#talking little by little about the main plot

[dragonbabes]

*F*cking Yap Warning; expect run ons and awful grammar and cursewords*

This is a super interesting thought. Cause I sorta agree. This isn’t to say that I’m upset that they gave the companions main character energy — cause they are, in a sense — and I adore all of their quirks and whatnot’s. But they put too little effort into Rook. From the very beginning.

I remember thinking that Rook is such a disposable character. I played a Shadow Dragon on my first playthrough, and I remember straight up snorting at Rook's response on why they couldn't navigate to Dumat Plaza: "Not my part of town." Seriously? But worry not, we have Harding, who can figure out something that Rook, who's probably lived in Minrathous for years, couldn't! (Lame)

Crow Rook: is assassin... Like Lucanis. Love this man to death but, why can't Rook do the stabby stab at Ghilan'nain? Does it have to be the sexy, coffee-obsessed man? Is Rook de Riva not sexy enough to brandish a weapon at the nefarious Ghilan'nain or the not-too-intimidating Elgar'nan? It was never explained it was just *shrug* Two's better than one ah-hyuck... When Neve was like "We need an assassin" to my very crow Rook, I was literally there like

( L a m e )

In my Shadow Dragon playthrough, I sacrificed Minrathous and I loved that Neve and the others are so much more critical than they are with other Rook origins, but literally no one on the team was like: how are you? That Lucanis - the soft, yearning, feeling man that he is - did not approach Shadow Dragon Rook that sacrificed their home, their city, their people, to protect his is so fucking wack to me. And - hot take, I think there's a lack of this throughout all of the games - no one ever checks in on the leader, because why? They're this amazingly unbreakable person that can face anything? No! Any hero worth their salt breaks, but they get back up. That's what makes em the hero. Iron Bull literally says "leaders are made of the people that can make the hard decisions, and live with them" but we never get to live with it, do we? They don't give us the chance to see them process that, and learn to hold it, because none of the companions bother to ask, "Hey I know you literally just had to sacrifice an entire city, how are you?" (Lame) If you want a player to feel immersed in your game and take joy in it, you give them the ability to affect the world. You make them feel the story by asking them "How do you feel after making this awful, awful decision?" Then, you let them choose how to answer the question... This was a huge fumble.

And oh my gawd the whole reason that Varric ever recruited Rook is just... Puzzling to me. He was just like "a-ha, yah, i want that one" because Rook is unpredictable? That's it? No actual purpose to the plot, they're just here to be like "haha he won't expect us to drop a building on him c'est la vie..." (l a m e)

Can we please also talk about how Rook can't have any side conversations with their companion outside of the cutscenes? In Inquisition, you could walk up to Solas and be like "what the fuq is up big dawg" then dap him up but in DATV? You're a sad loner sitting at your own lunchtable because they unfortunately don't have enough chairs at theirs (you can see an empty chair, but they need it for Neve's bag). You have to stand there like a creep and just be like "definitely not eavesdropping, nope nope nope. uh-uh, I merely entered this room that I really have no business in to stare into the void don't mind me carry on... Pleeeease I'm desperate to explore your character but can't outside of seeing how you talk to the others and plot-related developments."

And let me reiterate that I do love this game. It's fun to play and there are a bajillion things I do like about it... But how they handled Rook is very disappointing. Creating a character blank enough for a roleplay game is tricky, I get it, and i'm certain there are things I don't understand about it, but it's also the most important character in the game. Period. Let your players play their characters, is what i'm sayin.

If you got this far, I admire you.

What’s really jumping out at me on my second playthrough is that the writers of the first three games understood that your character was the main character. The Veilguard writers clearly thought that the main characters were their characters, the companions.

Every scene is about setting the companions up as cool or competent or sympathetic. Often, this is done at Rook’s expense. The companions get all the witty one-liners; Rook’s attempts at humor not only frequently fall flat, but are frequently called out for falling flat (even when they’re completely automatic and the player has no say in them).

The companions have all the knowledge and skills; Rook just brought them all together and gives them all pep talks so they can focus. I’m trying to edit out all of the comments where Rook is like “Um… what????” from my videos, and let me tell you, it takes WORK. There are A LOT of them. I can count on one hand the number of times when the Inquisitor or Hawke comes across as dumb, but it seems to be a built-in, unavoidable part of Rook’s character. I have not selected a single “purple” option in all of Act 1, and Rook is still coming across as the kid who tries to be the class clown to cover for the fact that he’s always confused. Rook’s role in most scenes is to say “Uhhh… what?” so that the companions look smart.

Rook is always the one offering sympathy and never the one getting it. No one actually comes to comfort you after Varric’s death. No one asks you how you’re feeling about having to lead the team now that Varric is gone. No one tries to reassure you or give you advice for dealing with the trickster god haunting your dreams. We’re told that Neve could keep Solas out of your head, but she never actually offers to do this for you. No one comforts a Shadow Dragon Rook when Minrathous is destroyed or a Grey Warden Rook when Weisshaupt is destroyed. Rook’s problems don’t matter. Only the problems of main characters matter.

Rook is a secondary character in their own story.

[myownwholewildworld]

DOWN BAD — police officer!joel miller x f!reader x javier peña

series masterlist | main masterlist | read on ao3 summary: a short while after your encounter with the law, you come back for more. you've not been able to stop thinking about officer miller, so you track him down. but this time, he's got a buddy with him. a/n: sorry for the filth. i needed to flush this out of my system, please forgive me. this is part 3 to police officer!joel but i think it can be read as a standalone. enjoy <3 warnings: 18+, mdni. smut. porn with minimal plot. power imbalance. reader is eager to be doubly dicked down. public sex. rough sex. free use. slut shaming. spanking. fingering. oral (m! receiving). unprotected piv. anal. double penetration. facial. cheating. no aftercare. reader is female with no physical descriptions other than having hair that can be yanked. unedited, if you see mistakes pls ignore them. w/c: ~4.9k. divider by @cafekitsune

Your mouth was not as full as you’d want it to be, truth be told.

Your boyfriend’s dick felt like a thin, wilted pickle against your tongue, not reaching far down enough. You only wanted to gag on it, drool like a bitch in heat—but it didn’t matter how far you tried to push him down, he just quite couldn’t reach your uvula the same way Officer Miller’s cock had.

The way Joel had deep-throated you, the warm memory of vile rising up your oesophagus keeping you up at night.

The way he had eaten you out from behind, the best pussy eating you’d ever had.

The way he’d fucked your sensitive cunt with his baton, shoving it down your hole until it kissed your cervix repeatedly, all the while you talked to your boyfriend on the phone, feigning normalcy.

The way he’d unapologetically ruined your pussy in that cell and kept your panties as trophy.

The way he’d taken a tampon out of your bag and inserted it in your used entrance, so you’d keep his cum warm and safe even when you returned to your apartment and laid in bed with your partner.

The way you’d been unable to stop thinking about him, to the point where you had stalked him, tracked him down and learned his routine.

He’d fucking ruined you and your relationship. Sex with your boyfriend felt too vanilla, too bland, unsatisfying. But you still tried, needing to get off somehow. So here you were, sucking his cock in his car in the parking lot of a cop bar. The very place you knew Officer Miller visited after his long Saturday shift.

“Oh, baby, yes. Fuck—You’re sucking me so good,” he barked, his hand on the back of your head, forcing you down. “God, I love you.”

And even then, you were far from choking on his cock. What a fucking pity.

His hand slithered down your back and dipped under your tiny skirt, tracing along your butt crack until his fingertips found the dampness clinging to your folds. Not because you were giving him head, but because you were anticipating what might happen later tonight. Only if you could will your desires into existence.

Finally, your partner decided to make an effort, his middle finger sinking in your wet entrance with a little squelching noise. “This wet already? It’s because you’re sucking this big dick, ain’t it?”

Suppressing the need to roll your eyes and tell him otherwise, you sealed your lips around his cockhead and bobbed your head up and down on his lap while he lazily fingered you.

Unannounced, he came in your mouth, just a few white drops kissing your palate—he couldn’t even give you a full, sticky load. How had you been content with this shitty sex before? What had been crossing your damn mind to think this was acceptable? How could you have been so blind?

Swallowing his droplets, you hoped he’d, at least, give you an orgasm before going into the bar, satiate your need to get your pussy destroyed so perhaps you wouldn’t need to seek other means. Another man.

But he didn’t—the moment he was done, he pushed his finger out of your hole, leaving you hanging while he had a satisfied smile plastered on his stupid face.

Enraged, you looked up at him, ready to snap and scream at him that the least he could do was finger your pussy until you came. Instead, he bowed down and kissed you—so dumb he couldn’t even read the situation properly.

“You taste like me, baby,” he whispered, patting your cheek rather condescendingly. “You’re so unhinged lately. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I really like it.”

A big, fat cock that makes me drool and come, that’s what’s gotten into me, you dumbass, you thought, the words at the tip of your tongue.

But you didn’t say it out loud.

You straightened your back, opened your bag and found a minty chewing gum to ruminate and work your frustration away. Opened the passenger’s door before shooting him a glance. “Let’s go inside.”

The bar was dimly lit by some neon lights, the music a tad too loud. The air was dense, full of smoke, it almost made it difficult to breathe. The furniture was old and worn, people dotted around on couches, some dancing, others perched on barstools, trying to get the bartender’s attention.

You felt out of place — this was obviously a cop’s den, and not the best ones, but the bastard ones. It tracked that Joel ended up his shifts here. You couldn’t tell if the ununiformed women were cops, partners or hookers.

“This is a dumpster,” your boyfriend mouthed behind you. “What the hell are we doing here, baby?”

You shrugged, taking a step forward.

“I’m tired of always going to the same clubs, I’ve heard good things about this one. Don’t be a fucking killjoy,” you gritted out.

You didn’t give him a chance to reply, just trudged forward, slithering through the crowd while your eyes eagerly scanned the room.

There.

Leaning on the counter, you found him. Your heart jolted at the sight of Joel Miller.

Handsome as you remembered, the muscles on his back flexing with every hand gesture as he talked to someone. His shirt clung to all the right places, especially around his biceps—the black textile was about to fucking burst. He was wearing the same uniform you had met him with, the one you soaked through your panties and left a wet spot on.

Perhaps your heart was racing, but your pussy was crying. It fluttered around nothing, a glob of slick slipping out your cunt and dampening your thong. And it had absolutely nothing to do with your boyfriend fingering you just a few minutes before.

Your dripping pussy belonged to Officer Miller. Damn right it did. Ever since he fucked you, it was his face the one you imagined any time you had sex with your partner. At first it had completely taken you aback, but as time went on and you realised how insipid your relationship was, you just gave in to the fantasy.

And now your fantasy was right there. Looking in your direction.

The moment he landed eyes on you, a sinful grin curled his lips. Joel squinted, trying to decipher if you were really there and when he realised you were indeed, his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip. As if he had just seen the tastiest treat. You.

Putting on your best poker face, your skin burning with desire, you made your ways towards him with your boyfriend right behind you. Now you regretted bringing him along, because if you really got what you were looking for tonight… well.

Ignoring Joel as much as you could, you found the perfect spot besides him on the counter. You could feel his eyes drilling through the back of your head, and his interest sparked the horny demons crawling under your skin.

For a few minutes you played a dangerous game—brushing his shoulder, leaning a bit too far back against Joel, turning around so your ass would flick his knee, flirting with your boyfriend and laughing at his stupid jokes. Anything you could come up with to make Joel jealous enough to do something about it.

At some point, after spitting out the chewing gum, you draped your arms around your partner’s neck and started making out, sticking out your ass, arching your back ever so slightly. Enough for your short skirt to ride up your thighs, gifting Joel a sight of your wet thong.

And you got exactly what you wanted.

Soon enough you felt a tantalising finger trace your covered slit, poking where your gushing hole was. You didn’t need to look over your shoulder to know it was Joel’s, not your boyfriend’s.

You had to drown out a moan, muffled by your partner’s mouth, when Joel’s finger dipped under your panties and found the fountain of your desire. You were so wet his pad slid freely on your velvety skin until his finger caught on your entrance and dived in down to the knuckle with no warning.

“Mhm,” you choked out, pressing a sloppy kiss on your partner’s lips, who was completely oblivious to what was going on.

“She wet?” you heard an unknown husky voice behind you.

Whoever Joel was talking to, had noticed what was going on. On the corner of your eye, you saw the man accompanying Joel. Dropdead gorgeous, a clean-shaven look with a prominent, kempt moustache. He rocked some tinted aviator sunglasses, even in the darkness of the cop bar. He had an uncanny resemblance to Joel.

“So fucking wet, Peña,” Joel husked, punctuating every word with a pump of his finger that almost had you mewling like a kitten in heat.

You lost track of their conversation, too preoccupied with the heat burning your organs from the inside out. Literally feeling like you were being flayed alive, your nerves flaring, you were on the edge of a much-needed orgasm when Joel’s finger slipped out with a pop.

No, please, no, you begged him, wishing he could read your mind.

You ventured a pleading look in his direction when there was a break in the kiss, only to find he wasn’t looking at you.

Joel brought his finger up to his nose and then took in a deep breath. Then proceeded to let Peña do the same. Both men basked in your cunty smell and suddenly looked in your direction. Two pairs of hungry eyes stared you down, blown pupils shadowing the brown of their irises as their gazes dropped from your face down to your almost exposed pussy.

Fuck.

Your head snapped around to focus on your boyfriend, who was gently nipping at your neck, utterly heedless of the situation.

“Gonna take a piss,” Joel announced, loud enough for you to hear.

As he walked around you and your eyes met under the dazzling lights, he winked at you. Then his cocky brow raised in silent invitation before he disappeared into the crowd.

All your blood rushed down to your inner thighs, a hot flash almost blindsiding you. Before you could even think, you untangled your arms from your boyfriend’s neck and jumped to your feet.

“Sorry, baby, need to go to the bathroom. Nature calls,” you blurted out, eyes tracking Joel’s movements through the crowd.

You didn’t wait for his reply—too worried you would not see where Joel was headed. You surfed through the mass as fast as you could, going on your tiptoes whenever you lost track of him.

Almost running, you reached for the gentlemen’s bathroom door before you stopped, one hand on the wood.

Am I really going to do this? In the fucking men’s restroom?

Obviously, they were rhetorical. Of course you would, you needed it. Needed him. Once you had had another taste of him, your body would calm down and forget about him. Joel Miller would stop haunting your wet dreams. Surely this would be the end of it.

With such fragile conviction, you pushed the door open and rushed inside the room. Luckily it was empty, except for Officer Miller washing his hands. His eyes darted to yours through the mirror, and a sleazy grin transformed his features.

You froze right there, suddenly unsure of what to do with yourself. You blinked rapidly.

“I, uhm…” no more words came out of your dry mouth.

In a few long strides, Joel was right in front of you. His intense cologne hit your nose—crisp sandalwood and patchouli, with notes of tobacco and leather. Even the way he smelt was inviting.

Without pronouncing a word, Joel grabbed you by your elbow and hastily pushed you towards one of the stalls. He twisted your arm until it was behind you, his chest and bulge pressing against your back as he guided you inside.

“Playing hard to get, huh?” he whispered in your ear, a sordid rumble travelling up his throat. “Flirting with your stupid boyfriend as if you hadn’t even seen me, hm? You were basically grinding on me, begging for my attention, you slut.”

You whimpered in reply, unable to come back with a retort. He was right and there was no point in denying it.

Once inside the stall, Joel turned you around in his arms. His expression was fierce, lips fallen into a flat line, the creasing wrinkle between his brows, his jaw completely locked with a visible tic on his mandible.

For a second you thought he was going to kiss you, and unconsciously you licked your bottom lip, ready to taste the mouth you’d been dreaming about. He’d done all types of indecency to you but was yet to kiss you. You’d been wondering how he would taste—would his tongue be warm and welcoming, or cold and punishing?

But despite your wishes, he didn’t. Instead, his broad hands landed on your shoulders and pushed you down to sit on the toilet bowl.

“Now you’re gonna get what you’ve come looking for, bitch,” Joel groaned.

He wasted no time, his fingers quick to work the buckle open and unzipping his black uniform trousers. All the while you were literally salivating—lips slightly parted and drool pooling in your cheeks, eyes fixed on his bulge.

Unceremoniously, Joel’s hand dipped in his trousers and a second later his hard-on sprung free, swaying in front of you like a beacon lost in the sea. Your memory had failed you—he was bigger and thicker than what you remembered, the feeding vein on the underside more prominent, and the reddened, leaky tip even more succulent.

Joel didn’t let you reminisce for long. He cupped your chin rather harshly, four fingers digging in the flesh of one cheek and the thumb in the other, forcing you to completely open your mouth. The moment your lower jaw hung, Officer Miller shoved his dick down your mouth—so deep, your nose kissed the unruly curly hairs at the base of his cock, his mushroom head uncomfortably nudging the end of your throat.

He clasped his wide hands on the back of your head and pushed your face against himself, your forehead resting on his lower tummy while you gagged and gagged and gagged. Your spit overflowed down the corners of your mouth, threatening to smother you. tears slid down your temples as you looked up, silently pleading for mercy.

You took it like a champ, but when you realised that he wasn’t letting you go, you panicked. Slapped his thighs, palms against his knees to try and break free from his hold. After one more endless minute, Joel finally released his purchase. Your head snapped back and you began coughing, your lungs trying to supply all the used up oxygen.

“Fuck, Joel, don’t—” your plea died in your mouth quickly.

“Oh, just shut the fuck up,” and as soon as he said that, Joel slotted his dick between your lips again.

This time he was a bit gentler, rocking his hips in front of you so his throbbing cock would easily slide on your tongue. You hollowed your cheeks to make room for him. His tasty was musky, manly—his precum fucking nectar, and like a bee you were buzzing around his girth. Joel bunched your hair in a ponytail, and you remained still while he deepthroated you as he saw fit.

His roughness should have put you off, but instead your pussy was gushing more—you could feel the slick soaking your thong and smearing your inner thighs now. Uncontrollably, your cunt was crying for something to stuff her full, your walls fluttering around nothing.

You felt a pulse on your tongue, Joel’s dick ready to unload. But the cop was not done yet and, surprisingly, didn’t come. Instead, his hips stuttered back and yanked your hair a little, enough to coerce you to look up again.

“Sinful mouth, I’ve missed it,” he cooed, his thumb swiping your bottom lip, spreading his precum on your chin. “I wondered how long it’d take you to find me. I knew you’d come back for more, you little whore.”

Joel didn’t give you a chance to answer—he didn’t seem interested in what you had to say, only in what you had to offer. He grabbed you by your elbow again, made you stand up and changed places with you. Now Joel was sitting on the toilet, curling a long finger at you.

“Don’t just stand there like a mannequin. Come fuck yourself, that’s what you’re here for, right?” When you didn’t reply, he repeated, “Right?”

Driven by pure, nasty lust, you nodded. At your acceptance, your own pussy quivered with joy. So you lost no time: you turned around, set your feet to either side of the toilet bowl, pushed your thong aside and eagerly sank down his thudding shaft, straddling him backwards. His circumference stretched you impossibly so, each inch a blissful torture. Your walls parted like the Red Sea, sheathing him, until he was completely seated inside you.

For a brief second, you wavered at the fullness. You truly had missed this, him. The way he took you without asking for permission, rough and demanding. Your pussy hugged him tight, never wanting to let him go, clutching.

“C’mon, you bitch. Bounce on me,” he commanded.

And you happily obliged. Steadying yourself by pressing your palms to either side of the stall, you did as told. Jumped up and down his hard manhood while his hands rested on your hips, feeling your movements on his lap.

Your head lolled back, and you fought to keep yourself quiet. Bit your lip down, almost drawing blood, warring with yourself. Quiet whimpers slipped out, even though you tried your hardest not to, while you bounced on him. His angry cock weeping inside you, dragging along your anterior wall, hitting that precise spot that had you seeing stars behind your eyes.

You were so close to nirvana, so close to climax, everything around you disappeared. But your eyes cracked open when one of Joel’s hand smoothed over your belly and pressed. You felt every inch of him inside you, rutting into you like a man possessed. The pressure on your flesh almost made you falter, your walls squeezing him dry.

“Oh, fuck,” you moaned out loud, unable to contain your lustful sobs any longer, tears brimming now due to the intense pleasure.

And then the stall’s door swung open in front of you. It startled you, your heart racing while your blown pupils looked for the person interrupting this sinful act. Your hands quickly covered your pussy, in a vain attempt to hide what was going on.

“Peña, come on in,” Joel growled. “She’s so fucking ready.”

When your eyes focused on the intruder, you realised it was the man who was with Joel at the bar. He had a green vest on that read, “DEA.”

“I could hear her moan from outside of the restroom. You must be fucking her good, Miller,” Peña joked, closing the door behind him, head tilting down to look at the state of you through tinted glass. “Feeling like sharing tonight?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Joel agreed for you. “Use her. It’s free.”

Panicking and with your heart climbing up your throat, you turned around to look at Joel with disbelief. What the hell was going on? What did he mean this stranger could use you?

“Hey,” Peña tutted at you, his hand on your chin to turn your head towards him. “You’ve heard him. Open up for me, cariño.”

You hadn’t noticed, but the DEA agent had already freed his cock from the prison of his tight jeans and was fisting it from the base as a tasty offering. It was slightly smaller than Joel’s, but thicker. An angry, swollen tip swaying in front of your eyes. His hips slanted forward, his cockhead tapping your lips.

“Don’t be shy. Come on, give him a kiss,” he muttered, his thumb caressing your cheek.

Doe-eyed, you obeyed, unsure of what the hell was going on. Your mouth hung open for him and Peña did not miss the opportunity. The moment his mushroom head stroked your palate, your lips sealed shut and you moaned around him. Salivating now, your tongue swirled around his girth, sloppily making out with him. Lapping at his underside, you bowed down a little and pecked one of his balls before sucking it into your mouth.

Peña growled, towering above you with a hand on the back of your head.

Joel suddenly spanked your ass.

“Move, bitch,” he ordered you, getting impatient now with your inattentiveness.

A second later, you were bouncing on Joel’s cock and swallowing Peña’s. The men gave you no pause, taking everything you had to offer with little reciprocity. Sensing your frustration, Joel had the decency to slide the hand pressing your belly down to your mound. And, finally, he circled your clit, pressing it lazily. Your pussy clenched uncontrollably, crushing his cock, while your mouth worked Peña’s erection.

The overstimulation won. Like a coil ready to snap, heat gathered between your thighs, your clit throbbing now for release. And you found it—you wailed with your mouth full while Joel fucked you through a mind-blowing orgasm. Your cunt fluttered around Joel with joy, silently begging him to cum with you.

You felt that pulse again coming from Joel, but once again, he didn’t cum. Instead, he held your hips up so his length slipped out with a trickle of your mixed arousal. You squirmed at the loss, taking Peña’s cock out of your mouth to throw an inquisitive gaze in Joel’s direction.

“Up,” he growled, sinking his fingers in your ass cheeks. “Been looking at that tight asshole of yours for long enough now.”

You just followed his instructions, mind numb and completely blank after your climax. His words didn’t properly register until Peña took Joel’s place on the toilet bowl and motioned towards you.

Unsure, you glanced at Joel, who gave you a stern nod.

“Well behaved, asking for permission and everything,” Peña praised you, or Joel—you weren’t sure.

Officer Miller pushed you towards his buddy, until you were straddling him again.

“Fuck her. You’ll see what I meant before,” Joel told his friend as if you were not there.

Peña’s hands landed on either side of your waist, pushing you down on his lap until his fat tip nudged your fucked-out hole. Without any other words, he forced you down and impaled you. Your whimper quickly transformed into a slutty moan when Peña began fucking up into your tight heat while you stood still.

“You were right, Miller. So fucking tight, the best pussy I’ve fucked in a while,” the DEA agent groaned below you.

You hugged Peña’s neck in an attempt to keep your balance, and then you felt it—Joel’s cock teasing your rimmed hole. Slowly he notched your asshole to acclimatise you to the idea of what was about to happen. And when you didn’t complain about it, he gradually fed your ass his dick as your walls moulded around him.

They didn’t give you much time to overthink the situation. Soon enough, Joel and Peña found the perfect rhythm—when one pulled out, the other pushed in. It was so deliciously intense, you hid your face in the curve of Peña’s neck so they couldn’t see your blissful expression. But your moans told them everything they needed to know.

It was a bit too much, very overwhelming, but you were enjoying every single second of this slice of hell they had cut out for you. With both of their cocks plugging your holes, you let them use you. Peña’s hand squeezed the back of your thighs while Joel had a tight grasp on your hips.

“What a slut,” Peña croaked, the glass of his tinted glasses slightly foggy. “Where did you find her?”

“On the side of the road. This bitch thought she could get out of a ticket if she sucked my dick. You got more than what you bargained for, right, darling?” Joel cackled above you, smacking your ass cheek again.

Both of them railed you harder when you remained silent, a welcomed punishment.

“He’s asked you a question, cariño,” his voice was soft, but his hand around your neck, digging his fingers in your flesh, was not.

You nodded vehemently, out of breath with your holes well stretched.

“Y-yes. I did, I did,” you managed to choke out.

“Good girl,” Peña praised you, letting go of your neck.

And you swooned at his words, squeezing both of your holes to milk both of them dry. But neither flinched.

The heat inside the cubicle was scorching, the musky scent of sex and sweat filling the room now. The loud cacophony of three bodies meeting echoed in the stall, wet squelches signalling to visitors what was happening. You heard some comments, some even cheered, but all noise was filtered out—you were too focused on the damp heat building up in your core again.

Both men felt your need at the same time, and their fingers met in your clit. With both of them rubbing you raw, you had no other option but to cum again—your juices dripping out, leaving white creamy rings on Peña’s cock.

“Fuck,” both men groaned in unison, pulling out of you at the same time.

With trembling thighs and half-lidded eyes, you ogled them both, not understanding why they had stopped. You were so fucked out into oblivion, you had missed the signals—Joel and Peña were about to spill, his throbbing dicks needing release.

Peña got up from the toilet bowl and sat you down on it instead. Both men stood in front of you, fisting their erections, their leaky tips brushing your lips. Understanding the cue, you curled your fingers around their girths and pumped them both, your mouth open for them.

Joel was the first to cum, quickly followed by Peña—both men groaning for you, because of you. Their white seed mostly landed in your mouth, some on your chin and a bit on your cheek. The ropes kept on coming, almost clogging your throat, but you didn’t even blink, wanting to have this image burn into your memory.

When they were done, both of them took a step back and shoved their now half-hard erections in their trousers.

“Swallow,” Joel commanded.

And you did, gulping it all down and sticking your tongue out for them to check you had done as told.

“Good bitch. Now clean your face,” Miller muttered, taking some bits of toilet roll and throwing it at you.

You swiped their cum off your chin and cheek. Some had landed on your tee shirt too, and you did your best to remove the stain.

“Come on up,” Peña offered you a hand. You took it, your legs were still shaking.

“Now you’re gonna go back to your stupid boyfriend and pretend nothing has happened. Do not rinse your mouth. I want you to go directly to him and kiss him. Understood?” Joel said, opening the cubicle’s door.

You did your best to ignore the hungry stares of the men in the men’s restroom and quickly ran out of the room, closely followed by Peña and Miller.

Your brain was still numb, so fucked out you just did exactly what Joel had told you. When you got to your boyfriend’s side, you threw your arms around his neck and kissed him, diving your tongue in his mouth.

It took him a long minute to pause and stare at you, not quite certain of what was wrong.

“You taste like… but you had a chewing gum before coming in…” he thought out loud. And when realisation hit, his eyes blew open. “What the hell have you been up to? Why have you taken so long in the bathroom?”

“She’s been up to no good,” Joel cackled behind you, him and Peña taking the empty stools beside you.

“Huh?” you boyfriend muttered, a stupid look on his face.

“Sinful mouth. Good pussy,” Peña added.

“And an even better ass,” Joel laughed maliciously, his elbow propped on the counter.

“Baby? What?” your partner tried to ignore both men, looking at you with a crushed, betrayed expression.

You shrugged, incapable of hiding the little smile peeking on your lips.

“I… well… You know, you didn’t finish the job in the car, so I found other means. Two means,” you noted, glancing at the police officer and then at the DEA agent.

“Fuck off,” you boyfriend suddenly stood up. “You serious?” You nodded. “I can’t fucking believe you right now. You’ve cheated on me?!”

When he lurched forward towards you, Joel quickly placed a hand on your boyfriend’s chest and pushed him back. Peña clasped a hand on his shoulder.

“Hold your horses, cowboy. Back the fuck off,” Joel threatened, a low husky voice that almost went unnoticed with the loud music.

“We’re done. Rot in hell. You’re a fucking whore,” you now ex-boyfriend spat out, shrugging off and stomping out, leaving you behind.

What should have felt painful—being broken up with—was, in reality, a relief. A heavy weight off your shoulders, so you could finally breathe. So you could finally pursue your nastiest dreams.

“He’s right though. You’re a whore,” Joel pointed out when you turned to glance up at them, bringing a beer to his lips.

“Our whore,” Peña added, winking at you. “Need a ride back, cariño?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” you accepted, biting down your bottom lip.

[markantonys]

3x05 thoughts! (book spoilers)

i loved all the character & relationship moments in this episode! it was nice to take a breather and just spend time with the characters and get to see how much they mean to each other. wotshow continuing its trend of doing a great job balancing character work vs. action across the 8 episodes!

against all odds, randgwene clung on by a thread for yet another week lmao but the breakup is 100% coming next week, and surely it has to be just about the first thing to happen in the episode given the cliffhanger. i'm reaaaaally curious (and anxious) about how they'll frame it, because right from day 1 after the first trailer etc i said "i really hope they make it clear that randgwene's breakup is mutual because they just aren't right for each other, and don't frame it as the only reason they broke up is because rand is ~cheating~ with lanfear and egwene feels betrayed". it was my biggest point of worry with the whole rand-egwene-lanfear situation, and it seems like it might be coming true! but we haven't actually gotten to hear rand talk about the whole lanfear situation and his feelings on it, so hashing it out with egwene might give him a good opportunity to do that and maybe whatever he says will make it clear to the audience and egwene that he's been manipulated and it will help ease things a bit. i just really hope rand and egwene will be able to end everything on decent footing with each other; i know there has to be big tension between them at the end of the series, but imo that would be cheaper and more emotionally shallow if it's leftover tension from a bad breakup rather than the more platonic tension between two conflicting world leaders who used to have a close personal relationship and grew up together but now must both put their greater duties first. not to mention that we HAVE to get egwene's signoff on avirandlayne if we want the audience to accept that relationship, so she has to end the season in a decent place with rand!

as of now, we're obviously on the verge of high drama, but i have faith that maybe rand & egwene's conversation will end up going in a good direction that allows them to go "look, lanfear might be the catalyst for forcing us to talk about it, but we've both known for a long time that we just aren't right for each other and THAT is the real reason we need to end things" (plus, surely egwene will tell rand that lanfear's been behind her dream torture and rand will be horrified and take her side and turn firmly against lanfear, right? right??). it's also interesting to consider how much control rand had over his dream; in the past rand-lanfear dream convos, he's always seemed "conscious" (though asleep of course) and fully in control and aware of what he's doing, but in this sequence, egwene is entering the other friends' dreams and it's clear that it's just their subconscious minds coming up with scenarios and they aren't doing anything on purpose. is rand fully in control of himself in this dream? or is it a somewhat subconscious dream on his part with lanfear consciously influencing the direction? it IS interesting that the new location could, maybe, imply that this is rand's own natural dream, at least to start, vs. past randfear scenes that seemed like lanfear pulling rand somewhere to talk to him. but we really can't judge anything for sure until we've heard what rand has to say about it next week.

sticking to the waste plot, the avirand scene!! 10/10 no notes! rand learns about polyamory, avi tries to feel out whether wetlanders are down for it, and they bicker <3 and rand playing with the little girl, my HEART let him be a stay-at-home dad!!!!

as i suspected, rhuarc-bair-lian is yet another balanced triad where everybody is equally married to each other with no mention of any sibling-spouses. alanna-maksim-ihvon was the same, so it does really feel like they're setting up for the Main Character Polyship to be a balanced triad where everybody is equally romantically involved and there are no metamours, aka avirandlayne only and min not involved at all. further to this point, there was no particular min-elayne interaction in this episode beyond sharing a group conversation and they didn't react in a noteworthy way to each other, but i'll keep an eye on further developments there in the remaining episodes! if no focus is given to the min-elayne individual dynamic in tanchico, i'd say that's the final nail in the coffin for min being involved in the polycule because at that point they would have blown past MULTIPLE opportunities to tie her together with elayne or rand.

continuing on with polycule thoughts, i was glad to see an acknowledgment of avilayne in elayne's dream! one of my problems with the way it was done so far is that it was so extremely casual as to have no impact on either character outside of 3x01 itself, but i'd suspected that might change later in the season with some kind of Reminder That This Happened, and sure enough, we did get that here. this kind of small but notable acknowledgement is striking just the right balance for me: it's making sure to keep avilayne in the audience's thoughts and signaling to them that there's more to come here, but without emphasizing it as a monogamous romance so much that people will be blindsided or upset when rand joins in the future. we can see that elayne is still thinking about avi, but she's not pining and yearning for her every waking moment of the day (if she was doing that and then if avi started falling for rand more clearly before elayne rejoins them, the audience would feel indignant on elayne's behalf, so it's good that they're not going TOO hard on elayne's feelings for avi just yet; especially with avi's line this episode derisively saying "that's too much to ask of one person" implying that she doesn't have monogamous expectations with elayne, it's good that elayne doesn't strongly have those expectations either, so they're both more or less on the same page as of now).

my wishful thinking was that it would've been nice to have rand crop up in elayne's dream too sort of the way faile did in perrin's, nothing overtly romantic but a sign that he's lingering in her thoughts just like aviendha is. but of course, that couldn't happen in this context because egwene might feel weird or betrayed about seeing rand pop up in her BFF's dream because randgwene are still together. man, i don't want to be a hater but the extended randgwene is 100% to blame for the dynamics i DO want to see getting repeatedly punted off and put on the backburner! gawene didn't get to even meet, and the avirand stuff we've gotten has been perfect but it still kinda feels like they're being shafted in THEIR OWN ARC; this is the biggest time they spend alone together in the whole series but we can't even treat it as a notable focus of the season because we have to keep the focus on randgwene (and randfear) and don't want to risk tainting avirand with cheating implications by drawing the audience's attention to them too much before randgwene has broken up. and i don't know how likely it'll be for avirand to get a little moment during the cold rocks hold attack next week as i'd hoped they might, because the breakup has been dragged out yet another week so they'll be too busy giving the emotional focus to the randgwene fallout and it might STILL be too soon to let rand share any kind of little moment with avi (and in that BTS shot of sammael, he was alone with rand and egwene in a potential cold rocks hold-y set, so i wonder if rand will be sticking with egwene during the battle and avi will just have separate fight scenes).

but all i can do is wait and see how it goes down! it's obvious that avirandlayne IS coming, so i have to trust that rafe has a plan even if i can't quite see it yet haha my fear is that randgwene lasting so long in s3 will mean avirand & randlayne couldn't get as strong setup as they might have otherwise will mean them coming together in s4 will end up feeling rushed (and then gawene too which i've been looking forward to almost as much as avirandlayne, god knows what might even happen there since they are now so SO far past the date of their book meeting). why the show is choosing to fastburn the getting-togethers of endgame romances but slowburn the breakups of non-endgame ones is beyond me, but i will trust that rafe has a plan and that it will all make sense once i'm able to see the forest instead of just the trees!

returning to the dreams, i loved this sequence of egwene visiting her friends' dreams SO MUCH probably one of my favorites of the season so far!! she got so much joy out of seeing her friends happy 🥺🥺🥺 and it was such a beautiful way to show us a little bit of each friend's inner life; nynaeve's lost daughter is still weighing on her and she still dreams about a happy life with her, elayne takes such joy and wonder in learning new things and dreams of a carefree life following her heart outside the confines of duty, perrin's happy place is being at home with his forge and hopper (my heart!!) and he's starting to take faile into his heart too, and MAT!!!! mat's dream killed me dead!!! he has often been played for comic relief this season, so i was really thrilled to get this beautiful reminder of his layers and depth and the good, selfless heart he has underneath the bravado, and particularly glad to get this scene for donal!mat who hasn't had much chance to get the family stuff that barney!mat had so much of in s1 - it really helps keep up the consistency between the two versions and connect our present mat back to s1 mat. all he wants is to give his sisters a good life and hear his mom tell him she's proud of him!! which is such a gutpunch after her death in this episode!

can somebody PLEASE tell mat he's a good boy and they're proud of him!!! my Show!Mat Has A Praise Kink agenda grows stronger every day. man, between mat's dream and rand being so happy playing with the child, my s1 show-only observation that rand and mat would be each other's ideal partner in domestic family life remains spot-on. let them be dads!!

anyway, mat's mom! i was SO not expecting her to die, what a shock! and a good decision, it adds some stakes to the two rivers plotline and gives perrin even more of a reason to want to fight back instead of giving himself up and giving into the whitecloaks. and it seems we're getting the book arc of bode being able to channel! since the girls are twins in the show, i wonder if they can both channel or only one. and i also wonder how big or small of a plot point this might end up being; it's pretty small in the books, but the show has placed more emphasis on mat's family, so maybe they might do a little bit more with it? his sisters are still definitely tertiary characters, though, so i don't know. my biggest wish would be for a full wonderboy reunion in s4 so that perrin can tell mat about his mom and we can see mat react to her death (and i can get a cauthor hurt/comfort fic scenario out of it, priorities priorities haha), and ideally bode & eldrin traveled with perrin and mat can reunite with them at least for a moment. because we know that, if the books are followed, perrin and the cauthon girls will cross paths with rand soon after the two rivers arc (so likely s4), so if they can just get mat back in rand's plotline for s4 to do his TFOH dragon's general plotline, then we could get mat coming into contact with perrin and the girls as well. but as i've speculated before, this might depend on how many total seasons they anticipate getting and whether they have time to send mat back across the continent for a season or whether they need to jump into his west coast seanchan plotline immediately in s4.

good stuff in the two rivers plotline this episode! i loved perrin and faile's battle couple moment <3 and the perrin-dain face-to-face reunion was just as messy and delicious as i'd hoped! "i thought you were a good man" "i was, before you" okay okay

my one complaint about this plotline is, i have to embarrassedly put on my bookcloak hat, but i am really feeling the "alanna and her warders are getting too much time" complaints this season haha i didn't mind in the first 2 seasons, but now they're overstaying their welcome for me. it might not actually be true, but it feels like we've spent more time on alanna and maksim's relationship than perrin and faile's this season! however, i am almost certain that maksim will die in the two rivers battle, especially now that he and alanna had a mini arc of working out their problems and realizing that they're stronger when they stick together - surely that's GOT to mean maksim has to die in order for alanna to lose it enough that she does what she does in LOC next season. and if that happens, then i'll be fine with them getting so much time this season to build up to that death and make us understand why alanna loses it so badly. another thing where i'll have to reserve final judgment until i've seen the forest instead of only the trees!

speaking of people who may or may not be on Death Watch, moiraine and siuan! i really loved their scene together and thought it was so beautiful. as for predictions, i'm split 50/50 on whether them getting to mend fences and share a happy moment and a bittersweet goodbye means this is the final curtain call for their relationship and one or both of them will be dead-dead by the end of the season, or whether the "i'll find you in every lifetime" "and i'll wait for you every time" is foreshadowing of siuan going to find moiraine in finnworld at the end of the show. i just don't know!

i loved the lan and moiraine scene of them sharing a drink. perfect!

tower plotline: it was fine, got the job done

tanchico crew: bringing the comedy as always! i loved the opening scene with bickering matlayne and seasick nynaeve, absolutely impeccable vibes, and then min officially joins the gang (i loved the "raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by liandrin" moment between the four of them lmao). as somebody who's been starting to feel oversaturated with the mat-min dynamic, i was disappointed that he left elayne and nynaeve's scene so quickly to wind up hanging out alone with min yet again, but we did get some great stuff between the trio and the quartet nonetheless! still, at this point it's kinda feeling like mat was lifted out of the waste storyline purely to hang out with min for the second season in a row (and arguably to act as a support piece in HER storyline about learning how to find agency in her visions, more so than having his own storyline get focused on), but i'm sure in ep6 that will change and mat will get more time to shine and more chances to interact with non-min characters since tanchico is slated to be the A plot. i'm very excited to see this plotline lead an episode, it's been a long time coming!

we did finally get a reference to the s2 rand viewing and we learn that mat's takeaway is that min's viewings aren't even accurate because she said he would kill rand and he didn't. and then in the ep6 preview it showed mat trying to pump some tanchico citizens for info about the male a'dam collar, so i just might get a little cauthor crumb next week with mat being worried about rand getting collared and wanting to help protect him!

i think that's everything off the top of my head for this episode!

[ajastu]

good morning. i still cant get over that fucking 'wanton massacre' post from yesterday

Like, don't get me wrong. I do agree that it would be interesting to revisit the whole architect plotline n maybe explore some more the consequences of darkspawn being able to be 'awakened'.

but oh my god. im going to chew this bone a little bit, as a treat

There are a lot of reasons why this take, worded like it is, is bad. Nothing against OP, obviously, i just want to put my thoughts into words. for funsies. this is enrichment in my enclosure

First of all. we do have to establish that this is a game we're talking about, and games have to conform to certain requirements for the sake of gameplay design. Having darkspawn as an enemy has been a staple of the franchise for as long as it existed, and so there is nothing 'weird as hell' with the fact that veilguard continues that trend.

Now, if we talk about purely just the lore, not looking at gameplay...there is a huge difference between a darkspawn and someone who is tranquil. The main one being: tranquil people do not try to kill other people on sight. They are also not able to infect someone else with the blight. And, if we look at the definition of 'wanton' in this context...

The lore never presented non-awakened darkspawn as harmless or able to be reasoned with. It has also never presented the tranquil as a danger to other people.

So, killing the tranquil? that Would be a wanton massacre. Killing the darkspawn? I'm afraid that's just self defense.

The fact remains that it takes a certain process done by a certain guy (The Architect) to 'awaken' a darkspawn. Even if he could teach someone else to perform the ritual, we are still talking about the few vs however fuckoff many darkspawn there are in the world. Not to mention, it is not guaranteed that the awakened darkspawn will even choose to remain peaceful, as was the case with The Mother in awakening.

And the existence of The Architect and his group of peaceful darkspawn isn't even common knowledge in Thedas.

So, even if the game did decide to go into all that and maybe pursue the avenue of awakening the darkspawn etc etc etc....what should the people of Thedas do in the meantime? Because that will not be a quick and easy process. And the darkspawn are not going to just stand patiently in line to The Architect's Awakening Kiosk.

Again, I do agree that it could be a fun story to explore. It would also be a whole another game that will require a completely different plot direction, and it is kind of unreasonable and unfair to present this as a failure on veilguard's part. For a story to be coherent, it has to follow a certain thread and theme, and that becomes even more strict and difficult to navigate in an rpg game like dragon age, which has to account for different player choices.

Hell, even some of the choices we are presented with in veilguard could mean wildly different outcomes for the state of the world (keep archive or not, return griffons to the grey wardens or not...even taash's quest-line, while not making you choose that particular aspect directly, has very different implications for the future of the antaam). And i honestly don't know how easy it would be to navigate if we do, by some divine miracle, get da5 one day.

It is similar to the criticism of "well why couldn't we choose to tear the veil down!". There is a story that needs to be told, and it needs to account for a lot of player choices, and so something as radically world-altering as tearing down the veil simply cannot exist in the canon of the franchise. It will lead to two completely different games down the line. there was only ever going to be one choice possible: either keep the veil, or destroy it. Not both.

And, arguably, veilguard actually opens the door to the possibility of exploring a different side of darkspawn with the ending where you convince solas to bind himself to the veil.

'I cannot kill the blight, but i can help to soothe it's anger'

Like, you see what im saying here? This could be argued as a possible beginning to the reform of how the blight works, generally. So, instead of relying on one guy to awaken all the darkspawn, perhaps the blight itself would let them 'awaken' on their own once it's sufficiently soothed. Of course, this is all theory and speculation and just a fun thought exercise etc etc etc, but it's the best shot for the possibility of exploring this topic properly in-game. Not that i think that this is the direction that will be chosen necessarily, but you know. nothing is certain at this point.

IN CONCLUSION, I think that this once again comes down to how people let their disappointment over a game not meeting their expectations cloud their judgement. If you think about it without letting your emotions control the narrative, it is quite reasonable that veilguard would not be exploring the darkspawn awakening aspect of the lore. There's just no space for it in the narrative that was required. Hell, they obviously had to cut it as much as they possibly could afford to, thanks to the development hell the team was put through. Exploring this plotline in a way that would do it justice would have been impossible in the game, and it would have cheapened both this concept AND the overall narrative.

Criticizing veilguard for this is similar to criticizing, i don't know, a cheese store not selling your favorite candy. Not the best metaphor, but you know.

It could be a fun discussion. It could be a fun project, to really sit down and work out the logistics of this whole thing. It could become a creative endeavor, but instead it's used as a way to dunk on datv for no reason, and i just think that's a fucking shame

[aroacecaduceus]

I’m seeing posts talking about how Collins’ one little drop-in about AI is funny and for one: yes, abso-fucking-lutely

But honestly, I do not see it as her pausing the story to say fuck AI. One of the main lessons/ themes of Sunrise is to not trust stories the government feeds you. The Capitol creates this whole new story for Haymitch to hide any inspiring (or even just vaguely rebellious) points. They erase the real Haymitch and show the world a completely different, altered version.

How could she not discuss AI in this story? She couldn’t add AI in, not only would a futuristic version of AI completely erase Plutarch’s from the story, but it wasn’t in the original, or they would have used it on Katniss’s games.

AI couldn’t be in the plot, so she had to throw a line in telling us “this is actually worse for us today than it is in my fictional future” she’s telling us “if the people of Panem can’t trust what they see on their screens then we definitely can’t. Because Panem actually destroyed AI because it was too dangerous”

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 8 - The Inquisition

Rewriting Veilguard Part 7 - The Lords of Fortune

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Reintroducing the Inquisition

It is now time, time to finally move away from the origin story missions. Now, the main story begins. We have explored the potential depths of what each factions’ origin story may bring to Veilguard as a whole. But what about the glue that brings them all together? What about the Inquisition?

In this chapter of my ongoing rewrite project, we shall look into how the Inquisition, and by extension, the main story, may be introduced into the game. As I’ve often said, I don’t really like how DAV just throws you into the confrontation with Solas without any prior build-up. It was quite apparent that, despite DAV doing away with World States, one is expected to understand at least the general plot of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and while Varric’s little narration tells us what we need to know to understand Solas’ role in the story, it’s not enough to make us care. Obviously, I cared because I played the previous game, but if we want DAV to stand on its own, like the previous games succeed, we need to do some more work.

So, without further ado, let’s get right into it. This is how I would introduce Veilguard’s main quest.

Our Canon Rook

In case you might have missed it, I recently held a poll about which of the six origin stories we would be using for our hypothetical playthrough of this rewrite, and the choice fell on the Veil Jumpers. So, for the duration of this rewrite and this World State in general, our Rook is going to be Ashara Aldwir, a Dalish mage.

That being said, occasionally, I will touch upon how the other Rooks may react to situations and characters more fitting for them. For instance, I will describe how a Shadow Dragon Rook reacts to returning to Minrathous and meeting Neve Gallus again. I will also describe how an Antivan Crow Rook would react to encountering Lucanis. Things like that. But for the most part, it’s going to be Aldwir from now on.

Travelling with Varric

So, we choose to stick with our Veil Jumper, and at this point the people watching this hypothetical stream are going to whoop and cheer with relief because this guy has finally stopped with the damn origin stories. Now we can get into the main story.

We get a small transitional scene narrated by Varric, which shows a map of Thedas, specifically our journey out of the Arlathan Forest, quite similar to what we get in the actual Veilguard. Varric tells us that what we’ve seen of the agents of Fen’Harel is just a fraction of what we should be worrying about, but that we first have to attend a certain meeting.

It should be noted that each origin will have a unique narration and map display. While Varric talks to Aldwir about Fen’Harel’s agents, he’ll speak to Mercar about the Venatori and the war effort instead. But all in all, it amounts to them having to make a stop somewhere at the Eyes of Nocen.

The Eyes of Nocen are a large geographical landmass in the North-East of Tevinter, not far away from the cities of Ventus and Carastes, which have both been overtaken by the Qunari between Trespasser and Veilguard. There is also some interesting lore surrounding that place, which we’ll get to later.

On the Road

When we return back to in-game cinematics, we find Rook and Varric travelling through the Tevinter countryside at dusk. At this point, we can ask about where exactly we’re going and what we’re hoping to find here.

As we walk, Varric begins telling us that there are people who have been working to stop the Dread Wolf’s plans for the past decade. But since resources are sparse and only a handful of people are trustworthy, such efforts can’t be spoken of out in the open.

Since we’re playing a Dalish elf, we get to voice our disbelief that the Dread Wolf is actually supposed to be walking Thedas right now. But we’ve seen Revas, we’ve seen the agents of Fen’Harel. And we’ve seen Merrill’s betrayal. That last part is something Varric is clearly hurt by. We can ask him about Merrill and why she would let herself be deceived by the Trickster God. Since we imported a World State where Hawke romanced Merrill, Varric states that Merrill experienced great loss and that this might be her way of trying to set things right. We as players can begin to guess that perhaps Merrill is hoping to get Hawke back from the Fade. But even without the romance, Merrill is someone who tries to restore old and lost knowledge. It would have been easy for Solas to convince her to join his efforts.

We proceed further down the road, until we are met with a distressing sight: a battlefield, and a very recent one at that. We come across the remnants of a skirmish between the Antaam of Seheron and Tevinter troops who were sent to retake some of the occupied lands. It’s an image of absolute carnage, war, and death. Since we’re playing a Veil Jumper, we get a short dialogue by Varric in which he breaks down the conflict between Tevinter and the Qunari. As a Veil Jumper, we know the Antaam for what it did to Arlathan Forest a few years ago. Without them, the Veil Jumpers wouldn’t exist. It’s an example of something good coming out of something very bad.

The Scout

As Rook and Varric traverse the battlefield, they are suddenly approached by a surviving group of Antaam warriors, who are looking for Tevinter legionnaires that might have escaped their blades.

They circle us and demand to know who we are, what we want, and where we’re off to. Varric, having plenty of experience with the Qunari up until this point, tries to talk our way out of it. Here’s a small choice to be made:

Do we silently prepare for battle?

Or do we contribute to Varric’s attempt to talk?

Since we’re a pretty confident Dalish elf, we’ll chime in, but that only leads to some unwanted attention. Since we’re a mage, they immediately see us as Saarebas and therefore too dangerous to be seen walking around unshackled. We bristle at that and get ready to fight. Varric simply shrugs. Reasoning with the Antaam has never quite worked out for him. But this small exchange showed Varric that we’re eager to talk first before hitting people.

Just as the Qunari are about to attack, their group leader is struck down by a well-placed arrow in the eye. At this point, another, very familiar face joins the scene: Scout Lace Harding! She thinks we could use a little help, to which Varric responds that the odds are even now, even though the Qunari still rather outnumber us.

We fight the Qunari with Varric and Harding at our side. It’s a short battle mostly serving to introduce Harding to the party, and we make rather short work of our enemies.

What follows is Harding’s proper introduction. She is happy to see Varric and intrigued by Rook. So, this is the one Varric chose for this mission, the integral part that will give us an edge. Varric confirms this, a bonus being that Fen’Harel’s agents presume us dead. Harding tenses. So we did meet them? Yes, and Merrill and Abelas were among them. Troubling news, indeed. Even more reason to get to our destination as quickly as possible. Harding then tells Varric that everything is ready. Everyone’s just waiting for us. Well, Varric says, then we shouldn’t keep them waiting. Rook is about to meet some very esteemed company.

But before we press on, Harding mentions that she was tracking a group of Antaam soldiers who rounded up some Tevinter slaves with the intention of bringing them to Seheron, and suggests we free them. Varric is generally for the idea, but worries that our numbers might be too sparse.

So, now we get to make a choice:

Do we take this small detour to free the slaves?

Or do we not risk further battle and quietly move on?

This right here is going to be the first of many smaller choices we get to make in the game. Before Veilguard came out, people spoke of how incredibly reactive it would be, how it, while not having a World State, would compensate by having many intricate choices on its own. This didn’t quite happen the way I thought it would, so let us entertain the idea of what minor reactive consequences could look like if placed in the proper moments.

We are a Dalish elf. We know what slavery is and what it did to our people. We know that the Antaam survivors who ended up founding D’Meta’s Crossing with Clan Morlyn were essentially slaves to the Qunari. We’re not going to let anyone share in this fate if we can help it. We choose to take the detour and free the slaves.

Freeing the Slaves

Once our trio is on the same page, we follow Harding to a small Qunari encampment on the battlefield. It’s absolutely nothing fancy, just a temporary base. The slaves aren’t hard to find as they’re all cooped up in an improvised large cage, guarded by Antaam warriors.

After a brief and slightly more difficult fight, the Qunari are defeated and we free the slaves. And here’s when we notice something rather dark: the slaves are all wearing collars. If you recall our Shadow Dragon origin story, the Imperator of Tevinter’s legions, Magister Laskaris, introduced the blood magic collar as a way to combat the Qunari threat. And seeing it here means that he’s already implementing in in small doses amidst the army, permitting the use of blood magic.

We are horrified by this discovery and see that the slaves have no way of getting them off. They tell us that the Centurio who led this party performed a blood magic spell to bind them to his will, as per Laskaris’ instructions. The Centurio in question is still alive, about to be given the qamek treatment, which would render him a mindless puppet.

We tell the slaves to wait here until we’ve dealt with the Centurio. So we proceed further through the encampment, fighting off a few more Qunari along the way, until we get to the leader’s tent. The leader in question is a Sten (no, not our Sten, that one’s the Arishok now).

We make it just in time before the qamek is able to be applied to the Tevinter mage screaming in absolute panic. And here’s where we get to make another smaller choice:

Do we save the Centurio?

Or do we let him be mind-wiped?

As a Dalish elf and someone who came here to free slaves, we are furious about these new blood collars. But we’re also not someone who exposes people to fates worse than death, that’s not who we are. So we hurry up and blast the Sten into the Void before he can apply the qamek.

With all the Qunari dead, the Centurio is now free as the sole military survivor of this small campaign. Now, you might think he would thank us for freeing him, but as he sees our vallaslin and pointy ears, he’s immediately going to resort to calling us a savage knife-ear.

At this point, we allow ourselves to be a little angry and strike him while he’s weakened. This at least gets the man to listen, so we demand that he release the slaves from the blood collars. We threaten that if he won’t comply, we shall either bind him to a pole for the next Qunari patrol to find, or we can apply the qamek ourselves. Or we could just kill him, his choice.

Reluctantly, the mage relents and we take him to the slaves. With one last look, he relinquishes his blood magic hold on the collars and they open up, falling into the dirt.

Now comes the next choice. What do we do with the Centurio?

Do we kill him?

Do we leave him here for the Qunari to find?

Do we apply the qamek ourselves?

Or do we let him skulk back to Minrathous?

Everything in us wants to cause pain to this man who had contributed to the enslavement and torture of innocent beings. But we’re choosing to play a Rook who’s of the more merciful sort. Rook chooses to let the Centurio live and allow him to scamper back to Laskaris and report on his failure. Is this truly the merciful way? Who knows.

We send him on his way with the knowledge that he owes his life to a Dalish elf who forced him to release his slaves.

We turn back to the liberated slaves who thank us profusely. And now comes our last choice for this scene. What do we do with the slaves?

Do we send them on their way?

Or do we take them with us?

We ask Varric if the place we’re heading to has any room for more people, to which he says yes. We could either take them to safety or send them on their way. In this case, I’m actually going to send them on their way. We know that we’re about to possibly go up against Fen’Harel, so taking these newly liberated slaves with us would mean putting them in yet another dangerous conflict. So, we give them some resources, let them loot the camp, and wish them good fortune. Varric asks why we let them go, to which we say exactly what I wrote above. He nods and approves, as does Harding.

Now we really need to get going before even more Antaam troops arrive. We gather ourselves and move on.

This entire segment was completely optional, we could have skipped it entirely. But choosing to free the slaves gave us an early insight into the blood collars and allowed us to participate in some potentially morally grey choices. Of course, our Rook chose the most paragon-esque outcomes, but the game lets us do some extensive roleplaying in scenes like this.

The Cliffside

As the day draws to a close and night falls upon the coastal countryside of Tevinter, Rook, Varric, and Harding reach a cliff overlooking the vast Ventosus Straits, the body of water that separates Tevinter from Seheron.

At first, we see nothing truly remarkable, just a cliff, a very high cliff at that. But then, Varric directs us to a set of barely noticeable steps, carved into the rock. Slowly, we make our way down, closer and closer to the moonlit surface of the sea, until we come upon the entrance to a cave, hidden behind a spell of concealment. Since Varric and Harding know where the entrance is, they just pass through the wall. Rook has a momentary confused reaction, before following.

Meeting Charter

As we enter the cave, we are approached by another rather familiar figure: Charter. Those who only played the games might remember her as the stoic elven commander from Caer Bronach in Crestwood. Those who have read the comics and Tevinter Nights will remember her as basically the new Leliana. She goes around Thedas and recruits all kinds of people into the Inquisition. Veilguard mentions that she is the new Spymaster after Leliana, and you can read a few letters from her.

I absolutely adore Charter as a character and think it’s rather criminal that she was scrapped from Veilguard. So, we’re going to include her here. Since in this World State, Leliana has assumed the role of Divine Victoria, we can confidently say that Charter is the Spymaster here.

Charter remarks that we’re late, to which Harding explains that we took a little detour. The Spymaster studies us and remarks that, somehow, she isn’t surprised that “another” of the elven people has been chosen for the job given the circumstances.

Since Rook hasn’t been living under a rock, we can now begin to guess where we are headed. So we ask the people around us if we are about to join the Inquisition. Charter explains that the Inquisition does not officially exist anymore, only a shadow organisation that operates in the dark, away from the enemy’s gaze. Too great is the risk of corruption amidst the ranks, as we all remember from Trespasser. But in the most direct sense: yes, we are about to join what became of the Inquisition. But all of it can be explained later. We must now head off. Everything is ready. We ask what “everything” is, to which Charter only replies that we’re about to find out. Harding promises that we’re going to be absolutely floored by what we’re about to see.

The Palace of Almadrius

As we move further down through the cave, we occasionally see glimpses of ruins, remnants of an ancient palace that must have been magnificent once. By investigating and asking our guides, we learn that we are traversing what remains of the palace of Archon Almadrius. He was briefly mentioned in DA2 in a codex entry for having built a lavish palace near the Eyes of Nocen, manned by many guards. But one day, everything disappeared without a trace. Well, given the state of this place, we can deduce that some kind of spell or cataclysm caused it to collapse beneath the waves.

This is one of many examples of environmental storytelling that Dragon Age is so masterful at. Just by looking at the world, we can see traces of its history. We could have made this a simple cave, but thanks to the location and the legends surrounding it, we can now make it so much more.

Eventually, Charter takes us to a wide cavernous area beneath the sea. Magical barriers prevent rocks, ruins, and water from collapsing upon us. And right in the middle of it all, we see a monstrous vessel. An underwater ship in the shape of a great dragon. True to Harding’s word, Rook is absolutely floored by the sight. We have now reached the end of our journey. This is the Dumat.

The Dumat

Just like the rest of you, I have seen the concept art book. And when I saw this gigantic dragon submarine, I knew I had to include it in the rewrite. Does it take heavy inspiration from the Normandy in terms of having a mobile base in the form of a ship? Yes. Does that mean we’re no longer following the Dragon Age formula? I…honestly don’t think so.

Tevinter is a land of magic, a land of magic allied with the dwarves of Orzammar, master craftsmen. There is a lot that can be done when those two forces sit down together and plan not war, but a work of wonder. And I don’t really subscribe to the idea that the concept of a submarine goes against the fantasy genre. You can make it work if you give it the proper look and feel, and give it a logical explanation for existing in the setting.

But I also have another reason for choosing the Dumat as the hub instead of the Lighthouse: I have something else planned for the Lighthouse and the Crossroads as a whole. It’ll still be a while before we get there, since Solas is still around and has his agents in this rewrite.

As we approach the Dumat, Rook is still absolutely shocked. This is the first time she has ever seen an underwater vessel. And truth be told, this is probably the first submarine in Thedas’ history. Varric tells us that we still have some friends in the Magisterium and Orzammar, plus the funding of some other powerful friends. Combine all that, and you get this.

We board the Dumat and find ourselves in an…actually very homely-looking interior. It’s not overly lavish but definitely comfortable, as well as practical. There is a lot of room for people here, that much is clear. While we’re walking, we just can’t shake off the feeling of sheer awe that’s going through us right now. This is where we’re going to be staying for the foreseeable future? Incredible.

The Briefing

We eventually make it to a war-room-like place with a large round table in the centre. Only Rook, Varric, Harding, and Charter are currently present. But that is soon changed, for before we even get to properly speak, the door opens and another face joins us. It is none other than Isabela! The moment she heard Varric had arrive, she needed to come and see him for herself. Varric is glad that she accepted the offer and made it in time. As seen in the Lords of Fortune origin story, Isabela gave the Siren’s Call II to her first mate for the time being as she was chosen for another job. This is it. Isabela is going to be the captain of the Dumat.

Personally, I think this is something that fits Isabela’s character a bit more than being the stay-at-home leader for the Lords of Fortune. This way, she’s going to still be able to contribute to the story, but in a way that is far more in-line with her personality. Isabela would never miss up on the opportunity to sail an underwater vessel. And she does happen to be one of the most skilled captains around.

Isabela greets us and says we remind her of Merrill, and ooff. Yeah, about that. The meeting begins with Varric and Rook telling Charter and Isabela of everything that happened in Arlathan Forest and how we confronted the agents of Fen’Harel. Because we took that slave-liberating detour, we can also speak of the blood collars. When she hears of Merrill, Isabela’s face darkens and she refuses to believe it at first, but then…yeah. When she thinks about it, about the pain Merrill went through after losing Hawke and the trust of her people…she is shaken by this revelation. In a surprisingly endearing moment, Isabela proclaims that Merrill can still be saved. She just needs her friends to pull her out of the wolf’s maw.

At this point, Rook has had enough of the secrecy surrounding her part in all of this and asks Varric why she specifically was recruited into this affair. Varric agrees that it is time, so he begins a story. And this is where we get the “I knew him as Solas” speech we get at the beginning of the vanilla game. But it’s going to be slightly longer. We get a few more thoughts and feelings of how Solas was as a person and what exactly he did while serving in the Inquisition. We get a brief recap of the war against Corypheus, the betrayal at the end of Trespasser, and the decade-long shadow war against the Dread Wolf. It all culminates in Varric saying how Solas is now approaching the fulfilment of his promise: to tear down the Veil and restore Elvhenan. “Somebody’s gotta stop him. And that’s…where you come in.”

So then. This is what our purpose is. To join the fight against the Dread Wolf, the evil deity from our very own religion. He who caused the imprisonment of our gods. And now we learn that it was he who created the Veil. Of course. It lines up. How else would he have imprisoned the gods if not for the literal Veil? We try to reason it with ourselves, but it’s all a little…much.

We just got absolute confirmation that the Dalish beliefs, the way we see it at least, are true. Well, Varric says, yes and no. Solas never referred to himself as a god. Of course he wouldn’t, we think, he’s the great deceiver. But then we realise something else. “How do I…come in?” we ask. “What am I supposed to do?”

Then we learn our role: We won’t just be joining this shadow war. We’ll be one of the people leading it. As Varric’s second-in-command. While he will be making plans and arranging everything in the background, it is us who must be out there in the field, recruiting allies, carrying out heists, learning and undermining the Dread Wolf’s plans. We are Rook. The strongest piece on the chessboard. The one Solas will never see coming. The one he doesn’t know.

So at this point, I’m choosing to play Rook as incredibly shocked and overwhelmed, to the point where she outright refuses. Why would we be the perfect fit for such a high position? Varric lists our accomplishments among the Veil Jumpers, how Strife and Irelin speak so highly of us, how we took initiative in the ruined Temple of June, how we are the perfect seeker of ancient artefacts, and how we don’t give up. We fit perfectly. Obviously, this dialogue is going to be different for every origin story. We get an added line that we are of the Dalish, we know the Dread Wolf like few do.

We are still overwhelmed, and don’t know what to say. But then the door opens, and another figure steps in.

The Inquisitor

We are joined in the meeting chamber by Inquisitor Lavellan herself. Yeah, I chose to have the Inquisitor appear right at the beginning of the story. I mean, we already made her in the CC, it’s not a big reveal that she’s in this game. But it also makes thematic sense for her to be here. She was our last player character. Who better to pass on the torch and give us the final push into this new adventure than her?

For this playthrough, I’m choosing to go with my canon Inquisitor, Elera Lavellan. In my canon I romanced Cullen, but if you so choose, I can go with the Solavellan route here, yeah okay, I see ya.

The Inquisitor, wearing Dalish mage clothes and carrying a staff, no Shadow Dragon pjs to be seen anywhere, walks up to us and pretty much says how she felt the same when she was given the task to close the Breach and defeat Corypheus ten years ago. Nobody’s born a fighter, much less so a leader.

We get to have a small conversation with Lavellan. I’m choosing to have Rook react in awe to her because, of course, she has heard of her, how one of the People rose up and heroically led the Inquisition against the greatest of evils. Those were stories we heard as a teenager. And now we shall be joining this fight. Now it’s our turn to become a part of this ever-growing tale.

The Inquisitor, just like Leliana and Cassandra did at the beginning of DAI, tells us that we are free to go if we so choose. But if we stay in this fight, we shall make the world a safer place.

Varric chimes in and states how all of this started with the Hero of Ferelden’s quest against the Blight, how it continued into Hawke’s battles with the shadows of Kirkwall, how it reached new heights in the Inquisitor’s war against the Elder One, and now the time has come for what he feels and hopes is the final chapter. And Rook gets to be one of the central characters, if not the central.

We think long and hard, but then we see where we are. We are aboard an underwater ship, amidst the remnants of the Inquisition. We are standing amidst legends. And these legends have become flesh and chosen us to join them. We have the chance to avenge our people, to finally strike back at the god who has been deceiving us all this time. Solas, Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf, has returned. And with him, the ancient conflict may come to an end. Justice may be served at last.

With a heavy breath, we shake hands with the Inquisitor, mirroring the scene in Haven’s Chantry so many years ago.

What follows is a cinematic showing Rook, Varric, Harding, Charter, Isabela, and Inquisitor Lavellan standing in the control room of the Dumat. Lavellan gives a nod and Isabela takes hold of the helm.

From outside, we see how the protective spells and wards that kept the cavern dry during the ship’s construction phase begin to flicker, until they disappear entirely. The Palace of Almadrius sinks beneath the waters once again, having fulfilled its purpose.

The Dumat floats in the darkness of the cavern, seemingly suspended in a shapeless void. But then, dwarven crystals and runes begin shimmering around it. Tevene magic creates light on the interior side, flooding the rooms with mysterious shines of many colours. Then, the ship begins to move. It slithers and glides through the cavern, until it swims out into the open sea. From afar, it looks like a great sea creature, not at all a ship. Perfect for the purpose of remaining unseen.

As the Dumat glides through the moonlit waters, the camera pans up to show Thedas’ two moons shining upon the deceptively calm sea. A distant wind comes up, and as the screen begins to fade to black, we hear the single howl of a lonely wolf.

The screen goes black, and we finally see the title of our game:

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

And there you have it! This is how I would pitch bridging the gap between Rook’s introduction and her joining the greater story. And…yeah, I do kinda prefer the Dreadwolf title. Obviously, The Veilguard is more fitting for what the vanilla game does, but I believe that the original title has more merit here, given that we’re ditching the Lighthouse and the Fade for the time being. But what we’ve definitely established so far was that Solas is a threat that must be stopped. The sequel hook that Trespasser dangled in front of us has to be paid off.

This concludes the Prologue segment of our hypothetical Veilguard rewrite. Now, the real story begins. Next time, we shall be dealing with the beginning of Act 1, a detailed look at the Dumat submarine, the people inhabiting it, and some first missions.

Thank you to everyone who’s still following this project. It’s really been quite an entertaining and captivating journey so far. And there’s so much more to come. Stay tuned!

[solimavi]

Responding late in the day again, but fortunately not nearing 12 AM this time. Lemme give answering some of this a shot.

Regarding the "Heart of the Dragon" stuff. Yeah, I'm mostly out of my element here and I do appreciate the little Japanese lesson despite my disappointment. Obviously, I can't dispute what you're saying, but I do still have some comments. The decision to include ambergris as a plot device and chose the "Heart of the Dragon" name for it based on possible historical speculation about where ambergris is produced are still deliberate writing decisions that were made and I'm sure those decisions are meant to convey something. Just maybe not the something I was thinking of based on my thinking being rooted in the English language. Which is a frustrating thing about engaging with a lot of Japanese media and not understanding the language. Stuff like this catches you sometimes and makes deciphering what the intent might have been behind certain writing decisions harder.

Regarding the post-credits, I think I can engage with that a bit more since I disagree with your assessment that Saejima was referring to Majima's desire to cure Kiryu's cancer as the dream. I'll go with the official translation to dissect this part. "Take the dream from the man, but can't take the man from the dream. Kiryu Kazuma. You never could give up on that one."

So two things to talk about here. The literal content of these sentences and what logically makes sense.

First, content:

In the content of these statements, Saejima makes no mention of the cancer. What he says is that some vague dream had been wiped from Majima's mind, but Majima himself remained the same person who has that dream and acts on it, even if his mind can't consciously recall what he's doing. The dream itself remains vague at this point. Then the wham line. "Kiryu Kazuma". Just Kiryu Kazuma. No mention of the cancer or Kiryu's current state. That then leads into "You never could give up on that one". I think this structure is probably the main reason a lot of people immediately hear "Kiryu is his dream").

Now, to break this down from a logical perspective and also account for the tone and emotional weight being given to the scene:

"You never could give up on that one". This implies it's a dream he's stubbornly hung on to for a long time.

The main part of PYIH only takes place a few months after 8. Majima has known about Kiryu's cancer diagnosis for only half a year. If the "dream" is meant to be "Majima find out Kiryu has cancer a few months ago and now he wants to cure him", then you can see why Saejima standing there and sorta fondly reminiscing about how Majima "never could give up on that one" is kind of an odd thing to do, right? "Ha, you never could give up on that one". Saejima, at the time, he had only know about it for a few months. What do you mean he never could give up on it? 🗿 A possible alternative reading of "You never could give up on that one" is that he couldn't give up on saving Kiryu's life. But the lead up to that statement that puts emphasis on the dream ("take the dream from the man, but can't take the man from the dream"), the previous part of the conversation about personally accomplishing some dreams and leaving some for others (mirroring what Mirei said in 5), and (this is maybe a weaker point) the way the dub had Saejima enunciate his words at "You never could give up on that one" points towards him referring to Majima not being able to let go of his dream. And with that reading, the dream being "Majima tries to cure Kiryu's cancer" doesn't make much sense.

So what has Majima been doing for a long time? Helping Kiryu. K1 (specifically the Kiwami remake where Majima is helping Kiryu regain his strength through ME), 2, 3, 5. And now this new game. The post credits twist is that he's still at it with helping Kiryu. That core motivation is there from the start of the Kiryu saga to the end. "You never could give up on that one". And I think this also matches the emotional weight and tone being given to the scene better as well. To say Majima's dream is to save Kiryu from cancer condenses his dream down to this one specific (albeit tragic) moment in time. Kiryu himself being the dream moves the dream beyond being about Majima struggling to cope with this specific tragedy and moves into making more of a statement about this relationship that has been there since the very beginning of the Kiryu saga and has remained important to both characters until what's probably the end of it.

WITH ALL THAT SAID. None of that is necessarily romantic which is what this discussion all goes back to. Kiryu being Majima's dream could be interpreted as a romantic thing. But that's just one possible interpretation (and the one I go with). It's not the slam dunk the way I thought the "Heart of the Dragon" thing was, haha. I DO think Kiryu being singled out as Majima's dream makes that relationship special though and that's what I was trying to get at. There was a little excerpt from the Anan Magazine that says as much actually. From what I can tell anyway. I ran it through google translate. You understand the language, so maybe if you have the version with no English text over it, you could rip this translation apart. I'd attach that for your convenience if I had it on hand. But I don't. If I recall right, this magazine was released shortly before the game itself.

A friend of mine had actually shared those with video links with me before, but I've only seen most of the first one. Concerning the bits about Kiryu and Majima's relationship, I think it's stuff you can understand from just playing through the game and really paying attention to Majima. His pessimism and how he puts that pessimism up against Kiryu and makes their encounters fights based on ideals. His behavior becoming noticeably more out of control and desperate at the soapland (crashing into the building, scaring the hell out of that girl). And his defeat getting a blissful reaction out of him because he's actually happy about it deep down and that being where their actual friendship starts. But I'm starting to derail a bit. Thanks for sharing, I do still need to watch the rest.

OKAY, LAST PART. I pinned the hesitance to depict queer relationships on fear of backlash in a more matter-of-fact way than I probably should have. There is for sure a hesitance with the most notable queer characters either being either very, very much in the background or it's a Mine situation where he's relevant but put on a bus after one game. I don't agree at all that the people who would get angry have been weeded out of the fandom. Maybe I just have a talent for walking into the fandom, tripping and falling in some mud, and looking up and seeing a bunch of pigs splashing around and you've had a different experience than me. But I do see the sort of people that would lose it over canon Kazumaji and they're not even particularly rare. The people that pin Mine's love confession on everything but romantic love and "Oh the sun was just in his eyes even though it was at night, so he didn't know what he was saying". The people that love to joke about Majima having a thing for Kiryu, but get defensive or even outright hostile as soon as they see people being serious about it or speculating about a possibly bisexual Majima in general. The people that get incredibly hostile when others try to criticize this franchise's history when it comes to writing women. Those people are here and they absolutely would lose it if Majima was confirmed bi.

But I think you're right in that I was maybe too quick to point at that as the reasoning for the hesitance. I don't think it should be ruled out as a factor. But it's not a given that it's the deciding factor. And to be clear, my intent was never to imply anything on the part of the writers and what they do or don't personally want to do. I've heard Yokoyama is a fan of "Banana Fish" (Confession, I have not read it myself. I have volume 1 on my shelf and need to get to it. All I know about it is that it prominently features organized crime and is very gay) and the fact that he tries to go there at all, even if he falls short of adding in anything big and lasting across multiple games, is evidence that at least he personally has an interest in writing a queer romance. He just, for whatever reason, hasn't gone all in. Whether that be concern with backlash (which was maybe a more prominent factor in the past before the demographic shift in the audience happened), just being self-conscious about not pulling it off, something else, or a combination of different reasons. That assumption was my bad though I think the point still stands that putting in such a relationship is something they're hesitating to go all in on with. Whatever the reason may be.

So anyway, this got long again. I got really into the character analysis aspect of what I was saying and ended up rambling quite a bit. But the point I was making in the original post relied heavily on that "Heart of the Dragon" thing and I was off there so a lot of what I said doesn't hold up. But I did want to respond to some of the things you said. If I respond to anything again, I'll place a little more value on being more concise next time instead of writing another novel.

Hello! The twist ending of PYIH kind of shocked me. 'Twas really foolish of me for thinking that for the entirety of Kiryu's saga, Majima has just that twisted obsession with Kiryu, being a "Mad Dog" and all. I came across your PYIH analysis the other day and it really brought home what they were conveying with the ending.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the premise of PYIH. Is the sole purpose of Majima's "filming/documentary(?)" is to rehearse telling it to Kiryu? Because if it had been, that would be even crazier.

Oh, and at this point, is it even reasonable right now to interpret their relationship as platonic or brotherly? What do you think?

YEAHHHHH imo I think yakuza kenzan yakuza 3 (rooftop scene) is where we first truly starting seeing a glimpse of a deeper dynamic between Majima and Kiryu that goes beyond the "weird twisted obsession" reading, and we see more examples of it later as the series goes on (gestures at yakuza 5 and IW) but moments like those were decently subtle/blink-and-you'll-miss-it (not to mention they lessen in frequency also probably in part to Majima's lessening screentime throughout the series), but pyih's ending really goes out of its way to ensure that you actually Know how deep and genuine Majima's feelings are, which I am both extremely appreciative of and Kinda Crazy about

I think the whole documentary thing is interesting. Given the fact that they went out of their way to get the equipment/crew/etc. for the "film version", I would say that the Majima's retelling of his story at the studio and at Kiryu's bedside serve different purposes, and that him telling the story on set was not specifically for Kiryu (what Majima plans to do with the "film version" I'm not completely sure, but I guess for now we can assume it's just a project Majima wanted to do while getting Majima Construction back off the ground?) I'd say the premise of pyih is both to retell Majima's story as he presents it to the "general audience" And Kiryu, hence why the game starts with one and ends with the other. It's the same story to everyone, for the mostpart, and the main difference between the two 'versions' is How he presents it (to the cameras/the players/main audience he puts on the fuckass pirate costume and the theatrics, to Kiryu he tells it to him straight, without the extra show stuff for the cameras. We can Assume the story he tells to each audience is practically identical, considering that the cutscene of him telling it to us in the beginning of the game and him telling it to KIryu at the end of the game use identical lines (cough cough in the Japanese audio), but his tone of voice between the two are notably very different)

Uhhhh shoot I don't know if any of that made sense 💀 Point is I think Majima telling the story of pyih is, in fact, meant for Everyone, it's just that Kiryu gets a sort of special, more authentically told version of it if you will (After all, Majima could've just shown Kiryu the film when it was finally done, but instead he went out of his way to tell it to him personally)

As for the question of "is kazumaji canon now", WOO boy. First of all I actually lowkey want to thank you for asking that question, I've been wanting to post about it for a while now but kept putting it off lol. I mulled over this exact question quite a bit during the week-or-so long time period that I was writing most of my analysis after finishing the game, and, despite the fact that I myself am very vocal about liking kazumaji in a romantic scenario/context, I would not personally call it canon, and I say it is still absolutely reasonable to interpret them as platonic.

While many of the aspects we see in their relationship (especially on Majima's end) such as obsession, devotion, etc. etc. are often associated with romantic interest (Especially in fandom spaces), I don't think they have to be considered specifically romantic. People who have read through my posts may remember a while back that I did an analysis of The Sun at 36.5 wondering if the song was written with the intent to represent Majima's feelings towards Kiryu (for the record this was incorrect and the meaning behind it goes past the scope of the game) and I was going pretty insane about it lol. That's because, had the song been written with that in mind, it would've meant with almost 100% certainly that they would be, in fact, canon, and that would've been Insane. However, this is not the case, and other than that theory I had there's nothing else in the games that would specifically state that either one has Explicitly Romantic feelings towards the other. Do they have a very deep and complex relationship, the likes of which they don't share with many other characters? Definitely. Is it explicitly romantic? I wouldn't say so

The main example I would like to bring up to argue against it would be minedai (*cough* my second favorite yakuza ship I fucking Love Mine Yoshitaka so much he's one of my favorites). I'll link this amazing post with all the examples but essentially, while minedai and kazumaji share many of the same themes in their relationship/dynamic (again, obsession, devotion, you get the drill (can you tell Majima and Mine are two of my favorite characters yet LOL)) the main difference between them is that, with minedai, it is basically outright said Multiple Times in Multiple Sources outside of even Yakuza 3 itself that Mine loved Daigo, with words used Specifically to convey strong romantic connotations, a choice rgg went out of their way to make every single time they wrote about them together. Kazumaji, on the other hand, does not use these kinds of words to describe each other, whether it be in words coming from Kiryu and Majima themselves, or official relationship charts, descriptions, etc.

Can feelings including romance be heavily implied without needing to be explicitly stated? Absolutely, but with the way rgg tends to Very Obviously and Explicitly state when characters Are romantically interested in each other, and also simply because there is still (imo) plenty of room to read kazumaji as Not romantic, I wouldn't say it's canon. And for the record, I wanna reiterate that this is coming from someone who is personally very enthusiastic about kazumaji as a ship, so I'm trying to be purely objective here, and that is my verdict (Also this is just a random aside, but I really don't agree with the people who are (unironically) labelling Kiryu and Majima's relationship as "queerbaiting". but that's a whole other discussion entirely)

Thank you for shooting an ask !!

[miss-conner3]

How would ando deal with the existencal horror of his brother never ever letting him die?

¡A question related to one of the central points of the AU! (OoO)

Happy and conflicted because answering your question would be a kind of spoiler, but maybe I can answer part of it in a different way (ouo)/

¡Here it goes!~

As I mentioned before, Ando is still not aware of what his brother did to him to bring him back, and even less that his brother has him tied to life for "a reason" that I have yet to draw <(ouo)>

(That also includes how Ando would react to knowing this, sorry.)

But what I can say is that whatever the lamb has done will have consequences.

Both for him and for Ando.

At some point, I will talk more about this, but for now, this is all (owo)

¡Thanks for asking, and sorry for the wait! (>//<)/

[ahollowgrave]

OK SO THE THING IS -- (Its DT spoilers all the way down folks.)

I've talked about Odette and Sphene and The Endless and Living Memory and the Use of Souls before so I'll try not to repeat myself too much. (<- Lying.)

But when we first meet Endless Sphene, Odette is SO curious. She clocks that woman isn't Alive (TM) right away and it's always a little !! when you meet someone who might be like you. You know? That first bit, Odette is so intrigued and welcoming and naive. She's never been the head of a country before, you know? And yeah maybe there is alarm bells, so to speak, at the back of her mind but those are so easy to ignore when you are Lonely in a Very Particular Way.

This doesn't last long !! Honestly, the second regulators and their (their main I suppose) purpose are introduced a wall goes up. Gone are all those warm and curious feelings and whats left is a growing dread.

This is where Odette and Wuk bet heads for the first time. Any other plot and Odette would agree, they should just!! Keep being nice. It's just their way of life, etc etc etc. But this is wrong. This is perverted, this is corrupted, this is aberrant, this is harmful. It needs to be stop.

And it just gets worse from there.

A lot of Prudence covering for Odette. Holding her back like a trembling, neurotic chihuahua from savaging any ankle she can reach. When they defeat Endless Sphene she is simply!!! Sad!!! It's a sad all around!!!

And then.... she's....... back and not dead and actually even more off-putting. And people don't seem toooooo remember??? that she??? died??? Like for real??? We had a whole funeral, Odette had to hold everyone's hand through the funeral rites!!!

AND THEN....... 7.2....

MAN. She's alive, she's been asleep 400 years and the world moved on without -- except it didn't. It had a... version of her. A version she cannot possibly live up too. And 400 years is so long. Idk idk. She's not a living-dead girl but she's close, you know? So again, that sense of "oh you're like me (again)" but it's all a bit tainted now, you know?

They share a feeling of "I am out of step with the world around me and yet I must do my best to keep up."

At first Odette cannot help but stare, she is having a lot of emotions at once, she looks like she's gonna vomit all the time. (Partly because S9 just does that to her but also because... Sphene.) And MAN imagine being Sphene, you've got so much going on an also this weird nun won't stop staring at you. Sphene thinks Odette hates her for a while but eventually...

The coffee scene. I know some people thought it was silly and maybe it was, but that first moment where Odette and Sphene are sitting alone just talking. :pacha: That's when shit settles for them, that's when Odette becomes Sphene's comfort. Where Sphene realizes "Oh, she doesn't hate me..."

Idk idk idk! Odette is slow to build of romantic feelings but at the very least she feels for Sphene. She understands some of the uncomfortableness of Sphene's position, and maybe she can't understand the weight of a crown but she knows the burden of Duty. She is an empathic creature -- how could Death not be? -- she wants Sphene to know she isn't alone, that Odette will help in anyway she can.

ough. anyway... this is very much a ramble but man...

But Pigeon, I hear you cry, what about Odette and Prudence!?

omg first of all thank you for you question!!! This isn't about them.

(But also they are never actually like A Couple they are a very complicated strangers to coworkers to lovers to ????. Prudence tends to be in a lot of off again/on again relationships! Odette is one of the more painful ones, for sure.)

As much as Prudence loves/is obsessed with Odette, she's not a very... good at expressing herself. She's not good at relationships, she's not good at a lot of things. She is insanely jealous of Sphene and Odette - be it endless sphene or evil sphene or living sphene. She wants to be the one on Odette's mind she wants to be the one making Odette look like that. Alas !! She'll be ok.

genuinely abuzz with ideas about sphene and odette but also gotta............ wait a bit.......... see what happens...... you know?

[mikkeneko]

Please have your side characters talk to your main characters about literally any other topic than the main characters' romance. Please.

[sayakxmi]

Lmao, I feel ya. I ramble abt Chrono Stone issues a lot, too. For me it's still in the top 3, because I love GO with my entire heart, but CS is definitely on a thin ice, and half of my affection for it comes from my own rewrite of it (shameless promo). It really pains me, though, because the concept is amazing, just the execution that leaves A LOT to be desired.

I'm pretty sure I've said something similar - found it, here! Yeah, CS suffers greatly from just having too much ground to cover, as a result not having enough time to not only have characters be, yknow, friends, but also to even cover what it wants well. There are exceptions, sure, but it's extremely felt. I won't repeat myself here, tho. What I can say is that Chrono Stone is aggressively plot-driven, to the point of neglecting its characters unless it's their time to miximax.

Yeaa. I think GO is for the most part fine, tbh, but CS is a tragedy, and Galaxy is only marginally better. Much as I love it. There's a lot of stuff, even characters, that aren't given anywhere near as much attention as they needed. Idk, potentially a spoiler but Minaho is such an underused character I'm still salty. He (alongside Tsurugi) was the first to notice Matatgi's Dark-trademark side, it could've been such an interesting dynamic between the two, half of the characters don't interact with each other, Shindou's literal only real connection, excluding Raimon), is Ibuki... And don't get me started on how Faram Orbius is handled or Ozrock plot in general. I have A LOT to criticize it for.

Also, 100% agreed. It's actually something I recall myself talking with people before - how Fei's only bonds (in Raimon) are Tenma and Kinako (more bc he's literally her son than because they're close or anything - speaking of which, what I NEEDED was for Kinako to become friends with Fei, and actually, yknow, put some work to get to know her kid, instead of running of info from Asurei, essentially - I wanted to see her organically grow to care about him).

It pales especially when compared to Fubuki. Both are their series' 2nd season's central characters, and the difference is like a night and day. Fubuki has numerous important bonds and they are all necessary for his development, Endou, Someoka, Aphrodi, Gouenji... from the top of my head. (And his interactions with their opponents are important, too). And still you feel like he's a part of the team, and not just, essentially, Tenma's friend from the future who also plays with us. Like, Fubuki mattered to everybody, and Fubuki cared about them, too - it was never something that you felt the need to question. With Fei I'd say the only person he genuinely cares about is Tenma, and even that relationship feels more like it's running on They're Similar :) than them actually being friends.

As I've said in that other post, even Shindou and Tsurugi aren't given all that much focus beyond their arcs. Sure, they get a bit more for the main trio status, but it's still very little. It's something I still recall myself noting while watching&rewatching CS. I think Tsurugi even moreso? But that's speaking from memory, I'd have to finish the rewatch to say for sure.

And yeah. Also. Fucking Torb. Like, I don't dislike him, ok? But he's a randomass late addition that doesn't get much of anything, to be honest. He's just kinda there. Kariya should've had this miximax and I'll die on this hill. Especially after he gave Kirino that chance, it kinda felt like he desevred something for it smh.

Gamma is there to be used by Zanark, which pisses me off so fucking much I just can't. Like, I genuinely feel more bad for him than I should. Bro was just trying to do his job & was soul hijacked by a random criminal or whatnot, and then yeeted out, too, for the good measure. Zanark, too, while he has some stuff going, it's just... not enough... He join Raimon on a whim, he miximaxes just like that, and anyway, cool, we spent the entire season finding all these ppl/dinosaurs to miximax, and he just... rushes it, essentially. It feels too random, too fast, kinda like the writers woke up, realized there was one person missing, and just threw Zanark there. Like, I can genuinely believe that Zanark was always meant to join, but his arc is so fragmented that it starts to feel out of nowhere.

All of this. But even aside from that, what I wished was for exploration of Shindou and Kirino's relationship, especially post-France. I don't remember, so correct me, did Shindou notice that Kirino was starting to doubt himself before they went there? Like, Kirino is very attentive to Shindou's emotional state, we've seen it, but I don't recall Shindou ever doing the same. I love him dearly, but it does feel like he takes Kirino's presence and support for granted. And, sure, you can chalk it up to Shindou's trust in Kirino being that strong, but there's trusting, and there's ignoring the emotional well-being of your best friend. Kariya was far more attentive and showed far more care for Kirino if my memory doesn't fail me.

Literally just said that, lol. But the positon was a defender, so my pick is Kariya. Like, again, I don't dislike the character or the concept, but it's undeniable that he is the most useless character there. He's more of a gag character than a character, which is something I despise.

Yeaaaaaaa

Are you fucking kidding me dude I'm living my best life here, I love talking and I love discussing, literally the only thing I can say is add your part in the post not in the tag you coward it's not like i did the same

still thinking about them. they're both wearing green sob

i love this scene so bad, kirino walks up to this nobleman with no fear, tells him like it is and when kinako sees it she jumps in to support him, letting him do the main talking and have his moment while she gets to taunt the guy (and use her upperclassman as a shield skshfhfkjs). her support of kirino during this arc was SO sweet. she liked jeanne too, she connected with her as well but she saw that as much as she wanted to miximax with her, it was not something she needed. but kirino did, so she selflessly decided to help him achieve that :( screaming crying throwing up

truly the duo of all time, if chrono stone bothered to give them more moments together

[rubber-glovs]

Oooohhh the urge to yap about my ocs and the world they live in......

[shorthaltsjester]

you hit the nail on the head with my issues on their failure to address the groups dynamic with scanlan, bc the show paints it that the group still not caring much for scanlan isn’t even an issue, when all the other characters have had these moments of the group rallying behind them during their struggles, scanlan is just kinda left with “now i finally matter bc i have real family” and that’s kinda it?

and i think the vax and scanlan dynamic suffers greatly from this too bc literally last season ended with vax admitting he didn’t believe in scanlan (“i thought you’d run back there”) while scanlan stayed bc HE believed in VAX (“i don’t believe in that matron stuff but you do and i believe in you”) yet this season just reinforces that with no payoff. vax’s only acknowledgement of scanlan was “you’re rather quiet back me up here” and that’s IT, the group as a whole had a bigger reaction to keyleth and vax kissing than scanlan returning from his coma to help😭

i never expected bard’s lament to go exactly how it did on stream nor did i expect scanlan to fully even blow up at the group but my issue is that even if we’re exclusively looking at the show’s writing w/o c1 knowledge, they focus heavily on the development of scanlan’s devotion, that he starts off selfish and becomes someone who feels a sense of devotion and responsibility to multiple people, despite having this underlying feeling that no one cares for him and he doesn’t matter. and that arc and growth has been really amazing to see, but then why have all that development over 3 seasons if over half the people he’s become devoted to STILL don’t view him in a similar light? hell even him opening up about that a LITTLE bit was just used as an immediate transition to keyleth and vax announcing they’re going for keyleth’s aramente… anyway SORRY FOR RAMBLING IN YOUR INBOX and who knows what’s to come with season 4 but i just think it’s a lil ironic that the character who’s had built up self worth issues over feeling overlooked was just… extremely overlooked in the very arc that was supposed to address it.

oh anon. yeah yeah big agree to everythigg bc said . yeah . please do not apologize for rambling in my inbox it’s so very welcome (the delay in response is because sometimes i forget this thing exists and notifications are not friends of mine so apologies for That).

but no like. truly as my criticisms have grown for tlovm re: the reliance on a pre-existing care for the story being told even if you do not have pre-existing knowledge of the story itself for audience buy-in, scanlan has long been a strong rebuttal to my concerns about what the cost of a required lack of character depth might be in a story like tlovm where character depth is integral to the themes and the plot. because like you mention season 1 and 2 really do the work of setting up scanlan and all his flaws and his dynamic in the group and his inability to be genuine with them and the pain he therefore can’t really unpack With them. and then s3, in emphasizing so much the kaylie and scanlan dynamic, kind of loses sight (or maybe. gains sight — but i’ll get to that in a sec) of scanlan’s motivation for favouring kaylie so strongly over vox machina even in a time of turmoil (e.g., seeking her out rather than sticking with the group before whitestone — while he didn’t know about the attack, he Did know they were in the middle of Very Short Timeline End Of Dragon Fighting Urgency, his comment at the end of the season that kaylie is his Real family). and it also doesn’t use the group’s recognition of the fact that kaylie is this powerful force for scanlan at all since they don’t even know about kaylie until half way through the season and most of them don’t even get lines about the fact that scanlan is in a coma at all so. picking battles ig.

idk man it’s like. yeah i also didn’t expect a 1-for-1 bards lament and i actually agree with the sentiment that a perfectly written vox machina adaptation might not have any bards lament moment at all, but given the two seasons of character writing setting up the very same issues that amounted to bards lament in the campaign, there was a requirement for some release of that tension for a story that i would call well done, and, well. we got a calm and collected scene. for the sake of a happy and satisfying ending. in the vox machina show. yknow. based on a campaign notorious for its happy ending.

time doesn’t exist and i can’t remember if this ask was sent before or after the round table from my personal hell where sam explicitly said that most if not all of the scanlan and kaylie scenes were rewritten After Recording because it wasn’t until then that they’d realized what scanlan’s motivations were . that paired with the tlovm team talking about wanting to avoid cliffhangers at the end of s3 so not having bards lament but then still including a cliff hanger with the whispered one stuff. i will always enjoy tlovm because those are my blorbos made real with animation but. sometimes they are Not my blorbos sometimes they are bad iterations of them. it doesn’t matter that their creators are in the writers room if every messy part of the characters that make them compelling and humanizes them have been reduced until easy to swallow and wrap up with conveniently satisfactory end-of-season beats. i won’t call it objectively bad character writing (but i think it is) but i will say it has been extremely hard to get my non-critter/dnd friends who tend to enjoy stories for the characters in them to enjoy tlovm, since they almost always lose interest in characters they see as fairly flat with occasional bursts of depth that just highlight how flat they appear otherwise, and most of those friends have identified scanlan as a high point of the character writing. which is maybe why i find the choices around his arc deflation the most :/-inducing

[peccatula]

the hardest part about having oc stories that you plan on publishing is that you can't go on long-winded rants about the intricacies of side character number 27 and her impact on the plot because you want people to go in mostly blind so you just have to sit there like this

[kareenvorbarra]

doomed to always be the only nahuseresh fan in the chat

[langfield]

every time i see a review of double exposure that harps on max’s and chloe’s characters only to then repeat the same criticism everyone and their mother has already said without actually elaborating upon the praise they do want to give de and without talking about any of the new plots, characters, or themes in depth i sigh a little. where’s some damn newness