#da world

What May I teach that the world doesn’t already

know?

The sages have existed here for long and freely

shared guarded truths before life had become

set in stone.

The world

knows. The earth and the trees the birds the worms the bottle beside the trash. They all already know. What is there

For them to learn? They already possess the ineffable infinite.

Man doesn’t know. People have forgotten. We once knew and a few still do. They have forgotten but that has not become lost.

What do they need to know? To reinvigorate the essence of essential life? The sacred? This precious and ever fleeting gift we have be honored with receiving? Too many suffer now. Too many cause suffering.

Do they not see that their own loved ones suffer the same as those deemed enemy? What will make them realize the others are only long lost friends. Family. Lovers of their own gift of life.

What can be said that is not already known?

Despite the visits and the numinously voiced simplicity. The writings passed from one set of hands to the next. We still fight like children. Threatened and terrified.

I was told grown ups rule this world. If so I see neglect. I see spirits embrace and the vast distance between strangers. Eyes that show souls.

Life was not meant to be lived this way. The folly that begets adding to an already heavy yolk. Is rampant. And we here are silent conspirators. Trading in decency for blinders and praising our god money.

It is humans who have failed. We are here because we have been led here by every life that has come before us. We are here because we walked ourselves to this very spot. Not ever the other way around. Blessed be about failure that we may once again rise to face challenge.

And challenge it will be. After all what is continuity besides survival.

Always survival. Someone tell me then why these ruling grown ups are so eager to war. To die to live. Isn’t that just suicide?

Oh right my mistake. Not for them. They send those to die against the others. They live in excess.

Strange. The conception of achieving peace through killing. The snuffing out of vital flames one by one. In the growing dark. And calling it holy or just. Just like disease. Just like the unrequited love for God. Of severing. Eternally ending. Torturing. Of massacre in the name of the one called God.

What May I say to the world? Get them to stop this madness? This pain we pile on others? Utopia?

This world is so pretty. And the view so lovely.

As we fall from the cliffs edge.

And though falling great distances gives an alternative perspective. Gravity takes us in a single direction.

We must remain vigilant and learn to soar. Fly like the solar eagle. With wings crafted of kindness and reverence for every gift. It is not beyond our capacity. And more life sustaining than

Plunging into the solid earth.

For a reason. Of our own creation.

Apparently, at the end, you run into a massive thing called a Titan, which make up the crust (?) of Thedas. And it seems like they’re the source of lyrium and dwarves. Maybe. 

This is interesting in and of itself, obviously, but also when connected to some stuff I’ve seen going around. Like here, Dagna says she had a strange dream while working on a rune. It seems pretty likely that she dreamed that she was a Titan (or connected to a Titan, you get the point). 

Then, this theory here mentions an interesting Codex (History.30):

“In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the Earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing.” For one moment there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.

"The pillars of the Earth” are probably Titans. Their “soulless” workers are likely dwarves, cut off from the Fade. (I dunno about the flowers; there is an area underground with clouds and plants growing there, so maybe it’s like “another world” down beneath the earth, but that seems a bit farfetched.)

The rest is a bit unclear still -- you have to fight a “Guardian” that appears to be the Titan’s heart/soul (?), and afterwards the Shaper who had been accompanying you claims to have become one with the Titan, or maybe just connected to it. The Shaper can also use magic now, so parallels with the Tranquil gaining back their connection to the Fade after being possessed??

Mind you, if the Titans really are the source of lyrium -- it’s basically their blood I guess? -- that’s interesting in itself. Especially, re: Red Lyrium. As mentioned here, the red lyrium idol was found in a thaig that didn’t have Paragon statues and just overall seemed to be pre-Blight. In fact, the idol itself was pre-Blight, and already corrupted. So... do Titans have Tainted blood? Are at least some Titans tainted? Were they Tainted before the whole Golden City/Black City fiasco?

And how do the Elven stories about the Abyss tie into this? The stuff about Andruil hunting what sounds like tainted monsters in the Void? (She brought back red armor that may or may not be connected to the Taint.)

Well, I’m glad they’re doing more with the dwarves. But I personally kinda wish we’d get more answers about the whole Elven Gods/Forgotten Ones/Old Ones thing. I mean, logistically, these groups should probably overlap -- otherwise, that’s way too many powerful beings (some of whom can change into dragons). It can’t be a coincidence that Mythal can change into a dragon, some sinner who stole that power could change into a dragon, and the Tevinter gods could change into were (?) dragons. 

WHAT DO THESE TWO MAPS HAVE IN COMMON?

Me, this fall...sssssssQQQQQQQQQUUUUUUeeeeeeeeeee!

After pouring over travel maps and considering many, many places, I’ve chosen to include in this trip India, Borneo, Bali, Philippines...

India has been at the top of my travel list for years, but I didn’t want to travel in India alone. This is a small group venue max of 12, average of 8. When I was about 12, I decided that I wanted to visit India when I was 55. No idea why.

It’s time.

Bali I’m doing solo - booked the flights and a hotel. Gonna have just come out of living in the jungle for two weeks, so a beach holiday seemed a good idea. Soak out the dirt and the insect poison. :)

Borneo - I’ll be in the rainforest for an Earthwatch expedition working with scientists determining the effects of climate change and deforestation on the local flora and fauna.

Philippines - I’m going to the north, again a small group thing. I’ve wanted to experience the terraced rice fields in the mountains (they also have them in Java)

This is not a conversation to have through Tumblr asks. Because I will tl;dr to hell and back. Right now. Because I love to.

I don’t know what, if anything, Inquisition manages to do with this concept, but DA2… doesn’t really handle it well. I have so, so many different issues that I can’t even… pin down which is the worst anymore.

I will never get over the fact that I never actually said anything about whether Circles should be dissolved or whatever. I just agreed with Orsino that Meredith had no business taking over the whole city. Which she didn’t. But suddenly I’m a mage-supporter (and, you know, an apostate, in case we forgot that).

If supporting Templars was an actual, possible option, they should have given us an actual pro-Templar sympathetic party member. The only two we have who were against what Anders did were Aveline, who supports order in general, but is actually against the Templars for the most part, and Fenris, who is anti-mage, not pro-Templar. Neither actually represents the Templars in any way.

“Anti-mage,” “anti-templar,” “pro-mage,” and “pro-templar” are all different things, btw. Pretending that it’s just a two-prong choice, with an artificial “you’re both wrong” neutral option is stupid.

For why the neutral option stops making sense after a while and why you can’t expect your RPG hero to take it anyway, see Elthina, who is totally useless, infuriatingly so. (And it’s made pretty clear that “neutrality” here is default pro-Circle, just in case you didn’t realize that yourself. Cullen: “She’s just giving them false hope.” Cullen’s an idiot, but this is basically the game speaking through him, I think. Elthina isn’t neutral; she’s supporting Templars being in power.)

Sympathetic Templars (hahaha):

Cullen, who doesn’t care about anything until Meredith decides to execute Hawke. That’s it. Mass Tranquil of mages who passed their Harrowings and only happened to disagree? OK. Becoming defacto tyrant ruler of the city? OK. Killing all mages, regardless of guilt, age, or circumstances? OK. No, really. It’s not the Right of Annulment he protests. It’s that Meredith was supposed to only capture the Champion, not kill him. Okay, Cullen. Sure. (Which is doubly hypocritical because Hawke kills his way through many, many Templars at this point, all to go against a Right that Cullen apparently supports. Why should Hawke just be captured anyway??)

Samson, who got kicked out of the order for being too nice… and is helpfully now portrayed as refusing help to children without payment, leading to two kids being caught by slavers. Can’t have him be too sympathetic, since he’s against the order, you know.

Thrask, who knew the Circle was broken and purposefully kept his daughter from it. If he’d believed in the system, he wouldn’t have tried to keep Olivia hidden. That’s not a sign of faith in the Circle system. So, you know, from the horse’s mouth. Also, was okay with kidnapping Hawke’s sibling for blackmail purposes, even when Hawke is anti-Meredith. Morality at its finest, right?

Emeric, I suppose, who actually tries to do his job looking after mages and hunting maleficars, at least a bit. But he also dies because we can’t have that.

Not a lot of sympathy here, is what I’m saying. People outside the party are always going to be a bit questionable, and that’s why, if we were supposed to sympathize with the Templars/Chantry, we should’ve had a party member who represented their views properly/was one of them.

I feel really weird saying this, because I really liked Flynn in Tales of Vesperia and felt he had really good points and a good outlook. (I liked Yuri too, and his view was really good too!) I’m usually pro-institutions, so it’s a bit weird.

Did we even manage to save a single mage from the Right of Annulment? In the courtyard at the end, it’s just the party and Templars. I know it’s normal JRPG fare to have 99% of the faceless masses you’re protecting die, but man, at least Xenogears made sure we saved the love interest. What the fuck did Hawke even accomplish, aside from killing Meredith? Why the fuck didn’t we just take the fight to Meredith and kill her from the start?? Assassination is sounding like a great option here.

What the hell is blood magic? How do spirits work? How and why do so many mages just get possessed out of nowhere? Why is it that I, a mage, do not experience this? Please explain all of this to me and show in detail through player experience because I do not understand, and it is extremely important. 

Orsino: “Why don’t they just drown us as infants?” I thought magic didn’t show until you’re elementary school age? (Also, what the fuck Orsino)

Etc.

But regardless of mages‘ potential. They are people. No one has the right to take away the freedom of others. No matter what kind of power or potential they are born with. Because they’re still, always people first.

Mages are people just like you and me, fuck you Cullen.

Counterpoint – Magic is dangerous and mages shouldn’t be allowed to police themselves.

Counter-counterpoint – Templars shouldn’t be allowed to police themselves either. Who watches the watchers and all that. And the Seekers are part of the same “body” as the Templars (the Chantry), which is inherently anti-mage, so they can’t do the policing either (as we have witnessed).

They should have measures and power against each other, is what I’m saying. Something like the Right of Annulment (but with less “Murder EVERYONE”) should apply to both Templars and mages, whichever grows corrupt or wrong. And the right to use it should be granted by a separate body/a mixed group, through a process that is both clear and protected from outside interfere.

Or so I would say right now, without considering it too much further yet. I’m sure I’m wrong in my thinking somewhere and missed something obvious and stupid and am being naive and not understanding enough.