#force mage

[faded-mage]

Enjoyed making these a bit too much. My "canon compliant" world state for Dragon Age. My AU has it's own set... well, it will once I get to Veilguard in that fic. Don't wanna spoil too many surprises.

Warden Elera Surana Origins Elf, Mage (Arcane Warrior), Alistair

Champion Amerie Hawke 2, aka Fuck Around in Kirkwall Human, Mage (Force Mage), Anders

Inquisitor Avise Lavellan Inquisition Dalish Elf, Mage (Knight Enchanter), Solas Golden Thread Does Not Bind

Mara de Riva, "Rook" Veilguard City Elf, Mage (Spellblade), Lucanis

[rielzero]

Fist Of The Maker!

[sashthesloth]

do NOT bring your boyfriend to the swamp. he will not like it.

[medowlarken]

i can't find that one really good post about the differences in fenris' hatred for anders (dismissive) vs merrill (pure vitriol) and how it relates to his idolization of family ties, but once you see it it's hard to ignore

forget slavers, blue wraith should have had him hunting down deadbeat dads or something

[zillychu]

haha wow you don't have a DPS? rookie mistake lol hey why is your mage getting out a knife--

[largemandrill]

It is imperative to me that Cullen and Dorian’s weird little chess bond remain platonic because it means that Cullen learned how to care about a mage in a way that wasn’t just him being horny. And that matters to me.

[asgardian--angels]

there's meta to be had about just how much of viktor's arc is about loneliness and the blatant visuals they use in his evolution about metamorphosis, butterflies, cocoons, in utero, etc, as he molts from a soft, vulnerable larva who keeps getting hurt in his bids for love and acceptance, into a hardened final form complete with an exoskeleton acting as both physical and emotional armor. a shield keeping his emotions in and the pain of loneliness and rejection out, until it's cracked and his humanity is forcefully exposed. like. sorry if it's just the entomologist in me but this was blatantly obvious the very first time i watched the show and I've been continually surprised that no one's really pointed this out. as a certified lonely person it struck such a deep cord with me, when he accepted his fate, his path ahead, to be one he'd have to walk alone, finally putting up that last seemingly impenetrable wall around his soft parts (but keeping the blanket, this signal that he never asked for this, and that he's not unreachable). So much of his s2 arc centered around not just his desire to right his wrongs and help the world, but to connect with others and not feel alone, both of which got twisted by the hexcore. His attempt to create a hivemind where no one would ever suffer loneliness or rejection or loss, and he would feel their souls with him as well (even though that was an illusion in the end, he truly believed it). The whole 'I now speak with all their voices' but he's just floating in an empty space. And for the consequence of the glorious evolution to be eternal solitude, it just drives home how that's the worst possible fate imaginable for Viktor.

[witchazard]

Serena is a self proclaimed leader of a group of lesbians who don't respect her, of course she's going to be dramatic

[unsanctitude]

grymberk the tortured artist

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Mel and Viktor both taking away pain in Act I

Caitlyn was there. You might pay her a visit. She does an admirable job of hiding it, but the poor girl's in so much pain.

So much senseless pain... You need not suffer anymore.

[kirkwallguy]

and the part that drives me craziest is i do think veilguard is weird about women but a terf's analysis of this will always be reductive and useless

[kidokear]

You ever think about how Jayce and his mum getting stuck in that blizzard and possibly dying is a Canon Event and that's why Old Mage Viktor's meddling with it keep dooming timelines?

[bunabi]

The Magisters Sidereal ritual is so interesting because the Black City is either in a quantum state or keeping the Fade in its orbit, so they had to either physically hold the city in place or pinpoint its exact position (unless they used an eluvian)

It's like the moon landing but for blood mages

[penguuthegentoo]

More Saff 🥰 2 different versions cause I liked them both

Some notes:

- The shrouded armor is what she wears the most often now though when she got out of prison (at the start of the game, but not the start of her story) she went to the arena to pick herself back up and she was Not a Fan of the armor they made them wear. She also ended up taking the moniker “Shadowstep” onto herself after she gained champion hood.

- Saffr’ia has only sobbed her heart out a few times in her life and being made to kill her found family in the dark brotherhood was certainly one of them. She had grown to really love them and found a kinship and appreciation that she felt she lost near the tail end of her time at the Arcane University

- No shame I pair her with Martin but it is a doomed love that falls apart so soon after rekindling because the universe is unkind sometimes 😔 after so long apart and having had such different and eventful lives, they finally have a sit down to open up to one another.

[loz-untold-myths]

Aquame <3

(pronounced aqua-may)

[asgardian--angels]

mage viktor discourse again on twitter and all i can say in my little corner over here once again is, I don't know why the entire fandom takes it as canon that mage Viktor failed to save every world he manipulated.

Canon does not provide evidence of this. This is fanon speculation. It's a fine headcanon to have, but everyone talks about it like it's canon when it isn't. Canon is ambiguous about the outcome of the timelines mage Viktor altered. The little nods we are given point, in my opinion, towards the opposite conclusion, that he successfully averted destruction.

I've written meta on this before but in summary:

1) 'In all timelines, in all possibilities' is worded precisely, it's not 'out of all timelines'; the implication is that every time, Jayce brings Viktor back from the brink, not just in our timeline. 'Only you' doesn't refer to our timeline's Jayce, it refers to all Jayces. Jayce always brings him home. If Viktor continuously put the fate of each timeline in Jayce's hands and Jayce failed over and over, I don't think he'd say those words. And the way he says them matters. His words are tinged with wonder, not sorrow. As if over and over again, he is shown that Jayce saves him, and it continues to amaze him. He doesn't sound defeated, like this is the next in a long line of Jayces he's sending off to die. The feeling is that Viktor's faith in Jayce has not been misplaced.

2) If mage Viktor doomed every timeline, there would be hundreds (or more) mage Viktors. All running around manipulating timelines. I highly doubt the writers wanted to get into that kind of sticky situation. The tragedy of mage Viktor is that he is singular. Alone. Burdened with the responsibility of the multiverse. The emotional gut punch of his fate is ruined if other timelines led to the same outcome, and from a practical standpoint, having multiple reality-bending omniscient mages would rip apart the fabric of the arcane.

There are other points, such as there being only one corrupted Mercury Hammer and our Jayce is the only one to receive it, and the fact that if mage Viktor is as omniscient as he is implied to be, he could easily step back into other timelines and correct course, because it's highly unlikely he could sit still and watch things go down in flames. But these things can be argued elsewhere.

While I love conversations about mage Viktor's motives and selfishness vs altruism, the writers & artbook have expressed that Jayce and Viktor care greatly about Runeterra and want to fix their mistakes to save it, and that their reconciliation is symbolic of Piltover and Zaun coming together as well. Yes, they make disastrous decisions towards each other, making choices for the other or without the other, which has negative consequences for their relationship and for Runeterra - but I think fandom pushes their selfishness even past what's canon sometimes, as if their entire goal hadn't always been to selflessly help the world around them. Their final reconciliation is about bridging the gap that grew between them - the pain and grief and secrets, betraying themselves and each other - to mutually choose each other openly and honestly. Part of the beauty of their story, as expressed by the creators, is that in their final moments, they chose each other and took responsibility for their actions by sacrificing themselves to end what they started, together - and that choosing each other saved the world. TPTB have stated this - that Jayce and Viktor are the glue holding civilization together, and when they come back to each other, they can restore balance. It's when they're apart, when they hurt each other and miscommunicate, when they abandon their commitment to each other and their dream, that the greater world suffers. Their strife is mirrored in the story-world at large.

Mage Viktor is framed as a solitary penitent figure, damned to an eternity of atoning for his mistakes. He paid the ultimate price and now is forced to live his personal nightmare of exactly what he was trying to avoid for himself with the glorious evolution. The narrative clues we're given point more in the direction that he saves timelines rather than dooms them. If Viktor's actions kept killing Jayce, the very boy he couldn't bear to not save each time, it would undermine these narrative choices. Yes, Viktor couldn't stand to live in a world where he never meets Jayce, so he ensures it keeps happening. But in that same breath, he couldn't bear to see a world where his actions continue to destroy Jayce and destroy Runeterra. His entire arc in s2 is born of his selfless desire to help humanity, help individual people. He would not lightly destroy entire worlds. That's his original grief multiplied a thousandfold, and narratively it would lessen the impact of the one, true loss he did suffer, his own Jayce. It wouldn't make sense for him to be alright with damning other timelines to suffer the same catastrophic tragedy that created him. I mean, maybe I'm delusional here, but is that not the entire point? Because that's what I took away when I watched the show.

As I said, I love discussions about mage Viktor, as there's a lot to play with. All I wish is that the fandom at large would not just assume or accept the Mage Viktor Dooms Every Timeline idea as canon, when there is nothing in the actual canon that confirms this. Maybe people need to just, go back and rewatch the actual episode, to recall how mage Viktor is presented to us, and what it's implied we're supposed to take away from his scenes, and separate that from the layers of headcanon the fandom has constructed.