#i just want to feel more attached to them than i do to any inquisitor i’ve tried to make

[chanafehs]

My Veilguard review:

Note - I will be honest in saying this is very long and very negative. If you enjoy this game please don't let me be the one to ruin that for you and skip on this post. I will be discussing spoilers. This is just my opinion so please don't crucify me for it.

I think my thoughts about this game were shaky to begin with as I had been exposed to different spoilers and information before the launch. I wasn’t actually expecting this game to be amazing but as someone whose favorite Dragon Age game is Dragon Age 2, which is arguably the weakest in the series (until now), I still went in with the impression I would have a good time regardless. I did not have that at all, in fact towards the end of Act 2 and the beginning of Act 3 all I wanted was for the game to be over. 

The problems for me really started right in the beginning with the Inquisitor character choices and their characterization. No choices for your Warden, no choices for your Hawke, and only three choices for your Inquisitor out of the dozens you made in Inquisition. The romance option just felt like a very polite way of asking if you romanced Solas or not, especially after completing the game where your non-solas romance will only get one letter for you to read, outside of that, the Inquisitor will not even mention them. Disbanding the Inquisition meant basically nothing and vowing to stop Solas felt like it had little bearing on what my Inquisitor said when she showed up. 

The time frame to make Dragon Age 2 was just over a year and somehow included more choices from Origins than Veilguard did with over ten years of production. That is the information that's been banging around in my head throughout this entire game. In Dragon Age 2, we get the consequences of our decisions with Alistair’s fate and we get extra dialogue concerning Isabela/Zevran/Leliana/Anders/Nathaniel + some sidequests. Veilguard couldn’t even give us so much of a mention of our Inquisitor’s friendships and the consequences of those friendships outside of Solas. The Inquisitors themselves are locked into one personality type as well, and regardless if you choose to stop Solas or not, they are very amicable toward him. 

During the second cut scene you get with the Inquisitor in Dock Town, they will go on to ask you about your progress and then go on about Solas. Mind you, my Inquisitor is extremely unsympathetic to Solas and I chose the option to stop him no matter what, so why is it that every time I speak to her, she keeps trying to ask me if Solas is being genuine and that he was her friend? That doesn’t sound like someone who has vowed to stop him. They will also try to draw parallels between you, Rook, and Solas. Even at the end of the game, they will still try to appeal to you to see reason with him. That is essentially all the Inquisitor is there for. Incredibly frustrating. 

Throughout the game you will get missives from the Inquisitor detailing the devastation that is being brought to southern Thedas and every letter feels like more and more of an insult. To keep it short: Southern Thedas as we know it has been essentially wiped out. I think that deserves more than a footnote in some missive most players aren’t even going to see.

So the setting we spent all three games in, that we saved countless times, had our companions and protagonists die for, gets demolished in the background where we cannot see it. Skyhold had to be taken back from demons and whoops, that's not actually something you can do anything about. Nothing the Warden, Hawke, or the Inquisitor ever did mattered at all and it renders everything from the previous games absolutely irrelevant. 

With that aside, the companions are also another issue for me. I found myself having trouble getting attached to any of them and every single time I recruited one I had the internal question “Why are you even here?” None of their companion quests really tie into the story at large, save maybe Harding and Davrin, and they are incredibly boring save for a few cool moments.

The main appeal of Dragon Age for me is the companions, it’s why Dragon Age 2 is my favorite of the series. Despite the overused environments and the rushed production I still had a great time with it because of the companions. I was actually eager to do the companion quests and learn more about them and how they all fit into the main narrative. Even characters I didn’t like, I still understood why they were important to the story. Like I can’t stand Anders but I know why he is there, he has a purpose.

Every companion is painfully amicable towards you even if you decide to be “stern” towards them. I found myself not caring what dialogue option I chose about them because it made absolutely no difference. There is nice, funny nice, and gentle parenting. That is really all you have to work with in terms of the dialogue wheel. It was more difficult to get disapproval than approval and I can probably count on my fingers every time in this game I actually got companion disapproval. There is only one companion in my playthrough that became hardened, Lucanis, and it had virtually no impact on his character other than the fact he leaves for a couple of saves and comes back to kissing your ass. 

Something I actually really liked about BG3 and the previous Dragon Age games was working for your companion approval - this meant actually learning about your companion and what made them tick. If you don't understand them well enough you get disapproval, when you actually listen to their ideas and thoughts you get approval - there is an active effort to get these things. In Veilguard this does not exist and you are essentially promised approval no matter what, meaning there is no encouragement to know who these people are if they're just going to support you regardless.

I have to agree with the Skillup review they made about this game saying that every dialogue option feels like it was made with HR in the room and I one hundred percent agree. This is not how real people talk to each other. This is how teachers talk to toddlers when they want to explain the virtues of sharing toys with their classmates.

It felt honestly insulting at times to be treated like I don’t understand the concept of bigotry, I still have no idea what they were trying to go for with this, like were they trying to appeal to a market of high school boys who hadn’t discovered what empathy was yet? There is zero trust in the player and every dialogue and decision you make in these moments feels handhold-y and preachy. Like Pixar levels of life lessons you learn.

In the moments where I had to settle arguments over coffee and companions not respecting each other's interests, I could not honestly believe this is the same universe with Loghain Mac Tir, Meredith Stannard, fuck even Corypheus. Humor has always existed in Dragon Age and I love the comedic banter between the characters but it was always humor that served as an escape from the oppressive and dark situation around you, here the dark and oppressive situations feel like an escape from the unrelenting friendliness and tone deafness of your companions. 

The companion I probably had the most issue with was Taash and the way they were handled. I’m not going to get too deep into the Bharv scene because even thinking about it makes me cringe but If someone messed up my pronouns and then immediately dropped to do pushups I am most definitely killing us both. Isabela’s explanation is extremely preachy and she proceeds to do the exact thing she says she hates about people messing up pronouns. Anyways. Moving on. 

Taash I think is a good example of how to not write a multiethnic character. I don’t expect a white person like Trick Weekes to understand the first thing that comes with being multiethnic or having strict parents that intersects with that identity but it is most definitely not whatever the hell this is. 

The only thing I can offer here is that as a multiethnic person (my father is Palestinian and my mother is mainly Irish and Seminole) is that there has never been a point in my life where I felt like I had to choose what culture I am let alone give that choice to someone else in my life I just met.

That’s not what being multiethnic is. I do not have to choose between anything - I am whole and I don't need to cut myself into halves and quarters to be accepted.

It also feels subconsciously like you are supposed to choose Rivain as the Qunari are depicted as bigoted and oppressive as they always have been in this game. Knowing all of this really tainted my experiences with them as a character and I understand a lot of other non-binary individuals love the representation they brought on that level but personally, I’m just tired of “queer representation” always coming with racist undertones. Again, this game feels like it always had white queer people in mind, not lgbt poc. 

These kinds of comments are really only made worse knowing what the Qunari take inspiration from - primarily Black and Brown SWANA Muslims. Why should Trick Weekes have any authority over a questline like that is beyond me. 

Also, this sucked. Especially because they said it to Neve too. I don’t really want my non-binary representation sprinkled with Misogyny as well, especially since we can’t really call Taash out on this comment unless you’re playing a woman (as far as I know).

Aside from Taash, I thought the writing around Harding was strange. Don’t me wrong, I love Harding, but I do not remember her being this friendly and people-pleasing in the Inquisition. If you play as a Dalish elf the first thing she says is she’s surprised that you would care about anyone else - there is absolutely no inclination of this kind of perspective in Veilguard. Additionally, despite knowing everything Solas has done and the consequences that had on her ancestors, she still tries to push you to reason with him?

All of her quests about learning about the Titans, experiencing and embracing their anger, and you still want to appeal to Solas? That was another thing I found so weird about this game, throughout the entire story you are being told again and again that Solas cannot be trusted, he is to blame for everything, and will stab you in the back and yet it seems like every companion tries to push back on you if you agree with this viewpoint? 

Also, something I didn't know at this point of the game but I do now is that Solas had killed Varric and she does know this so why is she acting like this knowing Solas had killed her friend who she spent years with?

Genuinely this whole game felt like: Devs: Solas is a villain

Rook: okay understood

Devs: actually nvm you don't understand him if you think he's a villain

The only companion quests I was actually genuinely interested in were Emmrich and his thoughts around death and becoming a lich. Lucanis' quests had the best boss fights for sure. Outside of that, it felt like “Go here with Bellara” or “Go here with Taash” and it got so grating I couldn’t wait for these quests to be over so I could progress with the main story. It felt like an annoying back-and-forth game to finish a main quest just to finish all the companion quests and then go back to the main quest. Like a list of chores to get through before you can have any fun. 

The inclusion of characters like Morrigan and Isabela in this universe was extremely hollow and they do not feel like the Morrigan and Isabela we know at all. With Morrigan there is a bit of an explanation to this with the essence of Mythal however she reiterates that it is still herself and it is only the memories of Mythal that remain inside of her.

In my canon playthroughs of Dragon Age, I romanced both Morrigan and Isabela, so I was curious to see how the developers would address their pasts with our Warden and Hawke. Unfortunately, the answer is that they don’t address it at all. Morrigan hardly mentions her past, leaving us to wonder if Kieran even exists. The game implies that the relationship between Morrigan and the Warden is insignificant; a codex entry oddly suggests, in a very slut-shamey way, that Morrigan had more lovers than there are trees in the forest. Isabela doesn't reference Hawke either, as she fondly remembers Kirkwall for found family and friendship. It seems that if you romanced Isabela or Morrigan, congratulations—your canon doesn’t exist.

I will echo the statement others have made about all the cameos feeling like mascots because that is really what they are. There is no substance to any of them, Isabela only feels like she is there to be a supportive voice for Taash, Morrigan will only really talk about Solas and Mythal-Dorian is the only one who actually gets a substantial quest related to him. I thought he was fine minus the "illegal slavery" bit because what is illegal slavery Dorian. Next up we will discuss legal murder.

Another thing that genuinely broke the immersion for me in this game is how awful the armor is. It is a Dragon Age game so I wasn't expecting Haute Couture but the design is all over the place and nothing looks right. Not to mention the extremely weird orientalist undertones that follow the Lords of Fortune everywhere. The outfit Isabela is wearing is even worse in person and I tried to give this game the benefit of the doubt by thinking we would be getting some underwater mission with her and that would be the explanation behind her bikini outfit - this did not happen.

The belly dancer-esque outfits with the coin-bedazzled turbans were pretty egregious and made me want to limit my time in Rivain as much as possible. For a game released in 2024, I am disappointed we are still dealing with the same Orientalist fantasy tropes. Even the Qunari are more naked in this game than I had ever seen previously. At least DA2 and DAI gave them pants. But hey the Antaam are all blighted and evil so who cares right.

Speaking of the Antaam, a lot of the antagonist motivations for this game genuinely did not make sense to me. The Antaam are suddenly giving up their fear of magic to pair up with...the Venatori? To fight for the elven gods? It honestly felt like they had no idea who to make fight for the Evanuris so they just pulled two of the baddies from the Inquisition and went "We can just use them and call it done". When you press for information on why this is the answer is always a mustache-twirling dialogue about power. Nothing much deeper from that than any of the villains besides Solas. All of the villains, especially Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, are extremely one-dimensional and have no motivations other than being evil and striving for power. At least Corypheus had cool lines.

I'm not going to get too deep into lore changes since I know a lot of things happened in the comics, books, and TV show (all of which I did not read or watch) but I honestly do think it's a bad idea to have a "soft reboot" while needing to read several books to understand everything. That's not being welcoming to new players that's homework. If you wanted a soft reboot probably don't start off with half your plot and characters coming from various comics and novels people need to catch up on.

The portrayal of the Dalish in this game is inconsistent. When we inform them that their gods are evil and planning to overthrow the world, they respond, "Okay, heard you." How can they accept this explanation so readily? In previous interactions, Solas shared that the Dalish did not listen to him and even threatened him when he revealed this truth. Yet, when we present the same information, they believe us almost immediately. Is there no pushback or skepticism? The Dalish accept everything about the evil elven gods meanwhile Andraste’s followers remain completely unaffected by these revelations.

I think what frustrated me even more was watching our elven companions express grief and regret over the actions of the elven gods like they had something to do with it, painting the Dalish as adjacent to oppressors when they themselves are oppressed in every way. The only thing that remains consistent is the sad boy Solas act about it.

At the end of the game, two of my companions - Harding and Emmrich- were killed. Emmrich's death was unfortunately overshadowed by a zoom-in on a rock and I had no idea he had died until I got the popup. Still, all I can think about is just going "Rock moment" when he died. I don't really have anything negative to say about Harding's death other than the way she went out was fitting for her narrative. Bellara got blighted and there were no consequences for this and she walked away from it - forgive me but I am still under the DAO impression that if you get blighted that's game over but all the rules about the Blight have been changed in this.

I decided to trick Solas, and honestly, I don’t have anything negative to say about it, except that Solas should have noticed me holding the fake dagger since it was clearly in his line of sight. I liked the idea of outsmarting the god of trickery. While it wasn’t extremely satisfying, but I’m okay with how it turned out.

Even as the credits began rolling I still have trouble believing rook's role in any of this. Just the persistent nagging idea that they really just have no place in this story at all. In the beginning I wanted to see how Rook is looped into all of this and how they become central to the fight against Solas but just like with most of the companions, I have no idea why they are here. This should've been the Inquisitor's story to finish.

I'm not going to pretend that everything about this game was irredeemable and terrible. There were genuinely parts I enjoyed and had a good time with. The romance ending scene with Neve was fantastic, even though it took a long time to get there. Davrin was an unexpected aspect of the game that I actually liked, as I never cared much for Grey Wardens before, but he changed my perspective. Harding's mention of the Inquisition was also very sweet. Although I wasn't particularly invested in Emmrich, I loved the conclusion to his quest when he became a lich lord.

While I'm not the biggest Solas fan, I actually really enjoyed the cutscenes between him and Rook because one of my aims with this game was the ability to be mean to Solas and kick him while he was down. They definitely delivered there even though everyone else kept disagreeing with me.

The worlds are beautiful and the CC is definitely the best we've gotten in any Dragon Age game, I spent probably a solid hour in there. The hairstyles are great and the four unibrow choices? Bioware you shouldn't have <3.

Overall I definitely didn't have the best time with this game and towards the end of act 2 I was incredibly bored and the combat became repetitive and stagnant enough that I turned down the difficulty to get through it faster. I can't see myself replaying this any time soon and I am unsure what my stance on Dragon Age is now, do I Ignore this game ever existed or do I carve out everything I liked and pretend this is the Dragon Age I love? I have no idea, I am disappointed at how this game leaves us off and I really wanted to sit here and say It's good but I can't.

I think this game will reach out to and resonate with a different group of Dragon Age fans than me, I just wish I could enjoy it as much as I see other people doing. I was originally going to give this game a 3/10 but knowing you can pet the cats I will give it a very generous 3.5/10.

[danielnelsen]

i think the point i’m trying to get at in my tags on that recent post is basically…

the more choice you give your players, the less their choices matter, just from an entirely practical perspective. at some point you have to draw a line between letting the player have complete creative freedom with their character and making the player feel like their character has an established presence in the world

that was the whole thing with origins: you didn’t just go around with a few different options based on your race; you had a very different experience depending on your origin, specifically. a dwarf noble and dwarf commoner may both be from orzammar, but their reception upon returning is extremely different. city, dalish, and circle elves have completely different experiences throughout the whole game. human nobles and human mages get very different opportunities and reactions from all kinds of npcs. every character starts off feeling like they already exist and have friends and family and complicated circumstances

personally, i’ve never found it restrictive to be given a solid background. there will always be other options that it would be cool to have, but that line has to be drawn *somewhere*

if you compare da2 and dai, i’m very glad they didn’t try to add different backgrounds to da2 because *being hawke* is so integral to the game, so to add different backgrounds they’d have to write a whole in-depth plot for each of them; it’s not just about adding a few dialogue options

that was the problem with dai. given the scope of the game, i think they was right to give you options for your inquisitor, but they didn’t have time to write them in a way that actually made them feel like part of the world. and it doesn’t help that you spend the whole game very far from home with just a few text-based missions to interact with your past

so when they say there aren’t proper background options in veilguard beyond your race and faction and you’re gonna be able to come up with whatever backstory you want for your rook… that doesn’t make me feel excited, it just makes me feel like rook’s past won’t matter and won’t be relevant at any point. what happens when we visit the place that i’ve decided my rook is from? i’m not gonna run into any friends or family or awkward situations i left behind

sure, factions will give some background, but what did i do before my current job? i’m planning to play as a grey warden, and that’s not a life you just *happen* to be part of. i must already be a skilled and experienced fighter who decided (or was forced) to leave everything behind to follow a greater calling. i could have been anyone before that… so how will they make me feel like i already existed if they’re leaving that definition up to me?

[knife-eared-jan]

I wanna get over it but I'm actually getting more and more upset the more time passes? I honestly don't want to be, but I feel like I'm grieving for the characters and the world I put my time and love into on most days of a decade now. Like, I really mean daily even if it's not been on Tumblr for the entire time.

For many of us, these characters found us during a really dark time and we don't call them our emotional support characters for nothing. And to have all that history so dismissively handwaved by the devs in their social media posts is actually hurtful as hell on a personal level...

(I get that 117 choices is insane and would take up an unreasonable amount of resources and limit storytelling. But I did expect 8 or 10, even if half of them just lead to codex entries. That would have been fine! I mostly expected that there wouldn't be choices from DAO and DA2 as well, but Inquisition?

How will they even give a throwaway mention to the Inquisitor's romance like they did for Hawke in dialogue in DAI, if you can't even select that Cass is Divine or Bull, Blackwall or Cullen are dead? You can't even say oh they're at home doing this and that. At best romances like Dorian or Josephine will get some content while others get none. At worst the romance choice input is actually just there to ask if you romanced Solas. Yes, I'm hella upset at that even as I am currently obsessed with Solavellan.)

Because most importantly this just makes the whole world of Thedas feel.. idk cold? Knowing that there is nothing to make it feel like we affected anything in the world so far and that so many of the characters we love will never appear again because they once gave us a choice involving them. Like, do I now need to hope I don't get any major choices for the new characters I fall in love with because that means they'll never bring them back again?? Better not get attached?? Is that really what you want to teach your players?

I don't have any hope that they are self-reflecting enough or care enough to do this, but maybe if the backlash is bad enough they'll start working on a patch that at least contains some codex entries and ambient voice lines? That's like my one piece of copium I can try to actually suspend disbelief for rn. Apparently I've entered the bargaining stage..

I've been hardcore hyping about Veilguard since 11 June (which happens to have been my birthday and like that was the best part of it for me) and I really don't want to feel this way, but I do and I don't know how to describe it other than I'm grieving.

This line currently feels immeasurably ironic...

[arrowhawkart]

Alright what's up everyone! If you do not follow my personal blog fair warning: I have become very suddenly obsessed with Dragon Age and have been playing thru the games for the first time ever- so expect the next chunk of art from me to be very Dragon Age-centric

So Anyways here's Atlas Hawke, the fun little guy I made for my DA2 playthrough and became incredibly attached to much faster than I expected.

More incoherent rambles and thoughts on my Hawke under the cut- it's very stream of consciousness under there and also very very long you've been warned

[ID in Alt Text]

Just like.... wow.... okay so I've now played through Inquisition and finished Trespasser and I've gotta say DA2 really took the cake for me, like by far my favorite of the 3. (Like please don't get me wrong it absolutely had it's issues I'm not saying it was a perfect game or that all the writing choices were amazing) But I just really enjoyed the smaller more personal scale of the conflicts in DA2, I liked that Hawke was even more Just Some Guy, and like yeah the Warden and the Inquisitor aren't like special chosen ones or anything, but they are both tasked with these gigantic world-saving country-spanning quests, and Hawke? Hawke is just a guy trying to do right by his family. Like he doesn't have any world saving mission. He is just trying to Get By and that really made this game hit home more for me than the other two.

I said I was gonna ramble about my Hawke and I just ended up rambling about DA2 itself... whoops. ANYWAYS- Atlas- My Boy Atlas- I recognize that a purple mage Hawke is the most common route people go and I am by no means unique or original, but this game series is very new to me, personally, and I'm having fun anyways. (From here on out I will be talking about my Custom Hawke and not like, Hawke the player character in general)

And gosh I'm such a sucker for complicated and messy family dynamics, and DA2 does that so well. Like the Hawke family is Fucked Up. Bethany gets killed by that ogre while they're fleeing Lothering when she tries to save their mom from said ogre, and Leandra immediately turns and blames Atlas for Bethany's death- and then later in Act 1, Carver, best baby brother Carver, also throws Bethany's death in his face while they're having their own stupid argument which started because Atlas was trying to cheer Carver up and boy did that fail dramatically.

Like Atlas is witty and charming and sarcastic and kind of an asshole sometimes, and comes of as incredibly over confident and cocksure and that's because he's very much been shoved into the role of 'okay you've gotta take care of everything and if you don't everything bad is Your Fault, and since you're in charge of taking care of everything, everything bad is automatically Your Fault No Matter What Anyways.' So he's gotta playact like he has everything all together and under control, because what the fuck is his family gonna do if he doesn't? And underneath all of that he's an incredibly stressed out guy, who does not feel like he can ever let on that he's stressed and making everything up as he goes and just hoping that things work out well.

And like he tries to do the right thing- by god does this man try. He brings Carver with him on the deep roads mission because he and Carver work well together! Carver wants to go! He loves his little brother, there is no one he would rather have by his side than his little brother! There is no one he trusts more than Carver to have his back! Carver and Atlas are incredibly close. Like Carver is the one person who actually recognizes that the way Leandra projects all of her own issues onto them, but like mostly Atlas, is really shitty! He acknowledges that after apologizing for his part in the argument I mentioned above. And then of course Carver ends up getting the Blight during the deep roads mission, because nothing can every go right for them. Thankfully Atlas brought Anders along, so Carver is able to become a Grey Warden instead of DYING, but he has to leave, and Atlas doesn't even find out whether or not Carver survived his joining for months. And of course Leandra blames Atlas for this, she begged him not to bring Carver along with him, and he did anyways and now she's never going to see her youngest son again and it's all Atlas's fault. And that's how Act 1 ends and I just.... Auaghghghghhhh-

And then we've got Act 2, and like mid-way through Act 2 is probably the high point for Atlas. Things peak for him here and then it's all one big snowball downhill from there. So like, Atlas romanced Fenris, because this man is addicted to difficulty, and of course was going to immediately be infatuated with the guy that makes hating mages half his personality. (I mean it wasn't immediate, it was more of a slow build, mutual-trust, to friendship, to lovers thing, especially considering three years pass between Acts 1 and 2) And yeah, Atlas doesn't hide the fact that he's very into Fenris, and Fenris definitely hasn't seemed opposed to this. So after Fenris kills Hadriana and then they get together for one night- Atlas is like, riding the high of what was probably the first positive physical affection he's gotten since Carver let for the Grey Wardens three years ago. And then of course the following morning Fenris immediately breaks things off with Atlas, so what Atlas thought was going to be the start to a romantic relationship, just ends up being an ill-fated one night stand. And like! Atlas does not begrudge Fenris this! He completely understands Fenris's reasons, he is not upset with Fenris at all! He is still just completely crushed though. So yeah, things peaked for Atlas for like one very short night and then start speeding downhill. Because not long after that is when his mom is killed by a fucking serial killer. As if things weren't already fucked enough for Atlas, already having lost his twin younger siblings.

Also side note- I love the fact that DA2 is portrayed as Varric telling the story of Hawke's life to Cassandra, and that we know Varric is an unreliable narrator. Because like Leandra's last words to Hawke being that she's so proud of her strong boy- at least with how Atlas's relationship was with Leandra up to this point- felt so so out of character for Leandra, and I love the headcanon that that's Varric giving his bestie some closure narratively that he never actually got in reality. So like that's canon for Atlas. Because that was Leandra's decapitated head frankensteined onto another woman's body- and magicked into a reanimated corpse that absolutely did not seem like it had any conscious thought- like she was already dead before Atlas showed up. There were no final words. There was no nice narratively satisfying ending to that one. And I like it better that way tbh........

We're just gonna like skip over the whole qunari invasion subplot because I am. Not a fan of how that was handled. Writing wise. Like what the fuck was that. Like I have THOUGHTS about it but they're not gonna go on tumblr. Anyways. Moving on.

Champion of Kirkwall! Yay! Meredith knows he's an apostate mage and is just Waiting for any half-decent excuse to either bring him to the circle, make him tranquil, or kill him? Not yay! Atlas is absolutely good friends with Anders, and has been helping with the mage underground every chance he has. People in the city have been whispering about making him of all people Viscount and he has no idea how to feel about that, like he'd rather not, but who else is gonna do it? And who else would do it and actually give a shit about mages and elves and just like lower class people in general? Like this incredibly stressed out guy does not need more added to his plate, he really doesn't. But he's definitely thinking about it. I mean hey! It's not like he's got any family around to take care of at this point right? Why not just take that eldest daughter syndrome thing he's got going on and use it to fix the city?

The one bright spot for him here is that hey, at least he and Fenris get back together. That one's nice. They both deserve something positive and comforting after all the shit they've been through.

And then Meredith is trying to invoke the right of annulment and Anders blows up the fucking Chantry. And Atlas can't even blame him for it. After 6 or 7 years of painstakingly working to try to find peaceful ways to improve the lives of mages and getting blocked at every turn, with the knowledge that Meredith has been getting worse and worse and worse, and has been actively looking for any excuse to invoke the right of annulment and just kill every single mage in Kirkwall? And Grand Cleric Elthina has been absolutely no help, and has absolutely been subtly on Meredith's side the entire time. Like at a certain point, violence really does feel like the only option left. When you've been backed this far into a corner.

So obviously Atlas takes the side of the mages, doesn't kill Anders, is honestly like 'my dude, my buddy, my guy, my best pal(aside from Varric, and my boyfriend Fenris) why didn't you tell me? I would've helped you on purpose.' He's elated when Carver shows up during that final push to the Gallows, like the whole situation is absolutely shit, and it'd definitely be better if his beloved brother was no where near danger, but he's a Grey Warden now so that's not even an option anyways. So it's just nice to have him around even during such an intensely stressful moment. Honestly everything is so unbelievably fucked at this point that Atlas isn't even stressed anymore. Like things literally cannot get worse. He's kind of riding the high of things not being able to get worse. Or maybe that's just adrenaline. Who knows. Aveline and Sebastian both leave, Atlas is unbothered. Doesn't even try to convince Aveline to side with him later either, like he's never really gotten along with her, and he did not like how she treated Carver. Fenris and everyone else stick around, and that's what matters to Atlas, like all the people he was actually close friends with stick with him in this moment (Fenris, Varric, Isabella, Merrill, Anders, & Carver)

And then yeah, they save the mages, defeat Meredith, leave Kirkwall with the renegade mages. Everyone goes their separate ways due to one reason or another, except Fenris. At least Atlas does get to keep one positive close relationship around.

[magnetic-rose]

y'all can screenshot this post and clown me if i'm wrong but the more time goes on the more i think varric ISN'T going to die in da:tv. at least not in the beginning we saw. midway/end of the game is another story. there's a few reasons why.

"There’s a fascinating relationship that’s already being set up, Varric and Solas as opposing narrative forces, with your character, Rook, pulled between them."

this is an article from inverse with a journalist who played an hour of the game.

"I literally have no idea if Varric dies I don't know any spoilers about the ending or fate of characters! the only thing i'll say is that the devs have said that Varric is a major character."

this was some tweets from kala elizabeth, who's part of the community council and has played parts of da:tv.

It didn’t stop Gaider trying to kill him again, though. “I tried to kill him in Inquisition,” he told me. “I think mainly because I didn’t get to do it in [DA2]. And everyone was like, 'But the Inquisitor isn’t Hawke! It lacks the same meaning.’ And I was like, 'Yeah, I guess you’re right.’”

people often bring up that varric was supposed to die in a da2 expansion and then again in inquisition. it was gaider who wanted to kill him both times and gaider doesn't work for bioware anymore. not only that, but gaider was dissuaded from killing varric in da:i by the other devs because varric dying wouldn't be as meaningful to the inquisitor than it would be to hawke.

and the same could be said about rook. rook doesn't have a strong relationship with varric. and new players coming into the DA fandom for the first time also won't have a strong attachment to varric if he dies in the prologue.

idk it just doesn't make narrative sense for varric to die 40 min into the game. the fact that they're being so coy and "teehee woowee" about his supposed death is also suspicious. if a beloved character was going to actually die in the game like that, i feel like they'd do anything to keep that spoiler secret. i remember before da:i came out, they edited leliana's tortured model to look normal so players wouldn't see the extent of damage she had in the future timeline.

[bloodyshadow1]

just my feelings on the bad kids and their class levels/classes right now. It's just my opinion, I am not bashing the multiclasses or the players choices

Adaine- Love it, she's an 11th level wizard, i get that multiclassing can be fun, but for some classes it's just better, imo, to just stay the course because having access to upper level spells can be more useful than a multiclass. I'm sure there's a broken wizard multiclass, but I think it just fits her better to stay a wizard throughout. Sometimes with full casters, I could see dipping into monk or Barbarian for the ac buff, but neither would help her so It's probably best for her to stay a wizard since she has access to 6th level spells since leveling up

Kristen- Same as Adaine, I personally like full casters to stay the course and keep on keeping on. again I'm sure there's a broken cleric other class build, like Saccharina from ACOC, but I'm not sure anything other than paladin would fit Kristen. A lot of her issues are mental and Tracker was right about her not wanting to do the boring stuff. I like her having to discover what she wants out of being a cleric rather than her dropping it because it's not exactly what she wants for something new.

Riz- 11 levels of rogue, though from the beginning of the season he's now an arcane trickster instead of an inquisitor which I think is more helpful and just a better fit. He's still a detective, but he's also kind of a secret agent so having access to magic helps and fits his character growth. Also he never really used a lot of the inquisitor abilities that often and his perception wasn't that good to justify the subclass. I'm also glad he is staying a full rogue so far, I think given the mechanics of Junior year so far, it would put a lot of strain on him to try and do more than just a single course track

Now for the multiclassers

Fabian- I think both taking levels of bard and going from champion fighter to battlemaster was the best choice for him. I think overall he was a fighter because he was taught to be one, but overall the boy is a bard at his core. The flourishes the spells, the charisma proficiency, they're what Fabian wants more than what he gets from being a fighter. Fabian has always wanted to be popular and stand out while being a great warrior and a swords college bard fits that better than being a fighter, a class he seems to have very little attachment to. Currently he is a 6 fighter 5 bard, since he was a level 8 fighter and gave up 3 levels to take in bard when he was depressed he has boosted up 2 levels in that class vs 1 in fighter. After the initial class level trading he hasn't decreased his levels in fighter, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does in the future.

Gorgug- this is where I get a bit critical, I don't really know if Artificer Barbarian is a good multiclass. I've seen some people say it's amazing while others say it's terrible, I have no clue. from what I can tell it doesn't look like it's super good, it's a support class and a tinkerer so it does fit Gorgug, but I don't think it really is that efficient with the Bad Kid's party comp. Fabian and Gorgug were the front line fighters, Gorgug being the tank and DPS while Fabian was a striker dps with a good hp pool and ac, but Barbarians soak up damage better than any class. It's also hard to be a caster (even a half/third caster like Artificier, and be a barbarian because you can't cast spells or even concentrate on them when you rage which is obviously a problem. It's just hard to imagine gorgug as an battlesmith, which I assume he is, since other than the steeldefender it doesn't give him anything he doesn't already have as a barbarian. We also don't know any of his infusions so it's hard to really be attached to Gorgug as an artificer when we don't really seem him artifice. That being said, he's Zac's character so whatever he wants is gonna happen. Since Gorgug has been trading an additional level in barbarian for artificer (6 barb/5 art) I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually drops barbarian all together. I think a barbarian is more useful, but I can understand why Zac would want Gorgug to go down the artificer path instead and I support it.

Fig- Honestly, Fig's multiclassing is the strangest to me because I can't really wrap my head around it. She so far only has 2 levels of warlock to her 9 of bard, even last level up she took another level of Bard, the two levels she took of warlock were in freshman year and she never really looked back. That being said, from the recent eps, it seems like she likes the warlock classes better, she isn't even sure if she wants to be a bard anymore. which I find kind of a shame because she also liked the 1 bard class she took. Emily is a master multiclasser so I'm sure Fig is gonna be great whatever and will be who Emily wants her to be. I'm hoping she doesn't become a paladin because, even if it's to replace her levels in Bard, despite hexblade being one of the best combos with paladin. It just feels like Fig as the character took levels/are planning to take levels in other classes to make other people happy. She became a warlock because she found her devil father and wanted to be closer to him, she offered to become a paladin for Cassandra to help out Kristen, but I think that's selfless, but it doesn't help her as a person. Sometimes you can be too selfless to a point where it's bad for you. Emily can of course do whatever, but I'll be a bit sad if has Fig giving up on being a bard. Like with Kristen it seems like Fig just doesn't want to do the uncool stuff and that's gonna be with anything she tries. I think she's running away from what she wants herself to be to make things easier/more exciting and I think it's going to backfire.

I will also say, it's not exactly fair for Brennan to poison her bardic abilities. I'll say more on the topic on another post but it's still how I feel.

[x-reader-things]

“Karabast.” (Spider-Man AU - the introduction)

Part Two ; Part Three

Ezra Bridger x gn!Reader

Summary ; In which you find out that the city of Lothal's two Spider-men are closer than you think. One of them - the new-ish one (by a few years or so) - just so happens to be your best friend.

Requested? ; Nope! Simply an AU idea I have had for a few months- I want to write more for it sometime soon - but if you have any ideas and / or thoughts or questions, feel free to send ‘em in. This is simply an introduction to the AU- 😌😌😌

Warnings ; none so far.

Word Count ; 436

——————————————————————

One thing you weren't expecting today was to be held up on your way home from getting groceries for your parents.

Sure, you expected to be at least a few minutes later than you would've liked, since this was the city of Lothal and all. There were bound to be some hold ups here and there.

However you weren't expecting to be in the middle of a fight. On a subway train. With both Spider-Men themselves trying to beat down one of the more recent 'big-bads', as you and Ezra so creatively called them. Some guy who called himself 'The Inquisitor' decided a subway train was going to be his stage and you were reluctantly a stagehand - trying to hide away in the wings while the actors were trying to do their jobs.

The wings on a subway car, however, meant trying to press yourself in the farthest corner away from the mess.

Which also meant holding your backpack up with one hand as a shield for both you and the groceries, while holding onto one of the bars that rested on top of the back of each subway seat. At first it was to avoid the surging crowd of people scrambling off to get onto other cars attached to the subway train to safely get away from the fight. Now, however, moving probably wasn't the best option.

Especially when 'The Inquisitor' shoves the younger Spider-Man into the seats besides you and yanks off the poor dude's mask.

“Holy shit—“, you voiced your thoughts, way louder than you anticipated. You immediately slapped the hand holding the metal bar back onto your mouth, eyes wide and full of regret. Both the younger Spider-Man in front of you and ‘The Inquisitor’ looked in your direction, both pairs of eyes locking with your frozen ones.

You hoped you spontaneously gained powers right then and there. Invisibility would’ve been amazing. Disappearing at the drop of a hat. Slink back home undetected so both superhero’s of Lothal City and ‘The Inquisitor’ can finish their battle in peace.

But no.

That’s not how things worked.

Your eyes darted to the familiar, radiant blue speckled hues of the eyes that belonged to the younger Spider-Man.

Ezra Bridger.

Your best friend.

Who’s apparently Spider-Man. The superhero that was immediately full of regret and shame and fear, all wrapped up into one. A hurricane of weights visibly fell onto his shoulders the moment he realized who you were.

And when he realized that you knew who he was now, too. Oh crap, you knew who he was now.

Oh no.

“Karabast.” Kanan’s gonna kill him.

[butterflydm]

Okay, so I had to restart the beginning of Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DAV) because my original Rook was just not working. You can kinda tell from how she looks that I got way too enthusiastic in the character creator and did ALL the things. And I just had no coherent sense of who she was as a person. After the mission to get Bellara, I could just tell that it wasn't working out, at least not right now.

So I said goodbye to my Qunari mage from the Lords of Fortune, and made a new Rook as an elf rogue from the Gray Wardens.

And this Rook just clicked into place right away. Maybe because I know the Gray Wardens already from previous games? I'm not throwing away my original Rook; I might take another stab using her after I've played through with my new Rook. This Rook is a more serious and sincere character, but also very inclined to action and getting things done. I have a much better sense of who they are than I did with my first Rook.

Being an elf instantly ties them into the elven lore part of the storyline & being a Gray Warden ties them into the Blight part of the storyline. They just feel much more connected to the story than my original Rook, colorful and chaotic as she was.

I also went ahead and set the Inquisitor to having romanced Solas, so that I can get any extra dialogue there, if there is any in future parts of the game, even though my 'canon' Inky didn't romance him.

Main takeaway so far is that if you dislike spending time on elven lore (I enjoy it personally), then the first parts of the game, at least, will probably not make you happy. I know some people really wanted Solas to be the main antagonist in this game but that is definitely not the role he's playing. He's actually (in some senses) continuing the conversations that he was having with Varric in DAI, except it's basically through both of them talking to Rook.

I am really enjoying it -- it's definitely less RPG-focused than the earlier games, more of an action vibe. The format of the missions kinda reminds me of Mass Effect 2 tbh, though obviously the actual story is very different and the regions are a lot more expansive.

I'm enjoying it but I also entered into the games backwards, in that I played DAI first, then DA2, and then finally DAO. So I didn't have that attachment to the specific style of the older games. People who want that tactical map focus will probably be disappointed in that part of the game.

The reveal that it was the elven gods who used blight magic specifically to try to fight away Solas taking away their worshippers - no wonder he has such a strong reaction in DAI against the Blights and the Gray Wardens and, well, yeah, all that stuff.

Thoughts on characters so far:

Solas and Varric as the two 'advisor' characters is working for me. I really liked the conversations that my Rook has had with both of them. Learning so much more about ancient elven history and specifically the Dread Wolf's history has been very intriguing. I've gone through a couple of his memories in the Fade and actually getting to see freedom fighter Solas (with hair?!?) has been very cool. He's also definitely... like, he's still Solas. That's the guy we spent time with in DAI.

Older and wise Varric (with all his regrets) has been great too. I do feel like I see shadows of Varric's ruptured relationship with Anders in his relationship with Solas, though I'm not expecting the game to bring him up directly.

(very Peter Pan stance here, which I enjoy; they do this a lot when talking to people)

It also sounds like we'll get some of Morrigan advising us on magical things but I don't know how frequent that will be. It was great to see her again and I liked her new outfit. So far we've gotten the characters that it makes sense to have in this region (recently got to Dorian saving Rook's ass with the First Warden trying to cart them off to jail). It's a lot of fun to see the characters several years later (it sounds like ten years since DAI: Trespasser).

As for the companions...

I went into the game wanting to romance one of the female characters this time and then they had to give Lucanis his whole complicated demon thing and now I'm just like... (as I mentioned above, I played the games in reverse order originally, and I knew what Anders was going to do before I ever played DA2, so, you know. I romanced him on purpose).

Plus I romanced Zevran in DAO, because he was just always so enjoyable to talk to. There are so many great Zevran conversations in DAO.

He also has wings when he fights. To add to everything else!

So, yeah. I feel like Lucanis has been deliberately set out to be catnip for me specifically, how dare they.

We went on a coffee date (sorta. it was a meeting with his cousin about business but then we had coffee after - and he made coffee sound sexy even though I do not like coffee at all) and it really confirmed my feelings, at least as of right now.

And to his character in general, I find his relationship with Spite very intriguing (Spite specifically wanting to talk to Rook and throwing a tantrum when Lucanis wouldn't let him was very interesting!) and I also just really love getting to see Antiva and meeting more of the Crows. Getting to explore all these different places with this game has been so delightful!

Neve was the other strong romance possibility for me, before Lucanis showed up. I like her vibe. Bellara feels too excitable for my Rook to romance, lol. They do not have complementary vibes. But I feel like I need to get to know both of them better. Lucanis had a really fantastic introduction quest because we really got to see his immediate context, and I felt like I knew him pretty well right away.

Harding was the character that I went into the game seriously considering romancing, but I don't think it'll work out. Not feeling the vibe. I am intrigued by her realized connection to the Stone -- we got some hints and foreshadowing about that back in the DAI Descent DLC. The quest to explore her new abilities was a lot of fun, so maybe it'll work out! I have flirted with her a couple of times.

I know there are still three more companions for me to meet, so I'll see how that goes. I feel like even though it's not an open-world game, the area feel pretty large! You can get lost on the streets of Minrathous (source: me, who did get lost). I've got a bunch of side quests already banked to do as well.

But, yeah, I'm eighteen hours into the game and having a ton of fun. Doing my best to avoid spoilers, which is easier on tumblr than in some other places (reddit's algorithm has already tried to spoil me several times and I've had to mute the DA communities on there). There's one big thing that I maybe got spoiled on, we'll see when I get there. But apart from that I've been able to avoid most spoilers.

[delusinalandpassionate]

What Do you think about the sinners thoughts about Don. She feels like this ball of Energy in a sad world.

Okay that's a good one.

I think Faust knows what exactly wrong with Don and how real Don looks like. She's not really interested in interaction with Don, but has no animosity. (They also must have something really common with them sharing their core sin, two EGOs and two IDs). Don definitely a good listener to anything Faust rambling about. She's also one of a few people whose command Don wouldn't even question and that's why they work good at battlefield together. Her favorite Don's ID is W Corp, because she shows her a lot of respect, but in not a weird way Inquisitor Don does. She also find Inquisitor a bit difficult to control

Yi Sang, Sinclair, Gregor and Rodya are falling to her act, but they don't mind Don and even enjoy her company. They work good together, but nothing too amazing. They all dislike Inquisitor, but get along with everyone else.

Ishmael and Meursault don't understand Don at all. She such a weird creature that their rational selves can't even comprehend her, but genuinely they both too fucking exhausted to even try do it. Meursault, maybe, sometimes make attepts to understand. They not really care about her company, but they learnt how to work with her on a field. They again don't really care about her IDs as long as they get a job done.

Ryoshu knows that something fucking wrong with Don and feels that they are way more similar than someone could guess. She tries a lot to provoke Don, wanting to see her violent snap. That's why Don avoids her as much as possible. But they are roommates and know about each other Bad Days a bit too much, to not have some understanding. I think they could spar a lot in their free time out of the bus, and it would be gruesome. They not really interested in teamwork, so on battlefield, they don't look like they fight together. Her favorite is Shi Don, because she's the easiest to provoke. She doesn't like Cinq, because she mess with Ryoshu instead.

(Also it's kinda funny how my main ships with Ryoshu are Outis and Don. She states that she hates liars and I am just surround her with them)

Hong Lu and Don have Understanding. They see each other lies and politely ignore it. They speak with each, but in a way that causes everyone else headache. Delusions squared. It like sharing a stage with another actor. No true words said, but they understand each other. They are fine in working together. He likes her W Corp version.

Heathcliff is weird. He thinks Don is honest and find her a bit annoying, but he is kind of getting attached a bit? He knows that having such moral code in City is stupid, but he can't help but agree with it. In Wuthering Heights he was surrounded by bad or cowardy people and I think meeting someone who aggressively trying to be a good person is a refreshing experience for him. They work good together. He likes Shi Don, because she cares a lot about him, which he appreciates.

Outis so fucking pissed about Don. She knows that she lying and she hates this persona so much, but she can't do anything about it. Which kinda slowly drives her insane. I kinda think that sometimes she walks to any Sinner and tries to start a talk "Don't you think there is something wrong with her?" Most of them don't understand her and Faust and Ryoshu usually just mess with her. To everyone surprise they work ridiculously good together(because I use them in every team) because Don knows better than keep her persona around Outis in dangerous situation, and gives her best. She liked Cinq one, because she's really professional and gets along with 7Outis

[the-arcane-eye]

any character(s) u want for 2+3, 6, and 7 babey!!!!!!!!!!!

Heeeere we go !! Going to focus on my 3 highest ranking inquest characters bc they have the most history with the metakrewe...

2.) What is their rank, and how did they attain it? Did they WANT that rank? Do they wear it well?

Vahnn: Director. Won the title by mercilessly kissing ass and degrading himself -- so yes, he wanted the prestige and recognition that came with it more than anything else in the world. Wears it extremely well now, like a drag queen with a tiara on.

Maxx: Overseer. Acquired this title through a lifetime of hard work and perseverance; is a very "honest" worker (for an Inquest) and duly proud of what he's achieved. His current rank is actually a step down from his previous (High Inquisitor) as he is seeking a sort of soft retirement now that he has progeny of his own. Maxx is a very humble person and wears any rank with dignity.

Vetra: High Inquisitor. Similar to Maxx, achieved her rank with raw talent and determination alone; it's something she's wanted for a long, long time.

3.) Related to above: Are they SATISFIED with their rank, or do they want to keep climbing the ladder? Do they feel they deserve better than they've been given?

Vahnn: Would gladly be the Grand High Leader of the Inquest if he was given the call. He's certain he can lead the metakrewe better, anyways.

Maxx: Is done advancing through the ranks and is just waiting for retirement basically.

Vetra: I think is too attached to her identity as an Inquisitor to accept a "higher" rank, but would humbly accept a promotion if it was offered to her.

6.) Do they have a guilty conscience? How do they cope with or personally reconcile the continuous stress and horror?

Vahnn: Loses absolutely no sleep over what he's done and will continue to do for the Inquest. He isn't a fanatic, but has little patience for anyone who'd get in the way of his personal glory for "bleeding heart" reasons.

Maxx: Is extremely troubled about the things he's done for the Inquest (and for the Arcane Eye, before the metakrewe poached him). Does a very good job at masking it so he's not taken advantage of by his more cutthroat peers, but is extremely soft-hearted. Copes with it by aggressively choosing not to dwell on things too much.

Vetra: Has nightmares routinely. Deals with them the usual ways (drinking, synthsticks, cruising).

7.) "Fun" one: What's their uniform like? Is it a generic-issued uniform, or custom tailored? Are there any features built into it that assist with their job?

Vahnn: Wears a light, tailored coat that isn't terribly functional when it comes to lab work or combat (both of which he avoids in favor of working behind a desk). Because of a lab accident he lived through in his twenties he does require a breathing apparatus, however -- which has been custom built to be a matching red and black.

Maxx: His uniform is a simple red-and-black overcoat with a small shawl thrown over top for comfort (Inquest labs get uncomfortably cold). A look specifically cultivated to exude approachability to his underlings.

Vetra: The most tactical of the three; her outfit is built for fighting, from her headgear with telescopic lens to the heavy combat boots on her feet. It very purposefully exudes menace as well. The red LED's of her suit's cooling system are as sinister as they are functional, and its silhouette is boxy, almost golemic.

[melisusthewee]

WIP Wednesday!!!

Pretend there’s a cool graphic here.  Perhaps I’ll have time to make one some day soon.  Or if anyone wants to whip one up for me, I’ll draw your blorbo as an exchange of goods and services.

Anyways!  On to the sharing!  I was really pleasantly surprised with last week and how many people shared with each other what neat things they were working on and kept the chain going.  So I’m doing it again!  Remember, there’s no pressure, but show me what you’re working on!  What neat things do you have cooking in either the Dragon Age or otherwise fandoms?

I myself don’t have a whole lot this week.  I’ve been suffering from an overwhelming number of ideas and brain bugs and can’t really sit down to complete any of them.  Instead I’m bouncing from idea to idea like a ping pong ball.  I did a little more work on my Inquisitor’s character sheet this week, focusing on his post-Trespasser design as head of Divine Victoria’s honour guard.

(Art and discussion of concept ideas, as well as tag list are below the cut.)

For context, this was the original “design” which was done last year and mostly on a dare after making the joke that the Divine’s bodyguards in Trespasser were just wearing recoloured versions of Sebastian’s outfit and “lol wouldn’t Quinn look dumb in that.”  I added a few elements of Divine Victoria’s armour - mainly with the red fur mantle but it’s pretty basic.

This was my first pass at the redesign for Quinn’s new reference sheet done a couple months ago.  I kept the shoulders the same, but tried to lean into Divine Victoria’s armour more.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it suits a male figure or it just didn’t really translate well for me.  The addition of texture/embossing on parts of the armour also made it feel a bit too busy for me more than looking decorative or elegant.  It also didn’t look like it allowed for much movement in the torso and while I make the dark joke that Quinn is so drunk and depressed at this point in his life that it’d make sense to strap him into armour that forces him to stay upright, compared to the other outfits I’ve redesigned this just... didn’t feel it.

Here is my more recent pass at the redesign!  Again, the shoulders are largely untouched.  I like the idea of the armour completely covering what remains of his left arm, plus it has the added practicality of likely having a strap at the bottom that wraps around the bottom of his sleeve securing it into place.  The bracer on his right arm has also largely been left alone - it’s a hold over from some of his Inquisitor gear in one of my designs and I like carrying bits over... like a wardrobe evolution.  It also shows that Quinn has personal attachment to articles of clothing and accessories.  The fur mantle of the Divine is still there... never gonna get rid of it, but it’s sort of combined/blended with the in-game body guard appearance.  The chest has also been flattened and simplified, going back to resembling the body guard/Sebastian chest piece but a little larger and more protective.  Plus the hint of plate layering too.  The scaled coat is still there as the under layer, but it’s less prominent or visible.  There is a vest between the armour and the scale coat to give the breast plate a little more friction to stay in place.  It will likely be red with gold accents.  All the embossing on the armour has been removed.  I am unlikely to bring it back.

The waist design was also re-worked, taking inspiration from one of my favourite artists’ character design work in Fire Emblem.  The Roman-esque belted skirt is more of a half-skirt, with a fabric skirt draped over part of the belt.  I’ve blocked out a section where I am going to experiment with embroidery patterns similar to what I’ve done on previous outfits to give this more of a my-idea-of-the-Trevelyans feel.  I haven’t done a colour test yet.  But I do think I like this better overall.

Close up of his face, if you like.  He’s so sad.  He’s so tired.  He needs a beard shave and a haircut.

Tagging with absolutely no pressure: @rosella-writes​ @roguelioness​ @potatowitch​ @cleverblackcat​ @noire-pandora​ @darethshirl​ @kittynomsdeplume​ @little-lightning-lavellan​ @little--abyss​ @plisuu​ @blarrghe​ @inquisitoracorn​ @morganlefaye79​ @knuttydraws​ @knightdawn​ @n7viper​ @sulky-valkyrie​ @drag-on-age​ @oxygenforthewicked​ @bluewren​ @nirikeehan​ @effelants​ @greypetrel​ @scribbledquillz​ @transprincecaspian​ @transfenris-truther​ @jellydishes​ @absyntthe​ @idolsgf​ @terencessong​ @internetdoashouting​

As always, if you would like to be added or removed, please let me know.  Don’t feel shy or bad about it!  You can even DM me privately and know one else has to know!

[lords-of-fortune]

25, 30, and 35 for anyone you want! <3

25. how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?

Gonna answer this for Rodaine since I've actually given some thought to it lmao. Hearing I think is average? If he's absorbed in something he might accidentally mishear something or ignore someone completely but it's not notably bad or especially keen. As for eyesight technically this depends on the au lmao. Because in my heart he's nearsighted but that doesn't gel super well with needing to see things in battle etc like he does in canon so I think in Dragon Age canon (my version) he is actually farsighted and requires reading glasses especially when he's older. But in modern aus he is nearsighted and needs glasses or contacts.

30. do they smell like anything notable?

Tierce for this one! Again bc I've thought more about it for him than anyone else ajdkfk. Except ive actually forgotten what i said previously ajdkfl. I think he tends to smell a bit like woodsmoke with a little bit of something spicy like cinnamon. Very warm scents. And of course, if he moves just right, you might catch a whiff of what smells an awful lot like blood.

35. do they ever return home?

Pretty much unanimously no lmao. Rodaine makes a new home since he's too far removed from the last place he really felt at home (kirkwall, when he was 6.) Tierce is so used to being on the move that that almost feels more like home to him than anything else. I do think he holds a soft spot in his heart for Lothering, but he certainly can't go back there since it's all blighted. Worst of all I think he ends up in the Fade lmao though that depends on the au as well, since I do have some where he establishes a new place for himself in the case gideon is his attached inquisitor. Halen might go back home at some point but I think he likes the freedom of not living with his parents too much to give that up. Alding tries, but it's not the same without his parents there, and he knows he can't stay anyways since there's always more work to be done as a warden. I haven't fully decided about my other sundry boys but I don't imagine any of them being able to fully settle back into the life they led before.

[danielnelsen]

The Veilguard Q&A thing: Which location are you most excited/hoping to explore in-game? Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have? Do you have any unpopular opinions about DAV so far?

answered the first one here

6. Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have?

only very broadly. definitely a grey warden, but i havent decided between elven mage and dwarven rogue. every time i think im leaning more towards one over the other i realise im actually not lmao. i think there'll be the most extra dialogue and story content for elves and i dont wanna miss out on anything (obviously it will be a complete story either way, but yknow), but dwarves are my favourite race. the only reason i dont play dwarves very often is because i love playing as a mage. i think my choice will probably come down to what the actual backgrounds of the characters are: if we can play a dwarf with like..a dwarfy background, rather than a surface dwarf from a mostly human population, then that might tip the scales. i dont think i could resist playing a dwarf from the ambassadoria or kal-sharok (not that the latter is gonna happen).

i think my rook will be nonbinary, but i havent decided between he/him or they/them. im interested in how well the game will handle neutral pronouns, but my characters are also always somewhat an extension of myself, especially on my first playthrough. i'll most likely stick with a default name and face, but i'll definitely play around with the body customisation. hopefully you can be real-life fat, not just popular-media fat (aka not fat). today's article also revealed that you can adjust 'glute and bulge size'. so. we'll see where that takes me. if im already making the rest of my body bigger, then.........

im going into the game expecting to romance davrin, but we know nothing about anyone's personalities yet so that's very easily subject to change. second choice is emmrich. i think my rook will be a bit more serious than i usually play my dragon age characters, especially since we're starting out already having had some real-world experience (im a grey warden, after all), but who knows, maybe once i start picking dialogue options i'll just feel the need to be sweet to everyone.

this is all very surface-level stuff, which is the only planning im gonna do. maybe i'll be more sure of my race option by the time the game releases, but everything else will just evolve based on how the game goes. i dont wanna get too attached to a character that wont end up fitting well into the story.

15. Do you have any unpopular opinions about DAV so far?

ok it took me a while to think of something because whenever i see a lot of people disagree with an opinion i have, i also see plenty of people who share my opinion... but i dont really want the inquisitor to have too big of a role. it makes sense for them to be there, and i especially understand people who romanced solas feeling like their inquisitor should have an important part in the story, but i think this is a bit of a limitation of having the plot directly follow from the events of dai. it wouldnt make sense for the inquisitor not to show up, but this isnt their game, it's rook's. id argue that it would make sense for them not to show up much because solas knows them already, but we've got harding as a companion, who solas is also very familiar with. that said, i expect the writers have probably learned from the reaction to hawke's cameo in dai and will do a better job of writing the inquisitor than they did with writing hawke lmao

[old-archivist]

RE: the Bull and romance post: i really enjoyed your additions to that post! It's more in line with how I understand him, too. I just like that trope sometimes, you know? Lol. But yeah, with the Kadan title and tooth having potential romantic significance, I'd say there's a less likely possibility that he's completely ignorant of love and romance in the South, and I agree that he probably just doesn't recognize it when directed at himself. Not in a self-loathing way, but genuine bafflement, maybe? Or maybe a sort of detached disinterest at first. Since he's never *experienced* it, I can see him not recognizing it at first until someone actually goes "Hey, I like you for more than a good tumble". (Reminds me of me, kinda.)

Anyway, I'd love to hear more of your thoughts, if you have any! I love Iron Bull!

Yeah, I like the concept a lot. Really any conversation about Iron Bull deeper aspects of his character or romance is something I like to see! I definitely agree that it isn’t a “i can’t have romance because of self loathing” it’s just a thought that never crossed his mind. Especially since this is technically his job and he does maintain a distance with those outside of his inner circle of Chargers. Tumbles are for fun, there is by default no strings attached or he expectation for more or even a repeat after one night for any extended period of time.

As for my thoughts on Bull, they are many and probably I should talk about them more since they’ve gotten more solid the more I dig into lore and things. If you want thoughts on any particular thing feel free to ask!

But for this, I was trying to think of some non-romance tied things but most of my other thoughts on Bull are pretty heavy topics so we’ll stick with romance for this (Which is admittedly still heavy considering one of the possible scenarios of the Inquisitor/Bull relationship). This is ignoring the limitations of the game and the general overall open-ended writing style that allows you to fill in the blanks.

I think an under written part of the Iron Bull romance by people is that he tells you the truth up front from the beginning. He tells you he is a spy, he tells you that he was ordered to get close to those in charge, he tells you his purpose for joining the Inquisition. (More under the cut cause it’s long.)

Which, considering how main game Inquisition lasts only a year, it’s a bit hard to forget that piece of information I think. Especially when the Inquisitor would have constant reminders about his loyalties with his Ben-Hassrath reports up until he potentially becomes tal-vashoth. Regardless of the bond forged from fighting together, his loyalties to the Qun when he has them is not something forgotten even by the other companions.

But, I rarely see either the Inquisitor or their companions question the relationship. In the early stages or when the companion finds out. Especially if he is loyal to the Qun. Which I think can be a missed opportunity of not only showing the evolution of the romance but also how the companions approach it would reflect their relationship with the Inquisitor. Is it more concern over the impact it will have on the Inquisition? The security? Or is it about whether he will break their heart, if they are caught up in their emotions that they’re being reckless?

It’s something I don’t see written about in a lot of fics or even when people talk of their OCs in a relationship with him. But it sits in my mind a lot, after all the first thing Bull does is tell you the truth and exactly what he’s been ordered to do. He then allows you to decide what to do with that information and seemingly it is never really broached again. Not even after the first night or even touched upon again if he stays loyal to the Qun after the personal quest. A missed opportunity really in both fic and the game.

Mostly because I think it would be an interesting dynamic, especially since his relationship comes down to caring, meeting, and providing for the Inquisitor’s needs. But Bull, despite how good he is, he isn’t a mind reader. He won’t know when the Inquisitor is questioning the authenticity of their relationship unless it’s spoken. And while it would be angsty and could lead to some classic tropes and concerns on the Inquisitor’s side. I think from Bull’s side it would also be interesting.

If this relationship starts before Demands of the Qun, he’s struggling deep inside with his loyalties. He’s loyal and it’s easy to be when the Qun is out of sight and out of mind. He’s just writing letters back home, Leliana is monitoring them, things are structured and separate but his feelings are a mess when Demands of the Qun comes around because then they aren’t separate. There could be mutual stresses, anxiety, questions. The topic could be brought up, explored between the two, or be left unasked and unanswered. Inquisition only lasts a year and Bull wasn’t there for the entirety of it. So really, how strong is the trust in under a year? This is personally why I like saying main game takes four years in my personal canon because aside from traveling, healing, and the logistics of how fast news can travel; I’m a bit sketched out with the bared souls in under a year concept with Inquisition romances.

I think it would be great to see it more explored. I love to explore that aspect of the romance in my own writing. Coupled with how it could be a really slow burn or the electrifyingly fast relationship. I think about it a lot. How the Inquisitor’s own trauma, anxieties, or personality can impact how much of an issue him telling them he was ordered to get close to them.

[starfoam]

Actually, I want to talk about the tragedy of Luminous Lavellan for a minute in terms of its elements. Because it wasn't doomed from the start, and it could have been prevented - but also it was doomed, and it could never have gone any other way.

Luminous Lavellan was, by her core nature, a loving person. She respected all life, even that which she feared or whose choices she disagreed with (such as templars, for deeply obvious reasons), and she loved easily and with her whole heart. She cared so much and left herself open to get hurt.

This is great for a travel companion and even for a hero. It means she makes choices that emphasize doing the good thing over the fast thing, means she thinks in the long-term about how to best do what she's doing, means she understands the emotional wants of people - to an extent. She's far from omnipotent, but she'll do her best with what she has.

That last bit ties directly into why being all-loving made her a terrible choice for a chosen one, certainly for a sociopolitical and military leader. The choices she made and actions she took, or ordered others to take, weighed heavily on her. Her memory held onto mistakes and terrible costs far longer than victories. There was a reason she liked being on the field the most and judging crimes the least; deciding the fate of even truly cruel people took a toll that large victories just barely repaid. The happy moments were large, but far apart, and the difficult choices were constant, their price incremental but persistent. There was barely a balance between them to begin with.

All of this could have been countered by close relationships, friendly, familial and romantic. But that was an area she didn't feel she had any right to pursue. How could she? As the Herald, the Inquisitor, the Chosen One, she was placed in a situation where she had power over... everybody. Any friendship, any connection would come with strings attached, and there was nothing in relationships she hated more than people being obligated towards her in any way. So she let her peers set the terms of their friendships, and the near-universal call was: you are our leader. Stay at the front.

(Dorian Pavus looking at her and asking if she was alright after the events at Adamant was the closest to a personal conversation about herself she'd had in months. She almost cried.)

So she was stuck at the helm, alone, with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her identity was constantly poked and prodded at - aren't you ashamed of being Dalish? Why not? - and she held onto what little certainty she had as a lifeline, a safety net for her sanity. She just needed to hold on until the evil was defeated, and then she'd be free.

Turns out that wasn't true. Turns out there were a few more ropes in her safety net to cut.

By the time she claimed her victory as Inquisitor, she'd already given up on ever being Luminous again. And - because she had been presenting as her Inquisitor persona for a year, without rest or anyone in her clan to call her on it - almost no one really noticed. If they did, they didn't recognize how bad it was.

Two years later, she was gone. It was two years too late to save her.

[dalishious]

do you have any thoughts on disability in dragon age? like, allegorically vis a vis the mages (i've seen that around and it's a VOLATILE metaphor if the wrong person is using it) or in the literal sense, with characters like bull who use mobility aids? fuckin fanfic explores the latter one with more attentiveness and nuance than canon.

I am not physically disabled and I don’t want to speak on behalf of physically disabled people. I do have mental illnesses and ASD though, and don’t mind saying that I 100% agree with your mixed feelings on the allegory of mages and disability.

Re: The mage allegory –

Many fans refer to the mages themselves and what they deal with as the pure source of stand-in for mental illness/neurodivergency. But I think it’s also worth pointing out that the way the majority of the world treats them can also be applicable, specifically the fear people have that mages are inherently a danger to society because they are a mage, and the pity people have for mages, that they must be constantly suffering because they are a mage.

In real life, you have a lot of mental illnesses that are vilified, and people believing that anyone with say, a psychosis, needs to be institutionalized or they will go on a murderous rampage. Seriously, there are a lot of people to this day that think that. There is an echo in how people say the same thing about mages.

You also have people who almost you could say glorify mental illness and neurodivergency in the way they pity it, I’m talking about the Autism Moms™ who wallow in how their child is ‘abnormal’. This is much less seen in Dragon Age, but there are people in universe who pity mages for being mages, rather than just seeing them as well, different. To steal a quote from Anne with an E, “different isn't bad; it's just not the same.”

Re: Physically disabled characters –

Another character who is physically disabled is the main character Neve Gallus from the Tevinter Nights story, The Streets of Minrathous. Neve is a private investigator with a metal prosthetic leg. This is the first time prosthetics are overtly introduced into the world of Dragon Age, unless you count an epilogue slide where the Inquisitor may have a prosthetic arm with a crossbow attachment. It’s exciting, because if Neve has this prosthesis, a lower-class citizen of Tevinter, then surely there are other people out there too with them.