#which is like. the main theme in da2!

[unlikelysaintdelele]

I was rifling through Reddit for posts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard and stumbled across a comment mentioning that DA2 also had a name change like DATV in which the original title was much cooler. Would you like to know what Dragon Age 2 was originally called?

Dragon Age: Exodus

DRAGON AGE: EXODUS

Exodus: noun. a going out; a departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people.

All of the main cast are technically foreigners to Kirkwall. All or most of those immigrants are there because of the Blight. Merrill's clan was from Fereldan. Aveline and the Hawke family? Fereldan. Hawke and Aveline get a lot of flack for being Fereldans in positions of power. Fenris? He's from Tevinter. Isabela? She's from the first game and we meet her in Fereldan but I believe she's of Rivaini ancestry if not originally from there. Anders literally got his name based on where he's from, the Anderfels. Based on his accent though (I remember nothing about the Anderfels), he's grown up mostly in Fereldan. Iirc, he was brought to a mage circle in Fereldan as a young child before joining the Grey Wardens and then became an apostate (he just runs away from everything). Varric? As far as I know, Orzammar is the only location Dwarves are from, though Orzammar runs wide and deep. A big theme in Kirkwall is some locals hate how foreigners keep coming in and "taking their jobs" or just ruining Kirkwall's existence with their presence. Immigration was a big theme. Being a foreigner was a big theme.

Damnit Bioware. Why did you have to change such a cool and fitting title?

Also, please remove The from the upcoming game. Dragon Age: Veilguard sounds much better than Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd. You didn't do Dragon Age: The Inquisition.

[vigilskeep]

HARKER!!! How do you create and develop your OCs!!!! Your brain is so big!!!!

Whenever I make characters, I have a hard time getting past the surface level and really understanding what makes them tick. WHATS YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS? I am full of admiration.

honoured u think so!!! um Advices

when it comes to viddy game characters. make ur oc a product of the world and centred on the game’s main themes/conflicts. for example, dao has main themes like duty, vengeance, and sacrifice, so those are all good choices for what your character is About. bg3 so far seems to be about agency, bodily autonomy, power, and what it costs to achieve those things, so you want your character to be in dialogue with that. get that done, and congrats: everything in the game is now about your character and their journey personally! all quests & side quests will echo you and your character will have unique perspective on them

don’t be afraid to make the ‘wrong’ choices, or, more specifically, don’t rush into choosing the ‘right’ one. instead of thinking about the objectively best way to resolve a situation from your uninvolved position as the player, let your reactions be personal. your character isn’t always going to say and do the unbiased neutral best thing and that’s good!!

first of all try to think about your character’s frame of reference for it. everyone has a sort of reference library of experiences which they can use to interpret new circumstances. games are your friend and will usually try to help you with this; for example da2, a game in which your characters always has siblings, has a lot of sibling-focused quests that your character will have a unique take on. but it can be much simpler; what does your player character notice about an npc? do they have something in common? is your character physically stronger and bigger or smaller and weaker? what does your character assume about people who talk a certain way? how does any of that make them react to them? etc. etc. keep track in your head of how the location and enemy types make them feel too. my poor hawke had an ongoing anxiety meter to represent his dislike of real danger to his allies especially from darkspawn, and the more overloaded that was, the more rash and aggressively i would let him react. that was a fun way combat could affect other gameplay; for instance i fully killed some npcs that i could’ve let go, specifically because they’d knocked out one of my people in a fight

when getting into backstory try to sort of reverse engineer why they act the way they act? people tend to behave in certain ways because those are the methods that have gotten them through their life. what are the strategies that have helped them survive? being aggressive? being charming? following orders? staying on the sidelines? lying? and then you can sort of create the environment that encouraged them to be that way. (this doesn’t always mean complying with what the environment valued/expected/wanted of them; often defiance is what people needed to do to get through it with their soul intact.) that’s good for getting a little under their skin to see what makes them tick as u say

uhhh what else. try to be aware of their physicality and the way they look and move and how that affects others’ perception of them. how tactile are they and how much do they gesture? basically think about what comes across when you look at a companion talking and figure out what they get when they look at you. for example, i have a very tactile hawke and i typically imagine a lot more of that casual physical contact when i’m doing companion conversations, and a lot more imposing physical aggression when he’s talking to people he doesn’t like. obviously this requires you doing a bit of imaginative work on top of the game visuals but i believe in you. it just makes them come alive a bit

that’s my kind of... standardised method... more generic advice: people don’t have good or bad traits they have traits which are good or bad in extremes and sticking to a trait whether the consequences are good or bad is often fun; don’t be afraid to be bitchy or aggressive when the occasion calls for it, you often get a lot more life out of this and if you can love a companion for it they can still love you; try maintaining “in character” priorities during combat or when just walking around and figuring out what they’re noticing; sometimes making a big decision that seems “out of character” is actually character-defining because you discover what makes them break from their usual nature

i hope that helps?? that’s how i do things anyway :)

[thunderboltfire]

Sera could be an example of how to make a terrible disservice to a character

An essay, by me.

I tend to be really cautious when the general public doesn’t like a video game character. Sometimes it’s just a specific aspect of them that tends to make people hate them - sometimes it’s even an unfortunate line, or a character doesn’t truly fit the setting, and even if they have very interesting, hidden side not many people get to see it. And sometimes just people jump on a bandwagon and hate for its own sake. I generally try to give characters a fair chance to get to know them.

That being said, I don’t really like Sera. I went through the full friendship route and throughout the majority of it, I felt that something’s off. It probably wasn’t the fact that her dialect wasn’t always well translated - she always seemed to stand out from the background, but not in the best way. I wondered what’s wrong exactly - she has some endearing qualities, she likes to have fun, she can pack a punch when needed. It bugged me for a long time, but finally, after thinking it through, I think I’ve got it.

The problem is twofold: one, her characterisation is inconsequential - and two, she doesn’t seem to fit the tone and overarching themes of DA:I.

Why do I think Sera was written in a way that doesn’t make her fit well into DA:I?

Well, what do we know about Sera?

She’s a great archer, she is skilled at guerilla warfare (especially urban guerilla warfare, if the Red Jennies’ general area of operation suggests anything), she’s an agent of a powerful (albeit decentralised) organisation, she’s a Robin Hood-esqe rogue and she’s all about having fun. That’s unfortunately where the problem in her characterisation begins. Sera sees the injustice and opposes it in many instances, but what she expresses as her main motive to joining the Inquistion is for the life to get back to what it was before the crisis, which may seem selfish on her part. She is usually acting rather consistently as a rebel to the established power dynamics, but she seems to know that she - or the Inquisitor, for the matter - doesn’t have the power to overthrow the current state of things. She craves change, but on her own terms. Her apparent conservatism (wanting for everything to be back to normal) is in fact the fear of the unknown more than the actual fear of change, but the execution of her character makes it look like she’s a walking contradiction. Her very personal sense of right and wrong, imbalanced by the unusual situation she’s found herself in, makes it pretty hard to predict her reactions. Her quick judgement, which undoubtedly was an asset for a Red Jenny put her at a disadvantage in a situation she doesn’t understand, and make her look completely unpredictable.

DA:I was often described as a game about politics, and the political themes seem to be more prevalent than in DA2, or even DA:O. Very often we hear that we have to secure the influence in a certain region, we have to negotiate, politically we have to be everyone’s best friend and hold everyone at a knifepoint - often in the same time. We have to get involved in the Game, whether we like it or not. Sera fits into it very weirdly, or rather, doesn’t fit in at all - put into a situation where you and the members of your inner circle have to maintain cold blood and consider the consequences, she’ll act in accordance to her own principles - that is, overthrow the board, or outright refuse to play by the rules. She’s got a heart in the right place, but logically speaking, she’d work way better as an agent, than as a member of an Inner Circle, where almost everyone knows and respects the stakes. Wherever You’d need to sow chaos and undermine the existing authority, You’d send Sera in and she’d do what she does best; instead, if You take her with You on any quest important for the main plot, she’ll be understandably dissatisfied, because while the Inquisition’s goals align with her own, its methods don’t.

That’s especially frustrating, because her rebellious attitude isn’t in itself a flaw. You could just put her in Kirkwall and she’d do great - in a cast of intense characters who drive the story and are for the better or worse trapped in a terrible city, a street smart archer who's pulling the strings behind the scenes to help the poor would be an instant favourite. Hawke’s crew is a walking trouble with law and authority already, they already have a pirate queen and an important figure in the local *cough cough* Merchant Guild onboard, and I’d love to see Sera’s point of view on the situation. I feel that practically any installment of Dragon Age would be a better playground for a character like her except DA:I. I would even argue that if her and Sebastian switched places, both characters would benefit from it. In Kirkwall, place with rampant social stratification, Sera would definitely have a lot to do - her personal history and her difficult relationship with her identity as an elf could be explored in a more complex way. Instead in the Inquisition, Sebastian’s arc would allow the Inquisitor to get deeper into the meanders of Freemarcher politics. That’s also not to say that there ISN’T a way to fit a rebellious rogue into a politics-heavy, high-stakes narration. Thronebreaker does it amazingly well, making Gascon a fan favourite and a left hand of main character who does the job brilliantly. The difference is that despite being a comic relief at times, his personality traits align with what could make him a respected leader of a bandit group in the first place. He is always prepared, he always has a backup plan, he knows how to negotiate and threaten. He can be selfish, ruthless and cruel - but at the same time, he knows how to gain and maintain common people’s support and he will react if he thinks the main character is going against their interest. He will always do things his way, he can be an exhausting opponent or a formidable ally.

What could Sera’s intended role in the Inquisition be, either plot-wise or narration-wise?

Speaking from the plot point of view, she’s a high ranking agent of a widespread secret organisation - it’s implied she has access to a lot of intelligence and she has quite a bit of favours to call, if she needs to. This makes her a perfectly reasonable asset for an Inquisition. However, there’s two problems here: one, her characterisation as an impulsive, trigger happy chaotic neutral rogue doesn’t fit someone who would work at the high levels of a secret organisation. And second, her being a Red Jenny seems terribly underutilised. Outside of a personal quest and a few errands at the War Table she doesn’t feel like someone with actual influence in the world - for sure not more than Varric, and he plays his influence down on purpose.

Narration-wise the important angle of Sera’s presence in the Inquisition could be being a voice of a common person, a representation of common folk’s pent-up anger over suffered injustice. She might be a character reminding the Inquisitor who they are really fighting for. Except that her treatment in-game makes this sort of narration ridicoulous, because young and inexperienced, she’s constantly dismissed and her claims seem to be more of a personal angle than an actual representation of wider norms.

The majority of people in-game also isn’t shown as valuing her input - the Inquisitor can dismiss her anytime, she’s considered a questionable ally at best by the advisors, she’s repeatedly described as an unpredictable wildcard in-and out-of game. Her supposed influence as a Red Jenny is almost never discussed or agknowledged. She seems out of her depth, and she isn’t easily persuaded. She seems to be a paragon of self-determination, but she makes no effort to understand those different from her (e.g. the Dalish inquisitor, the mages, or Cole). Her judgement is rarely the Okham’s razor you’d expect it to be if her role was to provide a sort of an “outsider’s perspective” to the issues You face.

It’s not to say that her characterisation doesn’t make sense - she seems like a believable portrayal of what does it mean to be a young person in a world full of injustice, where crisis never ends. But in context, she both seems like a person who’s notably difficult to cooperate with, and a character which is weirdly static in comparison to the others. Her arc is supposed to be about overcoming the consequences of lies she’s been told when she was young, but at the end of it her worldview, particularly her approach to elves - those from alienage or Dalish - doesn’t change at all. It seems to me that she has a lot of unresolved issues and for sure there is a lot of opportunity for character development in there, but it. isn’t. utilised. It isn’t only limited to Sera - in the Inquisition there’s more characters who don’t really change in the course of the game, but she’s maybe the most glaring example because her relatively young age and new experiences should make for a pretty dynamic character. In this way, the writers not only made disservice to her by the choosing to include her in a heavily political plot, but also did her a disservice because she seems disengaged from the player’s influence - she can applaud our choices or be upset with them, and she’s an occasional comic relief, but the interaction with the player doesn’t influence her otherwise.

[camelliagwerm]

Hopefully this isn't too broad, but Top 5 Video Game Quests?

hrrm okay. For the most part I decided on questlines over individual quests.

5. Dead Money DLC - Fallout: New Vegas

I have a very difficult relationship with FoNV as a whole, and I either love the DLCs or hate them (Old World Blues & Honest Hearts...). However, Dead Money is hands down my favourite Fallout DLC - it's genuinely stressful and scary (the bomb collar, the environment, having nothing on you when you wake up), and the history behind the Sierra Madre is heartbreaking. It's really stayed with me.

4. The Sea of Sands - Horizon: Forbidden West

Funny, that this is another future!Vegas quest on here. This is just such a fantastic main quest and my favourite out of HFW that really captured a sense of wonder, and seeing Aloy nerd out with an Oseram tinkerer as they come up with a design for a diving mask and making a genuine connection with this group was just the icing on top. And seeing the Las Vegas lights in the desert at night? Stunning.

3. A Final Drop - Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Sometimes peak romance is encouraging your definitely not-girlfriend to commit patricide....and also indulging her murderous tendencies to an extremely concerning degree before letting her bullshit excuse slide because 'that's what friends do' (and because you like having sex with her :/)

2. The Season of the Bloom - Pathfinder: Kingmaker

This is hands down my favourite arc in Kingmaker. This is where things start to feel really serious, plus the introduction of more overtly Fey Shit with the first trip to the First World (that combat theme is an absolute banger), the introduction of the goblins and the cult of Lamashtu, the body horror of the Bloom... exquisite.

1. A Paragon of Her Kind - Dragon Age: Origins

To all the Deep Roads haters, how does it feel to be so wrong? At least to me, this is DA at its best. There's the brutality of the Dead Trenches, the unnerving solitude of the Ortan Thaig, with only ghosts left behind. There's the story of Branka's descent into madness. But there is also the politics of Orzammar to contend with, which as a dwarven Warden (regardless of whether you're Brosca or Aeducan), you have a personal stake in. For Aeducan specifically it becomes a question of "do you want it to stay in the family even though Bhelen is responsible for your situation, or do you wish to uphold your father's wishes by favouring Harrowmont and get vengeance against your younger brother in the process?"

Absolutely iconic. DA2 and DAI could never.

[lairofdragonagelore]

Orlais: Winter Palace

Main Quest: Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts

The Winter Palace is a palace in Orlais built on the ruins of ancient elven grounds in the city of Halamshiral.Only ten years after the Exalted Marches led to the conquest of the Dales, the site where the Winter Palace would be built had become a seasonal retreat for the Imperial Court. This remains a tradition for Orlais' high nobility even today.

This post has compiled the most relevant information during the main quest for completion’s sake. Most of the time these quests have little “archaeological” value, but since I’m visually covering the majority of the game, I can’t put them aside since some of them are key in the lore, and in terms of objects, statues and ruins, such as the Temple of Mythal.

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

This is more a compilation of Orlesian objects and pattern than a post of any kind of analysis. There is not much to say about the objects we see here.

The Lion is a predominant symbol that represents modern Orlais, which origin comes from Celene’s family: it is the crest symbol of the Valmont family.  Before the time her family took control of the throne, the symbol of the nation was a Dragon due to the Drakon family, previous emperor before the Valmont. [The Lion of Orlais (Inquisition)] In Winter Palace, we are learn about the configuration and interpretation of the fountain of four lions: they were commissioned to commemorate House Valmont's historic victory against Xavier Drakon.

Most of Orlesian art tries to recreate Andraste's face. We can also see the elven influence of their art, specially in the way they frame it: the eluvian frames seem to be constantly present.

The fountain of the Winter Palace also displays the figure of Andraste in it.

A lot of its art is based on Andrastian figures beside Andraste herself: Havard, Maferath, Hessarian.

Thanks to this constant presence of andrastian-themed art, I could finally assume that this statue of a Man holding bigger head belongs to the Andrastian art in Orlesian style.

Due to their big attachment to the Chantry, part of the orlesian art is Chantry-based. In Winter Palace, we learn that this chapel contains murals painted by Empress Justinia.

The luxury of the Orlesian lifestyle is reflected in the excess of gold in their decorations and in the intricacies and excess of details.

There are some gold statues that appear in the Winter Palace that, curiously, represent "angelic elves" if I'm not mistaken.

The presence of elven-door-shapes is even in the basement of the statues.

As Superstitions of the Royal Family says, we see the magical locked doors of the winter palace that require hallas to unlock them.

Most of the art displayed in the palace are Emperors of Orlais, always present in the codices. 

Solas gives us a hint once more that he has been part of these intrigue games for a while: he has experience on them and he enjoys them.  He also comments about the power in the invisibility of the servants, which concept seems to be important in the next game.

Miscellaneous objects

For archive purpose, I keep some visual of intricate boxes, statues, banners, trophies, taxidermy animals, and decorations in the base of the statues. 

When we have access to a secret compartment, we can see how much of a fan of  the arcane knowledge Celene is, showing to us what the codex  Superstitions of the Royal Family  told us already. She has a big vault with a lot of unique objects.

There are andrastian statues and urns but also an "eluvian of merril". Once again, I’m wary about the real nature of this eluvian for the reasons I spoke about in other posts [Merril’s Eluvian]. A customised frame, appearing in so many places, feels to me like an overuse of an asset. As a detail, the eluvian is opaque.

We find a desk with a tome of magic knowledge that I recognise as part of Orsino’s desk in DA2, and a letter that Celene was going to send to Morrigan.

She even has an inert elven artefact to strengthen the Veil.

We trigger the codex Superstitions of the Royal Family, which basically says that Valmont family was always into arcane occult knowledge, explaining how much interest this family had with the elven magic and elven artefacts, to the point to develop a system of locking doors using halla statues.

In general I don’t have much interest in Orlesian lore, but I can’t stop being surprised of how this family has such interest in magic, and in particular, elven culture and art. That Celene has this interest seems less surprising, after all she had/has an elven lover. But that the rest of the family keeps showing this interest, even in previous generations, catches my attention. 

After many explorations in-game, I came to the conclusion that rugs in rooms are not too important. Sometimes they are reasonable to appear in a given place, sometimes don’t. I still have some suspicions about the rug featuring the De Montfort Symbol  in Emerald Graves: Din'an Hanin. And so far, we learnt in several codices that about the time of the Dales, interracial families were not that strange. If we keep in mind that children that are born from humans and elves look like humans, one could even speculate that maybe, the Valmont family has more ties to ancient Dalish culture than we are explicitly told. But again, this is a mere speculation. 

[h-awke-a]

*H-AWKE a violet hawke of da2. canon divergent and primarily headcanon based but roughly follows the game plot. low activity and mutuals only. written by charlie (she/they, 27+, white, us). muse bio and rules brief below the cut. affiliated w/ ryan's bethany. explore: sideblog, pinterest

*RULES BRIEF please do not use heavy additional spacing between words / characters or gradient-coloured text when writing with me. in general, heavy formatting is hard for me to read. blog is exclusively 21+. all triggers are tagged with #trigger cw and i try to be diligent in tagging everything. i do sometimes write non-explicit smut but it's very rare and will always be tagged. please note that theo's backstory and arcs contain frequent mentions of his emotionally abusive mother and the loss of his father and siblings. i will not exploit these themes, but they will be mentioned / discussed, but always tagged. minors will be hard blocked. mutuals only, all mutuals are welcome / invited to im me or ask for discord. if i don’t like you / the things you post, i will soft / hard block as i see fit. to see examples of my writing before following, feel free to browse my ic writing tag

*MAINS & AFFILIATES affiliated with (and exclusive to) ryan's bethany, more tba

*CHARACTER BASICS   theo hawke (often called just hawke by his friends/associates, sometimes called tay by his sister), cis, he/him, bi with a slight preference for feminine presenting people, born in 9:7 in denerim to the runaway noblewoman leandra amell and her apostate lover malcolm hawke, raised in denerim where he attended the free chantry school for city children from ages 8 to 12 until the labour of caring for his twin siblings and helping support the family required him to quit school and begin work (as was common for lower class children in denerim, especially eldest children), moves with his family to the remote village of lothering at the age of sixteen when his younger sister's magick begins to manifest in order to conceal her and their apostate father from templar detection, becomes the family's primary earner when their father disappears abruptly a year and a half later, leaning into illegal work on top of farm work that he conceals from his mother in order to make enough for their survival and the hope of one day lifting them out of poverty, works primarily as a smuggler and hired knife on top of his front work as a ranch hand until the fifth blight begins and lothering is destroyed by the horde, forcing the family to flee as refugees to their mother's home city of kirkwall, a journey on which theo's younger brother is killed, theo turns 23 sleeping on the docks of the gallows until he and his sister are able to buy a way into the city by being indentured by their uncle to the smuggler athenril, for whom they work without pay for a year in order to repay their family's debts

*APPEARANCE fc danny ramirez, older fc gabriel luna, theo is 6'1 and strong-shouldered, muscular but soft and thick though not quite bulky, his hair is thick and dark, shiny and curly, he grows hardly any beard at all apart from a decent mustache and dusting along his jawline and a thicker thatch at his chin, his body hair is a similar sort of dusting, he has very dark and expressive brown eyes, soft and concerned in shape, laughing and sweet, his good looks are ever-boyish in quality, his handsomeness is not rugged or hard but that of a younger man in feeling even as his hair begins to go silver at the temples and his eyes and forehead grow lined with age, he has smooth, even skin that spots with age and sun and is dotted here and there with small, dark moles, thick, straight eyebrows, a strong jaw, pleasant mouth, and a long, strong, straight nose that is visibly crooked at the humped bridge from a break in his teenage years

*NOTABLE QUALITIES purple & blue, funny, a little immature, sweet and accommodating, genuine but avoidant, especially of confronting his own needs / unprocessed emotions, a pleaser, your ride or die, charming and sly when he's on his feet so to speak but can be awkward and stumbling when knocked off them, ultimately internally unsure of his worth, slightly insecure about his lack of education, projects a pride in his place and his role that is partly genuine and partly a defense mechanism, much like his humor and nonchalance, shrewd, laid back, and extremely capable of retaining and projecting calm in high stakes situations, deeply intertwined with his sister emotionally and though he would not label himself a mage sympathizer necessarily (he takes people case by case) he does have strong anti-templar prejudice and deep mistrust for people in positions of authority overall, he's an underdog who habitually sides with other underdogs even in the face of their.. questionable methods

*SKILLS    highly skilled and athletic dual-wield rogue assassin w/ scoundrel & infiltrator talents, can or charm talk his way out of (almost) anything, excellent at dealing with (most) people, deeply emotionally intuitive with strong gut instinct about people and situations, deeply and doggedly loyal to his family (which includes his friends) to the point of self-detriment, lovable, and emotionally gentle, ultimately he is there for you, for better or for worse, no matter what, and his simple surety in this tends to make people feel safe w/ him

[inquisitorhierarch]

I really need someone to make a compilation on youtube of just the parts of the DA2 soundtrack that are actual music and completely leave out all the garbage staccato discordant blaring for minutes on end that is what Inon Zur wrongly thinks combat music is.

Every damn time I’m like “I should listen to it again” because I’m thinking of the tavern music or Fenris’s theme or the Kirkwall theme and then 20 minutes later it’s just been 20 fucking minutes of “bum bum-bum-bum bam-bam bum-bum bing bong crash” and I wonder why in the fuck I even bloody bothered

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

tattoo drawpile/showcase cos you'll probably never see most of em otherwise lol

Lilian's are like half of these lmao, namely the compass rose (cos she's a pirate, duh), the mabari (the one she got at Ostagar), and the dragons (cos dragons are fuckin cool). The top right one will probably be scrapped tho

oh also the dragon tat is inspired by the da2 logo and kirkwall crest

i also kinda wanna give her a tattoo of 5 small hawk silhouettes as well. or at least one

also remember when i said the mabari tat was a placeholder? spoilers when i say that the design almost always sticks anyway lmao

bottom left mabari is one Liam might get after Skippy passes away but i'm still not sure about it

the boxy arrow-ish one is June's; she got matching ones with Sera for funsies

bottom one is Kala's and design wise i tried to match the Dwarf face tattoos. i don't think there's a specific reason that she gets it except that she was compelled to bc a lot of casteless are often tattooed

then there's Var'renan's arm and leg vallaslin which i tried making Andruil themed with some hints of their main vallaslin (Dirthamen)

similar case for Taren's vallaslin extension but with Ghilan'nain and June

also Addie has some for sure but i still haven't settled on designs yet lol so they're not here

[distant-wcrlds]

This is the new main blog for the following RP blogs:

@gayrett-hawke (DA2 PC) 18+

@laimdalen-itellam (DA:I PC) 18+

@lovely-little-bull (Riordanverse OC)

@slayemal-na-nerate (Star Wars OC multimuse) 18+

@sweltering-in-central-city (Arrowverse OC) 18+

@empath-from-azarath (TT 2003 Raven)

@not-a-twilek (Star Wars OC) 18+

@guardian-of-gotham (Mixed canon Bruce Wayne) 18+

@not-so-artificial (GL:TAS Aya) 18+

Rules:

1. No explicit content. I am an adult, and I'm okay with some mature language and themes, but if it starts getting too far, I'll let you know. In general, avoid graphic descriptions of body parts and intimacy, but when in doubt, just pretend we're co-writers for a TV-14 show. For my muses under the age eighteen, this rule is obviously much stricter. Pretend you're talking to a younger pre-teen sibling (since I unfortunately know how inappropriate casual conversations can become in high school). Both of them happen to be asexual, so you can discuss that to an extent, but anyone who sends them sexual comments or asks invasive questions on the matter will either be given a warning or blocked on sight depending on the severity of said action.

2. No God-Modding/Auto-Hit/etc. unless we discussed it ahead of time. Of course, if I reblog an RP meme that invites you to hurt or control my muse, you can temporarily ignore this rule to an extent.

3. Please plot with me. I don't like going into RPs completely blind. We don't have to work out every detail, but I'd at least like to get the basic gist of your character and the type of plot you want before starting anything. If I have no idea what our muses' relationship with each other is like, I'm not going to respond to any starters you send me. I also reserve the right to turn down certain plots and/or characters I'm not interested in interacting with.

4. Please be patient with me. Between real life and other RPs, I may not always respond right away. I don't expect you to either. That being said, Tumblr is a highly dysfunctional app, and if you're worried that I may not have gotten the notification for your response or mention, feel free to PM me and ask! Especially if you notice I haven't been active on the dash; I can't count the number of times I've only seen a reply or something I was tagged in because of my addiction to dash-scrolling.

5. Please don't interact if you're below 18. This rule doesn't necessarily apply to following or sending asks to my underage muses, where there shouldn't be any NSFW content, or the occasional SFW headcanon that might get spread beyond the rp community, but I will block any minors I find in my notes engaging with my content for adult muses directly. For my own comfort, I will not write with any muns who are minors, regardless of our muses' ages. I also won't write adult/minor or large age gap ships.

6. Feel free to reblog anything from me except RP threads that you aren't part of. This is for my writing partners' comfort, and other than that exception, I couldn't care less about my notes getting clogged or reblog karma or whatever... I've literally had people reblog my bios and plot wishlists, which was weird but not upsetting. Although, on the topic of reblog karma, if I notice that you only use me as a resource blog without showing any interest in my muses, I won't block you, but I'm probably not going to be super motivated to RP with you either. When interest is shown though, I love being reblogged from so I can see how our muses relate or to send you asks as well!

7. Given that most of my blogs are for OCs, I think it's safe to say that I'm pretty OC-friendly. I'll RP with any well-written character that I can see my muses interacting with. For crossovers, I don't have any outside verses for my muses, and I'm not the biggest fan of multiverse plots between different franchises, but I'm definitely up for writing with AU versions of your muses as long as they fit within the world enough for me to not be distracted by it. For example, I probably wouldn't write with a Dragon Age version of Swiftwind from She-Ra, since animals don't talk in that universe, but I might be more open to it if Swiftwind were possessed, since there was a demon who communicated through an animal host in one of the games.

8. Please tag the blog you want to interact with when mentioning me. Hopefully, I'll see it eventually if you don't, but Tumblr tends to not shoe that I have notifications for this main blog unless it's for messages.

9. I write any length from conversational to multi-para. I'll generally try to match your length, but don't feel like you have to do the same. In fact, shorter responses are often less overwhelming to me for that very reason. I'm prone to letting the words take over occasionally, but as long as you give me something I can respond to, we should be good. 👌

Mun Info:

I'm not going to give out my real name, but you can call me pretty much any variant of my blog or muse names. Raven was a popular one on my old blogs, because she was my first Tumblr muse, but if you want to call me Distant, Hawke, Laim, Swelter, etc., go for it. I'm also giving Spook a try as an official online nickname if you want to use that. As mentioned in my blog description, I'm 23 and use they/them pronouns. I currently work full-time, but my hours are inconsistent, so my schedule is constantly subject to change. My time zone is PDT, so I'm usually running at least a few hours behind everyone else, and I don't have the healthiest sleep schedule. From my interactions with mutuals whose time zones I'm familiar with, though, y'all don't either. Please know that I mentally calculate what time it is for you, and I do get concerned that so many of you regularly stay up until 3 a.m. or later. I'm a hypocrite, but please sleep. 💞 That's all I feel is necessary to put down. I'm bi, ace, and enby if you really want to know for some reason. I'm also neurodivergent, but I'm not going to list my diagnoses if it's not relevant. I don't have a personal blog, so I'm not going to reblog anything I can't justify being related to my RP blogs in some way. This main blog is literally only for the purpose of listing all my other blogs, so don't feel like you have to follow, but you can if you want, I guess. Anyways, it's almost 3 a.m. as I'm writing this (like I said, I'm a hypocrite), so I should probably stop rambling and go to bed, but I look forward to writing with y'all.

[sarasa-cat]

Writing meme: 7, 10, 11 (Even the Littlest Monsters), 12 (V)

7. what books have shaped the way you think about writing the most? why?

Ooooh. Tricky. For Monsters, it is actually more difficult to pinpoint than if just in general (although even in general is lolololol hard to nail down).

In the past, a lot of my old fanfic (FFXII, DA:O and DA2 especially) were written as long-format writing exercises that were PURPOSEFULLY exploring and reacting to specific authors' styles. One FFXII WIP that I never finished was very much a cross-over with Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. A set of interconnected FFXII WIP was a mashup of a few different authors' collection of works (poetry and prose fiction). Ondaatje. McEwan, Prouxl, Sa... and probably a few others. A DAO story that I started by never finished was a purposeful 1:1 replacement that erased all of the Joss-esque writing from DG's Alistair and replaced it with the voice of a Murakami-esque disaffected(tm) male protagonist.

Monsters, on the other hand, is really just a big patchwork of my own memories superimposed onto the crazypants that is FFVII canon cross pollinated with historical research and current events. So much of it is (very subtly) influenced by a million little real life memories tucked away in nearly forgotten corners of my brain that just come to light when my brain makes a sudden connection between some interesting little gap in FFVII's canon/characterizations and something it reminds me of that does far more than merely fill in the gap. For instance, Lucrecia is literally a composite of a half dozen real-life people. Same for Vincent.

But is Monsters influenced by ANYTHING that I have read since 2017??? Hard to say. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do with Yuffie (as a late teen and slightly older) and ended up reading a lot of really good, excellently-voiced fanfic for ideas.

I am sure that various fiction from the past has influenced my writing since 2017 and is subtly coloring the feel of Monsters but, to be honest, I cannot think of a single book that has had any real influence on it. Go figure?

10. which patterns keep popping up in your projects/characters?

Complexity, complex interpersonal relationships, complex motivations, lots of waffling due to the character feeling torn between choices, bad decisions, regrets, not knowing how to handle those regrets, shitty situations, etc.: complexity. This is really the summary of Monsters. Bad decisions, rash "decisions," bad assumptions, bad at life, impulsive characters vs fence sitters. Professional, interpersonal, and relationship trainwrecks galore.

That pattern comes up a lot in my prior fiction: just putting that magnifying glass up close while slloooowwwwwing down time to dwell on the moments that surround epic stupidity and all of the cringe/pain/discomfort/oh-god-no/wtf???!/why?/facepalm that it brings. Or, you know, people just being people. Painfully. ;)

Another pattern in Monsters that has popped up before is how The Big Faceless Machine of Societal Power grinds you down. Even though FFVII is a fantastic world that sort of mirrors our modern world except for it being far too fantastical, Monsters is all about the faceless machine of the corporate-academic-military complex so, thematically, it is actually very modern and real world: the neoliberalization of academia, the military takeover of STEM research. etc etc. And this really just echoes the same sort of themes Bring Ground To Bits by The Big Faceless Machine that drove some of my FFXII and DA fic but re-cast in a more fantasy-world light.

Much like an FFXII-postcanon epic (that I have put on hold forever), one portion -- perhaps the main story, idk? -- of Monsters can be viewed as the five stages of grief, so to speak, that a character goes through after that character REALIZES how they have been ground into dust by the Big Faceless Machine.

11. give three songs or images that fit [Monsters].

Three? Ahahaha. Whereas I couldn't think of a single book that inspires or shapes my thinking for Monsters, I have an entire SOUNDTRACK that has inspired so many key scenes in Monsters. Lol. This happened because I thought about Monsters while doing other things (work-related in the arts, but without a keyboard at hand) while listening to music for ideas. Music became my prompts and my memory device for scenes. I could re-listen to the same song over many different days and re-envision the scene in my head (like a movie) but with more and more detail each time. I literally spent most afternoons just raiding streaming services for EVERYTHING that was big in the late 1960s through the 1970s, and then big again in the 1990s, and just waited for ideas to strike.

For instance:

Blondie, Dreaming -- a set of scenes during graduate school in which Lucrecia was trying to start an affair with Grimoire, HER PHD ADVISOR who is also Vincent's father.

Bowie, Aladdin Sane -- the song LITERALLY appears in the scene, while Vincent is living in the Shinra Mansion (as a project and facilities manager/security person) where Lucrecia, Hojo, and others are working on their top secret science-disaster. He is drunk, angry, and playing the piano part of this song on the canonical piano in that building, and has an epic run in with Hojo before and after all of this. ;)

The Beatles, the second side of the album Abbey Road -- Vincent's experiences when first signing on as a Shinra employee.

...and the list goes on and on and on. ;)

12. give three songs or images that fit [V- presumably CP2077?!].

No songs as of yet. But images? Hm! A quick-image search for a proto-moodboard --- here's five!

[aria-i-adagio]

For the fic ask game: 1, 5 and one of your choice!

Thank you, thank you!

1: Is writing cathartic or stressful for you?

Cathartic, absolutely cathartic. It’s probably my main form of therapy. This might also explain why mental illness is such a theme in my fics. I am the High Priestess of angst.

5: Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

Hawke’s not sure when he started to think of the motley collection of apprentices and young enchanters who volunteered for close combat training as “his mages.” He’s damned proud of them though. He’s stripped down to his undershirt, sweating in the late morning heat, and watching his mages put some of Ferelden’s not-so-finest through their paces. Literally. The mages would be able to make a go of it in a battle, so he’d changed the goal to getting the soldiers Anora had sent to work with them as a group. Currently, the soldiers are tripping over their own feet as they try to adjust to being hit with a haste spell.

It is disconcerting to suddenly be going faster than full speed. He supposes. It had been a game with Carver and Bethany when he was little, so he’s not quite sure how to explain how he manages the shift.

He calls a halt, and the soldiers skid to a stop, grabbing their canteens and gulping water. Hawke stretches his legs and arms. Time to figure out what he actually does.

“Anneka -” He points to one of the mages. “Hit me when I get about fifty feet out. Okay?”

The brunette mage smiles revealing crooked teeth. She’s developed a scattering of freckles across her nose from being out in the sun instead of locked up in a tower. And her family lives in the area, which makes her one of his most motivated students, even if only a single sister had consented to see her.

Hawke sprints out along the course he set up the previous day, waiting for Anneka to cast the spell and letting his muscle memory take over. He hears a faint sizzle in the air right before he feels the magic hit him and his next step is closer to a leap that lands him back on the ground right as the spell takes effect. That’s it then, leaning into the magic rather than trying to control the pace.

He clears the hurdles he set up for the soldiers with ease and unnecessarily leaps to grab a high bar letting the momentum swing him around it and turning a flip in the air before landing back on his feet. Not as graceful of a landing as he would have liked - he catches his heel and skids back a bit - but nothing twinges in his ankles or knees. A turned ankle would be embarrassing. And Anders might just kill him for injuring himself while showing off.

(My Choice!) 8: How do you develop your OCs? (below the cut)

For the Dragon Age fics, my Trevelyan’s personality comes more from the gameplay. Rhys’s hyperactive, distractible nature and interest in botany is the outgrowth of when I figured out how to effectively jump, became very delighted, and spent an inordinate amount of time collecting every damn resource I could find. Then, the question “how the hell does elfroot grow in all these climates?” popped into my head, and the side of him that is a very nerdy botanist developed. I know just enough plant science to fake being knowledgeable (thanks, sis!), and I have a tendency to talk people’s ears off about subjects I’m really interested in and then immediately panic that I’m bothering them, so he got those traits from me.

Regarding my Hawke, Adrian’s character is more of an introjection from the outside. I used DA2 as an escape while my uncle (my father-figure since my dad died when I was a young teen). The themes of grief, loss, and trauma resonated, shall we say. Regarding Elfroot, I also spent several years living in places that were very different from where I grew up and then moved back home. (I am a farmer’s kid.) There’s a certain piquant sense of not being quite ‘at home’ anywhere that informs aspects of his personality. Adrian, however, is far more badass than I am and significantly more even-keeled. There’s probably more of "me" in my version of Anders than there is in Adrian.

Jeanne, however, just appeared and demanded my attention. She is my darling and my baby, and I’m excited to write more with her.

In the Arcana fic, Dema is basically the unmedicated version of me who stayed in California. And I totally *wasn’t* working through any shit with her. Nope. None.

[vigilskeep]

All your ocs are so fantastic im obessed! Youre especially good at mapping thematic flaws to balance you characters & make them compelling. Do you have any tips for creating multidimensional characters?

omg thank u!!! um some tips or at least some explanation of what i do. this is going to be pretty specific to making da ocs

1. don’t be afraid to give them a trait or have them make a choice that might make them controversial or unlikeable! i generally start with one or two strong character moves and that’s what i work back from to create the character. for my main warden, it was that she started out fairly loyal to the circle, she would eventually become a blood mage, and she would spare loghain. decisions like that avoid making a forgettable character just the same as everyone else’s, and figuring out sympathetic and realistic reasons for why characters would make those decisions usually turns up something super compelling

2. when you’re playing a quest or making a decision, think less abt what you would do or what’s objectively best and instead think: what’s my character’s frame of reference for this situation? your character’s background gives them a library of experiences to use to understand new situations. for a quick and simple example, my hawke’s entire raison d’être is protecting his family, especially his sister. so when npcs act in defence of their sisters—for example the elven brothers who defect to the qun at the end of act 2 to escape justice for taking revenge on their sister’s behalf, or the blood mage who tries to hunt the serial killer quentin because he killed his sister—he immediately relates and is 10x more likely to be on their side. equally, when he thinks characters haven’t fulfilled their responsibility to protect their family, especially mages in their family, he takes a particular and personal dislike to them. it’s the easiest way to make your character’s reactions and decisions feel very personal and character-building, and avoid quests feeling flat and unrelated to your character’s journey. and the games will actively try to give you these opportunities; there’s a reason i can think of a bunch of quests where sisters come up just off the top of my head

3. as an addition to the last point, try to work with what you’ve got and pick out some of the main themes of the game to centre your character’s main conflicts on. that way everything that happens is going to be about your character

4. pick at least one companion for them to not get along with, or at least have a da2 style grudgingly respectful rivalry with. unless it’s a distinct character trait of your protagonist to try very hard to get along with everybody—and that can work, especially if it’s sometimes a character flaw that they’re so willing to compromise and mediate—having opinions and disagreements humanises them. after all, there are no companions who get along with everybody or are universally liked and that’s on purpose: it makes them realistic. why should your protagonist be any different?

5. this is a pretty standardised writing tip these days but i can’t go without mentioning it. a well written character does not have one pile of good traits and one pile of bad traits to counter. a well written character has traits, which are good in some situations and bad in others. hmm what are some da examples that are easy to pin down. fenris and morrigan are wary: it has helped them survive years of being hunted in their lives as very visible outsiders, but it also keeps them from putting down roots and connecting to others, encourages their prejudices, and makes them dismiss as fools those who seem more trusting. velanna and leliana are defensive: it makes them fierce advocates of their beliefs and prevents them sacrificing who they are to get along with others, but it also means they are quick to judge, overreact to criticism, and are easy to rile up and make fun of. loghain and first enchanter irving are pragmatic: it makes them great tactical leaders, but also makes them willing to sacrifice principles and people. none of these are inherently bad qualities, it’s just part of who people are, and only circumstances—as well perhaps as their ability to recognise their own limitations—will determine whether or not it turns out well in a given situation

6. use this sparingly to make it work properly, but people aren’t completely cohesive and clear, and major out of character decisions—and what would push them to do something so out of character—can be as defining as their usual behaviour. for example, my warden begins her story as a circle mage generally compliant with/an apologist for the circle, deeply loyal to irving. the fact that despite this she loves jowan enough to still not betray him is one of the cornerstones of her character

7. if nobody could have a completely fair evidence-based reason to actively dislike your character then you probably need to go back to the drawing board

this got way longer than i thought it would. anyway that’s my process none of it is universally required but i hope it’s a helpful start. thanks for asking!

[msbarrows]

So about 7-ish years ago I did a post showing all the characters I had on Arkenstone server at that time (all 15 of them). Some server merges, new classes, and new races later, I’m currently up 33 of them on Arkenstone. Lengthy descriptions under the cut.

These include:

Beornings: Dynari - yes, just the one. I’ve never really gotten enough into this class to make a second (I think I maybe rolled one on one of my other servers, but that was one of a number of characters that wasn’t worth having to buy more character slots to transfer over when the merges happened)

Burglars: Abaninh, Bilba, and Magpye. Magpye was my original main character pre-Moria, and is still one of my higher level characters. Bilba was made because of a female Bilbo story @pibroch was writing, and still gets occasional play. Abaninh was created because female dwarves with correct pronouns AT LAST (I happily spent around a month fishing daily just to get her the Lady of Streams title). These days she mostly stands around looking pretty in the Bree craft hall, holding extra LIs for my level 100+ characters to use as melters.

Captains: Jerabor, Merrimor, and Miffy. I’ve had Miffy for ages, she’s one of my scholars, is one of my higher level characters, and still gets played fairy regularly. Merrimor and Jerabor are rarely played low level alts.

Champions: Greyscale, Helara, and Orri. Orri is the high level and still played a lot character in that bunch; he just recently made it to 100 and his embued LIs. Greyscale was made as a themed character - all his gear, mounts, and pets have a white-greys-blacks theme. Being a champ, he’s fun to play, and while currently languishing somewhere in his 30s, will probably see more leveling eventually. Helara is because I wanted a high elf champ, though she gets very little play because she and Greyscale are too close in levels atm.

Guardians: Boxe, Parrs, and Sofew. Sofew is one of my original characters but OMFG guardians are a PITA to level; they’re durable, but very low DPS, so sure they can take damage forever, but they pretty much need to when soloing since that’s approximately how long it takes them to kill anything anywhere near their level. There’s only two reasons she’s made it to high levels: the free Aria of the Valar from a preorder, and then wanting 10 more levels so she could get the goat mount from Erebor. Boxe was made specifically as a mule to hold and process ore, and all his levelling comes strictly from that (which has him in his high 30s, amusingly enough). Parrs was briefly played and is now a rep-clickie mule.

Lore-Masters: Feynriel, Leafwyn, and Yorista. Leafwyn is another original and high level character, and my main cook (like most crafting classes, I have several). Feynriel is based on the NPC of that name from DA2 and doesn’t get played much any more. Yorista I go on and off playing.

Minstrels: Elalhael and Nowt. Nowt is currently stalled because he’s getting less fun to solo the higher he gets; has his Rohan warsteed and might get as far as embued weapons, but unlikely to progress any further. Elalhael has been a scholar mule for years.

Rune-Keepers: Arimyn and Faragh. Faragh started off on a different server and is pretty much just a jeweller mule these days. Arimyn has been stalled at just pre-Moria for years (she at least quested her starter LIs before stalling). At some point I’ll get back around to her, because lightning from your fingertips, yo.

Hunters: My second favourite class, with Ceil, Gynn, Iztariani, Knarlie, Sebris, and Tisane. Iztariani I’ve had since pre-Moria and is currently kicking around the northern kingdoms. Ceil was levelling for a while because hunters are fun, but has stalled out in Isengard content because I feel more like levelling Knarlie, who is currently catching up fast (he’s into Lothlorien and later Moria, and should be hitting Mirkwood soonish). Gynn is my AH mule, Sebris is another jeweller mule, and Tisane is just resting on her laurels until I feel like doing more 30s/40s content on a hunter again.

Wardens: My one true class. I adore playing wardens. I used to have more, before the server merge, and still have one lingering on Landroval. These are Gnormen (sometimes scholar mule, sometimes adventurer), Kivrin (semi-retired in Enedwaith), Pantree (food mule and wearer of silly cosmetics), Rothruin (high elf, rarely played), Somany (main and highest level character, currently napping near Minas Morgul), Teasle (semi-retirned in early Rohan), and Vvardyn (rarely played alt).

[viviae]

can you like. tell me a little about dragon age. seeing your posts about it has got me interested in playing but i have little to no clue what it actually is

Boy can I explain nonny <3 This is a bit long so strap in and im sorry

Dragon Age is (currently) a three game series composed of Dragon Age: Origins (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), Dragon Age: II (PS3, Xbox 360/Xbox One, PC), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4, Xbox One, PC) and its really unique because of its selling point that your actions impact the games as you progress. Like if you kill one character in one game they’ll stay dead through the rest of the series which makes you feel lived in the story and that your actions matter. Dragon Age is also an RPG so a roleplaying game kind of along the same lines of DnD where you get to make and play your own character. And yes there are romances and you can be gay.

The First Game of the series is Dragon Age: Origins where you choose from a selection of six unique (technically seven) origins or backgrounds for your character. You can be anywhere from a human noble or a Dalish elf, the unique elven culture in Dragon Age of nomadic clans dedicating to reclaiming their past. But eventually, from the events in your origin, you wind up a member of a secretive and elite order known as the Grey Wardens whose duty is to protect the world from the Blight.

The Blight is this spread of a horrible disease known as the Taint but is characterized by the presence of Darkspawn, a kind of zombie like creature who exists only to destroy the world. Grey Wardens take the heavy duty of protecting the world from the Blight, which have nearly wiped all of humanity multiple times, at all costs. And currently the country of Ferelden is under going a blight and due to events you wind up the only Grey Warden with your companion Alistair to save the world and reunite Ferelden which had fallen under a civil war.

Along Origins you meet many interesting characters. Alistair is your friendly co-warden who has a mysterious parentage that he hides under his happy go lucky attitude. In contrast to Alistair is the witch Morrigan who is your favorite goth swamp queen who would insult you and you thank her. In addition you meet your chaotic bi rogues Zevran and Leliana. Leliana is a nun who is on the run and hiding from a dark past and she is suspiciously good at murder. And Zevran is not at all hiding his aptitude for murder as an Assassin for hire who tried and failed to kill you but who can ignore that charming bastard?

Dragon Age II follows a much smaller story of a Ferelden refuge who had escaped from the Blight to the city of Kirkwall named Hawke. Unlike in origins where you get to pick your background 2 limits you to Hawke but fear not, Hawke is a loveable bastard and you can still customize them. Throughout DA2 you get to experience all the delights Kirkwall has to offer: Demons, crime, corrupt cops, and fighting your way to survive in this city and make a name for yourself.

Where Origins sets the stage for the world DA2 you are the actor in that play - literally the game is divided into 3 acts that take place over a span of 7 years. DA2′s main conflict is the argument of Mages vs Templars, as in DA’s lore while there are those who are born with magic they are forced to live in prisons policed by the Templar order and the church. You explore the more political arguments of; are the Templars right in their fears of magic as Kirkwall is filled to the brim with corrupt mages or do Mages deserve the chance to live and prove themselves freely from their prisons.

Your romancable companions in DA2 are all bisexuals as the true theme of DA2 is: be gay do crime. You have the foils of Anders: the runaway mage who fled from the prisons the mages are housed in and is determined to bring mages to freedom, and Fenris: the runaway escaped slave who curses magic for only inflicting pain and suffering in his life and wants his warnings to be heard about the dangers magic bring. In addition you also have Merrill, your cute but terrifying Dalish mage who would probably murder you with a cute smile and then go oops. And of course, my pirate wife Isabela, who lives a life free from commitment and is dedicated to the idea everyone should have a good time no matter the cost. Also while not romancable Hawke’s bff Varric deserves every ounce of praise he gets as never before has the energy of “two idiots sharing a braincell” ever been so well adapted.

Then finally we reach Inquisition. After the events of DA2 it triggers a full on war between the Mages and Templars that is destroying the land and causing severe damage that neither side can handle anymore. Desperate for an end to the conflict the Divine (err... fantasy pope) calls for a meeting on both sides... only for the entire thing to literally explode. Killing everyone present and causing a hole in the sky which now means demons are raining like cats and dogs you are the only one to survive. In Inquisition you can once again return to pick between unique backgrounds like in Origins but you don’t get to play through those backgrounds sadly.

You now possess something on your left hand which gives you the ability to patch up the hole in the sky that is pissing demons and due to being the only survivor everyone is incredibly confused about you. Eventually the Inquisition is formed around you, the character they are calling the Herald of Andraste (Andraste is fantasy Jesus) due to your ability to seal the holes. The mystery unfolds as over the course of the game you learn what caused the explosion, how you are connected, and what exactly the mark on your hand is.

DAI has the largest numbers of romance options so I’m gonna give a quick bullet point list for them all

Iron Bull (Pansexual, All Races): A Qunari (think Tiefling but big and beefy) mercenary who is far more clever than he lets on, as well as being the rope top dom of your dreams. Literally! Bull’s romance is a really healthy bdsm relationship if you are interested its very well done

Josephine (Bisexual, All Races): Your loveable ambassador and advisor for the inquisition. She is a workaholic noble who is a tried and true classic romance. Sweep her off her feet and duel for her hand all while navigating the nobility

Dorian (Gay, All Races): The flamboyant pariah rock star mage, he demands attention whenever he walks into the room. Although he wants to be all talk and no emotions make no mistake he is making puppy eyes at you the entire time and gets deeply offended if you say he is. Also not going to lie Dorian is the best piece of gay male rep in gaming history.

Cassandra (Male-only, all Races): Your stern warrior wife who is all serious no funny business... expect she is a bleeding heart romantic who reads horrible smut for fun. You wish to COURT HER?? I mean... if you want 👉👈 she won’t say no...

Blackwall (Female-only, All Races): Your weird dilf who wants desperately to prove himself every step of the way and help people. He is a constable for the Grey Wardens, but all the details on him seem murky... Ah well I’m sure its nothing, the Grey Wardens are a secretive order after all.

Sera (Lesbian, All Races): My wild child, monster chugging, beer guzzling, arrow shooting lesbian. Sera is here for a fun time and not a serious one, she’ll always make sure to keep you humble and ensure you aren’t getting to big for your breeches. 

Cullen (Female-Only, Human and Elf only): Cullen’s the Inquisition’s commander who oohh boy is steeped in a lot of trauma. Cullen’s actually a character you get to know through out the series and see just all the horrible nonsense he’s been through. But he is your tragic self loathing... he isn’t princely but he is your adorkable charming

Solas (Female-Only, Elf Only): The humble apostate who joins the Inquisition out of curiosity of the breech, he is an expert on what the hell is going on with that hole in the sky. However, he holds a wisdom that goes far deeper than your typical apostate. Smooth talking and refined he carries a heavy cloud over him.

I left out a lot and all the nonsense with books and what have you but this is the easiest overview of the series I can offer. It’s main selling points is the deep story and characters throughout the games. And of course who doesn’t love the ability to make and roleplay your own character as a bonus? The games are bit of a flawed gem and Origins in my ugly child but they are truly a delight if you are interested

[s1ithers]

been having a look at the 50k-odd words i got into the longfic in 2017-18, and it is... hm. bad. which is disheartening but not unexpected & its problems are pretty readily identifiable. setting aside the general badness of my not being a v practiced writer since avowedly the only way out of that is through, lack of focus is the big one. never succeeded in/was always reluctant to narrow it down from its initial concept of Every Single Thought & Complaint I Had About DA2 All Thrown In A Bucket, which ofc also explains what an absolute tooth-pulling pain of a time i had writing it.

so. step 1, figure out what the longfic is For, and what can be spun off into oneshots (/explorations, /practice regimen). DA-related WIPs & notes tend to sort into a few main channels—

A) story of kirkwall. fleshing out all the interesting little bits of premise the game drops. dynamics b/w the mercenary companies. labor history @ the bone pit. mage underground. orlesian control of the shipping lanes via kirkwall puppet govt vs the raiders “planning something big.” acts II & III as chess match, hawke builds her base, plays high stakes political chicken with meredith over bethany. asioaf-style intrigue drama dunked in spooky haunted bullshit. involves the most planning & research, most like Writing a Fucking Novel. daunting.

B) project a bunch of shit onto the boy & write lugubrious hurt/comfort about it. if we’re spinning anything off into oneshots, it’s this one, right :/

C) anders’ story as hero’s journey (u can slot him into the monomyth framework surprisingly well, for what that’s worth). anders as the hero of DA2, POV recentered on him, the merger, meaning of justice. the love story falls mostly under this--hawke who is not a hero in motivation & only incidentally one in actions, falling in love with justice figuratively & literally. answer to game’s posing hawke as a hero who fails. this one has the dubious benefit of actually engaging with themes of the source text. lol.

D) write a bunch of swordfights? swordfights are fun? actually this is the Ludonarrative Dissonance Problem category where we interrogate hawke’s and anders’ respective body counts, isn’t it.

how to parse all/any of that into plot was always the sticking point. spring is here tho & for whatever reason, the sun coming back out always makes me want to haul this thing out and gnaw at it some more.

[gothamcityneedsme]

I saw this bouncing around my dash and decided to fill it out myself for fun :)  I decided to not double-list any games, and I tried to mix up the companies I used too so that the list would be more unique.

Long post, so I’m doing a readmore for my longwinded part lol.

(read more)

Favorite Game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords - I could talk about this game forever.  How it tears apart the Star Wars universe from within, how it creates a compelling story while challenging the usual themes, etc.  I could talk for ages about the characters and how their motivations slot in place, and how this game lends itself to interpretation and analysis alongside roleplay.  It’s just a wonderful game, one I deeply love and will always love.  It’s a game that isn’t afraid to have you talk to other characters for twenty or thirty minutes at a time and honestly I’m always riveted at every line.  This game deserves the cult fanbase it has, but I think there’s a lot the fanbase misses in appreciating this game.  (Note...gameplay is a little janky and a community made mod restores a lot content that was cut before shipping-the game wasn’t properly finished).

Best Story:  Fallout New Vegas - It’s the setting that makes the story here, and all the moving pieces and factions alongside the main conflict really make this game stand out.  There’s so many little pieces to find along the way in the world and the way the main quest splits based on who you want in power feels important--and you are choosing a future for this whole region.

Favorite Art Style: The Witness - This game is peacefully wonderful with its visuals.  There are wonderful nature scenes and nests of wires and panels spreading in various parts of the island that are fascinating to look at.  The environment is half of the gameplay in most areas, so it’s important to look around even though exploration is not really the gameplay.  You find puzzles in the world, even in nature, and it’s fascinating.  The colors are bright and beautiful.  There is even a map in the middle of the island inside of a lake that helps you track your progress if you notice it (it isn’t like a normal ‘map’).

Favorite Soundtrack: Shin Megami Tensei IV - I love video game soundtracks, but SMTIV is something special.  The music booms in ways that make you really understand the atmosphere of the world, and there’s a great mix of different kinds of tracks for different places.  I love the tracks for the other worlds you enter, and the themes of the different routes are done so well.  Some of the music draws from past SMT games, but the remixes done for this game really are stunning to me, and there’s so many fantastic original tracks.

Hardest Game: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - I love this game but I literally never touch it without a walkthrough, which is why it gets to be the hardest game on the list, despite being a point and click adventure game lol.  Also just emotionally this game is challenging too, but I definitely mean this more in terms of getting a ‘perfect run’.

Funniest Game: The Stanley Parable - Trying to make this list has taught me that I don’t really play many ‘funny games’.  I don’t know if a game where multiple endings demand that you kill yourself should count as a ‘funniest game’, but it is also a game where the narrator tells you to stare at a fern and memorize its features, so....it counts.

Game I Like that is Hated: RWBY Grimm Eclipse - I’ve been playing this game since it was in early access and have loved it the whole time.  I find the gameplay soothing and fun, and I like playing the different characters.  It’s a game I play to chill out and just enjoy some fun battle mechanics.  It’s a fun game and I’ve spent over 100 hours in it, so I hope I like it, lol.

Game I Hate that is Liked:  Nier Automata - Neither this game’s gameplay or story impress me, and the fact that you have to replay basically the same stuff from a more boring-to-play-character’s pov in order to SEE all of the plot is a huge damper on the experience.  The story, to me, someone who engages with a lot of robot-focused fiction, is far from impressive or new, and it hardly engages with genre specifics at all, let alone in a new or interesting way.  I view this game as ‘a story with robots in it’ rather than ‘a story about robots’, which, to me, is a detriment.

Underrated: Nevermind - This game is amazing and very unheard of--and when it is heard of, it has been marketed incorrectly.  Nevermind seems like a horror game, and does market itself as one a bit, but it’s much more than that.  It’s more about trauma, recovery, therapy, etc.  This is a game that is so mindful about the topics it engages in that I am impressed by it every time.  It’s heavy with symbolism and character, despite lacking conversations or other similar game mechanics.  This is a lovely game that I really wish more people knew about-`p5-all of the patients are so interesting, and the focus on recovery and mental health is impressive.

Overrated:  Fire Emblem - I sort of mean this as the series as a whole really.  I have enjoyed the entries I have played somewhat, but I overall consider the series much less impressive than I was led to believe by others.  The gameplay especially is not impressive to me in any regard, even though I sometimes do find myself enjoying it.  The stories are alright, but many of them are weighed down by the gameplay and as a writer and person who likes to analyze writing, it’s very hard to do so when it isn’t able to fully exist under the chains the gameplay forces on it.  There are ways to mix gameplay and story well, Fire Emblem has not really done that in any of the entries I’ve played.  That being said, I don’t regret playing them, and I will occasionally replay, but I consider them mediocre games at best.

Best Voice Acting: Devil Survivor 2 - I love the voice acting in this game.  I feel like all the characters are really suited to their voices, and it’s really easy for me to visualize their voices.  They really bring the game to life and make both the dramatic and the funny scenes more enjoyable.

Worst Voice Acting: Jedi Knight Jedi Academy - I love this game, I really do, but some of the voice acting is janky.  Some of it is okay too--I think Kyle Katarn’s voice actor does fine, and some of the others I like NOW but hated when I was a kid, but the male protagonist voice in this game is just awful.  Which is bad when Jennifer Hale is the female voice actress lol.  His performance is passable though unless you’re playing darksided--the darksided ending to the game lacks all punch when you’re playing the male protagonist.

Favorite Male:  Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni - He’s the protagonist for most of the visual novels and I adore him utterly, especially once you move past episode 2.  He’s a wonderful character who I care about deeply.  I love his drive and how he fights--he’s someone who is easy to cheer for.  He matures well throughout the series and his character development is just wonderful.

Favorite Female:  Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 - I really like how Naoto fits so well in the game, especially for being a final recruit--oftentimes the final recruit of Persona games (post 3) have a bit of a more difficult time feeling right with the group.  Naoto works really well though, and I love her struggles and story as well.  I think the difficulties she has concerning living as a woman in her field hit very deep to a problem that has existed for a very long time.

Favorite Protagonist: Connor of Daventry from King’s Quest 8 Mask of Eternity - I’m like, one of four fans of this character in the world, lol.  KQ8 is not a very well liked game and it does have a lot of issues, both with age and with how much of a departure it is from the series prior to it.  It’s strange to take a puzzle adventure game and make it a hybrid with what basically is a shooter, and it doesn’t really work.  Add to that the fact that you spend most of your time in the game without anyone around to talk to and it leads to this really polarizing and weird experience.  For me, Conner goes through what I would consider to be the ‘Ultimate Nightmare Scenario”.  Everyone in the world is turned to stone except him (and he survived out of mere chance) and so now it’s up to him, practically alone, to save the entire world.  There is no game lonelier than this.  I adore him for his bravery in the face of it, and how he just picks up to do what must be done because someone should do it, and if no one else can, then he will.  I also really love how he apologizes to people who are encased in stone while he takes money from their houses to help him on his journey.  I really do think he went back after the game was over and gave everyone heaps of gold to pay them back with interest lol.

Favorite Village:  Oakvale from Fable - The first Fable is the only one I really like, and it was one of the games I played when I was little, so the hometown in the game always meant a lot to me.  I like how you grow up there and how your tragic backstory is there--and then how you get to return to the town years later after you’ve come into your own, and you can see it completely rebuilt.  I like to spend a lot of my time in this town, just wandering around it and playing the minigames.  Even though I have a house in every town, Oakvale is where my hero calls home.

Most Hated Character:  Merril from Dragon Age 2 - I don’t really want to lay into how I feel about Merril, but what I will say is that it was suggested to me that I totally ignore her when playing, and I did so.  I only met her for her quest, dropped her off in town, and literally never spoke to her or interacted for the rest of the game.  I had a much better experience for it, honestly.  She appeared after I made my choice in the end of the game, which felt weird since I hadn’t spoken to her in several ingame years, but other than that, the game was totally fine without her.  I sort of just wish you could kill characters in DA2 the way you can in DAO, then I’d just do that, tbh.  It doesn’t suit very many (or any) of the characters I rp in DA2 to keep her around or support her in any way.

First Game I Played: Mixed up Mother Goose Deluxe - I’m not actually sure if this is the FIRST game I’ve ever played or not, but it’s one of the first I played alone as a kid.  I really loved it--this is probably what created my love for point and click adventures, and the game was very silly and fun.

Favorite Company: Bioware - I’ve always been a sucker for Bioware games, ever since Knights of the Old Republic 1 was my favorite childhood game.  I love how they do stories and party members, and while I’m not a fan of all of their games, I really love what they’ve made and their style of storytelling and character driven plot.  Even though sometimes their stories get cliche, I think the suit video games well and most of my early gaming was within their games.

Hated Company: EA - Bioware truly only started to go to shit after the EA acquisition, so I fucking hate EA.   I know Bioware had issues before EA too, but I definitely don’t think EA has helped the situation whatsoever.

Depressing Game: The Beginner’s Guide - I relate to this game as a creator and a writer, and it affects me deeply because of the story it tells and the questions it raises.  It makes me reflect on how I think of myself as a creator, and it reminds me of friendships I used to have.

Creepy Game:  The Path - God, I love this game.  It’s just aimlessly wandering around and finding symbolic scenery and watching your current character comment on it.  Then, you go off to find your girl’s wolf, and each one is different and unique to her, and you watch it ‘kill’ her--and facing her wolf is the only way each girl can truly mature.  Whenever you get to grandmother’s house, the camera switches to first person, and your eyes keep closing, so you can only see while clicking to move.  It forces you to keep moving so that you can see, but since you are moving, you only get to see things somewhat vaguely.  It’s got a great atmosphere, and I love the symbolic storytelling.

Happy Game: Eastshade - This game is so sweet.  There’s some drama around to with many of the quests, but I like this as an rpg without combat, and I think this would be a really good kids game.  There’s a lot to see and explore, and the game was made to be really pretty so that you want to paint several aspects of it.  It’s really lovely to just wander around in this game and bike around the area, painting anything that suits your fancy.  As long as you don’t finish the main quest, you’re free to wander, and materials do respawn, so you essentially can infinitely paint once you get far enough.

Favorite Ending: Virtue’s Last Reward - I love the questions this game asks and where the ending goes.  It thematically ties together--the whole reason the game itself exists is to get the attention of a ‘higher being’--the player, essentially.  I love how it plays with that concept, and even though the final game in the series doesn’t entirely pick this idea up where this game left it, standalone this game is stunning in how it comes together.