shiningancalagon - Tumblr blog

[shiningancalagon]

Young inquisitor adopted by Dorian and the Bull, yes please and thank you

DAI Companions reactions to repeatedly being mistaken for a young/teen Inquisitor's parent or older sibling.

Cassandra: At times it feels like she is, and yet it is never something the seeker begrudges. This young person has stepped into a role no one their age should have to fulfill, and with so many relying on them to save the world at least one person should be standing in the role of guardian and protector of their interests. She only wishes it could be her sole priority.

And if, in quiet moments, to have a sibling again is a balm then it a truth no one else need know.

Varric: He was a lousy brother, though is was not as if Bertrand was winning any awards either. But he never really understood the pressures his older brother was under until stepping into part of that role— and Varric never had the strain of ailing mother or the loss of Orzammar on his shoulders. No, he is not sibling material.

But no father could be prouder of a child than he is, watching their young leader stitch the world back together. Kid needs looking after, and Varric Tethras is honored in the burden.

Solas: If the Inquisitor is elven, no matter his plans for the future, the rift mage feels a sort of obligatory kinship to the da’len so far from clan or kin. Children have always been precious, especially to the Elvhen who did not conceive so easily as humans.

For any other inquisitor he does not correct those who make the mistake, and will turn it into a familiar joke later that the herald must be the most attractive of thei species to be mistaken for an elf. It hides how little he cares for the comparison.

Kin slaying is a terrible crime. Best not to build the relationship from the start.

Blackwall: In another life Thom Rainier had scorend the idea of children, and taken pains to ensure that his dalliances would not conceive a bastard he had no intention of claiming. Now his family name is hardly worth the claiming, and he is grateful his only sister took her husband’s name long ago and is free of his legacy.

But as a warden, true or otherwise, Blackwall is honored by such a comparison. If his presence has had any small benefit to the young person upon whom such a task is laid then he is honored by the comparison. And while he would be the first to argue that no one is better off in his care or keeping, Blackwall would be the first to lay down his life to protect theirs, and will do everything he can to make sure they are well.

Vivienne: For the sake of his grown children- and the wife who had done her duty in the bearing- Bastian could not have given her a child. Even if he could have protected it from the clawing hands of the Circle, whose laws had forbidden such a gift. To be a mother was not in her future, and in her youth Vivienne had taken steps to ensure such an accidental fate could never befall her.

But she could have been. In the quiet moments through out the years she had imagined how such a child might grow, might flourish under the love and guidance of two parents who so deeply wanted it. And while the Inquisitor is neither replacement nor surrogate for that dream, in this young person Madame de Fer can see a reflection of what might have been.

If she takes care to guard their appearance, coach their behavior and prepare them as best she can for the great game, it is easily couched in the truth that it benefits the Inquisition to do so. The truth of her affection is hidden away, no further burden on shoulders already heavy with titles and too few years.

But she can dream.

Sera: When she does think about her childhood, the few times it has to be examined, Sera would not have minded another small person to have run about with. It might have made the lessons and the lies less lonely, to know someone else was there to ride through it with.

But there wasn’t. And she didn’t. And she likes the Inquisitor, is happy to have them as both friend and Friend. But family is a sore spot in the tapestry of her life, and adding patches to warped thread does not fix the faulty loom.

Dorian: It is the worst nightmare of most high born alti, that one’s parents might conceive a second child to rival them for the familiar seat in the magisterium. Never a risk for Halward and Aquinea, whose duties to each other and the marriage bed ended w it the birth of a living and magically inclined son.

And yet Dorian would not have minded a younger Pavus knocking about when he had been a boy, someone to share the duties and adventures of Minrathious in those few years before duty locked away simpler pleasures. But when he is first mistaken for the Inquisitor’s father, first mistakenly assigned that guardianship and all it brings?

It staggers him, how deeply the role could fit. For all that their creation is anathema to them, Dorian Pavus would never scorn a child of his blood. Of any blood, in truth. If their herald is young enough and without guardianship, without a future once Corypheus is defeated…

It is a thought for later.

The Iron Bull: Where is the lie? Was he any less worthy of the imereki than those who had left them behind? The feelings that well up when the mistaken role is given do not surprise him, and Bull is perhaps the easiest of any besides Cassandra with taking on that burden. The Chargers are his family, and if they survive the Storm Coast the little Herald is gathered up into that fold without question.

And even with one eye he can see the second Dorian accepts and even relishes the idea. The Iron Bull didn’t come South looking for a family, but one may well be within his grasp regardless.

Cole: “Shared name, shared memories, tied together by all the things that matter. Even when we don’t agree there is still love and trust, striving for something greater than we are. Yes! We are a family. That makes sense.”

Mod Fereldone

[shiningancalagon]

Characters in Different Roles

Planning on doing more maybe

[shiningancalagon]

it's cause you're always going down down down to that damn river

[shiningancalagon]

Chargers are just lightning straws

[shiningancalagon]

wise words from a crazed balloon animal

[shiningancalagon]

To those people who got into Homestuck during the pandemic: Congratulations. You understood the assignment.

[shiningancalagon]

I like plushies.

Plushies don't judge anyone. They're happy to be snuggled, or just be there, or left safely on your bed. They're so content with the world

[shiningancalagon]

DYSCONNECTION

To what? -- Here is a poem.

I am tired of the lies. You lie When you say it's contagion A conditioning I'm caught in. You are right that I am caught But it's by your conditioning.

Why would I ask for pain? Disgust with this portrait of mine, Chained to what is bound to me. Stop calling me beautiful, stop calling me lucky Stop ignoring me in favor of so-called beauty!

Are you jealous? You can have it. I never wanted this. Take it away. If you were right, and you're not, I'd be proud of what's "pretty" But I want it to rot!

So stop lying to me. Then I'll return the favor But as it all stands, I'm stranded in shadow My tongue turned black from the wardrobe I hide in. Until you see truth, I can't speak it.

You say I am false My kind don't exist. So perhaps it is fitting That you see a false me.

[shiningancalagon]

GYFT

German. Noun. Lit: Poison.

A poem on the lived experiences of people like me.

I am called cruelly by what's carved on my cage. Never asked, nor considered. No matter. Not known, no -- but I know -- To me, it's no name. It's rotted, necrotic; necro-nym.

You claim it's no cage, but kindness, compassion But I feel what's inlaid and I know The etching lays me low -- It's not your intention, but no matter. You'll never admit your infraction.

Consider the nature of a gift. To be given, and accepted If it cannot be rejected then: It is merely imposition. What better name for this war of attrition? Imposition, in position, You would scream in our position. Screaming, silencing, louder and lording Over those who hope vainly for some kindly morning Noon burns and watches coldly While evening, ending, wetness burning On my face, is it tears, or the pyre You light to enshroud us In darkness entire?

Silence follows, I wish only to speak To be heard and heeded But this cage shatters all that I seek. If I were my cage, I'd live not unlike you But were you behind bars, what of you? In truth you would be exactly like me. No matter your cries, your condemnation You see, it's empowered by your higher position. In here you are small, you face accusation. And for what crime, but to timidly seek The justice I'm owed: To be heard when I speak?

That is really imposition -- Not the silence you suffer Yet strangely shout over! Enough! Quit hurling accusations! How dare you speak of love unconditioned When silencing slaves seems your mission?

How do I impose to ask for some light That you've hoarded and guarded For those only with might? When you call me crazy, or cruel, or a crime For not fitting the cage you crafted And forced me inside?

[shiningancalagon]

Well it irritates ME because your trans headcanons conflict with my equally specific and perhaps more specificer trans headcanons

[shiningancalagon]

Romantic era poetry

Today I realized that because I have a tumblr I have the ability to share things that interest me without having to carefully read the guidelines of every Discord server to see if a poem about a corpse is allowed, and now it's your problem.

It's a poem with shock factor but it's not empty of all else. It's beautifully written and I think more people ought to know about it.

(I am not enough years old to own this centuries-old poem, credit to author, translator, and poetry cat.)

[shiningancalagon]

Oh my goodness. Yes. Great Pyrenees 100%, and I'll give some vague ideas later for other companions -- thanks for the mental image of Solas up a tree, by the way!!

Thoughts on an Inquisitor's Mabari, that good good girl would smell the lies on Solas, wouldn't she? Also what IRL dog breeds could DAI companions have? Let's give Cassandra a Corgi! For all the non-threatening happiness they exude, they're hard working herders.

Cassandra has a Great Pyrenees, and Imma tell you why.

She loves fiercely, but war is not what Cassandra truly desires. She wants a warm meal with her friends, a warm bed with her beloved, peace and justice in the world. She wants the freedom to lay down with her flock and care for them.

But at the first sign of danger, at the first whisper of fear, Cassandra is up at arms. And a Great Pyrenees is the absolute embodiment of both of those sentiments.

(But yes, the Inquisitor’s mabari would tree Solas in about ten seconds.)

Mod Fereldone

[shiningancalagon]

Reblog to save a life.

[shiningancalagon]

I hear that inactive blogs are usually seen as bots which is such a shame for me bc I consistently forget this account exists

And also I just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to make an original post, I must not be awake

[shiningancalagon]

I love them, they're just so happy!

WOOP!