#pro alistair

[linkles-art-blog]

Hey out there, FNAF fandom! I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for months now, but I wanted to finally introduce ya’ll to my designs for the Afton family (based heavily in many of the FNAF official arts, but with a few unique twists, and in my own style, plus my OC on the second from the right, whom I’ll talk about another time.)

I also made a version without my OC, for ya’ll canon-only Afton family lovers:

I really wanted Michael to have a sort of “I really don’t wanna be here, I don’t feel like I fit in, but I also don’t have a choice” look on his face…

I could talk a lot more about this painting, but I’ll probably get into it later, instead. lol

Anyway! Hope y’all enjoy. 💕 I have a fair number more FNAF arts to show y’all, but we’ll get to them in time!

Do not repost this artwork anywhere without my explicit permission or claim it as your own. See F.A.Q.s for details.

Songs I listened to while drawing this:

I honestly don’t remember, but probably a lot of stuff from my FNAF songs playlist and also listening to/watching this incredible FNAF lore video for the umpteenth time. 🥺💕

[vigilskeep]

the fact that the grey warden king of ferelden who is potentially attempting to free the circle of magi or otherwise is harbouring apostates really shows up in kirkwall and specifically asks to meet with the champion, a meeting that he attempted to have before the knight-commander realised he was in kirkwall, is really. its so... like okay i see why cassandra’s conspiracy board was coming together

[attanos]

my worldstate for dao includes anora and alistair ruling jointly through a political marriage elethea arranges even though her and alistair are together <3 but their relationship does blow up given aforementioned marriage and her sparing and joining loghain. ANYWAY. thinking about alistair spending years pining / angry. thinking about anora and alistair probably never fucking and both taking lovers in an unspoken agreement. SO its 9:40 and elethea shows up in denerim and alistair hasn't seen her in. hm. 8 years now and they do in fact have the most insane reunion sex for about three days and then elethea just. disappears. all that's left behind is a small letter outlining nathaniel howe’s appointment to lead ferleden’s wardens for the foreseeable future and a familiar and exceptionally well preserved rose.

[ohnoitshappening]

The way there are ways to learn to weild magic and magic-like abilities in the universe (Templars, Berserkers, Spirit warriors or whatever that subclass was called) with Templars originally not even needing lyrium to have their skills, and how that could affect the story is ignored especially after it got retconned to lift responsibility from the chantry and fit in the "both sides equally bad" bullshit in...

[hahren-tabris]

I'm trying to get screenshots of Alistair's new hair for the mod page and this is the first time I've played DAI with a worldstate where the HoF (Aelon in this case) didn't romance him. And the fact that he vocally disapproves of the Warden doing the Dark Ritual, calling it a "dark path" (above), while justifying his own participation in it as a means to end the Calling and save the life of his loved one if he's romanced (below) is making me!!! chew the on the walls!!!!!!!

[aurischolar]

crying… i just remembered how iconic my da origins playthrough was.

i was ~17 i believe when i played it? couldn’t stand alistair bc all he did was complain. he opened up to me one time (despite my best efforts to make him hate me) and i chose the dialogue option telling him to quit whining. gleefully executed him when given the opportunity. kept loghain alive out of curiosity as to what i could use him for, ended up sacrificing him at the end of the game. my warden and leliana were in lesbians and lived happily ever after

like 10 years later i do wonder if i’d care more about alistair if i gave him a chance at all, but origins is too racist for me to feel any real desire to replay it so as it stands i’m quite content with how my run turned out 😂

[flashhwing]

pros of Ari/Anders/Isabela: they're warrior/mage/rogue! a balanced party!

cons of Ari/Anders/Isabela: Isabela's gonna have to watch one of her boyfriends kill the other one

[icharchivist]

I want to do a playthrough where i spare loghain - his narrarive in dai seems so intresting? But my warden is always a city elf and I don't want Alistair to be mad at me so I always wimp out :(

god i feel you!!!

his narrative in DAI is genuinely SO interesting it really opens my eyes to how interesting it would be to spare him.... but in all of my DAO playthrough i've never been able to make it work. Alistair gets SO MAD that the only time i tried (which was with my very pragmatic human mage, my city elf was too full of rage and revenge and my dalish elf was too honorable to not avenge the wardens, and also she romanced Alistair so lol, and my human noble was a mix of the two) i was so shaken i went back on my save.

I really need to try one day, even if i have to skip the Alistair's cutscene, but god it's a hard one to justify after all the horrors Loghain unleashed.

i feel like esp a City Elf would have a hard time forgiving Loghain anyway, hell, any elves, after what happens in the Alienage. I guess all backgrounds have a reason to spiting him so it's so hard sparing him in DAO itself.

which is a shame because his plotline in DAI is genuinely SOOO interesting (but also i do love seeing characters having to live with the guilt of sins they'll never be able to redeem themselves from, yet they'll still do everything to try) but it's so hard to make it happen in DAO....

[andrastie]

So I'm about halfway (maybe a bit less) through Veilguard and am loving the game!

My biggest issue, however, is the lack of choices that carried through from Inquisition and the previous two game. I feel like Dragon Age Keep made the games more personalized based on the choices you made in the previous games.

For example, I was screaming when we got the little cameo of King Alistair in Inquisiton and the mention of my Coulsand Warden as the Queen of Fereldan.

Here are some things I wish had been included in the new game based on decisions made in my canon Inquisiton run (very very mild spoilers):

Divine Victoria mention - based on who we supported to be the new Divine in Inquisiton. I supported Leliana. When Harding is talking about the Inquisiton advisors and Leliana comes up, I would have loved a line about how she's settled in to her new position as Divine Victoria.

Codex entry about the Orlesian civil war - I read a codex entry in Veilguard about Empress Celene and I'm pretty sure one of the companions mentions her (I can't think of who). I chose to sacrifice Celene and put Gaspard on the throne with Briala pulling his strings. Maybe the codex could mention her assassination or another could talk about whether or not Briala still holds the power behind the Orlaisian throne.

Stroud - where the fuck is Stroud?? I sacrificed Hawke so that the Grey Wardens had a senior Warden with a brain that could step up and lead them. Yet their new Warden Commander still has no brain. Where is Stroud???

Hawke mention - an acknowledgement of whether or not we left Hawke in the Fade (I did). Maybe a comment or codex entry from Varric wondering if Hawke is still somewhere in the Fade, like he is now. We don't have to see Hawke, just a comment or codex would do.

Inquisiton companion updates from Harding - kind of like how in Inquisiton you could ask Varric or Hawke about the DA2 companions and they'd give you little updates. For example, "Cassandra rebuilt the Seekers," or "The Iron Bull and his chargers still take jobs across Thedas, more recently against the Antaam. That's gotta be awkward," or things like that, referencing what trajectory we set the companions on (Cassandra pro seeker-rebuild or Iron Bull Tal-Vashoth).

Grey Warden decision fall out - one of the big choices in Dragon Age: Inquisiton was choosing to banish the Grey Wardens or absorb them into the Inquisiton. I chose the later, knowing we'd probably need them in the new game. Maybe a comment from Davrin about how when he first joined the Wardens, he briefly served the Inquisiton, or one from Dorian when he confronts the Warden Commander, saying something like "My friend's mercy is the only reason you still stand to fight the blight".

Idk, I'd love to see people's own ideas and headcanons regarding their past choices so please let me know what you think they should have added based on previous game decisions!

I understand them wanting this to feel like a new game, not bogged down by the last games, but the suggestions I made were mostly one-off comments or codex entries that don't require voice recordings. Having three codex entries for the three Divine candidates and then just rotating them depending on the player choice wouldn't have been that hard... I don't think?

[cordeliaandnestastan]

I have more to add actually.

Rereading acotar and realised something.

I love Nesta because I relate to her. I relate to verbally striking out at others. Hurting others before they can hurt me. I grew up undiagnosed ASD. Im still undiagnosed formally. I didnt understand the social ques and social”ness” of what was going on around me. I was bullied and ditched. And could ever understand when / why people would lie. So I started figuring out how to hurt others before they could hurt me. I would lash out. Hide my interests and my passions for fear of hurt. I didn’t feel I could safely be myself.

I admire Nestas wittyness. I admire Nesta and Cordelias beauty and sensualness. More specifically how they go from no sexual experience to learning to come to terms with it and yield it as they please

I love Cordelia and Nesta because I also know how it feels to feel alone. On the outside. Not valuing the same things or having different experiences from their societies, friends or family. And struggling to find my place, and doubting it when it comes.

They are both incredibly passionate and powerfull woman. Nesta of mind, power/magic, and strength of will. And Cordelia is swordsmanship, morality, and loyalty.

They are both incredibly loyal. And love their friends. Id like to believe the same about myself.

Yes they are incredibly different. But they are also extremely similar. Nesta is more similar to Alistair than Cordelia sure. But they also as outlined above, have many similarities.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, stay tuned for the next instalment.

Nesta is nothing like Cordelia, Cordelia would hate her 🫣

Uhg I get so many of these like mind ya damn business kiddos

People have DEPTH and are MULTIFACETED i love them both for VERY DIFFERENT REASONS

They are both really cool strong Woman who are underdogs and care so much for their friends and family. They work hard are gorgeous and have REALLY COOL SWORDS.

Like yes, Nesta is alot more brash where Cordelia is very prim and niave. But like ???? Gaf (dgaf). They also have lived very different lives!

I think cordelia would recognise Alastair in Nesta if she met her. Both Al and Nes being really kind hearted people who due to their trauma have built walls and created harsh cold personas to protect them selves and their loved ones.

I love Nesta because she is unapologetically herself. She is unique and strong. She carves her own destiny. She is sexy and owns it. She loves HARD. Shes and underdog. Shes complex. Shes incredibly powerfull. She taught me the power of silence. Shes a book lover. Shes a hopeless romantic. She stands her ground. She loves music. She knows how to manipulate people, to intimidate, and throws off the most powerful of men.

Cordelia I love because of how she sees the world. I live how hard she tries. I love how selfless she is. I love how comited and tenacious she is. I love how she loves her friends. I love how she wants the best for others and looks out for others. I love her relationship with Cortana and being a shadowhunter and how BADASS SHE IS!! Shes an incredibly fighter! I love how far shell go for her friends. Shes also sexy af.

They BOTH dont fit other peoples mold, they are “outsiders” and underdogs who are worth so much more than they know. They are strong. They are talented. They are sexy. They have cool swords. The love hard and fight harder.

Cordelia is the rebel in me who loves that she lives in victorian england and is a badass.

Nesta is the part of me who feels misunderstood, snaps at people when we feel threatened, and want to be loved. We read romance and are strong and are physically active.

Cordelia is a tlh Character I fell in love with like I did with Emma Carstairs, and caused me to start this account and to enter the fandom. Nesta is a character I related too, saw myself in a rooted/root for. They dont have to like each other. They are both aspects of myself.

[jean-dieu]

All my protag from Dragon Age!! An idiot, an idiot, a sweetheart.

With very important informations regarding them of course.

Below the cut is just me rambling about them with actual informations, you can ignore LMAO

Artemis Tabris is a city elf with a fierce personality. Extremely stubborn, he refuses to stay silent in front of whatever discrimination he and his people can face. He's extremely protective of his friends and his family. Of course, it was only a matter of time before he would do something that would put him in big troubble. When his wedding day is interrupted in the worst way possible, he seeks vengeance for all the women, not caring for the consequences. He was glad to become a grey warden, as he thought it would give him the opportunity to finally be properly respected and to protect his family more than ever. He did lack the proper discipline though, often just doing whatever he wanted to do. His main past time is annoying Alistair, mostly by rubbing his relationship with Morrigan in his face. It started as more or less of a fling, but he grew very attached to her in the end, even going as far as searching for her despite everything. In the end, he gives up, and ends up with Zevran instead, and the two men manage to find happiness in life.

"Nacht" Hawke will never say his real name because he thinks it's lame. No, he's a hero, he's the main character, he's so cool, so he gets to name himself. He's a sarcastic piece of shit. He loves to annoy Carver, and the two of them doesn't go along. Despite his many flaws, he values friendship more than anything. Varric is his bff for life, and at this point they probably have matching tramp stamps tattoos. He's fiercly pro-mage, not exactly like Anders. Nacht's point of view is just "I was born like this and I just think I deserve the right to live". He's in general very against people in position of powers and in favor of the common folks. There's not a day that goes with him and Fenris fighting then kissing right after. He resented Carver when he chose to join the Templar, but they both made peace in the end, agreeing that they'll never manage to get along, but accepting to protect each other because they're family.

Aloysius Lavellan would gladly do anything else instead of being the Inquisitor. Still, the weight of the world on his shoulders is too overwhelming to ignore, and he's doing his very best to lead the organization to success. What he lacks in leadership and charisma, he makes up with determination. Cullen is coaching him for public speaking, and Josephine to polish his public image. Aloysius is in general too soft and too gentle to be a leader. He's shy, introverted, anxious, and always wondering if he did the right thing. Still, with a bit of help, he actually manages to become a worthy leader, respected for his humility and overall kindness with his men. He still doesn't know how he managed to secude Iron Bull but he's very happy about it and he loves him so very much. He tends to be kind of naive but he's very knowledgable on the world. He knows everything about plants and can rambles about them for hours. He's friends with every companion. He's a great mage, and he's always eager to improve his skills and magic, and he's not the type of man to rest on his laurels.

[vigilskeep]

you look in my head and its just this banter playing on repeat 24/7

[suryiel]

My thoughts on Dragon Age Veilguard

Finally finished the game yesterday. As a Dragon Age fan who’s with it since Orgins and at the same time never was too invested into the fandom circles, I think that I can be fairly just in my small review.

Pros

- good balance between opened world and corridor maps (as in DA2) – open worlds tend to tire me out. DAV strikes a good middle ground; with big enough maps to not feel claustrophobic and disappointed, but at the same time it’s hard to get lost,

- I experienced absolutely zero bugs

- level design for closed quest. There wasn’t a single one that was dragging like the Deep Roads in DAO,

- combat. Fast but not too fast. I liked the idea of combinations for various attacks though quickly lost track of them and usually triggered them by accident. Still it added a bit more flavour to the visuals, which was pleasant to watch

- visual design of Mourn Watch – absolute *chef’s kiss*

- Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain – from how they looked, to the dynamic between them, though Ghilan'nain is definitely more interesting of the pair,

- Weisshaupt’s quest was probably the first time in my gaming carrier that kept me on the edge of the seat. It was probably the best part of the game, if not the whole cycle,

- Similarli, the Fade part after defeating Ghilan'nain literally made me cry – the writing there hit all the right spots,

- Titans and dwarfs lore felt wholesome and believable – for me, it tied the story and why dwarfs are as they are quite nice.

Cons

- Companions are the most bleak out of all DA games. The game really tries to make you like them through TONS of companion quests but to me they still fell flat, with some of them falling significantly flatter than the others

- Dialogue options are just cosmetics, there’s no role play in them. Funny responses are mostly cringe and the direct or force one are just...meh

- No option to really speak with your companions unless it’s part of a cutscene or a quest

- Romances were really underwhelming, even if not comparing them to BG3,

- no real conflict between characters. I miss Alistair and Morrigan’s level of bickering. Or Isabela vs. Aveline. In DAV, all conflicts between companions are instantly resolved in the most politically correct way. Cool in real life, not cool if you expect characters who behave like real people,

- Lord of Fortune felt like someone just really wanted to squeeze half-naked Isabela into the picture

- Fractions in general – the stakes in the game were far too big for that. It should be whole countries uniting against the Old Gods, not local gangs..

- Change of tone to High Fantasy – that was especially visible in combat Abilities which to me felt more like Final Fantasy than Dragon Age,

- epilogues were literally ONE SENTENCES each, just re-stating the choices you mad in the game, with no insight what actually came out of them,

- And finally – I think that far to much of lore was handed over on a plate – everything has been explained, leaving little to no room for interpretations. I’m mostly neutral to the whole idea of elves killing the titans for their bodies, evanuris becoming consumed by the Blight and Archdemons being their pets; it fits, it’s ok but lacks any spark in it.

It’s definitely visible the game went through several changes – the story suffered the most. It’s an okey-ish game but not a good Dragon Age game an especially, a very poor BioWare one, but I suspect that BioWare is the last to blame. Most likely they did what they could, with EA Corporate bullshit standing above them.

*Ah yes, and the custscene after the epilogues… Introducing lizard people being behind everything was just insulting to the characters it referred to.

[definitelynotadeathclaw]

Was thinking that anders would really not like my inquisitor, so now you get a rambling essay about my ocs and the companions.

Warden Aeducan is kind of violent minded, but having real friends to help her unlearn the orzanmar mindset has helped. She's pragmatic and a bit ruthless. Couldn't care less about magic and "all that flutter". she'd probably get along best with fenris, Merrill, the iron bull, Cullen, Cassandra. Top friends in origins were Alistair, lelianna, and sten. Vivienne and Solas would probably hate her to no end. No real opinions on hawke or lavellan.

Hawke is diplomatic and very pro mage. Doesn't really understand blood magic, so ends up supporting it more often than he should. Constantly joking with friends. Respects warden aeducan, would be cautious of lavellan, but warm up to him fast. Would probably butt heads with wynne and Vivienne, besties with Alistair, lelianna, Cole, maybe Solas.

Inquisitor lavellan is my problem child. I love him. He's a dalish mage. He's peaceful and loves helping everyone he can, almost to a fault. He's about 19 at the start of inquisition, so he's really just new to the world. Is anti Templar but pro circle. Thinks it's the best idea for mages and those around them, though if he knew anything about say the kirkwall circle he would very much change that opinion. Embraces his leader role and tries to do good for the world. Anders and Morrigan would probably really not like him at first, but after a while not so much. Would be besties with wynne, lelianna, and Merrill (at least).

[merrilldidnothingwrong]

Cassandra recruiting Cullen would've made sense if the writers had the backbone to write the story honestly. Instead of the "Templars are actually the good ones and Grey Wardens are bad" nonsense we got, they should've followed the tread created in the previous games.

Cassandra is VERY pro-Chantry, pro-Templars and anti-mage. She is the worst choice for Divine because she just puts everything back the way it was. The logical path for Cassandra's character would be for her to recruit Cullen for one reason only: He is anti-mage. Extremely so. And to Cassandra, who probably hopes that this new Inquisition will be like the one of old, he is the right type of person for that job.

A Templar to go against the pro-mage attitude of both Leliana and Josephine. Bring back the Inquisition of old. Restore the Chantry to the way it was.

But the writers were cowards so we get this nonsense instead.

Honestly, yes. The fact of the matter is that Cassandra and Cullen are very similar as characters. And that doesn't speak well of Cassandra.

So much of Cassandra's character and story in-game very much parallels what the writers claim Cullen's story is. A Seeker who joined the order full of fire and belief, who committed horrible acts in the name of those beliefs, but after times of having those questioned, those beliefs are shattered by a revelation. And yet.

Just like Cullen, Cassandra doesn't do any true growing in the events of the game. While she's horrified when she learns the truth of Seekers and the Rite of Tranquility, that doesn't cause any massive change in her worldview, and more significantly, it doesn't offer the opportunity for the player to push her to change her worldview, the way an earlier DA game might have. Indeed, the game also goes out of its way to excuse and ignore everything Cassandra's done as a servant of the Chantry, in order to sell its centrist viewpoint.

This isn't to utterly disparage Cassandra and to say that she's beyond any kind of growth or improvement, or to make people feel guilty about liking her before understanding the context that Inquisition goes out of its way to hide. Cassandra was my first romance in Inquisition, before I really figured out what the fuck was going on with the story.

And ultimately, I think that Bioware's determination to hide and misrepresent the truth about characters like Cullen and Cassandra and the Chantry in general is what angers me the most. It betrays Bioware's unwillingness to commit to the deep story of the dangers of religions as political institutions, or to admit that the people in power aren't everything they're cracked up to be. (I'll probably expand on this point in another post now that I'm thinking about it)

To sum it up, yes, anon, you're completely right. The game and the story would have been much better served if Bioware had committed to acknowledging Cassandra and Cullen's pro-Templar stances being what they are. - Mod Alistair

[supoctosss]

Finished Veilguard two days ago and wanted to share my thoughts, good and bad, ALL SPOILER FREE

Pros:

I genuinely did really connect to each and every character and companion, this is also the first game where I actually adore every one of them and had a difficult time choosing who to romance (Davrin my love🫶) even ones who took my longer to warm up to (Emmerich and Neve) I still very much enjoyed their stories and arch’s

COMBAT COMBAT COMBAT. I played as a double dagger rogue, it was seriously had so much fun fighting in the game, I’m not big on combat (easy is go to for everything I play) but I found myself going to normal, and even hard, mode just to dodge attacks, think it my party, and time my hits. It was so so fun.

The art style. Everything was gorgeous, Treviso was my favorite (jumping around on buildings brought me back to my Assasin’s Creed days😭) but I loved Rivain and Arlathan as well.

The backstories/factions I felt were very well done, I was a Crow, and the whole time was very worried about how Viago and Teia were, even though I didn’t read the books with them, they did a really good job at showing how important they are to Rook, and I loved how Lucanis speaks to you about being crow, or when the companions bring it up in dialogue, it’s so real ig? I also loved how much you could connect with Bellara about being an Elf, even if you aren’t necessarily Dalish

How your choices genuinely can effect things around you, I won’t bring up specifics obviously, but there’s so many choices that when u get consequences for them, I feel like a jerk even though I felt like I made the right decision

There are more small things the codex, the cc, outfits, merchant set up, but those are the main big things I loved about it

Now the cons:

The biggest issue I have is actually also with the companions, while I connected with every one of them their relationship with Rook felt very empty to me, the very few romance scenes, the gifts, how Rook basically gentle parents all of them (which is funny sometimes, but many times came off as very annoying ig?) I felt the companions connect with eachother, and got very invested in their friendships and storyline, but didn’t necessarily get invested in Rooks storyline with them if that makes sense? I think it may have been them replacing the question wheel with small discussions you can have at the lighthouse, which I liked but also would prefer Rook being able to get know more about the companions (how they grew up, they’re feelings on certain subjects, etc)

I don’t know if this is considered a spoiler, but the lack of epilogue at the end of Veilguard that tells what Rook and everyone is up to after everything REALLY disappointed me, it’s one of my favorite things in all three games, being able to here my Lavellan is retired in a farm and my HoF is with Zevran, it’s such a nice touch that I really missed in Veilguard

Now to talk on a pretty big thing that I was disappointed when it first announced, the three choices in the world state. Now, I won’t say much bc again spoilers, but it wasn’t necessarily as bad as I thought it was gonna be, I do think the game would have been a lot better if they did add small codex entries about the past, but other than that the main issue I had was the lack of talk about the hero of ferelden, I didn’t want a cameo or anything bc please let her have her peace, but I’m assuming this will be the end of Dragon age, as they’re aren’t any major loose ends I can think of, but I wish we could have a closing on the calling, even if it was a vague SOMEONE found the cure and we can kinda assume from where (HoF, Alistair, Anders, Loghain) whoever, or that it’s still being worked toward, I think that could have been cool, also I feel like as there is a giant blight, I wish there could have been a mention of the most recent blight and who stopped it.

Now, one small thing that irritated me was Zevrans trauma with the crows being written off, it did make me upset bc it is confirmed that he is still being a pain in the ass to the crows in inquisition, so I wish we could have see that. But I loved being a crow so much that I can look past it.

One small thing I loved, the blight. I’ve talked about it before how interesting I find it, and how many directions it can take. And just how terrifying and unsettling it can be, and I’m so glad they ran with it, there were moments that I was genuinely scared, and adding on to that, there are many moments that made me so sad when doing random side quests, so anyone saying BioWare isn’t ’dark’ anymore did not do any side quests or pay attention to the codex.

Overall, I absolutely adored the game, it will take me a while to do a replay (people who’ve finished know why) but in the meantime I’m gonna be doing a full introduction of my Rook, and enjoy some pictures of her and her infatuation with Davrin and love for cats (plus her half cat half bird son)🫶