#lacklon absolution

[redmedic]

Here is some old fanart I did for Dragon Age: Absolution when that was just coming out. I loved Lacklon and Roland's dynamic, they were very funny and sweet.

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[biancadavri]

graphic design is my passion <3

[juls-art]

Quick sketches of the Absolution cast that i forgot to post oopsies -- Kofi | Patreon        

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Absolution

<<< Previous Review: Dark Fortress

This is the part of the list that gets a little... loosey goosey. Basically everything after Blue Wraith but before The Missing takes place in this weird, nebulous, in-between time. We know it's after Trespasser, after the Inquisition disbanded (per my and Bioware's canons) and before Veilguard, but we don't know when specifically. So, since we can't really say when these stories take place in relation to one another I'm just going to review them as I consume them :).

Title: Absolution Writers: Mairghread Scott, Mae Catt, and Tim Sheridan Release Year: 2022 In-World Year: ~9:45+ Verdict: Look. I love this fucking show. I'd watched it at least three times before I decided to do this big tie-in media marathon. And, I just rewatched it three times while convalescing with the flu this past week – turns out it's a very good comfort/sickie show. It does a wonderful job of orienting new viewers while not alienating old timers like myself, is fast-paced and fun, while also establishing a very interesting plot that could be vital to Veilguard. Basically, I highly recommend you commit to the three hours required to watch it.

Absolution introduces us to Miriam, a runaway slave from Tevinter, and her bff Roland (who may or may not be a chevalier?). The two are hired by Fairbanks to join his team for one last job for the Inquisition – steal a magic artifact from the Archon's Summer Palace. That's right, babes, Absolution is a heist story!

So, they team up with Fairbanks (Orlesian human rogue from Inquisition), Qwydion (lady Qunari mage!), Lacklon (dwarf warrior Lord of Fortune), and Hira (Tevinter human mage with whom Miriam has a romantic history), and head off for the city of Nessum. Of course, this is Dragon Age and nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

Miriam's former master, Magister Rezaren Ammosine, is in Nessum. In fact, he's the reason the artifact they're after (the Circulum Infinitus) is even in the city. He's studying it in the hopes of finding a non-blood magic means of activating it. Supposedly, the Circulum can restore life to the dead, resurrecting them to be the same as they were before. And he has a very certain someone he wants to bring back to life – Miriam's twin brother.

Without getting too deep in the details, Miriam and her brother were slaves raised alongside Rezaren, intended to become his bodyguards in adulthood. He claims to see them as his brother and sister, that they all were helpless in the face of his mother's abuse. And for a while the show does a good job of making us wonder if that's true. Certainly, Rezaren seems to believe it. At least until Miriam refuses to play along.

The heist does not go well. Fairbanks seemingly turns traitor, tries to kill Hira, and dies in the process. Hira is trapped in the vault, and Miriam is mortally wounded on the team's frantic way out. In a blood magic-fueled dream, Rezaren lays out his plans to Miriam, in the hopes it will convince her to rejoin him and the reanimated corpse of her brother. And, of course, it all boils down to the Magister's ambitions – he wants to become the next Divine of the Imperial Chantry, where he swears he will work to make Tevinter a better place. And yet, in his power fantasy, Miriam and her brother are still his bodyguards, just as they were trained to be. Even Rezaren doesn't seem to notice how deeply ingrained his view of them as "things" truly is.

So, obviously, Miriam and company aren't going to play nice with that guy. They hatch a plan to get Hira out of the palace, and things seem to be going their way for once. There's a lot of epic fight sequences, Qwydion is hilarious, and the romantic tension between Roland and Lacklon keeps ratcheting up. But when Hira makes a break for the safe house, the team follow her and start to get a whiff of the true betrayal.

The traitor was never Fairbanks (whose loyalty I never doubted!). He caught wind of Hira's true plan – to steal the Circulum from the Inquisition and deliver it to the Crimson Knight in Kirkwall – and was trying to put her down. I will never forgive this show for killing him, btw. I loved him so much! But Hira's real plan is even worse. All this time she'd struck a deal with Rezaren – return Miriam to him, and he'd let her have the Circulum once his ritual to restore her brother was complete.

Side note: Hira is stupid. There's no world where Rezaren actually lets her take the Circulum. None. So, she was willing to sell her (ex?)girlfriend into slavery for something that would never happen. And yeah, she makes a lot of promises about how she would have got Miriam back, how Miriam would have escaped, but we know Hira is a liar and a cheat and just as ambitious and driven as every other "Tevinter snake," as Miriam would say.

Anyway, there's a bunch more badass action involving blood magic, spirits, grenades, and a High Dragon (which again shows that dragon blood is extremely potent in magic rituals!). Roland and Lacklon finally kiss, and Miriam stabs Rezaren in the throat mid-meltdown. It's a beautiful end sequence. And even though the show is over, the team knows their work is just beginning.

Because Hira snuck off with the Circulum in all the chaos, and they know where she's headed. To Kirkwall. To the Crimson Knight... which appears to be a colony of sentient Red Lyrium, formerly known as Knight Commander Meredith Stannard. And she/they/it(?) is intent on seeing all of Tevinter burn. (insert my theories here about how the Blight causes feelings of intense hatred over time, as established in the book The Calling and further exemplified by the tainted Griffons in Last Flight.)

Obviously, I love this series and really wish we'd gotten a second season. There's just so much this show set up, surely we'll see more of team Absolution, whether in another season/show, in a comic or book, or... in Veilguard? Fingers crossed, y'all.

[quillfulwriter]

Tumblr TV is right

[wardencallings]

I cannot believe Absolution isn't getting a S2 that shit was so fun!!!

[pausegame]

Rewatching Absolution and hope cast crops up in future games 🥲 I would love Qwydion to be a companion eventually 🥺 also the plot is interesting and ends on a cliffhanger so I hope it has some sort of follow-up in Veilguard 👀

[libartz]

Gosh the best part of Absolution was the way Lacklon was like

Lacklon: Ugh I’m just here for the money, I don’t even like any of you people

Roland: *does anything*

Lacklon: 🫣🥺😤🥵

[valentineveils]

honestly i hope we get another season of absolution . or just like any tidbits of information / appearances abt the cast . miriam i miss u . if any of them get an appearance in veilguard i will be so so happy

[tigereyes45]

Pride Month MEP - Part 15 - Mari'lyn (Mariner x T’lyn) & Lackland (Lacklon x Roland)

[thepinkseat-askthemoonbunny]

Ok guys, just finished watching Dragon Age Absolution and I present to you…my thoughts: (warning, mild spoilers down below)

Miriam is my baby and I love her and I would kill for her. She gets to have all the complexity I like in a character and she ACTUALLY gets to be angry and bitter without being demonized for it! YAAAS QUEEN, POP OFF! And YAY, SAPPHIC REP!

Cinnamon roll Qwydion must be protected at all costs and I desperately hope she gets a blanket and a nice boyfriend (or girlfriend) that deserves her, but she’s only shown interest in dudes so far so yeah.

Dragon Age, if y’all kill Roland I’m gonna fucking riot. He’s the gay uncle I always wanted (I had a bit of a crush on him until that bubble was popped…but oh well, you can’t have everything you want).

These writers are fucking TALENTED as hell, cuz Rezaren legit had me fooled the first couple of episodes. I’m over here thinking “oh, morally grey wizards, my fave kind.” But no.

The way Lacklond was pretending not to give a shit when he so CLEARLY gave a shit will never not be funny. Like sir, just admit you care why don’t you?

[biancadavri]

what the hell did lacklon ever do in absolution? complaining all the way through? and looking good doing it? have his big beautiful doe eyes taking up 89% of the screen?? i'm in love with him

[snuffink]

I love seeing people scope out all of my Dragon Age, Lackland posts and like them all in a row. I see you, I know what you are

[timptoe]

Of Butterflies and Flying Dwarves

I have a problem. And that problem is I want to put all my favorite grumpy characters on hoverboards.

Remember that spell Hira used to fly on a disk of pure magic? Qwydion sure does, and she's determined to make it work—whether Lacklon likes it or not.

aka the Dragon Age: Absolution fic I worked on to help me delay finishing Mass Effect so fast. 

Read the whole thing on Ao3.

--

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit look out!”

A scream, followed by the crash of broken branches, followed by a groan. A familiar pattern. The fourth time this has happened in the last hour.

Ugh.

“What in the name of the Ancestors is she doing over there?” Lacklon grumbles.

“Magic, I think,” Roland responds, his honey-coated accent positively dripping with mirth.

They’ve been traveling on the road for a little over a week now, tracking Hira through the wilds of Tevinter. Lacklon would be just fine leaving her to the wolves and moving on to another job, but no he apparently has friends now and they’ve all decided to do the noble thing and chase her down to get that sodding magic circle thing back. Buncha dumbasses.

Roland shifts where he’s sitting with Lacklon against a fallen log, idly brushing against Lacklon’s shoulder. Well, maybe there are a few perks to staying.

Qwydion pokes her head out of the bush she’d fallen into, wide perpetual grin stretched across her face. “Guys! Guys! Did you see that?”

“Yeah, I saw you fall face-first into a bush,” Lacklon calls over, “so if that’s what you were aiming for, you know, congratulations.”

Roland nudges him with his elbow. “It was a good attempt, Qwydion.” He leaves his elbow against Lacklon’s shoulder, and Lacklon doesn’t move away.

“What’re you trying to do, anyway?” Lacklon thinks he does a pretty good job keeping his voice steady despite the butterflies in his stomach. “Because we’re trying to keep a low profile here and all the, you know, noise over there ain’t what I’d call stealthy.”

“Ah, you worry too much,” the qunari mage says, brushing the leaves off of her sleeve and striding across the clearing to where the pair are sitting. “Miri already scouted around here and there’s nothing but birds and trees for miles. I’m fine!”

Lacklon stares at the footlong branch tangled up in her horns. “Right. Fine.”

Roland chuckles and leans a bit harder into Lacklon’s arm. The butterflies dance faster. “Still no luck in replicating Hira’s spell?” the Orlesian asks.

Qwydion harrumphs and drops down next to them, trying to detach the wayward branch from the gold loop on her right horn. “I’ve got the basic principle, I think, but force magic isn’t my speciality. Making things go—“ here, she makes a pa-chooo noise “—is. It’s a different kind of energy focus, creation instead of destruction, especially trying to create a circle of pure magic I can stand on.” She pouts. “It’s tough.”

Roland chuckles again. “Do not worry. I am sure you will get it right.”

She flops over backward and twists her head up at him, grinning again. “Thanks Roland.”

“I don’t get why this is such a big deal,” Lacklon grumps. “Hira’s terrible. Stands to reason any magic she can cast is terrible, too.”

Qwydion frowns from her upside-down position. “Magic isn’t terrible. Magic isn’t good or bad, it just is. It’s who and how you use it that gives it a moral, you know, whatever.” She pauses for a moment. “But I do agree with you that Hira is terrible.”

“Regardless,” Roland says gently, “it is fascinating to watch you work.”

“Fascinating, hilarious, same thing,” Lacklon mutters under his breath. 

Qwydion impishly sticks her tongue out at him.

“Perhaps we can help?” Roland casually twines his fingers with Lacklon’s, which has the effect of stopping Lacklon from continuing to poke fun at their companion. Mostly because those butterflies have decided to have the dance battle to end all dance battles in his stomach.

Damn, this guy is smooth.

“I may not know magic,” the warrior continues, as if he has no idea at all what he’s doing to Lacklon by oh-so-gently brushing the heel of Lacklon’s palm with his thumb, “but sometimes talking it out helps. And I do know something about tactics.” He lightly squeezes Lacklon’s hand once, never breaking eye contact with Qwydion.

Fucking smooth.

“Sure! Couldn’t hurt, right?” Qwydion springs up and crouches in the dirt in front of them, completely oblivious to Lacklon’s currently tenuous grip on reality. She rapidly marks out a series of glyphs and runes in the dirt as she talks. “Okay, so take elemental magic. When I pull raw magic out of the Fade, I can just tell what it wants to be, you know? Like, say, if I want to throw a lightning bolt, I find the energy that’s most, you know, lightning-ish and I pull on it and then it’s there. If I want to make a wall of fire, I focus on the area where I want that wall the happen and then pull some fire-y energy out and it becomes fire, you know? I mean, it’s a little more complicated than that, especially when you get into the more destructive stuff, but that’s essentially what it feels like.”

Roland blinks. “Have you ever—“

“I’ve never been to school for this, no, self-taught Tal Vashoth over here!” Qwydion laughs nervously. “Anywho force magic is different. You pull the threads of raw magic and then shape the energy in a specific way. Like with Hira’s spell: the raw energy is shaped into a disc and then told, you know, stay. Except,” she leans forward conspiratorially, “magic doesn’t like being told what to do like that. Especially when you’re making something semi-permanent like that disc. The energy is always trying to separate and go back to the Fade. Keeping it present is the part I keep messing up.”

She cocks her head at them, hope shining in her eyes. “So…that’s where I am. Thoughts?”

Lacklon looks at Roland, who has the dazed expression of someone who just got brained by the short end of a long sword. How is it possible he even looks cute when he’s confused?

The Orlesian shakes it off after a moment. “Haha, yes,” he laughs faintly, “that does sound like a problem.”

“You have no idea what I just said, do you,” Qwydion says flatly.

“Not a clue,” he admits.

“Uuugh, why am I so bad at this?” she groans in frustration. “Is it because I’m self-taught? Other mages don’t seem to have a problem getting their point across but whenever I try it everything comes out—“

“What if you put it in something?” Lacklon muses.

Qwydion stops and stares at him, mouth open in mid-sentence. He doesn’t look but he can feel Roland staring, too. He ducks his head, heat flooding his cheeks, and mutters, “What? Nevermind.”

“No no, say that again,” the mage says, suddenly very interested.

“I just—“ he starts, then stops abruptly. This is stupid, those runes in the dirt might as well be pictures of animals for all he can tell, magic isn’t his bag and the last thing he wants is to look stupid in front of Roland.

And that’s the stupidest thing of all.

Ugh, they’ve only been whatever-this-is for a few days and already he’s acting like he’s lost his sodding mind. Get it together, Lacklon.

But when he (finally) looks over at Roland, all he sees is an encouraging smile. The most beautiful smile he’s ever oh fine what the hell.

“You said the magical energy or whatever doesn’t want to stay together, right?” he says gruffly, getting the words out as quickly as he can. “So contain it. Put it in something. ‘S what I do with my grenades.”

The glade is silent for a moment, long enough for the heat on his cheeks to spread to the tips of his ears. Stupid. Shoulda kept my—

Qwydion sweeps him off the ground, spinning him around in a hug as she cackles with glee. “Lacklon! That’s perfect! What an incredible idea, giving the energy a physical barrier might help it keep its shape, I can’t believe I— oh, I could kiss you right now!” She stops suddenly, holding him directly out in front of her with her freakish qunari strength. “Well, guess that one’s not my job,” she adds with a wicked gleam in her eye.

He has never wished he were a mage with the ability to shoot fire straight out of his eyes more than in this moment.

She laughs and puts him down on the ground, then skips back across the clearing without another word.

Lacklon mutters a string of curses under his breath involving the Ancestors, her ancestors, and the unnaturalness of magic, then turns to go practice his axe work on a stump or seven. And stops right in front of Roland.

Who says, “No, that one is my job,” and leans down to kiss him gently on the forehead.

Lacklon feels all the anger rush out of him as the butterflies return, dancing pinwheels around Roland’s fingers as they caress his cheek. “You are truly breathtaking, you know that?”

The dwarf huffs, heat at the tips of his ears for a different reason now. “Why don’t, uh…why don’t you come with me over here and tell me more about that?”

Roland grins brightly enough to outshine the sun. 

Read the rest on Ao3!

[themightychristoff]

I never thought I’d see a gay romance between two non-White characters, especially in a fantasy setting.

But I’m so fucking glad I did! 🥰😍🙌🏽

"About damn time."

[dandelion-jester]

The way these silly fantasy gays got me so invested in their romantic B plot