I Feel Like, We As A Society, Don't Talk Enough About People Messing Up Needle Felting.

Hey there! It’s been a while 🤝🏻

Huge thanks to @ladysakurascout for commissioning and supporting me through this long period of time while I was just off and couldn’t draw at all:’)

Now I happily rewatched fallout tv series (I believe it must be around 10th or 15th time :’D) and can share this with you ♥️

I cannot believe there's absolutely no way to watch free shows and movies anymore, there are too many paid streaming platforms and pirating websites have viruses and ads preventing you from watching it uninterrupted((.)) id rather follow the rules and purchase media moving forward because it is too inconvenient. Seriously, free and no ads or viruses with 1080p streaming is DEAD.

For me, personally, Bioware's Mass Effect romances has soured me a lot towards the bashful, hesitant tropes, because they were frequently Femshep's while Maleshep had clear and present interest from Tali, Liara, Jack and Ashley ahead of time. There was another tendency for every one of Femshep's male LI options to talk about their past lover. Kaidan had Rana, Garrus had that turian scout, Thane had Irikah, and Jacob had Miranda.

It's not that people shouldn't have had past relationships, it's that the frequency of them discussing their ex, in glowing terms, is not a turn on before trying to start a romance with that LI. I mean, if you're Maleshep, only Miranda and Jack's romances ever involve discussion of an ex. None of his other potential female LIs ever talk about another in sad, wistful tones. Curiously, his male options do.

Those two things combined with Vega's literally ending in a date rape have forever put me off of any LI who seems like they're dragging their feet about a relationship the entire way.

Ok, I’m probably very set on who I’m romancing my first playthrough of Veilguard, but then I was wondering what might make me change my mind. And then I was wondering what everyone else’s dealbreakers might be (and i wanted to ask before we learn much more about them!)

(Also to be clear, i’m just asking this out of curiosity, and not saying that any of these options are good or bad. this is just for funsies & i wont hold you to it 😂)

my three girlfriends.

And yes, they smoke weed.

What is it about laying on the floor when you're overwhelmed that makes everything feel so much better?

As a Blackwallmancer, I never thought I'd see the day where he'd not end up last in a romance poll. The early days of DAI have come a long way.

I have been thinking a lot about the entire Coop-Barb-Janey subplot, not only from a viewer's perspective but also a writer's perspective and here's some thoughts of what we might expect in S2 and/or S3:

☢️ Similarly to S1, S2 could open with a scene set in 2077 showing Coop separating from Janey. It'd be safe to assume that at one point Barb swooped in and took Janey with her to one of the good vaults.

Henry/Hank, being Barb's assistant, might have been directly involved. It would explain why Coop later thinks he might know where both of them are

Coop probably doesn't know that for a simple reason: contrarily to the experiment vaults, the location of the high management vaults must be top secret and the entrance must be well disguised and well protected

Side note: Barb and Janey are definitely not in vault 31. They are not listed on the terminal that Norm checks in one of the scenes

☢️ I think that throughout the season/s we'll get some flashbacks of Coop and Barb from the moment he found out about the bombs all the way to their divorce

I theorize Barb was the one to file for divorce, and one of the reasons was she feared his association with "commies" would lose her (and by extension her daughter) the spot in a good vault

I saw an affair angle being mentioned. I'd say it's not out of the realm of possibility. Still, if there was a third man, it would not be Hank but some high ranking executive, someone who could grant Barb that spot in a good vault.

If there was an affair and it was mostly calculated, I think there could still have been an element of genuine attraction there. The way in which Barb accuses Coop of being an ingenue, makes me think she'd be inclined to develop an attachment to someone who is the opposite of that, someone who'd make her feel safe and supported

Side note 1: the affair angle would tie nicely with the fact that Coop appears to think of his family as having been taken from him

Side note 2: ghoulcy shippers might find it interesting that the side of Coop's character that Barb seemed to resent, is the one Lucy would probably appreciate the most

☢️ All that said, Coop will most certainly find Barb and Janey at the end of S2 or at least will find out where they are and will only literally find them at the end of S3. @earthgenre made an interesting post exploring what might have happened to them. I personally am convinced they were cryo-frozen and one of the following will turn out to be true:

They were awakened, lived and died a long time ago (or were just never frozen in the first place) and Coop will have to deal with the fact that they are just... gone.

They were awakened some time earlier but by now Barb is dead and Janey is all grown up, perhaps with a husband and child/ren, or alternatively she's already old. It could make for a heartfelt reunion but in the end, the two would have to go their separate ways.

They are both still in their cryopods. Coop gets to see his wife and daughter again and is faced with a choice to either awaken them or let them sleep. It would be a test of character for him. If this one came true, I think he'd either let them sleep or awaken them just for a moment of closure and then let them go back to sleep again in wait for a better tomorrow.

You may have noticed I didn't include any scenario in which they reconcile and walk together into the sunset. This is simply because I don't think it's really an option. I mean, could you imagine Barb, the clean-cut corporate exec, traveling across the wasteland with her ex who now is also a radioactive flesh-eating ghoul? And dragging their little daughter along with them?

On the other hand, Coop wouldn't subject them to that. Yes, he's been looking for them all this time but it would be very silly of him to expect them to reunite and just go live happily ever after. And he's a lot of things but silly is not one of them. I don't think he wants to get them back. He just wants to know what the hell happened to them. Closure is what he wants and what he'll probably eventually get.

As much as I'd love to see Coop get back what he'd lost, I recognize that it wouldn't make much sense, narratively speaking. Cooper's journey appears to be about two things: regaining his lost humanity and letting go of the past. He cannot turn back into a human but he can become a better man (ghoul?) with strong(er) morals. Similarly, he cannot get his family back, not really, not even if he finds them alive, but he can always get himself a companion - someone whom he could cherish and protect, someone whom he could literally live for - and the narrative so far seems to imply that companion is meant to be Lucy. I won't elaborate further on that because there's already a gazillion posts quoting various parallels and foreshadowing elements than seem to be pointing somewhere in that direction.

At the end of it, I just wanna say, there is no way back, but there is always a way forward and that, I think, is the lesson Cooper is supposed to learn.

Oak father preserve you.

Grab prints here.

*Pinches nose*

PSA Announcement: Solomancing Halsin does not make him monogamous. It's not a fan's responsibility to go sleep with others to make sure gatekeeping poly fans are reassured he's still poly. There is no minimum quota of people a fan has to sleep with for someone to still be poly. I'm sorry I don't find others attractive enough to put them above Halsin, but it's my playthrough, not the ones who are complaining. I don't owe the polyamorous group validation ON MY OWN PRIVATE PLAYTHROUGH through denial of my own preferences. What I like does not change that Halsin is still polyamorous.

On that note too, Shadowheart and Astarion are also poly despite some fans' insistence that they're monogamous victims being preyed upon by Halsin.

If you have never said this to anyone, carry on, this message is not directed at you.

*Waits for the torches and pitchforks*

While there is no doubt that having the Qun inflicted on everyone else is unacceptable, knowing why there are adherents is important because it'd never survive if it wasn't at least addressing enough people's needs to become a culture. One of the biggest things that stand out is that the Qunari do not believe in neglecting their poorest and weakest members of society. Oh sure, ideally, everyone should be taken care of, the Chantry sisters do have charities.

And yet.

There are people still joining the Qun (for good or for ill) like the city elf brothers who were wanted for murder. Why did they kill? Humans raped their sister. Did they go to the City Guard? Yes. No one did anything about it. Why? They were city elves, the least of all citizens.

No amount of spare food or clothing will address that need for justice there.

It's notable that Andrastian myths focus more on Andraste, her relationship to the Maker and a few involved in her story. But the story of the Qunari's reason for arising centers on the failure of societies in taking care of their poorest, their neglected.

Long ago, the Ashkaari lived in a great city by the sea. Wealth and prosperity shone upon the city like sunlight, and still its people grumbled in discontent. The Ashkaari walked the streets of his home and saw that all around him were the signs of genius: triumphs of architecture, artistic masterpieces, the palaces of wealthy merchants, libraries, and concert halls. But he also saw signs of misery: the poor, sick, lost, frightened, and the hopeless. And the Ashkaari asked himself, "How can one people be both wise and ignorant, great and ruined, triumphant and despairing?"

So the Ashkaari left the land of his birth, seeking out other cities and nations, looking for a people who had found wisdom enough to end hopelessness and despair. He wandered for many years through empires filled with palaces and gardens, but in every nation of the wise, the great, the mighty, he found the forgotten, the abandoned, and the poor.

There's another passage that comes to mind of how the Qun may not be all fascism and pigeonholing tyranny to the citizens (taken with a large grain of salt):

Dragon Age Wiki

Codex entry: Qunari Tamassrans

See also: Qunari, The Qun, Tamassran Nanny Goodwin lay on the hard stones of the Kirkwall docks until the sailors left with her purse. As sh

Nanny Goodwin lay on the hard stones of the Kirkwall docks until the sailors left with her purse. As she struggled to her feet, a large grey hand reached down to help her. It was one of the Qunari, the great horned giants who had come to live in the city.

"I thank you," said Nanny Goodwin hesitantly, looking for her satchel. "I did not know the docks were so dangerous, or I would have asked one of Lord G___'s guards to accompany me as I bought healing herbs for the children."

"You are a tamassran," said the Qunari. "Under the Qun, no sailor would accost you. Why are you here?"

"I am but Lord G___'s nanny," Nanny Goodwin said, "and Lord G___ did not believe me when I told him that the children needed healing herbs, so I was forced to buy them myself."

"Under the Qun," said the Qunari, "tamassrans are trusted and listened to when caring for the children, and any healing herbs they needed would be provided. Why did Lord G___ not attend your words?"

"He is a noble," Nanny Goodwin said, "and I am merely a servant who cares for his children." She shifted her shawl to hide the bruises the sailors had given her, as well as the bruises Lord G___ himself had left.

"Under the Qun," said the Qunari, "all are equal, and no tamassran thinks herself a mere anything."

Nanny Goodwin bid the Qunari good day and returned to Hightown with much to think about.

Sounds like propaganda, doesn't it? And it'd be easy to dismiss as just that, if not for a few non Qunari members of the Qun like Gatt.

Dragon Age Wiki

Gatt

Gatt is an elven agent of the Ben-Hassrath. Gatt was a slave in Tevinter until he met Hissrad. A Qunari team led by The Iron Bull (who was t

Gatt has lived under the Qun after escaping from Tevinter so he has two societies to compare side by side to on the pros and cons. And his assessment is this: The Qunari are meeting enough of his needs to offset their flaws in society.

So there are some positives in Qun society. It's far too rigid and narrow in its overzealousness to categorize and control everyone, but it's fascinating in how it's not just a cartoonish, mustache twirling parody of an evil government. They genuinely do want to take care of every single member of their society, it's just a shame that expectation to conform is non negotiable.

CONFESSION:

It sucks that we rarely get to see any truly positive or cultural looks into Qunari life. Sten was kind of our only real peak into it without every character around them going "wow thats TERRIBLE the qun sounds AWFUL you're basically SLAVES". Even Tallis's storyline eventually turned into her running away from it. We'll shine a light on how the Chantry and the slave empire are 'flawed but worth saving' all damn day, but maker forbid the Qunari have any kind of positive exploration with the modern storyline. I'm not saying I want them to be a shining perfect utopia, but would it kill anyone to add a little nuance?