#bellara fangirls ALL THE THINGS

[mxfitforge]

I love them, your honor.

Couldn't resist coloring this little DAV fan-comic ♥ (Already have another in the works.) The immediate moments following the team pulling Rook from the Fade.

Also, my headcanon may or may not (absolutely) include Lucanis and Rook eventually finding out that Bellara's attempts at serials are not-so-thinly-veiled Lucanis/Rook fan fiction.

[utilitycaster]

The thing that I think gets me about Neve the most, and this is past the point where I personally am in the game, is that you can still romance her after you've chosen to prioritize Treviso (which you can't do for Lucanis if you do the reverse). The thing is, it makes sense. Neve judges you negatively for trusting her. There's a dialogue in the Shadow Dragons hideout where Tarquin (Shadow Dragons faction agent) gripes about The Viper (Shadow Dragons faction agent and leader) running background checks on him, before admitting he'd probably do the same. And the thing is, if you tell Tarquin that this seems reasonable he accepts it, but he seems irritated. Neve doesn't.

You meet Neve striking a pose, having frozen her assailants, needing none of your help. Neve does not, on the whole, ever seem to want your help until she begs you to save Minrathous. She approves of you taking her to interrupt the ritual, and seems to be entirely unbothered by the fact that it leaves her badly bruised - indeed, you have to actively choose to leave her behind later when you go looking for Bellara.

Neve loves Minrathous and Dock Town, which means she also hates them. She takes you there, if you do the companion quest, which you should. She invites you after Bellara fangirls out over some news pieces about her (Neve drily remarks they were hit pieces), to go pick up some leads and some serials Bellara wants. For all she's sarcastic, gruff, and even a little snide with Bellara (and with my playing of Rook, who is fairly direct and positive with the Veilguard companions) and doesn't believe a Tevinter serial would ever truly end happily if it were remotely realistic, she still wants to get those serials for her teammates. She's not here to make friends, though she's slowly doing so, but she also believes in working with your allies even when they're sunny and scatterbrained or bracingly positive and you're an exhausted, cynical detective.

Exhausted is I think the most salient point. Neve is fucking tired. She tells you she's lived in Dock Town her whole life, and she became a detective, taking on cases for people who weren't helped by the Templars (who, you learn in one of the core missions prior to your choice to save only one of Minrathous and Treviso, are corrupt all the way up to the top). After solving a missing person case successfully, with an implication that she freed a slave in the process, the Shadow Dragons recruited her, but she's been doing the same work she always done. And the Shadow Dragons, meanwhile, in addition to attempting, with limited success, to infiltrate the Magistrate and fight for abolitionism, also do a lot of work like Neve's: helping people on the street. Their basement is full of unhoused and hungry people with nowhere else to go.

Neve is tired because, I think, she doesn't really believe Minrathous will get much better in her lifetime. She tells you in her companion quest, as you eat street food on the docks, looking out into the ocean, that she treasures the small wins because that's what she gets. Whereas the Crows remember a free Treviso and fight for that, Neve, in particular, feels like she's just trying to keep things from getting worse, and maybe help a few people. She's cynical because dreaming big probably won't pan out and she knows it so she's not going to waste her time.

Her work is her life. Her gift is literally just more evidence. Harding, Lucanis, and Bellara all reminisce about friends and family, but Neve still hasn't yet. You get the sense that Rana, one of the few clean Templars with whom she works, is probably the person she'd put down as an emergency contact. She doesn't even really get along with Tarquin, though, to be fair, doesn't seem like anyone does. Her world is a network of people who are useful.

I'm going somewhere with this, and that's, unsurprisingly, to Critical Role Campaign 3, because after all that here's my thesis: Neve is what people want some of Bells Hells, but especially Ashton, to be.

I've seen defense of Ashton's abrasiveness because many leftists are abrasive people, and the thing is, that's not untrue, but they're abrasive because they're like Neve: they're doing endless difficult work with very little reward or thanks, and at most they get small wins.

What has Ashton done for their communities? The Nobodies and Krook House aren't feeding the hungry or fighting corruption; the former is a group of thieves with no particular cause and the latter a punk co-op house. What was Ashton doing for the people of Jrusar or Bassuras? I struggle to find anything tangible. There's a lot of talk and no action - punk aesthetics and a lot of talk about standing for the weak, but when do they actually do that? It's all very surface level, and so the defenses of Ashton must focus entirely on what and who they are (nb, disabled, punk, had a terrible childhood) and what they say but never, ever, what they do. It's posturing.

Neve? It's entirely what she does. She is, for what it's worth, disabled and queer (and played by a woman of color, though whether she's coded as such in-game probably requires an academic background in both the history of Thedas and the history of the real-world Black Sea region) but we don't know a damn thing about her childhood yet. We don't know if she's been hurt or heartbroken or abandoned until we, as Rook, have to decide whether to do that to her. And when we do? She takes her time (she's not back yet in my game) but in the end, she blames the actual root causes of the elven gods sending the dragon and blight, and the Venatori working with them and, as far as I know, gets back to work. As she always has.

[wyvernscales]

Act 2 DATV thoughts. Spoilers:

Anaris is kinda…

I wasn’t really expecting a literal bloodbath

BELOVED XENON 💕

Dragon Age lOVES a good haunted house mystery

So wait, going into the fade fade is just normal now?

Hezzenkoss is kinda kunty

Are we finally getting into the Last Flight stuff?

Isseya????????

Anyone notice how Ghil doesn’t have eyes???

Elgar Zaddyyyy

Final forbidden one down

These circles are related to the executors I just knowww it

Manfred was naughty :(

The way I feel about refusing death is the way a Christian might describe a sin

ISSEYA???????

Not Bellara writing friendfiction

Nice little family dinner that went about as well as any of my family gatherings tbh

The Harding storyline is. Hmm. “The dwarves lost everything and the elves have it all” Which is. A hell of a take. Given the fact that I have another quest where Venatori are about to sacrifice an entire Dalish clan for their blood. 

I have nothing specific to say here. I just liked Lucanis’ fade quest

Damas’ va is plays someone else in the series, I just can’t remember who

ITS ISSEYAAAAAAAAAA

Yk, I’m kinda getting the Neve love now

The bird shit on the roofs of Antiva is a nice touch

GILF WIN!

God I love the way Assan is animated

Bossy Neve at the venatori party is kinda….

I still don’t get why the Venatori are openly working with the Evanuris tho. It would be one thing if they all thought they were actually working with the Old Gods, but they just say Elgar’nan. Yeah, they’re powerful, but so is Tevinter supremacy and racism.

Also I brought Taash to the gathering bc it was funny, and no one said anything about it???

I do like how the Venatori fangirl over rook

This game Better not turn me into a Solas girlie

You Have Earned the Dread Wolf’s Respect

Well. There’s nothing really funny to say about the dragon king finale. Yeah. Yk I’ve had some complaints about the voice direction, but. Yeah.

Now. The Davrin choice is actually a tough one.

Also does Solas know what’s going on with Harding??? Bc tbh I don’t really know what’s going on with her.

DELIGHTFUL SON BOY MANFRED 💕

For a guy supposedly terrified of death, Emmrich has no problem rolling with the Veilguard

NO MANFREDDDDD

MANFRED HAS BECOME A REAL BOY!!!!!!

So my Rook has stated that she both is and isn’t Dalish at various points so….

Oh Em x Strife sounds cute

The Butcher is kinda..

Oh God he’s so hot.

Fuck. I want him so bad.

Bbg I was not paying attention to anything he was saying

Still would let him butcher this puss—

Support NonBinary wrongs today!

Have we just forgotten that qamek is like. Literally brain melting.

Is there any particular reason Ivenci is a mage btw? Antiva has circles.

The Solas convo with the inquisitor is so juicy bc I’m playing as my Lavellan’s daughter. It’s such a mom-coded convo to begin with but,

The Antivan decor is soooo cunty

I love how all the companions bother Hezzenkoss’ skull in the Lighthouse

Well. That can’t be good. Astronomically speaking.

Not me and Taash getting into a fight before the final battle. NOT ROOK CRYING :(((((

All the fucking blight boils on the Ghil fight JESUS

I mean yeah, that bald bitch was obviously up to something

But OUGH I’m so SICKKK. What if your mom’s ex tried to trap you in a prison of his own regret. Bc there was no other way. Even though he loves your mother. And you by proxy. I’m SICK.

Oh I realllly like what they did here

Varric Haters of the World REJOICE! (I can appreciate the emotional weight of the scene tho too I guess)

[mxfitforge]

Since @dragonagegame The Veilguard and its lovely cast of characters will be living rent free in my head for the foreseeable future after finishing a full run of the game, I figured I’d have a swing at fan art.

A moment not seen in the game - The immediate moments after the team manages to pull Rook out of what everyone feared could be a very bad, very permanent situation.

Already putting some color on these nerds ♥

[utilitycaster]

update #4 on Thedas and Fade-as:

have learned that Neve approves of you most when you just fucking slaughter Venatori with her. I did get her gift btw. this is because I'm going to let her city get ruined. I am getting everyone's gifts because I am THOUGHTFUL and CONSIDERATE.

I still hate Minrathous. Too many ladders.

No one seems to like Tarquin. This is very funny.

Dorian shows up and I'm like "this is a big moment for everyone except me" except actually he's fucking great, I am a big fan of him. He and the First Warden, who sucks extremely, had a battle of questionable facial hair which he won.

it is COMPANION QUEST TIME. Bellara's was really sweet, possibly because I'm romancing her, but even if I weren't the conversation about her brother was really good. Harding's was fun and she appreciates that I'm very direct with her. Harding's also gave me disproportionate amounts of trouble bc I am so bad at figuring out what I can climb and what I can't climb. I gotta do something about a Dalish ghost but I have d&d tonight.

Also for just traipsing about Arlathan to do all these low-stakes companion quests, I brought Lucanis, so in between quests I just have this absolute murderer in fine leathers talking about how elven magic smells like coffee. this is the best thing of all time.

Neve drily telling a fangirling Bellara that the cool article about her was a hit piece was so funny. realized that Neve might dislike me because I keep being super positive and encouraging and honest because everyone else likes that. is this what I'm like in real life except way less cool? much to think about.

I Lived It: I'm wearing less protective armor because it shows my sick chest tattoos.