#some elves are evil

[v-arbellanaris]

sorry i WILL shut up about this (and start posting abt my new hawkes) but seeing "can you guys take a breath" and "decisions from 10+ years ago in southern thedas will not affect the current timeline set in north thedas" from specific blogs is genuinely wild. as if we don't literally live in a world where we are STILL just starting to face consequences to actions taken 10+ years ago, and as if US politics 10+ years ago did not have anyyyyy global ramifications for anyone outside of the US even 10+ years later. like. rivain, antiva, nevarra are all IN southern thedas wdym??? im half tempted to start actually listing out all of the things our decisions could have feasibly impacted 10 years later but seeing this take from blogs that genuinely still discuss the impact of the exalted marches on thedas hundreds of years later is WILDDDDDD

[electricabsolution]

no one talks about the most iconic, thought-provoking, and dare i say genius quote from LOTR the two towers: “looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!”

to the uneducated mind this might seem like an oversight, or perhaps a deliberate forgoing of accurate worldbuilding in favor of a quippy one-liner. however, in reality, this line wrenches back the war-torn curtain on the Orc. because of a single sentence, the viewer must step away and re-examine; who are we really supposed to root against? none of the Orcs’ rich culture is discussed in the story at all, simply because they have the misfortune of being soldiers on the losing side. they don’t matter.

Orc societies, livelihoods, and indeed restaurants were no doubt destroyed to satisfy Saruman’s desire for an army. in this essay i will

[thebookworm0001]

One critique I do have of Veilguard is that the way the world of Thedas is integrated is fucking weird

Because there’s awesome lore and callback stuff I was hoping for and stuff I wasn’t expecting that made me lose my mind

And then there are moments where you really feel the lack of carry-over for the things your characters did

Again - mostly love the game. Also had moments where it felt like it wouldn’t have taken that much effort to add in some callbacks to our decisions and I don’t know why they didn’t do that

[worstloki]

Actually would’ve loved to see Svartalfheim’s past explored a bit more. implying the whole realm was killed off because of a rebellious faction is suspicious.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Apparently I can meet my goal of roughly 400,000 words in 6 months if I just somehow write at least 2,200 words a day ghbjh... Almost 2,500 today... huzzah...

[fenharel]

fandom can be so exhausting sometimes :c

[3gremlins]

i foolishly started another playthrough of bg3 in the early access even tho the game comes out for realskies in like a week or so and i'll have get to make more characters/new pts anyway.

trying to make myself not be a pretty wood elf/half elf druid so rolled drow paladin (i'm def going to play a druid first once it's out for real tho b/c talk to animals is my favorite larian studios skill and i'm so sad without it. i just want to talk to all the animals and also wild shape!) and it's actually been pretty fun to just be tanky and whack things.

npcs are super rude to drow tho, it's real da elf and skyrim khajit/dunmer flashback hours (i don't love it? the fantasy race racism stand-in in rpg games always feels not terribly thoughtful? i realize it's b/c the source material has it but still idk there's got to be a better way and wotc/dnd is historically still not great at it)

i keep attempting to play a different type of character (i usually start to swing chaotic good no matter where i start lol), but it's difficult and also it's real hard not to flirt with astarion even if he disapproves of my kinda do-gooder paladin atm lol (i think b/c a character disproves sometimes my contrary nature takes the better of me b/c i'm like oh no but i want *them* to like me even tho everyone else approves or maybe b/c everyone else approves XD i've already romanced him & shadowheart tho, gotta try someone else's arc or proto arc as it were lol. BUT FLIRT WITH HOT KINDA STANDOFFISH ELF!!! i am weak T.T)

still wish you could set up the "what do you desire" character to be genderfluid and appear as both masc/femme forms. like my characters are all bi/pan! they're attracted to lots of people- idk if they've said anything about this? i haven't been watching *too* many dev videos b/c i don't want to spoil myself too much but i did some searching to see if it was mentioned anywhere yet and couldn't find anything (i did see that they'll have more body types for your tav at least in the final which is another small thing i dislike about the early access cc- even tho you can pick non binary as an id, you're still stuck w/ very binary body choices)

[bxdtime-ceai]

it's so hard to enjoy a show when the villain is yet again the only person with an eastern european accent

[baroquefaolchu]

Once again some people have yet to learn of warhammer 40k and how close their ideas are to something that exists just outside their normal wheelhouse.

Any setting where the elves have weaker booze than the dwarves isn't committing to the bit

[deathandthemagician]

imagine being as miserable and angry at everything as the people in Wowhead comment sections are. you will never have your childhood back, btw. there's only now

[waywardsalt]

chat how do we feel about me deciding that if the other dnd party members want a specific item my character has, they need to succeed a persuasion check with a somewhat high dc

[crowdusk]

people who draw non-white adaine i love you i love you i love you

[wintersmisery]

Ignore me I’m rambling

.

.

having trouble figuring out the general social dynamics in WM. Alax’s cultural values put emphasis on beauty, elegance, mercy, grace, etc etc standard things you may think of when you think of stereotypical elves; the ilcaea people (orcs) are a people becoming united for the first time in centuries following Calamity, and as such as creating their own collective social ideas of art and exchanging ideas within holds, etc; humans occupy the standard human mold within this triad - they’re not as “dignified” as the elven folk, more boisterous + prone to conflict, not a magically inclined ppl. the thing is when you usually watch fantasy movies contrasting elves and humans, you’re likely to see grubbier humans, maybe missing an eye if it’s a crowd shot, generally looking not as “pretty” as the elves who are all clean and wearing nice clothes. And you could chalk this up to stereotypes, and many have, and I’ve seen plenty posts about elves that aren’t as aloof than in mainstream media, but I’m not going with that more generous interpretation - unless like in real life, those who are disabled or [insert marginalized group here] aren’t really acknowledged unless they’re doing it in a way that fits with mainstream boundaries, y’know being pretty, bearing their pain with grace, still trying to be as abled/mainstream as possible. Problem is, for many upper class Alax, they’re not fond of human “””encroachment””” on their land (the initial human settlements in alax were made bc they were losing a war badly and the remnants of cities were fleeing across the cold sea and now they’re starting to outlive their *oh so generous* welcome)(I mean it was generous at first, but now they’re not miserable pitiful victims anymore and you know how it goes) - they don’t like that the strongholds of orcs have effectively come together to form their own pseudo-nation - they especially don’t like that orcs and humans have started getting along so well, because now the projected image of alax’s beauty and carefully curated strength is now outnumbered by peoples who don’t value the same arts and philosophies, and feel threatened by it - and now the knives are starting to come out

And it’s a difficult mental shift to make bc in my initial idea alax was being attacked by ilcae - they weren’t top dogs in town, and humans weren’t even around, and the entirety of syn’s Befuckening was a series of accidents; people not realizing how their expectations were fucking her up until it was too late. Tragic. And now it’s … idk it feels very grimdark?? I’m having difficulty reconciling her character has developed with the socio-political situation that’s going on. She’s not the only protagonist (syn being more focused on the magical aspect of it all, ravna focusing more on the political aspect of it), so there’s another point of view with other priorities that are more socio-political than her own, but it’s still Eugh in my head

Trying to remember in my head “the general public opinion and the ideals of government are not one and the same” and “regardless of marginalized/advantaged status people are people and are both good and can act horribly”

Still don’t know how it all ties together. How it ends

Also still gotta figure out what the fuck is going on with Kireth lmao

[pagesofkenna]

I'm way overthinking these BG3 character creation options

[dalishious]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Familiar Faces and Factions

The trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard has dropped, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s like a new breath of life has entered my lungs!

Within the trailer, we now have confirmation of who our seven companions are going to be, and among them are a few familiar faces from the book Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights. We also have some name-droppings of a couple factions featured in the same book and the comics, Dragon Age: The Missing. So, here is what knowledge is established about these faces sand factions.

Neve Gallus & The Shadow Dragons

Neve Gallus was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “The Streets of Minrathous”. She comes off as a no-nonsense and a little intense kind of person. Neve is a Tevinter mage who works as a private investigator. For example, if someone wants some detective work done but doesn’t want the public to know, they would hire Neve. On occasion, she’s even been hired by the templars, who act like just regular cops in Tevinter – and yes, that includes their corruption and primary goal of simply protecting the elite – but Neve prefers to work alone because of that corruption, and has a personal grudge against the order for taking bribes to cover up crimes.

Neve has a prosthetic leg below the knee, made of dwarven-crafted metal.

In The Missing, Neve says she is friends with the Shadow Dragons. In the article shared by EA, as of The Veilguard, she is officially a member. The Shadow Dragons are a group of concerned Tevinter citizens who help those in need. This includes supporting escaped slaves, for example.

Emmrich Volkahrin

Emmrich Volkahrin was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “Down Among the Dead Men”. He is a necromancer from Nevarra, and therefore naturally a member of the Mortalitasi – specifically, a professor in the Mourn Watch. The Watchers serve as elite guardians of the Grand Necropolis. Emmrich is on the eccentric side, personality-wise, but kindly and informal.

Emmrich has a skeleton assistant name of Manfred, who helps him with different office tasks. He also has friends in Myrna, a fellow Watcher, and Audric, a dead guardsmen who looks after the library.

Lucanis Dellamorte

Lucanis Dellamorte was first introduced in the Tevinter Nights story, “The Wigmaker Job”. He is the favourite grandson of Caterina Dellamorte, First Talon (leader) of the Antivan Crows. As such, he was raised from birth to be the perfect assassin in a ruthless and torturous environment, knowing only cruelty from his family. This has led to him feeling less like a person and more like a living weapon – and he is treated like one by everyone who knows of him. He has “the Demon” as a nickname.

I know a few people are curious about the “mage killer” title in the trailer. Rest assured that Lucanis specifically kills evil blood mages. In his own words: “If someone wants to pay me top coin to kill a bunch of racist blood mages—who have it coming—I’m not going to complain.”

Where his cousin Illario has a “silver tongue” as Lucanis puts it, he himself is a lot blunter. His reputation of a killer is spotless, except for one small problem: He has a heart under all that black leather.

Lucanis and Illario get along quite well, except for the fact that Lucanis is destined to be the next First Talon, after Caterina dies. Illario wants the job far more than Lucanis, but Lucanis isn’t sure he’s capable of making a decision for himself that goes against the wishes of the Crows.

The Veil Jumpers

The Veil Jumpers were first introduced in The Missing #3. They are a group made up of primarily Dalish elves, though also inclusive of other folks of any walks of life willing to help, working to try and control the new threats within Arlathan Forest. The forest has become a ground of chaotic magic, with the Veil so thin that time and place is jumbled together. Thus, the Veil Jumpers move in and out of the spots that bleed into one another.

The Veil Jumpers do have a headquarters called “The Sanctum”, but we know nothing else about it.

The Lords of Fortune

Despite the Lords of Fortune being mentioned in more than one Tevinter Nights story, as well as the show Dragon Age: Absolution, we don’t know a lot about them. The only concrete information provided is that they are a loose group of people who collect trinkets and glory. They come out of Rivain. They typically wear a lot of their collected trinkets like badges of honour. That’s really all there is, so I can’t wait to learn more.

[knife-eared-jan]

Ok, as much as I have been hyping and playing 12 hours a day since it got out (still in Act 1 though, bc I'm a slowass player and completionist), I feel like I have to say something that is getting hard to ignore at this point... and I wanna preface this by saying that I am loving a lot of aspects of the game and I adore the writing when it comes to the companions, who I am obsessed with.

And maybe this will get better yet, as I generally heard the writing picks up once the story progresses beyond picking up all companions..

But I'm starting to get quite upset at the way the writing just does NOT care about the established lore and the politics of Thedas like at all, when to me - and many others - that richness, nuance and depth of the world is what makes the games so special.

(Spoilers below)

I looked past the way the elves in Arlathan just seemed to know that their gods are evil and Solas is "kind of a dick" but was right about that. When, you know, that made him basically the Satan of their pantheon up to now.. It was after all the tutorial stage of the game and I understand that you wanna ease newcomers into the lore. I could also handwave it in-universe with Morrigan being there - she could have filled the Veiljumpers in on the discoveries of the Inquisition or even what the Well told her.

It felt a bit weird that our contacts in every other faction just accepted this huge revelation without a blink, but again it was the early stages and I also get that having a discussion about it 6 times with different faction leaders would have been incredibly tedious. So I ignored that. And yeah, at least the First Warden found it hard to swallow.

The fact that they brushed aside the gods finding elven subjects - many of whom after all still worship them - with one sentence from Solas was disappointing though. Instead they chose to ally them with the Venatori and the Antaam who are the pure evil factions with no nuance or motive to side with them besides a comic book level of hunger for power. They didn't even throw in a sentence about the gods maybe speaking to the Venatori through the Archdemons to get them on their side or how it's very ironic that the Venatori, who want to make Tevinter great again, stoop to working with the pantheon of the people they oppress because they see them as lesser and other. No political exploration of the massive lore implications at all.

It really hit me when I picked up Davrin and he commented how Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain blighting the world would really endear us (elves) to the rest of Thedas - this was the first time anyone actually mentioned the political impact of the elven gods being real, freed, evil and blighted on modern day elves at all, when this should be HUGE. It should be ugly. It should be complex. It should be explored in as many examples as bloodmagic and the oppression of mages was in DA2. It should be a central point of Act 1. (This btw made me love Davrin so much in that moment because this was the first time in the game for me when I actually felt like talking to a Dragon Age elf and even just that one line felt like home.)

And now I just did Taash's first companion quest and it seems Qunari lore is also being ignored (except for the gender aspect of it, which I look forward to). Taash's mum was a scholar and had a baby and the only problem about that was that it could breathe fire and was special but otherwise all would have been dandy? Like she would have just been allowed to keep Taash long enough to find that out about her baby if she was living under the Qun? That directly contradicts everything we know about how the Qunari's culture around reproduction and childcare works.

Sorry to be negative and talking myself into a rage - I know it's not something people want to see rn. But like, I realise you have to brush over some lore intricacies for brevity and to make it digestible for new players. But this is a world initially inspired by Wheel of Time and ASOIAF, both of which are interesting because of the depth of ficitional cultures, lore and politics, and hence it's also what gives Dragon Age its appeal. And now they take us to the most politcally interesting areas on the world map and just get rid of all of political depth?

That's really disappointing. Imagine if Winds of Winter dropped all political themes just because there's several previous books and it's been some a lot of years.

Also, I managed to play DA2 before I ever played Origins and they could introduce me to a vast established background of lore just fine back then.

Sorry. Rant over. But I had to get that out of my system.