liaragaming

[liaragaming]

ofc lavellan knows that solas is a TERRIBLE liar "i know my husband rook. he's a dumbass but he's a sweet dumbass"

his lies are so terrible in inquisition and tevinter nights book. inquisition is something solas deeply cherish hence "matter of heart". he couldn't lie to his friends.

but I also love the trickster god who is inherently terrible at lying. The sauce 🤌

[liaragaming]

Reading back over my favorite Fen'Harel story, The Slow Arrow, and...

"When did I say that I would save you?" is such a Solas line.

Like, in the Veilguard gameplay trailer, he has the "People are always dying. It's what they do." And it comes across as so villain mustache twirly IGAF. But those of us who understand Solas know that it's a lament! He's upset that people are always dying and that his actions have contributed to it!

"When did I say that I would save you?" hits the same villain mustache twirly IGAF vibes. But he's not saying he doesn't care. He's saying, "You asked me to kill the beast, not save your village. WTF are you still doing here?" Like it's such a spirit of wisdom, deer in the headlights, that wasn't part of the plan that we discussed, why would you automatically assume you are safe? Evacuate the village, you idiots.

Solas understand what's going on. He can't understand why other people don't understand what's going on. That's why he comes across as such an asshole in so many situations. Like, talking about the Wardens, for example. He knows what the Blight is. He fought against a bunch of gods who tried to use it. Of course, he's going to think the Wardens are fucking crazy. No, he's not going to explain why to everyone - isn't it obvious?!?! If you're too stupid to understand, why should I explain it to you?!?! "This is beyond your comprehension."

He's such a self-destructive idiot.

I love him.

[liaragaming]

Has this been done? Probably but I'm bored, so...

PNG spirit made by @galacticsparkles (thanks again for letting me use this! Your art is lovely!)

[liaragaming]

I just realized her literal words to him are "You came here to help. I won't let them use that against you." Which is EXACTLY what happened when Mythal asked him to help!

And Solas's response is a casual, "How would you stop them?" Like, he's been used for a millennia! What's this little Dalish girl gonna do?

Lavella: "However, I had to."

Solas:

Fen'Harel was wrecked that day, ladies and gentlemen.

We all like to poke affectionate fun at Solas's first flirt line being "I'll protect you" from Lavellan. And yeah, it's pretty cute. But also, in light of Veilguard...

The guy had to deal with ass-hats for a millennia who I'm sure not even once bothered to ask him how his day was going. Solas was used at worst and ignored at best FOR. A. MILLENNIA.

Then he waged war against the ass-hats - not because he wanted to - but because someone freaking had to.

And then here comes along sweet, naive, Dalish-girl Lavellan who doesn't have a clue who she's talking to, and she promises to protect him against the ass-hats of the world.

My guy hasn't had one decent thing said to him in his entire physical existence, and she swears she'll fight the whole f*cking Chantry for him. My dude is wrecked. His soul is shattered.

And he gets away with a soft little "thank you" and just manages not to give away how deeply touched he is.

*I AM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE!*

[liaragaming]

We all like to poke affectionate fun at Solas's first flirt line being "I'll protect you" from Lavellan. And yeah, it's pretty cute. But also, in light of Veilguard...

The guy had to deal with ass-hats for a millennia who I'm sure not even once bothered to ask him how his day was going. Solas was used at worst and ignored at best FOR. A. MILLENNIA.

Then he waged war against the ass-hats - not because he wanted to - but because someone freaking had to.

And then here comes along sweet, naive, Dalish-girl Lavellan who doesn't have a clue who she's talking to, and she promises to protect him against the ass-hats of the world.

My guy hasn't had one decent thing said to him in his entire physical existence, and she swears she'll fight the whole f*cking Chantry for him. My dude is wrecked. His soul is shattered.

And he gets away with a soft little "thank you" and just manages not to give away how deeply touched he is.

*I AM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE!*

[liaragaming]

Don't hide beautiful things like this in the comments. I cackle-choked.

@wootensmith

It was the Avant Garde with unconventional materials challenge at the dollar store and the dev team had a broken leg so all that was left was balloons and hair ties. Eleven minutes before runway, half the balloons popped and Tim Gunn just kept saying "make it work". Not even sure how the model's bum was covered but it was and even though it looked nothing like the concept sketch it was still pretty cute.

The biggest criticism of Veilguard is it doesn't engage with moral dilemmas in any way. Slavery in Minrathous just isn't discussed. The nuances of Solas's cause are never brought to light.

For me, it helps to remember that the devs weren't allowed to make the game they wanted.

Joplin was looking to be the DA4 that we wanted. But EA canceled the project in 2017, told the team the next DA had to be a live service, and Mike Laidlaw, the creative director at the time, resigned. That's it. The DA4 we wanted and that the devs wanted to make died.

The crew was told to start over. And the direction they were given was that live service games were more campy. Traditional DA was too dark and too gritty for live service. They were forced to make a tonal shift. They couldn't touch slavery in Minrathous! That was "too dark for a live service."

And then Anthem flopped, and they were told to make the game single player again. This should have been a moment to rejoice. The team should have been able to go back to the drawing board and start rebuilding the game the way that they wanted it.

But they weren't allowed. Too much money had already been "wasted." They had to piece a game together with what they already had.

To me, looking at how much the devs were dicked around, that makes Veilguard an absolute triumph. Is it a fitting sequel to Inquisition? No. Is it a satisfying entry to the series? No. Does it explore the past of The Dread Wolf and his current fight to restore the old world in any meaningful or interesting way? No.

But I enjoyed playing it. I got a brand new cast of companions, and I love every single one of them. I got a new protagonist to build up and canonize. I got my Solavellan Heaven ending that I never in a million years could have predicted and was scared to hope for.

Veilguard is a terrible DA game. It's shallow and unsatisfying. But I also never rolled my eyes at the slog of combat. I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with our companions. I revelled in all the new locations we got to visit (even if they weren't explored in the depth that I would have liked). I got to spend time with a project that the devs undoubtedly put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

It was a labor of love to give us something out of the meager tools they were given. It is heartbreaking and devastating, and the franchise didn't deserve that kind of treatment. But the devs pulled something out of that mess. And the fact that it works as well as it does is incredible.

We could have had nothing. I could have been in Solavellan Hell for the rest of my life. But instead, I got to laugh and cry one more time with characters I love and cherish. I'll forever wonder about what the game should have been, about what that pre-2017 build could have turned into. But I was given a gift - a very imperfect, broken, yet beautiful gift. And I can't help but be thankful for it.

[liaragaming]

Not just the bread, my friend. All of the ingredients were bad. Stale bread, expired turkey, wilted lettuce and tomato. They knew it was bad but weren't allowed to throw it out. They were told to make it work.

The biggest criticism of Veilguard is it doesn't engage with moral dilemmas in any way. Slavery in Minrathous just isn't discussed. The nuances of Solas's cause are never brought to light.

For me, it helps to remember that the devs weren't allowed to make the game they wanted.

Joplin was looking to be the DA4 that we wanted. But EA canceled the project in 2017, told the team the next DA had to be a live service, and Mike Laidlaw, the creative director at the time, resigned. That's it. The DA4 we wanted and that the devs wanted to make died.

The crew was told to start over. And the direction they were given was that live service games were more campy. Traditional DA was too dark and too gritty for live service. They were forced to make a tonal shift. They couldn't touch slavery in Minrathous! That was "too dark for a live service."

And then Anthem flopped, and they were told to make the game single player again. This should have been a moment to rejoice. The team should have been able to go back to the drawing board and start rebuilding the game the way that they wanted it.

But they weren't allowed. Too much money had already been "wasted." They had to piece a game together with what they already had.

To me, looking at how much the devs were dicked around, that makes Veilguard an absolute triumph. Is it a fitting sequel to Inquisition? No. Is it a satisfying entry to the series? No. Does it explore the past of The Dread Wolf and his current fight to restore the old world in any meaningful or interesting way? No.

But I enjoyed playing it. I got a brand new cast of companions, and I love every single one of them. I got a new protagonist to build up and canonize. I got my Solavellan Heaven ending that I never in a million years could have predicted and was scared to hope for.

Veilguard is a terrible DA game. It's shallow and unsatisfying. But I also never rolled my eyes at the slog of combat. I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with our companions. I revelled in all the new locations we got to visit (even if they weren't explored in the depth that I would have liked). I got to spend time with a project that the devs undoubtedly put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

It was a labor of love to give us something out of the meager tools they were given. It is heartbreaking and devastating, and the franchise didn't deserve that kind of treatment. But the devs pulled something out of that mess. And the fact that it works as well as it does is incredible.

We could have had nothing. I could have been in Solavellan Hell for the rest of my life. But instead, I got to laugh and cry one more time with characters I love and cherish. I'll forever wonder about what the game should have been, about what that pre-2017 build could have turned into. But I was given a gift - a very imperfect, broken, yet beautiful gift. And I can't help but be thankful for it.

[liaragaming]

Liking a character who sucks is silly because yeah I hate him and yeah I want people to bully him and say mean things but if you say the Wrong mean thing I'm going to get defensive

[liaragaming]

today i’m thinking about how the despair demons tend to single rook out and how the first time this is recognized is after the treviso/minrathous decision

like, listen. i know it’s probably just a game mechanic thing. but it’s interesting to me that every despair demon in the game does this—single rook out. and how you encounter a lot more despair demons the worse the situation gets. and every single time, without fail, rook is their primary target.

like. the potential juiciness of it all. rook who carries regrets and despair hidden behind a smile that no one can see behind until the regret prison. rook who has to keep up a brave face as the leader so that the team doesn’t collapse because someone has to make a decision.

the narrative juiciness of regret…despair…someone sedate me

[liaragaming]

[liaragaming]

the dragon age is called "dragon age" bc the dragons returned after being presumed extinct due to hunting.

and then the inquisitor is like. hm what if they were extinct again

[liaragaming]

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.

[liaragaming]

I NEED the name of Solas's mocap actor. Someone give them an award for destroying me, please. And a hug. Also that. Because I don't think you can act out this moment without understanding it.

I will never get over this as long as I live.

He is shaking.

I don't know if this is animation or mocap, but whoever did this deserves a medal for making me die a thousand tiny deaths.

[liaragaming]

The biggest criticism of Veilguard is it doesn't engage with moral dilemmas in any way. Slavery in Minrathous just isn't discussed. The nuances of Solas's cause are never brought to light.

For me, it helps to remember that the devs weren't allowed to make the game they wanted.

Joplin was looking to be the DA4 that we wanted. But EA canceled the project in 2017, told the team the next DA had to be a live service, and Mike Laidlaw, the creative director at the time, resigned. That's it. The DA4 we wanted and that the devs wanted to make died.

The crew was told to start over. And the direction they were given was that live service games were more campy. Traditional DA was too dark and too gritty for live service. They were forced to make a tonal shift. They couldn't touch slavery in Minrathous! That was "too dark for a live service."

And then Anthem flopped, and they were told to make the game single player again. This should have been a moment to rejoice. The team should have been able to go back to the drawing board and start rebuilding the game the way that they wanted it.

But they weren't allowed. Too much money had already been "wasted." They had to piece a game together with what they already had.

To me, looking at how much the devs were dicked around, that makes Veilguard an absolute triumph. Is it a fitting sequel to Inquisition? No. Is it a satisfying entry to the series? No. Does it explore the past of The Dread Wolf and his current fight to restore the old world in any meaningful or interesting way? No.

But I enjoyed playing it. I got a brand new cast of companions, and I love every single one of them. I got a new protagonist to build up and canonize. I got my Solavellan Heaven ending that I never in a million years could have predicted and was scared to hope for.

Veilguard is a terrible DA game. It's shallow and unsatisfying. But I also never rolled my eyes at the slog of combat. I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with our companions. I revelled in all the new locations we got to visit (even if they weren't explored in the depth that I would have liked). I got to spend time with a project that the devs undoubtedly put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

It was a labor of love to give us something out of the meager tools they were given. It is heartbreaking and devastating, and the franchise didn't deserve that kind of treatment. But the devs pulled something out of that mess. And the fact that it works as well as it does is incredible.

We could have had nothing. I could have been in Solavellan Hell for the rest of my life. But instead, I got to laugh and cry one more time with characters I love and cherish. I'll forever wonder about what the game should have been, about what that pre-2017 build could have turned into. But I was given a gift - a very imperfect, broken, yet beautiful gift. And I can't help but be thankful for it.

[liaragaming]

every veilguard playthrough be like

[liaragaming]

You know all those beautiful posts about the solavellan legends that will live after datv?

What they would be like?

> Something inspiring for the elves. Something to help them turn the page and leave all the false stories behind. A new beginning.

The Dreadwolf and his Heart. Fen'Harel is not the god of lies anymore, now he's the god of atonement and endurance. And the mortal soul who fearlessly stepped into the abyss became his goddess of love, hope and forgiveness.

The word "god" would change itself too. Now it's not some powerful beings to kneel before. Now they are wise advisers and keepers of life; someone who doesn't demand sacrifices or begging but gives their blessing freely to anyone who's in need.

Ask Fen'Harel to guide you through the dark woods and protect you from the nightmares - and he will grant you strength to endure. Ask Heart of the Wolf to bless you - and she will gently touch your heart to grant you hope.

(What her new name would be is an absolute headcanon so it's on you)

Beautiful legend to tell around a campfire in dalish camps.

But not for everyone.

> People who weren't there at the time, people who were fighting with darkspawn in the south or the people far beyond the sea - they would see the story another way.

For them it's the story about betrayal. The one who was their shield against darkness; the one who protected the world when the sky ripped apart - betrayed them.

Inquisitor betrayed Thedas.

She joined the Dreadwolf tempted by promises of power and immortality, or was simply fooled by him. Killed by him.

It would be a grim story about cruel gods and weak mortals who aren't strong enough to win.

> It would be another kind of story for the Chantry too. Andrastian faith was built on the stories about resignation and sacrifices. Religious cage made of the bones of those who went through baptism by fire.

«The Herald of Andraste sacrificed herself. She gave her life in exchange for peace for those who can't stand for themselves. Dreadwolf's heart was made of darkness, it never felt a soft touch of a divine light. Blessed Herald knew it, and she knew what had to be done. She was led by faith and has no fear before the blighted monster. Dreadwolf ripped her faithful heart; he wanted to kill the divine light and leave the world blind in the darkness. Maker's Bride, our divine Andraste, didn't let him. She shielded her blessed Herald, and the golden light blinded Dreadwolf. His blighted soul burned to ashes in that light. Herald of Andraste gave her life but saved the world»

It would be a propaganda story, a new canticle in Chant of Light. Canticle of Sacrifice?

> And only for those who were there; for those who know - it would be a story about mistakes, struggling, hope and atonement. An understandable story. No true gods, no religious symbolism, no Deus ex machina.

A love story.

[liaragaming]

What we could have gotten and didn't from Veilguard wrecks me.

But also, I absolutely love and treasure what we did get.

Oh, the dichotomy of being a Dragon Age fan right now.