#okay i'm stopping before we end up with another full essay in the tags lmao

[aeipathism]

(the mortifying ordeal of realizing how many typos made it into my tags)

(and the fic link if you're so inclined! it's still a wip but next chapter will be up tomorrow!)

I think his might honestly hit the... worst? From what I've seen in the other romances, his pre-tearstone fight is a lot... heavier. and felt brushed off much too easily. In the process of writing, I spent a lot of time watching through videos of the scenes for reference, and in several that had time stamps, the tearstone banter was marked as 'the resolution' following the fight (which is no shade to those doing god's work posting gameplay, it is technically meant to meet that function), and that made me feel insane.

(which, off topic entirely but it was also a little surprising to me that the age gap is considered canon no matter what. but that's a different essay.) (this got so much longer than i meant oh no, read more time)

But much as I adore Emmrich and his character, I was so mad at him following the fight, and my spitfire of a Rook was no different. Because all things considered, he's being condescending at best and controlling at worst. The beauty of Emmrich's character that I think ended up being my frustration point, is that all he really needs is a moment of genuine pushback from Rook. He needs Rook to say, in no uncertain terms, that he's acting out of turn and it isn't okay. I think he's reacting from a place of fear and discomfort (this is also obv addressing mortal Emmrich), and it isn't meant to be as bad as it comes off. He's level headed enough to accept criticism and reflect on it.

And as much as most players will bring their LI in their party at all times, putting 'the resolution' behind a party banter (and with no reaction from the poor third wheel to that) is... something. But that lackluster resolution, to me at least, made the sex scene feel Even More abrupt because there was even more unaddressed beyond the active grief Rook is handling. Because upset as Rook may be, and as much as it's a Bad Time for that conversation, the argument isn't over nothing. That's a genuine, important conversation in that kind of relationship. I think what bothered me in a lot of ways, was the treatment of the argument being a silly reaction to stress, and not poorly timed more than anything. (then feels even Weirder when you're in Minrathous and Emmrich goes full 'I can't wait until we can go home together and be with each other forever and I love you').

With the grief, also, the skipping over of it feels more acute with Emmrich's romance as well considering his position of prominence in the Mourn Watch. His character in whole revolves around death and the relationship to it from the living, his own fear of it. If any LI is equipped to talk about Rook's grief, it's him. Even if it isn't an exhaustive conversation. The complete lack of acknowledgment of the losses immediately into getting down and dirty with that old man feels stilted.

But getting to draw out that conversation, acknowledge some of that grief (and spend more time prior to the Necropolis with other companions and/or ruminating on that grief) puts Rook in a place to more or less compartmentalize. It gives them agency to say everything is awful, and stressful, and terrifying, but in this moment, they are choosing comfort and affection. (which really would be best delivered with options for that comfort to look like a night with company/quiet activity, or to look like sex with their LI.)

I think a lot of my issues with the end of his romance boil down to corporate cuts restricting time given to the scenes, and a poor choice of pre-tearstone fight. It isn't a brief frustrated blow up from stress and anxiety, it's a very real issue that genuinely needs to be addressed, both in topic and approach. Emmrich making decisions For Rook on what's best is really not okay, and Rook deserves to be pissed about it. By the same token, though, Emmrich is reasonable to worry about the age difference, and whether the full implications are clear to Rook, and if they're really okay with that. And it's packed onto the end of giving up his one out to his fear of mortality, so of course he's in panic mode.

If they wanted to use the same formula across romances, I think his would have more effectively utilized an argument centering more on the fear that Rook should outlive him, but they're about to fight Gods, and Rook might die. And he's carefully kept to himself for many years preparing for lichdom, carefully detaching from exactly that kind of thing. He's not handling that well, understandably so! It plays into his pattern of loss, and his known/stated fears wrt mortality, without feeding into a Much Larger conversation they need to have. So it felt unbalanced to me following the same formula as the others, when most of the fights seem to sum up to a variety of 'i can't acknowledge the depth of my care for you, because you might die, and that hurts.'

And really, all of this to say again. That having an option for a sweet scene for your LI that isn't sex would have mitigated a lot of this, even if the sex scene felt weirdly placed. Being able to choose to say no, not right now, feels a lot better overall.

On my second playthrough of veilguard and like honestly... i dont love that the 'sex' scenes come direct after the fade prison.

Like Rook just lost Davrin/Harding and Neve/Bellara. And found out Varric is dead.

I dunno about yall but grief doesnt make me super horny.

Maybe that sequence hit me harder this time, but id like an option for Rook to be like "hey this isn't what i need right now" ya know for like RP - but still get to have a nice moment with their LI