laurelsofhighever

[laurelsofhighever]

Zevran should have been just as reoccurring and important as Lelianna, Morrigan, and Alistair but bioware will doxx me if I speak too loudly

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Replaying Cousland origin in DAO and it's reminding me how upset I was with Duncan/how much I felt angry with him in the origin lmao.

Like, I don't hate Duncan; I generally like him and his character despite how little we get of him in the game. But in the human noble origin in particular, I did not like him.

He won't recruit the human noble because your father does not want that, and Duncan respects that; sure. But, he decides to use your father dying to his advantage to recruit you in the end. I know the whole, 'grey wardens will do whatever they have to to stop the blight,' thing but this felt so fucking unnecessary and made me angry as fuck lmao.

Like, your father is there, dying on the floor, your home is burning, your nephew and sister-in-law are dead, and your father begs Duncan to get you and your mother out of there safely. And Duncan says "yeah sure, but I must ask for something in return-" and your father says, "anything" because he just wants his family safe. And Duncan pulls out the "what's happening here pales in comparison-" and asks basically to recruit you to the Wardens, which your father says he understands.

And, the best part? If you REFUSE to be a grey warden either way, Duncan will invoke the right of conscription on you; he never needed your fathers permission, he was going to do it no matter what. There was no need to create some sort of ultimatum for your father, or ask for a favour in return, "sure I can save them, but in return I would like this-" because he was going to do it ANYWAYS.

"Oh, but he was just being respectful-" no, he wasn't. He asked for something in return for saving two innocent people, and even that was empty because he will conscript you either way. Using your fathers desperation to get a yes was cruel in those moments and unnecessary. "Oh he's a grey warden-" yeah, he is, but he didn't have to do this. Especially when he uses the right of conscription on you if you say no either way.

He could have gotten you out safely after being asked to by your father, and then, when you were both out of there- asked you to become a Grey Warden. And if you said no, used the right of conscription on you. But no, he decides to use your father dying as some way to get empty permission for something he doesn't need permission for in the end. He makes an already hard situation even harder by giving a dying man some sort of "favour for a favour" ultimatum to save his child, when the permission he's given because your father is desperate, means nothing.

Sorry, this just- always made me feel so upset lmao.

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The Wolf

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.King’s Council.

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Warden Amell ft her retractable staff "Needle" putting her noble-born fencing childhood to use in the Landsmeet

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Quick Zevran for good night sleep

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Scottish Labour Party straight up embracing the Cass Review. A review filled with holes which is being used to justify on-going wide-spread transphobia and denying people access to trans healthcare.

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My Warden Cousland Tarot Card

The background is inspired by DAI's Warden Card! :]

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Been meaning to draw this disaster for a while. Just a rough lil sketch but it's something.

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Honestly there's no one I'd rather be on a forced saving-the-world road trip with than the origins gang. Sorry kotor companions sorry bg3 companions but no one does it like the origins gang. They are a family they are insane they are not to be fucked with they never would have been friends if they were given a choice in the matter. The perfect road trip squad.

They consist of the best dog in thedas, the worlds most royal himbo, a demi-god shapeshifting witch, a bisexual assassin nun, a bisexual assassin orphan, a powerful spell-slinging grandma living on borrowed time (who is bffs with a spirit), a giant spy man who doesn't know how to function by himself, the worlds grossest dwarf, and a giant statue that has a life goal to kill all birds.

#alistair is not a himbo but yes

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I commissioned the very talented @picchar to illustrate a scene from one of my Dragon Age fanfics.

I'm blown away at how beautiful and perfect is it 😍

If you want to read the whole fic you can find it here: archiveofourown.org/works/16261631

[laurelsofhighever]

I love how if you romance Cullen, he has two voices. The Commander voice that he uses to talk to his troops and everyone else, and then the soft, totally in love voice he reserves just for you.

#you can hear him switching in wewh

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i am drawing him too handsome i think

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[laurelsofhighever]

Writing advice from my uni teachers:

If your dialog feels flat, rewrite the scene pretending the characters cannot at any cost say exactly what they mean. No one says “I’m mad” but they can say it in 100 other ways.

Wrote a chapter but you dislike it? Rewrite it again from memory. That way you’re only remembering the main parts and can fill in extra details. My teacher who was a playwright literally writes every single script twice because of this.

Don’t overuse metaphors, or they lose their potency. Limit yourself.

Before you write your novel, write a page of anything from your characters POV so you can get their voice right. Do this for every main character introduced.

[laurelsofhighever]

I think the worst part of Cousland's whole arc and them eventually getting revenge on Howe is how completely fucking empty it is.

They can kill this man and it still means absolutely nothing.

Their family is still dead. The world is still falling apart.

They didn't kill Howe and then wake up to everything back to the way it was.

And I think for a young, potentially spoiled Cousland that would be the most heart wrenching and bitter betrayal and I always imagine my Cousland basically collapsing on the spot and ugly crying because the idea of getting revenge kept them alive and now it's gone.

And later when Riordan tells them that killing the Archdemon will kill the Warden that strikes the killing blow, that's why they volunteer.

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commission for @thelilyknight 💙

ellanna & alistair

.

loved working on this one :")