This is not the abyss. I live here.

Join the Dark Side, we have coffee! And some pansexuality. And bad English (but I'm working on it).

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

So, there's something that bugs me with a lot of "I hate Elthina, she had the power to stop Meredith" confessions that I've seen, and I feel like a lot of people missed some very important information from the codex (specifically History of Kirkwall: Chapter 4).

Meredith controls Kirkwall with the blessing of the Divine. She has Kirkwall by the balls and Elthina's boss backing her up every step of the way. The Viscount before Dumar -- Perrin Threnhold -- started levying heavy taxes on Orlesian traders and wouldn't let them dock unless they paid a huge fee. The Orlesians complained to their Orlesian Divine, and she then used the Templars as her personal thugs to try and convince Threnhold to knock it off. Threnhold then decided to arrest the Knight-Commander and execute him. Meredith, who was Knight-Captain at this point, then took her Templars and stormed the Keep, taking the throne. She gave Dumar the pointy crown, but it's very clear that Meredith wears the pants. She took over the city once before, with the Divine giving her high fives all the way to Keep.

Beatrix III dies after the Qunari attack the city, putting Justinia on the throne. But by then it's too late, the Viscount's dead and Meredith is no longer even pretending she's not ruling Kirkwall by this point. Elthina does have sway over Meredith, but let's be clear: Elthina is not Meredith's boss. Meredith is a warlord and a loose cannon who only bothers to pay attention to Elthina because she is a devout Andrastian. Elthina has seen one civil war in Kirkwall between the Templars and the people, so she's not keen on getting the Divine into this mess and she's not even sure if this new Divine will be any better than the old one.

Personally, I'm still not a huge fan of Elthina. I'm ambivalent. Character-wise, in any other city she probably would have been a mediocre cleric, very middle-of-the-road, and nothing bad would have happened. But in Kirkwall, this mediocrity just makes her incompetent. Which really isn't her fault. We're can't all be Hawke. But I do feel like she's unfairly judged for a situation she cannot change, with Meredith as a de facto dictator at the head of a military force that is being backed by Elthina's boss and one of the greatest powers in Thedas.

Codex entry: History of Kirkwall: Chapter 4

See also: Kirkwall The Threnhold family assumed its foreboding control of the city at the very onset of the Dragon Age, less than a week aft

[citrusdominicus]

I have to politely disagree because… timeline isn't adding up in your version. Elthina isn't some new cleric with no local ties. She was the one who performed thedas-version-of-baptism on baby Leandra. Leandra, the heiress of Amells (old aristocracy, that were as powerful as viscount's family). So, Elthina was already quite high in hierarchy. Maybe fresh Grand Cleric, maybe few steps before it, but anyway.

She's old. She's here for decades and decades. Image doesn't show it properly, but, judging by "Hawke's age + Leandra's age + time required for making career in the Chantry", during game she moves from her late 70s to late 80s.

She already had power when Meredith just started rising. She probably was the one who connected Meredith to the Chantry higher-ups - Divine doesn't get aquainted with just any eager and ambitious templar (there are too many of them). There are tons of intrigues, schemes and shady shenanigans within Chantry. Basically everyone with some status quickly becomes politician, puppet or corpse. For a puppet Elthina had way too much social influence (even at peak of her power Meredith didn't dare to publicly oppose her). And only unpredictable factor of vengeful apostate turned her into a corpse.

What I'm saying is: "Elthina could've destroyed Meredith decades ago". The Meredith we know happened because of Elthina. We can't properly evaluate how deeply Elthina influenced Meredith, but judging by her brainwashing of Sebastian… I have my doubts. And I see patterns. One day Meredith also was a young woman that lost her family and longed for purpose and safety. Such people are easily mouldable into fanatics. Did Elthina mould her? We don't know. But she surely didn't try to prevent it. Why would she? It was quite useful for her. The more power have templars, the more power has Chantry. The more power has local the Chantry leader - Grand Cleric. And Elthina even gets wonderful publicity by playing a "good cop"! When such luck happens to any political figure, it usually has nothing to do with luck.

I doubt she would've ever been a "mediocre cleric". She's too good at the Game for it. She didn't even need a material mask - you're already tricked by the one she actually wore.

I don't really hate her. No more than Meredith. She's skilled in her line of work, I could respect that. But at the same time I do despise her.

[squirrelwithatophat]

How the Chantry (and Orlais) Turned Kirkwall into a Police State

One aspect of the Dragon Age series that I’ve always found odd is the way in which rather crucial political and historical context surrounding major conflicts the player must decide tends to be relegated to codices, outside materials (e.g., books), and optional dialogue with minor characters… meaning that many if not most players don’t seem to end up actually seeing it.  Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts (Dragon Age Inquisition) in particular has become somewhat notorious for what it left out, but it’s far from unusual.

With regard to Dragon Age II, there’s a popular perception among fans that the troubles in Kirkwall can be attributed almost entirely to rogue behavior on the part of Knight-Commander Meredith and various evil blood mages.  This is understandable given the overall narrative framing and Bioware’s aforementioned problem of making key context very easy to miss.  But once we take a look at the full picture, it ought to be clear that the Chantry did not simply “fail” in their responsibilities towards the mages or towards the citizens of Kirkwall more broadly — they actively created and maintained the very nightmare they later professed to be dismayed about.

Moreover, despite the running Mages vs. Templars theme, the mages were hardly the only one’s who suffered under Meredith’s rule. Indeed, Kirkwall endured a brutal 16-year-long dictatorship (9:21-9:37 Dragon) that came into being courtesy of the Chantry and the Orlesian empire and only fell due to the mage rebellion.

Here I’ll describe in detail (with sources and citations) the story of how the Chantry turned Kirkwall into a police state and one that ultimately descended into what the writers themselves termed “genocide.”  

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[sinnawii]

[hazbinquotes]

Alastor: You need a hobby. Vox: I have a hobby! Alastor:: Hitting Valentino isn't a hobby.

[randomdork-artdump]

Art suggestion:

Vox is arguing with someone who tells him to "lighten up"

Vox: *turns up his screen's brightness 🔆

Lighten up. Get it?

[velvetvices111-deactivated20250]

I find it really funny that the Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss characters that are considered to be the most attractive ones amongst the people of hell are usually, like...realistically, the most unattractive ones.

Like, listen, I don't know about y'all, but if I was new to hell and while on a casual walk down the street I saw any of these three, my first thought would not be "Damn, he thicc." but rather "By the name of all that is holy what the FUCK is that?"

[citrusdominicus]

You're just too used to a human beauty standards. Anyone free-spirited enough will admit how they act, if not how they look (and they look hot too, if you don't mind the aestetic).

Ozzie in Angel just moves in the way that screams "SEX" when they're in a stage mode (Angel's almost non-stop in this mode). +their fashion choices

Fizz doesn't do so, but he has 1000+ boost to sexiness by the fact of sex-dolls existence. Hell inhabitants aren't very nice and mere idea of freedom to do anything with someone so alike to real person, but completely obedient… It's seductive.

For the fucks sake, it's possible to make Valentino sexually attractive (he has plenty of very hot depictions in fanarts) and he's 10 ft. tall moth bald rapist with 4 hands and without nose. Like a pimpish 4-handed Voldemort. He's probably one of the most unattractive demons among known characters. But dress him kinky, choose sexy pose and, voila, instant hotness!

[moxis]

u can’t stop me

[attackfish]

May I get a water-based task of Zuko in the "You had ONE JOB!" AU? Because that seems like it would fit well with Zuko “mastering” each element in a way.

And that would be something that would make Zuko think that capturing the Avatar was in fact a task his father was leading up to, rather than simply the latest in a line of attempts to make him fail.

Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. Azula can barely make herself get out of bed to meet her brother, when he comes home covered in the glory of a new impossible victory. But she has to go, because her father refuses to. He's sulking in his rooms, having his hair done, throwing a tantrum about Zuko succeeding again, failing even at failing. Azula is baffled by him, and yet wishes for all the world she could do the same thing. Of course Zuko succeeded. That's what he does, what he's been doing all along. How their father doesn't notice, how he hasn't cast her aside for not achieving like her brother, she doesn't understand. But she does understand that either she or her father, is mad. Or both. She feels mad, madder by the day.

2. He looks so anxious and eager, happy to be home, and Azula is furious. How dare he not get it? He can conquer Ba Sing Se, tame a dragon, conquer Omashu, and learn to fly, but he can't figure out that Ozai will never be won over? (Please let him never be won over. Please let him never see Zuko's success and Azula's lack of them). She hates him for it.

3. But of course Zuko's presence in the Fire Nation lasts only long enough for Ozai to finish his tantrum. It is, admittedly, a long tantrum, but within the month, Zuko is sent away again, to find the Avatar. Azula can't take to her bed. She has to be Ozai's perfect daughter. She can't let up. Never does any of it let up. And she knows, in a few months, Zuko will be back Avatar in tow. The last thing they need right now.

4. Five is a significant number. And each heir to the Fire Nation throne, and wannabe heirs, like Ozai, have gone hunting the Avatar. As Zuko sets sail, it's easy to think this is it, this is the last task. It's all been building up to this, his father's plans. He will capture the Avatar, put a seal on his father's conquest, and his father will accept him again. Love him. Iroh and Azula each share a similar impulse with regards to this. They both want to hide under the covers and never come out. It also does not escape Zuko's notice that he has learned to fly through the air, conquered two Earth Kingdom cities, and tamed a dragon, first of the firebenders, and that he is now on a ship, sailing the sea. There is a poetry to it, and he can see it. But if he thinks it's his father's intention and not the universe deciding it's time to inflict a fairy tale on the Fire Nation, it's only because he's a character in that fairy tale. And many fairy tales where a ruler gives a series of tasks, all too often, the hero must overthrow the task-giver and take their place.

5. Taking his watery journey as a hint, Zuko sails due south, to the South Pole, where the summer makes the days lasts for months. And sure enough, as they pick their way through the ice, a light shoots through the sky. Iroh listens to his nephew gleefully express the belief that this must be the Avatar, with the terrible certainty that Zuko is in fact right.

[citrusdominicus]

I LOVE this AU xD

[otterbender]

well this got taken off of youtube and im c r y i n g so im going to upload it here because it took way to long to not be seen by the world hope you like it!!! 

korra mv: everybody wants to rule the world by lorde

[miathermopolips]

I want to rewatch Korra every time I see this

[pinkpunkpie]

nobody:

bisexuals sitting:

[neurotypical-karen]

After seeing multiple creators having to publically out themselves or reveal past traumas in order to get fans to stop yelling at them for representing a certain minority/concept in fiction, can yall learn to take a second to consider how your words and actions affect others? Especially in fandom spaces? By demanding that people can only talk about certain issues if they’ve personally been affected by them, you are directly forcing people to reveal their trauma/minority status.

[neurotypical-karen]

This was prompted by fans’ response to the latest episode of a TMA featuring substance abuse, but also remember a few months ago when Jameela Jamil was cast to play a queer woman in an upcoming movie and there was so much backlash that she had to come out as queer? That fucking sucked.

[dinosaurrainbowstarfish]

^^ and the same thing happened with Keiynan Lonsdale from Love, Simon?

[callmearcturus]

#hot take–‘you’re not x so you can’t write x’ is bad praxis#if you can’t find something actually wrong with the actual portrayal#maybe take a step back and ask yourself if perhaps your trauma is getting in the way of you’re enjoyment of the media#which is a totally valid but SEPARATE issue from creators being bigoted  (via @dinosaurrainbowstarfish)

[mindthelspace]

I hate “If you’re not X/haven’t experienced X, you don’t get to write about X.” Partly because of this- it forces people to make their traumas and identities public knowledge- and partly because it honestly seems inclined to shut down empathy. “You haven’t experienced X yourself, so you are dramatically and irrevocably different from people who have, to the point where you’ll never be able to conceptualise X well enough to write about it non-offensively.” 

Sorry, but that’s bullshit. To give an example I’m qualified to give- If a neurotypical person wanted to write about, say, an autistic person facing ableism, and put actual care and thought into it, that’s brilliant. Like, yes, please do this! Please try to understand and relate to us and think about how the world looks to us! Thank you for thinking our stories are worth portraying! 

“You’re neurotypical, therefore you’re Not Allowed to write about an autistic character facing ableism”? Fuck off. That sounds like a good way to discourage people from writing autistic characters, for a start, while also entrenching the (already very prevalent) idea that we’re too other for non-autistic people to comprehend. 

[self-winding]

I wrote a book about an autistic character and was pressured to out myself.  I’ve heard stories of authors being asked invasive personal questions about their sexuality or gender identity by agents who are deciding whether to take on their work.

The whole #ownvoices thing started as just a way to draw attention to existing marginalized authors, but once it became a trend and a “selling point” it really started to become harmful to those same authors.

To some degree, the identity of the author has always been treated as a commodity or a marketing tool in the publishing industry.  But it’s gotten worse in recent years.  And it’s hard to know how to fight it.  I want a world where stories are judged on their own merits and not by which identity boxes the author can check, but it’s harder to create a viral hashtag campaign around that idea.

[shirecorn]

How I Study Anatomy

Everyone says NEVER TRACE!! THAT'S ART THEFT! Ok but we can do a little crime in the name of Learning.

Trace to learn, not to earn.

I like to take my own photos, but you can study whatever you want. Link back to original photos, and don't post copied artwork unless the artist is dead, cool with it, or both.

As always with learning, start every sketch with the intent to throw it away (trash for paper, quitting without saving for digital) This takes the pressure off and lets you make Bad Art, which is very important.

So let's make Bad Art of a Deer because I happen to have one handy

Start with a photo of your subject in a nice/neutral pose with all four feet visible. (so not like me)

Freehand copy it. Try not to stylize, focusing instead of matching proportions and pose. Don't get too detailed!

It's ok if your art looks terrible and has broken legs. I've drawn LOTS of deer so I have a leg up. Everyone's art sucks in their own eyes and here's where mine went wrong:

Either lasso-distort (recommended for beginners) or redraw a copy of your first sketch with your reference behind it (scaled to match the main body of your sketch)

Put the original and modified sketches together and compare the differences. Write it down if you want. This shows you where your eyes saw things the wrong size, so you can correct for that next time.

After learning about both deer and yourself, try freehand copying again.

Marvel at your newfound knowledge and skill!

but there's always room for improvement

You can stop here and move on to your real drawing, Or do another freehand-fix-compare cycle. I actually overcorrected my "draws heads too big" and veered into "heads too small."

Another note on tracing: Learning HOW to trace is more important than anything you could learn By tracing. Draw the Anatomy, not the outline. In real life, things don't have outlines, they have bones.

These are from the same shoot which is extra useful for consistency. The lines are minimal and follow where the animals joints are, and only important parts are drawn.

You won't know what Important Parts means right off the bat, which is where in-depth study comes in. You need to do learn the hard parts to do the easy parts right.

Next up: how to study bones and muscles.

[shirecorn]

How to study Bones and Muscles

"Study the anatomy study the anatomy" but they never tell you HOW. It's not "read a book," It's more like flailing around wildly and crashing your browser from too many tabs.

This is going to be about How to Make a bones and muscle chart. Because even if your art sucks, you learn so much more by doing than by seeing.

References I gathered: X X X X X X X X

Get Set up. Get a photo, like above, but it doesn't have to be the same photo. And now... gather reference.

We'll start with bones. Search up "[animal] skeleton" and get photos or super scientific illustration. Add in things like "top view" to spice it up.

Next, search "[animal] skeleton sketchfab." This pulls up 3D models that you can rotate in your browser. Remember that these are art and the anatomy is only as good as the artist, so pick a good one.

Time for bone!

The spine is the most important, and in a lot of animals it will surprise you. Draw it in over your photo and then add spikes because skeletons are punk. These are not scientific and I didn't count them because their number doesn't matter to art. So you better be referencing from scientists and not me!

The rest of the bones and some notes. These are my notes to myself about things I want to remember. My personal discoveries in anatomy that made my art better. You can make the same notes but also make sure you have your own thoughts on there as well. that's how you help yourself the best. Be as detailed or vague as you want.

Same deal with muscle. Here are my personal notes to myself. Label stuff that is important to you. I actually grouped a bunch of muscles together based on what is visible from the outside. Muscles are way more complicated than this, but Baby's First Anatomy Chart gets to be simple.

This is good enough for me because I have intimate knowledge of the other muscles working under and over these ones. Feel free to add as many or as few muscles as you like. You chart your own course.

This is very VERY much not an anatomical chart. I'm sure there's nerds out there pulling their hair out looking at this. But listen, it works for art!

And you know the wildest part about this?

I don't need to look at it to use it. The act of making your own anatomy chart puts that knowledge in your brain. Like how you can make "cheat sheets" even for tests that don't allow them - the act of making the sheet helps you remember what you struggle with most.

And after all that complexity? Your simplification will be based on Real Knowledge and you'll put those random circles in the right spots.

Look at all this hard work you've done. Eventually this will be second nature to you.

Show me what you make! I'd love to see what creatures yall make anatomy charts of.

[shirecorn]

Photo Reference Packs

I put together some photo packs and uploaded them to my gumroad. You can use them and this guide to study! So far there's only a Doe and a Fawn pack, but if I get sales I will put in the effort to do more for deer, horses, cats, birds, and anything else I can point my camera at.

Doe Pack

Fawn Pack

[lingering-nomad]

I wish this fandom would stop crying ‘ooc!’ for every interaction players don’t like. When you’re talking about characterisation, you need to step out of the game for a sec and dig a little deeper. You need to consider the inter-personal history and context that precedes that interaction. Handing Fenris back to Danarius is HAWKE’S decision. Hawke is the one to make that call and if that kind of choice is IN-CHARACTER for your Hawke, then their impact on the other companions’ arcs are going to be shaped by that same way of thinking. How would a hand-Fen-back-to-Dan Hawke have treated Aveline, Varric, Isabela, Merrill, Anders and their family in the 6 years leading up to that choice?

An Aveline who was forced to live with a ruthless, manipulative asshole while grieving the loss of her husband in a new city for a year, who is constantly reminded of how much she ‘owes’ Hawke for ‘making her Captain’ and lives under the implied threat of having her career end in disgrace with a few words to the wrong people, is very different from an Aveline in a strong, secure friendship with someone she knows has her back. A Varric who helped Hawke make it to the top, only to watch them exploit people for their own gain while still coming to Wicked Grace and making barbed jokes about their sibling’s death in the Deep Roads, is a very different person from the Varric who bonded with a decent, compassionate Hawke over shared grief.

A bloodmage Hawke who flaunts their power and happily destroys anyone who opposes them, sets a very different example for Merrill than one who constantly strives to protect others and do what’s best for the people who rely on them. Same for an Anders who is pushed to let his rage consume him, whether in the yes-burn-them-all sense or you’re-delusional-and-should-be-made-Tranquil, versus an Andy who’s getting sympathetic, yet cautionary support.

Would Isabela even be around for the type of Hawke who’d hand Fenris back? I doubt it.

So no, if it’s in-character for Hawke to be a backstabbing piece of shit, then it’s in-character for their companions to be wary of pissing them off when they do something horrible, because what if they’re next? A Fenris living under that kind of Hawke probably didn’t reach out, didn’t build strong friendships with the gang, didn’t learn to read and isn’t much more than a tool to Hawke anyway. What are the odds of the other companions knowing his story? It’s not even far fetched to assume he’ll be better off with Dan.

One of DA2’s strongest points is it’s writing. It’s a ROLE PLAYING game, which – when done right – means having the companions’ reactions correspond to whatever role Hawke is playing. If Hawke is static, it’s no longer an RPG. The story isn’t linear and the companions evolve accordingly. It’s like a bunch of parallel universes. That’s how it’s supposed to be and DA2 did a brilliant job of showing the cause-and-effect of Hawke’s choices on the people around them.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fandom’s inability to appreciate this is why we ended up with as much disjointed, player-insert ‘Who’s Mythal?’ nonsense as we did in DA:I.

[citrusdominicus]

Totally agree!

My greatest pleasure in DA2 is creating partly bad & partly good Hawkes with reasonable relationship with companions.

What kind of Hawke will be bloodmage and Merrill's best friend, but also will support templars in their hunt to usual Kirkwall monster bloodmages?

What kind of Hawke may almost give Fenris away to Danarius, but totally protect Isabela (not romanced) from qunari?

Hate Circles, but support their brother in joining templars?

Make all deals with demons that game allows, but judge bloodmages anyway?

Kill Bartrand, but save Varania?

Each of my Hawkes answers on dozens questions like that and that's why DA2 is the best DA game ever (Origin is good, but it hasn't normal rivalry dinamics).

[funnytwittertweets]

[citrusdominicus]

Sergey Razumovsky and his inner good naive idealist

or "Sergey Razumovsky is checking the contract with Holt International (before signing)"

Materials: charcoal, red chalk, pastel pensil.

I think that main personality isn't a cinnamon roll. In headcanons of many people he is the "good part" of Sergey, but I think that he is kinda... balanced?

The Bird wasn't in charge before Sergey thought that Oleg died. So the main part accepted most of hard desicions all by himself. And you definetely can't create a huge company and become billioner without accepting hard desicions.

The true "good" isn't the third personality, it's the part of main personality. Inner child, who believes that humans aren't bad by nature and you can reach happy end with clean hands.

We all seen this child in film. We all heard him.

All idealists have this child which ache and scream inside while we live our lives and betray him a little every day. World is cruel and unfair and we don't do anithing with it. We haven't time, we haven't power, we have our personal problems...

And we must be cruel sometimes. Not the "to burn people" level of cruelty, but still.

So I drawn Sergey and this inner child. There is where the Plague Doctor comes from - from the wounds on idealism.

[citrusdominicus]

Merrill in green  for St. Patrick's Day (unfinished)

Ugh, I always forget about tumblr. I should post something while I remember, shouldn't I?

So... The beautiful wife of the Viscount of Kirkwall from my "Happiness and bloodmages" AU. She is fixing some old elven artefact with blood magic, as usual.

I sure that if Viscount has crown, viscount's wife has her own too.

I probably should post something about AU, before post this art... Ugh, nevermind.

Unfinished, cause I had a very long hard day at work. Now I'm too eager to start drinking beer.

[citrusdominicus]

Trash

Deimos: *falling in love with Kyros* Mark: fuck Deimos: *going to marry Kyros* Mark: I’ll not give you my blessing, ungrateful bastard! Deimos: *successfully protecting Mark from angry Kyros* Mark: wow...  That was... unexpected... Deimos: *sleeping on the couch  for months* Deimos: fuck