Oh, Grey Warden @grimwarden - Tumblr Blog

nexus. patreon. ao3. cozy games. web. characters.

i'm grim, he/him. adult. english isn't my first language. da critical.

characters: varric, dorian, davrin and fenris are my favorites. bellara, drayden, lucanis, neve, emmrich, zevran, anders, blackwall, loghain, anora, jowan, cullen, solas.

ships: generally ship protagonist x love interests (i.e. hawke x fenris) but hawke x varric is a forever favorite. i ship davrin with everyone, mostly, with emile, and lucanis.

Warden-Commander, Riwen Surana (he/him) Champion of Kirkwall, Astra Hawke (she/her) Inquisitor, Mahanon Lavellan (he/him) Rook, Mercy de Riva (he/him) Ivy Aldwir (she/him) Ward Laidir (he/him) Emile de Launcet/Thorne (he/him) Commander Shepard Ginger Ryder

a big point that i see against dav vs prev games is that bioware so often used the hurt of certain identities to create its grimdark. which, true. i think that statement still deserves nuance bc it would ignore genuine value put and taken by real people of those identities. but still, yeah.

but dav's solution to that is the ultimate overcorrection where those identities are completely taken out of the equation. gestures to the whole of tevinter. but that has been explored better than i could by other people so i'll say even the way dragon age women stumbled through the awkward schrodinger's misogyny has built into a part of the world, and that too, is completely ignored but not destroyed.

#i'm more lenient about queer rights for reason that would be too hard to explain but the point is:#the world itself changes in overcorrection and that's strange #you don't change the words in quotes etc etc #actually rather than change it's like. you're in a mildly liberal room of people so you know you there are certain standards everyone adher #but like. you know not everyone is on the same level/side of things so you just ignore a whole bunch of stuff and never talk politics #dav critical #da critical #dragon age

notebooks-and-laptops

Remember in DAI when Krem has no real words to describe what he is in Tevene but The Iron Bull is able to lend him words in Qunlat to explain his transness. And how Krem murmurs 'and the qun doesn't treat them like any less of a man?' and bull says 'they are a man.' and it's one of the only places in DAI where the Qun is not only portrayed in a positive light but is portrayed as a place with a different cultural understanding that is actually interesting and nuanced??? And then in DAtV the Qun goes back to being kinda just evil bad and Taash has to go to Tevine to get words for what they're going through because qunari/Rivain doesn't do that whereas enlightened tevinter the imperial ruling power does? And they wanted to humanise tevinter and dock town so they removed slavery but despite saying they wanted to humanise the Qun they instead made them all growling evil mega mobs? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

#dav critical #dav #dai

notebooks-and-laptops

Something about Veilguard as well that I...don't dislike exactly but think flatterns the story considerably is the fact that Solas bringing down the veil is a MUCH more justifiable act than it was presented in trespasser.

We get one line, from Varric, about how this will 'drown the world in demons'. We do see some demons coming across as he begins his ritual. But his ritual, in actual fact, is built around stopping the mega blight from being unleashed. If the veil stays up and Solas does nothing, the old gods will continue to awaken, and when there are none left the chains on the evaneris jail will disappear.

Which is fine. Actually, I'd say one of my favourite parts of Veilguard is the way it handles grey wardens and some of the new blight lore. I LOVE that the blight is the corrupted dreams of the titans (although i do deeply wish talking darkspawn had been brought up. This post isn't about that tho).

But here's the thing. In trespasser Solas and his motivations are just far more interesting to me. putting the veil up destroyed not only his nation, but his entire way of life. It is not presented as something he did to stop the blight, but something he did to stop the evanerus who were starting wars, participating in mass slavery, and just generally awful. They also weren't fighting titans, but infighting. He was, in a sense, the ultimate Anders figure and the veil was the ultimate chantry explosion. It was an act that felt necessary to destroy the ruling class, but at the cost of many lives - in this case potentially millions - not to mention the change of circumstances to spirits. The fact that he woke up after all this time and looked around at a world that was to him tranquil and couldn't comprehend it staying in this messed up form....ooooh that's juicy. That's really fucking juicy. Because then the question is more...the world was changed, fundamentally, in a way that essentially destroyed it. Is it right to try and change it back when that will literally destroy the thousands of years of culture and new ways of life that have grown up since? Do those cultures ALSO need dismantling?

But it just doesn't resolve or think about any of that. Solas did go too far but also putting the veil up had to be done and also his ritual was bad but also it had to be done and disrupting it was mega bad because it let out the blight. Solas tries to tell you about going home in a wagon feelings, but ultimately that plot point about tranquility and this huge change is reduced down quite significantly. And yet STILL in this world where it's far more justifiable and also pretty much everyone is dead from the blight anyway so what does it matter, the veil never comes down fully and they find a way to contain the blight, kill the evaneris and get rid of Solas without any fundamental change.

it's just. Everything becomes so simplified and Solas becomes not really an interesting villian and all that complexity and questioning about what IS best for Thedas is taken out.

#they made Merrill give that juicy story about dreadwolf then didn't touch beat it with sticks #and I think dav had a touch of tales Vs what happened but it went overcorrect as always #and everything here #dav critical

notebooks-and-laptops

I think it's absolutely wild how DATV and DA2 are complete opposites of each other almost down to the letter. I find this super interesting because both were 'rushed' (DAtV as it stands today only had a few years in development, even though there was a ten year gap because they kept scrapping things) and yet the developers chose to focus on completely different things when they knew they wouldn't have as much time as they'd like.

Like.

DAtV is an absolutely beautiful game in terms of graphics. Stunningly so. Even for the time it came out, DA2 had bad graphics.

DAtV has multiple interesting maps; even those without a lot of content are still varied and again, quite beautiful. DA2 reuses all it's dungeon maps without shame.

DAtV allows you to create a Rook with a unique backstory, race and appearance. DA2 you have to be human and you'll always have the same backstory.

HOWEVER DAtV doesn't give Rook a lot of real choices or personality options. Rook acts the same basically no matter how you play them. Hawke has three main personalities and when the game doesn't let you pick dialogue it will make Hawke speak in whatever of these three you most commonly pick.

DA2 is a game about systematic injustices, power and how you deal with both. DAtV scrubbed all systematic injustices from Thedas and made all that stuff background at best, completely ignored and forgotten at worst.

DA2 is full of companions who can be genuinely antagonistic with the player; they even have a rivalry system to account for the fact. A lot of cut scenes can end with you shouting or being mean to each other. DAtV everyone is nice and speaks in therapy speak. There's no real way to lose approval or to get mad at your companions.

DA2 has companions who hate one another; they're antagonistic if you bring them out and they are just mean a lot of the time. The closest DATV gets to this is Taash and Emmrich and rook 'solves' their fight super easily and then they get along great. Also, the reason they're arguing is just Taash finds Emmrich creepy not you know. A big political difference in opinion.

DA2 gives Hawke the chance to pick 'evil' options. You, personally, can kill your companions and you can also just be a dick. DAtV forces you to play as a hero all the way down to the heroic pre-written backstory.

There's I'm sure more contrasts. But I think what it comes down to is that DAtV prioritised being a 'good' game in terms of things like graphics, maps and had a more sanitised version of Thedas so 'everyone' could enjoy it. Whereas DA2 dropped the graphics and maps almost completely so it could focus on conflict, politics and interpersonal relationships.

And I think this kinda mirrors a LOT of modern gaming compared to games made 10 - 20 years ago. But it's even more starkly obvious because of the fact that they were both rushed so it's very clear what prioritises they picked.

reflectionspace

Your analysis is really good, only one thing I would add about how DA2 and DATV are opposites:

DA2 deconstructs the Randian special hero, while Veilguard accidentally reinforces it.

DA2: “You’re a broke refugee with a dead sibling and a demon problem. Congrats, you’re the protagonist now.”

Veilguard: “You are the handpicked bestie of every elite faction across Thedas. Would you like a latte with your world-saving?”

Hawke can’t stop the Qunari, the mage war, or their own family being torn apart. Even your companions might bail or throw hands if you mess up. It’s messy, personal, tragic.

The whole crew of misfits in DA2 are embedded in the poverty of Kirkwall and this includes Hawke even after she gets the mansion back. They're all marginalized in some way that affects them deeply: illegal refugees, escaped slaves, house squatters, kicked out of clan, thieves, orphans, bastards, mages, even the cop one struggles running the city guard because the system is rotten.

And Hawke's position improving only results in MORE responsibilities and impossible tasks on their plate.

Meanwhile, Veilguard’s crew are prestige LinkedIn connections in snazzy outfits. Everyone’s trauma gets filed under ‘personal growth’ (that Rook is still responsible for), and solving millennia of slavery is just a matter of electing the right upper-class reformer. (*✧ᗜ✧)⊃━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

And so on. Do I need to reiterate all the ways in which Veilguard plays the Special Individuals Are the Only Real Ones That Matter?

DA2: You tried your best, it wasn't enough, and history steamrolled you anyway.

Veilguard: book club in the apocalypse

#da2 #dav #dav critical

dread-coyote

Somewhere in Antiva 🌅

#josephine montilyet #art

security4seal

DA KISS DAY 6 - Reunion. Postreturn scene. Choose your favorite smoocher.

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Bellara doesn't have a unique kissing sound, just generic sfx. But that doesn't stop me from melting when I hear her before the kiss.

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#if you start all the sounds at the same time it's one big pile #the veilguard #sound

ulenehlervu

#bellara lutare #davrin #art

not for the first time thinking about. what if malcolm also went by hawke in his youth. idk meeting people or even in lothering being like. oh hawke-- the young one. bc you know. her dad died. tragic.

#hawke ''hawke was my father. please call me hawke.''#sad thing is you never thread new ground when it comes to hawke's naming conventions so sorry #hawke #da2 #malcolm hawke

for one reason or another i've been too stuck with varric and hawke's love as it builds up more than it bears fruit that i can't even think of them as actually 'dating' anymore. it kinda suits the tragedy in my head tho.

the survivor is left with the fact that they were never brave enough to bite the bullet and confess (hawke left in the fade my beloved)

they do in fact confess and get together, but a tragedy strikes when they're still in the tentative stage, where holding hands has them blushing. (hawke left in the fade my beloved)

they do get together, say around the end of da2, but they never manage to stay in the same place at the same time. then tragedy strikes. (hawke left in the fade my beloved)

the tragedy of course doesn't need to be hawke left in the fade lol but i do like it so, and i like it so much when, by the time of dav, varric is an old man with regrets and grief but in a way exactly like in dav where it doesn't show outward but it's so tangibly there.

#varric x hawke #hawke #varric tethras #hc #varrichawke