#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

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[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

Languages of the Dragon Age

I am not a linguist. I have had loose associations with linguists in the past; I am at best passingly familiar with some general or interesting features of a scattered handful of languages and writing systems. This is more than enough to despise the way Dragon Age lore handles languages.

“Trade Tongue” is a convenient device for streamlined storytelling—you don’t have to worry about characters being able to understand one another—but it’s in the absolute top tier of poor world-building, especially for a fantasy medieval setting where information travels slowly and most people aren’t going to be doing much travel at all.

So, on the basis of some off-the-cuff reflection and with utter disregard for canon linguistics (aside from canonical names and vocab), I present a sketch of the known languages, and language families, of Thedas in the Dragon Age:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Proto-Alamarri: Originating between the Waking Sea and the Frostback Mountains, the Alamarri language family is the most diverse in modern Thedas; Alamarri languages share phonetic and structural features with real-world Celtic and Germanic languages.

Fereldan: The common and court language of the kingdom of Ferelden; its use was suppressed among the nobility during the Orlesian occupation, but to little effect in the long term; it shares features with the Welsh and Gaelic languages.

Chasind: The language of the nomads who inhabit the Korcari Wilds south of Ferelden; although evidently related to its neighboring languages, it is not written and is little attested outside the Chasind tribes.

Avvar: Spoken by the semi-nomadic peoples of the Frostback Mountains, Avvar shares certain phonetic features with Andrisch by linguistic convergence.

Rivaini: The popular language of most of Rivain, to which the first Alamarri speakers came before the Tevinter period. Its vocabulary is strikingly varied from other Alamarri languages, including significant Neromenian borrowings, although it retains distinctively Alamarri phonology.

Andrisch: The dominant language of the Anderfels, Andrisch is less closely related to other Alamarri languages than any other pair in the family; it parallels real-world Germanic languages.

Marcher: The common speech of the Free Marches, characterized by its heavily Neromenian vocabulary fitted to Alamarri grammar. Spoken with significant regional lexical variation from Kirkwall to Ansburg and Wycome.

Neromenian: Originating in north-central Thedas, the Neromenian languages are the most widely spoken in the modern world; they correspond to real-world Romance languages.

Tevene: The language of the Tevinter Imperium and closest to (though by no means intelligible with) Neromenian, it has three distinct but mutually intelligible dialects in modern Thedas.

Classical: The dialect of Tevinter’s upper classes, featuring some modifications to vocabulary and pronunciation but grammatically very close to the Tevene of the old Imperium.

Vulgar: The dialect—or, more properly, dialects—of Tevene’s non-mage and slave castes, featuring significant regional variation, altered vocabulary, and grammatical innovations.

Arcanum: Not actually spoken in Tevinter, Arcanum is a preserved academic form of Ancient Tevene read (and loosely “spoken”) in southern Circles of Magi.

Orlesian: The language of the Orlesian Empire, Orlesian takes much of its vocabulary from languages of the Alamarri and Planasene families, although its grammatical structure remains distinctively Neromenian. Orlesian is the most widely spoken language in southern Thedas, used to facilitate trade between non-Orlesian kingdoms (although this is often lamented as a sign of persistent Orlesian influence).

Antivan: The language of the kingdom of Antiva, Antivan differs from Orlesian in the historical timing of its word loans and the decidedly higher concentration of Neromenian and Alamarri vocabulary. 

Planasene: Originating in south-central Thedas, Planasene culture was largely wiped out by successive Tevinter and Orlesian expansion. 

Nevarran: The only surviving Planasene language, sharing features of Classical Greek and Avestan, with significant influence from surrounding Neromenian languages, especially Orlesian.

Dwarven: The dominant language of the dwarven trade empire by the time of the First Blight, preserved in remarkably stable form in the surviving thaigs of Orzammar and Kal-Shirok. Its grammar and phonology parallel Uralic languages, especially Hungarian; it is written in an alphabetic runic script which is the basis for most human writing systems.

Elvhen: The language which was dominant in Arlathan before the rise of Tevinter, it is now spoken among the Dalish clans in diversely modified form, often drawing on regional human languages to replace vocabulary lost under Tevinter domination; these dialects are, however, transmitted carefully to ensure that they remain mutually intelligible. Elven script is alphabetic and unrelated to other Thedosian writing systems.

Qunlat: The language of the Qunari people and organized ideology, unrelated to the other languages of Thedas. Qunari script is logo-syllabic. 

[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

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 3)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut... Spoilers ahead!

“Another infernal quake” & “The shaking grows stronger” if I had a copper for every time they reference to unrest in the undergrounds in v&v I’d have three bits. Which isn’t much but it’s enough to buy riveting items such as “Cracked Templar Insignia” or “Lace Collar” or “Gallstone” in DA2.

“the elf said to dig here, so we dig here” Solas bestie I hope you know what you’re doing

YUCK the sounds are EW. The description of the Blight from the devs interviews are also disgusting (/positive, I love that it’s gross)

I know, logically, they wouldn’t bring back the Children from DAO:Awakening randomly like this. But I can hope okay. Sooo Spiders? Or fucked up Ghil creatures?

Not too familiar with the inner workings of the Chantry so I checked the wiki: affirmed is a rank of Chantry brother/sister (along with initiate and cleric). Clerics are scholars or knowledgeable in arcane matters; Initiates get essential but probably thankless tasks (meal-prep, cleaning, repairing, etc). Lay brothers/sisters are “affirmed” since they affirm their belief in the Chant of Light, in exchange for a life of contemplation without expectations of taking actual vows.

“Ask forgiveness for our prideful ways!” “Renounce your pride!” yeah Solas did you ask forgiveness to the Maker yet? Maybe if you do your plans would go a little better just saying 

“Really intense eyes, not a hair on his head” lmao

Barkeep sounds nevarran? Or might just be a voice similar to Cassandra I guess

Okay yes give me the food lore. Fruit stews in the Anderfels that smell like shite, Anders fic writers take notes here

“Historically, dried fruit represents–” LET THEM TALK

“If my studies of the Fade have taught me anything,—” oh where have I heard that before… “—it’s that the future always hides in the past.” Hence Solas deciding to destroy the Veil in the near future to go back to the past :)

“Another Blight, but worse” be still my beating heart

Ohh forbidden are in the Deep Roads, always goes well

“Solas? He vanished right before things went bad” uh huh

“You best be yanking my chains” love that

“You stay out of this, little egg, before you get cracked” I know this was said to Drayden but Rook needs a label printer to cover the Lighthouse floor to ceiling with this. For their enrichment and Solas’ annoyance

I love Drayden’s nerd ass

“Wanted for murder, treason, high crimes against the imperium” the basics, really! You’re not really a DA protag if you don’t have “Enemies fear me, Authorities want me” booty shorts

DAVRINNNNNNN

OHHH we’re getting the moment he meets Assan?? 🥺

NOOOO WAIT what if the Darkspawn stole the griffins I swear to ghdfijs. If fucking Genlocks get griffins before the Hero of Ferelden I swear mine is abandoning the search of the cure just to protest

Wardens once again not beating the “I drank the Joining Juice so I will drink literally anything” allegations

“The crumbling face protruding from that cliff. It’s the statue of the Green Guardian” “The way it juts right from the stone, like Grunsmann himself is trying to break free from time’s prison” stop rewind.

HOORAY for random minor character lore reference!! There’s a bow in DAI and this is its description: The Anderfels' "Green Men" warriors began with a hunter of the Merdaine: Grunsmann, who famously saved the people of Hossberg from starvation by crossing darkspawn lines in the First Blight. The order begun in his name leads caravans through the dangerous Wandering Hills to the distant port of Laysh and comprise the best marksmen in Thedas. Fun fact: Laysh is the very last inhabited place that we know of on the western side of Thedas before the Volca sea. It was built specifically to trade with people from across that sea (their ships always had dwarven captains, and no elf was ever with them, and they don’t speak any of the Thedosian languages), they had wares and spices and were interested in lyrium. Until the 4th Age (Black Age, since it’s when the Chantry split in Tevinter), when they stopped coming–none of the ships from Thedas that tried to follow them ever made it back. “Recently” some of these people (Voshai) settled in Laysh because of an unspoken cataclysm that made them flee their homeland. ANYWAYS

“According to the writings of Ferdinand Genitivi,” RETURN OF THE KING 🎉 “not even insects and worms can survive these lands. A body would never decay.” Uh. Blight really did a number on the Anderfels

Nadia not wanting to think too much about the people who aren’t alive feels like foreshadowing. Bestie I don’t think you can evade that for long no matter how good a rogue you are

Davrin is COCKY in battle! Okay!!

I always do a double take whenever people act like “The Dread Wolf” is so unknown, but I guess unless one was Dalish or had experience with ancient elven lore, average people wouldn’t really know about their deities? It’s just that our player characters have always been really “traveled” by Thedas standards and I need to forget about the meta.

Oh Drayden shamelessly thirsting after Davrin was not on my bingo card but. It’s incredibly funny if only for the people who think Drayden is Solas in disguise LMAO

Harig: “I only want what's coming to me.” Davrin: “Men like you will always get what's coming to them.” TELL HIM!!!!

I wonder how different the beginning of DATV would’ve been if our Inquisitor did a major information campaign re: Fen’Harel. Like, absolutely plastering every wall with posters “Bald mage with wolf-jaw necklace approaches you? Beware, the Dread Wolf seeks to destroy the Veil!” Especially if they didn’t disband, the wording in Trespasser made it seem like they’d be more obvious as to why they’re still around (apart from being the “personal guard of the Divine”)

Not the water dripping sound 💀

“Snailroot” as a makeshift pain-killer, whump writers write that down. It apparently tastes like boiled ass water (quoting)

You can tell that Nadia is the protagonist because she has main character headaches. Let’s take ibuprofen together 

Ohhh Drayden’s fear being “ironically, spiders”

Lord of the Rings references my beloveds

Every time they encounter a creature bigger/nastier than usual I think of Ghilan'nain and I wonder how much influence on the waking world the trapped Evanuris had before being released

UH OH Davrin is TOO COCKY in battle! Bestie did no one tell you “regrets” is the theme?! Don’t risk hubris please!!

Moment of silence for yet another mentor Warden lost early in the mentee Warden’s character arc

Davrin continuing the Inquisitor’s tradition of blocking creatures in the Deep Roads by using flimsy collapsed tunnels 

MOSAIC WITH WOLVES!! EVERYONE STOP WE’RE TAKING RELIEFS OF THESE. “This is no ordinary mosaic. Look at the way the circle is split down the middle. The top half is onyx. It's like a mirror! Look close. You can see your reflection in the darkness” = classic Fade “And this portrait below, the figures are upside down and pointing to the stars” “Ah, see those small wolf totems? Those are just like the ones the Dalish place in their camps in Arlathan. They're for the Dread Wolf” the people of Thedas want action figures too

+ ancient elven dialect “Guide me on the path that splits the land between sun and moon”. Andruil is called “Sister of the Moon” in a codex, while the sun is usually associated with Elgar’nan (or his “father”), but it’s also worth mentioning that the same story that describes Elgar'nan fighting the sun and chucking it into the Fade describes the star as the remnants of the sun’s lifeblood. Given the prominence of the eclypse iconography in DATV, I am so looking forward to learn more of these celestial bodies’ origins or symbology 👀

Don’t think I didn’t miss the fact that Davrin knows an ancient elven dialect enough to read it and translate it on the spot 🧐

Random eluvian activated by pretty mosaics is fun idc

“may Andruil guide you on your path” I’m gnawing at my enclosure’s bars. Pretty sure they didn’t want to talk too much on Davrin’s relationship with his clan during marketing but they did say it’d be different from Bellara

Marvel Cinematic Universe reference 💀

Nadia and Drayden's dynamic is growing on me with every episode. Boy I sure hope nothing bad happens to either of them 🙂

[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

[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?

[nightmarist]

if *I* were to make a dragon age calendar id probably go with a solar calendar, sure, or a harvest/seasonal calendar since most of Thedas seems very season-dependent.

The official stuff does say they have four seasons and 365 days but that's boring. Let's have some fun.

Thinking in terms of, this is a fantasy world with two moons and a sun, and technically a non-earth planet, the calendar could move slower or faster, and the seasons and axis could be different from earth.

Also, the fact it has two moons... One, as we see in The Hissing Wastes, is huge. Or rather, very very very close to Thedas. It probably causes lots of very strong tides and storms on the waters nearest to it on the other side of the world, but I also don't know where it moves, and if it gets farther away at different times of the year.

Satina, according to DA lore, is the specific moon that is celebrated. I don't like the "Satinalia" obvious Saturnalia reference so maybe calling the celebration Satinatum or similar if its based off Tevinter (and therefore a filtered/bastardized Roman Latin thing happening). They should probably also name the other moon.... There could probably therefore be Two special celebrations of the moons.

The "seasons" they seem to primarily talk about and experience are: Winter, Summer/Harvest, Rain, Funeral(?). The occasional references to Summer but Summer and harvest season are sometimes in the same breath.

I think/assume the Rainy season is in between Winter and Harvest, and Winter marks the beginning of their year.

Winter -> Rainy Seasons (everything is melting and is wet) -> Harvest (things have grown from the rain, time to harvest before Winter, and mixed in a bit of rebirth symbolism for funerary and other rites).

Each culture could have a slightly different calendar, but with Tevinter colonization it could have converted many over to the Tevinter calendar.

Because of the obvious Roman Latin influence on Tevinter, we can probably bastardize some Latin for flavoring up the names.

Maybe something like, Glacelis, Luvelis, and Messis (ice, rain, harvest, loosely).

OK so we have 3 seasons now for general Thedosian peoples.

We can probably keep 300 days, but rather than make it exactly like earth's 365, we'll give it a good round number. Just 300 sounds fine. 3 seasons, 100 days each. 100 days split in 2 is 50, split those 2 more you get 25.

You can still have 12 "months" by making them 25 days each. maybe, every end-month is a 5 day celebration, and the extra special 5-day celebrations are the liminal weeks at the end of a season.

DA wants to have 5-day weeks so it works out that way anyway.

If you want to really get fucky with etymology, we could change "week" to something else (but its not necessary since "week" just means "a set").

1 round of the sun = 1 day/dae. 5 days = a Daeset 5 Daesets = 1 Solset 4 Solsets = 1 Season Final Daeset at the end of a Solset = Feast Days

Not changing too much bc you'll accidentally invent a whole language + it still needs to be understandable to like. Players. lmao.

Thedosian Solsets: Wintermarch, Guardward, Dragonwatch (Or Drakonfound*), Cloudreach, Bloomtide, Justiniapoint, Solacement, Andrasteworth, Kingsway, Harvestmere, Firstfall, Haringrise

*Drakon was one of the original founders of Andrastean, the original month was called Drakonis but welt somewhat out of place name-wise. Likewise, it's usually good (and historically accurate) to rename things that are similar as means of easier conversion, so an old Thedosian name for the month could be Dragonwatch (perhaps a time of dragon mating season or hunting etc?) be renamed to Drakonfound. Also I just liked having a giggle at "Dragon Watch... Dragon.. FOUND"

You could also divide it evenly via weeks/daesets. There would be a total of 60 daesets, and thus still 20 daesets per season if you want to divide it perfectly even (100 days each season still), but if you make daesets only 3 instead of 4 or 5, that makes an interesting number.

15 daesets in one seasons could equal 3 solsets/months, with 1 daeset of celebration at the end of a season instead of one at the end of each solset. That would therefore make 9 total solsets instead of 12 (and frankly I think the last 3 months of the original DA calendar feel/sound kind of useless to me).

So that would make, instead: Glacelis: Wintermarch, Guardward, Drakonfound Wintersend Celebration Luvelis: Cloudreach, Bloomtide, Justiniapoint Harvestmere Celebration Messis: Solacement, Andrasteworth, Kingsway Day of immolation*

*A celebration to send off and honor lost souls, rather than "All Soul's Day" the way it was originally named. It's obviously supposed to be All Souls, Dia de los Muertos, Halloween, etc shoved together with costumes and funerary rites. Initially it's intended purpose in DA is to honor Andraste's burning. I would probably liken it to those kinds of celebrations where you burn an effigy, like The Burning of Zozobra.

Taking that into consideration, I think the Immolation would be a sort of thing where you burn old things you don't need/want, burn things for luck, burn prayers to reach The Maker or Andraste, etc. It would also be culturally relevant since in my new calendar it marks the start of Winter, so burning fuel to stay warm fits secularly (such as the many fire-associations during Christmas and our other real-world winter holidays)

Renamed a few other months just to sort of keep the flavor of how the months are named.

I assume the Avvar being Norse-based have a sort of two-season Winter-Summer split calendar, or perhaps because they are a more animistic they could have a calendar based on animal hibernation and migration, which may sound like it'd be the same but they could have ever so slight variances. Perhaps they would have months called Crowsflight, Bearsleep, Beespring, etc. I'd have to do more research on where, exactly, Avvar live and what the wildlife they have near them are.

The solsets could be used to keep track of the seasons, but I don't see why there couldn't be lunar calendars for Thedosians as a whole, sort of like the two calendars in mexica, a sun calendar and a ritual calendar. Certainly I assume at least a few cultures would have them, there are two moons. That feels culturally significant. There is supposed to be a special holiday to celebrate just one of the moons. Maybe there are two separate sets of lunar calendars for different holiday celebrations.

I would also wonder how the moon phases differ from one another, and if it is possible to track when they are the same, or if they eclipse one another. I'm not as knowledgeable on lunar calendars so I'll have to look at real world lunar calendars to see how they divide months, years, celebrations, and maybe things I havent thought of (if I ever feel the feverish need to do this again haha)

Anyway, I got tired but here are my zany thoughts about dragon age calendars.

[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.

[choccy-zefirka]

yvie - life - 6 / codex - 4,9,10 / inquisitor - 6,8? + julie - origins - 27? pilar - essentials - 7 / party - 3,4 / inq - 3?

OOOO thank you for this delicious meal

Which aspects of the culture they were born into holds the most significance for them?

The language, I think! I have been having some thoughts about how the dialect of Orlesian that Yvie speaks is not the same as the Proper Standard Language of Val Royeaux. Vivienne, who is not a native speaker and is probably very particular about following the guidelines of the Thedosian version of Académie Française, might struggle to understand her, and she might face classism because of how she speaks Orlesian. But her dialect is very important to her because it reminds her of her family!

How do they feel about the Fade, spirits, and demons?

Before the Mark, Yvie never had coherent, vivid dreams, because of her half-dwarven heritage. Just random hazy images at best. But since her father is an elf, she does know what dreams are conceptually, and is very curious about getting a proper look at the Fade. Her knowledge of spirits and demons is initially based on the sporadic lessons/sermons she overheard at the human Chantry school she was technically not allowed to attend (she used her smolness to her advantage to sneak in though), and they seem like far-away, weird storybook entities. Her first major encounter with a spirit is Justice, one of her sister's besties, whom she also intensively tries to befriend. She later learns from Solas that the demons they see falling from the Breach are actually spirits driven to madness, and this shakes her profoundly, much like her encounter with sentient darkspawn. Hard to be a hero when you start overthinking just how mindless and monstrous the creatures you are slaying are.

What places in Thedas have they been to? What do they think about places other than their homeland?

She's been around Orlais on various errands, and of course to Ferelden to see her sister! She found it cold and dreary, but chided herself for that because she'd landed there in the middle of a mini darkspawn invasion, of course it would be dreary!

Are there any animals they have a particular love or hatred for?

Going in line with her fruit bat fursona, I have decided to make Yvie a bat apologist.

How did they behave at the Winter Palace? Who did they support in the political scheming?

She was definitely not a fan of all the nobles being classist and racist towards her, and frustrated that no-one seemed to care about the slaughter of the elves happening behind the scenes. I imagine at one point she might get her gardening skills mocked as a well, for what is a humble dirt-digger next to the nobles with their fancy regular gardens.

She ends up smooshing all three parties together and forcing them to collaborate.

What did their Nightmare appear as in the Fade? What was on their gravestone?

She initially sees darkspawn, because, while she has since seen many horrors to surpass them, she still finds them pretty terrifying. But as she fights side by side with Loghain, the fearlings morph into something that would terrify the both of them: Julie (who smooches Loghain), overcome by the fake Calling and mind-controlled by Erimond.

I am yet to come up with a pithy one-liner for Yvie's Fade grave, but the gist is, she is afraid that everything she has been propping up with such meticulous care, like a wilting bean vine, will collapse the moment she steps away. It would be kinda funny if the gravestone said something like "Beans", and a companion like Sera would go "Lol wtf, why are you afraid of beans", but Yvie would understand what is implied.

Did the warden you used for Awakening kill the Architect or spare him? What happened to Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep?

I always spare the Architect ehehe :3 And Julie managed to save both, especially with Yvie's help! (Yvie would not be that good at combat at this point, so she and her new friendo/babysitter Delilah Howe would help organize the defense logistics-wise)

How do they dress in their downtime, while fighting, in formal settings, etc.?

Pilar is an Edgy and Broody Goffik Dark Past girlie, so she wears a lot of black, her outfits ranging from Elder Scrolls Dark Brotherhood vibes to frilly and lacy Gothic Lolita-ish getups (unlike Squale, another goth girlie, who's more on the punk/metal side).

Which companions (or advisors) do they like to spend time with when they’re not travelling?

At the start, she mostly keeps to herself, but out of all people, she tends to gravitate towards Leliana. Josephine is nice as well, especially once she starts dating Pilar's friend (and sort of ex-fling) Mona Cadash; she gives Mona what Pilar could not provide back in the day, and Pilar is happy for them. Cole also keeps cropping up in her path, though she initially dislikes him, as he dredges up too much of her aforementioned Dark Past too soon. Sometimes she spars with Bull and Krem; the former enjoys the challenge of going up against a more agile, stealthy enemy, and the latter is great help covering Bull's blind side against Pilar's attempts to go ninja on them.

Are there any companions (or advisors) they don’t get along with? Have any of them ever left the party?

I am a people pleaser so no-one leaves my party :3 But yeah, I mentioned Cole, whom she does eventually warm up to, after they discuss how he used to kill because it was the only thing he knew how to do. Varric at one point tries to pry some details about Pilar's past out of her, but that's like pulling a tooth out with pliers. And Cullen is wary of her being a blood mage, but she is too Tired Tm to really turn it into a personal vendetta or anything.

How do they feel about bearing the Anchor? For what did they declare the Inquisition stood for?

She feels like it's just another weapon/tool that matters more than she does as a person. It is not she who wields the Anchor, it is the Inquisition that wields her. It's all right, she tells herself. It's the only kind of life she deserves. And she keeps her speech short and to the point: Corypheus must be stopped.

[ao3feed-fenders]

listen, the snow is falling

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/f8mPp3R

by Anonymous

Fenris sees snow fall for the first time.

Words: 0, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Anders (Dragon Age), Fenris (Dragon Age)

Relationships: Anders/Fenris (Dragon Age)

Additional Tags: Art, Fluff, Snow, Snuggling, the artist took liberties with thedosian weather phenomena

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/f8mPp3R

[scapedgrace]

i love the da fandom's headcanons about languages in thedas. i love how obvious it is that we think harder about thedosian lore than the devs do.

[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

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