#generic purple!rook

[redinkofshame]

JSYK just because I don't write it/post it, doesn't mean my thoughts aren't still filled with Solavellan smut on the daily. So when I saw this perfectly innocent comic my thoughts... Wouldn't leave me alone. So here, smut be upon ye.

Keria Lavellan x Solas (in the head of) x purple!mRook

🍋 explicit

Two-and-a-Half-Some

“Nice tits, by the way.”

Rook had led Keria to one of the bedrooms in the Lighthouse to show her a sketchbook full of images of herself. Unlike the rooms they’d passed on their way up, full of sentimental knickknacks and evidence of camaraderie and constant use, this room was all but barren. Clean. Sparse.

Solas’ room.

It made her heart ache, to see how alone he’d been all this time.

She raised her eyebrow at the younger man, who flushed. His expression wasn’t flirtatious so much as ‘I can’t believe I said that out loud’.

“…Sorry.”

The poor kid. He’d clearly only been trying to make a joke to ease the tension of the moment when she’d flipped from a series of tasteful nudes to… Some positions that left little to the imagination.

At least he hadn’t commented on the appearance of her anus.

She shut the book. “Don’t be. They were pretty nice back then. His sketches are a bit outdated now, though. I’m not as young as I once was.”

Rook’s eyes went unfocused for a moment, and then he said, “He, uh, he says your hard-won wisdom only makes you all the more beautiful today.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed, heart thudding. “He always was a sweet talker. It’s true then. You can hear him?”

He nodded and pointed to his temple. “Yep. Whether I want to or not.”

“And he can hear what you hear, obviously. Does he see through your eyes?”

He nodded.

“Interesting…” She took a step closer to him and raised her hand suggestively to the toggles of her shirt, designed to be easy to use one-handed. “Would you like to see an updated version? For the sake of improving the accuracy of the sketches, of course.”

His eyes went wide. “You… Want to show me your tits?”

She smirked. “I want to show Solas my tits,” she clarified. “You getting to see them is just an enjoyable side-benefit.

As long as you’re comfortable with it, of course.”

“Who in their right mind would say no to seeing the Inquisitor’s tits?” he asked, and she almost laughed at his incredulous tone. Then he added, “He’s, uh, unusually quiet. He’s not going to, like, turn me into a statue for this or anything, right?”

“He was never the jealous type,” she assured him as she began unfastening her shirt. “What about you? Any partners that would have a problem with this?”

“No. Well, partner yes, but no, we’re, uh, open to…” He trailed off, watching her hand distractedly.

She finished with the last toggle, but pointedly didn’t remove her shirt yet, waiting for him to answer.

“We’re not the jealous types, either,” he said quickly once he caught on. Then he jerked his thumb towards the door to the rest of the lighthouse. “I could go get them?”

She did laugh at that, shrugging off her shirt at last. “I think two and a half is enough for now.”

He didn’t answer, focused on her exposed skin. She arched her back prettily and ran a hand over herself, teasing her own taut nipple.

“Wow. Definitely still great.”

Keria had never though of herself as beautiful — at least, not until she’d seen the way Solas looked at her when they made love — but she’d never been particularly self-conscious either. She was surprised that some small part of her preened at the younger man’s approval.

She closed the distance between them and gently took his hand and placed it on her breast. The warmth of it and the way it moved timidly over her had her flushing with sudden need. “And can he feel what you do?”

“Who? Oh, uh, no.” Growing bolder, he had both hands on her now, kneading her breasts, thumbing her nipples delightfully.

“That’s a shame.” She ran her hand over the bulge of his britches as she said it and his breath staggered. Then she pulled back. “Unsurprising, though.”

She started on the fasteners of her own pants and Rook watched, waiting for an indication of what came next, like an eager little puppy.

Once Keria was fully nude she did a slow spin, giving both men a fully view of her decade-older body.

“I can’t understand what he’s saying,” Rook told her. “It’s elvhen. I think it’s poetry.”

“Elvhen always sounds like poetry,” she said said, affection tugging her lips and memories of him reciting beautiful words she didn’t understand while he held her against him.

She went to work on the laces of Rook’s pants, and got on her knees once his erection was freed.

Solas was always dedicated to her pleasure when they made love, rarely allowing her to do the same for him. He couldn’t stop her now, though. So she took her time and made as big a spectacle as she could, maintaining eye contact with this stranger whose head held the love of her life. She stayed focused on those eyes as she ran her tongue along Rook’s shaft, then twirled it around the head, as she took him deep, as she left long trails of saliva whenever she pulled back. Neither man said anything she could hear, though Rook’s groans were satisfying.

When she felt she’d teased enough, (and that Rook might not last much longer,) she pulled back and stood, swaying her hips artfully as she moved to the bed. She climbed on and mirrored one of the positions in the sketchbook, half-propped against the headboard with her knees spread wide.

He continued to stare after her as she stroke her slick core, displaying herself. She wasn't sure if his glazed look was from trying to hear Solas speak, or simple lust.

“Rook,” she said finally. “Take off your clothes and come here."

He jumped to it, almost tangling himself in an attempt to remove both his pants and shirt at the same time, half-tripping as he removed his socks while getting on the sheets. She used a hand on his jaw to guide him over her, in case he got confused about that, too.

He knelt between her legs and took his time admiring her, and she wondered if it was Solas that told him to run his hands up and down the insides of her thighs, to try gripping her hips and waists in different spots, to cup her breasts again. She whimpered with heat by the time Rook ran the head of his cock up and down her folds several times, wetting it before finally plunging into her.

She kept her eyes open and on him when normally she’d have closed them to enjoy the full feeling, the friction, the energetic thrusting his hips against hers. But though it felt odd to look so deep into a stranger’s eyes as he fucked her, she wanted Solas to see her.

Fortunately, the man spent most of his time watching his cock moving in and out of her and her fingers circling her clit, or her bouncing tits.

Then there was a flash, a flicker of blue spirit light, and suddenly his thrusts became pounding, movements becoming equal measures controlled and intense.

She gasped. “Solas?”

“Mah vhenan,” he breathed in the wrong voice, and then he was kissing, biting, sucking on her neck as he moved in her.

Her hand moved to his head but it was wrong, the hair was wrong, so she gripped his back instead and closed her eyes so she couldn’t see Rook anymore, just Solas, her Solas. She came almost immediately, the tension in her releasing with waves of pleasure rushing over her.

He rode her through her climax and then slowed, still, and kissed her. He hadn’t finished, still hard in her as he kissed her harder still. His tongue teased hers, plunging deep, like he couldn’t taste enough of her. She wrapped her arm around him as tight as she could, kissing him with a decade of frustration and longing.

When they pulled back for air she kept her eyes firmly closed, and perhaps he understood because he pulled out and she was suddenly moved, turned over so she was positioned on her knees. She arched her back exaggeratedly, still putting on a show for him. He ran his hands along her thighs, grabbed handfuls of her ass, ran fingers through her folds as he lined up his borrowed cock. He gripped her hips with both hands as he plunged into her, and she moaned his name, and, “I love you, I love you, ar lath ma.”

Whatever he said in breathless elvhen was lost on her as he pounded into her again and again, taking her like an animal. When she came a second time she finally felt his movements become less controlled, insistent and clumsy as he chased his own climax as last.

His movements slowed, stilled. She stopped propping herself up on her shaking arm and allowed herself to collapse on the mattress, and he came down with her.

“Are you still in there?” she panted.

“Yes, vhenan.” For some reason part of her was still surprised the voice was wrong. He rolled them onto their sides and she gripped his arms hard around her, unwilling to let go.

“How long do you have?”

“Not long.” He pressed feather-soft kisses against her shoulder. Then he sighed. “But I can’t leave before I tell you how sorry I am. For everything.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, unwilling to waste this precious moments on his constant guilt. “Var lath vir suledin. I’m going to find a way to save you.” To free him from his prison in the Fade. To be together in this new world he’d made.

He kissed her shoulder again, and she thought it sounded like he was smiling when he replied, “I know.”

I know. Not ‘I know you will try’’. Just ‘I know’. He believed her.

“Solas…” she started, but she trailed off.

It didn’t feel like him anymore. Somehow, she knew he had gone.

“Rook?” she tried instead.

“Uh, yeah” he said as he awkwardly pulling his limp dick out of her. “I’m back.”

Keria bit back her disappointment to put on a satisfied smile as she turned to face him. He looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself. “Hey. You doing okay? That was… Unexpected. I didn’t know uncontrolled horniness could lead to a spontaneous possession.”

He laughed, and settled back comfortably. “Yeah, neither did either of us.”

She ran her hand along his chest. “Are you feeling okay about it? I just want to check because we didn’t discuss the option before hand.”

He nodded. “Definitely. I think… I think I could have stop it? The possession. It felt weird, kind of like a build up of pressure, but I think I could have stopped it.”

“Why didn’t you?” As a mage she'd been taught to protect herself against possession her whole life. She couldn’t imagine just letting it happen.

Rook shrugged. “I wanted to see what would happen.”

Her mouth was open, but she couldn’t think of a response to that. At last, she shook and said, “Varric said you’d be trouble.”

He grinned. Then, looking a little apologetic, he said, “I was ‘there’ the whole time, you know. Like, I could still, uh, feel everything.”

She made sure to smile comfortingly so he’d know she wasn’t upset by this. “Side benefits indeed.” She kissed him — Rook, not Solas. He deserved to feel wanted, too. “Thanks for the tour of the lighthouse. Glad to be part of the team.”

[ineed-to-sleep]

Some sketches I did to try to get a feel for what I want my Rook to look like 🤔

[vaguely-concerned]

spite plays with the whetstones when lucanis cleans his knives oh my god... 🥺🥺🥺

(also the thing they're doing here with 'trauma will create a tantruming toddler in your head that refuses to settle for anything but total truth and authenticity and won't be bought off with bullshit or banished by abuse or neglect, you have to actually listen and care for it even when it's being ugly'......... they are cooking with this metaphor and it's also consistently so hilarious in action I can't fucking believe they laid off mary kirby for so many reasons but this is one of them. I also like the complexity of the relationship here -- even right at the beginning of the arc lucanis has some tenderness for and understanding of spite's fundamental innocence in having been put in this situation too, for all the resentment and fear and frustration that's also there. and if spite didn't actively force him to every step of the way I don't think lucanis would ever have actually faced up to and acknowledged the fact that he has y'know. the actual needs of a human being and can't persist on coffee and workaholism alone. it fucking sucks that all of this happened. but also. there's a crack in everything that's how the light gets in etc. like. god. okay then I guess)

[felassan]

John Epler in the BioWare Discord (August 7th, again) -

User: "Since the dialogue wheel is coming back, will our choices set our Rook as diplomatic/humorous/aggressive with varying tone and voice lines similar to Hawke being able to be blue/purple/red?" John: "Not to the same degree - we want to give you the freedom to play your Rook differently depending on who they're talking to (you might be kinder to your companions and brusque with authority figures, for example), but your tone choices will have an impact within a conversation and, sometimes, with specific characters across multiple conversations." --- User: "I have to ask: how muscular can we make the elves?" John: "Reasonably so. You won't be making any massive bodybuilders but like... Timothy Olyphant?" User: "As a follow up what about humans and qunari? Quite muscular a la arnold or big viking type? Or not so much that lvl?" John: "Larger lineages (Qunari, esp) are bigger by default so the upper bounds are going to be bigger, but for modeling and animation we did want to put some limits on it. But your Rook can look pretty reasonably muscled, regardless of lineage choice." --- User: "Are there any time-sensitive quests (in terms of gameplay time, that will fail automatically if not addressed in a timely manner), and if there are please tell me they're at least indicated as such in some way?" John: "There are quests that can go away and technically 'fail' if you don't address them - but, to be VERY clear, this is not an in-game timer, but rather as you progress the game's story forward. That said, we do try to sign post them as much as possible." --- User: "Does Rook ever get the choice to cuss?" John: "Yes. You'll know when you're doing it, and we leave it up to you to make the choice, but sometimes, cursing is exactly what the situation demands."

[character limit text break!]

User: "Does the bioware team read the other channels and if so do they think we're unhinged or endearing?" John: "Little of column A, little of column B. But I mean, I've been online for 27 years, the internet has ruined me as much as anyone." --- User: "all the Rooks we've seen so far are wearing purple, please tell me we dont have to wear purple" John: "Everyone else can wear whatever colour they want but you, specifically, must always wear purple." --- User: "All the games have had unique faction symbols for our protagonist (Warden, Champion of Kirkwall, Inquisition) I assume there will be one for the Veilguard Will the symbol for it get released before the game or is this something that will be revealed in-game/after it’s launched?" John: "Every faction has their own symbol - including the Veilguard themselves! You may have noticed it in some of the art out there." --- John: "As a general comment - one thing I want to be super clear on - even as creative director there are things I can say, and things we're not ready to talk about. I'd rather spend my time answering what I can instead of a dozen 'sorry I can't talk about that yet' - especially since this channel is on slow mode." --- User: "There are blood effects in combat after Rook hits an enemy. And I think a developer shared images of the blood effects on hit after the reveal. Will characters be covered in blood or other environmental effects? Like getting wet from walking in puddles or muddy from running on dirt?" John: "There are environmental effects that persist on characters, depending on the environment you're traversing. They're subtle, but they're there!" --- User: "how many tattoos can we choose from? are there also full bodied ones too?" John: "I don't know the exact number, but there are quite a few. Some are full body as well, though you have control over colours and opacity on a more granular basis."

[character limit text break!]

User: "Of the zones/areas revealed what was the most challenging to design?" John: "Each has its own unique challenges. Arlathan seems simple because - well, it's a forest, right? But what about Arlathan makes it different than places you've been before? How does it fit into the established lore? Minrathous is a different kettle of fish because we've talked about it extensively and in a way that meant it HAD to be grander and more impressive than anything we've built before, which can be a tall order. The team did a fantastic job on all the areas, though." --- User: "which faction has the best fashion, in your opinion?" John: "Crows. Largely because 'black leather and feathers' isn't a look I could pull off in the real world but I am glad my Rook can." --- John: "Alright folks. I've gotta head back to work, but please keep asking questions and I'll answer what I can as soon as I can!"

[source: the official BioWare Discord]

There was also this question and answer:

User: "Can we name our saves like in Origins?" John: "I had to double check because I was about 95% sure on the answer, but also, I've been on this project for its entirety and sometimes I remember features that we had to cut (or never actually built) - yes. You can name your saves to reduce confusion."

but the answer may have now been deleted.

[rpgchoices]

Very short non spoiler review of Veilguard act 1

I played only to chapter 8, which should be still in act 1, but I am not going to add any spoilers. This is a very generic bulletpoint list of opinions.

GAMEPLAY

Intro is great, art is pretty good too, even the characters

combat is very fun, but I still preferred Inquisition combat

the world is extremely empty. There is one or two talking npc for each faction and that is. Secondary characters do not exist. Quests are all generic (ex. Random nameless character "hey, this person disappeared, can you find them?" with no extra story or explanation)

barely any animals or surprises in the world. The only exploration factor is looking at landscapes and doing some puzzles

there are only three type of puzzles: move object into place to activate door, destroy blight to free door to open, destroy crystal to free door to open. That is it.

choices that matters are identified by the game with a sign, and you will also have a sign that will let you know which dialogue was affected by what

loved the jumping around and the sliding down

you can pet any cat or dog

the world feels empty, empty of lore, empty of characters, empty of animals, quests, people

CHARACTERS

companions are the only characters in the whole game, plus a few associated characters to them

barely any banter and the only banter present is very superficial or more on the funny side

good thing is that if banter is interrupted by a combat it will continue later

my favorite part was seeing characters talk and interact in the lighthouse

do not expect cameo, and if there are cameo they are very short and very generic

companions are very good, very kind, very nice, with little consistency between their characterization and how they behave (ex. Neve is a detective, but she never asks anything or acts differently from other characters or even seem interested in what is going on)

companions seem almost flanderized, with mainly one character trait each

dialogue is sometimes extremely clunky, with "textbook answers" that seem written with AI instead of a writer. It is all "tell, do not show", so it is more likely that a character says "I am shaken" over actually showing how they feel

characters seem to act often like exposition machines, and knows things they definitely should not know

ROOK / PLAYER

amazing character creation options

I played as elf and it has little reactivity, maybe a bit less than Inquisition

the faction has more reactivity, and there are multiple dialogues with your companions about it, mainly little comments that make it feels like Rook has a backstory (much better than inquisition)

Rook facial expressions and movements are a bit strange sometimes, making it seems like he is always smiling and happy even when he should not be

the "purple" dialogue options are a bit meh, definitely not as funny as DA2, and I think "red" might fit more (in my attempt to try and make a more serious Rook)

you cannot really shape Rook's personality

also you cannot disagree with your companions, there is no dialogue choice to disagree or fight with them like in previous games. Most of the dialogue seems to be divided in a few categories: Exposition requests; Flirting; Supportive comment; Joking comment but still supportive.

STORY AND QUESTS

It does not feel like Dragon Age.

The game take theories and secret information from previous games and make it the standard world knowledge

there is no urgency

side quests are forgettable

story is very weirdly paced

each companion has a post-recruitment quest to know them

factions and world seems sanitized. We do not hear about the darker side of the Crows, or about Tevinter's slavery if not in passing

the story is okay but would have benefitted A LOT from hiding the villains and introducing them later. When I say a lot I mean from a 6/10 game to a 8/10 game.

also never thought I would say this, but I miss the Chantry. There is barely any mention of any lore

also only three choices matter - but do they? it felt like everything was a blank state

ROMANCES

By the end of act 1 you can still flirt with everyone.

A lot of flirting options for all characters and if you skip some of them you still get the next ones

I had no romance specific scene yet so it looks like you can flirt with everyone for quite a while before deciding

the flirting is all very PG13 and it is more allusions than actual overt flirting (I mainly flirted with Davrin and Emmrich)

for now I have seen no characters flirting with each other's

I think around chapter 7 and onwards the pacing gets much better, and the writing of the quests a bit more interesting. It honestly felt like a different game in some parts, and I have no idea what happened there. It feels like the game is:

Amazing prologue, probably the best DA prologue yet

First recruitment character and first mission - completely downhill with writing

Pretty slow and weird paced then until chapter 7-8

[yuri-is-online]

You know I misread that last ask but now I'm curious, which of the yutus look like which parent more? And what are some distinctive features some yutus have?

Well, I try to leave things like hair color/texture and skin color up to the reader. Not everyone looks like me so if I just base the way Yutu looks off of me it'd be sort of isolating I think.

There are some things I think the various Yutus would take from their parents though so make of this what you will, and do not feel bound by it if you don't like it

Heartslabyul

Riddle's Yutu is shorter than his father, I like to think he has similar facial expressions. They pout and scowl the same way. I think he would have similar strands of hair as Riddle's little antenna that behave the same way when he's animated.

Trey's triplet children are all very tall, Yushi is a head shorter than her siblings and Yutres is the tallest. The three of them all have some issues with eyesight, Yutres is as bad as her father, Yushi doesn't need glasses until she hits highschool and Yutu is able to get away with only reading glasses. I like the idea of them having darker colored hair but that's just me.

Cater! Yutu takes more after Yuu physically, but his voice sounds very similar to Cater's. They have similar laughs and smiles, maybe due to having a similar sense of humor but you suppose he wouldn't know.

Ace! Yutu... I sort of like the idea of him being a copy paste of his dad. He has Yuu's hair and skin tone, but the build, eye shape, even his nose are the spitting image of his father. Ace is super smug about it until the kid learns to talk back.

Deuce and his mom both have dark blue hair and bright blue eyes, but other than those two features I think Yutu would take after Yuu.

Savanaclaw/Octavinelle

The beast men and merfolk are a lot more complicated due to their inhuman appearances, in general I think that these Yutus would take their color schemes from the animals their fathers are based off of, but things like hair texture, body shape, and physical mannerisms would be taken from Yuu.

Leona! Yutu's hair looks more or less like a mane, and it is on the darker side similar to his father's. He is naturally tall and muscular, though how much so is dependent on Yuu.

Ruggie is smaller and has a tendency to hunch over, the same goes for his Yutu.

There are many colors of wolf, so Jack's Yutu does not need to be a carbon copy of him, but the color scheme does stick to what he would look like if he could turn into a wolf.

The twins are moray eels. There are a lot of different colors of morays, I'm particularly fond of the polkadot ones, but they both have a streak of black in their hair. I like to think that their Yutus would have a streak in their hair of Yuu's natural hair color in a similar space. I also like the idea of them inheriting their father's heterochromia, but with one eye that is the same color as Yuu's and one yellow eye.

Azul! Yutu is more or less a carbon copy of his father in his merform, but his eye color and hair texture come from Yuu. His skin color is tricky, but I would default to it being the same as Yuu's, just with an unnaturally cool purple undertone. He is bulkier and taller due to needing to maintain a degree of stamina and physical strength to use his unique magic.

Scarabia

I think Kalim's Yutu would have his eyes and hair color, but he looks a lot more like Yuu, which makes his father very happy. He has his father's laugh and smile, and he really enjoys doing both.

I like to think that Jamil's Yutu inherits his hair. He is just as obsessed with taking good care of it as his dad is, but other than that I don't have much sorry.

Pomefiore

In general I think if a character has an unnatural eye color it would trump Yuu's, so Yutu is getting those lovely lavender eyes of Vil's. I think he would also get the long lashes, but that's because I enjoy drawing those.

In Rook's case I gave both Yutu and his older brother Rook's eyes, both color and shape, because I like them but also his unique magic is related to his sight (sort of) so I like his genes being very determined to pass that feature on.

Epel's hair and eye color are both things I think would trump Yuu's, and I think he would be on the shorter side.

Ignihyde

Yahoo you know your boy has sharp teeth and that rgb enabled fire hair. I think Yutu Shroud's eyes would be yellow too, but he likes to style his hair like Yuu's it helps him feel closer to them.

Diasomnia

Malleus! Yutu does eventually grow in small horns and black scales, but his hair color is the same or similar to Yuu's. His eyes are the same as his father's and he has some sharp canines. Princess Tamago sort of looks like a clone of her dad, but she has the same skin color as Yuu. I'd like to think she has their eyes, and that this bothers certain people in the senate but filled her father with joy.

Lilia is short, his Yutu is short, they both have the same very cute eyes and little fangs. He will dye Yutu's hair fun colors when he gets older, assuming Yutu hasn't decided that's cringe.

Silver's hair is silver due to blessings from the fae, so while Yutu doesn't have that (at first) I think his son would get his eyes

Sebek's hair color and eye color are passed on to Yutu, but other than the colors he looks a lot like Yuu in a twist of fate that doesn't annoy him as much as it would have when he was young and in denial.

Edit: Extra

Rollo, please don't ignore me and refuse to come home -;-;- because i forgor you for 10 seconds

I think Rollo! Yutu would be very very tall and have his father's rbf. His eyes and hair color would be the same, but his facial features and mannerisms come from Yuu so he doesn't look uncannily like his father until he's much older.

[bloedewir]

As we know there will be a memories based mechanic to re-live the past in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. No spoilers here about the certain episode or why or who or what even happened but the point is: player can affect the memories.

And that's actually great to see how the idea itself evolved since Dragon Age: Inquisition.

When you speak with Solas and ask him about Ostagar, he replies that Loghain was a traitor AND Loghain was an experienced general who tried to save his soldiers. Because there's no truth in memory. It's good and bad, black and white; it's both, depending on somebody's perspective.

And now we can see it by ourselves.

Rook don't actually change the past, they choose what's important personally for them to pay attention on and what kind of lesson they'll learn. What they see in the past, bright side or dark side or it's alternating or mix? That's how memory works. It's just your prism of perception but never an undeniable truth. So there can be no one opinion or canonical vision or rights and wrongs, just you and your interpretation. Triumph of a free thought.

Isn't it cool?

..and then somebody starts yapping about just how great dragon age once was and how bad it is now because something something purple color blah-blah fortnite. uh-huh. prism of perception.

14 days left

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, have you finished watching Black Butler: Public School Arc? :'D I recently finished watching the anime, It was good! I loved it! I know a lot of fans were disappointed with the different art styles/animation, but studio CloverWorks did such an amazing job! I wonder when we'll get another season, probably in another 4 years 🫠

Obviously, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the main characters and the Twst cast. Especially that one scene where Ciel walks to the Purple House/Violet Wolf dormitory, and I instantly thought, "No way, that's basically the ramshackle Dorm!"

That being said, just for the funsies, if the Twst cast were to be students in Weston College, which dorms do you think they would be assigned to? We've got Scarlet Fox, Sapphire Owl, Green Lion, and Violet Wolf. I think it’s a fun scenario to imagine the Twst cast in Weston College lolol.

Oooh, I actually don’t watch a lot of anime (it’s hard for me to sit still for like 20 minutes straight) 😅 but it’s nice to know that people are enjoying the adaptation of the Public School arc! I have fond memories of that part, even though I no longer follow Black Butler. I blame it for the horrible realization that I find Mr. Phantomhive hot—

And yes, lots of people have pointed out the similarities between the BB Public School arc and TWST. It makes sense since Yana was the creative spearheading both; there was sure to be spillover!

xbjsvsjww442,2!funNbejw 😭 I don’t remember the houses that well, so I did a quick Google search before writing these up. (Apologies if I misinterpreted something!) This is where I would slot the 22 NRC boys:

Scarlet Fox/Red House - for students of high class and noble lineages

Malleus (prince, duh)

Riddle (counting upper middle class since Riddle’s parents are also upper middle class; therefore the wealth can be considered generational)

Kalim (rich Rich RICH)

Leona (could also toss him in Blue or Green house as a little jab at his being second in line but I’ll be yasashii to him)

Sapphire Owl/Blue House - for students who are at the top of academics

Azul (all that shady contract work and abusing loopholes takes a lot of brainpower :v)

Idia (tech geek)

Ortho (is literally an artificial intelligence android)

Ace (okay, maybe his grades suck but I’m counting his cheeky cleverness here)

Jamil (he’s not allowed to excel in TWST because of Kalim so assume he is allowed to excel in these circumstances; if not, maybe he’d be in Red House with Kalim as his attendant 😞)

Jade (pretty crafty in general; prefers to plot before acting or resorting to violence)

Green Lion/Green House - for students who excel in athletics

Jack (see: arms)

Sebek (see: Arms)

Silver (see: ARMS; could also put him in Red House but that would be a spoiler www)

Ruggie (not super strong but pretty lanky and swift; could also work in Blue House for his street smarts)

Floyd (throw fists first, ask questions later twin)

Deuce (ex-delinquent; brute forces his way though problems with his sheer stubbornness)

Violet Wolf/Purple House - for students who are accomplished in the arts

***I expanded the definition of “the arts” to include acting, cooking, music, etc. As a result, this iteration of Purple House is more… flashy… and less gloomy.***

Trey (baker)

Vil (HUGE in the entertainment sector)

Cater (influencer ✨, loves aesthetics)

Rook (he’s constantly in pursuit of beauty; see also: concealed A R M S)

Lilia (he’s… creative)

Epel (dragged along here with the rest of Pomefiore, but does have artistic skills via his apple cutting)

[damallarky]

Truce

There was an influx of Papae!Solas content and I wanted to share a WIP I was working on that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with or where it's going to go in the grand scheme of my Inquisitor and Rook's story.

For context:

Neria is my Lavellan and Solas's twelve-year-old daughter. She is at the Lighthouse because of reasons.

Ren is my Rook. He is my Lavellan's oldest brother.

Solas is busted from the Fade by Rook and Co. Because that is going to happen Bioware.

Neria does not appreciate the strange man who is suddenly in her and her mother's lives.

To Neria, he is the Interloper and must be Stopped.

Stuff happens, and Neria has a change of heart and is willing to give the guy a chance.

However, first, she needs to set some ground rules.

Enasali (who is briefly mentioned) is the Ill-Advised Pre-Veilguard Solavellan Hookup Baby

AKA why it was Varric trying to talk Solas down and not Lavellan.

AKA why Varric has gray hair. Sorry dude.

Neria is too much like her father. I love her.

Neria found him in the library, speaking in low tones to Emmerich and Uncle Ren as they poured over some massive tome. Unnoticed by the three men, Neria used the opportunity to study the bald elf, whom Mamae claimed to be her father. 

He had quite a bit more color since her uncle pulled him out of the Fade. He no longer looked so pale and sickly, and the dark circles under his eyes had started to fade. He still looked tired, to be sure, but it was less somehow. He also stood straighter, taller, as if he had been carrying something heavy on his back and was finally able to relieve his burden. 

There were other things Neria noticed about him as well. Features that were familiar to her. Features that she knew didn’t come from her mother but never truly seemed to realize that they came from someone else. Like how his ears were shaped similarly to her own or how they both had a cleft chin, though hers was noticeably less prominent. 

And then there were the eyes. 

Neria knew that she had her father’s eyes; her mother had told her as much growing up. But it never truly registered with her, until she met the man they called Solas and saw her own grayish purple eyes stare down at her. 

The same grayish purple eyes that were currently watching her intently. 

Apparently, she had been noticed. Great.

“Neria, did you need something? Is everything alright?”, her uncle asked. 

Neria fought the growing urge to run away, and instead crossed her arms and tried to give her best “serious” face, like her Aunt Cassandra wore when she meant business. 

Neria wanted to show that she meant business, too. 

“I wish to speak with Solas,” she said, in her best Aunt-Cassandra-Serious-Business-Voice. Figuring that might have been a little too demanding, she added, “When he has a minute to talk. If that’s ok?”

“Of course,” Solas said, perhaps a little too quickly. Emmerich and Uncle Ren shared a look. Emmerich shrugged.

“Yeah, sure, we could use a bit of a break,” her uncle agreed. He and Emmerich grabbed the book and left the library, her uncle giving her shoulder a small squeeze as he walked by. 

And just like that, Neria found herself alone with her father for the first time in her life.

“You wished to speak with me, Neria?” He asked, gently.

Neria cleared her throat.

“Yes. I wish to parley,” she declared. 

She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting Solas’s reaction to be. She had figured he would laugh at her and tell her to stop being childish. Or maybe even get angry at her for being so demanding of an adult. What she wasn’t expecting, was for Solas to nod with actual, genuine seriousness. He clasped his hands behind his back, like one of those statues in Orlais of human generals.

“Very well,” he said, before gesturing to one of the many plush chairs seated around the table in the center of the library. “Please, take a seat.”

“Solas, it has come to my attention that I might have been a little bit mean to you.” Then, because she didn’t want to him to think she was going soft, she added, “Just a little bit, though!” 

Solas nodded, solemnly, his face carefully neutral. Neria continued.

“As such,” she said, “I wish to declare a truce.”

Solas’s neutral mask slipped, and Neria noticed the corners of the man’s mouth tick upwards ever so slightly. With his hands folded on the table, he leaned forward so that he was eye level with Neria.

“Ma nuvenin. What are the terms of this potential truce?”

“First; I will not call you ‘Papae’ or ‘Father’.”

“Of course,” Solas agreed, “I would not ask that of you if it made you uncomfortable.”

Neria blinked. This was easier than she thought!

“Um, ok. Good,” she said. “Second term; you will call me Neria and only Neria. No stupid nicknames, like da’vhenan. Ok?”

For a fraction of a second, something flashed in Solas’s eyes. Something that looked a bit like hurt. Or maybe regret? However, it came and went so quickly that Neria wasn’t sure if she actually saw it at all.

He nodded.

“Third; if I want to be left alone, I want you to leave me alone. Ok?”

Once again, Solas nodded. 

“I would not wish to encroach upon your space.”

Neria mirrored her father’s pose, clasping her hands together and laying them on the table in front of her. She didn’t quite strike the same imposing figure as Solas, but, for being twelve, she thought it was close enough. 

“Good,” she declared. “Now, in return, I will permit you to continue to court my Mamae and help her take care of Enasali. But if, and only if, you continue to make Mamae happy.”

Solas’s neutral mask slipped once more and it was obvious he was actively trying not to grin. Neria narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating the lack of seriousness on his part. Solas coughed and his face went carefully blank once more. 

“Ir abelas,” he said, his voice serious despite the twinkle still in his eyes. “Neria, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make your mother as happy as I possibly can for as long as she will allow me to do so.” 

Now was the part that she didn’t necessarily want to agree on, but she knew it was only fair. It was the whole reason why she was speaking to her father in the first place.

“And finally,” she said, reluctance clear in her voice, “I will do my best to… to give you a chance.”

[fabuloustrash05]

Things I Would Change/Add in TMNT 2012

A rewrite post, but it's a lightning round with quick explanations.

Leo never crushes on Karai, but he does hang out with her because it gives him a sense of freedom and rebellion. When with her he gets a strange feeling, like he already knows her from somewhere. The other Turtles feel the same when they meet her. This feeling turns out is their sibling bond.

Donnie and April are friends to lovers, basically Donnie doesn't start crushing on April until around the end of season 1 and it becomes a slow burn from there. (Edit: Full rewrite is HERE)

Hun would be introduced and established as the leader of the Purple Dragons earlier on. Also Fong would get a little redemption arc.

Leo wears a leg brace for the rest of the series after his fight with Shredder in the season 2 finale. He also has a slash scar across his plastrom.

Irma is not revealed to be Kraang Subprime in disguise, instead she escapes New York with April, Casey and the Turtles, and lives on the farmhouse with them.

Irma and Donnie bond and become good friends (irmatello maybe??)

April and Casey would officially date, but then break up mid season 3 (they stay good friends)

Leo x Casey

Timothy would come back in season 3 as a half mutant like Karai (think of his powers like Sunita from Rottmnt), he'd even continue his ninja training and become an official ninja of the Hamato Clan.

Brainwash Karai never happens, it's replaced with Timothy plots and other mutants trying to get Donnie's retro mutagen.

We would actually get to see how Slash and the others met and became the Mighty Mutanimals (there's actually a comic book covering it so that could've been an ep!!)

Irma and Rook are the same person, Rook went undercover as a human as a way to keep an eye on April and find the Turtles for the Utrom council. That's why she was so noisy about April's "secret friends" in season 2 (Edit: to hear more about this concept, I made a full post on it HERE)

Irma and Rook being the same person leads to Bishop being introduced earlier on as the one who give the Turtles and Mutanimals intel on the Kraang's mutagen bomb plans mid season 3 instead of Kurtzman. Bishop would also indirectly mention and foreshadow the Triceratons and hope the Kraang don't get their attention (planting earlier seeds for the season 4 finale)

Instead of blowing up the Earth with the Black Hole Generator, the Triceratons just to a hostile takeover on Earth, turning it into a prison for in inhabits, with secret plans to blow it up within a year. With the help of Fugitoid, the Turtles, April and Casey escape Earth on a mission to take down the Triceratons. Meanwhile on Earth, Splinter, Slash and Karai form a rebellion to fight against the Triceratons and give their friends time.

Mona and Sal would be in more episodes, specifically after their betrayal, they join the Turtles on their mission as a way to repay them for forgiving them.

Returning to Earth, Mona meets the Mutanimals and she decided to stay on Earth earlier instead in season 5, she also appears in more episodes such as Mutant Gangland and actually showing up in Insecta Trifecta. Her and Splinter also get to bond. (Edit: Full rewrite is HERE)

The burnt scar Karai gets in Broken Foot remains.

Shinigami is revealed to be a villain and a spy Shredder sent to keep an eye on Karai. She betrays Karai in the season 4 finale. (Edit: Cause people keep asking me YES she does get redeemed! Check out my full post on the this rewrite)

Splinter still dies in the season 4 finale, or another way I could do it is he gets badly injured and paralyzed from the waist down, being in a wheelchair for the rest of the series. Either way, Leo would still become the new sensai by the end of season 4.

Shinigami is the one to start the Shredder cult and know how to summon Kavaxas. Tiger Claw is just there for the ride.

Alopex returns to help the Turtles stop her brother.

Tiger Claw redemption??

Baxter Stockman returns as a season 5 villain, he's been using his smarts to turn himself into a cybernetic being, missing his mutant form and wanting to go back. He basically goes mad.

Fugitoid returns, but now works for Dregg and Newtrailzer, being found by Dregg and reprogrammed to think the Turtles are his enemies. Donnie ends up saving him.

Mona Lisa and Sal Commander backstory in When World Collide

Raph gets the electric powers, NOT Mikey

Slash is in When Worlds Collide instead of Karai

April and Casey meet Renet and join her and the Turtles on their Halloween time travel adventure. (Edit: full rewrite HERE)

Usagi becomes a mentor for Leo and helps him overcome his stress and insecurities of being a leader.

Mutant Apocalypse happens (kinda) but Renet gets involved and has present Turtles team up with MA!Turtles to save their futures and rewrite history (cause Renet claims the MA was not supposed to happen) The series and finale episode ends with the present day Turtles winning, saying goodbye to their future selves and wishing them luck in their new future. Renet sends the MA!Turtles to their corrected future. As they go through the timeportal, Leo is demutanted from being a monster, Donnie gets his body back, etc. In their true future, the Turtles find all their friends alive and well in the lair, greeting them as they are about to celebrate their 50th mutation day. Raph and Mona are happily married with kids, Donnie and April are married and he's a famous scientist, Leo is highly respected as a great leader and sensai of the Hamato clan with multiple students (one of them being Mira) and Mikey is a successful restaurant owner. The show ends with them all enjoying a slice of pizza, finally at peace and living out their happily ever after.

[teamdilf]

I love how, in the odd-numbered Dragon Age games, my protagonists are generally capable, professional adults. In the even-numbered games, they’re feral hot mess gremlins* who break out in a rash the moment they need to actually be serious.

Given that Varric is the commonality here, let’s blame him.

*I know I haven’t actually dug in and played Rook yet but she’s going to be just as purple as my Hawke is.

[snackugaki]

...man, i hate squawking in the text field, but the tags cannot contain me on this

ok so i’m a normal amount of normal about this. absolutely.

however...

i am also unattended and so my actions will prove why that is probably not great.

anyway, i love monikers, nom de plumes, sobriquets, y’know, pseudonyms if you will, code names even. 8D y’wanna know how I came up with them??????//?

okay okay okay, so! I will (until someone comes for me, but no one will ‘cuz y’all are cowards, I say, knowing my childhood nostalgia is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in my affection for Next Mutation but also i love camp) acknowledge and self-impose the title of Next Mutation trash lover as a disclaimer for why I’m gonna do another quick run down of Venus’ origin again. but a quick skim because a bitch is losing against her insomnia demon rn. 

now, a lot of the kids know that Venus = magic, in general. however, at least to me, intentionally or not Venus was more portrayed like a daoist... ‘magician’ of sorts, but less in a real world daoist sense and more of a cultivator in the xianxia genre sort of way. granted she wears the taijitu (yin yang symbol) and literally showed the boys her box of herbal medicine (and one dessicated vampire heart lololol). and now that I mentioned all of that, I can segue into why I gave her “White Snake” as a code name-- in that I chose it after Bai Suzhen/Bai Shejing which now that my insomnia riddled mind  is typing it out... my reasoning is actually pretty shallow, they both cultivate technically speaking, both work with herbal medicine and they just wanna help people. also just ‘cuz IDW has Venus wearing white now.

wao. thassit ig welp

jennika’s I just futz around with her name like jennika jenn i ka jen nika nikaaa niko niki nike nike like the greek goddess of victory. great. ok cool now ochre? no, mustard? no, gold? yes, ok nike gold it is lolz

‘cuz I was following the formula like in the show, Purple Knight, Yellow Submarine, Red King, Orange Pawn, Blue... something, Rook? Bishop? idk lemme alone but also there’s only so many chess pieces so I kept the color coding at least

then just asked tychou for what they’d think Mona Lisa’s code name’d be for as much as Venus and Jennika are my girls, Mona Lisa’s tychou’s.

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Combat shot, with the Ability Wheel open. Elf sword and shield Warrior Rook (cape and flowing hair!!!), Harding and Bellara fight a red lyrium ogre. Compared to early game, like here, more abilities and parts of the ability wheel are unlocked. The display advises that the ogre is vulnerable to fire damage and resistant to what looks like necrotic[?] damage, which we know is a thing (and it makes sense why that wouldn't affect darkspawn much). The purple and bronze color theme of the game is evident in the display. The bottom three icons must be Rook's current skills. The icons on the right are Bellara's, the left Harding's. I wonder if the bar at the bottom is Rook's 'special resource' bar? (the one that is Momentum for rogues) Then, in the bottom left, I guess the green bar is Rook's HP, along with notification that Rook currently has three health potions[?]. It looks like right on the d-pad consumes a health potion, while down on the d-pad could maybe be swap weapon set? We can see that both Harding and Bellara have access to a healing skill. In the bottom right, we have the option to navigate, change target, select, close and cancel.

It's interesting looking at the buttons for different skills and actions and trying to figure out what they are based on what the symbols could represent. ^^ Highlighted is a skill of Harding's called "Shred". The display advises the damage amount, cooldown time and general effects applied by that skill. It staggers enemies and looks like it sunders armor. I wonder if in this shot, the player has hovered over Shred on the wheel (purple light highlighting it, info popup on that specific skill). Then, the system helpfully auto-advises what other skills the party have right now that would make a combo with Shred (amber arrow, top skill of Bellara's being highlighted in amber) - a handy suggestion. It also explains why it makes a combo, namely that a certain effect of that skill of Bellara's combines with the sunder effect of Harding's Shred. With the symbol and name of Shred, I guess the idea is that Harding fires a shot that shreds through an enemy's flesh. :>

As for where they are fighting in.. the growths on the walls and black tentacle-looking things could be rubble and roots, but they remind me of Blight corruption in general and such as we see here, and well, there is an ogre. The gold on the floor and the shape of the gold patterns on the wall gives ancient elvhen ruins. There is also a plinth of some kind in the middle of the room. I wonder if this could be this area and battle mentioned in the Game Informer cover article:

"After a few more combat sections, including against a Frenzied sentinel, we reach the center of the temple. In there is an artifact called the Nadas Dirthalen. Bellara knows that this means “the inevitability of knowledge”. Before we can progress, a darkspawn ogre boss attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire After defeating it (it’s a climactic arena fight), Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from the pedestal, which destroys the Veil Bubble."

This ogre has a shield next to its HP-type bar and this room could feasibly be an 'arena'-like area. The plinth in the room could be the pedestal. Bellara is present at that point in the game as here, and the aforementioned temple is an ancient elvhen space.

Btw, Bellara's backpack is so cute.

Harding's party icon has her staring off to the distance, scout-like, ever looking forward, while I feel like Bellara is looking into my soul!

Combat shot. Mage qunari Rook, Bellara and Neve. The Ability Wheel is not opened. It looks to me like Rook here has the same overcoat on as qunari Rook here. The party are fighting red lyrium darkspawn. In the bottom left, the possible 'change weapon' button has a different symbol; where previously it was a sword and shield because warrior Rook, here it looks like a staff (for mage Rook). At the bottom, in the possible 'Rook's special resource' bar, where previously in the prior shot it was empty, for this shot it looks to be fully charged. (and here it would be mana as Rook is a mage)

It looks like a meteor has just struck the earth, sending darkspawn flying. Rook, here a mage, has an ability where its symbol looks like an asteroid or meteor. I think this Rook has just cast the new spell Meteor, which was mentioned in the June 14th Discord Q&A:

"Fireball and Cone of Cold do not specifically return as spells in this game, but their successors do: Meteor and Frost Nova. These two abilities serve the exact same combat role and function as the previous two, only “with quite the glow-up”, especially Meteor. It is “so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well-placed Meteor”."

And in this screenshot, we can see why. :D

It also looks like there is a skill that can only be cast when Rook has two 'blue bubbles'-worth full on their Mana bar. And, I wonder what the purple bird symbol skill is?

To the right, next to the wagon and crates, it looks like there may be a chest we could loot. Crates and wagon left from previous Veil Jumper excursions?

The enemies here just have plain old HP bars (red color), no armor or barrier or anything on top of it. Compare the ogre in the previous shot which has an 'armor' bar with a yellow-orange color.

Location: This is Arlathan Forest. In the distance is ancient elvhen ruins and architecture, the floating rocks in areas with Fade 'warping', and trees, some which look to have the orange foliage of that area. The pink iridescent hazy light gives a whimsical feel like Game Informer described, and recalls the iridescence you see on soap bubbles. It makes me think that 'wall' of light is the edge of this particular Veil bubble. I think this shot is set in the opening four hours of the game, after the gameplay reveal video and in the section following that described by Game Informer. In the distance is the elven temple that the team are fighting towards (inside there would be Nadas Dirthalen and the ogre fight).

One question I have is is what is the blue orb thing in the distance, just beyond the fiery arc of the meteor? A piece of ancient elven tech? Part of how Veil Jumpers navigate around?

To reach it, we must remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby

I wonder if this orb thing is one of those pieces of tech Bellara can perform tinker on. ^^

Combat shot. Human rogue rook and Harding fight in the streets of Minrathous in the opening section of the game. Look at the water effects of raindrops hitting the ground, and the reflections!! They are fighting demons, which are redesigned in this game. You can see the raw veins of their exposed 'nervous systems'. Maybe these are what Shades look like now? ^^ their lil swords are new.

Looking at the arrangement of five skills in this shot and the last one, I wonder if the button on the bottom left is the 'auto-attack' one? Here it's just some arrows (archer Rook), in the previous shot with mage Rook it looks like it could be a mage staff or a mage staff in the process of doing a basic attack.

In the upper background in the center of this picture, that blue light icon is the Inquisition hairy eyeball. What does this indicate? The critpath we need to follow to progress?

The vases and hanging pots make this street feel lived in. The height of the buildings and slant of them make the streets feel closed-in and claustrophobic. It's a neat vibe, living in Minrathous if you aren't one of the upper classes probably feels quite hemmed in and oppressive like that.

The team has taken the lore and art direction seriously and with care, you can tell. :) down to things like the shape of Tevinter doorways and the shape and red glow of Tevinter windows. It's very cool!!

Arlathan Forest, known from a file name. Qunari Rook (looks like a mage), Bellara, and Emmrich explore an overgrown ancient elvhen ruin. Beautiful golden light, sun dapples and beams through leaves, branches or vines hanging down, crumbling cobbles, broken walls, the shiny gold patterning and curving shapes and arches of ancient elvhen architecture (even the cobbles were laid in curves). This shot is beautiful, the game looks beautiful. ^^ I'm so looking forwards to exploring ancient elven places in this game and finding out more elf lore, and I can't wait to hear what insights and thoughts Bellara has to offer in these locales. Emmrich looks so polite here hh.

In the foreground is a statue of a hart or halla. As with here, it looks to be an asset from DA:I (example of one in Ghilan'nain's Grove in that game).

Arlathan Crater, known from a file name. A beautiful scenic shot, no party visible. (If Photo Mode does indeed end up being a thing in this game.. think of the potential :D) Ancient elven ruins and two halla, in a way that reminds me of the elven ruin Bellara appears in during the character trailer.

Mage qunari Rook, Davrin (yayy!!) and Bellara. I'm sounding like a broken record here but just look at all the fine details. Scratches on Davrin's shield, detailing on clothes like textures, patterns and stitches.. how cool Rook's staff is (could this staff be a Warden mage staff? the feathery design reminds me of Davrin's Warden griffon shield), Bellara's many pouches, the magical particle effects lighting up Bellara's gauntlet-bow. ^^ The team here are in some dark, overgrown, ominous and twisted looking place, and they are threatened again by the red lyrium darkspawn. To the right of Bellara's head and behind her bow, you can see pustules of Blight/Taint corruption. It also looks like there is a lantern near Bellara's head hanging from a post, a lantern with grey metal wings. Maybe this shot was taken in a Warden locale, like the outskirts of Weisshaupt or something?

A beautiful shot of Bellara using her magical gauntlet. Comparing the vegetation here (with the red patches) to that in the 'two halla' shot, it looks like this shot is also taken in Arlathan Forest / Crater somewhere. I wonder if this shot shows Bellara in the middle of using her ability "Tinker"? She's looking at something and the gauntlet is lit up like its magic is interacting with something.

[andarans]

light, death, and the commedia dell’arte: an analysis on lucanis’ name symbolism and what that may mean for his arc & endings

i was doing some thinking on lucanis’ name recently, and there was something that i knew felt familiar from my days in high school latin class, so i did some digging and now i feel like i may be onto something in regards to what lucanis’ character arc and companion quest could be about. from what i could research online—and definitely feel free to correct me if i got any translations wrong:

‘lucanis’ has associations with light/dawn. lucania was the name of a historical region in southern italy. just a quick overview from wikipedia:

Historians at University of Naples Eastern Studies concluded that the root of the name Lucania is derived from luc, the Osco-Sabellic peoples word for light, which has the same meaning in the Latin idiom. The people that moved from the Osco-Sabellic tribes to occupy the land east of the Sillaro River, which was an area associated with the morning star, Lucifer (Latin for bringer of light). Therefore, Lucania means eastern land or land from which there is light.

what sticks out to me most of course is the parallel with lucifer, which i’ll discuss more about later—but the main takeaway is that his given name is pretty much embodying the idea of light, consistent with ideas of hope/dawn/renewal.

but his surname has a very different tone and connotation. ‘dellamorte’ means ‘from/of death’ in italian. (again, if any italian speakers have a better translation, pls feel free to correct/expand on this!)

juxtaposing these two names together is a very interesting choice, and one i think was definitely intentional. you could think of his full name either being something hopeful (light after death / from death, light) or something sinister (from light, death / the death of light).

and i feel like this dual nature is exactly what his arc will explore. we know lucanis has magic-sensing abilities and from the latest trailer, straight up magical wings—it gives me a lot of “angel of death” vibes with, again, using the purple color of pride demons to highlight the bone structure. and of course a lot of pride demon imagery with eye motifs in his design + tarot card:

we learn that he has died from the short story The Wake. a lot of people have speculated that he faked his death, but what if lucanis did actually die? what if, on the verge of death, he made a deal with a pride demon to continue living?

what if lucanis’ arc is one of struggle to embrace either light or death? will rook be able to influence lucanis’ fate—be a vessel for the demon, be a death bringer, or free him from its influence, choosing to bring light instead? and this is where that “lucifer” dynamic kicks in. lucifer, a fallen angel, who rebelled against his father. will his arc mirror this with potentially him rebelling against caterina?

and then an interesting tidbit from the commedia dell’arte—and i might be totally overthinking this, but i thought it was interesting to mention nonetheless. commedia dell’arte is an italian form of theatre focused on masked type/stock characters.

from folk play research’s “Death and Resurrection in the English folk play and Italian Commedia dell’Arte”:

A common theme that runs through both the English folk play and many of the stories of the Italian Commedia dell'Arte is that of death and resurrection. In the latter, this generally involves the character or 'mask' of Pulcinella/Punchinello, who is frequently killed through misadventure or executed as a result of some misdemeanor, but revived through some intervention, usually magical or demonic.

pulcinella’s mask does give me crow vibes…

however his arc may play out, i’m really excited to see. i think he’s most definitely has something going on with spirits/demons, and we have had a spirit companion in some way every game, so i think lucanis could be a really interesting addition to that list 👀 what do you think?

[cadaveerie]

the things i'm the most and least excited about for Dragon Age: The Veilguard!

includes DATV spoilers from the trailers and articles

i might continuously edit this post until the game actually launches as we receive new info!

all of these have been confirmed by the devs, except for those in which i clarify the opposite (ie: those that i write with a "possibly", which have probably been only suggested). if you want the source for any of these specifically let me know!

and a big shoutout to felassan for answering my question, because i started wondering if i just made up the 'pause during cutscene' thing, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I'd heard that lol

anyway, here it is!

GENERAL

no EA app or online mode/internet to play the game

pause during cutscenes

interruptible and resumable banter

no micro-transactions

CC

the character creator!!! - more diverse bodies, better (and darker. and better dark) skin tones and afro-textured hair!

change of voice pitch for Rook!

trans Rook! they/them Rook! and the ability to express that in-game!

b-bulge slider.......? t-tittie slider?????

different lighting options in character creator :]

in-game name suggestions for rook :]

nudity :D:D:D SEXOOO

PURPLE ROOK!!!!! (sarcastic/charming, like hawke. im gonna be insufferable to solas specifically)

CHARACTERS

"not that skeleton, but we're not saying no skeletons" as an answer to whether we can romance manfred (..... the fuck. idk what that means but... im game)

bi/pan romanceable companions! - it makes me happy, especially as someone non-binary and genderfluid. i'll die on this hill

paraphrasing: “the most romantic game yet”..... mmmm… yes….

the companions overall... i rly like both the designs and what we know of them

"are there companions gifts again" John: "(...) you very well might find things in the world that certain companions would appreciate!"

John: "Not going to get into specifics on interactables, but there is more to do in the Lighthouse than conversations with companions. The Lighthouse does have a kitchen, and your companions acknowledge it/use it both narratively and ambiently. Some maybe better than others."

more focus and intentionality on the companions' stories and relationships! yay!

inquisitor presence :D

maybe solas and inky? - not confirmed that they'll interact, but pleaaaase let them. no matter if it's a romance, friendship or hateful relationship, i need to see a reunion

the relationship between solas and rook! - from what they'd said it looks like they're gonna have a fun dynamic!!! i hope that it's kind of a bad relationship but that at some points there can be some appreciation, or respect. i think they said that it could be change, depending on you

cameos!!! - we know there will be some. confirmed morrigan cameo! my bets for others are on dorian (and mae), fenris (copium), zevran (copiumx2). and maybe these are reaches but... perhaps cassandra? leliana? illario? alistair? sten? either way im looking forward to it!

700 characters (wtf)

140,000 lines of dialogue (wtf x2. almost double of Inquisition's (80,000))

DREADWOLF WOLF FORM! DREADWOLF WOLF FORM!!! *scratches his belly*

LORE

visiting places we have never seen before like Tevinter, Antiva, Anderfels, Nevarra, Rivain, etc

more thedas deep lore!!! - elven gods! and this hasn't been confirmed, but since we'll go there... will there be tevinter lore? anderfels lore? rivain lore? antivan lore? titans lore (my theory is because of Harding)!?

GRAPHICS and CUSTOMIZATION

possibly a camera mode

beautiful textures!

beautiful landscape!

very nice hair physics! (big improvement)

gear customization + transmog

enable/disable helmets for cutscenes

COMBAT

I rly like the subclasses… they feel so…. gothic

combat looks more dynamic overall!

combos with the companions!

finisher animations!

mages can move while attacking apparently?

and they^ can use staffs, daggers and orbs :0

parry + shield toss :0

and i'm just excited to see how it actually feels while playing and how everything progresses!

things I'm kinda sad/disappointed about. just a little

only can bring two companions along (probably a 3 party total?)

probably no trans, they/them or they/x companions? :( (im assuming there will be characters that are trans (mae) and go by them/them or multiple pronouns, but i mean companions specifically)

only 7 companions. i was a little disappointed at first but tbh im fine w it now haha

they haven't talked about rook as a character much so im a little worried about that, their personal journey, their dialogue etc :')

that rook doesn't seem to have different beginnings depending on his origin :( not a huge deal but tbh i loved that about origins

can't choose multiple pronouns :( perhaps it's possible? they've explicitly said that you can go by he, she or they, but i don't think that implies multiple at the same time. it can't be that hard to program it so that it randomly changes between two or more pronouns, right? idk about game development so i dont actually know, sorry if i'm ignorant

this is suuuper nitpicky but in relation to the graphics.. i kinda wish the skins looked slightly.. different? idk how to put it, but they look kind of smooth? maybe too much? i just wish they had a little bit more texture, it kinda looks like they have a beauty filter, imo, and i think it would look better if they look slightly differently

and i have mixed feelings about how the characters are stylized overall. like... y'know, the whole "cartoony" discourse. at first i didnt like it at all, but since we've seen more im way more on board. still... i kinda feel like some things could look a bit nicer

idk how i feel about how the darkspawn look. like it's not a huge deal to me either, but... i just wish they looked different. lol. they do look a little bit goofy

and idk if i like the... veiny/nervous system looking-thing in demons either? like, i like it in theory but tbh in practice im not too sure

the remake of the warden's logo :((

that's it!

tbh im just happy about most things they've said and shown so far. i think a lot of these things are a good sign. also, things like the "not ea app necessary" make me inclined to believe that this is something they've had to fight for (cause you know, if ea could choose they'd do things their way) and that's something i appreciate a lot. that's why i think this and a lot of other choices and changes they've made in relation to the last game, are good signs that they've listened to our feedback in a lot of things! and i hope this reflects in the entirety of the game. i hope it's the case. idk i'm positive about this game! a little scared ofc, because i care and i want it to be as good as possible, but excited nonetheless!

are there things i didn't include but that you are excited about? what are you looking the most forward to, overall? i'd appreciate to see your excitement and know what you like the most!

[bajistadiamond]

Yuu and the Magical Power of Songs

Yuu Singer, Pomefiore (I Put a Spell on You)

Things were ant-colored.

Since Yuu has weird dreams he takes them as premonitions.

His most recent dream let her know that the Overblot de Vil was about to happen.

On the day of the VDC/SDC everything seemed normal, even Epel was super motivated. But then it all went down the tubes when the Royal Sword Academy held their practice.

Yuu watched as Vil's eyes lost their shine and became vacant before turning elsewhere.

Jamil, Kalim and Rook also realized what was going to happen. So they took the reins. When Ace, Deuce, Epel went for snacks, Jamil told Yuu to go with them and if he found Ruggie to stay with him.

Yuu didn't want to go and leave Kalim and Jamil alone, but Jamil was very convincing.

After some time with his friends, Yuu saw Ruggie.

The hyena beast boy noticed the white-haired man's concern and asked him what was wrong.

Before Yuu could reply, a ruckus broke out as Neige Leblanche arrived.

Using the neuron that sometimes worked, Grim asked his "minion" if he noticed anything strange in Neige's eyes.

Yuu saw it, it was Jamil's magic. Which meant that Negie was only here as a distraction.

Concerned Ruggie asked again what was wrong. Yuu looked at the stadium, noticing a nearly invisible purple magic dome.

Yuu told the boys to go to the stadium, that he would catch up with them later.

They understood the situation and when they left he summarized things for Ruggie. Beast boy looked at Yuu seriously. "Leona is sleeping, what do you need me to do?" Yuu smiled and hugged him. "Go with the flow." He said the white haired one before calling Crowley.

Crowley was very worried.

They may say that he is lazy or negligent with his work as NRC director, but he cares deeply for his students.

As one of the most powerful magicians on the "Island of the Sages" he can sense the disturbances in the magic of the place; not at the level of a fae, but he's still enough to feel an Overblot unleashed.

As he ponders how to fix the problem without alerting everyone on campus, he receives a call. "Yuu?" He wonders looking at his cell phone before answering. "Yuu, what…?" "No time to explain, I need access to the island-wide public address system." Yuu said interrupting Dire.

Yuu knew that Neige wouldn't be distracting enough, so he thought of hypnotizing everyone. Not only those present on campus but also the island in general so that nothing was leaked to the media.

Crowley wanted to ask what crazy thing his favorite student was going to do, but now there was no time. "Ok~ Explain to me later." He said before ending the call and sending Yuu the access link and password.

Ruggie couldn't believe Crowley gave that to Yuu and when she asked how he did it, Yuu smiled mischievously. "Privileges of the voice of the gods".

Yuu quickly accessed the system, but for the song he was going to use he required another person. He looked around and saw Azul at a vegan burger stand. "Azul!". He called the silver-haired Yuu.

Azul looked at Yuu and blushed because they found him eating, but before he could say anything Yuu grabbed his arm. "There is no time to explain or eat; I need your help." Azul looked at Ruggie, the beast boy shrugs.

After a while, they reach Main Street; the place is empty. "Okay, trust me." Yu tells Ruggie and Azul. The second years look at each other and then nod at Yuu.

They completely trust him.

Yuu smiled determinedly and activated the PA system…

~I put a spell on you~

~And now you're mine~

Yuu's voice was an eerie whisper. Yuu was very much against using her gift to control people, but it was an emergency and what better way to do it than with a super iconic song.

You can't stop the things I do~

I ain't lyin' ~

Ruggie and Azul couldn't believe their ears; the song that Yuu sang was a Halloween urban legend. They at that moment felt their magic increase, as if they were absorbing the magic of others to make them more susceptible to mind control.

It's been three hundred years~

Right down to the day~

Every being on the island or who could hear the speakers suddenly went blank. Yuu had in mind that those who were busy doing some work would do it robotically so they wouldn't get hurt.

Now the witch is back~

Yuu snapped his fingers creating a dome of colors over the entire island; The boy was surprised that he could create it, it was one of the biggest things he has created using the magic around him. Azul and Ruggie couldn't help but smile in amazement. "He has come a long way; I must give him a raise in his work." He thought the one with glasses. "How handsome and." The hyena boy thought; Yuu looked at him and winked causing a blush.

And there's hell to pay~

Negie was one of the last on the NRC campus to fall under hypnosis. He did not understand what was happening, but he knew that he was not in danger; a voice said over and over again that he trust. It might always be something innocent and witty, but he knew that that voice wasn't lying.

I put a spell on you~

And now you're mine~!

Yuu motioned for Ruggie and Azul to follow him. The three of them walked swaying their hips and mischievous smiles; in a way Yuu looked like he was the absolute master of the place. The song itself made him feel that way, but Yuu wasn't seduced by the power. His teacher taught him that many songs had the emotions of the original person who sang them; "I put spell on you" was made by Winifred to control Salem, so the song itself caused you to seek power. That was the reason why Yuu looked for trustworthy people, they helped keep his feet on the ground.

Hello Night Raven College

My name´s Yuu Ross!

What´s yours?

Each being fell under the enchantment of the voice of the gods, they danced and moved to the rhythm of the song. However, there is a being that was not entirely under that control. A certain fae was unaware of anything as he strolled through the forest in a state of bliss. He had been invited to an event by Yuu, he couldn't handle his happiness.

I put a spell on you~

And now you're gone~

Gone~, gone~, gone~, so long~! Azul and Ruggie sang with mocking gestures of distance.

My whammy fell on you~

And it was strong~

So strong~, so strong~, so strong~! "This power is intoxicating." Azul and Ruggie thought as they felt more power than they had in their core.

"Ok, more concentration." Yuu thought as he felt the slight attempts of the song to corrupt him and his choir accompanists. Yuu caused magic to swirl in his heart and turn him into a purifying light that drove away the whispers of the song's original composer.

Your wretched little lives~

Have all been cursed~

'Cause of all the witches working~

I'm the worst~

Yuu looked at the coliseum and the dome formed by Vil's overblot magic. The young man hoped that his gift had put everything on pause there. And certainly, as Yuu wanted, the VDC group from Night Raven College did not budge. The only one of that group who noticed that was Vil, who in his unstable mental state was screaming for not being able to move.

I put a spell on you~

And now you're mine~

The magic also added a few things to Yuu, Ruggie and Azul's wardrobe. Yuu, who was already wearing a white lace shirt and black pants and boots, got a purple corset over his shirt and a forest green tunic decorated with Celtic symbols and diamonds. Ruggie, who was wearing a PE tracksuit, got a short-sleeved pastel pink tunic and long gloves with floral designs. As for Azul who wore the dormitory leader uniform she got a complete outfit; His jacket lengthened into a skirt and turned red, his hat changed to a black veil edged in gold, and his shoes changed to brown boots.

Watch out~! Watch out~!

Watch out~! Watch out~

She ain’t lyin’ ~

Azul and Ruggie stomped viciously through the mesmerized getting carried away with the fun moment... Azul saw Jade and Floyd in the crowd, he walked towards them; he planted a kiss on Jade's nose and one on the Floyd´s cheek. Ruggie saw Leona asleep as his tail swayed to the music; he took a soda from a food stall and poured it on the lion… Maybe he will die later, but it would be worth it.

If you don't believe~

You better get superstitious~

Ask my friends

"Ooh, he's vicious~!" Azul and Ruggie whispered as if it were a secret.

Uh~!, Eeh~!

Yuu pointed from left to right with his arms and shook his head in a dance that was imitated by those closest to him.

You might also like~

Yuu looked at Azul and Ruggie with a slight evil smile, which they imitated. The song didn't corrupt them, they couldn't help but get carried away with the fun. Yuu decided to spice up the place by adding a couple of jack-o'-lanterns made of ice.

I put a spell on you...

A wicked spell~

I put a spell on you...

Oh Yeah~!

Crowley watched from his window everything. Despite the fact that his office was surrounded by shields and anti-spell wards, his shoulders moved with rhythm. The director looked at the coliseum before sighing. "I hope Ambrose doesn't find out about this." He thought with a frown.

Ah, say into pi, alpha maybe upendi~

Ah, say into pi, alpha maybe upendi!

In comma-coriyama~

In comma-coriyama~

Hey!, hey

High!, high!

Say bye~

The two chorister boys and the owner of the "voice of the gods" sang in opera-worthy tones, which surprised even them. The three raised their hands to heaven as they reached the end of the memorable performance that no one will ever know and remember.

Bye-bye~!

Oh-oh-ah

Bye, bye~!

With the final pose, the magic returned the outfit to its normal state in a flash. The dome that surrounded the island and while it was there the hypnosis would be maintained... It won't last long though.

Yuu looked at Ruggie and Azul. "Ok, any questions you have…" "You'll answer them later." Azul interrupted him while he adjusted his glasses. The hyena beast boy nodded. "shishishi~ don't worry Yuu, go save the day." Yuu smiled before stroking the hyena's head and ears causing a purr and a deep blush. "See you later~" Yuu assured them before running to the coliseum. There was a moment of silence before Azul cleared his throat. "So…you and Yuu?" Ruggie looked at Azul. "That is not of you incumbence." Azul nodded at what Ruggie said. "And besides, we haven't dormized anything yet." Azul looked at him blankly. Even he had already discussed things with the Leech twins. "Sometimes love makes you stupid." He thought the silver haired one.