#please believe me when i say that i very much love solas.

[kalkydra]

sigh. at least i'm having a better day than gentle innocent pure white-haired f!lavellan solasmancer #578 🥰

[vir-bellanaris]

The ending was fine, but what really bothered me what the fact that Lavellan is, once again, cast aside in second position. Solas calls her "vhenan", writes her letters, says his feelings for her will never change etc... and continues destroying her world because he's sad over another woman. At the end, it's Mythal who changes his mind, not Lavellan.

And once again, it's Lavellan who takes agency, who shows interest, by insisting to go with him, by starting the kiss, by touching his back while he simply stands there, hands crossed without even looking at her. I don't know, I'm glad they're finally together, but it really felt like Lavellan is the one who's pining over this relationship, not Solas.

Mythal is essentially Solas' creator. She "pulled him from the Fade" and gave him a purpose, even if it was one that twisted his nature. He was bound to her service. I don't believe at all they were romantically involved, despite speculation in and out of the Veilguard game. Mythal herself consistently treats him as an "old friend" and even as a child, despite their ages being the same.

Their affection for each other runs deep. And is an ancient bond. Lavellan doesn't have that rapport with him, no matter how much they love each other.

At the end of Trespasser Solas refuses to allow Lavellan to follow, not wanting her to see what he becomes. And I think we the player saw what he became, he tried to become more the Dread Wolf than Solas.

You cannot get the happy ending without the Inquisitor, so I would say they are in fact very important. When Solas says "thank you" during that final scene he is addressing directly the Inquisitor. (Unless Lavellan kisses him then he says "Thank you, Rook")

Solas loves Lavellan. She is his heart. For the past decade or more he has denied his heart and tried to harden it against those who care for him. He "killed" Mythal when even she tried to dissuade him from his course.

It took Rook, Mythal AND the Inquisitor together to convince him to stop.

As for the animations of the final scene. I couldn't be more pleased. They kissed. Despite Solas just having an emotional breakdown, demon blood in his mouth, and probably a concussion. Yes, Lavellan was the one to reach out but I wasn't expecting any different.

He doesn't want to subject her to the "terrible" place he is going to atone for what he has done. She was the one who stepped forward and this time insisted she go with him. And he gave her zero argument, just one warning it won't be easy for them

I wish he had reached for her hand there at the end. But as she touched his shoulder it was his magic that enveloped her as well, making sure to take her with him to where his destination lies.

Also adding onto this because the way he looks at Lavellan in this game is more meaningful to me than any touch they could've animated. I mean cmon...look at this and tell me he isn't deeply in love with her.

I mean PLEASE

And in the kiss animation you can see his mouth moving as he kisses her back eeeeeeeeee okay...I'm done.

[felassan]

I received a few asks around a similar topic, so I'm popping them together here. ( ´ ▽ ` ) DA:TV spoilers under cut.

[the Felassan Files]

hello! ◕‿◕ thank you for the lovely and fun ask messages!!

lavendervoids asked: "i’ve been dying to know what ur reaction was to seeing felassan in the game was???? the moment i saw him i was yelling and hollering and my first thought was “omg what does tumblr user felassan think of this” LMAO and thank you for all the documenting you’ve been doing up until and past the release of the game, i ended up blocking every dragon age tag a couple months back to avoid any sort of spoilers but i still came to your blog everyday cause i knew you wouldn’t spoil me haha"

hhhh ( ´ ▽ ` ) tysm for thinking of me at that time!! and for the nice comment about this blog and visiting it. I'm really glad to know that my approach to spoiler tagging etc has been okay for you.

littlerune asked: "i don't even know you but you and dragon age felassan are so intrinsically linked in my brain that when he appeared in veilguard all i thought was "ohhhh i wonder how tumblr user felassan feels about this"

hhhh :D 🥺 thankyou so much for thinking of me!! ♡ some say that his ghost operates this tumblr blog, or that he lives still

songofamazon asked: "I'm still on my first play of the game, but whenever I got to the memories in the Crossroads, I thought to myself, "I hope Tumblr Felassan is having a great time. Did you?"

I had a great time playing the game and when playing the Crossroads memories sections, I loved them a lot, they were very cool and a highlight of the game. thankyou sm and for thinking of me, and I hope that you did too!!

phantabula-interactive asked: "im so glad you're enjoying the game!! I had to ask; how did you feel about seeing Felassan in game?? I was so excited to see the notes from him, I wasn't expecting a boss fight MUCH LESS. FULL CAMEO!!! They made him a lot prettier than I was expecting too (/pos)"

thankyou!! I hope that you've been enjoying it too!

so: I was sooo excited and shook to see Felassan in the game!!! I was like

(I yelped/hooted out loud like a clown) and then

and then it was suddenly like too much (pos) and my soul left my body and i astral projected into space/paradise/the Astral Plane/the Void or something etc

and then it took me some time to process or gather my thoughts about it.

obviously I was super hoping that we would see him in the game. I was sure that there would at least be some references to him in codexes/notes etc or allusions made in passing dialogue like Cole and Solas' lines about him in Trespasser. then when the marketing mentioned that we would see flashbacks from Solas' past in the Crossroads, I was like aaa omg, wouldn't that be the perfect time to actually show Felassan??, as a Fade memory or flashback or spirit echo or something. so then I was hoping like 🕯️🕯️🕯️ and yea. but even so, still when I saw him in game for the first time it was still a huge shocked Pikachu moment for me.

I was already feeling psyched from the first Felassan codex/note that I found, then I couldn't believe (pos) just how many codexes/notes scattered around written by him that there was?? I was already feeling spoiled (not spoiled by spoilers but like spoiled from eating good) from that (a bunch of codexes/notes might not seem like a lot but when your fav is a side character that has only appeared in one [1] tie-in novel..) and then he goes and actually APPEARS, AAAA. I feel like I ate so good. with the Betrayal fight and the rune at the end as well, it felt like he was threaded throughout the game and was really haunting the narrative. some assorted thoughts:

first of all everything about his DA:TV appearances/DA:TV references continues to underscore that he is the greatest of all time

it also continues to underscore the pain of his death/story and of his friendship with Solas

may I please go and start a new life living in Solas' memories of Felassan on repeat. i simply do not care that my body would waste away in the waking world from lack of sustenance

in the endgame I was trying to concentrate and punch Elgar'nan in the face and save the world but I like couldn't see straight through the tears after having been given Felassan's Magical Boyfriend Super Rune (morrigan pls.. what a way to twist the KNIFE at an extremely critical moment for thedas hhhh..)

expansion pack where we relive Solas' memories of him and Felassan dating (he didn't deserve Felassan tho fr. but then, does anyone..?)

I know that Felassan would treat Lavellan sooooo right. so well. so respectfully. felassan would pull their chair out for them at restaurants and open car doors and whatever

Betrayal of Felassan refers to Solas' betrayal of Felassan, not Felassan's betrayal of Solas

also i love how they made him DEVASTATINGLY handsome?? in the game (they didnt need to go that hard), but also how, at the same time - even before the TME Deluxe edition illustrations, we all just inherently knew deep in our bones that he was, you could simply just tell from his energy and vibes and dialogue even in only the written word. cool rolls off this guy in waves, and always has done

did his model have smoky winged eye makeup? love that. love that for him

I liked his sense of style. the hair his model has happened to be one of the ones I was debating using for my Rook. it's one of my fav ones from the CC

I appreciated the attention they paid to detail when making his model. Mythal vallaslin, violet/purple eyes, an undercut - as he was previously described or shown in TME, dev social media comments and the TME deluxe illustrations

I liked the actor they chose for him, his voice was cool

I felt like his codexes and notes that he wrote captured his voice and his character. you can see the depth of his loyalty and devotion to his friend, his concerns, and he retains his 'voice' in terms of some snark, wit etc

it's fun thinking about whether Felassan originally manifested from the Fade (and if so, what was he a spirit of) or whether he was born the usual way of other elves. (it could be either one)

Betrayal of Felassan as a manifested embodied regret and its lines like "his back, turned".. very raw. that fight was hard enough mechanically for me as it was, then the lines were like being hamstrung LOL. how could they??? (pos/lh)

I always thought that, a long time ago, Solas was essentially the player character in a different game, the main character of another story. the leader of his own group of companions and friends on their own quest (to stop the Evanuris), and that Felassan was one of those companions. Alistair to his Hero of Ferelden if you will. in DA:TV we learn that not only was he one of his companions, he was basically the second-in-command of his rebellion, a General, his closest friend aside from Mythal and his right-hand man.

he was so cool back in his heyday

pain. paaaaain. but like in a good way (I unironically love to be hurt by stories pls continue 💀...)

there are a few further posts containing more bits of my reaction and thoughts scattered through my Felassan tag. ^^

There were also a few other asks about this in my inbox, but Tumblr appears to have eaten them?? :< so if you've asked me about Felassan and my reaction since launch but the message isn't in this post, thankyou sm and I'm very sorry. 😔 pls feel free to re-send it. :)

I do remember that one of the vanished messages asked me what the Slaughter of the Pillars boss regret refers to - the Pillars of the Earth are the Titans. ("Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!") That undead boss embodies another of Solas' greatest regrets, namely what he and Mythal did to the Titans during the war with them - sundering every Titan from their spirit, severing them from their dreams, which resulted in the Blight as the dreams were driven mad. it also in a sense broke the dwarves in two and caused the fall of the fate of the dwarven people. Beyond the mural-memory that pertains to this in DA:TV, there are depictions of this time in the ancient past in the DA:TV artbook: [one, two]. Annotations there describe Solas rendering the Titans tranquil and capturing their souls; dwarves as a consequence then losing their connection to magic and fleeing into the now-Tranquil earth; and the Evanuris then building Elvhenan using the power of the captured Titan souls.

[nikkalick]

Veilguard Spoilers below the cut. About the Blight, the current state of Southern Thedas, and the Veil…I’ve never made a rant like this so bear with my ramblings, please

I’ve seen so many people say, “We should’ve been able to tear down the Veil” and I feel like I’m going insane every time I see that take like…

MAMA A BLIGHT IS BEHIND IT??!

You think what happened to Southern Thedas was bad this game? You have no idea what’s in store for you if you open up the fucking Veil and let that trickle of Blight become a flood.

Point of Order just to set the scene with how bad the literal Blight is

“They (the writers/devs/Bioware/EA) nuked Southern Thedas so they don’t have to deal with the lore the past content set up there going forward”

Maybe. But also the only other Blight we’ve seen in game was the Fifth Blight. By all accounts a statistical anomaly in how it acted when compared to Blights 1-4. I don’t wanna delve too deep into this because it is so not the point I’m trying to make with this post, but the Architect very much had a hand in waking up Blight numero 5 and very likely impacted it in a way that made it less volatile. Past Blights saw Darkspawn hitting big populations hard and fast. The 5th started slow, in the wilds, at Ostagar. Away from large amounts of people. It is mentioned in DA:O that this Blight “feels different”.

The Blight we see in Veilguard is more in line with the Blights that came before the 5th. Something something the Inquisitor writing “worse than we have seen in living memory” because the only living memory anyone has of a Blight was the one from 20 years ago. Which was bad, but not as bad as they usually are. Veilguard’s is bad the way Blights are meant to be (if not worse because, ya know, the Gods), and it was still ONLY A TRICKLE OF WHAT THE BLIGHT IS BEHIND THE VEIL. If the full force of the Blight escapes the prison/the Fade that’s it. Goodnight to everyone in this world both within and without all of Thedas.

Moving on.

“Solas can move the Blight into the new prison that was meant for the Gods and then tear down the Veil. That was his plan.”

Sorry, did we play the same game? We know what the Blight is now. It’s the last remnants of the Titans. Twisted, broken, angry, nightmarish. It’s all that’s left. All that’s left are the plagued dreams of ancient beings that are so devastated because of what Mythal, Solas, and the rest of the Evanuris did to them with the very dagger we now hold.

I want to take a moment to address that what I’m about to say is said as someone who’s been trapped in Solavellen hell for years. I love Solas and his character, and I believe that yes, he had a plan that would have both moved (or killed) the remaining Evanuris and the Blight to a new prison while simultaneously tearing down the Fade. But if you, like me, wanted to redeem this idiot despite everything, then pray tell how does Solas locking up the Blight offer him said redemption?

How does locking away the only thing that remains of the Titans into a prison and throwing away the key redeem him? The Evanuris fucked up when using the Titan’s, idk…life blood? To take form. Solas fucked up when he, upon Mythal’s behest, created a weapon that sundered the Titan’s (and the Dwarves as whole) from their magic, from their dreams, from their very being. And they did it because they thought they had a right to. They put themselves above the dwarves and as a result they caused the Blight. And then they hid the Blight away. Yes, they hid it away to keep people safe, and yes, locking it and the Evanuris away when they tried to use what was essentially a bio weapon to maintain their position of power was a call that kept people safe for a long time. But the Veil was a consequence of that call. And while the Blight was trapped in its prison, behind the Veil, it got angrier and angrier with every passing generation.

Removing the Veil and shoving it into yet another prison will not only piss it off even more, but it doesn’t allow for Solas to actually atone for the part he played in its creation and the part he played in destroying what the dwarves used to have. He has to uphold the current prison. He has to go to it to try to soothe it. To heal it as best he can. Locking it away elsewhere, and then trying to offer it salvation after the fact? It’s not gonna cut it.

He has to go to the Black City, he has to face what he did, and he has to put aside his favorable bias towards giving the Elves “back what they lost” (a world current day Elves don’t remember and have never known) to instead put the safety and wellbeing of every being in the current world at a higher priority. That’s part of his redemption arc by the way; learning to value the lives of the people that walk this new world he had a hand in creating. Because when he wakes up before the start of DA:I he doesn’t value anyone. Shit, when Felassan declines to help him destroy the Veil and suggests he learns to appreciate the world that has been in place for centuries, Solas kills him for it.

All that said, he can’t fully put things right. He can’t reconnect the Blight with the dormant remains of the Titans. Because, as the game tells us, we’d then be faced with a bunch of Titans the size of mountains rampaging, rightfully so, because of the wrongs that were committed against them. But Solas can put in the work to find a way to ease its agony. And maybe, if given the time and the patience, one day the Veil could come down because the Blight will have had the opportunity and been given the help it needed to actually heal from the trauma that created it. And maybe taking the time to do that will have, in some small way, allowed him to make up for the shitty hand he played in destroying the Dwarves. A race he (finally) sees as his equal. Because that’s a big part of his fucking redemption arc.

[dearasteria]

Major Gale romance SPOILERS below, so please DO NOT read and watch if you don't want to get spoiled.

I was REALLY worried about how romance with Gale would go, especially after talking to him right after he gets Karsas' book. My Tav wanted to believe and trust him, but something didn't feel right. At the end of Act II, when Tav tries to convince him not blow himself up for his ex's forgivness/to save Faerûn, it can be summed up with that one gif from Grey's Anatomy: "So pick me. Choose me. Love me" 🤡. Honestly, she asks not only to choose her, but also not to kill her and the rest of the team. Gale is so easily swayed and tells Tav that he loves her, even more than Mystra. Tav should be happy, right? But I'm like WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, it was faaar too easy, I mean, no protests from him, I didn't even have to use persuasion to convince him. At that point, after the trauma that Bioware had caused us with Anders and Solas, I'm getting paranoid. Gale doesn't love Tav, he's definitely hiding something. But I'm thinking to myself, "Okay, calm down, he just doesn't want to die, super understable. Maybe he really loves her and he needed to hear it? He needed reassurance that he has something to live for? Yes, it must be it". But then I go to the quest journal and see this:

DAMMIT GALE, you snake 🐍 My poor baby Tav (especially since the romance scene in Waterdeep was so warm and tender). She's so in love in him. Now I'm convinced that he will definetly betrey us, stubs us right in the heart.

At the beginning of Act III, he becomes obsessed with a book called The Annals of Karsus that may help him learn more about the crown. He becomes obsessed with how powerful he can become. When Tav gives him the book and says, "We already know the crown's dangerougs. Wouldn't that make things worse?" he replies:

"Worse? It could be the best thing that ever happened to me. To us."

After all this, Gale tries to convince Tav to help him reconstruct the crown. We have this beautiful scene on the boat and when I tell you my jaw dropped. HE CHOOSES TAV, listens to her concerns and simply chooses her.

The way he says it, the way he corrects himself… damn. For Tav, it's like a bucket of cold water. And I'm like, "Here we go again" 🤡

Furthermore, when we visit the Stormshore Tabernacle in Baldur's Gate and interact with Mystra's statue, he seems to feel so uncomfortable, he doesn't want to be there. Tav starts to think he's definitely hiding something. She would like to hear Mystra's version of what happened between her and Gale (I hope we can talk to her at some point in the game, it would be very interesting).

My Tav, however, disagreed, and Gale replies, "I hope you're right. I truly do. Godly power, perhaps I can live without, but you? You're everything". Has the curse of dating mages that leave players heartbroken been broken?

But I have to admit, when he said: "With you, I forget my goddess. I love you. Tell me you feel the same way. Tell me you want what I want. Please" - OH GODS 😳. I was so close to agreeing to this madness. The VA did an amazing job (side note: so many talented VAs in this game, it's mind blowing), the writing is amazing, the music is incredible, I was blown away, really.

Next day, after the boat scene, he's so adorable and full of love for Tav. Then I remembered his gratest flaw (for me it's more like his biggest fear) from the scene with Zethino in the circus: "He thinks he, and the world, might be better off if he were dead". At the time I thought he was lying, manipulating Zethino and his answers. My distrust of mages in games… Yes, I have a problem 😅

I haven't finished the game, but I have high hopes for a happy ending. No spoilers please, thanks :)

What a rollecoster of emotions, I love it, I love Gale. It felt like I was playing Dragon Age: Origins for the first time, way back when I was a teenager. It's really insane how this game makes me feel, how much I care about its characters and story.

EDIT: Okay, so we have an audience with Mystra, I mean only Gale, but we see the whole conversation between them. My only complain is that Gale doesn't mention Tav when Mystra asks him why he defied her 💔 The outcomes are different depending on whether you do it before or after the boat scene. Personally, I think doing the boat scene before meeting Mystra is much better. I get the impression that Gale is abandoning the plan to reconstruct the crown solely for Tav and his love for her. And the drama 👌🏻 it gives me life.

[victoriousscarf]

as I'm playing Veilguard I just keep thinking of your fic and 'you were right!!' 😭 idk if you are planning on continuing the forest is dark (as a fellow fanfic author no pressure) but I'm just thinking about the stuff that has been revealed and their implications relating to mahanon are so juicy

anyways I love your work so much<3

Like.

Like.

Friends I'm feeling weirdly vindicated playing this game in ways I think it's going to take me a very long time to sort through and process and probably see other reactions/other playthroughs but like I am so pleased at least with them walking that line of Solas being a villain and also still throwing out "but he never had to be."

But we'll also have to see how I feel at the end of my first playthrough because while I am blasting through faster than most people I'm talking to about it, I'm definitely not done yet and there's so much room to like, still see what happens (I have read spoilers tho because I'm impatient and I am very interested in some of them >:] )

But yes believe me I suddenly have pages of notes for things I was already gonna do but am either hyped about more now or have refined differently with new context.

As for writing the story: I mean I never really meant to stop working on it, but there were a couple main reasons I stopped for a bit: firstly, after like 2+ years of ONLY writing it (which is unheard of for me) oh my brain just needed a break. It needed a long break. It needed to go write some other genres for a while, like a nonlinear spy au and twisted politics and maybe a few little fun adventure stories... Also I've seen this happen with me before but I got hit so hard with burnout a while ago about life, about work, about everything, and it made it so hard to work on the thing I was working on leading up to the burnout. Or during the burnout. It takes a while mentally to work yourself back around to it and not feel like you did heading to the bad mental place.

Secondly, I really stopped updating when hype for da4 started kicking up, and I think I just needed to know what was gonna happen/be said/if I was ignoring the game or not going forward.

And now I can think about the story without being emotionally distressed AND I know what da4 says so. Stay tuned. But I'm very hopeful because Mahanon (and frankly Alim Surana) have sure been having opinions about certain things...

[barrenclan]

Been too afraid to suggest this for a while bc... social anxiety,, so I'm going anon.

Just another music ask!! "The Line" by Vera Sola feels like a very Barrenclan song to me

Oooh, this is a good one, I can definitely see it. A lot of vibes for original RoseClan/early BarrenClan.

She was the first one to go <- Wheatstar I'll be back for you, the final words she spoke He was the second one to leave <- Ladybugstar Whispered, don't you worry

Because time is a warm dark circle Day is returned to the looping of the line Night is only a passing thing We'll be back again when it's right

Fellas, is it gay to feel like this about your boss?

I don't show it but I quiver whenever you come near And I cannot decipher between the thrill and the fear I wanna stop it but like it too much to let it stop here It's wrong but I want you tonight It's not my own volition but I fell in deep By running the distance I've been advised to keep I trot to the wolf as a doting sheep It's wrong but I want you tonight

Rainhaze works with like 50% of songs ever made. He is my most Ashfur-esque character in that way.

There's a scavenger on the wind alone Where he roams in the land of the dust and bones

Nobody wants to be your friend when you're a scavenger on the wind

My mom is an oldschool fan of Laurie Anderson, and I listened to her growing up, so I was quite surprised to see that this song has become viral on TikTok. I highly recommend listening to the whole song, and her others as well.

And I said, "Okay, who is this really?" And the voice said "This is the hand, the hand that takes"

And when justice is gone There's always force And when force is gone There's always Mom, hi Mom

As long as people keep sending me songs, I'll keep doing them.

Maybe it's just a stupid dream I know you'd never change your life to be with me Six hours north in a city by the sea I want you herе right now I want you here with me

If I were closer, would you remember The way I made you feel in September? You said it's too cold in San Francisco But I keep you warm so you'll take me where you go

I am always here for a musical song, especially Into the Woods. Anything witchy character works for Nightberry.

THREE DAYS GRACE MENTIONED! The actual inspiration for the song came from an El Tango de Roxanne lyric, specifically this one:

"You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me And please, believe me when I say I love you"

I like this song a lot too. Cormorantpaw works with any thrash-type music.

I have to ask cause I need something to last Too many times I've been left behind <- ohh... the corm......

Will you love me or leave me forever? Will you love me or leave me forever?

HAH I love it.

Yeah I can see it!

My parents sold me to a preacher Now I miss my mom and dad I heard they joined a cult They say, mass suicidal death I’m locked inside the church They say the prophecy’s foretold

They’ll preach salvation as they tie my limbs And rip out my teeth They’ll soak their daggers In the pigs blood As I beg and I plead

The Garden is actually already on the PATFW playlist! For the reasons which you listed, and I agree with you. :) Never Love An Anchor is also Slugpelt's themesong.

It looks like this one has been suggested before, probably for Rainhaze or Deepdark! I love Saint Motel's music.

Nobody has ever seen his face But fear his smile I heard he'll drink your blood just for the taste

Everybody tends to disagree On just how evil A single human being should ever be And all your bones, they scream for more

[butterflydm]

archdemons and pieces of power (DAV posting)

Okay, I was distracted away from the game for a hot minute (Wheel of Time s3 teaser trailer my beloved) but I'm back to finish it up!

Which means that I am now free to unblock all DAV/Dragon Age related spoilers, so I'm very excited about that. I really loved playing this game. DAI was my first game in the series (about a year after it came out), and then I played backwards from there, so this is my first one I played on release and I have loved it so much. The end was epic and I just... great game. Will definitely be tweaking my Rook and playing again, but this specific Rook felt so right for the story. I think I mentioned this, but I tried the beginning of the story a couple of different times before I found this Rook and I am so pleased with them.

Because I'm watching Rings of Power, that means that I'm thinking about Tolkien and Sauron, which made me realize that the archdemon/dragon connection to the elven gods has a similarity to Sauron's connection to his ring. Sauron can't be destroyed unless the ring that he has poured himself into and connected himself to has been destroyed. And so too do the archdemons have to be destroyed in order to kill the elven gods.

The elven gods and Sauron are also both strong examples of the temptations and destructions of authoritarianism. They seek not merely to lead but to rule and to be worshiped. They will destroy the world in order to remake it in their own warped idea of perfection; destroy what exists in service of the ideal in their head. Other people are tools and toys to them, not people.

(this is the line that Solas was flirting with too, back in DAI -- he was seeing the people who existed in this world as not as fully real as the people of his own time or as he himself was; it made it easier for him to proceed with his plans if he could convince himself of that.)

Anyway, Solas trapped Rook in the Fade by swapping our places and I am going to punch him in his stupid "I am the only person who can fix this" face when Rook gets back out.

Me when the God of Lies and Trickery tricks me:

(that said, it was a great sequence. But if I get the chance, Rook is punching him at least once before the game is over. Because he genuinely believes he's the only person who can fix things! So in character of Solas to believe he's the only one who can fix this tho)

Is my boy Davrin really dead? Heart broken! (so I'm assuming that Harding would be dead if I'd gone down the other path, then, since Harding was my other option for distraction leader?)

Two characters that are a bit in limbo right now: Neve got snatched away by Elgar'nan and Lucanis... froze in place... but that last one might have been Solas tricking Rook. Very worrisome situation!

Funny thing is I went back and made an elven Rook specifically to give myself all the elven lore feels, and now I feel devastated by the elven lore feels that I specifically brought upon myself.

But, you know, it's not really a Dragon Age game until you're trapped in the Fade for a while! We've been living in the Lighthouse, but now Rook is actually trapped (until I make my escape and then punch Solas in the face before I guess I let him have his happy ending with Lavellen, maybe. I mean, she's up for it if he stops being so... you know. Like This.)

Going through the prison of regrets was really good. I never hated the Fade sequences in the game, but this one... particularly good.

By the time we get to Varric in the prison of regrets... you know what's going on. But it's hard to say goodbye to him and to acknowledge afterwards that you were really just talking to yourself in those conversations with him. Mentoring yourself.

And then you escape the prison of regrets. Something that Solas needed to poke and pull and twist to swap you into, and you're with your team but... but Davrin is gone, and Neve is gone (for now), and Varric... has been gone since the beginning.

Because this team has grown to feel like a family in the Fade, losing a member of the team feels even more brutal. And I appreciate that.

Once more into the breach, and it's a group assault. One of the things that I've loved so much about DAV is that everyone goes on the big group missions. I picked Bellara to untangle the wards. Lucanis to kill the Venatori mage. Taash to face the construct. Leaving me with Emmrich and Harding for my team to face Solas. It does feel right to take Harding with me to face Solas.

This whole section feels so epic. I really love it. I even love that I think there's no way to get through it without losing someone, painful as that is.

So... I did want to punch Solas at first, but it's hard to maintain that energy when he's admitting that he's a big ol' failure who needs me. I am so curious how these scenes play with a Rook who is more antagonist towards Solas!

Everything about the ending was... honestly, I don't have words right now. I loved it? I loved it so much. I was deliberately going for the most Solas-positive ending possible, because I figured that's the hardest ending to get, and I achieved it. The Egg got his happy ending with Inky.

Solas using his own life to hold the Veil in place, but he won't be alone and he chose it. He wasn't forced into it or tricked or trapped.

And now the world is for the rest of us. We did save Neve and then Neve saved all of us in that final fight.

And everyone has a chance to create a new world now, heal the scars left by those ancient elven battles ages ago. I am so pleased with the ending. I'm guessing we could have lost a lot more companions than Davrin, so it was definitely ME2 Suicide Mission vibes but on a more massive scale.

It felt... epic. Watching the fight between the Dread Wolf and Agar'nan's archdemon... man.

Genuinely loved this game so much. Definitely gonna play it again. Make some different choices. Maybe not be so nice to Solas the second time around, probably. But, man, Solas is such a great character. I'm so thrilled that DAV made such good use of the characters from earlier in the game series. Using Varric as a mentor... even if it was only in Rook's mind... something Solas tricked them into seeing... I really loved it.

Yeah, that's my summary: great game; really loved it; will definitely be playing again. I gotta see what destroyed Treviso looks like, after all!

[babe-a-yaga]

Thoughts, about 42 hours into Veilguard. Roughly mid act 2 I think?

-Exploration and combat feel better than they ever have. Also thoroughly enjoying smashing all of the pottery in Hyrule Thedas

-Orb and Dagger mage is a fucking BLAST to play

-I spent all summer reading the novels/graphic novels/encyclopedias in prep, because I'm neurotic. I wasn't expecting this to pay off as richly as it has, but Veilguard REALLY rewards you for being a book reading player. In the past, Stolen Throne kind of provided a little bit more context to why Loghain is Like That, but wasn't required reading. The Calling really paid off in Awakening, and I was expecting Tevinter Nights to have SOME of that (faction rep babies and such!) But I'm SO pleased to see Felassan haunting the shit out of the narrative, and when I started to put pieces together on the Gloom Howler, I didn't dare believe it until Valya appeared on screen. To say nothing of finally meeting Maevaris! I am being RICHLY rewarded for reading the books!

- Based on the books, and the marketing, I came in with pretty predefined notions of the companions and how much I expected to like each, which, in typical DA fashion, has largely been subverted! Davrins whole "monster nemesis' didn't interest me much until I realized it was Isseya, now I'm INVESTED. I hadn't given much thought to Taash and actively disregarded Bellara as Temu Merrill. I came in prepared to love Lucanis and Neve and Harding. I DO love Lucanis, though he's so much softer than I expected(positive)! Taash has I think become my #1 of all the companions. Bellara is in my top 3.

-Ghilan'nain is fucking scary ok

-halfway through act one it really grabs you and just starts running and it's cinematic and high stakes and wonderful. And most of the (relatively minor) gripes I have are swept away in the narrative

-The whole dread wolf regrets quest line had my jaw on the floor from start to finish, then I cried. I had about 80% of it predicted but it was still wild to have it all confirmed.

-I have laughed out loud more than once

-Rooks dynamic with Solas is very interesting and I wish I had more of it? It started off being really snarky in both directions, and now Solas is looking at her and asking "hey you OK? Are your friends OK?" And it's just INTERESTING.

-I've seen critiques that the dialogue feels HR-ish, and I'd counter that it feels more like therapy at times. It took a little getting used to in those moments but I don't dislike it and I like the slow development of the characters.

-I've also seen criticism that purple dialogue is goofy (derrogatory). It is absolutely goofy, but I am a goofy person and I LOVE how much of a shit head it makes Rook sometimes.

-I miss the search function in inquisition. Loot is made much more visible, but I find the "investigate" points aren't marked to the spot on your mini map and don't stand out enough. I've spent too long in some areas spinning around in the "investigate here" circle on the map without being able to actually identify what I'm supposed to be investigating. Especially while I'm binging through the story and TIRED.

-music is a bit of a letdown. It isn't bad, it doesn't take me out of the moment anywhere, but it hasn't been particular memorable and at no point has it punched me in the chest, made me weep, and possessed a corner of my mind for ten years a-la dark solas/lost elf themes

-it's very beautiful. My Rook is beautiful. The companions are beautiful. Thedas is beautiful.

-Minrathous feels like Kirkwall. I can't put into words why I feel that way, it's all vibes. and especially after the dragon (I saved Treviso). Maybe it's just docktown. But very Kirkwall energy.

More to come, I'm sure

[invinciblerodent]

The more preoccupied I get with Wyll (because apparently he's the one about whom I am hopelessly in my feelings today), the more certain I am that I inadvertently struck gold by choosing him as a romance option for my Inquisitor!Tav playthrough.

An older version of Ray is... pretty much exactly the person I can imagine working best for the kind of story I'd personally love to tell with Wyll.

I mean...

Regardless of the universe they're in, the Trevelyans are old money. They're not quite as high ranking as a Duke, but the Thedosian "Bann", I kind of see them on roughly the same level as a Baron. A minor lord, but a long-standing family with deep roots that make them politically quite significant. So it's conceivable that during Ulder's rise, the Ravengards and the Trevelyans occasionally rubbed elbows: this Ray (or Lord Trevelyan in this case, much as he hates being called that- had to assume the title after his father's passing though) may even know Ulder in passing, and if he didn't know Wyll, he must have known of him.

He may even have thought briefly about how it's been a while since he's heard anything about Ravengard's boy. Maybe he wondered for a few seconds about whatever could have happened to the lad.

Maybe Wyll even remembers seeing Lord Trevelyan, often by the moniker of "The Inquisitor of (I'll figure it out)", and his beautiful sorcerer husband at some function. Maybe meeting again and seeing that pain etched deep into the man's heart, he wonders what could have happened to break the man most thought of as a hero of the past. Maybe sharing that loss brings them closer.

The parallel of one of them missing his dominant hand and the other missing an eye works really well. It wasn't intentional at all, but Ray was barely older than Wyll is now when he was "Inquisitor" (I'll need to workshop how to adapt that to DnD) and lost his arm, and has since learned to live with it- but nevertheless, these are both very traumatic injuries that result in a pretty fundamental alteration of one's life. Loving the "broken" parts of one another, I think that's as bittersweet as it is kind of beautiful.

I'm electing to believe that the prosthetic limbs in Faerun are fairly sophisticated, so while the prosthetic hand has some pretty severe limitations, it does move (if jerkily), and it looks almost convincing as a flesh and blood hand under a glove. Cue dramatic reveal of silvered mechanical fingers glinting in the firelight the night after recruitment: just a small nod to mean "I know all too well your sacrifice."

(Solas vs. Mizora, who's the bigger douchebag, let's discuss)

I'm not going to say "daddy issues" because that's a very gross and oversimplified way of putting it, but after being so.... so cruelly rejected by his father, early on just receiving approval from an older male figure (this Ray is like ~55-ish) of similar social standing as his father probably... does something. To Wyll. Messes with his head. I mean, for a character who downplays his emotions because he just wants to please others so much, unconditional praise and positive reinforcement from someone who is outwardly so much like a storybook hero AND the father/mentor who rejected him must leave a deep impression on Wyll's heart. (I quite like the thought of an honest "Good lad!" and a slap on the back making Wyll's stomach clench.)

I love that in most of his romance, from what I've seen, Wyll does the "wooing". He is the one who courts and pursues the player character, which works really nicely for this kind of May-September romance: A gallant, strapping young man honestly pursuing the widower with the bruised and battle-scarred heart makes my own little heart ache, but in a good way. And the chasteness of the romance only adds to it, imo: definitely dispels in me any notion of it coming off... I don't know, icky. This is not about sex, or exploitation, or a power imbalance, not about someone gross manipulating a young, inexperienced person into anything: it's just about the... the tenderness of starting anew. It's about learning that.... that there can be more than just one "great love" in a life.

But also, adding to this, them trading the well-fitting role of the "dashing prince" back and forth also makes me smile. Coming to each other's rescue, dissolving the pact, maybe punching Ulder in the face after saving his shitty little life for good measure, it can make them both feel both like they're protected AND the protector. Like they can rely upon the other and be relied on in return.

.... Maybe I should finish at least ONE playthrough before I become enamored with the romance of a fkin FOURTH, huh.

[osmoticeel]

rules: pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. then tag ten people.

I wasn’t tagged and I don’t tag people but if anyone does this because of me please @ me in it! I wanna see what you have to share ✨

All of these are WIPs to varying degrees. Also very few of my WIPs have names 😅 I'm posting this in the hope that it encourages me to work on more than just the ultralong ones.

Twilight (the Enterprise episode) (Hoshi/T’pol)

T'pol's reflection in the mirror above the dresser is unfamiliar - her hair is long, and while she slept hairs have come loose and frizzy from the braid down her back. The defined edges of her face and body have softened ever so slightly, though she doesn't feel weak. Her eyes look wider, maybe a little unfocused - or a little crazed.

She's aged – not much, but a noticeable amount. Last night, she was sixty-four years old, first officer of the Enterprise. She was on her way to engineering, taking short, measured steps on unsteady feet, deep breaths, vertigo making the walls close in. The floor lurched – a spatial anomaly or her own perception? – she fell, and— and— nothing.

She steps closer to the mirror, trying to make sense of the gap between her image of herself and the woman in the mirror, and notices a note on the dresser. The paper is beginning to yellow with age, but the formal Vulcan handwriting is undeniably hers.

T'pol, daughter of T'les, know that I am you, though you have forgotten me.

Emergent Properties (Hoshi/T’pol, Vox Sola)

Hoshi knew her vices all too well, and she never considered pride to be one of them.

She took pride in her work, yes, because she was hardworking and focused and believed nothing was worth doing that wasn’t worth doing right. But she was also (consciously, willfully) friendly, and helpful, and humble. She didn’t like being wrong, but she was happy to accept it as something she could learn from. She knew what she didn’t know.

And yet none of that seemed to matter.

The Vulcan Word for Love (Hoshi/T’pol)

“How do you say I love you in Vulcan?”

T’pol’s mouth is dry, and she freezes, unable to do anything but stare, feeling like an ambushed gormagander. She is not prepared for that question. But it is not the Vulcan way to lie, and so she tells the truth as she knows it:

“We don’t.”

She feels Hoshi sag in her arms. There’s a part of her that wants to draw Hoshi in closely, to say T’pol can try to be human for her. There’s a part of her that can feel, intensely, how those words hurt, not for the explicit meaning itself, but for everything implied by it. And what those words imply is equally clear, echoed across the bond they share, etching itself into T’pol’s mind like acid.

Vulcans do not love to begin with.

It is extremely fortunate that Vulcans require little sleep, because even as she tries to meditate in Hoshi’s arms, she finds herself drawn back to that thought. It haunts her with the fiery intensity of all Vulcan emotions, until morning.

These Are the Voyages (gen, Voy/Ent crossover)

“It’s not educational, it’s an adventure that just happens to be based in historical fact.” Harry paused to smile knowingly. “And besides, I think you’ll find you like history a lot better when you’re a part of it.”

Tom raised his eyebrows and went back to eating.

B’elanna slid in between them and, without asking, picked up the padd and started reading it. “These Are The Voyages: A Holographic Window Into History.” Harry tried to grab the padd out of her hand, but she held it up in the air away from him and continued reading the description with a dramatic flourish. “Relive the thrill of battle, the intrigue of diplomacy, and the awe of exploration. Join the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise, Starfleet’s first warp 5 vessel,” she let out a small snort, “on humanity’s first steps into deep space.”

Time After Time (Paris/Kim)

It was a formulaic sort of conversation, a lecture Harry could have heard from his own father. Start with flattery – “You’re such a promising young officer,” – then veiled threats – “I’d hate to see you ruin your career,” – then actually get to the heart of the matter – “but that Tom Paris is bad news.”

Figures. Harry never had good taste in men. Luckily his common sense was usually stronger than his heart. His mother raised him right, he might say. It still smarts every time.

Harry was so distracted that he almost didn’t notice when the very object of his frankly juvenile brooding slid into the seat across from him, sloshing a bowl of slightly pink tomato soup as he set it down.

“There, you see? I told you it wouldn’t take long.”

Tom was bitter, even more bitter than the Starfleet replicators’ impression of tomato flavor. Apparently Tom never had a replicated tomato before, because, while Harry gripped the edge of the table at a loss for words, Tom took a sip and grimaced.

“Fourteen varieties, and they can’t even get plain tomato soup right.”

Harry might have told him there’s a reason for the fourteen varieties, that next time he should try the Bolian style, but Tom’s spoon clinked as he dropped it into the bowl, and Harry hated these conversations.

A Secondhand Truth (Paris/Kim)

“He misses you, you know.”

Harry was stunned, had been completely thrown off from his mental calculations of nebular dust decay. “Who?”

“Tom.”

“Oh. What do you mean?”

“He tells me you just canceled Captain Proton on him again, and now I see you here, hard at work on a problem that even I agreed is completely irrelevant. You didn’t have a fight, you’re just avoiding him.”

“He’s better off without me.”

“I beg to differ, he was much less insufferable when you still talked to him.”

Harry hadn’t seen that smile of Tom’s in a long time, the one he’d thought could burn out stars. He’d just imagined he saved it for B’elanna behind closed doors.

Fission (B’Elanna/Seven)

Janeway insisted, in her narrow scope, that human collectives and connections were no different. Humans were interdependent, she said; just look at the crew of Voyager.

Short-sightedness was an obvious result of living a single life, isolated from contradictory viewpoints.

Seven of Nine knew this much: the crew of Voyager was cacophonous. There was dissent. Members identified with two factions that warred with each other and only cooperated due to necessity. The captain had to command her crew and compel them to serve the needs of the whole, and punish those who didn’t, Seven of Nine included. It was intolerable. To be Borg was to know harmony.

Shuttlecraft 13 (Troi/Yar)

But she pitied Armus, as well. It was a heartless blob of hatred and anguish – negative emotions, but not pointless ones. They ought to be red flags the mind raises to alert itself to danger, that calm down when the situation passes. But there was no danger. Armus was trapped in a dark tunnel without an exit in sight. She wondered if anyone had ever tried to take it seriously. If she was going to die here, maybe she could talk it down.

“You want to play that game? That wasn’t meaningless at all. I know what you really want. Misery always wants to be shared. If you make someone else suffer, you think it’ll be worth something. It might at least mean you’re right. Well, that’s not how it works. It won’t ever make you feel any better. But if you let Will go, I’ll cry with you.”

Between Unforgiving Stars (Troi/Yar, someday)

“How deep does the rabbit hole go?”

T’ven frowned. “How is a small mammal relevant?”

“It’s an allusion to an old Earth story – Alice in Wonderland, in which a young girl falls into a rabbit’s burrow and discovers a world where everyone and everything is illogical. I was referring to its use in an old Earth movie, which asks ‘how deep the rabbit hole goes’ to refer to discovering concealed layers of confusing or incomprehensible truth.”

T’ven nodded, but she was obviously baffled.

“Perhaps a better way to say it would be, how many layers of deception are there?”

“Only the Tal Shiar can be said to know, though I doubt their left hand knows what the right hand is doing, to use one of your Earth expressions.”

Deanna smiled graciously. “You’ve studied human mythology.”

Waiting Game (Troi/Yar)

“Deanna,” Will said, and she could hear the unspoken, don’t. But he knew that if she’d visited his quarters, if she was so serious when she was so plainly uncomfortable, it must be important enough that she needed to say it for herself, no matter what.

“I don’t want you to think,” Deanna began, then swallowed, realized the way she was going to end that sentence – that I still have feelings for you – wasn’t fair, because her own feelings were out of her control, and the truth is she had no idea how she felt, not after the other day threw her off, but she wasn’t going to pressure herself to get her own feelings in order until she was well and ready. Instead she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and said the simplest truth she could manage: “I don’t want to pick up where we left off.”

Will sighed, crumpled slightly, but he almost seemed relieved. “I knew it was a matter of time before I had to hear it.” He took a deep breath. “I’m happy to have you as a friend, Deanna.”

[mythalsknickers]

I wanted to reblog this with some little more depth and a reply to @bibooozeta I genuinely believe there is no wrong way to read the etymology behind Lucanis' name or truly any name in this game. Reading to far into things is how we got some great Solas fan lore that later became canon. That being said this was a 2am gremlin post where I was not doing a full parsing of Lucanis' name but waiting for my phone to charge I noticed something interesting. That being said, it is rainy, I have coffee and gluten free cookies, and a very long nerd post under the cut

What do we know about Antivan naming conventions, well they seem to follow a Fore Name and Last Name scheme. Looking from a list of last names we do have, there is a bit of linguistic variety with what we could notably say is an Orlesian influence. These are a list of last names and first name that were sourced from any form of dragon age media I can get my hands on.

*A note on di Bastion, the codex is unclear if they were born in antiva or not but did receive training from Orlesian Bards so she is marked as possibly orlesian, the other confirmed orlesian was left off the list. *A note on Fletcher, fletcher may very well be a title and not so much of a name as we see with Heir.

Linguistically speaking there is plenty of inspiration to choose from with Antiva and it is clear the developers took a lot inspiration from Italy, The Roman Empire, Spain, Portugal and many others. It is important to note without Latin, there would not be a lot of what we know as the romance languages, that being said let us begin with the first name.

Lucanis

Going off pronunciation we have [Lu][can][is] seems to be the in game dialogue. Looking at similar words we have Lucania[1][2] which is also pronounced similarly [Lu][ca][ni][a] and additionally in proper nouns that are not place locations we have Luca [Lu][ka] and Luciano [Lu][cia][no] as our closet sounding to Lucanis. So let us begin by breaking this down element by element.

Luc/Lu

Luc, from the Osco-Sabellic word for light Lux, from latin for light often seen as luc/lux/lu

Ani/Anis

A plural possessive suffix implying belonging [of]

on the surface this seems to say Light Of which honestly on its own paired with his last name is perfection I do not mind this reading, however I am known for wearing my tinfoil hat, and please walk with me while I cook with my above post in a similar depth. There is an overlap between Greek and Latin, and I will likely be playing with that.

Lu

Lux, from Latin for light often seen as luc/lux/lu Leukos, not really possibility since it is only seen as Leu/Le, however it means bright or White

Cani/Canis

Canis, from latin meaning dog/hound

So now what I am working with is Light Hound and with this we can move into his last name.

Dellamorte

Going off pronunciation for both in the media source, and in real life we are looking at [del][la][mor][te] this is pretty strictly Italian, as I said above it is Of Death specifically it looks like this when broken down into elements.

Dell'

Dell being a contraction meaning of or from the paired with as mentioned in the reply a feminine noun

Morte

From the noun mors meaning death

With all this in mind, if we were not digging a touch deeper into the elements his name would roughly translate into Light of from the death [partly because of of looks stupid] however I do want to go more in-depth so let's take what I did in the first post see what we are working with.

Dell'

Dell being a contraction meaning of or From the using the Italian contraction.

Amor

A play could be argued to use the Italian amore however we only see the Italian usage drop the e cases like ti amo or innamorarsi so for this we will go back and use the Latin.

amor meaning love for somebody

-Te

A masculine and singular variation of -tus that is possessive meaning You

Putting this together we are given something like Of/From the Love [for] You and pairing with his name we are given a very amusing parallel to Solavellan's dread wolf with Light Hound From the Love [for] You as a rough translation for his name. I still maintain there is no right or wrong way to read his name regardless of how you read it the Developers and Writers did a wonderful job with this.

Lucanis enjoyers, Rookanis Hell Dwellers. I come to you with angst.

Lucanis Dellamorte

Luc leukos (Greek: λευκός), meaning "white" Lux (gen. lucis), meaning "light"  Canis lykos (Greek: λύκος), meaning "wolf" Dellamorte of death

Or we could dig deeper Dell/della Italian for Of Amor italian/latin for love te latin for you His name MEANS WHITE WOLF OF LOVE [for] YOU

[felassanis]

"Small" checklist of things I want in Dragon Age 4:

Better hairstyles is obvious

Better looking armour is also obvious. Give me more variety other than "shitty trench coat a school shooter would wear"

A Varric romance. If this is going to be the last game he appears I do not see why you can't throw the dwarf lovers a bone Bioware

Combat similar to Dragon Age 2. I prefer button mashing and getting to whack enemies with my staff than holding trigger while a boring animation plays.

Put Kieran in the plot, he has so much potential. Or at least some kind of revisit to Flemeth taking in the Archdemon soul or what it means that Solas may have that very soul too. Just something with the Archdemon we fought in DAO.

Let us wear Antivan Crow armour.

Please pay homage to the background we pick in character creation. I really don't want another instance of Lavellan suddenly going brain dead when visiting and ancient elven ruin and suddenly having amnesia about their culture and history. Make the world react to our race. Make characters make comments about our class. If our elven protagonist goes to an alienage, don't have them be utterly oblivious to the squalor most elves live in. Because they would be AWARE.

An update from our Warden. I don't really expect the warden to make an appearance because that is insanely tricky. But another letter, or a character updating us on where they are at. Like say, if Zevran makes an appearance in da4 and he was romanced, have him explain if the Warden has gotten any closer to curing the Taint.

Piercing options in the character creation.

A resolution on Anders.

Honestly you know what would be sick but also unlikely but I'm gonna put it here anyway NAVAL EXPLORATION AND COMBAT. I see some concept art featuring what looks like underwater exploration and it reminded me of Black Flag. And if Isabela is back, then it can be her ship we explore by.

More demonisation of the Chantry. Inquisition, as much as I do like that game, leaves such a sour taste in my mouth over the attitude towards the Chantry. It is a powerhouse of abuse and hatred. an instigator of genocide and cultural appropriation and for it to be treated like a sick puppy that just needs to go to the vet is terrible. Going to Tevinter, somewhere that just disregards the Chantry, should offer an environment where we can finally explore how bad the chantry is.

Blood magic specialisation and more exploration towards its positive uses.

Antivan Crow origin.

Divinity Original 2 mechanic where magic and bombs can inflict elements onto the environment. So like, if you make it rain and then cast an ice based power. The puddles will turn to ice and make enemies slip. Spicing up combat.

Also divinity original sin 2 mechanic where you can romance anyone because your idea of attractive might not be same as your player's. because Fane was the best romance and you nearly skipped out on Solas being an option so....can't really trust you to decide who we can and can't romance.

For Dwarven players. Make the camera cut half their face off its so funny.

Speaking of dwarven players please try and work with propertions. Even if that's making new animations for love interests to bend down or pick up their dwarven lover during kiss scenes. Believe me the game will look better for it and your fans will appreciate it when their small dwarf doesn't suddenly GROW.

Also, more romance scenes in general? Idk it feels like such a drag when you wanna romance a character but across 40+ hours of gameplay you only have 3 romantic cutscenes.

More personality. The Inquisitior was so wooden and I would love a system like the blue, purple, red dialogue wheel to make a come back because as simple as it was IT WORKED. Hawke felt alive especially purple. And have companions COMMENT on your disposition. Have serious characters call you an arsehole or hide their smiles when your character is being snarky.

[letshideoutandread]

24 songs for Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton

for @lizzibennet. surprise! thank you for all the content you create <3

1. Bundle of Joy by Michael Giacchino (just think about the fact that both kate and anthony are children born of pure love and yet both for some reason denied it from themselves for so long????? idiots)

2. The Best Day by Taylor Swift (both of them have daddy issues. so)

3. Everything Else from Next to Normal (VERY obsessive anthony vibes here. mozart was crazy and so is he)

4. Sola by Jessie Reyes (okay this is in spanish and i encourage you to look up the translated lyrics and think about kate. the pre-chorus: “i’m not the type of woman that your mom wants to see you with. i’m lacking in so many other things, and so many others fail me. i could never please you.” HELLLOOOOOOO????? )

5. 20 Something by SZA (both their 20s suck tbh)

6. Being Alive by Steven Sondheim (I ALREADY WENT OVER THIS WITH @lizzibennet THIS IS THE ANTHEM BOYS)

7. Starting to Get To You by Jensen McRae (just such a specifically applicable song??? and jensen is so so good. her lyrics drive me consistently insane??? also “she took your crown but she can’t hurt you now. i will lay my weapons down.” tell me you’re not thinking of siena and kate and the impacts they had on anthony’s perception of love)

8. It’s Nice to Have a Friend by Taylor Swift (modern au childhood best friend vibes im just saying)

9. Don’t Make It Harder On Me by Chloe x Halle (so many of these songs past this point are just “please stop being so you or i will fall in love”. anthony’s “you have to STOP “ meet chloe’s “I need you to STOP”)

10. Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here by Deborah Cox (YEAH)

11. Pink in the Night by Mitski (YUP)

12. To Be So Lonely by Harry Styles (“and i’m just an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t admit when he’s sorry. don’t call me baby again…” like hi anthony didn’t know you ghostwrote for harry styles)

13. I Didn’t Mean To Fall In Love by Snoh Aalegra (self explanatory. also groovy)

14. To Know Him Is To Love Him by Amy Winehouse (cry)

15. Garden (Say It Like Dat) by SZA (“YOU’LL NEVER LOVE ME, BUT I BELIEVE YOU WHEN YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT” LIKEEEEEEEE PLEASE THIS ONE IS PERFECT FOR KATE)

16. Love Affair by UMI (another not very widey known song that’s surprisingly applicable here. inspired by anthony’s “wanting to run away with you” line because it’s so sweet and so overlooked. so here’s a sweet often overlooked one song for that)

17. Hold Out by Aly & AJ (again just another really sweet song about what it means to be vulnerable and depend on someone else. learn to let people catch you when you deel like you’re falling. hyper-independent older siblings im looking at y’all)

18. Same Team by Labrinth and Steffon Don (super fun super groovy super romantic)

19. Romantic Flight by John Powell (literally this is from the How to Train Your Dragon score. i don’t know why it’s on here. it’s romantic and it belongs.)

20. To Be Loved by Adele (opening yourself up to love is so scary but so worth it and this song is all about that. this one reminds me most of violet more than anyone else tbh and that makes it so much more heartbreaking)

21. Slow Dancing by Aly & AJ (aj michalka and her husband wrote this about being separated in recent years due to COVID and just listen. think about kate and anthony dancing the days of their marriage away and dreaming of doing so when they’re apart. its about the YEARNING. and the SAXOPHONE.)

22. Bound To You from Burlesque (listen to the first verse and think of them and don’t cry i dare you)

23. Rather Die Young by Beyoncé (FULL CIRCLE PEOPLE. anthony “i can’t let anyone love me because i’m destined to die young” bridgerton is a fucking idiot. anthony “i would rather die young than live my life without kate” is a fucking icon)

24. Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine (yeah it’s the wedding song from twilight what did you expect)

im unable to make this into something linkable, but feel free!

[crackinglamb]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @noire-pandora, @fiadhaisteach and @sinsbymanka. Thank you lovelies! 💕

Tagging @serial-chillr, @mogwaei, @ir0n-angel (hehehe, I had to), @a11sha11fade and @lilbittymonster. No pressure.

...The cosmic irony is not lost on me today. I announced in this morning's update of WG that I need to take a step back and let the Muse rest. And then THREE of you tagged me for this. I'm cackling. (Also, please don't think I don't want to be tagged. I do. And I have a huge backlog of things, even if I'm not currently writing. 😘)

And with that said, have some future WG. Imogen and Solas being soft and forthcoming in the Emerald Graves.

---

“Is it hard to be here?” she asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb him if he'd fallen into a doze.

Solas stirred and laid a kiss on the inside of her wrist, holding her hand against his lips for a moment before answering. “No, arasha. What I remember of this land is long gone, buried far beneath this forest. It bears no resemblance to the grounds I once trod.”

“Did you hunt here too?” She was slightly surprised, but then again, she knew she shouldn't be. For all that he'd distanced himself from his peers, he was once an Evanuris as well.

“I was often a guest of Andruil,” he said, confirming her thoughts. “She would host revels and pageants, her champions riding with her colors borne proudly.”

“What was she really like?”

“She took joy in the hunt, in the freedom of it, the thrill. When she was young, she held much love for the land, and took care to keep it healthy. Her ambitions drove her to madness much later. When the thirst for bloodsport could no longer be slaked by simple creatures of the woods.”

“Were you ever friends?”

He rolled his head against her chest so he could look up at her. “That seems a strangely worded question.”

“Well, there are legends, you know. Of Andruil capturing Fen'Harel for hunting her halla without permission. And a price she called due in bed. I always kinda thought it was about Ghilan'nain.”

“Ah, well, it is merely legend, arasha.”

“No truth to it at all?” she teased.

“I did not say that,” he replied, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. “What was it, Andruil tied me to a tree?”

“And demanded you serve her for a year and a day. Doesn't seem very long for immortals.”

“Indeed not.”

“Did she really tie you up?”

He huffed. “She tried. Dominance was never her strong suit.”

“What about you hunting her halla, euphemism or otherwise?”

“If you are asking if Ghilan'nain and I were lovers, I would not say we weren't. Relationships among immortals are...were complex. If you are asking if it was behind my brethren's back, well...perhaps. Andruil had a possessive streak for things she considered hers. It added spice to the chase.”

Imogen sputtered, almost unable to believe he'd just come out and said it. “You trickster. That's...you know what? I can see it, that's totally like you. All sneaky and subversive and shit. Rebel wolf.”

[black-emporium-exchange]

How to sign up for Black Emporium!

Yes sweet nuglets, it's that time of year again: Time to sign up for Black Emporium!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP!

Helpful Links:

How to Guide || Requests on Ao3 || Tagset || Nominations Spreadsheet || Request Database || Parent Collection (All Past Years)

Main hubs:

@black-emporium-exchange || black_emporium @ Dreamwidth || blackemporiumex on Twitter || AO3 Subcollection || Discord

Signups end: July 17, 2021 @ 8:00PM EDT || Countdown

CHANGES THIS YEAR

- We now have a brand new Request Database this year! Unlike previous years where mods had to hand copy requests into a separate Google Doc, the Database will automatically populate who and what people are requesting. (Should come in handy when writing treats or looking for inspiration.)

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SIGN-UPS BELOW THE CUT:

1. Sign in to Ao3

If you don’t have an Ao3 account, contact the mods for help!

2. Go to the Black Emporium signup field (link)

3. Scroll to the “Requests” field

There are several different components of this field:

Relationship:

Enter one, two, or three approved relationships that you would like to see in a fanwork created for you. This field will autosuggest approved pairings. If your pairing does not show up, it may be that you have fallen victim to a known bug of Ao3's that we cannot fix, wherein pairings in a tagset do not autofill. If this happens, simply type it in as it appears in the tagset.

Additional Tags: You can request fanfic, fanart, or both. Selecting "any" is treated the same as selecting both.

Letter: If you have written a letter on an external website (such as Tumblr/Wordpress/Dreamwidth/Google Docs), you may link it here.

Description: Here is where you can provide additional detail about what you would like to see in a fanwork, both in general and for specific pairings. Good things to include (in this box, a letter, or both) are general likes and dislikes, preferred content rating, and Do Not Wants. Please remember to put your DNW's (do not wants) in the Ao3 sign up form - we can only take action if you put your DNW in your Ao3 sign-up form because it is the only thing we can absolutely guarantee that your creator will be able to access.

Remember that anyone who creates fanwork for you must respect your Do Not Wants. If you do not enter anything into this box, and you do not have a link to a letter, we will assume that means you are okay with anything for the specified pairing(s). If you have any preferences or things you do not want, we would encourage you to add them. It makes the process smoother for all involved.

Here are some things commonly put in the description box:

Likes/Wants:

- Frequently it can be considered helpful to your author or artist if they have some idea of what you like to see, and what you don't. For example:

I love F!Adaar/Sera because I think the idea of them merrily pranking their way around Skyhold is so much fun. Please don't write me something sad about them.

Do Not Wants:

- Stuff that makes you uncomfortable, or just plain stuff that is Not Your Thing. While the Black Emporium does not believe in kink shaming or otherwise insulting people for their own personal taste, we do want people to let their artists or authors know what their limits are. You don't have to give any reasons for this; "no x/y/z" gives your creator plenty of info to discern where your limits are.

We can only take action if someone writes you something against your DNWs if it is in your sign-up.

Prompts:

Prompts can be just about anything, but they're meant to be ideas that you'd like to see that can help give your artist or author something to work off of. Sometimes this can be a prompt or a question you'd like explored (for example: What if Solas found himself falling for M!Trevelyan? How would he feel about potentially falling for a human?) or an idea you'd love to see (Josie and M!Cadash snuggled up in front of a fire, please!) or just a few words of inspiration (Leliana/Josephine - secrets, lies, ravens).

Details about your character(s):

It is fairly common for people to give basic descriptions of their characters if it is a character where their appearance or personality may vary (ex: Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors), particularly if fanart is requested. These descriptions can be very basic indeed (ex: purple hawke), or extremely detailed (ex: This is Celeste Trevelyan, she loves her squad more than life itself, pink hair, dusky-rose skin, built like she could bench press you six ways from sunday).

Bucket Requests:

You may also use the description field to note additional pairings that you would be willing to receive. You may find this option helpful if you are willing to consider different Warden or Inquisitor backgrounds for your specified pairing that have been nominated. You are limited to an additional ten pairings specified in this manner. Please fill out the form entirely before filling in pairings manually in the description; those that you fill in in the relationship field (the first 30) will take priority.

Things you should not put in the description field:

“I would like anything but nasty [kink]. I think people who write that are gross and nasty.”

Please do not insult people who like something you dislike. It’s Not For You, and That’s Okay. “No [kink]” expresses this much better than a long explanation of why you don’t like [kink].

“I’m only choosing this to get to three nominations. Please don’t write it.”

While we know someone who signs up for a, b and z may want a and/or b more than z, but please don’t scream to your author or artist that what you may well match on is something you don’t want as much as other pairings. Writing something like this also reduces your chance at treats as well.

“Even though I said I wanted M!Solavellan, I’m fine with F!Solavellan too if you like that better.”

Please don’t tell people that you’d be alright with non-nominated pairings, as fics with only non-nominated pairings cannot be added to the collection.

Minimums and Maximums in Requests:

You are required to fill out a minimum of three request fields (Required: Relationship, Additional Tags; Optional: Letter, Description). Remember that you may put in one OR two relationships per request field, so the maximum number of pairings that you can list in this manner is thirty. Remember also that you must fill out at least 3 request fields, so if you fill 2 out with 3 requests in each "request box", Ao3 will still want you to add one more -- it's a good rule of thumb to fill at least three out with one request, then double up as you wish.

4. Continue to the “Offers” field

There are several different components of this field:

Relationship:

Enter one, two, or three approved relationships that you would like to see in a fanwork created for you. This field will autosuggest approved pairings. If your pairing does not show up, it may be that you have fallen victim to a known bug of Ao3's that we cannot fix, wherein pairings in a tagset do not autofill. If this happens, simply type it in as it appears in the tagset. If it continues to give an error, please drop us a comment with the pairing so we can figure out what's going on. You also have the option to select any relationship.

By selecting “Any Relationship,” that means that you are willing to write or draw fanwork for, literally, ANY of the approved pairings.

The only limitation we will accept will be be a limitation of what category of relationship you want to create for: eg, Any F/F, Any M/M, Any F/M, Any Multi, Any Other, or Any Nonbinary. Anything else WILL BE REJECTED. You may NOT use this option to say, for example, “Any Cullen pairing”. This option is for any and all of the approved pairings in your designated category/categories. Do not use this option unless you are sure that any is truly what you want.

Additional Tags:

You can offer to create fanfic, fanart, or both. Selecting "any" is treated the same as selecting both.

Comments for mods:

Here is where you can provide additional detail about what you will and won’t create. As with your requests, you can provide general likes and dislikes as well as things that you absolutely will not do. If there is someone signed up you absolutely cannot stand, please write "don't match me to x" here; we won't ask details, we just won't match and this will be a fully confidential field. If you hate nugs, put it here, and we'll make sure you get at least one nug-free prompt and, ideally, a nug-free sign-up. We want you to have an assignment you'll be happy about, so if you've got something that would be triggering for you to create for, let us know. We can only take action based on our own knowledge, so the more information we have the better we can try to match you with what you really want. If you do not enter anything into this box, we will assume that means you are okay with anything for the specified pairing(s) selected. If you have any preferences or do not wants, we would encourage you to add them. It makes the process smoother for all involved. None of the mods will blab over whatever you write; we just want you to have the best time possible with your assignment.

Minimums and Maximums in Offers:

You are required to fill out a minimum of three offer fields (Required: Fandom, Relationship, Additional Tags; Optional: Comments to mods). Remember that you may put in one or two relationships per request field, so the maximum number of pairings that you can list in this manner is twenty. Remember also that you must fill out at least 3 offer fields, so if you fill 2 offer fields out with 2 offers in each "box", Ao3 will still want you to add one more offer field even though you have one over the minimum required amount of offers -- it's a good rule of thumb to fill at least three offer fields, each with one offer, then go back and double up or not, as you wish.

Bucket Offers:

You may also use the comments to mod field to note additional pairings that you would be willing to write if you have already filled thirty slots. You may find this option helpful if you are willing to consider different Warden or Inquisitor backgrounds for your specified pairing. You are limited to an additional ten pairings specified in this manner. Once again, those filled in the actual relationship: tags will take priority over those written in, so choose which pairing goes where carefully!

A Note on Matching

Black Emporium runs on OR matching, which means that you will match on one relationship out of the ones that you offer and request. You are guaranteed to match on ONE relationship; you may match on more, you may not. For your assignment, you can write what you matched on OR you can write any other couple on their sign-up form. You will only have to write or draw for ONE request, not all of them. The minimums will be one piece of artwork or one 1,000 word fic.