*Pinches Nose*

Carbonara preparation under pressure....

You have been lied-- THIS is Snow White

As usual, prints are avaible here <3

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?

reddit was talking about this, but i feel like tumblr could get a scholarly debate going

Actually, you know what's disappointing? I was kinda looking forward to the idea of getting to share common interests with the next generation instead of having that gap in understanding with my own parents. It wasn't just about mom thinking I'm getting into Satanic stuff because I liked Pokémon (seriously, cute little critters was Satanic to her?!), it was not having that chance to bond with them on a hobby.

Sad thing is, I think I kinda get it with how prevalent creeps are on the internet, trying to hit on minors and not taking the hint. And you know what, I'm sick to death of seeing those actual assholes harassing teens and sending offensive images.

But that's not the message a lot of us older fans are getting. Instead, it's like dealing with the resurrection of Prudishness all over again, gatekeeping What Is Acceptable for Adults.

It's a shame, because there's a chance for actual understanding and camaraderie there, because the rules for harassment and offensive imagery is something both older and younger fans can agree upon. It doesn't have an age requirement because it's expected of everyone. Someone pestering you for nudes? Give us a heads up and we'll report this ass and call them out. Someone being inappropriate regarding actual minors? Hell, we'll help boot them.

It seems to be when it involves fiction and art work that the alarm bells are going. Thing is, fiction is a different animal, not something you can peg a person by what they create. Sure, there's going to be stuff I never want to see and that's where the filtering is required instead of raising alarms. If it's happening to a fictional character, it's a filter. If it's happening to a real person, then it's a report.

“Ew you’re an adult why are you in fandom” Kid, if being mocked for fandom shit wasn’t enough to stop me when I was an actual 15 year old, hearing it from a 15 year old when I’m 30 is genuinely hilarious

Reach

Female Tav x Halsin

(Just a personal headcanon for one of my Tavs)

The Imp patagium laid on the highest shelf, just a few inches out of her reach if she went on tiptoe. Normally, not a terrible inconvenience if she floated a bit, but with the lambent flames cooking the suspensions and the steam of the sublimates, she was reluctant to risk an accidental brush with her robes. She tried approaching from the side, but the distance just felt longer. She tried placing a knee on the edge of the stone slab used as an alchemical workspace, but the shelf was behind the arrangement of vials and flames and stinging steam.

"Let me, my heart." One long, broad arm reached above her head to pluck the small vial. Looking upwards, she could see the smile on his face.

"I could have gotten that."

"Indeed you could." Wrapping one arm around her waist, Halsin laid a gentle kiss on her head. "But I figured this was easier for you."

Luth could feel herself relaxing into his embrace, swaying with him as they often did during their moments alone.

"Thank you. Really." She turned around, smiling as she reached up to take the patagium from him.

He kept it out of her grasp.

Puzzled, she extended her arm, all the while looking at his broadly grinning face that never changed. He inched it further from her hand. Dawning comprehension revealed the mischievousness in his smile as he leaned a bit further back.

"You're almost there," One step, then two before he had already led her away from the alchemy bench and had sat down on a nearby slab. Every time her fingertips grazed the glass, he'd swap hands with it.

"How-" She let out a huff of laughter. "-how are you so tall?!"

Frustration had her gripping his forearm with both hands, hands that still could not encircle his arm completely, pulling herself further up until she finally snatched the elusive ingredient with a triumphant cry.

"Aha!"

"Very well done, my heart."

His grin had never faded and she had now realized, that he had maneuvered her so that she'd be draped all over him. Only the clothing they wore separated them from fully feeling the length of each other's bodies. From his vantage, he had the satisfaction of watching his beloved's face flush redder and redder, mere inches from his.

"You planned this."

"Mm-hmm." Thick fingers had already slid under her embroidered robes, rubbing circles on bare skin. "Whatever should be done about that now?"

"You-" Luth could not even pretend to be mad, not with growing evidence of his interest beneath where her legs were straddling him. "This is why we're behind on our potion stock."

"By all means, don't let me stop you, my love."

Luth had to laugh. "You are dangerous."

His chuckle joined hers as the vial of patagium fell to the ground.

I'm actually super surprised to see that there are people who don't like Halsin. I guess I've found myself in the right circles because I've never seen anything but love for him!

Ok, so I've been trying to gather my thoughts on this, because it's not a fun topic to discuss. But some of the most insane takes I have seen has been like this:

While others are pointing out how insane it sounds and getting call out posts for it as though they have had no good reason to talk about it:

It's gotten bad enough that Dave Jones, Halsin's voice actor, is being quoted by people saying he should be put on a list:

Dave is a voice actor. A goddamn voice actor. He doesn't have control over how Halsin is written nor is he endorsing any creepy behavior. This is a serious accusation to make and honestly, why are Halsin haters following the voice actor of a character they hate?!

People are entitled to their feelings and they have a right to feel safe, but that does not give them the right to falsely accuse real people for things that did not happen.

This is fictional work. Fictional characters who are written out with a set plan in mind. We know Halsin's intent from start to finish and it's never changed like other, more controversial characters are intended like:

Halsin: I understand, and I will cherish our relationship.

Minthara: I already know your mind. I will know your body, one way or another.

This is not a condemnation of Minthara. She's intended to be difficult and bossy, because she had to be in the cutthroat world of the Underdark. This is, however, intended to be a comparison of the double standards I've been seeing from fans and wish would be applied fairly and civilly. I would deeply dislike being deceived if I was a new player trying out this game and found out I had been misled so badly on different characters. I've already felt aggravation finding out fans pushed a popular headcanon over what's actually in the game in other games.

That moment of feeling old when you hear a word you don't recognize and you have no idea if it's an app, a service, a product, a brand or a new slang term, etc....