it's been said but i'll say it again: top tier bit of this show is whenever changyu is being given the slightest offense and it pans to yan zheng VERY LOUDLY lefty-looseying the screws on his hinges in the background
the shadow dragons could’ve been so good if they were good. instead they were so laughably bad in every possible way. largely a product of the complete sanitization of tevinter but good god what a mess of a faction. led by 3 wealthy human mages one of whom directly profits off of slavery as his day job another of whom is the “man on the inside” in the government but see the only people who do slavery in this game are evil venatori! so why do you even need a man on the inside in the government then, it’s not like he’s even accomplished anything in his 8 years of holding a seat, he almost punched a guy once but that’s all we hear of. and the third of whom is literally one of the richest people in tevinter and maybe thedas who has used her immense wealth and monopoly over tevinter’s business ties to orzammar to apparently do absolutely fuckall. there’s also a human templar for some reason. there is one named character who is a former slave but you learn this from a codex entry and you cannot talk to her about it. and she operates the front end of the pawn shop: she is the first in the line of fire. she is expendable. if you save treviso you find her body in the street.
so what do the shadow dragons do? they assist in slave revolts, apparently. but when you work with them in one of the first missions in the game you’re tracking down a red lyrium “relic.” no explanation as to what this is or why it’s important other than the venatori have it. so surely during the shadow dragon companion’s quest you must do something dealing with slavery right, since that’s the shadow dragons’ whole thing? no? aelia is (checks notes) trying to unleash a demon sealed beneath minrathous, for evil reasons i guess? if i want more context i have to read tevinter nights? apparently she’s venatori but there is no connection between what she’s doing and what the other venatori are doing in the main plot of the game, and neve’s plotline is about the threads, not the shadow dragons? the shadow dragons are just kind of fully irrelevant?
so what about rook mercar? as a rook who works with the anti-slavery faction, you must have some input on literally any of this, right? no, you don’t know your base of operations or the leaders of your organization or the fact that mae lost her seat which happened years ago and is the reason the shadow dragons even exist and it was a public smear campaign so rook not knowing this is literally insane. you’re explicitly raised by a wealthy military family from a city that isn’t this one, and there’s no explanation as to how you got to minrathous or why you started working with the shadow dragons. the only mercar-specific dialogues you really get are saying “shadows stick together :)” a few times. you have broken chains in your bedroom from a slave rebellion you helped. why the fuck did you keep those? rook mercar is useless and toothless and stupid on purpose so that you don’t think too hard about the issues that supposedly drive your character but are barely present in the game. and at the same time, they were sent away from the shadow dragons for being too radical and not going along with the safe plan! 😭
and then for some reason you get to choose the next archon—the ruler of a system that is built upon slavery. for some reason one of your queer liberal friends gets to be president even though it’s an internal election process within the magisterium and dorian has probably fewer than a dozen allies and mae is believed by most of the imperium to have committed some sort of vaguely-alluded-to treason. we are not even going to confirm whether all the magisters blighted by elgar’nan were killed or not. literally don’t worry about it kitten ❤️. nothing about the system is going to change. dorian using spies and blackmail and assassins to accomplish his goals is framed as radical when he spent an entire game making snide jabs about how that’s the essence of tevinter politics. mae says you can get the people on your side and show them the truth as if tevinter being a complete farce and magisters doing blood magic and the nation running on slavery isn’t the stereotype everyone outside of the country knows and as if all of that isn’t known more deeply by the people who live there. as if “having the people on your side” means anything in tevinter and can accomplish change without revolution and without any violence.
it’s just all such a nonsensical disaster it hurts to think about. and of course weekes says that they didn’t want to write about revolution because they “don’t have that sort of attitude”—it’s so painfully obvious how terrified they are of actual change and addressing the deep-seated issues of empire and colonialism (and they make it blatantly clear on a panel about writing about empire. lol). it’s obvious that they just didn’t want to deal with the intricacies of a society built on slavery because they are perfectly fine with their status quo and not examining what the settler state they live in is built on. obviously weekes is not the only writer of this game but this mindset bleeds into its entirety and certainly does not come from only weekes. it shows so clearly in every part of tevinter and dock town and the shadow dragons, both in what they are and in what they aren’t
also all of this is not even to mention that iirc veilguard doesn’t show or describe any slave uprisings that were successful without the aid of the shadow dragons—again an organization that is headed by 3 wealthy highborn human mages. this is to demonstrate that “hey, look, the shadow dragons do do something!” but what happens as a consequence is it gives off the impression that the writers believe enslaved people cannot gain freedom on their own without the aid of these extremely privileged people who are cosplaying rebellion from the comfort of their estates. when you do interact with slaves in like one or two quests they’re helpless captives and you rescue them and then they sing your praises. it’s a blatant white savior fantasy and it’s rancid
ALSO also. sorry i’m not done with this post. the shadow dragons being The Queer Faction is very intentional. do not think about the slavery do not think all the suffering and exploitation going on in tevinter. see, our leaders are a trans woman, a gay man, a trans man, and (squints) matt mercer i guess. the shadow dragons are an idyllic queer haven and that is the part of tevinter you are shown. there’s no corruption just your faction of fun cool gay and trans friends who would never do anything as evil as profiting off of slavery or owning slaves or working for the state to capture escaped slaves (tarquin is literally a templar and sure he’s “corrupt” (in a good way don’t worry) and “looks the other way” but he wouldn’t still have the job if he never did it.) mae is your nice friendly mom friend who wouldn’t hurt a fly, dorian i cannot emphasize enough has done absolutely jack shit in the magisterium, ashur may or may not be the black divine wink wink we’re going to give you enough information through missable codices and banters to confirm it but we’re not going to outright state it or you’ll realize this whole faction is a sham. but i digress i have too many thoughts on ashur. anyway. tevinter is progressive actually look at all your trans friends❤️. the pinkwashing happening here is off the shits!!! hello!!! insert weekes quote
I can write people living in an empire despite that empire. Because I am several things the United States has currently said they're making it a priority to get rid of. And I'm not going to write a novel about destroying the United States because I'm not good at that. I don't have that sort of attitude. I don't want to destroy the, I don't want a civil war. So many people would die. But what I can do is write a novel about someone who is neurodiverse, someone who is trans, someone who is not straight, living defiantly because that is something in the empire that I can push back against directly.
So I was scrolling and saw this image in an article about the European heat wave,
And was like, uh, are you missing something there, buddy? Like all that red in northern Africa? Because that's a lot of red.
And I was going to give them the benefit of doubt, since I don't know much about the climate in Northern Africa, aside from Morroco and Egypt, which seem like really hot places, so you know, maybe it's normal there?
But nope, that's not the case:
Africa is struggling with heat waves and many countries on the continent lack the resources rich economies have to deal with rising temperat
Some selections from the article:
"The region has been experiencing some of the most intense heat waves in recent years, but in many cases they’ve been under-reported due to misconceptions about Africans’ ability to withstand them.
“Africa is seen as a sunny and hot continent,” said Amadou Thierno Gaye, a research scientist and professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. “People think we are used to heat, but we are having high temperatures for a longer duration. Nobody is used to this.”
"The Sahel, for instance, has been heating at a faster pace than the global average despite being hot already. Burkina Faso and Mali, both in West Africa’s Sahel, are among countries that are set to become almost uninhabitable by 2080, if the world continues on its current trajectory, a UK university study found. Its people are especially vulnerable due to shrinking resources, such as water, and poor amenities, and a dearth of trees and parks means there are few options for places to cool off."
When I was a kid, I really loved Kiki, and that's probably why I made a SECOND poster with her. Or maybe I just wanted to draw some bread, I don't know…
my coworker called in sick five minutes after she was supposed to start her opening shift with me, and none of the eight people i called could come in or even answered the phone, so i had to open and man the store alone for 2½ hours 🫠
in celebration of the final chapter of our fic being published, have a piece i did of glorfindel & ecthelion finally getting together for realsies this time in chapter 13 of the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain!!! @glitterlessgold
Just a casual reminder that posting on the internet about how you would want to do physical harm to members of the US government is something that they can (and will) detain you over, so just be careful what you say in public spaces like, uh, on Tumblr.
this is your semi-regular reminder that tumblr has cooperated with the fbi to hand over user information in a very public way at least once. and that's not the only way the feds can collect information on you either
This would have had me crucified on tumblr 10 years ago but maybe we are ready for this conversation now:
If you are a socially anxious person, you have to socialize. Your panic/anxiety attacks will only get worse and trigger more frequently if you constantly avoid contact with The Public. Not saying that you need to be a social butterfly- but there is a genuine problem with not being able to order your own meal at a restaurant. And it cannot be solved by always having someone else do it for you.
This is a PSA to about 3/4s of the Portland Youth populace
everyone who reblogs this and is like "I ordered my own tea this week" or "I only barfed once when I had to give a presentation'- you are doing amazing sweetie. Have patience with yourself, you are relearning a skill so difficult that people get 4 year degrees to do it professionally.
Chapter 12: I Hate and I Love (The second-to-last chapter!!)
Pairing: Glorfindel/Ecthelion
Rating: E (very much earned for this chapter)
He closes the door behind him and sits down in a mustard-yellow velvet chair. “I need advice.”
“Ah.” Egalmoth studies him. “Is this more sex advice?”
Ecthelion doesn’t know whether to be angry that Egalmoth is so perceptive, or grateful that he doesn’t have to say it out loud. He nods.
“I see.” Egalmoth hands Ecthelion his own mug of tea, filled with the dark, bitter brew Egalmoth prefers. “Well, ask away.”
Ecthelion puts the mug down and twists his fingers together for a long moment. He is fighting to get the words out and fighting to hold them in. Egalmoth keeps a small water-clock in the corner of his office and Ecthelion can hear it drip-drip-drip. He takes a deep breath and the words spill over and out. “You said that elves can have casual sex and it’s fine, but why do I feel like I want to fade?”
Photo by Daniel Radford on Unsplash. Modifications by me.
Feat. Dhavihal Lavellan (she/her), based with permission on a drabble a friend wrote for me here.
Disclaimer that I actually love Morrigan and don't hold her yapping in the Temple of Mythal against her at all and this actually started because I thought it was funny Lavellan can ask who Mythal is, potentially while wearing Mythal's vallaslin. So the question became why would Dhavi do that? and the answer was to be a little shit.
This comic was sponsored by @whynottakealeapoffaith. Learn more about sponsoring my art here.
a very rushed sketch of Ghilan'nain for @evanurisweek
and because I'm a mien'harel truther (chapter 12) written by @bodysnatch3r (this section is about Andruil but my braincells always associate it with Ghil so let me just have this)
She was here. Solas had hoped until the last She wouldn't be, and in his heart knew that he was smarter than that hope.
The Wild Hunt had come.
The Shepherdess and the Wolf, excerpt of a fairy tale featuring Dhavihal Lavellan (she/her).
Text reads:
When the Shepherdess found the Wolf who had been hounding her herd, she was surprised to find him ensnared in a trap of his own making. In her Love, she attempted to free him. But when she tried to cut his ties, the Wolf struggled against her. In his Pride, he felt only the cold point of a blade at his back.
tangentwithtanner
vaporwave
titsay
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
stormborns
annaxmalina
ellievsbear
