#tag: meta

[kirkwall-age]

probably about to reinvent the wheel here

but i think my favorite explanation for the off-screen Athenril fallout is pride before a fall

sidebar: i think i nearly always go the Athenril route because, well, Meeran asks you to straight up kill somebody as a job interview, and Athenril says in her pitch: we’re not slavers and we’re not murderers. and i think the majority of my Hawkes who just left a farm in Lothering are not exactly contract killer material

and the game requires you to walk away from both of them. from the doylist perspective = i get it.

but quitting Meeran’s crew is easy to explain away: the man’s a grade A asshole. but Athenril’s personable. she knows how to be polite which has taken her this far. and yet we know that she has done something so offensive that Hawke storms off and promises to never work with her again

in spite of which Athenril sends you three very politely worded letters (job offers for Loose Ends, Bait and Switch and The Bone Pit), keeping the line of communication open and fairly amiable

so the way i see it is:

Athenril’s crew is small. she is trying to get by without attracting too much attention from the Coterie or the Carta. that’s fact

Hawke joins her crew -- which betters Athenril’s business considerably. that’s also fact. we know from Varric’s introductiory speech that Athenril’s operation ended up growing large enough, and the only reason why the Coterie and the Carta didn’t succeed in wiping her out was Hawke

and, at first, I think things go pretty well. Athenril seems like she would try and get along with Hawke. keep her people happy. that’s speculation :)

but, I think, she does enjoy the power play, a little bit. that type of benevolence where you can offer the carrot because you know there is the unspoken threat of the stick. she’s really in control. and everyone knows it. and they should be grateful that she chooses the carrot.

Hawke + sibling have to work for her for a whole year, and they have no choice -- because of Gamlen’s debt, and because Fereldans don’t really have a lot of great options around Kirkwall, and also made worse by the fact that Hawke has to hide either their own magic, or Bethany’s. and, in conversation, Hawke literally refers to it as Athenril having Hawke’s life in her hands for the whole year.

so yeah, Athenril treats them well, but she knows she holds the leash, too

and Athenril sees how her business prospers with Hawke at her beck and call, and her ambition grows

Hawke improves Athenril’s crew overall skill and competency and standing by a large margin, and as other groups get either swallowed up or torn apart by the Carta and the Coterie, Athenril’s crew holds their ground

and Athenril starts telling herself that it is on her merit. that it is her command and her smarts that have gotten them this far, not Hawke’s. and whatever Hawke did to contribute to it — well, that’s still Athenril’s win for finding them and bringing them to heel

and Hawke, with some personality variations, grows either more and more concerned with Athenril’s gluttony for power, or more and more frustrated

and then the year is coming up on its expiration date, and Athenril tries to pressure Hawke into staying. threats are issued -- and fall on deaf ears because Hawke was never afraid of Athenril. she hurls insults, then offers bribes. standard manipulations tactics. arrogance and possessiveness abound

and that is the note on which Hawke leaves as the year is up, and the contract is done, and Hawke no longer has to deal with any of this

and Athenril’s business instantly starts to dwindle. and the power that she imagined starts to turn to sawdust in her hands. and the Coterie starts breathing down her neck (once again: fact) because Athenril no longer can back up her threats or offer sufficient pushback

so, from aggressive, Athenril turns plaintive, sending Hawke multiple letters that are kindly worded, trying to lure them back

the severance note she sends literally says: Your year’s up and you’re free to go. Despite what you think, we had a good thing working together. I might pass along an opportunity or two, if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Stay safe. — entirely pleasant

and then, as stated above, she also sends letters for Fenris’s recruitment and for the Bone Pit chain. tasty morsels to win Hawke’s trust back. along the lines of: “see, wasn’t this profitable? aren’t i a good boss partner?”

but then when you go to meet her: she isn’t friendly at all. she’s showing some teeth. “Didn’t think you’d stoop to our kind again. Or are you not too proud to make some coin?”

so, some of this is a little contradictory -- and i just required a decent watsonian explanation to tie these loose threads together into a neat narrative

and, then, dealer’s choice. personality pending. in my current playthrough Hawke is pretty patient and doesn’t hold a grudge. she is willing to give Athenril a second chance. see if she came back to her senses. this bit is pure headcanon land. insert whatever rationalization fits the bill

but the thing is: Athenril didn’t change. if possible, she became worse. she’s paranoid, a little more desperate, and a lot more cruel? she started employing orphans and children and virtually abusing them?

so Hawke reneges. helps the kid. and then tells that to Athenril’s face. like: how dare you? are you insane? since when is this how you run your business? this is a far cry from when i agreed to work for you a year ago.

which sends Athenril into... well, pretty much murderous rage. which, i think, is just juicy untapped potential: how incredibly difficult it must be to have worked with/for someone for a year -- only for them to turn on you so completely that you have to put them down with your own hand

at the very least, that’s how this particular playthrough concluded for me. lying is always an option, of course. telling her the Coterie got to her goods first, and then leaving, knowing full well that the Coterie will finish her off. like seeing a person drowning and offering no safety net at all. that’s a good narrative too

either way, that’s my plausible headcanon for The Rise and Fall of Athenril between Prologue and Act 1

[epistemofili]

Yknow. While the manhwa Your Majesty Please Spare Me is a very well written story, with very well written protagonists and well written enemies to lovers romance in a setting with well thought political battles it is very very very annoying how almost every female side character is out there being jealousy, plotting and betraying the protagonist because of men or for no apparent reason.

I wish the author's efforts in writing the FMC as a well rounded female character without having to adhere to the '#girlboss' mindset also extend to other female characters.

If you will make a female antagonist then please make her character at least a bit interesting and exciting to read/analyze, and please put some effort in making her relationship to the protagonist at least 1% as complex and well thought as the relationship between the two protagonists.

And please, at least have one (1) female character that is actual friends with the protagonist. I'm so so tired of the trope of a FMC having no real friends outside of her love interests or family and the narrative portraying every female character as an enemy to her.

I'm in ch 84 and im seeing the story going down in that path. It really takes my excitement from reading it. Its so tiring and annoying.

[dawnstriding]

"...--perhaps one day you will see victory in the arena, Beau, though I am always surprised to see that you are in good spirits afterwards - win or lose."

"And why not?" The warrior replied, a grimaced grin upon her features. Good spirits, after all, did not dull the pain of a bullet in the back. "I am able to leave this place, after all; hale and hearty and none the worse for wear. There's naught to prove in this arena, for me. That I can get up, shake my opponent's hand, and depart? That will always be a victory unto itself. I'd not have it any other way."

Dawnstrider had never considered herself crafty. Though, in times such as these, she occasionally saw the merit in the adjective bestowed unto her. Perhaps others in her position would be glad to wear the title with pride and honour befitting a fabled hero, but she was no such person. Faceless; nameless. Unrecognisable, save for her white hair, and she'd not have it any other way.

The walls of the Hallow were her sanctuary; her respite. The patrons; her friends, companions, and strangers alike. There, she was known - but unassumingly so. She could lean upon a wall and remain unbothered for the eve, opting to people-watch and eavesdrop on conversations about memories; desires; dreams. The stories of others took the spotlight and swept people's attention and concerns by the boatload, and she'd not have it any other way.

Here, she was Beau Dawnstrider: registrar; adventurer; beloved companion to some and a cheerful, friendly face to others... and very unfortunate indeed, unanimously agreed, when it came to any manner of pit fight - and she'd not have it any other way.

There's a good amount of folks who indulge me (for whatever reason) and subscribe to Beau being their Warrior of Light in-game. It changes very little about her, in truth, but one of the things I often have to navigate is the reality that she is an incredible fighter - at least enough of one to be able to defeat the foes she does - and I am putting her into scenarios where fights are determined by random dice rolls... which I often lose.

Being who she is, though, the solution is pretty straightforward for me - and though it's kind of become the butt of a joke to have Miss Dawnstrider have her arse handed to her in the arena it has paved a path for me to explore with her that I've really been enjoying. A form of self-acceptance that she need not be perfect, and that she is truly no different from any other being. She is safe in her little sanctuary, and she cares not if she is the butt of people's jokes or the reason for their ego boost. She is just glad that they get to walk away at the end of it, unscathed.

It's a true pleasure - when compared to the horrors she has faced and seen - to be able to say that she can do that each and every time she faces someone in that pit. It is a joy unto itself and nothing will have that grin fade from her face. Not even seven bullets lodged into her body...

I look forward to the day that someone who subscribes to the WoL!Beau bit puts two and two together and realises that the person who is laughing about having been beaten for the ninth time by an arena combatant is the same person who is spoken about - and has been spoken about for years - in legendary fable. Such will come in its own time, though.

[lahficclub]

What Rhymes With Bottom

What Rhymes With Bottom

Link for the fic: What Rhymes With Bottom

Author: BoneLord

Relationship: Greg Davies/Alex Horne

Additional Tags:

Poetry

Meta

Crack

Breaking the Fourth Wall

top!Alex

bottom!Greg

Humor

Summary:

Alex is tired of reading all these bottom Alex fics. He wants to be the one on top and getting serviced for a change! Is that so much to ask?

[mycroftrh]

Far worse, in my opinion, than the famous “he wouldn’t fucking say that” is “he WOULD fucking say that, as part of his facade, but you seem to think he would mean it genuinely”

[gammija]

nothing personal but this kind of comment rlly exemplifies to me a disconnect between canon and popular fanon jmart characterization because they almost literally had this conversation in canon - except, their lines are swapped!

jon, for all his scared grouchiness, is a secret romantic, while martin, for all his forced optimism, is at his core a pragmatist

[kenobihater]

tragedy enjoyers when a character perpetuates the cycle of violence they themselves were a victim of

[tofixtheshadows]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Kabru deprives himself.

Kabru as a character is intertwined with the idea that sometimes we have to sacrifice the needs of the few for the good of the many. He ultimately subverts this first by sabotaging the Canaries and then by letting Laios go, but in practice he's already been living a life of self-sacrifice.

Saving people, and learning the secrets of the dungeons to seal them, are what's important. Not his own comforts. Not his own desires. He forces them down until he doesn't know they're there, until one of them has to come spilling out during the confession in chapter 76.

Specifically, I think it's very significant, in a story about food and all that it entails, that Kabru is rarely shown eating. He's the deuteragonist of Dungeon Meshi, the cooking manga, but while meals are the anchoring points of Laios's journey, given loving focus, for Kabru, they're ... not.

I'm sure he eats during dungeon expeditions, in the routine way that adventurers must when they sit down to camp. But on the surface, you get the idea that Kabru spends most of his time doing his self-assigned dungeon-related tasks: meeting with people, studying them, putting together that evidence board, researching the dungeon, god knows what else. Feeding himself is secondary.

He's introduced during a meal, eating at a restaurant, just to set up the contrast between his party and Laios's. And it's the last normal meal we see him eating until the communal ending feast (if you consider Falin's dragon parts normal).

First, we get this:

Kabru's response here is such a non-answer, it strongly implies to me that he wasn't thinking about it until Rin brought it up. That he might not even be feeling the hunger signals that he logically knew he should.

They sit down to eat, but Kabru is never drawn reaching for food or eating it like the rest of his party. He only drinks.

It's possible this means nothing, that we can just assume he's putting food in his mouth off-panel, but again, this entire manga is about food. Cooking it, eating it, appreciating it, taking pleasure in it, grounding yourself in the necessary routine of it and affirming your right to live by consuming it. It's given such a huge focus.

We don't see him eat again until the harpy egg.

What a significant question for the protagonist to ask his foil in this story about eating! Aren't you hungry? Aren't you, Kabru?

He was revived only minutes ago after a violent encounter. And then he chokes down food that causes him further harm by triggering him, all because he's so determined to stay in Laios's good graces.

In his flashback, we see Milsiril trying to spoon-feed young Kabru cake that we know he doesn't like. He doesn't want to eat: he wants to be training.

Then with Mithrun, we see him eating the least-monstery monster food he can get his hands on, for the sake of survival- walking mushroom, barometz, an egg. The barometz is his first chance to make something like an a real meal, and he actually seems excited about it because he wants to replicate a lamb dish his mother used to make him!

...but he doesn't get to enjoy it like he wanted to.

Then, when all the Canaries are eating field rations ... Kabru still isn't shown eating. He's only shown giving food to Mithrun.

And of course the next time he eats is the bavarois, which for his sake is at least plant based ... but he still has to use a coping mechanism to get through it.

I don't think Kabru does this all on purpose. I think Kui does this all on purpose. Kabru's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be understood as informing his character just as much as Laios's autism informs his. It's another way that Kabru and Laios act as foils: where Laios takes pleasure in meals and approaches food with the excitement of discovery, Kabru's experiences with eating are tainted by his trauma. Laios indulges; Kabru denies himself. Laios is shown enjoying food, Kabru is shown struggling with it.

And I can very easily imagine a reason why Kabru might have a subconscious aversion towards eating.

Meals are the privilege of the living.

[hexhomos]

stealing this from @godsplatter but. Jayce & Viktor's dream butterfly. their dream.

THEIR RED STRING OF FATE THE ANOMALY OF THEIR LOVEEEEE

[descendant-of-truth]

Shipping is fun and all but I swear every single time someone makes a comment, whether as a joke or in a legitimate analysis, about there being "no other explanation" for a pair's interactions, I lose just a bit more of my sanity

Like, no, you guys don't get it. Romance is not about the Amount of devotion, it's about the COLOR. the FLAVOR of it all. a character can be just as devoted to their platonic friend as they are to their romantic partner, and they don't love either of them more, just differently.

But because the majority of people still have it stuck in their minds that romance exists on the highest tier of love, I'm stuck seeing endless takes that boil down to "these two care about each other too much for it to NOT be romantic" as if that's the core determining factor to how literally any of this works

In conclusion: stop telling me that I don't understand the story if I don't interpret the leads as romantic, I am TIRED

[galedekarios]

while i did a gifset to showcase an armour set, i was also intrigued by just how different the animation is for the wizard class vs gale's unique animation:

wizard class animation

gale's unique animation

it's amazing to see not only just how quickly gale performs the somatic component of the spell, but also his efficiency of movement compared to the standard wizard animation.

there's a world of difference here, the difference between a wizard vs a prodigy, an archwizard and chosen.

[kirkwall-age]

this is a stupid me personal thing. but Fereldan names have always driven me a little bit insane because they are a hodgepodge of different Britonnic languages with no rhyme or reason. the devs will take one name, and use all versions of it: Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and then some Germanic variants to boot.

which etymologically is very frustrating and sloppy world building to me. incredibly niche pet peeve, i know. but languages are my specialty and such careless use does invite questions

e.g. Mhairi, Moira, Maura, Miriam are all different language representations of the same name. how did that come about? or Wynne and Fiona being a Welsh and Irish representation of the same root, and they are in a room having a conversation, and I'm here wondering when did the language split?

one could ostensibly make a case that before Calenhad united Ferelden, all the Alamarri tribes had one single root language family but it devolved in these related but different languages

but. regardless. as I was looking up all the names and trying to map out where they fall in the actual Earth languages

i made a discovery i should have really made a long time ago

which is: i know from general history examples -- and also other fiction (*cough* Dishonored *cough*) that Teague is an Irish masculine name

based on that knowledge, I never questioned Teagan

but Teagan (also spelled as Tegan) = while most certainly related to the name above = actually follows the same logic as such names as Megan / Meagan. or Regan / Reagan. current unfortunate association with a president who ruined everything notwithstanding, Regan is King Lear's daughter. and Regan is the child protagonist of The Exorcist, a girl tormented by the demon. these are feminine names. TEAGAN is a traditionally feminine name

another OBVIOUS example being of course the ever famous sister-duo Tegan and Sara. but. based on the queerness. I kind of assumed the opposite? that it was a butch thing and she wanted to use a masc name? or that the name is just unisex and the popularity with one gender or the other changed with time, like it did for Addison, or Cameron, or Ashley. or that the spelling made a difference

but no. straight-up. historically it's a woman's name

and listen. i'm all for unexpected unisex names. Artemis Fowl? Star Trek: Discovery's Michael and Pushing Daisies' Chuck? hellyeah. my own name is traditionally masc and I'm fem-presenting

but also i'm just saying: trans!Teagan

(they did blithely retcon and canonize that Eamon and Teagan had polyamorous parents. that their father had a wife and a male lover (Connor) whom Rowan, Eamon and Teagan also considered a father. and Eamon named his son after the man. so honestly this isn't the most wild headcanon I could put forth about them)

[das-a-kirby-blog]

kirby test print

[tealvenetianmask]

Blitz is going to be the death of me.

Right before the crystal, when he thinks that Stolas is really breaking up with him, he straight up begs.

"Stolas, please, I need this book. Please."

Uh huh the book . . .

"I need this book, Stolas. I will do anything.

Looking down (maybe telling himself, "I knew this was coming eventually") and then looking up, trying not to cry.

Despite . . . his everything here, I'm pretty scared that half the audience will think this is really about the book, and I'm not ready for the bad takes yet.

[bloominglegumes]

i love normal guys doomed by the narrative

[dalishious]

The Sanitized Lore of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Tevinter is the heart of slavery in Thedas. This lore has been established in every game, novel, comic, and other extended material in the Dragon Age franchise to date that so much as mentions the nation. But in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, when we are finally able to actually visit this location for the first time… this rampant slavery we’ve heard so much about is nowhere to be found. It’s talked about here and there; Neve mentions The Viper has a history of freeing slaves, as does Rook themselves if they choose the Shadow Dragon faction as their origin, for example. But walking down the streets of Minrathous, you’d never know. Because Dragon Age: The Veilguard, for all its enjoyment otherwise, has one glaring issue: It’s too clean.

The world of Thedas is full of injustices. Humans persecute elves, fear qunari, and belittle dwarves. Mages of any race are treated like caged animals in most places. The nobility is corrupt. Although, Dragon Age has not always handled these injustices well, mind you. Many, many times I’ve found myself frustrated with moments that just feel like a Racism Simulator. But what makes it worth it, is when you can actually do something about it. These injustices are things that a good-aligned character strives to fight back against, maybe even for very personal reasons. Part of the power-fantasy for many minorities is that this fight feels tangible. I cannot arrange the assassination of a corrupt politician in real life, but I sure can get Celene Valmont stabbed to death in Dragon Age: Inquisition, for example. Additionally, these fictional injustices can be used to make statements on real life parallels, like any source of media. For example, no, the Chant of Light is not real, but acting as a stand-in for Catholicism, through a media analysis lens we can explore what the Chant of Light communicates on a figurative level.

When starting Dragon Age: The Veilguard and selecting to play as an elf – this should be unsurprising to anyone who is familiar with my bias towards them – I was fully prepared to enter the streets of Minrathous and immediately get called “knife-ear” or “rabbit”. But this did not happen. I thought perhaps it was just a prologue thing, but returning to Minrathous once again, there was not a single shred of disapproval from any NPC I encountered that wasn’t a generic enemy to fight. And even the generic enemies, the Tevinter Nationalist cult of the Venatori, didn’t seem to care at all that I was a lineage they deemed inferior before now. This is a stark difference from entering the Winter Palace in Dragon Age: Inquisition and immediately getting hit with court disapproval and insults. Are we now to believe that Tevinter has somehow solved its astronomical racism and classism problems in the ten years since the past game? Or perhaps are we to believe all the characters who have demonstrated Tevinter’s systemic discriminatory views were just lying or outliers? Because it makes absolutely no sense at all for this horribly corrupt nation to not have a shred of reactivity to an elven or qunari Rook prancing around. But here were are, and not a single NPC even recognizes my character’s lineage. And because this is so different from every single past game, it feels weird.

As an elf, you have the option to make a comment about how “too many humans look down on us” in one scene early in the game. You can also talk to Bellara and Davrin, the elven companions, about concerns that people won’t trust elves after finding out about the big bad Ancient Evanuris… but this is presented as if elves don’t already face persecution. It’s all so limited in scope that it could be all too easily missed if you are not paying very close attention, and coming into the game with pre-existing lore knowledge.

All this made it easy to first assume that the developers simply over-corrected an attempt to address the Racism Simulator moments. And if that was the case, than I would at least give credit to effort; they did not find the right balance, but they at least tried. However, the sudden lack of discrimination against different lineages in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not the only sanitized example of lore present.

In Dragon Age: Origins, Zevran Arainai is a companion who is from the Antivan Crows; a group of assassins. He discusses in detail how the Crows buy children and raise them into murder machines through all kinds of torture. The World of Thedas books also describe how the Antivan Crows work, echoing what Zevran says and expanding that of the recruitment, only a select handful of those taken by the Crows even survive. When you start Dragon Age: The Veilguard as an Antivan Crow, you immediately unlock a re-used codex entry from the past, “The Crows and Queen Madrigal”, that says the following:

“His guild has a reputation to uphold. They are ruthless, efficient, and discreet. How would they maintain such notoriety if agents routinely revealed the names of employers with something as "banal" as torture.”

Ruthless, efficient, and discreet. Torture is banal. This is what the Crows were before Dragon Age: The Veilguard decided to take them in a very different direction. The Antivan Crows in this latest game are painted as freedom fighters against the Antaam occupation of Treviso. Teia calls the Crows “patriots”. And while I can certainly believe that the Crows would have enough motivation to fight back against the Antaam, given that it is in direct opposition to their own goals, I cannot understand why they are suddenly suggested to be morally good. They are assassins. They treat their people like tools and murder for money. Even as recent as the Tevinter Nights story Eight Little Talons, it is addressed that the Antivan Crows are in it for the coin and power, with characters like Teia being outliers for wanting to change that. It makes the use of the older codex all the more confusing, as it sets the Antivan Crows up as something they are no longer portrayed as.

I personally think it would have been really interesting to explore a morally corrupt faction in comparison to say, the Shadow Dragons. Perhaps even as a protagonist, address things like the enslavement of “recruits” to make the faction at least somewhat better. (They are still assassins, after all.) Instead, we’re just supposed to ignore everything unsavory about them, I suppose…

We could discuss even further examples. Like how the Lords of Fortune pillage ruins but it’s okay, because they never sell artifacts of cultural importance, supposedly. Or how the only problem with the Templar Order in Tevinter is just the “bad apples” that work with Venatori. I could go on, but I don’t think I have to.

It is because of all this sanitization, that I cannot believe this was simply over-correction on a developmental part. Especially when there is still racism in the game, in other forms. The impression I’m left with feels far deeper than that; it feels corporate. As if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance. The strongest statements are hidden in codex entries, and I almost suspect they had to be snuck in.

Between a Racism Simulator and just ignoring anything bad whatsoever, I believe a balance is achievable; that sweet spot that actually has something to say about what it is presenting. I know it is achievable, because there are a few bright spots of this that I’ve encountered in Dragon Age: The Veilguard too. For example, some of the codex entries like I mentioned, and almost all the content with the Grey Wardens thus far. It is a shame there is not more content on this level.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is overall still a fun game, in my opinion. But it’s hard to argue that it isn’t missing the grit of its predecessors. The sharp edges have been smoothed. The claws have been removed. The house has been baby-proofed. And for what purpose?

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