#samson critical

[v-arbellanaris]

To be clear, I'm sending this ask not to start an argument but because talking about S/amson's morality as a subject interests me. This is all intended politely, though I am bad at tone. While my personal thoughts on S/amson's stuff in act 3 are a little complicated (shit of him to do, and they have him be excited about the annulment on the templar route, the latter of which I do have to wonder if they did simply bc the writers hate addicts (they do) or not. Still it did happen and it IS odd when people try to act like he had less part in the attempted genocide of the gallows than C/ullen, who was way more hesitant than S/amson), how did you come to the conclusion that he was purposefully throwing mages at slavers? He says pretty explicitly that he didn't know and was trying to get mages out of Kirkwall, are you assuming he's lying or is there some extra information I'm missing? I guess I could see why he might lie here if that was his intention, but I don't… really think he is? there's nothing to point to it? I see "he gave mages to a slaver" as a point a lot in the S/amson discourse, but I don't know how people are coming to the conclusion that he wasn't genuinely doing the best with the no resources he had at that moment, and the smuggler he was using ended up being a slaver without his knowledge. This being said, the fandom posing him as super good compared to C/ullen is really weird, and while I understand why it happens, it is frustrating seeing people ignore his blatent flaws.

do i think he deliberately gave mages over to slavers? no, i don't think that. i also don't think a lack of deliberateness absolves him of blame. k/irkwall is notorious for slavers - how many do we kill in game? we find a bunch just hanging out in lowtown, and the docks, and near the wounded coast. but the guy who lives on the edge of the docks never suspects that the man taking runaways for free is a slaver?

with regards to f/eynriel, s/amson is very explicit about how he didn't help f/eynriel as much as possible because he didn't have money. instead, he directs f/eynriel to a ship captain he knows. he knew the slaver, and he sent both o/livia and f/eynriel to him. when h/awke says "of course your friend's a kidnapper", s/amson quickly says r/einer's not a friend, but someone who "isn't scared to try out this business". but what business is he referring to? f/eynriel doesn't have coin, that's the entire reason s/amson turned him away. what other reason does a ship captain in kirkwall HAVE to take people on for free? s/amson deliberately sends f/eynriel to someone else to deal with. and when he heard rumours that person was selling people, what did he do? nothing, until h/awke comes looking.

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I will NEVER understand the love and adulation some have for Samson. People call him a good former Templar which is bullshit. First, Samson does NOT help mages out of the goodness of his heart. He helps them in exchange for money for his lyrium addiction. Samson refused to help Feynriel because he did not have any money. People also conveniently forget how excited Samson got if Hawke suggests to Cullen that Samson should be a Templar again. He is NOT the kind TEMPLAR pro mage revolutionary that some have painted him to be. Samson AGREED with Meredith. He shared her views. He ended up hating her because she kicked him out of the order.

I think its utterly ridiculous to think he would be a better commander of the Inquisition's forces. For one thing he wasn't on long enough in DA2 to really know him. And second, a lyrium addict as a commander? Perhaps if he had be been fully recovered but NOT in his current state. And he was not a good Templar. Ser Otto in Origins was good Templar. Ser Thrask was a good Templar. .Emeric was a good Templar. But NOT Samson.

[vakarians-babe]

gwnyime question and you don't have to answer if it makes you unvomfy obv but I've never seen Samson Cullen ship B4 and I was curious what you meant by grooming? Sorry obv I don't have to answer idk that much about Samson (I'm a calpernia girly personally) thank you

We are told that Cullen is born in 9:11 Dragon, the same year as Bethany and Carver. By this timeline, Cullen is a heavily traumatized teenager when he first meets Samson in 9:30, while Samson is an adult somewhere between his late thirties and mid forties, with far more power in the realm of Kirkwall's templars. No matter the math, whether Cullen is 18 or 19 based on the timeline in which your Warden completed Broken Circle, or whether Samson is as young as possible, lets say 37, Samson is at the very least nearly twice as old as Cullen.

Additionally, both of them quite obviously struggle with addiction, which is a main character plot point for each, but which also adds another power imbalance between them given the hierarchical nature of the templars and the way that lyrium is controlled through ranking templars. Even if the 'romantic shipping' occurs around Inquisition when Cullen is approximately 29 at the beginning and Samson somewhere in his late forties to mid fifties, it still implies some level of Samson's interest in Cullen as a much younger and more vulnerable person. Further, it implies some level of Samson's shaping of Cullen and his interactions with him as being purposeful, with the intent to enter a relationship when he is older, which is specifically what I mean by grooming. They canonically know each other throughout the decade-long series of events that make up Dragon Age 2, and this sets off a lot of alarm bells for me no matter how it's interpreted.

I do need to state, however, that I am not wholesale 'calling out' anyone who ships this, nor am I proclaiming to know the whole truth about Dragon Age's canon, which at times is contradictory. If there's someone out there who thinks I am wrong or who has a different viewpoint on it, that's fine. I'm not looking to start drama or fights. I simply am asking for no interaction because of my personal needs and explaining my point of view on the issue. I hope that makes sense.

[toadtusks]

Nott looking miserable as expected underwater and Caleb wearing Frumpkin-Octopus hat on the cover of the Mighty Nein coloring book. No further thoughts I just love them

[moontheoretist]

How views change with time

I used to be the type of Cullen stan that insisted that he must have not known about the abuses, must have been blindsided by the others or something similar, but the one that still tried to hold him accountable for his bullshit. I still think it could be possible to some extent for him to be blindsided by his subbordinates when it comes to more vicious abuses that happened in Kirkwall. But I also no longer think he needed to be blinsided, considering all the things he says. At the time I tried not to take people who speak like him as people who would not react if situation called for it (i.e protect someone from the abuse) or join in on the abuse itself, but now I'm older and I know that talking like that is a sign that he may avert his eyes when he happens to see something he can't reconcile with his views or will try to rationalize it as something that "is ok and must happen" in order to not challenge his views. I've done the same many times before too. Cullen and me are both easily manipulated into supporting bad things. I am often in awe and a bit jealous of Alistair that he was able to see through a bullshit that I was not able to do for years in my life (in regard to church and misogyny I was taught, and many more bad stuff). Hence why I keep comparing them. Cullen is past me, and Alistair is who I wish I was as a child.

It was naive of me to insist that he must have not known. And even if he didn't know, it doesn't excuse his behavior, his words and actions. That's also why I keep saying that DAI is not Cullen's redemption arc. He didn't redeem himself in that game, no matter how much it insists he did. He only started to redeem himself. If you choose to romance him as a mage or any other class you are helping him in that journey. Heck, you can even participate in it as a friend, but as a lover you can have a clear view of everything that is happening. It's not ideal as you should not rely on your lover in the same way you would on therapist, but alas DA world doesn't have any psychologists so it is what it is.

I believe that people like Cullen need others to realize how wrong and bigoted they were. Because I also needed them. There was a time in my life when I was deaf to any voice of reason, just like Cullen was in previous games. At that time nobody would be able to convince us that we were wrong. But with time we were both given the chance to reflect, change and open ourselves to those voices. There is no point talking to people like us when we are not in the place where we can even listen to reason, but we are also a perfect example that some of those bigoted people you know can be reached later in their life and at that time they will need help to properly sort through their bullshit.

Inquisitor and Leliana are perfect for that role. Sadly Inquisitor is not actually given many opportunities to call Cullen out on his behavior (if they're given any). We can only be quiet and encourage him to quit lyrium and even that is not how it should be, because this is not how you handle an addiction. Quitting is necessary for him, because if he doesn't he will still be under influence. And we know that in DA world lyrium makes Templars not only more receptive to the indoctrination after they become the Templars, but also controls them like dogs on a leash and drives them mad, further strenghtening their bigotry. It's not ideal but i's the only way for Templars to become free of the Chantry's influence. Without doing that it's even harder to convince them that mages are not evil beings that were born sinners and will die in sin. Yet even then we have people like Samson who saw through all of it even though the deck was stacked against him. We can't expect everybody to be like Samson who helped mages even before he was kicked out or Alistair who bailed out the first chance he got, but we can hold them accountable, and if possible try to create places where they can heal and unlearn all the bullshit they were fed all their lives. They need it.

[tea42]

Ring of Fire

Inquisitor Anders learns about the cure for Tranquility before they find Maddox.

Maddox / Samson, Maddox & Samson, Anders/Sebastian, past Anders/Karl

I’m starting a series in the middle because why not?

Chapter 1 of 2 up

“Hello Inquisitor”, the man said from the floor without lifting his eyes.

‘A Tranquil Mage? Why?’ Anders’ zeal from battle turned to acute discomfort as he stared at the ring of fire on the man’s forehead. He could not look into a Tranquil’s face without seeing Karl as well. 

“You know me?”, Anders asked, his heart beating like the wings of a trapped bird.

“It’s Maddox. Samson’s Tranquil,” Cullen said.  Anders thought the Templar had started to come around, but then he gave this casual assertion of ownership, an echo of so many he had heard through his life. It had Anders whirl around. The brown of Cullen's wide eyes were made blue by the light of Justice.

“He does not belong to anyone”,  Anders and Justice said as one.

“I-, yes. Yes, of course. I apologize”, Cullen stammered but his eyes shifted behind Anders.

Before Anders turned he knew what he would see. Maddox’s once placid face was awash with emotions.

continued on ao3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47293663/chapters/119169082

[crossdressingdeath]

thing i miss most about the commander samson that never was is the idea of a quiz talking to him about sending men to their deaths at adamant. do like his speeches about making his men's deaths seem like they mean something, and his lack of faith would be a v interesting take on the Herald of Andraste

I feel like DAI would've been well served by having one advisor who explicitly is not Andrastian and does not believe Quiz was chosen, just because... as it is, a non-Andrastian Quiz or just a Quiz who doesn't believe they're Andraste's herald has basically no one on their side. Every advisor and companion who talks about it firmly believes you were chosen no matter what you say; it would be good to have even one character who absolutely refuses to believe you were chosen no matter what you say. Come on, give a non-Andrastian Quiz one person in their corner! Also, give an Andrastian Quiz who 100% believes they were chosen just a little pushback on that. completely baseless idea. I mean really you know exactly who saved you by the midpoint of the game and it was not Andraste. And yeah, Samson—who went against Meredith for the sake of one mage who did him a solid; yeah, he was only passing letters, but he still must have known that doing anything nice for a mage would get him on Meredith's shitlist—talking about making his men's deaths mean something and generally caring about them fits in a way Cullen—whose first (unless I'm forgetting something) appearance in DA2 was him threatening and physically attacking a Templar recruit on suspicion of sympathizing with mages; yes, yes, the kid was possessed, but Cullen explicitly didn't know that at the time—doing the same thing does.

[manyworldspress]

Is it Thursday yet? Minttu Hynninen, cover for Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, vol. 3, by Jody Hauser and Olivia Samson (Dark Horse Books, forthcoming December 6, 2022).

__________________________________________________ Our shop: https://bookshop.org/shop/manyworldspress

[shoutydwarf]

also btw frankly im tired of hearing “jacob deserved better” “i actually really like him” but then not a damn one of you will write fic for him. or draw fanart. or make cool graphics. or post positive meta/headcanons. or grace his tag with a single molecule of your energy. cmon, do for jacob what you do for cullen 😋

[v-arbellanaris]

Not here to excuse Samson's actions, but I do find it weird that the writers had a street beggar sell a young boy/man to slavery because said boy/man didn't have money, and Samson needed money for his addiction to lyrium. I just feel like this writing decision definitely came from the writers's ableism, their apparent view of beggars as bad, unreliable or greedy. In DAO, you can encounter a beggar in the alienage who turns out to just want free money, and another beggar in DA2 who turns out to be demon-possessed the next time you meet her. Samson may have done wrong, but it feels like the writers want to make it out that beggars are just plain unreliable. My thoughts on this, anyway.

so like. which is it. is his writing ableist or classist. schrodinger's writing, where it's both ableist or classist based on whatever you need it to be to make samson morally pure?

i never said he sold anyone into slavery knowingly. what i did say was that samson is not a Good Templar because 1. he goes back to the templars given the opportunity, unlike OTHER TEMPLARS that we KNOW leave the order, 2. maybe when he's taking money from incredibly desperate people or working with incredibly desperate and vulnerable people, he has due diligence and a duty to make sure whoever he is sending them to isn't going to put them on a fucking ship to tevinter to be sold. like. i don't know how much clearer i can make it at this point - samson was always morally grey. and i do think there's ableism touching his writing - as there is touching a lot of the writing concerning disabilities and addiction in da (one of my more unpopular opinions is that ending da2 with meredith's death is ableist, after all) - but that doesn't like... mean that Did Not Happen? the samson thing with feynriel wasn't a retcon added in later to make him look back, it was something that did, in fact, happen? and i really don't think that the problems with samson's writing boils down to wanting to give out a specific message about beggars in da.

(you have plenty of beggars in dao that are never treated like that - notably in the alienage, but also in lothering. usually you're the one that can be an asshole to people begging for money, and to me, it's pretty clear you're the asshole for it.)

like. if you had argued that it was to paint a Certain Type of Addict to look bad, then i do agree, but this really just feels like a Reach. samson, within the context of the narrative, made decisions that he should be responsible for. and there's definitely off-putting aspects around his writing - specifically, around his addiction - but i don't ever really agree with the solution to engaging with that kind of writing to be "let's just pretend it didn't happen". how do we recontextualise what he did? how do we rewrite it so that he still retains complexity without putting off awful implications about addicts as a whole? (and the easiest solution to me, here, would be to parallel him to someone like keran - who, unlike samson, willingly left the order and will willingly go through lyrium withdrawal and have to deal with that, when it's made clear his entire household was depending on his templar paycheck for survival.)

and like. i promise you, i really think you can just. like samson. and he can be kind of morally ambigious and morally grey and you can still just enjoy him as a character and still feel a great lot of sympathy and love for his situation regardless. you don't need to sand off his edges to make him more palatable to me - what's important is that you enjoy him as a character. and that's fine? i certainly don't think you're an irl piece of shit for enjoying him as a fictional character? i certainly still think he's interesting? i only indicated that my opinions around aspects of his character had changed/evolved? so like? go ahead and enjoy him???

[graphicpolicy]

Relive the adventure with the Critial Role: The Mighty Nein Coloring Book

Relive the adventure with the Critial Role: The Mighty Nein Coloring Book #coloringbooks #criticalrole

Relive the best moments from Critical Role’s thrilling Mighty Nein campaign with the all-new Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Coloring Book! This new coloring book features 45 pages of all-new art by artists CoupleofKooks, Olivia Samson, Aviv Or, Cait May, and Selina Espiritu. Featuring moments chosen specifically by the Critical Role cast members, these black and white coloring pages will feature…

[saintlethanavir]

It will forever haunt me that people genuinely believe Samson should have been a substitute for Cullen. The dude looks like an English Trevor from GTA without any personality that even makes Trevor likable. Just say you don’t like Cullen and move on for Christ’s sake.

[burr-ell]

there is a part of me that desperately needs crit recap animated for vox machina

"but burr thats what tlovm—"

CRIT. RECAP. ANIMATED. FOR VOX. MACHINA.

[a-minstrel]

dreaming about the world where samson and cullen switched roles in inquisition. 

unfortunately cullen was forced upon us due to f*ndom.

[capinejghafa]

So, the Right Swipe definitely could have a great read. There's something about it that feels very "not for me definitely for someone" vibes. And had the author built up Rhi and Gabe's sibling relationship, had she built ANY relationship outside of her employees (she's the CEO)... I think Rhi would have been a stronger character.

And when I tell you nothing prepared me for the term "Alpha" to be used unironically and in a positive way AND directed to Rhi... my eyes. Also, I hate football like what am I supposed to do with any of this fake, maybe real science? Nothing.

2.5 out 5 because this book almost had me until the word was used. It was funny at times so it's a shame I didn't like it more.

[daydreamerdrew]

It’s crazy to me that these bits from Captain America and Bucky (2011) #620 were from a story Bucky was telling to Natasha and his sister, Rebecca:

“A brave face… that was my first mask. Dad and I both tried to make family life as normal as it was before Mom died… And we had some fun years… Some good memories. Things I still hold on to. But that burden wasn’t easy for a little kid to carry. I may have pretended to be strong and happy… But I was angry underneath it all. Angry at the whole damn world. I knew I was letting Dad down every time I got in trouble.”

“Days moved fast after that… almost a blur. As they put Dad in the ground… and then explained some deal where my kid sister would get sent off to boarding school… but I would stay on the base with Dad’s old pals looking out for me. I used the mask Dad taught me to wear even more, then… to hide how scared and alone I really felt… I wore it for a long time after that.”

Because you know that he’s never been that emotionally vulnerable with Steve or Sam. They discussed the difficulty of holding an intervention for him in Captain America (1968) #606:

From Sam:

“Look, I know what it feels like to think you don’t deserve to be here… that you don’t deserve to wear the mask or fight the fight… But I don’t know how to talk to him about this stuff… Kid was raised in the military. He’s not big on talkin’ about feelings.”

And from Steve:

“Never could admit any weakness, could you, Bucky? Must be something you learned, growing up in the military. Deny pain. Deny fear… Deny it all. Even when your brothers in arms all know you’re lying.”