#the Dalish

[niofo]

it's always weird to me when ppl say that there's too much dalish and that games pander to solavellan content, when the dalish were always treated like shit by bioware. you can literally murder/cause death of an entire dalish clan every game, your dalish character is constantly converted to andrastianism, dalish companions are treated either as stupid (merrill) or mean and violent (velanna), not to mention you barely even can interact with your own heritage in a meaningful way (the fucking "who is mythal" dialogue).

should there be more city elf or more dwarf content? absolutely, but it should not be introduced instead of the dalish content. you know who already had way too much screentime? the fucking chantry, gtfo with it finally. i don't really care about solas or solavellan, but don't lie to me that the dalish had some sort of a special treatment bcos of that, they were a butt of a joke ever since da2, and we don't even have a dalish companion in inquisition. instead of looking at others who are getting bare scraps, let's look at who is always getting a whole ass cake no matter what.

[ohmyarda]

“Wolf-mother, where you been?

You look so worn, so thin

You're a taker, devils-maker

Let me hear you sing, hey-ya hey-ya.”

- Wolf, First Aid Kit

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I’ve been watching someone play DAO and they read every codex entry and they recently went to the dalish camp. And I don’t know if I never processed it when I played, but dalish elves age at a slower rate when they’re not in close contact with humans??

Is that a thing still? You mean to tell me my Mahariel could have lived an extended life if it weren’t for humans? Is that something they dropped?? I don’t know how I feel about this information. It’s just weird

Here is a Wiki Forum post on the Dalish Life Span

[herald-divine-hell]

I like to imagine the differing styles of the vallaslin between dao and dai is because of differing cultural artistic styles between the Dalish and their clans.

[feykrorovaan]

What could have been by Sting ft. Ray Chen gives off Solas vibes to me.

I could see certain lines being aimed at the Evanuris, the Dalish,and Lavellan respectfully.

Especially the lines

"I am the monster you created."

"I couldn't care what invention you made me, cause I, I was meant to be yours."

Here, have some angst and longing.

[brekkie-e]

I always wonder what it would be like for Lavellan to over hear Solas and Cass's banter pre-Trespasser. Especially from the perspective of one in a relationship with him. The sheer extent of how much he will entertain the idea that Cassandra's order is a good one, encourage her to believe in the Maker, and even ponder if the Maker exists himself is really cool. But Lavellan would only see her partner validating the Chantry, who still seek to obliterate her people, while belittling the religion of the Dalish for reasons he won't elaborate on. It must have been infuriating.

[sephirajo]

I still find it relentlessly funny bioware’s writers deny up and down the Dalish were influenced by indigenous cultures when I can look at them, basically 1 to 1 with the Mexica gods and Arlathan is basically Aztlan.

Once again... I CLAIM THE DALISH FOR US.

[immawraffle]

BioWare be like, oops made the mage/templar conflict too black and white with clear perpetrators and victims, time to grey-wash it. Same thing with the Dalish.

[seeker-ophelia]

Ok but this is exactly what happened tho.

I’m sorry but Solas is just a wolf who discovered the existence of small dog breeds.

[niofo]

i took notice when bellara said that she lost someone bcos she was tinkering with a dangerous artifact, or sth like this, and it really sounds kinda similar to mahariel and tamlen story. i'm of two minds about this personally. like they could make it into some parallel with how merrill eventually manage to fix the eluvian and that it was worth preserving. but also they might as well go into the "dumb dalish messing with technology they don't understand and getting hurt" route that they also kinda tried to show with merrill? (despite merrill being 100% right, it's marethari who fucked up.) and yk, i really hope it's this first instance and bellara is a positive example of someone passionate about history and old technology, but sometimes bioware does bioware.

[saturdaysky]

Gale of Minrathous

Dragon Age AU where Gale is a Tevinter magister who accidentally infected himself with red lyrium. He's found a way to halt the lyrification. Mostly.

More tidbits:

Devout Andrastian with a bit of Leliana's "the Maker speaks to me" thing going, except it's "Andraste—so obviously a mage btw, I have 5000 words prepared and ready to go on this topic—sings to me, magic prodigy"

"therefore I am sure to be the one to unlock the secrets of this powerful, strange new lyrium that is singing to m—oh. golly. that went poorly"

joins the inquisition after he emerges from isolation and his former peers have all become Venatori. If his own folly has emptied the sand from his hourglass, why not spend the little time that remains to him serving Andraste's chosen?

0 moral qualms about blood magic except that all participants must be willing. All magic is neutral���its use determines whether it is good or bad

Tara is his possessed cat, who has lived far longer than a cat should, but Gale isn't complaining. who says abominations can't like chin scritches

talks about Minrathous, a lot

would break open the heavens to see the throne of the Maker, just for the experience

Final AU thoughts under the cut!

what the magisterium doesn't want you to see:

the staff that I know, deep in my heart, Gale uses and insists is artistic:

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I really liked hearing about Red Crossing.  Yes the elves are treated like garbage and its horrible but it showed they are capable of making mistakes just like all the other races.  I grew up in a poor neighborhood and one time a neighbor was accused of stealing from another an elderly neighbor.  It was eventually discovered that it was another person in the neighborhood who we trusted who did the stealing.  The neighbor who was originally  accused did forgive those who accused them but the damage was done and they moved to another area.  I know it angered a lot of fans but Red Crossing was written to show everybody  (not just humans, dwarves, Qunaricommits stupid mistakes.  And when people make mistakes, they don't like to admit it and that includes the elves.

[ohmyarda]

ᴠᴜɴɪɴ ʟᴀᴠᴇʟʟᴀɴ

“She became a hunter at a young age, growing into a respected protector and provider.” — Dalish Rogue

Portrait no.4 of the Dragon Age commissions I got the pleasure of doing for the wonderful

This was a delightful project to work on and now that I’m feeling better I really want to draw my Warden again!

As always if you haven’t already seen her art, please check it out!

[housederiva]

Dragon Age put important plot information in your games challenge

[guminami]

snowy dalish 🐇

edit: i’ve removed the reference because it ended up being ai :/ please stop sending me asks about this, i didn’t know at the time of drawing it and i already feel bad enough about not noticing on my own.