#thedosian language

[exhausted-archivist]

Thedosian Curses

Up to Date as of: September 2024

This is organized by origins of the curse. It has been sitting in my drafts for months, and I need to get it out so it will be blocked from reblogging until I do my last overview/check this week.

If you want to use AO3 though for easier viewing [Link]

Chantry/Andrastian Curse

General Chantry Curses

By the Grand Cleric's bright yellow robes!

By the Black City!

By the walls of the golden city!

Using Andraste's Name

Andraste's arse!

Andraste's ashes!

Andraste's ass!

Andraste's asscheeks!

Andraste's blood!

Andraste's braids!

Andraste's breath!

Andraste's dimpled buttcheeks!

Andraste's dimples

Andraste's exposed asscheeks!

Andraste's fat ass!

Andraste's flaming sword!

Andraste's fuzzy thighs

Andraste's grace!

Andraste's grace...

Andraste's great flaming ass!

Andraste's holy cabbage!

Andraste's holy knickers!

Andraste's knickers!

Andraste's lily-white ass!

Andraste's mercy! - this is said to the equivalent of "Christ's mercy!"

Andraste's milk-white bottom!

Andraste's sacred bowels!

Andraste's sacred girdle!

Andraste's sacred knickers

Andraste's sanctified ass!

Andraste's sweet ass!

Andraste's sword!

Andraste's tits!

By Andraste's burning britches!

By Andraste's burning under-drawers!

By Andraste's dirty socks!

By Andraste's grace!

By Andraste's holy knickers!

By Andraste's sword!

By Andraste's tears!

By the Lady!

Dear Andraste, no [...]

For Andraste's sake!

For the love of Andraste!

For the love of Lady Andraste!

How in Andraste's name [...]

I swear by Andraste's knickers

I swear on Andraste's name - contextually similar to "I swear on God's name"

I wish to Holy Andraste [...]

In Andraste's name [...] - used as as a curse, a blessing, prayer, or an oath

Lady's breath!

Merciful Andraste!

Oh, Andraste, help me [...]

Oh, Andraste's dimples [...]

Oh, for Andraste's sake [...]

Oh, for the love of Blessed Andraste!

Oh, for the love of the Maker's bride!

Sweet Andraste

Sweet blood of Andraste!

Sweet, merciful Andraste!

Well, slap my arse and call me Andraste

Well, throw me in a fire and call me Andraste!

What in Andraste's name [...]?

What in the name of Andraste's holy knickers [...]

What in the name of Andraste's Sanctified Girdle [...]

What in the name of the holy mother [...]

Who in Andraste's name [...]

Using Maferath's Name

Maferath's balls

Maferath's hairy arse!

Using the Maker's Name

By the Maker [...]

Great Maker, please!

Great Maker!

Holy Maker!

How in the Maker's name...

In the Maker's name! - used both as a curse and also a blessing

Maker damn you for a fool!

Maker forbid

Maker help those/them/her/him - used as both a prayer/blessing and a curse

Maker preserve me

Maker spit on […] - used as a curse/condemnation of a person or group

Maker what is that?

Maker!

Maker's balls!

Maker's beard!

Maker's blood! - a curse like "Christ's breath"

Maker's breath! - a curse like "Christ's breath"

Maker's glory!

Maker's grapes!

Maker's mercy

Maker's tears! - meaning "I regret"

Maker's titties!

Maker's truth! - meaning "I swear"

Maker's wind

Maker's wrath

Oh Maker...

Oh, Maker save me - used as both a prayer and a curse

Oh, sweet Maker!

Sweet Maker!

Sweet merciful Maker

Tears of the Maker!

Thank the Maker - "Thank God"

The Maker's a cruel bastard

What in Maker's creation...

What in the Maker's name...

What the Maker is this now?

Whatever in the Maker's name [...]

Who in the Maker's name [...]

Cultural/Regional Curses

Antivan Curses

Brasca! - translates to "damn"

Avvar Curses

Chicken-craps

Tyrdda's tits

Dwarven Curses

Aeducan's balls!

Aeducan's beard!

Ancestors curse your path

Ancestors have mercy!

Beards of the Paragons!

Bemot's beard!

Bleeding ancestors

Blood of the Paragons!

Bloody nug runners - akin to "holy crap!"

Bloody nug-whomper

Bronto piss

By the ancestors!

By the beards of the Paragons!

By the hairs of my ancestors!

By the Paragons!

By the stone! - an oath, "holy shit"

By the stones of the Ancestors!

By the teats of my ancestors!

By the tits of my ancestots!

Caridin's Teeth!

Couldn't give a nug's ass

Dust-munching nugs!

For the love of nugs and idiot children!

Great Ancestors - a form of swearing

Holy sodding stone - akin to "holy fucking christ"

Hurts like a nug-humper

May you be spit-roasted on a sodding pitch fork

Nug droppings!

Nug-crud!

Nug-dung

Nug-humping

Nug-spew

Nug-teeth!

Nug's ass

Nug and dolts!

Nugs and rats and worms!

Nugshit - akin to bullshit

Oh, great Stone - akin to "Dear God"

Oh, Stone - akin to "Oh, God"

Ortan's teeth!

Paragon's teeth!

Paragon's have mercy!

Rats and nugs!

Sod it

Sod it all!

Sod off - akin to "fuck off"

Sod you - akin to "fuck you"

Sodding - noted to be said in the same tone as "fucking"

Stone spit you out, you blighter!

Stone spit you out!

Stones!

Thank the ancestors - akin to "thank christ"

Thank the Stone!

What the nug!

Who in the Stone? - akin to "Who in God's name"

Who the dust? - akin to "Who the hell"

Elven Curses

Andruil's tits!

Bleeding thorns

By the lost Dales

Creators!

Dirthara-ma - "may you learn"

Elgar'nan! - used in the same way one says "Maker!" in Thedas

Fenedhis

Fenedhis lasa

Mythal have mercy

Mythal, I hope not! - the use of "Mythal" is akin to saying "God"

Mythal! - used in the same way one says "Maker!" in Thedas

Mythal'enastel - used as a swear in da2 though is translated as "Mythal's Favor" in dai.

Oh, Creators

Only the Creators know - akin to "Only God knows"

To the Beyond with that - akin to "to hell with that"

Fereldan Curse

By Maric and the Maker!

By the giant stones of the Dwarfson

Calenhad's crown!

Great Dane's bitch

I'll be dipped - contextually similar to "I'll be damned"

General Curses

These are seemingly universal and/or are without a clear origin point. Separated by subjects: animal, blight, body fluids/excrements, body parts, Fade/magic/void, food, parentage, and miscellaneous.

Animal

A load of pig squat

Ain't worth a rat's spit

Ain't worth rat spit

Dog piss

Dog stink!

Dogshit

Dung beetles!

Flaming rat turds.

Flies and bother

For the love of little fish

Griffon's buttocks!

Horse feathers!

Hound's arse!

I don't give a rat's ass about...

May the bloody vultures feast on his corpse and shit him into the ocean.

Oh, donkey bum!

Oh...f-frogs!

Oh...rats

Pig

Pig's swill

Pigeon crap!

Rat!

Rat's dick

Rats!

Seems like a bunch of nug shit to me.

Shave a horse and punch me in the teeth.

Smells like a rat's bottom

Snake in the grass

The dog shit part of town

Wiplash and crow sauce!

Blight

Ah, Blight!

Blight and destruction!

Blight!

Darkspawn blood!

Fire and Blight!

Hurts like a blight

Body Fluids/Excrement

Ah, piss and vinegar.

Blood and ashes!

Blood and damnation!

Blood and honor!

Bloody elf guts!

Bloody kibble!

Blow it out your arse

Crap!

Dirt and spit!

Good riddance to the whole pile of shit

Hot shit!

I don't give a shit!

I don't give a squirt!

It has piss-all to do with you.

Oh, for shit's sake!

Oh, piss on it!

Oh, piss!

Oh, shit.

Petty pissing

Piece of shit

Piss

Piss and blood!

Piss and spittle!

Piss off

Piss on a stick.

Piss on it.

Piss on that.

Piss up a rope.

Piss weak

Piss-poor

Piss-poor job of it

Pissbag

Pissballs

Pissed-off

Pisshead

Pissing match

Pissing right we did

Pissy

Shit / Shite

Shit for shanks

Shit hole

Shit-eater

Shit-heap

Shitballs

Shite damned piss no!

Shitheel

Shoddy piece of crap!

Spit knives

Squat

Sure as piss

That's pissing great

Turd

Well shit me a sunshine

Well, piss

What in the living piss is happening!

What in the shuddering shit is going on?

What in the ever-loving spit

With my last breath, I spit at you!

Body Parts

[...] my arse! - used to show disbelief

Arse

Arse cakes!

Arse kettle

Arse-end of nowhere

Balls!

Bitch-balls!

Blow it out your arse

Butt

Cock things up

[...] cock this up

Cock-up

Get your arses off […]

Going tits up

Half-arsed

Kiss my ass

Kiss-arse

Kissing arse

Pain in the ass

Sorry ass

Fade/Magic/Void Related

By the Void!

Fade monkeys!

Suck on a fireball!

To the Void with [...]

Void damn it all!

Void take us all!

Void take [...]

What in the Void is wrong with [...]?

Who in the Void are you?

Food

A pile of stinking road apples

Applesauce!

Beans and spuds

Milk and cookies!

Pickles!

Stinking road apples!

That's bean-rot!

Parentage

Lucky bastard

Motherless bastard

Motherless son of a goat

Of all the motherless mongrels!

Son of a bitch!

Son of a motherless nug

Son of an ogre!

Misc

[...] be damned

Alas!

Blast and blazes!

Blast and damnation!

Blast it all, anyhow!

Blast it all

Blast it!

Blast you!

Blast!

Blech!

Bless my briches

Bollocks

Bugger it all

Bugger off!

Bullshit

Burn it all!

Confound it!

Cripes

Crud

Curse me for a fool!

Curse you!

Cursed for a fool!

Curses!

Damn

Damn fine

Damn good

Damn her/him/them

Damn it all!

Damn it!

Damn near

Damn sure

Damn you!

Damnation!

Damndest

Damndest thing

Damned if I know

Dang and blast!

Fiddlesticks!

Fire and death!

Flaming

Frigging / Frig

Fuck / Fucked / Fucking

Garbage

Glutton

Go nuts / Going nuts

God - contextually this doesn't really make sense, much like the use of hell in Thedas

Hell

Lucky bitch

None of this makes any damned sense [...]

Of all the blasted [...]

Of all the cursed luck!

Of all the cursed [...]!

Of all the infernal [...]!

Of all the [...]!

Oh dear

Oh, begger it all!

Oh, blast it!

Oh, brother!

Oh, buggery

Oh, by mercy

Oh, for pity's sake!

Oh, fuddle-knuckles

Oh...blast it!

Phooey

Shove it

Shut the fuck up!

Shut up!

Stab me with a fork and call me Susan!

Stupid

Tarnation

That's a stinker!

That's swill

The fuck?

To oblivion with you, wretch!

What in damnation

What the blasted [...]

What the fuck

What the hell [...]

Sources

Dragon Age: Origins + DLCs

Dragon Age 2 + DLCs

Dragon Age: Inquisition + DLCs

Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Vol. 1

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne

Dragon Age: The Calling

Dragon Age: Asunder

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights

Short Story: Paying the Ferryman

Dragon Age: Absolution

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance

DAO Codex Entry: The Casteless

DAI Codex Entry: Common Curse

Want to support this blog? Check out my ko-fi!

[ephemeronidwrites]

Personally I am going with the idea that both meanings are meant. The name as a reference to Merrill herself, as well as to the path she has chosen to walk (and I believe the name of her Act 3 quest, “A New Path” also directly refers to this).

do you know what 'Vir Tasallan' means? It's the name of Merrill's staff. i know vir means way, and i've tried to figure out what tasallan means. so far ive got ta=high, sa=one, lan=person. but that doesn't make any sense? high one who person?

Vir Tasallan would mean either “The way to the place of rediscovery,” or “The way of she who rediscovers.” 

It depends on whether tasallan is tasala (to renew, to rejuvenate, to rediscover, to remember, to revive, to relive) + lan (female person), or tasall (renewal, rejuvenation, rediscovery, remembrance, revival) + an (place).

Tasala means to renew, to rejuvenate, to rediscover, to remember, to revive, or to relive. It is a compound verb of the cojunction/adverb tas (also, as well, too, again) and the adverb sal (again, once more, repeat). It literally means “again once more.”

Hope that helps.

Sathem.

[ammocharis]

One bit of obscure Dragon Age lore a day until Dragon Age: The Veilguard is released

The lands that lie south of the Korcari Wilds are a frozen wasteland dubbed the Sunless Lands. Most Thedosians think this place is too cold for mankind to survive. However, Brother Genitivi learns from the Chasind that the Sunless Lands are inhabited by a group of people called Agadi, which means "exile" in the Chasind language. Genitivi theorizes the Agadi have been expelled from the Korcari Wilds and splintered off into their own culture.

Source: Codex entry: The Korcari Wilds; Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 131

Previous bit

[octosan]

kcwriter-blog I agree. He wasn’t the same guy. Also while I believe Solas would kill a friend, I don’t think he would stab him the back. It’s just out of character. So a Felassan is just another way for the devs to say “no he really is a bad guy”

Well and the other thing is that Solas' reasons for killing Felassan don't even make sense to me now.

I know a lot of people go #JusticeForFelassan and point out that "Betrayal of Felassan" refers to Solas betraying Felassan and not the other way around and like, I do vibe with that? But by telling Solas that he was not going to take the eluvians and suggesting that they just give this world a chance, Felassan literally did betray him. He essentially told him, in couched language, that he was not going to prioritize the ancient elves over modern Thedosians anymore.

Obviously it is a good thing that Felassan did this and that's not something he needs to be criticized for (though I kind of wish we'd gotten confirmation that he feels this way about all elves and not just Briala's people, because whew the sheer contempt he had for the Dalish-) but in a version of the story where Solas believes he must destroy Thedas for the sake of his own people, it makes sense to me for him to have killed Felassan for this, because Felassan is literally a threat to his cause now. And furthermore, the vibe from that scene in the story was that Felassan knew very well that Solas would kill him for this. He chose to go there after considering hiding from him forever, the narrative says that he knew going in that nothing he said would be enough. So whether or not Solas literally stabbed him from behind is immaterial imo.

Killing him mid-sentence was to me also symptomatic to how Solas Cannot view modern Thedosians as people because of how much harder that would make what he feels he has to do. Not to keep pointing to that Solavellan evidence here but that's reflected in the Cole banter after the break-up. "You're real and so everyone could be, it changes everything but it can't." Solas will also admit to a friendly Inquisitor that having accepted that Thedosians are people will "not make what must come next any easier".

Briala CAN'T remind Felassan of him. Solas CAN'T find Briala's goals sympathetic. Because if he does, how is he supposed to be okay with destroying everything she's working for when he brings the Veil down? And yet he MUST bring the Veil down or he would be betraying his own people too.

Now that Veilguard has removed the ancient elves from the narrative entirely and retconned him into just blindly hoping that all modern elves benefit from the Veil coming down, he and Felassan want the exact same thing (for modern elves to have a chance.) So now his killing him has been reduced to (essentially) a petty disagreement on how to help modern elves, and Solas killing Felassan mid-sentence a symptom of him just... rashly killing people? Rather than him decisively doing what he feels he must for the sake of people who actually exist and need him.

[revoleotion]

okay so I am doing the felassan joins the inquisition AU. I forgot who started this so uh. I gotta find that post again to give full credit but here's the first few paragraphs of my wip

.

There is a new recruit in the Inquisition. It’s a tall elf with a vallaslin dedicated to Mythal etched into his serious features. His hair is soft, tied back behind his neck, and while his clothes suggest that he might’ve lived a life similar to the one Solas claims to have lived, he holds himself differently, with a certain maturity only a long life can teach you. He doesn’t lower his voice when he speaks, and while he respects authority–he does speak like someone all too familiar with hierarchy–his entire demeanor feels genuine, somehow.

He introduces himself as Felassan, which is a name that rolls off your tongue nicely when you address him with it. It stresses the phonetic markers of a language you barely speak, one that is lost to time and oppression, and it shakes a part of it awake again, gently pushing old, forgotten scraps of it into your hands, urging you to remember. On the rare occasions he speaks Elvish, he wields the language with more skill than any other elf you know, other than Solas, of course.

That is not to say that he doesn't understand the common tongue, or modern Thedosian culture. He is far more assimilated than Solas is. He dresses in nice robes that have a distinct Fereldan style to them, and if it weren’t for his vallaslin and ears, he would probably blend in perfectly with the other recruits.

He is nothing if not polite. He knows military tactics, and while Cullen is hesitant to listen to a complete stranger at first, you end up finding them in the Skyhold Courtyard from time to time, pouring over a map, moving figurines around and gesturing wildly. Felassan’s voice isn’t overly loud but it carries far without much effort.

Perhaps naturally, based on the perceived similarities Felassan expects them to have, he gravitates most towards Solas. Solas isn’t… well, it’s hard to say whether he is uncomfortable with this because Solas, as you’ve gotten to know him over the last few months, would rather die than discuss his feelings. You still remember the kiss, the sincerity of it, the way he held you; the way he immediately stepped away and fled, apologized, insisted that it wouldn’t work when you offered to try. Despite his unwillingness to show discomfort, it’s obvious that he’s not exactly a fan of Felassan following him around.

It never gets heated. All things considered, their opinions do align well enough. Solas never snaps at the man the way he does at Dorian. There is no awkward tip-toeing around the topic of identity and purpose either, the way he does it with Varric. He doesn’t try to convince Felassan of the value of ancient Elvhen knowledge like he does with Sera. You expected Solas to judge the man for being Dalish but it never even comes up. (Which is odd, considering that this was one of the first topics he breached with you.)

About a week after Felassan joined, you are starting to notice the tension between them. Solas sighs when Felassan brings up a Dalish legend about the Dread Wolf. Felassan turns to you, “Inquisitor, have I told you my favorite legend yet? Of the time the Dread Wolf lost his tail to a mabari?”

“Please don’t bother the Inquisitor with Dalish superstitions,” Solas says.

You reach out with your anchored hand to pat his arm. “It’s fine, Solas. No, I haven't heard of it yet. Why?”

Solas winces away from your touch.

“Felassan…”

“Yes, Solas?” Felassan interrupts smoothly, and there is something in the way he looks at Solas that makes you wince. There is too much emotion in that gaze, emotion you can’t grasp, no matter how hard you try.

Solas meets his eyes, and for a few seconds there's nothing but intense silence between them, all until the apostate turns away, his posture defeated.

“Nothing. Continue.”

[ms-katonic-of-tamriel]

Veilguard

Still haven't played it but I am thinking the New Year may change that because I am already thinking a potential fic.

Specifically Age of the Dragon sequel.

It's set about 14 years after Corypheus's death, and Elisif will be 44 by this point, Empress of Tamriel, obviously not participating personally as she's got a country to run, a superpower no less, and she's had other kids in the intervening years who aren't even teenagers yet, she can't just leave them and as Empress she is too well-protected for portal accidents... and makes state visits rarely. Also with Embassies everywhere, she wouldn't stay a mysterious stranger with no resources for long.

However, you know who is the perfect adventuring age by this point?

MAIA AND THE TWINS. Maia's 20. The twins are 18. Maia enrolled in the Arcane university age 16, did a four year MThaum, just graduated, now on a gap year in Tevinter, partly to help cement diplomatic relations and partly to get a handle on Tevinter magical techniques. The twins were sent to live in the Reach at age 13 because Kaie wanted to actually acquaint them with the country and their heritage and Cicero could cope with the hormones no longer. Lia's been training with the ReachGuard since age 14, while Ria has been training with Auntie Keirine.

Meaning we've even got the VG mage specialties covered - Evoker for Maia, Spellblade for Lia, Death Caller for Ria. And of course they're all trained Thu'um-wielders.

The twins went with Maia to keep her company and also because they were curious too and Kaie was keen to find out just what Tevinter was like and more about the magic. All three, thanks to their Inquisition days, remember how to speak basic Thedosian, kept their hand in with books in the language, practice with visitors from time to time and pick up more once actually there.

Needless to say, Dorian's been back there for some time and is happy to host them at his Minrathous town house. Ralof there too with Frodnar, now 30ish and Dorian's officially adopted heir - both men took Dorian's name. Dorian and Ralof both in their forties too.

Miraak is Tamrielic Ambassador to Tevinter - switched countries once the idea to have Maia study there got floated. Lucien and Ria the Elder are both with him - Lucien is now his legal husband and very keen to find out more on Kal-Sharok, Orzammar having exhausted its knowledge. Maybe Kieran's there too.

Don't know how the plot would actually work, especially without Solas. But I can see Maia going on some academic excavation and unleashing something she shouldn't.

Cicero not involved, he's in his sixties and retired, looking after the twins' cats. But Eola's only in her forties, and the Black Rose is actually looking younger what with being part-Daedra now, so guess what they're both candidates for being involved.

Alistair might well show up, he's definitely watching. Perhaps he's sent Barbas along as eyes and ears. And we know Morrigan's canonically involved.

Just need to get round to playing the thing now.

[ndostairlyrium]

Hey ho, my lovely. How about 14, 22, and 30 for Ellie from the Rook Questionnaire?

*stamps a kiss onto my screen* hellouuuu ** <3

taking advantage of this to say that I'm enjoying A LOT seeing all the snippets of Eury and all the parallels you're finding during your playthrough, it's super cool!!

Rook Questionnaire

14: What hobbies does your Rook have?

Already replied here and here

22: What languages is your character fluent in?

Nevarran and trade, but he can pick up words related to Fade, Spirits, and magic pretty much in any language.

Also lemme complain for a moment about this mess lmao I don't know what's the deal with languages in Thedas anymore and it's so exhausting trying to make it make sense :'D because sometimes they are already existing languages without the cultural baggage a language should have, other times it's a cypher, but then we have two languages from the same family mixed together poorly (without considering that both languages have variations scattered throughout the globe and dialects), and sometimes they don't even exist (nevarran + anders not found but somehow they're both german, like wtf?!?). Sigh.

30: What's your favorite thing about your Rook?

I'm having so much fun detailing him! He's chaotic, borderline unhinged, and incredibly awkward. Also, his behaviour is so contradictory yet I can pinpoint easily the reason why he's acting like a line graph rather than being a straight line (does it make sense?).

I think my favorite thing so far is how immediate and in-the-moment he is about things. Like, Ela is selfless, Hawke is nurturing, Ankh is neurot- farsighted... and then we have the thedosian equivalent of this meme

He's irredeemably reckless :' he doesn't think twice and just dives head first into any situation. Consequences? I don't know her. Let's put our fingers inside the power socket and see what happens

I love everything about this!

[longer-than-i-should-admit]

Just thought of the saddest fucking headcanon for the time between Trespasser and Veilguard for Solas and Sibyl. Oh god. Y’all don’t mind me I’m just sobbing over here in the corner about my babies.

Sibyl is a prolific, fine cook. She handles most of the meals when they traveled because she enjoys it so much (as cooking for others and giving them some pleasure/peace/nostalgia is her love language) and figured out easily on that was a good way to “carry her weight” (since it took her a while to pick up on combat and felt guilty for relying on the others). She recreates dishes from the various Thedosian cultures as she learns about them (especially ones mentioned by her companions) and experiments with the ingredients she has available to her in the field. She figures out all their favorite meals and desserts and spoils every single one of them rotten because she just cares about them all and appreciates their help so much. They are the best fed twelve people in Thedas and their misfitting clothes show for it.

I headcanon that Solas doesn’t know how to cook a whole lot (besides maybe the most basic of meals for sustenance only) because I don’t see him as being a big eater. He misses being a spirit. He never wanted a body. I can totally envision him struggling to eat regardless, then add a thousand years of uthenara on top of that (which probably made him severely malnourished) to make it even more difficult to readjust. He likes sweets we know, and spicy foods, but as thin as he is in Inquisition versus how he fills out in Veilguard makes me think he wasn’t talking very good care of himself perhaps beyond what was strictly necessarily for recuperating his mana pool (plus I think he was actively mourning, connecting to my headcanon that he shaves his head for the same reason—Mythal, Felassan, the Veil, Arlathan being lost, the spirits trapped in the Fade…the list goes on).

Sibyl picks up on it immediately. She sees him push food around on his plate to give the appearance of having eaten it. She thinks it’s just pickiness at first, personal preference (because let’s be real, the Singing Maiden probably doesn’t have the most robust of menus—understandably so), so once she gets ahold of the campfire she starts making dishes she always loved at home to see what her companions like the best. And she notices, with some bemusement, that Solas eats everything she hands him. He mops up all the juices or sauces with the different types of breads she bakes. And, eventually, when she keeps asking him if he’d like to have seconds (to which at first he denied—Pride, remember?), he begins to ask for them on his own with polite words, composed posture, and unexpectedly earnest eyes. This takes a while, seeing as he can be stuffy around the other companions, but over time he just doesn’t care anymore. Her food is that good. If they can ask for seconds, he can, too.

Something something, “The dog that bites you because it is rabid is not the dog that bites you because it is starving.” Something something, “You may kill either, but one is just a few scraps of meat away from being your faithful servant.” Is this anything?

He puts on weight. He finds it easier and easier to rebuild his physique and mana reserve, no longer growing so fatigued and ill with the rigorous exertions involving almost constant travel and combat. Sibyl’s is the only food he readily trusts by the time they get to Skyhold. If she cooks for her Inner Circle (which she does often), you had best believe that his ass will be in that seat directly to her left; she always sends out messages in the mornings to they’ll all have ample time and notice, and he’ll spend all day long anticipating what she’ll make. He always makes it a point to fill her plate before he ever fills his, even though she protests it at times and tries to do the same for him. He reminds her that the cook should be rewarded for her hard work, and if she insists on doing the dishes afterwards and he doesn’t have any pressing research to conduct, he’ll help her.

The moment she discovers his sweet tooth? It’s over. It’s so over for him. She picks up on it fairly quickly, but she doesn’t know its full extent until he shares a memory of Arlathan with her for the first time. This happens much later in the timeline, once they’ve been established as very close and good friends—he’s trusted her enough to have met Wisdom, and she’s going through a deep depressive spell and can’t conjure any good memories of her own to protect herself in the Fade from the demons more likely to stalk her emotions being away from Skyhold where Solas has almost complete control. He’s been debating on showing her some of his own better memories since she’s been so open to showing him her world, but he’s always so afraid of accidentally letting slip who he really is because she’s so perceptive about things and he doesn’t know how far her insight extends. It’s difficult for him to remember anything good of Arlathan, but her buying him some of those frilly little cakes from Val Royeaux reminds him of his favorite patisserie in Arlathan. So—his best friend, who is the person he has been the closest to trusting in over a thousand years and has treated him better than anyone else he has every known, is so so sad and nothing that usually works is helping—he decides to share this with her. He is meticulous about removing himself from the memory as best as he can, showing it to her and taking the place of himself so she doesn’t realize he was actually there, and it works. She has been utterly fascinated with elvhen history since she first met him and to actually see Elvhen’an? Even the comparatively smallest fraction of it? She’s infatuated with it. She’s studying each detail like she’s trying to memorize it, treasuring each mundane element Solas had forgotten. He missed the shop, certainly, as it was a moment of respite he often sought, but he’d never really thought about the plants that the baker kept in the windowsills or how lovely, delicate, and colorful all the crystalline display dishes were. His memories are vivid enough he’s able to share his favorite dessert with her so she can experience the taste. He makes an off-hand comment, almost stumbling—from the sight of her in the height of Elvhen’an, when things were at relative peace, standing under the shimmer of golden sunlight streaming in through the windows and studying each item with that curious, glittering gaze he has come to so adore, clothed in the finest sage Arlathenian robes to match his silver ones to befit the setting more, and…he almost forgets she was not there, she is not one of the People (spirit or elvhen), and that he could not allow himself the weakness she so effortlessly and unwittingly invokes in him—and saying he wishes he could taste them. He caught the damning “again” just before it slipped off his tongue. He amends it, perhaps a little more hastily than he should have, in the waking world, citing that whomever had such a strong recollection of this place dearly loved its products.

Sibyl notes it. She cleans as much information as she can from the dream before he releases it. And then she spends a full day the next time she’s able to in Skyhold’s bakery trying to replicate it. Solas is elbows deep in his latest mural when she marches into the rotunda with a brilliant, giddy grin and sets a cloche onto his desk with all the flourish of the Orlesian court’s head chef. Solas is caught so off-guard he kind of floats over, in shock, confounded by the idea that she would have gone through so much pointless effort just for him. They look the same. They smell the same. They taste almost exactly the same (he cannot fault her for the ingredients that may have gone extinct in several thousand years—between the Evanuris’ gluttony for excess and the five Blights, many things were lost). Pride incarnate has the hardest time withholding the tears welling on his lash line at bay while he eats it in silence, closing them to savor the nostalgia bombarding and buffeting him like a monsoon.

“Are they all right?” Sibyl asks tentatively, her voice quietened from her prior enthusiasm at his lack of an outward response. “I thought I got pretty close, but maybe I added too much salt or sugar—”

“Ea gaelathen,” Solas interrupts her gently but firmly. He clears his throat, feeling somewhat silly for having such a reaction to a food of all things, and offers her his signature polite smile—although he suspects it is not as composed as he would prefer. Nevertheless, he allows his gratitude to shine through freely—that he dearly owed her. “Serranasan ma, emma falon,” he tells her. “This is—exactly how I expected it to be.” He swallows and sets the parchment with its crumbs gingerly on top of his work surface amongst the pigments she gifted him for Wintersend and the books she hounded requisitions to acquire for him for weeks just because he had off-handedly mentioned the titles being difficult to come by—things granted him strictly out of the benevolence of her heart without expecting anything in return. “You did not have to go to the trouble. You are busier than ever.”

“Ara melava son’ganem,” she tells him with a smile and an affectionate, warm tone that brooked no argument. “It’s something you wanted, and something that I could try to give you. That’s that.”

“Ma nuvenin,” he murmurs. It struck him then how terribly he wished he could touch her—even casually, as did the others. Josephine thought nothing of asking her up into a hug, and Iron Bull nearly knocked her down with how often he slapped her on the back. She was free with her touches, too worsen it—Solas recalled each time she had absentmindedly brushed arms with him, skimmed her hand across his back if she were passing behind him in a tight space, glanced her fingers against his while exchanging books or papers or items, gently steadied him if he was injured or weakened in the field as clearly as the bakery itself. She sought hands to hold when she was at her lowest, and he no longer hesitated to let her borrow his. She did not know how much blood stained them, but she also did not know how much more he would spill to keep her safe.

So it is a twist of fortune and torture both that she opens her arms and waits for him to mirror the gesture before hugging him tight. Her considerate grace and unknowing cruelty caused her only to retract once he pulled away first—which took him a frankly mortifying and shameful amount of time and effort to do so for fear of her seeing the way his lip trembled before he ground his teeth and ignored it.

“All you need do is ask if you ever have a special request,” she tells him quietly. “Being reminded of even the smallest joys can bring the light back to the darkest of nights. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“I will remember that,” he says softly.

He does. He remembers his favorite of her meals as acutely as the pain of leaving her, the Inner Circle (his first true friends, he is forced to acknowledge when the loneliness becomes almost too much to bear), Skyhold, and the Inquisition. No matter which restaurant or tavern or bakery he slips into to indulge in a meal beyond what his meager, lackluster capabilities could conjure, nothing tastes the same. It’s never as good. It is flavorful, certainly, in most cases, but it tastes just as hollow and unappetizing as it did before he met her. The enjoyment is gone.

He tries to replicate some of them and always fails. He can never seem to quite get it right—too little pepper, too much salt, not enough of something he can never place a finger on. He gives up after a year. Cured and pre-prepared foods become his go-to. (Looking at you, unknown jerky in the Lighthouse larder.)

He wants her soups and breads and pastas and salads and cupcakes and cookies and pies and he relives the memories of those raucous, at times aggravating dinners down in the private dining hall in the belly of Skyhold just to savor the remnants of those flavors once more. He always tells himself it will be the last time, that it is pointless to deepen the wound, that he has to let it all go if he is to proceed with his plan. He must harden his heart to a cutting edge and put it all aside in order to succeed. But he hasn’t had a decent meal in years, so just one more night of remembering how she made that specific Antivan dish he had tried wouldn’t hurt, right…?

(He is a terrible liar, most of all to himself. He despises it.)

To make matters worse, his dreams of the memories that he deigned to share are inextricably altered as a result. Her presence is a permanent mark in each of them that he cannot shake despite knowing fully well that she did not have a part to play in any of them.

His recollection of that same patisserie now haunts him with her beaming face greeting him from behind the service counter haunt him almost worse than his other regrets. She is always radiant, always dressed in flour-dusted, bleak-colored robes in a stark, drab contrast to the unnerving spotless and immaculate rest of Arlathan, always with her hair pinned up and her face flushed from the ovens and humming the songs he no longer remembers the words to. Sometimes she remains human, unblemished, petite and curvaceous and perfect as she is. Others she is one of the People, the pinnacle of elvhen beauty, her dainty tapered ears decorated with the most tasteful and delicate of golden chains and fragmented chips of jewels discarded by the elite who wore the polished, faceted stones in the gaudiest of fashions. He sees her bare-faced, and he sees her marked by Sylaise or Mythal (or, on his worst nights, Elgar’nan, with wearied, dark circles under her crinkled eyes, relieved at the sight of him, favoring certain limbs or covering wounds she had not been allowed magic to heal in any way save what came naturally to their bodies) for her creativity and inclination for beautiful decoration and inherent satisfaction to serve others in shades of verdant greens or comely ivories or vivid vermilions. He wonders what spirit she could have been, but is never able to determine an answer. Devotion, hope, loyalty, curiosity, compassion, or protection—even wisdom—all seem suitable options. It drives him mad that he cannot place what she reminds him so deeply of without being able to figure it out—yet he remembers that she is not Thedosian. It does not matter in the end. He betrayed her still. He hurt her (and not just by robbing her arm) just like he’s hurt everyone else that he’s ever cared about.

He misses her. Terribly. It’s a constant ache he cannot cope with. He never expected to find so deep of a connection with anyone again after Mythal was twisted against her purpose. She is his closest friend in millennia. She is a victim of his follies. She only expected him to ever be who he truly is at heart—not a tool, not a weapon, but a resource—a scholar, an artist, a…gentle soul. She reminded him of what it used to feel like simply being Solas. He was the one who drudged up his other names in the end. She valued him for his knowledge, not his manipulations. She means more to him than many things—almost more to him than destroying the world that she had come to love as dearly as her own. She was everything that…well. He tried not to think about it.

Freeing himself from his own prison (the intended way…the right way) is an adjustment. Being brought back by Rook (with some wariness and mistrust, which is to be expected, but far more open-minded welcome than he could ever have anticipated) into his own Lighthouse by the Veilguard that now inhabit it is an adjustment. Relearning how to cooperate and live with people again is an adjustment, nevermind the fact that they are perhaps even more eclectic than those with whom he had traveled in the Inquisition, is an adjustment. But Rook—despite everything—treats him with respect and eventually seeks him out, Professor Volkarin is a balm compared to most circle mages with whom Solas had ever conversed (or debated, in the case of Madame de Fer), Bellara Lutare is a blinding spark of hunger for knowledge always ready to listen to the explanations she extracts from him without (had she any capacity for malice, that would have served her well), Scout Harding and he find common ground after a long and difficult conversation, and the others eventually follow suit—especially once he and Varric reconcile. After that, it is as though a switch is flipped—they find him for the most mundane things (questions about his history or general conversation or invitations to venture out into the world in their continued efforts to mitigate the blight’s spread and restore order to northern Thedas) and treat him as though he might have been one of their companions all along. He knows the dwarf likely had something to do with it, but…Solas is still attempting to resolve his own issues, and it is exhausting enough that he will not question why his old friend would so readily forgive him for almost killing him in a fit of pique. Solas adjusts, with time. And perhaps it should always have been so easy to laugh with others, or escalate ongoing jokes, or share anecdotes of the many mishaps living for millennia is bound to incur.

It makes him miss Sibyl more. She is busy with the south and owes him less than nothing and yet he cannot help but think of how much she would adore this ragtag team just like she had her own. She would also have advice for him on how to deal with all the struggles he faces each day waking with the slow acceptance of all the regrets he had orchestrated—while his knowledge of the mind and its workings remained astute, she had always been better at deciphering the unintelligibility and complexity when it came to matters of the heart. She anchored him when he was trapped under the wake of his feelings, and he had more than ever before now—yet he did not entertain the idea of asking her. Not now. Not until he got better—for the world, but also for her—including making himself eat normally. For his health.

Lucanis is kind enough to save him a portion of cacio e pepe at his unspoken designated seat at the head of the table opposite Rook, who is the one to talk him out of his study to join the rest of the Veilguard to take a break from his day-long studies. They waited to start for him, which he finds both humbling and embarrassing. But listening to idle chatter is a balm he did not know he had missed so deeply, and they allowed him companionable silence unless he felt he had anything of value to add to their conversations (which was rare, given how awkwardly he still felt amongst their ranks after everything—but they took his earnest, intentional attempts at gentle correction and constructive criticism with charity nevertheless). And the others, while ornery and prone to teasing amongst themselves—and now towards him that he hadn’t betrayed them again—were kind enough to his battered, wounded pride not to comment on the traitorous pair of tears that diluted some of the sauce saturating the noodles. It was almost the same, and it somehow helped—like she wasn’t so unreachable.

When Solas returns to Skyhold, it is a far lengthier readjustment, but Sibyl allows him no time before she’s bombarding him like a mother hen—and, for once in his long, lonely, lost life—he allows her to fuss without very much protest. He had missed her. He had missed her affection and her sincerity and her food. He nearly gorges himself on it the first couple of weeks, but he finally gets a hold of himself and slows down after that. He’s safe. He’s protected. He’s home. And he almost begs Sibyl to teach him how to cook like she does because a) it allows them bonding time, b) he wants to develop the skill, and c) he’s being a bit clingy and ends up practically glued to her hip the first couple of months. He trusts her completely, now, with his own life and his heart, and he never wants to be parted from her again.

(He does cry the morning after he returned to find some of his favorites on a tray waiting on his desk when he emerges from his quarter. Fortunately, not many people were in the rotunda at the time.)

[pupkinpumpkin]

https://www.tumblr.com/thievinghippo/763052703781879808/31-days-of-dragon-age?source=share

Oct 21: Introduce your Inquisitor

*long inhale*

Nah I'm just kidding. Kinda

I've done like 3 different posts about her, so this one will be a bit of a combo of all of them

Marella Lavellan

Born to be in STEM, forced to be The First, aka woulda been a great artificer

She never believed in the Creators, was bisexual in a homophobic clan, and had large expectations put onto her the second she developed magic, which was when she was 8, so basically she's a gigantic mess who modifies her personality and beliefs so her clan will accept her and has heavy religious guilt and trauma.

Also she has pyrophobia because when she was 20, her secret girlfriend was pushed into a fire by some rogue Templars and then died.

Basically throughout the Inquisition she slowly learns to stop being people pleasey, accept herself as she is, and grows some self confidence

She gets with Cullen, and I personally really like this since they both have had very negative experiences with the opposite faction and instead of fixing each other, they learn to fix themselves but act as a rock and a person to lean on for the other. Cullen would have gotten off lyrium without her and she would have learned to become her own person without him, but their relationship gives them someone to depend on during the worst moments of their journey to self betterment.

And, personally, she would've given him a lot more pushback on the idea of the 'danger' of free mages than is allowed in-game

Her best friends include Cole, Cassandra, Josephine, and Dorian, with Solas and Sera being close seconds. Dorian specifically really helps Lavellan gain the confidence to be herself, specifically after his personal quest.

I think even with the insane amount of pressure she was put under in her clan and the way she never really felt she could be herself in it, she is still proudly Dalish and would never turn her back on her culture and heritage. She just learns that her version of what it is to be Dalish is different from the one her clan believes in

Fun facts include:

- She's trilingual! Knows Elvhen, the Common Language, and Tevene due to a family friend of the clan being an ex slave from Tevinter. Dorian teaches her more as they become friends

- At first, she's a little uncomfortable with Cole because he can feel all the hurt she's always trying to hide, but she really grows fond of him and sees him as a little brother in the end, helping him help others in her free time

- She has a panic attack in Wicked Hearts Wicked Minds!

- She would genuinely be a top player of The Game if the whole thing didn't stress her out so much

- Right after becoming Inquisitor, she asks Josephine and Vivienne to teach her about Thedosian politics

- Her ears move in accordance to her emotions

- She had a big crush on Cassandra at one point

- She and Dorian hit it off so well in the beginning and hung out with each other so much, that people thought they were together in the early days of the Inquisition

- Her sister, Ehlyena, also never believed in the Creators, but unlike her, Ehlyena ran away from the clan at 14 and converted to Andrastianism. I like to think that she visits Lavellan after In Your Heart Shall Burn, so its a nice family reunion, but it's also really weird. Imagine finding out your little sister is God's special little boi but also your sister doesn't believe in God

Anyway ya that's mostly it

[aylaaescar]

Hi hello those ships asks are so much fun!! So here's a bunch: 11, 22, 27 for Vanyla/Leliana, 3+13 for Sky and Atton if you feel like it, 7+24 for Rosemary/Fenris, and 12-15 for Meg/Ashley? <3 WAIT also 1, 23, 30 for Aelisay/Bull

aHHHh thank you!! my blorbos and THEIR blorbos <3 (and right?? these are so fun skdfgj I love answering these, even if they take me a hot minute)

putting under a cut bc I ramble <3

Vanyla/Leliana

11. What good do they bring out in each other?

I think that what Leliana brings out of Vanyla is more obvious than the other way around, for one thing. Vanyla is way nicer and softer when Leliana is around, puts more effort into not being quite so sharp and mean as she normally is. (which, in all fairness, is a thing that she learns in general during the Blight, but Leli brings it out more often lol.)

on Leliana's end, Vanyla helps her to be more accepting and at peace with herself and what she's done. Vanyla is very firm that no matter what Leli's done in the past, it doesn't dictate who she is now, and that Marjolaine's comments were worthless, cruel jabs to lower her guard.

22. What's different about their backgrounds? Do those differences affect the relationship?

so you've got Leliana, orphan who was raised by a noblewoman turned bard turned runaway turned Chantry sister. Vanyla, meanwhile, was a noblewoman who lived in the total lap of luxury until very recently. I wanna say that it affects the relationship, but it also doesn't? as in - obviously they have different backgrounds that shaped their views on the world. I can only speak for Vanny since she's my OC, ofc, but she was deeply spoiled and self-absorbed before becoming a Warden. this woman stomped her foot and threw a fit the first time she had to actually pay for something and didn't have the coin or family name to her name. (Alistair saw it. he's been judging her for that moment ever since.)

so it affects her relationship w Leliana, but it also affects, like, everything about the Blight and her growing up as a person during it, lol. does that make sense?? learning to be less spoiled and arrogant was a big thing for her. listening to Leliana talk about her background might be one of the first times Vanyla gave much of a thought to the lives of her castle's servants, and it was a deeply uncomfortable realization that kept her up that night.

27. What interests do they share? For interests they don't share, do they ever participate anyway?

fun fact: they actually first bonded w each other because they were talking about shoes or hair, lol. they're both very feminine and fashionable, they love pretty frilly things and shoes. Vanyla is a proud Fereldan ofc, but if there's anything Orlais does better in her opinion, it's the shoes. and fashion. they go shopping together a lot whenever they're in Denerim or a major city that allows it, and though the Blight probably isn't the best time to lug around some cute dresses like that... it's fine, it's all fine, it's going to a good cause. the cause of looking great. :^)

Vanyla also loves reading and whatever the Thedosian equivalent of brain teasers are, and I would hazard a guess that Leliana enjoys those as well? yeah.

Sky/Atton (rest assured that I am always down to talk about them skdfjg I'm just lazy and haven't added the KOTOR crew to my OC page yet bc idk what to do for images?? somebody remind me to get on that sometime)

3. What's their favorite thing to tease each other about?

idk if they have a favorite thing, but they affectionately tease each other about a fair amount? piloting skills, pazaak skills, Force talents, you name it. Sky's glowing red eyes came up in conversation once when it was pitch black and Atton was able to see her anyway. gotta love the Chiss.

13. How do they express love for each other? Do they have compatible love languages?

I talked about it a bit on my old blog, but a thing before I answer bc I feel like it affects it: they never actually get together. they're in love w each other, yeah, and I think they spend their lives together after Sky returns from finding Revan, but it's strictly in this officially platonic capacity. they're best friends who understand each other and their respective dark sides better than anybody, they're loyal to each other and would die for the other, but there's also... never any romantic resolution to their relationship. neither of them can forgive themselves for what they've done enough to let themself be loved, I think. idk if I'm explaining it well haha. and in Sky's case, she doesn't know if Atton would actually want to be with her or if the Force bonds would make him fall for her. it's complicated.

anyway! to answer the actual question! I would peg them as both being quality time and acts of service - the former bc, well, they spend p much all their time together when Sky gets back from finding Revan and she reconciles with Atton. the latter bc they might never actually say the words "I'm in love with you" to each other and stay officially platonic, but they still do what they can for each other anyway. nobody has their back like the other does.

Rosemary/Fenris

7. What's their most and least favorite thing about each other?

for Rosemary: man, what didn't she like about him? his strength, his sense of humor, his cleverness, she loved p much everything. his stance on mages caused some friction, but they were able to come around and see each other's point of view after a while.

for Fenris: I'd say that he loved her compassion and humor most of all, and that what he liked the least was how much she was unable to stop blaming herself for bad things that weren't her fault. :/

24. How did they fall for each other?

I feel like they were both attracted to each other from the start, but falling in love was a thing that happened gradually over the years as they became friends and got to really know each other. idk if there was any one big event that prompted it, but they both became much more aware of their own feelings and started to explore the possibility of a romance between each other just a bit before act 2 started.

Meg/Ashley

12. What struggle have they seen each other through?

*gestures to the whole Reaper thing*

but that's a cheap answer sdkfghsjgk. Virmire is a heavy one for them both - they were both close friends with Kaidan, and his loss never really stopped being painful. it just became easier to deal with.

Meg had to deal with her former gang on Earth becoming xenophobic as they pushed into space, as well as learning more of the circumstances behind Akuze, and Ashley was present for both of those. Ashley had to deal with the loss of her sister's husband, which Meg was there for. on a much, MUCH lighter note - there was some anxiety and fear about the rules and regulations back in ME1, but by the time ME3 rolled around, they both decided they didn't care. they could be written up when the Reapers were gone.

13. How do they express love for each other? Do they have compatible love languages?

not verbally, for one thing. they'll both say it in big moments, I think, but otherwise they don't say "I love you" as much as other couples might. not that they don't feel it, ofc, it's just not who they are (and Meg in particular has a very hard time verbalizing how she feels). so I'd peg them as quality time and acts of service? spending a lot of time together while going out of their way to do things for the other that'll make her life easier.

14. What little things remind them of each other?

Meg re: Ashley: phoenix armor, shotguns (or boomsticks, as they're lovingly called), poetry, discussions of faith

Ashley re: Meg: the color pink, pretty shoes and fashion in general, biotic charges, hilariously deadpan/stoic responses to weird stuff

15. What habits or characteristics have they picked up from each other?

idk if this one counts as a habit, but Meg's become a lot more expressive after she and Ashley have been together for a while. she's still largely a stoic person lol, but she shows emotions more often than she used to. also she smiles more, which takes everybody by surprise the first time that happens.

Ashley feels a little bit harder to pin down? maybe a bit of Meg's rather clipped way of speaking, but that's about all I can think of? 🤔 she doesn't really strike me as the type to easily pick up stuff from others, she's very uniquely herself lol.

Ealisay/Bull

1. What do they think of each other's family? And how does the family feel?

the Ostwick clan just loves that one :^D jk no uh, the Trevelyan family isn't terribly thrilled as a whole? Ealisay's parents would really rather that she agree to marry some nice noble and secure an alliance, but I'm also reasonably sure there's jack squat they can do about it since their kid is LITERALLY the Herald of Andraste. they come to be more accepting over time, and even approve a little bc Ealisay is obviously happy, but it takes a bit for them to get there. Ealisay's siblings are kind of mixed - at least one is the same as their parents, at least one just plain doesn't care and is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about it, and I know Ealisay has a mage twin brother (you heard it here first, folks) who's happy for her. that said, Ealisay isn't really close to her family in general and doesn't actively seek their approval anymore. she's happy with Bull, and that's what matters to her. I get the impression that Bull probably wouldn't want to get involved with that scene?? which works fine for Ealisay, bc she doesn't really want to get involved anymore either.

long paragraph woo

on Bull's end, obviously biological family is trickier bc the Qun but! he sure does have the Chargers! and Ealisay gets along with them VERY well, they're family as far as they're both concerned. complete with meddling sister vibes as she plays matchmaker for Krem and Maryden.

23. What was their first impression of each other?

Ealisay internally: m u s c l e s

basically that he was A) enormous B) good in a fight C) hot D) BIG MUSCLES. idk if it's been mentioned before but that girl is heart eyes for big muscles. it's hot. she also thought he seemed like he'd be enjoyable to have around, just from his general demeanor, so she liked him p much right away? admitting that he was a Ben-Hassrath didn't really deter her lol, she thought it was nice that he was upfront and didn't really think about that until waaaay later.

on Bull's end, I will assume that he also noticed Ealisay being good in a fight bc that lady is a solid tank lol. also that she was... ehh "silly" isn't the right word, but not as serious as one might assume the Herald of Andraste to be? he knew who she was right away, ofc, but she was a lot more relaxed and playful than one might have assumed a noblewoman turned Herald to be.

30. Where is their relationship the strongest?

w their muscles bc they're both buff warriors 💪🐮💪👩

jk no, I'm gonna say that it's in how plain supportive they are of each other? Bull's is obvious from his romance, how much he goes out of his way to help the Inquisitor feel good and grounded, and I love him for it (as does Ealisay). Ealisay is similar in that regard - she's the first to tell him that he's a good man without the Qun and that he doesn't need it to be a good person, she'll just shrug and pick up the stick and go to town when he's doing those fear exercises, she distracts him so he'll have a nice birthday surprise even tho they both know he knows what the Chargers are doing. they're very ride or die for each other.

[monabee-draws]

Solas' real fatal flaw is that he is blind to his own bias and lack of information.

He is so buried in the worldview of the ancient elves and it is coloured heavily by his love for Mythal. Mythal's vallaslin originated from the past same as each of the others, which implies that she too had slaves (the practice of keeping them being something Solas abhors) but was 'benevolent and kind' to them and also 'wise enough' to lead them to a better path. The altercation at the Well is proof of Mythal's association with careful thought and information - the Well itself stores memories passed through generations. Many of her myths show her as a masterful judge of situations, able to see both sides of a conflict and determine a path with least bloodshed.

It is Mythal's wisdom (and the loss thereof leading to his own haste and the downfall of the elves) that likely influences Solas' attachment to knowledge, but it also blinds him to nuance. He respects wise leadership greatly, and faults those who act on false information (the wardens.) But what he fails to understand is that he doesn't actually understand or have all the answers about the world in its present state, at least not to the level where he can claim his wisdom leads him to the best possible path forward (if such a thing can actually exist.)

Solas knows one kind of world and exactly how it worked before the Veil destroyed it. The dwarves existed before the fall of Elvhenan, but that society's persistence through the Veil and subsequent destruction to some other catastrophe (the Blight) millenia later does not make him stop and recall that All Empires Eventually Fall. He does not take the time to understand qunari culture and existence. Nor to understand who the elves are now in the fullness of their circumstances, cultural shifts and new and layered practices. Because it is not Familiar it is not Correct. He does not understand how anyone can live Like That, and experience both sorrow and joy. Some of this is of course because of the large timeskip between his world ending and him waking up in the Thedosian present (this world feels like a dream) but instead of actually doing what makes people wise - that is, collecting both information AND experience on the ground, he assumes he already knows enough, knows BETTER, and that if everyone else did too, then of course they would choose his path/agree with him.

I think this is made most obvious in his scene with a romanced Lavellan where he tells of her the markings original meanings and in her shocked moment before she can process things offers to remove them. But Solas... its been 5000 years??? If not more?????? Symbols change! People in Thedas don't live forever anymore! Their lives are short, and the meanings assigned to things WILL change naturally over time. Language, for example, progress in Thedas: Dorian can no more read ancient Tevene than the elven inquisitors can read ancient elven. This is not an indictment of the knowledge held by those in the present, it is merely the nature of the progression of time.

It's unfortunate that the best analogue for Solas in the game is in fact Corypheus. As Dorian says, "the Imperium he remembers doesn't exist anymore" and it is the same for the rest of Thedas. The Veil may have accelerated the shift, but realistically, Arlathan took another 1000 years to fall to the humans. The elves might have lost power in some other way even if all he'd done was kill the Evanuris and freed everyone else. But, because he believes he has knowledge above all others, and that his knowledge is more complete than anyone else, he cannot possibly entertain the idea that he is wrong. His name being 'Pride' suits him well.

i can 100% understand loving solas for the complex character he is but i just cannot understand i CANNOT understand people seeing him go "hmmmm... dwarves are just severed limbs imitating life without a purpose... hmmm... qunari are savage barbarians... hmmmm... the modern elf might as well be stupid uneducated tranquils... and that's why i justify genociding them!!"

and be like

"omg you guys what if solas is right??? food for thought teehee."

think about what you are sayiinnngggggg.

[ammocharis]

One bit of obscure Dragon Age lore a day until Dragon Age: The Veilguard is released

Crystal Grace has a meaning in Thedosian flower language - it symbolizes parting. It may be used in floral arrangements made for funerals.

Source: Short story: The Wake

Previous bit

[musetta3]

Some Musings on Thedosian Calendars

So in one of the Dragon Age server I’m in, the question of the Thedosian calendar came up. So I did some digging and analysis, and found some really cool correlations. Please note that these are my opinions, based on the Dragon Age Wiki and canon sources. There are many interpretations, not just mine <3 

Southern Thedosian Climate Thoughts

Thedas is, from what we understand, in the southern hemisphere of their world, for the sheer fact of south = colder, north = warmer. However, if we look at the Common names of the months, there can be 2 different interpretations

-1. Either Southern Thedas has climate like an IRL northern hemisphere, where Wintersmarch = January = winter weather/snow, and thus follows seasons that way. It's easy to consider it that way, because the 8th month in Thedas and Earth, match: they're both August (according to the wiki, this is carried over from when Andraste was named Augusta in earlier drafts of the game)

 -2. OR the Thedosian calendar year starts in, say, what we would consider summer in the IRL northern hemisphere/winter in the IRL southern hemisphere (such as IRL March) and then follows a southern hemisphere pattern of weather. Considering the Tevinters first set up the calendar, and the Roman calendar year starts in March, that can also be a consideration.

either of these methods can work. I personally use the first method in my longfic, The Songstress and the Swordsman, but, as stated above, there are many proverbial roads to Rome, and different interpretations.

As for the Southern Thedosian climate: from what we see in the games, there’s so many different climates present in DAI. So you can interpret it a number of ways, including: 

-visiting different regions during different time of the year. We know that DAI takes place over a period of time, so that’s not a stretch. ex: ‘I’m visiting the Hinterlands in the summer, and the Emprise in winter’

-The Frostbacks could act similarly to the Rocky Mountains  in the Pacific NW of the US, where one side is lush and green, and the other is dry prairie/grassland

-some areas could be affected by magic, which would also affect things in its own way

But, we can mostly agree that it’s relatively temperate in Ferelden and the Free Marches. There's some snow in parts of it. 

What of Tevinter/the North, though? That's where things get interesting.

Tevinter Calendar and Climate

Here is the calendar, directly from the Wiki

so let's break this down. Tevene shares roots in Latin, so I used Latin to translate this... 

 1: Spring-month/Wintermarch; celebrate First Day 

2: 'it rains' (from that Latin verb 'to rain')/Guardian; celebrate Wintersend 

3: 'hazy/ cloudy'/Drakonis 

4: Eluvium: sediment/rock debris formed from running water or rain/Cloudreach 

5: I strive/work (or, alternatively a tweak of 'melior' which is 'better')/Bloomingtide; celebrate Summersday 

6: Hot/boiling (from 'fervens')/ Justinian 

7: Sun (easy: sol for sun)/Solace 

8: Pertaining to matrons/married women (further push it to Mothers)/ August; celebrate All Souls Day 

9: Small (can be interpreted as ‘little ones’ or children)/Kingsway 

10: Grain/Harvestmere 

11: Shadowy/cloudy/Firstfall; celebrate Satinalia 

12: Hollow or empty/ Haring 

Notice that we have a clear period of 3 rainy months, 2 intense summer, a harvest, and then a cloudy, empty period of not much going on. This, to me, follows the typical climate found in India. 

If we ascribe to the first theory of 'Wintersmarch = January = Winter' I would consider SE India, where there are monsoons during the IRL winter months (speaking from a northern hemisphere perspective, at least) 

 If we use Theory 2 'Wintermarch = IRL March' then this aligns with the SW monsoon pattern during the IRL summer (again, northern hemisphere perspective <3 ).

I interpret it as this:

Guardian-Cloudreach: monsoon season 

Bloomingtide: super short respite, planting season 

Justinian-August: S U M M E R 

Kingsway-Harvestmere: autumn 

Firstfall-Haring: winter 

Wintermarch: super short spring

Could it be that it these names are simply cool names slapped onto the IRL Earth calendar? Possibly. However, the correlations are a bit too coincidental for me to rule that out completely.  

Tevinter Calendar, The Weather, and Holidays

I found some correlations between the Old Tevinter names of the holidays, and the translated month names in which they occur

Wintersend/Urthalis: dedicated to Urthemiel, the god of beauty. How does holding tourneys match up with 'beauty?' well, two ways: flex your political muscles and put on some epic pageants/events that are beautiful. OR celebrate this right before the monsoons start, when the weather is still 'beautiful.' Parts of Tevinter will become muddy and muggy, soon, definitely not pretty

Summersday/Andoralis: dedicated to Andoral, the god of unity. We celebrate this in Bloomingtide/Melior, or the 'I work' month. Andoral is the god of unity, so why honor him during this month? To unify together and plant before the summer comes 

All Souls Day/Funalis: dedicated to Dumat, the god of silence. this is a very interesting holiday, because after Dumat rose in the first Blight, Thedosians rededicated the holiday to remembering those who have passed. In the South, it represents Andraste’s death, coming from August (Augusta was, remember, an old name for Andraste before the devs switched it over). Bonfires are common, to represent Her pyre. In the Old Tevene, Matronalis is ‘pertaining to matrons/married women.’ Andraste is the Bride of the Maker, a married woman, and mother.

It’s interesting to note that in some Northern countries, people dress as spirits and parade down main thoroughfares at midnight. Is it a carry-over from Dumat’s celebration in the ‘dead silence of night?’ Perhaps!

Satinalia/Feastday: originally attributed to the god of chaos. Now. This is like... two letters off or something from the Ancient Roman Saturnalia, and bears some really close resemblances (not to the month name, this time). Wild celebrations, masquerades, gift giving: in some areas, like Antiva, it lasts a whole week! So a whole week of chaos! Epicness! It’s my favorite holiday, and I never attended it before <3 

It’s a good thing to note that the holiday got its name from Satina, the second moon. It could be that, during this time of year, Satina is really visible/prominent in the sky, hence why the holiday is named for it. 

[heniareth]

Well, sand in her face will definitely deter Astala from coming closer for a while XD XD XD It’s a crunch between her theeth, and not the nice kind of crunch U_U It will depend on what kind of a fight it is and waht causes it to determine if it gets physical though.

I was thinking what might’ve gotten the tension high enough for a fight to break out (because the feelings of betrayal and abandonment are always simmering in the background; something must’ve brought them to a boiling point), and I remembered that in your canon, Novhen stealths forward and gets bitten by the werewolves. That would rattle Astala, for sure, and potentially bring out her frustration over Novhen being so cavalier with his own life. The conversation could go something like this (in a very meta way, as in, what they mean, not what they’d actually be saying):

Astala: Stop doing dangerous things alone!

Novhen: Somebody has to do dangerous things, and better one dies than two.

Astala: Ma would be very disappointed.

Novhen: Would she? Part of the reason I’m doing things alone is because you left

And voilá, we have a fight! As long as Novhen’s thoughts wuld actually go that way, that is

Agreed that the end of NotB is the better moment for a fight such as this. And, Adaia would definiely be able to steer them a bit. She knows her children and the kind of faces they’re making at each other and at her tells a lot.

But if it’s this kind of fight, I don’t think Astala would get physical. She’s angry about Novhen getting hurt, she’s not gonna hurt him more. There might be verbal violence, or storming off. She might draw a comparison between the werewolves and the cult (because wolves and wolves, and she deems both a danger). But I think Novhen’s safe from getting bitten a second time XD XD XD One thing they might want to do though to avoid airing all of their family troubles and the cult business to the rest of their companions is switch over to rapid-fire Alfish. I think that would make for a cool effect and keep Ilanlas mercifully in the dark about the cult. As far as I’ve understood, he’d maybe understand every third word and every fourth would sound vaguely familiar, but he wouldn’t be able to make sense of it, right?

EDIT: Unless Alfish is the kind of language not intended for outside ears, be it because it's outright secret or just because it's weird to speak your own language in front of shem (because it's peivate or maybe because you might get cuffed over the head for it á la You're in Ferelden, speak the King's Tongue)

Astala’s gonna be very grateful that Novhen keeps his Thoughts and Opinions for himself right after UoSA. Later she’ll be interested to hear them 👀👀👀👀👀 They can talk about the erasure of elves from Thedosian history and Shartan as a historical person (and whether Shartan and Andraste were A Thing, if that’s an ok topic of conversation) over a glass of something. Probably alcoholic. Once Astala has settled in her current uncertainty regarding religion

Also, Solas does not deserve Novhen At All. If he does something other than inconvenience him, Astala’s gonna break an egg or attempt to. Would Novhen tell Astala if he found out about the Dread Wolf’s world-ending plan?

Allso YES!! Let’s talk about the Deep Roads. Two months sounds absolutely hellish. Novhen has his silver eyes and heightened senses, and constantly having something creep around at the edge of your perception for two months must be the worst. I’m also imagining they might have provision problems. Branka was last seen in Ortan Thaig, but they go much farther than that. This makes it difficult to plan how many provisions to bring. Naturally, if anything starts to run short, the Grey Wardens in the group would be the first to cut back on it for themselves, bc they can survive on less the deeper they are in the Deep Roads (yey taint. And yey memories of hunger seasons for Tabrises and Broscas). To what point would Novhen overextend himself?

Astala meanwhile would be taking point in all of the fights, with Khêd if he’s with the party. They might end up pretty banged up, because the Warden healing factor and the need to get through these blighted tunnels will have them taking point again and again and again. It won’t stop until they’re out. Another thing that would weight heavily on Astala is that this is a sort of preview to the end all Wardens meet: abandoned somewhere in the Deep Roads until darkspawn overwhelm them. And in only twenty years’ time, at most! She’s going to be contemplating her unfairly cut lifespan and the gruesome end that awaits her after they get out of the Deep Roads. I mean, in twenty years, Cyrion might still be alive! Does this worry Novhen too?

All of the Wardens will need two weeks minimum of resting time with nothing more exciting to do than decide what’s for dinner that day. And Astala for sure later has nightmares about the broodmother. Most notably, one with Shianni becoming a broodmother. Some nights she really wants to take her own brain out of her skull

Because of this, I approve of 🌿😎stoned 🌿😎  Shianni XD XD XD XD XD Anything’s better than being a broodmother.

I am now picturing Astala and Novhen getting utterly lost in the Brecilian forest and Ilanlas having to go fish them out XD XD XD XD Later they return the favor when they’re in Denerim. “If you don’t mention us getting los in the forest again, we won’t mention this either.” Ilanlas will definitely relax among Zathrian’s clan, I think. And, well, it seems like Novhen annd Ilanlas will stay... coworkers. Mutually significant bothers. People who work together and who you won't let die, but you're not friends per se. That’s important to have as well ^^

Unless Tamlen’s death changes something drastically. I could see him becoming veeeeeeery quiet after that, but that is uh not necessarily good

Hmmmmmmm Novhen reaching the gates of Amaranthine only to be informed by a bloody darkspawn that there’s an attack on the Vigil planned, where Astala is currently stuck in, is juicy 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 He definitely does right by trusting his judgement, as well as the people he left behind and the renovations they made to the fortress (and lo and behold, it holds!!) Astala’s definitely leading the defence of the Keep, from the back lines. Armor on and everything. And, the first time she gathers everybody while the darkspawn are marching in, she’ll remind them all that she killed the archdemon and survived to inspire some confidence. She’s not gonna be so confident herself, however... But as commander of the troops, you gotta keep that locked away

I think Novhen’s gonna return when the darkspawn have already been repelled ToT They’d retreat when the Mother dies, I think (bc she’s taking the position of the archdemon in this scenario?). So she’s left again to wait and see if Novhen’s still alive. At least he didn’t die at Amaranthine. But at this point she better accept that this is gonna be a constant in her life I think XD XD XD

Also, Novhen does kill the Architect, right?

I do think Ilanlas is at Adamant, at the very least, and he might take control of the Orlesian Wardens for a bit until they have a successor to Clarel (hey Nathaniel, weren’t you trained by a chevalier? Clearly we can’t trust the Orlesians not to be manipulated by a Venatori, how’d you feel about a promotion?). So there’s a fair chance he’d show up at Skyhold for the judgement of the Wardens (and drive Solas and Josephine up the wall). He wouldn’t stay long, but I think he’d have enough time to bitch to Novhen about the paperwork. Then he’d confess to hiring a secretary. What, they were infected with the Taint and put through the Joining, but they neither could nor wanted to swing a sword. It was a fair trade.

Also, Cullen getting hit with an “So you think all elves look the same” XD XD XD XD Heck yes!!!

Astala can take over visiting the Chantry at Lothering, no problem. Splitting forces will make them less noticeable and get them the money they need to move on faster. Also, somebody has to take care of that elven family the bandits stole from. Astala will tell him about the thirty silver later and they can scream together internally and externally. Then Pavle will chime in with Circle Mage, Never Learned How To Use Coin, And Before That Nobility, Always Had Coin: come on, thristy silvers can’t be THAT much. Ilanlas might tell them to just let him make four snares, he can make those while they are making dinner, and give them to the Revered Mother since he once sold a snare for eight silverpieces. And then Novhen and Astala can just look at each other and decide that none fo these two will administer their funds.

And ouch on Novhen at the arl’s estate >.<’ Boy am I glad he makes it out more or less okay, if concussed. Between Adaia, Nola, Nelaros and now Novhen, that building is bad for elves, I’m telling you. Good that Novhen at least makes it out alive

Also, yes, Edmund might have to bow out of this one. Also because I don’t know him too well yet. Pavle can be the Token Moneyed Human 😌😌😌

ALSO, RADKA!!! :D

Khêd is adopting her into the family. She’s ginger, it fits, don’t worry about it (nevermind that his hair is a few shades darker and his skin is DEFINITELY darker. Rica can be the bridge that goes from the Radka end of the color spectrum to the Khêd end of the color spectrum)

Also, Khêd would be kinda confused? “I’m not the boss here. Those two are *points at the Tabris siblings, who are composing the perfect shopping list to get the most out of their money in terms of food, necessities, plums and pickled beets* Sorta..:”

Also also, Khêd during his origin would’ve killed that guy in a heartbeat, if possible before Radka swooped in to help, so he doesn’t owe her anything (“Nothing personal, but you really shouldn’t brag to someone about getting them killed.”). I’m hoping that as the story progresses, Khêd gets to a point in life where he feels safe enough to not be trigger happy and to accept help as a favor, not as an exchange.

How old is Radka in comparison to Ilanlas? I’m getting the vivid image of Radka being sibling-like annoying person number 2 for Ilanlas XD XD XD XD The dynamic could be amazing!! He would teach her about bugs and plants, though, so she doesn’t walk into an anthill at any point. But!!! He’s going to be SO happy that there’s finally more people who’re shorter than him XD XD XD XD

Also Radka and Astala in battle 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 I am rotating that image around in my brain so fast!!! Both going stabby stab. Radka does dual-wield, right? They’re gonna cause mayhem on the battlefield I love it!!!!!!!!!

Twins AU (Round 2)

Since our original post exchange got a tad bit long, @bumblerhizal I’m starting a new one here ^^ First, a few things on the doodles: I’m still cackling XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD Especially about Amell (Pavle) going all “woe is me! 😩😩😩” over the dirt on his favorite robe while these two Alienage kids with probably multiple patches and mends on their clothes just look at each other like “can you believe this guy” XD XD XD XD XD XD XD It’s sooooooooo good and I am now imagining Pavle coming face to face with Sigrun’s particular brand of cheerful dead inside XD XD XD The official Grey Warden merch is amazing and our guys are great models. I really want that on a shirt now (and I could, now that I think of it. Ooooooh it’s tempting). I love Valendrian’s grey hair counter. The expression is on point XD XD XD The Plum of Peace should be a Feastday gift. And it’s very good to see reference for Radka, Pavle and Mr Andras (Who looks so kind!!!!!) Mousevhen is absolutely adorable. I want to give him all the pickled beets in the world

Keep reading

[psqqa]

Everyone Fucking Hates the Deep Roads: A Modern History of Thedas, by Varric Tethras

[platoniccereal]

qunari gender system thoughts!!! i read some head canons about this long time ago and it got me thinking.

tw transphobic takes and gender dysphoria mentioned (all under the cut).

i really like the common idea that there could be at least 3 branches of gender identities (according to the system of triumvirate), or that each particular role/job could be perceived a separate gender just like there is a spectrum in our modern understanding.

consequently, would qunari even take something mostly irrelevant to their role performance into consideration? bioware’s writing yes, it would, but realistically speaking, would qunari even have a gender system as in modern understanding? i’m betting on that some sort of gender indentity would appear individually, but that wouldn’t be something they pay much attention to?

i absolutely adore the idea that qunari just decided that their word for warrior/warrior gender equals thedosian word for male gender. that they decided that, not knowing on which features the perception of gender on the continent is based. then it is natural from sten’s point of view to be surprised by women in warden’s party. in this head canon he may be simply linguistically confused (especially since he is presented as someone really curious about languages). “this person would be a ‘warrior’ in my culture, their word for it is a ‘man’, but for some reason this person does not go by a proper title.” it may be as confusing to him as to continue to call a person, who left the role of a baker and became a blacksmith, a baker. (and then we shall ignore whatever bioware writes about qunari’s gender.)

years ago i used to perceive the qunari’s concept of gender as it was implied by bioware. thus, qunari have a set of body features, based on which they assign female or male gender. qunari have certain fields of roles that come with it. hence, under the aqun-athlok tag, from bioware’s world building perspective, there would be people who we would call transgender folks (then there could be, let’s say, a happy coincidence with some trans masc lad being put into antaam, so the aqun-athlok title is assigned correctly). it is what bioware intended to do, to create a qunlat word and concept for trans people. but. then there are also gender non-conforming folks, as we would call them from a modern perspective. these may be not so comfortable with this label. e.g., there is shokrakar:

so it is clear what bioware wanted to show. ‘‘hey, look how awful this society is, they assign you a strict role based on whether you are afab or amab, and some folks are really uncomfortable with it.” of course, the developers can’t just imagine a society that simply didn’t develop a status quo of 2 genders assignment – with a bunch of stereotypes attached.

i cannot say how many times, due to this bullshit, i saw transphobic hot takes on qunari perceiving cassandra/female warden/leliana/morrigan the same way they perceive krem. ‘‘they’re just confused by afab in these roles because of their sexist philosophy, so it’s the same for krem, yay!’’ ugh.

plus, they created their concept for the sake of acceptance, but there is an icky question what the situation would be if there was, e.g., a trans woman wielding a sword. plus, the situation they’ve written for shokrakar is still icky whether the qunari would’ve decided to give her the label of aqun-athlok (and it's not her), or kept putting her into roles she was unfit for. the idea of aqun-athlok the way bioware untended it to be could be interesting, but their own desire to go “hey look bigoted culture” backfires into their faces, giving these good intentions a nauseating and questionable colouring. if they didn’t want to backpedal everything they’ve written about the qun gender system, they should’ve just sticked to the iron bull’s natural laid-back attitude. meanwhile, the fandom handled this matter in their head canons much better.

i think it is a great starter point for the iron bull to understand how gender functions in thedas and what is trans folks’ perspective there. this is a new world for both bull and krem. extra cool with other head canons about dalish having a different understanding of gender as well! they could discuss it with, well, their dalish.

i also saw cool thoughts about nb/trans/tama bull!! i believe qunari’s understanding of gender meeting thedosian one may result in quite interesting thoughts.

when if bull is declared tal-vashot, a new identity is inflicted upon him. he has no way back to par vollen and has to integrate into thedosian society. if we understand cisgender as someone whose assigned gender and how they’re perceived coincide with their perception of themself, then bull always has been a qunari cisgender.

what folks in thedas would count as trans might be cis in the qunari culture. or vice versa, bull may be perceived as a male, but it is foreign for him. i imagine he wouldn’t be happy being only perceived as a cis man, but would he be ever happy with the whole new system of gender at all? like, non-binary folks may include their identity assigned at birth in their actual identity, but still it wouldn’t be ok if people saw only this particular part of it.

tal-vashoth bull faces the whole new set of identities that are based on totally different features, and it’s interesting to see what comes out of it. in general, which labels from the qun culture would stay with tal-vashoth and which ones they would take from the thedosian culture. it depends on the angle from which they observe their identity, and it’s interesting to see which one tal-vashoth people or the iron bull specifically pick.

i’m also curious about what are the definitions of something we would call cis and trans under the qun. if there is a gender spectrum, then everybody’s non-binary, due to there are no binary system and oppositions... but still from the definition of cis almost everyone are cis, because qun is supposed to always assign the right role? ofc, again, there are aqun-athlok who changed their role throughout their lifetime. but the whole perception of what cis is may be different?

and what gender dysphoria feels like under the qun? does this perception set aqun-athlok and tal-vashoth on one level? thus, the former means growing out of your previous role/gender, the latter means growing out of the system itself. what are tal-vashoth even in this case of role = gender, then? would this same term of dysphoria mean a different concept (tal-vashoth/aqun-athlok being unfitting for their work function in society) in comparison to the modern understanding of dysphoria, or would it still cause the very same feeling for qunari?

and what does it mean for bull and his identity, gender identity included? i imagine it’s like having two different coordinate systems, externally and internally. is he a type of character to place himself on different points on each of them? is he not? tal-vashoth in general and bull specifically cannot just get rid of their previous relationships with gender and at the same time they can’t escape perception of gender in thedas. would this experience be dysphoric to them?