#thresher writes

[ibrithir-was-here]

Some more CorinthiAna doodles/sketches , both of them back in the early 90s when their at their happiest:

And Ana and Cori 2.0’s first kiss

[astorythatwritesitself]

Drinking Buddy

Summary: What do you do when you run into Commander Shepard at a bar? Insult her choices, of course.

CWs: Alcohol

Will go up on AO3 eventually, but for the time being, enjoy a little tumblr exclusive xD

 “And humans call our drinks piss.”

Wrex gave the bottle another sniff, just to be fair- the Dark Star always smelled vaguely like piss, after all. On a second pass: yeah. It smelled more like a scrap heap left to rot in the sun for a month. Sweet and cloying in a way that got stuck in the back of his throat, and stayed stuck even after a shot of ryncol. Fantastic.

Shepard reclaimed her bottle, giving the dregs a swirl before polishing them off and setting it next to her empty glass. “Mmh- no? No, I said-” She frowns, staring intensely at a chip in the tabletop. Wrex not-so-silently counted the seconds once it became debatable whether she still even had the thought or not. Hit forty nine when a blue glow surrounded his drink, snaching it out of his claws and into Shepard’s hands. He blinked, staring at the empty space for a moment and processing that, yes. Shepard had just... gone and done that.

“You could have asked.”

“Coulda,” Shepard shrugged, meeting his stare and taking the most pathetic sip he’d seen out of a sapient being. Then, had the gall to look like there was a varren under the table gnawing off her leg.

“Yeah-” she shakes her head, handing the glass back. “Yeah, no, not- no, see it's like thresher maw spit. Maybe tastes like their piss? I’m fine admitting I don’know about that one.”

Well, shit. Might be a weakling, but the description pulled a reluctant laugh from the krogan. “That’s because it is- the spit part,” Wrex says, finishing it off just in case Shepard decided she’d developed a taste for it; he’d paid a premium for the real stuff. She could order her own.

She didn’t protest. Didn’t do anything but stare at him all bug-eyed for a minute before burying her face in her hands and mumbling- well, between her speech going and the music, he couldn’t make out anything coherent. “Look, if you’re going to start crying, I’m out of here-”

“No-” Shepard snapped back to life, waving a hand like that was supposed to mean something. “No I- fuck, I was joking, but it-” Whatever she said was too fast, too slurred or lost in laughter for his translator to catch.

Wrex started sliding towards the edge of his seat, just in case. 

“Mmh- no, uh- shit, fuck words-” Shepard rubbed her face, shaking her head again. “I mean I was joking but, not, y’taste that once’n you don’t forget.”

Wrex snorted, leaning back against his seat. “You’re telling me that you know what thresher acid tastes like?” He can’t tell exactly what her expression means (on a krogan, it would mean ‘please headbutt me, I’m going to say and do something very stupid very soon’), but it still draws a chuckle all the same. “Your kind can’t even build a tank that won’t burst into flames after a few stray hits.” 

Shepard leaned forward, clearly glaring this time. “You are not seriously disrespecting my car-”

“The quarian’s car, if you ask me,” Wrex laughed. “You drive like a drunken pyjack. But-” he nodded, willing to concede some small defeast. “It’s kept us alive and the rest of you from turning into puddles of slime.” He refilled his glass, one eye still on Shepard. 

Gripped his drink just a little tighter, with how she was staring at it. 

She didn’t move for it. Just glanced around for a moment. Wrex was nearly tempted to be concerned for her well-being when she finally moved, raking her hair back and twisting to one side. 

“I'm no expert on humans," he said. "But there's supposed to be more there, right?"

“Mm-hm.” She reached up, barely touching the stubs of flesh that might’ve once been an ear. “That’s the most… dramatic. Lucky though,” she said with a shrug. “Lost an ear. Big neck a scar. Voice's never been the same. Some…” She gestured at herself, letting the thought trail off. “Not bad for how ‘a bunch of thresher acid got into your hardsuit’ sounds.”

“Hell, Shepard. Should’ve told me that when we met.” Wrex grinned. “Might’ve respected you a lot faster.” 

“Nah.” Shepard laughed, shaking her head and leaning back. “Like doing things the hard way.” 

She lapsed into silence again after that, and Wrex was almost sorry for it, it had actually been getting kind of interesting. Probably explained why she never just drove away whenever they encountered a thresher nest in the Traverse, when he thought about it - and hell, how many of his own clan had barely survived their turn against one, during the Rite? Putting it like that almost made taking them down in that flimsy excuse for a tank seem impressive.

He grinned then, taking Shepard’s glass in his claws like a civilized being, pouring just a touch of ryncol and sliding it back over. The Commander stared for a moment, but caught on once Wrex raised his own. 

“To taking down every worm we meet, how’s that sound?” he laughed. 

“Damn right,” Shepard replied, clipping his glass and knocking it back, wincing a little less than before. “Mmh… I should- m’gonna go,” she said after a few moments, bracing against the table as she stood. “Noodle stand a few floors down. You hungry?”

“If you’re paying.”

Wrex had never seen someone look so happy to spend their credits on a krogan’s meal.

[daz4i]

got a big love hate relationship with the caustic caverns because on one hand. it's probably the best map in the game when it comes to storytelling (through both the environment itself and the side quests in it). and it has some cool easter eggs too. on the other hand it's got the worst enemies and is terrible visually. smh

[your-fave-is-bi]

Sits up instantly in bed.

Mass effect

[lucidookie]

Meet Lucius Blackcrown! Eon's old Thresher Shark hybrid! Born when only his mother was taking care of him, then was given to his father after a few years and was trained to be in the war!

[z0mbiefrank]

[nowandthane]

so i'm a completionist and i hate missing anything in my games. sometime last year, i made this checklist for all missions and assignments in mass effect, including all upgrades and licenses, as well as the locations of the collection assignments (minerals, asari writings, etc.) and thresher maws.

possibly im the only one who enjoys playing games like this lmao but i finally tested it to make sure it's accurate (to the best of my knowledge). and i figured i'd share it here in case anyone else would like to use it! this is the link to the notion website and you can easily duplicate the entire checklist to your own notion, by clicking this button in the top right corner:

i made these for me2 and 3 too, but i havent tested them yet. also made them for the dragon age games (DAI my beloathed you are such a big game) but those are also untested.

anyways if you use this and find any issues with it lemme know.

after i finish exploring a cluster i tend to just put a strikethough through it to mark that it's completed. you could just delete the entire thing too

ive only finished me1 on the legendary edition but this should work with OT fine. im fairly sure there arent any differences in terms of quests except for the pinnacle station dlc (which is included). but i could be wrong. let me know.

i link to some mods that i use but thats really for my own reference ignore it if you want

[exhausted-archivist]

Thedas: Not a Middle Ages Fantasy But an Ahistorical, Pre-Industrial, Mega Fauna Fantasy

Part 1: Mega Fauna

The long and the short of it? Thedas is an ahistorical world with magic, two moons, giant fauna - giants, dragons, giant bears, giant arachnids, and has some "ancient" and recent technology that would reach as late as the 1800-1900s in our timeline - such as bunsen burners, smokeless coal, table saw, thresher, heliography, and theodolite. Nothing about Thedas is a 1:1 equivalent for Earth and never has been, we know from the devs that it wasn't the intention either. From a fantasy perspective it is a blend of your typical fantasy stories with adventure, dragons, magic, elves and dwarves, varying mythology, and culture ending events; mixed with a venture into a "what if" ahistorical history.

In the case of Dragon Age, Gaider mentions it was a "what if our own history had magic and elves and dwarves?" and "how might Christianity be different if, instead of Jesus, it had been founded by Joan of Ark?" and subverting tropes of fantasy while still being recognizable: elves being brought low vs aloof and immortal; dwarves bring political schemers vs stouthearted Scotsmen; mages who were feared for good reason.

These were the basic foundations going into Dragon Age, and the spirit of those things is evident through out the series. While there are clear moments of parallels, allegories, and themes of the modern world, our world; I think that, for better or worse, the series has kept to the spirit of those foundations. Keeping things recognizable while exploring the world they've crafted, that grows as the team grows.

Its the spirit of that foundation that really lends to the idea of Thedas being a mega flora and fauna world.

Disclaimer and Considerations:

Take all of this with a grain of salt, whether you take it or leave it. Aside from the actual lore mentioned (with sources next to it) all of this is estimations and based off of known art standards or "canon" as the term is called.

Size is a hard thing to nail down in Dragon Age, the scaling and modeling between the games - main and all additional third party installment - are inconsistent at best largely due to limitations and scope of the game. Such limitations we see reflected in Bull not being 8' and instead is 6'9, the fact that the nightmare demon was scaled down because of scope. Then there are the cinematic scenes, they aren't reliable as they often have models float, sunk into the ground, or given camera angles that force perspectives.

ALT Concept art is a touch more reliable in the idea of the intention but isn't any more hard fact due to the question of if the intention was carried through or not due to tech limitations or design choices.

In consideration of concept art I want to clarify a principal used in art that I will be referencing. Traditionally when drawing characters, artists will use proportional canons. Which is when one uses the height of the character’s head as a unit, to have the proportions of the body match natural ratios. A good write up of this concept is linked here and here.

Content warning for everyone, there will be mentions and/or depictions of the following:

Multi-eyed creatures

Scorpions

Spiders

This post also includes images from the following:

The Missing comic

Dragon Age Absolution

Part 1a: Does Thedas Actually Have Mega Fauna?

Yes, they do. Now the first thought might be the obvious dragons, giants, wyverns, titans, and some magical creatures. But there are some creatures of which we have actual measurable sizes for.

I have the more "concrete" fauna separated into two categories: known sizes and comparable sizes. Known is as stated in lore, if we're given fixed numbers at any point, while comparable sizes are for creatures who we either have vague descriptions or equated to something we know the sizes for.

Comparable sizes are also separated from known sizes as they either have variations, or I am unsure of the lore for them still holds; as with anything dao, game guides, and ttrpg on this blog, these are treated and considered as canon unless clear contradictions are available.

Known Sizes

Giant spiders:

Their scale isn't measured by how high they stand on the ground or by body length but from leg to leg. Or rather that is what you would expect for them to be measured by, but it is hard to say for sure. I run with the leg to leg measurement for the provided size in canon; where they are/can be 12' / 3.65m. [Codex]

Looking at extracted game models (which aren't reliable for in-game models) the giant spider stands at 3' 11.28" / 1.2m and measures 5' 4.2" / 1.63m leg to leg.

Griffons:

Their length is 12' / 3.65m or larger with even larger wingspans. Males can weigh over 1,000 lbs / 453.59kg while females are a little less. [Last Flight ch. 2 p. 31]

For context of how big both of these are length wise, on average: Javan rhinos are 12'5 / 3.8m in length, Indian rhinos are between 10.8’-12.5’ / 3.3-3.8m in length, African forest elephants are between 7.22’-12.13’ / 2.2-3.7m in length, African Bush elephants are 10’-16.5’ / 3-5m in length, thresher sharks can be 10.5’-20’ / 3.2-6.1m long, female great white sharks have an overall length of 15’-21’ / 4.57-6.4 m; males 11’-13’ / 3.35-3.96 m. Most crocodiles exceed that with an average of 13-14' / 3.96-4.26m.

If you're like me and that just is a jumble of words, below are the size comparison to a 6' / 1.83m male figure, the scuba diver is roughly the same length as well. I had to edit the horizontal figures to compare lengths but scale wise they are still 6' / 1.83m. I also spliced together multiple images so they would be easier to see (and tumblr has a 30 image limit).

ALT [Image Sources from left to right, top to bottom: Rhinos: Javan Rhino, Indian Rhino Elephants: African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant Crocodiles: American Crocodile, Mugger Crocodile Sharks: Thresher Shark, Great White Shark]

Comparable Sizes

Mabari:

Stated as being as tall and as wide as dwarves*; going off the dwarf heights from Inquisition game models would put them at a range of 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02cm.** This is unclear if they mean from the head or shoulder, which typically you would measure quadrupeds from the shoulder. Something to note however, the mabari extracted models from Inquisition measure at 3' 4.6" / 1.03m at the shoulder but 4' 2" / 1.27m at the head.

ALT

This is also roughly echoed in the concept art, where the shoulder height lines up with the shoulder height of the extracted model from Inquisition, however is closer to the dwarf height range when measuring from the top of the head.

Either way mabari are considered giant breeds when looking at dogs. Regardless of if they are the height of a dwarf 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02cm or the height shown in the extracted model or concept art of 3' 4.6" / 1.03m at the shoulder but 4' 2" / 1.27m at the head. The largest dog in the real world was a great dane at 3' 5.18" / 1.046m.***

*[Dragon Age Tabletop (da ttrpg), Blood in Ferelden] **[Source] ***[Source]

Deepstalkers:

There is a bit of a variant with their sizing scale across all entries. From being able to curl up to be the size of boulders or large rocks.* To The Calling describes them as follows

The “stalagmite” unfolded, revealing a serpentine creature with a long and wormlike neck that ended in a maw full of sharp teeth. Its mottled skin was almost perfectly camouflaged to match the stone around it.

He noticed where the creature’s limbs folded up under its carapace, where it tucked its long neck under its body. Hidden in plain sight, the disguise was almost perfect.

Meanwhile the Missing comic shows them as being much larger than Harding, a dwarf. The ttrpg also describes them as "small reptilian creatures". There also seems to be sizes difference noted between each type of deepstalker: deepstalker, leader, and matriarch.

ALT [Image Sources: BioWare Promo Material, Dragon Age Wiki, and The Missing Comic #1]

Additional measurements include the odd 2' 6.3" / .77m from the extracted model from Inquisition which doesn't line up with the in-game sizing as they're proportionally much larger when next to a dwarf. Then when looking at the concept art scaling from the red dev book shared by Mark Darrah, they stand nearly 6' / 1.83m.

ALT

So there is a stark range of size difference as well as really any consistency when it comes to the bipedal, raptor-like, predators.

*Note the range for what is a large rock and what is a boulder is pretty vague. **This is based on various screenshots as pictured above. Comparing them to Shale, a human character, dwarves, and an elf. *** [World of Thedas (WoT) vol. 1 p. 163, Origins game guide, da ttrpg, The Calling novel, and The Missing Comic]

Dragonlings:

Specifically when they are newly hatched are the size of a deer. At the shoulder they'd be 2'8 - 3' / 81 - 91cm. Their length could be from 3'1 - 7'2 / 95 - 220cm. [Dragonling Codex] *Note the ttrpg does denote that they are the size of a young deer, which would be about 1 1/2 years old. This is distinctly different from a fawn and they are the same size height wise as a mature deer. It is simply a difference in muscle mass.

Here is a helpful comparison of a white tail deer, one of the more common deer:

ALT [Image Source]

Below is concept art from Tom Rhodes that I have cropped for a much clearer view. The shoulder height of the dragonling reaches roughly the same height as deer above.

ALT [Image Source]

Part 1b Sizing from Concept art and Development

Here, I want to look at the concept art of creatures, while acknowledging that they don't always end up on the same scale in game - due to a variety of technical reasons. As we see with the fact that spiders are not 12' / 3.65m in game nor are they close to that.

But with that in mind, we can at least glean the intention if not what might be more reflective of the lore. As we know, not all of da lore is game engine/mechanic friendly and thus there is merit in seeing if we can measure through comparison of in dev work. Especially thanks to the human comparison in some of them.

One piece of such concept art that suggests mega fauna is the design guide for da4 that was teased to us by Mark Darrah in 2016 and in the BioWare: Secrets and Stories From 25 Years of Game Development (B25) p. 274.

ALT

Using this, we can tell what might have been the intended -- again if it is not reflected in game -- size for the animals in Thedas. However, I will note for the sake of clarity that this isn't perfect reference; as some of the scaling seems to be questionable/warping. This is after all, an image of a picture in a book. I would be thrilled to see if we ever get to see a flat image of this.

But what we can see when we clean it up, and line up everything while cross referencing other concept art; the scaling seems to work out something like this with the human figure in the center being the "hero" proportions/ideals that would make his height 6'2 / 1.88m.

ALT

Great Bear

Some of the concept art that we can use for comparisons are pieces such as the concept art for the Great Bear and Quillback (development name dragon bear and vulture hyena):

ALT

Going off the stock hero height for female it is 5'6 - 5'7.5 / 1.67 - 1.71m and for males it is 6' - 6'2 / 1.83 - 1.88m. That would make a great bear roughly 10'11 - 11'2 / 3.34 - 3.42m in this concept art. However in the red book, the scaling suggest it is around 14' / 4.26m. Which is an example of how the book as reference might either be unreliable or the new updated intention for the scaling/design.

Regardless of which numbers you favor, when you look at those scales in contrast to our two largest modern bears:

Kodiak Bear: 3'4 - 5' / 1.02 - 1.52m at the shoulder, 6'5 - 9' / 1.96 - 2.74m in length, and 9' - 10' / 2.75 - 3.05m standing upright

Polar Bear: 3'7 - 5'3 / 1.09 - 1.6 m (male) or 2’8 - 3’11 / .81-1.19 m (female) at the shoulder, 7’10 - 9’10 / 2.4-3 m length, and 8’ - 10’ / 2.5 - 3.05 m standing upright Note: I have edited together the sourced images for clearer scaling.

ALT [Image Sources: Bears: Kodiak Bear, Polar Bear]

Additionally when looking at the tarot cards, which also tend to echo concept art more than the final game we see this massive and dramatic height difference for great bears.

ALT

Another varying size reference we have from concept art is this piece by Tom Rhodes comparing the great bear to the normal bear/brown bear. This is in direct conflict with the scale illustrated in the dev book, though this could simply be due to the stage of development this was created in as it looks to be a draw over of a game model when looking at the great bear.

ALT [Image Source]

Nightmare Demon

The Nightmare demon, or "Blinky" as fans call it, or "Smilely" as Varric calls it. This is however a demon so it's appearance and size can change due to influences outside of its control, I want to acknowledge that. This one was something I wasn't expecting to make a comparison with, as we know that not only was the final version of this demon scaled well as it seems that part of it was cut off in the dev book. But I found this concept art from Heroes of Dragon Age (HoDA) and I believe it roughly matches up with the dev book in terms of scale. It might be scaling larger however, I cannot say with any certainty. And when comparing it to the game model in DAI, this is actually a little smaller in comparison. The extracted game model of the Nightmare demon is 93.47' / 28.49m, while in comparison this concept art implies that it is 54.5' / 16.61m when you measure the silhouette which we can estimate to be 6'2.

ALT [Image Source]

ALT You can see how much they sized down the nightmare demon for HoDA (which is understandable given the constraints of a mobile game), especially when you scale them down to show the actual difference. Which is funny considering the nightmare demon is greatly scaled down from the original concept.

Phoenix

Another piece we have, is concept art for the phoenix. Unlike with the hero figure from before, we are estimating Orisino's height based on the height of elven game models. This would put Orisinao at 5'9 - 6' / 1.75 - 1.83m for an elven male.

ALT [Image Source]

This height reference is echoed and reinforced when we look at the dev book from B25 and Mark Darrah. When you bring the phoenix over to line it up with the hero character in the center, it puts the shoulder a phoenix is roughly 6'2. Implying that, at least for this art, Oresino is within that 5'9-6' / 1.75-1.83m range as his height is lower than the shoulder.

ALT

As you can see the extracted game model is not comparable due to the fact it, like the bears are not at all the same size as their in-game models. They are being scaled up a great deal to what we see in game. The extracted model height for the phoenix is 2' 7.4" / 0.8m, which is much shorter than their in-game counter part that shows it to be around the height of the human/elf character if not a little taller.

Quillback

Shown in the concept art with the great bear, we do have scalable concept art with the quillback and we are able to see that it does line up with the scaling for the dev book. It is also roughly the same size as the extracted game model. It's shoulder height being 4' 10.6" / 1.49m. The quillback also seems to be one of the few creatures where their in game counter part matches up with their model and concept art.

ALT

Part 1 Conclusion

As we can see with all the comparable or confirmed sizing of these creatures in Thedas, most are predators and scavengers, fairly large ones at that. So much so, it would dictate a high oxygen content in the atmosphere, plenty of prey to fuel animals of this size, and plenty of land area to allow for the biodiversity that we see. Even down to the subterranean level as well.

We know that gravity also works differently in Thedas, to a degree it is requires as to allow creatures the size of dragons and griffons fly, and giants roam the surface. But also to allow dwarves ranging from 4'9-5'3 / 144.78-160.02 cm to live 2-4 miles / 3.21-6.43 km below sea level + the distance from the actual surface. To give context, the deepest cave we've explored on earth is the Veryovkia cave at 1.37 miles / 2.12 km deep and the entrance to the cave is 1.41 miles / 2.28 km above sea level. Meaning the deepest cave doesn't even go down to sea level.

But with all that said, I'm only wrapping up here as I'm running out of image allowance for this post. I'll continue this in the next part, and if you've read this far, thank you.

Wanna support this blog? You can check out my ko-fi.

[whatlurksbean]

I'm a bit confused on serving the tide? Serving the tide and gaining fins made me think more like Thresher at the start, sending cats into the water. But Tusk brings up that it's just being eaten by the crabs? Struggling to figure out how to word this question haha I guess I'm just asking what the difference is between going into the water vs the crabs? Are they both serving the tide? Or was something changed writing-wise?

there are multiple ways to serve the tide! ultimately it just means you go to the sea.

Most use it to refer to the shark ceremony, but those who die before they get to partake in the ceremony are taken to the graveyard, where the crabs will take them to the sea bit by bit so they can get their fins.

[ibrithir-was-here]

When you haven’t seen your serial killer ex-husband since the mid 90s and then he turns up again less unhinged but with no memory of you cuz he got magically rebooted

(Having thoughts about Ana and Cori 2.0, and the inherent mess of still having feelings for someone you know wasn’t healthy for you, seeing them in a better place (comparatively ) and not knowing if you should risk taking a second shot, or if they would even want that)

[berrysharks]

long time listener first time caller, which shark would you say has the best understanding of greek philosophy?

Hello long time listener!

honestly i know you were kidding but i am now genuinely interested. I have a few sharks that could be most likely to understand greek philosophy (from least to most likely)

3. Angel Shark

Angelsharks are a group of sharks that are known for their flattened shape (almost like a ray)! They eat crustaceans, fish, and molluscs in an "asassin" style - burying in the sand and waiting for prey to walk by to snap them up!

Why i think they'd know greek philosophy: they are the most commonly sighted shark on the Mediterranean (and therefore greek) coastline, living in shallow areas. This means that it's possible for them to hear people on the coastline talking about greek philosophy!

2. Thresher Shark

Thresher sharks are a group of species in the mackrel shark family, known for their long whip-like tails. They use them for hunting schools of fish, where they will use their caudal fin to hit the fish and knock them out! Additionally, a fun fact about them is that they can regulate their internal body temperature! I think their cool hunting method shows that they are more complex than their goofy expression suggests. I mean, just look at their face...

Besides their knowledge, thresher sharks have another reason why they are on this list: they have been written about by aristotle himself!!! He writes about the clever nature of the shark, for biting fishing lines they were attached to and protecting babies in their mouths. If they are smart and have met one of the greatest philosophers of all time, who's to say that they dont know a bit of his philosophy?

1. Shortfin Mako Shark

The shortfin mako shark is a species of shark known for its incredibly high speeds when hunting - the fastest recorded speed being 46 miles per hour (although usually 30 miles per hour)!! Additionally, their bite force is something to be reckoned with, the highest recorded being ~13,000N !! Unlike the other sharks on my list, they are not inheritely from the Mediterranean, and instead are pelagic (ocean) sharks that migrate. They primarily hunt bony fish and cephlapods.

I think these sharks would be most likely to know greek philosophy as they have the largest brain-to-body ratio companies to other sharks. Additionally, they spend a lot of time on their own in open ocean, giving them time to think. It's possible that they could even make up their own philosophical beliefs!

So, thats it! I hope you had fun!! If any shark fans notice a mistaks I have made, please dont be afraid to send me a DM, comment, or reblog!!

This is 100% for fun, i genuinely dont believe any of these sharks actually would know greek philosophy. Im just silly (autistic) like that :3

[queewp]

I wanna hear more about ur merturtle au pls. I think it's pretty neat and u have very squishy designs. Also is it okay to write fanfic of ur au? It wouldn't be much and it'll be my first time writing but I have a tentative idea.

OH!! Ofc u can use the designs // idea with credit ^^ If u ever write something, defo mention it to me on here so I can read it >:) The overall thing was originally just going to be fun ideas, and nothing major. Overall, basically everything is the same from the original, other than a few quirks and designs the turtles have. Leo would always make a snarky comment about how he'd have "The voice of a siren." Which ofc, Donnie would always correct. He's the fastest swimmer of the group, and is the one that usually dominates fighting fields. Ofc- only if he uses his brain, which he kinda needs to work on. Donnie on the other hand, had to figure out how to comfortably live his life out of the water, and be able to be happy with it. He's made a few adjustments, probably like keeping water in his battle shell and having a regular schedule to keep himself from not being too agitated. In this version ofc, he's made all of his equipment waterproof! Including Shelldon ofc!! Raph, as a thresher shark, I'd imagine his fighting style would change a bit. Ofc he'd still be the absolute tank, but I like to imagine he'd manage to kinda use his tail to his advantage. Like Splinter, he uses his tail as a weapon and can stun enemies And as the Raph fan I am, thought that maybe it'd be cool to explore a small idea: Raph's always been paranoid of his smile, of being too rough, of being too scary, etc. I want him to both understand his struggles and realize that those he really cares about just want to see the true him, and not a hand covering his sharp smile. Aka, some free angst I could mess around with ;) Mikey... i actually don't have a lot for him? He'd be a force of keeping the family together, kinda like in the cannon. He'd have the most colorful fighting style, especially when u add water to the mix! He'd be the one to make Raph realize how wrong he was about himself, he'd be the one to help Donnie with his designs, and he'd help Leo realize that a lot of the stuff that's happened to them wasn't his fault. Also, part of me would find it funny if HE was the one who had some sort of 'siren' 'mermaid' powers. Or this could just be me watching too much avatar and the last airbender- but i think it'd be funny if he could manipulate water, and have all that cool mermaid powers!! Just an idea tho ^^ NOW UH- sorry if that's a lot to read, so have this lil comic WIP. I probably won't finish it knowing me- it is my birthday after all, but I'm glad people are taking interest in my little au :]

[felassan]

some quick'n'dirty thoughts on the new Codex entries:

[wild speculation] it feels like the Grand Necropolis is a game location we will visit (it also comes up quite a bit in the wider blogpost). and/or we'll have a Mortalitasi companion

I'd guess that the writer of this codex, and their friend that teases them, are the two characters that feature in the short story from Dragon Age Day last year, The Flame Eternal. Emmrich referring to Johanna? (Or just emmrich and someone else.. wouldn't really make sense for a nevarran to tease their nevarran friend about their own practises, on reflection). both that short and this new codex are by Sylvia, and the shade of cyan used to obscure the diary owner's name is similar to the cyan in the short story art. saying that, it's the same cyan as Skeleton Boi has, and seems to sometimes indicate necromancy & related magic generally speaking

I could've missed em, but I had a lil look and couldn't find the referenced writings of Genetivi's here or in the WoTs, so they must be among his many in-world writings that we the players haven't seen (it'd be so good to sit in an an in-world library and read and read and read..!!! literally the dream.). but if I missed them pls lmk :D

Vinsomer. the Last Court/Serault enthusiast in me wonders if the lecturer giving the talk on Vinsomer is Frederic of Serault, Professor of Draconology from the University of Orlais. Vinsomer can swim! makes sense, we meet one in DA:I on the Storm Coast and the lore says they prefer rocky coasts.

Thedas has orcas confirmed~ when an animal is dark dorsally and light ventrally, it's called countershading. it's a method of camouflage. in orcas this helps hide them from their prey. there's a squidlike creature on this version of the map, and the "big worms that burrow near the shore" remind me of thresher maws from ME. Thedas has giant bobbit worm type things on the beaches?? 😭 electric eels stun their prey by generating electricity, and it makes sense that a big creature that hunts in the sea would have a beak-like mouth like squid do. the biologist in me is pleased by these references and the thought that clearly went into this codex :D

what's attacking Vinsomer/her lair/her young and why is it a mystery? it's probably because I was thinking about the red lyrium skeleton guys again today just before the community update post came out (literally ten-fifteen mins or so before the blogpost aaaa), but the new Vinsomer codex reminds me of this excerpt [bottom one] for some reason: "From eyewitness reports, the adult dragons never ventured close to where the red lyrium grows, even though they could easily have done so. I can only conclude that the creatures instinctively understand that red lyrium poses a threat."

skskshfuehufh the double entendres in the Randy Dowager codex. Genetivi you rogue

and more generally speaking, this part of the blogpost:

The Hero of Ferelden. The Champion of Kirkwall. The Herald of Andraste. Each of them marked their legacy in the annals of history, but time marches forward and the age of these heroes cannot last forever. As a friend of ours once said, “it’s time for a new hero."

has me wondering for the 89898th time what the DA4 PC's title will be if any. the what of what??? :D I'm dyin. I wonder if time marching forward ties to the implied timeskip to 9:52, and it's exciting to know that there will be other upcoming community updates like this, with the next one being focused on Design. hope the next one contains some new Codex entries too! 👁

[ebwardelric]

I'll write it into a full fic in time but the idea of colonist, sole survivor garrusmanced Shepard surviving the events of me3 just to learn that Garrus succumbed to his injuries

She lost everyone on Mindoir, parents, aunts, friends, first love -the boy she'd marry-, and woke in a strange, unknown, sterile place, completely alone. The last of her bloodline

and rebuilt herself

Then loses everyone to the thresher maws on Akuze - including that fling-, waking again in a hospital ward with that familiar, overwhelming, clean stench. Chemicals and starchy sheets. Being told once again that she was the only one left of her new family. It's a curse. Mopping herself up from an externally bleeding wound.

She rebuilds,

finds family and kinship aboard the Normandy, they don't stay after Saren but they do keep in touch. She arranges to see Garrus. They're going to do good now... Then she suffocates in space. Finally it was her time to leave people she loved behind. Finally, finally, finally.

Then wakes, only loosely stitched together skin that isn't her own, with scars now repaired, what was left of her past. alone and being forced into action, to being told that her family had fallen apart, scattered without her, some presumed dead.

Told to rebuilt. Instructed to find new lives she'll inevitably lose through something she feels is some kind of cursed incompetence. Why is it always she who survives?

Rebuilding. Again. Her friends are alive. Not all of them well. Man did Garrus take it badly. A vigilante? Was he seeking his death too? Doesn't matter. We're all alive. They get closer. They bond. She's forgotten how it felt to be held like a woman and not as a soldier.

Maybe she loses key team during the suicide mission, maybe she didn't have time to order the the Normandy upgrades to ensure it was capable of doing what it needed to, maybe she skipped a few emails

Or maybe she ensures it doesn't happen. She saves the staff; because she isn't losing anyone else. Who knows.

And then me3. No Shepard without Vakarian. Legion gives his life. Her past team don't all join for this final battle. It hurts. Her family are too large now. Uncontrollable. more people to keep safe. But Garrus is here, has been from the start.

She sends him away to keep him safe. no no no. All people do is die when they're around her. Away is better. Aboard the Normandy.

But a message gets through from the Normandy. It's God knows where, but slowly comms come through.

She does it all. Against all odds. Lays down to die,

awakens, again. No one she knows around. Sterile. Sickly. Broken. Alone. The sandpaper sheets under her is what she knows best in this time.

It's true. Her curse continues. She adds his name to the memorial that sits heavy in her chest

Her family check in on her.

Garrus died hours after she saved the galaxy. She doesn't believe it at first. Can't. No.

She... Rebuilds? How much more can she take? Can she be ripped to shreds and tapestry herself back together again? Can she? Could you? Is there enough space in one body for this much grief?

[ghostwise]

Tell me more about the mechanized looms in Thedas please.

So I am just extrapolating from what is already seen in canon; we already have printing presses, and a lot of previously time-consuming processes are being simplified and streamlined through technology. A lot of this is explored in DAI and I'm sure we'll see things further develop in DADW. Basically I am writing the first part of this fic in a setting where industrialism is taking off in Antiva, where the factory system is a new development. Standardization of new technology tends to smooth the way for further innovation, so I figure mechanized looms are not too far off from mechanized spinning frames!

Here are the relevant bits from World of Thedas:

[ID: "Half of Nevarra has heard of the Davri Mechanical Thresher. Powered by steam, the device separates grain from chaff, doing work that normally takes hundreds of laborers weeks of back-breaking effort in mere hours. The Nevarran nobility herald it as the greatest innovation of the age, but it is just the latest gift from the genius of Bianca Davri.

She made her name more than a decade ago with an improved seed drill that was capable not only of distributing seed in perfect rows at nearly any spacing, but also of adjusting to the correct depth for each seed type. Far more reliable than any other seeder, it quickly became the standard across the Free Marches, Antiva, and Nevarra, and House Davri, a previously obscure surface Smith Caste family living in Kirkwall, instantly established itself as a power within the Merchants Guilt.

But the Davri Seed Drill was not self-powered. It required the locomotion of a horse or an ox to operate. Bianca's second invention, a spinning machine, was run like a grain mill by the action of moving water. With this device, a single worker could spin up to sixty spools of thread at a time, at a much finer quality than hand spinning. With the Davri Spinning Frame, demand for Bianca's designs spread to the high-priced markets of Orlais."

End ID]