#which is the first worldstate i completed

[a-drama-addict]

i was going to draw and update chronos’ design and oh lord i’ve forgotten how to draw my boy

[blackjackkent]

Me> [struggling to unravel a very annoying UI bug]

My brain, entirely unprompted> H E Y. IF JAHEIRA HAD USED SOME MORE MINOR VERSION OF THAT RITE OF THE TIMELESS BODY ON RASAAD TO EXTEND HIS LIFESPAN, IT WOULD RESOLVE THE MORE FINICKY TIMELINE ISSUES ABOUT RION BEING THEIR KID.

Me> ...ok? I didn't ask right now but thank you for working that out I guess.

[mabaris]

man ok i’ve got so many spoiler tags blocked and the effect instead is that i know Some things are going on but don’t have the full context. but i don’t want to get rid of my filters to understand what everyone else is talking abt because there’s other stuff i want to keep hidden yknow. and i obviously don’t have any way to tell what blocked posts are unimportant enough to look at

[lavellaned]

Actually I think one of the reasons why this game is so awful to get through is how it treats abuse, abusers, and abuse victims.

Under cut due to length of rambling:

First of all, Morrigan. Abused as a child by her mother, Flemeth aka Mythal, learned about the world and how to interact with it in a skewed way. Was treated in a way that no child should be by anyone let alone their parent.

Fast forward to Inquisition, particularly a worldstate in which Kieran is alive. The scene in the fade where Morrigan confronts Flemythal is one of the most important and special scenes in all of dragon age to me.

Growing up through abuse as a child you never think "I don't deserve this", you mainly think things like "Why is this happening to me?" and "Bad things happen to me." You know that these things are bad and make you feel bad, but when your baseline for how you should experience the world is abusive, you don't have the point of reference to think otherwise. And then you grow up. You look back on the abuse through the eyes of the child who experienced it but also through the detached, adult view that you currently have and have to reconcile the two. It's not easier nor pleasant. Getting to the age your abuser was/getting into the position of power your abuser had over you is difficult. Being at that stage and picturing yourself doing what was done to you to someone else is fucking sickening, and then you start to realize "I wasn't the problem, it WASN'T my fault, YOU are the one that's fucked up." But a lot of people can't and therefore the cycle of abuse continues.

But Morrigan does. She straight up tells her abuser "I will not be the mother you were to me." To have a character who survived childhood abuse be able to reach a point in their life where they can take back their personhood from their abuser is pretty damn important, actually. To this day I get weepy just thinking about it.

And then fucking veilguard happened.

Not only does it not matter if Kieran is alive or if Morrigan drank from the well (something that would BIND HER SPIRIT TO HER ABUSER), but Morrigan straight up let Mythal hitch a ride in her. The very thing that Morrigan tried to prevent ever since the first goddamn game? And we're all just supposed to accept and be ok with this?

The only way I can see this not being a complete character assassination of Morrigan is if Mythal just straight up possessed her unwillingly/killed her. Have Mythal use Morrigan as a information receptacle for new players, but also use old players' already-implemented relationship with her as a way to manipulate them. Either way, shit sucks.

Then there's the Crows. You know, the guild who takes children from brothels, orphanages, the streets and puts them through Hunger Games levels of training in which they either die or survive to become a slave assassin for the rest of their life. Not in veilguard. We're all just one big happy family. We rule Antiva, yippee!

Finally, there's Solas. One could argue his entire existence is the product of abuse, and everything that has happened in Thedas is because of it. I think framing his regrets as physical manifestations that want to kill him is a really interesting narrative choice. Unlocking the regret murals was one of the very few parts of this game that invoked a strong emotional response from me, not just because I'm an unapologetic Solas Enjoyer but because the implications are heartbreaking.

And then the game has you sit through the most fucking unbearable CBT group therapy session to talk about them with some of the most annoying damn people in Thedas who treat the literal apocalyptic levels of abuse Solas went through for millennia as something like a joke? And we the player are not given the option to challenge this? This game makes the point to force the player to agree with the flippant attitudes brought up from this.

Then brings up the final scene with Solas. Do I think the meeting with Mythal and Solas was handled well? Yes and no, but that's for another time. Solas is so far in the trenches of the trauma of abuse that he will not stop until his abuser pretty much tells him "I'm done abusing you." I think this was good and bad, again another time.

The way Solas interacts with his abuser is the direct flipside of how Morrigan does. You see more than one way someone can heal/not heal from it.

Morrigan, someone with arguable little power in the world, stands up against her abuser unflinchingly.

Solas, described through history as a GOD, someone with unfathomable amounts of knowledge and power, cowers and offers his abuser a literal weapon to kill him with, unprompted.

If this was a good game, it would be about regret but also about survivor's guilt, something that those who survived abuse have to deal with for the rest of their lives. But it's not, because it's a a bad game.

[vigilskeep]

avoiding most reviews like crazy for fear of spoilers, however I’m scared that some have said that rook can do no wrong even when picking the most aggressive impolite options, there’s never any social consequences for *choosing* to be rude, or even dismissing others worldviews and beliefs.

i will say a lot about inquisition, but at least it let the player have complicated relationships with the party by not having everyone agree to everything they say as the word of god

us getting to have complicated relationships with the party in dragon age inquisition is, frankly, news to me

personally i’ve seen more of people suggesting you can’t be as rude in the first place, than people saying the game doesn’t react when you are? to which i have to say, yes, interactions with the party are going to be different in veilguard than in previous dragon age games. they’re writing a protagonist who the plot requires to be more of a hero type who chose to join this venture, every party member is essential to the main plot, and they’re openly going for a “found family” dynamic, which (i would strongly argue) they’ve never done before. the group is intended to work as a whole, to be people who all care about each other, rather than simply being tied together by your player character. you’re not going to have a situation like in every other game where companions can get thrown out or betrayed or aggressively belittled by the protagonist, because this party simply would not work if you were doing that to certain members. the story they are telling this time would not make sense

however, i’m yet to see that that means we can’t have complicated relationships with the companions? in fact, we know it allows for main plot choices with lasting, drastic consequences on our relationships with certain companions. we know you can disagree with characters and still progress your relationships with them. there are new opportunities that we never had in previous games for all companions to be closely involved in what’s going on, and thus for all companions to have opinions that matter on all of rook’s decisions. i’ve already seen footage of companion commentary absolutely not holding back on challenging even relatively small choices

i think challenges from this style of companion can be very compelling in their own way. if all these companions are considered equally good-aligned by the narrative and care about each other, and they still sharply disagree, it suggests fewer conflicts with simple right answers. i think that could be a breath of fresh air from previous dragon age games which have often and regularly fallen into the trap of “obvious good answer” and “the answer your slightly evil companions will like”. there’s a reason so many worldstate decisions and quest endings are overwhelmingly popular, right? isn’t it possible it will be just as interesting to engage with a story where you are definitively written as good-aligned, but that means you get real choices between options just as justifiable as each other—or as bad as each other?

it’s a change so it’s by nature not going to be for everyone. you’re not going to be able to play certain kinds of character that you could in previous games and if that’s what you were looking for in another da game, that’s a disappointment. but i don’t think dragon age should necessarily be restricted by that forever? like i don’t think it’s necessarily conducive to good storytelling to always have to input evil/mean options and reactivity just for the sake of it. and i completely understand why it would be detrimental to the game they’ve chosen to make this time. their primary selling point and concept is the complex team dynamics. can you imagine the sheer bulk of writing it would take to have these companions as thoroughly invested in each other’s lives as they seem to be, and let you be horrible to particular ones? for how many players’ benefit? for what story coherency, when building these relationships is the plot of the game? i don’t really see the point

that’s how i feel about it idk. i’m optimistic. i also don’t rlly think jumping to conclusions at this point is worthwhile. the reviews are largely positive. it’s coming out in a day and a half. let’s just wait and see?

[thelonelyshore-if]

The Lonely Shore Devlog #9

( 07/06/2024 ) Chapter One, Part Two: 87,636 words Added: +40,887 words Total Wordcount: 201,865 words

Hey everyone! Popping in for the first devlog in a while. Apologies that I haven't posted one recently--mostly I've been hesitating because I feel like I don't have much new to say.

Still--this is long overdue.

There are a couple of reasons the update is taking a while to be completed. The first--and biggest--is that the ending scene(s) of the chapter are incredibly complex, coding-wise, for me. There are a few different variables to keep track of and I'm far too stubborn to adjust the plot to simplify.

To keep things vague, the MC gets the opportunity to do something, and can either go at it alone or bring Jay, Ravi, or both along. Which means there are essentially four different worldstates I'm accounting for. That being said, I'm finally at the end of it. There's still a bit that needs wrapping up, but it's coming.

Also, my mental health has been...pretty terrible, recently. Writing on top of mental illness and working full time has felt near impossible some days. I'm doing my best to take breaks and practice self-care, but unfortunately it doesn't always lend to the fastest writing.

The goal is to get the update out by the end of this month. I'm determined.

Thank you all for your patience, and here's a little plot-relevant teaser for your trouble:

[curioussubjects]

been thinking about the critique of the lords of fortune being too sanitized wrt how they handle their loot. i don't disagree that it's rather cute that these pirates are the good guys, promise! BUT i don't think it's a lazy writing cop out meant to evade accusations of being ~problematic (or, well, not entirely anyway).

first thing: that view is largely given to the player by taash, who i think appears to be a bit naive about the entire endeavor. they are, after all, much younger than the rest of the veilguard. and they have a lot of personal reasons to be biased in favor of the lords of fortune.

second thing: it seems datv is taking for granted the worldstate in which isabela comes back to kirkwall with the relic and helps hawke deal with the fallout. that mess being what it was, it makes perfect sense that isabela (as a founding member and leader of the lords of fortune) would try to...not replicate that outcome in the future -- and she implies as much during taash's recruitment task when she says a relic can be worth gold or a war. it's a very pragmatic approach to plunder rather than a completely altruistic one (and flies a little in the face of taash's "we aren't assholes" claim). i mean, the lords straight up charge a finders fee for the important ~cultural relics they find. and rook themselves can call it out as extortion (even if leadership tries to avoid it from being too much extortion lol)

third thing: i think the lords of fortune as they are presented in the game are also a thought experiment. can there be ethical pirates and delvers? and i can't fault the dev team for playing with the concept because that's definitely something fiction is for. whether they did it well or arrived at a satisfactory answer is another matter entirely, but the presence of the attempt isn't inherently a problem.

all that being said, criticism about the dev's settler bias are important here and deeply affect how the lords of fortune are characterized and how well the thought experiment is handled narratively. i'm not, however, qualified to make that analysis properly, so i won't touch on it beyond acknowledging that it matters a lot.

[sampirism]

talkn bout my opinions on rook and varric and roleplay and feeling disconnected (roleplay in a game sense not the freaky sense. sorry) - SPOILERS FOR ENTIRE GAME, BEWARE. this post is WAY too long. sorry about that too.

it's very evident that bioware/EA wanted an action/adventure game first and an RPG second, but let me type at you.

i hate to say that i didn't feel particularly sad about varric's fate, due to the structure of the game. it is, in hindsight, completely obvious that he was not alive! i just hadn't been thinking about varric much at all the entire game because you have limited opportunity to talk to him in the infirmary or when he plops around barefoot when everyone decides to sit at a table and talk about how fucked we are. i genuinely forgot he was there otherwise.

he barely feels like a guy himself. because there's no personalized worldstate, any specific mentions to events or characters might be jarring to the player who may have made a different choice along the way.

no one talks about how sorry they are about varric because they CAN'T or the twist is completely revealed. even with another DA2 character in the game (who my hawke romanced. who is now dead in the fade. glad to see you're LIVING IT UP ISABELA!!! (I'm jk. a little.))

there's no response rook can say to condolences outside of "oh, thanks" without the game fully revealing its Twist, because "I'll tell him you said hi" and "he'll be up and walking in no time!" are only reasonable responses from a Mourn Watcher, and even then, should still cause your companions to be a little alarmed. the closest we get to this is the inquisitor making reference to lost friends, and rook visually registers it, but its swept under the rug and moved on from immediately.

(i know we're all mentally unwell in this lighthouse repressing our feelings but jesus christ)

despite spending two games with him and enjoying him as a character, I struggle with feeling much for his loss AS my rook, because i found there to be no meaningful connection between him and rook. i was only told i was supposed to have one.

the game wanted so badly get the ball rolling with an immediate threat, its at the expense of roleplay. you could argue that da2 and inq also started with Immediate Threats but you are also very limited in the choosing of your backstory in those games.

rook was deliberately designed to be more open-ended, with more similarity to origins, but still gave you a prequel where you felt what your life was before The World Began To End.

there's this conversation you can walk in on with lucanis and davrin, where they're talking about their worst jobs. there are three dialogue for rook I think and i can only remember two but they were "I don't want to talk about it" or "man I have the dreadwolf in my head". (I... honestly think the third option was very similar to the second one but I have a very bad memory. sorry)

i played a mourn watcher mage. i had to have done some messed up spirit stuff. some bone shenanigans. not able to mention my Down With Nobles rebellion at all. i halfway expected it to be revealed that my rook was just like a shitty pawn (haha) and actually all her memories are fake and not real. but obviously you meet people from your shared backstory and they do know OF you but they don't really know you

in mass effect 1, there were some unique missions related to both the backstory and psychological profile you picked for shepard. they were short, and nothing happens like that in 2+3 that i remember, but they are unique to your character and are something at least.

no one really asks you much more about yourself! mourn watcher rook is literally Found In The Crypts as an Infant, an incredible mystery that you have to fill in the blanks yourself, which could be something someone wants-- but i personally like my characters a little more predefined in a game such as dragon age. vague history worked for me in games like skyrim and fallout new vegas, even baldurs gate! but makes me feel wholly disconnected from the story and group here.

there was a fair amount of dialogue choices for mourn watcher, especially with Emmrich-- talking with emmrich was one of the few times my rook felt like A Person-- but there were other times that my companions seemed to think emmrich was the only necromancer/watcher on the team. (i even specialized in death caller!)

by containing all the dialogue with companions to ! markers and outings, it's weird to be unable to have any conversations without being able to provide personal insight, whereas some NPCs in inquisition actively asked you about your past.

its particularly noticeable because of lucanis, whom my rook romanced. the dude has a lot to say about nevarran culture and the necropolis and such, and we can have zero conversations on the matter lol.

maybe this is like, really a mourn watcher thing? maybe it feels better as a crow or a warden. but if you offer me the choice to be a freak crawling around in a tomb. i am going to be.

TLDR: i really feel that a prequel mission, a recruitment by varric then a timeskip, a personal quest tied to the consequences of your backstory, something, anything, to make rook feel like an actual part of the world, was a necessity and sincerely a missed opportunity. if you actually read this far, thanks!

[a-morrigan-loving-brosca]

Let's talk about the Well of Sorrows (or more precisely about the aftermath).

My first playthrough, Kieran did not exist. I hadn't imported my save even though my warden had romanced Morrigan, so even if it didn't show in Inquisition, I was veeeery attached to Morrigan (and I still am !). Then, going blind into the Well of Sorrows quest, I let Morrigan drink. First thing to say is that my morriganmancing warden had refused the dark ritual, and died. I regretted not trusting her. So letting her drink from the Well was a way for me to trust her at least with this character, at least in this timeline.

Then came the reveal of Flemythal. And I was devastated. I wanted so hard for Morrigan to be free from her mother, and here I sent her right between her claws. I wanted to trust her but I felt like I doomed her instead, etc etc. This was the first time I was devastated by this quest.

Fast forward to today. I play the trilogy a second time (this time using imports to have a coherent worldsave). My queen Cousland accepted the ritual, Kieran existed, all good. And then I did the Well of Sorrows again. I think "this time, I will not doom Morrigan, so I will drink from the well". It seems only fair that my Lavellan gets to reclaim what she can of her culture, anyway. So I go with my messy memories of no Kieran/morrigan drank to this worldstate where kieran exists/inquisitor drank. Which gives a quest, well, vastly different from what I remember - the chase in the Fade, meeting Flemeth there... Well no matter, because Morrigan is free, right ?

Except Flemeth has Kieran, she wants to take him, and I can't even help because my Inquisitor drank from the well so she's forced to hold Morrigan back. Fuck. Though I suppose having Morrigan drinking wouldn't have helped either. And all the scene where Morrigan talks about how much she cares for Kieran. And Flemeth saying she will always chase her and her son even if she leaves now. Shit. Not to mention the fact that Morrigan thanks me for drinking from the Well instead of her (I'm sorry I didn't the first time ! I'm sorry I can never save you completely !)

Second time this quest has devastated me, except that this time I thought I came prepared.

I have so much to say about Morrigan and so much to say about Flemeth. They just make me crazy.

[invinciblerodent]

I'm a very decisive person and I need genuine help because I'm like. straight up unable to choose one myself 🥲

Propaganda:

Tristan is very direct and "thinks in straight lines"- he's very much an "ends justify the means" person, which both makes sense for someone who's been possessed by a spirit of Purpose since he was just 17, and will create an interesting dynamic with Solas. (Doesn't leave a lot of time for gathering relationship experience though, so he's going in blind on that front- which, the undead/necromancer thing is just...! Chef's kiss.) Cons, he's a warrior like my first Rook, and him making a key choice with this "greater good" mindset will create a similar overall game.

Coris has a very specific plan heading into the story, which she will fail spectacularly at step one by catching legitimate feelings for her target- definitely something the Crows would discourage. She's a bit less tied to the main plot, but for her worldstate I rolled a solavellan one, just to see, and rogue gameplay has been new and a lot of fun in the short segment I've played so far. (plus, there's the thought that "no one in house Dellamorte kneels", but she's a dwarf, so that's the only way she and Lucanis can actually see eye to eye, which I like a lot.) Cons, I just finished an run in which I played a female character and romanced a male one, and I kinda want some change on that front.

Marcus has a lot of gender-thoughts (he/him nonbinary), a gentle affection for the strange or macabre, and a knack for getting himself into trouble in all new, and excitingly strange ways despite meaning well. His affinity with loss and grief is also going to work really sweetly with Bellara's romance path (it'll give me a chance to stretch my philosophy muscles), and I'm kind of excited to finally try out a mage- so far mage gameplay has never jived really well with my style, but this one feels dynamic and pretty fun so far! Cons, he'll probably make a lot of the same decisions as my first character, just by virtue of being nice (and maybe even somewhat naive). (Pro, he's, like, really pretty.)

Tanner will need a severe redesign, if not a complete reroll, because I'm not really in love with the face she currently has, but I'm still a sucker for her anyway. She's 500 pounds of whoopass in a 120 pound bag, a definite knife enthusiast, and one who, in her poetry, will likely exchange imagery of rolling waves likened to the curve of a lover's hip for that of a star-filled, infinite sky like an inverse map of freckles. Cons, there's a part near the ending that is going to be really, really difficult emotionally for her story specifically, and it'll probably color the entire experience somewhat. (My partner is also planning a Harding-kisser f!dwarf for his second run after he's done with his first, Neve-kissing run, so that dings Tanner's score too.)

.... And all Verbena needs as propaganda is 1. she's a Davrin-kisser (and now that I KNOW how that goes I can get more purposeful with it for fic-fuel), and 2.

helplessly gesturing at her pretty, pretty face

[dragonologist-phd]

Fic Wrap-Up Meme: 2024

(repurposing an old tag game to yap about fics, and i encourage anyone else who wants to do the same!)

FANDOMS - Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Pillars of Eternity

3 FANFICS WITH THE MOST KUDOS IN 2024 -

Pagan's Prayer (BG3):

Shadowheart isn't accustomed to placing her trust in other people. Neither is Naia. But these are interesting times, and stranger things have happened. (A loose re-telling of the game, with a focus on Tav/Shadowheart romance)

Songs of Elysium (PWOTR):

A collection of small one-shots and stories woven into the tale of Piper Chanterelle- a tiefling bard who only ever wanted to survive, until she suddenly found the power of Elysium dancing at her fingertips.

Of Diamonds And Dust (DA):

Marja Aeducan and Darvis Brosca lead lives as different as one could possibly imagine. Marja Aeducan, a member of the nobility and second in line for the throne, has spent her life maneuvering the dangerous political machinations of the Diamond Quarter. Meanwhile, Darvis Brosca, a Casteless dwarf rejected by society, does whatever it takes to survive on the streets of Dust Town. When a Grey Warden arrives in Orzammar, the lives of Marja and Darvis are forever changed. Driven from the city by misfortune and betrayal, the two must join the ranks of the Wardens in order to save their own lives. But the surface has far greater dangers than they realize. The noble and the thief will need to stand together if they're going to fight against the oncoming Blight, the brewing civil war, and the strange surface malady called "sunburn".

FAVORITE OPENING LINE FROM A FIC IN 2024 -

(limiting this to one-shots for the sake of simplicity! i don't have the patience to sort through one-shot collections and multi-chapters sorry)

Command Me To Be Well (BG3):

Ursa’s mouth is full of copper.

FAVORITE CLOSING LINE FROM A FIC IN 2024 -

(same rule as above for simplicity!)

Violent Delight (BG3):

It’s a weak barb, but it’s enough to let Naia leave with some small semblance of pride still intact, and to let herself pretend she does not feel Araj’s smug, crimson gaze on her as she goes.

FIC I’M MOST PROUD OF IN 2024 -

i've answered this before in various asks, but it's a tie between Love & War and Burn Clean (both pwotr fics!)

Love & War grew way beyond what i originally had planned for it, but i love how it turned out and it's one of my favorite longfics that i've written- and it feels so good just to finally have it completed

Burn Clean was just something very different than my usual fics, but i loved putting it together and i'm really happy with how it turned out. i've been working on a follow-up of sorts, which has stalled a bit as i hit an inspiration wall but which i do plan to finish- the whole worldstate her just really gets my wheels turning!

NEW THINGS I HAVE TRIED IN 2024 -

as i said, Burn Clean was a fic where i got to mess around with a different kind of style, and that was very fun! i also wrote my first official fic for Ursa, my BG3 Dark Urge, and i have so many more ideas for her that i hope to add to the collection!

GOALS FOR 2025 -

despite what i just said about new ideas i have so many wips to finish...i do plan to make some progress on those! but i'll still be coming back to new ideas of course, and i do have some one-shots already planned out for femslash feb!

[a-drama-addict]

the dragonage brainworms so bad im already planning my dadw character. ough

[blackjackkent]

One of the things I've been excited about regarding reaching this point in the game is that @astreamofstars informed me that there is Additional Minsc Content which I missed during Hector's playthrough! Specifically, last time I was so excited to follow him and meet Boo that I completely missed that you can see Minsc's little hideout down in the sewers, with his living area and some of his keepsakes. c:

He's actually got kind of a cute little setup here - bed area (complete with a cute little divider), cooking firepit, washtub, dining table. A lot of random chests and boxes and papers lying around. It amused me that the first thing I noticed was that the only thing on the dining table is "Whole Chicken" which feels on-brand.

The washbasin has several soap bars and sponges next to it. I know I'm hung up on the presence of this washbasin but for some reason I am deeply charmed at Minsc living in a sewer with his rodent and nevertheless having an elaborate bathing setup. (Alternate interpretation - he has it because it is His Home and Should Have a Bath but never actually used it. XD )

On a table next to the bed is a book labeled "The Stone Lord's Sketches," which is both adorable and heartbreaking:

Buddy. :( It's okay, you can remember him and have him back now.

The real treasure trove, however, is in the next room, past the wall Minsc smashed through, which has a number of items in what seem to be places of honor on pedestals along the walls.

It seems like someone at Larian forgot to make models for these items, because all of them (with the exception of the "Cracked Wooden Mask" look in-game like inscribed stone tablets. But we can use our imaginations!

All of the characters have commentary on each one if they're the active character to click on them, although Minsc's comment takes precedence if he's in the party even if he's not the active character. I'm going to list out all of them because I like digging through the dialogue files, but obviously Minsc and Jaheira have the most relevant things to say about each.

-----

Starting with "A Mailed Fist":

Narrator: A mailed fist in the Firecam armor style. RAKHA: Gorgeous mail on that fist. ASTARION: A mailed fist, for all your punching needs. LAE'ZEL: A mailed fist? Brutal indeed, but I prefer weapons with a more elegant profile. GALE: The mailed fist of a paladin of Torm. No doubt many felt the steely grip of its wearer's righteous justice. SHADOWHEART: A mailed fist. There must be a story behind this. WYLL: A mailed fist? Great for a paladin. Not so much for a warlock. KARLACH: Nice mail. HALSIN: A mailed fist. What tale does this have to tell? MINTHARA: A mailed fist - an inelegant but brutal weapon. JAHEIRA: Keldorn Firecam. He tried to teach Minsc much - a happy thing, that paladins are so patient. MINSC: Keldorn Firecam! He spoke much of honor and faith, but he fought like a berserker when it counted.

Keldorn! In this worldstate he traveled with Caden for a little bit and was a good mentor to the young Bhaalspawn for a time - although Caden eventually forced him to stay home and fix his marital problems. XD

-----

Next, "A Turnip":

Narrator: A humble turnip, preserved by drying. RAKHA: Huh. Dinner? ASTARION: It's - it's a turnip. Just a turnip, for all to see. LAE'ZEL: A turnip. Or is it a swede? Could never tell them apart. GALE: A humble vegetable depicted amongst such adventurous company. That is a turnip for the books. SHADOWHEART: A turnip? Not the most exciting of keepsakes. WYLL: A turnip. That's, er, something all right. KARLACH: All right, explain the turnip. HALSIN: A turnip? Not my favorite of nature's root vegetables, I must admit. MINTHARA: Is this animal, mineral, or fungus? I have not seen its like before. JAHEIRA: Jan Jansen. I admired his respect for growing things. Less so, his disregard for his own ripe smell. MINSC: Jan. A strange little man, but a fine friend. I can forgive him his love of turnips.

LOL. Of the five past companions represented here, Jan is the only one Caden never traveled with. He witnessed the little gnome getting carted off to prison early in the game, promptly decided that was something well worth minding his own business about, and never followed up further.

Also holy shit, that world-class pun from Gale out of nowhere.

-----

"A Warhammer":

Narrator: A worn but still capable warhammer, sized for a halfling. RAKHA: What a hammer. Looks like it has a history, too. ASTARION: Ah, a warhammer. A beautifully messy weapon. LAE'ZEL: Quite the warhammer. I imagine it's crushed more than a few skulls. GALE: No ordinary warhammer. Carved with the Luiric symbol for the number three. I wonder why. SHADOWHEART: It must take quite some brawn to wield a warhammer like that. WYLL: A warhammer like this cracks your skull, and you won't ever be the same after. KARLACH: Oh, wow. I bet that can do some real damage. HALSIN: An impressive hammer. MINTHARA: This hammer could shatter even the thickest of skulls. JAHEIRA: Mazzy Fentan. A living lesson not to trade tankards with a halfling; they have much less distance to fall. MINSC: Mazzy Fentan. Hah - not even the gods dared deny her when she sought to become a paladin!

Mazzy! Definitely Caden's favorite of the "flex slot" companions he traveled with in BG2. She was a super fierce halfling and wasn't officially a paladin but wanted to be. Nice to hear that maybe she reached that pinnacle in the end. :) (And LOL Jaheira.)

I'm not sure what the significance is of Gale's comment about the number three, and Google is unrevealing.

-----

"A Pair of Wings":

Narrator: A woodcarving of a pair of wings, like an eagle's but longer somehow. RAKHA: A pair of wings. ASTARION: Some discarded... wings? All right... LAE'ZEL: A pair of wings... GALE: The sylvan pinions of an Avariel. No easy task to capture their hollow delicacy in stone. SHADOWHEART: Wings? Who did these belong to? WYLL: A pair of wings? Hm. KARLACH: Some... wings? HALSIN: A pair of wings? MINTHARA: Wings. Were these plucked from some unfortunate celestial? JAHEIRA: Aerie's wings. She didn't need them, in the end. MINSC: Aerie. A brave avariel, who agreed to be my witch while I needed. She went in search of new wings.

Haha, the whole Act 1 gang is pretty befuddled by this one apparently. (And it seems like there might have been some confusion among the writers about whether they were carved wings or real ones.)

But awwww, yay, Aerie! Jaheira's comment on her is very sweet. :3 In this worldstate, of course, Aerie is safely in Faenya-Dail with her husband Caden and (by this point) several generations worth of descendents. I choose to believe that Minsc is speaking in a poetic metaphor, and the new wings Aerie went in search of were those of her son Quayle. :)

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And finally... the "Cracked Wooden Mask":

Narrator: A cracked wooden mask with female features, in the Rashemi style. RAKHA: Nice mask. What's the story here? ASTARION: A wooden mask. Not bad, but it's seen better days. LAE'ZEL: A wooden mask, perhaps of some cultural significance? GALE: A wychlaran face veil, worn by powerful witches in the Urlingwood wilds of Rashemen. The adornment of a skilled spell-weaver. SHADOWHEART: A wooden mask. Looks old. WYLL: A wooden mask - the sort worn by Rashemen's witches. KARLACH: Nice wooden mask. HALSIN: A wooden mask. For what purpose? MINTHARA: This mask is beautiful. I envy the one who had the authority to wear it. JAHEIRA: Hah. Even the wychlaran's mask could not hide Dynaheir's beauty - nor dull her daggered eyes. MINSC: All over Rashemen, they raised statues to Dynaheir. But this is Minsc's true monument to her - her wychlara mask.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. <3 <3 Dynaheir. <3 Minsc is such a good, loyal boy.

I love that Gale was able to clock the significance of all of these items (except the turnip) on sight. Wyll picks up on this one too which is interesting; wonder if a Rashemi envoy or two came through Wyrm's Rock when he was younger.

-----

All in all I'm a big feels puddle about all of this. I love that (more or less by chance) these are almost all characters that Caden did indeed hang out with extensively in the past games. And it is very bittersweet to see Minsc, who had the past ripped away from him by force, clinging on to these little remnants of it - particularly pieces of his past witches - with all of his strength.

[carriehobbs]

Hi ^^ I was reading your tags on the tina/verda finding out post and first of all, you are so right that not stopping verda's research is not the same as telling him.

I like that you mentioned the bobby finding out path, because that one *is* a choice we get to make, and it made me wonder: what is syd's reasoning for not wiping bobby's memory?

hi seren!! 💕💕

yeah, not stopping verda or tina from finding out =/= telling them directly!! and i think the detective should be allowed to have a variety of feelings about the fallout of tina and verda finding out (whether the detective told them directly or not), some of which may include retroactive self-blame for their situation, but it shouldn't be just written into the narrative like that (ex. if alina saw how poorly verda reacted to finding out about the supernatural and felt guilty because she could have stopped him from finding out and chose not to, that's a completely fair reaction. but it shouldn't be the only option, and it shouldn't be treated the same as if she told him explicitly).

but i digress

so, bobby (or douglas) does not find out about the supernatural in any of my detective's (current canon) worldstates. this is because all of my detectives are 1) people who take the stakes of their mission in b3 seriously and appreciate the opportunity to have backup and 2) are willing to set aside their feelings for rebecca (whatever they are) in order to get the backup they need to ensure their mission succeeds. however, as a player, i am very interested in having a subplot or character arc for bobby&douglas (depending on if the detective is on the bobby route or the douglas route. i'm going to use "bobby&douglas" as a shorthand to mean "whichever character's route the detective is on" for the rest of this post).

as wayhaven is still in development, i don't know yet if there will be alternative subplots or character arcs for bobby&douglas for detectives who did ally with rebecca at the auction (and so bobby&douglas didn't find out about the supernatural). if there aren't any further subplots/character arcs for bobby&douglas, i've seriously considered going back and having one/some of my detectives make different decisions at the auction, so at least one/some of my detectives have the opportunity to explore this subplot in their worldstates. as such, i've spent a lot of time thinking about 1) which decisions would each detective make about bobby&douglas? (lauren would wipe bobby's memories, alina would encourage douglas to work with the agency, syd would let bobby keep his memories, i waffle a bit on this but i think andy would let bobby keep her memories) and 2) which detective would, realistically, not ally with rebecca at the auction and actually unlock the supernatural subplot for bobby&douglas? all this is to say that, in syd's worldstate, bobby never learned about the supernatural, but if he had, she would have let him keep his memories.

the short answer to your question is: if bobby learned about the supernatural, syd would have let him keep his memories because she and bobby have a good relationship. the long answer is under the cut, since this is long enough as it is

(unless i'm suuuuuuper mistaken) wayhaven has 2 different stats for the detective's relationship with bobby: there's a past relationship stat, which you decide at the beginning of b1 and is on a scale of 1-4 (i don't know which numbers are which relationship off the top of my head, but let's say 1 is "everything's fine and there's no hard feelings" and 4 is "i want to hit them with my car"), and a current relationship stat, which takes into account your ongoing decisions through the books and involves adding value to your relationship stats with every decision. in terms of pure stats, syd's past relationship stat with bobby is a 2 (lauren's and alina's are at 4, andy's is at 3. bobby is the ex of all of my detectives) and her current relationship stat is fairly high (it's an invisible stat, so i don't know the numerical value).

syd's relationship with bobby is a little complicated. syd felt incredibly betrayed by the plagiarism incident and there was a lot of hurt between them after the breakup. they kind of fell out of each other's lives afterwards, during all of the messiness. however, syd managed to do something none of my other detectives have managed to do when it comes to their relationship with bobby: syd moved on. so while there is still lingering hurt and their relationship will never be quite what it was, syd doesn't hate bobby anymore an hasn't for a long time (this hurt is why their past relationship stat is a 2 and not a 1).

additionally, one thing about syd is that, if you have ever been someone important to her (even if you aren't close anymore), she will always care about you, at least a little bit. this significantly impacts her current relationship with bobby. when he comes to her and expresses concern about the murders in b1, she cares about him enough to try to assure and relate to him. when he comes by her house unexpectedly in b2, she's worried enough about his sudden and unexpected arrival that she lets him in and expresses concern for him. and, if you have a good relationship with bobby, he does express care and concern for the detective, in his own way (if you have a bad relationship with bobby, he's pretty unrepentant about fucking up your whole day; however, if you have a good relationship with him, there are moments where he does show he cares. i'd love to pull up exact lines, but i don't have any handy). syd doesn't have any lingering romantic feelings for bobby at all (she deliberately doesn't kiss bobby in b2), but she does still care about him. he's probably always going to be someone she has some kind of attachment to.

(i don't remember the exact lines here so excuse me for potentially incorrectly paraphrasing but) when bobby and syd talk at the agency after the auction, bobby says something about how he wouldn't want to lose the memories and knowledge he's just gained, and how he's wanted for a while to be able to be closer to her and hopes this will bring them closer together. at that moment, syd respects bobby's wishes regarding his autonomy and his desire to keep his memories and (perhaps inadvisably - we will see in b4!) genuinely thinks that he won't tell anyone about the supernatural (yes, he normally over-sensationalizes his papers and tends to report on anything that would make her life harder, but he might keep the knowledge of the supernatural under wraps because it's important to her, it can be a secret the two of them share, it can bring them closer, etc). ultimately, syd believes that their relationship has been positive enough after all this time that bobby won't turn around and betray her trust again. maybe this is (incredibly uncharacteristically) optimistic of her, but syd has always had a weak spot when it comes to the people she cares about, and syd does still care about bobby.

[transpathfinder]

veilguard thots

[massive plot spoilers]

ok i did say i was gonna write up some brief thoughts after i completed but first of all before i start, as a lucanismancer i just want to say any lucanismancer who hates neve kys. you are not affiliated with me don't even speak to me or breathe in my direction. and bioware, idk when u will realise i have 2 hands. 1 is for lucanis 1 is for neve and my spare dick is for spite so just get with the programme

alright that being said... yeah i didn't really like the game much. i think it's easily the weakest DA game, which i consider a pretty big failing since i am not someone who thinks inquisition is good. i had a lot of problem with inquisition's main story and open world, but somehow veilguard's story is. Worse. i don't even have the energy to get into supervillain evil blighted elvhen gods, turning the old gods as stupid little dragon thralls, because obviously, again, nothing pagan or elemental matters, they're not real, they're not godly or saintly or divine, just stupid animals. making the antaam breakaway into this crazed faction you keep fighting cos they absolutely had zero ideas or interest in tying positively into qunari culture you can have a relationship with, it becomes an easy excuse - ''they're not reeeeaally qunari teehee'' first of all, crafting both the antaam and venatori into easily siding with supervillain elvhen gods who want to bring the blight to the world is fucking weak and pathetic excuse for it cos it doesn't even make sense with their goals/ideologies. a very, very cheap entry into the lore, i think lazy and diminishes the world as well the utter thinness of companion background and conversations. i know there's no dialogue wheel, but to me that's a basic aspect of getting to know in-depth background lore about factions, status of the worldstate, different parties' political ideologies and leanings, in standard video game infodumps cos yes this is still a video game, you need to write for it rather than focus on the realism of how conversations play out.... u can't even call solas a monster without morrigan attempting to school you like you're 5. this game wants you to suck solas' dick so bad as if the rest of us from inquisition didn't already peg him as a person who wants to cause genocide. veilguard only told us he already caused it once and now wants to do so again, but in 2 entire games, he is constantly made to be this sympathetic and deep figure that i'm supposed to be enamoured and intrigued by and want to save. why would i want to save this thousand plus year old mf who eradicated a race knowingly!! this game doesn't even give me the opportunity to kill him, i was so disappointed by my 3 choices in the end with him, of which 2 are literally functionally the exact same. there's no way i was gonna redeem this piece of shit even though i had mythal's essence peacefully or whatever the fuck yeah this other abuser piece of shit is also a hero now that morrigan carries lmafoo give me a break. all da2 did was demonise anders over and over again, and again in inquisition. these chars are not even in the same universe of ''crimes they've committed'' and yet, the disparity in writers sucking one dick and trying to get u to hate the other is crazy. i hate white liberals soo much fuck all of you!!!! bitchass mfs

which brings me to why i think this game is so thin and written so childishly - it's desperate to be liked. it wants to be liked by the masses sooo bad, that it becomes nothing to me. everyone is sweet, everyone is lovely, all factions are uwu heroes, even antivan crows, who torture and abuse children but hey nvm they're cool heroes now with no nuance. i loved all the crew, but the game makes it exactly so. no difficult stances to combat, nothing akin to any previous DA game, where there's at least a companion or 2 people would find their nerves fray over, which is the point. this is the only game that feels so typically found family where everyone loves each other, because it's deliberately made to be that way. a child's idea of big threats and saving the world and everyone happy in traditional hero centric journey with a team.

BUT EVEN THAT... it doesn't commit to it fully, because it so desperately also wants to teach u a lesson on how not everyone can survive this. so... yeah... harding died in my pt, and u know what? i felt nothing until the credits rolled. cos i straight up thought it wasn't real and we'd just get her back later. like she got stabbed and fell into the pit and i felt zero emotion cos i was like o okay she's injured we'll wait for this cutscene to end and next bit we'll look into a new sub-quest for finding her or something cos ofc i had already completed all personal quests, there's no way she would die unless the player didn't do it. and until the credits rolled i didn't believe she had cos i was just so stumped this game even pulled that... imagine the heartbreak and betrayal players who romanced her would have felt? it's soo shitty wtf... no idgaf how ''unrealistic'' it is everyone survives. this is a video game built off fun rp-ing and romances, which is a core bioware feature. you don't write romances and entice people on that front and then turn around and pull this shit. my god i'd have been livid but by then i was ready for the game to end so i already found myself semi-exhausted by the experience since i was maxed out at level 50 and already clocked in over 120++ hours taking my time with it slowly. certainly not something i binged through

it's not a horrible game... i do think the linear playstyle and the no death toggle was critical in my getting through it. i love the deviation from open world, and obviously, the lucanis romance really carried me through cos i adore the character and very much fell in love with him and the romance... and while like i said, i do love the crew as a whole, i can't shake the feeling away that it's an empty game void of classic DA mannerisms of choices and conflict of prior entries that i have strong memories of. i don't hate it and i'll still replay it in future if i do a DA run, but it hasn't captivated me enough. i may sound very angry in this write up but honestly i'm pretty chill in my explanation and thoughts about disliking this game. it's nothing to me. this DA game feels so bitchless and sauceless with no identity apart from ''wow i hope everyone loves this game i'm making this as palatable to for mass consumption as possible'' from hero to weak basic story to lack of imports from earlier games to classic hack-n-slash combat. definition of mid.

[rubyvroom]

BG3: the first playthrough

Because I always do my first playthrough of a game blind (unless I get completely 100% stuck, no guides) I have no idea how good/bad my worldstate is in BG3. But since I have not managed to romance* anyone I consider it a failure and I'm already planning my next playthrough. But since I've finally reached Baldur's Gate I'm going to play it out and see what kind of crazy result I'm going to get on my own.

I'm on a goody-two-shoes Paladin playthrough so it's probably pretty typical, but she's also a vengence paladin and a high persuader/deceptive so that keeps things lively

Good? Points? Maybe? Reformed Shadowheart away from Shar. Opposed the queen Gith and Lae'zel supports Orpheus now. Recruited Halsin and saved the nature kid. Rescued Tieflings from Moonlight Tower before I did Shar's Gauntlet. Isobel and Nightsong are hanging out in camp making heart eyes at each other and I keep trying to get in on that action

Bad? Things? Missed rescuing anyone from the fire in Act One. Some of the Tieflings died when I rescued them from the tower and others are mad at me. Could not figure out how to work the forge or do the brain puzzle. Did not rescue Zevlor or Mol or Will's Father. Killed Orthon. Jaheira is dead (big oops). Buddies with Emperor, don't know if that's a good idea. I'm half squid and I don't like what it did to Vez's face. Gale is also half squid. Realistically he was the only companion I could imagine doing it without being bullied into it. But I also bullied him into it. XD

Am currently looking for Astarion's vampire lord, not sure if I will encourage him to ascend or not. Would like to free Orpheus but my buddy Emperor will not like that. I let this kid into my camp but she is maybe a murder shapeshifter? Will do everything possible to save my BFF Karlach and find Shadowheart's parents and burninate the elder brain. Let's go endgame

*Was TRYING to romance Karlach and turned down everyone else trying to get with her, but it turns out I recruited her too late and got locked out. I did manage to get both Astarion and Halsin to visit the Drow twins with me, which was exciting at first, but kind of a bummer in practice.