#varric too i guess
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Oh maker, Rook and Cole are gonna be children of divorce aren't they
#dragon age 4#dragon age 4 spoilers#dragon age#rook#cole#am i wrong#please let this happen#dragon age veilguard spoilers#dragon age veilguard#solas#inquisitor levallan#varric too i guess#varric tethras#solas dragon age#cole dragon age#rook dragon age
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i can't believe solas has like four messy as hell divorces and rook gets thrown in the middle of all of them
#dragon age#solas#datv spoilers#to me solas just collects divorces and i think thats his funniest trait. mythal felassan lavellan and varric are all his exes to me.#and rook isn't safe from ANY of them.#i guess its 3 or 4 depending on world state. romanced lavellan isn't even my canon inquisitor but its funnier to include it#every conversation solas has with anyone else is just 'mom and dad are fighting again'#you know actually if you're funny enough you can include elgar'nan in this too. and i am now.
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One of my favorite things that happened during my last mage Hawke playthrough was during the final battle against Meredith. Everything's going well. We're kicking her ass, she's got just this much health left, we're so close... but then everyone gets stunned dizzy.
Hawke is stumbling around all confused, seeing stars. The rest of his companions are stunned. I'm annoyed because I just want to end this fight. Don't know how or who did it, probably Meredith, but the situation's dire.
Meredith's standing by herself at the center of the Gallows, shouting nonsense and smugly believing the Maker's going to come down and make her his new bride after she murdered a bunch of innocent people.
Truly, this is the part of the story where Varric says they all thought hope was lost, that in the end, Meredith would pull a fast one on us and claim victory...
Until the REAL hero of dragon age 2 comes storming at her. I don't know why Carver was the only one to not be affected, but he literally jumped out of no where and just started bashing Meredith with his sword while everyone else was too dizzy to do anything until she was dead and the cutscene played.
"Hawke defeated Meredith-" LIES, VARRIC. I know the truth! I was there! Hawke didn't do shit! Carver Hawke was the main character all along! He got shit done and Varric gave Hawke all the credit!
I bring this up because last night I finished my warrior Hawke run and when we got to the fight with Meredith, I kind of hoped the same thing would happen where Bethany dashed in all heroic and got the killing blow on Meredith.
She did not.
She got squished by a statue.
But it's fine, Bethany Hawke was the true main character in my heart.
#da2#dragon age 2#carver hawke#bethany hawke#da2 hawke#varric tethras#da2 meredith#listen i have so much love for the hawke twins they are the main characters in my heart like yes fine hawke you're there too#but THE TWINS aaaaaaaauughghghghhhhhh#seriously though i'll never forget being annoyed that ed was bumbling around and then watching carver be the only one unaffected#and he's the only one beating meredith and tbh i was cheering him on yes baby brother get her show her how you do it back in fereldan#honestly doesn't it figure though? carver would be the one to deliver the final blow and then be completely overshadowed#because varric has such a hard on for hawke BUT I KNOW THE TRUTH#and it's the same with bethany like this entire run i was so invested in her and i wanted her to set meredith on fire#though this time the fight was actually super easy because i was way more prepared and at a higher level so hawke never got stunned?#i dunno but i wasn't keeping track of bethany during the battle and somehow she did die once... but it's fine she got better#siiiiiigh.... do you know how much i want a playthrough with just the twins? so badly like listen hawke you're neat#but maybe this time you could let the ogre eat you instead? just this once? i love both of my hawkes but the twins??#hawke twins hawke twins haWKE TWINS HAWKE TWINS#i guess i have to settle for au crafting and fanfic...
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really wish varric survived because if there was anyone who would have defended tyche for lying about all that for several months straight it would have been him. it's a coping mechanism. he'd understand <3
#dwarves who lie. greatest bioware character niche ever#<- counting my oc into that i guess#especially in the 'of course she lied. varric lied about hawke and it didnt even keep them safe#and now her family is here. contributing to a fight she wanted them nowhere near' i think ive got to kill one of them off#regret prison activated too early. if she had seen her eldest sibling die she never would have gotten out#tyche i can fit so many parallels into you. and i dont even have to try <3#tyche laidir#txt#veilguard spoilers
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i don't have any notes about bianca, lou took all my forks and spoons. i will make one comment if we are playing in this space. we also have to look at it from a religious and contextual space as well. very likely families have their set of rules and varric just did not meet them for bianca, simple as that. and his dumb ass - read it again - his dumb ass has a fifteen year runaround. varric could put it down if he wanted to, and to me he does, but it's something that he started right after his mother died.
the pacing of his family and the shit that happens is so quick, from bianca landing in Kirkwall, the repeating crossbow affair ( which it was an affair, they stole the bow and made it work, granted the whole story might be a lie, but that's as close to the canon as we will get ).
bianca isn't a bitch she's complex, she's smart and tough and comes from a stringent family. also thematically they are written this way as a reminder you don't always win, and love isn't always blind or kind, and that's just mary's style of writing ( which you don't have to agree with, but I kind of do ).
Anyways bianca for paragon.
#also i guess i had a knife left#.bullshit ( ooc )#.from the desk of: v. tethras ( headcanon )#there is some anger varric cannot put down at her but that's complex too but#lou is right; varric is an adult and puts it down in well shit and I kind of look past the harding writing bianca at the end#1. don't blow up her life 2. let his will do the work#also based on the comments in dai she only wrote once and he only wrote once. things happen
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Btw, spoilers for the very beginning of Veilguard, when Solas shatters Bianca is the most devastated face I have ever seen on Varric and in that moment I think he knows there’s no chance to talk it through and maybe there never was, maybe this friendship has always meant more to him than to Solas.
#dragon age the veilguard#veilguard spoilers#spoilers#varric tethras#I might be projecting a bit#but Bianca is so much more than a weapon#solas knows that everyone knows that#but solas shatters it like it’s nothing but a barrier between him and his goals#if you think about it it’s symbolism for the old games too#Bianca and Varric gone that makes it obvious the old games will not be considered going forward#it’s fine I guess I just wish they’d told us#instead of using our excitement as promotional material#and then immediately abandoning us
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i am literally sitting at the window gazing forlornly about veilguard rn
#i just. i mean. the thing is if tearstone island was the VERY end it wouldnt be so bad. but now i have to kill one of my companions? and#then keep playing??? like nothing happened?????#i was thinking last night like. ok well i can just finish the game once to see it and then just start over on other playthrus#but it seems there's a decent amount of romance content AFTER that! and whats the point if i cant kiss bellara next time. like what is it#if the rest of the game was good i'd be fine honestly but this is just too much#soundtrack? boring. storyline? disappointing#also i guess i was right about varric. havent gotten to it for sure but he's a ghost isnt he. AND DOES SOLAS FUCKING KNOW THAT?#motherfucker. at least i still have varric to talk to indeed#god. remember this time a month ago when i was still disappointed in the writing in inquisition#wytxt#veilguard spoilers
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I really want to change my Crow Rook's name to fit being from Treviso more, but they really made Antiva a freak mash up of Italy and Spain and I simply do not know what to do with that
#the running backstory for her so far is#Dalish mage who got the training then had to leave because Too Many Mages#so she's out at like 13 or some shit#then scooped up by the Crows Somehow#maybe she almost got sold for slavery because Yeah that happens a lot esp to elves#idk haven't really thought that chunk out#gets gently Fucked Up by the training but she's tenacious and survives through humor#(so many scars on this girl she's doing her best)#but ultimately she finds the group very fulfilling to be a part of and adopts a more fitting name once she's a proper Crow#which gives her very loose roots back to the Dalish and a very strong connect to the Crows#but What do I do with them mashing two romance languages together#they're barely different but the parts that don't match Really Don't Match#I'm softly attached to the Renn part of her name because it sounds like wren and I like the bird play on words#because Rook is a chess piece and that's why Varric picked it but it's also a bird#and she's a Crow#and the Dalish are super tied to nature which is also partly bird#this is a personal snag I just scrolled through like 7 pages on my go to name website and wanted to scream#DAV Posting#I guess?? it's about my Rook sort of-
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I am starting to get legitimately nervous about how most everyone's relationship bars are in the middle.
I do think it would be fun to flip Fenris to the Friendship path somehow but if I do it wrong I know it'll mean he dies in the end.
#simon hawke#isabela too#like if i dont get her to have a strong opinion on simon by the end of this act she will leave#i mean. i guess i'll get to see how those options play out but.#ironic how this is the personality type that results in tragedy for this game#in trying to be likeable to everyone simon ended up being loved/hated by no one#(thats not entirely true. merrill varric & anders are locked in for friendship at least)
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scrolling through my own published fics and one summary has a character referred to as the Champion, and having to reorient myself to read that as Vax, Champion of the Raven Queen, and not Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall
#this has been a post#vax would like my dual wielding purple rogue hawke#i mean. that basically IS just vax#ah. hmmmm#vox machina da2 au with vax and vex in the role of hawke#and their little sister. cannot remember her name. in the younger sibling's role#it writes itself#scanlan as varric#keyleth as merrill#percy as sebastian#an argument could be made for grog as fenris#i. uh. guess. pike. as. anders?#okay pike doesn't really have a good analogous character#i said percy as sebastian because a noble taking vengeance against the people who killed their family is too easy#but. percy as fenris tho.#briarwoods and danarius parallels#THE SECRETLY ALIVE SISTER#okay wait percy as fenris they have the same snark#wait fenris would hate this parallel so much fjkdls#casting the guy who famously made a deal with a demon in the role of the guy who famously hates people who deal with demons#i say 'a' deal as if percy's solution to multiple problems wasn't to make a deal with demons#not his fault only one of those panned out#danarius really is both delilah and sylas tho#hhh okay okay i'm done i'm done#i'm having a hard time placing pike tho i'm just making her anders coz healer but like#oh waiiitttt pike is most like bethany i think but that doesn't mesh with vex/vax being hawke#unless. you make. grog. hawke#grog can be hawke. he'd have a much easier time with the arishok#hmmmm qunari hawke au#okay no stopping this tag train before it gets out of hand (it already is)
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I got this screen grab at the end of DA2 and I feel like it perfectly embodies the hatred that my Hawke feels for Meredith and the templars.
#looool#with her boy anders backing her up#and brother carver who is my friend in the very back lol#varric was there too I guess he’s too short#Florence Hawke#da2#dragon age#screenshot#hawke
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All these posts about Rook feeling like another Hawke and god...I WISH. I FUCKING WISH.
I'm a red personality Hawke player. ROOK IS BARELY EVEN MEAN.
#*crying*#AUGH#i also love renegade Shepard#txt post#varric couldn't ask Hawke for help. she would have shot solas on sight at the ritual site#she is too powerful#which would have probably led to disaster#but what else is new for Hawke there#i did pick most of the stern/direct options for rook which was fine I guess but not a whole lot like hawke lmao
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Me, when Sebastian joins my party for the first time: Okay, this time I'm not going to forget about you, Sebastian. I'm going to make an effort to use you a lot this playthrough so I can better understand you.
Also me, immediately forgetting about Sebastian while finishing Act 2 and making it halfway through Act 3 before I finally notice his Faith quest: ......................Oh. Right. My bad.
#da2#dragon age 2#sebastian vael#listen in my defense..........i don't like bringing sebastian anywhere sksksks#okay look i seriously tried but every time i bring him somewhere i always think man i wish i had brought someone else#and also i do just forget about him! i finally added him to my party at one point and he had 24 points to spend...#that's how long i neglected him after i promised myself i was gonna use him more and then i didn't#it's not that i don't like sebastian as a character though i do tend to side eye him A LOT... it's just that i like everyone else more#even aveline like i'd take aveline over sebastian any day and that's saying something... or is it? i have a lot of feelings about aveline#whereas my feelings about sebastian could maybe fill a thimble...it doesn't help that in my canon run as a mage hawke#i romance anders and well... sebastian wants me to kill anders and my hawke is like 'do i approve of blowing up the chantry? complicated.'#'am i breaking up with anders for this? absolutely. do i still love him? mmhmmm. am i going to kill him sebby? i'd sooner set varric aflame#then sebastian threatens to bring an army to kirkwall and leaves so i can't say i have the greatest opinion on him#even the time where i did kill anders and he stayed in my party he was just... there#and then he glitched out and started t posing while asking if ed ever found out what anders wanted to do in the chantry so..... yeah#but even this playthrough where i'm playing as a lady warrior with a different personality and everything... i'd just rather use anyone els#also keep him away from bethany i do not approve sksksks she's too good for him#i want to understand and see the different angles of him like with the other companions but i've yet to convince myself to do it#also sebastian romancers out there can you like... explain? genuinely can you explain the appeal? i'm curious#because of all the love interests in da2 i look at sebastian and you'd think i'd maybe be more interested? but it's like...#i know about the chaste marriage and everything like that's fine i don't need sex to be a thing in the relationship but it feels less like#an asexual romance and more like... y'know... being with a priest and i guess that's just not one of my kinks? sksksks#i guess there's also the prince angle but i romanced alistair in dao and kept him a grey warden i don't really care about royalty power#and i don't have issues with him being a part of the chantry [well i do but yknow what i mean] since i romanced cullen in dai#and his whole deal with the chantry and magic and shit makes his romance interesting to me but sebastian is just.... a bit too much i think#i don't know i'd like to understand because i really don't but i also keep forgetting about him
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It speaks volumes when Lavellan calls Solas a "terrible liar" in the Cobbled Swan. Rook is, of course, confused by this. "He's the god of lies," she says. But Lavellan clarifies, because that's not what she means. She means that he can't tell "lies of the heart." That is why he had to turn her away, because he actually could not deceive her.
Varric, very early in the game, also refers to Solas as "sentimental." He says to Rook, "He could burn the world down, and the thing that would make him cry is a single flower with blackened petals."
There's something very interesting about the elven god of lies and deceit, who unwillingly wears his heart on his sleeve, essentially creating a new version of the world in which all sources of raw, magical *emotion* that, according to him, used to imbue it with so much life and beauty have been compartmentalized from the more brutish, harsh aspects of the physical world. Because he, himself, has had to do this very thing to his own heart. He's "split." A very cool archetype. When he tells the Inquisitor to "harden her heart to a cutting edge" in Inquisition, he is projecting. Solas has built a "veil" within himself, to protect his more stern, militaristic identity as The Dread Wolf from the effusive, soft, and intelligent man that is Solas. It's the only way he can get anything done. Perhaps we should more aptly call him the god of stoicism and compartmentalization.
It's also interesting how well characters like Varric seem to know Solas, because it communicates that Solas did open up to the people of the Inquisition, during which time he "played the role" of quiet, unassuming Fade mage. Perhaps this wasn't a role at all, however, and perhaps this is why he is failing so spectacularly now. Who he really is is just this man who fell in love and made friends and found a home within a community where he did not have to cut off his emotions in order to lead. This was the "breach" in his plans, so to speak. It tore his world apart.
The whole story of Veilguard actually starts because Varric knows he can appeal to Solas's emotions and that this has a high chance of working to some degree. It's important to remember that while Varric didn't change Solas's mind at the ritual site, he was able to keep Solas talking long enough for Rook to sabotage his plans. Solas entertains Varric's pleas, because, sort of as Rook guesses with Lavellan at the Cobbled Swan, in some ways, Solas wants to be stopped. He wants someone to pull the reins on him because he is too prideful to stop himself.
Thinking back to Trespasser, I remember we all sort of knew this right away just in reading his body language. I remember someone making a whole post about it, and how he will not allow her to get too close to him. When she approaches, he takes a very measured step back. And later, as he takes the anchor, a task which requires him to take her hand, we see exactly why this is. He breaks down, calls her his "love," and kisses her. He is so stern and so measured and in "control," but then, all it takes is a single touch from the woman to whom he showed a glimpse of his true heart, his true self, to bring him to his knees.
The Veil as a narrative manifestation for how Solas tends to seal his own raw emotions away from others in order to function as the revolutionary general he had to be for centuries is a very beautiful construct to me.
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Yeah. Certainly video game mechanics played a role, they want to make sure that companions can stay with the player regardless of what choices we make. But usually they still express their opinion and you need high approval or pass persuasion checks. That is what shows us their real personality, their real values and what they stand for. For example Zevran speaking up against killing the mages is his “true position” so to speak. We lose some approval but then we can give gifts and companions forget, the story moves on and they still love the warden. We understand that this is just the video game mechanics.
Varric however is a different matter. He is written in a way where all of this makes sense for his character as OP explained. However I would like to add that not only is Varric just as starry-eyed about an evil Hawke, he is actually more starry-eyed! Just like the other companions, Varric expresses an opinion. His position is simply less set in stone, he doesn’t need to be persuaded. But in the end Varric does speak up! and he mildly objects if we support the mages! Meanwhile he expresses his approval if we kill the mages.
He says this to an apostate Hawke who has maxed out friendship with him:
He says to his friend “I’m not sure, maybe you should commit genocide against your own people. Eh. But I’m with you bestie.”
Meanwhile he is very supportive of killing all the mages:
“Defending innocent people, preserving our way of life? This is worth doing.”
“Preserving our way of life” is a line straight up from every conservative politician’s mouth.
Basically Varric’s “true (or original) position” is pro-templar, anti mage revolution, anti mage freedom. His approval in Inquisition suggests that a mage supportive Hawke has shifted his view, still that is a less comfortable world state for Varric.
I think Varric is a very realistic portrayal of the type of guy who has friends who are minorities or friends who have been mistreated in some way in society. However he doesn’t understand their struggles.Those individuals might be his friends, but... well, he is callous to their experiences. And when it comes down to it, he may or may not throw his friends under the bus because their pesky rights are an inconvenience. He doesn’t understand why everyone can’t just get along. That’s what he wants. And he sees this conflict as equal squabbling on both sides. Because he grew up in a world where the status quo has been comfortable for him and therefore “preserving our way of life” is good. To the point where even horrible inhuman acts are not only justified but it’s the right thing to do. As long as that is the “normal thing”, the way it has always been done. Anything else is the strange unknown and causes conflict which he doesn’t want.
(“Defending innocents” (cough cough protecting the children) is a worthy cause because otherwise it’s “helping dangerous people run amok”. Notice that these innocents who need defending from the circle mages during The Last Straw do not exist... the templars are the ones attacking the mages and therefore the mages try to run for their lives, away from the circle. In Varric’s view the innocents who need defending are not the people who are under attack, but future imaginary potential victims who might be harmed if the mages are simply allowed to be free.) Varric just wants everyone to know their place and play card games together. He doesn’t want anything to change. He goes along with a revolution only out of loyalty towards a good Hawke. That loyalty overrides everything, however he did have an opinion to begin with and that was actually anti-mage freedom. (Contrast that with Isabela who also goes along with whatever Hawke decides out of loyalty because Hawke didn’t hand her over to the arishok. But actually she expresses disgust when attacking the mages “crushing the rebels? how dare they wish for freedom” Her “true position” is pro-mage freedom.)
Honestly something that really affected my view of Varric (and again, I say this with great love for the character) was playing my Terrible Hawke, Emilia, who ends the game an absolute anti-mage fanatic who believes that magic is a curse and it was a blessing that the Maker called Bethany back to His side before she could fall to demons. She is a Hawke who is mainly diplomatic, well-spoken, respected, and absolutely unhinged in her views on magic. She is the Viscount of Kirkwall, and by the time she comes to the Inquisition she's also taken Chantry vows and become an actual templar (after having practiced the discipline off the books for years). She singlehanded kept Kirkwall under Chantry control after Meredith's death. She slaughtered every mage to a one, even the ones who surrendered.
She's Varric's best friend. And he's just as starry-eyed about her in Inquisition as he is about any other Hawke. I love what a deeply unsettling side of Varric that is to see.
She's the best. She's a hero. She saved his city.
#Varric Tethras#analysis#I find it extremely interesting that they chose those exact typical conservative lines for him to say during a templar supportive ending#there is no way that wasn't a conscious choice of words#(regardless it works so well it's very real and it's a pity that lots of people don't notice it...#... or they actually interpret Varric's opinion as the correct middle ground and they actually see this as a positive thing about him)#he is a fascinating character but he is not correct or right about this#posts I commented on#Dragon Age#da2#dragon age 2#Dragon Age II#da mine#dragon age exodus#Dragon Age Inquisition#Inquisition#Kirkwall#the last straw#Hawke#Isabela#dai#this is a good example of why it's worth trying out the evil options once#seeing companion reactions during a normal playthrough is just ''oh well I guess he wants to stay out of it remain neutral''#sometimes I wouldn't assume that their reactions are too different and yet then I see what they say about making an evil choice...#and it can be truly revealing ''oh wow you honestly kinda prefer this evil choice actually'' or ''wow you kinda stood up against that evil'
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My two cents on how much of Mind!Varric is Rook’s mind trying to fill the blank space and how much is Solas actively talking through a convenient blood magic paper doll of the mind: I think it's a mix of both, a truly collaborative psychosocial horrorshow if you would, but waaaay more towards the second. It feels too directed and tactical at times to be anything else. Rook's mind is willing to go along with the denial phase as far as it can fucking carry them to not have to face the grief and regret and does its part in papering over details that don’t make any sense, the way brains will strive to create coherent meaning even out of deeply confusing input, but to my understanding it's a collaborateur in how that plays out, not the instigator or control center. Solas is using it as a path to agency and to gather insight into Rook as a person unguarded as he can't count on in his own guise. (That stoic option that leads to him being like 'oh I see you're cautiously denying me access to your inner life. well. at least you still have Varric to talk to. y'know as an outlet :)'. You absolute BITCH Solas! That alone convinced me that he HAS to have an active hand in it on some level.)
My guess is that it takes considerable effort on Solas’ part to make Mind!Varric do anything more involved or complicated than seeming to sit up in bed and give casual commentary, and that’s why he keeps having eerie five minute shallow pep talks with you before he announces he conveniently needs a nap aaanyway good luck kid you got this haha. When he’s just spouting NPC lines from his bedrest, I’m ready to believe that could be Rook’s mind being allowed to improv lines for him more freely because it’s less about Solas trying to get something out of them or working an angle and more ‘Still here! Still totally alive and fine and the mentor figure you know and love and trust :) don’t even worry about it! Thankfully there is no war in Ba Sing Sei, as we all know’ upkeep work lol. Rook’s mind is allowed to set the tone of Varric, the outlines, but not always the content.
AND, on a (beautifully fucked up) character psychology level, I feel like Solas is indulging in actually getting to be the good supportive mentor figure to Rook with one hand to assuage the guilt he feels about what he's done -- and what he's going to do -- to them with the other. Same internal logic as he uses in Trespasser about the Qun. ‘Almost everyone is going to die from the course of action I’m doggedly pursuing eventually. But at least I can make their last years happier and freer and kinder than they would have been otherwise. and that kind of makes up for it right. a little bit. doesn't it. doesn't that make it better at least. I need that to make it better)'. Did I really take your beloved mentor and friend from you if you don’t know yet that I did? Some philosophers would argue not really! So it’s probably almost ok actually. Isn’t it even a little noble that I’m taking all this grief and guilt on myself and shielding you for now. With undertones that I’m not sure he would realize himself (and might be mortified by if he did) that he is so incredibly lonely, and even a dishonest and indirect emotional connection is more than nothing when you’re that desperate. In this setup he gets idk. Both the control he craves so incredibly badly in relationships and over himself, and the scraps, the fading afterimages, of intimacy and warmth and companionship, even second hand. The one thing Solas and Rook agree on deep deep down is that they really wish Varric weren't gone. They're handshake memeing this in the saddest and most creepy way possible.
I think an important element too is that Solas needs Rook and their team to *succeed* — up to a certain point. He needs someone to hold the two other elven mean girls off until he can get out of here. Ideally, in a perfect world, even do all the hard work of killing them so he can swoop in at the end and do his thing when both sides are exhausted and out of resources to stop him, and then Bob’s your uncle! Same logic as he was using with Corypheus, and after that worked out so well, too! King of choosing to never learn from a single solitary mistake he’s ever made even though i fully believe he could have the capacity to Fen’Harel <3 The underlying idea isn’t flawed, you see, it was just unforeseen circumstances getting in the way. This time for sure it’ll all work out the way I cleverly imagined it in my head beforehand. Cue By Talos this can’t be happening etc. in the form of a statue almost crushing him like a bug.
So he's providing guidance and forging Rook into a leader from two angles: one Rook might not trust, and one they probably will. Shaping them into what he needs slowly and carefully. He’s helping you hone your team into their most effective state, as he might have done with his own agents back in the day, setting up his chess pieces even if he has to squint through two glimpsed realities to do it haha. Pincer maneuver of an insidious stealth mentor you never asked for. Also… at one point mind Varric gives you a whole little monologue about how Solas' problem is that he’s always seen his interpersonal connections as flaws and see where it’s landed him, all alone and the worst part? it hasn’t even worked. it’s all been for nothing he’s back where he began with nothing to show for it but his mistakes. Like...that has such strong 'uh okay happy to play your therapist from two rooms away here what the fuck kind of traumadump is this' energy to me, I’m not sure Rook like. Thinks that much about Solas as a private person. So much of Solas' self-loathing and futile insights into his own flaws seem to shine through in Mind!Varric's dialogue all the time — I just can't believe that there's no guiding hand behind it as it were.
Most of all. I feel like people underestimate the degree to which Solas is incredibly funny. As in, he has a very consistent and recognizable sense of humour. It’s one of my very favourite things about him. We must remember — it is crucial that we always keep in mind — Orlesian accent and wig Solas from May The Dread Wolf Take You (my beloved, the explanation for why I love this dude even with the. All of the everything else. No one does it quite like him). He is not at all above doing things or adding little flourishes for his own obscure amusement, in fact that seems to me to be one of his most consistent traits. The Randy Dowager Quarterly comment Varric has? The ‘Maybe this is the Dread Wolf’s revenge. Forcing us to house sit for him’ thing? To Me this is 100% Solas amusing himself in his boring Fade jail surrounded by the screaming hellscape of all his regrets. Source: it came to me as divine revelation through pure vibes trust me bro
If nothing else I find it much more narratively interesting personally if the connection between Rook and Solas really is that defenselessly intimate and entwined (and so unbalanced!), and the sense of violation and invasion and betrayal afterwards consequently all the more nauseatingly intense. Even if you kept him at arm’s length in the open, he’s been under your skin the whole time, looking around, gathering what he needs to destroy you, wearing the face of a friend. Regretfully, probably, but choosing to do it every step of the way anyway. (Sound familiar, Inquisitor? Solas doesn’t have that many tricks when you actually look at it, he keeps returning to old tried and true ones like a dog with a bone haha.) Maybe he even genuinely meant some of it as mercy, which only makes it so much worse. It makes his sin against his own core principles of autonomy and the freedom of all beings in mind, spirit and body so much more juicily grave if it’s something he pursues actively and consistently, rather than it half-falling into his lap as a happy accident mainly orchestrated by Rook’s own subconscious. Solas, too, is at his very lowest point, the closest to giving in and becoming his own antithesis fully that he’s ever been, and it makes the choice of whether you still reach out your hand to him one last time or not all the more impactful and difficult.
#dragon age#dragon age: the veilguard#dragon age: the veilguard spoilers#dragon age spoilers#dragon age meta#solas#varric tethras#rook#I love what weeekes has managed to do with solas in this game honestly. both kinder and harsher reads on him?#completely supported by the text and completely valid. it really does come down to how you feel individually at the end of it all#there are good arguments to be made in every direction. sing o muse about a complicated man.#and also a motherfucker (affectionate *and* derogatory)#forgiveness isn't about him it's about you ultimately. do you find it in yourself or are there things that shouldn't be forgiven? up to you#he deserves both compassion and to be slam dunked straight into hell often with equal intensity. and i think that's beautiful#face in my hands. it keeps happening to me. I black out and I've written a whole thing and feel like I've been through a meat grinder#clearly my brain needs to Process things very badly but god I wish I could maybe control a bit more when and how intensely it does it lol#obligatory disclaimer that this is only my personal opinion and read on the game and characters involved etc. YMMV
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