#cullen/perrine | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

idolbound · 2 months ago

Note

obviously meredith didn't always envision her life and station being the way that it is - how and when did she get a taste for power; and when did she decide to pull the strings instead of wear the crown herself?

Headcanon asks - @sanctamater

With Meredith's more extensive backstory, I think I pinpoint the moment of her becoming Knight-Captain as the very start of her desire for power. She did not earn the role, but instead, inherited it from Ser Wentworth Kell as he retired from his position to, essentially, his deathbed, but it wasn't until he died that Meredith officially took on the duties of a Captain.

While she had been following in his shadow since he took her under his wing and she became an initiate, through her teen years, she was all about duty and sworn oath; power was not an inkling of a thought in her young years. But, once she was officially Knight-Captain, she became a stand out in comparison to the acting Knight-Commander; her fellow Templars saw her as charismatic and competent, more than the old man ever could've been.

As per World of Thedas vol. 2:

"As knight-captain, Meredith proposed several changes to the administration of the Gallows, resulting in greater efficiency and a more orderly schedule for the mages. A structured environment and predictable routines led to calm, she would argue. It also made it much easier to detect anything that was out of the ordinary. Meredith’s case was so persuasive that her recommendations were put into practice almost immediately, and Knight-Commander Guylian began seeking her out for counsel in other matters. Beside the greying knight-commander, Meredith cut an imposing figure: stern, icy, and uncompromising. When Guylian gave a command, it was Meredith who enforced it. Her drive and her devotion to her duty made her a bit of a legend among her fellow templars, and privately, many thought she possessed a hundred times the old knight-commander’s charisma. many said that it was Meredith who was really the leader of the templars, despite her junior rank."

It was at this point that Meredith's decisions were actually implemented successfully; she made the Order more efficient, and templar-knights respected her, despite the way she inherited the role from Ser Wentworth. She was 2nd in command, but she held a lot of power for a Captain (we see how this is not reflected with Cullen later on - she is well aware of the role a Captain can play, but as Commander, she wouldn't have wanted any chance of being usurped!).

When the Divine asked Knight-Commander Guylian to force Viscount Perrin Threnhold to reopen the Waking Sea passage to allow Orlesian ships through, the Viscount retaliated by sending hired mercenaries who captured and hung Guylian. It was at this point that Meredith took on acting command, leading the army of templars to the Viscount's estate, looking for blood and for justice. It was the current Captain of the city guard that begged his innocence and had Threnhold arrested and placed in his own dungeon. Meredith, on the other hand, was soon crowned Knight-Commander by Grand Cleric Elthina. Taking on the charge in Guylian's stead demonstrated Meredith's ability and her desire to lead the templars - and they all followed her, without question.

It is this point that now, she had the title to go with the control she had earned over the Gallows and the templar knights. Cold and calculated, this role would begin her ascension to power to maintain control over mages and the city alike with Grand Cleric Elthina being the only one she would truly obey.

In the role of Knight-Commander, Guylian had kept his templars politically neutral - it was only by order of the Divine that had forced his hand and it led to losing his life. But for Meredith? The role gave her a footing as one of the prominent figureheads in the city-state of Kirkwall. After all, she and Elthina together put forth the suggestion for the next Viscount, Marlowe Dumar - a man that Meredith wasted no time in threatening by sending Perrin's bloodied signet ring in a box, engraved with 'His fate need not be yours'. In this sense, Meredith already sought to establish herself as the acting enforcer (with Elthina as puppet master) of the political leader of Kirkwall, to serve the interests of the Divine and the Chantry, and to avoid political issues like his predecessor.

With this set in motion, Meredith began seeing herself as a powerful figure. Templars respected her, mages feared her, and the people saw her as a protector - or at least, she imagined them doing so. As someone Kirkwall born and raised, she wanted to be a local hero, upholding the Andrastian faith and protecting the city and its citizens from the horrors of apostates and blood magic.

However, this very idea was what drove Meredith further to seek more and more ways to retain her political power and control. While templars are certainly trained with magic suppressing abilities, blood magic is a difficult one to tamper. She was always paranoid, but more threats of blood magic in her city led Meredith to taking more steps of power - for example, asking for the Rite of Annulment in advance to the Divine (and being rejected), or, eventually, seeking out the red lyrium idol from Bartrand.

This, together, is why Hawke is a particular thorn in her side. They advance against the Qunari invasion and the Arishok, leaving Meredith no choice but to declare them the Champion of Kirkwall - a title she would've rather bestowed upon herself. Hawke's position - regardless of being pro mage or pro templar - demonstrates more of being a "people's hero" than Meredith as someone in a role deemed necessary by the Chantry.

With the death of Viscount Dumar, too, Meredith realizes that appointing another person at this point would be a viable threat to her control over the city. It's why she chooses to enact martial law, to prevent any possible contention with what she intends to do to flush out blood magic from her Circle and the city itself. It is quite clear that Elthina and Meredith have worked as a team for the better part of two decades, as the Grand Cleric did not seek to stop Meredith from enacting martial law either. This is, essentially, putting Meredith in control of Kirkwall without naming herself Viscount; she plays a game of political chess in the city-state, but cannot take the role of 'king' for herself.

Now, back to her paranoia, though... were it not for the influence of the red lyrium settling in, I would imagine that only until Meredith was content with killing blood mages or making apostates tranquil, would she and Elthina find another spineless noble to place on the throne, and the cycle would begin anew.

#HEADCANON.#sanctamater #[ thank you!! ]#[ also yeah I think I've talked about it but it's really seeing how her decisions get implemented ]#[ and the charge on the Viscount's estate with all templars following her lead? ]#[ absolutely when she realized power was what she was after and what was best suited to keeping mages in order ]

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forever-dreaming-cullen · 7 years ago

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Five OTP Songs

I was tagged by the lovely and sweet @princessvicky01 to list 5 songs that represent my OTP. Thank you, love!

Well, I don’t know if I have an OTP (more like a few — I make too many Inquisitors and love them all!), but for the purposes of this post, I will use Perrine Lavellan, my very first Quizzy and her Commander. (Who else? Like, is this even a question?)

The Glory of Love by Peter Cetera - This song refers to a knight in shining armor defending and protecting his love. That fits Cullen to a T — armor and everything.

Wanted by Hunter Hayes - Cullen and Perrine love each other and want the other to know how loved and wanted they are.

If I Told You by Darius Rucker - I found this song thanks to @elevanetheirin‘s lovely video. This song represents Cullen’s feelings that he isn’t good enough for Perrine

8th World Wonder by Kimberley Locke - This song represents Perrine’s all-encompassing love for Cullen. He is her 8th world wonder.

Amazed by Lonestar - This one represents Cullen’s love for Perrine and his crazy attraction to her. No other woman makes him feel like she does.

Corny, I know, but I’m a sappy gal. What can I say?

So, I will tag: @cute-ellyna, @elevanetheirin , @alleiradayne , @andrastini

Only if you want/have time!

#otp songs #otp meme #cullen/perrine #cullen rutherford

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compneuropapers · 2 years ago

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Interesting Papers for Week 46, 2022

Paradoxical somatodendritic decoupling supports cortical plasticity during REM sleep. Aime, M., Calcini, N., Borsa, M., Campelo, T., Rusterholz, T., Sattin, A., … Adamantidis, A. (2022). Science, 376(6594), 724–730.

Sensory adaptation mediates efficient and unambiguous encoding of natural stimuli by vestibular thalamocortical pathways. Carriot, J., McAllister, G., Hooshangnejad, H., Mackrous, I., Cullen, K. E., & Chacron, M. J. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 2612.

Complementary feedback control enables effective gaze stabilization in animals. Cellini, B., Salem, W., & Mongeau, J.-M. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(19), e2121660119.

Tactile suppression stems from specific sensorimotor predictions. Fuehrer, E., Voudouris, D., Lezkan, A., Drewing, K., & Fiehler, K. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), e2118445119.

Image statistics determine the integration of visual cues to motion-in-depth. Goutcher, R., Murray, L., & Benz, B. (2022). Scientific Reports, 12, 7941.

A weakened recurrent circuit in the hippocampus of Rett syndrome mice disrupts long-term memory representations. He, L., Caudill, M. S., Jing, J., Wang, W., Sun, Y., Tang, J., … Zoghbi, H. Y. (2022). Neuron, 110(10), 1689-1699.e6.

A functionally ordered visual feature map in the Drosophila brain. Klapoetke, N. C., Nern, A., Rogers, E. M., Rubin, G. M., Reiser, M. B., & Card, G. M. (2022). Neuron, 110(10), 1700-1711.e6.

Non-rapid eye movement sleep and wake neurophysiology in schizophrenia. Kozhemiako, N., Wang, J., Jiang, C., Wang, L. A., Gai, G., Zou, K., … Pan, J. Q. (2022). eLife, 11, e76211.

Prefrontal-amygdalar oscillations related to social behavior in mice. Kuga, N., Abe, R., Takano, K., Ikegaya, Y., & Sasaki, T. (2022). eLife, 11, e78428.

Activity Subspaces in Medial Prefrontal Cortex Distinguish States of the World. Maggi, S., & Humphries, M. D. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(20), 4131–4146.

Robust Coding of Eye Position in Posterior Parietal Cortex despite Context-Dependent Tuning. McFadyen, J. R., Heider, B., Karkhanis, A. N., Cloherty, S. L., Muñoz, F., Siegel, R. M., & Morris, A. P. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(20), 4116–4130.

Hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex network dynamics predict performance during retrieval in a context-guided object memory task. Morici, J. F., Weisstaub, N. V., & Zold, C. L. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), e2203024119.

Diurnal changes in the efficiency of information transmission at a sensory synapse. Moya-Díaz, J., James, B., Esposti, F., Johnston, J., & Lagnado, L. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 2613.

Invariant neural subspaces maintained by feedback modulation. Naumann, L. B., Keijser, J., & Sprekeler, H. (2022). eLife, 11, e76096.

A mathematical perspective on edge-centric brain functional connectivity. Novelli, L., & Razi, A. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 2693.

Neural correlates of blood flow measured by ultrasound. Nunez-Elizalde, A. O., Krumin, M., Reddy, C. B., Montaldo, G., Urban, A., Harris, K. D., & Carandini, M. (2022). Neuron, 110(10), 1631-1640.e4.

A leaky evidence accumulation process for perceptual experience. Pereira, M., Perrin, D., & Faivre, N. (2022). Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(6), 451–461.

Anterior thalamic circuits crucial for working memory. Roy, D. S., Zhang, Y., Aida, T., Shen, C., Skaggs, K. M., Hou, Y., … Feng, G. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), e2118712119.

Outcome-Locked Cholinergic Signaling Suppresses Prefrontal Encoding of Stimulus Associations. Tu, G., Halawa, A., Yu, X., Gillman, S., & Takehara-Nishiuchi, K. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(20), 4202–4214.

Two kinds of memory signals in neurons of the human hippocampus. Urgolites, Z. J., Wixted, J. T., Goldinger, S. D., Papesh, M. H., Treiman, D. M., Squire, L. R., & Steinmetz, P. N. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(19), e2115128119.

#science #Neuroscience #computational neuroscience #Brain science #research #cognition #cognitive science #psychophysics #neurons #neural networks #neural computation #neurobiology #scientific publications

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goalhofer · 6 years ago

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Every Junior/Professional Peter Budaj Teammate

Toronto St. Michael’s Majors

Keith Delaney (1999-2000)

Ryan Walsh (1999-2001)

Darryl Bootland (1999-2002)

Kenny Corupe (1999-2000)

Mark Popovic (1999-2002)

Matt Ellis (1999-2002)

Adam DeLeeuw (1999-2001)

Matt Bannan (1999-2002)

Jeffrey Doyle (1999-2001)

Chad Woollard (1999-2000)

Chris Minard (1999-2001)

Chris Boucher (1999-2001)

Dave Csumrik (1999-2000)

Michael Gough (1999-2002)

Greg Mizzi (1999-2001)

Lorne Misita (1999-2001)

Brian Simpson (1999-2000)

George Nistas (1999-2000)

Tyler Cook (1999-2002)

Brad Pierce (1999-2000)

Philippe Lakos (1999-2000)

Mike Sellan (1999-2001)

Steve Farquharson (1999-2001)

Michal Kolarik (1999-2000)

Kyle McAllister (3 games 1999)

Dwayne Bateman (1999-2000)

Ryan Delaney (1 game 2000)

Ryan Rasmussen (1 game 2000)

Brent Mulder (2 games 2000)

Rory Glaves 6 games 2000)

Frank Lukes (2000-02)

Tim Brent (2000-02)

Drew Fata (2000-02)

Kevin Klein (2000-02)

Lindsay Plunkett (20 games 2001)

Matt Bacon (2000-02)

T.J. Reynolds (2000-02)

Ryan Robert (2000-02)

Scott Talbot (3 games 2001-02)

Andy Chiodo (2000-02)

Joe Guenther (2001-02)

Scott Heffernan (2001-02)

Darryl Boyce (2001-02)

Ryan Rorabeck (2001-02)

Scott Horvath (2001-02)

Daryl Knowles (2001-02)

Jordan Freeland (2001-02)

Jerrod Smith (2001-02)

Geoff Patton (2001-02)

Steven Rawski (2001-02)

Kyle Spurr (2001-02)

Matthew Seymour (2001-02)

Mike Carlesimo (1 game 2002)

Tyson Gimblett (2001-02)

Hershey Bears

Eric Bertrand (2002-03)

Brian Willsie (2002-03)

Mark Freer (2002-03)

Charlie Stephens (2002-04)

Steve Brule (2002-04)

Brett Clark (2002-05)

Jordan Krestanovich (2002-04)

Cail MacLean (2002-03, 2004-05)

Steve Moore (2002-04)

Bryan Muir (2002-03)

Mikhail Kuleshov (2002-04)

Brent Thompson (2002-03)

Alexander Riazantsev (2002-03)

Riku Hahl (2002-03)

Marek Svatos (2002-03, 2004-05)

Marc Busenburg (2002-04)

Brad Larsen (2002-04)

Bruce Richardson (2002-04)

Travis Brigley (2002-04)

Tim Wedderburn (2002-03)

Vaclav Nedorost (5 games 2003)

Kent Davyduke (14 games 2002-04)

Jeff Paul (2002-03)

Rob Voltera (2002-03)

Agris Saviels (2002-05)

Philippe Sauve (2002-04)

Sylvain Deschatelets (4 games 2003)

Joe Goodenow (2002-03)

Pierre-Luc Emond (4 games 2003)

Nick Bootland (16 games 2003)

Daniel Goneau (3 games 2002)

Adam Edinger (5 games 2002)

John-Michael Liles (5 games 2003)

Michael Henrich (9 games 2003)

Sandro Sbrocca (1 game 2003)

Simon Tremblay (1 game 2002)

Chris Bogas (1 game 2002)

Dylan Gyori (1 game 2002)

Steve Rymsha (2 games 2003)

Brad Wingfield (2 games 2003)

K.C. Timmons (2 games 2003)

Mike Verhaug (2 games 2002)

Sergei Klyazmin (2003-05)

Eric Perrin (2003-05)

Shane Willis (2003-04)

Pascal Trepanier (2003-04)

Gavin Morgan (2003-04)

Sheldon Keefe (2003-04)

Martin Hlinka (2003-05)

D.J. Smith (2003-04)

Ryan Craig (2003-04)

Tomas Slovak (2003-05)

Jeff Finger (2003-05)

David Masse (2003-05)

Dennis Bonvie (2003-05)

Cody McCormick (2003-05)

Chris Bala (2003-05)

Yevgeni Artyukhin; Jr. (2003-04)

Jean-Francois Soucy (12 games 2004)

Darren Rumble (5 games 2004)

Rob Voltera (2003-04)

Dean Arsene (2003-05)

Mark Jerant (2003-04)

Dwayne Hay (4 games 2004)

Jeremy Van Hoof (5 games 2004)

Brian Fahey (12 games 2004)

Nikita Alexeev (14 games 2004)

Martin Cibak (1 game 2004)

Jon Cullen (1 game 2004)

Frantisek Skladany (2004-05)

Judd Medak (5 games 2004)

Lanny Gare (9 games 2004)

Tom Lawson (2003-05)

Mike Amodeo (2004-05)

Greg Barber (2004-05)

Adam Borzecki (2004-05)

Johnny Boychuk (2004-05)

Ed Campbell (2004-05)

Carl Corrazini (2004-05)

Nicolas Corbeil (2004-05)

Mathieu Darche (2004-05)

Jean-Francois David (2004-05)

Trevor Johnson (2004-05)

Evgeni Lazarev (2004-05)

Carl Mallette (2004-05)

Graig Mischler (2004--05)

Nick Naumenko (2004-05)

Josh Olson (2004-05)

Jamie Rivers (2004-05)

Andre Savage (2004-05)

Darrel Scoville (2004-05)

Mike Souza (2004-05)

Ryan Steeves (2004-05)

Jeff Ulmer (2004-05)

Mikko Viitanen (2004-05)

Martin Wilde (2004-05)

Colorado Avalanche

Joe Sakic (2005-09)

Alex Tanguay (2005-06)

Andrew Brunette (2005-08)

Milan Hejduk (2005-11)

Rob Blake (2005-06)

Marek Svatos (2005-10)

John-Michael Liles (2005-11)

Pierre Turgeon (2005-07)

Ian Laperriere (2005-09)

Brett McLean (2005-07)

Joseph Brisebois (2005-07)

Brett Clark (2005-10)

Antti Laaksonen (2005-07)

Steve Konowalchuk (2005-06)

Karlis Skrastins (2005-08)

Dan Hinote (2005-06)

Brad Richardson (2005-08)

Cody McCormick (2005-09)

Bob Boughner (2005-06)

Brad May (2005-07)

Wojciech Wolski (2005-10)

Kurt Sauer (2005-08)

Ossi Vaanaanen (2005-07)

Jim Dowd (18 games 2006)

David Aebischer (2005-06)

Vitali Kolesnik (8 games 2006)

Paul Healy (2 games 2006)

Jose Theodore (2005-08)

Paul Stastny (2006-11)

Tyler Arnason (2006-09)

Ken Klee (2006-07)

Mark Rycroft (2006-07)

Ben Guite (2006-09)

Jordan Leopold (2006-09)

Jeff Finger (2006-08)

Kyle Cumiskey (2006-11)

Scott Parker (2006-08)

George Parros (2 games 2006)

Tyler Weiman (1 game 2008)

Johnny Boychuk (4 games 2008)

Scott Hannan (2007-11)

Ruslan Saliej (2007-10)

Adam Foote (2007-11)

Wyatt Smith (2007-08)

T.J. Hensick (2007-10)

David Jones (2007-11)

Cody McLeod (2007-11)

Ryan Smyth (2007-09)

Peter Forsberg (9 games 2007-08, 2 games 2010)

T.J. Galiardi (2008-11)

Raymond Macias (6 games 2009)

Lawrence Nycholat (5 games 2009)

Derek Peltier (14 games 2008-10)

Andrew Raycroft (2008-09)

Chris Stewart (2008-11)

Daniel Tjarnqvist (2008-09)

Darcy Tucker (2008-10)

Mike Vernace (12 games 2009)

Brian Willsie (2008-10)

Chris Durno (2008-10)

Matt Hendricks (2008-10)

Craig Anderson (2009-11)

Matt Duchene (2009-11)

David Koci (2009-11)

Peter Mueller (15 games 2010)

Ryan O’Reilly (2009-11)

Kevin Porter (2009-11)

Kyle Quincey (2009-11)

Ryan Stoa (2009-11)

Ryan Wilson (2009-11)

Stephane Yelle (11 games 2010)

Brandon Yip (2009-11)

Philippe Dupuis (2009-10)

Shawn Belle (4 games 2011)

Brian Elliott (12 games 2011)

Tomas Fleischmann (2010-11)

Jonas Holos (2010-11)

Matt Hunwick (2010-11)

Erik Johnson (2010-11)

Jay McClement (2010-11)

Ryan O’Byrne (2010-11)

Mark Olver (18 games 2010)

Daniel Winnik (2010-11)

Montreal Canadiens

Mike Blunden (2011-14)

Rene Bourque (2011-14)

Chris Campoli (2011-12)

Erik Cole (2011-13)

Mathieu Darche (2011-12)

David Desharnais (2011-14)

Raphael Diaz (2011-14)

Lars Eller (2011-14)

Alexei Emelin (2011-14)

Brian Gionta (2011-14)

Scott Gomez (2011-12)

Josh Gorges (2011-14)

Tomas Kaberle (2011-13)

Andrei Markov (2011-14)

Travis Moen (2011-14)

Petteri Nokelainen (2011-12)

Max Pacioretty (2011-14)

Tomas Plekanec (2011-14)

Carey Price (2011-14)

Brad Staubitz (19 games 2012)

P.K. Subban (2011-14)

Yannick Weber (2011-13)

Ryan White (2011-14)

Brendan Gallagher (2012-14)

Alex Galchenyuk (2012-14)

Michael Ryder (2012-13)

Brandon Prust (2012-14)

Francis Bouillon (2012-14)

Colby Armstrong (2012-13)

Davis Drewiske (9 games 2013)

Gabriel Dumont (12 games 2012-14)

Jeff Halpern (19 games 2013)

Jarred Tinordi (2012-14)

Nathan Beaulieu (2012-14)

Greg Pateryn (3 games 2013)

Daniel Briere (2013-14)

Thomas Vanek (2013-14)

Michael Bournival (2013-14)

Mike Weaver (2013-14)

Dale Weise (2013-14)

Douglas Murray (2013-14)

George Parros (2013-14)

Joseph St. Pierre (1 game 2014)

Louis Leblanc (8 games 2014)

Joonas Nattinen (1 game 2014)

Christian Thomas (2 games 2014)

Patrick Holland (5 games 2014)

Dustin Tokarski (3 games 2014)

St. John’s IceCaps

Jason Jaffray (19 games 2014-15)

Jerome Samson (19 games 2014-15)

Andrew Gordon (19 games 2014-15)

Kael Mouillierat (19 games 2014-15)

Brenden Kichton (19 games 2014-15)

John Albert (19 games 2014-15)

Carl Klingberg (19 games 2014-15)

Eric O’Dell (19 games 2014-15)

J.C. Lipon (19 games 2014-15)

Kyle MacKinnon (19 games 2014-15)

Will O’Neill (19 games 2014-15)

Adam Lowry (19 games 2014-15)

Patrice Cormier (19 games 2014-15)

Zach Redmond (19 games 2014-15)

Blair Riley (19 games 2014-15)

Ben Chiarot (19 games 2014-15)

Jordan Hill (19 games 2014-15)

Julian Melchiori (19 games 2014-15)

Josh Lunden (19 games 2014-15)

Paul Postma (4 games 2015)

Austen Brassard (19 games 2014-15)

Kris Fredheim (19 games 2014-15)

Travis Ehrhardt (8 games 2015)

Ryan Schnell (19 games 2014-15)

Ian O’Connor (3 games 2014)

Jamie MacQueen (5 games 2015)

Josh Morrissey (8 games 2015)

Tyler Beskorowany (12 games 2014-15)

Michael Hutchinson (19 games 2014-15)

Eddie Pasquale (19 games 2014-15)

Cody Sol (1 game 2015)

Eric Comrie (2 games 2015)

Colton Beck (3 games 2015)

Adam Pardy (3 games 2015)

Jussi Olkinuora (10 games 2015)

Cody Lampl (19 games 2014-15)

Ontario Reign

Sean Backman (2015-16)

Nic Dowd (2015-16)

Michael Mersch (2015-16)

Justin Auger (2015-16)

Vincent LoVerde (2015-16)

Jonny Brodzinski (2015-16)

Adrian Kempe (2015-16)

Kris Newbury (2015-16)

Jordan Samuels-Thomas (2015-16)

Andrew Crescenzi (2015-16)

Kevin Gravel (2015-16)

Jeff Schultz (2015-16)

Kurtis MacDermid (2015-16)

Ryan Horvat (2015-16)

Valentin Zykov (2015-16)

Nick Ebert (2015-16)

Joel Lowry (2015-16)

Derek Forbort (2015-16)

Brett Sutter (2015-16, 2018-19)

Scott Sabourin (2015-16)

Derek Army (12 games 2016)

Zac Leslie (2015-16)

Kevin Raine (2015-16)

Matt Leitner (15 games 2016)

Paul Bissonnette (2015-16)

Christian Ehrhoff (5 games 2016)

Matt Schmalz (3 games 2016)

Jamie McBain (3 games 2016)

Sam Herr (9 games 2016, 2018-19)

Mike Amadio (11 games 2016, 2018-19)

Paul LaDue (3 games 2016)

Kenton Miller (1 game 2016)

Damir Sharipzyanov (1 game 2016)

Maxim Kitsyn (2 games 2016)

Kyle Clifford (2 games 2016)

Ray Emery (3 games 2015)

Derek Arnold (4 games 2015)

Michael Houser (7 games 2016)

Curt Gogol (7 games 2016)

Mason Bergh (2018-19)

Daniel Brickley (2018-19)

Kale Clague (2018-19)

Jamie Devane (2018-19)

Aidan Dudas (2018-19)

Michael Eyssimont (2018-19)

Max Gottlieb (2018-19)

Jacob Ingham (2018-19)

Alex Lintuniemi (2018-19)

Matt Luff (2018-19)

Philippe Maillet (2018-19)

Connor McDonald (2018-19)

Zack Mitchell (2018-19)

Brad Morrison (2018-19)

Matt Moulson (2018-19)

Cal Peterson (2018-19)

Chaz Reddekopp (2018-19)

Sheldon Rempal (2018-19)

Nikita Scherbak (2018-19)

Austin Strand (2018-19)

Craig Wyszomirski (2018-19)

Los Angeles Kings

Anze Kopitar (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Drew Doughty (1 game, 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Milan Lucic (1 game 2016)

Alec Martinez (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Dustin Brown (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Jeff Carter (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Marian Gaborik (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Tanner Pearson (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Tyler Toffoli (1 games 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Kevin Gravel (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Dwight King (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Vincent Lecavalier (1 game 2016)

Trevor Lewis (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Brayden McNabb (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Jake Muzzin (1 game 2016, 2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Jordan Nolan (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Luke Schenn (1 game 2016)

Nick Shore (1 game 2016, 2016-17)

Nic Dowd (2016-17)

Derek Forbort (2016-17, 1 game 2018

Kyle Clifford (2016-17, 1 game 2018)

Devin Setoguchi (2016-17)

Jarome Iginla (19 games 2017)

Paul LaDue (2016-17)

Adrian Kempe (2016-17, 1 game 2018)

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enchantment1385 · 6 years ago

Text

INQUISITOR AS A COMPANION

I was tagged by the lovely @ironbullsmissingeye thanks sweetie!

Inquisitor’s Name: Faeron Tamlin Lavellan & Nico Ashara Lavellan

Race / Class / Specialization: Elf

Mage/ Rift mage/ Dreamer

Warrior / Reaver

Gender Identity: Faeron ~ Male - Nico ~ Female

Varric’s Nickname for them?: Faeron - Dreamy - Nico - Firecracker

Short bio: The twins are the only children of Thalion Lavellan, keeper of their clan. Thalion’s clan has freely traded with humans for sometime. However, after the chantry was destroyed in Kirkwall, tension had been slowly building before the inevitable war spilled out over Thedas, involving them by proxy. It’s decided that the twins should go to look into the situation, gather information, and offer help if it is needed. Faeron and Nico are were both brought up believing in the elven gods, and with a strict set of discipline. Faeron was gifted with magic early in his life, and is a highly skilled mage, however his abilities as a dreamer have left some in his clan distrustful of a magic they do not fully understand. Nico was an angry child when she developed no signs of magical talent. Her high stealth and ability to adapt quickly in any situation left her parents encouraging her to take up a bow... However, Nico had little patience and quickly took the sword instead. After many years she is now known as the clan’s strongest warrior. Where one goes, the other will always follow. So, if you love Faeron, better get used to having Nico around, and vice versa!

Initial Card: The twins first card has the same image for both. The card would be black at the bottom fading into green at the top. There would be one of those trees, (sorry i honestly had no idea how to classify it without the picture! Elfy metal tree from the crossroads or old temples?!?)

in gold, and the twins silhouettes in a purple (Twins clan colour).

Loyalty: After the twins loyalty mission, depending on the actions taken, the twins will either; Receive their own individual companion cards. Or Leave the inquisition for good. In this case, the image will change slightly, the scene will appear darker, with all the leaves being stripped from the tree, and the branches alit with veilfire. Faeron’s silhouette would be kneeling in distress, while Nico will have her sword drawn with her other hand on her brother’s shoulder. The cards will be grayed out, and unable to be selected.

Faeron ~ Faeron’s card would show him close-up so you could only see from his torso to his nose, he would be hanging upside down with his legs wrapped around a tree branch with a huge smile on his face. A few strands of his hair would be trailing up his face and he would be glowing a soft silvery colour.

Nico ~ Nico would be hunched over a map laid out on a table, her sword would also be on the table, covering the far off areas (we don’t get to visit) she would be ever so slightly smirking as she pushed her brother’s face out of the scene.

Romanced: Faeron ~ What is it they say? A picture is worth a 1000 words? Well, this is exactly what his romance card would be- just done in the tarot style!

Nico ~ Nico would be looking over her shoulder, with a bare back except for some material (in purple of course!) gathered around her waist (like she just woke up and sat up in bed), she would be smiling (YES! It does happen!) as the inquisitors marked hand stroked her hair to one side of the neck.

Recruitment mission: Double trouble ~ On your return to Haven after your first visit to the storm coast, a cutscene will trigger in which you will meet the twins. If inquisitor is an elf ~ Nico will demand to see her clansmen is ‘safe’ with her own eyes. Faeron will be uncomfortably trying to make the situation less tense and calm his sister’s temper. If inquisitor is any other race ~ The twins will approach the party before reaching the gates, if Cassandra or Blackwall are in the party they will warn the inquisitor to be wary which will trigger a small, somewhat hilarious argument between Nico and said companion, where you can earn friendship points if the inquisitor picks either the heart option or the pleased (thumbs up option). Even if this option is not picked the twins will offer their help in the efforts to fix the hole in the sky.

Where they would be in Skyhold / Haven: Faeron can be found sat by the fire by Varric in Haven and in the kitchen cooking once you reach skyhold. Nico can be found opposite her brother at Haven and in main hall on a table covered in maps and papers once you reach skyhold.

Personal quests: Twins mission ~ The Halla and the hound War table, ‘We have received word from the twins father, asking for assistance with a local lord who is causing… Trouble’ Advisor Options Leliana ~ I can spare a few of my best scouts. They can move quickly and fully assess the situation. They can also think on their feet if the need arise. Josephine ~ Ah yes. Lord Bran Perrin. He is young and… Disliked by many due to his attitude. Perhaps I can speak with a neighbouring lady I know, who holds a personal grudge? She could threaten a scandal if he does not ‘back off’? Cullen: Sneaking around and noble bickering won’t solve the real problem! Send in a small group to stand guard for a few weeks let this ‘Lord’ 👀 the clan is under inquisition protection! Any action taken against the clan will also be seen as a move against the inquisition and will be treated as such. Whichever action taken you will receive a letter from the lord requesting a meeting. The young arrogant git… I mean lord, offers you a cut of the newly imparted taxes he is now levying and says ‘If they can not provide coin we will have to find more... creative ways of receiving ‘payment.’ The inquisitor can; Side with the twins: Which leads to Nico headbutting the lord and Faeron sending a small lightning bolt shocking the him before the inquisitor forcibly recruits him *Bran can be found shoveling dung at the stables if this option is chosen. Faeron and Nico both Greatly Approve. Side with Lord Bran: Which ends with Nico telling the inquisitor exactly what he can do with the 💰. Faeron will turn and walk away sadly. Faeron and Nico both Greatly Disapprove This will also have further consequences on returning to Skyhold. Kill Lord Bran: This option does not have any lasting consequences nor does it offer any boons. Faeron Slightly Approves ~ Nico Approves The twins personal missions will not trigger unless one is romanced.

Faeron ~ Chasing the dream(er) If the inquisitor is pursuing a romance with Faeron after a certain point has been met, through banter and mission progression, will appear to become quite withdrawn from the inquisitor and will not be found with Nico, or in his usual spot in skyhold. As such the inquisitor will have to search the grounds and ask the companions if they have seen Faeron. After talking to all the companions and advisers, Faeron can be found in the undercroft sitting alone at the edge overlooking the waterfall, and in some distress. After approaching a cutscene will trigger with Faeron explaining about a mistake made long ago, a mistake that still haunts him (quite literally) to this day, a mistake that almost cost Faeron, Nico and their clan their lives. Faeron was almost killed in this experience and lost control of his magic, killing several men. Faeron still relives the experience in his darkest nightmares, and is terrified that the inquisitor may be drawn into one of these nightmares and think less of him or worse be hurt in the process. The inquisitor has the choice of - Ending the relationship OR Kiss Faeron telling him wherever life takes them, it’s now together.

Nico ~ Loves a Bitch The inquisitor if pursuing a relationship with Nico has had to sleep with her once before this mission will trigger. Once the inquisitor has slept with Nico she can be found in the courtyard sparing with Bull. At the end of the sparing the two will briefly flirt. Nico will appear happy enough but will not bring up the encounter, when asked she will simply reply something along the lines of ‘I assumed that was out of our system, and we simply move on now.’ The inquisitor can leave things as they are OR Can press for more than a one night stand. If this option is chosen Nico will laugh and say words of ‘love’ are meaningless, if you really want more, you have to best her in combat. The inquisitor will be forced to ask for help from the others in terms of strategy. (Faeron’s advice is priceless!) One the inquisitor has spoken to all the companions, a rather awesome or hilarious (depending which choice the inquisitor chooses) ‘Battle’ will ensue.

Approval / Disapproval:

Faeron is pro people, any decision that will benefit an innocent will gain friendship points from him. He is somewhat pro mages but not anti templar. He approves of kind and friendly Inquisitors. Faeron is sweet and flirty. He disapproves of evil inquisitors. Nico is pro inquisition, any decision made that strengthens your army. Recruiting any new companion, gaining resources, or upgrade made on skyhold will gain friendship from her. Nico is somewhat neutral when it comes to the mages/templars, but does believe in greater freedom for the mages. Nico can be blunt if she dislikes the inquisitor and will appear as somewhat cold until you reach skyhold. She disapproves of evil inquisitors.

Break down Approval Ratings for Major Missions:

Faeron ~ Nico If sided with the mages:

-Conscripted mages: Greatly disapproves ~ Disapproves

-Free mages: Greatly Approves ~ Approves

If sided with the Templars:

-Disband the Templars: Disapproves ~ Disapproves

-Ally with the Templars: Slightly Approves ~ Approves

In Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts:

-Celene lives: Greatly Approves ~ Approves

-Celene dies: Greatly Disapproves ~ Disapproves

In Here lies the Abyss

-Grey Wardens join the Inquisition: Approves ~ Greatly Approves

-Grey Wardens banished: Greatly Disapproves ~ Greatly Disapproves

Other (Optional):

-Cole joins: Approves ~ Slightly Disapproves

-Cole is not allowed to stay: Disapproves ~ Slightly Approves

-Saves the chargers: Greatly Approves ~ Approves -Saves the dreadnought: Greatly Disapproves ~ Disapproves - Drink from the Well: Inquisitor Drinks: Approves ~ Slightly Approves Romanced Inquisitor Drinks: Slightly Disapproves ~ Approves

Morrigan Drinks: Greatly Disapproves ~ Slightly Disapproves

Are they romanceable? Yes. Both twins are both romanceable by any male inquisitor. Faeron’s friendship route with a female inquisitor is very much like Dorian’s. Many of the flirt options will still be open.

Can you have sex with them? Does a bear shit in the woods? Faeron only if romanced Nico can be a one night stand with no negative consequences or be pursued further into a romance.

Are they open to polyamory?: Probably not. Faeron is too insecure and Nico is too territorial to share.

Relationship with the other characters?

Faeron ~ Nico

*Cassandra: Neutral ~ Friendly

*Varric: Friendly ~ Neutral

*Solas: Averse/ wary ~ Friendly

*Dorian: Friendly ~ Neutral

*Vivienne: Neutral ~ Neutral

*Blackwall: Friendly ~ Neutral

*Iron Bull: Friendly ~ Friendly

*Sera: Friendly ~ Averse

*Cole: Friendly ~ Neutral / wary

Others: (optional)

*Leliana: Neutral ~ Friendly

*Josephine: Friendly ~ Neutral

*Cullen: Neutral ~ Friendly

*Morrigan: Averse ~ Neutral

Side Missions: Faeron ~ A feast like no other! Faeron is a great cook and has been dying to make use of skyhold’s impressive kitchens since your arrival. And how better than by preparing a feast! However, to make the feast ‘like no other’ you’re going to need to go shopping for some... Odd ingredients.

Nico ~ Training day There a certain places where one should not tread... At least if you hope to keep all your blood on the inside anyway! Nico has asked to visit some of the more... ‘Perilous’ places to put herself through some serious training! And she’s kindly invited you to come along too... Great.

Special Events: Imprisoned at Redcliffe: How is your Inquisitor holding up in Redcliffe, being slowly infected with red lyrium over the course of a year?

Faeron would be a lot darker than before. Almost as if the darkness inside him he kept locked away with light and laughter, would be breaking through. He would physically shake his head a lot to try and remember himself, and make small quips about how green was never his colour. He would gladly give up his life if it meant saving the inquisitor, and resetting time.

Nico would just be angry and looking for revenge on those who infected her. A pissed powerhouse of anger.

At the Winter Palace: Does your Inquisitor enjoy the party, any special events with them at the Palace? Faeron would be enraptured by it all! The pretty-ness of everything. The food and wine! And Dancing OH! He LOVES to dance! His big eyes would be twice the size and shining brightly. He would complain about his suit though, and how daft he feel he looks in it!

Nico would be scheming. Listening, annnnnd probably threatening anyone who mistook her or Faeron as servants. She’d find the whole thing crass.

Both would have a dance scene if romanced.

In the Fade: Your Inquisitor’s reaction upon entering the Fade? Archdemon’s taunt, and Inquisitor’s response? Epitaph on their grave?

Faeron Upon entering ~ Oh... Balls. And things were going SO well too! Well, apart from the murious wardens thing... and the big dragon..

Archdemon taunt Shall we let Nicolas out to play Lavellan? He always was much more fun than you. (Evil laugh) Inquisitor’s response? Alas, you’re not his type. The melting face thing isn’t a good look.

Epitaph on their grave? Faeron died screaming in his sleep.

Nico Upon entering If Faeron is NOT present - I wish Faeron was here... If Faeron is present - This is your stomping ground isn’t it? Gods, you are way more messed up and I realised...

Archdemon taunt You’ll never be able to protect him forever Nico... Faeron will die, and you will be powerless. Inquisitor’s response? I’d like to see you make those threats again once I smash all your teeth down your throat...

Epitaph on their grave? Nico a weak feeble knifear.

Other Major Events: Any other major events that happen with them over the course of the main game? Banter: (If Faeron is in a romance with the inquisitor) Nico ~ Faeron, wha… What are you doing? Faeron ~ I think the proper term is ‘Fawning’. *Sighhhhh* Inquisitor ~ What have I told you about being adorable in public, 😍? Faeron ~ *Giggle* Nico ~ I’m going to be 😷… (If Nico is in a romance with the inquisitor) Faeron ~ *Cute noises* Nico ~ Wha-? Heh- What was that noise for?! Faeron ~ I’m just.. I’m so -. You two, It’s just so-.. *snuff snuff* Nico ~ … Faeron? Are… You 😭? Faeron ~ … *Sob*. Nooo…. Maybe. Cole (if present) ~ He is happy. He likes 👀 you both 😁. It makes him 😁 too. Sera (if present) ~ *laughs* You soppy tit! Dorian (if present) ~ Now that is precious. Varric (if present) *chuckling* Come here dreamy! There there. You are way too soft for this 💩.

Okay... That.. that was a LOT! (Sorry!) Tagging @heraldofwho @keeperscompanionsdai @dreadhobo @kagetsukai @john-cousland @gugle1980 @dinah-myles @tessa1972 No pressure as always guys!!

#faeron lavellan #nico lavellan #Twinquisition #inquisitor as companion #tagged #dragon age inquisition #MY OCs #Dalish

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squirrelwithatophat · 3 years ago

Note

Meredith’s role in toppling the previous viscount Perrin Threnhold for refusing to bow to Orlais’s financial interests is also discussed in the Codex entry History of Kirkwall: Chapter 4. The Codex entry for Viscount Marlowe Dumar (written by a commoner) notes that the Chantry chose him because they thought he would make a good puppet. According to WoT, Meredith even sent him a blood-encrusted ring just in case it wasn’t sufficiently clear where he stood. Orsino’s WoT entry talks about how Meredith wanted to block the ascension of a new First Enchanter (with Orsino only volunteering because no one else wanted the role) and how her Templars openly encouraged mages to commit suicide. Brother Genitivi also wrote in 9:24 Dragon (over a decade before the start of DA2), “Kirkwall has been a tinderbox since becoming the center of Templar power in eastern Thedas.” Numerous characters (including a captain of the city guard) casually refer to Meredith as the true power in the city, long before Viscount Dumar was killed, and even those who don’t personally know any inmates talk about about the poor conditions in the Gallows.

Notably, Meredith chose Cullen to be her second-in-command before the start of DA2 despite his complete lack of combat success or officer training and the ready availability of older, longer-serving, and much more qualified officers - and, remember, Cullen’s only claim to fame beforehand was yelling at the Hero of Ferelden (and potentially his commanding officer Greagoir) to kill all of the remaining mages of Kinloch Hold (to the extent of sparking rumors that he was a serial murderer). In DA2, Cullen emphasizes how closely his views align with Meredith’s, which probably explains how he climbed the ranks so quickly - and which should obviously be seen as a point of concern.

Even in Act 1, Gallows mages will complain “This place is a prison” and report being whipped (given “30 lashes”) for merely attempting to speak to outsiders. Even characters who approve of how the Gallows is run (Captain Ewald, Fenris, etc.) compare it to a prison. Mages who have experienced other Circles (Karl, Alain, Grace) all agree that the Gallows is much worse. According to the Templar Letter (found on the Templar Lieutenant during the Tranquility quest), Ser Bardel had reported Ser Alrik’s illegal Tranquilizations to Meredith repeatedly but had been rebuffed. Macha, Keran’s sister, complains that Templars harass people on the streets for information about apostates (one can even be seen doing this by the Docks) and that critics of Meredith have been known to mysteriously disappear. Young Templars and their relatives are openly scared of Meredith and reluctant to be overheard saying anything negative about her - at least one suspects that she outright kills recruits for perceived disloyalty. In the same quest (Enemies Among Us), Cullen (Meredith’s right-hand man) is shown beating up and threatening to kill a recruit (Wilmod) because his discomfort with anti-mage attitudes and an unauthorized absence were enough to trigger suspicions of subversive activity - he’s rather shocked to find out that the recruit is actually possessed by a demon rather than conspiring with the underground resistance. In Act of Mercy, Ser Thrask solicits Hawke’s help because he fears other Templars will massacre all the Starkhaven mages if they aren’t convinced to surrender soon and calls simple kindness to mages “a badge of shame” among Kirkwall’s Templars. If Hawke convinces the Starkhaven mages to surrender, Ser Karras will say that Meredith prefers to simply kill malcontents so that they can’t cause any more trouble or corrupt their fellows. Meredith will then order 3 of the Starkhaven mages made Tranquil at random, and Alain says that Karras has been threatening to make him Tranquil too if he reports being sexual assaulted. This of course is neither the first nor the last instance of Tranquility being used punitively - recall Maddox and Karl - and a number of characters will refer to the practice. Grace and Alain openly regret surrendering and say that the Gallows is even worse than they had anticipated, complaining about Templars beating mages regularly and without anyone seeming to care. Tranquil mages are shown off in the Gallows courtyard selling merchandise to members of the public, which Anders suspects is intended to intimidate other mages. Despite being a wealthy noble with Orlesian connections (where such status generally grants major privileges relative to ordinary Circle mages), and despite being harmless and fairly submissive (at least until his escape in Act 3), Emile de Launcet was denied any opportunity to see his parents in the twenty or so years since he was locked away (a time period extending long before the start of DA2), being restricted only to weekly letters. The only mages who have anything positive to say about Meredith and her cronies are the Tranquil, who are literally incapable of free thought and only repeat what their masters tell them.

Again, this is all before Meredith was exposed to Red Lyrium.

I've been replaying DA2 lately and wanted ask your opinion on Knight Commander Meredith? Do you think her extreme actions would have been done if she wasn't being influenced by red lyrium?

I think that the red lyrium was certainly a contributing factor, but I think that it only amplified what was already there.

Meredith was already a terrible person before she ever came in contact with the red lyrium:

Her sister was a mage and their parents hid her from the Circle because they knew she would suffer there, and when the templars came for her, she went into a panic and became an abomination. But rather than see this as a problem with the Circle system–you know, the reason it happened–Meredith’s logic was that it was that mages deserve to be treated harshly because they’re all dangerous. So she became a templar. That’s the reason she became a templar. (From WoTv2)

And do you know how she became Knight-Commander? When Divine Beatrix III ordered the previous Knight-Commander to force the Viscount to reopen the Waking Sea passage for Orlesian ships, he was captured and hanged. So Meredith stormed the keep and the viscount was arrested for ruling his own fucking city instead of doing what Orlais wanted, and Elthina elected Meredith as the new Knight-Commander. Meredith then saw that Viscount Dumar was chosen so that she could control him and he would never defy the templars. (Also from WoTv2)

She used tranquility as a punishment regardless if mages passed their Harrowing or not, and for petty things like what happened with Maddox and Samson (Samson was exiled from the templars for passing love letters to Maddox’s sweetheart, and Maddox was made Tranquil) and as an intimidation tactic by making mages tranquil at random (according to Alain in Act 1)

She let the templars beat and rape mages, abusing them in every other way you can think of as well (again, mages in the Gallows talk about this in Act 1 ambient dialogue, before the red lyrium)

“Knight Commander Meredith would kill us all if she could” - ambient dialogue from a mage in the Gallows in Act 1

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #knight commander meredith #meredith stannard #anti templar #pro mage #kirkwall gallows #red lyrium #da meta #dragon age meta

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crispyblonde-a · 7 years ago

Text

post TEN characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back, then tag ten people to do the same. ( If you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can and tag the same amount of people. )

PLEASE REPOST INSTEAD OF REBLOGGING.

CURRENTLY PLAYING:

** I’m putting all of them**

JESSICA MOORE, supernatural // LEAH CLEARWATER, twilight // JACK PORTER, revenge // RAISA TURNER, supernatural oc // PAXTON WHITMORE, fandomless oc // RUFUS TURNER, supernatural // BOBBY SINGER, supernatural // ELLEN HARVELLE, supernatural //JODY MILLS, supernatural // DONNA HANSCUM, supernatural // ALEX JONES, supernatural // MILES ASHER, supernatural // SAMANTHA WINCHESTER, supernatural // GARTH FITZGERALD IV, supernatural // BALTHAZAR, supernatural // SIDNEY CARMICHAEL, supernatural oc // CHARLOTTE PERRIN, supernatural oc // THE MOORE FAMILY, supernatural ocs // TRINI KWAN, power rangers 2017 // ZACK TAYLOR, power rangers 2017 //QUIL ATEARA, twilight // TIFFANY CALL, twilight // NESSA CHIBAN, shameless

HAVE PLAYED:

JARED CAMERON, twilight // ESME CULLEN, twilight // EMBRY CALL, twilight // DEAN WINCHESTER, supernatural // MADELINE CANTREMEMBERHERLASTNAME, supernatural oc omg my first oc, my first tumblr indie character -- brings me back // SAM ULEY, twilight // LISA BRAEDEN, supernatural // the twilight wolf pack will forever be my babes okay, I think there’s more random ocs that I’ve played but that might actually be it otherwise

WOULD LIKE TO PLAY:

RUMPLESTILTSKIN, once upon a time // CHERYL BLOSSOM, riverdale // MAZIKEEN, lucifer // EMILY PRENTISS, criminal minds // LAUREL LANCE, arrow // QUENTIN LANCE, arrow // OPIE WINSTON, sons of anarchy // KEVIN BALL, shameless // LIP GALLAGHER, shameless // ANNIE WILSON, 90210

TAGGED BY: @ratherbewild (forever ago) TAGGING: whoever wants to do this one

#『♟』 ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴍᴇᴇᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʏᴇ (mun meme)

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nightowlwriting · 2 months ago

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summary: “Alright,” Anders says. There’s noise like he’s adjusting the way he’s standing, or maybe pushing himself up to sit on Perrin’s desk, and then a few heartbeats of silence. “Would it make you feel better if I told you that I want you to hurt me?”

word count: 4.2k

warnings: ss&c, implied/referenced drug addiction, grief, unhealthy coping mechanisms, sex as a coping mechanism, knife mentioned, dom/sub undertones, manhandling

note: perrin is a morally grey character!! he also doesn't know carver is still alive so the loss of his mother (paired with bethany being a grey warden) left him angrier and more prone to acts of violence. he and anders also have a barely healthy relationship with all of the shit between the both of them, but everything that happens in this fic (and future installments) is 100% consensual.

title credit: saintseneca

kinktober masterlist: here

perrin hawke: here

mobile masterlist - request - ao3

Perrin Hawke is alone in his sitting room when the knock on his door comes. It’s late, and he’s already dismissed Sandal and Bodahn to their quarters for rest. Even Lothering doesn’t raise his head, instead huffing and rolling to bask his other side in front of the fire.

“Sure,” Perrin says sarcastically to the hound, “I’ll get the door.” He’s just on the right side of drunk - the room isn’t spinning, nor is his stomach, but that’s not going to be the truth for long. The door is just a temporary distraction from the shit-show that his life has been since the Blight forced his family from their home. It doesn’t matter that Amell House is the family seat he rightfully owns, it’s not home. So he stumbles to the door, footsteps echoing in his silent and empty front room, and tries to right his finery before he opens the door.

Knight-Captain Cullen Rutherford is standing on the other side and for a brief moment Perrin is disappointed. He thought it would have been… Well, the news had to have spread through Hightown to Darktown, and he thought… Actually, Perrin isn’t too sure he wants to see any of his normal companions at the door, especially not any of his mage companions. Regardless, the Knight-Captain isn’t wearing his usual armor and has a bottle of brandy in one hand, looking contrite (for something that he did not do, Perrin notices), and then shrugs. “I heard the news. Figured that you would empty out the wine cellar before you’d be caught in the Hanged Man tonight.”

Perrin doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t really have to. He just looks down on the Knight-Captain and then runs a hand down his face. “Thanks, Cullen,” He eventually says, instead of all the things he wants to say, “But I’m not very good company right now.” And he punctuates the silent and I don’t want anyone to accompany me with a wry smile.

Cullen stutters - because that’s what Cullen does when he’s nervous and Perrin makes him nervous. Everyone knows that his father was an apostate and that his parents sired two mighty warriors who fought at Ostagar and one apostate mage that, until three or so years prior, roamed Kirkwall freely because of the threat that Perrin is. He’s six and a half feet tall and as broad as a barn, which had come in handy doing small labor jobs and mercenary work in Lothering. Saved his life, and Carver’s, at Ostagar. “No, yes,” Cullen says, “I - I understand. I only meant to, well, I only meant to drop this off and leave.” He passes the brandy over and it’s a good brand. He’s almost surprised, but then in a second he takes in Cullen’s appearance: thinner than the week prior (but that might just be that he’s without armor), deep bags underneath his tired eyes, and a light haze over his eyes. Perrin is smart enough to know when a man’s lyrium dose has been upped, again, and knows that Knight-Commander Meredith also pairs that with a pay increase to keep the Templars from straying too far from her orders.

He takes the brandy from Cullen, but it feels wrong. Everything feels wrong, really, so that isn’t a surprise. “Thanks, Cullen,” Perrin finally says, trying for a smile. “You’re right, this might be better than wasting all the fancy wine that’s been aging for years. And I won’t be caught at the Hanged Man. Surely you’d see me on the stocks in the morning if I went.” He laughs to tell Cullen that it’s a joke and Cullen chuckles too, rubbing the back of his neck. There are a few moments of awkward silence, with Cullen shuffling and unable to be still and Perrin standing at his door like a statue.

Once upon a time, he’d thought about pursuing Cullen. The man is handsome, wise beyond his years, and honorable. Perrin hadn’t pursued him because of those last two facts - he couldn’t stand the thought of sullying someone like Cullen Rutherford. Still, they’ve formed a strong friendship just by being two Ferelden men in another country, chased from their homes because of the Blight.

“Well, I should be returning to my chambers,” Cullen nods decisively. He shakes Perrin’s hand and smiles when Perrin claps him on the back.

“Don’t let Meredith take too much from you,” Perrin warns just before Cullen leaves, “She’ll steal your life with that leash if you’re not careful.” He doesn’t stay at the door to see Cullen’s face, instead pressing the heavy wood closed and setting the brandy on one of his console tables as he passes. He’s very careful to act normally as he passes the hearth where a fire had been minutes before and doesn’t look for where Lothering is as he climbs the stairs to his room. The windows leading to his room have all had their curtains drawn and now his bedroom door is slightly open.

Perrin slips an ornate dagger out of a sheath that’s strapped to his thigh. He’s never unarmed, and neither are the other highborns or those who ascended to Hightown. Most Kirkwallers take a note from the Orlesian playbook and never leave themselves truly vulnerable. It’s more for status and image than anything practical, but Perrin isn’t like most people who live in Hightown. He’s more equipped to exist in Darktown, where brawn and brains get you further than money. That’s why when the person hiding behind his bedroom door lunges for him, it’s only a few seconds before he’s wrestled them against the wall, dagger tip pressed dangerously between their ribs, not breaking fabric or skin.

Yet.

Perrin’s chest is bellowing, his teeth bared like a rabid animal’s. He’s almost growling, looking for a fight just to get some of the errant emotions swirling in his chest. It almost doesn’t register that he’s pinning Anders - nearly half a foot shorter than him and much thinner, too - to the wall. The mage doesn’t even flinch but yields to Perrin’s tight hold and the press of the larger man’s body. He smiles softly and says, “Sorry, love, I just wanted to surprise you.” Perrin jerks away, dropping the knife and separating himself.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here,” He finally says, bristling when he turns his back on Anders. It’s not Anders that he has a problem with right now, but magic in general. The wound in his chest, however metaphorical, is still raw and aching. He can taste the magic in the air between them, just like he’d been able to hear the humming of lyrium when Cullen was at his door. Perrin chalks it up to being mage-blooded, especially with how powerful of a mage his father was. Still, the air ripples as Anders walks closer, and Perrin bodily flinches away.

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Anders says, still, knowing that maybe touching Perrin isn’t the best idea right now.

“I shouldn’t be near mages right now,” Perrin bites, striding to his desk if only to put some distance between the cloying taste of magic against his soft palate. He would say more but he risks ruining the burgeoning relationship that they have. He’s already going to have to apologize to Merrill for how he’d turned on her when she’d tried to offer him comfort.

Is it worth it now? Is your precious blood magic worth it? This is what you are. This is who you are. You’re just like him.

It’s unfair, but Merrill knows and has known how Perrin feels about blood magic. He doesn’t mind magic, or mages in general, but blood magic is an entirely different animal. He can’t stand the way it tastes in the air, or how it’s never enough. When he sees the scars on Merrill’s palms or arms, he flinches visibly. After the first time, before the Deep Roads, he’d cried to Bethany and begged her to promise him that she’d never turn to blood magic. She’d sworn on Carver’s grave that she’d never resort to that.

Anders doesn’t say anything because he knows that Perrin is right, but the mage has also never been good at following orders or listening to reason. He’d escaped Kinlock Hold time and time again because of that. He’d been so desperate to get to Kirkwall to find Karl, and instead found Perrin. The hand on his lower back almost physically hurts just as much as the loss of his mother. “I won’t use magic,” Anders says, voice low as he moves around to be in front of Perrin, “I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

And suddenly, Perrin is blindingly angry. Just like the day prior, when he’d lit his mother’s pyre, he can feel the anger burning past white-hot into something more dangerous. His lips curl in a snarl and he shoves Anders back, the blond man catching himself on the ornate desk. He looks shocked, Perrin thinks, and I like it. “And what about what I do want?” He presses close to Anders, jerking him lightly by the front of his robes, “What will you do, then, Anders?” He snarls his lover’s name to make it hurt, but there’s no reaction besides a small smile. Perrin shakes him again just to do something.

“Anything you do want,” Anders supplies, “I trust that if I use the watch-word you’ll stop.” Perrin pushes away, turning his back again, and moves to stand in front of the fireplace.

“And you think that will fix me?” He scoffs, “You think that if I fuck you that I won’t be like this anymore?”

“No,” Anders says without moving from the desk, “I think if you fuck me the way you want to - the way you’re afraid to - that it will give you something to take your frustration out on.” His voice is soft, like Perrin will break with any more force behind the words.

Perrin’s not sure he wouldn’t break, honestly. The anger inside of him darkens and turns into something else - lust that swirls like smoke in his ribcage and leaves him grinding his teeth. “No,” He finally says, “You may trust me, but I shouldn’t be doing anything like that right now.”

“Alright,” Anders says. There’s noise like he’s adjusting the way he’s standing, or maybe pushing himself up to sit on Perrin’s desk, and then a few heartbeats of silence. “Would it make you feel better if I told you that I want you to hurt me?”

Perrin turns around, slowly. His heart is thundering and the fire in his veins is starting to feel good instead of world-ending. His lover is sitting on his desk, all sharp angles and loose hair. It hands around his face and shoulders like a perverted halo as he smiles at Perrin, leaning back on his hands like an invitation. “Why would you want to be hurt?” Perrin asks, unable to help the way his voice drops or his trousers tighten. Anders has always been so good at reading him - he’d be afraid the man was reading his mind if he didn’t know any better. “Who wants that?”

“I do,” Anders answers, instead of rising to the obvious bait, “And I think you want to hurt me.” He adjusts again and begins to peel himself out of the linen shirt he’d worn to Perrin’s home. He doesn’t pressure Perrin to answer or to do anything, simply slowly strips down as he sits on the other’s desk. Perrin stands back to the fire watching as each inch of skin is revealed: scars, freckles, tan lines. He can practically taste his lover’s skin underneath his tongue, feel the resistance of it underneath his teeth.

He’s always hungered for dark things. Not in the way of forcing his partner to do things that they don’t want, but forcing them to do the things they do want. Perrin wants his partner to push back, to be a brat, to force him to use his strength on them. He wants to mark them as his, fuck them so thoroughly that anyone with half a brain will be able to see them and know that they belong to Perrin Hawke.

He wants to own them: body, mind, soul - if only for the hours that they’re in his bed. But how can he say that? How can he tell Anders these things when he’d spent every year of his life past twelve years old subjugated, owned, trapped? How can Perrin admit that he wants to fuck him until he’s crying, until he can’t speak, until he only begs?

And yet: here is Anders completely naked on his desk, cock hard, asking Perrin to do those things to him. To hurt him.

Perrin licks his teeth and drops one hand to his own cock, holding pressure there so that he can try and think. He screws his eyes shut and ignores the part of him that wants to do nothing but take and destroy and struggles to find the part of him that had stepped up and taken on the role of man of the house when his father died. “I shouldn’t.”

“Says who?” Anders snaps, “The Chantry? Fuck the Chantry. I want you to hurt me, Perrin, I want to ache.” He groans and Perrin’s eyes fly open to find him stroking his cock, sat there on Perrin’s desk like he owns it. “I want to feel you burn,” He gasps, pressing on his frenulum and then stroking again, and shudders, “I want be a mess, to be so fucked-out I can’t think about anything. I want you to use me.”

Perrin can feel himself just standing about, mouth open and hand pressed flat on his cock. He knows he should do something - say no, say yes, leap across the room and take Anders every way that he knows how to and some that he doesn’t yet know how to. Instead, he just shudders, squeezing his groin, and groans. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“We already have-” Anders takes a second to writhe, circling his thumb and pointer-finger around the base of his dick to squeeze, “-We already have a watch-word. We’re already two men. How much worse can we get?” He grins, hand not otherwise occupied flexing on his thigh before pressing flat against his abdomen. Perrin watches it move up, up, up until Anders is pinching his nipple so hard it looks painful.

“I won’t be nice,” Perrin finally says, nearly choking on his lust. Anders grins, knowing he’s made his case as he watches Perrin frantically remove his shirt and shoes. He divests himself of his trousers as he crosses the room and doesn’t even go for his dick, despite the fire-warmed air making it twitch. He stops himself just short of Anders, chest heaving and feeling like he’s lost his mind, “I won’t ask for what I want,” He explains, voice rough as he tries to reel himself in. It makes Anders shiver, “I won’t stop if you say no, I won’t stop if you beg, I won’t stop if you fight. I will only stop if you say the watch-word.”

“Yes,” Anders moans, abandoning his futile attempt to not tug himself off before Perrin got his hands on him, “All of that.”

“I will be mean,” Perrin grits his teeth, watching the mesmerizing way Anders’ hand moves on his cock, the way that the head of his dick begins to redden and his thighs begin to shake. “I will do what I want when I want it. I don’t care if you don’t come or if you come too much.” His lover just nods, mouth falling open as he huffs out breaths of pleasure. Perrin watches for a few moments more before he can’t take it anymore. That dark, smoke-like lust in his chest overtakes him and he gives in to it. Anders doesn’t flinch when Perrin lunges at him, only shouts another yes! as he’s manhandled.

Perrin grabs him by the shoulders and twists, tossing Anders off of the desk. He doesn’t care if Anders lands on his feet or arse, just that Perrin towers over him when he’s not sitting on the desk. He grabs Anders by the hair and forces him toward the fire - not a mindless monster by any standards, but he holds the hair in a tight fist. Enough to hurt, but not to harm. When they get close enough and Anders realizes that Perrin isn’t going to stop before his face hits the brick, he catches himself on his hands. It brings a predatory grin to Perrin’s face, who leans in close to his ear. “Good boy,” He growls, “You learn quick.”

“I-I,” Anders manages, gasping when Perrin kicks his feet apart. Perrin mocks his stuttering gasp and grips Anders’s hip. He can’t resist the siren call of the broad expanse of naked skin holding the man by the head and hip affords him, so he leans down and sinks teeth in, drawing a howl from the trapped man. “Yes!”

Perrin jerks him back by the hair and then spins him around. Anders has tears in his eyes and a flush running from the bridge of his nose to the hardness of his cock. He grips at Perrin’s arm to hold himself up and look pathetic. It makes Perrin moan. “Look at you,” He rumbles, leaning down to press their noses together, “Look at how much I’ve already ruined you. I’ve barely touched you.”

“Please,” Anders gasps, trying to lean up to kiss Perrin. He can’t move past the hand holding him still. “Please!”

“Kneel.” Perrin says instead, dropping Anders’ hair and taking a step back. Anders barely catches himself, legs wobbly, and Perrin grins something sharp and feral again. He reaches down to stroke himself slowly, feeling pent up. Anders just stares and watches as Perrin preens and allows it for a moment. And then he snaps his fingers, “I said kneel.” He snarls, baring his teeth as anger chases lust through his veins. It feels good, feels better when Anders tilts his chin up and sneers.

“Make me.” His eyes flash for just a moment and Perrin isn’t sure who’s talking: Anders, Justice, or the fucked-up amalgam of them both that he’s taken to calling Vengeance. He cocks his head, waiting for the light to die down, and then Anders speaks again. “I said: make me.” It’s only then, in that moment where Perrin is sure it’s his lover speaking and not the spirit inside of his lover, that he moves.

“Incorrigible bastard,” Perrin gripes, manhandling Anders back several steps only to throw him off balance. He sweeps a leg behind the other man’s and presses against the back of his knees, all the while pressing down on his shoulders. Anders falls to his knees with a shout and a loud impact, but Perrin doesn’t stop moving. He can’t think past the throbbing of his cock, the memory of muscle and skin beneath his teeth. The sight of Anders on his knees, bite mark bruising on his shoulder, and an agog look on his face nearly makes Perrin spill right then. Instead, he almost gently rubs his thumb over Anders’ bottom lip before his face twists in a grin. Perrin shifts his hand so that his first two fingers are lying where his thumb just was and then he presses.

Perrin laughs almost antagonistically when Anders gags against fingers that are so much longer than his own, tears welling in his amber eyes almost immediately. He doesn’t pull away, or vomit, but closes his lips around Perrin’s fingers and sucks.

It becomes clear to both of them very quickly what move Perrin will make next. He almost doesn’t know he’s moving until his fingers are free from Anders’ mouth and his spit-soaked hand is in the mage’s hair again. “Open your fucking mouth,” He snaps, almost too impatient to do any of the things he wants to do. “I’m going to come down your throat, and you’re going to thank me, and then I’m going to fuck you until you beg me to stop.”

The only thing Anders says, just before his mouth is full of cock, is: “Please, yes, please!”

He’s not a monster, so the first push of Perrin’s dick is slow and steady. He holds Anders by the hair, the other hand steadying his length as he gasps - gasps and watches. It’s almost like a miracle the way that Anders looks on his knees, the way that he squirms and his eyes roll back in his head like he’s feeling the white-hot knife of pleasure that curls around Perrin’s spine. The first few push-pulls are just like that: slow, elaborate, all-consuming. “Maker guide me,” He groans, trying not to fist too hard in the mage’s hair and failing, “Andraste’s Sword of Mercy strike me.”

Perrin loses himself after that. Both hands grip the sides of his lover’s head as he moves faster and harder; he hisses when Anders grips at his thighs, nails leaving crescent marks and red lines. The pleasure burns, chasing away all of the dark thoughts and bad feelings, if only temporarily. He’s gasping for air, unable to decide if he wants to tip his head back and keep his eyes closed as he chases his end or watch as Anders chokes on his cock.

Anders groans, and gags, but doesn’t complain. He doesn’t pull away or pinch Perrin’s thigh - their watch-word for when they have their mouths full. Instead, when Perrin goes back to watching with his mouth open, chin against his chest and ragged groans filling the room, Anders relaxes his throat even more. He catches Perrin’s eyes and - oh, the bastard - he hums.

“Mine,” It slips out unbidden, chased by the roiling pleasure and power that he feels with Anders on his knees, “You’re mine, I don’t care who’s in your head,” He bares his teeth when, for just a moment, Anders holds himself all of the way down, gagging on Perrin’s cock. “Fuck, yes, just like that baby.” Perrin jerks Anders back by the hair, ignoring the way that the mage groans when his mouth loses contact. He holds, for just a moment, and then brings one hand up like he’s going to strike Anders.

“Say the word now,” Perrin warns, “If you don’t want me to slap you.”

“Maker,” Anders gasps, voice ragged through his gasping. He’s still gripping Perrin’s thighs, his own splayed wide as he thrusts at nothing but searches for everything, “Yes, I want it. Hit me, Perrin, please.”

He rears back even more and slaps Anders. The crack of his hand is almost deafening and he sees, for a brief moment, Justice flash to the surface. Anders either wrestles him down or he realizes what’s happening when he sees Perrin standing above him completely naked. Anders gasps when he comes back to himself and his body shudders. Instead of putting his cock back into his lover’s mouth, Perrin takes himself in hand. “No,” Anders whines, “I want - please, I want to swallow you.”

Perrin’s teeth flash in the light when he forces Anders to swallow him down again, focusing less on hurting like Anders had wanted and more on coming like he needs to. It doesn't take long with his cock in the tight, wet, heat of the other man's mouth. Typically Anders has control, chooses the pace, brings Perrin to peak in the way the he wants. Tonight he just lets Perrin chase that high, choking on the dick in his throat.

Only a few moments after the slap - that has left the man's face reddening - Perrin’s hips begin to stutter. He knows he's saying filthy things (I own you, I want you to taste me for weeks, I want to live inside of your body) but he doesn't care. He only cares about the fire in his veins, the way his body is tensing, the right feeling deep in his stomach. He only cares that Anders isn't even reaching for his ass, or his sac, or any of the places that he usually grabs and kneads to help Perrin along. The most Anders can do is keep his grip where it's at and take it.

It's that thought that finally makes Perrin come. Anders is taking it, every dark part of his desires, because he wants to. Perrin isn't forcing him, isn't making him, isn't hurting him in a way that he doesn't like. Anders is willingly taking the rough edges of Perrin, the way that the larger man can use his strength and size to be indomitable - in the bedroom or otherwise. The heat races through his body and he feels himself still with Anders’ nose pressed against him, groaning and writhing as he comes. He feels like he's been struck in the gut, knees weak when he pulls away but then Anders is swallowing - swallowing and smiling up at Perrin like he's gotten exactly what he wanted in the first place. He leans forward and bites Perrin in the thigh, hissing when he gets tugged back by his hair.

“I believe,” Anders says, voice hoarse, “That you promise me more.”

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 6 years ago

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“Police blocked an access road outside Houston, B.C. Monday in preparation to enforce a court injunction against camps set up by members of the Unist’ot’en house and Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation who were resisting an LNG pipeline slated to run through their unceded territory.

Media who were not already on the other side of the police road block, including APTN News and a CBC TV crew from Vancouver, were turned away.

NDP MP Nathan Cullen was also prohibited from accessing the site.

“It sounds like the RCMP is once again using every tactic that they can to bend the law as much as possible to prevent journalists from gaining access to sites,” says Tom Henheffer, vice president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

“This is a tactic that is very commonly employed and is very difficult to fight against in the moment because [police] know that when you’ve got a bunch of officers with guns telling people what they can and cannot do, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether the law is on the RCMP’s side or not — because it takes too long for a journalist to get a lawyer, go to court to get an order to allow them to get on to the site.”

APTN News was told by an officer they were barred because of safety concerns during the police operation and could be arrested and charged with obstruction if they tried to pass the checkpoint to do their jobs.

APTN observed that while reporters were barred, company workers were allowed to pass through the checkpoint.

Not long after a convoy of RCMP vehicles carrying members of the tactical and paramilitary arms arrived at the remote site around 10 a.m., the social media feeds of journalists at the Gidimt’en camp went silent.

Joanna Chiu, deputy bureau chief at The Star Vancouver, tweeted that she hadn’t heard from reporters Jesse Winter and Perrin Grauer.

“RCMP told me communications have ‘been cut’ in the [Unist’ot’en Camp] area and blame a satellite issue, denying RCMP had anything to do with it.”

The Twitter feeds of CBC reporter Chantelle Bellrichard also went silent. As did that of Sawyer Bogdan, a reporter with local radio station The Moose.”

- Justin Brake, “RCMP denial of journalists’ access to protest site frightening,’ says press freedom advocate.” APTN News, January 8, 2019.

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lesetoilesfous · 2 years ago

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Hey! I’m surprised this is your take on it as a fellow queer person. Here’s a couple details you might have missed:

- The Chantry was closed when Anders blew it up. There were no civilians inside.

- The Chantry in the game, and churches at this point in history, are not exclusively apolitical buildings. At this point, because Elthina has refused to ask Meredith to appoint a new viscount, the Chantry is the seat of power: think Houses of Parliament.

- Meredith has by this point (note, illegally) received permission for the Rite of Annulment, which Anders knows. So the mages are going to die either way: it’s just going to be a quiet, legal slaughter of 800 6-80yr olds, the same as has happened every generation for 700 yrs, or Anders can draw attention to it: force Kirkwall to take notice and give the mages a chance in the chaos.

- Terrorism is a very modern term, that refers to a very specific kind of violence. It’s not what’s being done here. Anders, as part of a group about to suffer a genocide, is acting in self defence. He is not trying to instil fear in a peaceful civilian population. He is trying to prevent the genocidal slaughter of nearly 1000 people in a city that has been under a religious, military dictatorship for over 2yrs.

- What do you think gives Hawke the ‘right’? They’re neither a legally appointed figure of the city justice system (Aveline) or, if you’re comfortable with the religious military dictatorship, the church (Cullen.) They also are not themself innocent of massive bloodshed: by the end of the game you’ve killed 500-800 citizens, primarily poor people and refugees. This is much more than Anders’ c.200 in the Chantry boom (which is the canon figure, it was an extremely localised blast designed for minimal collateral damage, despite BioWare’s attempts to retcon.)

There is an enormous flaw in the ‘peaceful protest’ logic, which becomes especially acute in a context of state violence and genocide. You cannot ‘peacefully protest’ a state which is in the act of committing genocide against your community, because the state has made it clear that by its own laws and fabricated ‘moral’ structure, your existence is less important to it than its right to violence against you. This is something, tragically, that thousands of communities - including ours, the queer community - have suffered for hundreds of years.

Perhaps if the Chantry simply preached doctrine that deliberately encouraged mages to s*icide, but didn’t actively draw swords on children themselves. Perhaps if there was a check or balance to prevent things like Meredith so easily receiving the Rite of Annulment. Perhaps if Elthina hadn’t, prior to DA2, made Kirkwall a theocracy by imprisoning and executing Perrin Threnhold before declaring the Chantry and Knight Commander would appoint future viscounts - effectively making the Chantry the head of the state of Kirkwall in order to give tax discounts to Orlais.

Perhaps if there was an authority Anders could have gone to - and remember, he does try. For 10 years he tries to debate, to persuade, to use political channels. He speaks to Elthina herself. He doesn’t wage wars on the Templars. He provides free health care to Kirkwall’s poorest citizens which the church refuses to provide.

But that’s not the situation we’re presented with in game.

I get it: the doctrine of empire and Christian hegemony is intoxicating. I don’t know your context, but I do know these things are pervasive in English language media and that you’ve played at least one game made in the US.

I used to think this way about peaceful protest! I was raised in a very white Catholic school. I used to say the ‘turn the other cheek’ stuff and genuinely believe it. Then I learned the actual history of Malcolm X. I learned queer history. I saw Colin Kaepernick take a knee and watched the US police keep murdering people.

This isn’t on you, and at the end of the day, it’s a video game.

But one of the things that troubles me about this, and these discussions in fandom generally, is some of the underlying logic. For example, here, the statement: “if a man tried to prevent the police from committing genocide against over 800 of his people, including children and the elderly, I think it should be my right as a civilian to summarily execute him without trial.”

That’s not entirely fair on you - it’s video game logic, and as a video game protagonist, Hawke exists in a weird position of authority against other civilians.

But I, personally, certainly wouldn’t respect a leader who did this. I’m more interested in the prevention of genocide than acting as another arm of a corrupt, violent, bigoted state.

It’s a video game. But peaceful protest is not always the answer. Not in the face of genocide, or war. And the state propaganda that says individual citizens are never entitled to violence, not even in self defence, not even when they’re going to be murdered, is just one tool used to facilitate the slaughter of marginalised communities.

As a queer person, personally, I feel like it’s my responsibility to disagree with that.

I regret to inform you that a Hawke who executes Anders is Literally the Villain

oh but he killed people - you killed over 400 people as the player character, and when you did it you weren't saving anyone's lives but your own

oh but violence is never the answer - truly hilarious coming from Hawke but also it was Literally to prevent a genocide and 10 years of peaceful protest didn't even convince you to do something

oh but he lied to me - I like that we've now decided execution is an appropriate response to lying. Fun fact: that literally wasn't even the case in medieval law

oh but it was for his own good - very fun that you picked the ableist eugenics argument there

oh but he was a demon - historically we haven't seen demons sit down and wait for death very often. Disregarding the lack of consistent visual design with any demons, the fact Justice in the Fade self-identifies as Justice, and the fact that even the Chantry boom was Just violence, don't you think an out of control and dangerous demon would have uhhhhh put up a fight?

oh but - No. I don't want to hear it. You looked at a man violently oppressed by a theocratic dictatorship, attempting to save a marginalised community from genocide by the state, and made yourself judge, jury and executioner on the side of the religious dictators. You voted yes to police brutality, up to and including ad hoc execution.

I want you to take a long, hard look at yourself and ask yourself why that felt morally good. It wasn't.

#dragon age meta #Anders da2 #genocide #suicide #police brutality

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idolbound · 2 years ago

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POWER & PLAYING THE POLITICAL GAME IN KIRKWALL

Meredith’s Ascension

Living in Kirkwall, with its divided population of Hightown nobles, templar and Chantry folk, Lowtown commoners and the poor of the undercity, there are powerful politics at play, creating tensions and forcing decisive action for those who seek to retain power and control of the city-state.

For Meredith Stannard, her hunger for power began at a young age, when her familial nepotism granted her the title of Knight-Captain in 9:14 Dragon, in her early 20s inherited by her physically ill and failing father figure, Ser Wentworth Kell. It is said, though, before then she had all but taken the role in everything but its title, for several years. Her cohort of templar knights did not believe her worthy of being given the rank, but her skills and ability to lead soon changed their minds when her newly implemented rules led to more effective monitoring of mages in the Gallows, believing that stricter laws and routines would help create safer spaces for mages as to not allow distress and unexpected surprises (which is implemented given what happened to Meredith’s sister, Amelia), and to make it easier to detect anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, her greatly charismatic nature helped her cohort believe in her as Knight-Captain, following her willingly when conflicts between the current residing Viscount and the Knight-Commander came to a head.

In 9:20, Viscount Perrin Threnhold constricted trade into Kirkwall’s ports with the Orlesians, charging them extortionate fees to allow their ships through. Orlais retaliated with threat of invasion, and the Divine Beatrix III used the templars to pressure the Viscount. In response, Threnhold attempted to expel the templars from Kirkwall with hired mercenaries who stormed the Gallows, arresting Knight-Commander Guylian, and executing him soon thereafter.

In response, Meredith led the templars - which, at that point in time, were the largest armed force within Kirkwall - to the Viscount’s Keep with the intention of arresting and deposing Threnhold. It was her charisma, her natural leadership, and her order that the Templars followed willingly. Threnhold was then arrested, tried, and jailed in his own prison by Grand Cleric Elthina, dying two years later from a successful assassination attempt using poison.

It is this event that led to Meredith being named Knight-Commander by the Grand Cleric, in her early 30s. It was Meredith's suggestion then to appoint Marlowe Dumar - a man known to have a “good heart” but a “weak will.” This choice was intentional. Newly knighted as Kirkwall’s top templar, Meredith asserted her control over the Viscount at his crowning, by sending him Threnhold’s blood encrusted signet ring in an ivory carved box, inscribed with ‘His fate need not be yours’ as a constant reminder that she now had full control and could easily lead another revolt with her Templar forces, should the need arise.

Of course, this decision was not made entirely on her own; it is, of course, a shared plot with the Grand Cleric to prevent the Viscount from following any decisions of his predecessor that should threaten the city-state. With this arrangement in mind, Meredith’s influence controlled Dumar’s decisions for a decade while the strength of the templars under her command grew tenfold.

Meredith’s Methods & Political Players

From this event onward, Knight-Commander Meredith ruled the Gallows for seventeen years until the end of Act III, without assassination, injury, or political issues to dethrone her. In this time, Meredith sought whatever means necessary to maintain and control power of the city-state from her position. Some means were more traditional, keeping her templars on short leashes, and mages locked up and contained to the Gallows. Others, were less traditional and more... subtle and underlying.

Cullen, for example, was someone who reminded her of herself - young and traumatized by mages and magic, but someone she could mould into following her beliefs and rulings, and eventually, ensure her legacy continues by making him her successor. She saw promise within him, despite his young age, and hoped to ensure that what she did in life would continue after her eventual retirement and death. This is why his betrayal later feels so personal - he betrays everything she instilled in him.

A key player in this, is of course, Grand Cleric Elthina. Elthina is the one person that Meredith seems to bow to, respecting (albeit begrudgingly) her command when told to step down or back off. She is the key player and connection to the Divine and the Chantry, and arguably, is the only one who can leash Meredith - that is, until her death.

Meredith is also jealous of Hawke when they are the ones to fight the Arishok, earning themselves the rightful title of Champion, when it should’ve been another accolade for herself. Hawke is a key contender for power and influence during their time in the city-state, presenting themselves also as the biggest potential thorn in her side, especially, should they side with the mages during the later rising conflicts - or, alternatively, becoming the Viscount (though, this comes through siding with the templars up until a certain point until they stand in opposition to Meredith). Either way, Hawke’s role is an unprecedented one, and why Meredith always expresses caution around them and their party.

Other “behind the scenes” actions Meredith takes include bribery and cutthroat threats, though she often has her templar knights take action more than she does herself, busy with the administrative side of running the Gallows. But, every action taken is done so under a guise in the name of justice and protection of innocent civilians. The most extreme method she sought out was of course, the red lyrium idol. This came as part of her desperation, where she saw conflicts arising after her decision to invoke martial law and neglect to pick a new Viscount to replace Dumar. She needed something more, and pure lyrium seemed an obvious choice to her, no matter its cost - even though, it is what killed her, in the end.

Summation

Meredith is a key political player in Kirkwall, and her insatiable appetite for power guides her every move within the Gallows and beyond, using her influence to maintain law and order at all costs. This desire to be in control stems from the trauma of losing her mage sister in her childhood, but it also develops as a symptom of her PTSD - hyper-vigilance - that lends itself to ensuring that everything is as it should be, which is why her paranoia is always running on high, fearing that every apostate could possibly be a blood mage.

Yet, with all this power, she does not see herself as a tyrant - everything Meredith does, she does it for the benefit of Kirkwall, her birthplace and home. She sees herself as the hero that Kirkwall needs and deserves, acting as their holy and righteous savior, protecting innocents and keeping the Gallows ruled under her iron-fist.

One line in particular that comes from the final stage of Act 3, is “I will be rewarded for what I have done here, in this world and the next!” This line from Meredith seems to believe that her name will carry on in the future for ruling the Gallows, in this world and “the next.” Of course, at this point, she’s about completely lost her mind to the red lyrium idol, but perhaps it ponders a belief in reincarnation. We know that Andrastians “believe the souls of the dead pass through the Fade and out the other side to join the Maker. Those who turned away from the Maker are trapped in the Fade forever and lost there” so the claim of being in this world and rewarded for her deeds makes sense.

However, as in for ‘the next’, could be referring to another life, reincarnated – or perhaps, she simply means the next generation. Regardless, I think it was just something interesting with how deluded she is about how she’ll be remembered, how for the crimes she just committed (by enacting the Right of Annulment on the Circle for an apostate’s act of terror) and believes she will be remembered and rewarded for time and all eternity.

#HEADCANON.#[ god this one took months to tidy up but yeah basically tldr kirkwall is like a chessboard full of politics and puppets ]#[ and meredith is looking to WIN ]

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forever-dreaming-cullen · 7 years ago

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First Lines

Again, sorry for taking so long to do these. I was tagged by the lovely and just wedded @princessvicky01 — congratulations! — to copy the opening lines of my last ten fics, look for patterns, and then tag 10 of my favorite authors. Thank you so much for thinking of me!

Ok, counting back from the latest: Some are NSFW, so be aware of that. :)

White Noise - Dark!Cullen smut where he uses sex to cope with his issues.

Finally, it’s night time, and he can shed his armor and the façade of the controlled and ever-proper Commander. He undresses with economical movements and slips a short silk robe over his naked body. The fabric sighs across his skin, making him purr. It’s a welcome change from the rough fabrics and leathers he usually wears. He belts it loosely around his slim waist and crosses to his nightstand.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Multi-chaptered Cullen romance featuring an original non-inquisitor character

The Commander’s tent was slightly larger than the other tents in the army’s camp and set off a little from the rows of those housing the troops. Healer Eala Arnal brushed her clammy hands along the sides of her skirts as she walked up to the tent’s entrance.

In the Heat of Summer - Second person narrative written for Cullen Appreciation Week 2017 featuring a sparring shirtless Cullen and an ambiguous female inquisitor

The summer sun high in the sky greets you as you exit the Great Hall, trying to escape the endless prattle and demands of the simpering nobles your position forces you to deal with. As the cool breeze fluttering through the tree branches ghosts over your hot skin, you sigh in relief, happy to be free of the stifling air inside the keep.

One Night in Skyhold - Cullen smut written for DA Kink Meme wherein our Commander has enough of waiting for his Inquisitor and takes what he wants from her.

It’s late. He should be sleeping; that’s what he keeps telling himself, but his legs won’t carry him back to his tower and his lonely bed. Instead, he stands in front of the door to the Inquisitor’s private chambers, debating with himself about whether he should go up.

The Girl Can’t Help It - Written in response to a comment to an earlier story, this one-shot features the protagonist of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, and is the genesis for it.

Eala hurried along the battlements, the chill evening wind lifting her hair from her shoulders. If she didn’t hurry, she would be late, and even though he wouldn’t scold her for it, she would feel bad about making him wait for her. She remembered the first time she had attended him as if it were yesterday. She had been so intimidated by his very presence that she could do little but respond to him in squeaked “yes, Sers” and no, Sers.”

One Good Turn Deserves Another (Or Cullen Repays the Inquisitor) - Written based on a couple of comments on another fic, this is just Cullen smut wherein Cullen does what he’s apparently really good at, based on the fact that it’s its own tag on AO3!

He looked at Evelyn standing before him, that soft smile on her face that made him want to kiss her until they both passed out from lack of air.

Oakmoss and Elderflower - A fic based on a headcanon related to a snippet of multi-player dialog about how Cullen smells.

Perrine watched her Commander as he shifted in his seat for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was still paying attention to the discussion around the War Table, but she could tell he was struggling. The lines on his forehead and between his eyebrows were scored more deeply than usual, and purple shadows bloomed like bruises beneath his honey-colored eyes.

Oil and Fantasy - Cullen smut featuring the Commander and his hand

Cullen sighed as he stretched out naked on his bed. His day was done, he’d had his bath, and his doors were locked. Perhaps he should just go to sleep; his limbs were heavy as were his eyelids. He ran a hand over his face, his stubble rasping against his palm. It had been a long day, full of meetings, reports, and training recruits that seemed to get younger and more clueless every day. He rolled his shoulders, listening to them pop and crackle in the silence of his loft. Maker, he was exhausted.

Learning to Please Him - Oh, Maker, more Cullen smut! The Inquisitor pleasures her Commander with her mouth,

Evelyn sits on her bed, sketchbook in hand, doodling while she waits for Cullen to arrive. She has already bathed and washed her hair, which she has gathered at her nape in a loose queue, her curls tumbling down her back, except for the few ringlets that have escaped capture and are dangling around her face.

Treading the Path of Nightmares - Features angsty Knight-Captain Cullen exercising out his demons. Look, it’s not smut!

He’s curled up in a ball of misery in one corner of a glowing blue cage, alone now. How many days has it been since the last of his friends were taken? Two? Five? Ten? He can’t count them anymore.

Notes: Apparently I write a lot of Cullen smut, first of all. And I tend to start in the characters’ heads and describing the setting.

As for tagging, I tag @ekoorb03, @x-elfled-x, @kaoruyogi, @kauriart, @kagetsukai, @fereldenpeach, @alleiradayne @melaena @slothquisitor and @novamm66

As always , no pressure, and if you don’t have time or don’t want to, you don’t need to do this.

#first line meme #my writing

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tacticalthaumaturge · 8 years ago

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The Wolf King of Thedas - Chapter 2

You know that Wheel of Time / Dragon Age fic I started writing all those months ago? It wasn’t dead, just sleeping.

Prologue - A Tear in the Pattern Chapter 1 - To Heal a Shattered Sky

Also crossposted to ao3 / fanfic.net

Chapter 2 - What Dreams May Come

Perrin dreamed.

He knew it to be no ordinary dream, but it was nothing like the Wolf Dream he knew. Islands of rock hung suspended in a misty green-gray void, heedless of gravity or common sense. Fragments of buildings dotted the floating isles, but even the most intact obeyed an alien logic – walls hung unsupported, and angles bent in strange ways. The Wolf Dream was a reflection of the waking world, and Perrin could not imagine any place that would be reflected like this.

That he was not here in the flesh, then, was of no small comfort. He could feel the path back to his sleeping body in the back of his mind, but somehow he knew that attempting to wake would prove futile - whatever had happened, whatever that mysterious tear had done to him, had left him too physically drained to simply will himself to consciousness. Faile would likely have sharp words for him when he returned. He did not dwell long on the problem, however, as it was a small detail compared to the mystery before him.

The familiar weight of Mah'alleinir formed in his hand, but Perrin dismissed it with a frown. The massive hammer was a weapon of war and men, ill-suited for exploring this strange place. Absentmindedly he grasped a Two Rivers longbow before dismissing that as well. A weapon of men... but this is no place of men, is it?

Between one moment and the next, the curly-haired man was replaced by a large wolf. Leaping, he disappeared in a blur and reappeared at the edge of the nearest island. Pausing, he tested the air: there was a faint hint of two-legs, alongside a mix of unfamiliar scents that made its fur bristle. He would have to be careful. Silent as the swirling mists, he loped into the unknown.

Young Bull had answers to hunt.

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"Are you telling me another bleeding idiot came out of that rift?"

Adan was as cranky as ever, despite the celebration that had overtaken Haven. The good Mother Giselle may have declared a holiday upon the sealing of the Breach, but Desa was unsurprised the alchemist-turned-apothecary busy mixing poultices. He was practical-minded, even to a fault, and it would take more than a mere "divine miracle" to make him turn away from his work.

Desa suspected he was also allergic to fun, or at least any sane definition of the world. He shunned both the tavern and campfires, complaining of the noise, and the first time she'd seen a genuine smile on his face was when she brought him a recipe for Antivan fire. Finding it among that Hinterland merchant's wares had been a stroke of luck, as Adan's own notes had been lost in the chaos of the Conclave; Leliana had forbid any attempts to reverse-engineer it after the third time his lab caught fire.

It was with this in mind that she'd sought him out. Their mysterious stranger from the Fade didn't seem to be in immediate peril – unlike in her case, there was no alien mark trying to kill him – but he had yet to regain consciousness. That left the Inquisition leadership with a conundrum. His existence was as closely-guarded a secret as it could be, given that his arrival was witnessed by well over a hundred Inquisition soldiers, agents, and allies, and they wanted answers before he became the talk of the camp. However, questioning him would require healing, and the process would lead to the same attention they were trying to avoid. It had been Cullen who ultimately suggested Adan. Not only was his lab relatively isolated from the rest of the camp, but he had been responsible for Desa's treatment when she herself fell out of the Fade.

For all his grumbling, the alchemist seemed far from upset about halting his poultice-mixing. The Inquisition was always in need of more, but tasking Adan with making them was like asking a master armorer to make nails; even knowing his work saved lives, he was itching for something more interesting or explosive to work on. Adan wasted no time in clearing a workspace, snapping at the stretcher-bearing soldiers as he did so.

"Shift your damn asses! Lay the lad on the table, then get out. Herald, you stay here – you've got more nimble fingers than those oafs, and my bloody assistants decided to take a damn holiday."

Desa made no complaint; she would have had him send a runner anyway, so staying simply cut out the middleman. Pulling off her gloves, she moved to help Adan with his examination. While she was well acquainted with field medicine, the gulf between their respective skills quickly became clear. Some of the methods the alchemist used mystified her, however – how did listening to his chest through a bone tube help?

It took almost half an hour before Adan seemed satisfied. Leaving the stranger lying on a cot they'd moved into the cabin, he set a kettle to boil while he sorted through his herbs.

"So Adan, what do you think?"

The alchemist ignored her until he had found the herbs he was looking for – mostly Elfroot, with a pinch of Embrium, and a few she didn't know – and deposited them in a mortar. "Exhaustion, mostly. But I'd bet a fat purse of royals that we're looking at Fade-sickness as well."

"What in the name of the Stone is Fade-sickness? I assume it's got something to do with him still being unconscious."

"Aye, that it does. Not surprised you haven't heard of it – you dwarves don't dream, so you can't catch the damn thing. It's usually only an issue for mages, and doesn't much trouble us normal folk. You know how mages' dreams go deeper into the Fade, lucid dreaming, right?"

Desa thought she could see where this was heading. "But I though all dreaming touched the Fade."

"Yes, but there's touching the Fade, and there's touching the Fade. We all do the first – you dwarves excepted – but mages' dream different." He paused, trying to find the right words. "It's a bit like how a branch floats, but a rock sinks. Or like how birds have wings, but some still can't fly."

"Anyway, Fade-sickness happens when someone's mind get stuck in the Fade," Adan explained as he ground the herbs. "Something to do with the body being too exhausted for the mind to return, and the mind being too deep in the Fade for the body to recover proper. Do nothing, and they waste away - thankfully, though, you've got me."

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On a jutting spur of stone, a wolf blurred into existence next to a crackling campfire. It had been too long since Young Bull had run on four legs; there was a freedom in it, despite the strangeness that surrounded him. Each step had carried him a dozen spans or more as he explored the coastline of one of the larger islands, his dreaming mind twisting distance as easily as breathing. The rush of discovery was fading, though, and he could feel a familiar exhaustion soaking into his bones. Deciding it would be as good a place as any to rest, the wolf became a curly-haired man, who sat down on a nearby rock. That the campfire's flames danced a cheery blue rather than a familiar yellow-red now seemed a minor detail.

Perrin had lost any pretensions that this was the same Wolf Dream he knew. Hopper had been thorough in his teaching; the Wolf Dream had rules, and this place either distorted them or broke them entirely. He could still manipulate the dream – if anything, it was easier than it should have been – but the landscape did not reflect the waking world. Rather, it contained pale, partial imitations of it: upside down staircases, anatomically questionable statues, gravity-defying towers… it was an unsettling combination. And then there were the creatures.

He'd noticed them not long after he started his exploration, or rather, they had noticed him. Even now they skittered at the edge of his awareness, alien thoughts brushing against his mind. It was unlike anything he'd experienced; a conversation between wolves and even Wolfbrothers was a sequence of images and emotions, but the minds touching his seemed almost human, questing whispers in a language he could almost understand. None had revealed themselves physically, which was strangely comforting. They seemed as wary of him as he was of them.

Shifting to human form, however, seemed to spark some hitherto unrealized interest. The pressure on his mind grew, one voice overwhelming the others. Rather than pull back when he blocked its touch, it continued, insistent, until –

Welcome, Dreamer.

The words echoed in his ears as well as his mind, understandable at last. Thin mists coalesced on the other side of the fire, forming a human-shaped figure that did not stand so much as float just above the ground. Lithe in build, nearly as short as a Cairhienin, and with long, pointed ears more akin to an Ogier than human, it brought to mind Mat's description of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. Perrin hefted his hammer. Both the snake- and fox-people were said to feed on human experience and memory, and Mat insisted neither were to be trusted; if this creature was kin to either, he would have to be on his guard.

Be at ease. I am Curiosity, and I mean you no harm.

#The Wolf King of Thedas #Wheel of Time fanfic #Dragon Age fanfic #WoT #DA #Alex writes #Perrin Aybara #Desa Cadash

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squirrelwithatophat · 3 years ago

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I do wonder though about the overall size of the mage population, especially given population growth.

As TheThirdAmell notes, in DAI Vivienne says that mages are outnumbered one hundred to one, although it’s unclear to me whether this is a literal statement (since such round numbers rarely are). If there actually is a 100:1 ratio among the general population, though, that doesn’t mean that there is 1 Circle mage per 100 muggles, since there is implied to be a significant apostate population. In the first two games, the PC encounters plenty of apostates (although most seem to be unnamed mooks to kill off), and the Templars do have to go actively hunting for apostates hiding amidst the normies as part of their regular duties - taking into account that successfully escaping from the tower (once imprisoned) appears to be rather rare (enough so to make an escapee a minor celebrity among his fellows, e.g., Jowan), I would assume that most of these were raised in hiding and haven’t been caught yet (rather than defecting). Parents (especially noble parents) are repeatedly shown attempting to hide mage children, and in DAO Arlessa Isolde evidently believes there to be a sufficient apostate population that she could simply pluck one out to tutor her son. Malcolm (after escaping the Gallows) and Leandra Hawke moved to Lothering, a small town where newcomers would undoubtedly arouse scrutiny and which had its own contingent of Templars, and managed to bring up 1-2 mage children in relative peace, while training them quite well in secret. It’s also suggested that apostates will frequently preserve their independence by working for criminal or mercenary organizations - for example, Sketch mentions as much in Leliana’s Song, the smuggler Athenril perceives apostates as useful additions to her gang without expressing any surprise or desperation about getting one, and “Dalish” in DAI sees membership in Bull’s Chargers as protection against the Templars.

With regard to the population of the Gallows, the Spiral Eye codex (giving the “hundreds” figure for the Gallows) was published in 9:24 Dragon (while the Deep Roads Expedition ending Act 1 of DA2 takes place seven years later in 9:31), and there are multiple references to the number of mages in Kirkwall rapidly expanding - whether this is due to any actual increase in the overall population or due to more aggressive hunting and enforcement is unclear. In Act 1, Cullen complains about new mages being born as well as new mages coming into their powers “every day” - although again, much as with Vivienne, this may not be exact/literal. However, in Ser Alrik’s Letter (9:34 Dragon) to the divine, he writes, “The mages in the Free Marches are past controlling, their numbers have doubled in three years” [emphasis mine]. Given that the Free Marches included both Kirkwall and Starkhaven, this increase cannot be attributed to the transfer of the Starkhaven mages to Kirkwall. This would also be after the refugee crisis has ended and former Fereldens are starting to return home. So according to Ser Alrik, between Act 1 and Act 2, there are suddenly twice as many mages running about. Such a doubling would be consistent with Cullen’s claim of at least 1 new mage every day though. Is this genuine population growth or a reflection of escalating enforcement (keeping in mind that Meredith’s coup against Perrin Threnhold occurred in 9:21, three years before Brother Genitivi gave the “hundreds” estimate, and that she had successfully pushed for crackdowns for years before that)? Also, if this is genuine population growth, is this the typical rate across Thedas or does it just apply to the Free Marches? Kirkwall is reported to be rather unusual in many respects, and the thinness of the Veil there could in theory lead to a greater proportion of mages there, but such conditions are specific to Kirkwall rather than the entirety of the Free Marches. There are references to declines in the proportion of mages among the Dalish, but this could very well be Dalish-specific - after all, they appear to be suffering an overall population decline. Tevinter is implied to have a fairly large mage population - given that not only are the ruling/noble houses are all mage (and the proportion of nobles in medieval Europe could range from 1-20% depending on definitions, government policies, etc.) but there is an entire substratum of lower-class mages, including slaves - but it should be noted that magic is apparently hereditary, while Tevinter magisters and the Chantry practice eugenics in opposite directions, with the latter heavy-handedly seeking to restrict birth rates. So there are probably far fewer mages in southern Thedas than in Tevinter.

If it is genuine population growth and the Templars are successfully catching most of them, then the calculations might look like this: It’s not clear why there would be a sudden acceleration in population growth across only 10 years, so if we assume a stable growth rate (doubling every 3 years) and consider that a decade has passed between the writing of the Spiral Eye and Alrik’s letter, we can give a conservative estimate in the thousands. 200 is the lowest number in which a plural “hundreds” could accurately apply, so let’s take that as a starting population for the Gallows in 9:24. Again assuming an initial inmate population of 200 and a doubling every 3 years, and also assuming that they are successfully being caught, that would put the Gallows at 2,133 mages (rounding down) as of Act 2 and 4,266 mages (again rounding down) as of Act 3. Of course, this assumes zero population loss due to death in the meantime, and although no specific death rate is ever proposed, mages do seem to be killed rather frequently. Grace refers to another mage dying in a botched escape attempt “every day,” although this might not be a literal statement (given that 1 fatality per day over that same 10-year span exceeds the previous low estimate of the total inmate population by 9:24), and Anders says that “hundreds” of mages has escaped through the route he reveals during Dissent in Act 2, although it’s unclear what time span this might encompass. A high estimate assuming the same population growth rate but using the highest possible number qualifying under “hundreds” (999) would give us 10,655 mages (rounding down) by Act 2 and 21,311 (ditto) by Act 3, again without accounting for deaths. Considering the Gallows was built to hold up to 1 million inmates, even Cullen’s high estimate of 1 Templar for every 2 mages (at least when talking about meal time) could comfortably fit in with this high estimate of the number of mages (with a death rate of 0) in the Gallows.

This is also all assuming that when Genitivi said “mages,” he meant anyone with magical ability - sometimes apprentices aren’t counted as full mages, particularly by Circle or Chantry sources, and apprentices do significantly outnumber Harrowed mages and enchanters. Then we’d have to wonder if Ser Alrik is using the term “mage” in the same way as Genitivi, although I’d have to assume that Alrik if anything would be using the most inclusive definition of mage possible since he is after all proposing an elimination plot (targeting every mage “at the mage of majority). If so, the numbers should be much higher, although it would be difficult to even know where to begin the calculations then.

Anyways this is probably all just a fool’s errand but it’s fun to speculate.

No worries if you don’t want to get into it, but how did you come to the conclusion on how many mages there were in the Kirkwall Circle? It seemed pretty vague in the game, but I loved seeing the huge consequences of the chantry explosion given the population you established there in AO

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#dragon age #dragon age 2 #mages #circle of magi #kirkwall gallows #fan theories #fan speculation #da meta #dragon age meta

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