#oisine

[leliwardens]

leliana not only defining herself by marjolaine and not only defining herself by justinia but also by her mother oisine because she considers herself ferelden, just like she was.

[lelianazine]

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Our first preview is the first illustration in our fanzine featuring lil baby Leliana with her mother Oisine in the Childhood Era by @goargoton!

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[leliwardens]

leliana never actually mentioning anything she likes about ferelden, it's either neutral or outright negative, but bc her mom is ferelden then she considers herself one too since she has little else to relate to her with. normal woman.

[leliwardens]

oh my fucking god chat i forgot oisine was from denerim, chat. chat the leliana/tabris parallels and connections can run deeper. elf oisine? originally living in denerim's alienage??? running into the tabris family??? chat are you there-

[leliwardens]

with leliana's mother's name being "oisine" meaning "fawn/little deer" i don't think she's gonna beat the elf-blooded accusations any time soon

[leliwardens]

Would you mind answering a Leliana-related question for me? I've never seen it confirmed anywhere so I've been forced to guess, but what do you, a Leliana fan, think is Leliana's birthplace? Do you think she was born in Ferelden before her mother moved to Orlais, or was she born in Orlais as a result of her mother moving there?

HI HELLO YES IT IS ME A LELIANA FAN I LOVE TALKING ABOUT HER

SO actual confirmation I don't think we're ever given, and there's a bit of a canon issue of even what country she would of been born in.

(and I believe her follow up to this, is saying she didn't set foot in Ferelden til years later since when Orlais lost and Lady Cecilie took Oisine with her).

And so it's...a bit of a toss up! dlkfds

Personally, thematically, I like her being born in Orlais (specifically the villa as she has her few memories of her mother as a young child there) because regardless of whatever backstory you accept for her (in-game, Leliana's Song, or a mix of both), the first time she returns to her mother's homeland (and possibly the city she was born in) was because of Marjolaine and her betrayal. Then really only truly seeing Ferelden when she travels with the Warden.

[leliwardens]

hello! I've recently been drawn back into DA:O after not playing the games for like 7 years, and am thus in the clutches of Leliana thoughts. I went through your Leliana tag and saw that sometimes you headcanon her mother as being Orlesian, not just that she moved there from Fereldan. I've seen Oisine (which, where does that name come from lore-wise, I feeel like a bad fan for not knowing her mother had a name) be traced back to the Irish masculine name Oisín (1/2)

but to me Oisine reads as much more of a made-up "French sounding" name - it parses as being linguistically closer to Voisine or Oiseaux to me (francophone though, so biased), and I'm not sure if Irish has the feminine e endings(?), but French does. Just wanted to forward that thought, based on what I'm sure was a years-ago post of yours, because I've also always headcanoned Leliana and her mother as being firmly Orlesian. Adds a little more spice to the setting, and of course, francophone bias

hi hello friend I ALWAYS welcome anything leliana dragonage!! and glad we're all on the same boat together for her...

and I do hope you enjoy my tag because prior to the recent resurgence in the last year I have NO idea what's in there dkfdsf. but also don't feel bad! oisine's name only comes from the world of thedas lore books and only a single mention, not much else.

but tysm for sharing your knowledge about her name! :D all I found was the wiki page about the legendary character, oisín, who was regarded as the most famous poet in ireland. so i can see them starting from that point but going "it is not French Enough" and mixing it up a little.

I've.....also not actually given thought to how oisine would identify (o if it was years ago I posted about it, don't remember sdksfsdf). leliana gives two contradicting accounts about where she was born (which I think is just an oversight vs character or lore beat):

(and I'm pretty sure she says after she didn't directly step foot in ferelden til years later)

personally, I like she wasn't born yet when lady cecilie left and was born directly in orlais for thematic reasons, but for oisine it does raise some curious questions! presumably, how one would identify would vary, given up until that point, ferelden was considered part of orlais, or at least a territory of it. oisine's name in-universe being orlesian would be pretty fitting in that case, or at last not outside the norm since orlais nobles did occupy denerim (isolde's family is another one also).

so this could mean with whatever flavor you want it to be, with oisine considering herself orlesian (or maybe not caring as much) but with leliana grabbing at whatever she can from her mother because she remembers so little, so oisine living in denerim = ferelden to her and so she's ferelden. ack...my poor sweet girl..... :''')

or maybe oisine was the same as her daughter, and despite growing up amongst orlesians and/or occupied ferelden, proudly considered herself a ferelden, even when she left her home. could add some homesickness there, or telling little bitty leliana one day she'll show her where she grew up...ack....my poor sweet girl x 2

this is all a big treat for me to think on and throw into my lore so thank you so very much!!!

(bonus for me is I hc oisine as elven, so another juicy layer for me hehe)

[higheverhounds]

Come get some sheepish Leli-kin~   ^3^