#about both neve and lucanis LMAO

[trevisos]

normal about this one as well!

[roraimae]

Guess who finally had time to start playing Veilguard and is now faced with the Minrathous vs. Treviso choice

Emotional damage.

[waspgrave]

now there was no reason for lucanis to be given purple johnny silverhand as a plot point and then never have the purple johnny silverhand utilized except for maybe 3 or 4 times in the game (if you saved Treviso, otherwise it's twice) and dialogue. Dialogue where he pretty much just says weird and funny things and occasionally gets scolded like a dog which is entertaining sure but there is Literally A Demon In One Of The Companions Why Is This Not A Bigger Deal

[vaguely-concerned]

I've been trying to figure out a dynamic between neve and rye that I find more compelling, because right now there's not much of anything there for me to sink my little teeth into. but I think I've landed on something delicious with the idea that especially after minrathous gets fucked, rye looks at neve and sees myrna -- someone he feels he keeps letting down horribly no matter how hard he tries not to and can't quite achieve the approval of/connection with that he wishes so it's better to just pull away completely and disengage rather than stay in that unshifting shame. neve is (very understandably) measured and distant with him after what happened, and he's flashing back to his student days of myrna gazing at the perpetually hungover heartbroken heap of a person of him on the other side of her desk every time he missed the deadline of a paper or project like '...can we at least both agree that this is. a bit disappointing. especially considering your potential.' (and him all smudged black eyeshadow and numb ruefulness being like 'sure that's a very kind way to put it myrna thank you'.)

aside from the 'if I let him get too deeply into this he'll go the way of brom and it'll be all my fault (again)' element, neve thinks rye is dismissing her and her city/being a bit callous in the same way he was after varric's death (listen. how fucking wild must rook's reaction to losing a beloved mentor seem to the rest of the crew who aren't seeing the blood magic paper doll ghost varric the whole time, especially those who got to see them interact. you WOULD think 'there's something wrong with this guy. putting the job first is one thing just not seeming to react at all is another this is fucking freaky', wouldn't you, especially after seeing the warmth in that dynamic in action beforehand.) perfect storm of two people who grit their teeth and turn inwards in pain deciding that not talking about it is their best bet (NEWSFLASH: IT ISN'T) lmao

(rye spent his last year of watcher training on a mostly joyless bender and then got it together enough to finish the eternal orb project last moment in a fevered near-sleepless week instead of the half a year that was intended. emmrich is both astounded and distressed to hear this. "a week? but -- but that is an astounding accomplishment rook!! and also why in the maker's good light would you ever do that to yourself?" ("well you see there was no one to stop me from doing it like that but me. and under those conditions these things tend to happen".) rye was working through/looking up stuff around transitioning and doing every kind of OTHER high level watcher research through that whole time, but ultimately he's an excellent watcher and a terrible student, at least under traditional methods. adhd from here to the fucking moon. touched by something akin to divine inspiration in moments of high tension that pulls all the threads into one coherent unbreakable cord, a bit of a frayed mess in most other settings. in our world he'd be dropping out of a masters program at the very last hurdle in this moment maker bless and protect him)

[midnightwind]

oh my god I forgot I haven't seen the result of forgiving Illario yet

I need... I need to fix that holy shit how did I forget-

[fxnharellll]

it’s acc crazy how excited me and others were to romance Lucanis and every romance dialogue i chose w him was just brushed off???😭 why do u not want my rook lmao. why is he so ready to flirt with neve whilst my rook is standing there like: 🧍🏽‍♀️like is this a third wheeling simulator. no one wants to pay $70 for a game that talks up its romance elements only to find the companions more interested in each other/minimal reactivity lmao.

I’m happily shacked up w emmrich finally 🤞🏽but oh my god, other than the almost kiss and that really sweet line of his at the end of the game, there’s NOTHING THERE????

that is not a slow burn, there’s absolutely no content there to consume. I’m running back to da2 after this, i miss my family so bad.

none of the romances in dragon age have been particularly explicit and it is NOT about the fade to black sex scenes (although BG3 spoiled me, i will admit): it’s about the yearning, the push and pull between ur Warden, Hawke and Inquisitor and their respective romances.

Anders was absolutely insane for his ‘I would drown us both in blood’. Cullen getting flustered cos of the Inquisitor??? Fenris laughing then immediately going 😐 cos he realised Hawke made him laugh? Alistair’s sweet romance with the warden??? His rose, his famous ‘I’ll be standing over here until the blushing stops’. Solas’ romance was notorious for having 3 sprinkled scenes in between a 60+ hour game with no sex scene and to this day, it is one of the most moving romances i have encountered in any media.

I don’t know why they said this was the most romantic dragon age ever lmfao like let’s stop lying out of our asses now pls !

[hyperbali]

If you're a Solavellan do not click here lmao

So I've seen that one post going around that's like "people who are shipping Rook and Solas are missing the point, they don't have a deeper connection than he had with Lavellan, Lavellan knew the real Solas"

And I have never seen such obvious cope in my life lmao

Fact of the matter is that they are both a blip in his existence. Solas knew Lavellan for 1-2 years, of course he's going to be more fixated on the romantic/platonic/situationship/whatever that lasted for millennia and literally broke the world, especially when the aftermath is that he feels like he's on such a different level than everyone left that they are pretty much Tranquil to him! This is a thought that he specifically expressed!

And claiming that Wisdom is the real Solas and Pride is not... also misses the point. Solas is Wisdom is Pride. Solas means Pride. At no point in his interactions with either the Inquisitor or Rook is he ever not lying, even just by omission. Neither of them see who or what he is as a whole, both are always operating at a disadvantage based on how much knowledge he's willing to give, and both have the opportunity to genuinely earn his respect.

As genuinely as Solas can get, at any rate.

Bearing that in mind, his chemistry with Rook compared to Lavellan is like a bonfire to a fireplace, in my opinion (bear that in mind oml). Even back in the day, I wanted the opportunity for a rivalmance with him so bad. I wanted to be able to call him out on his shit, to debate with his ideas, to meet him on a level that he was fully unexpecting and he hates that he loves it. Actively HATES it, not just that it makes him sad.

As it is, this "and so the wolf fell in love with the halla" shit is so cringy. Not at all helped by the fact that a romancing Lavellan apparently pined for him for a decade, couldn't do a damn thing to change his mind in the end, and willingly cuts herself off from her life, family, and friends to be a simpering, lovesick sycophant for the rest of her days. Because the Veil is STILL up. She IS dying in a few decades. And all of it will have been pointless.

Canon is a mess, I'm twisting it in other ways regardless, etc. etc. MY POINT IS

Shipping him with another character is not going to somehow make your ship invalid*. You can still make your favourite dolls kiss how you like. Relax about it.

(That last bit is not derogatory, as I am also proudly clanging my dolls together as usual. Just! Relax!! We are all in hell!!!)

*my 'ship and let ship' mantra has an exception and that exception is neve/lucanis. i'm sorry but it was the dumbest possible pairing for either of them and bioware should have let both of their nonromanced pairings be queer

[grymm-gardens]

Rook x Neve x Lucanis x Spite WIP

A few of you enjoyed my last little snippet, so here is a snippet from the same fic, this one is a rewrite of Lucanis's introduction scene, with a Mourn watch mage rook who will have FAR more interaction with spite than the game gave us

Nothing smutty in this snippet but it will absolutely get there believe me lmao

"We don't have to fight. We're just here for Lucanis Dellamorte," Rook weakly bargained with the Venatori as they wasted no time drawing their weapons toward her. She heaves a deep sigh, drawing her spellblade, "Every day I try to reason with the unreasonable, and for what? Get ready, Neve."

As the red glow of Venatori magic begins to warm her skin, she readies her blade. As she prepares to strike an unexpected presence causes her to stumble. A Demon. She had felt the reverberations of hundreds of demons in the halls but this one was closer - and different somehow. The thought is quickly pushed from her head as she narrowly dodges the end of a venatori staff, barely managing to fade step in time.

The Venatori mage thrusts the end of his staff to the ground and begins chanting, "Razikale, dragon of mystery, Lucasan, dragon of night, Hear your faithful call-" He's cut short by a crack in the frozen pillar behind him, a man with with glowing wings emerging from the ice.

The man grabs the mage by the waist turning him into his allys blade before tossing him to the side, and kicking the other man onto a nearby spire of rock. The other venatori watch in horror as he sprints past two of them, slitting their throats before they can even grasp what's happening. Moving gracefully past them as they fall, he grabs the final cultist and snaps their neck with a swift precision.

Each kill was unsettling calm, and calculated, while hauntingly beautiful at the same time. Surely this is the Demon of Vyrantium they were sent after. No one mentionned the name would be so literal, Rook thought to herself. She shudders feeling the sheer amount of demonic energy in the room. She cannot help but stand in awe of the wings before her - a beautiful manifestation of purple and black feathers dripping with energy from the fade. She can only imagine what they might feel like.

"I'm guessing he's the reason we're here." Rook says cheerfully.

Neve chuckles lightly before lowering her staff, "Yes, I'd say so"

Lucanis turns toward them, his eyes unwavering as he asesses the two women.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" As his wings fade, the demonic energy in the room remains. Ever curious about spirits and the fade, Rook couldn't be more intrigued. Meeting his gaze fully for the first time, she sees an surprisingly handsome face before her, with long dark hair beautifully framing his face and dark brooding eyes to match. He eyes her up and down, whether just to look or figure out the quickest way to kill her she isn't sure. Both, she hopes.

"I'm Rook, lovely to meet you," she says with a small wave, as if greeting a dinner guest. Sheathing her spellblade, she places her free hand softly upon her companions shoulder. "This is Neve." The detective laughs softly at the watcher, before giving her own half-hearted wave.

"Caterina sent us," Neve states.

"But... you aren't crows," Lucanis shifts his gaze back and forth between the two, bewildered by his sudden rescue, and the unusual saviors.

"And you're possessed by an actual demon." The Detective says with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. "It's complicated," He says with a nonchalance that has Rook further entralled with the him.

"That is fascinating. I have so many quest-" Neve quickly nudges her.

"Rook, maybe we play twenty questions with the demon after we break him out," She says, half-teasing, and half-serious as she observes the entryways.

"Right, Caterina promised us a mage-killer if we broke you out of here, are you... well?" Rook asks uncertain of exactly what the man before her is capable of. "

I can still work." The words almost sound venomous as they drip from his mouth.

"Good, because more venatori are on their way. We need to get moving." The Watcher readies her spellblade, and turns to begin plotting their escape.

"Wait. They have a vial of my blood that they can use to control me. I cannot leave it in their hands. And... I had a contract when i was captured. The target is here, Calivan. Crows don't break contracts," He says coldly.

"Oh, of course. The unbreakable crow contracts. It can never been simple, can it?" Rook sighs. The Crow looks into her eyes with such an intensity she can barely breathe.

"I'll owe you." For a moment he looks as though he is pleading with her, before steeling his gaze again.

"Okay. Where to first?" Rook says softly.

"The blood vial, then Calivan," As soon as the words leave his mouth he is already pushing past the two of them towards freedom. As Rook steps forward to follow, she feels a soft hand grab hers. She turns toward Neve with her furrowed brow, and ever supiscious glare.

"Are you sure about this? Do you think we can trust him?" Neve stumbles, almost sounding nervous. Rook is surprised by her hesitation, and places her other hand on the detective's forearm.

"I have no idea. But we can trust each other and I think that's all we need." She smiles reassuringly at her, before giving her hands a gentle squeeze.

"Always an optimist aren't you?" Neve teases, relaxing a bit.

"I'd probably be dead otherwise. Come on" Rook gently releases Neve's hand from her own as they make their way towards their new ally.

[amourningcrow]

some thoughts on the lucanis romance. caution! spoilers

you know, i've seen a lot of people complaining about how lucanis's romance is somewhat lacking and i agree, at least a little - i can't say i enjoy the scene where you lock in his romance (could have been a banter) and i honestly didn't get that it was supposed to be a 'i'm scared of wanting you' kind of romance until the end where he actually said that (i was constantly sleep deprived while playing though, so maybe that one's on me) - but i don't really think more scenes were really necessary. i loved the last one and the one in the middle was also pretty good, even though i didn't like how scripted it was.

what i really, really miss in this are the party banters. you know, like the one with alistair and wynne, where she teases him about checking out the warden?

imagine for a moment: davrin and lucanis

'they're fine.'

'i- what?'

'they're fine. you keep staring at their legs, but the venatori barely even graced them. you can stop checking every time they climb up a rock or bend to pick something up.'

'of course! i was checking on their injury! that damn venatori, nearly got them, huh?'

... (awkward silence)

'right.'

oooor maybe taash and lucanis?

'you're not being subtle, you know'

'excuse me?'

'saw you sneaking in with rook's favourite food yesterday.'

'so? i make everyone's favourite every once in a while.'

'not in the middle of the night just after they tell you, you don't'

... (stony silence)

'yeah'

ooooor i dunno, harding and lucanis?

'lucanis?'

'hmmm?'

'it would be okay, you know. if you liked someone and told them how you feel. hypothetically.'

'what? what are you talking about?'

'nothing. i just... thought someone should tell you.'

'mierda, harding, there's no one like that. so this is completely irrelevant.'

'hmhm, sure. but in theory, if there was... i'm pretty sure they like you, too. and you both deserve to be happy.'

i'm obviously not a writer, but i really think some stuff like that would have helped to set up the romance more. i tried so desperately to look through the game and find something, and maybe i just haven't discovered it yet! but the few banters i did find were all after the relationship was officially established. i don't know. i'm really disappointed because i think the potential was there, it could have been such a sweet, angsty slow-burn but they just.. didn't set it up right? the yearning™ feeds on other people seeing exactly what is going on and rolling their eyes at the idiots involved not getting on with it (/getting it on lmao). maybe something like that was planned but they had to cut it because all the companions had to get their 'making it official' chat at the same time? and pretty late in the game, too. that would sort of explain why his relationship with neve was more fleshed out as well. idk. that and my added frustration that i can't really roleplay my rook the way i want (in my roleplaying game) probably means i'll just have to write some stuff myself. and wait for someone to search through the audio files so i can get my grubby raccoon hands on all the banter i didn't hear yet 🤞

[deadlysoupy]

complete (for now!) character sheets of my blorbo (huge thanks to @arcandoria your contribution to the fandom is incredible bless)

explanations under the cut (there's a lot bc i'm a yapper) (spoilers!)

Bellara: Rook and Bellara hit it off pretty much since the beginning. Rook loves to tinker, and Bellara's brain is always full of ideas, so they hang out a lot together just taking stuff apart and putting them together. despite Urchin not being a mage, he has basically grown up with mages and seen magic a lot in Tevinter, so i think he'd know a little bit. they bounce off each other really well, and when Cyrian comes back and she hits a low point, he supports her with a joke or lets her rant. neither he nor she will probably ever say it out loud, since it's a sensitive topic for both, but they consider each other siblings or cousins at least

Davrin: complete opposite of Bellara, Rook and Davrin got off on the wrong foot and couldn't get up lmao. Davrin had a problem with how Urchin handles things, he considers the Lords to be unethical and rude bastards, and how Urchin rushes into battle or does careless things. Urchin also hated how heroic Davrin seemed to pose as, he's pretty much jealous of his dalish upbringing, and his history with the Grey Wardens. they even got into a fight at some point (Urchin started it, by the way). but after that, they reach an understanding that turns into deep respect for what each of them went through, and to say that Rook would miss Davrin as his unbiased opinion and who wouldn't be afraid to challenge him is to say nothing

Emmrich: at first they got along great. the Lords taught Urchin to be respectful to spirits, and he's fascinated by death and the life beyond it. but Emmrich is a very "touchy-feely", inquisitive and curious person, which Urchin is a complete opposite of. still can't get out of my head the graveyard scene when Emmrich confides and talks about his parents, and Rook, trying to react in his usual non-emotional way, makes a joke, to which Emmrich deeply disapproves and Urchin has to apologize. that's the gist of their relationship, to be honest, but it does become better after a while. his experience in life helps Urchin a lot, and he likes listening to Emmrich talk about magic

Harding: good friends who goof around a lot! i don't have much to say about them to be honest, but i think there's potential here for so many goofs and gaffs and getting in jail. reminiscent of that one "mayhem!" line Harding has in a dlc of Inquisition, i think she'd be down to cause some chaos in Minrathous or something. Urchin also understands her anger, and he's remorseful at their revelation that the Titans died because of the elves. all in all, they're on very good terms

Lucanis: hooo boy. where do i even start and how do i make this as short as possible. there's always been an understanding between these two, even beyond romance, that was just a cherry on top. Lucanis had a lot going on when he came into the story, so Urchin gave him space and support when he needed it, because he knows how something that traumatic can hurt, and that sometimes you just don't want to talk about it. it's hard for them both to express feelings, and Lucanis is a guy of action rather than words, so he cooks, gives little gifts, gestures, and Rook in turn gives him compliments, jokes with him, takes him out on dates etc because he's more of a words guy. i don't know i could make a separate post about their specific romance that i've built in my head, give me an ask if you want it i denno

Neve: his emotionally stunted wife. you probably noticed how their bars are just insanely covered with colours, and that's because of the whole "Minrathous or Treviso" thing. i milk so much drama out of that choice because it's really good! beside the obvious, Rook couldn't really save Minrathous because of his past with slavery, but he still feels so bad about it because of Neve's love for it. and i don't think she can ever forgive him, actually, but she tries moving past it. the fact that they both had crushes on each other that turned south is kinda funny to me, because they're like two sides of the same coin! she's so afraid to get close to other people, she's snarky and doesn't turn down a good joke, her sense of style is incredible (i imagine them exchanging Tevinter fashion tips). they're still close even after the game, and grow closer after it, and Rook, Neve and Lucanis become a polycule. traumacule. do you see the vision

Taash: saved the best for last i guess because Urchin and Taash are like two siblings who hate each other. well, not exactly hate. i really liked how their relationship began, when Taash tells Rook how the Lords aren't thieves, and he's like "but we stole shit! literally!" and i think there's a really interesting contrast here. Taash was taught by their mother about cultural appropriation and respect, while Rook was Isabela's apprentice. Isabela's! there's no question he doesn't have almost any morals at all. so Taash thinks Rook's a jerk, but Urchin doesn't mind it much. after that, they bond over their gender issues, and since Urchin found his identity he shares his experience with them. in turn, Taash teaches him about dragons. they're also both from mixed cultures, so they have this solidarity over their messy lives. they're neat i like them

whoever read until the end. holy shit i want to kiss you

[trevisos]

the most romantic scene in video game history. to me.

[stormsbourne]

I do absolutely feel people are giving datv a bit of short shrift. I have my issues with it, as I do with every dragon age game, but I feel like the game is good about asking questions about your character believes about the world over what is the "best option" unlike, say, dao, where there was almost always a Correct Middle Ground choice

I wrote this draft before I'd finished the game but now I have finished it and I stand by my analysis of what questions are being asked lmao

spoilers under the cut

QUESTIONS DATV WANTS YOU TO ANSWER, WITH NO JUDGMENT ABOUT HOW YOU DO:

neve: is it more valuable to be an inspiration or to be the one who gets things done? both have their merits. are you going to do everything you can as a protector or are you going to make yourself a shining symbol? you can't be both

harding: what do you do with the knowledge that a great and terrible sin was committed against your forebears and it made you the person you are today? how do you balance the grief and anger at what was done with your will to move forward? the person you know yourself to be?

bellara: is knowledge worth the possible weight of suffering it may bring with it? but on the other hand, is it right to erase the sins of your forefathers from public memory? is it better to risk their dangerous knowledge getting out, or better to hide the dangerous knowledge and hope it's forgotten about forever?

lucanis: what does vengeance do to you? sure it keeps you alive, but what else? does it make you a worse person, or just more of yourself than you were willing to show before? and what about envy? what does that do to a person? is it really any worse than, say, spite?

emmrich: what does immortality do to a person? is something lost by removing death from the equation of life? do our lives have more meaning because they are fleeting, or is that just a coping strategy by the woefully mortal to cope with the oncoming grave?

davrin: if you live only to die, what comes next when you find you instead have to keep living? how much do promises of doing better and repentance actually mean to you? would it be better if you had never been placed on the path that led you here? do you deserve a different fate than the one you've been handed and expected to fulfill?

taash: who are you, really? where do the pieces that make you you come from? how do you reconcile the different pieces of yourself, some of which seem to be in direct opposition? what do you choose to take with you moving forward, and why?

literally all of them, including rook: how do you cope with loss? what do you value most when things are at their worst? what does betrayal feel like? hope? despair? love? where do you find these things in your darkest moments? are you caged by regret or do you know how to contain it while still moving forward?

and of course, solas: what, exactly, is keeping you from becoming the very thing that you fight against?

and yes actually I think the varric twist works though I think it could have been done a little cleaner. I called that shit moment one so I paid a lot of attention to how it was handled and, with some caveats, I think it works.

[utilitycaster]

You are right, popularity isn't that important but I'm glad anyway that f/f is the most popular in the CR fandom thanks to Imodna, because it's just nice for once!

You know what's funny is that I suppose I thought of Imodna in passing for this, but it wasn't a significant aspect of my consideration, nor was popularity, and it's depressing that you sent this question because it makes me fear we're stuck.

The ship I had in mind that I like is Dot/Cleo from Unend, which I think is really interesting and am frustrated that whenever it comes up in the Midst server the conversation just goes GOTH GF PINK GF GOTH GF PINK GF GOTH GF PINK GF with no discussion of who they are as people - how Cleo is canonically a nepo baby, but she actually is fantastic at her job of observation because she is warm and kind and genuinely interested in everything around her, and how Dot is hiding absolute terror and misery about everything but is also competent and helpful, and trying to shove them into aesthetic categories ignores all that.

The ship I had in mind I didn't like and which really set it off is that Neve/Bellara from DATV is pretty transparently an attempt to get Neve away from Lucanis, even though they'd both make each other miserable - ie, they're putting forth a Grumpy One Soft For Sunshine One ship to get rid of the women to make way for a ship that includes a man (regardless of what gender you're playing Rook, Lucanis is a man) and I realized that it was in many ways stunningly similar in tenor to Beau and Jester, or Vex and Keyleth, which were both ships that were popular among F/F shippers, and what does that say? I'm saddened by the fact that the ships I'm told by fandoms are beautiful and meaningful and at times harassed for saying aren't that great are, in the end, almost identical in structure to the ships people throw out to push the women of the story out of the way of an M/M or M/F ship. Like, doesn't that suck? Don't you want to do better? Isn't it pretty fucking miserable that any attempt to talk about treating female characters as complex and existing in canon in the work and actually being people with PREFERENCES and not some malleable nothing you can throw at anything to get the ship you want is met with passive aggression and petty popularity contests? Doesn't it make you furious, if you are a woman, that even in fiction - even in fantasy heroic fiction where women can save the world and break reality - everyone's first instinct towards female characters is to be like "lmao no you are not the person you say you are and want to be, you're the person I want you to be for my convenience"? Don't you want to stab the next person who decides that it's more important to climb to the top of the list on ao3 by sacrificing everything complex and thorny and difficult and interesting for a bigger number of fics that could be about literally any two people because there's nothing about the women they're about in them?

Like, really, what does it say that when I say "I feel like fandoms treat F/F as an afterthought and as between two entities that are less than people" multiple people decided the response was "ACTUALLY, some M/M ships are treated badly too? sounds like you hate women? here's a ship I know you openly think is bad and I'm going to send it?" I think of you, anon, in your passive-aggression here, the way I think of tradwifes. I'm not mad, I'm just sad you've gotten trapped in this mentality and this life of serving some goal that doesn't let women be people, and I hope you break free; but I must admit I'd do pretty much anything not to become like you.

[bharv]

A convo with pals had me thinking about the strange disconnect in the Harding romance between the pace of the game and the pace of what we learn about the romance.

The romance steps of the explicitly romantic coded scenes are an intimate chat about feelings (which is lovely by the way) a kiss where you find out her lyrium powers are hurting you, a cute scene with Emmrich where you learn it flares in extreme emotions, and the final romance scene is a kiss (with her little kicky leg) and a talk afterwards.

So you’d be forgiven for thinking that the romance was paced to that. However Harding also mentions to Emmrich that you have both been experimenting with ways to fuck without direct touch lmao. And there is a Taash and Harding scene where Taash implicitly (edit note thanks for pointing this out in comments, I originally used the wrong word here) says hey, if you don’t sexually satisfy this woman I’m waiting 😂

It’s nice to leave some space around romances for HC for sure but I think here there is a bit of an interesting gap between the mechanic and the character.

It made me wonder about some other characters and the pace. Some of them it suits (Bellara, Neve and Lucanis I think are take it slow people for different reasons) but others maybe not so much (Taash heavily implies it’s more physical earlier, and I don’t imagine Emmrich is waiting. Davrin I can imagine might not either) but I would be interested in people’s thoughts!

[suohenki]

on my second playthrough of veilguard (for some reason). this is the insane person's ramblings about lore/writing unlike my last post

this is the first time i've been so utterly bored of a second playthrough. never has an rpg given me this feeling.

like there are no quests i look forward to tbh, every main quest is a long combat sequence. even inquisition had the orlesian ball that you had to resolve with some actual noncombat solutions. (get behind me inquisition i will defend you from the fandom)

made a qunari this time to see if it affects anything, no, really doesn't. there's barely any qunari dialogue options.

picked the crows origin, it is truly astonishing the way they treat them in this game. they seem completely shy about the crows being contract killers? it's not even that they don't talk about the things Zevran talks about, but they fully try to ignore the murder part. Mfrs are freedom fighters now apparently.

and the "twist" villains in the crows storyline are so comically obvious i hoped they were both red herrings. the butcher is so underdeveloped too. the way the illario/blood magic twist is written is confusing, rook sees it all with his damn eyes and then never says a word about it. Yes i think illario is the bad guy here, Rook, i know you heard the "amatus". What. (swear to god the dark brotherhood is more deep than this. i never thought i'd say TES has better writing than DA.)

By the end they never address the fucked up things the crows do, outside of Rook's one throwaway line of "yeah my training was hell lmao." Is it just Aranai that's fucked or what kind of hellish training are we talking about? Rook also mentions having been an orphan... so the crows are as usual but we just won't talk about it. The lore and characters have never been this confusing and woobified. The positivity of Rook rly feels off when they are a trained assassin... no one reacts negatively to it, everyone even goes "Omg lucanis is a killer. Oh, not you Rook, you're better :)" no i don't think he is? Both killers.

Similarly they are so scared of the (elven) slavery in Tevinter. If you hadn't played the previous games you'd be forgiven for thinking Tevinter had no slavery because you missed the 3 sentences that mention it. We are in the slavery capital of Thedas and we are being shy about it. I guess Dorian's and Fenris's stories are too "problematic"... It's frankly gross how they brush it off after how serious it was in previous games. Also crazy how religion never comes up. In the country of the "black divine", you'd think Harding would have something to say at least. It really only now hit me how hard they avoided bringing up non-elven religion when it's been such a big part of the lore...

Neve's storyline just begs to be about the actual known issues of Tevinter instead of whatever it was about, all of it went from one ear, out the other. To me, her and Lucanis are the weakest companions on replay. Neve's voice acting is so strange and flat it's really difficult for me to be endeared by her. (this is coming from a cassandra pentaghast enjoyer)

Even if I think Harding's scenes could be better at least i get what she is about. Tho all the titan stuff feels like it's not treated with the gravity it should be. I do like Taash and Bellara, i just wish Taash wasn't written so immaturely. i never found Sera immature in this way, she's abrasive and yes, "immature" with the pranks etc., but Taash is written like a stereotypical teen, Sera just felt like a weirdo adult. And you can tell Alistair to suck it up lmao, it's really not even comparable. And the Isabela scene with the push-ups.... talk about making it all about yourself. Taash should have just been nonbinary from the start if they were going to make the representation this awkward.

I wish Bellara's quest had more drama. You don't get to save her brother but you also have no scene where, for example, Bellara endangers Rook or lets Anaris escape because she is actually conflicted about her brother... Rook and her just kinda let them go. Bellara is okay with killing her brother with barely any convincing lol.

Emmrich and Davrin are still my favorites, I think Davrin just works, and i like that we get to see more of his background. He's not terribly ~deep~ but he doesn't have to be, saving the griffons is an understandable goal, one that would be devastating to fail. Just a charismatic man that has things he cares about with conviction.

Emmrich is an interesting portrayal of necromancy which is something i'm always receptive to, i'd play a DA game set entirely in Nevarra. His quest has wild tonal shifts but at least the set dressing kept me interested. I do wish we didn't decide for him if he became a lich tho.

I wish with all the companions the way it worked was they decide based on previous dialogues. If you keep encouraging emmrich to pursue lichdom and face his fear then he does, if not, the opposite happens. i'm just not a fan of the "here's the moment where rook decides another person's fate!!!" like why am i deciding. it's their life.

i romanced Lucanis this time to try to see why people like him so much but man, i just think his whole story is a mess. they love to imply all the trauma Lucanis has but don't truly convey any of it. you don't even talk about being a crow with Lucanis like you talk about being a watcher with Emmrich. I guess it's my bad for expecting an assassin that has been tortured and forced into an abomination to be more of an interesting character.

i'm gonna need to know more about a companion than he has trauma, he likes coffee and he cooks, to be invested. The coffee thing feels like flanderization before i even know the man, put the damn cup down. First time i felt this disconnected with a romance.

i felt like they really squandered Spite too. You'd think a demon possessing a companion would cause more trouble than 1 escape attempt. Lucanis missing the first stab attempt barely registers as Spite's fault. Spite doesn't get any sort of pay off or drama.

I could forgive a lot more if the writing was better but the bad writing stands out so much more on a second playthrough. The basic dialogue, the spoon-feeding of info, the marvel-quips, the uninteresting side quests. Can't believe that i had to find out from fucking tumblr that the time Rook spent in the fade was WEEKS, you'd think that would be an impactful detail. Legit thought they got him out in a day lmao. Explains the dagger coming out of nowhere.

They try so hard to make the team cute and wholesome, it cemented my dislike of the found family trope. It comes across as so unearned. The game is like half competent writing, half DA fanfiction. Everything to do with Solas is okay. But everything else is so off. At least they managed to make Solas a love-to-hate type character for those like me who did not care about him in DA:I. The reason i'm not talking too much about the overall plot is it was okay, i just don't care that much about the evanuris. weird choice to try to blame it all on the elves tho. Like i love you but stfu Bellara, you do not have to take on the sins of the father. Have the elves not been through enough?

[rookanis-de-riva]

I would love to hear your thoughts on a/b/o in the DA-verse!! Two of my favorite subjects lmao

Like, I just imagine Taash such a weirdo about scents and being completely unashamed about it. That combined with lack of social cues, chronic idgaf, and a love of mischief? Perfect recipe for embarrassing any and every lighthouse paramour, pre or post getting together 🤣

I imagine openly scenting and overt sniffing would be considered rude in most cultures (Shathan *tried* to instill some manners in her child but it's not their fault they have such a strong sense of smell!!) So Mx. Taash "she smells so good" (in *canon*) would be such an instigator, pointing out crushes, asking why don't you just bone already, etc.

Okay, sorry, that was just in my head re the post you reblogged about taash smelling lucanis and rook's attraction to each other 🤣 back to the topic in genersl, whats your hc for the companions' presentations? Your rook's too, and how their relationship with Lucanis is affected by presentation dynamics, etc? No pressure, I'm just curious 💕

YES, I love talking about this!! my personal headcanons for companions:

Alphas: Neve, Taash, Davrin, Spite

Betas: Varric, Harding, Lucanis, Rook

Omegas: Bellara, Emmrich

some fun worldbuilding I've done with my dragon age A/B/O idea is that Alphas are most commonly warriors, Betas are rogues, and Omegas are mages. this isn't a hard rule, just more of a social norm. so if someone's presentation doesn't match up with their role, that's Interesting(tm) about them

my Rook doesn't have a lot of mana, so he fights like a Rogue with a few extra zaps and some very small square barriers. he has to be really accurate with placement on his "barriers" bc they're only a few inches wide, so he usually keeps them up around his wrists and forearms for a more natural blocking motion

likewise, he's also a Beta on the cusp of being considered an Omega, but without enough of those hormones to actually present as one or go into heat

the Crows are primarily Betas, who have naturally lighter scents or sometimes never even develop scent glands at all. this means they're also far less likely to have a soulmate (or at least the instinct for it) and some people believe Betas form weaker pack bonds overall

so: more difficult to track, easier to hide, less messy attachments

Illario is an Alpha though, which is just so juicy-fun to play with and gnaw on! he would be the presumed heir in any other situation, but he got born into the ONE family + profession where Betas are preferred, and Alphas are seen as too volatile, too brash and hard-headed, too bulky and muscular for stealth, too likely to mate with an Omega and start their own pack

so now we have Illario, who is so deliberate about his appearance, to be well-dressed and sophisticated, with long hair and kohl-lined eyes on the pretty side of handsome. outfits that slim down his profile, always smiling and charming, aggressive yes--but never a threat

and the worst part is, Caterina is also an Alpha so she gets it. but self-recognition self-loathing through the other has her being twice as hard on him as Lucanis because she lost her entire family and she will move golden and black cities both to make her grandsons unkillable

but for Illario, that means nothing he ever does (as an Alpha) will be good enough