Found again; lost again.

And eventually it becomes a ‘thing’. Rough day in the field? Go hit Solas with a stick. Fen’Harel’s agents clear out a base before your people could get there? Go chop off Solas’ head. Potential for impending doom getting you down and filling you with existential dread? Go light Solas on fire.

They have to replace the mannequin pretty much every day.

And then one evening, late, Sera spies the Inquisitor, sitting out in the training yard. Next to the mannequin. Talking. Not even shouting, just talking quietly, like she used to see the two of them doing sometimes. Long blah blah blah boring conversations, but sometimes Solas looked happy during them. And usually, so did the Inquisitor.

The next day, she takes down the mannequin and doesn’t put a new one up.

The Witcher: Fading Memories #2 [Textless] (2020)

Not ONLY is he apparently smothering your mouth with his lips ( from the angle we were originally given) but, for his first kiss, this guy is so frustrated he must BEND you OVER, forcing you to cling to his body, WHILE riding his thigh! T

his guy made sure you felt EVERYTHING he could possibly do to you, in one fell stroke! 

No wonder your Lavellan looked so..windedO_O before he goes in for a SECOND kiss! 

No wonder he pulled away; Solas was already getting hot and heavy in this fade dream, he just managed to snap out of it in time before things went too far!

It makes me wonder if this was partially the fault of previous fade dreams he may have had about you;

Leading up to this one- then he realizes-

On top of that, after some real life scientific tests (for science), the lifting motion in his thigh directly stimulates the clitoris. Direct pressure. I have to make a gif of it to show you, but, also what you see through flycam is that the first thing he does is grab your hips and pull them to his before he even gets his thigh in there. It starts out pleasurable to him and then he does a movement that can only really benefit you (the thigh).

On the subject of Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, I just also have to say it makes zero sense for Cullen to support Gaspard?

Cullen is Fereldan. Gaspard’s #1 goal is to INVADE FERELDEN and bring Orlais back to its Glory Days™. Like that is is main reason for wanting to take the throne!

Gaspard is essentially the Leader of the Orlesian army, a well loved man by troops and chevaliers alike, he is the opposite of Celene who has done nothing to empower Orlais in comparison to the other nations. She is a political woman by all standards and would rather fix things with words, Gaspard doesn’t. Gaspard will take action, he has the finest Orlesian warriors on his side in the War of Lions, and he was taking large steps to overthrow Celene and her delicate ways. (He also crushes her army (wah but they were tired) CRUSHED.)

Cullen is a soldier, all of his wartable missions are tactical, and he essentially refuses to do something if it’s ridiculous and pointless. He has more in common with Gaspard than with Celene, why would he choose her?

Cullen doesn’t like the Orlesian nobility, he doesn’t really like politics either. He’ll choose the better option against the war he is fighting right now, and should Gaspard invade (which he probably won’t because the Inquisitor can mediate things between Ferelden and Orlais, probably cooling the man off) Cullen would be there to fight against him. Of course he would. He’s not going to take a weak advantage to delay something in the future that might never happen.

Celene is proven herself ten times over to be a formidable opponent when she deems it necessary. Clearly you’ve read the book so you know this. Just because she’s not on the front lines herself (even though she is skilled enough to do so, and has demonstrated her abilities in combat several times in the book,) doesn’t mean she hasn’t proven to have a tactical mind?

What has she done for Orlais? She’s essentially led it into a renaissance. She’s enriched Orlesian culture by encouraging scholars, artists, writers, etc. who before her ruling weren’t allowed to do shit without the Chantry’s personal approval. She’s worked to try and settle extremely tense relations between Orlais and Ferelden, while Gaspard would rather see things go back to the days of Orlesian occupation. I’m not sure if you’ve read the Stolen Throne or not, but just in case you haven’t, the summary is, that would be bad. Celene’s words lead to action. She doesn’t have to pick up a sword herself, because it’s easier for her to manipulate things her way. Celene is not afraid to go to war. But only if she can’t talk her way out first.  You know what that means? Less casualties.

I definitely agree with you on Cullen and Gaspard being a lot alike though lmfao. And also that Cullen has poor decision-making skills.

As far as mediation goes, yeah, I’m sure Gaspard is totally up for that. //Sarcasm (If the Inquisitor is a Lavellan or Adaar he’d probably just as soon launch an attack against them.)

(But honestly, fuck Celene too lol; I am by no means a fan of her, either.)

Morrigan of course joins the Inquisition via Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. The only difference is when she first shows the Inquisitor her Eluvian… Which isn’t in fact working. Morrigan has the chance to explain what she’s gathered on them but express her frustration over her inability to figure out this one’s key. She suggests that someone somewhere must know what they need. Varric conveniently has someone in mind. And so this brings you to a War Table mission “Find an Eluvian Expert.”

And so bam Merrill shows up. You can ask her about what she’s been up to, about what she knows on eluvians, about Hawke, (if she’s was romanced she’ll of course say she intends to track them down when it’s all over, and if they’re “dead,” she’ll have quite the spiteful response saying she intends to find them in the Fade. If the Inquisitor tries to tell her Hawke is definitely gone, she will refuse to believe them.)

We get good, positive dialogue between her and Morrigan where they can share their knowledge and together open the eluvian, thus entering the Crossroads. (Bonus points for Merrill noticing her own mirror.) Merrill also gets to make observations on how important this is to the elvhen people, and feel the pride in succeeding in what she’s worked so hard to discover to the point of giving up her clan. Morrigan theorizes Corypheus’ desire for the Crossroads just like normal, and so it’s off to the Arbor Wilds.

Merrill is of course very eager to come along, and if the Inquisitor is not an elf/does not choose the elf-specific dialogue options to correct/explain things to Morrigan when discussing various items in the Temple, she will, thus the player gets the information in full. (She also will not take any shit from Solas.) She’ll be disappointed in the ancient elves but remain optimistic and eager to see the Well just as much as stop Corypheus from using it. 

And she is of course a third option for gaining the Well’s knowledge, explaining that she is more than willing to pay whatever price it takes to uncover such lost secrets of her people, with whom she wants to share her discoveries with.

Regardless of if you pick her or not the Inquisitor can ask her how she feels about what was uncovered at the Temple. She will admit her shock and disappointment, but explain that while the elves should know their history, it doesn’t change anything about their situation of today. And that she is still proud to be elvhen. Not because of her ancestors, but because of herself.

After getting back from Flemeth’s reveal, (to which Morrigan is of course still the main centre of and Merrill does not need to be involved directly,) in the garden Merrill will ask Morrigan, “Is it true Asha'bellanar is your mother?” To which Morrigan will tell her “Only in blood.” She’ll say she has questions but, “Perhaps now’s not the time.” Morrigan will tell her, “No, it isn’t,” but looses her voice’s edge. (We can then assume Merrill offers her emotional support should she want it.)

She can join you in the end battle, to which she of course questions out loud why there’s an elven mosaic on the floor of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

2/2 It’s just that if I’m right, that means that Celene and Gaspard’s blackmail material is truthful and genuinely damaging, but Briala’s is a lie. So if the inquisitor uses it, you’re basically doing what Celene did - causing her to be taken away on an untrue jumped up charge (at the very least, a badly researched one). I just think it’s interesting how the game treats their crimes and the evidence of them as equal

Oh man… I can’t tell you how much I hate that horrendously pathetic attempt at making Briala seem like she’s even remotely on the same level of horrible as Gaspard and Celene. And it really is pathetically done.

Elf: No one’s supposed to be here… Briala said… I shouldn’t have trusted her.

Inquisitor: Briala told you to come to this wing of the palace?

Elf: Not personally. The “ambassador” can’t be seen talking to the servants.

Elf: We get coded messages at certain locations. But the order came from her.

Elf: She’s been watching the Grand Duke all night. No surprise she wanted someone to search his sister’s room.

Inquisitor: Is there anyone else who knows the code and the drop location who could have written those orders?

Elf: I… don’t know. Any of us could do it, but… no. No one else would send me here. It had to be Briala.

Inquisitor: What were you trying to find in Florianne’s old room?

Elf: The message didn’t say. I should have known it was a setup.

Inquisitor: This wing is sealed. How did you get in here?

Elf: Easy. The door was unlocked. One of the others probably handled it.

Inquisitor: All sorts of people tonight are taking advantage of this wing being closed.

Elf: Briala probably knew it was dangerous and sent me anyway. One more embarassing secret erased.

Elf: I knew her. Before. When she was Celene’s pet.

Elf: Now she wants to play revolution. But I remember. She was sleeping with the empress who purged our alienage.

Inquisitor: Something like that could destroy Briala, if it were known.

Elf: No. Some know she has… a history… with the Empress. But they believe she was just a favoured servant.

Elf: If… if the Inquisition will protect me, I’ll tell you everything I know about our “Ambassador.”

First off, if you ask the woman if she knows for sure it was Briala who even wrote her the message sending her here, she says that no, she can’t be sure. But lets believe her, because she does seem convinced it must have been Briala, because “no surprise she wanted someone to search his sister’s room.” Okay, that makes sense. Except then this woman claims that Briala sent her because she knew it would be dangerous, and wanted to just get rid of her… in which case, what about searching Florianne’s room, then? How is that to be accomplished if she was in actuality sent to die? And why would Briala then personally go into said danger to rescue or avenge her people, when in doing so she’s risking her own life and everything she’s trying to achieve at the ball?

And fuck, this part really gets me: That Briala and Celene were lovers is not exactly a secret. The whole reason Celene burned down Halamshiral is because she had a hissy fit over a public play written about this, and claiming she was too soft on elves. And if the nobles of Orlais know about this, then their servants would know about this. But for some reason this elven lady says not only that Briala’s people don’t know the truth, but suggests that they would leave her if they did.

I hate this. So. Fucking. Much. This is literally weaponizing Briala’s past abusive relationship. This is the worst kind of victim-blaming, and it’s played off like this is a legitimate reason to not trust Briala. Because she formerly had an abusive lover.

I even hate how it’s worded as if Briala was with Celene while she was burning the Halamshiral elven quarter, when in reality that was one of the reasons she finally left her! (The other being that she uncovered the truth that Celene had her parents murdered.)

Flashback to in The Masked Empire:

“If I admit to regret, you would pounce upon my weakness to remind me that my regret does the corpses little good. I would ask what would do some good, and you would tell me that nothing could. I will not twist in agony for your amusement because you blame me for their deaths!”“Blame you? You killed them, Celene.”“I did.” Celene kept her voice calm, though the tremor in it surprised her. “When Gaspard spread the rumour, I had to either put down the rebellion or execute you in order to disprove him and keep the throne.”On that, Briala spun. “And you chose me? Should that make me feel better? You killed hundreds of peasant elves to save my life?”“I killed hundreds of peasant elves because they rebelled against my rule and endangered the empire,” Celene said, voice low and pleading. “Tell me what else I should have done. Pretend it was a noble house or a merchant guild killing guards and putting barriers in the streets, and tell me what I should have done.”“You could have found another way!”

“Damn you, Celene.” Briala’s big beautiful eyes filled with tears. They caught the light from the fire, shimmering in the darkness like a cat’s as Briala stepped closer. The pulse in her neck fluttered fast, though she moved as gracefully as always. “Don’t explain it. I know why. I just wished you had cared more.”“It would have been a locked suite in the palace for a few years, nothing more!” Celene kept her voice low, aware that Michel and Felassan had stopped planning and were looking their way. “It would have changed nothing for us.”“Your hair still stinks of the smoke from the people you burned,” Briala said. “That is a change.”The dead leaves crackled under Celene’s feet as she stepped forward. “How many wars can our empire survive in such a short time? I wanted my legacy to be the university, the beauty and culture that made us the envy of the world. Instead, I may be known as the empress under whom Orlais fell. You have the luxury of mourning Halamshiral’s elves and holding my heart hostage. Sitting on my throne, I see every city in the empire. If I must burn one to save the rest, I will weep, but I will light the torch!”Briala swallowed. “You’re not weeping, as far as I can tell. Nor are you sitting on your throne.” She stepped away, her movements fast and jerky. “With your permission, Your Radiance, I shall go indulge myself in my luxury.”

And what’s more… What’s more is we also have characters trying to diminish Briala’s rebellion as if it’s all just about personal revenge against Celene, and not because she wants freedom and equal rights for her people. 

Sera: Call it politics or the Game or whatever, that’s personal hate. Heh.

Inquisitor: Any thoughts on who we’re investigating?

Sera: The empress is pretty. It’d be fun to drink and kill stuff with Gaspard. Briala is frigging funny.

Sera: Elves-elves-elves, but it’s really a pissing match with an old lover. Don’t know the rest, but that explains a lot.

Sera: (Shrugs.) They’re all lying, but Celene’s nice to look at. Good thing we’re here to save her neck.

Dorian: An empress dead, an emperor under your spell, and that elven harpy eating out of your hand–if she doesn’t bite it off.

Like for fuck sake Kristjanson I know you really want to make sure we all know well and clear how bad Sera thinks elves are, but really? Sera, Sera, the Red Jenny woman who hates nobility and likes causing chaos for them, supports Celene and Gaspard over Briala? Sera makes the most sense to be a Briala supporter out of the entire party roster! What the absolute fucking fuck is wrong with you alsdfshagdfljs fuck fuck fuck you fuck you fuck you!!!

(So I did not intend for this to be so long but uh… here it is…)

My biggest priority of change would be better consistency with the events of The Masked Empire, and that means actual exposition instead of “oh I think maybe something happened along these lines that was bad and uh speculation = suspense, right?” And honestly, what really pisses me off the most is there were ample opportunities and methods this could have been done, but just not taken.

Before you even start the mission, you have the opportunity to ask your advisors about the three main players of the peace talks. ONE OF WHOM WAS THERE DURING THE EVENTS OF ONE OF THE MAJOR PARTS OF THE BOOK. Leliana is standing right there, and are you seriously telling me all she has to say on the matter of Briala besides insinuating she is just a ‘jilted lover’ throwing a tantrum?!

(In fact almost the entirety of people talking about Briala is just how she was once Celene’s lover/servant, not just by Leliana but by everyone, even Briala herself. This is of course part of the push to reunite them… And a reduction of Briala’s character, turning her into someone that just revolves around Celene’s character. Why is it we’re told that BTW, Briala has amassed an elven underground army in passing, but get dialogue over and over about how she and Celene were totes in love? Even when at the same time saying it was a little known thing?)

Sorry, had to get that quick tangent off my chest, but this is actually relevant to this piece: The background we’re given by the advisors is relatively meaningless. “This is Grand Duke Gaspard, he is a Grand Duke.” “This is Empress Celene, she is the Empress.” “Ambassador Briala isn’t really an ambassador. Just a ‘jilted lover.’” I’m not even exaggerating that much.

Cullen tells us that Gaspard is the cousin of Celene, would have inherited the throne except Celene won it via the Council of Heralds. He’s an army general and all the military and chevaliers love him, while hating Celene because they think she’s anti-military. That’s it. We aren’t told of who he is as a person at all, a major asshole who oares about his “code” and the throne and little else. We aren’t told at all of how the last time he was at Halamshiral it was to launch an attack, and has since been waging literal war against his country. (How Gaspard is even invited back eludes me anyway like where the fuck did these peace talks even come from but whatever.) Yes we gather a little of this from the Exalted Plains, but this is an area the player very well may not even get to before this mission. And we aren’t told that the whole GD reason he wants the throne is to invade Ferelden! We’re told that his troops believe he can “lead the empire back to the glory of Drakon’s expansion years,” but what casual fan who hasn’t read all the codexes on Orlesian history and bought WoTv2 to read about the lore behind Emperor Drakon will even understand what this means?I just… don’t understand how Cullen, a Fereldan, has nothing to say about Orlais’ manifest destiny bullshit.

Josephine’s comment that Celene “works tirelessly to secure peace for the empire” is hilarious. Yeah, as long as you’re human, maybe. Then we’re told the same thing Cullen says, that some Orlesians want war, not peace. We again don’t get much about who she is, or anything on what she’s done, good or bad! Even if you’re dead-set on ignoring Celene’s act of genocide, then talk about how she’s put a lot of focus on the University of Orlais? Talk about how she’s well trained in the bardic arts? IDK? Something other than “Yeah she’s Empress and some people like her and some people don’t.”

Here’s a super quick possible rewrite of this entire scene, that in my opinion would’ve been a thousand times better:

Gaspard…

Wants to return Orlais to its “glory days” of being an all-conquering empire, starting with invading Ferelden again

Is a chevalier

Thinks that people from the rest of the map are inferior to Orlesians

Thinks that women are inferior to men

Thinks that every other race is below humans, freely uses slurs, has literally commissioned papers written about how elves are more akin to animals and therefore not real people, and has gone on hunting trips to kill Dalish elves for sport

Is downright delusional about what an honourable man he is, speaking of his love for his ‘code’ while also weaseling his way around ever loophole he can whenever he needs to

In summary? Gaspard is the Trump of Thedas.