#idk what it is about da elves but i love them.

[fortcliffe]

there’s the da character creation and there’s me, a clown.

[hyperions-light]

Bellara and Davrin’s friendship is so refreshing tbh

Like every time there are two elves in a Dragon Age game they usually want to rip each other’s faces off so it’s nice that they just get to like

Talk about their shared experiences and be friends.

I had them out together yesterday and Bellara was just so sincerely espousing her belief that Davrin would definitely find the griffons because of how much he loves and cares for Assan

And idk I think if this had been a different DA game Davrin would probably have made fun of her or something

You know because they make these characters who are the stoic/“mean” ones who just like all of the ‘bad guy’ decisions you can make because that’s what they’re there for. Like it’s not super consistent for Sten to be cool with blood magic sacrifice but you know! He’s the guy who likes the bad stuff so approval points for the blood ritual! Even though he’s a Qunari and that guy is a Tevinter Magister but like haha whatever!

And Davrin is a stoic character (sort of. He’s more complex!) so it would have been easy for them to have him rebuff her cheerfulness and positivity. But he doesn’t! He says he hopes she’s right!

Anyway. I just think it’s nice that they didn’t make up a conflict between them for the sake of pigeon-holing one or both of them and instead just actually gave them a complex and interesting dynamic

[emmg]

I’ve never played Dragon Age before but I’m being won over by all the thirst posting lmao, what’s the best DA game to start with? Idk if there’s like an overarching narrative or if they’re self contained plots or whatever.

Omg I somehow missed this which is unacceptable given how much I love ya lol

YEEEES, WELCOME TO THE DRAGON AGE SICKO SIDE, MWHAHAHA

Okay, so if you're not totally allergic to old graphics I highly recommend starting with Dragon Age: Origins. It's an absolute masterpiece in storytelling, but also wildly politically, errr, incorrect lmfao. And with mods it looks amazing

You get to have a dog who can read. I'm not making this up. He understands human speech perfectly and only uses it to beg for treats. You can also ask him if he has something for you (like Scratch in bg3) and when he doesn't, the game makes you want to kill yourself because the camera pans down into the most SHAME ON YOU angle on him I've ever seen and he looks defeated. It's amazing lol

Your companions in Origins are straight up insane. A huge warrior who steals cookies from a child and calls him fat. A living construct who was once a dwarf but there was a situation and she spent 30 years inert being shat on by pigeons and now she's on a personal quest to brutally murder all of them.

Did I mention there's a bisexual assassin elf who spends most of the game complimenting the group's grandma's boobs? I’m not sure it’s a "good" plot point, but it sure is a plot point.

You get to be rescued from prison by any of your companions. If the dwarf and elf go, they lie that they are brothers and it somehow works. Or the companions can end up naked. It’s insane, it’s absolutely fucking insane

Or you can start with DA 2 and experience the joy that is Purple Hawke (aka choosing the sarcastic dialogue option.) I present to you some of the classic lines:

"So I should be looking out for a bunch of boneless women flopping through the street?"

"Let's be more specific. I don't do anything that involves children or animals."

"You should pay someone else. Like me. I like being paid."

"I'd like to know who this "Corypheus" is. With a name like that, he's bound to go "mwa-ha-ha" at some point. I just know it."

In DA 2, you get to run around for YEARS (yeah actual years) with your found family that sort of hates each other, everyone, or almost, is bisexual, someone is possessed, and everyone is horny.

Inquisition is a great starting point, though, if you don't want to go too far back. It’s friendly to new players and very patient with your questions about "What is a dragon?" and "Why does everyone hate elves?" It rehashes everything you need to know so you’re not like, "Wait, what’s a Blight again?" Plus, it directly ties into the new game, Veilguard, which is even friendlier since 10 years passed between the two games and it has no choice but to be.

But really, I feel like all of them are good are introducing/rehashing the lore

Also if you want to experience the most life-devastating romance with the elven embodiment of a poetic egg, Inquisition and Veilguard got you covered. @thessaralka wrote many treatises on it lmfao

Pick up the games ok pls ty byyye

[brain-rot-central]

Continued VG thoughts. Contains one spoiler at the end.

God the more I play this... Idk. I'm conflicted. I love that we're finally being told the actual story of the elves, because all we've had is the Chantry's version vs. what the Dalish believed. Also now that I'm thinking about it, the Chantry hasn't been mentioned once in the 3 hours I've been playing the game, which is. Odd... Given we're in northern Thedas and they have their own version of the Chantry but whatever, I digress.

I like the story. I dislike just about everything else.

It's not a bad game.

But it's a bad Dragon Age game.

It doesn't feel anything like a Dragon Age game. It has things and elements in name only. The feeling is... off. Rook comes out of nowhere and you recruit your companions and everyone is just best friends off the bat. There's literally no relationship building. You can't have conversations with them that leave them upset or net you disapproval (at least from my experience thus far).

There was also an entire monologue section for Rook where they get sentimental over objects placed around their room and it serves as a way for you to build the background story of your character... I guess? I don't know what the significance of that whole scene was but again it felt out of place and forced.

My fiancé is also playing through it and he summed up how I feel: "it's a good game if you forget you're playing Dragon Age."

The dialogue is mind-numbing and uninspiring. Things are too on the nose and the game holds your hand way too much. Imo it feels like a mess. It doesn't know if it wants to be a soft reboot or a finale of this arc of the DA lore, as it's trying to be both simultaneously. The reoccurring characters thus far know nothing about their backstories and it's very apparent. Your interactions with them are hollow and awkward; the only one who knows who they are is Solas. That's literally the only continuity that's carried over thus far.

Also, spoiler. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled about something.

Harding has magical abilities??? SHE'S A DWARF? THEY'RE LITERALLY IMMUNE TO LYRIUM. Her touching a LYRIUM DAGGER would NOT impact her the way it did? It just feels very forced for the sake of the plot. They basically just explain it as "yeah we know dwarves can't wield magic haha idk what's going on but I hope it's ok"

??????????

I literally put my controller down after that and walked away lmao. I couldn't. You're gonna have THREE GAMES where it's HEAVILY reiterated that dwarves cannot wield magic; LITERALLY ALSO TELL YOU AT THE CC SCREEN THAT THEY CAN'T, but "oop this one can. Because plot."

It's bad writing. It's just. Idk. I'm upset lmao

I wanna like this game but I'm struggling, man. Really struggling.

[prismatic-starstuff]

Oh wonderful!! My woman* isn't super ready yet but I know a few things and I have a few ideas. For one, she'll be as feral as the game will allow me to be. This is a woman who SUCKS. Considering that, apparently, the elves are sometimes insultingly called "bat-face", I decided to lean into that and make her a bit bat-like. Not sure how much yet, that's...what I need to sketch out. But she'll have these unnaturally tilted very round beady eyes and very large ears. She'll be a bit tan and have a blond buzzcut because idk when I went "I think elves should look uncanny" I very vividly imagined a tanned wiry and lanky elven lady with pitch black eyes and very short hair. And I see no reason to change what my imagination instinctively thought of.

I'm thinking of playing as a mage, but also I'm pretty sure I want to be a mage in Veilguard and playing as a mage in both games feels a bit stale? So maybe I'll go for a rogue? But also being a mage in DAI feels like it could be juicy? So I have to think about that.

Personality-wise, I am undecided between two concepts and I'll go with whichever one the game will allow me to actually play out. In either case, she'll be absolutely rancid. If BG3 was fantasy Gnosticism, I'm sure DA can be fantasy Catholicism. If I just squint hard enough. I mean there are inquisitions, I can find a way to shove something catholic in there. Well it doesn't really matter, what matters is that there IS a religious system and that means there can be fanaticism. This character I'll be playing will either be the most fanatical person ever...or someone who just doesn't care but SEEMS like a fanatic, because it's the kind of person who will invite Jehovah's witnesses for a cup of tea and nod along as they monologue not because the person would agree but because they find it entertaining.

Honestly both of these routes are fine with me because both of them happen in real life but the actual fundamentalists and fanatics usually don't make it to the top because they care too much to ever get there. Like, most people who sit at the top of fundie spaces aren't actually in it for the love of the game, they're in it to win it. And it makes sense because you have to do a lot of things that go directly against your cause and your faith when you're at the top of such a space. So yeah.

I'm not sure what uuuh elf devotional tattoo, I forgot what they're called, I'll give her yet. I'm thinking either Mythal for the irony or Elgar'nan for it to actually fit. Can't decide if I want to go with the hilarious irony or not.

Also...the funny thing is...I don't think she'll be like...rancid in communication? Like...she won't be as friendly as my BG3 guy "Osob", but she won't be rude either, I think. It's like...she will be rancid, but it's the kind of rancid you see in a person only when they let their guard down and you realise "Wait hold up, this person I've been friends with for so long believes THIS???". But idk about that yet. Most of all I just want her to be a hungry rabid coyote staring at you from the dark.

So far I'm thinking of naming her Willa, derived from William Phipps who gave the go ahead for Salem witch trials, or Olivaria, derived from Oliver Cromwell, who didn't really have a hand in inquisitions but he was a fanatical piece of shit.

*yeah ok so about that. This is the part where I pull out a move the game itself can't handle so it has to exist only in my imagination. So yes, she will be a woman in Inquisition. But. I just think it'd be really funny if she realised that she isn't a she after the events of the game. Now you might be asking yourself why I'd bust out such a convoluted move. Honestly I don't know how to make this sound normal, but there are several factors at play here, the most important being that I need the inquisitor to fuck Solas (because I need to know what the deal is. I need to understand what's going on in this place.) (honestly not sure how I'll even manage that tho because I...I don't think anyone will want to romance this inquisitor. Who the hell would want this rat.) but I feel like it'd be funny to sorta game the straight-lock. Like "Oh, I have to be a female elf to romance him? Checkmate, my character just doesn't know that he's trans yet." And honestly the really petty person in me also doesn't want to be just another elven woman inquisitor with a bun. But also yeah I think it'd be really funny. Like all around. For everyone. Imagine you're the inquisitor and you think you're a cis woman and then the plot happens and right after everything is over you're like "...I think this journey may have unlocked something in me."

oooooooooh so i am late to this but i Absolutely love the concept; love a rancid individual, always super fun!!

my plan was also to have my lavellan be trans in veilguard and i am... legitimately sad about the fact that apparently that won't be possible according to a recent interview, but ah well; doesn't matter what bioware have to say about it, we write our own canon for our own characters!

i wish you and your inquisitor the best of luck in your solas-fucking adventures :3

[landgraabbed]

So what do you think about the latest DA news? You can't be happy about the reaction to the previews (since you were previously skeptical)

hi anon, idk. is this because the previews are mostly mixed-positive? i don't care tbh.

ok no, i do care about the whole reception in the sense that i've been seeing a lot of extremes and i don't see myself in any camp. i've seen positive echo chambers (r/dragonage) and i've seen negative echo chambers (Gamers TM). i am very happy about the inclusion of top surgery scars. and i am woman of color who has a history of successive diaspora in her most recent generations with all the specific cultural baggage that comes with. i have always seen myself a lot in the dalish. of course i love seeing the inclusion of more black and brown elves. so of course i disagree with the shit takes the chuds are putting out and find them harmful.

but it's not a game for me. i know this would have made 20 years old me's year. but it's been a decade. i'm 30 now. i've lived through so many milestones and i'm not the same person as i was. and because of all that and the way i have engaged with different discussions and media my tastes have become more me, in a way. bioware's writing doesn't resonate with me as strongly as it once did, i now enjoy writing that is more ambiguous, worldbuilding that is malleable and varied when it comes to in universe discussion, gameplay that is less flashy, more direct, more expressive, and more engaging. everything we've seen has shown me that veilguard's game design is not for me anymore, and as much as i love the world of the series that is that. i will probably watch a playthrough or two to see where the story goes, for closure, but i truly don't see myself playing it. i am excited to see what my da mutuals share and their characters. if anything i am sad to feel this disconnect, but at the end of the day that's neither here nor there

[3gremlins]

okay i watched the da:tv gameplay trailer and some thoughts!

-gameplay looks pretty fun and fast and swishy (i know the crpg contingent will be upset but da2 is my favorite so i'm not mad about it at this point, fast combat makes my brain go ZING. i love bg3 but the combat takes so fucking long, i've got places to be, fam). The attack lines from enemies are kind of interesting? i'm not sure about them but it feels like it'll be a little more involved than dispatching all the nameless, brainless enemies we did in DAI/previously which could be neat? we'll see. the venatori still feel a little weak as enemies to me (like kinda boring, you need to fight someone type of enemies)

-excited to finally not have to choose between arrows and daggers as as a rogue (and the switch doesn't look terribly clunky? *stares at dao meaningfully*)

-i wish they'd shown the other classes a little bit (can we not switch to/direct our companions at all? i thought they said we could somewhere. not being able to switch to them would suck a bit, how else will i know what class i want to do next?*), or even showed the rogue at a higher level for more skillz (just the one's a little boring but understandable)

-would also love to see skill trees? are there skill trees?

-aesthetic looks fairly similar to dai tbh? i kinda wish it was more like the character trailers (i know unpopular opinion) actually, like a new swishy aesthetic for the swishy gameplay (like really reinvent yourself, put your whole chest into it, but also given the reaction to the character trailer i can see why they didn't feel they could/should)

-otherwise, it does look good! the hair especially, will have to see it in cc (have we finally been delivered from eyebrow caterpillars????)

-default rook looks so good! already feels like they have more innate personality than the inkys did (like hawke). -tho i hope we can dye their clothes/gear b/c i do not love the purple/yellow lol (have they mentioned about dyes at all? there's been so much info, it's a little overwhelming) -their voice is hot, oh no bioware and the hot voices again lol like might just do a pt with default human rook??? a thing i haven't done since da2 so that's a good sign (based on the concept art, it looks like there might be a "default" rook for humans, elves, qunari and dwarves which is sort of interesting? maybe they were just playing with it tho)

-already love neve, tho her hat/veil is still weird (it is dragon age, mages have to have stupid hats i guess). good luck neve cosplayers balancing a weird board on the side of your heads!

-love the dialogue wheel but am also biased b/c DA2 = <3 I hope the dialogue choices build up similarly to how they did in da2 (where you'd get unique dialogue options based on how sassy/nice/decisive you were)

-i am underwhelmed by the on the ground city design they showed idk some of the environments feel like stuff i've seen in the other da games a bunch (esp that last bit of rubble with the sliding into the solas area, like it looks very much like the first bit of dai where you fight the pride demon. but i also played that game too much and most people didn't so it might not matter).

-also having us fight a pride demon AGAIN in the introductory sequence feels kinda same-y (i'm sure it's supposed to be a nod, but it feels kind of re-tread). hopefully we get enemies that aren't demons/venatori (or at least not the same demons/venatori). Would have to see more to really decide but it did feel a little empty/dai-ish (negative) in the sequence they showed

-i know they're hiding plot stuff/unfinished things and probably more combat but every time the trailer went to a black screen with white text it felt like an "it's always sunny" meme like "The Gang interrupts an ancient ritual" XD and i could not take it completely seriously

-the varric/solas dialogue does feel a little weird, like i never felt they were all that close tbh (like it feels like the only person who could do that would be a friend/lover inquisitor). It also kinda felt like an Anders-redo to me, like putting the varric/anders friendship onto solas instead? idk didn't love it, but i get why it's there (narratively)

-varric is def going to die isn't he? i kinda hope so, like i love him but he also is starting to feel a little shoe-horned into things/a little overplayed (plus if they have to kill someone, he feels like a meaningful choice?)

-varric still looks weird with really dark hair, like i'm fine with him going grey but his hair was def redder/browner in previous games (hoping it's just the lighting/water?). hc that he's dyeing it for vanity reasons

-curious about the party choices where you take certain people with you, is it like ME where certain people need to do certain things or they'll die? and it's not obvious (like in suicide mission where if you want companions to live, leaving them behind to do a job is actually the better choice)

-the teaser silhouettes at the end there?!?! lets go unleashed, unhinged evanuris rampaging through thedas?!? **

-still really need solas to turn into a giant multi-eyed wolf (and have the option of a romanced lavellan inky talk him down), like we've gotten so much of the list already, pls bioware (♡ヮ♡)

----

tl;dr: i am most excited about the new companions! the combat looks like it'll be fun/fine, i am tentatively excited about the plot (there is a griffon but they did not show the griffon in this trailer which was foolish, i am easily won this way)/narrative beats. Will play for sure, but going to try to not get too excited (tooo late haha)

*like i'm not going to have 1000 pts and play all the classes but i still liked playing AS companions to get a feel for their skillz and stuff

**thinking about this more, i kinda wish they hadn't gone for the same grandiose opener as DAI and it was instead more of a murder mystery type of framing? like the veil's down, the evanuris are loose and they're not rampaging, they're doing subtle nasty things and we have to track them down (kinda like the forsaken in Wheel of Time). that would be an entirely different game probably tho lol

[kxmikomrade]

*ahem*

hello there

I saw the ask thing, and so now it's my turn >:D

17: do you belive in ghosts?

21 + 22: what are your least and most favorite subjects in school?

30: what song is currently stuck in your head?

47 (but changed): what did you want to be when you were a little kid?

53: what’s the last dream you remember having?

61: where is a place that you’d love to visit?

78: what's your favorite animal?

84: what’s your favourite insect?

89: what are your thoughts on roller coasters?

90: what’s your favourite mythical creature?

don't feel pressured to answer all of them!

have a lovely timezone kimmmm <3333

SHROOM HII THX FOR ASKING <33

17.) Nopee, they're silly but maybe once a year id go into a full on ghost hunting/summoning kinda mood AHAHAHAH

21-22.)My least fav subject would be any of the languages taught tbh, doesn't matter if it's English, Filipino, Arabic, french, like bro do u expect my shitty memory to remember all that??? 😭😭 And for favorite, it's math surprise ✨ bcs i see it as a video game challenge/puzzle, so kinda makes sense how I would solve some if I'm bored, like back when I was still in school, I used to open my textbook, flip to the 2nd half of the book and find smth that interests me so I can solve it, then future me would either be confused, horrified or relieved to see it already solved LMAOOO

30.) Jazz on the clock by Luxiem!! It's such a vibe, the 'DA DA DU BI DU BI DO' just REPEATS in my head

47.) Ive never rlly thought abt future jobs that age I think? But at most I guess it would be an artist, like- just an 'artist' nothing specified 😭 now I think about it, it's pretty silly and idealistic bcs living off from making art?? Naw that's just too idealistic 💀💀

53.) I literally don't remember bcs I don't have dreams often 🧍‍♂️ like maybe every few months I would 😭😭

61.) Visit? Then uhhh maybe Ibaraki in Japan, I wanna see those flower fields 🫶✨

78.) Ferrets and cats :33

84.) Don't have one bcs I'm prob enemies to all insects 😭😭 but I'd say bees and ladybugs, they're nice to look at

89.) I LOVE THEM!!! I LOVE DRAGGING MY SIS TO THEM BCS SHES SCARED SHITLESS, although I haven't rode one since like 5th grade or smth :''') BUT DURING THAT TIME I KEPT ON GOING AT IT LIKE 5??? OR SO TIMES STRAIGHT LMAOOO

90.) UHHHHHH I haven't rlly thought abt it but maybe elves??? Idk

TY AGAIN FOR ASKING THAT WAS FUN TO ANSWER <3333

[agendratum]

okay i might be myself gay for neve gallus but still i'm conflicted on who i would love to romance as my rook, and i probably will wait for when i'm playing the game to make the final decision anyway buuuut

so with neve i'm like, i just have this pretty fun image in my head, with this kinda naive, full of wonder, very young rook meeting this fucking noir detective. and i just think it could be very interesting (obviously i don't really know neve unlike many people who read the other da media she's in, so idk what this noir detecting is really like)

but then i think how my rook admires grey wardens so much, and she's gonna meet davrin, who's also, hello, a monster hunter. literally like a character from the stories she loves so much. like at least she's gonna have the biggest hero crush on davrin. and i think they could have a very tasty dynamic (and also i never romanced a grey warden before, i only played as one)

but then, talking about wonder and stories, here's bellara, fascinated with the secrets of ancient elves. some of this stuff is something my rook, probably, would grow up thinking is definitely just legends.

also here's taash, a fellow lord of fortune from rivain, and just like with neve i still have a very cute image in my head of this short ass rook and taash being together, just getting into shenanigans and shit, just trust me it's very cute

then there is lace harding, everyone's high school crush. and like, wouldn't my rook get a crush on her too? she would. easily. any day

emmrich and lucanis are the only ones i don't have much thoughts like this for, but it doesn't mean i'm not looking forward to them, or that i don't expect the dynamic with them to be super fun

and anyway, whoever my rook ends up romancing, i imagine she would just be sitting with eyes so wide open, like two headlights, looking at all of her companions and eating all of their life experience, all of the stuff they know and can do, she'll love them

[poetryofyouth]

Okay, and now for some of my more spoiledy thoughts. Includes heavy endgame spoilers!!!!!

First things first, what is up with Isabela.

what the fuck is that "armor"/outfit. Ugh. She was sexualized in DA2, too. But it was played as a flirty, cheeky pirate and at least her armor made sense. This is just... awful awful orientalist bullshit. Isabela being there also added nothing to the game. The entire Lords of Fortune faction could have been cut. Extremely boring, extremely unfinished, extremely bad.

Also, the Inquisitor randomly appearing sometimes did not add anything for me. Really, I would have enjoyed the game just as much without their cameos.

BUT I thought that the whole explaination on how the Blight came to be was really cool!!! And it seems to be something they had in mind from the start. Since we know dwarves can't dream from the start. I've been thinking about that whole thing a lot. It's similar to the rite of tranquility, I think? I know titans are much more powerful than humans and elves, but does something like the blight, on a smaller scale, also happen to the dreams of the tranquil? Could a titan be cured if a Spirit of Faith touched their minds? Or are they, and their dreams, just too far gone after the millenia?

I have seen some people criticise how the blight was handled as a game mechanic and idk, if the gameplay were lore accurate, we could only ever play with full grey warden parties, otherwise everyone would always get the blight, I mean we slice through so many darkspawn in these games that it would be impossible to not get a little blood in your mouth - only needs to happen once, after all! I kinda liked the whole puzzle aspect of popping the bubbles and it was so satisfyingly disgusting. didn't dislike that in general.

Many people also disliked the ending and I disagree with that, too. I liked the ending. I think I also got the best possible ending so maybe people who got worse endings had a worse time accepting them. Idk tho how different they will be, but also like I can't really see any way for my ending to go much differently so. Yeah it's fine. It's good, even.

And as much as I know it is not perfect, I just really, from the bottom of my heart, appreciate a AAA game so openly and explicitly featuring trans/non-binary characters. I know trans/nb people are not all happy with how Taash was written and all that, I don't want to like speak over them, but honestly, just that it was done at all makes me happy.

Yeah I will definitely relplay this game at some point. Either romancing Lucanis as a buff himbo warden or Emmrich as a goth mourn watcher wife. But not immediately. DA2 is my favourite DA game, I finish it and immediately want to play it again, and I have done that - start another playthrough immediately after. I don't think games like the first 2 DA games can be made today, at least not by big studios. I think there is just too much interference, that they need to be "palatable". But I will always love Dragon Age, and I do, despite all my criticisms, really enjoy DAV.

My thoughts about Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Spoiler free)

After 67.5 hours of playtime, I have finished the fourth Dragon Age game. Overall, I give it a solid 7/10.

I loved

The performance. I have a good gaming laptop, but it is still a laptop. Veilguard runs buttery-smooth, never had any lag or framerate drop or anything. Didn't have any annoying glitches, some very minor graphics bugs two or three times. I know this SHOULD be the bare minimum, but considering it has become the norm to launch games that are basically unplayable because of the number of glitches, this is something to point out!

The overall story, tone and writing. Yes, these were criticised by many people, but I don't think that the dialogue was that clunky, and I certainly did not think that the tone was "not dark enough". Genuinely, people saying the game was too lighthearted and not "dark fantasy" anymore must have played a different game than me.

The look of the environments. Inquisitions landscapes were beautiful, and Veilguard manages to top that in certain areas. Arlathan Forest is absolutely beautiful, and other places you get to explore are horrifyingly, disgustingly vile and haunting and terrifying.

The Character Creator. So many details and so many hairstyles!!! And GOOD, long hairstyles, too!!!

I liked

The Companions. Rook's interactions with the companions is different than in Origins and Inquisition, most similar to DA2. You can't just always come talk to them. But they interact with each other far more than in previous games!! And I am glad there isn't a party banter glitch like in Inquisition - the banter triggers early and often. No hourlong running around in dead silence! And I also liked all the companions as characters, a lot!

The voice acting. Again, I don't really get the complaints so many people seem to have over the voice acting. Really solid imo!

The Combat. I did NOT think I would ever say that. It took a long while to get used to it because I am simply not used to playing action combat games. I only played on Keeper difficulty (2nd easiest), but that was ideal for me to figure everything out. I played a duelist rogue, haven't tried other classes. And I appreciated the uncomplicated respeccing. Especially because I was really intimidated by the complicated look of the skill tree. For rook and the companions, you can respec any skill at any time, so you can play around and try what works best for you.

Exploring. The game is not open-world and I think it was a good choice. But the relatively small areas are packed full with treasures to find. There are little puzzles everywhere. I am a sucker for that kind of stuff. Love puzzles and riddles. Only not putting this under "loved" because it kind of messed with the pacing for me in certain quests. ("Someone's in mortal peril? Sure, hang on, lemme get that treasure chest first")

Certain lore revelations. No spoilers! But we learn some big stuff. I think this was done well for the most part.

I was fine with

The look of the Characters. I was VERY worried about that at first because in general I am not a big fan of the cartoonish artstyle. What was odd is that not all characters seem equally cartoonish? Emmrich seems much more cartoonish than Davril, for example. That is an inconsistency that I found quite annoying. In general, could have been better, could have been worse. I really miss the DA2 look of the Qunari. That Arishok... still thinking about him.

The romance. So I have only romanced Neve, and it was nice. I know other romances are different, they might give you a bit... more. Again, don't want to spoil anything but.... There could have been more.

Cameos/tie-in of established characters. I want to keep this spoiled-free so I won't go into specifics. It was nice meeting some of them again, some of them were.... NOT done right. Yeah I'll reblog this post with a few spoilery thoughts on that. This could have been done a LOT better.

I did not like

Lore inconsitencies. I don't mean major, story-relevant stuff here, just some minor details. It's expected that they will get some stuff wrong but.... ugh. still annoying!!!

The villains are very black-and-white. When I think of Dragon Age Villains, I think of complex characters like Zathrian, Loghain, even the Arishok or Prince Bhelen. Characters you can empathize with, feel sorry for, even side with. The game is very lacking in that kind of complexity.

Lack of impactful, difficult choices. In previous installments, I AGONIZED over so many choices. Harrowmont or Bhelen? Celine or Gaspard? Kill or spare the Architect? Choices I took a long time to think about, choices where the game (and other media) gives you little snippets of information, not enough that you know what the right choice is for sure, but you have a lot to think about and to consider. This does not exist in this game. At all.

Rook can't be evil. I know Rook needs to be the hero. But so did the Warden, Hawke and the Herald. I personally don't like playing the "bad guy". But I like having the choice! If you have the choice to sacrifice Feynriel to the Sloth Demon, it makes the decision to do the right think just so much more meaningful.

And Rook's dialogue options are quite flat, too. The game uses tone indicators like in DA2 and Inquisition, but the tone barely even differs. The joking/sarcastic replies are not that funny (purple Hawke i miss you you will always be famous). The "aggressive" replies are really not that aggressive. Overall, that makes Rook feel quite flat.

I am VERY unhappy with

Okay. Deep breaths. No spoilers. But this game has... issues. For a game that has been in developement for such a long time, there are many aspects that are just unfinished. The Lords of Fortune for example. The entire faction makes barely any sense.

Ignoring most of the worldstate choices... This has been discussed at length before the release, so no need to get into it. But I have always admired Bioware for how they managed to tie in choices from previous games - even if they were just "throwaway oneliners". That was what made the world of Thedas feel real. That's what made Dragon Age special.

The lack of conflict and how slavery in Tevinter is just glossed over. Okay hear me out. I do NOT want more fantasy racism because I think it is cool or whatever. But we're in Tevinter for big parts of the game!! The dreaded empire that everyone in southern Thedas is scared of, where slavery is normal and they do blood magic for fun. All that worldbuilding and the setup is just... basically ignored. The venatori are throwaway enemies just like in inquisition, the politics of Tevinter are almost entirely ignored. And that is, I think, where Veilguard fails to be a proper Dragon Age game. DA was always about mirroring real life conflicts, adressing themes of prejudice, war, racism, homophobia and mental illness directly or through metaphors. Making you think about morality, both your PC's morality and your own as a player and a person. This game... this game doesn't challenge any sort of believes you might have as a person in that way. This is, in my opinion, the biggest failure of the game. The critical look at the real world, through the lense of a dark fantasy game. And if a Dragon Age game is missing that, then it just... misses it's heart and it's soul. Unfortunately, glitches can be fixed but there is no way to patch this.

Final thoughts

Okay, back to a bit more positivity. I enjoyed the game. I really, really had a lot of fun. I screamed, I cried real tears, I felt for the companions and I laughed at the funny moments. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a good game. Not perfect. And it is perfectly understandable to be critcal of it, unfortunately a lot of criticism gets lost in either "it's too woke" or people who clearly have not played past the first act.

But in general, I think both Dragon Age fans and newcomers will enjoy it and have a good time.

[dyrwoodan]

,

[queeranerys]

the last time i watched lord of the rings i was struck by how often legolas stares longingly or lovingly at aragorn so here is the alternate romance subplot that exactly one person asked for

arwen and aragorn are like, sibs. they grew up together in rivendell and are brother and sister. she can still comfort him about being isildur’s heir and the legacy of wanting the ring, etc etc etc, but it’s not sexy whispering anymore!

legolas, longtime fan of aragorn, joins the fellowship mostly because he can't let a dwarf go along unsupervised and unchallenged, but also bc hot crunchy ranger man said "you have my sword" "WOW that was hot and you have my bow!!"

arwen gives aragorn the evenstar necklace, which i’ve decided was a betrothal necklace that elrond gifted to celebrian (arwen’s mother) when they got engaged, and she tells him to keep it in case that cute blond sylvan elf turns out to be more than a pretty face

legolas sees aragorn wearing this thing and assumes he’s got a beloved back home, but also can’t stop himself from them good old longing glances. he’s a simple boi with simple needs

aragorn returns them ofc but legolas is like “he’s just being nice”

aragorn tumbles over the cliff and legolas gets the necklace from that orc. he takes it really hard. gimli makes him meditate for a bit to steady himself (since elves don’t sleep) and he dreams of aragorn

we still have the breath of life sequence because viggo mortensen worked too hard for those shots for me to even consider removing them from the vision in my brain

aragorn dreams of legolas, coming back from the brink of death to the soft sound of “may the grace of the valar protect you” and the brush of lips on his own

(it’s the horse, but maybe it was legolas)

aragorn, with the aid of brego, drags his bloodied and battered ass to helm’s deep and pushes the doors open like the dramatic sexy bitch he is (this doesn’t change i just thought i’d remind everyone of that Very Excellent Moment)

legolas tries to be cool about aragorn not being dead but squishes him with a big hug anyway

he gives aragorn the necklace back, but aragorn, knowing what this necklace means to him and rivendell elves, is like “oh fuck oh fuck he’s pROPOSING??? i mean he’s cute and hell yeah but it’s not a great time legolas” and kinda mumbles a thank you but um hmmm and runs off to go bother theoden

eowyn sees all of this go down and is like “okay so that’s gonna be a dead end for sure”

this is why legolas is a pissbaby for the rest of the lead-up to the battle at helm’s deep

so when he’s like “forgive me, i was wrong to despair” aragorn is like “there’s nothing to forgive. i mean, let’s talk about this maybe....after the ring is destroyed... or at the very least after this battle is over” 

legolas: talk about what

aragorn:....this betrothal necklace....

legolas: it’s yours. i pulled it off the orc that watched you go off the cliff. i wanted it to be safe in case you came back or in case you didn’t and your betrothed wanted it

aragorn: my w h a t

legolas: aragorn i know what a betrothal necklace looks like. 

aragorn: my sister gave this to me

legolas: wait what

anyway they figure it out and all is well and they’re cute and the battle happens

the rest of the plot isn’t that different EXCEPT

if we want a “dying elf as motivation to defeat the bad guy” the one dying is elrond, he’s old as balls and can take it

arwen is the one who brings anduril to aragorn :)

before the final battle, legolas kisses aragorn and says like “idk if my dad is down with this, but if we survive this i’m marrying the fuck out of you” and aragorn is like :) :) :) :*

the coronation bit

aragorn makes his way down the aisle in the crowd like normal la di da except where legolas was in the movie, he pats eowyn on the shoulder instead

behind the white tree banner is legolas, in the sweetest tunic you ever saw, flanked by his fancy dad, who nods at aragorn like “all good dude” and we still get the very sweet bow-touch-the-chin-unsure-looks-but-then-passionate-kiss-and-hug thing and the rest is the same and they’re in love and it’s beautiful. anyway. 

thank u for coming to my ted sandyman talk

[blarfkey]

for the ship ask meme - Reylo and Shay/Solas, hit me! :D

Reylo:

What made you ship it?

Listen, I’m always a sucker for villain ships. But that scene where he knocks her out in TFA an carries her BRIDAL STYLE to his ship. And the scene where he immediately takes off his mask when she says she hates it and it makes her afraid? That was it for me. And TLJ only made it even stronger.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I love that the entire time he’s known her, he’s admired her. Even when she’s trying to kill him on StarKiller Base he offers to be her teacher and I don’t think that has to do entirely with Snoke’s wishes for her. He says she could be turned so that Snoke would want to spare her life.

I also love how soft he is with her. He rages and screams and fights everyone else, but he’s always quiet with her. In their force connection sessions, she’s spitting venom and he’s engaging back with utter calm. You can tell that no matter what she says to him, he is always happy to see her. And at the end, when she looks at him from the lift of the Falcon and he’s kneeling on the floor in the rebel base, he looks up at her with regret and guilt. He’s not angry even though he should be, even though he was earlier.

I think she is someone who doesn’t want anything from him, doesn’t have any expectations from him, and he needs that from someone

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Lol, oh yeah. Now, I by no means want any censorship on fic. But I have to say that I really really hate the fics, whether it’s AU or otherwise, that make Kylo/Ben into some kind of obsessive stalker, or cruel sadist, or a rapist, or inherently violent with her. And it wouldn’t really bother me if those didn’t make up a huge amount of the fics about them. He’s an antagonist, he does shitty things, but I never saw him as outright villainous, like Snoke or Palpatine, and I wish there were more fics that explored the nuance of his character rather than having an OC with basically his name slapped on it for the purpose of a dark fantasy.

Like I said, I’m not advocating that these fics are bad and shouldn’t exist. I just don’t get why it feels like they are the majority of the “popular” fics to me and its’ frustrating trying to filter them out.

Solas X Cadash

What made you ship it?

I love dwarves, okay? And the first playthrough of Dragon Age, I tried like hell to get with the mysterious apostate elf and he would have nothing to do with me and I was outraged, haha. So I replayed as an elf just to see what it was like and I was even more outraged.

I also don’t like feeling like Solas would only be attracted to someone who fits a strict standard of beauty that I am so sick of seeing in media regardless and the fact that I’m supposed to have a lot of freedom of choice in DA and still get slapped with the “Solas wouldn’t want anyone who isn’t exactly like him or taller/thinner/conventionally beautiful” just enrages with me.

It’s not my fantasy to have an OC/player insert that is everything I can’t be in the real world be romanced by a character I like because it’s just demoralizing to have that message that I have to be an ideal before I’m worthy.  It’s my fantasy to be romanced exactly as I look like in this world because I’m still valuable without being conventionally beautiful.

What do you like about it?

I like that Solas has very few ways to push a dwarf aside and put distance between them. A dwarf is as neutral as you can get with him. They aren’t necessarily raised with the Chantry’s fear of magic, they don’t have a complicated and fucked up history with elves, he can’t be superior with them like he is with the Dalish or the Qunari. The balcony scene with a dwarf is the least insulting because he doesn’t really have anything beyond the fact that dwarves don’t dream, except this dwarf does. So I feel like he could have a romance that isn’t hindered or colored by negative perceptions that you have to hurdle through the way he can be with a human or Dalish or Qunari.

At least, that’s how I wrote it.

Unpopular Opinion about the ship

Um . . .that there isn’t enough of it? Idk if there is an unpopular opinion because you have to be popular first, haha. But I do feel like some people shy away from dwarf characters because you can’t make them tall and thin and conventionally beautiful and some people are desperate for that because they haven’t accepted the way they look IRL. Not everyone, of course. Some people just don’t think dwarves are interesting and that’s fine! But I do think there’s a connection between a dwarf being thicker and stouter and shorter than what is generally considered attractive and the severe lack of dwarf OCs that I see in fandom compared to humans or elves or even Qunari.

And if that makes me sound kind of stuck up then . . .oh well, I’m kind of stuck up. Do I wish I could be thinner/healthier/in shape? Of course. But I know I have value outside of the way I look and I like to have characters that go against this ingrained message that we have to be beautiful according to an unrealistic standard in order to be the heroes of our story and dwarf characters are as close as I can get to that.

[baldinggoat]

Hi. I just want to say that I agree with every point of criticism you have about BG3 and parts of its fandom. Another thing I'm afraid about is they're going to go through with "TWIST! Zevlor is evil all along" thing (based on his datamined voicelines). It kinda dumbs down his character and erase the potential his character could have (a person who tried to fight for the right thing, persecuted for being different, exiled, then having to bear great responsibilty of keeping other people safe). His character could have, I don't know, an arc about learning to put himself first sometimes, allowing himself to enjoy the moment and be happy for once etc. (Also give him a boyfriend, preFURrably Halsin, do it Larian you cowards). It doesn't have to always be twisted villain or being killed off for grimdarkTM or some such to make an arc meaningful.

I very happy to know theres some people actually reading my random rants and even agreeing! I dont tag them bc i know a huge chunck of the bg3 fandom is and will be dragon age players and i dont want anything to do with the homophobic/transphobic/racist circle jerks that pop up in that fandom. Ive already blocked a few terfs. I also have friends who are DA players tho so dont @ me about “not all da fans” if u r one :p

Ive actually written out even more like, burning scolding hot takes that I deleted because i dont want to bring drama to myself. Im not a huge computer gamer, i mostly replay fallout and borderlands, but i do some causal VTM and DND ttrpg so like. I have POE and divinity downloaded but idk when I’ll actually sit down to play (oof). So my like, authority on Video Game is kinda... Limited? But that obviously doesnt stop me and ill tear apart AAA videogames idgaf.

So far ive sorta, noticed that some of the dialogue branches, and subsequently, the quest branching, dont actually have that many different endings and actually loop into each other to give you the same outcome. Not a great look, but ill wait and see when we get to actual baldurs gate to see how everything ends up going. I do know that BG: seige of dragonspear had the first and only trans woman and the backlash was horrible. And i feel like a lot of the problems im finding with lgbt representation (or lack of) with BG3 EA are a direct result from that. Im waiting for more content, and then the full game release to tear it apart. I will not be gentle.

As for zevlor: If he turns out evil idgaf, in this household we love our bastard tieflings to the very end. I hope all the stuff people are datamining are just a very small portion of like, “bad endings” and people are just being pessimistic and i hope there are more good feelsy endings. I really fucking hate forced grimdark/ gritty endings in dnd writing. When theres bright blue elves with purple hair, i cannot take any of it seriously. I hope since it is labeled and marketed as an RPG, our choices will actually matter. If they dont and halsin ends up with a forced permadeath or zevlor ends up ~evil~ no matter what you do at the grove, BG3 is going to get ripped into by critics, not just me lmao.

[theharellan]

101 DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS | not accepting

for the sake of reducing the number of ooc posts i’m answering these all in one and just @ing the people who asked the questions! thank you for them all!

if you sent me one of these btw and rbed this meme yourself and i didn’t send you something, please let me know! i want to send you things back and must have missed you reblogging the meme. this includes non-mutuals.

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? | asked by @kaaras-adaar & @dreamerlavellan​

Sort of by accident, actually. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in university (2011) and summertime is generally a time of inactivity and depression because I cannot tolerate the weather here. My dad happened to own Origins and I picked it up because??? Fantasy? RPG?

Starting the game I saw you could play as a dwarf, who have been my favourites in fantasy since a child as The Hobbit is among my favourite books. Then after that I fell in love with the worldbuilding for dwarves and Gorim, my first actual Dragon Age love. I was more or less hooked after that. DA was actually not my first Bioware game, I was obsessed with Jade Empire as a kid so like Origins appealed to me immediately despite being far less fun to play than literally any other Bioware game I’ve ever played. The characters and world more than made up for it.

I beat it relatively quickly and my dad bought Dragon Age II which had come out earlier that day, actually against my suggestion because I’d heard it wasn’t good. And in this instance my dad forgetting something I said turned out for the best because I ended up enjoying DAII more in some respects. While it took me a while to join the fandom as a content producer I was a consumer and certified DA trash from then on.

2. Have you finished all three games? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

Kskjdfs yes. I’ve beaten each at least 4 times, but probably more like 8. The only thing I haven’t played are some of the Origins DLC because as much as I enjoy my replays I am so ready to be out by the end of the game (and I have the worst luck with Awakening bugs) and I also don’t have Sebastians DLC b/c his never goes on sale individually and I refuse to spend more than like $4 on him.

3. How long did it take you to finish the series? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I honestly don’t know. I think it took me like a week to beat Inquisition without 100%ing it, I’d say my first playthroughs all probably took about that long. I tend not to do everything in my first playthrough. Like shard collecting didn’t happen until round two, etc.

7. Favorite DA:O backstory? | asked by @dreamerlavellan & @fatefaulted

I’ve played through all of them and I enjoy them all except Cousland, but my favourite is Aeducan. I enjoy the politics, the culture, the aesthetic of Orzammar. I love Gorim Saelac and the surprising amount of depth to this character who is designed to be thrown away after the prologue. I love how it ties you to the Darkspawn threat in a bigger way than any of the origins accomplish. I love how it ties you to the Orzammar plot later in the game, and playing Aeducan first is probably one reason why I adore that branch of the game. It’s a good origin that establishes its world really well and has great characters to boot.

11. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game. | asked by @dreamerlavellan

I just want to share pics of my girl and Solas’ future husband.

Ian Lavellan, non-Inquisitor written by @theshirallen

Thora Cadash, dwarven Inquisitor and default Inquisitor for this blog written by... me lmao.

22. Favorite DA2 party combo? | asked by @fatefaulted

My main Hawke is a mage Hawke, so this party is horrendously imbalanced, but: Varric, Merrill, Isabela. They all just like each other and I think that’s neat. Although in act one my favourite is probably Carver, Merrill, Isabela / Varric. Unfortunately the game doesn’t want me to have a warrior in my party.

24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

It’s hard to pick between In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn. I love seeing the red lyrium’d companions and the dark future of Thedas, and speculating on what happened in the intervening year. I love reflecting on what it must do for the Inquisitor to see that and have it be undone. I think it sets up the rest of the game really well, and in ways Champions of the Just doesn’t do quite as well.

In Your Heart Shall burn is a simpler quest but I think the power and emotions in the quest are so raw. Playing this the first time was riveting and I was on the edge of my seat. The triumph of closing the Breach, the strangeness of your first encounter with Cole (whose appearance at the gates is another reason I prefer IHW tbh, I think it’s more tension building than Dorian’s), Corypheus, crawling through the snow. Capping it off with The Dawn Will Come and the journey to Skyhold idk, it’s just such an emotional high point in the series that every time I replay I get goosebumps.

25. Favorite DA:I place? | asked by @fatefaulted

It’s a tie between the Frostback Basin and the Emerald Graves. I love the lore in both, as elf trash I prefer the lore in the graves especially if I can include the Din’an Hanin into that category. But the Avvar lore and Ameridan is also Very Good, and while I adore the giant trees of the graves the Frostback Basin clearly was able to have more resources poured into its design, and as a result the different sections of the map have so much more character.

A close runner-up is the Hinterlands, as I think the quests there are fun and it feels like home. I enjoy returning to it. Which is good, b/c I’ve played through it... a lot... I think loving it might be a coping mechanism, but also I love the vibe of the early game that’s best captured in the Hinterlands.

32. Favorite DLC mission overall? | asked by @fatefaulted

Trespasser is up there with Shivering Isles as my favourite DLC ever produced. Its hits every emotional beat I think it needed to hit, set up the next game with greater detail and intrigue than the initial epilogue, and I’m honestly dying to get to replay it again on Thora despite what it does to my nerves. The first time I played it I could feel my heart beating faster like wtf me.

37. Blood magic: yes or no? | asked by @hopewrought​

Would I use it myself? No. Morally I think it can be reprehensible but also neutral, much like any other magic in the game. In certain characters I think even if used for good it may encourage unhealthy habits, but I think it can be learned to be engaged with in better ways.

59. Who was written really poorly? | asked by @theshirallen you can’t hide behind anon I know it was you

Oghren fucking Kondrat. When I think about the reasons Origins is my least favourite game he is among them. With Oghren there was a really good chance to portray an alcoholic abuse victim, suffering from severe mental health issues, and still mourning his wife, with the respect it deserves. Instead he just... is a gross sexist dwarf and his alcoholism is mostly played for jokes. And then he comes back in Awakening and... continues to be a gross sexist dwarf whose alcoholism is mostly played for jokes.

There could have been some really interesting stuff with Oghren, the Warrior caste of dwarves I think would suffer from issues similar to qunari warriors, where when they can no longer fill the purpose society has dictated they must serve, what then? They can’t do anything but fight. There could be comradery with Sten, or perhaps Zevran or Alistair, or any of the companions who have had the path their lives took dictated to them by societal forces they had no say in (even if they are happy with that direction). There are snippets of good stuff in here, the line “let us show them our hearts, Warden, and then show them theirs” is one of the best of the good-byes the game offers us imo. It’s a shame about what came before.

Like there are other characters, such as Sera, who I think were done dirty by their writers, but Sera at least got some growth in the DLC and there were attempts to address criticism of her character. Oghren in Awakening was just kind of a take two of an already poorly-done arc.

60. Who do you wish had been given more story? | asked by @hopewrought​

I wish Briala had more, like that she had some impact on the story in universes where Gaspard isn’t crowned with her as his puppetmaster. She and the elves reappears in that but not if you reunite her with Celene or exile her, and I think it would’ve been neat. I also wish she’d had a chance to interact with Solas in some small way given how many parallels were drawn by one of his own agents during Masked Empire.

I also wish we had more about dwarves in general in 2 and Inquisition. We get some great lore in Inquisition that was set up in 2, but with our only dwarf companion being Varric, who honestly has a relationship with his race that at times is comparable to Sera’s, it pulls a few of its punches. I really think they have dwarves set up to be important players in the next game, with their architecture featuring heavily in the dev diary, buuut no dwarves to be seen. So who knows. Just give me dwarves in the next game who aren’t Varric Bioware pls. Let me kiss one maybe.

61. Favorite NPC? | asked by @kaaras-adaar​

I’m not going to count advisors even though they kinda are NPCs and I’m going to answer one for each game so uhh...

Origins - Anora

DA2 - Feynriel

DA:I - Krem

Bonus - Lord Woolsley, the only unproblematic DA character

63. Best story moment? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

It’s a tie between the journey to Skyhold and the talk with Solas at the end of Trespasser and the resulting disbanding of the Inquisition (if you so choose). I really can’t separate them because I think the reason Trespasser works so well is how it calls back to the very beginning of Inquisition and that moment with Solas in the snow. It’s triumphant and sad, something’s ending, the fellowship is breaking, but you know all of you will continue to work towards a better world apart.

In DA:O I think it’d be saying good-bye before the final battle and in DA2 I think the moment where you can tell the Arishok he was right to take in the elves who killed that guardmen is good. Probably one of the reasons why I think Hawke-Arishok work so well as a protagonist-antagonist combination.

81. Favorite fanfic? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, actually. Save what I read on here, which I do count, but idk if other people do.

My favourite writers to read are @theshirallen​, obviously. Joly wants to tweakIan’s personal quest but I think the version they have written now is still very good and you can find it here. I love reading Peace’s stuff and find their smut especially spicy in the best possible way, you can find a Merrill/f!Mahariel piece here! Gaia doesn’t write on Tumblr much these days, but she wrote a wonderful Tug/Sketch (the companions from Leliana’s Song) that you can find here.

I follow so many talented writers and I can’t list them all but here are a few I can fire off real fast: @theshirallen / @ghilannainguideme / @seahaloed / @sabraelin / @valorcorrupt / @mercysought / @hopewrought / @ofrevas / @skyheld have all moved me with their words at some point, be it in fic or rp.

82. Favorite fanart/fanartist? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

Again I just can’t choose jsdfks.

The easiest way is to just link my Solas fanart tag. Obviously this favours Solas artists, however, so also here’s a link to thedaswlw where there’s a boatload of amazing fanart all of wlw.

Of people I’m mutuals with I know @abracafockyou, @kaaras-adaar, @dalathin (currently inactive but I gotta link them), and @syntharts​ are all very talented artists.  I’m also a big fan of destinyapostacy, nipuni, elbenherzart, starscollected (on twitter), and many more.

97. What’s your favorite DA mod? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​ & @hopewrought​

I’ll chose one as many as I want to apparently from each game again, b/c why not?

DA:O - I have to admit I find this game hard to mod because nothing can really salvage the gameplay or look of the game. I need Better Dwarf Model so I don’t have to look at the odd dwarf proportions in the game (the women have arms for days). Mostly I have armour mods. I like Grey Wardens of Ferelden so I can match Alistair in the final batte and have everyone in uniforms in Awakening. I do like Kirkwall Exports because I can put Zevran in the robes of the notorious pirate tho. I haven’t used this mod yet but I also love this mod I retweeted this morning.

DA2 - Again, I don’t mod 2 very much. You could probably make some kind of chart for correlating my enjoyment of a game versus my urge to mod it, with the more I love a game means I want to mod it more. With 2 I enjoy the combat and overall design of the characters more so I mostly use a couple of tweaks, my favourite is Ishs Scarf for Merrill which just adds a cute blue scarf to Merrill and hides the fact that elves in this game have weirdly long necks. Oh and a mod to fix the weird hand dirt.

DA:I - Equal Opportunity Solas mod, I bought the game again on PC just to use it. Being able to play Solas/Ian for screencaps was everything tbh. Other mods I enjoy are More Banter, which while I have better luck with banter it is nice to be able to count on it. I installed it this latest pt and I have heard location comments that have never triggered before. Black Hair for Everyone has changed my life because finally Thora doesn’t have grey hair. No Dirt Buildup is also amazing, as the dirt can cause some really weird blotting on PCs that’s especially noticeable on dark-skinned Inquisitors.

99. Where would you live (Ferelden, Orlais, Free Marches etc?) | asked by @heysales​​

Probably Ferelden. It is fantasy England and hey if I make it past Inquisition maybe nothing will ever happen there again. Somewhere in the Free Marches might also be chill. Not Kirkwall. Maybe Starkhaven? Honestly tho I just want to live in the Frostback Basin. Have a spirit friend. Shake hands with nugs.

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say? | asked by @dreamerlavellan​

If I met Thora I’d tell her I’m proud of her. She’d be confused, but that’s ok.

[warwaged-archive]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm. tagged by: @theharellan ty so much! tagging: if you read this entire post I’m tagging you

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated 

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. Velanna is minor enough there isn’t a lot of talk about her either way (and I get it, given she’s a dlc character from Origins it’s understandable not as many people even know her), but I definitely see more dislike towards her than appreciation.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Honestly do not know! I have seen Debates about her personality and actions, but I don’t recall seeing people comment on her looks.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Not particularly as far as I’ve seen, though I haven’t seen people say she’s weak either. Tbf given her introduction has you investigating murders that no one seems to think were caused by a single person and she literally turns a forest against those who pass through it, I think it’s hard to deny she is strong, though.

Are they underrated?  YES! / NO / IDK. Like I said, there’s very little talk about her at all, and very little appreciation. Velanna deserves more love c’:

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. She isn’t relevant for the story of any of the main games, given she isn’t even in any of them askdjfnskndf She is relevant to Awakening’s story, given she causes some trouble on the road to Amaranthine, and that’s how you meet her. You can kill her on that encounter, though, so for the rest of it she’s not essential (but killing her is boring guys why would you)

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. In a way, since she’s causing some of the problems the Warden-Commander has to solve. Other than that, it truly depends on how you play it.

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. Nope. Just a Dalish gal who became a Grey Warden.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. I lean towards neutral because Velanna isn’t a widely discussed character either way, but I would say it leans towards bad. Many people dislike her actions, and many more dislike her for her harsh ways towards the PC in the beginning (a non-dalish PC, that is). Velanna is very opinionated and angry and a lot of people seem to think that makes her annoying. A bad take imo but I think that’s pretty obvious dkfasndkfjanskdfjn

How strictly do you follow canon?  — For the most part I follow it, only expanding it for what we haven’t seen and filling the blanks. 

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  I don’t know how to sell her to others so I will just talk a bit about what made her interesting to me. When you meet her, she’s so angry she’s been terrorizing the road and nearby villages so much people don’t even know what (what, not who) is responsible for the bloodshed. If you don’t bother to get to know her, it’s easy to think she’s just the anger, but if you do, eventually you learn a lot that might not justify her actions but makes them understandable, and that she’s so much more than Angry™. Velanna cares so much! For the Dalish, and preserving their magic and culture; for her clan, in spite of the fact her sister was the only friend she ever had; for her Keeper, even though they parted on bad terms; for Seranni, even after she chooses to leave with the Darkspawn instead of leaving with her. She’s outspoken and a great defender of her people, but not in a blind or arrogant way, and not in a way that causes her to inherently resent humans (it’s not history that causes that, but her own experience with having humans act violent against her clan and prefer to destroy the land to drive them away than attempt peaceful coexistence). She’s not driven by personal retribution, but by a relentless pursuit of justice that indeed is twisted into something more akin to vengeance. She acts on anger but she learns to be better. She’s been an outcast all her life, well before becoming the only Dalish in her group of Wardens, and she learned to be harsh to defend herself. She’s not easy to love, but she’s capable of loving deeply, and her loyalty to those dear to her is unwavering. She can be harsh because she’s so used to keeping people away in self defense, even if she’s lonely, even if it’s clear all it takes to get past that is treating her with kindness and respect. Velanna has a good heart, but that doesn’t mean she’s only capable of good.

In game, her growth depends on the PC of course, but the way I see it (and write her) there is no reason why her connections to other characters, such as Sigrun and Nathaniel, wouldn’t be just as important for it. They allow her to see beyond her anger, to move past her resent, and to stop judging people as if they were all equally bad. She goes from someone terrorizing humans in a forest and nearby road to someone who selflessly stands to defend them, even should it cost her own life. She goes from joining the Wardens as a means to finding her sister to actually taking on the role and its duties, not just as in fighting the darkspawn, but in being a protector.

And the way she values history, but not just the actual facts, the tales and legends and culture, how she understands their place as something of great importance definitely helped a lot in endearing her to me. According to Velanna, "Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways. Without them, we are lost.” and I think about that a lot you know? It really gets to me c’:

Also she’s an awesome powerful mage who could and has killed a man (uh many men actually) but who blushes and stutters if you call her pretty because what are compliments she is not prepared to deal with those

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  — Velanna killed people so she’s evil and deserves no forgiveness ever (which isn’t always similarly applied to other characters BUT ANYWAYS). She’s angry and mean towards the protagonist and because of that she’s not cool. She’s whining about the Dalish all the time too so she’s just annoying. Also I never tried to talk to her and often don’t even leave her alive after the Wending Wood. aidsnfkajsdnfkjn seriously though, I can see why people might not like her, as she isn’t made to be likable initially and you gotta get past that to get to the more interesting bits. Velanna is indeed very much tied to her Dalish background, as it is not only her culture and origin, but also a great motivator for her actions, and often even the means through which you get to know her, so if you’re not interested in the Dalish I guess she wouldn’t be an interesting character (but imo, it’s only natural her culture is so important to who she is, given her background and her own feelings about her people. she’s so proud of her heritage, even if being part of that people makes her a target for no other reason than prejudice. even then, she’s so proud of it and so ready to fight for and defend her people and speak and stand for them! I just love her a lot but ok I realize I should be talking about why people might not like her so let’s get back to that). She’s not funny, she’s not friendly, and she’s actually rather angry and outspoken, and I feel like that ends up pushing her to the more ‘controversial’ side instead of being part of the popular or likable characters.  

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  Literally just played Awakening and ended up like OH I WANNA WRITE ONE OF THEM and I wasn’t sure about who. It wasn’t clear to me, at least, so I ended up thinking about them and at first I was like hm maybe Nathaniel, but it didn’t feel right even though he was the first one I thought I wanted to write. So I thought about Velanna, and the more I thought about her the more invested I became so I was like yeah that’s the one and added her here aksjdnfkjasndf

The first thing that got me really invested in her while playing was the conversation you have with her when you gift her the diary. I just really love her talking about the Dalish and preserving what they have and how important and meaningful stories are. That said, the moment I met her in the Wending Wood I immediately wanted to get to know her. 

I’m just a big fan of elves in case you guys haven’t noticed yet asksjnfsjkdnfkdjfn

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  replaying DA, but specially Awakening, Dragon Age content in general, discussing her with others (talking about my muses is always very helpful to me in that sense), and honestly, others being interested on her too. Discussions about the Dalish or headcanons or other people discussing Dragon Age and their respective characters also help my motivation too tbh! I’m always the slowest to answer to anything, but that’s just how I always am. Those are all things that keep my love for her alive, and thus great part of my inspiration for her.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I TRY!

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF? when the inspiration hits I literally cannot shut up

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO. I’m usually more about them 5 page headcanons and threads and ask answers than drabbles 

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO. she lives in my head rent free (as do most if not all of my muses tbh askdfnaksdf)

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF?

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Depends but not usually askndfkajs

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO / SORTA.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  Depends on what that criticism is and if I asked for it? aksjdfnkjfn I do ask about my portrayals sometimes, and in that case I’m open to constructive criticism --- if there’s something you think I could do better and you can explain why in a nice way, I’ll definitely listen (though I may disagree, so there’s that). But if it comes down to rudeness or ‘you’re not writing her like I think she is’ then well that’s not my problem, I write her how I understand and interpret her. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  I LOVE THEM! Send me questions about my muses literally any time I absolutely love them!! 

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Depends, again. I’m not against discussing it, hearing what other people have to say and why they disagree (and if they say they disagree, I’d probably want to know why), but ultimately, again, it’s my portrayal so it might just be a case of seeing things differently. Like I said, I don’t mind discussing it, though. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  As to this, I just honestly expect people to act the same way I act when I disagree with someone’s portrayal, which is just moving on with my life and not interacting kasjafksdnfjk

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  Depends. They don’t have to like the character, but if it influences IC interactions or if it’s just people who hate a character getting off of bashing them through IC interactions even if it doesn’t make sense that’s a no for me. I don’t like seeing people hating on characters I love, but people are free to do post what they will. If there’s a tag and I can block it that’s fine by me, if it isn’t tagged I’m likely to unfollow.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  If it’s done politely I don’t mind. English is not my first language and learning about errors is a way to improve, to me.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  I think? For the most part? I do tend to get defensive over characters I love and asks that aren’t clear in tone and come across not so nicely (OOC asks, I mean), but other than that I think I’m pretty chill? Idk though you guys tell me aksnkajdsfnkjan