HOTD S2 APPRECIATION WEEK DAY 5: New Characters -> Simon Strong, Alys Rivers, Sharako Lohar & Oscar Tully

on a second DA:I playthrough i’m noticing so much more foreshadowing in companion/advisor dialogue of how cadash/adaar/lavellan/tracelyan as a person HAS to be obliterated by the inquisition as a political, religious, and narrative force and the title of inquisitor.

mother giselle tells you from the beginning it doesn’t matter what you believe about being/not being the herald; you are an icon to the common people and the chantry.

josephine tells you after the truth about “andraste”/justinia is revealed in the fade—it doesn’t matter what you saw or felt, only what is remembered collectively.

dorian tells you if you ask to go with him to tevinter—you can never undo being the inquisitor, and would take away his agency just by being there.

varric tells you in haven that you’re a tragic hero, and asks at the wicked grace game if there is still a “you” separate from the inquisitor.

solas tells you in skyhold, if you tell him you intend to disband the inquisition, that the power you’ve amassed can’t be destroyed, and will only pass to less worthy hands if you relinquish it.

and all of that is just off the top of my head and comes up before ameridan’s name is ever mentioned.

and it’s all been said before but like! fuck! truth is the game was rigged from the start! you’ve been COOKED, inquisitor! YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME! it’s so fucking good

CHAPPELL ROAN performing at the 2024 MTV VMAs | via ROLLING STONE (september 11th, 2024)

Laura Berlin as QUEEN EMMA of NORMANDY VIKINGS: VALHALLA — Season 3 (2024)

In the imaginary version of Thedas that I made up and have archived in my head dwarves have soulmates (they're the only ones that have them) and they're called 'stonemates'... There are also stonenemies

We are not men, and we are not so easy to kill. 

me when i’m gay and pathetic and have brown eyes

𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐧 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑦𝑟𝑖𝑒

𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐: "As High as Honor" 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒍: is a sky-blue falcon soaring upwards, outlined against a white moon on a sky-blue field. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔: darker hair, lighter skin, and gray or darker eyes with strong Andal traits.

𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒏 𝒊𝒔 one of the Great noble Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. Their seat is the Eyrie - which is considered impregnable. Their other holding is their Winter castle; the Gates of the Moon (which was once their main seat).

Both castles are next to the Giant's Lance, the tallest mountain in the Vale with the Gates of the Moon in front and the Eyrie further back, nearing the top.

The Arryns have many distant relatives throughout the Vale. However, they are much poorer, the exception are the Arryns of Gulltown. An example is Petyr Baelish - although lesser they are still proud of their name and heritage.

The founder of House Arryn was Ser Artys Arryn, known as the Falcon Knight, and it was founded by the Coming of the Andals. King Roland I Arryn, the grandson of Ser Artys and fourth Arryn king, began the process of building the Eyrie.

The First Men who did not accept Artys as their king were forced into the Mountains of the Moon, becoming the Vale mountain clans.

During the Conquest, the Arryn and Targaryen fleets fought in a battle in the waters off Gulltown, which resulted in the destruction of the Targaryen fleet and the death of its commanding officer, Daemon Velaryon. Visenya Targaryen, on her dragon Vhagar, burned the Arryn fleet in response.

Visenya was tasked with securing the Vale. So, Visenya flew on Vhagar to obtain the surrender of the Vale of Arryn. When Sharra Arryn, the Queen Regent of the Vale, returned to the Eyrie she found her son sitting on Visenya's lap asking if he could ride the dragon with her. Once Sharra yielded and bent the knee, Ronnel flew twice with Visenya and Vhagar.

The Arryns have since remained Defenders of the Vale and Wardens of the East for the Iron Throne.

I felt the spirit move me to make this

I will live to regret this: what if you shopped Dorian's mustache onto Solas?

he LOOKS LikE An evIL MAGICIAN

"lol isn't it funny how there are hardly any dragons in the dragon age games! and how dragons are barely relevant to the story lol" Anyway isn't it funny how the true importance of dragons in Dragon Age has been such a slow-burn concept despite the final boss of the first game being a dragon? One of the most important recurring NPCs in the series transforms into a dragon and is associated with dragon imagery. The big repeated world-ravaging catastrophes are led by corrupted dragons. These dragons and said catastrophes are connected to at least three of the world's major religions. The current age was named the "Dragon Age" because of the resurgence of dragons after they were thought to be extinct. A daughter of the aforementioned recurring character is revealed to have been deliberately breeding dragons to bring them back, and tells us that "the blood of dragons is the blood of the world." A major character from ancient times finds the idea of all the old god dragons being killed really upsetting and hasn't told us why. We found out in the last game that dragons have an unusual resistance to that world-ravaging catastrophe. There are only a couple old god dragons left. Dragons aren't always in the foreground of the story, but they're always there, they've always been there, in the background or just offscreen, hiding, sleeping, deep under the surface, waiting.