#inquisitor OT

[razzberrydazz]

Penmanship

A Dragon Age Inquisition fic - Josephine and OT Lavellan, genfic

"Inquisitor, I encourage you to work on your penmanship. These reports are illegible. I was wondering why you kept putting off turning in your mission reports, but this? I implore you to rewrite them with a more careful hand."

Josephine hands the stack of unreadable parchment back to Inquisitor Lavellan, exasperation furrowing her brow.

"Oh, right, about that... you know how the Mark is on my left hand? Well I happen to be left handed. It makes writing, well, quite a painful endeavor." Inquisitor OT sheepishly takes the parchments back, clearly not intending to rewrite any of them.

"You're left handed? Have you been writing them with your marked hand this whole time?!"

OT stifles a chuckle at the indignation from their dear ambassador. They hold up their hands in mock surrender, that characteristic lopsided grin on their face.

"I've actually been practicing with my right hand, since the Mark hurts to write with. It's, ah, going slowly, learning to write legibly and all. I promise I'm trying, Josie!"

Josephine sighs, then pushes herself out of her chair to approach them. She takes Lavellan's hands into hers, frowning at the marred green and darkened veins spreading over their left hand.

It's gone up their wrist by now, creeping up their arm day by day. What will happen if the mark takes over their whole body? Will they die? Should they nip the problem in the bud by amputating so that the Mark poses a threat to their life no longer?

The ambassador shakes the worrying thought away, instead focusing on sitting the Inquisitor down and handing them a quill and parchment to practice with.

"I know as a Dalish elf, you never went through finishing school. I had to learn to write both in print and cursive, and write both perfectly legibly. I also learned how to do calligraphy, but that's besides the point. It's nigh time you learn to improve your penmanship."

"Are you posing as my penmanship teacher, dear Ambassador? I'm flattered you'd want to take the time to teach me, I know how busy you can get with all your responsibilities."

"I doubt you'll practice this otherwise, judging by how many reports you haven't turned in, and your general avoidance of writing in general."

That earns a nervous chuckle from the Inquisitor. They pick up the quill with their left hand, then palm it into their right. Their hands tremble slightly with each movement. While they've been able to still the tremor in their Marked hand in order to cast spells, it doesn't seem to translate to their right hand for ease of writing.

"Alright. Start by writing out the Common alphabet, lower and uppercase. Try it with both hands so I can see what you're working with."

It takes a few minutes of effort for them to write with their right hand and make it even half legible. With their left hand, they write very quickly, grimacing in pain as they do so, and the resulting hurried cursive is just as illegible as the chicken scrawl script from their right hand. Even a cypher would do little to decipher the markings their pen leaves on the parchment.

"Tell me, inquisitor, can you even read your own handwriting?"

After a pause of squinting at the still drying lines of writing, OT shakes their head no.

Josephine sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose with exasperation. "Okay, try again. You need to practice this until not only you can read your handwriting, but other people as well. Specifically me, since I have to sort through your reports."

"I can practice this in my own time, Josie. Pinky promise, I'm not going to blow it off. I know you should have a meeting with that board game loving noble soon, and I'd hate to eat into your card game playtime with her!"

"Inquisitor, before you-" OT places the quill and parchment back on Josephine's desk and steps past her back towards the hallway, much to Josephine's chagrin. Never resting, never content staying in one place long, so busy all the time. Do they get enough sleep? Do they sleep? The bags under their eyes are evidence against that.

Well, Lavellan was right, Josephine does have a meeting with said noble soon, and she must prepare for the resulting headache of dealing with her. Seems she'll have to address their penmanship at another time.

---

Several days pass, and both the Inquisitor and Ambassador have been too busy to even sit down and chat for more than their daily briefings in the war room. She's seen the Inquisitor speaking with Leliana in the main hall, walking from the library in the main tower of after having talked with Dorian or Solas, walking the ramparts beside Cullen's office, sparring with Cassandra and Iron Bull in the newly built sparring ring by the Herald's Rest tavern. Sitting on the roof of said tavern with Sera and Cole eating cookies. Feeding the horses treats in the stables while joking with Blackwall. Gossiping with Vivvienne.

One day while Josephine walks out from her office by the war room down the main hall and host of steps, she spots Lavellan sitting on the roof of Herald's Rest with parchment and ink. They're using a piece of wood as backing to write, face scrunched in concentration as they etch into the parchment with a quill.

Oh, they're practicing on their own after all. A smile flits on Josie's face as she makes her way down the steps and OT notices her in the distance and waves. She waves back.

The next day, Josephine finds a stack of reports on her desk, addressed from Inquisitor Lavellan. From a quick leaf through, the writing is legible. The bottom of the stack is a letter from them, in deliberate and careful cursive.

Like the finish on a fine piece of woodwork, I will finish what I started.

I jest, I jest, but I did want a way to show you I've been trying, and I care. Hope your report readings go more smoothly from now on, my dear Josie. xoxo

~ Inky OT

Underneath the writing is a crude drawing of cheese, and stick figures of the Inquisitor sitting on a bench with Josephine with hearts drawn around them. Such a cheesy romantic, that elf. Sera's been rubbing off on them with the margin drawings on their reports.

[dinsverdika]

I've rewatched the last two episodes of Ahsoka with my mother. I think she's starting to like Ahsoka, that's a win for me.

[saltysatellite804]

I'm counting down the days to the Dragon Age: Veilguard. I was watching a scene on YouTube. "Rook" is speaking to Solas and while I don't have a lot ot energy to ramble rn, I found this line kinda interesting.

I kinda never really thought about how alike Solas and Varric are in some ways. I think it's an interesting parallel and explains why they became friends. They're both tricksters in a sense. But yeah I'm feeling sappy about it again. That said I find it kinda odd the Inquisitor wont get much involvement considering how close they could be to Solas. From a story perspective, it lacks somewhat, but I'll take what I can get.

[charmwasjess]

Thoughts about Dooku and Sifo Dyas in the imperial era? Like if they role-swapped with Cal Kestis' or something?

Oh, this is SUCH a fun ask, thank you. :D 

Dooku in an Imperial world. It seems like it would be so tasty, but I might be getting too distracted picturing him in those slutty little uniforms. 

The problem I see is that Dooku by RotS seemed so genuinely fucked up to me, to the point of being almost incapable of thriving in an Imperial world. Legends does a great job depicting his absolutely crumbling mental and emotional state, a man who loses track of his own POV and replaces it with Sidious’s in the middle of a book he’s narrating, but I think even in the relatively sparser depictions of him during that time in current canon, the cracks show. He’s not scheming against either Palpatine or the Jedi effectively, he seems like he’s losing control of his own kingdom of lies, his final (?) Clone Wars appearance with the ritual to psychic-attack Yoda, he seems downright fucking miserable the whole time. He’s like just sitting in a room dissociating when Sidious calls to tell him he’ll need his blood for this ritual, and you can fucking HEAR his sigh. 

Beyond his emotional and mental state, I don't feel like we have a clear idea of what Dooku thought his own end game for after the war. Stover’s batshit “honorable retirement in Sidious’s wonderful new Empire” smells a little off to me and I think the RotS novel got decanonized? I could see him wanting to take over training of the Inquisitors - fuck, he’s been trying to do that with his Sith apprentices for ages - but really, is Sidious going to let him anywhere near that project? Somehow, I don't think so.

I think Dooku ends up quite like he himself daydreams about in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous:

I don’t see a depressed, lightning-cooked shell of himself doing particularly well or lasting long in a cutthroat Imperial command structure. Vader was groomed for the role for years and still is shown struggling with his position in the OT. 

Of course, it’s much more fun to picture him coming to his senses, realizing Sidious’s bullshit, and joining the fight against the Empire in some kind of personal vendetta against the man who convinced him to destroy everything he loved and then planned to dump him, but… I don’t know. Dooku seems broken and defeated to me at the end, and coming to his senses about everything he gave up to get to that rock bottom, I think would completely collapse him as a person. I’m trying to do something like this in my fic The Thunder Answered Back, which... perhaps tellingly... hasn't been updated in a year because Dooku just keeps lying down on the floor. 

Sifo-Dyas is much more interesting and likely to my mind, because he’s essentially been preparing his whole life for this moment. The Living Force has him by the end of his life being able to use his precognition effectively enough that the Council is using it as a tool, presumably that would be a huge advantage in staying one step ahead of Imperial raids and Inquisitors. He’s also a Jedi Master, former High Councilmember, trained by a High Republic era Jedi Master himself. He represents a huge amount of generational knowledge of the Jedi Order.

@dapurinthos had a FANTASTIC Sifo-Dyas on the Path AU post reply somewhere that I wish I could find because they are smarter and funnier than me and it was truly perfect. In summation: yes, Sifo-Dyas is a huge pain in the ass for the Empire. Boinking Inquisitors on the head features strongly.

Now. Fanfic nonsense it? Swap in younger idealist Dooku and his seer bestie Sifo-Dyas into a Cal Kestis scenario? Two brave fated young Padawans against the Empire? No. They die the first day. Going off just the first part of Dooku: Jedi Lost, those two idiots lost a fight with: a bookshelf, each other, literally some bacta, a hallucination (several times), Dooku’s dad, moss… and that’s just going off the top of my head.

Sorry guys. They get crushed in one of those scary doors in like the first two seconds.

[devilangel657]

Realizing my happy au for Jedi and how they have been done dirty post OT:

Luke Skywalker and his journey to find Jedi remnants

Him going on a journey and finding Jedi like Cal

Finding Huyang and his knowledge of lightsabers ever made with stories attached

Gathering people together to make a new Jedi community and teaching force sensitives the way of the force

Hanging out with rebels crew and finding Ezra - he gets a surprise!

Ahsoka letting go of the past and relearning how to be a Jedi again

Those that were saved on the path found, including Jedi helping it like quinlan vos

Inquisitors that remain and got away finally getting their family and peace again

Reva being in the light with her Jedi family again since that night

Any hidden staches that Jocasta nu and other Jedi hid being found

Grogu reaching out like canon and being found

Tarre's lightsaber not being destroyed but returned to the Jedi and put to rest

Finding and guarding Ilum (not used as star killer base in sequels)

Nothing bad happens to this Jedi community at all

[sinvulkt]

Pre-OT - Cyber Ahsoka Whump

Summary: Ahsoka gets captured by the Empire goons and used for Cylo’s experiments. Vader wanders off during one of his "maintenance" to find a half feral Ahsoka who has been modified.

Era: Pre Original Trilogy

Characters: Ahsoka Tano, Darth Vader

Main tropes: Non Consensual Body Modification, Cyborgs

---

Snippet:

Vader walked through the bland hallways of Cylo’s hideous lair. The mad man had been fascinated with Vader's build, and asked the Emperor to let him study his creation. Vader would rather stay as far away from Cylo as he physically could, but his Master ordered him to go, and so he went.

The Dark rose at his displeasure, teasing him with pictures of Cylo choking on the ground. The thought of getting rid of the man was tempting, but Palpatine expectedly forbade Vader to kill him. After his last punishment, Vader had no wish to summon Darth Sidious’ wrath.

An eerily familiar presence in the Force distracted Vader from his directed course. He glanced at the corner of his helmet visor. He still had a bit of time before his next appointment. At the next crossroad, he turned towards the source of the disturbance.

Soon enough, the presence felt stronger. Vader struggled to place the feeling of familiarity. It didn’t feel anything like an inquisitor, but it was too twisted to belong to a Jedi. Had Cylo captured a Force sensitive for his experiments?

The dim presence reached to his, hesitant at first, then stronger. It brushed against his mental shield, unable to get in. The probing should have stopped there, had the presence not latched onto one of Anakin's tattered bonds. The being's identity suddenly clicked in Vader's head.

Ahsoka.

Cylo’s creepy home was not where Vader expected to find his former apprentice. In fact, he did not expect to find her at all. Not after the abandoned lightsaber he found after Order 66. She was supposed to be dead. Curious, Vader reached back, probing her in return.

Something was wrong.

Her presence was a mess, as if someone had forcibly implanted Dark side bits into the Light. Her memories felt all over the place, jumping from the clone war to the Empire's birth. There seemed to be some dissonance with her body as well that he couldn’t properly scan from afar.

Something was wrong.

Vader’s pace accelerated.

[stoat-party]

Reasons everyone is in denial about The Thing:

It feels incomplete. Tech got some awesome development this season, saving the day multiple times, basically confirming that he’s autistic without using the earth word, and being one of the only clones to have a romantic relationship teased/confirmed. No one was expecting it to come screeching to a halt, because that’s not narratively what was supposed to happen. Star Wars has been plenty sad before, but characters’ deaths don’t usually feel like they cut short a story that needed telling.

(Maybe more like 1A) The team is incomplete. The only times the six of them have been together were during the food fight, in the holding cell, and escaping the fall of Kamino. Crosshair was 66’d the first two times, and Kamino was cool but the boys weren’t getting along and it didn’t feel like it was supposed to be the last time. They’re a family. It reminds me of the sequels never putting the OT heroes together again, but at least they weren’t the main characters getting shafted.

Star Wars has been terrible lately about keeping death permanent. Here are some characters who’ve been resurrected, mostly recently: Maul, Cobb Vanth, Boba Fett, Echo, IG-11, C-3P0, Chewbacca, Rey, Fennec, Gregor, Ahsoka, Max Rebo, the Grand Inquisitor, and freaking Palpatine. Some of those were well-written and purposeful, others were cheap, but the more of them you use, the cheaper they get. Hemlock revealing they found Tech doesn’t help, since he has a motive to save his life and lie about it.

IDK if people are correct that Tech lived, but you can’t blame them for saying so.

[dagenspear2-blog]

Fan Recast for Luke, Han and Leia for Star Wars Pre-ST/Post-OT

There's some missed opportunities to me, and I'm sure to others, in the idea of these characters, and others, not getting the opportunities to be explored more in a time before the Sequel Trilogy and how that messed with their characters, in one way or another.

Some of these may have been in others fancasts, but I do think the beards for Luke and Han assist in their looks for the roles. For this, I thank God for these ideas:

Jensen Ackles as Han Solo

Han, using his reputation as a smuggler and criminal, has been working as a mole in the criminal underworld, gathering information on the activities of any imperial remnant cells. Han coming to terms with being a parent as well in the midst of this and his own insecurity at the idea of failing as a dad, fearing repeating the cycle of his own childhood. This leading him to struggle with whether or not his job, one that he's grown to think of as his way of having a feeling of accomplishment, as a man, a friend and a husband, may keep him from his child.

Sebastian Stan as Luke Skywalker

Luke, in this time, is working on building the Jedi Academy, raising and training children to become jedi, but seeking to avoid the mistakes of the previous era jedi by rejecting the control of the New Republic and seeking to avoid the children in his care from becoming soldiers for political causes, and training his students to understand the difference between love and attachment, as Luke trains himself to reconnect with his full identity in being the son of not just Anakin Skywalker, but Padme Amidala as well.

Yael Stone as Leia Organa-Solo

Leia has followed in the footsteps of her biological mom and adopted dad in working as a senator within the New Republic, fighting for the justice of those in need and supporting her brother's separation of the jedi from the republic. The reveal of her biological connection to Darth Vader has caused problems for her in the senate, those who oppose her trying to use it to justify shutting her out, it leading to her having to confront her familial identity as well, struggling to forgive the man who caused so much pain and loss, to herself and others.

Rebecca Ferguson as Mara Jade

Mara Jade, the former leader of the New Second Generation of Inquisitors, was brainwashed to specifically operate under Emperor Palpatine's command. Operating under her final orders given by Palpatine, she seeks to assassinate Luke Skywalker.

Thoughts?

[jessicalprice]

something will always fill a vacuum

(reposted, with edits, from Twitter)

Okay, let's talk about why attempts to critique (or hell, straight up stick it to) Christianity in SFF often end up being more anti-Jewish than they are anti-Christian.

This was inspired by Jay Kristoff's work, which manages to evoke a whole bunch of antisemitic medieval tropes AND, as a bonus, even shits on the name "Ashkenazi", which is the Jewish term for most European Jews. But the thing is, Kristoff's SO antisemitic that I don't think it's accidental. I'm more interested in how it happens out of ignorance rather than malice.

So, negative evocations of Christianity in SFF usually fall into one or more of three categories: 

allegories for/evocations of the Inquisition 

allegories for/evocations of witch hunts 

Christianity without Jesus

I suspect there are also plenty of evocations of the Crusades out there, especially in SFF by non-Western authors, but I haven't seen it nearly as much. I want to be clear that these aren't usually discrete uses of these tropes. They usually blend together. Evocations of the Inquisition usually have evocations of later witch-hunts as well, and it's almost always Christianity Without Jesus.

I'm generally fine with using the Inquisition and the witch hunts as models for fictionalized versions of the church as a force for evil. They were Christianity as a force for evil in real life.

But they're often clearly written by people who haven't actually studied the periods in question before using them as a model--the Salem "witches," for example, were Christians, and not just women, and targeted more for financial reasons than religious ones. (Also, they weren’t burned at the stake, for crying out loud. You’re not the granddaughters of the witches they couldn’t burn. Like every word of that slogan is wrong.) But honestly, whatever. I’m not interested in holding fantasy to historical accuracy.

It's the way Evil Christianity Analogues are generally missing a Jesus figure that starts to make them problematic.

Much of the world's perception of Jews and Judaism is basically "it's like Christianity but without Jesus." 

Attempts to portray Christianity Analogues as bloodthirsty and primitive generally assume that what's "primitive" is what's older.

They tend to distrust ritual, and portray ritual either as primitive superstition, or as a facade that the Evil Priests use to manipulate the Naive Villagers.

And you may think you're sticking it to Christianity by doing your fic with evil Inquisitors who burn witches, but when a hallmark of its evil is that there's no Jesus analogue, you're actually not sticking it to Christianity. You're reinforcing its supremacy.

Or put another way, the idea that if you remove Jesus, Christianity becomes evil is just the flipside of "REAL Christianity is inherently good."

If you're going to have masses and priests and Inquisitors and witch burnings and all the other specific trappings of actual Christianity, put a fucking Jesus analogue in there. Because it's not "religion", it's SPECIFICALLY THE RELIGION THAT WORSHIPS JESUS, that did all these things.

Cultural practices are not an equation

A lot of this comes from a very old anti-Jewish trope: the OT God=vengeful, NT God=loving rubric.

Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time debunking that trope in this thread, other than to say that every single loving- or compassionate-sounding thing Jesus ever said is literally a quote or paraphrase from the Tanakh. 

Yet there's a long-standing idea in pop culture Christianity that the problem with Christianity is the “Old Testament.” You hear it ALL THE FUCKING TIME on TV. Some bigoted Christian character quotes something from the OT and the hero says something like, "we've had a whole other testament since then."

So, the idea that if you do Christianity without Jesus, you get Bloodthirsty Old Testament Religion is a huge trope in... 

<drum roll>

...Christian depictions of Satanism.

You know what I'm talking about, yes? Satanism as portrayed by Christians is missing Jesus, and usually involves a lot of animal sacrifice, and then human sacrifice, and often a smattering of Hebrew, that Ancient And Alien Language. Or sometimes Aramaic. (I could do a whole post about how weird Christians are about Hebrew and Aramaic.) So Satanism as imagined by Christians is intended to be a dark mirror of Christianity, and there are elements of that, in that there's usually elements from Catholic mass, usually some Latin. 

But in essence, what they're creating is Ancient Evil Religion Without Jesus, which ends up looking a lot like what they tend to think Judaism looks like, or looked like back in the day. (Without the "Evil", of course, or at least without saying it out loud.)

animal sacrifice, which Jesus negated the need for 

Hebrew as an ancient powerful magical alien language, rather than as, I dunno, the language of real people? 

a vengeful and bloodthirsty deity figure, without a mediating savior

(BTW, I and plenty of other Jews I know have been asked, by apparently well-meaning Christians, how we handle sacrificing animals in contemporary America. I’m sure that if this post gets any traction, a bunch of Christians are going to respond that they know we don’t actually practice animal sacrifice and let me just go ahead and give you your gold star and your cookie and please note the giant eye roll accompanying said cookie and star.)

A little detour into the Satanic Panic

The attitude toward imagined Satanism, with its ritual and its sacrifice and its churchiness, looks a little different whether you're getting it from Catholics or Protestants. 

With Catholics, it's "this is a mockery of the mass, which is why it's ritualized"

With Protestants, With Protestants, you get something a lot uglier. It’s “our Christianity is fresh and organic and flexible and real and just about a genuine relationship with God,” opposed to ancient, heartless, primitive, ignorant ritual like that in Satanism and Judaism and Catholicism

And of course, when actual Satanism as a practice became a thing, and not just a bogeyman in the fevered imaginings of paranoid Christians, it was primarily as a way to troll Christians. But it also pulled in a lot of really ugly white supremacist Victorian ideas about the occult.

It didn't start from what could we do to create a practice that actually highlights everything that's wrong with Christianity. You know, an actual satire of it. It mostly started with performing what Christians thought Satanism would look like. Trolling, as opposed to critique. It’s evolved since then and developed more into its own thing, and the point of this post has nothing to do with practicing Satanists, so I’m going to leave it there--this is just to point out that Satanism, full stop, both imagined and real, has always been something that exists inside Christianity, and is nonsensical outside/without Christianity. 

So again, and I can't emphasize this enough: What Christians think actual Satanism would look like isn't a critique of Christianity. It's a reification of it. It's self-congratulatory. The Christian idea of Satanism exists only to enforce the “correctness” of Christianity.

You can see this because--edgelordery among heavy metal artists and edgy teenagers notwithstanding--there's nothing actually attractive about Christian depictions of Satanism. No one seems to be having any fun. There's no there there. I mean, Michelle Remembers, The Satan Seller, Rosemary’s Baby, Go Ask Alice, Satan’s Underground, The Omen, Eye of the Devil--in all the famous texts of the Satanic Panic, it’s remarkable how unpleasant and dreary Satanic practices seem to be. It’s hard to imagine anyone finding these practices enjoyable or rewarding. There’s a typical authoritarian Christian lack of curiosity about humans’ inner lives in these portrayals: no one’s asking why anyone would want to engage in these practices. It’s just some people are evil, end of story. 

The entire point of Satanism in the Satanic Panic is to make Christianity look good. 

It exists, in their imaginings, solely to mock Christian ritual, but like, no one actually wants to eat a host made of feces? No one wants to have unpleasant and ungratifying sex? It's just misery for misery's sake, which is what Christians panicking about Satanism apparently imagine non-Christianity to be.

Back to fictional Evil Churches

So when SFF authors/game devs/whoever want to worldbuild a fictional evil church, somehow it usually ends up being Christianity with a very conspicuously missing Jesus.

Obviously, a comprehensive survey is beyond the scope of this Tumblr post, but here are a few examples:

Shin Megami Tensei literally has a church that worships “YHVH,” an explicitly evil god. There’s no Jesus analogue. 

The Church of Tal in Magic: The Gathering is full of hypocritical inquisitors who persecute magic users while using magic themselves. This is pretty obviously a dig at evangelicals who claimed M:TG was satanic in the 80s and 90s, but again, weirdly, no Jesus.

Final Fantasy X has the Church of Yu-Yevon, which of course turns out to be Bad. No Jesus. 

Dishonored is an interesting example, since the Abbey of the Everyman doesn’t have a god--or rather, it’s designed to protect people from its god, the Outsider. But it’s got all the tropes of churchiness and the Inquisition, and of course, no Jesus.

The Deep Church in Dark Souls. 

The Chantry in Dragon Age isn’t straight-up evil--they’re a positive force in some ways, but they're also Inquisition-y toward mages and straight-up evil toward the Dalish elves. No Jesus. 

Mercedes Lackey’s various fantasy worlds usually have some analogue to Christianity (in the first of the Heralds novels, Talia, the main character, comes from a background that clearly draws from both evangelical Christianity and Amish/Mennonite/etc. tropes). There’s no Jesus analogue.

Hell, in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, the church is literally a Christian church. Like, it’s not a completely different world; it’s our world but a little different. And yet somehow Jesus is very absent. 

David Eddings’ Church in the Elenium and Tamuli series isn’t terrible, exactly, but it bounces back and forth between corrupt and hapless. It’s pretty clearly Fantasy Christianity, right down to the scriptures and the clerical titles and the Vatican infighting and yet, no Jesus. 

Terry Pratchett’s Church of Om isn’t wholly evil, but it’s a satire of overly “ritualistic” Christianity--ritual is sterile, ritual is a substitute for true belief--and causes a lot of war. No Jesus, of course.

Brandon Sanderson’s Vorinism arguably rushes right past the accidental antisemitism of “no Jesus makes you evil” into straight-up antisemitism, but that’s a whole other post.

I mean, look, I could make this list really long, especially if I wanted to get into “Evil Religions that do very Christian Inquisition things, but have a pantheon that’s loosely based on the Greeks or whatever,” and how they’re still very much cast in a Christian mold, but never have a Jesus analogue, but we’d be here all day.

If you’re not Christian, why do you think Jesus saved the world?

The point is, a lot of people doing worldbuilding want authoritarian priests and witch-hunting inquisitors and Women Wrecked The World patriarchy and abusive exorcisms of people who aren’t possessed and conversion therapy and all that. Some of them are Big Mad at Christianity, some aren’t, but either way, they believe they have something to say about the harm Christianity has done.

But the real-world people who did all the horrible things Christianity has done weren't practicing Christianity-but-without-Jesus. They were practicing Christianity full stop.

And yes, actual Judaism as practiced by actual alive Jews isn't actually anything that resembles Christianity, with or without Jesus. But the problem is, for most of the world, their understanding of what Judaism is is "basically Christianity, but without Jesus."

When you decide to do an analogue of Christianity to be the evil religion in your SFF/game, but you neglect to include *the central element of Christianity*, which is, you know, Jesus, what you're actually suggesting is that Jesus is the thing that redeems "Abrahamic religion." (BTW, stop using that term since y’all seem to use it to try to blame Jews and Muslims (and by extension, all the other Abrahamic religions that you don’t even seem aware exist) for stuff that is specifically and uniquely Christian.)

So if you think that Jesus is the thing that makes Christianity good, so much that you can’t imagine a Fantasy Evil Christianity Analogue that has a Jesus figure, what does that say about what you think about Jews? 

If you're pissed at Christianity, and if you want to create an SFF setting that contains Evil Religion, why can’t you seem to bear to actually include a Jesus figure in your portrayal?

You’re actually reifying the idea that Christianity (”true” Christianity that actually worships Jesus) is uniquely and inherently good, and all the things you see as trappings of it (belief in a single God, ritual, tradition, sacred texts) are bad without Jesus.

So again, unfriendly reminder that the main Abrahamic religion in which Jesus has no place isn’t the one that did all the colonialism and inquisitioning and witch-hunts and swordpoint conversions and Crusades, and isn’t the one currently taking away your reproductive rights and putting torture of LGBTQ kids into law and trying to make it impossible to exist comfortably if you don’t believe as they do.

That’s all been the Jesus-people, not us.

Maybe think about that next time you’re worldbuilding.

[razzberrydazz]

Me? Resharing my Josephine Montilyet x Inquisitor Lavellan art? On Valentine's Day? Very likely. Take my Inquisitor OT Lavellan out on a date with Josie in Val Royeaux as a treat.

[lightwise]

Ahsoka Episode 4 Spoilers/Thoughts

This was...a big one, to say the least.

Also note to self do NOT open tumblr while in the middle of watching an episode or you will be spoiled for that epic ending *sobs* oh well...

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

2/2 Star Wars characters repairing ship wiring on their back...v nice

Sabine, you realize none of you would be in this position if you hadn't squirreled away with the map in your tower...jus sayin...

"Can I count on you?" Yeah I'm gonna say that's a no...

Sabine loading her blasters is super cool but also giving me flashbacks to trying to reload staple gun or nail gun cartridges and hoping you don't launch them into your face in the process

Natasha plays Sabine's nervous energy very well and Rosario is showing Ahsoka's own unease, reserve, but also very caring concern, extremely well. I really wish we could see the history between these two--animated in between series anyone??

I wonder why Dave doesn't bring up the fact that Ahsoka owes Ezra her life. It's only focused on what Ezra means to Sabine, but he means a lot to Ahsoka too.

Huyang's lil hands on hips...you can tell he's a full practical build here.

Speaking of...I REALLY want to know if the practical robot was used for this fight scene, or if they switched to someone in a costume/CGI. It seems like the HK droids are people/CGI but I could be wrong about that. Either way, go Huyang go!

It's always a treat to see Mandos and Jedi fighting styles together. And Sabine's Wonder Woman vambrace block was great.

Ahsoka's white lightsabers are so stunning in live action.

"May I make one request of you both?" LISTEN TO HUYANG. HE KNOWS WHAT'S UP. "Stay together." And WHAT ARE THEY NOT GONNA DO SMH

"Mom, how come I have to do what I'm told and you don't" lmao

Jacen is so spunky and I'm so glad Dave is having him be a full part of the series.

Carson Teva my man! And Brendan!

BUT WHERE ARE ZEB AND KALLUS. WHERE ARE OUR MARRIED BOIS

"Faith? I lost that a long time ago" Baylon's backstory pleaseeeee. Who was his master. How far did he get in training. Was he knighted? Did he have a padawan pre-order 66? Where was he during the war? Where was he during Order 66? When did he walk away, and what did he walk away to? What are his goals now? How did he find Shin/why did he want to train her? We desperately need a comic or a book here Lucasfilm

The graphics for the countdown clock (and the droids manning them) are super cool

Shin dear lord can you be any more dramatic

Sabine and Shin running off like rabid wolves while Ahsoka is just like, oh please, do I really have to deal with this right now

Ahsoka > any inquisitor, dead or alive, magic or real, anytime, any place, any age LOL

Ugh the parallels to Obi-Wan and Maul are impeccable.

So I totally knew Marrok would be a nobody/throwaway character but a nightsister necromancer ghost??? Did not see that coming at all. Eerie

Shin seems honestly disturbed by seeing Marrok fall. I wonder if the body that was used was someone she knew or had a connection to.

The lightsaber usage in this show is so interesting and such a unique blend of samurai techniques, OT trilogy techniques, and more realistic stabbing and swiping and slicing motions. I love the choreography and cinematography of Shin and Sabine going at it as well as how the trees and landscape are used in their fight.

Looks like Shin got her dramatics from her master. Sitting there with his hood up for effect lol

Definitely getting flashbacks to Ahsoka's sass in her fight with Maul in TCW.

Baylon's textured armor is so incredible. I want to see him leading a 13th century cavalcade

Can he read people's minds? Or does he do in depth research like Thrawn does so he knows the weak points of his opponents?

“One must destroy in order to create.” No. You are incorrect sir. One must die. One must morph, must change, in order to create. But that is different than destroying.

Again with the one saber. It's such an odd choice for Ahsoka to do that, and it honestly feels like an excuse for Baylon to be able to overpower her later. I don't quite like it.

It is very interesting how Baylon views Ahsoka, and tells her that her legacy is death and broken promises. What exactly does he think her legacy is? Because that is Anakin's legacy, not hers (at least through Rebels). What has happened since then?

He looks so sad, honestly.

There's way too much leaving oneself open to attack in this episode.

The fight scene definitely looks slowed down a little, and it's a little clunky, but man Baylon is brutal with his saber. Again why is Ahsoka not using both of hers to combat is strength??

Either there's a trailer shot that never made it into this fight, or Baylon and Ahsoka fight again. I'm missing where she kicks back against one of those tall rocks and flips over. That was such a cool shot.

I honestly can't believe Shin was able to block the whistling birds lol. That would be an intense hit to the face. Also I love how much of the shots and sparks in these shows are practical. It makes it feel so much more real.

The map burning Ahsoka is wild. It makes sense but very unfortunate.

Hot damn Ahsoka! She definitely was tapping into some anger there. In real life that hit to the back of the head should have seriously injured Shin. Filoni is really being gritty and brutal with the fights in this show, they're raw and dirty in ways that the trilogies were not.

Aaaaaand while I know Ahsoka isn't dead yet (there's no way Filoni would kill off the title character halfway through a first season) holy cow that was heartwrenching

Baylon is a master manipulator. He makes Maul look like a babbling teenager. And yet he doesn't seem to derive any twisted pleasure from it. He just is doing what he thinks he needs to do.

I'm sorry Ahsoka had WHAT to do with Sabine's family dying???? In the Purge??? Ugh geez that's awful.

Gah DAMN it Sabine!! C'mon girl!! Bad decision, bad decision!

WHAT IS THIS GREATER GOOD BAYLON

I would have loved to see Obi-Wan face off against Baylon. The quiet patience and calm strength...too much for one room

He is just not done digging at Ahsoka is he. Again, master manipulator, but why?

Huyang's little magnifying glass!

Dave definitely nailed the lighting in this show. Even if the volume is still apparent in some shots, the lighting is finally dialed in and soft and realistic and atmospheric. That shot of Baylon after decimating the map is epic.

Yeahhh, Hera, ya'll might want to skedaddle right quick before you get....oh, too late....

"Mom? I've got a bad feeling." Me too kid, me too.

"Lady Wren, Lady Tano" *sobbing* Hera make sure Huyang makes it back pls

This transition.

Oh boy

I know what's coming bc I got on tumblr too early but OH MAN

ahhhh it's so gorgeous

it's here, it's finally here and it's BEAUTIFUL (The World Between Worlds, who did you think I was talking about, Anakin? ;)

I'm KIDDING ANAKIN IS BEAUTIFUL TOO OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES

"Hello Snips" I can't I truly can't

"I didn't expect to see you so soon" so is she dead? Dying? Disassociating while drowning? Dave if you kill Ahsoka off in this show I will never forgive you

She is in shock omg look at him she is reunited with her brother, her master, her friend!!

We think--DAVE WHAT DOES VADER THEME MEAN. DAVE, SIR, HOW DARE YOU KNOW HOW TO LEAVE US ON SUCH A CLIFFHANGER IT IS UNFAIR.

Welp I have no idea what to do with myself until next week and we find out what's going on here. I swear if that's not the real Anakin I will be beside myself.

Let's get ready for flashbacks folks. What an episode.

[shrinkthisviolet]

✍️ for Lucy?

Ooh so for Lucy, here’s a few (mostly from the Sequels era because the OT doesn’t have too many major changes):

Because of Lucy knowing both Luke and Leia as a kid, albeit in different ways, Luke first hears about Leia from Lucy, as someone who was kidnapped by an Inquisitor

Unrelated to Lucy, but Nakari survives the book she was in (Heir to the Jedi)! I hated how they did her dirty, so she gets a long, happy life. She and Lucy become incredibly close 💞

Rey isn’t alone on Jakku—Lucy raises her there, from a young age to about age 19

Rey is Luke’s daughter! As for who her mother is…I shan’t say just yet 😂 feel free to guess, but I will confirm or deny nothing

Finn and Poe both survive the explosion and bring Rey and Lucy along (haven’t quite decided if they intentionally seek out Lucy yet, but possibly)—we’re establishing the sequel trio early!

Palpatine stays dead. I might prolong Snoke as a villain instead…or do something similar to what the DOTF script did with the Palpatine recordings. We’ll see

send me ✍️ + an oc and I’ll tell you some major changes to canon with their story!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @vexic929 @ironverseocs @raith-way @thechaoticfanartist @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @negative-speedforce @dream-beyond-the-fantasy

[musewrangler]

For the AO3 Wrapped game, 5, 7, 8, 11, and 13!

Thank you friend! Here we are:

5. What fic surprised you with how much interaction it got this past year?

Hmm. Mostly I Felt You In My Bones where Vader discovers who Leia is before Luke. It was a short fic for me and I wildly enjoyed the premise of making Piett the guardian over a young Senator though he has no idea why. Initially of course. I was really glad to see the fandom enjoyed the take because while I will always love the OT and the story it told, I love Leia a great deal and wish we’d seen more of her as a Jedi. 

And of course, I’m an eternal sucker for Leia and Piett having a father-daughter relationship as well so that was featured and received well. 

7. Share a line/snippet/paragraph that you were especially proud of from a work this year.

That is tough. I can think of several passages I’m happy with, but I think I’ll go with this one. It’s from Keep Your Enemies Closer—a fic centering on Obi-Wan and Piett forming an unexpected alliance to protect a young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. It was another one I had a BLAST writing.

Palpatine would not have the son as he had taken the father.  Another blade snapped into existence, making both combatants whip their attention to it.  Luke held the lightsaber of the fallen Third Sister. He clearly didn’t know how to handle it except to keep it in front of himself.  But the Grand Inquisitor was not mocking this. Because even as they watched the boy doing his best to look brave, the red light of the blade was—-- —- changing. Holy Force. The kyber crystal was responding to Luke Skywalker. Untrained and ignorant as he was of the Force, the Force knew him. Perhaps aided by the desert and its ancient roots. For Luke was a child of Tatooine as his father and grandmother had been before him.  And slowly the red faded to a warm, desert sun yellow . At another time, Obi-Wan could be fascinated by this, but the Grand Inquisitor thrust out a hand toward Luke who stumbled, the blade wavering and dropping to make a steaming row of glass in the sand at his feet. Obi-Wan used the Force to haul back on the Grand Inquisitor and the Dark Sider tore his attention from Luke back to the Jedi. Up and down the shifting sand they raged, the blades twirling and searing the night. 

8. What’s your favorite work you posted this past year?

Ahh!! Anytime I’m asked about a favorite work I have the worst time because I like them all for different reasons!! 

But I think it needs to be Burn Away the Dross and Find the Silver. I decided to write a full on romance/slow burn/arranged marriage AU for Firmus and Sola. I LOVED allowing the two of them to try and make the best of a bad situation and, of course, slowly fall in love with each other. It was also a fic where I had Anakin and Padme’ happily married without tragedy, as well as Veers. 

11. Do you have playlists for any of your fics/wips?

While I listen to music when writing, it’s a giant hodgepodge of classical/movie soundtracks/video game soundtracks etc. I don’t create playlists for my fics in general. Occasionally, a song will strike me as perfect for a scene and I’ll mention that to my readers at the top of a chapter but that’s about it.

13. What fic are you most excited to post in the upcoming year?

Oho. Ohoho. So I have two fully outlined that have not seen the light of day yet. Without giving too much away—the one I’m stoked about centers around the search for a Jedi [though not the one you might be thinking] enemies working together to survive, and not one, but three surprising reveals for several characters. Grins.

[morganaseren]

Hi! What do you think would happen if, in an au where the conclave didn't explode, Niamh was found because the new Inquisition wanted her to join it's ranks? Leliana and the others agree that she is a good choice for whatever role they need of her, maybe a commander to replace Cullen or something like that, and thus people are sent out to dig into rumors of her whereabouts.

She's ultimately found completely by accident at some point.

Oh, wow, y'all are curious today, aren't you? 😂 Well, let's see what I can think up for this!

If the explosion never happens with the Conclave, then that means Divine Justinia is still alive. Given she was originally meant to be Corypheus' sacrifice in order for him to obtain the Anchor, that also means he likely still has the Orb of Destruction in his possession. Following along that line of thought, he could attempt to go after Justinia again, which would certainly warrant getting more protection in the form of a certain Elementalist. 😏 ("A monster capable of our world’s destruction beckons us at our gates, so…” She idly flexed her hand, conjuring lightning which interweaved itself between her fingers. “…better to let another monster of equal caliber face it.” - Niamh, chapter 13 of OtSttCA)

Of course, if the Breach never forms in this AU, then no Herald of Andraste would exist, which means the role of Inquisitor could more or less go to anyone.

While I can see Niamh accepting the role of Commander in this AU per your suggestion, I can't foresee her wanting to be the overall leader of the Inquisition, especially if you recall her reaction regarding it in chapter 17. That said, I can't imagine it would be easy trying to find or convince Niamh to actually join the Inquisition.

Per OtSttCA's timeline, Niamh came back to Ferelden to see if the Divine could succeed in securing an end to the Templar-Mage war. Since the Conclave isn't destroyed, I can only imagine it would still take a bit longer to making that happen. Niamh likely stays in the country with the intention to oversee its progress, but she largely keeps herself out of sight of the Chantry's many watchful eyes.

I could see her trying to lay low in the Frostback Basin with the Avvar. Niamh probably came across one of their hunting groups by accident when they're set upon by a pack of wyverns—a hearty food source in such unforgiving terrain but still remarkably dangerous beasts overall. Niamh subdues the wyverns with her magic, and in the aftermath of the battle, she checks on the condition of the Avvar hunters. Once she's assured they're alright, and upon discovering she's so close to Avvar territory though, she had every intention of leaving out of respect, but Thane Svarah "Sun-Hair" invites her into Stone-Bear Hold as an honored guest.

Niamh's inner scholar would likely enjoy learning more about the Avvar, so she truly takes the time to study their customs and beliefs along with the various ways in which the mages and Augurs use their magic.

Leliana and Cassandra find themselves in the Frostback Basin to investigate Niamh's whereabouts, especially since there were sightings of her helping with a negotiation on the behalf of an Avvar trader. They could also be in the area to investigate what happened to Ameridan, leader to the previous Inquisition who disappeared several Ages ago. Honestly, I think the entire premise of the Jaws of Hakkon DLC would be an interesting way to introduce Niamh's recruitment into the Inquisition! ...Of course, getting her to agree to join is another matter entirely. 😅

Following the aftermath of the Blight, Niamh had no intention of fighting for any further wars ever again, but that's essentially what Justinia and her respective Hands are asking her to do. Bear in mind that Justinia only planned to reform the Inquisition if peace couldn't be reached between the Templars and the mages. If Niamh's being asked to join it, then it's because they're asking her to be an active military commander to what is otherwise a religious organization—the same one that's taught her all her life to hate herself for what she is.

Leliana wants Niamh to join because their only other viable Commander candidate is Cullen, who she feels is too controversial a figure due to his history as Knight-Captain of Kirkwall's disastrous Circle. Knowing that Cullen is even in the Inquisition causes Niamh to balk even harder about joining, much to Leliana's dismay.

Niamh returns back to Stone-Bear Hold when she hears word that the Jaws of Hakkon are planning to move against Thane Svarah's group. Knowing it could be their only chance to get Niamh to reconsider her decision to join, Leliana offers Cassandra and herself as aid (along with a small contingent of her own agents) for the chance to have Niamh at least hear them out again. Niamh—not wanting Stone-Bear Hold to suffer due to her stubbornness should they be overrun without help—reluctantly agrees.

Per the events of the DLC, they do end up figuring out what's going on, which means Ameridan's fate and actual identity is finally revealed. At such a revelation, Leliana steels herself for what she assumes is Niamh's absolute refusal to join the Inquisition. To her surprise, she does the opposite. ("Make no mistake. Becoming the Inquisition's Commander never would have been my first choice, but the Chantry hid the fact that Ameridan was an elven mage for centuries, Leliana. If nothing else, this entire incident has shown me the lengths such an institution will go to in to hide anything they deem as remotely inconvenient to their rhetoric. I don't know what type of history your Divine intends to carve out, but I will not allow my people to become yet another scapegoat just so that the Chantry might escape more hurtful truths.")

So Niamh joins as a reluctant member of Justinia's War Council, but despite her reservations, she gives her absolute all as their lead strategist and Commander, especially once Corypheus finally makes his appearance. Also, thinking about Niamh in full Commander regalia is doing wonderful things to my mind right now... 🤤

Since Niamh's not out doing active fieldwork like she would be as Inquisitor, that means she'll be at Skyhold more often, which would allow her and Leliana to actually catch up with one another more easily.

Other than that, I imagine most of the in-game decisions will still play out in much the same way it would in OtSttCA.

At this point, I don't know who's going to end up as the Inquisitor for this group. My canon Hawke might be a fun character to play off of Niamh. 😂 I think this could still be an interesting AU to write though. Not my best work so far, but I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this!

[machinatings]

Really did not think I had super strong takes on Star Wars anymore but I do feel so strongly that the inquisitors makes the general world building Worse. Part of why the empire was so effective in (almost) completely wiping out the jedi in only 20 years wasnt just that they killed them all, it’s that they killed the idea that using the force was even strictly possible. In the OT the word “sith” is never even used- people barely understand the nature of the force, let alone enough to distinguish between a jedi and a sith. By the time of ANH, the idea of being a force user, any kind, should feel desperately lonely, a product of a bygone era. It makes Palpatine, as one of the only people still alive that understands the force, that much more powerful. The idea that he would go out of his way to train a bunch of people in the darkside really undermines that in my opinion.

[deilmo]

I fell into Dragon Age again...

I was innocently talking about Dragon Age Inquisition, by the night I was downloading the game back. So to satisfy the brainworms- here's my Inquisitor, Sileal!

He romanced Solas- got dumped, and now he's with Iron Bull.

It was just supposed ot be a little sketch to try brushes out and then I went "wait, what if it was a sketch in a notebook Solas had?" and here we are. I might make another drawing like this when I finish Trespasser too!