#nahashnesher

[sunshinemage]

👀 for Ruan :-)

Ruan Trevelyan:

Brave and righteous, he’s not afraid to take a stand and fight for what he believes in, and if a cause is just he will defend it to the best of his abilities. He’s a man of many trades, insatiably curious student and skilled swordsman. He’s the kind of man I’d trust and follow during trying times.

[ourinquisitorialness]

@nahashnesher replied to your post “I genuinely don’t understand when I see fans being mad about Bioware...”

I tend to agree with you, though there is some likelihood that they may leave it implied rather than explicit, as they have done with previous hints. Plus the very concept of the Maker, by its very nature, is virtually impossible to completely disprove for those who want to believe in it. My money would be on the audience being left to make up their own mind.

That might be true, but I mean...the Dalish gods are also impossible to completely disprove. Nobody except the Inquisitor actually spoke to Solas and heard the truth. And even if someone else had been there, why would they believe Solas (a random elf who isn’t even Dalish) instead of continuing to believe in the gods they’ve worshipped for centuries?

I don’t for a minute believe that if the Inquisitor went around telling all the Dalish that their gods are fake that they’d all just stop worshipping their pantheon. Even if it was a Lavellan Inquisitor.

Again, please don’t mistake my arguments as any kind of attempt to say that what Bioware did with the Evanuris was the right thing or that fans don’t have a right to feel angry about a formerly enslaved, minority-coded race having the “truth” of their religion stripped away from them. I do understand that there’s a problematic underlying theme there.

But the gods wouldn’t become less true or real to the Dalish after DA:I. The only person who’s really “lost” their religion is a Lavellan Inquisitor. Other Dalish will (I can only assume) continue to worship just like they always have. And they’re not stupid or naive for doing that. The fact that the gods weren’t really gods doesn’t invalidate their religion. Whatever the Evanuris were or weren’t, that was a thousand years ago. The Dalish religion is about more than whether or not the gods actually literally existed -- it’s an entire part of their culture, it’s tradition and family and pride and lots of other things that can’t be erased by Solas or whatever the Evanuris were.

And as for Andrastianism...well, I mean, DA:I kind of did debunk Andrastianism at least partially. The Anchor isn’t the Mark of the Maker. The Inquisitor learns for a fact that the Anchor is a magical effect caused by an Elvhen artifact -- an artifact that belonged to the Evanuris, in fact -- and has nothing to do with the Maker. Of course, it doesn’t seem like anyone who believes in “the Herald” is interested in believing the Anchor isn’t divine, but that doesn’t make it less true.

The game might seem to gloss over the Anchor and what happens in the Fade, but this is a big deal. If the Herald isn’t “really” the Herald and wasn’t “really” divinely chosen, then it’s more than possible that Andraste wasn’t “really” divinely chosen either, that the Maker doesn’t “really” exist at all.

Who knows. I mean, I’m just taking my best guesses at where the devs are going. Maybe the audience will be left to make up their own mind, but I hope not. I hope this is a thread that Bioware’s going to run with.

[ourinquisitorialness]

This might be a stupid question but what is Hu/xlo?

Ah, not a stupid question! Hu/xlo (also known as Ky/lux) is the shipping name for Kylo Ren x General Hux, who you might know better as The Unstable Emo Sith Boy and The Literal Nazi from The Force Awakens.

Aside from the fact that there’s no basis for shipping them together whatsoever (Hux has literally 3 minutes of screentime and probably spends 2 and a half of those minutes bitching about how much he hates Ren) it’s also become a ship that some associate with racist members of the fandom who would rather write slashfic about two white men who literally murder millions of innocent people than write anything about the movie’s men of color – specifically, Finn, who’s one of the film’s heroes but features in sparingly few fics on AO3.

@diversehighfantasy has written a lot about the subject, which is mostly how I know about it as an issue in fandom. You can read their opinions in their fandom racism tag if you have an interest in the topic.

tl;dr “ship and let ship,” but I personally don’t see any basis for Hu/xlo and I can see why others have pointed it out as symptomatic of deeper problems within the fandom.

[ourinquisitorialness]

@nahashnesher replied to your post: This might be a stupid question but what is...

Oh riiiight. Now I get it. I can see where the critics are coming from on Ep.7. With Rogue One though there is so much more to suggest a relationship with depth between Erso and Krennik (at the very least from Krennik’s side). I assume there are more answers to that in Catalyst. As you point out, the characters have so little time for romance and a platonic relationship is so refreshing. It seems that Baze/Chirrut and Galen/Orson are the only ones with canon support.

Yeah! That’s how I see it too re: Galen and Krennic. When I say I “ship them” I don’t mean that I think they’d be happy and in love together, haha, but I can see there being a past there, and a complicated relationship that could be just a friendship, but can also be read as something romantic or sexual.

I do hope there might be more answers in Catalyst, I really wanna read it now, hahah.

And yes! Agreed, there’s so little time for anything like romance. With both Baze/Chirrut and Galen/Krennic, we’re talking about pre-established relationships that existed long before the start of the film, so it makes sense. As for Cassian/Bodhi, yeah, there’s not much canon support for them, but I can see them developing something...if they had more time, maybe.

Thanks for your comments! :D

[grogblogging]

@nahashnesher replied to your post “smol reminder that u can also find me at these places: personal blog...”

OH! Are you the person who put together those 'Sounds of Thedas' playlists? They are amazing and atmospheric. Thank you for those.

haha yes, that’s me! & thank u so much, im rly glad u like them =]

(theyre all here if anyones curious)

[grogblogging]

The quote thing is back?! Conrad Evenrig is a nobleman and son of Bann Caspar, war hero and the last Champion of Ostwick. His parents died in a shipwreck when he was 14 & he became the ward of the Teyrn of Ostwick, who may be overprotective or may be jealous of the power and reputation of Conrad's family. Conrad fears he can't live up to his father's legacy & hides insecurity behind a rakish, irresponsible demeanour. Despite this he is quite capable when his pride pushes him to assert himself.

yes! more quotes! i rly enjoyed it last time & i missed doing oc stuff =]

ahhh i rly like conrad. he sounds like maybe this is something he needs to hear:

❝Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.❞     –rabbi tarfon

tell me about your oc & i’ll find a quote for them!

[becausedragonage]

1/2: Do you think that Andrasteans pray? A straightforward answer would be no. The Maker is said to have turned away from creation and does not intervene. Yet it seems like prayer to old gods was practiced by by Alamarri and Tevinter...

2/2:... So I can imagine the early chantry adopting those beliefs, just as early christianty adopted old gods as saints. Might they pray to Andraste for intercession (a la Virgin Mary?) Might there be disputes in the chantry about the practice?

Ah! This has been sitting in my inbox so long. All of my apologies @nahashnesher!

I think they do probably do pray and there’s lots of evidence for that in game. 

Intercessory prayer is probably the order of the day, whether a person is looking to make a prayer of contrition (asking for forgiveness), petition (asking for something like strength or courage), adoration or thanksgiving. Even meditative prayer, probably something done more by those in religious life than ordinary folk, would be intercessory to some degree.

The thing about prayer is that it’s about relationship. It’s communication within the relationship a person has with a metaphysical other, but the other has got to be receptive in some way or there’s no relationship, right? So aside from rote repetitions of the Chant to draw the Maker out of his sulk, Most of the above sorts of prayers are going to be to Andraste, not the Maker. 

Which raises an interesting question. What if the Maker finally turned back to humanity and humanity just gave a collective shrug and said, “Nah, we’re good with Andraste. You can fuck off again now.”

[sunshinemage]

I have a question about Dirvhenan Worldstate: I believe that it was Nin that went to Therinfall and recruited the templars? If so did Envy behave in the same way? Did it try to possess Nin? Did Envy see that as an end in itself or a way of getting to the Herald?

Aaaah, thank you for the question!

But no, it’s the other way around: Thalon went to Therinfal and dealt with Envy, while Nin went to Redcliffe Castle to deal with Alexius’ time magic shenanigans.

I’ll talk about Nin’s side, but if you want to know Thalon’s side, I’ll send you to  @ourinquisitorialness >:D

Nin is sent to Redcliffe in Thalon’s place for a good reason. It was decided that the Inquisition would try to recruit both mages and templars simultaneously. It had to be Thalon who went to Therinfal, since his face was known to the templars (thanks to the little incident in Val Royeaux). At Redcliffe though, the only thing about the Inquisitor that Alexius’ guards knew was that he was a Dalish elf.

Of course Alexius had already met Thalon, so when Nin showed up in his place, he didn’t waste any time (haha) and sent him into the future with Dorian.

In the future Nin saw, Lord Inquisitor Thalon Lavellan had been possessed by the demon Envy.

At Therinfal, at the same moment Nin was sent though time by Alexius, Thalon felt his bond with Nin disappear. Suddenly his nas’falon was gone. It made his will falter and Envy had taken advantage of his distress, and by extent taken control of the Inquisition. Corypheus had then been able to do as he pleased without consequences.

That’s for context.

Now when Nin and Dorian found themselves in Redcliffe Castle’s dungeons, Nin immediately felt sick. The bond that linked him to Thalon was there, but it was so faint, and so horribly corrupted it disoriented him. After a while, the two mages had to go and figure out where/when they were so they could do something about it.

Of course, everyone Nin met in this future thought him dead. Walking through the castle’s dungeons, he ran into the ones he had brought with him at Redcliffe, the only ones of Haven’s Inquisition who were still alive: Solas, Vivienne and Varric.

The rest pretty much follows as the game shows, except that Nin can’t close the rifts and thus can’t stop the demons from pouring out of them. So to get to Alexius and his amulet, they either have to avoid them or run before the next wave of demons gets out of them.

Nin is grateful for not running into Envy!Thalon while they were making their way through the castle. He still shudders when he tries to imagine it, and would rather he didn’t try to imagine at all.

After they get back, Nin gets overwhelmed to feel his nas’falon as he did before. From this moment, he keeps an eye on everyone (but more so on Varric) when they’re out in the field fighting red templars (especially in the Emprise du Lion). He also gets closer to Leliana, whom he likes calling Nightingale instead of her actual name.

Even if he knows Thalon is fine and not possessed, he keeps asking him (and often checking for himself) to make sure for about a week.

After what they both experienced at that time, I think it’s safe to say Thalon and Nin didn’t leave each other’s sight for a little while.