#i want an inquisitor who does that and the mage seems most likely

[crows-of-buckets]

I really want to like. Flesh out my Adaar. However inquisiton has the problem with it's writing where everytime I think I have an idea of how I want selene's character to go, I don't have the flexibility to even sound remotely like her in game. Like her backstory is pretty interesting to me, or at least the one that I've concocted, but like. In game there's just so little there for me to cling to character wise. Like with Origins and 2, even before I started slamming a million headcanons onto my Warden and Hawke, I still had a grasp of their character. I didn't feel like I was doing ALL the work, yk? Like with Selene I've had to make an entirely different backstory from canon to give me investment into her.

And the thing is, I do really like the idea of her backstory! Shes a qunari who's parents were killed by humans. Those humans then took her in and raised her as an act of "charity". Her family was really religious, and expected her to also be so. The idea of a qunari Inquisitor who has the unique experience of being raised in a chantry surrounded by humans is soooo fascinating to me? And then her magic developed when she was 16 (very late bloomer lmao) so she ran away and became a mercenary. She briefly stayed with Valo-Kas, before her and another mercenary called Vashoth left for Selene to make her own group. Shes been leading this mercenary group for around eight years by the time inquisiton starts. And yet I can't have her act experienced on anything!! That, and by the time inquisiton starts she has an odd view of the Chantry and it's religion that I can only really akin to kinda being like Leliana's idea of The Maker (Leliana and her do get along pretty well because of this)

Like being able to explore what being a religious symbol would be like for a non human Inquisitor would have been so cool. But alas. I just idk. I'm procrastinating her playthrough because I don't feel like grinding and I don't wanna do plot so like. For some reason I always lose steam for inquisiton right before what pride has wrought. Like I have yet to actually beat inquisiton in one "sitting" (by that I mean not taking a 6+ month long break from the game)

[abyssal-ilk]

A thing that people always forget when chastising vivienne for being so apathetic to cole is the fact that she is a circle mage. People whom are forced to learn that you should not trust demons nor spirits or else they’ll put you down AS A RITE OF PASSAGE. Think back to what Mouse says in DAO. “Keep your wits about you, mage; true challenges never end.” She knows that for the rest of her life, demons will tempt her and try to possess her. She has seen mages turn into abominations, knows how they get them- of course she will support templars who have the skills to subdue them. And now to have a spirit scurrying around without supervision what is the last bastion against a Tevinter Sidereal… I too would be worried as hell if i were a circle mage.

EXACTLY!

not only is vivienne a circle mage, but there are also a few other factors that play into it that make cole so untrustworthy to her. vivienne underwent her harrowing when she was young– in fact, she was the youngest mage to have ever gone through a harrowing and survived it. we don't get to learn much about what she went through during her harrowing, but we DO have this banter between her and cole:

harrowings on their own are already traumatic enough, and with the added insistence from the circles that all spirits and demons are dangerous (which we see vivienne repeat above, "all it can do is harm."), it makes complete sense on why vivienne would be so put-off by cole! especially given how kind he is! she thinks that kindness is a ploy, and why wouldn't she if her harrowing was anything like the warden's in DAO?

and then that's not even acknowledging the fact that cole isn't just ANY spirit. he's the ghost of the spire. he's killed mages before and admits to doing so. and even though he was wrong to do so and realizes that what he did was wrong, that does not mean that vivienne automatically has to suddenly be okay with what cole did. of course vivienne takes cole being the ghost of the spire harder than everyone else in the inner circle. she is the only circle mage there. it is entirely plausible that she sees cole as a threat and views herself as being the person most able to recognize that threat because of what she was taught. it's why she struggles so much to empathize with cole on any level.

ive already talked about this briefly on another post, but cole is also fairly antagonistic to vivienne as well. it's easy to look at their dynamic and think that, well, cole is just trying to help vivienne but he... isn't? his version of helping her is prying into her thoughts without permission and continuing to do so even after she has shown clear discomfort with it.

cole drags her worst memories and thoughts out publicly in front of not just vivienne, but the rest of the party and anyone else who may happen to be standing near them. it's DANGEROUS, what he does, because vivienne is a player of the game. her position at court is a precarious one, and to have someone like cole who can just pick into her brain whenever he wants with no repercussions? it's scary! it's scary because vivienne has no defense against it, especially if the player supports cole and downplays the harm he does. and what can vivienne do about it? she's an ally of the inquisitor, and that makes her cole's ally by proxy. telling cole to stop doesn't work, insulting him doesn't work, trying to get the inquisitor to intervine doesn't work– nothing seems to deter cole.

which is why THIS piece of dialogue is so important to me:

despite everything i've said above, vivienne still cannot help but care about cole. no matter how dangerous he is, no matter what she was raised to believe, she still cares about him and worries for him. their dynamic is SO interesting to me and i really wish people dug into it a bit more rather than just dismiss it as vivienne being needlessly cruel to cole. it's so much more than that.

[simpforsolas]

on spirit cole

When I first played DAI, I made Cole more human. It felt better to me. Making him human makes him more relatable and allows him to change and grow in ways that feel good to players. But my most recent replay, it's amazing how much my opinion changed.

My fundamental issue with a lot of human Cole arguments is this idea that making Cole human makes him "real." It's an extremely human-centric viewpoint (and by human I just mean intelligent mortal beings - this includes qunari, elves, and dwarves). It's this idea that in order to be "real," in order to be something valuable, you have to fit into a specific mold that's palatable and understandable by people. But in reality, spirit Cole is just as real and as valid as human Cole. Sure, he's different. Sure, he can't live a mortal life and experience typical mortal relationships. But he's still REAL. Spirits are beautiful and wonderful beings just as they are, and they shouldn't have to change into something more human to start to be seen as valuable. It simply takes embracing a different perspective to see the inherent beauty in them.

Consider this line of dialogue you get in the spirit Cole route:

"You found out, but you didn't change." The context of this line is that Cole is talking about Rhys, the mage who befriended Cole but then abandoned him when he realized what Cole truly was: a spirit. Cole has intimate experience with friends leaving him when they find out his true nature, so imagine how meaningful it is to him when the inquisitor doesn't do that. They learn he's a spirit and continue to treat him the same. Nothing changes in their relationship. Then he goes on to say, "You didn't make me change. You let me be this, be more." And that, my friends, is the core of why I love the spirit Cole route so so much. You meet this being who is different and odd, who frightens people just by being himself and wants nothing more than to help. And instead of treating him differently or encouraging him to change into something that you personally might relate to better, you accept him as he is. You don't make him change. If you listen to Cole, he seems so incredibly happy about it, too. He's happy to remain a spirit, as long as he can continue helping people and maintain the relationships he built.

And yes, Spirit Cole also does retain feelings and emotions. He expresses joy when Corypheus was unable to bind him, he expresses sadness when Solas leaves. As we learn from Solas's quest, you can certainly have friendships with spirits. It's just a different kind of relationship, and that's the entire point: Different is okay. I think that this speaks to me on a deep, personal level because of past relationships where I was made to feel like there was something wrong with the authentic, true me. Like I was broken. I felt that in order to be accepted, I had to minimize parts of myself and pretend to be someone I wasn't. So to see Cole be so wholly accepted just as he is and to not be encouraged to change was extremely cathartic for me, and I believe that's the entire point of Spirit Cole. Unapologetic acceptance for someone as they are.

There is the argument to be made that Cole wanted to be more human. After all, he took on the original Cole's identity and tricked himself into believing he was human (if you read Asunder you will know this). But I would argue that Cole never explicitly wanted to be human. He accidentally stumbled into taking on Cole's identity because his compassion and empathy was so strong and he identified so deeply with his pain, that he became him. If you talk to Cole, though, he never expresses a preference one way or the other.

Now, don't take this to mean that I don't think the human Cole route isn't lovely in its own way. There's something beautiful about self-determination and not feeling bound to stick as one thing just because you were born one way or raised to believe that you had to be one way. But all that said, I personally resonate more with spirit Cole and will be a spirit Cole truther forever.

[exhausted-archivist]

Common Fanons That Are Confused As Canon

Through my time of collecting lore and learning things about Thedas I've come across a couple things of fanon that leaked into lists of canon elements. Which was an interesting little thing to follow the rabbit hole of where they even originated. While making this list I did ask others for any that I might have missed or not seen because I wanted to be thorough as I could when even making this list. I haven't been in the fandom long enough to see all the things that have come up.

To be clear, I thought it was neat to see what became so pervasive in the fandom to become easily mistaken as canon or misunderstood. I'm also not discussing whether canon as it stands is "good" or judging the fanon or anything like that.

I just wanted to put it all together in a list, especially as I have had friends who were getting into the series and ask about certain things; as well as Dragon Age Summer hitting us soon and new interest in the series abound.

General

Mages can sense other mages The closest source I can find to this is the fact that Anders states that he can "feel the power in you". No other mage states anything similar and could likely be attributed to the fact that he is possessed. Much like how Cole can sense your magical connection as an Inquisitor. An outlier is how Keiran can sense your magic regardless of if he has the Old God soul; but he is also not confirmed to be a mage as of yet.

All Saarebas always have their lips sewn shut/horns cut off This seems to originate from da2 specifically, with the model of Ketojan having the scarring, the other saarebas missing horns, the concept art, and then boils down to BioWare being inconsistent with their lore/depictions. Most of Thedas fixates on the fact that the Qunari have saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the Seer's yarn tale denotes that tamassrans tell the story of a saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the tarot art for Saarath, and the flippant joke between Sera and Iron Bull. But, the lore specifies that it is in extreme cases or in general that it can occurs but it is not the standard. [WOT p. 103 & 128] Much like tranquility, it is used as a form of punishment - one that we know can and is abused by certain factions. We also see saarebas characters in Inquisition who do not carry either of those traits. Specifically Hissera (multiplayer), Saareth (Trespasser), Heroes of Dragon Age models, and some Qunari in da2.

All Saarebas have their tongues cut out This is seperate from the previous point due to the different source of this fanon. It seems to be an exaggeration of one particulare line from Sten. In dao, Sten will state during the Broken Circle quest that "This is why we cut the tongues from mages, in Par Vollen." He is very general with the statement, but contextually it is reasonable people took this to mean all mages. However, since dao it has been made clear that it is not a universal practice throughout the Qun.

Elves are shorter than humans This one does have a clear point of where this started, though it is never stated in lore, back in Origins elven models were universally shorter than humans. But from DA2 onward, male elves were only shorter than their human counterparts of the same sex while female elves are shorter than both human sexes. Fenris is taller than f!Hawke while both forms of Hawke are taller than Merrill. Solas, Abelas, and a m!Lavellan are taller than female human characters but all human characters are taller than female elves (except Sera who has a female human model).

Dalish are illiterate This is a little less clear to me where its origins started. Perhaps based off of medieval period history (which da isn't necessarily medieval in time period) or due to the fact that most common folk in certain regions in Thedas are illiterate and reliant on pictures over written words. But we know from the Witch Hunt dlc that the Dalish keep tomes of their history and of the ancient elven empire. They also actively translate ancient elven script for their own records. Whether this is role restrictive or not is unclear, but we do know that the Dalish are literate in both Common and semi-literate in ancient elven script.

Dalish and City Elves don't have contact This seemingly comes from a misunderstanding stemming in the city elf origins in dao where some npcs will comment on how Dalish might be myths. However, in dao, da2, dai, the comic Knight Errant, and the novel The Masked Empire, that elves from both sides do semi-regularly trade people with each other if not visit certain alienages, as well have other points of contact with each other. Pol, Zevran, Coran (Vaea's uncle), and potentially Feynriel are all city elves that join Dalish clans. Merrill and Arianni are known Dalish who join alienages.

City elves are genetic/physical differences from the Dalish elves This one I have seen around a lot, most stemming from the idea of the previous one that the elves in the city are generations apart from the Dalish, implying they have no contact with each other. Which could be true for certain alienages. But as far as lore is concerned there isn't any example of this, not even as being a point of reference for the Dalish to consider any of the aspects as to what makes them "less of an elf" in comparison to Dalish.

Elves pass on their elven traits Most seem to know this isn't canon, albeit one of the less popular canon elements; but new fans don't always know this. It is popular fanon to give half-elven children the reflective eyes, smaller stature, more angular features, straighter nose bridge, and/or pointed ears from their elven parent.

Only elves can have mixed kids with other races This seems to come from the fact that elven traits aren't passed on to their kids when mixed parentage is involved. However humans, dwarves, and vashoth can all have mixed kids from the other races. According to Patrick Weekes, this decision was made consciously to avoid very racist and harmful rhetoric. We know of many elf/human mixed kids: Alistair, Eiton, Feynriel, Gestan and Thale (residents of elven area of Halamshiral), Kieran (conditions), Michel de Chevin, Rinnala, "Sabina's Brat" (son of the elven prostitute Sabina at the Blooming Rose), Slim Couldry, Tainsley (Potentially. Is described as a 7'(2.13m) human, though he references a Dalish uncle.) While mixed dwarf children are rare simply due to dwarven fertility issues we do know of two dwarf/human kids: Keiran (conditional) and the child of Tyrdaa Bright-Axe(Avvar) and Hendir (dwarf).

Elfroot leaves get you high/is Thedosian marijuana This is another Origins era thing, due to an easter egg that made a play on the American "This is your brain on drugs" anti-drug campaign using elfroot. This was then repeated in 2015 when Patrick Weekes said that its medicinal properties were rediscovered in 4:20. [Source] Elfroot hasn't been shown to get anyone high in canon, it is the roots that are primarily used as medicinal. In World of Thedas (WoT) vol. 2 the recipe for Dalish Deep Forest Comfort says you can substitute elfroot for spinach making the leaves more vegetable in quality. That said, marijuana leaves are edible and rather nutritious. They just don't have the chemical make up to induce a high. Those lie strictly in the buds. According to Origins, elfroot does flower though.

Red lyrium is completely different and more dangerous from blue lyrium This one is all on BioWare in regards to this misconception. Because while yes, it is more dangerous than the blue lyrium, they aren't two seperate substances. More that red lyrium is a branch off. To cover the generals of the written lore of lyrium it breaks down like this: Blue lyrium in it's raw form innately toxic to just be around to all but dwarves, however it will kill a mage who gets too close in proximity. That proximity being within the same room while non-mages would have to touch the stuff. It also has a pension of self-combustion without warning or a clear cause. When it is refined down for templar use it is "safe" for non-mages to come in contact with and consume. Whether this level of refinement is the same level as what is used to make various cocktails and liqueur is unclear. But we do know that getting too close, being in same room as lyrium refined to this level, is enough to make a mage sick. Finally, we have the most refined and diluted stage of lyrium, this is used by mages to make potions, certain alchemical work, and other things. This isn't enough to kill a mage, make them sick (without extreme over use), and infact can result in positive outcomes for a mage. Red lyrium overlaps with most of that, with a couple key differences. First off is that red lyrium doesn't seem to self-combust. There is some contradiction on whether or not non-dwarves can mine it as due to game mechanics you can destroy it, but the only ones we see mining wild nodes are dwarves. But if the red lyrium is grown from a living creature it seems accessible to all races? In codices about the various types of red templars, we learn that a small vial around a templar's neck is enough to make all the mages in the area around him sick.

Character Specific

Alistair

Alistair is a dog person I couldn't track any clear origins for this, it seems to be a case of overlap with the stereotype that "all Fereldan's love dogs" and a mix of building off of a line of dialogue about him being raised by the hounds and them being his family. However, he doesn't seem overly one way or the other. He mocks dog at times, talks down in not such a playful way, and at times seems to treat dog with the same attitude he does Morrigan though not as blatantly. This could be chalked up to his joking nature though.

Alistair's obsession with cheese While he does admit to an obsession to cheese, it is often cited that Alistair makes a ton of cheese jokes in dao. When in truth he only makes four through out the entire game. Given his joking nature it is up to personal interpretation of how much he actually loves cheese.

Alistair and Cullen knew each other before Origins This is more specifically that the two went to the same monastery for their templar training. There is no canon evidence for this though. That said, there is a possibility due to not knowing much of anything about how the Templar Order trains its recruits nor the amount of monasteries they have in Ferelden for training.

Alistair collects toy soldiers This seems to come from the gifts he can be given during the Feastday dlc. Canonically he is given runestones and carved statuettes of various types stone. These statuettes are described in a manner closer to effigies than toy soldiers.

Alistair's mother is not Fiona This one is a bit funny as it has multiple origins and is dependent on the player's experience with the series. From what I have gathered there seems to be one of three sources: - People who never read the Dragon Age novel The Calling - People who read The Calling after playing dao and feels like it is a retcon (though The Calling was released prior to the release of dao, same with the novel The Stolen Throne) - People who take a "chuck the baby with the bathwater" approach to the lore The funny thing about this is that the cover story in dao for Alistair's mom is based off a combo of things; the hypothetical scenario Fiona told Maric and answers she gave Maric when he asked what to tell Alistair if he asked about his mother. The hypothetical was that Fiona would not return to the Circle and would hide from the templars and pretend to be a washer woman. When Maric asked what to tell Alistair of his mother, Fiona said to tell him his mother was human as she did not want him to deal with being half elven and all the stigma that comes with that as well as to tell Alistair that she was dead.

Avaline

Aveline is straight She will kiss Hawke regardless of gender and ask them if they ever considered her and them. Though it is clear she never had romantic interest in Hawke in particular. An easily missed aspect I think given the general opinion of Aveline as well as most people seeming to not choose the flirtatious option with her.

Blackwall

Blackwall doesn't have a sense of humor This one genuinely surprised me considering he jokes with Sera, The Iron Bull, and Solas. His banter shows as much that he does have a sense of humor and tells jokes. But it does seem pretty common of a fanon characterization for him.

Dorian

Dorian paints his nails His model doesn't have painted nails in game, but it is a popular fanon. There is nail polish in Thedas though. It's mentioned in the novel Masked Empire as well as the novel Last Flight. It seems to be of Anderfles origins, but given the Last Flight is post Orlesian occupation, it could originate in Orlais.

Lady Mantillon said, tapping an elegantly lacquered fingernail on the polished wooden arm of her chair, “we will fail, or we will be killed. Neither is acceptable.” - Masked Empire, Chapter 17 p. 362 Every one of her fingers glimmered with a jeweled ring, and her nails had been freshly lacquered. - Last Flight, Chapter 13 p. 144

Fenris

Lyrium can be drawn from Fenris' tattoos There is no mention of this being possible in da2 or any of the subsequent media. There isn't even mention of others being able to sense the lyrium in his tattoos or even mages getting sick around him as they sometimes will dependent on the concentrations and/or purity of lyrium.

Fiona

How Fiona was cured of the taint This comes from The Calling novel, where it isn't ever clarified what actually removed the taint from Fiona. The common fanon is that it was either the mentioned brooch, or that by having Alistair. That it was by having Maric's son who has Great Dragon blood due to being of the Theirin bloodline that cured her. However, in the novel she is very clear that the mages at Weisshaupt aren't sure what cured her. She only offers one explanation that the Grey Wardens theorized and trails off before saying what the second one was.

“It’s gone,” she said flatly. “The mages at Weisshaupt weren’t sure if it was because the First Enchanter’s brooch sped things up artificially, or... at any rate, all the corruption vanished. They don’t think it’s going to come back, either. There was test after test, but they think I may be the first Grey Warden that never has to endure the Calling again.”

Hawke

Hawke is stabbed by the Arishok This fanon likely came into being due to one of the moves the Arishok has where it will leave you almost dead. So a bit of canon as it is in his move set, but fanon in the idea it is something that always happens in canon.

Unable to confirm if Fanon, Canon, or a mix of both

Teagan marries Bella, the barmaid from Redcliffe This one goes back really far and is hard to tell if it is a case of mistaken identity and association, or a really buggy option for the epilogue, or isn't actually a possibility. What I can confirm is that Teagan does have a woman he can marry given certain conditions are met in dao, but it is actually Kaitlyn, the sister who's brother goes missing in Redcliffe. If you properly compensate her for her grandfather's sword she'll open up a foundry in Denerim and will marry Teagan after having known him for a few months. According to this thread, you have to get Kaitlyn to move to Denerim with her brother, make Bella the maid to Teagan and in the ending slide Teagan and Bella will get married. Though I haven't been able to confirm that this is possible. (If you have a screenshot/video of this slide and know how to trigger this please let me know) This is also not an option mentioned in the Keep, however neither is Kaitlyn's. Which isn't surprising given some of the ending slides that were not direct player choice (ex) choosing Orzammar's king) are mostly cut from canon.

[crossdressingdeath]

DAI does that with a lot of things. Morrigan gets to claim to be a Elven expert, even though you know that is far from the truth if you've played Origins where she didn't know shit. Cullen gets final say in his dialogue options despite you knowing that he's lying. Grey Wardens gets shit on and the Inquisitor can wildly overstep.

DAI has this weird mix of a) expecting you to have read all the books/comics so that they don't have to explain anything and b) assuming that you haven't played the previous games so they can try to rewrite what happened.

Yeah, the required reading for DAI was ridiculous. WEaWH is always the big one because most of the others you can get by without it (even Cole's backstory isn't necessary to appreciate and understand the character, and enough of it comes up in-game to get by), but knowing what Celene and Gaspard did is kind of fucking important, Bioware. And then even when Celene purging the alienage comes up it's used as a mark against Briala for being in a relationship with her at the time even though if I'm understanding the excerpts I've seen of TME Briala breaks it off as a direct result of the purge and (as Dorian rightly points out) that'd be more Celene's scandal than Briala's anyway. Like, they try to make Celene purging the alienage into Briala's crime because she was sleeping with the empress at the time and that's just... ugh. But it's like, I would argue that it would be fair and honestly best practice to assume that people playing the third game in a series have played the first two games? DA has an overarching narrative even if the connections aren't particularly close, if someone wants to start partway through they can but the writing should expect people to be familiar with the games' stories. Maybe have some codex entries summarizing the previous games or a little intro cutscene, but... I don't know, I'm worried about the fact that apparently DAV doesn't need you to have played the first three games when literally all the setup for it is in DAI. Expecting people to have played all the games in a narrative-driven RPG series and not to have jumped in partway through is fair! Expecting people to have read five supplementary novels and two coffee table lore books to understand the plot is ridiculous. At least Tevinter Nights and The Missing so far seem to only be relevant to DAV in that they show some glimpses of what's been going on between games and give us a point of reference for some of the new characters...

The thing that gets me with DAI is that the game really wants you to side with the Templars whether it makes sense or not. Like... let's take the choice between mages and Templars as an example. The game wants you to side with the Templars. It really does, it tries its best to dissuade the player from siding with the mages if you go that route (Cullen's little "Oh... it's so dangerous... we shouldn't do it..." routine is notable when compared to Leliana and Josie, both of whom favour the mages, being very professional about you picking the Templars), it does its utmost to claim that the rebellion was unwarranted when it absolutely was not, the rebels are constantly framed as weak or mean or evil or stupid while the Templars were just misled (by... a guy who told them he'd let them murder all the mages and left out the "in service to Corypheus" bit, they still joined his little walkout to murder people, but the game doesn't get into that), it even lets you switch quests well past what should've been the point of no return if you're on the mage route (WHY CAN YOU SWITCH AFTER LEARNING THERE'S A FUCKING MAGISTER IN FERELDEN TRYING TO ENSLAVE A BUNCH OF MAGES, BIOWARE, WHY THE FUCK IS THAT AN OPTION) whereas with the Templars you can't even learn what your advisors' plan for getting you in alive is until you're locked in. And I'm not going to lie, CotJ is legitimately the better quest. I did it once to see and god damn it is quality, I don't dislike IHW but... yeah CotJ is definitely stronger.

But then you actually look at the story and... why the fuck would you side with the Templars? They left the Chantry because the Divine told them not to murder people. That's explicit, people tell you that repeatedly. They're making excuses for it, but there's always an acknowledgement that... yep, that's why the Templars left, they wanted to kill people and were mad about being told no. Leliana (the most familiar face among the advisors and given Cassandra's previous appearance was threatening Varric and Cullen's was playing yes man to Meredith for nine years and only changing sides once she became a threat to him/because not doing so would mean fighting Hawke Leliana's the one people are most likely to want to side with) is pro-mage and dismisses Cullen's claims that the Templars could help close the Breach as speculation. Which... it is. This situation is completely unprecedented, no one knows what's going to happen. But given mages are incredibly powerful and Templars are repeatedly portrayed as mostly useless in any sort of real danger that doesn't involve children or indoctrinated Circle mages (it is not a coincidence that the only people locked in the tower in Broken Circle who survive with their minds and bodies intact without the demons actively choosing to let them live for funsies are mages; the only Templar who's alive and unpossessed is Cullen, and the demons very obviously could've killed him at any time and just chose not to because they were having fun toying with him) I'm gonna say the mages are a safer bet. Also because... they invited Quiz. That could be a trap, but you know what's definitely a trap? Walking into a fortress full of heavily-armed mage killers who openly want you dead. Meeting with the Templars is really, really stupid (especially if you're a mage) and you don't even learn the plan for getting you inside unharmed until you actually select the quest. Also that plan is basically just "if there are witnesses with societal power the Templars can't murder you unprovoked" because reminder: the Templars are the absolute worst. Why would you ever want these people around. And then if you meet with the mages first like "Well I'll figure it out once I've heard what they have to say, I don't have to commit if I do things this way so I might as well" you learn that there's a Tevinter magister serving an evil Tevinter cult just chilling in Redcliffe and why the fuck would you go to the Templars at that point this needs to be dealt with. The game wants you to side with the Templars but it gives you no reason to do so, I really wonder sometimes if the writers weren't talking to each other at all.

[professorsparklepants]

welcome to fanfic I won't write fridays, where I talk about fanfic I won't write

happy dragon age 4 to those who celebrate it's time to put all my "pevensie siblings isekai'd into dragon age pcs" thoughts in one post

peter is the inquisitor; i considered lucy for this but she's more what the inquisition wants you to appear to be (a divine prophet protecting the people) rather than what you actually are (the head of a military organization with fingers in politics and heavy religious propaganda

edmund is the champion of kirkwall; the entire point of da2 is that everything is in shades of grey and there are no right answers, and edmund is painted as the most familiar with moral ambiguity and the most forgiving of it

lucy is the grey warden originally through process of elimitation but being dropped in a dying world, told there's a near futile mission to hold back the decay that's eating the continent, and not only facing it whole heartedly but succeeding so well you have time to run off and try to cure it yourself with no backup is EXTREMELY lucy behavior

susan is "sir not appearing in this film (until dragon age 4 comes out)"

all four of them land around the same time. lucy gets wrapped up in the origins plot immediately, and da2 happens mostly simultaneously iirc so so is edmund. peter is biding time doing the qunari mercenary backstory until da:i starts. susan is also biding her time but by clawing her way up the local social hierarchy.

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS

lucy is a mage with the spirit healer specialization, but based on her canon weapon use i think also has traces of the arcane warrior.

duncan literally finds her by the side of the road and goes "hey kid you wanna fight darkspawn." lucy asks if they're evil and he says yes so she signs up immediately. a simple woman.

she absolutely makes the full party her bisexual polycule. yes even the unromancable ones. i have faith in her.

morrigan: i'm straight lucy: for now.

leliana is her favorite but don't tell anyone.

lucy adores mabari. absolutely nothing in thedas is more narnian than the mabari. when she meets her siblings again they are all going to be so fucking jealous that she has one.

lucy doesn't make alistair king because he seems like he's kind of bad at it and i think she can sniff that out. my sister is of the opinion that lucy would make him king and then marry him bc she knows she would do a good job. i think she only said this because she finds it funny.

however i do think lucy would convince alistair to do the ritual because she sees absolutely nothing wrong with him having sex with a woman he hates who turns into a giant spider sometimes.

lucy, has attended dozens of bacchanalia: who hasn't slept with someone they dislike while under the effects of magic? all her companions: where did you say you were from again?

she does absolutely kill loghain though because a. all the shit he did is deserving of an execution, b. edmund isn't here to stop her, and c. alistair threatens to quit if she doesn't and despite having a mabari he's her emotional support animal

DRAGON AGE 2

i couldn't decide if edmund was a mage or a warrior but i decided it would be funnier if he were both, because it has such hawke energy. you surpress his magic? he has a sword. you disarm him? he has a fireball!

i don't know what warrior specialization i would pick for him, but he's definitely a force mage

i think edmund literally falls out of a portal and saves bethany/carver's life so the hawkes just decide to adopt him. he's theirs now. leandra just full on lies and says he's her son. what the fuck is her brother gonna do about it.

edmund walks into the den of sin and darkness that is kirkwall, sighs, and rolls up his sleeves to get to work. he is going to make this city a better place one back alley brawl at a fucking time. try him.

edmund romances anders because he has "i only date disasters/i can fix him" vibes and i think it's funny for him to be a former sovereign whose boyfriend is a wanted terrorist.

but also the da2 polycule IS real edmund is just not dating everyone at once. he's busy and also i hc him as only into men. imagine what you want though this isn't a real fic.

sorry the image of edmund just pspspspspsps-ing all of his sad, angry, morally grey companions into being friends is so fucking funny to me. local man brainwashed by evil as a child is too full of love and the belief in second chances to say no to a blood mage, guy who is willingly possessed at all times, escaped slave who lives in a mansion full of rotting corpses, a cop, and a romance novelist who keeps stealing your life story.

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

peter has the qunari mercenary backstory, and is absolutely a warrior build. probably champion build?

also i think he romances cassandra. i considered josephine but that's more a susan romance. if peter were into men that way he'd be all over iron bull and he says as much after a couple drinks.

peter, cornering cullen after their first war meeting: you haven no military experience do you. cullen: please don't tell anyone. i need this job.

he takes one look at solas and goes "oh this guy is not normal. idk what his deal is but this is some kind of oak god at least."

varric doesn't know edmund and peter are siblings until edmund shows up and he is INCREDIBLY offended by it. what do you MEAN i've been calling you hawke for years and it's not even your fucking name. the BETRAYAL.

edmund: my ex-boyfriend blew up the chantry and started the mage/templar war peter: HEY DORIAN, MY HONORABLE GOOD FRIEND WHO IS GAY, HAVE YOU MET MY VERY GAY BROTHER

"well his family owns slaves that's enough of a project for Edmund"

you know the table mission where the warden send you a letter? instead of that i think lucy just turns around and immediately heads back to thedas. THAT'S HER FUCKIN BROTHER!!!!!!!! she shows up after edmund does obviously for maximum "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!!" drama

[scene: all three pevensies are roaring drunk in skyhold and casting members of the inquisition as Narnian creatures] Peter: I think Solas is a centaur. He's wise, respectful, and vaguely condescending. Lucy: [sniggering bc she clocked Solas] I think he's a wolf. Edmund: I think he's a marshwiggle. [Peter and Lucy absolutely lose it]

Lucy, halfway through stumbling back to her room: WAIT. DORIAN IS A PEACOCK. Peter, three floors up: [ugly donkey noise]

DRAGON AGE: VEILGUARD

obviously there's nothing 2 say about this yet

however i will say for certain that if there's a noble human background i'll be giving it to susan

idc that she literally got portal fantasy'd into this world. she's pretty and socially dangerous she wormed her way in there. she's got those diplomatic social climber stats.

she's also a rogue, no question.

[shouldaspunastory]

Thank you @saladruiner, for @dadrunkwriting

Cullen Rutherford x Dorian Pavus (SFW, Post-Trespasser, Established Relationship) 731 words.

--------------------------------

"Cullen," Dorian begins softly, but Cullen shakes his head.

"No, I heard what you told the Inquisitor," Cullen interrupts, crossing his arms. "You have unfinished business in your homeland, I understand. I've always understood that. And someone like Lavellan, they've too much notoriety. The attention they'll bring will cause more harm than good, however great their desire to help and well-meaning their intentions might be. But I'm not the Inquisitor," Cullen protests. "And I'm not letting you go back there alone. No one in Tevinter knows who I am or would give a damn about me. If I can't help you make your homeland better, at least let me watch over you while you're doing it."

Dorian's throat feels dry, his heart hammering in his chest as Cullen swallows, not waiting for a response before he continues.

"You don't have to tell anyone about us. I know you said things between two men... that's- not how things are done there. You could say I'm your bodyguard," the Commander offers with a shrug, though there's a hint of pleading, perhaps even desperation in his voice that betrays the suggestion is not as nonchalant as he might wish to make it seem. Dorian shakes his head and Cullen's face falls.

"Dorian, please," Cullen whispers, and he's definitely begging now. Maker's breath, the man actually drops to his knees in front of him, clasping Dorian's hands in his.

"Amatus," Dorian says gently, waiting until those gorgeous amber eyes lift back up to meet his own. "I'm not telling my friends and countrymen that you are my bodyguard."

"But I-" Cullen begins, but Dorian shakes his head, and the former soldier bites his lip and tongue obediently.

"You can watch my back," Dorian continues. "I doubt I could stop you doing that if I tried," the mage smiles fondly. "But I'm not going to pretend you're just someone I employ," Cullen's eyes are wide, full of hope and disbelief, as he continues to stare up at Dorian.

"Then you'll- you'll let me come with you," Cullen whispers.

"Vishante kaffas," Dorian mutters with a chuckle, shaking his head, tugging at their joined hands and urging Cullen back to his feet, rocking up onto the balls of his feet to loop his arms around the taller man and crush his lips to his. "Of course, I want you with me, Amatus," Dorian whispers fondly, a hand gently reaching up and caressing his lover's cheek. "But your friends, your family, they're all here."

"You're my family now too," Cullen replies, as if this is the most obvious and simplest thing in the world. As if these simple words don't shake Dorian's own world to its very core. "And I can still write them, and visit," Cullen replies undeterred.

"And if you hate Tevinter," Dorian asks softly with a small frown.

"It can't be all bad. You'll be there." It's an oversimplification and both of them know it, but Dorian can't find it in his heart to protest any further, and Maker knows what positively mortifying public display of affection and devotion Cullen will try next if he does. Dorian sighs, and Cullen's answering smile says that he knows he's won. As Cullen wraps his arms around the mage and pulls him in close, Dorian allows himself to melt into the embrace and nuzzle into his lover's broad chest.

"Festis bei umo canavarum," Dorian curses under his breath, there's affection in his tone, though, as Cullen's answering chuckle vibrates through him. "You'd best hold yourself to writing those letters," Dorian says finally, lifting his chin to meet Cullen's gaze, but remaining flush against him, happy to hold and be held by his lover. "I wouldn't put it passed Mia to storm Minrathous to come find you if you don't."

"You're probably right," Cullen laughs shaking his head. "Perhaps we should stop by South Reach before we head back."

"Might be safer," Dorian nods with a wry smile, before his bravado slips ever so slightly, hugging Cullen for the briefest of moments just a little bit tighter. "You don't think they'll resent me? A man? A mage? A Vint stealing their brother from them?" Cullen shakes his head, before gently tucking Dorian's beneath his chin, and offering him a reassuring squeeze.

"They're going to love you, almost as much as I do," Cullen promises, kissing the top of his head.

[himluv]

DA: The Veilguard Predictions/Theories, pt. 1

Okay, so I've spent the last decade theorizing, consuming as much DA content as I possibly could to fuel this obsession, and I have some theories I want to share before we get too much more info this weekend. So here's a three-part post series of brain dump :)

Enjoy!

1. FleMythal

Flemeth/Mythal is one of the few characters to appear in all three Dragon Age games. She’s also appeared in various books and comics, and seems to know entirely too much – even for such a powerful hedge mage. It is obvious to me that she has plans within plans, and that somehow, Solas and HIS plan fit into her schemes. She takes Kieran’s “Old God Soul” just before Solas comes to her to take her power/soul. 

But we KNOW that Mythal has many slivers of herself squirreled away. There is no way she’s actually dead. 

SO. What is Mythal’s endgame? Well, vengeance of course. She seeks vengeance against the Evanuris for what they did to her. She told the Inquisitor as much when they met in the Fade. We know that before the Veil, spirits and elves walked the world together, that they were all People. It’s implied that the Evanuris were particularly strong spirits made manifest. We also know that Mythal’s spirit joined with Flemeth’s - a powerful mage who had been wronged and desperately wanted to set things right… sound familiar? 

Anders and Justice were foreshadowing, an example of that sort of union and the destruction it can cause. Flemeth and Mythal are almost beat-for-beat the same as Anders and Justice. Mythal is literally known as the “deliverer of justice”. She is a spirit of Justice that has fused with Flemeth. 

So, if vengeance is the goal, then it would make sense that she would want Solas to succeed. She needs the Veil to come down so that she can reach the remaining Evanuris and, most likely, obliterate them. While the Evanuris do not die so easily, Mythal has had millennia to sort out the details. I’d be utterly shocked if she doesn’t have something planned for them.

And since she needs the Veil to come down, she of course had to relinquish her power to Solas. Or, rather… someone’s power. Perhaps an Old God’s? Like, say, Urthemiel? She is invested in Solas succeeding, and from the tone of her apology, she will ensure that he does so regardless of what that might cost him, and the betrayal he will know before it is all through. 

And, if we're leading a team called The Veilguard? Then we stand directly in opposition of her goals.

[eastern-lights]

So we all know how the main theme of Veilguard is gonna be Regret, right? Why stop there? Why not assign theme-demons to the other games as well?

Origins: Despair/desperation

Aside from generally being what you feel when there's a Darkspawn horde ravaging your country, despair is what sets the whole plot in motion and keeps appearing in the individual origins and minor plot points throughout the story.

Everything Loghain does he does out of desperation. He is desperate to preserve the Ferelden he knows because he genuinely believes he is the only one who can. He turns to heinous acts because he is desperate to win and he sees no other way out.

Grey Wardens in general can be summed up by "desperate times, desperate measures". The Warden, too, can commit horrible crimes to get the power to oppose the Blight, because times are desperate.

Despair is what makes most of the origin characters join the Wardens. Cousland just lost their family. Tabris/Brosca are about to be executed. Amell/Surana are about to be shipped to Aeonar. Aeducan is dying in the Deep Roads. Mahariel is dying of the Blight.

As early as Lothering, you fight and kill people whose only reason for attacking you is desperation.

Also, what colour is the Warden associated with? Blue. What colour are despair demons? Also blue.

(me rn:)

Dragon Age II: [helpless] Rage

Where in Origins, times were desperate, but ultimately you had the power to win, few games manage to convey the utter feeling of powerlesness in the face of fate and societal change as DAII.

Despair may drive the Warden to questionable measures to achieve victory, but nothing Hawke does can ever lead to even just losing less, nevermind actually winning.

Almost every single character is a powerless victim of circumstance and their own nature. All they can do is rage impotently against the heavens.

Rage at being powerless to reclaim the Tome of Koslun drives the Arishok to his conquest of Kirkwall.

Rage is what threatens to consume Fenris throughout his arc.

And it is rage at the plight of mages that corrupts Justice into Vengeance.

Also, Hawke's colour is red. Just like that of Rage demons.

Inquisition: Fear

Or, more specifically, fear of there being no higher power, but also of it actually existing.

Pride is a very strong contender here, but please, indulge my mental gymnastics so we can fit into my demon colour scheme theory for a moment.

While pride is definitely the cardinal sin that lead Corypheus to try and usurp the throne of the gods the first time, I would argue that in Inquisition, it is fear that drives him more. He claims there is no higher power, that the Golden City was empty. And that terrifies him. He wants to become a god so there is one. In the end, he desperately wants divinity to exists in the world - when the Inquisitor defeats him and all seems lost, he calls out to Dumat, hoping he was wrong and there actually are gods.

Fear is definitely what drives the entire plot of Here Lies the Abyss.

Sera is absolutely terrified of magic and the Fade, but also the Elven gods. But she seems fine with the Maker. That is because the Maker is an absent god. She is free of His influence. But spirits and the Creators are hands-on and, if real, influence events. There is desire in her for there to be something divine, but also fear of that divinity actually reaching out.

Solas potentially leaves the love of his life because he is afraid that loving her, acknowledging there is something in this world worthy of love, would prevent him from doing what he sees as his duty.

Also, Inquisitor green, Fear demon also green or smth.

Now, Veilguard is really gonna mess with my colour scheme, isn't it...

[broodwolf221]

okay. aforementioned meta time.

aka: solas drew the veil and plunged the world into chaos... but my best guess is, he had to.

ft.: if he was wrong to do so (which i don't think he was), then the inquisitor is just as wrong during in hushed whispers

solas' goals were pretty straightforward: he wanted to liberate the enslaved elvhen. to do that, he had to stop the evanuris, who were, without a doubt, the world's most powerful mages.

and others have posited theories about more going on, theories i tend to agree with, at least in terms of broad strokes. specifically i believe there's a connection btwn the evanuris and the blight and that, unchecked, they truly would have destroyed the world.

in which case, he gets an additional goal: save the literal world.

i also tend to agree with the idea that red lyrium has something to do with the blight. so moving forward with these two theories...

things blight/red lyrium can affect (in game canon):

stone

animals (including moles and worms via ambient dialogue in suledin keep)

humans

elves

dwarves

qunari

dragons

so it's reasonably safe to say that not only does the blight impact people, but it impacts the planet/nature as well. so if he took action to stop the blight, then by doing so he sacrificed arlathan to save the entire rest of the world. and the extreme measure he took here was likely necessary because of the strength of the evanuris - one man, one mage, however skilled, could not effectively fight them all. as a direct confrontation he would have lost. but there's still a heavy implication that he warred with them (or perhaps for them - either way, he was a soldier) for some time, that he "spent lives," which to me implies that he was something of a general waging a war against the evanuris, at least at one point. so it's safe to say that he actually tried to go head to head with them - and he couldn't. not even with an army.

i have seen his actions within the timeline of dai contrasted with the inquisitor's actions during the in hushed whispers timeline, and i think that's a very valid comparison to make: he woke to a world that was unrecognizable to him, corrupted by his actions, but also saved by his actions! but he wants to bring what was good about the world back. as inky in that timeline, we are willing to destroy everyone in order to "reset" the world and have another chance to take down corypheus.

in game, the world doesn't seem too bad to us. sure, it has its issues, but it's still a functional world, right? the people inhabiting it, most of them want to continue to live the rest of their lives, right? i don't think we can say the same isn't true of the future timeline we saw. there was absolutely deep corruption and danger, and the inquisitor's companions seek a reset, but what of those outside southern thedas? we never know, we never see their lives. what if others were gearing up to attack - what if they'd been able to succeed? instead we determine that this future is so awful, so intolerable, through our limited, narrow point of view of it, that it should be erased, should be completely unmade.

and in-game, this reads as ethical! but it's also analogous to what solas is doing and to what he did in arlathan. i don't think that paralleling is unintentional, either: what we see in that future is very much what he sees in the present, and we're both right, these times are "corrupted," are "broken," are "different" and are "wrong." but as inky it's presented as an inevitability - of course we would seek to restore, to reset, and nevermind all that we'd be destroying in the doing. leliana says this explicitly to dorian, that for him this is a nightmare he hopes will never come to pass, but the rest of them lived it, it was real.

to solas, the world is half of what it should be. everyone is walking around not knowing how much they are missing, unable to recognize the deep loss of magic for what it is. it's a gutted world, and that it's all these people have ever known... well, does that make it right to keep it as-is? because if so, how did the inquisitor have the right to reset the world in that timeline?

(little note: i have not engaged with any media outside of the main game canon and certain dlcs. however, i also do not personally hold that canon outside the games/major dlcs is absolute canon and should be 100% trusted. this is just how i engage with this franchise. so if smth i said here is disproved by non-game canon, personally that doesn't rly matter to me uwu;; to each their own tho!)

[sleepymarmot]

My reactions to the Veilguard character creator stuff released yesterday. No story spoilers.

I hope we'll get choices for the Inquisitor's prosthetic, because wtf is this:

Just looks like a normal hand with a slightly glossy texture. At first I even thought she grew her hand back somehow. This can't be it! If they don't let the Inquisitor be very visibly an amputee I'm going to riot.

Also, I wonder why the Inquisitor is wearing the same clothes that in other clips are confirmed to be the Shadow Dragons casual outfit.

---

A combat video confirmed that Spellblade is electricity and Evoker is cold damage. Disappointing. And do you have to play a Champion to have a fire-themed character?

---

I wanted to play a rogue Shadow Dragon. Then I wondered if a mage Spellblade Shadow Dragon could fit the concept.

This is the "aspirational armor" for a female mage Shadow Dragon:

And this is for a female rogue:

The mage armor is immeasurably better than the rogue! The same is true for Mourn Watch and Antivan Crows. I don't want to wear this! I was so excited to see the first Shadow Dragon armor, only to realize later that it was for the wrong class. I wonder if transmog works between class variants... My Inquisitor was a mage, so I want Rook not to be one.

Why does rogue get the worst armor in a faction where your backstory is about stealth :(

---

I'm still not sure who to play: elf or human.

Initially I wanted a city elf rogue, to contrast my Dalish elf mage Inquisitor. But I wanted her to think of Tevinter as her homeland, like Dorian does. And for an elf, the Mercar backstory would make that a bit sinister, wouldn't it? Adopted by a human family and assimilated to the point she wants to redeem their human empire built on enslaving elves and appropriating their culture?

On the other hand, this worldstate hasn't had a city elf hero yet. Another strike against humans: one of my main candidates for romance is Neve. Two brown human Tevene Shadow Dragons women together — that's too similar. (Human Shadow Dragon Rook is more or less South Asian in my mind.)

This problem could be solved if we could play as an elf-blooded human... But it's not very likely that we'd have dialogue confirming that. Just as well we could have dialogue that would contradict the idea, stopping me from playing it even as a headcanon.

There's also qunari: I haven't played one in this worldstate, so they would be the most obvious option, if not for the faction. A kossith baby getting adopted by humans in Tevinter and "fighting from the shadows" to abolish slavery? Way too much going on at once, and too implausible. A qunari in Tevinter would be so conspicuous they'd compromise any secret operation by their presence alone.

(Looks like I'm not alone, some players on reddit who also planned elf SDs are also disappointed.)

---

We can have top surgery scars, that's nice. But what do we attach them to? Can we have a body with a flat chest but wide hips? I didn't see one on the thumbnails in people's videos, they all seemed either fully masculine or fully feminine.

---

That's the second darkest skin tone with 95% melanin? Looks really light. Maybe the lighting here washes out? My Inquisitor's skin is about as dark as Davrin's, this looks nowhere near.

[winterhartarts]

YOU HAVE A TORUNN TOO? :D

I DO LMAO I’ll share about mine if you want!!! And please feel free to share about yours!!! 😍

Sharing a current ongoing WIP of her (she’s posing with three of my other Inquisitors) & also a snapshot of her from a finished piece I did for the DA Createathon this year 🥰 And her original (more or less) design from Inquisition I definitely tweaked over the years of having her as an Inquisitor OC 💖

Also have a write-up about her I also shared with that server, which I’ll quote here!!! (Note that I originally wrote this info about her pre-Veilguard!)

Torunn Adaar (she/her) is technically a Tal-Vashoth by birth, and she’s keenly aware of what her parents went through during their time in Par Vollen while living under the Qun. One of her biological mothers was a Saarebas, had her mouth sewn shut, and she was controlled similar to how we see Ketojan/Saarebas in DA2, except she only managed to escape when her partner, an until right then devoted member of the Antaam (at least, she seemed to be on the surface to most people, anyway) managed to kill the wielder and free her from her bonds (insert Pirates of the Caribbean quote here).

Torunn’s got two moms, the Saarebas and the former Antaam. Saarebas is a trans woman, and the two decided to conceive Torunn (so she’s not adopted) post-escape from the Qun. This is also why the magic flows more easily into her via the bloodline connection to her Saarebas mother, but Antaam is also why she’s really decent as a mage merc while fighting in battles.

I haven’t figured out a name for either Torunn’s Saarebas or Antaam, but I plan to, because part of her (Torunn’s) story is learning that they chose a name to give her with the intention of breaking the Qun norm of not naming anyone officially, and also the unofficial add-on about that that we learned in Inquisition regarding taking up a nickname (instead of a series of numbers) as a “name.” But, it’s ALSO to do with the idea that she (Torunn) is freely able to decide to change her name at any point, because it’s HERS and that’s her right as an individual (rights and freedoms both her parents did not have before leaving the Qun). Her parents aren’t anti-collectivist either for the record, but they also like being able to be autonomous individuals as well if able. Freedom and self-expression is a major theme in their relationship and desire to break free from the Qun, as well as in wanting strike out in a new life together outside of Par Vollen & their assigned roles in the Qun. Outside of it, they feel they can all be happier and do whatever they want without being beholden to strict laws governing their “place in the world.” This, however, does leave Torunn with some intrigue regarding the culture she is connected to, and she has conflicting feelings regarding her own identity as a qunari born outside the Qun with parents who left the Qun (and not on the best of terms).

Also, Torunn eventually specializes her magic into necromancy, as she finds spirits and the dead a lot easier to learn things most of the living world would rather she never even hear about. That, and she has a very sweet and strong connection with the spirit who inhabits her skull she carries (info on whom & which I’m still figuring out).

Torunn is an asexual lesbian, as well, and eventually falls in love with and marries Josephine Montilyet, with whom she has the sweetest relationship 🥹 They support one another while allowing each other the space in which to grow and understand the world better, and never let work fully separate them. After Trespasser, Torunn moves with Josie when she moves back to Antiva, and lives with her as she manages her family’s estate (and does underground Inquisition business here and there, as in my over-arching world state, the Inquisition officially disbands but remains an underground secret organization, of which Josie and Torunn do still have some hand in aiding). Josie’s family adore her, which was a relief to Torunn, as after hearing what high society elsewhere (Orlais and Ferelden, specifically) referred to her as during her time as joint Inquisitor with the others, she was definitely concerned her beloved’s family would be just as racist and unwelcoming. It’s been a wonderful surprise, and a nice life they both lead together.

[kcwriter-blog]

Defeating the Big, Bad Wolf

The always amazing corseque has theorized that a boss fight with the mutant dragon/wolf Fen’ Harel is inevitable. The default world state on the Keep has the Inquisitor choosing to stop Solas. In other words, BioWare wants our new protagonist to kill Solas. That’s the plan. That’s what they’ve been leading up to. That’s what they think game players want. 

I’m not saying most players don’t want to “scramble the egg” as they put it. There is enough hated for Solas on the fan sites for that to be believable. At the end of the day though, BioWare is supposed to be about choices. We were given a big one at the end of Trespasser and it would suck if BioWare chose not to honor that. 

If all choices lead to us having to kill Solas, that isn’t a game I want to play. Not because I personally love Solas (I do) but because I consider it lazy writing to turn such a nuanced character into Thanos or Corypheus. He deserves better if that is what some of us want for him. 

I don’t think Weekes is a lazy or boring writer. However, if they were told by others on the team to make it so, that’s how it will go. 

How could BioWare give us the “redeemed” ending some of us asked for and still ensure the big boss fight they have been leading up to happens?

One theory is that this is all a distraction. There is a bigger boss out there that we will have to defeat. Maybe. Another option is the old trope “The villain decided he was wrong and died saving the world.” Boring, but also plausible. It’s also possible that Solas dies but is reborn in the Fade as a Wisdom spirit. He won’t remember anything about his past self, but he will at least be at peace.

I have another option. I don’t think we will see it, but I felt I had to throw it out there into the void. I just finished reading Asunder. In it, Wynn gathers a couple of mages and heads out to Adamant to save a Tranquil who has been researching how to reverse the Rite of Tranquility. When they arrive, they discover that the Tranquil managed to reverse the Rite but in doing so became possessed by a powerful demon. 

Wynn believes the situation is salvageable. She enacts a ritual that rips a huge hole in the Veil. She and the mages enter the Veil (not physically) with the goal of fighting the demon on its own turf. It takes the mages, Wynn and the spirit of Faith she carries with her to defeat it. Once they do and return to the waking world, the Tranquil is alive and no longer possessed. 

What would this mean for a good ending? Solas and the Dread Wolf seem to be separate creatures. In banter, Cole remarks that Solas is in two places at once, meaning the waking world and the Fade. Solas brushes it off by saying that he wanders the Fade a lot and that is probably what Cole is sensing. What if it isn’t? What if Solas is separated from his demon by the Veil?

If so, our protagonist can enter the Fade, do the boss fight most players have been salivating over and instead of killing Solas save him. Free of the Dread Wolf, Solas can become whatever he was before his spirit was twisted into a Pride demon. That might still result in him “dying” a la Wisdom in his personal quest, but maybe he will have enough sense of self left to “push through” and become mortal. 

I like this ending for several reasons. One, everyone gets what they want. Two, Solas has a chance to start undoing the damage he caused. A sacrificial act, while dramatic, does not really equal atonement. You can’t atone if you are dead. 

As I said, that is a very unlikely scenario. All foreshadowing points to Solas’ death at the end of DAD. It makes me sad because the ending could have been much more interesting. 

[magicluckystars]

Speaking of ikemen/otome games; I want to ask you about the game you seem to really like; lovebrush chronicles

Tell me all about your faves (and least favourites if you have any), what the suitors are like, do you like how the MC(?) Is written, anything is fair game

first of all, thank you so much for asking!! I rarely get any asks like this so this made me really happy!

To answer your question, the game is about travelling through different universes. (The game's Chinese name literally means "the time travelling painter" or something like that) basically the MC (you) is an art major at this one school on an island, St. Shelter Academia (weird name i know) the MC is also a manga author however, and no one else knows except this one guy (I'll explain more about him later, he doesn't have any routes in the main story but he does in events) the MC created the manga because she's been having dreams about it for a while, but she was getting stuck on the content lately

you also adopt a cat

don't wanna spoil it for you in case you wanna find out for yourself, but stuff happens and you get isekaid to the world. in your manga. There you find out that you've been writing manga about an alternate universe, and the 5 (4?) love interests all play important roles in the story

Basically their country was being terrorized by ice butterflies that freeze everything they touch, so it's a neverending winter there. only the mages can hold the butterflies off but the public doesn't trust them

Now onto the love interests!!

the universe the MC came from is the Modern universe (earth) and the alternate universe is Godheim.

Lars is a wealthy entrepreneur who also happens to be a big fan of your manga (he doesn't know that you wrote it though). He's one of the school's investors.

In Godheim, he's the tyrannical emperor who summons you to that world and says that you're to be his bride.

I don't wanna paint him in a negative light because he's actually very caring and holds family close to his heart, he's also one of the few characters in Godheim that can take a joke lol. basically silly happy emperor actually has trauma. He is also a feminist.

His route is really sweet and pretty good but it wasn't my personal favorite.

Ayn is his cousin. In Godheim, he and clarence have an alliance.

His route has the second-most bad endings. He shares this with Ayn.

He's also the tallest-

Clarence is the student council president who abides by the rules and gets good grades. He's also a law major.

In Godheim, he is the steely cold, merciless Archmage (the leader of all the mages) of Magi Tower. He was the one who did the ritual to summon you, and he was gonna keep you in a bird cage with roses on it but Lars said no so you're allowed to roam the castle but if you make even the tiniest of mistakes BAM. Back in the cage.

Clarence isn't my favorite so I don't know much about him, but he wants you to do well so he tries to push you to do so.

Clarence's Godheim route is the last one, so it's where you uncover the secrets of godheim. I didn't like his route much but I did enjoy seeing his soft side. Also, you get to beat a pervert's ass. And the MC cusses in this route (she says "grade A ass whooping). It's amazing.

His route has the most bad endings.

Ayn is a music major and a freshman like you. He's really popular but also doesn't really like interacting with people, he's very much of an introvert. He can come off as rude but he's just tsundere. he's also a gamer, and a pretty dedicated one at that. He very much believes in tough love. He's not the comforting type.

In Godheim, he is the stubborn leader of the Inquisitors, who basically kill rebels and people who disobey the king. He was originally the crown prince but Lars took it from him (the reason why is a spoiler) and Ayn wants to kill Lars as revenge for that. He's been biding his time in order to do that.

Ayn's route was one of my favorites, it was action-packed yet still soft at the same time. Also, his outfit is 😳

I'm pretty sure his route has the same number of bad endings as lars.

He's the shortest.

Alkaid (my favorite!!) helps you and Ayn in this route.

And now, for my favorite, Alkaid!!

He's the kind upperclassman who helps you get settled at school. He's a junior I think, an astronomy major. He's so sweet I swear to God ❤❤ he has a cat, and your cat and his cat play together often. He likes gardening.

In Godheim, alkaid is the submissive but kind mage assigned to protect you and watch you for clarence. Clarence is his boss. He's one of the most powerful mages in the Magi Tower. Anything else I say will be a spoiler for the entirety of Godheim...

In both universes, even though he is kind and believes in the good of people, he doesn't let himself get walked all over and doesn't hesitate to stand up for others if necessary.

Alkaid's route is tooth-rotting fluff. It's so cute because with your help he finally realizes that he shouldn't be afraid to fight or question authority, and that he can't just let everything happen if there's something he can do. His route is my favorite, next to Ayn. It also has the least amount of bad endings, only two, but let me tell you those two bad endings are soul crushing. I got a bad end on my first playthrough and it RIPPED ME APART.

Last but not least, Cael. If you're into butler type characters then he is for you. Cael is the one who took care of you when your mom died (your dad died when you were like 3).

In Godheim, he is the silver knight leading the rebellion against the emperor.

I don't have much to say on him because he's not my favorite and he doesn't have a route, but he's behind the bigger mysteries in Godheim.

He plays a big role in Lars' route.

after Godheim, you can pick an ending for one suitor where you're both happy together. After that, the next world is Eden but I'm not going to go too much into that because i like godheim more

The mc is gorgeous. Her facial expressions in the cards are everything.

All in all the game's pretty good, but it's not very well-known here so it has a fairly small and non-toxic fandom

In the battles, something called "assist events" can trigger where you have to choose the correct option to get a buff. If you choose the incorrect option then you get a debuff. The voice acting is amazing and the illustrations are really pretty, the soundtrack is beautiful too

Sorry for the word dump ;; I just wrote and wrote and i didn't see how big it got 😅

Hope this answered your question!! lots of platonic kisses and i hope you're doing well <33

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

What are Esti's thoughts on Solas before the whole Trespasser thing? (and after if you want)

For Inquisitor Esti:

It's very complicated at the start, as most of Esti's relationships are. He's the person who has the most in common with her at the start - elven apostate in the midst of a Chantry debacle. He also rejects her initial overtures at kinship, and Esti is - I think simultaneously prouder and more insecure than Ena, so while Ena shoots back at his comments about the Dalish and then lets it roll off of her, Esti lets it get stuck in her teeth. But he's still the person she has the most in common with, as apostates. She feels like she needs to defend her people, but she hates arguing despite ending up doing it a lot, and she wants to hide behind him but also to defend him from the situation bearing down on them. She's got the mark, they need her. His only defense is that his knowledge is useful, but knowledge is intangible, unlike the mark.

(This is similar to her later situation with Dorian, by the way. He says things that drive her up the wall, he saved her life and also the world, they went through unimaginable horror together, he is a Tevinter mage in a southern Chantry organization, she has to protect him, she wants to strangle him, she wants to find connection with him, he seems as lonely as she is.)

So, rocky, to start, but he's still the first person she turns to. And she does like talking to him, as long as they're not talking about the Dalish. And then she kind of feels guilty for that, like as First she should be doing more to defend her people's reputation? But then she looks at everything else going on.

She sees him as a mentor first - both with his knowledge of the Fade, and I think since Esti has No combat experience, and Solas is the first mage in the group, she asks him for any help he can give her. As she grows into her confidence and her role - I think she starts to settle as she gets to Skyhold. Redcliffe was an unimaginable horror that rattles her, and Haven is a terrible situation which also rattles her, but she stared down a dragon, screamed at a darkspawn magister even while he was tossing her around like a ragdoll, and survived what she thought would be her death. While it was Dorian who got her out of Redcliffe, no one saved her in Haven but her, and that helps steel her.

So as she gains confidence, she manages to smooth over a lot of those initial rough relationships she has - I mention this when I talked about her and Dorian vs Ena and Dorian. Solas asking for her help with his spirit friend is probably about the time when she starts to transition from just seeing him as a mentor, hahren, to a friend. It's finally him asking her help, him who's she's seeing rattled. Like again, I mentioned about her and Dorian - it really helps her to see the others' walls come down, reminds her that they're all just people.

And with her confidence, she grows less afraid to challenge Solas, and less prickly and defensive about it when she does. I can't remember what happened to the mages in his personal quest, but she let Cole become more human. I think he would be... proud of her, in a way, as he gets to see her grow.

So they're pretty close by the end! Him leaving without a word leaves her both heartbroken and pissed off, both betrayed and worried.

Trespasser is... a lot. The revelations about the Evanuris hit Esti worse than they do Ena - Esti is... more devout? That's not quite the right word. Esti leans more on the idea of the gods to find her strength. Esti never feels quite like she belongs with the clan, but while she doesn't have parents or anything, she does have an All-Mother and an All-Father. She likes the idea of someone watching out for her, which ties into her "prayers to the Dread Wolf" when she was little. She just wanted someone to always be there. (While introducing Ena shifts this dynamic a little, because that is someone who's there, Ena can't always be there. And I think Deshanna frets that Esti is going to end up too dependent on Ena, which - ah wait, I might've just solved something. Another reason for Deshanna to name Esti as First and not Second - Second still has someone ahead of them in succession, someone to shield them and lean on. Deshanna wants Esti to be able to stand on her own.)

Anyway, so Esti holds the elven pantheon closer to her heart than Ena does, and Esti did not get the revelation about the vallaslin from Solas. So while Ena has spent two years recontextualizing her idea of being Dalish, what they've reclaimed, what has new meaning, what they keep, all of those things - Esti has not really done that. The revelation about the Evanuris hurts Ena, in a very we were wrong? memories of a time we were no better than Tevinter way that the knowledge about the vallaslin initially stabs her in the heart before she can conclude that it means something else to her, it's important to her, and keeps it. The revelation about the Evanuris really, deeply personally drives a spear through Esti's heart - maybe she'd be better able to cope with it if she weren't actively dying, as well.

Solas is... Solas, is Fen'Harel, is Solas. Esti vows to change his mind and save him from himself but she's also mad about it.

Also, sidebar about Blackwall: Esti took the revelations about him very hard, too. She ends up sentencing him to the Grey Wardens, in a way that's less about what she thinks Blackwall should do and more about her lashing out with that terrible hurt and petty vindictiveness roiling within her. I think she also ends up regretting the judgment she rendered, and the way she handled it. Solas is a worse betrayal but also a chance for a course-correction for Esti, to handle it better, to offer that hand of forgiveness. Saying she's mad is an understatement, also, but I think even in the fresh throes of that hurt about the Evanuris, hurt about Solas giving the orb to Corypheus, hurt when he tells her his plans, there is a part of her stronger and wiser than when she sat on the throne before Blackwall, and that part of her guides her course, saying if I could even kill him, I would regret it. And "I would treasure the chance to be wrong again, my friend" kind of locks her in.

I think, while she kind of struggles with the idea of how much of Solas in the Inquisition was a lie, how much of their closeness was a lie, how much of his respect for her was real, how much of anything was real... she makes the conscious choice - naive perhaps it is, to stand before the Dread Wolf - to believe what he presents to her on its face. The masks are off, and he has foiled a Qunari plot, brought her here to tell her about his secret plans, and then saves her from the Anchor. He could kill her and frame the Qunari. He could have let the Qunari win and let the Veil being torn down ravage that world. He did not have to ask her help freeing his spirit friend two years ago, when he was the only one who heard is cry. She chooses to believe in the kindness he has shown when he did not have to. It is a very hard choice for her to make, but she chooses to believe in that.

And then - Blackwall's epilogue slide for if he becomes a real Grey Warden implies his death with the wardens, I believe. And that fucks Esti up. She made a judgment call on a vindictive impulse, and a friend has died in service to that judgment. A worthy death, as a Grey Warden, but how much good could Blackwall have done elsewhere with years that Esti took from him? It haunts her, and I think makes her double down on saving Solas. He is capable of kindness and atrocity in equal measure. He is doubling down on the latter, but she knows the former is there, and she is going to pull him back to that if it kills her. For Blackwall, if not herself, and if not Solas.

And even through Veilguard, the things he does there, no matter how angry she can get at him again - that lives in her. I will not consign another mentor-friend to his death. No matter how much he seems to want to ask for it. No matter how much my spiteful heart wants to give him it.

Now that I've gotten carried away, for Inquisitor Ena:

It's always a little muddier - Esti is always going to be a little meeker in that AU, because she doesn't have to be the one calling the shots. She's not the one facing her death to save Haven. She's not alone with Solas as the person she has the most in common with; she's got Brennan. And Ena, of course. She still would turn to him for help with magic, she would still argue with him - but she sees the way Ena can let it roll off her and thinks, maybe I should let it roll off me too? Still comes to see him as a mentor. As a friend, it's a little less certain - he's Ena's friend, of course. Esti's never quite sure where she stands. She's his friend/girlfriend's little sister. It's an odd dynamic. But she does like him and care about him, no matter if she heckles Ena for dating him (same dynamic with Dorian and Brennan, just about!). And I think he comes to respect her more as he sees how she grows over the course of the game - again, she's always going to stay a little more insecure than she does as Inquisitor herself, but she still finds her way to a greater confidence.

And she's madder about him dumping Ena than Ena is. Nothing like your ex-girlfriend's little sister's righteous rage.

The post-Trespasser is also messier, because Esti would only have Ena's interpretation of what Solas said, and while Esti usually trusts Ena's judgment... well, it's complicated. She's glad he saved Ena, at least. She's pissed he nearly killed Ena by giving Corypheus the orb. She's got a lot going on.

So I think: still a rocky start, but Ena being chill with Solas helps temper Esti, somewhat. A little more distance between them because she's not the Herald/Inquisitor who turns to him for help with that, but she still thinks of him as a mentor. And - also, as Ena pardons Blackwall - Esti is less certain of the moving forward in the aftermath of Trespasser. She does not have a mistake that she intends to make up for.

With her and Brennan as Inquisitors, I think it's really interesting that they each come away from that final conversation with opposite responses. Brennan tries to read between the lines, reads subtext that isn't there, and believes that Solas never respected or cared about any of them; Esti chooses, stubbornly, to read only the lines and believe what the god of liars says, that he did come to respect and care for all of them.

[ohlawsons]

rook questions from here, answered for nasrin! minimal spoilers, i tried to keep anything game-specific as vague as possible

1: Where in the Thedas is your Rook from? rivain! I'm still working out the exact timeline, but the thought for now is that they end up at the dairsmuid circle when they're 8 or 9, and barely escape at 13 when it's annulled. they travel with a small group of fellow mages for a couple of years before deciding to shelter with the inquisition. they hear isabela is working for the inquisitor, go to ask her for help getting south, and nasrin decides the lords of fortune are better than the inquisition and sticks around

2: What is your character's alignment? probably straddling the line between neutral good and chaotic good. at their core, they really want to be able to help people and leave the world a better place, but also rules are for nerds

3: Race and subclass? human mage!

4: If your Rook was a companion, where would they be found? it feels like cheating to say in rivain with the lords of fortune, but i'm not sure where else they'd be tbh

5: What emotion did they usually pick? charming/"purple"

6: What companion are you platonically close with? everyone but neve tbh. (nothing against neve, they just didn't rly "click") bellara and emmrich are the closest though! nasrin loves bellara's energy, and no spoilers but her personal quest hits them pretty hard. for emmrich, it starts off with them just learning magic from him, but he ends up being someone who they really trust and connect with. also varric is the closest thing they've ever had to a father figure 🙃

7: Romantically close with? lucanis! it starts as very shallow (they are the Horniest ace and he just seems fun to them) and also like. not "i can fix him" but "i desperately need whatever it is he's got going on" and it ends up So Soft

8: Who are they suspicious of? no one, unfortunately. they even get over their distrust of solas very quickly.

9: Does your Rook get along with their chosen Faction? they do! i especially love the couple of lines (from taash i think, maybe from isabela?) about the lords don't fuck over the little people, and i think that's something really important to nasrin.

10: Are they proficient in playing any instruments? not at all. i've struggled to figure out hobbies for them, but i don't think they have an artistic bone in their body. they're always moving or fidgeting, so i think they'd lean more towards physical pastimes like hiking or swimming

11: Weapon of choice? a staff! as much as i would love to let them primarily use the knife/orb combo (which is so good and so fun, thank you bioware) i unfortunately have an idea for a spellblade mage that i'm excited about so nasrin gets a staff

12: What is their orientation? bi/ace

13: What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it? somewhere in between? especially once they join up with the lords, it's just sorta part of the job? they certainly don't enjoy it, but they don't really go out of their way to avoid it, either. there is, however, a moral difference to them in "killing as part of a job" and "being paid specifically to kill someone"

14: What hobbies does your Rook have? (see #10)

15: What NPCs do they like? Which one's do they dislike? they get along well with isabela, irelin and strife, and most of the crows. i wouldn't necessarily say they dislike the shadow dragons, but they def get a bit awkward around them given everything that happened in minrathous

16: Do they have a favorite creature in the Thedas? idk about before but after meeting assan, it's griffons

17: Do they enjoy life as an adventurer? they do! it's a bit more stressful without being fully involved with the lords, but they love the freedom

18: What would your Rook be doing if they weren't recruited by Varric? they'd probably still be with the lords. i don't see them getting involved with the plot otherwise, tbh

19: How do you think they'll meet their end? idk but it'll probably be loud and showy

20: Would they side with Solas or fight him? well. no spoilers but. i'll just say they trust him until they don't

21: What is your Rook's favorite ability? there's not one specifically, but they enjoy a lot of the necromancy/death caller magic they learn from emmrich

22: What languages is your character fluent in? common and rivaini, i guess? i think they also know bits and pieces of antivan and tevene

23: What do they do after the absolute crisis? assuming this is meant to be after the main plot... i haven't decided. i definitely want to wait and see if there's any dlc/epilogue stuff in the works before i make any hard decisions. i do know that immediately after the battle, they go back to the lighthouse and just sleep for like. 18 hours straight.

24: Does your character believe in the afterlife? yes? it's sort of an established thing in thedas, but i think between rivaini beliefs surrounding spirits and everything they learn from emmrich, they have some re-evaluating of their own beliefs to do (eventually)

25: What specialization best represents your Rook? death caller! i was originally going to go evoker with them, but the combination of it being tied to the shadow dragons (awkward) and the actual skills available, i went with death caller which led to the headcanon about them learning from emmrich (tbh i really miss having to earn the specializations like in dao and dai)

26: What animal best represents your Rook? theyre like those spiders that make their webs exactly at face-height in the spring. thank you for your service but what the fuck

27: What was their life like before the events of Veilguard? just comfortable enough. they aren't big on the sea, so a lot of the jobs they took with the lords of fortune were relatively close to home, so they kept busy but not too busy

28: Is your character the de facto leader of the party? Or do they consider someone else to be the leader? they are, they're baffled by it, and they would love to not be the leader but everyone else keeps looking to them for some reason

29: If you could choose a different faction for your Rook, which one would they have joined and why? i actually almost picked shadow dragon for them, but i was worried they'd end up too similar to neve (i went in almost completely blind wrt the companions). luckily they're plenty different, and i think the shadow dragons would probably still be the only other decent fit for them. the mourn watch could be a fun au though

30: What's your favorite thing about your Rook? there is a very specific point in the plot where they go from "idk man i just work here" to extremely driven wrt saving thedas. it's always fun to be able to pinpoint when their motivations change completely