#more musings on dragon age

[3gremlins]

i saw a post about spirits being twisted against their purpose into demons and had another thought about why spite/lucanis work where other spirit bonds don't. since spite is determination twisted that would make it more unique than one of the more straightforward realms - i feel like spite might retain some amount of will even in demon form and want to stay more independent OUT OF SPITE. like the nature of that sort of "demon" would make it more likely to form a bond/not fully possess its host. like i'm not doing that b/c i know you want me to do it and therefore- so that would give them the unique opportunity to meet in the middle where other more binary spirits might not be able to. For example, justice and vengeance are both very strong, all consuming ideals that perpetually push you forward- whereas spite and determination make you stubborn/more likely to stop what you're doing.

idk just a passing thought i had about the nature of spirits/demons and why lucanis/spite work where anders/justice ultimately failed as far as we know. (i do wish/hope we get more investigation into the nature of spirits and hopefully it doesn't get collapsed into the resolution of veilguard with the evanuris and such. like there's more meaty weirdness w/the fade and demons beyond the ancient elf stuff. maybe they'll eventually also get into the forbidden ones lore if we ever get another da game in teh future. I was reading around the fandom wiki and there's been a forbidden one in every single dragon age game so maybe? plus the secret ending implies it a little. hard to say what's "we needed another thing to fight, here's this lore breadcrumb for world building" and what's "we for sure have a plan" tho)

[vaguely-concerned]

My two cents on how much of Mind!Varric is Rook’s mind trying to fill the blank space and how much is Solas actively talking through a convenient blood magic paper doll of the mind: I think it's a mix of both, a truly collaborative psychosocial horrorshow if you would, but waaaay more towards the second. It feels too directed and tactical at times to be anything else. Rook's mind is willing to go along with the denial phase as far as it can fucking carry them to not have to face the grief and regret and does its part in papering over details that don’t make any sense, the way brains will strive to create coherent meaning even out of deeply confusing input, but to my understanding it's a collaborateur in how that plays out, not the instigator or control center. Solas is using it as a path to agency and to gather insight into Rook as a person unguarded as he can't count on in his own guise. (That stoic option that leads to him being like 'oh I see you're cautiously denying me access to your inner life. well. at least you still have Varric to talk to. y'know as an outlet :)'. You absolute BITCH Solas! That alone convinced me that he HAS to have an active hand in it on some level.)

My guess is that it takes considerable effort on Solas’ part to make Mind!Varric do anything more involved or complicated than seeming to sit up in bed and give casual commentary, and that’s why he keeps having eerie five minute shallow pep talks with you before he announces he conveniently needs a nap aaanyway good luck kid you got this haha. When he’s just spouting NPC lines from his bedrest, I’m ready to believe that could be Rook’s mind being allowed to improv lines for him more freely because it’s less about Solas trying to get something out of them or working an angle and more ‘Still here! Still totally alive and fine and the mentor figure you know and love and trust :) don’t even worry about it! Thankfully there is no war in Ba Sing Sei, as we all know’ upkeep work lol. Rook’s mind is allowed to set the tone of Varric, the outlines, but not always the content. 

AND, on a (beautifully fucked up) character psychology level, I feel like Solas is indulging in actually getting to be the good supportive mentor figure to Rook with one hand to assuage the guilt he feels about what he's done -- and what he's going to do -- to them with the other. Same internal logic as he uses in Trespasser about the Qun. ‘Almost everyone is going to die from the course of action I’m doggedly pursuing eventually. But at least I can make their last years happier and freer and kinder than they would have been otherwise. and that kind of makes up for it right. a little bit. doesn't it. doesn't that make it better at least. I need that to make it better)'. Did I really take your beloved mentor and friend from you if you don’t know yet that I did? Some philosophers would argue not really! So it’s probably almost ok actually. Isn’t it even a little noble that I’m taking all this grief and guilt on myself and shielding you for now. With undertones that I’m not sure he would realize himself (and might be mortified by if he did) that he is so incredibly lonely, and even a dishonest and indirect emotional connection is more than nothing when you’re that desperate. In this setup he gets idk. Both the control he craves so incredibly badly in relationships and over himself, and the scraps, the fading afterimages, of intimacy and warmth and companionship, even second hand. The one thing Solas and Rook agree on deep deep down is that they really wish Varric weren't gone. They're handshake memeing this in the saddest and most creepy way possible.

I think an important element too is that Solas needs Rook and their team to *succeed* —  up to a certain point. He needs someone to hold the two other elven mean girls off until he can get out of here. Ideally, in a perfect world, even do all the hard work of killing them so he can swoop in at the end and do his thing when both sides are exhausted and out of resources to stop him, and then Bob’s your uncle! Same logic as he was using with Corypheus, and after that worked out so well, too! King of choosing to never learn from a single solitary mistake he’s ever made even though i fully believe he could have the capacity to Fen’Harel <3 The underlying idea isn’t flawed, you see, it was just unforeseen circumstances getting in the way. This time for sure it’ll all work out the way I cleverly imagined it in my head beforehand. Cue By Talos this can’t be happening etc. in the form of a statue almost crushing him like a bug. 

So he's providing guidance and forging Rook into a leader from two angles: one Rook might not trust, and one they probably will. Shaping them into what he needs slowly and carefully. He’s helping you hone your team into their most effective state, as he might have done with his own agents back in the day, setting up his chess pieces even if he has to squint through two glimpsed realities to do it haha. Pincer maneuver of an insidious stealth mentor you never asked for. Also… at one point mind Varric gives you a whole little monologue about how Solas' problem is that he’s always seen his interpersonal connections as flaws and see where it’s landed him, all alone and the worst part? it hasn’t even worked. it’s all been for nothing he’s back where he began with nothing to show for it but his mistakes. Like...that has such strong 'uh okay happy to play your therapist from two rooms away here what the fuck kind of traumadump is this' energy to me, I’m not sure Rook like. Thinks that much about Solas as a private person. So much of Solas' self-loathing and futile insights into his own flaws seem to shine through in Mind!Varric's dialogue all the time — I just can't believe that there's no guiding hand behind it as it were. 

Most of all. I feel like people underestimate the degree to which Solas is incredibly funny. As in, he has a very consistent and recognizable sense of humour. It’s one of my very favourite things about him. We must remember — it is crucial that we always keep in mind — Orlesian accent and wig Solas from May The Dread Wolf Take You (my beloved, the explanation for why I love this dude even with the. All of the everything else. No one does it quite like him). He is not at all above doing things or adding little flourishes for his own obscure amusement, in fact that seems to me to be one of his most consistent traits. The Randy Dowager Quarterly comment Varric has? The ‘Maybe this is the Dread Wolf’s revenge. Forcing us to house sit for him’ thing? To Me this is 100% Solas amusing himself in his boring Fade jail surrounded by the screaming hellscape of all his regrets. Source: it came to me as divine revelation through pure vibes trust me bro 

If nothing else I find it much more narratively interesting personally if the connection between Rook and Solas really is that defenselessly intimate and entwined (and so unbalanced!), and the sense of violation and invasion and betrayal afterwards consequently all the more nauseatingly intense. Even if you kept him at arm’s length in the open, he’s been under your skin the whole time, looking around, gathering what he needs to destroy you, wearing the face of a friend. Regretfully, probably, but choosing to do it every step of the way anyway. (Sound familiar, Inquisitor? Solas doesn’t have that many tricks when you actually look at it, he keeps returning to old tried and true ones like a dog with a bone haha.) Maybe he even genuinely meant some of it as mercy, which only makes it so much worse. It makes his sin against his own core principles of autonomy and the freedom of all beings in mind, spirit and body so much more juicily grave if it’s something he pursues actively and consistently, rather than it half-falling into his lap as a happy accident mainly orchestrated by Rook’s own subconscious. Solas, too, is at his very lowest point, the closest to giving in and becoming his own antithesis fully that he’s ever been, and it makes the choice of whether you still reach out your hand to him one last time or not all the more impactful and difficult.

[timethehobo]

Quick scribbly again. Saw a look, had Emmy model for me.

[andrastes-cheeks]

Did I disappoint you?

Will they still let me over?

If I cross the line?

Close up and wordless under the cut

[seaglassmelody]

Spent my shower this morning thinking about how sad I am that Davrin is the least-romanced companion so I’m going to gush incoherently about him because

GOSH I love Davrin!!!

This is a man who has convinced himself he’s a sword against the darkness. He’s “the bodyguard”, a monster hunter, a gruff all-business type who thinks of himself as not fitting into the culture that raised him

When really deep down he’s a shepherd, a guardian of nature and a DEEPLY caring person who uses professional distance to hide from his fears. His fear of not having a purpose, of not being good enough to raise Assan, of having to discover a future for himself (and with Rook if you romance him)

He’s the companion that calls Rook “the boss”. He pushes everyone’s boundaries and sometimes says rude things (his banters with Lucanis, his one conversation with Neve where he’s testing if Rook is paying attention).

But he’s also the companion that’s looking out for Rook the most. I’m convinced one of the reasons he asks Rook to go out to the forest with him and Assan is so Rook can take a break and just. Breathe in some fresh not-Fade air. See the real sky. He even confirms in his picnic date that he was hoping it would be relaxing for Rook too! He’s trying to shepherd ROOK as much as he is Assan and the halla!

Even when Rook returns from Fade Jail, Davrin’s response to their anxiety and fear with comfort and stability, because he’s ALWAYS looking to take care of people.

And then when you offer him a future with Rook, one he didn’t think would happen because he told himself NOT to fall in love with the boss (but how could he not, he loves the pursuit, the “thrill of the chase” and this time he caught his mark) that future is what he uses to get himself through that last battle. It motivates him and he sounds so soft when he talks about it before you take on Elgar’nan…

His arc is purely reflected in how he talks about Assan. Assan is the symbol of Davrin’s own struggles and also his method of dealing with them- caught between hunter and caretaker, finding a way to balance the two. And his romance emphasizes this by underlining his caring nature even more- he’s a hunter in pursuit but once he catches what he’s after, he’s the heart of a halla.

Just….Davrin!!!!

[ansburg]

     I swear he was crying when we finally tackled him, but damned if I’ll hold that against him. It took three of us to drag him back to cover. I had to slap him back to his senses, to make him see that killing five or ten more ‘Spawn wouldn’t matter. The Wall was on us, and dying there wasn’t going to help anyone. I said if he wanted to do his family good, he’d get them safe.

— world of thedas, volume ii

[st-just]

Bioware games are an interesting sort of fanon-bait because each one is like 80 hours long and has plenty of time to establish its own personality and themes, and set in motion plot threads and worldbuilding notes to be explored in late games - with a couple exceptions, each even clearly and conscientiously lays out the tracks for a sequel to follow in its footsteps.

And then after five years of dev hell, a total changeover in creative teams, and project management dead set on chasing the latest shiny industry trend, the actual sequel that comes out will inevitably do a soft reset and do its very best to ignore as much of that setup as is physically possible.

[ambrosia-vinca]

As funny as Spite is when he's being a chaotic gremlin who wants to eat candles and is jealous of Curiosity's feet, I'd like to see his dangerous side being explored more, along with the dangers of possession.

Possession is a big deal. We see it in Anders, whose anger and past trauma twists Justice into Vengeance, and their emotions being intertwined creates an endless feedback loop of misery and obsession until Anders can't stop himself from doing something drastic, very similarly to Solas. They have different goals/ideals, but they have similar (near) unstoppable drive to fulfill their perceived purpose no matter what the people around them say, a purpose that sends them hurtling along a road paved with destruction. Anders at the end of DA2 is very similar to a pure spirit/demon in the sense that his purpose is pretty much all that he is, consumed with the need to liberate mages and avenge them against chantry and templar oppression (also a similar flavor to Mythal in a way. Benevolence (help people) -> Retribution (avenge people))

Spite as an emotion can have a positive effect for a person (succeeding/persevering out of spite), but it's not a positive emotion. Spite as a demon is a creature of pettiness/anger/resentment, a cousin or brother to Vengeance pretty much. Spite physically hurts Lucanis (only once that we actually see in the actual game and I would have liked it to be a more recurrent/tangible problem) when he doesn't get his way. He attacks Illario and would have killed him if he had his way. He doesn't process emotions as mortals do, so outside of anger/resentment etc, he doesn't really get genuine affection or love or any positive emotion that isn't motivated by hurting people and/or not doing what they want, because again, he's a being of raw emotion with a specific realm of purpose.

So what about Lucanis and Spite? Does them being intertwined change Lucanis' personality in any way? Enhance his anger? Make him more determined than he already is, but also less able to forgive? Does Spite change because of Lucanis in any way? Does it make his emotions or thought processes more complex? Is the particular way they were bound together, different from Anders' willing possession, make them more separate entities, considering Anders basically absorbed Justice until they were fused together? Does spending time outside of the Fade let Spite learn like it did for Cole, even if their situations were different, without changing his core nature?

The “learning” part is kind of alluded to in the hardened Lucanis path where he wants to find a way to part with Spite once he's done with his contract, and Rook can mention that Spite might have evolved because he's a demon who's “learned to work alongside people” (or something to that effect). I would have liked a bit more of that topic in both paths for Lucanis. Spite likes Rook when they're being vengeful or making dark jokes, because they're acting in a way that pleases his nature, and he does ends up trusting them/being fond of them in his own way. Is he also partly influenced by Lucanis' emotions and fondness for Rook (whether friendship or romance, without truly being able to feel or understand these emotions for himself)?

I feel like Lucanis' possession is simultaneously presented as a big deal but also doesn't end up having much of an effect in the grand scheme of things. Spite was introduced as a threat and treated as one in the scene with Illario, but he's written as a very lukewarm demon otherwise and he doesn't feel very dangerous at all. I would have liked more from him, more details, more possible negative consequences, more actual danger to Lucanis' wellbeing if Spite gets his way.

Is there a possibility in an alternate universe where Lucanis could have gone down a darker path similar to Anders', considering he wasn't in the best mental state when Rook gets him out of the Ossuary (an understatement)? Maybe if Rook lets Treviso get blighted? Could Lucanis' caring nature lose against Spite because of the despair and resentment he feels in that route? Spite would feed off his anger and also fan its flames, creating the same kind of endless negative loop that Anders was stuck in, until Lucanis was changed as a person. Angrier. Pettier with any perceived slights. More Vengeful even towards less deserving targets.

Again, we kind of get that in the sense that we can't choose what to do with Illario at the end of his quest but he just... gets imprisoned. (which is the choice I made in my first playthrough with unhardened Lucanis anyway because I just can't see in what world what Illario did would be forgivable with just a slap on the wrist. Maybe I'm also a demon of Spite, who knows)

It's a very lukewarm vengeance at best because in the canon hardened path, even if we get *told* Lucanis is more depressed and less trusting, he doesn't actually change much as a person and retains his love for his family and his caring nature, so it doesn't seem like Spite has influenced him in any way.

So yeah. Maybe in an AU. Or maybe I just like angst a lot, don't look at me I'm just bouncing ideas off the tumblr wall!

[perditus]

Spite (thank you @ofdraiocht for finding me that datamined info on spite) anyways headcanons

→ The main reason for Spite and Lucanis's unique affinity is because Spite has been with Lucanis for a lot longer than a year. Before the Ossuary, Spite was a Spirit of Passion that started following Lucanis around after his parents were killed and Catarina began training him. Lucanis's willpower and desire to survive is what drove the Passion to follow him around - and he kept doing so even into adulthood.

→ One of the few times Passion drifted away was during the Wigmaker job due to Ambrose Forfex's presence and the blood magic. He eventually drifted back to Lucanis after and just... continued following him. Never interfered, just watched.

→ When Lucanis was captured by Zara, Passion was also trapped and twisted into what eventually became... Spite. Because he had been following Lucanis for well over a decade, he was the demon chosen to be combined with Lucanis. And... it worked. Now he was a Demon instead of a Spirit though, twisted against his nature and lashing out at everyone and Lucanis as well.

→ Spite does remember being a Spirit eventually, when he and Lucanis start finding that middle ground and cooperating better. It's a part of why he starts becoming more docile, in theory he could change back into the spirit he was before. Theoretically. The main problem is the blood magic that traps him in Lucanis which is most likely preventing that...but his nature is able to shift into something a little more pleasant than pure Spite at the minimum.

→ If it had been just a random demon with no affiliation to Lucanis whatsoever, Lucanis most likely would have died or lost entirely to the demon.

[girlmadeofclockwork]

I do find the, well maybe not historical revisionism, but perhaps profoundly misremembering and or just changes in tastes that has gone down when it comes to Zevran and dragon age: origins to be quite interesting, like now that he’s very openly being compared to the newest hotness of Astarion, people talk about him as if he is/was the most popular because people love broody elves (even though Zev is the farthest from broody in his demeanor, and which kinda go hand in hand with people comparing him to Fenris, which isn’t new mind mind you, but it was fucking rare I saw anyone make that comparison 9 years ago) but I was there mind you, I was there 8-9 years ago. I remember clearly Zevran being the least popular romance option in origins when it came to the fandom.

[devotedlystrangewizard]

i hope theyll have special dialogue when introducing you to characters of your faction like if you play an antivan crow when you meet lucanis you can mention that you know him. it doesnt have to be super involved or anything i just want rook to not feel like they spawned fully formed at the start of the game

[3gremlins]

so i've seen a lot of (really good/thoughtful) critique about how the lords of fortune not stealing from everybody indiscriminately is weird and kind of sanitized and doesn't really make sense in-world, and i see you all, totally agree and think you have very good points but also

i kinda saw them having a Qunari History Artifact Specialist on staff as specifically an Isabela thing as in "last time i stole a random cultural object b/c it was shiny it was a huge pain in the ass actually and i'd like to not do that ever again"

like kind of an in joke with izzy/da2 meta nod more than anything (which fair, doesn't make sense canonically and is jarring in world but i really think it's just there as an isabela joke and not meant to be anything more. i know there's party banter with taash that tries to justify it more which i agree is extra silly-like they're pirates, they should do morally grey pirate things and it's not as fun if they're not a little morally questionable. but i like the idea that isabela specifically is like "okay we should maybe double check if anyone is going to care about this object and follow us through hell and high water just to get it back. there's no way im going to befriend a disaster bisexual willing to fight for me twice")

[pr4yerp0sition]

okay, going to knock out cause I'm slowly getting a cold so I'm going to be a brat about it. sorry for the lack of everything!!!! I made dinner then promptly fell asleep. i'll answer dms, discord things, and drafts later on. avoid the gross nasties everyone, till then.

[timethehobo]

251 doodles of Emmy to end the year with! He’s got so much love, I’m so happy for him. 💚

[higekki-a]

would anyone like to plot w/ me?

[seaglassmelody]

Things the Dragon Age fandom is arguing about: The use of "nonbinary" in a fantasy setting. The existence of ideas that wound up on the cutting room floor. The "quality of the writing" based on weird metrics like "how much explicit slavery does the audience need to be shown"

Things I WISH the Dragon Age fandom was arguing about: Is it better to free the archive or let Bellara keep it? What is the line between being trapped by the past and the importance of knowledge? Is it better to have the elves forge a new identity with the world they've created for themselves or have more context for their culture and bring some of their lost traditions back?