Challenge 6

[kendiefox]

snowflake_challenge Challenges 6 asks me to make a list of things I want. oof.

1. More plotty femslash. By preference in a fandom I know, but I'll take fandoms I don't know and read 'em like origfic. I am not saying I'll read it all, I just really want it to exist in the world.

2. Someone to nod and smile and make approving noises at me while I flail about Dragon Age Inquisition. I've just last night finished the main storyline and started Trespasser and I have all the feels but no one to share them with.

3. Icons of women with swords or axes but not in 'that kind' of armor. (armor does not need a boob window)

4. More people to have contact info on the AO3. (email? twitter? any way to contact other than a comment?) And possibly a transformative works statement.

Comments

[zilentdreamer]

TELL ME YOUR DRAGON AGE INQUISITION FEELINGS!!! I WILL NOD AND SMILE AND MAKE SQUEALING NOISES.

[kendiefox]

Okay, so.

First: I love Josephine Montilyeyt beyond all reason or logic.
This is weird for me as I am typically lukewarm at best about romance options in games. But this one? Is so sweet and gentle? And you get a shovel talk from the spymaster who is her BFF? And it's just so lovely.

The actual plot of the game was intriguing. A little dopey in that some random nobody gets pulled out of a snowbank and shoved into a position of power, but still really compelling. It's not some nebulous 'save the world' thing; there is a specific threat (least terrifying villain I've ever met), which the protagonist and their buds will counter. Also there will be politics and supply lines and dealing with locals and it felt more like a lived-in world than most games do.

So that spymaster that gave me a shovel talk? I definitely made her the new pope. It's a delight.

I actually like how all of the party characters (and many non-party NPCs) have actual motivations and lives. Bull isn't just there because the party needs a beefy meat shield, though he does serve that purpose. Bull joins the Inquisition because he's a spy for the Qunari and he's told to get intel and he's doing that but also he's up front about it and accidentally walks himself right out of the Qun. Even the characters I do not agree with are still fleshed out. I really hate how Vivienne distrusts her fellow mages and wants to put them all back in cages, herself included, but I get why she feels that way.

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT CASSANDRA PENTAGHAST. Her tragic backstory! Her romantic heart! Her tough outer shell protecting the marshmallow center! Those cheekbones! Those facial scars! Seriously, when do we see good characters with facial scars, let alone potential love interest women with facial scars? I'm sad I cannot romance her as a lady Inquisitor but that is my only complaint about Cassandra or her storyline.

This is not an exhaustive inventory of my feels, just what happened to hit the screen while I'm at work.

[zilentdreamer]

Josephine was an absolute treasure. I loved the fact that she was Antivan since in the first game Zevran was one of my favorite companions, the saucy little minx. I was over the moon when I found out that she was a romance option for the male and female inquisitor since I like to do several play-thrus to see all the potential consequences for different actions. Leliana as her best-friend was a delight as well. Having her be this BAMF assassin who was destined to take over the chantry after meeting her as the sweet and somewhat naive bard in the first game was one of the biggest bright spots in the game. The character development!!! *flails*

The open world was both fun and kind of headache inducing for me? I loved the minutae of some of the tasks, where you had to act the diplomat and try to make alliances, but there were some instances where I would skip some of the smaller quests since it didn't seem to contribute much and I just wanted to get on with the story. I will give the creators credit though as someone who has played the two previous games multiple times. Being able to revisit old territories and seeing them with all the new art and detailed graphics of the new game was amazing.

I loved all of the companions (except for Solas. He can go fall off a cliff as far as I'm concerned.) Sera with her odd dialogue and strange battle techniques (the bees always cracked me up), Cole with his strange balancing act between human and spirit and the way he could read people. Bull was so much fun, the way they played with the dichotomy of him being a large brutish Qunari, and yet he was a spy, a master of subtlety and misdirection which was part of what made him so effective! You don't expect that from a guy who looks like he should say "Me Grunt hungry!"

Varric is my absolute favorite though, just because he was my favorite character by far in Dragon Age 2 and I was overjoyed to find out he was going to be a companion again in Inquisition. I was heartbroken to find out he wasn't a romance option though since I having him hook up with my towering female Qunari Inquisitor might have made me the happiest person on earth. A towering pillar of ferocious womanhood and her dwarf lover...*cackles*

Cassandra is perfection. Fierce and loyal and her accent...I love that she was one of the heavy hitters in the party. My favorite party combination was usually Dorian/Varric/Cassandra.

:D more DAI babble

[kendiefox]

Honestly? I've been considering not getting rid of my Xbox One until I've acquired and played the first two at least once. Inquisition is my first Dragon Age and if I'm getting that level of characterization and worldbuilding in the first two? Sign me right up, even with older graphics. I really wanna watch Varric go from companion to Hawke (and probs an idiot) to the dad-friend he is in DAI, never mind watching Leliana grow from the upstart to the spymaster. (and I already have Leliana feels because I definitely read her bio and that backstory) And I want to fall in love with the other companions I've read about via spoilers. But I only have so much space since I'm moving from TX to PA and *panic face* logistics.

Solas can go eat an entire bag of sand as far as I'm concerned, but all of the other companions are just so themselves and I love it. Hells, even Solas is himself, he's just a manipulative lying arse. The end of Trespasser still hurt even though we were not BFF because he was a fully-realized character. I was sitting there half-laughing at myself because "the egg has betrayed me" but also the Egg betrayed me and it hurt? even though I knew it was coming?

I didn't mind the fetch quests and minor actions, but I also limit my workweek gaming time to an hour and a half, which is just about enough time for the piddly stuff, and then dump several hours on a Sunday into main quest stuff. Different playstyles and all. Since I play as a fighter, my party is usually Dorian/Varric/either Cassandra or Bull, and sometimes just hitting hard with Dorian/Vivienne/2 fighters for dragons or bigger bads. That sweet party banter keeps me going.

[chase_acow]

YOU HAVE GOOD DRAGON AGE FEELINGS! I'm (ridiculously) a little jealous that you're about to go through Trespasser for the first time. It wrecked me okay? I was wrecked, and I loved it, and it is the best, most painful thing for my poor Adaar that I still think about. Enjoy it and please feel free to come back and yell about it when you finish!

I romanced Josephine on my first play through too (please don't ask me how many hours I've put into the game at this point . . . it's a lot) and it was so good. She's such a sweet, awkward nerd and the arc was fantastic - that sword-fight, that shovel talk *kisses fingers*. I am curious what happens to that romance in Trespasser now, I'll have to go look up a video later (by the time Trespasser came out, I was deep in love with Dorian.). Most of the romances were really deep and emotionally driven I think I played all of them but Solas. (I have strong feelings.) Cassandra's romance was worth the het for how much swooning I did. : )

Speaking of every interaction between Cassandra and Varric is A++! I love Dragon Age 2, Hawke is so fun to play, but seeing Cassandra and Varric there and then following them through Inquisition is fun and Character DevelopmentTM. And getting to know Morrigan in Origins was one of my favorite parts of that game.

I am still very conflicted about Qunari, probably because I've played my dude!archer!Vashoth Adaar for so long. Despite my affection for Josephine, I still side-eye everything about The Game and I wish there'd been a mechanism for me to smash it.

I loved the armor crafting! Matching outfits for everyone!

Um . . . thank you for letting me shout at you? And I'm sorry. Great wishlist! I went to look at my AO3 profile and updated the contact info stuff. I'd never thought about also leaving an email there.

Also, my icon is one of the main players in DA2 and she has great armor.

[kendiefox]

I kind of love showing up to the game 5 years late with Starbucks? All the maps and locations for things are easily found, there's more fic than I could ever want, and when I start yelling about it other people chime in with their feels. Also I get spoilers on who is a dirtbag lying liar who insinuated himself into my inner circle.

TRESPASSER COMMITTED FEELINGS CRIMES! I don't particularly like Solas and yet when I got to the confrontation I had many feelings. And the way he manipulated and used the Qunari was seriously messed up.

There isn't much interaction in Trespasser? After all the things come to light about the mark killing the Inquisitor there's a moment and an embrace while Cullen and Leliana awkwardly look at their shoes. And at the end they definitely run off to Antiva and rebuild the Montilyet trading fleet and get married and grow grapes and get cats. (I may be making some of that up, but most of it's in-text. :))

Was Cassandra worth it? I restarted with a boy-Inquisitor and I'm not sure if he's going to romance Dorian or Cassandra. I mean, all the party banter is great. Bull & Sera, Bull & Dorian, Varric & Dorian, just all of them, the delightful chaotic losers I drag around Thedas with me.

So. Many. Masks. I was happy to run around behind stage and hit things if only to get away from the dang masks.


Also, you have a transformative works policy! That's awesome! *highfive* Those and having another method of contact on your AO3 profile are really helpful. Even if the other contact is a link to DW where one can send a PM, it's better than attempting to get in touch via comment or wildly searching. Especially since some of us have different names on different platforms.

[muccamukk]

Fewer armour boobs generally!

[kendiefox]

That's just such bad design, honestly. There are ways to make armor fit a body with boobage that don't create obvious health hazards. Alas.

[silveradept]

I recall a (website? project? Twitter thread?) entitled Women In Practical Armor that collected examples of the thing you are looking for, and also generally lamenting and critiquing common features of armor that is really mostly decorative rather than doing its job of being protective.

[kendiefox]

Having done a quick google, I found that exact phrasing is an anthology about lady warriors!

I also found a tumblr for art of a similar nature. Seems like it's no longer updating, but it exists. I don't know how to make icons, but the art is pretty! :)

Thanks for the reminder of the project.

[silveradept]

Icons are usually "figure out what you want to get, figure out how much of it you can capture in a 100x100 square, crop/resize, save." Most free image programs can handle that, but most of the making an icon is in figuring out what to capture.

If that helps?

[kendiefox]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe? I might poke at making icons when I get moved. Lots of things are getting pushed until I'm in PA.

[silveradept]

Oh, understood. Moving takes up a lot of space in brain, body, and living area, so it makes sense to put things on hold until then.

[tarlanx]

I hope you like these warrior women :)

  
 

[kendiefox]

*_* omg. These are ah-mazing! Thank you so much!!

I don't know the second one, but I know and love Lagertha so much!

(p.s. i have you credited as 'tarlanx' but will change if you prefer something different)

[tarlanx]

The second is some random image I found on a Google image search that I thought might make a good icon for you :).

'tarlanx' is fine :) I tend to be known by both Tarlan and tarlanx :) When I first gained access to the internet the name 'Tarlan' was already taken by my internet provider so in a panic I added the X onto the end :)

[kendiefox]

Awesome!

I try to remember to credit things I did not make. And these are delightful. Thanks again!