carelessly-sarcastic - Tumblr blog

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please hire zevran

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I cannot help feeling like the tendency to see Inquisition!Leliana in stark contrast to Origins!Leliana has led to some people forgetting what... Leliana is actually like in Origins.

In fairness, as in all Dragon Age games some very revealing character moments happen in party banter which makes it easy to miss. But the gentle-hearted mystic who desires only to draw others unto the love of the Maker has never been all that Leliana is, and it's always been in direct conflict with the side of her that is not only adept at intrigue and yes, violence, but enjoys those things. This is the central conflict of her whole character, and it's not a trivial conflict, because there is not one simple answer to who Leliana truly is. She is both of these things. She is deeply religious and finds comfort in her faith, and thinks it should bring comfort to others as well. She's also prone to gossip and pettiness and all the qualities that helped her thrive as a bard.

There's this one particularly revealing piece of banter with Alistair if the Warden is in a romance with Morrigan:

Alistair: So have you heard? Morrigan and him are... you know. Leliana: Have you nothing better to do than to spread idle gossip? And besides, he can probably hear us both. You're not being very discreet. Alistair: No, look, he's not even paying attention. Leliana: Hmmm. maybe. You don't... think that he's serious about it, do you? The woman is a vile fiend. Alistair: Well, look here, now who's an idle gossip? Me-ow! Leliana: You're the one who started this, I might remind you. And I'm... well, I'm ending it!

I once had the especially entertaining experience of getting this banter, and minutes later hearing Leliana turn to Morrigan to give her the "It's so nice that you're together, isn't love wonderful?" line. But whether or not you have the pleasure of hearing them back to back, I think this dialogue make it pretty clear that while Leliana would like not to think of herself as a gossip, it takes very little prompting from Alistair to get her to slip back into that mean girl persona. And Alistair (who is more perceptive than he often gets credit for), calls her on it immediately, clearly embarrassing Leliana--who realizes that her mask has slipped.

I don't think it follows from this that Leliana necessarily hates Morrigan unilaterally. There's something much more complex going on between them, in my opinion, because they are such distinct opposites in upbringing and personality. Both Leliana's faith and her life of courtly intrigue are nonsense to Morrigan, who neither believes in the Maker nor has much patience for intricate social graces (at least, not yet). Meanwhile, I think Morrigan's outward self-possession and the sense of power she exudes is a source of both fascination and frustration for Leliana, who thinks she understands power, both social and divine--but finds in Morrigan a kind she cannot fully comprehend. (I also think you can definitely feel some sexual tension into their banter, especially the much-beloved banter about the velvet dress.) Ultimately, both of them are very concerned with power, but approach that concept very differently. And Leliana responds to this clash of ideals in a particular way because her own self-image is so conflicted.

As all great Dragon Age foils do, Leliana and Morrigan needle one another, push each other's buttons, challenge one another's sense of self, and in doing so reveal one another in their complexity and sometimes in their ugliness. It is perhaps easy to write this off as the tired trope of women being unable to get along with one another, or conversely to claim that they get along just fine and fandom has fabricated the tensions between them; I think to do either of those things diminishes a genuinely complex and sticky relationship that serves to reveal a lot about both characters.

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Damn, i'm out here trying to save Thedas and you expect me to focus when this man is just out here looking like this?

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My fan animation of the spaceship Lost Light from Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. Everything was done in Blender 3D. I hope you like it :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJEjD-WjT8

Song: Fleetwood Mac - The Chain (RYDER SPOT EDIT) Remix

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Posted this on my alt yesterday.. tumblr goobers, do you agree with me... 😢

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His ass is never betting in Wicked Grace again Inspired by this twitter post (and also posted on twitter!)

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Since the Fallout show ends on Vegas, it had me reminiscing about my favourite gambling guyfailures 💛

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You caught me by surprise, changed my destination // Kaleidoscopic eyes forming constellations ✨

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Origins is the best Dragon Age game because you can make Alistair completely forgive you for actual child murder by giving him two cakes and making a sad face

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The exact moment I fell in love with Anders

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you know my da4 wishlist

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warden-cmdr

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First kiss

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*sobs hysterically* Commissioning @kisu-no-hi to draw my Inquisitor and Cullen was the worst idea ever; I’ve been staring at it for hours because I’m just so in love with everything about it. Look at the lighting and shading and the colours oh my god I am slain You should definitely commission her if you want to cry over beautiful artwork and end a four-year writer’s block.

“You should train with the Herald,” Leliana had suggested, in that tone of voice that meant it wasn’t really a suggestion. “It would be good for morale. Let the men see that she can fight.”

“Can she fight?” He had responded.

Can she fight? Ha.

Ten minutes in the practice ring, and Cullen had yet to land a blow on her. Another ten, and it had dawned on him. Arcadia was toying with him. Every lunge and slash, every strike had been dodged and as she spun away, she’d reach out and tap him with a dagger– he hadn’t even realized he was leaving her an opening.

Quite the crowd of recruits had gathered outside of Haven’s gates, watching as the Inquisition’s commander was utterly humiliated in single combat. Varric wasn’t even pretending to hide his amusement, offering commentary and odds and payout figures, pocketing coin and names alike.

This is ridiculous. The Maker-damned woman wasn’t even out of breath!

His frustration became all the more palpable when she winked at him, and disappeared into thin air. He threw his sword arm back to catch her flanking attack, and when it didn’t connect with anything, he swept his shield in an arc around him to clip her from where she stalked.

It didn’t connect either.

He finally glimpsed her when she came out of stealth, crouched low to the ground right in front of him. She smiled up at him– smiled!– and kicked his legs out from underneath him.

He laid on his back, breathless and stunned, as her weight settled upon his chest. The ringing in his ears was interrupted by the sound of daggers either side of his head crunching into the dirt. Arcadia’s face came into focus above him, a small smirk playing at her lips.

“If I was a fireball,” she said, “you’d be dead right now.”

He thought the recruits would never stop laughing.

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When Hawke met the Inquisitor

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in honour of the original video turning a year old, may i present:

the witcher but with britney spears music (now with sound effects) (originally inspired by @paper-records)