#to me it doesn't make much sense for a dalish elf to end up as part of the shadow dragons or the mourn watch or the crows

[trickerys-domain]

So I just got a chance to listen to the Dev Q&A (thank you Ghil Dirthalen!).

Was anyone else extremely annoyed and disappointed by the answer regarding City vs Dalish Elf Rook?

Like that 'things are different in Northern Thedas when it comes to elves' comes across as such a lazy lore excuse for 'we didn't want backlash for restricting races to factions' considering from every other peice DA media released, we know that's not true. The dalish and city elves are very much seperate cultures and factions on their own.

It would be like saying orzammar and surface dwarves are 'basically the same' in northern thedas

[kcwriter-blog]

Since there has been some discussion about how a young Lavellan might interact with Solas, I thought I would chime in with how an older Lavellan might interact with him.

My Lavellan is in her 30s. She has been a First for some time. That means she has been groomed for a leadership position since her teens. At her age, other clan members will be asking her for advice.

She may not be experienced enough to be considered a haren but she is as knowledgeable as any Keeper about elvish history. She knows herself. She knows her people. She is proud to be Dalish.

So she doesn't give a rat's ass what Solas thinks about the Dalish. At first he's just a weird elf who carries himself like one of the Dalish but doesn't even have a valleslin. She's been taught that non-Dalish elves are to be pitied because they have lost their way. Even as far back as Origins we have a haren telling our Warden that when the elves get another homeland it will be up to the Dalish to teach the city elves how to be true elves. So whether she likes it or not, her first impression will be that he is an elf but not a "true" elf.

So while she asks him his opinion, its not because she thinks he knows more, it's just curiosity. What do non-Dalish elves think about elven culture?

She may say that he "insults her people" but that just drives home the fact that she sees him as different. He isn't one of her people. He isn't Dalish.

What he says is irritating but she can forgive him because he hasn't spent much time with the Dalish and his few experiences weren't positive. He can say what he likes. She's heard worse from the shems.

However, being proud to be Dalish doesn't mean she is going to refuse knowledge just because what she has learned is different from what he is telling her.

Dreamers are important to the Dalish. They are rare but they should be listened to. She's also very, very intelligent. She knows the Dalish don't know everything. If they did, they wouldn't be trying so hard to put together the puzzle pieces that are all that remains of her culture.

She is a confident woman. She is mature. She understands her strengths and weaknesses. She knows it isn't weak to ask for help. She knows leadership is about collaboration. In some ways she is more mature than Solas.

So she listens. She compares what she knows with what he tells her and decides for herself if it makes sense or not. She doesn't believe him just because he is older than she is. She takes in knowledge from many sources including the ruins they visit, the scrolls and books in the library, what other elves say. She analyzes the data and comes up with her own set of beliefs.

She views Solas as someone in need of protection. She tells him she will protect him anyway she has to because she knows the shem could imprison him, make him Tranquil or execute him if they feel like it. She is lucky. She has a seat at the table. She chooses to exercise her power by protecting him.

Solas isn't a mentor to her. Yes, he knows a lot and yes, he gives her good advice but so do Cullen, Josephine and Leliana. He is a colleague. She may trust him more because he is an elf. She may spend more time with him because they share some of the same experiences (as far as she knows) but at the end of the day he is basically someone who can help her do her job. It can even be argued that when she becomes Inquisitor she becomes his boss.

Solas may start out thinking of himself as a mentor or at least a teacher but it is not their dynamic. He gives the information freely. She can take it or not. Does he get frustrated if she doesn't listen to him? Sure. I get frustrated with my friends when they don't listen to me but I can't make them.

I think by the time they get to Skyhold they are on a more equal footing. They respect one another. They may even think their first impressions were wrong. And they may fall in love.

I've always seen their relationship as an equal one with a lot of give and take. As players we know who he is but our Lavellans do not. So there is no real power dynamic at play. He isn't her boss. He knows a lot and gives her advice but that does not put him in a position of power over her. He acknowledges that every time he apologizes or concedes to her.

How will she deal with him 10 years later? She has had a lot of time to reflect. She was in a position of power. She realizes he is right. Sometimes there are only terrible choices left. She had to leave Hawk or Alistair in the Fade. Hell, one of her decisions resulted in the destruction of her clan.

So she understands that Solas once had to make a terrible choice. He regrets it the same way she regrets some of her decisions. She knows there are things she would do differently if she could. She would give anything to change some things.

She understands how being in power erases your identity. She knows that sometimes you can become the person everyone believes you to be even if you don't want that. She knows what he went through. She went through the same thing. She knows the world will decide who you are without ever getting to know the real you. She also knows that you can never really leave all of that behind.

With age sometimes comes wisdom. She understands him better now than she did when they first met.

She has had time to learn more about the Veil. She can see that its presence has caused a lot of suffering. She has come to the conclusion that Thedas would be better off without it. She just wants it done in a way that results in as few lives lost as possible.

She has had time to reflect on their relationship. She was very angry at the time but has let it go. She understands why he broke it off. She understands him well enough to know that he is broken and not capable of having a real relationship until he has dealt with his shit.

Her feelings for him have actually deepened because she understands him better now. So when they meet again she isn't going to be plotting his downfall. She's not going to jump into his arms either. There is a lot of water under that bridge. From her perspective they have a job to do. They can talk about their relationship afterwards.

Whatever happens they will deal with it like the mature adults they have always been.

[serenityfails]

part two of my DATV thoughts, now that i've finished the game. i think i'm gonna focus on my feelings about specific character arcs in this one.

VARRIC: i touched on this in my previous post but varric isn't really a character in this game, it's just rook and solas's shared projection/idea of who varric was. which i do think is actually an interesting concept. i just think it's noticeable, once you learn that fact, that everyone just moves on instantly. i don't need the game to indulge me with hours of clothes-rending mourning, i just don't believe his death would go totally un-remarked upon.

HARDING: i need a lot more selling on the idea that she cares really deeply about her dwarven heritage. it's possible i missed some important banters or something on this subject from her, but as it stands i didn't feel, based on who she was before, that it really mattered to her that much. she's a surface dwarf, born and raised-- she certainly had some thoughts about that in the descent DLC, but the vibe i got was "yeah those guys don't associate with the likes of me, but fuck 'em, I'm Fereldan", not "gee i wish i could reconnect to The Stone". even just some tidbits about her family. she brings up her mother all the time-- something about her mother feeling a sense of loss there, or something emotional to link her thematically to the titans.

lacking that connection, it felt even more glaring that they straight up PUT VALTA IN THE GAME, because that's HER story, not harding's. it just doesn't line up for me personally.

i like the idea of anger vs joy in concept, and i liked the idea that harding actually had a lot of animosity towards solas that she felt ashamed of. but i think that animosity should have started from a more personal place (maybe what happened with corypheus and the inquisition, then varric) and blossomed from there into the wider question of the titans. if that was the intention, i didn't really see that in the final version.

BELLARA: She's Fine.jpeg. i think it would have been good to get a clearer idea of who/what Anaris is, because i did feel like that aspect of her story was underbaked and her brother's death was foreshadowed so hard it was basically haus of decline's "i think we're gonna have to kill this guy, steven" comic, but that was an issue i had with multiple character plotlines. i like her and Neve's relationship and i will be sexualizing it. thank you.

NEVE: i can't really take her Dark Knight bit seriously but that's okay. (she's Crime Boss Batman in my game now, and her boyfriend is the leader of the Crows, so good for her.) I like how she plays off the other characters more than I think I like her in isolation. i also feel like i was missing some of her backstory, but maybe you get more if you romance her?

LUCANIS: i want him to be a bigger mess. he's too well-adjusted. i say this having hardened him in my game... i was cut off from romancing him but i still feel like he was taking everything too well and being too reasonable about everything. i want a bitch with messy hair and yellow teeth scrabbling around like a fucking goblin okay he's been imprisoned under the ocean for a YEAR and he's POSSESSED make him get FREAKY WITH IT. he lives in a pantry but he always looks like he just stepped off a magazine cover. i can't jerk off to this

DAVRIN: they could not possibly have told you any more clearly how precisely his entire plotline will play out from mission one, so it was boring in that respect, but i enjoyed all the Wardeny lore of his questline so i'm okay with it. I also called the monster being Isseya so i get a gold star for being a big fucking nerd. His romance has moments of juice and then peters out a lot at the end, which is tragic. I actually enjoy his perspective as a Dalish elf that felt confined by that life and left it on purpose, but I think we don't get enough of a sense of the Regular Old Dalish vs. the weirdasses in the Veil Jumpers to feel the weight of that choice.

EMMRICH: i love this bitch he's so fruity and fun. it's deeply cute that he's genuinely shocked and hurt people find necromancy creepy and weird. i razzed him about it once and he got so genuinely sad about it i was like omg... baby.... i'm so sorry peepaw!!! Hezenkoss is the best villain in the game because she's just like what fucking ever no relatable motivation no grey morality it's mad science time!!!!!!!! my friend said she "made a bone Jaeger out of rich people" and you know what. she was right to do that. #womeninSTEM #supportwomenswrongs

i let manfred die. in the moment, i was actually just super mad at the game for so blatantly foreshadowing WE ARE GOING TO KILL THE CUTE LITTLE SKELLINGTON that i was like fuck you, the skeleton dies. i felt bad about it after. but also emmrich becoming a lich was REALLY funny so i don't feel THAT bad.

TAASH: there is a good character in there underneath the corporate mandated HR meeting. another point where the script needs less handholding, more time to breathe, and more in depth exploration of the qun's take on gender, which in the past games i have found genuinely compelling, and gender in thedas in general (which the games already have a patchy track record on).

i was also mad at the game for so clearly flagging their mom's death, and it seemed so reversible because like... hi we have a party full of mages with healing magic what exactly is the issue here, BUT WHATEVERRRRRRRRRRR. (mommy, why didn't aerith use a phoenix down?)

i also have to apologize to Taash for completely ruining their life and making it hard to connect to anyone ever again by killing off Harding. i think it's crazy Harding got to spend her last months on the planet getting the daylights fucked out of her by someone who is at a rough estimate ten years her junior and twice her size, though, good for her.

post is already too long. i will post about my feelings on Solas, Lavellan, and Mythal some other time.

[el-bellanaris]

A small thing that would have had a great impact in Veilguard that I would have liked to see carry over from Inquisition was the choice to basically go this isn't up to me for a companions quest line question. I'm not sure if it happened in any other quest lines but in Cassandra's I remember so starkly being able to say "that's not for me to decide" in relation to rebuilding the Seeker's. It felt so earned as well because I had done this quest pretty late in the game and I loved Cass a lot by that point, she was my most trusted ally and someone I wanted beside me at all times so I believed in her ability to make this choice. And it felt right because she was asking me about a chantry organisation when I was playing as a Dalish elf, like yeah sure I can have opinions on the church but having to decide almost everything relating to a religion my character doesn't even believe in is a lot. And as a result I got to find out what she thought was best at the end of Tresspasser, the Inquisitor does a lot so it's nice to see other people take charge in the world.

Anyway in Veilguard I think this choice system would have been really beneficial for Taash's storyline in particular. It seems so strange to me that Rook gets to decide which culture Taash should honour more after watching them grow throughout the game. Taash's storyline of being confused about themself and seeking out other people to understand more about gender then just the expectations they've grown up with was really nice. So I think it would have really suited that at the end of the game Taash wasn't exactly looking for a strong answer but rather the advice to further concrete them trusting themselves to decide what feels right to them.

I think Bellara's choice could have benefitted from this as well, it's a lot of weight to deal with your culture coming crashing down around you with the weight of knowing way to much. I think she could have benefitted from a less weighted third option to honour what she feels right and walk into the future living in a way that feels right to her right now.

It makes sense for certain choices for the character to seek out the advice of the player character so strongly, Davrin for example since his choice is about living beings that aren't himself so letting Rook help decide makes sense. He trusts Rook, this being a choice between them works. And it's not to say Taash and Bellara don't trust Rook but also that I think both of them should be able to trust themselves when it comes to how they want to live in relation to something that's more personal.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @vivispec | AO3: Vivispec

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Top 10 Reasons You Should Actually Contact The Ex Whose Life You Ruined– Number 1 Will Shock You!

Vivi and Dema talk OCs, Whumptober, and how to write while driving

Dema: Good morning! It is I, Dema, here for our interview.

Vivi: Good morning!

Dema: Since this is a fandom event I'd like to start there! How long have you been involved in the Dragon Age fandom? What drew you to it?

Vivi: I've been into Dragon Age since Origins came out-- I actually have fanfic I wrote for it when I was 12 on my Grandmother's computer, it's very bad-- but I didn't actually start getting involved in the fandom until much more recently. I'm kind of a fandom lurker in general, and didn't start posting fanfic or really engaging in the fandom until about 2022.

As for what drew me to it, the series has held a special place in my heart for a very long time, but playing Inquisition for the first time in 2020 kinda broke my brain (affectionate). I went into a Solasmance blind and have never been the same since

Dema: Oh, I too have the Solasmance hooks in me, I understand. Does that make DA:O and DA:I roughly tied for your favorite? Or do you have a strong favorite?

Vivi: This question is honestly the bane of my existence, because I have so much trouble choosing. DA:O definitely has more nostalgia, but DA:I is the one I engage with and write about the most. I think, if I had to choose at gunpoint, I'd actually say DA:2 is my favorite, but that's by the thinnest and blurriest margin.

Dema: Haha, yes. It's a bit of a "choose your favorite child" question. I will not hold you at gunpoint.

Vivi: Much appreciated.

Dema: Is it Solas in particular that inspires you to write in the DA:I timeline the most?

Vivi: He's definitely a contributing factor, and what started me down that road, but I think my love for writing DA:I is mostly tied to my Inquisitor, actually. She's maybe one of my favorite OCs I've ever made.

Dema: DA is such a great sandbox for OCs. Tell me about your Inquisitor! What makes her a favorite?

Vivi: Her name is Viera'vun, a Dalish hunter. She's a pathfinder more than anything else, incredibly observant, and very down-to-earth once she's settled in as Herald. I love figuring out how a Dalish elf with no exposure to this world she's been suddenly thrust into would react, and how she would keep herself safe-- in Viera's case, she becomes really good at picking up on the little things and using them to her advantage, and standing her ground. One of my favorite things about her is actually the dynamic she has with her hunting partner, Iloniyn-- they're platonic soulmates, one of my favorite tropes to write, and having him there as her rock once he joins her at Skyhold definitely gives her stable footing as she tackles becoming the Inquisitor.

Dema: She sounds lovely, and I can see how those themes would provide a lot of creative inspiration! Dalish Inquisitors in particular have such an interesting dynamic. How do Viera'vun and Iloniyn navigate the religious affiliations of the Inquisition?

Vivi: Viera uses it to her advantage, as best that she can. She doesn't believe in it of course and isn't shy to say so, but when holding her tongue and letting others make their own assumptions would help her out, she's not opposed to begrudgingly doing so. I think the biggest thing is that she knows how, historically, elves have been treated by the Chantry, and that she likely won't be immune to being killed or erased by them. Still, as long as she's around and has power, she's going to use it for her and her people.

Dema: Oh, she sounds so savvy! I love her already. Since we've been discussing OCs, especially in the context of the Dragon Age universe, I'm curious how you go about creating them. For example, was Viera an in-game Inquisitor? Or did you make her specifically for writing with? And was she typical of your process?

Vivi: In general, my OCs start in-game. Even Iloniyn was originally an alt Inquisitor that I fell in love with, and wanted to use in writing! When I replay roleplaying games with some element of character creation, I tend to give my PCs a gimmick so they don't all play the same-- Iloniyn's whole shtick was he didn't want to be there and was very vocal about it, and one of my Warden's always chooses the lie option if it's available to her. Viera was my first playthrough of the game so she didn't have a gimmick. I let the game shape who she was as I played it and tweaked it in post, adding more backstory and personality once I knew the general arc of the story, and where she was going to end up. Then, I did what I do with all of my OCs to flesh them out: drop them into increasingly terrible situations to figure out how they tick! She got the worst of it, I did Whumptober the year I started writing her. 31 days of horror for that poor lady

Dema: Hey, the meat grinder tells us what they're made of!

Vivi: Exactly! You get it.

Dema: Were those mostly one-shots?

Vivi: Yes they were! 60k worth of one-shots. Most were about her, but she definitely wasn't the only one. I even dipped my toes into Ancient Elvhenan for that event, it was a lot of fun filling those prompts!

Dema: Oh wow, 60k in 31 days! So you are no stranger to writing a lot of words in a set timeframe.

Vivi: No stranger at all, though I don't think I have that sort of stamina any longer. Still not entirely sure how I did it. I've done three other Big Bangs since as well, finishing four pieces across them.

Dema: What keeps you coming back to Bangs?

Vivi: I wouldn't finish pieces otherwise. I'm a notorious WIP collector, so having incentive to finish my pieces is always nice. Plus, I love getting to work alongside artists, and see how they interpret what I write! Collaborations make it all feel so much more official.

Dema: Having only participated in Bangs as an artist, I'm so impressed and inspired by the dedication you have to the challenge. It's a big number!

Vivi: Aw thank you, on the opposite side of the event I'm always impressed by the artists and their illustrations! It's amazing what we both are able to do in the timeframe given, thank you for your service.

Dema: I love it! From the artist's perspective, it's an interesting way to engage with a fic as a prompt, and the inspiration comes from the story and the collaborative effort. As a writer, is there anything in particular you're drawing inspiration from as you develop your idea for a long fic like this? Without being too specific about this idea, of course.

Vivi: Honestly, ideas just kinda hit me during my morning commute, while I stare aimlessly at the road ahead of me. Because of that, I tend to record myself talking in the car, despite the fact that I probably look like I've lost it just a little bit. Just talking through my thoughts on where my OCs and the companion characters are or what they're doing during specific times generally gives me a lot to think and write about, but mostly I pull my inspiration from their interpersonal relationships. That is what this series is built off of, and what I love about it!

Dema: I think that is a brilliant strategy. In the last minutes, and just for fun: can you come up with a click-bait title for your fic? Without giving anything major away, of course.

Vivi: Top 10 Reasons You Should Actually Contact The Ex Whose Life You Ruined-- Number 1 Will Shock You!

Dema: HAHA, Perfect. Thank you so much for your time, Vivi!

Vivi: Thank you! This was a lot of fun.

[cheesebearger]

veilguard's writing is rather piss poor tbh. like the story itself and how npcs talk is all very unpolished. there are, however, plenty of scenes one on one with companions that are more polished in terms of dialogue. so it's really a mixed bag - i think they prioritized cut scene writing and editing, and deprioritized polishing companion banter, idle dialogue, etc.

the cameos from past characters have also not served much of a purpose - they're as hollow as seeing stan lee's holographic dead corpse being puppeteered across the screen in a marvel movie. morrigan felt like yassified morrigan. that is not my wife. my wife morrigan would never be at peace with mythal in her head sharing her body, it would cause her to be deranged with fear and anger and desperate to become free. dorian does not seem to mention his amatus (meatball, my inquisitor) at all. meatball im so fucking sorry (he also looks so gd ugly in this game. they killed my boy. my beautiful meatballed boy). isabella is. there.

overall, the plot (which i think is poorly written, structured, and paced) feels more like it's dragon age 5. like it feels like we missed dragon age 4. that we skipped it, and started the game at dragon age 5. we're missing all the "chasing Solas" stuff, picking up right at the end of the chase in minrathous. in a moment that feels, very much, like it is from the climax rather than the beginning of a story.

and the most important thing: what is the purpose of varric? why is varric there. not just, in the story. i mean, why is his death kept a secret until further in the game? what purpose does varric being a ghost/hallucination have in the story, other than a way to pull one over on the player? when it would have been significantly stronger, in every way, to have that starting moment in the game be varric's dead body. no more varric, no more varric story cut-ins. instead, we have his death handled in a very weak way, where instead of allowing the full power of his loss to affect the audience, to influence their engagement with the game and to add conflict to their relationship with solas, they have the reveal of his death artificially delayed. it's just hollow and weak. it disrespects varric by not allowing him to die, and not allowing that death to mean anything.

in terms of a dragon age story, this is the weakest that's been released. I personally rank the games as: Dragon Age 2 (very strong 3-act tragic structure set in a highly oppressive and conflict-dense location rife with possible ways to engage with and influence those conflicts); Origins (great cast of characters - though I wish there was more interesting conflict between them like in 2 - and a strong story that doesn't shy away from the difficult politics of the world and lore); Inquisition (i declare this the most Liberal Game Ever - you become the clandestine leader of an ostensibly religious organization and the game wants you to think that's Very Good, because if one Good Person has all the power, they can Do Good (: ); and then Veilguard (what is this pacing and structure. why do i have a major story decision wherein an entire city is lost before i even have a full roster of companions. what is this writing "the elven gods have returned" "ah yes this makes sense to me a dalish elf and i have no problem accepting this as truth")

[squirrelno2]

I've been Officially Enabled thanks @what-point-is-there have a dragon age weirdo

the one, the only, the original blorbo whose fault it is that i got super into dragon age, Evura Tabris! I've made a lot of wardens (and finished the game for almost none of them shhh) but Evura is the one I would consider my "canon".

She's the kind of person where all the looting you do in rpgs is canon, because she sees no point in wasting things just because the person who had them before is dead (i mean. she's also a thief. living, dead, she'll take from anybody if she thinks they can afford to be taken from), but she's also generally very kind. So long as you don't give her a reason to kill you, like, you know, the city elf origin story where you get kidnapped by a noble on your wedding day and have to fight your way out. She kind of slaughtered everyone there, because everyone seemed to treat this behaviour as perfectly normal. when I say she's kind, I don't mean she particularly cares about killing or not killing people, I mean she gives to beggars and frees people in prison. To some people, this may seem contradictory but to Evura if there are different rules for the powerful and everyone else when it comes to laws, there should be different rules for how she treats them, too.

This also extends to her level of trust in people. Authority figures, especially humans, earn a range of reactions from mild distaste to (again) outright murder, depending on whether they earn it. Duncan received a wary respect because he was polite and respectful with elves in her alienage in spite of being human; Alistair got a wary trust out of necessity and his own self-effacing personality. She places much more and quicker trust in people like Morrigan and Sten, because those are people very clearly and visibly on the outside of society. Even when Evura doesn't trust a person, or thinks they're making a series of stupid decisions, she tends to build fondness for them rapidly so long as they don't do anything too shady. Every new person who doesn't treat her like shit for being an elf is someone she can ply with endless questions about their life and culture, and the world beyond the alienage she grew up in; that genuine interest in other people's lives combined with her stubborn insistence on everyone getting along "so help me or I will stab you" mean most people who work with her end up at least with a begrudging respect for her. More often, they're charmed by her whether they want to be or not (except of course for those authority figures she doesn't like. they pretty uniformly despise her and she likes it that way.)

She ends up romancing Alistair - I almost went for Leliana, but Leliana says some things about elves that fall under the "well-meaning but super gross" category and Evura was immediately turned off forever. They're still friends, but Evura was not about to spend her newly shortened life trying to romance someone who was going to need to Work Through Some Things about her. She didn't expect to care for Alistair beyond work buddies at all, seeing in him mostly a hapless human with a sense of humour that complemented her own, but the way he treated her as he realised/admitted his own affections made her feel like she could let down her walls. They came to rely on each other a lot, and Alistair is the only person in the group who Evura tells her stories to, instead of just asking for his.

The other person she's closest to (in a group full of misfits that she is absolutely enamoured of, let's be clear) is Zevran, who functions in her life as a brother figure. They're both elves who want more of a connection to Dalish culture than they have, in their own ways, and they feel comfortable joking around together and knowing that the other would listen if they ever felt the need to open up (this does mean. they very rarely open up to each other. somehow they still know more about each other than anybody else? it's all in bits and pieces and jokes.)

also Evura definitely talks Alistair into doing the ritual with Morrigan so they both survive, does not want Alistair to be king (because he doesn't, and no matter how much she'd prefer him in charge to someone she barely knows who betrayed her she also knows Anora is capable, and what Alistair wants is more important to her anyway), and her entire thing when she goes chasing after Morrigan is "hey we could just help you raise that kid!" - she is so pissed to hear that Alistair got to meet Keiran in Inquisition without her. She spends the rest of her life trying to figure out ways to cheat the Blight in her and Alistair in between making politically controversial choices that piss off the leadership of the Wardens because she does not at all believe they should stay apart from regular politics. She saved the damn world and you can bet she will leverage that to fight for elf rights and mage rights and anti-slavery work and so on and so forth. All causes are Evura's causes and she'll kick your ass if you tell her to ignore injustice no matter how many times you've been to Weisshaupt

[invinciblerodent]

So, if Petyr and Marcus had to swap teams, who would they gravitate towards in the new group and how would it go?

oooh, very fun question, thank you for asking! ❤️ thedas is not ready for the bitchiest elf in the world, and the nicest necromancer to have ever lived is not ready for the forgotten realms.

I think Petyr might actually make sense as someone Varric might hire as a guy to help him track down Solas. He's a ranger, a tracker, a hunter, someone who is very good at navigating the woods in particular... he'd most likely be a Dalish rogue from somewhere in Arlathan, and he'd agree to help (for a reasonable amount of coin), but he wouldn't wind up as Varric's mentee, and he would not be Rook. Not only because he doesn't really have the people skills needed to fill the role, but more because he seems at least mildly allergic to not acting at least a little bit out of self-interest, and isn't really in the business of joining causes for the greater good. (like, in VG he'd probably be a Veil Jumper, but only because "off-putting local swamp-hermit" isn't actually a background option.)

So for Petyr at-this-time-Aldwir, I was thinking about who on the Veilguard team might have the closest thing to that Botherable Little Shit energy Shadowheart brings, and... I think it might be Harding? Like, one needs the patience to deal with him, the insight to see through his bitching, and the ability to give as good as one gets, and she's the only one I can see having all three, but she also seems like the kind of earnest, nice person he'd find endlessly fun to try and piss off. (Plus, through traveling with him for like a year prior to the game, she'd have had enough time to move past taking the jabs and barbs personally. One of the things I love about him and Shadowheart is that "you want to kiss me so bad it makes you look silly" dynamic, and I think he and Lace could have something slightly similar going on.)

I also want to say that Davrin could probably suss him out as a phony in an instant and give him some good-natured shit about it (like I hc Wyll did in BG3, though probably a bit less nicely- Davrin has both the wisdom to see that his bark is far worse than his bite, and the balls to tell him that) and establish kind of a friendly sort of dick-measuring rivalry, while he and Taash have sort of a similar bluntness to them, so they might find a common voice that's well-suited to vaguely grunting at each other. (Who, Taash? Yeah, best friend I've ever had, we still sit in the same room and don't talk sometimes.)

He might even end up romancing either Taash or Harding, as long as he can watch his tongue for like, five seconds. (we're ignoring that this man, in true DnD half-elf fashion, looks like 25 but is in his mid-forties, and that it'd be weird as hell for him to romance someone like Taash, who is like. maybe 23.)(I don't really think any of the guys are a suitable fit for him, personality-wise. Like I think at least Emmrich and Bellara would actively dislike him, with Lucanis not far behind. Those three would not have a good time in a party led by Petyr.)

As for Marcus, I've a hunch that he'd have a very difficult time as Tav, and his voice would easily get drowned out by anyone with a more forceful personality than his (so pretty much everyone in the party).

I'm beyond the shadow of a doubt certain that in BG3/DnD, he'd be a wizard, and he'd still be a necromancer like he is in his canon (with some notable differences, Dragon Age necromancy is very different from DnD necromancy), so I'm sure he and Gale would immediately have a lot to talk about- or rather, Gale would have a lot to talk about, and Marcus is an excellent listener, so that works lol.

I'm also fairly sure that he and Wyll would wind up as quite good friends (though honestly, that's not much of a brag- whoever Wyll doesn't like should, imo, be treated as a walking red flag), and he might also have what it takes to get close-ish with Shadowheart (with his open mind and, again, ability to listen), though probably not romantically, and in a way entirely different from Petyr.

I think Lae'zel and Astarion would respectively think him soft and bland as day old oatmeal, Karlach would have to essentially adopt him as her pet introvert for any sort of a friendship to work with them, and finding common ground with Halsin (likely in their scholarly pursuits) would take a minute, but honestly it might just work out well enough. (He's not recruiting Minthara; too strong a survival instinct lol.)(which, man his romantic prospects would be looking bleak in this game. the people he'd be interested in sexually, he's intimidated by, and the people whose company he finds actually enjoyable, he's not interested in. what a miserable time.)

..... Now that I think about it, this kind of helped me break down the main difference between my two pretty-boys-with-long-dark-hair: while they both have walls that are a mile high around them, once you get to Marcus' center you'll find a soft and goopy little soul made of marshmallow fluff and kitten whiskers, while what Petyr is hiding is moreso an angry porcupine that might let you pet its belly, if you win its trust.

I guess Marcus is hard to get to know but easy to love, while Petyr is easy to get to know, but... shall we say, an acquired taste. (By which I mean kind of an asshole, but you get used to it.)

[midnightwind]

went back to look at some early writing I did for Renn if she was a recruitable companion instead of being Rook and I still like the first quest I wrote, even if she's changed quite a bit since then lol so hey, have a little over 1800 words of her inviting Rook out to walk Treviso

Companion Quest: Toe the Line

She was perched on the edge of her little crumbling island, legs swinging out over the abyss in time with the tune she was humming. Her head tilted a little towards Rook as they approached, eyes still fixed on the floating rubble in the distance.

“Hey, Rook. Been doing the dangerous pastime of thinkin’ lately and you know what? I think I'm a little homesick.” She finally tilted backwards a bit to look at them, a manic smile touching her lips as her legs stretched out. “Wanna have a lil’ stroll along the canals? I'll be waitin’ by the markets for ya.”

 In Treviso

Renn was waiting in one of the many dark corners that filled Treviso, slightly hunched as she leaned against the wall and watched the crowd almost hungrily. Her eyes flicked from person to person, noting where hands pulled coins from and spirited goods away to. The ghost of a smile rested on her lips as she watched couples press close together in their own dark corners, or as a child pulled a parent towards a stall of colorful toys. She seemed to linger on that last interaction before her gaze snapped to Rook's approach. Like a cat unfurling from a nap, she met them halfway, languid and lazy before looping her arm in theirs and turning them towards the markets proper.

“Partial lie, I need to buy somethin’ quick. You can help pick it out, though. And I'm thinkin’ we walk the rooftops. I'll show you the bay instead at the end.” She didn't wait for a response before pulling them along, the usual jaunty tune on her tongue causing her steps to bounce. “Keep an eye out for anythin’ Dalish, or elf-y in general, yeah?”

“Elf-y? I didn't realize your homesickness reached so deep.”

Her eyes seemed to darken ever so slightly, but the smile never wavered. “What can I say? Seein’ the Crossroads and the Blight and ‘my own gods’ in the flesh makes you think somethin’ hard about yourself. See enough things connected to roots and you start starin’ at your own feet.”

“Doesn't sound like you claim much ownership of the gods. It doesn't shake your beliefs or anything, seeing them cause such havoc?”

She snorted a laugh in response, dipping in her steps as the tune was lost. “Aye, sorry, but no. I came from a Dalish clan, but, well, let's just say there's no love lost between me and those ‘gods’ for now. I gave you a mission anyways. Seen anythin'?”

Rook blinked back at her before shaking their head, turning to survey the stalls. She would keep dodging and deflecting forever if they tried to press the issue. Simpler to just play along and circle back later. An alarming amount of stalls were selling some combination of far too many daggers or rich leathers in hues that seemed to melt into the dark. Several food stalls broke them up, enticing scents and warm spices filling the air, crushed together next to salvagers and scrap vendors. Their feet had paused at a table filled with slightly grimy pieces of jewelry, dirt and river sludge clinging to many. Renn let them scan the goods before tugging them along, clearly leading them to the next stall. It was bedecked with fragments of old elvhen runes, golden weaves resembling twisting roots and branches, shards of blue crystals akin to the devices they'd been utilizing in ruins, and several Halla statues. She'd known what shop to find the whole time, hadn't she…

“You don't want something more practical?”

She glanced over from the little Halla statue and a broken chain of glimmering leaves she’d been debating. “Hah? Practical in what sense?”

“Like… a knife or a little bit of armor. Maybe a nice pair of boots?”

It was her turn to blink at them before a wide grin lit up her face. “Rook… you do know the Dalish don't really do shoes, right?”

“Oh, I mean, yeah, but some-”

“No, darlin’, I don't need foot wraps or another dagger. I promise, I've plenty of sharp toys already.” She gave them a little wink. “Just somethin’ that screams ‘closed off forest people’ and such.”

They glanced down at the table before pointing at the statue she was holding. “Aren't Halla like, the universal symbol of the Dalish, then?”

She clicked her tongue. “Borin’, but I suppose the classics have their point.” A few gold coins seemed to appear out of thin air as she pocketed the little trinket. “Alright, time for the jaunt then. Hope you like ziplines!”

She was gone like an arrow from a bowstring, halfway up a trellis before Rook managed to catch up. She was barely suppressing her laugh as they huffed, dragging themself clumsily to the balcony she was perched on. It was a merry path of broken windows to rooftop patios onto the roofs themselves.

“You know what's funny, speakin’ of shoes? I used to hate ‘em.” A giggle bubbled free as she jumped to the next rooftop. “Hated how I couldn't feel the world or grip the ground as well. I remember Viago makin’ me run this convoluted obstacle course, chasin’ me with a stick and whackin’ my legs when I slipped or tripped. I got so tired of hearing ‘you're dead, idiot’ every day that I eventually tore the boots off and threw them at his head! He chased me like a demon fresh from hell, but I ran the whole course without losin’ a single step. Know what he did at the end?”

Rook was teetering on a beam stretched between the buildings, not daring to look up. “Uh, grudgingly say good job?”

She barked a sharp laugh, bending down to offer a hand up to the next rooftop. “He hit me over the head with the stick! Said he heard every obnoxiously loud step I took without the boots to muffle the noise. And then he hit me a few more times for throwin’ stuff at him.”

“Sounds… harsh.”

“Sure, but he was right. And I was bein’ a snot. If I wanted to be a Crow, I had to adjust. The whole trainin’ has to be harsh, otherwise you put your fellow Crows at risk if it turns out you can’t hold your piss on the job. One peep and the whole order could go down.”

“You… chose to be a Crow?”

“‘Course I did. What, did you think I was forced into it?”

“I mean, you hear stories of them buying kids and training them. Not usually happy stories. How'd you go from the Dalish to the Crows?”

Her expression went flat, eyes dark. She hoisted them up unceremoniously before taking bounding steps. The distance between them became a yawning gap before she turned on her heels, beckoning them onward.

“Come on, almost there.”

They passed over a handful more rooftops, Renn gliding over precarious beams, balancing along railings just because, and leaping large gaps between roofs instead of taking the rickety boards bridging them. It was all in a stuffy silence, Rook just trying to keep up, before her movements simply ceased. She was perched at the edge of the roof, toes curling around the stone lip as she peered out over the dark bay.

“Dalish clans can only have a few mages.” She started abruptly, tone unusually flat. “Too many attracts demons. So if yer born with magic and they're full up, you get kicked out. They teach ya how to survive and use your magic first, but still. Supposed to find a new clan with a mage openin’ or some such. They send you off with tears and words of love and some supplies, but they’ll also shoot at you if you try to stay. Mixed bag, really.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah.��� The word was a sad laugh, a glint of metal flashing in her hand as she rolled the Halla statue between her fingers. “I drifted in the forest for a few months, alone. You know what my ma’s partin’ words were? ‘You mustn't fear the wolf, you must be the wolf.’ Wouldn't she have a lark now.” Her hand clutched the ornament in a tight fist. “What good’s a wolf without a pack? Just easy pickin’s for the hunter. They got me in my sleep, dragged me out of the tree hollow I was shelterin’ in and tossed me in a cage. Slavers are everywhere. I put up a fight, mind you, but I was a kid. Just earned me pain and scars. It was luck that the Crows hit their caravan before they reached market. I tried to fight them, too, kicking and clawing and biting. Viago must have seen somethin’ in the feral kid trying to gnaw through his leather glove ‘cause he offered to train me. Offered me a home, not a pack mind you, but a flock.” She pulled in a breath before pulling her hand back. With a vicious snapping of her arm, she flung the statue into the bay. It sailed for several long heartbeats before an audible splash reached them, the ripples distorting the city lights in the water. A sigh of almost relief caused her shoulders to sag. “So I gave up the wolf to become a crow. The Crows wanted me, Viago wanted me. Trainin’ was hell, it earned me a lot more scars, but to be in a place where I was wanted? Where I wasn't an annoyin’ extra? I'd do anythin’ for that. So I did. I'm a damn fine Crow, finer than anythin’ the Dalish would have made me. I like my work, I like the respect, I love my House. Might not seem like I had a choice, but I'm very happy to be here.” She half turned to face Rook, eyes shining with the same dangerous glint she always got when talking about the Crows. “Besides, messin’ with Viago is way too much fun to ever leave. He's such a stick in the mud!”

“I'm surprised he has the patience for you.” Rook offered with a weak grin.

“His fault for pickin’ a wild child as his protege.” She shrugged.

“So… do you do this often? Throwing stuff in the bay?”

“Only when I start feeling like I miss the wilds. Rotten little seed deep in me that won't go away. The Dalish were never my home, not truly. Treviso is. These rooftops and canals, dark streets and darker deals, this is where I belong. Chuckin’ some elf crap helps me let go of the feelin’ and get my head on straight.” She took a few steps back from the edge, planting a hand on their shoulder. “You should try it sometime, when bein’ in charge of all this shit gets too heavy.” She held up her other hand where a little Fen’harel statue rested on her open palm, a wide grin splitting her lips. “Aren't you tired of bein’ the wolf?”

[fandomn00blr]

Wrote a very sappy thing for Davrin and my Mourn Watcher Rook, Nor, who is also an elf warrior (thought I made her so tall and buff in the CC but she somehow ended up the same height as Harding...idk man...short and buff works, too!). This doesn't really fit anywhere in the game. I kinda think it goes somewhere in later Act 2 between that group meeting about having soooooo much time before the next eclipse, and before...oh, shit...early eclipse (assuming there was more game left to play in between)!

...

“You doing anything right now?” Davrin asks, not looking up from his whittling as Rook steps carefully into the room, trying her best not to disturb him even though that’s exactly what she’s come here to do.

“No…” She denies it automatically, like a child caught in some minor act of rebellion, trying to think of something clever or sarcastic to say, but then stops herself. He looks anxious. It makes sense. Everyone’s been on edge lately, trying to find things to keep them busy, waiting out the calm before the storm that could end the world. But the whittling isn’t his usual patient, meditative practice. It’s rough and chunky as he slices another corner off and winces at the crudeness of it.

“I mean…I came here to see you,” she offers. “So that’s something, I guess.” She bounces back and forth from her heels to her toes as he continues the clumsy wood-carving, his eyes fixed on the thing, turning it with an agitated sigh. She wonders if she ought to just turn and leave him alone with his turbulent thoughts for the evening and opens her mouth to ask.

But then he finally looks up at her, a distraught grimace stretching uncharacteristically across his normal composure. “Wanna go get married?”

“What?” Rook blinks.

“Yeah…well, not like, in a Chantry…but Eldrin’s been asking about you. Keeps bugging me about my plans after we – if we succeed in stopping Elgar’nan and Ghilan'nain and survive – and well, I just think I’d really like it if we went into this next battle…together.”

“You mean…together together?”

“Yeah.” Davrin smiles. “And this way if I die, you’ll inherit all my vast hidden fortune and you know…Warden benefits.”

Rook laughs. “Oh yes. I’ve heard about those…access to a lifetime supply of Archdemon blood and cheese, right?”

“And Assan…” His smile fades into something more earnest. “You’ll take care of him, right?”

“Of course!” Rook nods. “But what if you don’t die? You didn’t die with Ghilan'nain's archdemon, so why would Elgar'nan's be any different? I think I’d rather still have you than all the cheese in Ferelden.”

“Wow…that’s –” He’s beaming at her again. “Well, then you’ll be stuck with me, I guess.” He looks back down at the figure he’s working on. Something with horns…maybe a halla…or an ogre? “It wouldn't really be legally binding. Eldrin was never officially our clan’s Keeper, but he used to perform the bonding ceremony before the Veil Jumpers really settled into Arlathan Forest and the traditional ways sort of…lost their appeal.” He turns it over again, rubbing his thumb over a smooth section. “He’d get a kick out of it, I think.”

“Look at you being all Dalish and stuff…” Rook steps closer, pressing herself into the space between his knees to compete for his attention.

“Too quaint for the end of the world? It's kind of a dumb idea, isnt it?”

“No.” Rook shakes her head, and reaches down to pry the wooden figure and knife out of his hand. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“So that’s a yes…?”

“Yes.” She ducks down and kisses him.

When she pulls away to look down at him again, the perpetual afternoon light of his part of the Lighthouse reflects up at her in the wetness gathering in his dark brown eyes. But before any tears can escape, he stands up and pulls her into his chest, lifting her up off the ground as he hugs her tight. Her arms pinned hopelessly against her, she tries to reciprocate, but she is completely engulfed by him as he buries his face against her and squeezes her even tighter. She does her best with some affectionate pats to whatever she can reach.

“Davrin…” she laughs. “I can't…breathe.”

“Right!” He sets her back down in front of him and clears his throat. “So, uh…ready?”

“Yeah!” Rook takes a deep breath, refilling her lungs, and grinning back at him now, full of light-headed giddiness. “I’ll just need to brush up on the vows…”

“They're pretty simple…”

“But I’m certain the Caretaker could conjure me up a book on marriage in ancient Elvhenan, or we could consult Bellara's stuck-up spirit archive…”

Davrin shakes his head, smiling as he reaches for his pack hanging on the wall behind her.

“Or wait, no…!” Rook follows him toward the door. “Maybe Emmrich has something a little more contemporary in his study. Funerals and marriages can’t be too dissimilar, right?”

“C’mon…” Davrin grabs her hand and yanks her down the steps. “I can teach them to you on the way.”

[sky-fire-forever]

Someone please ask me questions about my Dragon Age Wardens. Here they are

Orion Mahariel: Dalish elf rogue. He's an archer and a ranger. He's trans, gay, and demisexual. He romances Zevran. He's very kind and hates killing sentient creatures, but is an excellent hunter as long as he knows the creature will be honored and used. He has Alistair complete the dark ritual since he can't due to being trans. He cares very deeply for elf rights and Dalish culture. He believes in a second chance for everyone. He has a huge crush on Sten at first and is extremely curious about other cultures and people. He is fascinated by spirits, but terrified of demons. He's always trying his best.

Rose Tabris: My city elf. She's extremely distrustful of humans and of most everyone, really due to the trauma she's been through. She's very guarded and mistrustful, believing that pretty much everyone is out to get her. She's quite harsh and blunt, not taking anyone's bullshit. She isn't afraid of a fight and she doesn't back down. She eventually romances Leliana, but it takes a long time before she trusts her. She's so conflicted over if she should harden Leliana or not. She just wants to protect her. She's a two-handed warrior. She's a cis woman and a lesbian.

Benten Brosca: My commoner dwarf. He's very sweet and jolly, loving everyone. He's kind and eternally optimistic. He laughs very easily and tries to turn most things into a joke. He really tries to always look on the bright side of things. He doesn't do the Dark Ritual with Morrigan, but he romanced her, so his son still exists. He doesn't die, either. Alistair ends up making the sacrifice. He's cis and straight, but an ally. Probably going to be a rogue.

Orla Cousland: My human noble. Can't decide if she should be rogue or warrior. Kind, but fierce. Has a strong sense of duty. She always wants to do the right thing, but often doesn't know what that is. She is Andrastian and supports the Chantry for the most part. She cares deeply and wants to change things. She hates being seen as weak and always wants to take charge of her own destiny. Cis woman and bisexual. Romances Alistair and eventually becomes his queen.

Eluvia Amell: My human circle mage! She's a trans woman and is bisexual and polyamorous. She romances Zevran and Leliana. She's very curious about the outside world, as she's never experienced it before. She is extremely Andrastian, but hates the Chantry. She loves the Maker, but hates the people who speak for Him. She has a similar view to Leliana about it. She becomes a blood mage and spirit healer. She is a bit emotionally stunted due to not experiencing many milestones of growing up while trapped in the Circle.

Primrose Surana: My elven mage. She's a mage, but she actually supports the Circles and the templars. She's kinda similar to that one mage in the Circle whose name I forgot. She believes that magic is a curse and that they have to atone. She's very fond of the Tranquil and spends a lot of her time with them. She hates being a Grey Warden and wants to return to her tower, where it's safe. She's so scared all the time. She's a cis woman and probably bisexual, but repressed. Haven't decided who/if she's gonna romance, but I kinda like her with Alistair and Leliana

Ralsei Auducan: My dwarf noble. Probably gonna be a warrior. Pansexual aromantic trans woman. She's kinda a bitch. Very spoiled. Thinks she's the best at everything. Violence is her first response. Very hot-headed and easily offended. No romance, but sleeps with Gorim and Zevran. Wishes she could be queen of Orzammar, as she believes it's her right.

Tristan Cousland: My other human noble. Probably gonna be a rogue and an archer. He's very pragmatic and wants solutions. She's kinda rude, but it's just because they're very blunt. He hates authority and understands why Loghain did what he did. Spares Loghain. Romances Nathaniel Howe in my mind and possibly Morrigan

[emerald-amidst-gold]

FRIEND FRIEnd friend fr-

I have a 🌟 question 🌟

Souvenirs from days gone: Does Fane have a mundane object he's emotionally attached to from his past (draconic past or most recent)? A toy, a piece of clothing that doesn't fit any longer but he can't find in his heart to get rid of, a pretty pebble or a dried flower someone dear gave him in days long gone?

FRIEND, FRIIIIEEENNNNDDD! >:D Your questions always leave me pleasantly surprised and EXCITED because I just love explaining Fane's oddities and softer side!

So, objects that Fane is emotionally attached to? There are quite a few, actually! (Surprise, right? X'D) However, I'll go with the one that Fane cherishes the most!

In my fic, Mhairi gives Fane a crimson sash as a birthday present, and it's the only article of clothing (other than his leather wraps) that he wears that has Dalish inspiration. Though, he doesn't wear it because of that, of course, but the gift is something Fane rarely goes without because it was the first gift he received after his father's experiments ended (about a year after, in fact). It was like a safety blanket, a reminder that he wasn't truly alone, and that what he did perhaps wasn't in vain since Mhairi was alive, whole, and 100% unaware of everything that had happened to him.

----

"Vhenan, what is this? It appears to be of Dalish craftsmanship, but the materials are not what I'm accustomed to seeing.", Solas asked, turning to face where he was at the desk.

The rich crimson flowed over his sky's hands, delicate gold embroidery of leafless trees and the tiniest of hallas all along its edges and woven into the very core of velvet. Solas had a thoughtful, curious expression on his face, blue and grey orbs fixed on the beautiful article, almost appraising it. Fane chuckled at that, lifting a hand to scratch at his temple idly. Leave it to this elf to immediately pinpoint the one thing that actually meant something in his 'hoard' and assess it.

"You're too nosy for your own good sometimes, you know that?", Fane said, but he kept his voice light and a small smirk on his face. He wasn't miffed with the man; there were no secrets between them, just surprises as they learned and relearned.

Solas blinked, eyes and face snapping up to him as he was caught red handed. "I only--", he began, but Fane cut him off with a small wave of his hand.

He rolled his eyes, smirking more. "I know, my sky. Relax.", he assured, slowly pushing himself up from his seat with only a minor grimace of discomfort. He sat for too long again. How he did that with his job, he would never know.

Fane circled around the other end of his desk, strides slow, but not seeming like it as he easily closed the distance between he and Solas. The mage looked up at him, a wry smirk on his lips and the uncommon sight of sheepishness in his sky-line eyes. It was always a treat when he could coax out those hidden emotions with a few words. Always a treat.

"Here," Fane held out his hands, palms up and beckoning with two fingers. "..give it.", he said and smiled a tad more warmly as Solas gave him the crimson article of cloth without protest or question. The wolf was as keen as it was curious.

"I assume it is of sentimental value?", Solas asked as Fane began to fold the length of velvet and gold in a specific fashion, shortening it one way, lengthening it in another.

Fane nodded. "It was a gift.", he said, pulling the material taut to work out the kinks before seamlessly starting to wrap it around his waist. It was a bit harder to work this into his normal attire, especially with what he wore now, but the mage would get the gist.

Solas watched him raptly, head tilting a bit. "A gift?", he asked.

Fane huffed with amusement. "I know, an odd thought, but yes.", he affirmed, deftly tying and tucking without any thought. He had done this for so long that he barely had to visualize how the sash would lay, how the material would bunch or smooth out. As such, he glanced up, meeting soft orbs and a tender expression and greeted it one of his own. "..It was from Mhairi, so I guess it really isn't that odd of a thought if you think about it."

Realization flashed across his sky's features, thoughtfulness dissolving, blue swallowing grey as irises widened and pupils did so in turn. The shock wore off quickly, however, Solas' expression warming to where Fane could swear he could feel its heat physically. Or maybe that was just his face. His cheeks did feel warm. Which meant...he was blushing. Lovely. Why did he always blush when confronted with that look? Damn it all.

"I see. The craftsmanship makes more sense now with that in mind. Your sister is immensely talented in the delicate arts.", Solas said, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips more as he took a few steps to where Fane was suddenly having trouble tying due to how much warmth was between them. Damn the sky... It was too beautiful, too strong.

Fane cleared his throat harshly. "Yeah, she is.", he agreed, quickly turning his gaze down to crimson and gold because the view of blue and grey was making him lightheaded. "She spent months gathering the supplies and funds to make it. Odd jobs in the clan for coin and whatnot. I remember snapping at her when she told me she had gone to local villages to gather rarer items. Stubborn girl.", he grumbled, but smiled fondly all the while. His sister was indeed stubborn, but so was he. At least they were related in that fashion.

"She was willing to tempt to danger for you. I do not believe that is solely stubbornness, vhenan.", Solas explained with a fond chuckle.

Fane shrugged. "Guess not, but I still didn't like the thought of her traipsing into a town full of templars ready to maim her, to silence her.", he growled before taking a deep breath. Calm, calm. He would end up tearing the sash if he thought on those memories too much.

"Truthfully, nor do I relish that thought. Especially since I have seen the effects those in the armor have upon her.", the mage admitted. Fane remembered the event that Solas spoke of without full context. He would not let another gauntlet touch either of them again. "But, her gesture and endeavors were well meaning; they came from a place of love."

Fane hummed, ire washing away as he gazed at crimson and gold, trees and hallas. "Don't I know it.", he whispered with fondness. A new feeling of tranquility washed over him as he gazed down at the masterful sash, memories beginning to wiggle into his mind. "Material magic. That's what I've always called it."

He heard Solas chuckle, his hands coming into to view to help resume the task Fane could no longer complete due to emotions and more innocent days painting his psyche in gentle shades of pink. Every time he looked at his sister's gift for over long he...drifted, but not like how he once had when he gazed up at the sky, watching its expanse shift and feel his heart ache with yearning. This was more gentle, more welcome. It was nice.

"Explain?", Solas inquired, voice soft and gestures softer as slender hands skimmed along his waist and plucked at cloth. The mage was less prodding and more...reverent now. That made Fane lean forward a bit, resting the side of his head against Solas'.

"I just..feel calm from mere sight and touch. It's like how I feel when you speak to me in Elvhen in the morning.", he murmured, glancing down to see Solas was being less productive now, fingers merely tracing, feeling and memorizing delicate designs as his eyes were. "The material holds warmth and love; things I feel I still don't deserve, but am learning to accept. It's...something I don't think I'll be able to abandon even if the world commands me to." It would be one call he would not answer, and he would not feel guilt over it this time.

Solas' eyes fluttered shut. "Some must be obeyed, some mustn't. That is one I believe would be forgiven.", he whispered, coming closer still, fingers curling into lushness as Fane brought his arms up to loosely wrap them around an unadorned waist.

Fane hummed, nuzzling against the mage's temple absently. "We'll see about that, won't we? I may not abandon my sister's gift, but--"

Solas cut him off with a gentle shake of his head, eyes turning away from sanctuary to bore up into him, face soft, but expression hard. It was a look Fane was all too familiar with; they wouldn't think past today, or rather, he wouldn't. Easier said than done, but his sky was right. As always. He would find sanctuary tonight, not tear apart fabric as surely as he would one day tear apart a heart plated in gold and wrapped in velvet.

----

Fane loves Mhairi with all his heart. They may not be brother and sister in blood, but they are in soul. It's why everything he has to do and say later hurts so immensely; he doesn't want to do it. And it only hurts worse when the sash becomes a sword of pain to his heart rather than a blanket of sanctuary, but he keeps it, he endures. The sash seems mundane to those on the outside, but Fane doesn't care about them or what they think. He'll take any ounce of love he can, even if he feels, deep down, that he truly doesn't deserve it.

[crossdressingdeath]

Yeah, I also loved the letter the Inquisitor gets from the Warden. I especially love how if they come from the same general background (eg. Mahariel and Lavellan, Brosca and Cadash) there's a little extra bit where they acknowledge that, although I wish that Surana and Tabris had something extra for Lavellan too; they may not be Dalish, but they still get what it is to be an elf held up as a hero by humans! I hope we do get at least a letter from the HoF in DA4, but at the same time their story is... pretty much done, aside from their quest to cure the Calling. I would absolutely play a game that is just the HoF questing about, ignoring all the nonsense Thedas keeps getting into while they cure the Calling (because the fact that it's supposedly impossible means nothing to someone who punches Fade rifts closed), but I'm not going to hold my breath for that.

With the Inquisitor they've kind of written themselves into a corner by changing the player character again, because the Inquisitor is closer to the Warden than Hawke in that there's no convenient snarky/diplomatic/aggressive style shorthand for their personality; it would be basically impossible to have them show up in person in a way that wouldn't be at best massively disappointing for the players, but also they have such a personal stake in stopping Solas's plans that it makes no sense for them not to be there. I am still quietly very worried that Bioware will get around that by killing them off between games. The only other workable option I can think of is that they're imprisoned somehow, but that still would leave the question of why they don't show when they're eventually freed (although you could get around that too with something like "they're too weak from their imprisonment to be meeting with people" or something). ...Actually there is a third option, which is that the player character in DA4 isn't associated with the (former) Inquisition at all and gets involved in Solas's plan for their own reasons, which I think I would prefer if Bioware can figure out a good reason for it.

And yeah, the trouble with Cullen is that they say he's changed but don't show him changing or any evidence of this massive change in beliefs he supposedly underwent between the end of DA2 and the start of DAI. He still thinks mages are the devil and Templars are just super, except now he's like "But they sometimes attack human nobles and that's bad"! Hell, he wears a Templar insignia all the time! But honestly my biggest issue with him as the commander is that regardless of your thoughts on Cullen's character arc (or lack thereof), Knight-Commander Meredith's right-hand man is objectively quite possibly the absolute worst possible choice for the commander of a supposedly neutral organization! Why would anyone who had the slightest degree of sympathy for the mages trust a group whose military is headed up by the guy who stood at Meredith's side for a decade, smiling and nodding at all her atrocities?! How is the player supposed to believe that the Inquisition wasn't intended to blindly go along with the Chantry's aims when Mr. "Mages Aren't People" is the guy they thought should control their military?! At least Samson has been proven to have sympathy for mages; I mean, he got booted out of the Templars for delivering a couple letters. Basically all of what passes for Cullen's character arc in DAI and everything Samson gets up to (except the stuff with Maddox) screams that their positions were originally supposed to be reversed, and while I can't prove that I wouldn't be even slightly surprised if it turned out to be the case.

What bugs me about Hawke (which is also the main reason why I don't particularly want the Warden or Quiz to show up again when the player isn't in control of them) is that you can say that they supported Merrill's blood magic all the way, that they themselves were a blood mage, and that they agreed with Anders's actions wholeheartedly! It just doesn't change anything. They'll still go on about how blood magic is evil and Anders was Crazy And Wrong. I actually got a mod to get rid of their dialogue talking shit about Anders when the world state says they supported him. You have to mod the game to ensure that Hawke won't actively disparage Anders if you say they supported him. This is a problem. Aside from what personality they have and which sibling they've still got and who they romanced, what you say about Hawke in the Keep changes basically nothing about what they say. Look how they massacred my boy! And I suspect that if Quiz shows up in person it'll be much the same, so as much as I love my Inquisitors I'd rather they stay away. They can send a letter too! That would be fun!

Continued HLtA thoughts: Stroud is so obviously a placeholder option that it's not even funny. I mean, Stroud? The guy Hawke interacts with for like ten minutes total tops across all of DA2? The Inquisitor has no reason to care about Stroud and the player has no reason to care about Stroud! ...Well, the Inquisitor has no particular reason to care about Loghain or Alistair either beyond the vaguest "veteran of the Fifth Blight helped save the world" sort of caring. But the player may well care about Loghain! The player almost certainly cares about Alistair (as long as they played Origins)! Choosing between Alistair and Hawke is hard! Leaving Loghain to die does provoke a small twinge of grief for me! But Stroud? He's just... a guy. If Stroud is your Warden ally it really weakens the impact of the whole quest, because neither you nor your character have any personal reason to care about whether this man lives or dies. The overall weakness of the sacrifice in-universe is somewhat covered up with Alistair and Loghain by the fact that the player has an attachment to those characters, but Stroud? With Stroud it really drives home that the Inquisitor has no reason not to save Hawke.