madzilla84

[madzilla84]

Soooooo... Emmrich's writer, Sylvia Feketekuty, offered a pile of musical inspiration for the character...

Some of the songs I collected were from a specific playlist she'd built in Apple music. She also mentioned just uh, general record labels she'd enjoyed listening to while writing and I kind of just snagged the Best Of, or what I figured was the Best Of.

So here you go! If you want to listen to what Emmrich's writer was listening to while you create/enjoy fanart, I made you a thing <3

@sylviafeketekuty.bsky.social‬

[madzilla84]

More cut lines. It seems like companions talk to Rook after the regret prison depending on the romance.

Lucanis.

Spite caught your scent before we all heard you.

Taash?

Then I caught your scent. Sort of. It was your scent but with magic and feelings and crap.

Emmrich, I guess.

Then suddenly, I heard you, darling. And the welcome pull of your voice. Finding you was fiendishly difficult. I tried a number of rituals. Multiple attempts.

According to the localization in my language, these are the lines of a female character. Harding, Neve, Bellara?

But I heard you. Over everything else. Because, well. It's you. I heard your voice. I wasn't sure it was real but… here you are. I didn't believe it at first, when I heard your voice. But it was you.

Once again according to the localization in my language, these are the lines of a male character. Davrin, Lucanis?

And then all of a sudden, I could hear you. Across the Veil. Then I heard your voice. No way you're getting away from me that easy.

No idea.

(Chuckles.) Welcome back. We missed you.

Rook?

You're all incredible. I… I don't know what to say. I don't think "thanks" really covers it, but thanks. All of you. You saved me.

[madzilla84]

I must not mock Gen Alpha. Mocking Gen Alpha is the mind killer. Mocking Gen Alpha is the little-death that brings total generational solidarity obliteration. I will engage with Gen Alpha lovingly. I will permit them to be cringe. And when they grow up I will turn my eye to their accomplishments. Where mocking has gone there will be nothing. Only generational solidarity remains

[madzilla84]

This little creacher slaps so much

[madzilla84]

I think this is excellent advise for literally anything ever and anyone ever.

[madzilla84]

i know that man is going through it but we need to shame the amount of cups in lucanis's room

[madzilla84]

Johanna Hezenkoss you will always be famous

[madzilla84]

As I've been playing DA2 the last couple of nights, the comparisons between it and VG can't help but arise, and I think one of the biggest for me is Kirkwall itself.

Sometimes when VG critical assholes show up, I see defenders say “well it went through dev hell and they really only had 3 years to do what they had to do,” as if in apology for many of the complaints that arise. Except that if that's true, my god look what they gave us just in the environments alone. Not just how beautiful they look (I'm constantly blown away by the Necropolis, Treviso, and especially Arlathan). It's how, in appropriate settings, they're peppered with people who have dialogue that doesn't endlessly loop, some of which with you can interact, some faction-specific.

DA2 is constantly held up in comparison as a game which went through similar dev hell, and Kirkwall feels... Empty. It's supposed to be chock full of refugees, and it just isn't.

I always happy to run through Dock Town or Treviso, blighted or not, to hear what's going on, to see the street performers, to get the latest news, to hear how people feel about current events. The areas feel populated and fleshed out. If you're overlooking the poor and unhoused in VG, you're doing it deliberately.

This isn't an indictment against DA2 so much as positivity towards VG. We shouldn't have to feel like we need to make excuses like “they only had x many years to really develop this game-” however many years they supposedly had, just in the environments alone, nevermind combat, companions, dialogue, romances, and the overarching story, we were given something really beautiful.

I'm never not going to grin when trotting through a city and suddenly catching a minstrel picking out “Sera Was Never” to a tiny crowd of listeners.

[madzilla84]

"phannies" pride flag

[madzilla84]

"what are your fans called?"

"phannies"

"he's a ph- 😕"

[madzilla84]

[madzilla84]

sobbing sobbing sobbing 🫶🏻

[madzilla84]

Dan and Phil photographed by a fan after their performance in London on night 2!

25 January 2025

[madzilla84]

I see the posts asking what Rook brings to the squad. What is Rook good at when the rest of the Squad are experts in their fields? Rook isn't necessary to the rest.

A) Rook is probably the most skilled out of all the protagonists we've had. You can head canon things, but the truth is the HOF and Inquisitor were not masters in their fields before they got supremely unlucky and landed with a skill they didn't really want. Hawke really was just a person who developed over time. Rook starts as a hero who is very skilled in their craft. I'm going to speak on this from Crow Rook because that is who I know best, but this does apply to the others as well. Crow Rook took down 20 Antaam alone. That is not something the average Crow can do. That is skill enough to impress Varric and get the role to work with him.

B) Rook knows how to get themselves into and out of trouble. Yes, Rook does know how to get into trouble, but Rook also sees opportunities others miss. In the opening, Harding's plan is to fire on Solas. She doesn't consider other options beside the one she is most comfortable with. Neve tells Harding no, but she also doesn't give a better solution either. Rook is the one who looks around to find other solutions.

Additionally, I wish this was commented on more but other characters acknowledge this skill of finding opportunities. Varric says to an unromanced Inquisitor that Rook is very good at Wicked Grace, a game all about cheating and opportunities. If Rook de Riva abandons Treviso, Viago also comments on this skill, that Rook would have found a way to help their city. Rook sees opportunities others miss. This is a very important skill at seeing opportunities that the other companions don't really see. There is a phrase, to a hammer, everything looks like a nail and our companions do that. Our companions are supremely skilled at what they do, but that means they don't usually look outside of the solution that fits their skills best, ie: Harding is always looking for the shot, Lucanis's solutions usually involve daggers, etc.

C) Rook has the soft skills to lead. Soft skills are completely underrated in life. Some people just assume that the person with the best skills at something should be the leader. This is how we get really awful leaders who have no people skills and treat their teams like crap. Leadership takes skills and none of the companions have those skills at the start. Davrin and Neve end the game as leaders, but both start having the same issue of being lone wolves who struggle to trust others. They need to learn how to trust others. Harding would probably be the best of the rest, but she is dealing with her own internal struggles with her new stone powers and the anger the titans are feeling. Rook might have some issues with confidence as being a leader, but Rook has great soft skills that allow the team to open up to them and trust them with the team's issues. Rook's confidence goes away with time as they get used to the role, but the soft skills are so valuable.

Rook built the team. Remove Rook and the team would never have functioned as well as they did because of the work Rook did. Yes, they were able to accomplish a lot while Rook was in the Fade Prison, but that was because Rook had done their job. Rook had built a great team that knew what they had to do, were able to work together, and were able to do it until they could get Rook back. They trusted what Rook had done because they trusted Rook. I don't see them getting nearly as far without Rook and so Rook is absolutely essential for the squad.

[madzilla84]

emmrook

[madzilla84]

Dan and Phil photographed by a fan after their performance in London on night 1!

24 January 2025

[madzilla84]

…no i wasn’t at all influenced by all the phannies with their cute card albums at the meetups >_>

the photocards were sold out at both London shows I went to *and* the pop-up shop when we went but some lovely generous phannies gave me some so i have a little collection now on top of the few i got in Plymouth 🥹🫶