#when you do lose something

[polar534]

Was anyone going to tell me that Rook and Neve mirror each other's phrases depending on who you choose to dismantle the ward? Or was I just supposed to find that out myself after my 2nd full playthrough?!

First of all, I'm ill. Thank you writers. You deserve so much better than you get. To make up for that, I'm going to gush about the writing and more importantly the performance of the actors I got to experience said writing through. I think this post I want to specifically focus on Rook, since so many people have taken apart the Category 5 event that is Neve's full romance plot. But trust me, at the end of this analysis I plan on touching on something I haven't yet seen from the Neve romance takes. And if it is out there, it's not getting nearly the attention it deserves.

I think it's absolutely fascinating the character development that happens for Rook specifically if you choose Neve and subsequently she gets blighted. Despite all the personality choices you can make in regards to the romantic scenes. (Shout out to the Stoic option breaking my heart every time during the Eclipse scene.) One thing Rook is for Neve, always, is there. Rook makes sure to let Neve know, out loud and through their actions, that they are there. They'll always try to be there, even when they might not be fast enough, when the tables turn or when gods break promises. Now I'm not sure about the other VA's performance because I've just been running through this romance as one character, but Bryony Corrigan does an absolutely phenomenal job of breaking my heart in the aftermath of Tearstone Island. Through her performance you can really begin to see the flipside of this coin. The other reflection in the mirror.

If any companion speaks to you about Neve, Bryony does a fantastic job of letting the emotion come through her small lines just enough that it sounds like Rook is really on the edge of tears. Ask Rook about their plans, or what they have to do next? Fine. Can handle that. She will get the job done. But ask her about Neve? Reassure her that they'll find her? Suddenly Rook is the smallest person in the world. Her voice cracks, she's hardly even able to thank Davrin or Bellara for their support because she is actively choking back what sounds like tears.

Don't even get me started on the animation rigging for Rook when you DO find Neve and she reveals just what happened while Rook wasn't there.

Look at that devastation! I can tell they turned up the rigging specifically to make sure that no matter what your Rook looks like, you will KNOW just how broken they must feel in that moment. (Regret Prison could never.) Rook wasn't there and Neve had someone in her head. Someone who used her to break her own city.

(Important note that this animation will NOT play for just a normal companion rescue. Rook is only going to be this devastated when it's someone they love. In a normal run you'll get more of relieved and happy grin rather than whatever pathetic, wet beast looking thing this is.)

Moving forward, the very next time you can choose the 'Romantic' option, Rook will reflect in some way that they 'lost' Neve. That is not something you can change. You, as a player, CANNOT change the fact that a romantically involved Rook will see the time spent apart as an overwhelming loss. They lost Neve. Once you do click the 'Romantic' option however, the dialogue will change to some variation of 'found'. Which reflects exactly what Rook has dedicated themselves to proving to Neve. That they will be there. That they will always try.

That spoken dialogue doesn't stop the choices from showing what Rook is really feeling however. In their mind, they lost her. Neve is desperate to remind Rook that they can't even consider her being there as a win. Not while they still have so much left to do. And yet? It doesn't stop Rook from believing it anyways. That is the win in their eyes, no matter what comes next.

The only thing that can come close to getting that final win now is killing Elgar'nan, and I'm feral for the fact that Rook's view of killing the last blighted god can, canonically, become revenge for what he did to Neve. (On top of saving the world of course)

You'll get further 'lost and found' references in the dialogue after. Again, I feel like it's really important to see that it is Rook saying all of this. It has nothing to do with your choices beforehand. If you choose the romantic option, this is what Rook is truly feeling. It becomes canon to whatever kind of Rook you're playing. They wouldn't know what to do if they hadn't found Neve.

(Bryony Corrigan you have me on the floor with this entire sequence. From the line above to: "Every moment." To "I'm right here. I promise." It knocks me to the floor. Every time. Insanely heart-wrenching delivery.)

Lastly in the post credit scene of the Blighted Neve storyline, 2 of your 3 options can include one final instance of the 'lost and found' wording that is so prevalently a theme for Rook in this version of events.

(Fun fact, the non-blighted version of the same scene will of course, also throw a nod to the theme of 'lost and found'. "Finding you was a lost cause.", As well as an option to tap into Rook's own feelings in regards to that theme: "That place, I was so lost...")

So why is this so interesting to me? Why does the mirrored dialogue from the very moment that scene starts mean so much to me? It's pretty simple.

In Neve's experience, lost things don't just come back. I think it's absolutely fascinating that her storyline, romance or not, has a nebulous theme around the idea that lost things don't just come back. In Neve's experience, once something goes missing, it's gone. The city will move on without a spare thought. That's why she tries to be the difference. To be the one that finds things. If you're hunting for people who are taken she will always make sure to slip in a line about the fact that even if you're too late, she intends to find them anyways. She will provide closure, a follow-up to whoever might need it. It's about the small temporary wins. It's the cynic with a heart of gold that's so deeply imbedded in her character.

You're supposed to play as the one that helps slowly change that idea. Rook is meant to be the exception to the rule Neve has held tight in an attempt at survival for so long. (Along with all of the other companions of course.) Rook is the 'found' part of lost and found. They're going to find a way through any situation. Whatever it takes.

So yeah, when Neve comes in to Rook's room during the non-blighted storyline, of course she's completely shaken by the fact that Rook is actually there. That they came back. That they found a way to come back. 

But on the flipside, what you can discover through the writing and through the incredible work by the VA, is the fact that without Neve? Rook can also become lost. The fact that the other came back at all means the world to them BOTH. The fact that they will mirror each other's thoughts, the very idea of coming back at all being a parallel to being lost and found, it's a payoff to something that gets set up at the very start of the game.

When they needed to find someone, Varric went to the best damn detective he had ever met. Neve Gallus, the local expert, the one person in Minrathous that people turn to when things or people go missing. In the same breath he'll introduce Rook as their expert on trouble. The very same kind of trouble that Neve knows to avoid and yet always finds her anyways.

Because lost things are always meant to be found. And Trouble isn't always a bad thing.

[soaptaculart]

Postcanon Farcille indulgence

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[pendulouspuppyudders]

i think we'd do a lot better in collectively understanding privilege if we stopped thinking about it as some evil aura people have and start thinking about it as a resource that those of a privileged class or those who are accepted by that privileged class can gain access to by performing acts that reinforce the strength of that privilege i.e. bigotry

[tiarpopdind]

The way they both fumbled makes me giggle

[luxlightly]

"If you're hurt by finding out that a person you admired did something bad or are worried about the idea they might, it shows you need to not form attachments to people you don't personally know."

I have bad news for you about how literally the entirety of human socialization and the human mind work. You can say "here's a stick from off the ground. his name is Stanley and he has a loving family" and then break the stick and people will feel hurt because they formed a positive connection to Stanley. Humans project attachment onto everything. Asking people not to feel connections to other humans is not feasible. It's not possible and, if it were, it sure as hell wouldn't be healthy.

You didn't do anything wrong if you feel hurt that someone you didn't personally know did something wrong. You're not parasitic or obsessive for wanting people you don't personally know to be good people. Being devastated that someone you liked did something horrible isn't a sign you liked them too much, it's a sign you have the basic human ability to form emotional and social connections. Your responsibility is being aware of those connections and behaving in ways that are healthy, respectful, and keep you and others safe.

Trying to just not admire people or not feel a connection to other humans won't work. Focus instead on being aware of what your relationships to other people are, what actions on your part are acceptable given that level of relationship, what actions are acceptable on their part, and what level of relationship it's realistic or healthy to project. And be ready, as with all things in life, to change your views on something or someone when presented with new information, even if you have very strong emotional connections to the subject. For example: "I'd love to get a cup of coffee with the celebrity I don't know and talk with them about a film they're in. I imagine that would be nice." <- normal human emotion "I will go to this celebrity I don't know and ask them, apropos of nothing, to get a coffee with me/I expect this celebrity I've never met WILL go to coffee with me" <- Unrealistic level of projected relationship. Crosses boundaries of normal human interactions between strangers.

"I'm devastated this actor I liked was an abuser" <- normal human emotion

"I won't believe that this actor was an abuser because I like him and therefore can tell he wouldn't do that" <- Unrealistic and unhealthy level of projected relationship. Unsafe for you and others.

You can't just "not admire" people, yes, even people you don't know personally. Instead, be careful to make sure your admiration of someone doesn't affect your ability to make judgements about them.

[mechieonu]

my favorite sonamy atm is the kind where sonic's feelings are vague, yeah, but he loves her and he loves indulging her

[hyakunana]

When you need to lie, but you're a good boy.

[epicfirestormer]

Will never get over how Starscream and Skyfire's relationship is always doomed. There's never an iteration of them where they both stay on the same side at the end. They always end up being against each other, tearing each other apart (whether intentionally or not). They always end up losing each other, be it by a snowstorm, by the war, or by death itself. They never receive a happy ending together, one if not both of them is doomed to suffer.

Skyfire is doomed to be an Autobot, by forces out of his control. Starscream is doomed to be an Decepticon, by his own self destructive tendencies. They are both doomed, because of who they are. They always try to save the other, in their own way. But it never works. They are doomed to fail, whether they stay together or not.

[moonshynecybin]

The Marquez family dynamics is like crack to my brain i think about it way to much. Like you've got marc and Alex the most codependent siblings to ever live who shared a bedroom until they moved out of their family home in their 20s just to move in with eachother. From some stuff I've seen Julia and Roser divorced (I have no clue when) they are always following marc and Alex's careers and are very involved and Marc and Alex both speak really highly of them but sometimes I look at how marc and Alex are and some stuff in old articles and go there childhood was definitely not all sunshine and rainbows and happiness and Marc's talked in the past about how he was raised by his grandfather cause his parents always worked but them the economic crisis in Spain made a teenage marc the main money bringer in the family with is crazy. Like Marc and Alex are closer than a lot of twins even are and Marc is like a father figure/brother role and Alex is one of the only people in the world that probably knows Marc's inner thoughts. Like I'm constantly thinking about his post for marc when he left Honda and the stuff he must have seen marc go through in those injury years. And the stories about Marc's injury in 2011 where marc was apparently the most calm one and was the one calming his parents down is crazy to me like 18 years old possible career ending injury and he's the one with the most level head. This got so much longer than I expected.

no i agree its one of those things where even if your parents arent absent or abusive per seee, it also doesnt mean that they are like perfect parents who leave you baggage free. and i think marc and alex CERTAINLYYYY have parental baggage lol

[simplydnp]

totally normal about the 'wedding?' response continuing to evolve even though it's only been 5 shows. at this point i'm convinced the grand plan behind tit is to convince dan via exposure therapy that he's allowed to want to get married

[dustykneed]

elizabeth schuyler was a sister and a daughter. elizabeth hamilton is all that, and a revolutionary's wife, and then the wife of the secretary of the treasury, scorned.

she burns letters, and she commits his penmanship to memory. he only began to loop the H in his name after the end of the war. he used to write like a hurricane was at his heels, in his youth. every poem etched with a shard of his soul, bleeding light like cathedral glass.

she loves him, still. she doesn't think she could ever stop. but she lets him think she has, and eliza is many things, but now, above all else, she is a mother.

so she burns every letter he has written her-- burns months and years and decades-- and she rereads her life in reverse, in the light of her candle flame. she erases his past, every bit of it with love, for her children, for him.

years of her life crumble into ash beside his.

[tfa-archived]

Still not used to this life or death situation stuff. That's good, 'cause I'm not either. You never get used to it.

[vaguely-concerned]

powerful mental image of lucanis expounding passionately about any given one of his limited but extremely deep areas of interest (the wyvern/knives/coffee/cooking/murder continuum of lucanis dellamorte special interests if you will) while rye lounges around and Beholds him with palpable twink boutta pounce energy

[neverenoughmarauders]

James would do anything that would make him appear like the hero he always romanticized about being... ergo he's not brave and it's not impressive.

I am sorry, what? We didn't read the same book series, I am sure, because at no point are the people working for the Order doing so openly, and they are not applauded or rewarded by the wizarding world at large. You do not become a hero working for the Order of the Phoenix!!

In fact, the Order was likely held in contempt by many, who secretly or openly agree with Voldemorts ideas, even if they weren't prepared to go as far as him.

“They weren’t alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things..." 

The Order wasn't winning, and the odds of survival were pretty awful. I repeat: The good side was losing!! I cannot emphasise this enough. These poor Order members had their backs up against the wall:

"He was takin’ over. ’Course, some stood up to him — an’ he killed ’em. Horribly."

“He — he was taking over everywhere!” gasped Pettigrew. “Wh — what was there to be gained by refusing him?”

“I can’t promise no one’s going to get hurt, nobody can promise that, but we’re much better off than we were last time, you weren’t in the Order then, you don’t understand, last time we were outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and they were picking us off one by one...”

“[T]aking up a post at Hogwarts just now would be tantamount to declaring my public allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix! And while I’m sure they’re very admirable and brave and all the rest of it, I don’t personally fancy the mortality rate — ”

While Slughorn is speaking about the current climate, he's been on the run from Voldemort. He's not in a position to base this on the current war (which in any case had just officially started and so far had only one death, RIP SIrius Black). It is based on the last war. And declaring your allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix comes with a high mortality rate. (And I get that he says admirable, but he's not, is he? He's saying it the same way British people say: with all due respect. More than anything he is pre-emptively saying, yes yes, I know Dumbledore and you think they're great, but not for me, thank you).

Do you know who was seeking glory? Snape! Sorry, I don't mean to make this about him, he receives his own unfair share of bashing too, but I need people to understand that it was the people who joined up with Voldemort who were often motivated by glory/wanting to seem impressive.... And it just so happens that JKR spoke about this with regards to Snape:

Well, that is Snape’s tragedy. Given his time over again he would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive. He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too. He never really understood Lily’s aversion; he was so blinded by his attraction to the dark side he thought she would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater.

And we've got this as a reminder:

"Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin’ fer followers. Got ’em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o’ his power, ’cause he was gettin’ himself power, all right." 

It was the Death Eaters who joined up for a bit of fun - for a bit of power, and glory and all that.

Yes, I believe James romanticised about fighting against evil, and that father-like-son, he probably had a need to play the hero. I do see a lot of Tonks in him (which is why I cannot and will not accept that she's a bad fit for Remus, who adored James). Young, eager to be part of this anti-Voldemort movement, full of life. However, James could not have gone into it seeking glory because there was none to be found down that path.

We know that James Potter despised the dark arts, that he was desperately in love with a muggle-born girl and that like Sirius, he was not content to sit at home and let others do the fighting. This wasn't about seeking glory; it was about doing what was right even when you're fighting what may seem like a losing battle, which is, as I've discussed before, a big topic in the series.

[dipndops]

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hi @potahun, I'm your gifter for the Heishin Valentine Exchange and I picked your Ghibli movie prompt and went with Howl's Moving Castle c:

@heishinvalentineexchange2025 Thank you for hosting the event! It has been super fun!!

Close ups and explanations below~

It took me a bit of time to figure out which character I wanted to be who, but I settled with Shinichi as Howl and Heiji as Sophie! I think the idea of Shinichi being an other worldly character like Howl isn't too far off from how he is depicted in canon. From an outsider's perspective, Shinichi seemingly has all the answers to the many cases he comes across. Especially with the way Heiji reveres Shinichi, it's not hard to see him as someone larger than life. (Also Shinichi transforming into a bird creature whenever he intervenes in the war kind of fits with how he transforms into Conan in canon as he investigates the Black Organization)

As for Heiji as Sophie, I feel that putting Heiji in a position where he becomes old can parallel his struggle with his family's (particularly his father) distrust in him being a teen detective. But in this case, Heiji initially fears that growing old hinders his ability to remain a detective. Throughout the course of the film, his fears would be assuaged as Heiji helps end the ongoing war in spite of his age.

Now for the art itself, originally I wanted to pick one scene to focus on so that I could combine this prompt with your Heishin whump prompt. But then I figured it would be neat to take inspiration from the movie's song Merry Go Round of Life. The large ring was intended to mimic the roof and rim of a merry-go-round. Like imagine the roof and then you squish it down (if that makes lol)! The rims on merry-go-rounds often feature a circular frame with images of landscapes within. For that, I recreated backgrounds from the movie.

Given the name of the song, I felt that I should recreate different scenes from the movie to show the progression of Heiji and Shinichi's lives (I would've drawn Heiji much older but I was just struggling on how to execute that properly TT-TT). From right to left the scenes are; Shinichi intervenes in the war; Heiji views the meadow Shinichi shared with him; baby Shinichi cronches on a star; Heiji watches the parade celebrating the war effort; and Shinichi stares fondly at Heiji within the castle.

Anyways, have some bonus doodles I made while working on this piece to keep me sane c:

(^ this is my celebratory doodle that I drew right after I submitted the artwork. I'm going to hibernate now thanks LMAO)