#da blackwall

Thank you so much @fiberpunk027 for the tag! I've neglected some of my Tag Game duties lately! Time to break out the journal and check to see what I've been scrawling...

[Mallory] turned his attention a little more toward Tonnerre. "And you will have nice, rolling hills to gallop along, won't you?" "Maker's-!" Blackwall huffed as he pulled the reins back on Tonnerre before he could start running down the path. "Mallie!"

This is my inquisitor I've been playing so much dragon age with, Opal Cadash. I'm going to be posting quite a bit more about her, but I love roleplaying an emotionally stagnated, stubborn idiot. Dwarves in fantasy things are also just so underrated, I love them so much in dragon age, they feel like actually two dimensional characters and not just the same tired shtick we get from them usually.

She's romancing Blackwall atm, partially because my friend @a-gay-bloodmage suggested it (and got me into dragon age as a whole because of her and blackwall), and I will never forgive her for how brutal this is, but I love twisting the knife with her about it anyways, seeing how emotionally gut wrenching I can make it. Very good stuff.

pregnancy and new baby prompts | @thedasweekend | @dadrunkwriting

Small Things

He comes on the second day of Harvestmere. Sigyn labours safe in the cradle of Thom’s arms, and with Torunn’s gentle hands to guide her. A rainstorm had been gathering from the morning through to the evening, and finally, as the heavens open above, the babe’s mouth opens to pull in his first breath, and cry the first sound he will give to the world outside the womb.

Torunn is first to hold him, technically. She lifts him – he looks so small in her hands – and lays him on Sigyn’s chest. She breathes in the scent of him, thumbs the half-moons of his fingernails, brushes a hand over his little head and its crop of thin, silvery hair. Everything new and perfect and oh so tiny. Thom takes him from her for a time, while she is cared for in the aftermath of the birth, and Torunn gently bathes him, before he is returned to Sigyn’s arms.

She names him Gordon, for the man who saved her Thom.

dorian edition

I found the Doom Upon all The World to be a bit anticlimatic. It felt like "let's beat the old man up for the last time" rather than the final showdown. But, I generally don't find Corypheus a strong or intimidating antagonist. Maybe, he wasn't supposed to be an evil and manipulative overlord - he was meant to be that disfigured creature, clinging to the past (and actually having not a single idea of what he was doing which lead to the reality of madness we saw in the alternative timeline, but I wish the writers capitalized on that more).

But, I liked bits and pieces of the final quest:

Sybil responding to Corypheus speech about "let's see who is worthy of being a god" with "Nah, I don't believe in gods" and a shit-eating grin.

Also, Corypheus clutching his pearls at her response:

The aftermath of the final battle as Sybil reunited with her group and saw everyone alive and well.

And when her mood was instantly darkened by the realization that Solas was nowhere to be seen. That something very important to him went wrong - and she was unable to help him with that.

Also moments of companions interacting with each other in Skyhold are my favorite, just like the dialogues. It's hard to pick one, so I'll just give a messy recollection: Solas and Bull playing mental chess. Blackwall sweating bullets each time someone asks him about any Warden-related stuff. Cole broadcasting companions’ memories and inner worries much to our delight. All companion scenes from Trespasser DLC: from Varric pranking Cassandra on Sybill's and the Iron Bull's marriage to Vivienne taking Sybil out on a SPA day and Sera wrecking havoc on the background. It was a love letter from companion writers and I enjoyed it.

And a bit of favorite quotes:

Blackwall making a reference that made me laugh like a goose for 15 minutes straight

Sera: Do all Grey Wardens have beards?

Blackwall: No, just me. I stole all the beards... and all the power held within.

Blackwall: There can be only one.

Sera: Not really!

Vivienne turning the tables on Sera’s bullying attempts like the queen she is

Sera: Checked your drawers recently, Vivvy?

Vivienne: Hmm? Oh, yes, my dear. Although I was rather well stocked with that particular shade of viper. So I sent it back.

Sera: Sent… sent it back?

Vivienne: Yes. It should make its way to you at some point.

Vivienne: I was most concerned it might have difficulty on the steps, so I gave it legs. Six of them.

Sera: That's not… you're making fun, right?

Vivienne: Do you sleep with your mouth open? I should avoid that, it was heavy with eggs. Skitter skitter.

───────

Vivienne: Skitter skitter skitter.

Sera: (Shudders.) Frigging stop it, witchy pisser!

Cole causing Cassandra to bluescreen after spilling tea about Lambert

Cassandra: Cole, do you have any proof about what you claim Lord Seeker Lambert did?

Cole: I was there. I didn't need proof.

Cassandra: But he could have been brought to justice. There are rules...

(me screaming behind the screen: BUT YOU WEREN’T THERE WERE YOU?)

Cole: He used rules to hurt people. He always found a way to be right, even when he killed my friend.

Cassandra: You had a friend?

Cole: A pretty Templar. She died protecting Rhys and me, but she got better.

Cassandra: I... don't even want to know what that means.

Cole letting Bull know that his Tama is secretly happy for him because she knew that he was too kind and caring for the task Qun demanded of him

Cole: "Tama, how will I follow the Qun?" Her hands, strong but gentle, ruffles stubs where the horns will be.

Cole: "You are strong, and your mind is sharp. You will solve problems others cannot." She smiles, but sadly.

Iron Bull: Looks like my old Tamassran was wrong. Bet she's pissed one of her kids went Tal-Vashoth.

Cole: Agents with hushed tones. Eyes stinging, forms to fill out, course corrections, reduce risk of similar losses.

Cole: I remember the little boy, too wise, eager to help. Words break in small secret spaces. He got away. He got away.

Iron Bull: How could you know that? You've never even met her.

Cole: Your hurt touches hers.

Iron Bull: Well, that's, uh, creepy. But... thanks.

And, of course, Solas offering Bull comfort after he chose Chargers over Qun:

Solas: You are not Tal-Vashoth, Iron Bull, not really.

Iron Bull: Well that's a fuckin' relief.

Solas: You are no beast, snapping under the stress of the Qun's harsh discipline.

Solas: You are a man who made a choice... possibly the first of your life.

Iron Bull: I've always liked fighting. What if I turn savage, like the other Tal-Vashoth?

Solas: You have the Inquisition, you have the Inquisitor... and you have me.