#Trance the Dragon

[the-ultimate-squish]

#sot2023 #sot2023r1 #Fernando the Human #Trance the Dragon #tournament poll #poll

[felassan]

this post is under a cut in case anyone would consider it to be DA:D spoilers, as the things it mentions came from the leak a year ago (spoiler warning for link) that included screenshots and a gif of the game. (the things this post mentions are therefore not new information and this does not reference a new leak)

I'm just thinking again about Rook (which seems to be the PC's name or title) and the imagery conjured by the name. ◕‿◕ this post is just speculation and overanalyzing for fun. also this post is a now-finished draft from my draft section from a while back.

I think it would work as a surname (like "Hawke") or a codename (think Leliana's spies and contacts such as "Butler", "Farrier", "Butcher", "Charter", etc although these are all professions that end in "-er" or "or" iirc). it could also be a title (like Warden, Hero, Champion, Inquisitor, Herald) or a nickname - like maybe it's short for "Rookie", it's a Varric-assigned nickname and it references how the DA:D PC is the newest member of the team after he recruits them?

I think it sounds catchy, and cool - it's snappy and short, Hawke-like in this way. and it sounds like the kind of name a spy or secret agent might have in a fantasy, superhero or sci-fi-type setting.

a rook is a black bird, Corvus frugilegus, a member of the corvid family. rooks have been perceived as vermin and nuisances by people in the past, and persecuted due to this. they bear a resemblance to their crow and raven relatives, both birds which have a large cultural footprint and lots of symbolism in areas such as folklore and art. Hawke obviously also had a bird motif going on from their surname and associated art pieces. corvids also bring to mind the Antivan Crows (assassins, thieves, & spies), reminding of the stuff about how in this game the PC may be trying to operate under the radar, and the reporting on a previous iteration of DA:D which had the game concept as being focused on spies and heists. rook plumage is inky black, bringing to mind darkness and shadow.

from the bird angle, a "rook" sounds neat opposite a "wolf" imo. wolves are obviously another animal that have large footprints in culture, myth and folklore. in the natural world there is symbiosis sometimes between wolves and corvids when hunting/feeding. there are lots of photos of wolves and corvids together.

a colony of rooks is called a rookery. of course, the fortress of Skyhold has a rookery. it's from there that Inquisition Spymaster Leliana operates, sending her black birds on missions with letters and messages to her many agents and spies throughout Thedas. what if Rook is one of Leliana's... "rooks"? a spy or agent of the remnants of the Inquisition.

A rook is also defined as "A cheat or swindler; someone who betrays" [noun], "mist, fog" [noun] and "to cheat or swindle" [verb]. it's also a type of trick-taking card game. these sorts of things bring to mind a rogueish, stealthy aspect, and the shady, shadowy dealings and card-game played in Minrathous Shadows.

a rook is also a chess piece. they're castle-like (since "rook" can also mean a castle or fortification) and usually have their top in the shape of a battlement. they can move in any direction along a rank or file on a chessboard on which they stand (horizontal/vertical, not diagonal). they can also do the "castling" move. in history, rooks have also been called towers, castles, rectors and marquesses. in chess, each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank. chess itself is a game of strategy and tactics. "the chessmaster" as a trope is a character type who manipulates events, tugging on strings and moving 'pieces' into place on a metaphorical chessboard. [Solas' DA:I dialogue about his past, like the one he has with Sera about cells of spies/agents, hark to this]

in the castling move,

"Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same rank and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved; the squares between the king and the rook are vacant; and the king does not leave, cross over, or finish on a square attacked by an enemy piece. Castling is the only move in chess in which two pieces are moved at once."

castling rules often cause confusion, even occasionally among high-level players. historically the move has its roots in the "king's leap", of which there were two forms and which arose in part it seems due to increasing importance of king safety as other pieces were given increased powers through time as the game developed. "the king would move once like a knight, or the king would move two squares on its first move. The knight move might be used early in the game to get the king to safety or later in the game to escape a threat." basically it moves the king away to safety and the rook to a more active position. there is also kingside castling and queenside castling. I wonder, symbolically.. is Rook more the king's rook, or the queen's rook? (reminds me of the Left Hand and Right Hands of the Divine hh). who or what is the king in this hypothetical analogy? the World of Thedas itself? as a castle or fortress.. Rook is the bulwark against what's to come? [over-thinking ik ik, tis just for fun hh].

by now we're all familiar with the chess game Solas plays in banter dialogue with Iron Bull during DA:I. in the in-world chess game, rooks are called towers. Solas moves his right-hand tower once. at a later point in the game, Iron Bull's "Arishok" piece takes Solas' left-hand tower, getting a check and leaving him feeling triumphant. Bull asks Solas wth he is doing as Bull takes Solas' remaining tower. "Your last tower, by the way". Bull, a spy and liar himself, bears down on Solas' pieces "with his full army", thinking a win is in sight. Undeterred, Solas executes a few moves in a sneaky plan and entraps Bull in a checkmate, winning the game after sacrificing various pieces to enact his plan.

rook also brings to mind the Tower tarot card and its meanings. it's associated with sudden, disruptive revelation and potentially destructive change. it connotes danger, crisis, sudden change, destruction, higher learning, and liberation, as well as adversity, calamity, deception, ruin and unforeseen catastrophe. reversed, it connotes things such as negligence, carelessness, apathy and vanity (vanity.. pride). in this depiction of the Tower tarot, lightning strikes from the sky, striking a crown (hubris) off the top of a tower and setting it alight as people fall from the tower to their doom. this imagery and the upright meanings of the card bring to mind the sudden massive change Solas seeks to bring about (destroying the Veil), the revelations and liberation for some that it might bring, his identity as Fen'Harel Lord of Tricksters (deception) as well as the destruction he seems to think the Veil destroying action will cause ("as the world burns in the raw chaos"...). the 'Tower scene' has also already played out once before in Thedosian history, when Solas created the Veil and sealed the Evanuris away, leading to the fall of Arlathan and its wonders. in modern Thedas, Morrigan and Flemeth (as well as possibly some side 'prophecy' type things) both allude to a big change coming to the world.

in DA:I, the Tower tarot card is ofc none other than Solas' ending card, if he is not romanced. in the DA:I version of the card, we see Solas, cloaked in a dark robe and holding a mage staff under a half-moon or eclipse. darkness seeps from his shadow, stark against the orange sky, and blends with the giant black Dread Wolf, looming ominously and open-mouthed above him with its many eyes. (the Tower tarot card Solas scene is later referenced in DA:D promotional art and DA:D-era in-world murals). it makes sense to have assigned this to Solas given the above discussed meanings of the Tower tarot card, but it's a verrry inchresting choice imo to then give "Rook" as a name/title for the DA:D PC.

and most inchrestingly, there's the symbol from the front of Mark Darrah's mysterious Red Book. this mysterious red book shows "a flaming rook" on the cover. the book was an internal guide for developer and publisher eyes only that summarized the vision for DA:D, in its Joplin iteration. we know that the Joplin project has since been revised to an extent that it was the newly codenamed Morrison instead, but the red book is known to still contain plenty of ideas likely to appear in DA:D. most pages of the book remain highly classified. it's the symbol on the front that's of most interest to us though for the purposes of this post. there is a castle, tower, or rook, like a fortress or the chess piece. above the tower, a fire burns, reminding us of the burning tower from the Tower tarot card imagery and what that symbolizes, as well as Solas' "world burning in the raw chaos" line from Trespasser. inside the fire is a wolf, the Dread Wolf, in a now very-familiar and repeated motif in DA:D art, merch, murals, teasers etc. whatever else "rook" may connote, it feels like it's not an accident at all that the PC's name is apparently "Rook", given this depiction of a fiery rook and the Dread Wolf together.

what do you think? ^^

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #dragon age: dreadwolf spoilers #tag since this info came from the leak months ago #long post #longpost #solas #looking thru old meta post drafts hh #what if Solas is like Fenrir and the DA:D PC is Huginn/Muninn to some Odin-like figure.. #thought and memory.. they fly all over the world bringing back tidings of events. bringing Wisdom #like Leliana's birds in DA:I #the interpretations of them as being to do with trance-like journeys is also interesting given the Fade is the dream world and #the sea of dreams.... #interestingly also Dirthamen has his two ravens Fear and Deceit #he found them in the Fade then outmastered them #endless da chatter hhh #mj meta

[wildstar25]

MiqoMarch Day 08 - Fav. (Side) Job

When she's not running around as Ninja or Summoner , Arsay's next choice is the lance. Being bestowed a source of draconic power by Midgardsormr moments before his slumber, and knowing how to channel the powers of Bahamut with dreadwyrm trance, Arsay's power as a Dragoon rivals that of even the former Azure Dragoon. With that said, she'd much rather use her polearm to hunt monsters.

#miqomarch #miqomarch2024 #ffxiv #miqo'te #WOL posting #Arsay Nun #arsay kain pose pog?? #an attempt was made #I didn't want to repeat myself two years in a row lol #do love playing drg though its so fun #praying it doesnt become too different in dawntrail #in my canon Arsay never does the lancer or dragoon lv 30-60 job quests #She gets Estinien to teach her some basic moves while on the road trip to drivania #one cause she thought it looked fun two because its hard to back stab a dragon without going full shadow of the colossus on them #Shes pretty good with the lance too so she does use it on that first nidhogg fight #then she continues hvw as ninja/smn #she doesnt have any of the dragoon part of the dragoon kit until she goes through the great gooble library with y'mhitra #where they learn about dreadwyrm trance and arsay discovers her surprisingly strong connection to bahamut #y'hmitra: wow thats weird didnt you say you werent around during the calamity how did you connect to him so easily #arsay: so there's this massive hole in the ground in eastern la noscea- #When its time to end the dragonsong war for real this time in the patches she picks up the lance again and enters trance mode #She does get a job stone finally after that #its a gift from aymeric #a symbolic 'you were part of the troops' type thing #oh and later during stormblood arsay does go through Those job quests #because of course shes helping a little dragon friend #and during the omega raid series when Middy saves her life just before he goes to sleep again he gifts arsay a scale to carry with her #a bit of dragon aether to tap into when she needs it ! #anyways thats arsay dragoon lore thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[a-dowryofblood]

That scene of Alicent and Viserys having sex is what I imagine Leonardo DiCaprio's sex life looks like

#all those 25 year olds ready to snap out of the trance #alicent hightower #king viserys targaryen #hotd #house of the dragon

[amicushypnotica]

Here there be Dragons... Part 1

Since the Chinese Year of the Dragon Begins today, I thought I'd experiment with Guards and Dragons. It produced some nice pics:

"... feel the warm sparkles sink deep inside... relaxing every muscle..."

"...just let go, take the weight off of those tired, security guard feet, and let me carry you for a while... that's right..."

"Relax... let all your cares and troubles just float away... as you do, you become lighter, and begin to float, drift, and let go..."

"Yes... that's right..."

"As you relax even more now, you can let go and fall even deeper into this lovely, floating sensation..."

"Yessss... that's right..."

"...you can feel it... feel it now..."

You can see Part 2 here.

#hypnosis #uniforms #security guards #ai generated pics #Dragons #floating in trance

[tentaculartrances]

[[ DISCORD SERVER ADVERTISEMENT ]] (NEW SERVER!! wahoo)

Are YOU interested in mind flayers (illithids), lore speculation about them, characters who happen to be them, or anything of the sort? Perhaps you're simply interested in BG3 or DnD alone? Tentacular Trances is here for you! We offer a fun and welcoming space for people to discuss their interests revolving these fun little creatures and connect with others who share their fascination with the funny brain squids.

The server's 13+, so as long as you're old enough to use discord you're free and welcome to join!

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #dnd #illithid #dungeons and dragons #13+ discord server #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate iii #discord ad #discord server #tentacular trances #discord #discord chat

[teecupangel]

Desmond as a Mind Flayer

Submitted by @fanworldbuildingfun​

 few days I have been absolutely consumed by Baldur’s Gate. It has been a most excellent diversion. And thus, I come to you with an idea: after the Solar Flare, Desmond does perish in the Temple. Physically, that is. However, his mid endures – and not at all as The Reader

No, instead – Desmond comes to as a silent observer in the mind of the MC of Baldur’s Gate 3. An experience so similar to Animus that, at first, he thinks he IS stuck in an Animus. But the world, the beings in it – they fit nothing that Desmond has experienced before. And so, he tries to adapt. Trying to reach out to the person he is riding. Permitting what he perceives as a draw on his Eagle Vision (even if it comes across so odd now!). Pinging when he senses danger going on

And then, one day… He manages to actually interact with his host. In a dream. Now. To stop them from being so antagonistic to Desmond – neither of them, after all, had an option to get stuck as they are

In short: Desmond gets reborn as the Mind Flayer parasite in BG3 world. And does not realize it

Que Desmond being *the* Bleeding Effect here. And possibly working on having the other companions become potential carriers to his ancestors’ memories? But that only happens if his host opts to “connect” with the others often (which the game implies is Bad)

=================================

Additions by teecup:

I haven’t bought Baldur’s Gate 3 yet so I am basing Desmond’s Mind Flayer capabilities on what’s wildly accepted in D&D.

First of all, we’ll make Desmond a rogue Mind Flayer that no Elder Brain can control at all. This would make him an enemy of the other Mind Flayers (although they wouldn’t necessarily attack Desmond or his host directly though) because he cannot be ‘put in his place’.

Of course, this would also mean that Desmond has no connection to the hivemind (either permanently or, if you’d like, we can make Desmond be able to access the hivemind later on but he’d mistake it for maybe the Bleeding Effects of ancestors he didn’t know about).

And Desmond always appears as Desmond Miles in the MC’s dreams. He’s just as baffled as the MC to why he can see thru their eyes and the MC might even believe that he’s a wizard or a sorcerer who had fallen into a spell of his own or some kind of magical artifact.

Desmond doesn’t believe that because he has all of Desmond Miles’ memories.

That’s when the MC would suggest “Perhaps you did come from another world and have been transformed?”

And that’s when the search for what Desmond is will begin.

Mind Flayer won’t be the first guess of the MC because Desmond doesn’t act like a usual Mind Flayer. He’s sincere and his words held no lies. Sure, he didn’t tell the MC everything about himself but that’s not surprising at all. Everyone has secrets and it was clear that Desmond’s secrets wasn’t his alone to share.

So they bonded in their dreams and Desmond starts to gain more control over the MC’s body. It’s like… the more they share what they were thinking, what’s on their mind, the more Desmond… feel more in control.

Desmond doesn’t think that’s a problem. In Desmond’s eyes, it was just similar to how more ‘invasive’ the Bleeding Effect was becoming (and that is how he and the MC had been calling it, the Bleeding Effect).

And neither of them realize that Desmond was doing what Mind Flayers were meant to do to their host from the very beginning.

The moment the MC starts to talk to Desmond about their thoughts and feelings…

Desmond had begun to eat their mind.

Unorganized Notes:

Desmond has no idea what he’s doing. He doesn’t even know what a Mind Flayer is.

I’m thinking we should make the MC magic-focused so that the actions Desmond could do while in control would synergies well enough that they won’t realize that Desmond’s affinity to magic is more on the side of the Mind Flayer’s Psionic Magic ability being on the forefront.

It’s probably going to be the Mind Flayers who would tell the MC and Desmond what Desmond truly is unless they find a character that can tell that the MC is already undergoing ceremorphosis.

You want other people to be the host of his ancestors? We can go for the D&D lore of Mind Flayers and make Desmond lay eggs which will hatch to tadpoles with memories of his ancestors.

Of course, this would mean the real reason why the Elder Brain wants him dead is because his ‘offsprings’ also do not adhere to the rest of the Mind Flayers and they do not need to stay with the Elder Brain to live and grow.

They can automatically be implanted into a host.

Which means… Desmond wasn’t just a Mind Flayer. He could potentially be a Mind Flayer with the power of an Elder Brain.

And… I just have to add this:

#submission #if they do talk to one another thru dreams #this does mean that the mc can’t be any race that doesn’t sleep #like those who have ‘trance’ instead #unless we’re gonna make desmond able to connect to them #via trance as well #it's funny how i finally managed to answer this #during the time that baldur's gate 3 is in full force right now #that was not intentional #assassin's creed #desmond miles #baldur's gate 3 #mind flayer #desmond as a mind flayer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: baldur's gate #fic idea: dungeons and dragons #sure why not #fic idea: crossover

[fearnotthedemons]

if you saw this earlier no you didn’t 🤭

#had to make some edits #turns out drawing in a trance at 2am does not produce excellent results LOL #my scribbles #jack healy #the hair is still a bit fucked but. the jaw/neck looks better #pls pretend w me that the patchy shading is a stylistic choice #writing up a whole ass origin for dragon age as well. the brain rot has truly taken hold

[wolfiedrawie]

Illustration for fun - Trance

After a long time I cut out some time to paint just for myself and it felt so refreshing. I should make it into a habit :D Anyways, this is my dnd character, Nienor, meeting again with her long lost mother in a dream. She's an elf so they don't sleep, but instead enter a trance-like state. Just curious, when you look back at your gallery, what is the ratio in personal/for others?

Posted using PostyBirb

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #rpg #roleplay #character art #dnd character #fantasy art #character portrait #digital art #digital painting #fantasy #illustration #Nienor #elf #highelf #trance #dream #emotional

[lightcaughtinaprism]

Looking for some friends

Original account I had for 12 years got hacked y someone I trusted and I can't seem to get it back. If you're into Electric Callboy, Armin van Buuren, Celldweller, Scandroid, dragons, electronic music, trance, techno, synthwave, electronic metal/rock, memes, science fiction, fantasy, Elder Scrolls and Cyberpunk 2077 hmu and feel free to follow

#electric callboy #cyberpunk 2077 #dragon #techno #armin van buuren #trance music #rave #synthwave #scandroid #electronic music #science fiction #fantasy #elder scrolls #electronic metal #electronic rock

[fyeahspyroandcrash]

#spyro the dragon #crash bandicoot #crash bandicoot 2: n tranced #spyro: season of ice

[the-ultimate-squish]

Please do not buy squishmallows irl unless purchased secondhand. Sources below

Squishmallow Alternatives + my current reasoning for the tournament (subject to change)

More info with sources

Official Boycott (this blog is not part of the official boycott)

#sot2023 #sot2023r2 #Trance the Dragon #Lincoln the Lion #tournament poll #poll

[mirrorside]

old art from a while ago!

#searing snarls #moth oc #moth dragon oc #dragon oc #original art #digital art #artists on tumblr #horror tw #oc tag: trance

[tenuuchlegch]

ღ {for a ysayle or a stinien maybe?}

Heart Ratings!

❃ Amethysts regarded the one who she once knew as Iceheart for a moment, before quietly filling out the form.

ROMANTIC ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme SEXUAL ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme AESTHETIC ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme SENSUAL ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme

#herosluminis #LET GO THIS DESTINY YOU'RE CAUGHT IN A TRANCE (answered ask) #COME! I SHALL DANCE AND SING TO THE TRAGEDY OF FATE (ic) #TO THE BALLADS OF DRAGONS & MEN I SING (heavensward) #((I'll do Ysayle for this one)) #((tbh before they met up with Hraesvelgr I kind of thought she mistook Odtsetseg for a D&D bard stereotype ksjhfkdjg))

[stardustravens]

If I ever had the chance to join an existing D&D campaign, I’d play an elven bard storyteller who wants to travel with an adventuring party as inspiration for her next book.

She’d be constantly writing down catchphrases from the other players to use as inspiration/healing word/vicious mockery, and would be recording their adventures with increasingly ridiculous dramatic flair.

#she’s elven specifically because the extended lifespan & 4h trance in place of sleep gives her even more time to procrastinate writing #also i think she needs a level or two in rogue to hide and listen in on conversations #just for the fun of it #dungeons and dragons #dnd #d&d #dnd character #stardust posts

[amicushypnotica]

Here there be Dragons... Part 2

The fun thing about hypnotic Dragons is, that there are so many different kinds... Little ones, that whisper in your ear...

And bigger ones, ready to give you a hand...

...or two or three!

Such a friend to have! It can make you dizzy just to think of it...

You can see Part 3 here.

#hypnosis #security guards #uniforms #ai generated pics #dragons #hypnotic trance #m2m hypnosis