#and it is ALSO why it was changed to veilguard. because what actually ends up being more important is who the veilguard are.

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I think a huge factor in people not being able to understand this game is that the game as a whole relies on understanding Solas’ character as written, and people are refusing to understand it

Solas is, and has been since his first appearance, an egotistical, hubristic, racist, manipulative, abusive and condescending asshole who regularly commits atrocities and pretends that being sad about them is enough penance. He is a terrible person who insists he’s actually the hero of the story. He is a liar and a manipulator, and he lies to himself as well. He uses other people like chess pieces and sacrifices them for his cause without much of a thought, and without them even knowing they are being used.

This is who he is. This is who he was always written to be. And veilguard is almost entirely about deconstructing that. Every member of the veilguard is a foil to solas. They are all who he pretends he is, and his false hero fantasy falls apart when you put them next to him.

Every single companion storyline is about that character successfully doing something that Solas is incapable of, but would be capable of if he wasn’t such a terrible person. And they all face a dark reflection of themselves and come out the other side mostly unscathed by that, aware that this dark reflection is not them because they are not actually like that.

Solas faces many of the same challenges the companions do, and fails each and every one of them, because, unlike them, he is not actually a hero. He is not a good person. He does not learn to accept that just because something is broken doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of it worth saving. He does not learn to accept the harsh truths and move forward. He does not accept that he is responsible for his own actions, even if someone else orders them. He fails every time.

Solas faces not one but two dark reflections of himself, Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, the prideful god who always thinks he’s right no matter the consequences, and the servant and lover of another god whose atrocities are not justified by having been pushed by their lover and mistress, but does not come out the other side unscathed because it turns out he IS actually like them. His reflections are accurate, they’re real parts of himself that he pretends don’t exist, not just twisted versions of their fears like they are for the companions. At the end of the game he even admits that yes, he is very similar to Elgar’nan.

Pretty much the entirety of veilguard is a very careful and deliberate deconstruction of Solas’ character and self image. We go through, in elaborate detail, all of his crimes, all of his mistakes, all of the reasons why he is wrong, why his actions are unjustifiable, why his regret doesn’t absolve him of responsibility, how he thinks it does anyway.

We completely tear down every single aspect of the image he has constructed for himself. We destroy every single excuse with clear examples showing that that was not how things had to go. Every justification. Every insistence it’s okay because he’s sorry. Every time he insists he knows best and we should leave him to it. Every single illusion that he is a good person is shattered. By the end of it there is absolutely nothing left, and his repeated attempts to keep up the facade come off as pathetic and ridiculous. In all his banters with companions he tries to use his usual tricks, pretty excuses, belittling comments, fake niceties and every time he’s completely shut down.

He tries to imply Davrin has a biased view of him from stories about the dread wolf, Davrin responds with evidence the truth is even worse. He tries to apologise to Harding, she comes back with a list of all the terrible things he’s done that an apology can’t cover. He tries to appeal to spite, spite points out he hurt Rook so why should he trust him. He comes up with excuses for killing Varric and Neve points out that there’s no pretty excuse for using blood magic on Rook in such a cruel way afterwards. The illusion is shattered. That’s what the entire game has been building up to. And it makes his last attempt at betrayal seem embarrassing, because we now see through the facade and know that he was too obsessed with himself to even consider we’d see it coming.

But the thing is a lot of people refuse to see this. This is where his characters been heading since the beginning. This is who he’s always been. But a lot of people ignore any and every negative thing about him, and then complain the game doesn’t make sense. Of course it doesn’t make sense. You’ve ignored every single theme, plot point, and piece of characterisation to make up a version of Solas in your head and that’s not the Solas the game is about. It makes complete sense when you see Solas as he truly is, as he was written to be. It’s such a good bit of writing when you actually let yourself experience it as it is and allow yourself to be open to the idea that the guy who is trying to commit his second genocide might be a bad person.

[supernova2395]

Not going to lie, I think the worst thing you can do to your narrative is build up to something and then not deliver it. It just devalues the rest of your story and leaves people going, “Then what was even the point of introducing this???”

[flowersforthemachines]

Some facts about Neve (and Tevinter) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Lucanis, Emmrich, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Neve:

General:

Neve isn’t rich, and her best coat is a gift from a grateful tailor after she saved his warehouse from an arsonist

Neve’s coat is woven with enchantments to resist fire and lighting 

Neve has never done blood magic. She is against it on principle and judges those who use it 

Neve doesn’t seem to like entertaining extreme hypotheticals since she reacts to Harding’s questions like “What would you take with you to a deserted island?” with asking why she would end up in such situations in the first place 

Neve wouldn’t want gems on her leg, because she thinks they would get stolen within a day of working in Minrathous, and she generally prefers to keep a low profile while on the job

However, she still considers saving up for a new, fancier leg to have more fashion choices. She likes Taash’s idea of getting a ruby inlay for it

Neve never visited Rivain before joining the Veilguard, though she now finds its beaches charming

Ever since she was a baby, Neve was stubborn and asked too many questions (and hated unanswered questions as well)

Neve likes Qunari food but thinks it’s very spicy

Neve likes seafood 

Neve doesn't drink tea

Neve isn’t really close with her family

Neve once tried to use a wisp-repelling artefact the Veil Jumpers found to get rid of the wisps in her room, but it only attracted wisps from the entire Lighthouse

Neve isn’t interested in exploring the mysteries of the Lighthouse because she has enough mysteries on this side of the Veil

(If Rook chooses to save Minrathous) Neve sends civil engineers to assist in Treviso 

On work: 

Neve didn’t want to be a detective when she was a child (not as if in she didn’t like the idea, she just didn’t consider it), though she didn’t have any dream career either 

Neve got into detective work by picking up odd jobs and building a reputation of being good at finding things. Eventually, she was hired to find someone’s brother, a case nobody else wanted to pick up, and her career took off 

Neve agrees that she is cynical and married to her job, but doesn’t consider herself ‘serious’  

Neve allegedly has a system for sorting her papers (Emmrich and Rana are sceptical about its existence) 

(If Neve becomes Dock Town's protector) Elek is implied to visit the Lighthouse again multiple times. Taash mentions seeing him poking around the library. Neve explained that he thought he could grab some fade-touched items to sell, and told him to run the plan by the Caretaker (one would think they did not approve)

On life in Minrathous: 

Neve was born and raised in Minrathous

Neve has never been inside the Archon’s Palace

(If Neve chooses to become Dock Town’s inspiration) Neve doesn’t regret letting Aelia live because she got information on Venatori out of her, and her death wouldn’t change the past

(If Neve chooses to become Dock Town’s inspiration) Neve gets to take a break for once in her life because Rana keeping an eye on the Dock Town actually helps

(If Neve chooses to become Dock Town’s inspiration) People gossip about Neve and Rana after they start their agency :)

Neve describes the rain of Minrathous as "cold fingers down your neck", but she misses it now that she's away from the city. The sound helps her fall asleep 

Neve’s entire apartment could fit inside villa Dellamorte’s dining room 

One of Tevinter papers referred to Neve as "Dock Town dirt-chaser," and to Emmrich as "sinister foreign necromancer”

A Tevinter paper called The Minrathous Herald once wrote that Neve should be exiled. The same paper called Shadow Dragons “traitors to the Empire” 

Neve never runs out of ink because she's on good terms with Minrathous ink sellers 

There is however one banter where she runs out of ink (I think it was with Davrin). Make of that what you will. 

On the Shadow Dragons: 

Neve didn't know Dorian personally until she joined the Shadow Dragons

Neve figured out the Viper's identity even before joining the Dragons. Her not revealing it to the public is one of the reasons he recruited her

Tarquin calls Neve a pain in the ass 

Relationships with companions: 

Neve calls Manfred ‘Fred’ (he seems to like that)

Manfred learns to say Neve's name (likely only happens if you revive him at the Necropolis, though I am not sure)

Neve introduces Lucanis to a spice shop in Dock Town

Harding describes Neve’s tastes in coffee as “made of gutter water filtered through an old sock”

Lucanis once showed Neve’s coffee to Viago. He found it “unsettling” 

Davrin thinks drinking Neve's coffee is worse than the Joining

Neve spoils Assan (but denies that accusation)

Neve is rather quick to consider questioning corpses with Emmrich’s help for her cases 

Neve is very apprehensive about lichdom and the perspective of Emmrich eventually turning evil (just like Emmrich isn't thrilled about her taking over the Threads for similar reasons)

Lucanis is concerned about Neve taking over the Threads. Mainly, about how much they are paying her

Neve has multiple banters with Taash discussing her relationship with Lucanis. Taash initially thinks of it as some sort of predator-prey dynamic, but Neve says she is not into that and explains that they are taking it slow and cautious. They both went through a lot of pain in their lines, which they tend not to show for different reasons

Neve's relationship with Lucanis is also more than she usually looks for with people

Neve takes Taash to Hal’s fish fry stand. Taash loved it :)

Taash offers Neve help on ladders in case she may need it/it gets stuck on steps due to being hook-shaped, mentioning they knew a Lord of Fortune who lost a hand and whose shoulders hurt while climbing because of it. Neve seems to appreciate the gesture, even though she can handle herself

Neve thinks Taash is nice to work with, offering help without being overbearing like some people are

Neve asks Taash to teach her Gold Thief (a Lord of Fortune dice game), so she can play it with the Shadow Dragons, and then subsequently gets beaten by the Viper

On Tevinter: 

Fashion is important in Tevinter because a good outfit lets people know you are under the protection of someone powerful

There aren’t many mages in Docktown, which is one of the reasons the government doesn’t care about it 

The big red cat near Halos’s stand is named Ferdinand

Stains on clothes can be cleaned with magic

You can get pineapples anywhere in Minrathous 

Neve calls the magic used for the lights in Minrathous a party trick, but Emmrich considers it a high-level enchantment because of its quality and duration

Tevinter doesn’t regulate the charms sold in the market (which is why there are a lot of scammers who sell fakes) 

[fangsandfeels]

Playing Veilguard and making it everyone's problem

I am going to rant, and I will rant a lot, and there will be spoilers, so if you're not afraid of them and the game criticism, buckle up.

Elves and their gods

I am absolutely fucking livid about how Veilguard handles the Dalish and elves in general. The events of Trespasser made it clear that the elves started flocking over to Solas, including the elves working for the Inquisition:

After the events at the Winter Palace, elves left the Inquisition under mysterious circumstances, as did elven servants across Thedas. None could say where they went, but those who believed the Inquisitor's story about Fen'Harel wondered just how large the Dread Wolf's forces were... and what the ancient elven rebel had planned.

Solas had multiple spies working for him during Trespasser, and If I remember correctly, there was even a note, left by one of the elves - they were anticipating the great change and the return of the elven glory. Anyways, the established fact is that: elves learned that the stories about their gods were true and one of them now was going to restore the world as it used to be. At least, this is how they interpreted it (maybe, this is the version Solas didn't debunk) and so they started following him.

You might think, the Inquisitor and their allies are going to have a huge problem with breaking it to elves that their chosen leader isn't going to make things better and that their gods don't love them. Especially, if the Inquisitor is a human or anyone who isn't an elf. You'd imagine any attempts will end in failure because of course elves aren't going to listen to outsiders trying to explain their own culture and gods to them. You'd imagine that their trauma caused by centuries of oppression and discrimination will make it impossible for the Inquisitor and anyone else to make them see the truth.

You'd assume anyone who tries to find and stop Solas will be sabotaged every step of the way, feeling themselves horrible for having to clash with people desperate for a chance of a life without injustice - even if it means burning the rest of the world down.

You'd imagine that they will only change their mind if/when they see the harm done by Solas' actions and get to witness their gods true intentions by themselves - which would lead to a massive crisis of faith and schisms happening between elven tribes and groups.

You'd imagine will get all this incredible drama in the Veilguard, with elves initially resisting the group's attempts to stop Solas, then trying to pull themselves together after the revelation. You'd assume there will be zealous groups doubting Solas (because the Dreadwolf is a liar and a deceiver) and intending to use him to actually free the elven gods. You'd think this is how actually some of them get out.

But, NOPE. Not only Solas ends up working alone, with none of his followers throwing themselves at Rook and the party to buy him time, but also all elves now hate Solas because...Varric said so?

You meet a group of Veil Jumpers (elves devoted to exploring their ancient culture and history, learning more about their gods and reclaiming their heritage) and their leader instantly calls Solas an asshole. Based on WHAT?

I get it, Varric had met them before and told them that Solas was Fen'Harel...

(needless to say if you expect players to find and read other media in order to make sense of the events in the game, you are doing something wrong)

...but why were they so fucking calm about it, instantly eating up the "yep, he's bad" version? Even if the Dread Wolf is vilified in the Dalish mythology, wouldn't they be curious about what that means? Wouldn't they have gotten tempted or excited by the implication that other gods exist too? They weren't told the full story - why the fuck did they instantly accept the "Solas is an asshole" narrative? Especially when Solas comes with a promise of a world for the elves like it was meant to be?

WHY?

The Veilguard has no response for that. I guess, Dalish never cared about their history and traditions, and city elves were dandy about Alienages and oppression, so they easily believed some randos over a literal god promising a new, better world.

I don't even play Dalish, but I love their plotline and arcs - and I was bracing myself for some downright painful choices and conflicts during the next Dragon Age. But it felt like the writers couldn't be bothered with developing such a nuanced narrative, so they just waved it all down with "Nah, elves are chill now and they never really cared about their gods in the first place".

[bhaalstemple]

i finished the game and veilguard was a disappointment lol

spoilers below

the way they butchered solas' character by just making him be led by the memory of mythal; no self-righteousness, savior complex, it was all done bc he wanted to honor mythal

why are the venatori worshipping elgar'nan and not a single elf. ????

how they made mythal far more important than lavellan to solas to the point for a moment i thought she was solas' ex (thank god it was clarified at the end she was only "solas' oldest friend")

the companions are so... lifeless. cheers to bellara for being the only one that feels like an actual human being and not an agglomeration of bad executed tropes (even if at the beginning she was)

the way mythal didn't end up being a villain, when she actively abused and groomed solas (and also morrigan btw) and it made all the sense in the world because she yearned for a reckoning and bring her revenge, a thing she has yearned for and been planning for a millennia because her anger is that strong... but no she just gave it up

the way morrigan's themes of parental abuse (breaking the cycle of abuse) go to shit after she embraced mythal's memories like.... as someone who has also an abusive mother that i broke contact with this made me want to fucking scream lol

morrigan's character also doesn't sound like her AT ALL, why is this woman smiling and being cocky, she's a scholar, a professional, a woman who carries knowledge that burdens her and trauma at the hands of a mother who should've cared for her. and how protective she was a kieran shows how private she is. what the hell. she would not be THAT friendly with strangers lol

and mythal being the only one who truly could change solas' mind at the end (just thinking abt it makes me want to punch a hole in the wall) + the anticlimactic departure of lavellan to the fade with solas is so fucking bad; because of the message it gives (this world is not worth-living for + a woman should spend the rest of her life and sacrificing herself for a man who put another random woman before her) and its joyless execution

if you get any other ending, the inquisitor doesn't even appear. lmfao. bye.

and lets not talk about the post-ending credits scene bc thats actually the thing that i hated the most. it makes all the themes and writing of bioware completely meaningless lol

the funny thing is that i have known for years where would bioware go with dragon age's story and 95% of my theories were correct, but me, someone who is not a writer, would've made a far more compelling story respecting dragon age's themes and nuance. i even predicted that mythal abused and groomed solas, but they executed it so badly that i can't believe these people get paid to write stories lmfao

i literally feel so betrayed, so hollow, so sad, i don't know what to do. i literally just uninstalled veilguard after finishing it. i spent 10 years imagining how the story would go, but id never imagine it would be THIS BAD.

the books, the content, so well-crafted, and so well-executed, just to make a stupid game that breaks all of its themes and leaves them meaningless. what the hell was happening in bioware when all the side-content has so much complexity and nuance (mostly tevinter nights), what happened lmao

[utilitycaster]

I've been thinking about this since watching the C2E2 panel but Marisha said something about the value of coming in with other characters and having pre-existing relationships and actually? I somewhat disagree for longform campaigns.

I think for shorter stories, it really doesn't matter because in a very brief game, you have to come to the table with a very complete character idea. Candela, Thresher, and the Calamity/Downfall/Divergence trio have all managed to have consistently excellent character work regardless of whether people have known each other since literally before time (Downfall), whether they have a longstanding but not infinite pre-existing relationship (several relationships in the Circles of Needle and Thread or Tide and Bone; Calamity; Fiedra and Crokas in Divergence) or whether it's something relatively recent or even a first-time meeting (some Candela relationships; some of the Divergence relationships; Thresher). A nebulous "yeah, we've worked together" also works well for lighter series (ESO Blackwood, Wildemount Wildlings, The Menagerie) in terms of quickly getting to the story.

For longer stories, a longstanding pre-existing relationship can be strong; but it can also keep those characters from branching out and mixing, and unless that's explored it can really limit the story. I think the CR fandom especially tends to put a certain degree of weight on how good the twins were without realizing that they work not because they are twins and family, but because a big part of their story is realizing that they have people other than each other now. [I keep thinking about this actually w/r/t my thoughts about Veilguard - there are a number of reasons I consider my first run to be the "canon" one for me, but a big one is that romancing someone out-of-faction made me feel more integrated into the team because I suddenly had two really strong connections rather than just one.]

Part of why the Mighty Nein, in my opinion, are so compelling is that everyone ends up with an interesting and deep relationship with everyone else. And a big part of that is that we don't come in with any relationships longer than about 8 months, and indeed, that relationship barely ends up influencing party interactions because Molly is very outgoing, Yasha is frequently absent, and then Molly dies. So we have Caleb and Nott/Veth, who are also very much a story of people realizing they have more than each other now (and that neither of them really knew each other that much going in!); and Fjord and Jester, who have known each other for like 6 weeks and who spend some significant time apart (and both of whom are also fairly outgoing and quick to interact with other people). Beau and Caduceus being free agents did quite a lot as well. We don't just see an existing relationship continuing; we see relationships grow and change onscreen as the players find not just the relationship but the characters themselves, and that's what makes it compelling.

As mentioned with Vox Machina, the twins are great, and so are Pike and Grog; but Pike's absence means we see a lot of Grog and Scanlan (who don't have a very longstanding relationship prior to Vox Machina's formation), and the romances are all between people who didn't know each other well beforehand. Even the conflicts are ones that grew from people who met relatively recently (Keyleth and Percy's friendship and arguments being a prime example).

I think the twins were great and you should revisit Campaign 1 if you want that again, but as someone who felt Campaign 3 really struggled in terms of mixing up the pre-existing relationships to the detriment of party cohesion/conflict and an interesting dynamic, I'd much rather see strangers or near-strangers in longform campaigns, and save people coming in together for shorter works.

(I also, iirc, think this came up in the context of session zero, and that might be a factor because again the main campaigns seem to not do the same level of session zero as the shorter ones, and if they did that might fix the issue and make a pre-existing relationship better; part of why the twins work so well is that Liam and Laura essentially did their own mini-session zero on their own.)

[dalishious]

Why I Like Solas

So, I got a few asks questioning a) what I think about Solas’s plans and b) why I personally like him.

For that first part, I will direct you to this previously answered ask, as it’s all I am going to say on the matter until we have more information.

As to why I like Solas as a character…

I consider Solas to be an incredibly interesting, multi-dimensional character, in a way in which those multi-dimensions actually feel like they are reflective of the story. What I mean by that is, even with him set up as an antagonist, his demeanour throughout Dragon Age: Inquisition right to the end is dependent on the relationship the Inquisitor forms with him. In the confrontation scene in Trespasser, he carries himself entirely differently towards a friend, lover, or rival. This puts more emphasis on his shift in perspective on the modern world of Thedas, because of what a friend or lover Inquisitor teaches him.

Solas explains in Trespasser that he did not see people as real, but the Inquisitor proved him wrong. He is a character who is capable of changing, and I would not be surprised if he does in fact come to regret his goals in Dragon Age: The Veilguard to the point of giving up on them. We have confirmation that ‘regret’ is going to be a big theme of the game after all, and Solas is already primed for that, per the Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights story, “Callback”, in which Solas’s regrets are so powerful it spawns a demon in Skyhold.

Is Solas a tragic fallen hero? Is he a deceitful villain? He is both! In fact, I would say he is a prime example of an anti-villain – an archetype that is much rarer to see compared to its partner, the anti-hero. An anti-villain is a character with heroic goals and traits, but often their means of reaching for those goals are villainous… that sums up Solas pretty well. And what makes him such a good anti-villain, is that regardless of what role he plays in the story, he still has a tangible characterization that does not rely on him being The Antagonist. Solas is clever, benevolent, proud, solemn, intuitive, stoic, stubborn, deceptive, moody… And whether he acts as help or hindrance, you can still easily observe these traits.

Yes, Solas has flaws. For example, I do not like the way he calls Adaar “s*vage” – though at least in the same conversation, he acknowledges that he was wrong. But for me personally, the things I like about him outweigh the things I don’t like about him, and that’s why I can say that I overall enjoy him! And if he had no negative traits at all, people would complain he was boring.

Also, his romance is so full of sweet tragedy, and it’s really well done.

[mythalism]

8, 10, 12, 22 for the salty asks? <3

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

the titans. genuinely most interesting unique compelling entities in the world of thedas thematically essential to the overall themes of the entire franchise and they gave us "uhhh they're angry" and that stupid fucking red lyrium harding. i cant even think about red lyrium harding for more than 5 seconds because it makes me so mad because of how mind bogglingly stupid it is after how fascinating and wonderful the descent DLC was. and im not even a dwarf stan but in terms of writing atrocities i think they suffered the most. the evanuris suffered too but at least they got to exist in the game even if they were the disney villain versions of what had been foreshadowed as complex people with distinct political and relational motivations. everything was set up for the titans to be the compelling arc to literally bring the entire story of thedas full circle and instead they were set dressing and BAD character development props for harding. unforgivable

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

i love the vg solavellan ending which is pretty unpopular. it feels unearned and severely under-developed but if i had full creative control i would actually change very little about the ending itself. even if the veil came down like it should've id want them to become spirits and go off to heal the blight together, so it was pretty close to my ideal ending

22. Popular character you hate?

lucanis because to me he feels like a manifestation of all of veilguard's failures rolled into one character with barely any content. i dont actually hate him as a character, i hate that he's barely a character and probably one of vg's biggest victims of bad writing and people largely act like that isnt true for some reason. i also resent him because i think i genuinely would have had a significantly better experience with VG if i hadnt romanced him w/ crow origin. worst experience of my life and i wished he was davrin the entire time.

salty asks

[bdafic]

Have you played Veilguard? Do you plan to?

If yes, what is your opinion on how Solas and solavellan was handled? :)

I did! I actually posted about it, encouraging people not to read reviews and posts and just play the game for them. I chose not to go into any depth other than I liked it. I'm cool with going into it now, though I want to make really clear to anyone reading that I have zero interest in seeing, inviting, or participating in the "everything must be criticized hard and moralized" discourse. The level of hostility around this game is off the charts and I'm super not into it.

(I am very into being hostile as fuck about layoffs, crunch, and execs sabotaging projects, setting impossible "goals" and whipping up anger to justify dissolving studios though. We can do that all day.)

Anyway, back to your question.

Overall, my feelings on how Solas/Solavellan was done mirrors my feelings on the game as a whole: I loved 85% of it, and the other 15% I didn't so much 'not love' as much as I wished it could've been more. That last 15% felt like being a kid finding out there's a whole other floor of your house you've never explored, and once you finally get all prepped to go spelunking you find it in the midst of being demolished. All those little tantalizing peeks you got are gone or waved off like "you can make do with what you have". Technically that's true. You've got a nice house that's pretty and isn't falling apart and everything connects and has all the right things in it... but you can't help being really sad for the loss of experiences you could've had on the mystery floor.

I loved all the insight we got into the history of the Evanuris, ancient elves, and Solas himself. It confirmed a bunch of theories I'd discussed with others for years -- and that felt awesome! I love it when fans are rewarded for noticing the details and putting shit together. (If you're also into that, go watch Severance). There's so much of what we saw in his memories and experiences that deepen the sense of sadness and loss in his character. It made people who hate him, hate him more, and people who love him, sympathize with him more. I think he's honestly one of the most well-written characters I've ever encountered in any media, anywhere, and not just because I'm a sucker for beautiful tragedy.

I'm happy they didn't shy away from Solas' edges, either. I'd predicted Varric's death at his hands during The Missing's run, though I thought it'd play out differently. I think that and the war crimes were good additions to his story. It reinforced his position as an antivillain to the series. Solas is a living, breathing, 'sunk cost fallacy' of a man. He (almost) says it himself: to stop now would make all the horrible things he'd done be for nothing. He has to keep going.

He was Wisdom, twisted into Pride. He wants to still be Wisdom. It's how he sees himself, though he's smart enough to know it isn't true deep down. The planning, the arrogance, the failures, the devotion, they're all aspects of that change. Of course he keeps failing. Of course he keeps trying. And of course falling in love without any of that being known would absolutely caboodle his noodle. One of the things that first drew me was realizing how much of him was only revealed upon romancing. It makes a ton of sense for his character, and gave him a depth and longing that was incredibly compelling. A character who lays it out for everyone regardless is just an NPC, but that made him feel like a person. It speaks to his loneliness; how badly he wants someone to find a way to change his mind, and how resigned he is to the belief that nobody can. Wisdom and Pride.

I'm very pleased that a Solavellan ending even exists, because that's a pretty big nod to fandom and the impact of his character. Of course I'd have loved to see more -- Solavellan hell is eternal and I'll never escape -- but I can be happy with what we got. And I understand why it felt truncated.

(And honestly, my biggest complaint with Lavellan's inclusion is that we cannot modify her appearance later if we fucked it up. My kingdom for her eyeballs to've worked properly in my first run.)

I am a bit sad about how 'well' a lot of it got wrapped up, not just because of the loss of mystery, but because it's pretty clear that was a reflection of the (rather prescient) fears from devs/writers about the future of the franchise. The game's impact and mood suffered from that sense of impending doom. Edges were shaved off, things glossed over, middles discarded so threads could be tied up neater, and that probably really sucked for the people who have lived and breathed this world for the better part of 20 years. It needed more time. Chill time. And freedom to fuck about. People say that audiences don't like it when things end on an uncertain note, and honestly after seeing the discourse this produced as is I'm gonna say that the things I personally wished were included would've probably started much bigger fires and resulted in much more smoke. (People like to jump in here with, "it was going for ten years" but that's kind of disingenuous. It was ten years between releases. The game was scrapped twice and the final iteration was only going for three-ish, and writers and devs kept getting fucking laid off.)

Anyway, there's a lot of stuff it's clear they wanted to go into more and simply weren't able to. That isn't their fault, and I grieve with them. People forget the writers were the original spelunkers. They're also people who have to roll with punches in a way that fans never, ever, have to.

That was a lot of words to say, basically, that I think Solavellan and Solas' story were handled well, and I'm satisfied. I wish there was more -- I'll always mourn whatever was on the mystery floor -- but that's what fanfic is for. It's in our hands now.

[thetevinterspy]

When I was little, people said I had too many opinions. Some thought I’d grow up to be a lawyer, but instead, I became someone who’s just outspoken on the internet. And now, it’s your problem, because here I am, sharing my unsolicited thoughts in blog form.

Today, news broke—though not directly from her—that Dragon Age: Veilguard game director Corrine Busche is leaving BioWare. The official announcement came later, but by the time I saw it, the story had already been circulating for a while. I found myself wondering about the timing since Edmonton’s in a different time zone, but eventually, the news was confirmed. It got me thinking—about the Dragon Age team, BioWare as a whole, and the strange dynamics of the gaming industry.

From the outside, it all seems incredibly stressful. The fan ecosystem surrounding these games is, to put it mildly, unique. Developers are treated almost like celebrities by certain parts of the fandom, but they don’t actually have the status or protection that comes with being a public figure. Meanwhile, EA and BioWare often seem to adopt a say-nothing approach, rarely stepping in to defend developers when things get heated or personal.

From an outside perspective—especially coming from a business and PR background—the payoff for game developers doesn’t seem to justify the stress and anxiety they endure. I’m sure there are countless reasons why unions aren’t common in the industry, but what I see is creative developers increasingly unable—or unwilling—to interact with fans due to our own bad behavior as a community and lack of protection and defense by those above them. Studios, in my opinion, need to do far more to protect their teams from crunch, burnout, and the toxicity of “fans” that has become all too common in this space.

But you know who I think holds the biggest responsibility to do better? Games “journalists” and creators who leap at any chance to rage-bait for clicks and views, amplifying hateful rhetoric without concern for the consequences. And the studios themselves, who then sit by and do nothing while their developers endure harassment. Someone at EA should be going through video after video, tweet after tweet, cataloging the hate, death threats, racism, and misogyny that Dragon Age developers, creators, and fans have faced—and responding with lawsuits where necessary. Ignoring it only emboldens the worst corners of the internet.

If BioWare wants to avoid this with Mass Effect, they need to overhaul their social media and PR strategies well before the game launches. Otherwise, we’ll see the same toxic cycle repeat itself. Until then, it falls on creators and prominent fans to push back against harmful “journalism” and hateful campaigns—to protect not only the IP we love but also the people who make it possible.

Now, I have no idea if any of this played a role in why Corrine left, but I do know that I couldn’t have endured what she likely faced over the last two or three years. She’s far from the only developer on the Dragon Age team to be on the receiving end of relentless criticism and harassment, much of it fueled by so-called “journalistic” hit pieces that embolden fans to run their mouths. It’s disgusting behavior.

And this issue isn’t limited to BioWare. The entire gaming industry needs more respected, responsible news outlets—and studios need to take far stronger action to combat threats and harassment. Ignoring the problem isn’t a solution, and it’s long past time for real change.

To Corinne and any other devs that have left BioWare since Veilguard: I see you. We see you. Thank you. Take care of yourselves. 💜

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I saw a post on X talking about how Solas mirrors the protagonist as something Trick Weekes said. Summed up it says "If you're arrogant you get arrogant Solas and if you're humble you get humble Solas." More or less the meaning being: He's a spirit and he is what you, the player, make of him. and tbh I feel like that's kind of bullshit given that you can't actually influence him in a way that matters to the plot. Him matching your energy in the moment is not "mirroring" that's just how people do. Also if that was true what does that say about Solas? That he has no real personality of his own and is just a device for the character to create a roleplay scenario? I think I just really dislike the take that only an arrogant player is going to end up with an arrogant Solas.

I've been thinking a lot about Rook's dialogue about Solas making people work hard for the smallest crumbs of approval and that's so true for the player. You can grind and grind for a high approval outcome but it doesn't actually give you much more than "He sees you as a person now." Not a person worth changing for, not a person worth saving. He'll just be sadder about destroying you and your world.

God I hate the mirroring argument. It only really works for inquisition, and even then only for like personal interactions with him and not who he is as a person, and even then not really.

How you speak to him doesn’t change some of the fundamental aspects of his character, namely that he’s committed several atrocities, murdered people he’s supposed to care about, is lying about who he is, is actively planning to end the world, and cannot be convinced otherwise by anyone.

How you treat him in inquisition has no bearing on any of that, it’s just that if you’re kinda rude to him he’s kinda rude back. Which as you’ve said, isn’t a particularly special spirit thing. That’s just how people work. Groundbreaking.

And any merit this had falls apart completely if you try to apply it to veilguard. Because not only do his atrocities, that he commits regardless of anything you do, increase in frequency and are much more focused on in the story, we know who he is from the beginning. The inquisitor being rude to a mostly polite fade expert who presents himself as just wanting to help is one thing, rook being harsh and unforgiving to the man who is literally trying to destroy the world and has committed several awful things already, including grievously wounding their friend because he tried to talk to him (they don’t know he’s dead. They do know that it wasn’t a minor injury) is another thing entirely.

Why should rook be nice to the man who is trying to destroy their world and kill everyone in it, just so he acts politely back while he is actively using blood magic on them to make them hallucinate their friend he murdered (and using the voice of the man he murdered to say things to further manipulate Rook), with the intention of trapping them in prison in the fade for eternity just for the crime of being in his way?

Why is it on them to repeatedly give ground, grin and bear it, smile and be polite, to appease the delicate sensitivities of the man who is going to kill them and everyone they care about regardless?

When it doesn’t change a thing about what he’s going to do, why do they have to go to great lengths to keep the conversation courteous, never question his decisions, never call him out for the awful things he does?

Why isn’t the onus on him to stop being a fundamental knobhead?

The mirroring argument is complete nonsense. More than that, when it’s applied to Rook (or even the inquisitor post trespasser), it absolutely fucking reeks of victim blaming. I frequently allude to Solas as an abusive person because there are so many parallels, and this mirroring nonsense where he is apparently only an asshole if you’re mean to him (even though he does most of his bs regardless) feels a lot like when abuse victims are told their abuser isn’t to blame for what they did because the victim provoked them, and can’t they just be nice and none of this would happen.

[crimsonphantasmagoria]

I'm still thinking about the divide between people who think Solas was depicted as too sympathetic and people who think he was shown very unsympathetically because...both are weirdly right? Leaving aside any actual discussion of whether he's right to want the veil brought down.

In Trespasser he seems to imply that the whole world will die when the veil comes down, like what was shown in one of the potential ideas in the Veilguard artbook. That was my assumption going into Veilguard. Hence why my Solas romancing Inquisitor didn't ask to go with him! But in Veilguard, it's implied to just be some demons? Just a few thousand deaths? He fully expects at least Charter and the Inquisitor to survive. That's a wild deescalation! It actually converted me to the idea that the Veil probably should come down. It makes him way more sympathetic from minute one. Weird choice, if you wanted to make him more unsympathetic?

Then there's companions and NPCs who talk about Solas. The companions are incredibly unsympathetic to him during his memory reveals. There's basically no nuance. They even blame him for things he didn't cause, like the Elf-Titan wars. I would have expected, if we wanted to be nuanced, for there to be at least one companion who was sympathetic to his choices in each memory. But there isn't. Even the one where he puts up the veil. You know, the thing they're guarding? But also, Varric is out here actively encouraging Rook to help Solas in the regret prison. But also the Inquisitor is treated as delulu for asking if there's a way to save him. It's kinda weird.

And of course, the decision to have him kill Varric specifically to make him less sympathetic, and not to further either character's story or growth. Also, we don't find out about it for most of the game, for cheap shock value. It would have been more effective to know from the start. It also would have allowed me to make an informed decision about whether my Inquisitor should go into the Fade with him at the end in the romance, because I don't think I personally would have changed my mind if I'd known, but somebody might have.

There's also the thing about the psychology of having a secret ending, which makes people want to get that ending, but I don't think the devs will have thought of that, exactly.

Idk, maybe it was actually the perfect amount balanced. Or maybe the scales were so wildly tipped from Inquisition that there was no balancing them. At which point, it probably would have been better to try and work with that, rather than against it. But, hey, what do I know.

Frankly, if they truly wanted to make Solas unsympathetic, they should have stuck with the whole world being destroyed by the veil coming down, explained the full consequences to us directly, and given us some reasons to believe why this was definitely what would happen. I might still have sympathised with the man, but others wouldn't have once they knew that he knew that.

[mrs-gauche]

Hey guys! 🙂 It's the end of 2024 and I realized today I haven't posted on here since finishing Veilguard.

Well, to make it short.. since then, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, replaying it, watching my friends who are DA casuals and not into fandom play it (which was very enlightening but also hilarious 😂), so now.. I feel like I'm at a point where I know exactly what my issues with this game are and I've made peace with it. I still love Dragon Age! And I love parts of Veilguard and I had a ton of fun playing it (though probably for all the wrong reasons 🥲). When I first finished the game, I cried tears of happiness that after ten years my favorite character actually somehow got a beautiful Happy Ending and closure, but also tears of sorrow that this marks the end of the story that was set up back in 2009.. and tears of mourning that this story had all the potential to be so so SO much more.

Dragon Age is a very weird franchise in that all the games have been, in many ways, vastly different from each other and to be a fan of the whole series means to recognize all its flaws and changes, but still loving it because of its unique core elements that glue it together and make it so special. I could sit here for hours trying to put into words what I think went wrong with Veilguard, but I know many people have already done so far more eloquently than I ever could. This blog was always meant to be just a positive little corner to share my love for these games and silly VA stuff with other people and I'm sure I will eventually reblog all the two million posts I've liked over the past month, both positive and critical. But for now and the new year, I want to focus my time and energy on just being creative, getting back to drawing and trying to realize ideas about DA I've had for a looong time and that's my way of "emotionally recovering" (that sounds so dramatic 😂). 💜

With that being said... What a crazy decade year it has been for me personally in this fandom... So I want to look back at it, just some rambling under the cut, 'cause I'm a little sentimental now, I guess. 🥲

Before I created this blog, I was mostly just a lurker on here for many years, despite being a fan of BioWare games since.. uh.. forever? lol But I was always waaay too insecure about my English, let alone my own art. I also have social anxiety, so maybe that was part of the reason why I decided to finally create this blog at a time when the fandom was at its most dormant? lol (There is also a whole separate post for another day about how Mass Effect influenced me personally and how it made my biggest dream come true, the enormous honor to voice a few NPCs in (the German version of) Andromeda. Still the craziest thing to ever happen to me. lol)

So, seeing all the crazy excitement and the fandom fully revived this year and all these months leading up to Veilguard was both incredibly overwhelming, but also the most fun I've ever had as being part of a fandom! This year also marked the first time I posted my own art online and I can't even put into words how crazy it was seeing the response to that and I still can't believe that Trick Weekes not only commented on but also reposted it, that is still f*cking insane to me and I'll never forget the morning I woke up to see that. lmao

So yeah.. THAT happened. Followed by what I think has to be one of the weirdest, craziest marketing campaigns I've ever seen. lol Going back to 2022, we truly had it all...

A title announcement on a random Thursday that was probably done so that it would not be confused with the Netflix series announced a few days later. A tie-in comic more than a year before release that was... a little pointless? lol A vinyl collection that spoiled the composers a year before release. A title change literally two days before the first trailer. A reveal trailer that left many in shock because of its tone shift and complete lack of the former title character. A line of Game Informer articles that left us often times with more questions than answers. Every single article being deleted the very next month due to GI shutting down. An actor panel at SDCC happening right as Sag Aftra went on strike. A "fandom" party that had nothing to do with Dragon Age. Jason Derulo. An artbook that accidentally revealed the release date with its pre-order, which was then deleted. Twice. Memes about roadmaps. A second trailer that in hindsight probably should've been the first one. An audio drama by a different writing team with some baffling (but funny) lore mistakes. A combat showcase starting off with a disclaimer that "footage had been edited due to spoilers"... followed by THE biggest spoiler in literally the first ten seconds. The first IGN video with super spoilery dev commentary. A hand-on preview event with 140 people leading to spoilers galore... Did I mention spoilers? lol

That was when I stopped looking at stuff online, so I don't know what happened after that, but WOW, what a crazy ride that was. 🥲 Truly a DA4 Summer to remember and I'm unironically so grateful to have witnessed it in real time with all of you. 😂

Then finally, after ten flippin years of tinfoiling, speculating, reading crazy development stories and clowning around at every gaming live event, Veilguard was finally released and it will probably go down as the most emotionally charged Halloween of my life. lmao

Then it was time to actually play The Veilguard. Which took me about a month.

A month filled with what I can only describe as a crazy rollercoaster of conflicting emotions. Aside from everything having to do with Solas, I'd say my personal highlights of the entire experience was seeing Felassan (I screamed), the PHOTO MODE and even one hilarious "breaking the fourth wall" moment, where I would frantically run around in Elgar'nan's trap in "Blood of Arlathan", to a point where I would yell at the screen "SOLAS, I COULD USE SOME HELP NOW, HELLO???" and hearing his flippin voice literally two seconds later going "Yes, you called?" and I freaked out so hard I dropped the controller. 😂😂😂 Also, as someone who romanced Alistair in my first playthrough of DAO and brought him to the final battle not knowing he would sacrifice himself, you can imagine my flashbacks when I saw Davrin dying at Tearstone.. who I had romanced. 💀 Or the Dark Ritual flashbacks when I saw Morrigan wanting to talk to me right before the final mission. lol Getting the Felassan rune actually made me tear up a little. There are many little moments like that that I loved or that made me emotional, but ultimately.. Veilguard is a game that, for all the amazing graphics and cutscenes and flashy combat.. the more I think about the story and the lore (or lack thereof), the more I end up confused and trying to figure out what it is that's breaking the immersion to me in a way that the previous games didn't.

But anyway... I finished Veilguard, though the DA craziness of 2024 wasn't over just yet and I didn't know that the best was yet to come in December. lol

So.. Years ago, one of the main reasons I created this blog was to make silly "appreciation posts" about Solas' German VA and ramble on about my love for his performance.. I even remember making a post on here like three years ago talking about how I would sadly never EVER get a chance to meet his VA personally, because that man never ever goes to any fan conventions or public events. lol

Well... GUESS WHO I MET AT THE GERMAN COMIC CON EARLIER THIS MONTH!!!

YES GUYS, without sounding like a weirdo (because despite my obsession with voice acting, I don't care for VAs social accounts or anything beyond their work as a VA), but after years of jokingly referring to this blog as the "Ozan Ünal Appreciation Blog", and kinda the reason I made this blog in the first place, I finally met the man himself and it was probably the best friggin fan experience I could've wished for. 🥲🥲🥲

See, I've met a lot of different VAs at Cons before, who were all super nice and awesome to talk to.. but let me tell you, this guy has such an incredibly contagious positive attitude and charm!! lol Me and my friend were literally the last to stand in line at his booth before the event closed, there were TONS of people (there were quite a few VAs at the Con, but his booth had BY FAR the most people in line the whole day lol) and yet he made sure to take the time to talk with every single person, asking questions, was genuinely interested in our opinions, joking around and just generally SO FRIGGIN NICE. And he's just a very chill and funny dude? lol

And it was so funny, because there were SO many people and yet apparently I was the only person that day to talk to him about DA and Solas and he was SO excited about it 😂😂😂 (I bet like 90% of the fans talked to him about his VA work on Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, Gravity Falls and Nicholas Hoult lol).

And of course, because DA4 happened so recently, it was still fresh in his memory. He told us that he even watched some Let's Plays and asked what we thought of the game and I'm still laughing so hard, because he was literally like "Oh yeah, the lore is MASSIVE and it was so overwhelming and I could barely keep up with it, the whole time I had no idea what I was talking about.. like, what exactly IS Mythal??" LMAOOO His performance for Solas was so good and so convincing and now I'll always have to picture him standing in the recording booth, no flippin clue what he's actually talking about. lmaoo And then my friend was pointing at me like "She's actually a walking lore encyclopedia" and then he was like "Oh, you should've been in the booth then!" lol

And I'm actually quite upset on his behalf now, because he also told us how, when the English VAs were officially announced, he had actually made a post on social media about how he was returning for Solas in DA4 and how he got in so much trouble for that because EA told him they were going to make an official announcement.... AND THEN THEY NEVER DID??? Like, I was desperately waiting for an announcement about the German voice cast and they simply never made one, we literally had to wait for the credits to be published? (Also, the German and French version have only one female and one male voice for Rook and no one knows what happened there, we tried to contact them about it, but no response so far?? It's like they don't even care.) That's EA for you...

Anyway, we then chatted a bit more about his other work and stuff and he recorded an audio for me (I actually got him to say the "Vir shiral malasa, bellanaris" GUYS AND IT SOUNDS SO GOOD, like I was so nervous, asking "Could you do elven..?" and he was like "Sure, it's been a year, might be a bit rusty" and then he just knocked it out of the park?? lmao So I have both Lavellan's AND Solas' WEDDING VOWS NOW. 😭😭😭❤❤❤❤❤)

So yeah, that was my meeting with Ozan flippin Ünal and what an awesome guy and amazing VA and what an "epic conclusion" of this year of the Dragon (Age) 2024. lol And the timing feels so strange now, because, in a way, it feels kinda like coming full circle?

Like I said in the beginning, for years I was always mainly a lurker in the fandom and the reason why I created this blog was to join in on the hype/speculation train for DA4 and to talk about Solas' German and French voices and share my silly edits and gifs. And now I've played Veilguard AND I've met Ozan Ünal.. both things that, at some point, I wasn't sure were ever going to happen.....

So.. In terms of my fandom experience, this year was crazy and whatever 2025 brings and whatever happens with this blog or DA in general... I love this fandom (especially my little Solasmancer bubble <3) and I love Dragon Age and whoever's reading this, here's to 2025 and I hope you have a Happy New Year!! 💜💜💜💜💜

[semi-imaginary-place]

Dragon Age: returning characters

If Cullen is the fan favorite (he is so unqualified to be leading an international army) then morrigan is the dev favorite. She's such a special girl. She's alao the one designed to be sexy in origins, love that for her when she's middle aged but in origins just like the lust demons, it's barely disguised dev gooning. I keep telling people who play the series backwards (don't do this), just wait until you see cullen raving about demons and mages. again.

Dragon Age characters are notoriously inconsistent between games. Either the writers change or the dev vision for a character changes between games. Merill and Isabella are basically different people between games that just happen to share a name, and to a degree harding and cullen. Recurring characters are a mixed bag in dragon age. Morrigan and solas get the best of it because they're dev favorites. They actually stay in character and morrigan's cross game character arc actually makes sense. Can't quite say the same for cullen's

Because of dao's extremely open plot, to continue telling stories in thedas the devs had to trim the story trees so beyond dao the "canon" isnt so much canon one possibility out of hundreds. dai morrigan and leiliana are very specific story paths, specifically Leliana and Alistair are hardened and Morrigan becomes the equivalent of softened. And so much of dao is about how every choice and it's conclusion is equal and how all these story branches are real that it leaves a real sour taste when the devs give preferential treatment to certain branches. While at the same time I do understand that the alternative would just be for characters to not have major roles at all. 90% of the origins cast is optional and like all of them can die (which caused hell of a lot of continuity problens because origins was designed as a stand alone). Like Alistair and Morrigan are the only mandatory. I'm not mad that the writers made a choice I'm mad that they made a choice matter and then retconned it into meaning less.

So much of Morrigan's charcter arc in Inquisition and Veilguard is about how motherhood has changed her for the better. She's gained a better understanding of life and the world through nurturing and learning to be a mother. This comes to a thematic head as she story enterwines with Mythal's, drinking from the Well of Sorrow potentially, and embracing the aspect of Mythal to embody her power in Veilguard. Morrigan from an antisocial lover comes to embody motherhood. And if you don't want her to get pregnant in Origins? Too bad you miss a major development in her character arc. Which is why I have such complicated feeling about this writing choice. Because Kieran being from the Dark Ritual is so much more poignant than the other options like the devs are very much playing narrative favorites. Non-Old God old Kieran is barely an afterthought in Inquisition his lines aren't nearly as interesting and it's clear which option the devs prefer. But on the other hand the writing is good...

Alistair would basically be the main character of Origins in the Warden wasn't there except that he is allergic to making decisions I mean he is the senior warden (barely) but just defers to everything the player says. He can end up doing what he cares about (being a warden), being turned into a political pawn and actually doing an ok job, or falling through the cracks and ending up a useless drunk. But the novels choose the King path and it seems to be the default for Inquisition. And I'm also pretty mad because the Wardens and Duncan meant so much to Alistair it was the only connection he felt wouldn't be ripped away from him and the writers did it anyways regardless of my choice in Origins.

I have less of a problem with Leliana's pigeonholing. Her story branching is far less drastic in Origins. Given how by Inquisition she's gotten right back into the heart of the Orlesian cloak and dagger it's not suprising she's hardened now no matter if she was or wasn't Origins.

The more I think about the option death revivals/spirit/whatever excuse Bioware gave this time, the more of a stretch it seems so I try to just not not. It's understandable why they did it, Origins was never meant to have a sequel and this is the best way to both respect player choice and keep the project to a feasible scale.

[thekingofwinterblog]

So one part about the terrible direction Veilguard went, made me realize that there was one more prophecy/foreshadowing from across the Dragon Age franchise that was thrown into the garbage.

So in the endings, we learn that Dorian becomes Archon and the Tevinter Imperium lives to fight another day... And that really bothers me.

Not that he makes the attempt, but rather thar the empire survives at all, because the games had been setting up the idea that Tevinter's time was finally up and heading to a close.

The idea is first brought up when the Guardian of the urn of Sacred ashes tells of his duty of protecting the ashes for pilgrims... Until the Imperium has "Crumbled into the sea", and when the Warden tells him that the Imperium is no longer as strong as it used to be, he ominously says that perhaps this is the beginning of the end then.

In hindsight, what seems to be said here is that he is referring to the "Beginning of the end' as the first step to leading to the climax of the series as it was planned and already being set up this early.

The concept that eventually became Veilguard, when the Elvhen gods would finally break free and it would all end in a cataclysmic battle that would end the Tevinter imperium as the Guardian(By far the living person who is the strongest argument that the Maker was real after all) has forseen.

Obviously we didn't get that, but this isnt the only place where this idea is floated around.

We get talks here and there of there being a time for something new, a "next great empire" as one of the Inquisition soldiers calls it.

And time and again we are hit by the reminder that the Imperium has seen much, much better days... And that the Qun WILL invade again in the near future, and when it does, it will probably level it.

There is the mention of the elvhen revolts starting up, the culmination of thousands of years of abuse and slavery, and just the nastiness of tevinter in general having completely degrading their society and its hopes for the future.

Vivienne actually talks about this with Dorian, as she pretty much tells him that Tevinter WILL fall, and she would prefer he had a backup plan to survive and thrive when it does.

And most of this does happen... But in ludicrously cartoonish ways.

The Qunari Antaam does invade... But not for the Qun, but instead because they serve the Elvhen gods.

As does the Venatori, because... Why? Why does the Tevinter supremacist follow false gods none of them have worshipped for near a hundred years? That they now know are elves?

The elvhen revolt never really happens.

The Evanuris does break free and begin destroying shit... but rather than elvhen followers as all logic dictates, are instead backed up by humans and Qunari... Because.

Also, rather than turning all their wrath loose upon the Tevinter imperium, the logical target that should either be conquered or exterminated to begin the rebuilding of their ancienct empire, they isntead focus the wast majority of their attention on the south... Because.

Im just gonna come flat out and say it.

I 100% believe that when Bioware was originally laying the foundations for This story, the planned climax was going to LEVEL Tevinter and make it "Crumble into the sea".

THAT was the direction as originally planned, and was the logical endpoint that everything was hinting at, and building towards and frankly would have served as a great climax and ending to this evil, decadent empire.

Unfortunately, Veilguard had no interest in a climax where the parts of the world YOU the player fought to save would be utterly decimated no matter what you did, so instead the empire survived, while the south of Thedas was obliterated.

So hey, the evil, slaving empire that is the source of so much of the world's evil, and will innevitably fall back into utter decadence and never change it's ways got to live on...

While Ferelden, the true heart and soul of this entire setting, burned to cinders and it's was people exterminated offscreen because Bioware wanted to get ridd of all player choices.

What a climax.

[heylittleriotact]

🌹🌱🌼🥀💐🌺 pretty please!

Yesss LFG! Thank you for these! They made me think!

🌹: What's the first genuine fight Rook got in with their love interest about? How was it resolved?

The "At Your Age?" Argument wasn't their first fight - just the one that sucked the most because it was left unresolved for weeks.

Their first fight was actually brought about when Amina interjected during one of Emmrich's yapping sessions about lichdom and what a great honour it would be to join their ranks, and how amazing and special it would be to live forever, blah blah blah.

She basically asked if he could try talking about literally anything else for a change, because all of this talk of lichdom was getting tired, and maybe he's idealized this a bit much, and honestly she doesn't really care for it, so she'd rather not have to hear about it continuously in the first place.

Emmrich immediately went on the defense, and decided to explain (in the form of an academic lecture) why lichdom was perfectly ethical, and why Amina had no cause to distrust it, therefore she needn't be afraid.

Then she might have made a remark along the lines of, "I asked if we could change the subject - not for a condescending lecture on a subject I'm actually already very familiar with: I'm not one of your fucking students, Professor."

... and things escalated from there.

They avoided each other for the remainder of the day, but after dinner Emmrich answered a knock at his door to find a bouquet of freshly cut lilacs (out of season most places - where had she gotten them?) and a note inviting him to come find her in the Memorial Gardens if he wanted to talk it out.

And talk it out they did.

I actually plan on writing this whole encounter one day 😅

🌱Was Rook involved romantically with anyone before Veilguard? What was their partner like? How did the relationship end?

She's had a handful of relationships, usually with people also in the Watch. It's a path that tends to eat into one's ability to have a normal life with predictable time away from work, holidays etc. You work weird hours and do a lot of emotional labour, so finding a partner who isn't a Watcher who really understands all of that is challenging.

Her first partner was a childhood friend named Kalista, who joined the Watch with her but dropped out a few years into training. She was outgoing, friendly, and beautiful - tall with stormy blue-gray eyes and wavy brown hair.

She fell in a bit too hard with the party crowd and struggled more and more to keep up with her studies before eventually she just stopped showing up. Amina broke up with her because as much as it hurt, she felt that she needed to focus on her own future at the time. She and Kalista remained friends for many years, despite the end of their relationship, but things got worse for her friend when she started seeing someone new who seemed committed to making everything worse for Kalista instead of better. Amina hasn't heard from her in years. The last she spoke with Kalista, she had offered to help her pin down some resources to help her with her lyrium addiction and work through some other things. She suspects Kalista's current partner caught wind of that and forbid her from speaking with Amina again. Every morning she checks the sheet of overnight death calls posted in the Necropolis to make sure Kalista's name isn't on it.

🌼If someone was to ask Spite what Rook smells like, what would he say?

Spicy leaves! Grave dirt. And splinters!

(Peppermint, literally grave dirt, and wood shavings from building coffins.)

🥀What figure from Rook's personal past would be added to the regret prison?

Kalista, for obvious reasons: Amina knows that she can't control other people's choices and actions, but she worries about her constantly and can't help but feel that she could have done more for her friend, or she still could if she wasn't too cowardly to involve herself.

Reda: the woman who took Amina in as a child and raised her. Reda fell ill just before Amina was soft-exiled from the Watch, and she died about six months before Veilguard. Amina left Varric abruptly, and was only just barely able to make it to her bedside in time to be with her when she passed. Amina regrets that because of her actions during the War of The Banners, she was unable to spend Reda's final days with her, taking care of her as she was cared for by the Necropolis matron when she was young. As the closest thing to a mother she ever had, she feels that she failed her.

💐 What is the relationship Rook has with their faction mentor? What was the moment they sent Rook away like?

Amina has always gotten on well with Myrna and Vorgoth - she excelled in her studies when she was training, throwing herself into them with enthusiasm and an attitude that indicated that the scrappy foundling had something to prove, and over the years established herself as a reliable and skilled member of the Mourn Watch. It takes a very specific kind of person to be a Watcher, and an even more specific kind of person to be a Reaper, and her superiors would readily admit that Amina made for this lifestyle - it truly is her calling.

Because of this, the conversation in which they parted ways was painful for everyone: Amina felt betrayed and forced to let go of the only place that had ever felt like what she imagined home would feel like. It pained Myrna and Vorgoth to be the ones to deliver the news, but what they did not mention to Amina was that the two of them had personally argued for exile in favour of the alternative: Watchers who break their oaths and harm the undead (even if they fucking deserved it) forfeit their lives: Unbeknownst to her, she's got Myrna and Vorgoth to thank for the fact that her bones aren't waiting on one of the undead nobles whose toes she stepped on.

🌺Is there an object from Rook's childhood they look back on fondly? (ie a favorite stuffed animal, book, or food?)

Reda rarely went anywhere without a fashionable silk or chiffon scarf around her neck. Amina used to spend hours as a child, draping herself in the scarves and donning Reda's jewelry, strutting around the house to the delight of the woman, billowing and fluttering like a colourful sail. There's an entire crate of the scarves waiting for her at her apartment after Reda's passing. They're much too bright and extravagant for her tastes, but before she returned to Varric, she managed to find a relatively tame one dyed in reds and blacks and golds with stylized dragons picked out on it - she keeps it with her always. Even wears it from time to time. She figures if she ever gets blood on it, the colours should hide it well enough.

It smelled like Reda for the longest time, until one day it didn't anymore. That was a sad day.