This was built for people in the Dragon Age fandom like you and me!
Do you like spooky stories? How about AU stories in general? Ever wanted to participate in something like a bang, but didn’t want to post all your chapters at once? Just want to test the waters with a writing goal? Then, welcome aboard.
The Plan
write 15,000+ words (that’s 250 words a day or 1,750 a week).
yap with other people about your writing
post the first chapter on October 1st and then the rest at your own pace after.
reblogging & celebrating everyone’s chapters as they come out
Timeline
August 1st to October 1st
Check-in's require messaging or speaking with this blog or mod.
Check #1: August 15th (3,000 words)
Check #2: September 8th (7,000 words)
Check #3: September 20th (11,000 words)
Check #4: September 27th (14,000 words)
FINAL Check: September 29th (15,000 words & complete)
the best piece of relationship advice i ever got was “a relationship isn’t 50/50, it’s 60/40 with each party excited to be the 60”. which to me means that you should be with someone who makes you want to do more, be more, open your heart even wider. why WOULDNT you like making life easier for your loved one(s)?
Today my magnificent octopus magnum opus, a 126-page monograph on the genus Rhombophryne—Madagascar's diamond frogs, was published open access in the journal Vertebrate Zoology. In it, my colleagues and I have described seven new diamond frog species and provided detailed revised accounts of each of the now 27 species in the genus, compiling practically everything that is known about these curious and obscure frogs!
Allow me to introduce the new characters:
This piece of lint precious child is Rhombophryne maraorao, a little burrowing species from the northeast of Madagascar. It is very similar ecologically to R. coudreaui, a long-known species from further south. The name maraorao means ‘rough to the touch’ in Malagasy, referring to the rough skin of this species. They do a weird thing where they straighten all of their limbs and go stiff in self defence. Think pumpkin toadlet post-launch mid-air stiffness, but… in the hand?
This beautiful creature is Rhombophryne mavokely, a little leaflitter-dwelling species from the northeast of Madagascar. The name mavokely is the Malagasy word for ‘pink’ but literally translates as ‘small yellow’ (mavo = yellow, kely = small). I LOVE this bizarre etymology, and also this species is small and sometimes pink and sometimes yellowish, so the name seemed extremely apt. This species was the first Rhombophryne I ever saw alive—I caught the first ever specimen immediately underneath my hammock on Marojejy in 2016!
This shiny boy is Rhombophryne sonaliae, a rather well known species from eastern Madagascar that has previously been called R. alluaudi—until we showed in 2019 that the correct use of that name was for a Plethodontohyla alluaudi from southern Madagascar! We dedicated this species to Sonali Garg, in recognition of her fantastic work especially on Asian frogs.
This forbidden truffle is Rhombophryne anatiala, a very poorly known species very closely related to R. sonaliae but found further north and differing subtly. The name anatiala means ‘in the forest’ in Malagasy, referring to the forest habitat of these frogs.
This bumpy beanbag with his go-faster chevron is Rhombophryne kotrobaratra, an interesting species from northeastern Madagascar with rather unusual anatomy, especially its quite long and strong hindlimbs. The name kotrobaratra means ‘thunder and lightning’ in Malagasy, and refers to the inclement weather that seems to bring these frogs out (true for all Rhombophryne, really) .
This coffee bean is Rhombophryne quentini, an orange-thighed species from high-elevation forests in northern Madagascar that resembles R. ellae. Back in 2020 I named R. ellae after my partner, Ella, and I thus took particularly great pleasure in naming this new, closely related species after our four-and-a-half year-old son, Quentin. A little family of frogs. :3
This little pebble is Rhombophryne kilonjy, a small, poorly known and obscure species related to R. ellae and R. quentini but found in lowland forest close to the coast in northwestern Madagascar. The name kilonjy means ‘pebble’ in Malagasy because, well, just look at it.
Even way back in my tumblr posts from 2013 and 2014 I think you would find mentions of the work I had begun on this monograph. I had no notion that it would take more than twelve years to complete. But I cannot express my joy at finally being able to share these charming, round frogs with the world. I hope you approve of the names!
If you want to read a bit more about these frogs, you can do so on my website. I have even posted a couple short videos about them on TikTok and Instagram (which also will show you how to pronounce the names!). Basically, you can find me most places on the internet, and wherever you find me, you can be sure to find frogs and lizards and snakes and a good deal of enthusiasm.
So I've been replaying The Descent and man, it's so good! Admitedly a bit too short and occasionally buggy (wouldn't be the Dragon Age experience otherwise ig), but the scenery and ambience are as breathtaking as I remembered them, and Valta and Renn's dynamic is lovely (shame we get to spend very little time with them). Also I love the score, it's probably my favourite thing Trevor Morris composed for this game after Lost Elf and Dark Solas theme.
I've taken some lore notes throughout, because there was a lot of stuff that I didn't remember and all of it scratched my brain; so here they are with some extra thoughts (a lot of text under the cut; this contains spoilers, of course):
Vivienne saying "aren't you a polite thing" with a smirk when Valta apologizes for pushing the Inquisitor (in order to save them from getting crushed by a rock, mind you) unlocked levels of yuri in my brain I never thought possible.
There's three points about lyrium's economic and political importance that are reinforced throughout the DLC: that Orzammar is completely dependent on lyrium trade economically (I remembered it being very important, but Valta is very insistent on the point of "total dependence"); that without it, they have no sway over surface politics and would become irrelevant in the grander political landscape; and that there would also be chaos in the surface if the supply of lyrium dissapeared (I think one could argue that the impact would be lesser in the South in a wordlstate in which the Circles and the templars were disbanded, since I don't think the use of lyrium is that great if you take away templar maintenance and Harrowings; though maybe there's a greater trade in runes that I'm aware of. The main sufferer in that scenario I think would be Tevinter). All of this to say, that now I'm extra sad that we won't get to play out the consequences of the Titans reveal in Orzammar's politics (maybe some fic should be written about that).
Both Valta and Renn can hear a "rythm" when the earthquakes happen; the sound is compared to the one made by raw lyrium. Darkspwan also implied to be able to hear the sound. I'm assuming this is the "tranquilized" version of Isatunoll, or a remnant of it.
Renn and Valta deduce that Valta can hear the sound better because she has an exceptionally strong Stone sense. Overall, it gets vey reinforced that Valta has an excepcional Stone sense. Which makes you wonder if the reason the Titan "chose her" and could link with her (instead of Cadash or Varric, if present, or any of the Sha-Brytol) is that this strong Stone-sense is what makes Titan-dwarf "reunification" possible (I mean it could be all a matter of narrative convenience, but I'd like to find a logic to it). Harding is never implied to have the Stone sense prior to Veilguard events, but maybe the characteristics of Solas' dagger as a catalyst allow to surpass that limitation.
Okay so I checked a video of these dialogues with a Dwarf Inquisitor, and they don't hear the "rythm", and Valta outright says that they don't have a connection to the Stone because they were born of the surface. It's sad that there's actually a factual basis for some of the prejudices that Orzammar has about surfacers, I don't think I like the implication. Though at the end of the day, all Dwarves all children of the Titans, so maybe the Stone sense can be "trained" back if a surfacer lives underground for long enough? Though, again, the fact that Valta has a stronger Stone sense than Renn, and seems to have had a excepcional sense since she was a child, implies some level of innatism (like it happens with mages in the other heritages).
Valta compares the sound of the Titan's "rythm" to air going through lungs or "someone breathing". Does that mean that it isn't Isatunoll at all, because Isatunoll is a song, not a breathing? Or it is a weakened version of Isatunoll, and the comparison with breathing is there to reinforce that Isatunoll is as natural as beathing for the Titans (not something that has to be produced consciously, but an inevitable byproduct of existing)?
The text that originally points Valta to the Titans is said to be from before the 1rst Blight. In this text, the Titans are already heavily mythologized, implying that the Dwarves had already forgotten they came from them by the time before the 1rst Blight. However, it is evidence that the Titans persisted in Dwarven collective knowledge until the Blights happened.
Conversation between Valta and the Inquisitor when reaching the 2nd camp in the map implies that the Shaperate might have erased the memories of the Titans "because someone with power ordered it" (this is Valta's guess). This is subtextually compared with Valta's backstory of being demoted because she refused to alter the Memories because someone powerful wanted her to. So here's a theory: Orzammar leaders did know about the Titans, but upon seeing that, as a result of the Blights, their kingdom was so dimished, they decided to erase all trace of the Titans because they couldn't afford the risk of anything impeding lyrium mining, since it had become their last source of wealth and political relevance.
Hidrun Thaig is implied to have had problems with a Titan some time before the 1rst Blight, but they made it stop somehow. At the end of the DLC, Valta says she doesn’t know what "disturbed" the Titan back then, but that "the song" may tell her in time. Given that during game events, the Titan is disturbed by the opening of the Breach, we can imagine that something equally catastrophic/strong in magic happened. This is another loose end that will never get resolved :(
A Sha-Brytol carving says that they would protect the Titan "until it stirs", which makes me wonder if part of the Sha-Brytols' deal is that they are waiting for the "awakening" of the Titans from tranquility.
Another carving says that the Titan "sculps the world within and without", Which isn't news, but it gives me a chuckle to think of the Titans' as Thedas' techtonic plaques. It makes you wonder what kind of effect the awakening of the Titans would have in Thedas' geography and enviromental conditions.
Overall, the sheer size, otherworldliness, and lack of humanoid characteristics (other than the heart) transmit better than the Black Codex concept art and Solas' Veilguard fresco the idea that the spirits would've had a really hard time realising they were taking the blood of a living being. Titans really are unlike any other lifeform in Thedas. They are the earth and the earth is them.
Speaking of the Black Codex concept art and Solas' fresco, I'm choosing to imagine that the Titans don't literally pour lava out of their faces, but that this is a symbolic way to transmit the idea that the Titans, with their earth-shaping powers, could create volcanos at will. Imagine going to war against dudes that can create fucking volcanos.
When Valta pushes against the idea that the Titan might be creating the earthquakes in order to "shape" the earth because the eathquakes are "destructive", and that isn't the same as shaping, the Inquisitor might reply: "Depending on your perspective, change can be destructive". It feels a certain kind of way, to me, to hear the Inquisitor enunciate one of the most important and most messily handled thematic concerns of the saga so directly.
Overall, this DLC reminded how much I love the Inquisitor in-game. They can be so, so charming and perceptive, and (in my case) Alix Wilton Reagan's delivery always hits. I also quite like the rapport they develop with Valta (when, after the final fight, she says "I would never hurt you, Inquisitor", after almost attacking them with the Titan magic she just gained... chills).
Valta implies that the Sha Brytol might obtain lyriums without mining, and later it's implied that they "drink" the lyrium. This, along with the fact that the final area of the DLC is called "The Wellspring", seems to point to it being possible to obtain liquid lyrium without processing it.
There is a series of codexes found in the later areas of the DLC called "Chronicles of a Forgotten War" that mentions dwarves fighting a people they called The Scaled Ones ("men like those of the Imperium but covered in scales"). Could this be Kossith that somehow found their way underground? The Dragon Age wiki, in its infinite wisdom, considers the possibility that these people could've been Reavers, humans that were altered after drinking too much dragon blood.
In the Bastion of the Pure (an area full of raw lyrium), there's a secret area with an Arcane Horror doing a blood ritual. In this area, there’s a toppled Myhtal statue, an eluvian frame like Merril's, and an elven altar. Could this be the remains of an elven outpost from the time of the war, or the early empire, that was destroyed, leaving the bodies of the elves to be possesed by spirits?
Upon reaching the ancient city within The Wellspring, the Inquisitor wonders if the constructions are older than the Sha-brytol, who seem to be the current occupants. The Black Codex concept art that was released pointed to Dwarves living originally on the surface and going to live inside the earth only after the mass tranquilisation of the Titans, so the city probably dates from that early era. I wonder why the city was abandoned, since it seems a peaceful and well-protected place, and agriculture is probably possible (we see vegetation in the ancient city, and there's an unknown source of light that seems equivalent to the surface's sun). Also the city seems unnafected by earthquakes, according to Valta, so the movements of the Titan wouldn't have been the problem. Maybe it is simply that population grew too much, and the qualities of the terrain made it impossible to cultivate enough to feed everybody.
The houses inside the Titan are hanging over a cloudy "sky". It makes me wonder if this is the origin of the dwarves' fear of falling into the sky, since that's literally what could happen if you lived at the core of a Titan. It also makes me wonder what might be beneath those clouds (apart, again, from some source of light equivalent to the sun). If The Wellspring is the "chest" of the Titan (since it has the heart), what can be found on their "legs"? Are their feet at the very core of the planet?
According to the Inquisitor, Valta is hit with raw lyrium when the Titan "connects" with her. Solas' dagger is presumably also made with raw lyrium, so here's one point in common in both re-connections. However, the Sha-brytol use raw lyrium in their bodies and according to Valta, they made themselves into "monsters" that way; the difference between herself and them is that the Titan "willed" their connection, she says. Which makes you wonder, was a Titan's will involved in what later happens to Harding in DATV? Could a Titan still be connected to the fragment of them that made the dagger? Or is it just that Solas' macguffins are ridiculously powerful and can overide all the rules.
The theme that cosuming raw lyrium alone isn't enough to re-connect a dwarf to the Titans is reinforced by a secondary quest ("Killing me softly") of the DLC in which you locate the diary entries of a dwarf that was drinking lyrium to connect with "Mother", and ends up very crazy and very dead.
Valta says at the end that everything that's happened (including Renn's death) was to lead her to the Titan. That's why I talked about the Titan choosing her, because there is a sense of predestination. During all the DLC, the main quest's descriptions are asking you to "follow Valta", because her Stone sense allows her to hear the Titan and that's the thread you follow thoughtout all the events of the main quest. Again, it feels like Valta was predestined for the Titan because of her strong Stone sense.
There is something to be said about how the two women who are reconnected to the Titans (Valta and Harding) don't get to consent to having their bodies and cognition irrevocably altered, yet the narrative doesn't seem to find much issue with this lack of consent (other than some sense of strangeness at the situation, perhaps). There is a sense that because connection to the Titans is the "natural" state of the dwarves, it must be good, irregardless of the conditions in which it is achieved.
To end with a happy note, in the final scene of the main questline of the DLC, when the Inquisitor returns to the main camp after saying goodbye to Valta, Harding says to a Legion of the Dead soldier: "See, she always comes back. Pay up, salroka." I thought that was very sweet, I love Harding's love for the Inquistor. Also look at her learning Orzammar slang!
All of this is probably old news for Dwarf scholars, forgive an elf girlie (gn) for their ignorance.
Goodmorning to the Anthropic Claude AI training scraper that suddenly decided to request 660 thousand pages (exactly the number I had remaining on the starter plan) and brought Pikiwedia down.
Sudden switch from diverse user agents like chrome, safari, messenger preview to Just Claudebot. I'm not even mad though, this is maybe the funniest thing possible, because I've inadvertently poisoned their training data with thousands of fucked up articles with normal urls.
Pikiwedia perseveres, back up with a better robots.txt. I hope Anthropic has a gery vood time with Pikiwedia's data :))
