#getting ready for DA4

[tennyo-elf]

First Impressions ~ My Dragon Age: Inquisition OCs

Ellana Lavellan 

(My Canon Inquisitor ~ Twin sister to Ellas Lavellan)

Age: 26 at the beginning of Inquisition, born on the 20th of Cloudreach, 9:15 Dragon Elvhen Patron God(dess): Mythal Elvhen way: Vir Atish'an Constellation: Equinor Animal: Lion, bear, Dragon, and/or Hawk Plant: Arbor Blessing, Elderflower Specialty: Knight Enchanter, Spirit/Creation Healer, Keeper Hobbies: Floral Arrangement, Herbalist  Romance: Cullen Rutherford Gender: Female Orientation: Heterosexual Profession: (Former) First to Clan Lavellan, Herald of Andraste, (former) Inquisitor, philanthropist, land owner, investor, healer, Collector of rare Elvhen artifacts, author (The Tale of Inquisitor Lavellan) Varric’s Nickname for them: Petals Body type: Slim but curvy (wide hips, nice size bust), yet toned Eyes: Vibrant Green (Glowing) Hair: Dark Red (long, typically in a ponytail) Skin: Clear, pale with sunburned cheeks/forehead Height: 5′ 6.5″ Weight: 146 lbs (mostly muscle) Strength- 6/10  Perception-  2/10  Endurance- 7/10  Charisma- 8/10  Intelligence- 9/10  Agility- 7/10  Luck- 1/10  Magic- 10/10 Colors- Green, yellow, white, red Smells- Embrium, Crystal Grace, Amyris (sandalwood) Food- Dalish Comfort Dish, edible flowers, fruits, jerky, hearth cakes, fried/sauteed scorpions/tarantulas/woodlice/locusts Fruit- Figs, Apple, Plums, strawberries Drinks- teas, wines, spirits Alcoholic drinks- Dalish Ale (Clan Lavellan version, often sweetened with strawberries and apples),  Vint-9 Rowan's Rose, West Hill Brandy, Chasind Sack Mead

(For personality reference, she would be 85% Blue Hawke, 10% Purple, 5% Red. Demon most likely to possess her would be Terror.)

Main emotion Icons (Left most used, right least used): 

For more information on Ellana: Link Link Link (More to come)

Iveani Lavellan  

(Archer Canon Inquistor)

Age: 24 at the beginning of Inquisition, born on the 26th of Harvestmere, 9:17 Dragon Elvhen Patron God(dess): Sylaise Elvhen way: Vir Atish'an, Way of Three Trees Constellation: Satinalis Animal: Badger, deer, frog, and/or otter Plant: Royal Elfroot, Pear blossom, Baby's breath Specialty: Tempest, Ranger, Bard Hobbies: Rock collecting, jewelry making, Alchemy, musician (novice) Romance: Solas Gender: Female Orientation: Bi/asexual Profession: (Former) Hunter to Clan Lavellan, (Former) Alchemist to Clan Lavellan, (former) Alchemist and Scout for the Inquisition (if Ellana is Inquisitor), caretaker to Shivana, roaming Alchemist of the Free Marches, guardian of remaining Elves, provider for the less fortunate, scout for the former Inquisitor (If Ellana is Inquisitor) Varric’s Nickname for them: Sunflower Body type: Slim with wide hips, round bum, small bust, muscled arms/back Eyes: Bright Blue Hair: Copper (Short, curly) Skin: Light brown, freckled Height: 5′5″ Weight: 141 (mostly muscle) Strength- 7/10 Perception- 7/10 Endurance- 8/10 Charisma- 7/10 Intelligence- 5/10 Agility- 8/10 Luck- 3/10 Magic- 0/10 Colors- Blue, purple, gold Smells- Lavender, Citrus, apples Food- Hearth Cakes topped with honey and berries, nuts, berries, jerky, fried edible bugs Fruit- Berries of all kinds Drinks- all types of fruit tea or spring water Alcoholic drinks- Fruit spirits of all kinds, Dalish Ale

(For personality reference, she would be 80% Purple Hawke, 20% Blue.)

Main emotion Icons (Left most used, right least used):

For more information on Iveani: (More to Come)

[corseque]

I honestly just wanted one single plot step that I could not predict given the 10 year wait. More behind the cut, I talk about Emet too, and I'm comparing his writing favorably to Solas' writing and why it worked better for me personally, but I am just talking about the writing skill that went into the games and not the dudes themselves, I love them both dearly of course. idk this is a mess and I am not going to edit it for clarity

For me, the game was a series of me saying

"ok I knew that. cool."

"oh yeah, I knew that. I guess it's good that the larger fandom knows about that now."

"nice, but yeah I already knew that too"

"that was something we've been talking about a lot for years"

"this thing they are acting like is a huge enormous reveal that the characters could not possibly have deduced through simply thinking about it in depth over the 10 years... the fans easily figured out by thinking about it in depth 10 years ago. So you would think his girlfriend would be able to figure it out more easily than we did. Like, why couldn't the game have been like 'oh lavellan already figured that out a while ago' it would have cost them nothing"

"this is something I've been thinking about for years, and now that it's being revealed, the companions' reactions to it are very irritating and jarring and unnecessary and I really dislike the experience I'm having right now, in this, the hour of my greatest triumph"

"this thing that is happening on my screen right now is something that I wrote an essay about 2 years ago describing how it would be a letdown if it happened without the correct setup"

"this way that they're characterizing Solas makes him less likable and less interesting than I have been finding him for all these years, and I have had people tell me 'no, he's simpler than you think' for years but I guess I was wrong, he really is simpler than I thought, so that fucking sucks. I wish I could take that information out of my brain."

"this thing is a retcon of information I have been thinking about for 10 years, and so I don't know how to follow along with this new direction, and I'm not sure if I even want to because it's not particularly interesting anyway"

"aw that was sweet"

"why is it like, so very impossible to have an honest back-and-forth with my favorite character about the dilemma that was most interesting to me about the previous game"

and then, as soon as, like, the other fans had caught up to the Solas lore that was really obvious from the other games, the game was.... over without anything surprising happening, or introducing a new element or plot point or perspective, or a real true twist (or two, or three) for those of us who have thought about it too hard for too long. It was very simple and easy, much, much, much, much easier than I was imagining. It all felt sort of like that Nicholson quote:

The thing was, the whole story was so interesting to think about because in 10 years, I couldn't figure out a good solution to it!!!!! It's why I was never able to write post-game fanfic about it. So I was stoked to find out some reveal we never knew about, some new information, in maybe a SERIES of steps of new information, that made the situation more complicated but also something that could be navigated by everyone involved. I know it was asking for a lot, but they had TEN YEARS, and they seemingly had set up the things they did in DAI on purpose, so surely they had some idea of a complex and satisfying narrative that would reconcile everyone.

The reason why I was expecting this is because FFXIV did a very similar story arc, which was started AND concluded WITHIN those 10 years (so it took the FFXIV team far less time to deliver as well). And the conclusion to the story in FFXIV did what I was expecting Dragon Age to do. So I thought, "holy shit, if this is the FFXIV version of this plot, how much more complicated is DA4 going to be!?!?" The DA devs also PLAYED FFXIV so they were completely aware, several years ago, of a satisfying story ending that was pretty darn similar.

People are probably going to think "oh, well Chelsea was disappointed because she spent too much time building it up in her head" but that's exactly it - I actually speculated and thought about FFXIV's story IN DEPTH NONSTOP for a year+ before its ending came out, and the ending absolutely blew me away. FFXIV Endwalker managed to introduce information and new story elements that I was not able to figure out in the YEAR I spent speculating on the ending of FFXIV's story. It took a complicated situation and revealed several several more facets to it that I was not able to predict, but were very interesting and thematically compelling, and took us all to surprising and climactic places that we could not have predicted.

Endwalker ("end" is in the title on purpose) too, was written to be THE ULTIMATE SATISFYING ENDING for a very long-running story in the exactly way that Veilguard SHOULD HAVE for Dragon Age, so while this complexity is being explored, FFXIV also gave catharsis to many different plot threads that have been built up through the previous expansions, until finally it ends with a bang. The story is desperately good to me, I loved it, it gave me closure for Dragon Age long before Veilguard was even revealed, and going back and looking at its story has made this whole thing far less painful for me.

So, I actually did not have a picture in my mind for how things SHOULD go. I just had the thought "I hope it's complicated and there are points of view or facts that we haven't before been exposed to, and the situation is resolved respectfully for Solas, not making him look like a fucking idiot (lol, the only thing I asked for). I don't even care what happens to Solas and Lavellan, I just need the story to be complicated and interesting to think about. Please, god, don't let it be "solas is wrong and he just needs to be convinced" because that's like the simplest story you could tell with this setup"

(btw they managed to tell Emet-Selch's story without making him seem like he's being an idiot on purpose or can never get anything right, and in fact the more the story goes on, the more you think of him as smart and capable and cool, so it is possible to write.... I wasn't asking for the entire moon)

And I played it and... yeah. Most of the story beats were more simple than I wanted them to be, a lot of them didn't make sense in my heart given the writing from Inquisition. (This is another essay, but if Solas' thematic story arc was always about him needing to let go of regrets, why was his personal quest the way it was? After that quest, doesn't he end up regretting not doing more....? Why did he never really talk about regret during Inquisition? If he was so trapped by regret, why was he able to do so many actions? It doesn't mesh well to me. The whole regret thing was very quarter-baked to me, I don't even like thinking about it.) His story never seemed like one that was as simple as being about one man's regrets, but then, I guess, it was always just about one man's regrets.

Emet-Selch's personal storyline (and the way it interacts with and affects the larger story) is very similar but much more cohesive and satisfying to me. It would be difficult to explain why without the aforementioned 5-hour essay. Emet-Selch's story IS about grief and anguish on a world-shaping scale in a similar way that Solas' was apparently always about letting go of regret, but Emet's story was also very pointedly and beautifully about that one theme for the entirety of his story from every tiny detail, from beginning to end - meanwhile, it seemed to me that they tried to introduce 'regret' as the main thrust of Solas' story only in the short story with the Regret demon onward.

From Inquisition just by itself, the closest I personally could get to a story theme for Solas was his inability to trust others hurting him and the world, but his trusting others in DA4 wasn't really addressed to my satisfaction. He is never required to trust anyone before the ending, he never opens up or makes himself vulnerable at all. People find out information about him, he never really dynamically opens himself. So the personal story I thought he had was never addressed at all, while a new one about regret was introduced that never made a ton of sense to me. And I don't think this is just because of my expectations - my reaction to FFXIV proves that I am able to meet good writing where it goes in surprising directions, as long as it's interesting and thoughtful and clear.

And I think this might be part of what people felt was off about the ending - Solas is sort of uninvolved in the revelations that are about him, and doesn't do much to be part of his own ending. Part of what I loved about Solas in Inquisition is that he is not controlled by you in any way, and so he feels like his own person with a very strong sense of character.

Anyway, Emet-Selch, in a very comparable and arguably more extreme plot position, is very involved in the revelations about himself, he always feels like a very strong character who cannot be affected by the player, and the whole situation is handled with deft emotion and care and delicacy. The story is comparatively very uninterested in litigating Emet-Selch or putting him on trial - the story allows you to simply feel the way that you feel in an organic way, and Emet's story spends that energy instead actually exploring his thematic material about grief and legacy, and the larger story theme of existentialism instead, in a way that is very refreshing and interesting. I've seen a lot of western stories tie themselves in knots over "redemption" and frankly it's almost never been interesting at all. Who cares about any of that. lol

(Now, I guess this is a matter of preference, because some people really like being able to shape a character's story, but idk I rewatched the ending of FFXIV and even though there wasn't a choice with Emet, because it isn't a branching story, his story felt more satisfying to me, maybe because there isn't a patronizing choice to be made for him. He is who he is, and he fulfills a very beautiful narrative role and purpose that no other character could in the story.)

I don't know how this could have been improved to me and still allowed players to choose Solas' ending for him, but I can actually think of a few different methods, none of which involve Rook condescendingly and patronizingly lecturing Solas as if Solas had never thought about a single aspect of this horrible situation he's in before that very moment that Rook lectures him lmfao.

All this to say... idk I'm writing this and I am not going back to edit it so it's stream-of-consciousness. But yeah

I just wanted the story to be complicated on a few more levels than I could have predicted. I genuinely don't care what happened, but I thought of a few twists like the Veil coming down and yeah, I was expecting A Single Twist or reveal to happen. In a Dragon Age game.

I wanted Solas to seem cool and capable and noble and smart, and actually feel like he was as old and experienced as he is.

I wanted a clear theme I could sink my teeth into

Like notice I didn't even say anything about Solavellan. Like I never in 100 years thought they were getting a happy ending where they were both alive in bodies, and I like that we got that, but I would honestly trade it for a more complicated story. To me, if a story is sad you can always write fanfic, but if a story isn't COMPLICATED, that's a much more urgent issue.

These 3 things DA4 didn't give me in a way that satisfied me but FFXIV did. anyway idk the way my hyperfixations work, I completely switch to a new subject so talking about Dragon Age is actually hard for me right now.

[felassan]

[source]

[theharellan]

solas is the ultimate feminist bc he supports women's rights AND women's wrongs

[dell-amor-te]

[apricote]

rosanna ♜ (human / mournwatch / death caller mage / ♥ emmrich)

[tuxedo-rabbit]

Just wanted you all to know that I had to wait until almost the end of the game to finish Regrets of the Dreadwolf bc Talia was so ready to argue with Mythal that I could not get out of that conversation without a fight.

Thank god for the Titan quest lmao.

[dancing--lights]

Even Morrigan is like "this little clown." She's trying so hard to hang on to a shred of patience (I have a lot of thoughts about Morrigan's journey throughout the games and how she's changed both due to her own experiences and now Mythal's, but i won't get into that here), but even she can't keep that little amused laugh from escaping. Rook is so dear to me

[pdraxxi]

Template by @riessene My son Adren(rook) cannot wait to play him im so excited!!

[inquiscissors]

!!!!!

LOVED the gameplay trailer! Now that it's been a minute, so for posterity, here's my first take on it all:

- I'm choosing to enjoy the stylized-realistic art style, glad everyone looks like they belong in the same game (was a little confused after the trailer, bc especially Harding and Emmrich kind if seemed to be in pretty different styles? but all seems to be in order after all✌️)

- to be entirely honest, I was a little worried that it would be hard to take things seriously in a more stylized game (despite origins looking, well... like it's from 2009, DA2 looking like it was made in about a year, and inquisition's over the top sad face™️, but somehow my nervous shit brain chose to completely ignore all that and worry anyway), but that scene at the temple hit me HARD.... I could write a whole thing about how Varric goes into it so boldly and jokingly and how this persona just evaporates when he sees how serious and SAD Solas is... All that just to say, I'm not worried about that anymore🙏

- so excited to see all the different ways we can move compared to earlier games!! balancing! vaulting!! (climbing and swimming, maybe?? hopefully??👀)

- incredible scenery, VERY cool atmosphere in Minrathous - it feels big and imposing, and like you could really get lost there

- on that note, I'm really hoping for day/night and weather cycles, though I'll be fine with keeping to the zones rather than an open world - but I hope we get to see Minrathous in daylight as well❤️

- I could honestly do without the sci-fi leaning design elements, but I don't mind them - I am hoping for a creative in-game explanation for them though👀

- LOVE the return to having both short and long range weapons equipped! I've really missed this since Origins, so it's cool to see it return🙏

- You actually have to aim with a bow! And you have limited ammo! in general the combat felt more up-close and personal than inquisition, and I feel like things like limited ammo lends itself really well to the small, grassroots-like group like the Veilguard, where you don't have the unlimited resources of an organization like the Inquisition (the Inquisitor can't really be seen running out of arrows in the middle of their heroic moment, surely), as well as from a game design standpoint where you can do limited ammo BECAUSE you have the option of melee, which you couldn't do in DA2 or inquisition

- the ability/tactics screen seems a bit daunting, and I'm glad the game pauses when you go to use it😅 I'm confident it'll be easy enough to get familiar with though, as figuring out the mechanics hasn't really been part of the challenge of beating the game before

once again, my most pressing concerns have been put to rest, and I'm so excited for this game🙏 completely unrelated to the game-play trailer, one of the biggest assurances I've seen these last few days is that BioWare has been keeping council with a selection of prominent fans of the franchise for the last few years(!) of development, meaning that they have made a big effort to actually stay in touch with what the fans want from the game, which was HUGE news (to me at least, idk I'd this was kind of an open secret that I hadn't picked up on or smth, but I had no idea lol)

[felassan]

ball 👍

Michael: "Mages can also use orb/dagger (not shown in this video). This one uses a staff" [source]

An orb? ^^

[bunabi]

Imma be real: I was hoping folks' takeaway from the DAV art book would be reassurance that people cared a lot about making DA4 a faithful follow-up and not 'they hate us look at all the content they cut' 🫠

There is no cut content. Brother if there was a single-player build ready to roll I don't think they would have chosen to work off the live service build. Someone saw all of these cool ideas and the team that won Game of the Year at the 2014 VGAs and said "fuck no" at the pre-production phase. That's the tragedy. And we've known about this since 2019:

"Perhaps the saddest thing about Dragon Age 4’s cancellation in 2017 for members of the Dragon Age team was that this time, they thought they were getting it right." (...) “We were working towards something very cool, a hugely reactive game, smaller in scope than Dragon Age: Inquisition but much larger in player choice, followers, reactivity, and depth,” one source told Schreier. “I’m sad that game will never get made.” [x]

Please for the love of god make an effort to appreciate DAV for what it is. Its a fun game. But if even the people involved wish things panned out differently fans are absolutely allowed to mourn too. And if you fight them ☝🏿 you will be fighting me.

[inquisimer]

Happy Friday!! 💚👀

How about: the last thing i want is to see you get hurt. Featuring Arlow and Viago?

thank you for the prompt!! it hit really well, which is to say that it got much longer than I intended 😂 but here we go, from the requisite "Viago routinely poisons Rook de Riva" bit to Angst and Feels and Crow Politics 🤌

Arlow de Riva & Viago | 2035 words | @dadrunkwriting - da4 spoilers

-

Not for the first time, Arlow hesitated outside Viago’s study door. She knew he was within, but her stomach churned with worry and anticipation. She was happy, unbelievably happy, and he had the power to crush that with a single look.

She unclenched her fist and stared down at the ring. Dragon bone, inlaid on a band of intertwined nevarrite and obsidian. Black and purple and gold—the colors of the Crows. But she had always been a Crow; this represented something so much more.

“I can hear you thinking out there. Come in, or go away—do not linger. It’s rude.”

It was so typical, so normal in a way that things had not been for a very long time, it almost erased Arlow’s concerns. Her fingers closed, hiding the ring from view, and she pushed the door open.

Viago had a spread of vials on his desk, and a tray for checking antidotes in the middle of the array. Emil was curled around his shoulders; his tongue flicked out at Arlow in greeting as she shut the door at her back.

“Hello Emil,” she said dryly. “Viago.”

“Come here.” He beckoned her forward with one hand; the other held a pipette filled with a murky brown-green solution. “Perfect timing. I need to test this.”

Arlow eyed the mixture warily. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d laid her up for days with one of his concoctions. But her constitution was better now, and so was his estimation of what was and wasn’t ready to test. Plus, if he knocked her out and the ring fell loose, she wouldn’t have to explain.

She propped herself on the free corner of his desk and opened her mouth. Viago dropped three precise dots of the solution on her tongue and waited, watching expectantly.

“Oh,” she choked, hand coming up to her throat. “That burns.”

Viago quickly scribbled a few notes in his journal. He set the pipette down and cupped her jaw, prying her eyelids back and turning her face toward the torchlight. He hummed, nodding to himself and making a few more quick notes. Arlow’s fist pressed hard against the polished wood of his desk, but the pressure did little for her—the poison might have burned her throat, but it was numbing her extremities now. It hurt, knowing she couldn’t roll her eyes to tell Viago to hurry up with the antidote.

She focused on her breathing. Despite her joking, she didn’t actually want to pass out in Viago’s study—she’d never hear the end of it.

“Okay, now this.” Viago drew a few drops of a yellowish liquid into a fresh pipette—if she had more control of her facial muscles, Arlow would have eyed it warily. It would not be the first time he fed her piss under this guise. But at the moment, she cared more about regaining her faculties, and she didn’t have the control to close her mouth, anyway.

She couldn’t tell how much he dropped onto her tongue, only that when enough of it hit, her nerves started buzzing like an angry beehive. He followed it with a spritz of something clear and vaguely acidic, then handed her a glass of water. She tossed it back, swished, and spit into the bucket on the edge of his desk.

“Well?”

Arlow flexed her fingers, running her tongue around the still-tingling inside of her mouth. “Assuming you wanted instantaneous numbing, I’d say it needs work. Not that I’d be precise or anything, but I definitely would have been able to haphazardly stab someone for at least the half minute you had me sitting here.

And as they both knew, half a minute was more than enough time to kill someone. Viago pursed his lips, nodding and muttering under his breath as he made more notes. “Good, good. Did you need something?”

“Yeah, um.” Arlow licked her lips, letting him think she was still recovering from the poison’s effects. It wouldn’t alter his results that much. But in truth, the sweat on her palms and the shake in her voice had nothing to do with what he’d given her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was an adult and this was a choice she was allowed to make. Whatever Viago decided, no matter how much it hurt, would be on him. “I have to tell you something. And also ask a question.”

Her deliberately evasive phrasing drew his shaper attention as he corked one of his vials and set it aside. He folded his arms and raised a brow at her. “Out with it, then.”

Right. She uncurled her fingers and the torchlight caught fetchingly in the metal edges of the band, danced tantalizingly off the angular face of the stone. Viago froze, and she knew he had stopped breathing.

“That is a Dellamorte ring,” he said after a moment. Arlow’s throat constricted; it was both easier, and not, that he recognized it. “The Dellamorte ring, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You’re not.”

“Why do you have it?”

“Lucanis gave it to me,” Arlow said. “When he asked me to marry him.”

Emil’s tongue flicked out in a hiss; it was the only sound. Arlow pinched the ring between her fingers and held it up. It really was beautiful, and there was strength in both that, and the promise it represented. Barely breathing, she slipped it onto her finger and clenched her fist. “I said yes.”

She forced herself to look directly at Viago as she said it. Not defiance—determination, and respect. Her heart cared about what he thought, but as a Crow she owed her Talon at least this much, and she respected that.

“Of course he did,” Viago finally said. Arlow didn’t visibly relax, but her gut unclenched; he didn’t sound angry. “And of course you did. Mierda.”

His brow furrowed as he studied her, silent, and Arlow deeply regretted not doing this when Teia was around. Teia, at least, always knew what to say, and just said it, right away. And she could read Viago better than anyone—Arlow might suspect what the working of his jaw, or his fingers twitching in their gloves meant, but Teia would know for sure. And would say it, even if Viago wouldn’t.

But this was more than a matter of her personal relationship. Because of who Lucanis was, because of who they were, as Crows, this was a matter of politics. And Teia, dear as she was, was the Talon of another House. This was between Arlow and Viago.

“Are you sure?” Viago’s voice cracked, and he covered for it by stepping forward and taking her hand. His gloves were thick enough that she felt no warmth through the leather; she simply watched as he swiped his thumb over the ring. “I know you have been happy. I know he makes you happy. But he is the First Talon. Tying yourself to him in this way will have consequences. Lethal consequences, if you aren’t careful—and I think we both know you’ve struggled with that in the past.”

Arlow couldn’t help but laugh, soft and melancholy. It was so fitting, and she didn’t even cringe when Viago’s concern sharpened into a glare at her amusement.

“I am sure,” she said, curling her fingers around his and squeezing just once before letting go. “More sure than I’ve been of anything in a long time.”

Viago nodded slowly. “Very well. I—well. I suspect you would do what you wished, regardless of my thoughts. As you always have. I simply do not wish to see you hurt.”

A warmth bled through Arlow and the corners of her mouth ticked up in a slight smile. “It’s just a formality, Viago. If anyone plans to leverage me against Lucanis, they will do it whether I wear his ring or not. And if Lucanis hurts me, he will cut off his own hand before you ever get to him.”

“Good.” Viago huffed. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You had a question, as well?”

“I rather thought you would ask it for me.” Arlow bit her lip. “I—well. It’s the matter of Houses, and which one I’ll belong to when this is done.”

Viago’s fingers clenched on the edge of the desk. Around his shoulders, Emil hissed, slithering around his neck in a reaction the distress Viago was holding back. Wordlessly, he removed the snake from his collar and deposited him back in his tank. He stayed there, staring down at the fire rune, back turned to the desk, and to Arlow. “That isn’t a question.”

“Cazza, Viago, do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“Yes!” he snapped, whirling around. “If you are asking permission to leave my House for his, then I would hope you have the decency to say it to my face.”

Okay. So maybe she did need to spell it out for him.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” she said softly. She slipped off the desk and walked to his side. “When you made me a de Riva, you saved my life. You made my life. And you made it one worth living. My heart belongs to that history as much as it does to Lucanis, and I am not so quick to cast it aside.” She took a deep breath. “But—there is only one way in which I truly stay a de Riva, and also marry Lucanis.”

Viago’s lips had parted with surprise as she spoke, an unknowable emotion shining in his eyes. Now, he pursed them, as she led him to the question she was actually asking.

“You want me to give you to him,” her murmured. Arlow nodded.

“But I know what that means,” she added hastily. “I know that it is not a choice, or a promise to be made lightly. If I thought for even a moment that it would be a detriment to our house, I would never ask. But—I do not think it will mean anything that you would not already do.”

She swallowed. “But if you’re not willing… I understand. And I will accept your decision, either way.”

“Well, that would be a first,” Viago snorted. He clasped her by the shoulders, and Arlow was surprised by how clear and certain his gaze seemed. She’d never known Viago to make a decision so swiftly. Usually, there were days of agonizing, debating, considering the angles. But not this time. “Arlow. Pajarito, you think I would let you get away? It was my hand that lifted you into this House, and it was my name that you wore out to change the world. And when I gave it to you—“ he swallowed, throat bobbing awkwardly. Arlow covered his hands with her own, eyes shining. It was the most words she’d ever heard Viago string together at once outside of a lecture and she thought she might be able to live on this forever.

“When I gave it to you, I didn’t know, but I was giving it a life beyond poisons, and scheming, and grief. I would not force it on you now, but de Riva is yours as long as you wish to wear it. And though he is hardly worthy, and it is dangerous, if you are asking, then yes. I will find a pair of gloves suitable to give you to him.”

Arlow threw her arms around his neck, lifting herself up onto tip toes, not caring that he was stiff under her for just a bit too long before he wrapped his arms around her torso and buried his face in her hair.

“Thank you,” she said against his chest. “I—thank you. Thank you.”

Viago drew back, his smile genuine, but worried. “Of course,” he said, even though they both knew no such assurance had ever been real. “Have you told Teia?”

Arlow shook her head, and to her surprise Viago threw back his head and laughed. Then he gestured to the door, grinning a bit too smugly for Arlow’s taste.

“Come,” he said. “I want to see her face when she finds out you told me first.”

[quilleth]

Bioware made a mistake bringing Isabela back for da4 because like hell she wouldn't tell the entire da2 crew about what's happening with Solas which means they'd all show up ready to curb stomp him about Varric. Even moreso if hawke was left in the fade. That's two of their number down because of this fucker. Also Merrill should get to deck him specifically while also being like "what, like it's hard?" about fixing the eluvian that was blighted and cost her two of her closest childhood friends (potentially), her place in her clan, and her home. Again, going back far enough, because of him.

I just miss them 🥺

[cadaveerie]

TAGS TO MUTE (for DATV spoilers)

Let's get ready for DATV! Here are A LOT of tags to avoid spoilers. I added as many as possible for those that want to be extra-careful/take the time to mute as many as possible. You can use this as a checklist, if you want. Please suggest others if you think I missed some relevant ones and I'll add them here :)

Highlighted text are what I think the most common ones.

datv spoilers datv spoiler da:tv spoilers da:tv spoiler da: tv spoilers da: tv spoiler dragon age the veilguard spoilers dragon age the veilguard spoiler dragon age: the veilguard spoilers dragon age: the veilguard spoiler dragon age:the veilguard spoilers dragon age:the veilguard spoiler da: the veilguard spoilers da: the veilguard spoiler da:the veilguard spoilers da:the veilguard spoiler da the veilguard spoilers da the veilguard spoiler

dav spoilers dav spoiler da:v spoilers da:v spoiler da: v spoilers da: v spoiler dragon age veilguard spoilers dragon age veilguard spoiler dragon age: veilguard spoilers dragon age: veilguard spoiler dragon age:veilguard spoilers dragon age:veilguard spoiler da: veilguard spoilers da: veilguard spoiler da:veilguard spoilers da:veilguard spoiler da veilguard spoilers da veilguard spoiler

da4 spoilers da4 spoiler da:4 spoilers da:4 spoiler da: 4 spoilers da: 4 spoiler dragon age 4 spoilers dragon age 4 spoiler dragon age: 4 spoilers dragon age: 4 spoiler dragon age:4 spoilers dragon age:4 spoiler

veilguard spoilers veilguard spoiler the veilguard spoilers the veilguard spoiler

dragon age: dreadwolf spoilers dragon age: dreadwolf spoiler da:d spoilers da:d spoiler dad spoilers dad spoiler dreadwolf spoilers dreadwolf spoiler

dragon age spoilers dragon age spoiler dragonage spoilers dragonage spoiler da spoilers da spoiler

Depending of what you consider a spoiler, you might be satisfied by muting only these or not. If you want to go in completely blind, I'd advice that you mute anything DATV. For instance, you might want to mute the tags above, with and without the "spoilers".

Keep in mind that some people might write typos in their tags, and that is extremely difficult to keep track of individually, so... be careful if you make your own posts!

I haven't seen any, but it's possible that people might use some without spaces (like datvspoilers or something like that. Let me know if you've seen like those or use them).

Overall, before posting just consider using the most common tags and make sure there are no typos in your spoiler tags.

Remember that you can simply block people if they're posting untagged stuff! And please... just consider tagging your stuff, even reblogs.

Additionally, if you're interested in seeing some of the promotional material without the biggest spoilers, make sure to watch Ghil Dirthalen's edits! She edits the promotional videos by removing the spoilers. Of course, if you want to go in completely blind, I wouldn't advice watching them either.

If you're new to tumblr and you're unsure of how to mute things.

Feel free to reblog this and say which tags you will use for DATV stuff and DATV spoilers :)

[sarenhale]

I'll be honest, i dont like going on a whole tangent like this about dragon age/bioware because I recognize there's still (weirdly) some people that love the game and are passionate about it, and I dont want to be the party pooper and be annoying telling you you shouldn't enjoy a game you enjoy. Do what you want.

So don't read this post if you don't want to get mad.

But at the same time it genuinely baffles me how this company (talking about EA mostly cause they're the one at fault for almost all the bad decisions) has consistently fucked their employees by firing them with no severance or heads up, for no reason that wasn't cutting costs to make more money, introduced the idea of having ad breaks IN games, fucked their fanbase repeatetly with shitty and badly made games (anthem everyone?)that weren't ready to be launched and launched regardless with a thousand bugs and promised a lot of things without ever delivering them.

After the fiasco that was dragon age inquisition and mass effect Andromeda i personally checked out dragon age/mass effect completely and I'm happy to only play the old games without acknowledging their stupid shit, but I can't help getting a bit mad when news about da4 resurface and apparently everyone has magically forgotten all the shit EA has done to its employees and players? You know, just magically?

I hope we can at least remember all the employees and long time members of the studio that were completely fucked over and fired for no reason, or all the players that took it in the ass when they bought a non functioning game and never received a refund and got treated like shit, and were promised stuff that was never delivered. I'm not saying don't play or enjoy the game, again it you're passionate about this game do what you want to do, I ain't your mom.

But at least reflect a bit on what this game was build upon, all the layoffs and bad treatment the creators of this game endured, and the fact that the vast majority of them isn't even there anymore cause they got randomly fired.

Game companies do this ALL THE TIME and apparently it's good to criticize blizzard and other companies that are 'disliked' and became the bad guy, but when it's EA creating da4, it's suddenly crickets? I'm really tired of the perpetual forgiving and ignoring the problem of a lot of people in the dragon age Fandom, I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy the game if you want, but be for fucking real and at least acknowledge that this game was built upon lies, layoffs, bad treatment, dishonesty and horrible development.