#whether romanced or not

[sunflowerhazel]

I've seen a couple of people both here and on twitter be upset that it looks like a solavellan world state is the default, based on a female lavellan with no vallaslin being the default Inquisitor. It really looks like solavellan and how much energy is being put into their story is pretty contentious amongst the fandom right now so I just wanted to remind everyone that even though a female lavellan might be the default for the Inquisitor, you can always change that!

Remember when BG3 first came out and people were super excited to create their characters as well as the dream guardian, even though none of us knew who the dream guardian would be yet? You know how when you boot up a new game the "default" race/class is an elven barbarian? You know how you almost always change that immediately????

The same way that we all changed the default origins character and the default dream guardian design to fit whatever we wanted, new Dragon Age fans that have never played the game before will most likely change the Inquisitor's design based on whatever they want. Also "elf" comes first alphabetically when your options are "elf, dwarf, human, qunari"

But all that being said, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that a solavellan Inquisitor is the default. If that's not what you want, totally fine! Go wild! Make your Inquisitor a hot qunari woman who's married to Sera! Make it so your Inquisitor hates the egg man's guts!!! However, for new fans who might just be picking up Dragon Age for the first time and don't want to go through the trouble of making an Inq. (and therefore choose the default option,) making it so your character's advisor is in love with one of the main antagonists of the game can be a really interesting story. That's all.

And once again "elf" comes first alphabetically anyways so like of course the "default" would be an elf I just think it's really not that deep

[reineydraws]

daisuke bucklesby tho 💓💘💗💞💖💓💘

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis is a 'I could sit in our quiet kitchen on a grey tuesday afternoon drinking coffee and talking with you about nothing much in particular forever and be the happiest man who ever lived' romantic, not a 'classic tropes and grand gestures' romantic. this is a distinction and conceptual gap I personally feel is crucial to understanding what's going on with him when romanced. for all his almost painful sincerity and clear depth of feeling he's not a very effusive guy by nature, but in the history of time no one has ever, with their whole soul, chest and being, been so genuinely and openly happy to just do laundry and taxes with you.

[umblrspectrum]

happy solvermas

[antivancathedral]

My big secret is that I thought that your lover would be the one Solas tricks you into thinking is dead after Ghilan'nain is killed and when I found out it's Lucanis no matter what, that Rook screams and runs to Lucanis no matter what, I lost my damn mind and I've been riding that high ever since.

Let me be clear in that I think Rook loves all their companions deeply. Let me also be clear in that I am very biased. But there's something so raw in that moment, after Rook shouted for Neve/Bellara before Elgar'nan stole them away, after Rook shouted for Harding/Davrin after Ghilan'nain kills them.

Rook has lost two companions already, snatched from him in a blink and irretrievable. No bodies to bury or burn. They are completely lost. And there is something so raw and aching in the fact that it's Lucanis that Rook can run to. Lucanis's body they can touch, whose coldness they can feel, whose stillness.

I imagine that is when it all really felt terribly real, that Rook had lost people and wasn't getting them back. This is the moment where the price of victory sinks in as deep as a blade. It's Lucanis whose "death" drives that point home, Lucanis who briefly shifts into Varric to remind Rook about the loss that started it all.

Since I romanced Lucanis first, I assumed that the game would replace him with whoever you'd committed to. But to see that it's him no matter what, that the final resounding crash and culmination of all Rook's losses thus far ends with Lucanis?

Solas says "Did you think you'd win the day without some painful sacrifice?" while Rook gazes down at Lucanis. My god, there is so much love in that. I can't talk about the tender look on Lucanis's face when he ran to Rook when Ghilan'nain dropped them or I'll start biting my computer but my fucking god, there is so much love between them.

[lurukifennecfox]

a prompt that my brain concocted from a combination of other things i saw on Tumblr or Ao3.

so jason's family teased him for being single because they're just shits like that, so Jayson implied he wasn't and he was just protecting their privacy from being stolen by the bats.

now Alfred invited his partner for dinner which would be a problem since they don't exist.

fast forward: Red Hood has been bridal-sacrificed to the ghost king in front of the bats

for whatever reason he decided to ask Danny(said king) to play the fake partner because why the fuck not?

Danny having had the same problem with his extended Fraid agreed. (good fenton parents, maybe a little overboard like they are with everything and are now scaring the hoes with cultural questions)

so now the batfam has to deal with the fact that Jay's mysterious partner is the Ghost King(technically a prince since he's too young for a ghost and has a life to live even if he chooses to live it more ghostly)

add to that ghosts screwed up traditions and preferences and you have me.

[gremnda]

Part of the family :]

[crows-of-buckets]

Itty bitties

[henryscapon]

maybe i've missed it, because i know everyone likes to talk about the love poem hans keeps hidden under his bed in the devil's den, but i have not seen anyone mention this next to hans' bed

it's......it's a little wooden duck

and in the inventory, it specifically says dog toy

did hans whittle a little dog toy for mutt? :')

[benevolenterrancy]

Hi I have caught up to you on having feelings about Zhuzhi-Lang. He's a good boy! 🥺 Good snake boy! 🥺 I had the thought, after Zhuzhi let SQQ leave after SQQ yelled at him... what if they Stole Him. What if.

(Also have you read/been recommended anything by corduroyserpent yet? Big writer of Zhuzhi-Lang fics, including a very cute de-aged Zhuzhi-Lang and some zhushen)

Justifications of bride-stealing!

(AND HE'S THE BEST BOY 😭 I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, SO MUCH!! have some further au thoughts because this has contaminated my brain...)

What I think would actually happen if they stole SQQ? Absolutely nothing good for anyone, LBH would Lose His Fucking Mind xD as a more interesting answer though, I like the idea that Shen "Pedantic Nitpicky Asshole" Qingqiu's primary point of argument is that he is not a bride so he cannot be "bridenapped" regardless of demonic tradition or intention!

This eventually leads to them all completely avoiding the Maigu Ridge incident because TLJ realizes that, somehow, SQQ doesn't realize the depths of his son's feelings for him and decides to put all his efforts into being a wingman for his nephew instead because he finds the entire thing absolutely hilarious and rather satisfying after his own sad romance. Obviously someone like SQQ would do much better with his good, loyal nephew than the disappointing offspring of that disastrous relationship!

As for ZZL he just has to assume that LBH must not be treating SQQ anywhere near the way he should be (and like... he isn't wrong at this point, there is a non-zero amount of torture and terror going on here) if SQQ doesn't see himself as being tied to LBH in any way. And if he's not attached to LBH then there's absolutely no reason he shouldn't make his own efforts to seduce SQQ! After all, if LBH isn't valuing SQQ properly then obviously ZZL has to step up because someone as kind as SQQ deserves the best!!!

[galedekarios]

Karlach: Aw, was that Gale’s granddad? Player: That was Elminster Aumar - the most famous wizard in the realms. Karlach: Huh. Doesn’t ring a bell.

[myrkulitescourge]

i'm surprised i haven't seen any text posts yet about the Unsubtle Differences between astarion’s tiefling party/high approval forest scene and the one you get after the goblin party.

there’s something so terribly interesting about how the conversation afterward plays out depending on which variation you pursue.

like, most people have seen the tiefling party version by now. astarion basking in the sunlight the morning after, playing off most of what tav says with relative ease, even when they ask about his scars and he tells them about cazador. his cadence is smooth and composed, his smile almost friendly, even though you know, as the viewer, he’s playing a game of manipulation at this point. the only real crack in his demeanor is if tav notices that cazador’s “poem” was written in infernal, which, understandably, startles him.

but recently i watched the goblin party version of this same scene, and everything reads so differently. unlike at the tiefling party, it’s still the middle of the night when astarion tries to leave, thinking tav is asleep—almost immediately after the act, in fact. when tav does speak to him, he’s visibly nervous, halting and stammering in the middle of lines delivered unflinchingly in the other version of the scene. he gestures broadly and fidgets more while talking, his smile comes and goes. there’s even some of his distinctive high pitched, fake laughter sprinkled throughout the exchange, almost identical to later scenes where he's very, very obviously uncomfortable (like if raphael mocks him and magics off astarion's shirt to show the party his scars in act 2, or when confronting the gur children in their cell in act 3, etc etc).

siding with the goblins represents something deeply familiar to astarion, a level of cruelty he's more than familiar with and embraces likely because cruelty and duplicity, to him, go hand-in-hand with the power and freedom he craves so badly—but he won't stay the night with this tav, even if he approves of their actions. no, in this case, he'll keep to what's familiar and attempt to leave them in the forest under the cover of the very same darkness he resents having been cast into by cazador. when he gets caught, it sets him on edge, and everything he says becomes such a blatant lie to save face that tav would have to be completely oblivious not to see through him, or maybe just not care enough to.

but if tav saves the refugees? challenges his worldview and comes out victorious? oh, he'll complain of the poor rewards for his trouble at the party and whine about it being boring, but he decides to stay with tav through the night while they're asleep and on past dawn. he takes a moment to enjoy the morning sunlight, returned to his life after two centuries without. the same is true if you have high enough approval that he asks before the party, in which case, you've almost certainly hit his biggest approval gains: trusting him and supporting his safety. maybe he doesn't trip over his words when he speaks because, well, maybe this is someone he doesn't have to worry about. someone who's already more than proven themselves a foolish, heroic sort with a bleeding heart or otherwise demonstrated that they're already in his corner. in other words, not a threat—at least not to him.

does any of this make sense. i wanna study this guy under a microscope.

[thetrialsandtribulationsofeb]

no but watching the show for the first time from the perspective of someone who already knows everything about seasons 7 and 8 is so interesting, because it doesn’t feel forced. it doesn’t clash with the narrative. they’re just best friends who are slowly falling in love with each other, and they make perfect sense together

if i didn’t know better (how long fans hoped they’d become canon without knowing for sure) i would think they were written as a slow-burn friends-to-lovers couple from the very beginning

that them being gay and bi and best friends first was all part of the plan

it just flows so seamlessly

again, it’s the same thing with chandler and monica, and robin and barney - even if they weren’t planned, the signs from the universe were there from the beginning

i swear, if i didn’t know any context about the show, i would be so sure these characters are supposed to end up together and will fall in love later in the series, and that eddie is a replacement for abby, and he’ll help buck move on from her (wasn’t that bobby’s plan all along, lmao?)

then i’d see that moment where maddie and chimney meet for the first time when he helps her with her new place and think, “okay, so maddie is definitely getting together with chim, and buck is definitely getting together with eddie”

“he is so cute”

“yeah, he gets that a lot” *heart eyes* “you should meet his kid though”

“wait, chimney has a kid?”

*bi panic* “no, i thought you meant…” *maddie, his sister who raised him, walks away with a knowing look on her face* “chimney? 🤨”

maddie thinks chimney is cute

buck thinks eddie is cute

kind of on the nose, you know?

wild that it wasn’t the case initially

[xxgwenstacyxx]

art, off-screen: I know exactly what trope will solve this

[gomzdrawfr]

acting au really got me fucked up

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

idk man been sifting through my feelings on all this. and i think what it comes down to is i don't really care/mind that there are non-canonical (BY DEFINITION, if it is not IN the media, it is not in the 'canon', and this info was in tweets) statements about Lucanis' sexuality being demi/ace/him being a virgin. and i'm glad for people who like to incorporate that into their headcanons about the game/interpretation of his character and expand on that more than the game itself does, like, this is our space now baby do what makes you happy!

but personallyyyyyyy i just do not think these new labels are some magic bandaid that solves the flaws in the pacing and writing of his romance. Lucanis never talking to Rook about his feelings as they get to know each other (but sure is willing to talk to Rook about his feelings for Neve if you don't romance him) is not solved, for me, by saying "well he wouldn't be attracted until he got to know you and also has no experience with sex". the same way calling it a "slow burn" did not solve this for me. especially because right up until release he was being advertised as a "bisexual mess". but now was secretly a "panromantic demisexual" the whole time. it just... idk. you can say anything you want online, you know? but if you don't Show Me... well. i also don't like that people who are saying 'well this was Not part of his story in the game so i don't see it' are getting labeled as anti-ace when like, many of the criticisms i am seeing are coming from people who are themselves demi/ace lol. it's not asexual representation bc it is not in the game itself. (though honestly. i AM glad that that was not jammed into his story arc, and that his quests were about his agonizing over his family and the fact that he's now bodysharing with a demon. because his writing was never going to get MORE lines, and to take away any of the ones he had to put in a sexuality arc beyond an offhand mention would have really crashed that because the existing writing barely holds together as is. like there just was not room to have more so personally i am not criticizing Mary Kirby for her decision not to add it. but you can't not add something and then also claim it's a definitive part of his character. plus i dont think a character needs to know/understand/use modern labels anyway).

and personally i DO prefer an awkward/fumbling Lucanis, to be clear. Before Veilguard came out I was never expecting the sexy antivan lover angle. we already have Zevran (who ALSO isn't actually that sterotype either, he has SO much depth), I didn't want poor-imitation Zevran, and bioware would not write Lucanis like that to make sure he is a more distinct character anyway. BUT i do think it's reasonable in a bioware game to expect that a romance is going to have romantic content--and the number of times after his cutscenes i literally said aloud "go girl give us nothing" after he failed to react to a flirt was pretty sad. If he's awkward and nervous give him a line where he stutters and doesn't know how to react, not just a blank stare and back to business, or whatever. Or a scene where you can literally ask "you never respond to my flirting do you want me to stop" and for him to say say he likes it but doesn't know how to reciprocate or. ANYTHING. Idk. I have seen 10 different posts/takes on how the Wall Lean Scene fits in, be it that he was imitating a romance novel or it was crow seduction training or he was just pretending because that's how he's seen Illario do it but at the end of the day. It is all just speculation because nothing in the game EVER addresses how wildly different the tone of that scene is from every other one of his romance scenes. And as much as i love the Sexy Wall Lean, given the rest of his characterization in EVERY other romance scene, i think I'm at a point where i think the romance would have been better served by cutting it out and having a different scene where you actually get to talk to him instead.

but! that is not the game we were given. we only have what we have, which is the Veilguard content by Mary Kirby, and The Wigmaker Job written by Courtney Woods (where for reference, he mentions stumbling into an orgy on a previous job, and having an "interesting" time getting out of that, so i already think we have 2 different interpretations of his character between them anyway). but yeah idk man to me "well he's ace" is not an excuse for either gaps in the writing or cut content or whatever was going on. because 1. HE IS NOT AN ACTUAL PERSON he is a storytelling vessel that i felt failed to satisfyingly communicate the entire romance story and 2. even if he was a person saying 'well in ace relationships communication sucks' would also be, not great, you know. everything beyond the text itself is just interpretation and headcanons