orlesianhennin

[orlesianhennin]

[orlesianhennin]

Had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong.

[orlesianhennin]

come and find me, lying in the bed i made.

[orlesianhennin]

When this is all over, I will join her again

the warden is ours with @starrythroat

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nothing beats a selune cleric x shadowheart playthrough

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long time no surana art

[orlesianhennin]

“The Chantry dictated where it should have inspired. It spoke of judgement instead of acceptance. It should encourage the good in all of us rather than rebuke us for our sins. Whoever you are, whatever your mistakes, you are loved. Unconditionally.”

you ever just hear a character speak and realize how important they are to you???

[orlesianhennin]

speaking of how cool and hot the female characters would be in your alternate inquisition game would be, what do you think vivienne would be doing? would she start off with the inquisition until you convince her that theres no returning to the way it was, or does she seek you out in a similar way to canon?

so there’s a couple avenues. one is making her the head of the inquisition’s loyalist mages as u describe. however, i would absolutely no question want you to be able to pull her over to your side, as the worst vivienne choice i can imagine is to double down on the vanilla game’s weirdly spiteful villainisation, and if i took that route i would cut out the redemption/recruitment possibilities for the inquisition’s advisors (at the very least for cullen & josephine) as imo it would be treading too much of the same ground. possible, and potentially rewarding, but a pretty steep cost given the place those characters also hold in people’s hearts. worth thinking about!

but frankly i love having her around so much that i favour keeping vivienne as a companion throughout the game. in this variant, even more obviously than in dai, we meet a vivienne living her worst case scenario. she was a fierce loyalist when the rebellions began, but as the rebels fled into the shadows she became the most outspoken, powerful mage left in the inquisition’s full sight, and it was proved once and for all that you simply cannot do things correctly enough to be absolved of being a mage. they turned on her. perhaps when she argued that mages simply could not, based on any known arcane knowledge, be to blame for the rifts. her supporters in orlais withered away, bastien was in no position to do anything, and celene was as quick to wash her hands of her as she was to use her. she has fallen so far that you, the so-called herald with your makeshift band of fugitives & rebels, are simply the only power left who will take her. and if you can really close the rifts, if she is seen helping at your side, then people will know that at least in this, mages were the solution not the problem. now on the run herself, it’s the only chance she has left to seize agency, safeguard her people, and, if she’s very, very lucky, return to power in the new world you shape

despite being on a “rebel” team, this vivienne shouldn’t be defanged of her politics. she should still blame the rebels for it coming to this. even if our party are pretty universally enemies of the inquisition one way or another, it makes sense for some characters to see it as an aberration rather than typical of the chantry, and to wish for things to return to the way they were. however, i’d also like potential room for character growth. this is vivienne’s first time truly free of the circle & chantry since she was a child, and if she experiences possibility at your side, if she’s encouraged to act based on hope rather than fear and you don’t disappoint that hope, it should affect her worldview. but you can also opt to encourage the path she was already on! as herald, you will have choices between the goals of restoring “normality” or gambling on a better future. this is a binary that will probably characterise your dynamic with many of the companions, especially vivienne, in a system inspired by da2 friendship/rivalry

as a visual note, i’d love to see her using the typical apostate furs and feathers to recreate her courtly outfits, to emphasise her navigating her new & old positions in the world. inspired by this concept art:

[orlesianhennin]

Madame

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[orlesianhennin]

Stoats make great scarves (and friends) (ideally at the same time, okay?) prints | patreon

[orlesianhennin]

DANDELION | overcoming hardship, healing, resilience, hope

I had the pleasure of painting the illustrious Dorian for @daflowerzine 🌼 leftover sales are still happening!

[orlesianhennin]

didn’t cry, that’s what he wants

[orlesianhennin]

This is the only dragon age character i know

[orlesianhennin]

maturing is coming back around and loving Sebastian vael

[orlesianhennin]

playing swtor and I cannot believe the heterosexuality present

[orlesianhennin]

maturing is coming back around and loving Sebastian vael