#my thoughts on dialogue choice

[writerfromshikahr]

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

Why I choose the dialogue I do. Random thoughts I've tried to put into some sort of sense.

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

"I can't believe...so much happened. I don't know how to feel."

Rook will say this to him. They're are lost, unsure of what’s real, safe, or even what they're allowed to feel, and then there’s Lucanis—kneeling (though I believe he is squatting) before them, meeting Rook at their lowest, anchoring them with his unwavering devotion.

His words, "I do," hold so much weight. It’s not just about how he feels; it’s a declaration. He’s telling Rook that even in all the chaos, confusion, and pain, he’s certain about them. His response is exactly what Rook needs in that moment. He isn't asking them to figure things out, to simply move on, or to pretend that nothing has happened. Instead, he offers them his certainty and love as a guiding light.

The gentle kiss isn’t just affection—it's a promise, a lifeline, and a way of saying I’m here and you’re here.

And that quiet, "I know exactly how to feel," is him saying he’ll feel for both of them until Rook can find themselves again. And you just know that, in true Lucanis fashion, he’ll never let them doubt his love or their worth ever again.

Rook's, "Just don't leave," is heartbreaking. It’s not just about physical presence—it’s them begging for an anchor, stability, for someone who won’t abandon them when they feel so lost.

And Lucanis, without hesitation, meets their plea with absolute conviction.

"Never."

For someone like Rook, who’s endured so much loss, doubt and isolation in the Fade, that kind of reassurance is everything. Lucanis saying "Never" isn’t just an answer—it’s a vow. A declaration that no matter what the world throws at them, he’ll stay.

And you know he’ll back up that promise every single day. Lucanis isn’t just saying the words; he’s living them. Even when he’s consumed by his fears and doubts, even when his world is crumbling, Rook is the one thing he’ll hold onto.

Their love isn’t flashy or overdramatic—it’s grounded in moments like this. Quiet, deeply intimate exchanges where they show, in every word and gesture, how much they mean to each other.

And because of this, Rook can start to believe that they are not alone, he'll feel for both of them, he sees them, loves them, and will fight to stay by their side.

Always.

[wild-magic-oops]

Ketheric referring to Durge as a "mad dog" vs Gortash referring to Orin as that in contrast to Durge

[moeblob]

I love Chris so much you guys.

[pinkfey]

i don’t know if this is a lord of fortune rook-specific thing or an elf-specific thing but that random lore drop that rook was a tevinter slave was uhhhhh upsetting and disgusting

[maddymoreau]

I'm enjoying Fallout 3 a little more but there’s one thing that’s extremely bothering me.

How come, in the dialogue options, I can NEVER can mention, I was FORCED to leave the vault?

I didn’t have a choice but to leave. Jonas Palmer was beaten to death in attempts to get info about my father James. The Overseer was going to have the same done to me if not WORSE.

The Lone Wanderer: "So they killed Jonas, and I'm next, is that it?"

Amata: "Yeah. It's lucky I got here ahead of them. But we can't stand here talking! You're got to get out of here!"

I understand my father didn't know this would happen. That he simply thought I wouldn't be able to leave the vault after he escaped.

But the fact I can never explain what happened when reunited with him is just so ODD!?!?!!?

I COULDN’T STAY!!!!!!!

I FEEL LIKE THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU SHOULD WANT TO KNOW DAD!!!!!

WHY ARE THESE MY ONLY OPTIONS?!?!?!?!!!!!

Why give me that entire section where I had to escape the vault to avoid MURDER!!?? If they were going to back me in a corner (dialogue wise) that I would've gone after my father no matter what.

It would've made the dialogue option, "Why would you throw away the life we had?" WAY MORE INTENSE AND INTERESTING IF I COULD TELL HIM HIS ACTIONS UNINTENTIONALLY AFFECTED ME!!!

It could've been followed by a cute bonding moment where he apologizes and says while this life was never what he wanted for me he'll now help me adjust however he can.

[cursezoroark]

confrontation

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Talia saying Jason with 24 hours and a survival kit, fresh from the pit, couldn't be tracked by Ra's is interesting

And oopsies I liveblogged all of lost days in the tags of this post

[danielnelsen]

so if you romance and ascend astarion you can kick him in the balls when he tries to turn you and it’s just very funny, he’s so pissy about it. so much for the most powerful vampire of all time or whatever, he stamps around like a toddler and then leaves forever

[ghostlycod]

“I have this scene in my head for my fic that I really love but i don’t feel like writing all of the other stuff to get to it.”

I see this comment like 5 times a day in fic writing spaces lol

a scene that you don’t want to write is a scene you don’t want to read. don’t write stuff you don’t want to read.

me, personally: wait until the scenes that get you to that first initial scene you were excited about are just as interesting as that scene too. it won’t be the first, second, or third thing you think of. if u have a scene you really want to write, write that, and keep writing only those exciting scenes that come to you. eventually you have a million interesting scenes for your fic and they become puzzle pieces for you to arrange and then eventually the strings come together and you realize you really do have an interesting way to get to that original scene, and you’re just as excited to write it, if you haven’t already written it when you were brainstorming other scenes earlier in the writing process that you didn’t even realize could carry your story like that.

[tewwor]

continued from this! — @brazenlystrong

Sit.

So, he does.

Not another word is given life until the sorcerer finishes speaking in full. A smart decision on his part, really. There'd already been an inexplicable unease burrowed deep prior to entering. Practically second nature to pick up on such things after being in this line of work for so long. Which is the exact reason why he's completely and utterly appalled at what's aired out. Has been the moment the students barely made it to the car post exorcism — his car.

Hands ball into fists where they lay atop his lap. Tempting as it is to look away — look at anything and anywhere other than Gojo — Kiyotaka doesn't. Something iron wrought keeps his furrowed gaze on that single blue eye. Even if remorse consumes the entirety of his features and posture, it'd be an injustice to cower from such blame.

"Yes, I double-checked the intel before sending it." His voice remains steady for that much, at least. If there's one thing he can stay fully confident in, it's the accuracy of information. "And I take full responsibility for such a grievous error and oversight. I'll accept whichever punishment you deem fit." Uncomfortable as this may be, he doesn't shy away from it. If anything, it just pains him more to have ... There's a subtle shift. A slight waver in composure as he hesitates — weighs consequences the pros and cons of expanding further.

"Gojo-san, if I'm able to be frank?" Off the record, he means. Even fears of speaking too loudly, as if there are prying ears tuning in. And there might be. There probably is. Hence, the trailing off of his request and slight shift in gaze.

[goldentigerfestival]

Forgot to post this earlier but I did in fact comb the entire Vesperia script to determine how many times he uses ま/まあ throughout the game, along with a few other phrases he uses repeatedly. This counts all of main story, every single sidequest, and every single skit in the game.

Final counts were:

ま/まあ: 280

Ma/Maa; translates to "well". He uses this at the beginning of a sentence usually, but it's sometimes in the middle. "Ma" is usually more quick and snappy. "Maa" is more thoughtful and/or prolonged. Obviously it can vary based on context, but that's the general breakdown.

んじゃ and any variants: 133

Nja, along with variants such as "ja", "soreja", etc. Variants are counted when they're all used to express "let's get going", when they're about to head off ("ja" could be used in a sentence such as "ja/but then, why is xyz like this", etc). They encompass translations such as "well then" (let's get going implied. includes "so then", "then" "alright then", and so on), "we should be off", "let's get going", "let's go", etc. (not to be confused with 行こう(ikou), 行くぜ, (ikuze), and other similar versions of this phrase. That can also mean "let's go", but any instances of Yuri using that particular phrase was not counted because it wasn't a variant of, specifically, んじゃ, which is also his most common "let's go" ja variant).

おい / おいおい: 66

Oi/Oi oi; translates to "hey"/"hey, hey", though "oi" is more or less an accepted word in English nowadays.

おっと: 12

Otto (not to be confused with "oto", referring to sound); an expression of surprise that can translate roughly to "whoa there" (which is the most common translation I do see for it and what I'd use in most cases too, context of course varying). The reason I included this one despite it being so seemingly low in number is because it's not a particularly common expression, much less one used multiple times by a single character? It's so rare from anyone else, which is just a regular thing relative to Yuri and his dialogue/speech (i.e. most characters sparingly use phrases repeatedly, as compared to Yuri... as you can see lol. Other characters use these words/phrases, but nowhere near as regularly, if regularly at all).

Realized along the way I should've included やれやれ (yare yare, "good grief", "oh dear", "oh boy" etc), but by the time I realized I should have in case it was an interesting count, I was too far into the script to be able to handle going all the way back through it LOL.

No. No, I am not joking that Yuri used ま/まあ 279 times throughout the course of the game. That is to say, it could be more if I missed any, but on the assumption I didn't, that's where it stands.

Why do I love this so much? Because it's a very specific character quirk of a character I adore. I'm very fond of his repetition. Thank you.

[lyriumrain]

God. The convo with Harding and she says what happened to Kal-Sharok is unforgivable. I chose the "they did what they had to" line because like.... hello... at this stage Rook has already had to make an impossible choice, so I thought this was pertinent. But nope, not a flicker of recognition in Harding's response lol

Rook even says outright that sometimes people have to do unforgivable things to survive. Like hello 😂 Lucanis still doesn't talk to my character after that decision lol.

[thanes-krios]

apparently being slightly too neutral with Gale about the crown of karsus in sorcerer's sundries and giving a slightly cautious piece of advice about Mystra before he goes to talk with her means that no matter how many times you successfully convince him not to use the crown for himself and ascend to godhood, at the very end when you convince him one last time with a DC 30 check, he's confused why you're telling him no when you've been pushing him to yes this whole time, and then he fucking breaks up with you to ascend anyway.

[padmerrie]

It’s bad enough I had to watch Varl die in the most undignified and shallow way ever, but then I have to sit through 30 minutes of Tilda talking about art and Elisabet and space???  All over breakfast????  I’m sorry, but where was the option for Aloy to flip over the table?

[thestrangestwatermelonofall]

"I wouldn't do that if you aren't a ghost" well too bad I'm not a coward. I am currently standing outside and letting the snow fall gently around me. The beautiful sight of the snow falling, the sound of it hitting my hood but also the peaceful silence of the world around me, it is all wonderful and I am enjoying it all.

[olberic]

so the first time i played the da games 9 years ago i just picked the romances based on who i as the player liked, and my characters had very little depth bc i was just playing to try and maximize approval for everyone. but this time around im letting my characters develop more. im picking dialogue options that result in disapproval bc my characters are sticking to their beliefs. it also means the romance stories come about based on who my character ends up getting along with. heads up for talking abt my characters, itd be under a readmore if i wasnt using an ancient version of the app lol

so my city elf warden, lev, picked zevran. she had a hard time trusting humans after what she’s been through in the alienage, and though she comes to see morrigan as her closest friend, she doesnt warm up enough to leliana or alistair to pursue their more serious romances. did have the threesome with isabela. when zevran has the choice of going back with the crows, she realizes she cant stand the thought of losing him.

this time around, my marian hawke ended up being down bad for aveline, which surprised me, tbh. just so put out when aveline liked donnic instead (but i DID get the kiss scene. heheh). she eventually ended up with isabela, though i interpret the specific events of their romance a little differently than that first main romance convo. my hawke also flirted with merrill a bit, and was definitely fond of her, but it never sparked. this particular hawke is also a lesbian even though my first playthrough had hawke as bi. her absolute best friend ended up being fenris.

im still working through inquisition so im not sure who teolin (dalish, and the keeper’s second, not first, thank you very much) is interested in. im playing him as bi, and flirted a lot with cassandra at first, but rn shes mad at him for being so pro-mage. otherwise thinks josephine is cute and has been enjoying flirting with dorian, but is very much an impulsive sort than what the dialogue options strictly let me choose. highest non-romance approvals are with varric and solas, and has been getting along well with leliana, as far as he can tell.

im also not as invested in the romance as a whole this time playing the games. as a teen it was really exciting to have romance options, so that stuck around in my memory of the games. this time its not as important to me. yes im making a post about it because it is a commonly discussed element of the games but its not my main thing with them this time.

im appreciating the other relationships a lot more. lev struggling with deep distrust for humans while learning to trust alistair as an ally, her respect for morrigan, her appreciation for oghren’s straightforwardness. hawke’s love for her mother and sister, her unconditional support for anders and the mage underground, her honest discussions with fenris as her best friend. and while i cant say much for teolin yet, as the player im really enjoying interpreting his approval levels based on his beliefs and how that makes others see him.

and when my warden struggled for half the game to drag alistair’s approval up, and my hawke stood her ground when defending apostates against people she cares deeply about, and teolin’s pride in being an elf and a mage means hes shooting down his “inner circle”, its still really satisfying to me. not everyone needs to be uncomplicated besties like i thought they had to be when i played it the first time. the games are so political and give you enough freedom of expression to stick to what you believe (for the most part), so why not embrace it?