#the actual Herald went to go get the Mages

[skinwalkingxana]

That prompt list was indeed JUICY.

So, if you reblogged it to have some...

7. “You not giving a flying fuck about me is all I’m seeing right now.” 

For whomever fit best. :)

YESSS I'm always accepting prompts! Thank you for sending this in, have some Post-Therinfal arguments with Cullen and my MCiT Marisol! (Hope this is ok! ^_^) Here's the link to the promptlist this is from

“You not giving a flying fuck about me is all I’m seeing right now.” Despite the pain in her throat, Marisol’s voice carried enough that it echoed off the mountains around them. They were some ways away from the encampment, but there was no doubt their argument could be heard by the others now, even with how deep into the tree line they were. Cullen wanted to have this fight? Fine. She hoped everyone could hear them.

“This has nothing to do with y-!” Cullen started, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword at his side, but Marisol interrupted him before he could finish. “Doesn’t it? Otherwise you wouldn’t have pulled me aside to have this argument!” Marisol jutted her chin up, making sure he knew she wasn’t going to back down. “I told all of you back in Haven what was happening with the Templars and Mages! I even told Josephine not to bother with gathering the nobles- ” “You could have told us sooner! “ It was Cullen’s turn to interrupt her now, his eyes practically glowing from how intense his eyes bore into her. “ We could have marched to Therinfall weeks ago and saved them all before they began taking Red Lyrium! Could have saved Lord-Seeker Lucius before Envy took over!” Marisol wanted to vomit at the mention of Envy, but her blood was boiling so hot in her veins she felt she could have taken on ten of it and kept going. She wanted to punch Cullen. There was no way he could be this blind, not after everything he just saw! “Envy was already masquerading as the Lord-Seeker way back in Val Royeaux! That damage was already done long before I got here!” “You could have told us before we sent you! You knew what Envy was doing there! We could have-“ “Could have what? Exposed an Envy demon in the middle of a large populated market? Run up to whatever Templars we could find and tell them they were following a demon around? You were one of them, tell me how you think that would have gone down?” Her words finally landed, albeit more roughly than she had intended. He turned his face so quickly away from her, one would think Marisol actually had punched him. Their angry huffs blossomed into vapor as it warmed the air in front of them, though his had begun to slow as whatever fight Cullen had left drained out of him. His shoulders had begun to sag, but she was still fuming. Marisol shoulder checked him as she attempted to pass, not caring that he was larger and in heavier armor than her. Instead of moving out of her way, he reached a hand out and caught her by roughly by her wrist. “Wait I-“ “Cullen, I swear to my God and yours if you don’t let go of me right now, one of us isn’t walking out of these woods alive.” It was an empty threat, both of them knew it, but he at least had the decency to let her go.

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Cassandra Pentaghast is a really interesting character and for me a big part of that is how she absolutely does not want to be the inquisitor. In Dragon Age 2 we see her desperately trying to find Hawke (and it's implied the Warden) to lead the inquisition and she's SO eager to put this new possibly-not-even-Andrastian-not-even-human in charge at the beginning of inquisition that she will gaslight gatekeep girlboss her way into doing so. Once you reach skyhold she even bows out on wartable meetings. She has 0 interest in Any Of That actually and will go to bizzare lengths to take herself out of the picture.

But she's...one of the more obvious choices. She's already a folk hero who symbolises heroics for the chantry. She is powerful, and commands respect and attention from those around her even if she's not a 'people person'. She was the right hand of the divine and worked well within that role as far as we are told. She is not a templar, she is a Seeker, but one not involved with What Went On With Cole and Gang In Assunder so much so she's as neutral as the chantry probably wants to get when it comes to the mage vs. templar conflict.

But she wants to nope out SO BAD. She is DESPERATE not to be in charge. She hates it. Doesn't want it. She doesn't want to be Divine either, and I think that builds a lot on all this.

IDK man i think it's such an interesting part of her character and the way that she interacts with the Herald.

[omilkandhoneyteao]

I need to add on to the Viktor thing cause that’s literally my man and the direction they went with him is something I can’t grasp

ARCANE SEASON 2 SPOILERS

I’m sorry but the machine herald wasn’t even machine, it was magic!!! He’s not the Magic Herald, he’s the machine herald and yet they didn’t include any of that??

Correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t play League but isn’t the Machine Herald’s whole thing still being a man but wanting to IMPROVE humanity by taking away their weaker parts by exchanging them for machinery? And yet, in arcane, he doesn’t give a fuck and is just turning in to the people he “helped” in to mindless husks? Also when he got blown to bits by Jayce, I really thought he was gonna replace himself with mechanical parts but NO THEY JUST MADE HIM EVEN MORE MAGIC???

Like it’s so weird that they also kinda tried to make it seem like it was Viktor’s fault for becoming what he became when like

That man just wanted to get better??? Like the scenes with Jayce were sweet but the whole “you were trying to perfect yourself” NO SIR HE WANTED TO STOP AN ILLNESS THAT WAS CAUSING A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH??? Like idk if people realize this but Viktor was GRIEVING like he found out he was dying which is a gigantic pill to swallow and clearly he wasn’t in his right state of mine and then when he finally accepted his fate, his already short life span was cut SHORTER by the explosion and even then, I feel like it was the scene with the hexcore that took away HIS choice of 1) wanting to just die and 2) destroying the hexcore!

I also fully believe that while Viktor was doing bad things, I think the Arcane was a corrupt form of magic (we’ve seen that there IS good magic like Mel’s) and it was corrupting Viktor in a way that made him think what he was doing was the ONLY way and that he HAD to do because again, he wasn’t in a clear state of mind so I fully believe that he was aware of what he was doing but he truly believed this was the ONLY way (like I’ve mentioned earlier it’s so similar to Wanda with the Darkhold and how it was corrupting her when she was at her most vulnerable by showing her what she wanted and that by doing all those bad things, it’s the only way she could get her wish)

Another thing I hated was them revealing that the Mage wasn’t Ryze (IT SHOULD’VE BEEN HE WOULD’VE MESHED SO WELL WITH THE STORY) but Viktor and that he just kept going back in time so Jayce could stop him which is so ???

Like I’m sorry but that’s literally so dumb because it just makes the world of Arcane seem even smaller! Like the way season 2 has been trying to make connections that didn’t need to be there makes it seem like Piltover and Zaun as a whole have a population of 30!

Like it would’ve been so much sweeter (lowkey power of friendship type ship but I’ll leave it at that) if Jayce and Viktor CHOSE to be partners and brothers and friends and whatever it is you see them as and that it wasn’t forced because of “fate” but because of THEIR choice! Like it lowkey just takes away the characters autonomy cause it’s like “well yeah you actually didn’t pick this person it was predestined!!!”

It’s just so disheartening because Viktor is such a good character and to just take away all the good things they could’ve done with him is just upsetting.

[olisephaa]

Arcane act 3 spoilers under the cut. Just ramblings to get my thoughts out until my friends catch up

Im somewhat conflicted abt the ending. The character development, especially of jinx was really well done imo. In season 1, her personality felt very unstable (obviously) and I didn't know how they would make her an actual character but they really did. She feels solid, fully rounded. The sisters together was so nice. Though the death at the end? Kinda unnecessary imo. Don't like the trope of "villain" redeem themselves through heroic act that leads to death.

With viktor, I'm SO GLAD he didn't stay that kind of machine herald. I would've flipped my shit if that became canon. He had been so different from his original personality and felt so stripped of agency in season 2, that I would've been super mad. The organic metal type deal was a fun idea, but man, the hexclaw not really being one at all?? Just like, a third arm that probably only lol players connect to the hexclaw? Kinda whack. The cool saviour design is nice and all, but it didn't really feel like Viktor doing it at all. And him implied to go through hundreds of time lines where he saves Jayce, what, like suddenly coming to his senses and becoming a mage?? How does that make sense? He can't retain his memory all the time if he's truly reliving these events (bc then he wouldn't make some mistakes in the first place) so.. What, he blips in like Ekko into a parallel universe? Idk it felt weird that it's Viktor who's the mysterious mage from season 1

Related but on a more positive note, I'm insane about Jayce being the one to remind Viktor of his humanity. The one constant Viktor can't rationalise away. The doomed yaoi fighting each other turning to embracing in the astral plane to save the world? Incredible. Jayce would love Viktor if he was a worm, as long as he was still Viktor. I genuinely expected him to drop an "I love you" or something on the nose like that, but ig their whole thing is "partners". Also the floating around a fixed point together, the parallel to their very first success with hextech mirroring their last, in the end with them finally reaching each other? We love to see it. Even if it's barely explained

The Caitlyn and Mel vs Ambessa fight was so cool. I couldn't stop myself from making jokes tho like "the botlane duo vs the Toplane otp" bc. With Mel having shields and having been hinted at that she'll be a champion too, it'd be cool if she's a support mage. I'd love another one for my arsenal. I don't quite get her whole storyline with the black rose and the blood or whatever, but that one is left mystical enough that I can appreciate what we got.

Sevika being on the council at the end was Super cool (ZAUN RIGHTS) but also leaves me with way more questions. She's the only Zaunite on the council, and as we can tell still not trusted by a lot of them. I don't know how that would work out, but ig it's a good first step?

NO FR WHERE THE FUCK DID VIKTOR AND JAYCE GO?????

The rest are shorter thoughts, more random

Also SWAIN'S RAVEN CAMEO AT THE END local Swain Main overjoyed

I can't believe Vi and Cait fucked in a prison cell, hours (?) after Vi went through Another traumatic event. Godspeed lesbians

Orianna real!!!! I don't get How Singed did it but the cameo was nice

I do love this new jinx. The characterisation is so nice. The Arcane champs deserved a more rounded character take and I think by and large they got it (we ignore Viktor's weird corruption arc)

Anyway. I hope the viktor VGU won't make Arcane machine herald the base canon bc he sucks. Would make a cool skin tho.

[cityandking]

🎲🪄🥞🔪 for Minah, Vesper and Branwen?

thanks! // yet another oc ask game

🎲 If your OC played a pen and paper RPG, what class would they pick? Warrior, mage, thief, ranger, cleric, paladin, druid, necromancer, bard (or other, if that’s not enough).

MINAH — as a rogue, she'd play a rogue. it would be horrible min-max build that's even more glass cannon-y than her actual build and she'd start gleefully annoying and slowly get super immersed in the lore of the game world.

VESPER — she'd build a wizard (maybe sorcerer?) at first because it sounds interesting but then she'd swap to something martial with crazy damage output. paladin or barbarian or maybe a monk? some class where she could hit someone hard enough they'd explode. she'd have a great time with it

BRAN — bard, I think. maybe warlock? something high-charisma where she could be the face of the party and really tricky and clever about it and also do wild magic crap

🪄 Does your OC have any special powers? If so, are they normal in this OC’s universe?

MINAH — she's normal except for the overwhelming grief and bad luck #justwardenthings

VESPER — she has special powers which are 50/50 for being normal. on the normal side there's the whole being a mage thing. on the non-normal side there's the whole herald of andraste/marked by the fade thing. andraste's specialest girlie (she'd like a refund)

BRAN — she's 99% normal except like one time she had a vision about the death of the goddess melora. as one does.

🥞 Does your OC take proper care of themselves, like getting enough sleep and eating properly?

MINAH — she takes.... okay care of herself. she doesn't sleep super well but she's good about eating and like, exercising and socializing. some might say these activities are coping mechanism to mask other unhealthy behaviors, to which she says

VESPER — she's quite bad at remembering to eat; she'll snack and be like "sure that was dinner." fortunately many people will make sure she gets a proper meal. also being out in the field does wonders for her appetite

BRAN — yeah, for the most part. sometimes she slips into "if I pretend I don't have a physical form it cannot cause me undue anxiety" but for the majority of the time she's good about things

🔪 What does your OC think how they’ll die? 

MINAH — given the wardens she's met and seen fall, at this point she kind of assumes she'll die bloody and horribly in the middle of some miserable fight that will be completely forgotten amidst the scale of horror and blight creeping across the world. it scares the shit out of her. she hopes however she goes, it'll be painless

VESPER — as an apprentice she thought she'd live to old age in the circle. then everything went to hell and she thought maybe a rogue templar would kill her. and then she thought maybe cassandra would. and then for a bit in there she thought maybe corypheus would kill her and then she thought the anchor would poison her and then she thought she might actually live to old age. then veilguard happened and it was back to death-by-battle. (she'd like to go with honor, and helping protect others if she can)

BRAN — doesn't much think about how she'll die except to be aware it could happen any time and she wants it to be grand and memorable.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Playthrough Planning

Look, I am exceptionally weird about some things, and currently my "being weird about things" falls into the Veilguard space because it's about the only space I have for anything at the moment that isn't "work", because it's been like six weeks of overtime and the spoons are gone. Though tomorrow I do have to christen my new casserole dish with creamy lemon chicken and asparagus pasta.

Anyway, while picking your race is a nice thing, especially when there's any kind of reactivity to it, what I'm really loving is being able to choose faction. Mostly because ... well, Inquisition. They forgot that picking an origin in Dragon Age wasn't so much about picking just a race to play, but a big chunk of your character background. All three races in Origins had at least two choices of origin; elves got three. (Dwarves had Noble and Commoner, humans had Noble or Mage, elves had City, Dalish, or Mage.) But in Inquisition, your background was 100% locked to your race ... and then frankly barely (if ever) mentioned again. You picked human? You're a noble. You picked elf? You're Dalish. You pick qunari? Well ... grey area because if you did have a qunari that wasn't vashoth, it's highly unlikely that they'd see becoming the Herald of Andraste as "following a demand of the Qun", given how Bull's companion quest went down. Kind of the same with dwarf, but only because you probably don't need more than one Varric anyway, I guess? Anyway, point is that in Origins you could pick where you came from; Inquisition had it foisted on you as a part of your race.

Now, there are a few things about character creation that I wish Veilguard had done better (for instance, getting a little tired of starting in medias res; I would have loved to have a prologue like we had in Origins and actually being able to do the thing that Varric recruited Rook for in the first place), but being able to pick your faction separate from your race was one thing I think they did right. Now, some are apparently more reactive than others throughout the game, but on the whole, it was nice to be able to pick exactly what you wanted to do and didn't race-restrict any of them. I intend to make use of that.

The issue becomes ... you all know how I have my whole bunch of names and general personality types that generally come up when I play CRPGs like this. There's the Mollys, and the closely related Mychaes. There's the Jessies. There's the Astrids. There's the recently added Jalliras, Srinas, and Addies. Hell, there could conceivably be Alisaies. The problem is ... what faction do I put them in?

Well, Srina's easy. Srina's an assassin. Thus, Srina's a Crow. Mychae's probably a Shadow Dragon. Astrid - Shadow Dragon or maybe Veil Jumper. Alisaie ... honestly, possibly Lords of Fortune. I kind of want to put Jallira in the Mourn Watch but her immediate deal is "member of a traditionally neutral order fighting the forces of darkness" so she's probably likely to be a Grey Warden. Which is also where Addie would go, so both my redheads have a home there. And Jessie ... either Wardens or Lords of Fortune. Which means I am missing a Mourn Watch. I'm going to have to dig deep into the old grab-bag of WoD characters for that one. I guess I could go with my old vampire, Solita Giovanni, but that was my one particularly unpleasant character and she does not fit in well with the "saving the world" vibe. I guess Nina Gordon - my old Dreamspeaker, who was by and large a speaker to the dead.

I admit to at least part of this being that I want to make my various characters as well as I can in the character creator and then see them in action. And also exploring the various romances. Like, Jallira'd go for Davrin because Jallira's first two incarnations had her demonstrating a preference for military men and Davrin's as close as we're gonna get. Srina ... thinking about it, she'd probably go for Harding, because as much as she will never admit it, she likes her cheerful redheads. Alisaie ... Taash. Mychae - Bellara, because she enjoys the excitable adventrous ones. I kind of want to have Astrid go for Emmrich because I just one time when seeing a relationship with the male mage goes her way. That leaves Neve. Jessie might get along well with Neve. We'll see.

That said, I need to get through the Lucanis-romancing Veil Jumper Molly!Rook playthrough first. I'mma see if I have some spoons for at least some of it. That would be nice.

[dayntee]

Think I’m gonna start posting my Veilguard thoughts. I just finished my first run yesterday, but we can start with a backlog.

Let’s talk about my Lavellan tonight. Up to Act I Veilguard spoilers below, but we’re mostly gonna talk Inquisition and Trespasser.

Aliana Lavellan is a Rogue Inquisitor who specialized in Archery -> Assassin progression. She was a hunter for her clan before the conclave, and as a natural scout, it made the most sense to send her as a spy. In all honesty, she was excited about the opportunity. If anything, it would be thrilling to have new experiences outside her otherwise insulated world.

Clearly, she got way more than she asked for.

Aliana Lavellan: Dalish hunter, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor, and "She who will hunt down he who is dumb of ass."

Inquisition Relationships:

Solavellan romance, but started out crushing on Cullen. Solas’ smooth talking is what did it, as I played her pretty flirty with everyone. The Egg just out-rizzed her and it was over from there.

Among friends, she counted Cassandra, Cole, Varric, and of course Solas. She was also fond of/friends with all her advisors. (This largely reflects whose companion quests I actually finished to completion.)

She didn’t actively have disdain for anyone else—up until the Blackwall betrayal. This is totally hypocritical of her in the long run, but it's part of what made Solas' duplicity hurt that much more.

She was buddies, but not besties, with Sera and Dorian. I really only got about halfway through both of their companion quests, and likely would have finished them if I had had more patience for the War Table. That's not their faults; this is 100% the person behind the Veil's fault, and had I more patience, she'd likely have made fast and dedicated friends of them both.

Vivienne remained an acquaintance at best. She could not deal with the Orlesian-ness of it all (though that spa day in Trespasser was an unexpected delight, and she could get used to that).

Bull betrayed her in Trespasser, as he remained loyal to the Qun. I didn't see it coming, and neither did she. She is still genuinely devastated by this fact to this day.

Leliana was steeled; Aliana appreciates a "greater good" attitude, and was not inherently opposed to less honorable measures taken.

Cass was made Divine. This directly influenced her desire to keep the Inquisition a peacekeeping force, especially knowing she would serve directly under the Divine (whom she trusted).

Disposition:

Aliana is unequivocally Dalish and driven by an intense desire to make Thedas better for the People. However, she was never satisfied with the way clans kept to themselves and hoarded their most precious knowledge amongst Keepers and Firsts. It struck her as no better than Magister and Circle behavior.

Additionally, city elves and their differences fascinate her, because at least they interact with the world in different ways. They have exposure to other cultures, and while the alienages are unjust, there is beauty in their found communities within. This interest is one of the reasons she volunteered to spy on the Conclave—she firmly believes she needed to leave her clan if she was ever going to bring them justice and peace.

She was always eager to learn more. This playthrough was my first and I went in blind, and I’m an unapologetic Dalish fangirl. I really did want to know every bit of kernel of info Solas could offer. One could say the romance was a… pleasant side benefit.

Initially, she didn't really trust the Templars or Mages. That said, after Redcliffe, she learned more empathy for their situation, seeing the Circle's oppression of mages no different than the shem's oppression of her people.

Initially, she was a terrible leader and would be the first to admit it. She was bad at The Game, forging alliances, and she often selfishly put the Dalish first. She actually might have empathized with, if not supported, Solas' plan had he revealed it to her sooner.

She really didn't step up to being a savior of anything until Solas broke off their involvement. While not a righteous reason to do so, that's when she threw herself into making better decisions because it was a distraction. She spent the remainder of Solas' time with the Inquisition angry and living well specifically to spite him. (Yes, she's petty, lol.)

She kept her vallaslin. Despite Solas' offer and insight, she cares about what it means to be Dalish now, not just what it meant to be Elvhen then. Without it, she doesn't feel she can make Thedas better for her people. Quietly, she enjoys the discomfort her visage causes nobility when she's at events or summits. Let them stare!

The two years to Trespasser changes her for the better. She was more involved in the Inquisitions' politics, and spent a lot of time with Josie "making up for her past failures." The straw that pushed her this direction was failing Clan Lavellan. Truly, it meant what remained of the Inquisition was all she had for a clan, and she threw herself at it wholeheartedly.

Buried beneath her bitterness and anger, she still loves that stupid egg. Her feelings come from a mix of mortification at feeling so thoroughly manipulated tempered by the hope that what they actually felt was real. She dreams of his kisses and touch, even when she's at the peak of embitterment. Somehow, this is both a frustration and a comfort to her.

Leading Up to Veilguard

The eight years that pass between DAI and DAV are spent thrown at the remains of the Inquisition. She works to pare down their reach and operate in a way Leliana found most appealing—as more of an infiltration and intelligence force than a major military power.

This eventually drives a wedge between her and Cullen, who leaves earlier than he might have after the events of Trespasser, as they do not see eye to eye on most decisions anymore.

She still sends letters to Josie whenever she can, often asking for advice that she wishes she'd learned from her earlier in her role as the Inquisitor. Josie humors her, but only in exchange for the occasional visit and well-to-do events that she knows Aliana only stomachs for her sake.

She keeps regular contact with Cass, given that she now effectively reports to her station of Divine. When they can, they steal away from the stiff trappings of their roles to exchange less formal information—like which issue of the Randy Dowager is the best, or to discuss the latest romance novel they've dug up.

She goes through a bout of depression after losing her arm, as she can't hold her bow anymore, and feels utterly at a loss. Dagna eventually fits her with the prosthesis she has in Veilguard, but by then, she's become terribly rusty, and her aim is never quite the same.

This is when she turns to study, especially that of her culture, emerging information from the Dread Wolf's activities, and study of the Elvhen language. She spends time creating ciphers for Leliana's agents, and keeping her wits sharp.

It takes her at least five years, but the anger and hurt Solas inflicted eventually fades to a dullness. Instead, she pushes to better understand his motives, desires, and intents. Arguably, it becomes an obsession, rooted in the need to know whether or not anything for her lingers in his heart.

Once Varric, Harding, and Rook have the lead on Solas, she starts to have a lot more trouble concentrating on her other duties. Eventually, she has to make an agreement with Leliana to exchange Dread Wolf cell information for the information she's still able to get by playing the Inquisitor role in court.

She absolutely, 100% gave an interview to the writer of that Randy Dowager piece and even provided editorial feedback. Cassandra and Varric may or may not have also been involved. She conscripts one of Leliana's spies to drop it in the lap of one of the Dread Wolf's spies they've identified, because fucking with him at this point is all she's got.

I think this covers most of my head canons for Aliana leading into Veilguard, which leaves me prime in a place to actually be able to write some content around her. So consider this my Aliana/Inky bible, and strap in - I'm gonna write some STUFF.

[mynameisalanwake]

my thoughts after finishing my Dragon Age playthrough, pt. 3: Dragon Age Inquisition

WOOF. the longest game to play by far, and this will probably be my longest post. right up front: this is my least favorite game of the four. that being said! i was the most emotionally invested in this story, and leaving the Inquisition after 100+ hours of playing made me cry actual big baby tears. i played everything EXCEPT Jaws of Hakkon - same issue with Legacy/Awakening, i was SO SICK of the tedium that i had to move on to end game/Trespasser at some point. here we go!

Dragon Age: Inquisition major decisions made: - warrior (Reaver) human male Inquisitor (Aedan Trevelyan) - romanced Dorian - did SO MANY war table operations - evenly spread across the three advisors - all companions & advisors befriended & stayed loyal (other than Solas, iykyk) - sided with the mages as allies - accepted being the Herald of Andraste - Celene lives & rules alone - Morrigan drank out of the well, allied with temple guardians - used judgements to recruit agents - Grey Wardens rebuilt - sacrificed Stroud to the Fade (sorry Stroud) - Cassandra is Divine - saved the mines & stopped the earthquakes in Descent - disbanded the Inquisition - swore to stop Solas at all costs

good lord. this game was a massive pain in the ass in the best way possible. i got so overwhelmed with the amount of things to do that i was using pen and paper to keep track. when my fiance asked why i was so overwhelmed, i listed all the things the player needs to manage in this game: - your own skills/inventory - your companions' skills/equipment - passive War Table operations - requisition quests - fade rifts - faction quests in every single part of the map - SIDE quests in every single part of the map - companion quests that take you all over the map - puzzles.........so many puzzles - shards - astrariums - upgrading Skyhold - the whole Wicked Hearts quest (took me almost THREE HOURS) - judgements - random dragons - INTENTIONAL dragons - fighting the actual antagonist of the game so, understandably, by the time i cleared all of the major stuff off of the base game map, i was ready to tap out and start end game. i didn't finish the shards or the astrariums, and every time i went to the Frostback Basin to start Jaws of Hakkon, i STILL got my ass kicked at level 50. i could feel Skyrim's influence on every inch of this game, but especially in its desperation to be open world and giving you mini quests at every turn. it wanted to pull you away from the main story while still making the threat of Corypheus seem urgent, which was jarring when i would finally move forward with a story quest. that's what makes me feel like there were too many quests - sure, the Inquisition needs to spend time clearing enemies from strongholds and building relationships with allies, but the amount of fetch quests and puzzles made faction-specific and companion quests a lot less impactful on the main goal. running around Skyhold to chat with my companions felt like a whole separate quest and i would need to set aside time between quests to make sure i checked in with everyone. after doing allllllllllll this bullshit all over the map and getting the shit kicked out of me by random dragons, the endgame fight just felt incredibly anticlimactic.

the combat in this game is a pain in the ass, and they completely changed all of the mechanics from the first two games that i enjoyed!!! what do you mean, i don't get to automate when my party takes potions? what do you MEAN, none of my mages have a regular healing ability???? i have to bring these squishy motherfuckers around for range and they're gonna use up all my potions??? getting rid of the "talent" part of the wheel was the worst decision - i'm investing all of these skill points and i'm limited in the amount of abilities i can actually utilize? i truly hated the combat here. my usual party makeup was warrior/rogue/mage, like i did in the other two games, but my rogue and mage could never stay alive for the whole combat sequence! tbf 99% of the time, my party was Dorian/Varric/Blackwall because Blackwall literally never died, ever. once i toughened myself up a bit, i started cycling my companions a little more - poor Iron Bull never got much play as another two-handed Reaver

with all my gripes about pacing aside, the companions in this game are just as fantastic as they were in DA2, and now i get to spend even more time with them at Skyhold??? once i finally figured out where everyone was and the easiest ways to get there, i couldn't leave anyone alone! i got to the point where i could tell if it was going to be a cut-scene conversation vs. a regular conversation by the end! the companions and advisors were the heart and soul of this game 100%. i was giggling and kicking my feet because i made my Inquisitor look EXACTLY like my HoF (with the same name!) and the scenes with Leliana and Morrigan (and Kieran!!!!!! My son!!!!!!) felt extra special just imagining them thinking about my warden!! i may or may not have cried at some of Morrigan's dialogue based on my imported choices from the Keep. i think they did a great job with Leliana's characterization across the series, as Left Hand of the Divine is exactly what i would've pictured my Leliana doing after Origins. Cullen is ok! he's another character i don't get the hype for, but i really loved getting to convince him to stay sober and adopt a Mabari at the end. i think it was a beautiful arc for his story following the events of (my) Origins and DA2. Josephine is a sweet and perfect baby angel and i feel so bad she gets wrapped up in all this!!

WHOLE separate paragraph about my romance: Dorian is the best romance in the whole series, 10/10, no notes. his companion quest is absolutely heartbreaking whether you're able to romance him or not, and if you ARE romancing him, oh my god my sweet baby boy. he's so happy that you want to be WITH him and you aren't just toying with his feelings and you inspire him to be a better person and fix Tevinter???? literally just thinking about him gets me emotional again. the way he reacts to you DYING if you bring him along during the last quest in Trespasser? truly heartbreaking. my sweet amatus, i don't know if any other Inquisition romance will ever stack up to you. a lot of DA fans will say Solavellan is the canon romance for DAI, but Dorian/Trevelyan is an extremely close second (and i wish we had gotten MORE in DATV). Dorian may be Lavellan's bestie, but he's Trevelyan's husband forever!!!!

the other companions: also such beautiful, well thought out stories! doing pranks with Sera and being a Red Jenny in the epilogue slides, teaching Cole to be more human, helping Iron Bull embrace his found family, giving Varric closure with the red lyrium and his brother, giving Thom Ranier his redemption.......i could literally go on for ages but all of these dummies made me cry. especially Cassandra, who couldn't stop talking about how i was her best friend and now she's my Divine and i absolutely love her (i was between romancing her and Dorian and i'm so happy with my decision tbh, Cassandra would be way better as a lesbian). i did personally want Leliana as Divine but i guess i was hyping my girl up a little too much. even the characters i disagreed with, like Vivienne, still thanked me for my friendship and made sure to tell me how much they valued me and my help!!! truly, for all of my gripes with the pacing of this game, the amazing writing behind the companions really made it all worth it in the end. i love these big dummies.

however, the Inquisitor is the most booooooooring protagonist of the series! i think playing as a white human male who is a warrior really made me feel as White Bread as possible, but the dialogue choices are sooooooooooo lackluster and you can tell anybody literally whatever you want with no pushback. most dialogue options didn't even have tone indicators! they were all just arrows that led the conversation on a specific path, but all options had the same bland tone. even though i said i believed i was the Herald of Andraste, i was still able to tell other characters that i didn't actually believe in the Maker or change my tune in other conversations. there was no crazy fallout when we realized i wasn't the Herald of Andraste, just me being able to "choose" that i was bummed or that i knew all along. the BEST writing for the Inquisitor is 100% in the Trespasser DLC in the Exalted Council. i had played my Inky as mostly diplomatic/stoic, but sarcastic when the moment called for it (head on a pike, anyone?), so when i got to choose angry dialogue options at the very end, i was ALL IN. it felt like justice - this exalted council wants to decide our fate, after everything i've done for them? fuck that, i'm disbanding the Inquisition. good luck, motherfuckers. Solas was manipulating me the whole time? you piece of shit, i'll track you down and kill you myself. leave me to die? i'll cut off my arm, loser. all this pent up rage came FLYING out after 100 hours of gameplay and i finally got some "fist" options!!! i think you can really tell that the writers were toying with bringing back an already-existing protagonist up until the very end solely based on the writing for my poor inquisitor.

the callbacks to the previous games were so high quality without feeling forced (or ruining my canon)! having Dagna as my enchanter and getting to listen to her little chirping every time i went down there was so much fun, as i felt so bad i basically destroyed the Circle when i went back to tell her in Orzammar. i'm glad she insisted on going anyway!! getting to customize my Hawke was SO exciting - idk how i managed to go this long without knowing i would get to do that. i did yeet Stroud off into the Fade, even though in my heart of hearts i know that's what Flemeth's comment to Hawke was about in DA2, but i really needed my besties Varric & Marian to rule Kirkwall together. also, Varric being Viscount of Kirkwall was the absolute craziest lore drop they gave us in Trespasser and i hate pretending it's not!!!! i'm so emotional thinking about my friends moving on and becoming important people and better people because of their interactions with my character!!!

now - Trespasser. as a non-Solavellan, i still felt like this was for me, but solely to get closure on the Inquisition and officially say goodbye to my friends. since i played this after finishing VG, i...........wasn't so pleased with Solas, but i really found that pushing back on him as much as possible throughout the entire game gave much more satisfying dialogue, especially at the end, because i wasn't trying to romance him. i think that's why the writing for Inky got so much better in Trespasser - it was meant to give closure to the player, and i'm glad the writers moved away from our milquetoast Herald into someone grieving - either through sadness or anger. i could feel that my Inky was betrayed by someone he considered a friend, confidant, and advisor! he was another victim of the Dread Wolf, the Trickster God we had been learning about the whole entire series at this point. it was sooooooooo satisfying to basically tell him to fuck off and i'll hunt him down and kill him, no matter what it takes (WHICH WILL COME BACK LATER!!!!!). number one moment of the whole entire game was getting to bitch out Teagan at the very end of the Exalted Council, choosing the fist option and disbanding the Inquisition. i've been thinking about my ending monologue for over a week at this point. it's been ringing in my head every time i choose a dialogue option in VG, every time my inky pops up or i get a letter from him. i'm being haunted by the narrative of the most boring man in Thedas and i love him so much.

my poor sweet Inquisitor and First Gentleman Aedan Trevelyan-Pavus, i hope you get to retire with your hubby and find peace <3

Inquisition gets a very emotion 6/10 from me. combat bad, player character mostly boring, but god damn the companions carried this game on their backs.

[thedizzydinosaur]

@konmaao3

"Rayla, what the actual hell have you done."

It took callum longer than he'd like to clamber up the side of the icy building his best friend/girlfriend/biggest headache was currently sitting on the roof of.

Rayla was perched on the apex of the roof, a mug of mulled wine in one hand and a shit eating grin on her face. The latter was never a good sign.

In the square below them, in the center of a growing crowd of shouting people, an immense bonfire was raging. A bonfire that was not supposed to be there.

"It's cold. So I lit a fire." Rayla explained simply, patting the bit of roof next to her, inviting him to sit next to her. "Turns out those stupid gossip magazines make for brilliant kindling."

Callum grumbled to himself, and plopped down next to her.

The two of them were in the middle of a sneaky winter's get-away to delbar, to get away from their responsibilities for a week or two, and so they could attend one of the many story teller's festivals that went on at this time of year.

But, thanks to some eagle eyed sod with a camera, the papers, tabloids and gossip magazines on both sides of the border now knew they were here, and Rayla was pissed.

And drunk.

And apparently had decided that arson was a brilliant form of protest.

"You realise that no one at the daily herald is gonna be happy that you set the yule deer outside their offices on fire, right?" Callum swiped the mug from her hand to take a sip.

"Thought you said they get set on fire anyway." Rayla protested, pouteding in an adorable way that usually won him over

"In the new year, rayla, it's considered bad luck to burn it beforehand."

"Oh."

They sat together and watched the as the straw and timber deer finally collapsed under its own wight into the fire, sending embers and shouts skywards.

"I mean, I'm not saying that they don't deserve some bad luck for some of the shit they write, but I think, juuust think, that we should head back to the hotel and pretend we were never here." Callum handed rayla back her mug.

"Unless you wanna tell the guards that are turning up in force what you did?"

Rayla drained her mug in one go, shrugged, and bolted off in the direction of where they were staying.

Callum rolled his eyes at her retreating back, summoned his mage wings and took off after her.

[elvhenprince]

da:i timeline: the herald and the inquisitor

for my canon of sulevin being the inquisitor and revanni adaar being the one with the anchor

pre:da-i

the valos-kar mercenaries and clan lavellan have a deal: clan lavellan provides gear repairs, healing, potions, valos-kar helps them get materials and stuff that's hard for them to access otherwise.

revanni initiated this at first- she'd heard rumours of strange dalish magic, and wanted to see if magical HRT was possible with them (it was), bc no way in hell a circle was going to do anything for a random qunari

keeper deshanna oversaw the transitioning procedures and rituals, his son, sulevin, assists. in the check-ups afterwards sulevin mostly handled those because dad thinks his son could do with foreign friends (they do become good friends)

the conclave

the animals went silent, no nature noises- sulevin, attuned to listen for warning signs, immediately notified the mercs about it. revanni offered to go into the conclave to warn them, while sulevin led the valos-kar mercenaries out of there. that's why revanni was the one with the anchor, and how the rest survived but did not see corypheus at first

da:i start

after revanni has solas and varric join her and cass, and before making the decision between the mountain pass or the valley- sulevin joins the party. he's concerned over the new anchor, and revanni does very quick introductions before htey move on.

revanni immediately defers to sulevin's judgement on the first big decision to be made. they went through the mountain pass bc sulevin has magic to help in travelling even faster.

> Big Rift sealed

revanni taken in for healing, sulevin uses this time to catch up on what he missed. he's annoyed that he isn't allowed in to check on her personally, but he gets it. cassandra questions him a bit, but decides to trust him because he did go to great lenghts to help.

to properly catch up, he talks to varric and solas.

revanni wakes - and for the most part things arent too dissimilar from game canon, except sulevin leads most of the time. revanni just says "hey he's trained to keep an entire clan of elves alive, i trust his decision making"

the breach sealed

sulevin and revanni stayed behind to face corypheus: while corypheus is distracted with revanni, sulevin launches the trebuchet.

sulevin and revanni both tumble into the cave system, and theyre both pretty injured but manage to make it out together.

by the time they reach skyhold, sulevin has more than proven his leadership qualities. so while revanni still is the herald and mostly the one on the field (though sulevin does join for the big important things, like recruiting templars/mages), sulevin leads the actual organisation.

[salemcantupdate]

hi returning the favor of sending me an ask for the dragon age oc ask game ^-^

for your warden: 13 16

for your hawke: 17 6

for your inqy: 4 10

Ok so I tried answering this once and everything got deleted, time to try again. Anyways, I’ve already answered 13, 6, and 4, but I’ll add them and try to add bonus info for the specific character requested! Now then let’s get to it.

13. What are Warden’ thoughts on the Grey Warden Order?

Surana at first likes the wardens a fare amount, but things get harder as he becomes more official and learns of other sects. The fact that it is traditional for each group of wardens to only have 1 mage? The fact that many of the warden higher ups were angered by his decision to spare the Architect? What he learns during that time? And now he seeks a cure. It's complicated, but at the end of the day they are his people, and he is a warden before he is a mage, a warden before he is an elf. [Additional Information:] He loves the Wardens, but in many ways they disappoint him. The fact that Wardens who receive their callings are so quickly sent away, the fact that if a Warden is injured they’re sent on their Calling early, the lack of research, how blood magic is so finicky, that mages are rarely remembered in the history books for their importance in each Blight, the fact that they don’t put more Ghouls through the Joining. He is upset that the Grey Wardens can’t openly stand with mages. But really he just feels that he is pulled in so many different directions. The elves, the mages, the Crown, and the Wardens. He is tired.

16. Does my Warden get sentimental about armor/weapons?

Yeah! Kind of, but he’s more attached to jewelry that he has received. The Ring of Study from the Circle, the Warden’s Oath pendant, the necklace ‘Reflection’ from “Jowan” in the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest, the earring Zevran gifts him, and the ring that Morrigan gifts him in Witch Hunt. But he did also grow a fondness for Wade’s armor and his specific craftsmanship, especially since he wore that same armor since he got it through all of the DLC’s.

6. What is my Hawke’s attitude towards the Qun?

Hawke considers them inhuman monsters, rather racist about it all tbh, but he hates them. [Additional Information:] He had a strong distaste from the beginning of the game, back in Lothering. All due to the Qunari that killed Bethany’s friend and her family (yes, Sten). His opinion worsened as he spent more time with Anders, who obviously hated how they treated mages. But, during Act 1 and early Act 2, Hawke knew better than to actively anger the Qunari and actually grew a begrudging respect with the Arishok. This went down the drain with the attack on the city. Either way Hawke does the duel with pleasure, after all I got Red Hawke who lives up to his Killer nickname.

17: What was my Hawke like as a child?

He was a very quiet kid, especially since he was basically raised to be constantly scared of the possibility of gaining magic or his father getting caught somehow. When he didn’t gain magic and Beth and Carver was born, he was instead taught and damn near trained to watch the twins like a hawk (haha) for any signs of magic to ensure that he could get them to safety if things went wrong. Essentially, he was being trained to act as a Templar for the family since he was little. He was forced to be an adult from a very young age and essentially parent-ified, more often than not the twins would go to him to settle disputes between them rather than going to Leandra or Malcolm. Another thing, Hawke actually trained Carver how to fight!

4. What is my Inqy’s view on Andrastianism?

Cadash goes through an arc. At first they're overall pretty neutral, it's just the human religion, but as they become the Herald they start to believe it, kind of. But yeah they end up having a way more complicated relationship, which makes sense! They are the Herald after all. [Additional Information:] Cadash actually did consider Andrastianism early on in their career in the Carta, they were feeling guilty as shit and they found some comfort in a Chantry Sister. This didn’t really work out though so they’ve long since shrugged that off by the point of Inquisition, but when they’re suddenly made the head of a Chantry organization is does lead to a bit of an internal crisis. Especially since the Chantry teaches that the Maker didn’t create the dwarves. Why would they be His chosen? They never fully convert I don’t think, and they aren’t really sure if He exists, and even if they aren’t really the Herald they feel a strong kinship with Andrade. But they do end up just accepting the comfort that faith sometimes provides.

10. Is my Inqy good at horse riding?

HA, no, they’re a dwarf. Too short and too heavy at the same time. Plus they’re lowkey scared of horses, freaky buggers. They do however end up getting and riding a nugalope, which they much prefer, they’re just more comfortable for their dwarfy self. They’re still not great at it though.

[britcision]

Okay it’s time for the primer for the Four Heralds AU cuz I’ve got so much to post and some of it only involves the heralds tangentially so other people might read it.

SO!

As the title suggests, there are four heralds of Andraste:

Tavi Adaar - a qunari mage woman, she/her pronouns, bisexual, mostly blind (late stage retinitis pigmentosa), 23

Corin Cadash - a nonbinary dwarf warrior and blacksmith, they/them pronouns, sex positive asexual, ADHD and arthritic as hell, 42

Lluciano Lavellan - an elf rogue, he/him pronouns, femboy, omnisexual twink, seizures both of the motor and absence variety, AuDHD cranked up to eleven, 25

Séamus Trevelyan - a human warrior, trans man, he/him pronouns, gay as hell, chronic insomnia and hard of hearing (binaural, moderately severe), 37

Only Séamus was actually supposed to be at the Conclave, but Lavellan is our game protagonist and victim of most major plot events

(A different group from Adaar’s mercenary troupe were supposed to be sent, but got waylaid on the road so Adaar’s group subbed in since they had the shortest travel time

Lavellan was actually specifically told to stay as far away from the Conclave as possible with his scouting, walked over a single hill, and said “hmm where was I not supposed to go again oh well can’t be important” and went to check out the Conclave

(He was hiding from the other actual Lavellan spy when he came across Justinia and Corypheus)

And Cadash is a menace to society, entirely stealth free, chronic pain bitch who is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but an unforeseen flu ravaged the local branch of the Carta and since dwarves very rarely get sick, none of them knew what to do about it

Corin, being a blacksmith, at least had a semilogical reason to be carting a large load of lyrium, and no one who talked to them for five minutes would believe they were capable of being a spy, which was close enough at the last minute

Trevelyan is the oldest son of the Trevelyan family in the Free Marches, who hoped he would eventually become a templar right up until this whole “rebellion” thing made it a bit unsexy

He’s a knight instead, and actually prefers living and training with the knights to being at home so he did get himself one whole non-nepotism promotion

Most of his friends and all of his subordinates went to the Conclave with him to keep the peace and be a bit more impartial. Oops.)

This whole thing mainly started with me looking at Cole and going “you know what would be funny and extremely counterproductive? An Inquisitor with ADHD hanging out with Cole”

So now we have four beautiful, disabled, queer heralds because why stop at one?

(Tavi has also been fucking around with time magic, mostly around Slow spells, and it got weird with what Corypheus was doing and accidentally replicated the anchor they were all playing Keep Away with

Lluciano got hit in the face with at least one, he didn’t used to have the green face tattoos but so many Dalish do that no one has asked and he hasn’t noticed yet

None of them are at full power, but they’re not quite even quarters and can combine when focusing on the same rift to speed things up

Corypheus only needs one)

The full herald rundown will be linked here when it exists!

Fic (by me) and art (by @ekwolfwood) will be added in reblogs

Lluciano and Corin are staring in most of it so far, by dint of Luci being the main character and Corin being A Problem On Purpose slightly harder than the other heralds

[fereldanwench]

I'm not entirely sure how much of DAI I'll end up replaying--I'm definitely not doing all the side quests, but I do kinda wanna do the DLCs since I totally slept on The Descent and haven't played the other ones since their release. But until I finish the game or get bored with it, I wanted to do slightly more structured rambling about Valerie in Thedas.

First things first: Yes, Goro also exists in this AU. How? Not sure yet, haha. Story-wise, I immediately envisioned him being a bodyguard for a Tevinter magister, but I'm still musing a lot on the specifics. Pretty-picture-wise, I might attempt to create him in DAI's CC. But that's a big might. I don't have a lot of confidence I could do him justice. I think looking into porting some of DAI's assets to Cyberpunk would probably be the "easier" method, but that's not something I'm interested in pursuing just yet.

Valerie's in-game build is a human archer. I was torn between archer and mage--In her canon, she's guns and netrunning, but more on the guns side so I went with archer. (Also, I just like playing as an archer. Old-time mutuals might remember that's what my canon Inquisitor was, too.)

Her face tattoos were an effort to find something to sort of mimic her cyberware, and of all the options, these were the closest. I was originally going to try it with scars instead, but I lost my first attempt at making her because the scars can crash the Enhanced Character Creation mod, and I didn't want to tempt fate again.

Although I'm obviously playing her as the Inquisitor in this, I don't actually want her to be a big damn hero in Thedas. I kind of like the idea of her being from a disgraced merchant family from the Free Marches who ends up doing fantasy merc work that eventually brings her to Tevinter.

I'm still very much trying to suss out where she'd be politically and religiously. She's been denying that she's the Herald of Andraste, which feels right to me, but I can't decide if she'd believe in the Maker or not. I generally tend to assume the average Southern Thedosian probably doesn't challenge that belief too much, but she might not be average in that regard. To be decided.

I don't have Cole or Dorian yet, but Valerie's quick first impressions of the advisors and companions so far: Leliana: The single most terrifying person Valerie has ever met (potentially across all universes, lmao) Josephine: The only responsible, reasonable adult in the room Cullen: Just because he's a good fighter doesn't mean she can't tell he's a total dork Cassandra: Brash and headstrong, but in a way Valerie very much likes; not too keen on the Herald shit, though Varric: Affable and clever, but senses a whiny streak that might get on her nerves Solas: Arrogant and condescending, has to begrudgingly accept his expertise Blackwall: His beard is so big because it's full of secrets, and those secrets are not about the Grey Wardens Sera: A little over-the-top, but in an endearing way (for the moment) Vivienne: Pompous and powerful, definitely not someone to piss off Iron Bull: Almost suspiciously honest, but she admires the bond between him and the Chargers

[melvinthedepressedrobot]

rambling about characters from my convoluted Dragon Age personal canon bc @bluerose5 asked the other day and I forgottttt (part 1 of idk how many because I HAVE A LOT, but for now u get the Big Three and a couple side characters)

okay so, first up, we have Breick Tabris AKA The Only Gay In The Alienage

A quiet, generally even-tempered young man with a strong sense of justice, never really wanted to be a leader but took it in stride because it was the right thing to do. Took him a while to warm up to the humans in the party, but he opened up a lot more after they picked up Zev and ended up very close with him in particular. Went through with the ritual with Morrigan at Zevran's insistance (and, ah, assistance) and stuck around as Warden Commander for a while before eventually leaving with Zev to search for a cure, leaving a mage they picked up at the tower, Camryn Amell, in charge.

More than anything, Camryn wants peace and bloody quiet, and if she has to set a hoard of darkspawn on fire to get it, so be it. Left in the mage tower after Jowan buggered off, she joined with Wynne after the party helped solve the abomination infestation, and underwent the joining ritual after the Blight. She comes off as abrasive, but she's a good'un, and keeps the Fereldan wardens well in line. Whilst Loghain was recruited into the wardens, she was actually the warden that met up with the Inquisitor through Hawke.

Despite being "cousins something-something-removed", Delilah "Lilah" Hawke seems to have little in common with Camryn - she's bright, loud and impulsive, and can't sit still for more than a minute. She finds making friends easily (and enemies even easier) and loves fiercely - be that her family, friends, or the eventual relationship she forges with Isabela - and, paired with her complete inability to mind her own business, this made the path to becoming the Champion of Kirkwall was a relatively straightforward one. The deaths of her mother and sister, and Carver contracting the taint and having to join the wardens, however, left her with a lot of guilt and Lilah ultimately sacrificed herself in the fade for her cousin and the Inquisitor.

Born into the Lavellan clan, Ala was taken from her family at a young age by slavers, ending up in Antiva after a narrow escape, where she spent some years on the streets, joining a group of thieves but fleeing the city after a job gone wrong and being caught trying to steal supplies by Breick and Zev on the road. They initially planned to find someone to look after her, but found themselves unable to give her up when the time came, particularly after being the ones to name her when she confided in them about her discomfort in being seen as a boy. Under their care, she opened up from a scared, near-silent child fighting to survive into a brave, adventurous girl who could talk for Antiva.

She did eventually reconnect with her clan, and, at 16, went to the conclave on behalf of both her families - using Lavellan as a surname to keep her connection to the Hero of Ferelden secret - and then tripped and fell into being named the Herald of Andraste and made the leader of the Inqusition.

She struggled a bit, as any teenager would, with this responsibility, and the whole Herald thing did almost go to her head, but, really, with the HoF for a dad, it wasn't surprising that she came through in the end. Leliana was, of course, the first the figure out who her dads were, and stepped up to guide her friends' daughter, and Ala also ended up with a very close, sisterly bond with Josie, as well as the nickame "Little Bird" from Varric. And she absolutely ended her adventure decking Solas in the face for lying to her face and breaking her sister's heart.

aaaand last up for tonight, Ala's biological sister, Heulwen. When Breick and Zevran couldn't make it right away to check on their daughter after the conclave, Heulwen volunteered to go and find out what had happened, opting to join the Inquisition and be by her sister's side. Being more patient and observant, she balances out Ala well, and though Ala didn't really remember Heulwen from her early youth, they did grow very close and protective of one another. Which is, of course, why Ala was so pissed when Solas - who Heulwen had fallen hard for, finding him charming and his knowledge (particularly of elven history) fascinating - up and disappeared on them and turned out to be behind the whole mess in the first place.

I did have a whole idea about her having had a kid that is 95% certainly Solas' by the point of Trespasser, but I can never quite decide on that being canon or not.

[the-darkness-does-not-bargain]

Scenes in the Storm Coast: Introducing The Iron Bull

Here he is, everyone’s favorite horned boyfriend!  AO3

The letter finds you at the base of the Frostbacks, one day into your journey back to Haven.  After the salon, it was decided that you would spend the night at the inn attached to the bathhouse and start fresh in the morning.  It was midday when you reached the border town guarding the road back through the snowy peaks, and you were all surprised to be greeted there by a messenger hawk bearing an unknown insignia.

“How did it find us?”  You ask as Camila wrangles the bird and unties the letter from its leg.

Beatrice shrugs.  “I know it’s possible to use a spell to guide messenger birds to their recipients.  It’s not commonly taught, but any mage can learn.”

“Hardly necessary within the Circles, I would imagine,” Mother Superion comments, uncaring or unaware of how Beatrice’s hands tighten on her reins in response.  “What does it say, Camila?”

Camila opens it, scans the first lines, and frowns.  “It’s addressed to you,” she says to you, drawing a scowl to your lips.

“Let me guess, it’s actually addressed to the Herald of Andraste,” you grumble, scowling harder when she grimaces sympathetically.  “Just read it, Cam.”

She takes a deep breath, and then begins to recite.  “Herald of Andraste.  That’s quite a title you’ve come up with, not unlike my own.  I am The Iron Bull, and I lead the Bull’s Chargers mercenary company (see how it ties in?).  I’ve got an opportunity for you that you won’t want to miss.”

“Does anyone know who this guy is?”  You ask, getting mostly head shakes in return.

Mother Superion hums in thought.  “The company name has cropped up sporadically in reports, mostly out of Orlais and Nevarra.  They seem to be legitimate by all accounts, but I know little else.”

Camila continues.  “Tevinter mercs have been spotted creeping around the Storm Coast, poking their noses in local affairs.  It’s never a good sign when Vints are crawling around, take it from me.  I offer this information free of charge, as a gesture of good will.  If you’d like to see what the Bull’s Chargers can do for the Inquisition, come out to the coast and watch us work.  If you’re unsure, just ask around Val Royeaux.  We’ve got references.  We’re tough, professional, and we don’t break contracts.  Come see us in action, and I’ll pay for your drinks if you leave disappointed.”  She pauses.  “That’s it.  The rest is just a map of the coastline, with an X marked down on one of the beaches.”

“Not much to go on.  He must be confident he’s going to get his way,” Beatrice comments, frowning.

“To the Void with that,” Lilith says with a huff.  “References or no, we can’t trust mercenaries in a conflict like this.  This isn’t some petty contract, the fate of the world is at stake!”

“Perhaps that’s why they get involved,” Camila speculates.  “If they help the Inquisition close the Breach… what could be a better reference than that?”

Lilith just shakes her head.  “Absolutely not.  No sellsword would willingly stick their neck out for a job this dangerous without a clear end.  They’d be fools to do so.”

“Lilith has a point,” Beatrice says, looking over at you.  “Which means if they are reaching out to us sincerely, then there must be something besides money and reputation that they want.”  She shrugs.  “That could be helpful, or very dangerous.”

You bite your lip, drumming your fingers along the rim of your saddle and looking out at the road in front of you, the one that will take you back to Haven if you let it.  “If we went to see them,” you venture cautiously.  “How much would that slow us down?”

Mother Superion hums again.  “If we take the most direct route to the coast?  It will add a week and a day onto our journey by horseback.  If we keep a brisk pace, we might reduce that to six days, but no less.”

Okay, not ideal…  You’re anxious to get back to Haven and regroup with the others, but something about this offer is tickling your intuition.  Because, yeah, it’s super weird that some random mercenaries would go to the trouble of sending you a direct message (with magic, no less) offering their services with no expectations (that they’ve stated, anyway).  It’s weirder still that they would go so far as to give up sensitive information for free to entice you.

“This guy talks about another group of mercs from Tevinter, is that something we should be worried about?”

Lilith frowns.  “Tevinter has been too busy dealing with the Qunari.  I have trouble believing they would send any men southward, especially to the Storm Coast of all places.”  She grimaces, as though tasting something bitter.  “But… if they have, then it’s worth investigating.  This Bull character isn’t wrong to be concerned.  If he’s telling the truth, that is.”

You look toward Mother Superion again.  “Apart from time, what would it really cost us to hear them out?”

She runs a pensive hand along her horse’s mane.  “We didn’t pack for an extended trip, but that’s a small issue.  Dora and the others will know to expect delays as soon as my scout reaches Haven.  Beyond that, nothing, unless we agree to hire them.”

You turn the decision over in your mind for a minute more.  “Then… I guess I don’t see the harm in at least hearing their offer.”  You’re not stoked about another six to eight days of riding, but you’re beginning to suspect that trips like this are going to be your new normal.  Good thing you still like camping.

Everyone agrees, if somewhat reluctantly, and you change course to head for the Storm Coast.  You follow the same road through most of the mountains, only veering north when you cross the peaks and can see Ferelden below you.  Once you finish the descent and reach flat ground again, Mother Superion bids you all to move faster, taking up a trot with Lilith and Camila close behind.

“Keep your body loose,” Beatrice advises you when she sees the stricken look on your face.  “And think of the trot like a drumbeat.  It will always follow the same pattern, 1-2-1-2.  Rotate your hips forward on the first beat, in time with the horse’s stride, and then back on the second beat.”  She demonstrates the movement on top of Drakon, raising and lowering her hips in a smooth, practiced fashion.  You are caught in place watching her, mesmerized by the grace of her body and the ease of motion that speaks to strong legs hidden under her robes.  You already know she’s strong, of course, but that doesn’t make seeing it any less affecting.

She makes you repeat the movement several times before she’s satisfied enough to order Drakon into an easy trot.  You hesitantly nudge Mud Pie to do the same, and he complies after a moment of chuffing protest.  It’s fucking nerve-wracking and you’re sure that you’re about to fall off, but you force your hips up and down as she showed you, and eventually you find the rhythm.  It’s still hard, and exhausting, but you don’t fall or even falter as the two of you catch up to the others.  Your thighs burn something fierce by the time you stop to camp, but the ache lessens bit by bit with each day that passes.

The Storm Coast is, for lack of a better term, wet.  Damp as shit.  Fucking soaked.  You suppose you should have guessed from the name, but it really doesn't do the place justice.  When you cross the boundary of the Hinterlands, it’s like someone threw a lever on the weather.  Pounding rainstorms hound you ceaselessly through the first full day of riding, and your party is forced to hide out in a creepy, spider-infested cavern just to get a fire going for the night.  The deluge continues into the next day, and it doesn’t let up an inch until you reach the beaches where the letter directed you to go.

At first, you see no sign of mercenaries, Tevinter or otherwise, only miles and miles of packed sand, jagged rocks, and crashing waves.  The majesty of the ocean is diminished somewhat by the inescapable dreariness of your surroundings, and while you are still thrilled to see it, you do wish the sun would poke through the clouds to brighten things up a little.

It isn’t until you’ve spent nearly an hour scouring the coastline that you finally see the fighting.  Two groups of warriors are beating each other bloody while the sea churns and threatens to sweep them all away.  As you watch from horseback, you can identify the different combatants by their choice of gear.  One group is dressed in unusual, oddly pointy armor that seems foreign to you.  They must be the Tevinter company.  The other group is less uniformly equipped, but they bear the same insignia as your letter, and charge into the fight with the biggest man you’ve ever seen as their vanguard.

If you’re being honest, “big” doesn’t describe him properly.  Massive would be more fitting, or gargantuan.  He must be seven feet tall at least, with shoulders as wide as a druffalo’s and a pair of enormous horns to match.  He wears almost no armor, his torso completely bare of protection, but he seems wholly unbothered by it.  He hefts a battleaxe in the air like it weighs nothing and effortlessly cleaves a man apart with it, spraying blood across the wet sand.  He lets out a booming laugh before kicking another foe in the chest so hard you can almost see their rib cage collapse.

“Should we… intervene?” Beatrice asks, watching the battle with an uncertain frown.

Mother Superion shrugs.  “He wanted us to watch his company work.  Let’s watch them.”

So you wait, observing from a safe distance as the fight progresses to a quick and definitive conclusion.  The horned man and his soldiers crush their opponents with little to no effort, and are already in the process of cleaning up by the time you dismount your horses and walk over to them.

“Chargers, stand down!”  The huge guy rests his axe on the ground and calls to one of the other mercenaries, a short man kicking the corpse of a Tevinter sellsword off to one side.  “Krem!  How’d we do?”

“Five or six wounded, chief,” the man calls back.  “No dead.”

“That’s what I like to hear!  Let the throatcutters finish up, and then break out the casks.”  With this booming command, the guy turns and looks down at your approach with a curious expression.  “So, you’re with the Inquisition, huh?  Glad you could make it.”  He tilts his horns to one side, indicating a lopsided circle of driftwood logs some twenty yards away.  “Have a seat.  Drinks are coming.”

You follow him at a distance, your eyes continually roaming over his form, taking in the bare chest, the muscles, the sheer mass of him.  You think his bicep is legitimately, no joke, bigger than your head, and he stands so tall that you might as well be a toddler next to him.  He also speaks in such a calm, confident manner that it makes you reasonably sure of his identity.  Really, with the horns and the everything about him, there’s only one person he could be.  “I guess you’re Iron Bull, then.”

He smirks, looking almost playful, even going so far as to wink at you as he sits down.  “Yeah, it’s usually the horns that tip people off.  After that, if they live long enough for conversation, that’s when they act surprised.”

His humor draws a grin from you easily.  He’s… charming.  Maybe that shouldn’t be such a surprise, but it’s definitely not the word you had in mind when he deprived a man of his lower half just a few minutes ago.  Speaking of…

“So you wanted us to see you in action,” you broach.  “And you certainly came prepared.”  You take a seat of your own on the log across from him, and to your slight surprise, Mother Superion plants herself next to you, resting both hands on her cane and watching the man with that signature, piercing stare you know all too well.

“The Chargers are always prepared,” he says, shrugging as if it’s a trivial matter.  “We don’t limit ourselves to one kind of contract.  Demons, dragons, talking trees, Vints, you name it, we’ll kill it.  For the right price.”

“Have you had a lot of experience fighting demons before the Breach?” Lilith cuts in, refusing to sit and instead taking her signature posture of crossed arms and straight shoulders behind you.

He hums, his grin fading by a degree.  “Maybe not, but we’re getting more and more by the day.  That’s part of why I reached out to you directly.”  The short soldier, Krem, appears at his side.  “Ah, this is my lieutenant, Cremisius Aclassi.”

Krem nods his head respectfully at you.  “Good to meet you all.”  To Iron Bull, he says, “Throatcutters are done, chief.”

Iron Bull frowns, his thick eyebrows furrowing.  “Already?  Have ‘em check again.  I don’t want any of those Tevinter bastards getting away.  No offense, Krem.”

Krem just smirks, a roguish and handsome expression.  “None taken.  Least a bastard knows who his mother was.  Puts him one up on you Qunari, right?”

Qunari.  Honestly, you feel a little stupid for not realizing it immediately.  Who else is there that would be 7 feet tall and walking around with horns like a dragon’s?  In your defense, you’ve never actually seen a Qunari before now, but you still should have made the connection sooner.  Everyone else assuredly has.

Krem walks off, leaving Iron Bull to turn his attention back to you.  “So, you’ve seen us fight.  We’re expensive, but worth it.  And I’m sure the Inquisition can afford us.”

Can they?  Honestly, you’re not sure, and you glance over at Mother Superion as subtly as you can.  She obliges you.

“How expensive are we talking?” She asks seamlessly.

Iron Bull smirks.  “It wouldn’t cost you anything personally, unless you’re buying the drinks.  But your ambassador, Josephine?  We’d go through her and get the payments set up.  The gold will take care of itself from there.”

Mother Superion’s eyes narrow.  “How do you know Josephine’s name?  She has only just begun her work with us.”

Now, Iron Bull drops the smirk, choosing instead to plant his enormous hands on his knees, both visible and empty.  “Yeah, I suppose that’s something else we should discuss.  Might be useful, might piss you off.  Ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?”

“The Ben—”

“You’re a spy?” Mother Superion questions sharply, her hands gripping her cane, a dangerous expression on her face.

“Easy, Sister,” he placates, leaning back.  “I’d appreciate it if you waited until after I’m finished before trying to gut me.”  He scratches at the stubble on his chin.  “Yeah, for all intents and purposes, I’m a spy.  We’ll lay that out on the table right now.  It’s pretty simple.  The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about the Breach.  Magic out of control like that could cause trouble everywhere. I’ve been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what’s happening. But I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais. You sign me on, I’ll share them with your people.”

“Why would you admit that?” Beatrice asks, standing behind you with her arms crossed, just like Lilith.  She’s so close to you that you would hit her thighs if you lean back more than a few inches.  You wonder why.  Is she worried she’ll have to pull you out of the way if this guy leaps at you or something?

Whatever the reason, you do feel more secure with her there, so you’ll take it.

Iron Bull shrugs, as if it costs him nothing to answer.  “Because whatever happened at the Conclave is bad for everyone.  The Breach needs to be dealt with.  So before I’m anything, I’m on your side.”

“And what would you report back to your masters in Par Vollen?” Mother Superion asks, failing or perhaps choosing not to hide the scorn in her voice.

He just looks amused, maybe even impressed by her willingness to snark at him.  “Enough to keep my superiors happy, but nothing that will compromise your operations.  Seheron just needs to know whether they need to mount an invasion to stop the world from ending.”  He says it in a joking way, but the visible tension in your companions ramps up another notch.  “You let me send word of what you’re doing, and it will put minds at ease.”

“And what would you tell us?” You ask.  “What do these Ben-Harrath or whatever know that our people couldn’t find?”

He chuckles.  “Enemy movements, suspicious activity, intriguing gossip.  Alone, it’s not much, but if your sharp-tongued spymaster here is any good, it will be more than enough,” he says, and you can practically see the way his mouth curls around the word “sharp-tongued”.  Um…  Mother Superion raises a single eyebrow at him, and you can’t help how your eyes dart between that and his unyielding smirk.  A quick glance upward reveals Beatrice with a similarly discomfited expression.

Okay, moving on.

“So you’d run all your reports past Mother Superion?” You ask for clarification.  “And send nothing she doesn’t approve?  Because, I gotta be honest, if this is some kind of trick, then everybody here is gonna eat you alive.”  You jut your thumb behind you to indicate your crew, who you can only hope are projecting above-average levels of Don’t Fuck With Us energy.

He just grins hard, showing a full set of white teeth.  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You look at Mother Superion, and then at Beatrice and Lilith above you.  Mother Superion gives a quick but certain nod while the other two, though visibly uneasy, voice no protest.

“Okay,” you tell him.  “We’ll bring you on, and see how this goes.”  You are reminded, suddenly and jarringly, of how you said almost the exact same thing when you hesitantly agreed to join the Inquisition.  It’s been less than a month, but the distance between that moment and now may exceed the whole of Thedas.

“Excellent!”  He exclaims before getting to his feet, and turning to his men.  “Krem!  Tell the boys to finish their drinks on the road.  The Chargers just got hired!”

In the distance, Krem looks aggrieved.  “What about the casks, chief?  We just opened them.  With axes.”

Iron Bull grunts.  “Well, find some way to seal them up again.  You’re Tevinter, right?  Try blood magic.”  He spares a final glance back at you as you and Mother Superion stand.  “We’ll see you back in Haven.  Tell the barkeep to stock up before we get there.”

You make your way back to your horses silently.  Only once you’re all astride and making your way off the beach does Camila speak up.  “He was impressive, wasn’t he?  I’ve never met a Qunari before.  I didn’t realize they were that big.”

Lilith scoffs loudly.  “He’s just another hulking brute with an axe.  He’s nothing special.”

“I wouldn��t go that far, Lilith,” Mother Superion disagrees.  “The Qunari don’t tolerate incompetence, and that man is Ben-Hassrath for a reason.”  She looks at you from atop Aster, her silver-gray mare.  “I don’t doubt that he and his company will be useful to us,” she says.  “But we should not let our guards down.  He may keep his word, but a snake is a snake, whether it’s honest about its fangs or not.”

“The Qunari despise mages,” Beatrice comments worriedly.  “Their word for mage means ‘dangerous thing’.  When any of their kind show skill with magic, they chain them up and keep them enslaved for their entire lives.”

You shrug.  “So they’re just like the Chantry, then.”  Okay, maybe that came out sharper than you intended, given the glare that Mother Superion sends you and the soft, shocked intake of breath you hear from Beatrice.

“Regardless,” the Mother says quellingly, “If he’s serious about working with us, then he’ll understand our intentions to negotiate with the rebels in Redcliffe.  We should not let that affect our course of action.  We’ll discuss things further when we get back to Haven.  For now, let’s pick up the pace.”

She nudges her horse into a trot, and you all do the same, letting the beach disappear behind you as rain starts falling again.

[asgardian--angels]

Thanks for your insight! I had come to the same conclusion on a lot of these points.

I agree that if Jayce didn't blast him, he wasn't weakened, wouldn't have become the Herald, and was using the hexite cores to power up. However, I didn't think that Vander overloaded because Singed injected him - we see Singed use the serum (do we even know what that mysterious serum was?) on Warwick's corpse during the Evolution scene - this actually appears to be the thing that transforms Viktor, not just the apex shimmer. The apex shimmer was maybe sustaining Viktor in his cocoon but it didn't appear to be enough to heal him ("I sense my twilight approaching"). It's only when Singed injects the orange serum into Warwick, mixing with the shimmer, that we see Warwick's memories disintegrate and that serum passes into the cocoon, triggering Viktor's evolution. Now, Richter (spelling??) puts his axe through the steam-powered thingie on Warwick's back, and I thought that would have perhaps caused the overload - but he appeared alright after that. I really do think that Viktor's connection was what was stabilizing him and when it was shattered Warwick couldn't hold back that flood. If that hadn't happened, Jinx, Vi, and Cait could have gotten him out of there, changing everything, and I think Viktor would have likely refused Ambessa's pitch as he wouldn't need an army to get him to the hexgates if he believed he had Jayce on his side.

I'm still in the process of working out my thoughts on the ruined timeline, because Ambessa's a bit of a wild card as to what she'd do if the circumstances are even a bit different. She went down there with the intent of capturing Warwick, only turning her attention to Viktor once he's already in the cocoon and she learns he can create these immortal soldiers. Otherwise, she fears and resents mages. I think her intent was, in our timeline, ultimately to try and (foolishly!) harness Viktor's power for herself to fight the Black Rose, which wouldn't have worked, but regardless. I won't get off on an Ambessa tangent, tho I think her actions in the crucial few hours after Warwick decide the timeline tbh, but working it all out made me realize how quickly things in the commune happen. If Jayce had willingly joined Viktor, he would have had almost no time (like...minutes) before the rest of the events unfolded (sorry fic writers who want him chilling in the commune for weeks). I still think Jayce would have to turn against Viktor once he sees the Evolved - but he couldn't bring himself to hurt Viktor. I would guess he scrambles off to Piltover to warn the council. Things would have to play out similarly if Ambessa continues with her attack on Piltover, with Jayce knowing that Viktor was going to be in the hexheart and going down there to confront him instead - but maybe giving his best emotional 'you're still in there!' pitch. I'm still inclined to think when he kneeled atop the tower it was out of defeat, but I'm open on it.

(This brings me to another tangent, being that this surely has to be the first Jayce brought to this timeline - because husk Jayce gives over his hammer, and he can only do that once. There's, to me, something uniquely special about that hexcorized hammer that is able to really hurt Viktor/the hexcore vs just a blast from his regular hammer? Seeing as the hexite cores don't hurt Viktor, and the power of the hex crystals are one with those of the hexcore, just powering him up. But even so, if any other Jayce came and fell down that cave etc, they'd be left with no weapon after. I can't stop thinking about the rune embedded in Jayce's arm with hexcorized damage, and how it seems to be the thing that activates the hexcorized hammer, as it glows on his arm whenever he uses the hammer. I could get off into another huge thing about how I've been struggling to figure out what mage Viktor's actual plan was for our Jayce to do, and how that rune fits into it, but I digress)

I think Viktor's plan would have been, as we saw in the prime timeline, to activate the hexgate, concentrating its full power into a vertical beam which would shoot upwards through the hole in the roof, through him/through the hexcore, channeling that power into the Anomaly to enact the Glorious Evolution (thus producing the mage visual we see in the tome/Black Rose illusion). Our Viktor didn't get there, but Mage Viktor did. I also noticed like you said that there were no drones on top of the tower, but they were scattered around the city, on the bridge, in the undercity. I don't truly know if that is significant or if they just, dispersed after a while. To me they're discolored from decades of corrosion and exposure, not because they're any different from our version of the Evolved, showing how once the Evolution took place, there was nothing to do after. Everything just went silent, stood still. Viktor had no orders for them, so they just wandered off without purpose and sat to rust. Or maybe once Viktor realized what he'd done, he didn't want to even look at them so he sent them away from his eye of the storm area.

Sorry for the ramble - I wrote this out of order lmao. I have been thinking a LOT about the ruined timeline, trying to piece it together, and there's an incredible amount going on that's subtle and easy to overlook in lieu of the big stuff.

Hi! I wanted to hear your thoughts about something that keeps on nagging me about the Glorious Evolution... what's the difference between the Evolved and the Pompeii-esque husks we see in the ruined timeline? Viktor states his intent is to Evolve everyone willing and connect them into one mind but we only ever actually see him evolve his commune followers. Towards the end we see that either Viktor himself, the drone bots, or the anomaly via the mind-strings, can begin to 'assimilate' people, but that never progresses to getting Evolved. Jayce almost losing himself in golden light seems to be what happens if it's allowed to finish. So does everyone else who isn't 'touched' just get decimated by the anomaly blast? What was Viktor's intent for Jayce ultimately - I feel like he wasn't going to Evolve him, he wanted him by his side and we see in the ruined timeline that he's a husk, not a drone. I'm still struggling to make sense of these different end-states for those who get plugged into the hivemind, and how it's decided who ends up getting connected or just destroyed.

Sorry it took me a while to get to this one, it was a combination of real life and not really having an answer ready because I agree, it is vexing.

I don't quite know how to break down what happened and who is what, but I can try to make sense of it with the things we know:

In this reality, Jayce never shot Viktor through the chest. Presumably, this means Viktor continued with his plans without interruption.

Ambessa arrived at the commune before Jayce did, so his going back did not alter that event. So that would be the same in both universes. To me, this means that Viktor was heading towards his moment of disillusionment either way, either by Jayce's hands or by Ambessa.

Keep in mind, Jayce shooting Viktor is NOT why Vander went crazy. So many people miss this, but it's actually because of Singed injecting him. Admittedly, he did so while everyone's backs were turned because of the interruption of Jayce's attack but I think the full-scale conflict that broke out was quite likely in either universe, with or without Jayce.

I think what also gets lost in this discussion is what Salo was doing at the base of the Hexgates: retrieving Hex crystal cores.

So, while Viktor was running low on energy, he may have found an alternative by using Hex crystals which Jayce scuttled by killing Salo. No one else from the commune (except arguably Viktor himself) would have the authority to get into the Hexgate base without getting stopped.

As far as we know, without getting shot, Viktor never turned to Singed for Apex Shimmer via Vander/Warwick. I believe this because Wizard Viktor doesn't have the Machine Herald appearance. Arguably he's able to shed it or it's an illusion, etc etc, but truly I believe the Machine Herald appearance is a direct result of Jayce shooting Viktor and him being forced to turn to Apex Shimmer to heal.

We also know in Wizard Viktor's original timeline, Jayce probably joined him instead of shooting him. I've argued before in another meta that Jayce in Wizard Viktor's timeline likely gave into Viktor willingly at the top of the tower.

So, where does that leave us? I'm going to propose this alternate timeline:

Viktor is disillusioned by Ambessa's attack but he's not weakened because Jayce never shot him.

Using the Hex crystals Salo stole from the Hexgates, Viktor has enough power to continue assimilating people.

I'd argue: Viktor forcibly assimilates Ambessa's forces or he otherwise begins an assault on the city, perhaps with her as an ally. I only note this because it does look like there are more converted/ascended people in the Anomaly Future that there were cultists and him assimilating Ambessa's forces (including Cait, for example, but not including Jinx because her balloon is visible crashed into the Hexgate tower in the Anomaly future) is one possible explanation.

Viktor achieved this using Hex crystals, not Apex Shimmer. He was also able to do a version of the robot/ascended cultists because of the Hex crystal powers but not enough to give them that porcelain and gold "sheathe". Perhaps he didn't even feel the need to design his ascended cultists that way in this world, because he wasn't competing with Mel, because Jayce had already joined him.

Viktor then goes to the Anomaly at the base of the Hex tower. He believes that this will give him the power to convert the rest of the world and end all conflict.

And this is where things get really damn speculative but I'll try my best:

Viktor claims the Anomaly. He and Jayce go together willingly to the top of the Hexgate tower to make this vision of peace a reality using its power.

In celebration of their plan finally reaching its successful conclusion, Viktor brings Jayce into the hivemind. Jayce is kneeling in front of Viktor willingly, with his hammer held before him in fealty.

Unlike in the canon timeline, we also know Viktor didn't bring any other robots up there with him, possibly because he didn't need the show of force or to restrain a willing Jayce. (or they could have descended later I guess but eh, I'm taking my visual difference as clues where I can)

Viktor converts Jayce to be his equal, somehow, in that he's different from both the cultists and the corpses.

However, this does not bring Jayce to his level, it just adds Jayce's consciousness to the growing soup of consciousness inside Viktor's head/the Hexcore, whatever it is. Jayce is effectively dead.

Then, this moment happens, which was the goal of the Hexcore the whole time: to lay waste to civilizations who overuse magic:

The mage rising over the city.

Wizard Viktor does this either out of grief at having lost Jayce or he does so before he loses Jayce (the order isn't super important, he loses him either way) and the Hexcore takes over to finish its own goals.

Everyone who isn't already assimilated gets taken out by the subsequent violent shockwave.

I might be missing some things. Honestly, we know some things went different because Viktor was never shot, because he got Hex crystals, because Jayce might have joined him at the commune, but how the battle broke down after that is very unclear. We do know that Jinx took part in the battle because she also flew her balloon into the Hexgate tower. How exactly that battle kicked off and who the combatants were is much less clear. We do know that Viktor didn't convert all of the city before those remaining got annihilated, so something must have gone wrong with his attempt to hive mind everyone that they all died instead.

The only curious note I can't quite reconcile is Wizard Viktor's speech about, "Once every equation is solved." Because it sounds like the Hexcore, or Viktor, determined that the only way to actually stop all conflict, the way to solve the equation, is to just murder everyone.

Which... um, yeah. I guess that works! But it definitely casts Wizard Viktor as either a pawn of the Hexcore or as an absolutely terrifying psychopath if that's his definition, which by the way I'm totally cool with because I love Wizard Viktor but I can easily see him being actually insane at this point and an only mildly remorseful supervillain who's really only sad Jayce died too so there was no one to save Viktor before he ended up in this dreamless solitude. Make of that what you will too.

I still don't feel like I have a clear answer for you, but hopefully this helps!