#thats also supposed to be my rook

[mynqzo]

may the dread wolf take you

[not solavellan]

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

No thoughts today just veilguard Locus

And my fed ocs for me and me alone

[wizardsix]

is it just me or is bioware spoiling way too much about the game . talking about gameplay improvements is one thing but revealing story and companion arcs seems very insecure to me bc now the mystery is gone when people play for the first time . seems like they're trying too hard to prove that their game isn't garbage after that first trailer but this is not how you do that

[sleepingfancies]

And now Odette is on the brain too. Its so over

[pookietv]

online embarrassment | arthurtv

this was a req!! and i think its adorable

there will be a part two to this !!!

being a simple university student, you had simple pleasures - getting drunk on the weekend, binge watching tv shows, and a more strange one, online chess. you liked watching people play, you liked playing yourself, you loved the strategy aspect. on some websites you played on, there was the option of livestreaming your chess game - no faces or voices, but people could chat alongside you playing, and you enjoyed seeing input on your games.

one day you were playing a particularly tricky game, being forked from practically the get go, and being the victim of many pawn trades, you were definitely on a losing streak, even if you were just playing against a bot. it was being streamed, but there were only four people watching, not that embarrassing right? especially because it was hidden behind a chess username and no one knew who you were anyways, so it didn't really matter.

so when a comment came in,

ATV: i wouldn't have played rook to f4 there, leaves an opening for a three move check :)

your head tilted a little, turning back to the game and furrowing your eyebrows, trying to figure what they had meant - and they were right, the move was a little careless and it could lead to checkmate.

you nodded to yourself, trying to amend the damage by playing your bishop defensively, to which another comment came in.

ATV: sorry for backseat gaming here, but you could have check in two

you smiled a little more at the comment, placing one hand on your chin and the other on your mouse, following some moves for what must have been fourty-five seconds before you clicked, they were right again. you made the move, the bot making its response, defending also, before in a few short moves, the game was over, you had won by check.

youruser: @/ATV thank you! i still kinda suck after playing for so long lmao

ATV: @/youruser do you want a game? :)

youruser: @/ATV sure! i'll add you now :P

so you added them, and they requested a game. in the chatbox on the side, you saw another message just as they had moved their first piece.

ATV: so what's your name?

youruser: i'm y/n, what about you?

ATV: arthur :)

he moved with an unusual polish opening, so you played traditional and tried to take control of the centre. within a few minutes, he had one of your pawns pinned, and had taken another.

youruser: damn you're actually really good

youruser: feeling a little defeated here :)

ATV: i'm just a loser with far too much time on my hands

youruser: well i mean me too but still, you're smoking me

ATV: cause you're playing too much attack not enough defence

youruser: i feel i may need you to tutor me lmao

ATV: lets finish up this game rq and then i'll help lol

unsurprisingly, he won, but you actually came closer than expecting, and it was a pretty even match after the poor beginning.

ATV: you're actually pretty good, you were just being modest

youruser: hm well maybe

youruser: suppose i'll have to keep challenging you til i win >:D

ATV: do you have discord or anything? easier to explain and talk on there rather than chess in game chat lol

youruser: i do! i'll link it rq :)

youruser: it's yourdiscuser #1782

and from there, you began talking semi-regularly, you played chess often and spoke tactics and games, he helped teach you and you enjoyed the company.

youruser: isn't it really strange we know nothing about each other other then chess defence strategies

youruser: i mean what if you're the insane chess killer man

ATV: yes, thats exactly who i am, the Insane Chess Killer Man, can't believe you caught me red handed

ATV: i mean what do you wanna know

youruser: i mean, idk,,, where are you from? i mean i know you speak english but you could be from anywhere i guess :O

ATV: i live in england, what about you :)

youruser: me too! i'm in london atm for uni, getting my masters

ATV: i am also in london! so if you're getting your masters, you're like ... somewhere around 24?

youruser: yeah, i'm 23 :P

youruser: what about you? i mean i have a feeling you're not some sixty year old man based on the fact you use discord but idk

ATV: i'm 28,,, getting very old :(

youruser: wow, very old indeed, must be such a shame

youruser: its gonna suck when i'm gonna have to visit you in a nursing home to play chess with you in two years time

ATV: okay i'm not that old you divvy :)

youruser: kidding, kidding ! anyway, i have to go because i have class but,, if you maybe wanna add me on instagram, its @/youruser :)

getting back from your lectures and practically throwing your backpack on the floor and collapsing on your bed, you planned on rotting the rest of the day away in pajamas and consuming far too much social media.

you opened instagram to a new follower: @/arthurtv

you assumed it was arthur from chess, and obviously in curiosity you opened his page straight away, you were nosy and you wanted to know who he was.

the first thing that shocked you was what he looked like: you didn't know what you were expecting but you didn't think it was going to be him.

he was... attractive, you had to admit, and your eyes had widened once you had seen him.

the second thing that shocked you was his followers, and his bio - he was a youtuber?

classically, you had to be nosy and follow the links to his youtube, your eyebrows raised a little as you looked at his channel, giggling to yourself, he did commentary on reality tv? you hadn't seen that before, but once you watched a video, you realised he was funny, too. he made it funny, despite the fact that you had at first felt it was the strangest youtube topic ever.

youruser: why hello arthurtv

youruser: i was definitely not expecting you

arthurtv: why hello y/n

arthurtv: i could say the same about you

youruser: well i mean i don't have any surprises

youruser: but you are apparently known for commenting on 90 day fiance?

arthurtv: i'd argue you have some surprises

arthurtv: and yes, i make commentary videos! wasn't trying to hide it or anything, just was a weird thing to bring up in conversation :)

youruser: no, it seems cool! i wasn't judging :) i don't watch much youtube so i don't know too much about it

youruser: and anyways, what surprises do i have?

arthurtv: i wasn't expecting you to look like that i suppose

youruser: like what ??

arthurtv: i mean, i don't know, pretty i suppose

arthurtv: you're very pretty, i just didn't know what i was expecting to be honest

youruser: wow you thought i couldn't be pretty cause i'm a loser playing chess??? smh arthur

youruser: (i'm kidding, i didn't expect you to look like you either)

arthurtv: you know that's not what i meant!!

arthurtv: what did you expect me to look like then?

youruser: well since you're 28, i suppose i was expecting a zimmerframe or walking stick or something

arthurtv: ha ha very funny

[mythalism]

the timing of someone apparently shitting on me for being a veilguard hater on some remote corner of tumblr is so funny because i was actually just in the shower like an hour before listening to the atonement ending suite and thinking about the things that i love about veilguard after almost 2 months of marinating on it, so apologies for destroying my reputation as a certified HATER!!!!!!! but i actually wanted to share these earlier so im still going to. i think its interesting especially because ive seen a lot of people that hate these same things about the game, but my opinion has stayed the same. its also interesting because OVERALL the more i think about veilguard the more i dislike it, but for these certain aspects, the more i think about them the more i love them.

THAT FUCKING SONG!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!! even two months later i get choked up listening to it. and guys....... i dont listen to lost elf anymore. like i just dont even think of it. thats not to say trevor morris isnt the greatest of all time, and the atonement ending song relies heavily on lost elf. i know. but my favorite parts of the atonement song are not even lost elf!!! overall i missed trevor deeply, i did not like the veilguard soundtrack. i even turned the music volume to 0 at some points because it felt like nails on a chalkboard to me (ghilannain fight music made me want to d*e). HOWEVER. this is supposed to be positive. and if you ask me to choose lost elf vs atonement theme... im choosing atonement theme. every time. the way it adds to lost elf is wonderful. it gives me chills. it is so haunting. i will never tire of it. I LOVE THIS FUCKING SOOOOOONG. i also love the dread wolf song. so honorable mention to that one.

i love the solavellan ending. i know people hate it but nothing i have seen has convinced me to abandon my love for it. it is the best ending we could have possibly gotten in a game where the veil stayed up. and yes obviously i think the veil should have come down. but my IDEAL ending would have been veil down, rook takes over the mantle of dread wolf, solas and lavellan give up their mortal bodies and become spirits together and ascend to the fade. and honestly thats pretty much what happens, just without the veil. i love the mythological fairy tale vibe. i love the bittersweetness. i love that it is both tragic and hopeful. i love that it is vague enough to leave the future open. i love that the devs refuse to confirm where exactly in the fade they are. i love the sigyn loki eros psyche parallels. i love the maker and andraste parallels. could it have been built up to better? absolutely. but thats an issue with the build up, not the ending. i thought solas was going to die and we were going to watch the light go out of his eyes as lavellan held him and sobbed. it is so much more hopeful than i expected. i love that we get to redeem him through the power of love. i love that lavellan forgives him. i love that they survive. I LOVE IT!!!! and i love it the more i think about it. ive tried to hate it because i understand the perspective of people who didnt like it, but i literally cannot make myself dislike it.

i love the solavellan ending scene itself. i love how inky creeps in through the door. dont ask how she got up there its fine. i love how she sneaks up on him. i love that she comes up those stairs and it parallels the prologue scene with varric. i love that she has a zinger ready for him. "even if those you have wronged asked you to stop?" oh its so fucking good. i love his pathetic defeated "vhenan". i love that he rejects her again. i love that he apologizes but stays true to his goals. i love that it takes something beyond lavellan and the modern world to finally crack him. i love the way he looks at mythal like a kicked puppy. i love the way he cannot meet her eyes. i love the way he crumples and sobs and we see a completely different side of him that I NEVER FUCKING EXPECTED TO SEE IN A MILLION YEARS???? i love mythal's coldness and frankness as she releases him. i love that she doesn't apologize. i love how fucked up and messy it is. i love how it speaks to their entire relationship being fucked up and messy. i love that it has given me so much to chew on about what the fuck was going on with them. i love the way lavellan kneels so she can see his face. i love that she speaks in elvhen (even if the translation leaves something to be desired). i love that its all in the hallelujah cadence. i love that he assumes she wont come with him. i love that she has to chase after him one more time. i love his fucking tear mesh. i love his face when he looks at her. i love that their scene is wedding coded. i dont love the kiss but im trying to be positive and its tiny in the grand scheme. i love her hand on his shoulder as they step into the fade. i have a few complaints about the scene but none of them are enough to cheapen my enjoyment of it.

i fucking love fragment mythal. obviously. but seriously. i love the scene where you get her approval its one of my favorites in the entire game. i love that its hard to get her approval. i love that she fucking kills you if you piss her off. i love her lines. "after he killed the swamp witch. AND WEPT." BITCH!!!! and "you are a thousand years from knowing the correct words" or whatever. I LOVE HER. i love how fucking nasty she is. i love how she has clearly been stewing in resentment for thousands of years. i love that she is rude and proud and haughty. i love that she'd be looking down her nose at you if she wasn't like 5 ft tall. i love the way she falls backwards off the ledge with her arms out and closes her eyes to transform into a fucking dragon. i love her condescension. i love the decapitated wolf statues in the background. i love the note from felassan that reveals solas made her an entire island for herself. i love that she reveals that he put her there. i love that he could not bring himself to visit her even once. ohhhhh my god it makes me dizzy. talking to her was a moment where the game felt like dragon age to me.

i love my lavellan in this game. did i want WAY more of her? yeah. and i expected more. but every moment we got i loved. the first scene with her is mostly whatever its appropriately formal for her meeting a stranger. but the way she stutters when talking about solas? when asking rook to give him a chance by using the wolf statue to learn more about him? the way she looks down and to the side as she says it? banger. masterpiece. the act 3 conversation makes me have to lay down. i can barely even talk about it without foaming at the mouth. i love her characterization. i love that she orders rook to tell her something like she has gotten used to the power of her title as inquisitor. i love her subtle desperation to have her hope for him validated cloaked under her inquisitor mask. i love how it begins to crack as the conversation goes on and she gets lost in the memories of him. i love her sincerity. i love the way she speaks bluntly and unapologetically of her love. i love her facial expressions and her furrowed brow. i love how confident and self assured she is. "or maybe im the prideful one, imagining his broken heart so that i do not have to face my folly; that i loved someone who made such terrible mistakes. that i might love him still" IS MY FAVORITE LINE IN THE ENTIRE GAME. perhaps. PERHAPS. in all of dragon age. yes im serious. its that insane to me. it feels like shakespeare wrote it. im only half kidding. i was rolling on the floor of my bedroom when i heard it. it still gives me chills. i love that her lines are in the hallelujah cadence. i love the way she talks about their relationship. i love how she is angry and indignant about his lies to her but that does not infringe upon her love. i love when she says "how could i have fallen in love with a god and not known? why didnt he tell me?' i love how sure she is that she knows the true solas. i love every word out of her mouth. i love all of it. that is my favorite scene in the game. i love when she shows up with dorian in the end. i love "is there any chance, any chance at all that he'd listen to reason?" i love her face when she says it. i love "speaking from the heart, inquisitor?" i love when dorian asks if shes heading out afterwards and she says "something like that" BE SOOOO FRRRR. SHE WAS FUCKING SCHEMING. there was not a moment that she was on screen that i did not love.

overall, i am happy with solas in this game. this one is last because its the weakest because i do criticisms but overall, i think it was fine LOL. my biggest worry was that they were going to completely woobify him and make him above reproach and erase the negative sides of him in favor of making him MORE sympathetic to new players. the fact that we got the opposite is crazy, but i vastly prefer it. id rather have him be too villainous than robbed of his complexity to be more palatable. that would have fully ruined the game for me. so the fact that we got to see him being an absolute prick little shit who betrayed us TWICE was wonderful. i loved being betrayed. i love the scene where he puts rook in the regret prison. i LOVE how he appears behind rooks shoulder in flashes and the player can see him but rook cant. i love how he circles rook like prey. i love how he does that cunty little thing with his hand over the dagger. i love that he taunts rook. i love that he doesnt actually take the dagger from them and instead waits for it to fall into his hand. its so immortal trickster god. i love that fucking scene. i love the "by my hand" line and how he looks you in the face as he manipulates his words so expertly. i love his banters with the companions. i looooooooved listening to him beef with elgar'nan. it felt so HIM. i was like YES!!!! THIS IS THE DREAD WOLF I WANTED TO MEET!!!! i was screaming during that quest. anyway. i wanted more of him. yeah. i dont really care that much that the companions and general story is weirdly unsympathetic to him. because it obviously didnt work!!! LMFAOOO 72% people still decided to redeem him so whatever! hes still pookie. im just so glad they didnt make him boring and lame. all my issues along this vein revolve more around the veil than solas, so i consider it a separate issue. i loved seeing mean nasty cunty trickster god.

ok in retrospect this list isnt that long KJHREGKJERG. however all of these things are very important to me so the fact that i love them is essential. like i truly got what i needed out of this game. i criticize it a lot but i would have done that even if the game was a 9/10 for me. i do it to literally everything i love. except fmab because its above reproach. but literally everything else. i was writing essays criticizing the percy jackson books on tumblr when i was 15. i have been criticizing dragon age online for 5+ years. veilguard aint special in catching my heat. critical analysis is in my soul. anyway i wanted banger solavellan ending that i could chew on for years and i got it. thats all i needed! ok now going to go listen to atonement ending suite again and transcend into the astral plane

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi!! if you dont mind me asking, whats your opinion on the theory that trey's dream will reveal him to be a manipulative person thats using riddle? i cant help but harbour some form of dislike towards it, but im interested in hearing your opinion!!

I think I've already expressed my thoughts on that in this post, which covers Leona's theory (from book 7 chapter 12 part 2) that Cater and Trey are both puppeteering Riddle for their own benefit. There's also this post, where I reply to someone wondering if Trey actually despises Riddle and baking. To summarize, I don't see Trey as the highly manipulative person Leona's making him out to be; Leona even comments that he was wrong by the end of Cater's dream.

If I'm being honest, I don't understand where these ideas that Trey is an evil mastermind are coming from?? I-Is it Trey stans wanting More for him??? Yes, it has been hinted at multiple times in-universe that Trey isn't as much of a kind big brother type as many of his peers (and especially underclassmen) see him as. However, the alternative doesn't mean he's actually a Big Bad. More likely the truth is that he has more of a mean streak (not genuinely malicious, but more like he's capable of bullying others or holding a grudge) than people suspect he does. Even the people within his own dorm are thrown off when Trey adopts this "darker" attitude and teases them--but that's where it stops. There are genuinely little to no instances of Trey expressing a desire for power, control, etc. no matter how much I try to read into his lines. The times when he does think one step ahead, it’s for very mundane reasons like getting peers to brush their teeth or securing a strawberry tart from a fancy bakery so he doesn’t have to make one himself.

“Maybe that's the point! He's such a brilliant mastermind that we can't even detect him!!" But this isn't the case for other characters deemed to be intelligent and manipulative. Am I supposed to believe that Trey Clover trumps the likes of Rook, Azul, Jamil, Leona, Jade, and more???? In all other cases, the writing makes it pretty blatant what's running through their heads, whether explicitly stated in the dialogue or expressed through changing facial expressions and extended silences ("............"). This doesn't really happen with Trey.

Just because a character is nice at a glance doesn't mean their "real" personality is Absolute Asshole. In the early days of the fandom, people were suspecting Kalim of harboring this kind of a personality reveal, but now it seems to have entirely shifted over to Trey when honestly that claim isn't true for either of them. I’d genuinely be surprised (although not necessarily in a good way, depending on the execution) if they went with this twist for Trey.

[temfling]

DELTARUNE: MOTU PATLU THEORY

THATS RIGHT BABY!! IM BACK WITH THE THEORIES!! I couldn’t just stop at chapter… I dunno six! Yeah, I may have solved the Susies Inside chapter, but what about Chapter 3?? Well I got news for you guys…

Motu. And Patlu. Never heard of them? What are you, living under a rock or something… well… it’s a Hindi cartoon that’s really popular overseas… but wait. That’s the POINT! Your not SUPPOSED to know it… because it’s discarded…

So Every secret boss so far has a habit of being a darkner based on discarded/Forgotten/Unwanted items… well. How many people in the states know this cartoon? Not very many,,, even though it’s great… so could Motu and Patlu be what the next secret boss is based off of? Let’s see gamers…

EVIDENCE ONE: BIG GUY SKINNY GUY

Comedy duos, you know them, you love them. Woody, Buzz. Mario, Luigi. Bob, Larry. But what does this have to do with Motu and Patlu… erm guys… notice anything about most of them?! Mario, Buzz, Bob, and Motu: bulky big guys. Luigi, Larry, Woody, and Patlu: tall, thin guys… oh my goodness!! Motu and patlu ALSO fit that theme… “But how does this fit in with Deltarune chapter 3?!” Your asking… oh my gosh guys this is too easy!!

erm… Sans and Papyrus, the most iconic comedy duo next to none, is also bulky and thin. Guys?? Notice anything?? I think THIS proves that they’ll use blue soul… and that they’ll be cannon!! But need more proof?? SAY NO MORE:

On the left is Sans and Papyrus’s House, and on the right is Motu and Palau’s. Notice the similarity’s?? I do…

Maybe the Motu and Patlu secret boss could be a duo, and make fun of the whole trope of smart guy who does all the work and lazy dumb guy… hrm…

EVIDENCE TWO: CHARACTER SIMILARITIES!

Okay so we already talked about how Sans and Motu and Papyrus and Patlu are BASICALLY the same guy, but if your STILL not convinced, I got more…

Rook. Mike. Whatever there gonna be, the main boss of Chapter 3 seems to be a cheater, a criminal of sorts… well… hehee… you know who ELSE is a criminal?? JHON THE DON. That’s RIGHT. The TRUE and NEO villain of Motu and Patlu, who’s the son of motu and patlu’s town. He’s always causing trouble with his lackeys around… could this mean that chapter 3’s main boss is based on the Villian of Motu and Patlu, while the secret boss is the good guys…?! No… no… erm… YES! It’s kind of OBVIOUS??

My theory is the main boss is gonna be Mike, now dubbed “The Don.” He must’ve not only backstabbed Soamton, but the chapter three secret boss… and Tenna will be… I dunno… probably his own character.

Anyways, Gaster. “Gaster? This crazy guy who does bad things?” You may be asking what GASTER has to do with this theory… heh… well, gaster in undertale was the Royal Scientist, right? Well… erm… somebody pull up Motu Patlu Wiki!

He’s a SCIENTIST… who doesn’t treat his PATIENTS well… sounds familiar…

Dr. Jhakta also uses Motu and Patlu as Guinea Pigs for his work. Gaster uses darkners and does stuff that’s evil… or whatever. I think. I dunno BUT THE POINT IS GASTER MUST'VE LIKE EXPERIMENTED ON THE SECRET BOSS WHICH CAUSED THEM TO GO INSANE!! Erm…!!! Yes!!

FINAL PART: WHAT OBJECT ARE THEY

So at first I thought they could be like a bootleg DVD or whatever. But wait guys… remember where the chapters dark world is…

And then think about what Motu is known for. Dumb… lazy… but also, when he eats his favorite FOOD he gets super STRONG… wait. FOOD?! Guys what’s in houses? Kitchens… guys… what’s motus favorite food…??

SAMOSAS. THE DISCARDED OBJECT IS LIKE FROZEN SAMOSAS IN THE FRIDGE OR SOMETHING!!!

and if your STILL. Not. convinced… here’s some stuff

Yeah yeah yeah bye

[jazzmckay]

davg day 6:

if anyone needs me i will be over here lying on the floor

i'd already collected all the wolf statuettes apparently so as soon as i got the last from the inky (!!!!!!) i was able to view all the regrets back to back to back to back....

so yes. the floor. im a fun mix of excited and overwhelmed and heartbroken. stunned to find a ton of my headcanons are now actual canon. how intense. poor solas, jfc, but also shiiiiiit the dagger and the titans, thats so damn rough. i understand why lace is as angry as she is. the dwarves absolutely got the worst deal ever here. they are, after all, the ones who have to deal with the darkspawn all the time, not just during a blight. i took so many screenshots during all this.... i loved that the whole team got together like a damn book club to discuss solas' worst memories omg... rip to solas he's been mega exposed. the mortifying ordeal of being known. but my rook is absolutely sympathetic. i'm constantly wishing i could go talk to him whenever i want :( solas :(((( (id REALLY like to write a missing scene where rook goes to talk to him after minrathous vs treviso because who the fuck else would understand the weight of dooming innocents on such a scale? part of her sympathy is because i, the player, am sympathetic, but i also think the harder being a leader gets, the more she understands the complexity of the choices he made)

the topic of curing the titans came up..... houghhh is it really possible? will it happen in this game? aAaAAA

and then im meeting someone in the crossroads with morrigan, who she called "she". am i about to meet mythal? in spirit form after solas took her power at the end of dai??? i realize i can get this answer as soon as i want lmao but theres soooo much i want to do at the same times always!!!!

TAASH. i need to know everything about you RIGHT NOW

during all these sequences, i found myself so intrigued by everything taash had to add. theyre actually... really fucking smart? brains AND brawn? my DUDE thats hot. i got this vibe from the "taash talks" stuff as well. there is so much to them beneath the Brutal Warrior vibe

also i got a giggle out of taash immediately being like "they were fucking" about solas and mythal, and i got approval for agreeing "oh they were definitely doing it" sdfgmf incredible

i did indeed get a continuation about taash's gender issues and i'm so in love.... it's actually really wonderful to see a character still figuring it out instead of already knowing. cathartic. the struggle of feeling "not normal" and having a different response to gender things than others. simply not having the frame of reference or the terminology, just knowing theres this Feeling. can't wait to see how it plays out

the way solas was responsible for this with the titans and then when he woke up in the current world with the veil, he felt like it HAPPENED AGAIN.... ACCIDENTALLY. TO HIS OWN PEOPLE im going to scream. the way its linked to tranquility. screaming and screaming and

honestly all of this was delicious in a ton of ways, including lace, bellara, and davrin just being present, leaning all this about the dwarves, the elves, and the blight. bellara and lace relating over the need to reevaluate so much of what they understood..... hhh and davrin probably now understands more about the blight than any other warden ever.

when bellara mentioned that solas might be able to possess someone to escape the fade my pupils went blown like an excited cat lol literally instantly "POSSES ME, SOLAS....."

yes yes we're supposed to be wary, we're expecting him to betray us of course of course but listen. rook and solas could be in one body fighting this together as a little treat. im just SAYING

so after this i did emmrichs personal mission in the necropolis gardens, which was fucking beautiful. i do actually find cemeteries really peaceful, personally. ive been to some old canadian ones and had a great time sitting in the grass between the headstones and writing in my journal. so i loved this very much. walked around quite a bit, not sprinting at all, just taking it in and doing the side quest there

also emmrich and bellara are team "upbeat and kind, reveal their traumatizing backstory, then go back to normal like that never came up!" omg they.... i wish there was a "hug companion" button

i went to the anderfels after but i was feeling a bit overstimulated with all the stuff i learned! but i will def play more later because i am dying to find out more

[hyperbali]

lmaooooo im a huge solavellan and youre right!!! his chemistry with rook is just DIFFERENT, i caught it the second they rewarded me for exchanging "verbal jabs" with him (what are we talking about 😏)... also like the power dynamic between both solavellen and solrook is the same hes still a mega powerful god thats manipulating you one way or another 😭😭 solavellen shippers have just had a decade to flanderize the ship to this divine extreme when its exactly as you said; its was *maybe* two years almost decade ago that would ultimately mean nothing to a god. thats part of the flavor and fun (all of this is imo of course)

also ur right about lucanis/neve what in the world were they THINKING with that it obvs should have been neve/bellara

Like, again, I'm not trying to harsh Solavellan vibes here! I like it under the circumstances I described, the idea of cracking an immortal's resolve is SO fun - one of my favourite manga was Immortal Rain (Meteor Methuselah)!

I just personally find what BioWare presented w/o any fanon involved to be a lot more enticing with Rook and Solas rather than with Lavellan and Solas. I am not going to proceed to say that Solavellan is somehow less valid as a result the way I've been seeing it happen with Solrook, lol

It's just like. One of those. 'Let the villain be villainous and stop woobifying them' kind of things

And YES, GOD. I'm sorry but the two of them each find their city far too important and would not leave it on behalf of the other. Just because they're both night owls with coffee addictions does not a solid relationship foundation make

Neve/Bellara on the other hand IMMEDIATELY got me giggly and twitterpated and I need to draw Neve looking lovingly at her AuDHD elf girlfriend while she goes off on a ramble post-haste

@banefulnightstar - I'm also stupid bitter that it's the only pairing that gets any real acknowledgement while also being horrified on behalf of Lavellan for what a "good" ending is supposed to be. Also lmfao la cocaina seal, YES that's exactly the kind of thing I meant

@internalloops - in retrospect you're right, she probably somehow dematerialized into a spirit or something since the implication of that ending is that ~their love is eternal~ or whatever, but that also kinda sucks! No matter how much you love someone, sometimes you need a damn break!

@siuilaruinofthegale - I cannot tell you how incredibly upset I am that if you do not romance one or the other, even if you NEVER bring them out on missions together, you are forced to watch their romance culmination to be able to finish Lucanis' personal quest. It is mandatory. How fucked up is that

[sbk-zgvlt]

Soooo.... you describe Riddle as on heck of a gossip... Spill the tea, what tidbits of information has he accumilated?

Im going to try my best to make this a BIT realistic, along with some canon tidbits thrown in here and there. Speaking of canon...

He definitely knows what Azul put for Vil's moisturizer

He also knows WHERE Rook usually stations around NRC to observe the NRC populace. He just doesnt know WHEN he does so

Every stupid fucking thing Adeuce has done.

Knows what Leona's deal with Azul during book 2 entailed. He just put two and two together, and after that it didnt take long for riddle to realize that ruggie's been the one mostly using magic during leona's plan

KNEW ABOUT LILIA LEAVING 😭😭😭 you aint slick old man

sumn was up with kalim being made housewarden ever since riddle met him. as much as he loves him, being accepted into nrc late AND becoming housewarden?? he knows that money was brought onto the table to make that shit happen

also knew what was up w ortho. ignihyde aint slick either 🗣️🔥🔥

knew about deuce's delinquent days past what deuce himself has told him. drops out of NOWHERE that he's pretty sure deuce beat someone up for stealing his mom's motorcycle once and deuce gaped at him

84.5% sure that jade nyom'd him and floyd's other siblings. 99.9% sure that floyd is a hazard to be with if theres no food around

also knew that lilia was way older than people thought he was, and that he most likely took care of the other 3. for a dorm thats supposed to be shrouded with an air of excellence and mystery they are so shit at keeping things secret. like damn,,,how has no one found them out,,,

lilia literally has a PICTURE OF HIMSELF in the history books. RIDDLE KNOWS. YOURE NOT FUCKING SLICK

[cacturne]

alright after taking some time to digest here are some disjointed thoughts on veilguard as a whole. Ill keep it spoiler free!

first off, your own character. I like rook! I think theyre silly! You control the buttons you press of course so mine had a more goofy personality but i enjoyed it and the dialogue that came with it. At times even serious options had them throw in a small quip which felt a little inappropriate but thats just extra characterization i personally dont subscribe to. I dont think its an issue! Just gotta hc around it.

as for roleplaying, it lacked. Sorely, in my opinion. It feels like absolutely anything to do with rook is kept as vague as possible so you can fill in the blanks yourself, but that ends up backfiring by making me unable to really feel things much deeper with the characters or myself. (From the perspective of someone who played lord of fortune) You cant talk about where you came from, so the game makes you sound like you dont know the customs of your own nation. Makes sense from a gameplay standpoint so you can give lore to the player but they could just… change the tone of it and make it sound like rook is familiar with the concept while still giving the lore.

also, as an elf, i was somehow forced into this limbo where i was simultaneously dalish but not dalish enough to ever outright state it. I really wanted to play a city elf so i avoided all elf dialogue options, but still the game made my rook constantly and consistently imply they came from a clan instead of the city, and bellara and davrin talked to them like they were too. I have no idea what triggered this, if its specific to the faction you chose or i messed up and set off a dialogue flag in the early game, but it drove me absolutely fucking nuts. Staff on discord before the game released said you wouldnt be able to tick a city or dalish box in cc and instead will roleplay it out, but i never got to roleplay shit. I never got a single chance to go “um actually i dont believe in the creators and these things arent my tradition, actually” they just shoved me in this with no choice in the matter as far as i am aware. I was begging for a box to tick, at that point.

You can barely talk about your faction as well (i was actually excited when the game remembered breaking into ruins is supposed to be my specialty, even though it never brought that up any other ruin) and when you do talk about your faction with faction members outside of the occasional lord dialogue option you sound like youve never been in it before and ask for an explanation of things that you should know. Once again, i get why, lore should be dropped, but again you can do that while still implying that rook knows about basic things. They may have had to step away for a while, but it wasnt like they were a complete newbie who was only there for a month.

another faction related thing, rook never joined in on ANY lords banter. I thought they would at least once, but they never did and it honestly just felt sucky. I think in general the game itself shafted the lords of fortune the most when it came to quests, story relevance, furniture options, outfit options and interactivity with/in their home base (basically everything lol)(like why are two of the outfit options crow outfits!!) so it could just be that im the unlucky sucker that got attached to the faction that gets nothing except the best cameo ever but still… i just would have liked something more, you know?

combat is pretty nice, i think too many buttons are used and i feel like theyve geared more towards controller than keyboard, but its not a bad thing. I could still do what was required of me just fine even though i kept dodging because of jumping. Seriously, jump on F? Im glad dodge is on spacebar but still… i also lost where the keys i wanted to press were often, which made abilities come out with a delay because i kept pressing E instead of 3. But maybe thats just me not being a blind typer, i dont hold that against the game.

I played on the easiest difficulty and got through it without difficulty (wow!), didnt use anything like runes (unless i pressed the wrong button) or companion abilities. Personally i hate the companion order wheel, i will strive to never use it in the future too. Id much rather my companions just control themselves again, to be honest it feels very bad and the ui is so cluttered. Just do the thing yourself!!! Go on!!! Im on the pissbaby difficulty anyway!!!

i liked the party downsize though, it helped me cycle through characters more which i really enjoyed doing. I spent a little time with all of them at least once which ive never done in another da game.

i also liked the fast pace of it, especially with rogue. Dodging felt a bit unresponsive sometimes but other than that i really enjoyed the combat and it felt satisfying when you did things right. I think the stagger from being hit can be a little shorter, and i hate how they force you to do a quick recovery when pushed on the ground and you cant do any other action before doing that, but otherwise its very fluid and fun! Such a fresh breath of air from inquisitions sluggish damage sponge combat thank fuck.

music was very good, but i wont remember a lot of it. Though to be fair to hans zimmer, i dont remember most if not all of the score from any of the games, embarrassing as it is to say. My personal favorite track briefly plays in one of hardings companion quests in the most beautiful area (in my opinion) of the game too.

i loved the companions!!!! All of them were very good, and i was invested in their story and what was going to happen with them next. I went into veilguard as blind as possible (never even heard any of their voices) and it was a treat properly getting to know them outside of pictures. I understand the neve hype now, i liked lucanis more than i thought i would and everyone else is as delightful as i thought theyd be. Especially emmrich and bellara. I do lament you cant really just chat with them anymore, especially because running around the lighthouse just to catch ambient conversation or codex entries got tiring 2/3rds through the game and i stopped doing it, but that didnt stifle my overall enjoyment of them. The banter out in the field is great too.

i think the story overall was pretty good! At least right now, maybe when i digest it more and see others thoughts my opinion will shift, but right now i think it turned out nice and left a satisfying amount of answers. What was not satisfying was the complete lack of an epilogue. Im not asking for an epilogue party a la bg3 but i wouldve liked some questions to be answered regarding just… how everyone is doing now outside of just “were alive!”. Or maybe a celebration or something! Or just an answer to this one question i have regarding something in the final quest! Anyway, im personally not really a fan of how a lot of stuff revolves around ancient elves now, but i guess its my fault for picking up the ancient elf game.

i do honestly think the scrapping of world states hurt a lot of things, though. Like so often you would hear a reference to something or have something brought up but you can feel the writers behind the scenes trying to talk about it without bringing up any of the possible choices within that thing, making it sound extremely shallow. Bellara calling the divine “lady with the big hat” in banter comes to mind. Its not like it hurts the story itself, but it makes it feel a certain lack of depth the other games had, its really sad. Sure, theres a lot of references to things that are set in stone, but it just isnt the same as hard as they try. It makes returning characters feel a little weird sometimes (harding) or most of the time (morrigan)

uuuhh anyway yeah i think thats it. Or at least everything i can remember right now. I enjoyed myself a lot but the game could be pretty frustrating with its writing at times. Overall though i enjoyed the experience!

my order of games from most to least favorite now would be

da2 > dav > dao > dai

veilguard wins out over origins through gameplay alone. I love origins but theres a reason i have been procrastinating on my replays. I think inquisition gameplay is worse but its not 2009 clunky so i can push myself through it most of the time but maannn its hard with origins

[c0rpseductor]

veilguard spoilers Fucking obviously

so lol. ok. interesting writing decision to have rook be like "ah varric...it traumatized me so deeply to see you die that i just started hallucinating you out of sadness....but now.....now i see......goodbye varric i loved you </3" and then like. what feels like not ten minutes later have rook be like "SOLAS YOU DAFT CUNT. YOU MADE ME HALLUCINATE VARRIC! YOU DID SOMETHING TO MY MIND TO MAKE ME THINK YOU DIDN'T MURDER VARRIC!" like did the writers just arbitrarily change their minds? was i supposed to just assume that these aren't inherently contradictory emotional and story beats?? whatever

also really funny of solas to be like "Yeah i did that actually im so so sowwy....im so sowwy im bad im a bad man...." there we go. thats the solas i know. playing himself a song on the worlds smallest violin

[bloomed-night-flower]

Gn reader

(THIS ISNT ACTUAL NRC. Just there are actually other gender than boys 😨)

This is Reader x All!

“Have you heard that a new play will be happening?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard. Apparently they already chose one of the love interests of the story!”

“Really who is it?!”

The gossip of the two girls that say near Ace and Deuce interested them very much.

“I heard it’s gonna be Y/N!”

“REALLY!”

Now all of the sudden Ace and Deuce where theater kids. And that didn’t end there. Now apparently many lovely boys and girls wish to play the part of the “Heroic love interest” to get a chance you kiss Y/n.

All of the people who wished for the role were ass.(Apparently to the judges.) Well except for 21 very unique students. Riddle, Trey, Cater, Deuce,Ace, Leona, Ruggie, Jack, Floyd, Jade, Azul, (YOU KNOW WHO ELSE IM NOT WRITING EVERYONE….), Kalim,Jamil, Vil, Epel, Rook, Idia, Malleus, Lilia, Sebek, and Silver.

All boys were perfect love interests for you, but the judges had thought of them as all equal acting skills. (realistically most would be butt cheeks but oh wells man) Some don’t even know how Idia got in here? But the judges had came up with the quickest solution ever. Through out the story the boys will switch out with each other. They would all wear the same outfits and all wear wigs. (Some would wear platform boots to match the height of the supposed character.[short asses😨] ) The play was about 3 hours and 50 minutes, so each boy would get ten minutes with you. And the kiss is around the 3 hours and 30 minutes mark. So now all the boys are slowly calculating who would kiss you,(some calculated slow than other but thats okay) and the boys came to a conclusion you would kiss AZUL! (THE CROWD GASPS 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Now there was only one problem…They all wanna kiss you on the little lips. So now each of them are scheming each others down falls. Isn’t that splendid!

And now finally comes the day of the play. Half of the students in the theater were there to see Y/n and the other half was to watch their personal ships of y/n x [character] sail. I mean we love a balanced fan base. Besides the point, backstage there stood all 21 boys glaring at each intensely, some just smiled and glared. But the boys focused their glares more on Azul. Azul just had a sly smirk while thinking how king triton had given him so much luck. Footsteps were able to be heard and the boys slowly turned their heads to the sound. Their stood you in all your beauty. You wore some medieval clothes that you preferred. Now this made the boys want to sabotage Azul even more, while Azul just wants to faint from your beauty.

Its a few minutes before the play starts, when suddenly a large bang of a door is heard. “WHAT THE HELL!?” Ace’s voiced could be heard in the front and now the guest were worried. In walked in the man himself…..

.

.

.

It was shrek. SHREK RUSHES IN THROUGH THE DORR HE JUSTED SLAMED OPEN AND HE SLOWLY WALKS UP TO YOU. “Y/n L/n, I ask of you a favor. Will you run away with me to my swamp?” Shrek’s eyes stare at you awaiting your answer. WHEN SUDDENLY, ONE OF THE CEILING TILES FALL DOWN. The ceiling tile hits Trey and knocks him out. But who comes down from the ceiling tiles?

.

.

.

Its BARNEY, YES THAT PURPLE DINOSAUR. “STOP Y/N DO NOT ACCEPT HIS PROPOSAL!!!BECAUSE IF YOU RUN AWAY WITH HIM, YOU WILL LEAVE ME YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIEND BEHIND!SO STAY WITH ME INSTEAD Y/N!” Barney now held your hand on one knee. You weren’t able to comprehend wtf just happened. As you were about to say something, a big force punches both Barney and Shrek. And the one who punched them was….A CAT? Oh wait, it was pusheen. Pusheen meows at you to just go back home with your family and pusheen. This time you knew the exact answer, “Okay!” You pick up Pusheen and walk out of the theater. And the boys stood there flabbergasted at what just happened. And in the end no one got to kiss you.

The End

Also happy april fools man, THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL SERIOUS FIC. I made this during 2-3am so yeaaaaa. (I can’t believe my first writing post is for april fools 😔 Also probably add the header blocker thing later)

[himbopunk]

i generally try to make rooks decisions in character for the oc instead of whatever i prefer/wanna see and unfortunately i just have yet to have a rook who would pick minrathrous over treviso. like i get its shadow dragons & dock town we see taking a huge hit but idk theres just like....okay i will prolly obv do it w my shadow dragon, zea, but like. hakim is a man of the people, the people of treviso are under threat Right Now instead of like, abstractly with a coup. hes not tactics minded enough to choose that option. (also as a former slave he may have unconscious bias against tevinter but thats neither here nor there). and kalais is a crow thats their city full stop no questions asked, its not even a choice

im on the fence cuz im @ that point rn in iktom's playthru and like. if it wasnt so specifically stated as like theyre putting blight in the water n such i think maybe he wouldve gone w minrathrous. he knows the theat the venatori poses he understands the tactics of it but i think the choice you make as a warden bg is not one he regrets, and hes making a really similar one here. i think maybe he sees minrathrous as what hes Supposed to do vs treviso as what he Has to do in this moment. i dunno

[marictheirins]

oh god.......... oh this is so ugly---

this art style is just....... not great, i do like the ability to really diversify various features like cenah looks properly asian but she looks Generic Fantasy Asian & i wasn't able to really do much about it. being able to be nonbinary is fun and all but im really tired of just the universal they/them nonbinary calling it a day sorta style like i know u can only want for so much but also it's really fucking weird to me that for all the fuss around the top surgery scars i cant pick a feminine body & just..... remove the tits so i had to put rylla on a "male" preset & ultimately rylla looks even LESS like its supposed to not to mention like small nitpick but nonbinary isnt the third gender like as a nonbinary person myself like..... thats........ not the point.... idk i would like to be able to see more genderless or agender options

all of this time in the cc & its just the head mesh for "rook" or the inquisitor is just the same no matter what so all i made just looked the same

its just not for me like this is just sooo not for me dude... idkkk i wouldnt be able to use rylla how he looks like she was always gonna be my rook so even if i do end up playing the game idk man. i think i will give the cc another pass thru in a few days bc this was just me poking at it for a first go but first impressions are BAD :)c