#varric brainrot real

[tethrarisms]

Thinking of the fact that Varric is the very opposite of everything that represents a dwarf.

He appreciates the surface. He doesn't believe in returning to the Stone. He doesn't like reminiscing about dwarf history. He feels uncomfortable in dwarf tombs. His style of combat is ranged, not melee, and he uses his bow instead of an axe or hammer. He's a storyteller, not a Shaper. He's the least excited member of the party when you have to explore mines, caverns and tombs. Not to mention that he witnessed his brother descend into madness because of a dwarf artifact.

And I think it all boils down that his biggest fear, as spotted in The Fade, is that he becomes his parents. So he rejects pretty much everything that could resemble or remind him of dwarf culture and behavior. Of course, he's still very centered around stubbornness and greed, but even those traits are toned down the moment Hawke asks him to drop the fragment of the idol, which is such an important point for his character development.

This is why he's so interesting. He's a writer, a liar, a merchant, a gambler, a concerned and loyal friend, a partner in crime and a national hero. You'd think all these elements can't fit together, but Varric manages it. He's truly unique and special.

[a-drama-addict]

dragon age 2 has such good companions. not all of em but the ones that are good? fuck so severely

[miranita]

the varric brainrot is real ✨

[longer-than-i-should-admit]

(Mildly spoilery ramble about Solavellan and that damned lyre in [one of] Solas' hideout[s] below the cut.)

I am an inconsolable mess thinking about this sad old bastard knowing how to play that thing. For someone several millennia old it only makes sense he might have picked it up at some point a time or two. It's then only a logical extension of supposition to conclude that he might be able to sing, as well, as eloquent and measured with his words and cadence as he is. (Yes this is a Hallelujah post bc the brainrot's real.)

Imagine Rook freeing Solas from the Fade prison in preparation for all the stuff going on. He's weak and tired from the experience and needs to recoup a bit—not bedrest, but Rook hounds him to relax around the Lighthouse for a while and take it easy.

Lavellan's back, advising Rook or helping Varric or w/e. She's doing her best to give him space. It's awkward and it's tense and they barely even exchange words when they do happen to cross paths. (Did this place feel so small before? Rook wonders.)

Solas is obviously going stir crazy. He's read all the books in the library numerous times before. He cannot cast very much if he's to conserve his mana for whatever threats they face. He's decidedly a little burnt out on exploring the Fade, just for a while. He starts micro managing the crew, pedantic and critical at his worst due to boredom, stress, and worry all at once. They plead Rook to distract him, take him out to town somewhere to shop or some shit, anything.

So Rook brings him the lyre from his hideout in Minrathous. It's dusty by then and horribly out of tune, but no one dared to touch it. Rook isn't even sure that the Dread Wolf has any musical capabilities, wonders if this was part of one of his many ruses (never trust the humble guises of Fen'Harel, they think), but it's something to keep his hands busy, his mind occupied, and his mouth shut for a time.

Solas looks displeased, unimpressed. Put upon by Rook's unspoken meaning to keep himself busy and occupied and out of their way. He's unused to relying on others to carry the weight of such a task, but he acknowledges by now that the Veilguard knows what they're doing and does it well. Better than he could manage by himself.

So it works, for a while. They don't see him out and about. He recluses himself into his rooms and only emerges when he's hungry or someone comes to ask him for help—which does visibly improve his mood. Oftentimes he has pigments staining his hands and plaster smudged unconsciously across the glass-sharp arches of his cheeks, too. The furrow between his brows aren't so deep now that he's had some time to decompress, even if it was unwilling at first.

It doesn't last forever. Something happens. Rook defers to Lavellan. Solas overhears and protests. He doesn't want her involved, and Rook knows keenly by now that it's only in vain effort to keep her away from the immediate danger that the Evanuris pose. It's among the first times they've actually had an extended conversation and it's to argue. Varric told Rook that was normal for them—debating was one of their favorite pastimes, once upon a time, though for different reasons. Lavellan would provoke Solas into ranting to ruffle his feathers and to hear his passion. Solas would cave because he knew that even if she did not end up agreeing with his viewpoint on things, she would still hear him out and give him credit where it was due. A balance of the difference between knowledge and wisdom, a scale of moderation between righteous indignation and the humility of admitting the limitation of one's perspective and experience.

It's rife with undertones, however. Pointed remarks that Rook doesn't readily understand but can intuit easily enough. Rook didn't have to know that they were in a complicated (romantic?) situation to tell that there was much tension, history, and uncertainty in the undercurrents of their bickering. Rook steps in before it gets too vicious, watching with trepidation as the battle of wits and logic gave way to old hurts and unhealed wounds of emotions too strong to ignore during as dire times as these.

They part and put the length of the Lighthouse's grounds between them to clear the air. Rook sighs and wonders how in the Void they would be able to stop the end of the world if two lovers could not smooth things over long enough to cooperate.

That night, at supper, Solas emerges with a brumous cloud brewing over his shoulders (not literally, but just about; Rook can feel the charge of his mana as acutely as the tumult of his thoughts in the back of their mind) and takes a set next to the hearth, lyre in hand. Lavellan stiffens from her seat at the end of the table, watching him with wary and skeptical eyes. Solas' fingers thrum over the strings lightly, filling the abruptly silent room with a rasp of harmony...

And he began to sing.

Rook doesn't recognize the song at first, but within the first couple of lines they watch Lavellan's eyes mist over. Soon enough, the meaning becomes clear: it's the tale of the Inquisitor—and thus her connection to Solas, the most he's ever revealed to any of the Veilguard intentionally or indirectly both. But Rook can tell that it means more to the Inquisitor than anyone else. His voice is plaintive and sincere, reverent like he uttered a benediction. Rook sees for the first time the strength that lay between them, the intimacy, the unique relationship only two unwilling religious visionaries could share.

Despite the tears glittering along her lashlines, Lavellan offers Solas a watery smile once he finishes and clears her throat before asking him if he remembered the shanty Maryden used to play in the Herald's Rest. Which one? Solas asks, looking an odd mixture of embarrassed and relieved at once with his ears flushed bright pink. Any of them, Lavellan supplies. I never knew you played. You never asked, Solas says, then amends with a gentler tone, but I never offered, either.

Things get better after that. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the two finally found some common ground upon which to make amends.

They learned that Lavellan could sing, too.

Their harmonies echoed through the arcane-saturated stones of the Lighthouse on some occasions after that, filling the empty rooms with steady rhythm, but not always in melody. The same cadence that guided Solas' ode to his once unwitting Herald seeped into their every shared conversation, be it about the Fade or anything else.

Rook found that it became one of their favorite songs—a missing piece they never noticed before. That Solas eventually thanked them for it was an added side benefit.

[jazzmckay]

forgot to actually post here when i finished da2 lmfao

i really, really loved the game a lot. basically all the characters were enjoyable and interesting to me, not just the mains but like. meredith is a very badass villain, i had a good time seeing all the characters, good and bad. i loved the intimacy of the story mainly taking place in one city and all the characters having a place carved out for themselves in that city, making them a full part of everything. it felt so real and grounded. i found myself favouring certain characters in my party for certain quests because it just felt like they should be there (like aveline during anything that involves the guard, anders for anything that involved mages).

i did experience some frustration over the game occasionally trying to make mages seem just as bad as templars and/or deserving of their oppression, and was upset about having to fight orsino at the end after he had been such a good example of how not all mages are just evil blood mages etc, but this did not ruin my experience overall

the final fight was really badass and i loved that even those whom i didnt pick for my party fought with me anyway +cullen, and, surprisingly, zevran! there was no scene to showcase that, i would have missed it if i didnt spot someone using daggers in the distance when no one in my party was a dagger fighter haha

i successfully romanced fenris and it was lovely, though it was really tough to make him like me despite my pro-mage sentiment, and i do wish there could have been more discussion about how fenris could feel for a mage hawke. i maxed out my relationships with everyone except carver (got just above neutral into the friendship side), and isabela (was in the positive but not enough to hit friendship, which meant i lost her after act 2, which broke my heart a little). hawkes friendships with varric and aveline mean SO much to me.

spared anders, and even kept him with me through to the end. i have anders brainrot for real. i enjoyed sebastian more than it seems like the majority of the fandom does, but i did not feel at all bad that he left me bc i wouldnt kill anders lmao

i ship all combos of mhawke, fenris, and anders and i have many fic ideas aaaa. v good game.

[multiverse-menagerie]

dragon age brainrot is real and I’ve had thoughts concerning my Alise Hawke so here’s some info dump

I’ve been chewing on the idea of Hawke “carrying” a Spirit of Learning (which I don’t think we’ve seen in game) with her. Like. Hawke is born a mage, but kind of a shitty one tbh, and she struggles to use her magic at all, let alone control it (compared to Malcolm who was basically a prodigy). And even as a small kid Hawke has basically learned that she needs to be good, to impress Mother, to live up to Father, to make her parents Proud and Not Worry.

Except she still kinda sucks. And then one night, she dreams and meets “Lear”, a seemingly young androgynous human who knows a lot about magic but also asks silly questions like “how to tie laces” when they’re clearly wearing boots already. Hawke doesn’t really think to be afraid of Lear but knows that she probably shouldn’t tell Father about them.

Lear offers to help Hawke with her magic if she’ll allow them to stay with her and watch and learn. Alise agrees. And suddenly she can conjure flames, heal wounds. It’s so much easier to tug at the Fade, to pull her magic through. Father calls her a late bloomer.

When she’s older she realizes they’re a Spirit of Learning but also she’s grown so used to them. And Lear has…evolved. Learned. They’re still very much a spirit but they’ve learned so much by living within/alongside Hawke, you’d think them almost human.

She doesn’t tell anyone about Lear until Kirkwall, until she meets Anders and Merril, both so unapologetic of their magics. Everyone’s a bit cautious but honestly compared to Justice, Lear is pretty chill.

Somewhere along the way, Varric and Hawke get together and Lear learns what Love and Devotion feels like (and almost wishes they had been made a Spirit of Love bc wow damn).

I think this would explain a little why Hawke is so chill about Justice in the beginning, bc she assumes Justice is like her Lear. Not the case, obviously, and Anders is quick to call her a hypocrite if she says anything to him about leaning to hard into Justice (vengeance).

Lear is the only reason she survives the fight with the Arishok, as they bolster her body and pump her full of fade magic. Some of Hawke’s friends start to claim to see an androgynous figure hovering around Hawke.

By the time of Inquisiton, Lear has almost fully gained the ability to manifest themselves. It’s easier in places with the Veil is weak, where it’s easier to separate themselves from Hawke but also…it’s a lot harder to tell where Hawke ends and Lear begins (I live for parallels if you can’t tell, thanks Anders and Justice). Without Lear, Hawke’s magic is still pretty weak. But she’d be willing to give up power if Lear wanted to try and become…something. (I can’t remember timeline wise if you can have Cole be once more human before Here Lies the Abyss but if yes; Hawke is more than happy to give Lear that chance).

When the Inquisitor, Alistair, and Hawke (+ party) end up in the Fade, Lear is just like Also There. Everyone’s like ??? Except for Hawke and Varric, the latter of whom is just like “ah it’s nice to finally get a clear look at you, hope you enjoy this break from Hawke’s head”. Jake can still do powerful magic bc she’s in the Fade blah blah blah.

And of course Hawke stays in the Fade and technically Lear is strong enough to leave the Fade with the Inquisitor and others, but Lear…Lear has learned so much because of and thanks to Hawke, they’ve learned to love and Lear refuses to leave Hawke’s side.

So Hawke and Lear are in the Fade, kill Nightmare. And just…wander. Lear is able to dampen Hawke’s personhood sending out signals to demons and stuff so they’re not constantly hunted. Time passes strangely in the Fade so maybe Hawke ages or maybe not (the idea of Hawke not aging and Varric being full grey upon reunion both kills me and makes my angst loving bits happy).

Assuming they do manage to get out of the Fade (Veil destroyed?), I think Lear would be separated from Hawke, for good (but not necessarily on purpose by either of them). Lear would be like (my) Cole, basically fully human. A little strange, but human. And Hawke is suddenly a weak mage again, maybe (or depending on what happens with magic in DAV, maybe she’s a bit better).

That was a lot of rambling. But basically: I like the idea of a parallel between Anders and Hawke and their respective spirits; exploring Spirits; Life is Learning; a mediocre Hawke that is put on a pedestal (parentified) by her parents and struggles to live up to their (and everyone else’s) expectations (and how you can lean on others for support - first Lear, then Varric, Isabela, etc etc)

Hawke jokes about Lear living rent free in her head so Lear pumps too much magic into a flame conjure so Hawke’s eyebrow is singed (learning that sibling dynamic real good)