153434 réponses à ce sujet

[Cee]

The problem I have with the Shartan theory is that it seems like it takes a lot of conscious effort to remove oneself from uthenera, or at least that is an inference I am drawing from the Codex. I suppose that Solas, being a being powerful enough to be considered a god, could pop in and out of uthenera easier than a typical Ancient Elf, but it just doesn't sit well with me. I know he's the God of Rebellion and all, but it just makes him more depressing. I mean all these course corrections to improve things for elves and the world is still messed up. It makes his existence a study in failure. 

 

Also, the notion that once you do come out of it, there's a certain weakness and need to recover. We see the effect upon Solas, who is, even in "weakened" state, a very powerful mage (rift magic usually drives people insane, he's a Dreamer, etc). Still, I don't think it's like setting an alarm clock, jumping up, leading a rebellion, and going to take a nap again.

 

And I agree with you. I also think the notion of him waking up once, realizing everything has gone terribly (though, as Varric points out, people endure and they make lives for themselves under lots of circumstances, so everything going wrong is symptomatic of Solas clinging to the past in his own way too), is more tragic.
 

[NightSymphony]

Just one art posted while I was sleeping

 

Stare Down the Dread Wolf

http://ghelphaene.de...-Wolf-543708640

 

 

 

Sunny...if you want to play with doll makers..I have links to many of them on my Deviant Art page :-P I am addicted to making dolls of my Dragon Age characters.

[coldwetn0se]

I have almost zero brain power today, to properly add to the current conversation. So screenshots it is!

Sorry this is so late (and a kind poster did already make a post pointing to a thread discussing the Desire Demon statues), but this was the statue in question. (re: my pondering "why?" there was a desire demon statue in the Hissing Waste )

Spoiler

And to stay on topic, I give you #teamanyonebuthumans at the Winter Palace. Damn I love this group, as of late.


Seriously, are these two just not the cutest?? Kinda wanna smoosh their cheeks. (and probably get beetch slapped in the process. )


I found it childishly silly, having Mace Cadash wearing the mud armor, at Halamshiral.

[Uirebhiril]

Seriously, are these two just not the cutest?? Kinda wanna smoosh their cheeks. (and probably get beetch slapped in the process. )

Spoiler

 

That look on his face.

[Cee]

And to stay on topic, I give you #teamanyonebuthumans at the Winter Palace. Damn I love this group, as of late.

Seriously, are these two just not the cutest?? Kinda wanna smoosh their cheeks. (and probably get beetch slapped in the process. )


 

 

That is just adorable.

 

My mage Lavellan's team is Solas, Bull, and Sera/Cole swapping occasionally.  I will probably finally get them to Skyhold this weekend. That playthrough is kind of casual so I've hardly done much in it since I began in April. Been playing other stuff in between, including a revisit to DA2.
 

[coldwetn0se]

Since I have been playing a bit more of my non-f!Lavellans, I have been fiddling with group dynamics (and hopefully triggering banter). Trying to use some of my less tried groupings like Cole with Vivienne, Bull with Blackwall or Cassandra (I admit, it isn't in my play style to generally bring more than one warrior in DAI. I did it all the time in the previous games, but don't find it as fun or useful in this one...for whatever reason. ).

I do really like Solas' banter with Bull and Sera though. Since I have spent so many play throughs where Solas and Cole are in the same party, or Solas, Cass, Varric/Dorian, it has been a fun change of pace.

Besides, I can't help but say things like, "Two elves, a Qunari and a Dwarf walk into a Ball...."

[MayriyaNoori]

Don't you just love happy Solas?

 

It's that kind of face in those screenshots that really make me wish for a happy ending.

 

Even though I have the itching idea it won't.

 

Sadness......

[Cee]

Well, typically I don't replay anything right away. It takes time since I get super invested and take my time in my RPGs. So actually deciding to make another character so soon is new to me. That said, my party is almost always two mages, one rogue, and a warrior. My canons are always dual-wield rogues, so I never had the opportunity to use either Sera or Cole much. I did use Colr in JoH after making him an archer with guard but we were almost max level and composition hardly mattered at that point.

 

So now I am one of my two mages. Solas is the other. I conscripted the templars so no Dorian yet (he's kind of redundant this time). Didn't recruit Vivienne. Because of Cole and Solas banters and wanting to spend more time playing with Sera, getting her banters, as well as Bull, that's who I will run with this time. I'll sometimes swap Cole and Sera.

 

I want to go rift mage but I didn't recruit Vivienne so I'm also considering KE but I think the rift mage spec and comboing with Solas sounds more fun.

[midnight tea]

I was surprised how well 2 Rift Mages work together, after I've decided to pick that specialization over KE. Just give Solas upgraded Winter's Grasp and keep shattering enemies with Stone Fist - lots of fun to have.

[DarthEmpress]

Waiting for Solas DLC is making me frustrated.  So I'm finishing my smut... here is a preview :3

 

Spoiler

[drosophila]

I was surprised how well 2 Rift Mages work together, after I've decided to pick that specialization over KE. Just give Solas upgraded Winter's Grasp and keep shattering enemies with Stone Fist - lots of fun to have.

 

LOVE the stone fist! Also Rift Mage seemed the most logical specialization to choose, so I can have one available after the main story ending. 

[madrar]

I have almost zero brain power today, to properly add to the current conversation. So screenshots it is!

Sorry this is so late (and a kind poster did already make a post pointing to a thread discussing the Desire Demon statues), but this was the statue in question. (re: my pondering "why?" there was a desire demon statue in the Hissing Waste )

Spoiler

 

*head snaps up, sniffs the air*

 

...mmm, theory.

 

I'll take a stab at it.  If you examine the other statue nearby or check it out in the fade, you can see there are actually two sides to the full statue: one that looks like a desire demon, the other a menacing helmeted figure- both surrounded by bones and skulls and bound to each other by a twining, reptilian tail-like thing with a pattern of tiny lightning bolts.

 

So what is it?  

 

My guess is that it's another real-world neurological allegory made literal.  In this case, a statue commemorating the primordial creation of early instincts, the binding of mental "daemons" in the service of life.  

 

Solas gives us a small nudge in the fade.  "Fear is a very old, very strong feeling. It predates love, pride, compassion... every emotion save perhaps desire."  Fittingly, I think what we have here is Fear and Desire, two primeval demons being bound and pressed into service by Order (Elgar'nan's lightning-bolt branded tail) literal source of the "spark of life".  These primitive processes are being engaged as the earliest, most basic instincts that protect and promote that life.   Fear gives rise to the self-preservation instinct, Desire, the mating instinct: by incorporating these first neurological "daemons", primordial life thrives.  

 

*shrugs, disappears back into her hole until DLC release*

[coldwetn0se]

*snip well thought out theory*

This is a very plausible analysis. Nicely done. I didn't see the other statue (and I lazily have yet to venture to the thread that was pointed out, regarding this subject ).

Every time I go through Here Lies the Abyss, I try and spend a bit more time studying the images we are presented with in the fade (and Solas does do a nice job of commenting on a few points). And yet, here I am. Still missed seeing the entwined statues.

[Illyria]

*head snaps up, sniffs the air*

 

...mmm, theory.

 

I'll take a stab at it.  If you examine the other statue nearby or check it out in the fade, you can see there are actually two sides to the full statue: one that looks like a desire demon, the other a menacing helmeted figure- both surrounded by bones and skulls and bound to each other by a twining, reptilian tail-like thing with a pattern of tiny lightning bolts.

 

So what is it?  

 

My guess is that it's another real-world neurological allegory made literal.  In this case, a statue commemorating the primordial creation of early instincts, the binding of mental "daemons" in the service of life.  

 

Solas gives us a small nudge in the fade.  "Fear is a very old, very strong feeling. It predates love, pride, compassion... every emotion save perhaps desire."  Fittingly, I think what we have here is Fear and Desire, two of the oldest, earliest demons being bound and pressed into service by Order (Elgar'nan's lightning-bolt branded tail) literal source of the "spark of life".  These early, primitive processes are being engaged as the earliest, most basic instincts that protect and promote that life.   Fear gives rise to the self-preservation instinct, Desire, the mating instinct: by incorporating these first neurological "daemons", primordial life thrives.  

 

*shrugs, disappears back into her hole until DLC release*

 

*grabs madrar and drags her back into the thread*

[Caddius]

*grabs madrar and drags her back into the thread*

*prepares Winter's Grasp in case she slips away*

[Gwyvian]

*looks around*

 

*establishes that there's no news*

 

*submerges back into game*

[Garnet]

Last night I played Here Lies the Abyss again and I just wanted to mention how adorable Solas is when he's in the fade.

I was entertained by his reaction when you ask him if he'd ever been to this part of the fade. He kind of sounds offended in an "I would never be caught dead in this part of town!" kind of way. 

 

I also took a bunch of screenshots and wanted to share said adorableness.

Spoiler

I can shrink this if it's too big.

[NightSymphony]

hehehe...new comic by Liliumsnow

http://liliumsnow.de...World-543865322

[Cee]

hehehe...new comic by Liliumsnow

http://liliumsnow.de...World-543865322

 

Oh little conflicted cute!Solas.

 

Also why does Alistair have one eye? I don't think she has drawn him like that before.

 

I do hope that some sort of DLC news is imminent. I'm not going to hope that we get news next week as rumored, but if we do, I'll be happy.

[andy6915]

How did your mages react to the physical fade, from a roleplaying standpoint? My qunari mage wasn't even bothered, she found it weird but cool. She always did have unusual tastes, she was a bit of a weirdo. So for her, a place that weird was interesting and kinda fun. She took to it like a frog to water, with not even a hint of fear or worry. Only thing she didn't like was how wet it was, but other than that she loved the place and wished the fade looked like that more often.

 

My elf mage who romanced Solas was the opposite. She hated the hell out of it. The fade was always a comforting dream world that she never feared, which made the true fade she experienced during that quest feel like a massive betrayal. Behind the peaceful dreamy facade was a nightmare, a disgusting and terrifying place that made her feel like the fade was better off killed with fire. It ruined the fade for her, because now she knows the true monster just behind the curtain. When you're there in just a mental state, the fade hides its true self and appearance. When there physically in a way that spirits can't hide it behind illusions, it's as wrong as anything could be. That place in the fade where she first made love to Solas where Haven was empty and peaceful was merely a mirage, the place she really made love to him in was a wet and green swamp full of garbage and skeletons and darkness. She just didn't know it. It's like learning your best friend is a crazy killer who keeps bodies of victims in his freezer, or a nice cake that actually has raw human meat inside it... Something you once enjoyed ruined because you now know the true face behind the mask, a reality behind the facade. She quietly and secretly started disagreeing with Solas about how great the fade is and how it being merged with reality would be a good thing, because of what the fade actually looks like behind the smiles. Reality combined with that place would be a nightmare that never ended. She always was sensitive to stuff, she spent the first several battles in the Hinterlands not even helping in battle because she was so afraid of hurting actual people (I did indeed act this out, intentionally didn't do much besides put barriers up on the party). And then it eventually become her helping to actually kill people but never taking the final blow. She did eventually grow hardened about it, killing with no hesitation, but it took a while.

[SgtSteel91]

My Human Warrior, reacting to dream Heaven and the physical Fade, was like, "this is really weird. Solas is it always like this for you?"

 

All the real weirdness in the physical Fade was chalked up to being in the Nightmare's den.

[drosophila]

My elven mage has the habit of suppressing any emotion when it's do or die and walked unfazed through every fight. Back in Skyhold, the horror caught up with her and she would experience everything in her dreams over and over again. When awake, her thoughts would wander back to the demons, dreams, and fears she saw. She knew the only way to overcome this was to learn from the experience, to make it mean something. So she went to Solas and asked him to tell her more about the fade, what it is, and what he had experienced there. Listening to his stories made them closer and she began to see more in him than the unwashed apostate hobo who looks down on the Dalish. She also realized there's so much she didn't know about the fade and her fear turned to curiosity. 

 

At night, when no one was looking she would use the mark to open small rifts, walk physically into the fade at Skyhold, and study it. There was little time at first, but once the Meat Dress was defeated, she devoted herself more fully. She regards this ability to cross between the fade and the physical world with ease as precious heritige from her ancestors. Now she is proficient at walking through the fade and plans to use her skill to look for a certain someone...

[Garnet]

Elia, my rogue/archer, often uses humor to get past things. She's really fun-loving and sort of just went with it and got out of there asap.. She was more worried about what was happening outside of the fade at Adamant.

My mage, Nia was frightened at first but she toughened her resolve to get through it. After the initial fear, she was simply fascinated by it and if things were less urgent she would have wanted to stay and explore more. With Solas, of course. They didn't have the balcony kiss yet, so I think the fear sort of spurs her on in that since it was directly afterwards. She saw his "gravest" (ha.) fear, too, so that was part of why she wanted him to stay. That and smooches.

Both of them are elfy anti-heralds so they were like "See? I TOLD you I wasn't the herald of your Andraste." Foolish shems.

One day I will play a Qunari, Dwarf, and Human...maybe..I just really love elves...

[Gwyvian]

Hmm, my mages... Well, my human mage hasn't gotten there yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be like a deer facing headlights. She's pro-circle and pro-chantry and therefore I'll make her really broken up about the whole "it wasn't Andraste" thing.

 

My only other mage at present is m!Lavellan and I played him to be totally cool about the whole affair, it's all a fascinating experience - I'd rather he not have a kind of dark view on it because I see that as kind of reserved for those people who take the Chantry seriously. I'd imagine a Dalish would go out of their way to be different from that, accepting of magics and inexplicable things that the Chantry frowns upon and they would be someone who is always willing to learn. The polarizing nature of society would naturally follow a pattern at least similar to this, if not this exactly, given that neither cultural group really has a lot of divergent material to work with; either you accept the Andrastian view or you don't, there isn't a lot of room for much else. True, on the surface of things the Dalish are eager to preserve a history that is distinct from human society, yet they are notoriously bad at it due to lack of knowledge and experience living outside of the human context, as it were. A lot of things they do seem more like mere rebellious gestures, i.e. they attack humans because "oh, shems, we don't take kindly to shems" and not because they have any real clue about what, exactly, the shems did to them, or what they do know is so far removed from the present that it's almost laughable. Case in point: Zathrian's vengeance meted out on the descendants of shems who murdered his family; those people were actually innocent of the crimes for which they were being punished and while there is a personal dynamic involved here, it somehow signifies the tragedy of the Dalish in a way: they know they should be angry, but they can never truly understand the why of it. Same difference when you look at the way all elves are almost universally treated by humans, despite the fact that they've become so integrated into human society that there's almost little to no difference between impoverished and oppressed humans and elves if you really look closely at them. Sure, there are huge differences, yet... if you really think about it, those huge differences are far more meaningless than they are made out to be (out of necessity, of course).

 

*sigh* See, I can't even answer a simple question without analyzing the ramifications of societal context. 

 

*dashes away with manic laughter*

[drosophila]

hehehe...new comic by Liliumsnow

http://liliumsnow.de...World-543865322

 

Solas would have difficulty opening up in therapy.