#Amri de Riva

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When you and your fellow birb are the only close range fighters at the start of your contract and haven’t had another person to spar with in a while

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At the office thinking about Rook de Riva and how Varric gave this Antivan Crow who was kicked out of their entire country and home a different corvid as a name, and one they wear as a choice. A bird that is equally as clever and adaptable as a crow - still of the corvid family, just a different one. Someone new. When they return to Treviso for the first time in months, Teia greets them and acknowledges that they fully go by the name Varric gave them. Still a corvid, still one of them, same colours, but now a different bird with new wings. What did that mean to you, Rook de Riva? I will be thinking about this all day and beyond.

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Adding some extra Flavour™ working out the logistics of the abundance of scars my Rook has. Initially, I thought maybe the Antaam ambush the de Riva background has, but in-game dialogue paints it going pretty well — 20:1 ratio Antaam to her, an opportune ambush, Varric being among the prisoners ready to be transported. A single Antaam dwarfs my Rook by being twice her size in height and width lol so I don't doubt they would get hits in. Chose the body scars with the huge set on the chest and abundance of back scars. And arms. And legs. I'm thinking some Antaam, or the Antaam commander got a good chest hit in enough for her to struggle or pass out once the adrenaline left and she got everyone out.

But it's more deliciously fucked up if all the very intentional back scars (because the game makes them noticeably darker than the front ones) are from the Crows. Punishment for stepping out of line. Complain as he might, maybe Viago did his best to advocate for leniency instead of death, so a brutal lashing and banishment from the whole of Antiva was the lightest he could get for her without coming off as soft/weak for the little Crow under his wing. Varric steps in to offer a job to take her out of the city, which works perfectly. Viago sends that iconic letter.

Writing home to recruit Lucanis is something Rook says is a bit rocky. Rook says she couldn't possibly disappoint the Crows more when talking with Lucanis. She brings up Viago repeatedly in conversation, but her first exchange with him when coming home is as bitter as she can fit in before it's Business as Usual.

Such a horrible, brutal system, but he is family.

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Colour & brush tests with the new kid 💜

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Full headcanon when Viago and the Crows show up in Hossberg, the relief and sense of almost belonging crops up in my Rook for heartbeat, and after the fight, jumps him with a hug. They share a genuine moment of "I'm glad you're not dead" and never speak about it again.

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Cackling at myself with a scene of my Inquisitor and Rook sitting across a table with one another because visually they look like this

Which outs so much of myself 😂😂😂😂 I was a big Bratz girlie in my prepubescent years and own mostly Yasmins and Jades. An overwhelming amount of Yasmin dolls, in truth, I think in part because Yasmin's bohemian and whimsical style suited my preferences at the time (and still do) while Jade's style was always really edgy and funky, but also that was the early to late 2000s, where being Asian wasn't exactly fun or cool. I had a few Jades tho, the prettiest one I think being really, really, really edgy.

I've also thought about their modern equivalent style philosophies because as a casual enjoyer of style and fashion I think that easily informs me of personality, income and resources, attitude, sense of outward presentation, etc, which I think is great for character building, and it is exactly this 😂😭💚💜

Nadia, my Inquisitor, is very bohemian and whimsical. Having had her for 10 years now I've pulled her from DA and recycled her design into a modern character and the relaxed, mishmash of patterns and layers still stands — flowy and free spirited, unconcerned with social norms, presentation, or propriety. With the Bratz, Yasmin's style philosophy in her doll description was always very bohemian and vintage. This always fit well with Nadia being Dalish, having less access to an array of clothing to choose from, which, 10 years later the sentiment stands. Even with, plot-wise, Vivienne insists on taking her to her tailor, I still dress her in an oversized shirt and pants, adjusted to fit her better because they aren't hers, they're hand-me-downs. Her colour palette is earthy, her skin her sun-kissed being in the forest and she doesn't wear very much of any makeup (and while creating her and my Rook in Veilguard's CC, I had fun with that).

My Rook, Amri, just straight up looks like Jade I'm screaming lmfao. Dark hair, brown eyes, though her skin is about the same if not one shade lighter than Nadia's, her hair's so dark it offsets it and make it look lighter. The Crow gear is crisp and tight, clean and full of sharp shapes and dramatic silhouettes. She's a contract killer, so she has some form of income and access to their uniform, and based on her sense of nationalism seemingly locked into the game, she takes pride in being a Crow and has a deep sense of loyalty, so she doesn't stray from it and believes in the theatrical nature of the Crows and their sentiments on killing and what message it sends. Wearing the uniform to a T makes sense, although given Rook's outside-the-box thinking it also makes sense to dress outside the uniform occasionally, mix it up, which the game allows.

In a modern setting I feel like the translation would 100% have her borrowing Viago's/older sibling's jackets and blazers on top of form fitting, skin revealing clothes. Over the knee or any type of boot, pointed toes or chunky combat boots, plunging necklines or dress shirts buttoned to the top, vests, ties, fishnets or any type of patterned tights to give texture — a style that operates in drama and extremes, though with a bit more freedom than the Crow uniform. Experimental with a uniform.

The funniest part of my two favourite digital dolls looking exactly like two of my favourite literal dolls from my childhood is that as an adult, my own personal style philosophy took from said childhood dolls as well 😂✨💜💚🙏