#fuck the chantry and everything it stands for <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

One thing I hate about chantry politics is simply how fucking fast everyone is to reach for an exalted march. You read about any slightly complicated part of Thedas' history and there's a footnote about how the Devine of the time was "considering" an exalted march as a "solution". In da2 Meredith crosses so many lines (& theres qunari I guess) and instead of anyone utilizing any amount of power to reign her in at all. There's rumors of an exalted march. Again. Why doesn't the chantry ever take any responsibility for its own people wtf. Like yeah sure. Any inconvenience that could be solved in literally any other way and you reach for a militaristic purge of all people remotely involved. Sounds like something rational to do. You know what forget about how fast they reach for it. I just hate that exalted marches are a legitimate legal move in the first place.

[sun-marie]

pivoting a little off of that Neve post to say real quick that if you haven't played the Templar route of DAI i highly recommend it. Some highlights:

Calpernia vs Leliana > Samson vs Cullen. Samson, as an antagonist, honestly feels pulled out of thin air, and having an extremely weird rivalry between him and Cullen shines a spotlight on the very strange role Cullen plays in DAI and makes the player wonder why they aren't switched. Calpernia, on the other hand, is a nuanced and complex character with somewhat sympathetic motivations, and watching Leliana get to put her spymaster skills to use to find out more about her is a lot more satisfying imo. Additionally, Samson's maguffin of his Red Lyrium armor being weakened for the unavoidable fight pales in comparison to convincing Calpernia to stand down by telling her the truth about how Corypheus is using her.

DAI's infamous issue with Corypheus's lack of presence in the story? Somewhat alleviated in this route. It's still not great, but we actively see him manipulate Calpernia, multiple times iirc, and at one point we hear his thoughts throughout one of the dungeons. I sincerely believe the reasons Corypheus gained such a reputation for being absent in the story are because most players have only played the mage route

Everything involving Therinfal Redoubt. The Envy demon, the mind prison, Cole's introduction (a far improvement over his intro in the mage route), the slow and natural revelation of the Venatori's ultimate goals (as a opposed to "i accidentally got chucked into the future but some time goo and here's everything i was able to learn for the whole Hour I was there"), Ser Barris my beloved <3

Depending on how you play it obviously, but there's an argument to be made that dissolving the Templars may do more good and result in more lasting change than freeing the Circles, seeing as the idea of the circles, as an academic space for mages to learn to control their powers, was never really the issue and oppression and abuse of the Templars is the true root of the problem. YMMV here though

As mentioned in a previous point, no time magic! this streamlines a lot of the storytelling imo, and makes for an INCREDIBLY CRUNCHY introduction to Dorian, who shows up at Haven and, since he's allowed to talk like a normal person and not a Spirit of Compassion, brings a very intense energy to the scene. Imo this works best if this is your very first time meeting him, as in you never went to Redcliffe and never had to deal with the Headache that is Alexius, the character assassination of Fiona, and the illogic inherent to Time Magic

The Templar route is just better integrated into the rest of the story. Cassandra's personal quest where they mention the Lord Seeker's been replaced by a demon? That no longer feels like it came out of left field, we literally saw that and so this quest feels like payoff. Leliana gets more time to shine doing Spymaster Things so her personal quest about being More Than A Tool feels more impactful. The Inquisition being an organization that scares the Chantry makes more sense because we stole the Chantry's army. The Red Templars no longer feel like a "bad thing made worse for some reason" and instead feel like sad endings for good (or well, i should say "good") people, who could've found a better way with the Inquisition and instead chose to be This. Emprise Du Lion and the Emerald Graves are now completely skippable areas, aside from whatever sidequests you'd like to do there.

Unfortunately, the greatest barrier to entry is justifying the In-Character reasons for your Inquisitor to get help from the Fucking Templars, which is. not ideal. BUT if you can do that, I really truly believe it's the superior route

[gwynbleiddyn]

Reunion kiss — Rion/Halla — defiant/defiance — “I’m Not Your Hero” by Tegan & Sara 💖💖💖

FUCK YEAH THIS WAS A GOOD ONE <3 the song slaps, and gave me some good brainwaves for the drabble!!! thank u my friend

set at the end of Trespasser, in an imagined moment after returning from the Crossroads for the last time but before facing the Exalted Council for the final verdict. lil sad, lil sweet, and i have missed the bisexual disasters greatly

defiance is the perfect word for these two

---

She kisses him, fervently, gently, everything all at once to communicate nothing less than what she means: love, entirely. Love, in spite of. Love, absolute. Lips ghost his eyelids, the tip of his nose, the scar at the top of his lip. But today, he tastes of salty tears instead of her favourite sweet port wine. 

“Rion,” Halla murmurs. His eyes are closed. Her thumbs gently tap at his cheeks until twin flashes of sunset-grey regard her with idle devotion. “You can’t give up. Not now.”

His smile is a poorly worn one, bloody and broken – like the rest of him upon his return from the Crossroads. He stands here in the shadow of Halamshiral with the Exalted Council awaiting a final verdict on the future of the Inquisition, and he looks nothing but a remnant. Still armour-clad, what remains of his left arm is bandaged tight and strapped against the side of his chest, which heaves against every wave of fresh pain, stuttering and starting as his voice catches in the web of his throat. 

“No. No, I’m not the one giving up,” he says, forcing his words out with all the finesse of a blunt hammer to red-hot iron. “This pathetic, hateful little world has turned its back on me too many fucking times.” 

Her heart, the anvil. But Halla remains defiant in the face of his defiance, and always has done. She cradles his face, looking upon every mark the world has left on him. 

There are many.

“But I’m not. Cullen isn’t. Your clan, our home, the Boeric – none of them are. Fuck the Chantry. Fuck the Wardens. They used you for what they could, and threw you to the literal Dread Wolf when you became more trouble than you were worth to them.”

“I’m always trouble, Halla,” he laughs. It is a weak, pitiful sound of a drowning man, and Halla’s heart sinks along with him.

“Yeah, I know, Ri. Trouble loves you,” she almost laughs too, but it is more regret than rapture. Of course, she fell for him because of it. “But so do I. Enough to know this isn’t what you want.”

Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say. From beneath dark lashes gold eyes flash, not brutal and angry but… rebellious. There is an innate part of him which acts as flint to a striking stone, ready to light up at any moment, and Halla knows it well – she has it too.

“What do I want, then?” he asks her, and his words are contorted, twisted by a sound he is trying to trap. Like someone tip-toeing the edge of grief. 

Shaking her head, Halla sweeps a hand through his hair, trying to calm him. “Tell me.”

“Why?” Rion’s voice wavers. “You can’t give it to me. Nobody can.”

“Give you what?” she pushes for an answer, her hands coming to rest and linking behind his neck. A safe place remains within. 

Rion pauses, catching his emotions in one steady sigh. He swallows, a faint wince chasing up the last of his raging thoughts, and then, finally, the storm clears from his eyes. 

“Time. You can’t give me time, darling, and I just…” he falters, brow furrowing. He can’t say anything else. He can’t be angry at what can’t be changed. “I can’t waste what little time I have left trying to fix this world. I didn’t break it.”

His voice cracks, splinters, its fractal pattern stamped with violent fervour - that of a man unwilling to die, but the choice has been made for him long ago. 

“They try to say it’s an honour, a privilege to fix it, to have a hand - quite literally - in its reshaping,” he continues, a brief glance down at the spot where his left hand no longer rests, “...but all it’s done is take time from me. Time from my son. Time from you.”

Against a storm swell, Halla mirrors Rion’s steadying breath from earlier. Her hands drift from his neck down to his chest, settling carefully over his armour, avoiding the bindings of his arm. She observes for a moment where it ends at his elbow, freshly staunched and hastily strapped, a makeshift solution to tide him over to the next problem - the Exalted Council, awaiting a decision.

Part of her suspects that this is all his life will be until the Blight catches up with him. No rest, no reprieve, only the endless attempt to outrun the inevitable. And with the Inquisition’s fate looming, what little time he has would be devoured by a cause he has come to resent. 

“Rion,” she places a finger under his chin, lifting his eyes to her again so that he can read her. His skin is rough with both stubble and scar, but his gaze is impossibly gentle. Her stomach flips, breath seizing with momentary anger that she won’t be able to keep him forever. “Is it in your heart to carry on?”

He blinks, slow and thoughtful. His breaths come slow and steady, the last of his anger receding. And then he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly, the movement barely enough to dislodge Halla’s fingers at his chin.

It’s the answer she’d expected, but still, her breath shudders as she juts her chin out, breathes in deep, and smiles up at him, defiant.

“Then you look divinity in the face and say no.” 

[lesbianwyllravengard]

Questions 2, 13, and 26 for Marian Hawke <3

Thank you! <3

Ask game

2. What is Hawke's personality and does it change during the years?

Marian is a very angry person who is secretly very scared. she is extremely loving, but also extremely hateful, and she hates and loves with equal passion. she's also genuinely a bit crazy (warrior, reaver subclass, she drinks blood regularly). her sense of humour is super lame, shit like dad jokes and puns or innuendos. her place as the eldest daughter is a job to her, and she performs it like rent is due; she'd do absolutely everything to keep her family safe and so when absolutely everything fails to do so, she loses her mind a bit. She matures over the years; she starts to take things more seriously, she becomes worn down from the constant fighting, and she's vastly more aware of the corruption and abuse of the systems in power. But she's still the same, personality wise

13. Is there someone, from the Kirkwall gang or an NPC, that Hawke does not like? Why?

Sebastian. No matter what they talked about, he would say something that pissed her off. She tried to be more understanding of him, because he kind of reminded her of Carver sometimes, but any familiarity she could ever feel towards Sebastian ended there. She truly just cannot stand him and does not want to spend any time with him. Marian already fully supported Anders's actions, but when Sebastian left after Anders blew up the chantry, Marian was twice as supportive lmaoooo

26. How did Hawke feel about learning the truth of Isabela's artifact? Did they feel betrayed or did they understand her?

She truly did not give a fuck, she just wanted her girlfriend back she didn't care how. she's a bit problematic like that. Isabela was like sorry I hid this from you and Marian was like I mean I could've just killed everyone for you by now but it's like whatever. I think in theory Marian understood what Isabela was thinking but in practice she couldn't care less either way as long as Isabela came back

[queenofbaws]

top 5 vhawke moments <3 (whether that be vhawke in general or your own interpretation)

gasp!!! challenge accepted ;)c heuheuhehueuhe guess i have to ramble now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the numero uno is always going to be returning the tethras signet ring, because um??? hello???????? helLO????? hey i found this. the last real remaining physical object connecting you to your family. i thought you'd probably want it. yeah, it's a ring. yeah, no, there's nothing symbolic about that. it's fine. it's cool. i know you thought you'd never see it again. yeah, don't mention it :) LIKE WHERE DO YOU EVEN START WITH THAT THO??? the two characters. who slowly but surely. have suffered the agonizing losses of every. last. member. of their families. hawke knows what that ring means. varric knows hawke knows. they joke about the whole thing to avoid admitting it. HOW AM I MEANT TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS BIOWARE?!

"you people have done enough to her." just. just dig a hole for me to lie in. bury me. the ANGER in varric's voice. throughout 2 and even up until then in da:i, he's our fun little guy. jokes galore. sure there are moments here or there where that facade breaks, but in that moment, that fight with cassandra? he is. pissed. and he is. tired. he watched kirkwall eat at hawke for so long, watched the chantry take more than its fair share, and here's cassandra, suggesting it still wasn't enough? that she should've been at the conclave too? that after everything the powers that be took from her, stole from her, ripped out of her, how dare he hide her from them to protect what was left??????????? screams

i don't know if it counts as a "moment" per se, but god. just. hard in hightown. in general. aslkdjfalksjdf i don't know who reads. any snippet of that story. and walks away with a conclusion other than "oh, so like, he's in love-in love, huh? all right.' laughter like chantry bells. eyes the color of jewels. the picture of elegance and beauty even when she's in mourning. i see you, varric tethras. i fucking see you.

"i skipped the parts about us." 🥺 i will never. ever. recover. from knowing what we could've had, lmaooooooooooooooo. PERSONALLY, i am...so in love with the idea of a vhawke romance being completely off-screen, all considering. like there's no world in which varric was going to tell cassandra the details of his and hawke's relationship, no way. not happening. that little wink at the end would've been all i needed, and so i refuse to let it go 😫

finally, this is...so small comparatively, but in da:i, once you finish everything leading up to here lies the abyss, hawke and varric just hang out together in front of the war room, and...idk man. idk. it touches my heart every time. it's such a tiny little moment, absolutely unimportant, but you see them standing together like that, and for a moment - just for a SECOND - it feels like they're just. together. and chatting. and things are okay. you know things aren't normal. they know things aren't normal. but there they are, pretending and hoping the way they've done a million times before. *sniff*

[lottiesnotebook]

Six Song Soundtrack (Cara Hawke-Laidir)

(Previously: Luna Tabris)

Again thanking @nirikeehan and @librivore42 for the tags, I will probably come back and do the rest of my girls eventually bc this is fun but right now, I'm doing my longfic girlies, and specifically thinking about the version of Cara who lives in my Big Bang fic, Love in Idleness (aka Arranged Marriage AU), where the world isn't ending and Kirkwall's Chantry still stands, but she and Lucanis have to meddle their way through an unexpected arranged marriage...

Event that defines your character's past:

And when you scream that it's not fair It's like I've gone off to the coast Left you behind just standing there Pretending not to see your ghost If only you could hear my voice But you are screaming far too loud to hear me swear Just because I left doesn't mean that I'm not still there

In the universe where Cara is Rook, her defining moment is the Chantry explosion that fractures her family and destroys the only life she's ever known. In this universe, she's the princess of Kirkwall, but she would say she lost a lot more than a home and a city...

How your character sees themselves:

I don't get angry when I'm pissed I'm the eternal optimist I scream inside to deal with it, like, "Ah" All the time I'm grateful all the fucking time I'm sexy and I'm kind I'm pretty when I cry

She would like to tell you it's Espresso, but no. She's sexy AND she's kind! She's pretty when she cries! She's also really angry but we're not going to talk about that. <3

Their closest relationship (romantic or platonic)

I wanna tell you a secret You can take your double-standard love and keep it I can't help the devil likes to make my heart a double bed And I can't help he sometimes likes to come and rest his little head When my heart just burst like a glass balloon I let it fly too high and it shattered too soon I was the wrong damn girl in the wrong damn room I broke my glass balloon I let go of my glass balloon

Just going to leave this here for the boys, bc the ships in this fic are MESSY... :3

More importantly:

You have hardened completely by the end of this story You have learned to look clear through the flash of a bulb When you hear your own name from the back of a crowd You just straighten your gaze, no you don't turn around Well you know what they say about terrible hate It will breed something good when it's through At the end of the day, by the Potsdamer Platz And the Brandenburg Gate, it was you

Did I put Orana in this story bc I wanted Cara to have friends who weren't Crows? Yes. Did she end up getting her own subplot and a much cuter romance than Cara's? Absolutely, she deserves the world, and this song is for Them. <3

A major fight scene:

I'm not beaten by this yet You can't tell me to regret Been in the dark since the day we met Fire, help me to forget And it's my whole heart While tried and tested, it's mine And it's my whole heart Trying to reach it out And it's my whole heart Burned but not buried this time I'm on trial, waiting 'til the beat comes out

Unlike Luna, who gets a fight scene every chapter, Cara spends most of her action scenes screaming and panicking, because I'm a Feminist(TM) and believe that girls should also get to be cringe and losers. <3 She does, however, get one big moment that this is for, which I have to write probably today...

End credits song:

There goes the last great American Antivan dynasty Who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything.

Is she going to absolutely wreck Caterina's plans for House Dellamorte by the end of the fic? Maybe. <3

Tagging @adainesjacket, @sha-brytols, @thewardenisonthecase, @teine-mallaichte, @miladydewintcr, @virshiral, aaaand anyone else who wants to tell me about their OCs and their taste in music, bc I LOVE this meme! (If you've already been tagged, sorry-not-sorry, if you have any extra OCs, please take this as a chance to do it again!)

Blank template under cut:

Event that defines your character's past:

How your character sees themselves:

Their closest relationship (romantic or platonic)

A major fight scene:

End credits song:

[asimplearchivist]

(This has been sitting in my drafts long enough…my fear of mischaracterizing Astarion is lesser than the agitation of seeing this beast among my WIPs. @fangswbenefits I’m affectionately blaming you for giving me pale elf brain rot🫣)

Okay guys this may be a very niche concept that will appeal to maybe like two people total but it hasn’t left my mind since I mentioned the idea to a buddy of mine who convinced me to play bg3…(Cullen and Astarion have a lot of similarities, which I would love to elaborate on later, but…) hear me out—it could be a very interesting dynamic to play with in a crossover.

Headcanons under the cut:

I’m not usually one for crossovers unless they’re in self-contained within a fandom (like Pokémon or Dragon Age, for example—there’s a phenomenal fic called The Half-Life of Element Zero by @unhealthynpcobsession which is a DAI/MEA crossover and safely one of the only “cross-fandom” crossovers I genuinely enjoy and adore bc the story and concepts are contextually sound and professionally orchestrated), but I feel like the sheer numbers of DAI fanfiction that explore the concept of the Breach opening up portals into other worlds (namely our modern Earth, thus the Modern Girl in Thedas trope, my beloved) could include adjacent worlds. I believe I have seen Skyrim before, so why not Baldur’s Gate 3? (Now keep in mind I know next to nothing about BG3 bc I am newly introduced to its lore and everything but) I think one could easily get away with having Astarion somehow slip through the Breach, along with the Sole Survivor at the Conclave.

(Holy shit why did this turn out so fucking long?)

The Survivor wakes—chained, cold, and aching—in the cells beneath the chantry, interrogated by Cassandra and Leliana, and denies her involvement with the Temple’s destruction. Forced to cooperate with the Survivor due to their dire need for the Mark and its potential use related to the Rifts, Cassandra casts a scowl at Leliana. “I will escort the prisoner if you will deal with the pale elf.”

Leliana only responds mildly, “I will continue to deal with him as I have been for the last three days—as well as nurse the migraine that he has caused.”

The Survivor doesn’t meet this esteemed “pale elf” until the battle at the Temple, and she only sees him from afar—he accompanied Leliana’s men to deal with the array of Shades and Wraiths that speckled the cratered grounds while the rest picked away at gargantuan Pride. She notices he is masterfully skilled with his weapons, perhaps even peculiarly so—she also notices that he has far greater strength, agility, and stamina than the average elf, easily surpassing the abilities of his peers.

She doesn’t see him again until well after the dust has settled—the Breach has been patched, Haven is able to reassess themselves, and the new Inquisition begins to construct their foundation. The newly named Herald of Andraste attempts to escape it all, fleeing into the grounds beyond Haven’s gates under the guise of fulfilling favors and errands for the various supervisors in the village, and stumbles across an abandoned cabin in the forest—at least she thought it was abandoned, at first.

She’s rummaging through the things there, finds the passed healer’s notes, but the lightest creak of displaced wood behind her tips her off to the presence of another. She whirls, hand already flying to her weapon, and backs up against the table, sending things clattering to the floor. The pale elf stands there, smirking at her startle.

“Act all the victim when you intrude on my space,” he croons, tilting his head and tutting at her, “my, how manners seem hard to come by around here.”

“You’re that—” She stops, hesitates, starts again. “Sister Leliana mentioned you. You’re the only other one who survived the blast.”

“That is comparatively the least of my problems and only the beginning of my present predicament, yes.” His eyes—as brilliant a crimson as the blood that still crusts the wounds that litter her bruised, battered, borderline broken body—scan her form from top to bottom, pause on her bandaged hand, and return to meet her uneasy gaze with a considerate one of his own. “Although I’m afraid I can confidently say that I ended up with the better of the lots drawn between the two of us.” His expression relaxes, just a little, a thready furrow forming between his silverite brows. “Does that hurt?”

She clenches her fist and clenches her teeth. “It’s dismissible.”

“Considering I heard tell that it is in the process of consuming you, I would disagree—but, I digress!” He flashes her a toothy smirk. “I am just grateful that there are no longer demons spewing out of that torn arsehole in the sky.”

She stares at him for a long moment, uncertain what to say in response. She’s exhausted, sore, and reeling from the last week of utter unfortunate bullshit that had befallen her.

“You’re…rather tall, for an elf,” she finally says lamely.

His brows arch into his forehead in clear surprise before he tips his head back and laughs. It exposes his teeth, and…no, those were not fangs. It must have been a trick of the firelight.

“It does seem that my kindred, however distantly related they are, do not possess as generous of traits as I,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “All so thin and lithe and…well, diminutive…it’s truly a marvel how they’re able to get anything done without breaking their hollow little bones. It’s little wonder that they seem so afraid of everyone else around here.”

She frowns, echoing, “‘Distantly related’?” with some dubiousness.

“Oh, your lovely spymaster didn’t tell you? I’m shocked.” The stranger gestures to himself with his arms extended to either side. “You have my sincerest apologies, my dear, I haven’t even introduced myself—I complain of lack of manners, yet fail to offer them in due turn.” He dips at the waist briefly, eyes glittering through his frosty lashes. “My name is Astarion, and…to put it simply, I am not supposed to be here.”

“I imagine anyone is fortunate to have walked away from all that destruction unscathed,” she responds mildly, narrowing her eyes.

“How cute,” he simpers, straightening and bracing his hands on his hips. “I fail to possess sufficient enough knowledge of magic in order to explain how in the hells this happened, exactly, but I originate from a place called Faerûn—not your delightfully archaic ‘Thedas’.”

He goes on to ramble about his companions, at least two of whom would have been far better suited to hypothesize how to rectify this particular ‘magical’ predicament. He tells her about their unusual circumstances of being thrust together, forced to cooperate and work towards fixing their looming health issues and the threat that faces their world.

She studies him for a long moment after he finishes. “…It sounds as if you and I are trapped in similar problems,” she sighs, rubbing her face. “As incredible as this all sounds, I sincerely doubt such a story could be easily invented on the spot…so you have my sympathies. Do you think that you’ll be able to return home?”

“Sister Leliana introduced me to that lovely gentleman who dresses like a vagrant. Supposedly, he’s the resident authority on this…‘Fade magic’, as it were?” he surmises.

“So I’ve heard,” she responds.

“Yes, well, our conversation was cut rather short at the time due to him being rather persistent in keeping his eye on that little souvenir.”

She flexes her hand and glances away. She’s been doing her damnedest not to dwell on the burning in her palm, thank you very much, and she didn’t particularly want to discuss it, either.

“Nevertheless,” he continues lightly, although his tone tempers into something more neutral, “he promised that he would look into the issue.”

“That’s…that’s good,” she replies quietly. “I hope he finds a way to send you back.”

The pale elf tilts his head at her then, eyes contemplative when she looks back up. He offers her a thin-lipped smile—this one actually reaches his eyes, softening his angular features. “As much as I am grateful not to be in your position, I do apologize. It would seem that the weight of your new moniker is not one to be taken lightly.”

“It is what it is,” she grits out. “They will believe what they wish regardless of my input.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier.” He leans in, holding her stare. “…I think it best to remain nearby, for the time being. Sole survivors of a devastating explosion still under scrutiny by those newly in power ought to stick together, yes?”

She relaxes, just slightly. “As long as you’re not the one who caused all of this.”

His expression sobers enough that it jars her. “I am the least inclined to cause spontaneous combustion among my compatriots,” he tells her, attempting humor, but there’s something in his eyes that contrasts his words entirely—a lingering fear, apprehension, borderline horror, if she has to place a name on it. “But no. I did not. And I think I have a few choice words—and daggers—on reserve for whoever did cause all of this devastation. I never asked to be thrown into the middle of this refuse burn.”

“Neither did I.” She offers him a bow in return and gives him her name. “I would say it’s been pleasant to make your acquaintance, but…I think we both are allowed to say that we would rather not have met at all.”

“Agreed.” He stoops to pick up the papers Adan had sent her to find and hands them to her. “I trust I will see you again soon?”

“You do intend to stay?” she asks, brow furrowing as she tucks them into her pocket.

“I’ve nowhere else to go,” he begins, “and fleeing from an investigation would provide rather damning evidence for the prosecution, even if misused. For now I’ll lend my particular set of skills and…services to this delightful little collection of vagabonds. I think you need all the help you can get, given that poor, overworked general of yours is relying on farmers and pilgrims to become your armed force.”

“I don’t speak on behalf of the others,” she says, “but I thank you. You’re greatly appreciated.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he purrs. “Now…do go get some rest, my dear. You look positively horrible for someone who has slept for nearly six days.”

His nonchalant sincerity startles a laugh out of her—the first in what felt like an age. He seems pleased to have done so. She departs the cabin feeling slightly less isolated than before.

[bloodpotency]

I'm going to rank my favourite 5E clans and explain why under this cut

1. Tzimisce

Simply excellent all around. Interesting powers, interesting clan history, fun social-political dynamics to explore and a debilitating enough clan bane to come up with ways it might affect a person psychologically over time. A lot of my tzimisce characters explore the idea of "home" and belonging as well as the horrifying nature of having your brain rot from the inside not just from the beast but from even more innocuous toxic thought patterns like claiming ownership of friends. It must be so challenging to be a tzimisce and remain human, which is wonderful for storytelling and character studies. My only regret with this clan as a DM is that I'm committed to them seeming rare in my setting so there aren't many characters I can write.

2. Ventrue

They are, imo, the funniest clan. All I need to do is show you LaCroix and you understand. Though I can understand also why people think they are annoying for the reasons I find them hilarious. Let me pitch you this: my beloved Ventrue OC, Thomas, is a loser tech bro boyfailure who is entitled to everything and is regularly punished. He was sired illegally, swept under the rug and forced to associate with anarchs cuz no one else will take him. I never understood the beauty of misfortune comedy before I was introduced to Ventrue. It's all about the narrative framing.

3. Lasombra

Similar to Ventrue (obviously) but they have sexy evil Eldritch darkness powers. What's not to love. I recently read through the clanbook in its entirety with my partner and the way they are all so comically villain-like in how they conduct clan business it rivals the Tremere clan. I love their drama and their aesthetic. Their only ding is that you have to ignore a lot of awkwardly handled racism (to show how evil they are!) from the canon leader characters. I'll have to read Chicago by night soon and hope it handles it fine.

4. Nosferatu

You can't go wrong with a bunch of fucked up looking monster dudes. Nosferatu get a ton of points for how creative you can be with their character design, similar to tzimisce. I also really love how they are probably among the least-toxic clans to be a part of, so it's just as easy to write wholesome character dynamics as it is to write messed up ones. As a DM, they are also great utility characters that can write you out of a lot of corners. Need information? They literally just collect it for fun and profit. It's free world building and plot hook real estate.

5. Malkavian

Now listen... I know Malkavians have the obvious drawback of being frequently portrayed as mean-spirited caricatures of mentally ill people. However... If you are mentally ill yourself, writing one that is a respectful exploration of your struggles is really cathartic. Beyond that, though, my favorite part of the Malkavian experience is the cosmic horror element. I love how their antideluvian is some unknowable incorporeal being that connects all of them. I love unknowable mind breaking horror! And I love their utility as well. If your player is a Malkavian attuned to the cobweb, you can just speak to them as the Storyteller for free basically. It's great fun.

6. Tremere

Wizards.

...

Clan lore is good too. The rigid structure of the clan is good for making a world with a Chantry nearby feel larger and more powerful. Also I guess it's pretty fun that they can do real magic.

7. Toreador

They're kinda mid to me. I don't dislike them but a lot of what makes them unique in WOD is just normal typical vampire fluff in other media. They're seductive, romantic, artistic, yeah whatever. These things gotta be subverted or executed flawlessly for me to be invested so Toreador neither wins nor loses. It doesn't help that their 2/3 of their 5E disciplines are ones I find kinda boring in practice (Celerity, Auspex).

8. Hecata

Carried almost entirely by how funny I find the Giovanni clan, stands low-mid tier Hecata clan. It's sad how much this clan/clans got butchered in 5E. It suffers most clearly from WOD's desire to not "retcon" things in Vampire. Clan lore is non-existent because they tried to just mash a bunch of clans together and pretend like it makes sense and created what sounds like the most boring traits of all of them to be the default. Points for potential, and the ability to carry on playing as if you are simply one of the original clans that made up this one.

9. Gangrel

Even though by all means I should be into Gangrel, they still end up being kinda mid for me. They fulfill a similar niche that either Tzimisce, Nosferatu or actual werewolves could fill just as easily. There's nothing wrong with them, the things I see in them are just done better by other clans in my opinion. They become forgettable to me and I'm gonna have to will myself to make some more cuz it would make sense for my home game!

10. The Ministry

I think they could be very interesting. I think it's silly and goofy that one of their clan traits is "wants to make you evil", that's good for comedy. And the vibe they have is good. I love a good cult, I love snakes... But I don't know if I find the whole Followers of Set thing to be compelling unless I missed some lore about how Set has adapted in the modern world. Maybe it could be cool if Set was the Wyrm or whatever. The Ministry is good for plot devices but I don't know how interesting they are as characters otherwise.

11. Brujah

I admit I'm biased on this one. I think it's kinda sad that in "modern" day, the time period most vtm games are run, Brujah are just stock angry countercultural guys. They're set up to be protagonists of a story against corrupt leaders and...nothing else. The clan doesn't give you much to work with. Strong fast and sexy guys with their three disciplines and basically zero clan structure (I miss VTM Redemption philosopher Brujah) does aesthetic). Every good Brujah character is good because of their writing and gets no shortcuts from being Brujah.

12. Ravnos

The last two clans get like. Negative points for the racism baggage they were born with all the way back in the earlier editions. I think Ravnos has a bit more interesting clan lore (what with their antediluvian wiping them out in recent-ish canon memory) but it takes a lot of conscious effort to make a character that isn't an uncomfortable appropriation of nomadic culture stereotypes.

13. Banu Haqim

It's difficult to ignore how their clan bane used to be THAT... And the whole fact that their clan lore, to this day in 5E continues to struggle to untangle itself from islamic extremist stereotyping. Saying "oh the extremists are just the evil faction of this clan now!" doesn't really cut the level of how bad and uncomfortable and disrespectful this clan was. I am not equipped to write a character of this clan that does not exist entirely separate from its lore. You get no favors from Banu Haqim.

My thoughts on caitiff and thin bloods are separate, and I can't really put them on a numbered list due to how they feel like separate entities entirely in vampire. Might make a separate post?

Thanks for reading! Remember all the above content is just my opinion and I am a DM who makes ocs, I haven't actually been a player in this game as of me writing this. I'm sure it shows lol

[persephoneggsy]

For the world state meme! 3, 8, 11, 17, and 25, please!

3. opinion on blood magic?

Fiora Cousland: She was wary of it, but she also had a morbid fascination with it when she was younger. Kind of like how people would be interested in true crime, I guess. Then she actually saw blood magic in action and any kind of appealing mystique it might have had promptly went out the window. She’s pretty firmly in the “fuck that noise” category now.

Marian Hawke: Hates it. The idea of someone being able to take away her autonomy and make her a mindless puppet is a huge fear for her. She’s softened a little on the issue of thinking all blood mages are irredeemable, mostly due to being friends with Merrill, who doesn’t subjugate others so much as augment her own powers with (mostly) her own blood.

Hildegarde Trevelyan: While she can appreciate the scholarly argument that it’s just another school of magic that can wielded for good or for bad, it mostly just gives her the ick and she’d prefer to stay far away from it.

8. who do they hate the most, and do they have an arch-nemesis?

Fiora Cousland: It’s gotta be Rendon Howe. She had a mild disdain for Loghain after everything he put her and her allies through, but Howe took EVERYTHING from her. She also doesn’t get along with Nathaniel, despite acknowledging he wasn’t responsible for his father’s actions. Still, he left her with a bad first impression she could never quite get over, and the family resemblance caused too much resentment on her end.

Marian Hawke: Marian has a lot of people she considers enemies on the best of days, but the most vitriolic one for her was probably the Arishok. She hates everything that the Qun stands for and couldn’t stand him or his attitude. And then he attacked the city she was living in and nearly killed her in their duel, so. I like to think that Marian’s blunt nature earned the Arishok’s respect, but he sure as hell never earned hers.

Hildegarde Trevelyan: I don’t think Hilde has enough hatred in her heart to have an arch nemesis honestly lmao. Even with Corypheus and his ilk, she’s not fighting them because of an intense hatred or vendetta, she’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do. Like, at most the one person she felt the most annoyance towards was Magister Erimond. But, like, who didn’t?

11. what are their religious beliefs, if any?

All three of my girls are Andrastian!

Fiora Cousland: Probably the most “normal” relationship to her faith, she was raised in it and does believe in the Maker, but she’s not rushing to become a cloistered sister or anything.

Marian Hawke: Had a significantly more complicated relationship with her faith, due to being an apostate hiding from the chantry. She doesn’t think about religion much until she gets to Kirkwall and meets Sebastian, who does get her to view the chantry in a more… maybe not positive, but nuanced light.

Hildegarde Trevelyan: Much like Fiora, she was raised Andrastian and passively followed the faith for most of her life… and then suddenly she’s the new messiah. She has a bit of a crisis after being named the Herald of Andraste. Not because she stops believing in the Maker, but because she can’t fathom why He would ever choose HER to lead his faithful. Hilde has self esteem issues, if you couldn’t tell.

17. what were they like as a child?

Fiora Cousland: Very vivacious, prone to getting into trouble by playing pranks with her brother Fergus (or just as likely, playing pranks ON Fergus). She hated her “noble” lessons like etiquette and dancing and wanted to spend her time playing instead. Of the three girls, she had the happiest childhood.

Marian Hawke: Marian was quieter as a child than her more brash, fiery adult self. She had it drilled into her VERY early on to not draw attention to their family, so she mostly stayed inside and watched the twins. She grew to resent her parents for not letting her have a real childhood, but she never took it out on Carver and Bethany. At least she had a lot of free time to practice her favored hobby, sewing.

Hildegarde Trevelyan: She’s always been shy and anxious, even as a kid. She spent her days reading by herself in the family garden, and was adored by her father. However, her older half sister liked to alternate between picking on her or pretending she didn’t even exist — while her other half siblings tried to mitigate the damage by being kind to her, Hilde kept withdrawing further and further into herself until her magic came in and she was sent to the Circle.

25. what did they plan for their life to look like before the events of the game happened?

Fiora Cousland: Fiora figured she had a few years of freedom before her parents insisted she pick a husband and settle down. She wanted to travel the world first, though. She’d have a different lover every week and make a name for herself as an adventurer, like her mother, the “Sea Wolf”. Then, when her appetite was sated, she’d come home, marry the least offensive (or failing that, most handsome) suitor she could find and add to the Cousland line.

Marian Hawke: Realistically, Marian knew her prospects were slim. On her worst days, her pessimism would win and she thought she’d never make it out of Lothering. She’d be stuck there forever, tending to her family like the obedient little daughter her father wanted her to be and never have any freedom of her own. On her more optimistic days… she dreamed about opening her own fancy tailor’s shop and becoming rich and successful and fulfilled. Possibly also marrying a handsome noble who would adore her and listen to her.

Hildegarde Trevelyan: After being sent to the Ostwick Circle, Hildegarde imagined she’d spend the rest of her life there, barring the occasional permitted visit to her father’s estate. She would keep her head down and study. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d be selected as an archivist. Before the Circle, Hildegarde wanted to study architecture, traveling to different countries to document the history and aesthetics of the buildings and structures she would find. Her father is a renowned historian, so she dreamed of following in his footsteps.

Dragon Age Canon Worldstate asks

[hiddenbeks]

alone, desire & failure for the oc u really want to talk abt :3

not-so-nice oc asks

ooh well since we're touching on the topic of failure i gotta talk abt ultimate failgirl fereldan turnip champion of kirkwall hottest apostate in town aka frida! also she's my only dragon age gal whose tag is still empty and this is a great opportunity to change that

alone: how does your oc deal with loneliness? have they ever been completely alone before? how do they act when there's no one around to see them?

frida deals with loneliness by seeking company! she's used to always having at least a few people around and she would prefer not to be alone with her own thoughts so. she'll hit up her friends and/or go to the hanged man for a fun evening to avoid this :) if there's no one around to see her it means her energy is totally depleted and that's when she's at her. rawest and most bare? she might cry for an hour in total solitude or just lie in bed staring at nothing or do something else she'd never let anyone else witness. she is so used to putting up a strong and fun and unshakeable front for others!! alone time is for letting all her emotions out unfiltered oof

desire: what's one thing your oc wants more than anything in the world? are they open with that desire? why or why not? what would they do to fulfill it?

she's a simple gal. she just wants to live her life freely and be happy and make sure her loved ones are happy...

...until she arrives in kirkwall and gets to know the kirkwall crew and starts hanging out and discussing mage freedom with anders and merrill and learns about the conditions in the gallows... as years go by she starts desiring. bigger things. it's not enough that she and her friends are free - she wants total liberation and while she doesn't go around the gallows yelling 'fuck meredith' she doesn't hide her views either. after becoming the champion she becomes much more open about this because what are they gonna do? arrest the beloved savior of kirkwall lol?? and if it takes blowing up a chantry and starting a revolt to achieve total liberation then so be it.

she's not actually involved in the blowing up of the chantry tho (beyond distracting elthina as you do in-game) bc anders keeps her in the dark but. at that point she would've helped if he'd asked. in fact she would've done it in his stead because just as anders says 'i didn't want it to be connected to you' or something along those lines frida would also have wanted to shield her friend at the cost of her own safety. because that's what she does. she needs therapy.

failure: what's your oc's greatest failure? have they been able to move past it? does anyone else know about it?

ok so when i call her failgirl i don't mean it in a 'fails at everything she does' way. she succeeds in many things! but all her achievements in kirkwall are overshadowed by her losses that she sees as failures on her part. most people don't see it that way because they don't know about her personal life, they just know she saved kirkwall! she fights for the mages! she's a hero of the common people whoo!! the companions of course know about most of her losses as they're right there to witness them and even if she doesn't open up about her troubles they Know she is tormented

but anyway uh. her greatest failure is basically not being able to do what she set out to do in the first place which was protecting her family! bethany dies when they're fleeing ferelden (she shouldn't have let her run off like that!), carver catches the taint and frida dooms him to a slow death as a grey warden (she should've told him to stay in the city!!) and then leandra is killed (she should've been more alert!!!). she blames aveline as well for the last one though. as is her right because holy shit aveline you're bad at your job! also frida is getting tired of internalizing it all so she starts taking her anger and exhaustion and disappointment out on others. mainly aveline. they have a weird can't-stand-her-ass-but-i-need-someone-to-fight-with kind of relationship. idk.

she also believes she failed as a big sister to carver by not bonding with him as much as she did with bethany when they were younger and like. she still struggles to understand him... see things from his point of view... they never get to have a true heart to heart about their Issues before she sends carver away to join the wardens and after that they barely see each other anymore and hhhhh

at first it feels like she'll never be able to move past her failures. she simply distracts herself from all the sorrow by keeping busy but as years go by she eventually... grows around it... there are still people to care about and causes to fight for and she is still needed and wanted and she slowly realizes that she needs to move on? and stay in the present and work for a better future. i'm starting to sound so sappy lmao but my point is!!!! she will eventually make peace with it all. even though it takes a long time. (she gets to have a heart to heart with carver too because i love these two and want healing for them!!)

[doctormage]

jumping in on the anders apologism bc now i'm feeling strongly about it too, it's also just baffling to me how people can play da2 and villainize anders. bc youre right, the game spends a lot of time showing you chantry atrocities, plus one of the most interesting things about da2 to me is the prominent theme of how oppressors control the narrative, yet so many people miss it! the framing device for the entire story is varric telling the story of how a rebellion started to a chantry seeker, recounting chantry injustices but in a dark room away from the public, where it can be suppressed. that means something, but people still call anders a terrorist or murderer and i'm just like. well that's an interesting way to refer to slave revolts, lol. kind of the entire point was that the chantry lies to justify religious persecution and villainizes anyone who resists, but i guess you somehow missed that and are doing it for them...

“the prominent theme of how oppressors control the narrative” yes!!!! fuck!!!!

it’s especially funny to me given how they kinda beat us over the head w that in DAI (which obv came out after DA2 but like, we can use it as a lens to look at previous games bc it’s been out for 8 fucking years and we’re all somehow still arguing abt its predecessor lol). even the first two I can name just off the top of my head — the shit w the seekers wrt tranquility & the shit w inquisitor ameridan — are both instances of the chantry lying about their shittiness & those lies having serious long-standing implications for the entirety of thedas, but ESPECIALLY for marginalized groups (elves, mages, tranquil) (not to mention how trespasser explores similar ideas but i don’t want to derail)

also failing to acknowledge varric’s role as the storyteller AND the situation in which he’s being forced to tell the story, like you mentioned, is some big fat beef i have w DAI. how are yall gonna constantly bring attention to the fact that DA2 isn’t a direct narrative but instead a story being told while being interrogated by not just a seeker but THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FUCKING DIVINE, then want to demonize the revolutionary YOU created so bad that you backpedal enough to be like no varric was telling the 100% pure unbridled truth actually. he has a perfect photographic memory and remembers everything exactly as it happens, and then he wrote it down as such with zero exaggeration at all. despite him literally saying on multiple occasions that he loves to lie and sensationalize. not with this tho we trust him. HUH???

and don’t even get me STARTED on how they named the mage underground as such to draw parallels to the actual fucking Underground Railroad and were then brainless enough to be like “well that’s bad actually :/” lmao????? girl (gender neutral) WHAT??

but yeah at the end of the day youre absolutely correct, people will fall for this shit even at the hands of the fantasy catholic church and refuse to see otherwise. the games can straight up tell and SHOW us that the chantry & all the organizations that report to it (the templars, the seekers, the circles) are corrupt and LIE!! outright LIE and kill people to protect those lies, and still people will be like “okay well what about the rich people huh? what about all these made up scenarios i created to make myself feel better about hating when the oppressed stand up to their oppressors?? I’m enlightened for saying all violence is bad, even when it can put an end to more violence<3” lmfao not only are they doing the brainwashing themselves, like you said, but imo a lot of them are missing the point on purpose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[tabriscadash]

I was asked this on my old blog right as I set about transitioning to this one, so...

The first character I ever fell in love with: for DA:O, dare I say Daveth? What can I say -- I irrationally got incredibly attached to him. otherwise, DEFINITELY Morrigan, and I have crystal clear memories of my first run through Lothering and looking at Morrigan like 😍 the whole time. For DA:2/E, Carver -- unless you count Anders & Justice since I knew of them from Awakening beforehand, in which case probably Justice. For DA:I, it’s a toss-up between Vivienne or Cole -- I technically liked Cole first but SPECIFICALLY in the supporting material (Asunder), and didn’t vibe with him anywhere near as much in the game, AND I got him as a companion after I got Vivienne, so probably Vivienne.

A character that I used to love/like, but now do not: for DA:O, I guess Oghren? I never loved him, but I liked the idea of him because I really liked the dwarves/Orzammar side of DA’s worldbuilding -- but he’s such an unlikeable character that I just.. don’t vibe with him at all. I debate recruiting him every single time now, and I don’t think I ever do his personal quest (in the base game OR Awakening). for DA:2/E, I don’t really have anyone that fits -- but I REALLY wanted to like Merrill and Aveline more than I did, and especially in Aveline’s case, I can’t stand her and genuinely think she’s the unintended, secret Big Bad of the whole game. for DA:I, probably Cole, bc I was really into the idea of a little walking-corpse serial killer animated by a spirit as per the book, but that’s not really the vibe in DA:I, and combined with the somewhat patronising/ableist language and how significantly he is infantilised (including by the fandom) I just got put off him. I do still like him, but not as much.

A ship that I used to love/like, but now do not: for DA:O, I don’t really have one? I guess see my DA:I answer, lol... for DA:2/E, has to be Anders - I don’t think he’s OOC in 2, but I think his writing does so little with him and he feels v. reductive. Where his relationship could be SO interesting and angsty, it instead is written in a really dull and/or cringey way. It would have been nice to see Anders more like the Anders of Awakening near the beginning of the game (rather than random, infrequent and questionably rare snippets), and then see the progression of his relationship with Justice as the game went on -- I want more interesting abominations, PLEASE. for DA:I, listen I cannot express to you HOW EXCITED I was for my planned Lavellan to romance Sera… also I used to be way more tolerant of Cullen x Amell/Surana ships because, like, hey dark ships are fun, right? But since Cullen’s ~wholesome whitewash~ in DA:I, and his fandom clamouring to absolve him of any wrongdoing ever.. it’s boring to me.

My ultimate favourite character™: for DA:O, probably Sten? or Morrigan. They’re both fantastic, and also are significant comfort chars for me. for DA:2/3, honestly, probably my own Hawke -- I feel so hugely proud of her, and can’t imagine I’d enjoy the game anywhere near as much had I not played it as my Hawke. If not her, maybe Sebastian or Carver? for DA:I, I really love Vivienne, as well as Blackwall, and Solas is a great character even if I probably would not say I liked him.

Prettiest character: for DA:O, we all know it’s Zevran. for DA:2/E, I think Aveline -- although her aggressively bland colour-scheme lets her down in a major way (although I respect her dedication to all orange all day every day). There’s just something about her arms -- very Abby from TLOU:2. for DA:I, maybe Josephine? Ser Barris is very pretty, too...

My most hated character: for DA:O, I really didn’t like Alistair, Wynne and Oghren, and of my companions - Oghren is probably my least favourite. He’s vulgar and also profoundly uninteresting. for DA:2/E, it has to be Aveline. There’s just something about ineptitude and a complete, wilful refusal to take accountability for your actions that I can’t stand. It would be okay if it was an intentional character flaw, but the game/narrative treats her like she’s lawful good and it really annoys me. for DA:I, maybe Iron Bull? He was a huge disappointment for me. I also really dislike Sera, Cassandra, and Varric. I’m so sick of Varric - I never want to see him again.

My OTP: for DA:O, I really loved Zevran’s romance -- but I am also very amused by the fact that Leliana got to ‘love’ status with Kallian accidentally, AND I got the ‘love’ glitch for Justice (👀) and Velanna. I do sometimes wonder about an AU where Kallian is forced to make a politically expedient marriage with Nathaniel Howe for diplomatic reasons in order to consolidate her position as Arlessa, and it being an entirely platonic arrangement (it’s not like anyone expects an heir from an infertile Grey Warden) -- and maybe Zev and Nate kiss sometimes, who knows? I also LOVE my Darkspawn Chronicles AU where Kallian and Nelaros are a happy, married couple each hiding their skills with weapons from each other like dumb, cute sweethearts. They shelter Zevran when he fails to kill Alistair and a poly couple evolves. for DA:2/E, I love the IDEA of a Seb romance that isn’t so strictly conditional around the structures that abused him -- he should be allowed to love, chastely or otherwise, but free from the Chantry OR his position as prince/heir. I’d LOVE to actually have a romance with him where you can actually challenge the abuse he’s experienced. for DA:I, Malika doesn’t have a canon romance (although I think when I replay, I’m going to romance Josephine!) but I think Blackwall has an amazing romance. Solas’ is also iconic, it must be said. 

My NOTP: for DA:O, I really dislike Alistair in a shipping capacity; he’s immature and says a lot of misogynistic shit and I don’t think he’s the worst for it, but I don’t really vibe with shipping him, having played the game as a female city elf. for DA:2/E, I wouldn’t say I have one, particularly? although I really dislike Aveline’s relationship with her husband simply because it seems incredibly inappropriate, given that they work together and she has power over him -- and because I dislike her, generally, I don’t feel inclined to do something nice for her. for DA:I, I suppose Sera/Lavellan -- although I’m not AGAINST it, it just really isn’t for me, having attempted it. I also don’t really vibe with Dorian x Iron Bull. Something abt the way the game handled BDSM and their relationship banter specifically I don’t really like.

Favourite episode quest: for DA:O, probs Orzammar/the Deep Roads. I really love the dwarven lore! and, of course, Fort Drakon is really funny, even though it’s not canon in my game iirc. for DA:2/E, maybe the murder mystery with the serial killer, where ultimately Leandra dies? I also really enjoyed all the companion quests. for DA:I, The Descent (just, all of it, lmao) and everything to do with the Avvar. Crestwood also BANGED.

Saddest death: for DA:O, it’s frankly a fucking INJUSTICE that Shianni gets murdered if you make her Bann of the Alienage -- the idea of that happening whilst Kallian is in Amaranthine and unable to protect her :( genuinely very upsetting. I go back and forth on who is made Bann, tbf, so idk how canonical it is: I think maybe Cyrion would get it, but I’m also endeared to Soris holding the position, with Shianni as Hahren. for DA:2/E, Bethany. I wish both twins had had the chance to reach Kirkwall :(. Let Leandra die instead. for DA:I, maybe not the saddest death, but the most memorable for me was that one sleeping dragon in the Hissing Wastes.. leave her alone. Stay out of a womans’ business.

Favourite season game: DA:O!

Least favourite season game: DA:I.

Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but I hate: for DA:O, Alistair. I cannot deal with his complacency and hypocrisy. for DA:2, I really disliked Merrill but I honestly cannot remember why. DEFINITELY Varric -- I hated how the game forces you to be his best friend, and if you’re low approval, you have to endure these pointless pissy little comments with this little anti-dwarf centrist pissant. After the expedition, I literally have no reason to put up with him, and I NEVER take him out. I hate that he plays the same role in DA:I, too. for DA:I, the Iron Bull was hugely disappointing, and I also really don’t vibe with Cassandra. She just seems very wishy-washy and complacent and hypocritical, and many of her comments about other cultures seem snide for literally no reason other than bigotry. 

My ‘you’re a piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: for DA:O, lbr probably Sten. Mans is gonna launch a HORRIFYING invasion in the next game iirc and frankly, I’m ok with it. Just wanna see that big bastard again ❤🥵. for DA:2/E, I LOVE Gamlen, ok? for DA:I, I am not sure if I have one.

My ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: for DA:O, if any of you so much as LOOK at Velanna wrong, it’s hands. That includes Bioware. I also feel incredibly protective of and sad for Morrigan. for DA:2/E, probably Sebastian -- I feel so sad for him, and so frustrated by the limitations with the game. for DA:I, I’m honestly not sure.. maybe Josephine? I don’t really feel this way about Sera, but I do think she deserves better from the game and its writing, and also from fandom: there are valid criticisms of her, but the hate she gets is not proportional to any valid issues with her -- and gee, I wonder why that is.

My ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: for DA:O, I did use to find Cullen x Surana/Amell intriguing as a dark ship -- I actually hc that Neria Surana is actually Nelaros’ sister, and have dabbled with it as a dark ship. I also am interested in Loghain/Alistair - which each pretends the other is someone else. Alistair is wooby, hate ships are, in general, fun -- so long as we acknowledge that they are, indeed, unhealthy ships. for DA:2/E, I kind of feel like Sebastian romances are, invariably, kind of dark... and, similarly, Anders romances -- especially with certain red Hawkes, The way it ends is, invariably, bordering on fucked up. ALSO Hawkecest is weird and wonderful: GET WITH IT. 

My ‘they’re kind of cute, and I lowkey ship them, but I’m not too invested’ ship: for DA:O, I joked about Velanna x Leliana once and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it ever since… Velanna x Sigrun is also something that can be so personal. Ariane x Finn is adorable and are paid DUST by Bioware AND fandom. I actually am really into Anora x Nathaniel & NO I will NOT explain myself; it’s a crackship but it’s MY crackship. for DA:2/E, Isabela x Fenris is super cute, but I don’t pay enough attention to them to really have super committed thoughts & feelings on them. for DA:I, Blackwall x Josephine is cute as a background ship; I also think Maryden x Cole is sweet.

[emerald-amidst-gold]

8, 13, 80, 82, for the otp asks? 👀

OTP! OTP! >:3 Time for some more rambling~! You know, I think my love for these two dorks grows more and more as I create and talk about their dynamic. It just. HNNNNNGH. *makes grabby hands at dumb dumb wolf and dumb dumb dragon*

Anyways, my fangirling aside, let's get to answering! >:D Thank you so much for the ask, dear friend! X3

8. Who tends to worry the most?

I was going to answer this with 'both equally', but the more I think, the more I realize that Solas is the one who worries the most. XD

I mean, come on. We all know Solas is a natural worry wart. It's in the man's blood, and Fane has a tendency to make his dear wolf's blood pressure rise to fatal heights with the shit he does. PFFT!

Fane is a literal battering ram when it comes to battles (this is based on how I've specced him in-game), and he just charges in without caring if he'll get sliced, diced, or scorched. Fane's illness with magic makes it incredibly difficult for Solas to erect barriers on him, so he has to devise other ways to keep Fane in one piece (nitpicking about his armor, constantly asking, 'Are you certain you are ready?', and begging, 'Please control yourself this time, ma'isenatha.') All of that worry comes from the fact that Solas has seen Fane die, has had to guide him to it, even. Fane doesn't mean to brush off that concern and worry, but when he's embroiled in battle he...loses his senses a bit. Dragons aren't meant to fight, and fighting is what Fane does best in his new life, so he has a hard time balancing bloodlust with merciful restraint.

If Fane gets injured (which he does, but only grazes and the occasional gash), Solas won't let anyone else attend to him, fear gripping his mind, memories of blood soaked crystal and decaying scales cracking his mask and rendering him tortured. When Fane sees that, instead of just seeing the nagging, he'll go docile, go remorseful and will say, 'I'm sorry, my sky. I never meant to-- I only--hn.' Once they talk and wind down though, things get right back on track, but Solas is constantly worrying over his dragon--constantly.

Solas worries about everything with Fane--his scars, his nightmares, his battle with his identity--but battle is where he's the least reserved in it. He doesn't want Fane to have to fight, but he knows they both don't have a choice in the matter.

13. Who steals the blankets?

Solas. SOLAS.

Well, it's more that Fane gives the blankets to Solas. XD Due to the fact that Fane's affinity as a dragon was ice, he has a very low tolerance to heat. So, furs and even thin silken sheets can be a bit too much for our resident dragon to handle. Hell, Fane walks around the outer perimeter of Skyhold (trails along the mountains and whatnot) in nothing but a fur-lined cloak, his typical trousers, and his black tunic. My boy gives no fucks about the cold.

Fane and Solas' quarters in Skyhold stay a nice in-between temperature, catering to both their needs comfortably. Magic is a lovely thing, and there are certain minor spells that Fane can bear without throwing up all over the place.

...Fane does whine when the fire is a bit too stoked though. That's when the balcony windows get torn open by a deadpan Solas, who then regrets his decision like so many other things. *cackles* Fane just shrugs and gives his wolf that shit-eating smirk of his that says, 'That all you've got, Dread Wolf? Tsk. Shame.'

80. What do they love about each other the most?

Solas is enthralled by Fane's sheer tenacity. Even before the two of them realized who the other was, Solas found Fane's attitude admirable. He had a feeling that Fane was troubled, could see it during specific intervals, but he also saw the will to endure in emerald and gold. Despite the snaps, the snarls, and the moments of disassociation, Solas could see just how strong of spirit Fane was--making decisions without a single regret (on the outside, of course), standing firm to what he believed in, never bowing to those who wished to break him in half with their hopes and expectations, witnessing those moments of vulnerability when Fane's illness with magic became too much, but the other powering through it despite the pain, despite the hardship, and between it all, how much he cared about every. single. person he came across. The downtrodden and forgotten. The traumatized and bereft.

Solas adores Fane's tenacity, and most importantly, his devotion. The latter comes later when they form a romantic relationship, but Solas has always seen both traits in his dragon. And he'll do anything to make sure those shining spirits never becomes warped again.

Now, it may seem predictable, but Fane thrives off of Solas' brain. X'D Fane is a creature of observation, he picks and delves to determine why things work the way they do, or technically speaking, why people act the way that they do. As such, he's always stunned or enraptured when Solas becomes especially passionate about a topic (spirits, the Fade, the Elvhen, his beliefs, his opinions, etc.) Solas' questioning and curious nature is what made Fane open up as a dragon, had him seeing that there was someone not so black and white. So, even if it's sometimes at his expense, Fane lets Solas talk and talk and talk and talk until the candles are burnt down and the moon's high in the sky, never once letting his mind wander and spiral because he'd be a fool to ignore such a beautiful sight as his sky.

82. What is an inside joke they have?

Okay, okay! I may have mentioned this before, but Fane and Solas, on occasion, like to point out the sheer irony of Fane being the 'Herald of Andraste'.

What I mean by that is; he's a dragon. History tiiiime! >:D

Old Gods-depicted as dragons by the Tevinter Imperium.

Archdemons, those that command the Blights, the very thing the Chantry warns against aside from mages--dragons

Fane is a dragon. Fane is also the Herald of Andraste. The Tevinter Imperium used to worship the Old Gods which the Chantry says are false gods and the only true one is the Maker.

So, where does that leave us? Fane is a dragon being worshiped by most of Thedas as a literal figure of divinity. He's the very thing the Chantry claims is 'wicked' and 'heretical'. Furthermore, Fane does have the capacity to harbor a portion of an Old God's soul. *holds out hands* EH? EHHHH?!

"They worship me as a god, more or less, right?"

"If one where to delve deeply into the matter, then perhaps. I believe most of the beleagured and drifting see you as a symbol of hope, ma'isenatha."

"...They literally call me the prophet of their prophetess. They think I'm divinely touched."

"Technically, you are correct. But--oh."

"Yeah. Fucking hilarious. Looks like the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Let's hope the scum in Tevinter don't catch wind. It would be humiliating for the Chantry to know the people flock to a dragon."

"...You are ridiculous."

"But you're laughing, so I know you see the irony, my sky." *chuckles* "Ohh, my day just got ten times better with that realization. Imagine Cassandra's face! Hah!"

"You are far too riveted by this, my dragon. ...Though I admit, it is rather amusing."

"See?" *snickers* "Herald of Andraste. Pfft. I'm a fucking dragon."

Dialogue drabble that I may flesh out and form into a snippet of pure ridiculousness! But that's the joke between Solas and Fane, and when Cassandra's catches Fane nearly exploding with the force of holding his snorts back...well, let's just say she's very confused. *cackles*

[thessalian]

Thess vs A Grand Cleric’s Job

I’ve been playing DA2 again and I’ve finally put to words my issue with Grand Cleric Elthina, at least in terms of the way she really is not doing her damn job.

She keeps saying, “I can’t take sides”, and that’s true insofar as it goes. However, her great grand ideals get a little screwy when she follows it up by saying, “My job is to stand off to the side and pray these two find a way to peace”. Because no. No, Grand Cleric, that’s not your fucking job. Because after so many years, it’s clear that Orsino and Meredith are not going to find a way to peace without a mediator.

Grand Cleric Elthina’s job was not to stand off to the side and pray, refusing to get involved in any way. Her job was not to send those two off to their metaphorical rooms like chastised children, allowing them to stew in their own resentments and live inside their own heads. Her job was not to basically add fuel to the fire by allowing them to think that being so intractable was in any way cool.

Her job was to be a fucking mediator.

Her job was to sit both of them down in a room - a neutral space that neither would want to see destroyed, as an arbiter they wouldn’t want to kill, and make them fucking compromise. She said, “Both have good points; both have flaws” - she needed to put the Chantry’s gold and her life where her mouth was. She needed to flag up the good points and the flaws and help them find where the two could coexist. Her job was to say, “Neither of you are going to get exactly what you want, but if we sit down and talk about this, maybe we can find a way where both of you can come close. Now talk like fucking adults and I will be here to check you when you start in on your bullshit”.

I mean, she saw what happened with the Qunari, when roadblocks were in place between Qunari and Kirkwall’s rulership and stubbornness prevented the sides from coming to an understanding. If the fucking Arishok had just said, “I’m looking for something that was stolen and I can’t go back without it; if you want me gone, help me find the damn thing” ... well, Act 2 would have looked very different, but a lot fewer people would have died. Elthina was clearly aware of what happened there, how anti-Qunari sentiment among the people (HER OWN PEOPLE) just made things worse. She would have known that anti-mage and anti-Templar sentiment was growing among the people, egged on by Orsino and Meredith, and that someone was going to take matters into their own hands at some point. At some stage, it was going to stop being an issue contained within the Gallows grounds. Arguably, given Grace and Aldric and Thrask and the rest, it already had become an issue that spread beyond the Gallows grounds.

But no. Instead, she let the whole thing simmer, and outside forces obliged her to die for it, and yes, we needed that for Act 3 to conclude the way it did. All because she couldn’t do her damn job and arbitrate fairly and without bias between the Knight-Commander and the First Enchanter because somehow, that wasn’t her job. Except where it was.

I understand the needs of plot and everything, but however much I enjoy that game (and I do, believe me), I’m often a little disturbed by how much of the plot is solely dependent on everyone involved being incredibly fucking stupid. I understand that a bit of convenient ignorance is necessary for most plots to operate, but that much, that obviously? There were ways of making things work the way the writers wanted it to without having everyone involved effectively sharing a brain cell that was apparently on loan to Hawke of all people more often than was feasible. But of course, that would have taken time and development was rushed so they went for the more convenient method of having Kirkwall’s motto be, “Using logic is punishable by death” ... which I guess is partly explained by the whole Enigma of Kirkwall, “The very bones and foundations of this city are made of crazy-making evil” thing.

Oh well. Still fun.

[shadowglens]

12, 23, 39, 40 for nuala & maggie :3

12. how skilled at lying is your oc? how frequently do they lie? for what reason? what situations would be the exception?

nuala - she’s an exceptional liar, and in general is really good at guiding a conversation to suit her needs (or distract whoever she’s talking to from the truth), although she tries not to lie too often. she sometimes finds herself slipping back into old habits and lying to her friends, but she does her best to only do it when it will further the inquisition’s goals or against her enemies. (it’s part of why she was so broken up about solas having lied to her for so long - she thought she was an expert at being able to tell when she was being lied to. obviously not).

maggie - she’s an okay liar, but tends to lean more towards the blunt truth than lies. one thing maggie’s found over her life is that the truth can often do more damage than a lie, and she learnt to weaponsie that young. also, her parents spent most of her childhood lying to her, and the last thing she wants is to inherit anymore poison from them than she already has. 

23. what is the most annoying sound to your oc? what’s the most pleasant? is there any reason?

nuala - she hates the chantry songs that the priests will sing sometimes around skyhold, because it’s just another reminder of how much she despises the whole institution and all it stands for. favourite sounds would be a small brook running through the forset, or the rolling of thunder in the distance.

maggie - nails on a chalkboard, or anything similar. it drives her absolutely nuts. also, people who crack their knuckles. she loves the sound paint makes across a blank canvas, or the sound of an engine roaring to life.

39. how superstitious your oc? do they end up following them ‘just in case’? or are superstitions incredibly important to your oc? what are some that they believe? what about the ones they don’t?

nuala - she’s not really that superstitious, despite being raised in an environment where superstitions were a really important part of the dalish culture. over the years, and in the aftermath of solas leaving with the anchor, she falls back on a few - silly old wives tales about the glow of a wolf’s eyes in the dark, of the crack of lighting over water, of the flash of green that suposedly appears just before the sun sets. 

maggie - nope. her parents were crazy superstitious and so maggie is the complete opposite, rejecting any and all superstitions as stupid. she refuses to believe that all the creepy or weird stuff that happens in the world doesn’t have an explanation - honestly, she thinks most superstitions came about from either fucked up religious ideology, or drugs, or both.

40. are there any habits your oc has picked up from people around them? do they know where they’re from? does your oc try to stop themselves from doing it?

nuala - she doesn’t tend to adopt other peoples habits that much, being as stubborn as she is, but there are a few little things that she picks up. spending so much time with dorian makes her start using bookmarks instead of just dog earring everything, and she begins to question more of the people and world around her after talking so often with solas. i don’t think she’d even notice the changes.

maggie- she’s very much her own person and doesn’t like to let herself be moulded or changed by others too much, so not really. if she ever realised she’d picked up someone else’s habit, she’d probably forcefully stop herself from doing it.

[beauregardlionett]

this poem is my confessional (loving you isn’t a sin)

AO3 Link

A/N: big shout out to my man @sadwizardvibes for the inspiration AND for writing me a fucking song to go with this piece thanks for fueling my beauyasha brainrot man <3

If she was honest with herself, giving Beau that poem had been entirely an impulse decision. Yasha had told Jester she would work on it—which she did—and that she would find a special moment for it. But most of the moments she shared with Beau were special to her, so that didn’t exactly narrow things down. She cherished every conversation and tried her hardest to keep Beau safe. Especially after the events at the chantry, Yasha appreciated every moment she got with Beau.

So, she had handed the paper over and prayed she didn’t embarrass herself.

Beau had seemed flustered, touched, and Yasha had wanted nothing more than to kiss her then and there. But she had held back, because she wanted Beau to at least read the poem before anything else happened.

And then all of that insanity with Vess and Molly—no, Lucien—had happened, and Yasha found herself grateful nothing else had transpired between her and Beau. She hated to think the memory of their potential first kiss might have been marred by the events following.

Regardless, they were underway toward Aeor; the snowy landscapes were taxing, endless, and a little boring. Supposedly it was a good thing they had encountered none of the foretold beasts, but Yasha harbored a lot of pent up frustration and nerves. It would be nice to have something to take that out on.

At the end of their second day, Caleb set up his tower. He ushered them all inside to a haven of warmth and stained glass they were becoming steadily more familiar with. Dagon seemed understandably impressed with the magical structure and grateful for the guest room he was directed to.

Usually they would gather up for dinner together, but there seemed to be a silent, unanimous decision that exhaustion took precedence. They retired to their various rooms with yawns and quiet ‘good nights’, safe for the time being. Yasha lay on her back on the cot in the room with the floral mural. She traced an absent gaze over the patterns, identifying flowers in her head and hoping it would lull her anxious mind to sleep.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Molly—Lucien—and what they would do when they caught up to him. Yasha couldn’t stop thinking about Beau, about the poem she carefully tucked away to read later. Yasha couldn’t help but remember of Zualla as she stared at the flowers on her wall.

There was a knock at her door.

Pushing to her feet after a moment, Yasha walked to her door to poke her head out. She was confused about who might be at her door at this hour until her eyes found Beau fidgeting on the other side of the threshold.

“Hi,” Beau mumbled, hands behind her back.

“Hi,” Yasha breathed back, opening the door a little wider. “Are you okay? It’s late.”

“Yeah,” Beau said, voice pitching up a little at the end in a tell Yasha quickly realized meant she was nervous. “Yeah, I just uh…”

Yasha raised an eyebrow at Beau’s nerves, unused to a Beau who floundered. She realized in the second before Beau pulled the piece of parchment out from behind her back what this was about. The Aasimar flushed pink and her eyes flicked to the ground, embarrassed.

“This was…really beautiful, Yasha,” Beau mumbled, fingers fiddling with the edges of the paper. “But I uh…I noticed this.”

Yasha chanced a look up, Beau extending the paper and pointing to a tiny note scrawled in the bottom corner. She had forgotten about that.

In her messy, cramped handwriting, Yasha had scrawled the word harp? She had been considering turning her poem into a song, because it was always easier for her to express things through music. Plus, she knew that Beau enjoyed her music, so why wouldn’t she put it to chords? But Yasha ended up pushing the idea aside. It was one thing for Beau to like Yasha’s wordless performances, and a whole other for Yasha to direct poetry with music toward the woman of her affection.

“It was…just an idea,” Yasha said with a half-hearted dismissive gesture.

“Would you play it for me?”

Yasha felt her cheeks grow warmer, more red than pink now. But before she could give it too much thought, the Aasimar felt herself nodding. She stood aside and let Beau into her room, leading the monk back into the chamber painted with flowers.

Beau sat cross-legged on the floor across from Yasha as the Aasimar tuned her harp. She took a little longer with the task than strictly necessary, just so she could freak out in silence.

Of course, she had prepared chords for this, because she had run with the idea. But Yasha shied away from it, losing her courage. Music was something that had helped Yasha heal, a meditation in her own way. It brought her peace and offered her an outlet for emotions she didn’t quite know how to express. So, to have Beau sitting before her, eyes trained solely on Yasha, was intense and nerve-wracking.

If Yasha had learned anything, though, it was that she could trust Beau. The monk had been looking out for her, and for the entire group, since day one. Before Beau had trusted any of them, she had still been looking out for them. It was something Yasha admired about Beau—her capacity to care and to love despite everything she had been through. Beau inspired Yasha to keep fighting.

The least she could do was play this for her.

She didn’t need the parchment back. Yasha had spent hours pouring over the words and the chords to make sure it sounded perfect.

Oh, oh Beau, I’m grateful for you.

You waited while I wandered,

While everyone was wondering

If I’d ever come back, you stayed true.

Her voice faltered slightly at the start, uncertain and underused, but she persisted. Beau’s eyes on her simultaneously made her nervous and strengthened her resolve.

Oh, oh Beau, you mean so much to me,

I’ve lost so many people,

I cannot fathom losing

The woman who has loved so fearlessly.

Yasha rarely sang. She used to sing for Zualla in those quiet stolen moments years ago. When they were out in the fields alone, walking or hunting or just existing to stare at the stars. She sang once for Molly, both of them a little past tipsy after a good night for the circus. He had told her she possessed a voice fit for performances, but Yasha had waved him off.

Her voice was sweet, higher than her speaking voice because she sang from her nose and her head. It threw most people for a loop, but Beau merely sat there and stared. Her blue eyes were wide with awe, lips slightly parted. If Yasha didn’t know Beau couldn’t be charmed, she would almost think the monk under a spell.

And I’ve ambled and trekked over miles and miles,

Every step lead me straight back to you.

You gave me the space to learn where I belong

And I’ll tell you right now, it’s the truth.

It was almost like nothing else existed. Yasha’s fingertips buzzed against the taut strings of the harp, her voice vibrated in her chest, and Beau’s eyes stayed fixated on Yasha’s face. This was all that mattered right now, and Yasha couldn’t think of what existed before this, or what might exist after.

Oh, oh Beau, the one I’m thinking of,

I want to hold your hand and

Stand quietly beside you.

I want to confess, you’re my love.

The last strum of her harp faded into silence, and Yasha reveled in the peace vibrating through her veins. She had rarely known stillness like this before discovering music.

Beau sniffed, and Yasha twitched as she startled, eyes snapping up to Beau’s face. The monk still stared at her, eyes wide and watering.

No one’s ever written me a poem before. Yasha remembered the soft-spoken admission as a tear tumbled down Beau’s cheek. She guessed without asking that no one ever sung for Beau before, either.

“Yasha…” Beau breathed. “That was incredible. Your voice…”

The Aasimar ducked her head, not even trying to suppress the smile pulling at her lips. Beau’s awe was so genuine, Yasha barely knew how to face it head on.

“I didn’t know if you would…y’know want to hear it like that. Or if you would just rather read it,” Yasha rambled, running her fingers with absent focus up and down one string on her harp. “So…yeah, I mean, it’s a song, too. But it was originally a poem. For you.”

“Yeah,” Beau’s voice cracked. “I don’t—Yasha, that was…incredible. You’re incredible. You wrote that? For me?”

“Of course,” Yasha said, looking up again with a small frown. The note of disbelief in Beau’s voice upset her. Why wouldn’t she write a poem for Beau?

“Thank you,” Beau said, her voice overflowing with an emotion Yasha could empathize with, but couldn’t name.

“I am glad you liked it,” Yasha said as she set her harp aside. She didn’t know where to go from here. Jester had said Beau was waiting for Yasha to make the first move, and this…was this enough? It felt weird to question that kind of thing because Yasha had been married before. Theoretically, she should know how to do this. But then again, everything she and Zualla had done had been in secret. Yasha never learned how to express affection for someone openly.

And knowing what she did about Beau, Yasha figured that the monk had no better clue in any of this than she did.

“Maybe uhm…” Yasha started, but stopped. She didn’t want to mess this up. “Maybe after we finish this job…we could, y’know…get dinner? Just us?”

Watching a slow smile spread and pull at Beau’s lips was like watching a sunrise. It began slowly, a little hesitantly, colors bleeding into and washing away the darkness of Beau’s uncertainty. It was a gentle harbinger that lasted a lifetime in no time at all. Then, between one blink and the next, the sun. Beau grinned with wild abandon, lips pulled wide to reveal her teeth, and eyes scrunching at the corners with the force of it. Yasha’s heart went giddy in her chest at the mere sight of Beau’s joy.

“I’d like that,” Beau whispered. There was the same quiet, awed excitement in her voice from when she first received Yasha’s poem.

Yasha’s cheeks hurt from how hard she was smiling. “It’s a date.”