#neve is literally the most normal

[rookamell]

I fear that what was supposed to be a fun little au where Zara and Illario switch places in their arcs has accidentally turned into an exploration of my Rook's catholic guilt and a thesis on magical malpractice and the ethics thereof.

[icantdothistodaybruh]

yea sooooo I may have or may have not watched and instantly rewatched all kuro musicals in existence in a spawn of one week and now have roughly 40 screenshots to redraw from

I think I might be insane or something

[sun-marie]

pivoting a little off of that Neve post to say real quick that if you haven't played the Templar route of DAI i highly recommend it. Some highlights:

Calpernia vs Leliana > Samson vs Cullen. Samson, as an antagonist, honestly feels pulled out of thin air, and having an extremely weird rivalry between him and Cullen shines a spotlight on the very strange role Cullen plays in DAI and makes the player wonder why they aren't switched. Calpernia, on the other hand, is a nuanced and complex character with somewhat sympathetic motivations, and watching Leliana get to put her spymaster skills to use to find out more about her is a lot more satisfying imo. Additionally, Samson's maguffin of his Red Lyrium armor being weakened for the unavoidable fight pales in comparison to convincing Calpernia to stand down by telling her the truth about how Corypheus is using her.

DAI's infamous issue with Corypheus's lack of presence in the story? Somewhat alleviated in this route. It's still not great, but we actively see him manipulate Calpernia, multiple times iirc, and at one point we hear his thoughts throughout one of the dungeons. I sincerely believe the reasons Corypheus gained such a reputation for being absent in the story are because most players have only played the mage route

Everything involving Therinfal Redoubt. The Envy demon, the mind prison, Cole's introduction (a far improvement over his intro in the mage route), the slow and natural revelation of the Venatori's ultimate goals (as a opposed to "i accidentally got chucked into the future but some time goo and here's everything i was able to learn for the whole Hour I was there"), Ser Barris my beloved <3

Depending on how you play it obviously, but there's an argument to be made that dissolving the Templars may do more good and result in more lasting change than freeing the Circles, seeing as the idea of the circles, as an academic space for mages to learn to control their powers, was never really the issue and oppression and abuse of the Templars is the true root of the problem. YMMV here though

As mentioned in a previous point, no time magic! this streamlines a lot of the storytelling imo, and makes for an INCREDIBLY CRUNCHY introduction to Dorian, who shows up at Haven and, since he's allowed to talk like a normal person and not a Spirit of Compassion, brings a very intense energy to the scene. Imo this works best if this is your very first time meeting him, as in you never went to Redcliffe and never had to deal with the Headache that is Alexius, the character assassination of Fiona, and the illogic inherent to Time Magic

The Templar route is just better integrated into the rest of the story. Cassandra's personal quest where they mention the Lord Seeker's been replaced by a demon? That no longer feels like it came out of left field, we literally saw that and so this quest feels like payoff. Leliana gets more time to shine doing Spymaster Things so her personal quest about being More Than A Tool feels more impactful. The Inquisition being an organization that scares the Chantry makes more sense because we stole the Chantry's army. The Red Templars no longer feel like a "bad thing made worse for some reason" and instead feel like sad endings for good (or well, i should say "good") people, who could've found a better way with the Inquisition and instead chose to be This. Emprise Du Lion and the Emerald Graves are now completely skippable areas, aside from whatever sidequests you'd like to do there.

Unfortunately, the greatest barrier to entry is justifying the In-Character reasons for your Inquisitor to get help from the Fucking Templars, which is. not ideal. BUT if you can do that, I really truly believe it's the superior route

[heinrixvancunt]

your need grows teeth / dragon age / solas/rook / 1k in total / 1/7

written for dreadrook week 2025. @thelighthouse-server

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

That night Vittoria dreams.

Most of her dreams are nightmares. She sees Varric in the mist of her mind the most, she sees the lyrium dagger buried in his chest, sees the blood weeping from the wound as she pulls it out; sees him take his final breath. But there are others as well. She sees Davrin as a heroic stone statue looking down at her accusingly. She sees Neve covered in blight boils dying in her arms as the corruption finally takes over.

She doesn't dream anymore. Of normal, happy things – everything she sees is a twisted reflection of her own wrong doings, of regret and pain inside her bleeding broken heart. She is afraid to go to sleep most days, drinking black bitter coffee until she forcibly passes out on her desk writing letters to her dead friends or journal entries consisting of one single word: GUILTY.

But that night – that night Vittoria dreams of the Dread Wolf.

read on ao3 or below.

She sees him in the fog of her mind, taking calm steps towards her with an expressionless face, and she is immediately aware that this is not a normal dream. This feels the same as their conversations in the Fade did months ago. Like it's real.

Solas stops before stepping inside an invisible line between them. He cocks his head as he looks at her, studying her for a moment, before a small smile forms on his face.

“Rook,” he says simply, and Vittoria can feel shivers down her spine at him using her old nickname that she abandoned long ago when she found out that Varric was dead.

“It's Vittoria,” she says vehemently and something in Solas's expression changes. She can't quite decipher it, but it is almost as if he is pleased by her anger.

“Good evening, Vittoria,” he says after a long pause with an inclining nod.

For a few moments they just look at each other without a word being exchanged.

“This isn't a normal dream,” Vittoria says finally.

Solas almost smiles at the words. “What kind of dreams do you usually have?” he asks as if he is genuinely interested to know – though she has a feeling he is already aware of the truth.

“Nightmares,” she answers shortly, and Solas says nothing, merely just looks at her.

“I imagine so,” he says eventually, and Vittoria sighs. Her heart is afraid, beating an unsteady rhythm inside her ribcage, and she is terrified to learn that it almost missed him. She swallows hard, trying to hide the feeling inside her throat, but she knows that Solas is probably able to pick on it anyway.

“Why are you invading my dreams?” she asks without actually waiting for a real answer.

“Perhaps I was simply curious,” Solas replies. “Or perhaps I wanted to know how you fare in the absence of all your dead and gone companions. Your detective Neve Gallus died very recently, did she not?”

“Fuck you,” she spits out, and Solas tsks. He is clearly amused, which is the worst sort of feeling.

“How's the Fade treating you?” Vittoria says, delighted by the fact that Solas's smile darkens by her mocking words. “You must be so very angry trapped in there all alone with no one to talk to.” She pauses. “Desperate enough for company to come to me – the woman who literally trapped you in there.”

Solas opens his mouth to possibly say something cutting, but then… then his icy blue eyes suddenly soften into something almost intimate. “You are ever in my thoughts, Rook.”

Vittoria stares at him, blinking rapidly. “W-what?” she whispers, voice shaking.

Solas hums under his breath. “I have come to miss our conversations. You appear to be right – the Fade is indeed a lonely place to be alone forever.”

Vittoria has no idea what to say to that. So, she just stares at him, speechless and confused. Yet something in her is thrilled by the admission. The same something that has been ignoring her hunger for him from the start.

“I…” she starts. “That is unexpected.”

Solas nods once. “But I have seen you now,” he says, looking almost defeated. “And I can sense I am unwanted.”

“Wait,” Vittoria murmurs gently as he turns his back and starts to retreat back into the mist, back hunched with regret. Solas stops.

“I've missed you, too,” she admits, which is not quite the same thing (it is more), but neither of them care, because that is the moment Solas strides back towards her in haste, something feverish in his gaze, and kisses her.

There is nothing gentle about it.

It is feral, it is passionate – it is nothing she ever expected from him. From a man who is full of regret and sorrow, from a man who tried to destroy or save the world and failed. She revels in it, she loves it.

Vittoria cups the back of his skull and pulls him closer, which he allows easily. She is not angry anymore, she is desperate. Desperate to have him at least this one time until he is gone forever again. Solas’s soft thumb traces her jawline to her pointed ear, before he pulls back to look at her. Only for a moment before he dives back again, seeking her lips with her own in hunger.

They don't talk. They just touch each other like they are blind and trying to figure out what the other one looks like for the first time in the dark. The green mist forms around them, cloaking them underneath it, and when they break apart, their breaths are as one.

She holds him close for a long while and can feel the sudden tear tracks falling down her cheeks at the thought of never seeing the stupid bastard again. This is it. The end.

Vittoria closes her eyes as she eventually feels Solas disappearing from her arms like one forgets the memory of an old wound: slowly like sinking into the bottom of an endless ocean.

Next time she goes to sleep, only nightmares await her again.

[hellomehlo]

OC TAG GAME!

thank you to @emmieloumay for the tag!!! <3

I’m gonna tag @dudewheresmynug @otherpigeon @hedwigoprah @ronqueesha @dancing--lights @clairdeleon - no pressure, feel free to vibe or do whatever you like! 🤍🤍

so, without further ado…

OC: Rue Aldwir

General:

Name: Rue Aldwir

Alias: Rue (kinda hard to shorten it further!), Rook (Varric misheard her name and it stuck), Trouble (by Neve)

Gender: Female (she/her)

Age: 26

Spoken Language: Common: Fluent (most used), Elven: Near-fluent (some stuff still trips her up), Antivan: Recognises words and phrases (but cannot get the accent down to speak any of it) Tevene: Swears and assorted words (thank you, Neve)

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Occupation: NOT the Chosen One, Student (Carastes Circle, formerly)

Favourite…

Color: Plum Purple

Entertainment: Drunken-Chaos-Shenanigans, Tavern bands

Pastime: Singing (though she’d rather die than admit it to anyone)

Food: Dalish peasant bread with jam and butter, specifically the one her mother used to make for her as a child, cherries, or lemon syrup cake. Her favourite meal, however, is savoury pie!

Drink: Normally Rue will take whatever’s offered to her, but if she’s choosing, it’s probably gonna be something with Gin in it :)

Have they…

Passed University: Rue is essentially a college dropout in every single universe - book learning is notttt her thing. Besides, her only real tutor being executed and having to flee her Circle meant that her education was cut short before she could formally graduate. (context here!)

Had Sex: 100% - There was definitely some fooling around happening during her time with the Veil Jumpers, though never anything committed, defined or serious. Growing up in the secluded manner she did didn’t really lend itself towards developing relationships with her peers, so being with the Veil Jumpers was pretty much her first ‘real�� exposure to romance and physical relationships.

Had Sex in Public: Considering all the time spent in Arlathan Forest with her faction pre-ritual, I think this is a pretty safe ‘yes’, though the line gets a little fuzzy as to what ‘public’ is when your home is literally outdoors 🫣

Got Tattoos: None!

Got Piercings: None! She’s never been in a place in her life where getting her ears (or anything) pierced sounded like a good and/or convenient idea. She’s definitely open to it though!

Got Scarred: Rue’s largest scar is a long, jagged thing on the right side of her neck, and injury she sustained from a Sentinel’s axe catching her off-guard. Being the only mage in her party, she wasn’t able to patch herself up, and thus, it never fully healed over. She’s also got a very faded slash on her upper left thigh from a spar!

Had a Broken Heart: Not in the traditional sense - she’s definitely drifted away from people, which hurts, but considering nothing has ever really been set in stone, this one’s hard to answer!

Are they…

A Cuddler: Physical touch is a big yes, so absolutely 🙏

Scared Easily: Definitely depends on her level of familiarity with the environment, but she definitely tries to play it cool most of the time.

Jealous Easily: Not really pre-ritual, on account of the general vibes during her time with her faction. She kind of just assumes that’s the way things are, but once she zeroes in on Neve? Oh boy.

Trustworthy: Yes! She tends to second guess herself here and there, but she can keep a secret well enough, and if she’s tasked with something, she’ll always do her best to follow through.

Family…

Sibling(s): No siblings! Only child vibesssss

Parents: Yes (?) Her mother, Eirian, was a runaway mage from the Dalish clan Oranavra where they’d settled on the Nocen Sea coast. She met and quickly fell in love with Varren, an elven Crow informant from Antiva, and, with little money and nowhere else to go, they eventually settled in an alienage in Ventus. After Ventus’ fall in 9:44 Dragon, it’s very likely that, as a mage, Eirian fell prey to the Antaam’s qamek-ification if she didn’t make it out ahead of time, while Varren’s fate is, as yet, unknown.

Children: I’m gonna be so fr, I don’t know if Rue has a maternal bone in her body - I’d never really considered this angle until this question. I think if Neve wanted them, she’d be very supportive, but she’s kinda perfectly content to just live with Neve and a couple of cats in her apartment in Minrathous! Though, now that I think of it, it would be really sweet for her to be able to raise a child and give them the kind of childhood she wished she got, so I don’t knowww 🥺🥺

Pets: Do the alley cats of Ventus count?

[melissa-titanium]

mel if the mob psycho 100 characters were to get burgers what do you think their orders would be (drinks included)

OK WAIT SO IVE NEVE R EATEN A BURGER REALLY . ihad a vegetable patty Once and hated it . so i am not a burger expert but. ☝️ i will try for you. ALSO ILITERALLY HAVE NERVE DRINKED SODA SO IWILL ALSO TRY MY BEST ON THATR

i think reigen would order something inadvertently very fucking messy. like he's not about to spend all his savings on a damn burger so hes not getting like. anything SUPER BIG but he gets something reasonably big because. Borger. the one shot of him eating a burger... also he'd get like a smoothie or somethinh. fruity. GET IT BECAUSE HES A. FAAAAAGGOT sorru reigen i love you

tome same thing except she literally saves allowance to get somrthing about the same size as whatever reigen is getting and then takes like 3 bites and decides. wow this is disgusting. and doesnt finish it. also her gamer juice (baja blast)

ritsu and shige both come off as relatively light eaters to me so i dont think they r getting anything crazy. ritsu however is probably getting domrthing insane like just two burger buns and lettuce and eating it as if its totally normal. "i dont like the texture of the patty" people ask him why he foesnt get something like salad instead but shigeo is like Leave him alone. and they do. he eats his lettuce pattyless burger in peace. shige is a basic bitch he just gets a burger. regular burger whatever that is. aldo fries his fries :) they both get some kinda lemonade... i think ritsu likes pink lemonade. shige WOULD get milk but i imagine he doesnt because the texture of burger and milk combined is unpleasant

sho is eating something completely normal and mundane but he like. quietly pours hot sauce on it or something just for the extra pop. thats not me going Haha omg fire boy crazy chaotic Lol!!! i just sincerely think he would do this. that and i imagine his spice tolerance is very low so he just keeps doing it for shits and shiggles . he'd get a sprite :)

TERU. he's getting multiple burges of different kinds. whats something absurdly large? hes getting that ok. hes a growing boy. ❤️ he orders like a third of the thing s on the menu and then when the waiter comes back around hes like Oh, and- also i think he'd get either a slushie or orange juice... WITH PULP. CRUCIAL

I THINK SERIZAWA AND SHIGE ARE THE TOW MOST NORMAL PEOPLE HERE. I feel like szawa wouldnt really care for fast food, being more used to home cooked meals from his mama :) and shige just orders a burger like a normal person

[utilitycaster]

for the controversial opinions thing: Neve and Lucanis's romantic relationship is good actually.

obviously, agreed; I literally considered the potential of their relationship to be an outright selling point for the game, and I've alluded heavily to it in a few posts, but time to actually talk about it.

I don't think you can ENTIRELY discount all criticism on the basis of the fans from which it comes, because that's an oversimplification that fails to provide any sort of defense, just a counter-attack. WITH THAT SAID it does feel like the vast majority of criticism of the relationship comes from people who have a very "I can fix him...and ONLY I can fix him" attitude towards the Rook/Lucanis romance option and are looking for something fraught and dramatic and angsty and are mad that Lucanis is not looking for that in his relationship, either with Rook or with Neve. Like, I cannot stress that the fact that the most popular non-Crow Lucanis romance option is Rook Mercar is WILD to me when it should be the least popular by a country mile has been ENLIGHTENING to say the least. I definitely think the fact that Neve is a woman of color does not HELP but I think even people who like Neve and are not being racist or misogynistic towards her are still mad that Lucanis is depicted as, well, bisexual but not playersexual, and he still has clear preferences and Neve is among them. (I have NOT seen the same criticism among Neve romancers which is interesting to me and I think that again while racism/misogyny play a part, I don't think people are interested in that same I Can Fix Her/I Am Her OTP narrative).

Anyway getting to the actual relationship and why it's good: Neve and Lucanis are both people who are quite private about their lives but in different ways. Neve doesn't show vulnerability out of cynicism and the way she's had to force herself not to get too invested because she's lost people in her line of work, whereas Lucanis doesn't because he is proud. Neve's response to you choosing Treviso is "you don't care about Dock Town; most people don't and it bothers me but I can't show it does, because if I did I couldn't go on doing my work." Lucanis's response to you choosing Minrathous is "I begged for your help publicly and you turned me down, so I'm never asking for your help again." And they both, despite those separate motivations, instantly get how the other feels. Neve doesn't blame Lucanis because she's also fighting for her city! Lucanis doesn't have the same hangups about Neve because she was ALSO begging for help.

From what I know they also romance each other in a way not unlike how they romance Rook, and I think that's indicative of like, a well-formed character with clear preferences. Like, they are people who would, indeed, like each other. Everyone in the Veilguard has a great deal of pride in what they do, that's kind of the point, but Lucanis is an extremely patient and cautious person in romance, and Neve responds to that! If you're not going to do a full wisp stakeout with her she's not interested! And Neve is both extremely kind towards Lucanis and supports you telling him he shouldn't be used to Spite taking control, but doesn't turn this into a melodramatic "oh you poor thing" production, and a lot of what Lucanis wants is to be treated kindly but normally.

The canon banter they have about the relationship with other companions really boils down to, well, I know it gets used a lot, but the EEAAO Laundry and Taxes line. They are both people who have suffered greatly but what they're looking for is someone who will make them coffee at four in the morning and be patient when they're not forthcoming. Essentially they're BOTH really sensitive to being treated as A Project To Be Fixed and want someone who will not do that, and who will instead be patient and domestic and blissfully undramatic with them and give them space to open up rather than push them.

I started to go off about this in the tags and realized I should put it in the post but: I think a lot of people DO understand the companions/factions are all genre stories but DON'T get that the companions do NOT (with the possible exception of Taash) want their romance to be that genre. Lucanis is in a soap opera and Neve is in a detective story and BOTH of them want their love life to be a respite from that, not more of the same.

[girlwithadragonheart]

Chapter 1 - The Demon of Vyrantium

This story will have spoilers from the game. Like entire quests. If you don’t want those don’t read this. You have been warned.

Rook x Lucanis

Summary: The gods strike at D’Meta’s Crossing. Neve suggests hiring the Antivan Crows and the most respected mage killer out there, turns out he has problems of his own.

Word Count: 8.9k

Warnings: graphic violence, mentions of slavery, cursing, let me know if I missed something it's so long I lost track

A/N: I told you I’d take more creative liberties with the next one didn’t I ;3

Prologue DATV Masterlist Chapter 2(WIP)

I sat across from Neve and Harding at the circle table in the lighthouse to go over next steps.

“So. We stopped the ritual,” Neve said.

“And Varric paid the price,” Harding answered.

“Hey. Varric made his choice to go talk with Solas. He knew the risks. We all did,” I said.

“And now Solas is… gone. And we’re here, wherever here is—besides in the Fade,” Harding thought.

“Solas called it the lighthouse,” I told them.

“He did?” Neve questioned. “When?”

“While I was out cold. He showed up in my dream, and he’s really mad that we stopped his ritual.”

“Good,” Harding said smugly.

“He’s also trapped in some kind of prison in the Face. Not happy about that either,” I explained.

“You’re sure that wasn’t just a dream? It’s a reasonable reaction,” Neve said.

“Solas can speak with people in their dreams. Even kill them,” Harding told her.

“I’m safe on that front. I bled a little when I got knocked out. Enough that he can gripe at me, but not enough that he can make my head explode.”

“So Solas is using blood magic. Like any normal mage would to play with your mind,” Neve replied.

“But he’s not a normal mage. Like I told you, he’s an elven god,” Harding said.

“Putting together a nice ritual doesn’t make him a god,” she shot back.

“The gods of my people were incredibly powerful,” I interrupted their squabbling. “I don’t mean they were powerful like a skilled mage. I mean they destroyed entire cities. They shattered mountains. So no, they might not literally be gods, but they’re a lot worse than whatever you’re thinking.”

“Alright. Well, we’ve stopped the ritual, and there doesn’t seem to be an immediate danger. For now. You’re certain Solas can’t use blood magic to affect your mind?” Neve asked.

“I’m certain that if he could he already would have, but I’m still pissed at him as ever. I’m not certain of anything else, but we’re not out of danger,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Harding asked.

“Solas had two of the other elven gods imprisoned. When he got trapped, they escaped.”

“So those things we saw come out of the fade when the ritual went wild… those are…” Neve’s voice faded.

“Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. Two of the ancient elven gods that Solas rebelled against. Solas warned me about them being evil, which is pretty rich coming from the guy who just tried to tear down the Veil,” I said.

“You don’t believe him?” Neve questioned.

“No, that’s the problem. I do believe him. He said they were horrific tyrants.”

“Tyrants so powerful elven history remembers them as gods,” Harding added.

“Solas says Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain drew on the blight for power and became corrupted. That was when he imprisoned them.”

“So instead of one… god… running around, we have two. And they’re not just powerful, they’re blighted,” Neve scowled.

“We need to get out there and stop them,” Harding said firmly.

“Just like that? Without Varric? And you’re still getting back on your feet,” Neve looked over at her.

“I’m fine. We can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“We need to investigate. Figure out what we’re dealing with before we rush in and make things worse,” Neve told her.

“And how many more people will get hurt—get killed—while we spend time investigating?”

I cut them both off. “If Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are worse than Solas, we can’t go in blind. We need to know what they can do and what they want.”

“But we only have Solas’s word about all of this,” Harding said.

I shrugged. “Then let’s go investigate for ourselves. We find out what we’re dealing with, and then we take our shot.”

“Fine. The eluvian led us here instead of back to Minrathous.”

“Let’s hope it goes back to the ritual site,” Neve said. “Maybe we can find some clues at the scene of the crime.”

“All right, then. Let’s get back to the ritual site,” I said.

—------------------------------------

The second we stepped through the Eluvian, a group of Veil Jumpers were running at us for their lives. Some kind of old elven construct was chasing them, swinging a massive golden axe at their heads. One of them, a woman, was using her magic on a device in her hands, trying to stop the construct, but it didn’t look to be working.

One of them got knocked to the side against a boulder, groaning from the impact. An older dark skinned elf parried the swings of the mighty axe, giving the girl time to work. The construct swung past the elf, the blade going through the device in the girl’s hands. As the device broke, the construct shut down, falling limp.

Harding seemed to know the older elf and the girl. She addressed them as Strife and Irelin. She told us that she met them with Varric when they first started the hunt for Solas. Veil Jumpers, she said they were called, experts in ancient elven magic.

Strife told us millions of artifacts are being faulty and coming alive because of Solas’s ritual, pointing the finger at us because we were supposed to stop him.

I informed him that we did, in fact, stop him, but Solas was now trapped in the Fade and two of the Evanuris escaped. The Veil Jumpers knew the extent of the horrors the Evanuris caused centuries ago. 

“I was really hoping Solas was lying about all of this,” I told them.

Strife frowned. “The god of lies, but some things are sacrosanct, even to him. He might be a bastard, but he’s a damned sight better than the Evanuris.”

I snorted. “No kidding.”

They still had dozens of Veil Jumpers unaccounted for, but Irelin said if we could find Bellara Lutare it would be a massive assist. Apparently, she was the best there is at working with the ancient elven artifacts. She was off looking for one before the ritual shook everything loose.

Harding told them we would go and get Bellara, but I told her to stay behind and help the Veil Jumpers because they needed her. Definitely not because she was still injured and way too stubborn to see sense.

—--------------------------------------

“Protocol is to wait at least a week before sending anyone to look for me, I’ve only been gone for three days,” she said, twisting her hips back and forth in place like a child being scolded.

“Well, things have taken a turn for the worse, I’m afraid,” I told her. “Our gods are back and they’re trying to take over the world.”

“Our gods… I need a moment,” she said.

“Take all the time you need. It won’t help, unfortunately, I’ve known for days and it still hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” I replied.

“That is quite a predicament.” She sighed, looking around. “All right, but I need your help first, I’m on to something big here.”

“Just tell me what you need,” I smiled.

“We’ll take what we can get,” Neve told her.

As it turned out, Ancient Elven ruins could be tricky. Barriers and old mechanical devices that were rare in these times. Luckily, it was pretty straightforward to figure out and Bellara was a great help finding our way through the ruins. Whatever work she had done with elven ruins and artifacts would definitely come in handy.

It was all fine and dandy when we found what we were looking for, except for the ogre that decided to pay us a visit and try to wreck our shit.

A lot of its attacks I could parry or at least redirect. Some I could only dodge, and I spent most of the fight doing so, shooting firebolts in between its attacks.

It finally fell, and I sheathed my dagger, fighting to regain my breath. 

Bellara found what she was looking for, the “Nadas Dirthalen” or the eighth archive or the archive spirit. Pick whichever you want to describe it, it was an artifact crafted with the knowledge of the gods and it could give us information we might need. If she could fix the crystal, that is.

We headed back to the Veil Jumper camp and they told us one of the towns they work closely with had gone dark. A place called D’Meta’s Crossing. With everything going on, it likely wasn’t a coincidence. Harding rejoined the three of us and we boarded a boat to go check it out.

—----------------------------------

D’Meta’s Crossing was on the far side of the lake. It was bleak when we approached on the water. 

“This isn’t right,” Bellara said. “The dock usually has people bringing goods to market, bartering and shouting… It’s always busy.”

“Stay sharp,” I said as I climbed out of the boat.

The main entrance to town was barricaded. Clearly not to keep anything out. We moved to the side, seeing a smaller barricade. I pulled myself over it, eyes going wide as I dropped down. The place reeked, and there was blight everywhere. These masses, they looked like rotting tumors, not the decay or stagnation of the normal blight, this was alive.

There were cysts that popped like blisters when fired at or hit with anything and exploded. The second I stepped foot in this place I felt I needed a shower.

We moved further in, sticking close together. There was a villager standing by a home completely taken over with the blight.

His face was drained of all color and his eyes were black. “What happened here?”

He stared at me. Well, through me. “Keep them inside. Listen to the mayor.”

My brows furrowed. I waved a hand in front of his face. Unresponsive. “What’s controlling them? Blood magic? The blight?”

We moved deeper in. The town square was even worse for wear. There were bodies everywhere taken over by the blight-cysts. We continued on, keeping an eye out for survivors. There was no one that the blight hadn’t taken over, either their bodies or their minds.

We came to a part of town blocked off by a wall of the blight. A bright red bulb pulsated at the center of it. I shuddered, taking a couple steps back and blasting cold from my fingers to minimize the explosiveness.We had gotten through it, but only a narrow passageway. Squeezing between a corridor of the blight was not on the top of my bucket list.

I would desperately need a bath after this.

We came to the other side and a giant mass of the blight stood in the center. At the center of it looked like a person was being held there.

“Mihlva!” Bellara gasped, running over to one of the bodies.

“One of your fellow Veil Jumpers?” I asked, watching the blight tendrils wrap around them and pull them away. I moved to the mass at the center. The man in it was moving. “Bellara!”

She looked over. “Jahel! He’s alive!”

“Bellara?” The man groaned.

“We’re going to help you… we’ll get you down, Jahel,” Bellara said.

A tendril snaked around his neck. “No… listen. The gods… the gods have returned. I saw… them. I heard their voices.”

“The gods did this?” Bellara questioned, panic evident in her voice.

“A blood ritual,” he said. “To release the blight. The villagers… they said they needed power… Bellara… be careful…” That tendril looped around his neck twice over, caressing his lips as he spoke before tightening around his throat.

His body was strangled, blood spilled to the cobbled streets, the blight pooling at our feet. The ground shook, and I heard someone shout for help.

We ran through the remains of the village, shooting down the blight we could along the way. Coming through an archway of it, we came out to the other side of the village. A man was wrapped in barbed fleshy pink tentacles, a writhing mass of the blight.

“Help me! Hurry!” He yelled, panicked.

The ground shook and a dragon shot up into the sky, screeching as it landed, crushing debris underfoot.

“No! Please!” The man yelled as the writhing mass drew tighter around him. I looked between him and the dragon, feeling my chest tighten. I stepped forward, putting two fingers to my lips to produce a loud whistle.

It took a step toward me, and I stared it down as embers floated from its mouth. After a moment, as though fighting a command, I watched it back off and fly into the horizon, roaring as it went.

I took a breath, approaching the man in the mass. 

“I know you,” Bellara said. “You’re the mayor of this town.”

“The village… the people… are they…?”

“Blighted. Dead. All of them,” Harding said.

“You gave them to the gods, didn’t you? Didn’t you?” Bellara spat.

The mayor sobbed. “They were in my head… infecting my thoughts. They made me do it… Please, help me!”

“Deep breaths… Tell me what happened,” I said gently. If it really was blood magic he may not have been acting completely of his own will.

“I tried to protect people. You have to believe me. The gods told me to lure the Veil Jumpers to the center of town. The others were to be rounded up and kept safe. They would be the first to witness the glory of Ghilan’nain’s new creation… She showed me gold. So much gold…”

“So you brought the Veil Jumpers to the middle of town…” I said.

“For a blood sacrifice!” Bellara cut me off.

“Because the gods needed power,” Neve concluded.

“Did you know what the gods would do?” I questioned him.

“The Veil Jumpers… they were just strangers. I thought if they were taken first, everyone else might be spared.”

“So you did know!” Bellara yelled.

“The gods exploited his greed and fear,” Neve said.

“I’m supposed to feel sorry for him? I say we leave him right here,” Bellara said.

“But I’ll die. The blight’s everywhere. What if the dragon comes back?” He panicked. “I understand what they do now. I won’t be tempted again! I swear!”

“Rook?” Harding asked.”

I sighed. “Let’s get him out of there.”

“What? This entire village is dead because of him.” Bellara argued.

“I know.”

“Then why spare him?”

“We don’t kill people. Not like this. We’re not murderers. We’re not like the gods. We are better than them,” I explained. “If we leave him to be a source of their power we’re no better than he is.”

“Thank you… I think,” he said.

“I didn’t ask for your gratitude,” I snapped.

“Then if I may offer some advice: steel yourself. I felt their power, the promises they made. It’s irresistible.”

“Then try harder next time. Don’t make me regret saving you,” I said firmly.

“Yes, of course. But you should be worried about the rest of the world. Or this will be our future.”

—---------------------------------

We made our way back to the Veil Jumper camp. We were speaking with them when an old friend of the Inquisition, Morrigan, made an appearance. She told us to find Solas’s ritual dagger and that the eluvian at the lighthouse should go anywhere there is an existing eluvian. Bellara offered to come with us to fix it.

I just wished Varric was here to give better advice. He was always stronger at speeches than I was. Doing this without him to guide me felt wrong.

Neve, Harding, and I made our way back to the ritual site. After a wild goose chase after a darkspawn that stole the dagger, and watching Harding get possessed by some kind of new strange dwarf magic—which doesn’t exist, mind you—I was ready for a nap.

We came back to the Lighthouse and talked about Harding’s new abilities. I encouraged her to explore them but be wary. It wasn’t like any magic I’d seen before, and dwarves didn’t have any connection to the Fade, so it was completely new territory.

I went up the stairs, seeing a new area branched next to the hall leading to the infirmary. I could hear Varric snoring from here. At least I knew he was still alive.

I headed down that hall, pushing the door open to see an aquarium of sorts. There was a bookshelf to the right and a wardrobe to the left. In the center of the room was a chaise lounge with a bookcase behind it.

I saw my pack sitting in front of that bookshelf. Neve or Harding must’ve brought my pack in here. It made sense, it was a better place to sleep than the infirmary. I suppose I could spare a few moments to unpack my things.

I pulled Varric’s shaving mirror out, placing it on the bookshelf behind where I would be sleeping. Varric and his life lessons. I asked him how we were supposed to stop Solas, and he gave me the mirror.

“Take a long hard look in it, kid. It’ll always show the face of a hero who can get it done,” he said.

I don’t know if I see a hero’s face, but it’s a face that has seen a lot. Got a few new scars. Some that show up in a mirror, some that don’t. But Varric believed in me then, and he believes in me now. I can do this.

I moved to the small armoire on the right side of the room, placing an elven scroll down. A peddler gave it to me after I saved his caravan from bandits. He said the scroll went back to even before Tevinter. Said that elves had a rich history, “even more than the rest of us.”

Too many humans look down on us, even though elves were here first. It was nice to have someone see how much our people have done. I just wish I could’ve been a part of it.

On the opposite side from the mirror, I put my broken chains. I helped a lot of Minrathous slaves escape to freedom the night I met Varric, including my mother. Freed only to be killed in the chaos. Another time Varric had shown up for me. I remembered his hand on my shoulder as I wept over her.

“Come on, kid. It’s time to go. I’m sorry.”

Then the magisters cracked down in retaliation, and the Shadow Dragons decided I was too much trouble to keep around. We could have taken a stand and dared the magisters to come after us. At least people are free because of what I did.

I sighed, brushing my fingers over the cold metal before going to sit in the chaise lounge. Carefully, I laid back, letting my eyes drift shut. I was wound tight despite my exhaustion. I don’t know how long it took me to actually fall asleep.

I woke in the Fade, Solas’s voice already penetrating my thoughts. “Back so soon. It must have been worse than I thought.”

“Hello, Dread Wolf.”

“Ah, but perhaps I am mistaken. You may be here to correct me, to tell me that my concerns were unfounded. I am, after all, remembered as the god of lies, treachery, and rebellion.”

Haunted, hopeless, hurting… a voice nagged at the back of my head. No, not nagged. Soothed. 

“So you’re gonna be insufferable about it. See, this is the reason nobody likes you,” I told him.

“I led a rebellion for centuries that culminated the creation of the Veil and the destruction of the elven empire.”

“Okay, this is among the reasons nobody likes you,” I corrected.

“My information was accurate. Now you realize that the danger is real.”

“I need to know what the gods are planning,” I said plainly.

“You are asking for knowledge no mortal in this world is privy to,” he replied. “If I am to share it with you, I need to know what makes you the right person to lead the fight against Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain.”

“Well, for starters, I’m the only one here,” I said, throwing my arms out and looking around the desolate prison. “And I stopped you, didn’t I?”

“You disrupted the ritual.”

“Yeah, I did. Even though I’m nowhere near as powerful as you. Even though I’m just a slave.”

His brow furrowed, and I saw him blink as the only hint of surprise. “You were a slave?”

“Yeah. Varric said you hated slavery. I suppose that’s one thing we can agree on.”

He only nodded. “Your plan is to tell me how powerful you aren’t?”

“I met Varric when he asked the Shadow Dragons for help with freeing an old friend from Venatori slavers. The Shadow Dragons had a safe plan that wasn’t going to work, and Varric wasn’t the only one with something to lose if we failed.”

“So you and Varric led an armed rebellion and dealt a devastating blow to the Venatori,” he finished for me.

“You did your research,” I said, looking him up and down.

“I would’ve been a fool not to. You and Varric were pursuing me for the better part of a year. I needed to learn who was hunting me.”

“Then you obviously also know that powerful opposition doesn’t frighten me. I find a way to get the job done, whatever it takes.”

“I suppose I was not so different when I started.”

“No,” a voice said, inches from me and lightyears away all at once. “You were not different. You are not different.” The voice of a friend.

“Cole.” Now, I did see the Dread Wolf’s surprise evident in his expression. “How did you…”

“You are trapped,” he said. “She is hopeless, haunted, hurting, just like before. Escaped one master just to be fighting another. You are not different,” Cole said, looking up at Solas. “Hello, Solas.”

“Hello Compassion,” Solas dipped his head in greeting. “It has been an age.”

“You left the Inquisition to free us, but it didn’t work. Instead you freed them. The Evanuris.”

“Someone got in my way,” Solas leveled a condescending glare at me from his high horse—or at least his slightly higher piece-of-floating-rock.

“People were dying. I heard their screams,” Cole said. “The Veil needs to stay.”

“Oookay, this is all fine and good, but what are you doing here, Cole?” I asked, turning to him. “I thought I’d seen the last of you when Dorian freed me?”

“I felt the Veil weaken, and I knew. I knew it was Solas behind it, I always knew, even when he didn’t want me to, even when he hid it from everyone else. I went back to that place where it’s still weakest, and I felt your despair. I followed it here.”

“The gods need two things to reclaim their dominance of the world,” Solas interrupted, clearly growing bored. “First, the blight. What exists in this world is a bare fragment of its power. The rest is imprisoned… until they release it.”

“What would they need to do to free the blight, and how do we stop them from doing it?” I asked.

“They will need to pierce the Veil to reach the blight’s prison. My lyrium dagger is one of the few artifacts capable of doing so.”

“We’ve already recovered it from the ritual site.”

“Excellent,” I could’ve sworn he almost looked proud, but I doubted the smug bastard was capable. “Then they will have to make their own. That will give you time. The second is followers. They have called themselves gods, and what is a god without worshipers to sing their praises?”

“I’m not gonna bend a knee to blighted murdering monsters just because their ears are pointed like mine. I don’t think many other elves are going to either.”

“Agreed. Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain care little for the elves. They will find worshipers among those hungry for power. Tyrants and bullies. The cruel and corrupt, who fear their own vulnerability and seize any chance to feel strong. If you hunt them, they will lead you to Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain.”

I laughed without humor. “You want me to pick fights with tyrants and bullies? Sounds fun.”

“I gave no orders. All I can offer are suggestions.”

“I’m on it. What else?”

“The Vi’Revas, the Lighthouse eluvian, can take you anywhere, if you master its secrets. Have you done so?”

“Not yet, but we’ve got one of the Veil Jumpers working on it. She’ll get it sorted, and we’ll see how it goes.”

“Yes. I suppose we will. And when you speak with Varric, please tell him that I… regret what happened.”

Cole put his hand on my arm, and the world spun for a moment before I opened my eyes. We were in a grove, the stars above us, trees towering around us.

“Woah.” I put a hand to my head. “Where are we?”

“The Fade.”

“Right…” I took a seat in the grass with a sigh.

Cole crouched down, fingers fidgeting with the blades of grass. “You feel heavy again. Like before.”

“Varric picked me up to help him, but I disrupted the ritual, Varric got hurt, and the gods escaped. That doesn’t much feel like helping.”

“Varric used to help me. He wanted me to understand things, I think.”

“I don’t know how to lead, Cole. I’m barely used to being in charge of my life.”

“You’re already leading,” he said simply. His head bowed, and he glanced back behind him, as though listening for something. “They need you, it’s time to wake up.”

I gasped sitting upright, my chest heaving and my palms sweaty. I hadn’t seen Cole in years. Not since I was a slave. Not since I was at my lowest in life. Shit…

I needed to talk to Varric. I wiped my hands on my pants, standing with a huff. Having Solas in my head might prove to be more hindrance than help if he wouldn’t let me sleep in peace.

I made my way out, rubbing out the kink in my neck, hoping he might be awake. If not, I would let at least one of us get some restful sleep.

I approached him, sitting on the end of the bed, legs crossed opposite where he was sitting up against a pillow.

“So Solas told the truth about the gods,” he said as I sat down.

“You heard? It’s bad, Varric,” I shook my head. “If you’d seen D’Meta’s Crossing…”

“The team needs to act fast… and it can’t do that with me leading from a bed,” he said. “You’ve gotta take point on this.”

My chest tightened. “I can’t do what you do. I’ve barely been holding it together in the short time you’ve been out.”

He shook his head. “You don’t need to do what I do. You just need to get it done. Rook, when I put this team together, what did I look for? A detective to find the Dread Wolf and a scout to get us the lay of the land. Exactly the people he’d expect me to recruit. Disciplined. Predictable. And then there’s you. Remember when we first met, kid?”

“Of course I do.”

“You risked your neck to bring down an entire slavery ring. Pretty much by yourself,” he grinned.

“I had help.”

“Sure. I got winded about five minutes in. You did most of the work. Ticked off a bunch of Minrathous big shots, but… You’ve got a knack, kid.”

I hugged my knees to my chest. “A knack for what? Almost dying?”

“Exactly. You’ve got a knack for finding a way through the wildest shit I’ve ever seen. With a plan that no one expects. You can do this,” he said with a softness in his eyes I’d only ever really seen when it was just us. The protective kind. “And don’t worry. I’ll still be here to talk if you need me.”

“There is something… D’Meta’s Crossing was awful. While we were there, we found one survivor—the mayor.”

“You took him back to the Veil Jumpers,” he said. Harding must’ve filled him in.

“Not everyone was happy about my decision…” I told him. “We’re just starting out and I’m already losing their trust.”

Varric sat up a little straighter. “The key to earning the team’s trust isn’t to only make decisions everyone agrees with. It’s showing the team that they can tell you whatever’s on their mind, even if they think you’re full of crap, and know you’ll listen. It’s showing them that you’re capable of making the hard decisions, even if they don’t agree.”

“When I took over at the ritual site, I had to make a call on who came with me to knock over that statue. It was the first decision I made leading this team, and Harding got hurt because of it.”

“You made a decision with the best information you had. Sometimes you do that, and people end up hurt. Or worse,” he said simply.

“What would you have done?” I asked.

“What would I have done? Probably gotten myself killed and failed to stop the ritual if you hadn’t stepped in,” he laughed. “A good leader isn’t someone who never makes mistakes: It’s someone who admits when they make one. That’s how you earn their trust.”

“Did Neve tell you about me talking to Solas in the Fade?” I asked.

“I had some good arguments with Chuckles back in the day. I can’t imagine being stuck with him in my head. But how are you feeling about it?” He asked.

“Your old friend is kind of an asshole, Varric.”

He chuckled. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall while the two of you get into it. Solas fought a rebellion against Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. He didn’t want to be a god. But he’s also a lot older and more powerful than any of us. He looks at us like we’re toddlers.”

“So how do I deal with him?”

“Act like you’re as smart as he is, and he’ll be insufferable. Show him you respect his age and experience, and he’ll remind you he’s just a man. Honestly, pick whichever of those pisses you off less,” he grinned.

“He also asked me to tell you that he regrets what happened. Hurting you, I mean,” I told him, letting my knees fall back to either side.

“Chuckles is sentimental. He could burn the world down, and the thing that would make him cry is a single flower with blackened petals.”

“He seems the type. Cole visited me. I know last time I told you about him you said he was with the Inquisition. He came to my dream with Solas too, and he looked almost… regretful, if you could even call it that.”

“Well, shit. How’s he doing? What was he doing?” Varric asked, shifting slightly.

“Apparently, he sensed my despair when he was checking out the ritual site because of how thin the Veil is there. He followed it back to me.” I sighed, standing and brushing myself off, whatever invisible dust there was. “I’ll let you rest.”

“You’re gonna be fine, Rook. Hey, one last thing before you go,” he said. “I’ve been racking my brain thinking of contacts who might help us with these gods.”

“You got any ideas?” 

“Nothing. But being a leader isn’t about having all the answers yourself: It’s about knowing who does. Neve has connections to a whole world that Harding and I barely know. A world you barely got the chance to learn. Might be worth talking to her.”

“Will do. Thanks, Varric,” I offered him a smile. One of the few I was sure I would be able to give in the coming days.

“Any time, kid.”

I closed the door behind me so he could rest as I made my way out to Neve’s floating office. She told me we needed to hire the Antivan Crows, but specifically their most feared mage killer. The Demon of Vyrantium. I had heard of his work, and most of us in the wards and servants’ quarters revered his assassinations of our masters. They had given us plenty of reasons to side with the trained killer over them.

Neve said she set up a meeting with their bosses. Next, she said that we needed to take a trip back home. The Shadow Dragons of course made sense to take out the gods in the capital city of Tevinter where blood magic was strongest. We had done so much work against it and the Venatori, but I was a bit worried about seeing them again after the stunt I pulled. We trained to be the best at countering evil magic, it was time we proved it. Hopefully together this time and not just me and Varric.

The Antivan Crows seemed our best bet to start off. I wasn’t ready to go back to Minrathous yet. Not after everything.

Neve and I made our way down to the Vi’Revas, the eluvian, where Bellara was working. We watched her tinker with it for a moment before it lit up, showing the path to what Morrigan called The Crossroads. A spirit appeared beside it in tattered blue robes. Though I tensed instinctively, I felt nothing malicious from it.

“The wolf’s fang. You carry it now. Old paths. A new journey. Through there. I will wait,” he gestured to the eluvian before fading away.

When we entered, the spirit introduced itself as the caretaker who goes where they are needed. The Crossroads was a beautiful place in the fade. Paths branched out, the caretaker guiding us in a levitating boat to each island of Eluvians. This place was slowly becoming tainted, though. I could feel the blood magic and blight like invisible eyes or a forgotten touch. It caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.

We made it to the eluvian leading to Treviso after killing some Venatori trying to take over the crossroads. Neve and I glanced at each other before stepping through. Treviso… One of the finest cities in Antiva, or so I’d been told. It was now under occupation by the Antaam. Hopefully our contact would still be able to meet us.

Neve and I made our way to the coordinates given to us, seeing a petit woman leaning against the railing of the bridge. She looked over as we approached.

“Welcome to Antiva. You must be Rook. Follow me,” she said, running off, leaving me to follow in her wake.

“And you’re Andarateia Cantori. Of the Crows?” I asked.

“Teia, please. Come, my associate Viago is gathering the others.”

We ran through the streets of Treviso, through the market and up the lattice on the side of a building. From there, we ziplined to a casino, the headquarters of the Crows.

“Welcome to the Cantori Diamond,” Teia said as we went up the stairs to the right.

As soon as I entered, I felt as though I was going to be interrogated, stripped of my valuables and tossed to the streets, if the expression of the woman eyeing me and the cane in her hand were anything to say for it.

Teia took up her spot on the left, a man with a very well groomed mustache to the right of her, followed by the older woman in the throne, and on her other side a younger man who looked way too charming for anyone’s good.

The man next to Teia spoke. “You’re the client?”

“This is Rook,” Teia said with a smile. “Did you want a drink? I promise not to let Viago near it.” It struck me how pretty she was. And the man next to her.

“Viago de Riva. Fifth Talon,” he introduced. “And this is Caterina Dellamorte. First Talon of the Crows.” He gestured to the woman in the throne.

“An honor. And you are?” I asked, glancing at the man beside her.

“Illario Dellamorte. Her grandson. What brings you here?” He asked.

“Right,” I took a breath. “My target is a pair of elven gods—or that’s what they call themselves. They’re ancient blighted mages. My detective says you have a man who brought blood mages and Venatori to their knees.”

“Lucanis,” Caterina said. “My grandson. They called him “the Demon of Vyrantium.” He was the one who did those jobs.”

“Sounds like there’s more to it,” I said carefully, tilting my head.

“Lucanis Dellamorte is dead. He was killed a year ago, now,” Viago said solemnly.

“What I say doesn’t leave this room,” Caterina said slowly. “The body our people brought back was not my grandson. It was dressed in his clothing, but it had been altered with blood magic to have his face.”

“My cousin is still alive?” Illario questioned. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” Something was off about Illario. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew that I would rather have dealings with Teia and Viago more than him in the future if we had any at all.

“His ship was attacked,” Viago interrupted my thoughts. “We knew someone sold him out… so you kept your suspicions to yourself.”

“But you’ve brought it up now. Why?” I asked, looking back to the First Talon.

“I’ve had eyes on the Venatori ever since they took my grandson from me. They were hunting your Dread Wolf. And what you did to his ritual threw them into disarray. They made mistakes. And now I have a location. The Ossuary. Where the Demon of Vyrantium is kept. Find this Ossuary. Free Lucanis. You’ll have your god-killer. And I’ll have my grandson.”

Something about the way she presented him twisted my gut. Like that was all he was, a weapon to be used and discarded. Even not having met him, the thought didn’t sit right with me. I knew what it was like to be seen only for what you could do for other people, and that was not a feeling I wanted for anyone else.

I wondered though, how a mage killer captured by the Venatori would feel about two Tevinter mages freeing him.

Illario led us to our lift to the Ossuary. I was almost relieved when he didn’t get in the boat with us. Surprisingly, he was the only Crow I had met so far that had major stab-you-in-the-back vibes.

We were boated out to the middle of the sea, the Crow mage with us parting the waters below us to grant us passage to the underwater prison. When we got there, bodies littered the sand, bloodstains running red. We passed over two dozen bodies as we made our way through the prison.

It seemed to have been some ancient elven ruins before being repurposed. It was a wonder it still functioned. If the wards on this place ever broke…

I didn’t want to think about what could’ve happened when the gods got released. I was more relieved I didn’t have to be the one fending off all the guards. We came to a Venatori barrier with three crystals connected to it that I beamed fire at before the barrier fell. A large corridor led down a set of stairs where a group of Venatori gathered.

“We don’t have to fight. We’re just here for Lucanis Dellamorte.” The mage in the center slammed his staff into the ground, the wisps of red blood magic gathering around its tip. “Get ready,” I said to Neve, who braced for a fight.

“Razikale, Dragon of Mystery. Lusacan, Dragon of Night. Hear your faithful call—”

A man in blue leathers flipped down from seemingly out of thin air, black and purple glowing wings sprouted from his back as he fell. He grappled the mage, pulling him as he spun so that the Venatori next to him stabbed straight through his comrade’s gut. He ducked as another sword came at him, kicking the Venatori in the gut. The cultist flew backward, impaling on one of the ice spikes surrounding us.

The man sprinted at the other two, a dagger in one hand and a rapier in the other. In a flash that was barely visible, he spun, slitting both of their throats before turning and putting his sword through the final cultist’s back.

He stood with his back turned to us, chest heaving. My eyes were wide. “I’m guessing you’re the reason we’re here,” I said carefully.

His wings flapped and dissipated as he turned back toward us. “Who are you? Who sent you?” He asked, the thick accent of Antiva coming through in his voice.

Something about his presence was calm, assured, even though he just murdered six people before my eyes. It drew me in, and I wasn’t sure I would have the strength to back out.

“My name’s Rook. Caterina sent me.”

“Caterina…” He looked at the ground. “But… you’re not a Crow.” He put his hands on his hips.

“I’m breaking you out of here,” I told him. “But… you’re not just you. Care to introduce me to your friend?”

“Rook. He’s possessed by a demon,” Neve said carefully.

“It’s complicated,” Lucanis said with a slight shrug.

“Caterina promised us a mage killer if we could get you out of here,” I told him.

“I can still work,” he assured me.

“Good,” I smiled. “Cause I’m pretty sure more Venatori are on their way. We have to get moving.”

“They have a vial of my blood. They can use it to control me. I cannot leave it in their hands. And… I had a contract when I was captured. One of my targets is here. Calivan. Crows don’t break contracts,” Lucanis said.

“All right, we’ll help. But in return, I need help killing some things,” I told him.

“I’ll owe you,” he said slowly.

“I’m sure we’ll owe each other before this is all over. Let’s go.”

We made our way back through the prison, coming to a huge gap that none of us would be able to jump across.

“What are you—Fine. He says he can help. There is something in the Fade close enough to grab onto.”

I watched Lucanis’s wings come out, energy flowing from his hands and a large piece of floating cobblestone came into being. “All of that… came from the Fade?”

“I’m as surprised as you,” Lucanis said honestly.

Eventually, we came to a room protected by at least six of the Venatori’s crystals powering the barrier. Behind it, was a massive garnished vial of blood. “Yeah, they can’t do anything subtle, can they?” I asked, aiming a beam of flames at it, making it explode on impact.

Through a close-by archway, there was a lift. We took it and it led to an audience chamber, a mage standing in the middle of it.

As we approached, Calivan did as all villains do, and started giving a long-winded speech. Something something, Zara said it would be ironic, he’s already the Demon of Vyrantium, now it’s just more literal. Lucanis smirked at me, glancing sidelong as Calivan went on his tangent, and I found myself smiling back. Something something she always leaves him to clean up the mess.

Maybe he should’ve picked someone better to follow.

I put my hands together, feeling the energy build between them as I loosed a death ray of fire and lightning right at his face. That’ll shut him up, surely.

Lucanis blinked at me as Calivan fell to his knees. “Sorry,” I said impulsively. “I know that was your contract. He was getting on my nerves.”

“Don’t be. Imagine how I feel,” Lucanis said, the corners of his lips twitching up. He spat on Calivan’s body. “The Crows send their regards.”

I glanced down at the ashen body, and when I looked up again I saw a purple version of Lucanis standing right beside him, and I blinked.

“The contract is done,” Lucanis said.

“Smells like blood. Ashes. Not done. Not yet,” The purple man said. From what I was sensing, this was his demon. Though he was closer to a spirit, not quite monstrous yet. I opted to ignore him for now. Not drawing attention to it was likely safer at least for the moment.

Lucanis just stared at him blankly. “Lucanis? Are you alright?” I asked.

“Careful, they know. We’re not right.”

“You cannot see him. I wondered,” he said, putting his hands on his hips.

“We clearly have things to discuss. Somewhere else,” I told him.

“Agreed. I think… it’s time I got some air.”

—--------------------------------------------

Back at the Cantori Diamond we found Teia and Viago looking at Illario who was leaned over against the table, breathing heavily. The two of them turned around and Teia’s face went whiter than I thought possible.

“Maker…” She said.

“Lucanis?” Viago’s eyes were wide.

Lucanis looked around at them. “What happened here?” He questioned.

Illario’s fist hit the table, and I flinched instinctively. “A message,” he snarled. “From Zara Renata. I can’t believe it. You’re home.” Illario put a hand on Lucanis’s shoulder.

“Zara… Her people got this close?” Lucanis asked.

“The woman who runs the prison?” I guessed.

“The Venatori witch who captured me,” he answered.

“Revenge for the breakout, maybe,” I said.

“Where’s Caterina?” Lucanis asked, eyes darting around at the three of them frantically.

“She’s…” Teia’s voice broke, and her head bowed with an impossible weight on her shoulders.

Viago came up behind her, hands on her shoulders comfortingly. “The Venatori got her in the confusion.”

“I got one of you back, only to lose the other,” Illario said, sounding devastated. I wanted to feel bad for him, but something still felt off.

“Lucanis…” I said softly. “I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“I need to work,” he said, shifting on his feet.

“Are you sure?” Teia asked. “You should take some time.”

“I don’t need time—I need a target,” he said darkly.

“You just got here, and already you want to leave again?” Illario questioned. How he didn’t understand was beyond me.

“Caterina gave me a contract. I’m not breaking the last deal she ever made. And I owe Rook. Once that’s done… I’ll come home,” he told them.

“I’ll return him in one piece,” I promised.

“Thank you,” Illario smiled at me. “Cousin. When you find Zara, I want—I need—to be there.”

Viago shook his head. “We’re under attack. Antaam on one side and now Venatori on the other? Forget revenge, we need you—”

“No, Viago,” Teia interrupted. “Zara came for us here. In my house. She took Caterina from my house. You find her and cut her heart out, Lucanis. Vi and I will hold down the fort.”

“I’ll give her your regards, Teia,” Lucanis said.

“For Caterina,” she looked around at all of us.

—--------------------------------------

“They’re the same thing. Mostly. Well, kind of,” Bellara said as I walked in.

“Except one will manipulate you. Or kill you. Or both,” Neve replied.

“But how do you get rid of them?” Lucanis leaned against the fireplace, one hand braced against it, the other on his hip.

“What’s everyone talking about?” I asked.

“Spite,” Lucanis looked back over his shoulder at me.

“The demon in Lucanis,” Neve said. “When a person gets possessed—the demon usually takes control.”

“And they turn into a monster. The spirit just… molds them. However they want,” Bellara added.

“I’ve heard of abominations being cured by killing the demon in the Fade. That’s not a sure bet, though,” Neve thought.

“Well, there’s one way. But it’s well… we’d have to, um…”

“You’d have to kill me,” Lucanis finished.

“That can’t be the only solution. Can’t we… reason with Spite, maybe? Persuade him to leave?” I asked.

“Talk doesn’t work on Spite,” Lucanis said.

“She won’t hurt you. How sweet,” Spite crooned, the ghost of his form next to me. He vanished and appeared in front of Lucanis. “I want to talk to her!” Lucanis kept his gaze on me, no doubt seeing my eyes track the demon.

“Before we do, well, that. Let’s think this through some more. There has to be a solution,” Bellara said. I braced my hands against their chairs, leaning over them slightly.

“I have people in Minrathous I can ask, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” Neve said.

“All right. So, what’s next?” I asked.

“Let me talk to them! I want. To talk. To Rook!” Spite swung, punching Lucanis in the nose. Blood spattered, and Lucanis winced, his hand going to his nose.

Bellara and Neve stood. “Lucanis!” Bellara cried.

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine,” he said, putting his arm out.

“He’s done this before? Enough that you just… shrug it off?” I questioned, leveling a glare at the aspect of Spite next to him.

“He’d do this in the Ossuary. The Fade does whatever a spirit wants. Real walls and chains, not so much. Just… give me a minute. He’ll get bored once everyone leaves.”

I leveled him with a stare that said I would absolutely not be leaving even as Bellara and Neve got up and left. Neve shot me a glance that said ‘be careful’, but I just nodded to her.

He put his hand back up against the fireplace and stared into the flames as I walked around the table, sliding up to sit on the edge of it.

“I thought you couldn’t see him. At the Ossuary…”

“I didn’t want him to know I could see him. That was the last thing we needed there,” I told him.

“You can hear him too?” He asked, looking back at me with furrowed brows.

“When I can see him or when he’s showing through you, yes,” I answered honestly.

“But the others, they can’t. Why is that?” He asked, looking at me curiously, if not a bit suspiciously.

I shrugged. “I’ve always had a connection to the Fade. In worse times I was in such turmoil a spirit of Compassion appeared in my dreams or pulled me out of reality if things got bad. And now that connection is stronger than ever. Some of my blood is circulating around in the Fade from when we interrupted Solas’s ritual. That’s how he visits me in my sleep.”

“I am sorry,” he said. “I can’t stand him, I didn’t want him to be a problem for you too.” I just shook my head. “I would kill for a decent cup of coffee right now.”

“Have you? For coffee, I mean,” I grinned.

I saw the corner of his lip twitch up. “Not today. You’ve got questions. You might as well ask them.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, watching him. “You’re the best mage killer in the Antivan Crows. So how’d the Venatori catch you?”

“Someone set me up,” he said simply. “I had a contract for Calivan. In the Ossuary. I took a ship from Treviso to Minrathous. They were waiting for me. Knew which ship and when it would arrive. I don’t know how they convinced the Crows I was dead, but I woke up in the Ossuary with Zara gloating about it.”

“Blood magic.” I could tell him that at least. One thing I had the answer to. “Caterina said they had dressed the body in your clothes and altered it with blood magic to look like your face too. I can’t even imagine… I know she… “volunteered” you to work with us. Are you okay with that?” I asked sincerely.

“When the First Talon of the Crows gives you a job, you do it. Especially if she’s your grandmother. But, there’s plenty of reason for me to work with you beyond that, Rook,” he said.

“Such as?” I tilted my head, kicking my feet under the table.

“I owe you a debt, for one. And after a year in that hole, maybe I’m looking forward to stabbing a god or two in the back,” he answered.

“Two!” Spite hissed.

“The Crossroads can be dicey, but the Lighthouse is safe. Oh, and if you see a spirit around called the Caretaker, they’re friendly,” I smiled.

“After the Ossuary, that will be a pleasant change,” he said with a grin. After a moment’s silence, he put his hands on his hips. “You haven’t asked anything about Spite.”

“Based on what I’ve seen, I’d say he picked the right name.”

“He’s stronger when I sleep. So… I try not to do it much. No one was in the Ossuary by choice. Not even the demons. We both did what we had to, to get out of there,” he told me.

“I admire you,” I told him. “What you’ve been through would break most people.”

“I would not give Zara the satisfaction,” he smirked.

“I understand. Still, you must be a very courageous man,” I smiled.

“A very stubborn one, perhaps. But, that’s… kind of you to say. Leave Spite to me. If he’s trapped in this world, he has a good reason to fight for it. For now, I must honor our contract. Gods, magic, politics…” he hummed, the rumble in his chest trying to drag me toward him. “Things are going to get very bloody.”

I gave him one last smile as he turned back toward the fire. “If you’re stubborn, I’d say Zara picked the right demon. If I remember right, Spite is a demon of Determination,” I smirked, looking back at him.

His brows were raised. “Perhaps it was the only thing she got right. She was nothing if not fond of irony.”

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

A/N: Please give me your thoughts on this. I missed Cole and he was so important to me in Inquisition I wanted him to have a role in this story too, however minor. Also the back and forth with Solas gets me every time XD

Let me know if you want to be on a tag list! <3

Have a good day lovelies!

[serensama]

First Line Tag

Thank you @ofcrowsanddragons @thedissonantverses @jenn2d2 @trash-nerd

Rules: Take your most recent ten fics and post the first line from each of them.

Rook was a clutz. - Head over Feet

Normally he would have urged her to bathe before slipping into bed after a long trip, but Rook had been gone for weeks. - I think we're getting low on onions (ITWGLOO, multi prompt fic)- Scent

Rook stared at Neve, unsure if she was joking or being serious. - ITWGLOO - Illario

When Rook invited Taash and Harding for a night out together in Treviso, Lucanis thought it was going to be an evening of fabulous food, fine wine and fantastic company. - ITWGLOO - Awkward (NSFW)

Rivain. How he loved the bustling docks, the scents of the sea and the vibrant, carefree atmosphere of the coastal city. - ITWGLOO - Braggadacio

The citizens of Hossberg wanted nothing more than to see their fields grow again, their once verdant land returned to its former glory and for their people to flourish and live well- and something sinister preyed upon their simple dreams. - ITWGLOO - Bitten

“You can’t get out of it. You started this, so you’re gonna finish it,” Taash said, looming over Harding, who was staring up at them with a look of regret painted on her face. “Answer it.” - ITWGLOO- Bonding

How... How did she get here? - ITWGLOO- Treviso (Part 1)

It had only recently come to his attention that performing acts of service was his primary love language. - ITWGLOO- Menu

Lucanis had wanted to explain himself, apologise, and throw himself at her feet for that appalling display in the pantry earlier in the day. - ITWGLOO - Mistaken (apparently I forgot to post this here, will have to update that! haha)

Rook could feel her heartbeat jump up into her throat, the blood whirling in her ears as her excitement began to build. She watched as Illario slowly crawled along the bed to get to her, looking every part a deadly predator stalking his prey—the only difference between her and a halla was that she wanted to be caught. - Burn (NSFW)

Yes, technically 11, but like- one was literally 4 words and 99% of the list came from one 'series' of work!

Softly tagging: @rookamell @nyx-de-riva @pixiedurango @vorchagirl @zombiefishgirl @hightowerqueen @mythals-whore @woundedsoul12 and anyone else who wants to play <3

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

~*~

1. I have been looking for this fic for WEEKS!! , I read this fic many months ago, so I don't really remember it well. In this Wei Wuxian is kinda like possessed or something, it's like after his 3 months in burial mounds he comes out very changed he has become very emotionless and has become mute as in he neve ever speaks at all, he always obeys his Sect Leader (Jiang Cheng) and has over all just become a machine who listens to what his master say. Jiang Change,Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji are very concerned and disturbed about his behaviour. There are chapters where Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng try to cheer him up or make him speak something but it never works.And as u can imagine lan Wangji is heartbroken as well

Then i don't remember how exactly but in the end they show Jiang Yanli,Jiang Cheng,Lan Wangji,Nie Huasiang, and an unconscious Wei Wuxian in the burial mounds and it shows that the burial mound spirits had bargained with wei wuxian when he was thrown in and in order to escape from the burial mounds and to protect his family Wei Wuxian had sacrificed his heart to it. But in the end he regains it and he goes back to being normal. And it's an Overall happy ending.

I have been searching through all the tags of ao3 that could possibly be linked to that fic but I just can't find it

Please help me find this soon

FOUND? between the shadow and the soul by Reverie (cl410) (M, 22k, wangxian, JYL/WQ, JC/NHS, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Dark WWX, Feral WWX, Memory Loss, Magic, Magical Realism, Protective LWJ, Protective JC, Protective JYL, Grief, BAMF WWX, POV Alternating, Happy Ending)

~*~

2. Hey! I’m looking for a certain fic. It’s a rogue cultivator wei ying. All I remember is that during a cultivator event, he takes jiang yanli on a sword ride. He leaves a note, but everyone gets worried she is missing. I think there were corpses attacking. Madam Jin accuses him of starting shit, but jiang yanli defends him. Hope someone’s know it, thanks!

FOUND? SanRen by Kyogre (T, 87k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Different First Meeting, Romantic Fluff, Action & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending) chapter 14

~*~

3. hi i was wondering if you know the fic where lwj visits burial mounds but then a-yuan started crying so he said that he’ll stay once he calms down but ofc by the end both him and wwx have confessed their feelings for each other. please help me i have been trying to find it for the past hour. thank you very much!!! <333

FOUND? A Crying Shame by thunderwear (G, 16k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, A-yuan to the rescue, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, Domestic Fluff, Love Confessions, First Kissa, LWJ joins WWX at burial mounds, LWJ is soft pass it on, literally all fluff, Marriage Proposal, Oblivious WWX)

~*~

4. Hello. I’m looking for a long fic. It’s wangxian HAPPY ending and after jin zixuan “dies”. The truth is, He’s not dead. Everyone belive he is, but the jin clan got him and put him on the underground. Some time ago, wen qing, who everyone think is dead too, ends up there with him. They stay years on that prison and, besides some jin and meng yao, no one knows. After some time they get out, I don’t remember how, and the fic continues from there. I looked at all my bookmarks and havent found it.

FOUND? You still sound like a song by Moominmammashandbag (M, 64k, wangxian, WIP, Ghost!WWX, Mystery, LWJ plays inquiry, AU from after the Wens came to Lotus Pier, Most people lived, not everybody died, Angst with a Happy Ending, river spirit!WWX, Angst and Feels, description of murder, imminent smut, Execution, bad dog names, Poisons, Discussion of Attempted Murder, BAMF WWX, Family Feels)

FOUND? 🧡 like speaking to my heart by SnowshadowAO3 (T, 613k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Daemons, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Some people live!, additional warnings in specific chapters, if you don't know what daemons are that's ok because I explain it in the author's note, also by slow burn I VERY much mean slow burn) That part happens near the end iirc / it might be this one? Chapter 37 is the bit the anon mentions

~*~

5. Hi! (This part added to itmf) cuz I lost the one I’ve read where wwx has a sister who’s paired with xichen and I remember her having a kid with xichen but she died(?) and xichen had to raise their son alone and when she came back she lost her memories. Thank youu!! @gideonmorningstar

FOUND? your smile tells me im safe by TheDoctorDionysus (E, 143k, LXC/Female Reader, WangXian, XuanLi, Reader-Insert, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Canon-Typical Violence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Blood and Injury, Crossdressing, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Suicide Attempt, Explicit Sexual Content, Semi-Public Sex, Blow Jobs, Inappropriate Use of Gūsū Lán Forehead Ribbon, Hair-pulling, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Marriage Proposal, Married Couple, Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Drunk LWJ, its brief but drunkji is there, Amnesia, Major Character Undeath, Canonical Character Death - WWX)

~*~

6. hi im looking for an omegaji fic that was really beautifully paced and written, published sometime last year i think. it had an inn, really creepy atmosphere and background xiyao. i can’t remember anything else about it and i want to reread it so bad

FOUND? penumbra by globose (E, 21k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Mpreg, YLLZ WWX, Demon/Human Relationships, Supernatural Elements, Omega LWJ)

~*~

7. Hiii!! I am looking for a fic I read a long time ago, so I don't remember most of the details. Sorry about that. What I remember about it clearly is that WWX was never found by Jiang Fengmian or any cultivator. Many years later he becomes a minister/official of some kind for the emperor, who is not related to the cultivation world. Now comes the fuzzy part, so it may or may not be helpful for finding that fic. The emperor knows when the war breaks out and sends WWX to help settle the war, and WWX once again becomes a leading cause for the demise of Wen Sect. And obviously WWX and LWJ fall in love during that time.

Once again thanks for all the hard work you do to keep this fandom well fed. @songtaegguk

FOUND? Copying Scriptures by chiyukimei (E, 31k, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, Genius WWX, Palace, canon wangxian dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, LWJ Bites, LWJ is the baby of the Lan Clan, Good Uncle LQR, WangXian are parents, Fluff, Blood and Injury, Self-Harm)

~*~

8. Hi again! I'm looking for a modern AU where LZ gains friends after wy's death/disappearance.

So wy has a lot of friends, like jc jyl wq wn nhs jzx lqy etc, and by being in a relation w wy, lz also has access to them.

But once wy is gone lz thinks the link between wy's friends and lz is non-existant and starts to spiral from the loss of wy, alone.

But the friends don't let lz go, barge into lz apartment and makes a space for themselves and help lz grieve n move on from the loss of his partner.

Slowly through the years lz feels he also has friends.

Eventually wy does come back and wangxian rekindles their flame. @imstillthinkingaboutithmm

NOT FOUND! Sounds like it could be The transitive property as it applies to love by deliciousblizzardshark, part 2 of the series (T, 10k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, LWJ & WQ, LWJ & WN, Modern, Grief/Mourning, Mention of substance abuse, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic LWJ) also as a side note, parts 1 & 2 are open, but part 3 is locked to AO3 users

FOUND? Love Don't Belong To Me by airinshaw (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Kissing, Intercrural Sex, Light Angst, Happy Ending, PTSD, Panic Attack, WWX's canonical self-esteem issues, Canonical Child Abuse, not as dark as the tags imply, Past Relationships mention) its not the WWWWXD series, but the focus isn't on LWJ as much as it is on WWX

~*~

9. Hi! I’ve been searching for a fic I read a while back. It was a modern omegaverse AU (also maybe soulmates) with younger omega LWJ and older alpha WWX. They were in university (LWJ in his 1st year and WWX in his last I think). The uni had a research facility studying a/b/o dynamics, or it might have been soulmates? Anyway, Madam Yu was a professor, and she was actually good and liked WWX and was on his side. Lan Qiren was a professor as well, and I think Wen Qing worked at the clinic as a grad student. I remember one scene where Wangxian were in the clinic and they were fooling around and it was their first time, and the staff had to shoo all the doctors and researchers away (I think there was a 2 way mirror). I don’t remember much else but would really appreciate the help—I can’t find it anywhere and it’s driving me to distraction!

FOUND?🔒 I is for Instinct by beeswaxing (E, 71k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Scenting, Possessive Behavior, Getting Together, First Time, First Kiss, Public Display of Affection, Public Claiming, Omega Verse, Good Parent LQR, Alpha YZY, Good Parent YZY, Family Feels, Fluff, Romance, Aftermath of Violence, Slice of Life, Modern AU, College/University, BAMF WWX, Soft WangXian, Barebacking, Knotting, Semi-Public Sex, Shameless, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg)

~*~

10. hi !! just wanted to let you know that this fic could possibly be deleted, but i hope it isn’t. i vaguely remember this is abo — wwx is an omega and lz is an alpha, wwx is kicked out of gusu for reasons (i think lz had something to do with it), madam yu then trains wwx to be this spy/assassin who is to protect jiang cheng and yanli, during xuanwu wwx pretends to be someone else but lz and nhs find out, wwx fakes his death during/after xuanwu, last chapter is letters from nhs (to madam yu?)

FOUND?🔒Pendulum by ShippersList (M, 69k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, A/B/O Dynamics, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Misunderstandings, Canon-Typical Violence, Spies & Secret Agents, Fake Character Death, Slow Burn, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canonical Character Death, Mutual Pining, Good MY, Introspection, Self-Sacrificing WWX, Love Confessions, Protective LWJ, past child sexual abuse)

~*~

11. hello ! I recently lost track of a wangxian proposal au, like the movie lol. pretty sure it had something like “the proposal au no one asked for” in the summary. Ik that’s not a lot to go on, but I was hoping you could help. tysm!

FOUND? The Grandmaster of Foolproof Proposals by chronicallylethargic (G, 16k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, The Proposal Fusion, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Mutual Pining, The Proposal AU, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Angst, Fake Marriage, deportation, Green Card Marriage, Miscommunication, Horseback Riding, wwx isnt adopted by the jiangs in this fic)

~*~

12. fic finder request! having no luck looking through my history for a fic, where i only rmb the ending. wangxian are with dafanwen. after giving lwj two flowers (or sth similar) from himself and ayuan, wwx reveals that he is expecting their second child by presenting lwj with a third flower. i can't rmb if ayuan is wangxian's biological child in this fic.

thank you so much for what you do and happy new year!

FOUND!🔒Blooming in white by luckymoonly (T, 38k, WangXian, XuanLi, MianQing, NieLan, ChengSang, Canon Divergence, Mpreg, Getting Together, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending starts from chapter 71, hidden pregnancy, Mutual Pining, Drama, Misunderstandings, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Miscommunication, WWX and NHS are BFF, matchmaker!NHS, Fix-It)

~*~

13. Hi! I’m trying to find a fic and I can’t remember the name. From what I do remember, it focuses on Lan Sizhui as WWX’s son while he was dead, with Jiang Ching repeatedly inviting him over to get to know his Jiang heritage. I don’t think he knows his other parent is WWX? LWJ doesn’t really want him to go but he eventually goes anyway and learns about his dad’s sect. @finmoryo

FOUND? Would You Come Home? by s6115 (Not rated, 46k, WangXian, Junior Quartet Centric, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Junior Quartet Dynamics) this story doesn't feature a lot of actual wwx (tho he very much plays a part) but technically it fits the prompt and it's a great fic

~*~

14. Hey, Can you help me find a fic? In the fic wwx owns an apothecary. Lwj and wwx meet bcz lwj is injured. Wwx is adopted by either the apothecary owner or a doctor who owns an apothecary. Hope you are able to find it for me. @mayavsworld

FOUND? A Heart Made of Jade by makkurokuro93 (E, 66k, WangXian, Historical, Ancient China, Politics, Drama & Romance, Love Triangles, One-Sided LXC/WWX, Slow Burn, Sexual Content, Angst with a Happy Ending, Top WWX/Bottom LWJ, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, of course they switch ssh, Fluff, Eventual Relationships)

FOUND? what builds a home by Stratisphyre (T, 45k, WangXian, MY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Adopted WWX, POV Multiple, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, child endangerment, Brother Feels, Minor Character Death) probably isn't "what builds a home" by Stratisphyre but I wanted to mention it in case -- wwx & meng yao are brothers in this fic, meng yao runs an apothecary, and wwx meets lwj (and saves him) b/c lwj is injured

is it a historical/no cultivator clans AU where the Twin Jades are a pair of outlaws a la Robin Hood?

FOUND? Eyes by SplitGirl28 (M, 60k, WIP, WangXian, Adopted by Doctor, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Cultivator Apothecary WWX, No Golden Core Transfer, Meet Different, WWX has a secret, Secret BAMF WWX, Pining LWJ, Oblivious WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

~*~

15. I'm looking for a Xicheng fic that I once read and I cannot find It was a 'smut' fic. Modern day. LXC was the son of the owner of a restaurant in which JC and NHS worked. it's LXC's birthday and he comes to the restaurant to celebrate and he had a 'special service' dinner planned out, but the waitress is not available or something , so NHS asks JC to do it instead and LXC and JC have ***. Turns out this was set up by LXC and NHS coz LXC had a crush on JC! If anyone has an idea please help out !

~*~

16. looking for a fic where wwx makes a bet at the cr that he’ll kiss lxc before the summer is up but he actually ends up w lwj obviously

FOUND? Bet Your Heart by Vamillepudding (G, 14k, wangxian, LXC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Romantic Comedy, Mutual Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together)

~*~

17. Hello, I’ve been desperately looking for a particular fic but all I really remember is one scene, where after wangxian reunion and justice being served and all (at least I think that bit has already happened by that point of the fic), it turns out that Wen Qing survived after all but had been kept prisoner. I just remember this scene of her in her cell considering her imminent death because her meals have stopped for a some time already (since JGY is no longer around to provide them or something along those lines, but she doesn’t know that) and then she hears a familiar voice outside and she calls desperately despite barely having a voice and despairs for a moment thinking no one noticed but then WWX, who very much did hear her and was wandering around Koi Tower with Lan Zhan for some reason I can’t remember, brings down the entire prison around her and rescues her. I’m fairly certain there must have been a happy ending, because that’s all I ever read. I know it’s not a lot to go on but it’s been driving me insane trying to find it. Thanks for all your wonderful work!

FOUND? Reunion by LtLJ, last part of the series (G, 3k, WWX & WQ, wangxian, WQ & WN, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, WQ Lives, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Angst with a Happy Ending, YLLZ WWX, BFFs)

~*~

18. Hello I'm translating on Google Translate, so sorry for any mistakes. I'm looking for a fanfic at the time of the siege at the tombs, instead of Jiāng Yànlí, he stood in front of Weiying to protect him and Lan Zhan, who was injured and Weiying thought he killed him, until he handed himself over to the Lan clan.

FOUND? If I Could Go Back in Time by Runningbarefoot (M, 122k, wangxian, JC & JYL & WWX, LXC/NMJ, LXC & LWJ, LXC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Role Reversal, Not Everyone Dies AU, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief/Mourning, Loss, YLLZ WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, The Twin Jade Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Slow Burn)

~*~

19. Hi, I'm looking for a wangxian angst fic I read a while ago? It was a modern au, and I can't remember if they were married or not but it was definitely an established relationship and it was about lan wangji being upset because he thought wei wuxian had moved his mother's urn and wei wuxian ended up apologizing after lan wangji got mad even though he hadn't done anything. The fic had a really nice make up afterward and i want to read it again so bad waaah

FOUND! under my skin by wqngji (M, 3k, WangXian, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Established Relationship, Fights, Crying, Married Couple, Insecure WWX, Self-Worth Issues, Hurt WWX, Sex in a Car, Car Sex, Day At The Beach)

~*~

20. Hi I am looking for a fic in which wei ying wakes up in the burial mounds, which have turned green.

He basically growns flowers and seems to be some kind of deity @pigtruffles

FOUND? the trees welcome with open branches by defractum (nyargles) (nyargles) (T, 13k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Supernatural Elements, Getting Together, Fix-It of Sorts)Wwx turns himself into a forest on the burial mounds. Lwj visits, and they Communicate

Is this a time travel fic? Where he wakes up and sees the wens alive and the burial mounds flourishing with life? And he's so confused because he doesn't know how it happened? But it was because he wished for the wens to have a better life before he died or something? I can't remember the name of that fic but maybe some one else can?

FOUND? 🔒 Of Destruction and Rebirth by demoniqt (M, 88k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, major character death, underage, rape/non-con, graphic depictions of violence, Slow Burn, Canonical Character Death, God WWX, God Verse, BAMF WWX, Grieving LWJ, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Gods & Goddesses, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Rabbits, Fix-It, Attempted Sexual Assault, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Castration, Lots of it, repeatedly, Punishment, Hell) He didnt wake up in burial mound but he is a god and make burial mound green

~*~

[bubblecat-co]

Rook Literary Device Ask! Pt. 2

You can find the full list of questions here

Thank you to everyone who had an ask! This will be one big post! questions and answers under the cut :>

Archetype: Describe what another character might notice about your Rook physically.

from @booksncatsworld

Aria: I always thought the scars on her face but before she got the scars Her eyes. 

Elysia: Elysia I thought her hair or make up. I made them Vibrate blues so that they would stand out.

Soliloquy: List/describe the most self-indulgent headcanon/fic you’ve thought of for your Rook. for Aria

from @rubensmuse

Ok this is hard I think it might be the fact that Aria can play the Violin honestly. I used to play when I was younger but had to stop taking lessons due to the lack of money. So I'm living vicariously through Aria with the fact that she can play. At least head canon wise

Fic wise - a smut fic between her and Davrin for me, myself, and I. It will never see the light of day. I haven’t even finished it

Allegory: What does Rook dream about?

from @starlightarchery

Aria: If Aria ever sleeps it’s usually nightmares but the few times she does have dreams It’s of her mom. Now she can’t really remember what exactly she looks like or even what she sounded like but she knows it’s her. Usually it’s her mom singing a Dalish lullaby to her. 

Elysia: Elysia’s dreams are always the strangest. Some are weird and suddenly she’s a bird queen trying to wage war on the sun and others are normal and she has somewhat control over them. She keeps a dream journal to keep track of the strange dreams she has.

Omniscient: Are there any secrets Rook is hiding? From others? From themselves?

from @larknnightingale

Aria: OO ok! Aria keeps her parents, the true nature of their death, and her actual name a secret from literally everyone. Her birth name being Ash’anne Aria Arainai-Lavellan kinda gives away that at least one of her parents was from house Arainai so when Viago took her in he completely dropped her last name and instead changed it to de Riva and told her to never tell anyone what her name originally was and that now she is a de Riva. He even dropped the first of her first names, Ash'anne and only called her Aria de Riva. Now she does tell Davrin about the name Ash’anne and out of everyone she has ever known he is the first and only person besides Viago to know. Later she does eventually tell the Veilguard her full name. (growth in trusting others YAY!) 

Now her parents. No one really knows anything about them other than they died when she was young she doesn’t even tell anyone their names. Only Viago knows about the. She stays vague when she talks about her parents and their death and claims ‘I was really young when they died I don’t remember much’ but it’s a big lie. She has her mother’s journals and the letters her parents wrote to each other and to her before their death. 

Elysia: she keeps what she knows about her father a secret from others and her full name (I have a thing for secret names apparently). She also keeps anything about her father from themselves not wanting to know anything other than that he’s from the Pentaghast family and that’s all she allows herself to know about him. Even if Deep down they want to know more and crave that connection they don’t allow themselves to let that happen. Rather die not knowing than be disappointed after learning the truth. 

Dramatic Irony: Does Rook wonder why they’re the main character?  

from @so--whoonos

Aria: she is always questioning why Varric chose an assassin for a job that supposedly is to ‘save the world’ she has no idea why he wants her on his team if he doesn’t want to kill Solas and just wants to stop him. It doesn't make any sense to her. The only reason she even takes mantle as the leader because she saw that Neve and Harding arguing and that won’t get anything done if they just sat there going back and forth about what they should do instead of just picking something and doing it.

She does not think she is the main character. She would like to think it was fate and that she was meant to meet the people she did but deep down she believes it’s all just chance.

Elysia: Elysia doesn’t think about it much. They’ve made a name in the watchers as being pretty adventurous and sometimes violent. So it made some sense to her that Varric picked them up from the necropolis. They honestly believe that any explanation for why they are the leader and subsequently main character is their skills.  

Extended metaphor: What inspires hope in Rook? - from Akuma 

from @akuma-misery

Aria: for Aria it’s everyone in the veilguard. Originally it was Varric and him alone, but after meeting all the companions they became what inspire hope with her. Specifically Davrin.

Elysia: Elysia’s hope has always been inspired by nature. The way that no matter the circumstance nature always comes through and always finds a way to return.

[flower1622]

A red haired girl is seated on a chair and she has her head down.

The old man next to her puts his hand behind her back.

The old man: Rachel, don't stay like that.

Rachel: How can i not? Now that i'm finally free from the curse, Percy is gonna marry Annabeth. He loves her. I don't have any chance. I neved had...since we were teenagers.

The old man: Don't say stupid things like that.

The old man lifts his daughter's head, so she could look into his eyes.

The old man: To me, you are the most beautiful and awesome girl in this entire world. If he doesn't value, it's his loss.

The girl gets emotional and hugs her father.

Rachel: Oh, dad! I love you so much!

The old man: Love you too, Rach!

Both smile and stay hugged.

...................................

While the priest was speaking, Percy was remembering some memories with him and Rachel having fun and laughing. Percy remembers how Rachel made him feel. Since they met, a strong bond was created between them. Percy doesn't know how to explain it. He just has this feeling...like something is missing right now. Then, he remembers a conversation where Hera asked him what he really wanted for his life? Be a demigod, study in a college, stay away from his family and date the most intelligent girl? Or just be normal, do what he wants and what makes him feel comfortable, stay with the people he loves and find someone who wouldn't judge him, would always be there for him. Someone that makes him feel comfortable. Someone interesting to spend time with. After seeing his memories with Rachel, Percy can understand now why she looked like a million drachmas to him and why she was easier to talk to than other girls. Percy thinks about his last memory with Rachel where she says:

"It's okay, Percy. You and Annabeth always belonged together. You guys are literally the biggest couple, you know?" (Rachel says and gives a fake laugh)

"I just wish you all the happiness, Percy. Go on. Go after your princess, smart sea brain!" (Rachel says, gives a fake smile and leaves)

The priest gives that famous speech that happens in all weddings and asks Annabeth if she would accept to be Percy's wife and she says yes with a big smile on her face.

The priest asks Percy if he accepts to be Annabeth's husband, but Percy seems distracted and doesn't answer him. Annabeth elbows him hard to get his attention and it works. The priest makes the same question again, but Percy looks at Annabeth and says no, making everyone in the wedding get shocked.

Percy: I'm sorry, Annabeth. But, this was a big mistake that i made. We are very different from each other. We wouldn't work for so long since you have different interests from me. Your perfect life is not the one i really like or that makes me feel comfortable. I know i should have thought of this before, but now i finally realised what i want to do with my life. It must be too late, but i'll try to run after my dreams. I'm really sorry.

Percy says and runs away, but before he leaves, he looks at his mother and she nods her head at her son with a litte smile on her face. Percy smiles back at her and runs away. Annabeth only stays shocked and cries falling on the floor. Percy finds a man with a horse and gives to the guy some money and mounts on the horse.

Rachel is still hugged with her father in the airport. But, it's time to go. They move away from each other and leave. But, someone screams Rachel's name.

Percy: RACHEL!

Rachel hears Percy's voice calling her name. She turns around and sees Percy running towards her. She gets shocked.

Percy reaches Rachel and hugs her and she hugs him back still shocked.

They move away and look at each other. Rachel gets a worried expression on her face.

Rachel: Percy...is everything alright?

Percy smiles at her.

Percy: Everything is great!

Rachel: I don't want to sound rude, but shouldn't you be in a wedding?

Percy: I was.

Rachel looks away.

Rachel: Oh...

Percy: But i didn't marry.

Rachel looks at him shocked.

Rachel: Why?

Percy: Because i finally realised what i want for my future.

Percy puts his hand on Rachel's cheek and both stare at each other with big smiles on their faces.

Percy thinks:

'Yeah, she really looks like a million golden drachmas"

[vigilskeep]

Can we hear about the soap opera style second de riva?

oh sure

she’s the human mage daughter of the previous talon de riva and she’s also illario’s arranged married wife

viago killed her dad in order to replace him. she’s not angry abt this, actively. (she doubts anyone who had met her father could be angry about it.) but there IS underlying tension, how could there not be? viago could have killed her too, and instead has in some ways become like a brother to her. but in another world where he hadn’t gotten there first, house de riva might have been hers

illario did not want to marry her, she was picked out for him by caterina, to strengthen their house ties. to illario, it reads like an insult: she’s not a match meant for a future first talon, she was passed over and disinherited in her own house. she’s also a mage, which despite all caterina’s claims of it being a new era under the new divine and house dellamorte moving with the times, he suspects would be used against their branch of the family inheriting anything. he didn’t even want to get married in the first place, because he’s a chronic flirt here for a good time. and nobody is dragging lucanis back from tevinter to make him get married like he’s a pawn you can afford to sacrifice

his dissatisfaction means he continues to be a chronic flirt, with other people, after they’re married. she’s professionally humiliated, which is as good as personally humiliated for a crow; charm and beauty were skillsets of hers, she can’t even win over her own husband when it’s required to maintain the alliance in treviso, and everyone knows it? viago’s furious because it’s an insult to house de riva’s honour, too. (he’s being a protective big brother. which would be nice, if he could express it or indeed if he had acted on some of those instincts before agreeing to her being married off. read the contents of these brackets in teia’s voice.) all this is why she is still referred to as a de riva, because she kind of went back home to soothe tensions but without actually getting a divorce

she was obviously normal and rational about all of this, as she always is, a good, composed, collected crow, who has never lost her cool in training or on contracts or with her own father’s murdered body before her very eyes. she would like to clarify that the above events had no effect on her eventually lashing out at a certain antaam patrol and setting several things both metaphorically and very literally on fire. unrelated.

lucanis, on his return, immediately knows exactly what illario was like about it and is intensely mortified on behalf of his family, because he is a man with Romantic Standards. she thinks this is endearing and restrains herself from playing on his heartstrings about it too often. the deeply obvious thing to do here is have them fall in love for drama, that would be the maximum soap opera move, and to be clear i DO think it’s funny for illario to suddenly decide he does actually want his wife as soon as lucanis wants her, but honestly i just want lucanis to have one decent family relationship and this is how i can make that happen by force of will. and now not only is illario’s own wife siding with lucanis in the power struggle, but lucanis is replacing illario with her! we actually don’t need romance to make this deranged

thus i’m still debating the most amusing option on the veilguard team to sweep illario’s wife off her feet. i would love to see where almost any of them are going with this. emmrich, for example. and davrin with lucanis’ sister-in-law is obviously amazing (though i actually don’t think he’d go for a wealthy married human woman, i think he’s got more sense and/or self respect 😭). ultimately neve absolutely has a noir detective’s prerogative to win over a femme fatale with a rich husband who doesn’t treat her right so she would get dibs

[a-gay-bloodmage]

"Against the Kitchen Floor" and Omri de Riva

At the urging of @queenofangrymoths, I have decided to post my song analysis of Will Wood's "Against the Kitchen Floor" as listened to through the lens of Omri de Riva, my dwarven Crow Rook.

His relationship with Neve, Scheherazade de Riva (QoAM's Rook), his mother, Lucanis, Viago, and himself, all come together to form a perfectly wonderful mush of self-loathing.

Hope you enjoy!

Trigger warnings for: discussions of suicidal ideation, past sexual assault as a minor, minor self-harm, child abuse, and general murder and violence.

Omri de Riva “Against the Kitchen Floor” Analysis

I don’t owe you my heart And I don’t owe you my body But you should know that I’m sorry For being careless with you

Omri tries, very hard, to see himself as a person. But it doesn’t really work. Usually, he sees himself as a thing to be given up for Contracts. The concept of I don’t owe you my heart / body is something that he tries to tell himself, but the sentiment usually rings pretty hollow. Leaving the Crows and being a part of the Veilguard is a massive culture shift for him. Being on “equal” grounds with people is strange. Neve, especially, isn’t his master. He doesn’t owe her his heart and body. Despite this, he still feels responsibility for potentially damaging her. It isn’t his place to be in a relationship with her, as he thinks it will only end in disaster. Despite that, he still went for it. He, as I said in “Fledgling,” kind of operates generally on the idea of a Crow takes what he can get.

Lord knows I owe you more Than I’m pretty sure I ever could give anybody But I can’t pin down what normal people want from foreign objects Bottom shelf erotic products like me

Neve, along with Varric and Harding, essentially freed him from slavery, and they don’t even know it. He has no idea how to make it up to them, if that’s even possible. Especially without admitting to his status within the Crows as a slave, a fact that he does find shameful. He has no idea how to express this gratitude to “normal people” like Neve. Neve being a Shadow Dragon, a liberator of slaves from Tevinter, only further complicates things. The concept of being a bottom shelf erotic product is both a dig at his own self-worth and his height. He is an object to be used for the pleasure and satisfaction of others, and he’s literally so low, physically, that most people don’t even see him amongst the dirt of the floor. 

So, I could hold your hand, but keep you at arm’s length Or hang me from a branch too high to climb and shake Less rare than scarce, less diamond than rough Unlikely to be more than just the coal you fail to crush, and

He does really want a relationship with Neve, but he can’t allow himself to really pull her tight to him in any way other than physically. And, even then, it’s only when they’re alone. He sees their relationship as mutually physical, but romantically one-sided. He fully assumes that she’ll end up with Lucanis. And why wouldn’t she? He’s more attractive than Omri is, higher-ranking, and human. 

The idea of hang me from a branch too high to climb and shake is a reference to suicide for him, since he’s absolutely passively suicidal. While he won’t go out of his way to kill himself, he won’t consciously try too hard to stop his death from happening. Just put him somewhere to rot and nobody will ever come and get him. He’s felt this way for as long as he can remember. 

The idea of being less rare than scarce is interesting, because he is rare. He’s not only a dwarf, a race with a very low population, but he’s a dwarven Crow. Those aren’t common. However, he’s also a casteless dwarf and a slave. He’s not a diamond, he’s just the dirt around it, and no amount of molding or pressure will ever turn him into something beautiful. His entire life, people have attempted to crush him, and yet he’s still alive but not any prettier. He doesn’t know why. 

I swear, I’m really trying Get it together, [Omri], know and do better It just don’t come natural to me to think that you’d want me for mе I swear, I’m really trying Oh, I’m sorry, I promise, I’m doing my best I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet

Especially after meeting Sherry—when he was twenty-four and she was twelve—he really does want to be a good person. The problem is that he doesn’t think he’s capable of it. He was too broken by his path to becoming an assassin. He bought into the Crow propaganda, into Viago’s grooming, until Sherry shook him out of it by the virtue of just being an innocent little girl. He thinks that being non-human is a stain against him. He’ll never fit into society, which he sees as a significant hurdle to not only being accepted as good, but accepting himself as good. 

I still don’t know who you are I only know that I’m still lonely That morbid sort where even company can’t cure me And the more you reassure, the less I trust

Omri feels like he can never truly know another person. Not entirely. Especially not Neve. She’s too… above him. She’s too reserved, too smart. And it’s isolating. He assumes that Neve is able to connect far better with someone like Lucanis, someone who shares something closer to her social status. Omri has this deep-seeded sense of loneliness that will never go away. He’s never had a friend, he was only treated truly kindly once before meeting Sherry. And the more people reassure him that they like him, the less he trusts it. After all, Viago told Omri that he cared for him, that Omri was his First. And that was all just a lie to keep him wrapped around Viago’s finger. 

But still you gave me your heart I only gave you my body Honestly thought nobody’d want it, let alone notice it’s gone And so I left it home, but now, now, now, now

Omri, as Neve starts potentially falling for him, feels deeply guilty. He doesn’t think she deserves to be in a relationship with an empty husk of a man, someone who isn’t capable of, in his mind, actually loving someone back. He can give her his body, sure, but that’s always been the case for the last twenty years of his life. He’s never seen himself as desirable, so thinking that Neve desires him, genuinely, and isn’t just using him as an outlet frightens him. 

I keep a locket with a picture on the back of my head Oh, monkey-wrench my side view mirrors, ghost my friends I’ve lived more lives than enough, I haven’t died quite as much But I’m not a real person, just the shit you can’t make up, and

Omri is constantly watching over his shoulder. He’s paranoid that the Crows will come back to get him. He has to cut off all contact with people to keep them safe. Sherry is, potentially, only alive because he’s not around her any more, after all. He does think he’s lived more lives than enough, yet hasn’t died enough. He’s lived through being homeless as an infant, basically homeless in Kirkwall, being a groomed slave, being a slave that was aware of that grooming, being, essentially, a mourning father after the loss of Sherry, and then being Rook. He, somehow, has lived through all of this. He doesn’t think he should have. Again, he barely sees himself as a person, and the idea that he’s just the shit you can’t make up makes sense for someone constantly being berated for his “unbelievably stupid decisions” by Viago. 

I swear, I’m really trying I’m just as exposed if I take off my clothes When we make the closest thing to love that I’m capable of And I don’t know why you would care But I’m really trying Oh, I’m sorry, I promise, I’m doing my best I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet

He truly doesn’t think he’s capable of making love due to his awful sexual history. He doesn’t know what consensual sex looks or feels like. Making love is something that should be reserved for the people who are capable of having people fall in love with them and then returning that love. He doesn’t think that’s him. Again, he thinks being non-human is a stain against him. 

Did I really have any of that gravity? Maybe you’re quicksand Because I really couldn’t tell How deep my footprints went The vertex of my redemption arc The searching on that virgin heart I’m catatonic in your arms Crying, “How did I cause so much harm?”

He thinks that, by “leading Neve on,” he’s irreparably damaged her. By sleeping with her and playing into this romance, he’s tread all over her heart when he didn’t ever mean to leave a footprint. The idea of him having a virgin heart is mostly sarcastic, as he thinks that his old infatuation with Viago as a teenager has forever stained him, making him incapable of having that redemption arc. The use of catatonic, specifically, makes sense for Omri. He doesn’t cry. Instead, he just feels dead and hollow and full of regret for hurting the people he never meant to hurt. He really is a Crow. All he knows is how to harm people. 

I’m down, pounding my head against the kitchen floor Apologizing for my life and ever entering yours Don’t say “I’m sorry, but this can’t go on” I know you’ve got scars of your own But hide my knives before you go I’ll either live or die alone

The idea of pounding my head against the kitchen floor checks for him. He’s far more inclined to enact physical violence on himself when he’s upset, as that’s simply what he’s used to. He was not only hit by his masters in the Crows, but by his mother when he was young. Apologizing for my life makes perfect sense, as he’s always been trained from birth to see himself as a curse upon others. His gender literally caused his former noble of a mother to be thrown out of Orzammar. Neve’s romance involves her not wanting to commit because she’s afraid of intimacy, and Omri almost resents that she is the one to voice it when, in his mind, she’s a million times more capable of being in love than he is. He knows there’s something that’s causing her to hold back, but he doesn’t know what. He knows for a fact, however, that he’ll try to keep her as long as he can, even if that means hiding [his] knives, aka, the reality of what it means for him to be a Crow. 

I swear, I will die trying I’m still in the process, but I’m making progress I promise, I honestly wanna prove improvement’s possible I swear, I’m so fucking sorry I’m not a good person, I’m barely a person at all But someday I’ll be perfect, and I’ll make up for it all

Omri is very, very willing to throw his life away for the sake of those he cares about. It’s not a large number of people, but it’s deeply significant to him. He wants, so badly, to be a good person, but he doesn’t think it’s possible. I’m not a good person, I’m barely a person at all is what would go through his head every time Sherry tried to insist that he’s good. He never believed it. It’s sunk in so deeply that, even if every member of the Veilguard thinks that he’s good, it’s not enough. Maybe, one day, but… not yet. But maybe, once he’s good, it will make up for the fact that he’s a filthy murderer. 

And write a fucking song about it ‘Cause it has to be all about [Omri’s] fucking drama Goddamn it! Sorry Fuck, I’m sorry

Omri, after thinking about all of this, just… hates himself for it. He’s survived by making himself the center of attention in order to distract from what he’s really doing. Playing the part of an opera-loving clown to hide his intellect and planning. And yet, despite this tactic literally keeping him alive, whenever it comes to bringing attention to himself for a non-murderous reason, he feels completely undeserving of that spotlight and attention. Especially if it brings sympathy along with it. He doesn’t deserve to be regarded as a person, and his problems are not worthy of being taken seriously. He feels selfish. 

[rocketyship]

What don't you like about the '' i have no mouth but i must scream'' game versions of the characters? ( except ellen's story because that's understandable …)

OH HONEY LET ME TELL YOU!!!! As you said like most people I don’t like Ellen’s and it is understandable. But besides her I strongly dislike what they did with Gorrister, Benny, and especially Nimdok.

Gorrister: In the original text before AM took him he was a peace activist, a rights marcher, he was a man with intense morals that AM broke. That concept alone is just so fascinating to me. Our morals are what shapes as a human being, they affect every aspect of our daily life and AM took them and broke them and he ruined this man with a great sense of justice and turned him into just another shoulder-shrugger. Whilst what the game did to him was not that outrageous, I just don’t like him being a truck driver red-neck type. Personally I imaged Gorrister as someone very educated, well-spoken, and likely someone who may have played a role in the war which would add so many more layers to the story if that was the case.

Benny: This man was the biggest missed opportunity, and what they decided to do to him in the game just breaks my heart. In the og story and the radio adaptation there was the idea of Benny being a brilliant scientist, well respected, world renowned, he was handsome, and he was gay. AND AM TOOK ALL OF THAT FROM HIM. AM literally broke and blended this man so much that when you put his life during the war and the one after it, it’s like to different people. And then there is this opportunity, this idea that game missed out on. In the book Ted called him luckily because he’s had everything taken from him and doesn’t even know it, but like what if he does? What if he is still conscious and trapped in his head and literally unable to do anything about it. And when AM decides to turn his eyes to jello, then Damn!!! He is just stuck in this dark void where he feels this pain, hears it, but can do nothing about it. AM turned what seemed like a cool dude into a horrific animal and that’s so fascinating to me. The problem with game Benny being “a monster” before AM took them, also kind of defeats the horror of the whole twisting him into one. Like I don’t care that this terrible war person has been forced to devolve, he kind of deserves it, like what is he gonna learn about himself? What is he gonna confront? “Oh I’m such a bad person!” I’m pretty damn sure he knew that already and just didn’t care. Where’s the tragedy? What reason do I have to be entertained, horrified and sympathetic to this dude? No reason. He just sucks

Nimdok: Why the actual f*ck is he a n@zi?!?! Like I like the idea of all the survivors being from all over the world and not just American, but why in every damn piece of media are German characters always n@zis?!?! In fact, since he is one I don’t care what happens to him, I don’t care about his regrets, or the “nice” things he decides to do in the HOLOGRAPHIC WORLD. HE DESERVES TO SUFFER AND THAT IS THAT. I HATE IT. I HATE IT. AM’s hate and torturing of humanity is meant to pointless. He picked these humans cause they were either everything he desired to have and be, or by possible chance. Normal people, perhaps even good people, he twisted into this way. In the og story it was so vague what was up with Nimdok, the only clue to him being German was Ellison’s dramatic reading of the story where he puts on a accent for him. The horror is that this older man has been given a speed run on Alzheimers, which in itself is Damn scary in real life, he has this fake childlike bravery, this way to aimless believe whatever AM tells him. He doesn’t know his name! His identity is gone! No one is there to help him figure it out, cause the other survivors can’t, there is nothing he can and that’s just that. (I’m actually getting very frustrated right now, so I’ll just stop here).

So yeah. There. That’s my hot takes. Maybe someone will disagree with me, but never in my life have I seen anyone like Nimdok or really his story in the game.

[vykodlak]

post Rook pics

I'm mainly playing on the tv so I don't have that many (and imo most of the cutscenes are not... flattering) but here he is :---)

Some info while we're here;

His name's Andreas. No one calls him Rook. I don't even know how they got to that in-game. He's smack dab in his early 30s.

Lost two of his fingers (pointer and middle, bitten off by a skeleton) on his right hand when he was just a student, now wears fancy gold prosthetics cast to look pretty much like regular fingers. (Think something like this but down to the knuckle). Likes to dress up in general, vain.

Obligate carnivore by choice. Like Neve, it's a miracle he hasn't gotten scurvy yet.

Good with spirits but kinda bad with people. He had a tough love upbringing that he now practices in his interactions with everyone else. He was adopted by a decently high-ranking mortalitasi who wanted an heir and believed the sudden crypt baby appearing in the necropolis was providence. His father treated him more like a student than a son, and Andreas grew up kinda mean, arrogant and combative because his main role model was mean, arrogant and combative.

Romancing Emmrich as everyone here knows but they would not get together like they do in game because Andreas is too uptight to flirt like a normal person. At best they start off in some sort of situationship where Andreas is constantly wondering if he Like likes Emmrich or if he just likes him 'cause he's an older man in a higher position in the mourn watch who knows more than him (and there's his conflicted feelings about that itself, being drawn to authority but also mortally terrified of coming across as even a little bit lacking in knowledge or experience as a mage, mourn watcher, or literally anything else - he needs to be the most intelligent and skilled person in the room). I like to think they hang out a lot at first because they like arguing with each other. Academically. They both miss having a colleague around and no one else in the lighthouse gets all the theoretical talk.

Would NOT make hand puns. Thinks exhibiting genuine mirth in front of others is a bit gauche.

They tried to put him on the cover of vogue, but his legs were too long.