...The mitochondria is the power-house of the cell, right?
Excuse me while I grab my local Chem major to explain the hilarity going on.
I kind of sorta understand like ten percent of it, but I approve of that ten percent.
Just wrote more about this, cheers to the chem major.
I hope this entertains you all, because it's 100% pure brand scientist crazy 
All of the companions and Inquisitor himself/herself appear to be really strong compared to most of their contemporaries - there's even an achievement called "The Brightest of Their Age" that gets unlocked after we recruit all possible companions. All of them are exceptional in their own field of expertise or against many horrors they have to fight.
I kind of took that for a Harry Potter joke. Hermione is called "the brightest witch of her age" at one point.
The one difference we know is mortal vs immortal, and we can use fDNA (
) and fadeplasts to explain this - it will have to relate to the function of the fadeplasts within the cell.
Which can actually be really similar to the mitochondria.
I kiinda happen to be working on something related to aging and lifespan, and mitochondria are incredibly important for this. They prooduce energy, but they also seem to be related to immunity, apoptosis, and, very importantly, they generate a lot of reactive oxygen species, which damage the cell and accelerate aging.
So if you can use the fadeplasts to draw the essence of the fade and convert that to ATP, you bypass the requirement for mitochondria. There can be a regualtory pathway that senses this and significantly downgrades mitochondrial function in response. Very low mitohondrial function --> very low ROS --> very low damage to the cell. If they have repair and regeration pathways to compensate for the remaining minimal damage, they would be in pretty good shape.
This is very crude, it doesn't really cover telomeres, stem cells, the possibility for cancer, but it's a good start?
I don't know much about the genetics/biology aspects of it *waves the chemistry flag* but we did use oxygen radicals (or as i like to call them, the O. No!'s 
) a lot in our research in neurochemistry & they are really beneficial in the brain (to an extent) so if you downgrade the ROS too much it could impact your neuron's action potentials (& as a result, brain function). We would need to find a way to downgrade ROS only in the peripheral mitochondria! And I can't really comment on the rest, because genetics was my least favorite class
Edit: And yes, I like your brand of crazy. It's a lot like my brand of crazy
For people like me that don't understand the science lingo:
(Have been waiting to post this one
).
I understand more of it than I might have thought I would remember. I was kind of a biology nerd before veering off onto the literature/social science path. It's making me smile anyway, regardless.
I don't know much about the genetics/biology *waves the chemistry flag* but we did use oxygen radicals (or as i like to call them, the O. No!'s
Edit: And yes, I like your brand of crazy. It's a lot like my brand of crazy
I like your brand of crazy too!
But ROS, especially one generated by mitochondria are currently one of the primary reasons for neurodegeneration! Look up paraquat, rotenone, MPTP, these all cause neurodegenerative disease through ROS or inhibiting mitochondrial function which produces ROS!
It's all a question of balance and proper dose, I suppose, but location is also very important. The cell is very compartmentalized and what molecule goes to which compartment is tightly regulated. Something that's inside the cell in the mitochondria does not have an easy time going to the synaptic junction unless it's meant to go there. So you can still keep some oxygen radicals at the synaptic junction.
I like your brand of crazy too!
But ROS, especially one generated by mitochondria are currently one of the primary reasons for neurodegeneration! Look up paraquat, rotenone, MPTP, these all cause neurodegenerative disease through ROS or inhibiting mitochondrial function which produces ROS!
It's all a question of balance and proper dose, I suppose, but location is also very important. The cell is very compartmentalized and what molecule goes to which compartment is tightly regulated. Something that's inside the cell in the mitochondria does not have an easy time going to the synaptic junction unless it's meant to go there. So you can still keep some oxygen radicals there.
Interesting! Nitric oxide (NO), which is also produced in the mitochondria by mtNOS, is the O rad I was studying & it's important in accelerating neuron action potentials and without it it would severely impact the signaling in the brain. But like everything in life, it's all about balance (the only exception is pie)
If you could find a way to just inhibit specific ROS synthases, then it would be ideal!
EDIT: We didn't study long term effects, so now that I think about it- arguments could be made about it possibly being beneficial in the long run to inhibit the mtNOS. It depends on how much though. I was mainly looking at numbers of action potentials, not so much the long term effects on the neuron itself. But I can see your point & it's a good one. We mainly got caught up in quantifying the peaks
Interesting! Nitric oxide (NO), which is also produced in the mitochondria by mtNOS, is the O rad I was studying & it's important in accelerating neuron action potentials and without it it would severely impact the signaling in the brain. But like everything in life, it's all about balance
If you could find a way to just inhibit specific ROS synthases, then it would be ideal!
Very interesting! So yeah, NO is a neurotransmitter, which is excess can cause neurodegeneration. Now I'll have to spend the weekend reading about it, because I haven't thought of it, and it's very interesting
(I would've never thought in a hundred years that BSN would be providing me with info relevant to my research. Life's just that insane.)
I don't actually think it might be necessary to inhibit specific ROS synthases, since if you leave some residual mitochondrial function, it will generate just enough NO to be useful but not cause any harm.
Very interesting! So yeah, NO is a neurotransmitter, which is excess can cause neurodegeneration. Now I'll have to spend the weekend reading about it, because I haven't thought of it, and it's very interesting
(I would've never thought in a hundred years that BSN would be providing me with info relevant to my research. Life's just that insane.)
I don't actually think it might be necessary to inhibit specific ROS synthases, since if you leave some residual mitochondrial function, it will generate just enough NO to be useful but not cause any harm.
I am glad to be of service! This is literally what I do at 3 AM. I edited my previous post to add on that I think you have a very valid point about the neurodegeneration. It could indeed be more beneficial in the long run to inhibit mtNOS, but in the short term the extra NOS from it increases the amount of AP's we measured. We didn't focus on possible long term effects (such is the way with underfunded research!) and so we didn't really spend much time thinking about anything other than trying to increase neuron action potentials. So I learned something too! But I am going to stop derailing the thread now, because I am totally 10000% off topic. I tried to throw in a few Solas jokes in a few of my posts... that counts for something, right?
Art break.
Trespasser: Solas and Lavellan at odds with one another. 
I suggest reading the drabble accompanying this for extra pain and heartbreak. 
Trespasser: "If you care, give me the truth."
Trespasser: That look in his eyes, he can disarm you with a single glance. (Gorgeous!)
Trespasser: I'm sure she'll get over it. 
(NSFW for boobs and blood)
Let the sky fall; When it Crumbles; We will stand tall; Face it all together by drathe. (Solavellan) So pretty!
Fading Memories. (Solavellan) I love the conversation going on in the tumblr post regarding this pic. )
Solas kissing Lavellan under a tree.
Little Lavellan and the Fen'Harel statue.
The Dread Wolf haunts. (Solavellan)
Solavellan kiss on the nose.
May the Dread Wolf take you. (NSFW; dom!Solas and biting)
Lavellan and Solas kissing. (Solavellan fluff but slightly NSFW)
Masked. Solas fanart based on a Solavellan fic called A Dance in Faded Halamshiral.
Solas on a hart based on Aicosu's fic, The Right Half. (I should get down to reading this fic...)
The Dread Wolf.
Cute chibi shiny Solas.
Cute Inquisition (Tumblr link version)
I am glad to be of service! This is literally what I do at 3 AM. I edited my previous post to add on that I think you have a very valid point about the neurodegeneration. It could indeed be more beneficial in the long run to inhibit mtNOS, but in the short term the extra NOS from it slightly increases the amount of AP's we measured. We didn't focus on possible long term effects (such is the way with underfunded research!) and so we didn't really spend much time thinking about anything other than trying to increase neuron action potentials. So I learned something too! But I am going to stop derailing the thread now, because I am totally 10000% off topic. I tried to throw in a few Solas jokes in a few of my posts... that counts for something, right?
...That.
Okay.
That works.
Very good show.
Maybe it was the blood of the mages who bound them, rather than their own blood? Or part of enslavement involved dragging a spirit down into the physical realm, (giving them blood and bone and all that good stuf) then using their own blood to bind them outside of the summoning circle?
It seems like the most likely answer for all the Fade shenanigans.
Maybe, but here's the thing about that.....
....Solas said partaking in blood magic reduces your connection with the Fade. So, I don't know that the nobles or Evanuris of Arlathan would would have used their own blood for such rituals right? Maybe, but it just seems to lean away from that.
However, there are two sources of blood that would be very linked to the physical world and probably worked out pretty well for such purposes.
One of them being Titan blood. The other is Dragon blood, but I lean towards the idea that they must have used Titan blood for such things if they did. Main reason being, I bet the Evanuris/nobles didn't start using valalslin until after the war with the Titans. That is, if the war with the Titans is the war Solas referred to in the end dialogue. It works out pretty well for a timeline of events then.
1.Spirits start taking the shape of elves. Very powerful spirits such like Elgar'nan and Mythal being among the first. Other's followed in suit.
2. Titans didn't like what spirits were doing taking shape in the physical. Not to mention that these elves would have been able to alter reality through magic.
3.Elves-Titan war happens and elves are victorious through the leadership of the Evanuris.
4. Elves discover lyrium and its uses. You start having incidents like Andruil and her Void armor for example.
5. Gradual progression of Evanuris into godly status. Somewhere along the line someone(I bet June, and not a joke this time) figured out how to use lyrium for blood writing runes onto followers in order to bind them to the real world. He even made them look nice and basically spell out his besties names. I think this is the Great Favor of Clever June to Sylaise. And the rest of the Evanuris.. Shot in the dark, but it works here. Probably some kind of gradual process. Like everyone getting a RFID chip and such.
All this leads to some Evanuris acting a fool after a while, then Mythal tries to speak out and I think she must have summoned Solas around that point. Then Solas started his whole rebellion stuff.
It's missing some serious stuff and it's late but....that's kind of what I think happened.
BioWare will most likely reveal something in some months time that destroys everything I just typed.
Such is the way of this fandom.
All this talk about elves and immunity is giving me a mighty thirst to see someone make a VACCINATE YOUR KIDS poster featuring our favorite apocalyptic elf
We still don't have an exact age for Solas. I wonder if they were immortal but merely aged at a very, very, verrrrrry slow rate or if these signs of aging on Solas himself were just what happened during his time in uthenera since the Veil was now present.
I think about them aging at an incredibly slow rate as maybe a bit more 'realistic' (as realistic as we get talking about immortal fantasy races) because I guess it's a bit sad to think Solas went from 'young' to ~40 but never saw himself change. Or any other elf in uthenera, for that matter. Or maybe they can 'see' their forms change in the Fade so it's not a shock.
It could be that ancient elven bodies did age outside of uthenera, but their bodies were easy enough to replace/upgrade/heal/modify, so it didn't really matter. Kind of like a lizard regrowing a chopped tail? (Raptor!Solas may turn out to be canon yet ). And that natural regeneration's one of the things the vallaslin prevented?
I
Soooo, more about the spirit genome:
We know spirits are formed from ideas. We have Compassion, Wisdom, Desire, blah...
Basically a spirit is formed when collective ideas condense the essence of the fade into a spritual entity. The spirit genome can be some sort of macromolecule composed of Fade particles that "encodes" the spirit essence.
When elves form physical bodies from spirits, they obtain a physical genome, defining their bodies, AND they retain their spirit genome, defining their spiritual essence. So, Solas is an elf, but he can also carry the essence of Wisdom (or Pride) within him.
Modern elves still have these, but they are dormant. They're passed down randomly from one parent of either gender. (Let's assume behavior similar to mitochondrial DNA, cause otherwise this headcanon becomes too complicated).
Since they are dorman post-veil, spiritual characteristics are not selected for and are susceptible to drift. Which is why the modern elves look like Tranquil to Solas, they have been losing their spirit functional spirit genes.
But our Lavellan - she retains hers by chance. She's a spirit of hope!
I've had too much wine tonight.
Ok, I can't really follow the chemistry conversation, but this I understand. I think. Something something alleles? How would this physical | Fade genome apply to elf-blooded humans though?
Lately I've been thinking meaning of vallaslin. The more I hear about Evanuris the more I am reminded of the Ori from Stargate franchise. I'll explain shortly.
Originally the Ori were humans who trough evolution gained powers (ie. telepathy, telekinesis, visions, healing) and later learned how to ascend, live forever as a pure form of energy with all the knowledge of universe at their disposal. Eventually the Ori noticed that their powers increased when mortals worshipped them. More worshippers meant more power and so they became gods.
The Ori sounds a lot like Evanuris to me, going from normal human beings to something to be worshipped. My original thought was that if vallaslin has similar meaning to Evanuris as worshippers has to Ori. More elves wearing certain vallaslin means more power to that Evanuri (?). Almost perfect reason to go a war with each other. Then there is Fen'Harel, a person who freed slaves and by removing their vallaslin reduced powers of Evanuris.
I know this is silly tought, but I can't help all these associations.
Maybe, but here's the thing about that.....
....Solas said partaking in blood magic reduces your connection with the Fade. So, I don't know that the nobles or Evanuris of Arlathan would would have used their own blood for such rituals right? Maybe, but it just seems to lean away from that.
However, there are two sources of blood that would be very linked to the physical world and probably worked out pretty well for such purposes.
One of them being Titan blood. The other is Dragon blood, but I lean towards the idea that they must have used Titan blood for such things if they did. Main reason being, I bet the Evanuris/nobles didn't start using valalslin until after the war with the Titans. That is, if the war with the Titans is the war Solas referred to in the end dialogue. It works out pretty well for a timeline of events then.
1.Spirits start taking the shape of elves. Very powerful spirits such like Elgar'nan and Mythal being among the first. Other's followed in suit.
2. Titans didn't like what spirits were doing taking shape in the physical. Not to mention that these elves would have been able to alter reality through magic.
3.Elves-Titan war happens and elves are victorious through the leadership of the Evanuris.
4. Elves discover lyrium and its uses. You start having incidents like Andruil and her Void armor for example.
5. Gradual progression of Evanuris into godly status. Somewhere along the line someone(I bet June, and not a joke this time) figured out how to use lyrium for blood writing runes onto followers in order to bind them to the real world. He even made them look nice and basically spell out his besties names. I think this is the Great Favor of Clever June to Sylaise. And the rest of the Evanuris.. Shot in the dark, but it works here. Probably some kind of gradual process. Like everyone getting a RFID chip and such.
All this leads to some Evanuris acting a fool after a while, then Mythal tries to speak out and I think she must have summoned Solas around that point. Then Solas started his whole rebellion stuff.
It's missing some serious stuff and it's late but....that's kind of what I think happened.
BioWare will most likely reveal something in some months time that destroys everything I just typed.
Such is the way of this fandom.
This is the theory I'm subscribing to on what happened as well, at least for now. But having it outlined like this has finally made me realize what's been bugging me about this Titan war: namely, if the world of the Titans is supposed to be anathema to the Fade, then how come Titan's blood strengthens someone's connection to the Fade? And how come other blood magic does the opposite?
June gave himself the best Vallaslin as evidenced by the amount of Lavellan's wearing it, thus making himself the most powerful of the Evanuris.
June = sneaky.
Oh my god. So June's plan is to conquer the world through the power of... aesthetic?
BEST. EVANURIS. EVER.
I think the lyrium was used as vallaslin to stop the wearers slipping back into the fade. The evanuris wanted their followers in the world for slavery.
My guess at least. The wiki page has art for vallaslin that looks like lyrium:
And if qamek is lyrium, the description sounds like the perfect way to keep slaves.
I think the lyrium was used as vallaslin to stop the wearers slipping back into the fade. The evanuris wanted their followers in the world for slavery.
My guess at least. Even the wiki page for vallaslin looks like lyrium:
Spoiler
This makes me think about Fenris and his lyrium tattoos. Basically Danarius made Fenris his walking lyrium supply. Now if original vallaslins were used as power boost to Evanuris... They do remind me more and more about the Ori.
June gave himself the best Vallaslin as evidenced by the amount of Lavellan's wearing it, thus making himself the most powerful of the Evanuris.
June = sneaky.
Ha! Guilty. My hats off to June.
I think the lyrium was used as vallaslin to stop the wearers slipping back into the fade. The evanuris wanted their followers in the world for slavery.
My guess at least. The wiki page has art for vallaslin that looks like lyrium:
And if qamek is lyrium, the description sounds like the perfect way to keep slaves.
But if lyrium was supposed to hamper the ancient elves' connection to the Fade, how come it works differently now?
June gave himself the best Vallaslin as evidenced by the amount of Lavellan's wearing it, thus making himself the most powerful of the Evanuris.
June = sneaky.
Headcanon accepted.
This makes me think about Fenris and his lyrium tattoos. Basically Danarius made Fenris his walking lyrium supply. Now if original vallaslins were used as power boost to Evanuris... They do remind me more and more about the Ori.
Well we know Falon'din was particulary interested in sacrificing..
Wait. I just remembered something.. Solas said, "the blood of those who wouldn't bow low filled lakes as wide as oceans". He said Falon'din wanted the worship, but I wonder if that meant the power from their blood? Hmm.
Retour en haut
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