lithosaurus

[lithosaurus]

infinitely funny that solas is this powerful god that was worshipped for centuries albeit against his will and commanded spirits and legions of ancient elves in a rebellion

is the same solas who allowed himself to be bullied non stop by inquisition companions who had no idea what he was. imagine being revered for millennia and then suddenly sera is blowing raspberries anytime he speaks, varric’s calling him “chuckles” after his feared mantle of the dread wolf, being subjected to inappropriate spirit sex questions and the skyhold joke that he doesnt like tea, which he deliberately plays into purely for the sake of everyone’s amusement. he was completely content to be the butt of the joke.

the relief from being seen as a god-general of rebellion and lies to an unwashed apostate hobo ... being in the inquisition truly must’ve been the best year of his life

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Part 3! Just a girl and her mirror

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btw those who are saying “but Merrill’s mirror was corrupted!!”

nnnope

she stays near the Eluvian for years without any sign of corruption, without turning into a ghoul or dying

ALSO if the mirror was corrupted Anders would have sensed the Blight, but he doesn’t, even if you bring him near the damn thing

Merrill actually cleansed it with blood magic. It can be done

[lithosaurus]

You know, later game information on how the Eluvians work has only strengthened my belief that Audacity lied to Marethari when it told her it would use the Eluvian to posess Merrill. There's no reason why that would be possible. But if, instead, it knew that Merrill was wise to its tricks, so it targeted Marethari in her weak point - her affection for Merrill - things suddenly make a lot more sense. The plan was always to posess Marethari.

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Incoherent rambling about Antiva and organised crime

Hello, you read it a bunch of times in my disclaimers: I'm Italian. I love lore. Again, I'm not claiming Antiva as Italian, I am just analysing the lore through that lens because it's my culture. I fully recognise that Antiva is a mélange of Spanish and Italian culture, but I don't feel comfortable speaking on behalf of something that doesn't belong to me, so I only stick to what I know.

I've been hesitant to write this up because I find it really hard to express myself coherently. I have very ambiguous but also very visceral thoughts about the way Antivan lore shifted in Veilguard.

On the one hand, I think a refresh of the lore was needed. To me, the idea that one of the most popular fantasy renditions of my culture revolves around the concept that the entire nation is governed by organised crime is... unpleasant. There are so many more interesting things in Italian history, like trade guilds, maritime republics, etc. that like, did we really need that level of stereotypisation? I don't know, I think we could have done with something more tasteful or interesting.

As someone who people in real life have asked if my country was really governed by the mafia, seeing it in my fantasy game is just another reminder that that's how we're perceived abroad. Not a fan of it.

Despite this, I really enjoyed Eight Little Crows and The Wigmaker Job because of the focus on family politics, which is something that is very culturally relevant. At the same time, I was afraid it would lean more and more into the epic narrative of the mafia that has been promoted by American movies that couldn't be further from the reality of organised crime.

But I frankly don't even know what to make of what they did with Antivan lore in Veilguard.

As I said, I recognise that a revision of the lore was needed, and it's hinted at in previous installations. It doesn't come from nothing. Zevran has been cleaning up the Crows via murder for decades now. It must have had some effect. The new guard of Talons is also presented in a more idealistic and politic/trade oriented way in Eight Little Talons, but nothing of that or almost nothing makes it in the actual game. It's handwaved away.

And that doesn't sit right with me.

The previous rendition of Antivan lore was painfully stereotypical, but sadly, it was at least a merciless and raw mirror to look at. It didn't shy away from the fact that it sucked.

What we have in Veilguard is... much more painfully surface level. I don't really know what to make of it.

Nowhere it mentions reform, or a revolution. I think that's the direction they were going but there is no text about this, only subtext.

I can't really come to terms with how the topic was banalised and emptied out until it turned with something so shallow that is more an aesthetic than anything. Like as if we're cosplaying the mafia. And that is unacceptable.

Let me tell you in no unclear terms. The mafia sucks. It's not an aesthetic to be worn. It destroys my country from inside out and I have a stomach ache every time I see it glorified.

It exploits and kills innocents continuously and it poisons my country.

Some real life examples of what the mafia did:

Heading reads: strangled and thrown in the acid. It's about an 11 years old whose only "crime" was to be the child of someone who was in the mafia and testified against it to the authorities.

In 1992 the mafia blew up a highway to make sure they killed a magistrate who was fighting against it. Four people died and 23 were injured.

To this day the mafia is an accomplice of real world slavery and exploitation on top of the plague of drug and weapon trafficking and its businesses are not even a local issue anymore, but worldwide.

As you can imagine it really hurts in a visceral way to see something that still causes a lot of harm to real people being trivialised and made into an aesthetic.

And this is where my semi-coherent thoughts end.

I don't know where to go with this. I enjoyed parts of the crows arc and the more intimate family drama aspect. My rook is unapologetically a crow. I write Antivan lore tidbits because I find it fun.

I just wish we could have had that in a more sensitive or meaningful way. Something that was thematically satisfying.

[lithosaurus]

i call this the headcanon chart. see my vision

[lithosaurus]

The only True Dragon Age is replaying the character openings because they're the literal Dragon Age Origins, everything else is worldly heresies.

I think Dragon Age 2 is a good game, I just don't think it's a Dragon Age game 😔

[lithosaurus]

It would emphasize how Solas keeps finding himself in situations saying he wants to protect spirits but also sacrifices individuals for his greater plans.

I think Solas should have killed Cole and not Varric.

Here me out; I've said before that while I quite like Varric dying, I think they kinda shoehorned him into the game for no reason because they thought it would pull at players heartstrings rather than it making sense for Varric as a character. They've basically admitted to that.

But I think many long standing fans have a similar attachment to Cole and after Trespasser it makes waaaaaayyyyyy more sense that Cole would be searching for Solas to try and help/stop him.

I'm also not convinced it makes sense that Varric would try and talk Solas down considering his stance at the end of trespasser (disapproval for saying you'll be saving Solas) BUT Cole it makes COMPLETE SENSE. He's compassion. That's what Cole does.

Just replace Varric with Cole and I think it makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE in that first scene. And it also is more emotionally taxing for both Solas and Cole who both really care about each other.

Idk man. I just think Solas should have killed Cole and not Varric.

[lithosaurus]

Not to throw my hat into a pile of worms but maybe lumping broad categories of people together based on their reception of a video game is reductive.

A terf making a Veilguard critical post doesn't mean everyone 'in that crowd' is like that.

Relating to Tassh's character arc doesn't mean that the people who criticize their portrayal are all transphobic.

Thinking veilguard is goofy fun doesn't mean you ignore real world injustices.

Historically, the DA fandom will find a battleline anywhere but let's cool it with the broad statements of transphobia based on opinions about game that (still) can't figure out how many moons exist in world.

[lithosaurus]

me and Leliana on our third glass of wine making unsubtle eye contact with Florianne while waiting for Celene’s assassination

[lithosaurus]

hey so Malcolm Hawke got involved with the Grey Wardens then twenty-ish years later died from a vague and unspecified illness

just sayin?

[lithosaurus]

I was wondering if varric really threw merrill under the bus telling cass all about the blood magic or if he thinks cass cant really get her or what but i was thinking how it would had been so funny if everytime varric was talking about it he was like "then daisy did an ancient elven magic that makes everyone angry at her for some reason. no is not blood magic. i dont know what type of magic it is seeker all of them look the same to me. she was not impaling herself with her staff doing it that's for sure"

[lithosaurus]

I think Morrigan should have been more creepy and tragic in DATV. And by this I mean. She should have had flemeths mannerisms.

Like. This is a woman who fought tooth and nail not to have to give up her body to her mother. And she failed. She is possessed by that fragment of mythal that resided in Flemeth. And if they were going to do this they should have leaned into it way more than simply making it a matter of plot/lore dumping convince.

Imagine Morrigan laughing like her mother, that iconic Flemeth laugh. Imagine Morrigan calling herself foolish for not wanting to be the next host in a way that feels slightly out of character and vitriolic. Imagine Morrigan speaking in those riddle type ways that Flemeth did.

Idk man. I think they should have made it more creepy if they really were going for that.

[lithosaurus]

origins au where the warden dies of their injuries in flemeth’s hut after ostagar. and flemeth sees that the existence of a buddy grey warden was extremely emotionally load-bearing for the one she did manage to save so she puts a spirit in the warden’s corpse and drags them out with the exact same you worry too much young man! look, they’re fine! spiel

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[lithosaurus]

The Dark Game Awards. We have categories

Biggest day 1 patch

This probably could have been a movie

Proof that indie games aren't inherently more artistic

Most playable asset flip

Most gambling addicts created

[lithosaurus]

it's actually so funny to think about from a historical perspective. yeah in our first real example of explosive devices being used in an act of terrorism (literally: the use of violence in pursuit of political goals) is a chantry being exploded. this causes mass political unrest and leads to a war. in order to end this war a meeting is called inside a chantry and all of the biggest players are invited to try and mediate a solution. this meeting is disrupted by an explosion that kills almost everyone. these two explosions have no link and only one or two people even suggest they might be related.