#rook answers things

[measureyourlifeincake]

Hi there! I saw your tags about my Superman fancomic and just wanted to say thank you! If you want to find more Superman material that inspired it, I recommend the graphic novels Superman Smashes the Klan (by Gene Yang and Gurihiru) and Girl Taking Over (by Sarah Kuhn and Arielle Jovellanos). I made my fancomics and au largely because I was so disappointed in how Asian Lois Lane and topics of xenophobia were handled in Superman's newest animated show. So these comics I make are a response to all that.

Again thanks for reading <3

I'll have to check those out! And thanks for letting me know; I do seem to recall hearing vaguely positive things about how the series handled that stuff WAIT SCRATCH THAT I'VE LOOKED AT YOUR BLOG AND I THINK I WAS JUST VAGUELY MISREMEMBERING ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR COMICS AND MIXING IT UP WITH OTHER THINGS I HEARD/SAW ABOUT THE SHOW WHOOPS

anyway uhhh yeah your au comics are so good that my brain may have filed them away as "totally canon superman stuff" so... good job? (seriously though, your comics are great and i love your take on "superman as immigrant" and how he and lois relate to each other; it makes me have an Emotion)

[vaguely-concerned]

the strength it must have taken for illario to not immediately go full 'lmao since when have you even had a kiss hello lucanis' sibling violence mode during the café talk. inspirational. rook and lucanis really were doing all that right in front of his salad huh

[ketunhanska]

Lily "Rook" Ingellvar, of the Mourn Watch (he/him)

[lizzybeeee]

Can't believe I waited ten years to learn that the Old Gods were elven horcruxes

[lucaanis]

[burning-academia-if]

Heyyyy em! I stole an ask... I'm gonna send it around lol

So Spell gone wrong ROs get transported to some place in time where little bitty MC is the one to find them...

How does that go??? 😏😭🤣

Omg baby MC...back before their Whole World collapsed

Rook: Rook meeting MC at an even younger age than when the two became friends and feeling incredibly odd about being allowed to see you at every stage of your life so far. He's actually pretty good with kids, and I can see him entertaining MC and playing them before sending them on their way (also resisting temptation to say something to MC's dad, which I find very funny considering how MC's dad would not like Rook either)

Beck: I think he'd find MC as a child the cutest thing, and would immediately want to spoil them lol he's the best with kids out of the whole cast, and he'd play with them or tell them stories to distract them before returning them to their parents (with a sugary treat as well, although shh it's a secret from your parents ok?)

Rhea: It takes her a moment to realize who this small child is that has bumped into her. She isn't entirely sure how to interact with kids, but she'd smooth out her usual stern expression and try to make herself gentle, asking where MC's parents are and if they'd like her help to find them. Feels a strange pang in her chest when she hands you off, although she can't tell why

Zoe: Another one of those moments where their Older Sibling mode is activated lol quick to make sure MC is fine before hesitantly asking about their parents. When MC points them out, Zoe feels an instant weight on them. You, small and innocent, and your family rushing to collect you, whole and complete. There's nothing they can do for you, and they can only watch you run back to your family with a heavy heart

Lars: Please, he finds you annoying enough as an adult, let alone as a Small Child LMAO I think his reaction will vary depending on what kind of child you were, but he neither knows how to interact with child or really would want to, even if it is MC. Plus, I think he's too wary of the potential consequences of it so he just acknowledges it's you before moving on

???: Strangely enough, they don't feel they have a right to approach you. Instead, they watch as you interact with your family, anger flaring in their chest at the knowledge of the future. The image is false now, lost to the sands of time. If only the young child they see could have stayed unmarked by the trials to come in the rest of their life

[lulu2992]

“Welcome.”

In exactly two years in the timeline of “that fic I’ll never write”, on August 29th, 2026, Taylor and John will welcome their first child, a daughter named Eleanor Hope Seed.

I picked this middle name because it felt right (I doubt I’m the only one who’s had this idea for a Seed baby and/or Far Cry 5 OC) and her first name was inspired by Eleanor Lamb from BioShock 2, the character who awakened my parental instincts.

Between 2026 and 2035, the couple will have a total of four children. In fact, until very recently (about a month and a half ago), I would have said three, but I decided to also include a last son, originally from a sort of New Dawn AU I had. It suddenly made me very sad that he didn’t exist in the “main” timeline, so I fixed that :)

[ofcrowsanddragons]

#5 for story time DLC De Riva edition if you'd like.

#5 Rook fighting against a Crow from a rival house

Please enjoy this surprise 3,000 word short story set Post-AWR and pre-Veilguard. The prompt is from @hyperions-light's De Riva Story Time Prompts ask game. Magpie Files tag here for more snippets.

Includes all the Dellamortes.

Tags: Outsider POV, pre-canon Rookanis, The Ridiculous Schemes of Magpie "Mags" "Rook" de Riva (in support of Teia's mission to turn the Crows into a family)

Warnings: Fledgling whump, injury, concerns about torture, disassociation.

🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Crow Games

“Does this scream ‘trap’ to you?” asked the Magpie, with a sidelong glance to their masked companion. The man tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement.

Ludovica Conti tightened her grip around the hilt of her rapier, growing irritated when her target just sighed. “Fight me, damn you,” said Ludovica, raising the tip of her sword. Tonight would mark either her death or her graduation from fledgling to full Crow, and she wasn’t going to give up her life without a fight.

It was an insult that Magpie de Riva didn’t even go for their sword. “Your grip is too tight,” they told her. “You're showing overt signs of stress. Do you even have a real contract, or did Massimo Conti just throw you to the wolves so that he’d be able to demand reparations?”

Licking her lips, Ludovica could admit to herself that it was the latter. It was part of why she hadn’t hidden the heraldry attached to her collar. The fact that she knew the game didn’t make a difference, either: the word of the head of her house was law. She and her little brother had joined the minor Crow house as orphans, and lived at his sufferance. If Massimo got what he wanted out of her death, he might choose to be merciful and not pass the failed contract-that-wasn’t-a-contract along to her brother.

She was also one of the best fencers in her age group. It was correct that he had chosen her.

Her feet were light against the stone, letting her fly toward Magpie. The stance was perfect, the blade raised in absolute precision as it darted toward Magpie’s heart.

An arm caught her around the neck from behind and jerked.

The momentum that had carried Ludovica forward left her gasping now. Her vision reeled as she tried to catch up to the fact that the masked man’s arm was now around her neck. She wheezed in the chokehold, realizing that she hadn’t even seen him move. Her neck hurt—unsurprising given the impact, and she felt nausea build up somewhere in her chest. She tried to establish where Magpie was in the room, but the light was too bright and the spinning sensation didn’t diminish. She couldn’t breathe.

“Yield,” said the man, increasing the pressure.

She dropped the sword.

A chair scraped across the polished stone floor, and it was at this point that the terror sweat began to break out across Ludovica’s body. Being killed outright was one thing, but the sound made it clear that she was to be questioned. She bit back a whimper.

“Mags,” the man said, and there was something in his voice that Ludovica couldn’t place.

“We’ll figure it out,” Magpie said, and this tone was easier to put into words. It was cold and dead, a mask of indifference and purely rational decision-making that all of them learned to put on at will. Ludovica took in a steadying breath as she readied herself for what was to come next.

The two Crows pushed her forward and she retched into a bucket that had been laid in front of her. OK, fine, she thought, struggling to make sense of it as she tasted bile, Smart of them to leave less mess to clean up.

Murmers in another language were passed back and forth between the pair as Magpie systematically searched her for weapons. With each pass, she felt a little more helpless, which was stupid, as she was already helpless. She had miscalculated by attacking Magpie in front of her mysterious ally, who was almost supernaturally good. That was fine. At this point, all she really needed to do was exist until she didn't have to anymore. It's not like she knew anything that Massimo considered valuable.

Her head was forced back, and a liquid was poured down her throat. She tasted elfroot—for the soporific effect, perhaps?—along with comfrey and lavender in some kind of astringent solution. Her stomach heaved, and she struggled against her captors without meaning to. Strong hands held her steady and one of the Crows began tracing soothing circles against the nape of her neck.

It was a mistake to relax into the sensation, and she knew it, but nothing really mattered anymore. She was already dead. Rising from somewhere along her spine, a pleasant floating sensation sunk its hooks into her gut, and she chased the little kindness of that touch for as long as it deigned to last.

For a long moment, there was only calm.

When Ludovica came back to herself—no, there was no coming back; she was already dead. She blinked through the tears as Magpie blurred into her sight. The Crow was seated across from her on their own stark, wooden chair. Their hands were clasped loosely on their lap and their expression was cool and professional. The hands of their companion were on the fledgling’s shoulders. He held her from the back, a clear threat and a warning not to move.

The instant she came back to full alertness, Magpie’s eyes flickered from the partner’s face down to her own, meeting her gaze with cool certainty. “Do you know happen to know,” they said, and the words were carefully neutral, “what the correct course of action for me to take right now is?”

Biting her lip, she found herself wishing she still had the excuse of the disorientation or headache for her poor comportment. Both symptoms had subsided almost entirely.

“Are you—” she coughed into her hand, despairing at the fact that the Crows didn't even feel the need to bind them, and willed her voice into steadiness. “Are you going for the professional mask, then?”

“Well, of the three of us, I'm clearly the one with the best poker face,” said Magpie, raising their eyebrows minutely.

She could barely feel the bruising that should have been laced across her throat as she croaked a laugh. “Does that mean your partner is the sadist, then?” she asked, trying not to break into hysterical giggles. “You’re the reasonable one, and he's the threat? If I tell you everything, will you even let me die?”

The dizziness was back. She was breathing too fast. Magpie didn't move, and the hands on her shoulders tightened just the barest amount and then forced themselves to relax. That was all right. The touch was grounding, if less soothing than the circles that she thought had been Magpie. She would allow it to hold her together until the Crows chose to do otherwise.

“How about we start by getting everyone on the same page,” stated Magpie. Neutral, neutral, neutral. Like Antiva, in a war between Ferelden and Orlais. “Tell me what should be done with you, according to our rules.”

“It would be correct for you to kill me,” she said, trying to flatten her voice. Magpie was patriotically neutral, and so was she.

“No.”

She ignored the fluttering of her pulse as she tried to speak around the dryness in her mouth. “What?”

“That’s incorrect,” said Magpie, and their words grew colder as they leaned forward to set their elbows against their knees. “After failing to find me while I was alone? After failing to even meet my blade, let alone wound me? The correct thing would be for me to tie you up and ship you home to your head of house. That would rather solve most of House de Riva's problems in one swoop.”

There was a scuffle that Ludovica was barely aware of, for all that she had initiated it. On her knees on the polished floor, she realized that her arms were being held at her back by the iron grip of her captor. She strained to look up at Magpie. “Don't,” she begged.

Magpie hadn't moved an inch. “How many people that you love is Massimo holding hostage for your ready sacrifice?”

“Everyone I have left,” said Ludovica, hating herself for it. They had barely touched her and already she was broken. “Please don't take my cowardice out on them.”

Those cold eyes looked deep into her own, and Ludovica shivered with the intensity of them. “Child, if you agree, then I am going to get every one of them out from under Massimo.”

A demon’s bargain. Ludovica licked her lips, not willing to cast aside the potential for a miracle when she had no better options. “How?”

“You're going to sit back in that chair,” said Magpie, their voice going polite and pleasant in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise. “You're going to tell me everything you know about House Conti and its business. And then House de Riva is going to eat everything that Massimo has ever worked to build.”

The partner released Ludovica, and she caught herself with perfect balance, too unnerved to be grateful. She stood, slowly, and sat back in the chair. A slow turn of her head revealed the man leaning against the back wall, but Ludovica had to turn her back to him to look at Magpie. The man was still wearing his mask, anyway.

She was steadied by the ruthlessness in Magpie’s cold eyes, and she nodded. “What else?”

“We'll neutralize any threats to your family before Massimo learns anything” said Magpie, “but as a member of his house, I'm having you deliver the message to the First Talon that De Riva is making its move.”

“Can you authorize that?” Ludovica asked, instead of shouting, The First Talon?

Magpie tilted their head. “Viago could have me killed for it,” they said, and Ludovica appreciated the honesty, at least.

“Viago wouldn't and we all know it,” the partner interjected from behind her. “Beyond that, I would not allow it.”

“Thank you for that,” Magpie said with a warning look over Ludovica’s shoulder. “Viago would only kill me for it if he was already looking for an excuse. I don't think you realize how small of a player House Conti is.”

A huff from the man still leaning against the wall. “Even if he actually wanted you dead, Teia Cantori knows where he sleeps.”

“They haven't—”

“Well, not yet. But she’s a woman who knows her blueprints.”

Ludovica tuned the couple—who were almost definitely lovers themselves—out as they began to argue about the Fifth and Seventh Talons that they both referred to so familiarly. It was difficult for her to feel foolish when her head of house had underestimated the situation so thoroughly. She knew the game: he had gone after one of the Fifth Talon’s favourites. This might still end with every person she knew and didn't put on a safe list dead by the end of the week, but that was the hand Massimo had chosen to play. She didn't have any say in how it played out, other than what little leverage Magpie allowed her to bargain for.

Magpie’s partner didn't watch her so closely after that. Eventually, he left to get them food from the kitchen. Ludovica struggled to determine the hierarchy of the two Crows’ relationship. His manners were more polished than theirs were, but Magpie didn't defer to him, either.

The sun was starting to rise by the time Magpie (“Just call me Mags, seriously”) called for an end to the questioning. “We're just going to go in circles at this point,” they explained, cleaning off their pen and setting aside the journal that they had been filling with names and dates and gossip. “You’ve memorized the message that you need to deliver?”

Ludovica nodded, and when Magpie handed her the vial, she drank it without question.

When she woke, she was peering into the eyes of the most handsome man she had ever met. She blinked. And blinked again. He was still there, seated on a chair next to the couch she was lying on.

“Did it not work?” Ludovica wondered. “Am I dead?”

He grinned at her, and she blushed as her words caught up to her. “Hardly. The thought that I might make it onto the Maker’s choir?” he said, leaning back and putting a hand to his chest, “Ha! I tend to guide souls along from this side.” He graced her with a wink.

Oh no. The words had fallen right out of her head.

“Ah… but you're rather overwhelmed, are you not?” he asked, looking away and shifting away from her in a way that was rather endearing. Probably deliberately so. “Miss, do you know where you are?”

The pieces resolved in front of Ludovica, and she drew in a breath. “Did I make it to Villa Dellamorte?” she asked.

“Rather spectacularly. When we pulled you out of a shipping crate, we thought you were dead. It’s fortunate for you that the antidote was made so obvious to us.”

She nodded. “I have a message for the First Talon concerning House Conti and House de Riva,” she said with a steady voice. She had rehearsed it.

“I'm Illario, her grandson,” he said. “Please, let me take you to her.”

The Dellamortes weren't idiots, and they obviously knew she was an assassin, but she was also a young and recently-poisoned assassin. Any poison powerful enough to simulate death took at least a little while to throw off, after all. Illario still helped her to her shaky feet, as Ludovica stood up from where she had been lying on a sofa. She really should have guessed that the higher houses were all terrifyingly polite—with the emphasis on terrifying.

Fortunately, she was steadier by the time she was actually admitted to the First Talon’s study. She took a fortifying breath, let go of Illario's arm, and strode into the centre of the room.

Another man stood at the Talon’s right. He straightened from where he had been bent over a piece of parchment. “You don't need me here,” he objected, and Ludovica’s heart turned to ice as she recognized the voice. “The contract is solid as it is.”

But the First Talon's eyes had already found Ludovica.

It would have been less intimidating to be a sparrow caught in the gaze of a bird of prey. The woman was seated in a chair behind the desk as if it were a throne, and her hard eyes glittered like the multi-faceted masterwork of a gemsmith. Ludovica swallowed, feeling a tight, twisting sensation form under her breastbone, but her work tonight was too important. She refused to quail. “First Talon. My name is Ludovica Conti.”

“So I had determined. My name is Catarina. This is my grandson, Lucanis.”

Ludovica tried very hard to keep any expression from her face. “Pleased to meet you both,” she said, trying not to let irony colour the statement. “I have a message from Magpie de Riva on behalf of the Fifth Talon. The head of House Conti has attempted a grave injury upon both myself and Viago de Riva, not bound by the limitations of a contract. The Fifth Talon believes it is his right to enact justice upon House Conti for this, and he asks for your judgement.”

There was a long silence as Ludovica kept her head high. Catarina's stare seemed to bore directly into her soul. Ludovica tried not to think about strong arms holding her down on a chair, the man standing next to Catarina, or secret lovers meeting in a remote location that Ludovica had chosen as her killing ground.

“Granted,” said Catarina, and Ludovica held in a sigh of relief. House Conti was no more.

“That's it?” asked Illario, from where he still stood by the door.

The old woman smiled. “Do you think I don't get my own information on these situations as they develop? You young people are very dramatic,” said Catarina, as Ludovica held back a flinch, “but we must anticipate our allies as well as our enemies. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Illario said stiffly, stepping closer and holding out his arm. “Ludovica, would you like something to eat? I'm sure our House can sort out a meal, even for an unexpected guest.”

Ludovica looked back over the desk and met Lucanis Dellamorte's eyes for a moment. She could see a cool and deliberate distance there. “Thank you for your hospitality, First Talon,” she said, looking back at Catarina. After everything, she truly was grateful for how gently they were going about getting information from her. She brought her hand to Illario's arm and allowed him to lead her through the villa.

She understood enough. Mags de Riva had the full backing of the Fifth Talon and enough sway with the Seventh to make Viago reconsider removing Mags from the board if the Crow ever became a threat. Beyond that, Mags had somehow become the lover of the First Talon’s grandson, and would presumably back his play for the position when the time was right. Ludovica shook her head at the audacity of it all.

Illario smiled at her. “What are you thinking, I wonder?”

“It's just such a big house,” Ludovica gushed, letting her blush colour her face. The man really was very handsome.

But the Magpie had earned—or was about to earn—Ludovica’s loyalty in a way that no one ever had. Mags's allies were also positioned more closely to the First Talon than Ludovica could have imagined, and that made asking for outside help more risky than the possible benefit. Sadly, it also made Illario an enemy of sorts.

Or it would, eventually.

In the meantime, Mags had said not to try to deceive the Dellamortes, so Ludovica told Illario the story. Most of it, anyway.

🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Later:

MAGS: Why do people think I’m some kind of evil genius?

LUCANIS: Why do people assume Catarina knows everything?

MAGS: Because it’s safer to operate under that assumption.

LUCANIS: There you go.

[the-warmest-machine]

Can you imagine the imposter syndrome Rook feels as a leader of convenience?

We see glimpses of it, but because Rook compartmentalizes it, it makes us see how the companions see Rook: tall, unshakeable, and unbothered. But in between the cracks, look deep enough and you see Rook’s turmoil. Here are some ruminating thoughts about it:

Rook feels imposter syndrome in twinges, after the first Fade dream with Solas. This is their mess to clean. Nothing makes them equipped for the job other than they have to step up and make the best of a shit show. As you discuss the next steps with Harding and Neve, you notice them both look to you. You were, after all, Varric’s second in command. Did Varric see this coming? Is this what he trained you for? The position feels like decay, enjoy encumbered by guilt. It shouldn’t have happened this way. But you’re here now, and you’re making calls. You just wish it felt right.

In fleeting moments, the unease returns, but sometimes it’s Big. The next Big moment Rook feels inadequate is when, for the first time, the core team is gathered around the Lighthouse table. For a second, you’re brought back to when Harding and Neve looked to you. This time, it’s also Bellara, Lucanis, Davrin, Taash and Emmerich. Rook would dig their fingertips into the chair’s wood, if they weren’t surrounded by observant company. Instead, Rook twists their toes as anxiety threatens to seize them. The choices they make and the orders they give—are they really the best course of action? Are they decisions a successful leader would make? Can they tell you’re in over your head and have no idea what you’re doing? The thoughts rise and are quashed, but they nonetheless still exist. Where Rook is clumsy, they compensate in precise motor control—for the “important” occasions, anyway. A determined face and authoritative tone masks the fear clutching their heart. They take a deep mental breath, box the worry away, and get to business.

Once Elgar’nan is slain and Solas is bound to the Veil, Rook and the remaining team stand in the dawning light. Survivors rise from the rubble and cheer them on. Rook has a smile on their face, hands on their hips in accomplishment… but in their head, they’re wondering if they actually belong there. If they deserve the cheers and exaltation. Their gut twists with unease because they know the beginning of this started with them. Varric would say, “You did well, kid,” and disapprove of Rook’s festering thoughts. In his honor, Rook again sets aside the ick. But still, it was there.

[inquisimer]

Hi! I have a question if you would like to answer: what made you want for Arlow and Lucanis to be best friends prior to the events of the game? Like what was the moment where you went „that would be a great idea“ and why?

Ahh yes, thank you for asking!! I am always happy to talk about them (:

Short answer: I'm a sucker for friends-to-lovers, especially with some kind of mess or drama in between.

Long answer:

Before Veilguard dropped, I was being so careful to not let myself get out of hand building a Rook, because even though I like to bend canon, I also like to know what the canon sandbox is before I do that. I wanted to know the backstories, the faction vibes, and the relationship/quest beats before I got my heart set on an OC. At the same time, I was battling the overwhelming urge to immerse myself in character building because I was so hyped. So, as a compromise (and this is the "moment" I would say), I let myself pick exactly one (1) thing about my Rook: she knows how Lucanis takes his coffee and he trusts her to make it for him.

(which became infinitely funnier once it dropped that crow!Rook was a de Riva, because of the poison angle. serendipity, lol)

Having read the short story The Wake, I knew that there would be some fuckery regarding Lucanis being "dead" (and I was already planning to romance him after reading Tevinter Nights). I wanted to give him and Arlow enough of a relationship history that his death would mean more to her than just "ah shit, the First Talon's grandson got got", but I didn't want that history to be romantic, because I wanted to watch the romance arc play out in game.

So, best friends. And with how intense Lucanis is about his platonic relationships with all of the Veilguard, I'm really glad for that choice - I think it suits both of them, and the stories I want to tell for them (:

Thank you again for asking!! Kicking my feet and twirling my hair whenever I get to talk about them 💜💜

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

All yo ships- slow teasing kisses, begging for more, sexual frustration. 💖

I've had a few prompts sitting in my inbox for, well, years. I'll be using some of these for my new OTP: Anabel/Rook and Lucanis Dellamorte.

This particular one will have multiple chapters. It's a slow tease, and you're along for the ride. You will need to be logged into your AO3 account to read my work.

Please leave comments, but be gentle. I haven't written in years, and only started again a few days ago.

If you would like to leave a prompt for me, please leave it in my inbox. Smut, fluff, angst, comedy, I can work with it all. Anon is unavailable, but if you would like your prompt kept private, let me know. Oh, and please, for the love of fuck, leave a comment.

Thank you!

[measureyourlifeincake]

would you rather be a fish or a machine

fish machine

[vaguely-concerned]

severing the connection of the titans to themselves, each other and their children, to the world, and with it severing the connection of the dwarves to their true nature, the basic state of love and belonging that should be their birthright. ("our children, orphaned".) severing the connection between rook and the reality and true memory of varric, and thus from themselves and their own healing grief AND love. (do we spot the echo, perhaps?) severing (mostly accidentally this time, I'll give him that) the connection between the fade and the real world, dream and reality.

the scale we're operating on varies from the mythic, the cosmic and existential, to the individual and deeply, nauseatingly intimately personal, but it's the same pattern every time. solas keeps committing the same act of enforced dissociation, of creating orphaned pain that cannot even know itself, estranged from its own history, origins and coherence, unhealable in being impossible to recognize for what it is and thus unreachable. (hello lucanis in the minrathous saved route btw. this theme echoes everywhere when you look for it. I do love this game.) making others strangers to themselves for his own purposes and being surprised when it blows up in his face horrifically once more even when it's his same indelible original sin repeated, again and again and again. dissociation is a natural process the mind uses to protect itself from unbearable pain, but to knowingly cause that in someone, to play around with their connection to themselves and reality so fundamentally, to further your own cause... yeah, I'm not surprised the fabric of the world keeps tearing apart in protest in response to that, there's something so unspeakably insidiously wrong about it. forget snacking down on apples and knowing yourself to be naked or whatever, that sounds like a perfectly blameless if presumably slightly chilly afternoon to me -- force-feeding someone else their own fragmentation for your own gain, however ostensibly worthy your final goal, feels much closer to what real sin would be to me. and even worse because *buries face in hands* he just keeps doing it!!! he should know better, but he keeps doing it!!!!!!

I know I keep joking that solas only has the like three basic moves he keeps rearranging to invent new and spectacular ways of doubling down on making the same mistake yet again, but looking at it like this it's almost not even funny anymore haha. (almost. there is a hysterical amusement and affection that rises within me every time I see his smug little face, we cannot choose who we love only what we do about it.) and the worst thing is that I think he could learn! I do believe he has the capacity, the depth of empathy and soul and intellect, to learn from this, had he chosen to do so, had he let himself pause and truly listen at any point. but at the end of the day, even all these thousands of years later and with the mountains of guilt he lugs around, he chooses not to. and I suspect it's because he fundamentally does not actually understand what he did wrong. on his way to, ostensibly, fix one of these splits he caused, that of the veil, he basically goes and does to rook's mind what he did to the titans, and without the hand of mythal guiding it or anyone else culpable in it with him this time, as if to underline twice that in all these thousands of years he has learned absolutely nothing! almost to an impressive degree! does he even recognize that it's the same thing he's doing? does he even actually afford rook and their internal world that much thought to begin with, aside from what purpose they can serve for him? I'm not so sure. and to do it all with varric's face, with the person he took from them, making them feel complicit in it when they find out, the same way the dwarves will have to grapple with the fact that their whole economy is based in unwittingly selling the blood of like. god. their parents. themselves. solas. babe. what the fUCK. what the fuck. what the fuck.

perhaps part of the blind spot comes down to the way it's the inverse of his own trauma. solas knows exactly what happened to him because it's the endless ache at the center of his existence, the thing -- the first mistake -- he can't escape or undo or forget, nor bring himself to accept: he became real, one coherent set self, with no way back to what and who he was. and what he does with that pain, his one move, is to make others not-real. to himself, and more alarming still to themselves. he makes them forget, as he cannot forget. does he think it's mercy, in some way? does he realize how and why that makes it all so much worse??? and... not quite the same thing, but when mythal dies the structure of his own inner world falls apart catastrophically, and in his vengeance for that, even unintentionally, he imposes that same unravelling on the world. we've all heard the lines about spirits mirroring the real world and what you bring into your relationship with them being what you get in return, but how about the tragedy of the inverse -- the world being brought to mirror you, despite what your intentions might have been going in. no one should have that power, but you claimed that power yourself to do something else and now you have to look into that mirror forever. no such mercy as forgetting yourself for you. you are everywhere now, this broken mirror of a world will reflect yourself back to you no matter where you look. perhaps it would feel easier to simply close your eyes and walk on willfully blindly. AGH it's all so delicious and fucked up and makes me feel absolutely nuts

dissociation is something that's also central in iron bull's character and internal conflict, so presumably this is simply a deep theme trick weekes keeps returning to/is interested in exploring in their writing! and the elegance with which it's done and how inextricably yet subtly embedded in the narrative it is both with bull and overall in veilguard means it's not always engaged with or recognized as I feel it deserves, but to me personally it is Everything and gets at it in ways that feel weirdly real and authentic.

[weaveandwood]

9. Pick a song from their playlist. What is it, and what made you choose it?

11. Extrovert or Introvert?

13. What languages does your Rook know?

Eeee thank you!!

9. Let me take a gander through my TSaTC playlist here. I think I’ll choose “Hymn to Virgil” by Hozier. I think it works if either Bianca or Ashur are the narrator - for Bianca, how her feelings for Ashur played a part in her being able to make it through all the events of DATV, even if she thought they’d never be together in the end, and when they ARE it’s like “wow it was all worth it”. For Ashur, I imagine he’s healed post-blight and thinking about how Bianca kept him tethered to life and survival.

11. Bianca is deffffffinitely an extrovert. I mean, her third time meeting The Viper she basically is like “hey let’s have sex” lmao. She doesn’t like being alone, either. As an introverted person, she’s very fun to write because she’s so different from myself.

13. Bianca knows common (or whatever it is in the dragon age universe, I’ve heard a few things) and Antivan for sure. She picked up some elven from Bellara and Davrin, though she doesn’t feel comfortable using it- she’s been so far removed from any part of her elven heritage her whole life, she doesn’t feel connected to it. She has also learned a few choice words (swears) in Tevene from Ashur.

[burning-academia-if]

Honestly I was set on the beck/rook poly but starting to think of going for a beck solo route tbh. I could see my mc giving up his crush on rook and decide to see how things with beck go. My process went from solo rook to poly to solo beck

Tbh I just really like the angst of having a crush on Rook(past) and solo romancing Beck lol it's a very fun dynamic

[potatobugz]

i started watching ben ten today and i dont know anything about this series at all but i love the character designs and im a big big fan of aliens so honestly im just here to have a good time