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v-arbellanaris · 6 months ago

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i feel like some of you are really shooting yourselves in the foot. i get it! trust me, i get it! i, well known dai hater, also have my anxieties abt da4 - and yes, even expectations abt things like where the plot is going to etc - but the teaser is TWO MINUTES LONG and i've been ripping it to shreds to get SOMETHING out of it, but the truth is that it's just not going to be indicative of the full game

the teaser trailers for dao imply that the sacred ashes quest is gonna be the huge memorable quest - and for me, they simply weren't? and how different did the actual game look to the teasers like let's be sooo real. da2 teasers hinged on the qunari invasion which was like... just one of many, many events in da2. and hawke and isabela didnt even look like that. i cant even remember seeing solas in the inquisition trailers?

the teasers aren't even for the plot, is the thing. these teasers are literally companion reveals, of course it's aimed to make the characters look cool and interesting, rather than really foreshadowing anything deep about the storylines - that's for things like tevinter nights, and the comics, and even absolution. it just feels really weird to use the thing they're using to advertise the companions for this game as a metric for the entire game plot and vibes. dao and da2 trailers were SO FUCKING INTENSE and then you get iconic lines like swooping is bad and hawke stepped in the poopy like...............

like da4 is not going to be dao. it's not going to be da2. it's not going to be dai either. all three of these games were tonally totally different from each other, and idk where the expectation is coming from that da4 will be like the other games. especially when the writing direction, as i've talked abt on this blog a few times already, is definitely changing and evolving. whether or not i personally like that direction is irrelevant to the fact it's happening.

i support the haterisms - god knows ive got my issues with it - but sometimes i just think you guys are unnecessarily hostile for weird reasons and i dont get it. "people who hate dragon age the most are people who love it" i dont think you guys like dragon age anymore, is the thing. which is fine, but i'm not obliged to tolerate it, or you. like you can just say: you liked dragon age origins. you liked dragon age 2. you maybe even like dai. and you're not interested in da4. that's fine. because da4 is not those games. i dont really care to hear abt the whinging abt how da's ruined or whatever - da hasn't been the same literally since da2, which was already a tonal shift from dao. da has been changing, and i have opinions abt the changes, but fundamentally, i am - cautiously, warily, anxiously - excited about a new game. new content. new companions. new maps. new knowledge. new narratives to chew on. aren't you?

if you're not, have you considered that you just don't like dragon age anymore? and that's fine? and you can just move on?

and idk why are you acting like a 2 min teaser is gospel for how the entire game is going to anyway? we know practically nothing, and at least try to keep that in mind when you're drawing firm conclusions abt the wholeass game based on the trailers because you literally WILL NOT KNOW. the teaser literally means nothing except: here are your companions. this is what they look like and where they're from. everything else based off the trailers is wild conjecture

#idk you guys are starting to piss me off.#da4 spoilers #davg spoilers #fandom critical

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exhausted-archivist · 6 months ago

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Common Fanons That Are Confused As Canon

Through my time of collecting lore and learning things about Thedas I've come across a couple things of fanon that leaked into lists of canon elements. Which was an interesting little thing to follow the rabbit hole of where they even originated. While making this list I did ask others for any that I might have missed or not seen because I wanted to be thorough as I could when even making this list. I haven't been in the fandom long enough to see all the things that have come up.

To be clear, I thought it was neat to see what became so pervasive in the fandom to become easily mistaken as canon or misunderstood. I'm also not discussing whether canon as it stands is "good" or judging the fanon or anything like that.

I just wanted to put it all together in a list, especially as I have had friends who were getting into the series and ask about certain things; as well as Dragon Age Summer hitting us soon and new interest in the series abound.

General

Mages can sense other mages The closest source I can find to this is the fact that Anders states that he can "feel the power in you". No other mage states anything similar and could likely be attributed to the fact that he is possessed. Much like how Cole can sense your magical connection as an Inquisitor. An outlier is how Keiran can sense your magic regardless of if he has the Old God soul; but he is also not confirmed to be a mage as of yet.

All Saarebas always have their lips sewn shut/horns cut off This seems to originate from da2 specifically, with the model of Ketojan having the scarring, the other saarebas missing horns, the concept art, and then boils down to BioWare being inconsistent with their lore/depictions. Most of Thedas fixates on the fact that the Qunari have saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the Seer's yarn tale denotes that tamassrans tell the story of a saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the tarot art for Saarath, and the flippant joke between Sera and Iron Bull. But, the lore specifies that it is in extreme cases or in general that it can occurs but it is not the standard. [WOT p. 103 & 128] Much like tranquility, it is used as a form of punishment - one that we know can and is abused by certain factions. We also see saarebas characters in Inquisition who do not carry either of those traits. Specifically Hissera (multiplayer), Saareth (Trespasser), Heroes of Dragon Age models, and some Qunari in da2.

All Saarebas have their tongues cut out This is seperate from the previous point due to the different source of this fanon. It seems to be an exaggeration of one particulare line from Sten. In dao, Sten will state during the Broken Circle quest that "This is why we cut the tongues from mages, in Par Vollen." He is very general with the statement, but contextually it is reasonable people took this to mean all mages. However, since dao it has been made clear that it is not a universal practice throughout the Qun.

Elves are shorter than humans This one does have a clear point of where this started, though it is never stated in lore, back in Origins elven models were universally shorter than humans. But from DA2 onward, male elves were only shorter than their human counterparts of the same sex while female elves are shorter than both human sexes. Fenris is taller than f!Hawke while both forms of Hawke are taller than Merrill. Solas, Abelas, and a m!Lavellan are taller than female human characters but all human characters are taller than female elves (except Sera who has a female human model).

Dalish are illiterate This is a little less clear to me where its origins started. Perhaps based off of medieval period history (which da isn't necessarily medieval in time period) or due to the fact that most common folk in certain regions in Thedas are illiterate and reliant on pictures over written words. But we know from the Witch Hunt dlc that the Dalish keep tomes of their history and of the ancient elven empire. They also actively translate ancient elven script for their own records. Whether this is role restrictive or not is unclear, but we do know that the Dalish are literate in both Common and semi-literate in ancient elven script.

Dalish and City Elves don't have contact This seemingly comes from a misunderstanding stemming in the city elf origins in dao where some npcs will comment on how Dalish might be myths. However, in dao, da2, dai, the comic Knight Errant, and the novel The Masked Empire, that elves from both sides do semi-regularly trade people with each other if not visit certain alienages, as well have other points of contact with each other. Pol, Zevran, Coran (Vaea's uncle), and potentially Feynriel are all city elves that join Dalish clans. Merrill and Arianni are known Dalish who join alienages.

City elves are genetic/physical differences from the Dalish elves This one I have seen around a lot, most stemming from the idea of the previous one that the elves in the city are generations apart from the Dalish, implying they have no contact with each other. Which could be true for certain alienages. But as far as lore is concerned there isn't any example of this, not even as being a point of reference for the Dalish to consider any of the aspects as to what makes them "less of an elf" in comparison to Dalish.

Elves pass on their elven traits Most seem to know this isn't canon, albeit one of the less popular canon elements; but new fans don't always know this. It is popular fanon to give half-elven children the reflective eyes, smaller stature, more angular features, straighter nose bridge, and/or pointed ears from their elven parent.

Only elves can have mixed kids with other races This seems to come from the fact that elven traits aren't passed on to their kids when mixed parentage is involved. However humans, dwarves, and vashoth can all have mixed kids from the other races. According to Patrick Weekes, this decision was made consciously to avoid very racist and harmful rhetoric. We know of many elf/human mixed kids: Alistair, Eiton, Feynriel, Gestan and Thale (residents of elven area of Halamshiral), Kieran (conditions), Michel de Chevin, Rinnala, "Sabina's Brat" (son of the elven prostitute Sabina at the Blooming Rose), Slim Couldry, Tainsley (Potentially. Is described as a 7'(2.13m) human, though he references a Dalish uncle.) While mixed dwarf children are rare simply due to dwarven fertility issues we do know of two dwarf/human kids: Keiran (conditional) and the child of Tyrdaa Bright-Axe(Avvar) and Hendir (dwarf).

Elfroot leaves get you high/is Thedosian marijuana This is another Origins era thing, due to an easter egg that made a play on the American "This is your brain on drugs" anti-drug campaign using elfroot. This was then repeated in 2015 when Patrick Weekes said that its medicinal properties were rediscovered in 4:20. [Source] Elfroot hasn't been shown to get anyone high in canon, it is the roots that are primarily used as medicinal. In World of Thedas (WoT) vol. 2 the recipe for Dalish Deep Forest Comfort says you can substitute elfroot for spinach making the leaves more vegetable in quality. That said, marijuana leaves are edible and rather nutritious. They just don't have the chemical make up to induce a high. Those lie strictly in the buds. According to Origins, elfroot does flower though.

Red lyrium is completely different and more dangerous from blue lyrium This one is all on BioWare in regards to this misconception. Because while yes, it is more dangerous than the blue lyrium, they aren't two seperate substances. More that red lyrium is a branch off. To cover the generals of the written lore of lyrium it breaks down like this: Blue lyrium in it's raw form innately toxic to just be around to all but dwarves, however it will kill a mage who gets too close in proximity. That proximity being within the same room while non-mages would have to touch the stuff. It also has a pension of self-combustion without warning or a clear cause. When it is refined down for templar use it is "safe" for non-mages to come in contact with and consume. Whether this level of refinement is the same level as what is used to make various cocktails and liqueur is unclear. But we do know that getting too close, being in same room as lyrium refined to this level, is enough to make a mage sick. Finally, we have the most refined and diluted stage of lyrium, this is used by mages to make potions, certain alchemical work, and other things. This isn't enough to kill a mage, make them sick (without extreme over use), and infact can result in positive outcomes for a mage. Red lyrium overlaps with most of that, with a couple key differences. First off is that red lyrium doesn't seem to self-combust. There is some contradiction on whether or not non-dwarves can mine it as due to game mechanics you can destroy it, but the only ones we see mining wild nodes are dwarves. But if the red lyrium is grown from a living creature it seems accessible to all races? In codices about the various types of red templars, we learn that a small vial around a templar's neck is enough to make all the mages in the area around him sick.

Character Specific

Alistair

Alistair is a dog person I couldn't track any clear origins for this, it seems to be a case of overlap with the stereotype that "all Fereldan's love dogs" and a mix of building off of a line of dialogue about him being raised by the hounds and them being his family. However, he doesn't seem overly one way or the other. He mocks dog at times, talks down in not such a playful way, and at times seems to treat dog with the same attitude he does Morrigan though not as blatantly. This could be chalked up to his joking nature though.

Alistair's obsession with cheese While he does admit to an obsession to cheese, it is often cited that Alistair makes a ton of cheese jokes in dao. When in truth he only makes four through out the entire game. Given his joking nature it is up to personal interpretation of how much he actually loves cheese.

Alistair and Cullen knew each other before Origins This is more specifically that the two went to the same monastery for their templar training. There is no canon evidence for this though. That said, there is a possibility due to not knowing much of anything about how the Templar Order trains its recruits nor the amount of monasteries they have in Ferelden for training.

Alistair collects toy soldiers This seems to come from the gifts he can be given during the Feastday dlc. Canonically he is given runestones and carved statuettes of various types stone. These statuettes are described in a manner closer to effigies than toy soldiers.

Alistair's mother is not Fiona This one is a bit funny as it has multiple origins and is dependent on the player's experience with the series. From what I have gathered there seems to be one of three sources: - People who never read the Dragon Age novel The Calling - People who read The Calling after playing dao and feels like it is a retcon (though The Calling was released prior to the release of dao, same with the novel The Stolen Throne) - People who take a "chuck the baby with the bathwater" approach to the lore The funny thing about this is that the cover story in dao for Alistair's mom is based off a combo of things; the hypothetical scenario Fiona told Maric and answers she gave Maric when he asked what to tell Alistair if he asked about his mother. The hypothetical was that Fiona would not return to the Circle and would hide from the templars and pretend to be a washer woman. When Maric asked what to tell Alistair of his mother, Fiona said to tell him his mother was human as she did not want him to deal with being half elven and all the stigma that comes with that as well as to tell Alistair that she was dead.

Avaline

Aveline is straight She will kiss Hawke regardless of gender and ask them if they ever considered her and them. Though it is clear she never had romantic interest in Hawke in particular. An easily missed aspect I think given the general opinion of Aveline as well as most people seeming to not choose the flirtatious option with her.

Blackwall

Blackwall doesn't have a sense of humor This one genuinely surprised me considering he jokes with Sera, The Iron Bull, and Solas. His banter shows as much that he does have a sense of humor and tells jokes. But it does seem pretty common of a fanon characterization for him.

Dorian

Dorian paints his nails His model doesn't have painted nails in game, but it is a popular fanon. There is nail polish in Thedas though. It's mentioned in the novel Masked Empire as well as the novel Last Flight. It seems to be of Anderfles origins, but given the Last Flight is post Orlesian occupation, it could originate in Orlais.

Lady Mantillon said, tapping an elegantly lacquered fingernail on the polished wooden arm of her chair, “we will fail, or we will be killed. Neither is acceptable.” - Masked Empire, Chapter 17 p. 362 Every one of her fingers glimmered with a jeweled ring, and her nails had been freshly lacquered. - Last Flight, Chapter 13 p. 144

Fenris

Lyrium can be drawn from Fenris' tattoos There is no mention of this being possible in da2 or any of the subsequent media. There isn't even mention of others being able to sense the lyrium in his tattoos or even mages getting sick around him as they sometimes will dependent on the concentrations and/or purity of lyrium.

Fiona

How Fiona was cured of the taint This comes from The Calling novel, where it isn't ever clarified what actually removed the taint from Fiona. The common fanon is that it was either the mentioned brooch, or that by having Alistair. That it was by having Maric's son who has Great Dragon blood due to being of the Theirin bloodline that cured her. However, in the novel she is very clear that the mages at Weisshaupt aren't sure what cured her. She only offers one explanation that the Grey Wardens theorized and trails off before saying what the second one was.

“It’s gone,” she said flatly. “The mages at Weisshaupt weren’t sure if it was because the First Enchanter’s brooch sped things up artificially, or... at any rate, all the corruption vanished. They don’t think it’s going to come back, either. There was test after test, but they think I may be the first Grey Warden that never has to endure the Calling again.”

Hawke

Hawke is stabbed by the Arishok This fanon likely came into being due to one of the moves the Arishok has where it will leave you almost dead. So a bit of canon as it is in his move set, but fanon in the idea it is something that always happens in canon.

Unable to confirm if Fanon, Canon, or a mix of both

Teagan marries Bella, the barmaid from Redcliffe This one goes back really far and is hard to tell if it is a case of mistaken identity and association, or a really buggy option for the epilogue, or isn't actually a possibility. What I can confirm is that Teagan does have a woman he can marry given certain conditions are met in dao, but it is actually Kaitlyn, the sister who's brother goes missing in Redcliffe. If you properly compensate her for her grandfather's sword she'll open up a foundry in Denerim and will marry Teagan after having known him for a few months. According to this thread, you have to get Kaitlyn to move to Denerim with her brother, make Bella the maid to Teagan and in the ending slide Teagan and Bella will get married. Though I haven't been able to confirm that this is possible. (If you have a screenshot/video of this slide and know how to trigger this please let me know) This is also not an option mentioned in the Keep, however neither is Kaitlyn's. Which isn't surprising given some of the ending slides that were not direct player choice (ex) choosing Orzammar's king) are mostly cut from canon.

#dragon age #meta #dragon age fanon #dragon age origins #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #the calling #dao #da2 #dai #Let me know if you have any you think I should know about #I thought it was interesting to collect the fanon I kept seeing and put it all together while tracking down it's origins.#This has been sitting in the drafts for ages but I will keep collecting others in a separate post

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apostaterevolutionary · 6 months ago

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Collecting some thoughts on veilguard cause tbh I really don’t know how to feel lmao so. Unstructured ramble time

I’ve watched the trailer and the demo and I feel very. Idk? Still ‘wait and see’ mode for me. It’s been 10 years. Inquisition imo was the weakest of the 3. And while I have kind of moved on from DA there is a part of me that wants this to just blow everything out of the water and be amazing. I’m just not sure if that’s what I think will happen. Right now, I just think it doesn’t feel dragon age-y enough (in terms of what I, personally, consider the defining traits of the series) but I don’t want to jump to conclusions with so little information

The trailer was. Fine. Vibes were a little off but given its Varric narrating, it makes sense (also. Unpopular opinion lmao. I love Varric but I don’t think he should be a companion again. If there’s a carry over companion, it should have been Dorian. And tbh he could still be there, considering they said 7 companions but Varric is not included in that. So did they mean 7 *new* companions and maybe a few others? Advisors again maybe? Idk. Maybe Varric is a temporary companion, but I don’t think he should be there except maybe as a cameo. Scout Harding is an unexpected but fine carry over though). I don’t really have an opinion yet on the companions themselves cause there’s just. Nothing to base an opinion on other than the character designs

Gameplay demo shows that they’re definitely going very Inquisition-y. As in, continuing further down the path it started. Which isn’t unexpected, but is a bit disappointing, though not necessarily a dealbreaker as of yet. It’s probably smart tbh to go more in an action rpg direction than back to the crpg roots given it’s going to be compared to bg3 no matter what they do - better to differentiate as much as possible. Though I don’t think that’s why they did it, probably more a happy accident. I just. Idk, I found inquisitions combat a bit boring and I haven’t been impressed by what I’ve seen yet. But a 20 minute demo is probably not enough to really form an opinion

I feel like you can still see the echoes of this being a live service game at one point too. Healing potions coming from pots found in the environment (I never got over healing spells being cut btw lmao, bring back spirit healers already), the “ability wheel” (unsure about that too, given it sounds like we can’t control companion characters anymore? Kinda really don’t like that :/), stuff like that. I still feel like DA2 combat was the perfect balance between fluidity and strategy but it is what it is. It performed badly, so they’ve disregarded it wholesale rather than consider that some aspects of it may still be worth exploring. It sucks, but that’s capitalism I guess

As for all the other little things, idk, I really am not sure what to think yet lmao. Some sound good. Some less good (why only 2 companions, I don’t like that at all - also weird that the demo shows you won’t have a tank for the initial bit of the game. That’s a weird choice). Nothing to make me go aaaaaa either positively or negatively yet. I don’t even know what to say. My feelings are just so complicated about it, but also kinda empty at the same time. Like. It’s a bit of kombucha girl meme but also muted? I would like to feel just. More about it. But I don’t yet. I’m too unsure. Not quite numb, but almost tbh

At this stage, I feel like I’m gonna wait till it comes out and see what happens. No pre-ordering until I get a better idea. It’s like. With origins, I’ve played it a lot. DA2, even more - countless times lmao. Inquisition though, I played 2.5 times immediately after release and have tried to play it multiple times since but. I only ever get 10-20 hours in before I get bored and can’t make myself continue. I’ve tried many, many times and idk why but I just can’t do it. I never even played any of the DLC, so like. I kinda need to do that first if I’m gonna play veilguard but I have never succeeded before so idk how I will now lmao. But I feel like at least trespasser is necessary and I have genuinely never played it. And I gotta play the rest of the game first to get there and I genuinely don’t know if I can sksksjs

And with that in mind like. If inquisition is that unappealing to me, a game that feels very inquisition-y, potentially leaning even more into the stuff I didn’t like about it, is. Definitely not what I was hoping for. It’s still possible it’s leagues better than inquisition and actually playing it will be a great experience. But right now I just don’t know. I probably won’t be able form any kind of opinion until it comes out and I start getting info from trusted folks that I know have good DA opinions lmao

Idk. I’m not trying to be a wet blanket or a hater, and I genuinely don’t think I am being a hater at all, but I am just. Very tired and nervous. But also cautiously hopeful. I’ve said ‘idk’ a lot lmao but I truly don’t know at this stage. I guess we’ll see. Let’s hope it’s actually amazing and the very thing we need to make the series as a whole feel like it used to for us lapsed DA fans

#and this isn’t even getting into like #the usual bioware complaints of their inconsistent lore and unequal treatment of characters #and the retconning and the bad grey morality bs #and the crunch culture and other shit they do as a company #and the layoffs and everyone who quit #I’m trying to not even consider any of that right now lmfao #idk just some complicated feelings I needed to express #gonna reblog stuff though #the gifsets and stuff are pretty lmao #text #dragon age #shut up nerd #veilguard

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thevikingwoman · 2 months ago

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alright so I'm not actively seeking out DA veilguard information, but I also don't have all the possible spoiler tags blocked.

I've had a little excitement build, though my outlook is to keep a wait and see approach, and my interest in Dragon Age in general has been a background simmer - I felt neutral towards the initial announcement of name and date etc.

I admit my interest peaked up with the preview of the character creator, maybe even getting a little excited to create a rook, and to set foot in Thedas again.

now, recently I've seen some news that very few decisions from Inquisition has made it over, and that we can't play / decide what our inquisitor does, and that no decisions from DA2 or Origins matter. And I admit that is disappointing? The game series is tied to meaningful choices - and ofc they have to bottle neck and streamline, but it feels a little hollow.

One thing is the inquisitor, and not just speaking as a solavellan (I never thought i'd get a solas romance scene in veilguard tbh that struck me as wishful thinking), where I feel there's a good deal of difference how to deal with the past romance for the individuals (do you still carry a torch etc), but I'd hoped Dorian would show up and Dorianmancers would get some choice here too, etc. It's also just means it will probably be a short cameo.

Now what I really think of is the lack of matter in choices. If the well of sorrows don't matter, why was it such a big deal? Does it not matter who is Divine? and much more.

Most of all, what makes me (pre-emptively I guess) upset is Kieran. Not only should it matter whether the Old God soul is potentially there in Solas via Flemythal, but Kieran could also just be a regular kid too. He will exist or not exist depending on world state. And given that Morrigan shows up, are they just going to ignore this just because he's what - seventeen? twentyone? years old? Morrigan and Kieran means so much to me, there are very few media I can think of where people are allowed to be parents and still be a person with agency in the plot, without having the plot relate to their parenthood directly (because Kieran can also not exist of course). This is SO incredible important, and if they just - handwave that away it's making me mad just thinking about it.

Mostly, though, I think it was a mistake for them to try and cater to both new and old players in a whisy washy way. It's been 10 years, I get it. They want to appeal to people who was not playing (or shouldn't have been) an M rated when Inquisition, let alone Origins came out. They can't make too many references to old games, they can't confuse players.

But i think - with the time it took to develop this game, I'd much rather they'd done a soft reset instead. Solas succeeded, the veil has come down, it's 75 years later. Or even shorter, leaving room for old favorites to show up, but also having a reason for the decisions to not matter? I don't know. But something that would have made the game accessible to new players, and refreshed everything for old players. I frankly think they are trying to both have and eat the cake, and I fear it's going to fall on it's ass.

Lastly, I don't need a solavellan resolution. They're resolved in my head and been for 8 years. And I'd rather keep that than some halfassed 4 lines that don't fit Iwyn.

#also can we the fuck get hawke out of the fade?#please and thank you #da4 #da4 spoilers #dragon age veilguard #dragon age veilguard spoilers #dragon age critical #da4 critical #dragon age #yeah I'm old and cranky today #maybe it's a psych were not actually revealing everything #but hm #I'm wondering about the marketing blitz and whether it will live up to it

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shift-shaping · 5 months ago

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How many of these wolves are actually 'dreaded'?

The Dalish and wolf statues go hand-in-hand (hand-in-paw?). All the way back to Origins we see depictions of wolves sitting outside Dalish camps, warning them that Fen'Harel is always lurking about to tempt them with Evil, or something. We also find these handsome beasts outside of and at the entrance to various elven temples and fortifications (see: Lost Temple of Dirthamen, Suledin Keep, etc.), as well as looming over the entire region in the Exalted Plains.

When asked about the ubiquity of wolf statues, David Gaider had this to say:

You have to remember that the Dalish honor Fen’Harel just as they do the rest of the elven pantheon — they simply do so differently. Statues/shrines to the other elven gods would be found within the clan’s camp, while a statue of Fen’Harel would be placed outside the camp, facing away. There’s no point in lugging around that statue with them if it wasn’t still a way of honoring him. Work backwards, and you’ll see a version of that in the Dales when the elves still ruled there. Monuments to Fen’Harel would still exist, and would be far more common outside of the settlements than within them. Or it was one of the placeables that the artists made for their “elven complement”, and they only had so many and thus had to use it often. Take your pick. :) EDIT: I should point out that the Dales regions were Sheryl Chee’s handiwork, and it’s entirely possible there’s a completely different lore reason for the wolf statues which has nothing to do with Fen’Harel (despite my assumption). If so, she’s the one who would know, and not I.

Okay, cool. So based on all of this information, which is documented on the DA wiki, I assumed that all of the wolf statues we see are depictions of Fen'Harel. But now I'm replaying DAI, and I got this codex entry (Knight's Guardian) in the Emerald Graves:

Traveling through the Emerald Graves in the Dales, one will see dozens of carven stone wolves. The Dalish call these the Knights’ Guardians. In the days of elven Halamshiral, wolf companions walked alongside Emerald Knights, never leaving the side of their chosen knight. Wolf and elf would fight together, eat together, and when the knights slept, wolves would guard them. The statues were erected in memory of their unbreakable bond. —An excerpt from In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar by Brother Genitivi

Maybe Brother Genitivi is just wrong? It feels like a pretty specific thing to be wrong about, but codex entries are meant to be subjective. There is no obvious difference between the wolf statues in the Emerald Graves and the wolf statues anywhere else in Inquisition (maybe for technical reasons). So what is going on here?

Brother Genitivi is wrong; these are actually depictions of Fen'Harel

Gaider is wrong, as his edit allows; many of the wolf statues we find outside the Emerald Graves are actually depictions of Knight's Guardians

Both are sort of right; only the wolf statues in the Emerald Graves depict Knight's Guardians, the others depict Fen'Harel. Maybe the wolf statues in the Emerald Graves are supposed to have a different look, but don't due to technical/development reasons.

I think it's easy to forget that the elves have had two nations by the time of Inquisition: Arlathan, which we talk about more often in part because Solas, and the Dales. We know about how the current Dalish (and to some extent alienage) elves feel about Fen'Harel, but what about the original Dalish elves? The story of The Courser and the Wolf, as relayed by Merrill in DA2, is relatively recent, speaking of clans and Keepers. When did the Dalish turn their back on wolves? What did the original Dalish elves think about Fen'Harel and the other members of the elven pantheon?

When did all of the wolves become dreaded?

#dragon age #solas #fen'harel #dalish #dragon age meta #rambly post sorry #this is what happens when you get stuck on whether one sentence from Solas's perspective would actually make sense for him to think #like would solas assume the wolf statues in the graves are of him?#the ones outside many of the dalish camps seem to be #but what about that big fuck-off one in the dirth

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silent-words · 2 months ago

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My favourite magic nerds (Gale Dekarios and Dorian Pavus)

Alright, I'll squeeze some DA obsession here by comparing two characters, one from BG3 and one from DA: Inquisition. Not only do I want to get back to Gale (my beloved), but also draw some attention to the least romanced character in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Dorian Pavus), who is, of course, unfairly neglected.

Appearance

First and foremost – stunning looks. They're both handsome in my very biased and totally subjective opinion. Just look at them and try to tell me they're not gorgeous.

Immaculate facial hair. I actually have screenshots of the underside of Gale's beard, it is as neat as Dorian's moustache.

They're both Mediterranean-coded tanned dark-haired men. Which is supported by Gale's Greek-sounding surname and Dorian's homeland being the analogy of the Roman Empire.

Profession

Both are wizards/mages, very skilled mages, who know what they are doing with their power.

Both are very talented mages, either by luck, or because of Tevinter mage breeding programme (how else would we call it?).

Both love magic, both are proud of their magic knowledge and fascinated by all things magical. If in both games you face some unknown magic, these companions will go 🤩

Dorian literally lives in a library in Acts 2 and 3 of DA:I. Gale makes a library out of his tent.

They both want to push the boundaries of magical knowledge (Gale does it in his confrontation with Mystra, Dorian in his timey-wimey magic).

To sum up, they're both magic nerds (and I love them for it).

Personality

Both are witty and make a lot of jokes. Dorian is more sarcastic, of course, while Gale is more subtle.

They do not lie to the main character and do not approve of lying.

They do not disapprove when you try to help NPCs.

Both are show-offs, especially when they can demonstrate their magical prowess.

They pay a lot of attention to their looks and want to look dashing. Dorian's make-up and Gale's earring make it even more pronounced.

Both are accustomed to the comforts of civilisation and feel uncomfortable in the wilderness.

They love their city/country of origin, although they know the downsides. With Dorian the very country of origin is a complicated issue, but the homesickness is the same as what we see with Gale (do you remember "I wish I could go home" from the House of Hope?).

Arrogance can be sexy, and those two are the embodiment of this phrase.

Trauma (but that's part of the definition of a companion in these games, so we go on to the next point)

Self-destructive tendencies. With Gale more than with Dorian, but the latter's addiction (referenced in the game) still counts.

Highly emotional and sometimes lashing out on the main character.

Romance

They like sex, but that's not what they actually want from the romance.

They fall in love not for the appearance (we just need to make adjustments for the DA:I weird romance system).

They do not betray the trust of the main character.

Both are not straight characters ;-)

Of course, there are many differences between the characters, but I just wanted to draw some parallels and to show you my pokemons wizards.

P. S. if you want to romance Dorian, you'll need to create a male main character (remember what I said about the weird romance system? it doesn't make sense not only after BG3, but also after DA2).

#bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldur’s gate 3 #da:i #dragon age inquisition #dorian pavus #dorian dragon age

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logarithmicpanda · 11 days ago

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard - a full review

This is going to have extensive spoilers! the TL;DR is that I had a lot of fun with the game, a very good 8.5/10 overall, also be aware this is highly subjective to my experience as a DA fan

And I lied previously, I am actually doing a second run immediately as an Antivan Crow Rogue hehe

Gameplay

The Good

Actually functional map (I hated the Inquisition map that wouldn't actually let me know where I could walk)

Fun and dynamic combat, the animations are really pretty, the style is fluid

Combos are nice and a good alternative (at least to me) to the stilted strategy stuff. I liked not having to keep track of the companion's healthbar, only their attacks cooldowm

Not overwhelming with useless quests, everything feels tied up either to the companions storylines or to the main issues

Exploration feels nice, probably my favorite part

I realized fairly late in the game that I could boost the broken faction by selling valuables through the Crossroads ship! I think it's fun, and it makes sense, like you're giving supplies to the city that needs it! I wish the shop were in the city itself, but it was fun so I'll allow it

A bit of an occupational bias on my part but I enjoyed how easy the UI made things? Comparing new equipment as soon as you get it, ease in reassigning points in the skill trees...

It's not specific to this game but I really like that there isn't that many weapons/armors but that you gain levels on them. Also huzzah for getting rid of inventory limitation and allowing me to pick every single thing on the map like the gremlin I am. Also also, bonus points for the appearance override on stuff, love being able to be vain rather than wear whatever is stronger even when it's ugly haha

The Bad

The way some zones are blocked with no explanation or hint of when they will unlock is frustrating. I love backtracking when I get a new item/ability and that I can remember several places where to use it, not so much having to go back to random spots and just hope for the best.

Gift giving feels useless, there's barely one line of dialogue and no visible effect on approval. I really wish there had been more gifts and that you'd be able to help each companion make themselves at home throughout the game

I cannot understand the reasoning between making an early choice like the Treviso/Minrathous one lock the romance entirely. I wanted so badly for it to simply make things angsty, to make me work for the romance, only to be rewarded by Lucanis and Neve suddenly being a thing, even as I had been trying to get with either lmao (let me have polyamory if you want to play it this way??)

Aside from unlocking the shops and I'm assuming changing the result of the end battle, the factions were a bit useless. I expected to be able to really send out armies like in Origins maybe...

Dragon battles get repetitive I swear there was like ten of them or something

The final battle dragged a bit for me, it was long but not that hard, just wave after wave of fodder until getting to the main baddie, which. Could have been faster! (I would actually have loved if, for example, the factions allowed me to skip those boring battles lol)

World

The Good

The environments are amazing, Treviso is an incredible city, I liked the designs of the story cards and of the enemies

Some parts (mostly explorations of buildings) felt super reminiscent of DA2 in the best way

The Solas lore is driving me absolutely insane!!!

I really enjoyed the way some things were recontextualized

The choices in the ending feels weighted, like I had to really think through my actions

I really enjoyed the variety there was in terms of side characters and their dynamics

It felt very rewarding to go after the world's hidden secrets, both in terms of story and gameplay

The Bad

There is maybe too much magic. Like put some back.

Where are the consequences of the choices of the previous games? It doesn't even feel like it matters all that much whether the Inquisition disbanded or not

What happened with the Mage/Templar conflict?

Minrathous in the intro is all cool and futuristic why don't we see that for the rest of the game? Dock town is both poor and somehow super sanitized.

Speaking of sanitation... Like I disagree when people say the game is not dark, it has plenty of twisted shit, but there are ways in which the game feels retconed to avoid callouts. You put us in a city built on slavery, but we never really see that. You put us with the Crows, but the horrible, mafia aspect of it is reduced to nothing, smoothed until they're vigilante rather than people who buy kids out of brothels to train them to become assassin (notably through torture!) Also for a game with that much blight - where are the brood mothers? The horrifying concepts that existed in previous games feel like they're being either hidden away or forgotten entirely, to be replaced with only smaller chunks of darkness, if that makes sense.

It feels like the good guys are all good, and the bad guys are bad but really they had reasons to, rather than how it was in previous games: even the good guys are unbelievably morally fucked.

Characters

Just to start, I really enjoyed the variety of options in the character creator. I was able to do the same noses that elves had in DA2, which I really enjoyed as a design choice. I'm also super glad the game had options to be trans and non binary, with no restriction to what that looks like! I was already delighted in BG3, but I am not over having game characters use they/them for me <3

I wish the romances were better (longer, less formulaic, more involved) and that the characters didn't start up morally upright. They're all a bit too wholesome, they don't really have conflict, which I missed from previous games, though I have to say, I love the companions overall a lot more than in Inquisition!

Companions

It was nice to see Harding again, I flirted with her in Inquisition haha. Her questline with the dwarves and the titans ties up nicely with the overall theme of the game

From the trailers I expected to adore Neve and to have a lot of romantic tension with her, but uh the romance was rather underwhelming. I do like her a lot, and her calling Rook Trouble as a cute nickname made me giggle, but tbh I shipped her more with Rana. I already said it but I was not a fan of her and Lucanis, it feels unfair that she and my Rook were both shadow dragons but Lucanis only got mad at me lol. I don't really understand that design choice

Bellara is my surprise fave. She looked kinda interesting to begin with but ended up being sooooo relatable. She's brilliant and awkward and writes books? She got blighted in my run and it was so satisfying to get her back, and to see her exploit the blight for her own ends. I was afraid she was going to remind me too much of Merrill, but the similarities are only surface level.

Lucanis broke my heart and is the main reason I'm doing a second playthrough straight away. I did watch his romance and I think it is a tad underwhelming compared to how the writers were hyping it up, but as a demi, I actually really love the slow burn lmao. I wish his storyline had more conflict with Spite, and touched more on the darker aspects of the crows, but I really liked that they went countercurrent and made him a bit awkward and shy, and obsessed with food and coffee. He's a nerdy (affectionate)

Davrin gave me so many fuckboy vibes at the beginning hahaha he grew on me, his relationship with Assan is lovely and the evolution he has might actually be my favorite of the lot (then again, when have I not enjoyed a character that's just a little bit suicidal). He died in my first run and I cried, definitely changing that for my second run, RIP Harding

Emmrich was really interesting for the lore, but also tragically reminds me of my ex xD so he was off the table as a romance for me but I looked around and it seems he actually has the better romance of the lot! I loved his questline, I'm a sucker for spirits and skulls and green fire hehe. I wish the lich thing was a bit more problematic like. Yeah no I do not actually think turning into an immortal undead that watches over mortals makes any sense, especially when an overall theme of the game seems to be that immortals keeps fucking people over?? Such a weird take to make liches into good people imo

I know Taash is controversial, and I'm not gonna lie they weren't my fave to start with. I do find their storyline a bit too simplistic on the gender side, and plain weird on the cultural side. Why would they have to pick one culture or the other? It's bullshit and it feels tone deaf after the whole argument that they don't have to choose between being a woman and a man. Also (and that's more a general gripe I have with games that touch on dom/sub dynamics) why are the beefy tall people always the doms. Why can't my tiny Rook be the dom, uh?

Returning Characters

The Inquisitor felt like they really were there just to placate fans of Inquisition tbh. I did lookup the solasmancer scene and it is pretty sweet, but for me seeing my Inquisitor again did very little, especially since I had romanced Dorian but that barely seemed to matter.

Speaking of Dorian I was so hyped to see him again, and then felt kinda underwhelmed. His little fight with Maeveris made me feel like I was supposed to pick her over him but tbh I think he's right lol

It was nice to see Isabella again but my Hawke had romanced her so not really seeing her mentioned felt weird as hell. It also felt like Isabella was more a caricature of herself than a character tbh

I was sure Varric was dead from super early in the game because everyone was weird in his scenes hahahaha *sobs* I was sad but I also really liked the way they handled it

Solas is so much more of a dickhead hahaha I was tempted to do the bait and switch even though I had everything ready to reason with him one last time. I liked that I was able to change his mind, but I feel like I should have been allowed to kick him. Just because. His dreadwolf transformation was fire though, 10/10 no notes

Morrigan my beloved I kinda wish they hadn't brought you back. I guessed very early the meaning of her wearing Flemmeth's headpiece thingie, but I think it was underexploited! Their relationship was frought with angst from Origins on, and it feels like it's been retconned, and Morrigan made into someone overall way too nice??? Where is the sense of danger?

Characters that should have returned >:( (or be mentioned a couple times)

The Warden. How do we still not know what happened to their quest of ending the Calling?? In many ways, the game feels like a sequel to Inquisition specifically, and kinda ignores the first two games. (Yeah yeah they need to let new players come in, but still)

Zevran??? I have no words for how disappointed I am to have a game set in Antiva, and the only hints to Zevran are subtle and missable ( I did not get the banter about Crows no longer taking contracts in Ferelden). It would have been so interesting to have him, who comes from the worst, most violent houses of Crows, as a contrast to Lucanis, who was born into it (and whose worst times are glossed over in the game)

I would have liked a mention of Leliana, but I guess since they don't ask if she became the Divine, it was not going to happen. She already came back once so I guess it's fine but still.

A mention of Sven could have been cool (maybe I missed it)

I am so devastated that a game set in Mirathous makes no mention of Fenris, especially after the whole blue wraith thing????? And the design of the spirits like the Caretaker are so reminescent of his lyrium markings, come on, it's not like the devs forgot he existed??? I low key headcanon that a romanced Fenris with a Hawke left into the Fade created the Shadow Dragons, with the name being a wink to Hawke's love of dragons.

Speaking of Hawke. We spend so much time in the Fade in this game it would have been really easy to add their journal or something even if you don't want to have the character physically there??

I need Merrill and Solas to be in the same room. Come on. The blood mage ready to do anything to learn of the past, and the god of lies who despises the current Dalish culture? I need them to have a conversation. Also I always feel mad that she worked so hard on her Eluvian, and now they're mentioned and shown everywhere but she is seemingly entirely forgotten????

Josephine also feels like she could have been hanging around Treviso but I'm not that mad about it, I was never as insane about the Inquisition characters compared to the other games lol

Conclusion

Is the game perfect? No. Did I expect it to be? Absolutely not haha come on I love this franchise but there has been valid criticism of absolutely every single one of them, and retconned things all around. Plot lines dropped and abandoned.

Honestly I think my biggest disappointment has been the romance (I wanted the angst so bad lol) but I loved the story, loved the gameplay, and do not regret any of the 70 hours I spent on my first run. It never happens, for a game this long, that I want to replay it right after finishing.

8.5/10

#dragon age the veilguard #dragon age #panda plays #panda reviews #reblog later #this got so long hahahahaha

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