I do wonder sometimes... I know that a lot of people here were also on tumblr, as did a seemingly significant portion of DA fandom. But after what happened to tumblr some time ago, is it still true? Are there many DA folks on tumblr yet or did they move/expanded on different platforms and if so - which ones?
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
I would consider a forgiving and merciful personality an absolute requirement to play an Inquisitor who would romance Solas. After all, only someone with an infinitely understanding and soft heart would listen to his plan in Trespasser and still want to be with him.
It is part of why I had my Inquisitor be kind towards everyone in the game that did horrible things with good intentions, like the Grey Wardens, Ms Poulin, Alexius and so on.
On a different note, I was thinking about how Solas tried to dismantle the Evanuris propaganda by telling the freed slaves that they're nothing but powerful mages. Overrated mortals. But at the same time, he tells you that he couldn't kill the elven gods because "The first of my people do not die so easily". Mythal isn't completely gone either, despite the efforts to destroy her.
I believe this was a deliberate white lie. Solas was fully aware that there is nothing ordinary about the Evanuris, but he had to convince people that the rebellion could succeed.
On a different note, I was thinking about how Solas tried to dismantle the Evanuris propaganda by telling the freed slaves that they're nothing but powerful mages. Overrated mortals. But at the same time, he tells you that he couldn't kill the elven gods because "The first of my people do not die so easily". Mythal isn't completely gone either, despite the efforts to destroy her.
I believe this was a deliberate white lie. Solas was fully aware that there is nothing ordinary about the Evanuris, but he had to convince people that the rebellion could succeed.
I've thought of this, too. It is like a deliberate campaign to dethrone, isn't it? It reminds me of the rise of Christianity. "Those aren't *real* Gods, you know!" What's the twist, though? Fen'Harel and his followers weren't trying to replace the Evanuris with themselves, so what exactly was the campaign about? Was it really a quest for freedom from tyranny, or was it something Mythal instigated for her own reasons?
On a different note, I was thinking about how Solas tried to dismantle the Evanuris propaganda by telling the freed slaves that they're nothing but powerful mages. Overrated mortals. But at the same time, he tells you that he couldn't kill the elven gods because "The first of my people do not die so easily". Mythal isn't completely gone either, despite the efforts to destroy her.
I believe this was a deliberate white lie. Solas was fully aware that there is nothing ordinary about the Evanuris, but he had to convince people that the rebellion could succeed.
There's one problem here I see - you seem to operate under the assumption that common (?) ancient elves were mortal or understood mortality the same way modern Thedosians do. But we already know this isn't the case.
Their lives and lifespans weren't like those of modern Thedosians. They were thoroughly magical beings from advanced magical civilization. Whatever 'mortal' is to them isn't the same as it is to us.
And if even humble servants were immortal (however that immortality looked like) it means that the most powerful out of them were indeed nigh-indestructible. That doesn't yet make them either gods or so super-special that they can't be taken down. And the rebellion was clearly Solas's preferred option to deal with them (with the Veil being the last resort). Otherwise I'm not sure why he'd bother.
Last Edit: Sept 4, 2019 18:08:52 GMT by midnight tea
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
On a different note, I was thinking about how Solas tried to dismantle the Evanuris propaganda by telling the freed slaves that they're nothing but powerful mages. Overrated mortals. But at the same time, he tells you that he couldn't kill the elven gods because "The first of my people do not die so easily". Mythal isn't completely gone either, despite the efforts to destroy her.
I believe this was a deliberate white lie. Solas was fully aware that there is nothing ordinary about the Evanuris, but he had to convince people that the rebellion could succeed.
I've thought of this, too. It is like a deliberate campaign to dethrone, isn't it? It reminds me of the rise of Christianity. "Those aren't *real* Gods, you know!" What's the twist, though? Fen'Harel and his followers weren't trying to replace the Evanuris with themselves, so what exactly was the campaign about? Was it really a quest for freedom from tyranny, or was it something Mythal instigated for her own reasons?
From Trespasser: [...]A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers:
"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."
Last Edit: Sept 3, 2019 21:23:32 GMT by midnight tea
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
I've thought of this, too. It is like a deliberate campaign to dethrone, isn't it? It reminds me of the rise of Christianity. "Those aren't *real* Gods, you know!" What's the twist, though? Fen'Harel and his followers weren't trying to replace the Evanuris with themselves, so what exactly was the campaign about? Was it really a quest for freedom from tyranny, or was it something Mythal instigated for her own reasons?
From Trespasser: [...]A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers:
"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."
That may be Fen'Harel's reason, but what about Mythal?
Sure Solas paints a merciful and compassionate picture of her as one of the few (only?) evanuris that cared about her people, but she's still evanuris. And not in the sorta-evanuris-sorta-not way that Fen'Harel was.
For all intents and purposes she was not only one of the evanuris who benefitted from being the highest class of Arlathan, she was highest of high class being the main matriarch of the entire pantheon. Second (maybe) only to Elgar'nan. Hell, she was probably one of the main founders of Arlathan. Which means that all the things going wrong with the empire--including slavery--were within her power to control or influence.
Granted, I'm sure her power wasn't absolute at some point. Presumably with her power shared amongst the other evanuris. But I just find it....fishy, that the supposedly 'best' of the evanuris is one of the ones who most benefits from the system.
TLDR; I view Mythal much in the same way as I view Flemeth. I wouldn't be surprised if she was acting in the greater good of the world and its people. But at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if she was only doing it for herself.
From Trespasser: [...]A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers:
"What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."
That may be Fen'Harel's reason, but what about Mythal?
Sure Solas paints a merciful and compassionate picture of her as one of the few (only?) evanuris that cared about her people, but she's still evanuris. And not in the sorta-evanuris-sorta-not way that Fen'Harel was.
For all intents and purposes she was not only one of the evanuris who benefitted from being the highest class of Arlathan, she was highest of high class being the main matriarch of the entire pantheon. Second (maybe) only to Elgar'nan. Hell, she was probably one of the main founders of Arlathan. Which means that all the things going wrong with the empire--including slavery--were within her power to control or influence.
Granted, I'm sure her power wasn't absolute at some point. Presumably with her power shared amongst the other evanuris. But I just find it....fishy, that the supposedly 'best' of the evanuris is one of the ones who most benefits from the system.
TLDR; I view Mythal much in the same way as I view Flemeth. I wouldn't be surprised if she was acting in the greater good of the world and its people. But at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if she was only doing it for herself.
I think Mythal was someone who tried to fix or rein in the system from within, while Solas was someone who - at one point - has decided that it's either not working or it's not enough.
From my perspective there are parallels with Celene and Briala there. Not necessarily in a sense that their relationship was identical to a T, but still - Celene was also on top of the food chain and Briala believed that the Empress was the way to make things better. The issue with Celene was that her approach was incremental or not bold enough when boldness was necessary.
So it's a good old 'incrementalism vs. revolution' conflict IMO.
Solas was probably in a position in which he's put a lot of faith in Mythal pulling strings in a good direction, only to realize that it's either not enough or he has to push things himself to avoid disaster looming on the horizon.
If this indeed happened I can see a scenario where there was a lot of tension between them for that. Mythal may have thought that she has her hand on pulse, contingencies in place and PLANS (or still believed Evanuris project was salvageable), but Fen'Harel's rebellion threatened or undermined a lot of that. From hints an suggestions it does seem like she's still secretly supported him... unless the secret greeting was something from way earlier?.
In any case, Mythal secretly supporting Fen'Harel and doing her part from within to help it succeed while pacifying Evanuris is not implausible at all. It may have also been a thing that has eventually cost her life, which has ultimately forced Solas to create the Veil.
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
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Post by AlleluiaElizabeth on Sept 4, 2019 20:25:04 GMT
xerrai To be fair, its implied Mythal knew of and was aiding Solas' rebellion since the well of sorrows knew his secret passphrase, so she was influencing against slavery in that way. We have no idea what public stance she took on the issue, but given the political situation it'd be understandable if she didn't try to just unilaterally outlaw the practice. She was powerful, maybe even the most powerful; but the rest weren't weak, especially when acting together. Slavery was at the foundations of at least some of the gods' cults and being forced to do away with it would have united those dissonant gods in a common cause; turning against Mythal. And we know the result of that state of affairs since it happened later anyway, albeit mostly over something else.
And Mythal didn't set up a kingdom without slavery in the first place, true. But that might be forgivable and understandable, imo. Lots of speculation ahead, in a wall of text, but:
When they evolved from spirits and gained physical bodies, elves may very well have been the only people they'd ever known about. Men weren't on the continent at the time, and Dwarves might very well have still not had a connection to the Fade and not been known to them. Kossith may not even have existed, yet, if some theories are right. So, the elves wouldn't have had anything except themselves and their pasts as spirits as reference for how a social system should work. And in the Fade, we see that spirits (or demons at least) seem to form domains, with the less powerful spirits within those being subject to the rulership of the spirit in charge.
So its natural to me that elves set up their society that way at first. And slavery, ie someone exercising complete control over someone else's life, seems a natural outgrowth of that mentality. Slavery, tyranny, the strong imposing their will on the not-as-strong, is a natural first step in civilization. It happened with human beings; still happens in many parts of the world. When Mythal and company started Arlathan, they didn't have the centuries of history and philosophical development, especially the universal rights argument developed from religious influences like judeo-christian thought like we do in the real world in modern times, to determine that "Slavery is evil." As far as we know, they only had themselves.
Solas is the first real attempt to change things, and Mythal got behind him, might even have inspired him a bit for all we know. But I'm not exactly aghast that she "allowed" slavery developed in the first place. She and the others literally may not have had a better way in mind when it started, with her gradually over time coming to the conclusion that it was not the best path for her people.
TLDR; I'm not too bothered by Mythal not opposing slavery from the start. And I think she did what she feasibly could against it in the end.
That may be Fen'Harel's reason, but what about Mythal?
[...]
TLDR; I view Mythal much in the same way as I view Flemeth. I wouldn't be surprised if she was acting in the greater good of the world and its people. But at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if she was only doing it for herself.
I think Mythal was someone who tried to fix or rein in the system from within, while Solas was someone who - at one point - has decided that it's either not working or it's not enough.
From my perspective there are parallels with Celene and Briala there. Not necessarily in a sense that their relationship was identical to a T, but still - Celene was also on top of the food chain and Briala believed that the Empress was the way to make things better. The issue with Celene was that her approach was incremental or not bold enough when boldness was necessary.
So it's a good old 'incrementalism vs. revolution' conflict IMO. [...] In any case, Mythal secretly supporting Fen'Harel and doing her part from within to help it succeed while pacifying Evanuris is not implausible at all. It may have also been a thing that has eventually cost her life, which has ultimately forced Solas to create the Veil.
Oh I don't doubt that one bit. From what little we know, we can reasonably assume that Mythal was trying to better the empire. Either with using her sway in legitimate government or resorting to supporting Fen'Harel's more clandestine efforts.
But I just think it is a legitimate question to wonder if she was really doing this out of the goodness of her heart. Or if this was simply a mean to salvage the longevity of a empire where she and few others were on top. So while I do see some Celene-Briala paralells going on, I can potentially see a Vivienne parallel as well. One where a person who has benefited from certain institutions is willing to enact some choice reforms that benefit her people--but this is primarily with the intent of ensuring that she remains on top. Which isn't to say that she lacks her own moral compass or anything, but she could have well been partially motivated by self preservation.
Or familial preservation, if the Dalish are even half right in that nearly all of the evanuris are related to one another.
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I think Mythal was someone who tried to fix or rein in the system from within, while Solas was someone who - at one point - has decided that it's either not working or it's not enough.
From my perspective there are parallels with Celene and Briala there. Not necessarily in a sense that their relationship was identical to a T, but still - Celene was also on top of the food chain and Briala believed that the Empress was the way to make things better. The issue with Celene was that her approach was incremental or not bold enough when boldness was necessary.
So it's a good old 'incrementalism vs. revolution' conflict IMO. [...] In any case, Mythal secretly supporting Fen'Harel and doing her part from within to help it succeed while pacifying Evanuris is not implausible at all. It may have also been a thing that has eventually cost her life, which has ultimately forced Solas to create the Veil.
Oh I don't doubt that one bit. From what little we know, we can reasonably assume that Mythal was trying to better the empire. Either with using her sway in legitimate government or resorting to supporting Fen'Harel's more clandestine efforts.
But I just think it is a legitimate question to wonder if she was really doing this out of the goodness of her heart. Or if this was simply a mean to salvage the longevity of a empire where she and few others were on top. So while I do see some Celene-Briala paralells going on, I can potentially see a Vivienne parallel as well. One where a person who has benefited from certain institutions is willing to enact some choice reforms that benefit her people--but this is primarily with the intent of ensuring that she remains on top. Which isn't to say that she lacks her own moral compass or anything, but she could have well been partially motivated by self preservation.
Or familial preservation, if the Dalish are even half right in that nearly all of the evanuris are related to one another.
I really hope the familial ties is one thing the Dalish did get right. I'm kind of invested in Mythal and Elgar'nan's relationship and wanting to know more about it. And see it play out when/if they meet again. Or hear what he has to say about... everything, with that as the background.
Also, the quintessential mother goddess being betrayed by her husband and children (assuming Solas is right about who betrayed her in the first place, which he might not be) is poetic and tragic and am I a horrible person for wanting it to be what happened (or at least be what seems to have happened)? Probably.
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KIDS the last short story in the upcoming anthology Tevinter Nights is called "Dread Wolf Take You" and its by Patrick Weekes. man battle stations and get rdy 2 suffer
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KIDS the last short story in the upcoming anthology Tevinter Nights is called "Dread Wolf Take You" and its by Patrick Weekes. 😯 😁 man battle stations and get rdy 2 suffer 💩
My body is ready.
One day, the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see. -Sandal Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save. Again. -Inquisitor
KIDS the last short story in the upcoming anthology Tevinter Nights is called "Dread Wolf Take You" and its by Patrick Weekes. man battle stations and get rdy 2 suffer
He had better use his powers for the Good!
Ya hear, Patrick?! Use your powers for Good! Do not fall to the Dark Side of *tear* drinking!! It's highly overrated to make Lavellans cry, I promise you.
People are starting to submit fanart to the Dragon Age Day twitter account. Here are some lovely digital portraits of our favourite apostate hobo. bsn.boards.net/post/1302272
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I always assumed we would get DA4 sometime late 2018. I feel so eggstremely cheated right now. Come on devs, I'm dying over here and I'm too cute to die!
"He is the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on... He has got huge, sharp -- eh -- he can leap about -- look at the bones!"
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Since some of us seem to be spiraling is Solavellan Hell due to the recent news on the game's production front, I thought it would be fun to share some appropriately sad music to help with the feels. Enjoy!
One day, the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see. -Sandal Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save. Again. -Inquisitor
Since some of us seem to be spiraling is Solavellan Hell due to the recent news on the game's production front, I thought it would be fun to share some appropriately sad music to help with the feels. Enjoy!
Recent news? I admit I don't pay attention to much DA related outside of this thread but I just went to Twitter and didn't see anything.
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One day, the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see. -Sandal Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save. Again. -Inquisitor
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Since some of us seem to be spiraling is Solavellan Hell due to the recent news on the game's production front, I thought it would be fun to share some appropriately sad music to help with the feels. Enjoy!
... See, now I'm just spiraling into Lucifer hell again. This didn't help. lol (This song played in the last episode from the latest season of the show "Lucifer" and it was emotional. lol)
On the other hand, hey they've got this song out now! So... yay. Was looking all over for it when that episode first dropped.
EDIT: Official version, with slightly better quality (No offense, Dani.)
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OhDaniGirl Avatar Sept 7, 2019 20:29:06 GMT -4 OhDaniGirl said: Since some of us seem to be spiraling is Solavellan Hell due to the recent news on the game's production front, I thought it would be fun to share some appropriately sad music to help with the feels. Enjoy! Video Placeholder
... See, now I'm just spiraling into Lucifer hell again. This didn't help. lol
(This song played in the last episode from the latest season of the show "Lucifer" and it was emotional. lol)
Lol...sorry! At least we'll get some resolution to that story before too long. It's surprising how similar the two relationships are.
One day, the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see. -Sandal Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save. Again. -Inquisitor
Thanks for that! Not really surprised at that tbh since we've heard absolutely nothing since that teaser. I honestly wish they hadn't put the teaser out there so early.
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EDIT: Official version, with slightly better quality (No offense, Dani.)
None taken! Nice find.
One day, the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see. -Sandal Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save. Again. -Inquisitor
Thanks for that! Not really surprised at that tbh since we've heard absolutely nothing since that teaser. I honestly wish they hadn't put the teaser out there so early.
I think they wanted to assure people that *something* is happening.
Also - pre-production, AFAIK, is where most pieces are put into place and thus in many ways more important than production itself. Production is where the volume of content for release is produced under guides set during pre-prod (IF there is a proper pre-prod period, which hopefully is what happens in DA4's case). So the question is how much of pre-production there is left and how fast they can churn out the rest of the content. We do know that, if need be, EA can even throw in several other studios to help with the volume. That's where EA devs being trained in Frostbite should come in handy. Will they do that? It's hard to tell.
So release date for DA at the moment is a big fat ?
...Although I think it's safe to say that it won't happen before the release of next-gen consoles. External releases of game and hardware also have to be taken into account.
Last Edit: Sept 8, 2019 21:39:39 GMT by midnight tea
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
man battle stations 
man battle stations 
