#Defend the Rook

[grimwarden]

Rook: My bosses hate me. My coworkers are ashamed of me. (They're all assassins.) You can imagine the kind of stress I'm under.

later

Teia: oh good you're back :) vi missed you.

Jacobus: you're the best crow ever.

Viago: did you finish your contract? which is, you know, killing a god. don't die btw.

[peachcat14]

okay the callback to the fade section from origins in lucanis' personal quest is pretty funny

[mythalism]

…

[d4rkshad0w]

so happy Kit finally feels loved with Jem, Tessa and Mina after spending his life with Johnny

[magesandrogues]

Well, I tried talking.

[carebooks]

and if i say that aemond is the main targ going mad on the show and is the one causing the most damage to the realm and the aemond stans will start defending him in the comments— what then

[pandoa]

rook hunt is ripped with muscles and here's why

because some of you guys don't give him enough credit and my brain is rotting; let me live

i'll get straight to the point, i've tried out archery to see what it's like in the past—learned the basics and such—and for those who have never held a bow in their life, let me tell you it gets extremely tiring after shooting for more than an hour or so. so imagine how strong you must be to be shooting bows and arrows since you were a child. that is Rook Hunt, who was practically born from the womb with an archery set in his hand /j

bows have different draw weights that affect the speed, force, and distance that is needed to shoot an arrow. typically, children use bows with a 10-pound draw weight, as young adults and adults use bows with 20 pounds or more. to put this into some sort of perspective, i remember my stamina with the 20-pound bow lasted me about half an hour until my arms began to weaken and shake with how out-of-shape i am but anyways 💀

i've heard that the typical draw weight for hunting is about 40 pounds. and assuming with how long Rook has been an archer, i can imagine that he is physically well-fit enough to exceed the 20-pound draw weight and move onto more efficient bows for hunting like the 40-pound.

think about how developed your muscles must be if you began shooting with 10-pound bows since you were just a kid, moving onto 20 pounds as you get older, and eventually using the 40-pound draw weight as you gain more strength and hunting skills. knowing with how much Rook uses his bows and arrows, it's safe to assume that he most likely hones these skills by practicing archery quite often (i can see him going out to practice at least once a day; don't quote me on that though, this is just a thought i have considering that other hobbies also require daily practice to maintain a person's skill).

there are so many muscles involved in a human body's shoulders, back, chest, and arms that you must use when drawing a bow. exercises focusing on the muscles needed for archery are often done to strengthen an archer. this is where Rook's very toned figure comes in lol.

with the numerous muscles needed to carry out his hobby on a constant basis, Rook would need a strong set of biceps and shoulder muscles to keep up with the bow's general weight and stamina for however long he goes out hunting for. bro has built up muscles, man. built up muscles.

in game, though, i will admit his body does look on the more slim and slender side. i can see why some people in the fandom don't see him as a character with buff arms, but i would like to respectfully disagree. Rook Hunt has scrumptious arm and back muscles i'd shamelessly stare at as his magic hands do whatever wonderous things they do with his bow OH AND GUYS HIS LEGS I MEAN-

ahem. anyways.

i know many in the fandom tend to bully this observant hunter—with his questionable haircut and uh huntsman habits of his—however, these targets for harmless memes cannot overshadow the fact that Rook Hunt is ripped. from head to toe, this man is most likely relatively high among the list of twst characters that are incredibly strong (with Jack trumping them all) and is probably covered in toned muscles, which he maintains with his hunting.

this isn't even me simping anymore; it's just simple logic if we all go by what we know about the Pomefiore vice housewarden. i'll defend this man with my life—and that includes writing a useless essay on why Rook is more muscular and buff than we may think lmao

so in conclusion, Rook has beefy arms that the world is not prepared to talk about just yet. the end.

[mako-designated-driver]

Codex Entry #31: Tavern Notices

Archery Contest! Saturday! All challengers welcome*! Sister Leliana to judge!

*Except Varric and Bianca

__________________________

Disappointed by your performance at the

Halamshiral ball? Try dancing classes,

offered by Scout Harding! Watch this space

for the sign-up sheet!

A handwritten note signed below:

I’m sorry. I know this has been up here

forever, but I keep being sent to the

furthest corners of Thedas and haven’t

found the time.

Harding

___________________________

CORYPHEUS IS GOING DOWN!

Underneath this, someone has scribbled:

"Too Easy".

___________________________

Free ale! As much as you can handle, for as

long as you can handle it!

YOU DID IT!

The good stuff is still ten silvers a cup.

Cabot

[chaos--mode]

would love the option to knock ivenci's teeth out actually. river doesn't like the crows or having to deal with them, but they hate the governor more

[little-elf-wanders]

I just realised how bad Effie and Solas are going to interact.

Like, they will straight up not agree, and this time it isn't even because I just don't like him - because there's potential for him to further explain what he meant with his plans and for me to change my mind if it makes sense, however, so far all we have to go off of doesn't paint him in a good light. No matter what romanticists say to defend him. We don't have the facts. Specifically for a Rook. It paints him very much as destroying the world. Multiple characters have reacted like that's what he's doing, the biggest example being Varric himself when he outright says it in the comic. So those of us who aren't reading into every little comment he made takes it for what he said it as. Which hasn't been much. And it's pretty alarming of a concept without absolute assurances. I don't take his 'lol trust me' message well, because I don't trust him.

But what I know for a fact is Effie's Mournwatch beliefs directly conflict with Solas's. And it'll be interesting to see if that has any weight in game.

They both care about spirits, that's about the biggest connection they have. The issue is they both have differing views on how that care takes place.

Solas, of course, created the Veil, but he hasn't been around to properly see what it does with spirits in this world. We see a reaction to mages binding a demon like it's the first time he's seen it. He's reactive and horrified - one Mortalitisi he even killed somewhere else, though I believe it was because of an idol they were using and for making a wisp stir their tea. Fair play to him with idol tampering and knowing abuse of a spirit.

He's seeing spirits be twisted against their nature and it is his fault. The mages doing the binding are people who don't have the same understanding of how spirits operate, though, so you can't under any circumstance blame them for thinking they're doing what was taught to them is alright. You cannot kill those mages in blind anger for not knowing what you know.

When confronting the mages, he tells them he's not helping them. Tell me why the fuck it's an ego brush he prefers about being smarter and not 'He's right, there's something about this you don't know!'

The rifts are opening everywhere spitting out demons, and they are terrified, they are hunted by rogue Templars in a mage/templar war that left a lot of angry outliers, and his only thought to them not knowing other than doing what Circles taught them is they deserve death? If they knew better sure, but very clearly they did not.

I'm showing this because Solas is extremely knowledgeable and could have chosen to teach that spirits are different from demons and that pulling one from the fade and binding it just warps it against its nature, then shown them how it went back to being a spirit. I'm aware this was his friend, so some aggression and reactiveness is understandable. But tell me why there wasn't an option to talk him down? Or to have the option to give him a way to see that some people don't understand? It was simply 'let him murder these people for which he'll love you, or disagree and he'll hate it.' And I'm not sympathetic to that at all, I would have respected him more if we got given literally any other reaction besides murder them for his approval. The mages were scared and upset, that isn't a reason to murder them. Were they wrong? YES. Obviously. But it could have been something so much fucking more. Lavellan knows this. Or she should.

Now back to Effie. We know this about Solas, she does not. The thing is, the Mournwatch seems to respect the dead. And spirits. Maybe not all of them hold those views like a certain Mortalitisi but I'm going into this believing Effie certainly does, and I suspect Emmrich does too given Manfred. She believes when someone dies a spirit is shunted from the fade. If this is true? Effie will be furious at Solas for creating the Veil without a shred of thought for it just to use the spirits as an excuse to break it. He cares more about the spirits than people. His own people are just the exception but you can't threaten what he has and only accept some. I'm curious how this might play out, if it does at all.

His biggest aim was to lock away the gods, but it completely disrupted how Thedas now operates, including how it grew - and how some countries have zero information to work with because they fear the unknown. While some respect it, like Nevarra and Rivain. Even Avvar hold a huge respect for spirits. Effie see's it as part of the ecosystem, now - which might be a wrong thought to have but those spirits are now part of that and have been for long enough there will be a significant issue or problem if it's suddenly removed. And that's entirely Solas's doing. Maybe I'm wrong to believe there'll be an issue, a magic fix it seems anticlimactic when they've built up his whole scheme to be apocalyptic.

So, if he gets mad at how the Mournwatch find the spirits suitable bodies and handle the supernatural issues from said spirits going berserk, she's fully going to tell him he's the reason why they need to find them bodies in the first place and he doesn't get to judge or break it because it's hard to stomach. They do this so they DON'T turn into demons.

And that maybe there's some other way to fix it that doesn't involve shady ass schemes and with-holding vital information that could change how systems do teach these subjects. But I don't know. She loves spirits more than people, she appears apathetic to people but she doesn't want them to bloody explode or be ripped apart.

[thebookworm0001]

If I stick with illya as my main rook, I’m gonna have to do some work on just how she feels about her family because ‘elf adopted by humans prominent in the military of a nation that enslaves her people but who treated her well and are quietly abolitionists but also kept her home/allowed people to assume she was a servant’ is one hell of a dynamic

[wizardsix]

I might make an edit later but I can't believe I forgot to mention in my review post how much I hated the first "big decision" in veilguard where you have to choose between treviso and minrathous and whichever you pick immediately destroys the other city and cuts the companion off from support/romancing but doesn't seem to have an actual effect other than being an annoying inconsequential decision in the long run .

whoever you don't help is hardened but it really doesn't feel like it, and I was thinking this would come back later and we'd have to choose between other companions so by the end we'd have a few hardened companions a few not which would really add some conflict but then. nothing happened. this mechanic is ultimately useless. another thing is that it happens so fast like Right after you recruit davrin, which is fine if they wanted to spring something on us to make us think fast but. there's no choice no strategizing. we're fucked either way lol. and why does rook Have to be there to save the city. we literally split up. are you telling me my companions are too weak to help? is that what the game is saying? we have these allies for a reason are you fr that they couldn't at least hold off the dragon until rook got there to deal real damage (if bioware really wanted rook to be the hero about it)?

I'm not buying rook being some all powerful being that can hold off a Blighted Dragon solo. sorry. especially since the dagger doesn't even matter here. you're telling me the crows can't handle themselves? you're telling me a fortified city like minrathous, home to all-powerful magisters and opposing shadow dragons can't do shit? where are the guards? templars? literally any kind of defence? all this choice tells me is that our allies are incompetent, nothing else. (and it's one thing to want to show how oh so powerful the gods are, which, we know that they Can nuke a well defended city we're not stupid but this choice was just unnecessary and poorly executed)

[solitaireships]

Look at how pretty she is

[ryssabrin]

i am minding my business so hard rn with the solas girlies on twitter bc like no dav is not extraordinarily harsh or unsympathetic to him it's just that dav's audience isn't entirely made up of solas stans and it has to work for them too lmao

[d4rkshad0w]

Kit Herondale is so perfect he’s my favorite fictional character of all time

[crowtoed]

Pour One Out for My Mourn Watch Rook

Who wants to be the gothiest, but has difficulty dyeing his eyebrows. So it's very obvious he's a natural blond.