#is that Aveline's biggest problem?

[freedoms-call]

Man, Dragon Age II was wild... You have to make these big life & death decisions for your companions. For example, this guy spends years going up against an oppressive system and saves life after life, and when he finally snaps and chooses less palatable methods to prevent the murder of literally every single mage in the city, you can execute him for it. For another example, you can help the cop lady get a date~ (✿◡‿◡)

[henshark-blog]

In the Inquisition, if Carver Hawk has become a Grey Warden, then his brother/sister will ask Avelin to take him away from Orlails

The strategy is as reliable as a Swiss watch

Point one: to break into the camp of the Grey Warden and kidnap one of them

*Note to the point: and would Avelin have stormed into such posts as the Turnip keep?

Point two: clothes in hand and let's go

Point three: would probably be that the commander of Carver's squad would roll his eyes

just on the spot of the Hero of Ferelden, I would connect someone from my entourage to Carver, if not for constant supervision, then for training

HoF: Nath

Nathaniel: what

HoF: teach the boy to defend himself. So that guards wouldn't run after him from Kirkwall

Nathaniel: yEs, siR

HoF: good, I love you

Nathaniel: screw you*

To be completely honest, the biggest problem for Carver would be the Hero of Ferelden, who kills dragons in the morning instead of jogging, could destroy Corypheus in the first three minutes of the game and eat little Kirkwall boys for breakfast

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Helga, She Wolf of Stilberg (Rhomm, 1978)

This review contains mild spoilers.

I'm not much of a fan of Nazisploitation, but of the movies I've seen from or adjacent to the genre, my favourite is easily Greta, the Mad Butcher AKA Wanda, the Wicked Warden AKA Ilsa, Absolute Power AKA Jess Franco's Ilsa movie. And I think it's worth unpacking why that one works as well as it does and this and others come up short in comparison. For one thing, Franco's movie brings some actual political conviction to the proceedings. Perhaps he was making movies in (the other) Franco's Spain and butting up against censors, there's actual blood in the movie's veins when it comes to depicting the evils of a fascist government and sympathy for its victims. This movie, like Franco's, opts for an unspecified fascist government instead of explicitly depicting Nazi Germany, but is much less interested in sketching out the political environment of its story. There's some reference to rebels, who we finally see very late in the movie, but the movie halfheartedly takes the perspective of the oppressors.

Which gets at the biggest problem this one has, in that you never really identify with the protagonist. For what it's worth, Patrizia Gori tries to emote her heart out in the role, but she isn't introduced until a third into the movie and takes another third to emerge as an actual character. Franco's movie wisely aligns us with the perspective of Tania Busselier, giving us a sympathetic figure to latch onto in order to navigate the proceedings. You actually end up caring about what happens as a result. Franco's movie also has Lina Romay, who is like a cheat code in elevating the material. I will say that while Malisa Longo is no Dyanne Thorne, she is well cast as the villain. In large part this is thanks to her great big feline eyes, which she uses to dole out piercing stares, often with her nostrils flared. Her performance is not sophisticated by nonetheless effective. She also has an amazing wardrobe, getting to put on a nice floral dress, a silk robe, and an outfit consisting of a red silk shirt and leather pants that she usually wears while torturing prisoners or going riding. It is a versatile outfit, is what I'm saying.

At the same time, and this might sound contradictory, Franco's interest in Sadean themes means that the torture scenes in his movie are a lot more engaging. Basically he's getting off on them, and as such they carry a certain charge. This one cycles through a number of indignities, like rapes, whippings and medical examinations, but the execution can be charitably described as low energy. There's one scene where some of the prisoners have their heads held under a tap that has all the excitement of trying to give a cat a bath. This copies the other movie's tactic of denying the prisoners any underwear beneath their uniforms, which guarantees flashes of bush anytime there's a physical altercation. Listen, this movie doesn't have a lot going for it, I'm willing to throw it point for this one little thing. There's also a pretty funny scene where Longo is down in the dumps so she hurries to the dungeon to torture somebody so she can cheer herself up. I'll throw the movie a point for this scene too.

This movie has a bunch of talent from French porn, including director Patrice Rhomm, Dominique Aveline AKA the guy who looks like Mario, Alban Ceray AKA the guy who looks like the lead from Taste of Cherry, Richard Lemieuvre AKA the guy who looks like Ringo Starr, and a bunch of the ladies too. Aveline gets a sex scene with Longo, which is like if Mario banged Princess Peach, but in a fascist context. Aveline also later tortures Lemieuvre, which is like if Mario tortured one of the Beatles, but in a fascist context. This is also shot in a castle in the French countryside, so it looks nice enough despite the obvious low budget. On that point, at the end, the rebels adopt a strategy of arresting people like they have a huge army behind them, a strategy the movie imitates by throwing in a bunch of stock footage to make the battle scene look a lot bigger than it is. Anyway, this is pretty boring and has some really lame last minute attempts to create emotional resonance, but I suppose I liked Gori and Longo, and the movie did prove useful in showing why Franco's Ilsa movie is good. But if you're looking to get your genre jollies, maybe just watch that one instead.

[monstersmutpeddler]

Resisting Maxu: The Clecanian Series Book 6

By: Victoria Aveline

Monster Scale

Level 01: Basically Human

More sensitive senses (hearing/smell) and can purr. 

My Overall Rating For The Book

“I Bought The Ebook or Will Read On Kindle Unlimited”

This was a fun read! If you wanted to see more of Clecania and their many cultures/values: You are going to absolutely LOVE this books. You get to see so much of the world, it’s awesome!

As a heads up, the love plot for the two leads is resolved, but the overarching plot is left on a cliffhanger. You’re left wondering: Oh shit, what’s gonna happen next! Can’t wait for the next couple! ;w;

The main couple is fine, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Maxu. He felt like diet Theo. If that makes sense? He does have some interesting traits that make him different from his brother, but I was meh about him and his relationship with our leading lady. 

Overly Simplified Summary

Meg is having a great time going on a tour across Clecania with a couple other human women so the world can see/interact with humans. Until her fated mate smells her and goes on a manhunt trying to track her down. 

Keep reading for ‘This Book Has Everything’ and possible Trigger Warnings.

This Book Series Has Everything

[x] Touch them and I’ll kill you vibes

[x] Love interest that you want to smack across the face at some point

[x] Main character that you want to smack for making some DUMBASS decisions

[x] Big buff love interest

[x] Soul mates or fated mates

[x] Miscommunication happens between leads at some point

Not too extreme, mostly minor things that just feel irritating. 

[x] Plot first smut second

[x] Straight

[x] One’s a sunshine and the other is a grump

[x] We’re escaping from the bad guys' prison/lab/etc.

[x] Love interest has to fight hard to win the love interests heart

[x] Main character and love interest talk about their problems or tragic pasts and heal together

[x] There is something wrong with the current female population, hence humans

[x] The side character steals the show and makes you want their own book

[x] Society where men have drank respect women juice

[x] Kinky af sex

Bondage and BDSM.

[x] Happy Ending Guaranteed

At least for the main couple. 

[x] They purr like a FUCKING CAT

[x] Super scary/dangerous but very gentle and sweet with the one they love

[x] Book ends on a cliffhanger

Here’s a link/buy the book!

Trigger Warnings

[x] Main character had a really bad relationship with an ex at one point

[x] Really shitty childhood, usually abuse involved

[saintlethanavir]

7, 17, 21!

Thank you so much for the asks bb!!

7. If they had to choose one person most important to them, who would that be?

Tzvi Mahariel: Alistair or Merrill, honestly. A lot of their friends and clan sort of fell to the wayside after they became a Grey Warden and there was the loss of Tamlen. He's very introverted as well and prefers the company of very few. Alistair and Merrill are his best friends in the whole world.

Ophelia Hawke: They've got a top 3 I'll be honest but if they had to choose it would be a painstakingly rough decision between Fenris and Varric. Their top three includes Carver as part of that. They all know Ophelia incredibly well and they've stuck by them through the worst possible moments.

Calliope Lavellan: Aurelius would be the obvious answer but it would actually be their father, Hanin. He taught them everything and he kept them strong through every terrible thing to happen to their family. If anything would happen to his father Calliope would be devastated.

17. What were they like as a child?

Tzvi Mahariel: So depressed lmao his dad ran off and his parents died early on after that so it's a rough time for him. Ashalle did everything she could but the only thing that brought out his sunshine were Tamlen and Merrill. And being with the halla. He just felt better around them.

Ophelia Hawke: Absolutely insane, chaotic child. Their magic came early and they were the type to just be so impulsive. Definitely jumped off the roof more than once pretending they could fly and almost or did break something. They've always been very protective of their family members as well, and would beat up any bully, even the ones bigger than them at the time.

Calliope Lavellan: Very reserved and quiet, they loved to ramble on about their special interests to their brother and father though. He struggled to make friends outside of the two or three that he grew up with, and never really broke out of their shell until Inquisition forced them to do so. Calliope ran off with their twin Aurelius to play in the Temple to Falon'Din that the clan would often camp out by , it was their favourite place in the Graves!

21. What's their biggest regret?

Tzvi Mahariel: That he couldn't save Tamlen. He has huge survivors guilt about it and feels it should have been Tamlen who became the Warden and not him.

Ophelia Hawke: Both that they didn't push Aveline to go after the man who eventually killed Leandra, and that they didn't save Bethany from that ogre. It haunts them every waking moment.

Calliope Lavellan: That they never learned to control their magic as a child, it led to a lot of problems in Inquisition and may have saved their mother in the end as well.

Ask me about my Dragon Age World State!

[enigmaincrimson]

(Muse positioning is kind of a weird thing when it comes to OCs.)

(Like, you are typically inserting someone who normally isn't there, so you have to work out how they fit into things without crashing head-long into what already exists.)

(Problem, that creates the new issue of accidentally distancing said character too far away from where things are happening that you now have to have an excuse of why they are there.)

(With Aveline, one of the biggest nuisances about her is her tendency to wander off if there isn't something that gives her a reason to stick around. Not that the other variants wouldn't do the same if the opportunity came up.)

(But I also have the other side of things of... if they saw how she presented herself, what do they think she is like?)

(Maybe that came out wrong, but still... I do try to think about it when possible.)

(And I'm sorry that I don't have more content. Dash looks dead on this end, I don't want to reblog from my partners, and I'm still awaiting their responses, but I didn't want to bother them about it.)

[extremelyblackandwhite]

ascendance - 10

PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader

WARNINGS: age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37), violence

A/N: this chapter has some heavy mentions of dubcon (there’s no descriptions, but it’s mentioned by a character) so i would stray away from it if you’re not comfortable. otherwise, hope you enjoy xx

PREVIOUS CHAPTER - NEXT CHAPTER | MASTERLIST

   - Would you hurt me? - she asked and Bucky went silence for a second before he opened his mouth to speak.

   - Never.

He twirled her as he spoke out those words, bringing her back towards his chest, the impact softened by her hands moving on top of them. His hands returned to hold her waist as the orchestra grew to a crescendo which led to the end. Y/N did not know what to say, she did not expect that much of an answer. She expected him to tell her not to ask stupid questions or just ignore the question, last case scenario even a no but she did not expect that strong of an answer. Nevertheless, she could not herself complain about it. She found herself more than happy with the answer yet she could not look him in the eye. She felt if she did she’d easily let him into her mind, but most of it was merely shyness and not knowing exactly what to say. She felt warm and almost giddy yet she wouldn’t admit it to herself.

Bucky, however, had no problem looking at her; heck, he was almost basking in her whole existence. He could see the gold dress glistening with the room lights and he could feel her head leaning upon his shoulder. For once second, he felt normal for the first time since she was 18. Just for a moment, a small moment in the tape of his life, he allowed himself to feel good, to feel happy about having her head on his shoulder. She was just warm, so warm and he wanted nothing but to remain dancing to an endless song with her; no matter how much his mind yelled at him that she resented him. 

Y/N just held her head on his shoulder, her gaze not really focusing on anything as she just felt nice for a while. Her ears registered the instrumental of Heaven Can Wait as his hand rested softly against her waist and she just allowed herself to pretend she was in one of those black and white movies where the music is echoey and the biggest display of attention is leaning against the dashing man’s character. She pretended her life was merely ok and chose instead to lock herself into her own mind. The two were so lost within each other they didn’t notice the music had subsided and the two were merely dancing to the silence in between the next song. 

    - You’re not gonna steal him all night, are you Y/N? - Aveline put her hand on Bucky’s shoulder, the one where her head wasn’t laying. 

Y/N furrowed her brows, standing upright yet her attention turned to Bucky who almost seemed to petrify like a cracked marbled statue. Her lips opened slightly ready to ask him what was wrong but he himself chose to slip off her warm embrace, instead joining the woman onto the next dance. She remained there.  in the middle of the crowd in a sparkly dress which appeared to have dimmed once she became only somebody else in the crowd of a thousand faces. Her hands rubbed her upper arms as she exited the crowd, walking towards one of the tables which were displayed all around the room. She leaned against the table, watching Bucky dance with the effortlessly classy woman yet, something was ... off. She could’t exactly explain what it was, yet, there was something in the blue of his eyes which was tempestuous, a red herring.

   - I see you’ve lost your partner, Ms. Y/N. - Zemo approached her like a sly fox. - I wouldn’t stay up waiting. Miss Aveline will keep him occupied. 

   - I’m not waiting. - she crossed her arms. - I merely dislike crowds.

   - Me too. Perhaps you might want to join me at the bar? 

   - I’m not that type of girl. 

   - That’s not the type of girl I’m looking for either, Miss Y/N. 

He took a swift turn and she followed, clearly curious by him. She followed him into a small secluded area, a small bar room she guessed by the looks of it, decorated in tones of rich greens and golds with various liquor and spirit bottles which she only saw at the bars for the upper paying guests at her opera house. He took one of the bottles from under the bar, taking two glasses before serving two servings of the unknown liquid. 

   - I’m not really drinking tonight. - she declined the drink he offered her. 

   - Would you like some sparkling water, perhaps? 

   - Please. - she sat on one of the chair by the bar, looking outside but Bucky had long disappeared.

   - Aveline gets James pretty busy whenever she sees him. - he offered her a glass of sparkling water. 

   - I’ve noticed. - she sounded more bitter than she should, speaking through the sparkling water she was sipping. 

Her eyes left the outside to look at where she was, sighing as she realised she was still trapped in a cage. However, the glass chess board and pieces at one of the mahogany tables entranced her. 

   - Do you play? - Zemo asked, noticing her gaze.

   - My father did. He was a great player. 

   - Passed away?

   - No. I just don’t think I’ll ever see him again. - she shrugged, a soft yet sad smile gracing her features. - Not that you care, you barely let me speak.

   - I think you don’t really understand what world you just entered. 

   - No one has explained to me. - she rebutted. - Bucky won’t explain it to me either. 

   - How about a game of chess?

She rolled her eyes, feeling unheard once again but instead she just followed him to the table, sitting in front of the transparent crystal pieces while he took the dark crystal side. Her father had always been a genius player and while he’d told her many times how to play, she always ended up losing. “Know your opponent” he’d tell her, whatever that meant. 

   - You see, in the mob you have your boss. - he rose the king chess piece. - He’s the one everyone protects but he’s not even the most powerful. 

   - I know chess rules. - she made her first play.

   - You have your rooks and then you have your knights. John will always use his knights however he deems fit. 

   - I’ve seen but the King is not the most powerful piece in the board.

   - Everyone’s downfall is always a powerful cunning woman. - he rose the dark queen and all she could think of was Aveline and how she easily knew how to walk that room, not afraid of anything or even John. - You’ll always have me in your corner, I hope you understand that. 

    - Surely you know I won’t trust that. 

    - I do but the statement still stands.  

    - I see you’ve stolen my soprano. - John interrupted the two of them. She looked over her shoulder at him before looking back at Zemo. - My darling, I’m afraid you’ve danced with everyone but me.

   - That’s an hyperbole. - she didn’t even dare look him in the eye, instead continuing to play her game. 

   - Come on, darling, you certainly proved yourself a great dancer with James.

She sighed, getting up from the table and making her own way towards the dancing area, refusing to be shackled to John more than she already was. With a soft turn, she faced the man who held the key of her cage. He pushed her waist towards him as a heavy string and brass piece started. She stared him right in the eye as the two moved side to side. 

   - The Baron appears to have taken an interest on you. 

   - It seems so. - she replied dryly, twirling as every other woman dancing did in an almost choreographed manner. - Yet again, you were the one who forced me to attend. 

   - I like having my bases covered. 

   - I think you like having everyone on a leash. 

   - That’s what power is all about, isn’t it, my darling? 

   - I’ve told you not to call me darling, John. - she spoke down to him which appeared to strike a nerve, his eyelid slightly twitching as she did. Her eyes continued to roam the crowd, looking out for Bucky.

John noticed this, dryly chuckling before turning her to the other side in yet another seemingly choreographed movement, her dress moving softly with the move itself and sparkling with the lights of the room.

   - You’re looking for him, aren’t you?   

   - You’d have to tell me who for me to answer that. 

   - James is in someone else’s bedroom. - he almost whispered that in her ear, before pulling back. - As I said, I like to keep my bases covered. 

The two stepped away from each other as the song ended and almost automatically her eyes were set on the stairs where he and Aveline were going down for; his tie slightly messy and stained neck in hues of dark plum. She almost took a step back, disappearing into the crowd and taking Will’s side who himself was busy looking into the same crowd.

   - What are you doing? - she chirped, clearing catching him off guard. The young man blushed bright red, holding tight onto his champagne flute and rubbing the back of his neck. - What are you looking at?

   - N-nothing. - he looked at his shoes but not before Y/N followed his gaze to a particular petite redhead standing in a pale red dress laughing at someone. 

   - Is it the redhead? 

   - No. - he mumbled. - Don’t ... don’t you have anywhere to be? 

   - Not really. Kidnapped thing, remember?

   - Her name’s Amy. She’s the daughter of an underboss and she’s ... she’s so pretty and so funny.

   - Why aren’t you dancing with her?

   - I’m not important enough to. - he rubbed his neck again. -  I mean, she’s so ... she’s the most beautiful thing and I ...

   - You should ask her to dance with you. 

   - Didn’t you listen to what I just said?

   - If you don’t do it, then I’ll do it. 

   - What? No. - he stepped into the crowd making Y/N laugh.

She stood there, watching as he nervously made his way towards Amy, rubbing his hands as he approached her before clearing his throat. She couldn’t exactly listen to what he or she had said to each other but by the blush on his cheeks and the smile on her face, she guessed it was positive. That guess proved positive as the two entered the dance floor which in turn made Y/N smile.

   - What are you doing? - a voice from behind her startled her. - I didn’t mean to startle you, I’m sorry.

   - Yeah ... - she looked at Bucky, almost wanting to tell him about Will and Amy before she saw the hues on his neck up close. Her eyes peaked over his shoulder to Aveline and her worn out plum lipstick before looking at Bucky, her enthusiasm disappearing. - I want to go.

   - Why? I thought you were having fun.

   - Well, you definetely were. -  whatever it was that struck a nerve with him worked as he immediately shut up. 

   - You don’t know what you’re talking about. 

   - I know what post-sex looks like and while it certainly looked like you enjoyed it, I don’t particular enjoy being passed out as an escort to your friends. 

He wanted to say something but instead turned around, leaving her alone which only furthered angered her and she made her way outside the room and down the stairs to the car, immediately being followed by several of John’s men who stopped by the front of the car. 

She didn’t know why she was upset, why it was that him having sex with that woman made her so angry. Well, perhaps the fact she had been forced into this whole mess and felt like a high end escort or the fact she was still not able to breathe without having someone follow her. She didn’t know, all she knew was that she was upset. 

Bucky, on the other hand, wasn’t much happier. He made his way through the crowd, picking the first champagne flute and chugging it down as if it was merely water. 

   - You’re distracted. - Aveline stepped up to his side. - Not that you weren’t good but you could’ve looked at me. What is it?

   - It’s none of your business. 

   - Don’t play tough guy with me. - she held his chin in between her fingers, before smirking. - Is it the chorus girl?

   - Don’t call her that, it’s demeaning. 

   - So it is the chorus girl. - she leaned her chin to her chest. - Zemo does like her. I wonder how long it’ll take ‘til John trades her in for something.

   - He won’t.

   - Why not? He clearly gave you to me and the price wasn’t that high. You think he’s not gonna seize the opportunity when it appears?

   - You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Aveline stepped back, inspecting the man she was sure she knew everything about before her eyes tightened, a teasing smile on her lips followed by a light scoff.

   - Are you getting attached, Jamie? That it? 

   - She’s a trading card for the police, not for Zemo.

   - You didn’t answer my question.

   - It’s a ridiculous question. 

   - She doesn’t love you. - she turned around to leave before peaking over her shoulder to look at him. - Nobody does. 

TAGLIST + BEA’S MOOTS (sorry moots, it is I here to annoy you): @lookiamtrying @buckyswillow @blossomslibrary @juliesland @iloveshawnieboi @unmagically​ @red-head011 @poisonous00​ @boofy1998​  @starbuckie​​ @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123

[mllemaenad]

So I just started a new DA2 playthrough, and remembered something that I'd love to get your thoughts and opinions on, especially since your Joanna romanced Anders. If you give Fenris to Danarius, basically everyone disapproves, except Anders, who actually *approves*. I understand the basics: he's so far gone to his cause he wants everyone who disagrees with him *gone*, fellow ex-slave or no, but I'd love to see if you had a more in-depth thought process on it. Thanks!

Hi. :)

I ... honestly don’t have much in the way of deep thoughts on Anders himself here, because I don’t think Anders is the core problem. I’ve seen people wring their hands over that +5 before, and it’s always confused me. I feel like if you’re worrying about the minutiae of a +5 to friendship you are not grappling with the full horror of what just happened. This whole quest is a catastrophic failure of the friendship/rivalry system.

So - the quest page is here.

Digging a little further tells me that on XBox, at least, Isabela will give a +5 to rivalry for the threat to Fenris’s sister, but nothing for Fenris himself. She has a line, objecting to Hawke’s actions, but no friendship/rivalry change.

I mean - what the hell are we looking at here? Do you know? Because I absolutely do not.

We have a solid +10 rivalry average for handing a friend over to a slaver. I can make that back with two moderately funny purple responses in the right places. In fact, as this is an Act 3 quest I would imagine that many people are missing some or all of these changes because they’ve already maxed out their companions’ scores one way or another. It’s an utter non-event.

Merrill, whose people were enslaved en masse by Tevinter, who lost her whole culture to them and is scrabbling to reclaim it, gives a +10 to rivalry when a fellow elf is handed over to a Tevinter Magister for enslavement and torture. Isabela, the pirate captain who liberates slaves has no followup on that at all. Our biggest rivalry gain is from Aveline, at +15, and - wow. Impressive. A whole 15 rivalry points for doing the worst possible thing to a long-time friend and comrade.

+10! +10! What does it mean? “We can still go for drinks later, but we’re going to sulk”? “Hawke, you’re barred from game night for the next two weeks for that silliness”? I can’t let it go. Those little +10s to rivalry make me much angrier than Anders’s +5 to friendship because they’re treated as sufficient. Anders’s +5 causes distress and dismay, because it worries people that he approves of slavery, but a tiny +10 to rivalry for one of the worst things you can do in this game - and we are not a little bit worried about everyone else’s moral compass?

This isn’t the dealbreaker? This isn’t the day we all leave and never talk to Hawke again? Why the fuck not?

So - for context, in The Urn of Sacred Ashes, back in Origins, Leliana will literally fight you to the death over desecrating the relic; if you spare Loghain in The Landsmeet, Alistair will leave you; if you don’t murder Anders in The Last Straw in retaliation for the death of Grand Cleric Elthina, Sebastian will leave and wage war on Kirkwall. But we can give Fenris to a slaver and it’s fucking fine. Oh, we’re a little annoyed, but we’ll get over it

I am so angry. Not at you, for talking about it, but at the writing in this quest. I don’t think there’s anything very meaningful to be said about Anders specifically. He and Fenris loathe each other. They fight and they poke each other’s sore spots. It seemed like a good idea to someone to give Anders a minor friendship bump if Fenris leaves. When the positions are (broadly speaking) reversed, and Fenris gets to comment on Anders’s fate in The Last Straw he says “He wants to die. Kill him and be done with it”. This is not Fenris having strong opinions about the mage rebellion - although he does have those elsewhere. This is a very broad, facile “fuck that guy”. Obviously the circumstances differ, but in terms of caring about each other’s wellbeing they’re about the same. Fuck that guy. If he’s going away, I’m having a good day.

Was it tacky for Bioware to put that +5 friendship into Alone? Yes. Definitely. But I don’t think it means anything at all about Anders or his view on slavery or his cause, because if I did think that, I’d have to think the other companions’ responses were significant too. I’d have to think that their firm position on this is to wrinkle their collective noses a little and then forget about it. And - I’m just going to do the obvious and gesture emphatically at Isabela’s whole character arc here in refutation of that.

I’m not opposed to evil choices in RPGs. That’s ... kind of how role playing works. But this one is so utterly facile as to be revolting. There are no meaningful consequences for this. And while it is possible to do other revolting things in Dragon Age, things done to companions stand out, because from a narrative perspective they matter. We can say in theory that the deaths of unnamed NPCs are bad and wrong - but it will be the characters we know and love that we mourn over. This isn’t the only bad choice you can make, but it’s a really big one.

For Joanna - this is a non-issue. She’s not going to hand anyone over to a slaver, much less her friend, so (mercifully) I do not have to try to rationalise this nonsense.

For anyone going to because they’ve committed to an evil playthrough? This might be a really good time to bring in “Varric is an unreliable narrator” and head canon yourself some reasonable fallout.

[baejax-the-great]

Arms

Fenris x Hawke 

Stranded on the Wounded Coast, the party decides to camp in a cave. Fenris finds himself irritated at how easily Hawke falls asleep as well as who she is snuggling.

In which Fenris fails to correctly identify any of the feelings he's having. AO3

~~

Normally Fenris would not mind the rain falling in deafening sheets which dulled the sharp edges of the Wounded Coast. It was not their first time having to camp because of a sudden deluge. The weather of his adopted home was as temperamental as its citizens, and it suited him fine. On long evenings like this one, when sleep eluded him, the roar of rain could provide a pleasant enough distraction.

Tonight, however, he wished the rain would let up and the paths would dry out so he could walk home to the solitude of his empty mansion.

When the rain had started, Aveline had pointed at the mouth of a cave, and they had run. Once sheltered, however, they found the entire cavern collapsed, barely enough room in the entrance for them all to stretch out in relative dryness. There was no room for a fire, or anything dry to even burn, and Fenris’s toes were bitterly cold.

This was not what was irking him.

Hawke was the source of his irritation.

He couldn’t say why. She was asleep. She wasn’t snoring. She had left him ample room, carefully placing her bedroll to give him as much space as possible. So much so, that she had ended pressed up against Varric, who was also asleep and didn’t seem to mind.

As a rule, sleeping people did not bother Fenris. The behavior of sleeping people was reliable and seldom a problem. The biggest threat was getting kicked, and rarely with any real force.

So he could not say why Hawke, sleeping soundly with her face pressed to Varric’s shoulder, was irritating him.

But she was.

~~

Read the rest on AO3

[misojohnist]

yknow i think one of my biggest problems with dragon age inquisition is that the companions like you too much. you meet companions in inquisition and without any qualifying experiences or interactions they’re all immediately like “woooow herald you’re so sexy and cool and powerful and smart please let me join your illegal army ❤️” except for like. maybe the iron bull and blackwall. meanwhile in origins morrigan spends the entire game negging you and infantilizing your intelligence, zevran literally tries to kill you and thinks you’re kind of stupid for saving him, sten hates everything you do simply because he wishes you would stop talking to him, wynne treats you like a valued co-worker, oghren is too drunk to give a shit about you (unless ur a female in which case he is here to make tasteless comments), and alistair and leliana’s affection is entirely because they are both the character equivalent of a kicked puppy and imprint on you like ducklings. in dragon age ii every single character is unable to decide if they’d rather fight you to the death or fuck you. anders doesn’t trust you, isabella doesn’t trust you, merrill is sweet but every 3rd word out of her mouth is a lie, aveline would probably behead you in your sleep if you pissed her off no matter how good your relationship is, fenris OBVIOUSLY doesn’t trust you. companions used to be like “ok creep i’ll join your merry band of fuckups but dont expect me to be nice” and you had to WORK for their affection. everyone in inquisition wants to know me carnally and will tell me so in our first meeting and it takes all the FUN out of it!!!

[tokutenshi]

Well whooooops, my dumb self couldn’t keep track of the days.

Though the Darkness Comes Upon Me part 1 “I Shall Embrace the Light”, chapter 16: “Blame”

If the past year had taught Cullen anything, it was that he was a terrible judge of character. His original irritation at not pursuing the claims against Ser Varnell further escalated to near self-loathing since reading that damn report. Mother Petrice had played a much larger part in the plot against the Qunari than he'd realized and carried on with it – albeit less brazenly – after Varnell's death. Until last night.

Cullen had failed to see her corruption, had trusted her simply because she was a mother of the Chantry, and now another mob of misguided zealots were dead. Petrice was dead. The Viscount's son, Saemus, was dead. The Chantry was stained with their blood because of a plot he could have discovered months ago if he'd only been willing to see. If he hadn't been so trusting and acted in the real, then Hawke wouldn't have had to swoop in and clean up yet another mess.

That's how she described it, too. A swoop, and a mess.

Mia's letters were providing little comfort this time, even the newest addition which he had yet to reply to failed to pull him away from the man he was now. His sister had been his biggest supporter growing up and not only encouraged his dream of being a templar, but rallied Branson and Rosalie to help him reach it. She still wrote him like he was the thirteen-year-old idealistic twerp who left Honnleath, and he tried to not let too much of his true self slip out in his responses, as few and far between as they were. He was so much not the brother she knew and he didn't have the heart to break hers by telling her as much.

“Knight-Captain?”

Cullen lifted his gaze to the doorway, not nearly as surprised as he should have been to see the source of his other lapse in judgment – Ebrisa. She was in mage robes, but wore a simple smock over them to keep clean with a wooden bucket hanging on one arm and a large, canvas bundle in the other. Her hair was pulled back, braided and looped into a secure bun at the base of her neck, a much more elaborate style than she usually sported, likely due to the extra free time she had now.

When he made no move to leave or speak, only acknowledging her with his quick visual assessment of her appearance, Ebrisa entered the yard and knelt down by the flowerbed furthest from him. She removed the bucket from her arm and rolled out the bundle of fabric, revealing her gardening tools and several sheets of burlap. Cullen made no indication that he wanted to be alone, but he hadn't started a conversation either and after the awkward way she had ended their last one, Ebrisa was hesitant to initiate.

She worked as quietly as possible, carefully digging around the base of the dying plants to reach their web of roots and shaking loose as much dirt as she could before setting the sprouted bulb on the burlap. Cullen watched her as she worked, eying the sharp spade in her hand and the gentle way she moved it through the ground, knowing it could easily slip between the gaps in his armor if she rushed him. He scrutinized her familiarity with the small pruning knife as she pressed its edge through the withered stem, exerting just enough pressure to cut the plant and not her thumb, wondering if she would use the same tender grip slashing the blade across his throat.

Anything – everything – could be a weapon, which is why tools of all kinds were so closely guarded. This one mage was the exception to that rule, approved by Meredith to not only use the sharp instruments whenever she wished, but to do so without supervision. Looking at it objectively, it was a ridiculous and dangerous liberty. What was to stop this mage from using her knife on others? From slicing her own flesh and summoning a terrible creature with blood magic?

Mages were dangerous and had to be watched.

Just like how Chantry clerics were incapable of deception and murder.

Cullen nearly snorted at the generalizations, knowing full well that neither Ebrisa nor Petrice fit them. He thought back to the first time he had caught Ebrisa break a rule and used a pair of pruning sheers simply because she had wanted to be useful and make the yards look nicer. Even then, she had shown no fear of him. Oh, she stuttered and stumbled over herself, but that had been purely for her own mistakes and she made no protest to whatever punishment she would receive. He should have punished her, but he didn't. Cullen was unsure if it was because she had been so new to the Gallows or because she genuinely seemed to be remorseful, but he'd helped her complete her task.

Ebrisa had earned Meredith's trust over the years, and it was more or less Cullen's doing. If he'd simply taken the sheers and left instead of returning with someone to supervise her, then Ebrisa would have ended her gardening endeavor before it really began and the Knight-Commander wouldn't have granted her any special treatment – possibly never even interacting with her directly. It was almost too easy to visualize – Ebrisa quietly going through her apprenticeship with no conflicts with templars and being too reserved to protest any issues with her peers. Completely disappearing into the background as just another mage and having no cause to ever leave the Circle or speak directly to Meredith. She'd still go to service in the chapel of course, but would she have been able to inspire others to do the same?

As Ebrisa moved to the other flowerbed and settled down only a few feet from where Cullen sat on the bench, he was struck with the sudden realization that he wouldn't have noticed her in the background. She'd just be a name that popped up in quarterly reports he'd struggle to associate a face to. Maybe he would remember the young girl escorted to the Gallows by Aveline with two small children or the horrified expression on her face as she hit him with a small branch, but those were in her first year. They gave a glimpse of her character, but not enough to leave a lasting impression on their own and she'd slip away into obscurity.

Maybe she'd still fall under whatever sickness had claimed Feynriel, but Meredith would not have granted her leave to the Chantry... Ebrisa likely wouldn't have even felt confident enough to ask. She'd suffer the guilt quietly, but if she never went to the Chantry, Quentin never would have known about her... Cullen couldn't help but think that – though her life would have been much different – Ebrisa may have been better off if he'd treated her like a normal mage from the beginning.

“Blaming yourself again?”

Cullen straightened and finally looked at something besides the mage. He tried to speak, but found his mouth oddly dry.

“I heard from Sister Anabel at service this morning,” Ebrisa continued softly as she gathered the iris bulbs. “Mother Petrice fooled many people – even the Grand Cleric could not see what was happening until it already came to a head. They spent every day together, worked beside each other, and Revered Mother Elthina could see the danger no more than you.” She dared a sympathetic look over her shoulder, but Cullen would not meet it.

The Grand Cleric was supposed to see the best in people and have faith in their good nature, he was supposed to know better.

“Knight-Captain, your part in this tragedy is so minute it may as well not exist.” Ebrisa turned around fully on the pave stones to better address the man. “Months ago you were investigating rumors about someone who didn't even work with Mother Petrice anymore. She was a small character reference and, by all accounts, not directly involved for some time. There was no reason to suspect her.”

Cullen leaned back on the bench, looking up at the grey sky and briefly noting it was much too dark for still being so early in the day. He had heard some of Petrice's sermons – her detest for the Qunari was evident – and he should have realized what that meant. He should have known she was hiding something. When Cullen directed his attention back to the mage, he was a little startled to see her frowning at him disapprovingly.

“Knight-Captain,” she said with a tone Cullen could only classify as scolding. “Despite whatever unrealistic standards you hold yourself to, there is only one truly omniscient individual, and He is currently absent.”

Cullen could feel the smirk trying to break free the longer he looked at the mage, so he returned his gaze to Mia's letters and hid behind the sheets before he cracked. Ebrisa just seemed to have an answer for everything, so long as it wasn't her own problem. He wondered briefly how that could be possible, how she could encourage others but deny herself the same courtesy.

She turned back to her work, taking the hint that the one-sided conversation was over, and continued to clear the soil. Cullen stole a glance at her from time to time as he pretended to read, and went back to his earlier pondering. Yes, Ebrisa's life would have been different if he had not interfered, but his own would have been, too. He would have been deprived her little pep talks, reduced to seeking comfort from only the letters his siblings sent, and he would have been robbed of the levity and warmth she so easily brought him.

Ebrisa may have been better off and spared quite a bit of hardship, but Cullen knew he was definitely in a better place now that she was in his life, despite the negative implications of that admission.

[m39]

History of the Creed - Part 5: Assassin’s Creed: Liberation

This review would have been earlier if I hadn’t had problems with the Internet.

Before we start, here is a fun fact: This is actually the first time I played Liberation. So my opinion may end up differently if I’ll play it in the future. Also, I didn’t get every collectible, since everytime I play the game for the first time, I tend to skip around 50% of the optional stuff to see how the main story ends.

So, without any further to do, let’s get it started.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: LIBERATION (Original release in Europe: October 30th, 2012 (original version on PSVita), January 15th, 2014 (HD version on PC))

Played on the remastered version, released on March 29th, 2019.

Liberation is an interesting case of a game. As shown higher, it was originally released for the handheld-console, PlayStation Vita, as a side game along with AC3. It was later released on the main consoles due to the fans’ petition, adding some content into it, and changing some of the more irritating stuff in it. The remaster I play is based on the latter version. Time to find out if I liked this game.

STORY

Now the plot is rather… how to put it… kinda’ messier than AC3 due to the jump cuts in the Animus console or how the fuck this version of the Animus is called. Here’s how it goes:

You are Aveline de Grandpré, an Assassin and the daughter of the French merchant and the slave woman. She wants to free slaves and stop the local Templars and their leader, The Company Man, from doing... whatever Templars want to do.

So, uhm… yeah, that’s all I can understand from it. The (probably) only thing that stands out is how Liberation is also an in-game product created by Abstergo, but I’ll talk about it later.

CHARACTERS

Aveline is… fine, I guess? I can see why many people like but me? I’m not so sure about it. She wasn’t really annoying but I can’t really see her standing out.

Other characters were doing a nice job. Aveline’s mentor, Agaté, was the most interesting out of all of them, while captain Carlos Dominguez was the funniest character, mostly due to his drunken antics. Also, I liked Connor’s cameo in one of the missions.

As for the Templars, they were underwhelming. Surely, most of them were interesting but I feel like some of them didn’t have enough screen time. The Templar before the confrontation with the Company Man might be the best out of the bunch.

As for the Company Man, well, this character’s identity is kind of interesting but I’m not gonna talk further due to spoilers.

GAMEPLAY

One of the biggest cases of Liberation is that Aveline can change her outfits into three different personas. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Assassin’s Persona will let you freerun, use bigger weapons, and have more health for the cost of constantly being at the first level of notoriety. Lady’s Persona will let you bribe or charm other guards to let you pass, but you can’t have any weapon outside of the hidden blades, your health is lower, and you can’t freerun. And Slave’s Persona will let you slip through the guards while carrying a crate and have a small weapon to defend yourself, but any suspicious activity like climbing will slightly increase your notoriety meter and you have the same amount of health as Lady’s Persona. The last Persona is my favorite one, probably because I can freerun and my notoriety isn’t constantly on level 1. Also, you can easily decrease your notoriety.

Speaking of notoriety, it’s almost exactly like in AC3 with three levels of it and the same ways to decrease it (however, the printers are replaced with the Witnesses). What’s different from AC3 though, is that in Liberation, notoriety is for each of the Personas, that is, it only increases for the Persona you are dressed as, and each way to decrease the former corresponds with the latters. So tearing down the wanted posters decreases the notoriety of the Slave’s Persona, bribing the corrupted magistrates for the Assassin’s Persona, and killing the witnesses for the Lady’s Persona. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of like the idea of it.

You also have a Whip. You can use it in combat to pull enemies closer and make yourself pass through some of the larger gaps. Honestly though, aside from traversal usage, I had no need of using it while fighting.

There are also Chain Kills, which, after filling up, will let you automatically kill up to three targets in a short time. I find this ability useless since you are easily capable of fighting even without it. I used it only once for the tutorial and that’s it.

I mostly liked the locations in this game. In terms of main ones, New Orleans was good but nothing special, while Louisianan Bayou was fine but more annoying. Good thing the trees are stacked up in such a way that it didn’t make me want to use canoes.

Oh yeah, there are canoes in Liberation… I hate canoes. It’s hard to get on canoes. It’s hard to get off canoes. It’s hard to control canoes. The canoes are ass, and I don’t want to talk about them anymore.

To put it in the nutshell, Liberation in terms of gameplay has some stuff that I would remove and many things are just the things from AC3 but still, I had some fun playing it.

ACTIVITIES

I think you already know the drill with this series. In terms of collectibles, there are Alligator Eggs on the bayou (collecting enough of them will give you a hat that scares the alligators away), Diary Pages of Aveline’s mother, Mayan Statuettes in Chicken Itza, and Pocket Watches that can be bought out of friendly smugglers. Also, each Persona have their own individual collectibles: Assassin has the Assassin Coins, Lady has the Jeweled Brooches, and Slave has the Voodoo Dolls.

As for the side-missions, like with collectibles, each Persona gets its own set of five missions. There are also missions where you recruit people for your ship crew, kill business rivals to later buy out their shops, help one of the slaves, heal people who are frenzy on bayou fever, and rob the camps that belong to the impostor’s acolytes.

There is also a matter of Citizen E. As I said earlier, Liberation is also an in-game product created by Abstergo itself, and while playing Aveline’s story you will notice the glitches during some of the cutscenes. These ones have been censored to convince the general public that the Templars aren’t as bad as they look at first. That’s when the Erudito comes in. After completing some of the main missions, in some places there is hidden the Citizen E. Killing them will play the rest of these cutscenes.

In my opinion, this stuff is fine, but I feel like in some places it becomes more obvious that it stagnates. I have mixed feelings on how some of the collectibles can be earned only by a specific Persona. I really enjoyed Citizen E stuff though, due to the award it gives.

GRAPHICS

The graphics, from what I’ve seen, are on the same level of quality as AC3 most of the time. Sure, in some parts is worse, since it started as a Vita game but still, it was good in other parts. As I said at the beginning of the review, this is the first time I played Liberation so I’m not gonna compare it to its previous version.

SOUND

The sound effects were on the same level as AC3 so, it was good. Although the enemies sound somewhat too loud which can get annoying.

The music (composed by Winifred Phillips) was fine most of the part. My favorite one was the one that played in Chicken Itza.

STABILITY

Framerate, for most of the time, was constantly running at 60 FPS except when synchronizing viewpoints for some reasons where it drops to 30 FPS.

The bugs I encountered during my playthrough were actually worse than in AC3. One time, Aveline didn’t appear in the cutscene, so all this time I was watching nothing but her voice. Other time when the game faded to black when I was changing my Persona, it didn’t return to normal, fixed only after I exited and returned back to the game. Another time it straight up just crashed (I think it was during one of the Business Rival missions)! Sure, Assassin’s Creed 3 wasn’t a diamond in terms of bugs, but at least those bugs weren’t so severe as the ones in Liberation.

SUMMARY

Assassin’s Creed: Liberation has many problems: some of its mechanics are redundant, the story and its characters could’ve been better, and the bugs that I’ve encountered were worse than in AC3. Did I still have fun while playing it? Yes, I still had some fun. And I can understand that this game was developed as the handheld console game first that was later ported for the home consoles and PC, but still, if I had to rate this game, I would say it’s just an okay game. Would I recommend it to the other fans? I honestly don’t know. There is some spoiler stuff about the Company Man in Black Flag, but I feel like you won’t miss that much if you skip Liberation.

But oh well, at least the next game on the list is better than this one. Better prepare some ship for the next game. It is the type of game that some certain Vaska will enjoy.

See you next time.

Bye!

[transfenris-truther]

fenris! (if someone has already asked fenris, then hawke)

How I feel about this character: Fenris is relatable to the point where I sometimes feel called out when he does something objectionable. To me, he’s a very nuanced character and he often covers a lot of his emotions with anger instead of letting himself fully experience things. He has a huge transformation over the course of the game even if you treat him really poorly, which I think is kind of incredible. Aside from giving him back to his enslaver, there’s nothing that can break his spirit even though he’s already been through so much. That said, he’s not perfect. He’s mistrustful, stubborn and he can be unbelievably callous, even cruel. It’s the behavior of a deeply traumatized person who has these maladaptive coping strategies that stopped serving him the minute he decided he wanted to develop relationships with other people. His arc is a much about learning to be a friend and be a part of society as it is about seeking and defining what freedom means to him. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: My biggest ship is Fenris/self-respect, love and growth. Lol. I’m a big Fenris/ M!Hawke shipper primarily because I’m gay. I also really like Fenris and Isabella. I think they have a lot in common with each other and they share a mutual respect that I wish was more common in DA2. I think Isabella would actually be a great lover for Fenris. She has her own history with sexual violence and I think she would be able to be careful and non-triggering to him without coddling him or making him feel pitied.  I see why people like Fenris and Anders and I’ve come around on Anders as a character, but it’s not really my first choice, and I care way more about them coming to understand one another than I do them loving each other. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: A couple stand out. I love Fenris having a bro. Someone who is not on an idealogical crusade, someone who is living a regular life, who doesn’t pity or pry, and just enjoys his personality and company. In-game this kind of ends up being Donnic and Aveline, and I like that dynamic. I think the diamondback games are very sweet, and I like that Aveline is (a little bit) looking out for Fenris among the guard. But honestly, I’m not a huge fan of Aveline and Donnic for a lot of reasons. I headcannon that Fenris and Varric eventually bond over literature. They have wildly different tastes, but I like to think that they’re always razzing each other about book opinions over wicked grace and in post-game letters.  I also love a strong friendship with Isabella, even if it’s a friends with benefits type of situation. I think they have so much in common and they push each other to be better people, which I love. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s trans because I’m trans. jk jk. I have a couple. One: he’s not an alcoholic. If I had six bottles of fancy red wine in my cellar, they’d last months, not years. And if he is? That’s not a massive problem for the character. A lot of people are super forgiving and pro-addicts when it comes to Lyrium but are super judgemental about alcohol consumption. Two: I think if you let Varania live, they try to reconcile but can’t several times over their lifetime. They both want that connection but they’re not compatible people. Three: I think he changes his mind about magic wether you rival him or not. And I think he knows his fear is irrational.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish someone had been gentle with him around sex. It’s the thing that rubs me most wrong about the way characters treat him in-game. Isabella fetishizes his time in slavery (I think, in an attempt to not make him feel pitied- But also definitely for her own pleasure.) And the romance scene with him and Hawke is rough and aggressive and clearly selected for the rivalmance. I really wanted the romance scene to have Fenris taking the initiative, exploring on his own, more tenderness, more talking. I just think he’s been pushed around enough. 

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats | Le Bijou D'Amour (Rhomm, 1978)

Depending on how much classic American porno movies you watch, you might think that they’re full of guys who look like Elliott Gould. And if this is the only classic French porno movies you watch, you might think that they’re full of guys who look like Jean-Pierre Cassel. (Of course, if you watch enough of both, you’ll know they have other types of guys too. Like Dominique Aveline AKA French Super Mario, who true to the profession of his likeness lays a lot of pipe.) The difference being that porno Elliott Gould AKA Jamie Gillis is still a good actor and almost always a boon to whatever he appears in, while porno Jean-Pierre Cassel is likely this movie’s biggest liability, spending a good chunk of his screentime standing awkwardly or looking befuddled as droves of stunningly beautiful French women are throwing themselves at him thanks to his magical ring that’s also draining his life force with each lay. 

Like Patrice Rhomm’s Draguse, this a mix of horror and pornography that’s light on both. We do get some nice lo fi stylization with the cave-set sex scenes and robe costumes, although it rarely approaches anything resembling the horrifying. The sex scenes are largely softcore (except for a deleted scene included on the Vinegar Syndrome Bluray release), although the performers’ faces sometimes get frighteningly close to each others’ genitals. So maybe this would have made a good 3D movie. Or even a good 4D movie, if you’re eating a hot dog or some clams. The perfect movie snacks. 

Anyway, the problem is that the main guy sucks and Rhomm doesn’t know how to shape the proceedings into a compelling arc. Draguse is no masterpiece, but at least it has Monica Swinn holding the movie together. Here the most recognizable face is Brigitte Lahaie, who sadly only appears in the opening scene, where she fucks the hero while listening to some headphones. Listen, if you have Lahaie and robes in your movie she’s not the one wearing them, you fucked up. That’s filmmaking 101. And wherever she’s not onscreen, all the characters should be asking “Where’s Brigitte Lahaie?” That’s filmmaking 102. 

I will say that there are things to enjoy thanks to the nominal variety of the sex scenes, like the belly dancer scene and another with a dominatrix who whips the hero with the fringes on her outfit while western themed music plays. There’s also a good amount of awkward gyrating, which also featured on Draguse so I suspect it tickled Rhomm’s fancy. The score is by Daniel White, and includes some pieces that appeared in his movies for Jess Franco. The belly dancer scene has the music from Oasis of the Zombies, and I might be the only person on the planet wishing I were watching that instead. There’s also an amazing car accident scene at the beginning. 

Honestly, this isn’t very good, and it’s super uncool that it plays the only Black and trans character as a punchline. But if you’re partial enough to watching smoking hot French chicks with primo bush in a bunch of low energy softcore scenes, you might consider sticking it out for the goofier highlights. Sorry, I’m not usually this crass, but it really is primo. So anyway I didn’t mind it.

[darthlordcommie]

Dragon Age: Forced Perspective

So, I’m going to talk about times that the Dragon Age series forced the player to do or not do specific things. Specifically, I’m going to talk about in relation to companions. 

Wynne: The biggest issue with Wynne by far is her brainwashed attitude regarding the Circle. And unfortunately, one of Dragon Age Origin’s weaknesses is that you can never fully argue about the problems with the Circle. You can never call Wynne out on her insistence that the Circles are good, and the best places for mages. 

Loghain: Probably one of the biggest problems I personally have with Dragon Age Origins is that you can never fully call out Loghain for his shit. Like, even if you argue that most of the atrocities were directly done by Howe, Loghain bears the responsibility for them, as he was in charge at that point. If Loghain didn’t know about the slavery, or all the people held in Howe’s dungeons, he’s guilty of allowing his subordinates too much leeway. And if he did know, he’s guilty of so much more. And he definitely knew about poisoning Arl Eamon, he knew about Uldred, and his biggest crime, of course, was abandoning half of the Fereldan army, the Gray Wardens, and King Cailan to die. And before you start talking about how the battle couldn’t have been won, then why didn’t he send a messenger? Cailan was his king, sworn allegiance to, and Loghain betrayed him. It’s called regicide. Like, yeah, he was the hero who helped free Fereldan from Orlais years ago, but he very nearly condemned it to a far worse fate. Sorry, Anora, you’re great, but your dad really does deserve to die. And, one last note, unlike a lot of other characters, Loghain never expresses regret for what he did at Ostagar. 

Fenris: I so, so wish that you could point out that mages in southern Thedas were overwhelmingly slaves. Like, the fact that Fenris, a very intelligent character, is forced by the game into being anti-mage, rather than anti-imperialism, is problematic. Yeah, I get that he had a lot of trauma regarding magic, but reducing him to that trauma’s just terrible. 

Merrill: I really, really wish you could call Marethari out on her shit. Like, not only does she force Merrill to choose between exile or giving up on helping her clan, but she also tells Clan Sabrae that Merrill’s become a monster, directly leading to Pol’s death. Of course, Marethari’s arrogance also leads her to confront Audacity, and become possessed, leading to her death. And you can never tell Clan Sabrae that Marethari was so full of shit. 

Aveline: I like Aveline. In concept. The idea of a cop constantly dealing with corruption and going outside the bounds of the law to do what’s right, while also rebuilding her life from being a refugee and reconciling her morals with the friendships she’s made, is a good one. But. In execution, Aveline is extremely judgmental of everyone who doesn’t fit her narrow view of morality, as seen in her views on Carver and Isabela, and is extremely bigoted, as seen in how she treats elves and mages. Not to mention, she becomes guard-captain, and does literally nothing to clean up corruption. She coddles the guards, the people meant to protect others, while complaining about nothing getting done. 

Anders: I honestly can’t say anything about how dirty Anders was done that other people haven’t already said. Anders was right, and the game literally never lets you fully commit to that idea. And in DAI, everybody bends over backwards to paint Anders in a bad light. 

Sebastian: So, turns out the Kirkwall Chantry was literally the worst place to stay for healing from the trauma of losing an entire family. Who’d have known? You can never call out Elthina for how shittily she treats Sebastian, and you can never call out Sebastian on his privilege. Honestly, Sebastian is Nathaniel Howe done wrong. Like, a noble archer who lost his family, and joins a group of outcasts? Nathaniel did it better by being a good person. 

I’m not even going to get into Dragon Age Inquisition today. It’s one massive mess. 

[heartslogos]

the declassified texts of the inquisition’s elite [78]

(559): It was like he was 23 all over again. Madness. I. was. so. scared.

- (614): We blew shit up to. With a cannon.

-

“You don’t understand,” Ellana says, trailing after Evelyn, “Mahanon was fucking crazy at twenty three. Our parents despaired over him. He was like — the new family problem child. He made Darriam look good and Darriam is a total train wreck of a person. He’s got a record and everything.”

“Ellana, I'm pretty sure most people in your family have some form of record. Neria was about to serve a life sentence before she was conscripted and then — then did a Neria and become the damned commander of the entire Fereldan branch.”

“What? No, not a prison record. I mean. Darriam holds a few championships and world records.”

Evelyn turns to Ellana, gaping, “And you’re complaining about that?”

“Would you be proud if Max’s claim to fame was that he can identify any flavor of vape?”

“That’s a thing?”

“It’s a thing and he’s the record holder for consecutive correct answers in a row,” Ellana replies. “Listen. Mahanon trumped that in the despair column at twenty three. For a really long time we were terrified of him. He once came home wearing a hazmat suit. A full on hazmat suit! Do you know why?”

“I have a good feeling you’re about to tell me why.”

“I’ll tell you why!”

“Here it is,” Evelyn sighs holding the door open for Ellana to walk through as the woman gesticulates wildly.

“He broke into the local glue factory to get test samples to see if they really were made from horses. What the fuck!”

That honestly sounds like something Mahanon would do now so Evelyn’s not sure what Ellana’s complaining about here. If that’s the height of Mahanon’s absurdity at twenty three, Evelyn would argue that he’s worse now because Mahanon’s actively killed people at thirty five.

Well. It’s sort of Evelyn’s fault. In general. In a somewhat related sense. Since Mahanon works for Evelyn and most of his murders occur on the job.

Evelyn’s a bad influence. She used to be a dorm RA and a student counselor and a professor and now she’s just out here telling people to go murder.

Andraste have mercy on her.

“Alright, well what did he do?” Evelyn asks. “Because on paper it sounds like he did his job.”

“Sure, he did his job. But he was downright nasty about it. Mahanon’s not taken that kind of attitude with me since we were in our early twenties.” Ellana huffs. “You had to be there, Evelyn.”

If the attitude Ellana’s referring to is just Mahanon’s attitude in general Evelyn swears to anyone listening that she’s going to find the worst job to stick Ellana in for the next month.

“Well. He did his job and that’s what matters,” Evelyn says. “I literally cannot complain about anything else. Besides, what do you want me to do about it? You’ve got more sway with him than I do by leagues.”

“Do? Oh, no. I don’t want you to do anything about it. I want you to hear me out because we’re friends and I want to complain about my brother being a terror,” Ellana says. “You know. Like how sometimes you complain to me about Max being a diva.”

“That’s fair,” Evelyn concedes. “Is it out of your system now? Because we’re about to enter the conference from hell and I need you to be focused.”

Ellana pauses to consider, hand on the door. She shrugs. “Probably. We’ve got this, Evelyn. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like Neria’s in the country to be difficult on purpose.”

-

“I need to know where you got the cannon from,” Evelyn says, hands pressed together as she looks between Cole and Varric. “There’s other details I know I should know. Like when this took place or where, and what, exactly, you mean by shit. But right now my biggest concern is where you got a live, functional canon with ammunition and power. Ask me why, Varric. No, Cole. You stay quiet for a bit. Varric, ask me why.”

Varric looks to Cole and then Evelyn and then at Montilyet for possible back up. The ambassador is studiously looking anywhere but at Varric. Nice, Ruffles. Leave Varric out in the cold. Varric takes a quiet inhale, bracing for impact — it’s like dealing with Aveline but worse, because you could count on Aveline to be cool about things sometimes.

Trevelyan is only high strings and teeth grinding tension.

“Why, Trevelyan?”

“Because,” Evelyn Trevlyan leans forward on her desk, eyes slightly crazed, “Because if you can get a functioning cannon and the supplies needed to use it that means anyone can. And by anyone I mean anyone, Varric. That could be Sera. That could be Dagna. If Dagna hasn’t already built a miniature portable cannon of some kind. That could be Herah Adaar. That could be my own cousin. That could be either of the Lavellans. That could be one of the Bull’s Chargers. Or even worse. It could be the Iron Bull himself. Varric. Do you think I need any of those lunatics to be armed with a fucking live cannon?”

“No?”

“Exactly. So I need you to tell me how you got a damn cannon and where it is right now so I can possibly either hide it or destroy it before someone else — “

There’s a brisk rap on the Inquisitor’s door.

She looks at the door then at Varric, pointing.

“If this is about a fucking cannon I’m going to — I don’t know what I’m going to do, but watch yourself.”

“Can I report this kind of behavior to HR?” Varric turns to Montilyet.

“Unfortunately, no,” she replies, not even sounding close to sympathetic. “It’s an off the books meeting during non-covered hours.”

“For who?”

“Enter,” Evelyn barks and the door opens, to reveal the face of a very tired, very resigned Rylen. Still pointing a finger at Varric she addresses the man, “Does it involve anything to do with a cannon?”

Rylen doesn’t even so much as blink at that wild question. “No, ma’am.”

Varric breathes a small sigh of relief.

And then the kid talks.

“Does it have to do with a pitfall?”

Rylen looks between the kid and Trevelyan before slowly nodding.

“We’ve got one of our armored security transport vehicles in a pitfall.”