#i already know i want neve tbh

[etdraconis]

( Me: I have too many muses, I shouldn't add more Also me: *eagerly awaiting Veilguard so i can decide which companions i'm going to put my grubby little hands all over* )

[colourstreakgryffin]

Deadpool × Gojo Satoru

I assume you mean Deadpool reader/us. Tbh, I love Deadpool so why not. I think we all love Deadpool and he’d mix very well with Satoru persoanlity-wise! Anyhow, let’s get to work, shall we?

Gojo Satoru- Ketchup & Mayonnaise

So. After his favourite Golden Trio had graduated from the high school overall, and Satoru couldn’t teach them anymore. He was hoping the next set of trainees will be as entertaining and he was pleased with the results. Being you, his new favourite

You’re a witty immature highly sarcastic good humoured dumbass-badass. You’re just like Satoru and he appreciates that heavily so the moment you crack a snarky one liner at his blindfold, he’s already taking up like thirty minutes of class trying to out joke you

Satoru really relates to you, personality-wise, since he can just see himself through you and your behaviours with everybody. Neve taking anything seriously, belittling opponents, making jokes out of everything. Goddamn, he already loves you

Satoru regularly picks you to join him on his missions, solely so you two can goof around before, inbetween and after the target is defeated since he revels in the fact somebody is like him and doesn’t view sorcerer work as serious as everybody else around him does

Satoru finds your cursed technique and cursed energy impressive, it’s practically a technique that grants you immortality and your cursed energy can be used as a continuous regenerative factor to the point you can gain back limbs, come back to life when seemingly killed and seem to either not age or at all or age unbelievably slow

Satoru likes to blow your limbs off with Red or Blue as a ‘punishment’ when you disobey his orders(as you don’t follow authority, even his) since he knows you’ll be completely fine with your incredible control of your technique and cursed energy percentage. He hurts you because he adores you

Satoru is the world’s worst dad figure but he truly does care about you, he’ll be there for you. He does act his… uh, his own way but he cares, he’ll support you, he’ll teach you… his own way. He shows his like for you in the way only Satoru Gojo can

Satoru shouldn’t let you handle katanas but he does anyway since he knows you’re talented and he isn’t a dumbass enough to ignore such talent. Infact, he wants you to harness your talent and expand it, watching with a obvious smirk and hidden pride, behind his bandana, in his mesmerising blue eyes

Satoru often takes you out to lunches on Tokyo so you two can hang out. You’re not just his student, y’all his buddy and one time, you two found a odd modified bike then repaired it and filled it with banana peels and alcohol so it’ll end with you two speed-flying across the nigh sky and breaking into Jujutsu High from the roof

Satoru also should be worried how murderous and deranged you are since you regularly maim and tear apart Cursed Spirit enemies with your weaponry of choice but eh… he does the same thing with Red/Blue/Purple/Infinity so he’d be a hypocrite. Once again, he lets it slide since he likes you a lot

Satoru appreciates that you’re a truly good person in the inside, despite how crude you are and how bad at reading the room you are. Many consider you just a asshole… like him, but you work with him to actively help people so to Satoru, you’re just a silly kooky little anti-hero

Satoru may or may not write stupid comments or jokes on your paperwork/assignments and wait for your response as you two just end chatting about it for ages during lunch or after school since you two are that close. Basically friends, despite being teacher and student

Suspect Satoru to brag about you. You’re his best student… behind only the Golden Trio. You’re his favourite and he’ll always have your back, even after you graduate but for now, he’ll keep you liking him the most since he understands you the most

And you understand him the most… your attitude and the way you act in general almost reminds him of what Geto use to be

“Yo! Yo! Myoji, we’re having a school baseball game. You joining? Of course bring the grenades, we’re gonna prank that old man and make him regret thinking we suck! Yeah, also Utahime. I got ya back!”

[da2supremacy]

Alright let's talk about that Solavellan ending.

So, as someone who was in camp "I don't need or want Solavellan closure. It was a tragedy and I like it that way and I don't want a happy ending for Solavellan" I fully expected to be disappointed with this. When Trick and Corinne said they had to do a lot of juggling of conflicting needs for the outcome of Solas' story and they think they found a nice middle ground between very polarized opinions of him my expectations were in the ground but man did they deliver.

I love it, tbh. I don't think I would have been able to end it on a better note other than leaving Trespasser as the final goodbye. First of all, "There is no fate but the love we share"? Phenomenal line. Honestly I think that particular piece of dialogue blows out of the water literally anything that was said in Inquisition. The broken sob after Lavellen gets on her knee to deliver that line to him. Chef's kiss.

The fact that it can ONLY be achieved by Mythal coming back to release him from her service. Beautiful capstone on the framing story of how things came to be this way. A nice ring of hope for the future. Past sins can be forgiven. The Blight may yet be soothed and what will become of the Wardens and the dwarves after that? Who knows. But perhaps it might be good. There's much to clean up and rebuild from here but there will never be another Blight again. Solas will have company as he traverses the fade and these long eons, healing the blight and healing himself.

But they also don't just gloss over all the trouble this dumbass just created. He, in fact, DOES have a lot to answer for. Lavellan offers to walk the difficult path with him but she does not absolve him of the wrong he did.

And judging by the fact that Belara was unblighted in the final cinematic there's a possibility that the Blight is already being cured. (It was also esp satisfying to have a Dalish elf, sitting on the Archon's throne and loudly declaring YOU are NOT my god. I don't think Neve would have the same sting. It was good.)

Tbh this is really the only ending that I actually liked. For one thing, Solas' final dialogue in the good and neutral endings don't...Feel like Solas. He never wanted to be a god. Why would he go on about how he's basically a god as he's being defeated? This feels more like generic villain dialogue. He should be mad but also pathetic about it. I guess there is some kind of poetic justice about him becoming the very thing he was fighting after speed running the maximum amount of betrayals he can shove into one hour of his life. But I dunno. Even with the bloodmagic I don't feel like we spent the game getting him there. It doesn't feel like he was actually pushed into becoming the monster he fought. It just felt like he was continuing the line of poor, emotional decisions spurred by that toxic connection he has to Mythal and that um actually head up in his ass syndrome that he has so prominently. I kind of wish his final dialogue had reflected that. It's not enough to be right, you need to consider the consequences.

I am a bit disappointed that the Solavellan ending is the only one in which we actually can get Solas to redeem himself. Even if you do the Mythal questline I don't believe you can summon Mythal or convince Solas to become the anchor for the Veil himself without Lavellan. I think the idea is that without Mythal releasing him from her service and Lavellan there to support him he can't get over his fatal flaw of hubris but Solas is such a multifaceted and interesting character and I think people who are new to the franchise with this game will not get to see that UNLESS they manage to get the Solavellan ending. (But I guess the only people who are going to care if Solas gets a satisfying tie off to HIS character arc probably are the Solavellans and, in fairness, you don't get his whole character arc without playing inquisition.)

There's also a whole lot to be said about how we can only be our best selves with the support of others (that I really think an inquisitor with high friendship should have been able to fill in for. Or maybe even Rook since you CAN get pretty buddy buddy with Solas by the end. Very sad that Rook only joins Solas in his prison in the bad ending. But I digress.) He could not overcome Pride and return to Wisdom without Mythal releasing him from his binding and without someone who saw him as "kind and wise and sad". Spirits are, after all, a reflection of our perception of them.

[dirtyhecker]

i'm sure this has been done already in the hours since these images came out, but i think i've got these companion bedrooms sorted

this one is definitely Bellara. everything we've seen of her so far, with the gyroscopey magical stuff, and that one concept art of her with that exact statue head, makes it seem obvious that this is her room. it also looks like she's into art, given all the paintings, and area rugs? what's with all the rolled up rugs, Bellara. i like her little daybed, and i wonder if her vallaslin are supposed to be for Ghilan'nain, given the halla decoration on the wall.

this one has to be Neve. she's got a whole detective conspiracy wall back there, sans the red yarn. there's some real organized chaos going on with the stacks of books, and the scrolls all over the place. i'm pretty sure there's a pot of tea on her desk, and i see several half-burned candles, despite the several magical lamps and pendant lights, not to mention the enormous windows and ambient Fade-light. i wonder if it gets dark out where they are? also her chair looks very fancy, but i don't see a bed anywhere.

this is Taash's room. they've said she's a gym bro, and there is a weight lifting thingy to the right, in front of that pillar. it's weighed down with sacks of flour, it looks like lol. i wonder if its functional, or just static decoration. i also see crates of weapons, and maybe some kind of forge in the bottom right? and right behind that is a pretty barebones bed. maybe she gets cold, because her bed is surrounded by fire. idk what's up with that table on the left, but everything else looks pretty sparse.

this one i think is Harding's room, but only by process of elimination. the metal bars in the window give dwarven vibes for some reason, but i also see a couple elfroot plants. there's a ton of plants, actually, all over the place, but i don't recognize the others. and there's that sad bedroll on the floor, though the rest of the room looks like my kind of place tbh. maybe it's from years spent as a scout, camping in the wilderness. i suppose this could be Bellara's room instead, but i doubt it.

i thought this was Lucanis' room, even before someone pointed out that it was a larder. i know the devs have said he's a good cook, but i didn't think he'd literally want to sleep in a pantry 😭 this makes me think he's just trying to be as unobtrusive as possible or something. there's also zero personal touches, like i zoomed in and that plywood cot is just surrounded by candles. are you okay buddy??

this one seems like Davrin's to me. he's said to be a monster hunter, and there's like a chandelier made of dragon horns or something up there? and a huge spine? plus multiple skulls of large beasts. i don't see a bed but i think it might be in that far corner next to the hearth. also there's a ton of wood carvings. so many. mostly bears and what look to be bobble-headed nugs, and at least one dragon. if Griffon Dad gives me a nug carving i will cry.

lastly, this has to be Emmrich's room. if the giant skeleton statue on the left wasn't enough of a clue, then idk what to tell you. there are basically the exact same ones in the necropolis, but much bigger. this does look like a laboratory, and an extremely well-organized one at that. i imagine Emmrich's bed is up that spiral staircase somewhere. i keep mentioning the beds because i need to know that these people are actually sleeping between quests, ok.

anyway, that's my professional analysis. i love you, goodbye.

[persephone11110]

Self Control

Jake Seresin x Reader

Three times you should’ve stopped fucking Jake Seresin, and one time you finally did.

tw:one night stands, insecure reader, KINDA DARK, mentions of sex throughout—DUBIOUS CONSENT fic,Dead Iceman->reader is grieving and doesn’t how to process her emotions properly, asshloe J.S->cheater Jake, they both need fucking therapy!!,—jake abusive childhood Jake chokes reader->bruises, happy ending, the two kazansky children seen in the movie are cannoned just gave them names(Xander,Ana Kazansky),self-slutshaming, reader calls herself whore 2-3x, mavdad—feminist icon

WC : 2.7k

AN: I really can’t tell you how this fic was born tbh, but enjoy❤️, title from Self Control- Frank Ocean

—

THIS FIC MENTIONS SEX ALOT, I PUT DUBIOUS CONSENT BCUS READER & JAKE ARE NOT IN RIGHT STAND OF MIND, PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!

1. his bedroom

You’ve been thinking to yourself lately,everynight you lie in bed in wondering if you should be tired of doing this?, giving a piece of yourself to Jake Seresin three times a week.

You wondered if the man even cared enough to get to know you, after all you’ve been acting as his bed warmer for the past three months.

But that just it, you were warned of how this would work, you both agreed to emotionless sex— being each other’s fuckbuddies when work got to much to emotionally handle.

As it seemed neither of you had the mental capacity to have a healthy coping mechanism. You sat on your floor infront of a mirror trying to cover up a neck bruise, Jake had a nightmare again—the same one as usual, Instead Jacob Sr was the one doing the choking.

“Jake, Jake!” your throat was closing, Jake hand around throat was tightening—his fingers digging deep into your skin Again. You were begging for him to release you. You stared into his green forest like eyes—their so fucking beautiful.

At first he doesn’t acknowledge your pleading tone, Jakes most likely still stuck in nightmare from hell “Jake please let go”. Your voice was dry now, tears sprung from your eyes as it did his.

A loud thump happened as your body rolled of the bed to the floor. You heard heavy breathing which normally signaled Jake had finally woken up . He banged his head against the headboard loudly. Jake utters a small—“I’m sorry”before leaving you alone in the room to gather himself.

You sat on the floor like fucking obedient dog waiting for Jake to come back and tell you what do next. While you sit there in silence apart of you wonders were the strong Y/n“Killerfrost” Kazansky went, the woman who didnt break a sweat while looking death in the face. The woman who flew more colder than Iceman more crazier than Maverick. What happened?

Death happened,cancer stripped your dad of his life. Sitting at his beside watching him struggle take his last breath, shushing him he because he was pushing himself to use his voice.

Going on base and listening to the Admiral Simpson go over on the speaker and tell the base that Admiral Kazansky—your dad drew his last breathe. Which led you to Jake Seresin bed.

Younger you would be so disappointed in you right now. Younger Y/n Kazansky would rather die before laying down with man who’s ruining their mental health. If someone told you ten years down line you would be fucking one of the worst men as an emotional outlet. You would’ve laughed in their face repeatedly till you passed out from lack of oxygen.

“Tom Kazansky would be so disgusted with his daughter”, a thought lingered around your mind, “Dad wouldnt even want to be in the same room as you”.

You picked yourself off the floor as you heard Jake’s footsteps getting closer. Your legs were bouncy as anxiety was coursing through your veins—flying never did make you feel this, but leave it to Jake‘Hangman’Seresin to.

Jake voice was low and rough,“See you next week”. Before you could say something to the man, he already had his back turned walking away from you.

Your cheeks flush with embarrassment,“How am I falling for a man who doesn’t love me and never will?”. You continue to slip your clothes back on as you toss the thought around in your head, careful of your sore skin. “You should be ashamed of yourself Y/n Kazansky, you were not raised be a whore who re adjust their clothes as a John throws a fucking dollar at them., You were raised with dignity”.

Whore. Y/n Kazansky callsign should be Jake Seresin whore.

Your pressed your head into the shower wall, allowing the hot pressed water to soothe your aching muscles.“I’m so sorry daddy”.

—

2. Family Dinner

You kept tugging at the hem of your turtle neck, it was to hot to be wearing this damn thing in the first place. But last thing you wanted to was to worry your siblings as they had just lost their father. That last thing they needed was their weak sister falling apart at the seams, as if they weren’t either.

Two times a month your siblings held saturday dinner. The idea was to keep up with eachother.

Guess who’s been missing family dinner to fuck Jake Seresin?, the answer is Y/n Kazansky.

You stood on Ana porch quietly, wondering if you should even go in, not wanting the catch the end of your short-tempered sister.

“You plan on standing there till hell freeezes over?”, a voice pulls your from your thoughts, Xander Kazansky was standing behind you with pie in his hands. “Come on sis, Ana been waiting to see you”. He smiled, softly pulling on your wrist to get you into the door. You mirror his smile, forgetting all about last night. You closed the door behind you.

“Hey kid”, you stand there waiting for him to put the pie down before you pull him into a tight hug. Your ruffling his hair, with one hand.

“I have you know Y/n I can legally drink alcohol”. Xander pouts like little kid.

“Y/n didn’t wait until she was twenty one drink”. Ana tone of voice was sour as she gestured the both of you to sit down.

“Ana I—“ Your cut off by her harsh words.

“Y/n the longer you spew bullshit at me the longer its takes to bless the food”. Ana states before bowing her head and closing her eyes.

You and Xander make eye contact before joining her.

“So us non-aviators aren’t good enough for you anymore?” Ana asked you in calm tone, yet you could hear how angry she truly was.

Xander was to busy scraping at his dinner plate, shoving food in his mouth—not wanting to be caught in the middle of his sister’s argument.

You bite at the inside of your cheek unsure of what to say back. Can’t say the truth because then Ana will really flip out if she finds what her little sister been doing lately.

You glanced at your plate again thinking up lie to tell her. “I’ve been busy Ana, since the mission the dagger squad have become a permanent squadron”. Your telling the truth but the full truth.

You pray Ana takes the bone you threw at her and leaves it alone. Ana gave you a dirty look before picking at her broccoli and shoving it in her mouth. Thank god neither of your parents were here as they would’ve picked up on ticks, the picking at your nails, nibbling at your bottom lip.

“Sweetheart you can tell us whats going on you know that right”, your dad would say while nudging your shoulder, “Your off the clock, you can retire Killerfrost till your up in the air”.

You thought Ana had let it go as she stopped acknowledging you, and was only talking to Xander. "I hope that whatever you been doing was worth it Y/n, you haven’t even seen mom in goddamn month”.

“Ana” Xander sighed, he was getting tired of his sister remarks, you didn’t wanna defend yourself anymore, not that you even tried to.

You bowed your head in shame, no longer wanting to make eye contact with either sibling.

“What Xander?”, Ana raised her voice,”It’s the same fucking thing dad would’ve say to her too,I’m getting tired of her acting as if she’s the only one who lost a dad, like mom didn’t lose apart of her”.

You could feel the tears attempting to escape from your eyes. You placed the silverware back in its place, you stood from the dinner table. Casting a look between the both of them—“I’m sorry Ana, Xander” before you walked out of her house with tears rushing down your face.

Your sitting at a gas station thinking about everything, you really were acting selfish.

Maybe fucking Jake Seresin was a bad idea?

You picked up your phone, eyeing the text message. “I can’t sleep Y/n, come over if your aren’t busy”.

And just like that, Jake was telling you to come over it’s like he knew when it was a bad time for you. How dare you say no to him?

You put the key back in the ignition and start to slowly pull out of the parking lot.

Your on the back road, the shortest way to get to his house.

3. All I Could Was Cry

She was standing there with my man.

I heard them promise death do us apart.

A woman who looked like Marilyn Monroe was her descendant hung off of Jakes arm, she wrapped her hand around his bicep. They both shared a smile with one another, “I’m busy tonight Y/n“, he texted you this morning.

They were pushing eachother into the water- her screams of joy as Jake playfully her slammed into the water. She leaned into to him pushing her tongue down his throat.

I was losing the man I loved.

“Falling in love with a man like that is dangerous game Y/n” A familiar voice interrupts your self pity. Uncle Maverick is standing behind you with two beers in his hands and small smile. “Scoot over kiddo” Your sitting on cold sand, pretending to be okay with the scene infront of you.

And all I could do was cry.

“Uncle Mav if your here to give me I’m so disappointed in you speech, I’ve already gave myself one more than once I-“. He gently cuts you off when he pulls you into a tight, rubbing his hand up and down your back.

“Your mom been worried about you, so has your siblings , me and the daggers”. His voice is laced with worry, you hated making people worry about you. “Your flying been…crazy these past couple of months”. Maverick struggles to find more words to say, unsure if he does it might push into Jakes arms.

He was right you been flying like your ass was on fire, and if you’ve been pulling maneuvers even he wouldn’t dare to.

“Ana Kazansky is worried about me?”, Your eyes widen at that,“It didn’t seem like that a couple nights ago when she was going for my head”.

“Ana is like your father, arguing with them is like sitting on the stand defending yourself against a criminal charge”. Uncle Maverick explains with a soft tone, “I would know after pissing your dad off for over thirty years”. You swear he blinks away a few tears before continuing.

“I have everything under control, yes I like Seresin and I understand he doesn’t want me”. You feel indifferent as the lie rolls off your tongue through your mouth. “I’m Killerfrost Kazansky who doesn’t allow her emotions to get the best of her”. Your eyes shift away as you attempt to not hold eye contact with him.

“The same bullshit your father tried to pull with me years ago, your Y/n Kazansky the woman who just her father, the woman who misses her father dearly the man who showed you how to spell your name, the man who managed to get out of deployment early to drop you off for the first day kindergarten”.

Tears pricked at your eyes,“I didn’t think about it that way,maybe i’ve been to hard on myself?”. Your voice cracks with emotion. “As much I hate to say it— It feels nice to be ‘wanted’ by someone, Mav”.

“Kid, I was that man thirty some odds years ago when Goose died, I had sex with any woman who looked my way and said yes”. Maverick pulled away from you, gently wiping away your tears. “It’s going to hurt kiddo for awhile, but I promise you its gets better, the last thing Ice would want is for his daughter to lose herself, to allow a man to tell her how worthy she is”. He presses a kiss into the side of your head“It’s okay to feel emotions Y/n Kazansky”, he said low enough for only your ears.

After leaving you alone with your thoughts, your phone blinks as a notification pops up.

“Y/n I need you over tonight”. Your walking back to the car, hand on the car handle. “10 is good”. Your driving past his house, your driving to your apartment.

4. Happier Again (3months later)

He’s in standing your doorway with roses in his hand, and red wine in the other. When you heard knocking on the door you expected Ana because it almost time for movie night or Harvard because he’s sucks at cooking and needs help. But not him—Jake Seresin was standing in your doorway looking apologetic.

The new you wants to slam the door in his face, forcing him to catch a hint that the nights you spent in his bed were over. Deciding against your gut you decide to allow him in, for what you’ll never know—maybe he’s here to offer a peace offering.

You still had to work with him still— the dagger squadron is permanent till Cyclone and Cain think otherwise.

Jake goes to open his mouth but nothing leaves it, which is a first. The great Hangman is left clueless not a insult dripping with anger and sarcastic comment in sight.

“Come in Jake” He cocks his head to the side unsure if he really should.“If you want stand outside and look stupid thats fine by me”. You turn on your heel,but before you get far he grabs you by wrist, pulling you into a kiss.

The roses, the wine—he loves me, Jake“Hangman” Seresin finally loves me. You feel the old you try to blossom like a dead flower, attempting to sprout back to life.

“Stop!”You shoved at his chest he falls back alittle. “No, I’m not doing this again with you Jake”. Your cheeks are starting to get red,“What about that woman from the hard deck?”.

His lips slip into a tight smile“She and I are going through a rough patch right now”. Jake steps into your apartment, “Y/n its nothing to worry about she wouldn’t know”.

You shake your head at him,“You haven’t changed?”.

“Oh come on darlin it’ll be like old times”, He stands tall, his hangman smile is fully on display.

You scoff, doesn’t he understand what I just said?

“Jake you have a girlfriend, its make you a cheater!” You jabbed a finger into his chest. “Your cheating on your girlfriend”. He doesn’t give a shit.

“And your such a fucking angel darlin, we fucked for how long Y/n?”. His voice is harsh, anger bubbling—getting ready to explode like a volcano. “Were’s ya fucking halo at?”.

“I didn’t know” you yell back at him—standing your ground. The one bad thing you inherited from your dad was his temper, when your button been pushed for too long.“You must fell from heaven when your father casted you out, huh?”. A low blow that was uncalled for, but he’s taking it there.

“I need you darlin, I need to fuck you!”. he screams, your pretty sure you and Jake are one second close to having the cops called for a domestic disturbance.

“You and I need therapy Jake”, your voice returning to a calm tone.“Fucking you was worst shit i’ve ever done, I’ve been using you as a tool”. You step back from him.“Jake you can’t honestly tell me we aren’t ‘broken’ a little bit, sane humans don’t do this shit”.

Jakes eyes were squeezed closed, your cupped his jaw with your hands.“It’s okay not be okay, but its not okay to be doing this”. You sighed,“As much as I want to, its not healthy Jake”.

Jake opened his eyes, tears were rolling down his face. “I’m so sorry Y/n I just needed a break, I needed a break from being Hangman”.

“A smart guy told me once your no longer in the air, there’s no need to fake who you are”. Your eyes are beginning to become teary, “We need help Jake”.

“Your right Y/n” His eyes were still wet.

“Go back your place and try to figure out what went wrong with you and her”. You gently told him. “Work buddies?”. You had hope in your voice, you put your hand out.

A wet laugh fell from his mouth,“Work buddies”. He shakes it.

[sunflowergraves]

Will Character Analysis: Panic Attacks

I did a breakdown of Will's character a few weeks ago after my first read-through of TSATS. I went back and reread the book (mostly because I'm obsessed), and I noticed something that I don't think a lot of people picked up on. Will was having panic/anxiety attacks throughout the course of the book.

I think this is extremely important to recognize because it gives us a better understanding of why Will was reacting the way he was during the entire quest. It also answers some questions that I previously had.

As someone who has severe anxiety and suffers from panic/anxiety attacks, it makes complete sense that Will would also. He is forced into uncomfortable and challenging situations that he can't control. He feels useless and incompetent, especially when it comes to helping his boyfriend. And he already felt lonely, scared, and unsure before they even started. Combine all that with overstimulation and stress and you've got yourself a great recipe for mental disaster.

If you don't want TSATS spoilers, I suggest stop reading here. I'm going to provide some examples from the book to help me out. This will also be pretty long tbh lol.



The Subway Ride:

As they were leaving the station, Nico asked Will to stop shaking his leg (an anxious habit). Soon after this, Nico noted that Will had closed his eyes and started using a breathing technique. He also said that Will did this often to calm down and decided to leave his boyfriend alone.

Breathing techniques are a very common way to help prevent an attack or calm them down. I've had it drilled into my head that breathing techniques are one of the first things to do when I feel overly anxious/upset.  

As a healer, Will most likely knows about these and uses them to help keep calm. He had just experienced a very stressful taxi ride (which he is described as clinging to the seatbelt for dear life) and is now on a train to start his journey to Tartarus. I'd be freaking out too.



The Trog Tunnels:

The second time Will exhibited an attack was when they were crawling through the tunnels with the Trogs to get to Menoetius farm. Will was complaining about feeling closed in and felt like the tunnel would collapse. He also started feeling nauseous, woozy, and forgetful. The second they left the tunnel, Will immediately needed to rest. He kept his eyes closed and felt better once he had a minute to breath.

These are all symptoms of a panic/anxiety attack. While symptoms definitely range based on the severity of an attack, the most common ones are dizziness, nausea, and brain fog. This is because your brain is tricked into thinking what is happening is a life-or-death situation. It's pumping adrenaline into your body, but there's nothing happening physically to you. This leaves you with a body filled with energy and a mind screaming with chaos.

The only way to really stop these attacks is to sit down somewhere you feel comfortable (literally anywhere but a tunnel in Will's case) and calm yourself down.



The Tartarus Argument:

The fourth example is the argument Will and Nico had after the whole pigeon fiasco. The power of anxiety leads you into overthinking and what was Will doing? He believed that Nico was going to abandon him and that he deserved it. He was 100% convinced of this despite Nico's very stubborn loyalty trait. Will literally broke down in gasping sobs, unable to think of anything but being left behind.

Will had been facing attack after attack since this moment that he finally just broke. When faced with doubt and fear and panic towards the one he loves, towards the person he trusts, coming back from that brink is almost impossible.



Tartarus:

Will was basically in a constant state of panic during the entire Tartarus trip. He was pale, shaky, loopy, and irritated. The rational brain train had left the station and it was not coming back.





As a fellow struggler of anxiety and attacks, I'm glad they added this side of anxiety, even if it was never explicitly stated. I believe that it was purposeful that both authors didn't state that Will was having attacks because it is a sensitive and heavy topic that is hard to discuss, especially when they were covering a bunch of other bases.

The main reason I wanted to make this though was again to drive him the point that Will was not a whiny, weak-spined character. He was struggling with his own anxiety and fears which drove him to act the way he did. I always see people preaching the importance of supporting others, yet my dash is filled with angry, hateful comments towards a character that is meant to represent people like me.

[dreadfutures]

Blue’s DA4 Screenshot Binge Pt. 2

so, here is the Lighthouse, accessed via an eluvian on Beacon Island in the Crossroads.

I had previously wondered if this were the Lighthouse:

But the sky does appear different here :) So I now think that this ^ is a setting in Arlathan Forest.

Anyway, the light house is beautiful.

and... wait a second.

sylaise wyd

more of our companions:

across from us is Neve's room, and John mentioned Bellara but I don't know if that is Bellara's room, or if he was just naming other companions.

Harding's room is absolutely gorgeous with her open ceiling and the tree roots above her:

It suits her.

speaking of suiting:

In Davrin's room, Assan has a chew bone by the fire :3

Also, I had wondered if (what turned out to be Taash's room) the ogre wooden statue here

was Davrin's, and it looks like it is. You can see a Warden on top of the ogre, slaying it:

Im still sad that Taash's room is so devoid of anything but Jock and Gloom. Is the girl really a dragon hunter? Are you so sad and buckled down because you are actually a Qunari agent? :< Taash talk to me. Do we help you decorate?

We also have, on banners beside the fire/caretaker symbol on the map, all the symbols of our factions. You can see the Veil Jumpers (bottom right), Shadow Dragons (bottom), Wardens (bottom left), but tbh the quality of the stream was hard to make out the others; notably, these look more heraldic than the simple versions we've gotten (courtesy of @/felassan)

I already mentioned the sitting room of the Lighthouse, but I want to specifically point to the golden glow at the top back, which I just think is vewy pwetty:

In addition, we see a few DAI elven assets, the bow-necked dragons of mythal, and the howling wolves:

Alright: now to the Crossroads.

[scre6m]

I really don't understand how they think they can make more scream movies without the carpenter sisters. the whole fucking point of the reboots is how they reflect the originals and sidney was in the original four and the fifth! the carpenters are the new sidney!

and that's not even touching how fucked up it was that the actress was fired for posting pro-palestine stuff. definitely will not be watching, so glad you're talking about it too.

they think they can make whatever and people will watch it (and tbh i unfortunately think they might be right on a mainstream level ppl are gonna show up cos they'll either 1) not know or 2) not care. so unfortunately i'm scared it may still make money)

like bringing neve and kevin williamson back is not going to make us forget that they fired and lost their actual leads?? and never even told their black actors what was happening? (jasmin straight up said she didnt get a call either way) its just so blatant how they do not respect this story or the people playing it out onscreen. neve should be fucking EMBARRASSED that in order for them to give her the money she wanted they had to fire or lose every other lead. her success literally had to come from another woman being mistreated by their employer like she doesnt smell that shit in her mouth??

also, just logistically, what story is left to tell for sidney? they already said she had her happy ending??

you prob didnt ask for all that ranting but this shit is just pissing me off they really took my favorite horror franchise and made it so i hope it fails and dont want one of the best final girls ever back

long fucking story short fuck spyglass dont watch their fucking movies!!!!

[sorryimananti-romantic]

i've been reading fanfictions and online novels for so many years (too many really) and for a very long time there was one common event or phenomena within the writing community that i never experienced myself: finding that ONE fictional novel that you will never let go, whose plot just will not leave your mind and you come back to reading it over and over again like you're a broken record.

most of my time in the recent weeks was spent commuting across country and when's a better time than to read fiction all by my lone self? trains, busses and bustling fading into the background and acting as a form of white noise. (blame it on growing up with ghibli)

tldr; i've picked up Horizon again lol

and i wanted to once again come here and extend all and every compliment towards you for writing (the entire series tbh!). it doesn't get old and it has once again sent me down an endless spiral of emotions even when i already know how it ends. how my adoration for the characters continue to grow is a mystery even to myself. and it's amazing how with every read-through, i find more and more clues and details to complete the bigger puzzle that i hadn't even picked up on during my first reads.

gotten so bad that i'll see the word Horizon, listen to the actual song Horizon and i can not stop myself from thinking about horizon!san and gaeul (also neve my baby).. google, can you be downbad for a fanfiction? asking for a friend.

getting lost in thoughts again and distracted by this universe, i have yet to bring up why i'm even writing this essay lol

after collecting my thoughts and my notes (and rambling a friend's ear off about the series and the universe and more..) i believe i have found that ONE fictional novel that i will never forget about and know will always end up coming back to - which is Horizon ♡

there's not much more to say other than just that, if i'm quite honest (otherwise we'd be here all night and i'm not willing to test if asks have a character limit lol)

but i do know that unless readers verbalize their thoughts and feelings for a piece of writing, the writer will never know the impact they might have had on someone else with something they wrote by themselves without expectations to reach such great distances and touch so many hearts (definitely mine). writers might be masterminds but even they can't read minds through a screen. (i hope..)

also as i am writing this, what a humorous coincidence that it's been exactly one year since the release of Horizon :') <33 happy one year ♡

all the hugs and kisses to you yumii 🩷 ○ chron

chron- 😭 first and foremost let me apologise bc i went to check if horizon really turned one year old today and foound your lovely feedback reblog that i. missed.???????? HOW DID I MISS THAT?? but also nice time discovering it bc after reading this ask and feeling some sort of way (emotional asf is what it is) i went on to read the reblog and i-

look, i'm really not an emotional person but i had to physically stop take a breather drink some water I DON'T CRY MUCH BUT THIS. THIS MAKES ME CRY 😭😭

and secondly, i love you so much 😭😭 your presence here and feedback and the encouragement and everything literally means so much to me you have no idea how good i'm feeling right now 😭 (be replying to the reblog on horizon soon btw i have no idea how i missed that gem)

i'm honestly beyond honoured. i don't know if you know but take me home/horizon lore is so so precious to me! it's literally my baby and i'm ngl i live in that lore. you'll catch me randomly thinking about it and coming with potential ideas for the future if i write another installment (honestly want to for every member one day) but horizon being that ficitonal novel for you? i'm clutching my heart rn 😭❤️

we're both ghibli kids hehe it's def been a solid influence on my imagination! ghibli movies were literally the first ones that i watched i'm glad my dad got me cds of them without having any idea what they were LMAO but the influence is there and i'm happy to find another ghibli enthusiast <3

and omgg finding more details on the sec read? ahaha that's lovely to hear :') i love how the fic horizon is now an additional with the song horizon for you hehe and neve, ugh. everyone's baby daddy neve :')

i'm honestly so thankful that you took the time to send this message, that you feel this way (and the reblog lord it's making me cry i'll reply to it soon too bc wow.) take me home was my first fic and i have no idea how i came up with the story (covid times, vacation, and first time worldbuilding was a dangerous combo lmao) and i honestly had zero plans for another installment in the lore but so many take me home san enthusiasts kept me engaged even long after take me home ended. thus horizon was born- i needed to do san justice after hinting that he and yena might have been sth.

horizon is my baby. i think horizon is one of my favs because i was ngl a big brain with how i extracted points from take me home to create the premise for horizon. like it's the most unplanned planned thing i've ever written? if that makes sense. i had a hard time coming up with twists but everytime i connected some event of horizon back to take me home i would literally evil smirk LMAO and i'm so glad you enjoyed it so much! it makes me feel proud that i wrote it 😭❤️

as you can tell i can talk about the lore forever. it was so fun to plan and write it and to find someone who appreciates it so much? literally in shambles rn. and to find this message and that reblog on the one year anniversary? god, i wish i could tell you how i'm feeling rn 😭❤️

again, thank you from the bottom of my heart! if i ever find the time to write another installment in that lore (idk if many will read it tho lmao but i could literally write another series for you) i think i'll def come to you for brainstorming :') i know the next one is going to be woo x darkling or yunho x some ice-user faerie (with more neve features bc they literally can't do this without him anymore LOL) and ahh i should stop writing now you're literally making me want to drop everything and start writing this ahaha

[queenerdloser]

also i AM playing veilguard and i made a wee pocket sized lad of a man for my first rook and i love him and his boyband hair. spoilers & reactions below the cut.

my first rook is a lord of fortune mage w/the plan to romance lucanis. he's very snarky and i love him.

i'm glad they made the call to go back to the like. da2 style of dialogue.

me so far every time rook talks to solas: get his ass!!!!!!

that said, i feel like they're making solas like rook too quick. what the fuck. it took my inquisitor like YEARS to build a rapport with this motherfucker.

i hate the combat lol. maybe i'll enjoy it more when i get used to it but there's too many moving pieces to keep track of for me. my favorite combat is where i can just like mash one button and easily kill everything in my path, i don't want to be strategic and have to micromanage everything. also what is this three potions bullshit. even dai gave you 10. and i have to like find them in random pots????? what the fuck????

very fun to sprint and jump. makes me feel zoom.

why do the elves just accept that their gods are back and evil? like. it feels like they accept it WAY too quickly lol.

dialogue so far is uh. very cheesy. a lot of "we're all great so let's work together!" stuff that is like. fine. but cheesy.

i'd die for lace harding. she looks so cute in this game.

when solas stabbed varric i SCREAMED. i was like. do NOT kill my boy in the first fifteen minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm still only like a couple of hours in but varric was being suspiciously sick in the cutscenes so i have feeling he is going to die :((((

me: where is my BOYFRIEND (lucanis) and my FUTURE BOYFRIEND (davrin)

i love neve but i have a feeling we are going to butt heads a lot lol. i'm playing my rook as the reckless, confident type with a saving person thing that feels true to what we know about his backstory and he's already disagreed with neve several times. whoops.

i love the little marker showing me exactly where to go. hell yeah, hold my hand with this bullshit. kind of glad they dumped the open world of dai and got us back on rails.... tho that may change as i get further in the game???

when i say i spent HOURS in the character creator.... like i love it but it honestly felt like TOO much tbh. esp. when i had to do it for rook and then immediately again for my inquisitor too.

i ended up going lord of fortune background almost entirely bc i liked their casual look the best but i think i'll definitely try to play most of the backgrounds. they're so fun! i was THIS close to doing shadow dragons.

honestly minrathous is really cool???? all the locations so far have been great, love the lighthouse. (v. funny 2 me that we get all of these cool locations thanks to solas. man knows how to find a cool spot and name it i guess.)

the updated blight is VERY creepy. also those new darkspawn??? i gasped.

i do like that they're playing solas as this like. enemy who is begrudgingly allied due to worse enemies. but i'm so curious how they'll play it when the inquisitor gets involved. i'm doing my kai lavellan inky who DEFINITELY is going to try to stop solas at all costs... uh oh lol.

i know people were salty about not getting to integrate a lot of dai choices but tbh i'm fine with it. i'm more happy we got to include our inquisitor tbh.

morrigan showing up looking younger than she did in da:o.... um okay lol. also i kind of hate that she's considered an expert on elven history yet again. stop that.

im going to say again i hate the combat bc i really do hate it. praying it grows on me as i get more used to it bc otherwise i'm enjoying the game a lot.

[symphorine]

taking a walk around arlathan forest! to go to d'meta's crossing

the tree people. wish we could comment on it??? its definitely creepy. some look like they got turned in very intense moments, some look pretty peaceful. when did this happen? is this something that happens continually? either way it sure gives a particular ambiance :')

little neve and bellara banter about the forest, I think just when seeing the first tree people. it also played the same when i came through with harding in previous playthrough.

Neve: Sounds like a lot happened here. Bellara: What hasn't happened? This area is where Tevinter magisters destroyed Arlathan City centuries ago. Whole lot of bloog magic during the war. Neve: And now? Bellara: Whatever Solas did stirred up everything again. Bellara: The old blood magic from the war... it never went away. Bellara: Ancient relics appear out of thin air, ruins float... Bellara: It's like... an old wound that never healed. And now it's bleeding again.

Letter we find on a desk overlooking the VJ's camp

A Lament for Fallen Elvhenan From a Veil Jumper's letter: I hear tall watchtowers once stood where these waters emptied into the sky, their torches lit to guide the weary traveler. Sometimes on still days, when the mist hangs low on the river, I can imagine the lighted path up to the golden spires of Arlathan, and the voices of my people calling me home. I know Elvhenan, our lost civilization, is not how I imagine it. Arlathan was a place of wonder and magic, and also of conflict and war, ruled by tyrants. Yet still I mourn it, and wishg that I could have seen it just once, and called it mine. Added below in different handwriting: These feelings are not yours alone. There is no sin in grieving what was lost, imperfect thought it was. -- Strife.

i like that we get to see a glimpse of complex feelings about all this in the veil jumpers. considering they are at the very least primarily dalish (if not all), I wish we could talk to them more, or overhear more dialogue about how they feel about the evanuris and the truth behind the legends they've been hearing all their lives! and how two of those gods are now walking thedas! it's especially nice to see this for strife, since we do talk to him more but we're mostly restricted by like, plot urgency. maybe it's different if you play a veil jumper rook?

getting to the boat, in that area we find two halla, one dead and one alive. irelin says later in davrin's personal quest that the veil jumpers have been so busy they've neglected to check on the halla, but they're literally minutes away from camp, so... idk. level population oversight maybe.

we find that first owl statue, which when activated (really fun to me that we get to hear rook hoot) shows this note:

EXPLORER'S JOURNAL: DISCOVERY I'm convinced these owls are more than statues. There's a power behind these silent guardians. I'm hesitant to tamper with them, but on the other hand, owls represent wisdom and transformation. I can't imagine a monument to such noble creatures would be harmful. -- Renay Limfort

D'Meta's Crossing is a big tone shift coming from arlathan forest and i LOVED IT, even before my warden rook said they sensed blight i was very excited to see fucked up things. and boy is that village fucked up. we've seen some of the new blight already, but this is a whole other level. i don't think there's anything in particular i want to note here though. aside from maybe the mayor's fate? if you send him to the wardens, he ends up saving a group of wardens in the hossberg wetlands later on. presumably, if you don't, they just die? as a warden i decided to bring him in, mainly because the situation is clearly getting dire really fast, and the more bodies to fight the blight, the better, but bellara was not happy about that :') he also has some lines about how he's trying to atone for what he did and seems sincere, which I suppose could play into the larger theme of regret in the game, but tbh it just felt relatively standard in terms of wardens shit.

also the dragon looks goooooood

some fun screenshots of the village and stuff:

i guess this is also the first encounter with ghilannain and glimpse into what she's doing - from the conversation with jahel, one of the veil jumpers, "a blood ritual, to release the blight" (which I guess is what caused the sinkhole to the deep roads that is now in the middle of the village?), from the dialogue with mayor julius "ghilannain's new creation", according to harding "so the gods could gain power from the blight". not sure exactly how this worked tbh. the blight already exists here, and both elgarnan and ghilannain are already blighted. but this is a conjecture from harding, and it's possible this was just ghilannain toying with the blight and seeing what she could with it now.

also at the end when you leave the mayor, he says that no one could withstand the influence of the gods, and bellara says "Watch me.", which I think is a GREAT parallel if you pick her to do the wards at the end and she becomes blighted and tells elgarnan that he's not her god while using the blight against him. bellaraaaaaa i love u. free gifset idea tbh

im probably not gonna say much about the extra varric narrations. the art is nice but i really do not care for them and in fact i think they detract from the game.

a codex entry from the veil jumpers (which i think actually is from before u go to the boat but my screenshots are not entirely in order):

Scouting Report: Apparition Expedition scouting report, Veil Jumper Caeda reporting: I was in the northernmost stretch of Arlathan Forest trying to find a way into the Gennelis ruin. We recently discovered an old journal that claimed a lost halla keeper found a room full of relics inside Gennelis, down in the labyrinth. The entrance was blocked by rubble. As I was getting ready to wedge myself through a gap, an apparition appeared in front of it. It seemed to be blocking my way. Whatever it was, it wasn't solid, so I think I could've passed through it, but it seemed to be waving its arms. It felt like a warning -- that I shouldn't enter the ruins. I didn't argue and turned and ran.

everybody give it up for genre aware veil jumper caeda who definitely saved his own life there. gives a little bit of insight on VJ missions again! he was alone in a part of the forest clearly far away and possibly dangerous - even before the apparition warned him away, he was going to go into an old ruined labyrinth, which cannot be a good idea. so I guess, while there are probably some members who do more ordinary things - hunting and foraging for food, trading, maintaining the camp, mapping the forest, patrolling - long expeditions alone in ruins don't seem out of the ordinary.

when we get back to the camp, we get to have a conversation with strife and irelin and morrigan appears! i did not expect her to be there this early so i was really surprised in my first pt. i feel like throughout the game she was very much used as a character to pad some gaps and give rook information, rather than... fully as who she is and what she can do, which is a shame. but then again, considering we couldn't import anything to do with her, I suppose her role had to remain pretty removed so her actions and dialogue didn't contradict things we might have done in previous games.

also morrigan and harding are pals I guess? they weren't particularly close in inquisition (i don't even know if morrigan /talked/ to harding then), but it could make sense that they've worked together more closely in the ten years since while harding was looking for solas.

I do think they could've stood to make morrigan look older, but she does have crow's feet and lines when her face moves, so it's not entirely half assed.

Some of the conversation:

Harding: Morrigan helped the Inquisition when Varric and I were part of it. She knew more about ancient magic than anyone except Solas. [...] Morrigan: As dangerous as Solas himself may be, his imprisonment of the gods was just. Morrigan: To leave them unchecked would have been the very end of Thedas. Rook: (So you know the Dread Wolf?) Just to be clear, you know your old friend Solas is actually the Dread Wolf? Morrigan: So I have come to learn. It rather explains how he knew such a great deal of ancient elven history... Morrigan: And why he became so vexed when I attempted to explain it to him.

she rolls her eyes when she says that last part. it is funny, but also i think bioware maybe poking fun at how people who played an elven inquisitor did not appreciate getting explained their own history by morrigan? idk maybe im reading too much into this. i give it a pass because I think it would make solas look like he just bit into a lemon to know someone called him and morrigan friends and I think that man should be bullied forever.

we then get some info from morrigan about the vi'revas, Solas's special eluvian, and his dagger, and onwards we go. bellara goes to the lighthouse to fix the eluvian, and rook, neve and harding go to the ritual site to get the lyrium dagger that solas used to open the fade, and also to stab varric.

[gaymarasov]

Finished DA:V last night, spoilers and thoughts under the cut:

Positive/Neutral:

All in all, really fun game. Understand why they made it so that choices from previous games didn't matter as much/weren't really relevant but also it was a bummer. I would have liked to see more of my old friends and Morrigan's role was... Weird? Someone who knows Dragon Age more than me can probably explain better what I'm feeling about her place in the story but I digress.

Romance was fun but whoever said this was "the most romantic" Dragon Age game needs to face... Consequences. I haven't decided what they should be yet. That said I loved Davrin so much, I fell in with him immediately, he snatched me away from Neve which is impressive because I wanted her since I first saw her but. He was just so charming. And Assan... My son...

Taash's arc was fine, if a little on the nose. I think it was great to see representation like this in a AAA game. I understand why people thought it was cringe but ultimately to me that's more reflective of internal shame and embarrassment than any reflection on Taash or their story. Taash reads as young to me, probably early 20's, and let me just say, I know at least 3 Taash's IRL. That's just how some people are, especially coming into their identities when born into restrictive backgrounds. There's nothing wrong with it. It was sweet.

Taash's final companion mission where they lose their mom went hard, as did the final series of missions, BUT all of that was so tonally dissonant from the rest of the game (and in Taash's case, even tonally dissonant throughout the mission! What the fuck!!). Which is a problem I had with most of the game tbh.

Negative now:

It had this very careful, very sanitized vibe for 98% of its playtime and then every now and then it'd just be like "HAHA I bet you thought you were SAFE!" and it would do some truly crazy shit, which is NOT what I really enjoy in Dragon Age or video games in general. I feel like if you want there to be life or death stakes you should establish them early and let the dread hang.

What I feel like I got instead was a cheery buddy cop Marvel movie with animal companions where every now and then they'd give the villains a gun with one bullet (1) and let them blow a beloved character's brains out on screen, just so that they could say "See? We take our story seriously!"

Harding died in my playthrough and believe it or not, having characters say "whatever it takes" like ten times before embarking on a dangerous mission does not suffice to establish a sense of urgency or dread in any meaningful way. There had already been so many death fakeouts and the game had already showed me what felt like upwards of ten times that it wasn't willing to hurt its main characters in meaningful, lasting ways that her death came as a surprise, but not a shock. It felt like the whole mission they kept taking me by the shoulders and going "We are going to kill Lace Harding" and it was like. Ok. Ok. I get it. Can't you just let me experience this on my own.

Ultimately the story was very hand-hold-y. I understand having to make things accessible for new players, but at the same time, it's like... The game really treated me throughout as if I was dumb, not just regarding knowing Dragon Age lore (which would have been... fine, or more forgivable) but regarding like, playing video games in general. Which is wild. Do they really think their main audience is stupid? Who do they think is playing this game?

Over-All, gotta be like, 7 or 8 out of 10. Really really fun game and I can forgive most of its sins. Definitely going to replay!!

[crows-of-buckets]

Dav spoilers below the cut!! (Up to just before leaving for the anderfels)

Okay I've gotten off for today so I wanna ramble a little bit about my playthrough so far!!

I am geniuenly adoring it so far! Alot of the problems I have with inquisition are non-existent, the combat is fun, the characters are likeable. Sadly the purple rook options aren't as much of an asshole as I would like (purple Hawke you will be missed) but they are nice! The writing so far has been solid imo.

I really like that the cameo characters aren't taking up too much space. While I do get excited to see them, I don't want them overshadowing the new characters, like they kinda did in previous games. The cameos are also way sooner than I was expecting!!

So far I've only had one instance of "that is NOT what I meant to say" with the dialogue wheel which I count as a win (when I recruited lucanis I said 'ill keep an eye on you' thinking it was out of concern 😭 that may have just been a skill issue on my end tho. I reloaded that save so fast). I also really like the romance dialogue options so far. They aren't so overwhelming cringe that it makes me wanna curl up and die inside (I am staring directly at you Hawke who SAYS THAT to a man who's BOYFRIEND JUST DIED). They all feel very nice and flirty in a way that isn't in your face. I am also really REALLY liking the companion writing so far. All of the characters are charming and I'm already more invested in them than I was in the inquisiton cast sorry 😭

While Rook does talk a lot on their own, so far it all feels very in line with what Revari would say. While I do miss being able to control everything the PC says, ik logically we'll never get a dragon age game like that again so it's not something I was expecting. Very happy nothing feels glaringly "they would not fucking say that"

I I thought the lack of worldstate choice was going to be more glareingly obvious but tbh i kinda forget about it for most the playthrough. It still sucks that there isn't more worldstate options, but yk I can't change that

Lucanis is already really growing on me!!! He's just a silly little guy and I am a SUCKER for them. Born to be a chef forced to be an assassin frfr...

Neve gallus obviously has my whole heart if you didn't know. The longer she's on screen the more I love her. She hasn't left my party since Bellaras recruitment quest.

Very interested in Bellara. For a hot second I thought her brother was going to be Felassan so I was mildly disappointed that it wasn't 😭 although ultimately making it a new character is a better narrative choice.

I LOVE that you can encourage Lace's abilities!!! I have a feeling that how you tell her to channel her abilities (whether through joy or through fear) is going to affect the outcome of her story... Also love that if you show optimism about her abilities she also shows excitement about them

Varric and Rooks relationship is so sweet to me!!! I mean he calls them kid you guys should know I was gonna be a sucker for it. While I know that's probably annoying for older Rooks, it works for Revari. I'm also very glad he has a distinct different relationship with Rook than he did with Hawke and The Inquisitor. He's clearly very fond of them and it makes me happy idk. Also the sheer fucking difference between the way he acts towards the Inquisitor (even one he's friendly with!!) and rook is so funny. Inky really is just his ex boss huh 😭

I've only talked to Solas twice so far but I'm already more invested in his and Rooks dynamic than I was with him in the Inquisitor sorry 😭 I didn't romance him so he didn't really do it for me in Inquistion, but I'm low-key looking forward to seeing him again. His little jabs in the second talk after you "exchange verbal spars" is so fun, and I think it really hammers in the "Solas reflects back the people he interacted with". He did it with the Inquisitor, and is doing it again with Rook, but it's SO much more interesting to me in this game so far idk. Maybe it's because he's responding to specific comments? Idk Revari is a bit of a shithead so. I don't think Revari hates Solas, but they are a bit wary of him.

The voice acting has been very solid so far as well!! Nothing that's glarely bad to me at least. I also really like some of the facial animations; while some of them can feel a bit flat in general conversation, some of them are REALLY good. There was a bit where Dorian started snarking and he curled his lip. And another where Rook opened their mouth like they were going to talk but didn't. Idk the facial animations are REALLY standing out to me. This is so much better than the previous games I am not even over exaggerating. Dragon age "Every character wears an ugly sneer all the time" Inquisiton you will not be missed... Obviously it's because the technology is better but it is really really obvious how much attention went into the faces I am here for it

The combat is so fucking fun. Ik it won't be everyones cup of tea but I am having a BLAST. It didn't take me very long to get the hang of and it's very satisfying to play with.

I am also fucking LOVING how relevant your backstory is!!! Like yes!!! I am a shadow dragon!!!! There's so many additional dialogue about it even just in casual conversations! I never felt like the game forgot about it. Rooks connection to their faction is great and I love the fact that they know people and people know them. Shadow dragon rook ily 🫶

I really like how much it feels like this game remembers what you've done. From Lucanis remembering your preferred drinks (Revari likes their coffee STRONG) to Varric feeling like he let you down after you encouraged him, so far it really feels like what I'm doing is sticking and that makes me SO fucking happy.

Final thing!!! This game looks absolutely fucking gorgeous I keep getting blown away by the views. I do wish I could zoom my camera out a bit more just to take everything in bc it's SO big I love it!!! So far it is geniuenly meeting my expectations and I am SO FUCKING RELIEVED. I have been so worried it was gonna be dogshit for WEEKS

[3gremlins]

okay i watched the da:tv gameplay trailer and some thoughts!

-gameplay looks pretty fun and fast and swishy (i know the crpg contingent will be upset but da2 is my favorite so i'm not mad about it at this point, fast combat makes my brain go ZING. i love bg3 but the combat takes so fucking long, i've got places to be, fam). The attack lines from enemies are kind of interesting? i'm not sure about them but it feels like it'll be a little more involved than dispatching all the nameless, brainless enemies we did in DAI/previously which could be neat? we'll see. the venatori still feel a little weak as enemies to me (like kinda boring, you need to fight someone type of enemies)

-excited to finally not have to choose between arrows and daggers as as a rogue (and the switch doesn't look terribly clunky? *stares at dao meaningfully*)

-i wish they'd shown the other classes a little bit (can we not switch to/direct our companions at all? i thought they said we could somewhere. not being able to switch to them would suck a bit, how else will i know what class i want to do next?*), or even showed the rogue at a higher level for more skillz (just the one's a little boring but understandable)

-would also love to see skill trees? are there skill trees?

-aesthetic looks fairly similar to dai tbh? i kinda wish it was more like the character trailers (i know unpopular opinion) actually, like a new swishy aesthetic for the swishy gameplay (like really reinvent yourself, put your whole chest into it, but also given the reaction to the character trailer i can see why they didn't feel they could/should)

-otherwise, it does look good! the hair especially, will have to see it in cc (have we finally been delivered from eyebrow caterpillars????)

-default rook looks so good! already feels like they have more innate personality than the inkys did (like hawke). -tho i hope we can dye their clothes/gear b/c i do not love the purple/yellow lol (have they mentioned about dyes at all? there's been so much info, it's a little overwhelming) -their voice is hot, oh no bioware and the hot voices again lol like might just do a pt with default human rook??? a thing i haven't done since da2 so that's a good sign (based on the concept art, it looks like there might be a "default" rook for humans, elves, qunari and dwarves which is sort of interesting? maybe they were just playing with it tho)

-already love neve, tho her hat/veil is still weird (it is dragon age, mages have to have stupid hats i guess). good luck neve cosplayers balancing a weird board on the side of your heads!

-love the dialogue wheel but am also biased b/c DA2 = <3 I hope the dialogue choices build up similarly to how they did in da2 (where you'd get unique dialogue options based on how sassy/nice/decisive you were)

-i am underwhelmed by the on the ground city design they showed idk some of the environments feel like stuff i've seen in the other da games a bunch (esp that last bit of rubble with the sliding into the solas area, like it looks very much like the first bit of dai where you fight the pride demon. but i also played that game too much and most people didn't so it might not matter).

-also having us fight a pride demon AGAIN in the introductory sequence feels kinda same-y (i'm sure it's supposed to be a nod, but it feels kind of re-tread). hopefully we get enemies that aren't demons/venatori (or at least not the same demons/venatori). Would have to see more to really decide but it did feel a little empty/dai-ish (negative) in the sequence they showed

-i know they're hiding plot stuff/unfinished things and probably more combat but every time the trailer went to a black screen with white text it felt like an "it's always sunny" meme like "The Gang interrupts an ancient ritual" XD and i could not take it completely seriously

-the varric/solas dialogue does feel a little weird, like i never felt they were all that close tbh (like it feels like the only person who could do that would be a friend/lover inquisitor). It also kinda felt like an Anders-redo to me, like putting the varric/anders friendship onto solas instead? idk didn't love it, but i get why it's there (narratively)

-varric is def going to die isn't he? i kinda hope so, like i love him but he also is starting to feel a little shoe-horned into things/a little overplayed (plus if they have to kill someone, he feels like a meaningful choice?)

-varric still looks weird with really dark hair, like i'm fine with him going grey but his hair was def redder/browner in previous games (hoping it's just the lighting/water?). hc that he's dyeing it for vanity reasons

-curious about the party choices where you take certain people with you, is it like ME where certain people need to do certain things or they'll die? and it's not obvious (like in suicide mission where if you want companions to live, leaving them behind to do a job is actually the better choice)

-the teaser silhouettes at the end there?!?! lets go unleashed, unhinged evanuris rampaging through thedas?!? **

-still really need solas to turn into a giant multi-eyed wolf (and have the option of a romanced lavellan inky talk him down), like we've gotten so much of the list already, pls bioware (♡ヮ♡)

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tl;dr: i am most excited about the new companions! the combat looks like it'll be fun/fine, i am tentatively excited about the plot (there is a griffon but they did not show the griffon in this trailer which was foolish, i am easily won this way)/narrative beats. Will play for sure, but going to try to not get too excited (tooo late haha)

*like i'm not going to have 1000 pts and play all the classes but i still liked playing AS companions to get a feel for their skillz and stuff

**thinking about this more, i kinda wish they hadn't gone for the same grandiose opener as DAI and it was instead more of a murder mystery type of framing? like the veil's down, the evanuris are loose and they're not rampaging, they're doing subtle nasty things and we have to track them down (kinda like the forsaken in Wheel of Time). that would be an entirely different game probably tho lol

[curiousstrawberry]

Some under the cut veilguard thoughts and spoilers

Beware since I'm not that far in the story (i think) but done ton of side quests

Idk how I feel about the Inquisitor showing up. Like it's no surprise I don't enjoy inquisitor as a character but this whole meeting has very much a vibe of this could've been an email...

Seriously like here's statue, south is fucked btw but i'm handling it somehow lmao gl

Anyway i hope they show up again (preferably to die for solas tbh... I always thought they'll die cmonn don't let me down)

It's the first quest line i actually dislike actually. Gives whole lot of telling and now showing dai vibe we could literally do without. (What was said w inquisitor Harding or Varric could say, literally no reason to go out of your way to meet inquisitor)

Idk how to feel about the whole solas mythal thing tbh. Like i do not think that's something new at all just hmm yeah I guess (have to digest all that)

Im getting they are giving him more layers and everything and i get it i get it. It's just hmmm curious where this leads

All older character that make cameo literally feel like in marvel movies. Like wink wink nudge nudge see what we did there?? Which tbh i don't mind? Just don't think too hard about it

Also to be absolutely clear the less we know about what's going on in south the better because then we can headcanon shit ya know? Nothing contradicts itself really and everyone is happy until proven wrong (Hawke and Warden are killing darkspawn while making out sloppy style as we speak)

Also so i don't just vaguely complain i really love the choice between saving the two cities from dragons. The way it's so abrupt and all. AMAZING especially if you play either as crow or shadow dragon absolutely delicious angst

I also want Taash to marry me (me, not Rook, they gonna marry Davrin.. already co-parenting griffon with him so yeah!)

God it's so delicious when everyone is like poor Neve how bad she must feel after what happened to her city while Kalais (Rook) is there like crying and self doubt (no shade on Neve at all btw! She's fucking amazing and I love she gets to be pissed at Rook)

Overall i really like characterization of everyone in main group and how they feel together. Like it's honestly lot more like group who's saving world but becoming very close friends vibes and it really works!

They could've killed Varric. Or idk made him more incapacitated or leave. Because he literally serves zero purpose there. I love Varric a lot like A LOT but like he's just literally there just for fanservice. If they killed him in first mission it would've worked better (i would definitely be pissed but if he dies now it'll just feel cheap but guess then Solas would hardly remain redeemable in writers eyes... Tho would make things definitely more interesting with possible redemption)

[bubblegumstardust]

I told myself when I started uni that I was going to make the most of it and actually do shit and socialise and I just like haven't. Like I talk to people but I feel like I can't actually call any of them friends and that I'm very easily forgotten which is annoying but there's just like nothing I can do about it now (especially since I don't really fit in with a lot of them). Like just once in the last quite a few years, I didn't want to be the quiet outcast. Ugh.