#miralla aldwir

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I wanted to post the whole exchange. This was too cute 🥹

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Oh god, I think I hurt myself. The dialogue choices I picked this time around are so much better... I'm gonna break my own heart later 🥲

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Last hug

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Thinking about how out of all my canon DA protagonists, Rook is the only one to get a straightforward romance (with a hint of HEA).

Mahariel/Alistair: She dodged a bullet by never finding out that Anora would throw her under the bus without a second thought. So she crowned Anora, didn't encourage Alistair to become king because he never seemed interested, and took the "easy" way out by (reluctantly) agreeing to Morrigan's ritual. If she had submitted to Cauthrien, well, King Alistair definitely would've left her heartbroken.

There's also the whole "Creators, do I really have feelings for a shem human?" crisis, y'know feeling like a traitor to her people for daring to love a human. And later on feeling immense (survivor's) guilt for not performing the ultimate sacrifice and irrationally believing she robbed Alistair of a better, more stable future. Which is why Alistair's romanced dialogue in DAI had me giddy, swooning and relieved:

"Happier than I ever dreamed possible. She's more than I deserve... And I hope I make her days easier as well."

Oh and let's not forget the Calling. That kind of puts a damper on the future.

Hawke/no one/the fade: RIP my Hawke. She had a fling with Isabela but the game bugged and didn't properly register their breakup... She couldn't romance anyone else or experience the full Isabela romance. If I had known that bug would happen I would've committed to Isabela lol.

In the Keep, I had her in a relationship with Sebastian for funsies. Except she's a mage and I personally don't believe a Sebastian/mage Hawke romance would end happily. Not unless he gives up the throne to Starkhaven, which I doubt either of them would want. Even by 9:52 Dragon I'm not sure Starkhaven or the rest of Thedas would realistically accept a mage as their Princess (he'd probably give the same speech as Alistair heh). So off to the Fade she went during Here Lies the Abyss.

Lavellan/Solas: It's Solas. He makes things complicated just by existing lol. Y'know as a quiet, not-humble, tea-hating, fade-obsessed dreamer apostate scholar. Not a god but still an absurdly powerful immortal elven mage straight out of Dalish legend. Maker of the veil. Sunderer of the titans and the Elvhenan of old. Leader of the elven rebellion against the Evanuris, liberator of elven slaves. The guy who played a hand in creating both the breach AND the blight. Who is "kind and wise and sad" and terrible at loving someone and being loved in return.

"The course of true love never did run smooth" is THEM. Ten years, man.

Rook/Davrin: Felt straight up like a Disney or Pixar romance - lighthearted and cute. I appreciated how level headed, grounded and confident he seemed. How he had a sense of humour but knew when to be serious. How he didn't have any overwhelming angst or drama in his life (after ten years with Solas yk...a girl needs a break!). It felt like Davrin truly understood what was important during all those round table discussions, like he and my (humorous) Rook were on the same page, that they definitely had inside jokes of their own. In a way, it felt like Davrin became a "rock for Rook".

Also ASSAN. My absolute favourite, my adopted baby griffin! While I would've liked to learn more about Davrin (which clan is he from? Does he have any siblings or surviving family? What's the origin of his scar?), I was fairly pleased by this romance and all the cute family moments. Except for y'know that barely anyone in the game acknowledges it - it's only Emmrich, Davrin himself and Ghilan'nain of all characters lol.

(Neve absolutely does not count! Watch/read the banter again. Only Rook responds to Davrin's comment about their future; Neve doesn't even offer anything like "I'm happy for you two" FKSDLAFJ;LSAKD;LKF)

When it came to the scene where they discuss their future together(!), it felt only appropriate to allow at least one of my DA protags to have a happy ending. (At that time I had no idea about Solas/Lavellan.) I liked how the game followed up on the "settling down and raising our half-bird, half-cat kid" later in Act 3. Plus Davrin referencing an earlier cutscene, coming around and suggesting they "go flying one day"... That really warmed my heart <3

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[Spoilers for Bellara's Act 2 Lighthouse Cutscene - Non-romance vs. Romance]

Me (at first): Hey, it's Bellara writing! Me: ... Me: Oh! 🤭

Okay, I loved the body language and animations here - for both Bellara and Rook. So huge(!!) incoming screenshot dump:

I wonder who Bellara means by "people like me"? 🤔 Several possibilities come to mind.

Aww Bellara's voice acting made me feel bad for rejecting her 🥹😣 So I HAD to reload to see the other route!

ROMANCE ver.

Above: [Top left 👍] I enjoyed the humorous dialogue more, but Bellara appreciated the compliment on her writing 😄

Below: [❤️] Flirt option in response to "You're all so interesting."

If you do flirt with Bellara in this scene, she'll briefly raise her hands in front of her face when asking Rook if they're interested in an "us".

She's more embarrassed to ask Rook this question after they've just flirted with her! D'aww.

The music that plays near the end of this cutscene is cute too <3

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Bellara is cute... But I won't be romancing Bellara with this Rook. I don't think they really match each other, despite belonging to the same faction and having the same class... Maybe with another Rook, someday!

P.S. Bellara was actually my intended romance for my planned Veil Ranger / Veil Jumper, but I scrapped that Rook on Day 1 and rolled Miralla instead. (Miralla would've romanced Lucanis if things had been different.)

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[Spoilers for Act 2 Lavendel]

Surprise Veil Jumper dialogue option? 😯 (I'm posting most of the conversation so it makes sense)

Kudos to Antoine for actually understanding Rook's train of thought here

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Listen, I'm readying the adoption papers.

Make me Assan's next of kin, please 😭

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Narratively, I think I prefer this choice 😄

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Replaying from PONR to get my plat trophy...

I'm gonna break her heart </3

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[DA:V Ending Spoilers]

This image is so funny to me:

Here were have:

Morrigan, looking as Chasind-witchy as ever

my battle-ready Rook in her elfy elf armour, and

poor Inky showing up in the 2nd ugliest jammy jams we've ever seen

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My Rook looked like she was thinking, "Is this lady for real?" during the conversation with my romanced Lavellan lmao

The time I reloaded and my Rook got to express what she was really thinking lol:

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[Spoilers for Act 2 Armours, incl. Companions']

I'm finally(!!) at the Point of No Return. So here's my progress thus far:

Been focusing on a "Fire & Ice" mage and went all in on BONUS Mana + Mana generation. Plus chilled, frozen, burning, area and projectile ability dmg, etc.

Going with an Ice/Necrosis or Fire/Electric kit might've been more synergistic, but who cares? I don't need an optimal build for my difficulty setting (Keeper btw), and I cbb trying the more high risk/high reward play styles for my 1st playthrough.

(Some of the unique items I found late in my PT seemed interesting but I really cbb to respec my build, etc.)

^Elf squad waiting for me to bloody hurry up and finish this game already

Note: I wish Miralla's armour had a boot/no boots toggle option. It doesn't feel right trekking through all the muck without shoes!! 😂

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Edit: I caved and looked it up. Wtf are you serious I could've unlocked that chest all this time!!? 😭

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Rook & being "evil"

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My Rook & Davrin in a nutshell 😌

I love the way the feminine British VA goes "Okay."

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I couldn't help myself; I tweaked my Rook again (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

I think I'm finally satisfied. Straight away she looked better in cutscenes and her face stopped getting on my nerves lol (specifically in CS).

"New" rook vs. Old rook:

I was never happy with how my Rook's makeup appeared during cutscenes, which I've realised is partially due to a combination of:

the complexion + warm skin tone

bad lighting in CS (...too orange in the LH), and

my Rook's busy design.

So I dialled it back, switched up her hair colour and even changed 1 of the 3 face presets.

Random screenshots of grey-haired Miralla:

^Tbh this veil jumper mage outfit was the main reason I changed her hair colour; it clashed with her old teal blue hair too much 🥲 (Same with a bunch of other armour appearances...)