#grey area development lore

[bisthefairy]

Grey Area development lore with potential spoils

Did you know I'm the voice of the Goddess of Ichor? I may have occasionally misused this to entertain the rest of the team...

(Does anybody even remember this meme? It was big at the time I promise)

[nipuni]

Alright, time to share my opinions about Veilguard!! I have both criticism and praise so bear with me as I jump from one extreme to the other 😆 spoilers ahead of course!

The game has a very rough start with the dialogue being formulaic and rushed and the characters overexposing. It feels like a heavy handed attempt at summarizing all of previous games' lore for newcomers or in case you forgot but it's so overdone it feels coddling and trivializes a lot of previous events. Luckily this gets better once all of the introductions are out of the way, though the excessive hints and clarifications continue until the end sadly.

The locations are absolutely incredible and very diverse!! This is a highlight of the game for me. There is so much detail and care in every map and there are so many of them. My pc is struggling to reach medium settings and yet everything looks stunning. The verticality of the maps is so imposing and the graphics have a very dreamy quality that I love. I also enjoy the maze-like structure to the maps, it's more linear but makes everything look a bit more intentional. The color and light direction was amazing, all the visual development really!! it has to be one of the prettiest games I've ever played.

When I started I have to admit it did not feel like I was in Thedas and it all felt a bit theme-parky, if that makes sense. A lot of previously important and established world elements that made Thedas what it is were overlooked or made irrelevant. But the more I played the more it started to feel a bit more similar to Inquisition, for better or worse depending on what you feel about Inquisition. But!! this also feels like a selectively sanitized version of Thedas compared to previous games. In it's attempt to stay safe and uncontroversial in some aspects it loses a lot of substance and it changes the tone. The surface level politics, ignoring previously established major societal issues and a tell-don't-show approach makes the world seem more simple and shallow with no grey areas to explore. ( the humor also falls flat and out of place often too, and WHY is everyone always smirking, enough!! godlike beings are destroying the planet please this is not the time for Marvel banter aaaa )

The pacing at the start is a bit of a mess. It is so fast it felt like jumping from one world shattering discovery to the next with no time to process. The characters also seem to underreact to important information and major developments. It felt like the game was rushing me through all this to get to the part of the story it wanted to tell me while I was still wrapped in my shock blanket trying to catch my breath lmao. I really like all the key story points they touched upon, I just wish they dwelled more on them to give them more narrative weight. ( though blaming every bad thing to ever happen on the Elves was certainly..a choice )

I think the writing could have used more subtlety in the first half and more boldness in the second 😆 but I loved the thematic parallels between Rook and Solas and how every quest informs the main storyline. I do wish Rook was given more impossible choices and put in more difficult situations that forced them to lie or betray their own to better drive the point home though ( listen I just love a Trolley problem!! we need more of those, I'm the Trolley problem's number one fan!! ) I feel like they missed the chance to put Rook in Solas' role and be as vilified and hated for it as Solas was despite their best intentions which would make Rook's regrets stronger and in turn make their escape from the fade all the more impressive and give them a better understanding of Solas to either use against him or earn his respect. The line 'they called me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over' from the trailers was so good I was waiting for this!! But everyone just loves Rook no matter what!!

But I feel like I stated too many negative aspects in a row so moving on to some things I enjoyed!

The characters were very lovable to me. The romances weren't as long or impactful as I would have liked but I enjoyed all the companion quests. Emmrich is a delight and his quest is so wild and fun. I loved learning about Nevarra and I was awestruck by the Grand Necropolis. The mourn watch was so interesting, it showed a whole new side of Thedas' lore I knew nothing about! and I loved Manfred! Davrin is so charming, he became a favorite. I loved his quest too and learning more bits and pieces about the Dalish was great, I wish we got more. Seeing the Wardens through his quest also made me enjoy them a lot. Assan was very cute too and I'm glad he was treated as an animal and not turned into a goofy Disney sidekick too much lmao 😭 Lucanis is hilarious. The fantasy Spain/Italy was a bit silly and off at times but he is very sweet! and I love the Spite possession, that was so fun I'm glad they kept him that way! Bellara is adorable, her first backstory quest made me cry and I just love a nerd! I wish the second part of her story was written better however, and she sort of devolves into 'it's hard, I wish it was easy but it's hard' dialogues too often sadly. Anaris and the Forgotten Ones' portrayal was underwhelming and anticlimactic which was disappointing. Harding is also very cute and her Titan plotline was the most interesting to me, I bawled my eyes out in her quest!! I love the dwarven lore of this universe I'm so happy we got more of it!! ( she also fucking died in my playthrough?! I was devastated what the hell 😭 'whatever it takes' WEUEUGHHHG I'M SO SORRY) Neve was a slow burn for me because of my choices in game slowing that relationship down ( saving Treviso I mean, perdón amor 🙏 ) but I love detective novels and she is such a badass I ended up loving her. Taash was unexpected, I didn't think they would be so young. The coming of age story was sweet, though I found myself cringing a lot too at the handling of it I have to admit ( and the Lords of Fortune in general, and the Antaam...and que Qun..listen- kajshfgf ) but I also enjoyed learning more about the first expedition and the Qunari in general despite the messy writing and choices. I also loved Antoine and Evka! and Strife! And I haven't even read any of the novels they are in 😆 also Mila!!!! and her dad oh my god and Felassan haunting the narrative!! speaking of haunting, I would have loved for Cole to be in the lighthouse too I think it would have worked well 🤔 especially with the whole 'reading Solas' secret diary' thing the game had going on lmao

Everyone seems to get along except for a bit of friction that is quickly resolved at the start, which is hmm missed potential? I would have preferred more tension personally. I enjoy the drama! gives me more to work with and gives you a better grasp on everyone's personality by contrasting values. I think they wanted to speed run a found family trope for the new hero to establish some emotional stakes early on but it ended up making everyone seem like a group therapy session instead. The group meetings also have everyone either state the obvious or repeat the same opinion or conclusion to each other, I would have loved these meetings to have more bickering, have people get mad and storm out and also get to listen to different takes on a situation. Make Rook struggle more to take the reins and keep the team functional, learning how to be a leader.

Speaking of Rook! ( who in my case has a northern British accent that I loved so much 🥺) They seem to have a very established personality. I was expecting more of a blank slate but I'm lucky that the personality they went for kind of matches what I would normally choose in a first playthrough. Though the lack of range in the choices is irritating and takes away some replayability and role playing potential. Rook is very supportive and selfless, I wasn't expecting this tbh! But it all made my Rook turn into the team's weird supportive necromancer mom so it worked out in the end I guess lmao. I can't wait to draw her!!

I was so overwhelmed by the amount of information we got about Solas and his past!! I was expecting answers but not these many and not for them to be such an integral part of the plot!! The game feels like it's about him more than anything else. His arc is the best written out of all. He is mentioned in every conversation, he's the main advisor and the narrative foil, you get to talk to him often, you work for him and with him and go into his memories it all feels so surreal to me lmao I love him so I'm delighted ngl! but also making the other Evanuris so cartoonishly evil makes Solas into such an obvious choice of an ally, god of trickery or not, that it sort of takes the decision out of your hands and makes some dialogue options and companions' opinions seem almost nonsensical. I have no idea how this game would feel to someone who absolutely hates Solas' guts honestly. I suppose I will find out soon enough 😆

About Solas' story, I loved it! I somehow also feel that I knew it already, all the speculation and theories that Solavellan fans were crafting for years were so accurate that it was all very validating. Even the wildest ones! Solas as the Maker, the elves spirit origin, Mythal giving him a body, the war with the Titans, the origin of the Blight, Solas being on your side as advisor, I can go on, we knew!! Also I have to mention this I'm sorry but they made him look so hot!! unbelievable. And the bloodied teary eyed pathetic look in the end ouurghhh I'm cheering and clapping!!

The romance conclusion was so lovely 😭 the Loki and Sigyn ending we deserved to such a mythological epic!! and open ended enough for all of us to cook!! and we got to see him fight and transform into the Dread Wolf!! and whimper and cry!! and bleed and love!! that's all I ever wanted, incredible we were really spoiled what the hell I still can't believe it 😭 GDL acting was brilliant as usual! the visuals were also incredible and exactly what I had in mind when I imagined where the story may go, the eclipse, the giant wolf, the glowing eyes, the Elvhenan ruins, the statues, even the hair lmao it all aligned exactly to what I've been painting all these years but better I was thrilled 😭

Solas backstory with Mythal also offers players that didn't romance him a chance to see him act out of love and show a side they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise and I think it was smart! also very tragic and sheds more light into all of his choices and words and his relationship with Lavellan too and the parallels and reversals and uughh thoroughly enjoying the emotional distress 👌

Pleasing both the Solas lovers and haters at the same time was always going to be hard with him being such a polarizing character by design and the world states being so different but I think they did a good job! at least from my side of things.

I think my favorite part besides the Solas related stuff was the Blight. I loved how horrific and gross and threatening it was! I've always loved the concept of the Blights and I'm glad it was such a huge part of the story in this game. I also loved Treviso!! has to be the most beautiful city in Thedas ahhh and the Necropolis!! the gardens!! Vorgoth!!! Kal-Sharok!!! I can't believe we got to see it!! and a Titan!!! the giant floating face of Ghilan'nain in the clouds??? and the huge archdemons and dragons!! oh and that warden dragon trap in the shape of a griffon?? and the giant blight tendrils!! the siege at Weisshaupt was outstanding!! and the floating panopticon castle situation in Minrathous uughh there is so much I loved.

OH I also enjoyed the Varric arc even though I saw it coming since the trailer it was still played well and it was touching 🥺

The ending felt a bit jarring to me in tone though, a bit too cheerful considering...the horrors. Over half the continent destroyed and most of the problems Thedas had before the game are still there. Veil in place and all 😆

But I had fun!! I'm nitpicking really, the conclusion to Solas' story feels very satisfying to me which was my main worry so I'm happy. It is a good game!! with a sort of soft reboot feel to it and aimed at a younger audience which is probably what they were going for? You can sort of feel the struggle the team went through during production in the way the target audience seems unclear sadly. I also can't help feeling like this is an ending, so much was revealed and resolved!! but maybe I feel that way because that is what I felt after Shadowbringers / Endwalker in FFXIV once my favorite part of the story was wrapped? They can always pivot to a new continent and expand on the world and cultures we know almost nothing about, but that is always harder to sell so I have no clue where they will go from here 😵‍💫

Anyway I'm still processing a lot of stuff that I will probably talk (and draw) about later, this is already long enough!! for now I'll look up how to get the artbook because the art direction of this game is fantastic!! I would love to hear your thoughts too really, I'm curious about the experiences of players who made different choices and with different tastes to mine!!

[daisukoth]

Shuttah's dialogue

I thought it may just be a coincidence that the room before TV World is purple, because the sofa is purple. But like, No. The empty area before the inhabited the Dark Worlds IS purple. The sofa being purple is just to confuse you.

I am so curious about the lore implications of this...

"The couch cliffs. how purple and majestic they were. The dusty, the empty, such are the worlds such as those. Ooo la la. The purple worlds, you think they give the creeps. Tsk... You have seen not but that tempered by light. You should thank Tenna for brightening everything up." Was it not the fountain being opened that brightened everything?

"In the once upon a time, there was a land like purple cliffs. A frozen waste, watery basin, a metal desert. But, this theater was built upon that... and, it grew. Not everyone liked the change. Some people left. Of course, that was in the days of the black-and-white." Isn't this dialogues saying that before the purple, everything was black and white? Meaning that maybe the purple is actually the dusk/dawn of the light?

the Shuttah you find in the purple cliffs tells you: "There once was the great wilderness here! Yes... But, the world became the theater, and us, children of Tenna's contract. Those that did not sign the paper, set off for the far land and were forgotten. What is this wilderness? well... Thats probably what the Man was talking about

the Man behind the tree: "LISTEN WELL TO MY STORY. ONCE UPON A TIME, THE WHOLE WORLD LOOKED LIKE THIS. DO YOU THINK SO? [yes]- REALLY? YOU BELIEVE SOMETHING SO ABSURD? [no]- OF COURSE NOT. IT'S JUST A STORY AFTER ALL. WELL, THE WORLD CHANGED. SOCIETY WAS DEVELOPED. THE EARTH WAS COVERED IN WATER, DINOSAURS APPEARED, AN ICE AGE, HM... ACTUALLY, THERE ARE STILL DINOSAURS... IS IT MIXED UP?"

I thought Shuttah's dialogue may have been about before TV had color. But the way they talk... They're not being literal, both Shuttah and the Man are talking about the past, in a metaphorical sense, maybe.

You can find binoculars in the Man's world, they show you a grey grassland, far away from the place you're in. The Rudinn who was watching it tells you: "I'M TRYING TO SEE AS FAR AS I CAN, BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK TOO GOOD. TALK ABOUT LOUSY REAL ESTATE... I SENSE NOTHING BUT EVIL FROM THAT PLACE!" one of the Rudinn's earlier say: "COPIES ARE MONOCHROME, BUT YOU COLORED EACH OF US IN WITH CARE."

What does this mean? The empty land was once black and white. Kris painted this land where the Man resides, and used mostly green. Thus why Kris doesn't have green crayons anymore

So what this means is that the Dark Worlds were also once black and white, and got painted with purple...?

Its curious to me. Because there are two characters that are connected to purple and monochrome the most; Susie, and Man behind the tree.

What is the meaning here? Could Susie being purple actually have some deeper meaning behind it?

As for the monochrome, it reminds me of Undertale. The prequel, the past. Where most of the UI, and the monsters in battle were all monochrome...

[ranfordgallus]

I can't believe i made a whole ass species lore just for a wild kratts oc my god i never thought it could come this way but..thats the fun of it i guess LMAOO

Anyways..

Meet the Sickle-horned Equdore, a species of antelope found in the northern part of Kazakhstan where forests lie. Where their ancestors, the bluebuck, migrated from the south coast of africa to central asia.

The word Equdore (pronounced "eqoodor") means equine-like antelope, due to their appearance being similar to those of modern day horses though due to their two hooved they are not considered in the equus family.

The sexual dymorphism of the Sickle-horned Equdores are somewhat similar to those of deers or mooses, the male being bigger and more patterned with bigger horns. However not all male Sickle-horns have big horns, some have smaller horns usually from too much stress of poor diet during development of the horns growing, female Sickle-horns prefer those with bigger horns to show their health and potential. Male Sickle-horns are the only sex with the distinctive sickle shaped horns, hence their name.

Female Sickle-horned Equdores are slightly smaller than the male by a foot, however just because they are smaller than the males, does not mean they are small compared by a human, standing 8 feet tall. Female Sickle-horns have more curved horns that doesn't resemble an actual sickle, while the male horns of the Sickle-horned Equdore are shaped for both protection and attraction, female horns are only used for protection.

The social behavior of them are also similar to wild horses or chickens. One alpha male (fuck..i can't take that phrase seriously due to THOSE alpha male dudes you see in instagram reels or in podcasts..) and a herd, usually 8 to 15 females, the male provides safety and food by communicating that theres an abundance of food, if the male..example, finds a fruit tree, he will call the herd and let them eat first by helping to kick the tree so the fruits could fall down, easier to pick on, and the male will eat after a few have eaten already.

The unique part of the Sickle-horned Equdore is each pattern from each individual species are different, so they have their own set of pattern only own by those who bear it, making them easy to distinguish from others. And their fur is blue in colour, while not very blue, if you colorpicked their fur the color is more the blue area even though it looks more purple. Blue pigment is very- almost impossible in mammals, some "blue" furred mammals are usually more grey.

I also even made what the creature power suits of the species, both sex, though the powersuits are still a big smaller compared to the actual animal, they still stand around 7-8 feet. Poor chris, he's more teal and blue than his usual green colour, like the blue heron episode...

So what are the Sickle-horned Equdores known for other than their sickle-shaped horns and their blue fur?

They are famous for the creation of the mythical greek animal, the unicorn. When greek adventurers went to central asia, they discovered the rarest mutation of the Sickle-horns, the mutation that made them have a singular horn, while in real life unicorns were from the misinterpertation of rhinos, in my Wild Kratts universe, the unicorn mythology came from this species but historians theoried that it came from rhinoceros because they haven't found or rediscovered the species that created the famous fantasy animal in the first place.

This mutation is REALLY REALLY rare, less than 2 percent have this mutation that caused them to have a singular horn.

(Picture of Aoife and Einhorn. Oc on the left (Aoife) belongs to @martincrushcameback while Einhorn belongs to me.)

The burden of having such a unique birth defect is that you have a low chance of surviving or creating a herd of their own, female Sickle-horns with this condition are less likely to find a mate or a group to be accepted in, while males have a hard time to create their own herd, and their singular horn couldn't fight a male who already has a herd and they can't stand a chance, because whos more likely to win? A highly skilled person with two swords or the one that only has one and is average skilled?

One horns are so rare that records say only one was found, though many scientist disaproved the one horned as "not real" thinking the photo was painted to look like it had one horn, since they didn't believe that unicorns existed..lol

And Sickle-horned Equdores were once highly poached and hunted during the mongol empire, the people tried domesticating them so they could use them as a source of transportation for the extremely wealthy and war for the mightiest soldiers, unfortunately the domestication was a fail, so instead, they hunted them for their beautiful coat and horns for decor for the rich and those in power. So much that they reduced their population from a million to only 200 thousand left today. Their population is growing at a steady pace due to orginizations to protect these endangered animals. Fun fact, the Sickle-horned was rediscovered very early in the 1970's, historians found remnants of Sickle-horn hide and horns thinking these creatures are long extinct back in the 1900's.

Sooo..yeah, thats all i got for the species of Einhorn and Aoife..guuuhhh so much research..

Also, Equdore is a genus of antelope, meaning, like the big cat family including jaguars, tigers, lions and such, is their own family branch of the antelope family..MEANING...that there are other Equdore species not only existing to the Sickle-horned!

Also just to make sure Equdore is a fictional animal, there is no such genus of antelope called an Equdore..bah..

[ego-osbourne]

I wanted to expand on my last post. Eventually I’ll do one about Glarthir, but I feel like he’s an easier case to understand. For now, I want to talk about why

Mankar Camoran was right.

To preface: I think an extremely important part about understanding this position is reading Oblivion’s writing from a Doylist perspective, not a Watsonian one. Oblivion as a game provides a very biased narrative for the player, feeling almost as if the Empire itself made a game about the events of the Oblivion Crisis, erasing most things that make the Empire look wholly evil while offering just enough grey area to keep it from looking squeaky clean, and thus keeping most suspicions of true intent away. So much of TES’s lore and story is supplemented through propaganda that fans have to sift through and interpret. Here’s my interpretation.

On surface level, Mankar Camoran is a very forgettable villain. Beyond surface level, though… he’s still rather forgettable. In-game, we only see him two times throughout the whole main quest, once to establish that he even exists, and twice to kill him. He’s very mortal, and most players will see him as nothing more than a blabbering old man with very little credibility or motivation beyond “mwahaha I’m evil.” In Paradise, his speech to the player strays a bit far from the Dagonite sermon we hear in the Lake Arrius Caverns, dropping proper nouns that were never pre-established before then. Reading his Commentaries won’t help with understanding, either, as it’s filled will inane jargon that can hardly stay on topic between paragraphs, let alone between books, speaking of “heaven” and “angels” and spelling Nirn like NRN as if it was ripped straight from ancient Hebrew Christian scriptures. It’s all very esoteric, but in the way that it feels like you’re talking to someone with only a baseline understanding of occultism, and it completely rips you from your immersion in the game. Even without the Commentaries or the out-of-place mentions of Lorkhan and the motivations that come with that, Mankar stupid enough to even get the names of the Daedric Prince’s realms wrong! What is happening?

MK. MK is what is happening.

To be fair, this is not all Michael Kirkbride’s fault—in fact, I’d argue that MK had little-to-nothing to do with the finalizing of Mankar’s character and motivations; however, he was clearly involved. The Commentaries are rife with his writing style, and we have posts by MK confirming his involvement with writing Mankar. I’d more accurately (but less punchily) say that what is actually happening is developer meddling and a lack of proofreading.

DEVELOPER MEDDLING

Developer meddling can be intentional (in-world propaganda) or unintentional (narrative-pushing biases). These oftentimes overlap, and the case is especially apparent in Mankar.

Fantasy has always had an oddly charged stance against elves, and TES is no exception. Aside from Daggerfall, no mainline TES game has had a mq villain be something other than a Daedra or an elf. Daedra are self-explanatory candidates for villains, being TES’s stand-in for demons, and (whether lore accurate or not) are seen as inherently evil. However, elves are a whole different story. They are simply another people group within the realm of Nirn, and yet if a villain needs to be presented, that villain is more often than not going to be an elf. It wasn’t until Skyrim that we saw non-elven and non-Daedric villains; though, none are quite human either. Alduin is a dragon, obviously; Harkon is a Nord, but he’s also a vampire, and his vampiric nature supersedes his human nature; Miraak is an… Atmoran? a Nord? but, again, only hardly such, posing more like a Daedric-dragon-manthing than something solely human. In Oblivion, there is only one primary human enemy—Mathieu Bellamont of the DBH quest line, but even he is only just human. He’s a Breton, a human-elf mix, a “manmer” (yes, Bretons do count as mannish races, but I still find it to be a slightly damning detail). Every other villain is an elf (Mankar, Mannimarco, Umaril*) or a Daedra (Dagon, Jyggalag).

*Umarill is described to be a “half-elf;” his mother is an Ayleid, but his father is “divine” (see, 1).

Already we see a strange lean towards non-humans—especially elves—being villains. This is contrasted with humans largely being seen as the good guys. Uriel, Martin, Baurus, they’re all humans against the elven villain, Mankar. Pelinal Whitestrake isn’t classified as a specific human race, but is certainly human enough to be named Shezarrine, the “God of Man,” and notably genocides an entire race of elves… and this is celebrated in game. The player is meant to emulate Pelinal during the Knights of the Nine DLC, and his genocide is supported by the Divines and generally seen as a good thing.

Meanwhile, any anti-human sentiments are treated much more seriously in lore, framed either as a severe threat or pure evil. For example, Tiber Septim’s complete takeover of Tamriel is a good thing, despite his multiple war crimes against elves and his general hatred for them, but the Thalmor’s shadow over Tamriel is a world-ending threat that paints all elves (or at least all Altmer) as villains conspiring against humans. As another example, looking back at Oblivion, the Ayleid’s enslavement of humans is purely evil, but Pelinal’s complete and successful genocide of the entire Ayleid race is something to be celebrated. There is an obvious double-standard regarding elves and men in TES, and even when there are exceptions to this rule, the majority of the series is woven with this prejudice.

We can see this very clearly with the Camorans, particularly with Haymon (the Camoran Usurper) and Mankar. I read most “historical” documentation of Haymon and Mankar to be Imperial propaganda, though I am surprised by the fandom tendency to read these documents as the full-faced truth, especially when considering these documents’ biases. I’ll break down a few examples.

Haymon Camoran rose to the Valenwood throne during a time of great strife within the country, particularly in regard to Imperial control (see, History: Third Era, ¶1). He sought to free Valenwood of Imperial rule, and did so through means of war. In any other scenario, this would read as a story of heroism, where one person is able to assemble enough hope to stand against the shadow of an oppressive empire and free their country. However, TES offers us no such narrative, only giving us retellings of this history through Imperial lenses (Pocket Guide to the Empire, 3rd Edition; The Refugees; The Fall of the Usurper; etc.). In these retellings, Haymon is demonized as a cruel warmonger, with the only one to stand up against him being Kaltos Camoran, who held the throne before Haymon (see, Invasion of Tamriel, ¶1). Kaltos’s positive image in these accounts hints that he was an Empire sympathizer, and this is magnified by the fact that Valenwood was in a state of unrest due to Imperial rule while Kaltos was on the throne. Kaltos was likely allowing Imperial forces to remain within Valenwood, and we can speculate as to why (greed, status, etc.). No wonder these Imperial retellings categorize him in a good light, he was on their side and effectively a traitor to his own country. If we had Valenwood retellings of this history, I would wager that they’d regard Kaltos in a negative light and Haymon in a positive light, for the most part.

Additionally, Haymon is further demonized, reported to have led an army of undead and Daedra (see, Invasion of Tamriel, ¶1). This is a blatantly odd and impractical choice for an army, especially when other evidence points to Haymon having great enough of an influence in Valenwood to not be assassinated or stopped when he took the throne from Kaltos; thus, he would surely have enough influence to lead an army of Bosmer. To me, this reads like Imperial reports meddling with history, choosing to paint Haymon as a lich-like villain who can only convince the undead and Daedra to follow his reign rather than allow their readers to believe that actual flesh-and-blood intelligent people would follow Haymon. This is a common tactic of propaganda: dehumanizing the opposition’s support so that it seems foolish for anyone in the present time to support the opposition as well. Furthermore, rumors of Haymon being the son of Molag Bal are apparently rampant throughout the Empire, which is so amusingly outlandish that it reads like the real-world counterpart of someone calling a political leader the Antichrist in protest (see, Notes, *1).

As for Mankar, propaganda exists for him, too, most notably in the book The Refugees. This book is rather deceiving, however. My first read of it had me fully believing it at face-value because it presents itself as a mere documentation of true events. The Refugees details Haymon’s last attack in Dwynnen, High Rock, and focuses on a small group of survivors: some civilians, some detractors from Haymon’s cause. The book leads the reader to believe that the main characters are these various refugees, with the plot being a simple sharing of conversations about the goings-on of the attack. But, it sneaks in little things that we would see in pro-Imperial accounts of the event, like Kaltos being framed as the Good Guy while Haymon is a cruel warmonger, again (see, ¶34). Additionally, it “so happens” to serve as an origin story for Mankar, who in the book is reported to have been born among the refugees. This birth is far from ordinary, though.

Mankar’s mother, Kaalys, is reported to be the runaway mistress of Haymon, hiding with the refugees in Dwynnen after abandoning Haymon’s cause. The refugees believe she is sick and going mad from stress, as she keeps yelling, “Mankar is coming!” repeatedly. By the end of the book, though, we learn that she was not simply sick, but was going through labor, and this “Mankar” is the very child she birthed. She reports that Mankar “will bring death. He will destroy all,” (see, ¶62). She then runs off immediately after labor with Mankar in tow.

There’s a lot to criticize here. What seems like a strange, crazed mother prophesying the incoming Crisis that Mankar will bring actually reads very much like propaganda against Mankar, written in his later years of life, possibly in response to his growing popularity to “prove” that he was born of malicious origins that even his own mother could sense. This is all hidden under the veil of The Refugees being a simple retelling of events, shifting the focus away from Kaalys and Mankar just enough to make readers unsuspicious of its propagandist intentions. Attempting to read into the details brings up a lot of issues.

First: If Kaalys was in labor during the sacking of Dwynnen, that means she had to have been very pregnant for a couple months up until that point. How in the world was she traveling with Haymon across the continent (from Valenwood to High Rock) while being that pregnant? It seems like an oversight by an author who simply wanted to tell a specific narrative of Haymon’s allies turning against him. Second: How did the refugees mistake her for being sick instead of recognizing that she was pregnant and in labor? Those seem like two very different things, with the latter being very obvious and recognizable. It seems like another oversight by an author who was not too worried about the details of their story, and who only wished to tell a specific narrative about Mankar’s origins. Third: How was she able to up and run away with Mankar immediately after giving birth? And while injured (see, ¶55)? Even if technically possible, that is highly improbable, if not next to impossible. It seems like a cheap tactic to work her out of the picture rather than follow her journey after the fact, as if the author only meant to tell one specific narrative. Are we seeing a pattern?

Oh, and fourth: Who talks about their child like that? It’s almost like the author wanted to paint a specific narrative about Mankar being born evil. The Refugees stands as one big anti-Haymon, pro-Empire propaganda piece written under the guise of sympathetic characters and calling any remaining supporters of Haymon foolish, because look! All of Haymon’s closest followers abandoned him (note that this is the only report we have of any of Haymon’s followers abandoning him)! And also, look! His son is evil! Even his mother knew it! And before he was born, no less! (/speech in-character)

My theory is that this book was written in response to Mankar’s growing influence within the Empire. He was charismatic enough to win the minds and hearts of many of the Empire’s citizens, and The Refugees sought to prevent further damage as much as it could by pretending to be a simple report from the Dwynnen sacking that just so happened to have Mankar’s evil origins scribed within it. Tsk tsk tsk.

A LACK OF PROOFREADING

So, that was all Mankar’s background, but what about the man himself? He’s obviously a raving idiot who can’t keep his thoughts straight to save his life. He seems to not be well-grounded in Daedric affairs at all, showing a mix of Dagonite worship, Lorkhan sympathy, and Ayleid appreciation all while attributing the wrong Prince to the wrong realm. This is where MK comes in.

By 2006, it seems MK was no longer directly involved with Bethesda Game Studios after his work on Morrowind. However, he still had a lot of contact with the employees and developers over at BGS, and would answer them in emails about any questions they had, especially regarding inspiration for writing Oblivion. It seems the devs, in attempting to get a feel for Mankar’s character, asked MK to write a speech by Mankar. MK writes something up, seemingly semi-flippantly according to his desire to want to “*really* [go] nuts with it” after learning “Terrance Freakin Stamp” would be voicing Mankar (see, 2006, ¶14).

Unbeknownst to MK, his emails would be used word-for-word as in-game dialogue (Mankar’s speech) and books (the Commentaries). Quoted from MK, “That whole speech came from a section of said email where I attempted to get inside [Mankar’s] head so I could understand how he might think, and how that thought would translate to his writing. Turns out, [Mankar] writes like me. Ah, well,” (see, 2006, ¶12–13).

These emails were not altered when translated to game according to MK (“Turns out, Mankar writes like me.”). Additionally, these emails were not fact-checked, either. The speeches and books seem to be a complete rip, a copy-and-paste from MK’s email, with flaws and all, including the mistake of attributing the wrong Prince to the wrong realm that everyone likes to clown on Mankar for. Mankar was never intended to be written as a raving idiot, his dialogue was simply never fact-checked against TES’s own lore, and his character suffered the consequences.

On the topic of MK’s involvement with writing Mankar, it explains why Mankar’s motivations seem to flip from pure Dagonism to Lorkhan sympathy. MK is writing to BGS with a Morrowind brain, where Lorkhan and his lore plays a major part in the plot of TESIII. But, in TESIV, Lorkhan is never mentioned outside of Mankar’s own speech/writings. If the devs of Oblivion had taken more careful consideration of Mankar’s character instead of ripping straight from MK’s emails, I believe they could have narrowed down Mankar’s motivations and made him a much better villain. I would argue that Lorkhan’s story does not need to be told in Oblivion’s plot, and the plot would have benefited a great deal from focusing on, oh, I don’t know, the Prince actually behind it all, Mehrunes Dagon! Dagon, too, is clowned on for being a thoughtless, stupid, barbaric tank who only knows destruction. It’s no wonder that the fandom often forgets he is also the Prince of Hope, because the devs forget that detail themselves!

MK and Todd Howard both even say that Mankar was right to some degree—or, at least, he was meant to be! MK says, “Canon or not, my two cents is that [Mankar] is completely right … but don’t quote me…I didn’t write this in-character,” (sorry MK, gotta quote!) (see, 2006, ¶15). Todd Howard even claims that he wanted Mankar to be a morally grey villain! Quote: “You know, he’s not a cackling maniac. We like to have our bad guys be a little grayer. We want that moment where the player goes like… Maybe he’s right,” (see, Notes, *5).

Crazy! Todd Howard wanted Mankar to be seen as grey, as competent, as right! And yet, because of a total lack of care for fact-checking, a disregard for the necessities of cutting away excess plot, and a general apathy for Mankar, the Mythic Dawn, and Dagon as driving forces in the story, Oblivion’s main plot suffers for it. Todd Howard’s intentions to make Mankar a grey villain flopped so severely that it requires many leaps and bounds to see Mankar the way Todd might have wanted him to be.

LEAPS AND BOUNDS

However, I would argue there is hope for Mankar’s character as it stands. The execution was horrible, but the pieces of a grey villain do still exist! Many of my ideas were first sparked by this video, so I would recommend giving it a watch if you’re able!

For this formula to work, we have to look at Mankar from a very objective perspective. We must consider that most/all of the information given on Mankar in-game is propaganda. Even in-game events that the player sees with their own eyes must be understood as manufactured to create a caricature of a villain rather than a true villain with understandable motivations. Essentially, we must have a very critical eye about everything.

Mankar Camoran was born to Haymon Camoran and Kaalys Camoran. In Valenwood, Haymon was regarded as a felled hero, his life ended too soon to completely free and secure Valenwood from Imperial rule, allowing it to be overtaken by Summerset and Elsywer after his death (see, History: Third Era, ¶2). Valenwood is then overrun by sympathizers of various political entities, leaving the to-be prince Mankar unsafe in his own country. Perhaps he and his mother flee to Cyrodiil and hide under different aliases for a while, or perhaps Kaalys swears loyalty to the Empire in exchange for protection from the overpowering forces back in Valenwood. However it happens, Mankar eventually ends up in Cyrodiil, and he has complaints about the religious-political system.

The Empire, reportedly inspired by the real-world Roman Empire, fittingly reflects the Roman Empire’s facade of order and peace while perpetuating unrest beneath the surface. Racial tensions against elves persist from age to age, with the Empire constantly undercutting their elven enemies and making them the face of the opposition, from Alessia to Tiber Septim. This anti-elf sentiment is perpetuated by the Divines themselves, who hypocritically promote peace and unity while celebrating figures such as Pelinal Whitestrake and allowing the likes of Tiber Septim into their ranks. Homelessness and poverty are also rampant in the Empire despite the Imperial Cult’s vast wealth. Again, the Divines are hypocritical, offering words of peace and prosperity through their priests, but they ultimately do nothing to help with the economic crisis.

Mankar sees this and is rightfully appalled. How can both the Empire and the Divines do nothing about all of this suffering coming from the hands of their own hypocrisy? Mankar, the son of Haymon Camoran, the almost-liberator of Valenwood, finds it fitting to speak out against the Empire, and does so on their own terms—as a minister. Seeing as the Divines do not care for his people (elves), and seeing that the Daedra are much more effective in responding, Mankar seeks the help of Mehrunes Dagon, the Prince of Revolution, Destruction, and Hope—Revolution against the stagnant and hypocritical ways of the Imperial Cult, the Destruction of the corrupt Empire, and Hope for a better future to come. Mankar becomes a priest of sorts, writing sermons on the state of the Empire and the Imperial Cult.

He reaches the hearts and minds of the poor, impoverished, and down-trodden of society. With Dagon’s help, he is able to create a pocket-realm of Oblivion, Paradise, as a refuge* for his new followers. As his influence grows, so does his ability to do something about the Empire’s hypocrisy, and so he begins to act.

*I genuinely do not know why Paradise turns out to be a surprise torture realm. This just feels like the devs wanting to point and Mankar and go “Look! Evil elf!” This is especially damning considering that Paradise looks like an Ayleid city, and that most (maybe all?) of the victims of this torture-realm are humans. So, Paradise is a representation of human Tamriel under Ayleid rule? Okay, Todd.

Mankar is working with Dagon to bring about the New Dawn: an age free of the Empire, perhaps a restart of the kalpa itself, so that Tamriel will be free from the choking grasp of the Divines and their mortal rulers. Mankar is willing to kill for this, perhaps because he knows everyone will reawaken in a better Era, or perhaps because he is aware that none of it will matter with the New Dawn, or perhaps because he has stopped having sympathy for anyone still supporting the Empire and the Imperial Cult. However you want to string it, he knows he has to get the Daedra on the field to make anything happen, and so he collects his followers and makes an attack against the throne. They kill every Septim (or so they think), and with Uriel’s death, they are now able to open Oblivion Gates across Tamriel. The Revolution part of the plan is complete, and now Dagon and his forces can bring about the Destruction of the Empire. Those who understand the Empire’s corruption will join Mankar in Paradise, and those who don’t will be killed—whether this is a mercy or a punishment is up to further interpretation.

And so exists Mankar Camoran, finding it unjust to simply sit aside and allow the Divines-backed Empire to kill the world slowly with its corruption. If it’s going down, it might as well go down with some hope of a brighter future. Mankar Camoran, the son of a failed liberator, a prince never-to-be, sees fit to eliminate a future of lies, corruption, and death by the Empire and create a new world—a better world.

This can then branch into more interpretations. The player can decide if Mankar is making a leap in logic, or if he’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason, or if he just straight up is doing the best thing possible for the situation. There could also be a lot more done about Dagon’s own motivations for this: does he feel sympathy for elves, and thus backs Mankar’s cause? Does he want to stick it to the Divines? Is there something else he wants to obtain from Nirn’s destruction? Explanations could go anywhere, and it’s sad that the game offers us nothing.

Either way, I feel like a lot of players would be able to sympathize more with Mankar if he was truly presented as a grey villain like this. As he’s presented in game, he’s simply a stupid cult leader with no sense of focus for the subject at hand. With a little more polish, though, he could be a revolutionary gone too far, or not far enough depending on how you play your character.

To me, Mankar is a representation of how the perfect blend of in-lore propaganda, real-world bias, and developer oversight created the most forgettable and laughable villain in TES, yet so full of untapped potential. Mankar is uncared for because of his apparent “stupidity,” but too much of the fandom fails to recognize that he was not intentionally written this way, and his presentation in game is a broken mirror of who the devs, creator, and supporters of Oblivion wanted him to be.

Mankar Camoran, objectively, is a revolutionary, the son of a revolutionary, and seeks freedom from the corruption of the Empire—an empire that advocates for genocide, winks at hypocrisy, and allows poverty to flourish. Who wouldn’t want to try and overturn a system like that?

Mankar Camoran was right.

[yeah-ephi]

I've been making a little google-doc analysing the links between songs on Clancy and their music videos and one thing I've picked up on is the use of flowers, specifically yellow ones, in different music videos since Trench. As an ex film student as well as a trainee florist, I'm very interested by what different flowers can represent when used in visual media.

°❀.ೃ࿔* First: Let’s take a look at Jumpsuit.

The flowers in this video are Gerberas, known for their rich colours and distinctive shape. Like sunflowers, Gerberas are known to turn towards the sun's light. They can represent a closeness to nature, as well as innocence and stress-reduction. Yellow ones specifically can be seen to represent friendship.

In relation to the Jumpsuit video, they are seen growing on the bottom of the valley Tyler/Clancy wanders through after Nico catches up with him. Much like how gerberas turn towards the light, the bright yellow is enough to break his dazed state to gaze back at the Banditos lining the cliff's edge. Obviously, we know that lorewise yellow has a protective quality against the Bishops, so it makes sense how these flowers were able to help him break free from Nico's control.

Additionally, their connection to innocence could be linked to Clancy's wonder at encountering the Banditos for the first time, and his realisation that the group he'd only ever heard rumours of were in fact real. This can also be relevant to the specific meaning behind yellow gerberas, and their links to friendship and optimism, given how the relationship between Clancy, Torchbearer and the rest of the Banditos develops, and the hope the group represents.

We see the flowers once more in the music video for Nico and the Niners, this time wilted and hidden away in a draw. They bring colour to the otherwise grey and dull rooms of the city, as well as representing the thread of hope Clancy clings to that he might finally escape for good this time.

°❀.ೃ࿔* Now: Routines in the Night

The flowers in this video are a type of Chrysanthemum, seen both on a desk behind Tyler and on his bedside table. Chrysanths are an interesting flower, as they hold many different meanings from culture to culture. The yellow chrysanthemum is the one deemed the 'traditional' form of the flower, with the name deriving from the greek 'chrysos' meaning gold, and 'anthemon' meaning flower. A lot of eastern cultures link them to luck and royalty, whereas in the west they can carry more of a solemn association of mourning and sorrow, given their commonplace in funeral arrangements. They do, however, still carry an association with optimism in certain areas.

In this video, the choice to include yellow chrystanths is still linked to the Banditos, especially given the inclusion of the bishop cloaks in the closet in the following chorus. The flowers are there to offer Tyler protection from the thoughts and insecurities plaguing his mind as he tries to sleep. Again, they hold a strong connotation of friendship in the US, very different from the sympathetic implications throughout a lot of Europe.

It's also interesting to note that the room they are found in is lit in blue, as opposed to the mostly red lighting throughout the rest of the video. We know that within the lore, blue is a colour symbolising defeat (in reference to that one blurryface tweet about wearing blue on stage), so with the flower’s associations they could represent either sorrow at impending defeat, or a thread of hope to keep pushing on.

°❀.ೃ࿔* Finally: Navigating.

It's a little harder to make out which flowers these are, but given the image of a cup-like flower with flat petals at the base and a bent stem, I believe these to be some kind of Wild Daffodil (or as it is also known, a Narcissus). For such a beautiful and common flower, they tend to hold quite a dark symbolism. This is in part due to the link between their alternative name 'Narcissus' and the character of the same name in Greek mythology doomed to fall in love with his own reflection, but also due to their commonplace as a graveyard flower during the Victorian period. They are commonly referenced in literature, such as in William Wordsworth's 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud' poem.

I think the negative connotations of hubris and death apply to its appearance in this video, which serves as a direct parallel to the gerberas in Jumpsuit. Again, Clancy is being guided by the Banditos, but unlike before, he doesn't spare a glance to the hardy yellow flowers growing from the ground. We know that he has begun to become absorbed by his power to seize ("the crown his heavy but I can carry it" "I will be their example of absolute power, I feel alive again"), and if he does indeed fall down the Bishop path (which I'm not entirely sold on being the end of the story) it would indeed be in line with what the daffodil represents symbolically.

Alternatively, they are also one of the first signs of spring, a season that represents fresh starts and hope. Their bulbs survive through cold winters ready to rise once the sun thaws the winter frosts. They are resilient flowers, much like how Clancy persists despite finding himself captured and back in Dema again and again. Despite all their negative implications, hope is still at the core meaning of this flower; and the same can be said for Clancy.

A huge thanks to anyone who read all of that, I really enjoy analysing the visual elements of these videos as a lot of thought goes into how it reinforces the message of the individual song or overall story. I know this was a long one, but there's truly so many different meanings you can pull from even just one singular flower.

If the rumours that one of the tracks on Breach being named ‘Flowers’ is true, they did that specifically with me in mind. And you bet I’ll be analysing that as well.

I'm also well aware that at least 2 of these examples are naturally growing flowers in the filming locations, but I do believe the active choice to include them as a focal point holds some type of meaning.

Thanks again for reading, I'm sure i'll find something else to ramble over soon as I keep on analysing stuff.

:)

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Docktown, Minrathous (in the daytime, in contrast with the gameplay reveal video), reminding us that Minrathous is built on an island. maybe the magic-monorail-looking bridge here is actually the single bridge that goes to Minrathous, like in the lore?

Docktown is the home of Neve. the distinctive floating building is in the distance again. compared to Ferelden, the buildings in Minrathous are like another planet entirely! Tevene architecture/design is so hostile - spikes on chairs, spikes on the sides of buildings.. I wonder if the doorway here is the entrance to the tavern/bar here [second image]. if you look in the window to the left of the door, the figure on the right could be the 'bouncer' at the top of the steps in the bar image. also, outside of here are tables and barrels, like you might expect outside a tavern establishment.

I'm curious about the heraldry of the boat in the harbor with the blue unfurled flags. it reminds me a bit of this Fereldan heraldry, but the animals are the wrong way round and it isn't quite right. either way, the heraldic animal is also present as the prow of that boat and one other.

Elf Rook (either City or Dalish but without vallaslin applied in CC), Emmrich and Harding. Rook is a sword-and-shield warrior here, Veilguard symbol on their chest plate, Warden symbol on their shield. Maybe this Rook has the Grey Warden background? anyways, looking closely at Rook's chest plate here, with the gray metal armor, the purple Veilguard symbol on the left, the 'bandolier' of three brown leather pouches across their chest, and the diagonal lines on the plate going the other way, it looks like maybe this Rook is wearing the same 'iconic[?] Rook outfit' as in the key art, or at least the torso piece. They both also have the metal shoulder plates, purple fabric over the elbow area, brown leather gauntlet etc. It's just that in this screenshot Rook isn't wearing a helmet/hood (or has them toggled off in the Options menu? ^^). anyways, I love that purple seems to be the 'iconic[?]' color for Rook, and also look at how this long-haired Rook's hair flows and sits around their neck and shoulders! and again the detailing is cool, like scratches on the shield and stuff.

Harding's arrow is glowing. Is her bow or arrow enchanted or have some kind of stat buff, or could this be an example of her magical powers in action, like her tarot card art might suggest? also, we can see from the tall skeleton/undead statues in the background and the skull-lid vases in the foreground that this shot is from the Necropolis.

The groupshot at HQ is so [cat crying screaming].. 🥺🥺 I love it so much, with the round table it has like Knights of the Round Table vibes or something and it's so nice to see everyone together and in their casual outfits too. I hope there are lots of moments like this in the game. ^^ Davrin is whittling wood, something that reminds me of Halsin and my Inquisitor (who is Dalish, and also had that hobby). Did some people.. bring their chair of choice to the meeting room hh? Davrin's looks like it was carved from a tree stump. Harding and Neve have a comfy sofa. Emmrich's looks kind of gothic and Nevarran. Taash's stool [?] is gold and practical-looking.

Taash looks so bored hhh. here we can see Bellara without her magical gauntlet. Do you think Manfred and Assan come to the team meetings..? :D Lucanis has impeccable tailoring, with lil bird-skull looking buttons at his collar. he's buttoned right up and professional looking even in his casual downtime, even when some of the others are the opposite. unsurprisingly his casual clothes have that blue-black corvid feather sheen. surely he has coffee in his mug. ^^ I wonder what Neve's drink of choice is though? from the way Lucanis leans here, do you think Lucanis and Emmrich is one of the companion-companion relationships that might develop like Taash and Harding?

Harding looks so cute and cozy on the couch with the cushion and her slippers, I can't take it. and I really love Neve's casual look with her scarf and hair like that!!

I think this scene is probably from the Lighthouse. Game Informer mentioned that it had a library, which is the central area of the The Lighthouse, and that it's there the party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next. Could this be one of those moments in there? ^^ in the background are stacks of books, and books on shelves, like a library would have. on the table is an assortment of scrolls, maps, papers. you can see a feather quill pen and red wax seals. having the maps in front of Davrin, a Warden and monster-hunter who has probably travelled far and quite a lot, is a nice touch. some of the books look quite ornate and arcane-ish, and are there a few of the 'Bellara'-style triangles on the table as well? and what do you suppose is the blue diamond-looking thing with white veins on the table?

(I'm also curious what the golden thing in the top right is.)

we can tell from the way it looks but we also know from a file name that this is the Rivain Coast. it's beautiful, it looks so bright and hot, the water is so blue. we first saw this locale in the Thedas Calls trailer from Dragon Age Day 2023. again, in the distance, we can see that statue.

From a file name, this is Arlathan Forest. everything is suffused in soft golden light, almost whimsical and Fable-like the Game Informer piece said. this shot is framed with those familiar trees with orange foliage e.g one, two, three. this place reminds me of some of the elvhen ruins we got to see in Trespasser. in the top right is green Veil/Fade shenanigans. a place where the Veil is weak, or the edge of this particular Veil bubble? past the wall of green it looks like some of the buildings are broken thanks to the warping, and there are floating rocks.

and look closely at some of the assets -

there's an owl, which are associated with Falon'Din and Andruil. lots of those howling Fen'Harel wolf statues. they look just like they do in DA:I (I don't mean that they look bad graphically or old or anything, just that the details are the same!!) which is awesome for consistency (also cool to see these return, so many of the art assets in DA:I were rly cool), and might even be the same assets being re-used (which is sensible and sensical for game design, something Mark Darrah talked about before). nb, just in case, I'm not saying this as a comment against asset re-use, it makes sense to do and I was excited to see these DA:I or DA:I-style ones in these caps!

[linnaearosie]

SPOILER FOR VOLUME 9 OF KNH LIGHT NOVEL

Yesterday I finished reading volume 9 and I need to share my thoughts.

- is this beginning of jinmao communication era?

- I'm still mad at jinshi for branding himself, even more mad bc maomao had to heal his wound without knowing how;

- new la clan member unlocked - mad architect that got mummified by his creation ( he also liked some profanity);

- more la siblings interactions. Please maomao the only reason why you don't see lahan's charm is bc he is your brother. Also lahan is attractive in the same way that writers were attractive in the past;

- Yao's character development is really good. She is 3 years younger than maomao and only started studying medicine recently but she is ambitious;

- I don't care about en'en. She is extremely flat character compared to others;

- it's funny that maomao often try to find nuance in men's actions ( yao's uncle in this volume), but she doesn't give the same treatment to lakan;

- dark academy in my apothecary diaries, please give me more. I like how the apothecary diaries doesn't shy away from gender inequality of its world. And I love how maomao isn't some girlboss but rather one of the pioneers in her field. She has existed in this grey area from the start but now she is in the room ( she can't speak openly and there's men who question her presence there but she is in the room);

- more loumen lore. some times ago I posted my sexuality hc for knh characters and i said there that loumen was harem protagonist in his younger days, so... dr liu was one of the members;

- is tianyu okey? Is he some serial killer in making? I hope not;

- maomao feeling guilty bc she knows that she is the reason that guen is body double. She has really soft spot for people that she meet during her rear palace time even if she likes to pretend otherwise ( I think it is partly bc of the fact that it was relatively happy time for her where she met her first friends);

- new ma clan members taomei and chue are interesting characters. Chue and baryou relationship is unique but I think that they respect each other. I hope that it is only chue being prankster and not taomei pressuring her for more grandchildren. If not I really feel sorry for chue bc her husband was instructed to leave everything to her in bedroom and they both aren't big on child rearing but she will be the one forced to do it;

- Jinshi you are stupid. You are target of freak strategist bc you are hitting on maomao;

- I WILL NOT COMMENT ON JINSHI BEHAVIOUR ON BALCONY, BUT JINMAO CHEAK KISS IS SO CUTE;

[themoonlitquill]

Team Black vs. Team Green.

I recently have gotten a LOT of asks about my position on TB vs. TG due to me making a poll about a fanfic I'm in the process of writing about Aegon II Targaryen and an OC of mine. There have been many that have said something along the lines of 'did you watch the show? look at all the SA he did and how EVIL he is towards Rhaenyra' and 'how can you support decisions of TG when they are the ones usurping' etc., etc., and it's EXTREMELY frustrating to me and here's why.

First of all, it is a FANFIC, a work of FICTION created by FANS, which means that 90% of it is NOT canon (whether it be show, movie, or book) and that means a lot of the ORIGINAL story/plot could be changed, along with the direction of the characters and their development. Which MEANS, that while I understand some of the stipulation behind it, that isn't going to change my mind or sway me away from diving into how utterly fascinating I find Aegon and the Greens to be.

Secondly, I have indeed watched the show, both seasons, more times than I can count. When I say that I am a House of the Dragon nut, I mean it. And when I say that I am a Targaryen, I mean it. I have been completely obsessed with their house and their lore and their history and EVERYTHING to do with them since I first seen Emilia Clarke show up on my screen like the ethereal goddess that she is. I know A LOT (both show AND book canon), which is why I have no qualms when I say that if I were to write about ANY in the fandom, it would be the Greens, regardless of the fact that I am TECHNICALLY for Rhaenyra and the Blacks.

In my opinion, there is a lot that was missed when it came to the Greens and their situation. Where was the turmoil that Alicent went through giving birth to her first son when she was a child, the product of a marriage that she was thrust into by her father? And before any of you stans come at me and say 'she should've told Rhaenyra, that's where the betrayal started' when in reality all the problems started with Viserys and his innate desire for a son that ended up killing Aemma. And ALSO his decision to NOT betroth Rhaenyra and Daemon YEARS BEFORE when he knew damn well that it would've stopped a lot of the issues, but ya'll ain't ready for that yet apparently.

And coming back to Aegon and the whole 'usurpur' angle. Did he or didn't he? When you break it down, it's both a yes and a no. He is the FIRST BORN SON of the King and has a very good claim to the Throne. It isn't like in GoT with Robert's Rebellion and Kingslaying for Baratheons and Lannisters to take it; this is a TARGARYEN PRINCE. Viserys named Rhaenyra his Heir and all the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms swore an oath, BUT Otto (ugh, sorry can't stand him, but Rhys SLAYED his portrayal) was smart enough to know that when it came down to it, if Aegon were to be put on the Throne instead, it would still be accepted to a point DESPITE those oaths because Aegon is male AND is BLOOD RELATED TO THE KING. So really? Why is everyone reaching so hard? This is the entire POINT of the show and the whole ASOIAF universe. There are LAYERS to EVERYTHING, but there are so many that refuse to see the grey areas and instead resort to making it all black and white, which just doesn't make sense to me.

So in conclusion, don't flood my ask and messages with comments about a FANFIC when there is so much to consider when you get down to the nitty gritty of it all. What I choose to create isn't affecting anything and if you think that it does, well, I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you take the time to actually research things before being rude.

[louquorice]

AVATAR: TLA/LOK universe “sequel AU” concept

AU takes place several avatar cycles after Korra

In the year 2000, the world has undergone a massive transformation and is a far cry from the one known in the days of the Four Nations. The once-divided nations of the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads have united under a single banner, forming [unnamed country], a progressive society that has largely abandoned its ancient traditions. Bending—once revered as an essential skill—is now in a regulatory grey area (regulated; either licensed, suspended, or exiled), seen as irrelevant in the age of technology. The Avatar, once the world's protector, is now nothing more than a forgotten relic of history, their role reduced to a mere tradition. It is a society where the ancient traditions have been abandoned in favor of rapid technological advancement.

When Sozin's Comet unexpectedly returns years ahead of its predicted path, it brings with it a cosmic anomaly that disrupts the natural balance of all four elements. The comet’s influence creates global chaos:

Fire becomes uncontrollable, causing wildfires and spontaneous flames.

Earthquakes rattle cities, weakening infrastructures.

Water floods coastal cities and causes unpredictable tides.

Air storms destroy weather patterns, leading to violent, erratic tempests.

The comet’s arrival also shatters the delicate peace between the coexisting physical world and Spirit World, awakening once-dormant spirits and causing widespread spiritual disturbances.

The Avatar, the latest in the Waterbender line and is no one but just a typical high schooler in every way, is ill-prepared for such a crisis. A world-saving hero that no one expects because they’ve been ignored their whole life. Someone who prefers to have an Algebra test rather than deal with a world-ending crisis. Untrained and inexperienced, they are thrust into a world where bending is forbidden and the Avatar’s spiritual connection is weak. With the balance of the world in jeopardy, the Avatar embarks on a journey to rediscover bending, reconnect with lost traditions, and confront the growing chaos.

(Excerpt from lore written by burymenot)

Note: This is a concept developed by my digital arts class, in collaboration with myself, that we got way too invested in, and so we must release this hyperfixation in public lol

Team Avatar

Zen, 17 (Avatar from the Water tribe)

He is the incarnation following the unscrupulous air nomad Avatar Khando, widely reviled for being a menace to society. He led a renegade faction of the Freedom Fighters, who were more extremist in their methods. This unflattering reputation further soured the reception towards the next Avatar. (written by clygerdoodles, who is a friend I roped into this AU lol)

Zen is the titular Avatar, master of Four elements & meant to bring balance to the world. He is in his last year of high school, living a typical teenage life in a quiet neighborhood together with his parents and pet (otter-platypus) Shin, content with a life of mediocrity ever since his unceremonious announcement as the Avatar. When called to fulfill his traditional duty, he reluctantly accepts the responsibility, having feelings of doubt bothering him every now and again.

Thrust into a chaotic world that suddenly needs an Avatar after some cycles of indifference, he faces many challenges that questions his principles and world views, hardwired by history and his own upbringing. While he strives hard to exceed the expectations placed upon him despite his unpreparedness, deep down all he wants is to live a normal life like others. (Written by jnzn.art)

Jia Zhang, 17 (Avatar’s bestfriend)

With one parent being a famous Mover star, and the other being a top socialite, Jia’s parents barely spend time with her and as such, she is spoiled rotten, if only to prevent her from complaining about them on social media and ruining their reputation.

Daughter of extremely wealthy and successful parents, Jia is someone used to getting what she wants. Besides her snobbish personality, she is also loud and catty, which makes most of her classmates dislike her. She has an unbridled obsession with Avatar lore and became notorious for her many product orders from Avatarland, always looking forward when she will receive her next parcel. Born an earthbender, she instead appropriates waterbender customs, all because the current Avatar is from the water tribe.

As the self-appointed bestfriend of the Avatar, she is ever supportive of him and he is one of the few people she acts cordial with. She accompanies Zen on his training journey across the world, oftentimes paying for the group’s expenses with no questions asked. Always feels unappreciated and useless, as her ideas are usually shot down or talked over by others and isn’t assigned in serious roles in the team dynamic. (Written by kuramaru)

The Twins (Children of current head of the White Lotus)

Kyna, 18 (potentially talented airbender)

Bubbly and down to earth, Kyna is the more approachable one between the twins. Unlike her brother, she prefers to go out with friends and traveling to different Air Temples. At home, she dutifully fulfills her responsibilities in the household, leading her to be considered the “favored child.” Despite that, she has a close relationship with Kai, and loves to pester him, much to his annoyance, but would sometimes help him in his tech endeavors.

Trying to live up to her namesake, she learned airbending at a very young age but has yet to master it. Touted as talented, yet plagued by laziness. She wants to earn her master tattoos yet spends more time reading scrolls or watching documentaries about the art rather than practicing it. When presented with the opportunity by her father to accompany the Avatar on his training journey, she jumps on the chance, relishing on the thought of traveling the world. (Written by Mikay C)

Kai, 18 (tech savvy non-bender)

Kai is someone who is not interested with his Father’s work in the White Lotus nor in his sister’s involvement with Team Avatar. In fact, he aims to graduate from high school and finally pursue a degree in Robotics Engineering. Deeming their duty to the Avatar more important, his father convinced him through bribery, buying him tech he so badly wants just as long as he tags along with the Team. Also, he cares too much about his sister to leave her alone.

His personality consists of him being distant most of the time, always appearing cool and mysterious, but is actually emotionally repressed and easily irritated. He is tech savvy and a self-identified gamer, preferring to shut himself in his room studying robotics and tinkering, or play games the whole day. (Written by KeziartS)

(The students assigned these roles didn’t fulfill some of their requirements, hence the minimal art from them directly 😔)

Zhihan, 21 (Lost heir to the Fire Nation throne)

She is the heir to the Fire Nation royal family, their lineage difficult to trace when the monarchy collapsed after the relatively short reign of Iroh II. The fact is revealed to her by her Uncle Ikigai, whom she doesn’t have the best relationship with, believing him to be her father’s killer. Ultimately, her ‘princess’ status is something she doesn’t have it in her to really care about.

A college drop-out who opted to be a cast member in Avatarland, a theme park located at an old Fire Nation temple. Along with her cousin Zar, they live in poverty, being overworked and underpaid in their jobs as performers, so they would often stage scams on unsuspecting tourists in order to get by. Self-serving and ignorant to a fault, but not without morals. She mostly comes off as friendly and endearing, and uses that natural charm to commit petty theft or lie her way out of trouble. Never having formal combat training in Firebending, she is at the very least, aware of the basics, and mostly uses it in her performances akin to party tricks.

Somewhat apologetic for causing a rift between two members of Team Avatar, she leads them to her uncle Ikigai, one of the firebending masters listed to help train Zen. Consequently, she is forced to accompany them the rest of the way, acting as the ‘legal guardian’ for Team Avatar, but only after striking an agreement with them that she is to be compensated.

(The character was supposed to be one-off, like the Cabbage guy, but my students kept adding roles and traits to her and since I go along with what they say, she eventually became a fleshed out character I got attached to 😭)

Enola Baolan, 19 (Book 1 antagonist)

She is branded as the child of traitors, a title she inherited through no fault of her own, but because the United Republic of Nations’ leaders labeled her parents as such, for their groundbreaking invention on technology capable of mimicking bending abilities to a certain extent.

Enlian, who uses “Enola” as an alias, is a non-bender with a troubled past, born in Ba Sing Se to earthbending parents who specialize in metalbending. After her parents were “banished” by the government for their inventions, she is orphaned at a very young age. She lived with many foster families, enduring both kindness and neglect. She worked odd jobs through the years, such as a mechanic at Teo’s workshop and as a courier at Kuruk Express, earning enough wage for modest living conditions.

Once she discovers the truth about her parent’s disappearance, she finds their hidden laboratory, collecting their notes and working prototypes, and vows vengeance against their oppressors. Though she cannot bend, she compensates for it with sheer tenacity and tactical ingenuity, paired with utilizing her parent’s prized invention, the Earth Gauntlets, makes her a force to be reckoned with.

Initially masquerading as a bender of all elements, she acts as the foil to the Avatar. She challenges Zen’s views, who believes himself a beacon of balance, but for Enola, he is the enduring symbol of a flawed system. (Written by burymenot)

[the-oasiris]

Alpha and Omega Earth Sova Dynamic + Sova Lore Yap Session B)

Saw a post floating around talking about the dynamic between Alpha and Omega agents and how omega agents being labelled automatically evil is kinda stupid. Because no, they're NOT evil. They're Omega's Earth's last hope of survival. They're the heroes, much like how our Alpha agents are the heroes of Alpha Earth for standing up to this bizarre threat. It leads to a fun grey area that is not explored at all. I hope it gets some love in the future, but for now, character development is more important for the game.

That post got me thinking about my own HCs and interpretations of A and O Sova. I rly got into exploring elements of the Alpha and Omega aspects of the game's story due to me shipping Owling (Sova/Sova) but it suddenly became a really fun thing to dive into. It's going to be a long post, so for those who kinda want the TLDR, the img below has a summarized ver of my HCs for A and O Sova's dynamic. Also, these are just my personal thoughts on the character and it's definitely not me trying to sell these HCs as canon or the closest truth we can get to on Sova's lore. Riot please write more shit for this guy I'm begging you. At least explain his stupid eye or his old alias I'm on my hands and knees bros.

Grab some snacks and bevvies for the big wall of unedited hyperfixation fueled yap under the cut. I'll also include my thoughts on ASova/OSova, but I will mostly be discussing their dynamics and stuff outside of the topic of shipping.

Initially, Owling started as a fun indulgent cloneship that had no rhyme or reason, but the literal next thought I had was treating the ship like some kind of character study based off my HCs of him. The then evolved to become a journey of Sova learning to love himself, literally and metaphorically, however incomplete he may be.

As mentioned in my chart, the Sovas are true clones of each other, mirrors. Their major life events are similar but the outcomes are different as well as the way they choose to interact with the people in their lives and the world. This therefore creates small differences in their 'perfect mirror-like' likenesses.

Sova Lore + HCs in General

My ASova headcanons are as described in my little chart. I feel like the Sova we get presented is very work-oriented whose past was shaped by his time in the military. It may very well be all he had had when he was younger. Perhaps it was what he turned to for direction in his life. I don't really have a solid headcanon for his upbringing, I'm mostly tossing several ideas around because they all seem very possible depending on how I want to picture Sova. Currently I lean more towards his parents being too busy to raise their son and therefore handed him over to his babushka to be cared for and raised. They still exist in his life, but their absences had made a significant impact on his psyche. He believes if he becomes someone useful, someone whose work was meaningful and worthy of praise, perhaps his parents would regard him more tenderly, their visits would be more purposeful, there would be reason to see their son other than obligation. He wishes to be useful not just for the sake of his parents, but for his babushka who is old and frail but has taken great pains and burdens to raise him to the best of her ability. Sova turned to the military for it was a respectable line of work. You serve the country and therefore its people, it seems a perfect fit for him who had much affinity for physical skills (hunting and general fitness). Not only that, the military would be good for him, for he need not think about his pains and troubles. The strict drills and constant orders would give him little time to dwell on his sorrows or whatever ails him. Even if his heart is lost, at the very least he has orders to follow, his path would straighten out for him as long as someone was telling him what he should be doing. In regards to his old callsign 'Filin', I'm sticking to the generally accepted HC that it's his old callsign from whatever military company he was in before Valo. As for his experiences then, my thoughts aren't too lengthy. It was a normal job experience, but he was very much just a machine there. A good obedient soldier. However, a mishap in one of his missions cost him his right eye. He continued to serve despite the injury and forced himself to remain useful to the company.

As a result of such life experiences, the Sova we see today can easily be described as a straight-laced man with strict morals who works to live. From what little trivia we have of him, he definitely has hobbies and interests outside of work. He likes hunting, photography that leans towards nature as it's focus. From his voicelines, we can gather that Sova is actually a really friendly and loving guy. He is vocal about his love for his babushka, he praises his teammates often, and he always seems ready to jump in the line of fire for his teammates if it means saving them (and by proxy, the mission). This kindness extends even to those he shouldn't extend it to, namely OSova, who is the enemy. Can you imagine sparing the guy who is invading your earth? Giving them a second chance? I feel like it's more than just some good samaritan thing/altruism, but there is unfortunately no reason given from Riot so far.

With all that knowledge of him, I interpret Sova as a person who is kind, friendly and full of desire to do good. But he has a lot of personal struggles under the hood that he pushes away in order to service others, in order to continue to be seen as a 'good soldier', to be seen as useful. His life outside of work is lackluster, his personality centered around being an asset. He struggles to properly care for himself mentally and emotionally, but is very good at sweeping everything under the rug and calling on his 'work mode' to 'solve' these issues. They don't exist now that a gun's in his hands and his boots on the field. His personal troubles will leave him, like the arrows that fly from his bow, like the bullets that race towards his target's head. The only grounding things in his life are: - His babushka loves him - He's a damn good shot with the gun and the bow - He's an excellent soldier, amazing at his job

Sova, you are miserable in your excellence.

For all his amicable nature and good intentions for others, he hardly shows the same courtesy to himself.

And finally, I yap about OSova.

Omega Sova

OSova is almost everything ASova isn't. - He is less of a workaholic (he very much works to live, but not as intensely as ASova). - He is more open to others and therefore his relationships with the Valo protocol and others in general are much more intimate and closer. As a result, his dynamic with his Cypher is also a lot less charged and they actually get along. - He is more in touch with his emotions and is tackling his fears and problems. Very unlike ASova who is avoidant.

I like to think of OSova as a representation of what a slightly healthier Sova would be. A version of Sova who is trying to improve his mental health and his relationships. He's not the 'Perfect' version of Sova, he too, is still very flawed. But he is happier, is mentally healthier and lives a generally more fulfilling life because he is actually putting effort into himself, trying to be whole.

Personal HCs on their first encounter

When ASova meets OSova for the first time, obviously nothing meaningful goes down because they gotta kill each other. But personally, I think on one occasion, ASova gets curious about his mirror self. He wonders if their lives are truly mirror-perfect reflections of each other. And he steals OSova's eye. He cuts along the familiar eye scar but cuts an additional line for he dislikes that they look exactly alike and the scar mysteriously remains permanent (this is just for my enjoyment and definitely has no real supporting rhyme or reason lol). He doesn't give the eye to KJ despite her expressing interest in it, for this is a personal selfish matter. What he finds shocks him, for OSova lives a very different life from him. And he grows angry for he is... jealous. His mirror self seemed to be living a beautiful life as compared to him and he wants to know why. He needs to learn more, needs to collect more intel. There has to be a reason his mirror self is enjoying things he doesn't seem to have himself despite being a good and useful person on his earth. Therefore, in addition to being his enemy at work, he cannot spare OSova ever again. He needs his eye. He needs to know.

AOSova Interactions HCs

It is natural that the Sovas are hostile to each other, for they are enemies. But OSova is surprised at how vicious and almost predator-fierce his mirror is with hunting him down and killing him. Sometimes it feels like ASova kills him with more brutality than necessary for whatever reason. When OSova is cornered and most definitely dead, it seems like ASova seems to go out on a limb to kill him in a more vicious way or uses excess effort to take his mirror out. OSova, being Sova, who has a soft heart and an inherent sense of kindness, tries to speak to ASova before he is killed again. But of course, ASova, who is blinded by his envy and hard driven by his soldier's duty to kill his enemy, doesn't let him talk. But eventually, one day, he does. And OSova questions their likenesses. Are they truly clones? He didn't know he was quite so fearsome, quite so merciless and cold. ASova finally allows OSova to speak, and suddenly, he realizes that they are so much more different than what he has seen. ASova also comes to realize that perhaps, in this big wide world and beyond, maybe his enemy, his 'evil' self, is the only one who can truly help him understand his pain.

It is not a pleasant thought, but that thought will soon disappear when his hunting knife goes through OSova's heart.

Sova Learns To Love Himself + Owling (Sova/Sova) Elements (Cont. from AOSova Interactions)

Teehee my fav part... If you so desire, this can be read as platonic as I've removed romantic elements.

The sauce for Owling in this sense comes from the fact that ASova believes that OSova is the only one in the world, this universe, that will understand his pain and accept him no matter what. Because they're Sova. They're supposed to be one and the same, right? Also because OSova has extended an extremely kind hand towards him over and over despite ASova mercilessly killing him time and time again without allowing him to even get a word or so in. OSova forgives this, for they both know they're 'both good soldiers who carry out orders no matter what'. And the orders are obviously to eliminate their enemies, their mirrors. ASova was just doing as he was told, and OSova holds no grudge. Hell, he probably even respects him for staying so loyal.

After OSova finally gets a word in, the pair often try to meet up secretly whenever they encounter each other on a mission to talk. It's mostly ASova talking, sharing his burdens with his copy, hoping to learn what the hell is he not doing right that OSova is. He too, wishes to live happily, much like how OSova seems to be living. OSova comforts his mirror. It is awkward initially, for what does one do when you enemy and mirror self comes at you, killing you viciously one day and then crying into your shoulder the next? But as they chat, OSova feels much pity for his copy. He wishes he could be happy, too. As much happiness their current situation allows. I'll skip over a lot of the story I've thought of for the both of them because this textpost is an ungodly length already. But, the most important interaction they will have, is that, one day, OSova reassures ASova that no matter what happens, no matter what becomes of them both, that he accepts him as he is. For they both deserve it. And if no one else will, it's ok. OSova will love ASova instead. Unfortunately, for it is still a time of war between Alpha and Omega earth, they can't both leave the field alive. And so, for now, one of them will have to go. Until their next encounter, then. But at least this time, ASova leaves with the reassurance that he can be loved. Even if it's only love from himself, he has it.

Ok I'm Done Now

And that's the end of the yap sesh phew LOL. I've left out a billion things but it's like 3am and I can't be here forever... I hope my point came across clearly enough and that any weird inconsistencies or holes in my thinking aren't too nasty because my ass aint gonna beta/edit this shit. If you read this all the way thru, thanks for braving through this behemoth of a post U_U)9 Also I hope this creates more Owling fans or at least some interest in the ship somewhat HAHA

[floyd-leeches-shoes29]

yuu goes by he/they and is 18 years old(senior back at home but never graduated yet due to the carriage taking him to twisted wonderland).

So he respectfully is a 3rd and says such, even if Crowley has him as freshmen(as most characters/yuu in particular based off manga are usually first years regardless of age).

He doesn’t expect much from the experience overall and is just there for a good time which is rare as NRC is a pit of people with issues somewhat and maybe more. But back to him, he is represented by a butterfly. He seeks out the world through the lenses of ‘if I can enjoy life, maybe issues won’t hurt as bad’ which is false, but they won’t admit that.

Yuu before NRC was an aerial silk performer at his parents studio. Not once did they complain as they like to help people and bring good into the world. His style resembles glamorous as makeup is all their rage and a good hairstyle always brightens his day.

I will say that his hair is dyed with a grey blue to match ramshackles ribbon as they find it ‘fun’ to play into themes. You can take the diva out of a diva but won’t ever cramp their style.

I’ll make a bio for him soon and maybe a relations chart as I want to focus on him slightly as he is under developed in some areas lore wise.

[mxchineherald]

verse :: where no man has gone before

setting: star trek location: Deep Space 9, Bajoran System, Alpha Quadrant tag: #v :: where no man has gone before [more lore found here.]

Lt. Toris Vika works in DS9's engineering crew. Why on DS9? Because his level of engineering expertise lends itself to Cardassian structures and machines, leading him to be selected by O'Brien himself. Also, it's my favorite (shoosh). He's a Bajoran, who, because of the Cardassian Occupation, did not receive medical assistance for his condition (caused by exposure to Cardassian biological weapons in utero) until adulthood. He was hidden away to keep him from being executed for being an "undesirable" laborer. While hidden, he was smuggled books and discarded materials by his parents, and found himself proficient in and passionate about Cardassian mechanical engineering. He fashioned not weapons, but life-preserving inventions, like shields, protective masks, and air filtration systems for the underground resistance tunnels as a teenager. He even accompanied Kira Nerys over comms on a mission to shut down a Cardassian power plant and liberate a group of captured Bajoran Resistance fighters. When the Bajoran Militia was increasing its numbers, he was offered a position as an engineering officer, but initially turned the offer down for fear of being forced into making weapons. It took the personal request of Kira Nerys for him to join, and under the strict condition that he would never be made to use or design weaponry. Later, a Kira's further suggestion, Chief O'Brien personally requested Toris for the team. With aid from the Bajoran Republic, he's undergone spinal replacement, organ replacement, and genetic therapy for his condition, so he's in a much healthier spot now, though he requires regular treatments to keep his symptoms managed, is prone to respiratory flares, and can't go into poor air conditions. He still requires the use of mobility aids, which makes getting around DS9 particularly difficult, but he doesn't let it slow him down. He's close friends with Kira Nerys, having known her through her work with the resistance. He's also becoming closer to his doctor, Julian Bashir. The two have bonded through their experiences with disability, and the way it affects their relationship with their respective parents. He and Garak have a unique relationship, as well, with him having been more receptive and kind to the Cardassian than was initially expected. His main job aboard DS9 is optimization and invention for the station, creating new and efficient ways of maintenance with less chance for worker error. He also works on repairs, retrofitting, and in his spare time, development of new technology for Bajoran quality of life planetside. Many of his designs are regarded as safety gold, though he sometimes dips into grey ethics in the pursuit of efficiency, sacrificing sentient input for mechanical certainty. One of his inventions, a rudimentary android meant for surveying and repairing damage in decompressed areas of the space station, has shown signs of sentience after coming into contact with one of the Tears of the Prophets. Terrified for his creation, as well as the implications this could have amongst the government and spiritual branches of his homeworld, Vika has chosen to hide his invention, which has named themself 'Kosst' (meaning, "to be" in Bajoran).

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

Anyway, I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard just over 85 hours for the whole thing (definitely missed some puzzles and a bit of loot here and there), but here are a collection of my thoughts before going to bed.

Spoilers below!

Genuinely, I think it was a solid game. The writing and themes throughout are really potent. I think the dialogue in some places was a little 80s cheesy or a BIT out of place in the DA setting but I definitely laughed at a lot of it.

I think the companions were great, though I found myself not really caring for Lucanis (and I'm not torn up that I accidentally got him killed in the endgame).

Neve, on the other hand, was a sniper shot directly at my forehead; she is carrying out the legacy of the Emotionally Distant Usuallly Hetero BioWare Brunette™ that I have always fallen for, but thankfully not straight this time (bless).

I think the environments were amazing and had so much depth even if the maps were more 'linear' in terms of areas to explore but I loved not having fetch quests. I loved being able to use companion abilities to unlock more parts of the map as we went along.

I do think there was a lot of content - which is good - but it did feel like a bit of a slow go to start.

I felt that the romance wasn't necssarily lacking in terms of BioWare's standard style of romances with casual flirting -> serious flirting -> kiss scene -> romance scene just prior to endgame, BUT because there was so much to do in Act 2, it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere fast and so spacing it out that way felt like there could've been a few more little things in between (e.g. kiss animations like BG3, or something) to hold us over.

In terms of story, I think for the most part it really fit into the series well enough; I don't think the lack of worldstate mattered too much in order to tell the story they wanted to tell with Solas. A few mentioned and call backs are all we would've gotten and I'm okay with that (e.g. like who you picked for Divine or who is ruling Fereldan, etc).

I like that we got to explore more Dwarf lore again, I think this fandom needs to be more into dwarves because holy shit.... the whole reason they can't dream???????? insane.

Also in terms of gameplay, the combat was fun and refreshing, and very mass effect-y and I loved it. I was a warrior and just had fun smashing the shit out of everything. I do wish we had more loot / options to work with (lowkey missed the crafting system in DAI to make our own stuff) but I get why they did it like that.

I loved Rook, and I know that you can't be a super aggressive asshole but tbh this doesn't call for it. They were brought in as someone who could help the team and work together.

As someone on tiktok said, they are friends with fully developed prefrontal cortexes and act like it; DA2 companions are not found family, they are only friends with Hawke and only tolerate each other because of that mutual friendship. Inquisitor is like the manager of a bunch of coworkers.

ANYWAY, I think Rook was a fine protag, and I LOVED the CC aside from a few things like why do some of the more detailed complexions get a 5 o clock shadow embedded into it? No age slider??? no grey hair slider???

Fat slider good but should've had more. Also the boob/ass slider lacking like I get it that it helps keep armours intact but they should've let the sliders go more for better shapes.

All in all, I'm giving it a solid 8.5/10, and well worth the 10 year wait.

I just hope that they get to make a DA5 with that hint they dropped on us in the post-credit scene. I was really hoping for DA Absolution to have a tie in because what the fuck has Meredith Stannard been doing beefing w tevinter to get a circlet to bring someone back from the dead, and what plot point is that gonna be????? but anyway I guess I can hope for a season 2 of DA Absolution next

[catcherwrites]

TDP S7E3 Rewatch (feat. my commentary)

Janai and Amaya! It’s been a while and I missed you queens <3

You think the soldiers wanted to prank the traitors? They looked so serious

Queens of Mercy, Janai must really take after her grandmother (SIDE NOTE, THIS REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING ELSE I’LL TALK ABOUT IT AT THE END)

I feel like we’re in a weird grey area with Janaya + Gren. Janai seems confident reading sign language in private conversations with Amaya, so why does Gren interpret when it’s just the three of them? I know it’s for the audience’s sake but I have to wonder if they’ll change things up for Arc 3

Oof the smash cut to Ezran slamming that elf figurine on the table. The first time I saw this scene I was blown away by the return of the bloodthirsty elf imagery from S1

Ez seems far angrier about Callum’s betrayal than Rayla’s, likely because he understands they’re both choosing to prioritise their own dads

“You’re the bread” oh my god the way Soren pouts when Corvus glares

Claudia’s nose-finger-move! Her glee is infectious! I love character quirks in animation!

Aanya and Ezran’s friendship is so important in this season <3

When I watched S7 the first time, I got to this scene and immediately picked up on Miyana’s pregnancy, but I need to shoutout Gren for his reaction because, same buddy

The whole Garden of Innocents is GORGEOUS

Terry having the same reaction to dark magic as S1-2 Soren was a big hint as to what direction his arc would go

The Mage Wars backstory was nice to see!

Claudia and Aaravos’ dynamic is so…intriguing this season. I’m very torn between finding it endearing and disturbing how quickly they grew attached to each other

“My child will avenge me” a not-so-subtle parallel to Harrow and Viren in S2 (“it’s name will be vengeance!”)

God Rena’s voice acting in this scene was really great

Soren shielding Ezran alert!

I can’t help but wonder if a fire ruby would’ve contained enough sun magic to fuel the spell Viren cast to save Duren/Katolis? If there’s another world where Aanya’s parents were honest about Duren’s secret, and none of the queens died?

Janai laying down the law was brutal, but reasonable considering what’s happened

Overall thoughts:

This was one of my ‘meh’ episodes from my first S7 viewing, and honestly? My opinion hasn’t changed much since. It feels like a middle child caught between True Heart and Unfinished Business. There’s a lot of really interesting lore developments and character interactions that left me theorising and analysing previous seasons. It’s still a good episode, but it’s just…good (if that makes sense).

Now, the thing I was reminded of, was a theory I’d had in the lead up to S7 regarding Aaravos, Aditi, and Kim’dael. Basically, I had this idea that 300 years ago, Kim’dael offered her loyalty to Aaravos if he could kill Aditi as revenge for her mercy bind (since she couldn't do it herself). For Aaravos, taking Aditi off the board and gaining Kim'dael's services was a two birds-one stone situation, so he did it, not realising that choice would cost him his freedom. I was going into this season imagining Kim’dael making an appearance as a lieutenant for Aaravos and a mentor figure to Claudia.

I don’t know, it felt like a cool idea and I can’t believe I forgot about it until I heard the soldiers calling Janaya the Queens of Mercy

[bainofjustice]

Welcome to Crime.net, a 18+ Payday fan server with a focus on Payday's interesting Lore! We have channels to discuss the games, to share fan creations and for discussing the gameplay, under the cut is the full rules list, which is also in the server

**The Rules**

1. Be kind, ultimately this is the most important, do not be rude/cruel to people and respect people's boundaries

2. No bigotry, this fits above and includes queerphobia, racism, ableism/sanism (towards physical & mental disabilities), etc

3. This server is friendly to all systems, if you are anti endo please leave

4. This server is 18+ ONLY due to the dark subject matter of Payday as a franchise & because currently the admin do not feel responsible enough to be watching out for minors as well as adults

5. No works with incestuous or pedophilaic content is allowed here, alongside on-screen/noncon being banned. I ask if one makes this sort of content they do not stay in this server

5¹. The above also mean no sharing dubcon or similar work as it creates too much of a grey area in regards to the ban on 'noncon' and what that means

6. Do not share any AI made content or sites, this includes art, memes or any text (including character AIs), we support artists & writers in this server

7. NSFW content is only allowed in the NSFW area, this includes content with the following: any nudity, suggestive content & sexual content

7¹. We do not allow NSFW content with real people, cosplaying or otherwise, suggestive content that does not include genitalia or sex acts are still allowed within the nsfw channels though.

7². I hope this would be obvious, but if you post anything sexual/suggestive with characters or people you are getting banned without any appeal or anything, this server has zero tolerance for pedos

8. Please keep the following content to the Blacklist area only: irl death, suicide, any discussion of SA/rape, gore & major injuries, body horror, heavy IRL news

9. No character bashing, like developers for Pokémon say for their creations "Every one is someone's favorite" and I feel it feeds into a negative fandom experience

10. Please do not use this server as a venting space, at the moment the admins are unable ensure that it would a safe environment for those venting and others in the server

11. Please try and remain on the topic of discussion in a channel, but ultimately this a looser rule as conversation tends to wonder naturally

**Moderation**

- If there is ever a issue going on please @ the admin role, and dm a admin, this also goes for if there have been issues with a member in dms (though we will ask to see screenshots in the case of dms as there are no other ways for us to check these things)

- New rules are added as needed, when that happens there will be a update everyone is @'d in

**What Happens When A Rule Is Broken**

- If it is something that could be a honest mistake such as taking a joke too far, posting something for the blacklisted area outside of it or other small errors in judgment they will get a warning and on their 3rd warning they will be kicked

- If it is actively harmful such as posting nsfw of minors or other abusive content they will be banned without any warnings as soon as possible