#solas isn't listed bc he's obvious

[baphometsss]

re: he would kill the inquisitor etc, i was referring to this line:

i think lavellan is DAMN lucky he didn't get a chance to do anything worse than take her hand.

from which i inferred that you meant he would've done worse given the opportunity, which made little sense to me given that he had ample opportunity in trespasser and in the years since. esp since he can kill people remotely in their sleep. as for harming them non-physically--well yes, he does that repeatedly throughout his interactions with the inquisition. but that isn't what was being suggested, given that you listed off all the people he'd killed beforehand.

i think we're in agreement that he thinks the world needs fixing and that he's the only one who can fix it, both bc he is a prideful spirit, but also because he was the one who essentially broke it in the first place by throwing up the veil. it's not just that he thinks he's the only one who can fix it, but he has to do it himself, because it's his own mess. the way modern elves are treated only rubs salt in the wound, especially because he spent so much of his existence trying to free the elves from the same kind of oppression. factor in the way they remember him as the adversary and remember his enemies as the gods they wanted to be seen as, and it's extra extra painful. it is so painful that he just flat out denies it is a thing, or uses it as further motivation of how broken things are because of him, because he can't cope with that level of pain. he thinks that by restoring the world that was, he can fix all of those problems and release himself from his burden. he can be both selfish and caring.

in fact, the tragedy of his character is also that he cares, deeply, about all of these people, but he feels it's his duty to make the difficult calls that will bring about the best (in his view) long term outcome for all of them. even if that means some or a lot of them must die as an initial sacrifice. his saving of the dalish clan is very interesting in light of this, because it serves as a literal comparison to elgar'nan. elgar'nan wants to sacrifice the 'elvhen' dalish to lusacan, i'm guessing bc their blood is more potent/magical than human venatori blood, to restore himself to what he once was. by contrast, solas saves them from being sacrificed, saves rook and helps them to get to safety in spite of elgar'nan's machinations. elgar'nan is what solas, by his own admission, fears becoming most, and here he gets the opportunity to prove to himself (and the player) that he is not elgar'nan. he even calls them my/our people. there's no real reason for him to lie about this. rook already doesn't trust solas because of what he did to varric.

idk i'm going off on a tangent here but my point is that yes, he is a liar and he is responsible for his own choices. however, while i don't think mythal is to blame for all of it, she definitely bears some responsibility for him being what he became. by her own admission, she broke solas down, moulded him into a weapon that twisted him from his purpose. there's a level of ignorance both in the game and in fandom that is frustrating for abuse survivors to deal with; mythal and solas had a very obvious trauma bond. they fought in a war and committed a genocide together, of course they're trauma bonded. that's something that solas regrets i would argue more than anything, because it's the one thing that has done the most harm to the world. in trauma bonds your judgement is so fucked up and twisted that you inevitably make bad choices. they are never as simple as 'just saying no'. you can accept responsibility for those choices while understanding that they don't happen in a vacuum. that's why it's important not to just zero in on solas as being the only part of what is a much larger puzzle. i won't get into it now because it would be a whole other post, but mythal is lk the big bad that's been present since dao. they sanitised her excessively in this game, which is one of my biggest complaints.

the thing about Solas Dragon Age is that he is an unreliable narrator. he lies. it is literally his thing, he points it out again and again, and real ass people STILL fall for his lies and propaganda again and again, even though he is literally A Well Known Liar

solas in inquisition does not view modern elves as "people". he doesn't view any modern day race as "people", this is something you can learn from cole, who has a unique insight into his head. solas pulls away from a romanced lavellan in inquisition specifically because SHE IS STARTING TO MAKE HIM VIEW MODERN DAY PEOPLE AS ACTUAL PEOPLE and he doesn't want that, because if he views them as people, he won't be able to pull down the veil. his "i had plans to minimize casualties" is a stretch of the truth at best and an outright lie at worst in veilguard. you are given no reason to believe him and every reason to understand that he is likely lying, again, as he always has, in order to justify his actions. he murdered the two people closest to him because they made him waver, wanted him to see there is beauty worgh protecting in this age, too, and i think lavellan is DAMN lucky he didn't get a chance to do anything worse than take her hand.

solas. is. a liar. he is a spirit twisted from his purpose, wisdom become pride, but his actions are his and his alone. he lies to felassan, he lies to the inquisitor, he lies to varric, he lies to rook. you HAVE to take everything he says with a grain of salt. mythal was the person he loved most and had the most history with and he still betrayed her, and locked up what remained of her within the fade. he is unreliable and twists his words to suit his purpose.

when he says he wants to save the elves, to return them to their former glory, he is likely not talking about modern day elves. he doesn't view them as "his people". not anymore. they're broken and need to be fixed. solas is a liar. he knows exactly who he is trying to save, and it is not anyone who exists within this modern world.

[disasterdrvid]

Masterpost of characters I'd like to see in DA4

What it says on the tin. Half speculative, half wishlist. Was going to post this around EA Play Live, but Bioware loves crushing my hopes and dreams so I'm kicking this out of my drafts. Under the cut bc this is loooooong.

Potential Companions (And Maybe Romances)

Starting squad will probably be Fenris, Vaea, Francesca, and Autumn. (Based on this post.) I'm curious about the worldstate variations for Fenris--especially a romanced Hawke getting left in the Fade and how he gets involved in the first place if Hawke gave him back to Danarius. I'm curious if Vaea and Francesca are are romance options but they're really enjoyable in the comics so I'm excited to see more of them.

Lucanis Dellamorte!!! I will never shut up about him and his storyline. We've been lacking Crow companions so I'm hoping they do him justice in-game. However, I'm worried Bioware might write him too similar to Zevran if he's a potential romance. While Zevran's romance is one of the best, I don't want Lucanis to have too many similarities just because of a shared background.

Neve Gallus! The Tevinter PI who stole my heart. I love her to death and want her desperately in-game. Let me be gal pals who solve crimes, Bioware!

Audric ❤ Imagine all the fun banter about architecture as well as being undead. Would definitely have a different feel from Justice or Cole. (Also fingers crossed skeleton from the concepts actually is Audric.)

Not to be a massive lesbian but the hot Qunari lady from the concept art! I'm hoping she's not one of the characters who got cut in development and, if she made it, she's not straight.

Strife my beloved ❤ Not sure if he'll just be encounterable or a full companion, but he was super enjoyable in Tevinter Nights and I desperately want his sass for DA4.

Tessa and Marius! I'm constantly oscillating between companion or just NPCs, but I'd love to see the magekilling duo fully voiced and animated. (Also if they do come back, Charter is an obvious add-on.)

Advisor Roles

Dorian! Based on his appearance in Deception (a small cameo where he guides the crew), I'd love for him to come back in a much more limited way to let everyone else shine.

Varric ❤ This man needs a break and based on the voiceover from the trailer, as well as his appearance in Knight Errant, I'd guess he'd serve more as a spymaster to our group.

Maevaris is one I'm constantly caught between advisor or companion. But I love her dearly and if she somehow doesn't end up in-game the Bioware writers have an invitation to catch these hands.

Controversial but the Inquisitor. Like how the Warden wasn't the DA2 protag and Hawke was the DAI protag, I don't want (or even believe) they'll be the protagonist this time around and that take neglects a lot of what was said in Trespasser. I think they'd be best served advising the new hero on how to navigate the bullshit of saving the world--especially Inquisitors who really fought against being the Herald. However, I do want them in on the crisis (not the midpoint, but that's another post) confrontation of Solas. Also: give me consequences for the Well, damn it!

General NPCs

Awakening Wardens!!!!! Sigrun, Velanna, and Nathaniel are some of my all-time favorite characters and it's been too long since we last saw them. (Oghren counts too, ig...) I also want Bioware to at least acknowledge Awakening's fucked up and retconned lore. Since we only just reached the point of the Warden disappearing, we can assume these guys are kicking around somewhere. With the theorized Warden civil war apparently brewing, and potential Weisshaupt concept art, I want to see them kicking ass and trying to save the Wardens from themselves--riding griffons all the while. Speaking of...

Valya, Reimas, and Caronel! We haven't heard from them since Last Flight, and I desperately want them to get some kind of acknowledgement for rediscovering griffons. If we do end up at Weisshaupt they'd better still be alive and making sure those griffon hatchlings are in good hands.

Merrill ❤ With everything going on with Solas, if Merrill doesn't get involved I'm suing. (And if she doesn't make jokes about Fenris adopting Vaea then what's the point!!!)

Isabela got featured in some concept art, so I'm hoping she makes an appearance--if not returning as a companion or captain of the ship base that some have theorized.

Warden Carver/Bethany. Again, the heavy emphasis on Wardes would be an ideal way of bringing them back.

Stroud, if survived. I can't think of anyone who chose him over Hawke, but if they did I can't see him not coming back in that circumstance.

Generally speaking, the Inquisition romances will probably all come back. The end of Trespasser shows them with the Inquisitor in that meeting so we can assume they'll have their LI's back. I've mentioned before that I only believe three or four will have expanded roles, and the rest will simply cameo. Obvious caveat to this is that Greg Smellis needs to be replaced so I can laugh that Cullen came back without him. (Bonus points if Anders' VA replaces him like he did for DA2.) This obviously doesn't apply to a Qun-aligned Bull. RIP.

Divine Victoria (all iterations). Since most people chose Leliana or Cassandra, that Trespasser cutscene hints at this even if they weren't elected Divine. But given the Inquisition--if still around--works for her, then we can assume all iterations of Victoria will come back in some capacity.

THE HERO OF FUCKING FERELDEN. With Gaider gone, I'm hoping the policy of keeping our original protagonist out of content went with him. ESPECIALLY because of that Warden civil war. (Also my Hero would never pass up the opportunity to have a griffon. C'mon, Bioware.)

HoF's romance. Again, I want Bioware to acknowledge the weird lore of Awakening. Alistair--even a king--apparently disappears according to the epilogue, so I want some kind of plot point with this. (Again: the Warden stuff seems to be an ideal way of bringing some back.) But all the other romances will probably feature (Leliana and Morrigan are two big ones), so fingers crossed. I don't think Zevran will be a companion like some theorize, but if the Crows are involved we know Zevran can't be far behind.

Hawke (if survived). Controversial, but I think a Hawke left in the Fade is probably dead. But if they weren't I'm hoping they'll feature--especially if Fenris is a companion, Varric is helping out, and Merrill and Isabela get involved.

Fucking Shale! Please, for the love of god, let Shale come back! (Imagine her meeting a Cadash Inquisitor lol)

Morrigan. (And by extension, Kieran.) Yeah, there's gonna be consequences for what happened last game. Yikes.

By that logic, and weirdly enough, Flemeth. We've seen her come back from a supposed death before, so I wouldn't be surprised if she pops up at some point. And if it's true that the Evanuris are our real Big Bads... 👀

Feynriel! We haven't seen him since Act 2, and most people have likely sent him to Tevinter to continue to hone his skills. I'd love to see him again and find out just how far he's come since Hawke saved him. I'm also interested if he's not aligned with Fen'Harel and how that will influence the use of his abilities. He's one I'd actually like to have as a companion, to be honest. But I'm putting him under general NPCs because I don't want to count on that hope.

Teia and Viago! They made a cameo in Deception, and I loved the tension between them in Eight Little Talons. Given the Crows' involvement as well as any potential consequences regarding Lucanis, I can't see them not coming back. (This speculation also then extends to the remaining Talons.)

Probably Sten. The high involvement of Qunari in Trespasser and later books/comics means we're likely to face down our old companion at some point. If the HoF does return, this could result in a fulfillment of Sten's promise to not look for them on the field.

[dailyarturia]

Please rate the Lancers so the world may have a clear and obvious objective base on which Lancers are the best characters because subjectivity isn't real and it is clear you are the expert on all things Lancer and thus are qualified to be the definitive objective source for all opinions on Lancers. (or just share some other lancers you think are cool and maybe some you wish had been done better that's fine too)

the best lancer which is why he’s the one everyone thinks of when you say ‘lancer’. the beauty. the muscles. the spandex. the personality. the voice. the colour palette. the archetype he represents. the way he fits into the rest of the fate cast. his skillset. his animations. the ultimate. the absolute. could’ve just stopped making lancers after this one bc they’ll never top this one. EX/10

handsome. entry level thirst but that’s not necessarily bad. victimises himself a lot in zero so people going uwu poor baby on him piss me off just a lil because both the situation with grainne and with sola was supposed to be morally ambiguous and out of everyone’s control. I like how he’s a good example of how feitos are kinda doomed to repeat the same mistakes of their legend. my top fav until I played fsn and learnt what true love is (its cu). 8/10

a good boy! a handsome boy! a boy of many talents! just wants to help at all times but never learnt how to mince words so he comes across as the absolute rudest fucker. in ccc he lists “his own poor communication skills” as the thing he dislikes. 10/10

wants to clear his name as bloodthirsty vampire but only the vampire part because he knows what he did and he won’t try to deny it, he just wants to clear up the things that were added later he didn’t do. very good and nuanced. very spicy uncle. I’m not saying I want to fuck vlad I’m just saying that if vlad were to come up to me and ask me if I wanted to fuck I would not say no. 9/10 I should actually read apocrypha sometime

spicier uncle but less personality. 8/10 why did he have to be a package deal with that fucking clown

pls no bully. treated as kind of a joke a lot but a really nice character if you pay attention. absolutely as bloodthristy and evil as her legends but all because she was genuinely never taught different and therefore doesn’t realise her actions are evil and the reason she is hated. desperate to be loved because her literal life depended on it. later on starts to slowly realize just how fuckedth she is and tries to make amends even though she knows full well she can’t possibly ever make up for everything she did. hates her future self’s guts because she knows what she did will make her end up like that but still wants to change it somehow because this time she knows it was wrong. 10/10 please god let CCC get localised

if i see one more fucker say she has no personality I will FIGHT I love her. insanely powerful and worked hard for it but because of it reached a point where none of her achievements are achievements anymore and instead are just something she would’ve done eventually bc she has all the time in the world for it. claims to want to die but actually just wants to feel alive again. actually pretty easily excited especially when fights to the death are involved but feels like she has to keep up a composed teacher front. an overcompetent mess who has no idea how to do anything without doing the Most. 100/10

now THERE’s a lancer girl with no personality. I’m sorry bryn you’re beautiful beyond belief but fragments has a bad writer and I hope you get to shine in fgo sometime bc that’s what saved arash and ozymandias 7/10 

treated entirely as a joke in fgo so far and mostly known in fate for getting cucked but his legend has a lot more and is actually pretty cool so I hope he gets to be taken seriously sometime too. dressed up as a baby once to avoid fighting a dude bigger than him. stabbed himself in the face to avoid falling into a magic sleep and then fucked up a dude another time. now that’s what I call a grab bag of a character! 7/10

100% YOUAERE My FUCKIGN GI>RLFREIONGD 10/10

dirt friend 10/10

whose fucking child is this

whom?

supreme