#[for many reasons i can twist the narrative to my wicked heart's content]

[grimowled]

[jackdawyt]

Given that Tevinter Nights is just over one month old, and the majority of you have had a decent chance to pick it up and give it a good read, I want to share my full-spoiler predications for Dragon Age 4 based on many new aspects Tevinter Nights brings to the ever-so expanding universe of Dragon Age. As a quick preface, this sort of video is definitely going to be more of an opinion piece, sharing my own thoughts and marvels on everything Tevinter Nights foreshadows for the future game.

I encourage all of your thoughts and theories too, so share them down below! But, without further ado, I’ll start by sharing my predictions on the main tone of Dragon Age 4.

Tone:

The Dragon Age games have always followed a Dark Fantasy approach to storytelling with morally grey choices, excessive gore and truly twisted plot-beats like ravenous Broodmothers, and Hawke’s mother’s macabre death, which was oh so gruesome and a pinnacle example of Dragon Age’s dark fantasy tone.  

While some may argue Dragon Age: Inquisition was the weakest in this dark fantasy department, Tevinter Nights revitalises any hope for the return of deeper and darker themes in the next Dragon Age game.  

Y’see Tevinter Nights, acting as a prologue for Dragon Age 4, introduces a bounty of dark fantasy storytelling that will certainly push the future plots in a most diabolical way.  

Introduced in this book, we had plenty of things that would give even a darkspawn the heebie jeebies!

From: evil twisted human/centipedal/insectoid monstrosities, demon worshipping cults, ancient wicked beings, (���Cekorax”), death and blood magic, murder machinations, eldritch horrors, domestic abuse, inhumane treatment, ghastly apparitions, demonic possession, and plenty more hard-hitting themes that are paving the way for Dragon Age 4’s story.  

And if none of those themes satiated your own dark desires for the next Dragon Age game, well, don’t forget about the main narrative focusing on stopping a prideful and powerful elven mage who can take shape into the wicked Dread Wolf attempting to commit mass-genocide for the sake of his long-lost people. Oh, not to mention the fact that this elf could’ve broken up with you too, causing your heart to ache every single second as he tears down Thedas, and the love you once shared together...

With that said, Dragon Age 4’s tone should certainly take the franchise back to its dark fantasy roots if it follows the layout Tevinter Nights has laid ahead. Let’s move on to the next game’s potential locations.

Locations:

First up, The Tevinter Imperium.

From the Capital City Minrathous, home to the Magisterium to Elven tombs lurking in The Silent Planes. There are many prominent locations that could make for a worthy visit within the Imperium. However, with the ongoing Qunari Antaam invasion ransacking many of Tevinter’s northern cities, many of the Imperium’s major holdings will be torn by the current war and preparing for a siege.  

Not to mention the other major epidemic on the Imperium and its people  - the scheme Solas has to destroy the veil. Not that this pain will be exclusive to the Imperium, as by gum, it will hurt all of Thedas.  

But, the entirety of Tevinter’s land was once in possession of the ancient elves during the elvhen times. Solas’s scheme seeks a redemption of his people, and so a reclamation of the land is merely inevitable.  

The people of Tevinter are not only evading a brutal religious conquest against their homes, but an elven God’s conflict too.  

With so much contention impending, the Tevinter Imperium is critically endangered. Can Tevinter’s most contrived government save its very people, or will we see this once great Empire stumble into chaos?  

Next up, Nevarra.

The main ongoing conflict in Nevarra regards the Van Markham, Pentagasht and many other nobles fighting for their own right to the throne, as King Marcus’s reign will soon end with no heir to rule after him.  

However, just outside of the Capital; Nevarra City, lies the Mortalitasi’s Grand Necropolis, a stronghold and morgue built into the side of a mountain to hold Neverra’s elite family tombs.  

In a very recent catastrophic ritual held in the Grand Necropolis caverns, the Dread Wolf attacked the Mortalitasi, sending demons to stop the ritual and kill the rest of the mages. In a desperate effort, the surviving mages sealed the caverns with no trace of the invading demons.  

Investigating the Dread Wolf’s movements may play a huge part in the next plot, and having the Mortalitasi as allies could change the tide of battle. So, Nevarra’s Grand Necropolis would certainly make for a grand visit.  

And then there’s Hunter Fell, a small town just west of Nevarra City, where a tavern called ‘The Teahouse’ appeared to be the last known location that Solas had made a physical appearance. Another worthy place to investigate further plot ties.

Throughout the lands of Nevarra, there are at least elven more ancient elven/dwarven thaigs that are built into Nevarran mountains, to our knowledge, only one has been opened and it contained horrific mutilated creatures followed by a gas that had a stench of the ocean.  

Nevarra and its surrounding areas are ripe with plot lines and narrative potential that will need to have a huge impact in the next Dragon Age game.

Following that, we’ve got Antiva.

Just like Tevinter, the majority of Nothern Antiva is under widespread invasion by the Qunari Antaam. However, quite unlike Tevinter, Antiva doesn’t exactly have their own dedicated military forces, instead the country relies on the Anitvan Crows to take action.  

The leaders of the Antivan Crows have their own inner conflict as one of the eight major houses leading the crows decided to sign a contract with the Qunari for a peaceful invasion, in which Antiva would be ‘spared’ in exchange for the deaths of every other talon.  

The talons discovered this treachery and put the situation to bed with the death of the Kortez family talon. With the peaceful conflict in shambles, a very much hostile Qunari invasion lingers on the horizon for Antiva.

Although the Anitvan Crows may make for a worthwhile trip to Antiva, who can say what will remain of the country when Dragon Age 4 arrives.  

Lastly, we have The Anderfels.

To my knowledge, the most outstanding location The Anderfels has to offer is Fortress Weisshaupt, the headquarters of the Grey Wardens.  

There’s been a lot of talk regarding the Anderfels Wardens, that they have a secret, or they’ve discovered something, or they’re all dead. henceforth, Fortress Weisshaupt has cut communications to the other Wardens across Thedas, remaining silent and alone.  

Could this sworn secret silencing the Wardens from the other groups be the return of Griffons? Have they discovered even more intelligent darkspawn, perhaps another Magister of old, or are the Warden leaders fighting amongst themselves?

The search for this truth could make for a notable quest line in Dragon Age 4.  

I’ll shuffle away from Rivan as a prominent location because I believe this country is intentionally neutral for many reasons that I’ll uncover in the next category.

With that, let’s talk about one of the biggest aspects that is going to make or break the next Dragon Age game.  

The Protagonist:

Spy.

We’ve known for a fair while that Dragon Age 4’s previous iteration had the player prance around Tevinter as a spy, partaking in high risk, high reward heists. However, before major development picked up, the project was canned and the majority of its ideas were too.  

It’s unknown if any of that previous work will make its way into the latest iteration, or if it’s all been scrapped.  

But, before we shed a tear thinking about what Dragon Age 4 might’ve been based on the original iteration... If Tevinter Nights has taught me one thing, it’s that this spy role for our new protagonist still has plenty of potential. So, keep your daggers at the ready because I wouldn’t call playing as a spy off the table just yet.

As it stands, a spy is the biggest and best contender we have for our next character - chasing every lead after Solas, attempting to find a crack in his grand scheme, recovering intel and ancient artefacts, all the while being someone completely different than The Inquisitor. We’re a nobody, someone who can slip between the seams without garnering any attention.  

Which is the perfect role to defeat Solas because he doesn’t know of both our existence, and weaknesses.

Tevintet Nights builds up a lot of espionage plotlines, introducing brand new factions in Thedas that are particularly interested in subterfuge and trickery. Or as I like to call it hankey-pankey. Each attempting to gather information to defeat Solas before he set’s Thedas ablaze.  

So, because many major factions throughout Thedas operate a sole spy network, we have plenty of race origin stories for our next spy, conceptually.  

Say we play as a human; we can be a member of the Tevinter Siccari. If we’re a dwarf, we can belong to the Carta. If we choose an elf, we could be an Ex-Fen'Harel Agent, and if we played as a Qunari, we could be a member of the Ben-Hassrath.  

Satisfying each race with their own reconnaissance background, allowing the protagonist to have an already established understanding of Solas and his plan, so they can begin their journey of attempting to stop him.  

Through heists and other risky missions, we could embark on a fast pace, tense narrative that’s more akin to a suicide mission. Very much different to the previous Dragon Age entries, however, completely logically given the tone of the predicted narrative.  

And, Maker’s arse, I could go on with many more ideas for a spy protagonist, but we’ve got other concepts to move on to. If that doesn’t quench your thirst for potential spy dynamics in the next Dragon Age game, well I did create a dedicated video to this topic that you can check out.  

Lord of Fortune (Treasure Hunter).

In the same direction as a stealthy spy, but rather quite different and certainly stricter, but has its own unique appeal (..) we could potentially play as a Rivani Lord of Fortune! More apropos, a distinct Treasure Hunter seeking fortune, wealth and any opportunity that pays well enough.

And perhaps the gig that pays well enough is to, without question, recover certain artefacts and idols that may be required in stopping an Elven God that wants to destroy the veil. However, that information is beyond our pay grade, and were not one to question a paid job.  

And then, as things escalate, our Treasure Hunter finds themselves in a perilous situation, and they decide to take the hunt against the Dread Wolf, with more reason than just coin, but to fight for Thedas and their new family.  

What marks a Lord of Fortune as significant is the fact that they’re from Rivan, a country we’ve not yet seen much of in Dragon Age, and somewhat of a neutral location for our next protagonist. As they make choices that may affect Tevinter or Nevarra, they won’t have a bias based on that being their home, they will be able to make a neutral choice based on the context given, and none other.  

There were plenty of nods to the Lords of Fortune in Tevinter Nights. Regardless, if we’re not playing as one, we’ll certainly encounter one or two in the next game.  

Executor.

And in a completely obscure, but necessary direction... how about playing as an Executor? A being, or person, or whatever the heck they are, from “beyond the sea.” This character style would grant the players with a new perspective on Thedas, and would allow new players to pick up the series, as you’d slowly learn about the narrative piece by piece, playing as someone who probably doesn’t know much about the world of Thedas, and would need somewhat of an education on the events of this world.

We don’t know much about the Executors at all, so what’s better way to discover them then actually playing as one?  

The Inquisitor (Dual?).

As my final protagonist concept for Dragon Age 4, I feel it necessary as an Inquisitor fanboy to reiterate the ancient method many fans would like to see, and that is the dual protagonist mechanic. Allowing the next game to have two protagonists. As a TLDR, because I’ve talked about this before, but let's say we play as the returning Inquisitor for 20% of the game as they find loose ends on Solas, deal with diplomatic and political matters, and have more of a conversational style to gameplay. Then, we switch to our new protagonist who spends the rest of the game exploring Tevinter, building allies and attempting to stop Solas.

Putting this topic to bed, the Inquisitor needs to witness the end to Solas, whether peacefully or vengefully, he’s the Inquisitor’s friend, rival or romance. So, they need to be there to deal with him.  

Potential Allies:

Anyhow, we’ve talked about the next protagonist, let’s explore some plot threads and briefly run through the factions we may, or may not have on our side depending on our choices in Dragon Age 4.  

The Mortalitasi

Nevarra’s own death mages who’re responsible for mummifying the bodies of elite families using powerful necromancy and binding magic. It is said that the Mortalitasi are so powerful, they influence and sway the king’s decrees and decisions over the kingdom.  

The Tevinter Siccari

The Imperium’s best shadow network, made of highly skilled and secretive agents who each come from slave families, they are formidable and honourable warriors.  

The Qunari Ben Hassrath

The Qun’s dedicated spies and enforcers, they’re responsible for re-educating those not familiar with the Qun, however, the group are currently fixated on Solas’s movements. Reportedly The Ben Hassrath have the most knowledge about the Wolf than anyone else on Thedas, because of this, they remain a neutral party in Thedas’s war effort.  

The Inquisition

Remnants of the Inquisition army continue the mission of their Inquisitor, with many agents enlisting to fight against an opposing threat.  

The Carta

This crime syndicate has been investigating all matters concerning the blight that has become ‘bad for business’ in the dwarven kingdom, like the red lyriun idol.  

The Executors  

Mysterious beings who come from beyond the sea, they would rather not see this world come to an end, and so they too seek a demise to the Wolf.  

The Antivan Crows

Antiva’s best and brightest hired assassins, who’ve recently denied the Qunari Antaam’s ‘peaceful’ contract for invasion. Now, they will fight for their country and its people.  

The Grey Wardens

The legendary heroes of old are long gone, the group continues with incompetent leaders who stain the title Grey Warden. However, those who linger in Fortress Weishaupt have a secret, one that has not yet left the premise. Whatever that may be...  

And I’m sure plenty more factions will arise; however, these were my main hot takes based on Tevinter Nights. With that, let’s discus the rivalling factions that will most likely be out for our blood in the next game.  

Enemies:  

The Qunari Antaam

The Qun, under the leadership of Sten as Arishock, stands divided. The Antaam, the Qun’s dedicated military branch has decided for themselves to invade Thedas without authorisation from the rest of the Qun. The zealot army sieges cities across Northern Tevinter and Antiva, continuing to rampage all of Thedas’s land until the people either kneel to the Qun or pay the price with their own blood. They will not stop until their mission is complete, and no one will get in their way, not even their own people.  

Solas/Dread Wolf

Solas seeks to destroy the veil, destroying Thedas. He’s absorbed Mythal’s essence so he can rise as the horrific Dread Wolf, a creature who has taken residence in the Fade, with his own demon army whom serve him willingly.  

Ancient Elves

Ancient and Dalish Elves have joined Solas’s ranks, known as the Cult of Fen’Harel, they abide by Solas’s every scheme and have begun to cause chaos for Thedas, like attempting to set up a calamity feud between the Qunari Ben Hassrath and Tevinter Kinsman. Who knows what they may do next?  

Venatori Remnants

They tried to summon an ancient demon in Tevinter’s capital city, surely, they aren't over that plan just yet.  

Main Story/Plot Points:

Now we get to the juicy story predications, where I get to speculate the heck out of many key plot aspects of Dragon Age 4’s narrative. So, hold on tight to your tinfoil hats!  

The Red Lyrium Idol

The whereabouts of the Red Lyrium Idol are still quite the mystery, we’ve learned a great deal about this device, however, we still don’t know what it represents, and how significant it will be regarding Solas’s plan to destroy the veil. So, will we be embarking on a McGuffin style questline to find this idol before Solas gets it?  

Let’s say we’re a spy journeying into epic heists, attempting to beat Solas to the finish line and destroy this idol before he gets it. Or, maybe this idol plot-point may be wrapped up by the time of Dragon Age 4’s launch, and we’ll be doing something else?

The point is, this idol is still a mystery and it needs solving, so by that measure, it’s probably going to have some involvement in Dragon Age 4.  

Solas/Dread Wolf Antagonist  

Based on what we know about the story going forward, Solas will most certainly be the next antagonist, that’s a given at this point unless the plot drastically changes and Mythal or The Titans, or a new evil takes that position. As it stands though, Solas seemingly is the big bad of Dragon Age 4.  

And, he’s has already risen as the Dread Wolf, so that’s just grand, we’re already doomed! The plot will most likely focus around stopping Solas before he destroys the veil... if there even is a way to stop him.

As another obvious predication, I believe we may follow between two main choices throughout every action in the next game, those choices are: do we want to redeem Solas, or stop him. If our intention is to redeem Solas, then perhaps he’ll listen to what we’ve got to say, however, if we pursuit his death, then perhaps we’ll only be greeted by The Dread Wolf.

Allies  

Regarding the main plot of defeating Solas, I believe we’ll be gathering more intel on the Dread Wolf by teaming up with many dedicated factions across Nothern Thedas. While some groups may join our ranks more willingly like the Mortalitasi, I believe we may have a few decisions between choosing one faction over another because of their own quarrels. Like choosing between the Tevinter Siccari and Qunari Ben Hassrath, each providing agents and intelligence in their own way against Solas, however, completely hostile to the other faction.  

We’re going to need allies to stop Solas, there’s no way around that. Not every faction is going to get along, and magically unifying every divisive faction under one banner would be unrealistic and feel cheap in my opinion. If we can choose between key factions, there’d be a sense of contention throughout every single choice we could make.  

As well as gathering and helping as many allies as possible who support our cause against the Dread Wolf, I have a few more main mission predictions like embarking on epic heists stealing and claiming Elven artefacts and Evanuris runes. And stopping key agents of Fen’Harel and their destructive plans for Thedas.

Side Plots:

Alongside our main story content, we’ve got plenty of side plots and threads that need to be explored. So, here’s a rapid list of some extra conflicts I think we’ll see in the next game.  

The Grey Warden’s sudden silence at Fortress Weishaupt.

Aiding the Mortalitasi.

The Qunari Antaam’s invasion against Northern Thedas.

Uncovering Ghilinan’s Creations, Pre-Veil Monsters and Ancient Thaigs.

The Remnant Venatori Cult threat.

The mysteries concerning the Titans.  

Companions:

And, now we get to the most subjective list, the roster of companions we may share this journey against Solas with.  

Rogues:

I want to see Vaea, she’s my favourite character in the comics and she appeared in ‘Harold Had The Plan’. I know I speak for even the comic writers that she deserves a spotlight in the next game. The only problem is, she doesn’t kill, but heck, she could perform a support role in the group.

Next up, Scout Lace Harding. She’s been teased, but she deserves a comeback as a bigger role, and she can serve as a reminder of the Inquisition, filling the new protagonist in on previous events correlating to Solas.  

And, Lucanis Dellamorte, an Antivan Crow assassin introduced in ‘The Wigmaker Job’.  Although he has no interest in becoming First Talon, he’s said to be his grandmother’s favourite, and she intends on making him her heir.

Mages:

Vadis, an Altus Thief introduced in ‘Half Up Front’. She was disowned by her father because of her relationship with an elf. As of which, she’s a wayward traveller who came across a calamity scheme of Fen’Harel’s which would’ve caused an incredible feud between the Qun and Tevinter. Since stopping those responsible, and making herself known to the Dread Wolf, she’s headed to Kirkwall to meet Varric Tethras so she and her partner can strike back.  

A Female Qunari. Patrick Weekes tweeted back in 2017 that this sort of character style would be a biggie because it’s someone they haven’t done before. I don’t have any character in mind because there were no significant female Qunari’s in Tevinter Nights, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a guess. We’ve had two previous warrior Qunari, and I think we’d all love to see an ex-sarrabas, wielding powerful Fade magic.  

Philliam, a Bard! Is a scholar responsible for collecting and curating many texts in Thedas. His knowledge and penmanship would certainly be a large help, not to mention his dashing personality, he’s a Bard for Andraste’s sake!  

Warriors:

Fenris, as a returning character from Dragon Age 2, I think Fenris is one of the most viable characters to return as a companion. His lyrium tattoos provide for a very unique combat style, and he’s got plenty of substance in Tevinter as he continues his blood trail of magisters. Not only that, he’s been setting slaves free and is personally involved in a red lyrium plot conducted by the Venatori remnants.  

Grey Warden Ramesh is a man who has seen some true horrors in his life. Introduced in ‘The Horror of Hormak’, Ramesh has seen one of the many ancient thaigs that contain ancient elven nightmares, as he witnessed his partner sacrifice her life so he could escape. His mission stands to warn the rest of the Wardens of the remaining eleven thaigs.  

“Hollix” is a Lord of Fortune introduced in “Luck in the Gardens”. They defeated a great tentacle monster lurking in the gardens of Minrathous, with the assistance of Dorian Pavus and Maevaris Tilani. Not only can they perfect the fine arts of theft, but “Hollix” makes for a great hunter and tracker.  

Silly:

As for some sillier, but very much necessary companion predictions, I have a few more that I need to share:  

A Nevarran Mortalitasi Skeleton, in the Grand Necropolis, the death mages have actual skeleton servants who do pretty much anything for their masters, being bound by a spell to serve for the rest of your days will do that to you. I say, if they’re already bound, why not have one too?  

In the opposite direction, I’d like to see my Mabari Dog return. That is all.  

How about an Executor? They’re such a mystery, if we’re not going to find out what’s behind their vyrantium robes any other way, then we may need to take a gander and see for ourselves.  

And, lastly, I’d be silly not to ask for an Elven God companion.  

In truth, these are just a few of my companion predications very much based on Tevinter Nights, I believe the next game will have a variety of different companions. The main takeaway from this section going forward is to expect the sort of character we haven’t already had, as Patrick Weekes stated.  

Let me know your predictions down below, what you think we can predict for Dragon Age 4!

[emdop]

The Fuckening: Modern YA Fantasy Misunderstands Feminism and Effective Plot Structure

Alright, mother fuckers, buckle up. Like most book lovers, I read many books and I’m always searching for the next one that will make me develop a hyper-fixation. Nothing beats the rush of finding media so good that time loses all meaning and you’d sell your soul for the next hit of content. The amazingness directly results from being rare. So in between the moments of stuffing your face full of your favorite characters, the other books are read. The ones that could have been good but aren’t successful. The ones with the lying, beautiful covers used to lure readers into forking over crumpled cash while hugging the hopefully precious gem. Then, all the words are read and the covers are closed, and there’s only the silence of disappointment and mediocrity.

Anyway, I read a book. Shocking, I know. It had so much promise and as I delved into the first fifty pages; I thought I found a winner. Then it started to sink in a massive Titanic kind of way. This book was Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (this essay/rant will have spoilers and will discuss the ending). I’m prefacing this rant with a disclaimer, not because I’m trying to side-step backlash, but because I feel it’s worth mentioning. This is all my opinion and if you loved this book with all your heart, that’s awesome! I understand why someone would spend time reading, writing, and engaging with it. It’s possible to recognize the weaknesses of a piece of media and still like it; I just happen to not like it because of those weaknesses. Returning to my point, the pitfalls, mistakes, and blandness of this book are rampant throughout Young Adult literature, particularly in Fantasy. As a writer myself, I’m not immune to committing the same sins, but I think it’s valuable to examine why and how these unfortunate tropes keep appearing. I have several points I want to explore in this essay, but the main two are the pretend feminist values and poor writing craft.

Part One: YA Book Feminism and Bland Female Characters

Wicked Saints is marketed as a book about a girl who can communicate with gods and draw power from them. Her magic is rare in a world full of blood magic users and as the war between her country, Kalayazin, and the opposing force, Tranavia, clashes on her front porch, readers are led to believe that she’s an integral part of how this war will end. I was here for this. I was so ready to scream about this book to anyone who will listen. Now, I’m screaming about it for a different reason. 

Nadya, our human incarnation of the god’s Walkie-Talkie, is not like other girls. She’s special and powerful and exceptional. At first, I bought this lie, much like I did with every other book like this one. I thought, finally, here’s a badass heroine who will take charge of her life and wield her powers to create a lasting peace or at least kill everyone. When the readers meet Nadya, she’s living in a monastery to hide from Tranavians since her magic is so rare and powerful, they’re sure to seek her destruction. Then, they find her, or rather Tranavia’s prince, Serefin, (a boy-general, because adults don’t exist in YA) does. Serefin tries to kill Nadya, but she escapes with help of Forgettable Best Friend.

Lately, I’m reading a trend of books that build a “strong” female narrator by giving her some sass, adding a rare but useless magic, and having her not die. Then they slap words like empowering, feminist, or well-crafted into the marketing campaign and call it good representation. This isn’t quite what happened with Wicked Saints, but I had the impression that Nadya would be more than what she actually was in the book. The hardback cover has the words “Let them fear her,” engraved into it for gods’ sake. I thought she was going to at least do something. 

Okay, there was one time she did something. While on the run from Serefin and the other Tranavians, Nadya and Forgettable Best Friend find a group of misfits being attacked. Nadya, in the confusion of who’s an enemy and who’s an ally, asks the gods for help. One responds by vanishing all light for like ten minutes or something. This scene is one reason I bought the lie that Nadya was going to be a Bad Ass Mother Fucker, but this is the only time I remember her using any kind of significant power. In fact, once the plot gets going, Nadya is cut off from her powers almost entirely. I’ll get to that later. Back to the group of misfits, which includes a broody, yet totally handsome Tranavian, Malachiasz, and bam, we’ve found the love interest. Malachiasz is a Vulture which I understood as a privatized military group that’s ruthless, skilled, and detached from the world (no family or friends). So, Nadya hates him on site, but Malachiasz has defected and has like emotion now. They argue a bunch and exchange heated glances. 

Now that we’ve introduced our male characters (Serefin, Malachiasz, and some other dude in the misfit group), our plot gets going. There’s nothing wrong with introducing characters to start a plot, that’s how story-telling works. What I’m finding frustrating in this book and many others like it, is that the male characters make most of the decisions. They show the most autonomy and participate in the drama/action. Serefin is leading an army, making command decisions, and drinking copious amounts of alcohol (I don’t have time to get into the drinking to drown your feelings is Not Good argument, but know that this book doesn’t call out his addict behavior). Malachiasz and his band of friends are planning to assassinate the king. The female characters have run away, observed, and turned out the lights. Where is the girl who’s inspiring fear in the gods themselves? Where is the girl who’s fighting for justice and her future? Granted we’re only a hundred pages in at this point, so I’ll excuse it for now. 

In the meantime, the king calls Serefin back to the palace for Rawalyk, an event where noble women compete against each other to win the prince’s hand in marriage. Nadya and crew travel to Tranavia and disguise themselves as people participating in the event. I forgot to mention that the Tranavians only use blood magic and hate the gods, and in an effort to keep them out, the king put a barrier around the country, which keeps Nadya from using her powers. Convenient. And so very disappointing. As per their plan, Nadya has to get close enough to the king to kill him, so she uses Rawalyk to gain access. Nadya offends one of the other suitors and the suitor challenges her to an Agni Kai—sorry, different story, a duel, rather. Nadya has to pretend to use blood magic, so she can hide her true identity. Near the point of winning the duel, Nadya realizes it’s to the death, but she doesn’t want to kill the girl, so she tells her she’ll spare her. Then, Malachiasz uses his magic to end the girl’s life. Again, there are male characters forcing the plot forward while the female character’s agency is stripped. 

We’re now over two hundred pages in and Nadya hasn’t done shit except for worry about her crush and follow other people. Our narrator is a “powerful” girl, but the most interesting characters are boys and only male characters move the plot forward. I guess, who needs a personality or autonomy when you can have a love interest? To make matters worse, in the middle of all this crap, she’s thinking about her male best friend who died, but is coming back in book two, and not even Forgettable Best Friend who is actively trying to help them. Nadia thinks to herself “Kostya. You’re doing this for Kostya, she reminded herself,” (Duncan 256). Kostya was in this book for like five pages, who the fuck is this bitch? Why does anyone care? Why can’t she be going on this quest for herself, for her country, for her supposedly beloved gods? 

YA Fantasies keep prioritizing and valuing the actions of male characters over female ones. There are exceptions, but they only prove the rule. I’ve seen this repeatedly in books like City of Bones, Caraval, Shadow & Bone, Harry Potter, and now Wicked Saints. Some of those books are my favorite books, but if I never critique them, I’ll never want better or search for books that do more. I want to see more YA fantasies treat female characters like their male ones. I want female characters who participate in the narrative, make mistakes, experience success, and, I don’t know, have some ambition and goals. They should use their talents and be integral to the plot, because Wicked Saints’ plot still could have happened without Nadya.

Part Two: Character Development and Effective Plot Structure

Let’s get into this dumpster fire of an ending. While staying at the palace and pretending to be a suitor to the prince, Nadya uncovers parts of Malachiasz’s past and finds out he’s the leader of the Vultures who’s disappeared for reasons unknown. Nayda gets captured and tortured and learns that her gods may not be who she thinks they are, and she has her own power that she can always use. And does she use it? Not really. She questions everything, but not Malachiasz. Him, she makes out with. Nadya’s group and Serefin’s converge and they trust each other because they both want the same thing: the king dead. Serefin knows his father is trying to kill him and uses the help of the misfits, including, plot twist, his cousin, Malachiasz.

Serefin doesn’t understand why his father wants to marry him off and plotting to kill him at the same time, and eventually, Malachiasz talks about his past. He became the leader of the Vultures and was researching the gods when he figured out, in theory, how to become one. He gave this information to the king and you can imagine how a narcissistic king will feel about that. Malachiasz regrets his actions and runs away. Part of the process of becoming a god involves ingesting the blood of powerful magic users, hence the Rawalyk event and Nadya’s torture; they were collecting blood from the suitors. The king also has to sacrifice the prince to complete his goals. Together, they come up with a plan to corner the king while he’s attempting to perform the ceremony to become a god and kill him.

It all goes spectacularly wrong. Serefin gets captured and killed by his father, but he doesn’t die? I don’t know; there were a lot of moths involved and I was very confused. Malachiasz and Nadya go after the king and there’s a mediocre fight scene. Nadya kills the king but not after like three pages of her debating why Malachiasz is just chilling on the throne and watching this all happen. Malachiasz betrays the group, taking the power for himself. Nadya has the nerve to be surprised and heartbroken. He turns into a bird-like thing and flies out the window into the darkness.

The only time Nadya uses her own magic to do something it turns out to be in service to a male character’s goals. I’m tired and I hope you are too. Anyway, this section’s purpose is to look at effective plot structure. Wicked Saints meanders for three hundred pages trying to tie together a book about war, marriage competition, and religion. When the plot points all converge for the last eighty pages, we ultimately learn nothing more than we did at page 200. If this is a book about villains than why are minimally bad things happening? Why did no one die except for the throw away character at the book’s beginning? Why aren’t there more consequences for the character’s actions? My questions are answered by pointing at the poor plot structure and terrible character development. This book is run by boring characters whose actions don’t amount to anything, and that’s when they actually do something. Characters should evolve or devolve depending on the narrative. They should enact the plot, not have the plot happen to them. The few times we get characters changing, it’s followed by the most basic plot twists. Looking at Malachiasz in particular, we meet him while he’s plotting to kill the king with his new acquaintances, then he meets Nadya. She calls him a monster a million times, and he doesn’t deny it. They plot to kill the king again. By the end, we find out he’s only in this for himself and surprise, he’s not a good guy! Did not see that coming.

Continuing my rant on Malachiasz, Wicked Saints has one of the poorest representations of anxiety that I have seen in a long time. (Note: right after this I read Truly Devious and boy, the whip lash I had from that transition. From one the worst to one of the absolute best). Before I rip into this terrible character development, let me discuss two things: one, I don’t know if the author suffers from anxiety. It’s possible that Duncan experiences it very differently than me, and this may be good rep for someone else (I have my doubts about this since I can shred it like wet tissue paper, but I’m willing to mention this possibility). Two, considering Malachiasz’s turn to The Dark Side, it may have been purposeful bad representation. Essentially, he never had anxiety, just needed Nadya to trust him. Okay, with that out of the way, let me scream this: ANXIETY IS NOT CUTE. IT’S NOT A FUN, QUIRKY CHARACTER TRAIT. PLEASE FOR LOVE OF MEDUSA, STOP USING MENTAL ILLNESS AS A CRUTCH FOR YOUR INABILITY TO WRITE COMPLEX CHARACTERS.

The only thing we know about his anxiety is that he bites his nails. Sigh. I’m sorry it’s just that the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Wicked Saints came in an OwlCrate box and in the letter from the author to the reader she describes Malachiasz as “a boy whose earnest anxiety hides monstrous secrets.” Except anxiety doesn’t hide what you’re feeling, in fact it often puts your deepest fears on display for other people to see and usually at the worst moment. Anxiety has a million symptoms, many of which can be observed from the outside and thus easily incorporated from the point of view of a non-anxious character. Here’s a list: panic attacks, hyperventilating, shaking, hypervigilance, irritability, restlessness, sweating, tense muscles, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue. Sometimes Malachiasz displays fatigue and irritability, but it’s when the other characters are in the same headspace, so it doesn’t count, because it can easily be chocked up to circumstance, not mental illness.

If we ignore the author’s implication that his anxiety is earnest and assume that he faked it to gain Nadya’s trust, we get to a problem. The book never explores how he lied or parses through where he’s genuine, so, I have to assume that he was supposed to have anxiety. He’s called a monster so many times I got irritated. Aside the fact that it’s offensive to make the only mentally ill character a “monster,” it’s downright annoying to read a million times. Malachiaz is an attempt at a morally gray character. He makes decisions that only benefit himself, but sometimes he saves lives or kisses a girl, so some parts of him are still good. I’m okay with that, what I’m not okay with is piss poor characterization. People with anxiety can be bad! But if you make your villain anxious, it should be for a better reason than he needed a personality.

After I finished this book, I looked through some Good Reads reviews and many of the users pointed out something I hadn’t noticed. To use the blood magic, characters had to cut themselves, and reviewers found they didn’t like how this glorified self-harm. Many suggested that a trigger warning for self-harm should be placed at the beginning or the magic system should have been handled with more sensitivity. As someone who does not have personal experience with self-harm, I won’t elaborate and instead let other people make of it what they will.

There were two parts of the book’s description that sold me on it: one, the girl talks to gods, and two, a star-crossed romance. We already know how disappointed I was about that first plot point, now let’s talk about the other disappointment of the day. A fantastic rule going around on the internet  goes “if they have to kiss for you to know they’re in love, it’s not good romance.”

I will say something that may offend many people, but hopefully you’ll stick with me. Young Adult Fantasy books have bad romances. They’re underdeveloped, poorly crafted, and overused. Romance is my favorite genre, and I love seeing it in other types of books, but many times YA fantasies have the worst romances. Despite being constantly undervalued, romance sells and adding it to books usually helps pique people’s interest. But you don’t just “add” it to your book, because romance is hard to write. Hold on, I need that in capital letters. ROMANCE IS HARD TO WRITE. Good romance comes from nuance, established trust, chemistry, and gradual character developments. If a writer doesn’t do those things, you get insta-love, which isn’t satisfying or believable.

Wicked Saints tries to do an enemies-to-lovers trope. Nadya and Malachiasz don’t spend enough time together to develop a proper friendship much less a romance. They have legitimate reasons to hate each other and neither of them seem to change enough for it to be justified that their feelings have evolved. Nadya loses contact with the gods, but that should serve as a crisis of her own faith, not an automatic belief in something else. Her willingness to ignore Malachiasz’s obvious red flags is beyond frustrating and I can’t believe the book wanted me to be surprised that he betrayed the group at the end. Anyway, it’s time to make some conclusions, otherwise this essay/rant will never end.

Part Three: How Did We Get Here?

Wicked Saints is not the first to do these exact mistakes, and it’s here because of its predecessors. What other books do we know that have a Russian culture theme, a useless female narrator, and a love interest who’s bad? That’s right. I’m about to bring up the internet’s infamous Grisha trilogy. Throughout my entire reading experience, I was struck by the similarities of these books to the point where I was sure I was reading a fanfiction AU of Shadow and Bone. These books are so similar it had me wondering about plagiarism (I’m mostly kidding about that). The Grisha trilogy and Wicked Saints use the same tired tropes and rely on the readers need to self-insert to make up for the narrator’s lack of personality.

How do we get books that shout about feminism but don’t incorporate it? Books are written by humans and humans live in a flawed world. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum and so many of the things we create are flawed. Sometimes, what we meant to write isn’t what is written. An author may have every intention of creating strong, complex female characters, but through the difficulty of writing, poor planning, and a host of other reasons, the result is a bland, useless character. Many times, these characters are touted for having magnificent powers, but they never seem to use them or if they do its only in small ways. This happens, in part, because if the character is all-powerful then there’d be no plot, so to create tension the author takes the power away, scales it back, or adds an obstacle in the way of using said power. This is all well and great, but it often leaves readers feeling like the book duped them into believing this character is special. People don’t like to feel as though they’ve been lied to. In my opinion, “Gotcha” plots and character developments result from bad writing.  With Wicked Saints there weren’t “Gotcha” moments so much as there were “please stop being a dumb bitch” moments. Nadya wanted to fall in love Malachiasz and the whole time I kept asking myself why. He’s a saltine with pretty eyes and fucked up nails. Then there’s Serefin who instead of dealing with his problems, he gets drunk. His big plot point is that he doesn’t die and turns into a swarm of moths for a while which would have been cool if they explained it in any kind of manner.

Stopping the proceeding rant, I should make conclusions and end this before it gets more out of hand. YA fantasies aren’t progressing the way they should, and you could point to several books that do incredible things, but they’re in the minority. YA authors need to make their narrators complex and fully formed instead of literal sawdust. We need authors to create better female and non-binary characters who have the same agency as their male counterparts. They should stop including romance in the first book. Let the characters grow and breathe for a hot second. Gradual bonds made through several books are always more satisfying and well-crafted than a rushed romance in book one. Also, people in the publishing industry, please, please, please use sensitivity readers. Or maybe search for books written by Own Voice authors. I know for a fact there are incredible writers creating amazing works out there. I’ve interacted with them. Someone publish their books before my head explodes.

Tag list: @weathershade​ @queenoffloweryhell​ @raywritesblog​ @saistudies​ @vesaeris-writes​

[swingbeard]

Matt Reviews... Shadowbringers

Tossing a review of the Shadowbringers MSQ below the cut.

I ended up writing a lot more than I ever thought I would. 

WARNING: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. 

I’m not exactly honest where to kick things off here, as I have a lot of thoughts.

WoW has been the MMO I solely dabbled in and played for the longest time before hopping into FFXIV in late 2017. I had tried it out before, but hadn’t really committed in the way I wanted to. When I finally got into Stormblood, something clicked there for me. A large part of it was finding the character I wanted to play finally, and another was being engrossed in this story centered areas of the lore that always had me interested.

I found Heavensward and Stormblood to be rather intriguing stories that continued to push the narrative along between expansion and building out the world, and expected more of the same from Shadowbringers. 

But I had some worries too. The last time an MMO tried to pull off the “alternate dimension/universe” idea? It didn’t go the way a lot of folks wanted, and much was left on the cutting room floor. 

Of course, that was a different game and company but I still had my concerns. My quibbles with previous FFXIV expansions also came into play; the story of Stormblood, which I liked, was uneven due to moving between two different locales and there have been examples over the years of some expansion events dragging a little bit*.

* I’m looking at you, post-A Realm Reborn MSQ content. 

Nonetheless, I headed into the expansion with reasonably high expectations. Said expectations were not only met, but shattered. Shadowbringers is legitimately the best story I’ve ever seen implemented in an MMO, and it’s also one of my favorite stories in video games in a long time.

Shadowbringers is a story of sequences, of tension and release that pays off not only threads and plot points introduced early on in the expansion but from previous expansions as well. SE has always focused on long-term storytelling as part of their MSQ, but it’s more evident now than ever with this expansion.

For folks unfamiliar with the premise, your character - the Warrior of Light - is teleported to a world similar to their own but essentially on the precipice of total destruction and tasked with saving it alongside your companions from previous games. In the FFXIV universe, light and darkness are palpable concepts and balance is important. One without the other can lead to total destruction. In the player character’s world, the threat of world-ending calamity comes from the forces of darkness but in this alternate universe the threat comes instead from the Light. 

In this world, your counterparts defeated the forces of darkness and disrupted the balance. This led to an apocalypse by way of The Flood, a wave of Light that engulfed the planet and destroyed everything except for a small section that you explore throughout the expansion. 

Those who remain are scraping by and praying for a “warrior of darkness” to arrive while attempting to avoid the wrath of the Sin Eaters, the Light’s army of monsters that seek to eliminate and convert the remaining people. For a near century, the sky above is hidden under a layer of Light, a constant oppressive reminder. 

The expansion does a fantastic job not only telling a tight and cohesive story that moves throughout the land, but it also succeeds in building out the world and making you give a damn. Sidequests that appear simple have a depth you usually don’t see in MMOs, and I’ve already had conversations with friends about certain side characters that most people would just meme at. 

In a way, the MSQ works off a familiar premise that you see in most Final Fantasy games: you’re the big gods damned hero who’s arrived just in the nick of time to push back the big bad and save the world. It’s simple. It’s easy. But what Shadowbringers does differently is the emotional twists and turns throughout.

Long-standing characters like the Scions have new motivations, new things to care about, and new characters are given simple yet effective backstories and personalities that make you care in a matter of moments. 

The latter makes me think of the Hrothgar character Runar, who has been living in the forests; even in a cult centered around the idea of darkness and bringing that back, he proves a warm and friendly character who cares about the people around him. 

There’s also a Miqo’te couple in the opulent city of Eulmore that could have been the butt of so many bad jokes, but instead they’re woven into the main narrative with thought and care; they’re given a character arc and prove to be one of the more heartwarming stories of the whole expansion. 

It’s these smaller interactions woven into the fabric of the narrative at large that make it so good. An attention to detail you don’t see in MMOs often is showcased throughout, and you have the ability to chat with numerous NPCs about events, both past and present. 

While Shadowbringers has plenty of hope within its narrative, there’s so much heartache and tragedy too. There’s terrifying moments, pure body horror on display - yes, no joke. There’s a scene in the expansion that made me get out of my chair and have to stop for a moment. In fact, this happens on multiple occasions. 

The moment of body horror I refer to surrounds a character named Tesleen, a young woman living in the Ahm Araeng desert. She is a healer who looks after the terminally wounded and dying, those who will become Sin Eaters post-death; she seeks to ease their pain in any way possible, including poison in their last meal that will carry them off to an endless sleep. It’s their way of life, what they do.

She becomes close with Alisaie, but unfortunately… things take a turn for the worse. Tesleen goes into the desert to seek out a child from the encampment and protects him from a Sin Eater, who converts her into one. What occurs is a terrifying scene, body horror on display as she is transformed into one. It is a raw and emotional display, one of many throughout the expansion. 

It’s a tough watch, but it’s also how the expansion hits you in the heart. Some characters are lucky enough to escape from some tragic events, but they’re changed for the experience. When you think something might be happening, it often ends up getting worse.

The First is not a kind world. Yes, there are moments of hope but there’s an oppressive feeling throughout the expansion that the next moment could be your character’s last, that any of this could go wrong at any point.

But you have your friends. It’s here again I mention the Scions, your group of companions dating back even to the original release of FFXIV. Some have been on the First for years, and have been tasked by the Crystal Exarch (who we’ll get to later) with trying to help the people, to save them from the Sin Eaters and push back the Light. They have their own character arcs, their own development; some have changed for the worse, and others have changed for the better. 

The new Minfilia stands out to mind here. She’s a character who is aware of her heritage, where she comes from, given the tales that have been relayed to her but she isn’t sure how to handle it, what to do with the information. She struggles as she learns about the world around her, but her character development is so fantastic to see. 

Near the end of the story, she decides to become her own person and even takes on a new name where I thought she would embrace the role of “new Minfilia” and continue along that same path, which probably would have upset some folks. 

Instead, it’s an idea of the twists and turns of the expansion. You think they’re headed one direction, and totally turn the other way. I can legitimately only cover a handful here because there are so many without feeling like being too overbearing. 

I think it’s here where I talk about the villains of the expansion, as there’s a full array. Vauthry, the larger-than-life leader of Eulmore, regards himself as a leader free of sin when really he’s perhaps the worst of all. He is callous, cruel, vain, and has aspirations of becoming a god, of controlling the Sin Eaters. 

His general Ran’jit is a great foil, an older man who fights with fists and feet. While Vauthry has been corrupted from consuming the flesh of Sin Eaters (yes, this happens), he truly believes in the righteous causes of his leader. There’s more than meets the eye with both characters; they are fascinating studies in how righteous causes can go so horribly wrong.

Then there’s Emet-Selch, an Ascian who has taken on the body of the previous Garlean emperor Solus. He was introduced in the post-Stormblood content, coming across as a wicked madman who appeared to have deeper motives. There wasn’t much to work off of then in terms of who he was.

There’s very good reason. 

At some point in Shadowbringers, as you have begun to establish your resistance against the forces of the Light, he decides to accompany your party, to see just what drives you, keeps you going. He helps with reviving Y’shtola, as she decides to sacrifice herself during the story, as a way of gaining your trust.

Then he drops a bomb, a revelation. He does this time after time. In a way, Emet-Selch reminds me of a favorite character in Kreia from KOTOR 2. 

They are liars and destroyers, but they also will lay the truth of their world out for you to clearly see, giving their own rational reasons for why they’re doing what they’re doing. Whereas Zenos was a fantastic villain in his own right, as he was an unapologetic villain, Emet-Selch is a different sort.

He’s a tragic villain. 

He reveals the Ascians, this group of villains that didn’t really have much inspiration or any context outside of “we want to summon our dark god and take over the universe” before this expansion, as a tragic force. They were once a utopia, a society of thinkers and bureaucrats with unlimited power in the form of creation magicks that ended up destroying their world. 

It’s here Shadowbringers really dives into the cosmology of the FFXIV universe in unapologetic fashion. It reveals insane truths about how the First, the Source, and other worlds are connected, how when worlds are “rejoined”, it causes cataclysmic events and thus leads further to the endgame of the Ascians.

They just want to go home and bring their people back, the majority of which were sacrificed in an effort to try and salvage their utopian home. As you get into the endgame of the Shadowbringers MSQ, you learn more about what exactly happened, what led to this, and how Emet-Selch is truly a tragic villain, someone who just wants to go home, wants to bring their people back. You see it in the way he walks, in how he talks; he is burdened by the hundreds of thousands of souls he considered his friends, his family.

They are gone. Only he and a few others remain, steadfast and committed to their cataclysm task of death leading to new life, a new chance. 

This is only the surface of his arc and the backstory surrounding the Ascians. SE went ahead and made a group of villains I didn’t find particularly interesting into one of the most fascinating parts of their lore and universe. 

It is because of this the ending of the MSQ is so tragic, so devastating, but also it’s a release. The sequence leading up to the final trial (boss) of the expansion is parts inspiring and heartbreaking, as your character - who has taken on the overpowering Light of the world into their body - nearly succumbs and becomes a Sin Eater. 

But then you’re saved by another soul, a former Warrior of Light-turned-Warrior of Darkness named Ardbert. If you’ve played through the post-Heavensward MSQ, you know of him as a more antagonistic force-turned-tragic-villain but in Shadowbringers, he is a spirit, your guiding light. The reason why he eventually joins forces with you is an absolutely insane one, but it’s earned by the story at that point because they explain it. They show it. 

It’s here where I find it difficult to really explain just what happens in this MSQ at times because I truly believe you have to see it and play through it. So many moments are earned, tragic or heartbreaking, and to explain it by way of a review in text would do it a disservice. You know a game’s story is good when I haven’t even really touched upon the zones you explore or the gameplay. 

When the Shadowbringers MSQ finally ended, I just kind of sat there. Just thought upon everything I had seen, had played through, had watched. There’s some post-credits content that gives information on just what is happening back on the player character’s homeworld and it’s… interesting.

In a way I wondered just how they’d play up the threat back home because the threats on the First are so cosmic-spanning that it would be tough to go back to Eorzea and deal with the Garleans, but SE as always looks long-term and sets up some interesting pieces and plot threads that I feel like will be handled in the post-MSQ patches. 

While I know some folks aren’t a huge fan of FFXIV’s gameplay, the main differentiation comes down to story and character development. SE gives a damn about keeping a consistent lore and storyline that covers multiple expansions, not at all letting up on the gas pedal especially in Shadowbringers. It is in this expansion that they completely triumph in all aspects: worldbuilding, tension and release, character development, and numerous revelations that fit so well within the lore they’ve established.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing more I can say or do than this:

Go play Shadowbringers.