Thasmin...

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm. tagged by: @theharellan ty so much! tagging: if you read this entire post I’m tagging you

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated 

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. Velanna is minor enough there isn’t a lot of talk about her either way (and I get it, given she’s a dlc character from Origins it’s understandable not as many people even know her), but I definitely see more dislike towards her than appreciation.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Honestly do not know! I have seen Debates about her personality and actions, but I don’t recall seeing people comment on her looks.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Not particularly as far as I’ve seen, though I haven’t seen people say she’s weak either. Tbf given her introduction has you investigating murders that no one seems to think were caused by a single person and she literally turns a forest against those who pass through it, I think it’s hard to deny she is strong, though.

Are they underrated?  YES! / NO / IDK. Like I said, there’s very little talk about her at all, and very little appreciation. Velanna deserves more love c’:

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. She isn’t relevant for the story of any of the main games, given she isn’t even in any of them askdjfnskndf She is relevant to Awakening’s story, given she causes some trouble on the road to Amaranthine, and that’s how you meet her. You can kill her on that encounter, though, so for the rest of it she’s not essential (but killing her is boring guys why would you)

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. In a way, since she’s causing some of the problems the Warden-Commander has to solve. Other than that, it truly depends on how you play it.

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. Nope. Just a Dalish gal who became a Grey Warden.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. I lean towards neutral because Velanna isn’t a widely discussed character either way, but I would say it leans towards bad. Many people dislike her actions, and many more dislike her for her harsh ways towards the PC in the beginning (a non-dalish PC, that is). Velanna is very opinionated and angry and a lot of people seem to think that makes her annoying. A bad take imo but I think that’s pretty obvious dkfasndkfjanskdfjn

How strictly do you follow canon?  — For the most part I follow it, only expanding it for what we haven’t seen and filling the blanks. 

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  I don’t know how to sell her to others so I will just talk a bit about what made her interesting to me. When you meet her, she’s so angry she’s been terrorizing the road and nearby villages so much people don’t even know what (what, not who) is responsible for the bloodshed. If you don’t bother to get to know her, it’s easy to think she’s just the anger, but if you do, eventually you learn a lot that might not justify her actions but makes them understandable, and that she’s so much more than Angry™. Velanna cares so much! For the Dalish, and preserving their magic and culture; for her clan, in spite of the fact her sister was the only friend she ever had; for her Keeper, even though they parted on bad terms; for Seranni, even after she chooses to leave with the Darkspawn instead of leaving with her. She’s outspoken and a great defender of her people, but not in a blind or arrogant way, and not in a way that causes her to inherently resent humans (it’s not history that causes that, but her own experience with having humans act violent against her clan and prefer to destroy the land to drive them away than attempt peaceful coexistence). She’s not driven by personal retribution, but by a relentless pursuit of justice that indeed is twisted into something more akin to vengeance. She acts on anger but she learns to be better. She’s been an outcast all her life, well before becoming the only Dalish in her group of Wardens, and she learned to be harsh to defend herself. She’s not easy to love, but she’s capable of loving deeply, and her loyalty to those dear to her is unwavering. She can be harsh because she’s so used to keeping people away in self defense, even if she’s lonely, even if it’s clear all it takes to get past that is treating her with kindness and respect. Velanna has a good heart, but that doesn’t mean she’s only capable of good.

In game, her growth depends on the PC of course, but the way I see it (and write her) there is no reason why her connections to other characters, such as Sigrun and Nathaniel, wouldn’t be just as important for it. They allow her to see beyond her anger, to move past her resent, and to stop judging people as if they were all equally bad. She goes from someone terrorizing humans in a forest and nearby road to someone who selflessly stands to defend them, even should it cost her own life. She goes from joining the Wardens as a means to finding her sister to actually taking on the role and its duties, not just as in fighting the darkspawn, but in being a protector.

And the way she values history, but not just the actual facts, the tales and legends and culture, how she understands their place as something of great importance definitely helped a lot in endearing her to me. According to Velanna, "Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways. Without them, we are lost.” and I think about that a lot you know? It really gets to me c’:

Also she’s an awesome powerful mage who could and has killed a man (uh many men actually) but who blushes and stutters if you call her pretty because what are compliments she is not prepared to deal with those

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  — Velanna killed people so she’s evil and deserves no forgiveness ever (which isn’t always similarly applied to other characters BUT ANYWAYS). She’s angry and mean towards the protagonist and because of that she’s not cool. She’s whining about the Dalish all the time too so she’s just annoying. Also I never tried to talk to her and often don’t even leave her alive after the Wending Wood. aidsnfkajsdnfkjn seriously though, I can see why people might not like her, as she isn’t made to be likable initially and you gotta get past that to get to the more interesting bits. Velanna is indeed very much tied to her Dalish background, as it is not only her culture and origin, but also a great motivator for her actions, and often even the means through which you get to know her, so if you’re not interested in the Dalish I guess she wouldn’t be an interesting character (but imo, it’s only natural her culture is so important to who she is, given her background and her own feelings about her people. she’s so proud of her heritage, even if being part of that people makes her a target for no other reason than prejudice. even then, she’s so proud of it and so ready to fight for and defend her people and speak and stand for them! I just love her a lot but ok I realize I should be talking about why people might not like her so let’s get back to that). She’s not funny, she’s not friendly, and she’s actually rather angry and outspoken, and I feel like that ends up pushing her to the more ‘controversial’ side instead of being part of the popular or likable characters.  

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  Literally just played Awakening and ended up like OH I WANNA WRITE ONE OF THEM and I wasn’t sure about who. It wasn’t clear to me, at least, so I ended up thinking about them and at first I was like hm maybe Nathaniel, but it didn’t feel right even though he was the first one I thought I wanted to write. So I thought about Velanna, and the more I thought about her the more invested I became so I was like yeah that’s the one and added her here aksjdnfkjasndf

The first thing that got me really invested in her while playing was the conversation you have with her when you gift her the diary. I just really love her talking about the Dalish and preserving what they have and how important and meaningful stories are. That said, the moment I met her in the Wending Wood I immediately wanted to get to know her. 

I’m just a big fan of elves in case you guys haven’t noticed yet asksjnfsjkdnfkdjfn

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  replaying DA, but specially Awakening, Dragon Age content in general, discussing her with others (talking about my muses is always very helpful to me in that sense), and honestly, others being interested on her too. Discussions about the Dalish or headcanons or other people discussing Dragon Age and their respective characters also help my motivation too tbh! I’m always the slowest to answer to anything, but that’s just how I always am. Those are all things that keep my love for her alive, and thus great part of my inspiration for her.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I TRY!

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF? when the inspiration hits I literally cannot shut up

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO. I’m usually more about them 5 page headcanons and threads and ask answers than drabbles 

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO. she lives in my head rent free (as do most if not all of my muses tbh askdfnaksdf)

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF?

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Depends but not usually askndfkajs

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO / SORTA.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  Depends on what that criticism is and if I asked for it? aksjdfnkjfn I do ask about my portrayals sometimes, and in that case I’m open to constructive criticism --- if there’s something you think I could do better and you can explain why in a nice way, I’ll definitely listen (though I may disagree, so there’s that). But if it comes down to rudeness or ‘you’re not writing her like I think she is’ then well that’s not my problem, I write her how I understand and interpret her. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  I LOVE THEM! Send me questions about my muses literally any time I absolutely love them!! 

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Depends, again. I’m not against discussing it, hearing what other people have to say and why they disagree (and if they say they disagree, I’d probably want to know why), but ultimately, again, it’s my portrayal so it might just be a case of seeing things differently. Like I said, I don’t mind discussing it, though. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  As to this, I just honestly expect people to act the same way I act when I disagree with someone’s portrayal, which is just moving on with my life and not interacting kasjafksdnfjk

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  Depends. They don’t have to like the character, but if it influences IC interactions or if it’s just people who hate a character getting off of bashing them through IC interactions even if it doesn’t make sense that’s a no for me. I don’t like seeing people hating on characters I love, but people are free to do post what they will. If there’s a tag and I can block it that’s fine by me, if it isn’t tagged I’m likely to unfollow.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  If it’s done politely I don’t mind. English is not my first language and learning about errors is a way to improve, to me.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  I think? For the most part? I do tend to get defensive over characters I love and asks that aren’t clear in tone and come across not so nicely (OOC asks, I mean), but other than that I think I’m pretty chill? Idk though you guys tell me aksnkajdsfnkjan

Top 15 Kpop songs of 2016 ♪ ✻

Can you hear me crying from where you are?? How the heck am I going to do this!!? I listen to and absolutely adore soooooooooooo much kpop ;-;

@ameehhhhh tagged me in this; thank you as always love!! ♥︎ (thanks for the moral support btw c’:) All of my crying aside, I’m actually looking forward to this a lot. I want you to keep in mind as you read this that I haven’t been *seriously* into kpop for very long--give me another month and this list may completely change!! Uh I don’t think I’m going to put these in any particular order as of now. However I will give a very brief (or eh not so brief) reason why I love them!! Artist repeats doesn’t matter, this is strictly songs! (❖ means it’s going to be a #Kpop-theory subject... someday hahah. Stay tuned in the next couple weeks y’all)

If I haven’t heard a song it’s not going to be on here, oh well c: You know how hard it is to stan all the underrated kpop groups at once????

1. Fighter, Monsta X Ok so starting off the list with a bang(er) !! This is an incredibly addictive anthem and every time I listen to it I just want to put my dukes up and punch all my troubles in the face. Very few songs give me such Joie de Vivre and fighting spirit! I know you hear (or eh, see) me go on about Monsta X all the time, but hear me out on this one. With every single release that they do, their sound gets better I swear. Kihyun’s ad lib in the last (alt) chorus here is #e x p e r t !! Strap your seatbelts on for their comeback, kids, if the quality keeps improving like we’ve been seeing, and I know it is, they’re going to be THE ABSOLUTE BEST. Mark my words. PS. Also tHIS MUSIC VIDEO

2. All In, Monsta X I was debating putting Be Quiet in this spot but then I remembered just how much I love All In. It’s like highkey but lowkey at the same time??? I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be energetic or not but I love it???? The other thing I’ve noticed is that it starts out like a rap but then becomes so melody driven... in contrast to Trespass which starts melodic but becomes rap driven? PS. Also tHIS MUSIC VIDEO

3. Gorilla, Pentagon I’ve been pretty vocal on this blog about this song, so anyone who knows me will also know that I adore this track. It has such a cool sound, the beat is addictive, the melody is catchy, and the raps are masterful. (”Like Boom Boom Boom” ;^;) The slow bass drop in the background?? IT’S ALSO IN THE KEY OF CONCERT E MINOR?????? For only their sophomore effort of their freshman year, I’m totally impressed. Pentagon is going to go far. I’m also really into Pretty Pretty, I believe that one’s actually on Five Senses? As for Can You Feel It, that’s a cool track too but I’m not as big of a fan of it--the tonality is extremely unstable in that one and it sets me on edge. ❖

4. Fantasy, VIXX Haha yeah this is another one that I’ve said I love 400,000,000 times. In my humble opinion, VIXX is incredibly underrated for how good their vocals are and ALSO THEIR LYRICS. The words to Fantasy are absolute poetry™, even in English translation. They’re seriously worth looking up. Let’s see what else... Ending on the leading tone in the chorus. Notes go rly high wow. Like favorite song of all time 12/10 would recommend ❖

5. Kki, Cross Gene This song never fails to get me dancing. I think it has a pretty similar sound to Gorilla and that’s a definite +. A lot of the songs on CG’s Game (mini?) album are amazing but this one’s the best in my opinion. In case you’re curious, the interval in the chorus is a perfect fifth

6. Saxophone, Double S 301 It’s so hard to choose an absolute favorite Double S 301 2016 release. I think between 21gram, Remove, and Saxophone though it’d be the last. This track has everything I love, a sampled saxophone hook, killer harmonies, and a singable melody. It’s catchy too?? 

7. 21gram, Double S 301 Need a ballad and more than your feels can handle? Turn this one on and look up some lyrics and I guarantee you’ll be crying in under a minute. This could seriously be a wedding song (or a cry-to-your-breakup song). If you’ve never listened to Double S 301 (SS301), please do, I’m begging you. Their harmonies are the absolute best! Also you can listen to music by them under their former name, SS501, most of that is pretty good too.

8. Monster, EXO So this is an extremely popular song, with good reason in my opinion. Its dark sound and themes are thought provoking and intriguing, and the melody itself starts and ends on the seventh of the key???? I’ll tell you more about that later. ❖

9. Boom Boom, Seventeen I’m in absolute love with the quasi funk sound of this track. I will admit that I’m not too much a fan of Seventeen yet but their harmonies impress me. 

10. Yes or No, UP10TION I just started listening to this one recently and I’m in.love.already. The chords are simply amazing and I could sing the melody all day. I also believe that it changes keys a few times? At least it switches between minor and major which is always amazing to hear. The one thing that I’ve been thinking about UP10TION since I started listening to them was, wow they go really high... maybe higher than other groups. I’ll have to do some testing on this though.

11. Lie, BTS (Jimin) So yes I know I don’t post about BTS as much as some people think I should. I like their music, and not just Jimin and Rapmon, trust me!! Lie is so unique, it has the quality that we’ve come to expect from BTS (well Jimin), expert vocals and amazing lyrics. The song stands out though because of its powerful presence and weight as well. Bonus points for the minor, subdued verses and then...... “.....Caught in a lie” me: wtf that is such a major sound my heart has been wounded

12. Boombayah, BLACKPINK Remind me to explain the ‘East Asian’ synth sound to you sometime... This track embodies it. I love the unrelenting bass in this one too. I know a lot of people say that BLACKPINK lacks vocals and they get shit for YG’s head calling them his ‘prettier 2NE1′, but I think they have potential. 

13. Back Again, KNK I love the piano beginning, and then, the beat kicks in and makes this one all worth it. I also like the inflection with which ‘back again’ is said. I will confess though I haven’t listened to much more by KNK, so I might search around and change my mind on this one. I plan to look into them more in the future though. 

14. It’s Raining, SNUPER At first I didn’t really like Snuper’s sound, but their ‘Rain of Mind’ Mini-album grew on me. I think that they accomplish a pretty good blend of genres and styles on it. It’s Raining, for instance, reminds me of an ‘80s-‘90s New Wave song. Among the other ones they do are Jazz (There’s even an on key but really badly done sax solo in So Much in Love.), funk, and a couple others I can’t describe right now.

15. Queen, HISTORY Why don’t more people stan these guys? ;-; Well anyway, the song. I really love the video for this and the song is mature and sexy as well. You might notice a theme in my choices, and that is saxophone hooks. oh there’s also the word ‘boom’ in some shape or form lol. They seem to be universal kpop elements right now lol.  

Runners up: Good Luck, AOA; Skydive, B.A.P; Be Quiet, Monsta X; Remove, Double S 301; Yeah Yeah, SISTAR; Very Very Very, I.O.I; Oh NaNa, K.A.R.D; Pretty Pretty, Pentagon; 

So that’s it for me! Yeah as I said, these might change as I keep listening to things over the course of the year lolol~ I tag @rhainintheattic, and tbh she’s the only one I’m really curious to hear from. Soooo if you want to do this, be my guest.

Playlist Explanations!

Okay so I feel like half of these songs are on here because of mems, and the other half are on here because of the lyrics, and I probably should have stuck to just one of those themes, but I didn’t, so whatever. Here’s a the list, and I’ll try to update it if I ever add more songs to the playlist. Tbh I should have made this post after getting a little drunk because I’m lowkey disgusted at how soft I am now.

1. Feel Good (feat. Daya) [Crankdat Remix]: Okay, I’m pretty sure I already told you this, but on the day we dropped acid, you and Ryan were talking about this song in the car, and I was super anxious about everything, but then I was like wait.. This song is pretty good, and because you guys were talking about it, it makes me think about you whenever I hear it now. Also I literally added it to my Current Favorites playlist that day, and it’s one of the oldest songs on there now. I’ll probably never take it off tbh.

2. Waking up Slow: Okay there was one time where I drunk FaceTimed you a couple weeks before we started dating, and I noticed that one of my old favorite singers had put out an EP, and I hadn’t heard anything from her in a while, and I downloaded the whole thing without listening to it while we were on FaceTime, and I don’t even know why I did that, but I played the whole thing after you hung up, and I was listening to the pre-chorus, and I was like damn.. I relate. And then I was like wtf how do you relate to that, Michaela? How? And that was when I finally moved from denial to acceptance of the fact that I caught feels.

3. Too Good to Be True: Literally that same week that I was like okay maybe I caught feels, Apple Music put this into my playlist, and I was doing my makeup with it on repeat, and I was like wow this song is so good, and it’s not even the type of music I usually listen to, and I was like why am I even into this song? And then I was like oh damn.. the feels.

4. Distance (feat. Blair): Me: *sends you Alison Wonderland’s new song on twitter* You: Lol what about apple music isnt the whole point you can send music over it. wait I’ve 100% heard this before. Me: Yeah well she’s been playing it at her shows lol. AND I DONT EVEN THINK ITS ON APPLE MUSIC YET OKAY You: I dont think it is and literally everyone is releasing singles now. like K?d, luca lush, and now alison wonderland all released one. Me: Wow. Soooo you’re just going to sit here and tell me about all of this cool new music instead of sending it it me? Fake af. You: *sends me Ambrosia and Distance*

5. Ambrosia: Same as above(:

6. It’s Strange (feat. K. Flay) [Whethan Remix]: Okay so there’s nothing significant about the fact that this is the Whethan remix as opposed to the original. I just like this version better, so it’s the one that has been on my playlist. But anyway.. “It's strange.. But I don't need space from you.. And every single thing you do.. I like”

7. Fill Me In: Tbh when you told me that this was your most played Spotify song, I wasn’t surprised. (I didn’t actually know the name of the song until you told me that it was your most played song, and then I could finally look it up) But whenever I would hear it, it would make me think of you because yeah you played it kinda a lot, but like.. It’s such a good song, so that makes sense.

8. Glad You Came: Okay, so I sort of explained this one in the list already, but there was that one time where my dad was being my dad, and I was hella stressed, but I didn’t want to cancel bowling, so I was like fuck it lets just go anyway, and we got in the car, and I put you in charge of music because tbh I would have just put on sad songs, and you put this song on because you knew that I really liked it, and it honestly did make me feel a lot better.

9. Sleepy Eyes: Okay, so you were fuuuuuuucked up, so I’m sure you don’t remember, but Elohim was playing this when we got to the Alison Wonderland concert and you left me alone while you got water and Ryan and Max went to the bathroom. Anyway, the whole time I was standing there alone, I was trying to convince myself to have the feelings talk with you, which didn’t happen that night, but it’s the thought that counts, Right? Also, “Sometimes I trip and think about the past.. I end up falling down a dirty path.. But you bring me back, put me on track”

10. Pull Up: Oh man. Drunk me on FaceTime really wanted to start the Cheese Nips/Cheez Its debate.. “Like I don’t fucking get it. Why would you buy Cheese Nips? Cheez Its are infinitely better. Like fuck Cheese Nips.”

11. Little Voices (feat. Tara Louise): “Little voices get me down.. No point denying that they do.. And when my spirit hits the ground.. Well, I think of you” Honestly this is one of my go to songs when I’m not feeling great and I need to cheer up, and tbh yeah it always makes me think of you, and that’s probably why.

12. Don’t Leave: I’m a mess. This song is about someone that’s a mess. I relate. Idk.

13. Edge: Rezz opened with this at Wobbleland and at Coachella, and the fact that we were both together and holding hands at both of these when this happened is enough for this to have to go on the playlist.

14. Complicated (feat. Kiiara): I just feel like this song comes on a lot on your playlist, and because of that, it always makes me think about you when I hear it.

15. Arabella: Okay I wasn’t really going to put this one on here originally, but it really does remind me of you whenever I hear it because after the first time we took acid, this song came on when there were hella people in the room, and I don’t remember any song from being back at DU that night besides this one, so there has to be something important about it.

16. Young: There’s a girl that I follow on Twitter/Insta who I don’t know (but I feel like I know her because I’ve been following her forever and I randomly met her one time), and she posted this really cute video with her boyfriend one time, and this is the song that was playing in the background, and I was originally going to use this as the song for the background music for the video I have of you, but I ended up deciding on something else, but that’s the reason why this song still makes me think about you.

17. Be Okay (Dzeko & Torres Remix): Okay so this is the song I actually ended up using in the video, and I might still change it later, but I really like how this one sounds right now.