#if anyone wants to know about my rook or how i'm playing the game when it comes out they are always welcome to ask though :)

[wetcatspellcaster]

Hi! Are you a Dragon Age fan at all? If so, are you looking forward to the Veilguard drop later this month, and do you have any plans to write any fic in that world in the future? :)

Also, as a Solasmancer I just want to say that have been thinking about Pieces a lot as the vibe I imagine for a Solas/Inquisitor Lavellan reunion in Veilguard, if we do get one (a girl can dream, right?). Specifically, this part:

"I’m so tired, Astarion. And I’m sorry, but I can’t be that girl for you, anymore.”

The sombre silence that followed was unlike anything Rosalie thought she had ever shared with Astarion, in the times before. They had had their mute periods - fraught, tense, and full of unspoken hurt - but nothing quite so resigned as this. Rosalie felt all the ways she didn’t align with the woman he’d known - how if one was superimposed upon the other, they would no longer fit. And then she felt mostly just… old. She raked a hand through her hair, feeling a deep heaviness settle upon her. It was almost as if, in admitting how much she had exhausted herself to get here, all that tiredness came down upon her once more.

The similarities between the two situations just really hit me right in the feels. Anyway, I absolutely adore Pieces, if you can't tell. Thanks for sharing your wonderful work with us!

hey beloved! thank you for the question.

I am very much looking forward to Veilguard. Dragon Age was my first videogame series I ever fully got mentally unwell about, and it's also the reason I started writing fanfiction at all. I've written for nearly all my canon inquisitors and wardens :) i'm very very excited, and not exaggerating when I say it had become one of my reasons to live - even if it's a bad game or whatever, that character creation may become one of the threads i hang by

I don't know yet if I'll write fic. I have two active wips I want to finish and I am already teetering on the edge of burnout, alongside a desire to start focusing on original projects. I also can't play veilguard until my thesis corrections are in, and the deadline for that is november 15th. which is only two weeks of waiting, but it means i don't want to be thinking about the game at any point as something i *have* to write fic for, or feel any pressure around. So I have no explicit plans. I want it to just be my reward for finishing my PhD! officially!

ngl, it's currently nice to have a piece of media I'm looking forward to that I don't want to produce content for, only consume :) and I'll still have two other WIPs, so it's not like people will be starved of my writing!

ofc, if the mood takes me and I get swept up in the frenzy, there will inevitably be fic. I was very mentally unwell about inquisition lmao, I nursed that fic idea for 4 years before I ever wrote any of it down. I imagine I will steer away from game fic, and so if I write anything it will either be pre-game Rook backstory or AU stuff. I also think it will not be pushed out the way my bg3 stuff was pushed out, so don't expect anything from me and then maybe a year or two from now you'll get surprised by something :D

I am not personally a solavellan girlie, but I did accidentally second lead Solas so hard in my Inquisition fic quite without planning to, it just happened organically bc it made sense for the characters. so I infinitely respect Solavallen girlies' beliefs xxxx

[cadaveerie]

cw: child abuse and non-sexual grooming

VEILGUARD SPOILERS (from lucanis' writing, a mission towards the ending and a little general)

About Lucanis and the Antivan Crows...

after finishing datv, I can finally say for sure that despite the fact that i find this game was overall fine, there are several things about it that have disappointed me. one of those things is about lucanis (and it's not even the only thing about lucanis that bothers me, but we'll leave that discussion for another time, because there's a lot to say about the writing).

in this game, Caterina Dellamorte (lucanis and illario's grandmother) is portrayed as a woman that's cold and demanding. not particularly nice, lucanis fully acknowledges that she's not exactly the loving type, and it's easy to assume things about her and about their relationship based on that... but for some reason it's never addressed that she abused lucanis when he was a child, by beating him and starving him. this is something that you can read in lucanis' story in tevinter nights, the wigmaker job, which was lucanis' introduction.

"Memories of sweat-filled days without food or water came unbidden Lucanis’s back tingled from where his grandmother’s cane had bruised his flesh for letting his guard down or fumbling his footwork. For years, he’d hated her. But his time as a Master taught Lucanis that Caterina’s cruelty was her way he was prepared for this life—that he survived."

I was waiting to finish the game before I said it, because I expected him to mention at some point but... no, nothing. I don't know if there's anything in a codex or something specific I missed, but even if that's the case, I expected it to be significant at all. it wasn't.

i'm not even going to get into what lucanis should feel about this. before the game came out i talked about some of my hopes for him based on the info we had about him, and imo there was not even half of that level of depth to his character. but i wouldnt have minded if the game went in another direction, or if lucanis simply just wasnt open to discuss it, or if he came to the conclusion that it was fine. i won't get into how "problematic" thinking that is, because i could understand that he tells himself that, and as a fucking assassin, i understand that he's come to terms with it because otherwise he probably wouldnt have survived in such a dangerous enviroment. i won't get into it bc as i said, i can understand it. my problem is that lucanis never says it. he never tells rook or anyone else that caterina abused him, or that the crows overall are very abusive and that they do this to children and break their minds basically in order to become emotionless living weapons. and if this is said in any banter, then i missed it in my 91h of gameplay, and i had lucanis in my party every single time we went outside. or it might be in a codex entry, idk. the point is that even if that's the case, that's not a great way to tell this info, especially when in the story theres no other way to learn anything like this about the crows. ppl that i talked to that didnt read tevinter nights didnt know this fact abt caterina and lucanis' past, they simply didnt cause how could they. I just wanted to say this because I think it's important to know if you like lucanis, or the antivan crows, and it's never even actually implied.

I also have many other issues with his writing, but the antivan crows are unfortunately also whitewashed. at least if you've played dragon age origins you know this, but our first antivan crow companion, zevran, talks about how he was taken as a child by the antivan crows. how he was literally bought by them as an orphan, and forced to become an assassin, and when he tries to flee, they attempt to murder him throughout the game. he even talks about how apparently some crows even made their members go through blood magic rituals to acquire abilities (SOUND FAMILIAR? IT'S LITERALLY WHAT ZARA DOES TO LUCANIS, ISN'T IT. HOW FUCKED UP). i think it's so disrespectful to dragon age's worldbuilding and so appalling that they simply... ignored all of this. I'm very upset that this was completely whitewashed. i wont get into it, but i assume they didn't show the crows being awful because, well... they have to be the good alternative for government in antiva. the bad guys are the antaam, and that's it. but one of the things i always loved about dragon age is how they treat these sort of political things. as i said, in origins the crows were more of an antagonistic figure, but at least it made them feel more real and serious. and people loved the crows like they were, fucked up assassins. in this game... idk, am i supposed to believe the assassin guys are nice? why hide the ugly? of course it's gonna be there, and it's ok. irl it happens a lot that oppressed people have to rely on groups that are less than ideal for their liberation, and a lot of times citizens are kinda ok w it bc no one else will stand up for them, so they have to work w what they have, and they're just relieved theres someone there for them. and it also shows that people are not perfect victims. if you're putting ppl in a corner, at some point ppl are rarely gonna care about being "good", and it's only human. and im not even gonna get into being an antivan crow rook because... sigh, it's more of the same. just disappointing. rook even mentions that theyre an orphan. and im pretty sure in the final mission about treviso, at least if you helped jacobus, he is like "i'll take in orphans and give them a chance". oh man, yeah. cool. please tell me how you'll raise them to be, im so curious to see how you won't groom children and abuse them into becoming mindless cold soldiers. that's fucking insane. this feels like fucking US army levels of propaganda and grooming. i love when we normalize child soldiers that's so fucking awesome i love this "woke" game when it's pro-military and anti-fucking-questioning-anything-a-military-force-does.

i even wondered if all of this has been retconned or simply ignored. i dont have a problem w retconning overall, and it's only natural it would happen in a franchise that's as old as DA, but the thing is... why would you do it. it literally just makes them flatter, it doesn't make any fucking sense.

so yes. im VERY disappointed in this game and the writing. this is one of the many things in the writing that disappointed me. the antivan crows are an organization that bring hope, and im perfectly fine with them being portrayed as "saviors", but im not ok with them conveniently not addressing any of their very bad issues. it's unrealistic. it's disrespectful to our intelligence, to dragon age fans and to dragon age origins. it's disrespectful to characters like zevran, who got into an insane war with them for a fucking reason. it's disrespectful to every antivan crow character to be honest. and im sorry, i dont even think this is insane to ask from them. like.... im literally just asking for consistency. they had it already, i dont understand why they did this. i had faith in them, but perhaps that's on me. im so heartbroken.

and i promise i actually think the game overall is ok. it was fun. definitely one of my least favorite games, if not my least favorite, but still. i appreciate it, and LOVED. LOVEEED some scenes. in fact, it might have at the very least one of my favorite scenes from the whole franchise. i think this game has very low points, and very high points, so it's hard to say what i think about it in few words.... but there are so many things like this in the writing, and it's just SO upsetting and disrespectful. im sorry. im truly sorry, you don't know how much i wanted to love this game and the writing. you have no idea. but i have self respect, and i don't lie to myself when i see something i dont like. it feels like they're whitewashing the crows cause we'd be too stupid to understand complex political issues. i thought this game was mature and could handle mature themes, but it doesnt seem like it's the case anymore. perhaps bioware is dead. i still want to believe they can come back from this but......... the post credit scene doesnt reassure me AT ALL. sigh. im just upset and sad. and as i said, this is only one of my many issues. i'll talk about the rest in the future, but im writing all of it down and i need time for that. i hope you understand that this comes from a place of genuine love. sorry i can't be happy about this game, but some of the stuff i see just ruins the rest for me.

edit: someone told me that apparently theres a banter when you go to dellamorte's villa and lucanis *implies* that he was beat by his grandmother (at least to another antivan crow rook). this whole post still stands though. i think that should have not been a banter that i (and im sure others) missed. and again, it also ties to how i think the crows as an organization and their methods were whitewashed. even if it's not particularly a lucanis problem, it could have been to some extent addressed by him.

[explodingchantry]

Vague veilguard spoilers? About being an elf in minrathous and various other northern locations

It's very difficult to not sound batshit insane when saying "why isn't anyone being fantasy racist to me" but like genuinely why isn't anyone being fantasy racist to my openly elven rook. Especially when I'm parading around Minrathous, basically the racist slave capital of the world? Not a single comment? Really?

Why do I face more fantasy racism as an elf in ferelden than I do in fucking TEVINTER? why do we hear about slaves in codex entries specifically written by those who don't condone slavery but we don't really interact with one?

Also how come there's so many elves in tevinter working normal service jobs? I know a bunch of them will be liberatis I get that, but like. You can't even be an elf in goddamn ferelden or kirkwall without risking being abducted by tevinter slavers. And you're telling me you can be an elf in minrathous itself without being abducted by tevinter slavers? Like one or two sure especially if they're protected by the shadow dragons but like brooooo

Speaking of the difference between the south and the north - does northern thedas just not do alienages ??? Is that something we're scrubbing off too?? I get it for minrathous because. Lol. But like - antiva? Is that something I just forgot? Alienages are acknowledged in like One codex entry but why wouldn't the north have them?

Don't get me wrong I Have liked some of the recontextualisation the game has done - but I think a lot of this has to do with bioware being afraid of repercussion if they include their staple fantasy racism in their game. And I do fucking get it lol you especially don't want a game about being whoever you want to be turn around and be racist to your face depending on the race you choose. But the thing is that you had 3 games and tons of side media that built this up - the world of thedas is a very unequal one, a deeply racist one, and it does take players aback when they've gotten used to it and then play veilguard and they're just able to frolic in the streets of the tevinter capital as an elf with no repercussion and not a single comment from it's inhabitants

It's so crazy going from being called fantasy slurs constantly in DAO to this KDJDKDJDJD

Like at some point it is a little bit immersion breaking just because we're otherwise so used to it and have been told several times that the north/tevinter would be much, much worse, you know?? But I do get that it's hard and that bioware is trying to move away from constantly hate criming their players. I get it's difficult. But it still hurts not just my immersion but in general hurts the worldbuilding and lore

There's a lot to be said about magic, too - but I'd want to reread the lore we had on these countries pre-veilguard and would like to also just, yknow, finish the game before I talk too much about it

[v-arbellanaris]

u know what actually im gonna make one last srs post abt this whole thing and then im doneeeee i swear lmfao, so all of the anons in my inbox can finally shut up and fuck off and i'll put it under a cut so i dont ~ruin your da4 hype~ the way youve fucking ruined mine i guess.

watsonian justification for this: "decisions you made 10+ years ago in another part of the country simply will not affect the current story". hey isnt the entire story behind veilguard that a guy has been working for the last 10 years to rip down the veil. like. is the whole thing not a story that started 10 years ago. do you not have access to the eluvian network now because solas stole it 10 years ago from briala. is the blight not around because of the evanuris in some way. isnt the entire magisterium something that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years. like even within the context of da, the entire story revolves around things that happened thousands of years ago that have shaped the world that our characters exist in today. we, ourselves, as real people, don't live in a world where things happening on one side of the planet do not affect anything else. and that's not even touching on the fact that we have companions from the first game showing up. at the very least decisions that affect them directly should have been factored in????

doylist justification(s) for this: #1 "we only wanted to include worldstate decisions we could develop reactivity to" so the only decisions were.... whether or not solas is romanced? for me, it's the way that when you're playing dai, the entire justification for NOT being able to romance him as anyone other than lavellan is that you can have a deep and important and complex relationship with him even if you dont romance him, the fandom is always going on & on about how important friendship!solas is and how it shouldnt be underrated but the moment his ENTIRE CHARACTER (and ours?!) gets boiled down to whether or not you had a romantic relationship with him, we're going to celebrate it??? really??? REALLY??? what in the fucking amatonormativity is this, and how is this a step BACKWARDS from dai for solas???

#2 "the world was too complicated so they wanted to simplify it for new players" that's literally the problem we're discussing. the problem we're discussing is the complexity of the world, and the solution bioware came up with for it is to simply scrap it all, and surprise surprise! not everyone is happy about it??? you are just describing the problem that the solution fails to address???

i think the most annoying part of this whole thing is the fan response to it. literallyyyy am seeing things like "no one ever complained about the worldstates not mattering in the next games before da4" which is NOT TRUE. ever since i JOINED this fandom, i've heard so many things about people complaining about leliana defaulting back to a hardened state in dai, about alistair's characterisation in dai, about cullen's repeat appearances, about your boons/decisions in dao not carrying forward in the next games. people HAVE been complaining about it, for ages, especially in dai. it is explicitly a problem in dragon age, and has been for a long, long time, and the problem has only grown the more complex the worldstate becomes. that's why they tried to address the problem here by simply scrapping it all. i've also seen things like "well if youre only interested in callback references, this dragon age game not for YOU" which not only minimises and dismisses the issues and feelings at hand here, but also reeks of self-righteous, smug superiority of I Am The Sole Correct Enjoyer. who is this game for, if not for people who love dragon age?

i'm not here for rook's story - i'm here to save the world that i've built with my own two hands over three games. i am doing that through rook as a character, yes, but i have no cause or reason to care about rook at all going into this game except for the basic fact of this is my character that i am playing - rook is a character that i expect playing the game will make me invested in and care about them. but you know what i already cared about before going into veilguard? you know what i've saved three times over already, potentially even at the cost of my own life? thedas. MY thedas. OF COURSE I WANT TO KNOW THAT IT MATTERS. in world, solas himself wants to know what changes his actions wrought. THOUSANDS OF YEARS AFTER THE FACT. why is everyone acting like fans are insane for this????

i, for one, have not complained about the game "ruining" origins or da2 or even dai. i was excited about the changes, because changes were evidently necessary. i have been fully prepared for the differences, even if i've been apprehensive or cautious about it. do you think i'm disappointed now because i hate dragon age??? where do you fucking get off saying this game is not meant for me? because i dont agree with how bioware has chosen to resolve this issue, suddenly these games are Not For Me anymore?

and you know what, i already know they're not for me. the way this series, and this fandom, treats people of colour, and characters of colour, i am made aware every single day that dragon age is not for me. these games are for the liberal white girlies and white queers living in the west. i know damn well these games have never been for me, and any insistence that it should consider me will be met with vitriol and viciousness. and guess what? i am still here.

i was sooo ready to let this go until the fandom just kept acting like ppl are idiots for being unhappy about things AT ALL in da4. its so fucking annoying to me. i'm NOT going to complain about every single little thing in da4 possible, but i'm also not going to act like bioware is going to do and is doing everything right. what is WITH this fandom and extremes of thought and behaviour. is it because you're all american??? like. i'm actually so sorry that you live in a black-and-white world with no complexities or nuances because it must be so boring and sad.

in my opinion, i would not have minded slimming down the narrative choices to a select few that they could really hone in and focus on. i feel like the dragon age keep decisions can be a bit arbitrary, and i would've loved to see like 5-6 key decisions per game, ORRRR even for your worldstate to boil down to something like whether or not you generally supported positive change or upheld the status quo per game, and then specific character decisions regarding the inquisitor to be brought in, since they're the pc that actually shows up. i do think there's likely a lot of chaff that can be cut off or simplified as a sort of "lost to the times" kind of narrative telling. but boiling down these games to three fucking choices that are ultimately just 'did u romance and like solas or nah' is fucking INSANE. why is the answer to the issue of the quantum - which has been an issue for a long time!!!!!! - to just... scrap it entirely???

edit: adding this here since i said i wouldnt make any more posts abt this topic but i rly find it laughableeeee when fans eagerly parrot bioware insisting that just because those choices dont matter in THIS game doesnt mean they'll never matter in a FUTURE game (i guess we can expect the next one in 2034?). if they already scrapped those choices for this game, and you're all still buying it (some of you??? PREORDERED it???? i thought we agreed not to do that???), why would they bother. do you think the next dragon age game wont have the same line of logic for 'we need to make it accessible for new players!!!!!' that they had for this one and for dai? how willfully stupid are you that you think I'M the stupid one here?

im happy for you guys tho! i hope the new dragon age game where theyve removed all of those complexities instead of making ANY effort to address ANY of the existing dissatisfaction around feeling like any of your game decisions mattered supports your existing brainrot so you can continue believing in a black-and-white reality. really glad theyve simplified it for you guys just like you wanted into 3 choices all about sola/vellan.

i'm going back to my own sandbox, as epler has instructed me to, so i can ~imagine~ my own thedas lmfao

[lairofsentinel]

Since this user's posts seem to have been deleted in previous opportunities I copy-paste their words here because they express exactly what I feel about this game. Dragon Age has died, unfortunately.

I'm a big time Dragon Age lover and have enjoyed every game in the series. Personally, I think Inquisition is the best in the series. And I was excited for Veilguard right up until I actually began playing it. Now, I want to clear things up at the start as to what I look for and believe makes a good Dragon Age game. To start, I DON'T CARE ABOUT COMBAT. I. Do. Not. Care.

You can make it Origins tactical. DA2 fast tactical. DAI hybrid. God of War action, I don't care. Dragon Age has always had combat that was...fine. A nice distraction and breakup in between the bits I actually care about: narrative ROLEPLAYING, story, characters, and exploration. I don't give a crap how great the combat is if the narrative roleplaying and writing are poor, I'm not playing BioWare titles for amazing gameplay. I am here for the story, the characters, and the roleplaying. Truth is, for a time I considered DATV's combat to be the best in the series.

And this is why I feel the game is a terrible Dragon Age, because it lacks or fails to respect those elements concerned with narrative roleplaying, story, characters, and exploration. Now, in many reviews and online videos you'll hear some reference often to the drop in writing quality. And a lot of time people will incorrectly say that the writing with the characters is to "modern" or "Marvel quippy" or not "dark" enough. I think these people are wrong, they recognize there is a drop in writing quality from previous games but aren't able to articulate why that is.

Dragon Age has never adopted any sort of faux medieval speech and vocabulary (though we'll get into this more later). This is a series that used "epic fail" as a thing someone uttered in the very first game. It's always had anachronistic dialogue and banter. So why is it such a drop then? Why is it considered poor? Simple. This is a game that does not believe in the world it has setup for over a decade. It does not believe in or engage properly with its own world and lore. I mean, look no further than the title "The Veilguard" a phrase that is never uttered by anyone in our group, and further proof it was a last minute marketing change. Compare to Inquisition where the title is apparent from the start in the game and has actual meaning.

You see, characters in DATV do not feel or react to events the way they should based on the lore. Why is no one constantly asking what the hell the Inquisitor is doing? The Inquisitor is kind of a BIG DEAL when it comes to Solas and Elven Gods, my Inquisitor drank from the WELL OF SORROWS! So why are we sitting around thinking at the start, "hmm lemme think who I can contact who might know more." The Herald of Andraste! They know more Rook, the guy that is technically your boss. The Inquisitor! Who else have you been working for this entire time? Who do you think told Varric to recruit you?!

But even removing the Inquisitor, the Elven Gods being real and also near synonymous with the old Tevinter Gods is kind of a BIG DEAL. It was only a theory fans crafted long ago that slowly revealed itself to be true. And it completely upends known religious dogma on all sides. Yet, why aren't people we meet going through a massive existential crisis? For instance, the Veil Jumpers we initially meet were presumably told off-screen about Fen'Harel, and are seemingly cool with this massive knowledge alone. But then we talk about those two other Gods being released and they're like, "well, shit those two aren't good." As if they have any clue if the fables about those Gods are real when we previously just upended everything they thought about the Dreadwolf! Why are you acting like this is another Tuesday?! Your entire religion is wrong. In that same conversation, Strife notes "Solas might be a bastard, but compared to the Evunaris? Let's just say they weren't know for being kind rulers."

My brother in Anduril, what are you talking about! Elven religion teaches that Elgar'nan was so beloved by the Earth that it "the land brought forth great birds and beasts of sky and forest, and all manner of wonderful green things." And that he fought the jealous Sun that tried to burn the land and all beasts away. Custom says that he and Mythal, "created the world as we know it" after defeating the Sun. He is literally described as one of the "good" Gods. WHY ARE YOU ASSUMING HE IS EVIL! It's like finding out Satan is real, but not as evil as have come to believe and then being told Jesus Christ is back and a devout Christian going, "well shit, that can't be good." WHAT?!

The same goes for Andraste and the Chant of Light, it took me 30 hours of playing before ONE character mentioned Andraste and the implications with the Chant and it was never brought up again. Our entire party is seemingly made up of unphased atheists. Now compare to something like Inquisition which explored this aspect HARD and was amazing for it. You'd get into great debates with religious figures and party members about the implications of Corypheus actually being a Tevinter Magister of old. And you'd talk about what it means towards the religious dogma preached and how much is true. And these intense political and religious discussions are present in every previous game, and not confined to a single conversation with one party member where it is seemingly resolved.

These conversations do not happen in DATV because there is no depth to the writing or engagement with the world. The Elven Gods are evil and need to be stopped. That's it. We don't need to think about the implications this has on Dalish customs and religion. Fuck it, all the Dalish are going to still wear their Vallaslin slave brand tattoos. Let's forget about Trespasser implying Solas was removing them from followers coming to join him. Let's even forget they were likely all told at this point that they are slave brands, nope still going to wear them yet speak blasphemy with every sentence against our Gods. No one cares about Andraste or The Maker or the Chant. Big deal if these Elven Gods contradict the overwhelming majority religion in Thedas. Not a single party member has religious or cultural objections to killing the Elven Gods; not a problem. Not one single elf wants to join Solas in tearing down The Veil and getting immortality again?

Again, let's forget about Trespasser setting up Solas gathering MANY Elven followers from Dalish clans who would be super inclined to join him after experiencing CENTURIES of discrimination and slavery by humans. The better question is what Elves wouldn't join Solas at the start? And what Elves wouldn't look at the other two Gods and go, "meh, maybe we should give them a try. They can't be worse than humans, right?" In DA2 you had elves joining The Qun to escape the discrimination of humans, but not ONE ELF wants to join Solas or Elgar'nan? Those Ancient Elves in the Temple of Mythal? I guess they all died, right?

This extends to EVERY single element of Dragon Age that previously had depth to it, it now has been completely removed. Those murdering Antivan Crows? Oh, they're just good Italian Mob Family that protect their city. Tevinter? Yes, it has poor people, but we're trying to do better. Oh, slavery? No, no we don't show that here. The Qun? The what now? No, they are all Antaam now, and so that means they are all generic evil warlords. No, they don't even attempt to follow their own hardcore view of The Qun like when Templars split from the Chantry, they're just warlords now that like plunder. Dwarves and their rigid Caste society? We don't do that here. Elves and racism across Thedas? Elves used to experience racism? News to me, what's a Shemlen? Never heard of that term, we like all humans. Pirates? That is insensitive, we are Lords of Fortune and we are sure to return any cultural artifacts found to their rightful owners; it belongs in a museum after all. The fucking Fade and spirits? Wait, you mean its different than generic fantasy spirit world? I'm sorry, that's too complicated here.

This either intentional disregard of the lore or plain ignorance also extends to environmental design. The asset reuse from Inquisition is particularly hilarious and must speak to the developers not having time after the switch from MP. Why are the same statues found in Val Royeaux in DAI also in Tevinter and Antiva? Why are those stupid Fen'Harel Wolf statues EVERYWHERE? Even in the catacombs of other Elven Gods! There are no statues of Elgar'nan or Ghilan'nain. Nothing for June or Anduril. Dirthamen. Falon'Din. Nothing. No, the only Gods that seem to get statues are coincidentally the ones who already had assets created for DAI or past titles that could be reused. Hmmm.

This continues into character designs too, why do the Veiljumpers and Shadow Dragons all dress richly? They are supposed to be poor as fuck. There's a codex entry about Veiljumpers finding a lost cache of old ancient elven armor and weapons and so boom they all get to dress like High Elven Lords and not the dirty, poor, wandering Dalish clans they are supposed to come from. Why do this? There isn't even an attempt to explaining why the Shadow Dragons, an organization supposed to be secretive, has branded clothing in bright rich colors and fabrics for all members. Naturally, it must be incredibly difficult for Tevinter authorities to not identify them.

This lack of depth and verisimilitude, naturally, affects all the characters. Because in this game you cannot roleplay and you cannot ask questions. In Dragon Age Inquisition, once you started the game, you could immediately interrogate Varric about what happened to every DA2 character despite the Inquisitor never meeting them, you know because it respects its players. You could speak to shop keepers, blacksmiths, your horse master. You could interrogate every single person to learn more about them and the world. The same goes for your player character in DA2 and Origins. You show in Denermin and find yourself knee deep in a quest to help Wade the Blacksmith craft the perfect armor. Here you can't actually speak to a single shopkeeper to ask questions and get some lore bits. You can't ask party members questions about their background, religious beliefs, upbringing, their factions, etc. You can't ask any returning characters any questions either about what they've been doing. Enter a brand new area? Great, you're not asking anyone questions about this never before seen place.

How does a lost Dwarven thaig survive every single blight? How are their immortal lichs in Neverra? How long has that been a thing? Why haven't they told anyone about the Elven gods or any other knowledge they've accumulated in an immortal lifespan? If immortality is so "easy" why can't Solas just do that to restore the Elves? Why are the Venatori, Tevinter Supremacists, following Elven Gods? Wouldn't that be a major identity crisis? Why would Antaam, who still preach the Qun, follow an Elven God that speaks blasphemy with ever breadth? Sshhhh, no questions. You get what is directly told to you and that's it, no follow-up questions.

Party members do not conflict with each other or interrogate each other's beliefs which is why their banter feels inconsequential and meaningless. Lucanis is a assassin, he kills people for money. The same organization that marked Zevran for death for failing a contract. The same one that took him as a kid and trained him to murder, often brutally, for coin. And yet no one really seems to care. He's just a nice Italian assassin from a nice assassin organization. Who cares. Let's instead talk about cooking, at length. Harding, a devout follower of Andraste, has no qualms with Elven Gods wreaking havoc on known religion. We get one conversation you can tell her to believe what she wants, and that's the end of that debate. Bellara also gets about two whole conversations about the conflict concerning her Gods wreaking havoc, both easily resolved. We don't need to think about any larger implications or doubt her loyalty when the Elven pantheon are seeking to restore her people that have been discriminated against since forever. Emmerich, a necromancer of Neverra, apparently has no religious belief. A codex entry even states that those of the Mourn Watch don't know where the soul goes after death. They don't like to think about it. Buddy, Mortalitasi belief is literally that our souls return to the Void alongside The Maker, but to keep balance a exchange must be wrought with The Fade to allow a spirit to house the now empty vessel. How do you not know the religion and customs of your own faction and land? This man has a whole quest line about funerary rights, yet not ONCE mentions religion and what he believes happens after death?! Sshhhh, no questions. No thinking.

Hey, remember The Fade? Remember how mages go to dream there every night. Remember how The Black City is always visible there? No? Well, we don't either. You won't see The Black City in The Fade. You might see it in The Crossroads in a closed off section, even though it is NOT The Fade. Oh, we're going to have you physically enter The Fade in multiple quest lines and no one will think it's a big deal. No, you still can't see The Black City. Now, The Fade is reduced to nothing more than your generic fantasy spirit world. It has none of the previous rules and lore that bound it before. Demons can bind to non-mages and we won't attempt to explain it. Solas fucks with The Veil and not a single mage notices a change in their dreams when they sleep at night. No biggie.

Lastly, let's return at last to the actual minutiae of writing. I stated at the start the writing isn't bad because of Marvel quippiness, which the series has always had. I was partly lying. Yes, the series has always had anachronistic dialogue. It has had meme language in its own previous titles. But, it was just that, a small joke here and there. For the most part the series actually tried to use it's own sort of "older" speech patterns. I think a perfect example has to do with Taash, she eventually finds her own identity and declares she is proudly "non-binary." Literally stating, "so, I'm non-binary." I have no issue with this sort of inclusivity in Dragon Age, it's what the series is known for. Yet, why does that sound wrong? Simple, it's far too anachronistic. It doesn't belong in Dragon Age. In Inquisition, Dorian let's us know he's gay. But he doesn't say, "I'm gay!" or "I'm a homosexual" those terms would not exist in his world. Instead he says, "I prefer the company of men."

And it's these little subtle changes in writing that makes it feel all the more different. We went from "I once ventured in to The Fade to serve the Old Gods of Tevinter in person. I found there only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. Now I shall return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world gone wrong. Pray that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the Gods. And it was empty."

To: "Well, shit. That can't be good."

So, what do we have when all is said and done? Well, we have a decent generic fantasy action game. An intentional attempt by the developers to remove every edge from the world of Dragon Age in place of a very simple, easy to understand world with not much depth beyond what you see. You don't need to think, just play and have fun. This is beyond turning a MP game into a SP game, which so blatantly obvious in this game. DA2 was developed in 16 months, but is carried strong by its writing. You see, nothing prevented them from just acknowledging their own world they created. It costs very little to write around what already exists. Even if you can't make no assets or redesign the world. Writing is cheap and having characters voice these elements is not as costly as a redesign. No, they chose to remove the edge in every element because this was design intentionally for the masses with easy to understand world and zero depth.

But I wanted to play Dragon Age. I wanted to get into intense religious debates with party members as known lore is completely upended. I wanted to debate Elvish clans deciding to join Solas or the other Gods due to their treatment by human society. I wanted to debate the ethics of necromancy with the Mortalitasi of Neverra's Crypts. I wanted to engage in intense debating with Solas on the ethics of his goal. I wanted to see Tevinter react to a real push for anti-slavery and actually see the slavery in the slave capital of the world. I wanted to butt heads with the Antivan Crows and call them out for the murderers they are. I wanted to see the Black Divine and debate the Chant of Light with them. I wanted to speak to the Archon of Tevinter and see how he felt about the Venatori's past efforts in Inquisition. Hey, what happened to Meredith Reborn in Kirkwall and her idol and Red Templar worshipers? Forget about it.

We got none of this. I got a game that is pretty much disrespectful of its own world. I waited 10 years for this? Why even bother if this is the result? They may as well have just killed every previous character we ever knew, including Solas, offscreen and started anew with this game. Because as a Dragon Age game and sequel, it's terrible and no returning character is how they should be.

And when we get to the ending, that's pretty much what they did. Everything you did in all the past games? Well, that was pointless. Everyone is probably dead. King Alistair. Gaspard. Celene. King Bhelen. The Arl of Redcliffe. The Divine. The Circle of Magi. The Templars. The Seekers. Everything, everyone, and every organization that existed in the South is likely dead and destroyed. And now Dragon Age can become what they wanted, a generic fantasy IP.

But I just wanted to play Dragon Age.

[lunarflux]

I find it so interesting that Alicent's only reference to what Aemond "somehow" has become is strictly based on what happened to Luke at Storm's End, and I suppose what happened at Rook's Rest with Rhaenys (I don't think it was said that Cole told her it was him, but idk). It's one thing to have seen your youngest (sorry, Daeron) son grow up to be a psychopath and show no sympathy towards anything, but up until that point, Aemond really didn't do much outside of what was expected of him.

Her tending to Aegon with guilt set my brain on fire because what did she honestly expect? She coddled her children with blankets soaked in ice water and expected them to find warmth on their own. All three of her children display different results of what happens when you neglect your children. Aegon acts out to get any reaction from her because any reaction is better than no reaction, and when he finally goes to her, pleading for help because no one wants to listen to him during Small Council, she just shuts him down. Aegon is still young, and there was more than enough room in his development for her to be his mother in all senses of the word. Helaena basically gave up on anyone trying to understand her, and had Alicent offered like... a minute of actual comfort when Jaehaerys died, Helaena might not have had a literal panic attack (though that panic attack was totally warranted because that scene was honestly suffocating even as a viewer).

In terms of her relationship with Aemond, exactly how often does this woman talk to her children beyond the niceties? Aemond's choice to own what happened to Lucerys was a result of "no one did anything, so I fucking did it myself" instead of "I was angry, and maybe I did want him dead, but I didn't understand the consequences of holding onto anger and letting it fester, and now it's too late." Aemond 100% admired his mother when she tried to claim Luke's eye, but where did that motherly protection go? Even if she went full tilt and took the "Well, Luke never got punished" stance, yes, Aemond might still be where he's at, but she wouldn't be outwardly condemning his actions and might not be confused as to how we ended up here. Better yet, she wouldn't be shocked that Aemond has the silent confidence to take over as Prince Regent.

Aemond's face while waiting for the Small Council's decision on who will rule in Aegon's stead was honestly so funny. He already knew - he played the game. He let his brother flail helplessly and drown as King, and spent time showing his hand, showing how capable he can be. All this to say, Alicent REALLY ignored whatever the hell he was doing because if she hadn't, she would have found more than one moment where she could step in and mold him into a ruler who takes her opinions into account.

"Aemond is still young" so is Aegon?? And you were?? Idk okay with him doing whatever the fuck he was doing???? He also has little experience, so you can't use that argument now that the Council is backing Aemond.

I know the woman is fed up because of all the men fucking things up around her but holy shit woman - use your power as a woman and as a mother to mold them through manipulation without them knowing.

Quick edit now that it's the morning and can actually think past fatigue: I know what we're privy to about Alicent/Aemond's relationship is mostly inferred. There's a lot left to the imagination, and when I say "passed the niceties," I'm referring to the kinds of conversations that are essentially shallow. Alicent says what she needs to say, but there's no warmth since she speaks from the position of duty. There are touches of this when Aemond volunteers to go find Aegon in s1. We see Alicent confide in her father, but we don't see those thoughts said to Aemond which might have provided more for him in terms of her sympathy and protectiveness towards him (following the eye incident because she does comfort him there). Additionally, my main focus and why I have these opinions is Alicent's use of the word "somehow." Aemond has, for the most part, made an assumption of his mother's behavior, so she does the same. The assumptions can be made through the observation of someone's actions and not necessarily through conversation.

That being said, I am taking these stances from the POV of someone who only watches the show as I don't like to compare the developments between the product and the source material. Comparison is the thief of joy, and adaptations for TV will never be as accurate and concise as we'd like them to be.

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't find anything about whether request were open or not, but if they are can you do the gushing over their animal form with Jade/Floyd, Ruggie and Malleus (since he has referenced several times that he can turn into a dragon)? If not pls just delete thank you

Jade Leech

“Ohhh My Gaaahsh! You’re a merman?! An eel merman?! Wooowww!”

“(Y/n) focus! Or you’ll lose Ramshackle forever!”

“But he’s a moray eel!”

Even after the fact he’s flattered that you were so stunned about this

If you don’t seek him out he’s seeking you out 

Like feather on a string to a cat he’ll mention something about being a moray eel or dropping a fact 

Watching excitedly as your face lights up and your face moves closer to his

You’re so adorable it's insane

Inviting you to meet up with him so you could look at his tail

Or letting you look inside his mouth at his rows of teeth

Of course it's all for a price but he doesn’t need to tell you that 

He’ll just happily repeat that whenever your friends ask why he thinks it's okay to disappear with you in the Coral Sea

“(Y/n) just wants to know more about me, what's the problem with that?”

He knows why they’d be worried but it's so satisfying to find you so excited to simply hold his tail

You’ll even let him squeeze you if it means you get to touch his scales

You’re just cute like that

He’s addicted  

It's his favorite game of watching you ignore all his red flags so you can gush over his animal traits 

“If you promise to spend that weekend camping with me, I’ll let you see a secret trait I have in common with real moray eels.”

Floyd Leech

That's adorable

Shrimpy likes morays!!

He’ll be curious as to why your so excited everytime he comes to play with Baby Seal or Crab or the Mackaral

And as long as he doesn’t squeeze too tight you love playing with him

“So I’ve been meaning to ask: what is it that you like so much?”

You aren’t afraid to tell him and his reaction further spurs you on

Immediately he’s carting you off so you can play with him in his mer form

You’re so excited because Morays are so mysterious

Where you’re from they’re pretty elusive so your more than excited when Floyd proudly presents his teeth

Your his favorite to play with, so don’t play with anyone else

Don’t look at Jade hang out with him

he prefers it when you don’t announce when you get handsy with him

He’s guarding your curiosity because its his you’re his

At first it's just your interest in marine life than its you simply asking how your friends are

“Oi oi I don’t like it when my Shrimpy goes explorin’. You’re not encouraging that right?! Otherwise I’ll have to squeeze all the air out of ya.”

Ruggie Bucci

For a while he just knows that whenever he enters the room your eyes are on him

He doesn’t have to talk to you but you notice him

He sees you look at his ears and tail 

And he figures you just want to touch them

That's cool if your willing to pay

But even if you do it doesn’t stop

Honestly he’s flattered he doesn’t have to do much to get your attention

It certainly helps when he’s busy taking care of Leona all day

So he’ll bite 

And he’s in shock when you admit how much you like hyenas

“Like you're already a team player and survival is like super important! Not to mention you are a male but your so cool and sure of yourself–”

“G-geez don’t dissect your seniors like that! It gives serious Rook vibes.”

“R-right, sorry.”

“Not exactly saying you should stop all of it though…”

He’s blushing but he’s making the most of your interest

Drinking in that smile on your face as he answers your questions

While he’s not exactly used to being the one that's glorified but he doesn’t mind it

In fact the moment he feels your attention wane he’s pulling out any and all stops to maintain your attention

“Ruggie, did you take something from my bag?”

“Shishishishi you know hyena’s are scavengers! Best you start paying more attention!”

Malleus Draconia

This doesn’t come up casually

For the beginning of your friendship you didn’t even know his actual name

So it's more likely than not you mention it off-handedly

Once characters in books or movies or just in general is recognizable he’s keeping track

This is still so new

He doesn’t want to lose you if he reveals this part of himself

But Malleus is a stickler for correctness

So if you speak about how dragons in fiction do things and he corrects you or makes a distinction and your doubtful or just downright now believing he’ll transform

Totally dwarfing you in sheer size

Realizing what he’s done he’s fully prepared for you to gasp and runoff Not that you’d get too far

Your beam and squealing and touching him so much more

Your so adorable with your questions

Your soft little fingers running over his scales and spending all night excitedly being around him

Transforming back he relishes in the intimacy this brings

In the future he may refrain from full-on dragon form but his tail is close enough

But it keeps you close to him both as a conversation topic and as a limb that can easily pull you to his side

“Sorry to put you under the lens like this Tsuno…”

“It is not a problem. I have found that your inquiries help answer my own curiosities about you.”

He can’t be beat, he won’t be beat because who else is going to go full dragon for your mere curiousity

No one can compare especially when it comes to animal-heritage

According to you the closest that you could ever get to a dragon would be a carnivorous lizard

So aren’t you lucky that this dragon fae is swooning at the suggestion of your touch

“I would like for you to feel my horns. Please, do not be shy, this is an action instigating intimacy. Intimacy that I welcome with you (Y/n), my child of man.”

[dark-side-blog3]

Ignore that this Home Alone inspired poly adeuce fic is a month late. Or choose to read it for 2024 Christmas, up to you.

I had a lot of fun writing this! Put it into a word counter just for fun, and I'm surprised to see that my first real WIP I finished in 2024 is 3k long! It was just so fun to imagine a twist one of my favourite Christmas movies, and I got so caught up in the fun of it I didn't make my deadline ^^; It was originally meant to be a short little crackfic, but it was just too fun! There are some cracky, campy elements, but that's just in the spirit of the movie I based it off!

Anyways: MDNI, warnings for standard yandere things, and creepy crawlies.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"Shouldn't we be pouring salt on the pathway?"

"Nah," you smile, splashing another bucket of water on the front steps. "This is so we can have a nice slip-and-slide for tobogganing tomorrow, Grim! Same reason I'm filling up a little ice rink in the back-- I wanna do some skating. I can't wait for it to freeze over and teach you how!"

Grims' head shakes fervently as he beams; "Just you wait! I'll show you the grace and speed of a master figure skater! I'm gonna be teaching YOU how to skate by the time we're done!"

"Well if you wanna do that, you're gonna need to be well rested. Can you grab us some cookies for before-bed snacks?" you encourage, the monster agreeing and scampering off inside the dorm house to pilfer the cupboard.

You continue pouring water on the steps and trudge around the house's perimeter to check on the steps leading outside to make sure they're freezing over like you intended. You have several other home security measures to check over...

Most of the staff, and students for that matter, went home for the holidays. Family to see, vacations to take... A life to live outside of the school and other people in it. Should anything happen, Crowley was unfortunately unavailable (what else is new, the old bastard), nor was Vargas, Trein, or Crewl. Normally they'd be spattered throughout the holiday to watch over the students. But there are other teachers on the premises, and hardly any students who can't return home for whatever reason, and they let it slip by... One night during the whole winter break when none of your trusted faculty members nor any of your more powerful friends like Malleus or Idia could help if you got into trouble.

And maybe, maybe your brain has been rotted by movies and defending yourself from overblotted students.

But it's better safe than sorry.

With everything seemingly in order, and the sun setting quickly behind the treeline of school woods, you rush over to the front gate to hang a large sign:

NO SOLICITORS

Hopefully, this will deter anyone planning to intrude on you tonight.

You trudge your way back to the front door, carefully avoiding the steps. You spend the next few hours snacking with Grim while watching movies together, playing card games, and chattering about what ifs and would you rather... Before too long, it's time for bed, and Grim is out like a light, thanks to several pounds of turkey stuffing, potatoes, and cookies you still had after the holiday party days ago.

The party was fun... It did leave you with more leftovers you knew what to do with, which is always great. You got to wish Rook Joyeuses Fête, decorate cookies with Jack and Jade (the merman being much better at decorating, likely due to working in the lounge), and say goodbye to everyone dear to you before they left for their own plans... But it also had Ace and Deuce.

Which, on the one hand, they're harmless. You know they are. They're just jerks sometimes.

They should be focusing on their studies, and you had to devote your time to keeping Ramshakle clean, and Grim on task to graduate... The little monster became somewhat of a family member. Surrogate son or little brother you're not entirely sure, but you want him to succeed.

And even if the pair of heartslabyul boys were gifted students that excelled at every course with time to spare, Grim wasn't-- Grim needed your help to study, to get to class, to handle some of his projects for him when his paws would cause accidents in the potion lab. Grim needs your help to get through college, and it keeps you way too busy for a relationship with either guy.

And even though they soured the mood of the party right after you told them as such, it's the truth, and that's what it is. You're not going to jeopardize Grim's future just to date college students.

They acted like jerks for the rest of the winter break.

When everyone was opening presents, they bitched at everyone for the gifts they exchanged, teased relentlessly, knocked over decor, and told each classmate going through the magic mirror over the week to 'take their time coming back, if at all'. Poor Idia had an anxiety attack when they started teasing him; it took you half an hour to calm him down enough to stop puking and stick to just dry heaving. Grim scampered off after Idia fainted a second time... It took another hour after that to help him through the magic mirror, with his robot escorts. You would have walked through with him, but he insisted holding your hand as he left would be enough, only dragging you somewhat through the portal.

It was rubbing you the wrong way how they were picking fights with everyone, and snubbing Grim anytime they saw you and the monster around campus.

Suddenly, the front gates screech open, drawing you out of your thoughts. You peek out the sliver of the window from behind the thick curtain in the bedroom to see two figures shuffle through the snow.

It can't be them. Even if you were just thinking of them, that would be too... Convenient. Like some movie logic. Thinking of people doesn't summon them.

Whoever it is will be getting a nasty surprise in three, two, one--

A muffled thud and string of curses can be heard from the other side of the glass. You sneak your way down the stairs so you can at least see who's at the door.

"Son of a--! Grim!" Deuce shouts. So much for not summoning them.

"Open the door, little buddy! We know that you're in there and that you're all alone... Your precious prefect is spending the last night of the winter break with someone else, right?" Ace yells, quickly being joined by a snickering and rapping at the door.

A shadow presses itself against the window, trying to peer through sheer curtains. You duck behind one of the striped couches on the outside of the room, close to the walls. Through the reflection of the glass cabinet, you can see the figure stay and linger at the window, tapping against the glass with a small can.

"Come on Grim. We've got tuna for ya if you just open the door and have a chat..." Deuce says, cupping his hands around his mouth as he yells through the glass.

His shadow straightens up, before pounding back on the glass, rattling the old pane against the tight frame, the narrow strips of wood being tight enough together that neither of them could just force their way through the window; Even if they shattered all the glass.

Which Deuce just might, slamming himself into the frame as hard as he could.

"I saw you move in there! Don't ignore us!" He shatters a pane, shoving his hand through to grab at the sheer curtains and tug, ripping them.

You duck back behind the couch, scanning for tools to protect yourself. Shut up. Don't be stupid, just think. Think quick, and smart.

The banging stops for a second. Before becoming far louder-- powerful enough to feel the floor shake. Metal creaks against its hinges, and the lock crashes into the strike plate of the door.

Ignore that, focus. Cleaning supplies. Always nearby, the dorm is filthy. Dish soap and mop bucket.

You dart out from behind the couch to grab the bottle of dish soap, grabbing it and rolling up against the wall just in time as the banging stops, the door knob jiggles and a thin wire pokes itself out from the cracks between the door frame. It makes quick work of the locks on the door, before opening, and Ace proudly struts into the room. The second he does, you pop the cap and squeeze the bottle, squirting bright blue goop into his eyes and smarmy mouth! And you splurt the floor for good measure!

You sprint back to behind the couch he pulls back, sputtering, and wiping it from his eyes in thick globs. You watch through the reflection of the cabinet as Deuce shoves his way past Ace as he splatters fistfuls of goop onto the floor, next to the bottle of leaking dish soap. Ace shoves Deuce for the push, and the resulting shove has both of them slipping on the puddle of dish soap you left in your hurry.

"Ahg-- Ace?! Why are you on the floor?"

A visibly wet smack as dish soap arches off Ace's gloves, slapping damply right into Deuce's face as he grunts from under his classmate: "Get off me, you buffoon! Go find the cat-- Grim, I'm gonna skin you for this, you little creep!"

"Don't make threats until after we have the little rat, runt. If he goes tattling we're screwed--"

"There's no one to tattle to! He's all alone in this big house! Even the ghosts aren't here! If we stick his claws in an electrical socket or force-feed him motor oil, no one would think anything of it! He's just a dumb animal that killed himself without supervision!"

Something glints from under the couch. You grasp at it, finding a spare ornament, and an unused ziptie, threaded through the top. There's got to be something you can use to create a bigger distraction and get you and Grim out of here.

There has to be something in reach-- going back to the bucket in plain sight of them is too risky. Shoving your hand under the couch, your clutch the first thing that your grasp: An aerosol room freshener. Score.

Wrapping the ziptie around the spray trigger, you tighten it and roll it over to the boys, still scrambling about on the floor. You watch from the reflection in the cabinet as Deuce gets a heavy spray right in the eyes, hollering in pain!

"AUGH-- Fucker! You think you're so smart, punk?! Your little bomb just gave away your position!" Deuce shouts, whipping out his magic pen, covering his eyes.

You feel a sense of dread. Primal instinct. You leap out from behind the couch just as he summons a caldron to crash into the couch, narrowly missing you as it smashes the solid oak to splinters. Splinters stick to your socks, embedding in your feet as you scamper off to another room, streams of water and gusts of wind being shot after you.

Just as you turn the corner to climb up the stairs and rush to Grim's room, you hear Ace curse exasperatedly, stumbling his way to the end of the hall to stare at you, still wiping his eyes on his sleeves. Another string of sighed curses leaves his lips as he watches you scramble up the stairs, making accidental eye-contact.

They know their plans are botched now.

Gotta climb faster.

On all fours, you claw up the stairs, just as a tug on your ankle forces your jaw to slam into them. Casting a glance backwards, Ace has gripped your ankle with his sticky gloves, grinning madly as you struggle to tug your ankle away from him, and try to dodge the other one of his hands trying to grasp for your other leg, only to end up sloppily groping your ass before trying again. You try to shake and kick him off, getting a hits to the side of his head, but not as effective as if you had room to wind up. He's gripping so hard it feels like he's going to break something. You scramble, shifting your weight side to side to get him off, prying yourself off the stairs and scratching your nails into the old wood. Your nails cling to the baseboard, prying the edge as much as you can, the wood creaking and snapping off with each desperate tug to pull yourself up.

The baseboard snaps, and you find yourself with a small wooden shiv, thinking to whip around and stab it into Ace's hand, leading him to retract for a second long enough for you to scramble up a step again-- before being slammed back down into the wood as you're grabbed again.

A girthy, irrate red centipede wiggles its way out from the hole in the baseboard, defensive of the now-ruined home.

You snatch it up, close to the head and the snapping mandibles as it wriggled and writhed, as you slowly reached back around to Ace, still clinging to your legs as you tried to shake him off. The teen was so focused on keeping you still as he pulled some ducttape off the roll with his teeth, that he didn't see the massive, snakelike body of the centipede until it was too late; And you stick it right on his face.

He seemed to freeze, giving you enough time to tug your leg again, just as he screamed an ear-piecing shriek!

Ace pawed at his face squirming violently on the stairs, thumping loudly on each step back to the bottom as you sprinted your way upstairs, into Grims room, slamming and locking the door behind you!

"What the hell is wrong--"

"PSYCHO PREFECT IS WHAT! Is it in my hair? Fucking thing was thick as a finger, and they put it right on my face! Is it in my hair?!"

"The prefect is home?! Dude! We're so screwed!"

"So go up there and get them, dipshit! Why are you standing still when they're up there getting a fucking bear trap or something ready?! Are you having an aneurysm or something?! Why are you just staring at me like that?!"

"...Ace... Don't... Move."

"Deuce... What are you talking about? Go get them-"

"Don't. Move."

"Deuce..?"

The telltale crash of a cast iron cauldron smashing through your rotten wood floors makes you nearly shit yourself, glancing back at a sleep-stirring Grim.

"DID I GET IT?"

"YOU ALMOST CRUSHED MY SKULL YOU NUTCASE!"

"DID I GET IT?!"

"You fucking moron!"

You snatch Grim up, using the blanket he was sleeping with like a hobo bag to hold him in, and open the window, edging your way carefully onto the roof. If you can just make safely to the other side of Ramshackle, you can try scaling down the ivy. And it will at least give you a head start-- Maybe hiding out in Sams is the best idea. A store owner must have a CCTV, right? And if Ace and Deuce try and kill either of you, then even if something happens to you, they'll get caught...

You wrap the corners of Grims blanket around your shoulders, like a makeshift baby pouch. You can definitely feel him squirming on your back, starting to wake up. You let go of the window, slipping down the rough roof tile. Laying on your stomach, you side-shuffle over, staying as low to the roof as you can to get the most traction. The edge nearly takes you by surprise when your foot doesn't connect with length that's not there. Slowly, you shuffle even closer to the edge, swaying your arm around the edge to find the vines of Ivy.

"I FOUND 'EM, ACE!"

Your head whips around to see Deuce leaning as far as he can out of the window before he scrambles to get onto the roof.

Whipping your head back to focus, you grab a fistful of vines and pull the rest of your body off the roof! You snatch another fistful with your other hand as you fall.

And fall all the way down, watching in horror as the ivy peels itself from the brick walls.

You feel Grim claw his way out of the pouch and onto your face just in time, as you land on your back with a sickening crunch.

"Oh shit," Ace comments, seemingly having been waiting for you at the bottom of the wall. You see Grim flee across the yard out of the corner of your eye, unable to lift your head.

The sound of snow crunching underfoot, and Deuce panting like crazy soon joins Ace in staring at you as you lay helpless on the ground. As soon as he arrives he gets asked: "Are we gonna get Grim?"

"No point, really..." Comes the huffed response; "We were gonna get him to fuck off, and he's fucked right off. Tonight didn't really go to plan anyway."

A boot gently kicks at your side as Ace turns his attention back to you: "Are you paralyzed or something? That was quite the fall."

You open your mouth to speak, but only a cracked whine makes it out. You cringe and try again, but nothing intelligible comes out.

"Holy shit, they're brain-damaged!" Ace grins, laughing as he backs away from you.

You feel Deuce tugging at your legs in the snow, dragging you from your shallow ditch in the snow. He begins tugging you closer to the dorm, before he drops your legs, moving to grab you under your arms and haul you that way, up against a wall. Breaking a window, he shoves you in, head first. The cold floors of Ramshackle are still warmer than the ice and snow.

"Alright. Hey, real quick, can you feel this?" Deuce begins poking you with a wire from an ornament, starting with your legs, and making his way up on both sides. You nod, wincing at some particularly sharp pricks, to which Deuce responds by rubbing the area to dull the pain.

"Can you say where you are right now? Do you know who I am? Who you are?" You nod again, voice stumbling through a pained response.

"Awesome. You're not brain-damaged! You're probably just winded from the fall. Is anything broken? Can you wiggle your fingers and toes? Try twisting side to side. If you can't it means your spine might be broken, and you need a doctor."

You comply, weirded out by the sudden care, but the doctor comment means they will call someone. And that someone will keep you safe, and them away. The pain's already fading, and likely nothing serious, but you could trick them... Deuce particularly seems like a soft touch. You wince as you try to twist, feigning inability.

Deuce makes a worried expression, like he's about to piss himself from fear.

He backs off slightly, giving you a bit more breathing room: "Try crossing your arms and lifting them as far away from your ribs as you can".

You comply again, feigning difficulty,

And duct tape wraps around your wrists instantly. Deuce presses his knee down into your chest to pin you down as he wraps as tightly as he can, while Ace ties your legs from outside.

"This really, really isn't my style. But we've got to get you somewhere that is not here when the teachers come back tomorrow, and we can't have Grim knowing where to find you." Deuce rambles, soaking his glove in a bottle of something, before pressing it to your face. He continues rambling, leaning in closer to whisper: "And I know how this looks! But I promise we won't do anything to you while you sleep. Or when you wake up! I swear! It's all more normal than it seems tonight-- or it can be anyways. And... And if you give me some time, give me a chance, we can even ditch Ace and forget this night ever happened! You just need some time somewhere else..."

The room spins with dark spots as Deuce presses his soaked glove further into your face. He continues rambling at you, while you feel Ace begin dragging you back out the window again. The snow doesn't feel cold this time as you fall into it. It just feels soft.

[quimichi]

Pspspsp could I request self-aware Kaeya and Rook (separately) finding out it's the players birthday?

(I think my type in men is a peacock, but a sneaky one)

. . . . . . . ╰──╮HAPPY BIRTHDAY╭──╯ . . . . . . .

ROOK AND KAEYA FINDING OUT ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY - SAGAU

Rook x Reader Kaeya x Reader

A/n: I also love myself a cute pot haircut guy ♡ I didn't know if you wanted the player in the game or not, but I put our MC in the game :) I can do it out of the game too no biggie just ask ♡

ROOK - Let the hunt begin

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Rook Hunt is the kinda person who knows everything, he's a hunter after all. He watches his prey and that is currently you

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ nothing goes by him without him noticing. So, when he found out that today is your birthday, he was more than thrilled

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ he's so ready to give you the best presents of them all. Not even Vil could compare with the designer skin care set. Rook had a watchful eye all year over you and memorized everything you enjoy and take a liking too

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ you will, no, you must notice him now. He isn't hiding, heis on full display for the day, ready to sweep you off your feet and have the attention of the MC on him for the day. Only on him, he is begging for it with what he does.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Rook made so sure you will notice he ADORES you more than anyone else. Because the truth is, nobody adores you more than him. You are the MC, the player and the main character of the story, if you ask him to warship you, he will. Without any questions he would kneel in front of you and warship you the rest of his days, because you are true beauty and perfection.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ and your birthday is giving him the best opportunity for this. You're thirsty? Have this water. Hungry? Take his lunch. Your legs are tired even while sitting down? Use him as a foot rest

KAEYA - Life's greatest illusions are the ones we believe in ourselves

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ oh~? So it's your birthday huh? What a pleasant surprise!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ he does care a lot about you, but at the same time showing it makes it difficult. Just letting anyone near him is difficult. He loves you, adores you, is obsessed with you. And he for sure is smooth about them feelings for ya.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ he refuses to let you play with his feelings for much longer. How dare you milk him dry with that smile of yours, your kind words and generous actions towards him that he just wants to return especially on your birthday, ugh f you.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ those negative feelings are long gone because of you. He is still this closed off Worshipper of you, but accepted the feelings he has for his creator.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ and since it's your birthday he will have an opportunity to ket those feelings slip out without being to weird about them. Yes, all the others are also giving you the best absolut presents but somehow his felt special to you

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ there was a thought behind the present, something you truly needed, not wanted, but needed. You can tell he spend his sweet time and money getting that and although for others it might not be special, it truly is. No diamond ring or ancient parfume could ever compare to what he gave you

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ he literally said, "Fuck ya'll, I'm their fav now" cause yes, he is. Oh btw, he just found out on your birthday, that it's your birthday---

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ because you never told anyone really so everything was kinda chaotic and people were going crazy over the fact. So did Kaeya-he usually always keeps his cool but you make him lose his shit

[prismatic-starstuff]

i gotta be honest, and i know this is something of a hot take... i like how veilguard has handled nonbinary characters. i do.

i've seen some folks say 'taash's whole personality is being nonbinary,' and... no shade intended, but i don't agree. we go around with them feeding birds and learning about their home life, we learn how much they know about dragons and other animals... like, yes, they talk about being nonbinary quite often; but they're literally just working out things about themselves. it's natural to want to talk about stuff like this when it's brand new and on your mind. personally, i don't think it's too much; and it's definitely not their entire personality.

and if taash doesn't work for you, there are other examples of nonbinary characters in the game too. there's the medic in the wetlands who mentions it casually, because it's just a normal thing, and other characters casually referred to with they/them; the merchant from the crows comes to mind too. and honestly, it's refreshing to just... see these characters, living their lives, being referred to the way they want to be referred to, existing.

idk. personally - and it Is just my opinion, i'm not saying anyone isn't entitled to theirs - i think the nonbinary stuff wasn't handled badly. and the conversation where a trans rook talks to taash about trans stuff (i'm playing a trans man rook personally) touched me enough to make me earnestly tear up.

and that's kind of been the theme of it so far: i went into the game expecting to cringe at the handling, and so far have been really touched.

[ritcchamadayo]

Hello, there! Heard that you're in need of some ideas in what to write/make. I've got one: some fluffy, romantic headcannons in which Leona Kingscholar's fem! s/o secretly sends him a love letter and some chocolates and Leona searches for the sender of the gifts. How will it end? Please and thanks!

hi there, thanks for sending in an idea~!

Leona would definitely be the type to quietly investigate, such a sweet idea~

Secret Admirer

Leona Kingscholar x Fem!Reader ; On Valentine's day, you decided to anonymously leave a gift for Leona. Leona, taking an interest in the little challenge, tries to find out who his secret admirer is.

"Hm? What's this?" Leona watches from his bed, one eye open. His green eyes glanced towards Ruggie, who was putting down a well-decorated box and an intricate letter on Leona's desk.

"Shishishi, someone left a message for you. I just thought I'd bring it back to you before any of the other students see~"

Leona stood up and walked over to the box, shaking the contents. It was an intricate box with a brown lid, tied with an elegant ribbon. Above it was a simple letter, with a wax seal on top. It smelled oddly like flowers, Leona thought.

"Who's this from?"

"How should I know, I found it out front."

Leona opened the box to see a few rows of chocolate neatly placed, each of them were carefully made and placed inside the box to ensure it arrives to Leona in pristine condition. Ruggie was already halfway trying to swipe a few chocolates from Leona when the lion slapped his hand away, rolling his eyes. "At least be more discreet if you're gonna pull somethin' like that."

Ruggie chuckled and shrugged, walking away from Leona. "Aight, I'll try again later~" Leona took the letter and laid back on his bed, opening the letter with a yawn. "I swear, if this is another weird thing from Falena..."

*To : Leona Kingscholar, Housewarden of Savanaclaw* It may seem a little silly of me to write a letter for you. I am just a simple admirer from afar, writing to you to express my feelings.

I've been in love with you for the past year, Leona. The way you move, the way you counter quick remarks, the way you're always so quick on your feet and wise.. I've fallen for you quite hard it seems.

You're probably wondering who am I, or why would I send you this letter along with the chocolates. Truth is, I couldn't hold back my feelings anymore, but I'm too much of a coward to tell you in person. Please accept my gift and my letter. Perhaps, you can come find me if you wanted. *- Signed, your secret admirer.*

"Hoo, ain't this interesting." Leona smirked, eyeing the letter. It seems like the letter has piqued his interest, as he flipped the paper back and forth looking for more clues. The faint scent on the letter smells oddly familiar to him, further piquing his interest. "Alright, I'll take you up on this little detective game."

---

The next morning, Leona starts his move.

"Oi. Jack." Jack, coming back from his morning jog, approached his senior. "What's up, Leona-senpai?"

Leona waved the letter in his hand, showing it to Jack. "A little visitor seemed to have sent me a gift yesterday... Did you see anyone from outside the dorm enter recently?"

Jack scratched his head, trying to remember. "Um.. I think I remember a few. Like, people who wanted to play around with their Savanaclaw friends. I don't recall seeing anyone coming in to send a gift to you." Leona nodded. "Oh, so that's what the ruckus was yesterday. Just a few herbivores looking for amusement."

The beastman went on to ask a few other people from the dorm, with most of them not knowing anything. He knew he couldn't have asked Ruggie, even if it seemed like the Hyena knew something. Leona considered asking Rook, for one- but he'd rather not have to deal with his eccentric way of speaking.

Perhaps he'd have to go back to more... primitive ways of finding the sender, so to speak. Beastmen do have quite the sharp sense of smell.

Leona simply pretended to go about his day normally. With every passing student, he quickly manages to identify their scents. Some students smelled like a faint hint of flowers, mostly the residents of the Queendom of Hearts. Some students smelled like sweat, meanwhile others smelled like the "tacky and unnecessary" perfume that Vil wore. (Everyone else would beg to differ if he had said that out loud)

"..Hn?" In the midst of walking through the hallways, Leona caught the same exact scent from the letter. He glanced around discreetly, observing who might be around him. It's definitely not coming from the Scarabian students loitering around the hall, and it's definitely not the blonde 3rd year calling him "Roi des Lions" from afar...

Leona's eyes locked onto you, walking past him with your little group of friends. "Hoo... Interesting turn of events. I'll begin my chase then, Herbivore."

---

You had no idea what's going on, but Leona seemed to always be around the corner, trying to chase you down. "W-was it the letter..? Did I say something wrong..?" You thought, but Leona doesn't seem like he's angry or anything.

Leona himself wasn't trying to pull any moves. He kept observing you quietly, every time you pass by him he'd double check if the scent was correct, and he'd steal glances at your notebook to match the letter's handwriting.

Until one fateful day, where Leona finally decides to corner his prey for good. "Hey, Herbivore... Did you know how Lions hunt?"

Leona corners you in between the wall and his body, putting his arms beside your head so you can't try to slip out. "You see... We stalk our prey for a while, cornering them..."

Leona puts his finger on your chin, lifting it up so you'd gaze into his eyes.

"...And after that, they'd pounce for the prey." He leans in, capturing your lips in a kiss. You gasped in shock at first, before melting into the sensation and kissing him back. "Thanks for the little gift, Herbivore. Quite bold of you to think I wouldn't find out, though..."

[tsukimara]

Maka x gn!reader

Maka and the reader play a game of chess together and start arguing about their respective strategies.

જ⁀➴ Chess game

✰ Pairing: Maka Albarn x gn!reader

✰ Summary: Maka and reader argue about their chess strategy.

✰ Warning: None!

✰ I'll be a little busy this month so I don't know when I'll be able to write again, but don't worry, I'll find time! Sorry if it's short 🫶

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Your teacher didn't come to class, so everyone did their own things. Soul and Black★Star ran away again, so you didn't really have anyone to talk to. You won't say it, but you were a bit bored, so you looked to the side to see what Maka was doing, who was obviously reading a book. You sighed in boredom and rested your head in your hand to read what Maka was reading.

"Makaaa?" She just hummed, not wanting to stop reading. At least you don't get hit in the head with a book because you interrupt her like Soul.

"Do you want to play chess with me?" She looked questioningly at you, marking the page she finished on to read later.

"Chess? Where will you get the chess?" She asked as she put her book aside, at that moment you took out the chess boards and chess pieces from your bag. You looked at Maka's face as she looked at the chess set in surprise, not knowing how you fit it in your bag.

"How... How did you fit that in your bag?" She started helping you set up the pieces.

"Magic." That's all you said when you and Maka, started playing after setting everything up. Oh man, this is going to be a tough fight.

"Checkmate!" You exclaimed, drawing the attention of several people in your class, you were happy that you finally managed to beat Maka. You always lost to her.

"What? No, you don't." You saw her crossing her arms, looking at you slightly annoyed. She looked lovely, you might say.

"Huh? But I have a checkmate! Look!" " My king can still escape." She took her king and moved to a place you didn't notice, so now your rook couldn't capture her king. Your happiness is gone.

"It's not fair! You always win!" You knew you would already lose because you only had king and rook left. Maka, however, had 5 others. With good luck and thinking, maybe you could win, but the lesson was ending in 7 minutes.

"I just play better than you-" "What are you nerds doing?" Suddenly, Soul appeared next to you, which scared you because you weren't expecting him then. You clutched your heart dramatically.

"Don't scare me like that! And we play. She's cheating again." "I'm not!" "Yes, you are!" "No!" Soul facepalmed. He never understood your argument about chess, but now he sees how irritating it is when he and Maka argue about anything.

"Hey, nerds, stop arguing. Shake hands and get ready because the lesson is over." Soul put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the door. You just shook your head and stuck out your right hand towards Maka.

"Sorry about that. It seems you're just better than me." She just smiled and shook your hand, which made you smile too. "It's fine, I shouldn't get mad about things like this. I can try to teach you a little." It made your eyes light up.

"Really!? Thank you Maka!" You exclaimed and hugged her tightly from the side, she patted your head gently. "No problem."

"Hey guys, stop flirting with each other and get your asses over here!" It seemed that Soul didn't want to wait and decided to hurry you up. This made Maka discreetly take her book from the desk and throw the book towards Soul, which hit him perfectly in the head.

"Shut up Soul!" Maka exclaimed as Soul writhed in pain on the floor, making me laugh.

➥ Soul Eater Masterlist ➥ Masterlist

➥ Rules request

[newbiespud]

Griftlands: Three For All - Announcement

Over the past few months, maybe even the past year, I've occasionally mentioned an idea for a second big Griftlands mod, one last hurrah to cap off my time with the game after Arint's Last Day and Grift the Spire. But I haven't gone into great detail about what this mod idea actually is, have I? I've been doing so much pre-production planning that I haven't really had the time to go into the basics. Let's fix that!

The Grifters Join Forces!

Anyone remember the cinematic early access trailer for Griftlands? How it greatly implies there's a story where the three grifters are brought together by chance and team up? And that didn't really end up anywhere in the game because it was just to show off how the main characters operate?

Let's make this tantalizing concept a reality!

The story of Three For All picks up where the trailer leaves off. All three grifters - Sal, Rook, and Smith, some time after the events of their main stories - are in Pearl-on-the-Foam, figuring out what these strange devices they've all collected are and why every faction in Havaria seems to be after them. In order to survive, collect the rest of the devices, and get paid, they'll have to team up, utilize their connections and skills, and watch each other's backs. If they can trust each other.

Choose Your Character and Party Up!

Three For All is a story about all three grifters working together. But, you get to decide who's taking the lead. You can start the campaign as any of the three grifters and the other two will be your NPC party members. Instead of being three separate campaigns, it's one campaign that can handle multiple playable characters, plus different routes when the grifters must sometimes split up, and even altered dialogue in many conversations!

This extends to battle and negotiation as well! You can play through many of the same conflicts as any of the grifters and the other two will back you up! You're a proper party now!

Of course, this means that battles and negotiations will be a bit harder on balance. Many factions are after the same things you are!

("But what if the other two grifters die in battle?" You might ask. You're right, that would get very complicated very fast, and be anxiety-inducing to manage. So instead, they are what certain games would call "Essential" - they won't die, but reducing them to 1 HP will make them Panic indefinitely until healed. So if you want to make the most of their help, keep them defended and alive! But if they get knocked down, it won't be the end of the world.)

While not much has been implemented or locked down yet, there will most likely be special cards or mechanics for controlling your fellow grifters in battle and receiving help from them in negotiation!

As a bonus, there will also be a special "All For One" solo route with its own dialogue that any modded character can add to their list of campaigns! (Or you could even use the Cross Character Campaign mod to replace one of the grifters in the trio routes, who knows?)

What's Done and The Road Ahead

The reason I'm making this big announcement post now is that a lot of the quest planning work is finally done. The structure of the main quest is locked in, and I've got enough concepts for new side quests and random events to justify making a campaign where you're expected to play through it a minimum of three times, once for each character, while maintaining a high level of variety.

(That means something like 25 side quests so far, 20 opportunity events, and 50 random travel events! I've been trying to frontload as much brainstorming as I can, and I'm still not done!)

Now I can really start getting into code and scripts and start making the content that goes into the mod.

The plan is to create a Day One Demo, with all the content that could appear on the first day of the five-day campaign, and push that onto the Steam Workshop for testing and tantalization. Then it'll be on to finalizing the rest of the days and their special quests and routes.

Oh, did I mention that this mod will be adding 10 new bosses to the game? Yep. And the Day One Demo will also include a special Brawl mode for previewing and testing all of those bosses!

That's a Whole Lotta Content!

Welp, my big mouth has written a whole lotta checks that I'm gonna have to start cashing. But Griftlands is a very special and important game to me. Working on Arint's Last Day, my first mod ever, really kind of saved me and restored a lot of my working confidence, and I want to give back to the game with one last hurrah, one last injection of raw content.

The goal is to make this an intricate, extremely replayable campaign where there's always something new you haven't seen, while enjoying the indulgence of the gimmicks of partying up and swappable main characters.

I roughly expect the Day One Demo to drop sometime in 2025, and the full mod will come later, either very late 2025 or more likely sometime in 2026. I may also run a private playtest group as the mod approaches completion, no solid plans there yet.

If this sounds great and you want to support my work - none of which will be paywalled in any way - consider donating to my Patreon. It keeps me alive, and you get access to my quiet little Discord server, which is probably the best way to find out what I'm working on day-to-day. Otherwise, follow me here or on Mastodon and I'll post infrequently about my progress, though most days it'll probably just be "yep, wrote a lot until my brain fried today."

So that's Three For All, an ambitious plan to create what's essentially another free DLC pack for Griftlands and write some gloriously indulgent fanfic at the same time. Wish me luck!

[forthegamesmyguy]

putting this all under a read more bc it's technically spoilers (on the decisions that matter from prior games)

I'm ngl I'm pretty annoyed. I had already bought the game when I watched the release date trailer bc like I'm sorry but I've been waiting 10 years, 1/3rd of my life, for my Solas closure game and I'm going to play it. But I just read the ign article talking about the old installment choices and I'm genuinely getting a bit irritated. There is a have it both ways kind of talking point here. Epler is quoted going on about how they don't want to invalidate player choice which is why they just aren't mentioning shit anymore apparently (even though inquisition healthily respects your choices for the various possible states of the world).

But like. You aren't? Not mentioning things is one thing. I'm annoyed but I understand exponentiation happens at a rapid rate and it is unreasonable to keep adding more and more what ifs for all your random background chatter or codex entries (though I have to say, I think they've sort of taken on that responsibility by not moving the time/setting around like other series would be doing to avoid this very issue, on top of INSISTING on having some characters - leliana, morrigan, etc - appear even still!). But when you also do not accommodate the depth of choices? Bruh.

To explain: we are told the ONLY things we are being asked about are who your Inquisitor romances if anyone, if they disbanded the Inquisition, and if they said to redeem or stop Solas. Nothing else. Yet my character is going to appear in this game, I know that for certain. Will the Inquisitor be mute? I believe the old VAs have already said they're in it. Will I be given the option to choose my dialogue? I doubt it. It would ~confuse new players~ (which could be solved with a toggle on choice or something ...). It wasn't in the case of Hawke, though critically we had the BAREST of distinctions in choosing one of the three personality types to dictate our auto dialogue. This does NOT stop your Hawke, who can BE a blood mage, from having a cameo that almost entirely exists to say "blood magic is evil, it's basically the only thing I know for sure in this world"... How very respectful of my choices as a player, a creator of a player character in your role-playing game world. Presumably we are going to be defaulted to one of two (possibly a slight variant of a third for a romanced Solas though romanced to completion is NOT the same as breaking up, which these games always treat as simply never having happened) personality types for our Inquisitor, one who is kinda gruff bc they're sooo mad at Solas for ruining everything wow he's such a bastard gross, and one who is kinda somber bc theyre sooo sad about Solas for not listening to them wow he's such a fool tragic. I guarantee you I GUARANTEE you 99% of solavallens are NOT my Lavellan. I can tell you already the 20 odd Inquisitors I've made over the years are NOT the same people. Yet they're all gonna be... exactly the same. Because it isn't their game anymore. This sucked with Hawke but at least it was one tiny little main quest. Your Inquisitor is fundamental to Solas' character development. Yes I'm excited to meet Rook but not at the expense of my Inquisitors girl come on now.

Now we get to the "Chelsea is mad and angrily screenshotted your quote to say how dumb she thinks it is" portion of the post.

> "you can shape to a large degree" but only in the confines of this one specific game. What happened before? Does not matter. Mentioned in later material? Well, he actually turned into One Specific Mold. Yeah, they get bland when you do this but it's so much less contradictory, don't you think?!?! You really mattered! All that stuff you did and all that Shaping To A Large Degree really mattered!! Like, you don't even want to ask me if Solas had low approval or high approval with me? You just assume stop = one, redeem = the other?

> "something of a blank slate" ah yes my favourite protagonist, Guy Who Could Be Anyone. Just like the Inquisitor was, truly truly riveting. Like when all you do, in the role playing game, is make choices but you don't also have a place in the world, you're, in my mind, not actually in a role-playing game... There is a massive difference in weight to your protagonist as the Warden to as the Inquisitor, in terms of your place in the world. It isn't just "in one conversation, says one sentence". You could just say something totally different in the next conversation and it wouldn't even matter because no one reacts to you, no one cares, it is just you saying in one conversation "I'm from Haven and I was the only dwarf there" then in the next you say "I am from Rialto and I was raised by clowns" and no one registers any information. It was a system where people met you where you were, and then inside of that layer, you could react. It wasn't just you blabbing, people could see you and build base assumptions which sure isn't ideal but this is the world and how we live, if people hear a fereldan accent they'll have a reaction to that if they're familiar in a specific way. People could see an elf without tattoos and go yeah probably not dalish, and inside that, your elf could feel a certain way. This entirely blank slate model is just cutting out the part where you live in the world and people react to you in it. Instead, you are just constantly saying your story "oh I'm this person, this was my history". But does it mean anything? Are you actually there? I sure didn't feel like my Inquisitor was any meaningful part of the world, on any of the origins. Bro the dalish route gets so much flack for all the ppl saying since Solas/elven culture is so crucial to the narrative of the world that it's unfairly favoured but like siblings. Have you played it? You have to have MORRIGAN explain your culture to you. You don't live there at all, man, like, it's NOT substantively different... it's flavour. Barely. And now, if there's not even like, different world states to play in? The lack of my PC diversity means this just like lost miles and miles of replayability bc what is the point?!!??! It's like replaying BG3....what is the point once you did it twice and chose every different binary option? That's all there really is to explore

Ohhhhhh okay okay. She's even MORE important than I thought. Hey you know what that is so cool! Tell me! Do you think she's the exact same woman in a world where she's got a child with the Hero of Ferelden, who is approaching their Calling soon, as she is in a world where she always had low approval and was denied the dark ritual or always had high approval and was STILL denied, and each the same as a best friend for the very first time ever (possibly lover, with Kieran) to a Warden who did the ultimate sacrifice? 😊 Tell me. Please. How they're all the same. The exact same flavour of woman. And the well of sorrows choice not being relevant is genuinely insulting... I get it, they had Flemeth shove Mythal into her anyways with the post credits stinger. But my Inquisitor could've possibly spent the last ten years listening to the voices of the well, and now been on standby to be compelled...my elven Inquisitor could've spent the last decade studying their language. Apparently not though!

> "the Inquisitor to some degree feels guilty or responsible for Solas' actions" see this is what I mean. About not respecting my choices as a player in your ROLE. PLAYING. GAME. This is Hawke and blood magic all over again. There is nothing that says you ever HAVE to even talk to the man!!! Yes he is there. But so what. I can accept Hawke/Varric being a high rivalry/friendship relationship by default... But only because I'm being very generous. But this? No. Your Inquisitor is never in any world state required to give a single solitary fuck about Solas. Forcing guilt on my character to advance your plot is not cute. In a, again I cannot stress this enough, ROLE PLAYING game. It's not "decide the fate of the world, the simulator" where you just make a few key choices about political shit and slay the big bad. It's "decide the fate of the world while living in it and growing with this games host of companions" and that growth can be in any number of directions that the writers allow for. But this sort of thing turns this franchise into the former. And you can't go around saying you're a leader in player agency if you're doing this sort of thing

This idiot: "granted, that might not seem like a ton of choices" motherfucker you listed THREE. And one of them isn't even a world state choice, it's who you fuckin dated. Are you joking? Game four in a franchise of easily 100+ branching choices per game: 3.

Like even just the romance thing is so. Ugh it's so stupid! It's out of context!!!! You can romance Bull and then have to kill him bc you chose one of two paths in his quest, but there's no option for this, so it doesn't matter! Every Inquisitor that dates Bull now is with him in the exact same specific way! Presumably, don't pick it if he ended up fuckin DEAD. Bc there's no room for nuance! Oh, you romanced Cassandra and then made her Divine? Well, we don't care about who's Divine because it's Just One Line of Dialogue so guess what! You will just generically say "ah Cassandra, I really love that woman tee hee" and who gives a fuck about anything else.

Sorry but who's Divine actually would matter to Northern Thedas? Tevinter may scoff and not gaf, but the Qunari will certainly be very very aware of whatever political and religious machinations /anyone/ gets into. And why would the Nevarrans or Free Marchers not care??? The Anders? Like these are places that have Andrastian Chantry influence... This is still Thedas? Even it it's not Ferelden or Orlais???????? I don't get this. Tevinter, again, reasonable, but isn't that only one small place we're going?

Bringing up the Chargers... girl ... Sucks to be any Inquisitor that didn't save them and romanced Bull (I mean that already sucks right but like to be removed from the possibility of existing? Stone cold).

Idk I just. Can't get behind the notion that simply not referencing something is inherently more respectful. But I think I'm just mostly annoyed at this take bc it seems frankly to be kinda disrespectful, actually, to remove the nuance from my experience. You genuinely don't even care if we have low or high approval with this guy but you want to say that relationship was vital and shaped him and also force a position of responsibility on my PC? You don't want to know how my Inquisitor responds to things in terms of emotional response? Every single Inquisitor is the exact same person now, even moreso than before (and I rly genuinely think inquisitor is the weakest PC by far)?

And to just handwave and say oh well, we can get away with this because we're going north. Okay... Well...what about characters from or living in the north? We could've sent feynriel, the very first dreamer to be born since the veil was erected, to tevinter. we could've forced Fenris back to his slaver, in tevinter. How is Isabela fitting into this narrative? Will we be dealing with many or any other Pentaghasts? Obviously she's a default companion again but again I find it's crucial whether or not you have low or high approval, but apparently, these things don't matter actually. In fact you are always responded to exactly the same without fail. It's called role playing!!

I did already buy it and I will play it and I know I'm going to love it like I have the other three. But I did NOT love the inquisitor and I am not expecting to feel differently for rook, and I am really only here for Solas at this point... I mean, nothing else I ever did seems to matter anymore lol. But that's kinda worrying for me, like if the series continues with games set in the dragon age, are they all just going to be increasingly The Same? So why call it role-playing if we are actually all arriving at the same destination... You can stretch the definition to fit this mold, yes, but I personally do not care for it. If every character I put into your world turns out the same and if all the choices I made actually aren't meaningful enough to change the course of the world's history (even when they're as big as who is king, emperor and pope, and who is at war and who isn't), like, genuinely does it matter? Yeah yeah every story is a journey but Dragon Age is set in the DRAGON AGE. I admit I don't know anyone else trying such an experiment and it's always been a huge draw for me. I get that it's daunting. But they've shown they actually can handle this.

The pragmatist in me says the solution to a dangerously "quantum character," as they call them, is to just stop bringing them back. If you think Morrigan's got too many permutations between motherhood and relationship status then I'm sorry but just uh, don't bring her back. Ignoring those things? Is the worst possible option. The lyrium ghost shit with leliana did have a few lines of attempted explanation, which was in the end enough for me within the constraints of this world of magic. But saying NOTHING? would've been a slap in the face. Ugh. I love this setting I really do and I love these characters, but if you can't bring them back respectfully, then, well, respectfully, fucking don't!!!! I don't ever want to hear my blood mage Hawke talk shit about blood magic ever again lol. Just don't bring them back. An even simpler solution is moving the setting, and I don't mean moving from America to Canada bc that's what tf they're doing. Northern Thedas is *right there*. I'm talking, go to another continent. THEN I can believe no one knows who the fuck the pope is in a Catholic world 🙄 Ughhhh. Of course if you use the same host of characters in four games of choice, you're going to end up in a permutational nightmare!!! This much should have been obvious from game 2!! I feel like at that point you have a responsibility to address the encroaching beast and either wrap your story up sooner so you are dangling far far fewer variables or you shift setting/relevant characters to the plot so that you can avoid them, tactfully and respectfully. They are attempting to do the latter while still bringing in characters like Morrigan or your own PC, characters that require nuance to place in disparate world states! These characters are not one size fits all 😭

I cannot stress enough that I really do get it on a mathematical level. But to say bioware doesn't have a canon while not allowing there to be room for nuance from the canon thus far :/ :/ Idk. Just not looking forward to having to turn so much of the world building that's already there into headcanon

[arlathen]

anyway. i liked veilguard. solid game. beautiful world design. fun lore confirmations. VERY fun gameplay. wonderful companions. i like rook as a main character. like i really enjoyed playing this game and i will play it again and it is overall solid. that said. criticisms with spoilers:

i feel like that ten year development gap really hurt the game. i really disliked the cultural flattening of the world. i was a little ambivalent on them not having specific dalish vs city elf backgrounds -- like that's fine. i think there can and should be some crossover. is merrill a dalish elf or a city elf? kind of both. i think it's fine that rook can be both. i'm cool, even, with the veil jumpers being mostly elves but accepting anyone who wants to deal with the fade weirdness. but actual dalish clans had no presence in the game. "dalish settlements" had human mayors. and everyone was seemingly fine and ready to believe that the elven gods were 1) real and 2) evil -- like we saw no push back or questioning from any dalish character. that sucks.

and like. tevinter. it's so strange how absolution did more with slavery in, what, three hours? than veilguard did in 60. i played a shadow dragon -- the entire thing is fighting slavery in tevinter. but you don't encounter any slaves, really. i think there's one in the necropolis (WHO IS HUMAN). the whole thing about strengthening the shadow dragons seemed to be more about countering the venatori. but that made tevinter feel... i dunno, like it could've been denerim or val royeaux except those places had personality. there was nothing distinct. we were all excited to see tevinter so we could see how fucked up it was and outside of very generic "evil cult" stuff there wasn't much of it.

and solas. my love. i'm okay with the ending we got. i like that solavellan get to be together. but i hate that they made it about mythal. it was about spirits. he loves spirits and the fade and he loves freedom and i hate that he stepped away from bringing down the veil and is seemingly FINE with letting spirits continue to suffer and elves continue to die and he never even really makes a case to rook or anyone about why he should do it. like his motivation changed.

i would love to get a timeline of when a lot of things were decided. i thought they were flattening the culture of the world maybe because it was going to change so much with the veil coming down that they didn't want to try to onboard new players to all that culture just to have to throw it away. but i really think it was just that they were so far from inquisition and trespasser that they couldn't keep all the plates spinning or... i don't know.

i mourn the veilguard we could've had but i like what we got. 7.5/10 i guess.

[fenhaerel]

please tell us (me) about your planned rook(s) <3

hi love!! 🤍🫂 thank you so much for this ask, you don't know how much i treasure the chance to yap about this ewfbhfb i actually have 4 planned rook(s) but they are all kind of smol slimes. will be winging it once i have the game a bit also. vibes & ideas floating around but i still love them. all 4 (my insanerism is showing) of them <33 so. it got long so adding a read more and. grab a cup of tea idk. take care ily. ☕️🤍

the rook i'd like to go with on my first playthrough is veil jumper rook aldwir. the one i want to play the most but coincidentally the only one without a name lol. in my mind she's a half-elf, but im going with human in game. i think half elf makes for an interesting positionality given the events of the game!! she will be very tied to this sense of not fully belonging to either and wanting to understand as well as find her place. she has a real yearning to experience and understand and to piece together an identity that feels real and rooted, especially when it comes to her elven heritage (which she was kept from). for the same reason i chose the veil jumper background. she's originally from ventus, but has been moving & staying with the veil jumpers lot to distance herself from her family's influence. personality wise she's probably the most slime of them all, i just know i want her to constrast my lavellan a lot, and my lavellan was very regal/noble/selfless if not self denying etc etc. so we'll see :)) i want her to be more street smart and earnest. oh, will most likely romance davrin <3.

THEN the other one i really want to play asap and might end up taking the lead is imogen ingellvar. i LOVELOVELOVE her. i'm making her resemble one of my longstanding gw2 ocs, so im very attached. she's basically a necromancer, crypt baby with huge eyes, probably prefers the company of skeletons and spirits over anyone else, she has a childlike curiosity for all things morbid. loves the grand necropolis and knows it like the back of her hand. very knowledgeable about anything that has to do with funerary rites, posession and generally spirits. awkward but in an endearing sort of way, soft-spoken, slightly cryptic. unpredictable moral compass, guided more by her curiosity and empathy for lost souls. the dead offer honesty, while the living are riddled with complexities she doesn't really understand etc etc. romancing the old man <3.

then we have agnes de riva. poised, pragmatic, ruthless when needed. she is incredibly skilled at reading people [detect thoughts would be her specialty] and has a keen sense of motives and hidden intentions, which makes her a a trusted confidante to some and an enigmatic threat to others. mostly versed in obtaining and trading information. forgery, manipulation, or blackmail are the main tools in her arsenal. to her, being a crow and dealing in information is simply survival, which made her keenly aware that trust is a rare luxury, and that loyalties shift easily. she doesn't see the crows as a family as some others do and in general she has a hard time with the concept. she views alliances and secrets as mere commodities. still, she tends to want to avoid needless cruelty and waste. she wouldn't hesitate to cut loose ends if they threaten her objectives, but she’s always very deliberate, which has gained her respect and status amongst the crows. **probably a lucanis romance. or neve. or taash. we'll see!!

FINALLY, we have lucien mercar (who is actually part of the lords of fortune, but i mixed up the surnames and i like how it sounds as mercar too much so. oops?). he is the most morally questionable of the bunch, so i will play him if the game actually gives us space to roleplay a bit more on the evil side :) he is a dragon hunter, a thrill-seeker through and through, drawn to riches and power. he thrives on danger and outwitting anyone who crosses him, and is unapologetically pragmatic. whatever takes him ahead is fine with him. not sure if i want him to romance anyone, we'll see!!

OKAY IM SORRY, i don't know if you expected me to yap this much and also sorry for the late-ish answer BUT. i actually love playing dolls like this and i'm trying to open up more to the idea of posting them here instead of keeping them in my heart fhdefgdf. SO THANK YOU. 🥹 HOPE YOU ARE WELL AND I ALSO WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR ROOK(S)!! 🤍🤍🤍