#this is why i REFUSE to believe that VIVIENNE

[thewardenisonthecase]

vivienne truly was the best dressed in inquisition

[crossdressingdeath]

I finally figured out why Vivienne rubs me the wrong way. To paraphrase she is a lottery winner telling the underpaid workers that capitalism works.

As throughout the Dragon Age series we see how circle fails mages (In Orgins there is books about blood magic in hopes of catching desperate mage in the act of a crime, Awakenings the templars setting a entrapment for Anders despite being a grey warden and then there is Kirkwall).

Then in the game in which mage independence is a big issue our only circle mage perspection that is a main character is Vivienne who is fine with the current system. As Vivienne will tell us the player that while the system has flaws overall is fine. Which is really ridiculous considering the last game.

What Dragon Age Inquisition needed was a Kirkwall mage who saw the worst of the circles to be a counter argument that the circles are flawed

And what I mean by Vivienne being a lottery winner is that her position is almost a miracle. As while a young mage in the circle she had to be powerful enough to be allowed to do her harrowing but also not too powerful to make the templars afraid (as I believe it is implied that mages that are too powerful are nipped in the bud in Orgins), then in a party she is charming enough that a noble takes a fancy to her which then allows her to charm the Empress and gain political power.

All of these aspects feels like sheer luck. So when Vivienne tells me the circle works I want to eat my face in frustration as I remember Jowan and Anders and Hawke's parents desperately trying not to be in the circle.

(Sorry for the rant)

I think Vivienne is ultimately a very notable victim of a lot of DAI's poor writing choices. Both in terms of character writing and in terms of the overall themes.

See, DAI doesn't want us to get any perspective that doesn't prop up the Circle and the Chantry. It doesn't want us questioning the necessity of either institution. It's not just Vivienne; think back on the mage characters we see in DAI, the ones that aren't in the Circle mostly just don't talk about it. Not even Quiz, and if Quiz tries to argue that the Circles aren't great the Circle mages go "Well you're wrong because it was great for me" and Quiz isn't allowed to say anything back. See also Minaeve going "Well the Dalish are shit and the Circle is great because the Dalish threw me away and the Templars rescued me and that doesn't contradict anything in the preexisting lore and also it definitely doesn't say anything about the Chantry that my clan couldn't support an additional mage in their life on the run and also I'm just going to blindly assume the Templars were telling the truth" while Lavellan is forced to just stand there, smiling and nodding and not arguing back at all even though they logically would. DAI needed a counterargument to the "Circles are good" argument, it needed a character who'd seen the worst they had to offer, but we were never going to get that because DAI didn't want it to be a debate. It wants us to blindly agree that the Circles are good and mages wanting freedom is bad. Which is a wildly stupid decision but someone made it anyway!

DAI also does not like character growth. Not in the slightest. The most DAI's companions get is their character growth popping in all at once in Trespasser after a full game of them being completely static. Just like how Sera refuses to acknowledge how awful she's being to Lavellan until Trespasser where she suddenly asks how they're feeling about the Evanuris stuff without using it to make them feel like there's something wrong with them for having non-Andrastian beliefs or how Dorian defends slavery and then that's quietly never acknowledged again until he mentions in Tevinter Nights that "someone he met in the south" changed his mind on the subject or how Cullen... is Cullen, you're never allowed to challenge Vivienne on her beliefs because if you did that then she might change and grow as a person and DAI does not want to deal with that. Especially not when challenging Vivienne means challenging the argument that the Circles are The Best Option. Poor Vivienne gets hit hard by DAI's refusal to accept that the Chantry's bad and the fandom does not want to side with them, she's probably the single biggest piece of collateral damage to DAI's bad choices.

And the thing is it's not that Vivienne doesn't know she's lucky! It's not that she doesn't know the Circles fail people! She recognizes there's a lot of flaws, and she does genuinely want to improve things for her fellow mages! Her intentions are good! Plus honestly if you work to get her approval up she's actually one of the better companions in terms of how she treats Quiz (seriously, look at some of her high approval conversations, she cares so damn much) and she'll defend even companions she doesn't like from unjust attacks (she's got a very good banter with romanced Dorian about how she got a letter from a magister she knows somehow about how disgusting Dorian and Quiz's relationship is and basically told him to fuck off with that). Vivienne really does care and really does want to make things better, she's just been so poisoned by her life in a world very heavily controlled by the Chantry and the Templars that she can't see past their way of doing things. The problem isn't that she doesn't see how lucky she is; she knows she got a lucky break that a lot of mages don't get (although it's important to note that she didn't just get lucky, Vivienne absolutely worked her ass off to get to where she is), and she knows that not everyone could get to where she is even if they'd gotten as lucky as she did. What she misses is that you need to be insanely lucky just to be more or less content in the Circle, never mind happy or powerful. Lucky enough to escape the worst of the Templars' abuses, lucky enough to be in a decent Circle, lucky enough not to be too weak or too powerful, lucky enough to get a manageable demon in your Harrowing, lucky enough to be the sort of person who won't be completely miserable trapped in one building your whole life... The thing Vivienne misses is that she got out, she doesn't have to spend her whole life in the Circle praying the Templars are good to her, and that's not an opportunity a lot of mages get no matter how smart or skilled they are. It drives me nuts, because if we were just allowed to push her to see that her story would immediately be so much better. As it is it's a lot of potential and a strong start that never really get paid off.

[chaifootsteps]

(Sorry, minor season 2 of HB finale rant incoming based on more leaks)

You didn’t hear it from me but apparently Blitzø gets into a physical altercation with Stella in the finale and screams at her for ‘everything she’s done’ and this moment of a (male) prostitute hitting a man’s ex wife for the ex husbands honour, is played as “epic.” The two fight over him and are still considered inferior to him as he takes none of the blame. This is an incels wet dream.

It’s pretty sad to watch the mountain of gaslighting and guilt tripping psychologically break Blitz. To the point that he’ll get into fights with stolas’ enemies even though the blame all comes down to stolas and his choices. If he didn’t order blitz to his bedroom, later make a sex contract, and humiliate Stella publicly to incite her rage, none of this would have happened.

Vivienne believes Blitz sleeping with him in The Circus (he was coerced then too) justifies what stolas did in murder family and isnt actually his fault cause blitz led him on. She also believes publicly cheating on an abusive spouse you have a child with to get ‘revenge’ is perfectly fine. Empowering even.

Stella hired an assassin in her latest revenge for his revenge. Yet Blitzø is wrongly blamed so he feels like if he just fights Stella he can get stolas’ approval again. He follows stolas around like a lost puppy or butler in the finale, and its so hard to watch. The blitz we knew, is just gone. Stolas is his master now.

Vivienne knew stolas was being extremely bratty and unreasonable with the ‘you couldn’t be bothered to come help me’ line, so like with the circus she writes backwards, and says it was all Blitzøs fault in the beginning for not expecting striker to come back a second time. So she could have blitz stutter like an idiot and stolas gasp and look away with a ��hurt’ disbelieving frown. Instead of saying “hey, I was with my fucking daughter and still sent you my friends to help and they both almost died.” Seriously why is blitz the asshole because stolas refuses to protect himself?? It doesn’t help that stolas finds watching blitz fight for him a fetish.

I still choose to believe this leak wasn't true. Not because I'm 100% sure, but because I need to believe this.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[missstratford]

Apricity

Chapter 7

A/n: Surprise!!! I decided to post twice this week and i'll mostly be posting the next parts weekly (on wednesdays maybe?)

Warnings: None(some angst)

Taglist:Open!

@ssnapsaurus , @mafeperspective , @unicornqueen05

Your eyelids felt heavy as your vision cleared, blinking against the brightness of the infirmary. The mild smell of antiseptic salves wafted in the air, a faint bitterness lingered on your tongue. For a moment, the past few events felt like a distant dream, a nightmare, but the dull ache in your arm and the splitting headache quickly reminded you that none of it was imagined.

Madam Pomfrey entered with a soft smile on her lips, "Ah, good to see you awake," she said gently. "Your potion exploded. Might have added an odd ingredient there— a concussion, which seems to be a side effect of the potion itself—and an injured arm otherwise you’ll be just fine, dear." Her voice was calm, but the lingering worry in her eyes told you that it hadn’t been a simple accident.

You nodded, trying to shake off the fog that clouded your thoughts. “How long have I been here?”

“Two days,” Pomfrey replied. “The concussion required a stronger potion. The healing process is going well, though. You should be up and about in no time.”

Your mind reeled, trying to fill the lacuna of memories. “I-my friends.” You mumbled as you tried to calm yourself.

“Miss Vivienne did show up multiple times, though I eased her worry,” Madam Pompfrey began undressing your bandages, “and, Mister Malfoy.” She gave a gentle laugh.

Your heart quicken slightly at the mention of Draco. “He refused to leave your side, probably hasn’t eaten a thing since. I had to threaten reporting him to a Professor before he chose to step out.” She smiled.

Uncharacteristic of him, you thought distantly. Maybe it was truly real. You wished, feverishly on some days, the ardent adoration his gaze held when he would look at you was not merely an act.

You wondered why you even came to like him, constantly having to remind yourself of the rumours his father was swathed in, sinister and conniving people that his family is. The apple wouldn’t have fallen far.

The sound of footsteps brought you back to the present. Madam Pompfrey having completed redressing your arm, you could tell she was about to leave when she paused. “Oh how it warms my heart, the innocence of young love.” With that she closed the curtains around you and left.

If only she knew what this “love” was based on. A crude blackmailer and a fool’s bargain on your end.

The stillness of the infirmary felt suffocating, but it was the kind of silence that let you think too much. Too much about the chaos Draco had been caught up in and had inadvertently drawn you into.

But how could you ignore the way he kneeled next you and held you so gently after the explosion? It was as if a part of you wanted to believe that maybe—just maybe—there was something more there. Something real. Maybe he wasn’t like his father. Maybe he could be different. Maybe he felt different towards you.

Why had you gotten yourself in a tough spot? Right, he bribed you with dresses and deserts. How gullible you were.

The creak of the door interrupted your thoughts. You heard Draco’s voice before you saw his silhouette, low and urgent. The soft shuffle of his boots on the stone floor made your breath still. What would you say when he’d arrive? Draco, why are you starving on my behalf? You felt giddy from the emotions.

You finally laid back pretended to be asleep, better thoughts eluding you.

You then heard another voice, laced with a skittish tone. He seemed to have accompanied Draco. The two of them were talking, and every word cut through the silence like a knife.

“Draco,” the man’s voice was edged on imploring, “you know how it is. You wanted this. She was collateral damage. You knew that.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You noticed the faint outline of their figures on the other side of the curtains. Draco was standing with his back to you, his posture tense, his voice cold.

“That’s not true, Blackthorn” Draco snapped, but there was hesitation in his tone, like he didn’t fully believe it himself.

“You’re right,” Blackthorn said, his voice now taunting. “But you’ve always had a way of convincing yourself of things, haven’t you, Draco?”

The world seemed to close in on you. Your chest tightened as you heard Draco’s next words—words you wished you hadn’t heard. They made your heart crack, the pain almost unbearable.

“She was mine to deal with,” Draco said, his voice steely. “And required none of your intervention.”

Your breath caught in your throat. You didn’t know if you were more shocked or betrayed. His words—those words—felt like a slap across your face. It was as though all the moments you had shared, the moments you had allowed yourself to believe there was something between you, were suddenly shattered in an instant.

The betrayal cut deeper than you could have imagined. You had convinced yourself that Draco might actually care. That you had something beyond the walls of house rivalry, beyond the darkness of his family’s influence. But now… now it felt like a lie. Like all of it had been an illusion. You didn’t know whether to be angry or heartbroken.

Blackthorn's voice interrupted your spiralling thoughts. “Lucius asked you to do it, didn’t he? He wanted the ingredient. It wasn’t personal.” His voice softened in a way that made your stomach churn. “You needed someone to help you get it. So you used me.”

“Don’t bring that up,” Draco muttered. “I didn’t—”

“Stop lying to yourself,” Blackthorn sneered. “You’ve always done what your father told you. Even when it’s her you have to sacrifice.”

Sacrifice? Your mind raced. It was always about power, always about control. It was never about you. Not truly.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Derek continued, as if relishing Draco’s discomfort. “You complained that she overheard our conversation that night.”

And that was when it hit you.

The night in the classroom, Draco had found you with the potions book, it was Derek Blackthorn from Slytherin he was talking to. He wasn’t trying to save you because he cared about you. He was trying to protect his family’s interests. He didn’t care about your life. He cared about the mission, about appeasing his father, about keeping everything under control. And to your horror, help smuggle dangerous ingredients for Merlin knows what reason.

Your heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces, and you were disappointed on yourself for not seeing it sooner. You hated yourself for hoping, even for a moment, that Draco Malfoy could be different. But you hated him most.

You wretched the curtain apart, startling the two.

 “What are you doing here?” you demanded, your voice shaking with emotion, hurt stricken across your face.

Draco stood still, unsure of how to respond. Derek, however, was the one to speak up. “She woke up,” he said, sounding almost surprised.

Draco’s gaze flickered toward Derek, his expression unreadable. “Leave,” he said, his voice low, but it didn’t hold the same fire it had moments ago. He was… tired. Was it guilt? Or something else?

Derek didn’t argue, but before he left, he threw one last look at you. “Don’t expect any pity from me. None of this is personal.” he left, leaving you alone with Draco once again.

You stayed silent, your mind swirling. Finally, Draco spoke, his voice softer than before. “You heard everything?”

You didn’t trust yourself to speak, so you nodded. The pain in your chest constricting your lungs, and the more you thought about it, the more you wanted to scream. But all you could manage was a raspy, “Leave me alone.”

“Let me expla-” Draco moved to touch you and flinched when you held up your shaking hand. “We don’t have an audience to please anymore Malfoy.” You spat.

“Was I truly so naïve?”  You whispered almost as if asking yourself, “did you even care that I lived? Or was it some sick entertainment to you? Did you truly starve for two days or was that an icing on the cake?” a bitter laugh escaped you as looked up at Draco.

Your name fell from his lips over and over, like he was begging. “All that your family has brought mine are tears. And I thought, I prayed you to be different. Yet here you are, having lived up to your reputation.” Your voice betraying you as tears fell.

You watched through blurry vision of tears as he reached out, his hands shaking. Your own emotions so intense that you refused to acknowledge his.

“Just leave, Malfoy.” You closed the curtains leaving him with your wretched heart behind.

[dgcatanisiri]

I've seen it said on occasion that it was a refreshing change to have the Inquisitor be unable to persuade and change the minds of the characters around them, that the characters felt "more real" that a brief conversation shouldn't change their entire worldview.

This is bull.

First of all, no one asked for their entire worldview to change, just that they GIVE a little - argue with Vivienne about the merits of mage freedom, be able to point out that fear is learned as much as anything, that the fear of mages has been taught because mages are not allowed to be part of the world that the common folk experience, or even that her view of magic is not shared BECAUSE it comes from so lofty a position in society, as she is a First Enchanter, leader of the Loyalists, mistress to the head of the Council of Heralds. Or, here's one of my personal favorites, the vote to break away from the Circles may have passed by a narrow margin, but it still PASSED, and if Fiona had refused to accept that, she'd have faced a hundred minor revolts instead of a singular organized one, which would have meant that the few who went around, burniating the countryside, would be seen as representative of them all, while have an organized structure to the rebellion allowed them the ability to disavow bad actors.

It's asking Sera to acknowledge that there's more nuance than her definitions of the world offer, or countering to Cassandra that, particularly if she intends to take a position of top authority in the Chantry, she needs to be able to look beyond its dogma and realize that to those who follow a separate faith, the Chant of Light is a herald of death, an omen of doom, because it refuses to allow any who follow a separate faith. It's telling Solas that the Dalish have been forced to build their history from tattered scraps, and rather than condemn them for what they lack, he should acknowledge and appreciate what they've recovered with no more than a vague notion of what the original picture looked like.

Y'know, it's asking to be able to actually ARGUE with these characters, rather than be lectured to by them about how THEIR views are the only proper way to view things, even if those views fly in the face of our experiences as the players, or even just how we roleplay a singular character. BioWare tries to talk up a stance of grey morality and a desire for the answers to be more than black and white, yet here in Inquisition, you ONLY get their stance, and, if you don't agree with it, you are dismissed - which also causes a lot of problems with something like the approval metric, where if you DON'T agree with a character, you'll never manage to unlock their full content - I am generally rolling a male Qunari Inquisitor, and yet I have, in over a dozen characters, only ONCE managed to obtain the rooftop cookies scene with Sera. If you don't get these scenes of character development, then you don't get to have a full view of a character.

And then there's the second and bigger issue - With most of the characters being various flavors of Andrastrian, with most if not all of them buying in to the narrative of the Inquisitor as the Herald of Andraste, a position that is borderline messianic within their religion, why do they NOT listen to the words that the Inquisitor says? If Skyhold becomes a place of pilgrimage as Cassandra notes in the arrival at Skyhold scene, if the Inquisitor is a voice of authority in Thedas like everything the game tells us, why SHOULDN'T their words carry weight, especially with the people closest to them? Why is the Inquisitor NOT persuasive to the people who know them when they believe through much of the game that they have been touched by a divine figure?

It doesn't make sense for the Inquisitor to lack in persuasive ability when the whole game is about how they have become a powerful voice and figure within the world.

So, no. It is NOT a good thing that the characters effectively brush off any attempt that the Inquisitor makes to argue with their stances.

[saturdaysky]

idk if I could handle Vivienne and Essek in the same room (intelligence and style off the charts)

I would LOVE to see them in the same room. As enemies, allies, cats sniffing each other under the door, you name it. I would be so fascinated by them.

HONESTLY (getting on my soapbox here) if they were in AUs, I think Shadowhand Vivienne and Court Enchanter Essek would be the most fitting and interesting role swap for them!

Shadowhand Vivienne is unconsecuted. It's a secret that was leaked to discredit her—of course she's a brilliant mage, but she's an outsider! Too young! Too ambitious! She hasn't even finished out her first life, and she's refused a second! And now she has the Bright Queen's ear?—but she's turned it to her benefit and wielded it like a knife. She's canny and very, very used to making the best play with a limited hand.

She was adopted into a Den when her aptitude was discovered, and she's proven a loyal and valuable addition since. Her Den's social standing has improved as she brings them along with her. She has a tight grasp of power and is fully at home navigating the labyrinth of Kryn politics and theocracy. She doesn't even mind throwing parties and schmoozing! I don't think she'd go in for treason the way Essek did, but I think she'd have her own secrets which she guards just as militantly.

Court Enchanter Essek politicked his way to his position, buoyed by his aristocratic name and prodigious talent. Those make him seem dangerous to the nonmagical Orlesian court, but since he has the Empress' favor, the peerage decides to view him as an impressive jewel in their collection. Essek is not terribly motivated by the plight of his fellow mage—after all, he won the game, as far as it can be won by a mage—but he's aware of the precariousness of his title. He continues to politick and network and schmooze even though he hates parties. He'd hate being restricted even less.

Plus, there's the treason, because you can't tell me that Essek "why shouldn't the brilliant mages have all the power? Maybe the Assembly was right" Thelyss wouldn't look at the Tevinter Imperium and see like-minded (if distasteful) allies. He's definitely collaborating with them, and he has his own incredibly illegal magic experiments going on in secret, as well. Time travel or rift magic seems his style. His position affords him the shield of respectability so long as his secrets and ties never come to light.

Vivienne, by contrast, is a Kryn loyalist, even if she doesn't necessarily believe in all the tenets of the faith. I think she'd honestly do very well in this AU, whereas Essek's wizard hubris disease would spell out his eventual fall from grace, just like in canon.

[broodwoof]

it's interesting thinking about the three options for divine specifically in terms of their faith

vivienne: seems to have no overt faith. this could very well be bc she keeps it private, as she does many things. the divine is a position of power that she desires - for herself, of course, and to prove that she can, and possibly a little bit to prove a mage can. she knows that magic comes with risks, but she also knows that mages are people who shouldn't be abused... she just doesn't think that means there should be no circles, either. so with her the position is political instead of religious

cassandra: clearly religious, and specifically believes that the maker's word must be discovered and followed. she's the most devout option for divine, which is probably part of why things don't change a lot under her guidance. for her the position is very religious, with limited political weight - on top of which, she refuses to lead. instead she maintains order.

leliana: devout, but unlike cassandra who tries to discover what the maker wants, leliana decides for herself and follows her own moral code. she's willing to upend the chantry and rebuild it the way she thinks it should be, hardened or softened. esp interesting considering her dao characterization where she thought she was following the maker's path for her, thought she was chosen - she still believes but she's rejected the maker's will being knowable and follows her own

like I have my choice for divine and I'm not interested in changing it, but I do enjoy thinking about all of them and their characterization and how that manifests as divine

[daitranscripts]

Bring Me the Heart of Snow White Pt. 4a

Something For You

Vivienne Masterpost First: An Alchemical Formula Previous: A More Innocent Time

Vivienne walks through the main hall of Skyhold with a couple of Orlesian nobles.

Marcelline: I expected ruins.

Vivienne: They were. As you see, the Inquisition has not been idle.

Laurent: Would it be possible to meet the Herald before we return to Ghislain?

Vivienne: My dear Laurent. For you, anything.

She waves the PC over from where they were talking with Josephine.

Vivienne: Allow me to present Inquisitor (Trevelyan/Adaar/Lavellan/Cadash).

Laurent: Your Worship, you do us great honor.

Vivienne: Inquisitor, this is my dear Bastien’s sister, Grand Cleric Marcelline. And his son, Duke Laurent of the Council of Heralds.

Marcelline: Madame de Fer has told us what great trials you faced, trying to save my poor brother’s life.

Laurent: The Maker called my father to His side. It was valiant of you to champion him in his final hours.

Dialogue options:

General: I wish I’d done more. [1] +Vivienne slightly approves

General: It was just a wyvern. [2]

General: Tell me what you’ve heard. [3] +Vivienne slightly approves

1 - General: I wish I’d done more. PC: If only I’d been able to save Bastien. Marcelline: The Circle of Magi told Bastien many years ago that his illness was incurable. It was simply his time. [4]

2 - General: It was just a wyvern. PC: All I did was kill a wyvern. Laurent: Truly, you are too humble, Inquisitor. My family is deeply grateful for your efforts. [4]

3 - General: Tell me what you’ve heard. PC: I’m curious, what has Vivienne told you of my part in the affair? Laurent: She said you faced down the most dangerous of all wyverns in a desperate bid to save Father’s life. [4]

4 - Scene continues.

Vivienne: Would you mind waiting for me in the chapel, my dears? The Inquisitor and I have business to discuss.

Laurent: It has been our very great pleasure, Herald.

They leave the PC and Vivienne to talk.

Vivienne: This has been quite the triumph, hasn’t it? They just adore you.

Dialogue options:

Pleased: They seem very nice. [5] +Vivienne slightly approves

Surprised: You told them about me? [6]

Confused: How was this a triumph? [7] -Vivienne slightly disapproves

Stoic: Why are they here? [8]

5 - Pleased: They seem very nice. PC: Duke Bastien’s family seem quite pleasant. Vivienne: Ordinarily, I would’ve warned you that Marcelline has the temper of a hungry vulture. But she’s quite taken with you. [9]

6 - Surprised: You told them about me? PC: I can’t believe you told them about the snowy wyvern. Vivienne: Of course, my dear. Bastien’s death was a great loss. A dash of heroics was just what they needed. [9]

7 - Confused: How was this a triumph? PC: We failed to save Bastien, and you’re showing his grieving relatives around Skyhold. How is this a triumph? Vivienne: We did all we could for my darling Bastien, and the family knows that. [9]

8 - Stoic: Why are they here? PC: So why exactly are they here? Vivienne: They asked to see Skyhold. I could hardly refuse. [9]

9 - Scene continues.

Vivienne: Laurent is a dear. Almost as pious as his aunt, and new to a seat of great power in the empire. And Marcelline is one of the strongest voices among the grand clerics. Now they will both come to us for advice. The Inquisition is truly a power now, and there’s no telling how far its influence will reach. But enough of this talk. Here. I have something for you. I commissioned this ring from the Formari—the greatest enchanters in all Thedas—for you.

She hands the PC a ring.

Dialogue options:

General: Thank you. [10] +Vivienne slightly approves

General: There has to be a catch. [11] +Vivienne approves

General: I have lots of rings. [12] -Vivienne slightly disapproves

10 - General: Thank you. PC: This is a generous gift. Thank you, Vivienne. [13]

11 - General: There has to be a catch. PC: And what comes attached to this ring, may I ask? Vivienne: The friendship of all the Circle, should you need it. [13]

12 - General: I have lots of rings. PC: I have enchanted rings. I don’t need another one. Vivienne: You don’t have one like this, my dear. [13]

13 - Scene continues.

Vivienne: Once, it was customary for the Circles to craft enchantments for their staunchest friends and allies. And you have been both. I must go see to my guests now. Another time, darling.

Scene ends.

[hoodienanami]

a picture of style icon and original punk Jordan taken by Jane England sometime during the late 70s

Jordan was quite devoted to her job at pre-fame Vivienne Westwood’s King’s Road boutique SEX (aka Seditionaries) and would often refuse to sell to anyone that she thought didnt understand the political meaning behind the clothes

Some people would come in the shop and just want to grab something because they had money and I would say to people, ‘You can’t buy that. You shouldn’t buy that, it’s not for you’. Vivienne and Malcolm and I were very clear about that and we used to do it quite a bit. We’d really talk to people about why they wanted to buy something and did they think it looked good on them, then why? Essentially we wanted to know why they were really buying it. There was a clear ideology behind these clothes, which is why we were so strict about it. I wasn’t prepared to sell things that looked awful on people just because they had the money to buy it. It would have been bastardizing something beautiful just for the money. The clothes were really like works of art to me, to be cherished and taken care off. For instance, there were these incredible A-line skirts that I loved wearing the rubber suited the shape so well. It was a kind of legitimizing of latex and not wearing it just because it was latex but it was a beautiful fashion item. And it wasn’t only the latex stuff. Having said that I did once have a skirt that literally melted off me! - Jordan

but that didnt mean Jordan was heartless towards young punkers who werent up to date on their Situationist texts or didnt have enough dosh to afford anything

Sometimes people would say things like, ‘I’ve come down from Newcastle and I deserve these trousers and I want them’. If people stood their ground with me then fair enough. I really don’t believe in giving things away. People have to work hard to be a genius, to make things like that, as Vivienne did. It’s not to be given away – it becomes meaningless if it is. But there’s been endless stories of me being kind to people in the shop when I worked at SEX, which is interesting because I had a reputation as being rather dour and unapproachable, and very much a dominatrix type of a person. There were also instances in which, if someone didn’t have enough money, I’d let them have some money off or even give them something under the table. […] I think that punk is an attitude and if punk teaches us anything, it’s not to point the finger at anybody, and it’s to include people, and it’s to include the sexes as equals, and it’s to make people feel that those who are feeling like they’re outsiders feel comfortable. - Jordan

[cassiaorsellio]

9, 22, 36 for Arthur?

thank you! 36 is under the cut :) | QUESTIONS FOR THE INQUISITOR

9. How do they react upon being called the Herald of Andraste?

Arthur has very complicated feelings about being called the Herald of Andraste. He desperately doesn't want it to be true because he doesn't believe anyone should be wielding that sort of influence or power, but part of him also does, because it means all of this personal suffering of his would have been worth it, and that this wouldn't be a lie (he's having a terrible time during Adamant.) Ultimately though, he mostly just finds it unsettling/unnerving —

A: you keep talking as if I'm the equal to Andraste. Do you know how unnerving that is? Mother Giselle: I can only imagine. But we are all given to our purpose under the Maker. A sword does not asked to be forged. And, frankly, if such a comparison gives you pause, I do not see that as a bad thing.

Mostly, he struggles with it (and the Inquisitor title) consuming his identity, no longer being seen as a person but a walking holy relic who the people think they're entitled to. Even when he pushes to discard the title after the events of the base game, it still sticks. He misses just being Arthur.

22. What does the Inquisitor see in the small fear demons?

Himself, possessed. Think about how Justice manfiests in Anders in DA2 when he flares up. Arthur's greatest fear is possession, and it's a very real threat for him if he doesn't keep his vigilance heightened at all times. Sure, I could say it's the spiders, but I personally like the horror of being forced to kill a version of yourself over and over again, reminding you just how vulnerable you are, even more so after fighting off the Envy demon at Therinfal. The Nightmare could grow fat off this fear compared to the spiders, it'd be a veritable feast.

36. Who does the Inquisitor support as Divine and why?

I've always had Arthur support Vivienne in the past, but things have been shifting a lot in the last six months while I've been reworking him and Vivienne being Divine has been sticking out a little bit like a sore thumb in his decision line-up. With how he's been shaping up, I can't see him wanting to meddle in the Divine election. A core part of his struggle with being the Inquisitor is that he hates politics, and he generally refuses to use his political influence to benefit his friends and family. Hell, he even hated that he was made First Enchanter of Ostwick because of his family name when there were plenty of other capable administrators among the Senior Enchanters. There is also a great deal of scrutiny upon him after the mess at Halamshiral. He doesn't want to mess this up.

Leliana, I think, wants too much progress too fast for Arthur's liking, even if he agrees with her - in broad strokes - about welcoming everyone into the Chantry; but the dealbreaker was the Circles - he sees the value in them, but believes they need reform.

I was listening to Cassandra's dialogue regarding the Chantry today and a lot of what she was saying actually aligns with Arthur's personal opinions on what the Chantry should be doing, and her desire for more transparency, her desire to do it out of duty rather than personal ambition and lack of interest in getting invested in the Game are things Arthur either respects or appreciates more.

Cassandra is a safe option who sees it as her duty and even though she may waver in her beliefs at time, she has a clear view of what she wants for the Chantry that's even idealistic. So yeah, all this to say that I think Cassandra is going to be his canon choice going forward.

[trickstarbrave]

Taliesin, drunk: You’re from Morrowind right?

Steren, also drunk: yeah, why?

Taliesin: quickly, what is the strangest place you’ve ever jacked off?

Steren: *struggling to think of all the places he jacked off in Vvardenfell* uhm… Hm…

Steren: Skooma den that was a secret blades hide out?

Taliesin: The blades had a skooma den hide out???

Steren: A guy’s cover story was that he was a skooma addict at the edge of town. *takes another long drink*

Steren: … Actually, I think I got so stressed out I rubbed one out in Kagrenac’s library. I almost forgot about thar one.

Taliesin: Bullshit!! I call bullshit you lying little snake!

Steren: I didn’t wanna even do it in there!!! I was so stressed out and my dad’s ghost had taken a moment to rest and wasn’t actively watching me so I took the moment to take care of it!!!

Taliesin: I’ve learned so much about the Dwemer from you talking that high elf’s ear off at that museum in Markarth, I refuse to believe you masturbated in such a legendary figure’s library!

Steren: What, do you want an oil painting of me getting off there painted by an ash ghoul? I don’t have to prove it to you!

Kaidan: Can you both shut up?! I think every bandit in The Rift can hear you both!

Vivienne, pretending to be asleep in his tent: /////

[dragonologist-writings]

Title: To Dance With You Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition Rating: G Status: One-Shot Characters: Inquisitor Adaar, Josephine Montilyet Ships: F!Adaar/Josephine Additional Notes: Fluff, Romance, Set During WEWH Word Count: 675 Summary: Lady Josephine Montilyet and Inquisitor Adaar share a quiet moment at the Orlesian ball.

read below or here on AO3

Vivienne is not going to be happy with this, Meraad thought idly as she surveyed herself in the dim glow of the candlelit lamps lining the palace balcony. The lovely dress- a unique creation made by Vivienne’s personal seamstress, tailored specifically for Meraad’s stature- was certainly unsalvageable. The skirt itself had held together well enough, but the long, flowing train it once boasted had been ripped to ribbons during her run through the gardens. The dress was not her only concern, although it was easily the most expensive. Her hair, previously braided and pinned around her horns, was now hanging loose in long tangled strands, and the delicate silver chains she’d worn had been ripped clean off her throat and left scattered in pieces across the ground below.

At least Meraad had managed to avoid splattering herself with blood. Or if she hadn’t, the red didn’t stand out against the dark material she wore. Perhaps that was why Vivienne had recommended the black dress; she must have anticipated how unlikely it would be for Meraad to get through the evening without using her daggers.

The quick clicking of heels drew Meraad out of her thoughts, and for a moment she worried her self-inspection was about to ruined by some bothersome partygoer. But she quickly recognized the rhythm of the footsteps and relaxed as, sure enough, Josephine turned the corner.

The ambassador’s eyes lit up as she spotted Meraad in the shadows of the balcony. “I thought I might find you out here.”

“I needed a moment of peace,” Meraad answered, marveling at how despite everything that had transpired that night, Josephine still looked as radiant as ever in a cloud of golden silk. She approached Meraad with an easy smile, not a single hair out of place, as bright and confident as a butterfly on the breeze.

“Then you should take it while you can. Everyone inside is clamoring for an audience with the Inquisitor. They couldn’t be more delighted with you.”

Meraad waited for the punchline, and when none came realized Josephine was serious. She tilted her head curiously. “Even after all of the assassination?”

Now Josephine did laugh. “I forget you’ve never been to an Orlesian ball before. Had there been anything less, they would have been terribly disappointed. You are all they are speaking of.”

Meraad found that hard to believe. These were the same nobility who had gaped at her throughout the evening as they openly whispered oxman while she was mere feet away. Now that she had just murdered a member of the royal family and upended the power balance of Orlais, she shuddered to think of what they were saying out of her earshot. “Perhaps it's best I stay out here, then, especially considering the mess I’ve made of my outfit. I would hate to give them more fodder for gossip.”

“You misunderstand, Inquisitor,” Josephine said, a smile still playing on the edge of her lips. “You are the hero of the hour. You can do no wrong- for the remainder of the night, at least. And I assure you, within the month the newest fashions from Val Royeaux will feature skirts of shredded ribbons.”

The very notion was ridiculous, but Meraad had to admit that nobody knew the workings of these things better than Josephine. “I should enjoy it while it lasts, then.”

“You should,” Josephine agreed. She glanced toward the ballroom doors, beyond which the soft strains of music could be heard, then back to Meraad. With a well-practiced curtsy, she held out her hand in invitation. “Would you honor me with a dance, Lady Adaar?”

There were plenty of reasons for Meraad to refuse- the state of her attire, the stares of the humans, the inevitable gossip, the fact that Meraad had killed her last dance partner scarcely an hour ago. Every reason withered into nothingness under the warmth and sincerity of Josephine’s gaze.

Meraad lightly took the offered hand in her own and brought it to her lips. “Nothing would please me more, Lady Montilyet.”

[wumiings]

Personal favorite headcanon/AU is that the dragonlord gift is generally passed down to the eldest child (I know Balinor says “father to son” but I refuse to believe it’s actually gendered).

Maybe there are some exceptions, hence the comment about how you can’t be sure until you attempt to command a dragon, but it’s generally assumed that the eldest will inherit. Therefore it’s common practice in dragonlord lineages to send the second child to the Isle of the Blessed at a young age to be trained for the high priesthood or similar.

Anyway long story short: what if Balinor and Vivienne were siblings or at least cousins?? Like:

It would add another fucked up layer to the Uther situation: he sleeps with a married woman and has a child with her, then later turns around and slaughters half her kin in the name of another woman and her child (no disrespect to Ygraine of course)

Explains/reinforces Morgana’s bond with Aithusa - obv. being captives together is what makes them inseparable, but I mean like why Aithusa healed her in the first place

Highlights the parallel between Gaius helping Balinor escape to Ealdor and him sending Morgause to the Isle as a small child

AU where Merlin finds out at some point during or shortly after 2x13 and goes tf off at Kilgharrah because “I have living kin goddamn it!! and I’m throwing them under the bus for what?? destiny???”

I just think Merlin, Morgana, and Morgause as allies representing like,, a spectrum of feral-ness would be so much fun. Put that man on cousin-wrangling duty because they Are going to take over the kingdom but “no we don’t need to set the towns on fire to prove a point Morgause put that torch down—”

[thefomadailynews]

Vivienne X Argus | Cowboy Hat Rule

Sitting at her desk, Vivienne thumbs the edge of her old crumpled hat as she leans over the cool oak wood, her ears flickering at the noise of bird song and horses snorting as their riders spurred on.

"Five minutes," she mumbles to herself, feeling herself relax after a day of teaching teenagers and before an evening of managing her own little brood of four. Willow especially had been testing the limits lately, searching for methods of making exploding bullets and testing her little paws at some spells that made her brothers loopy.

"Vivienne?" Abigail's head peaks through the door, the marginally taller tabaxi looking in on her former mentor and friend.

"FIVE MINUTES!" Vivienne yelps in shock, her huge ears flicking in panic. "Oh... Abby, sorry I was lost in thought..."

"Sorry... I can come back?" Abby clutches her hat to her chest, looking sheepish and... entirely too desperate to wait for Vivienne to have her break.

"Don't tell me..." Vivienne sighs.

"Professor Widowghast." The two say in unison, Abby nods.

"He's insisting he needs the beacon back, something about negotiations crumbling--"

"Yeah, yeah..." Vivienne hops down from her desk, all three feet of her making the way to the door as she and Abby hustle to the offices. "What is it with him and trying to get natives and prospectors to get along? Kieran must be exhausted."

----------------------

"Willow Sane-Seeker get down here now!" Vivienne shouts at her daughter, almost her exact look alike. The teenage serval looks down at her mother with a huff and a roll of her eyes as she pulls her hat over her eyes. Rowyn is standing against the trunk, whittling a piece of wood silently as they watch their goddaughter ignore her mother.

"You want me to get her mama?" Ambrose asks, the young puma looking down on his mother. Frustratingly so, she was a small woman in a big world and yet the one child the same size as her wanted almost nothing to do with Vivienne.

"No, she's going to come down because I say so!" Vivienne says, her tone getting progressively louder, Willows ears flick in annoyance. The only sign she noticed her mother.

"...problem child..." Zephyr coughs under his breath.

"Shut up douchebag," Raphael growls at his younger brother by twenty-two minutes, slapping him with his large-rimmed hat.

"Willow please?" Vivienne sighs, pinching her brow and looking at Rowyn. For a moment they don't notice her stare but when they do a slightly terrified look crosses their face. Usually, they were the one being chastised, Vivienne just looks defeated.

"Come on Willow, do as your mom says?" They look questioningly down at the woman as if questioning if that's what Vivienne wants. Willow grunts but slowly uncurls from the branches of the Willow tree and scales down it before her mother.

"Seems like I just speak a whole other language you don't understand," Vivienne snips at Willow before throwing up a hand at Rowyn and beckoning her children to follow her. "Why do you insist on ignoring..."

Willow brushes by Vivienne, pulling her hat down.

"...me." Vivienne sighs, feeling a churning unease.

-----------

"She just refuses to listen to me!" Vivienne stalks across the floor of the bedroom, Argus is dizzy from just watching his miniature wife prowl around like a caged cat.

"Mein schatzi..." Argus soothes, putting a huge hand out and scooping his wife up before she can make head or tail of what is happening. Holding her firmly, Argus admonishes her worries. "She is just trying to figure out her... size."

"What do you mean?" Vivienne huffs at his cryptic wording.

"Just as I had to figure out my hugeness I believe she is figuring out her smallness. You are in the way." He gently states, smoothing a palm, calmingly over Vivienne's back.

"But she needs me to help her---"

"She needs you to let her figure out how big she wants to be, your size never stopped you, correct?"

"No..."

"She needs what you needed," Argus affirms, "let her figure out what size she's going to grow into. She'll always be our little girl, but... she is not little, not inside."

He takes off Vivienne's hat reverently, a hat that has seen ups and downs, adventure and domesticity. He shows her the hat with a smug smirk, tapping her nose with it before placing it lopsidedly on one of his ears.

"Now... should we relax?" Argus asks smoothly, looking her up and down.

"That trick is too powerful," Vivienne smirks, reaching up for her hat as she places a feather-light kiss on Argus' lips. "Also... I'm still not sure it works this way around."

"You don't complain," he slyly replies dragging her down to kiss her all over her face.

"Save a horse..." Vivienne shrugs with a chuckle.

[inoreuct]

miles hiked the strap of his duffel further up his shoulder as the subway doors hissed open, cans knocking against each other inside when he stepped out. his jordans squeaked on the dirty tile as he took the steps up; he stepped onto the street and squinted as the setting sun hit him right in the face. 

today had been brutal. his visual arts professor’s critique had been harsh, but accurate; still, acknowledging that fact hadn’t helped miles much, and try as he might he just hadn’t been able to get his oils to work the way he wanted them to. 

you’re trying too hard, his professor had scolded. you’re off today because you can’t find the sense of freedom that makes your work unique, miles. 

“no shit,” miles muttered, walking mostly on autopilot as he rounded corners and took shortcuts through alleyways. between crazy deadlines and the near-ridiculous workload, he was stretched too thin; his mama had told him not to double major, but he still refused to believe she had a point. 

so here he was on a friday evening, ducking under a gap in a wire fence, kicking up dirt in the abandoned scrapyard where he did most of his graffiti. it wasn’t his only haunt, nor was it his exclusively, but he’d claimed a stretch of concrete wall as his own and—

someone was standing in front of it.

miles skidded to a stop, only just noticing that he’d been walking faster than he’d realised, and the person turned.

oh.

someone hot was standing in front of it. 

an angular face framed by thick wicks with low, proud brows pierced twice on each side, just slightly uneven enough to offset the perfect symmetry of the stranger’s face; miles’s gaze tripped over sharp eyes smudged with liner, spiky lashes long enough to brush high cheekbones, silver barbells through a strong nose bridge and the right side of a full lower lip, gloss-slick. a worn denim vest was wrapped around his lean frame, pleated palazzo pants falling over chunky loafers, rings on almost every dark-polished finger and a vivienne westwood orb dangling in silver and pearl from his ear.

oh no. 

“this yours?” the stranger asked, pointing to the graffiti-laden wall with his chin, accent catching miles off guard just as much as his words did. 

“uh—” miles swallowed, mouth too dry as he reassessed his artwork and tried to imagine it from an outsider’s perspective. “yeah. why?” 

the stranger shrugged, mouth twisting wryly. “i like it.”

the relief miles felt was irrational. he tried to strangle it, and it just made his heart pound harder. “you, um— what do you like about it?” he finished the question and nearly gagged. so smooth, morales. not lame at all.

“…the emotions,” the stranger hummed, undeterred, head tipping to the side. “it’s… raw. feels like a fresh bruise that ya can’t stop pressin’ on.” 

miles went still at that, eyes drawn to where the stranger was looking, with bright explosions and splatters of colour everywhere. it was a patch that made no sense and took up too much space, but he’d never been able to bring himself to spray over it; he’d made it the night his uncle died, plunged his hands straight into cans of paint and took his grief out on the concrete. there were tears dried in there, too. 

“interesting.” a fresh bruise. it didn’t feel quite so fresh anymore, five years down the road; more like an old injury that ached when it rained. miles walked up to stand beside the stranger, close enough to take in the patchwork tattoos covering his arms but not enough to decipher the scrawling line of text beneath his jaw. 

“interesting,” his stranger echoed, pulling something from a pocket of his vest and offering it to miles between two fingers.

miles took the card, the edge pressing into his fingers. it was simple, black courier font flushed left against a cream background; THE BLACK WIDOW. ink and piercings. 834 57th street, brooklyn. he looked up to find the guy already looking at him, hands in his pockets as he backed away. “hope five o’clock tomorrow’s good,” he called, flashing a row of white teeth in the first smile miles had seen from him, surprisingly sweet and a little dorky. “i’d like to make a commission.” 

something caught in miles’s throat, stealing his words as he watched the stranger walk away. he was about to duck under the fence when miles finally shouted, “h-hey, wait! i never got your name!”

the stranger turned, arching a brow. “it’s hobie. hobie brown.” he tipped his chin at miles and slipped under the wire, all easy grace and long limbs, unfolding to his full height on the other side.

miles watched him go, trying out his name on his tongue. “hobie brown.”

he dropped his duffel, picked a colour and shook the can, pulling off the cap as a smile pulled unbidden at the edges of his mouth.

guess i better clear my schedule for 5 o’clock.

(now with pt. 2!)

okay okay listen LISTEN. tattoo artist hobie and visual artist miles who does everything from gouache to graffiti to digital, but one day miles is heading over to his usual graffiti place and he finds this tall handsome stranger already there. HOBIE. THE TALL HANDSOME STRANGER IS HOBIE. AND HE WANTS TO COMMISSION SMTH FROM MILES.