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edwardsissyhandsthtdanceslikeabb · 2 months ago

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if azula needs redeeming, why wasnt she?

i read this analysis of Azuko? Zukla? idk but a critique of their sibling dynamic, particularly within the context of doomed siblings, and tho i don’t agree with it, it’s a testament to its writer that there’s innate value in carving out my thoughts from their own.

so a lot of my disagreement boils down to the fact that the way the analysis construed zuko & azula, from characterizing them as doomed siblings, to the way azula’s breakdown is framed, is a problem of taste and inferences, and how these interpretive elements can be incongruent with technical aspects like intent, convention, medium, or the functional mechanics of art overall.

firstly, i think its very important to highlight that while elite art is holistic and multifaceted, it is doubly focused and premeditated, and its constituents all occupy a purpose and position within it, as they are narrative elements first and foremost. which complicates things when creation and consumption are both such human, evocative processes, but i think looking at the rudimentary layers of a story are the north stars in subjective landscapes like this. and most salient of these, is the story’s anti-colonial roots, centering indigeneity explicitly, and the cultural, spiritual and earthly relationships therein, with the main conflict being restoring the dignity and autonomy of the subjugated, alongside the internal work and opposition that are necessitated in doing so. everything stems from that, and though there is complexity and nuance therein, and the story itself is immensely liberal in execution, it is also ultimately a good vs bad narrative, which it has every right to be, bc colonialism is bad, and colonialists are bad.

therefore, atla inherently adheres to convention, and has a preestablished idealistic framework. to illustrate this, it utilizes two central characters, both encapsulations of the dualistic nature of oppressor and the oppressed, and navigated thusly as foils to one another. zuko is thereby, the deuteragonist, and the depth or lack thereof, of his environment are equally conditioned by his position, as the confines of the kid’s tv medium, serialization as well as narrative structuring itself, craft him. kill your darlings and all that lol.

however, these positionalities, while abiding convention, are not binary, and while conclusive, they are not absolutist. zuko for example, is antithetical to a Madonna, stressed by him even having a redemption to realize, and azula too is done an injustice by any reduction to a whore / imperfect victim archetype. this compartmentalization, is luckily ill-fitting in accommodating their totality, and doesn’t incorporate the fact that consequence, in avatar, is not a condemnation of personhood, but a retaliation to action, and has mangled indiscriminately, with azula’s case actually, being the reclamation of principles and in-world intentionality.

to begin with, zuko, while most recognized for his redemption, is not functionally the redemptive character™, he’s an example of the sacrifice, sincerity and labor that are inherent to anti-colonial action facilitated by an absconding oppressor, of the inborn empathy and active resistance that are needed for a system to change, and how you don’t just get there through platitudes or amicability. those thematic niceties are ofc inherent to his story bc he’s fleshed out and the things that inspired him thusly are too, but that emotional and relational floweriness is a consequence of his actions, not their driving force (being embraced by imperial idolization, by his royal family, was not fulfilling), what drove him is a fundamental and intrinsic ideological disdain for the imperialist war machine — it was ultimately, an abstraction of self – by acting in service of others, which unlike letting imperialist standards (e.g. chauvinism and parasitism and “honor”) puppeteer him as an instrument of violence, is ironically, an act of true autonomy and discernment. deriving your value from mutualism and earning one’s stature, instead of asserting yourself on others and letting corrosive and paternalistic worldviews (and by extension the selfishness & self absorption i.e “honor” innate to that) rule your destiny.

azula, however, is meant to be an inversion of that, is meant to reflect what happens when you reject morality or connection, instead letting control and superiority entrap you. she is explicitly a cautionary tale, which also comes with its own oversights and inelegant implications, but she likewise, greatly exemplifies the internal decay and loneliness inherent to alienating yourself through cruelty and stratification. and is it not possible then that a girl who has valued herself by what she can inflict on others, would then have the very sanctity of existence warped at no longer being able to dominate, no longer deemed the ideal? is infection not a thing that savages, before it spreads? in this way, azula is poignant.

as the more intimate face of imperialism, she is humanized in her parasitism, but it is not used to soften her behavior, nor is it used to hand her redemption. it is not smth that she is owed for the very coincidence of her birth or blood, its earned, and she did not earn nor want it.

so when a character that suggested the utter evisceration of marginalized groups, and thereafter tried to murder a personification of colonial survivor’s guilt and endangered practices, is consequently left to mourn her superiority, just as her father before her, its smth we sympathize with within reasonable boundaries. when her brother, who she abused, doesn’t martyr himself to azula’s interiority, instead laboring towards his own destiny and happiness, rather than the genesis of azula’s redemption, that is not inconsistency, it’s peace. its making peace despite the fact that some would rather rot in the entrails of imperialism than afford its victims value, would rather hurt others, and in turn themselves, than embrace healing and progress

— (plus inflicting his values may not in fact heal, when healing is not inherently uniform, and growing is not innately moralistic).

now, there’s a whole nurture vs nature angle to this as well and these ontological arguments are often touchy, yes zuko had ursa and iroh. yes zuko was forced to challenge his preconceptions, but zuko wasn’t diametric to these things, and the supplementations he did receive were always compensatory. zuko was deemed genetically inferior by ozai and thusly ostracized, hence ursa’s gentle partiality, zuko was then mutilated and exiled, and naturally needed supervision, which was provided by an overseer who mirrored his disgrace. if denied these safeguards zuko would’ve been denied even palliative care, whereas azula was perceived as needing none when she was revered positionally and familialy.

yes being pit against zuko was toxic and destructive but its not at all equivocal to the outright abuse zuko suffered. ofc the threat of it was implicit but those who abet or orbit abusers are not inherently under threat, and i think azula is characterized similarly. it's not fear that colors her outburst against ozai, nor coerces her silence, its entitlement and a sanctifying of hierarchies: “i deserve to be by your side.” - it’s respect that earns her silence and it’s the promise of respect that goads her acquiescence, the prospect of accumulation. this is ofc not a healthy mindset to have bc azula hinges her value on perfection, performance and status, and it's evident how the pressure of that collapsed her, but it was a pressure she had embraced before. it was her adeptness that ozai latched onto, and before the inviolability of it was challenged, azula took advantage of her nature, she weaponized it, and it was that eagerness that ozai exploited.

as viewers we process this as the objectification it is, but its reality, is a systemic natured dehumanization, ingrained in any culture that seeks to mechanize its constituents (which is all societies actually. we are all complicit). ozai thinks he is honing her as did his father and his colonialist forefathers prior, and herein is not abuse in the conventional sense, but rather a tradition of commodification that extricates skill and hegemonizes personhood, it’s an existential death necessitated by imperialism. it’s the death of agency. azula embraced this necrotic philosophy until she was confronted with the consequences of her rot, and *that’s* what she got. consequences. of which she was spared throughout.

it was never personal.

sure we get glimpses of her humanity, her vulnerability, but they’re paltry and muddied too by an undercurrent of duplicitousness. azula flaunts zuko’s impending demise, yet later, includes him in her outings. azula relishes zuko’s mutilation, but also fetches him from the beach house. she falsely welcomes zuko back, then implores he join her sincerely. and azula shares her pain from ursa yet spurns softness still, from MaiKo’s juvenile fondness to ursa’s own guiding attempts. azula is ceaselessly cruel to zuko, then spontaneously benevolent to him once he has seemingly subsumed the apparatus of colonialism. and gives him credit for killing the avatar, yet shows a sly inclination of his revival. this isn’t to insinuate that azula is ontologically evil or that she’s an unnuanced, mono-faceted individual. and she was a child. yet zuko’s youth didn’t spare him from the grotesque terrors of death and alienation, and it didn’t temper her perpetual antagonism and bloodlust, she is demonstrably self-serving, and this is evidenced throughout.

this is not to shame her in her passivity, nor an expectation that she martyr herself or even commiserate with her brother. rather, her downfall is a reaping of autonomy, made subject to the tendency of one’s active leanings. in which the choice of her sibling abuse exacerbated her societal abuse, all festering, foremost, the abuse of her own soul.

so, relatedly, is it not possible that a character of her cunning, who emotionally degraded her own sibling while gleefully championing his attempted imprisonment, before graduating to attempted murder by preparing to electrocute him while he was enfeebled on the ship, then later tried to kill aang, tried to kill katara, gloated abt intending to kill zuko at the air temple, injured iroh while making her escape from the gaang + zuko. also endangered and coerced ty lee into joining her, imprisoned mai, nearly killed zuko as he tried to save katara (which was likely her intent, or at least meant to cripple zuko’s composure — dishonoring the agni kai) — need i go on. azula’s benevolence is conditional, and consistently transactional, and so is it not possible then that she gauged zuko’s swaying allegiances against her own armaments - when faced with iroh, a waterbending master, an earthbending master with groundbreaking abilities (>_-), and the literal avatar, after observing their – plus aang’s growth, and having been cornered before, then decided rather, that having another asset, puppet, contingency plan, in her pocket wouldn’t hurt.

maybe she was being benevolent, or maybe, azula, who too sat in liberated territory and was gifted a chance for growth and morality, rejected that chance over the value therein, tenderized for extraction, parasitizing instead. maybe azula too, was acting in the imperialist tradition of exploitation. maybe she holds the capacity for compassion and care — which we have gleaned regardless — but the tangentials and hypotheticals of the world are often not what is actualized, and they are not a thing that can be affected. empathy is an active pursuit, and it is mutualistic, provisional — and so there is not a ‘who’ of azula’s redemption, but a what, the ‘what’ that is to be influenced. the personalization of one’s own form, of an internal receptiveness to commiserate with. bc as is, azula is merely a husk of colonialism, and being a husk of colonialism is meant to be sad, its deliberately tragic, unflinchingly pitiable. disorienting. life shattering. that’s what you’re meant to feel, it is not an inadvertence of zuko’s arc, and it is not a coincidence of the narrative.

she is a trajectory within herself, and her fate is a whole within itself. just as zuko labors towards rectifying his nation bc he needs to, bc there is value in dismantling colonialism, not bc the imperialists are owed it, but bc everyone else is. zuko also watches, not with apathy or boredom as his sister implodes at this, but with pity, with grief, bc azula manipulated herself a bed of corpses, and it is not him who must choose not to lie in it. when healing is intentional, is active, and zuko has chosen to heal. when azula cannot be handheld and shielded from her war crimes and systemic violence bc she wasn’t hugged enough as a child. zuko too lost a core sense of support mournfully young, and moreover at many points in his development journey, but the inclination that told him to speak up in the war room is doubly the same inclination that told him to afford jin affection, or help the earth kingdom family, and save his crew member in the storm, despite this very vulnerability catalyzing his banishment.

azula had friends and she had adoration and she had paternalistic validation, but contentment is unattainable when accumulation is your driving force. and the only thing left to cannibalize is yourself. with this, azula’s downfall was not only inevitable, it was natural, foretold even. and just as iroh doesn’t adhere to whatever deficits were sewn unwittingly into ozai, nor is it demanded — it also isn’t azula’s fallibilities that now damn her. azula isn’t the “bad sibling”, devoid of nuance, she’s the bad person™. despite it all.

katara has ptsd and toph is blind, sokka is a non-bender and zuko was deemed handicapped then maimed thereafter, instability is not azula’s punishment, its an externalization of her decay, and its meant to be unrelenting and all-encompassing, because abstraction and objectification are totalitarian afflictions. likewise, her condemnation is not a consequence of gender marginalization, tho the undertones of spoilt brat tropes and somehow unconventional, inevitably crazed women sully our palates. we taste bias even where it perishes, even as the fire nation is seemingly meritocratic, and unabashed, imperfect girls are idealized story-wide. from toph to azula herself, who may be conflated for a sanist archetype, yet challenges gender roles and infantilization in her prowess and militancy, as she’s sterile and calculating and impassive, where zuko is feeble and undermined, aimless, emotional. she is far beyond any trope, contrivance or embellishment, and doesn’t flourish or encumber zuko’s arc, as he equally isn’t made to for her’s.

azula is a force beyond zuko, until she can no longer deny him, and azula haunts zuko until she doesn’t, until her own crossroads loom, her contrived dualism of failure or victor, aggressor and victim. and she is forced then to reckon with loss. azula’s end is not a reductionism at hands other than her own, her fall is not zuko’s win, nor does the show frame it gloriously, there is no joy in her misery, no minimization of her tragedy, from the score to the tone, in her chilling, animalistic pules, azula languishes in her self-destruction, and it is one entirely independent of zuko. with this, we are shown azula’s nuance, the unthinking allyship she inspired, yet the coercion and dereliction it veiled. the camaraderie and kindness she offered, to warn zuko against visiting iroh, to credit him unduly, yet the threat it masked, to stay unadulterated, to stay unctuous. the vilification she detested, and yet the love she scorned for its fragility and irrepressibility. ursa doesn’t confirm azula’s worst fears, ironically, sadistically, any love she may have held haunts her, is nearly derisory. impossible.

and while no debate exists that ursa neglected azula, or that she failed her duty to nurture and cater her parenting to azula’s needs and interiority, the factors that complicated that, such as ozai’s own domineering hold, alienated mother and child from any means of cultivating real love, and thusly the influences azula did ingest were brutality, unchallenged in nature, entirely singular. it’s a self-flagellation, a ritualistic and sustained self alienation, amputating any vulnerability, all perceived pluralities.

so azula, despite not consistently having her perspective expressed, still encompasses the products of colonial rearing, and its destructiveness isn’t meant to be contested, sugarcoated, not with others and not with the self. fascism has denied us azula the person, and that may be a consequence of format, but it isn’t a consequence of the narrative. nor realism. we are meant to acknowledge azula’s complexities in the intentionality of their artful crafting, while not undermining that architects of oppression still bleed. one can see themselves in azula’s struggles, in the humanity of her endeavors, while not decontextualizing the tenets of her positionality, while not undermining that every character that claimed their redemption, did so by choosing another, by loving.

and azula’s journey to love, to embracing her own humanity, is a journey solely her own. this isn’t to say that she doesn’t deserve support or guidance or love or care, but that’s not the point. that wasn’t the intent of her character, and that wasn’t the thematic priority of the show. it's an extrapolation. bc some ppl suck and that’s ok. and there are ppl you cannot help and that is ok. and sometimes the ppl you love will suffer, and that has to be ok. bc sometimes you choose yourself, sometimes you choose what you can, and that is ok. it is okay to grow, and it is ok to move on. that’s the point. it is ok to spit out the poison. forgive any tactlessness therein, but it’s a tough pill, and its meant to have an aftertaste.

however, it's not cynicism that one is meant to internalize, and it's not intended to inspire fatalism either, although the symbology of azula’s toxicity is excised, the human struggles she encapsulated remain, the intimacy of our empathy persists, and it will color the fire nation’s vices and pitfalls. bc when one can’t just will away indoctrination, as we saw with both azula and zuko, and even still with paku or toph’s parents, as hierarchies are intersectional and multifaceted, and in the trials of decolonization there will thusly be azulas’, but there will also be zukos’, and pakus’, and sokkas’. all with their very intimate, equally human complexes to confront, unravel and rectify. just as there sit your perspectives, as there too exist my own influences.

and while zuko may merely be a beneficiary of the prevailing zeitgeist (tho imperialism explicitly requires non-consent lol), where azula once functioned, and he may be no more ontologically owed redemption than azula, or deserving love over her, when in the forever-war of subjugation, it isn’t abt ontology or criteria, nor logicisms or hypotheticals, its abt action. so zuko tries. and that resistance, that anti-colonial praxis, is a good start, it’s the most meaningful start. zuko isn’t king, or redeemed, bc he’s genetically “good”, its bc he tries. that’s the point. not how efficient he is or how proficiently he embodies apparatus.

reparation. that’s. the point. the triumph of resistance juxtaposing the tragedy of complacency. bc nothing is immutable, and so nothing is too far gone.

Besides… it’s only a kid’s show heh.

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spotaus · 5 months ago

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please know whenever you give any ichor lore in either tags or a post, i am going

i love love love lore drops.

Wooo!!!! It is so freeing to hear that, thank you haha!!! Everytime you rb or ask or smth I always kinda just go

AND. Y'know- ya know what this gives me the chance to do??? LORE DUMP (putting it under the cut because it might get long lmao-)

I went back on my old phone (basically my art storage system) to find some old art of Ichor!! Like, the four pieces above are not completely Canon anymore, (I couldn't draw Paps to save my life 😭) but this was from before I had decided how Ichor and Reward were created!

The first one labeled 'Judgement' is actually a pretty accurate portrayal of New God aged Ichor! This was when I had it planned that Ichir was the God of judgement abd he made some poor choices so Balance chipped a piece of his power into Reward and Ichor had to raise him. That's no longer the case, but the design transfers over! In the second one 'Punishment and Reward' you can see that Balance's Halo was going to be on Ichor too! This is technically something he *could* manifest still but he deeply chooses not to. The design from 'Eclipse Era' for Ichor is 100% accurate. This was the Era when Ichor ran away from the god's to go stop a prophecy + ended up falling in love and having a full mortal family. (They- they're dead as hell but uhhh-) Then the training fits were scrapped, but the concept continues. Ichor has to train to keep himself healthy since his godly magic is weakened, abd Reward drags him out to do little exercises once they're trapped in the Catacombs!

Another thing is this one specific tree? (Looks goofy af, ignore that- it's meant to be a weeping willow but fluffier lmao-) It's on a ridge a few mountains away from Mt. Ebbot, overlooking a mountain village that Ichor always went back to. It's their sacred tree, but Ichor was the one who made it so different. Smth smth his blood got to the roots once. But basically if he's mourning, if he's celebrating, if he has any big occassion he goes to this tree. It would break his heart if this Tree was ever cut down or severely damaged by anything that wasn't Weather related.

And (old art again, rip my skills-) once upon a time, Ichor could manifest Dragon Features from his magic! Now this translates into a Canon ability to turn into a dragon-ish beast form, but that's more his bones reshaping and less Gold Magic Manifestations lol. He's always had a connection to dragon-vibes, and because he doesn't use gaster-blasters, he *is* the blaster. Only when he needs it though. (And with the chains he can't change shape at all, so that's only a post-story kinda thing or pre-chains thing lol-)

I also have another scheme cooking (two, actually?) One with his Sons (the immortal ones that exist in Catacombtale and escape into the Omega Timeline if that happens-) and the other is Regarding the first drawing I ever made of him and doing a comparison lol- Hoping this was fun lore in the meantime!!

#Ichor #ichor sans #punishment sans #catacombtale #also I love your silly lil guy (gn) in your pfp!! very fun!!!#thanks again for enjoying my goofy Ichor content! i've been thinking about this guy for SO LONG #and I wanted to draw smth fir it but my other au took up too much of my tine.... we'll see if I can cook it up tomirrow lol!#hope ur having a good one! :D

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coolingrosa · 5 months ago

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Came back from school to see my question got answered ^^ And now instead of studying for my exams which are this week I will be doing this instead >:3

When i say they feel distant i mean like they seem to argue alot like when Error was refusing to help watch Killer Nightmare felt the need to guilt trip (idk if thats the right word) him in order to get him to help. It doesnt feel like they trust each other very much based on this interaction alone. Even at the two arguments, I noticed that Nightmare was continually provoking Error.

Few other questions: I remember reading another question and the end of ur answer was smth like "Killer clings to Nightmare and Cross clings to Error" I wonder if thats still canon cuz idk when you answered👀

How will Error be related to the gang like will he just be someone who hangs around them or smth? Will he make more appearances in future chapters?

Unrelated to RoseVerse but what is ur otp and other fav ships, what about your fav character from the undertale aus. ( I think u can tell who is my fav character from my questions cant believe my pookie didnt win Tumblr sexyman)

Also you got any tips for drawing and writing and some resources with which u learned and would recommend? Thanks in advance :) I will tell you once more how much i love your work. If you ever get burnt out, please remember its okay to take a break. I wish you the best for college. Sorry if this was a bit long. Love from India <333

-From the one person who said you were the reason that they said started writing and drawing on stream

1. Unfortunately, yeah, even if they are close by technically, it doesn’t mean they are heathy. They are kinda like childhood friends who have grown into different people but still cling out of convenience and remaining love. If they met as adults, they wouldn’t get along, but they have history to them. They know how to push each other’s buttons, and since they have no one else to fight with without the fear of losing them, they target one another. That’s where their trust comes in, as they are the only people on the whole multiverse that they have. Sure, they are passing friends with Reaper, especially Error, but neither trust him enough to be themselves. They both know the other will never leave, so both can be utter assholes to one another, and taunt to get it out of their systems. It’s not healthy and it’s built upon their grief and subconscious blame towards each other and themselves after losing Ink.

They are in a bitter stage of their lives right now. One day, they’ll get back to who they use to be. For now, there’s only hints thru Killer’s perspective.

2. Error and Cross are parallels to Nightmare and Killer, and that’s all I can rlly say until Cross’s chapters. But yes, that’s still canon.

3. Error will have full chapters dedicated to him in the future! He’s not officially apart of the bad sanses, and is more of an ally to Nightmare as he doesn’t care for the other bad sanses besides Cross and Horror (who don’t come in until much later)

4. LOL I LOVE ERROR TOO! I’ve made jokes about how he’s my husband and I even jokingly got a body pillow of him to match with best friend irl mil_leon on tiktok. He will win this year….trust…

However, he isn’t my favorite! My favorite is core frisk, and ppl used to call me that as a joke and as a nickname!

I have four OTPS, actually. BlackCoffee (reaper and Ccino), ColorKiller (rainbowknife), Errormare, and Drink. Shockingly, Errormare isn’t my favorite. DRINK is. I absolutely adore Drink with everything in me and if I ever see art of it I will kick my feet, and scream with joy. I have multiple analyses about them just IN MY DOCS bout how perfect they are for one another but that’s the story for another day.

Some others I really enjoy tho are BloodMoon (Geno and Nightmare), Crink, Horrorfarm, lowkey Dustswap BUT IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY AND NOT IN THE OLD FANDOM WAY THWY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE GOOD GUYS PPL JUST WRITE IT SUPER WEIRD, CrossxKiller (only bc my gf and I relate to them!), and Driller!

5. I really recommend binge watching ginjanijaowo and their speedpaints and character design videos! June taught me a LOT about character design and watching them draw inspires me a lot. I also suggest doing ugly arm up sketches before each important project to get the rust off! Don’t limit urself to only one anatomy technique- as I’ve tried every single one in existence and still developed my own. Drawing is all about finding what works for YOU and sometimes, the big popular artists techniques just won’t. Like… doing the gesture line is a very important part of the process….that I will never do LOL

However, giving art advice is tricky as it’s easier to focus on one aspect you want help on so the artist ur asking can focus their advice better! Like asking about anatomy, drawing heads, animatics, story boarding, etc! I wouldn’t mind doing any tutorials for those types of questions!

6. And thank you so much <333 I’m glad I could inspire you to make amazing things, and I really hope I’m able to stream again. Unfortunately, as I type this, my roommates are watching a movie on full volume and it’s bleeding thru the door, so until I can find time…with them gone LOL I cannot @_@ I’m trying tho!! I miss interacting with you all

#undertale #undertaleau #undertale multiverse #roseverse #cooling rosa answers silly stuff #RoseVerse lore questions

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furbygoblinxiv · 1 year ago

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For Inktober, I like doing personal challenges. This year? That challenge is gonna be detailing out some of the media rewrites/aus that I have laying around, compiling my ideas into one spot.

First up! Miraculous Ladybug! A show I stopped watching after 2 seasons but kept up with tangentially lol. I used to have a lot of ideas and expectations for this show, but sadly never had those fulfilled. I will likely never post anything Miraculous related again btw.

More rewrite info, elaboration, and the villain picture below! Warning you tho, this is like a personal archival post for me, so the following is Very Long, like 3k words. You've been warned.

if this makes no sense then actually yes it does anyways

So! This idea originates from how I found out about Miraculous Ladybug. I saw art of it, I googled it, and the Wikipedia page filled my head with so many ideas that are never expanded upon in the show. Marinette is a fashion student and a hero! That love for fashion would be such a fun thing to bake into her character and the world! And yet while they up something like that in the show, it's never fully realized. Hence, rewrite.

The basic frame of how my Miraculous AU rewrite (that's been cooking since like season 3 i suppose) would be based on the idea of logos, pathos, and ethos. Marinette as being logos, the brains of the operation, the solver of puzzles. Adrien being pathos, the empathetic and playful one, in tune with the emotions of others. And Gabriel, with ethos, having immense credibility due to his status and wealth. I kinda tweaked their characters and the plot to reflect this focus on how they're three parts of the same narrative. Also, Adrien and Marinette are highschoolers.

First up, Marinette! I wanted to fully lean into her being a fashion student. While she does have friends and hobbies, her passion that she spends all her free time on is fashion. She knits, sews, crochets, and weaves to make clothes. She even volunteers for the local community theater making their costumes in order to get experience! She's not really a games or media nerd, or else she'd do cosplay, but she definitely helps others like Alya with their cosplays. She really like the technical aspects of fashion, and she's quite good at having an eye for things around it. She could eyeball someones measurements pretty accurately if she needs to tailor something for them, guessing their height and wingspan with ease. As Marinette, she's a bit of a scatterbrain when she isn't focused on something she's innately interested in (like clothes). She's fidgety and forgetful and rambling, and can get loud when she's passionate about something. She has her own systems of organization, which from the outside appear to be completely random and scattered.

As Ladybug, she's cool and confident and in control. She enjoys using her skills and brains to help people, and the work of saving Paris is just another puzzle that she needs to solve to help everyone. She settles down when focused, a feature that's reflected as Marinette. Her Ladybug outfit is different every time she transforms, the fashioning of the outfits reflecting her moods and mindset at the time of transformation. Her eye for technical fashion stuff comes in handy. In this au, the villains that Hawkmoth sends after Ladybug are completely unrecognizable due to how over the top their costuming is. Ladybug is able to use both her logical deduction skills and critical fashion eye to deduce who might have been transformed, and use that knowledge of them to formulate plans to pacify and save them. While she loves being able to use her deduction skills to save people, she prefers being the brains BEHIND the operation, and thus tends to avoid the press and public appearances where she can.

Also, something I think would be fun and would give Marinette a connection to Gabriel and play on her fashion interests would be if she actually managed to land a role as his intern. I feel like this would give them a dynamic thats like the opposite one to the lovesquare dilemma. Marinette sees Gabriel as her cool mysterious aloof competent boss who she respects and wants to imitate, and Ladybug hates Hawkmoth and resents what he keeps doing to Paris. Gabriel, while definitely viewing himself as above Marinette, does respect the work and ideas that she brings in. Meanwhile as Hawkmoth hes like plotting Ladybug's downfall. It'd also open up plotlines that include Gabriel as Gabriel as opposed to Hawkmoth, as well as more Marinette and Chloe interactions, since Chloe is a prominent model in the agency.

Also she owns a cat that acts lowkey like Plagg but lazier.

Next up is Adrien! Adrien is a normal human boy in this au, btw. I'm gonna explain his back story more in depth than Mari's since I didn't change too much about hers. He was raised by two rich famous parents, with Emilie being the one generally in charge of what he did. Under her direction, he was home schooled, learned music, and learned dance. She was artistically inclined, and wished to refine his skills in the arts, hoping he would be a cultured figure in the future. He also occasionally modeled for Gabriel, but that was more of a once a month type of deal, and he had plenty of free time to watch movies and play video games. He never left the house. While both of his parents worked frequently, he saw Gabriel less often, and viewed him as more of a distant influencing force in his life that he respected.

Then, not too long ago, Emilie fell into a seemingly permanent coma, which caused the rift between father and son to grow even more distant. Suddenly, Gabriel was spending even less time in the house, and the person who was directing Adrien's free time and education was gone, and neither pursued any therapy types of resources. Adrien spent some time grieving his not even fully dead mom while alone at home before Gabriel decided to change things. He started pushing Adrien to model even more, in a twisted attempt to spend more time around his son and ensure he kept him safe and supervised. He also promoted Natalie to his own personal assistant, giving her full reign over what happened to Adrien and their estate. While she cared for Adrien, she was never fully able to reach him on his level, especially following Gabriel's orders.

It actually ended up being Chloe, a girl he met while modeling, who became his first friend and actually started trying to drag him out of his depression. She watched movies with him, supported him at photo shoots, and most importantly, she actually listened to him and what he wanted. Under her questioning, he realized that what he wanted to do in the future was become a teacher. She's the one who pushed for him to go to public school, both so she could have a friend there and so that he could have more opportunities to pursue this dream. So long as he shows up to model, Natalie actually ends up lying and saying he's being homeschooled in order to cover for Adrien going to public school. For public appearances on tv, he acts like the perfect extrovert, but he's actually a quiet and reserved introvert, which is how he acts at school.

Chat Noir is an extension of Adrien's play at being an extrovert. He's also Adrien having the chance to let go of the guilt and the strings attached to all of his public appearances he does for his father. As Chat Noir he's a performer! He has showmanship! He's having fun and cracking puns! He also uses it as a chance to get out all his pent up jittery energy from being inside and inactive most of the time, especially in terms of talking to people. I want him to love talking to people, chatting with the random citizens of Paris, wanting to meet and get to know everyone. He's just a little stir crazy from being inside and isolated for so many years. He's also the one who willingly and happily does all the press appearances that Ladybug tends to avoid, which he has fun at due to being able to say whatever under the mask of anonymity. Also, after some time as Chat Noir and realizing how much he enjoys performing as this eccentric and energetic character, he ends up using some of his precious free time to go join the local community theater.

Also, Emilie had a little yapper purse dog that Adrien ends up taking on once she's comatose, because I think it'd be funny.

And now for the villains, all of whom have something to do with status wealth and credibility because of it, and side characters:

Gabriel is a well known and well respected man in the fashion industry and in Paris. He spends all his time away from home, focused on his job and furthering his fashion empire and career. His wife was also a prominent public figure and a working woman, and while he loved her, he didn't spend enough time with her. In her youth, Emilie was actually a villain with the peacock miraculous that she stole in her youth, with Gabriel being a hero with the butterfly miraculous who opposed her when he stumbled across it by accident. They fell in love and gave up their miraculouses, especially after the peacock got damaged. However, Emilie used it as a last ditch effort to stop a home invasion and save Adrien, and even that one transformation was enough to damage her body and lead to her going into a coma (this attack is also what led to Gorilla getting hired). Gabriel was determined to get her back, so hired a team of specialized doctors to care for her and keep her stable while he donned the butterfly miraculous to try to find and take the mythical ladybug and chat miraculouses that Emilie had told him about so many years before in order to wish her back to health.

See, while I like the drama of Adrien not knowing where his mom is and one day being able to stumble across her preserved corpse in the basement, if Emilie is a public figure and disappears, there'd be a manhunt for her. If she's said to enter a coma? Not only is there no manhunt, but Gabriel gets a perfectly curated tragic image to garner sympathy and support from the public, and Adrien has the opportunity for angsty moments of visiting his mother in the hospital

Hawkmoth is the form he dawns when hunting down the miraculouses. His outfits are over the top flamboyant runway style outfits, with his face obscured in abstract ways with each transformation. His lair is actually his office at work, not in his basement, part of the reason why he started spending even more time at work after the "death" of Emilie. Having to keep up the appearances of being at work is why he starts sending off akumatized people as scouts to do his work for him. Specifically, he uses his targets as bait to get the magic box holder to distribute the the ladybug and cat miraculouses in order to combat the problems he's causing. As things progress, however, and he gets more info on the powers, routines, and profiles of the miraculous holders, he gradually starts making more in person appearances as Hawkmoth.

Natalie started off as Gabriel's work assistant, who had worked with his company since graduating college. She had immense amounts of reverence and respect for both him and Emilie, and he in return had immense amounts of respect for her. After Emilie fell ill, he promoted her specifically to his personal assistant, giving her parts of the responsibilities that Emilie had in the company as well as over Adrien at home. At first, she takes her role over Adrien incredibly seriously, not really listening to him in favor of filling out Gabriel's orders. Over time, however, she finds herself getting incredibly attached to Adrien, wanting to connect with and help him wherever she can. She doesn't always understand him or his moods or his interests, but she cares for him nonetheless. It's after this point that she accidentally learns about Gabriel's identity as Hawkmoth. Since he trusts and respects her, he offers her to join him, though she knows she doesn't really have a choice. She ends up joining him and not voicing her concerns, determined to stay on his good side in order to continue being able to be there for and support Adrien. She still has respect for Gabriel at this point, especially once he explains his motive, but as time goes on, her motivations and allegiances become more and more muddled.

Chloe is another villain of credibility, but lessso. I really liked Chloe as a character, so I wanted to do a take that gave her more depth. Chloe's mother is an international superstar, and her father was a peer of Emilie's who died when Chloe was young. Chloe's mother married the mayor of Paris not too long after that. Chloe has grown up in an environment of money, privilege, and nepotism. She got into modeling work at a young age because she wanted to become famous and show off how beautiful she was, and her dream is to become just like her mother one day. Due to her upbringing, she looks down on those she sees as beneath her, but is actually incredibly kind to those she sees as equals. I wanted to kind of paint her as a foil to Adrien. Both have a distant parent and a parent no longer with them, and both have different responses to people and the world around them because of it. Adrien cares for people but tends to be reserved, while Chloe is cruel to others and tends to be loud. However, she does genuinely care about Adrien, and tries to be a nice person, it's just that this is all she's known. She has no idea that what she acts like could even be considered cruel since no one's ever told her before.

She worked alongside Adrien without much thought, but after he started working more due to the Emilie situation, she became fast friends with him. They shared a love of comic books and a desire to go on grand adventures, as well as a similar enough sense of humor. Chloe, having never had anyone willing to be kind to her and also build on her ideas and challenge her like Adrien does, gets attached. She thinks she's in love, but really the feeling was just friendship. She's the one who pushes Adrien to go to public school. I also think it'd be interesting if it was a reverse of what happened in the origins episode, where Marinette is the one viewed to misstep. Something she said is misinterpreted by Chloe to be a diss against Adrien, who she then defends with a passion as he is sad. Marinette, in return, feels genuinely awful for misstepping and hurting the feelings of the new boy even if she doesn't really like Chloe. By the end of this, Marinette ends up seeing Adrien as this aloof mysterious hot classmate of hers, and starts catching feelings. Adrien, meanwhile, ends up seeing Marinette as what could be considered his second friend, much to Chloe's chagrin.

Yes Chloe does eventually get the bee miraculous. That plus her realizing that are two reasons she dislikes Marinette so much: 1) she's leeching the attention of her best friend and 2) why is such a pretty girl so focused on her best friend and not her anyways, and uh oh Chloe accidentally develops a crush on Marinette lol. for the lols. anyways.

The only plot I care to develop beyond what's mentioned above is irt Alya. Logical Alya and logical Marinette, and brainiac duo. Alya, without knowing Marinette is Ladybug, starts doing independent research to track down who Hawkmoth is, just based on journalist curiosity. She uses things like cctv footage and areas of Akumatization to narrow down location and suspects. After learning about her research, Marinette tries to learn more, but Alya actually blocks her from learning more for her own safety. Eventually, Marinette reveals her identity to Alya in order to work hand in hand with her to track down Hawkmoth. Meanwhile, also for safety reasons, Ladybug and Chat Noir haven't revealed their identities to each other, despite Chat Noir's requests since he has a crush on Ladybug lol.

Beyond that, again this is a show I haven't actively watched since season two, so i dont really care about explaining every detail out lol (despite like three thousands of words to the contrary above). This is just how I would have shaped Miraculous if I was in charge of it or a reboot. If you've read this far and any of this sounds at all intriguing to you, especially if you're a miraculous fan, I encourage if not beg you to steal any ideas wholesale, idec about getting credit lol. I explain this every so often, and the initial typed explanation is in a screenshot of some instagram DMs, so this is all from memory with the hopes of preserving this au in a place I can actually access again the next time Im discussing ML with an irl and wanna reference what i'd change lol. If you're reading this still i genuinely like actually cannot fathom why but thanks i guess?

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous #i am NOT in this fandom anymore I have NO idea what tags to use but i GOTTA tag it for sorting and filtering reasons argh #my art tag #my thoughts and rambles #how id rewrite it series

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sketchy-saram · 4 months ago

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Okay! Day 1, Introduce your HoF! I wish I had more time--maybe I'll reblog this with some art later, if I can. But my Canon HoF is Bronwyn Aeducan! She is a fierce warrior whose first love is battle, and she'd rather solve her problems by beheading them, if possible. She and Gorim were together romantically, but honestly probably more from proximity and being companions in arms than being compatible.

She was extremely proud and determined to prove herself as a commander. She never wanted the throne--she probably would have been happy killing Darkspawn till she died, if her brother hadn't betrayed her. The sight of her coming out of the tunnels, covered in gore, feral and absolutely alight with murdering, must have been something for Duncan and the other Wardens to behold, when she found them.

She took to the whole thing like a fish to water. Especially when Alistair acquiesced to her leadership--after all, that was basically the role she had been preparing for her whole life. Fit like a pair of Dalish gloves. At first, she didn't know quite what to make of so many mages and humans and whatnot, but she gradually grew to enjoy the freedom from strict Dwarven caste expectations that had never let her relationship with Gorim be anything more. She actually made friends, which she had never had, since as an Aeducan everyone was either trying to kill or manipulate her. She definitely related to Alistair a lot on that level. (Her best friends were Shale and Sten, but she also had a soft spot for Wynne and Alistair.) She was genuinely pleased to see Gorim alive in Denerim, and happy he had found someone. It never even occurred to her to be jealous. (Although she was baffled that he could give up fighting to be a merchant of all things, LOL)

She helped Harrowmont ABSOLUTELY out of spite, and took so much satisfaction out of murdering her piece of shit brother. At least, she thought she would. It all made her feel pretty hollow. She swore to never go back to Orzammar after they finished there--it was dead to her, like she'd been to it.

After all the worries about being knifed in the back, then, it was so surprising when she found herself so charmed by Zevran; an Elf sent to kill her....who didn't even do a good job of it. He flummoxed her, confused her, and even affronted her, just on a technical level. It took her a looooooong time to believe any of his flattery. But his affability, his easy-going nature even in the face of everything he had suffered, and his hedonism eventually wormed their way under her skin. The first time she took him to bed, she told herself it was just scratching an itch for both of them, and that she would fight better after getting it out of her system.

Well, let's just say Zev was more than enthusiastic to take pointers in other areas than just fighting, and apparently the itch was a rash, because it kept happening. Bronwyn's worst nightmare was the hot few seconds after Taliesen offered to take Zev back to the Crows. She was already preparing to be betrayed again... one that, she was shocked to find, would have been more obvious, and yet about as brutal as losing her whole life had been. And then he turned them down, and she knew she'd keep that silly Elf twink safe forever.

(Now they are the Thedas couple that hang out in the bar and entice hotties into an unforgettable threesome 😉 When she isn't busy keeping order or killing more Darkspawn, anyway.)

She wasn't about to let either of them die if there was something as simple as sex to save them, so she bullied Alistair into sleeping with Morrigan for the ritual. Sooooo they all lived happily ever after. (She let Anora rule, because honestly, she was better suited. Bronwyn would know.) And for me personally, if anyone could find a way to beat the Calling, it would be Bronwyn. So I'm sure she has ❤️

#31 Days of Dragon Age #dragon age #DA #Hero of Ferelden #warden aeducan #Bronwyn Aeducan

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skinnytuna · 2 years ago

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there's a certain stubbornness to my approach to art.

i'm always trying to improve, trying to make something that's better than the last, but there are clear shortcomings i have no interest in fixing. in music, for example, there's an arms race. and this arms race takes many forms, be it plugins, guitar tone, composition, or just a general vibe.

it's competitive. and there's a clear, visible delineation between the people competing and the people not competing. a lot of people in my life are competing. they're always hunting for a sound no one else has their hands on yet. to be honest, this competition doesn't interest me at all. it bores me, and it sets you up with this constant win/loss dynamic depending on where your arsenal stands relative to everyone else's. it makes me uncomfortable to participate in. so i, either deliberately or just due to being a creature of habit, resist upgrades at every turn. i will use the oldest shittiest tools i can for as long as they last, and begrudgingly upgrade when i have literally no other option.

but even an an out-opter of this race, it still feels like failure to not participate. oh my god. did you hear that one part of that essential mix. how the fuck did he make that sound. i don't know man. i thought we left the "technical skill = good" argument in the 70s. you'll often see people who find themself winning try to scratch their way out of the competition as soon as possible, too. skrillex left the vocoder growl --the sound that made him famous-- in the past after only a handful of tracks.

it's also possible that all of this is in my head. i still seek growth… through feeling, through structure, maybe others just seek growth through tools and HOLY FUCK!s instead. i'm well aware i have a tendancy to seek complex patternic explanations for my own inadequacy complex. it's also true that the amount of validation you receive is not necessarily correlated with how good of a job you are doing. the landscape is very chaotic, and oftentimes the simpler and less expert art is what connects because it's closer in proximity to the brain of a consumer.

i often think of what sort of life i would be leading if i had devoted my life to illustration rather than writing and composition. if i would grapple between integrity and accessibility, if my fanart blowing up would make me depressed in relation to my unloved original stories. if i would find myself frustrated that my technically gifted allies couldn't find an audience next to my memey dysgraphic catscratches. if i would come up with a whole neurotic structure in my mind, of the way the game works, of the way i don't fit within it, of the way everyone else knows what they're doing and i don't. i wonder if people who are equally devoted to two things find themselves understanding the world better. a formatiel bilingua. another wall to synthesize between. maybe if i care about writing enough i'll learn the answer myself.

really it all comes down to narcissism. i have somehow convinced myself that, if i maybe try a little bit, not exceptionally hard, but only a little bit, maybe i will somehow magically be good enough and worthy of critical praise. lol! how bold! how entitled! you think you could be better than people who bled and cried for it? who dedicated every waking moment? who didnt spend the first 15 years of their life playing call of duty? by doing fucking nothing? you should be so lucky.

whatever happened to me that made me like this i sure don't seem to have any way to fix it. since basically the moment i discovered i can make whatever i want with a computer i have not stopped or slowed down and as a matter of fact it has probably gotten worse this decade than any other. i'm doing better in my real life at least.

what was i talking about, again? oh yeah, systems.

i still think, on the whole, there is something radical about art made with very few man-hours behind it. if we know being world-class at something requires time and money and being in the right places and having the right people around you, why is it valued as inherently good? is it not spitting in the face of the structure to hit the cello with a hammer? im a junkie for bad art, i try to walk as perpendicularly to the line of objective quality as possible. oh this extremely coveted painting is just a black canvas? tight. okay maybe the millions of dollars in laundered money being passed around to exchange ownership of it isn't tight… you know what i mean. i think thats why i like friend art so much. or things that have big nasty warts on them to scare away anyone who grew up on pristine, 40 person projects being churned out by industries who stand to profit.

the arms race to me is an idealism. an appeal to the systems that say effort = good. inaccessible = good. difficult = good. if you suffered more its more better. well fucking maybe i dont like suffering. sue me. whatever.

#art

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gaphic · 2 years ago

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@strawberryy-fields putting this in a new post bc it's A BIT LONG lol

Unfortunately this is one of those 'describe a chair' questions- the finer points of tagging ARE just something you have to develop a Sense for, so I'm going to attempt to construct guidelines with examples lol

Firstly, tagging for visibility is 10000% completely fine! It's just that visibility works differently on tumblr. When you post on Instagram (for example) you're not really showing it to anybody- there's a middleman. You're submitting it for algorithmic review. So if you only tag #naruto and the algorithm isn't stanning #naruto that day, it's entirely possible that NO ONE will see it, even if they directly search #naruto! Which also means communities can't consolidate into specific tags. In that system visibility means tagging extremely generously

But on tumblr, there is no middleman. If you tag posts as #naruto, people searching #naruto WILL see them unless they've blocked you, so communities consolidate in one or two Main Tags, because checking a ton of different tags is tedious. So if you use the Main Tags, you've probably already maximized your visibility!

For example, with #vino and #wine- tagging both of those doesn't increase your visibility, because nobody uses #vino. If you check the tag it is roughly 200% bots and instagram crossposts, and 1% people speaking italian. #wine is the tag people actually use!

(NB4 'so italians aren't people,' cataloguing distinctions between the same concept in different languages are very useful. Italians searching #vino are probably looking for, yknow, italian posts! If they wanted english posts they would search #wine! Remember, no algorithm to intuit what languages you speak)

Now, synonymous tags ≠ spam, but they COULD be spam if the tags are not used as synonyms. Every now and then airplanes will turn up in the #flight rising tag, which is technically 'correct' (it is a 'flight' which is 'rising') but... #flight rising is the Main Tag for a dragon breeding game. On instagram the algorithm would probably say 'hm. the dragon people won't be interested in this' and keep it out of their feed, but on tumblr, the dragon people just have to look at an airplane now

"How do I know which is the main tag?" You just gotta check em manually, I'm afraid. Sometimes they're obvious, sometimes not

Some more examples that might be instructive are aesthetics and art style prompts!

So, there's a difference between 'flowercore' and 'flowers,' right? If you tag every instance of a literal flower as 'flowercore,' what's the point of the 'flowercore' tag? At best it's redundant, at worst it might be actively disrupting another community's tag. Aesthetic tags have become almost completely unusable lately because people treat aesthetics and nouns as synonyms (imo a lot of people confuse '[aesthetic]' for 'anything an artist would use as ref/insp for [aesthetic]' if that makes sense?)

Art style prompts are nuanced. If the prompt is 'draw Orochimaru in 6 styles' then #orochimaru #naruto is definitely correct. But if the prompt is 'draw your OC in 6 styles' and one of those is the Naruto style, it probably has no business in #naruto. I think of the distinction as 'this post is related to the tag, but is the tag the point of the post?' If your OC isn't from the Naruto universe, the point is probably #art #my art #style prompt

Another very important note in 'tags that are relevant to you, but not relevant to search':

god i miss my childhood <3 #cartoons #kidcore #pokemon

If I searched these tags I do not care about this post, sorry. It's boring and I will assume that you will CONTINUE to tag every inane thought you have, disrupting my search experience, so I will block you. This gets REALLY frustrating when, for example, fanartists do this, and there's no way to block the fluff without blocking the art as well

HOWEVER,

god i miss my childhood <3 #cartoons #kidcore #pokemon #opsthoughts

Is a different story! Because now it has a personal tag. Now I can block #opsthoughts and OP can still use the other tags for their own organizational purposes!

Something I have consistently failed to prioritize is discussing the use of tags for filtration. I mentioned that if you get the Main Tags you've probably maximized your visibility, which is true- if you tag your Orochimaru fanart as #naruto, everybody who wants to see it will probably see it. But if you tag it as #naruto #orochimaru, people who just kinda hate that character can now filter it out!

Now, I don't want to sound like specific tags are ONLY useful for blocking, they just give diminishing returns for visibility. Generally speaking, the more specific a tag is, the less likely anyone is going to search it- #naruto is going to be searched more than #orochimaru is going to be searched more than #orochimaru fanart, and 99% of the people searching #orochimaru fanart will be checking #naruto anyway!

Fandoms with distinctive generations are prooobably a soft exception to this? Like I'm sure there are lots of people who search #mlp:fim but never check #mlp

Now, to move away from fandom and use my Controversial Example Photo

If I'm searching #cherry I do not fucking want to see a photo where two cherries are BARELY visible. This is one of those things that feels really intuitively obvious to me, so I'm struggling to break it down clearly, but like. If I search #mango I want to see pictures OF MANGOES! Not pictures of a picnic table with a plate with some vague yellow slices on it!

I could go on forever because this topic is endlessly iteratively nuanced, but this post is already a mile long lol, so. Hopefully this is helpful?

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davestaresatthesun · 7 months ago

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*runs in circles* relationships relatipships relationships of MANY A variety :O

Family

* Lalonds and striders are cousins

* striders’ mom and one of the lalonds’ moms are sisters

* Dave and Rose call themselves ‘halfway-twins’— they were born on the same day, even around the same time, just to different moms obviously

* Everyone jokes that they are actually twins too, cos they CERTAINLY act like it lol

* Roxy and rose arent biologically related because their moms took turns carrying— they make up for their difference in appearance in how they act, though people sometimes question who’s the older sister (they both take care of each other <3333)

* Jake and jade are siblings <- harleys

* John and jane are siblings <- egburts

* They’re raised together as siblings, so they consider themselves siblings

* Until jake and jade’s mom pass away (widowed very soon after jade’s birth so no dad)— happens when theyre about 12 and 10 respectively

* Karkat and Kanaya are foster siblings- not related by blood, but they ended up together in the foster care system when they were both elementary aged, so they mostly grew up together. Karkat tries to be all protective of kanaya but it is in fact the other way around (older sister kayana so realll)

* Karkat and Kanaya are fostered by Maryam (Porrim)

* Maryam is Kanaya’s first cousin once removed and is also a registered foster parent, so they go to her like “ayo this kid is technically related to you” and shes like “cool”- kanaya js like “i am NOT going anywhere without Karkat >:(“ and Maryam is like “yeah im cool with two kids- plus dont wanna split up siblings”. Someone tries to go “they arent siblings-“ and she just half glares at them and goes “yes they are dipshit”

* Saying they get fostered by her (and eventually adopted) when theyre in around 8th grade)

Friends (moreso how they all met)

* Obviosuly everyone whos related knows each other

* John meets Dave first in elementary

* Like the next day john introduces Jade to Dave and Dave drags Rose over to sit with them

* One if them mentions an older sibling and they figure out theyre all in the same grade, so the younger siblings are like “yall should hang out!!”

* Thus how the strider-lalonds and the harley-egburts become friends

* Karkat and kanaya are out in a group home when end up going to their middle school

* Karkat has a class with jogn and kanaya has a class with rose

* After a while each person convinces the other to meet their other three friends- soiderman meme moment when karkat and kanayan realize it was THAT rose/john theyve been hearing about from the other

* Karkat and Kanaya know Terezi and Gamzee from past foster placements (Terezi in Louisiana close to the TX-LN border, Gamzee in florida)— they were the only like legit friends they made, so they have their emails (little fuckin 8 y/os with emails help thats so cute) and send letters (physical and digital) whenever they get the chance

* Evolves into texting when they get phones, then Terezi and Gamzee are like “there’s a discord were in with other friends if yall wanna join :O”

* All the human kids end up in the discord as well-

* Rose and roxy know Nepeta from a cat discord

* Jade knows Sollux because they go to the same school lmao

* Vriska terezi tavris and eridan know john jade dirk and rose from a ttrpg/runescape discord [roxy and jake are also both in it but have a more passive interest in ttrpgs]

* Jade know tavros and nepeta from an online community centered around the humane treatment of animals

* Gamzee and Dave argue about troll shit on redit

* Dave and Tavros have rap-off via instagram stories

* Karkat is a regular anon on one of Dave’s tumblr pages- mostly just yells at him

* Karkat is ALSO a regular anon of John’s tumblr page, argues with him about films

* [even FUNIER concidering karkat and kanaya KNOW ALL THE HUMAN KIDS BC THEY GO TO THE SAME SCHOOL LMAO]

* Dave and Terezi know each other from devianart and an ironic clip art forum on redit [bonus- some people at one point make fun if Terezi’s art since shes vission-impaired, Dave proceeds to tear the haters art carreers to SHREDS and is like “Terezi thjs is the most amazing and hilarious thing ive ever seen on this entire website it is a literal masterpiece”]

* Roxy is the first to meet the Cals and introduce them to everyone else

* Unrelated but the cals explaining they’re a binary system kind of jumpstarts Dirk’s “oh shit wait fluctuating identity and memory gaps ISNT normal? Huh.”

* Also Jane already knows Calliope from student council, and dirk already knows Caliborn from sssomething

Dating shtuffs :D [edit note: my dumbass didnt put this in quads even tho it was intended to b- in my defence we were crisis mode and brain was VERY muddle still have no clue who had the reigns at the time *faceplants*]

* Karkat has a crush on both Dave and the person he argues with on Tumblr, not realizing they’re the same person

* Karkat and dave start dating their sophomore year, close to the ‘present’ if the story - <3 obvsly :D

* Rose and kanaya OBVIOUSLY dating :3c - <3

* Rozy and Calliope QPR - <>

* Sollux and aradia dating - <3

* Gamz and karkat QPR - <>

* Vriska and Terezi QPR - <>

* Gamzee and tavros dating - <3

* Nepeta and Equius QPRq - <>

* Dirk and Jake are Dirk and Jake - this one actually isnt in quadrant- ill probably make a post to more indepth explain it but i have a very specific idea in my head for dirk and jake and i rlly like it and they literally just transcend any kind of lables *holds them gently* theyyyy

[everything that has an astric was written in fuckin notes app on my phone and i could not be fucked to fix it it gets the info across thats all i care about]

sollux and dave are <>

sollux and karkat are <3<

[i know in cannon karkat doesnt do the quadrants thing but this is my au i can do what i want /silly; no but actually though, all of karkats relationships are technically defigned by a quadrant, but its a loose technicality at best. i think in this au the quadrant thing was a thing they all made up for themselves- or at least a group of them and then it spread to their whole friend group- so no one questions any of the lables because its already a case of ''the ''standard'' sucks and makes no goddamn sense so we're going to lable ourselves the way that actually makes sense to us'' (this is as a neurodivergent person who genuinely understands homestuck quadrants better than it understands ''normal human romance''. i have strated thinking in terms of quadrants and it makes so much more sense to me. in my brain that would be like. every single one of the not-aromantic autistic/nd kids in this au. which is, admittedly, most of them-)]

Exs 0_0

* Vriska and Terezi tried dating [<3/<3<], didnt work, later realized they worked better as a QPR (once theyre older snd better educated)

* Vriska exs w eridan and kanaya as well

* Veiska Tried desprately to date Tavros but that dod NOT work out, chills out and apologizes later after some therapy

* Not quite exa but- Eridan and feferi used to be closer friends and eridan had a MASSIVE crush on fef, but she kinda widthdrawls when he admits this and their friendship kind of falls apart

[this might be incomplete butthis is also from three weeks ago so i have SOLIDLY lost my train of thought- if i think if anything else to add ill probably reblog this with the stuff i wanna add :D]

#nonamestuck #my unnamed high school homestuck au lmao #my writing #so much..thers so much.....#i thought i had posted this but oopsie #i forgor lmao /silly #homestuck #homestuck au

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demonicgod · 1 year ago

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[Asks from "Otherkin Ask Meme." Check my #ask game tag for the rebloggable ask meme, by user princeoframs]

This is really long so please only click the read more if you feel like dealing with a very very long post.

All art is sourced from the Grand Chase wiki.

Are you otherkin or therian?

Otherkin. I'm a fictive of Heitaros Cratsus from Grand Chase that identifies with his source in some soupy ass ways.

What are your kintype(s)?

Specifically, I identify as fictionkin of Heitaros Cratsus from Grand Chase. Related to that, I’m demonkin and divinekin/hearted. Most of those probably make sense enough, but because of my exomemories, it’s a bit more complicated to label whether divinekin or divinehearted is more accurate. My title was the Demonic God, which denoted how much power I had accrued during my time in Elyos. I literally fistfought three Goddesses and brought them to such a standstill their only option was using the last of their life force to power a magical laser bomb to kill me. Then, I spent the next few hundred years busting out of the Underworld and eating the divine reactor they slammed me with because I wanted to become a new Creator. I technically succeeded for maybe a few hours at most; so it’s difficult as a result to figure out whether I am divinehearted (that is, aspiring to divinity, but not being divine) or divinekin (seeing as I technically succeeded at becoming Creator, even if it was for a fraction of my life). I could say both, but my relationship to divinity is also fluid (especially considering my presence in a body that is not necessarily divine and is, in fact, a sack of meat appreciating the divinity of the world).

What was your awakening like? When was it?

My first awakening was when the body was in middle school. This was long before we understood that we were plural, so my awakening was muddied by a lack of clarity regarding our more-than-oneness. We came out of some religiously-exacerbated trauma with me splitting off in middle school as basically a parody of the devil. I was an asshole, and that identity kind of followed me through a dormancy to when I woke back up from it in late 2021. I still ID with that to some degree (I even mention it on my about page), but I ID a little bit more with Heitaros, because that’s the face that I found most comfortable, and it resonated with me. It was blistering at first, and the realization of a face in the context of the system made it a lot easier for me to not be so much of a rube all the time lmao.

When did you first hear about the kin community?

I believe we heard about the kin community first sometime in the middle of high school, through someone else we knew in the GC fandom, funnily enough lol.

Do you experience phantom limbs astral limbs?

We prefer the term “astral limbs” to describe appendages we don’t have that are not part of the human package. That said, I have four wings. They’re bat-like, and the bone/external membranes are a dark blue. The inner lining is a glowing bright blue, meanwhile. Both are the same color as my true body.

Do you experience any other shifts?

Yeah, I experience shifts relating to my true body (what’s my blog icon right now; I've included the full piece of art below too because it's the best official art of it). This involves a lot, including everything from my teeth to my claws. It’s just as disorienting as wing shifts considering I live in a twink’s body, lol.

What’s your favorite shift you get? Why?

Almost any of them count, but there are a few that make me feel particularly connected to my past life. My true body is one I miss a lot, but the body I took from Baldinar also has some particular meaning to me because I can sometimes use it to drag him into front lol. Also, I just like how I look wearing his features.

Tag who did it better lmao.

What’s your least favorite shift? Why?

Arguably, the same as above because sometimes intense shifts give me intense emotional pain. It's like having a head full of bees. Disorienting, confusing, and a little bit irritating, all at once. It tends to come with a little sauce side of dysphoria too, because the body's presentation doesn't match up with what I want to look like.

The only shift that makes me kind of uncomfortable is the shift I get of Kyle's body. He's in our system and comfortable around me, but it's just a little weird going from himbo to twink to sad Kingdom Hearts reject.

Can you make yourself shift?

Sometimes. Depends on who else is in front with me and what the state of the body is. With enough picrews I can kind of force a shift to my stolen body, though.

Do you have shift triggers, or do they happen randomly?

My shift triggers are usually emotional in nature, but active triggers are generally the same as my active front triggers. So, usually if I need to be in front, someone can jam me to front by engaging with those triggers, some of which make it easier for me to also induce a shift.

Do you have memories?

Yes. Practically my whole life. Some of it is just impressions, but some things are more in depth. These are also kind of front triggers for me, too, so the system will ask me to tell them more about my memories if they want or need me in front (hence me writing “fanfiction” about my source). My co-host is really good at this, and that's arguably the reason they're co-host; they'll regularly remember something about another headmate and then ask another to "tell them a story." They got like 300 pages of shit out of me by doing that lol.

What’s your favorite thing about your kintype? (The species, creature, etc)

The power. Not to sound too wild or anything lmao, but in my past life it took so much just to take me down, and the limited time I had with divinity was only better. This is a double-edged sword, of course, because I live in a chronically ill body (that is also a squishy twink), so yearning for that is kind of dangerous, but at least in-system that means no one is willing to fuck with me (at least in a “physical altercation” kind of way).

A good shift, especially if it comes with respites where I'm shifted in my sleep, leaves me feeling rejuvenated. It's like a reminder that no matter what, I still have worth and am still a force to be reckoned with. It feels like electricity, like a really good stretch after a long rest. I have no clue if anyone else can relate to this, but I hope it makes some sense.

Do you think kins are spiritual or psychological in nature?

Yes. Both. And sometimes neither. Sometimes one or the other. But for me, I’m a psychospiritual entity in a system that is disordered and engages in spiritual explanations. In other words, I don’t fucking care lol (/lh). It doesn’t matter to me, because I’m both, because my experiences can’t be boiled down to such a binary.

If you're one, the other, both, or neither, that's also not my business to pry. This shit is too queer to worry about splitting hairs.

Does anyone know you are otherkin? Friends, family, etc? If so, how did you tell them?

Yeah, most close family and quite a few close friends. Most online friends know, too.

Do you have any friends who are also kin?

Yeah!

Do you meditate?

Sometimes, but honestly at this point meditation is difficult to do in ways we like because of ADHD, dissociation, and the fact we basically dissociate all day at work and can’t easily build meditative strategies because of how that takes it out of us mentally.

Do you get kin dreams?

I actually decided to get better at lucid dreaming to try to have more, to be honest. Our sys used to be super into lucid dreaming, so I’m mostly just getting old muscles back up to snuff. It's been hit or miss all in all.

Even non-lucid kin dreams are usually really good though. Cathartic and a little bit sad to wake from, but you get over it when you're used to 'em.

Do you wish you were your kintype? Why or why not?

Depends. Would I still get to interact with my system? Would they be stuck in that body with me? If yes and no, then I would love to have my body again so I could actually squeeze the hell out of my headmates and also do the flying stim called “get up really high in the air and dive like you’re freefalling so you can parachute last second.”

Do you own any gear? If so, what items do you have and do you like to wear them?

Uhhhh skip.

Give a controversial opinion/your stance on some type of discourse.

This is purely because I’ve known a lot of misinformed kids before, but I think as a community we should be a lot better at being forthcoming about information and not being so quick to malign anyone that uses the term “KFF.” That term cropped up in my hiatus from the community (that hiatus being because people were bitching at psychological-related kintypes in all my fucking spaces), and by time I came back, no one could do anything but bitch about “KFFers” and never seemed to say anything more than the same BS I see in the plural community. It was only after almost two years back that we FINALLY found out what that’s “supposed” to mean, and it’s such a nonsense useless term that people I used to hang out with absolutely used it in a “misinformed but not bad-faith” kind of way (the “that would semantically be called a linktype but whatever” sort of KFFer). I get that there are people that want to make our community look bad, but y’all… those bitches have always been coming into our tags and spaces and planting fake blog posts to screenshot for r3ddit karma. Cringe is dead, spend your energy blocking/moving on and making otherkin dictionaries (like the cool people that finally helped me understand what the fuck y’all were bitching about lmao).

What makes you feel closer to your kintype(s)?

Just being me. I'm stubborn as Hell when I need to be, especially when it comes to things that better the system's situation, and that usually makes me feel like I'm trying to reclaim some of my old power. Boundaries are power, to be fair.

But if we want to get more specific, it's mostly front triggers that tend to get me feeling closer to my kintype, sure, but also writing about it as well. Anything that forces me to think about it and makes it easier for me to interface with headspace, basically.

What are some things that validate you?

We had a friend in college that said our voice sounded androgynous, and I know that's mostly gender euphoria speaking, but as someone who loves how I sound when I front? Yeah.

#demonkin #divinekin #otherkin #fictive #fictionkin #source talk #heit talks #this is what i did instead of working on art #but to be fair our joints feel like they need a whole can of wd40 after our shift today #and this is an excuse for me to appreciate my source art #some of it is uh #give or take in quality #but ykw i will take what i can get

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science-lings · 1 year ago

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LIFE GOT THE BETTER OF ME BUT I LIVE!!!!

FIRST OF YOU ART IS AMAZING AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA Second!!!!

The idea of a sheikah with ice powers sounds so cool!! I’d love to hear more about it (<- awful at contributing- >.>) -🌸

HI!!! THANKS!

So far I don't have much lol, since they're part Zonai, even if a small part (mostly bc I don't wanna draw the whole snout thing going on) they're going to at the very least have a third eye in the middle of their forehead, not just a symbol of one. They'll still be decorated like the sheikah eye though.

Thankfully the Sheikah have a pretty convenient naming system where everyone's names are derived from fruit, and the fruit associated with ice in Hyrule are grapes (well icefruit but come on, they are grapes) So their last name might end up being "Grae" or something but I'll probably need to research specific kinds of grapes or something to come up with a better name lol, might even have to see what grapes are in Japanese if that would help. That's what I did with my other Sheikah OC lmao.

They are also likely to be close with the Zora and the technicians that make the runes for the sheikah slate. So some influences from their culture could rub off on their design. Maybe they have their own set of Zora armor. A watery place like the domain would be perfect for them to freely use their power.

Another thought I've had is that they could be related to the leaders of the Yiga clan, as the closest thing we see to the sheikah using the ice power is Kogha throwing big spiked metal balls around, like how waterblight and Vah Ruta throw ice around (spiked or otherwise.) Maybe there's some kind of connection between cryonis and magnesis, at least on a technical level.

#just rambling here lol #loz oc #ask andromeda

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cyberverse--reblogger · 2 years ago

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Cyberverse reblogs baby!

So with tumblr's wonky search, I can't find all the good sauce on transformers cyberverse. I also would like to find those posts again, too, but my likes are a mess, so that's outta the question. My solution? This sideblog.

Basically I do my thing of diving through other people's blogs, and scooping out any cyberverse content I like. I reblog them here, and whenever the little gremlin within me is begging for anything relating to cyberverse, I just go here.

I try to tag every reblog as well, and if you search up a certain bot's name, like, let's say, Red-Five, you should be able to find any posts that I reblogged here that mentions Red-Five. This goes for all characters, btw.

I have no idea if anyone is actually gonna read this, so thank you if you did!

Also, my pfp is from some concept art for cyberverse!

Oh, and I do mass-reblogs at a time. I like to keep some posts in the drafts for a few days, so that I know I didn't reblog them before. Expect dead silence, and then a ton of reblogs from me! Click read more to read about my my tagging system!

-----

My tagging system is:

#gifs is for gifs. I like to tag that stuff because sometimes gifs can lag up my computer pretty bad, and sometimes I'm forced to block it briefly. The woes of having a computer that a potato could probably surpass...

#cyberverse is for all things about that show. Technically this might mean it's just this blog/nearly everything I reblog in general, but I do have a few posts that aren't from cyberverse, but I like it enough I want to stick it here and remember it. Also, I like it.

#video is for, well, videos.

#commentary is when a post isn't particularly about any character, but rather, about the show itself. Trust me, it's not going to be as serious as I make the tag sound lol.

#fanart is fanart of cyberverse. Sometimes, you just wanna bless your eyes with pretty art, y'know?

#i like ya tags g is when I come across some tags that just makes the whole post come together. It makes me smile reading those tags, and yes, I chose to name the tag for screenshots of tags because of the meme.

#ship is for anything that is depicting ships. It might actually take me a while to find some stuff that was ship stuff here, because I added somewhat recently. The ship name will also be tagged along with it, usually. If I can figure out what the accepted ship name is.

#memes will also be added, but it's mainly going to be stuff that I feel doesn't fit the other categories.

#It's a bird! It's a plane! It's… an original post! is for any, well, original posts. These are probably going to be few and far, but hey! It's a tag if you want to see anything that came from me!

More will be added! Thanks for reading, and I hope you stick around! Mass reblogs and likes are perfectly fine, so go nuts! :]

#making this intro just bc I don't want people thinking I'm a bot #also cube bee cube bee cube bee cube bee cube-#pinned post

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cj-the-random-artist · 2 years ago

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Could you tell us more about the rest of the Act 1 protagonists?

(sorry if i end up asking anything that are spoilers)

Yes! So the rest of the Act 1 Protagonist cast is Katherine, Lydia, Tabitha and Marcus, who I will talk about in that order

There's also Blake and Leah but like they're not protagonists and they're like... a whole spiel that I won't go into right now

Anyways! Katherine!

Katherine is also one of the OGs, the story starts when she's 13 as with the rest of the Act 1 cast and probably ends when she's about 21 or so. Katherine technically has no powers, though she can notably turn into a black cat (think housecat), which she enjoys using to mess with people. She's a total jokester and kind of a comic relief character in many ways. She also really likes art and drawing and painting, and she has an ongoing floral motif in her work. She's very impulsive and chaotic and she likes causing problems for fun, but she notably doesn't like going over-the-top to the point of being hurtful. She's definitely an all-in kind of person and she doesn't like to half-effort anything, except maybe schoolwork.

(Ignore the bright pink lines here I was crossing out some notes that I had with this sketch that I don't think are super necessary to the doodle or this introduction)

This is Lydia! Next member of the Act 1 cast! She's kind of the skeptic, so to speak. She's very much a scientist. She's a very very logical thinker, almost to a fault (aside from her bad anxiety but thats another tangent). She likes things that she can break down and understand, and as of the beginning of the story, she is very convinced that magic doesn't exist and that everything magic based is not real (boy she's gonna be proven so. So wrong) but once she has a working understanding of the magic system, and has witnessed it on several occasions, she concedes that it's real. She's wearing earplugs in this doodle, and wears them most of the time because sound is very overstimulating for her (which like. Not gonna lie is a mood). She also doesn't always grasp when people are trying to imply things to her. She's also kind of got a similar thing to Jesse where her spatial awareness isn't great. So as much as she's a little high strung, she's also usually the first person to logic the way out of situations. Also she's super cool and I love writing her.

Here's Tabitha! Another OG! She's a super nice person, generally loves being around other people. She's fairly calm for the most part, there are a few notable exceptions to this but she is overall very chill. She's also a classically trained ballet dancer, which is kind of a specific thing that's not in any way plot related I just think it's cool. I'll be honest there's not much I can say for her other than she's arguably one of the more responsible characters in the cast and she's definitely taken very seriously but she does have some difficulty dealing with things that get out of hand and with people who make impulsive decisions. She likes thinking things through and she doesn't like having to improvise.

Finally, we have Marcus. Marcus is a really fun character for me to write / think about and I don't really know why.

A few things about him! He's selectively (but honestly almost entirely) mute, he very rarely talks and communicates mostly with sign language. This eventually prompts all his friends to learn it, but Zander knew it long before the story started so those two definitely become quite close because they communicate with each other a lot easier than Marcus does with everyone else, at least at first. Marcus also notably is quite magically powerful. I won't really... go into his abilities because that's a bordering-on-spoiler-territory tangent, but it's notable anyways. Marcus is painfully shy, he does not want to be perceived (honestly understandable lol), but he likes being around his very good friends and while he doesn't talk around most of them, he does open up to them to an extent. That said he's also a fairly cuddly person, particularly near the end of the story- he likes hugs from his very close friends. Not all the time but. Sometimes. He's also really intelligent but he does have difficulty communicating that very frequently, which he finds very frustrating. Eventually, as his friends learn sign language, it becomes much less difficult to communicate with them, and it becomes less of a frustration. And honestly he's fun to write. I love writing him he's such an interesting character.

I hope this answers your question! And again, I'm definitely enjoying all these rambles :)

#cj the random artist says words #im having such a good time answering these oml #thanks for all ur questions anon this is such a fun time

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lairofsentinel · 1 year ago

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Aw thank you so much @giant-sequoia. I always try to interpret DA lore without excess of conspiracy board-guy, because in general, writers develop a story with the goal of reaching the broadest target, and for that, you need to give them good clues to lead them to clear logic speculations.

Also, I guess because my job I have a hard training in following conclusions based on facts and not on too many baseless hypotheses. However, DA lore is still loose enough to force you to do some of those things at some points. Plus, I think that working with the axioms I determined when I started that DA lore blog helped me to stablish a "loosen system":

I will mostly consider closer to the truth every piece of information that comes from Mythal-Flemeth, Solas, Felassan, Imshael, Corypheus (a bit biased, though, since he was a recent creature in this world during the Elvhenan glory), The Architect (technically, if he could recover his mind), and Valtra (since she is connected to a Titan now). Following this thought, sources of information coming from untouched Elvhenan ruins are always more valuable what a Chantry Mage may say in a Banter. Spirits and Avvar people have a better understanding of the World than any other modern theodosian creature.

With these axioms, we purified our ability to determine from what piece of information we should craft our hypothesis [clearly NOT from the Chant of Light, for example, lol]. The less reliable pieces of information would help us to see if our hypothesis can be “more or less” contrasted with how that fact evolved into a myth or a legend or was changed across the ages but it won't be the foundation of our hypothesis [for example, Fen’Harel’s story has a lot of common things with The Maker's, making us suspect that people took Fen’Harel’s story (something we know existed and have proofs) and modified it to turn it into the Maker’s Myths (something we know so far has been silent and we don't have any proof of its existence)] These processes are 100% anthropological real in our human history.

Now, let’s talk about your enriching comments :D

‘Bad Children All Get Eaten’

Yes! I noticed that too, but I didn’t comment it because I was not so sure how much of the Fade could be interpreted in that image. Certainly, the elongated triangles on the bottom [see that's they are not exactly elongated, but they become more elongated as we go more and more down] have the same style than the triangles we saw in murals where we can suspect “the Fade and the Waking World blend each other”. Elongated triangles seem to follow that meaning, at least, in the Nick Thornborrow’s illustrations. Why is so important for me to clarify that this analysis only is supported on his illustrations? This artist was the main responsible in creating most of the Murals that we find in DAI Trespasser, and has been contributing to the general art of the franchise with a style that, in his own words, keeps the symbols consistent. Since he promised consistency, I’ve approached his art hoping to see the patterns in an attempt to scratch a bit more of lore information.

As you said, in Murals in DAI: Basics, we see that the equilateral triangle is mostly associated with the Fade, while the Elongated one to places where the Waking World and the Fade mix. If we translate this interpretation here, the lower part of the drawing should be related to the “thin Veil”, a place where both worlds combine, while the top of the image, to the most pure Fade [we see 2 equilateral triangles made out of circles].

This makes us suspect that this image is not about “the Waking World”, but the Fade, and these creatures are “eaten” by something that pushes them down, and probably makes them “fall” into the Waking World. Since the song talks about “temptations/behaviour” in a childish way, we could even interpret this tale as something created by spirits, to avoid other spirits to fall into the Waking World, that somehow, humans in Free Marches acquired across the ages and used it for their children. We see similar things happening with Dalish songs: they contain a lot of ancient Elvhenan details that were mixed, or twisted due to oral tradition among the Dalish clans, so the result is something so worn-out and faded, that it’s hard to see the original source from it.

Another detail that always caught my attention on this image is that the humanoid figures are all the same. They are only differentiated due to the symbol on their belly or head. Beside the symbol of the small spiral, the others can’t be speculated about, since we didn’t have any other clue to associate them with.

Corypheus

Yes! I know this etymology, but I didn’t highlight it in any post beyond small comments since it’s mostly a configuration that shows the relevance of the work of each of the Priest of the Old Gods: Corypheus was the leader of the group, and according to the Chant of Light text written y by Archon Hessarian: Silence 1-3, [the same text says it explicitly, Chant of Light - Part 1], they translate his name as “conductor”, as the means to which the Sidereal Magisters managed to reach the Golden City. This may be mainly because Corypheus was the main user/conductor of the Claws of Dumat, which is a device that seems to have been used in that endeavour [more detail in The Raw Fade - Part 1]. Architect was called that way because he made the “plans” for the ascension [or maybe he developed the claws for Corypheus, we can't say for sure].

However, your interpretation of the Chorus, and this relationship with song/music that we know later is related to the Blight and the Red Lyrium, is something I didn’t think about before. My main question about this interpretation is that it seems to put together that the song of the Blight and the song of the Red Lyrium are the same, but we were told already they were not [aside from one single small confusing line coming from Cole]. I made a compilation of all this info in Songs and elements that sing and whisper in DA Lore. The one saying this is mostly Cole, so since he is a spirit, he has a better understanding of the world even if his ways to explain it are so cryptic. It’s clear that the Blight has a song attached to it, and may be related to the Black City [or the entity trapped there], in the same way that normal Lyrium has a song to it, which is related to the Titans. Now, I never could be sure what truly was related to the whispers in the Red Lyrium, my best hypothesis is to a corrupted, angry Titan.

Thelm Gold-Handed

I really never considered this possibility. It makes sense with the statue where the first mention of Thelm happens. It may have a link with “Dirthamen’s owl” which is usually the creature that has the Golden Ring in its talon

BUT, on the other hand, we never have to forget that the owl is also a symbol of Andruil, we know that this inconsistency exists inside Thedas, and even Dorian highlights it to the player so we don’t forget about it.

That Thelm wanted the Golden City fits with Falon’Din [or even Andruil?], I just find it curious that he would need human armies for that, considering how lesser all other creatures were considered for the Elvhenan. The Stanza says nothing about the physicality of him, but certainly has an ambivalent wording in that case: he fed human tribes to use as armies and head to, potentially, a place we hypothetise may be Arlathan; he pushed these tribes until they screamed, “heed the dreams and cross the Waking”. We know that the Waking is the ocean between Orlairs and Ferelden, but may have a double meaning? Could these armies be elven/spirits pushed into the Waking World to conquer Arlathan?

However, if we keep applying this way of understanding the stanzas to the others, we find that the next stanza, when Thelm asks for marriage to Tyrdda, is triggered on the Maker statue, making Thelm a potential source for the Maker’s myth?

I’m not saying no to this interpretation, but certainly when we apply it to the rest of the stanzas gives us strange curious extra interpretations of other concepts we have been working around.

Maybe, a more in-between interpretation can be done: maybe the whispers that Thelm listened was from another Evanuris who wanted to conquer Arlathan. However, let's not forget how much the Elvhenan despised the form and the shape that the Titans reinforced. It was the Forbiden Ones who enjoyed it [ check "Exile of the Forbidden Ones" from Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara]. Maybe Thelm was whispered in dreams by a Forbidden One.

Also, let’s not forget in all this interpretation that there is no 100% piece of info that makes clear link between the Golden City and Arlathan. And all these interpretations are using both cities as equivalents when they are, so far, a mere hypothesis up to the moment.

About the Blight and the Red Lyrium’s own will

I am afraid I'm not inclined to this interpretation, mostly because what I said above: the song of the Blight and the song of the Red Lyrium are not the same, we were told already they were different, The song of the normal Lyrium and the Red Lyrium ARE similar [they "fit"], but Red Lyrium’s is “angrier”, and this makes sense: it may have some remmants of the memories of the Titans. Let’s remember, thanks to Corypheus in Shrine of Dumat, when siding with Templars, that we learnt that lyrium is a good means to storage memories. So we can speculate without much inconsistency that the lyrium's song is related to the Titan’s ancient memories, and the Red Lyrium's, to the ones when they [or some of them] were corrupted.

The Blight has a song with undetermined origin: we only know through Avernus that it doesn’t come from the Archdemons as most Grey Warden think about, but from the Black City itself, and due to the last Vynil [Speculations about the Vinyl Art], we may speculate it may be related to Mythal and/or the Evanuris trapped in it. After all, we know that the song causes a compulsion to “release” the entity trapped there. For a refresher we can reread the compilation of all this info in Songs and elements that sing and whisper in DA Lore.

However, it's true that Red Lyrium has a codex about "Whispers Written in Red Lyrium." Which with Cole's comments make us deal with an inconsistency: On one hand, Cole says that the song of the Blight and the Song of the Red Lyrium are different, but then he says that the Red Lyrium contains "old whispers" asking for you to open the "door", which makes us relate to the same kind of need that the blighted creatures feel in their compulsion.

Another detail that came to me just while writing this: we have the codex of Raising the Sonallium , where we learnt that through song-based spells the Elvhenan could create pocket-worlds by using Fade essence. We have here an "ancient song" related to creation.

So, I'm still unable to say with certainty what all these songs are about.

Solium

This is a marvelous question I didn’t think about! Why they need a constellation to represent a Sun which already is in the sky during the day? Potential anwers that come to me: because they had no Sun, or because this "sun" is certanly not a sun.

Probably the answer will be in the true meaning we may discover about the “sun/stars” that the Elvhenan represented with overlaping rings, overlaping spheres, and “spheres of fire”. I’m pretty inclined to think that this Sollium is more closer to the concept of the Red sphere of fire than an actual sun. I made a lot of analysis and specualtions about these overlapping rings and star symbols in [Speculations about the Vinyl Art]

Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun

In this post I will try to extensively gather all the sun-based or sun-like imagery that we find in all the games of Dragon Age. From the most typical ones to those which may seem obscure or with a hidden allegory/design. I will qualify their resemblance with the Sun symbol as Strong, Weak or other.

This post contains the following symbols

Chantry Sunburst

Elvhenan Culture: Sun symbol among the Evanuris

Elvhenan Culture: Asterisk Symbol and Elvhenan Doors

Elvhenan Culture: Golden Ring

Elvhenan Culture: Crappy Sun

Elvhenan Culture: Elgar’nan and Sylaise

Elvhenan Culture: Murals

Tevinter Culture: Green Star

Tevinter Culture: different decorative elements

Dwarven Culture: Fairel and Dwarven art

Ferelden Culture: The Sun Face and the geometrical Sun

Grey Wardens and the Sun

Avvar and the Sun

Flemeth

Qunari, Par Vollen, and the Solium Constellation

DAO design

Free Marches Rural Areas

[This post belongs to the series “Analysis and speculation of Statues”]

[Strong] Chantry Sunburst

The most typical one that appears in DA series is the Sun or Sunburst with wavy rays, repeated so much along the games that we can identify it immediately. It’s the unequivocally symbol of the Chantry. We found it in many versions, and it represents the “dawn” with the idea of hope and “new beginnings”, but also the fire that “purified” Andraste in her pyre to let her ascend to the Maker’s side. In the posts of Andrastian Art [Andrastian Design: Stained Glasses], we also find that “balls of fire” [which can be interpreted as a Sun in another way] are shown to represent the Maker or the Faith in Him.

Andraste’s single spiked helm seems to be inspired in a single sun ray, at least this is what an illustration in the Chant of Light [book of World Of Thedas] seems to suggest.

In general, most of the representations of the Chantry Sun have 16 rays.

The same sun-like symbol appears in its Tevinter version when we see the Imperial Chantry; the only difference with the Orlesian one is that the Tevinter Sunburst has straight rays.

As a detail, in DAO, we had the typical representation of the wavy sunburst present in some strange devices of Tevinter origin, for example, the ones we found in [Brecilian ruins], while the main Church in Denerim, or in Haven, display spikes that, more than resembling a sun, look like thorns or even a thorny vine. This may be a consequence of an original plan in linking, design-wise, the chantry symbology with the thorny vines that represent the Blight or the Darkspawn [As we explained in the section “Non-mural symbol: Thorny vines” from Murals in DAI: Basics], or merely it was a limitation of the design of the game, as we know DAO suffers from.

We also know that tranquils should display this symbol on their foreheads, burnt with lyrium, but as we saw along DAO, none of them had it. Later we were informed that the devs had problems to add this mark on the npc, therefore, it was never shown until DA2. When it comes to this symbol, it is interesting to see that tranquils carry the metaphor of “a Sun burning their minds and emptying them”, which may or may not be related with Dwarves and their fear to the Sun and potential relatinship of Elgar'nar shoving a fire ball into their underground lands [More details of this concept in Deep Roads [DLC Trespasser]: Lower Walkways in particular with the codex Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads,].

[Strong] Elvhenan Culture: Sun symbol among the Evanuris

Strangely close to the Chantry Sunburst symbol, we find the “half” sun symbol [tagged along the blog as Sun-head creature] in what we suspect was one of the ancient primordial dragon symbols that some Evanuris took over when they claimed Divinity [for more context, read Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History]. It’s hard to say which Evanuris took control of this symbol, but we know there is a clearly sun-like symbol present in the Crossroads of the DLC [as a statue, check The Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: Entrance] and in the Shattered Library [as an Eluvian, check Shattered Library; Entrance and Courtyard]. With the release of the Vinyl, we also discovered and reinforced the hypothesis that this symbol belongs to or was co-opted by an Evanuris [read Speculations about the Vinyl Art for details] thanks to the image of an elf wearing a hat with that shape.

A consistent detail of this image is that it’s a half-sun with exactly 7 rays.

[Weak] Elvhenan Culture: Asterisk Symbol and Elvhenan Doors

If we extend this imagery, and check other symbols that may look similar to a sun, we find the ancient Elvhenan Doors [Elven Ancient Shard-based door], which top displays a pointy sun of 8 rays that may or may not be related to the Asterisk symbols [also related to the Titan’s core, which I talked about in the post of Murals “The Death of a Titan”]. In the way the door gets illuminated when activated also makes us see a “circle” in it that can be loosely related to the “Golden Ring shape”. More details about this ring will be treated below.

This strange sun on the ancient door also makes us think in the Asterisk Symbol [made of 8 points], which lays at the centre of the yellow mosaic, which may be related to the core of a Titan [asterisk of 8 points too]. The link is immediate when we see that this asterisk is outlined by a shape that looks like a star or a Sun, inside a big ball with triangular-shape ends. This same symbol appears in the last Trailer of DA4, behind Solas, when he is presented like an Hermit, mysterious, apostate mage. Around this “sun” we can make out several concentric lines that may refer to a “Golden Ring”.

The Asterik symbol also appears in murals such as “The Creation of the Veil” or “The Death of a Titan”, which allowed us to relate them with the core of a Titan and its immense power of "making real what you imagine"reinforcing the reality", but this symbol also appears in a corner of Solas’ tarot card.

The yellow mosaic also has some shapes at the four corners that may represent eluvians or something related to Mythal. In the mural of “the Temple of Mythal” from “The actions of the Inquisitor”, we see that Solas draw a particular star of 8 points inside a door frame that resembles this “eluvian outline”, but it’s also the shape of the doors of the Temple of Mythal which represents Mythal herself in her dragon shape. All these symbols seem to reinforce the idea we explored in “The Death of a Titan”: Mythal seems to be related to the core power of a Titan represented by an asterisk that evolves into a golden ring and into a sun.

As I repeated several times in Speculations about the Vinyl Art, at times, we find some hints where stars or balls of fires [also understood as suns] are related to Mythal and Elgar’nan, making us suspect that, maybe, Mythal and Elgar’nan share a nature similar to Falon’Din and Dirthamen’s: apparently, the same creature with two different aspects from them. If this were the case, associating Mythal with the Sun would make sense, and it would also explain why, if Elgar’nan was so central in the Elvhenan culture, there are so few representations and statues of him, while Mythal overwhelms it.

[Weak] Elvhenan Culture: Golden Ring

During the last trailer of DA4, we see Solas turns into the Black Dread Wolf as a sun in the background becomes a moon [single golden circle] and later, it separates itself into concentric rings, that may or may not be related to the “Golden Ring” so deeply entangled with Elvhenan culture. Thanks to this imagery, we may relate the Sun to the Golden Ring [specially if we consider that the mural presented in Nation Art: Elvhen displays the yellow ring in a position that may be considered “the sun”, but also the "authority/power above"]

We need to remember that the Golden Ring’s presence is always associated with control, power, and occasionally to Mythal and Dirthamen. In the mural of the “zombie elves”, it’s above all of them, and due to this position, it could be interpreted like a “sun” or moon upon the controlled, zombified elves. But I’m not too convinced in this interpretation, since we already explored in posts such as: Nation Art: Elvhen, Exalted Plains: Ghilan’nain’s Grove and the Dead Hand, DLC: Jaws of Hakkon - Frostback Basin, Elvhen Tomb, Ancient Elven codices; Fen’Harel’s mountain ruins, The Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: Elven Mountain Ruins; Vine-covered Tower, Murals in DAI: The Death of a Titan, and Speculations about the Vinyl Art that this ring was more related to control, power, or even forced change/shape in some cases. Due to its power or potential knowledge, it's also associated to Dirthamen Owl [which also could be Andruil's owl according some inconsistencies in the same Unreliable Dalish legends].

On the other hand, it’s never clear if this symbol may have morphed into a sun along the ages with the loss of memory that the Elves had throughout generations when they lost their immortality. However, I tend to consider that this Golden Ring may have changed into a Sun when it entered in contact with human groups, in the same way that I see the story of Fen'Harel gave enough context for humans to create the Maker myth based on him, potentially during the time of Halamshiral [for more details, read The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light]

This ring also appears in the last scene of DAI, when we defeat Corypheus, showing Mythal inside it, as bits of red lyrium sprout around it. This can be related to many speculations done in Speculations about the Vinyl Art, where we can conclude that another fragment/part of Mythal is still trapped in the Black City, corrupted, and contained by an immense power that may have been used before by the rest of the evanuris to control their own people.

The Golden Ring has also been seen enclosing Elven Tree Statues and Elven Orbs, implying its relationship with elvhenan power and/or Mythal’s [after all, we know that Mythal took the power from a Titan from which elvhen orbs were developed, and trees are also her symbol, according her vallaslin]. It's worth noting that the only working orb we saw in the game was Mythal’s, so far.

[Weak] Elvhenan Culture: Crappy Sun

There is also a strange symbol that I called “crappy sun” in the ancient tablet we find at the entrance and deep into the tomb of Forbidden Oasis: Solasan Temple [along this blog I’ve tagged it as “Stone in Razikale-Ceremony-style”]. It’s hard to say if it represents a sun or a breach. It may be related to a sun similar to the one of the Elven Ancient Shard-based door that, later, Tevinter co-opted to turn into the several versions of pointy suns we see in Tevinter Pre-blight ruins, [let’s remember they were not Andrastian yet, and still they had this symbology in their buildings and elements because it may have been related to ancient dragons, or taken from another elvhen symbology during the time of the Dreamers since there are some proofs, such as the Tevinter Mosaic [Invasion], that may show that Tevinter had a better relationship with elves back then].

Maybe the original symbol was related to Elgar’nan, as we see in his mosaic, where he shoves down the sun into the earth, and its rays are wavy and a bit “crappy”. If this relationship is correct, maybe what Elgar'nan shoved into the Earth to destroy the dwarves/Titans was not a sun but a breach? Again, a very unlikely hypothesis.

This “crappy sun” also has 8 rays.

[Strong] Elvhenan Culture: Elgar’nan and Sylaise

Elgar’nan’s mosaic was interpreted in the post Evanuris, and basically shows an elf shoving down a Sun of wavy rays into the Earth. It’s easy for us to relate this image to the unreliable Dalish legend of Elgar’nan [read Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance]. Elgar’nan is presented here as the son of the Sun itself, who tried to burn all life on the Land out of Jealousy, so Elgar’nan vowed vengeance against his Father’s cruelty, and his rage won against the fire of the Sun. Then, “Elgar'nan threw the sun down from the sky and buried him in a deep abyss created by the land's sorrow.”

This story can be followed later in the post Emprise du Lion: Pools of the Sun, where we find another unreliable Dalish legend claiming that this place has spring waters because it was here where Elgar’nan shoved the sun into the Earth. I also made a link to Sylaise considering the Elvhenan arenas we can see in this region, the presence of Sylaise’s Shrine, and her thirst for being always competing with someone. These details can make us suspect that this Sun could have been Sylaise [so deeply related to fire, the sun, and also as angry as Elgar’nan according the Song to Sylaise].

It’s very worth noting that these two legends, said by different clans, claim that Elgar’nan pushed the Sun into the Abyss. Another detail we have to assume is that "Abyss", "Beyond the Deep Roads" and "The Void" seem to be one thing related to the places where the Titan sleep [or even inside the Titan themselves] instead of a strange dimensional pocket we never saw before. This links the Elvhenan with the Dwarven in what we speculated in Murals in DAI: The Death of a Titan.

With this relationship, we see again the Sun as a weapon of destruction and control.

[Weak] Elvhenan Culture: Murals

Murals present a red sphere with rays that may imply a Sun .

In the mural “The Creation of the Veil” [1], we find a red sphere inside a black one, making us suspect it’s the big evil released by the Evanuris that Solas isolated with the creation of the Veil. Around it, there are seven “bubbles” with similar “rays” in grey and golden colours that may imply “gates” that would allow us the access to the central “sun” or red sphere.

In the mural “The Death of a Titan” [2] we talked extensively about the asterisk symbol, its representation of a Titan’s heart and all that power associated with it, as well as with Golden Rings. The codex in here speaks of a red sphere that contains fury, and maybe all of this can be related to a sun, or better said, the other way around: a Sun as a sphere of fire, related to fury, and buried below underground to contain its destruction. This also brings us some similarities with the unreliable Dalish legends about Elgar'nan.

In the mural “Red Lyrium Idol” [3] we also commented how the image looks as if Solas were walking on a sphere of fire. It may be related to the red lyrium idol too. Here, we keep linking this idea of a “sphere of fire” as a potential Sun.

In the murals of “The actions of the Inquisitor” [4], we see several times that the red sphere associated with the big evil isolated behind the thick, impenetrable barrier of the Black City seems to be positioned in places that may allow a soft interpretation as a “sun”in the sky.

These symbols seem to gather more importance as we analysed the Vinyl Art, where we find the concept of the Eclipse [as an ominous symbol of Fen’Harel that covers and hides the Sun] and a lot of iconography of stars, which can be interpreted as “suns”.

[Weak] Tevinter Culture: Green Star

Pre-Blight Tevinter art has a “star” symbol that may be interpreted as a sun, specially if we consider that the inside of this green star displays the symbol of the elvhenan Golden Ring in red colour. However, it seems more likely to be a symbol representing the power that one can extract from the Breaches. The green colour helps in this interpretation and puts it a bit farther away from a sun interpretation than other symbols. However, it keeps linking the Golden Ring with the power of creating a Breach.

[Confusing] Tevinter Culture: different decorative elements

The rest of the symbols in Tevinter objects may have some relationship with the Sun. For example, we find doors, boxes, and columns decorated with an 8-pointed star [1] but we also find another one with 6 points in something that looks like a box [2]. The shape of an “hexagonal” sun of 8-pointy rays can be found as well in objects like the “scrying orb” [4].

Among the outfits, we find a 3-ray comb used by Tevinter women [3], which may be related to the sun-based symbol of an Old God [and potentially related to the corresponding Evanuris associated with it]. This symbol is a lot closer to the "Sun-head creature" we found among Elvhenan objects.

As a curious one, I will always point out the strange, hidden Sun figure that belongs to the Free Marches decoration that can be found at the entrance of the Inner Sanctum in Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Viridis Walk and Inner Sanctum.

I think it’s clear and safe to say that most of the sun-based symbols present in Tevinter culture [and previous to their conversion to Andrastian religion] may have been originated from the contact with the Elvhenan [during the Dreamer time where we can see less repulsion to Elvhen according the Tevinter Mosaics] or [most likely] with the dragons that may have been related to the Elvhenan, as I made the connection in the comic post The Missing.

[Weak] Dwarven Culture: Fairel and Dwarven art

The Dwarves, at least the ones in the Fairel’s ruins, may have some link with the Sun as well. In these ruins we find the same exact stone tablet we find in the Ancient Elvhenan tombs [1], which displays the “crappy sun” I commented above. Once again, it could be a sun but also a breach, so there is no much sense to keep focusing on it.

Another symbol to relate the Sun to the Dwarves may or may not be an old “Dwarven stone-paintings” we saw since DAO, which basically shows a dwarf working the stone [3]. Based on symmetry, we could assume that the triangles on the background are stalagmites, but if we stretch-out this interpretation, they could even be seen as a sun with its rays. It’s very unlikely, since it seems to be more a design resource to highlight the scene of the stone-painting, but for completion’s sake I think it’s worthy to keep it commented here.

However, this simple design allows us to interpret it in different ways: the spikes we see can be pieces of rock protruding from the ground and the Dwarf in it is mining them [as its original codex in DAO seems to imply], but also it could be understood as a quarter of a Sun peeking through the corner of the image as a Dwarf works tirelessly.

Later in DAI we are introduced to another piece of art of similar characteristics [2]. The building was never possible to be identified unequivocally, and in posts like “Architecture of Kirkwall : Gallows and Lowtown/Darktown” I related it to representations of Kirkwall or cities that may be similar to Kirkwall where the runecraft mastery of dwarves was used [and probably, it was a source of pride for these clans, who may have kept the achievement immortalised in a piece of art reproduced among the noble dwarven families]. This piece also shows a background very similar to the one in [3] that may be a representation of stalagmites or a sun, if it’s stretched-out enough.

Another strange symbol in the dwarven furniture is the one presented in some stone-seats: an elaborated metal image that shows thorny vines on or over a sun [4]. This symbol appears in many other parts of the game where there are dwarven rooms, but also in Arbor Wilds :Cradle of Sulevin where we can read the Vir Tanadhal, However, in this case, the symbol is not completely the same one than in the Hissing Wastes: Fairel tomb.

It’s hard to suspect if this is a mere reuse of assets, it has a lore-related meaning, or it’s just a reflection that the Dwarves and the Ancient Elvhen had a relationship quite ancient [as it shows the Elvhen tree and its dwarven, more geometrical style, that I’ve been pointing out since DAO in Orzammar]. We have to remember that the Ancient Elvhenan saw the dwarves as soulless creatures, workers of the “pillars of Earth” and worthless. However, I always claimed it was never clear if this was a reference to ancient Dwarves that were linked to the Titan deeply to the point that they became Sha-Brytol after the break of the link, or were related to more independent dwarves as the ones we see now, who have a sense of Stone, but can’t understand the Titan with the exception of some gifted ones [such as Valta].

Finally, the dwarves have an additional aspect related to the Sun in the very unreliable codex called Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 2. I wrote about this codex in a more integral way in Deep Roads [DLC Trespasser]: Lower Walkways. But basically an ex-Dalish elf [now a Qun converted] relates Elgar’nan’s fire [which another unreliable Dalish legend, Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance, claims he shoved the Sun into the Earth] to the fear to the Sun that Dwarves experience [Read the section Elgar’nan and Sylaise above]. This may have been a Dev’s choice to makes us aware that there exists a relationship between the Sun and the dwarves, even though there is no lore material that can make it clear enough.

[Strong] Ferelden Culture: The Sun Face and the geometrical Sun

In the Tryptich presented in Andrastian Design: Tapestry and Tryptich, we find three symbols on top of each part of the scene: the six-snakes that represent Tevinter, the golden city above all the image representing the Maker or the Chantry Religion, and over the section of Ferelden/Orlais chantry, a 8-pointed sun which rays look like triangles. Once again, the resemblance of this symbol with the elvhenan sun in the mural “Temple of Mythal” is remarkable [check the Temple of Mythal in “The actions of the Inquisitor”] or the sun shape in the elvhenan yellow mosaic or in the background of Solas in the Trailer of DA:D. This could come from different roots:

1- An Orlesian root, considering how much of the elvhenan influence it had during the time of the Halamshiral and the coexistence of humans and elves in the Dales for some years [to the point where inter-racial families were made, as it was hinted all over the Exalted Plains]. I spoeculated how the idea of the Maker may have been developed during this time in the post The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light

2- Another potential root is related to the Alamarri root, and therefore, linked to the Avvar: this sun may be a representation of the Lady of the Sky for the same reasons I will explain below in the Section Avvars and the Sun.

We can find similar icon in the book World of Thedas, where they show a unique Ferelden Tryptich [3], which top displays this symbol with a sun that even may have a shape of a Golden Ring within it. In either case, we know that this symbol later was part of the Ferelden Chantry, which sun is very pointy, as DAO showed it [see the first section in this post: Chantry Sunburst].

In DAI, we find in some small towns of Ferelden, a unique strange Sun with a crying face [1]. On it we see a bird and a squirrel. It’s hard to know exactly what this is, [check the post Nation Art: Ferelden], but maybe it can be understood as a representation of Andraste made by Ferelden culture mixed with some local animals and fables created as a mixture of cultures, similar to the tale that related Wyverns to Andraste [check the wyvern section in Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The single spike].

There is also a fish drawn in the DLC of Hakkon on a fisherman shack [2], which displays a pattern that can be related to the “crappy sun” designs on its skin. Not sure what to make about it. The closest is that the Avvar represented this symbol as a way to reflect what they may have seen in the Isle of the Lady, where a big ancient breach have been there, open, since the time of Telana [read about this in “The Veil and the preservation of the Waking World” from the post Frostback Basin [DLC]: Miscellaneous ].

[Strong] Grey Wardens and the Sun

The typical symbol of the Grey Wardens involves a chalice that represents the Joining ritual. It always displays a Sun, and not any sun: it’s one with a strong resemblance to the Sunburst of the Chantry. Let’s remember that the Grey Wardens was and is an independent Order that doesn’t respond to the Chantry, and even more so: it was created before the existence of the Chantry, and before Andraste was born. So any quick explanation that this sun is present in this object due to some potential influence from the Chantry seem unlikely.

However, as I showed in Western Approach: The Still Ruins, Main Chamber and Hall of Silence, there are griffons with this same chalice that belonged to pre-Blight Tevinter, maybe remotely associated with Dumat in some ways [since they appear in a hall called “Hall of Silence”, and Dumat=Silence]. We know that the Joining, as a ritual of blood magic, came from the knowledge of Arlathan elves and Tevinter Mages during the desperate times of the First Blight when nothing seemed to stop the darkspawn and even slaying Dumat did not work the first time. Therefore, this Sun may have some relationship with the elvhenan, the Old Gods, or just the blood magic that allowed the creation of the Joining.

[Curious] Avvar and the Sun

The Avvar have a symbol that I always found very Sun-like due to its design and cultural concept: The Lady of the Sky. It’s not only the concept; the lady of the sky can be any important object in the sky; moons or suns. Since Thedas has two moons, it seems more plausible to think of her as unique as the Sun itself.

In the painting that represents her (found on a wall in the Frostback Mountains) we see a design of an owl which shape looks like a Sun. Even her sculpture in Skyhold displays small spikes around her neck which give her a low-key “sun-like” design, specially if we relate this shape with the “sun” shape we saw in the Ancient Elvhenan Yellow Mosaic or with the star we saw in the “Temple of Mythal” mural [in “The actions of the Inquisitor”] or with the Sun that appears behind Solas in the trailer.

Curiously, her banner displays her eyes in a shape that looks similar to the Golden Ring shape, but in black colour. That the Avvar have an art that may have resemblance with Elvhenan's is not strange for me if we remember that Tyrdda Bright-Axe Path’s story narrates that her lover was an elf that, as it is hinted, may have been the Lady of the Sky herself. This means that the Avvar always were a culture under the influence of the Elvhenan and the Dwarves [due to the marriages they arranged with the children of the Stone].

[Weak] Flemeth

Flemeth also had a unique concept art that shows all of her nature in one drawing: her dragon shape, Mythal, as the central part of it over a human figure that may be a petitioner; a bit aside and as if she were in a inner ring of a brown sphere, The Witch of the Wild: Flemeth, with a very particular staff inside a yellow circle that may be interpreted as a Sun. And very hidden in the corner, in the core of this sphere, now black, we see her as an "old, old woman" with a big eye drawn on her apron, at the edge of a cliff [potentially representing the fragment of Mythal that lives inside her]. This kind of eye is very similar to the ones that we see in the concept art armours of Mythal’s temple guardians. I assume it has to do with her omnipresence due to the manipulation of dreams [we know that she presented herself in dreams to an elf and marked him with the Vallaslin of Mythal after awakening, check the video]

Mythal also has bland hints related to Elgar’nan symbology, which is related to the sun, fire, and balls of fire with anger [check all this in the posts Speculations about the Vinyl Art and “The Death of a Titan”]. Flemeth ends up being related to all this since she carries a fragment of Mythal in her.

[Strong] Qunari, Par Vollen, and the Solium Constellation

The Qunari have little link with the Sun, but not the land they conquered. In the book World of Thedas we are informed about the existence of the Fex, a race we never saw nor had much information beyond the fact that they exist. May they be related to the Sun or a Sun-base proto religion? We don't know.

In the Codex Constellation: Solium, we learn that this constellation [which looks like a Sun/Star, image above, pretty similar to the Chantry Sunburst I may add] may have been a representation of the Sun or the Moon [or both] for the Neomerian [Ancient Tevinters], however, it could also represent Elgar’nan, since unreliable Dalish legends claim him to be the “eldest of the Sun”.

Another Codex, called The Pyramids of Par Vollen, tells us that the Jungles of this continent have ancient ruins that doesn’t seem to be tombs but places of scientific purposes. The shape of these ruins fits perfectly with the constellation of Solium, making them, in some way or another, related to the Sun. These pyramids are a great mystery in the DA lore, especially for their total lack of information beyond this codex. We know their walls show images of “intricate sea creatures, shipwrights, musicians, archers, and kings. Odd figures are depicted, tall, horned, always in a position of authority and respect.” It seems that there was no resistance when the Qunari came to conquer this place, so we can suspect that this previous civilization embraced the Qun without much resistance, in part, because the Qunari have horns, and that caused respect and authority. Or the civilisation had been gone long ago when they came. Or it was a civilisation that was developed by or under the authority of the Kossith, the ancient Qunari who had no Qun.

The brief description of these ruins also makes me link it, potentially, with the underground ruins we find in The Horror of Hormak .

[Confusing] DAO design

This section tries to relate the Sun shape with designs that may make the connection a bit stretched or not truly reasonable, therefore, DAO leads this part, lol.

We find that many places along the game, specially the ones related to puzzles [Honnleath and Enchanter Wilhelm’s basement] or to Tevinter experiments [Ruins of Brecilian Forest] display a platform on the ground with a symbol similar to the Sunburst of the Chantry. I’m not sure why they are there, specially in the Brecilian Forest, since we know this was a fortress probably developed by Tevinter [ which potentially may have co-opted, as usual, an ancient Elvhenan building and claimed it as its own] just to be taken by Dalish and humans later. This Fortress is a mess in terms of design and statues that it displays, so it’s hard, if not impossible, to truly take it seriously. To me it all feels more like a reuse of graphical resources, but just for the sake of completion, I add the present section.

More of these sun-like platforms can be found in the Tower of the Circle of Magi [which could potentially make sense since the tower was made by Avvar and Dwarves, and it may be a representation of the Lady of the Sky, as we saw in the Avvar section of this post] but also in the Temple of Andraste or in Denerim at the Fort Drakon which makes less sense [unless it is taken as a symbol from the Chantry itself]. Again, these inconsistencies make me suspect the reuse of assets in a game that could not afford to have 5 different platforms designs.

[Confusing] Free Marches Rural Areas

Another place where I found a sun-like symbol was in a very disturbing image of the book World of Thedas associated with a cautionary tale told to Free Marches kids. In it, we see that people/children are punished if they go outside a bubble of darkness with small “sun-like” symbols floating around. Each of these kids have a symbol on their belly or head. Curiously, one of these symbols is a small spiral that I’ve brought the attention upon long ago in the post Hinterlands: Statues, paintings, and structures found in the open where we found the alamarri statue I called Eroded dragon skull which has a “G symbol” on its back, which, at the same time, seems similar to the one present in a reiterative way all over the elvhen artefacts and in some dwarven rug designs.

I don't know how to interpret this image, mostly like the big black bubble that contains these klids seems to protect or shield them from the dangers outside. The kids that "behave badly" are dropped outside of it and are consumed by the dragon fire/jaws of the dangers outside. So in a very stretched way, we can interpret this image that the bubble filled with Suns protects people, or at least, it's the right path to follow not to be eaten by those monsters outside.

Conclusions

To put an end to this post, I would like to bring a short conclusion that we may have reached together along it. The Sun in Thedas is an ancient symbol that mostly every culture took to exploit and use in their own representation of gods/power.

This fact alone is not strange, since in anthropology we can see that severals cultures on Earth have developed religious rites or created Gods out of the Sun itself. The Sun is a symbol related to warmth, light, food, life, and security, so it seems reasonable for DA Lore to take it as the main symbol of Thedas civilisations.

The Sun in current Thedas is immediately associated with the Chantry and Andraste: it is a symbol of hope, of dawn, that provide the idea of new beginnings; it’s also the idea of the Maker itself and the Faith people have in him. It's also the fire that purifies in order to grant ascension [Andraste's case].

When it comes to Elvhenan, the Sun is immediately related to Elgar’nan, who was considered, according to the underaliable Dalish legends, the son of the Sun itself, who in order to save the Land shoved the sun into the ground, potentially causing a great damage to Dwarves and Titans.

There is also a symbol of a half-sun in an Eluvian, a statue, and in a hat worn by an elf, that may suggest that an original god, represented by the sun [potentially an ancient Dragon] was worshipped by the Evanuris. Lately, that symbol may have been co-opted by one of the Evanuris when they took divinity and the identity of the ancient gods they worshiped.

Elvhenan also seem to take the symbol of the asterisk as an oversimplification of the Sun, which across the murals, is also related to the heart of Titans, to power, and to the Golden Ring, which is also associated with control. So, for Elvhenan, we may suggest that the Sun represents immense power, if not, Divinity itself, that may end up being related to the core of Titans. The asterisk is also associated to the orb, a big power object.

Since Elvhenan were the first civilisation we know that started in Thedas [besides the Titans and their children], their symbols of power [asterisk, orb, golden ring] may have evolved along time to reach human groups which developed, later, all the sun symbols that ended up in the Chantry’s.

Thanks to Tevinter, we also can suspect that the Sun may have been a representation of an Old God, since they have a lot of sun-related images in their decoration and objects that belong to ancient times in which they were not Andrastian yet [in fact, so ancient times that Andraste herself was not born yet]. This may mean that the Sun symbol cloud have been taken from the Elvhenan or from the Ancient Dragons. Through Tevinter style, we also realise that the Elvhenan Golden Ring may have been used to create Breaches, which again shows and seems consistent with the idea of relating it to power and control. The symbol of Sun in Tevinter culture may be related originally with Elvhenan or with Ancient Dragons that Tevinter used to worship.

Dwarves have little representation of the sun for obvious reasons, but due to the unreliable legend of Elgar’nan and the war with the Titans, we may establish a relationship in which the dwarves endured the Sun [or the Elvhenan power] at some point in their story.

Thanks to the Grey Warden we can relate a sun with the idea of ancient Blood magic or ancient Dragon blood knowledge, since the Joining is represented by a chalice with a Sun on it.

The Avvar also have a low-key representation of the Sun in their Lady of the Sky, which may be just consequence of their deep relationship with the Elvhenan culture.

Par Vollen may have more answers about the Sun and ancient times, but the lore of DA world is very scarce on this region of the map of Thedas, so we can only speculate.

#da lore answers #da lore comments #always a very enriching interaction with you! Giant-sequoia!

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