he knows of the brands. in their journey to crestwood, he asks about hers. he is curious, and they have built a rapport he has come to enjoy. she's a surface dwarf, born far from orzammar, so, why?
she surprisingly admits to him a lyrium deal gone wrong. caught by the guards, and before they tried to take her hands, they held her down and burned it onto her face. she also mentions a daring escape, a furious mother, and a lashing. she laughs at it now, but he can see in her eyes the ancient, unhealed fear.
this is not what he came here for. he had meant to regale her with knowledge of the titans--carefully curated, of course--to give her something to chew on. to keep her focus away from him, where it seems to remain steadfastly these days. but he looks at her and sees the brand and he cannot help himself. "if you like, i know a spell."
she is unfamiliar with magic. could not comprehend that something like this is not possible for any normal hedge mage--that he could take it away. the mistake. restore her. make it all as it once was. she is bewildered, excited. she should not be.
but, foolishly, he allows it to embolden him. takes the naked trust in her eyes that look at him too closely and lets it carry his hands up to her face with a practiced ease. the light from his palm is gentle, flowing like water, and when it is over, she is new. she touches her skin in awe, like the thousands he has helped before her, and what was once a cold place inside him suddenly feels...warm.
ar lasa mala revas. you are free.
she stares, waiting for him to be the mirror through which she sees herself.
the words spill forth, honest and true. "you are so beautiful."
...and so, so unwise.
sometimes self-care is consuming a piece of media for the 174th time
Wolf in mage’s clothing — Well, that took long. But, I made it. I hope you like it as much as I do ~
Warning: Some dav criticism ahead
Why is Tevinter so shallow? It isn't just about the lack of slavery (that, whatever else it is, however it was handled before, has been a pillar of Tevinter identity and inevitably leaves a hole in the narrative by being pratically missing). Why does the magisterium, the caste system, the Antaam invasion outside of Minrathous and the Black Divine play no role at all in its storyline?
Why the atrocities of the Crows (buying children, for example?) never come up during their faction quests?
Why do we hear nothing about the political side of the mortalitasi, how they control Nevarra from the shadows?
Why do we never even hear about Kont-aar even though we are in Rivain? Why there is no counterpoint to the (metaphorically, by qunari standards, mindless and souless) Antaam? Why is the qun completely missing from the game and the qunari reduced to cannon fodder the player has to cut down?
Why are the questions about magic that permeate every previous game absent here, especially when veilguard being set in the north could have given us such a unique viewpoint?
And, more importantly:
Why am I supposed to believe that no dalish elves would worship the gods they have already been worshipping their whole lives? That they wouldn't follow out of naivety, out of misplaced hope for a better future, out of fear, seeking to placate them?
Why am I supposed to believe that the gods would not even try to seek the dalish, when we are told by the previous games about the dalish hunters of legend, about how they are a mighty force to be reckoned with when united? Why do they only show up at the Blood of Arlathan quest, to play damsel in distress?
Why am I supposed to believe that no elves from the alienages would want to join the gods, because of every reason mentioned above, or out of spite or disdain for an uncaring world?
And yes, I know everyone learned the gods were evil off-screen. Why was it off-screen?
Also, where are the agents of Fen'Harel? Where are the people that vanished by the end of Trespasser?
Obviously, you can't expand on all of this in a single game, but why is all of it absent?
Why is bioware so afraid to engage with the world they created?
Them🖤🖤🖤
if he had a tail he'd be wagging it
They made Solas dumb in Veilguard, and that's worse than making him more villainous. I would have preferred him do the shittiest things imaginable over what they did to him. At least then, it would have been interesting.
They didn't let Solas interact with Kieran in dai bc he'd smell the June on him and have a melt down thinking about their own parallels and also Kieran would doxx him on fantasy roblox by accident
Solas is Loki, Eros, the Last Unicorn, a damsel in distress, the beast husband in every fairytale, Oppenheimer, a loyal dog, and also god.
Harellan
Ar lath ma, vhenan 🐺
Something something archdemon blood smeared across our lips like lipstick stains idk
Solas and Layla Lavellan