The Secret Grotto

Nydia

The more I yap about these two, the more I realize how similar they are! They're both lone wolves, both of them worried about being close to someone and then that someone getting hurt... and, of course, both of them are screaming, crying, and throwing up about the thought of having feelings for + being in a relationship with each other😂

Lydia and Neve have a seven year age gap and a one inch height difference. I always crack up when I see how they scale Rook to be taller than Neve in their romance scenes. Like, Lydia's tiny! There's NO way she's suddenly half a head taller than Neve, pfft. Sure Neve's shrimpy, but Lydia is shrimpier!

Lydia and Neve definitely fell in love unintentionally, and it's a slow burn for sure. Partially because I'm a sucker for a slow burn, but mostly because, eh? Neve works alone, yadda yadda. She's worried that if she gets close to someone, she'll lose them. Lydia just, never really felt that romance was for her? To her, relationships were either platonic or sexual. And if a relationship was sexual, the sex was transactional. Falling in love with Neve came as quite the shock (heh) to her, for sure.

Lydia and Neve are aligned on most things! Analytical, silly, stubborn... they're both punctual and both dramatic (I have to assume that Neve was surprised to learn just how stubborn and dramatic Lydia really is, especially since Lydia tends to present herself as quiet and mild mannered lmao).

Also, my gosh... they don't argue too often, but when they do, it's a whole event. @/rooks-dagger and I have joked that they both struggle to be the first one to apologize after an argument. Instead, their annoyance manifests in their magic, which will radiate off of them. I can just imagine a post-argument Nydia needing to go on a mission together, and Neve's anger is causing her to chill the room around her. Lydia, shivering from the cold, is likely having her emotions manifest through magic that has Neve's CAREFULLY enchanted hairstyle frizzing up beyond belief.

Overall, I think they're a great pair and that they grow together 💙🩵. They learn how to trust other people, they learn how to open up, and they learn how to live in the moment- enjoy what they have now instead of worrying about tomorrow.

Bellanna

Bellanna as a ship absolutely cracks me up. It's genuinely "mad scientist falls in love with mad scientist."

I chose "bad influence + worse influence" as one of their tropes, but honestly I don't know which of them is which 😂. Look, they both have good heads on their shoulders! But they will BOTH enable each other whenever one of them gets a wacky idea. Neve and Lydia have had to save their asses from some sort of explosion, or trap, or expedition gone awry on too many occasions (Neve is thinking about charging).

Unlike Lydia, Susanna's does not experience her first love in Veilguard. Susanna has dated much more and has been in love before. But Bellara is the first person that Susanna has both been in love with and been dedicated to, if that makes sense? Susanna was head over heels for Bellara almost immediately (so much so that Neve caught on and absolutely grilled Susanna to make sure that she didn't toy with Bellara's feelings).

Bellara, on the other hand, took more time to fall for Susanna. Regardless, Susanna put in the work to show Bellara that she was serious about her!

Susanna and Bellara are a much less mushy couple than Neve and Lydia are. The latter couple might get up to some PDA or just be overall mushy. Susanna and Bellara prioritize getting up to as many crazy adventures together as possible. Sure, they're mushy! Sure, they're touchy feely! But def in a different way from Nydia.

Susanna and Bellara are aligned on most things, though Susanna is much more likely to ride the wave, while Bellara will dig her heels in if she finds something important enough. They're both also rather creative, though in different ways! While Bellara might get creative with a new invention or with some tinkering, Susanna is a musician at heart. You'd best believe that she's spent plenty of time in the music room at the lighthouse, whether with Bellara or alone, fiddling around and makin' music!

Thank you for reading!!!

Intro Card:

Shadow Dragon. Elf. Rogue Duelist.

Romanced Neve, of course! #Nevember4Eva 🥰

She was born into slavery on the Mercar estate, which is in Ventus. (Note: This is not Charon Mercar's estate. Maybe some asshole relative of his though lol).

Her age is a rough estimate, but she knows she was born in winter. I, of course, know her birthday, which is 10 Cassus 2016 TE aka 10 Haring 9:22 Dragon (ish). Basically, real-life 10 December lol.

She uses she/her pronouns but tbh I don't think she puts much thought into, or is particularly attached to, her gender 🤷🏻‍♀️

Affiliations

Ok, I booted up one of my late-game Act 3 saves to peep what everyone's bond level was. Know that in my heart that Taash (who was at level 9.75!!) made it to Level 10 and got the shield icon. Same with Harding 😭 Although tbf Harding and Lucanis were also lower level because I rarely had another rogue in the party 😅

Anywhooooos, moving on...

Ember adores Bellara… even if she has no idea what the woman is talking about when it comes to elven artifacts, magical matrices, etc. BUT she loves her energy! Bellara is always gung-ho for the craziest of plans. Ember likes that.

I think Bellara had the tiniest blip of a crush on Ember when she first joined the team. Really, she just thought Ember was a Very Cool Hero. It morphed into a platonic friendship quickly.

Ember and Davrin are such Bros™️ It took a moment for Davrin to suss out if Ember was alright, but he vouched for her in the end 🙂‍↕️

Ember would also deny this but she is lowkey jealous of Davrin's confidence and competence! She wants to be that cool!! So she absolutely takes inspiration from him when she's putting on her Leadership Persona. Does he notice?? Yes. And he will tease her about it lmao

Ember and Emmrich don't have much in common, but I think their friendship helps broaden both of their horizons! There is an initial distrust on Ember's side, mostly because she's always going to equate necromancy and moving bodies (even if dead and skeletal) with blood magic. Which, like, yeah, it is...but that's besides the point. But Emmrich's genuine kindness and curiosity put her at ease.

Emmrich respects Ember from the get-go! A young adventurer, taking on impossible odds. What's not to like? She's an eager student, too, always taking in feedback and working to better herself.

Please also know I absolutely think Ember & Emmrich would bond over a Fake Dating AU (as platonic friends) because they'd be so comically bad at it!

Ember and Harding are (yes -- are!!! -- I fully subscribe to the hc that Harding's Titan powers keep her alive and the team can go save her in the Deep Roads / Kal Sharok) thick as thieves. Two spunky rogues, out to save the world! Of course they become close friends.

Yes, Ember did have a tiny crush on Harding in those early days of traveling with her and Varric. Harding is just so cool! And so sweet! But Ember immediately shook her head because NOPE we were not about to have another U-Haul situation fresh off the breakup with Rion.

Ember has a short period of distrusting Lucanis in the Ossuary - not because he's an abomination, really (she doesn't know enough about magic tbh) but because she's saved people from Venatori prisons before and it's always a gamble on what their mental state is like. She quickly grows to respect and like her fellow rogue. They talk a lot about daggers, poisons, the best ways to get in and out of a building, etc. They will always debate on Antivan vs. Tevinter wine and coffee tho lmao.

Lucanis is hardened in my canon, because of course Ember goes to save Minrathous and the Shadow Dragons. He doesn't even fault her for that... but it is a scar on their relationship. Takes a while for him to call her a friend again, but seeing Ember put in so much work to help Treviso (and later, him in the battle against Zara, saving Caterina, etc.) brings him back around.

Neeeeeve~ Ember was heart-eyes from the get go when she saw how Neve took down those Venatori lol. Mega respect for all that mage shit (she shielded herself against the Archon’s Palace cannons like it was nothing!!) As you can also see, Ember quickly starts crushing and then falling head over heels for Neve 😂

Neve takes a while to suss out Ember, as she does with every newcomer and stranger. But she soon determines Ember is a good egg. Incredibly earnest, honestly. Perhaps too much so. And yet, she starts to develop feelings 💀 Very embarrassing for her. She refuses to call it “love” until nearly endgame.

Taash and Ember have such a funny relationship to me. Ember is immediately like “wtf” when faced with someone as impulsive and reckless as her 😂 but she quickly grows to view Taash as one of her closest friends. They’ll give it to her straight, no matter what. And they’ll always have her back. (Wouldn’t kill them to say she’s cool every once and a while tho 😒 she did defeat a few gods and double blight, after all)

Meanwhile, Taash thinks Ember is kind of a dork tbh. But she fights well, and takes care of the team. That’s obvious. Ember’s support throughout their personal journey (and loss of their mom) really binds them together as true friends. Taash still thinks Ember is a dork… but also a true friend. (So shut up! Only they can call Ember a dork like that, ok? 😤)