad about it. Cole talks in riddles and references to modern TV shows all the time. I have no idea why people take him even remotely literally.

I have a few theories about this.

IF Felassan’s spirit actually was killed in the fade (possible) his body wasn’t. His body would’ve been just lying there in the woods breathing like any other Somniari. Possibly made tranquil (which we know can be reversed).

What if Solas lost his original body in putting up the Veil?

What if he had a deal with Felassan or maybe came to Felassan to help him get back to his body after the attack and Felassan decided he was done and wanted to move on?

They're said to be friends. Never said to be employer/employee.

If Solas was awake and in the fade and sensed an attack on Felassan, he'd certainly have gone to help.

What if he gave his body to Solas?

Felassan's 'death' chronologically lines up to when Solas 'woke up'.

Felassan has purple eyes. So does Solas.

Felassan has fade-green magic. So does Solas.

Felassan is incredibly powerful. Stares at Solas.

Felassan knows far more about Fen'harel than even a scholar would.

Felassan knew far more about Eluvians, ancient Elvhenan, and The Forgotten Ones (Imshael is a Forgotten One) than anyone would reasonably expect any elf to know.

Felassan let Imshael see into his head about what was coming in the future. Which Imshael almost got off on. Imshael loves destruction and chaos.

I can make a list as long as my arm on similarities there. So, either Solas didn’t kill Felassan and the old? Felassan will be in the game once the veil falls, or it will be revealed that Solas has actually been wearing a (voluntary because a soul cannot take a body involuntarily) Felassan suit the entire time.

Probably blew some minds there, huh?

So given that Weekes has said that if Felassan was a popular enough character they would consider bringing him back… I think it’s likely we’ll see something to do with him again.

Also? The sheer hilarity factor of elves who do not want magic (Fenris anyone?) getting magic returned to them is going to be sweet.

I think we’ll see blood magic as a much bigger mechanic than in previous games. (And I hope they did some work on it to make it make more sense this time.) The game is going to have a lot of Tevinter content. Blood magic is a big deal there. Ergo… it’s likely.

Given some of the things that happened in Tevinter Nights, which honestly really feels like a teaser book to DA4 (I really hate the Veilguard name) I think it’s likely that we’ll see the Templars again. They’ve been in every game and book so far. I doubt they’d get rid of the useless bastards in this one.

Given some of the things in Tevinter Nights, I think it’s possible we’ll see just as many puzzles as we did in DAI, if not more. I’m hoping for more. I do love puzzles in these kinds of games.

I believe it’s highly possible that whoever drank from the Well is going to be completely fucked. Especially, if they follow a ‘kill Solas’ route. Remember who the well binds you to in Trespasser? Bingo.

I think it’s very likely that someone close to the main character is going to be a dual agent of Fen’harel. And it will not be someone we expect. We’re all gonna be side eyeing the mages after the last three games. But what if it’s a warrior or rogue who hides their magic? There was at least one character that completely hid their magic in Tevinter Nights.

We’re going to see more of the Evanuris and The Nameless/Forgotten ones. I base that on Imshael being in DAI and in Masked Empire and some of the dialogue between Felassan and Imshael.

Titans. We’re going to see the titans waking up and being royally pissed off. This is going to cause so much chaos for the dwarves. Who will also regain magic and a kinda creepy hive-mind thing, too. Again. That’s not going to be Solas’s fault.

We’ll have at least one Gala event. Very possibly in Minrathous or Vyrantium. Hopefully with better clothing.

Finally, for things I think likely… The Grand Necropolis in Nevarra is gonna burn. People seem to forget that Solas doesn’t just fight for the freedom of the Elves. He fights for the freedom of spirits too.

In case you haven’t read it… the Nevarrans imprison spirits in the corpses of their dead using mages called the Mortalitasi. I really don’t think that is going to sit well with Solas. In fact, I know it doesn’t. It’s spelled out in Tevinter Nights.

I think it’s probably going to be a quest line for the main character to go and save the necropolis or let it burn to free the spirits. This, of course, will be one of the choices that matter and likely another pinch point on whether Solas goes dark or gets a redemption arc. It will also deeply affect Nevarran politics and the way the country is run. The Mortalitasi basically rule the monarchs of Nevarra sooooo. It’s gonna cause chaos there too.

We’ll obviously see a lot of chaos with the Qunari. Their culture is splintering already. The Antaam have decided to go off the rails and attack anything and everything. Maybe the Ben-Hassrath will be able to rein that in. Maybe not. I don’t have very many predictions on the Qunari to be honest. They’re at war with Tevinter at the end of Tevinter Nights so that war will figure heavily in the game, most likely. But how that’s going to play out I haven’t a clue.

Some mechanics I think we might see.

Fade-touched weaponry that can stop mages.

Elemental interactions. (IE: Magic lightning x water = lots of zap)

Magically treated arrows. ✅️

More magical bombs and poison effects. (I might be just wishfully dreaming there because one of the things I miss from DAO is the poisons and traps mechanics. They felt like an afterthought in DA2 and DAI. I want to be able to make cool traps and set up ambushes again.) But there was that story with Dorian in Tevinter Nights where several of those things were used, so maybe? It would be cool.

I think it’s likely that we’ll see the Despair Demon from Tevinter Nights. And I’m still so mad that they fired the writer of that story. It’s one of my favourites.

Some things that are very possible? But I’m not sure of and could just be wishful thinking.

I think we might see Abelas again. (Abelas romance? Pretty please? ❌😭) His story does have one of those endings that kills him so it’s possibly just wishful thinking. But they brought Leliana back for DAI, so I don’t see why they couldn’t with Abelas too. And also, I have a voice kink and love his VA Matthew Gravelle.

We might see non-linear storytelling. I kind of hope we do because I love non-linear storytelling. Perhaps one storyline will be Arlathan (through dreams or time travel perhaps?) and the fall of it so we finally get some answers to all of this lore. (Please let us get some answers!)

We may see some problems from a rather irrational faction of people who say they’re working for Solas but are using methods he would never approve of. They may be sort of like the Venatori in the last game. Though I do think it’s likely we might have to fight a few more of the Venatori too. ✅ They’re still out there having really messed up rituals and stuff to destroy things.

I think it’s possible given a few clues in the lore and in Tevinter Nights that we’re either going to see not just a double blight (regular darkspawn and red lyrium darkspawn) but a triple blight with the green/yellow lyrium found in Ghilan'nain’s labs. Remember that Ramesh only destroyed one of them. There are eleven more. I think that’s going to very possibly be a big part of this game.

Settings/Levels/Areas I think likely.

So, we already know that the game will be taking place in the north of THEDAS. That’s a no brainer after the map reveal in the teaser.

But where exactly will they take us?

In Tevinter, I think it’s very possible we’ll see Minrathous ✅ and Vyrantium. We may see the Black Divine’s/Archon’s palace.

We’ll see Arlathan Forest. ✅ That I’m almost certain of. We’ll probably also see ancient Arlathan somehow. (Dreams or barely used time-travel mechanic from DAI?)

We’re going to be spending a lot of time in the deep roads and even farther below the deep roads. And dear developers please let me have some answers to all this lore.

We may spend some time inside a Titan again.

Pre-veil drop, we may spend some time in the fade. I actually hope that with the veil dropping we get to rescue whoever got left behind in DAI. That would make my heart so happy.

We’re likely to see the crossroads at least a little bit.

Antiva! Gods I’m looking forward to seeing Antiva.

Anderfels/Weisshaupt. We have no idea at the end of DAI or Tevinter Nights or Last Flight what the hell is going on up there, so I think we’ll have to find out in the game. Also… more chaos that is most definitely not Solas’s fault.

Rivain?

I think we’ll see the Golden City. And the Black City. Which is likely the same place.

And I don’t think it’s up in the sky. I think it’s deep underground below the deep roads.

Ships! I think we’re going to see some more ships. That’s based on a story in Tevinter nights and some of the splash art. But gods I really want more ships. Especially in a place like Minrathous or Antiva for fuck’s sake!

I think we might see some underwater levels for various reasons. And I hope we do.

These next things are honestly my hopes and dreams that would make me so happy, but I have little to back them up with as far as lore or books/comics and supplementary materials.

Polyamory options. PLEASE give me polyam romance options. BG3 did it. It’s 2024 and only 30% of dating people are monogamous. Get with the times! ❌️

I want CC body sliders so bad. ✅ Give me the ability to make a fat player character please! Not just because a lot of gamers tend to be on the heavier side but honestly? Because a fat adventurer is going to be able to go farther than any skinny twig. Real strong men/women/enbies do not look like gym bunnies and models. They have a good layer of fat over that muscle for stability. Guess what fat is? It’s energy storage. A fat adventurer is going to be able to survive longer than a twig. I could go on… but come on Bioware. Be brave. Let me have a fat adventurer. ✅️

Decent. Fucking. Hair. ✅ Please let the CC have decent hair options. LONG hair options! Let me have my long haired elfy prince dude!

Isabela cameo. She’s one of my favourite DA2 characters and some of the early splash art makes me hopeful we’ll see her again. ✅️

I’m hoping for DAO origin style stories for the Main Player Character. But ideally? We’d have something like BG3 where we could play one of a number of origin stories or make our own blank slate character. ❌ Given the gossip going around the gaming community I’m thinking this is unlikely, but damn do I want it.

Useful. Mounts. Please let us have actually useful mounts. And GRIFFONS. ✅ Give me flying mounts you cowards!

Prosthetic using characters. ✅ Bioware has the worst track record when it comes to ableism, but gods please. They’ve got it set up perfectly with Inky losing their arm. There’s a prosthetic leg user in Tevinter Nights. PLEASE LET ME HAVE PROSTHETIC USING CHARACTERS.

Better Crafting Options. The crafting was okay in DAI. Especially if you mod it in so you can buy the stuff to do so easier (I really hate killing dragons but it’s the best crafting material!). But it also often felt more like an afterthought?

Better. Clothes. Seriously. Give me some razzle dazzle with the clothing. ESPECIALLY since we’re going to Tevinter where how you dress is absolutely important!

I know this is sniffing the genie smoke here, but could we have actually attractive armour options? With BRIGHT colours? Research shows that a lot of historical armour was 1. Gorgeous and well fitting. 2. Brightly painted! Let me have bright colours! (And please not the yellow plaid. Ugh.)

I hope for more gardening options in whatever base we end up using. I loved the gardening options in DAI, but they weren’t big enough for my plant loving heart.

I really want to see Solas in flying Wolfie form. We see him like that in Tevinter Nights. So, I really hope we get to see him like that in game.

Finally… and I know I’m high on my own hopes here… I really hope we get the gifting options back. Completely unattached to approval is fine. I just want to be able to find the perfect gift for my companions like I do in real life with my friends. It brings me so much joy.

Things they’re likely to fuck up.

Sadly, I think there’s some things Bioware is very likely to fuck up. This could just be me being too pessimistic, but they’ve screwed these things up throughout the entire series and to my knowledge they didn’t hire any diversity consultants in the making of DA4 sooooo…

Ableism. Bioware has a terrible record when it comes to ableism. ✅ (the demon design is going to cause visual strain and possibly bad effects for epileptic gamers).

White-washing. The North of THEDAS is like the South of Earth. If they make most of the people there have light skin I will probably boycott the fuck out of Bioware for the rest of my life. ✅️

No fat character ability in CC.

Really fucked up hair options. Seriously Bioware. It’s bad.

And I think they’re going to be in trouble when it comes to the Lords of Fortune. Look. I love the idea of the class and I even love how a lot of them are described in the books. But it’s absolutely glomming onto the stereotype of the Romani, and I don’t think that’s going to go over well at all. It won’t for me with my Romani heritage, and it really shouldn’t for anyone. Cause you know what that stereotypical usage is? It’s Racism. Bioware also doesn’t have the best track record regarding racism either.

As more thoughts come to me I’ll either append stuff to this post or do others (probably the latter.)

And here are my links if you want to toss me a buck or two as a tip. I'm recovering from a pulmonary embolism (do not recommend) and every penny helps because I'm the sole income for my family.

And if you're in Canada like me you can use Interac. Kaija.rayne.author@gmail.com.

As always, thanks for reading my rambles!

[kirkwallguy]

You're the lead of Dragon Age and decided to make an Inquisition Remake. What would you do, add and fix from the original game

oh god. i meant to write a paragraph because i think about this a lot but it became a whole thing. beneath the cut because it's long

you don't even know how often i think about this. i have like several visions for a different dai in my head and they're all kind of messy and complicated in a way that would probably require more time and resources than they actually had but, if we're just talking hypotheticals...

since i'm biased towards the mage-templar conflict i'd definitely put it in the foreground towards the beginning. since it was the main threat at the end of da2, i don't think it should last the entire game as the main focus, but having it be similar to loghain or the arishok in the way it feels like the big bad until the end of act 2 would work well. and starting as a soldier in the war would be a good way of grounding players in the conflict.

it would've been really fun to have an origins-style selection screen at the beginning of the game that lets you choose your 'side', different lineages can have different reasons for being there (a dwarf siding with the templars could be sent by the carta to set up a lyrium trade) but having two distinct openings to the game isn't TOO ambitious considering they had 5 in origins. then you'd go through a unique extended tutorial where you establish who you are and fight to reclaim haven as a base.

act one could be similar to dai and pretty much the same for both origins, you run around maps (smaller than dai tho lol) doing quests to aid people and gain notoriety. through reclaiming haven you've become second in command of your little corner of the rebellion. you recruit companions but maybe some are harder to recruit depending on your faction (think: having to do a quest to recruit arcade gannon in fnv, but if you're gay or stupid you can skip it). ofc to get that warrior/rogue/mage balance there could be a few people that are automatically unlocked by claiming haven, and it'd be fun if there was one companion from the tutorial who was exclusive to your origin.

then you have a main quest that gains the inquisition's attention (in the place of cotj/ihw) causing them to come to shut you down (in your heart shall burn). this introduces the herald of andraste (who doesn't have the mark but is still claiming andraste speaks to them in a joan of arc kind of way) and their army. it would be so fun if the core members of the inquisition were the same, varric, cass, leliana, cullen, all recurring characters who are now vague antagonists because they've all been pulled into this cult for some reason or another.

the inquisition is stronger than you and you retreat to your 'skyhold', but instead of skyhold it's actually a big fancy camp. then ofc in dai there's probably another 100 hours left in the game lol so i'd knock like 50 hours off that and keep side quests relevant like they did in da2. for main story quests, instead of here lies the abyss, i'd go for a deep roads quest (maybe with hawke?) to investigate the red lyrium, with the other faction starting to experiment with it and suffering its effects. then instead of wicked eyes it would be fun to do a similar quest but with a conclave, where you interact with the leader of the other faction and divine justinia gets assassinated (not exploded, just like stabbed a little bit). it's probably the inquisition doing the assassinating but they seemed to be with the divine sooooo???

end of act 2 is you going to make a move against the other faction because their use of red lyrium has left them vulnerable. your commander sends you off and you do a big infiltration battle in their base and yaaay you win. except the quest isn't over. and you go back to your camp to find the inquisition has invaded and your commander is dead. since you're second in command it's up to you to decide what to do, the inquisition has you by the throat and it's basically a choice between joining willingly or being conscripted. maybe you even only get the choice to join willingly if you've earned the herald's approval in previous quests idk. either way you and your companions / remaining troops are moved to skyhold.

act 3 is harder because i rarely get this far in dai lol. without the threat of cory it's kind of hard to see what the inquisition would be fighting for but if the herald becomes a kind of meredith parallel and wants to 'restore order' in a way that's becoming increasingly worrying, bordering on wanting to invade tevinter because the northern chantry are heretics, it would be fun if you were basically leashed and forced to do missions you don't want to do or feel good about at this point. again, kind of similar to killing the blood mages for meredith but intentional this time. you and your companions / people from your army (because i'm thinking there'd be an advisor or two. maybe the exclusive companion from the other faction's origin could be recruited in the previous quest as a prisoner somehow), start conspiring against the inquisitor. you get one or two people (maybe varric and leliana?) on your side and go searching through the inquisitor's things and find a map of the deep roads with an entrance hidden beneath skyhold. you all go down there and get the same lore as the descent dlc, but also find some red lyrium that speaks to you and promises not to hurt you because you're soooooo special and it can give you the power to do what you need to do. um. this is your well choice and you can choose to either take it or leave it. you know deep down that can't beat the herald without it but taking it will start giving you hallucinations/visions and it's obviously not a good idea.

back in skyhold you can tell things are gearing up for the final battle, you're getting the conclusions to companion quests and the sidequests are drying up. i'd really want to replicate that tense desperation you start feeling towards the end of da2 that imo was mostly just an accident since they ran out of time during act 3. it still hits tho.

it would be kind of cheap to have two final antagonists in a row be red lyrium crazed, so i think the herald here is just a product of the chantry. they're obviously getting more and more antsy about the northern chantry and you find out they're going to meet with a major tevinter leader, probably not the divine, but a magister powerful enough that you don't trust the herald to not do something that starts a war. if you took the red lyrium from the deep roads you get a final choice to either use it or leave it.

half way through the meeting with the tevinter person, the inquisitor starts acting suspiciously. if you left the red lyrium in the deep roads you just get a sense that something's wrong, if you took it from the deep roads but didn't use it you can hear the inquisitor's thoughts and know exactly what's about to happen but know you can't reach the inquisitor in time to stop them, if you used it you know what's about to happen AND can use your power to stop it (at the cost of your own life probably). either way, the assassination/attempted assassination starts a giant final battle as skyhold burns and you fight your way out. the herald dies but there are a few people still loyal to the inquisition who want to fight you

if you took the lyrium you die, if you didn't you're a fugitive or apostate who may have just started a war between the two chantries yaaay.

sorry this is so long i've been having little bits and pieces in my mind for ages and have wanted to sort through them by writing it down lol. the overarching story isn't too hard tbh, what makes da2 good is the side quests all being thematically coherent and i'm too lazy to do side quests rn.

[lingering-42-long]

Plsssss

Request: Alejandro x F/Reader.

Idea: the reader is a newcomer who recently joined the Vaqueros, she has difficulties with Spanish and spends more time alone, but Alejandro stays close to her and the two begin to have a relationship in secret.

La carta

Alejandro Vargas x female reader

Thank you so much for this request Anon! The story is short, but sweet. Spanish is rather difficult for many people, including myself (switched to Swedish). Enjoy!

Spanish was translated by using google translate. Somethings may be incorrect.

I wasn’t feeling this story, but it was in my WIPs and I needed to get it out.

Warnings: none, slight angst

When you first arrived at the base, you didn’t know what to expect. Obviously, you knew that a lot of Spanish was spoken. Coming from an area of your own hometown. In the states, where Spanish isn’t as spoken quite heavily as it is here, you were not as familiar with the dialect or the lingo. On some days, it was rather trickier than others, depending on who was speaking it could very between understanding common simple phrases to something more complex. This often lead you to get very frustrated. None of the people who you were talking to but at yourself. Oh sure you had the apps on your phone to help do what you can to translate the words that were being said and you also did lessons as well to help, but it didn’t seem like there was any improvement.

People told you that going to a country would help you understand the language better, but it only seems to cause more chaos than anything else. Sometimes it was just better to sit in your own room as soon as a job is done and to try to converse with everyone at the mess hall.

Alejandro had watched your behavior from the moment you arrived on base to help out too now. He was also very perceptive on you seeing that you were doing your best to engage yourself in whatever conversation was going on. But he also saw the struggle that you were having with connecting with the other soldiers. Some of the soldiers had also taken up the liking at light teasing on your behalf, knowing that you couldn’t understand the language. Whenever Alejandro heard this immediately put an end to it, which made them shut up immediately.

It was one of those particular days where you were sitting by yourself, enjoying your meal, while a small group of other soldiers were sitting a table away, gossiping about you. Alejandro usually likes to mingle with his own crew so walking around he noticed a small group before approaching them and giving them a hard look. “ so tell me why are we picking on her again?”

As soon as he spoke, they immediately shut up and looked down at their half eaten food. “ Sorry Sir it won’t happen again.”

“It better not and if I catch you doing it again there will be consequences”

Alejandro hated seeing people be brutal to one another, especially on his team. He picked the very best of the best and he was not about ready to have his own crew tarnish the name with another group. You had volunteered to come in to help. He decided to move over to where you were, and to sit down from you. “ I hope the special forces have been treating you well.” he looked at you.

“Oh, yes, sir! They’ve been, for the most part, decent. Still having a hard time understanding everyone though.” You gave a nervous chuckle as you continued on poking at your food, not knowing what to do in the presence of the commander. “ yes, that must be rather difficult…. If you wish I could potentially help you with some of the lingo around I understand that it can be rather difficult.” he smiled at her.

“ I would really appreciate it, sir but you don’t have to spend your time wasting it on me. Honestly, I can figure it out on my own.”

“Nonsense! You would not be wasting my time maybe after lunch you can head to my office and I can give you some documents to look over and you can do your best to decipher them” Alejandro wanted to help this new recruit. It felt odd for you. You were so used to doing things without the need our help with the commanding officer. You’re always told to do and to figure things out by yourself as that builds character. This new approach of somebody helping you was unique.

“Then sir, I will be more than happy to see you after lunch” you smile as he got up to continue his rounds.

“ good! See you around two?”

“yes, sir.” You nodded.

“ all right then, enjoy your meal” and once again, Alejandro carried on with talking with the other staff and soldiers.

It was around two when you finally were able to make it to his office. He brushed off any invisible dirt that was on your uniform before knocking on the door.

“Come in” his voice muffled from the wall.

You open the door and stepped into his office. It was a clean space with a large wooden desk with the Mexican flag pinned to the wall. A few small trophies and medals hung on their placards but overall it was pretty scarce. Not much to give away than any other desk or office that was on base. The name plaque was the only real thing that separated him from the others, with the golden letters spelling Colonel Alejandro Vargas.

You sat down on the chair across from him and waited for him to speak. Alejandro was reading some papers before handing them to her. “Can you read this?” He asked, allowing her to see what was written.

You shook your head, “no sir, I see a few words I’m familiar with but full sentences.”

He hummed “Ok then, let’s start with the basics… Hola, como estas?” He asked.

You smiled “that means hello, how are you.”

“¡Muy bien!” He smiled “now when you want to respond, you can say, Estoy bien, witch means I am good. Or Estoy mal, witch means I am bad witch can be used for in place of not feeling good.”

“Ok.” You took mental note.

As it to begin building a closer and closer, with Alejandro, helping her with her Spanish, practicing at least two hours a day, the two begin to develop a very close relationship. There was talk amongst the other staff about how close the two were, but most were pretty much shut up by Rudy. He was the only one who knew how close the colonel was attached to this new girl.

You were sitting in your dorm. You knew where the relationship was going. You had a suspicion for a while, that Alejandro was potentially showing.

Sighing, she got up and walked to the mess hall. A place, especially during this night would allow her to think. Most people were asleep, so it was quiet. Just as she was sitting down, a figure appeared. “Hola mi querida ¿Despierta tan tarde?” The figure, by now was recognized as Alejandro, asked as he was making his nightly rounds from his office to his own quarters. “Oh- sorry sir you startled me.”

“My dear… you know you don’t need to call me that.”

“I know…” you sighed “someone is going to catch us… this is getting dangerous Ale”

Without second thought, Alejandro hugged her. “My love, I won’t let them find out.”

“It takes one word… then it’s over for both of us.” Tears formed on your eyes.

Alejandro gently kissed her and cupped her cheek. “Trust me, my dove”

“I do but… I worry.” You sighed.

“ Listen just go to bed everything will be all right” he continued on rocking her in his arms.

After a few minutes of them, just being together, she separated yourself “good night Alejandro”

“Good night mi corazón” he responded sweetly as he let her go.

You made your way back to your bedroom. There was a plan in mind. You couldn’t be here you couldn’t risk hurting both of you and Alejandro’s reputation. You had given Rudy a letter to give to Alejandro in the morning.

In the morning, Rudy delivered the letter to his friend and Colonel. Alejandra open the letter, and it read: “ To my Love, i’m so sorry to do this. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn’t know how I know this is going to break your heart and our trust but I feel like this is the best option. I got called to work in another division. I know this is very painful for both of us just as our relationship was starting…. But because I love you so much I didn’t want you to suffer. Our relationship was very risky and I didn’t want us to suffer from it. I love you so much Ale… please remember that. Love, (y/n)”

Alejandro closed the letter and stared outside. Love was hard, he knew that… he wished he had done things differently, maybe then she would have stayed. Maybe he could find her, but for now he needed to be by himself.

[dusty-ghost]

My other OC, Rannveig, Rann for short. (The character concept was created with an eye on multiplayer).

Casteless dwarf, rogue/berserker, former member of Carta, former member of the Order of the Ash Warriors. Now a free mercenary and agent of the Inquisition under Commander Cullen.

Born in Dust Town, so she has a tattoo of the Carta coat of arms all over her back. This dwarf is not a fan of half measures.

A stern lady, she will kick down the door of a burning hut and set a horse on a barbecue. Hot-tempered, jealous, vengeful and quick to punish. An apologist for gray morality, to put it very mildly. Without question, she will take on the dirtiest and most immoral work if the customer has enough coins. However, she does not approve of senseless violence, but she does not interfere either.

And despite all of the above, she will not spare her own or someone else's life for the sake of someone who has earned her trust (which is damn hard). Proof of this is her faithful mabari Blighteater, who escaped from the order with the dwarf. For her partner's sake, Rann will spare no one.

[lavared]

⚔️ BRÆNRYN BROSCA ⚔️

-

Race: Commoner Dwarf, Casteless

Class: Rogue (Dual Weapon)

Specialization: Duelist

Affiliations: the Carta, Grey Wardens, Orzammar Royal Family, Ferelden Royal Court

Titles: Brænryn the Duster, The Warden, Hero of Ferelden, Paragon Brænryn

Personality: Wary, Brusque, Quick-Witted, Protective, Non-judgemental

Memorable Quotes: “Can I get you a ladder, so you can get off my back?!”

(Details under the cut)

⚔️ ⚔️⚔️

Three styles, three different life stages. 

First one: The Warrior Traveller’s ‘Fit 

Key Words: practical, medium weight, no-fuss, dark tones 

This is what I imagine Brosca looking like after the Joining ritual and for a good part of the game. The beginning of her journey is all slashing, crippling, and traveling on foot, so I needed to get her a look that is functional (allegedly) and with no frills. I needed to make a mishmash of in-game armor parts to get something I could picture her wearing for real. 

It could have been worse, 3/5 stars.

-

Second one: The Fereldian Court Jester 

Key Words: cheap elegance, military influences, brighter colors, poofy

The special occasions look. You can see her wearing this on a diplomatic encounter with the Arl or during a war council with her allies on a cold winter day in Ferelden. I needed to elevate a basic tunic + pants + boots combo by adding more details and faking a more refined fabric for the blouse. I wanted to play on the contrast between modest and expensive, but it was my greatest goal to make her look a bit on the gaudy and tacky side. Being classy is not her forte. 

2/5 stars, but bonus points for trying to look the part. A generous 3/5 stars score.

-

Third one: The Seasoned Veteran 

Key Words: subtle patterns, better fit, souvenirs, mismatched armor

She’s a grown-up now. She’s a Commander, she’s a Paragon, she’s an Icon, she’s a Legend, she’s the Moment (not really, but still). Instead of letting her go full-blown diva, I let her crawl back to her roots. The tunic + pants + boots combo is her uniform, and you won’t catch her wearing anything else, but this time you can find new and old elements added to it. I picture her collecting and looting trinkets, materials, fabrics, and pieces of armor around Thedas, and combining them with what she already owns. She doesn’t fight that much at this point compared to her Blight days, so she skips on the medium armor. 

It’s nice, it’s cute, but it could have been better. 3/5 stars.

⚔️ ⚔️⚔️

I wrote a post narrating in detail why I chose to dress her like this, but it’s so long it’s basically an essay. I’m not bothering you with that, you have a life to care about lol All you need to know is that I needed to recreate the Grey Warden Armour/Uniform color scheme to be consistent with the lore and display her unhealthy obsession for the color blue

[nevzatboyraz44]

FAREWELL SERMON

(Prophet of Islam Muhammad (pbuh))

The first text that can be counted as a declaration of human rights in the history of the world is the Farewell Sermon.

So, what is the hadith that an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab?

What are the ingredients of the Farewell Sermon?

Our Prophet In his Farewell Sermon, Muhammad called out to all humanity:

You will definitely not do these four things.

Your Lord is one.

Your father is one too.

You are all Adam's children, and Adam is from the earth.

Just as an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, and a non-Arab over an Arab;

Red skinned people have no superiority over black, and black has no superiority over red skinned people.

ARAB HAS NO SUPERIORITY TO NON-ARAB

The first text that can be counted as a declaration of human rights in the history of the world is the Farewell Sermon.

As it is known, shortly before his death, the Prophet gave a historical speech to 124 thousand people in Mecca in 632 AD.

The first human rights declaration proclaimed in the West is the Magna Carta dated 1215.

583 years after the Farewell Sermon.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights is dated 1948.

Our Prophet During the Farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) addressed all humanity in the person of 124 thousand Muslims in the middle of the Arafat Valley on his camel named Kaswa after his death on Friday, 9 Dhu al-Hijjah

(9 Dhu al-Hijjah 10 H./8 March 632 M. Friday).

He addressed Muslims and all humanity as follows:

Do not return to perversions

"O people!

Listen carefully! I don't know, maybe I won't be able to meet you here again after this year.

People!

Just as today is a holy day, just as these months are holy months, just as this city (Mecca) is a blessed city, so are your lives, property and honor, they are protected from all kinds of rape.

My Companions! You will surely meet your Lord.

He will also question you for what you did.

Do not return to the old perversions after me and do not hit each other's necks!

My Companions!

Whoever has a trust with him should immediately give it to its owner.

Be aware that all forms of interest have been abolished. God has ordained so.

The first interest I removed is the interest of Abdulmutallib's son (my uncle) Abbas.

But your principal is yours.

You have neither persecuted nor suffered persecution.

My Companions!

Pay attention, all the customs from ignorance have been removed, they are under my feet.

The blood feuds waged during the Age of Ignorance were also completely abolished.

The first blood feud I abolished is that of Abdulmuttalib's grandson, Iyas bin Rabia.

O people!

Surely the devil has given up hope of worshiping him in your land.

But if you follow him in your small works, it will also please him.

O people!

I advise you to observe the rights of women and to fear Allah in this regard.

You have taken women as a trust from Allah and you have made their honor lawful for yourselves by Allah's command.

You have rights over women and women have rights over you.

Your right over women; they do not let anyone trample your bed, and they do not let people you do not like into your homes without your permission.

If they let a person into your house whom you did not allow to come, Allah has allowed you to leave them alone in their beds and at least lightly beat them and warn them.

The rights of women over you are that you provide food and clothing according to legitimate customs.

I leave you two relics

I leave you two relics, you will not go astray as long as you hug them and follow them.

Those relics are the book of Allah, the Qur'an, and the Sunnah of the Prophet.

Believers!

Do you listen to me and good memory!

A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim, and thus all Muslims are brothers.

Neither his brother's blood nor his property is halal for a Muslim.

But if he gave the property to the heart pleasantness it is another.

Your Lord is one.

Your father is one too.

You are all Adam's children, and Adam is from the earth.

Just as an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, and a non-Arab over an Arab;

Red skinned people have no superiority over black, and black has no superiority over red skinned people.

Superiority is only in taqwa, fearing Allah.

Be careful!

You will definitely not do these four things:

You shall not associate anything with Allah.

- You shall not unjustly kill a soul that Allah has made unlawful and inviolable.

- You shall not commit adultery.

- You will not steal.

[inquisimer]

I was tagged by @dungeons-and-dragon-age and @shivunin to create my OCs in this picrew, and their swords in this picrew! Thank you both - this was super fun! I love a good item picrew :3

these are definitely a mix of Actual Swords and Vibes, even for the OCs who actually use swords

Siobhan Hawke - no actual sword use, completely vibes, I just love her so much I couldn't leave her out. All black for Kirkwall, dripping with blood and chains for Symbolism and more Kirkwall

Nika Brosca - a dual wielder, so actual sword use! But the design, particularly the glowy lyrium blade, is all vibes. The hilt wrapped up in fabric with scraps hanging off the end is allllll dust town though. My scrappy Carta girl :3

Ariya Tabris - sword use Optional™️, only when she can't get her hands on proper daggers or an axe, until she has Vigilance. The design here is mostly vibes, especially the black vines up the blade for the Blight.

Ciel Andras - (everyone: Andras? me: the orlesian warden commander that bioware forgot ;-;) my Actual Sword user, a sword and board warrior! The sword here is literal, silverite for the blade and blue on the hilt and grip for the Wardens. Plus the hilt that I thought was close enough to Wing Imagery without being butterfly wings, and the black veins in the blade for, you guessed it, Blight Symbolism.

Ember Cousland - another dual wield sword user (sensing a type here hmmmm) and it's definitely with her family's sword no I don't care that the stats bottom out so fast. The hilt design here is to represent that, with the mirrored wheat design of the Cousland heraldry, but the on-fire blade is 100% vibes, a representation of her vengeance against the Howes.

tagging forward to: @leggywillow | @exalted-dawn | @rosella-writes | @wheat-and-wheat-by-products | @midmorninggrey |

and @thiefbird have fun friends!!

[kirkwall-age]

probably about to reinvent the wheel here

but i think my favorite explanation for the off-screen Athenril fallout is pride before a fall

sidebar: i think i nearly always go the Athenril route because, well, Meeran asks you to straight up kill somebody as a job interview, and Athenril says in her pitch: we’re not slavers and we’re not murderers. and i think the majority of my Hawkes who just left a farm in Lothering are not exactly contract killer material

and the game requires you to walk away from both of them. from the doylist perspective = i get it.

but quitting Meeran’s crew is easy to explain away: the man’s a grade A asshole. but Athenril’s personable. she knows how to be polite which has taken her this far. and yet we know that she has done something so offensive that Hawke storms off and promises to never work with her again

in spite of which Athenril sends you three very politely worded letters (job offers for Loose Ends, Bait and Switch and The Bone Pit), keeping the line of communication open and fairly amiable

so the way i see it is:

Athenril’s crew is small. she is trying to get by without attracting too much attention from the Coterie or the Carta. that’s fact

Hawke joins her crew -- which betters Athenril’s business considerably. that’s also fact. we know from Varric’s introductiory speech that Athenril’s operation ended up growing large enough, and the only reason why the Coterie and the Carta didn’t succeed in wiping her out was Hawke

and, at first, I think things go pretty well. Athenril seems like she would try and get along with Hawke. keep her people happy. that’s speculation :)

but, I think, she does enjoy the power play, a little bit. that type of benevolence where you can offer the carrot because you know there is the unspoken threat of the stick. she’s really in control. and everyone knows it. and they should be grateful that she chooses the carrot.

Hawke + sibling have to work for her for a whole year, and they have no choice -- because of Gamlen’s debt, and because Fereldans don’t really have a lot of great options around Kirkwall, and also made worse by the fact that Hawke has to hide either their own magic, or Bethany’s. and, in conversation, Hawke literally refers to it as Athenril having Hawke’s life in her hands for the whole year.

so yeah, Athenril treats them well, but she knows she holds the leash, too

and Athenril sees how her business prospers with Hawke at her beck and call, and her ambition grows

Hawke improves Athenril’s crew overall skill and competency and standing by a large margin, and as other groups get either swallowed up or torn apart by the Carta and the Coterie, Athenril’s crew holds their ground

and Athenril starts telling herself that it is on her merit. that it is her command and her smarts that have gotten them this far, not Hawke’s. and whatever Hawke did to contribute to it — well, that’s still Athenril’s win for finding them and bringing them to heel

and Hawke, with some personality variations, grows either more and more concerned with Athenril’s gluttony for power, or more and more frustrated

and then the year is coming up on its expiration date, and Athenril tries to pressure Hawke into staying. threats are issued -- and fall on deaf ears because Hawke was never afraid of Athenril. she hurls insults, then offers bribes. standard manipulations tactics. arrogance and possessiveness abound

and that is the note on which Hawke leaves as the year is up, and the contract is done, and Hawke no longer has to deal with any of this

and Athenril’s business instantly starts to dwindle. and the power that she imagined starts to turn to sawdust in her hands. and the Coterie starts breathing down her neck (once again: fact) because Athenril no longer can back up her threats or offer sufficient pushback

so, from aggressive, Athenril turns plaintive, sending Hawke multiple letters that are kindly worded, trying to lure them back

the severance note she sends literally says: Your year’s up and you’re free to go. Despite what you think, we had a good thing working together. I might pass along an opportunity or two, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Stay safe. — entirely pleasant

and then, as stated above, she also sends letters for Fenris’s recruitment and for the Bone Pit chain. tasty morsels to win Hawke’s trust back. along the lines of: “see, wasn’t this profitable? aren’t i a good boss partner?”

but then when you go to meet her: she isn’t friendly at all. she’s showing some teeth. “Didn’t think you’d stoop to our kind again. Or are you not too proud to make some coin?”

so, some of this is a little contradictory -- and i just required a decent watsonian explanation to tie these loose threads together into a neat narrative

and, then, dealer’s choice. personality pending. in my current playthrough Hawke is pretty patient and doesn’t hold a grudge. she is willing to give Athenril a second chance. see if she came back to her senses. this bit is pure headcanon land. insert whatever rationalization fits the bill

but the thing is: Athenril didn’t change. if possible, she became worse. she’s paranoid, a little more desperate, and a lot more cruel? she started employing orphans and children and virtually abusing them?

so Hawke reneges. helps the kid. and then tells that to Athenril’s face. like: how dare you? are you insane? since when is this how you run your business? this is a far cry from when i agreed to work for you a year ago.

which sends Athenril into... well, pretty much murderous rage. which, i think, is just juicy untapped potential: how incredibly difficult it must be to have worked with/for someone for a year -- only for them to turn on you so completely that you have to put them down with your own hand

at the very least, that’s how this particular playthrough concluded for me. lying is always an option, of course. telling her the Coterie got to her goods first, and then leaving, knowing full well that the Coterie will finish her off. like seeing a person drowning and offering no safety net at all. that’s a good narrative too

either way, that’s my plausible headcanon for The Rise and Fall of Athenril between Prologue and Act 1

[gremoria411]

A twofer today, just some general impressions on the ASW-G-16 Gundam Zepar (left) and the AWS-G-61 Gundam Zagan. I still haven’t watched Urdr hunt unfortunately, so I’ll be mostly talking about Zagan’s design, as opposed to anything that goes on in-series.

Another reason I’m pairing these together is because they’re both Post Disaster Gundam units, that have a two-syllable name beginning with a Z and a serial number that has a 6 in it. I’ve been able to remember them by the fact that the Zepar is Zippy. And that the Zagan has nothing to do with Carl Sagan.

Moving on from naming conventions, what do I think of them? Starting with the Zagan, I like the weight it brings to the table, it feels like it could compete with other heavyweights without much difficulty, essentially functioning as a giant can-opener to the mobile armours. It should be noted that with the possible exception of Agnika Kaeru himself, the Issues were the most prolific killer of Mobile Armours during the Calamity War. Presumably some of that was by dint of its pilot, but the Zagan cannot be discounted. It’s possible the apparent focus on defence aided in its survivability, enabling it to cope with battles of attrition better, functioning as an anvil to the other Gundam Frames’ hammer. It’s also possible that it’s missing some armament, since the hands are free. I know there’s precedent for knuckledusters in IBO, but it only being armed with the shields feels a little odd.

The design specifically reminds me of the Gremory (most likely the armour) and the Abyss Gundam from Seed Destiny (colouration and bulk, though I always remember it bigger than it actually is)

The Zepar I have considerably less to say on - it’s a nice design, agile and suited to closing the distance and stabbing things, but I do want to talk about it in relation to House Kujan, Specifically Iok Kujan.

Iok is……hm. He’s essentially a perfect example of somebody you don’t want in command. He’s a twit, and furthermore, he’s a dangerous twit, since his actions have a tendency to backfire on literally everyone besides himself. But let’s walk back a little. Who is Iok in relation to the story?

Iok Kujan is the heir to House Kujan of Gjallarhorn’s Seven Stars, the Seven Noble Families that wield the most power in Gjallarhorn, as McGillis, Gaelio, Carta and Rustal are to each of their houses (and of course Nemo, Elek and Gargin, but they’re less focused on). He only ascended to the position fairly recently, but everyone has high hopes for him since his late father was beloved.

Unfortunately, he’s really bad at it. He’s reckless, callous of those he’s fighting against and is absolutely unable to recognise his own failures.

@wordsandrobots has done an excellent analysis on Iok which I’m just going to link to here, since it’s very good:

But the crux of Iok is that he represents a great many of the failings of nobility - he’s incompetent, he’s unqualified and he displays a lack of care for how his actions effect others - not out of malice, but out of stupidity. He is a walking talking, killing example of how promoting based on blood rather than ability is such a poor idea.

But then look at the Zepar. Look at how it stands, how it moves. There’s a poise to it, an elegance, a sense of nobility. It’s armed with a sword and shield - simple, yes, but something that focuses on defence, on protection. Even the way it fights seems to be in pushing the enemy away from something, protecting it. So I would say that if Iok is representative of the realities of nobility - the incompetence and disregard for others, then the Zepar is the romanticisation of it - of a noble, red-armoured knight who would protect the people. It also represents how far the Kujan family has come since the Calamity War - Once a great and loved pilot who fought at the frontlines using a Gundam Frame, to a lacking and foolish one who fights from the rear and has to be bailed out at the cost of his subordinates lives. (I know Iok’s father didn’t pilot the Zepar, but it ties in with the theme of Iok being the end result of a lineage, rather than the beginnings).

It also draws attention to the Gjallarhorn’s meritocratic roots - Embrilla Kujan was able to slay multiple mobile armours using this machine, whereas Iok is too blinded by his own self-importance to recognise the threat that they pose, to the point he severely underestimates what it will take to kill one.

[spanishskulduggery]

hello

i found a sentence that said "aquí te espero" which translate to "i'll wait for you here" and i wanted to know why

i read the sentence literally as "here you i wait for," so i ended up understanding the meaning eventually, but i see sentences like this a lot where the literal english translation seems to be "backwards" from the original Spanish.

what grammar rule makes it so that "aquí" and "te" are both before "espero" and when (if ever) is that rule broken, and how?

In Spanish the syntax [word order] has a lot of variability, but there are some rules at play here

I would say it's easier to think of it like this: in Spanish there's the subject and the predicate. The predicate is a whole entire bunch of words not just the verb. The subject has much more freedom, and can appear in different places. But the predicate has more specific rules.

A short example and I'll explain more below:

Hago eso. = I do that. Lo hago. = I do it. Yo lo hago. = I am the one who does that. Lo hago yo. = /I/ am the one who does that.

The yo has a lot of freedom to appear or not appear, and it can change places depending on emphasis. However, you'll notice that the lo can only appear before the hago

That's what I mean by the predicate having specific rules. Object pronouns have specific rules and can't appear just anywhere.

Your adverbs and the actual subjects are freer than the object pronouns; so they can be wherever for emphasis

So to answer your question:

Te espero aquí. = I'm waiting for you here. Aquí te espero. = Here is where I will wait for you.

The second one sounds a bit more emphatic or perhaps poetic to me personally, but not incorrect. It doesn't entirely sound natural for English-speakers but Spanish has a lot of freedom in its syntax.

Now the grammar...

First, the te.

The te is an object marker [I think it's a direct object pronoun if I'm not mistaken]

Without going into too much detail on the actual grammar, there are direct objects [the things that receive the action], indirect objects [to whom or for whom something is done], and the pronomials which are typically reflexive markers [a reflexive is when the subject and object are the same; like lavar el piso "to wash the floor" vs. lavarse "to wash oneself"]

Again, very quickly just for the sake of explanation:

Direct objects -> me, te, lo / la, los / las, nos, os

Indirect objects -> me, te, le, les, nos, os

Pronomials/Reflexives -> me, te, se, nos, os

According to the general rules for word order, if you have one conjugated verb, your object pronouns will ALWAYS go before the verb:

Lo quiero. = I want it. [direct object] Me gusta. = I like it. [indirect object; lit. "it pleases me"] Me siento. = I am sitting down. [reflexive, from sentarse] Me siento (bien/alegre/triste). = I am feeling (good/happy/sad). [reflexive, from sentirse; which in yo looks like sentarse but otherwise they conjugate differently]

This also applies to when you're using indirect + direct objects, and reflexive + direct objects. And that's the order they follow. I learned to memorize it by ID and R&D as a learning device:

Te mando el paquete. = I'm sending you the package. Te lo mando. = I am sending it to you. Te mando la carta. = I'm sending you the letter. Te la mando. = I am sending it to you. Me lavo las manos. = I wash my hands. Me las lavo. = I wash them. Me pongo la camisa. = I am putting on the shirt. Me la pongo. = I am putting it on. Me quito el sombrero. = I am taking off the hat. Me lo quito. = I am taking it off. [lit. me lavo las manos is "I wash myself the hands"; because if it's reflexive it can only be "my own" hands. If you washed someone else's hands that's a different construction]

*Note: In their infinitive forms [the dictionary forms; hablar, comer, vivir etc. - an unconjugated verb], the reflexive ones end in -se. This is especially true if they change meaning; levantar "to raise" or "to lift" vs. levantarse "to get up" or "to stand up"

This same order also applies to commands... for example cómpralo is "buy it" made up of attaching the lo to a conjugation of comprar "to buy". You could make it indirect for cómprale "buy it for him/her". And as a reflexive (or possibly indirect) + direct object command - cómpratelo "buy it for yourself"

...

Where you see more variation for object pronouns is when you have one conjugated verb and one unconjugated verb

You have two options: everything in front, or attach it all to the unconjugated verb:

Lo quiero comprar. = I want to buy it. Quiero comprarlo. = I want to buy it. Le voy a mandar la carta. = I am going to send him/her the letter. Voy a mandarle la carta. = I am going to send him/her the letter. No se van a acordar de eso. = They aren't going to remember that. No van a acordarse de eso. = They aren't going to remember that.

...I'm also purposefully not mentioning indirect 3rd person + indirect 3rd person because the indirect object le/les turns to se when you have lo/la used and it's annoying but if you'd like more information:

Anatomy of Spanish: Direct Objects

Anatomy of Spanish: Indirect Objects

~

Same also applies if you end up using a progressive [verbs typically ending in -ando, -iendo, or sometimes -yendo]

La estás asustando. = You're scaring her. Estás asustándola. = You're scaring her. Les sigo contando la historia. = I keep telling them the story. / I continue to tell them the story. Sigo contándoles la historia. = I keep telling them the story. / I continue to tell them the story. Se están enamorando. = They're falling in love. Están enamorándose. = They're falling in love.

You may also find multiple verbs chained together and same rule applies:

No te puedo seguir mintiendo. = I can't keep lying to you. No puedo seguir mintiéndote. = I can't keep lying to you.

...

In general I'd say whichever you choose is valid. Sometimes one is regionally preferred, though at least where I am in the US it's more common to add your object pronouns at the very end if there's multiple verbs, especially if there's a lot of them

Note: In a negative construction that the no or negation word comes before any object pronoun or verb; this is just to make it clear that the whole thing is negative

-

Second, the adverbs. Adverbs have much more changeability than object pronouns, but they generally follow patterns.

Adverbs typically come at the very beginning of the clause or at the very end of it

In this case "here" is an adverb [describing the "waiting"]

You could say either te espero aquí or aquí te espero

It's the difference between "I'll wait for you here" and "here I will wait"

The more words or adverbs or expressions you add, the more you can add variation - often with commas:

Te estaré esperando aquí mismo. = I will be waiting for you right here. Estaré esperándote aquí mismo. = I will be waiting for you right here. Te espero esta noche. = I'll wait for you tonight. Esta noche te espero. = Tonight I'll wait for you. Ya no te puedo esperar. = I can't wait for you anymore. Ya no puedo esperarte. = I can't wait for you anymore. No puedo seguir esperándote. = I can't keep waiting for you. No te puedo seguir esperando. = I can't keep waiting for you. Aquí mismo, y con muchas ganas, te espero. = Right here, with great excitement/anticipation, I'm waiting for you. Te estoy esperando aquí mismo en el jardín. = I'm waiting for you right here in the garden. Estoy esperándote, aquí y ahora, en el jardín. = I'm waiting for you, right here right now, in the garden. Aquí y ahora y con muchas ganas te espero. = Right here and now, I'm eagerly awaiting you.

I have personally found that the more verbs you add, the more you find it all attached to the verb in the end.

And so on. You get the idea. Some constructions are more popular than others, but all make sense and are considered valid in context.

The te and its placement has strict rules, but everything else is kind of loose. You'll notice that te is always attached to the verb, either right before it or right after it depending on if there are other verbs.

I find that in these kinds of expressions it's all about what you feel is right and what you feel emphasizes the right thing. Spanish is very flexible.

[vigilskeep]

hi SO evrion is my first attempt at designing bonus dragon age companions for funsies. he is for da2

he’s a dual-wielding rogue and his specialisation is “renegade templar”, split between templar and assassin talents. raised by the chantry and trained as a templar, he was once a highly efficient apostate hunter, but in a mysterious incident he cut ties with the order. in act 1 you find him begrudgingly working as a mercenary for the carta to supply himself with black market lyrium. finally drawing the line, he enlists hawke’s help in stopping his carta bosses from making a deal with a band of tevinter slavers. during the quest, it will be revealed that one of the captured slaves is a terrified mage, and evrion will let them go and tell them to get as far away from kirkwall as they can. at the end of the quest, evrion is clearly uncertain what to do next, and hawke can either tell him to get lost or recruit him to the party (i will dress up the details of this quest but this is the rough basics)

if recruited, you’ll later discover that evrion is the son of a circle mage, taken away by the chantry at birth. he left the templars—smashing up a phylactery chamber as he went, leading to a handful of escapes that his fellow templars are slow to forgive—after finding out the knight-commander had kept from him that one of the apostates he had hunted and brought back to be made tranquil was, unknowingly, his own mother. evrion regrets his past and is floundering for purpose after having been with the chantry all his life. on a friendship route, hawke can encourage him to make amends for what he has done and define his own future. on a rivalry route, hawke can argue with him that he can’t change who he is and his old ways were, however unfortunate, necessary. only on 100% rivalry will he stand with hawke if they side with the templars during the last straw

personality wise, evrion is soft-spoken and serious, generally conciliatory, often self-deprecating but not a pushover and rarely taken off guard, with a quiet wry sense of humour, though he is usually funny in response to someone rather than of his own volition. i would love him to be conceptually romanceable but you’re going to have to give me some development time on that

[fantasyinvader]

My thinking on Mikazuki changed recently.

See, I remember when the show was airing that the Japanese were calling him the evil Gundam protagonist online, and Mikazuki's whole "I want to protect my friends" bit falls short when Mikazuki pushed Orga to go down the path they did. But I also thought, when a young Mikazuki met Atra, he shared his food with her and helped her get a job at the store off the streets. Considering McGillis would steal bad apples as part of his backstory, it serves as a contrast. It showed that there was a kind side to Mikazuki, a character who later be revealed to enjoy killing.

But then I thought of the scene where young Mika killed a guy for Orga's sake, the moment Mikazuki considers his birth. It's implied that rather than stealing food, Orga tried to steal money, got caught and Mikazuki shot the guy in order to protect Orga from further beating. Then Orga says when he saw Mikazuki do this, he believed that if he had Mikazuki at his side he could do anything, so he promised to lead Mikazuki to a happy ending if Mika followed him.

Orga then led Mikazuki into being a child soldier, while Orga talked about how he felt he had to live up to Mikazuki's expectations of him by doing all this cool, crazy shit. It's even said in the show that Mika doesn't do things he doesn't like or see the point to. Mika was willing to kill to help a friend, meanwhile Orga was making sure he had FUN doing so. Thinking about the implications of this, Orga is the one who caused Mika to develop an enjoyment towards killing.

The thing is with child soldiers, there is legally no difference between forcing kids to fight and recruiting kids. It's still considered exploitation, still considered a crime. In battles, while soldiers don't like killing child soldiers they're also not legally responsible for doing so. The commanders who use child soldiers are, and by that logic all the kids who died following Orga were HIS fault. Not his enemies, his. His idea that it's okay for Tekkadan to kill people because it's just business while seeking revenge for any of it's fallen is okay is just him not taking responsibility for his leadership. Orga recruiting kids from the streets when he should know they have no other options and then telling them if they want to they can leave at any time despite that means returning to those streets, possibly starving to death.

Mika tried to get Orga back on track after Biscuit's death, but Orga's "normal" is pretty fucked up, and that led to him telling his troops, a bunch of children, to do whatever it takes to win, to kill anyone who stands in their way, and that the fallen will be avenged. The director said that Merribit was right at the end of s1 when Orga did this, and in s2 we see that Orga can't control his men as a result (or even run the business) because they're holding him to his promise just like Mika did. And his promise to Mika was, in part, because he believed he could have a good life if Mika was by his side. Orga was exploiting Mika from the moment Mika views himself as being born, resulting in Mika being his attack dog (Shino himself called Mika an attack dog late in the show, and we also see Mika threaten violence to both Hush and Eugene for speaking out against Orga).

But, Orga doesn't realize how devoted Mika is to him even after throwing away the use of the entire right side of his body. Orga promised to make Mika's dreams a reality, kid wanted to be a farmer, and when those dreams became impossible Orga didn't have an "oh god, what have I done?" moment, he was just suprised at the dedication and kept going.

Mika is just another victim of Orga's. Which in turn influenced McGillis, who did have his hesitations with the coup due to his friendship with Gaelio and Carta but was swayed after seeing Mikazuki's power causing him to betray his friends. The fact is, Gaelio and Carta would have helped McGillis with reforming Gjallarhorn. Even Rustal only acted against McGillis because of the chaos McGillis spread since Rustal's whole thing is just maintaining order. The Dort workers were already trying to get smuggled weapons, he didn't want them to inspire more would-be terrorists and instead tried to make an example of them. Without Orga, McGillis likely wouldn't have gone through with his coup.

Likewise, Orga was the one who brought Kudelia to Teiwaz, where she entered into a partnership with them. The mafia, who the show says has slave mines, and she got their support just like Orga did. This allowed them to have greater influence on Mars, resulting in the ending where they use their influence to make Kudelia the leader of the planet as part of their plans for profitting on the now defenseless Mars. Kudelia abandoned her ideal of the independence groups banding together, turned her back on Terra Liberonius and turned a blind eye to Orga later having their leader killed while the group was arrested, and in the end basically put Mars under the control of Jupiter.

There's also the negative arcs of Tekkadan, or how Orga didn't listen to mob boss McMurdo and continued his association with McGillis. That led to both the Hashmal incident, as well as the Turbines being taken out as a consequence.

Orga… is the show's main villain imo, and the rest of Tekkadan are just like the Zeon troops in the original series. They're not bad people, they think they're fighting for a good cause but it's their leader who is the problem. It's like Nadi says, Tekkadan needed more people to call Orga out on his bullshit, as hypocritical as it was considering Nadi and the adults knew things weren't right but instead worked to try and help Tekkadan, not just blindly follow him. As a result, Orga became his own antithesis throwing kids into a meat grinder despite originally saying he made Tekkadan to protect them. But it was all him getting to that fabled goal, using the other kids as justification. He dies saving Ride, but Ride is unable to let his influence go and throws away a peaceful life to avenge Tekkadan.

And this just makes me pity Mikazuki, who died doing what he enjoyed so that others may escape. Orga is my hated Gundam character as a result now. I know he's the Yamcha of Gundam over his death meme, but Yamcha died a hero. Orga may have always been the villain, the real devil of Tekkadan.

[daitranscripts]

Skyhold Conversation

Bonny Sims

Skyhold Masterpost

Bonny Sims: [Lord/Lady] Inquisitor. Bonny Sims, at your service. I trust good Seggrit was not too coarse? Now that you’ve come to some good fortune, you deserve an upgrade. As master of The Tradesmen, I stand ready to supply your every need.

1 - Dialogue options:

General: “The Tradesmen”? [2]

General: How is business? [3]

General (not all keeps claimed): How can I bring in commerce? [4]

General: Goodbye. [5]

2 - General: “The Tradesmen”? PC: Who or what are “The Tradesmen”?

First time asking Bonny Sims: A following of sympathetic and profit-minded individuals who promote local craftsmen and fair importers. A guild of sorts, although that implies Carta affiliations we are not interested in… crossing.

Bonny Sims (dwarf PC): No offence. Sincerely. We are merely organized merchants at your service. [6]

If asked before Bonny Sims: Our purpose in the Inquisition is legitimate and honorable. You will have what you need at honest prices. [6]

6 - Dialogue options:

General (Seggrit alive): Where is Seggrit? [7]

General (Seggrit died): Sorry about Seggrit dying. [8]

General: What can you do for me? [9]

General: You’re master of your group? [10]

General: Goodbye. [11]

7 - General: Where is Seggrit? PC: Seggrit survived Haven. Where is he? Bonny Sims: About. Doing good work for you and yours. But this position is now more desirable. It was time arrangements were made. I shall make every effort to prove that this is an upgrade. [back to 6] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 8 - General: Sorry about Seggrit dying. PC: It’s a shame Seggrit didn’t survive Haven. Bonny Sims: It is. But one must continue. PC: That’s it? Bonny Sims: He was a shrewd man, but he was none too pleasant. It was time arrangements were made. I shall make every effort to prove that this is an upgrade. [back to 6] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 9 - General: What can you do for me? PC: What do you bring to the Inquisition? Bonny Sims: What you need. And more. It takes great coordination to make a remote location seem… central. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Completed War Table: Opening the Roads Bonny Sims: Many now make the journey to Skyhold. We will ensure they continue to see the benefit. [back to 6] ㅤㅤ ㅤ Have not completed “Opening the Roads” Bonny Sims: While there is no doubt the boutiques of Val Royeaux display the grandest of the grand, they do not travel. At least, not yet. [back to 6] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 10 - General: You’re master of your group? PC: Why are you a mere merchant if you’re the master of this group? Bonny Sims: I wish to avoid the suggestion that I am a posturing commander atop a structure of malcontents. It is better to remain active. Hands on. Do you not agree, Inquisitor? [back to 6]

3 - General: How is business? PC: How are you doing? Good business?

Skyhold not repaired Bonny Sims: It is a struggle, but one worth having. Potential is the most valuable resource. [back to 1]

First set of repairs (leaving and returning to Skyhold) Bonny Sims: Building. Always building. Thanks to you. [back to 1]

Final set of repairs (completing HLtA or WEWH) Bonny Sims: In this gilded fortress? How could we not be? [back to 1]

4 - General: How can I bring in commerce? PC: Skyhold needs a healthy flow of goods. How can I help?

No keeps claimed Bonny Sims: Free the trade routes of obstruction, restore security to the outposts—the keeps—and merchants will find you. [back to 1]

One keep claimed One of the major hubs is freed. Continue on this path, and you're on your way. [back to 1]

Two keeps claimed You've cleared two of the major hubs and restored trade to many. [back to 1]

5 - General: Goodbye. Inquisitor: We’ll speak another time. Bonny Sims: Certainly, [Lord/Lady] Inquisitor.

—

If spoken to after all keeps are claimed Bonny Sims: My [lord/lady] Inquisitor. How gratifying to see you. Your efforts to restore our hubs of commerce have been tremendous. As is the gratitude of The Tradesmen and affiliates.

Bonny Sims: An opportunity, Your Worship. If you've a moment, I would speak to you about a potential partnership.

Dialogue options:

General: You mentioned an opportunity?

PC: You said something about a partnership?

Bonny Sims: The work you've done has presented an opportunity to return trade to the roads. A minimal investment at key points will ensure safe caravans. I'll forward it to your assistants for consideration. We have this opportunity because of you, Inquisitor. And we will all profit.

Activates War Table: Opening the Roads

Upon completion Bonny Sims: All manner of new friends are arriving now that you’ve opened us to merchants of the road. The influx of character is refreshing. I look forward to doing business with all of them.

If spoken to after completing Opening the Roads, HLtA, and WEWH, and unlocking the Short List perk Bonny Sims: A unique issue has arisen, Inquisitor. I pass it to you.

Activates War Table: Not So Bonny Sims

Upon completion Bonny Sims: Of course you resolved the issue, Inquisitor. Well done.