#plus it does have templars in it

[hard-times-paramore]

Hi! Unicorn Anon here, from Sharon's DMs. I saw your response. Good thing I was still on time to send this ask!

What can you tell me about Age of Empires? I thought it was a multiplayer game, didn't even know it had a story. From what I could see, it reminds me of what I know about Assassin's Creed 3. Makes sense that you included that Kaniehtí:io cameo.

Age of Empires is a game series from the late 90s to mid 2000s, and it's a Real Time Strategy game where you basically build towns and armies to fight other towns and armies. It's mostly known for it's multiplayer, yeah. I don't even think the first game has a story mode. The second does but it's very simple, cutscene slides with a historical overview that gives your game level unique objectives while playing against AI instead of other players.

The third one had a - also very simple - story mode with a fictional story about several generations of a mixed Native family fighting cultists who wanted the Fountain of Youth so they could conquer the world. Each campaign had 8 levels, and the story is told in a very superficial manner. You can see all the cutscenes here if you want.

The thing is I've played this game since I was 7, so I got attached to that simple story and characters. They were my toys growing up. So I wrote that fanfic about them. Also as a way to write about disability and flex mine and specially Sharon's research skills about the American colonial era.

Which is exactly what led us to discover Assassin's Creed. We found AC3 first. A couple of the chapters from AoE3 takes place in the exact years that span AC3, and both games feature Kanien'keha:ka characters (Connor's ethnicity). That's why I snuck a Kaniehtí:io cameo in my fic later on.

I wish I could give you an epic crossover between Age of Empires 3 and Assassin's Creed 3, though most of the ideas would be extrapolated from the game's brief plot and probably make Aoe3 look way deeper than it is. Plus I haven't found anyone else that also has that same fondness for this game - save from the people I dragged into it myself.

Could be a fun idea though. Hey, Assassin's Creed fans, consider playing that!

[demigoddessqueens]

Hay, I read your writing about Assassin's Creed with the s/o befriending the crow population. I was wondering if you can make one with the s/o befriending the Hawk population if that's OK if you you don't have to do it if you don't want to. (Pls I'm a new subscribers to your blog). So have a good day keep up with your writing.💗

Oh hey!! Thank you so much for following and your request, and welcome 🤗 💕 im glad you’re here

Masterlist 10

A/n - I don’t remember who I wrote for the crow population one, but I’ll do the main leads for this one 😆😁

Altair

While it’s no eagle, he admires the same prowess they have as an eagle and sometimes decorates his person with their feathers as it reminds him of you

Ezio

Well he does like them better than the pesky pigeons, plus your hawks like when he strokes and pets their feathers

Ratonhnhaké:ton

Thinks it’s so cute whenever these hawks follow you around, and he sees it as a sigh of acceptance when they perch on him or nuzzle against him

Haytham

Not as noisy as a crow or pigeon, but he is sometimes indifferent to your pet birds. At least they keep you out of trouble that follows Templars

Shay

Your hawks make for great companions on The Morrigan as it can get lonesome at times when the sails are longer than normal

Edward

He also warms up to your pet hawks, mostly because they’re a lot nicer than any of the aggressive seagulls

Arno

He’s already so protective of you so it’s a small comfort that faster eyes are able to look out for you if he’s not around

Jacob

They would be perfect for his rooks (Jacob no!)

But in hindsight, yes he does warmup to your pet hawks quickly, giving them nicknames

Desmond

he welcomes them as a nice distraction, sometimes teasing he’ll adopt them for himself

[bleeding-star-heart]

Are the Antivan Crows a cult?

Again, the Knitting Cult Lady (Daniella Mestyanek Young)'s definition: 1. Charismatic Leadership (and their skinny white women)

2. Worldview shift that brings you under the sacred assumption

3. The transcendent mission

4. Self-sacrifice of members

5. Limits access to outside world

6. Distinguishable vernacular

7. Us vs them mentality

8. Exploits members' labor

9. High entrance and exit costs

10. Ends justify the means mentality Now let's see how many the Antivan Crows tick off? 1. It depends. Teia and Viago have charisma sure, but IDK about Caterina and whoever was leading House Arainai before Zevran wiped it out. 2. On the one hand, buying into the coolness of the Crows is a worldview shift, but do they have enough for a sacred assumption? Zevran folds pretty easily after failing to kill you, which would indicate no. But Lucanis voluntarily becomes First Talon despite all the crap the organization put him through, which would imply yes. Generally speaking they're pretty upfront about the fact that they're amoral assassins. On the other hand, they do have a belief in their own amazingness and that seems to justify a lot...so I guess check? 3. They are obsessed with profit and power, but they appear to be upfront about it. Usually a cult's transcendent mission is more propagandastic, dressed up to look noble. Then again, in DATV they seem to believe they would be the best at ruling Antiva, so...check. 4. They wanted to kill Zevran "on principle" for failing to assassinate the HoF. Also, Caterina made her own grandsons into hitmen. Check. 5. No, Crows have a wide range of access to the outside world. 6. "Fledglings", "Talons", "Houses"...Check. 7. In DATV they have this attitude towards the Venatori, but so does everyone else. Otherwise not really. They're very pragmatic about who they ally with. 8. They force their members to kill people for the leadership's profit and don't technically pay said members (according to Zevran). Check. 9. Brutal training, plus they literally try to murder Zevran just for failing. Check. 10. They're assassins, so yes. Check.

7/10 that makes them a cult, but they are less culty than the nesting doll that is the Chantry & Templars & Circle.

[sweetshelluvaau]

Finally: I finished Michael, the Paragon saint and Golden Boy himself!

The hours I spent on this I'm just glad I'm done but I'm overall proud of the results.

Like always, notes under the cut. Drawn in Clip Studio Paint and with Photoshop CS6 for final touches. Okay to reblog, Feedback is encourage.

Let's talk about Adam very quick:

Considering that Michael is to replace Adam in my rewrite/AU, I feel it's only fair that I talk about the character himself because boy howdy do I have things to say.

I have...mix feelings about Adam. I don't hate him, but I do find him to be wasted potential but that's basically all of Hellaverse at this point.

Alex Brightman, as always, brings his A Game. He sounds like he's having a blast playing the character and won't lie, Hell is Forever is a pretty solid villain song and one of the better tunes in the show imho

because I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to talk about it, I think Hazbin's musical score is a mix bag. The are some genuine bops (Hell is Forever, Respectless, Stay Gone being some of my faves) but there's duds as well (Poison is basically 'We have Addict at home' without any of the charm that made that song good and Whatever it Takes doesn't work because we barely know anything about Carmila to get invested and honestly it's basically a nothing song). Overall I think the soundtrack is fine but all blended together as part of a musical? It falls flat however I feel their are people who are better to talk about what makes a musical good in regard to how it tells it's story.

Anyways... that's all the positives I really have.

The way for me to describe how I feel about Adam is kinda the reverse effect on how I feel about Mammon being they are similar characters in a sense. Both grew on me in some ways but unlike the case of Mammon where his vulgarly and general asshole-ness is kinda endearing in a way (that and he's voiced by Michael Cusack who plays Pim on Smiling Firends so I'm kinda a bit bias), Adam on the other hand comes across as grating to me. I don't know why but he just does. That plus because Adam is suppose to be an angel/Saint given a higher propose, one who's in change of the Extermination that happen every year mind you, while also being thousands of years old and the first man only for him he acts like...

This!

idk man, I have nothing agasist him being a frat boy but I feel it would have made more sense for character like Adam to have a more Knight Templar persona. If you want to play with this a bit though, have Adam behaves differently around those in Hell/winners and angels that have no power vs Heaven's higher ranking Angels/Seraphim.

Around Sera and others with roles similar to hers he acts like the righteous, paragon saint that Heaven praises him to be but to those who's word wouldn't be taken against him and the citizens of Hell regardless of where they are on the hierarchy? He doesn't hide his true personality where he's basically a self righteous asshole who has no problem stepping on others and enjoys partaking in the Exterminations but also indulging in some other sinful behavior during that time because he gets to cut loose a bit from Heaven's strict mandates.

This would also play greatly within the trial subplot where it'd be harder for Charlie to sell her idea of Redemption when Heaven's leadership takes Adam's word over hers while also having the mask he wears slipping the longer it goes on, everyone slowly seeing a bit of his true colors.

As I said before, Adam was wasted potential and his role could have been played any character really. Honestly, I'm surprise they didn't go with the archangels being how well known they are in biblical stories.

Also his design sucks but that's not really much of a hot take, is it?

...This part was suppose to be very quick wasn't it?

Anyways, let's get into Michael now:

I don't really have much to say about his design other than the fact I wanted him to give off the appearance of being seen as 'prefect' and a 'paragon' especially compare to his brother, Lucifer who's seen as the boogieman by Heaven and history. He does have a more casual outfit on days he's not wearing armor but I haven't designed it yet. He does have a Halo but I forgot to add it XD

Gave him golden colored wings to add to his 'Golden Boy' persona Heaven has dubbed him. That and they're just pretty.

As I said above, Michael is to replace Adam in my AU/Rewrite. He's in charge of the Heavenly Host, Heaven's army along with it's the sub group who conduct the annual Exterminations as mandate by the Seraphim Council. Unlike Adam however, it's not a task he enjoys. Quite the opposite. He sees them as an necessary evil (or at the very least, that's what he tells himself) to keep Hell's numbers down but even then he's starting to question if this is the way of handling it. He's not on board with the idea of the Happy Hotel at first but eventually warms up to it and becomes one Charlie's bigger supporters.

Personality wise, he differs from Adam as well. Michael has a good heart. He's brave, kind and loyal to all of Heaven; but he isn't a pushover by any means. His honestly can sometimes get him in a bit of trouble with the Seraphim but he fights for what he believes is right.

Michael is seen in the lens by Heaven as their 'Paragon Saint' in contrast to his Fallen brother. He doesn't really like this title because he doesn't see himself as any better than any Heavenborn or Saint/Winners but it ended up sticking and Heaven needs to fuel it's propaganda machine after all. He's also referred to 'The Golden Boy' both affectionally and sarcastically.

He doesn't hate Lucifer. There are a few times that Michael, even with his brother being declared Fallen and 'The Devil', tried to reach out to Lucifer to mend their relationship because despite everything; he does care and loves him. Lucifer on the other hand doesn't have the patience to want to 'fix' things due to his own bitterness and Pride, even if he was the cause of his own downfall.

I'm sure there are other notes I could add by my brain is fizzing out and I worked long enough on this post.

Kesha!Bee (Already drew Beelzebub herself but I'm posting these two together) and Stolas are next on my redesign chopping block and I'm currently working on my Wrath Ring post as well. One of those will be next...

[angelic-salad]

Kirkwall in itself is a story worth thinking about for years. Just the current political landscape and culture and what’s it’s like day to day must be fascinating but then when you consider its history as a MAJOR slave city that was set free only to keep all the iconography, plus how much blood magic was practiced in its hidden halls… that’s a story within a story. And if THAT wasn’t enough to keep Kirkwall rotating like a golden rotisserie chicken in your brain for years, then you get the likelihood that this city is the place wherein mages went to the makers throne and corrupted the Golden City, turning it into the Black City??? Huh??? The parallels that one would naturally make between Kirkwall and the Black City because of it (and ironically between Kirkwall and the Golden City, too)… and then you have the one chantry in the city in Hightown, as if The Maker was too high for poor folk to reach, and Darktown, where everything is dirty and sick and it’s supposed to be every man for himself save a single shining light wherein a cursed apostate, what the chantry tells you to hate and fear, is the only one reaching out to help, and does so without expecting anything in return.

Seriously though, all the damn stairs means that unless you’re able bodied and have hours upon hours to spare (unlikely when you’re desperate for work), you likely can’t make it to the chantry to attend services regularly. I wonder if the people in Lowtown feel as though as surely as he abandoned the Golden City, he abandoned them, too. And THEN you have Kirkwall being turned into what is essentially a police state with Templars, the supposed sword of Andraste, making life worse for a lot of people. Honestly even if Anders never came to Kirkwall, there probably would’ve ended up being a rebellion for something anyways.

The city itself is a living, breathing entity. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a city as… charactered??? as Kirkwall in any other work of fiction. It’s endlessly fascinating.

Please tell me any headcanons or opinions or observations you have on literally any aspect of Kirkwall. Whether you say it on this post or in tags or in my dms or send me an anon message I don’t care.

[thewardenisonthecase]

first kills

inspired by @sha-brytols and @wardencommander-surana posts

Anneliese Cousland: She was 19 on the night castle cousland was attacked and one of howe's soldiers was the first person she ever killed. She had been thrown to the floor and was being strangled to death when she was able to grab one of the daggers that the soldier carried with him on his belt and she stabbed him in the neck with it, throwing him back and then grabbing this one sword she kept hidden underneath her bed (she never thought she would need it, but she kept it there as a precaution) to finish him and the other soldier who just entered. She was. very traumatized from this and she barely had time to process what she did. Like even after during the rest of the fighting, she was just trembling for the most of it, because one thing is hitting straw dummies, the other is actually living breathing people and having the blood stain your hands and sword. i think lowkey duncan has to help her process All That while on the trip to Ostagar.

Elizabeth Hawke: She was 10. The twins were 4 and Leandra was tending to them, and Malcolm wasn't home when a Templar showed up in their doorstep, asking about suspicious magical activity that some people had reported (the little house that they had was farther apart from where people lived, this is before lothering, but they would frequent the local market a lot and ocasionally people passed their house by). Elizabeth panics a little, and stammers as she tries to tell this templar to go away but he's all 'im bringing you in for questioning', grabs her arm and begins to take her away from home - just as he does that, leandra finally hears the commotion and screams at the image of a templar dragging elizabeth away. Elizabeth, who was panicking, gets even more panicked from her mother's screaming, and she uses mind blast to get this templar away from her. He falls on the ground and grabs his sword and just as he's about to run at her, she casts flame blast with her bare hands (hence where soem of her first scars on her hands and fingers are born) and just. fries him to death. Leandra just runs and hugs her kid while looking at her hands, and Malcolm finally appears and sees the burning templar and his wife and kid, and they move to another village that night. if i begin talking about the repercussions of this this post will be longer than it already is btw

Asala Adaar: Her first kill was during a mercenary job. Originally, she had been hired solely for support - freeze this guy, heal this other one, and just stay back for the most of it. She was alreayd pretty old here by the way but i wont give a specific age. The work was going mostly fine, until they were ambushed out of nowhere and a huge fight began. Asala tried to keep close to the actual fighters of the group, and keeping enemies away, but when someone gets in close contact to her and grabs her, she turns around and beats them with her staff. The force of her swing plus the way they hit the ground, the guy died almost on instant. She felt a little weird, but one of the other mercenaries quickly congratulated her on the kill and they move on, so Asala is not super affected by it. I think its after this that she grows more comfortable using offensive spells. Before this, she always tried to not kill people, like even her ice spells were mostly to freeze and run then to kill, and she didnt even use lighting spells then, but afterwards it just. becomes smthg she has to do. (she almost. nearly had to kill someone when she was younger, when their commune got attacked but her father landed the killing blow then so it doesnt count)

Dawn Thorne: Dawn was 17 and she had just become a Grey Warden when she and other new recruits/junior members were sent on a small scouting mission. They got ambushed by darkspawn and this was her first time in real combat, which was difficult because circle mage from the gallows doesnt know what to do in a situation like this. She sees a darkspawn jumping on top of one of her colleagues, and the first thing that comes to her mind is wacking it with her staff, which is what she does. It gets up from the ground and jumps at her, but she uses the pointy end of her staff (imagine this is one of the DA2 staffs ok) and stabs the darkspawn. A lot of blood oozes on her but she kinda feels nothing as she sees the darkspawn die. Its an odd feeling, because it looks vaguely human but it really isnt and the others quickly tell her not to feel too bad about it, but she was also raised Andrastian so part of her feels bad for the sin of killing in general. She just gulps and goes along with it and tries not to think too hard about it.

[recents]

13 + 14 for your hawke?

omg thank you! these got long, so partly hidden under a read more.

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 

Well, he’s a spirit medium. When I played Veilguard I was super fascinated with the idea of a spirit medium, and heard the banter about Emmerich being able to hear Spite, and there’s this one line in VG that got stuck in my head about a spirit who wouldn’t have become a demon if he’d been met with more compassion and understanding, and those two things were kind of what formed the basis for Redd’s story.

He is essentially Anders’ right hand in the Mage Underground for all of acts 1 and 2, weaponizing the connections and knowledge of Kirkwall’s illicit lyrium trade he gained working for Athenril to weaken the templars of Kirkwall’s circle via sabotage.

In the fic I am writing (mostly jn my mind so far) about him, although he is a mage, he manages to defeat the Arishok without being outed as a mage; Anders, however, is identified when he rushes out to heal him in view of the public immediately after (the templars have been closing in on “the Darktown healer” for a while at this point). In act 3 he asks for a boon from Elthina for being made Champion because in the fic I’m writing Champion is a legal title within Kirkwall that comes with certain legal protections, including the right to request one (☝️) boom from the Grand Cleric. He requests the right to marry an apostate and hilariously enough Elthina is like, at this political moment, why not. Plus at this point Anders is only publicly known as Apostate Who Heals The Poor For Free, he has not been identified as having any connection to the MU. So refusing would make her look pretty bad— Anders is a very sympathetic victim at this point. So Anders gets to be alive and live in a nice mansion AND they both get to keep running the mage underground, yippee yayay.

Uh also without getting into even more detail the rebellion at Kirkwall goes completely differently than it does in canon and he ends up becoming the commander of a cell of mage guerrilla fighters for a while.

He’s also a chain smoker who rolls his own cigs, which I think counts because you can’t smoke in DA2. Constantly smoking to keep himself from eating people. He has no sense of smell also so the combination of these factors means he smells like shit all the time and neither notices nor cares. Stinky4stinky Handers.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

Red Hawke is implied to not have had the best relationship with Malcolm. For my particular red Hawke, this stems in part from being made unduly responsible for his sibling’s lives, on many an occasion, from an irresponsibly young age, although he’d never admit that as it would require admitting he was once a scared child.

It also stems from the fact that despite being an apostate himself Malcolm still disbelieved Red about his experiences as a spirit medium since they didn’t align with the teachings of the chantry and the Circle at the time. My Hawke’s problem with Malcolm is that he was not anti-chantry enough.

[inquisimer]

dragon age character study fic recs

I'm back with another fic rec list, this time focusing on character studies! There were so many more than five that I flagged as interesting 👀 when I was putting this together, so there's definitely a chance that this theme makes a repeat in the future.

Check these awesome fics out! And leave a comment + kudos to let the author know you did💜

Vote in this poll to help me choose a theme for next week's rec list (:

-

New Tricks by Penknife (@penknife)

Dorian Pavus & Cullen Rutherford, Josephine Montilyet & Cullen Rutherford & Leliana | G | 1968 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: Five times Cullen found that he didn't have to do everything the hard way. Mer's Rec: If you're into Cullen & Dorian friendship, or really any Cullen friendship, this fic will be right up your alley. Penknife does an excellent job of contrasting Dorian as a beleaguered academic (beloved) with Cullen's quieter intelligence. They also highlight Cullen as a strategist and commander, not just the "send the troops" guy, and the advisor interactions resonate with coworker friend energy, which I loved. I always adore fics that explore Cullen's habits and traits leftover from so many years as a Templar and this story seamlessly weaves in those details, which brings a real depth to both Cullen and his interactions.

Names Are Cloaks by EllanaSan

Female Adaar & Josephine Montilyet | G | 2963 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: They can’t have that, she supposes, the Herald of Andraste being called names behind her back… The only way the situation could have been worse is if she had been an elf. She could tell the ambassador that there are people in this very camp disrespecting her at every turn but she is far too used to it to care. They call her oxwoman. They call her witch. They call her chosen or your worship. They call her Tal-Vashoth. Names are weapons. For the bearer to hold and to wield. Names are cloaks. For the bearer to wrap themselves in and discard when outgrown. Mer's Rec: With Bioware's scant lore about Qunari and the Qun, I was impressed by how this story immersed me in Adaar's history. Tidbits from canon interwoven with fascinating-slash-heartbreaking details about the Qun, Vashoth, and Saarebas, plus her introspective musings on the past and her identity make this Adaar stand out from the cookie-cutter protagonist in the best way. I want to know more about her! From Josephine's dialogue and mannerisms to the uncertainty, fear, and alienation the Herald can experience in Haven, everything about this story feels like it could be straight out of the DAI canon.

I have outlived the night by lilith_morgana (@senseandaccountability)

Loghain Mac Tir, Minor/Background Relationships | T | 2106 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: He's five, he's eighteen, nineteen, twenty, forty-six, and fifty-five, he's fifty-six, fifty-seven and ready to die. Instead, he lives. Mer's Rec: The emotion in this fic is so palpable, so visceral, and it slaps you in the face the way careful consideration of complicated characters should. With repeated contrasts between Loghain in his youth versus his later years, the author takes us on a journey from hot-headed kid to weary veteran, and it just makes your heart ache😭 It features strong exposition on Loghain's motives, feelings, and regrets during the Fifth Blight, which I love to see since it's fairly absent from the game itself. Their portrayal of Loghain in Inquisition also felt fresh and different, including a conversation with Cullen, which is a dynamic I hadn't considered before and found incredibly interesting to read. And of course it ends on a bittersweet note, as it always does with Loghain.

To Yield Is Not Weak by disasterhawke

Alistair/Anora Mac Tir | M | 4018 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: She may not like her new husband, but Anora Theirin is not about to let the world treat him like it has treated her. She will do whatever it takes to earn his trust. This is not quite what he expects. An Anora character study that explores her arranged marriage to her husband's bastard brother. Mer's Rec: this 👏 was 👏 everything I wanted out of an Alistair/Anora fic! While I think antagonism between those two has a place, this fic explored their relationship through the lens of teaching and working together, rather than animosity. It works SO well and there was a definite give-and-take, with Anora running the show immediately post-coronation, but gradually softening her harsher edges and highlighting Alistair's strengths while they grow as rulers. Anora's internal monologue, not only about Alistair, but also Cailan and Loghain, does a fantastic job showing the humanity she usually has to hide, without diminishing her competence in the least.

when the bough breaks by gummies (orphaned)

Morrigan, Flemeth | G | 1124 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: In her hands, the mouse is kept still. The only movement Morrigan feels from it is the beating of its tiny heart. With her eyes closed, it almost seems that she is holding in her hands its heart alone. Tiny, vulnerable, and so stutteringly fast. It must be afraid, Morrigan muses. Something twinges in her chest. Empathy. She cannot help the flare of protectiveness inside her. For now, the mouse is hers. Plucked from the world from whence it came, tucked away and safe. She wonders if this is how Mother feels of her. Mer's Rec: What struck me most about this fic was the author's grasp of character voices. Flemeth is just as cunning and calculating as she comes across in game, but I was beyond impressed by their young!Morrigan. I could see and hear so clearly how Morrigan would get from the childlike hope she has in this story to the harsher, bitter Morrigan we meet in game. I don't even know how they did that, but it was incredible to read, even as this slice of Morrigan's childhood and her abuse at Flemeth's hands was breaking my heart.

Don't forget to get your fic and art recs lined up for tomorrow's Fan Work Friday!

[thesummerstorms]

Dragon Age: Rook Combat Ask

⚔️ Rules: List some weapons/tools or fighting styles you imagine apply to your OC. In or outside of game animation! No holds barred! Daydream AMV descriptions welcome! Show me how badass your OC is and how they've used this in the past. Feel free to drop an ask for any certain listing to ask about context or request a snippet to flex your action writing muscles!

Okay, so I am terrible at writing action and combat, ngl. This probably won't be super specific in terms of actual combat decriptions, and will probably have WAY too many words of backstory description. (If you're on desktop, feel free to hit "J". Anyway.

Yes weapons, from most comfortable to least: Mage-Knife + orb, daggers, poison (if that counts), dual daggers, throwing knives, hand to hand, improvised blades and weapons

No weapons: Staff, anything bigger than a dagger, especially anything heavy, bow and arrow, explosives, flails, specifically was told not to try and pick up rapier because it was one thing too many and she didn't need the attention

I basically see Arsinoë as having three modes:

"Regular Sneaky Crow"

This is , like, your basic stealth and daggers shit. Plus, of course, slight of hand and poisons. Viago worked very very hard on training her with regular daggers for a few reasons: 1. Templars were still a thing. Better not to let your little Fledgling run around flashing her magic too obviously, and there will be times she need to fight without it to defend herself without giving away what she was. 2. Again, Templars still existed. Smites existed. She can't be reliant on just the magic, especially when he's trying to train her out of the urge to sink her teeth into any given Templar's throat. He did a few months experiments on unwilling subjects to get the dosages right, and then started dosing her with mage bane periodically during dagger training to drive the point home. ( This also actually made her better with her mage knife, too weirdly enough because she internalized the physical side of the mage knife and how to keep separate her physical responses from her magical responses without dropping either.) 3. Kept her below the other Crows' radar. She was good with daggers, good enough for competency, but not good enough for excellence or special attention. That kept her actual specialty hidden so she would be underestimated, which was of benefit both to her and to Viago's plans to use her as a weapon in his coup against the Talon 4. Dagger and mage knife are related if not transferable skills. She has made a dagger work as a mage knife a few times, though it's a bit like forcing a dinner knife to be a scalpel.

Regular Sneaky Crow + Magic Lite

She does the knife and footwork Viago trained her in with the combat and basic elemental spells her mage instructors taught her. Think basic Spellblade + spells like winter's grasp. This is actually the "weakest" of her three modes before she travels with Varric because she doesn't need it as often. By Veilguard she's had a year to improve, and it was never bad,

AREA OF EFFECT Mode + adjacent spells

This is honestly hands down what she enjoys the most. Stealthy Crow is how she operated 90% of the time prior to the Antaam Invasion, but she loves the thrill of AOE spells lmao. I headcanon that Arsinoë is actually a really powerful mage, but lacks the academic/instructional access for a lot of the subtler kinds of magic. The nice thing about tempest is that is isn't meant to be subtle. She's still using a mage knife or dagger to defend her immediate space, but this is where she starts pulling out chain lightning, tempest, thunderous end, etc. Even when she's defending herself because someone got her guard, she's forcing her magic out around her to fill the space with storm surge. Her specialty is in storm spells, but we can throw in some previous DA AOE spells or AOE adjacent spells too: elemental chaos, death cloud (but tie it more to her poison knowledge somehow), mana clash, earth quake But Rev, she's supposed to be a stealth assassin, not a battlefield glass canon? Why would she be encouraged to train in those things? Because Viago likes planning coups :) :) And one woman who is deeply personally loyal to him and who can hold the a massive portion of a battle field is very useful when, say, keeping Crows who didn't back Viago at bay so he could kill off the Fifth Talon and her supporters. :):) Or, perhaps, one day keeping the soldiers back so he can kill his father and his father's knights :):) Arsinoë never saw this as a downside. He was basically giving her permission and resources to learn the magic that came most naturally to her, that felt like a part of her, despite its terrifying brutality and day to day impracticality for her line of work. And Viago did in fact use her in the coup where he killed the previous Fifth Talon, Esma. He may have felt some... not guilt, Viago never feels guilt of course, and he definitely didn't come for the personal well being of mage child he picked up to be a weapon but he feels some concern in how the other Crows reacted when the scope of her magic was revealed. And he also couldn't have his father learning too much. So he then made her quietly sit to the side in the important House Business for a while until the heat cooled off. Arsinoë is waiting on the day he calls on her to do the same thing for his coup for the Throne ... but Viago has had second thoughts about at least that aspect of the plan since she took out 20 Antaam with AOE spells and nearly got herself executed.

He also likes to complain about her lack of subtlety, as which point Teia looks at him flatly and goes "Vi. You trained her to be a grenade." And he can only kind of grumble about it without defending himself.

Tag info beneath the cut:

I was tagged by @notyourmamasdeerbat, thank you!

Their example is also probably closer to the intended formatting lol.

I have no idea who was or wasn't tagged as I've been fairly offline this week. I'm going to tag some folks, but it's no pressure as always and you are free to tag yourself if we are mutuals!: @serstolas, @rookinthecrownest @rooks-dagger @raven-6-10 @zombiefishgirl

[lykegenia]

2024 Writing Roundup

tagged by @juneiper-art - thank you!

words posted: 73,510

additional words written: between all the buffer chapters in my longfics plus a few sundry bits it's at least 30k

grand total of words: just over 100k altogether, I think

fandoms: Dragon Age, The Wayhaven Chronicles, and a backstory short story for one of my DnD characters

highest kudos: Rosemary and Citrus, a Rookanis slow burn retelling of Veilguard that's already grown far past its original scope

highest hit oneshot: He Makes Her Cry (He Doesn't Like It), my first foray into MasonxF!Detective from TWC, set during Book Three

new things I tried: I mostly stick to my habits, though with Rosemary and Citrus I've been posting as I go and trying to stick to a proper schedule, which is unusual for me.

fic I spent the most time on: As The World Falls Down, my AU retelling of Dragon Age Origins in which Alistair was raised by the Couslands instead of going to the templars

fic I spent the least time on: He Makes Her Cry, but only because it's so short compared to the others

favorite thing I wrote: This whole upcoming chapter for As The World Falls Down, really, but here's a sneak preview:

Cautiously, he wended his way through the shadows to Eamon’s office, girded by his imagination and the knowledge that getting caught couldn’t be worse than whatever fate was being decided for him just beyond the door. Even before he rounded the final corner, he caught the timbre of angry male voices spilling out into the hallway, and as he edged closer along the wall so that the squeak of floorboards would not betray him he strained his ears to make out the words. “– told her he sleeps in the kennels, that he gets only scraps from the cook! There is no answer for it.” The voice held a note of familiarity, but one that Alistair could not place over the shock of hearing himself so vehemently defended. “Regardless of where you get your information, this is not a matter within your purview,” came a terse reply – Eamon, in a tone low and deep with disapproval. “That is your concern here?” demanded the first voice. “I made enquiries after what I saw that day. I must say, you kept him well hidden, but that does not excuse you. Had I entrusted one of my children to the care of another, only to find them so poorly mistreated, the person responsible would find themselves very sorry indeed.” “You told me the boy was cared for.” This was a third voice, the second stranger who had ridden into the yard. “You assured me it would be so.” “I have done more for him than any would rightfully expect me to, given the circumstances,” Eamon retorted. “I have even secured him a future in a role worthy of respect –” “You wanted to make a problem disappear and thought the templars would be the easiest way to explain it.” “How dare –” “Enough!” The third voice sounded angry, and weary. “Eamon, I should have been consulted before you spoke with Knight-Captain Renwick.” “Consulted?” the second voice scoffed. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but –” All three went silent. Too late, Alistair clapped his hand over his mouth. He backed away from the door, the imaginary echo of his gasp ringing in his ears. Whichever way he tried to run, the hallway was too long, he wouldn’t be fast enough to get out of sight before –

favorite thing(s) I read: I've done a lot more reading this year, but I'm limiting it to three:

Kiss Me Moonstruck by @theluckywizard - I'm in love with this Garrett Hawke, who manages to be a famed mercenary at the same time as a complete sap and a passable wit, and the premise of the story happens to tick all of my favourite romance tropes

Attachment Theory by @thee-morrigan - Everything about this Natex F!Detective AU is rich and delicious and the imagery is gorgeous

Sanguine by @effelants - If you want an Alistair whose characterisation is on point, then this is the fic for you. The Changes to the plot of the game keep the story fresh, and the mystery around Moira is a very compelling dive into the lore around magic and spirits

writing goals for 2025: be more consistent with actually writing, try to get my word count up, and actually go back to the longfics I've been neglecting and start posting again

new works:

Patience, And Words, And Waterfalls - TWC, musing on Leah's inability to tell Nate how she feels

Mercies - The battle for Haven, with the feelings starting to show between Cullen and Maighread Trevelyan

He Makes Her Cry

Rosemary and Citrus

Tagging forward to everyone already mentioned, plus @vela-ad-astra @athenasdragon @serenpedac @naiatabris and @lalizah - no pressure!

[ndostairlyrium]

OC Tag Game

I was tagged by beloved @greypetrel @shivunin and @dungeons-and-dragon-age 💛 thank you so much ;u; consider yourself tagged back, if you wanna do another one!

I'm tagging: @magspy @star--nymph and @saltyowlets

I'm totally going with Barbara, because I'm not giving him much love lately - but maybe I'll do other two later as well? Let's see how much spoons I have left tomorrow lol

Name: Walker Hawke, but you can't call him Walker

Alias: Hawke, Kerry, "That Nuisance", Barbara, "You!" (derogatory)

Gender: Cis man

Sexual orientation: Gay

Age: Around 35 in Inquisition

Spoken Language: Does Ferelden have a language other than Trade? Um, I'd say Trade and a little bit of Tevene. He's far from being a polyglot but he can bullshit gesture his way out of many situations

Occupation: Nuisance (former Champion of Kirkwall, he'll become mayor of whatever remains of Lothering after the events of Veilguard, as a treat 💅)

Favorite:

Color: That shade of green of Fenris' eyes, but also brick red, and navy blue

Entertainment: Pestering Templars until they get mad (and even after, most of the times), drinks and gaming nights with his besties, putting rotten fish inside Cullen's drawers, and training with Fenris - in general. Could be reading, could be physical training, could be the fun kind of physical training

Pastime: Tending to his minuscule garden, watching people fall down the pier with Isabela, smuggling that hideous fereldan ale Anders and Carver use to prepare in the first's clinic, breaking and entering, grand larce-

Food: Cheese, the stinky kind. But he's also a big fan of stews and veggie soups

Drink: That hideous fereldan ale Anders and Carver make, but also whatever alcoholic is around. When he stops abusing alcohol, he drinks a mixture of coffee and infused witherstalk to calm his cravings - Ankh's suggestion - along with very orange ginger drinks

Have They...

Passed University: His facebook bio says "graduated at the University of Life"

Had Sex: Yes

Had Sex in Public: Before Fenris, I think so. Unfortunately, he's drunk quite often. To be fair, it's not really his cup of tea so he doesn't brag about it when he remembers

Gotten tattoos: A whirlwind of feathers on his right arm, with as many hawk eyes as his dearly departed (four so far: his parents, Beth, and Dog), and three talons on his hand and fingers to symbolize he and his siblings

Gotten Piercings: A helix on his right ear, plus both lobes are pierced

Gotten Scarred: Yep, and he has many scars, but the most visible one is given by the broken nose, who he couldn't heal properly in time

Had a Broken Heart: His heart breaks very often and very easily, sadly

Been in Love: Multiple times

Are They...

A Cuddler: Heck yea! He likes to act like a blanket or a backpack when it comes to his loves, but he also wraps his friends like a coat whenever they match his energy <3

Scared Easily: Nope

Jealous Easily: Not easily, no, but he gets rather annoyed when someone gets too friendly around Fenris

Trustworthy: You can trust him with your life, but I wouldn't suggest it as he's doomed by the narrative lol

Family:

Parents/Siblings: ...I mean, we all know what's up with Hawke's family :'D Carver is the only one he's left with, but he's also a Warden in my canon worldstate so basically Barbara is alone with Do- um. About that...

Children: After the events of Veilguard I think he and Fenris plan to adopt, but he needs to get used to the life outside the Fade first, along with the amount of traumatic events that he accumulated without the chance of processing them. Parenting needs stability and even if he is like, the most stable among my protags, he's not fine

Pets: A Mabari mix named Dog, just Dog, during the events of DA2. He'll get another one after he moves back to Ferelden during Veilguard, probably a proud Mabari girl u-u

[shizuu-chann]

Playing Veilguard a second time, I'm realizing how often the "Devouring Storm" is mentioned and I'm dying to know what's going to happen. Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain mention (during one of the eavesdropping scenes in the Crossroads) that their dreams since escaping imprisonment have been grey and shadowed or something (I can't remember exactly what they say, but they're both perplexed and at least mildly concerned--at least until Elgar'nan waves his verbal hand and dismisses it while saying, "The future is intangible, only the past and present matter" or whatever).

Even Anaris wants to gain corporeal form again to escape the impending "storm" (not sure how that would have worked out for him, but again, whatever). Cyrian tells us Anaris is scared of something but he doesn't know what! Plus, learning more about what the qunari were running from before settling Par Vollen and the tablet mentioning said Devouring Storm. What did they want with the Inquisition last game with the War Table missions? Then there's the secret ending, of course, and I just really hope we actually get a game in the future that tells the story!

What about Those Across the Sea is powerful enough to force the kossith to splice some of their own with dragons to gain fire breath? What are they, that they had the Imperium scared a millennium ago when they still worshipped the Old Gods and were arguing during construction of the Archon's Palace whether or not it should be offensive or defensive? They made an entire floating fortress that shoots magic lasers to defend against Those Across the Sea.

What boggles my mind even more is everyone in Thedas just...forgot about them? I'm not completely sure about that, but I don't recall any mention of Those Across the Sea (in-game) prior to Inquisition. My guess would be that it was intentional on the part of TAtS. If it's true that they've had a hand in all these major events in Thedas, then it wouldn't surprise me they have the power/influence/reach to erase themselves from records and the like (likely with agents) to keep people from being aware of their existence or machinations. Was them causing these events in Thedas a way to keep Thedas distracted while they made plans for...whatever it is they're doing? Invasion, at least. Was it that calculated? Can they even be that calculated?

It could also just be that they want to destabilize the region for to enact their plan. They did a great a job, if that's the case. A Blight; a war between mages and Templars; Solas possibly being aware of this impending "storm" after waking and dreaming, like Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, and acting too rashly (as he is wont to do), giving his orb to Corypheus to expedite the process of regaining his powers, and tearing a massive hole in the sky that tore smaller holes that spit out angry spirits all over Southern Thedas; and now with Solas trying to tear down the Veil, perhaps, again, in reaction to this revelation that Something™ is coming, further destabilizing Thedas incidentally by releasing two power-mad ancient elven-spirit mages hell bent on blighting the world to reclaim their past glory.

Did TAtS anticipate that, too? Or were these two tyrants escaping unforeseen? Did they foresee someone stopping them, which is why they seemingly encourage Rook? Is foresight something they have? They seems to anticipate everything Rook does, at least in regard to the first two "circles" you find that unlock those cryptic codex entries. I just have so many questions and no answers.

I need to know who they are, what they are, and what they even want enough that they've had their suspicious little fingers(?) in, apparently, every major event in Thedas for the past several decades at least. And HOW have they had their fingers in them? Is their goal sinister? If so, do they KNOW it's sinister? I mean, the first circle-orb-thing you find, the voice says something like, "They interrupt. As predicted. As hoped. Learn. Adapt. Triumph." The second, "You return. We are content." and when you ask who they are, they reply, "Not now. Not yet. We will show you. Soon." Iirc, they seem surprised when you find the third, but I haven't found that one again yet so I can't remember off the top of my head. Their plans are a mystery, but seem sinister from what info is given to us, but then why do they want us to triumph? Unless the two Clowns escaping wasn't part of their plan and they want them dealt with, too, so their own goals won't be hampered. I DON'T KNOW UUUGGGHHH. I just love it~

[orangeandclover]

Wip Wednesday

was tagged by @nonagesimus

tagging for today or for next week if been tagged already @classicleechaos, @saltyowlets, and @marvelous-goose

okay some very different characters this wip wednesday, using my hof Cora Amell and Nathaniel Howe. I have never shared my writing for them but I decided to write for them for dakissweek so here is a snippet from that

For the first time in a long time Cora Amell does not wake up alone. The steady breathing coming from a still sleeping Nathaniel greets her along with the morning light streaming in through the curtains (that she hadn't closed having been far too distracted with Nathaniel's mouth on her skin). She fights the urge to run her fingers over the slope of his hooked nose, too worried about breaking the fragile spell that rest over them. Instead she takes in how the lines of his face often tensed in some manner, be in frustration or a sarcastic and biting remark amongst the party are so relaxed in sleep.

She takes in the warmth radiating from his body, the feeling of his chest rising and falling against her own, and the way their bodies are slotted together; feeding the starving beast that has grown inside of her over the years. The beast that howls and claws desperate for a gentle and kind touch, for the warmth and safety of another body pressed against her own, to fight off; the chill, the nightmares, the loneliness. To be there if she were dragged away, able to tell the others what happened so she wouldn't just disappear. Even before Cora's time in the Circle her earliest memories are hazy mornings pressed in between her siblings that feeling of safety of happiness; they had all been dragged away by the time the templars came for her. What was harder than that was the first nights away from the Circle, it had been hard both being out in the world for the first time and sleeping alone it became easier over time to ignore until she started sharing her tent with- but after that, and after all the new responsibilities laid at her feet. She didn't expect to have it again.

"I didn't know someone could think so hard this early," Nathaniel's voice startles her out of her musings as he pulls her tighter against his chest tucking her under his chin and burying his nose in her hair.

"Not all of us grew up lazing in bed til noon." She says into the skin of his throat wondering if she should place another pretty dark mark to go along with the chain of them she left last night.

"I'll have you know as a squire I did wake up at dawn, plus I have been following after you and your insane schedule for what a year and a half now? I deserve a little lazing about, in your huge, comfortable bed."

"Oh it is my huge comfortable bed you are after?"

"You've caught me, I painfully laid out my feelings for you, all as a clever ruse just to get to laze around. Now that you've found me out what will you do to me, my dear commander?" She can't help but smile pressing her lips against his throat before biting down not hard enough to hurt but to feel before easing the bite with another kiss.

"I think I will have to hold you here for the near future, as they say you've made you bed."

"Well I am more than happy to lay in it," the with you while unspoken hangs between them as he pulls back to look at her.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

The fact I have to use multiple headcanons for some characters to make them palatable is bullshit.

Sorry this is a 3am rant as I am doing nights and am the half awake type.

But this specifically is about Cullen Rutherford and how in canon he’s a bitch ass. And Oghren to actually. Also a bitch ass.

But these characters have so much damn potential I wanna SCREAM.

Cullen is a character who is set up to be a creep in the first game. He has a crush on one of his prisoners and when the tower is taken by magic and he is tormented we see him break. In DA2, he’s a magic hating asshole who stands up in the final second against his boss. In DAI he’s the commander who gives lip service to changing but hasn’t.

This entire saga has me going; BUT WHAT IF?!

I think I ranted about this before but Cullen in DA2 could have been so much cooler if we saw him slowly have a come to Andraste sort of story. In the beginning he’s running on his trauma. Hates magic. Can’t see mages as people because it means then people hurt him and he can’t do it.

But then he begins looking around. Maybe Meredith says something or he sees how his men flinch when he’s around. He begins actually seeing things in the Circle that kind of go: wait. The Ferelden Circle tower wasn’t as bad as Kirkwall. Not good no, but Kirkwall is hell.

Cullen seeing the trauma of a young girl being made tranquil. Seeing a Templar abuse her. Stepping in and then… Meredith does nothing. Denotes the man but doesn’t care. Cullen, who was at mercy of demons for days, who was taunted with an image of a woman he fancied himself in love with… he watches and can’t understand it.

He hears of the Tranquil solution. Hears someone whisper of Alrik after and he… he can’t. He can’t do that. Talks to Meredith who dismisses it. Whose insanity sparks in her eyes. Who talks of mages are vermin.

Cullen wonders if he was like that.

I want an actual damn redemption arch for Cullen, and I would love to explore more of ‘the Chantry abuses the Templars to’ with their purposeful forced addiction and how awful it is to come off it. Having Cullen see how Samson is, seeing him so sick… it should be a moment where we see this man truly question things.

Then DAI. I want Cullen to have earned his position. I want him to talk about how he knows he has biases due to the tower and the demons. I want him to tell the Herald ‘I sometimes relapse. Just tell me’

I still want a voice to argue for the Templars but I want Cullen to argue about Tevinter and that dealing with slavers is never wise. I want us to see Cullen terrified of magic and him having to combat the feelings.

I want Cullen to have a slow horrific retaliation of the Chantry as he comes off lyrium but still can use his Templar powers. I want him to choke it out, shaking, that he has been lied to.

I want an actual redemption and him truly trying to redeem himself. I headcanon it all the time when playing because it is the only way I can put up with him. Even then I only have romances him with a non-mage human, because I can’t see him able to do anything else.

Then OGHREN. I don’t know if I talked about this but his entire relationship with Felssi never interested me because it feels like he’s repeating Branka. They insult each other and she talks to him like dirt. Exploring the idea he left not because he didn’t want to be a dad/is a bad dad but because he recognized he was in the same damn cycle would have been so cool. Plus having him actually change.

In origins, have him stop drinking as much. Have him talking not about sex or being gross but have him holding intelligent conversations with Sten on battle tactics. Have him argue with Shale about dwarves. Have him discuss withdrawal with Wynne.

Then Awakenings. Like I said, I think the discussion that his relationship with Felssi is toxic on both sides would be fun. Have him confess he realized he was right back where he’d started, have him drinking again… I’m not saying blame everything on the woman. I am saying that toxic relationships are hard to break and the idea of Oghren honestly being at a loss when he realizes where he is would be so much fun.

This is a headcanon I built to be able to stand the man.

And the fact I have to do so makes me want to beg on bended knee to BioWare: please don’t do this to me in DA:D.

[azol-otl]

Jason wakes up with a sense of vertigo that is unfortunately familiar. His stomach is down in his ass, and his legs are both weightless and shackled to the sky like a dwarven nightmare come true. Everything is both too much on his skin, ears, brain but his head is full of cotton.

He knows that if he opens his eyes the land will be the ugliest shade of sickly green he's seen in his life. The air will be filled with nasty smoke that does nothing to hide how oily everything looks.

Jason hates the fucking fade.

Couldn't the Maker or the Creators or even the fucking Stone have it so that he could sleep soundly without all this nonsense? Sometimes it was easy to just play asleep, to keep his eyes shut and ignore the screams, or even worse the laughter that liked to haunt his dreams.

"Hey! Wake up jackass, I have shit to tell you!"

But most times it wasn't possible.

Jason cracks open an eye and there he is, just as expected.

Short and thin with coltish limbs, curly black hair cut short once he realized that no amount of growth would hide those ears. Baggy robes swamping his form, there never was anything made for an elf in the Gallows despite the alienage in Kirkwall. Why bother with accommodating that chunk of the populace when there wasn't a facet of the city steeped in corruption both self righteous and not.

The kid was vlbarefaced with gleaming eyes glowing with mirth. Barefaced except for that fucking sunburst on his forehead.

Jason Todd, age fifteen, right after the templars cut his connection with himself. Before he was able to somehow fix it, somehow. Left behind as the Joker beat him to death in the fade and the templars burned the life out of his eyes. Permanently in that state, left behind for all time.

At least, that's one possibility. Could always just be a spirit in the wrong place at the wrong time. Could even be a demon playing the long con, which if Jason gets got by that cliche then he deserves to die.

Jason closes his eyes, because he's an asshole like that, but of course the Kid doesn't take that standing.

"Hey! I saw that! Don't pretend to be asleep you fucker!" he yells, his stomping over to Jason and poking his shoulder. Just to be petty, Jason lets out an obnoxious and incredibly realistic snore.

"Maker I fucking swear," comes the squeaky indignation. It's been like eight years can't he just go through puberty already, Jason did and he wasn't even in the driver's seat the entire time.

The Kid tries to poke Jason's face, forgetting rule one, and Jason's hand snaps out to grab it.

Of course the kid looks smug instead of scared, reckless dumbass that he is. Jason should teach the Kid a lesson...but he's fucking tired. Lavellan brought him to the fuckin Fallow Mire, and all he wants to do is sleep like the dead should. None of this resurrection crap he and his now burnt to ashes brothers have to deal with.

"What do you want Kid?" he asks tired.

The Kid just parrots his question back at him with an aggravating tone. Once again Jason is taken by the thought that if this isn't his past self burned into the Fade, that whoever's using his face is doing a really good job at capturing how irritating he is as a person.

"You know, you're shacking up with a lot of freaks these days," the Kid says instead of admitting he's gotten bored haunting Bruce's dreams and was lonely.

Jason shrugs. He's always shacking up with freaks and weirdoes (Talia, Rose, Roy, Artemis among others), but the Inquisition isn't the kind of freaks he's usually with.

"There's a hole in the sky," Jason says casually, like he's talking to a child about the obvious.

The Kid throws a middle finger at him but accepts it at face value. Can't take apart Jason's baffling choice of joining the church brigade if there's a chance the sky is gonna fall apart.

"Plus, it's not like they're much weirder than Ra's and Talia."

The look the Kid gives him isn't comforting in the slightest.

"Fuck," Jason says softly but with feeling.

"Fuck" he repeats.

Who the fuck is as weird as Ra's here— Solas.

"Please tell me the freak you saw is Cole," Jason asks just short of begging. Because Cole is fucking weird, weird like the Kid is except more awkward about it. That, and everyone already knows Cole is a freak and exactly what kind.

"You mean that weirdo blonde? I mean he's absolutely in the top three but—"

"What do you mean top three? Who the hell is beating out 'amnesiac ex-serial killer spirit who thought he was some mage kid's ghost'?" Jason asks in despair.

The Kid looks at him, and he goes from uncomfortable at Jason's description of Cole (which is accurate! He dug up the records on his own, not that he had to considering Cole just told him. Right before the guy traumatized himself by looking at Jason's memories of the Joker and his failed Harrowing, to mad at the parallels between Cole and himself (probably) before ripping the bandaid of.

"Well there's the egghead who feels like Ra's...well more like Ra's is trying to make himself feel like that guy," the Kid starts off like that sentence isn't all kinds of worrying.

"What does that even mean?" Jason asks, but the Kid plows on, like he has to tell Jason what's on his mind before it's gone, similar to Cole when he's being creepy.

"But that one lady, the super templar—"

"The Seeker?"

"—why does she feel like us?"

[transscr0ogetruther]

Playing around with the idea of Anders peacefully living the rest of his days in Orzammar. Brosca finds him a few months after the chantry bombing and brings him to Orzammar where he’ll be safe (no one knows who he is or would ever look for him there) because even though he thinks he shouldn’t have blown up a church in the middle of a big city, he does understand why and Anders is his friend. Plus he feels indirectly responsible for Anders getting jumped by the templars in the first place because he was so guilt-ridden about burning Amaranthine that he just up and left (because he was 22 and just experienced the most stressful two years of his already incredibly stressful life).

Queen Rica is just like “OK :) Your friend can live here :)” even though she has no idea who he is. She finds pretty soon because she is ambassador and the mage rebellion is huge news on the surface but she just keeps it to herself because she is a real one