#AM EMOTIONAL ABOUT THEM. OKAY | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

haunted-xander · 7 months

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tbh one of, if not my absolute favorite part about ffxiv, is the small little moments/sections where nothing super big or like. Plot Important happens, but that give both the characters and us, the players, some much appreciated down-time to just. Feel things. And to process what's happened and what's going on or to just. Let us exist, in the moment. In a much more grounded and human way than when there's Big And Important Things happening.

The biggest(imo) and earliest example of this is right after the Waking Sands get raided in ARR, and WoL turns to the church for guidance. The entire section of us helping them gather and bury our fallen comrades, and especially bringing Noraxia home to Little Solace so she can be laid to rest in her homeland, by her own people and in their own cultural ways, was so so important to me.

Because it wasn't just replacable allies cast aside for shock value anymore, it was real. These deaths were real and meant something. I got to actually process what just happened, and I got to watch Banana go through it right with me. And not only did it make it feel real, it also gave me a sense of closure. These people, these friends, are dead, but they also got to be treated with the respect they deserve and laid to rest properly.

And that, more than anything else, made me want to save the world. It's grounded and grounding. This world, and these people, meant something to me, the player.

And there's tons of stuff like that throughout the game, especially in shadowbringers and endwalker.

In shb we have, for example, Lyna venting her anger and frustration after the sin eater attack in Lakeland. She's on her knees yelling on the verge of tears while punching the ground, so furious at her helplessness and powerlessness, at everyone having come so far yet set back because some megalomaniacal tyrant deemed it so.

In ew we have Urianger being approached by Moenbryda's parents, who confront him about not confiding in them about his grief. When Bloewyda starts to scold him, he of course reacts guiltily, believing they blame him, only for him to be completely caught off guard when she instead goes in to hug him, telling him he should have let them grieve with him. And he just. Breaks down. He's been holding these feelings, this grief inside him all this time, and now that he is not only told it's okay to let it out, but by her very own parents at that, he just can't keep it in anymore. He cries for Moenbryda, right then and there, being held lovingly by her family.

And the thing is, these scenes aren't necessary, strictly speaking. The plot at large could go on without them, the events that happen around them are not changed by these moments in any way.

But still, they are so so important, to the world, to the characters, to the players. Everything feels real and impactful now, every death means something, every tragedy, every person, feels real.

And that, to me, is what makes this story so special.

#and this isnt even mentioning my absolute favorote of this kind of moments #which is the twins' conversation while held hostage in tertium #its not as emotionally intense as the ones i listed- its not even really about their emotions much at all #but its just. such a good scene that demonstrates just who they are and what their dynamic is and just. them.#im not going into that scene rn bc if i did id end up using all the tags to rant but like. its So Important to me okay #i think about it constantly #this game is just. so good at making the characters feel like real people with real feelings who reacts to everything that happens around #them #oooouuugh i am unwell. i will never be normal about this game. ever.#warrior of light #wol #banana pepper #lyna #urianger augurelt #moenbryda wilfsunnwyn #< in spirit #final fantasy #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy xiv #ff14 #ffxiv #xander rambles

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uncanny-tranny · 6 months

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If I'm honest, the whole "love in every stitch" saying for fiber artists does not apply to me, like. I'm trying to get this fucking hook into stubborn yarn and I'll be stabbing it like it owed me money. Is that love because I hope not 😭💀

#art #crochet #honestly the closest thing i feel to love when crocheting is this feeling that this is bigger than me if that makes sense...#...i think it'sthe feeling of knowing how old the craft itself is and knowing that millions of people have done the same as you...#...millions of people have stabbed their crochet hook into the yarn because it's stubborn but so are you...#...millions of people in the past have sat and devoted their time and effort into all of this...#...millions of people have passed on this knowledge and kept this thing alive...#...and it's the feeling of knowing that humans across millenia aren't THAT different #to our core we are more or less similar - across the ages across the colours across everything. that really comforts and humbles me #have you looked up ancient textiles? because that also sparks these emotions in me #it makes me think about the tupes of people to make the textile but also about who wore it #and so many of them are still beautiful and colourful and it shows you SO MUCH about the people who made them #even the ones that are tattered and faded and stripped of colour still feel beautiful...#...because it has SURVIVED. it is evidence of a people who made it and a people who had technical skills #and THIS is why i HATE HATE HATE the idea that ancient people were just 'dumb' and 'uneducated'#that is so unfair to them and cruel and just. wrong. (and often it reeks of white supremacy)#i'm sorry i rant and rave about this so much but i canNOT be normal about this. i can't be normal about humanity #i am learning to love humanity and learn about us and learn everything and it'll never be enough - i will never know enough #i will never know everything about everybody and it will be the death of me #okay the only thing i liked about the greatest showman movie was Never Enough because that is me thinking about all this

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sergle · 9 months

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There's something about like. A certain genre of posts / Online Opinions about insecurity/depression/misery/complaints that are so unhelpful that they wrap right around to being straight up hilarious. and it's the ones that are more or less written to the tone of "Feeling bad? That's gross!" Like, just so you know, don't voice your insecurities/ have low self esteem, because that's offputting! You're gross and weird. Don't be insecure about that, though. That would be stupid if you felt insecure about people disliking you for being insecure. Not attractive. You should be thinking about being as attractive as possible. You shouldn't make comments about suicide, even if you're suicidal! Keep those thoughts entirely to yourself. Make sure nobody around you knows you're thinking about this. It would Make Them Uncomfortable. It's better to keep these thoughts in your head where they can fester. Don't post OR talk to friends with complaints about you feeling miserable or depressed. Tbh people who are sad/upset a lot? Kinda a red flag! You are probably miserable because you're a bad person and you've brought this on yourself. If you don't have friends, it's because you're awful to be around. Easy! Solved the problem for you. And no, there is no nuance to this, got it? So, make sure to feel bad about feeling bad, but don't feel bad about it, because, well, that's just gross. And annoying! You might've wanted your brain rotted thoughts to be Peer Reviewed, you might have just needed to vent- you might've been hoping for some comfort, to get things off your chest. Well, don't! Don't talk about thoughts or feelings that are negative with your friends, you'd be burdening them and that's only meant for THERAPY. #SponsoredbyBetterHelp #MentalHealth like, DAMN. that's so helpful. you're so good at helping. I um really liked the part where these are all hard and fast rules that encourage keeping feelings bottled up and keeping your friends at arm's length. That's really funny of you.

#I FEEL LIKE COMPLAINING RN in the context of this alternate universe these posts live in. that makes me evil rn. I may not even keep #the post up. but I Needed to complain about these bc I hate seeing them #really funny and good because it very much feeds into that part of the brain where you go wait am I stupid? am I horrible? am I annoying?#before you express any kind of personal feelings. from feeling insecure alll the way down the spectrum to feeling like your life is over #before anyone How Dare You Say We Piss On The Poor-s at me YES there is a nuanced version of this #which is. you can make someone feel like shit (A Fellow Sufferer Of The Mental Eelnesses) by using them as your dumping ground #in excess and usually with no regard for how they feel and without Regular conversations inbetween #and in a one-sided way where they can't do the same and complain with you as a sounding board in return #don't tell new friends you hardly know abt THE MOST personal shit you can possibly think of. there are steps being skipped here #right? we know this. we all know it. setting a boundary is a thing. overwhelming a person is a thing #on the other hand there is such a thing as a friend who IS okay to listen and wants to help. and friends who relate.#maybe talking abt personal stuff makes ppl feel closer sometimes. just a thought! maybe not everything is Emotional Labor. maybe just maybe #but like come on. these are almost intentionally unhelpful posts #long post

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phantoids · 4 months

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end of the year again - a poem about reaching another year and the feelings that come with it a.k.a toby is having emotions about the year again

#void writings #poem #poetry #original poem #i. i am having many emotions. sad about those i've lost but at the same time they're gone now aren't they. no use crying over it.#glad for who i have now. glad for who stayed and who came and what i've got now because it's a good thing to have at all #i hope. i hope the people who left are okay and safe. happy. i loved them and they left and that's fine. love doesn't have to last forever #i just wish it would last forever.

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bonefall · 5 months

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I can't see how the writers still think Skystar's a good person. Like, twelve year old me liked him and thought he was interesting, but I was like twelve. And even I knew he was an irredeemable asshole after Moth Flight's Vision. If a twelve year old can figure this stuff out I have no idea what these grown ass writers were doing.

DOTC has a thesis, stated in The First Battle, that really explains everything.

"Fear and Greed" is just a fake-deep way to reinvent a Good and Evil dichotomy. Because Clear Sky's abuse comes from a place of fear, it means it's not malicious, unlike a "greedy" cat.

He can be "soothed," ergo, he's a fundamentally good person.

Post-First Battle, the books are focusing constantly on his feelings, how sad it makes him to not be trusted, how happy he is when people are on his side. All while he continues to screech at people who tell him what to do, manipulate and mistreat his son, and even still beats and mauls those who offend him.

But because it's "fear," that doesn't matter. That's a justification, an excuse. The writers don't seem to believe in good and bad actions as much as they do good and bad people. True 'evil' comes from a person who hurts others for the wrong reasons, like 'revenge' or malice.

It's abuse apologia. Plain and simple.

The truth is that abusers don't think of themselves as evil people, and everyone, even you and me, is capable of being toxic or abusive. Talk to those who have been abused and we'll tell you; we often stayed because we "saw the good," or even felt responsible for them. Abuse can be passed down through generations because the kids come to believe the way they were treated was normal and okay.

If you go through life thinking that abuse only comes from evil/greedy people, you won't see it when it happens right in front of you. Fundamental good and evil is childish. Abuse comes from fear all the time.

Abuse is about power and control. Fear of rejection, of losing someone, of pain, those are all very common motivators as the abuser tries to stop them from happening before they even begin. It doesn't MATTER that your abuser is in pain too, you NEVER "deserved" what they did in an attempt to break your legs so you wouldn't run.

But... we can all change. Even the worst of us. It's never too late to stop hurting others, move on to a better life, but some people never will. Skystar loves his power, and he keeps that power no matter how many times he misuses it.

He has no reason to change as long as his cruelty rewards him with status and authority.

But the writers are incapable of recognizing that, because for this entire arc, they were stuck in an absurd view of the world in terms of Fear and Greed. Abuse can be excused if he did it for the "right reason," and that makes him "fundamentally different" from the truly evil villains, Slash and One Eye.

Hopefully, it now makes more sense to you.

#I am completely sincere when I say that I am legitimately concerned for the mental health of these writers sometimes #It's a lot of words to say. Again. That evil is really really simple.#It feels good to get what you want.#Power gets you what you want-- Security. Assurance. Respect.#Everyone wants these things.#It's not about having a twisted and sadistic soul #I'm sure those exist out there. But they're so so rare #And you will get hurt if you need to believe that the only person it's okay to leave or distrust or hate is a literal monster #You can leave anyone who tries to control and hurt you actually!!#Even if they're in emotional pain and insist that they NEED YOU #You didn't deserve it! You never did! It's okay! They didn't need to be a monster. And you're not one for leaving either.#Or resenting them. Or recognizing that they can't be trusted.#Of course... well. Clear Sky DOES act like a monster in this text.#Gouging out people's eyes and slaughtering innocent women #But most of the time irl your abuser didn't like. Kill someone lmao #At some point the metaphor breaks down #BUT!!!#cw abuse #dotc hate #Clear Sky #Skystar #Anyway casting spell of I Love You on every abuse survivor who feels a connection here #bone babble

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iamhereinthebg · 10 months

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Gonna share badly translated panels from the official french translation because I can

I can’t verbally explain how much Akane ROASTED Aoi in chap 69 . He really took the ‘I am gonna end this woman’s whole career” to a next level

:))))

--> to explain the ‘you’re pretending you don’t know’

#for her defense #Aoi actually said that 'he suck!' rather tan him being stupid #she was also fcking done on her part #Teru really went 'oospie?' when he saw them #I can't invent this sht he said 'mince alors' I wanna burn the translators #ty Mari for being okay with my half assd translation from french to english of the whole chapter too #Akane finished his rant and litteraly looked at her and go 'well?'#they need to insult each other every two pages in this translation idk why #Teru really went 'not cool bro' when Akane said 'what are you doing here?'#idk why the vibes of the french translations are so chaotic #but I am here for that #Aoi also said 'I asked you more than once :)))' when talking about his watch l o l she was done #oh and in terms of emotionnal damage they also put wavy texts #when the characters are either dying or have really strong emotions and idk what to do with myself with this #toilet bound hanako kun #aoi akane #akane aoi #nothing too special on the others chapters tbh I just really wanted to translate this one because I love their talk ahah #Akane just refers to the seven mysteries as deities rather than gods too #which is closer to the idea of Kamis to me #good volume as always #next one is in one month :))) chap 71/72/73/74 are all good I am not ready #tbhk #random french translation #disclaimer: it's hard to translate the context which is why I didn't do more page too ahah #I can just say that they are using slangs and are hasrher l o l #the vibes is just 'Oh yes you're testing me uh?'#jshk #jibaku shonen hanako kun fanart #jibaku shounen hanako kun

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leofrith · 3 months

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sorry but the way i'm still sick about this. 😵‍💫

#gale what the FUCK!!!!#the little 'gale approves' flair when you call him out for being su*cidal.............ENOUGH!!!!#something about his emotional arc being all about him relearning what it's like to WANT to live again.......#i am not okay about this man. jesus CHRIST.#side note i need a real photo mode for this game this isn't funny anymore #i need to take pics of my little guys #every day i regret being a console player </3 #baldur's gate #bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #tav #gale x tav #oc marqwyn #i'm having way too much fun making my lil tav ocs honestly. there are now three of them 🧍🏻‍♀️#ky posts text #kyra plays bg3 #bg3.txt

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marinetteplztakeabreak · 1 year

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“Adrien made Kagami realize she’s a lesbian because she was not attracted to him” is boring and overdone.

Kagami made Adrien realize she’s a lesbian because she called him her “boyfriend” and he flinched and she was like “oh shoot what’s wrong” and he was like “i dont know, boyfriend is a really weird word for some reason” And because she’s Kagami, instead of being like “oh he clearly doesn’t want me” she just sat him down immediately and started googling Other Words and trying All of Them, and then she tried “do you want to be my girlfriend?” on a whim and he was like “holy shit this has awoken something in me.” And then kagami was like “oh huh i may be a lesbian.”

#adrigami #adrimi #im alive sorry for not posting for like a year #time to go back into hibernation love u all #kagami tsurugi #miraculous ladybug #i am still here with my very specific interpretations of adrimi #they are so important to me #i love them so much #love their season 5 dynamic love that theyre still friends #projecting sooo much onto them #its about being allowed to still be friends with someone even after the messy breakup #but also being allowed to be mad #and being allowed to Wish for something Else with them but to still be okay #i am probably not making any sense im jusy #i love them too too much theyre my emotional support undefined mess of a relationship #and also theyre gay #idek in what way but in Some Way #the ‘secret hidden queer romance’ to ‘secret hidden queer friendship because the romance didnt work for them #but they are both now super commited to helping each other with their secret queer little relationship endeavors #this is why kagami is trying to help adrinette happen #because gay rights #hope this helps #and they can be queer so many different ways i just #clutches heart #incare about tthem #theyre sooooooo not normal in some kind of way #both when they are dating and when they are not

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ripplerain · 8 months

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Gummies, a short comic

(I’m no writer so bear with me)

Nika is acting strange

grabbing hold of the mechanic’s hand

Chuchu takes Nika to the Earth House dorms to see what’s up

Once standing now her back suddenly against the floor

Chuchu realized

she was the bottom of this relationship

Woah…Nika…

She’s on top of her

uniform unzipped

Where did the tie go?

The mechanic was leaning closer

she’s so…wobbly…ah…she fell over

Nika was now lying beside her making grunting noises

What’s gotten into her?! This isn’t like her at all…

“Nika-nee…”

Wait, what is that?

What the hell?

Gummies?

Is this what’s causing her to act so strangely?

Where did she even get these?!

Chuchu glanced over at Nika

She’s sitting now

and…chewing something..!!

She got it out

Nika on the other hand was now clenching Chuchu’s jacket tightly

She would NOT let go

Damn it Nika…

The mechanic brought the jacket down to Pom-Pom’s feet and pulled

Chuchu reluctantly stepped out of it as Nika kept pulling

The mechanic fell back, jacket in her grasp

Ah…she took my jacket…

Chuchu raised a hand to reach out towards Nika to give it back

but she was hugging it dearly

no clear sign of giving it up

Chuchu blushed

Cute…

She turned around, scratching the back of her neck

Well, it can’t be helped..

She looked back at Nika who was rubbing her face all over her pink jacket

Nika…

Chuchu walked over to her mechanic

squatting down, arms over her knees

Nika fell over to her side, giggling with the jacket in her face

Chuchu chuckled,

“You’re so drunk, Nika-nee.”

This wasn’t the time to play around though

even Chuchu knew that

She placed her hands under Nika and lifted her up

carrying her in her arms

Yeah she can carry her

Nika was taller but it wasn’t going to stop Chuatury Panlunch

Chuchu had notified the other Earthian girls via text to come to the dorms

She explained the situation and handed the near-empty bag of gummies to Aliya

Lilique placed her hands on her knees and looked down at a now sleeping Nika

She was worried

Nika wasn’t looking too good

The three knew they couldn’t take Nika to the nurse’s office

They would get in so much trouble for having these kind of gummies on campus

knowing they wouldn’t even get a chance to explain because they’re Earthians

then again

How did Nika even get these? There’s no way she’d eat these if she knew what was actually in them

Did she not notice the taste? Well, Chuchu didn’t know how they tasted like

For all she knows they could taste the same as regular gummies or even better!

Someone must have given these to Nika, saying they were just normal fruity gummies

Chuchu was going to get to the bottom of this

but for now

she’s going to stay by Nika’s side and look after her

Bonus:

#wow I finished this at 6 am #writing isn't my style but I wanted to provide more context to the images #idk if I’ll continue this but yeahhh #Nika is going to have a big tummyache and headache when she wakes up #but she’ll be okay bc Chuchu is there #and Aliya will provide remedies #this was all an excuse to draw a drunk Nika #which I want to explore more on if I continue this #her drunken state is supposed to reflect on her how she feels about being a go-between and having to endure the torment from the Spacians #bottled up emotions leaking out #that obviously wasn’t shown here but I have ideas #her love for Chuchu spilled out more #wanting to hold onto what she holds dear to her from the fear of losing them because she’s lying to them #nikachu #chunika #nika nanaura #chuatury panlunch #chuchu #gundam witch from mercury #g witch #my art

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beanghostprincess · 2 months

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I keep thinking about Yasopp and Banchina and their lavender marriage and how it would affect Sanji's relationship with Yasopp. In a Sanuso concept. Of course. Because I keep joking about Sanji being resentful toward Yasopp for leaving his son but-- But I think that if he let Yasopp explain himself he would understand.

I mean, Yasopp doesn't have to be gay for Sanji to understand why he left and accept him as his father-in-law but. You know. I think Sanji would actually connect with him more this way. Yasopp explains how he has been closeted his whole life and he married Banchina (who just happened to be a lesbian too) to try and pretend to be somebody he wasn't. I don't even think Yasopp knew at the time that he only liked men. He tried to keep it hidden deep deep deep inside of him. But you cannot hide yourself for too long and when Usopp was born he decided he couldn't raise his (very very loved and dear) son like this. Lying to himself and him. And he needed to become a pirate to find himself and be free and follow his dream. Until he was ready to see Usopp again.

And I imagine this conversation being. Like. Before coming out to Usopp. They meet again. There's this huge party. Usopp is very excited to see him again and doesn't even ask why he left exactly, but he does look like he has a ton of questions on the tip of his tongue. And I think Yasopp would try to avoid him as much as possible at first because he doesn't know what to do. Sanji doesn't like that. In fact, he is very pissed at him but he can't leave things like this, as much as he despises having to talk with the man who dared to leave Usopp.

But Yasopp explains everything to him and-- Hiding. Lying to yourself. Being somebody you're not. Being afraid of loving, mostly, and being loved. I think that's something that would hit Sanji hard. It makes the cook see that they're not so different after all. And he isn't willing to soften around him, even after this, but he does tell Yasopp to tell all of this to Usopp instead because he will be way more understanding than he thinks. That his son is a wonderful, brave man. Braver than he could ever be. And Yasopp is extremely happy to hear that, honestly. To see that he's alright.

They have THE conversation. Everything is fine. Yadda yadda yadda. And I can't stop thinking about Yasopp staring at his son. Like. looking at Usopp and Sanji dancing from afar and being oh so happy. And Sanji kisses and holds Usopp like he wants to live in his arms forever and Usopp looks so. So. So happy and comfortable with himself. And lying might be a family thing but cowardice not so much because Yasopp has never met somebody braver than his son.

#I AM VERY EMOTIONAL CAN YOU BLAME ME #i keep thinking about them i am sobbing #you know there's just something about usopp and yasopp's relationship that makes me want to fucking cry #and i also need to write about zeff and sanji but. but if i do i might end up crying #anyway yasopp gay man i love you. kind of. sometimes. it depends on the day!#sanji is a yasopp hater but he ends up liking him in the end okay #one piece #usopp #yasopp #black leg sanji #sanuso

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stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage · 5 months

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This week on "CJ needs to gush about DAO": Morrigan's dark ritual.

I adore Origins because depending on how serious you take roleplay, every decision you make is a thread that leads back to your origin, and in this case of the ritual, who you choose to romance can have a major impact on how you handle this choice.

For context, my canon run is with a female Tabris who romances Alistair and keeps him as a Grey Warden, and is close friends with Morrigan. It's more in character for my Tabris to reject Morrigan's ritual and not even bring it up to Alistair, which would result in her leaving him behind while she makes the ultimate sacrifice in killing the archdemon... however, agreeing to convince Alistair to do the ritual with Morrigan is the only choice in the entire game where I break roleplay because I'm selfish and weak and I want Tabris to live.

I have a lot of strong feelings about the ritual, like it hurts me. It makes me want to chew on furniture. I can talk about it until I can talk no more. I so badly want to be strong enough to remain in character and reject the ritual.

Let me explain: Tabris survives an origin that deals with sexual assault. She gets kidnapped on her wedding day, she watches the other kidnapped women and her husband get murdered, and then is too late to save Shianni from being assaulted... and Tabris carries that trauma with her throughout the entire game.

If the way to save her life is to ask the two most important people she cares about; one being her lover and the other being her best friend; who she knows hate each other, to have dubiously consensual sex in order to make a baby to absorb the old god soul... she's saying no. The last thing Tabris would ever do is put someone into a sexual situation where consent is at all dubious after what she saw happen to Shianni and nearly happened to herself. She'd rather die than force that upon Alistair and Morrigan.

That's what I mean when I say origin affects everything; I know some will side eye that with "Really? Your warden would rather die than let Alistair sleep with another woman? It's one time, and Alistair agrees to it, so no one needs to die?"

Let me be clear in saying this isn't a "Morrigan slept with my man" issue. Sure, that part's awkward and it sucks, but that's not even breaking water tension, let alone diving into the deep waters to the core of the issue.

For my Tabris, this is about betrayal, consent, and accepting fate.

The person offering Tabris this deal is someone she thought of as a trusted friend who has actually been lying to her the entire time. It doesn't matter what Morrigan's intentions are now or if she genuinely wants to save the wardens. She knew from the beginning why Flemeth sent her with them, she admits as much. She knew a warden would need to make the ultimate sacrifice and then leveraged that to get what she wants. Morrigan waited until the night before, when Alistair and the warden learn one of them has to die to defeat the archdemon, and took advantage of the high running emotions and possibly the fear of dying to make the warden agree to her ritual.

At least, that's how my Tabris interprets this confrontation. She feels betrayed by someone she came to love like a sister and went out of her way to help Morrigan with her mother upon learning what's in Flemeth's grimoire. And then that someone tells her no one needs to die, she just needs to convince Alistair to sleep with her... which is a huge fucking problem.

The Alistair and Tabris romance is slow; it took a long time for either of them to be comfortable with being emotionally vulnerable and trusting each other with basic intimacy, let alone sex. Tabris is mortified at the idea of putting Alistair in this situation. Not only would it feel like a betrayal on her part to ask that of him, but she knows the last thing Alistair ever wants to do is father a bastard who then goes on to grow up without him. How could she possibly ask him to do that?

Then you consider that ritual or no, there isn't a guarantee that they'll survive anyway. Say they do the ritual and Tabris dies anyway; she made Alistair sleep with Morrigan in order to save her and then she died anyway. Or if Alistair dies then Tabris gets to live with the fact that the last person Alistair was with was a woman he hates because she asked that of him… and either way, Morrigan gets to walk away with what she wanted.

Tabris led the group, and she's accepted that if Riordan dies [which he does] then she'll be the one to make the sacrifice, even if it means breaking both hers and Alistair's heart.... except she doesn't because I'm a coward who doesn't want to lose her because my worldstate isn't good without her in it but I also refuse to lose Alistair so I just pretend it plays out differently in my head it's fine-

But... that's how I play Tabris and view the situation. My friend @pi-creates and I have discussed the dark ritual at length. While I play a Tabris who romances Alistair, Pi plays a Mahariel who romances Morrigan, so we have vastly different interpretations of the ritual itself and Morrigan's intentions.

Which yeah, it makes total sense that someone who romanced Morrigan with a different origin, and has the option to do the ritual with her rather than asking someone else to do it, wouldn't see this the way I do.

To quote Pi: "Playing as a male warden in the Morrigan romance makes the whole situation feel different, and maybe it’s because she’s presenting it differently due to the emotional connection, but it feels more like she’s opening up about her initial instructions (that she had been given by Flemeth) and offering a solution to avoid the possibility of death. And for my Mahariel, the constant threat of sudden death has haunted him from the start – he caught the blight and was ripped away from his clan (something he did not want to do in the slightest), got forced into a Grey Warden ritual that could kill him, was forced into a battle that could kill him, going on this whole quest that he never wanted but has now become responsible for regardless of his thoughts on the matter… the dark ritual may be one of the few moments where he is presented with an option to decide if he wants to walk into certain death, or take actions of his own volition to stop it.

"The idea of the ritual still feels like a dodgy thing to do since the ultimate outcome is unknown at that point, he’s taking Morrigan at her word that it will save the warden and that this child would be unharmed, just with an old god soul that she isn’t exactly clear on why she wants that and is determined to runaway immediately after the battle to secure it properly. It could be interpreted that it’s purely a preservation thing, but I’m biased to wanting Morrigan's intentions to not be power based.

"But also, taking part in the ritual isn’t as outlandish for my warden since he and Morrigan have already been involved in an intimate relationship. It’s the future of the ritual that is scarier – the idea of this old-god baby, and the idea of Morrigan insisting that she’s leaving afterwards when Mahariel and her have a loving relationship. He’s hurting, but he doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want Alistair to die, he doesn’t want Morrigan to leave, he definitely doesn’t want pregnant Morrigan to leave on her own… it’s complicated, but for completely different reasons."

And I find that fascinating. I want to know how other players approach this part of DAO, what origins they play, and who they romanced. Seriously, this is an invitation to anyone reading to share their thoughts.

What about a warden who doesn't even have Alistair in their party because they made Loghain a warden? Is there anyone out there who has Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan and why? What about male wardens who don't romance her? Do you choose to do it with her anyway, or do you ask Alistair or Loghain to do it? Do you tell Morrigan to fuck off with the ritual? Why? Who makes the ultimate sacrifice in that case? And what about Morrigan herself? How do you interpret her intentions/motivations? I want to know.

I'm telling you, this is a discussion that gets me excited, as most discussions about DAO do.

#dao #dragon age origins #alistair theirin #dao alistair #dao morrigan #da morrigan #tw: sa mention #long post #i love origins so much #every time i replay i end up on discord having this discussion with pi because it makes me *emotional*#and yes this is why i was looking up alistair's dialogue about a dead warden before #also want to clear up that while i am harsh on morrigan based on how my tabris feels i don't hate her or anything i love her #morrigan's one of my favorite characters and that's why the whole thing hurts like... tabris was happy for her to come along with them #since she still didn't know alistair well and felt more comfortable with another woman around even though she never felt threatened by him #and for them both to be her closest companions like.... it's a lot to take in #and its not like tabris is totally in the right here- she doesn't tell alistair it's an option when it could be argued that she should've #but like i said i've never actually turned down the ritual because i love my warden too much... i just close my eyes #and pretend there's an alternate solution where Alistair and Tabris do the ritual and they have the old god baby instead sksksks #that way no one has to sleep with someone they hate and alistair gets to be there to raise his child. it's fine everything's fine sksksk #i don't care if it doesn't work that way okay it's the only way this works out better for everyone... except maybe morrigan but still

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