#the game: post a snippet!

[corvidaerook]

Very curious about Lost Bird (Hi DV here)

Hi!! Thank you so much for asking, and dw, I recognized you! So, Lost Bird is an au fic based on my Rook, Cassian De Riva (Bird,) and this post about Rook getting stuck (Lost) in the Regret Prison because they can't get over one or more of their regrets. In his case, it's very much about the Crows, Lucanis, and Treviso/Minrathous. This specific portion is focused on how, while in the prison, Cassian thinks Lucanis might be dead (particularly that he might be dead because of the orders Cassian gave.) It's also unedited lol.

“I warned you, Rook. I made it clear what would happen if you put your life in our hands.” Lucanis’ voice echoed off the stones, cutting into Cassian’s skin like rusted blades, dirty and jagged. “All I know is death, and now you’ve ensured that I knew my own.”

For a second, it felt like the floor was giving way beneath him. Like it was splitting to swallow him up, to send him tumbling through nothingness all over again.

But the ground stayed solid, his feet stayed planted, and Lucanis' statue continued to loom over him, wings spread wide and lyrium dagger clutched in one hand, a perfect mimicry of the moment just before he'd lunged for Ghilan'nain's throat.

Cassian could still feel the way his heart had stopped, right there and then. When Lucanis had leapt, and she’d spun on him, tendrils snatching him from midair to pin him against the pillar. His fear should’ve been for their mission, for the world, but all he could focus on was the freezing terror that had plunged through him when he’d thought he was about to watch Lucanis die right in front of him.

Then Harding had stepped in. Ghilan’nain had fallen for the bait, and Lucanis had killed Ghilan'nain exactly like Cassian had asked him to.

He’d lived, and Ghilan’nain hadn’t.

It was still enough for sour saliva to flood under Cassian's tongue.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he couldn't stop himself from sinking to his knees, numb hands trembling.

Lucanis couldn’t have died after that, he told himself. He couldn’t have lived through the worst of the fight, only to die after. And Cassian couldn’t have lost Bellara, Harding, and Lucanis, all in one day. It was one thing for there to be casualties while fighting a war against two Gods, but he refused to believe that three of the most important people in his life had all been taken away just like that.

It was just another one of Solas’ tricks. Like Varric. Another manipulation, meant to drag him deeper into the Fade and even further out of Solas’ way.

And as soon as he got out of here, as soon as he’d held Lucanis, felt the thrum of his heart, the warmth of his skin, proved to himself that he was alive—he would kill Solas for it.

But even as he thought it, doubt crawled nauseatingly up his spine, curling in his chest like a tendril of blight blooming behind his ribs.

The power that had surged from Ghilan’nain’s body after Lucanis had killed her…Cassian had felt the strength of it when it had thrown them back. And he had seen how even a short fall could go horribly wrong. You couldn’t be a Crow in Treviso without seeing a zipline accident snap someone’s neck or a slip on the wrong roof end with someone’s head cracking.

With the harsh stone that’d made up the Tearstone Island ruins, all it would have taken was Lucanis’ body twisting the wrong way in midair for it to have done serious damage.

Permanent, heart-stopping, lethal damage.

Swallowing hard, Cassian squeezed his fingers around the front of his armor and let out a jagged breath.

He could barely even hear the blood rushing in his ears as he curled into himself, like that could stop the way the Fade was beginning to press closer to his skin at the thought that Lucanis could be dead and Cassian wouldn't even know, all because he'd trusted Solas.

Even worse was the distant, dizzying thought that Lucanis could be dead, all because he'd trusted Cassian.

[felassan]

Some notes from today's new BioWare Blog post, which contained some new character insights and also gave some information on what is coming next and when:

Creative Performance Director Ashley Barlow helped to cast and direct over a thousand conversations in the game

Lucanis is bloodthirsty, calculated, and a workaholic. He was raised with high expectations and fears disappointing those he loves. To him, being an assassin is his only job and identity to be excellent at. He's constantly attuning himself to the kind of shifting terrain of every mission. There's a lot of love between him and Illario

As Zach is a comedian, he would easily find the humor in anything Lucanis was saying

Neve is a Shadow Dragons rebel who cares deeply about helping people and never leaves work half-done. Epler: " [she is] the working class hero trying to make her hometown better"

Emmrich is sincere, friendly, scholarly, sophisticated, eager to teach and learn, a well-meaning but oblivious academic, with a "hot nerdiness". He assumes everyone has an academic's curiosity so can be pedantic on select topics

The Mourn Watch are revered in Nevarra but odd at best and evil at worst outside of it

Nick: "I love the fact that the writers took Emmerich and explored the whole idea of death and the whole idea of necromancing by bringing kindness into it. I really responded to that and got into that and I know it sounds crazy, but it’s to not have this idea that death is vulgar or something to be terrified about, but something to actually engage with on so many levels. I just love the fact that the writers had the courage to do that in a game like this."

"Often Nick is just playing off of someone making a sound, and he takes it and internalizes it and gives it meaning and care, which is amazing to watch."

The world has changed a lot since DA:I

Harding has been leading teams through the wilderness while covering friends in battle

Harding loves her mom. She loves to write letters home and is always talking about her mother. She likes plants and raising plants. She has grown and is a veteran now, a trusted voice at the table

Footage of the full DA:TV @ SDCC companions panel should be available in a couple of weeks

Next month there will be a new roadmap, more looks at the game, and the reveal of the release date

[emphasis mine]

And this paragraph:

"Dragon Age: The Veilguard sees players embark on a perilous quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the apocalyptic destruction they’re unleashing. You’ll step into the role of Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a deep and compelling cast of companions who together comprise The Veilguard, a group of heroes who have come together to stop the veil from breaking and bringing about the end of the world. Rook must become the unexpected leader who can rally and unite the group. Throughout the game, you can explore the detailed storylines of each companion, navigating love, loss, and complex choices that influence your relationships."

[source]

[alarts]

solavellan agony

[mayxo-hxh]

hxh taught me a lot about what it truly means to have experience in your area of expertise.

this is what having experience in the field means. They figured out so much in only so little and immediately took measures against it. this fight is so good... shows u how insane the zoldycks are

even chrollo was like damn chill!!

[b0nelessdoodles]

i keep thinking im gonna like actually finish these but that ain't happening so have some gay people

[cheatingtime]

randoms

[wild-magic-oops]

Liking to have their hair pulled is not a kink I've considered giving to any OC of mine before but Rook gotta be the first bc the hair in this game can look so soft and silky, and I gave him a banger high ponytail so it's just singing for someone to give it a pull. Better yet if Rook hasn't realized that about himself ofc.

Maybe in the heat of battle Rook doesn't see an enemy in time but Davrin does, though he wouldn't be fast enough to get between Rook and danger, or properly pull him away, so he reaches for what he can and pulls Rook by the ponytail just in time to spare his throat from being sliced open by an axe. And Rook just... lets out a loud moan and spends the rest of the short fight bluescreening in shock and not a small dose of embarrassment.

And after every enemy is dead:

The party's official third wheel Lucanis: That's an interesting battle cry you've got there, Rook.

Davrin: We'll work more on it later, it can be improved.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Crow Rook Postgame idea (Lucanis/Rook)

Lucanis questline spoilers

Ivenci's words echo in Rook's ears long after Jacobus ties them up and drags them through the streets. The fight against the gods focuses Rook—how could it not—but the words still come to them in the too-bright evenings around the lighthouse: "You could have been a politician, Rook."

Maybe Governor Ivenci was right about that, at least.

"What's on your mind?" asks Lucanis, as he enters the library. Rook is sitting on a chaise, having a staring contest with a bit of statuary.

Rook extends their hand, and Lucanis steps forward to take it lightly between his two hands. Rook can feel the sword callouses against their bare skin, and Rook pulls him forward until they can touch a hand to his cheek.

"Nothing," Rook says, and then corrects themselves. "Retirement, I guess."

Lucanis sits next to them on the chaise, and Rook lets their hand fall from his cheek while the other is still grasped between his hands. They squeeze his fingers, gently. "Retirement, hm," he says, with a hint of a smile for them. "Viago will be disappointed if you join me in the Villa and refuse to take his contracts."

Rook relaxes and leans against their lover, letting a sigh float out from between their lips. "I thought I'd take up bookkeeping, actually."

"Bookkeeping?" he says, genuinely surprised. "From as deadly an assassin as you have come to be, I can only imagine what you could do with an abacus."

Rook hummed. "Logistics, discussions between the nobility, keeping Treviso fed and housed..." Rook mused. "Ivenci was right about some things. Even with all our preparations, the Crows were taken by surprise when the Aantam occupied Treviso. Our resistance movement was too reliant on people we treated like they were extraneous."

"I can see your point," Lucanis said, dropping Rook's hand and leaning back as his eyes went distant in calculation. "Our tendency to disrupt the bureaucracy leads to people like Ivenci hoarding power and pretending they have none."

"The Crows need a counterweight."

Lucanis smiled a dark smile and leaned toward Rook, rising so that he could put one knee on the chaise. "You do like to live dangerously," he breathed, meeting their eyes. "And who will protect you while you are riling up all the other Talons?"

Rook smiled up at him, leaning in for the kiss. "I thought I might call in a favour."

[aftg-and-random-things]

Some Aftg characters as Paris Paloma songs

1. Jean - Hunter -“If I were easy to kill, you would’ve done it already”

2. Kevin- Drywall - “I used to think of him a caring thing, knuckles on his drywall”

3. Aaron -Cradle -“The only thing that holds me now/ Like she used to, is thе ground”

4. Andrew - The fruits -“Devil, you call me/ But seems to be enjoying / The fruits of my labour that came to me too young”

5. Neil -Bones on the Beach- “When I'm lying in my bed, I like to pretend/ That my body is just bones on the beach /It's the first time I feel rested /Since my mother's womb, I slept in”

[fanby-fckry]

Send me 📝 in an ask to get a random WIP snippet.

[johnslittlespoon]

tas john's havin the best day of his life in ch8 btw

[emry-stars-art]

👑 ROYAL AU WRITING MASTERPOST 👑

New? Here’s the first and second overview/random plot posts about this au, and the lore masterpost :)

A first meeting

(A little of Day’s pov from that same afternoon)

Fencing

Andrew’s casual behavior (tumblr snippet)

His name isn’t Nathaniel

Lady Reynolds hand-delivers a gift

That same day’s ball

The prince makes his distance clear (mentions of canon abuse)

Abram discovers Andrew’s scars

After Abram’s background comes out

Andrew takes care of Abram’s hair

Abram’s return from Evermore

A collection of healing/comfort

Pieces of his recovery

Andrew taking over Abram’s care

First kiss

The first ball after Andrew’s official declaration of courtship

Abram discovers Andrew’s letters

Run in with Spear

Abram gifts Maserati to Andrew (& picnic)

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard info compilation Post 5

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

[There are also a series of 'lil snippets' posts where I was just chucking together bits and pieces that I saw at other times: one, two, three, four, five, six]

Post is under a cut due to length.

There is a lot of information coming out right now about DA:TV from many different sources. This post is just an effort to compile as much as I can in one place, in case that helps anyone. Sources for where the information came from have been included. Where I am linking to a social media user’s post, the person is either a dev, a Dragon Age community council member or other person who has had a sneak peek at and/or played the game. nb, this post is more of a ‘info that came out in snippets from articles and social media posts’ collection rather than a ‘regurgitating the information on the official website or writing out what happened in the trailer/gameplay reveal’ post. The post is broken down into headings on various topics. A few points are repeated under multiple headings where relevant. Where I am speculating without a source, I have clearly demarcated this. if you notice any mistakes in this post, please tell me.

For notes in here on community council things in particular, I recommend to listen to the vid directly, it's always better hearing things first-hand ^^

Character Creation

"The diverse body and gender options make it an industry leader by a signifcant margin" [source]

"BioWare was keen to highlight the hair strand technology that looked very similar to that seen in FIFA and EA FC, also made under EA's roof" [source]

"Fine tuning sliders that allowed for microscopic adjustments of nose angles, it was clear that a lot of options exist to get the smallest possible body parts exactly right" [source]

"There's no specific genital customisation to be oversold as CDPR did but, much like Saints Row, there is an option for bulge customisation" [source]

Pronoun choice, gender identity, body type, and voice choice are 4 separate options, not tied together [source]

Height is customised on a slider [source]

Size is customized on a triangle like in Saints Row: the 'points' are fat, slim and muscular [source]

The different lighting options are 4 different settings: clean, bright, dim, sunset [source]

In CC you can also try out what Rook looks like in their starting rags, in typical mid-game armor, and some level 50 gear (class appropriate for each one) [source]

There's a way for you to modify your character's look once the game has started if you want to make some tweaks [source: the official Discord]

You can be any class and choose any backstory/faction, any race, any gender [source]

Story and lore

On meeting Neve in the opening, if Rook chooses to say the positive dialogue option (I think this is the thumbs up one, "You rescued yourself, I see") they say something like, "It looks like you're doing pretty well by yourself huh?" [source]

According to someone who played the game at SGF, the game has a Mass Effect 2 Suicide Mission feel to it [source]

The Shadow Dragons are kind of an anti-Venatori faction, sort of. [source] A freedom force. [source]

The Mourn Watch are kind of like the police for the Grand Necropolis [source]

The Veil Jumpers are kind of like weird magical investigators, weird magical nerds [source]

The moment right after the gameplay video ends is 👀❗❗...? [source]

On the timeskip, the Community Council were told that they were going to make it about the same amount of time in-game as the amount of time that passed in real life from the time most people would have last played DA:I [source]

Rook's faction is also referenced outside of the intro segment of the game [source]

In the gameplay reveal video that we saw, some of the Evanuris statue assets at Solas' ritual site are doubled up in error, i.e. some of them have the wrong heads. This is not supposed to be the case, they are supposed to each have a different head (bear in mind this was an early build and isn't the final build of the game) [source]

Characters, companions, romance

Go [here] to see some DA:TV doodles of the characters that a dev drew this year and last year. :> the hidden doodle is a version of Rook, hidden as they have not yet shown any of the possible hairstyles for Rook outside of the gameplay reveal video. [source]

It is Lucanis who has the purple wings [source]

His name is pronounced "Loo-khan-ess Day-ah-MORT-ey" [source]

Lucanis is hands-down "the sole dumpster fire of the crew". Mary "wrote him specifically to be a bisexual disaster of a human. You're welcome." [source]

As a name 'Rook' is closer to 'Inquisitor' than 'Hawke' [source]

The Community Council highly requested there to be 4 voices for Rook. They kept bringing it up [source] (there are 4 voices for Rook)

The Solas face model has been tweaked "a hundred times" [source]

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc

Rook can jump [source: the official Discord]

Rook can sprint [source: the official Discord]

Warrior gameplay (or at least one build of this) involves doing the right parry timing to lead to a certain attack [source]

Warriors have a dropkick ability, enemies can be dropkicked off cliffs using this [source]

According to someone who played the game at SGF said that the game ran smoothly and didn't have any bugs [source]

Companions can have an ability that heals Rook even when they are not mages [source]

Sword and shield warrior's ranged skill is like, boomeranging their shield over there [source]

In terms of the 'the game isn't open world, it's mission-based' stuff, it could be likened to Trespasser in this regard [source]

The first time the Community Council played, they asked if there is a photomode. BioWare said no, and the Council were like 'aw that really sucks, we really wanted one'. The next time that they went to play it, BioWare introduced them to a dev and said "Okay, we have photo mode, all thanks to this guy". "So there is one particular dev we all need to be kissing the feet of" because he figured out photo mode. [source] [nb, more on the Photo Mode situation here]

The current build of the game is not the final build of the game. A few things are currently being vigorously worked on [source]

Other

Someone who played the game at SGF was told that all of the choices and consequences were in the game, and that basically the team are just polishing things up right now [source]

The number of community members on the Community Council is in the double digits and they are from all walks of life. They don't have any contracts which say that they can only say positive things; they can be as negative as they want about DA media. Not every member of the council has said publicly that they were part of the group, there is nothing mandating them to do so [source]. They have not played the full game [source] and they tested it on consoles [source]. A lot of them ended up liking the gameplay [source]. They played some of the main story but they don't know how it ends. At one point they did three days of playtesting from like 9am-4pm daily. "I liked the quality, I liked what was going on, I was very invested. I did have some worries from the first playtest that were completely resolved in the second". "If you are someone who is into the story, I think we're safe, in the clear, I think we're okay. What I saw, I was really enjoying, I'm really excited about" [source]

The name change also surprised the community council. They aren't keen on the 'the'. There are a lot of things that they said to BioWare which, sometimes things just cannot change as it's too late. [source]

They did not see the finished game trailer before it released, and at that time it might have had a different song in it. They fed back that the version of the trailer that they saw was fine (what they saw was a bit different) [source]

BioWare have data on the percentage of people who used tactical view in DA:I and it's in the single digits [source]

Upkeep of the The Keep is a lot and it goes down like once a month. There have been times when it was down for weeks at a time [source]

[i-hear-a-sound]

like to charge reblog to cast. accord come home

[d-esmond]

; wip wednesday

i was tagged by @full---ofstarlight and u know what its been a while. writing time.

so crypsis side project, working title Old Man Reminiscing. a lot of introspective character moments from hesham’s pov that don’t really have a place in the main story but i couldnt stop writing stuff about this. yay

————

Praying was the safe haven I turned to. The motions and words of a personally crafted ritual to affirm that I trust and honor anything He will give me. As a child, it was my only safe haven. For all his faults, my father did insist I learned to pray. Unknowingly, he gifted me the only escape from home I had.

Rashid found it odd. I didn’t understand why.

“I just think you’re a bit young.”

“My father said we should start from when we’re seven.”

Rashid made the expression he saved specifically for when my father was mentioned. I didn’t mind. It was how he showed he cared without speaking ill, although I knew he wanted nothing more. He had no qualms speaking ill of his own father either.

Members of the Aziz household rarely prayed. “The creed teaches us anything we need in life,” Faisal spoke solemnly, and that was that. When his back was turned, Rashid would add, “If there was a way he could declare to be mightier than God himself, he would do it.”

I never knew what to say to that. I didn’t agree. Faisal was a good man, but arguing with Rashid was a battle rarely won. So I shrugged. I have prayed alone ever since.

tagging:

@adelaidedrubman @auricfog @carlosoliveiraa @cetra @cptcassian

@confidentandgood @elvves @famewolf @florbelles @imogenkol

@jackiesarch @johnnystorm @lavampira @leviiackrman @loriane-elmuerto

@pricemarshfield @raresvtm @risingsh0t @roberthouse69 @shellibisshe

@statichvm @thedeadthree @tommyarashikage @travellingseal @tuseranita

@viktorgf @unholymilf

[gelly-fsh]

Snippet Game time!

Thanks to the beautiful @snarky-magpie for the mention <3

If you get tagged, reblog with roughly 100 words of a WIP. No explanation, just the snippet.

~○~

“So no, Barty, I don’t like James Potter, and I never fucking will”

“Oh.” All of a sudden, the burning rage that was slowly consuming Regulus disappeared as quickly as the fire of a match against the vicious wind, unable to withstand the upcoming storm that was sure to tear him apart. In place of his anger that has always felt familiar in his core, a deep cold started to make a home in Regulus’ insides, quickly enveloping all of his senses because he recognized that Oh.

That was James’ voice, and it came from right behind him.

that was what he really felt right? That was what he had been dying to tell James since the beginning no? He was speaking the truth, he was sure of it.

Then why is James’ face making him doubt every single little thing he ever believed in?

The regret was instant when he saw James’ eyes slowly fill up with tears, his hands violently squeezing something, something mostly unassuming, something-

it was a small bouquet of cornflowers.

Non pressure tags ♡: @lulublack90 @fictionalsimp09 @starchaserwrites @my-castles-crumbling