#im in too deep with this lore

[pbucketswbb]

was watching love island and... peeped the communal paige cardigan 😭😭

[puppyeared]

act 4 :(

@chipper-smol and i came to a realization

[bunabi]

dav spoilers

Its such an inconsequential detail in the scheme of things but Tevinter would neverrrrr allow Dalish settlements to happen in Arlathan Forest 😭

They wouldn't risk a bunch of nomadic elves and escaped slaves linking up so close to the heart of the empire, dangerous ecosystem and weakened veil be damned, there's no shot they'd allow it

The Kirkwall templars stormed the Dalish camp on Sundermount for less lol aint no way the magisterium would ignore them

Like...........an entire exalted march on the Dales was sparked by a misunderstanding

But the Archon is letting them tee hee and clique up and amass ancient elven weapons on the doorstep of Minrathous

I'm sorry but absolutely not lmao canon denied

[spearxwind]

{ [...] Some leviathans have been observed using their threat displays to hunt, dazzling their prey into sensory shock before striking. And isn't it mesmerizing? You can't look away. You can't look away. You can't look away. }

[entering--hyperspace]

Its interesting in gw1 some charr walk completely upright and others have that same hunched posture they do in gw2…is there a reasoning for this? If not It could be a really interesting character trait in terms of preference in posture.

[theaceace]

imagining a world in which Simon agreed to go with Edwin and try to escape hell, imagining Simon developing an immediate and very inadvisable crush on the cute guy that just threw a grenade at a demon and Edwin's reaction to that, imagining the reaction of Charles Overprotective Rowland when he finds out that the guy Edwin insists on dragging along with them is one of the guys that sacrificed him to a demon in the first place, imagining the Night Nurse's face when three dead boys pop back through the door instead of two

[mlady-magnolia]

“It’s been a pleasure, my sweet dew.”

[quitefair]

The Temple of Mythal and Greek Sculpture

Or: How Bioware takes from history without any nuance.

--

Picture this. You're me, playing Inquisition for the first time. You get to the Temple of Mythal, the doors shut behind you and you finally get to look around. It's a typical elven ruin for the game, nothing much seems different...

Hold on.

Hold the fuck on.

You know what that is.

You know what that's based on, and for a long time after it tickles you. Oh, maybe that meant something in the grander scheme of things! We've never seen such a blatant reference to a real-life sculpture anywhere else in game (to my knowledge at the time)! Maybe it'll come up later and it'll all make sense!

Here's the deal. I've been bothered by this for years. The more I think about it, the more angry I become. Anger over a single fucking type of statue, you say? There's a lot of other shit to be angry over in this game, and you choose this?

YES! I CHOOSE THIS! AND THIS IS WHY.

--

Picture this. You're me again, aged 14 this time. You're in the Louvre, the first museum of Western classical art you've ever been to. You've grown up in a place where this interest could only be cultivated from extra-curricular reading, and for a kid that age from my country to be ass deep in Greek and Egyptian myth is frankly lmao. Neurodivergent. Anyway.

So we're wandering around the Louvre, I've just taken my parents through the Egyptian section and given them a thorough infodump on everything I know about burial rites.

And then we enter this room. And I very nearly fall to my knees when I catch sight of her.

This is the sculpture the statues at the Temple of Mythal are based on - one Winged Victory of Samothrace.

She is a sculpture from the Hellenestic era, depicting the goddess Nike stood at the prow of a ship. Her head and both arms are missing, save one hand with two fingers (also in the Louvre but displayed separately). She was found on the Greek island of Samothrace, among the ruins of what was known as the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. It seemed like she was displayed at the top of a hill, looming down at all that regarded her.

I’ve had the absolute privilege of seeing her in person twice in my life, both before and after the 2013 restoration. And let me tell you, regardless of which staircase that leads you there, the sight of her will stop you in your tracks.

[Now with people, for scale.]

She is massive. Larger than life, and immediately is the centre of your attention. It's not the fact that she has no head, no arms. No, you will realise the closer you get to her, the more you're able to appreciate the details of this absolutely astounding piece of history.

No. It's because she feels so alive.

The way her robes drape against flesh, wet from sea-spray or rain, yet flowing with the motion of an invisible wind. The wings cast behind her dramatically as her right foot steps forward. Standing tall and proud, unflinching, unbowed against the elements. Even without her arms, you can feel how dynamic the torso and legs are.

You don't need to be an art historian, or even have any knowledge of Greek myth or art history to stand in front of her, as I once did as a young teen, and nearly be brought to tears.

So.

This brings me to the first of the two main gripes I have with the way this sculpture is used in Inquisition.

Compared to the way she's displayed in the Louvre, and also presumably how she was presented to her original audience - larger than life, looming, powerful, beautiful - she is relegated instead to smaller, repeating statues of the same nature throughout the temple.

This diminishes the purpose of the original sculpture, which was to instill a sense of awe and wonder. The singularity that forces you to focus and appreciate the scale and intricacy. The aura, the gravitas of having a single, massive sculpture of such a dynamic figure is completely gone.

And to make things worse, they Mythal-ify her. Adding a helmed head and changing her beautiful feathered wings to leathery dragon wings. They don't even add arms, which is odd because the original sculpture very clearly is missing its arms.

And, may I ask, Why?

It feels cheap, like they saw the Winged Victory and were like 'oh shit this is a cool sculpture, we should add it in game' without giving any fucking thought to what the sculpture means.

Which brings me to the second gripe. The complete disregard for the symbolism of the Winged Victory.

Detail from the Athena fountain, Parliament Building of Vienna, showing Nike the Winged Victory in the palm of Athena's hand [source]

Nike is a minor Greek deity, said to be the daughter of Pallas (a Titan) and the river Styx. Her other siblings by the same parents include Zelus (Zeal),  Bia (Might) and Kratos (Strength).

Yes. That Kratos.

She was one of the earliest gods to pledge her allegiance to Zeus in the Titonomachy, and after the victory of the Olympians, Nike and the other gods that allied with them were allowed to live on Olympus. In her aspect as Victory, she is closely associated with several of the major Greek gods, and in particular, Athena.

There's also her Roman counterpart, Victoria. This version doesn't come with the backstory Nike has, but is more of a general concept of victory. This is the aspect that is present in a lot of the modern sculptures and interpretations of Nike/Victoria:

Left: Detail from the Berlin Victory Column. Right: Detail from the Victoria Memorial, London. Note the similar iconography, of a woman seemingly standing against a strong wind, fabric and cloth adhering and yet flowing against the breeze, wings outstretched.

From this, we can probably extrapolate what our beloved Winged Victory might've looked like. Here's an artist's render of one possibility:

There's some iconography we need to go through before moving on - symbols that are commonly associated with Nike/Victoria.

One is the trumpet as see in the reconstruction above, the sound and symbol of the end of war, of impending peace. Another is the laurel wreath, another Greek symbol of victory and achievement. Famously, laurel wreaths were used to crown victors of the original Olympic games.

This is another conversation entirely, but there’s a discussion to be had about the duality of Elgar’nan and Mythal, in term of vengeance and justice, and how an emotional rage versus a calculated wisdom can be compared to the difference between the two Greek gods of war – Ares and Athena.

If we can compare Mythal to Athena, in the sense of her wisdom in making difficult decisions, then it’s not a stretch to associate Mythal with the symbolism of Nike, and therefore explain the presence of statues similar to the Winged Victory in her temple.

But since Bioware absolutely did not put this in the game for anything other than the Aesthetic, there’s some problems that need to be addressed.

Mainly in the way in which these statues are scattered throughout the temple. If you wanted static, ominous statues to line the walls as your player characters explore, perhaps have like, I dunno. Less dynamic statues that you reference?

Left: Nike of Paionos, Right: Stele 1 of Las Incantadas

Or maybe instead of statues, have friezes lining the walls. Like this one from the equally iconic Pergamon altar, depicting the Giganomanchy.

It’s the same symbolism, the wings, the smiting of foes and victory of good over evil.

And then perhaps, at the heart of the temple... where, y'know Bioware, lay a body of water sacred to Mythal herself, you could've perhaps done something remarkable. You could then have had the most dramatic and beautiful entrance you’d ever seen.

[Nike, at the iconic Daru Staircase, the Louvre]

It was at this moment that Mythal walked out of the sea of the earth's tears and onto the land. She placed her hand on Elgar'nan's brow, and at her touch he grew calm and knew that his anger had led him astray. - Codex entry: Mythal: The Great Protector

Mythal herself strides out of the Well Of Sorrows, the metaphorical tears of her followers that died and kept their knowledge alive in her name. Her (draconic) wings spread out, (restored) hands outstretched to touch her husband, to calm the rage that nearly destroyed this world.

A symbol of victory against the blind rage of a god against His father, the Sun. A symbol of wisdom and grace, against the violence of hatred. A divine sense of something bigger than anything we could imagine.

There's also the lack of iconography regarding victory, instead piling on some cheap representations of what we think of as Mythal. That's another post entirely on the symbolism of the Elven gods, but if Bioware really wanted to hone in on the Athena/Athena Nike parallels, they might have thrown in the trumpet/laurel/palm leaf symbolism with the statues, alongside the dragon wings.

If this were the case, then maybe, just maybe, Inquisition would’ve then earned the use of this sculpture in the game.

Sources not listed above/Further reading if you're interested

https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/a-stairway-to-victory

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1412/winged-victory-the-nike-of-samothrace/https://smarthistory.org/nike-winged-victory-of-samothrace/

https://smarthistory.org/nike-winged-victory-of-samothrace/

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/a/nike-winged-victory-of-samothrace

[nshtn]

i decided to make it ambiguous for now and did a oneshot to tinker with the concept on a less broad timescale - also far more selfishly, and less introspectively.

but i did find a good base in this Pinterest if anyone wanted to see some vibes i've got brewing up.

here's some of the character dissection i'm thinking of.

i think it would be particularly interesting if he views the people around him like a game he wants to play well, and that "winning" that game is a reward to him, so losing a patient is losing the game. the feeling of losing or winning the game is itself tied to his hyperacademic, trafficked, experimental childhood; he doesn't know how to identify with empathy, or how to distinguish it, or if feeling like you lost the game is good enough to count.

he knows he's different - empty, dead, nothing behind the eyes. he knows something is wrong with him; not inherently, moreover as artificial as the viruses he's tailored, so many different strains in which only one single strain rises to the top in a way not dissimilar to the weeding of his bretheren under Project W - his classmates under Marcus. the scum rises and is scooped, the cream is made pure, the fat is boiled away. to want is to want power, to need is to need air, food and water - everything boils down to power or a lack of it, everything can be summated in the monochrome shades of obedience or a need for it. his inner child pays no mind to spencer's rebels because the rebels are dead and strung up before the dawn can peek through the blinds.

you learn quickly what compassion will earn you. you learn how to let the ice in, and then you learn how to sustain it.

and, then, you forget that you're sustaining it at all.

is he human? he relates more to machines in their cold perfection; in their lack of human error, there is something to be appreciated. albert wesker passes through the aching, rotting civilian city and he walks past a clothing store, and when he peers into the glass and sees the mannequins staring back at him, he sees himself in their featureless, doll-jointed faces.

he sees his reflection in the glass, next, and he flinches.

is there more to life than this? did he feel the way others did, once? 'it's a spiral of ants,' says spencer. but he recalls it, faintly, a time when he felt, truly: laughing... laughing... laughing and kicking. kicking and screaming, screaming and crying, crying and pleading. he stops thinking about it, then.

is it sinful to feel object empathy for a da vinci machine and no human empathy for the man dying across the hall, who had told you it was up to god to save him? is it bad if you stopped believing that god existed before you understood that what you experienced was violence?

what is sin to the man whose eye casts no conscience?

bioweapon. the word concatenates two opposing concepts, uniting oil and water. to be a weapon is to enter a state of purity confined to the concept of violence. to be alive is to enter a state of impurity unconfined by one singular, pinprick goal.

what do you do when meet someone who violates these conventions and makes you question what you feel and how you feel it - someone who makes you feel real and tangible, bloodied and graspable - someone who could slip out of your reach if you do not reach forward and grab them before they can turn tail and run from the monster they find behind the eyes of the director spearheading their case? what do you do when they make you feel an emptiness deep within you, and then their attentions slather ecstasy over that emptiness; a deep and confounding satisfaction; startling, hot, and bubbling to keep their flesh close?

what do you do when someone makes you feel like a raw, debrided wound?

what do you do to protect them when they exist far too close to the line between knowing so much you need to kill them and being so innocent that this city's sins would wrap their good intentions around their neck and pull?

when you've run out of choices to save them from themselves... how far are you willing to fabricate to keep them safe? is ignorance a kinder, gentler fate?

there was nothing, and then there was something, and then there was everything all at once, too bright and bleary; understimulation flipped to overstimulation with a painful crack. why does he even care so much, and when did it all run away from him into this bleeding, razing obsession?

when a weapon develops a conscience, does it gain the burden of morality, too?

[eeulysian]

ruan mei and her nonchalant attitude making things between her and reader seem one sided on the reader and it goes on until reader got tired of it. ruan mei doesnt care about it at first but when they see reader being a cute puppy running around the station and being all sweet and mushy with march or himeko or even kafka (you choose), suddenly shes bothered with the change of reader's behavior and keeps getting distracted in her work cause why isnt reader like that to her anymore??? has she been taking advantage of reader's kindness????

hhhh just ruan mei being somewhat possessive or jealous or both is already making my knees weak

THIS IS SO CUTE, i'm pretty sure ruan mei might be autistic because its confirmed that the genius society is filled with scientists and researchers with autistic tendencies, not knowing how to express feelings is apart of autism as i have a younger cousin with autism so im familiar with some autistic tendencies! so because of this, she might not know how to express her feelings well, and shes not just purposely nonchalant. since she also doesnt understand the concept of love like said in that critter event, i like to think that reader is able to teach her and show her what love is like after ruan mei comes after reader (im sure reader would be jumping and running around in circles), and when she ends up getting the gist of it, she'll understand why she felt bothered seeing you being close and laughing with other women and gets embarrassed... that would be the first time reader sees her flustered and they wish they could have taken a photo of it. shes definitely the "you know other women?" kind of jealous LMFAOO but i love jealous ruan mei, shes so girlboss but also girlfailure at the same time 🤭🤭

[headfullof-ideas]

Rivalries (at least ones that aren’t in the pre-existing lore, Ala Viggo and riders, Alpheus and Ant, so on and so forth…)

I genuinely don’t really see Snotlout and Alpheus getting along. Their personalities clash too much, and Snotlout just gets beef with anyone new in this story, due to trying to protect the other riders. Alpheus being a little pompous and cocky and ‘so this is the brainless muscle-head?’ Upon first meeting didn’t really help either. Lots of petty pranks and fights between these two, with poor Ant playing mediator, albeit reluctantly due to not knowing Alpheus too well himself, he just knows Snotlout. Honestly I’m not sure about Alpheus and Dagur either, i don’t know if Alpheus would play nice with someone named Deranged, though I do see Dagur enjoying messing with him, but that’s neither here nor there-

Kaiko and Viggo have had beef for longer than Fontaine has been alive, so Viggo starts sweating when he realizes that Ant is Kaikos kid. She also scares him a little bit…or a lot a bit. Assassination attempts have been had, on both sides. As well as petty smack downs with whatever they can get their hands on. Like the drawing above, where little-sibling-extraordinaire Viggo (not to be confused to these two being siblings, just that their fights can resemble sibling fights sometimes) is utterly losing.

Camicazi and Mad Madeline are a case of thief meets thief, but Madeline is better at it than Camicazi, with the additional bonus of being a sea-faring pirate, and also being nearly five to six years younger than Camicazi. And Camicazi HATES someone being better at something than she is, especially something she insists on being so good at. So naturally they clash. Maddie spends most of it just messing with Camicazi, much to the older girls infuriation.

I would like to clarify that Astrid and Fontaine’s rivalry has nothing to do with race, though Astrid has never really interacted with a person of color due to the overall whiteness of the Archipelago, Ant being the only person with darker skin she’s ever met till she leaves the Archipelago. No, it’s because they’re both stubborn, Astrid hates being called out on her not-so-great actions, and being held responsible for those actions, and Fontaine loves pointing this out and poking the metaphorical sleeping bear that is an easy-to-piss-off Astrid Hofferson. There may be a bit of petty grudge-holding due to what Fontaine has heard about stuff that happened between Astrid and Ant too, which also pisses Astrid off. Fontaine has the same flaw of being incapable of acknowledging her own mistakes though, so Astrid makes plenty of jabs in her direction too with the same effectiveness.

Heather is obsessed with Kari’s dragon Ardyn, and Kari is mad about the time she straight up tried to run off with Ardyn. This is probably the pettiest of rivalries here, next to Camicazi and Madeline anyways. Heather pretty much just pulled an Alpheus and started having beef with a thirteen year old for no real reason beyond spite and petty rage. Granted, little Kari is a menace who is not above biting, and has bitten Heather, so there’s some of a reasonable grudge there. (Especially not helped by Heathers older brother teaching the little brat how to shoot a crossbow-) It’s hard to feel justified venting to someone about it though when you’re reminded you’re getting into squabbles with a tweenager a head and a half shorter than you who hasn’t even started puberty yet. Heather’s younger than Alpheus is in the show, so it’s a little less embarrassing when she loses, especially when it’s over something wildly different

These are the ones I can think of, and I’ve got doodles i want to draw to further elaborate on these dynamics, that might not come to light in the actual story itself. I dunno yet, we’ll see. I’m juggling a couple of things irl at the moment, so new stuff might be a bit scarce, but i’m hoping to send chapter three to my beta in a few days! So hopefully chapter three comes out sometime in the next few weeks

[wizardsix]

finished two companion arcs today and um. they are not good lol. like mainly the endings were weird and very unsatisfying. I actually feel like I'm losing my mind the more time I sink into this mess

[garlic-and-vanilla]

Another day of chewing through the drywall thinking about The Emperor being very literally haunted by the past it cannot return to. Demonic possession trope reversed. A monster possessed by humanity.

[ironicsoap]

kind of went insane and made a pressure self insert. she likes to lounge out in pools a lot. her poor hair is a damaged mess

[brofightiscancelled]

wait what did osomatsu do to ichimatsu in devimega divorce au. hey

devils (and angels) only consist of a Spirit, no physical body or human soul, so they're largely unable to interact with earthly objects, or be seen/heard/touched by mortals. there's also a limit to how long they can spend on earth at a time.

this is what summoning circles are for: they temporarily bind the devil (or angel) to the earthly plane, which allows them to touch objects, interact with mortals, etc, basically lets them do anything requiring a physical body. but they can't leave the vicinity of the summoning circle

however, if you are human, and there is a devil (or angel) who really wants to be in your life, one option you have is to form a pact. it's a drawn-out process involving a lot of blood, but this essentially binds the devil (or angel) to your human soul the same way a summoning circle would bind them to the earthly plane. so they could come see you all the time, hug you, etc.

of course, this only works assuming you actually are human. if you try to form a pact to bind a spirit to, say, a mimicry of a human soul, a spirit that's inhabited a human body for so long that no one can tell the difference, but isn't a true human soul...

well, it'd definitely hurt for the poor thing that thought he was human. and he wouldn't be human for much longer.

[channie-binnie]

I was not expecting for SKZ to promote JJAM, but I am not complaining

Also, am I the only one that thinks the M/V teaser is giving Goosebumps vibes? One thing for sure, is that I am looking forward to the choreography the most