“My neighbours thinks I torture dogs for a living”

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Not today Justin

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blake kathryn
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Xuebing Du
occasionally subtle

★
trying on a metaphor
Cosimo Galluzzi

izzy's playlists!

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Sade Olutola
almost home

@theartofmadeline
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
h
Peter Solarz
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shark vs the universe

seen from Bolivia

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@freyahawke
“My neighbours thinks I torture dogs for a living”
“Dragon Age 4: Wishful Thinking”
Really really think deeply about the fact that Cassandra told you that her order, the seekers, were aware of the things happening in kirkwall all along. And they didn't interfere. Meredith's cruel treatment of the circle and her actions were deemed JUSTIFIABLE on account of all the blood mages. An order, that's supposed to watch for corruption in the Templars and they deemed it was okay for Meredith to crush mages under her heel so brutally.
Anders was right. Mages are treated but barely. And I have a sneaking suspicion, that were it not for Anders' actions, the annulment of the circle would have seemed justifiable too. 😭🥺😤
Hespith was right. True abomination wasn't that it occured but that it was allowed. 😭
I have so many feelings rn. 🥺
Orsino’s death is bullshit and Varric just made it up to protect him from the Chantry, pass it on
okay but i actually really love this because the Orsino boss fight is literally recycled from an old Origins DLC, like even the model of the head monster at the end is the exact same 3D mesh?
so honestly what happened is Anders told Varric about this freaky-ass monster the Hero of Ferelden once fought and V is drunk off his ass yellin “BADASS THAT’S SO FUCKING METAL!!11 IMMA PUT IT IN A BOOK (falls over)”
and then months later they’re in some backwater inn somewhere on the run from the law and Anders is reading Tale of the Champion and gets to the end and just bursts out laughing so hard ale comes out his nose, and Orsino’s just pounding his back to keep him from choking while yelling “WHAT! WHAT’S SO FUNNY. ANDERS WHAT DID HE DO”
absorbing this into my own hcs immediately
Honestly just fuck 90% of people using this tag
The tea is delicious
the warden commander hears your anders hate and stares at you with an uncomfortable intensity from across the room while slowly wrapping a knitted scarf around anders’ neck and showering him with earrings and bracers and other pretty baubles. the warden commander hands anders an enormous bottle of warm milk and pulls a lever. dozens, perhaps hundreds of tiny kittens flood the room and fall over themselves to climb into his lap. the warden commander slowly lifts their chainmail up to reveal a massive tattoo over their ribs reading PROTECT ANDERS AT ALL COSTS. the warden commander leans down and smooches the top of anders’ head. you are surrounded by thousands, perhaps millions of kittens and the sound of a ragged apostate nearly catatonic with joy. the warden commander hasn’t broken eye contact for a second.
Templar in Enemies Among Us: There’s this brand new horrible initiation my poor Templar friends have to go through. And if you’re not strong enough to pass it you die! Im going to frame it as the worst possible thing ever because honestly can you imagine having to go through something so terrible and inhumane!?
Anders:
“I never liked templars much.”
HoF Cousland, Anders, Rylock / Dragon Age Origins - Awakening © Bioware
Inquisitor: Good news time, bad news time! But it’s only bad news from a certain perspective.
Iron Bull: Right, let’s hear it.
Inquisitor: The good news is, it will be a LOT easier to enact all the reforms that I had in mind. Tearing down the Chantry and building something better in its place, removing the alienages, restoring the Dales to the Dalish clans, and completely removing the Circle forever.
Varrick: Sounds great! So…. what’s the bad news, eh?
Inquisitor: I made this possible by creating a giant rift that sucked up Val Royeaux, permanently destroying all Chantry leadership and creating a massive power vacuum that we fortunately can fill and establish a new system of our choosing.
Inquisitor: Like I said though; it’s only bad from a specific point of view. The point of view of people who liked keeping mages locked up for Templars to abuse and elves barred from their homelands, generally. And I really don’t give a damn what they think anyway.
Varrick: …Huh. Hang on, I gotta contact someone. Anders owes me money now.
And that’s what you should do with all that phenomenal cosmic power.....
Awakening!Anders was just as angry as he is in DAII
It always baffles me how people insist that Anders’ personality in DAII was some sort of painfully drastic change from the one we saw Awakening, that he’s less funny and upbeat and therefore ‘broken’, that his hate for the Templars turned obsessive, that he became too focused on mage rights, Circle abuses, and The Cause, etc, etc.
This take in particular: “Who killed the smile I saw in awakening? When did it die?” pisses me off to no end.
Justice is often blamed for this change, and I often see people wishing for him to be extricated from Anders—and that this will apparently revert him back to his adorkable humorous Awakening personality (never mind that Justice actually brought out more of Anders’ genuine personality and called him out on his bs rather than changing anything about him, as I’ll demonstrate below).
Every single time I see such sentiments expressed, I… well, I’m a little bit confused, to say the very least. More like flabbergasted and a little bit scandalized—just a teeny tiny bit, because…
Did we even play the same games?
No, really?
Anders was always, always, ALWAYS angry, hateful about the Chantry and his time in the Circle, and is quite evidently affected by the trauma his imprisonment and the Templars’ treatment caused him. If you’re not seeing that, you’re simply not paying attention.
Keep reading
True. All the above.
And I just add this (as always). The first conversations in DAA and DA2, and his reaction to the word: “apostate”. https://youtu.be/ASlF5dpNRok
Peeps, don’t cry for the guy who never existed – since the Templars took him on a chain.
Fenris: How have the templars not killed you?
Anders: I’m charming.
He’s charming yes. A jokester. But in every little moment when he speaks about the mages – his mask falls down.
Who cries for the “funny” “cheerful” guy – cries for his mask he wore – you know how releasing and satisfying to not wear your mask anymore? Not to be funny, kind and charming anymore, if you don’t want to be? Just be a jerk, or sad… or angry… Just be yourself?
I will never understand why people don’t see this and prefer the man in DAA, who still can’t be himself because it’s too fucking dangerous, even with the Wardens, over the man in Kirkwall. All you see in DAA is what Anders shows you so he can survive. What you know of him there barely scrapes the surface.
Anders absolutely knows who he is in Kirkwall, what he can do, what he can accept, and what he can’t. THIS is who Anders IS. THIS is the drive that fueled all of those escapes. And when he could’ve just run, after escaping and running for all those years, he chose, actively chose, to stand and fight. Justice didn’t corrupt him and he didn’t corrupt Justice; Justice gave him the assurance he needed to believe he could do more and be who he was. And he has every right to be dark and dry and bitter, yet he finds ways to do so much good, to find tiny, miniscule moments where maybe, just maybe, it could be better. And even if you don’t romance him, if you support mages, you give him that tiny bit of hope that his cause is possible, that it’s not just screaming into the void. A positive romance? That tells him that HE is worthy, not just his cause, but who he is
He always hated the institution and if you think for a moment that DAA Anders wouldn’t relish burning the entire bastard system to the ground, you aren’t really seeing him at all. He was full of rebellion and spitfire in DAA. He put that to use to help others in DA2.
And still people believe he deserves to have his heart ripped to pieces, breaking him down as surely as any Templar, only so much worse. Because Templars never provided hope of acceptance. In a hatemance, Hawke can provide that hope and then rip it, and his heart, apart. I will NEVER play that line. Ever. No one deserves that.
And then the option that literally had me throw my controller on the couch and bolt out of the room? Fuck right the hell off. He’s fighting for his right to survive. And he’s not just fighting for himself, but everyone he’s watched bruised and beaten and tortured, everyone he’s seen tranquil’d, everyone he’s seen murdered. They can’t fight back, but he can, and he does, with the least amount of damage, the fewest lives lost, but one of the best damned strategic points ever.
And in no way does he deserve death for trying to live outside that nightmarish system of oppression and trying to help so many have a chance. That IS justice. Vengeance is how justice is meted out and it is a far, far cry from revenge. Revenge tends to have a certain self-gratifying smug righteousness to it. There is nothing smug in his actions. You don’t see the DAA Anders snarking over templars dead at the hands of darkspawn. You see a man in anguish that even after trying every other way, this was the only avenue left, that they would only listen with violence.
When the options are either die with no fighting chance or die fighting…
Which would you choose?
(And ISTGs if anyone says that fucking box scene is “die fighting,” I will personally haunt you the rest of your natural born life and far beyond.)
if you're looking for some geraskier prompts, i offer you this: geralt genuinely thinks he's ugly. to him, the hair and the eyes and the overall witcher-y-ness make him complete undesirable to humans unless he pays them. early on in their relationship, jaskier takes the time to convince him otherwise, listing off every single thing that he loves about his witcher's body. (PLEASE feel free to add some more non-human witcher traits, too. we love some fangs in this house)
Geralt isn’t surprised when villagers shrink back from him in fear, or when children run from him in the street. He knows what he looks like. Deathly pallor, ghostly white hair, yellow eyes which glow with unnatural luminescence. His is a face of nightmares.
It’s even worse when his concentration slips and his pupils slide back to their natural cat-like slit, excellent for hunting beasts in the darkness but a horrifying sight for anyone to behold.
And that joke he likes to tell about having his fangs filed down… well, let’s just say that doesn’t seem so funny when he’s been on the road for half a year and he realises his canines have grown back in, sharp and pointed and threatening.
So he understands why men’s breath catches in their throats when they see him, and why townsfolk look away when he passes. His appearance marks outwardly what he has always known to be true on the inside: that he is not, and never has been, human. That he is an abomination, a thing only good for killing, and that they are right to be afraid of him.
He tries not to impose his presence on others. But in occasional moments of weakness, he just wants to be around people, even if he can never be one of them. He sits in the darkest corner of the tavern that he can find and pays for his ale with an extravagant tip.
And that’s how he meets Jaskier. Barely out of childhood, flush with the beauty of youth, wide blue eyes and rosy cheeks and a smile that never leaves his face. He is, in a word, breathtaking.
Geralt does everything he can think of to rebuff him. His is no fit life for a young man, and he is no fit traveling companion for anyone. And yet, Jaskier stays. It is baffling.
Geralt prefers it, at least, when Jaskier walks ahead of him. That way, he can watch over him without having to feel Jaskier’s gaze on him in return. When they walk together, he sometimes catches Jaskier staring, looking for too long at his face or his hair or his blood-spattered armour. He knows he is repulsive, but it still hurts to feel like the object of sick fascination, like one of those travelling freak shows with oddities presented in cages.
Still, sometimes, he is weak, and when they stop at an inn for the night he will order a bath and allow Jaskier to sit by him in the tub. When Jaskier wants to smother him with oils, he agrees to it even though they burn noxiously through his heightened sense of smell, because he can’t change the way he looks but he can at least cover up the way he smells.
And when Jaskier offers to wash his hair, he will let him. Even though he should refuse. Even though it’s not right to oblige someone like Jaskier to put his hands on a thing like Geralt. Because Jaskier clearly feels obligation, or guilt, or something of the sort, and Geralt should not take advantage in this way.
But it feels so good, to have someone touch him tenderly for once, to have Jaskier carefully work out the knots in his hair and to scratch light fingers over his scalp, and in those moments Geralt lets himself imagine that it is because Jaskier cares, because he can look past Geralt’s hideous mutations and to the person he is beneath.
In his very weakest moments, he even lets himself pretend that Jaskier can see him as he cannot see himself: as human. As a thing of beauty. As someone worthy of care, perhaps even worthy of love.
But that’s only ever a passing fantasy. Because who could ever love a monster like him?
Tonight is Jaskier’s turn to earn the coin, so Geralt is checking the provisions in their room at the inn while Jaskier rehearses for his performance downstairs.
Geralt is riffling through their bags looking for the last of the jerky when Jaskier’s notebook falls out. He picks it up carefully, knowing how much Jaskier uses it, and smiles when he sees it has fallen open on a page with a silly doodle of Geralt chasing a wyvern, white hair blowing in the wind and sword upraised.
On the next pages are scribbled notes about Witcher contracts, attempted rhymes, some chord notations.
And Geralt doesn’t mean to snoop, he really doesn’t, but as he’s about to put the notebook away he catches a glimpse of his own name. Unable to tamp down his curiosity, he turns to the page and sees a list:
Things about Geralt which are beautiful
Cares about everybody, even people who hate him
Kind to small children
Affectionate to animals (talks to his horse like a dork)
Expressive eyes, especially when they do that cat thing that I like more than I should
Long hair, of the sort you really want to run your fingers through but obviously can’t
Smiles softly when he thinks people aren’t looking
Sharp fangs which he thinks I don’t know about (distressingly hot)
Moves like a dancer when he fights, graceful and elegant
Puts himself between me and danger without a second thought, even when it’s my fault
Body of a god, frankly
Tries so hard to do the right thing
Gentle heart
Sees the good in everyone except himself
The list is written in different inks, like Jaskier has been adding to it for a while now.
Witchers do not cry. They are incapable of it, in fact, yet another thing stolen by the Trial of the Grasses. But as Geralt reads the list, he feels a lump forming in his throat.
He has often wondered what Jaskier sees when he looks at him. Now he knows.
@lokeanrampant
fantasy that deals with dynamics of oppression in their world almost always fucking sucks because the writers never have any idea how oppression and persecution function, so it's like, oh these poor people are being forced into glorified prison schools and law enforcement treats them with brutality and common people are distrustful and prejudicial towards them HOWEVER these people can also randomly turn into murder monsters who shoot fire in all directions
"my name is David Fantasywriter and I think oppressed people are oppressed for a perfectly justifiable reason such as Turning Into Demons For Fun"
*suffers extreme coughing fit*
Don't forget to mention the consumers of this media who actively, wholeheartedly, and vehemently AGREE and SUPPORT this.
@justiceforthedas @factorykat
Oh my god! I read something about Vivienne. So, according to the game mechanics, you win a ton of divine points for her if you choose conscript the mages after conclusion of in hushed whispers rather than equal allies.
The conscript part means you don't view or give the mages equal rights and keep an eye on them because "they are dangerous (boo!)". Anyway, my point is:
This is how the chantry keeps winning. They plant and nurture this idea and fan the flames of interpersonal hatred even among the mages. A mage who has such strong and extreme views about magic and mages as Vivienne is prime example of that. What's the best way to make sure mages never unite and raise their voices againt the injustice that's thrust upon ALL of them? Make them think there's nothing wrong at all.
This is some excellent brainwashing bro 😳
For all her supposed all knowing attitude, this woman plays right into it. Smh. 🤦
Think! For! Yourself!
I really want a Dwarven revolution. Like the casteless rise up and overthrow the system. This is total missed opportunity in dragon age and the injustice is kinda ignored by the romanticising of the anyone can become a paragon bit.
The amount that I LOATHE the dwarven caste system cannot be overstated. I'm all for this. I get angry every time I have to deal with it.
@justiceforthedas Do we need to do this now? I mean, our Brosca...
WE could. On that note, given all the BLATANT injustice in Thedas, excluding the subtle and hidden ones, I have to wonder exactly how Justice kept it together. xD
“She hates hardwood floors and is SO happy that we just bought a rug”
(Source)
@lokeanrampant
You know, the thing that interests me the most about the whole “Kaidan is so boring! He has no personality! I remember nothing about him - that’s how forgettable he is!” thing is that…I feel that’s rather the point?
Like - here’s the thing. Kaidan is an L2 biotic. Per lore, human biotics have it rough. They’re not welcomed among human society. No one really likes them except the Alliance, and that’s likely only because the Alliance can weaponize them. (I find it hard to believe there’s absolutely no discrimination toward biotics in the Alliance, but that’s a discussion for another day.) L2s are especially stigmatized; there’s multiple in game references calling them “unstable” and “insane” and such, because of the neurological disorders the implants can cause. Chakwas has a line that I always take to be tongue-in-cheek, that Kaidan’s “lucky” because he “only” gets migraines, like migraines are small stuff. The point of that line is relativity. Kaidan’s relatively lucky; he still has it bad, but many have it worse.
So, again, here’s the thing: Kaidan is an L2 biotic in a society that doesn’t like him and that already views him as dangerous. Ergo, he’s going to be more heavily scrutinized than both non-biotics and the average L3 biotic. This would explain a lot about him even without factoring in his backstory, but his backstory is what really cements it. Regardless of romance, if you talk to Kaidan you always find out that when he was a kid, he killed someone in self-defense. He didn’t do it consciously; his life was threatened so he retaliated, and that retaliation killed someone.
Now, Kaidan isn’t torn up over killing Vyrnnus anymore. What he’s torn up about is how he was treated after Vyrnnus. It was never about Rahna herself, or the fact she didn’t want to date him. It was about the fact Rahna saw him as a monster afterward, on par with Vyrnnus. Kaidan was put into an impossible situation that forced him to lose control or die, and the lesson he learned is that the person he trusted was terrified afterward. If someone who was a fellow L2 - let alone a friend - reacted like that…how would a stranger? How would someone who’s not even a biotic?
There are three lines in ME1 that I feel sum up where Kaidan’s head is at the most in that game:
(upon learning about Rahna after Vyrnnus’ death)
Kaidan: I’m no more disciplined than any other biotic, Shepard. This is all ancient history. I’m over it.
Shepard: You agonize over doing the right thing. You never let yourself lose control.
(after Kaidan rushes to assure Shepard that Really, He Is 100% Competent, Feelings Who, Don’t Worry I’m Fine!!!)
Shepard: It’s okay to have weaknesses. Just means you’re human. So deal with it.
Kaidan: It’s just been awhile. I don’t usually think of much beyond the job.
(en route to Ilos, after Shepard asks him why he’s still hesitating)
Kaidan: You know what, you’re right, about everything. I think about losing you and I can’t stand it. The galaxy will just keep going. Everything, even the Reapers will come around again. But you and I, we are important right now. This is what will never happen again. Us. Shepard, you make me feel…human.
Kaidan doesn’t want to hurt anyone again - to appear threatening - so he holds back on his biotics and his feelings and focuses on doing his job. (His service record is “impressive” and Chakwas says he has over a dozen special commendations.) Kaidan’s fear of losing control is so debilitating that by the time Shepard meets him, he no longer feels human. That’s what that line is implying. Shepard makes Kaidan feel human, because Kaidan doesn’t feel like he is. That’s how much he’s been dehumanized, by others and by himself.
So, yes. Kaidan is “boring.” That’s on purpose. He tries to project nothing but a formal, dutiful marine whose competence can never be called into question. (He doesn’t always succeed, mind you, but a lot of people stop at the “boring” part and thus never pick up on the parts where he lets the formality slip enough so his sense of humor and natural curiosity shine through.) He’s not particularly interested in drawing attention to himself, at least not outside of a professional setting. Because he’s an L2 biotic. Because he lost control once and it killed someone, and he was shunned for it. Because, because, because.
The truth of it is that Kaidan is an exceptionally well written character with a lot of complexity, you just have to be willing to read between the lines. Especially in ME1, because that boy doesn’t know the meaning of “being direct” at all in that game.
Obviously, if you let him live into ME3 and he survives the Coup, you can see how much he’s grown. He’s learned how to reave, which is implied to be a very hard biotic ability for a human to learn, because he finally stopped holding himself back. He no longer stumbles over his feelings and he is free with his affection. And one thing he is really insistent on is giving Shepard a “sanity check” or a chance to just be a normal person, because Kaidan knows exactly what it’s like to feel alienated from everyone around you, and to be seen only as a weapon.
I think one of the things I love most about Shepard and Kaidan’s relationship -whether it’s romantic or not- is that in the end, when Shepard feels more and more machine than mortal flesh with the expectations of a whole galaxy bearing down on them, it’s “boring, dependable” Kaidan who makes them feel human too.
Shenko is my ME OTP. Yes, you have to be patient and read through the lines. But the patience is VERY WORTH IT. He had me laughing at his deadpan delivery, and he has charm, wit and sass in spades, all hiding under that formal exterior.
So in ME2, my Shepard vowed so hard to survive the Collector Base mission because she needed to come back, ditch Cerberus and mend things with Kaidan. As much as she would prefer he joined her on Horizon, she would never ask him to leave his post in the Alliance, and not when she herself doesn’t trust Cerberus and she knows exactly where he’s coming from.
And wow did it pay off in ME3. I love the moment of confrontation and trust in the Citadel coup. Kaidan finally trusted that this is his Shepard, friend or lover, and Shepard trusted him and lowered weapons and signaled the others to do so.
And oh my, the sass once he’s back on board the Normandy. And in the Citadel DLC. Maker save me.