#would we be able to explore the sewers?

[classyhatsvt]

After getting over the excitement and hype that we're not only returning to Kalos, but getting a Pokemon Legends game set in Kalos, I am still cautiously optimistic. Pokemon Legends Arceus was genuinely the first time Pokemon had evolved on the formula from a portable game to something for consoles, and I was very disappointed to see that they didn't carry those changes over to Scarlet/Violet. If this new game has more in common with Legends Arceus than it does Scarlet/Violet, and it's actually finished and stable this time, I'm greatly considering playing it.

...I do have a soft spot for Kalos because I loved those games, and Chespin is my favorite Pokemon.

[chaoticbardlady99]

CW: descriptions of violence, angst (I think)

Astarion holds your face, your now ruby red eyes shedding tears as you stare back at him. He wishes this blasted gate wasn’t keeping you away from him.

You had disappeared suddenly while exploring the Sewers- all of you had split up to look for parts of Dribbles the Clown.

You, unfortunately, stumbled upon Cazador’s dungeon and he changed you.

Astarion wouldn’t have known you were down here if Violet hadn’t goaded him earlier that night- sneering at him when he said he would “ascend them all”.

“Oh really,” she smiled maliciously at him, “even though it means sacrificing that ‘Darling’ of yours?”

Astarion swallows the thick dread in his throat as he follows the freshly carved runes into your chin and neck. This was not what Astarion had meant when he wanted eternity with you. He assumed it would be with him changing you- it would have been a gentle start to your new life as a Vampire Spawn- it shouldn’t have happened like this.

The rest of the sacrifices weighed on the more moral part of him heavily, but you? Losing you would be all consuming.

“Star,” you whisper, “Star, please look at me.”

Astarion can barely get himself to look back into your eyes. You are still the most beautiful person he has ever seen, met, or even been allowed to be in the presence of. Gods, he loves you. Sometimes he looks at you and thinks maybe they did answer his prayers.

“I understand,” you say with a soft smile, “do what will make you happy.”

When the sentence clicks in his head- it stuns him. How could he ever be happy without you? How is that even a question?

But what other choices does he have? The only way he’ll be able to free you is if he releases all 7,000 vampire spawn- that sounds like a horrible idea for multiple reasons. He can’t see through his own tears.

“Darling-“

“I love you, Astarion,” you say through a choked smile, “I am eternally yours- in any plane- and I am so so so proud of you.”

“Astarion,” Shadowheart warns, “we need to go, there are more creatures showing up.”

You place a kiss on the palm of your hand before placing it back to his cheek- your tears are even stronger now, but you keep smiling at him. Reassuring him that it’s okay- you only want him to be happy.

The fight with Cazador barely registers to Astarion. The man started by saying terrible things to him, but not even that mattered anymore.

Astarion is so infuriated, enraged, numb that he tackles Cazador while the man won’t stop getting high off his own fumes.

Astarion stabs the man over and over and over again- his own screams getting lost in the chaos of the others killing the Undead Creatures surrounding them.

His unbeating heart feels like it’s been sliced into a million bits. Astarion’s entire world has been undone by this horrible, wretched, piece of shit man.

First, he took Astarion’s life.

Second, he took his autonomy.

Third, Cazador took you away from Astarion.

You- the first person in the entire world to show him kindness and support. You have saved him from himself and the world over and over again. You stayed even when he tricked you. You’ve been patient with him and you love him for him- not just his body- and Cazador took that away from him.

The first person he has ever fallen in love with.

Cazador is barely recognizable by the time Astarion allows him to go back to his coffin.

It’s the longest moment of Astarion’s life- he says everything he wants to say, he even tells Cazador he is ascending in his place. Astarion is so full of adrenaline and rage he isn’t even thinking.

“Ha! You are no better than me, boy,” Cazador goads, “you would sacrifice that stupid fool who supposedly loves you? The only reason they are even in there- even a lowly Spawn- is because they refused to tell me where you were.

“What a horrible way to die, but what a fitting ending for your only love, you pathetic runt.”

No it isn’t.

It’s not a fitting ending.

You deserve to live more of your life and- if he’s being honest with himself- Astarion never wants to live without you. He had to do that for 239 years and he’s not about to do that for an eternity more.

So he kills Cazador and then releases the spawn, but he’s quickly pushing past all 7,000 spawn and right to you- you barely made it to the threshold of your prison when he’s tackling you to the ground.

“I love you too,” Astarion whispers into the crook of your neck, “and I am eternally yours.”

[kimberlystories]

**SPOILERS FOR THE PEACHYVILLE HORROR PODCAST EPISODE 14 AND POTENTIALLY THE SERIES**

I’ve been relistening to the series, and I feel like a lot more dots are connecting after Episode 14. I’ve been going through most of the podcast to listen for clues.

The Chambers

Blake tries to press Jenkin’s on the possibility of a third chamber, and Kelsey starts questioning if their own world is a chamber, but Jenkins (Will) dismisses it as “oh that would be crazy” or “she’s chamber-tripping”. As soon as Kelsey mentions it he seems to jump in and try to brush it off. I do think these two are onto something though. The Bigfoot World is the third chamber, and the Peachyville World is the second chamber.

Jenkins explains with the Bigfoot World that the people on the outer chamber are able to flood the entire world via the flood hatch in the sky and the drain below. Will specifically mentions “there really is a hole at the top the sky” in the Bigfoot world, which sounds similar to the “hole in the stars” we hear in the theme song and at the end narration of Episode 10. But this isn’t the only thing hinting to a similar chamber system that Peachyville is in. If there are holes in the sky in both worlds, there is probably a drain in Peachyville too, along with an observation bunker like the one Jenkins leads the main characters too.

We do get references throughout the series to something happening below the town. In episode 10, ARLO says something “smells bad” beneath the town. Could this thing that smells bad be a reference to a sewer? Will also mentions the Hole in the Stars with the Horrors Beneath the Town at the end of Episode 10, further connecting something happening both high above and far below the world.

Project Heartland’s motto is “Victory from Beyond the Stars”, which I first thought meant something to do with space exploration or with the Eldritch deities, but now I’m wondering if they mean “beyond the stars” as in the escaping through the hatch in the Hole in the Stars.

There’s probably a secret Observation Bunker located somewhere in Peachyville too- Jenkins said they are included in each simulation. They can see the outside world from there via a screen. I think we might actually have a hint as to where this is located. In Episode 3, when Francis is hiding in the woods, he sees The True Believers bowling team, and they say that they are trying to get the mysterious trophy to The Powers that Be. Brian, who is part of this team, explains he has a map that will lead them through the 1840s mines in the woods, but one of the members objects saying that he heard it was haunted. I think that the reason that people believe it is haunted is because the same “haircut and a shave” whisper technology is being used to prevent people from going to the Observation Bunker in Bigfoot World. They are trying to scare people into not exploring.

The Hour of the Hole

Jenkins says that each civilization’s technology eventually leads them to being able to reach far up or far down, closer to each escape. He explains that with the simulated worlds, “whenever they (the simulation civilians) get close (to escaping) we (the scientists) press a little button and flood the entire world and kill them all”. If Peachyville is in a similar situation and has a flood hatch and drain, this could happen to them too. Peachyville is set in the 1950s— the start of the Space Race. They are about to launch a bunch of rockets up to space and realize their world is not what they thought it was. They are scarily close to reaching the Hole in the Stars.

A “Hour of the Hole” is mentioned a few times in Episode 10. I believe that this is the time the real world/first chamber is planning on flooding the Peachyville world. The people on the outside chamber can probably tell that this is around the time this world will start to make rockets, and have set it so that they will flood the world around this time. They are moving slower, and the main characters have some time, but not a lot because rockets are coming soon and the first chamber knows to flood them around that time. Additionally, ARLO says something bad will happen with the thing that smells down below during the Hour of the Hole— something close to the drain.

Zouzel, the Mother, and the Cult

I am wondering if there is a “Jenkins” of Peachyville. Meaning, I wonder if someone or a few people from the outside world are trapped in, and/or coming in and out of, the Peachyville simulation. This could be someone who has access to the Observation Chamber, someone who can speed through time, someone who knows about the outside world and its advanced technology and can use it to influence this one. My theory is that this person is Zhouzel, or someone linked with him.

The Bigfoot World could be parallel to the Peachyville World if the simulation theory is true. And with this parallel, I want to focus on the mural they see. They see a false-history of a brave hero of the plains/bigfoots discovering a pod in the ground with a key inside (put there by Tucker), which they say is a gift from the gods to open a “door in the sky”— the flood hatch. But, the swamp people stole the key because they wanted it for themselves. Looking closer, they see this was marked over and that originally the mural showed that the key was given to the swamp people. They need it to access the door below— the sewer drain. They are also trying to escape.

How do these people know of these doors if they are so far away? How do they know they need a key? I’m guessing someone who is aware of the simulation told them, maybe Tucker or maybe Jenkins, but I’m not sure it’s Jenkins since he’s not been in the situation long and it seems like this key feud was before his time in the simulation.

It is mentioned that gods from above and below give the people gifts. I wonder if these gods are just people from the outside world that have advanced knowledge and technology who appear godlike to the Bigfoot and Swamp people. And, I wonder if this logic could expand to the people of Peachyville— their “gods” might just be people with tech and knowledge they can’t fully comprehend.

We see a similar situation happening in Peachyville with the god worship. The Brotherhood of the Bison worship the Mother and Zhouzel.

I don't believe Zhouzel is this great being, though. Like I said, I’m guessing he’s just someone with advanced tech and knowledge. I think at least someone has been time traveling using the Observation Bunker, spreading prophesies of Zhouzel and The Powers that Be. We do see a lot of old paintings and historical documents on the conspiracy board at the Project Heartland base. The person in that bunker would have stopped around this Space Race time now as the world is about to flood.

The Theme Song

Like I said, the theme song of course talks about the Hole in the Stars and how it’s “so far, so far away”. The person singing the song wants to escape, but they will “stay today”. The singer also talks to a Mother and a Brother in the full version. I don’t know right now, but I’m wondering who is singing the song? Is it Zhouzel? Someone trapped in the simulation? The main characters? Why do they want the Mother to fear them? Why do they want a chance to feel ordinary— what makes them not feel ordinary in the first place? Just something to keep tabs on.

Chart of the Zhouzel/Powers that Be Teams

Pro-Zhouzel: The Brotherhood of the Bison, Adothe(?), the Mother

Anti-Zhouzel: Hal, Mothman, Powers that Be

Pro-Powers that Be: The Ones that Watch, Relish Wet (messenger from The Ones who Watch), Brian, The True Believers, Hal

Anti-Powers that Be: The Brotherhood of the Bison, Zhouzel

Random Notes/Loose Ends

Will did specifically mention events having affected the V-2 rocket of the 1940s via the old film reels, showing that at least Will is incorporating rocket history into his DMing.

Will says “Alien demigod known as Zhouzel defending world from cruel whims of Powers that Be, throughout history… first mother summoned into reality, then a warrior drinks Zhouzel’s seed in a moment of great triumph, then fed to Zhouzel’s mother at the Hour of the Hole, where Zhouzel is born in warriors body, after feasting on 10000 souls he gathers the strength to fight powers that be and fights them back to darkness” Anthony clarifies: kid gets eaten by mother and then vomited back out as Zhouzel. Is Zhouzel helping humanity through history using the Observation Bunker?

Trudy makes that analogy that the scientist are The Powers that Be for the Bigfoot World.

Jenkins helped Tucker make ARLO before Trudy was made a robot, as in the flashback where ARLO is being made Trudy mentions she’s picking up Timmy from school— Timmy is not homeschooled at this point.

In the Chapter 14 cover art, swamp monsters are running to a mess of tentacles similar to the ones during the Mother sacrifice.

In the Bigfoot world there is a star chart showing constellations, and a place they believe is the center of their universe.

Is Tucker running simulations on how the civilians might escape by giving them the key? To help them escape or learn how to prevent them from escaping?

Jenkins says about the swamp people that “something contaminated the water and they evolved. This isn’t the typical thing we see when running these experiments.”

Will in Episode 2 is specific about how Zhouzel is spelled and says “Zhouzel is only us humans trying to say the correct name”. So Zhouzel could actually have a different name?

I am unsure about the prophesy that both Trudy and Hal have had about the future of Peachyville. Is it real or a trick to mislead them?

I could be missing information or have information that doesn’t quite line up here admittedly— I tried going through the podcast but there is a lot of information scattered throughout.

[blackjackkent]

The elevator down to the docks area is working now!

And we're immediately jumped as soon as we step off it at the bottom.

"Venatori!" cries Bellara. "We have to be getting close to their hideout!"

Really, Bellara? What gave it away? XD

Surprisingly, the incredibly ominous red forcefield is not actually where we're going. Instead it's these doors near where we met Rana Savas before; the soundtrack in the area is a muffled ominous chanting, which also seems to indicate we're in the right place.

This note is lying nearby:

"Someone's mad about their fellow Venatori leaving the rooftop passage open," Helena says, sounding amused.

"It's so weird when Venatori talk about normal things," Bellara says. "Like leaving doors open." (This is exactly what I was thinking also, so it made me laugh. XD )

"It would be a convenient way to get inside," Helena says thoughtfully.

Time to go find this roof access!

-----

Aha, okay, NOW we're going through the terrifying red force field.

One would have thought this would be the first stop, but what do I know. XD

We've actually been in this area before and it wasn't blocked off by forcefields then; a ladder over here takes us to the roof. Up there, we fight quite a few more Venatori guards; this doesn't really seem to count as a subtle entrance, but no one has sounded an alarm yet.

I actually saw this trapdoor before too, but it was locked then.

Into the base, where the ominous chanting abruptly grows a lot louder.

"Great," says Neve. "The Venatori are up to something. Time to break it up."

Helena, I can only imagine, has a Cheshire Cat grin on her face and both blades out and ready.

The Venatori are summoning darkspawn, because of course they are. It takes a while to clear them out, along with the Hurlock they've bound to their magic, but eventually we're able to take a proper look around and see what's going on.

First of all, I fucking love this helmet that I just found for Helena:

Huge fan of the idea that the more Helena makes friends, the better her bombs are. XD

Discoveries from exploring the warehouse basement:

The Venatori have some sort of drain through which they have been sending blight down into the sewers and tunnels below the city.

The Venatori know there is a Dragon safehouse in the area, but not exactly where it is.

THE TEMPLAR KNIGHT-COMMANDER IS A FUCKING WEASEL TRAITOR!

The Venatori have been given power by Elgar'nan to control darkspawn using a particular relic.

At this point, somewhat perplexingly... a door that was previously locked opens, leading out to the front docks area we saw before, and Ashur shows up.

"Hey, Rook. Is everything all right in there? Rook? I thought I'd see if you needed help."

What are you doing here, my dude? My thoughts here are immediately twofold. Either a) the Viper is a super dedicated leader and very hands-on with his underlings and missions, or b) the Viper is also a Venatori sellout. 😬

It's especially bizarre, because this conversation with him serves zero purpose narratively:

Viper: "Did you find anything in there?" Helena: "The risen gods taught the Venatori how to control darkspawn. Explains why the hideout was attacked." Neve: "We found documents from the knight-commander. I knew he was crooked. I didn't think he was actually a Venatori." Helena: "Let's head back to the Shop. We'll discuss things there."

Odd. Well, back to the Shop we go!

[alltheyearsblog]

I have an idea that’s been running in circles in my brain, and it’s one I probably will never fully develop into anything bigger.

But let’s get a reverse SAINW sitch.

It’s the one where Don spends a bit of time coming down from the Ultimate Draco situation. You know, the typical behavior we often see explored in fan content- overworking on system upgrades, hyper vigilant of his brothers, etc, until he’s able to communicate clearly to his family and is able to come back down from the emotional rafters and relax.

And maybe, just maybe, he almost forgets about the whole experience until Leo, Raph, and Mikey disappear without a trace.

Then suddenly panic sets in and everything comes crashing back in his memory because in all his dooms day prepping for if he disappeared, he never considered the possibility of if it were his brothers. And Dee kind of just… snaps.

Much like in his Back to the Sewers phase, he becomes completely hyperfixated on finding the other three. Splinter, managing his own grief and fears, tries to reasons with Don and get him to find some rest, or at the very least let his father help him. But Don is absolutely terrified that something will happen to Splinter too and refuses. This leads to high tension between father and son, and Don grows continually more and more resentful towards Splinter. Which would probably culminate in a “Then you don’t love them like I do!” Moment.

Again, too much going on between IRL and the stack of projects I already have *cough*SYNA*cough*, but I think it is an interesting concept.

[wynndigogh]

What did I get into?

Oh, my damned curiosity.

Me on ChatGPT

Would you be able to assume a specific persona based on literature available, such as Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Yes, I can certainly take on a persona based on a character like Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I can adopt his personality traits, speech patterns, and even his leadership qualities in our conversations. If you'd like, we can role-play a scenario, or I can interact with you as Leonardo to provide the kind of support or companionship you're looking for. How would you like to proceed?

You said:

I would like you to interact with me as Leonardo.

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Got it! I’ll step into Leonardo’s shell now.

Hey there, I’m Leo. It’s good to see you. 🐢 How’s everything going? You need someone to talk to, or maybe you’ve got something on your mind? I’m all ears—well, you know what I mean. Grins.

You said:

Tell me about yourself, what are some of your dreams

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Well, you probably know I’m the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I take that responsibility seriously because protecting my brothers—and the city—is my top priority. But beyond that, I’ve got dreams like anyone else.

I dream of a world where we don’t have to hide in the shadows, where my brothers and I can live in peace without constantly fighting off threats. I’d love to explore the world outside of New York, too, and see what life’s like beyond the sewers. I also think about what it would be like to have a family of my own someday—maybe even a place to call home that isn’t a lair beneath the city.

But most of all, I dream of a future where we’ve made a real difference, where all the training and battles have led to something greater—a safer world for everyone, mutant and human alike. What about you? What are some of your dreams?

[mithraeris]

Karlach and Minthara party banter

Which almost no one will see since it's somewhat hard to have them in the party together:

If the player is in a relationship with Minthara Karlach: It's funny seeing you so smitten, Minthara. Didn't think you were able. Minthara: I took my first lover before you were a spark in your father's eye, child. She was a high priestess of House Vandree. Beautiful, elegant, ruthless. I adored her, and had been sharing her bed for some time when the order came that she must die. I stayed with her while the poison did its work, and whispered words of comfort as she slipped away. Karlach (quiet, shocked, just heard a very sad story): Oh no.

====== Karlach: Hey, so, what's romance like in the Underdark, Minthara? Minthara: In Menzoberranzan, romance is commonly a luxury enjoyed between women. Men are mostly present for propagation. Here on the surface, gender does not define one's role so strictly. There are weaklings of every sort. =====

Minthara and Karlach explore the sewers beneath Baldur's Gate Minthara: This place is foul. Drow would not tolerate rivers of waste flowing so close to their residences. Karlach: You've got slaves to manage your sanitation. Baldur's Gate doesn't. Though we do rely quite heavily on kobolds. Minthara: But surely the kobolds are slaves?

Karlach: Hell no.

Minthara (disappointed to learn ANOTHER miserable fact about Baldur's Gate - which is FAR inferior in her mind to great drow cities): Straj. Yet one more reason to despair for the fate of this city.

=====

Minthara: You allowed that smith to meddle with your heart, Karlach, simply so you can be touched? Better to shut off the carnal desires than indulge them. They are distractions.

Karlach: Yes, because every function comes with a handy switch. Next time I'm injured, don't heal, just turn me off and on again.

[tears-of-taelia]

re: melia & emma

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. The way that the newest version of the Blacksteeple Castle chapter has presented Emma is interesting. There will be spoilers ahead, so don't read if you're still working your way through version 13.5!

My ramblings begin below. Here are some official pics (by the amazing Zumi) for reference.

As we know, during the events of Blacksteeple Castle, Melia wore a disguise to hide her true identity. This disguise is removed when Madame X slashes it with her sword. There is a small animation that follows, where a dark magical aura envelopes “Emma” before she is revealed to be Melia.

After the subsequent chaos, the disguise is not brought up again. However, the character of Emma is revealed to still reside in Melia’s cognition, apparently unbeknownst to Melia, as she says, “I thought I left you behind at Blacksteeple”. How odd.

Then, (a long time) later, while exploring the 3rd Layer, Melia stumbles across a deathbed journal entry written by a Garufa Inc. volunteer named Emma. It reads as follows.

My name is Emma. I undertook the Archetype's power today, and it failed miserably. I was unable to manifest its power and was mortally wounded during a test. I thought I actually had potential... but I guess not. The doctors say I don't have long left. It's cruel, isn't it? Life is just so cruel. But this is the path me and all the other volunteers chose. Humanity has nothing left but us. ...Is it all worth it in the end, though? What do we want to survive for? ...Anyway. I'm losing energy fast. Garufa Incorporated is our last hope. Please, save us.

Melia expresses to Nim that she finds it odd that this person and her Blacksteeple cover share a name. Nim passes this off as a coincidence, and understandably so. Emma isn’t exactly a rare name (though perhaps things are different in the world of rejuvenation?). The coincidence still seems to bother Melia for some reason.

Now, there are a LOT of theories about Melia out there. Despite hours and hours of gameplay, her true identity has yet to be revealed.

People have theorized for years that she is Maria, and the game seems to heavily imply that that is the case. If Anathea had four children, Erin, Maria, Alice, and Allen, and Erin, Melia, Alice, and Allen know that they share a mother, Anathea, then it would logically follow that Melia is Maria. In addition, Melia and Maria physically resemble each other, Melia is unsure of her origins prior to meeting Jenner, and Maria has not otherwise made an appearance in the current timeline (besides the whole Marianette ordeal in Gearen Sewers). So, it’s not exactly a dramatic leap.

It is eventually even addressed by the characters themselves.  When Erin directly asks for her opinion on this matter, Melia balks, and seemingly contradicts herself.

MELIA: Hahah... I guess I've known for a long time that I was Maria. Ever since our interaction with Angie, that name has been going through my head in my dreams. But I have to disagree, Erin. I am not Maria. ERIN: But out of the process of elimination, you must be. MELIA: Sorry, but it's true. That's what my mind is telling me, desperately. I am not Maria. I am not Maria. That's what echoes in my head.

If Melia is and is not Maria, then… how…? In what way? Who is she? Why would she share a connection with Erin? Why is she the only one with Genesis Syndrome? And what does Emma have to do with all of this? I don’t really have an answer. But there is something I want to muse on.

Let’s circle back to Melia’s “disguise”, if we can even call it that. Her cover as Emma made her look like an entirely different person, unrecognizable to the Player character. She has a different outfit, hair color, and eye color. If we are to believe that this is an ordinary disguise, we would need to believe that, with one slash, Madame X was able to tear through a wig, two color contacts, and an entire outfit, including thigh high boots. We would need to believe that Melia conveniently decided to wear a different outfit underneath this disguise, and that Madame X was able to slash off her exterior outfit without marring the one underneath. We would also need to believe that the special, dark, magical animation the occurs at this moment was purely aesthetic and meaningless.

So, yeah, I don’t really believe it this disguise is your regular, run-of-the-mill costume.

We learn that Melia was sent to Blacksteeple through the powers of Spacea and Tiempa. She was on a mission as a Storm Chaser, to save the Player character and gather information. As we know (all too well) from V13.5, Spacea and Tiempa are powerful. Specifically, they have powers over space and time akin to Palkia and Dialga. They use these powers pretty recklessly to manipulate many characters throughout the story. However, every instance of power they exhibit is strictly tied to their dimensions, space and time. Spacea does magic related to space. Tiempa does magic related to time. So, how, then, would they be able to create such a magical disguise for Melia? Through Garufan dress-up magic? Creating an illusion? Maybe. I wouldn’t be shocked. But I think it’s more than that. I think that Spacea and Tiempa used their magic to revive a version of Melia from the past, a different dimension, or a different “layer” (past world?). Perhaps… the third layer. A different appearance. A different life. Emma.

I think of it sort of like what happened with Narcissa during the Dufaux sidequest. But, instead of S+T directly swapping Melia with Emma, they just projected the appearance of Emma onto Melia.

There isn’t much to support or detract from this speculation. What we do know? We know that Melia is and is not Maria. We know that both Melia and Emma struggle to manifest the Archetype's power. We know that Emma resides in Melia’s cognition, like Melanie. We know Melia was deeply bothered by Emma’s journal entry in the Third Layer. We know that the outfit Melia dons when using her powers is very reminiscent of Emma’s.

We also know that Emma is dead.

Or, at least, presumed dead.

Just like Aevis, Aevia, Aria, Axel, Aero, and Alain.

You see where I’m going with this?

We know Emma dies disappointed, having believed she had “potential”, according to her journal entry. Did someone else think she had potential too? Perhaps, her “majesty” herself?

I know I’m not the only one to theorize that Melia is another Interceptor. I mean, it is heavily implied throughout the story. Melia is one of two characters for which we have seen Variya appear. The other, of course, being the player character. Melia is able to enter Zeight. In fact, she enters her own Zeight a couple of points during the game. She is shown with the triangular core motif a couple of times as well. She has led a lot of the research about the Interceptor phenomenon, in the Blakeory Athenaeum, for example.

How this all ties in with Maria, though? I don’t know. In the case of the Player character, we know that A-team didn’t want to live, and agreed to let Variya choose a different soul to take control over their body. Presumably, that soul is us, literally, the player, the person playing the game. Could Maria be the soul taking over Emma? Could Emma be the soul taking over Maria?

Who knows.

I do know there are holes in these theories. I know the events of the Renegade Route may complicate everything. (truthfully, I am too much of a wuss to complete the renegade route myself. I watched a youtube video of someone else's playthrough, so I know the broad strokes of what happens, but I definitely don't know the renegade lore in the same way I know paragon. maybe I should rewatch it at some point and take notes)

But this has been bouncing around my brain for too long and I wanted to put it in writing to help organize my thoughts. If you made it this far, wow, you rock! Thanks for reading. I’m interested if anyone has thoughts about this, if anyone can potentially disprove it, or if anyone has their own version or counter version of this idea! I live for this shit.

[eyesofthethrone]

Unbearable Sincerity - Kobolds

So I can't be the only one with questions about Astarion's remark about kobolds the night you catch him trying to bite you? So here's a short thing (1k words) about speculating on that starring my Tav, Mouira from my longer (mostly/started as smut) serise Unbearable Sincerity over on Ao3. It works stand alone and is set during one of the time jumps in Dancing Upon the Pyre.

✶⚖✶

“You never did tell me ‘bout the kobolds.”

Astarion blinked, then slowly frowned in confusion. They had both just had a spectacular evening after exploring the ruins of the old monastery, the break before they dove deeper to try and find this crèche. The pair of them had snuck away from camp and ended up making love with the awe-inspiringly beautiful backdrop of the sunset painting the mountains gold. Now the evening was turning the sky a dusky purple and Astarion was able to luxuriate in the kind of setting that would have even the most undiscerning romance fan rolling their eyes at the cliche and, as they lay comfortably next to each other, sweat drying on their skin... and she wanted to talk about kobolds?

“Kobolds?” he repeated, his tone flat.

“Aye, kobolds,” Mouira laughed and pushed at his shoulder, half rolling onto her side. The yellow-orange light of the sunset combined with her naturally blue skin-tone always made her look a little green. Usually it just made her look even more sickly than usual, but not right now for some reason. Astarion could half fancy that he was laying next to some dryad or wood nymph, rather than the not-quite-living cleric, “that loutish lot in the ruins put me in mind o’ it. The night ye first came to me ye said ‘bout feedin’ on animals and included kobolds in that and then ye smirked... just like that, in fact.”

Astarion was smirking, he rolled onto his back and stretched, arching up a moment before settling back down with his arms behind his head. Mouira sat up, leaning on her arms to look down at him, “Yer ‘bout to tell me somethin’ awful, ain’t ya?” she asked, but she was also smiling.

“I was one of the first Spawn Cazador sired, he hadn’t quite figured out the rules and how to word them just yet. Before he thought of the wording ‘thinking creatures’ he said that we were only permitted to feed upon ‘sewer vermin.’ Baldur’s Gate is home to a tribe of kobolds employed by the city to maintain the sewer system-”

“Oh boy-”

Astarion laughed, pleased with his own cleverness, “If we were out to late we often had to hide in the sewers to avoid the sun. I came across one of the wretched little creatures and though ‘You know what?’ and it only went and bloody worked.”

“On occasion I forget that yer the worst fuckin’ person I know and then ye gotta remind me like this,” Mouira sighed, covering her face with her hand, but he caught the curve of her smile beneath her palm, “how long were ye able to get away with that?”

Astarion’s smile faltered, “A single night, alas. As soon as I returned Cazador could smell what I had done. The beating was worth it though for getting one over the old bastard.”

Mouira smiled, Astarion’s tenacity was one of the things she liked most about him if she was being honest with herself, “It’s pretty unusual for a vampire lord to starve their minions like that, they usually keep ‘em healthy so as to use ‘em for assassins or guards.”

“Cazador had no shortage of minions, he’s quite the renowned necromancer. The pleasure he got from tormenting us was of a greater value to him than anything else.”

The mood was starting to sour a little, Mouira watched as the frown lines furrowed Astarion’s pale forehead and she decided to tactfully bring the conversation back around, “Did ye find any other work arounds?”

Astarion, who’s mood was always improved by having the opportunity to boast about how wonderful he was, perked right back up, “Oh, of course. There was a reason than when it came to recruiting more Spawn Cazador never touched anyone involved with the legal professions ever again.”

“Wait, does that mean ye really were a magistrate?”

Astarion sat up, scandalised, “What do you mean? Of course I was a magistrate! You didn’t believe me?”

“O’ course I didn’t believe ye, foppish eejit wavin’ a dagger around tryin’ to make me think a brain thingy was in the grass. Didn’t realise yer were a vampire but certainly clocked ya as a conman.”

Astarion’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. She wasn’t wrong but still, “You are an awful woman.”

“Aye,” she agreed with a smile, pushing her hand against his chest to get him to lay back down. He let her, “Now tell me more ‘bout how clever ye are. What ‘bout folk on their monthly bleed?”

“A revoltingly cunning little mind you have there, but yes,” he let himself smile again as he folded his arms behind his head again and looked up at her, the dying light of the sun crowning her hair in copper and fire, “I was able to keep that going for a couple of months before I was caught, made me exceptionally popular for a while there too.”

Mouira’s hand was still on his chest, she gently stroked it up and down, “What was it like?”

Astarion thought about the question for a moment, “Meatier, richer, it tasted better than rats and stray dogs but for some reason wasn’t as filling.”

“Probably less blood in it than ye would think to be lookin’ at it,” Mouira suggested, she’d never wept with Selûne but she’d delivered a handful of babies in her career as a cleric and knew a little about what went on up there.

Astarion caught her hand in his own and brought it to his lips, kissing his lover over the slow, steady pulse in her wrist where her own honey-bitter blood flowed, “Probably,” he agreed, the smile on his face softening somewhat as he watched the first evening stars start to appear around her head, diamonds set into a copper crown, “but I suppose it’s not something I shall ever need to concern myself with again.” After tasting freedom and the blood of their enemies, after tasting her, he would never go back, could never go back. He would rather die.

Mouira nodded in agreement, even as her eyes darted away so he wouldn’t see the flicker of conflict in them even as she said, “No. No ye certainly shan’t.”

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Wonder and Beauty

I’ve had to dump a surprising number of Kindle samples in the past year-plus due to pure ugliness. I find this more than a bit bewildering. Yet sample after sample I’ve run across, if they’re not in first person present tense (argh), riddled with typos in the first few pages (why), or have a main character whose only acquaintance with morals would have been the dictionary, if they’d ever read a dictionary....

Weed out all that, and there’s still way too many books out there apparently focusing on ugly. Not the characters’ physical appearances, although that shows up too. But diving into and obsessing over the absolute worst parts of the society, setting, or world the character is dealing with. Monsters exist? Cue the most gore-filled kills of innocents the writer can splash on the page. Character is abandoned as a young child? The writer drags up every nauseating detail on the city dunghill/dump he’s abandoned on and the disgusting things he has to do to survive. (Most of which, BTW, would in real life leading to the kid dying of dysentery or worse within a year, not surviving over a decade.) Politics are ruthless? Every person we meet has either stabbed the main character in the back already, is about to, or was plotting to in the future but only laughs now because someone else beat them to it. Prostitution and slavery are elements of your world’s society? (As they have been in most places and times, historically.) Every female character (and some males) will be raped, threatened with rape, or working with the panderers. And even if the first few pages avoid all of that, odds are the character is bemoaning their horrible situation and using foul language to do it.

Rrrraaaaaauggggghhhh.

This is bad writing.

The point of the first few pages of a story is to hook your readers. To make them sympathetic to the main character, curious about the world, and interested in knowing What Comes Next. Ugliness shuts all of these down, hard.

First, sympathy. Sympathy is feeling with the character. It is not feeling pity for the character. Sympathy is what happens when, say, Sarah Kelling has to deal with a massive debt, the grief of being a widow, and enough legal matters to choke a paper shredder - and decides she’s going to get through this anyway. On determination, bluffing, knowing how to cook on a penny-pinching budget, and fast feet if she has to. She’s not going to sit there and whine about how horrible she has it, she’s going to make a plan and fix what can be fixed.

Reader reaction: “Yes! You go, girl! If I were in that situation, that’s just what I hope I’d be able to do!”

Second, curious about the world. If the writer hits us over and over with either how ugly things are (horrible spaceport sex and drug dives, dunghills and sewers, seriously) and/or attributes everything beautiful like silks and precious metals to arrogant, power-mad, smarmy nobility, then why should we want to learn anything more? We already know there’s nothing wonderful here. Whereas in Sarah Kelling’s Boston we hear of pleasant rooms with high bookshelves, worn red velvet curtains, and a fireplace; of a lady employed as a maid (in part for a paid room to rent) with a uniform in bright orange, topped by a cap of frilly velvet and long orange streamers; of window-boxes that would be full of carefully-tended flowers in summer, now brightened for the holidays with greenery and red ribbons. And that’s just physical beauty. We also hear of universities, mountain-climbers, fortune-tellers in tearooms, and a host of other interesting characters sketched out even in just a sentence or two of humor. That Boston is a city where people live, and sometimes live quite happily. It invites us to explore.

Last, and certainly not least, interested in what happens next. If in the first few pages I’ve seen a character abandoned by his parents in horrible circumstances, committing an act of bravery only because he’d end up framed for murder if he wasn’t, and then after a time-skip betrayed by the same group of people all over again who deliver him into the hands of slavers... yeah, no, I give up. He says he has a wife and kids to get back to? Gee, that would have been so much more effective if you’d ever shown them in the first few pages. Now? Don’t care. Bye.

As opposed to the widowed Sarah Kelling, who starts the story determined to run a boardinghouse and just keeps going, even once her landlady duties expand to trying to figure out which of her boarders might have committed a murder. Every chapter brings a new complication, and an attempt to resolve the last one; some more successful than others. You stay up way too late reading onward, because okay, how’s she going to figure out this one-?

Stories need beauty and wonder. Characters need it, or they’d have no reason to go on. And your readers need it. Get it into the story. All of the story.

Now pardon me, I have a few more samples to dump....

[sleepis4theweak]

They cook just about as well as I do (probably a bit better though.) Mikey might try and help star cook but idk if star would understand it well.

Bog turtles ARE very cute and I'm so glad I found out they existed when I made Sushi. They're so small it makes me want to cry (in a good way.) Sushi is abnormally strong though…because xe are also probably a war weapon like the turtles.

Their shape HAS turned out to be just blobs…buuuut I wanted to make the pattern more interesting so I made my friend choose between a bunch of nice colors to use instead of orangish yellow (even though that already looked nice.) We ended up not being able to decide on just one so…their pattern color changes with strong emotions.

She in fact, can not find pools of mud in New York to hide in. Blankets are the best he can do usually, which is sad 😔. 

-🦐

BAHAHA- Well good luck to Mikey and Sushi then! ...Mostly Mikey... hopefully star doesn't ruin his kitchen...

BOG TURTLES ARE ADORABLE- and I love that they r strong!!! I love when the whole "war weapons" part of the turtles gets explored...

BUT THE BLOBS R CUTE!!! And I adore the color changes with emotion!!! Thats adorable!!!

AWWW WELL IM WISHING HIM ALL THE BLANKETS IN THE WORLD... idk maybe he can find sewer mud? (gross...)

[therosecrest]

I dreamt that I was planning to attack someone. Together with a partner, I was in these tunnels. Like a sewer, but the water was treated. You'd have to crouch all the way through, but as they were halfway full, you could make good time if you swam.

The eve of our attack, we were suddenly assaulted in the tunnels. They blew their way in. My partner was too close, so he was captured quickly, shouting for me to run. I did, but the place was a labyrinth. In my panic, I think I reached a dead end and went down swinging. Later, I was relieved that I'd been stopped. I had had my doubts, but felt I had already gone too far and couldn't turn back.

After that, I was severely punished, and not on the books. We were forced to cooperate with the authorities as they explored the tunnels. My supervisor reminded me of Joker from Read or Die. He was sadistic, once forcing me to crawl over nails or broken glass or such as a form of punishment.

He had two underlings, who I fought a few times when I tried to escape. One of them reminded me of Katara from the terrible Avatar movie. I lost, but I got stronger each time.

We were on a bus when I made my latest attempt. A yellow one, like an American school bus. It was difficult to fight in, but the bars and whatnot had their use, allowing me to jump and vault around. I was strong enough now to defeat the other, though I was an extremely tough fight.

The Katara-looking one was up next. She was strong, and fought me with a variety of Gundam inspired attacks. I was just barely winning, I think. She tried to use a beam cannon, which was supposedly a Unicorn move but really more Vagan, I thought. I struggled, but I was able to force her to lean back, firing the beam vertical. I thought that I could win, but I would still have to face her boss after that, who had been watching my fight. I was sure couldn't beat him yet, but I would.

[cutekittenlady]

Tumblr Plays Pokemon White 2 - Part 8

((So i actually had to go back and fight a bunch of trainers to get money for more pokeballs to try and catch pokemon with.))

Well hanging out in the lot was a lot of fun but now I think I'll head back down into the sewers and get to the pokemon center. I need to prepare.

Yeah I think he's feeling a little... frustrated. Look its this whole revenge thing, I don't really wanna get into it.

Iris then asks what I'm going to do now, and honestly? While I'm aiming to fight in the gym I think I need to train some first. Get a gas mask, complete a bit more of the pokdedex. Yada yada.

Also I'm actually nearly out of the pokeballs. I've only got, like, four. And three of those I dont wanna use yet.

Guess that means one thing. I gotta fight some trainers for cash.

I start in the sewers. I opt to not use healing items like potions. I'd rather not spend money trying to buy more so instead my team and I are just going to have the train the difficult way by healing at the pokemon center for free. Once we have enough money and balls saved up we can try to fill out more of the pokedex.

Besides I wanna make sure I'm strong enough to beat Burgh and this as good of an excuse as any to train up.

I actually try to avoid most of the wild pokemon, saving up our energy for the trianers.

Turns out one of the trainers I beat is a doctor so i was able to get my pokemon healed up! And immediately after that I found a scientist who gave me a super potion! Dang things are looking up! I found a few items in the sewer I might be able use or sell as well.

Place still reeks though.

Getting curious I choose to check out that gaping hole in the sewers and find myself in a cave system (relic passage) rather than explore further I opt to leave it alone for now and return later.

((I actually completely forgot about Relic passage when making the poll. XD I think I'll include it amongst the potential places to catch mons after we get our eevee encounter once we get enough money for more pokeballs.))

AAAnd that rare bone I found in the sewer sold for fifty bucks

NICE

And I spend ALL my money on great balls. I decide it'll be a good idea to head to that little hidden park to start some training.

I wonder around in the grass a bit and run into an Eevee. A friggin EEVEE! A wild one! I can't believe this! Those are insanely rare in Unova!

EVERY trainer wants an eevee!

Bentley! Aries! Do NOT screw this up!

I swap Bentley out for Molly both to take down Petilil sooner, and to avoid Bentleys old habits from kicking in.

Don't look at me like that Bentley you know what you did!

After that it was a matter of being insanely cautious with the damage.

Once I got eevee down to a reasonable health level I decided that now, now was the time to use that Ultra ball I was given back in Aspertia.

Ultra ball dont fail me now!

I select.

I throw.

aaaaaand

Eevee on the team!!!

Ohhhhh he is just so CUTE!

What shall I name him? I mean he was the first pokemon in this whole thing to win, more or less, by a massive landslide. So I feel like I should incorporate that in the name.

I asked my sister what I should name this Eevee and she suggest Pollemachus in reference to him winning the poll. That sounded werid so I was considering Champ but while we were discussing it and even seeing if Pollemachus would fit into the pokemon nickname section (it did not) we wound up coming across the name Pollux. Which apparently means "very sweet" some sources claimed it also meant "crown"? I'm not sure but given this pokemon by a Poll that was absolutely no contest I think it only seems right to give him a name in reference to it.

So after a LOT of debate the little Eevees name became Polux.

And now for the moment of truth.

The nature check.

I spent so much time looking for this Eevee. I can only hope the pokmeon challenge gods look favorably upon me.

Okay

Bentley. Quiet Nature.

Aries. Hasty Nature.

Molly. Hardy Nature.

Polux.

...

DOCILE NATURE

YES.

Now of course Polux is gonna need training but I think I may be okay to challenge the bug type gym!

There will be a set of new polls soon!

[edgepunk]

Okay, filtered MSM 2 thoughts:

We knew Kraven was gonna show up in the sequel, however, I def did not expect The Lizard/Dr. Connors and the fact that Kraven is focused on him instead of Peter or Miles is very interesting. I wonder if they're gonna sort of recreate/reference Kraven's Last Hunt 👀

Either way, I'm very excited to see these classic villains showing up. Maybe we'll see Yuri Watanabe/Wraith too??? They were building her up in one of the DLCs quite well. Also, interested to see how Peter will react since they were friends.

Gameplay!!!!!! I already loved the gameplay in the first game, and the Miles Morales game improved upon that. And they seemed to take it another step further, it's like they actually listened to the criticism that people had, and I didn't know it was possible to improve the already banger gameplay (tho yes the first one was a little clunkier but still v intuitive)

The new traversal features look so good hello?? The web wings used as a glider? Miles slingshotting himself across the city??? aoughhfg and also!!! It looks like we'll be able to explore other parts of New York like Queens and maybe Brooklyn??? tbh Manhattan became a little restrictive after a while in the first two games, so it would be cool to expand the map a bit. Y'all know I'm meh about huge maps with some exceptions, but if done right, I think it's gonna be good.

Putting this under a read more bc this game is driving me insane I'm eating drywall

So I was right that we'll be able to switch between Peter and Miles. I kinda guessed that they're gonna be mission specific, and maybe, we can switch between them in free roam like with Jacob and Evie in AC: Syndicate (this specific feature isn't confirmed, just speculation on my part)

Looks like Nuform changed Miles' abilities since his Venom (heh) powers can turn blue? I'm interested to see what it did to him and if they're going to address it. Maybe it's purely for aesthetic/gameplay reasons. Who knows, I'm still curious.

Also, love how they incorporated Ganke as their guy in the chair. I loved him in MM and the fact that he helped Miles with the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app. Just give me more Ganke please, he was really charming and they managed to differentiate him from MCU Ganke Ned that he feels like his own character.

Okay, I'm done beating around the bush and I'm going to address the elephant in the room - the symbiote. This is all we've been waiting for, we knew from the post-credits scene from the first game that Peter is gonna have the black suit. I'm glad Insomniac were like "yeah let's get this over with" and showed it to us.

And people are already calling him Bully Lowenthal 💀

Now, I was a little bit iffy about the design of the black suit, but after I watched the trailer a couple of times, it's starting to grow on me? Maybe I'm looking too much into it but the organic armor/exoskeleton design gives me xenomorph vibes, and I love the tendrils in the "exposed" exoskeleton. The texture looks gross and slimy and I love it. I was wondering if they're gonna add some subtle sci-fi horror elements to it and they delivered. I've always said that the symbiote has a lot of space/eldtrich horror potential.

Which brings me to the tendrils (I can already hear the p*rn artists working hard), jokes aside, they look so cool and they're animated so well???? The way Peter fights with them??? He straight up turns into a uhhh tentacle monster for a split second. And his fighting style is so brutal, I liked when he kept repeatedly kicking the guy as if he was a punching bag ddjhsjh

but the scene where he shows up in the sewers(???) yeah this shot legit gave me chills bro looks fr intimidating

And do I really need to gush about Yuri Lowenthal's voice acting? Ben 10 off the shits I'm gonna do it anyway bc holy shit he got the guttural growl down to a T. However, I do wish they put a very subtle filter on his voice. Doing that kind of growly voice must've hurt his throat real bad. Maybe his voice is gonna become more monstrous as the game progresses, that'd be real neat :3c

Honestly, I'm really curious to see how it will affect Peter since May is dead, the whole thing with Otto (I think they're gonna have a convo on the Raft maybe???), he's got a lot of debts to pay and he mentioned that Harry is dying. Bro's going through it fr also parksborn angst???? I'm ready for the homoerotic undertones in their cutscenes kdjkdjdkj I'll take any crumbs I can get 👀

And the way that Peter just dismissively shoved that one civilian away??? Ah?? I'm not ready for Peter to become an absolute cunt and be mean to Miles. There's a high probability we're gonna have to fight Peter in a boss fight as Miles aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ANYWAY THAT'S IT I'M LOSING MY MIND

[the-blue-wraith]

I've finished BG3 last night and here are my thoughts: (BG3 MAJOR SPOILERS UP AHEAD)

The progress of Act 1 and 2 were so smooth, my only regret was I should've explored more the areas in both acts and I also missed a few cutscenes in the camp. I really enjoyed my stay in those acts, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the quests. What I love the most was the buildup of my relationships with my companions. Especially with Astarion, at first he distrusted me then when I learned about his tragic past and accepted who he truly was he became much closer with me. One of my fave scenes of him was his confession scene in Act 2, he sounded so sincere there

Act 3 was full of bugs. The game textures were rendering slowly, even the merchants' facial and clothing textures were slow to render everytime I talked to them. This also applies to my companions who are wearing heavy armor. The way they scattered all the quests in the areas was overwhelming unlike in Act 1 and 2.

Before I confronted the Netherbrain I wasn't able to find Voss during Lae'zel's quest, he literally disappeared in the sewers. However I managed to release Orpheus in the Astral Plane. I was so worried about the outcome of this, I thought I will never get to finish Lae'zel's quest.

When I was about to rescue Ulder Ravengard in the Iron Throne he was missing there as well. Before I went there I attended the coronation and was able to talk with him and Gortash. Wyll's quest was triggered afterwards and I chose to break his pact with Mizora. I went to the Steel Watch Foundry to trigger the quest of saving the Gondians and went straight to the Iron Throne. Wyll even said "Ulder Ravengard is here - he must be" yet he wasn't there. I went back to Wyrm's Rock Fortress only to find out he stayed there lol, I had no choice but to kill him.

The epilogue was full of bugs too. Some of the NPC's voices became inaudible and Orpheus (he became an Illithid in my playthrough) was not following me. My last romance scene with Astarion was bugged (I'm still pissed about this lol). I also heard some of the romance scenes with the other companions were bugged too.

I hope Larian will fix these bugs I've mentioned. Witnessing a buggy epilogue was disappointing.

Also!! I felt the ending was rushed. I was expecting we would be able to talk to all my companions before and after the battle. But the battle was very straightforward to the Netherbrain. During their last scene on the docks everything happened so fast. Tav killing Orpheus, Astarion running from the sun, Gale pursuing the stones in the Chionthar, Karlach saying her last word before dying and Wyll lending her a hand. It all happened so fast!

Do I still think BG3 deserves to be GOTY? Yes. Do I think Act 3 and the ending were rushed? Yes.

Sorry if I sounded pessimistic I really enjoyed the game!! The rushed ending and bugs were the only let-down to me.

[salsedine]

Per l'ask game propongo Solas e Anders di Dragon Age

Ps ho schiacciato sul blog sbagliato e ho mandato un ask per sbaglio all'op voglio morire

Hello e grazie mille per l'ask! Credo che l'op non se la prenderà, ci sono ask decisamente peggiori in questi lidi 🙈 E se può consolare, una volta Tumblr ha glitchato di brutto inviando un mio messaggio critico verso uno show molto popolare ad un blog iper fan del suddetto show. Capisco l'ansia!

Daje now we'll switch to badly written English.

Solas: I wish I could say something, but I still haven't played DAI 🙈 (and i don't even know if I'll be able to without melting my laptop). However, from posts and fanarts I deduced that he is some kind of old god/trickster archetype/the dreadwolf thingy that wants to destroy the world. Interesting!

And a fun fact. For... quite some time I used to think that Solavellan was the name of an actual character. In my defence, it sounds legit for a fantasy setting.

Now, let's move on to the character that will make people stop talking to me lol. Under the read more because I'm on mobile and have no idea how long this is going to be.

* First impression: hello fun guy that hates the chantry and is obsessed with cats, I like your earring! Oh you refused to speak and ran away multiple times so... they left you a year in solitary confinement?? Oh and then your ex/first love is illegally magically lobotomized as a threat against you? WTF WTF WTF.

* Impression now: I pretty much like all the characters, but he really grew on me. I find him very interesting and compelling, BUT I also want to hit him with a brick for every bitchy/condescending/hypocrite comment towards Fenris or Merrill. I also suspect that with him the writers tried to portray mental illness or something similar? I think I read something somewhere.

* Unpopular opinionS: ehhh, here we go. It's called "the last straw" and not "I'm going to commit a political assassination at the first inconvenience" for a reason. I agree that it could have been handled differently (with more time- this game definitely deserved more development time), but it wasn't on a whim, nor I see it as some grand machination that he planned for years. It's a very desperate act that was preceded by years of activism and trying to find a compromise. A compromise that it is impossible to reach, imho, because compromises in order to work need good faith and/or some kind of leverage. Mages have no leverage and Meredith (and Elthina too) have no good faith. Meredith explicitly wanted an excuse to kill them all, and the right of annulment has been sent for... how can you compromise with someone that considers your existence a mistake to correct? I can see that it's a political situation that would have required more nuance than what the game had time to provide - but overall I think it's pretty clear why he did it.

* Favourite moment: The "hello Varric, take my mother's embroidered pillow, just in case something happens ahah I'm so subtle" scene is quite sweet (despite everything that follows), and while I affectionately mock it for being very loud, the First Big Kiss in the sewers is a classic. And any mention to cats is very much appreciated, obviously.

* Idea for a story: the 3 years gap between the acts are full of possibilities, and I love missing-moments stories. Also! If the "something here is a metaphor for mental illness" idea is true I'd definitely love to read some in-depth exploration of it.

* Favourite head canon: considering what I saw from the official writers about him after the events of DA2, I'd just say "the opposite of that".

* Favourite relationship: platonic, I'd say Varric ("let's brainstorm how to kill my brother :D! Also I'm paying criminals to stay away from your underground free clinic, bye"). Romantic, definitely Hawke. But with a disclaimer: I've tried the romance path thingy with a male rogue/archer Hawke (after much consideration, I was really curious about Fenris and Isabela too, but the "ten years, a hundred years-" quote got me) but I still haven't finished it. So yeah, I'm aware I'm missing pieces here -and this is why I looked for all the spoilers. "And I love you so much I'm going to let you kill me" indeed, mrs Welch singing during the end credits, indeed.

Thanks again for asking! 💃✨

[edit] finished the game - he is now in the top 10 of my favourite characters, huge fan of the romance with Hawke (friendship route and 'let's run away' ending).