#the faithless spoiler

[green-loaf]

[bibiana112]

I've grown a bit protective over my theist Akane headcanons lately because everyone I've seen dismiss her as definitely making more sense as an atheist after the experiences she has seem to almost.... i dare say whitewash her faith? it's why I only use the word Theist she seems to believe in Some kind of god but that really really doesn't automatically imply a capital G western God that is characterized as fatherly and all powerful and all good it does not even imply values ascribed to western saints, I've been agnostic since elementary school and listen to atheism podcasts all the time I say this cause I'm the last person who will be attached to a character for them being religious but I also live somewhere where one of the better known religious minorities is polytheistic and of african origin and completely outside of the eurocentric conception of spirituality and since I have friends who converted to that and suffered prejudice about it I know very well what it looks like when people are projecting God vs Devil worshipping stuff on a belief that does not frame itself with those binary axes at all

I don't even think Akane would strictly follow the Shinto traditions she grew up surrounded by but it's what would have framed her early life and it's a completely different framework and understanding of spirituality and ok I will probably be a bit reductive here but as I understand it Shintoism has many subdeities yokai many superstitions baked into it that are incredibly varied and specific to each community and place and rituals and perfomances are the main expression of this faith (which the kanji for ceremony/ritual is literally in her name! which could be showing she sees her own nonary game as one big ritual I think the ideas behind the Kurashiki etymology are honestly really fun) so with that basic context plus the fact she literally does have her prayers answered, she literally does pray over her doll while crying in the incinerator and that's what saves her I don't know if she'd be mono or poly theistic but her believing in Something doesn't feel like much of a stretch

Sure, people will say, but it didn't Completely save her she still suffered she was still all alone in there in some realities but for goodness sake there is not anything that could more accurately apply to the meme of teehee I'm god's most specialest suffering soldier than what martyr complex ass mindset Akane developed I think she just made up her own understanding of divine intervention right there right with getting her future sight and morphogenetic powers and shit her prayers were answered and the person she wanted by her side talked to her and saved her even from nine years in the future because the forces at be allowed it on the condition that she played her part because the pain and death was supposed to be all there was to it but she performed this display of faith and it suddenly miraculously wasn't a dead end anymore and she was allowed to live if only with the weight and understanding that fate will work in its own mysterious ways and it's up to her to appease it and do whatever ceremonial bloodshed it demands over and over again to salvage at least one timeline out of many that fall into certain doom without her intervention... or at least that seems to be her perception of it she would probably also get ocd from all that but I don't have much say on the subject myself

Her line in ztd is hypocritical but I still don't think it's internally contradictory for her and I will die on this hill

[genshin-projection]

i took a few liberties but... Sunday-inspired playlist!

some highlights:

master of the heavenly yard (off-vocal) (mothy/akuno-P)

portrait of the pirate F (hitoshizuku-p)

rock in god's shoe (sushi soucy)

worst case scenario (the hoosiers)

but never a key (dirt poor robins)

hello my old heart (the oh hellos)

rule #35 - microphone (fish in a birdcage)

into the unknown (over the garden wall)

collared (vane lily)

taixu (sasakure.uk , lasah)

ship in a bottle (fin)

a couple ender lilies OSTs

a few omori OSTs

a few hsr (penacony) OSTs

[vancalox]

btw just so we're clear as punishment for no well choice in datv among other countless crimes im saying its canon now that morrigan can turn into a dragon and ashara was riding across thedas on her whenever eluvians werent available. thanks 👍

[crimeronan]

i'm still fucking thinking about faulkner silt verses i haven't stopped all day. i just keep intermittently replaying parts of the ep and working my way thru the transcript. just now i was trying to explain to rafi how elated i was about everything that went down during this ep and rafi, horrified, was like "BUT I - I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE SUICIDAL????" and i was like "rafi. listen to me. i cannot express enough how much the suicide attempt was POSITIVE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT."

[unmerrymagdalene]

"She probably wants to spend time with you, Syd. … It's not rocket science." Sirris, your kid said “Not to be rude, but are you going to leave” to a pretty lady staring at him. It might as well be rocket science.

HAHA OH MY GOD

In all fairness, Lene was not making a good case for herself

Sweetie you can’t just stare at a boy you like, you gotta open your mouth and form sentences-

[mongeese]

The “my prophet and me” scene makes me craazyyyyyyy I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I listened to it. The fact that Paige gave Hayward something to actually believe in for the first time in his life. She gave him something to work toward, something to give himself to that he can actually support and not just something he can lie to himself about. He feels like he’s doing the right thing for the first time ever. He feels like he belongs. He loves his g-d. Paige is his g-d personified. Paige is the one who brought his g-d into the world, the one who gave him a will to live again. His prophet. And him, steering her forward. I’m gonna fucking lose it

[the-rebel-archivist]

Ooooh how about 14 and 18 for the Questions About Creating Your OCs? Tags and Durges 'cause I got Lucien on the brain ❤️

Ahh thank you so much for the questions! Excited to talk about Lucien ❤️

14. The two biggest things to keep in mind while working with him are his intensity and self righteous paladin fervour that led to his devotion to making his father proud and his almost sociopathic charm. His morals were until recently twisted and upside down with what should be evil turned on its head and considered good and he threw himself into bloody worship as an act of devotion.

He’s not mean, he’s generally quite polite and friendly. He’s accepted that he looks off putting and wrong but in the same way that a tree frog does; people still want to get close against their better judgement. That high charisma for both his sorcerer and paladin spells is absolutely a learned skill for him and something he has to re-teach himself��� but he’s observed social cause and effect and he knows well how to manipulate it. He’s not much of a liar, he usually means what he says, (there’s that paladin) it’s largely social masking with ulterior motives that aren’t always conscious, mostly habit. He has such a force of personality without ever needing to raise his voice.

18. The thing I’ve learned most recently about Luci is that I don’t think he and Minthara are going to work long term. At some point in her conquest hers would be the sort of regime he would feel honour-bound to overthrow as an oathbreaker. For now it’s okay; he can tap into that vengeance past and draw the poor and dispossessed to their cause, but he’s ideologically opposed to conquest for conquest’s sake. It’s got to have a real purpose beyond gaining personal power, and should the conquest start to trample over others well… they would be right to seek vengeance.

So they can have their fun for a while, maybe even many long years, they’re drow, they’ve got time. But there’s definitely an expiration date there

[drastrochris]

Me, reading The Faithless: You two just need to bone. Touraine, three octaves higher than usual: What did you say? Sabine, stage whispers: Don't say it again! Me: I said, you two just need to bone. Luca: How...dare...you?

[corpsesoldier]

in the argument they have in the salle, touraine says what she says to hurt luca (why do you think they sent me?) but that doesn’t mean the implication is unwarranted. why shouldn’t touraine think that trading herself to luca is the best way to get what she needs for her people?

luca textually is unable to internalize the disenfranchisement and cultural genocide of the shālans except through the clarifying lens of touraine. she visits the duke’s droitist school alone and grudgingly thinks it’s a net good. she only changes her mind after visiting with touraine, seeing touraine’s reaction, and internalizing touraine’s pain.

in the unbroken she utterly fails to make any decisions for the qazāli’s benefit unless she thinks it would ultimately benefit her bid for the throne, or if touraine makes her feel bad about it. she materially worsens the situation when she feels like she’s about to lose power and no longer has touraine around to check her jealousy and fear.

luca feels empathy for the condition of the shālans but, so far, never quite makes the leap to really processing her role in the systems that exploit and demonize them. she depends on the interpersonal relationship with touraine to come to any kind of political decision about qazāl or shālans in general.

so why shouldn’t touraine think that trade is necessary? is what’s expected? it’s already her experience with balladaire, just in less explicit terms. give them what they want, and they won’t hurt you.

[maegalkarven]

And yeah, it might look strange what Bhaal allowed Nemo just bring all these children in and make them into prodigal murderers.

But also it really doesn't if you consider what at the moment of Nemo's birth the Church of Bhaal is practically unexistent.

Sarevok literally has to start from the scratch.

Half of the first unholy assassins die in a fight with Flaming Fists because they're not property trained and act reckless.

But then Nemo grows up and starts contributing. A lot.

He brings a child in and for some reason father Bhaal doesn't mind. This is...strange, but whatever works, right?

Some disease kills several unholy assassins and Nemo goes to investigate. He returns with more people to train and mold into assassins.

Some child almost burns half of the town. This is useful. At this point Sarevok, who watches young Clotilda surpass Orin on some occasions, doesn't mind.

Meanwhile the amount of unholy assassins joining the traditional way is scarce and they need to be very careful and very patient to not bring the attention of the authorities. Sarevok learned the lesson of being arrogant, he won't be repeating the same mistake twice.

Nemo starts a plot to recruit urchins and it works. He seems to really have a knack on finding assassins who will be loyal till the end. This is smart. The power of the cult grows.

The clash with the smugglers guild leaves them with their numbers thinning out, BUT the children Nemo brought are growing up and passing the rites with honors. They're more efficient than other assassins, they work together better, they make less mistakes.

It repeats two more times with three more recruits, and every single of them is an exemplary future murderer. So much promise in them.

By the year of 1491 DR Nemo creates a strong backbone of the cult; unbreakable, unshakable. Perfect.

[sunflowerdigs]

Just started Good Omens S2, and I'm liking the emphasis on Crowley constantly having to drive to Aziraphale instead of just...being there because they live together. It feels like a waste of time to me as a viewer and I think that's on purpose.

[ckiramman]

luca’s crazy uncle whom she can’t control and actively fears: *maims a child for no reason*

touraine, immediately: how could luca do this

[stubbornvulpixquotes]

Regardless, this was my second Saturday off in ten years. The first one had been spent recuperating from attempted murder. And now for this one, I got to go to the Aureum building and answer questions I didn't want to answer about incidents I'd rather forget.

Apparently weekends were never going to be my favorite.

-Sam Burns, Fluke and the Faithless Father

[thepantyreckless]

Oops. Spoke too soon!

57 pages into The Faithless and I'm like, girl, you could just kill him. Just poison him. You're a monarch, don't you people love that shit?

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard art book pages, under a cut due to spoilers:

Scoundrels The scoundrels were an idea to add unique encounters to spice up combat and imply narrative depth. These would be like Batman B villains that cross your path, mess with you, and then run off to bother you another day. The main criteria was that they should be built using existing assets (some of the most rewarding work happens within extreme limitations). Right: The stalker that will never die (returned from Origins). Center: The hardest part about designing scoundrels is knowing you won't be able to build them all (yet). We liked the idea of them joining forces and creating an "anti-party: a group that could specifically counter each of your followers. Illustration labels: The Mouse, Stalker, Son of Sky Watcher, The Blacksmith, The Blood Witch, The Golden Mercenary, The Professor, The Librarian, The Beast, The Owl Gang, The Fox, The Fist, The Librarian, The Dove, The Spectre, The Champion, The Duelist, The Hunter

Illustration labels: The Lava Queen, The Artifact, The Interogator, The Flame, The Black Dragon, The Cartographer, The Marshal, The Blackbird, The Faithless, The Deadly Stillness, The Prince, Madam Venatori, Prof. Skeleton, The Swarm, The Beyondernaught, The Bank, Mournwatch Soldier, Poltergeist, Necroknight

Top: Scoundrels were originally proposed as a replacement for the Inquisitor's judgement scenes. After defeating a scoundrel, you would have a choice about how to deal with them. Bottom: If you killed a scoundrel, you could take their weapons and costume (no matter how outlandish). Or you could spare their life and call on them for a favor later on down the road.

The scoundrels also offered the opportunity to give more faces to the various regions and factions of Thedas. Tevinter libraries may be vast, but how much more vast do they seem if they produce a scoundrel like "the Librarian"?

Bellara Bellara is a Dalish technomancer. When the elven gods emerged, the blighted energy that they brought caused previously dormant elven artifacts to come to life, and Bellara focused her energy on learning how they worked for the benefit of both her fellow Dalish elves and her teammates. Top right: The first sketches of Bellara started with the description of "Jules Verne dork". Center left: She's very intense. She tries to be focused - but attempts too many things at once and ends up getting overwhelmed and not doing any of them, which makes her feel guilty. She then compensates by taking on too much once again. Center right: The rings on Bellara's gauntlet rotate and then lock in place. Bottom left: Bellara's gauntlet allows her to interact with ancient elven technology. ^ Illustration annotations: Moving/semiliquid mirror particles, Also portal for shards, Eluvian map

Top: We designed her to look like the elven version of an academic doing research in the field. Semiformal but simple elven clothing, with every piece of gear she thinks she might need, as well as room to store any fascinating specimens. Center: She likely will never unfold her eluvian map in-game, but we know it's there. Bottom: An unused endgame appearance: Bellara as the new icon of the splendor of the ancient elven empire.

Left: Bellara's space is mostly a workshop where she can continue her research. It's full of ancient elven artifacts, Veil Jumper tools and furniture, and lots and lots of mirrors. Right: Hanging elven artifacts, a metaphor for the weight of her mission pressing down on her.

Left: Hanging fabric to make it cozier. Right: A mirror with someone frozen in it.

Davrin He's an elf in his early thirties, but not a delicate, refined one. He's a monster slayer, tougher than your usual elf in stature and demeanor. Davrin is a seasoned veteran trying to nurture good in a world that keeps throwing evil at him. There's a confidence in him that comes from knowing he's good at what he does. He broke away from his elven clan in his teens because the insularity stifled him. He wanted adventure. Top right: He actively seeks the challenge of monster hunting to test and better himself, figuring if he can come out of a fight alive, it'll forge some steel in his soul. Center: We tried to find the right balance between his elven past and his Warden present. Center right: A soldier surviving in the wilderness. The armor is lighter but preserves the Warden quality. Many elements of his costume are designed to look like pieces he created or modified for himself out in the field with available materials. Bottom: Fighting Elgar'nan's darkspawn at Weisshaupt.

Assan and his siblings are the first live griffons we've seen in Dragon Age. Much like medieval illustrations of exotic animals, there is a slight disparity between living griffons and their artistic representations.

Top right: Classically, griffons' bodies are based on large cats. The bodies of Thedas's griffons are based more on dogs, specifically Great Danes. Center: Assan was a rare first-draft design. The first image of him was exactly right. Center left: An unused endgame appearance for Davrin with a matching "griffon commander" set for him and Assan, marking him as the head of the newly formed griffon cavalry unit. Bottom right: Each one of Davrin's carvings represents countless hours of tracking, studying, and hunting - a symbol of his accomplishments as he carves his way through the monster world, beast by beast.

Left: Davrin's room was meant to allow for lots of natural light and fresh air (as much as you can get in the Fade). Right: Davrin's area is filled with monster-slaying tools and research, as well as a generous number of perching options for Assan.

Emmrich Emmrich is a professor specializing in death magic, hexes, and necromancy. Despite his mastery of dark arts, Emmrich is a friendly, energetic man who loves company and adventure. Deeply curious about everything, especially magic, he's kept himself active by exploring the dangerous catacombs underneath his city and can more than handle himself in a fight. He's part of the Mourn Watch, an elite group of necromancers who protect the world of the living from occult horrors. Right: Emmrich is a very emotive talker: he gesticulates, underlines points with his hands, etc. His enthusiasm comes through transparently in his body language. Left: For his outfit, we explored a combination of academic, mortician, and conductor.

Left: Emmrich's work encompasses death and grief. He's sensitive to how they leave people vulnerable and in need of compassion and kindness. He has a deep well of both, especially for his friends. Right: A regal-looking lich.

Top left: Emmrich has always had thanatophobia - he is a necromancer afraid to die. Through long study and rituals, he's discovered a way to cheat death by becoming undead himself. Center top: Events of the game force him to choose between this strange immortality and reviving a dear friend. Top right: Emmrich must decide to make peace with dying or seize immortality, but either way he comes to a better relationship with death. Bottom: Manfred's space is ideal for studying death and magic in equal measure.

Top center: Emmrich has a collection of artifacts used to study the esoteric. Top right: Emmrich's Fade telescope. If you dare to look, make sure you're not alone. Center left: A Nevarran teapot that belonged to Emmrich's mother. Center: We gave him "guts" made from useful containers Emmrich might need out in the field. Center right: What can be said about Manfed? He is Emmrich's loyal assistant, mentee, and friend.

Harding The dwarf scout from Dragon Age: Inquisition. The girl next door that develops mysterious, powerful abilities connected to the ancient past of her fellow dwarves. Compassionate and cheerful, she is the heart and conscience of the team. Harding strives to remain true to herself and her humble upbringing even as she is flung into darkness and world-changing threats. Center: Harding is the moral compass of the group. A kind woman, she has an optimistic outlook and views the world and those who live in it as inherently good, even as she faces monstrous evils. She does not view attributes like empathy as weaknesses but strengths. A friend to everyone on the team. Bottom: We tried to make Harding's outfit an evolution of an Inquisition uniform. We imagined her on a mission, waiting for days in a sniper perch, biding her time by embroidering beautiful patterns into her sniper cloak.

Top left: Harding must deal with her newfound Stone-based powers that she inadvertently acquires during an early mission in the game. Top right: Even with her new powers, Harding would still be an archer. It was fun to explore what that might look like. Center left: In the early stages, Harding's Stone powers were more extreme, including her skin transforming during combat. Center left 2: It was challenging to make the stone skin look appealing and not like an infection. Bottom left: Harding has a green thumb. Over the course of the game she transforms a dead space into a lush garden (a feat even more impressive in the Fade). Bottom right: A corrupted red lyrium version.

Lucanis A trained assassin possessed by a demon of spite, Lucanis is constantly battling to control the darkness within himself. He is a black-hat badass who can kill anything. As a member of the Antivan Crows, Lucanis feels a sense of loyalty to his house that goes beyond duty or monetary gain. Family is as ingrained in him as holding a dagger the correct way. Center: Lucanis dresses in the Antivan Crows' interpretation of a simple black suit. Center right: Though a hardened killer, Lucanis is cultured and comfortable in both upper-class and underworld social settings. He studies his enemies, learning and testing their weaknesses before striking. Bottom: Lucanis tries not to sleep, so his room is sparse and brooding.

Center left: A pragmatic and confident gangster with a dry, dark sense of humor. He offers no apologies for being morally gray. Center: Calculated and ruthless, he fights with an effortless grace that comes from years of training and experience. Center right: He is an executioner who always gets his mark.

Neve Magical noir detective in the big city. She cares more about everyday people with "right-now problems" than the big picture. Word spread through Minrathous that she'd help people both on and off the record, so she works whatever cases come her way that are worth taking. Her motto: she takes a job, she finishes it, she walks away... If only things were ever that simple. Her fighting style is low, broad, staccato, and effortless. Center: We found consultations with amputees to be very valuable in helping us design not only a stylish and practical prosthetic for Neve, but also the accompanying accessories. Center left: Her ascot is designed to evoke a pit of snakes. Bottom right: The dark elements on her shoulders are based on shoulder holsters.

Top: Neve's outfit is a mix of detective and femme fatale. Center left: As mentioned earlier, Neve's place on the team was originally occupied by the returning villain Calpernia from Inquisition. After the decision to create a new character, the first versions of Neve's design were "Calpernia as a detective". Center right: A cynic with a heart of gold, Neve is clever, driven, and guarded. She has a dry but playful sense of humor. Beneath her nonchalant attitude is someone who cares about what they do and wishes things were better. She can act comfortable in upper-class situations, but she's known to be an outsider, and she's truly in her element in Minrathous's less-rich neighborhoods. Bottom right: Meeting with consultants changed everything about how we designed her prosthetics and equipment. The first impulse was to make something flashy and multipurpose. Instead, we chose not to draw too much attention to it, lest it distract from her character.

Top: Another lesson we learned from the consultants was to not make her prosthetic central. It's off to the side, just a normal part of her day. Bottom: Neve's desk. Humble by Tevinter standards and marked with serpent imagery.

Center: Neve's room is the cassic gumshoe film noir office, with moody lighting and a wall of evidence that grows throughout the game.

Taash As someone who grew up in the free-spirited, multicultural country of Rivain but was raised to respect the Qunari heritage, Taash is a dragon-hunter who walks in two worlds. Top left: Taash can breathe fire thanks to remnants of Qunari dragon blood. Top right: With Taash we tried to find a good balance between Qunari heritage (rope, dragon skin) and Lords of Fortune allegiance (coins, jewelry).

Top left: Taash's idle pose was drawn to give the impression of a fighter after a match. Top right: Taash understands dragons on an instinctual level and hunts and kills any that are a danger to people. Taash is a part of the Lords of Fortune faction, adventurers who seek dragons worth slaying and treasure worth taking. A pair of axes and light armor allow for quick movement - and even getting onto the backs of large enemies.

Getting the Gang Together The characters were largely approved, and this was the first time we saw them all assembled.

Varric It's a joy to revisit characters. It's a great opportunity to visually tell the story of all the years we've missed. Varric is older, a little scruffier, maybe preferring comfort to style as his adventuring days near their end. He's also let go of some of his old priorities, not needing to be flashy, not as concerned about keeping his beard short. We also decided to go with a darker and more washed-out color palette, for reasons that people who have played through the game will understand. Top left: Varric spends the majority of the game bedridden, so we wanted to make the severity of his injuries visible. ^ Illustration annotations: back, front Top right: It's not just Varric that has been on a journey. We wanted to show that Bianca had been well loved over the past decade. Bottom left illustration annotations: Custom-engraved metal plate. Swappable lens. Gem affects abilities. Bianca's scarf. Retractable; see rail on original. Engraved. Rear. Stock made from ancient myrtle tree. Finish is black with hints of blond patterns. Edges line in ivory, while ornate designs are metal. Bottom right: An ancient elven room converted into an infirmary, where Rook recovers.

Solas While known as Solas in present-day Thedas, he was once known as Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, the elven god of betrayal. In ancient times, he rebelled against the other gods, the Evanuris, and sealed them away from the living world, behind the Veil. Solas's true identity remained hidden from the world through the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition and was revealed in the Trespasser DLC. During that time, he was an Inquisition follower masquerading as a simple hedge mage. Top left: Solas's outfit is designed to represent that he has stopped hiding. He is committed to his path, and so he returns to dressing like he did in the old days. Right: The central MacGuffin of the game is Solas's lyrium dagger. Originally it was hidden away in the idol from Dragon Age II. Bottom left: One of the palettes Solas used when painting one of his many historical and confessional murals. Bottom center: Most of the elven gods had dragons. Ever the outsider, Solas instead embraced the Dread Wolf nickname on a grand scale. This creature was based on one of Solas's cards from Inquisition.

some other pages -

Some opening pages

Foreword

Google Books preview pages Part One

Google Books preview pages Part Two

Amazon preview pages

Page batch

Page batch 2

Book art credits:

BioWare art: Matt Rhodes, Ramil Sunga, Albert Urmanov, Christopher Scoles, Nick Thornborrow, Steve Klit

Volta art: Gui Guimaraes, Stéphanie Bouchard, Akim Kaliberda, Alejandro Olmedo, Alexey Zaryuta, Julien Carrasco, Maksim Marenkov, Marianne Martin, Mariia Istomina, Marion Kivits, Matti Marttinen, Mélanie Bourgeois, Pablo Hurtado De Mendoza, Rael Lyra, Rodrigo Ramos, Thomas Schaffer, Tiago Sousa, Tristan Kang, Vladimir Mokry, Yintion J, Joseph Meehan, Stefan Atanasov, Julien Carrasco

Additional art: Marc Holmes, Thomas Scholes