#TRYING to do a templar run just to see what its like.

[lystring]

I WANTED TO DO A FUCKING TEMPLAR ALIGNED PLAYTHROUGH JUST TO SEE WHAT ITS LIKE BUT THEY'RE MAKING IT DAMN HARD FOR ME TO DO SO

[teecupangel]

Why not just Desmond being an angel.

And it freaks everybody out and everybody thinks he's holy or something and he's just like "all right okay why not"

It had happened by accident.

It had to be an accident, right?

Altaïr had been thrown out of the room and the Templars had unsheathed their weapons. Malik had been focused on protecting his brother, shouting at him to run as he tried to keep all of the Templars busy.

Robert de Sablé didn’t even look back when he walked away after ordering their death.

Malik didn’t know what happened.

He saw Kadar freeze when he neared the scaffolding that would lead to the treasure and Malik swore his eyes glowed gold for the briefest of moments.

Before one of the Templars charged at him.

Kadar snapped out of it and tried to block, his stance unstable enough that he slipped backwards.

Into the scaffolding…

Taking the Templar with him.

The Templar’s sword struck one of the wooden pillars keeping the scaffolding stable and…

Malik didn’t have any explanation for it.

It shouldn’t have happened.

The scaffolding started to crumble, making Kadar and the Templar run away from it as fast as they could.

And then…

The wall next to the scaffolding began to break apart, golden light coming from the cracks before the entire thing fell down.

Together with the treasure and the ark where it had been resting.

The ark broke in half, splitting in the middle to reveal an egg shaped thing made of stone that was around the height of perhaps Malik when he was sitting on the floor.

The treasure fell on top of it, shattering like it was made of glass.

Where the shards fell on the stone, the stone changed and spread.

Until…

What had been stone had changed to seemingly three pairs of wings with white feathers that seemed to shine gold all curled together.

The wings twitched…

Before slowly opening, stretching to its full size.

Revealing a young man seemingly sleeping, the three pairs of wings attached to his back. His head was resting on his propped up knees.

No one could speak.

No one could move.

Until…

“Altaïr?” Kadar whispered hesitantly and Malik could see why he would call out that fool’s name.

The man looked too much like Altaïr for it to be a coincidence.

Almost as if hearing the name, the man…

No.

The divine being in front of them opened his eyes.

Instead of Altaïr’s golden eyes, his eyes were light brown with specks of gold in them.

And Malik wondered how he could see them from where he was standing, a few meters away from the winged being.

The divine being looked around and blinked.

His eyes met Malik and his lips parted.

“It’s an angel!”

Before he could speak, the Templars all knelt and began to pray.

The Templar who had attacked Kadar took off his helmet and…

It was a woman.

A woman who was praying fervently at the divine being who…

… looked at Malik with wide confused eyes.

Unorganized Notes… I mean… sorta notes?:

Desmond is surprised for a few seconds then he goes “Be not afraid” and tried to sound super impressive “Ye are in the presence of…………… the will of God.” and he’s just bullshiting his way to uuhhh. He has no plans.

He glanced at Malik and Kadar and oh yeah, alright.

“Ye shall not harm these… men of justice for they are… under my protection…?”

At that point, Desmond knows he is ffuuuccckkeedd. Malik is obviously onto him. Kadar is super confused and just keeps staring at his face. Then…

Maria, of all people, agree and even goes as pledge her sword to him which is super weird and Desmond’s just “???”

In the end, Desmond accidentally takes the Templars about to kill Malik and Kadar with him as he leaves the temple with Malik and Kadar. It’s a very awkward journey and Desmond has no idea what else to do other than…

Oh wait… there were other Templars stationed nearby and they all saw him leave with his ‘entourage’.

Before he could try to say anything, Maria speaks for him, calling the messenger of God and that he had been sleeping in the Ark of the Covenant which sounded like a super big deal (and he can’t even whisper to Malik to ask what the hell she was talking about because the Farm was never religious and the only time Desmond even heard of the Ark of the Covenant was from Indiana Jones) and…

… why does it feel like Maria was converting people into becoming his personal army???

Oh god… Was this…

Was he going to take his own army to Masyaf???

[notebooks-and-laptops]

I've been thinking and from what we see in Dragon Age Origins there aren't really? Places? For the children? In the circle tower? We see children walking around, Wynne is protecting them during broken circle and we know magic manifests during childhood. And yet for all that the tower doesn't seem to have a cresh or children's toys or spaces where children could run around and play? It doesn't even seem to have just like. A separate room for them to learn/hang in. The apprentice floor is largely taken up by the tightly packed dorms and the huge library and not much else.

What do you think its like for a child in that environment? Constantly watched by templars, yes, but also with nothing really made for your age group to engage with. I can imagine the young apprentice mages running through the library being a regular occurrence as they work out their childhood energy - "slow down" shouted after them but everyone just kinda accepts it because what else are they going to do? Kids making prank games or stealing games or "how high can you get up the tower before your noticed" games? Kids being loud and crying in places where tired young adults just want to study (maybe that's why there's the big library downstairs and a smaller one upstairs for mages who passed the harrowing and don't want to deal with children making a racket as they try and write their magical theory proposals?)

Kids who were ripped from their parents now being placed in a really large dorm with a bunch of older scary people and what are they going to do? Trying not to be too obvious about their tears. Maybe climbing into the bed of an older apprentice they trust or a fellow young mage they were brought to the tower with.

Idk man. Children in the circle and the lack of space/provisions for them is just. Wild.

[dragonagecompanions]

Could you do like a head cannon for like 1920 noir inquisitor companions/romances

You have to listen to this while you read.

Cassandra: She's a hardened murder cop with a hidden love for romance and no mercy for the criminal underground. She wrote the book on playing by the rules, but when things get tough she'll stab the book and do what's right.

Varric: Sometimes an author has to know his element to discover the truth. Few people would expect the renowned serial novelist to be caught dead in a speakeasy as seedy as the Hanged Man, but with a pencil behind his ear (and a hand always ready on a pistol with his lover's named carved into the barrel) he's always on the hunt for a story.

Solas: A bartender more comfortable with spirits than people, the elf behind the bar at the Dread Wolf is a hard man to read. Good for stiches in a pinch and no slouch in a fight when it suits his fancy, he owes no power in the city alliegence-- and no one knows his end game.

Blackwall: It takes guts to fake your way into a gang like the Wardens, but Thom Rainier's in too deep to back out now. With a dead man's name and street rep to keep the dogs at bay the hardened enforcer can only try to atone for his past-- and fight for a better future.

Vivienne: Very little is known about Madame de Fer, owner and operator of the more exclusive brewery this side of the Tevinter boarder, except that her gin has never seen a bath tub and the Templars don't bother her supply.

Any resemblance to the renowned socialite Vivienne the Enchantress is rarely commented onl; those who do rarely repeat the mistake.

Sera: With the gang warfare, the police cracking down on the littles and the templars hunting any unregulated booze for their prohibition on alcohol someone has to look out for the little guy. No one is really sure who Red Jenny is, but everyone knows that the street kids and pick pockets and beat down element knows her name-- and she is always watching.

The abandoned warehouse on the dock is her headquarters, full of her ill gotten gains and home to the fences who turn it into cash. Nobody starves and everyone profits. A tidy business, yeah?

Dorian: Everyone knows that there is more going on behind the scenes of the Halward Pavus Memorial Library than meets the eye, but no matter how many times it's raided the head archivist is always completely above suspicion. Books and learning are all that linger in those hallowed halls--please try to be quiet on your way out.

But everyone knows that at night Dorian Pavus puts down the index carts and hard backs to pursue his true passion-- and that the Tevinter will pay up to four sovereigns for a fresh corpse*. Medical science is varely stumbling into the light, and if his books on anatomy -so accurate as to be used as reference during surgeries- then the long hours spent on the dissecting table are well worth it.

The Iron Bull: Someone needs to make sure that the beer, wine, whiskey and gin finds its way from hidden distilleries to the thirsty patrons of the city's illicit watering holes. The Chargers are the best, expensive but worth the money to get things where they are going. With a sapper from the wars on tap rumor says they have their own tunnels under the city, but no one knows anything for certain. He runs a clean crew, dependable and honest. Madam de Fer makes frequent use of them.

And if The Iron Bull also reports to the higher ups in the Qun, the north side gang just waiting for a chance to take it all, that's his own business. Straining loyalties may bring it to a show down, but for now he's willing to ride the knife edge.

Cole: No one can really remember when the fortune teller's shop opened at the edge of town. One day it was simply there, mysterious and festooned with gauzy curtains and wreathed in fragrant incense. The nug motif is...a little odd, sure, but tame compared to the figure behind the crystal ball.

It's hard to see his eyes behind the wide brimmed hat, and those who do meet his gaze can't claim to enjoy the experience. But Cole has a way of getting into your head to the deepest thoughts and secrets waiting there and finding the best solutions. Whether he can see the future or not, enough people are willing to try to keep the doors open.

For now.

(I really couldn't figure out the romances. Hope this serves!)

(*in Canada and the US, the resurrectionist movement was still going strong into the late 1950s!)

Mod Fereldone

[siramay-the-showgun-dragon]

DR3 episode 10 Makoto Vs Munakata BREAKDOWN

recently someone else made a post about Makoto's feral-ness during the showdown he had with Munakata in episode 10, of course it's quite cool, but i feel some may take it the wrong way so i wanna set the record strait and also gush about stuff i love in that scene that people may not notice so first lets lay some context

future arc episode 10: prior to this Munakata has gone on a downward spiral of insanity being a knight templar and that his way is the right way and that he must kill all despair meaning everyone he even practically killed Juzo and even before his full berserk mode he was highly aggressive and hostile towards Makoto not listening to his words at all and belittling him, in short at the time he was far from "a reasonable folk" and Makoto at the time just had his girlfriend friend Kyoko die in which Munakata challenged him to a once and for all face off, in which Makoto bears his will and steady's himself, though being open about the pain in his heart of her apparent passing and this is important as his heart is his most powerful weapon ok now lets start

so we start with the precursor as Makoto walks to Munakata and they think over their ideologies. and how Munakata wants to pull a "kill them to save them" with Makoto and everyone cause he thinks despair must be destroyed and you know its interesting cause then Makoto says

i remember it shaking me how steadfast and determined he was, to stop Munakata at all cost but i just want to point out something from here on out that i feel is very important to what we shall be seeing

Makoto Planed all this

not the before stuff i mean as soon as he walked in that room he knew what he would say and what he would do, he had his end goal in mind he even says so near the climax with the doors but even before that he planned what would happen prior it may not seem like it due to how he always seemed on the losing side and sure he probably didn't plan to get beaten up so much but he still knew what he would do and how he would do it, and people don't talk about that much but this all shows how Makoto is much more intelligent then we give him credit for, but I'll explain as we go on

so then we start Makoto steps on glass to alert Munakatas attention, you can tell it's on purposes as there's no indicator of uncertainty or fear on Makoto's part, it's to say "i am here lets end this" as when Munakata speaks makoto still stands strong not faltering or fumbling. then he says "i wont hesitate anymore" makoto will face munakata head on and do what he needs to but even then befor anything he trys to talk down munakata saying how killing eachother is pointless and that they can still work together

of course munakata doesn't listen but no one can say Makoto didn't try

and that's when the chase begins, but who's the hunter and who's the hunted? that's what one must ask

so though munakata attacks makoto runs out closing the door as it's revealed in the end makoto knows munakata can't open doors and uses this to his advantage drawing distance and gaining time to make his next move, as

open door which of course Munakata knows is a set up,

but jokes on him makoto knew he would know it's a set up, or not, it's a win win either way because if he didn't know

deep fried zealot on the barbie! but since he did know he survived which leads to the next phase of makotos plan. and if any of you are wondering why makoto would do such a thing

he was always feral! he just didn't have much chance to act on it because he's polite and sees the good in people, but even he has his limits, so you best start appreciating the kindness Makoto shows in you when he does, well on to phase 2!

cause munakata survives with his sword and shoots makoto with tengans weapon which hurts of course so makoto runs off as his blood leads munakata exactly where makoto wants him to be he even says so

of course makoto knows about the fire extinguisher and he dosent just mean that but I'll bring that up in a second as we see makoto look around waiting for munakata who comes in soon after and makoto is hidden now holding the fire extinguisher to bop munakata on the head! which fails, he also throws it but that fails, now one ask if this could kill munakata but from my research it seems it would only hurt maybe konk him out as for something to hit your head and kill you it must be about 24 kg (52 lbs). for it to be lethal from arm length and the average fire extinguisher is around 5-10 pounds and as much as i like to believe makoto is this

hes more likely this

so that fire extinguisher is more then defiantly not killing just gonna sting maybe knock him unconscious which would be a win, but he failed but dont worry! this leads the phase 3! which brings up how before he threw it he planed on using it for its intended purpose, (which is a important part of phase 3)

because though it gets thrown away and jammed in the wall it BLOWS UP HITTING MUNAKATA IN THE BACK AND MAKEING A SMOKE SCREEN EVERYWHERE! which disorients and distracts munakata for makotos phase 3!

JUMP HIM AND PUSH HIM IN THE HOLE!

which leads me to point out something genius The dud fire extinguisher? It was the same one that Asahina tried to use to cover their escape in episode 2. Likewise, the hole in the floor is the one Great Gozu smashed for an escape route in the same episode. In "fighting" Munakata, Makoto made use of observation, deductive reasoning, and a pretty good memory; skills that he'd honed in his own Killing Game, which Munakata had earlier derided for being too orderly compared to fighting in the real world.

which of course leads to the kicker as they are both down the hole, munakata apears to have makoto right where he wants him right there in on a silver platter for a kill, but on the contrairy, makoto has munakata right where he wants him as makoto reveals he knows munakats forbidden action, and thus makeing it so munakata cant kill him and has to listen. moral of the story

munakatas like "your plan faild i am not dead" makoto:

this of course all leads to the epic confrontation scene

it was with empathizing and saying these words to munakata did he finally pierce his heart and get munakata to back down...

so much for useless platitudes ay munakata?

[creetchure]

In Attack of White Knight!Azrael

A few days ago, I reread curse of the white knight by sean murphy, and that comic has awakened feelings of rage within me that make me feel a little coocoo and has reminded me just how much I love Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael and the way both Denis O’Neil and Dan Watters have written him. The following is a vaguely structured version of the rant I gave my friend about it.

To me, one of the most important things O’Neil has done during his time writing Azrael/JPV was making them deeply, completely, human. During the original Azrael run, Knightfall, and then Azrael Agent of the Bat, JPV/Az have done bad things, sure, but they’ve never been treated as a full on villain, used only to move the plot of the heroes forward. We got to see exactly how and when they got to the point of being an antagonist, and at least from my point of view, it always was at least to some level sympathetic. JPV/Az are a RAMCOA system, and I personally headcanon that their psychosis is a PTSD symptom rather than a disorder on its own, as it only seems to appear after Azrael gets triggered and memories of becoming Azrael surface, bringing the buried trauma with it. It’s something that affects them clearly all through their appearances before their death, and now again in Waters’s writing of them. They have delusions, they’re paranoid, they hallucinate their father and a knight templar in the sky asking them to kill a man while they struggle not to, and they’re still not treated like a villain by the narrative. Like an antagonist, yes, but not a villain, as is recognized directly by the characters, both in Knightsend and afterwards. 

And then, there’s Sean Murphy. Sean Murphy did not bother reading Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael’s wiki page. Sean Murphy did not bother trying to know what JPV/Az’s character was even about. Instead, he built a one dimensional villain on the sole basis of “guy who believes he’s an angel, heavily religious”. Mind, that isn’t even an accurate way to describe Azrael at all. While O’Neil’s JPV/Azrael is a young man desperately trying to cope with trauma bad enough for him not to remember, and trying to keep the angel in his head in check so they pose neither a danger to themselves or anyone else, Murphy’s is a middle aged evangelist soldier with lung cancer. While O’Neil’s JPV is alone, has no support system to speak of to rely on, as his father is dead and he visibly has no friends, Murphy’s clearly has people around him in Michael and Gabriel, who, frankly, should have pulled him out of it. By all means, Murphy’s Azrael should be both medicated and in therapy for psychosis rather than enabled by his friends to believe himself an angel and wield a flaming sword. Where O’Neil’s Azrael still chose to do good even as it was a fight against themself, even as everyone told them to do otherwise, Murphy’s is, much like the rest of his book, edgy to be edgy. 

Now, O’Neil’s run is long, as has its ups and down, and I do understand that Murphy might not have had the time or want to read through it, though I’d argue Knightfall should be mandated reading for anyone looking to call back the Azbats suit. However, Murphy not reading comics has lead to many other egregious errors which could have been fixed with even the slightest bit of research. And I do mean a single Google search would have done the trick for some of them. It truly goes to show just how little Murphy actually cares about the source material aside from Snyder’s Batman movies when he allows for Jason to be the first Robin without thinking twice about it, or about how to fix it, or when he makes Renée Montoya out to be a character only to never even call her by her first name more than once, or when he makes Barbara an entirely out of character mess. 

O’Neil and Quesada have poured so much love into Azrael and it honestly makes me angry how little respect Murphy has for their work and their character. He is, to me, one of the best characters to come out of 90s comics, and Murphy could not be bothered to read a wiki article about him, or to spend an hour reading Batman Sword of Azrael – which would have been enough for a more solid grasp of the characters, and is truly only four issues long. To me, JPV/Azrael is one of the superheroes who goes through the most shit, on a personal level, and is the most human in his reactions, which is why seeing him turned into a caricature, if you could even call it that, is so shocking, as it’s incredibly easy to imagine his real reactions in the comic. He is not a villain. Many people like to bring up the panel of Robin where he chokes Tim Drake in the Batcave, but none of them seem to be willing to discuss what came before or after, the reason why any of it even happened at all. The truth is, JPV/Az banned Tim from the cave because they doubted their ability to protect a Robin as Batman, and Tim, as he kept on returning, eventually got to the Batcave and JPV/Az snapped and put the fear of them in him ; it was never meant as more than a scare, and is an action taken in a stressful moment for JPV. Though it doesn’t make it right, the context does make me sympathetic to the circumstances. At that point in time, JPV is trying to fit in Batman’s shoes while said man is away, fighting for control against Azrael, losing time when he loses that fight, feeling like he’s losing his mind as he starts to see his father and Saint Dumas, and trying to keep his head up while he’s swallowed by the mantle of Batman which Bruce knew full well would drown him. 

It’s a horrible time. Bruce admits it himself later on, it was something he knew could break JPV. Yet, through it all, JPV doesn’t kill. He lets a serial killer die, yes, but he only does so as he’s arguing with hallucinations of his father and Saint Dumas, both ordering him to kill. And even still, his only fault is in inaction, and not the murder he is later accused of. Through it all, JPV doesn’t give in. And in White Knight? In White Knight, JPV is a sad old man with cancer who’s being a little BITCH about it. 

O’Neil’s is a better character in the 4 issues of Batman: Sword of Azrael than Murphy’s in the 8 issues of Curse of the White Knight. 

[quietbluejay]

Godblight 3

wait I forgot to make the "it has been 0 days since our last Guilliman Leeroy Jenkins incident" joke earlier

oh no a plague imp manifested in Fabian's room Fabian: stay there! jskhflksdj then he gets dressed and i thought he was going to run to get Lucerne but he just shot the imp

except that oops! all plague daemons lucerne arrives dramatically to save him

ku'gath wearing a plague doctor mask

I've said it so many times but the nurglings deserve to be animated so badly i hope the henry cavill warhammer miniseries has ugly cute nurglings lmaooo and then he tests it on the nurglings ku'gath, who hates nurglings: sweet silence

gahhh i know i should space out my reading of this more and not finish tonight but i want to knowww

open the gates stop having them be closed

Mathieu outplayed Guilliman a part of me admires him for this i gotta cheer for the little guy getting one up on the primarch oh boy

i love this subplot so much even as it fills me with horror

and now we're back to ku'gath and he's here making sure everything looks good when mort shows up

rip ku'gath, who shrunk the cauldron beforehand this presentation isn't going well

man mort is so obnoxious oh??? mort is being nice now??? mort: ok that's actually sick welp that was fast ku'gath mentions the new war and mort immediately loses his temper anyways ku'gath is sharing the info from the tattleslug

im wheezing for real here

mortarion: THINK, ku'gath, think! also ku'gath is a mood tfw you build a very cool feature and the non-devs are like "meh, okay, that's it?" This whole scene really feels like when you're doing a presentation for the product people of the new feature you've built.

and there we go

and mort dramatically leaves after offending ku'gath's pride some more leaving one pitiful nurgling behind to look sadly at ku'gath rip nurgling it gets squashed

i wish i could unread about orifices and squeezing a rain of monsters free from birthing canals but at least it's supposed to be cursed oh no not the mucus again well this is the nurgle book and the giant monster is also poopin everywhere all the little monsterlings happily following their monstermom peak nurgle

its not just me right, anyone else feeling the tolkien here again?

oh nice job idiots try to get civilian to be quiet accidentally kill him his daughter starts screaming

idk what it is about warhammer40k that makes me want to give everyone a prize when they show basic decency probably because the next minute, they commit war crimes

oh boy the matter is resolved but not really oh, he did give in :(

fabian got the one flippant black templar who has ever existed we're back to this duo again

i have a bad feeling about what's going to happen here and i think im genuinely attached to these guys so i really hope im wrong shakes fist at guy haley

yeppp he went into the library oh hey guilliman got to save felix in dramatic fashion

well this is going to be. interesting. annd he successfully baited Mortarion out

mort: immediately starts gloating guilliman: my turn for gun

….i have a bad feeling about where the whole divinity subplot is going to take us

are you feeling it now mr krabs

OH WE'RE GETTING TO SEE A FLASHBACK GUILLIMANS MEETING WITH THE EMPEROR AND MORT IS ALONG FOR THE RIDE

ohhhh man

what is the emperor

oh they managed to take out ku'gath honestly that was a baller move slamming into him with a tank then jumping on him with power sword ope

Emperor manifestation??? (note from future bluejay: reactions to the rest of this scene can best be summed up as: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

i did rob just apotheose but also what a statement wow

okay so i guess not

but was that like…possible future deity guilliman possessing mortal guilliman?? was it the emperor but also it said "i am roboute guilliman" guilliman as the avatar for the emperor??

okay i guess the issue is. on hold?? orrr not oh no

the emperor couldn't have left a message himself during the possession? oh the emperor is keeping Mathieu alive even though he's got super plague oh no what does he have to say

oh no what's on the throne

so because of all the warp juice floating around, faith is more powerful. grrreat

Oops I've hit image limit so this is going to have to finish on another post

[saiikavon]

Dragon Age ask on my dash? I apologize in advance.

1, 2, 4-8, 12, 17, 21, 29, 30, 38, 39, 49, 60 (I realize this is a lot, so you can pick and choose if you don't want to answer all of them lol)

I love you. So much. (Lol this got so long I was so excited.)

1-How did you get into Dragon Age?

It's been so long it's sort of hard to remember! But I'm certain Inquisition wasn't out or even announced by then. I think my sister actually got Origins initially and I gave it a try...got interested enough that I wanted to get DA2 before I'd even finished Origins, lol. Wound up playing 2 first and the rest is history!

2-Have you finished all three games?

Several times over by this point! I like making lots of different OCs and trying all the romances!

4-What was your first Warden (gender/class/race/personality)?

I think my first official start was male mage Hashaad Amell. I wasn't sure what I was doing so the only real personality I had in mind was 'cocky.' I never actually finished his game tho. My first finished game was female rogue Duiva Mahariel. She wound up being very quiet and dutiful with a tendency to go after revenge.

5-What was your first Hawke like (gender/class/temperament)?

First Hawke was a male mage I named Warren; leaned incredibly heavily into diplomatic options. He is still my favorite Hawke I've made to date, though I've made many more since.

6-First Inquisitor (gender/class/race/personality)?

Two-handed warrior Amara Lavellan; she was a proud-ass bitch with a sharp tongue. I really love the two-handed warrior mechanics in Inquisition so she was FUN to play.

7-Favorite DA:O backstory?

Dwarven noble, hands down. That one was the background that changed my playthrough the most. Confession? I nearly always pick Behlen to rule Orzammar despite the fact that he is a foul conniving bastard (I just happen to like that, out of the two, he's the one who allows the casteless out of the slums whereas Harrowmont is content to let them rot for sake of tradition; imo neither is a perfect choice, Harrowmont just happens to be more palatable). But Chimera Aeducan was directly betrayed by her scheming asshole brother, and I couldn't see her wanting to support him for ANY reason after that. She is still my favorite Warden I have ever made.

8-Preferred class overall?

It varies from game to game. I feel like Rogue is hands down the best in Origins for someone who likes to stay in control of their Warden at all times, which I do. It's too hard to deal with traps and locks otherwise.

Most fun to play in DA2 is a mage mostly for story reasons; I really love the mechanics of DA2's combat, so all are fun to play. I just feel like mage Hawke is more personally imbedded in the politics of Kirkwall. Plus it feels soooo nice to look Meredith right in the eye and know the bitch can't touch me because of my Champion status. >:)

I already mentioned how much I love two-handed warrior mechanics in Inquisition; you really feel the WEIGHT behind your swings and it feels SO good to bludgeon enemies to death with a giant-ass maul. Add on the Reaver specialty and-*chef's kiss* Beautiful.

12-Do you prefer DA:O, DA2, or DA:I the most?

I have probably restarted Inquisition the most out of all of them, but the game sort of feels like it stops after Haven after playing through once. DA2 has...numerous flaws, but its companions and their arcs are my favorite, so I will always love it the most. Even if I can recite Cassandra's interrogation by heart and couldn't even tell you what the first few lines of DA2 are. XD

17-What did you name your Mabari?

I always change up the name to suit whoever owns said Mabari, but in Duiva's run, I remember having seen "Barkspawn" in a fanfic somewhere and just went, "Oh, yes, perfect!"

21-Did Hawke side with the mages or templars?

Mages. I literally saw no justification for siding with Meredith. Even despite things some of the mages in the circle did, that woman was unhinged and would have looked for any excuse to take them all out. Who calls for the Rite of Annulment based on an apostate blowing up the Chantry? AN APOSTATE, MEREDITH.

29-What are your feelings on the Chantry?

I think like anyone with issues involving real-world organized religion, I tend to project some of that onto what is more or less Thedas' equivalent of Christianity...with some differences, of course. I think ideally, the Chantry would be run by people like Cassandra or Leliana. People who believe in less grandstanding and more helping people, guiding them. Guidance which, I think, has to be less inherently manipulative than real-world Christianity, for the sheer fact that they have otherworldly things like Darspawn and magic and spirits to point to the possible existence of the Maker.

The main thing I don't like about the Chantry is their overwhelming presence overshadowing pretty much everything. I do not like being told, as a Dalish elf or some other race, that the Maker would hear my prayers or look out for me even though I am not human. I do not like Cassandra's disapproval after telling her I, as an elf, believe in my own gods and I do not like being asked "is there no room for one more?" That is rude and unfair and assumes everyone in the world takes comfort in having a god you were not raised with and do not personally connect with hovering around you like a shadow. I want Andrastians to stay in their fucking lane.

I...may have strong feelings about this.

30-What are your feelings on the Circle?

Tbh totally mixed. I think Tevinter had a few too many things go to their heads, and I don't like the idea of mages being trapped in Circles, taken away from their homes forcibly and not being allowed to see their families without some considerable influence.

But like. People can shoot fire out of their hands and, sorry Solas, no one lives in a world intrinsically bound to the Fade anymore. That shit's more dangerous now and some people just cannot control their own power.

I think the problem both Tevinter and Southern Circles both have in common is the attachment of morality to magic and mages. If people want to look to Andraste's words of "magic is to serve man and not rule over him," then I think they need to remember that the quote mentiones MAGIC and not MAGES. Meaning, mages should not be ruled by magic any more than non-mages should be. Mages should be able to feel safe and in control of themselves without being chastised and fearmongered for what they were born with. "Yes, dearheart, magic can be scary...but only if you don't become in tune with it or use it unwisely." (Not a real quote, I made that up, lol.)

Circles should exist, but not as they are. Templars, imo, should learn magic side by side with mages and both need to be separated from the Chantry as an institution, because giving a religious organization a military force is never, EVER a good idea in my book.

38-Funniest moment in the game?

I have simple needs: "Chanter says what?"

39-Creepiest moment in the games?

Creepiest? The poem leading up to the Broodmother in the Deep Roads in Origjns. Gives me the shivers every time. If the question had been "most horrifying," I would have said Leandra's death in DA2.

49-Something you do in EVERY DA playthrough, no matter what?

I will always recruit every single companion available to me, even if I don't care for them. Hell, I'll even try to understand and be friends with them even then.

60-Who do you wish had been given more story?

I mean, throw a dart at anyone in Inquisition (except probably Solas; we got so much and are getting more so I can't complain too much). I feel so much more disconnected with the da:i companions than any of the others and it bothers me so much. I think Vivienne might top my list, tho. Even after her companion quest I feel like I know nothing about her.

(God this got soooo long, but it was so fun! Thank you so so much!!

Dragon Age Questions

[sweetmage]

Got obsessed with a new NPC, yippee!!🎉 Unfortunately he dies 😭

Anyway, here is a little bit of Niall and my new warden Valentin saying their final goodbye in the fade 🥲 

Words: 836

Series: Dragon Age Origins

Ship: M!Surana/Niall

Tags: Character death, belated confessions, final goodbyes

Reality crashed upon Val like a wave, sudden and suffocating. The Litany... all Niall could speak of was the Litany, as though he had not just admitted to giving everything with the casualness of a passing comment. 

'His body...'

Val shook his head slowly as though denial might displace the truth. "But there must be some way. Wynne is with us, she's a healer, she—"

Niall stopped him with a wan smile. "This isn't something any mage can undo. I have... minutes, maybe. Maybe less. Promise me you'll take the Litany."

"Of course, but—" His tone rose, words tumbling upon words in a rush to make sense of it all. "There must be something. There's always something. What about—?"

"Val," Niall spoke, quiet as a sigh. "Don't do this. It won't help you, it won't save me. I was never meant to save the circle or survive its troubles. I am dying. It is as simple as that."

"Then what do I do?" Val demanded, hands clenching uselessly at his side. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Fine. Just like you always do." His words were tinted with a morose fondness and his eyes lingered upon him like he wished to take his image with him to the Maker's side.

"I thought... I had hoped I'd bring you with me. Then you'd be free of all of this."

"I always thought it would be me that would take you from all of this. A foolish thought now, but... I wanted to. I had forgotten what it was like to hope. I saw no future for myself, I didn't really care if I lived or died. I would just keep going until I couldn't. But I wanted better for you. I thought when I was an enchanter I could raise my voice for the Isolationists, that maybe I could make a change. That you might be safer, might be happier, you wouldn't need to run away anymore."

Val's eyes fell upon Niall's form, pale and ethereal and flickering like a candle nearing the end of it's wick. "You would have done great things. You deserved better than this."

"I got what I wanted in the end. No thanks to me, but... I am happy to know you'll be alright. Even if I can't be there to see it with you. In the end, haven't we both escaped the Circle in some way? My only regret is that I could not save it. Perhaps trying to play hero was a foolish act. But if there is anyone who can, it's you."

"You weren't playing hero, Niall." Val took a step closer to him, wishing to reach out and take him in his arms the way he'd always wanted. "I would never have made it from this place were you not here."

"We both know that's not true." Niall closed the distance between them, taking Val's hand in his own and pressing it against his cheek. There was no warmth or substance, all that remained was the memory of him. "I would have liked to have loved you," he said quietly. "Just once. When we weren't trapped in a cage, but I'm glad to have known you. It was a privilege. You will be alright, Valentin, you have fought worse and come out alive."

He could resist no longer, taking Niall into his arms and embracing him in a way the templars never would have allowed. "I love you," he murmured against his hair. "Do not die believing you've done nothing for me, for the circle."

"If it's you saying it, perhaps there is some truth. Before I was taken to the Circle, my mother always said that I was meant for greatness. I hope I haven't disappointed her..."

"She'd be proud," Val assured him, "you've done well." 

"If you see her by some chance, do tell her that I tried my best. But," he grew suddenly seriously, leaning back the embrace while his hands still rested upon his shoulders. "You must make it out of here alive. Do not forget the Litany, you will need it to stand any chance against the blood mages. And..." Another look, long and longing. Even among the troubled tides beneath his features, he'd never looked so at ease. "It is time for us both to be on our way. Be strong, Val."

"I... I will try. Should we meet again, it will not be today. You will not have gone in vain. Go easy into the beyond, you've nothing to wor—"

His words all but sent him on his way. Niall faded in an instant, passing on from this world and to the next.

"May your soul know peace," Val spoke to the air where Niall had been, wrapping his arms tightly around his middle so that the feeling of Niall's embrace would not leave him just yet. "And may your ashes know rest."

[lairofdragonagelore]

The Red Lyrium Idol

The mysterious idol that has appeared in DA2 and Tevinter Nights will probably be key in the story of DA:D. 

Context

Once the group escapes from the Thaig, the problem of the Red lyrium continues after Act1 with Varric trying to locate his brother. Later we are informed that Bartrand went to Rivain and came back.

He is supposed to be in his house in Hightown. When Varric explores the place he finds Bartrand's steward, who gives us the following information about the idol:

Bartrand sold the idol in Rivain to a woman. [We will know later it's Meredith, now why Meredith was in Rivain? The devs explained that due to the rush of the game, they had to make Meredith get the idol to become an overpowered templar. So all this stuff is quite weak in terms of narrative because lack of time to solve it better.]

It sings to Bartrand. Even when he sold the idol, the song continued.

The guards of the house are mad, since Bartrand forced them to eat red Lyrium [why?].

The rest of the people in the house has been killed by Bartrand, cut into pieces while alive so they could "hear the song".

Bartrand hears, sees, and talks to thing that are not there.

When we access to his studio, we find him with corpses and shades.

He is going mad because he can't hear the song anymore [Apparently Bartrand's steward was wrong]. This scene feels a lot like The Mother in Awakening.  

Anders tries to contain the madness, but he can do little. He says that it's a madness similar to a demon possession [once more we keep seeing references of red-lyrium with blood magic and demons by unreliable narrators, while in DAI the references include the Taint contamination of the lyrium]

In act 3, Varric tells us that

Bartrand is in a sanatorium now.

He sold Bartrand's house to a minor noble in Rivain who informed him that the house is haunted: there are whispers, apparitions, and floating things. [These things are attributed to the idol by the end of the quest].

A mage Hawke can assume that the atrocities that Bartrand did in that house weakened the Veil and there must be some demons walking around.

By exploring the house, we see spirits running away but Anders explains that the Veil can't be _that_ torn apart. For some reason, Varric assumes it's because the idol is in the house, and despite not being close to it, we see Varric starting to be under its influence.

We find a servant [of this noble in Rivain, I assume], a human one, who doesn't know about the idol. Varric shows some uncharacteristic violent behaviour, which emphasise how the idol or the situation is affecting him. The idol is influencing him? It’s weird because the influence happens trough consumption or exposition, and even though he was in the expedition with all that red lyrium veins around them, no other companion nor Hawke showed effect after that brief exposition. One will think it’s just Varric getting nervous about this whole situation. Now, it's curious how easily the two dwarves were victims of the idol's influence “faster”, while the humans/elves seemed to be more resistant. One would assume otherwise. Again, lore content or just symptom of a rushed game? This apparent concept of dwarves being more sensitive to red lyrium, instead of being more resistant was never explored or repeated again in the following game, so I assume it’s just consequence of the rush.

The interrogation of the woman is interrupted when an ethereal golem comes out of the blue. This is so weird. Why a phantasmagorical Golem would appear? This Golem, in truth, is a shade, since it can separate itself in several shades. Lore-wise, it is very strange, since shades enter this world without shapes... that one of those could turn into a golem... I dont know. 

The golem ends up being a piece of the red idol. Like... what? The idol itself, as a piece, can be possessed by a shade? That’s what the game is telling us? And how did they de-possess it? Because they didn’t destroy the piece of idol. Clearly the idol has a very, very strange “self-healing” ability, since in Tevinter Nights the whole idol can be removed from Meredith’s chest. How is that possible if it was broken and then, later, turned into a sword? Retcon stuff? I‘m totally lost on this. 

Anyways, returning to DA2, Varric wants to keep the piece to study it and save his brother. Anders tells him to be careful, since it's something that, now broken, is even more potent. You can choose to let Varric keep the piece or destroy it. In any case, there are no consequences in DAI. Meh.

The red idol 

Description of the Idol [in concept art, DA2, and trailer]

This idol was found in a Thaig without statues of paragons, placed on an altar. It could mean it was sealed or revered. We have no a strong idea about what happened in that Thaig, only some suspicions that Tevinter magisters may have been related, somehow. For more details, read Primeval Thaig and Red Lyrium.

It's not made of red lyrium, but some wood-based material [in DA2] or metallic material [DAI/DAD trailer/concept art]. This is hard to know due to the graphic limitations of the game in DA2. We only saw the idol in frost engine in a trailer. So far, it looks more metallic than the one we saw in DA2. In fact, it looks like a similar kind of metal that elven statues in Mythal’s Temple are made of, or the golden mosaics we find spread in DAI. It is not an idol completely made out of lyrium. This is very confusing to me when in Tevinter Nights people say it’s an idol of Lyrium. It has some contamination of red lyrium at the bottom and all over it [as the trailer shows], but we clearly see it’s not made entirely of it, as we did see Meredith in her final state. This is more than unreliable narrators: the characters are lying about what they see and what we, as players, saw. 

Like The Strange Idol, it has carved canals along the female torso [better seen in concept art] that seem to contain dried blood or, in this case, red lyrium [seen in the trailer version]. I’m not sure if these canals have a “ritualistic” purpose or represent the withering state of the central figure.  

Behind the main figure there is a circle that looks like the circles we found in elven temples in DAI. It’s also the circle/orb that the elven statue of the owl has in its talons. 

From behind the circle a thorny snake-like creature pops out.

The central character is a woman, hugging two bald figures. In the concept art of the idol they have elven ears. In DA2 their ears were removed, looking like eroded lumps impossible to distinguish. In the trailer, we see something that looks like an elven ear. 

She wears a tiara, or maybe it's her forehead, where a spike is protruding, a symbol we find later in DAI in statues of ferelden wyrems, in Andraste herself, and in Flemeth.

Her eyes, nose, and mouth [in the concept art and in the trailer] drip a black fluid, reminding us of Darkspawns like The Mother.

Her breast looks flaccid like she has been breastfeeding a lot, which, again, reinforces the idea that, in combination with the embrace to the other two figures, she may be representing a mother. 

The other two creatures, whose faces barely can be seen, seem to be hugged and comforted by her. They have some broken limbs [a forearm and a hand are missing in each figures]. It feels more like a natural consequence of age than something to think about as a hidden prophesy of the Inquisitor [who has little to do with this item]]. However, it seems reasonable to think that these limbs are not there on purpose: the idol regenerates itself when broken, so these missing limbs are from the original design.

The three creatures are born from a thick thorny stem, opening it in half. This thorny vine has also long carving canals along it. Similar texture can be seen in one of the concept arts of DA4, where we see a gargantuan creature with horns emerging from the sea.

It's in the bottom part where the main contamination with red lyrium can be seen. The “roots” of this thorny vine are made of red lyrium [trailer] or the veins that sustain the thorny vine are made of red lyrium [DA2 version and concept art].

In Tevinter Nights: the idol was recovered from Meredith’s body. The idol, regenerated, was pulled out from her chest, intact. Solas is looking for the item since it is required for the ritual to eliminate the Veil and restore the ancient world. He, personally, never says the idol is his [it’s said by a Nevarran Mortalitasi who has been lying during all the tale she narrated.] 

Details of the DA2 Idol can be seen [here] and [here], and the trailer [here].

Personal connections without (much) interpretation:

(Not) Made of Red Lyrium: I'm so annoyed with this statement in the book. It's not entirely made of red lyrium. Even if the book Tevinter Nights says so [it's said by a Carta dwarf who knows little of everything, so clearly is not really reliable, he doesn't even know the idol has three figures in it].  It looks contaminated with red lyrium or fed by red lyrium.

Canals: I think this idol shares design style with the Strange Idol: the facial expression, the mouth, the way limbs are done [very thin and long] and the canals on the skin that make dripping blood easy to get trapped in them. Graphically speaking, which is very poor in DA2, they seem to be made of similar material, but I would not rely on that much. Again, graphically speaking, DA2 was always a bit limited. 

The Circle. We find this exact same circle in several statues, paintings, and murals, I only put two in the image above for simplicity’s sake but this symbol appears even in paintings. 

The DAI murals always depict the idol or the black city surrounded by a circle that looks like a barrier. The elven statue of the owl has always a circle or a sphere in its talons. 

When it's a circle looks like this one in the red lyrium idol; when it's a sphere,  it looks like solas' orb. More circle iconography can be found in the tombs of the Elven Knights: Din'an Hanin and in the murals of the removal of the vallaslin in the Forgottten Temple: the face of the Strange-Idol appears on a circle. 

All across Emerald Graves we find a painting of elves walking like zombies, chests and faces erased, under a yellow circle of similar looking. There are two elaborated paintings of ancient elves in these places which have this circle behind them, in white. 

In the DLC Trespasser, there is a room arranged with figurines where Fen’Harel’s is in the middle of this circle.

This circle is of key importance and seems to be related to control, power or even the Veil [maybe the power to create the veil]. It seems to be a source of destruction, a source of secrets, a container, and/or a control device.  

The female figure has a lot of interpretation. She is a mother, comforting two figures that are suffering. She is consumed by something, her face looks like Meredith’s when the red lyrium killed her, plus the dark fluid dripping down as it seems blight does on darkspawns [The Mother is the best example of it]. The two male figures may be crying the death of this mother, or they are suffering for the mutilation of their limbs. One of them is on the other side of the Circle. 

Thorny snake: There is a Codex in DAI related to Andruil in which Mythal  transformed herself into a snake-like creature to fight her. Recently, in the concept art of DAD, we had found a gargantuan enemy called Evil God which body looks like a thorny serpent.  [Its head shape and single eye speaks of more connections too]. To be honest, the body of this Evil God looks more like the “thorny vine” from which the three figures came out than the single small serpent floating around them, coming from behind the circle.] 

Thorny vines: In general, all DA series have been using this element without stop. The representation of the Taint/darkwspan has always been related with dark thorny vines in DAO, DAA and DA2. In the DLC of Jaws of Hakkon, the whole area presents an unknown type of plant [several characters point this out] which had experienced an overgrowth: it’s a tree with red thorny extensions, its origin seems to be related to Razikale’s Reach.

 If we see the idol, the roots of the big thorny vine from which these creatures are born has a root of red lyrium, meaning that this thick thorny vine or creature has roots / veins of red lyrium inside. It feeds on it, the “root” of its nature is red lyrium. On a subtler note, I think it’s important to always remember that the few representations of Elgar'nan we have via his Vallaslin show how deeply related to thorny vines he is.

Spike tiara: This detail speaks of Mythal. The statues of Mythal always have this spike, which is the same one we find in ferelden wyvern statues in DAI as well as in Andraste statues. The relationship between Mythal and Andraste is not new. They always had common elements to the point one suspect that Andraste’s tale was based or inspired by modifications of the tale of Mythal. The curious thing is the wyvern. And this is a connection forced in the game: in Mythal’s Fade, we find  a statue of Andraste’s face in front of the wyvern. They are telling us to connect them?  Maybe it’s just an emphasis on how Mythal, Andraste, and Flemeth, all share something in common (?). 

Tevinter Nights only offers a more or less reliable fragment of Solas and the red lyrium when Solas himself speaks. We know he prefers to omit truths before lying. So I trust him that bit he narrates. And yes, I don’t consider reliable anything of what the other characters speak about, all of them show strong evidence that they are lying most of the time, why should we trust what they say about the Dread Wolf then?

The elf walked unhurriedly to the pedestal. Slowly, he lifted the red lyrium idol from the pillow where it rested. He whispered something as he picked it up, tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven. Then he turned back to his mirror and stepped through its shimmering border. A moment later, it was dead and dark again.That is all I know of the Dread Wolf, I am afraid. The idol’s journey is now complete, and it has found its master. He will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and whatever he intends, I do not believe we can stop it.

What we can conclude with certainty is not much:  The spike thing is a crown, and the "mother” comforts the other bald figures.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[arcenergy]

Would you be willing to share more info about Drax?? Pwease 👉👈

i have an obscenely long lore document but it's out of date at this point because my brainrot runs a mile a minute but drax tldr

ishgardian but got kicked out (his dad sux)

always pretty good with magic but never got the chance to practice

very quiet, emotionally stunted, didnt think much of himself

wandered around gridania from ~16-26. at first it was just random gigs to have some money but he eventually got into the adventuring gig because he crashed a lot of bars/inns/taverns and the usual crowds ended up squeezing his name/occupation out of him. drax at this point is like the vid of the dude reading a book at the tyler the creator concert

at first adventuring gigs were for the money and the people he traveled with were decent enough but he got more of an emotional attachment after dalamud fell and now he was Actually helping people

got considerably better at magic during his travels also started doing suspicious black magic oOOooOOOoooooooo but he's really good at blowing stuff up so its ok :) ! nothing bad happens i prommy

when hydaelyn gives her blessing of light it turns his brown eyes into that dodge ram bright ass yellow highbeams and it's genuinely unnerving for most people when they first see him and drax hated it until he ends up enjoying being hydaelyn's silliest soldier and sees it as physical proof of her blessing

during ARR MSQ he ends up going a little too hard on the magic and its killing him a little bit so he gets the emo white strips of hair

he's like omg no its ok ill stop <3 and then never stops. at all. he gets way overboard into the insane hero complex and obsessed w hydaelyn bc he didnt feel like he had a purpose until God Told Him So so he continually pushes himself and causes considerable injury to himself until it becomes routine years later

ends up becoming a drk after haurchefart dies cuz he feels bad about the homie and wants to take a more proactive role in protecting his friends instead of being a low life dps player. he also gets a little silly during heavensward (killed a LOT of templar knights)

also during heavensward since he lost the blessing for a lil bit the highbeams got turned off and his eyes were brown again n he hated people seeing it bc it was Vulnerable for him but in reality 99% ishgardians had 0 idea he looked any different and were freaked the fuck out by the pope killing, dragon-slaying man running around ishgard covered in blood and gore from WHO knows what and now he has lightbulbs for eyes. No fucking wonder people thought it was the end of days if they looked outside their window and saw THAT guy

also a set of duo as in Two ! warriors of light with my friends oc risu bc what's the point if there's no crazy homoerotic drama

drax is genuinely nice and kindhearted though i dont think that ever went away even as time went on. there's still a big soft spot in his heart for looking out for people as he gains an immense amount of empathy towards others during his travels/especially after the 'protector of Literally Everyone' role gets forced on his shoulders. he cares so much it's practically his downfall because he'd rather cut off his own hand then even risk the possibility of harming someone else with that hand. it doesnt help that he didnt view himself very highly before turning into a "hero" so now his self worth hinges on everyone thinking he's doing a Very Good Job being Hydaelyn's Specialest Guy at all times even though the light has nearly killed him like 30 fucking times at this point

i think he became more mentally unwell after killing hydaelyn and is trying to exist in a world that she left for everyone to do what they want with but drax never had the opportunity to do anything he ever wanted his entire life (and now hydaelyn essentially dictating the rest of his life by slapping her blessing on him) and he's now trying to fill the void by doing random shit until something clicks. stay tuned if this works out for him

ty for asking about him. ill fix the lore doc eventually (i wont)

[ramonadecember]

Angst list:

“If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for me. Do it because I need you.” For Sullen

i know i said my goal with these was to keep them short, but then it was your bday and i think my fellow cullen/samson enjoyer deserves some extra anyway. so here we are nearly 4k words later lmfao (which is why the full thing has been posted to ao3, this is just a 'preview').

happy belated birthday, bby!!

READ FULL ON AO3

Cullen never expected to see Raleigh Samson again. 

Once Samson had been cast out of the Order, there was a period of time where Cullen held on to this foolish hope that maybe something could be done about it. Cullen was hurt by Samson’s actions, taking his getting kicked far more personally than he had any right to, because to Cullen, it’d seemed like in finding a way to leave the Order, Samson had killed two birds with one stone and found a way to leave him too. But once some of Cullen’s initial upset had simmered, he’d started to think that maybe there was a way to fix what had happened. Samson could atone and be a Templar once more. They could be together once more. 

It didn’t work out like that, of course. Not in the slightest. Even if Meredith had been willing to welcome Samson back—and on that, she’d made her opinion clear that Samson was lucky to still have his head, so Cullen knew there was no hope for forgiveness—Samson would also need to want to return. The chance of that happening was just as unlikely. Samson bore no love for the Order any longer. 

Cullen found that out the one time he tried talking to Samson after it happened. It’d taken some time for him to work up the nerve to seek Samson out, and when Cullen did finally find him, slumming it down at the docks, Samson already looked like he was in rough shape, the cut-off from the once-steady supply of lyrium he’d been taking for years really taking its toll. It broke Cullen’s heart all over again, as did the way Samson laughed in his face at the suggestion that he apologize for ‘what he’d done.’ Samson had shook his head, giving Cullen this sad look like he was the one to be pitied in that situation. “You really don’t get it, kid, do you?” Samson had asked, but he’d refused to elaborate, telling Cullen to instead go run along back to his master. It made Cullen snap his mouth shut on any further response, his cheeks burning with anger and something he’d later identify as shame.

He really didn’t get it, not at the time. Not until Meredith’s madness really set in, not until the explosion that rocked both the Gallows and Cullen’s once-unshakable faith. Cullen had looked for Samson after that, once the fighting had simmered and the dust had—literally—settled, but Samson was nowhere to be found. As more time passed, it seemed less and less likely that Samson was just lying low in the aftermath, until it got to the point where Cullen had to start accepting that Samson likely got swallowed up by the chaos like so many others—until Cullen had to start accepting that Samson was dead.

It was an… odd knowledge to get used to at first. There was always a part of Cullen, silly as it may have been, that thought Samson and him would work out in the end. Or at the very least, it was always a comfort knowing that Samson was still somewhere out there, that they still coexisted in the same space at the same time as one another. Now that shred of comfort Cullen had clung to was no more.

Cullen did his best to move past it after that, doing what he did best and shoving down any residual heartache and feelings in the name of best performing his duty. A new, worldwide crisis meant there were much bigger issues to focus on than those of the heart, but then of course, as was Cullen’s luck—or lack thereof—his professional world collided directly with the personal life he’d been trying to smother out in the form of one Raleigh Samson heading up the army Corypheus sent to attack Haven. It left Cullen doing something he prided himself on never doing, and that was freezing in the face of a crisis. It may have only been for a moment, but it still happened—not that he was sure how else he was supposed to react when confronted with the ghost of someone he once loved, the ghost of the only person to make him feel safe but was ripping that feeling away entirely.

The Inquisition ultimately captured Samson after a few misses and some hard-fought battles. In the process it came to light just how… familiar Cullen was with him. While he tried to play it cool, tried to maintain that what he knew of Samson came from, at the very most, a place of friendship, but more than anything, a place of ‘sharing very tight quarters for an extended amount of time’ or ‘frequently paired off for training drills together,’ he knew others had their hunches about what he wasn’t telling them. It was there in Cullen’s commitment to bringing Samson in—alive. It was there in the passion with which Cullen spoke of Samson, even if that passion seemed to currently come from a place of animosity. It was there in the way he insisted on taking over for Josephine’s normal role during judgements once it was Samson’s turn to be dragged before the Inquisitor. Why anyone let him, especially after he explicitly stated that he wanted to because of personal interest, was beyond Cullen, but he supposed he was hit with payback for his unprofessional behavior in the form of Samson becoming his charge, his to deal with. 

It was hard from the start, not that Cullen expected any different. But the thing was, the difficulties arose from places other than where he thought they would. Cullen expected Samson himself to be difficult, to be purposefully unpleasant and contrary in all things asked or expected of him.

Cullen didn’t expect the difficulties to come from seeing Samson like… that. Ever since their spat in the throne room at Samson’s sentencing, Samson had completely shut down. No fighting, no bickering—as much as Cullen, admittedly, sometimes attempted to provoke him just to get a reaction—no real obstinance whatsoever, except when it came to leaving his cell. And even that Cullen would categorize less as defiance and more as Samson just… giving up. Samson had said it himself at his sentencing that he knew one way or another, he was a dead man, be it the Inquisition turning him over to other authorities or keeping Samson as their own prisoner, or even in some world where he managed a return to Corypheus. In his mind, all options ended with him dead—and with everyone saying ‘good riddance’ at that. So it seemed like Samson wasn’t waiting for the inevitable, he was opting to play dead even while his heart still beat. It was breaking Cullen’s.

Cullen tried to tell himself not to care, that if anything, he was glad Samson was suffering after all of the same that he had created for others, but as good as Cullen was at lying to himself—about all things emotional in particular—he still knew that wasn’t the truth of it. He couldn’t bear to see Samson reduced to this unrecognizable husk, lacking any trace of what had made Cullen fall in—

Lacking any trace of what had endeared Cullen to the otherwise crass and surly man in the first place. It was painful to witness, painful to have the phantom of who had once been his best friend haunting the dungeon, his office, his thoughts. 

READ FULL ON AO3

[teecupangel]

Back to the animal Desmond trope, I can just see a cat Desmond casually walking into various era's, fucking up the Templar's plans by just doing normal cat things, like casually pushing a glass of water onto a letter that never gets sent that would set off murder plans, and then just staring at the nearest Assassin ancestor looking to be carried off somewhere sunny to sleep. He's done his work, human, now worship him as the great cat gods of egypt said he'd be and fetch him a fish lol

For this one, I'm just imagining a white cat with POE gold eyes like this (but lighter golden eyes)

And he’s a cat that appears and disappears whenever he pleases. Everyone thinks he’s some kind of stray and he refuses to eat any of that ‘cat food’ crap.

He will steal your food if you dare give him what counts as ‘cat food’.

Altaïr first sees him after his demotion and the only reason why he even noticed him was because his fur was too white. It was eye-catching and Altaïr didn’t need anyone turning his way because a damn cat was meowing at him and trying to climb his leg. He picked the cat up, earning a purring meow then gives him to the first beggar who tries to ask for alms, surprising both the cat and the beggar and giving Altaïr enough time to run away from both of them, ignoring the indignant howling the cat was now doing. The next time Altaïr sees the cat, it was after the assassination of his target and the cat suddenly swooped down from the roof, slamming its claws to a guard’s face that was about to hit Altaïr from the back while Altaïr was busy taking down three more guards. The guard threw the cat off him but Altaïr was faster, grabbing the cat in midair and taking him with him as he made his escape. The Rafiq had looked at the cat that Altaïr was holding in one hand and just told him that they didn’t have any food to spare for the cat. After that, the cat just pops up every now and then, helping Altaïr by being a distraction or actually trying to air assassinate guards with his claws. He accepts scritches only from Altaïr but any Assassin can pat his head and back. Once Altaïr was the mentor, he cuts part of his red sash and ties it around the cat’s neck, announcing him as part of the Brotherhood. (Altaïr is pretty sure Malik gives him half of his food every time the cat sits next to his plate and stares at him quietly)

Ezio first finds the white cat with the vibrant red ribbon in Villa Auditore. To be more specific, the cat had been sleeping on top of chest armor that was on the pedestal by Altaïr’s statue. The cat yawned and jumped off the pedestal, wiggling out of the bars, and sat in front of Ezio, meowing at him. Ezio scritches his neck which made the cat purr before rolling to his back and batting Ezio’s fingers lightly. After that, the cat seemed to stay in Villa Auditore most of the time but Ezio does see him walking around town as well. Everyone in town loves him and gives him food or just pets him. Only Ezio is allowed to scritch his neck. The cat also seems to have the habit of being in certain areas in town that would yield the most profit if Ezio was to rebuild/renovate them. Then he started appearing in certain sections that would bring more money to the town if he had the architect focus on them as their next project (like the abandoned mine). Claudia believes he’s a cat that brings good fortune. Ezio is simply just happy that petting the cat seemed to be helping their mother in some way. (Then the cat appears in Roma to help Ezio with finances and then in Constantinople to give Ezio tips on where to invest and Ezio, at this point, is pretty sure the cat doesn’t bring good fortune but is actually some kind of god of money and finances. Hey, if Minerva isn’t really a goddess, maybe the god of money and finances is a goddamn immortal cat)

Edward grabbed the first cat he sees when they finally landed somewhere safe after escaping the Spaniards because every ship needs to have a ship’s cat. Not just because they kept rodents at bay but because it’s superstition and sailors/pirates are a superstitious lot so Edward’s not gonna take any chances. Turns out the cat he dragged into the ship didn’t like being grabbed without even a ‘hello, beautiful’ and refused to kill rats. Instead, the cat, for some unknown reason, got all the rodents to be at his beg and call. In one loud yowl, rodents from all over the ship will skitter to his location………… which always turns out to be the captain’s quarters just as Edward was about to go to sleep.

Ratonhnhaké:ton was sure the white cat that appears and disappears all the time was some kind of spirit. That was the only reason he could think of to why he would always hear the same meow in the direction he needed to look at to have enough time to hide or to find whatever his target was. The white cat was also the best hunting partner Ratonhnhaké:ton ever had. What he lacked in strength, he made up with speed and the ability to jump from branches to branches faster than any animal Ratonhnhaké:ton had ever seen………… He also has the habit of suddenly swooping down from the rooftops and slamming into Haytham’s head, clawing his hat and, more than once, actually managing to take the hat off Haytham and running away with it, dragging it to the mud and getting Haytham to run after him where the poor hat ended up in horseshit. Strangely enough, Haytham never got angry at the white cat and when Ratonhnhaké:ton asked why, Haytham simply said…

“You do not anger the Rat Caller.”

[persephoneggsy]

13 and 24 for Marian/Sebastian, 6 and 23 for Hildegard/Cullen, please!

Sebastian + Marian

13. How do they express love for each other? Do they have compatible love languages?

Sebastian's very much a verbal affirmation kind of guy. He loves to just hold Marian close and wax poetic about how much he adores her. She likes to tease that he should be a romance writer and put Varric out of business. Except not really, because his sappy words are for her and her alone.

Marian, on the other hand, enjoys simply being with him. Even if they're just taking a walk together, or relaxing by the fireplace, or doing work in the study, she just wants to be around him (and let him know that she's there for him, too). There's a degree of physical affection, too, if only because she knows the man is touch starved as hell. She likes letting him rest his head on her lap and combing her fingers through his hair.

24. How did they fall for each other?

For Marian, it was infatuation at first sight. Just look at Sebastian's introduction; can you blame her? A handsome, passionate young man swearing vengeance just like a character out of those romance tales she pretended to not like. Then they kept running into each other, and his relentless optimism and determination to be kind despite how shitty his lot in life was started to chip away at her cynical exterior. It finally set it for her when he revealed that he lit a candle in the chantry for Bethany. He never met her sister, he had no reason to do it; he simply thought it was a kind thing to do. How could she not fall for that?

For Sebastian, I think he was similarly immediately intrigued by Marian, this mysterious mercenary who avenged his family's murders. She has such a cold, cruel reputation, and yet all he ever sees her do is help people. She could just as easily say no to everyone, and live the good life off the wealth she acquired in the Deep Roads, but she continues to go out into the world and make a difference, whether it was her intention or not, and he admires that. He falls much more slowly, but surely. It's not until he almost loses her to the Arishok that he realizes he can't live without her.

Hildegarde + Cullen

6. Do they have pet names for each other? Do they like them?

When in public, they refer to each other by their titles. In private, Cullen will either use just the shortened version of her name, "Hilde", or "Snowdrop". The latter came about due to Hildegarde's white hair, and the fact that she is just wild about snow (seriously, red lyrium aside, she loved Emprise du Lion). Later he looked up the flower symbolism for snowdrops -- new beginnings, hope, overcoming challenges -- and decided that yes, the name suited her perfectly.

Hildegarde was too shy to give Cullen a pet name at first, even when they began properly courting, but one afternoon as she was dozing off she called him "Löwe", or lion in German (whatever the Thedas version of German is). It sort of sounds like "lover" if you're not listening too hard, so that's what he assumed she meant until she told him its actual meaning much later.

23. What was their first impression of each other?

She actually didn't mind that he was a templar, or former templar; frankly, all she saw at first was yet another person who was trying to make order from the chaos, like Cassandra and Leliana. When they had their first proper conversation in Haven, she appreciated his straight-to-business approach and was grateful to have a competent military leader. And if she thought privately that he was rather handsome, well, that would be her business.

As for Cullen, he was a bit... concerned. Not necessarily because she was a mage, though that was a factor (to his own chagrin). She just seemed so... mousy. Timid. Insecure. How could such a woman be the Herald of Andraste? Then, at their first conversation, he learned that while she was terrified, she was still determined to help, and his respect for her grew.

[sleepymarmot]

Dragon Age: Absolution liveblog

1

“The Herald of Andraste sealed the breach. They killed Corypheus.” It’s hilarious that instead of trying to be vague the writers straight up addressed the Inquisitor personally as they/them. Assigned nonbinary at netflix.com

“Because people like you never try!” Bold words from a white human to a brown elf

“I’m not a rebel”, says a Qunari mage walking around and doing whatever she wants. Girl, do you know how lucky you are?

*wife appears silently on the background for two seconds* *I cheer*

“You have to stop running from the past, Miri. If you can’t do it now, I worry that maybe you never will.” Stop trying to put a good face on a bad game, this is no therapy and you know it!

“The Templars don’t protect people from mages who turn evil.” AS IF THAT’S WHAT THEY DO IN OTHER COUNTRIES LMFAO “Instead, they act as enforcers for powerful mages called Magisters.” Yeah and in the South they act as enforcers for a powerful church called the Chantry, huge difference Is this monologue strictly for the benefit of the viewer unfamiliar with the setting?

Is Miriam seriously reviewing her super secret plans in public?! In a tavern where magisters go?? What

I had to look up who Sumalee Montano played, this is very far from the Inquisitor's voice

“If you don’t come back, I’ll kill you myself.” How many times can you use this stupid phrase

Oh, I thought she’d actually have to pose as a slave and it’d take one or two episodes. Okay

Well all of this is extremely childish and generic on every level possible. Not that I expected much more, but Tevinter Nights and the recent comics were certainly better.

2

Ooh, finally some useful new lore! A spirit of wisdom in what seems to be a normal form, since the mage instantly recognizes it! Look at the number and placement of the eyes. So Pride demons have seven eyes, and Wisdom spirit have eight symmetrical eyes? So when wisdom is corrupted into pride, it loses an eye? Interesting.

“The last and greatest work of Magister Amelia Pavus.” Huh! Will we get a cameo from Dorian if it's his family business?

Oh no he’s going to turn this spirit into a demon in front of our eyes! “You dare command me, like some common shade?” That sounds like Pride already! Welp, of course. Lol, dude, this is literally spirits and demons 101. You trap a spirit and force it to act against its nature, it becomes a demon! I’ll give the writers props for this, it’s a good showcase of this Extremely Relevant to the Plot and Main Lore process.

Can a single mage in the show use a spell recognizable from the games?! The designers were aware this is based on a video game and should maintain some semblance of visual continuity in combat skills, right? Yes, we know the combat abilities in the games don't look exactly the same in-universe, which is exactly why it would be interesting to see what they do look like for the characters!

Oh, is Rezaren the childhood friend from the flashbacks?

I don’t understand what happened (was he a traitor? possessed? is he dead?) but either way it’s really stupid they're wasting Fairbanks like this

3

This guy is supposed to be our first Lord of Fortune in the visual media? What a shame.

It's one (1) Rage Demon... How hard can it be it’s literally the weakest demon category

Holy shit, Qwydion used Wall of Fire! Fucking finally! Looks like Chain Lightning, too. Is she our representative for DAI magic?

Huh, last flashback he was horrified Miriam killed everyone in the room, I thought he’d want revenge instead of welcoming her. And is she actually an illegitimate child of a magister?

4

Was that an Energy Barrage?

Ooh, so that’s why the camera focused on the guard’s helmet and his constant silence.

“Blood magic is not the answer.” Btw I still don’t understand why Hira didn’t just use blood magic like her expected her to do and instead decided to bring the entire castle down.

Uhh I’m not sure that's how you safely remove an arrow...

Dude do you have to use blood magic on her at the exact same time someone else is trying to use healing magic on her lol. I mean in the games these two types are incompatible for the caster, not the target, but I guess they decided to extend that rule for drama.

Didn’t expect this guy to get so evil so fast lmao

5

Hira went into a heist mission with her last name right on her chest?!

“I knew exactly what that artifact was, and it’s the last thing we need to make sure all of Tevinter will burn.” Uhh I’m not sure she is with the Inquisition... And the Agents of Fen’Harel have a different agenda and usually are elves.

6

“The Crimson Knight” Oh is this about the spoiler I saw before I blocked the tag? Not Fen’Harel then.

Lmao I thought this was going to just be a bromance situation. I guess they had to quickly canonize another gay pairing after the main one got destroyed so that people wouldn’t complain. (Btw I don’t even see who kissed whom because these guys are fucking identical and I can only tell them apart by height and weapons.)

“Help me take the Circulum to what’s left of the Inquisition and we can try again” Nooo fucking way, I thought this was the day of getting rid of toxic people in your life?? Well I’m glad Hira made it easy for her because that was really dumb of Miriam. I know she had a rough day, but girl...

Well, not very excited about the sudden announcement that the Red Templar faction is back for DA4 and Meredith who was one of the most interesting and realistic villains in the franchise is back as a cartoonish shade of herself.

Alright, due to the plot being interesting the rating in my head went up to 6/10 or even 7/10. Still, the dialogue remains awful and the body language/expressions are tiresome cliches. How old is the target audience for this, about nine? Since the Dragon Age games have the Mature/18+ rating due to all the dark and sexual content, the quality of writing and directing should be adult level too...

[this-should-do]

Hi! I reblogged the ask game and am now going through other reblogs to send asks! Everyone wants em, but it’s hard to get em

Now, I’ll ask…

Question 3 and 18 for Warden/Hawke/Inqy?

you are literally the most important person in the world to me, nobody deserves more than you for this holy deed

3 - thoughts on blood magic?

warden bagna aeducan is ambivalent but cautious towards it, having grown up away from the politics around magic, she doesnt get what the dividing line of certain magics that require blood (ie the joining vs other more traditional blood magics) upon leaving her home, but even afte rlearning what surfacers consider blood magic, she still doesnt care that much, particularly given that another of my warden ocs drink the blood magic juice in wardens keep dlc and they seem fine so cant be all bad

tara hawke definately spends most of her life disliking blood magic, the risk of already being an apostate makes chosing to use blood magic that much mkre dangerous on the sliding scale of how bad templars would beat her ass if she were caught and how it would effect her family, that combined with the shit she sees all the time in kirkwall AND what happened to leandra makes her pretty unwilling to work with it for the msot part, the reveal of malcolm using it definately makes it more complex though, cuz she somewhat idolized her dad as the ideal of who she needs to be so it both makes her image of her dad worse and also makes blood magic seem less of a vile thing to use, and the more she radicalizes with regard to fighting back against templars and being empowered to do so with her social position, the more shes willing to accept a lil bit of blood magic in extreme cases,,, as a treat

feyron lavellan has more context to shemlen views on blood magic but doesnt believe in the revulsion to it to thr same extreme, but has on occassion run into the odd "evil" blood mage who have made his clans lives more difficult, so he tends to dislike and distrust users of it more than the magic itself, but hes also seen the more repulsive end of the scslr of blood magic becuz the peoples his clan have run into are the more desperate apostate so theyve gone to further extremes to protect themselves, so its definately scary, but magic is still magic as far as he knows, but its not his expertise sinces hes no mage, he trusts his keeper and ither mages and they arent super violently oppossed to it, caution js required with all magic to prevent harm as with any other weapon

18 - do they have any irrational fears?

warden bagna aeducan 100% still has a fear of falling into the sky when outside with nothing above her, it lessens over the years but its still something in the back of her mind when shes outside

tara hawke honestly struggles with paranoia that everyone is upset with her, derived from the stress of trying to step up to replace her dad after he died amd feeling like she was doing it wrong or wasnt living up to him which to her means that everyone is upset that shes not him, she tends to cope with chronic people pleasing and over exerting herself to do things that she thinks would make people happy (over the course of living in kirkwall, shes forced to learn thr lesson that sometimes you just cant make everyone happy and you cant just make everything better, its rough lol)

feyron lavellan is just kinda scared of bugs crawling on him and laying eggs in his skin and shit, older kids telling wives tales about it at the camp fire at night combined with tbe very real reality of bugs actually being able to do that in certain circumstances will do that to you, so now even the slightest tickle of air or a small hair freaks him out even if its not a super dramatic reaction outwarsly, however the giant spiders dont bother him, cuz clearly their eggs are too big to fit under his skin without his knowing so he could stop it