#dragon age spoilers //

[veilkeeper]

i do have to say that i like elgar'nan and ghilan'nain as our primary villains. because they look like cartoon bad guys on the surface but if you look a little deeper and find all those hidden little notes and codex entries, it's obvious they actually do have complexity that they don't want us to see.

ghilan'nain is actively in mourning. not just for andruil, but also for her fucked up little experiment of an archdemon, her most perfect creation, razikale. at the end of fire and ice, she is ready to throw herself into a fight that she might not win because she's blinded by her own grief, and she only doesn't because elgar'nan holds her hand and pulls her away. protects her. we can find notes that talk about how elgar'nan is concerned that she's not taking time to mourn properly. we know she's checked in on her first creations, the halla, despite the fact that she writes about them in this sort of detached, almost patronizing way. she calls them something she made when she was "untraveled and naive" and that she could never make them again, but she visited them just to see what they might have become in her absence. like she cares more than she wants to let herself.

and elgar'nan calls her sister, despite the fact that ghilan'nain is the youngest of them. he lets her experiment on lusacan for the express purpose of cheering her up. and when she dies he seems legitimately torn apart by it. what should be an opportunity for the first of the firstborn to finally become the sole tyrant he was practically made to be is instead him becoming completely and utterly alone, the only remaining of his kind. i don't think it's coincidence that both he and solas drift to each other as they do, even if it is as enemies. they're too alike, and they're also the only remnants of the old world, their world, that either of them have.

i can't say that i'm particularly sympathetic to either of them—they're both unrepentant monsters who have committed atrocities across millenia, but the fact that they have this hidden depth reminds me that at of the day they are not really anything that no one else is. they are very powerful mages that other people called gods. and people can be very sentimental, indeed.

[theatrevelyan]

Ok, big endgame spoilers for DAV but I need to scream into the void because I don’t think we stopped enough to talk about the fact that Lucanis literally stabbed a God, twice, and even killed her the second time.

He killed her.

Sure, he had help, and someone always dies to give him the shot, but do you understand how fucking big of a deal that is?????

Actions so important and plot relevant as that are usually reserved for the main character/protagonist of a game, especially in an rpg.

And here comes our little assassin, who we recruited to kill gods but who we all know, from a narrative standpoint, has no chance to actually deal the final blow, and he fucking deliveres.

We still get the big boss, sure, but he still got one. He defied narrative preconceptions and finished his contract.

How fucking metal is that?????

And can you imagine, once this is all over, how the other crows must see him? He was already a legend before and now he’s the crow that managed a successful contract on a freaking god.

Can you imagine the awe? The fear? The sheer terror his next target would feel knowing the man who killed a god is after them?

And if Rook is a crow the same goes for them!

The crows are already infamous, could you imagine how their reputation would skyrocket even more knowing that not just one, but possibly two of them managed to kill a god????

One might a fluke, an outlier among them (which Lucanis already is since he’s considered the best they have). But two?! It begins to be a pattern. Sign of skill and competence for the whole guild.

Caterina would love that shit. What better marketing strategy than “if need be, we can kill gods btw” could she get.

And can you imagine if crow Rook and Lucanis are romancing each other??? Who would dare to even think opposing the two assassins that literally killed gods??? Bet the usual crow shenanigans would stay clear of them.

Anyway I’m really normal about Lucanis.

[pink-ivy-vines]

what it honestly feels like they did was take the concept of native rivaini people stealing their culture before the rich andrastian nobles could and then turned that on... every other culture? like, it makes sense that rivaini pirates are stealing their own history before it could become a showpiece for some asshole chantry bootlicker who approved of the dairsmuid circle being annulled in 9:40 dragon. and it makes a little bit of sense for the qunari ones because rivain is the only country in thedas that had a peaceful qunari settlement. it does not work with the elven artifacts.

my first playthrough of the game was as a lord of fortune, and i liked it a lot, but there is this really weird disconnect between what taash thinks is happening in the lords and what rook sees in the lords. rook acknowledges that they're thieves. that they steal things. in fact, one of the most interesting moments of the game for me was rook trying to connect to taash through being a lord and taash shutting it down by saying "we're not thieves" and rook saying "UM. yes we are?" then gives a very pointed example about said thievery. because the lords do steal things. sometimes they do it just because it's funny.

but taash doesn't recognize this? or doesn't believe it and sees it through these rose-tinted glasses? with every other faction i've played you're able to connect to the other character from that faction in some way. you chat with them, talk to them, and your shared history comes up often.

that does not happen with a lords of fortune rook. in fact, the only time i've ever actually seen rook uncomfortable is talking about the lords of fortune to taash. because rook tries really hard to connect with them about it and then is clearly shut down at the get-go due to their vastly different viewpoints on what the lords actually do. it's almost as though both of them have wildly different perceptions about what goes on in the lords and this is fascinating and interesting and also never brought up again.

sure, it's hinted at; isabela does not take taash on anything remotely political, doesn't bring them into dragon hoards, and tends to have taash there only for advice on dragons. rook was much more involved in the 'delving into temples and ruins' and has a much closer relationship to isabela than taash does.

some part of me actually thinks that taash's storyline should have been about realizing that the lords aren't exactly the goody-two-shoes that were presented to them. that they do commit crimes and maybe that can be good in some ways (in regards of fighting against the chantry in their country) and bad in others (like stealing and selling elven artifacts).

of course, all this also just exemplifies the problem that you bring up; which is that the lords do have good things that they're doing as well as some bad things. they're in a weird situation where they're fighting to help people, but rivain has been the subject of so many genocides and massacres that they are trying to survive the only way they know how; through piracy.

yet the only person you can talk to in a meaningful way sees them as a weird abstract painting of themselves and when you play as a lord of fortune it still never gets resolved or pointed out. it just becomes more obvious.

I got a party banter between Bellara and Taash about how the Lords of Fortune steal elven artifacts. And then Taash clarifies later that they have a Dalish expert on the team so they can check to make sure the Lords don't sell something culturally important and instead return it to the elves.

Like. I get it. You want the Lords to be fun swashbuckler Disney pirates and Robin Hoods instead of actual pirates who steal and plunder. Because we're only now in Western society realizing that stealing from indigenous groups is, uh, bad. But like. Writing really uninteresting factions for your "dark" fantasy (tho lbr Dragon Age hasn't been dark fantasy since DA2) isn't gonna solve real-world neo-colonialism, ya know? The Lords not stealing priceless elven artifacts and returning them to the elves doesn't signal to me that the Lords are total rascally good guys, it signals to me that BioWare itself is trying really hard to seem morally conscious. "See? We know stealing from other cultures is bad!!!"

And man. Not to be a "political correctness has poisoned media" grifter on main (tbh it's less political correctness itself and more the commodification of real-world activism) but I couldn't help but imagine how this convo would've played out in earlier games, potentially even Inquisition.

You could've so EASILY made this interesting while giving the Lords and Taash and Bellara a lot more depth, while also making it clear that stealing from indigenous groups is wrong.

Just have the Lords, yeah, actually sell those artifacts. But also establish that the Lords take in and help elves from all walks of life. That they free slaves, or collaborate with alienages. Then you could have Taash defend the practice by saying to Bellara that little orphaned elf kids being sold as slaves probably don't give a flying fuck about some artifacts they're never gonna see, but the money from selling those artifacts goes to buying them food. And have Bellara fire back that preserving elven culture is also part of its survival, and that there are Dalish clans that would be willing to pay for them or offer something in return. Or have her say that the Lords are doing charity for the sake of recruitment rather than actual altruism. And then Taash responds that those high and mighty Dalish elves don't do shit to help abandoned city elves, just because those aren't part of their correct elven subculture, and they care more about reclaiming old glory than helping the people that exist here and now.

Then you could have side missions or at least codex entries that describe maybe some Lord recruit being conflicted about what they're doing. Maybe a few of them are collaborating to hijack a deal or steal back an artifact. Have implications that some high-ranking Lords are, in fact, using those artifacts for their own gain, despite claiming otherwise. Have some Lords genuinely trying to help, and believing that gold and trinkets don't matter as much as people's lives, so they sell them in exchange for safety for refugees or slaves or some other helpless group.

But no. Instead it's "hey do you steal from my people?" "nah lmao we have a cultural advisor don't even worry about it" "oh wow so cool and woke of you!" And then that's it. No need for any further discussion. No conflict and no complexity. No bad actors and moral quandaries.

Weh.

[mothtato]

Based off the one arcane poster because we cant have happiness in this household

[askfordoodles]

The fact that Emmrich and Rook had that argument right in front of Johanna's skull, and she didn't say SHIT 🍿

the same Johanna who can't help but sass everyone coming within a 20 ft radius of her

you just KNOW our fav evil girlboss was roasting his ass the second Rook left the room

[rainythoughtsforme]

You know how when Solas does the whole bait and switch with Rook and makes them see their love interest dead before it flashes to Varric and Rook shouts the name of said love interest? What if they heard that right as Rook disappeared?

Bitter we never saw how the Veilguard's, and whoever Rook romanced, reactions. And we don't even know how long Rook is gone for unless Rook romances Bellara- and Rook was gone for weeks

Edit: So, I've only romanced Lucanis, I didn't realize that that Lucanis has the death fake-out romanced or not

Another missed opportunity for Solas to really fuck with Rook's head

[neithrain]

imagine these mfs playing mariokart the casualties would be innumerable

Average family night at Villa Dellamorte

[dilapidatedanchor]

[vaguely-concerned]

on the one hand I think inner demons could stand to have a bit more romanced rook specific content, but on the other hand the underlying in-built implication that 'yours is the one true voice of comfort and safety in my inner world' is a sentiment and intimacy so way beyond the romantic or the platonic or any secret third thing you could care to name that it makes me lose my entire poor little mind a bit. it's so big and fundamental — near-existential — that in that exact moment at least the distinctions kind of seem irrelevant.

all the people lucanis' mind conjures up along the way are relationships he has that are unavoidably mixed and fraught in some ways even when they're also full of love (they are fraught BECAUSE they're full of love) — the good in them inseparable from things that hurt him at the same time. (it's about: the basic disorganized attachment patterns this poor guy is dragging around with him. careful with those, they're dellamorte heirlooms. what you love also inevitably hurts you and you won't be allowed to have one without the other, you have to surrender parts of your soul to hold on to what little you have left: this is the story up until now.) and the idea that rook isn't that to him — that beneath the fear of wanting them when romanced (which is more its own separate thing because within this psychology, actively wanting something and not just clinging on for dear life to even a meager status quo lest you lose it is in itself dangerous bordering on catastrophic), this is a relationship where there isn't resentment, or guilt, or shame, or dread, or rage, or self-hate, or any of the other emotions that keep him paralyzed, unable to move this way or that. no debts, nothing owed of yourself and your soul's substance except what you can freely and safely and happily give. love and freedom don't coexist — but, I mean, you're almost starting to make me think........... unless...👀👀👀. the unconditional and undramatic 'you are here and I am here with you, you can be exactly how you are right now with me and it's safe for us both even though you're afraid it won't be, I'm not going anywhere' acceptance rook shows him here that he returns to them in the big romance scene, when it's rook who needs it. the way he's just. standing there in the center of it all, like a child desperately helplessly waiting to be found, hiding in the place he hopes you'll know to look first. (rook does know. it's one of the first things they say in there.)

in short the most important room in his little mind palace for the romance is the very first room — the one where rook isn't. where, in fact, rook cannot be, because they disprove the entire structure of the place with their existence and presence in his life. with everyone else he's putting words in their mouths about what they think of him, and rook is the one who actually gets to come in to speak their own words to him — and have him listen. ('he'll listen to you, he always listens to you', 'your voice is a comfort'.) of course rook isn't present anywhere else in there — at the risk of stating the obvious to a tedious degree, they aren't one of the locks, they're bringing the key. in the very finest 'the messenger and the message' sort of way.

[hmslusitania]

Ranking the Companion’s Rooms by Sleeping Situation

1. Davrin

That is a real, actual bed. It is in an alcove. It is made. There’s a goddamn throw pillow. 10/10, responsible dad

2. Taash

That is ALSO a real bed! It doesn’t have pillows but there’s a horn situation going on that I can’t speak to so probably the lack of pillow is intentional. 8/10.

3. Rook

This couch and the fade!fish have seen More Things than either probably needs to, but the couch gets bonus points for style and looking comfy if not cosy. 6/10.

4. Bellara

I’ll be honest I totally missed that she had an actually mattressed cot in here until I went to take this picture. One bonus point for it being stylish and her room being pretty overall. 5/10

5. Lucanis

That is… a camp bed you put in the pantry. It is, however, an actual designated bed with a cushion and a bed roll. 4/10.

6. Harding

I took this picture early in the game so her room is not yet the beauty it becomes, BUT she ranks higher than some others because a) I’m 100% sure of where she sleeps and b) she’s a stone-magic dwarf so theoretically sleeping on quarried rock isn’t as painful to her as it might be to, say, me. 2/10

7. Neve

I can’t say for sure that you actually sleep on this bench in your office but it’s also the only candidate. The good detective could use a lesson not only in scurvy but in lumbar support. 1/10

8. Emmrich

My dude literally where the FUCK do you sleep?!

…please tell me its not on your autopsy table

0/10

[shem-fatale]

I have been waiting for this to drop.

Are you okay @nipuni? ❤️‍🩹

🥰 these two

[thedissonantverses]

Yeah no I actually can’t understand being upset at Morrigan achieving her final form and being an incredible character. I can’t understand needing a male HoF present to validate her. It is such a bad faith interpretation of the lore, the themes of each game she’s been in, and her character’s arc. It’s terrible media literacy.

Let me spell it out, they’ve been carefully building her up as a mythical figure to rival Flemeth in Thedas. Only better. Her being a mother is integral to her character and you shouldn’t have to see her grown ass son following her around to recognize that.

She’s a hero. She’s a fucking legend. She helped save the world again. How do you miss the point of a character so hard? Morrigan is so much more than your Warden’s love interest.

[askfordoodles]

Emmrich afterwards

Literally, that man is too powerful, Rook was practically comatose afterwards 🤣

[mint-kaktuss]

What a good boy :3

[higheverweave]

Thats adorable 😭😭🥹🥹🥹🫂🫂🫂

Gold tier post Op

Hear me out, if Dorian Pavus apprenticed under Emmrich in Nevarra in his teens, he probably not only picked up fom hin not just spells, but also the love for facial hair.

Imagine, of you will, baby gay Dorian with a massive crush on his necromancy professor, who not only knows all there is to know about the death, he's also soft spoken, erudite and openly bisexual, coming back to Tevinter with the first wisps of his signature mustache, and a new need to be himself openly. No wonder he'd rebelled and gone off the rails.

Also, imagine Felix seeing him for the first time and making fun of his mustache, and Dorian defending it because it looked so good on Emmrich.

[bara-izu]

[ DATV ] "Y'know, we should meet here more often~" Self indulgent RionEmmrich now i finally got her outfit down