#pre da4 rook

[dreadfutures]

okay okay so making wild guesses about themes and stories based on the GLIMPSES I've seen but we'll see ofc, most of these are just the most bare bones of characters because I don't like planning out exactly who the rooks are before I know them (exception: halide and Ter but I think they work lol) and we also don't really know the companions yet REALLY but anyway

1st: self insert bodyguard warrior widow dwarf crow x neve (inq ixchel high approval Solas) - two women with very guarded hearts but softies underneath?

other ideas:

- halide human mourn watch mage x davrin (inq Salina Lavellan romance/redeem Solas took the well) - The Attitude Squad

- shadow dragon elf warrior x Lace Harding (also Salina Lavellan) - living up to a legacy/becoming your own person story?

- terinelan veil jumper mage x lucanis? maybe? (also inq Ixchel high approval Solas) - a story of vengeance and expectations?

- older qunari warden rogue x Emmrich - a story of death and old man yaoi (in honor of Ramesh lmao) (Solavellan inq but swore to stop him)

- human Lord of Fortune x Bellara - deciding what "value"/"treasure"/"glory"/"history"/"identity" means? (Solavellan removed vallaslin took the well redeem Solas)

- shadow dragon x taash - we'll see what their whole deal is ig

[cadaveerie]

me playing dragon age: the veilguard

lucanis: so are we heading out or not

rook: yeah just hold on a second

*pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *hugs assan* *hugs assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets assan* *pets

[theeluvian]

I know I said "How are people already writing fanfic" but like... now I'm people...

[dapolyshipping]

Nominations Are Open!

✨CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR SHIPS✨

Nominations Close: Sunday, September 8th, 2024 12p ET

View Nominated Tags: gDocs | ao3 | autoao3app

Regarding Veilguard Ships: For the 2024 exchange, ships that include Rook, the DA4 protagonist, are NOT eligible for nomination, but ships that include Veilguard companions & NPCs without Rook are eligible. We look forward to including Rook ships in the 2025 exchange! Reminder: Ships that have been nominated for two prior years of DA Polyshipping have been pre-loaded in the tagset, to free up your spaces for other ships!

⏰ Updated Schedule ⏰

Per the results of our Veilguard release date poll, we are adjusting the schedule for this year's exchange as follows:

Nominations Open: Sunday, September 1, 2024 at 12pm ET

Nominations Close: Sunday, September 8 2024 at 12pm ET

Sign-Ups Open: Sunday, September 8 2024 at 12pm ET

Sign-Ups Close: Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 12pm ET

Assignments Received: by Tuesday, September 24, 2024 8:00 PM ET (or earlier!)

Works Due: Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 12pm ET

Works Revealed: Sunday, November 24, 2024 at 12pm ET

Creators Revealed: Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 12pm ET

Visit our website to see the schedule in your local time

More Information

how to nominate | rules & info | FAQ

Contact

ask | discord | email: dapolyshipping@gmail.com

Tumblr’s asks are famously unreliable. If you don’t see a response within 72 hours please feel free to resend the ask or send an email.

[arlathvhenan]

I had a question about all the interpretations about the currently released trailers. Where did everyone come to the conclusion the figures at the end of the gameplay trailer were the Evanuris and Rook accidentally released them? Did I miss something in the Q+A’s somewhere?

Sorry to be so late on this one, but to put it concisely people theorized a while ago that the end game villains of DA4 would be The Evanuris, specifically the final two. And they knew this because there’s overwhelming evidence linking The Evanuris to Tevinter’s Old Gods/The Archdemons, of whom only two are left. They then narrowed down the identities of these final two Evanuris via context clues found in Tevinter Nights and visual clues in the pre-reveal promotional materials. 

Furthermore, The Evanuris as our final antagonists just makes sense from a narrative standpoint. The Evanuris and their actions are the very reason Solas put up The Veil. He considered them so great a threat that he sacrificed nearly everything he loved to keep the world safe from them. And they appear to be the only thing—save dying alone—that he genuinely fears. 

The Evanuris are also the reason The Dwarves lost so much of themselves, their lands, and their own history. Their lot is no where near as bad as those of Elves or Mages, but we can still ultimately hold the Evanuris accountable for what was lost when they skew the Titans and forced them underground. 

Moreover, considering the series began with The Blight, it makes sense that things would eventually lead us back there for its final chapter. The Blight and The Archdemons/Evanuris help tie the two major conflicts of the series together: The Blight and The Veil. 

Both an be ultimately be attributed to the Evanuris. Both have caused immeasurable damage to Thedas. Both must ultimately dealt with in some way, shape, or form before Thedas can have a fighting chance at a future worth living in. And both are a perfect excuse to bring everyone to the table, regardless of background or alignment, in the interest of saving Thedas from a shared threat. 

I could go on, but this is about the gist of it. 

TLDR; The Evanuris help bring all the loose ends together in a terrifying little knot.

[mrs-gauche]

While I know it’s generally bad for leaks to happen (unless they are intentionally encouraged by the developer, and yes this seems to be a thing, as Mark Darrah himself even mentioned in the past), and there’s no real point in overanalyzing something that is pre-Alpha footage from over a year ago (!!)... I’m just glad it didn’t contain some major spoilers story wise, because I wouldn’t know how to avoid them until whenever this game actually releases. 😂 I’d like to know as little as possible about the story and the characters going into it.......

........That being said.. I’m a hypocrite, I couldn’t resist and took a tiny little peek 😂(and if you don’t wanna know anything until there’s something official, I completely understand, just don’t read any further now!), so all I want to say is

HOLY SHIT GUYS This seems legit and we are probably looking at the very first glimpse of REAL (pre-Alpha) DA4 gameplay footage after EIGHT flippin years, which means this game is REAL, it’s actually happening, it’s a real game that’s playable and everything and ahhhh!!! Weisshaupt?? Davrin?? A dragon?? Darkspawn?? Purple stuff??? DID YOU SEE THAT HAIR ANIMATION THOUGH??

Ahem. Okay, so with the first wave of euphoria out of the way now, how are we feeling about THIS

Hmmmmm 👀👀👀

HMMMMM

OHHHHHHH

Seems like the spirit of Joplin lives on after all?? 👀👀👀

I’ve already seen plenty of people speculating and while we should take everything with a grain of salt here of course, there was a comment on a reddit post by another (supposed) playtester that confirmed “Rook” to be indeed the protagonist’s name/title! 👀 And while this could be of course just a placeholder name for whatever it’ll actually end up being, there could be a lot to derive from this!

- As people have pointed out, “Rook” does sound a lot like a code/spy name, much like Charter, Butler, Farrier or any of Leliana’s spies

- Rook being also a type of crow, fitting in perfectly with the bird themed names like Hawke

- In slang, it’s ALSO another word for “swindler” or “deceiver”, which also reminds me a lot of how there was a Lord of Fortune in Tevinter Nights who used the name “Hollix” as part of their disguise during a mission (which btw was actually the name of Dorian’s mother’s pet nug lol)

So all of this considered, and assuming that the leaked footage might have been part of the very beginning of the game (and how the leaker seemed to suggest that Grey Warden is just one of multiple factions you can choose from!), can I just say that my speculation about how DA4 might start off with an infiltration mission of one of four factions (Grey Warden/Antivan Crow/”Veil Jumper”/Tevinter.. something), while playing as a “spy” (/Lord of Fortune?? 👀) under the alias “Rook”, might actually turn out to be true after all??? (°ロ°)

I mean.. it could just end up being a simple “choose your class/faction” at the start and that’s it 😂, but either way, if we get something resembling different “origin stories”, like depending on which faction you choose, the game starts off with a different mission (similar to what Cyberpunk did?), I think that would be an awesome concept! (Not setting any expectations here though! 😌 The game might start off at Weisshaupt no matter which faction you choose!)

But back to topic, the rook being of course also a piece in a game of chess, which was depicted on the cover of Mark Darrah’s red “Joplin” book first seen in 2016!

Which in turn also of course immediately takes us back to the amazing mind chess game between Solas and Iron Bull, referencing a real game that happened in 1851 known as “The Immortal Game”. While people have been taking Solas sacrificing most of his pieces as well as his queen (Flemythal) only to then strike the final blow and win by moving the bishop (mage) as foreshadowing and also a perfect respresentation of how both Solas and Iron Bull think and strategize, what’s interesting to note, is that it’s the turn in which Bull takes Solas’ rook that ultimately seals Solas’ win in the end. 

Now, this could mean absolutely nothing of course, but with this new information from the leaks, maybe there’s more to it than we think. 👀

Then there’s also the link to Solas’ final Tower tarot card of course...

Other than that, I just think it’ll be really cool to have a chess themed aesthetic for DA4 following the tarot card theme of DAI! Or just the idea of having a “game of minds” like the Immortal Game rather than just relying on “brute force” with an antagonist like Solas, that requires a certain level of strategic thinking and consideration from us in how we act/make decisions to outwit him, would make a lot of sense to me!

(Or we might as well reference that one Simpsons episode with the “human chess board” and cover both brute force AND strategic thinking lmaoo)

Or, even better, let us do something like the flippin “logic chess” mechanic from that glorious Ace Attorney spin off game lmaooo

Let’s bombard Solas with some hard hitting arguments. lmao

I will say though that, if “Rook” does actually end up being the title/name of our next protagonist, I’m once again very curious how the hell they’re gonna make this work in the localized versions, if they do attempt to translate the name literally. Let us pray that they’ll just stick to English for this one, or else the multiple meanings of the term will be completely lost in translation. lol Can’t wait to play as flippin “Turm” in German or “Tour” in French. 😂

[onewomancitadel]

Solas with his lighthouse and all the mentions of Solavellan reminds me of Hero and Leander, though I doubt that it's a reference in any way, it's just for my own flavour... Hero lights a lamp for Leander to swim across the Hellespont to see her, but their love is only for the warm seasons. When he tries swimming to her in the winter at the sight of her lit lamp, a strong wind blows it out, so he's lost at sea and then drowns. Hero throws herself from the tower, and later their bodies wash up on the shore in an embrace.

I had been previously thinking of Eros and Psyche (the arrow meant for someone else and the unlikeliness of their love; Eros' masking of his true nature; the tasks and trials Psyche must fulfil to be with him; the raising of the mortal to immortal to be with her lover), but you might see more influence what with Loki's (a trickster god influence for Solas) punishment for killing Baldr of the venom dripping in his eye from a snake and Sigyn, his wife, collecting it in a bucket. This is before the onset of Ragnarök but I could see it being repurposed for after the collapse of the Veil.

This leads me to think of the current topic today I've seen people talking about which is tragic, bittersweet, and happy endings for Solavellan. It's no secret now that it seems like the Inquisitor really will carry over to DA4 unlike previous DA games, and Solavellan being discussed so openly is pretty much unprecedented. It's very hard to debate what sort of ending will look right because it depends on how much Solas is or isn't vindicated, and the fact that archetypally, trickster gods will never be rewarded or punished in a strictly straightforward fashion. From the angle of fanservice (which unfortunately comes into the PR end of things, in handling fan questions) they also seem to hold the belief that shippers like Solavellan because it hurts, and so I think that's the angle they're going to play to - and have played to so far - and based on how Trespasser was written ('what makes you cry the most') I'm not really interested in thematic analysis. I liked how Solavellan played into all the best aspects of the DA world and had serious romance writing - it didn't feel like weird self-insert weirdness, but actually like something intimate (I hate the dialogue options clearly labelled 'flirt' and much preferred something like in the pre-dialogue wheel games where it wasn't giving you a PRESS TO FUCK button). I don't know how that can be handled properly in a game where the Inquisitor isn't the protagonist, thinking from a game perspective. Will there be some sort of internal numerical metric for TURNING THE DREAD WOLF'S HEART vs. MAKING HIM BREAK UP WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND, AGAIN? If you step on a butterfly, will that make Solas refuse to answer Lavellan's phone calls? I don't know!

I can't say much with confidence, but if I were to cast an aspersion, I'd expect however Solas gets treated by the story (whether he's right about the Evanuris, which, well, seems like he is so far, how you treat him as an advisor, etc.) will heavily influence what role Solavellan plays, if at all, and if he gets punished, an ending where Lavellan ends up with him - like Loki and Sigyn - could be construed as bittersweet for the romance and bittersweet for their characters - or where he's vindicated and freed, but maybe without purpose, could be bittersweet for his ending up with Lavellan too - and if they die together like Hero and Leander...

We've done the years of separation, and I think at the very least some sort of tonally appropriate pair with the ending he gets - how Rook treats him, probably - makes the most sense. DA romances love the bittersweet and the tragic, but Solas is in a highly exceptional circumstance (and so is the Inquisitor) compared to any other companion.

Anyway, just a collection of thoughts. I'm intrigued to see where it goes considering I had lost all hope for so many years, but it's overwhelming to follow, so I just wanted to make at least one post about it.

[spiritsong]

pinned post —

cleric | they/she/he | bipoc | disabled | very queer | very autistic

prev. urls: cleric4vampire, elvhendreamer

my art | writing tag | ao3

✧ I'm mostly here just to lose my mind over fictional characters and OCs!

✧ stories and storytelling and mythmaking is my lifesblood. my current escapism of choice is Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3. (I am blogging about DA4. tagging as da4 for those who don't care for it and want to block the tag; spoilers tagged as da4 spoilers if you're avoiding them. <3 the DA podcast vows & vengeance spoiler tag is vows and vengeance spoilers)

✧ lore fiend. cleric & healer fanatic. drow enthusiast.

✧ I run my mouth in the tags, and I tag things heavily (franchise, game, character names, ships, etc.) for myself, but maybe you can benefit from it, too.

✧ character positive space!!!

Dragon Age OCs —

main worldstate:

✧ eleneva surana — rivaini + dalish elf with no memories pre-kinloch hold; spirit healer extraordinaire; secret somniari; ice & spirit mage, later follows the arcane warrior & battlemage tradition; would destroy embrace the world for alistair

✧ ferru hawke — prefers fighting with blades and fists after surviving a lynching from an anti-mage mob; still a firestorm of grief and fury, bent on protecting their family whatever the cost

✧ sylathe lavellan — dalish elf, first to the keeper; melancholic mage who escapes in sleep; chronically ill - born with a hummingbird heart

✧ rook TBD

find my BG3 OCs under the cut!

My Tavs/Durges:

Find bios, pictures, and other information about them here <3 Asks about them are always welcome and appreciated! Also PLEASE tell me about your OCs, I'm always happy to listen!

And this is my tag for my WIP Tavs/Durges!

[dreadfutures]

A dwarf Crow Rook for da4... Perhaps my idea for her being a body guard like Mr. Nobody from Transistor will work. If so, her former charge/lover was killed.

[cadaveerie]

for muting/blacklisting purposes:

warnings (mostly for reblogs)

i.e.: partial nudity | nudity | blood | transphobia | domestic violence...

general (not my posts)

🗡 cadaveerie rb (reblog tag) 🗡 queuenari (queue tag)

for navigation purposes:

general (my posts)

🗡 memes 🗡 dragon age meta 🗡 datv speculation | dragon age speculation (these include rbs) 🗡 datv pre-release (pre-release datv posts/reblogs) 🗡 my journal

oc

🗡 oc memes 🗡 oc: athanasius-core | oc: jesús-core

dao 🗡 oc: evie surana (hof) da2 🗡 oc: garrett hawke (champion) dai 🗡 oc: isaac trevelyan (inky) 🗡 oc: cyrahel lavellan (inky) 🗡 oc: numi'len lavellan (inky) datv 🗡 oc: dante (rook)

dos2 🗡 oc: alasain

misc.:

dragon age

🗡 DATV spoilers (pre and post release) 🗡 dao | da2 | dai | datv | dragon age 1. i also use "dragon age: the veilguard", "dragon age the veilguard" and "da4" occasionally, but they're not my main ones. i always use "datv". 2. i only use 'dragon age' when the post is too broad to use any of the others (dao/da2/dai/datv), so if you want to avoid any, i recommend you mute them individually.

[PINNED POST]