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dammit.
Reblogged trash-begging
i love vanilla solas sm. narrow eyes, long nose, full pink lips, greasy skin, open pores, white dry patches on his shiny bald head. wow
Reblogged sapphiclament
another practise portrait in this style! this time with neve <3
Reblogged fenvellan
*cups ao3 author's face in my hands gently* please. you are the only one who understands the blorbos correctly. you must write more.
It's all because of the Veil
Why does Veilguard have less moral complexity than previous DA games? I think a significant part of the reason is that nearly all of the social issues introduced in previous games point toward taking the Veil down, or at least provide some reasons for taking that seriously as an option, and thus any discussion of them had to be suppressed.
- The oppression of mages? Take the Veil down, so everyone will become mages and they won't be a terrifying other any more.
- The binding of spirits and everyone ignoring their personhood? Take the Veil down, so spirits will be less easy to bind since they won't be desperately trying to join the physical world, and people will get used to living side by side with them so they will no longer be a terrifying other.
- Elven oppression? Take the Veil down, give the elves back their immortality and magic, and that will certainly change the balance of power in ways that will benefit them.
- Corrupt mages ruling in Tevinter? Take the Veil down, so everyone will become mages and the magisters won't have special power any more.
- Slavery in Tevinter? Take the Veil down, because the magisters will lose their power and Tevinter will be weakened or might even fall apart.
- Abominations? Take the Veil down, so spirits won't have to use mages to enter the physical world.
- Tranquility? Take the Veil down, so mages can't become abominations and there will be no reason to make them tranquil any more.
- The templars being given lyrium by the Chantry? Take the Veil down, no need for Templars any more.
- People being brainwashed in the qun? Take the Veil down, so the qun's anti-magic teachings will be threatened and the resulting societal upheaval will likely change qunari culture in significant ways.
Now obviously taking the Veil down wouldn't fix all of these things completely, and of course the exact moral calculus would depend sensitively on exactly how much damage taking the Veil down would actually cause; the game offers only very vague assertions from unreliable sources on this point, so there's no way to actually determine whether it would be a net positive.
But nonetheless all of these issues naturally provide arguments in favour of taking the Veil down. And it sure is striking to note the possibility that this single thing could address so many problems in one fell swoop!
Thus, since it was decided that the Veil wasn't coming down, the game couldn't really talk about any of these issues, since otherwise people might agree too much with Solas. The only exception is the evil magisters, but that is presented as a problem of some bad people who have to be killed, rather than interrogating the root causes in terms of the inherent inequality of a society in which a small proportion of people have all the magical power - a topic that can't be touched because, again, it leads to an argument for taking down the Veil.
And the problem is that the topics above cover almost all of the big social issues previously shown to us in Thedas. The only major thing left is issues relating to dwarven society, but since there is no dwarf faction there's no possibility of exploring that. Or perhaps there could have been a more in-depth exploration of the Titans - but any serious conversation about that would need to touch on elves and hence on elven oppression and would therefore still lead back to the Veil.
Honestly I sympathize with the writers here, because I suspect that the overarching decision to leave the Veil up and suppress any discussion of issues relevant to it was not theirs, so they were working within quite rigid constraints that weren't their fault. I personally think there is some really good writing and particularly great character work in the game, but it ends up feeling shallow because the topics above are barely touched and thus almost all of the moral nuance of previous games had to be dropped.
Reblogged mythalism
idk another thing about dragon age that i loved was community through adversity. like that was the big theme of da2. its the reason everyone on the Gay website liked it was it not. the feeling of acceptance not necessarily in a safe space but in the feeling that you arent alone in your suffering. being able to vent with anders about having to hide an entire facet of your identity you should be proud of. were we not all collectively heartened by that. why am i suddenly being demonized for wanting that back. why is it bad that i dont feel empowered by datv's generalized message of We Are All One Race: The Game. where am i
Solas' favorite philosophers
This post made me go down a rabbit hole thinking about what philosophy Solas would like to read (you know he would definitely read a lot of philosophy!)
I think Solas' top philosopher would be Bertrand Russell:
- “Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.” Clearly Solas would be on board with this, except with mankind expanded to include non-human persons.
- “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” He would underline this several times, thinking about the spirits.
- “The secret of happiness is very simply this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.” One of my favorite things about Solas in Inquisition is how interested he is in everyone and everything, so he would definitely agree with this sentiment.
- “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” He wrote something like this in his diary while dealing with Rook, I imagine.
I also think Solas would enjoy Simone de Beauvoir:
- “I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.” Of course he would expand it to non-human people, but clearly he'd love this.
- “All oppression creates a state of war.” Indeed. He's not someone who would ever compromise with an oppressor.
- “I was made for another planet altogether. I mistook the way.” I think this feeling would resonate a lot with him.
Reblogged
So I just finished Cole's personal quest in Inquisition, and I decided to make him more spirit for the first time in a long time. I completely forgot what an ass Varric is about it holy shit.
"He could've been a person." Gee thanks Varric for sharing with the class that you don't see Cole as a person???
Reblogged lathbora-virann
Anonymous asked:
You likely don't remember me, but I'm the anon who asked you a few weeks ago, "why would anyone think Solas would choose Lavellan over Mythal." Thank you for replying to it the way you did. It actually inspired me to play DAI, seeing how passionate you were about Solavellan.
I finished Trespasser last Friday, and I must say I FUCKING GET IT NOW. I ABSOLUTELY DO. That bald bitch has crawled his way into my brain and pussy.
I was mildly irritated by him in Veilguard. I sneered at Lavellan's lovey-dovey "let me join you in your prison." I didn't know their lore, indeed. You were absolutely right, the tastiest parts happen outside of the three kissing scenes they had in DAI. His personal quest? Blew my fucking mind. What he says during Cole's quest? I'm on my knees. ("We cannot change our nature by wishing," Solas says and looks straight at Lavellan. Or his reply to Varric's "He could have been a person." is, "Would that have made him happier, child of the Stone?")
Everything about how Solavellan was written in DAI resonates. Her first flirt with him is "I will protect you." His passionate speech on spirits? (The youtube compilation I watched didn’t have it, so it was such a treat to see it for the first time and finally be able to enter discourse on this!) I loved how the flirt is "I look forward to help you make new friend wink-wink," which makes him FLUSTERED. YET he approves way more if you actually consider his point of view and say spirits (and by extension him) are real people!
I had no idea how protective and private he was over romance with the Inquisitor in DAI (he shuts down Sera and Cassandra right away). So while I would absolutely have liked him to speak more on Lavellan in Veilguard, especially after experiencing the romance for myself, I do also see now why he would be quite unwilling to open up to Rook of all people. (When I heard his "There are few regrets sharper than watching fools squander what you sacrificed to achieve," I thought of Rook right away, lol. Oh, what irony.)
The Temple of Mythal quest and the conversation with him afterwards made me dizzy. What do you mean Mythal has a bunch of elves chained to her will, doing her bidding for millennia, and she never visits?? What do you mean she used whoever drank from the Well as her puppet?? What do you mean she wants a reckoning that will shake the heavens?? How on earth are NONE of those things referenced in the direct sequel??? Why is she portrayed as a noble martyr, when she was clearly part of the issue? (Vallaslin are SLAVE MARKINGS, and I may be dumb, but I never heard that in Veilguard for some reason?? And Solas HAD HERS on his FACE???? I only now understand the "I release you from my service" bit.)
His "I begged you not to drink from the Well" hit me. (I made my Lavellan do it, btw. At that point I thought, ofc nothing bad will come of this decision, I know Mythal to be a spirit of benevolence and kindness. LOL!!!! Then Flemeth overrides my Inquisitor's will for something as minor as chastising her daughter. And that was a kinder version of Mythal, who lived among mortals for centuries, apparently? xD) As did his "Everything you do, whether you know it or not, will be for her." And "I know that mistake well enough to carve the angles of her face from memory."
Mind-blowing. And everything about Trespasser obliterated the remains of my brain. Companion comments on Solas leaving?? What Cole said about him??? Lavellan's words after witnessing the mural of him removing vallaslin from slaves?? He had agents??? He had plans???? Elves joined him???? He visited her dreams, looking like a sad wet puppy???
Trespasser was such a fantastic setup. It had everything. I genuinely have never experienced a drama and romantic tragedy in a video game the way I did with Solavellan in that DLC. AND I knew Veilguard would have them reunited. I can only imagine how it was for people who played it on release, not knowing. The wait? The theorizing? The heartbreak?
It is a superior ship, no doubt about it. "I look at you and I see what you truly are" (DING DING, memory of Duet codex was actually inspired by what he said to Lavellan??) "You are unique. In all Thedas I never expected to find someone who can DRAW MY ATTENTION FROM THE FADE" (now I fucking see why she is singular and special to him!). "Ar lasa mala revas. You are free." Var lath vir suledin???????????!!!!!!!!
Fuuuuuuuuuck. lights a cigarette On the flipside, now I clearly see what a wet disgrace Veilguard's writing was. Absolute assassination of the meatiest plot points (the Well? Mythal’s reckoning?? Solas's entire drive to save his people??). Also, it was dumb not to utilize his romance with Lavellan more. Like—have people hate her for this! Hello? Your Chantry Herald had a lover who wants to destroy the world. Any comments, everyone?
Sorry for so much rambling. I'm still processing my emotions. What a game. What a weirdly hot, soul-crushing, heartbreaking love story. And they are together in the Fade now, for eternity...*SIGH*
i hope you know i was cackling with glee as i read this message. i am so so so so glad you played inquisition and trespasser and had such a wonderful time. it is so fun to witness the brain worm overtaking someone in real time. welcome to hell and please feel free to come share your thoughts and continue to process any time <3