theshadowdreams-blog - Tumblr blog

[theshadowdreams-blog]

So many thoughts... (though many are about MotB) Oh god I know. Like he had a bad childhood? Yeah, that’s terrible. And so did (possibly) the KC. And so did Neeshka, who is treated like shit constantly due to her infernal heritage. Yet somehow Neeshka did not grow up to be a complete asshole, and neither (potentially) did the KC. Ammon Jerro gave up everything, even his own soul and morals, to save the world (and he goes too far and fucks up, but you can get him to realise that). Shandra watched her entire life fall apart around her. Daeghun’s so worn down he’s barely got any emotions left except pain yet somehow he still has basic morals! Loads of the characters had sucky lives, so cry me a fucking river Bishop because you’re just a self-absorbed asshole. When the confession came out I think somebody had to hold Azalyth back to stop her running back to the nearest water source and scrubbing herself raw until her soul was cleansed. She settled for electrocuting him, which she had been looking forward to for so long...

Also the scene where Bishop tries to take Construct and gets outmanoeuvred by Grobnar is beautiful. It’s my second favourite part of the game next to the trial.

Fanfic is a pain. When will they invent a program that just downloads your thoughts into neatly written fanfic via telepathy?

That is a downside to writing romantic relationships with immature characters. Like I said, I lean far more strongly towards Shandra (f!KC/Shandra is totally not a ship that almost became one of my near otps, nope), but that’s mostly because my KC doesn’t really mesh with Neeshka on a romantic level (Neeshka’s a little too... idk if clingy is the right word, but she’s too energetic/emotional for her to cope with). If anybody ever made a mod that let me romance her with a female KC I’d probably make one to romance her though. Might have gone for Sand but I view him more as a mentor/begrudgingly adopted snarky uncle figure (uh, sort of). I just settle for my headcanon that my KC met a lot of pretty people in one-night-stands across the Neverwinter region. Less drama. Also I kind of like her with Gann anyway, they mesh well and she’s gone through a lot of character development by that point. She might have worked with Safiya too but noooooo...

Yeah that’s another thing that makes the romance kind of... uh, no. Guy twice your age who puts you on a pedestal and kind of obsesses over you is just... it’s creepy for me.

“My beautiful lady” I gagged reading that line. The mod sounds painful and surreal. Bishop does feel like an essential part of the story but honestly he’s pathetic. He sounds like some dudebros who hang out around the McDonalds in my area with his independent “you can’t tell me what to do”, “everybody’s out to get everybody you’re either hunter or pray” misogynistic “edgy” shit.  I wouldn’t hate quite him so much, but the fandom just seemed to have this obsession with him? Like there were a million fics involving redeeming him with their pure maiden KCs! Mmm... yeah. No. Let’s not. I swear those fics were what drove me to make the most vitrolic anti-romance character possible.

Mind you in regards to the age gap between Casavir and KC, going on lore, Elanee claims her father died in a battle with orcs which sounds to me as though her father was one of the citizens of the Phalorm kingdom that fell to an orc/goblinoid horde - which makes Elanee about 750 years old. So unless she means her grandfather, she is so not young, even by elf standards. (By basic canon she’d be near the end of her lifespan, by my own canon she’d be in the elven equivalent of her 50s or something (though not showing it yet)) I didn’t mind Elanee so much, though I can’t say she interested me either she’s kind of... bland? On a roleplaying level however she drove my KC up the wall (a mix of obviously being a stalker and lying about it, and the whole “attuned to the land” thing. Like lady I have two levels of ranger, get over yourself, you’re not the only nature class here.)

New mod idea taking inspiration from DA:II - every time the “love interests” open their mouths to have a go at each other, the KC pulls out a giant sign that says “don’t” and slaps them with it. Or at least get a mod that adds a “keep walking and leave them to it” option. And on that topic Bishop really needs to take his own advice about letting the KC talk for herself. She can tell you both to shut up just fine on her own!

Re-playing Neverwinter nights 2 just so Sianelle (my brat KC) can kill Bishop, gloat, and then make fun of him while he suffers in the wall of the faithless. Damn, I had forgotten how awful the Romance Pack Mod actually is, too bad I’m too lazy to uninstall it.  

(I have been reading fanfic and felt nostalgic… also, I’d kill for a fanfic where the KC is not a “pure maiden” and doesn’t fall in love with Bishop or Casavir)

[theshadowdreams-blog]

And what I think we all learned from this experience is that sometimes not having romances is for the best.

Oh my god.

Although I will give credit to the modder - they got Bishop's personality perfectly up until that... confession. I'm unsure whether to laugh or scream. ...And the sort of backstep the player did when they saw Anomen was hilarious.

anyone know where i can find that post with the video of that one guy playing that terrible skyrim romance mod story because i need to watch that shit again

[theshadowdreams-blog]

i will never accept the sound of my recorded voice

[theshadowdreams-blog]

[theshadowdreams-blog]

what i had to do today: lots of stuff

what i did today: nothing

how i feel: guilty

does this feeling make me wanna do something: no

[theshadowdreams-blog]

And since NWN2 is on my brain; I’m pretty sure one of the KC’s first languages is Elven. Like two examples; There’s a statue in the Temple of Seasons with an elvish inscription written into it which the KC can read. Secondly, if you get the spider Kistrel but don’t have Sand or Elanee with you, when Kistrel signs their name in elven runes the KC can read it themselves.

Neither of these have lore or race checks, meaning that the KC is fluent regardless. So it seems like maybe Daeghun raised them speaking elven, and he and the KC speak in elven when they talk to each other (rare as those occasions may be)

[theshadowdreams-blog]

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, “you’re in here alot, are you an alcoholic?”

The horse ponders for a minute and responds “I don’t think I am” And poof he disappears

This is where philosophy students start to snicker, as they are familiar with Descartes postulate, “I think, therefore I am.”

But telling you that first would be putting Descartes before the horse

[theshadowdreams-blog]

It’s funny though, because all through DA:I talking to Solas I was like; this feels familiar. Why does this feel familiar?

Guy who prefers the company of spirits - who he respects more and feels safer around compared to regular people - spends all his time in dreams because he can’t handle reality (too painful). Does not like gods and refuses to worship them and actively spites them. Prioritises the personal freedom of the individual. Has a cut same-gender romance.

I have seen something similar before, I thought.

Then I replayed Mask of the Betrayer.

Ah. Right.

I have.

Of course past that point Solas and Gann are entirely different characters, which is probably why I didn’t make the connection initially. But still.

[theshadowdreams-blog]

not a romance option

your fave is problematic: sigrun

has only appeared once and that is not nearly enough

[theshadowdreams-blog]

Also; Hi, how is everybody?

I should probably say that I haven’t quit the dragon age fandom, and there should still be some posts but I might not be posting as much (my interests are shifting to older fandoms and games at the moment). 

I will probably spare you my essay length ramblings about my personal Forgotten Realms canon.

If it helps I’ll tag it “not DA”, so you don’t have to look at it.

[theshadowdreams-blog]

I love this and am deeply amused about the fact that having just replayed NWN2 myself I come back to this post which echoes my feelings perfectly. And I would like that “everybody-shut-the-fuck-up-and-be-friends-and-grow-as-people” mod. Also Bishop hate gives me life.

I’ve kind of been wanting to write a NWN2 fanfic for years where I mess around with cut content and flesh out the campaign and characters and set Bishop on fire but the fandom is so small and Realms lore is gigantic and requires a lot of research...  Hmm. Well I might write it for myself anyway. ....also my KC is highly difficult to work with in writing, being a CN-to-CG half-elf half-drow warlock with anger management/trust issues who does not want to be here and is only here because Gith/Luskan/Nasher will kill her otherwise and has no intention of being anybody’s friend.

There has never been a group of companions who hate each other so damn much. Nobody gets along. Nobody. Except Grobnar and Shandra, apparently, and that was off screen. 

Shandra would have been my first choice for a romance, she feels like the companion who actually tries to get to know the KC rather than following them for some unknown reason or idolising them or getting angry because how dare you make me feel things! Neeshka would be my second. Buuut  Neeshka was annoyingly unromancable and Shandra fucking died.

I’ve never used the romance pack mod and am suddenly so relieved. The vanilla content is bad enough.

Bishop and Casavir needed their heads bashed together (words can not express how annoying their “rivalry” is. Also if you do romance Casavir, Bishop goes all “I would have died for you!” and it’s hysterical because it’s such utter bullshit.), Elanee...  jeez. All three of them are bleeding creepy. Bishop is... well, himself. Casavir puts the KC on a pedestal and got completely chewed out by my KC for both that and for self-harming and being willing to kill himself at her (not serious/sarcastic) request, which completely freaked her (and me) out (as the dialogue option goes, that’s not love or a noble sacrifice) and Elanee flat out admits she’s been stalking you for most of your life. All three were point blank told “stay the fuck away from me”. None of them got to leave the Inn, Elanee got kicked out and Bishop got hit in the face with an Eldricht Blast. Couldn’t do much with Casavir, so she just avoided him.

I can’t play as a male character. Elanee and Neeshka’s arguments (with the addition of Shandra) just make me want to bash my head into the wall.

Luckily there was MotB which was an improvement imo if we ignore the part where Gann and Safiya’s same gender romances got cut, but still.

Re-playing Neverwinter nights 2 just so Sianelle (my brat KC) can kill Bishop, gloat, and then make fun of him while he suffers in the wall of the faithless. Damn, I had forgotten how awful the Romance Pack Mod actually is, too bad I’m too lazy to uninstall it.  

(I have been reading fanfic and felt nostalgic… also, I’d kill for a fanfic where the KC is not a “pure maiden” and doesn’t fall in love with Bishop or Casavir)

[theshadowdreams-blog]

Like I said. Polyvore-inflicted oc-modern-fashion-hell. And quick sketches of two of my ocs in their outfits (Isair Mahariel and Ginevra Hawke)

I also ended up getting really carried away imagining their lives in a modern au Thedas...

Isair

Wears loose, comfortable clothes. Mainly because he’s autistic and the feel of cloth wrapped tightly around his skin would drive him nuts. What? no I didn’t go and unload all my own neurodivergent related traits on him, I don’t know what you’re talking about...

Still has vallaslin because the Dalish would still have those in a modern AU as far as I'm concerned.

Yes he does need coffee. He lives on it.

And from now on I canonically consider that earring to be the one Zevran gives a romanced warden.

Would be a medical student most likely. Sometimes wishes he'd gone for zoology instead.

Fluent in most forms of sign language

Hardcore environmentalist

Feeds all the local birds, including the crows and the pigeons all of whom he can somehow recognise on sight and has named and given backstories to. Kind of like a disney princess with wild animals.

Would probably pay the bills through crime. An infamous thief appearing in the newspaper at least once every two-months who has never been caught.

Probably smokes. A decision born of a pique of teenage rebellion that stuck.

Has a blog dedicated entirely to griffons and pictures of his dog.

Still a music lover. He'd probably love rock music and definitely play the acoustic guitar. Dismissing an entire genre of music based simply on its genre or its age would probably annoy the piss out of him.

Has taken to occasionally wearing the bisexual flag colours to quietly remind people that just because he's married to a man did not somehow alter his orientation.

Ginevra

Black. Black, black, black, black, black. Blak lace, black leather, so many buckles and long swishy skirts. Thigh-high boots with stilettos she can drive through a human skull. She would be so heavily into goth fashion. So much.

Was originally an art student at Orlais’ art university. Her brother still hasn’t forgiven her for “betraying her country”.

Art student turned politician, terrifying the shit out of the upper class and the media with just how fast she's climbing the social and political ladder.

On the news so, so much. In the tabloids a lot due to her very obvious and open relationship with a Dalish elf and a Rivaini pirate. A particularly infamous example of public drama is when she tore down a reporter for trying to suggest they were "only friends". Rumours persist that she has a criminal past involved with local criminal Athenril and that she's an apostate and even a maleficar ("no comment") and she's known to consort with apostates (even known revolutionists) and criminals. The head of the city guard also refuses to comment. Oh god, so many issues with the media.

Despite being loaded she never goes to fancy restaurants, she'll only ever drink really shitty cheap beer in lowtown taverns.

Most frequently searched item on google is "How to domesticate dragons" and other things along that vein.

Heavily involved with her local Chantries and Chantry-groups, where she's constantly getting into arguments with her local Mother and Sisters about scriptures in the Chant and how the Chantry is being run and "being true to the virtues of Andrastianism and making up for their religions past failings". She drives everybody nuts but she always brings cake to the meetings.

[theshadowdreams-blog]

I recently discovered polyvore and am trapped in oc modern fashion hell.

[theshadowdreams-blog]

This needs fanart of baby elves playing Inquisition

Awkwardness ensues regarding romance. Extra awkwardness if Solas was romanced.

Every letter from home Lavellan gets is asking for details so that they can play their games better. I wonder if any of the companions actually send letters to the kids to answer them?

Also I’d bet that any kids related to Lavellan (children, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc) would fight extra hard to be them.

I wonder what hobbies are available to the Dalish. As in games and such? I mean obviously you can start carving a small army of tiny wooden halla to drive your clan up the wall (Ilen), or go on long walks, or take up halla-riding or practice archery…

They have some kind of puzzle-thing called “June’s knot”, I don’t know what that is but for some reason I picture an elven rubik’s cube.

I imagine they share some hobbies with the outside world. Maybe chess and wicked grace and other card games. Possibly some they picked up off of dwarven merchants? idk.

But do they have unique board games? Card games? Sports? What do their children do for entertainment?

???

[theshadowdreams-blog]

I wonder if there’s any squabbles over the parts of elven members of the Inquisition? Probably.

I wonder what hobbies are available to the Dalish. As in games and such? I mean obviously you can start carving a small army of tiny wooden halla to drive your clan up the wall (Ilen), or go on long walks, or take up halla-riding or practice archery…

They have some kind of puzzle-thing called “June’s knot”, I don’t know what that is but for some reason I picture an elven rubik’s cube.

I imagine they share some hobbies with the outside world. Maybe chess and wicked grace and other card games. Possibly some they picked up off of dwarven merchants? idk.

But do they have unique board games? Card games? Sports? What do their children do for entertainment?

???

[theshadowdreams-blog]

I now need a million more Dalish-dad jokes. I wonder how many puns you can make in elven?

The last one reminds me of my “hide-and-seek” headcanon where somebody’s Ghilan’nain (tied to a tree after that issue with the hunter) and the others are Andruil’s hawks and hares looking for her. Usually played on Ghilan’nain’s festivals.

Playing “Emerald Knights” and everybody is arguing over who gets to be who (kids descended from the knights start throwing tantrums if somebody else wants to be their ancestor because “they’re my ancestor! I get to be them!”)

I wonder how many clans ended up with their own games? Clan Sabrae’s children end up with a new game called “let’s bet on what Tamlen and Mahariel are going to do next to royaly piss off the hahrens!” It’s called the Tamlen game. Because I’m pretty sure he’s the worse offender.

I wonder what hobbies are available to the Dalish. As in games and such? I mean obviously you can start carving a small army of tiny wooden halla to drive your clan up the wall (Ilen), or go on long walks, or take up halla-riding or practice archery…

They have some kind of puzzle-thing called “June’s knot”, I don’t know what that is but for some reason I picture an elven rubik’s cube.

I imagine they share some hobbies with the outside world. Maybe chess and wicked grace and other card games. Possibly some they picked up off of dwarven merchants? idk.

But do they have unique board games? Card games? Sports? What do their children do for entertainment?

???

[theshadowdreams-blog]

Dalish children sitting in the mud and drawing vallaslin on theirs and their friends’ faces.

Dalish children running around naked until they become apprentices and the warriors and hunters don armor for the first time.

Dalish children about to become apprentices who steal one of the clan’s halla for a rite-of-passage joy ride that has half the adults screaming and the other half cheering.

Dalish children learning from trial and error which bugs and leaves are safe to eat and which should only be touched if you want a medical emergency.

Dalish children who never get sick catching a cold for the first time and convinced they’re dying.

Dalish children sleeping in and outside of aravels in piles of limbs and smooshed faces.

Dalish children always getting something to eat even if the hunters have to starve themselves.

Dalish children growing up speaking their clan’s colloquial mish-mash of Elven and the country’s Common.

Dalish children learning that lethallin and lethallan are synonyms for trust and love and home.

Dalish children (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧