#incomplete list of mine

[child-of-dreamworks-animation]

Normally, I wouldn't do this, a shy, reserved & private person as I am. But since u r here, I might as well give away a little bit about myself: [to those who bump into me by accident, *greetings*]

SOMETHING ABOUT ME

SOME OF THE BASICS (that doesn't make into the description)

she/her

20+

autistic, social phobia (or what aptly abbreviated as SAD, Social Anxiety Disorder), INFJ-T*

asexual, and perhaps a bit too wise/rational (or much too of an avoidant) to get into the relationship business 🤦‍♀️

been here for almost a decade now, (yup, I'm more comfortable with the Internet)

into a lot: art, fiction (esp. fantasy), animation in general (thou I LOVE DreamWorks), photography, writing, analysis and datavis

mail/chat/ask(s) are always welcome. feel free to pop an ask, I'm more than willing to answer :)

sideblog that features exclusively art of DreamWorks @art-of-dreamworks-animations

* according to this: if you are ever to take the famous MBTI test, definitely give it a go! It's a free online test btw.

FANDOMS (incomplete, subject to change)

archived fandom (that I still adore): - rotg, - httyd series (trilogy + tv shows), - BBC Sherlock, - a bit Doctor Who, - Harry Potter

currently active: - pib, - book series by Cressida Cowell (httyd & twoo)

* I love CRESSIDA COWELL to the moon and back, though I rarely post anything abt her here, sorry. Strongly recommended! To whoever of you new to her, GO READ HER BOOKS! THEY R MASTERPIECES!!

MEMORIAL FOR CANCELLED ANIMATION MASTERPIECES (by DreamWorks) : a kind reminder to what we have lost *sigh*

Me & My Shadow

Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives and 40 Thieves (later replaced by Puss in Boots: the Last Wish, detailed analysis *under way*)

Larrikins (made into short Bilby)

Monkeys of Mumbai

[yrsonpurpose]

Please stay gorgeous and strong and unbelievable. I miss you I miss you I miss you I love you. I’m calling you as soon as I send this, but I know you like to have these things written down. A ✿ / ❀

[matchaizuku]

Oh, you've read up some MHA Fanfics?

Can you recommend some? 😁

unfortunately i’ve only recently made an ao3 profile, which means that i don’t have a lot of fics bookmarked. i’ll probably make another recommendation post in the future, but in the meanwhile here’s a few fics i liked:

one shots & completed fics:

i have been in love with love (and the idea of something binding us together) by Drhair76 [6k]

"So we're gonna just not acknowledge the fact that you yanked Todoroki from the other side of the couch with only a thought?" Shinsou asks, eyebrow raising.  “Well-" "Shinsou," Todoroki says, cutting Midoriya off, "we're sleeping. Go find your own Midoriya to bother." or, Midoriya develops a latent quirk that pulls people he has an mutual affection for towards him with just a thought. Class 1A thinks it's cute. Midoriya does not.

very cute and fluffy, just a feel good one-shot, minor tododeku, crack treated seriously

journey to the past by aloneintherain [44k]

Izuku is five years old the first time he's saved by heroes. He's an instant fan of the woman in pink with her cheerful smile and the man with his ice powers and fine-boned features, even if they both refuse to tell him their names.  For most of his life, Izuku has been the centre of villain attacks, but he has never been injured. Every time, he's saved by bright, unknown heroes—heroes who smile at Izuku, and ruffle his hair or ply him with hugs, and seem mesmerised by how small he is. Heroes that the rest of the world doesn't believe exists.

i read this only once a long time ago so i don’t really remember it, but i do remember liking it. cute and fluffy, time-travel, gen (maybe hinted tododeku? but i could be wrong)

No One to Mourn You by PorcelanaRota [4k]

One day while on his rounds, Present Mic stumbles across a plot to kill a pro-hero.

this one is super interesting, i loved reading it. it’s not endeavour friendly. crimes are committed. also, it’s present mic!

incomplete:

bitter rivalry by theotherpacman [101k]

After the sports festival, Shinsou Hitoshi begins to train privately with Eraserhead in preparation to join the hero course. This is going just fine until Aizawa decides that apparently Hitoshi needs a peer to train with and brings in Hitoshi's mortal enemy, the asshole who knocked him out of the sports festival, Golden Boy Midoriya Izuku. But Midoriya turns out to be a little harder to hate than Hitoshi expects...

listen, i know that this isn’t complete and it’s unlikely that it will be completed, however. if you like shindeku you have to read this, it’s so good! it’s an enemies to friends to lovers, and the similarities between shinsou and midoriya are handled extremely well. 10/10 would recommend. i read this a long while ago and then specifically looked for it so that i could bookmark it.

[duz-machines-87]

The strange traits of 2012 Casey Jones

He draws like Peter Laird

(Casey's notebook from the show on the left, Peter Laird on the right)

He prefers subbed anime and hates dubbed anime (Plan 10)

Made retractable skates for his sneakers, still can't pass trigonometry

Is one of few characters seen driving (does he have a license?)

Can't pass trig, but can make a taser out of a potato masher and a glove

He's left handed

Can refurbish an entire car, yet, he still can't pass trigonometry

Was canonically born in 1995, making him 17 at the start of the series

Hokey stick says Eastman and Laird, and only logical reasoning I have for that is that it's the name of his school and he's stealing equipment

His handwriting is perfect cursive, and he can't pass trig

His fighting style seems to be to build momentum by skating circles around his opponent, rather than being a tank, like most Caseys

He constantly carries around spray paint, and his clothes are covered in spray paint, but he's never seen doing graffiti

he does however tag opponents with spray paint, which is odd, considering it does very little

He also admires graffiti (the invasion)

Apparently, it looked to Raph like he was gonna kill a man the first time they met

Meaning it's implied that he would have/has killed or maimed

His reaction to a bunch of mutant turtles unmasking him was to hiss at them, like an animal

Still can't pass trigonometry

[lover-of-mine]

First line/ Last Line

Rules: Pick your 5 most recent fics and list the first and last lines, no context.

what if one of these days i go and change your name

Buck is a magnet for trouble.

"I know, baby, I know."

i won't let nobody hurt you

The consistent buzzing is somehow shaking the whole bed.

And standing there, Buck can't help but think this is what home feels like.

for everything we are (everything we’ve been)

If you asked Eddie why he remembered it at that moment, he wouldn't be able to tell you.

"Nowhere else I'd rather be."

this surprise ending i’m depending on (could be the story of another us)

Buck is on a date.

And walking alone to his bedroom is just heartbreaking enough to feel tragic.

tick tock goes the clock

One.

With the confirmation that the clock won't start ticking again.

Imma tag @alyxmastershipper @housewifebuck @cowboy-buck if they like doing it.

[just-whump-and-suffering]

Got to stop spending money and watch more dramas

[greenbeany]

'i was just the villain' ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF THAT FACT????

Edit:

To clarify, this post is directed at Wilbur, with the knowledge he will not see it. If you are a fan of his music and did not expect this still, that's okay. Neither did I, and you are not in the wrong for being upset or surprised

[for-gettable]

making mistakes

beating myself up over those mistakes for the rest of my life

feeling like everything about me is inherently bad

believing no one is ever going to love me for who i am

losing soulmates

crying myself to sleep

sleeping with the lights on

making things more difficult for myself

trying so hard

not being good enough

living

letting other people down

letting myself down

repeating the cycle

being tired

- things i'm tired of -

[occudo]

An incomplete list of TMA fics I adore

-beacuse of this ask

(If you liked the fics I previously recommended/made fanart for, I think you'll gonna like these as well, but you know, read the tags, know what you are going into)

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey @cirrus-grey

Time Travel Fix-it! Slow burn! So good! So much sass from future!Jon- I doubt I have to introduce anyone this amazing author, but if you somehow missed them till now, this is your time! I highly recommend all of their other fics as well, for example one of a more recent one, The Stranger I Know Best is also a lovely read.

enthralling by Prim_the_Amazing @primtheamazing

Vampire!Martin!! I have no words of how much I love this concept, this story, everything about this. I think I'm going to repeat myself through this list, but I also recommend everything else they've written!

to fill... my heart with music? by godshaper @godshaper so their Martin and Jon design are different from mine, also they made a way better art for this- but still, I wanted to include this really good fic in this list.

Do It All Anew by inkfingers_mcgee or @crit20art

You know the feeling when you read a book that makes you cry, and after that you recommend it to your friend? Well- there is no reason I mentioned this, I'm just so normal about this fic. Or any other fic from inkfingers_mcgee... like Strange Manner of what I made another fanart way back. Also, check out their art!

Anyway, here is Aamal- she is not going to cause emotional damage.

And they were sidekicks (oh my god, they were sidekicks) by arthureameslove @arthureameslove

A lighthearted series where Jon and Martin are sidekicks of supervillains- it's just a really fun fic, also recommend everyting from this author - I previously draw fanart here for an other fic of theirs Like a Lighthouse, Call Me Home

neither sad, nor sick, nor merry, nor well by saintbleeding @saintbleeding

To quote the aurthour: "Post-divorce Jon and Martin in a wedding-based romcom" It's such a comfort read, also has a Tim/Sasha wedding, and lots of cameos! I realised most of these authors I made fanarts for before- like this one for some kind of miraculous bind, this one is oneshot and a bit more serious in tone.

Give Me the Words by rakel @rakel-on-ao3

"Jon and Martin try to make the most of a bad situation in the Scottish Highlands. The situation is worse than they realised." You know that one post about wanting to write PWP, but it keeps turning into character study? Well, this one comes to my mind each time I see that.

i wanna find a home (i wanna share it with you) by heartshapedguy @transgenderboobs

So what would have happened if instead of the cot (tm), Jon offered Martin his own flat to stay? There is no way it's going to change their relationship, right? Such a good read, if you want some fluff, I highly recommend it!

Lucky Stars by magnetarmadda @magnetarmadda

Martin has a lovely family (except his mother) but still, he needs a fake boyfriend, and Jon comes to the rescue. It's one of the first fics I remember reading after I finished the series. It is such a comfort read of mine~

(+enjoy a rare tall Jon from me)

There are so many more fics that also deserve the spotlight, these are just the ones I read multiple times and/or didn't made fanarts for before. If you find something here you like, give them some love! Kudos and comments! They deserve it. (Also, just an extra disclamier some of these are PWP or rated T- just mind the tags)

I tried to link and tag everything, I hope it works.

[solangeloficawards]

in order to generate more hype & help prevent duplicate submissions for fic awards, please see below for an incomplete list of fics that have so far been submitted for this year’s fic awards! the fics on this list have been proven to adhere to the rules of the competition (no NSFW, no AI, etc) and are being released early to allow more time to read and enjoy these works before it comes time to vote.

(fics are in no specific order and are not being listed by category, as the category divisions have not yet been finalized)

don’t see a fic that you think should be included? submit it here!

When the Day Bleeds by Wrish @espritwrish

I'm put in awe (of something so flawed and free) by Cordelia Rose @cordeliaandthecocoapuffs

I would honestly love you now (but i would lovingly let you down) by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn

love is like ghosts (few have felt it but everybody talks) by Caora @curseofdelos 

i'll hold on to the dream of this beggar's plea and optimistic fantasy by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn 

olympus detective agency, inc. by hello_blue_moon @hello-bluemoon 

so american by wrongcaitlyn @wrongcaitlyn

i buried myself alive on the inside by @buoyantsaturn and @ethannku 

i wanna make you mine but that's hard to say by @buoyantsaturn and @ethannku

don't go wasting your emotion by @thelordofshrimp and @buoyantsaturn

falling with you by @thelordofshrimp for @buoyantsaturn

I'll be stuck fixating on one star when the world is crashing down by @buoyantsaturn and @thewildgeeses for @dreamyzworldlove

but i'm afraid to get sick by langatism @losergender 

hippocrates holds no authority here (say that again to my face, coward) by flowerrrr @wowyoulikeflowers 

can't you see, i'm losing my mind this time? by rabbit_soup (tumblr unknown)

bear skin rug by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn 

ever after by rosyredlipstick @rosyredlipstick 

plant check by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn 

Hoping that this feeling stays by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn 

put your hand in mine through space and time by myileo @onion-dishwasher 

if you feel the same way, then how can we be friends? by buoyantsaturn @buoyantsaturn 

wherever he is, is where I'll go (what if i said he was down below?) by Caora @curseofdelos 

double, double, toil and trouble by RegretfullyRegretful @marbleheavy 

vetted series: 

a sweet tooth for you by thebhorror @thebhorror 

dear reader by wrongcaitlyn @wrongcaitlyns

submit fics here <3

[aesethewitch]

An incomplete list of ways I've had spells go wrong in my time of doing witchery:

Hex bounced back on me unexpectedly and made my car break down (was unprepared, didn't realize the target had started learning magic and was anticipating the hex, lol)

Money spell for me got a friend two raises and a job offer, did nothing for me

Spell over a friendly meal caused the entire friend group to implode shortly thereafter ("true colors" being revealed via honest-conversation-spell type of deal)

Motivation spell gave me insomnia (I did get a lot done, though, so)

Tons of energy put into a spell only for it to do absolutely nothing

Spell to help me/my car escape the notice of notorious road-ragers made it so that a friend of mine couldn't find my car for 45 minutes in a crowded parking lot (later realized that they're exactly the type of driver I intended to target with the spell, lmfao)

"Gender me correctly" type spell accidentally outed me to people I didn't intend to tell yet

... And the list goes on. lmao.

[inkyarcturus]

Hello I'm just curious

Do you read some Severitus fanfiction ?

Because I saw that you draw Severitus art and I love it !!

If you read some ,Which Severitus fanfiction do you prefer the most ?

HIII!!! So I’m assuming you’re new to my blog- welcome- it is essentially Severitus heaven. You will find be fed frequently. Sorry for replying to this so late- school is killing me ;-;

Severitus fanfiction is the main fanfic that I read!!!

I have an old list of recommendations somewhere in my posts but here’s the ones I can remember off the top of my head!

1. Heir to the House of Prince by Elph13

Ongoing 3 part series over a million words in total TW: SA, Self-Harm, Alcoholism and a bunch of other stuff

This is my favorite fic of all time, I quite literally cannot recommend it enough. It has Snupin and NottPott as its main two pairings and it’s just chiefs kiss, MWAH

(U need an ao3 account to read this one)

2. Oh Mine Enemy by Kirbylane

TW: Addiction, abuse

Another solid completed fic, very popular,

3. Digging for the Bones by Paganaidd

TW: Abuse, self harm, suicide attempts, probably more I haven’t read it in a while

I remember reading this 3 or even more years ago- very solid fic, I think if you like Severitus you have probably already read it before

4. A Small Step for a Boy by SerenaEW

Completed one shot, TW: ED

Very cute lil story that I sometimes go to for a lil break from the angst. Harry struggles to eat food after the dursleys and Severus succeeds in finding something he likes.

5. That Awful Boy by Paracosim

Unfortunately incomplete, snupin, abuse, a lil addiction with smoking.

In conclusion, I like my Severitus fics angsty as all hell with equal amounts of fluff. I physically can’t handle angsty fics without fluff.

[interregionalgyminspections]

An incomplete list of places that traveling trainers should avoid:

Burned Tower of Johto - Severity: 6/10

Long ago, there were two towers in Ecruteak City. One of them burned, though, leaving behind the Burned Tower. While the main floor is pretty stable, and people often come here to leave their respects, do not go to any upper floor. The wood has been heavily damaged, and there have been many reports of it giving way, causing people to plunge several stories down.

Lumiose Catacombs of Kalos - Severity: 7/10

Lumiose has many, many kilometers worth of catacombs beneath it, and no one's come even close to fully exploring them. Even with advanced navigational equipment, people have gotten lost in these tunnels, and some never made it out. The ghosts within the catacombs might point you towards an exit, or they might send you even deeper. Unless you're extremely prepared, it's best not to delve into these catacombs.

Sea Mauville of Hoenn - Severity: 8/10

Aside from, if the legends are true, being one of the most unethical and hostile workplaces while active, Sea Mauville hasn't gotten any safer since being abandoned. There's twisted metal everywhere, some places have completely flooded, and high-pressure pipes can burst with no warning. I know it's a popular place for danger-seekers, but it really should be left for nature to reclaim.

Galar Mine No. 3 of Galar - Severity: 9/10

You might be thinking, "Doesn't Galar only have two major mines?" And you'd be correct, in the present day. But years ago, Galar used to have a third major mine. The reason it's been abandoned is because of toxic fumes that have filled the entire mine, it having a penchant for sudden cave-ins, and, reportedly, a never-ending inferno at the very bottom of the mine. You'd be safer going spelunking almost anywhere else.

Area Zero of Paldea - Severity: 10/10

The fabled Great Crater, the one place forbidden to students of Naranja-Uva. There's good reason for that. Area Zero is absolutely filled with extremely hostile Pokemon that won't hesitate to maul you, giant falls onto sharp rocks, and an ever-present mist that can turn carbon and silicon into crystal. Stories speak of treasure somewhere within Area Zero, but whatever it is, if it even exists, it's not worth it.

[nadas-dirthalen]

A Veilguard Achievement Icon Opened My Eyes on 15 Years of Lore... but Was I Right?

PART ONE: Rambling First Impressions & Overview

[ 2 ]

Hello again, friends and travellers. Now that I've beaten Dragon Age: the Veilguard, I wanted to go through all those 30,000 words of predictions that I wrote in the ~11 days leading up to its release. I'd seen an achievement icon that pieced together a lot of Dragon Age lore for me.

But, I hadn't played Veilguard. All I had was the footage from September 19, the achievement list, and anything else BioWare had released.

So... was I right? And if so, how much was I right about?

This is your warning: This post will contain spoilers for the entirety of Dragon Age: the Veilguard, and all Dragon Age content made before Veilguard.

(no, this screenshot isn't a spoiler, I just like it.)

Welcome Back for Round Two. >:)

Stating right off the bat: I have only played Dragon Age: the Veilguard 1.5 times and so this collection is very, very incomplete. There's no way for me to learn every codex before they're even all on the wiki. If I've missed something, let me know!!

I don't know how many parts this is going to have. This has been a very fun, but very sleep-deprived week. Expect no sensible organization here; we're letting the ADHD reign!

That said, here's what I'm going to attempt to do:

A Recap of My Grand Theory: Solas was the Blight's Beginning, and Mythal was Responsible

How I Made My Predictions: A Study in Context and Pattern Recognition

What Did I Actually Get Right? (An Overview, Anyway)

Early Signs Veilguard Added to My Theories

A Recap of My Grand Theory: Solas was the Blight's Beginning, and Mythal was Responsible

I really don't have space to go in depth on what amounted to 30,000 words of theorycrafting (which still boggles my mind, how did I do that and still find time to sleep). Instead, I'll link every post and make a bullet point list of what big guesses I made in each.

Part One: Solas was created from spirit and lyrium, crafted in one of Mythal's lyrium coffins that we see both in the Temple of Solasan and Trespasser. That means that some part of him was part of a Titan, once. There were hints about this across all three preceding games, and these hints re-contextualize those games and their place in the Dragon Age narrative. The Titans are likely the Forgotten Ones, because Fen'Harel walked among both the Forgotten Ones and the Evanuris in his legends.

Part Two: The Mythal lullaby in Trespasser is the story of Solas' creation, specifically. Da'durgen'lin refers to 'little stone boy.' Solas' twice-used phrase Ar dirthan'as ir elgara, ma sula e'var vhenan is him speaking to lyrium itself, which he does both with Sera (ancient elvhen? andruil memory? people go into more depth on this than I ever do) and the Eye of Kethisca. Elven phrases and pieces of writing/song from everywhere point to Solas' backstory and are all possibly written/sung by Solas. The codices in the Temple of Solasan are also referencing his backstory. There is a larger narrative at work happening in the random elven literature we find, and it suggests a lot of things about the world.

Part Three: The Titans are definitely the Forgotten Ones—at least, part of them (more on that later). They have all been sundered. One part remains in the Abyss; the other in the Fade. The Fade, in fact, is every Titan's consciousness, all sundered by Fen'Harel. This is the "leg" that the wolf chewed off to "escape the trap": Solas' connection to ir sa tel'nal, isatunoll. This is why he loves the Fade: he's reconnecting with the consciousness he broke himself apart from. This is also why he has Titan/Stone magic. This is also why lyrium grows both in the Abyss and in the Fade.

• Oh, and spirits seem like they might be the thoughts of Titans.

Part Four: The Chant of Light tells the story of the Evanuris, from their manifestation as spirits to their mining of lyrium and war with the Titans to the Makers' creation of "everyone else." The archdemons and Magisters Sidereal are also explained in its verses. The Chant also suggests the Maker is a Titan whose mind and body are sundered, and that Andraste's hearing the "voice of the Maker" is her hearing the Titan's song.

Part Five: The tragedy of the Evanuris, part 1/3: Mythal is known to have mined people from lyrium. Elgar'nan probably sundered spirits, notably Dirthamen and Falon'Din. Falon'Din seems to have wanted to attack Titans that "belonged" to other Evanuris to gain more "worshippers" (lyrium people; slaves) for himself.

Part Six: The tragedy of the Evanuris, part 2/3: Sylaise probably made the Scaled Ones. June probably is responsible for not just lots of inventions, but the invention of the geas. Dirthamen's "secrets" are "thoughts" (spirits) forced into the bodies of his worshippers... and animals... and trees (AKA, he made a lot of abominations).

Part Seven: The tragedy of the Evanuris, part 3/3: the blight seems to be the Titans' defence against repeated attacks. Crucially, all of the Evanuris made the Titans this way... but Mythal made them that way first. The reason the Titans are "forgotten" now is because Mythal tried to erase all memory of them so that none would find the blight again. (She failed. Thanks, Andruil and Ghilan'nain).

Part Eight: The story of Solas, part 1/3: Solas came from an un-sundered world where both "mage magic" and "Stone magic" were the same thing. He was created in the Temple of Solasan, where "icy terror" became the first blighted Titan. Solas' existence was significant to the Evanuris because it suggested that one can survive the blight, and his moniker (the Dread Wolf) comes from the fact that he was a wolf (elven general) that came from the terror Titan (dread).

Part Nine: Since Solas' origin story is the start of the blight, then all of Solas' story from that point is not the story of just him, but the story of the blight. This signifies his place in Dragon Age's entire narrative, and also spells out what the overarching Point™ of the series is. Backed into a proverbial corner where none of the Evanuris would stop the things that angered the Titans, Solas' only choice was to sunder the Titans from their consciousness. He misses the Stone, also.

• He also imprisoned the Evanuris in Stone, something called "gangue" in Hissing Wastes codices.

• His ultimate goal is to return consciousness to the Titans, fixing the "wound" he made when the Veil went up.

Part Ten: The Inquisitor is special because their spirit is from the same Titan as Solas. The Breach is a threat because if the Veil comes down too soon, all the Titans will come back blighted and angry. The Veil disintegrating means all the Titans are waking anyway, little by little. The Dread Wolf shape is actually an aspect of Terror that can kill people with fear. The Evanuris who've been killed before have potentially had their spirits "recycled" and might be reincarnating into mortal people now. Oh, and a bunch of predictions on the companions, Solas/Mythal, etc, that I'll go over again down below.

How I Made My Predictions: A Study in Context and Pattern Recognition

I've had a lot of people ask how I... y'know. Did that. How one person could write 30,000 words of guesses in the week and a half before Veilguard, citing so many sources, and... not be that far off, probably.

Honestly the short version of this is, "I read the Chant of Light as it appears in World of Thedas, not with the canticles out of order like they are on the wiki, has anyone else done that?"

The longer version of this sounds even shorter, at first: I started playing Dragon Age games in March 2024, and I have ADHD.

Oh, and I'm a writer who's always been interested in game development, with dreams of maybe one day working in games or on video game IP. That helps shape my understanding of what games might need to accomplish, narratively, and the mechanisms they might use to accomplish those goals.

I was able to play all three games this summer. In fact, I finished Inquisition for the first time after Veilguard's first trailers this year, on June 26. What that means is that my first real experiences learning the finer lore of Dragon Age were all this year, and had the context of Veilguard's trailers. We knew we were getting a narrative followup to Trespasser, and so where did I center my focus? Trespasser. Everything I learned about Thedas, I tried to make sense in the context of Trespasser. Every piece of lore had to fit with Trespasser. Not just the environment of the Crossroads or the companions' banter, but what Trespasser was trying to teach us.

And most of its codices are about the Evanuris warring with the Titans. The Titans, who we'd just seen in Descent. The storytelling point of Trespasser was to make us question the nature and morality of Fen'Harel by giving us context about the Evanuris and their own history, then letting us ask for Solas' perspective on it.

That's the thing about Dragon Age. Very little of it is there pointlessly. Every level, every DLC, every codex, is there to teach you something. Even the smaller codices, which don't seem to mean anything tremendous, are there to teach you how to parse the voice of all the other codices. So even beyond the games, I asked myself: what is Tevinter Nights trying to teach me about how Thedas works? What is The Masked Empire teaching me? Is it the same? And what about World of Thedas, volumes 1 and 2, written from the perspective of Thedosian historians, deliberately written to misdirect the reader with the historians' biases?

Whatever I found had to work with what was promised in Veilguard: a controversial Solas. New understanding of the Evanuris. Harding's new magic. Regions of Thedas we never explored, and why those places would all matter.

Knowing the three act structure, as a writer, and knowing that ensemble casts all need to bring a puzzle piece of the grander theme into the main plot through their own personal quests, I had a vague skeleton of what I would need to find. The shape of the information I found would have to fit the world and the relationship dynamics advertised in the Veilguard. Origins would have to matter to the Veilguard; same with DA2; same with Inquisition. Despite the series being disconnected by featuring different leads, the worldbuilding is very much connected between instalments, and so Veilguard would have to be one logical step past everything that developed in Inquisition. (Nevermind a whole host of other criteria that honestly deserves its own post).

It's very hard to describe how the pattern recognition in some ADHD brains works. What I will say is... I noticed something. Every mistranslated elven codex where it deliberately says it has been mistranslated is an invitation for you, the player, to try and figure out what is correct. Everywhere that World of Thedas says that something must be preposterous to the historian narrating it is an invitation to ask yourself: could this be possible? How would that work?

Things like the linguistic overlaps between the elves and the dwarves are intentional. Words that are phonetically similar are far more often intentional than simple oversight. Every scrap of lore holds some significance.

Because in Thedas, every perspective is right, to some degree. Including the Chant of Light. Including ancient elvhenan. If you try and make them all reconcile with each other, and you've also done so in the context of the Veilguard, and you've also got ADHD and a near-photographic memory that is strongest with emotional memories and rules/systems? Well... You get me. You get 30,000 words of "one single picture of lyrium-spirit Solas cracked all of Thedas for me in the span of one mind-blown week while I power-read World of Thedas to check all my facts and essentially lived inside the Dragon Age wiki."

(AKA, you get Bellara in human form. Sorry, Bellara. It's rough out here. But now you, reader, know the reason that this blog was renamed nadas-dirthalen in late September—and why I, when I embraced my nonbinary identity, chose the name Lore for myself.)

And what was promised in Inquisition, as well as in Veilguard's marketing? The Evanuris, Titans, and the blight. They would all have to tie together—and they did.

What Did I Actually Get Right? (An Overview, Anyway)

I'm going to try and categorize this. Oh god. These are going to be such disorganized posts, but I want them done before much information comes out, so bear with me.

What I Got Right:

Solas and Mythal: Yep. He caused the blight; she made him do it. He created the Veil and wounded himself. They weren't romantic; they were trauma-bonded. She wasn't a paragon of good. They both tried to stop the blight anyway.

Sundered Spirits: The sweet, sweet vindication of learning that Dirthamen and Falon'Din were sundered all along. Thank you, BioWare. We also learned that this happened to the Titans (more on broader implications in the last category in this section).

Titan Stories In Elven: Bellara sang "Ir sa tel'nal Mythal las ma theneras" and my heart soared. :) My ego swelled. :) That's all the confirmation I need right now that I hit the nail on the head with the elven lullabies and Solas' backstory.

The Chant of Light Told the Story of the Evanuris: The demons that would be gods. We know now that all the Evanuris manifested physically from their original spirit forms. The Chant called it.

Mythal, Andruil, and Ghilan'nain's Roles in the Blight: Mythal created it, but wanted it sealed away; Andruil found it again; Ghilan'nain made it grow and grow.

Taash, a little? I hypothesized that fire-breathers might come from the Scaled Ones or otherwise have been engineered by an Evanuris. I know they were engineered for the purpose of war, but not by whom (I... think. Needs a replay to confirm).

Davrin: Yes! Davrin was the one who connected that Solas feels responsible for specifically the blight and conveyed that to the rest of the team. He questioned the nature of the Grey Wardens and helped to choose a path forward without any archdemons left.

Harding: Yup. Titan connection. Yup, our narrative path to finding out about angered Titans.

"Do We Win?/Do We Stop the Blight?" Well, in Solas' good ending, we do get what I thought we would: the Evanuris all gone, the Titans on a path to restoration.

What I Definitely Did Not Get Right:

VARRIC?!?! When I said, "If you know, you know. Lyrium dagger, dwarf. If you don't know, close your eyes and pretend you read nothing" — GUYS I THOUGHT VARRIC WOULD GET MAGIC HE REALLY HATED AND I CRIED LIKE A BABY WHEN I SAW WHAT HAPPENED :(

Lucanis: I really thought Spite would be a Forgotten One. However, it's stated a few times that Spite is not a run-of-the-mill demon, and Lucanis is not your average abomination. I wonder if there's banter I'm missing, or if something will happen with that in DA5. Poisoned fruit, and all that.

Emmrich: I really thought Emmrich would do world-changing "give all the spirits back to the Titans" stuff. I think my error with most of the companions is that I forgot how much information actually can feasibly fit into a game without it being 300 hours long or melting the brains of its players.

Neve: Nothin' happened with gangue mentions, or Archon mentions! I was way, way off with Neve.

The Eclipse: It did not have anything to do with the Bird Boy Evanuris™ :( But Elgar'nan moving the sun and moon was badass as hell, and I honestly loved Elgar'nan far more than even my highest expectations.

What I Haven't Gotten Right... YET:

Bellara….?????? Guys I thought there was a Dirthamen connection and they put a codex in the game that says specifically that Dirthamen held a fondness for frogs, same as Bellara. And then they gave her a brother who... ya know... was... presumed... dead... AKA, on the other side of the Veil... for a while... And then they gave that brother a sundered piece of Bellara's own vallaslin. John Epler, where are you going with this please I wanna KNOW, the Bird Boys™ occupy my mind at all hours. (But also? Surprise Forgotten One mention with Bellara, and surprise Anaris mention specifically, and I'm going to pat myself on the back for being so oddly focused on Anaris in my predictions.)

Chant of Light Confirmations: I actually have yet to see a single Chant of Light verse in Veilguard. I think they're saving that one for later, keeping it up their sleeves for the next games. The needle didn't move with confirming/denying anything in the Chant except for the Evanuris as spirits that manifested into physical shape and then sought to conquer the Titans.

Titans-as-Forgotten-Ones: For a time, I thought they disproved me on this, showing Anaris as a spirit, the "eighth" while the "sixth and seventh" roamed free. Showing Anaris craving a body to wreak his evil (?) machinations upon the world. But then I got to thinking, and I realized: they never said the Forgotten Ones are spirits, they just showed one being a spirit. What did they say about spirits in general, or the Titans' relation to the Fade in general?

Titans-and-Fade Connection: I theorized that the Titans' consciousness is the Fade, and the Veil is what keeps them all sundered. I theorized that spirits are thoughts, either floating around in the Fade or held in lyrium. For a long time in Veilguard, I thought I was being disproven. Solas' memories don't say that the Veil sundered all Titans, and they don't say that Titans' consciousness is the Fade, either. But, as I went through Veilguard, I realized... they also didn't not say it. And that's when I knew.

I have to go digging again. And after 8.5 days, here's what I think I've got. It's a start, but a promising one.

Early Signs Veilguard Has Added to My Theories

Remember how I said that there are very few in things in Thedas that are there for no reason? Well, Veilguard has given us plenty of tie-ins to previous material already, just with the stuff I remember off-hand from the past week, no wiki entries to go by yet.

(Please bear in mind that I have had this game for 8 days and this is just barely scratching the surface of its content!)

Let me re-examine some of the things I mentioned above:

Titans-as-Forgotten-Ones

The Nadas Dirthalen's very first word is Sulahn'nehn. Remember how I said many things in Thedas are there intentionally, and that World of Thedas is a book made up of invitations to solve puzzles? This is no exception. World of Thedas states that, translated literally, this common word for "rejoice" actually means "sing again."

That word might be a rallying cry for the spirits of Titans who'd, I don't know... lost their song. A promise of plot to come, made a decade ago. Why else would they include that word, instead of anything more frequently used by characters/the fandom?

I also noticed: the Nadas Dirthalen looks to be contained in a lyrium crystal, specifically. We already know that lyrium is used to store memories! It may be that the Nadas Dirthalen, the inevitability of knowledge, was Anaris storing his knowledge and memories in an attempt to pre-empt the creation of the Veil. Nadas Dirthalen might be a promise: a promise that the Forgotten Ones will return to sing again, and that their knowledge and memories will guide them to victory.

But if I was going to hazard a guess that this is the case, I couldn't base my theory on just this line of dialogue.

Titans-and-Fade-Connection

First and foremost: Neve and a couple codices say that Solas' ritual to create the Veil went wrong. We all heard Solas cry out in pain at the moment of its creation!

Second: defeating one of the revenants, whose name is something like "The Slaughtered Pillars," made my ears perk up. I noticed in the combat with the Betrayal of Felassan that the dialogue lines are supposed to be Solas' regrets, given voice.

You wanna know what it says when you fight the Slaughtered Pillars?

"Light and song, stolen."

You wanna know what the Chant of Light refers to the Fade as? Three guesses. C'mon. :)))

That's right! Light! But why would the slaughtered pillars of the earth complain about their light AND song being stolen? Well—I'm guessing that their Light is the Fade; their consciousness. And without their consciousness, their dreams, all concept of isatunoll was lost to them.

When I heard this line, I threw out what I thought I had been told about the Forgotten Ones being spirits, not Titans. Now, I have a new idea (one that still needs verifying and much codex-reading): the Forgotten Ones are those sundered spirits that Solas severed from the Titans. The entire Fade being cut off from Thedas was an unintended consequence that hurt him as badly as it did the Titans he meant to put to sleep.

(We don't even know that he was in uthenera by choice, with how often he talks about being weakened.)

Suddenly, "Sing again," makes total sense as a rallying cry for Anaris and the Titans, both. I very much look forward to digging through the minutiae of every codex to see if I can find anything else that backs this up!

Terror/Horror Mentions

I need to really examine this one, ideally with the help of a wiki that doesn't quite exist yet for this game, to get all the exact lines. But I swear that fear is mentioned almost constantly in Solas' memories, and also a lot in conjunction with Anaris and with Harding's Titan.

I'm not letting go of my "Solas was crafted from Terror/Dread" theory. Not yet. Not yet.

Bellara and the Bird Boys™

I think BioWare's favourite game, at this point, is teasing us with sneaky little mentions of Dirthamen and Falon'Din. In Veilguard, we went to Zazikel's skeleton in the Cauldron. In Arlathan, owls were just... glowing. Everywhere. Why? I don't know! Rook also doesn't seem to know! But they mention it many times over, and that is always a cue for us to pay attention and ascertain why.

I don't know what Bellara's sneaky little connection to Dirthamen and Falon'Din could mean for the two sundered Evanuris. I don't know if it means that I'm right, and that Dirthamen escaped Fade Jail when Corypheus and the Magisters Sidereal entered the Black City. I don't know if it means that, when Dirthamen and Falon'Din died, their spirits fused back together (because... Mythal's didn't?).

I just know that this has worsened how I constantly search for the Bird Boys™ in everything. Something is happening here, I just need to figure out what.

What Do I Think This Means?

I think this means that BioWare are about to make good on their promise shown in the Poisoned Fruit post-credits scene. Dragon Age 5: Something Something Something Forgotten Ones, ooohhhh, spooky, Terror Terror Malice Fear Nightmare Time, Featuring Solas (reluctantly or gladly) Helping Heal the Titans. And did we mention that the Forgotten and the Forbidden Ones have always been more closely linked than most of the fanbase thought?

But I can only guess at that for now, and I've got some serious reading to do before I say anything more specific than that.

-----

As always, if you read this far, you're one of the real ones. This has been a jumbled mess of midnight thoughts, but I promise you this: I'm only just digging into Veilguard's finer workings. I'm only just starting to put its many pieces together.

And like every Dragon Age game, I can tell that there is something big lurking between the lines of every one. I just need to read something like 135 mementos and [redacted] codices from everywhere else several times over in order to figure out what it is.

But this is just Part One. I promise: the second it clicks for me, I'll write it all in a rambling frenzy for you, too.

It's still super up in the air, but I think for the next one, I might try and tackle What Dragon Age: the Veilguard Did Narratively—and What DA5's Story Will Likely Do to Follow. We'll see what happens to me 50, 100, or 200 codices from now. :)

[crowleys-hips]

A Line

i sit alone in this dark room wrapped in a blanket of memories  of you, with you, about you but i'm still freezing  because there's nothing  like the warmth of your smile the heat on our cheeks  soothed by our joy the love in your voice flowing  from your gold heart to my desperate one connected by  a single artery  the blood of our faith  a turbulent rush a false God the only God  worth worshiping 

I wish i could rewind time to have you close to me to revel in the music  of your soul entwined with mine  to dance together at the edge  of this treacherous cliff as if wings could make us fly as if time was a trivial thing

but time stands still for months and years as i dance alone in this empty room caught in a crowd full of memories  a vivid but poor imitation of you inches from me a crude replica of captured moments me, captive to your gaze  tasting your words, your wine,  your hope, your fears, your tears and last of all  your lips

my strength decays without your presence  i cast out a line  across the chasm of your absence  my soul is reaching through the darkness  l l l l but are you reaching back?

tag list under the cut

"the invisible and unbreakable [line] that joins Crowley and Aziraphale" lives in my mind rent free okay?

So fun fact, the original draft of this poem was written around nov. 2012. it was only like the 1st and 3rd stanzas of this. i randomly found it in one of my old notebooks one of these days, and it was originally a song, but it was a bit shit and incomplete. so i fixed it, finished it, and made it about gay eldritch entities. ur welcome <3

@goodomensafterdark @wibbly-wobbly-blog @phantomram-b00 @crowleys-bentley-and-plants @charlotte-zophie @crowleys-curl @quoththemaiden @thewibblylever @genderqueer-hippie @lickthecowhappy @celestialcrowley @im-the-j-in-anthony-j-crowley @sabotage-on-mercury @ineffabildaddy @ineffable-rohese @rainbowcrowley @alwaysbemybae @fearandhatred @roof-of-trees @weasleywrinkles @brokewokebespoke @eybefioro @captainblou @amagnificentobsession @marika-misc @phoen1xr0se @simonezitrone79 @thatqueercookie @tiptopticketyboo @veil-of-lament

i added a few of you here hope you don't mind but if anyone wants in or out of here lemme knoww

[eternallyyours-z]

Haikyuu!! AO3 TBR (WIP)

Last updated: 11.21.24

[E] - Explicit, contains smut

The fics listed below are completed, (im pretty sure, like a good 97% sure)

SakuAtsu

Jumping Through Hoops (sakusa kiyoomi's dilf hunt diaries) [E]

Idiots in love 

ah, fuck it. [E]

chasing home [E]

People Will Say We're in Love

Miscommunicating

Tale as Old as Time

The MSBY Black Jackals Read Thirst Tweets

bet on it

conflict of interest

The SakuAtsu Documentary by the MSBY Black Jackals

in the stars, down to mars [E]

this time around [E]

my body tells me no (but i want more) [E]

Immortal Ties

you are the cause of my euphoria (series)

The Dos and Don’ts of Loving Sakusa Kiyoomi

to mend broken glass [E]

fucking hell (literally) [E]

dogshit (first comes the fall) [E]

Achilles, come down (series)

Smile For The Camera [E]

The Art of the Thirst Trap [E]

The Kingfisher's Refuge [E]

human and hooked (on your flesh) [E]

Four Years (series)

i look for you when i’m lost (so i don’t go insane) [E]

ATSU101: how to fall in love with your fake boyfriend

Snatching a Twin for Christmas

sketches of a firefly [E]

Heart Piercing Butterflies [E]

My Greatest Weakness [E]

BokuAka

in the stars, down to mars [E]

mine and only mine [E]

Bokuto's Accidental Thirst Traps: A Horny Misadventure in Seven Acts [E]

steam [E]

Rules [E]

It's my right to be hellish, I still get jealous

Knocked Up [E]

Sunshine Eyes

Get Up

third wheel

better than spy films

Upstairs [E]

Akaashi's Series of Unfortunate Events [E]

i could say that you're the best my eyes have ever seen

An Exercise in Losing Control

Kiss Me (Like You Wanna Be Loved) [E]

A social experiment [E]

Perhaps a great love is never returned

Come Downstairs

AtsuHina

'til the darkness softly clears

Jealousy: the fic

you can coax the cold right out of me

The past always comes back

38º C

A fox's banquet

we made a start, be it a false one i know

Under the spotlight

Fox in the Hole

OsaSunaKomo

KuroKen

OsaSuna

OmiHina

Suspended In These Moments

snowflakes and gold

good to you

feelings of love

don't go baking my heart.

What Kiyoomi Knows Firsthand

The Sound of Fear is the Sound of Love

vertically challenged

when you came in the air went out [E]

Sun-Kissed

The Sun That Never Sets

I'll head towards tomorrow (towards that place with only two of us)

i keep a close watch on this heart of mine

comfy.

you guys are the worst -sakusa

f in the chat.

venus

felt the warmth within your touch

A Dri-Fit named Desire

conscientious

KageHina

No Retakes!

On Great Rivalries and General Dumbassery

Famous V-League Players Make Fools of Themselves on Twitter dot com

conflict of interest

On Cold Nights

heart lines

'cause i'm getting pretty fucking tired

Ali Roma's on the Case (INCOMPLETE - 7/9 Chapters)