Art By The Unclean

We finally know which tattoo stands for which faction, thanks to @pinkyjulien's folder!

These were a little bit trickier, but I also wanted to include the full body tattoos. Please note that while the files list Dalish and Veil Jumper tattoos the same way, I felt like it was worth making a distinction between the two of them in this list. You can definitely just read all tattoos as either Veil Jumper or Dalish tattoos, however. Also, pretty sure the devs didn't label them so no one would feel restricted.

Early Minrathous

I liked the idea of being able to see the colossal bones of the previous magical elven empire. By Matt Rhodes

“it sounds like you’re justifying their actions-“ i am. they’re a fictional character. i’m okay with anything they do all the time. hope this helps.

Perhaps this will prove an unpopular opinion, but I think that, seeing as they chose to make everything hinge on the inquisitor being high approval with Solas & wanting to save him no matter what & locked his best ending behind having romanced him, so that if you wanted a satisfying ending to the series you HAD to choose to redeem him with a female Lavellan, otherwise the inquisitor's only purpose in VG is to hand you a wolf statuette...(?!?? and even that's tied to the redeem ending, lol) ANYWAY, seeing all that, I believe they should've committed even more to it and have it be an option even for non-romanced inquisitors, regardless of race, to offer to join him à la Witch Hunt where you can offer to join Morrigan through the eluvian even as a friend, only you can actually go through with it this time. Now, before I'm pelted with rotten tomatoes, I think it should've been an option just for an Inky who didn't romance anyone, so that fans could have their happy ending with their LI of choice (though I am compelled by the idea of the inquisitor as someone, like Solas, who puts their duty to the world above everything, but that's another discussion). But I think it makes sense, both as a choice made by an Inquisitor who became close friends with Solas and never lost faith in him and doesn't want him to face everything alone (could there be other Feelings involved, too? that's for us to headcanon, ofc) AND as a purely pragmatic choice, seeing Solas as someone who shouldn't be left alone to their own devices for long, esp in such a vulnerable state - just like Mythal needed his Wisdom, one could argue he needs the Inquisitor to guide him back to being Wisdom again (or maybe they just wanna nope out after failing to save the South, considering we're told repeatedly that they're the only thing holding it all from collapsing and then we find out it's all gone, yeah, I'd go into witness protection too, lmao). ALSO, I think it would slap to have a dwarven Inquisitor say that they're interested in being a part of soothing the Blight (or, at least, supervising and holding him to it) and that THAT should be his priority. Anywho, thots? Am I cooking or is there a gas leak?

i think you're cooking.

i agree that the atonement ending is the most satisfying narrative - the player stats prove that's not an unpopular opinion. more explicitly tying the inquisitor to solas narratively would have been interesting. inquisition did this soooo well with in hushed whispers specifically but also literally every quest. even the non-romanced atonement scene is so good, inky says something like "you're free to find a new purpose" instead of the "banal nadas ar lath ma vhenan" and i actually prefer that to the elven with the botched translation LOL. i also like the interpretation i've seen that the "veilguard" is really not Rook & Co. but is actually solas. he's the one that tied his life to the veil. he's the one keeping it up. he's the one guarding it. so having the inquisitor join him, especially a dalish one, whether romanced or not, and especially a dalish mage, whose job as first and eventual keeper was going to be to protect their clan from the dread wolf. protecting the whole world from the dreadwolf by helping him atone is a natural extension of that, and i think is very satisfying. i also agree it would be really interesting and meaningful for a cadash to have the option to participate in the healing of the titans dreams.

i also agree that a lot of people would get mad about this because to them it would threaten lavellan's being "special" but i dont believe in that so idc. i think its an interesting idea!!

“The failure was mine. I should pay the price…”

Things Tranquility does:

Cuts you off from the Fade

Prevents you from doing magic

Sunders you from your emotions

Things Tranquility does not do:

Affect your intelligence

Render you incapable of reasoning

Turn you into a subservient, mindless drone

Cause lapses in judgement

Get rid of your morals and beliefs

Cleanse you of opinions, prejudice, or preconceptions

Make you immune to posession

Make you less of a person

more me verbally processing my feelings on this game and it's story that i sent in discord but i know reading these things can be helpful to others processing so im sharing them here <3

even though i think i personally am able to find coherent meaning in solas's ending, specifically the status of the veil, and i do think its good and i like it, i really have to work to do it. the way its written is kind of confusing because the message is like ok. let go of your regrets. but you also have to atone for your mistakes. but solas believes he is atoning by taking the veil back down and bringing immortality back and making sure more spirits are not turned into demons? but the story tells us that version of atonement is Wrong, but why is it wrong? because people will die? but people also die because of the veil? mages are mass incarcerated and lobotimized bc of the veil, elves have been enslaved for millenia, PEOPLE AGE AND DIE, BECAUSE OF THE VEIL? so he isnt supposed to atone for that mistake by fixing it he's just supposed to accept it and let go? so are we supposed to atone for our mistakes or not? what determines whether or not we need to atone? he has to atone for what he did to the titans but not what he did by accident to his own people i guess? and he is going to atone by maintaining the status quo that he created because people have gotten used to it?

i think the answer based on the regret prison scene with rook escaping with varric's help and that banger line of varric's is to take accountability and own up to your choices, they are yours and no one can take them from you. rook says something to one of the regret statues (for me it was harding) thats like "i made a choice and so did you and you knew the risks" or something so i think that is the key. solas cannot accept his choices and so he is desperate to undo them no matter what kind of harm it may do. he is trapped in regret and the past to the point that he cant accept them and move forward, and varric is the perfect contrast of this with how readily he accepts his death as a consequence of his love and hope for his friend. even mythal accepts her own choices when she tells solas that she turned him from his purpose. and she doesnt apologize or even express regret at all, partly because shes a crazy bitch (affectionate) but partly because i think her quiet, cold acceptance is part of the lesson solas needs to learn in that moment. solas is constantly saying, "im sorry, but", "ir abelas, vhenan, but i cannot". mythal just states her actions plainly; i forced you to take a body, i brought you into war, these burdens are ours to bear together, i release you. no apology, no rumination, she is at peace with her decision even though it is wrong. i think this works wonderfully on a personal individual level of personal regrets. it is a good lesson; regret does not serve any purpose other than to hurt you. it brings no one back, it helps nothing, it does not make the world a better place. solas has to let go of his regrets so that he can become the hero that varric sees deep down in him. it is an essential part of his personal journey as a character... but it gets stickier when we are talking about systemic change. obvi a lot of dragon age's modern, young audience is very much in favor of "tear it all down!!" and i am too but i think with solas they are trying to tell a very personal and individual story of a man and his regrets rather than make a social commentary on radical change, but they also dont make that clear enough, so the two get muddied together when it comes to the question of the veil in a way that feels like they are advocating for maintaining the status quo, which i dont think was their intention.

i think this is so muddied because inquisition very much makes clear commentary on systems and institutions with the chantry, the orlesian empire, ferelden monarchy, mages and templars, and the inquisition itself being all vulnerable to corruption, and solas has a lot to say about all of this and he is very much presented as being right (like when he tells you about the corruption in your own ranks in trespasser and how hes spying on you lol) and then veilguard does not do this AT ALL, all of the issues are very personal ones of people and their identity, people and their family, people and their regrets etc. so i think a lot of us are in this mindset from inquisition of like.... yeah disrupt the status quo install a puppetmaster elf to rule an imperialist empire, make leliana pope and radicalize the chantry even if its bloody, dissolve the inquisition, abolish the circles etc. etc. and the question of the veil is very much an extension of these philosophical questions about systems and organizations. and for those of us who leaned towards dissolution of all of those corrupt structures, dissolution of the veil is the logical conclusion to a story thats sending us that message. but then veilguard just. does not even engage with these topics at all. like its not even a question. it takes the question of the veil and translates it into a personal issue of solas's psyche (which is super interesting, just different) and connects it to his past actions, his relationship with mythal, and his perception of himself, rather than a macro-level question of what is best for the world when pursuing change, and the answer for solas on a personal level ends up being different from the answer that inquisition was asking us, but it feels disjointed as a result.

so the veil staying up was the right decision because it forced solas to let go of his regrets and the game is about him. so it was an exercise in his therapy session with his two ex-gfs and some annoying kid who wont leave him alone. but the problem is it doesn't answer or engage with the greater questions and themes about systemic change that the series has been building up to.

veilguard is interesting because it wants to be dragon age 2 so bad while simultaneously being terrified of dragon age 2. solas bringing down the veil would have been the answer to the question that anders blowing up the chantry asked, but veilguard decided to ask a completely different question instead. and i think it did a good job in that specific goal, but it doesnt satisfy 15 years of build up and instead just throws it out the window in favor of something else.

The Dread Wolf

he knows of the brands. in their journey to crestwood, he asks about hers. he is curious, and they have built a rapport he has come to enjoy. she's a surface dwarf, born far from orzammar, so, why?

she surprisingly admits to him a lyrium deal gone wrong. caught by the guards, and before they tried to take her hands, they held her down and burned it onto her face. she also mentions a daring escape, a furious mother, and a lashing. she laughs at it now, but he can see in her eyes the ancient, unhealed fear.

this is not what he came here for. he had meant to regale her with knowledge of the titans--carefully curated, of course--to give her something to chew on. to keep her focus away from him, where it seems to remain steadfastly these days. but he looks at her and sees the brand and he cannot help himself. "if you like, i know a spell."

she is unfamiliar with magic. could not comprehend that something like this is not possible for any normal hedge mage--that he could take it away. the mistake. restore her. make it all as it once was. she is bewildered, excited. she should not be.

but, foolishly, he allows it to embolden him. takes the naked trust in her eyes that look at him too closely and lets it carry his hands up to her face with a practiced ease. the light from his palm is gentle, flowing like water, and when it is over, she is new. she touches her skin in awe, like the thousands he has helped before her, and what was once a cold place inside him suddenly feels...warm.

ar lasa mala revas. you are free.

she stares, waiting for him to be the mirror through which she sees herself.

the words spill forth, honest and true. "you are so beautiful."

...and so, so unwise.

"You’d murder countless people?"

"Wouldn’t you, to save your own?"

I MISS THIS!! THE DILEMMA OF EVERYTHING