I have no pity to spare for thee...

Because Davrin clearly cares a lot about being elven. He’s the first to point out how the actions of Solas and the Evanuris will negatively impact elves. He talks about how important the halla are, and the Way of Three Trees is core to his approach to life. It’s heavily implied that HE named Assan.

And yet he’s never gone back home. He didn’t fit in with clan life, and he’s obsessed with finding a purpose. I wonder if he feels guilty, like he needs to have an ultimate justification for why he left to “redeem” the choice. Because otherwise he’s betraying his people, his culture, to become part of the world at large— the world that harms elves and persecutes them. Is he afraid he’ll be scolded? That he won’t fit in anymore? That he won’t be seen as “really elven”?

This is why the scenes with Eldrin are so important. When Eldrin says “I’m glad you took the road less traveled” essentially, he’s giving Davrin permission to not feel guilty for his choices. He’s telling Davrin that he doesn’t have to Be A Specific Way to still be Dalish. He’s allowed to be himself and ALSO a Dalish elf— which goes hand in hand with the conflict between being a hunter and being a caretaker.

I am SO glad the public is rediscovering the joys of listening to audio plays, and damn well hope we can get some more variety. currently BBC Radio is doing amazing things with audio dramas (but the availability on their website is...not great. some shows pop up on archive.org before getting taken down for copyright, so pirate it when possible).

I would be remiss to not mention that this also means that the queer rep is better in audiodrama than any other medium. As someone who is ace, I can name a couple ace characters in all other media, I could name 10 canonically ace audiodrama characters off the top of my head.

If anyone is reading this and looking for some suggestions, check out my website or send me an ask. I listen to every genre except horror and have 100+ recs, searchable and filterable.

"Is your blanket warm enough? I'll go get another one."

"I will carry plates, go sit."

"Practice is optional for players, Shane, not captain."

And, look, Shane isn't one to lay about. He's up for morning runs, he attends almost every optional practice, he's meticulous about his work out routines. He's a top athlete and so is Ilya, they both work incredibly hard to stay at the top. Still, Shane doesn't have a problem with a lazy afternoon reading in bed, or a free weekend spent at his cottage, or a summer relaxing.

He notices that sometimes Ilya will startle, just a little bit, if Shane walks into the room when he's laying on the couch, scrolling through his phone. If Shane makes even the slightest request, Ilya is jumping to get it done there and then. He's the first one at practice and the last one to leave.

He will take naps with Shane, but he's always up before Shane, working out in the gym, doing their monthly calendar, adding things Shane likes to their shopping list that he wouldn't add, etc.

"Just sit with me," Shane catches Ilya's arm on his latest trip to the kitchen."

"I know, I will," Ilya covers his hand. "I just want to wipe down counters before your parents get here."

"They won't care," Shane scrunches up his face. "They won't even notice. Come sit down."

"Okay," Ilya says, but looks a little torn. "We are suppose to be hosting, not lazing around."

"Ilya," Shane sat up more. "You cleaned the whole house like twice today. I cooked. We aren't lazing around."

"Yes, I know, but..."

"Ilya, you aren't lazy," Shane said directly. He doesn't know exactly why that word seems difficult for Ilya, but he has his suspicions. "And even if you were lazy sometimes, I wouldn't care. I would like it, probably."

Ilya softened. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Shane tugs him and Ilya finally lets himself be pulled into Shane's lap. "Just come be lazy with me."

I think engaging in fandom and fan culture would be genuinely extremely constructive for secunit

Like yes it would get insanely frustrated over bad takes and fanon it disagrees with (to the point of hacking to find out the sci fi equivelent of peoples email addresses and signing them up for spam messages if it REALLY hates their take) but consider:

communication and engagement over the feed, no eye contact or stress about being discovered

shared topic of interest so it doesn't have to stress to find what to say nearly as much

Its feelings of media making it feel more like a person, of how its easier to care about fictional humans than real ones, and learning so much from its favorite media would not be alone, there would be connection and understanding with others, and maybe even learn other reasons the media it loves means a lot to people. Both validation and gaining new perspectives in a safe way

been watching the originals for the first time and this was what i thought of when i got to this bit

I’m still in such awe of everyone’s work and the collaborative process.