#veilpierced

[theharellan]

What is a trope you’ve always wanted to subvert?

i forget what this meme was for

there are a few tropes i try to subvert or play with on this blog! i won’t go through all of them b/c there are more than i could even think up, but these are ones that are on my mind often

the jaded immortal. solas is a cynical and often bitter person, people comment multiple times in the game how jaded he is, so this is a partial subversion, i suppose. oftentimes with these types of immortals there’s a tendency to characterise them with “i’ve seen it all” and the idea that there’s nothing left on earth for them to see or learn.solas’ outlook is very much the opposite, and you can see it best when you ask him about his journeys through the fade. he describes every day activities with the same awe and reverence as he describes ostagar or the wonders of elvhenan. because for as long as he’s existed he’s still aware experience is infinitely faceted, there is always more to see and learn. someone who thinks he’s seen everything would not still believe in “wisdom as its own reward,” as he says to cassandra.he’s someone who is cynical about power structures and institutions, but his faith in people isn’t wholly negative: “i have people, seeker. the greatest triumphs and tragedies this world has known can all be traced to people.”

bad revolution/good revolution dichotomy. idk how else to describe this, but in media revolutions tend to fall into this trap where if they do anything even mildly morally questionable they’re “as bad as who they’re fighting.” this might manifest in the way it does in d:bh, where the game mechanics often discourage violent revolutionary action even when its wholly in self-defense, or in the cases of violent fictional revolutions they’re held to impossible standards and miraculously only hurt people who deserve it. there is worth in the latter, but i think always sanitizing revolution in fiction has repercussions in non-fiction. i’ve heard ppl describe the fight for LGBTQ+ rights as “entirely peaceful” as though it didn’t start with a riot, and its not unique in that erasurewhat this means for solas is that the elvhen revolution was often uncivil, innocent people died even before the creation of the Veil, but it doesn’t mean there’s a moral equivalence between them and the evanuris. i think in an attempt to vilify solas some people in the fandom (if they don’t ignore the revolution entirely) try to paint the revolution like it was something... bad? b/c it ended with an apocalypse (and they ignore the implication that the evanuris had something worse planned) or b/c solas was still seen by many on his side in a awe-inspiring power (ignoring that the inquisitor they usually use to paint as the “good rebel” is literally considered by many to be the chosen of the dominant religion of the world. what, you say your inquisitor rejects the title of herald? huh, who does that sound like...) but i digress. and i could probably keep digressingmy point is the revolution wasn’t above criticism, but the existence of violence didn’t mean they were wrong to act anymore than the mages in the dragon age are wrong. there’s no such thing as a bloodless revolution, they will inherently disrupt or destroy lives that didn’t deserve either. that doesn’t make them “as bad as who they’re fighting,” it just means the people they’re fighting don’t give up the power they amassed that easily

every trope about mentally ill antagonists. the recent controversy with overwatch’s sigma got me thinking about this tbh. i headcanon solas as someone with mental illness and i believe it’s supported by the game, but not outright said (though the writers also seem to think sera isn’t neruodivergent so maybe they just stumbled into it with solas too lmao). given solas’s role as an antagonist especially going into the next game, i’m always aware of the common tropes we see, especially in video games, that stigmatise the mentally ill.with solas, when his mental health is at its lowest point the person he’s the biggest danger to is himself, or potentially, other people pose a greater danger to him. his struggles aren’t what make him come off poorly to others, and in fact the things that people in thedas perceive as being “crazy” about solas are more related to his status as an apostate who also advocates for the personhood of spirits. while his struggles to determine what’s real did cause him to devalue the personhood of physical people, it’s not the basis of his villainous motivations and something he grows past by the point he’s become an antagonist.

[bloodimagery]

veilpierced replied to your post: [ am i going mad or is the tumblr blue…. bluer?

It is very bluer, ostensibly for accessibility reasons since I believe certain us accessibility legislation that the donald was trying to block finally went into effect when the new year turned over

r i p the blue wasn’t the problem it’s the stark black/white and ability to make double small font that’s the issue re accessibility ????

[aglaecan]

veilpierced replied to your post: holy shit the house next door is explosively on...

yo is it far enough away, be safe please

simplywalks replied to your post: holy shit the house next door is explosively on...

what??!

yeaaaaaaah uh. literally flames pouring out of the upper windows and roof. the firefighters arrived quickly and seem to have it under control; i stayed outside until it seemed like they did and then asked one of them if it was safe to go back into my place and got the thumbs up.

but i am. a little shaky. and it wasn’t even my place. 

[cloudgazercadash]

15. Out of the followers/companions, who are they most comfortable around?

out of the canon inquisition companions it’d have to be sera, cole, vivienne, thom/blackwall, and solas. thora likes most of the inquisition companions (although with bull it takes until post-da:i in her game canon) but those five are the ones that hit the right combination of things.

her initial discomfort about sera stems from sera’s sometimes confusing speech patterns which take a bit for thora to grow accustomed to. sera keeps referring to people not-her as “people people,” too, which is just an odd phrase when thora was people people just a month or two ago at the time they met. in her companion verse i think they’d get along a lot sooner, quicker because there is none of that herald stuff to make the relationship stickier. my in-game headcanon for thora’s post-game involves sera being around, as thora does take her offer to be a jenny. sera is one of the companion relationships that persists beyond inquisition, without it being a long-distance friendship anyway.

cole it’s a similar reason to sera, plus her unfamiliarity with spirits. cole is literally the first one she’s met, and his speech patterns are even stranger. there may always be some discomfort with cole if she’s having a bad day, the thought of having something dredged up might put her on edge around him. but also with cole there’s absolutely zero judgment, and she also evolves into feeling the same about him? like, thora and cole are both people who are very different and yet very similar. when she keeps him a spirit she doesn’t completely understand why he’s happy, but she’s glad he is and was happy to support it.

i think vivienne is the outlier on this list b/c she’s sort of noble. not by birth, her parents were merchants and she’s a mage, but she carries herself like one. vivienne and thora share vastly different opinions on things such as the chantry and circles, things that might strain friendships typically, but also thora isn’t a mage. vivienne’s opinions are just that to her. it certainly does strain their relationship at first, but once you’re friends with vivienne she takes care of you. i can’t say the two are close emotionally but at the same time she does feel comfortable around vivienne.

then blackwall. although in rp this depends upon if the thom agrees to this, but thora sort of knows he’s a criminal before it all comes out. their conversations hint at that past too much for her to be completely oblivious to it, and wardens are known for being penitent criminals. he also doesn’t talk like a highborn lord, giving him some of the same initial comfort she gets from sera. the reveal that he’s not all who he says he is does harm that, but it doesn’t stay like that and i think by trespasser especially - once thom starts actively confronting his past - that discomfort would go away and they could be as they were.

but solas is probably her best friend in the inquisition and the one she’s most comfortable with. like with sera and cole, it does take adjustment. solas lives his life in a way that’s hard for her to grasp, but as she comes to understand him they get more comfortable with each other. most conversations about difficult decisions she has with him either before or after the fact, she’s not free of judgment like she is with cole, but the two end up in a friendship where both are comfortable calling the other. for her part, thora fails to fully grasp the personhood of spirits even after having it explained to her until well into da:i. and for his, well, we know what solas says about dwarves in canon. neither of them let this slide, but there was also always the potential for forgiveness and learning. thora being more emotionally open and touchy also pushes past some of solas’ walls. they’re not the sort of friends who are always all over each other, but if they’re both reading together she will prop herself up on his shoulder. and she gives lots of hugs. everyone in the inner circle gets a hug at least once.