#like genuinely. how is Lucanis even a spiteful person? do we see him be spiteful at any point? 😅

[deputyrook]

If you think about it, it’s kind of crazy that Lucanis is the character hosting Spite instead of Viago. Like, Viago is made of spite. When his father gives him the option to either leave the country or become an assassin, Viago is his sole bastard child to choose to join the Crows. He withstands the torture/training, is so paranoid that he drinks poison to build his own immunity, and works up the ranks until he’s more powerful than the King. He might even make a play for the throne? That’s being fuelled by spite.

Like I love Lucanis, but you can’t tell me Viago hosting Spite wouldn’t be super interesting for both of their characters.

[fishysaltine]

Honestly I’ve always seen Bloodbath (or the kill Zara quest) as Illario’s final desperate attempt to be swayed form his plan. It kind of reminds me of Solas and Varric’s note of him in the beginning of the game “he just needs someone to give him a different option”

Like Illario is genuinely upset about this whole thing. He thought Lucanis was dead, and we see that he was such a chronically depressed alcoholic yapper after Lucanis’ death that even though he did give the hit, he at least regretted it or it didn’t sit well with him. (I have no doubt Zara manipulated him to some extent into it, since she has her eyes on Lucanis after the Wigmaker job anyway, but neither Zara or Illario are actually explored in game). But when Illario is taking us to the boat, he makes note of saying Catarina didn’t tell him because “I would have tried to save him.” The way he says that line is in a COMPLETELY different tone than anything else he says. It’s stern and to the point, not condescending like after Illario takes out Zara and talks down on Lucanis, telling him he’s a danger and liability.

If Illario knew Lucanis was actually alive, he probably would have killed Zara earlier. And Zara obviously KNEW THIS because she didn’t tell Illario Lucanis was ALIVE for that very reason. Illario never knew about Spite. He never planned for the Ossuary. He never meant for that to happen! Zara knew that whatever Illario and she had going on would never even be close to the bond Lucanis and Illario have, and Illario would put that over power every single time.

Almost every single time.

Because he knows what he did, and he still goes out for coffee with Lucanis and the weirdo rando that saved him. And then he tries to convince Lucanis to stay away from Zara, because he knows that Zara is capable of and how not only she can, but has hurt Lucanis. (She turned his big brother into an abomination!)

WAIT A MINUTE WHO ELSE DOES THAT? Lucanis does! Except Lucanis is more direct about it. Says that Zara might come after him. Illario tries to convince Lucanis she’s in fuckass land, get him out of the situation ENTIRELY involving Antiva, the Anntam, First Talon. Yeah, there’s probably a selfish motivation, but in Wigmaker Illario is so fucking scared Lucanis is going to essentially fling himself off a cliff, there’s a genuine “heyy can you take a holiday? Can you stop being passively suicidal for me, your little cousin? Can we stop with the ‘death is my calling’ shit?”

Of course Illario can’t just go “uhh I’ll take care of it dw bro” because to Lucanis the beef with Illario and Zara isn’t merely as personal as he (and Spites) beef with her. They really just want to protect one another and get their dues.

Illario killing Zara wasn’t so much for him. I mean she kind of played him, but whatever, it didn’t necessarily affect Illario in anyway, it was for Lucanis. A way to try and appease the guilt of something that he never intended to happen to his older brother. That’s why Illario wants to be there during Bloodbath. “It’s Crow business” aka ‘WHY ARE YOU TAKING WEIRDO RANDO 1 & 2 OVER ME? I deserve to be at your side, I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth and back, why won’t you let me anymore?’

So Illario meets Lucanis and his rando friends on the rooftop. Lucanis asks him what he’s doing there- and Illario says he wants to go. He’s so desperate to go, to prove his alliance to his big brother cousin. But that’s not all. Lucanis has been gone for a year, and then left immediately. Killing and missions, being Crow’s is one of the main ways Lucanis and Illario bond.

Illario has never felt good enough. For his grandmother, for Lucanis, for anyone. That’s why he started this mess. Zara tells him Lucanis doesn’t think he’s good enough, he never will be, until he does the most Crow thing ever and cuts him out of the family line. Then finally, maybe, when his cousin’s eyes are glassy and corpse empty, will they be filled with approval.

But Lucanis is right here (with two randos)! And Illario asks him to involve him, just looking for that smidge of approval. And Lucanis says no. Ok. Cool! Maybe he just wants you safe. Fine, whatever. But you’re capable- at least you think you are.

So you ask the damning question. “You think I’m not good enough?”

And your cousin, your big brother, simply says: “Are you?”

While surely a good natured jab from Lucanis as siblings do, had Lucanis’ answer been anything even close to praise or more concern, I think Illario would’ve been fine to step out of the way. ALL he needed was Lucanis’ mild assurance/approval. Just a ‘oh no, you’re good enough. I just don’t want you getting hurt is all’

But he doesn’t say that. He simply feeds into the very insecurity that sent Illario to selling him out, the very one that Zara told him but he never quite believed until the words came from Lucanis’ mouth. ‘You’re not good enough to stand by my side anymore.’ And potentially ‘I’ve replaced you with rando 1 & 2, I don’t need you anymore’

So then he doubles down. No more playing nice cousin or big brother little brother. If Lucanis doesn’t want Illario by his side anymore- fuck it, Illario doesn’t need him. Lucanis saying Illario isn’t good enough isn’t just a blow to his ego, or self confidence/self esteem, it’s a flat out rejection. So he takes the kill from Lucanis, and essentially tells him to get the fuck out of dodge or else, and then tries to strong arm first Talon.

Lucanis never quite gives Illario “the different option.” Illario throws their bond away not because he necessarily wants to, but because he thinks Lucanis’ threw it away first, and that he’s just folding onto a frayed rope (not even mentioning how Illario crosses out Lucanis’ name in the family line, showing how he just… almost doesn’t exist. He’s gone to Illario. Illario’s so hurt by everything he just wants Lucanis gone at this point, come hell or high water.)

Lucanis quite literally says that the only way Catarina would be proud of Illario is if he kills her, and if that extends to Lucanis, so be it.

[nochi-quinn]

there's something so pleasing about how Emmrich speaks

This version of Speak With Dead sucks

Venatori? The ones who put up those glowing red walls? The kind we've seen sixty times on the way down here? Y'dont say 

oh I just looked at emmrich's outfit in the companion screen for the first time. I. hm. 

definitely does better in the mausoleum lighting 

manfred!! 

I have had taash for fifteen minutes and if anything happened to her - 

taash understands Dragons and Nothing Else and I love that for her

Isabela! And her fancy hat!! 

(ngl Isabela was never my favorite but I'll take the cameos I can get) 

oh, she has to manage the firebreathing like a chronic illness! I'm counting this as disability rep

my roommate, as I fail to see Assan and run right past him: PET!! THE BABY!!! 

let Manfred have buttons!! it's what he deserves 

Manfred gets an allowance!!

he is very clearly buying spell components 

the trophy for jumping off the library balcony is called Nostalgia Trip

it's not my fault they made the easiest path into solas’ area a straight drop from the library okay 

assan's floppy ear is my favorite 

you can play rock paper scissors with manfred!! 

taash's little “that's messed up” when lucanis tells her how he got possessed is possibly my most favoritest line read in this game 

yeah you WOULD cheer on the Crows fucking up the Antaam, wouldn't you Isabela  

“in rivain, the water is always falling down. in antiva, it rises up out of the floorboards in your basement.”

 I like myrna's outfit, can I have that outfit? Even just as an appearance? 

cassandra mentioned 

“you can hear spite?” “yes” “I'm so sorry” 

Aw, we love a supportive dad

(this is about maevaris’ dad)

wait, is tarquin trans too?? 

rook backstory! adopted elf baby of mysterious origins! 

(I don't mind the PC having more defined backstory; it's easily ignorable if you don't want it as part of your Rook's personal canon) 

(or maybe I've just played too many Bethesda games) 

tarquin/viper canon? 

aaand I'm assuming the Legatus mentioned in this codex entry is rook's dad

“ugh, puzzles” taash gets me

personally I like the assan trap plan

lucanis isn't using the cup I got him anymore :(

they did WHAT to sten 

genuinely need the HOF to roll back up with a cure to the Calling in one hand and Starbucks in the other and immediately start beating the hell out of people 

“don't be a dick, that was for the little one” my partner handing out pieces of chicken to the cats 

taash is so fucking fascinating, I love her so much

“people who've only ever been one thing will never know how big the world is” legitimately made me smile but also top candidate to show up on aesthetic quote graphics on pinterest 

“maybe because she acts more like a man herself” boooo 

davrin and rook teasing taash about her mom is cute 

(how old is taash supposed to be) 

(old enough that romancing her wouldn't be Weird but young enough that her mom is still embarrassing) 

(do any of us ever grow out of being embarrassed by our parents) 

taash writing to the rivaini guard to tell them to shut the fuck up about Karash

“I wish I hadn't misplaced Merrill's flashcards” 🥺

 bellara my adhd anxiety queen

bellara and emmrich being magic nerds my beloveds

taash's prosthetic horn! (it should absolutely shoot lightning) 

“everyone who ever tried to kill me is dead” 

I absolutely photo moded memory!solas, I had to investigate whatever's going on here

How did Gilan'nain get her ears in that helmet

so solas’ MO has been “nuke it from orbit” the whole time, huh

okay, I was worried “Shiv” was a play on “knife-ear” but the actual explanation is much better 

emmrich really just lives in caduceus colors, huh

if I had a nickel for every pink-and-green themed fantasy gravetender...

davrin: I would like to read about the blood-soaked castle please 

“lucanis why were you frying things at 4 am” “because I've lost all control of my life” 

wait is taash's relationship status just "here”

“you're not a builder, you'd only get in the way" I'm gonna shove this noble lady in the harbor 

PERI

hmm I think my second attempt at her will go better, now that I'm more familiar with the cc

(her hair's supposed to be white, but ofc that's not possible here) (I'm just assuming dealing with solas aged her 40 years)

goddammit do you know how hard it was de-blighting ferelden the first time 

“acting vicountess aveline vallen” is going to kick Varric's ass the next time she sees him

okay the awkwardness trying to talk around solas being her jerkass demigod ex-boyfriend was actually pitch-perfect to my inq so the game is forgiven for that at least 

(I've had a scene/dabble brewing for days where she does show up to stop the ritual, I'm going to end up writing it just to exorcise it from my brain) 

the letter to rook

the letter from Varric to Dorian

the “old friends in orlais” is probably a reference to a novel or comic but I haven't read them so therefore I'm pretending it's Hawke (and maybe Anders)

these are just VIs from mass effect, you can't fool me

man I wanted to insult Avina, I was robbed

egg taash??? 

I'M CRY??? 

I'M VERY CRY

genuinely having to take a moment. someone wrote down real words about the same thing I went through, the same feelings I felt, and they went through multiple multiple rounds of drafts and approvals and checks and probably fights with editors/corporate and made it into a AAA video game 

was it a little after-school special-y? Yeah, but sometimes talking to people about gender for the first time can be like that. It's a whole new topic, you gotta start with the small words. 

and taash is a whole adult!! the “I always knew” narrative is the default, you almost never have characters going through that journey as an adult. 

I'm very cry, is my point 

(also it was a little funny when Taash went “nobody LIKES being a woman” and Rook and Neve (and also me) just went “ah.”) 

“I did not ask for ‘a journey’” mood

I usually don't love irl gender/sexuality terms in fantasy but a. it's just in the codex so far 2. tevene is already basically latin, so whatever

(edit from the future: as of where I am in the game/taash's arc taash is still using she/her so that's what I used here; I'm leaving it for posterity's sake)

The sequel to TotK Thoughts From My Notes App, Dragon Age The Veilguard Thoughts From My Notes App

please do not respond or reblog with spoilers, even in the tags, assume whatever the last thing is is how far I've gotten bc it probably is

first off, meet Kalais:

(I've tweaked her design since this but I don't have access to the ps5 rn for a new screenshot) (really I just filled her face out a lil so she's not so Pointy)

[quest marker flashes] NO, I'm ‘SPLORIN

okay jumping over the wall in D'Meta's Crossing & going from Standard Spooky directly into Turbo Hell was very effective 

“this blight is WEIRD” harding you were there for corypheus’ whole deal, you can't say things like that, it's terrifying 

they really took the deep roads and set it to “worse”, huh

(my roommate kept going "BROODMOTHER" bc she hates me)

NO WONDER THEY CALL IT THE DRAGON AGE

I watched my roommate do this bit with her Warden; she sent him off to probably die from the Joining. I just. left him there.

Morrigan if you're gonna wear the headpiece get your hair out from behind it you're driving me crazy

Morrigan smiles so much, idk how I feel about it 

this is gonna be a weird sentence but I miss how her mouth was shaped in DAO, it just suited her for some reason idk

OH she looks like a Carja, that's what's bothering me

(a lot of this game gives me shades of HZD if I'm being honest) (it's not a complaint)

Titan Harding TITAN HARDING

been trying to figure out who Bellara makes me think of and I think it's “Merrill if she had a support network that wasn't Hawke” 

(“and less blood magic”) 

oh, little backstory tchotchkes!

while Rook just monologues to themselves 

(definitely interesting being a Not Culturally Dalish elf with a vallaslin)

“it is merely a suggestion” gonna suggest you off a cliff

I'm so glad Varric didn't die. I was so prepared for it

as a through-line through the series I prefer him over Morrigan tbh

“your old friend is kind of an asshole” “I know, isn't it great” 

WAIT solas’ knife is the fucking LYRIUM IDOL?? 

that thing just can't stop ruining Varric's life, huh 

the way Harding's bruises and stuff actually take time to heal is so cool 

me: talks to The Viper one (1) time me:...godDAMMIT, Mercer

room: offerings to andraste  me: offerings to me :) 

I. Don't care for Neve so far. 

which is unfortunate bc I picked the Shadow Dragons origin

me: spots what is clearly a fade tear me:

ATAB (All Templars Are Bastards) 

“the venatori rise” yeah yeah, hail hydra, fuck off

hey? hey Varric? I don't think I like your foreshadowing Varric