the-cryptographer

[the-cryptographer]

Wanna see some actual numbers on this bc of another post. I’m curious.

Also yes I know categorization of race is complicated especially outside US contexts etc. etc. I just wanna know how comparatively cracker-dominant this site is, this ain’t a census survey.

If you white-mixed its up to you what to choose I ain’t measuring your genealogy or some shit.

Reblog this, maybe even multiple times, to increase response pool and visibility.

#I wasn’t going to reblog this originally as someone who basically only identifies as biracial #and isn’t comfortable being identified as white without any asterisks #or comfortable with white mixed biracial people claiming wholesale poc identification sans acknowledgement of proximity to whiteness #but I just cannot get over how eye opening and tbh devastating these results are to me #as someone who was the only (half) white person in my fannish group of friends at school #truly a your experience is not universal moment #status update

[the-cryptographer]

art by @BottlngSunshine

#original art

[the-cryptographer]

If anyone's wondering exactly how deep @ephemeronidwrites and I are down this rabbit hole.

#da2 #bg3 #merrill #fenris #anders #isabela #we need to get more good shots of isabela #dragon age

[the-cryptographer]

looking at some of the deranged af shit i have said about how fenders can still win.

#i am correct tho #fenris is far too smart and practical to not realise this

[the-cryptographer]

🌿

#merrill sabrae #dragon age

[the-cryptographer]

for @aerodaltonimperial - i am always happy to draw beloved Irenes, but i realized i've never drawn Riddel so i fixed that while i was at it. 😌

#chrono cross

[the-cryptographer]

#Kaiba Seto #Mutou Yuugi #rivalship #save me from this card game hell

[the-cryptographer]

literally always thinking about the chantry explosion changing kirkwall's coastline i get why people don't like it but i think it owns. hightown is built on the top of cliffs that were mined to the point of structural instability by tevinter slaves, mining tunnels abandoned until ferelden refugees were forced to take shelter there because they had also been abandoned by kirkwall. kirkwall's past and present sins are directly beneath their feet and the chantry and the nobility continue to ignore it. its admittedly a deeply on the nose geographical metaphor for hightown to not only look over lowtown but exist on top of darktown, but the concept of the cliffs of hightown coming crumbling down because the site of kirkwall's past atrocities built the foundation for the seat of power of their present atrocities? the fact that the man who destroyed hightown had lived under their feet for 7 years? that rocks! it's sexy it's cathartic it's delicious i just wish we had gotten a better sense of it in the game and not just from some dev saying shit

#i like it #also wish it had been incorporated into the game instead of just being a dev's headcanon #should use it if/when i write another postcanon kirkwall story #anders #dragon age

[the-cryptographer]

Think I'm going to tie these posts together now and say that, beyond the reasons Fenris just isn't likely to pick up Merrill's schtick about being one of the 'good' blood mages, Merrill and her struggles generally represent an attack on how Fenris has come to understand his identity and how to keep himself safe. Like, Fenris has told himself a story to explain the circumstances of why he feels so alone and betrayed and threatened, for which he is holding Danarius fully responsible. If he, as an elf, hadn't been born without magic, if he'd been educated as a free man, if Danarius hadn't ripped him from his family (and he's adamant he never would never have chosen to leave his family), then he would not be struggling the way he is now. And Merrill is, well... lovely and brilliant and huge fucking mess of anxiety and neurosis and loneliness and self harm and relying on Hawke for protection just as much as Fenris is. (Which is also reflected in the way that Fenris in the precanon short story characterises the Dalish as people who've been given all the boons of freedom, and are wasting it mucking in the mud.) Basically, if Fenris allows himself to empathise with the decisions Merrill makes about her family - if he entertains the idea that he could be literate and a mage and have had a childhood with a very expansive family, and still be blisteringly unhappy with them - then he has to accept the possibility that he is partly responsible for where his life has ended up, which corrodes his ability to be angry with Danarius for this. And of course I talked about how Fenris being angry at Danarius is absolutely vital in order to keep him from taking Danarius back.

I think this is supported by a lot of Fenris's dialogue surrounding the Merrill and Marethari issue. Of which I can most easily point to this horrific little banter:

Basically him saying, "it's repulsive you had someone who cared about you that much (the way I wish I'd had) (ignore that she constantly negged and belittled and gaslit you), and you still couldn't get your shit together."

But in a way I think the real killer for this relationship is that Merrill on some level knows this about Fenris. On some level, she accepts that he needs to hate her. Merrill would absolutely be willing to be friends with Fenris, if he could suck it up and be nice to her, but when he doesn't, she responds with pity. When he goes off about how mages all deserve to be locked up, she goes 'Well, you're wrong and your opinions suck and here's why, but I wouldn't expect someone in your situation to know any better.' Which I think in a way is way more terribly uncomfortable for him than dealing with Anders. Like, Fenris can safely hate Anders, and Anders will safely return the favour and hate him back. But with Merrill he's stuck in this more low broil seething anger that he can never fully voice or act out without being made to lose face. Which is also delicious.

#reblogging this one. sempai notice me. #dragon age

[the-cryptographer]

I sort of miss fandom discussions in good faith, with the idea of trying to understand where we're trying to come from, that in turn would bloom interesting back and forth discussions where you might discover more layers to a story, the characters, anything else.

IDK, this might not go anywhere, but what themes do you feel individual arcs/seasons of YGO tackled which may or may not be attached to the greater story but within that arc are stronger or explored in a more focused way?

#thinking... #save me from this card game hell

[the-cryptographer]

this is what it feels like to earn all 3 badges tbh

#me rip #pkmn

[the-cryptographer]

digimon 🥺

#digimon

[the-cryptographer]

"he would not fucking say that" but its about a character being a leftist. he would not fucking believe that

#yeah i realise this is like... part of the whole wanting a character you like to be the sort of person you'd want to be friends with irl #sadly just does not always work that way lmao #status update

[the-cryptographer]

Last Line Challenge!

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like). thank you! i was tagged by @pappykins and @sidhelives

Anyhow, here's Isabela. It's from an upcoming Fenris/Isabela & Isabela/Merrill thing.

“Can’t appreciate a complex flavour palate, Varric? Smoked cheese and tripe pair nicely with the ale here,” Isabela declared. “And, anyhow, that’s what you and your chest hair get for holding out on me.”

Going to tag @ephemeronidwrites and @chocochipbiscuit, if there is a last line or a more general work in progress snippet you would like to share with the class.

#the process

[the-cryptographer]

i feel like i'm trying to have level 2 critical discussions about dragon age and everyone keeps derailing me with level 1 disagreements about things everyone already cleared up ten years ago in the canon of definitive dragon age meta analysis posts that everyone clearly should be required to read upon their entrance to this fandom so i can stop having to explain things like 'marethari uses abusive shunning tactics' and 'actually the circle mages as involuntarily confined unpaid labourers are slaves even if they're not chattel slaves' and 'anders can be a real meanbutt sometimes'.

#this post is just me whining yes #lork dragon age opinions

[the-cryptographer]

Have gotten back into exercising this year and now that I’m a few months in realising this means I need audiobooks to listen to while exercising. So far have ordered the first two Gormenghast books, the first two A Song of Ice and Fire books, Mary Beard’s SPQR, and Jane Eyre with the intention of reading Wide Sargasso Sea afterwards. Which is definitely enough things to occupy me for several months but also, hmm, I definitely would like more nonfiction book recs if anyone has them.

#my friend also recommended the dungeon master carl books but those are only on audible rip #idk obviously I love fiction and I will take recs for that too but I’m also kinda at the point with writing where mmm- #I feel I have a pretty good sense of style and form with fiction and what I appreciate in other people’s prose #so reading more fiction doesn’t really broaden my horizons or challenge me the way nonfiction does #thinking about what an impact The New Jim Crow had on me #status update

[the-cryptographer]

Think I'm going to tie these posts together now and say that, beyond the reasons Fenris just isn't likely to pick up Merrill's schtick about being one of the 'good' blood mages, Merrill and her struggles generally represent an attack on how Fenris has come to understand his identity and how to keep himself safe. Like, Fenris has told himself a story to explain the circumstances of why he feels so alone and betrayed and threatened, for which he is holding Danarius fully responsible. If he, as an elf, hadn't been born without magic, if he'd been educated as a free man, if Danarius hadn't ripped him from his family (and he's adamant he never would never have chosen to leave his family), then he would not be struggling the way he is now. And Merrill is, well... lovely and brilliant and huge fucking mess of anxiety and neurosis and loneliness and self harm and relying on Hawke for protection just as much as Fenris is. (Which is also reflected in the way that Fenris in the precanon short story characterises the Dalish as people who've been given all the boons of freedom, and are wasting it mucking in the mud.) Basically, if Fenris allows himself to empathise with the decisions Merrill makes about her family - if he entertains the idea that he could be literate and a mage and have had a childhood with a very expansive family, and still be blisteringly unhappy with them - then he has to accept the possibility that he is partly responsible for where his life has ended up, which corrodes his ability to be angry with Danarius for this. And of course I talked about how Fenris being angry at Danarius is absolutely vital in order to keep him from taking Danarius back.

I think this is supported by a lot of Fenris's dialogue surrounding the Merrill and Marethari issue. Of which I can most easily point to this horrific little banter:

Basically him saying, "it's repulsive you had someone who cared about you that much (the way I wish I'd had) (ignore that she constantly negged and belittled and gaslit you), and you still couldn't get your shit together."

But in a way I think the real killer for this relationship is that Merrill on some level knows this about Fenris. On some level, she accepts that he needs to hate her. Merrill would absolutely be willing to be friends with Fenris, if he could suck it up and be nice to her, but when he doesn't, she responds with pity. When he goes off about how mages all deserve to be locked up, she goes 'Well, you're wrong and your opinions suck and here's why, but I wouldn't expect someone in your situation to know any better.' Which I think in a way is way more terribly uncomfortable for him than dealing with Anders. Like, Fenris can safely hate Anders, and Anders will safely return the favour and hate him back. But with Merrill he's stuck in this more low broil seething anger that he can never fully voice or act out without being made to lose face. Which is also delicious.

#also they should kiss naturally #Fenris #Merrill #Merrill Sabrae #ferrill #this post is kinda my spiritual sequel to all the discourse about why Anders and Fenris can't just get along #Merrill and Fenris also cannot just get along #lork dragon age opinions #dragon age