#mild datv spoilers

[sha-lyuzar]

And It's not like i'm expecting a major plot point to be dependent on my worldstate. But just walking through Tevinter and having a random NPC comment on "King Bhelen of Orzammar is sending more ambassadors", or a snide comment about Divine Victoria... little things like that. The keep included a lot of decisions, and not all of them had any bearing on DA:I, but just knowing the game was aware of my worldstate and included little tidbits like that, was enough to feel like my previous decisions actually mattered

[thesummerstorms]

There's no way at least a few of the Crows gathered for the show down in the Opera House didn't look at Lucanis and Arsinoë de Riva and pick up on the fact that they were involved, even if both parts of the couple thought they were hiding it like professionals.

Most likely, those Crows perceive this as Viago's attempt at a power play.

They're wrong; he's in the corner gritting his teeth and silently begging Arsinoë to stay under the radar for once in her life. Openly attaching herself to the first Talon as a romantic partner makes her a target. That's a complication for House de Riva as a whole, one the Talon part of Viago is already complaining about dealing with, but also in general he wants Arsinoë to live.

(Dellamorte spouses companions do not tend to live long, healthy lives.)

But to the traditionalist Crows' outside point of view, it makes sense for Viago to make a power play through his protege. In his handling of the Illario situation, Lucanis has just exposed the fact that he can, in fact, be manipulated by a soft heart. The way they see it, if Viago then manages to place his protégé as Lucanis's lover and House de Riva as his ally, much less if Arsinoe eventually marries Lucanis and they have children, then Viago will have a considerable amount of influence over the First Talon and the whole of House Dellamorte through her.

Hell, if Arsinoë and Lucanis have children, then after a couple of carefully placed accidents, Viago could even place House de Riva in the seat of first Talon by declaring that his protégé's children belonged to their mother's house.

I cannot stress enough that this is the opposite of what Arsinoë, Lucanis, and Viago all want. Arsinoë doesn't even want to be a mother under regular circumstances, much less as part of an entrapment scheme, and no amount of calculation would ever make Viago use her that way.

But Crows are Crows, and the traditionalists especially do not believe that the more "Reformist" houses like Cantori and de Riva (and now Dellamorte by virtue of Lucanis) don't have some long game they're planning.

So in an a not entirely unexpected move, a few of those Houses send their own agents, their best or most beautiful or most charming, to try and make Lucanis a "better offer" as it were.

Again, this isn't entirely unexpected. Viago can't do much directly without putting more spotlight on Arsinoë or confirming things that he doesn't mean, but Caterina still holds the real power at this point. She deals very harshly with anyone she catches in the attempt.

Arsinoë is a little upset at the disrespect towards her character, significantly more upset that Lucanis has to deal with it, but ultimately stays out of it except comforting Lucanis and deflecting any attempts made in front of her. Maybe the occasional bout of poison, since they've made up their minds about her relationships and reputation either way, but generally it is what it is unless she can spare Lucanis discomfort directly.

Lucanis can't help a certain level of emotional "what the fuck", even though Caterina warned him and Illario extensively growing up that Crows from other Houses might try to romance or bed them as a power play. Illario had responded to that by turning the strategy back on anyone who tried it, not to mention his regular contracts; Lucanis had never thought it would be relevant to himself.

The attempts are upsetting in what they reveal about how outsiders perceive him (weak, easy to manipulate, yes, but also potentially unfaithful which is much more infuriating) and Arsinoë (who's being slandered/minimized). They're also just generally uncomfortable and annoying. Yet he doesn't actually have the power to make them stop; professing his love for Arsinoë doesn't change the perception of those involved. It just puts more of a target on her back.

Spite is honestly the most pissed though. He doesn't even entirely get what's happening. The emotions bleeding over from Lucanis are confusing, even if he's growing to slowly understand emotions outside his domain from his attachment to his mortal host.

He does, however, understand that these other humans are INSULTING his human and their Rook, trying to separate them as if they aren't both Spite's, and trying to hurt them besides.

Spite has many, many ideas how to deal with an insult and a threat. There's a growing risk that one day Lucanis might be fed up enough to agree.

[sha-lyuzar]

i wasn't even able to select the Harding miniromance

first impressions of da:tv is that i can't believe those are the only choices they want. like i knew they said they were limiting different world states but i didn't think by that much

[secretmage]

The healer has the bloodiest hands | DeviantArt

You cannot treat a wound without knowing how deep it goes.

You cannot heal pain by hiding it.

You must accept.

Accept the blood to make things better.

You have taken the first step.

That is the hardest part.

am i secretly an AI or are hands that hard to draw?! a quick Sunday practice piece.

[thatapostateboy]

just for one day

Pairing: Eva 'Rook' Mercar x Davrin, background mention of Solas x F!Lavellan

Word Count: 2957

Synopsis: Rook steals some time away with Davrin

Warnings: Brief description of battle and suggestive sexual comments, written pre-release so may be OOC, does contain some spoilers but they are very mild and only stuff from the first mentions/trailers so read at your own peril

Crossposted: Here on AO3

“Why are we hiking up a mountain fully armed and armoured, but without any backup?” Davrin asked.

Rook glanced around at him from where she was leading the way, “Well that would ruin the whole point of it being a surprise, now wouldn’t it? Besides, we’re not fully without backup.”

She nodded upwards to where Assan was soaring overhead, having followed the pair of them as they headed through the eluvian out of the Lighthouse, and into what looked like remote Orlesian wilderness.

“You must be expecting trouble, else you wouldn’t have insisted on the armour,” he pointed out.

“The whole world’s in trouble,” she reminded him, “I just figured we could do with blowing off a little steam.”

“If you wanted somewhere more public to blow off some steam, I am sure there are places in the Lighthouse we could-”

“Not like that!” she snorted, pausing in her steps to look at him, “Though, keep that thought in mind, I’m interested where it’s going, and I appreciate you going along with what you thought was an exhibitionist kink. My actual plan was for us to go on a monster hunt.”

“Really?”

“You’re a monster hunter who’s had to fight some stuff well beyond your pay grade recently, and I thought we could go back to basics. You get to show me all your fancy moves, Assan will get some practice in, I get to swoon over how hot you look, and we get to fight something that isn’t world-ending together.”

He chuckled softly then met her eyes. The last mission, well, every mission since they had met, had meant losing more than winning. And even when they won, it had come at a cost. He knew how hard she took every loss, even if she hid it behind sharp wit and unending sarcasm, there was no doubting the toll it took on her. He suspected that this was as much a distraction for her as it was intended for him.

“Okay then, monster hunting it is,” he smiled, receiving one in return, the true unmeasured smile that she reserved specifically for him… and Assan, though he’d never point that out, “What are we hunting?”

“A wyvern.”

“Have you ever faced a wyvern before?” he asked as he continued to follow her up the mountain path.

“No, but how hard can it be to kill one?” she shrugged, throwing a smirk back at him, “Orlesians do it for fun.”

~*~*~

As it would turn out, it was much harder to kill a wyvern than she had originally planned. The beast had been twice the size of what she had been in one of Davrin’s books, which had led to this idea, and its venom had stung like an absolute bitch when she dodged one of its attacks too slowly. The next blow, however, had been blocked expertly by Davrin’s shield, effortlessly holding off the creature’s maw and he’d had to shout at her to stop staring and stab the damn thing.

She’d shot him a grin and a wink and slid under his legs to slice at the wyvern’s throat. It had thrashed and roared in pain, knocking both Warden and Shadow Dragon flying with its flailing body. It began to charge towards Eva, but all it took was a decisive whistle from Davrin and a bolt of feathers and sharp claws came tearing down from the sky, finishing the beast with a deadly strike.

Assan looked up and chirped at Davrin, wide eyes seeking praise for the kill.

“Good boy,” he said, giving him a well-earned scratch behind the ears.

The griffon preened then began to tuck into the tough flesh of the wyvern after Davrin gave him an approving nod.

The Warden wiped the beads of sweat away from his forehead as he looked for his companion, spotting her propped against a rock, not far from where the wyvern had tossed her, staring away from the scene of the battle, into the valley below.

“Eva,” he called to her, “Are you alright?”

She leapt to her feet, spinning to look at him with a wide grin across her face, her hair a complete mess, face and armour splattered with blood. She all but threw herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and pressing a hard kiss to his mouth.

He hummed in surprise, but kissed her back nonetheless, enjoying the warmth of her form against his. She was still a little breathless, the tremble of adrenaline coursing through her body. He felt her starting to tug on the buckles of his armour, loosening it just enough to slip her hands inside, desperate to feel the heat of his skin.

He knew this dance far too well. He had roughly thirty seconds before she used those quick roguish fingers to get him down to his breeches.

“How quickly do you think we can get back to the Lighthouse?” he asked, words barely out of his mouth as she kissed him hungrily again, and again.

She paused, looking up at him, “What happened to indulging my exhibition streak?”

“I have no qualms about getting you naked in a field,” he admitted, before he reached a hand up to rub some grime away from her face, “But we are both covered in blood, and guts, and gods knows what else… So perhaps we park this, and reconvene in the bathhouse?”

She met his eyes, a little scrunch to her nose as she conceded that he was being sensible, “Counteroffer… we go wash off in the lake and you can still have me naked in a field.”

“What lake?”

“The one about five minutes that one down the path,” she hooked a thumb over her shoulder.

He cocked a brow at her, “Is that what you were looking at after the fight?”

“Perhaps.”

He let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head to himself, “Counteroffer accepted.”

She grabbed hold of his hand and yanked him towards the path, giving him just enough time to shout at Assan to stay put and enjoy the wyvern carcass.

~*~*~

He had to admit, the lake had been an excellent idea.

The lake itself sat in a beautiful clearing, surrounded by trees on one side, part of the mountainside on the other, giving them complete privacy and serene surroundings… until Rook had gone barelling past him, clothes abandoned in her wake, leaping into the water before loudly yelling that it was Maker fucking blasting bastard cold.

He had chuckled as he watched her splash around, before stripping off himself, her eyes immediately on him as he bared himself to her, wading calmly into the lake to join her.

She latched herself onto him instantly, seeking his natural warmth, and steadier form as he quickly realised that she was not a confident swimmer. Not that he minded of course, it meant being able to hold her against him, feel every inch of her as she clung to him, giddy and breathless as they lazily kissed, the adrenaline from the fight melting away as they enjoyed the peace to simply be together.

It had, of course, still ended with the pair of them twisted together beneath the boughs of a willow tree, laying atop his discarded cloak so that she didn’t get grass in her hair.

“I could get used to this,” she said softly as she rested her against his chest, idly tracing old scars on his skin.

“You once told me you’d rather eat halla shit than willingly camp outside. I think this evening might be a one off,” he pointed out with a chuckle.

“Hey, that was months ago,” she protested with a laugh of her own, “I feel like I’ve grown as a person since then. Besides, my partner is a Dalish monster hunting Grey Warden. I think some camping may come with the territory. I’m not saying that I’m going to be getting vallaslin or reaching for the Joining cup again time soon, but if we live through this, if we actually save the world and get our lives back… I think I could get used to more days like this.”

He glanced down at her, taking in the look in her eyes.

It wasn’t often that she was emotionally vulnerable with him, even less that she spoke of the future. She focused on the present, on the dangers directly in front of them. She wasn’t one to hope for anything past surviving day to day. Even when they had begun their love affair, it had started as something borne from mutual attraction and seeking some company. It was meant to be one night, and then back to being colleagues in the morning. And yet, it had kept happening. They would seek each other out for physical comfort, a distraction, and soon it had become more than that; spending hours talking about their pasts, getting to know the different sides of elven culture from each other, laughing and joking about the most ridiculous things, tucking her in as she fell asleep in the chair in front of his fire.

He would be lying if he said he hadn’t begun to think of a future, what it would look like if they truly made it through this. He would still be a Grey Warden, there would always be monsters to fight, but there wouldn’t always be a reason for Eva to be at his side… not unless she chose to be.

She had a life of her own outside of the Veilguard. She was a Shadow Dragon, she had fought for years against corruption in Tevinter, giving everything she had in the fight for freedom for every slave. And beyond that, she had a home that she some day wished to return to.

And now, here she was, looking at him with an almost pleading expression, seeing if he wanted the same thing; a future that they could decide on together.

He leaned down and kissed her, gently at first before he deepened it, pulling her flush against him.

“Evanura,” he whispered against her mouth, “Ar lath ma.”

~*~*~

The next morning

“Solas, can I ask you something?”

She was drawn into their shared pocket of the Fade, the one he existed in physically that she could see into in her mind’s eye to allow them to communicate.

He stepped before her, and she watched a small, familiar smirk cross his face, as it often did when she said something that entertained him, “You rarely ask permission before bombarding me with questions.”

She rolled her eyes, “Don’t be a smart ass, I just need your help translating something.”

“Very well,” he nodded, a hint of curiosity in his eyes, “I will assist where I am able.”

“It was a phrase I heard, I mean- came across when… reading.”

“Go on.”

“I believe it to be elven, but I have never heard it before, not even in the long tirades where you are chiding me for something.”

He chuckled a little at that, “It may be colloquial to the more modern Dalish elves, but I am sure I can trace it back to its root.”

“It was… ar lath ma.”

And for the first time in more years than he could fathom, the Dread Wolf was struck silent.

He remembers the first time he’d said it to her, unable to control himself as he finally gave in to her for the first time. Not in the Fade, but in physical flesh, the taste of her mouth still lingering on his lips, the warmth of her skin still palpable even as he pulled away, murmuring the words as he did, a confession that he hoped she had never heard.

She had been kind, had not chased after him, had given him the time to say it again when he was ready.

Until that night at the Winter Palace, when he had danced with her under the stars, and she had invited him back to her chambers. He had tried to stay away, but she proved to be his weakness. She had said it herself then, declared so boldly that he wondered if the lingering servants and spies in the hall had heard her. She had kissed him, whispering the words sweetly against his skin as they both gave in to temptation 

It was always in elven, their pet names, the soft ‘ma’lath’ and ‘vhenan’ they would call each other, the declarations of love… until that night in Crestwood. She had said it to him then, a hitch in her breath as she held back tears, telling him that she loved him.

Don’t do this, not now… I love you.

And when he had seen her again, the day she discovered the truth, and she had questioned it any of it had been real. If only she could have known that it was the only real thing he knew anymore.

He snapped back to himself when he realised that Rook was still in front of him, looking at him concerned.

“Da’len…” he said quietly, “You know what it means.”

“This isn’t the time for one of your ‘Eva doesn’t listen to me’ lectures. I have never heard those words before.”

“Evanura,” he sighed her name, “Listen to your instincts. You know what your Warden feels.”

“How did you know that’s where I heard it? Besides, he’s not my-“ she began to protest in her usual fashion until the realisation hit her, “Wait! That’s… it means…?”

“Yes.”

“Holy shit! But that’s…” a look of dawning horror crossed her face, “Oh I’ve fucked up.”

He frowned, “What did you do?”

“He may have said that… and I may have walked away from him.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, “You didn’t ask what it meant?”

“I was embarrassed. I’m starting to learn the language from you, and from him, and Bellara, but I didn’t know that one so I just, kinda… laughed it off.”

“Go find him.”

“But-”

“It is a rare thing, to find someone who holds your heart. He knows you well enough to know you are not cruel… Go to him.”

~*~*~

Across the Lighthouse, sat with a frown on her face, Harding levelled a look at Davrin.

“So what exactly did you say?”

“Well, we were both covered in wyvern blood, and-”

“Yeah, I don’t need to hear the details of how you guys had sex in the woods.”

“How did you know?”

“Neither of you are subtle, and I helped Rook scout the place out,” she admitted, “Get to the part where you confessed your undying love and she ignored you.”

“It was… after,” he said, “We were laying together under this willow tree, watching the sun set over the lake, it was beautiful, and peaceful, it was the most perfect moment. So I kissed her, and then I looked into her eyes and said ar lath ma. And she stared at me for a second before she just smiled, got up and declared that she was going swimming. She jumped right into the lake. It’s not even that she didn’t say it back, or if she told me it was too soon, but she just ignored that I said it.”

Harding raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re an idiot.”

“Wait- why?”

“Just think about it. For a minute. Think about why she might have ignored you saying ar lath ma.”

She watched him intently before he let out a gasp and put his face in his hands, “I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah, you are.”

~*~*~

She burst out of the doorway at the base of one of the towers, heading quickly across the courtyard towards Davrin’s quarters when she saw a familiar figure leaving from the other building, striding purposefully towards her.

“Eva!” he called to her, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. There’s something I need to tell you.”

She reached for him as they met, grasping at his hands like she was scared he was going to disappear in front of her, “I know. I need to talk to you too.”

“Eva, I love-”

“Davrin, ar lath-”

“You.”

“Ma.”

They looked at each other with giddy smiles, still clutching to each other’s hands.

“Wait… you know what that means?” he asked.

“I didn’t, until about three minutes ago,” she admitted.

“How did you… Oh gods, you asked Solas, didn’t you?”

She chewed her lip, “Maybe.”

“Well, the Dread Wolf knows far too much about my love life as it is already. What’s one more thing?”

She giggled, reaching up to cup his cheek, “Do you mean it? What you said, did you really mean it?”

“Of course. I love you, Eva, ma lath, ma vhenan, and whatever the future brings, I want to be at your side.”

“I love you too. You make me want something after this, a life together, something to fight for.”

“Can you two just suck face already?” Taash called from one of the nearby balconies where they turned to realise that all of the other members of the Veilguard had gathered outside of their prospective rooms to see this confession come to fruition.

“Well, I’d hate to disappoint our audience,” Rook grinned, leaning up and kissing him.

He wrapped his arms tight around her, dipping her back a little like he had seen described in those terrible romance novels Varric wrote, earning shouts and applause from their friends.

Whatever happened, whatever tragedies they would face tomorrow or the day after, they were both willing to fight for something more, a life beyond, and even if it would never come to pass, they had today, this moment, and nothing, no ancient elven god or even his Calling, would take that from them.

[softredrobin]

extremely mild veilguard spoilers

for my fellow elf players, during a companion's quest i was able to explicitly tell an NPC that i was dalish. it was a "special" dialogue (marked with that star symbol, y'know the one?). just wanted to let folks know there's at least one instance where you can establish that explicitly.

[ruushes]

wait ghilan'nain centipede arms REAL??? 😩👌👌💯💯 ‼️‼️❣️ghilan'nain if you read this im free on thursday night and would like to hang out please respond to this and then hang out with me on thursday night when im free

[basket-of-cats-and-witches]

Unexpected

I don't even know how to describe this one, other than "welcome to 3am post-nsfw fic stupidity".

This piece is not nsfw, it's just the piece that's making me snicker at 3am. Feat. Crow! Rook having a very important chat with Lucanis regarding (redeemed maybe? Probably not) Illario.

And Rook's interesting decision making skills. Yes I wanted complicated toxicity.

---------------------------------------

“You're what?!”

“I'm taking your cousin,” Rook replied evenly. “And I'm marrying him.”

Lucanis blinked. “Have you lost your mind? He tried to kill me six years ago!”

“And I've been sleeping with him for a year now,” they retorted.

He stood up, walking around the couch. “When- how-?!”

Rook levelled him with a look. “I think you know how sex works at your age, Lucanis.”

He blushed, even as he scowled at them. “I didn't mean that literally. Why are you marrying my cousin?”

“I'm pregnant with his baby,” they said bluntly. “I haven't told him yet.”

Lucanis nearly tripped. “I'm sorry, you're-! What? What?!”

Rook shrugged. “I haven't told Viago either, if that helps,” they offered lazily.

“Mierda, no! That makes it worse! Rook, have you lost your fucking mind?”

“You're going to wear a hole in your pretty carpet, Lucanis. Calm down.” Rook watched as he whirled, throwing up his hands and stalking out of the room.

It didn't help. They could hear the flood of Antivan swearing, probably even if the door had been closed.

A maid stepped forward. “Tea?”

“Oh, yes please.” As the cup was handed to them, they inhaled, sighing at the scent. “He'll be at it for a while, I take it.”

The maid tried not to giggle. “Most likely, ser.”

“Oh please,” They said, testing the cup for poison. “Call me Rook.”

[cryptbabyrook]

Harding talking about her friends from the inquisition - mainly Josephine <3

[krembruleed]

crying weeping and throwing up rn

[tiefsandthiefs]

New favorite companion quest can best be summed up as:

Rook: this gingerwort tea ain't shit

One hour later

Assan looking at Davrin's pocket probably: The warden's are lying to us, Rook.

[sha-lyuzar]

It is delightful to play a dwarf in datv. Harding's first personal quest was really fun as a dwarf. Just two surface girls bonding over their newfound enthusiasm for the Stone

[dudettrin101]

Lucanis is a Short King

*possible mild spoilers in the subtitles*

My rook is the shortest possible height for a human, she's only about a head taller than Varric and Harding, and She and Lucanis are the same height.

[sleepfight]

⚠️ VEILGUARD SPOILERS ⚠️

A few people asked me about the lyrium poisoning scene from this gifset so here you go! There are multiple instances of Rook feeling the effects of kissing a pretty girl lyrium and they are part of Harding’s romance path. I LOVE YOU MY TOXIC SHORT QUEEN

[invinciblerodent]

(Screenshot of a youtube comment by a user with a censored username that reads [sic] "Because BioWare was hissy pissy that people during Inquisition almost always had Stroud so they never thought twice to sacriface their Hawke's. For some reason BioWare was very much into idea of sending people to die. I don't know why.")

I'm not going to respond to the person directly because not only is it not really about them specifically, I'm also not willing to try and argue with people on fucking youtube of all places. Theirs was just the comment that seems to have broken my particular camel's back.

Because I'm getting very, very annoyed with takes like this.

It really is beginning to seem like there are certain kinds of people, certain fans of things, to whom the creators of any media (and this isn't just BioWare, or just video gaming, this seems to be a phenomenon that is present pretty much across the board) just cannot fucking win, and whatever actually ends up happening within the story in question just winds up being interpreted as a bad and superficial writing choice retroactively.

Like I may have just been watching way too much content about science communication and conspiracy theory debunking lately, but I genuinely am starting to feel like it would not be as big an exaggeration as I wish it was to say that certain people seem to just grab a conclusion they had ahead of time (in this case "the game is bad"), and as they watch/play/read, work backwards from there, twisting and forcing every single thing that leads up to it (including their own opinions) to justify their fucking store-bought conclusion after the fact.

If there is a less emotionally impactful solution to a dilemma (even if it relies on the player having made a specific series of choices throughout the series- I for one have never met Stroud organically), and the endgame goes off without any unpreventable deaths, then the choices don't matter enough. It needs to hit harder, it needs to be more impactful, it needs to hurt more, BioWare bad.

If, however, there is a consequence to an action, or a choice that needs to be made, which results in a very real, tangible loss (such as the death of a companion), one that you cannot do anything about, then it's handwaved away as the writers being "hissy pissy" and just, for some reason, wanting their characters to die for a cheap emotional punch, BioWare bad.

And to me that desperately begs the question: what is the correct choice they could have made? What could they have written that was right, and honest, and true, and just the right balance of inconsequential and impactful? Is loss a good and useful narrative device only when it's not actually being used, and a cheap gimmick otherwise, when it is there?

What choice could they have made that would have changed the foregone conclusion of a person committed to believing that whatever choice was made is bad?

Because that's what this person, and many others, seem to be telling me. That the right choice is always whatever choice isn't being made.

And that sounds like a fucking miserable way to engage with any text.

[biblicalhorror]

Finally got to what is (I think) the climax of taash's gender storyline last night [SPOILERS]

First, I want to say I think Taash as a character and what they're going through with gender struggles makes a lot of sense. Qunari traditional gender roles vs. Gender roles in Rivain are naturally at odds, so it makes sense that they'd not really feel like they fit neatly into any role. Their nonbinary identity makes sense, particularly with their personality being very "specific labels are confusing, words are not my strong suit, I just wanna be me" kind of attitude. I used to say that they should have come up with some new qunari-specific words for nonbinary, but I think given the broader context of this conversation being not just about gender but also about Taash feeling torn in multiple directions culturally, it made sense for them to use a more nonspecific term like nonbinary, particularly if Rook encourages them to embrace their Rivaini side.

I also liked hearing Shathaan talk about how she essentially had to go against her own "gender role" so to speak, being a scholar rather than a mother under the Qun but still choosing to put Taash's wellbeing above her own by escaping the Qun after giving birth to Taash, presumably instead of handing them over to the tamassrans, because she was worried that Taash would be exploited and raised as a weapon for the Qunari army. I really believed that a scholar would see her infant start to breathe fire and immediately worry about the broader implications re: imperialism and violence. I think that was really interesting insight on her character's values and motivations and gave some new dimension to the gender talk.

Also, I will say that as a nonbinary person myself, this scene felt extremely familiar to me. Shathaan reminds me of my own mother in many ways (she was also definitely meant to be an academic rather than a mother, she cares deeply for her children but shows it through constant criticism and disapproval, she would absolutely refuse a meal I made for her bc it was "too rich" and demand raw vegetables instead) and I'm sure that was the intention here. Because it reminded me so much of my own coming out to my mother, I did feel emotionally invested.

However, that brings me to my main gripe: what I don't get is why Shathaan seems so tied to, let's face it, human ideas of gender and gender roles while also clearly basing her own identity around gender in the Qun. It's been previously established that "men" are soldiers and generals and occasionally spies under the Qun, and "women" are basically everything else, from scholars to mothers to artisans, and while there is generally an assumption placed on you for your assigned gender at birth, genitals are broadly irrelevant to those categories and it is not uncommon for people to switch categories based on aptitude. It's very strict and austere from what we know, but Taash being a "woman" or not seems like it should be mostly irrelevant to a follower of the Qun, especially because Shathaan seems to know that they are a fighter regardless. If anything, she should be confused that Taash isn't a man. It's not like we see her trying to get Taash to pursue "womanhood" under the Qun by honing non-combat skills. I just don't get her angle, and it frankly feels like the writers weren't really thinking about what an authentic perspective would be from this character and they're just kind of copy/pasting a common real-life dynamic between a nonbinary child and their parent onto this conflict instead of really taking the time to reckon with how this perspective would look within this fictional culture. At the same time, they're using these words and phrases to show us that they DO in fact remember established Qunari lore, which honestly took me out of the scene a bit because none of it really follows the same logical path. It confuses me, to be honest.

I still haven't finished the game yet, so maybe I will change my mind again. Who knows!