#dragon age parallels

[citrusai]

bellara saying "why couldn't you stay a memory?" when she meets cyrian again now under anaris' tutelage vs solas cowering in front of the fragment of mythal that was locked away when elgar'nan killed her after he's erased all his regrets stemming from his time in her service off his walls in the lighthouse.

something something in grief we only see the best parts of those we've lost. something something memory is a traitor. something something solas' own memories are akin to that of a tree trying to grow up towards the sun to ensnare it. something something reality is often disappointing compared to the memory / fantasy. something something bellara thought her brother's death was staining her hands and through his memory she resigned herself to history and fixing the veil artifacts and now that he's here and he's actively harming their people she has no choice but to confront the idea that her brother is not who she remembers him as.

[taddymason]

A Vision

That scene in s9 is probably one of my favorite Jay moments because of how well it shows why Wu chose him and what his role is in the team. Being the out-of-the-box thinker, the dreamer. Especially because of how it sets him apart from the rest, like Zane, Cole or Kai, whose purposes are to protect others while Jay inspires people (s6 and s12)

[bishicat]

You believe me like a god I'll destroy you like I am

:-).

[okthisway]

Gale x Astarion 🤝 Anders x Fenris dangerous and annoying boyfriends

[vaguely-concerned]

romanced lucanis canonically finds listening to rook's voice comforting so now I'm just imagining him sort-of sneakily arranging for my mourn watch mage rook, bellara and emmrich to be in a room together and sitting back with a cup of coffee to listen to the inevitable three hour mage nerds geeking out session that follows (he understands, optimistically, about 10% of anything they're saying at any given time but it's just nice that they're all happy). it's like meditation for him, letting all that magitech babble wash over him entirely uncomprehended. who even needs sleep after that (you still need to sleep lucanis)

[maharellasa]

how I imagine this is gonna play out

[carabas]

"He used blood magic against you. He betrayed us. He pulled you into that prison."

...Illario. That's Illario. They might as well be talking about Illario instead of Solas here, except Illario is all Lucanis has left, so he can forgive Illario for anything. But now all those things that were done to him have also been done to Rook.

[mourn-and-watch]

you know what. i actually love that trying to talk to solas was the last thing varric did and it ended in complete failure. especially if you put it in the context of his feelings about anders. varric was so bitter every time he mentioned him because he could not stop him. he didn't even realize that anders was up to something and when it was too late he started to think of him as of someone who destroyed that fragile peace in kirkwall that actually never existed.

it adds layers to the way he felt about solas. he believed that time he could stop a friend who simply lost his way. because varric tethras can talk anyone out of anything, can't he? anders was just too dodgy and self-centred and cut everyone off just like solas did but this time varric is completely prepared. surely. absolutely.

he could have never talked anders out of it even if he had known what was coming. he could have never talked solas out of it either. anders was a desperate person standing against (as varric himself put it) forces he couldn't possibly defeat. solas was a god standing against a couple of mortals and his own conscience buried under his guilt and regrets. being a good friend would not stop meredith's oppression. being a good friend would not stop someone who fears so much that all of the atrocities he committed were for nothing and would mean nothing at the end. varric died because he didn't realize it. he died and left his second in command with an immense guilt because they believed he knew solas enough to pull that off and there's something tragic about it

[crabcackes]

DA Veilguard sanitized world isn't inclusive or progressive. It's whitewashed

There I said it. The way the game presents Tevinter (no mentions of slavery or racism, compared favorable to the south, only bad people are venatory) or Antivan Crows (presented as a cute found family who rebel against their oppressors, again no mentions of slavery, abuse, murder of innocent) is disastrous. Remember we had two companions who were victims to those institutions? Does Zevran's or Fenris' stores mean nothing now? Bioware took stories of two non-white companions who were abused and enslaved and then made their abusers into wholesome and friendly entities.

The are honestly plenty of other examples of DAV doing it but it's a bit long to summarize.

[egophiliac]

still absolutely losing my mind over Lilia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

blackwall and cullen, the men that you are. the man who gave orders and the man who followed them. the man who's Joining might kill him, and the man who's leaving might kill him. a man with specific crimes at his feet and a man with systemic crimes at his feet. a man bloodied by a civil war and a man bloodied by a holy war. a man who plays pretender and a man who cant pretend. a man who found purpose in a lie and a man who found a lie in his purpose. a man who shut his eyes and turned away from a dog and the man who shut his eyes and turned towards a god.

[citrusai]

tell leliana i am sorry i have failed her > (in a note) you are free > the left hand of the divine carries all the guilt and burden so the divine doesn't have to.

before your time i failed my oldest friend, if i don't do this it means i (killed her)- she died for nothing > all the wrongs you did my friend, were not yours alone. i release you from my service

[vir-bellanaris]

To bind his life force to the Veil, Solas cut into his left palm.

The same side, the same shape as the mark the Inquisitor bore on their left hand.

[spiritsong]

I would hide my face in you and you would hide your face in me, and nobody would ever see us any more

(theory: what if lucanis is actually a bird 🤔 jk I just wanted an excuse to howl-ify him) (also please no spoilers in the tags thank youuu)

[okthisway]

Astarion/Fenris: you should be dead Gale/Anders: stay the hell away from me

[lelianasbong]

I think a lot about the fact that Leliana and Sera were young orphan girls from working class families who were adopted by human noblewomen... how Leliana took to that life like a fish to water and Sera rejected it wholesale: the material excess when others have nothing, having pride in something you didn't earn but were lucky enough to be born into. But Sera being an elf meant her life with Emmald was never going to be the same as Leliana's with Cecilie. The music and etiquette lessons that carried Leliana are harsh reminders of a life that didn't make room for someone like Sera.

They're both religious and their faith leads them to the same conclusion: no one should be excluded based on who they are and no one is without worth. They're rogues who love pranks and teasing their friends, they love ✨️ WOMEN ✨️ and are vocal about it, they're willing to sacrifice themselves and gut their enemies if it means protecting their people. They're steadfast friends and devoted lovers. Leliana learned her archery skills from Marjolaine - a nobleman's sport, a game to mirror The Game, 'I made you, Leliana. I can destroy you just as easily' - while Sera learned by the sweat of her brow, practicing until the arrow hit its mark more often than not and her arms no longer shook. There are no tutors in back alleys.

Leliana forswore her old ways for the ascetic life of a Chantry sister (before taking up arms to defeat the Blight); Sera inherited Emmald's fortune and gave it all away to orphaned children despite herself being hungry and homeless, because Sera is kind and because the knowledge of where that money came from was more painful than the joy of spending it.