INDEFINITE HIATUS

indie highly hc based rp blog for sera from dragon age ft. andruil | private and highly selective | read rules before following | occasionally nsfw

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[ownthisday-blog]

putting this blog on indefinite hiatus and i might just end up archiving it tbh 

i love sera but writing her doesnt rly come naturally and i can barely run one blog let alone 3-4 

i’ll keep rin over @numin-revas​ if anyone wants to still interact in the da rpc

otherwise u can find me @khoihuwi​ where im most active

[khoihuwi-a-deactivated20200824]

                       ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ | sᴇʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ | ɪɴᴅɪᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴇʀ | ᴘᴇɴɴᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴄᴀʏ  

                                                               ʀᴜʟᴇs | ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ

[mllemaenad]

(1/2)I love your metas, but I do have a point of contention WRT GC Elthina. From Sebastian's (canonical) short story and personal quest, it seems that she views the young Starkhavener as a sort of adoptive son, and it isn't hard to imagine that she feels the same way about the KC and the GE. Honestly, Elthina has always seemed like a tragic character to me. Watching two people you care about have a falling out is never a good feeling. I can't blame her for not wanting to look into the eyes of...

(2/2)… One of the people she loved and tell them she was siding against them. Both M and O were hardliners, refusing to: give magi the benefit of the doubt; and prioritise the stability of the chantry over the lives of his people; respectively. This was exacerbated by depression (O) and RL use (M), making it impossible for them to find compromise. Her devotion to neutrality didn’t help in the long run, but I can’t bring myself to hate a tired old woman who wanted her kids to get along again.

Hi, Anonymous person. Thank you for the compliment, but … really? I mean this, specifically:

Both M and O were hardliners, refusing to: give magi the benefit of the doubt; and prioritise the stability of the chantry over the lives of his people; respectively. 

Oh, Orsino. Why do you have to be so extreme with the ‘not wanting to die’, or even, let’s be really daring, ‘not wanting to be tortured to the point of committing suicide’? Why can’t you understand that it’s important for the Chantry, with all its wealth, power, political influence and privilege, to retain its iron grip on Thedas? I mean, think if it didn’t. We might have things like religious tolerance and basic rights and free speech, and then where would we be? Can’t you and your helpless mages just suffer quietly so the rich, corrupt and powerful can keep on being rich, corrupt and powerful? Look at it from Meredith’s point of view. All she’s done is illegally take control of one little city-state and spend nearly two decades abusing her power to the detriment of pretty much everyone, but especially the mages, who are dying in droves. Is that really so bad?

Look. In terms of his perseverance, and his courage in the face of terrible abuse and mortal peril, Orsino is fierce and heroic. But politically, the man is a moderate. He’s too moderate for me. I mean, I love him, because I understand how he got to this position, and why it’s hard for him to go further, but this is not a winning strategy.

Me, I’m with Anders and Fiona and Adrian and their ilk. The mages must be free. The Chantry – its wealth, its power, its status, its legal hold over so many lives – must go. Not just for the mages. For everyone.

Orsino isn’t asking for that.

As first enchanter, Orsino worked tirelessly to improve the lot of the mages. He wanted, as much as he could, to make their days in the Gallows worth something. Even if they were still prisoners, and even though it was hard, he wanted to give them hope. More importantly, he wanted to give them something of a life so that death would not be preferable.

– World of Thedas, II

He’s not trying to tear down the Circles, or put an end to the Chantry, or anything like that. He wants the mages to be able to walk sometimes in the sun. To not be locked in tiny cells. To be safe from beatings and rape and torture. To not be made Tranquil when they’ve passed their Harrowings. To have meaningful work and leisure. To have a life inside the Circle, while living by Chantry rules.

That’s … not a hardline position. That’s … just a basic standard of living. Meredith is an extremist. The treatment of the mages in Kirkwall is considered remarkable even in other Circles. Even non-mages in Kirkwall have been stirred to sympathy for the mages:

Every Circle in Thedas suffers from individual mages who rebel and attempt to flee. These apostates are usually found and returned to the Circle or mercifully killed if they have fallen to demonic temptation. Until now, I have never served anywhere that the populace does not fully cooperate in hunting these rebels.

Here in Kirkwall, citizens actually help rebel mages escape. Escaped apostates have survived their freedom long enough to form the “the mage underground,” a network that feeds and shelters escapees and even transports apostates into remote areas of the Free Marches and beyond our easy reach.

– The Mage Underground

The mages are hurling themselves from the top of the fucking tower, it’s that bad in there, and people have noticed that something is wrong.

Note that Elthina’s ‘kids’, as you put it, have never got along. Meredith was against Orsino’s election the position of first enchanter. Not because she thought somebody else would be better at the job, but because she didn’t want the mages to have an advocate at all.

First Enchanter Maceron died in 9:28 Dragon without naming a successor. Many were surprised to learn that the Gallows still had a first enchanter; Maceron had spent nearly all of the last decade in his chambers, emerging only rarely. But now he was dead, and the Gallows in need of a new first enchanter. Knight-Commander Meredith was of the opinion that there was no need for one. After all, the Gallows ran perfectly under the Templars, without interference from Maceron. But Orsino realised that the mages needed someone to speak on their behalf, lest the Templars rob them of what few liberties they still had.

– World of Thedas II

It seems she ultimately let it slide because she didn’t really believe he could accomplish anything. As far as I can tell, all he’s managed to do is slow her down a bit. The mages are being tortured to death, and are due for total liquidation in the very near future. But even that is too much for Meredith. The Templars regard Orsino as ‘a menace’ simply for winning his people a few small liberties – liberties of which, by Act 3, they seem to have again been stripped.

Elthina doesn’t give a shit about Orsino or the mages. You know how I know this? Because past a certain point, inaction is in itself a declaration of support. If you’ve got two friends, and they’re arguing about who gets to drink the last beer in the fridge, you can say ‘I’m just going to stay neutral, and let you two sort it out’. But if one of your friends picks up a rock and bashes the other’s skull in, then disposes of the corpse to obscure the evidence and makes up a story about how your now-dead friend was a dangerous criminal and had to be killed, and is awarded medals and accolades for it … and you stand there and watch, and say nothing, and do nothing, then you have sided with the murderer. You are protecting them, and keeping their secrets, and doing nothing to either help or get justice for the victim.

The thing is, Meredith doesn’t need Elthina to side with her. She is not in need of help. She is the de facto Viscount of Kirkwall. She is Knight-Commander of the Kirkwall Templars. She’s not only been brutalising the mages, but attacking the citizens of Kirkwall as well. She can, and does, do whatever the fuck she wants. Elthina standing in the middle of the street and yelling ‘Meredith is right about everything!’ wouldn’t actually change the situation much.

Orsino does need Elthina. He’s not some willful child who just can’t get along with his sister. He is a desperate man struggling to protect people who effectively have no legal rights from a woman who enjoys watching them suffer. He needs Elthina to face down Meredith. He needs her to write to the Divine to plead for their lives. He needs Meredith removed from power. He needs protection and care for his people. He needs these things, not as some ‘hardline’ anti-Chantry position, but just to live.

Elthina does not care about him or his people.

Now – she might care about Meredith. I’m fairly convinced she only cares about people insofar as she can use them (Sebastian included – Elthina has a prince in her direct service, remember), but she has been able to use Meredith, so she might care about her. That’s … not really a point in her favour, though.

Let’s backtrack a bit here, shall we? This is tricky, because we’ve mostly got Chantry sources to work with, and they don’t come right out and say what they’ve done. But the criminal partnership of Grand Cleric Elthina and Meredith Stannard is a long one.

Records indicate that Elthina was born in a small village nestled in the Vimmark Mountains just south of Kirkwall. When she was just a little girl, both her parents contracted a terrible fever that took them both. Elthina never caught the illness, thanks to a kindly neighbour who cared for her while her parents were sick. When her parents died, the neighbour’s husband refused to continue paying for the upkeep of the orphan child, and Elthina was given to the Chantry. She became a lay sister as a girl and, when she came of age, was given the choice to leave the Chantry or take an initiate’s vows. Elthina chose to stay. When she was twenty, she moved south, to Kirkwall, and became a revered mother at the chantry there.

– World of Thedas II

That’s Elthina’s backstory. Note that she came from nothing: an orphan and a pauper. And yet her rise is incredible. By twenty she is revered mother of one of the largest cities in the Free Marches. Note that ‘revered’ means she’s actually responsible for the Kirkwall chantry, not just holding the rank of ‘mother’ like Petrice. This is a woman of drive and ambition. These are not bad things in themselves, of course. But they are noteworthy things. They demonstrate that Elthina is not weak willed or retiring by nature. She’s clawing her way up the Chantry hierarchy as quickly as she’s able.

Now, unfortunately, the way the Chantry works puts a bit of a roadblock in her career there. No further to climb until the boss kicks the bucket. And so the next point of interest …

Following the death of her predecessor, Elthina was appointed grand cleric of the Free Marches by Divine Beatrix III.

– World of Thedas II

Not surprising, perhaps, but noteworthy still, because it reminds us where Elthina owes her favours. Now we get to the meat of it.

In 9:21 dragon, Divine Beatrix commanded that the Kirkwall Templars force the Viscount to allow Orlesian ships through the Waking Sea passage. Knight-Commander Guylian was against it.

It is not our place to interfere in political affairs. We are here to safeguard the city against magic, not against itself.

– History of Kirkwall: Chapter 4

However, there was a certain knight-captain who was not so scrupulous, and who was poised to take command of the Templars:

When Guylian gave a command, it was Meredith who enforced it. Her drive and her devotion to her duty made her a bit of a legend among her fellow Templars, and privately, many thought she possessed a hundred times the old knight-commander’s charisma. Many said that it was Meredith who was really the leader of the Templars, despite her junior rank.

– World of Thedas II

The official story is that Viscount Perrin Threnhold hired mercenaries, who stormed the Gallows and publicly hanged Guylian.

Maybe he did. But. It’s a bit convenient, isn’t it? A man who did not want to fight the Viscount was abruptly replaced by a woman who absolutely did want to fight the Viscount. And he wasn’t just replaced. These mercenaries didn’t do anything sensible, like capture and hold the Gallows, or get hold of all of the Templars’ top officers, or gain control of the lyrium supply – you know, stuff you might do if you were actually trying to beat the Templars. No, they lynched the knight-commander, right out in public, and apparently left every other Templar free to retaliate. Now that they had the justification to do whatever they wanted.

Note that the mercenaries disappear from the story at this point. We don’t know who they were or what happened to them.

Interesting, isn’t it, that a Grand Cleric appointed by Beatrix resides in Kirkwall? Orders for the region would naturally filter through her. Likewise, the Knight-Commander would have first brought his protests to her.

In any case, the Templars stormed the Viscount’s Keep and Perrin Threnhold was arrested.

He was tried and imprisoned three days later by Grand Cleric Elthina and died from poisoning two years later.

– Knight-Commander Meredith

Three days? That’s quick, for deposing the ruler of a city. And with what, exactly, was he charged? This all happened because he opposed the Orlesian empire, and because the Templars were themselves going to war with the Viscount. We don’t know. We only know that Grand Cleric Elthina personally had him imprisoned. Then he died.

Also convenient, isn’t it, that he died mysteriously? Who would have motive to keep him from talking? Or, who might be concerned that he might be able to retake power? How about the people now ruling the city?

Because that’s what happened.

Following Threnhold’s arrest, Grand Cleric Elthina appointed Meredith as the new knight-Commander. At Knight-Commander Meredith’s strong suggestion, a new viscount was chosen: a man named Marlowe Dumar.

– World of Thedas II

Meredith’s service to the Grand Cleric, the Divine and the Orlesian empire was rewarded. She was given the top job in the Templars. The Chantry effectively had control of the city. Meredith cemented that control by finding them a convenient puppet.

Look at who has benefited from this scenario. The Kirkwall chantry is wealthy and influential. Its large Templar presence ensures it is able to maintain its hold on the city.

Elthina has gained quite the reputation for ‘managing’ the Templars:

People frequently turn to her to mediate disputes—particularly those involving the powerful Templar Order, over whom she holds authority as the Chantry’s ranking representative.

– Grand Cleric Elthina

That sounds nice, until you remember that she appointed Meredith to her role, and that the Templars are ruling the city. There shouldn’t really be disputes with the Templar Order. They are empowered (however little I may like it) to take mages to the Circle, and to hunt apostates. They should not be interfering with the general populace at all. Of course they are. Meredith was selected precisely because she was willing to interfere, and she has kept on doing so. Elthina’s reputation is thus one long con. She has been smoothing over those occasions when her knight-commander (and partner in crime) stepped on a few too many noble toes.

And Meredith?

For now, she enjoys the grand cleric’s full support and has free rein in Kirkwall as the commander of its most powerful military force.

– Knight-Commander Meredith

Meredith has, all these years, enjoyed Elthina’s full support. Not just in her role as the boss of the Kirkwall Circle, but as Kirkwall’s military leader. Elthina has backed Meredith every step of the way, since she took control of Kirkwall.

That’s an almost pre-red lyrium Codex entry, from the very first time you meet Meredith. Elthina is worried now, because Meredith’s behaviour is becoming erratic. But prior to this, they have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership. Whether Elthina cares about Meredith as a person is up for debate (she might!) but she certainly cares that Meredith is no longer doing her job as well as she once did.

So I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in sweet Grandma Elthina. Probably that was the writers’ intent, but either they wrote her very badly as a sweet old lady, or there’s some epic subversion going on here. Nothing I have seen in these games, or their Codices, or the supplementary material, has given me any reason to see Elthina as anything other than a manipulative, terrible person, who only works for her own advancement.

I don’t think of her as tragic, and I don’t mourn her death. She’s part of the problem. A bloody big part, at that.

[yelllowboii-deactivated20180823]

[ownthisday-blog]

u know youd think having the same percent for dominant and switch would be confusing but tbh that makes perfect sense for sera

59% Dominant 59% Switch 52% Boy/Girl 50% Vanilla 49% Rigger 48% Experimentalist 46% Brat tamer 42% Daddy/Mommy 42% Master/Mistress 42% Primal (Hunter) 38% Exhibitionist 38% Voyeur 37% Sadist 29% Degrader 27% Non-monogamist 23% Submissive 18% Primal (Prey) 6% Rope bunny 6% Masochist 4% Ageplayer 3% Brat 2% Slave 1% Degradee 1% Owner 1% Pet

[modelsof-color]

Milan Dixon for Glamour South Africa

[modelsof-color]

Milan Dixon by Christopher von Steinbach

[ownthisday-blog]

‘ are those bandages? ’ from mari!

“bandages? yeah. not serious, though! not much anyways. besides you’ve always got bandages! everyone does. that’s what happens when we’re all out fighting big butts with lots of swords. or dragons. but those are fun!” 

she giggles, looking excited even at the memory. but then she seems to sober, almost embarrassed as she glances down at the bandage adorning one hand.

“not dragons or pointy bits this time, though. i was...... making something. but then it burned. and i got burned. stupid.... stupid idea anyways.” 

@hiraecies

[ownthisday-blog]

dropping all threads and clearing out the inbox! come plot w me or send in memes ♡

[ownthisday-blog]

here’s my meme tag if wanna send smth in [x]

[ownthisday-blog]

dropping all threads and clearing out the inbox! come plot w me or send in memes ♡