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CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 (2025)

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my favorite personal headcanon is that most Tevinter citizens don’t actually speak Trade tongue as a main language, or if they do it’s strictly a public language and not a home language. instead the non-Altus citizenry (esp. grunt military/lower class civilian Soporati, Liberati, and new Laetan) especially in Minrathous and other large cities with trade connections to countries outside Tevinter and/or a history of Qunari occupation speak something closer to Romanian in the home/among themselves

the language still has obvious Tevene/Latin-vaguely Greek roots and is very much a modern/less formal evolution of Tevene but it's got a fair bit of Antivan/Spanish-Italian and Qunlat/Arabic-Turkic influence on top of that. the language has been evolving for centuries but more recent wide-spread public use partially started out as something of a more liberal-minded reclamation of Tevinter roots while not wanting to revert back to speaking like they’re leading the full Latin mass at all times

it’s not nationalism, exactly, but it’s still a love of country, or at least a desire to love your country and reclaim or reshape (rather than entirely reject, by doing something like only speaking Trade) a part of a contentious and problematic heritage and culture without taking a hard right into Venatori-style Tevinter nationalism that either ignores, excuses, or outright exalts all the worst parts of Tevinter history and wants to bring back the Empire at its worst

a lot of Altus/higher socially ranked Laetan/higher military ranked Soporati families (especially ones that skew more conservative) scorn or reject the use of modern Tevene because it’s such a distinct and noticeable move away from ancient Tevene (or at least the version of the language still used in religious, military, and magic practice, as well as debate in both houses of the Senate, probably), and feels - to them - like a rejection of Tevinter history and culture rather than an evolution of it, so it’s very much a Soporati and Liberati thing to speak modern Tevene

(in my mind slaves either know Tevene and Trade, like Fenris, or only know one (unless they knew it before they were enslaved). no one who willingly owns slaves would lower themself to ever speak, little lone teach, “bastardized”/modern Tevene, and probably come down hard on slaves that do know or learn it)

most Shadow Dragons use it pretty liberally in missives and when speaking to each other about business, especially with the Venatori being one of the major factions that detest it and thus don't know it, and is something that the Shadows leadership that comes from Altus/other higher socially ranked backgrounds have to learn

of the Shadows leadership we meet in Veilguard, Tarquin would probably be one of the only ones that speaks it fluently/has likely spoken it all his life and is comfortable speaking it. Neve would very likely be fluent as well, being from Dock Town and likely being new Laetan. Dorian and Mae might have known some before, but, considering his background, Ashur definitely knew next to none originally

this obviously doesn't change that they're doing good things and that they're making positive change but it would probably be a point of contention somewhere within the group hierarchy that regular Shadows can't easily communicate with their top leadership in a language they consider socially revolutionary/a symbol of a more liberal and modern Tevinter

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Trans people don't need to disclose that they're trans to you before you date them but i definitely think cis people should start disclosing they're cis instead of just saying "im a girl/boy" cause dating a cis person is a commitment not everyone has the time for. Like buying a bird

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no one talks about how straight up painful it is to be the bigger person when deep in your soul you just want to be a huge bitch about it

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because tv shows are so much shorter and have so much space between new seasons people who are insane about tv shows are increasingly relying on ao3 and tiktok edits to fill in the gaps where there should be a fully funded writer's room. which in my opinion is the reason there's a goddamn epidemic of He Would Not Fucking Say That on this website lately. there's a media literacy crisis because there's not enough media to be literate about

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'She's trying to find a way out.'

my Clair Obscur gifs

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"We all need masks." — THE MASK KEEPER

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"And then there's you, the actual favorite."

Damn Verso isn't even real and he still caught that middle child jealousy.

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Benson Boone sounds like the name of a guy in a folk song who gets gunned down for adultery and thrown in a river

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maskless ashur companion to this set

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Why are there like 5 daily chores where if you skip them for 2 days your life becomes a time based psychological thriller after

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it's a moral failing to still be a harry potter fan

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Recently on Unhelpful File Labels in the Archives:

On-Going Project. Folders were empty.

Well Written Articles, 1999. There were no articles in this folder. There were a lot of budget reports though.

Stuff. You are killing me smalls.

Section 569-055 Knowingly burning or exploding. This was just papers shoved between files, I have a lot of questions and zero answers.

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Joyful Moissonneuse from Clair Obscur.

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Scielune doodle ☀🌙

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Thank god soulmates (one person destined for you that you will never be happy without) aren't real but soulmates (people you understand and connect with on a special level, multiple, some of which you havent met yet) are real