#mouse lore

[c0untry-mouse]

i've been off tumblr for a bit. when and why did you change your blog name?

Hello lovely anon, I'm glad you're back 🥹

I changed my URL on Feb 16, mostly because that was when the inspiration struck for what to change it to.

I had been wanting to get rid of the old one for a while but my moots were not keen on the idea so I held off. But eventually I thought "fuck it, my blog, will do what I like!" and thus cunty mouse has arrived.

As for why... You've heard of the fable of "country mouse and town mouse" right? Well I just didn't need the "o" or the "r".

I have always been mouse identified so it feels nice to be living my best mouse life up in here.

🐭💙

[spaceorganizermouse]

[OOC]

Wait. Is mouse keeping notes on Neon like he's some sort of specimen XD

(OOC)

Lmao Mouse keeps notes on all their crewmates like that. It's an affectionate gesture since they have poor long-term memory when they don't write things down. This way, if they need to recall any abilities, personal preferences, or the like it's all somewhere they can refer back to.

The notebook they carry constantly is only one of many and more a multi-use one for when they need to write something on the spot. Each crew member also has a personal one in records where they have stickers on the covers.

[simmasova]

these are the leaders of the mice clans (flans), by the way. theyre incredibly cool i think. i might post their lore here

[ribbononline]

Hoenn crossing, or something

[redtippedfox]

And here they are, ALL of Marinette’s updated kwami swaps from my Timey Wimey AU including her new Multimouse design! Now that she’s FINALLY done and I’m completely satisfied with her designs we can get a move on with the other character designs! YAY!

*Updated version*

[daftpatience]

I CAN FINALLY SHARE MY BELOVED OCS CAIN AND SIGURD

cain is a knight and sigurd is his loyal retainer and by god they are gay and transmasc and have a lot of lore i cant divulge yet

[asternomikal]

chat im not too late to the .exe train am i . . . .

a little more details about this au/.exe guy who isn’t actually an .exe

s_mouse.html originated as a virus-ridden flash-game-esque website based off of the concept of sadmouse. though it was meant to be just that, it’s code seemed to grow the more people visited its website. slowly, as it continues to spread to more people, its growth results in faux-sentience, with it becoming more and more aware of what it is, what it was supposed to be, and what it’s been doing to others. with a newfound craving for further sentience and a connection with its viewers, s_mouse ‘dusts off’/improves the look of the website and itself in the hopes of attracting more site viewers.

notes:

- s_mouse.html’s being is the entire website it belongs to, rather than just the character itself, though it often uses Mickey as a mascot to represent itself. it has the ability to ‘manifest’ other characters, which it has tried in the past, but has felt horribly unsatisfied with the result. it was more like him puppeting the characters who were supposed to be his friends.

- the website continuously expands the more people interact with it. though it originally contained a dreary atmosphere with an endlessly walking sadmouse as the homepage, it grew to contain activities like quick flash games, coloring pages, and an area to talk to s_mouse itself.

- the new decor for the website is somewhat reminiscent of the Magic Kingdom and other Disney attributes, which he deems to be much more pleasant than the source he originated from. the tailcoat in his design is meant to reflect that aspect.

- he can often act like a massive people pleaser, changing the website and the way that it acts based on what he thinks his site viewers want out of him.

- he also deeply craves the attention he gets out of his site viewers, to the point that he might beg, taunt, or threaten them if they try to leave.

- despite the ability to grow in the presence of others, s_mouse often suffers from lag issues and and underperformance—or ‘headaches’, as he likes to call them—when the site gets overpopulated.

- i need to figure out another nickname for him besides just s_mouse lmao

feel free to ask questions if you’d like!

[mousemannation]

tennistv & internazionalibnlditalia | [x]

WE ARE IN ROME! 🤌

[royalarchivist]

Pac: Take care of Ramon, take care of Richas, ok? See you on the other side, big boy.

Fit: You can’t just say “big boy” and then just expect me to NOT drag you outta here. [Fit tries to lasso Pac] You’re coming with me. You are not dying today! You are NOT dying today!

Pac: I need to leave, Fit! I’m sorry, I’m SORRY!

Ironmouse: Are you guys like, having sexy time?

Fit: There’s homosexual activity going on Mouse, don’t worry about us, ok?

Ironmouse: You guys, we don’t have time to be gay right now. 🙄

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

—

[ Longer clip ]

Pac: I’m just here to say goodbye to you, Fit.

Fit: Goodbye? We’re not– we’re gonna be fine, we’re going to get out of here, don’t worry.

Aypierre: Yeah, don’t worry!

Pac: I know, but like– I will sleep until the end, you know? I will pass through this moment sleeping, man. I won’t be able to be awake for the moment.

Fit: [Laughs] You know, it's– I mean, if that’s how you wanna go, but– I mean, that- I mean, isn’t that bed kind of like…. I don’t know, it's–

Pac: No no, I will be staying on the sofa, you know, I will be staying on the sofa.

Fit: Oh the sofa. Ok, that’s a nice sofa! Yeah, that is a pretty nice sofa.

Pac: Yeah, it’s a nice sofa right? No, yeah– I’m going to stay on the sofa, you know? So, since I will be going Fit… [Pac starts tossing Fit all his items]

Aypierre: [Not paying attention to their conversation] Is that bigger cell? I don’t think it’s a bigger- biggest one.

Fit: Oh… Thank you Pac, thank you.

Pac: Everything you need to survive, ok?

Fit: Wow.

Aypierre: Wow.

Pac: And if you need this one also, maybe, who knows? [Throws him more items]

Fit: Ohhh, well hey– just take this to remember me by, ok? [Tosses him a photo of himself – the same one Aypierre was carrying all day yesterday]

Pac: [Laughs] Ok, I will sleep holding the picture you know, like this. You know, I will dream about you, Fit. And I hope this is gonna be good dreams. I see you in the other side. Good luck, my friend.

Fit: The other side… Yeah, you know, yeah, we– we– you know? It’s been an honor, Pac. It’s been an honor, you know?

Pac: Yeah, for me too, you know? Take care of Ramon, take care of Richas, ok?

Fit: Ok.

Pac: See you on the other side, big boy.

Fit: I will sing your praise– Oh yeah, hey– [Laughs] Take it easy, big boy. Take it easy, big boy. Actually, nononono– You can’t just say “big boy” and then just expect me to not drag you outta here. You’re coming with me.

Pac: No, I need to leave!

Fit: You’re coming with me. You are not dying today! You are not dying today!

Pac: I need to leave, Fit! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

Fit: Sorry, there's–

Pac: I’m sorry!

Ironmouse: Are you guys like, having sexy time?

Fit: There’s homosexual activity going on Mouse, don’t worry about us, ok?

Ironmouse: You guys, you guys– we don’t have time to be gay right now, come on. There’s no time.

Pac: No, there’s no time! Oh, goodbye Fit…

Fit: Ok, c'mon, no no no, come on, we got this we got this!

Pac: Goodbye Fit, I’m sorry!

Fit: [Laughs] Oh no…

[queenaeducan]

In Defense of Spirits

Or, alternatively:

I. Introduction

Spirits are one of my favourite parts of the Dragon Age lore, but they didn't start that way! Initially with Origins the various demons I fought I considered little more than cannon fodder, enemies put in my way to cut down so I could move on with my mission. With the introduction of Justice in Awakening and Dragon Age II coupled with Merrill’s alternate perspective also introduced in the latter, my feelings about them started to change. Solas and Cole crack those feelings wide open come Inquisition, and when replaying the games I found myself questioning the motivations of encounters with people I once considered one-note enemies.

I wanted to compile a list of these alternate readings of the various spirits we meet throughout the series, starting first with Origins. I'll be detailing some common themes and, where it’s appropriate, to defend their actions. This list is not comprehensive as there are some encounters I don’t consider significant or interesting enough to mention, although if someone’s curious about a particular spirit I’m happy to oblige. For the purposes of clarity, if I use the word “spirit” I am still referring to all denizens of the Fade, whether they call themselves Pride or Compassion. I may use the word “demon,” as a treat.

The purpose of this retrospective is to reflect upon the motivations of the spirits we kill through the series and how I think Bioware successfully created a world where, in this instance, we were sucked into their preconceived biases regarding spirits. And hopefully to make you feel as bad as I do when I’m forced to kill spirits who probably are better people than my player characters. I am also not arguing that everything I put forth here was intended by the writers. I have the reach and flexibility to pull out threads they didn’t expect me to.

Finally, this won’t be an exhaustive examination. There are a lot of spirits and some don’t invite discussion on my part.

II. Analytical Lens

There are several recurring themes that will crop up when I’m recontextualising the motivations of the spirits throughout the series. We’ll be going over these in detail as we talk about individual spirits, but for now:

The Veil is a construct. There was initially no barrier stopping them from moving back and forth freely, and in many ways their desire to manifest physically outside the Fade is a natural inclination. The problem being that going there and back again isn’t as easy as it once was.

They don’t understand this world. Again, I think the presence of the Veil exacerbates this. Time and again we see spirits who do have enough will to manifest safely have difficulty adjusting. 

Trying to help hurts. Spirits can’t sicken with Blight or the common cold (that we know of), but intense emotions or cruel intentions can twist them from their purposes. Those who reach out in the honest urge to help may find themselves burned, sometimes through no fault of either party.

Their design encourages dehumanisation. For lack of a better word, considering this is a land of elves, dwarves, qunari, and so on. Many of the spirits we’re asked to empathise with are humanoid, with those we are at odds with being more likely to be monstrous or animal in design, making it easier to justify why we need to choose violence.

III. Dragon Age: Origins

Mouse

Mouse is among the first spirit players will meet in Dragon Age, depending on whether or not they play the Mage origin or not. Narratively he is meant to introduce the player to the role spirits often play in the lives of mages, that is to say: an evil that is not always self-evident. He tells a sympathetic lie, presents himself as someone who was once in a position like the protagonist currently is, and wants to make sure they don’t end up like him, only for it to be revealed that the entire reason he’s there is to possess them. At least, nominally that’s his role. A second pass at Mouse’s actions does raise questions as to his true intentions.

Throughout the test Mouse encourages two things within the protagonist: their self-worth and their questioning of the ritual. The former makes sense, he is ultimately revealed to be a spirit of Pride and so to stoke the protagonist’s own pride may inflate their confidence to a point where they can’t see the potential harm in dealing with him. Still, in a society where magic is feared and mages prisoners, there is something radical in encouraging that in someone. Especially when paired with remarks Mouse makes where he questions the logic of the Harrowing itself:

“It isn’t right they do this, the Templars. Not to you, me, anyone.”

This is one of the first things he says to you, and is one of the first pieces of Circle critical rhetoric in the entire series. From the perspective of the protagonist at the time, it would seem he’s referring only to apprentices, but is he? Spirits are drawn into the Harrowing as much as mages, ostensibly willingly with the promise of a body to possess, but we see in rituals such as the one that drew Wisdom into the world that the Circle isn’t above shackling spirits into doing their bidding, be it as a means of protection or garnering information. Once inside, they’re subject to the will of the apprentice, who have been taught to fear and mistrust the Fade since they were first brought to the Circle. So is Mouse expressing bitterness about the situation of the apprentices, or is he looking at the situation as being equally unfair to all involved?

Furthermore, what’s most interesting about Mouse is he never actually tries to possess you. He makes some requests, which Surana or Amell can’t agree to, but even if you avoid catching onto his game for as long as you can it never goes farther than that. He reveals himself as the final test and before the Harrowing ends he dispenses the to-be Warden a warning:

“Simple killing is a warrior’s job. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions, careless trust… pride. Keep your wits about you, mage. True tests never end.”

A piece of wisdom, if you will.

I don’t believe Mouse ever truly intended to possess you, although it’s impossible to tell if he truly would or not without the ability to agree to his bargain. He gives up the game too quickly, with the Warden only needing to vaguely doubt his story before he reveals it. By following the Warden through their Harrowing he helps them successfully bargain with spirits like Valor and Sloth and safely introduces the idea that not everything here is as it seems. Rather than being purely a Pride demon, I think Mouse is a spirit of Wisdom influenced by the Warden’s preconceptions towards what some might call the darker aspect of the values he represents. 

While I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Mouse was exactly what we’re led to believe, nevertheless I believe it probable that spirits aren’t always gleeful participants in the Harrowing and that the rite is damaging to them as well as the apprentice mages.

Desire

We go now to another spirit from the Circle, specifically the Desire demon we meet in the Broken Circle quest. When we come across her she’s possessed a Templar and letting him live out a fantasy of having a wife and children. When the Warden and their party come across her, she argues that she’s giving him what he wants and doesn’t see the harm in it. Upon my first playthrough I took this as a lie and killed her, although it was difficult not feeling bad, as from the perspective of the enthralled Templar he died defending his family from bandits. To him the Warden was unequivocally the bad guy, and it’s tragic thinking about what his final thoughts might have been.

As for Desire herself, I think there’s an argument to be made that she simply didn’t see a difference between her making a life for herself and the Templar all within his head and a physical, lived life. We see in Inquisition especially, where we talk to more spirits, that the nature of the physical world is as alien to them as the Fade is to mortals. Command wonders out loud why the rocks do not move at her command, and Cole asks Varric to talk to his shoelaces for him because they “don’t listen to him.” They existed in a world where will mattered more and where dreams were real, so it stands to reason that to Desire there is no discernable difference between giving him what he wants for real and dreaming it.

Interestingly, you can choose to let them both go, and we get no indication of where they go from the Circle. Leliana also approves because she thinks what counts is that he’s happy. Personally I don’t feel there’s a right option in this quest as either leaves the Templar in a tragic spot, but I do think the Desire demon’s motivations aren’t as evil or manipulative as they seemed on my first playthrough.

Lady of the Forest

The Lady is perhaps the first spirit in the series given a more complicated character than “spirit good, demon bad.” We have Valor in the mage origin, Wynne’s spirit of Faith, etc, but they aren’t given much characterisation and their benevolent nature is taken as a matter of fact. We have a biased introduction to her, we see the damage she has done to Zathrian’s clan and hear his side of the story. We go into the forest to carve the heart from her chest.

But when the time comes to actually speak with her, his bias and deception is plain. She has all the trappings of a demon: summoned at a point of great tragedy, as a tool of vengeance, enacting a literal curse upon Zathrian’s enemies. Yet now she is an advocate for non-violent solutions, only compelled to violence by desperation (she sent letters but Zathrian left her on read) or by the player’s encouragement (potentially). I do think this was an end she worked towards, and didn’t come by naturally, saying to the Warden at one point:

“Then the time has come to… set our rage aside. I apologise on Swiftrunner’s behalf. He struggles with his nature.”

While she is speaking of Swiftrunnher, given she is the curse’s origin, I think the same could be said of her nature (as it is her curse). Zathrian implies much the same, saying to her:

“Your nature compels it, as does mine.”

I think it’s very likely that had we encountered the Lady those hundred years ago when she was first made, she would have been to our eyes a demon, rather than the semi-benevolent force of nature she appears as in-game. Interestingly, her outward nature doesn’t change if she is compelled to kill the Dalish. She isn’t thrilled, but neither is her nature twisted. She’s pretty quick to move on, afterwards. Of the major spirits in DA:O, I do think she is an outlier in the series. Killing her is the bad option, especially when a mutually beneficial solution is forced upon you. She also has a stronger presence of mind than many of the other spirits, perhaps accounting to her age and the fact that she is tethered to the world through not only Zathrian but her ‘followers.’ It’s fitting that the Dalish quest is the one where a spirit is presented not only sympathetically, but (as far as I can tell) exclusively referred to as a spirit whether they are doing right or wrong.

Rage

We meet many Rage demons in Origins, and throughout the series, but the spirit I’m referring to are the ones we meet in the Alienage’s orphanage. The recent site of a massacre, the orphanage is now home to a spirit of Rage who attacks those who enter. Rage, I thought, was a curious choice, when Despair and Terror exist. Although the fact that they probably didn’t want to make a new spirit model for this one sidequest would probably explain it on a development level, but then I wondered— whose rage?

The spirits don’t seem to embody the rage of the people who massacred the orphanage, or even the rage of the victims. They tell the Warden and Ser Otto that they “do not belong here” and one is furious that the party has killed “my brood.” I think the presence of the spirits here is indicative of how helpful or benevolent spirits can be twisted by the horrors of our world, that they were drawn by the misery of what happened at the orphanage and upon witnessing it they became enraged. They are ultimately protecting nothing, just an empty building that’s probably best torn down or cleared out, or whatever the elves of Denerim’s Alienage decide they need to properly mourn. Yet as we walk through the building the screams of children still play around us, it’s still happening for its current residents.

In the final encounter of the quest, the Rage demon targets and kills Ser Otto (assuming those mabari you encounter like two minutes in don’t get him first, like they do for me every time if I’m not paying attention) first out of your entire party. It makes sense, although his motivation was pure, he is representative of the human justice that allows horrors like this, and what’s more— how many orphans were taken from the orphanage’s midst by people wearing armour just like his, never to return?

The rage demons had every right to be angry, even if their anger manifested in a harmful way. The tragedy is that, outside of Denerim’s Alienage, most people weren’t.

IV. Other

These are spirits whose roles I don’t have much to say about, for one reason or another.

Kitty. I don’t have much to say about Kitty, who as a reminder is the spirit held captive in the basement of Wilhelm, the former master of Shale. Given Kitty can agree to not possess Amalia, content simply to be free of the basement, and then doubles back on that promise once you complete the puzzle, I don’t have the highest opinion of Kitty. However, can I do want to point out that Wilhelm held Kitty captive in his basement for decades for his research. Research which, by the way, was to find ways to prevent mages from becoming possessed. A little ironic that he essentially possessed a spirit to do so. I want to point this out only because I think it highlights how spirits are casually used by people and at no point do we stop and wonder what decades of being locked up in a basement outside of their intended realm of existence might do to someone, even a metaphysical someone.

Herren. The merchant and life partner of the blacksmith Wade, who may have made your Warden some nice armour from all those endangered dragons they killed. In the Darkspawn Chronicles Herren is fought— as a desire demon. Gaider says this is not canon, but he doesn’t even go here anymore, so instead I’d like to put forth the idea that Herren is a desire demon taken physical form who lives out his existence peacefully (if somewhat grumpily) with his eccentric husband. I have no evidence of this being a fact, in fact I have the opposite of evidence, but I like my version better, so.

The Grand Oak. I think everyone with a modicum of taste likes this guy, but I do think he's an interesting lens to look at how spirits in Elvhenan might have lived. I like to think all of them had a period where they just vibed as a tree for a hundred years or so.

[cicicolorao]

I like the didney game. Haven’t played it in months

[thdalsk]

( I’ll come back to you, I promise )

( I know you will )

CHOSE THE ORPHAN BACKGROUND AND IT BROKE MY HEART ACTUALLY 😭 Spencer and my MC from @thesoulforgeorder <3

This was before Spencer was on the official RO list LOL

[spaceorganizermouse]

Hello!! Do you have a fullbody image of yourself? (Like a Picrew :3 )

Along with any useful info: height, scars notable traits ?

[Can be answered IC or OOC! <3]

(OOC)

Sorry this took a minute. I was trying to get my cats settled. We got a new kitten and my girl hates her.

But I do, actually! Mouse's icon is from their picrew's full body image. I just keep forgetting to throw that (and a few more) with their physical details into their pinned lmao

Mouse is 4'11 and rarely ever seen outside of like at least 3 layers of clothing. They have terrible body heat regulation so they're always cold. On the rare occasions you can catch them somewhere warm enough, they have a long scar running along their left forearm and a smaller one under their right knee about halfway down their calf.

Beyond that, the only other notable trait they have is a three inch birthmark on their lower back that I'm still working on making a ref for.

[memelordotherblog]

Two things people tend to forget-

Mickey isn't terrible with tech he literally set up a radio, learned to fly a newly made amphibious vehicle and took down a high tech submarine, (all in one comic mind you)

He just isn't the inventing type.

Clarabelle used to have a freaking shotgun.

[a-flaming-idiot]

So remembered an animatic that said every Ladybug holder was destined to abandon their Black Cat and they'd never see each other again. So I quickly threw together a set of curses for all the Chinese Box.

Ladybug - They are destined to always die alone with their goals unaccomplished

Black Cat - They are fated to always be abandoned by the person they hold closest

Fox - They are fated to always destroy the person they love most

Turtle - When it counts most they won’t be able to protect those they hold most dear

Bee - They are fated to drive others away at their most vulnerable

Butterfly - They are fated to have their good intentions twisted sour

Peacock - They are fated to put their faith and love into the wrong person and destroy themselves

Snake - At the end of things, they will always end up alone

Dragon - They are fated to never have the strength they most need

Bunny - They are destined to see the worst fates of their friends repeat over and over again with no chance to save them

Tiger - They are destined to always squeeze too tight and break those they love

Pig - Their kindness and desire to help will be their downfall

Mouse - They are fated to feel the weight of every task and eventually be crushed by it

Ox - They are cursed to be destroyed by their own growing doubt

Horse - They are fated to always be a moment too slow and be ruined by it

Monkey - Their happiness will come at the cost of the misery of others

Goat - They will be consumed by their passion and desires

Dog - They will devote their lives to a goal and only in their last moments realize they were wrong

Rooster - The people they hold closest will be unreachable

My rough idea is that the Miraculous of the Chinese Miracle Box are so powerful that their magic naturally backlashes onto the user in the form of a curse. So if someone wears a Miraculous for too long, they will be doomed to the curse even if they take it off.

[nie-solony]

Oswald the lucky rabbit reference I found in a random mouseverse comic.