Banal nadas. Ar lath ma, Vhenan

Follows come from pepperpatrol. The second game was the best one, you cannot change my mind.

[da2supremacy]

Obligatory Pinned Post

This is the Dragon Age (And Pillars of Eternity ig) Sideblog of @pepperpatrol

I am a 30+ year old woman (She/They). I am an adult and I am here to talk to adults. I am making exactly zero effort to be minor friendly on this blog. There may be some Mass Effect on here too.

2 is my favorite game, I actually did like Veilguard and Solas is one of my favorite characters from the series. That said I love being a hater recreationally. I am a certified lover of trash.

One True Keep - Kali Tabris (Zevran) - Marian Hawke (Fenhawkabela) - Ellana Lavellan (Solavellan) - Thistle Ingelvar (Nevrookanis)

Mister Trevalyan (Cassandra)

Sulanni De Riva (Davrook) - Meinrad Thorne (Emrook) - Caliope Mercar (Undecided)

The Hawke as Rook AU may be more enduring than I initially thought

I don't have a list of Hawkes bc tbh I've played that game so many times and sunk 1000s of hours into it so I don't have one single Canon Hawke but rather some unholy amalgamation Hawke. I will whip out whatever Hawke is needed for my post at the time of the post.

These are a bunch of those neat little writing prompts. I am willing to answer at any time but I will need you to actually link it in your ask. I don't get very many and I take awhile to respond but know that I am elated by any engagement whatsoever.

[magilament]

alistair: picks the cloth mother of course

morrigan: ridicules alistair for his choice, reasons why the wire mother is the objectively correct choice, turns away, proceeds to think about needing another woollen quilt for her tent

[countryhorror]

It's me, arenanet. Tumblr user Countryhorror. I come before you today humbled, and humiliated, to ask you for one thing. I need you to make humans the one unplayable race in gw3 it would be so fucking funny.

[da2supremacy]

Help people are finding the peener in vageener cult of bhaal post. How????

[wild-lavellan]

I’m almost late but… Happy Pride month guys!! <3

[the-cryptographer]

incredibly cynical overthinker who likes snickering at others' misfortune, who is entirely capable of violence but equally capable of restraint and, if properly incentivised, thoughtfulness and empathy, wit and charm. who thinks that freedom is a noble ideal but untenable in practice. who is following at the heels of someone he feels affection for or, in any case, would rather feel affection for than dwell on the fact that actually this person is his only lifeline and only defense against the rest of the world if and when it turns on him. now quick, am i talking about fenris in minrathous or fenris in kirkwall?

[the-cryptographer]

people sometimes act like fenris existed in some completely alternate mindscape back when he was a slave, and i don't want to diminish the fact that he has an arc and is growing and is developing a better relationship with himself, but also that is the same guy. they are the same guy. slave fenris isn't some entirely unthinking brainwashed non-person, he's a guy who is actively doing things and actively investing his brainpower into justifying the status quo (same as he does in kirkwall hey) because the alternative is complete social isolation and starvation.

[rookamell]

I'm microwaving Teia and Caterina today

Because like... ok so Viago tells us that Teia views the Crows and especially the Talons as her family, and Teia tells us that Caterina was basically a mother to her. Which makes sense, if you're an orphan on the street of course you're going to get attached to the first people who give you a 'home' and a semblence of safety and belonging. Very hard-won, very precarious safety and belonging, but safety and belonging nonetheless.

But like... how much of that was calculated on Caterina's end? Like I'm not saying Caterina was the one to pick Teia up off the street (maybe she was idk) but if she's like a mother to her and also her familiarity with both Lucanis and Illario sort of indicated that Caterina and the Dellamortes have been there pretty consistantly in Teia's life. How much of Teia's success (fully fledged Crow, youngest Talon in history) is due to Caterina? Like obviosuly Teia is good and works her butt of and deserves it but how much slower would the process have been without Caterina?

And how much of that kindness is Caterina being kind to a young elven girl (maybe Teia reminds her of a favourite daughter who died too soon) and how much is just her seeing a potential game piece and seizing it with both hands? Like you're telling me straight that Caterina Dellamorte would look at a young orphaned elven girl and out of the kindness of her heart decide to become a mentor? No, sorry. And I'm not saying there aren't genuine fond feelings toward Teia, Lucanis even says so, but you would have to do some very heavy lifting to think that's how that relationship started. Caterina was probably angling to have Teia installed as a Talon for years, knowing she'd have an indespensable ally for both her and her grandsons, bound not just by money or power but also by genuine affection like that of a daughter to her mother. And that isn't even without mentioning the power difference between the two of them that point to it obviously being a kind of (I don't want to say grooming but I can't think of a better word here) grooming relationship.

I think it was @skullypettibone that pointed out also how Lucanis and Illario treat her? Like Lucanis allows her to plan Caterina's funeral basically in his stead but then doesn't count her as a friend, and Illario refuses to even use a nickname for her (does he think she's beneath them? Does Caterina? Despite her fondness?)

Idk there's a lot to chew on in that relationship and I've been thinking about it for months. I also think it's a bonus that Caterina has Teia as an almost certain ally and then she drags Viago behind her like he's on a leash. Bonus help that she wasn't even betting on.

[oxalees]

happy pride month ✨️

[da2supremacy]

You ever think about how not only did Anders straight up lie to Hawke about why he left the Wardens but like...

Nathaniel can appear in DA2 and you can have Anders in your party for this appearance and Nathaniel does not say SHIT about the fact that Anders lost it and started eating human flesh.

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I know the popular theory is that Sera is Andruil/possessed by Andruil but I just can’t see how Andruil would get there

But there’s definitely something up and I think the answer is that she’s a spirit who became real, like Cole, but so long ago she’s forgotten

Her memories about where she comes from are vague, she can wield a bow without training, and Solas refers to her as though they are part of the same people (which he pointedly does not do with any other elf), that people being spirits who took physical form

Also her name is a word in the elven language, like Solas’ name which is the word for pride. We don’t know what it means, just that it is in a phrase one would use to excuse oneself (Ara seranna ma). I bet it translates to a type of spirit or demon name

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

Girl what is up with you??

[lanaluuart]

Happy Pride

[dustypenz]

Drinking buddies rough sketch

[a-driftamongopenstars]

mass effect 2 is INSANE. you are a decorated soldier, special ops of the galaxy. you possess knowledge of the deadly future to come, no one believes you. you die. you die gruesomely. you are brought back to life by a terrorist organization you've been fighting against. you owe them your life. you use them. they use you. the future you knew would come is here. no one is safe.

is that still you, by the way? in that body? that died? is that still you? how do you know?

[heliomanteia]

It's funny when you fully agree with the critical point but completely disagree with their proposed fix for it.

"Lace's plotline is undercooked" completely agreed, they sidelined my girl in a game with most passive dwarf lore since Origins. Somehow. "It should have been Dagna" nah it should have either been extra-personalized so it's unique to Lace (i.e. deals with her specific case of religious and ancestral crisis) or if they were dead set on keeping it so vague it shouldn't have been a character with so much baggage; just make a new dwarf girl, gods know we need more.

[heliomanteia]

"Rook does not have enough build up as a character & for their relationship with Solas/the world around them to matter; often it feels like they have no personality" completely agreed, the cosmetic fluff of the illusion of origins where half the backgrounds are heavily underutilized makes for a very weakly justified protagonist while both origins-like-system and the game's narrative suggest that this is supposed to be your strong personality hero. It's jarring and does not do Rook any favors as a protagonist. "It should have been the Inquisitor" you're smoking some premium elfroot.

[the-cryptographer]

I feel like ‘I agree on the critique but disagree on how to fix it’ is the spirit of dragon age fandom and mayhaps dragon age canon itself. We agree the status quo is broken but disagree on how to repair it.

[polycythemiav]

DID YOU KNOW? A group of Pride demons is called a Parade!

[the-cryptographer]

tbh i am still thinking about that talk to anders quest at the beginning of act 2 and i don't really know how to describe it but i feel like i am at once being encouraged to take anders too seriously (asked to engage whether or not he's giving me a 100% accurate and literal portrayal of how in danger we are of being busted down by the templars tomorrow) and to not take anders seriously enough (not asked to engage how much this guy is suffering repeated paranoid mental breakdowns because his right to food, housing, and physical safety all feel wildly outside his own control)