#it's also kind of an interesting moment for Rook in beginning to see that they have power in the world too

[corvus-frugilegus]

The way my heart drops every time I visit Minrathous after saving Treviso. The sorrow in Rook's voice, the destruction, the way the resistance has been so brutally dismantled. The absolute horror in the streets of dock town presented so matter of factly by the game. They don't need to put a spotlight on it or show us a cut scene of the brutality because it's everywhere. You're immersed in the sheer scale of violence every step you take in dock and hear so much about the atrocities in the ambient dialogue. Walking the streets of Venatori controlled Minrathous feels awful.

The very obvious rise of facism that has been simmering beneath the surface in the magisterium all along. The dragon gave the magisters a chance to throw off the veneer of civility and stop acting like finding a middle ground with dissenting voices was something that mattered to them. Finally, they had concentrated power to an extent that they could inact their vision for Tevinter out in the open. (Probably if it weren't for Elgarnan taking over, reclaiming Tevinter from the Venatori would have been a monumentally difficult task).

If this isn't an Excellent social commentary and reflection of the increasing polarity in Western Politics I don't know what is. The rise of hard right leaning leaders epousing a return to traditional values when really their priority is the interest of capital and the ruling class is exactly what the Venatori represent here.

A criticism I've seen of the games writing a few times now is that the problematic elements of each faction feel either defanged or glossed over. And while I don't disagree that there are definitely some deep tensions and polarities in each of the groups Rook works with, I don't necessarily think it's poor writing to not talk about them here. It's just not the scope of the game- and I think actually underscores a very real issue we have in real world organizing and progressive spaces. If the Crows refused to work with Rook because they work with the Wardens who happen to keep terrible secrets (and so on and so forth about every faction and their tensions with one another) the gods would never have been stopped. In the case of the gods the people representing these factions and Rook's comapnions all recognize that their common cause is more important than their disagreements. Not working together because the Veil Jumpers rightly have qualms about the Lord's of Fortune pilfering elven ruins only lets the gods win. Working with someone who see's the world differently is a tension everyone in the veilguard has to hold. And it's a tension real-world progressives / the left very often struggle to hold.

Realizing that the common cause is more important than individual differences is a very real theme in Veilguard.

[vaguely-concerned]

when spite describes itself in lucanis' journals, it seems to consistently use the wording 'a small shade'. self-identified 'just a little guy (threat)' fhsak. I really like that wording, though. a shade, something cut off from the wholeness and living light that is the fade and made a shadow cast by someone else in the real world. 'small', under threat, vulnerable, sort of scrappy (and perhaps a little pathetic but in a 'don't touch me I'll bite!!!' kind of way haha).

I'm so in my feelings over how in the last journal it/he describes the two of them as 'a small shade and a wounded spirit sitting together', though. he's so confused and frustrated about what's going on with lucanis at the beginning, but once rook explains that lucanis isn't intentionally fucking with him, he's just hurting, spite seems to understand and accept that pretty readily (if not without some initial 'ugh FINE physical reality rules are so DUMB bitch you guys live like this' frustration lol). lucanis' early statements that spite doesn't, can't or won't learn are obviously bullshit and the game basically tells you so the moment he says it haha, but you know what. that is some deep learning spite is doing, and in like a year of being in the physical world too. I know plenty of actual real adult human beings who are not capable of that level of insight.

and also, as an aside... I think it's pretty conclusively proven in the series that spirits do have the ability to change and learn all on their own when they get the opportunity to and that it gets turbocharged for good or ill when they're exposed to the physical world. but I also wonder if some of it is the other side of the two way connection. just as spite flows into lucanis, surely that must happen after some fashion the other way too. does spite have some access to/come into contact with lucanis' kneejerk empathy response? to be in opposition to something or someone is not the same thing as not understanding them or where they're coming from, after all. in fact sometimes that can amplify the 'no no trust me I get it I understand. but fuck you doubly for it actually you still suck that why only makes it worse', so I don't feel that would go against spite's nature, even. lucanis already has such an interesting relationship to his own empathy all on his own -- he's a prime example of how 'empathy' and 'compassion' are not inherently the same process and one need not accompany the other. when he's in contract mode, empathy is just a knife, a way to understand people deeply so he can stab them better and more efficiently. when he's in family mode, empathy is accompanied with enough tenderness and compassion and warmth that it makes me feel ill to consider and makes it a bit hard for him to stay with, sometimes. it's the same skill/instinct, but shows up differently based on the context he's in. sure why not drop a demon in there and see what happens I guess lol. 'smells like tears and lying' anyone. spite's response to meeting compassion out in the world is 'GOD no don't make eye contact keep walking this is so fucking cringe', but uh. there's no way for him to escape it within the bounds of the person he's been frankensteined into, is there. aaaah it's so interesting.

there's something so fascinating to me about two souls who are so close they can't help but reflect and bleed into each other, but also remain two separate entities who can look at each other. and be mutually protective about it, clearly. augh.

[glitteringdust]

Rookanis request: Something where they actually talk about Spite and set boundaries or whatever for their relationship? I *really* wish the game had mentioned that at some point (also I’m just interested in seeing how folks handle it in their stories).

All Spite wants is Rook’s touch.

Ever since she’d started thanking the demon directly for his help, he’d been head over heels at every interaction.

She sees us. She talked to me! Let me talk to her.

It was hard enough for Lucanis to separate his own wants from Spite’s, when they aligned this close. Rook was always giving praise honestly where it was due yet Spite had such a craving for it, it was hard to contain. On top of that, the demon began to crave the usual high fives, the handshakes—any brief moment they were close Spite almost buzzed along the crow's nerves with interest.

Lucanis however…found the thought of her touch much more complicated than that.

The very thought of her touch stoked a desire within, one he could not indulge in while there was a job to do. Entanglements such as this were detrimental to an assassin. Even more so with an overeager demon tugging at the chains.

Then they'd almost kissed.

Exchanged heated glances, after that. Thanks to Spite, he knew the exact number of footsteps it took for Rook to get to his room from the eluvian. He knew what those footsteps sounded like, light against the stone floor. A distinct rhythm, not unlike a heart beat at rest.

It doesn't surprise him, when she knocks twice and enters the room. The last ten steps have her standing before his seated spot on the bed.

It does surprise him, when she runs a finger under his chin, pulling his gaze to hers.

“Stop me, if this is not what you want.”

As she moves forward, he moves back until she is straddling him, his back inches from the wall. Her weight is welcome against him, anticipation tingling along his skin as her breath ghosts over his face.

Rook was so close. So close.

She was going to kiss him, a fact he was only just becoming aware of when her lips meet his.

Mierda.

Lucanis kisses her in a calculated way, slow and specific and bleeding a kind of desire he’d never afford himself usually. He wanted to get each one right, savoring this moment as long as he could. He rests one hand along the small of her back, and cradles her head with the other as he tastes her lips again and again. He can't help the pleased sound that escapes as she runs her fingers along his temples, and then through his hair.

Everything is abuzz, every nerve and inch of him consumed by her. He can barely feel the shift in the air, the scent of blackberry and ozone dancing along his tongue. The fingers in his hair grip him tighter, Rook's breath quickening as his lips travel from her mouth down her jaw, along her neck, teeth grazing her throat and the junction between shoulder and neck…

“Lucanis.”

She's pushing him away, albeit so, so gently. He grunts out what he hopes is acknowledgement, untangling the haze over his mind. Brown eyes meet her blue, and as he regains a sense of reality he releases the grip his one hand had on her hair.

They both catch their breath.

“That was not only you, kissing me just now.”

He goes still. Rook makes no move to leave his lap, arms still draped around his neck and gaze nothing but soft.

“Spite has always been intrigued by you, but he knows what I feel, too. It's… hard to explain.”

“Does it bother you, what Spite thinks of me?”

He doesn't answer for a moment.

“Sometimes, it's hard to know where he ends and I begin. Especially when we agree on something.”

Rook tastes good. Feels good.

“Sharing a body must only make that worse.”

“It amplifies it. Makes what I feel more real than anything.” He looks away briefly, “What he and I feel for you… cannot be separated anymore. Are you okay with that?”

She doesn’t even hesitate, “I am. Are you?”

Most of his life had been decided for him by Caterina. Lucanis had very little say in most of the things he’d faced, and he’d faced betrayal and possession by a demon. If it hadn’t been for Rook’s understanding and kindness, where would he even be?

For the first time in his life, this choice was up to him.

"I want you, Khalia, with all that I am."

He'd ask the demon what he thought, but the only decisions Spite wanted to make were new places to kiss Rook. The buttons of her shirt had almost succumbed to Spite's clumsy fingers, but demons lacked dexterity.

Next time, we tear it open.

“Spite, can you not? Mierda.”

Rook laughs, “What's he saying?”

“Thinking of new places to kiss you. He's mad you have so many buttons.”

A cheeky grin, one that sets his insides fluttering, “Well, I can't say I don't like where that's going.”

She leans in, capturing his mouth in hers again. Nimble fingers slowly work their way along those buttons.

He could do this all day.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

why them??

Whenever we visit a new location, there's an in-game reason given for why it's these specific four characters chosen to go! I was eager to see why Vil had Jamil, Azul, and Ace come along with him to an acclaimed film festival... and I was not disappointed 😂

***Tapis Rouge in the Shaftlands spoilers under the cut!!***

So as it turns out, Vil has been invited to the International Film Festival in Fairest City (a significant location for the entertainment and beauty industries). He’s going to promote a movie he’s in that’s releasing next year.

The original plan was for the Film Research Club to accompany Vil and take the chance to learn more about movie productions. However, the club is in the middle of filming for their own project and a change in weather has led to their shoot next week being cancelled. The filming they would have done next week now has to be done this week, so Vil’s club members cannot go on the trip. (Vil himself still has to attend because he is contractually obligated to.)

The other NRC students start to argue over who Vil should take in his club members’ places. The people vying for spots include:

Cater (because the Fairest City is so trendy and always popular on Magicam)

Azul (many famous brands are sold in Fairest City; he has a financial interest in this research)

Lilia (has visited the city before, but never the film festival)

Jade (the city is close to old mines, which he is interested in)

Ace (he loves the idea of going to a fashionable city and “tasting” the celebrity world)

Rook (a lover of movies and dramas; he is curious about the movie studios)

Floyd, Epel, Deuce, Grim (lol it sounds fun to them; Epel also says he has not traveled a lot so he wants to go this time)

Ruggie (FANCY FOOD)

Jamil (wants to take advantage of Vil’s presence to see behind-the-scenes things they don’t normally show; he usually prepares snacks for when Kalim watches movies at one of three at-home theaters but hasn’t had the time to really appreciate the films for what they are himself)

DKJLBHASILYFAYFVQEFIFQEPI; I love the added detail of Jamil telling the others they're inconveniencing their senpai but then Azul cuts in and implies the behavior is a manipulation tactic to show off to Vil how reliable Jamil can be (thus increasing his odds of going while he still maintains his "humility")... Those two just cannot stop getting at each other's throats, I swear 💀 (In part 2, they continue the pettiness when Ace comments that they’re both quick to tease him together, so do they actually get along? Jamil says no but Azul says yes… and the two of them are STILL bullying each other about their personalities once they get their new outfits. Truly not a dull moment with them…)

BUT THIS IS THE REAL STINGER

So since Vil can only pick 5 people to take with him, he says they'll have to prove that they somehow excel over the others. It's then that Azul cooks up a scheme on the spot and recruits Jamil and Ace for it: a lottery! Azul proposes it, has Jamil pitch in, and has Ace prepare the drawings. THIS WORKS ON MULTIPLE LEVELS BECAUSE:

Azul can present the idea as "random" and "fair". This makes him appear like a kind problem solver not wanting to give anyone, not even himself, a leg up.

It would come off as shady if he gets one of the twins (known to be his henchman) to agree with him... so who does Azul get to back him up? Jamil, someone from another dorm, and someone who was passive aggressive with him earlier. This creates a false illusion that others beyond Azul and his dorm believe in the "fairness" of the lottery.

Ace has deft fingers; he a cut a deck of cards--and he can easily rig a lottery since he's in cahoots with Azul, the guy who suggested it to begin with.

This creates a situation where Azul, Jamil, AND Ace get to go to the event. These bitches are mutually benefitting from being collectively sneaky (According to Ace, Yuu and Grim pulled the remaining two slots by coincidence, so they just happen to be "lucky") 🤡 AND THE FUNNIEST PART OF IT ALL IS THAT VIL SUSPECTED THEY WOULD PULL THIS SHIT, BUT HE LET IT HAPPEN ANYWAY SINCE IT'S TECHNICALLY STILL THEM DEMONSTRATING THEIR TALENTS TO HIM...

Truly, bravo... That deserved a standing ovation, gentlemen 👏

[pupkinpumpkin]

Aight, don't get me wrong, I have and will read about almost every Rookanis fanfic there is, and I enjoy almost every version of Spite I see, but I think I see Spite's development and role in Rook and Lucanis' relationship in a certain way, but, suffice to say, Spite's relationship with Rook is just as much of a slow burn as Lucanis' relationship is

Just my personal opinion under the cut, you're free to believe whatever you wish

Spite is interested in Rook from the start, not romantically or sexually, but as a new person to learn about/annoy the fuck out of

As Rook gets closer to Lucanis, they also begin to tolerate and like Spite, which is new to him since everyone he meets kinda hates him, so, since acceptance is a very nice feeling, he wants to spend time with them. He's also realizing that Lucanis is developing feelings for them, feelings that are rare for Lucanis and completely new, and therefore, weird, to Spite

All Spite really knows is that Rook is nice, Lucanis trusts them, and Lucanis has certain feelings for them that Spite doesn't really understand, but he wants to (he's very curious for a Spite demon), so he wants Lucanis to hang out with Rook more so he can potentially talk with them more himself so he can understand these odd new feelings better

Here's where I may start getting a tad bit far fetched in my beliefs when it comes to how Spite, and possession in general, works

I'll keep it short, but just know I have a lot of feelings about Justice (all good, I love him dearly)

So, Justice in Awakening takes over Kristoff's dead body, and, when he does that, he gets these memories of him and his wife. He tells The Warden that he longs for the connection that they had and when he was just a spirit, he used to pity mortals, but now he finds beauty in their world and wants to experience all of it for himself.

I personally believe that when Justice takes over Kristoff's body, he is now able to feel different kinds of love more than the average spirit can because of this new form, and I believe that applies to Spite

When Spite possesses Lucanis, he is able to feel more than he can when he's just a spirit, feelings he's not used to and has never even thought of before. The feelings equivalent of seeing shrimp colors. New and confusing, but still exciting and worth investigating

It's in these moments that Spite's interest and fascination with Rook becomes more defined and intense, especially since Lucanis feels it as well, but because Lucanis doesn't let go of control often, these moments are few and far between, which kinda pisses Spite off, since it's another thing that he doesn't get to experience because Lucanis won't let him, so Rook becomes this forbidden thing that he wants to learn about, but has little to no access to, and, as a Spite demon, this only makes him want them more, but not in the way you're thinking of just yet

Lucanis is demisexual, we've learned that from God herself, so on top of Spite being interested in Rook, which is only intensified by Lucanis' feelings and Lucanis refusing to let Spite talk to them, Lucanis starts developing more intimate thoughts of Rook (which I personally think is around the time of the almost kiss), adding to the disaster of this overly caffeinated bisexual (well, biromantic)

Spite does not understand this. He's already trying to untangle the weird feelings he has for Rook, but now Lucanis is adding even more weird feelings that Spite can't possibly understand. He could understand, at least a little better, if he possessed Lucanis (which would give him deeper access to those feelings according to my little headcanon) and unpacked that with him, but Lucanis does not allow this, so the whole thing frustrates Spite and Lucanis, who is constantly being asked why he thinks Rook being in certain positions is so interesting all of a sudden

So, stretching my headcanon even further, I think that after Inner Demons, when Lucanis and Spite finally accept each other, Spite is given greater access to all of Lucanis' feelings for Rook, romantic and otherwise

He still needs time to truly get what all of that means, but I think those wings unfurling during the last romance scene is him beginning to understand exactly what he's feeling and being able to fully explore his new emotions, desires, etc without the previous constraints that were holding him back

I don't think Spite is by any means going between Rook's thighs and that he has any idea what he's doing by the end of Veilguard, but he's at a place where he is trusted, loved, and wanted, which is new, and he is a very curious demon who may or may not want to see what the fun's all about now that he understands people and their complexities more

Or maybe he's asexual and he just really loves cuddling, that's up to you, I'll read it either way

TLDR: I don't think Spite was begging Lucanis to pin Rook to a wall and have them scream his name from the beginning, but after Veilguard, who's to say?

[veilkeeper]

The Sacrifice of Souls, Part 1

alt title: the completely surmountable issue of dying

welcome to my 2-part essay about the conclusion of emmrich's story line. this part will focus on the actual quest(s) involved and analyze the decisions we make. part two will be about the effects on the romance, particularly as i am approaching it with my rook, corentin.

spoilers ahead! beware that both essays are going to assume you have completed The Sacrifice of Souls and at least one of the follow up quests, Heir to the Dead or Will and Testament. if you have not, i suggest returning to this later and playing it out yourself.

so what are we even talking about?

for my purposes, about 90% of the sacrifice of souls is irrelevant. here are the important bits: hezenkoss puppets a giant skeleton monster powered by the gloaming lantern, manfred sacrifices himself to rip it out of the thing's chest, and emmrich risks his life to free the souls trapped inside, symbolically overcoming his fear of death (for the moment).

when manfred's beautiful skeleton body is brought before the lich lords in the necropolis to ask if his spirit can be recovered, the lich lords give an ultimatum: they will allow emmrich to bring manfred back, but it will remove his candidacy for lichdom.

"how many exceptions 'til tyranny?" they say. if emmrich is to become a lich, he must be able to accept that people he cares about will die as he lives on.

emmrich is obviously extremely conflicted. he's being forced to choose between his life's work or having his pseudo-child back; he is torn because he at once wishes to spare himself the pain of losing someone, while also wanting to "honour death and let him rest."

from there, the choice is given to the player: encourage emmrich to bring manfred back, or encourage him to pursue his life's work and become a lich.

if you save manfred, it starts heir to the dead. you accompany emmrich to the necropolis, reminisce about manfred, and summon his wisp back to his body. he shows a newfound knack for magic and becomes an apprentice, while emmrich gets to go full dad-mode and commit to preparing manfred for the now inevitable future where, one day, emmrich will pass on. but when asked how he feels about that, emmrich simply says that though he will always wonder about what could have been, he "would not trade this for anything."

it's been brought to my attention that most people have probably picked the manfred ending without really thinking about it. which makes sense, everyone wants to save emmrich's (and if you're romancing him, your) skeleton son. but it does mean you haven't seen the lich ending, which is kind of a shame because it's also really good.

first, it does take a little convincing. it's not enough to simply say "but this is your life's work!" emmrich expresses that he wasn't prepared for the reality of what it actually meant to have people he cared about die (which is an interesting thing, because even though he is an orphan, his parents died when he was quite young. this may be the first time someone as important to him as manfred is has passed away while he was an adult who was able to fully process what that feels like). rook goes on to tell emmrich that it's enough to just remember those who have passed—while acknowledging that one day, they too will count among that number.

with that encouragement, emmrich agrees that he has to let manfred go, and he decides to begin preparation for his final rites into lichdom, starting the quest will and testament. like before, you accompany him to the necropolis, only this time you will be acting as his chosen witness as he enters the chambers beyond to have his soul measured by the dead and, if successful, will emerge as a lich.

as an aside, even if you have no intention to play the rest of the game with lich!emmrich, i highly recommend playing far enough to see the conclusion of this quest. there's a weight to it all, particularly if you've romanced him, and the cinematic is quite beautiful. you very much get the sense that you're sending your friend/lover away to potentially die.

when he emerges, it is as a lich—exactly as he said he would be. skeletal, but still in complete "possession of himself." it transitions to a short scene where he informs the rest of his friends of his transformation, and after receiving a response of support, his quest line is concluded.

okay, so why are you talking about this?

well, because it makes me insane, if you can't tell already by the fact that we're 600+ words into the first of two essays on the topic. but why does it make me insane?

the first answer to that, and perhaps the most important, is that the writing is really good. i'm going to say some critical things after this, so i want to be clear up-front that the writing is really good. sylvia feketekuty has managed to make a decision that otherwise would feel like a very black and white "good end" vs "bad end" feel like two viable, valid endings that just have different pros and cons lists.

and it's also just ludonarratively extremely good. all of the endings for our companions are meant to translate into a more support focused or a more combat focused "hero of the veilguard" ability, and for emmrich's these mesh extremely well with the conclusion of his story. an emmrich that has accepted a role as a caretaker for manfred is more supportive on the field, and an emmrich that has accepted a role as a powerful defender of the necropolis is more effective while fighting. it's by far the least important aspect of all this, but i enjoyed it and it's useful for something i'm going to say next so i wanted to put it here.

the second reason this makes me insane is that we are making two completely separate choices at the same time. we are answering two vastly different questions ("should you save manfred?" and "should you become a lich?") with a single dialogue option.

i understand why. combining these two choices and making them interdependent on each other raises the stakes. it's a really clever way to complicate what would otherwise be a wildly easy decision. it also, as said before, creates two extremely distinct endings for emmrich (see, i do these things for a reason), which is important not just for replayability but also for narrative satisfaction. endings that are extremely similar or that have no stakes make your choices as a player feel irrelevant, which is something that you don't want in an RPG. a non-lich emmrich without manfred is not going to feel like a significantly different ending than what emmrich had been doing before these quests concluded, and thus would not be satisfying. likewise, lich!emmrich with manfred would mean that emmrich would have everything he ever wanted with zero sacrifice, which is boring.

however... making these two choices at once puts us in a sticky spot, because they're contradictory. emmrich's arc has largely been about his inability to accept mortality—and not just his own. if you bring him along on blood of arlathan, you can overhear him responding to elgar'nan's attempts to entice him with the promise of being able to bring back the dead. despite being a Mourn Watcher, he just hasn't been able to bring himself to accept that people die, and you shouldn't be able to do anything about that (remember that big, bold lich lord quote up near the top?).

so when the climax for his arc comes along, you get to tell him to accept his death but not manfred's, or to accept manfred's death but not his own.

do you see the contradiction? nowhere in there are we truly encouraging him to accept the natural, inevitable cycle of life and death (as a Watcher probably should). we're just telling him which death he should accept as natural.

conclusion...?

i'm not saying either ending is unsatisfying, nor am i saying that there wasn't good reasons to write the endings as they are. for the purposes of this game, feketekuty did an amazing job with emmrich. she managed to take a character that i think in any other game would have been written off as boring and make his story extremely compelling.

but in a way, looking at it holistically and outside of the context of what bioware's writers were required to do, it feels like there's this massive gap there, where we've failed to properly address the actual underlying issue that made this choice so difficult for emmrich. and his brief bout of bravery at the end of the sacrifice of souls is forgotten, when it could have been potent fuel for an argument against lichdom as proof that he can face death when he has something to fight for (or even as an argument for lichdom; facing his death head-on like that may have only intensified his fear of his own fragility), but instead it just goes unaddressed.

additionally, by combining the choice to save manfred and the choice to become a lich, it removes the possibility for us as the player (and rook as a character) to voice concerns about what lichdom means and represents. to be fair, other characters largely handle this in banter (lucanis in particular has excellent banter about the cost of immortality, which i have briefly discussed before), but not being able to voice concerns, especially as emmrich's lover, feels like a missed opportunity.

in the most ideal world, we as the player would have been able to discuss lichdom, mourning and grief, our thoughts and feelings on death, etc with emmrich over multiple conversations, and through a tally of our expression of opinion on the topic, emmrich would come to a decision on lichdom and saving manfred himself. but due to the constraints of this being a video game, for obvious reasons that is not the case.

again, i cannot stress enough that i actually loved this quest line. regardless of your decision, emmrich ends up in a place he can find satisfaction, and his journey feels earned. i fully recommend trying out both endings in replays, because i think you might be surprised by how well they both work. i just think there's a little bit left on the table still.

which gives me something to play with. stay tuned for part 2 on the romance stuff. we're going to need a scalpel for the gutting we're doing.

(link to part 2)

[poreyneel]

If you're comfortable sharing, what is Yirliyen's backstory?

FINALLY SOMEONE ASKED!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU it's going to be a long post... also, there are A LOT of things I wrote for my Rook specifically even if it goes contrary with canon feel free everyone to ask something else!! so, let's begin

Yirliyen Mercar (he/him) city elf from Tevinter mage (evoker)

BACKGROUND

Yirliyen was picked up on the streets of Minrathous - he is the only child in a foster family of Soporati. Their relationship is very strained due to their differences (mage elf in a non-mage human family). His parents were military and devoted servants of the Imperium: disciplined, straightforward, demanding, and in fact they raised simply a very convenient and useful weapon for them to use. Yirliyen tries not to remember the past associated with them, because for some time he was engaged in dirty and menial work such as helping magisters in their rituals or cutting up corpses and disposing of the remains (mostly they were elven slaves). There were moments when he wanted to cut off his elven ears, or when he didn't understand “what was wrong with him” and why everyone, even his parents, hate him. Seeing elven slaves on the streets of Minrathous was horrifying - he was afraid that he can end up like that, too. It was around that time when the Shadow Dragons, one might say, saved him.

The Shadow Dragons did not become his family but they helped him to get through the darkness and escape his family's grasp. For Yirliyen, Minrathous is a city that causes a storm of internal conflicts. He doesn't hate the city, or innocent people - he hates rulers and authorities. Yirliyen wants to help making Tevinter better - at any cost, with which he has many similarities with Dorian Pavus. Dorian is kind of his role model or even father figure, I think, alongside with Maevaris Tilani being his beau ideal.

PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER TRAITS

wears a lot of masks and doesn't let people know his true nature (he has a hard time trusting others, so it's easier to him not let people too close to him)

humor as a coping mechanism

doesn't know what love, friendship, family, traditions or care are (with Veilguard it changes, but not that much - ask me and I will write an essay how Emmrich opened his heart he didn't know he had)

he knows Tevene only a little bit - from books and conversations

he often says what he thinks about people directly, in the moment

under the jewelry he hides a scar on his ear, also he has two scars on his neck

doesn't like excessive luxury - he believes that everything should be practical first of all. But he really loves works of art

he is very empathetic, despite the disdainful attitude towards him

hates violence, which is why he has a very strong internal conflict - he believes that by resorting to violence or blood magic he will be no better than the Venatori, but on the other hand, sometimes a radical path is needed for the sake of changes

he got a tattoo on his forehead and piercing during his adventures with Varric also he started doing makeup from these times too

THANK YOU AGAIN!! HOPE IT WAS INTERESTING It's still really new for me to write about my characters... I always feel like no one gives a shit... hope others will enjoy Yirliyen as I do

[ryuichirou]

What do you like about Book 5? I feel like reading one of your analysis

Anon! Thank you so much for this ask and for enjoying my analysis. I’ve been waiting for someone to ask about Book 5 lol It’s one of my favourites. Unfortunately, I also made you wait for ages, as I always do, but I hope this time helped me to collect my thoughts better lol

I really really love and resonate with the main themes of the Book 5: self-doubt, self-improvement, dedication to your crafts and knowing your strengths, but also enjoying what you do. I’ve said it tons of times, but I’ll repeat myself: I strongly believe that this is the beauty that Rook is talking about in his little rants, and this is why in that particular crucial moment Neige ended up being more “beautiful” in his eyes. Neige did what he wanted and enjoyed every moment of it, and Vil was so focused on the win that he couldn’t enjoy himself, thus losing the spark… well, you know how I feel about the whole Rook’s betrayal thing: I’ve talked about this in the past.

God I love a lot of aspects of this book, but I’ll mention as many as I can without this post getting obnoxiously long lol

I love Vil and Epel’s conflict a lot! I talked about them in this post, so I won’t dive too deep into it, but: it’s so amazing to see a piece of media where a boy teachers another boy that cuteness and beauty is a strength in its own, and he does it not in a campy way; in fact, he does it with brute force lol Vil isn’t gentle at all, on the contrary, he is very stubborn and tyrannical at times, but this is what makes the dynamic more interesting. I really love imagining how awkward it was for everyone to just stand there and watch these two yelling at each other and slamming the doors and physically fighting, and how at the end of the book they grew so closer and more understanding of each other.

Now let me yap about Deuce a lot! I really love that Deuce kind of ended up being one of the main stars of this book! It’s so satisfying watching him win and get rewarded for his hard work, and by hard work I mostly mean his self-reflection, self-discovery and willingness to grow. One of my favourite aspects of ADeuce dynamic is that Ace is that guy who is smart but doesn’t care so he gets a C and Deuce is that guy who tries his best and grinds as much as he can but still gets a C. Both of them get a C, but the situations are so different, and I am glad we got to see Deuce being so frustrated about it. It feels so unfair, and this is one of the things that caused him to be a delinquent in the past: if he can’t succeed even if he tries his best, why should he even bother?

But Deuce isn’t the same Deuce he used to be: he is mature enough not to give up and he wants to improve very badly. This is why instead of flipping everyone off and leaving he listens to Vil’s critique, he volunteers to get extra ballet lessons, and he only snaps when Ace pokes him at the worst possible moment. If we apply that Utena-ass chicks-in-the-egg analogy that Rook and Kalim brought up when talking to Deuce, this is a symbol of Deuce-the-chick already trying to break the egg.

BUT. At the same time, not every single thing would be fixed if you just “try harder”, and despite the fact that Vil expresses this in frustration, he is kind of right. Isn’t it a bit ironic that Vil has pretty much the same inner conflict as Deuce? He always tries his best, and yet he can’t reach the thing he wants so badly?

Anyways, this is where the real act of breaking the egg begins: you have to accept your own strengths even if you dislike them. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have a choice: Epel doesn’t HAVE TO be cute, Deuce doesn’t HAVE TO do his act-first-think-second thing, but being aware of what you are good at and how your brain, body and soul operates is important.

Deuce has always felt that he has to be someone different, and he is still struggling, but Book 5 gave him such a huge moment of growth that peaked in him unlocking his Unique Magic, I love it so much it’s insane….

I also love all the snippets of Kalim and Jamil that we got in this book, even though they didn’t play as big of a role as they could have. Still, Kalim got slapped in the face with the first ever objective evaluation in his life, and seeing him trying to comprehend his feelings was so good. I want to see more of this side of Kalim, I want to see more of him processing how others actually see him and that sometimes others will be picked instead of him, and that’s totally fine. And he gets it, but getting it and accepting it are two different things, and Kalim has a lot of maturing to do.

Even though he was quite mature when caring for the kohais, and especially during Vil’s overblot. The poor guy got so traumatised by Jamil’s overblot that he clocked that something was wrong with Vil, and I love it a lot.

(Also, Jamil is hot. No notes; just thought I’d mention that)

Speaking of overblots! God, Vil’s entire overblot section is *chef’s kiss*

I love how even in his design he still has this ominous but motherly (not in a caring way, more like a step-mother) nun/queen-like  vibe. But what I love even more is how Vil’s overblot happened.

The fact that he almost killed a person? Yeah I know that we don’t know if he actually wanted to kill Neige or just poison/curse him, but let’s think for a moment: he was willing to cause harm that is pretty serious, and I don’t think we should downplay it because Vil himself doesn’t. The stakes of this overblot are pretty high… Even though technically Leona caused a lot of harm and seriously injured Ruggie, even though Jamil yeeted Kalim+the boys to possibly die also; I guess Vil’s act feels so impactful because of his reaction.

I really love how Vil got so extremely disappointed in himself and so afraid of others looking at him with disgust that THIS made him snap. I love how Kalim kept repeating that Vil didn’t harm anyone and shouldn’t feel this way because this didn’t matter anymore: even if Vil didn’t end up causing harm to Neige, he himself already learned how disgusting of a person he was.

Vil is very complex, Vil has high standards for himself, and this is simultaneously his blessing and his curse :” )

I really love his backstory, I really love how gently Rook called him back as he was awaking after the flashback sengment… I barely mentioned Rook in this post woah, but I feel like I talked about how much I loved their relationship in this book quite a lot! So I’ll just say it again: I think Rook’s support and Rook’s betrayal both are crucial to understanding the message of this book and Vil’s character as well. Also, they’re an amazing ship.

Another thing I love is how likeable Neige is lol It would’ve been so easy to do a “you know, Snow White is also a bitch!” thing, but Twst never does it with its characters: the “good guys” are genuinely good, likeable people, but this doesn’t make the villains’ perspective any less relatable or badly written. Neige isn’t pretentious or righteous about being good, he is just naturally sweet and wants to have fun and take care of people around him: you can’t hate this guy, well you can, but also you can’t. And Vil knows that his grudge is petty and one-sided.

But at the same time? THE FRUSTRATION YOU FEEL WHEN YOU WATCH NEIGE AND HIS LITTLE FRIENDS DANCE AND SING IS INSANE. I feel like I know this book so well but I still get mad every time I hear that song LOL THIS IS SUCH A TRUE TO LIFE SITUATION AAAAH-

Yelling aside, I really do think it’s pretty real for a lot of people, especially those who create something that other people evaluate (i.e. posting what you create on social media). Even if you know in your head that numbers don’t mean anything, even if you know how algorithms work, even if you keep in mind all the factors that go into the reasons behind the feedback one receives, you’ll still inevitably end up comparing your numbers to some other person and feeling like this is unfair. Everyone suffers from this thing, everyone ends up feeling like the numbers express their worth and how others see them. Everyone feels stupid when something they worked hard on doesn’t get as many numbers as a quick nostalgia-bait that isn’t even good but ultimately is more engaging to people for other reasons.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen this exact conflict shown in media in this particular way, so I really appreciate it.

So, to sum up, even though it may seem like Ch5 is way too long and focuses on a lot of things at once, I think all of these things tie into one thematic narrative very nicely. Despite the fact that Vil’s “sin” would probably be vanity, I how much he talks about physical appearance, diets and cosmetics, the majority of his inner turmoil boils down to him feeling like a misunderstood artist and caring too much about how others envision him. Epel, Deuce, Kalim – all of them struggle with how others evaluate them, in their own different ways.

This book also had a lot of tasty dialogue (a lot of shippy ones too) and a lot of very good conflicts that made characters understand a lot about each other and themselves.

Speaking of ships? Rook/Vil and Neige/Vil aside, we had such a fun Azul/Jamil moment at the beginning of the book, and also Kalim/Jamil, Ace/Deuce, also some food for those who enjoy ships that we don’t really like. It was fruitful.

Also this is the book where Idia got called a brocon, and this gives it the additional +100 beauté points.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Juniper Aldwir x Lucanis Dellamorte

1 2 3

mmmmmn gonna just start throwing all my rook/lucanis writing scraps on here in whatever order i write them until i get their voices right... maybe eventually ill take them and flesh them out for ao3 but not bothering with that for now. this is the equivalent of stretching at the moment

*****

Lucanis is out of things to do, which is a problem, because that means his mind now has room for thoughts to come creeping back in. Everything is different, after the Ossurary, but somehow nothing like he imagined. He can't look anyone in the Crows in the eye, because he knows what they'll see when they look back at him. Illario is off running house Dellamorte.

Caterina is gone.

So instead he has picked up the scattered cups and plates and stacked them as neatly as he could, and swept and dusted and mopped the entire kitchen. He took the strange, slightly glittery piles of rubble and dirt to the edge of the stone floor outside one after another, and watched them tumble dizzyingly out of sight below. He can’t say for certain, but he thought they fell slower than they should, as though sinking through water rather than empty air. It's unnerving. He has already peered into every cabinet and jar and box he can find in the pantry, and even started making a list of what they hold and what should be purchased to supplement the provisions. And then he simply… didn’t leave. It was quiet in there, next to the cheese and the raisins. He thinks perhaps he should be less comfortable in small rooms now, but the opposite has happened—stepping outside feels overwhelming, the scope and scale of it all. Like at any moment he too could start floating upward, with nothing to anchor himself and no one to pull him back down to earth. The stone walls around him now are easier. Safer. Familiar.

It is also, crucially, kind of boring.

Spite paid attention through the cleaning—interested in the newness of the tasks, as routine as they felt to Lucanis. But it grew bored during his inventory, fading from his vision to a dull ache behind his sinuses. So now he sits on the wooden platform at the end of the pantry, and tries not to think, because his thoughts inevitably turn to Caterina, and Zara, and the writhing well of rage and despair inside his chest that threatens to overflow every time he remembers. Even this barest brush of his mind against the topic gains the attention of the demon, a flicker of black and purple around the edges of his sight, like something lurking behind him in the shadows—no. Don’t think about it. Think about what needs to be done instead.

Figuring out when Rook and her handful of companions eat, to start. And whether or not he will be expected to join in the cooking. And if whoever already stashed the small bag of coffee beans on one of the shelves would mind if he borrowed some, before he can fetch his own—that, at least, will be a start. Something to focus on he can actually do, here and now.

And then later, he can think about killing a God.

///

He is beginning to regret insisting he is fine sleeping in the pantry. First Harding asked, then Neve, then Rook, and it was far easier to insist that no, he truly didn’t care where he slept, and yes, he preferred this to having his own precariously floating tower that could detach from the core island of the lighthouse at any moment and send him drifting away into the Fade forever. The kitchen at least feels firmly attached to the same courtyard as the Lighthouse tower itself, and he doesn’t have to walk across any hazardously floating tiles or twisting roots to reach it. It’s not that he’s afraid of heights, or falling—Caterina would have beat that out of him by the time he was knee high if he’d been afflicted to begin with—as much as the sensation that crossing those spaces leaves him so exposed to—what, exactly? No monsters have come swooping down from the sky to pick them off yet. It’s not like whatever lives in this strange, in-between space would care about eating flesh anyway, right? Probably. But still. He doesn’t trust something about it, and all his training tells him to pay attention to those instincts. They’ve saved his life before. Though, they also failed to help him evade Zara’s trap in the first place, so then again maybe not.

Or maybe it’s not even his own fear, driving him to lurk in the corners and shadows. Something about this place has been setting Spite off, in ways it either cannot or will not coherently describe. Shouldn’t a demon be comfortable living closer to the Fade? And why would it care about falling over the edge when Spite clearly is accustomed to flight, to the extent that Lucanis now rockets high into the air every time he so much as tries to jump to land a blow? It’s unnerving, how quickly his muscle memory simply adapted to the changes. Like he’s not the one driving his own body during the chaos of battle anymore.

“OURS,” the demon howls in reply to the thought. “We had a DEAL. Yours AND mine.”

“Right, fine, whatever. Mierda.” He closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to watch the dark copy of himself batter its fists against one of the barrels of raisins. No privacy anywhere anymore, not even in his own head. Closing himself in the pantry was easier than dealing with it. However, part of the initial allure was now the problem. He is very close to the coffee supplies, but also to the rest of the food everyone else shares. They come and go at all hours, and since he’s here and probably in their way, they all also stop to chat. It’s not that he minds the talking as much as there’s so much of it, and he hasn’t had more than a handful of hours sleep each night. Spite keeps waking him up, or worse, not waking him up and seizing control instead. Though, half the time the demon tries, the hard wooden planks beneath his bedroll dig into his back as Spite thrashes his limbs around, which wakes him up and ends the puppetry. And he’d found the candles at least, boxes and boxes of them tucked under a dusty shelf. Spite likes to watch them burn down, and the tiny wicks and wax don’t do much damage if he tries to reach for them with Lucanis’ hands. Unlike the hearth on the other side of the wall.

Voices drift in from the entryay, and he pauses to listen. Bellara and Harding. It was strange to overhear things that weren’t just agonized wails, and he suspects half his unease is simply waiting for screaming to begin that never comes.

“Hey Lucanis, are you in there?” Bellara calls. “Harding offered to make dinner tonight, and I thought, um, maybe we could help.” Her voice is cheerful, but he hears the nearly imperceptible undercurrent of pleading in her tone.

He rubs a hand across his face, trying to clear away the fog of weariness. All year he dreamed of this. Of normal life and cooking and conversation that didn’t end in pain and blood. He has to learn to want it again, somehow. So, “of course,” he calls back to her. “There’s still some fresh vegetables. I’ll bring them out.”

[jazzmckay]

davg day 2:

im queer and suffering. i just barely held myself off from flirting with lace because im saving myself for neve okay but then bellara upgraded from "cool and cute" to "yeah i need to romance her" and then i recruited lucanis. need i even say more. hes the kind of Complicated i always go nuts for. i think i can restrain myself with him though because it would be fun to romance him with a mage perhaps. another time. its fine. i can do this. (let me be poly bioware)

backing up a bit now that i have that out of my system :p

dragon!ghilly lets gooooo. that section was fucked up (affectionate). i was also a bit fucked up. left the mayor to his fate and basically instantly felt bad for it lmfao but i do think that's what my rook would do and that guy just got under my skin i guess! as bellara said, it was hard to feel sympathy after everything we saw in the village. wonder if this decision will come back to haunt me later, we'll see

morrigan is heading deeper into true MILF territory and i'm here for it. she looks really good. it feels like she's growing well into herself in general, and mellowing out. (possibly she was already like this in dai but i never saw because i was only ever able to play the default world state where she didnt have kieran. speaking of which, i really thought id have to pick more choices at the beginning. does davg morrigan have kieran? did she take the well of sorrows? my lavellan took it but that wasnt something i could input so!! im curious if thatll come up). i loved the comment she made about pissing solas off with trying to explain elven history to him hehe

so i DID expect lace to get magic but i did NOT expect it to happen in such a spectacular valta-esque fashion, damn. that was a "holy shiiittt" moment for me. varrics cryptic statement about it being bad is concerning but im gonna keep living in blissful ignorance right now and enjoy how excited lace is to feel connected and explore her new abilities

before that bit, there was that super sweet moment between rook, lace, and neve that really stood out to me ;w; i chose the dialogue option "we shouldnt be at each others throats" which lead to lace reassuring neve she wasn't blaming her for how things happened, and neve responded with pointing out lace shouldnt be blaming herself either, then i picked "we have to support each other" which was so lovely.... what a heartfelt conversation, a feel-good moment that bolsters the team dynamic. i looove it. i'll always take more companion/companion connection like that <3

i feel like i'm slower to pick up new game mechanics than i used to be as i get older because i'm definitely still getting used to both the combat and all the gear and such, but i think i like how it's set up in this game. i haven't levelled up a merchant yet but the whole reputation thing is neat and adds more weight to a trading system that is often forgettable / not really integrated into the story in most games. working towards upgrading both the shops and the items is interesting. it also takes the stress of inv management off my shoulders lol amazing, getting to loot without the hassle of sorting through it all and constantly running out of space? im here for it

solarric solarricing again

im unwell

then i headed off to antiva and took a screenshot of every cat i saw and/or pet. it's cool to learn more about the crows. naturally, i was excited to be in a city again and it did not disappoint. theyre sooo well crafted, absolutely beautiful and designed to make them feel genuinely alive.

the prison was also gorgeous. the environments in this game kick ass. ive stopped so many times just to take in the view. stunning. that giant skeleton on the sea floor caught my eye too.

the fact that "oof" is a dialogue option is SO FUNNY....

the scene of bellara trying to fix the archive spirit crystal and reading her packing note is what sealed the deal for me. i picked the purple option after watching her hit the thing in frustration, the "can i try too?" one and it was so cute. failed to resist flirting and that was also cute af

that said, im already thinking about bellara/merrill bc how can i not... idk if merrill will come up later in some other fashion so this might not make sense, but i can imagine merrill relating to the veil jumpers and being in contact, able to help them with artifacts. if bellara knows about merrill and what she accomplished before the breach and magic getting wonky, she probably looks up to her a bit. and i think bellara would remind merrill of herself as she was before everything terrible happened for her 😭it would be nice for her to have someone who can both meet her on the same level re: technical/magical knowledge and in such a chipper, enthusiastic way

i think i'm still gonna romance neve though, i just feel like she and my current rook Work. i loved the detail that they never met before despite both being associated with the shadow dragons and neve saying because she's more of an informant, rook mightve acted on her info before. i also chose her to help me during solas' ritual so she got hurt, which added more emotional connection ;w;

back to minrathous soon which im excited about. but im gonna do lace's side mission about her magic first :>

[memento-morri-writes]

Pain, mistake, hate, guilty for an OC of your choice!

@bloodlessheirbyjacques 💖

Hi Jacques!! Thanks for the ask!!!

pain: What’s the worst pain your OC has ever felt? Do they have a high pain tolerance?

tw for mentions of torture, physical injury, illness, and gun violence I'd say that my boy Rook has a pretty high pain tolerance? After all, he did endure 2 years of literal torture at the hands of Captain Wolf. That experience makes most battle wounds feel relatively minor to him. As for the worst pain, there's a couple of contenders. One is the stab wound he received from Captain Wolf that ended up getting infected. Not only was the pain from receiving the wound immense, it was in his shoulder area, so any movement of his arm made the pain worse. Also, the infection heightened the pain, and brought along a very high fever, which caused Rook to have some emotionally distressing dreams and hallucinations. (He still has a scar from that wound, which remains permanently discolored by the infection.) The other contender was from last session, actually! It was Rook getting shot in the back once, which knocked him from full HP down to 3 HP. After that he got shot twice more, and had a cart explode right next to him. (He did literally die, actually. After the 2nd and 3rd gunshots.) I'd say that was pretty painful. :)

mistake: What’s the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on?

tw: discussions of an abusive relationship Let's stay with the DnD character theme, actually. The worst mistake Cyra ever made was to start dating Talia, their toxic cult-leader's-daughter ex-girlfriend. It wasn't 100% Cyra's fault, because not only was Talia being manipulative from the very beginning, but also Cyra was in a place where she was desperate for any kind of affection. So I'd say it's not Cyra's fault at all (nor is any abusive relationship the fault of the victim!!!), but it was still a mistake that had a huge impact on her life. Cyra had been living with the Brotherhood for years at this point, and was quite the accomplished fighter. They had begun taking her along on raids, using her to kill and capture other innocents, just like herself and her family. Cyra was at a very low place in their life, being forced to do all that with their own hands. Talia, the daughter of the cult's leader, caught Cyra at a vulnerable moment and comforted her. Seeing as this was the first crumb of affection Cyra had seen in years, she eagerly latched onto it, falling in "love" with Talia. Talia took advantage of this, manipulating Cyra into staying with the Brotherhood, despite her clear distaste for them and their methods. Cyra was under the impression that she could "save" Talia, eventually get her to leave the cult, if only she stayed long enough and loved Talia hard enough. It wasn't until years later that they realized that Talia had no intention of ever leaving. Upon realizing that, Cyra fled on her own, stealing a sand skiff on the way out. Cyra still doesn't fully realize the depths of the abuse she endured while with Talia, and that will be something interesting to work through in-character, as I know for a fact we will be meeting Talia in the campaign before too long has passed...

CONTINUED UNDER THE CUT <3

hate: What does your OC hate? Why? How do they act towards the object of their hatred?

tw for brief mentions of torture and murder, plus panic attacks and alcohol. Keeping with the DnD character theme here, there is nothing or no one that Rook hates more than Captain Wolf. She ruined his life in every way possible. Took him from his first captain, Zara (the only kind person Rook had met in his life so far) and forced him to endure 2 years of torture before he escaped. His hatred for her knows no bounds, and he dreams of killing her with his own hands some day. (Worry not my friends, I am planning my Inigo Montoya revenge moment with him. <3) However, at the same time, Rook is terrified of her. Perhaps even more than he hates her. The first time he saw her after escaping from her grasp, he immediately bolted away from the party and proceeded to hide on the gunslinger's roof, getting drunk so as to avoid dealing with his terror. Were he to see her in person again, I'm not sure how he would act. He's gotten stronger, but he was also just recently literally murdered by one of Wolf's crew members. So the fear is probably still quite strong. But at least he knows his entire party will back him up. That's got to be comforting, right?

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

tw for near-death by poison I was gonna do a non-dnd character for this one, but then I realized that all the other answers are about dnd characters, and no one is probably gonna read this far anyways, so I might as well keep the trend going. Rook feels intense amounts of guilt for nearly killing of his party members. We were in the ruins of a temple, and unbeknownst to the rest of us, our gunslinger had gotten possessed. Just as we were solving the final puzzle in the temple, the possession activated and he attacked us. Rook immediately jumped to the defense of his party members, but the creature possessing the gunslinger ended up switching over to Rook. While possessed, Rook took out some Super Deadly Poison that had been given to him by an enemy (said poison later turned out to have been used to scry on the party for MONTHS, telling our enemies our every move...), and attacked the sorcerer. He very, very, very nearly killed him. He only narrowly survived by advancing the transformation of the curse taking over his body. (Don't worry, that's all fixed now.) Rook felt incredibly guilty and avoided the rest of the party for the next few days. Since we were traveling by boat, he spent all his time at the wheel, and interacted little with any of them. He even slept out on the deck to avoid sharing a cabin with any of them. They told him they didn't blame him, and eventually their actions proved sufficient that Rook believed them. But he still feels guilty and believes that they would be more than justified in hating him for this.

[the-night-gods-moon]

(Sorry for replying like this, my tags ramble just got. ridiculously long)

The cast of svsss as chess characters would be interesting! I think it would have to be split into humans vs demons with humans as white and demons as black (the cliche exists for a reason and it doesn’t really affect the game mechanics much so it should be fine.) As far as the pieces go, it would make more sense to assign roles based on the movement of the pieces and the characters own actions and the roles they fulfill within the plot, so that’s what I’m going to try to do!

The kings - Yue Qingyuan (white) and Mobei-jun (black). Both of them are authorities within their own spheres of influence, giving them the authority required for the position of king, and both are extreme powerhouses that influence the plot without much direct action. The appearance of either of these two on the battlefield is guaranteed to be an “oh shit” moment, a signal that the situation has become much more dire than before. Despite this, both Yuq Qingyuan and Mobei-jun are actually quite limited in their “movesets”, YQY because of the handicap from his sword and MBJ because if you think about what happened during the conference, he really just crawled out of the Abyss, knocked some heads, and peaced out. The equivalent of moving one space at a time if there ever was one lol

The queens - This is where it gets kind of tricky. Because I think the best casting for the queens would be Shen Qingqiu (white) and Shang Qinghua (black). Casting the two transmigrators as the most mobile pieces makes sense to me because from the get go they are the ones with meta knowledge, and they do most of the moving and shaking of the plot. Even Shang Qinghua, who insists that he really didn’t do much, induced wild deviations from the original plot. They both move in every direction, and every time SQQ sacrificed himself the game became much more difficult for the cultivators

The bishops - Qi Qingqi and the Old Palace Master (white), and Tianlang-jun and Linguang-jun (black). These pieces move obliquely, cutting through cracks in defensive lines that other pieces would have no hope of breaching. They stand the closest to the royal pairs, and you know what they say about your friends and your enemies… (not implying that Qi Qingqi is an enemy btw, although I think she could have made SQQ’s life much more aggravating if she had been given more screen time, in a sort of ‘mean older sister who sees straight into your soul’ type way)

The knights - Liu Qingge and Gongyi Xiao (white), and Zhuzhi-lang and Sha Hualing (black). All of these characters have strong senses of loyalty and duty, as befitting of knights (Sha Hualing pledges her life to Luo Binghe in exchange for power and control over her own territory, but in both PIDW and SVSSS canon that is an oath she upholds up until the very end. The other three are gimmes lol). In addition to this, while all four of these characters could be considered very rigid archetypes, all of them are known to progress the plot in sudden climactic confrontations, which more often than not come as a surprise. While not usually the central focus of any scene, their presence (or the threat of it) puts pressure on their opponents.

The rooks - this is where I may need some help 😅 other than Madam Meyin I can’t think of who to cast as the rooks on either side.

The pawns - I think it would fit best if the disciples and minor demons were given the roles of pawns. Here’s the kicker though: Luo Binghe would also start off as a pawn. He would begin on the white side of the board as the white lotus disciple, and he would be the very first game piece to move once the game began. At a turning point, though, he would cross the board to the enemy side - and become a queen as well. Bada bing bada boom, he is suddenly a huge threat on the board, and the entire game strategy has to change. Plus, if you’re playing cheater’s chess like my brother and I sometimes do, both sides can barter pieces to change the loyalty of a pawn-turned-queen. Bloodshed.

So yeah, that would be the SVSSS characters as chess pieces! It would be cool to play some games with this layout and maybe write something based on what kind of drama occurs but idk

The last character you drew/wrote about is now stuck in the last game you played. How screwed are they?

[ghilan-maim]

the fool and the hierophant for the rook asks!

ooo ty ty! The Fool: Where did Rook's journey begin? What were they doing before joining the Veilguard? honestly this is the 1 part of her i have not given a whole lot of thought to. i think she was kind of in limbo for a moment, because while she is always On Sight with the first warden, she also kinda wants to be "good". i think in the in-between of Getting In Trouble and signing up for the veilguard, she was probably trying to be on her very best behavior. that just very rarely goes to plan for her.

The Hierophant: Is Rook religious? How do they feel about the religious organizations that impact their life the most? she's vaguely andrastian! she believes in the maker, but isn't a particularly devout andrastian. so culturally speaking she's that, but she's never put very much thought into it. though the dwarven veneration of the stone isn't quite the same, as a dwarf, she's always held interest in the so-called "stone sense" and felt a bit of loss for being a surfacer and somewhat divorced from dwarven culture.

when it comes to the chantry, she has a lot of mixed feelings. she can be a little bit "head in the sand" about it as religion isn't a huge part of her life, but she believes the things people tell her about their own experiences and as such is aware of how much better the chantry could be doing.

personally she has little stake in it, but as she grows older and meets more people, she definitely starts to get a sour taste in her mouth about the chantry. she can see the individual good that the lesser sisters and chantry people do for their communities, but she has an issue with the overall institution more and more every day!

[thesunshineriptide]

Twst Headcanons - They get sent to your dimension (part 2 - Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, and Diasomnia)

Characters: Kalim, Jamil, Vil, Rook, Idia, Malleus, Lilia

Tw// depression, anxiety, mild body horror, existential crisis, mania, swearing, separation anxiety, grief

(Part 1 - beginnings)

Kalim

* Kalim is okay, for a minute or so

* He’s another who passed out on the way to our world, everything too bright and loud and thick

* When he entered our world, he was caught with outstretched arms

* Jade stood there, holding Kalim for a moment before putting him down, and immediately bracing to catch Jamil

* Kalim is okay

* That’s what he’s telling himself

* This is an adventure! A game!

* Everything’s gonna be okay. It’s just gonna be this for a little bit, then back home again

* He’ll be back and throwing a party and seeing his family in no-time

* He say this, a bright grin on his face

* It doesn’t reach his eyes

* He insists everything is okay. He takes care of the others - everyone else’s need are important, right? Everyone needs some support right now

* He’s the housewarden of Scarabia. The dorm based on mindfulness.

* It’s his time to shine and help his friends

* He lasts about a week, which is pretty good all things considered

* Everyone saw his breakdown coming, though. Once they’d recovered and Kalim was acting..odd

* He was acting almost as Jamil would, but softer

* “Have you eaten today? Did you sleep at all?”

* He breaks down, and he sobs in the arms of his friends

* But once he’s done, he’s okay. He’s not alone. He has those he cares about nearby

* As upset as some people are about their magic being gone *cough*Riddle*cough* Kalim isn’t too bothered

* Sure he’s a promising mage but it’s not like he relied on it too much

* I mean his signature spell is rain

* Eventually he settles in and is the most gracious guest

Jamil

* Jamil lets out a scream

* This…isn’t uncommmon, to be honest

* I mean, he yells a lot.

* He’s around Kalim all the time, isn’t he?

* But he’s also processing pretty fast that they’re falling into a different world

* Somehow the sight of the universe collapsing and opening around him, through him, on him, doesn’t make his brain melt

* Probably because he’s focusing on trying to grab Kalim

* He failed, but luckily Jade was waiting on the other side

* He fell directly into the former eels arms, being caught and soothly swung to his feet with a smile

* Jamil took a moment to process thst Jade looked…different, but he couldn’t figure out why

* No, he had to find Kalim

* Which he did!

* He nursed his charge While he was unconscious

* Jamil has the quickest breakdown of everyone, because as soon as he’s confirmed Kalim is okay, he immediately started freaking out

* His magic wouldn’t work, everyone looked kinda weird, and he was stranded in a world with no magic with a bunch of people he kind of hates

* He panics for a solid 37 hours before he gets too tired and resigns himself to this new reality

* He picks up that Kalim isn’t okay, but just starts quietly prepping for when he loses it (successfully)

Vil

* No, no no no, this can’t be happening

* His eyes are squeezed shut and he’s choking back a scream as he gets sucked down the rabbit hole, so to speak

* When he’s opened them again, Trey Clover is holding him, and moving him away from a mirror

* His mind is racing, for a moment

* After the moment passes, he plasters on a confident smile and chokes everything down to start helping

* He mostly does this by tending to the unresponsive (Kalim, Riddle, Azul, Floyd, Malleus)

* He spends quite some time trying to coax a response from Azul, but after a while decides letting him be alone to collect himself might be a better tactic

* Instead, he immediately looks around your home, observing everything he can and straightening things away

* Little Spudling, your taste in decor is…interesting…

* Eventually when he seems satisfied with his nosiness, he turns his attention back to the group

* He ends up giving a few haircuts (Malleus lookin goofy as fuck here)

* Eventually when night falls, he goes for a walk about. He doesn’t come home until sunrise, but it’s clear by the redness around his eyes he was finally dealing with some feelings

* In the morning he sits down for a cup of tea with Riddle, Jade, and Kalim, and they all enjoy the silence

Rook

* Our favorite French huntsman had no issues with what was going on

* It seems like he should be freaking out, but instead he got to the beauty of two universes kissing and collapsing on each other

* He also got to witness the transformations of everyone who fell before him, and boy was that a sight to behold

* He’s the only one who managed to land on his feet, unharmed, with a giant grin on his face

* Who needs magic when you have a whole new world to explore?

* No, Rook isn’t upset or angry or in denial

* He’s fucking ecstatic

* He does take care to help the person behind them when he falls (Idia)

* What he is disappointed in, though, is the observation that the king of beasts, the Roi de Leons, is no longer in fact, a Leon

* But he supposes it’s a small price to pay for this beautiful new world

* Don’t show him any of the bad parts or he will crack

* He spends a lot of time keeping tabs on everyone

* Jotting down anything of note

* He also rifles through your clothes so watch out for that

* No sense of boundaries, he’s an awful guest in that regard.

* What makes him good, though, is that he can still find literally anything you need

* You misplaced your keys? He knows exactly where they are

* Misplaced your formerly eel friends? He saw them leave for the store, so they’re probably running from the cops as we speak

* Don’t know where the remote is? He does that mom thing where he walks into the room and it basically just fucking materializes

* Also, he’s willing to do the laundry for everyone

* He doesn’t ever breakdown, actually, but he does get worried for the others who do, and that makes him sad

Idia

* Idia isn’t looking at his surroundings, because he’s not even facing the right direction

* He’s looking back to twisted wonderland, looking for ortho, only to find nothing

* As his sight of ortho slips away, something else fills it

* His flaming hair is smoothing into deep blue as the flames trickle away

* The ache in his bones seems to dissipate, and he begins to feel alive since the first time since childhood

* He closes his eyes then, and feels the smoothness of his teeth, the warmth in his breath, the beating of his heart

* And then he’s suddenly in the arms of that creepy stalker guy and he’s snapped back to reality

* Much like rook, he isn’t too terribly sad

* He breaks down second quickest, but recovers faster than Jamil

* It’s been so long since he’s done something without Ortho, it rips something open

* But after some breathing exercises, his head clears and he’s back to marveling at how he feels

* His hair hangs in his face, sky blue and navy and black and so, so soft.

* His yellow eyes have faded to amber, and his once shark-like teeth scare nobody when he smiles

* It’ll take some candy and movies before he’s ready to really be around people

* And maybe a bit of gentle parenting before he’ll open up about his grief

* But he’s going to be okay

Malleus

* He’s unconscious pretty fast

* Having hundreds of years of magic ripped from you is pretty exhausting, even when you’re one of the top 5 magicians in the world

* When he wakes up, there’s a throbbing in his head and dullness to his senses

* His joints feel stiff, and he feels lighter, and he’s staring directly up at a very concerned Vil Schoenheit

* “Housewarden Schoenheit, what is going o-“

* He sits up, sees his reflection, and goes completely pale

* His catlike green eyes are softer, his ears rounded, and his horns are gone

* He runs a hand through his hair unobstructed and laughs, somewhere between panicked and joyously

* “Now, that isn’t something I’ve seen before.”

* He doesn’t panic so much as have a manic air about him

* He’s not happy, no, but he’s isn’t upset either. And he’s certainly not angry…

* When he sees you, he runs over and tackles you in a hug

* It seems like there’s a breath held in the room until you hug him back, quietly asking if he’s alright

* “Well, it’s only fair that I’ve visited your world now, isn’t it? After all, you were a guest in ours.”

* Definitely doesn’t process it quickly, and doesn’t realize just how much he misses Silver and Sebek for a good few days

* Instead of a full breakdown, it’s more of a quiet depression

* He comes out of it, eventually, when you show him the world. He’s content to go to the store with you, to garden with you, to read history books and lounge on your couch

* What lifts his spirits, though, is that the people here down cower or run from him

* Yeah, he’s a tall guy, but he’s nothing more than that to them

* He spends a lot of time trying to keep Lilia from burning down the kitchen

* Super enjoys tending to any plants you might have, and frequently takes walks on his own (alone! How exciting!) to look at the architecture

* He gets in an argument with your neighbor about gargoyles though

Lilia

* Have you ever seen the grief of a parent?

* It’s an unstoppable, terrifying force

* Yes, Silver (and by extension, Sebek) are grown most of the way, but that doesn’t take way the pain

* He’s been caring for them so long, for someone for so long

* He knew what was happening just before he fell through the mirror, and choked down that realization as he shut his eyes and fell

* Something like warmth flooded him as his teeth grew duller and eyes turned more brown

* He felt the magic leave him in his bones, and was scared for the first time in a very long time

* When he came out the other side - still young looking, nonetheless - he wasn’t sure how to feel

* Might it have been more kind of he had simply disappeared altogether than to be separated from those he cares for most?

* Third fastest breakdown.

* Its somewhere between three and five hours after they arrived that he goes outside and wails

* He has literally 0 confidence that they’ll get back

* He has malleus, though, and that’s something

* Lilia is another that just gets kinda depressed. There’s not much he can do to fix it

* He does keep attending to Malleus, as always. But it’s more so that he’s going through the motions than that he’s enjoying things

* It takes the twins, surprisingly enough, to break through this

* It makes sense, when you think about it

* Jade, the calm and collected one, the one that keeps the wheels on the bus and encourages Lilia’s creative cooking,

* And Floyd, the spontaneous and near childlike one who enjoys things as they come, but will protect when needed

* Maybe the expression is really ‘there are two eels inside of you. One is Jade and the other is Floyd. They are both insane’

* Jade manages to coax Lilia out of his grief by asking for help on simple things.

* “Can you help me make some soup?” “Would you mind helping me with these documents?” “Might I trouble you for some help folding laundry?”

* And Floyd reopens his mind to other things

* “Flapjack Octopus, have you seen this? It’s hilarious! Come sit with me~” “You look sad, how’s about a squeeze~?” “Lilia-chan! Look at this stuffed toy! It’s so soft, and it looks just like you~!”

* It’s comforting to feel needed, to feel wise. It reminds him of when his wards were younger, and he almost feels at home again

[kimi-twstheadcanons]

Your “Bodyguards”

-What happens when you tell Leona, Jack, and Ruggie about a guy that just couldn’t take the hint that you weren’t interested? Well, not exactly how you expected.

Pronouns: They/them

Warning: Contains harassment and very uncomfortable situations. Swearing, violence, and stalker behavior

Word count: 3,112

Note: This is actually based off a true incident (that may or may not have happened to me a while back) I also apologize to anyone named Cale (if there are any) This may not be Halloween based but I had it in my drafts so I decided to post it for the occasion. Just think of it as comfort I guess

...Maybe getting these three involved was a good thing?

•

•

•

“So, you want a favor from us? Well, whatever it is, I'm not interested in the slightest.” Leona said, walking away to find a spot in the Botanical Gardens to lie down for a nap. Ruggie and Jack had followed him just to keep track of him for the day, this just happened to be your luck. Jack was an unexpected surprise, but you need them to do something very important for you anyway.

“Oh, come on! Please? It’s just a small favor and it won’t take up too much time. You don’t even know what it is yet.” You complain as you follow about a foot behind them.

“Why don’t you ask Ace or Deuce to help?” Jack asked, turning his head to look at you while still walking.

“I tried. But they couldn’t do much. Plus, you guys are the only people who can get this weird guy off my back.” Jack stops at those words and fully turns his body to face you. You stop in front of him while Leona and Ruggie continue to walk. He’s genuinely confused and concerned as to what you're talking about, so he decides to ask about it; “What do you mean by that?”

“There’s this guy that’s asked me out before. I don’t know him or anything about him, other than that he’s a second year and is in Savanaclaw.” You answer Jack's question. Leona and Ruggie stop and slowly turn back towards you, now fully invested in the conversation.

“I’ve rejected him before, but then he started to hang around me more. Kind of like how Rook is, but more creepy. To me, it is at least.” You continued. Leona and Ruggie begin to walk back to your location to see if there is any other information that they needed to hear.

“I got Ace and Deuce to walk me back to Ramshackle a few days ago because I felt uneasy. But the moment they left and Grim walked through the front door, magic wind closed it shut so I couldn’t get inside. That’s when I realized it was him. He had waited for Ace and Deuce to leave just to get my attention alone. Of course, it wasn’t enough because Grim was pounding on the other side of the door asking what happened. All the guy wanted to do was talk but I couldn’t help but get weird vibes from him. The way he talked, the way he looked at me, the way he acted. Everything was just too unsettling. So I told Grim to sit on the other side of the door, just in case he tried something. All he did was talk about how pretty I was and asked me if I wanted to hang out while trying to get physically close to me.” You recounted the events that took place days prior. All three of the beastmen began to look a bit disturbed by everything you were telling them. Or maybe, perhaps it was irritation.

“I know I’m probably overreacting and you guys probably think so too, but I just want him to know I’m seriously not interested.” You finish off your explanation, waiting for them to respond. You look at all three of their faces. All of which seem to be in thought, yet they all seem very bitter.

“You guys can refuse if you want, I’m not forcing you! He’ll probably back off as time goes.” You say with a nervous smile. ‘Maybe they’re annoyed that I brought something silly like this up. I should have just let it be.’ You thought to yourself, wondering if you’ve made the wrong decision.

“Do you know his name?” Leona asked nonchalantly, to which you respond; “Uh, I think it was something like Cole or Kyle. I’m not sure but he has a weird birthmark on the side of his neck. Kind of hard to miss.”

“Cale! Ugh, I should have known he’d start messin’ with you!” Ruggie suddenly blurted out. This left you and Jack a bit confused. Ruggie has never brought Cale up before and Jack only knew the guy because he’s also a Wolf beastman. Leona on the other hand seemed more irritated. Leona has had his fair share of run-ins with the guy, all of which were not so good. Especially the first encounter.

“Other than Cale being really strong and a good fighter, he’s also a big flirt. He flirts with almost everyone he finds attractive. Except for the Pomefiore students. He found out to leave those guys alone the hard way. Sh ha ha~” Ruggie explains as a result of seeing your confused face.

“He’s annoying, that’s what he is. During his first year here he tried to fight me for the spot of Dorm Leader. Heh, we all know how that played out. But once he gave up he tried to butter me up instead. Seriously, that guy gets on my nerves.” Leona chimed in. Looks like Cale isn’t a very fond character, even at his own dorm.

“If he flirts with everyone, then no wonder he can’t even remember my name. He’s asked me at least 5 times already.” You laugh off jokingly, not expecting the reaction you would get.

“He doesn’t even remember your name?! Hell no! And he’s still trying to ask you out? If he can’t get something so simple then he’s not trying to care about who you are as a person, he wants you because he’s greedy!” Leona exclaims, his tone ever so slightly laced with anger. He soon calmed down and thought for a moment, placing a hand over the bridge of his nose and pinching it with his fingers.

“Fine, we’ll help you. But you have to do at least one thing for us once we’re done. How does that sound?” He asks, concluding.

“Perfect! That doesn’t sound bad at all!” You agree excitedly. Leona continues while turning his head to look at Jack and Ruggie; “What about you guys? Sound fair?” Jack and Ruggie both nod in agreement.

“We’ll talk to him first to try and get him to leave you alone. If that doesn’t work, text me if he’s still bothering you.” Ruggie says with a soft smile, knowing you still had his number from the Fairy Gala mission.

“Thank you guys so much! Sorry I had to bother you with this. You guys have a nice day!” You say, returning the smile. Jack and Leona nod while Ruggie waves as you take off, down the path towards the exit. As soon as you were out of sight all the boys turned around and began walking in their original direction.

“Jeez. What number is that?” Leona suddenly asked, placing his hands in his pocket.

“They’re about the 50th person he’s tried flirting with,” Ruggie replied nonchalantly while placing his hands behind his head for support.

“Wait, you two kept track of it? That’s a bit weird.” Jack retorted.

“You start to keep count when Vil comes to see you in person, complaining about one of your dorm members flirting with not just his dorm residents but him as well,” Leona replied. Shivers ran down his back as he recollected the horrid moment. Let’s just say; Vil wasn’t so kind to Leona or Cale at that time.

“In any case, we need to talk to him about that. I understand if he might genuinely like them but I highly doubt that’s where this is going. On top of that, stalking them is weird as hell. There’s no way I’m letting a Rook-wannabe slide from shit like this.” Leona says while turning into a pile of bushes to reach his napping destination before continuing; “Let’s see how long he thinks he can fool us by playing innocent.”

~~~

“I’ve got no clue on what you’re talkin’ about. Listen, I just want to get to know them. That’s all.” Cale states to the three beastmen as he remains seated in a chair in the Savanaclaw lounge. They had indeed gone up to him to clear things up, and just as they suspected; he’s playing innocent.

“The last time you said that I had an angry blond at my door. On top of that, you don’t hang around people like that unless you’re attracted to them. Stalking them, however, says more concerning things, don’t you think?” Leona brought up, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the wolf-beastman. Cale was very unimpressed with their approach to him, but his composure did not falter.

“Alright, fine. You want honesty? Well here,” Cale stands on his feet, he isn’t as tall as Jack but just about the same height as Leona. He looks Leona dead in the eyes and smirks a toothy grin. “I just want the fun you guys are having.”

“What?” Leona responds confused. He now is the one unimpressed. “If you mean the trouble that herbivore brings, then buddy I can assure you it’s not exactly what I would consider fun.”

“Oh, not that. Come on, don’t play dumb with me. A person from another world with no magic? No way to fight us back without their little squad? You guys hang out with them from dawn till dusk in that rundown dorm of theirs, and you mean to tell me you aren’t having fun in there? You must be joking. Why not just share the meal-“ Before Cale could continue his absurd accusations Jack and Leona pushed him to a wall with their magic pens at his throat.

“I don’t know what kind of things you heard or what horrendous rumors you’ve spread to these idiot jackasses around this school. But (y/n) is NOT like that and we would never force them to be in such a position.” Jack growled through his teeth. For the first time, his composure completely dropped and he went almost full feral. He was holding a lot back, but no one knew just exactly how much.

“You’ve got some nerve to think you know them better than we do, and you sure as hell have some damn nerve thinking that you were just going to use them like that. They're not stupid! They can see right through you and your little schemes. Whatever you’re doing stops now.” Leona finished off, pushing his magic pen closer to the beastmans neck. Cale seemed shaken by the actions but tried to hide them. He hadn’t realized you were being so heavily protected, and by his dorm leader no less. That certainly does cause trouble for him, so not wanting for it to get any worse he backs down…for now.

“Fine. I’ll leave them alone. I see I’ve lost this hunt.” Cale says, his voice strained slightly. However, neither Jack nor Leona backed down. It seemed as if they were trying to drag something more out of him. “Jack, Leona. He backed down. We can leave.” Ruggie said, breaking the silence that the men had created. Ruggie himself wasn't so happy about the situation. But he knew those three couldn’t get into a fight or else everyone would be in big trouble. It wouldn’t look nice if the dorm leader had gotten into a fight with a dorm resident. Not only that but he ganged up with Jack as well, it wouldn’t make for a pretty picture.

Jack and Leona slowly backed off by taking their magic pens away from Cale's neck. Cale himself was left a bit shaken from the event but remained on his feet. “Remember this, Cale; You get anywhere near them,” Leona began and he turned around to walk out the lounge but turned his head around to make eye contact with Cale before continuing, “, and I’m coming after your ass. You understand?”

Cale nodded as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Leona turned his head back to look ahead and continued walking. Ruggie and Jack, however, couldn’t help but glare at the guy for a few seconds longer before following Leona out of the lounge. Cale was left there alone with his thoughts. He didn’t like Leona and found Ruggie irritating. He didn’t know Jack too well, but he thought he’d understand. Apparently, his view on the fellow Wolf Beastman was completely wrong. It’s fine though. They were clear with what they said, extremely transparent even. But who said Cale would follow the rules?

~~~

Everything was going fine. You hadn’t seen or heard about Cale for a few weeks. You had thought that Leona did something to kick him out of the school since you hadn’t seen him. But Leona assured you that he was still in the school but won’t be bothering you anymore. You were extremely grateful. You had thought that your life could carry on…that was until Cale cornered you in an empty classroom after school.

“You really went ahead and told on me to my own dorm leader, huh? Was I botherin’ you that much?” Cale asked with a smirk on his face. A smug smirk that rubbed you the wrong way and gave you red flags.

“I had already told you that I wasn’t interested and that you even made me feel uncomfortable. What else am I supposed to do?” You ask nervously, unsure of how to get out of this situation without needing to get the boys involved. Maybe you could defuse this without their help. You don’t want them to think you’re a nuisance. But little do you know how far from that you actually are to them.

“Am I being too pushy? Is that it? Do you not like me like how you like them? Come on, tell me what I’m missing here, sweet thing.” Cale says as he steps closer to you. You back up, trying to keep the distance between you two. You’re back hits a wall and your mind decides that maybe it was a good idea to get the boys. You quickly pull out your phone and tap Ruggies number to speed dial him. As soon as you did Cale slapped the phone out of your hand, but he hadn’t realized you had called someone. The phone rang silently as he cages you in with his hands on either side of your head.

“Listen, I would have left you alone in time. Personally, I don’t like hunting prey I can't get for too long. But you pissed me off. You couldn’t have just sat tight, like a good little pet?” He mocked angrily. “You really expected me to live in anxiety and paranoia until you left me alone?” You asked nervously, trying to not completely lose your composure.

“Well, maybe. But would that have been so bad? I’m not a bad guy, not unless you make me. You, sweet little Herbivore, seem to want me to be the bad guy.” He said as he attempted to gently caress your cheek. you smacked his hand away as you snarled at the use of the nickname he had stolen from Leona.

“Oh what? You don’t even like me touching you? Or was it because I used Leona’s little nickname he has for you?” He teased with a smirk. Suddenly his whole demeanor changed, a scowl now replaced the mischievous expression on his face. “Enough games. Clearly, I had everything all wrong, and that’s my fault. But you’ve irritated me a little too much for me to just back down.” He then swiftly grabbed you by the collar of your shirt and pulled you closer to his face. You could see the anger in his eyes, it paralyzed you.

“What makes you think that a nobody like you could snitch on me? You have no powers, no extra physical strength that challenges mine, you say you’re a dorm leader but all you are is a weak freelancer living in an old shack! You are nothing. Now I’m gonna show you what happens when you mess with-“ Cale could even finish his sentence before being pulled off you and tossed to a pissed Jack Howl. Jack grabbed him and held him in place until he could wrestle him to the ground. The person who tossed him to Jack in the first place was none other than Leona Kingscholar himself. Who is also extremely pissed. Leona turns to you and scans your trembling figure. He gently pulled you into a hug and rubbed your back to calm you down.

“H-how the hell did you guys know?” Cale was able to ask. Ruggie walked up to him and showed the ongoing call on his phone. Cale then turned his gaze to the phone he had slapped out of your hand just moments before, it rested on the ground but the screen was lit and he could see Ruggies contact name. He snarled and realized they heard everything he said.

“Sh ha ha ha~ I don’t think you can get yourself out of this one buddy.” Ruggie laughed at Cale with a dark smirk. Leona released you and walked over to your phone and picked it up. He ended the call and handed it back to you. “Ruggie, take the prefect to the infirmary to check for any injuries,” Leona said as he turned to Ruggie and placed his hands in his pockets.

“I’m fine, I promise. You guys made it just in time.”

“Then go back to your dorm. Ruggie will escort you there,” Leona said as his gaze landed back on you but more sternly. He then turns to Cale and looks at him with a frown of distaste. “Jack and I have some business to take care of.”

Just like that you were walked out of the classroom by Ruggie and safely escorted back to your dorm, where a worried Grim and concerned Ace and Deuce were waiting for you. You told them that the story would have to wait and all you wanted to do was relax. The rest of the day Ruggie didn’t leave your dorm and slept in the guest room on Leona’s orders. On the other end of the situation; Leona and Jack roughed up Cale a little bit, most of it being Leona’s work of course, and dragged him to Crowley to confess everything he had been doing. Crowley couldn’t expel him since you weren’t physically harmed and he feared a bad image for the school if he did so without evidence, but he did suspend him for a while. After this incident, no one ever tried to mess with you and would rarely ever think about trying. Sure you had your friends but that’s not what they were scared about. It was the Lion King and his two assistants of Savanaclaw that struck fear. It’s safe to say that you have some pretty good, yet terrifying bodyguards.

[magesforthedas]

Continue reading if you want to be SAD 😢

Okay, more updates + a couple photos! Honestly I got a few screen caps of the tragedies I just experienced, but idk if y'all really want to see those. I can post them if you want, just let me know, but also be warned!! I also can't post any more videos on this thread :P

Okay, notes!

Where you can go in and see the fallen, there's something placed over the sheet for big characters; ie Emmerich's staff, Taash's axes, Viper's hat, Strife's sword.

Talking with your remaining companions is terrible bc they'll mention (at least some of them) their grief at losing their friends :(

I tried leaving Lucanis to help the other forces at the begining of The Dread Wolf Rises, since he's a HotV, but he still dies. Possibly because it's the Dragon King that the companion faces, so either if that companion quest was completed, OR if any ally strength was higher, even if both things weren't true, he might have survived. Oh well, looks like everyone dies.

(I went back and left Harding bc if he's not going to survive anyways I wanted my boyfriend with me 🥺)

Said scene is HORRIBLE 😭 as in, super traumatic. There's the ogre, or the Dragon King if he's still alive, and your companion goes to protect Morrigan but gets knock down, and then it shows your companions face as their enemy delivers the final blow. Like, my hands flew up to my mouth in shock.

I could post some screenshots of these moments if people want, instead of suffering the actual video, but like.... Maybe you don't want to see.

I think the scene of (Bellara in my game) controlling the blight is the same? I couldn't remember the details from the last time, and then the blight covers her over. Difference is, at the end we don't see her breaking out of the blight again, so it just consumes her.

There was no decision to make once I got to Solas. It just auto played into attacking.... Your two remaining companions get turned to stone and Solas stabs Rook in the gut, though not before you manage to get him too. Then both of you get pulled into the tear while you are struggling over the knife. It shows the statues of your companions, left on the platform.

Morrigan says something ominous about the victory costing too much (I don't remember the exact words, which to be fair I'm already trying to block this whole thing out) over a black screen.

Then NO EPILOGUE ART CUTSCENE. It just shows this-

And then THIS

They're like.... Yeah, you f*d that pretty good, try again.

IM SO SAD 😭😭😭 it's kind of late but like.... I must start my next playthrough because I have to convince myself this was all a terrible dream 🥺 I had the thought that it'd be interesting to see what other companions say in between the last two missions, in the safe house; whichever three are still alive at that point.... Or if it's possible to have whatever last hero you leave survive, but you don't, and if that might give you any ending cutscene (I kinda doubt it, I think it depends on whether Rook makes it). But I CANNOT do that again, so those will remain unanswered 🙂‍↔️

Anyways I hope this benefits anyone else, and maybe keeps you from feeling the need to put yourself through this! ❤️

Mom I'm scared. Why oh why did I have to be curious about the bad ending 😭

NO IM NOT SURE.

NO IM NOT CONFIDENT. BUT WE'RE DOING THIS ANYWAYS.

I'm going to be so sad for the next few hours.

Update below the cut so y'all can see it (Beware)

Ooookay

I haven't finished bc I have to go to work, but I made it to the end of The Last Gambit... I'm in tears 😭 some things if you want to know but don't want to actually play it (why have I done this):

Whoever you send with the Veil Jumpers to take down the wards lives, but Strife dies.

Whoever you send to help the Crows & Lords dies. (Taash for me)

Whoever you send to help the Wardens and Mourn Watch dies. (Emmerich for me)

If the Shadow Dragons aren't strong enough, The Viper dies.

Haven't seen any sign of Anaris, and no Dragon King (though there was a letter right before Tearstone Island warning about him). No Red Lyrium Harding either, and Davrin is dead already in mine, but no blighted griffons or Gloom Howler. I finished Lucanis' quest bc I didn't romance him on a Crow the first time, and my next Crow will probably be romancing someone else, so wanted to see the Crow/Lucanis things during his quest line. But I wonder if Zara was still alive, if she might also make an appearance.

So far none of the other allies died: Irelin, Teia, Viago, Myrna, Vorgoth, Tarquin, Antoine, Evka, and Isabela are all still alive. So small mercies.

Irelin talks about Strife in the safe house, as does Isabela about Taash, and Tarquin about The Viper.

Some really terrible things thought of:

If Emmerich and Strife were in a relationship, and only one died? Even worse possibly, what if Emmerich was the one sent to help? But would Emmerich mention Strife, or Strife mention Emmerich if only one survived? Strife asks you to keep Emmerich safe in the good version.. Probably?

Also, if Manfred is still around and Emmerich dies... Worse if you didn't even do Emmerich's quest (like me) so he doesn't have magic or can talk or anything... What's going to happen to Manfred??? Did he even survive the battle, because he was in a cutscene but I haven't seen him at the safe house????

Didn't do enough content to have Harding and Taash in a relationship, so can't find out. But if they're in a relationship and Harding survives Tearstone Island, what happens if one of them dies here?

What if Lucanis & Neve are in a relationship and one of them dies here? Like, if Bellara got captured and Lucanis dies fighting Aelia? I'm making myself sad just thinking about how Neve would feel.

anyways I'm sad and have to go to work, and then finish my no good, terrible, awful playthrough when I get home. Wish me luck and sanity 😭

(and then I must immediately start my fourth playthrough bc no, they must have as much of a happy ending as possible)