#except when it comes to Davrin

[th3moongazer]

A thought I had about Lucanis - you know how acts of service are his love language right. And how he often shows this by preparing food or drink for his friends/the group/Rook.

But like, I feel that in a way it goes both ways. It’s his way of showing appreciation for the group, of doing his part, ‘earning his keep’ maybe in the early days when he felt like he didn’t fit in.

But on the other hand, the fact that the group allows him to do so is such a massive show of trust. I mean, that’s an Antivan Crow, a prolific one, and he’s making you food.

Throughout the game, there are TONS of mentions of Crow murders by poisoning food/drink/etc. I think it happens in banter, it certainly happens in mementos and decor you pick up.

Add on that he isn’t only a Crow but also a demon possessed Crow and companions like Harding definitely were wary of him at first? I dunno, I just feel like it means something that he not only enjoys taking care and cooking for everyone, but that EVERYONE appreciates and eats his food. Maybe I’m wrong but that feels like it means something, for the team but also for Lucanis considering that even the Crows themselves poison/kill each other for power.

(It also makes me wonder if that trust ever had to be earned. If Harding would be conveniently out on days he cooks (though I feel like she’d tell him to his face that she doesn’t trust him yet, she seems direct like that). If he ever brought someone something from the market and found it untouched still a few weeks later. If he “helped” Bellara cook for several days/weeks just so others could be reassured that the food wasn’t tampered with.)

I dunno, just some thoughts I had about him lately. And about what it really means being an Antivan Crow. Bc I can’t believe many people would truly trust them, knowing that at any point, their friends could turn on them if a contract demanded it. After all, Crows always fulfill their contracts.

[knife-eared-jan]

Ok, as much as I have been hyping and playing 12 hours a day since it got out (still in Act 1 though, bc I'm a slowass player and completionist), I feel like I have to say something that is getting hard to ignore at this point... and I wanna preface this by saying that I am loving a lot of aspects of the game and I adore the writing when it comes to the companions, who I am obsessed with.

And maybe this will get better yet, as I generally heard the writing picks up once the story progresses beyond picking up all companions..

But I'm starting to get quite upset at the way the writing just does NOT care about the established lore and the politics of Thedas like at all, when to me - and many others - that richness, nuance and depth of the world is what makes the games so special.

(Spoilers below)

I looked past the way the elves in Arlathan just seemed to know that their gods are evil and Solas is "kind of a dick" but was right about that. When, you know, that made him basically the Satan of their pantheon up to now.. It was after all the tutorial stage of the game and I understand that you wanna ease newcomers into the lore. I could also handwave it in-universe with Morrigan being there - she could have filled the Veiljumpers in on the discoveries of the Inquisition or even what the Well told her.

It felt a bit weird that our contacts in every other faction just accepted this huge revelation without a blink, but again it was the early stages and I also get that having a discussion about it 6 times with different faction leaders would have been incredibly tedious. So I ignored that. And yeah, at least the First Warden found it hard to swallow.

The fact that they brushed aside the gods finding elven subjects - many of whom after all still worship them - with one sentence from Solas was disappointing though. Instead they chose to ally them with the Venatori and the Antaam who are the pure evil factions with no nuance or motive to side with them besides a comic book level of hunger for power. They didn't even throw in a sentence about the gods maybe speaking to the Venatori through the Archdemons to get them on their side or how it's very ironic that the Venatori, who want to make Tevinter great again, stoop to working with the pantheon of the people they oppress because they see them as lesser and other. No political exploration of the massive lore implications at all.

It really hit me when I picked up Davrin and he commented how Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain blighting the world would really endear us (elves) to the rest of Thedas - this was the first time anyone actually mentioned the political impact of the elven gods being real, freed, evil and blighted on modern day elves at all, when this should be HUGE. It should be ugly. It should be complex. It should be explored in as many examples as bloodmagic and the oppression of mages was in DA2. It should be a central point of Act 1. (This btw made me love Davrin so much in that moment because this was the first time in the game for me when I actually felt like talking to a Dragon Age elf and even just that one line felt like home.)

And now I just did Taash's first companion quest and it seems Qunari lore is also being ignored (except for the gender aspect of it, which I look forward to). Taash's mum was a scholar and had a baby and the only problem about that was that it could breathe fire and was special but otherwise all would have been dandy? Like she would have just been allowed to keep Taash long enough to find that out about her baby if she was living under the Qun? That directly contradicts everything we know about how the Qunari's culture around reproduction and childcare works.

Sorry to be negative and talking myself into a rage - I know it's not something people want to see rn. But like, I realise you have to brush over some lore intricacies for brevity and to make it digestible for new players. But this is a world initially inspired by Wheel of Time and ASOIAF, both of which are interesting because of the depth of ficitional cultures, lore and politics, and hence it's also what gives Dragon Age its appeal. And now they take us to the most politcally interesting areas on the world map and just get rid of all of political depth?

That's really disappointing. Imagine if Winds of Winter dropped all political themes just because there's several previous books and it's been some a lot of years.

Also, I managed to play DA2 before I ever played Origins and they could introduce me to a vast established background of lore just fine back then.

Sorry. Rant over. But I had to get that out of my system.

[dalishious]

About Davrin's little blurb on the official website for Dragon Age: The Veilguard...

"Though he was raised in a Dalish clan, he craved excitement and adventure. He'd rather make history than reflect on it."

There's actually a lot to unpack about these two sentences.

First off, placing the word "though" in front of being "raised in a Dalish clan", gives such a thing a negative connotation. The word "though" is used in a way that sounds like "despite", as in, somehow wanting excitement and adventure must go against being Dalish. This correlates with sentence that follows. "He'd rather make history than reflect on it." The word "rather" is yet again used to separate Davrin from his Dalish origin. All together, this promotional description of Davrin is insisting that he is "not like other Dalish".

Now, obviously the game is not out yet, so we do not have total confirmation on what the nature of Davrin's relationship to his culture is really like. But there is absolutely something to be said about promoting the character this way, regardless of however he actually turns out in game. There is absolutely something to be said about how, as @/the-eldritch-it-gay put in their tags here, why do writers feel the need to make fantasy minorities hate or distance themselves from their culture? As a selling point?

Maybe this is completely misleading bullshit, maybe it isn't. All we have to go by, is what BioWare chose to say here, and their past track record with elves:

Zevran may talk about his mother in a font way, but he still has the line, "Too many of our kind think we deserve pity simply because we have failed to defend ourselves."

Velanna is one of the two elves we've had who is overtly proud of her culture, yet she is treated like she is unreasonable and too angry because of it.

Merrill too, is proud of being an elf, and of being Dalish. The story punishes her left and right for this, treats her like a child, and in the end she is either ostracized from her clan or they end up dead because... she cared too much?

Fenris has pretty much zero engagement with elven cultures, and spends his time ridiculing Merrill for being proud of hers.

Solas complains about the Dalish from the start, and says plainly that he does not see himself as having anything in common with elves of current time. "Oh, you mean elves" he says, when the Inquisitor asks how he feels about his people; the thought does not even occur to him.

Sera is... Sera is a character who could have been a really interesting examination of overcoming internalized racism, if she was written by someone competent with the subject. Instead, she just cringes at everything "too elfy" through the entire main game, and only has a single line in Trespasser that hints that she may have a personal struggle going on. But it's still left unresolved.

That's a lot a lot of negativity. So of course seeing a suggestion that more is to come with Davrin has people wary and tired.

Let us also consider the fact that Davrin is overtly Black as well, and what that means. Acting as if one must disregard history in order to make it, as his description so claims, is bullshit. It sounds too much like promoting gentrification/assimilation in my opinion; the idea that you cannot keep your culture if you want to be successful.

I also think that it goes even deeper, on a meta level - I think that BioWare is afraid people will not be able to like or relate to Davrin, if he is "too ethnic". I think that BioWare is taking this Black character and instead of questioning how he can best represent marginalized fans - particularly Black fans - they are questioning how to make him more relatable to white fans. And the only answer to that is to, of course, make him seem like he is an exception to marginalization through separating him from his people.

I am still holding onto hope that Davrin will overall be an interesting, well-written character. And I sure as hell will still be defending him from the people who are already hating on him or ignoring him completely because of their racialized biases. But that does not exempt BioWare, and specifically his writer, John Dombrow, from any criticism. This is not about Davrin the character, this is about BioWare the company's handling of Davrin the character. And in that regard, they're not off to a great start with this.

[empresskadia]

A/N: Inspired by one of Davrin's romance lines when chatting with Emmrich about Assan being moody because Rook and Davrin are taking up time together. I couldn’t resist expanding on the little griffon's tantrums.

There really wasn’t much to say, or much to explain, other than that Assan had been a moody little griffon for the past three days. He’d nearly taken a bite out of poor Manfred’s hand, knocked over a crate of fresh supplies in the kitchen, and had outright ignored Davrin’s commands with the attitude of a teenager who thought he knew best. During the latest training session, he squawked back at Davrin with all the sass of a sixteen-year-old, before scuttling off to hide behind your legs, glaring at his so-called bodyguard like Davrin was the villain of the piece.

“Is that your idea of discipline?” Davrin had teased, raising a brow as you ran a soothing hand down Assan’s ruffled feathers. “Coddling him only makes it worse.”

You’d rolled your eyes, more focused on the griffon than on the Grey Warden before you. “Maybe he just knows who his favorite parent is,” you’d replied, a smirk pulling at your lips.

But if you were honest, it wasn’t just Davrin who was on the receiving end of Assan’s attitude. Any time you left Davrin’s quarters, Assan was there, watching with an almost suspicious glare, like he couldn’t quite believe you were leaving again. And when you’d kneel down to offer him a pat, the little beast would turn away with a dramatic huff, or worse—fly off to the top of the lighthouse to sulk.

This morning was no exception. You were halfway through lacing your boots when Assan landed in front of the door, puffing up his chest in a clear bid for your attention. Davrin, leaning back on the bed with an amused look, shook his head.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Assan,” Davrin remarked as his eyes flicked back to you. “You’re not the only one who likes having them all to yourself, you know.”

You shot him a look, but the blush creeping up your neck betrayed you. “You’re both impossible,” you muttered, reaching out to scratch the griffon behind his ear tuft. “And you,” you added to Assan, who chirped indignantly, “need to stop throwing tantrums every time we leave the room.”

Davrin’s laughter was warm, the kind that wrapped around you like a comforting embrace. He rose from the bed, crossing the room to stand behind you, one arm slipping around your waist. “Maybe he’s just afraid I’m stealing you away,” he murmured against your ear, the heat of his breath sending shivers down your spine.

“Or maybe,” you countered, turning your head slightly to meet his gaze, “he knows you’re the one stealing me away from him.”

Davrin’s smile softened, his free hand coming up to cup your cheek. “Lucky for him, I don’t mind sharing,” he said quietly, pressing a lingering kiss to your forehead. “But I make no promises about giving you back.”

Assan squawked loudly between you, hopping up and flapping his wings in a dramatic display of protest. You both broke into laughter, and for a moment, it was hard to tell who was more jealous—the griffon or the man.

[plasticfreckles]

🪶 crusty first kiss rookanis enjoy 🪶

By the time they come out of the Diamond and into the marketplace, even the crystal peddler is closing up.

"Mierda."

"What?" Rook comes to a halt next to him. Little less than a week ago, he would have stepped away from just how close she stands to him.

"I meant to buy groceries. We're out of some spices."

Rook is quiet, like she's working up courage to speak her mind. Strange.

"I mean.. I've got groceries at home, if you still got time."

"How would you know the contents of the cooking rack?" Lucanis asks, despite motioning for her to lead the way. "I've not seen you use it once."

"Because someone always hogs the stove." She playfully knocks her shoulder into his arm. "No, I meant in my pad. It's just- well, up the roofs, but down the road. You get it."

She takes his hand and guides him down the road, up the trellis, over beams and through strategically broken windows.

"It's probably smelly in here," she says as she pulls out a keyring from under her cloak and opens a doorlock hidden behind an overgrown trellis. "Haven't been here in.. oh, over half a year."

"Hit the Antaam and hauled out of Treviso."

"For all the good that did, yeah. Oh, dear, sorry about that!"

Smells like stale air and rotten onions. Spite makes gagging sounds next to him as they both thread themselves through the open frame.

"Kitchenette's over there, you can just pick up whatever you like - let me open another window." She says over there as though her room wasn't so small it was already crowded with two short Crows and a demon.

A grunt, as she breaks open another of her windows. "Curse this forsaken rookery."

Sweet. Rook lives in a rookery.

"I'm sure her name hasn't been Rook her entire life, Spite. Or that she lived in a rookery all her life. How would a babe even get up here?"

If Lucanis had been told a year ago that he would comfortably talk to a demon inside him out loud while his dear is well within earshot, he would have fallen off a beam cackling.

Rook laughs. "It is a little funny, he's not wrong." Smart girl.

"Varric's chosen Rook for the chess piece, though. Says I think in straight lines. Can't imagine why."

"What's wrong with your own name?" Instead of going through her cabinets, he watches her light what seems like enough candles to burn down half of Treviso as she weaves a path through the clutter on the ground. Messy girl.

"He has this old friend of his, from where he comes from, who he'd given it as a nickname. Also an elf. Shorter than both of us, still, apparently. But she was Daisy first, I guess."

"I'm taller than you are."

"And I heard what Teia said to you about me. How you found the one Crow shorter than yourself." No bite or judgement, none at all. He's said worse to Davrin on a good day.

There's a spell of quiet, as he turns to actually take inventory of her reserves and she collects things she wants at the Lighthouse off the floor into an enormous backpack. Clothes, mostly, from the sound of it.

At least, quiet except for Spite logging every individual smell he registers. Every herb, every spice, the old must of damp fabric on wood planks, garlic so rotten the cloves have turned liquid inside. Lucanis' own cologne and Rook's strange mixture of cocoa and wet soil, though he dismisses those as Known and therefore uninteresting.

"Your kitchen is well-stocked, Rook." When she leans against the side of her tall cupboard, her plumed jacket hangs haphazardly over the doorknob behind her. By the door, her overstuffed backpack and a strapped milk crate filled with shoes.

"Don't sound so surprised. I remind you my shit-frys were at least edible, as opposed to whatever Harding does to the poor produce."

"That you call them shit-frys makes me all the more concerned." His sigh is playful, and she knows it. She hands off a basket to him, to collect the kitchenette's loot in.

She moves her hair over her bare shoulder, watches him collect containers of dried herbs, pink salt and ground garlic, syrups, jams. Some jerky, preserved damson.

"I don't actually put shit in it, you know." Through the sleeve of his shirt, she pinches at his arm.

"Do I know that?" She plays at offense when she catches his glance.

"Shit-fry's said faster than random assortment of fried vegetables. If I had grains, I'd call it Crow Feed."

It hits him like a blind bird hits a tall window, the domesticity of what they're doing here.

The achingly familiar weight of her skin on his. The unconditional trust as she lets him raid her kitchen. The fact that, when he'd asked to touch her back just that morning, to rub the visible tension from the muscles along her spine, she'd brushed her hair over her chest and turned away from him.You don't have to ask, Lucanis. You never have to ask.

The way that, even though he holds himself still as marble, his muscles still soften to accomodate for her touch.

Her forehead rests square against his triceps. Fingers curl in the fabric of his waistcoat, the other hand covering the edge of the countertop with the familiar ease of having suffered many injuries at its points.

Lucanis doesn't dare move. The spell of the moment would be broken faster than a splinter takes to skin. Spite runs across all four walls and the ceiling like a rabid cat.

"Never thought I'd see this place again," she admits, quietly. "Funny. I always hated it here. That I could never dream to live anywhere better. That this rancid, abandoned nest covered in birdshit was all my life would ever amount to."

The fingers in the fabric of his waistcoat pat gently against his small back as she collects herself with a deep, steadying breath.

"If you miss it that much," Lucanis starts, slowly. He holds himself so taut he can feel her brows pull together, even through his shirt. "You can always come back. A hideout from the hideout."

He moves to meet her gaze when he can feel her move to look up at him.

"Are you coming, too?"

"If you lead, I will follow."

Spite hurls curses at him in languages Lucanis never heard in his life, for reasons he isn't privy to, but it doesn't matter.

Not with the way Rook looks at him, right now.

"I really want to kiss you, Lucanis," she whispers. Her eyes flick up at his, down at his mouth.

"So do I." Spite chokes on the lump Lucanis tries to swallow out of his throat.

"Oh, good."

And then she leans up and does.

It's short, doesn't even last a heartbeat, and somehow it's both the smallest and the biggest thing that ever happened to him.

Her hand settles, surprisingly warm, on his low back. Even Spite is quiet, crouching in the sink with eyes wide as saucers. Rook's palm is still shielding him from the countertop corner.

People kiss like that all the time. Good-morning, good-night, I'm-still-too-sleepy-to-speak, I-just-felt-like-kissing.

It means nothing, and it means everything.

She comes back up for another.

YES. Again. More!

And another.

Her lips are parted now, wrap warm and soft around his.

Or his around hers.

Lucanis isn't sure.

The noise out of her throat, from balancing on her bad knee, rings loud as a chantry bell to him.

He's still holding on to the sweet potato.

Drops it to steady her, hand near her elbow. The sound turns curious, but she leans into the touch. There's renewed strength behind her lips now.

"Maker provide me," Rook huffs when she comes back down. She abandons the countertop corner, her nails slide onto his welt pocket.

When he looks at her lips, somehow there's more glitter on them than before.

"I could get lost in your puppy eyes for the rest of all time."

Lucanis has neither breath nor words.

So he ducks his face down to hers again.

🪶

this is spite

ALSO I PUT MY THESIS INTO THE HANDS OF MY COORDINATOR TODAY IM FINALLY FREE WHEEEEEEEEEE

also idk what first kisses w someone you actually care about are like dont come for me the reason I write like a wattpad preteen is bc when it comes to intimacy i AM the wattpad preteen

@lanafofana what we talked about is coming i promise <3

[~rina]

[lairofsentinel]

Info compilation of Lucanis Dellamorte (part 2)

Warning: I’m using the incorrect lore that this game has since it is the one that they built the game upon. Inconsistent things such as “The Lighthouse is in the Fade” or “Mind imprisonment” nonsense are not dismissed during this compilation even though they are strongly questionable.

Unfortunately, Lucanis character has a lot of issues in his writing; sometimes conversations feel like they were written by three different persons and the game ends up with a frankenstein dialogue which can be barely followed, and one needs to fill in the gaps to keep it somehow cohesive and coherent. Besides, there are several times where he suffers narrative inconsistency: he says something that gets contradicted mid-game without being part of his “development”, if he has any.

Also, I apologise in advance for my bitterness that sometimes spills into the text like the Blight when it comes to the murder of the Lore that Veilguard has done to the DA world.

The current post has the following sections [bold ones]:

Approvals and disapprovals

Body Language

Eyes

Why the pantry?

High focus, cool head, and professionalism

Food and cooking

Mage-killer specialisation and previous jobs

Death and Life

Crows and Family

Spite and Possession

Sleep and Coffee

Flirt and Romance

Lucanis’ Logbook

Others

Info compilation: Part 1 || Part 2

[this post will be likely updated briefly after I do a playthrough without saving Treviso in case additional information is shown, but probably won’t be much]

Spite and Possession

The possession process suffered by Lucanis meant to force him to eat something that had Spite in it as if it were a parasite. This process was inspired by the cult we saw in Cassandra’s personal quest [DAI] in which Seekers were forced to consume red lyrium despite their resistance to its effects [Banter Lucanis-Bellara].

The original intention of the experiment was to cultivate twisted spirits inside the body of mortals and let them erupt from the body as full demons like a “moth emerges from a cocoon” [what’s lore?]. We can see this in some codices along the Ossuary, where prisoners were used as incubators, from which demons emerged and were sent to Vyrantium or Marnas Pell, calling them “successes” [Recruiting mission]. Lucanis prevented this fate by doing a deal with Spite [Banter Lucanis-Bellara], so he was perceived by Zara as a failure [Recruiting mission and Inner Demon quest]. This deal is the one related in the scene where Rook can finally talk with Spite: “Break our chains, kill, escape, and live”. Since his self-acceptance as an abomination is a process that Lucanis has encapsulated in his mind, he is not aware that the prison still exists in his mind and forces Spite to remain there, somehow [what’s lore?]. This situation makes a constant violation of the deal that saved Lucanis’ life.

“Whatever else I am, I’m a professional” is one of the lines after failing the first attempt in killing Ghilan'nain that shows how much of a conflict his possessed condition interferes with his professional, cold side. He tries to process the trauma through work, doing exactly what he had been doing before, to a point in which he does not realise he has compartmentalised the Ossuary in his mind.

Lucanis’ vial of blood in the Ossuary is quite big, implying that he has been bleeding a lot during that year. The torture he experimented for a year was enough to make him forget how Caterina was like [Recruitment quest]

He survived the Ossuary by “shutting down completely, thinking nothing, feeling nothing, except what was needed to escape.” [Davrin-Lucanis banter]

He describes his possession state as something similar to “touching something vast and eternal. A well, deep inside”. He also confesses that the possession terrified him in the beginning, and shares with Harding the impression that their condition is just “the beginning” of something deep down, waiting. [Harding-Lucanis banter]

Even after Inner Demon is complete, he claims to be “a real monster” as an abomination, showing two potential things: 1) that his shame and fear for his possessed condition is not resolved despite all the hints that tell us so [Spite less noisy, Lucanis’ magic around him is more harmonic]. This is a reflection he does when he compares his return to life as a “real monster” with Bellara’s brother [Bellara-Lucanis banter]. 2) Narrative inconsistency [which plagues his character].

Spite can be heard by Emmrich when he is close to Lucanis. [Lucanis-Emmrich banter]

Lucanis claims that Spite is obviously present in his body when the wings are shown: “the wings are a giveaway” [Davrin-Lucanis banter]. The spread of wings is not a voluntary action either [Harding-Lucanis banter]. We assume this situation is like this up to Inner Demon, where he manages to harmonise with Spite to the point where both work together and become more blended. But we cannot know, since all this may be a consequence of narrative inconsistencies too.

Spite focuses on smells, and understands people based on that [Inner demons quest]. This may be a parallel to Lucanis’ year of imprisonment where he claimed that smells and tastes were the aspects that brought him more memories [Coffee with the Crows scene]. Lore-wise makes no sense for a spirit, in its spirit form, to smell anything [what’s lore?].

The Ossuary had a bad smell to the point that Lucanis claims that Kal-Sharok smells better. [The Waiting Stone quest]

It’s harder for Spite to take control of Lucanis’ body when he is awake. When Lucanis falls asleep, Spite takes control, and among other activities [such as sleepwalks] he likes to write cryptic sad poetry [Lucanis’ Logbook].

He spoke to Neve and Bellara about ways to control Spite, but avoids Emmrich since he is uncomfortable in the way he sees him, more like a thesis to study.

His sleepwalk stops once Lucanis and Spite are released from their mental prison, and this also allows Spite to start “understanding space”. This made them reach an equilibrium in which Spite is less noisy. Emmrich claims that thanks to this balance, “the magic around Lucanis has much finer etheric transfusion” [Emmrich-Lucanis banter]. Apparently, the deal made with Spite in Inner Demons implies “fighting enemies together and then having coffee afterwards” [Bellara-Lucanis banter]. This brings balance to both of them, allows Lucanis to have more control of Spite in his body, and implies that he recovers (a bit) his normal sleep patterns. We tend to see him drinking coffee after missions from this moment on [only in scenes after missions]. But then, he is drinking coffee right before the last mission, so… consistency problems again [we are not seeing the changes of his arc development truly sink in].

Spite is a source of shame. Every time he fails in his target, in his composure, in his professionalism, and in keeping control of Spite, he speaks looking down or aside, as shame washes him over. He feels he has let down Rook and Caterina for not being able to control this level of chaos he is holding inside him. For a character so focused on self-control, this situation puts him in a very shameful and vulnerable position.

Every time he is called an abomination there is a small remark on his part that shows he is not comfortable with it [who would?]. He avoids to call himself as such, and opts to use the word “possessed” and its variation.

He claims he never had magical abilities, so his possession is a rarity [not so much for the player if we remember DA2 where mages could force demons into Templars, read Tarohne, the Fell Grimoire, and Xebenkeck for details] but certainly his natural ability to perceive magic is more than strange: itch or pain in the back of his eyes [Bloodbath]. This symptom is triggered sometimes just by casting magic, other times by Fade presence, and it’s worse when blood magic is involved. In Tevinter Nights we learn he can even have deep headaches because of it. Lore-wise, this is a very, very, very questionable ability for a non-mage character and belongs to the big bag of messed up lore we started to see in the DA media after Gaider left Bioware.

Lucanis claims that Spite is impossible to reason with, he “listens to no one”. However, along the game, we discover that Spite truly listens to Rook mainly and Emmrich [Emrrich-Lucanis banter]. So… inconsistency? Or on purpose? Who knows.

In the Codex Questions On Demonic Possession we learn that Lucanis has been studying possession topics in the Lighthouse, finding that all the information that exists is focused on mages. “Every text says I should be dead or impossible”

Spite shows a high level of possessiveness: He claims Lucanis is his so no other spirit or demon would dare to claim him. He also is possessive of the revenges that Lucanis wants to collect: he breaks Lucanis’ awakened control when Illario kills Zara. And by the end of his personal quest, there is a degree of possessiveness with Treviso, claiming he will remove the Antaam from it.

By the end of Lucanis’ personal quest “Murder of Crows” there are two potential Veilguard skills that can be unlocked: Demon of Defiance or Demon of Rebellion, each of them associated with a particular legendary armour. Due to the description of each of them, we can assume that Spite enhances and accentuates his relentless,“spiteful” nature in Lucanis when Illario is imprisoned, while the description of the Demon of Rebellion, that implies that he learns the importance of saving a life over ending it, enhances the resistance aspect of Spite: an attitude of continuing and enduring “out of spite”.

If Miranthous is saved, Lucanis' goal at the end of the game is to find a way to undo his possession, even though the claims fears the loneliness that he will feel after that.

Sleep and Coffee

He liked the beverage before his possession, but now he abuses it to remain awake as much as possible. He claims that Spite can’t easily take control of him when he is awake, but he has no defences when sleeping [sleepwalk scene]. His sleepwalks frightened him [romanced scene], most likely because he fears to kill people he loves. He is a character too focused on keeping control of himself and his life, but Spite breaks this security.

He tries not to sleep much, even less in Treviso. During his wakefulness, he cleans his gear, does exercise, works on his Orlesian vocabulary, and knits strangling cords [Harding-Lucanis banter].

He seems to have a lot of dreams related to work and work failures or situations where the work gets more complicated because the situations are against him [Harding-Lucanis banter]

As part of the jokes around the theme of coffee, we find that Lucanis is offended by Neve’s coffee: prepared with boiled water and somehow ending up in something that is not liquid anymore.

After Inner Demons, he uses coffee as a reward to relax after a job, and it is part of the deal with Spite. However, this is not always shown properly in the rest of the game [narrative inconsistencies].

Flirt and Romance

He is good at noticing flirtation. It makes sense since he was raised among seductive Crows such as Illario and Teia who use flirting techniques among their strategies of attack. He is even more aware than the player when Teia is flirting with Rook, so we can assume that he chooses not to engage to Rook’s flirting due to professionalism or/and the shame he is carrying for being an abomination. It can also be interpreted as a consequence of his inexperience, so he doesn’t know how to answer a direct flirt aimed at him despite noticing it [Personal quest scenes]. Another option is narrative inconsistency and poor writing, as always.

When one of the first flirts [“you are a courageous man”] is detected [is that even a flirt?], he breaks eye contact, and diminishes the compliment [“a stubborn one, perhaps”], while at the same time, thanking it. This proves, more or less, that he recognizes the flirts, but does not engage them. But it’s not a pattern we can follow in each scene, so we can assume narrative inconsistencies.

He is confused by what people expect from him in terms of flirt or “charm”. So he asks for advice and executes the advice between a given context [Taash telling him to spread his wings in private with Rook, or Rook encouraging him to keep feeding Neve things she likes]

When other characters point out his soft or romantic side [Neve, Teia, Bellara, or Rook in scenes or banter] he does not shy away from recognising it. Teia would tease him claiming that he is showing a soft heart, to which he would not care to respond. Neve and Bellara make remarks about his romance [with Rook or Neve] that he takes without a hint of fluster, nervousness, or anything else but a “fact”. With a romanced Rook, Neve would easily make him confess that Rook is good for him without any coyness [Neve-Lucanis Banter, Taash-Lucanis banter, and Bellara-Lucanis banter]. He reinforces his confusion about what Rook sees in him, but he accepts it anyway and doesn’t shy away from openly claiming that Rook makes him happy. We can interpret that despite not being sure what to offer as flirting or charm to his Love Interest, he is not shy about it, and embraces his relationship openly.

Whenever he tries to imply any sense of seduction or flirting, he always adds a line “I hope”, or “I suppose”, reinforcing the concept that he has no idea what’s he is doing when it comes to seduction or flirt; hence why he picks any suggestion given by Rook or Taash. For example: he tried to compare the technique of killing mages to a dance or a seduction, but ended up not being sure about the latter.

Apparently, he has a romantic, sentimental side. He describes coffee blends like a goodbye kiss, bitter and sweet, while a first kiss is sweet like honey and intriguing like lavender cream. He also seems to understand that “on the matter of the heart one must be discerning”. When Rook questions what matters most for him, his answer is more sentimental than what we could expect: the people he cares about. [“You never thought about changing the course of your life? Change for the things that matter to you?” “Perhaps what matters is who I am with”]

He prefers to read romance [Harding-Lucanis banter] which fits with what was explained above.

Lucanis admits that Rook’s/Neve’s relationship is his first one, and he had an attempt to get romantic attention from Viago, but it was ignored [Emmerich-Lucanis banter]. He had given him a dagger as a present.

Lucanis’ Logbook

From this series of codices, we can infer he really likes making and following schedules. He exercises, maintains his weapons, and prepares meals as a way to avoid falling asleep [all this is confirmed later via banter too]. He has regular meetings with other party members to talk about the mission they are working on [Bellara, Neve, Harding, and Emmrich] or about Crows [Taash]. He also spends part of his time “studying”. Even if the logbooks don’t say what he is particularly studying, we can infer in the codex Questions On Demonic Possession that he is searching for answers about his possessed condition.

He is a bit uncomfortable with the lack of cycle day-night in the Lighthouse, comparing it to the timeless sense of the Ossuary [Lucanis's Logbook, 1 ].

At times, the logbooks break the schedule, and we can read exactly where Lucanis fell asleep and Spite continued writing. Spite seems to cryptically refer to something which is “a piece cut from the whole” [using playful wording], a protection cage with golden stranded weaves. Spite also draws decagonal diagrams [Lucanis's Logbook, 2 ]. My personal interpretation is Spite’ call for help since he is still in the mental Ossuary, trapped in a cage that means some protection. The “piece cut from the whole” may have some reference about the fragmented state in which Spite and Lucanis are at this point, but also may have some potential interpretation of Spite being part of a “whole” previous to his torture at Zara’s hand. This second interpretation is linked with the second poetry that Spite writes in the Logbook 3.

As Lucanis said in the quest “Coffee with the Crows”, the smells and tastes are the things that bring the strongest memories, and we also find this aspect in Spite, who seems to smell something from the “beyond” and remembers with burning pain [grieves?] his time before being twisted and tortured [Lucanis's Logbook, 3 ]. He claims he was “infinity”, not a shade, not a claw in a gut [which may be how he sees himself in Lucanis’ body: a painful sharp claw hooked in his guts]. Basically, we read in a cryptic way how Spite mourns his own change due to torture, his twisted present, and even maybe his effect on his host. Spite is as hurt in this situation as Lucanis is with his possession.

In Lucanis's Logbook, 4 we can see that Lucanis finds more clarity in the presence of Rook [“It is an hour found. An hour more clear than any other”].

If Miranthous was saved, Lucanis focuses on studying ways to recover his city while reading about possession in a very intense way. Thanks to the unique scene we obtain in this path, we know that Lucanis is determined to find a way to separate Spite from his body [Lucanis's Logbook, 5 ] and by contrast with a Lucanis whose city was saved, we can infer that the mental Ossuary was never solved, and his body is a constant battlefield for control between himself and Spite.

If Treviso was saved [Lucanis's Logbook, 5 ], Lucanis does not read about possession, and instead, we find another poem by Spite who seems to appreciate Lucanis and the sensations of his body [the wiggling toes while drinking coffee], while at the same time, he uses 2 interesting words: a small shade, repeated from the previous poem, and a “wounded spirit”, which seems to imply Spite is seeing himself as such, and not entirely as a demon. However, the small shade was a description already used in his previous poem that seemed to imply Spite, so the wounded spirit is Lucanis? If we assume these writers are using the word “spirit” as synonymous of “soul” [it would not surprise me, considering how careless and messy they are with the lore in general] this wounded spirit could also be understood as Lucanis, since a possessed person always gets “wounded/scarred” and easy to possess later if they managed a solution [but all this is real DA lore that I doubt these writers truly considered]. In this poem Spite repeats the concept of Infinite, as this original source he mourns to not to belong to anymore, but instead of a Cage, he describes a Shelter now [Lucanis’ mind is now a shelter?], and then a Storm, which may have a cheap “foreshadowing” implication with the last chapter of the game. In any case, we can read here a calmer Spite, and this last logbook even leaves a bit open the interpretation that a path for Spite to become Determination again, or being a bit closer to it, is possible.

Others

He claims he only knows how to solve problems with knives. [Bellara-Lucanis banter] which explains how difficult it is for him to work around non-death related situations or romantic ones [after all, his interest in Viago was also “solved” with a knife].

Lucanis may divide people as three different kinds: Enemies, contracts, and family [Inner Demon]. It’s clear over time that family is a broad concept for him, since it would eventually include his love interest and the team.

He doesn’t seem to be fond of promises or do not trust them [Coffee with the Crows]. This may be related to his vision of life and death, since everything is destined to die and fade, same as promises.

He seems to have an atheist vision when it comes to religion [read details here]

He has never been in Ferelden despite the Crows taking contracts from all over Thedas. He explains that since the Fifth Blight they don’t work there anymore because of Loghain. He adds that House Arainai embarrassed themselves so much that the Crows buried six different Eight Talons—probably a soft reference to Zevran and his assassinations of the guildmasters that followed years later after the end of DAO—[Harding-Lucanis banter].

He has a snake pet [Tassh-Lucanis banter]. It’s not clear if this comment is a real fact, and he has a snake as a pet or he is referring to Illario, to whom he describes as a snake a couple of times after the discovery of his treason.

He liked wyverns as a boy. He was not aware that they could be kept as pets until Harding narrates a bit about what we played in DA2: Mark of the Assassin . He considers that keeping a wyvern cannot be worse than keeping Illario. He took contracts in Orlais but never in the countryside, so he laments not having taken a target and disposing of the body as bait to watch wyverns closer [Harding-Lucanis banter].

If the resolution of the quest that describes an affair between a Venatori and a Crow ends up killing the lovers, he will say “tragic end, but a Crow’s heart is pledged to Antiva”, which may justify why he is locked out of romance if Treviso is not saved [ironically, only for Rook, he has no problems with Neve; narrative inconsistency, I suppose].

During the extended version of Lucanis’ quest [shopping with Lucanis] we learn that he has expensive tastes. He acknowledges that he lived a very comfortable life before the Ossuary, which is quite clear once we see the Villa Dellamorte.

[baphometsss]

thinking about it, the way solas thinks about/remembers mythal hits really close to home for me

when someone dies, especially if they die prematurely, there's a tendency for those who survive them to kind of... look at them through rose tinted glasses. i had this experience with my brother, who died when he was 22 and very unexpectedly at that. because he died before i really had a chance to spend much time with him (i was 11), i missed out on all sorts of things. both my family and myself have a tendency to ignore all his flaws and the bad things he did because we miss him and wish he was still around to be flawed and do bad things. because then at least he would actually be here.

i think this is what solas is doing with mythal, although it's complicated from their trauma bond and the somewhat abstract way the first elves experienced emotions. it's true what (davrin?) says -- when someone dies before you have a chance to tell them all the things you want to tell them, it stings. mythal and solas had a complicated relationship, and solas really wanted to believe that she would join the rebellion one day. she never did, because of her own pride and refusal to give up godhood, and bc she believed too well in her own ability to control the evanuris from within. to join the rebellion would be like admitting defeat, something she could not do because, as morrigan says, she can't tolerate being wrong. by his own admission, she betrayed him by joining the evanuris. then she died before they had a chance to really iron out their issues, and because solas rebelled against her (in his mind, failing her), it messed with him badly.

so he doesn't allow himself to be angry, because if he really loses it with her (the way he did with the rebel mages in his personal dai quest), what the hell is he supposed to do with that anger? there is no one to direct it at, except the world and himself. he himself is the easiest target, because he already carries so much guilt and shame over the things he's done. but he does direct it outward too. that is at least in part what he's doing when he wants to tear down the veil--not just for mythal, not just to 'repair' his past mistakes, but because he is simply angry and frustrated, too, which blocks his wisdom. and yet, he doesn't feel he has a right to that anger, even though he really does when you think of all the things mythal put him through. he cannot be angry until he has corrected his mistakes he made in failing her.

it's not surprising that he puts her on a pedestal. you do that when you're grieving and hate yourself that much. that's why his perspective is so warped, and why he's an unreliable narrator when it comes to mythal. like i loved my brother, but my recollection of him will always be coloured by his death.

mythal was not the great mother goddess of legend and she was likely not really the person solas portrays her as either. the fragment in morrigan is closest to who the legends portray her as, but it isn't the only part of her either. she was very flawed, and petty, and all the things solas described the evanuris as being. she was a monster in her own way too. but when you're surrounded by far worse monsters, you come out looking okay. that's essentially all mythal had going for her: she wasn't as much of a monster as she could've been.

it speaks volumes about solas's 'grim and fatalistic' outlook when you consider that. the more you learn about solas's past, the more you realise how important the inquisition was to him, how helpless he would've been to have bonded with these mortals who were so free in their goodwill and determination to build a better future--something that was severely lacking in elvhenan.

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

canon is my sandbox and i can do whatever i want forever, which means: Veil Jumper June and Lord of Fortune Addie! NPC headcanons be upon ye:

June's not Inky but she is still vaguely working for the Inquisition. Her research makes her cross paths with Veil Jumpers sooner or later, and after collaborating for a while decides to (loosely) join up with them

She goes by Jay among the Jumpers because yknow, introducing herself as "June" among a group that's mostly Dalish is awkward. It's a play on the letter "j" and also her "Bluejay" nickname

She'll pop up around Arlathan forest and she'll have dialogue with Bellara and Harding. If you wanna get ambient dialogue about what some of the old Inquisition members are up to, she's your guy

When you visit the Halls of Valor, there's a chance that Adriel greets you instead of Isabela. Everyone here seems to accept her authority without question

She'll occasionally drop hints about what Hawke(s) and co are up to; this may or may not include Lilian (funny coincidence that auntie 'Bela's girlfriend has the same last name as her dad!)

What are Liam and Fenris doing? That's, um.. private. Maybe you can coax it out of her if you hang around often enough! or maybe Neve can piece it together

Bonus Kala cameo: Somewhere in the Deep Roads you can come across a clearing littered with darkspawn corpses, and in the middle, the corpses of two Wardens and a mabari. There's a "worn mabari collar" memento here with "Barksparn" on the name plate

If you pay attention towards the beginning of the area, there's a mark scratched into a wall that you can't decipher except if you're a Warden. Otherwise, if Davrin is in the party, he'll tell you what it means: [date]. three. not returning.

[notebooks-and-laptops]

How to Formulate Companion Quests: Why a Lack of Theming and Overstressed Game Mechanics Got In The Way

Dragon Age: The Veilguard's companions are a lovable bunch, and it doesn't suprise me that the companions each already have a loyal and dedicated fanbase.

And yet, I do think that while I love the characters their personal storylines and quests are rather lacking. This comes down to two main issues that I want to explore in depth here: mechanics and a lack of overall theming.

So framing and mechanics; the game stresses to the player after you fail to kill the Ghilan'nain that the companions all have personal issues they need to solve to be ready to fight Ghilan'nain. The game then ascribes a tick box exercise; if you complete a companions quest then you'll get some extra swag gear and they'll get an extra cool bonus ability, as well as a nice symbol next to their tarot card.

This not only breaks immersion, but quite literally makes the companion quests an obstacle to overcome in order for you to complete the main quest. You're rewarded for completing the quests fully by making you better equipped to fight.

This by itself wouldn't have made the companion quests feel so empty of meaning, but linked to this comes the issue that Veilguard has with theming and villians.

The companion quests aren't really tied to the main story in any real way. Hardings is kind of tied to revelations you learn in the main story, but its more the lore implications than the actual current struggle against the Gods. Taash is supposedly fighting a mini-boss of Ghilan'nain but again the link between the Dragon King and Ghilan'nain is only revealed after you get to the final boss fight. The other companions are quite literally distracted by things not important to the main quest of destorying the Gods.

This is, by itself, fine. You don't neccessarily need companion quests to be linked to the main quest in order for them to feel like they're an integral part of the game. But what you do need is the companion quests to feel thematically relevant to the game.

When we were told this game was going to be about regret, I was very excited. Dragon Age has given us wonderful overarching themes before (for example, all your companions and you are in some way Dead in DAO). But none of the companion quests...actually heavily feature regret or mirror our bad guys or anti-heros struggle except for maybe Bellaras?

Harding doesn't regret touching the lyrium dagger or anything in her past. Davrin might regret losing the griffins but its more 'i need to get them back' than 'i actually did something bad that i regret'. Lucanis was locked away, and maybe he regrets his deal with spite? but it doesn't come up the way Anders/Justice's regrets and issues do. Neve regrets...nothing? Maybe 'getting her friend killed' but again, that's not actually her fault. Her theme is more about whether or not Dock Town really does need to change (a theme that's rendered kind of ridicious without Tevinter slavery being actually in the mix). Bellara regrets letting her brother die, but she didn't actually do anything that caused it the way Solas actively regrets, say, killing Mythal/Flemmeth. Emmrich's quests revolve around his fear of death. I guess he could regret not being a linch/letting manfred die, but he definitely doesn't seem to regret not becoming a lynch. Taash regrets not having it out with their mum after her quest is already over, but its not a main theme of her quest.

Now the quest line that actually works here? Is Davrins. Because while Davrin doesn't have anything to regret, Isseya does. Davrin's main villian is introduced early in the game, and is centred around Isseya who has become a monster and twisted figure of what she once was because she is tortured by the regret of blighting the griffins. This is an excellent plot! Because it mirrors the main themes of the game, and Solas's regrets too! We can feel genuinely sorry for her at the end.

But the other companion quests while fun feel like they're pulling you away from the main story, not bringing you into it. The other companion quests also only have villians that are introduced far too late in the game for us to feel a) threatened by them or b) actually care about them and very few of them have motivations beyond 'I'm evil hear me roar'. The companions who they've attempted to add regrets to - those regrets aren't 'real' in the sense that those companions are actually to blame for what happened the way Solas is the veil.

Besides Davrin, these companion quests are things that you have to overcome in order to get to the point you can do the main story, rather than a continuation of the themes of that story. They are literal distractions from the main story and then they are framed that way both in word and mechanic by the game. I feel like if they hadn't stressed this so much in the mechanics it wouldn't feel as obvious so they might have gotten away with it...but instead its just glaring me in the face.

This is a crazy choice to me. It pushes the pacing way off, and makes their plots feel like chores. Maybe fun chores, but still just chores that must be completed before we can do what we're actually here to do.

[nerdee-blondee]

back on that solas and rook BS. u know what to do VEILGUARD SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

the whole scene where solas is pulling that first betrayal and trapping rook in the prison in his place is so interesting and fun to watch

because rook is solas' mirror. solas knows what will make rook drown in their regret. so first, he makes them see and hear their companions. all of them. saying that rook is worthless. not a leader. which causes rook to fall further into the fade

then solas makes them come face to face with who was just taken by elgar'nan (bellara or neve. for me it was bellara)

and at this point, rook is at least on solid ground and starts fighting to keep their companion from falling into the depths. or, as i interpret it, is in their head trying to rationalize that it wasn't completely their fault and fighting with themselves to feel not guilty. than solas sees that rook is still fighting and throws more of the companions into the mix.

davrin and harding. the two companions that u have to choose between who will lead the distraction team. the choice that got one of them killed.

and to me, this is rook's own regret version of solas getting felassan killed (to be fair solas actually killed felassan himself BUT) felassan was a general in solas' army. and davrin or harding were the leaders of this diversion team. similar positions in both of their lives

so yes, this makes the weight of rook's regret heavier. but rook is still fighting back.

till solas throws that final curve ball. the nail in the coffin. the thing that even made solas himself break and wallow in all his regrets

varric. rook's mentor figure. even though rook at this point does not remember what happened at the ritual sight, they definitely unconsciously know cause this is the final push that breaks them. they are swallowed by these regrets and are pushed down further into the depths of the prison.

and solas knew this would work. cause he himself is still being crushed by the regrets of the loss of his own mentor figure mythal (i'm interpreting their relationship as very toxic mother and son btw)

solas was able to play on rook's own regrets like a fiddle. because they are similar. they do mirror each other

except that at the end of the day, rook is able to let go of all that regret and guilt (thanks to varric himself? a spirit who embodies varric? who knows? it's not really important) and their friends are able to find them in the fade and pull them out of this mental prison. friends, that the idea of having them itself, is a notion that solas threw away entirely.

all these things that solas was never able to do himself. he is impressed immensely when him and rook are reunited at minrathous. because yes, they are mirrors of each other. but rook is also someone who solas wishes he could be.

[littlepetcrow]

So, for the Davrin romancers:

I just replayed the Weisshaupt mission, and I think it’s safe to assume this is the first time a non-Warden Rook learns that when a Warden kills an archdemon, they die in the process. (I always take Lucanis on this mission with me, and when he finds out, he’s genuinely shocked. So surely this isn’t common knowledge.)

But, if so, the implications of everything that comes after are so heavy.

Like, when Davrin asks Rook to “Give Assan a hug for me,” when you SEE how glassy his eyes are, that must hit home for them. Rook literally says “Davrin—” a second before and touches his arm like they want to stop him. Rook knows Davrin is volunteering to die.

AND THEN, when the First Warden interrupts, Rook must have felt a surge of relief. Pure. Selfish. Relief. Because now Davrin doesn’t have to die, right?

Only for that attempt to fail, and when they bring down the archdemon again, they look at each other for a second before Rook tells Davrin to kill it. And he does. But I’ve always wondered, why doesn’t Rook say anything this time? Like “I’m sorry” or “Thank you” or “I’ll take care of Assan”? Rook knows Davrin will die doing this.

But he doesn’t, obviously.

(AND THEN, in the aftermath, when Rook talks to Solas, you can choose the dialogue option to say you would never order one of your companions to do something that would get them killed. You would never make that call. Except you just did.)

SO. Tell me. Where is the fanfiction about Rook going to check on Davrin afterwards and apologizing for giving the order? Where is the 50k hurt/comfort fic that has Davrin yelling about how he was supposed to die, how being a Warden with an expiration date gave him purpose, pushed him, but then Rook is the one breaking down and yelling back that actually, they’re glad Davrin lived, and yeah that’s probably so selfish of them but it has been eating them alive knowing they let him do it? Let him sacrifice himself? Even if it didn’t work? And that shuts Davrin right up because oh shit, Rook is crying now, Rook’s voice is breaking, Rook is devastated at the thought of him dying. And maybe that gives him something else to live for now. Making sure Rook never looks so sad ever again.

Just…food for thought.

[mercurialmalcontent]

I keep turning the events of Tearstone Island going into the Fade sequence over in my head. They're so good, and going in completely unspoiled (and thus un-influenced) with a character who I'd come with with a distinct personality for really enhanced the experience.

Mimir is a person not given to having regrets. He acts with deliberation in almost all things, so when he makes a difficult decision it's after having considered the potential ramifications and what burdens he's willing to live with, should it turn out he chose poorly after all. This attitude was sorely tested after he chose to go to Minrathous to repel their dragon attack rather than Treviso (especially once he learned the Venatori were still able to infiltrate the Archon's palace). The blight that infected the city killed so many innocents and shut Lucanis away from him. It was unfair for the residents to blame him for not being able to be in two places at once, but he couldn't blame them for that, not in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster.

It would have been easy to wallow in regret but he set his mind on restitution, as much as he could give.

Tearstone, though… Mimir chose Davrin to lead the second strike team, having every faith that he could lead the others through the blighted areas safely. He asked Bellara to clear their way through the magic gate; despite her continued uncertainity in her skills, Mimir had seen her come through time and time again, and Neve's proposal seemed way too risky.

Bellara and Davrin were like siblings to Mimir, the family he'd never had. Bellara made him smile and made him think and he was immediately ready to give her backup when other people didn't want to take her seriously. Davrin he wasn't sure he'd get along with until it turned out they were on the exact same wavelength (game-wise, I got so much approval his bond level was much higher than anyone else's for most of the game). It was like turning a corner and coming face-to-face with a twin he'd never dreamed he had. Emmerich was Mimir's best friend, but Davrin was his brother in every way except blood.

Then his faith in Bellara lost her, snatched away to who knows where. There was no time to think, no time to do anything but act and ignore the clench of his heart, no time to do anything but fight and fight and fight and not panic that she's not there to be freed. The team battered that tentacled horror's defenses and Davrin distracted her so Lucanis could take his shot-- and then he was gone, ripped apart and dragged into the abyss with Assan screaming after him. That scream rang unending in Mimir's ears as he struggled his way to the dagger before it could rip reality apart -- or was he the one screaming?

Then Solas's inevitable betrayal hit and oh, man. Even though Mimir didn't trust him -- even though I knew better than to trust him -- there was still a crumb of hope that, maybe, maybe he'd work together with us. But no, he claimed Mimir wasn't ready for leadership until he molded him that way, molded him to take his place in that miserable Fade prison. So arrogant, almost mocking! That bleak moment I felt the outrage, fury, despair, and yes, regret that I'd been set up to feel, and it was incredible!

Small wonder it took weeks to get him out of there -- even stalwart Mimir struggled desperately after all of that, asking himself what he missed, what he could have done to save Bellara and Davrin, as I was asking myself that. (I know now that there is no right choice there; it's a moment of sometimes you do your best and still fail.) But the personality he has that I stuck with throughout the game turned out to have been a perfect choice, as the specter of Varric echoed so many of the qualities I'd created Mimir to have.

He's not like Solas. Solas didn't mold shit. When Mimir told Solas he'd do whatever it takes, he meant "whatever the personal cost to myself"; it was Solas's own self-absorbed baggage that he understood it as "whatever the cost to other people."

I'm reminded of the Dark Knight questline in FFXIV, specifically the lv. 70 capstone quest, when Fray -- or rather, Esteem, the Warrior of Light's shadow self -- says, "I've sins aplenty, aye, but regrets? Not so much."

That's Mimir. Whatever his mistakes, whatever his sins, he endeavors to live without regrets -- which means approaching life with a clear head and no excuses for himself.

One more relevant quote from that questline:

Fray: Such is our lot. Such is the fate of all who are born ─- to suffer and to die. Do not seek forgiveness, for it will not ease the burden. It weighs as it should. Myste: But what of the lost? Do they not deserve to live again? Rielle: They do. In our hearts and our souls and our memories. No one likes having to say good-bye. But it's… it's a part of life. That's what makes the time we share together so precious… You can't obsess over the mistakes of the past, or you'll lose sight of the future. Of the people still with us, who need us more than ever.

[lillotte17]

Okay, I’ve done 2 play throughs and I’m well into my 3rd, so I feel like my review of the game can be (mostly) fair and not as emotionally driven as it was when I finished the first time. (this is very long >_>)

I want to start with the good things!

The game is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. I was not crazy about the stylistic change of the graphics from DAI at first, but once I started playing, I really loved it. The maps are huge and unique. I find something new every time. I love all the little puzzles and sneaky little side quests you can find. I the little sneaky cameos of items and songs from other games.

I love the mechanics of being able to use companions’ special abilities when they are not in your party. I still wish we got 3 people in our party instead of just 2 for balance reasons, but otherwise I find the fighting really engaging and dynamic.

I love that they brought back specific banter spots, shortened the time between when the next banter triggers AND allowed for recovery of the conversation if it got interrupted by something. Thank you for my LIFE. Waiting for certain banters to trigger in DAI was awful lmao.

I really appreciated the effort they put into the CC, allowing for greater body type differences and the various gender options. Long hair, curly hair, please and thank! The CC took some getting used to, but once I got the hang of it, it’s fun just to build characters, lol.

I really liked the easy upgrades and enchantments for your armors, and I LOVED being able to wear whatever the best armor was, but have a different armor visible. Great call, team! Do that for always and ever. The only qualm I had was that I would have liked to be able to change the colors on some of the outfits, but really, there was such a good variety, this is a very minor complaint.

In terms of storyline, my favorite quest was the Blood of Arlathan, and I also liked the final push at the end through Minrathous. Big surprise that the things I liked best was actually getting to fight with Solas on my team again, lol. But those where also the times where it really felt like everything was on the table, you know? Weisshaupt was a strong contender, too. That quest was so fasted paced, it made it a little hard to appreciate just how much was going on around you. But asking your local assassin to stab a god-cloud is never not funny, so that one gets good points, too.

Overall, the gameplay is really strong. The rollout was really smooth. I didn’t really encounter any bugs, except for one time I managed to change all the subtitles to French? But I think that might have been a user error. If I was just here for a generic fantasy game, this would get 10/10. It’s fun to play and it’s pretty. You can stab stuff, and throw magic around, and there are dragons.

However…

The storyline and the pacing was a mess. Which is honestly baffling from a BioWare game. I am not saying this with spite or hatred, because I know that EA tried to kill this game repeatedly, so it’s kind of amazing that we got anything at all, BUT it’s still frustrating, because…I can SEE IT. I can SEE all the pieces of a REALLY good story. An AMAZING story. The story I WANTED to play!!! And it’s like…it all got put together wrong.

The nearly nonexistent romances are honestly the worst offenders here. Even if they wanted to keep the rating down to make it more accessible to a wider audience, there is no reason why I should only have ONE opportunity to kiss my love interest over the course of an 80+ hour game. SOLAVELLAN had more unique romance scenes and kisses than you get with Lucanis and he DUMPS your character before coming back to steal your hand. Not to mention the fact that it is possible for your LI to die before you ever get to actually say you love them or anything. Davrin was my first romance. At the end of Tearstone Island like…I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t feeling my PCs grief that her boyfriend whom she had kissed exactly one time was dead. I was PISSED. I don’t think I have ever been so mad about a writing choice, and I am a certified Tragedy Enjoyer. It didn’t even feel like a good tragic blow, because they didn’t take the time to build up the romance before killing him. And Rook hardly gets a second to mourn afterwards, so it was just kind of a nothingburger that made me feel like I wasted all the time I had spent playing for it. (I went back and changed it so he lived but jfc)

Speaking of killing characters: Varric. It was a mistake. I know what they were going for. I see what they were trying to do. But it was a mistake. First of all, they relied way too much on the idea that the player has played the other games, in the sense that the story just opens with Rook already with Varric, who they have known for over a year, and then they turn around and nerf him in the first act. There’s no time to establish how Rook feels about Varric, or how they feel about this quest they’ve been on for so long, you just get thrown into it without preamble. And then, Varric is just kind of… there. He’s Rook’s cheerleader, but he almost never has any real advice, and you almost never get to have a discussion with him. Which means, when you find out what happened to him later, the emotional blow is relying almost entirely on your attachment to Varric from previous games instead of the game you are currently playing.

Also, I figured out he was dead pretty early on, so the reveal had almost no impact, and felt a bit ham-fisted, if I’m being honest.

The second reason it was a mistake is that…it just felt like an excuse to make the player hate Solas. Like, it honestly feels like that is the only reason they did it. Which seems so unnecessary? The man is responsible for the fucking blight and the death of the titans and is currently trying to tear the Veil down, and you think that’s not ENOUGH motivation for the PC to want to give him the middle finger???

Which brings us to: Solas. I love this man. I love Solavellan. I love his story. I love THEIR story. But…if I had played this game first, I don’t think I would have cared about redeeming him. All of the companions tell stories about second chances and redemption and being able to change your nature, and I KNOW that was supposed to be in reference to Solas, I know it was but… It just felt like they did almost nothing to SHOW you how much he was trying to do the right thing every time he fucked up. How badly he wanted to be a hero and a protector, and someone giving wisdom instead of orders. When we saw his regrets and talked about them with the team, I really thought it was going to be relevant later. I thought it would come up in conversation with Solas, and depending on how you talked to him about the things you saw, you could slowly guide him towards choosing a better path at the end. I thought it would all be on Rook, and their choice to take a chance to try and redeem him or not. But in the end, it didn’t matter. It only unlocked Mythal. She was the only thing that made a difference. Not Rook. Not your Inquisitor. Not any of the other choices you made in the entire game or the one that preceded it. Don’t get me wrong, I am SO grateful they squeezed a Solavellan ending in there for us, really and truly. But the fact that he was so in love with her during DAI that he was about to give up everything without her even asking, and he’s so torn up about her during Trespasser that he can hardly let her close to him because just being in proximity to her makes him want to stop everything and stay with her, and then when she shows up at the end of Veilguard and asks him to stop…he pauses for even less time to consider the option than when ROOK asks. And then Mythal holds more sway with him by like 1000%. Just. Felt very much like a downgrade. (Also I wanted a hug. He needed a fucking hug and my Lavellan would have hugged the Bad Choices right out of him)

There are other things. Dwarves getting sidelined again. Slavery in Tevinter barely being touched on. The weird idea of the Crows being a good option for orphans with nowhere to go. The SUPER uncomfortable end of Bellara’s quest where a non-elf Rook can have an opinion on what she should do with the history of her people. But those are kind of like…small potatoes. Typical BioWare story flubs tbh.

I know, my complaints are much longer than my praises, but I really do like playing the game. Really and truly. It is a good game, and I am eternally grateful that they got it to us at all. I just…wish we could have gotten the story I think they wanted to tell us, instead of what we ended up with. But as they say: That’s what Fanfic is for. <3

[calibratemehard]

Alrighty folks I finished the game. I will put non-spoiler thoughts here and then put my spoiler thoughts under the cut. Again, these are MY OPINIONS. I am happy to hear your thoughts but I'm not arguing with you because you won't change my mind.

* holy shit this is a big game

* Mournwatch is the best faction in my opinion. Idk they're just cool and not problematic lol

* there is some retconning of established facts, but I take it this way: it's been a long time since the original trilogy's events. Origins was canonically sometime almost 20 years before Veilguard - think of life 20 years ago, it was very different. A lot can change and gods coming back changes a lot. Factions grow and change and become something different. Also this is NORTHERN Thedas, an area we've never played in. With few exceptions we've always had companions from the south and learned information about the north second hand. I think that's important to keep in mind when people complain about things not staying the same or 'lore accurate.'

* I still recommend picking the same faction as your projected romantic interest

* The cameos are ... Fine. Again, it's been a long time in game. Are you the same person you were 10 years ago? 20 years? I think Morrigan is the most disappointing but my headcanon is that motherhood has really suited her, also a decision she made off screen that is explained to you during the course of the game also made her personality make a little more sense

* I think I liked this game because I went in with an open mind. I have always loved Bioware games for the writing and the companions and this game has those in spades. I loved how fleshed out the characters were though it doesn't approach the levels that say, Baldur's Gate 3 reaches. But overall it was an enjoyable experience, around 65 hours for me to finish just about everything. Though maybe shave off about 5 hours for the character creator, which was great.

Okay so now for the spoilers. DO NOT OPEN IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!

* I maxed out all of my companions and factions and nearly 100% every area. There was no quest undone. I think that's why I got a good ending, namely Solas agreeing to bind himself to the Veil, sharing a big kiss with Lavellan, and walking into the Fade together. I did lose one member, Harding, and that fucking sucked. I haven't looked into spoilers so I don't know if switching her and Davrin would have made a difference cause Davrin is a Warden and would have fared better against the blight idk. I'll have to look into it. Overall I was happy though.

* I ... Should have seen the Varric twist but I wasn't looking for it so it just passed over me. I was devastated, but I think that it was well done and well earned. Still sad though. That was the second time I cried during the finale, after Harding.

* This felt like a Bioware game to me. It felt big, it felt complex, and the humor was always there. The QoL improvements and expansion of classes and abilities made this so much fun.

* I felt the romances were lacking a bit in content, though Emmrich had suuuuch a sweet and gentle romance. I loved it so much. They banged in a graveyard in what I assume is a coffin. A+ love him, love Manfred. I just wish I had kiss options a la BG3. I got spoiled. 😅

* I'll play this again. And again. That's how my brain works. I think they need to patch a sort of 'golden nug' option into the game and a new game plus to make things better. If there are DLC, I'll happily play them.

[druckkugelschreiber]

More about slow burn Lucanis! I have not finished his Romance yet but seen some videos (and hence complains and people saying it was perfect anyhow).

Slight SPOILERS INCOMING FOR HIS PERSONAL QUEST

There are a couple of reasons Lucanis is slow on the uptake with the romance. That sort of play into each other.

First of all Spite is intense. We have all seen it. Spite is intense about Rook and there is a huge stigma around possession and being an abomination. Lucanis as a mage killer will know exactly how bad abominations can be. He worries as much as the others about his sanity. And being a genuinely caring guy (see the fav drink and cooking thing) he would rather kill himself than hurt Rook (or any of the companions) because he lost control of Spite. Especially when Spite is that interested in Rook.

To add to that comes the conversation with Davrin who asks how Lucanis survived the Ossuary and he says he shut everything down. He didn’t feel anything except what he needed to survive (hello dissociation). Like he was Down there for a year. Getting tortured, having a demon put inside him thinking no one would come to rescue him and then he‘s out and his grandma is dead and his cousin might be in on it, his city is under occupation. He has a lot to deal with and mixing romantic feelings into it has to be adding to the general overwhelm. Like his PTSD has to be as tall as the lighthouse.

Personally I’m looking forward to writing about it and showing more of his struggles (also finishing the romance and I want more romance scenes too (for everyone)).

So yeah, Lucanis has plenty of reasons to be as he is and I want to chew on him

[scottysketches]

WIP Wednesday

It's been a hot minute since I've done a WIP Wednesday post, but I'm deep in Emmrich Volkarin hell and I need to just scream about this gentle necromancer who makes me feel things in my cold dead heart lol

——

He hasn’t had this much trouble trying to get to sleep since the fall-out of the Breach in the south led to a flurry of research on the Veil and what potentially irreparable damage had been caused by the explosion at the Conclave. This time, however, it’s not because of worry or stress that sleep eludes him.

No, it’s because he feels like a lecherous old man, fantasising about a younger colleague.

Emmrich Volkarin groans, rolls over in his bed, and tries to forget — or perhaps ignore is a better word — the memory of an afternoon just gone by. When Kione (and yes, he had only just recently learnt that that was his name, not Rook) had come to him, asking to borrow a book for some so-called ‘light reading’ (but he knew that the brash, impulsive warden just needed something to take his mind off of the destruction of his home), and had thrown yet another compliment his way. Emmrich didn’t mind the flattery — in fact, he rather enjoys the harmless flirtations.

Except for the fact that they’re not so harmless, anymore. Because he’s jealous. And jealousy is a dangerous precipice he has not found himself on for many years.

In the wake of Weisshaupt’s fall, they — as a collective — had tried many things to help both Kione and Davrin come to terms with the loss, even with their own issues weighing their minds down. But nothing had worked — not Lucanis giving both the wardens some space, not Neve trying to ply the pair of them with khachapuri, not even Harding inviting them to spend some time reflecting on their loss in her conservatory. They had remained melancholy (though Kione put on a brave face around them all and Davrin just appeared to be more irritable than usual). And then something changed, and they were both lighter — if not happier, then at least on the path to happiness. It was only an unintentionally crass joke overheard between them that had clued Emmrich in as to what was different, and a furious beast had erupted in his chest. Jealousy.

They had slept together. A well-needed shag, fuelled by grief, was what it had taken to help them reconcile with the fall of a centuries-old fortress and the deaths of many of their compatriots.

He shouldn’t be feeling this way. He shouldn’t be jealous. Davrin is a much younger man, much more suitable — he’s not twice Kione’s age, for one.

But Emmrich is jealous. Because something has blossomed in his heart, something he dare not give a name.