#it sucks!!!! but such is what it means to be a grey warden!!!!!

[hiddenbeks]

i've been thinking about what andrale and celyn are doing and whether they're even alive during veilguard and i think i've finally figured it out.. i don't think andrale would leave to seek a cure for the taint. she struggled against her fate for so long and was incredibly bitter about being conscripted but eventually made peace with it. she cheated death once thanks to morrigan but knows her days are numbered nevertheless and decides to value whatever time the ritual gave her. after the events of awakening she remains the warden-commander but since the blight is over she isn't needed on active duty. so she often leaves vigil's keep to travel or to stay with her clan or whatever but always comes back to ensure the wardens are well and to help train recruits and all that. leaving everyone and everything behind to go on an expedition in the far west searching for a cure that may or may not exist would go against all her development i think. when her calling comes she will go peacefully knowing she lived a meaningful life and made the most of what time she had :) i think she will be somewhat relieved as well. even though she learns to enjoy life again she will always carry the horrors of the blight with her and it will never be the same and she would never be the same even if she was cured. she is a warden and a warden's end is the only end for her!

celyn on the other hand. she is never satisfied she always wants more. she's very eager to join the wardens despite andrale's warnings that the joining could be fatal and that even if she survives being a warden is essentially a slow death. celyn is like yea whatever it beats going back to the circle so she chugs the darkspawn blood, survives, and joins the wardens. at some point andrale assigns celyn to assist avernus with his research and has her take over after avernus passes away. the reality of being a grey warden soon hits celyn and she reallyyyyy doesn't want to die an early death after finally getting out of the circle. so she pores over avernus' writings and figures out how to slow the decay of her body with blood magic the way he had. but it's not enough because even avernus succumbed to the taint eventally. and celyn doesn't want that for herself. where andrale is focused on what is celyn is more interested in what could be... and the taint could be cured maybe... so celyn is the one who decides to take things even further. she is determined to prolong her lifespan by any means and willing to risk everything for the chance to permanently cure the taint!!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

This week on "CJ needs to gush about DAO": Morrigan's dark ritual.

I adore Origins because depending on how serious you take roleplay, every decision you make is a thread that leads back to your origin, and in this case of the ritual, who you choose to romance can have a major impact on how you handle this choice.

For context, my canon run is with a female Tabris who romances Alistair and keeps him as a Grey Warden, and is close friends with Morrigan. It's more in character for my Tabris to reject Morrigan's ritual and not even bring it up to Alistair, which would result in her leaving him behind while she makes the ultimate sacrifice in killing the archdemon... however, agreeing to convince Alistair to do the ritual with Morrigan is the only choice in the entire game where I break roleplay because I'm selfish and weak and I want Tabris to live.

I have a lot of strong feelings about the ritual, like it hurts me. It makes me want to chew on furniture. I can talk about it until I can talk no more. I so badly want to be strong enough to remain in character and reject the ritual.

Let me explain: Tabris survives an origin that deals with sexual assault. She gets kidnapped on her wedding day, she watches the other kidnapped women and her husband get murdered, and then is too late to save Shianni from being assaulted... and Tabris carries that trauma with her throughout the entire game.

If the way to save her life is to ask the two most important people she cares about; one being her lover and the other being her best friend; who she knows hate each other, to have dubiously consensual sex in order to make a baby to absorb the old god soul... she's saying no. The last thing Tabris would ever do is put someone into a sexual situation where consent is at all dubious after what she saw happen to Shianni and nearly happened to herself. She'd rather die than force that upon Alistair and Morrigan.

That's what I mean when I say origin affects everything; I know some will side eye that with "Really? Your warden would rather die than let Alistair sleep with another woman? It's one time, and Alistair agrees to it, so no one needs to die?"

Let me be clear in saying this isn't a "Morrigan slept with my man" issue. Sure, that part's awkward and it sucks, but that's not even breaking water tension, let alone diving into the deep waters to the core of the issue.

For my Tabris, this is about betrayal, consent, and accepting fate.

The person offering Tabris this deal is someone she thought of as a trusted friend who has actually been lying to her the entire time. It doesn't matter what Morrigan's intentions are now or if she genuinely wants to save the wardens. She knew from the beginning why Flemeth sent her with them, she admits as much. She knew a warden would need to make the ultimate sacrifice and then leveraged that to get what she wants. Morrigan waited until the night before, when Alistair and the warden learn one of them has to die to defeat the archdemon, and took advantage of the high running emotions and possibly the fear of dying to make the warden agree to her ritual.

At least, that's how my Tabris interprets this confrontation. She feels betrayed by someone she came to love like a sister and went out of her way to help Morrigan with her mother upon learning what's in Flemeth's grimoire. And then that someone tells her no one needs to die, she just needs to convince Alistair to sleep with her... which is a huge fucking problem.

The Alistair and Tabris romance is slow; it took a long time for either of them to be comfortable with being emotionally vulnerable and trusting each other with basic intimacy, let alone sex. Tabris is mortified at the idea of putting Alistair in this situation. Not only would it feel like a betrayal on her part to ask that of him, but she knows the last thing Alistair ever wants to do is father a bastard who then goes on to grow up without him. How could she possibly ask him to do that?

Then you consider that ritual or no, there isn't a guarantee that they'll survive anyway. Say they do the ritual and Tabris dies anyway; she made Alistair sleep with Morrigan in order to save her and then she died anyway. Or if Alistair dies then Tabris gets to live with the fact that the last person Alistair was with was a woman he hates because she asked that of him… and either way, Morrigan gets to walk away with what she wanted.

Tabris led the group, and she's accepted that if Riordan dies [which he does] then she'll be the one to make the sacrifice, even if it means breaking both hers and Alistair's heart.... except she doesn't because I'm a coward who doesn't want to lose her because my worldstate isn't good without her in it but I also refuse to lose Alistair so I just pretend it plays out differently in my head it's fine-

But... that's how I play Tabris and view the situation. My friend @pi-creates and I have discussed the dark ritual at length. While I play a Tabris who romances Alistair, Pi plays a Mahariel who romances Morrigan, so we have vastly different interpretations of the ritual itself and Morrigan's intentions.

Which yeah, it makes total sense that someone who romanced Morrigan with a different origin, and has the option to do the ritual with her rather than asking someone else to do it, wouldn't see this the way I do.

To quote Pi: "Playing as a male warden in the Morrigan romance makes the whole situation feel different, and maybe it’s because she’s presenting it differently due to the emotional connection, but it feels more like she’s opening up about her initial instructions (that she had been given by Flemeth) and offering a solution to avoid the possibility of death. And for my Mahariel, the constant threat of sudden death has haunted him from the start – he caught the blight and was ripped away from his clan (something he did not want to do in the slightest), got forced into a Grey Warden ritual that could kill him, was forced into a battle that could kill him, going on this whole quest that he never wanted but has now become responsible for regardless of his thoughts on the matter… the dark ritual may be one of the few moments where he is presented with an option to decide if he wants to walk into certain death, or take actions of his own volition to stop it.

"The idea of the ritual still feels like a dodgy thing to do since the ultimate outcome is unknown at that point, he’s taking Morrigan at her word that it will save the warden and that this child would be unharmed, just with an old god soul that she isn’t exactly clear on why she wants that and is determined to runaway immediately after the battle to secure it properly. It could be interpreted that it’s purely a preservation thing, but I’m biased to wanting Morrigan's intentions to not be power based.

"But also, taking part in the ritual isn’t as outlandish for my warden since he and Morrigan have already been involved in an intimate relationship. It’s the future of the ritual that is scarier – the idea of this old-god baby, and the idea of Morrigan insisting that she’s leaving afterwards when Mahariel and her have a loving relationship. He’s hurting, but he doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want Alistair to die, he doesn’t want Morrigan to leave, he definitely doesn’t want pregnant Morrigan to leave on her own… it’s complicated, but for completely different reasons."

And I find that fascinating. I want to know how other players approach this part of DAO, what origins they play, and who they romanced. Seriously, this is an invitation to anyone reading to share their thoughts.

What about a warden who doesn't even have Alistair in their party because they made Loghain a warden? Is there anyone out there who has Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan and why? What about male wardens who don't romance her? Do you choose to do it with her anyway, or do you ask Alistair or Loghain to do it? Do you tell Morrigan to fuck off with the ritual? Why? Who makes the ultimate sacrifice in that case? And what about Morrigan herself? How do you interpret her intentions/motivations? I want to know.

I'm telling you, this is a discussion that gets me excited, as most discussions about DAO do.

[chronurgy]

10 characters, 10 fandoms

Thanks for the tag @rowanisawriter!

Tagging: @weavewithshadow, @bhaalsbabe, anyone else who wants to play!

Oooo this is going to be hard because I tend to get really into multiple characters from the same thing, but let's go! In no particular order:

1. Essek Thelyss - Critical Role

He's a war criminal. He's a prodigy. He's a traitor. He's a time and gravity wizard. He's a heretic in a theocracy where his mother is a living saint. He floats everywhere instead of walking. When the gang asks if they're going to have to kill him, he laughs and says "I'd like to see you try". He crushes someone to death with gravity simply by closing his fist. "My reasons [for treason] weren't good, but they were important". He goes from not having cared about anyone in 120 years to caring so much about a bunch of weirdos in like, 6 weeks. He made his father so mad during an argument that the guy stormed off and died. What's not to love? He makes me so insane.

Honorable mention: Caleb Widogast

2. Anders - Dragon Age

My favorite chaotic bisexual disaster man. The contrast between awakening anders and da2 anders is so fascinating for me. He's this carefree guy, except he isn't really that carefree, is he? He escapes over and over and over, swimming across the lake even. He hates the circle and hates the Templars just as much, he's just funnier about it. When you start adding up the year in solitary, Karl, the fact that he must have seen all the injuries in the circle as a spirit healer, it starts becoming very clear why he is the way he is. He also sucks! He's petty, he's mean, and he's so up his own ass about how right he thinks he is about everything. But he also runs a clinic for the poorest of the poor, dodging Templars and freeing mages all the while. He does the excellent wizard hubris thing of taking the future into his own hands, even if it kills people (suck my nuts elthina). He loves a romanced Hawke so much, even as he experiences this greater calling. Plus Grey wardens are cool as hell and he loves cats.

Honorable mention: mage!Hawke

3. Merlin - BBC Merlin

This show manages to be both ridiculous and sad. Merlin is such a happy go lucky, cheerful character at the beginning, then we watch as things just keep getting worse. He cannot seem to win. By the end, that cheerfulness seems much closer to a mask he's desperately clinging to than anything else. He's an expert liar and manipulator, he's a killer, and he's so, so alone. If he ever tells anyone that he's a sorcerer, he'll be executed. And he lives in the shadow of that for years, unable to be himself even with the people he's closest to. Also characters who have their eyes change colors when using their powers my beloved.

4. Daenerys Targaryen - ASOIAF

I love her chapters - there's so much interesting and human depth to her struggles (even when her struggles are fantastical). She struggles to know how to rule, and rule well. She takes hostages but loves them too much to kill them. She struggles to create and maintain a peace for her people even as that peace asks things of her she cannot bear. She worries what it says about her that her children are monsters and she both loves and fears them. She desperately wants a simple, loving life but is also so, so doomed to never have that. She's a queen and a dragon rider and a young woman trying to understand the world. She's great. (I don't care about the tv show I'm talking books here)

Honorable mentions: Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister

5. Gale Dekarios - Baldur’s Gate

Oh yeah, another hubris wizard. He's funny and has this easy, good natured charm that makes it possible to ignore that he's an absolute FREAK. He's got one of my favorite wizard traits - a strong ends justify the means streak. He points, very genteelly, at all the ways power and knowledge drive and corrupt. He's a sweetheart but he brags all the time. Except it isn't bragging, because he can back it up. He can really, genuinely, become a god. His relationship with the dark urge also makes me insane, because I think in some ways he's both the clearest eyed about what will happen to them and the one most willing to meet them where they are and also desperately wants to believe they're a good person, even when it's clear that they aren't. His line about how their life is no longer theirs to lead, only to follow to a dark urge who embraces Bhaal is incredible. The diverging paths of who he can become over the course of the game are fascinating and there's so much depth to him. He's great. Oh, he also excuses his cat's crimes. Love that in a man.

Honorable mentions: Enver Gortash, The Dark Urge

6. Camilla Hect - The Locked Tomb

She's the most composed, controlled, meticulous batshit fucking crazy woman in the world. Unstoppable force vibes. Instead of moving on after her necromancers death she pieced together tiny fragments of his skull and then shared her body with him. She's a genius and she can't let go of her insanely codependent relationship, even when it kills her (but honestly Paul seems pretty cool and I'm excited to learn more about them)

Honorable mention: Palamedes Sextus

7. The Jovial Contrarian - Fallen London

A little more niche, this one! I sometimes find that characters in fallen london can sort of pale in interest compared to the overall lore and happenings, but the Jovial Contrarian is one of my favorites. He loves arguing and will argue with anyone about anything at any time. If you have regular debating lessons with him, people will hide behind couches rather than face you. He's part of the calendar council and hates the masters but also wants a solution that isn't the liberation of the night. Anytime his name is mentioned you know you're about to read something ridiculous. Fun guy!

Honorable mentions: Poor Edward (incredibly narsty. great villain), The Eagle, Ascendant (they have like, 3 lines of lore and they're all fantastic)

8. Midna - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

I remember playing twilight princess for the first time and I just immediately fell in love with Midna. She's snarky, she's mean, her design is cool as hell, and I really loved her arc as she grew to really care about people over the course of the game. She remains firmly the best Zelda companion in my mind.

9. Elim Garak - Star Trek

You always knew it was going to be a great episode when Garak showed up. He always feels 30 seconds from chewing on the scenery and it is fantastic. He's an exiled spy and maybe a little bit of a monster and he never pretends otherwise. His lines to Sisko in "In the Pale Moonlight," telling him that he must have known what Garak would do, and that if the price of winning the war is Sisko's self respect then he'd call that a bargain are some of my favorite in an episode that already has a lot of really good lines. Aw man I wanna watch DS9 now.

Honorable mentions: Julian Bashir, Captain Picard, Tasha Yar (but wasn't she lame and poorly written? Yes. But young me was extremely taken with this aggressive short-haired woman for reasons I could not articulate at the time 🥴)

10. Morgan Yu - Prey (2017)

Okay so if you haven't played Prey stop reading right now and go buy it. Don't look up any spoilers or plot or anything just do it. If you liked dishonored or deathloop you'll love it. Now: who IS Morgan Yu? Who WAS Morgan Yu? Are they even the same person any more? How culpable are they? How culpable were they? Part of the reason Morgan is so endlessly fascinating to me is because we'll never know. How integral are memories to the continuity of the self? Why did you do what you did? Did you, the person standing here right now, even do it? The game just delivers gut punch after gut punch to Morgan and I love it and I love them (whoever they might have been).

Overall honorable mentions: the outsider from dishonored, garrus from mass effect, vimes and vetinari from discworld, and all my dnd characters (shout out especially to Hermès Montclair who fucked a dragon, died (unrelated to said dragon fucking), then came back wrong and fucked the dragon again! No one's doing it like you baby)

[t4llhum4n]

👀 pleaaaaase talk about vega i wanna hear everything you have to say about him 🙏🏻❤️

OMG, YES THANK YOU. YOU'RE A GODSEND <3

Vega is my favorite character from a writing perspective. Full stop. Both Prime and Imp!Vega are such interesting character studies for me it's unreal. Imp!Vega is a whole 'nother can of worms though, so I'll save that for another day.

Gonna cut because I can already tell that this is gonna be long.

So, what's so interesting about Vega for me? Firstly, I ADORE the way that Erik approaches "morally grey" with him. Like, I love grey morals, but I really don't like it when a character is just mysterious for mystery's sake, y'know? But with Vega? There are REASONS.

Reason one: He's old as fuck. No but fr, I LOVE this example of immortality and living for millennia. We always talk about how being immortal would kinda suck because all of our friends and loved ones would die and all that. This guy? He's been there, done that. Vega has existed for so long; it makes so much sense that he's disillusioned to stuff like death or suffering. Which brings me to my next point..

Reason two: Not only is he old -- he's an old sadism demon. So, not only has this dude witnessed people dying and suffering, he's BEEN THERE. Hell, he's probably been causing it for thousands of years. I mean, everybody's gotta eat, right? Which, when you think about it, would make the outcome of the Cacophony so much worse for him. For all we know, the Vega that coalesced ages ago was a kind and gentle daemon, but when they imprisoned the Sovereigns, and he found out that he had to feed on the worst kinds of feelings? He would've had to bury that part of himself to SURVIVE. It's crazy man.

Another thing, the way this man plays manipulator is so insane. Like, he doesn't outright lie, he just tells the truth when and where it suits him. And he never makes himself out to be a victim or a good person. He gives explanations for his actions (sometimes), but never full-on excuses. That line about "Warden" being complicit in his actions after he told them that he was going to hurt people? If they didn't go to the Department, then yeah, they would be complicit. Speaking of the Department..

HE'S GIVES PEOPLE AN OUT. And it's in a VERY manipulative way (because I'm only talking about Prime rn). He keeps an air of mystery around "Warden" to draw them in. He knew that they were curious about him, like genuinely curious, and he played on that BIG TIME. He made a whole big deal out of his plans and kept them vague so Warden would naturally be curious about them. Then, and ONLY then, is when he reminded them that they "could leave at any time." Motherfucker KNEW that Warden would not leave his side.

And the indications of his character? He's said that everything he does is in service of his plans. So like, did that include getting caught? Was he aware of "Warden's" existence beforehand? Is he just using them? And that's the best part: WE DON'T FUCKING KNOW! Vega's manipulation is written so well that even we, as listeners, have no idea if he's truly opening up to "Warden" or not. Unreal.

Anyway, that's getting into theory territory, and I'm not about to open that box (yet). Focusing on canon stuff again, he's powerful as hell but is so subdued about it. He doesn't flaunt it beyond saying things like, "If I wanted, I could have you curled up at my feet like a dutiful puppy." And that's just.. true. No hubris on this man whatsoever. He knows his strength, and he isn't going to play it up. That'd be stupid. He might play it down though but once again that's theory territory.

And, to address the elephant in the room, the VOICE?! So so pretty. I literally get lost in how smooth it is. I made a post when Vega's new audio came out about how I had to relisten to it because his voice was so pretty it was distracting, and I just want you all to know that that is a very common occurrence for me. It's so pleasant to listen to, and part of me wonders if that's part of his manipulation as well. Like, he purposefully trained his voice like that so that it was pleasing to hear, and it made people more willing to listen? Either way though, easily one of my favorite voices on the channel (Anton's climbing quickly tho).

The fact that he's SUCH a manipulator makes him such a good character to reveal lore and foreshadowing through. Because guess what? You bet your ASS that there's gonna be some doubt there. This man has ONE audio that doesn't have either a [gaslighting], [manipulation], or [threatening harm] tag. ONE! So of course we're gonna doubt it. That means more mystery for us and more theory fodder for people like me who read way too deep into things.

..also thank you @fluffsoo for the ask!

Edit starts here!

Okay, we're back. And funny enough, I just had an in-depth conversation with a friend about a character in a book we're reading for class that we see as irredeemable. So, now I feel like talking about redemption, and along that line, how interesting it is that Vega doesn't care about being redeemed.

I love characters that are set in their goals. Vega is one driven son of a bitch -- he has his plans and fuck is he gonna see them through. And the sentiment of "no matter what it takes" is so much more interesting here. As I mentioned above, he's been exposed to the worst aspects of human emotion since the Cacophony, which explains why he's so numb to the pain of others. It's been part of his daily existence for thousands of years. So, what does he care if he has to break a few eggs to make an omelet? It's nothing new to him, and as far as he's concerned, humans do it to each other all the time. He's seen it happen millions of times over the years. Why should he care about hurting them if they don't seem to care about doing it to each other?

And his disinterest in redemption is only further shown by him not really caring that humanity will benefit if his plans come to fruition. His only focus is how it will benefit his people, who he knows have suffered for millenia longer than any human ever could. It's as he says, "The long run is the only thing that matters to [him]." Vega has no care for humans at all. He has no qualms about using them, in whatever way he must, to reach his goal.

HOWEVER, that's all his cruelty toward any human ever is. It isn't born out of hatred or disgust; what's the point in hating a being that's so much weaker than you are? He doesn't hold grudges because grudges slow progress. He doesn't seek vengeance because that would get him sidetracked. Nothing he does to humans is ever truly personal, and that's such a fascinating thing to dive into. Every cruel and vile thing he does is in service of his plans -- making him single-minded, but in an infinitely interesting way. The reason why he's so quick to jump to violent measures is because, like it or not, that's the quickest way to ensure that you get what you want. He doesn't care that it's wrong. It's efficient. That's all that matters.

Anyway, I could go on forever about this. Vega is genuinely such a well-written villain (with a voice that's pleasing as fuck to match), and I really love looking into all of the complex characters in the Redacted lore. I could write essays upon essays about characters like Regulus, Blake, Morgan, "Cutie" etc., and y'know, I just might :D

[crossdressingdeath]

I just realized: Alistair dumping the leadership responsibilities onto you also makes Wynne annoying or even more annoying depending on how you play. Like she is all over you preaching about "responsibility" and "you are a Grey Warden, you have a duty" and bla bla bla. Meanwhile Alistair is over there literally shirking HIS duty for no other reason than "I don't wanna."

Why is Morrigan the only one to question this shit!?

The thing that really bothers me is that Wynne acts like Alistair's kindly old granny. Like, she's darning his clothes and fussing over his injuries and generally acting like your typical grandmother and it's all just sooooooo sweet... and then she's constantly getting on the Warden's case for not being the perfect darkspawn-killing Blight-ending machine to the point of lecturing them about duty over things like having (at the time) casual sex? Even though Alistair actively refuses to take on the responsibilities of a Warden, Wynne doesn't get on his case about it! In fact, having gone through her banters with him, if you romance Alistair she encourages it on his end... while telling the Warden to back off because duty and responsibility. ...Which, thinking about it, what was she going to do if she successfully hyped Alistair up over the relationship and successfully talked the Warden into breaking it off...? Odd choice there. But yeah, Wynne seems to forget that Alistair is also a Warden and so should also be responsible for ending the Blight. Whatever his reasons may have been for not taking charge, Alistair has very firmly refused the responsibility that should be his, and instead of lecturing him the way she does the Warden (who, reminder, is taking on their own share of responsibility in ending the Blight and picking up all of Alistair's slack) Wynne babies him! It's such a blatant double standard!

And I mean, Bioware could've gone somewhere interesting with that by suggesting that Wynne's so much nicer and more forgiving to Alistair than she is to the Warden because Alistair's a former Templar and she has the usual Circle trauma that's making her want to suck up to him to avoid trouble in a way she doesn't feel the need to suck up to the Warden. But they didn't do that (in fact when he asks she insists he doesn't make her uncomfortable in any way and that Templars are necessary), so we're just left with the sense that Wynne's being incredibly unfair and blatantly playing favourites!

[faux-fires]

(Not-a) Drabble-a-day #5

let us hold a memorial service for the 200 word a day limit because i clearly do not know her. rip my ability to keep things concise at the moment i’m taking anything under 1k as a victory

(h)anders not-a-drabble day #5, prompt, “Naked”, some (relatively) non-explicit sexy times herein

The night had been going great, but it was what happened after they fucked that throws Anders for a loop.

His experience has taught him that fucking is the climax (so to speak) of the evening, followed by a hasty separation lest you get caught. Even in the Pearl he got bounced out after finishing, Madame needing the bed for someone else.

But Hawke wants to cuddle, and Anders, unsure how it works, submits to it with a white-eyed tension that almost undoes all the good work getting his back blown out did an hour before. He's handsy. He keeps kissing Anders, on the face sure but also on the throat and chest and arms; his beard is whisper-soft. And he won't stop petting Anders, stroking his hand along the curve of his shoulder, sweeping his thumb over his ribs, fingers seeking out knots of scar tissue and tracing them with a calm acceptance Anders has no idea what to do with.

Anders knows he can be... intense. He doesn't know how not to be; the emotions are too big for him to keep inside. But he has absolutely no idea what to do with the quiet contentment on Hawke's face, the satisfaction he sees there. Perhaps it's a sex thing? Carefully he offers, "I should be ready for another round in about fifteen minutes," and when Hawke's eyes widen, adds, "Grey Warden, remember?"

"Maker's furry arse crack," Hawke breathes, his reverent tone making his blasphemous words something of a mixed message. "It's like you stepped right out of the Fade," and Anders must have misheard, because he's not - that's not - that cannot be him.

He's mean. He's paranoid. He's crazy. He's angry. He lives in a fucking sewer. He literally almost killed a helpless child not even twelve hours ago, and he feels himself flinch, but before he can open his mouth and say any of this Hawke's eyes go soft and he says, "Stay with me, love."

Anders swallows. "Where else would I go?"

Hawke shrugs. "I don't know," he says, and he rolls on top of Anders, then, in a fluid motion - Anders is aware he's flushing, his skin singing with the ghosts of before, which is ridiculous because Anders once sucked off a senior enchanter under a dining table ten minutes before curfew. He once got fingered by Neria Surana in a laundry closet right in front of a Tranquil, whose only comment was to ask him not to come on the clean towels. He once took himself in hand in the baths of the apprentice dorm with a templar wandering up and down the tubs, and came while making direct eye contact. He cannot be blushing, now, here, because Hawke is lying naked atop him, looking at him with affection.

How humiliating it is, to be brought down not by the amazing sex or the flowery words exchanged leading up to the moment, but by the aftermath - for the gentle touch of Hawke's calloused palms against his hips, the whiskery press of his beard to Anders's throat as he kisses his way along Anders' jawline. He's had so much sex, and none of it ever felt like this - the vulnerability not just of being still abed after the act but in being loved. His breathing is too quick and he's blinking too fast and Hawke doesn't seem to mind, not even slightly, and is instead treating him like something fragile: something to be treasured.

Once Anders got caught in the infirmary after hours with two other apprentices and a well-polished wooden wand, and paraded back to the dorm by Gregoir himself, not allowed time to dress: and he still felt more clothed then than he does now, when Hawke kisses him so sweetly and says, "Would you like that sandwich now, or after?"

Maker's furry arse crack, indeed.

[catbeam19]

Let's Play Dragon Age: Origins - part one

in honour of dragon age veilguard coming out in a few months time, i decided to start another playthrough of one of my favourite games of all time, dragon age origins ❤

here is my character, areola. it means "beautiful" in spanish ♥

she's a human warrior so i'm putting all of her attribute points into strength.

she also dabbles in marijuana cigarettes every now and then so her secondary skill is herbalism 💚

this game is known for being incredibly easy so i'll be playing on the hardest difficulty #professionalgirlgamers

right from the jump this leathery old turtle looking geriatric is trying to have sex with me. why does this happen everywhere i go?

then duncan arrives and tells me that there's an incoming barb invasion and tries to recruit me into the grey wardens. naturally father doesn't want me to join, but not only am i going to join, i'm also going to have sex with every other grey warden in the joint

my dad tells me to go tell my brother about some shit. idk i wasn't listening but along the way i bump into some jehovah's witnesses. sorry hunny but the only deity i worship is lana del rey ❤

some random ginger tells me my dog broke into the kitchens so i go to investigate. madonna has the audacity to insult my dog because i told her that madame x was a huge flop

WTF there are swifties in the larder.. time to put them down i guess

i named my dog patricia only to find out he identifies as a man. sorry for dead naming you pat 💔 #loveislove #transrightsarehumanrights #priDEMONth

so far every man i've come across has wanted to sleep with me and you know what? i think i will

he seems receptive to my advances. i'll be riding that thick uncut cock like meat toboggan in no time

dick appointment secured 💓

finally i find my brother and sadly he didn't inherit the good looking genes from our parents like i did 💔

i have three holes for a reason

jesus christ is that a fucking goblin

time to get my back blown out and... WTF

i will get my revenge on those cock blockers if it's the last thing i do..

i kill some guys and find my mother. apparently my meat toboggan's murderers belong to the guy who was hitting on me at the start of the game. jealous RAT

oh thank god they killed the ugly child

made my way to the family treasury room and found some weapons. still no sign of my rose toy though

look at them fighting for my hand in marriage ❤

found my father and he's not in good shape. oh well. i've been waiting on the inheritance anyways

duncan materializes into thin air and offers to make me a grey warden. didn't even have to suck him off or nothing (not from a lack of trying though)

mother wants to become a martyr after i've already given her a bunch of weapons and armour.. are you fuckign serious right now? those were mine you thieving CUNT

join me in part two where i travel with duncan to ostagar to fight the barb invasion ♥

[mourn-and-watch]

hype q&a !!!! 6, 17, 18 please :D

6. Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have?

oh i sure as hell do

i've been cooking her up since 2020 and it seems there are going to be opportunities to actually implement some of these ideas so. my rook's name is rel, short for something she really doesn't like. she's an elf and antivan crow and also a disaster because she should be addicted to shutting the fuck up and also choose her friends better. she's a wholehearted believer in "you only live once" motto and she really doesn't appreciate the idea of her life turning into hell for the sake of an ancient empire or something so yeah. fuck that old guy and fuck everyone who cares more about redeeming him than actually preventing his stupid plans! yeah even if you're a bestselling author. yeah even if you were the leader of the inquisition. and she's going to be loud about that. and also make out with women sloppy style while going through a whole pack of attachment issues for backstory reasons.

also my brain is working in dragon age mode non-stop now so. i'm also thinking about a grey warden guy and a mourn watch guy (gender neutral) but i don't want to get too excited about them before my first playthrough

17. Are you interested in all the lore and speculation or do you focus more on the games and stories themselves?

to me lore is an important part of the story so yeah! it's not like i'm the lore expert or something because i'm quite unobservant and haven't gotten my hands on all the da media even after all these years but i still have my silly little theories and i'm thrilled by the idea that we can get answers on some of the questions that unironically kept me up at night. give me that blight lore. elven lore. dwarven lore. anything. i won't shut up about it especially if i was right about something

also it's simply cool to read all the speculations and metas now. we finally got new stuff to discuss and it feels so good to see this fandom that active

18. Which aspect of fandom are you most looking forward to?

tbh pretty much everything. all the new fanart and gifs and edits are absolutely gorgeous and i can't wait to find out more about the plot and new characters so writers can also join the party myself included. as i said it's just so cool to see this fandom thriving because it is the thing i've been invested in the most for years and while i was pretty comfortable discussing the same stuff over and over because it was still fun to me it's just so... inspiring to experience something new? new art! new fics! new ocs! new silly tumblr posts! maybe new friends even! what's not to love

i mean. there's still a chance the game will suck for a whole bunch of reasons but i really don't care that much. i intend to have a good time here no matter what

the veilguard hype q&a

[vigilskeep]

I'm so happy youre having a good time, but I can't fathom supporting Loghain after what he's done. I get that he had his reasons, and I'm sure they were valid, but I love Alistair too much, I don't think I could do it.

oh yeah, i mean, i want to say, this is not me being a loghain is right truther or anything. that old man sucks fundamentally and did genuinely terrible things! (he also had reasons to think the way that he did. both of those things can be true.) for me, i don’t really ever personally hate fictional characters unless they’re badly written. i just happen to not be built that way; i’m always just kind of aware that’s a made-up guy who did made-up things and i can’t take it that seriously. so i’m less interested in um getting the “right” conclusion to the story where characters i approve of get good endings and the characters i disagree with bad endings, than in making them play out a fun story.

i think it’s stellar writing that you can put your true kind-hearted friend to a test of his loyalties that he won’t pass because he wants a man dead. i think loghain is an extremely interesting character to spend more time with and give a greater role in the narrative. i love to explore the morality of the grey wardens and their willingness to recruit anyone if it gets the job done. i want to play around with all of those ideas. also i care about making a divisive character who feels real and who makes choices as strong as any npc. i don’t really care whether or not i would spare loghain, but i do care if minerva would and why

i’m going on and on here but what i’m trying somewhat awkwardly to explain is that this is how i play the game because of what personally interests me but not wanting to do it for your reasons is another perfectly good way to play the game! i adore alistair too and i love to see content from people who romanced and lived happily ever after with him or were best friends. on the same level, i’m not strong enough to take the landsmeet options to have alistair killed or exiled, but i’d still be interested in what people do with that in their playthroughs. spiritually we are all doing parallel play here

[savingthrcw]

@freedcmscall continuing from this

"Hey, could've been worse. You could've been the idiot who supported the Circle and the Templars like Yours Truly here did." Served them well that she had become so influential after severing her bond with them.

But she was glad she could always have a laugh with Anders - after walking away from most of her friends, after losing her magic, Neria had been distant. Her actions were, of course, still always aimed to help, and she was there for others if they needed a hand, but she wasn't as ready to have conversations, or let them be there for her. Her only explanation for not having magic had been 'I lost it, it's gone' and then having a few drinks with Oghren to deal. And then there was Anders. Anders, and moments like this, that made her want to leave her shell for a little.

"Okay... I'm so sorry for what's about to happen, Anders, truly, but... I'm going to have to be serious with you for a minute, no jokes, no evading. And I suck at it, so let's try to make this quick and painless, alright? I'll just say the thing and move on."

She took a deep breath, and then actually put a hand over Anders' shoulder to face him and let him see that she meant her words: "I am going to find your phylactery, and I'm going to destroy it. But before that happens, and after that happens... you are a Warden. So you are never, ever, going back to the Circle. We are not going to betray our own. And when I die, Alistair will be the one in charge, and he feels the exact same way. If they try to take you by force they know damn well it will mean war with the Grey Wardens, but considering that I helped everyone I met ever since I left the Circle, and people know this, and hundreds have watched me kill an Archdemon and still hail me when I walk into any Ferelden city... I don't think they can afford that anymore. Now, feel free to insult the Chantry and this whole stupid system as much as you want... but I want to hear it from me, at least once, that I am never going to give you up and you don't need to be afraid you'll actually go back. You are one of us, you are not a Circle mage anymore. And they can choke on that." Had they not been so busy running around over this new threat, she'd have already pulled a Duncan and walked into the Circle Tower to demand the blood. "Understood?"

[dragonagebanter]

Alistair: So what's the deal with you and him, anyway? Dare I ask? Morrigan: Him? Him who? Is this supposed to mean something to me? Alistair: You know exactly who I'm talking about. Mister Let's-Make-Kissy-Faces over there. Morrigan: My, my. You are jealous, aren't you? Did I take your favorite Grey Warden away from you? Alistair: What? I'm not jealous! I'm horrified. Morrigan: Those blushing cheeks of yours tell a different tale Alistair: These blushing cheeks are terrified that you'll suck all the blood out of them once you're done with him. Morrigan: If I feel the need to suck on anything of yours, Alistair, you'll be the first to know. Alistair: That... was so not what I meant. Morrigan: Perhaps we should go and tell him together of your touching concerns? Perhaps he'll pay more attention to you if you ask nicely. Alistair: Uh-huh. I think we're done here. Morrigan: Done before you started, in fact.

[sharkface-daydreams]

i don’t know dragon age so give me. either your favorite or most niche dragon age ship

🥺🥹💜 ask dragon age for me.... 💜💜💜💜

well my favorite of all time is a pc/canon ship but not a canon romance but i did think of a niche npc/npc ship that has recently made me feel like eating glass lmao so i did two

i attempted to give some context but not completely infodump >< idk if that was achieved lol

My Grey Warden who has to go save the world after being recruited from a no-caste nothing on the underbelly of dwarven society fell for a guy you can't romance bc his culture is the Qun, which dictates basically your role and existence since you're born. They don't do like romance or marriage or whatever bc genetics are dictated by people who manage that. (Although some people do escape and live outside of that) His name is his job title. But he's a good man, a good soldier and a good friend and Torani Brosca respects the shit out of him so she keeps her feelings to herself. But yes she'll fight by his side and find his missing sword and stay as close as she can 🥺 and she never ever thinks of herself and her wants bc everything went towards her sister's chances of getting the family married up out of poverty so she really doesn't examine the feelings either it's just. I want to be close to you. Always. 😭

Uuuuunfortunately in my canon playthrough she takes the final hit in the last boss fight to kill the big bad and dies :( Beforehand she asked Sten to return her sword to her sister in Orzammar so Rica could have something to remember her by. She technically could have lived but that involves a mage party member fucking someone so she could have a baby and uh. suck the undying soul of the Arch demon into the unborn vessel instead of requiring a Warden to essentially cancel it out by killing it and... i don't actually remember the specific mechanics but a Warden specifically has to die in order for the big bad to STAY dead bc they have a like. half vaccinated version of the blight that kills them extremely slowly. But dorfs have such a low reproduction rate and the only way for them to get out of castelessness was for Rica to have a nobles baby and marry up... so Tor was like no i am not forcing anyone into that I'll just take the hit. 😔 so there's glass snack #1.

glass snack #2 is from the Dragon Age Inquisition DLC The Descent so this'll be spoilery lol but omg Renn and Valta

Ok. Dwarves live underground, are immune to magic and the magic ore only they can dig up bc it kills anyone else. There's a group called Legion of the Dead who are socially dead, they literally have a funeral for them when they leave, and they go into the old deep roads and protect the city from the Dark spawn until they die out there with their boots on. This is what Renn does. Valta is an archivist who's been essentially put on bitch work bc she pissed off a higher-up by not erasing something really trivial from their records. And we're down there helping them figure out why the earthquakes are suddenly nuts. It seems like they've been working side by side for years and Renn either has a specific task or personal obligation to defend her while she's in the dangerous tunnels and old roads, I'm not sure which. But while they bicker a LOT there's soooooo much fondness underneath all that and they care about each other so fiercely and honestly we don't get a whole lot of conversation and banter even but what we do get is just fucking LOADED with meaning and I'm just *eats drywall* about it

ough and when he dies defending us from some threat we've never faced before she's even more determined to figure this out so he hasn't died in vain auuuurghh god so many things ending in tragedy but in the meanwhile.... the meanwhile is so good 😩 and that dichotomy of already being 'dead' but still having reason to live, to fight for and protect someone. ough...

[houseaeducan]

what do the family dynamics of your hawkes look like and how are they different or similar? (inspired by the ask meme sibling question!!)

Omg thank you for this question. Much to unpack with these guys in all directions. Not sure where to start so I'll go hawke by hawke i guess (this post got so long so I'm putting it beneath the cut lol)

Caleb - GOD OKAY. caleb is my canon hawke so i have the most thoughts about him so this is about to be a mile long. caleb has a massive eldest daughter but a boy complex that primarily dates back to an incident as a child where he blames himself for his father almost being caught by the templars, but also only been reinforced over the years of trying to protect bethany and then stepping up as basically the head of the family after Malcolm died. i know Malcolm is supposed to have the same basic personality as hawke but my Malcolm in all worldstates except camillas (will get into that later) primarily has the blue/green personality and is like. a generally pretty upstanding guy who didn't want this life for his children but also knew there wasn't really any choice if he and his children were going to be free. he didnt want to raise his sweet eldest son to feel like he needed to be Protector of the Family but like. what else was he going to do. if Malcolm died or got captured by templars someone had to be ready for that. and as a result caleb has always kind of hero-worshipped his father and is constantly measuring himself against what he feels like Malcolm would have wanted him to do.

and that extends into caleb's messy relationship with carver, because if Malcolm saw caleb as his replacement, then caleb saw carver as his. and in a lot of ways it makes sense he expected the same from carver that he did from himself: they're both boys, both non-mages, both two-handed warriors, I even hc they both take after the hawke side of the family physically while beth takes after the amell side. but caleb expecting so much out of carver also makes carver resent him, and when carver tries to confide in him about how much he hates having their lives defined by magic, caleb takes it as like a personal betrayal against the family and doesn't want to engage with it. (also the girl carver had a crush on had a crush on caleb which was so unfair and unbearable for poor carver). it's not like he's mean to carver or anything, but he's definitely not understanding in the way he could be and this isn't something that hits until carver dies. which sucks and is something he's going to feel guilty about forever :/

he has the pretty typical hawke relationship with leandra i think. he wants his mom to like him and he knows she loves him but. its hard sometimes. leandra is hard to deal with and when she's disappointed in him it's another reflection of the way he feels like he's failing his father. and then BETHANY he loves bethany and by the end of things she's the only family he has left. after a lifetime of doing everything to protect her seeing her become a grey warden is honestly agonizing bc she's so miserable and there's nothing he can do about it but it gives bethany the space to work through her negative feelings about all she's been through and i ultimately think she comes out better for it

catherine - my og hawke :) i think her dynamic with Malcolm and leandra wasn't unlike calebs but just wayyyyy less intense bc catherine is simply less inclined to take things So Fucking Personally. from an early age she learned sometimes you have to stab some guys to protect your family and its fine. that's just how it is. i don't think she and carver were super close but they had a pretty classic older/younger sibling relationship. they loved each other and bickered and cat never took carver's shit too seriously bc he was her dumb kid brother. catherine was also really protective of beth tho and when she went to the circle and then liked it there she took it PERSONALLY. bethany is actually probably her most fucked up and strained relationship in her family and out of all her companions. she loves her sister she would do anything for her but she also feels unbelievably betrayed that bethany is happy in a place she worked so hard to protect her from. they work it out eventually but i genuinely don't think they're on speaking terms for like another 5-10 years post da2

cassian - cassian hawke love of my life is a huge sweetheart but is frankly pretty self absorbed at the beginning of his story and really just did Not internalize any of the family pressure my other hawkes did. he's a talented mage who took malcolm's instruction seriously and is very nice to his mom and so managed to get through his whole childhood with a very nice relationship with his parents. i think he and bethany had a pretty solid relationship but were never close despite being honestly very similar people in many ways. the carver relationship was TENSE bc carver was wildly jealous of cassian (cassian is nice in a way that makes everyone like him, he's better looking so the girls all had crushes on him, he was always in good shape despite not needing to be as a mage, he got more attention from their father because he was mage, he was even just naturally good at magic and Malcolm was always commenting on it) and cassian just never really got why carver acted the way he did with him. their relationship does actually improve as its put through the test in kirkwall too (and as cassian gains more perspective on the world and has his arc) and they end the game friends

calliope - rebellious streak a mile wide. she never did blood magic while Malcolm was alive but she was always asking questions pushing the boundaries of what she was allowed to do and it worried the shit out of him. she was good though, and their relationship was overall positive, but he was always warning her about the consequences of going too far. i don't think leandra was as attuned to that honestly, and it wasn't something Malcolm ever brought up to her because he didn't want to worry her. calliope was always pushing back against leandra and challenging her when she felt like she was wrong but at their core they both had a lot of love for each other. and cal LOVED bethany. would have and probably did kill for bethany. and bethany loved calliope a lot albeit in a "that's my crazy older sister” kind of way and was terrified when she realized she had started doing blood magic. that caused some fighting between them but honestly cal just never took bethany's objections particularly seriously. the carver relationship is more complicated bc they never got along and calliope was such a bitchy older sister to him. and carver knew EXACTLY what cal was even if he wouldn't say it. frankly cannot rlly blame him for joining the templars. there is still a lot of love there though, and as much as they might fight with each other they wouldn't hesitate to defend the other if they were in danger

camilla - PLAY DADDY LESSONS BY BEYONCE. so malcolm in this worldstate had the red personality just like his daughter and also had the same expectations for camilla that caleb internalized just. more intensely. my read of Malcolm (in all world states) is that despite being an apostate he still has a very conventional circle educated philosophy of magic and (in this worldstate) i think impressed hard on bethany, as well as carver and cam, the importance of highly disciplined magic, the importance of being an exceptional mage who didn't make mistakes lest the results be dire). this translated into cam being pretty brutal when it came to protecting her family but also having a very critical outlook on mages despite coming from a family of apostates. she loved and admired her father for being a strong, disciplined man, and also hated him sometimes too for condemning them to a life on the run. she wanted her mother to love her soooo bad and I'm sure she did but leandra just never responded to her intense, easily angered daughter as well as she did to sweet little bethany. cam got along with both her siblings like. fine. growing up. they fought sometimes, they played sometimes, she wasn't particularly close with either as teens. carver's death is hard on her, but not like leandra's is years later. she finally gets the validation she always wanted from her mother at the moment of her death and its AWFUL. it sends her down a spiral -- leandra was killed by blood mages, who camilla has always hated, and of course she finds orsino's note in quentin's lair. the circle is complicit in blood magic, probably all the mages around her are as well. they all as good as killed her mother. she and bethany almost patch things up in the legacy quest, but when orsino uses blood magic in the final battle, camilla is certain that bethany is a blood mage too and has betrayed their mother, betrayed their father, betrayed her too and lets Meredith kill her. yoinks

[rosykims]

ok. ok. i think im finally (mostly) settled on elspeth's ending and her handling of the landsmeet in particular. illegible hysteria below

i spent like 20 hours of this game hyping up an alistair/anora alliance but i dont think i can do it in practice im too weak Lol. BUT i do like the idea of trying it anyway and it falling apart bc everything always falls apart in this universe. so yeah, alistair does do the dual in the end, despite what i said the other day (he's the one who at this point wants to be king. so why not) much to ella's horror. the detail i mentioned about loghain being the only person to defeat her in her tourney days still carries symbolic weight, because it was ELLA who trained and mentored and levelled alistair up through the blight. shes like babe if i cant beat him you shouldnt risk it !! and so him then BEATING loghain regardless is a nice lil "student surpasses the teacher" moment and also drives home that ella is a good commander and theyre both stronger than they were.

ofc this means alistair obviously goes rogue and does what he does at the end of the fight — regardless of the promises of mercy ella made to anora and their attempts at an alliance lol. which sucks and its not as neat a solution, but emotions were high and its understandable and also L + ratio + loghain sold elves into slavery. ella got her vengeance over howe earlier so shes like sigh ok anyways. SO. the alliance is a bust, but alistair is hardened anyway so its not the end of the world. he rules alone post canon with ella still as adviser and his mistress, BUT :) im thinking about him refusing to take a wife in this path, specifically because he's trying to convince ELLA to marry him and make it official. she always rejects him but its in an ahaha.... unless 👀 kinda way that encourages him to keep trying. i mean the only reason she doesnt feel like she can is bc Duty and Responsibilities and Obligations blah blah blah..... ALL of which she could still honor while being queen. so yeah. completing her story and having her reaffirm her grey warden duty + alistair's king duty, and their mutual dark ritual sacrifice, but with the open ended possibility that a happier ending IS possible at some point ! when she's ready ! maybe after she cures the taint :) who knows

[howyouducan]

Thinking about what would've been my PCs' reactions if their game plots had been switched

Noraak Adaar becoming a Grey Warden wouldn't have changed the timeline all that much. She might've made less biased decisions, actually. She wouldn't have liked the Joining, but she would've gotten it over with and taken the rest in stride. Would've probably ended up with more depression, seeing as DA:I was basically a life journey for her and being the Warden wouldn't have filled that need. And Alistair would not have liked her as much, because Lady Aeducan was a literal commander, whereas Noraak doesn't like leadership roles and prefers to be a loner.

And for the long term, Noraak never wanted to hold the title of Inquisitor forever; she does not like having ties to large organizations. So she would most likely try to defect from the Grey Wardens like Anders did.

Audrun, on the other hand, would have lost her shit. She's just gotten out of the Deep Roads, and on the FUCKING MOUNTAIN she just climbed out of, EVERYTHING EXPLODES and she's SUCKED INTO THE FADE and blacks out. And when she comes to, she's a suspect for murdering a figure of a religion that she KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT and has a glowing thing on her hand that people say is magic???? WHAT does that EVEN MEAN. Everyone would be like "Save Us :(" and, having just escaped certain death after familial betrayal, she'd be like "Why should I. Who are you people." Forget being the Herald, she would flat-out deny that she even knows what an Andraste is. The only point at which she'd feel more comfortable is when she becomes the Inquisitor, and that's over a quarter way through the game I think? It's a good chunk of time. Audrun Aeducan would be stubborn and loud and Leliana would not like her for this role lolol

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I can actually see that, and if you wanted to take it a step further, based on hair color you could probably make the argument that he's related to Irida, a Clan leader. She's the only one in the game other than him with yellow hair, iirc, bc Palina's is more reddish, and everyone else I can think of with light hair has either grey or blue. I can't remember any random npcs with it (though the clan folks do wear their hoods up so who knows). Not siblings, obviously, but first cousins perhaps. Which I think would lend itself well to him thinking he's the rightful champion of arceus, if he came from at least one parent who was fairly high up on the food chain. In any case, any resemblance to Cogita he has would be due to imitation, and the reason she puts up with him is because she's been a hermit for decades and is starved for company, even if she finds him kind of insufferable.

In an au where he is Cogita's kid, I think he'd certainly suspect, unless he's never looked at his reflection lol. No but honestly, I assume at least someone would have told him something about his mom, even if they didn't say who or where she was, and when they met he had enough pieces to guess. A lot of his issues with the clans could then be from the angle of him knowing they're wrong, so their fighting is literally pointless, and if he really wanted to leap to conclusions he could even go the "my mom's only out here all alone because she has to be a guardian of this mythical knowledge, which she wouldn't have to be guarding at all if they didn't insist on fighting" route. And then possibly something something that's why she didn't want to keep me. And the reason he thinks he's the rightful champion is, well, who else would be fit other than someone who has a whole family line of people who worshiped arceus specifically and by name, as she tells the player hers has.

So the funniest answer would be that all the wardens just straight up live in whatever den their noble holes up in, other than Iscan because he can't, which is why we see his tent and no one else's. I think expansion of Solaceon would make sense, although it'd probably be pretty contentious given that it's a sacred site. Unless it's done after the Diamond Clan is mostly gone, since if we assume pla is around the same time period as the Darkest Day/Kalos war then they'd probably still safely be called "ruins" by the time modern Sinnoh rolls around. I mean, sinking into the mountain is the only way Snowpoint Temple would make sense, right? Maybe Regigigas did it for some reason.

Oh shit, I kind of love the idea that the alpha gallade is her partner! Ralts are easy enough to get in both the mirelands and the icelands, small, psychic, and him being a fighting type would be good against all the ice types around. They're also apparently normally pretty short, only about 5'3", and are humanoid so he could ride with her. It'd make a lot of sense. That would really suck though, to have your partner get frenzied like that. Do you think the other wardens/leaders were worried how she'd handle it if Braviary became frenzied as well? Although that'd still leave the question of where she got the three she battles with currently. I feel like she'd probably have more than just gallade and Braviary, at least after gallade became frenzied, but... hm. Okay, what if, normally she has gallade to come with her at all times and rhyperior she has as a tank for when she's out walking or at home, since that's her highest level pokemon, but after gallade got frenzied she trained up the electivire she got as a pre-evelution in the icelands, and she was loaned the magmortor from, idk Ingo maybe since they're in the distortion bubbles there. Having a pokemon that's really, really good with hypnosis and is small enough to hitch a ride on her would be smart too, though, you're right. Maybe she got the chingling specifically to replace her ralts once it evolved.

How would that work for wardens who don't have a partner, like Lian? Unless they're loaned one for the trial, like if he borrowed one of Irida's or Gaeric's. That'd certainly make sense. What are your headcanons about that though?

Lmao, you're right, I didn't even notice how much that had shifted off topic

Sabi just rolls up one day to hang out, because Adaman told her Irida approved it, but none of the adults realized she wasn't a kid they knew for a couple of hours because their brains just instantly cataloged her as Pearl.

That's fair, and it's also probably easier to know how to react to someone when they have an official role you're familiar with. Ingo's weird and mysterious enough that it could be awkward for people as insular as them to interact with him, until he was made warden, and then suddenly they have template to go off of. Plus, as you said, wardens are kind of expected to be at least a little eccentric, so in that way he's not weird and different, just warden-typical weird. Lol, in the anthro au their biggest gripe isn't that he's weird, since I don't think he'd stay overly long in the icelands (or at least not out and about), but that he creeps them out.

oh now THAT'S interesting. one thing i found, when i was going around making notes on all the minor clan npcs for future naming reference, is that one of the older pearl clan people will comment that irida "never had playmates" aside from glaceon. and yeah, most other light-haired people in the clan have a light red/brown color, like palina and lian. i don't know if it indicates that his parents were important, considering clan leadership doesn't seem to be hereditary, but more than anything it adds an interesting angle to irdia's past, if one of her family members had a tryst with a diamond clan member during a time when that was even more heavily discouraged. if the clan knows about it, it would also put even more pressure on her to follow her clan's traditions and wishes, so she isn't accused of following in their footsteps. (hell, you could even make them half-siblings if you wanted, with irida being fully pearl.)

cogita's whole Deal is something that i kind of. frequently rewrite in my own stuff bc 1) i forgot most of it while i was writing oop and came up with my own ideas that i like better and 2) a bunch of it seems like it's there for no other reason than to make things overcomplicated and kind of uncomfortable. BUT. in any case what's obviously true is she's the keeper of knowledge that has been left to her to preserve and is doing exactly fuck all with it. she also implies that arceus-or-someone told her she had to help the next champion when they came, and that's the only reason she like. participates. i forgot what my point was

LMAO palina just living on firespit island i guess. as for solaceon, i mean, it is a sacred site, but i think it's also one built by humans to preserve the words of sinnoh, so in that sense i don't know that there'd be much of a problem with expanding it, as long as it was done to further its original purpose, and they could do it without damaging the original room. i could see regigigas sinking snowpoint... alternately, gigas is so heavy that it sunk naturally over time due to bearing that massive weight in the bottom level.

yeah, it is actually a pretty fun idea! gallade has a pretty good movespread and is a good counter against a lot of icelands mons, like you said. the only real danger would be... zoroark, which it would struggle to hit effectively at all, so maybe that's another reason she got rhydon and/or something with hypnosis. an alternative is that gallade isn't actually frenzied in snowpoint, but is just game-mechanically frenzied to represent that it's been ordered to try and stop you as a trial. because i feel like someone would have tried to help sabi unfrenzy her partner before now, if it was actually rampaging around in the temple being a danger to everyone.

i think it isn't required that wardens have a partner, just fairly common because part of the job is keeping an eye on the pokemon of a region and being able to handle yourself in a fight if it comes to that. so those without a partner would just be expected to evade/sneak by, or use their own devices to distract/incapacitate the pokemon. ...or, maybe most wardens go through the temple with their noble, and the only reason you don't is because you don't actually have one. hmm.

yeah lol, she blends in so well that the minder for the day didn't even notice the diamond clan clothing until the did a headcount and realized they had somehow acquired an extra kid

yeah, that's also true! once he's a warden they have sort of an idea where they stand in relation to him. whereas before they had no idea what relative social position they were in and it made things Weird. and yeah, creepy and also dying slowly. stop doing both of those please.