#The Arishok

[venvellan]

da2's arishok is a good villain. if you have a fundamental understanding of the qun and listen to his thought process, the things he does makes sense. he uses the qun to justify slaughtering kirkwall's people, which is utterly inexcusable and what makes him a villain, but his character is complex enough to make dealing with him that much more thought provoking. he sends agents to kill petrice because she was killing his people, he doesn't give up the elves because they committed their lives to the qun, no matter how recently they converted, and he refuses to leave without the tome (and isabela) because his idea of justice hasn't been done. his logic makes sense, generally, though it is wrong on more than one occasion. he isn't moral, but he is methodical.

i feel this way about solas, too. i like da2's arishok for the same reasons that initially draw people to solas, i think. when we meet them, i find them interesting and educational to talk to, someone worthy of respect, and someone very honorable in their own way. similarly, many of my issues with solas compare with flaws in the qun/the arishok.

solas asserts that all of his beliefs are correct, and we're never allowed to challenge him on any of it. if he has high enough approval, he'll approach you to go, "yknow, i thought you were all [insert prejudice or stereotype] but YOU showed me that some of you guys are actually okay," which is NOT what it looks like for someone's beliefs to be challenged.

brief aside, i want to be fair in that we don't get this opportunity with many of the companions, and it's not even an inquisition specific issue. the dialogue format is agree, joke, be mean, and it's flawed, but it works in the majority of interactions. we don't really get to engage in nuanced discussions with characters, but there are positives and negatives to the system overall. it is possible to challenge and shape a character within this dialogue system (i.e., garrus vakarian) but in dragon age that really only comes in the form of harden/unharden. it was a little more doable with origins' system, but it really hasn't been a huge part of any dragon age game. most characters' beliefs remain largely unchanged by you regardless of how you play.

solas also possesses a strong sense of duty and purpose, though what duty he has, what his true goals are, he keeps hidden as long as he can. the most damning comparison though, to me, is how willing he is to destroy the world and bring back "his people," while the qunari fight to conquer the world and homogenize society into "their people."

in any case, with both him and the arishok, you can see the wheels turning in their heads. you can see why they do what they do, even if it's wholly immoral. it makes their threat a lot more personal, a lot scarier, psychologically, that a "normal" person, who doesn't want to cause suffering, can hold such specific beliefs and such strong conviction that knowing that they'll hurt people doesn't give them any pause. the root of their motivation is understandable. solas wants to right his wrongs, at his core. the arishok implicitly believes that the qun is safer, better for its people than life outside the qun. we can see that they're taking it too far, but they don't care. it makes them good villains.

"i am not corypheus, i take no joy in this." sure, which is a very similar sentiment, emotionally, to the qunari sense of duty. you can say you don't enjoy it all you want, you're still committing genocide. you can hate the qunari all you want, but you fight with their ferocity, their unshakeable faith in their own cause. their need to "do what's right," no matter who's caught in the wake.

i understand why people like solas, i go back and forth on it myself, but i don't think he's all that different from the arishok in method and motivation. they're each thrust into a world so different from what they believe is "right" that they demand it change around them. if we had to kill the old arishok, then if solas refuses to give up, he will have to die. he doesn't get to do genocide just because he's romanceable. he's a good character, he's a good villain, but he's not a good guy, and unless he stops before he does any real harm (which he will not do), he should share the arishok's fate.

[illusivesoul]

"Panahedan, Hawke. I do not hope you die"

[bluerose5]

Yes, yes, the Warden and the Inquisitor can be called kadan by their respective Qunari companions, but are they basalit-an though?!

[ghostofvalorie]

That Essay

@forsaire tagged me and now I MUST provide! You opened Pandora's box on this one.

To adhere to the rules I will first provide FOUR and ONLY FOUR of my fictional crushes! And to make it easier on us all I've narrowed it down to games only, so here we go!

I'm starting off from the very beginning of my journey into crushing on non-existent people, and people who have read my tags before might know this one already!

Malik Al Sayf from Assassins Creed 1 - 2007

A man whom you've wrong by being arrogant and then spends the next few hours of the game being yelled at by him, and rightfully so. Not only do you cost him his arm and place as an assassin in the brotherhood, but his younger brother as well.

Eventually Altaïr stops begin a prick and apologizes and Malik, bless his heart forgives him.

Still... not me rolling into Jerusalem hoping, wishing, to get yelled at because Malik's Voice Actor goes HARD <3 I love him and his 7 whole polygons! NEXT!!

Keeping it somewhat chronological:

The Arishok from Dragon Age 2 - 2011

He beeg. He got horns. He is technically an antagonist in the game but he has a moral code that makes sense to him that he is willing to kill and die for. Qunari famously live their lives incredibly black and white so to him he is in the right, even if we disagree.

But he just got a wholeass vibe, and he'll say nice things such as

"I have a growing lack of disgust for you" and I mean, with that voice... say no more sir. *takes shirt off*

NR 3: Adam Jensen from Deus Ex - 2011-2016

My cyborg husband <3

Ex-swat turned security guy, then interpool agent (depends on which game you are playing)

He's just an incredibly good guy, the sweetest person on the block. Ofc it depends on how you play and what choices you make, but MY Adam is a sweeheart that will go out of his way to help people.

And my boi got sass, he'll be snarky to literally anyone, his boss, the cops, criminals you name it.

He's also secretly a little funny. <3

Nr 4: Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2 - 2018

I mean first off, he do a little *mlem* when he drinks coffee... Do i even need to say more?

Arthur is just such a perfect sad boy. Raised to believe his only worth lies in killing people when in reality he is incredibly competent, sharp and caring. Again depends on how you play the game, but my Arthur is the goodest boi in the west.

Now that was four, oh but look, somehow completely unrelated to all this, some other honorable mentions seems to have ended up after the cut, how silly of me!

And @xintothewoodswegox, show us what you got!

Beast from Beauty and the Beast - 2017

No further comment, your honor, if you've seen the movie you should know.

Kaidan Alenko from Mass Effect - 2012

How can we not love the powerful nerdass space magician! He's caring, he is cute, he is Canadian and schrodinger's person of color!

He also glow blue, what else can you possible want? I for sure do NOT kick my feet and twirl my hair anytime he wants to talk to me.

Eris Goddess of Chaos from Sinbad - 2003

I MEAN LOOK AT HER?!?!?!? Again an antagonist, but she is sexy about it.

Helga Sinclair from Atlantis - 2001

I'm-I i mean, I don't even have words. Every time I SEE Helga my brain flat-lines I can't help it.

THAT GIF THO???

Majima Goro from the Like a Dragon series of games

No comment, because if i start i will NEVER stop, he's story is too good.

Simon 'Ghost' Riley from Call of Duty MWII - 2022

I could literally put ALL the characters from that game in this list. ALL OF THEM, but to keep this somewhat short I've chosen ONE and i've chosen Ghost, the most tragic man alive.

Kar'niss from Baldur's Gate 3 - 2023

Another TRAGIC boi, missunderstood and abused </3 I could take care of him. LET ME TAKE CARE OF HIM LARIAN

Jonathan Reid from Vampyr - 2018

You didn't think I'd squeeze in a vampire this late, did you?

I wasn't overly impressed by Jonathan from the start, BUT, he is FASCINATING if you play him as a bloodthirsty villain willing to murder everyone for power! I'm here for bad-boy Reid!

Lastly, for now:

Corvo Attano from Dishonored - 2012

Also an incredibly tragic man, who's fate you hold in your hands with your actions!

He's just hot, he's a dilf, he can succumb to grief and violence or rise above it to save not only his daughter but an entire empire from destruction.

I'm not sure i've y'all have noticed the pattern yet but let me spell it out for you:

PEOPLE THAT CAN ABSOLUTELY DESTROY ME! Look at them all! So STRONG! So POWERFUL! Fuck, mess me up fam!

And the beauty lies in that they never would. Or I mean Eris might... but I'm in a firm belief that the others would never harm someone they care about and ain't that just the purest thing you've ever heard.

Now this was only the highlights of my fictional crushes, I've kept most of the absolute freaks out for now. Maybe I'll do an updated list later where werewolves and Cthulhu makes the cut, we'll see. Now I know HP Lovecraft wasn't a very cool dude to say the least, but you expect me to be normal about the big tentacle monster? REALLY?

Lower your expectations.

[zevrans-remade]

(added Meredith/Orsino just for the sake of there being more options dont @ me 😭)

elaborate in tags why and how would u imagine their romance go 😳

[lelianasbong]

i don't have anything to add except damn?? that was so good

[dirtybiowareconfessions]

Confession: I would let the Arishok or Sten stick it my ass bone dry.

[mightymizora]

Your fave Dragon Age pairing

+

the high priestess: magic, dreams, knowledge; “I had this dream, and now…”

(this one lends itself well to Solavellan but you did say my favourite... so...)

Sometimes she things she can still smell the docks of Kirkwall, the heavy smell of the market fish lingering in the afternoons, the strange metallic tang on the air of the salt hitting the great chains in a humid summer evening. She thinks that she can hear the clink of the templar's armoured boots on the stone as they marched in formation, the calls from the market, the rhythmic chant as a vessel is hauled into port. Sometimes, she is there as she was that first day, holed up beneath grates, a penniless refugee. Sometimes she is in the shadows, awaiting news of another job with her brother and her sister. Oftentimes, it is later that she remembers. The feeling of her purse weighty with gold, her daggers warm in her hands.

Occasionally, she feels the heat of the flame from when the city burned. When she wakes, his great body is beside her and she is pulled to it. He runs hot.

What a blessing it is, to know the feel of his skin against her skin.

She is quiet enough when she wakes now that he does not stir; she learned the hard way what startling him in his sleep meant. He was used to having a retinue, guards and soldiers protecting him as he slept. To have anything close enough to startle him awake can only be death. He had grabbed her throat in those great hands, his black eyes so wide she could see herself turn puce as she clawed at him. Now, she is more careful.

Now, he is not so restless when he sleeps.

His arm pulls her close, and she shallows her breath further. This is her favourite time, when he cannot deny himself. When the shame does not sit on him heavy and wretched. When he cannot deny what he feels.

When she had gone with him, those years before, when she had picked up the tome and let Isabela be taken, when she had left Bethany weeping, begging her to stay, he had called her Basalit-an, he had let her be swept up in his guard and taken to the ship. There she was placed with a handful of elves she had recognised from the alienage, and for the first two days and nights she sat in silence with them, until he had finally fetched her to stand before him. The silence remained.

When she asked him to dismiss his men, he agreed.

He had not stopped her as she moved to sit herself in his lap, nor when she ran her hands over his horns, through his hair, over his gold-tipped ears. He had not stopped her as she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth, though he made no move to meet her, nor to wipe the tears that came to her eyes. He only touched her to force her to the ground as a heavy dagger was launched at them, and she looked up to see the furious face of Isabela before she threw herself into the sea, the Tome of Koslun strapped to her waist.

Without the book, he was as good as dead.

They took him away, and she ached for the absence of him. She was assigned her role and she did it, she did it, every move of her hand as she sliced the fish and cleaned dedicated not to the whole but to him.

When she finally slipped away to find him, he was furious.

"All you have known of me," he had said with a growl when she visited him in his cell, "Is the Qun. You followed me here for reasons known to you. But if you seek what solace you found in that stinking, wretched hive, then you will find it here. You will stay. You will be Viddethari. This will bring me..."

He had stopped himself, and she had thought on it much in the years since. He does not speak much, he feels he has less to say now, but their small life of exile in Rivain is full of a thousand daily victories. Sometimes she dreams of her sister, and wonders if the legends she hears of the heroic Hawke could possibly all be true. Sometimes she hears whispers of the great Admiral Isabela, and wonders if she will finally come to kill her.

Her Kadan awakens, and pulls her onto his great body without a word. She runs her hands across his chest, softer now than the body of a warlord, and his lips ghost the edge of her hair. He moves beneath her, and she feels alive, she feels alive.

Sometimes, she believes they both died on those docks, this life suspended in a kind of nowhere. But, she thinks other times, this is more than she could have dreamed.

[hollyand-writes]

Last Line Challenge

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like). 

I was tagged by @quatredraws – thanks for tagging me, and it was wonderful to see your art coming along so nicely in the post you tagged me in! ❤️

Anyway, I will indeed share the last line I wrote because it's suitably cryptic and non-specific LOL:

‘The Arishok did warn that you might be chatty,’ he said at last.

Nothing to do with the fic snippet or pairing I shared earlier LOL

No pressure or obligation to do this, but I tag: @pinkfadespirit, @amarmeme, @faux-fires, @hechizero-emplumado, @un-shit-yourself, @sulky-valkyrie, @dismalzelenka, @storybookhawke and anyone else who wants to do this! ❤️

[cyngharris]

Drew Sten after my most recent origins replay. He deserves more love.

[ID: A digital drawing of Sten from Dragon Age: Origins. He is standing ready with Asala, his sword, held in front of him. He is wearing simple clothing with leather wraps and metal pauldrons. The background is white with a brown stripe across it. End ID.]

[impossibletragedykitten]

Replaying DA2 - and if you know, you know.

[illusivesoul]

"If you made a bargain for the Tal-Vashoth, that debt for their lives will be honored"

[bluerose5]

During the events from Demands of the Qun.

Hawke, staring at the Arishok, about to duel while the whole city is burning around them: Listen, listen, listen... I can take him!

Aveline: In a fight, right?

Hawke: 👀

Aveline: In a fight. Right?!

[malvolios-yellow-stockings]

huh, dueling the Arishok truly is insert the why are you running meme.jpg

[zevrans-remade]

you know the drill 👀

[raeofalbion]

Also, I played DA2 finally and...uh...

I get it now. I really get it.