Waterunleashed

Rumble Feature pt. 2

Follow up to this, because Y'ALL ARE SO RIGHT.

all the people lucanis' mind conjures up along the way are relationships he has that are unavoidably mixed and fraught in some ways even when they're also full of love (they are fraught BECAUSE they're full of love) — the good in them inseparable from things that hurt him at the same time. (it's about: the basic disorganized attachment patterns this poor guy is dragging around with him. careful with those, they're dellamorte heirlooms. what you love also inevitably hurts you and you won't be allowed to have one without the other, you have to surrender parts of your soul to hold on to what little you have left: this is the story up until now.) and the idea that rook isn't that to him — that beneath the fear of wanting them when romanced (which is more its own separate thing because within this psychology, actively wanting something and not just clinging on for dear life to even a meager status quo lest you lose it is in itself dangerous bordering on catastrophic), this is a relationship where there isn't resentment, or guilt, or shame, or dread, or rage, or self-hate, or any of the other emotions that keep him paralyzed, unable to move this way or that. no debts, nothing owed of yourself and your soul's substance except what you can freely and safely and happily give. love and freedom don't coexist — but, I mean, you're almost starting to make me think........... unless...👀👀👀. the unconditional and undramatic 'you are here and I am here with you, you can be exactly how you are right now with me and it's safe for us both even though you're afraid it won't be, I'm not going anywhere' acceptance rook shows him here that he returns to them in the big romance scene, when it's rook who needs it. the way he's just. standing there in the center of it all, like a child desperately helplessly waiting to be found, hiding in the place he hopes you'll know to look first. (rook does know. it's one of the first things they say in there.)

As Rook is taken into the Regret prison and they see a vision of Lucanis' body on the ground, they scream his name out of concern and fear but all Lucanis hears is them screaming for him to help, and then they're gone. They're gone. He thinks they were screaming his name, begging him to save them and now they're gone.

Weeks into Rook being taken into the Regret prison and now a man who couldn't be touched without reflexively drawing a blade is craving the warmth of his partner who he thinks he'll never see again

Lucanis pulling Rook out of the prison, knowing it's them right away because of their hands. He missed their hands, he missed their touch, he missed their warmth, he missed them.

When you get him out of the Ossuary and express care and concern he starts letting his guard down. He sees how you treat everyone in the lighthouse and starts to thing MAYBE, maybe they care. Maybe he can trust you and let you in.

Lucanis is also a man that continually says that a crow never abandons a contract. Basically, your word is your bond. Then a dragon comes to destroy his home, he tells you that innocents are going to be blighted. And he runs to save them and fight for your city. Tell me that going to the other city isn’t a betrayal. Tell me that he didn’t look behind him a hundred times hoping to see you and curse himself for being stupid enough to hope every single time you weren’t there.

Soft, sad words after aren’t going to fix that you decided to leave him to face a dragon alone. Not when this man eventually would’ve fallen for you so deeply that he would try and stab a cloud for you. That he would kill an entire pantheon of Gods just to fall asleep in your arms. You can’t regain that kind of trust after abandoning him.

And for those upset that he is then in a romance with Neve. He wasn’t expecting her to come help his city. He knew that she would try to save hers. He also wasn’t falling for her before that. So there was no broken trust to work around after Treviso is blighted. There is just someone coming to help him pick up the pieces. And as Neve says their relationship is slow and cautious. They aren’t any steamier than that between Rook and Lucanis. However, Neve is a more aggressive flirt than Rook is. When they first meet Neve tells Lucanis he’s hot so it doesn’t surprise me that she is outwardly flirty with him.

Like, this was a writing decision made, that if you pick the "wrong" faction you will likely be led to lock yourself out of the romance. I think it's a valid criticism of the game that they made it asymmetrical in a way that feels unfair.

Honestly I really wish the consequences of that choice had been exploited more deeply. I wish there were a bunch of quests for Rook to try to fix it, try to help Treviso as much as possible in the aftermath. I also think that decision would have felt more impactful if it had happened a bit later. Like give Rook enough romance crumbs before so that it is a choice between their city and their love interest, not between their city and a crush.

For me, I like that the story has consequences. I like that I can’t just farm his bond and be damned the choices I’ve made in the game. Dragon Age has always had some type of choice that closes off a path for you. I mean in Inquisition and DA2 you had party members that you could push to leave the party and never return.

I’m sorry that your Shadow Dragon Rook chose to save their hometown. From an RP standpoint I understand the motivation. Lucanis does as well which is why he doesn’t leave the party and you can continue to build a friendship with him. But, he isn’t going to trust you enough or let you close enough to mend his heart.

When you get him out of the Ossuary and express care and concern he starts letting his guard down. He sees how you treat everyone in the lighthouse and starts to thing MAYBE, maybe they care. Maybe he can trust you and let you in.

Lucanis is also a man that continually says that a crow never abandons a contract. Basically, your word is your bond. Then a dragon comes to destroy his home, he tells you that innocents are going to be blighted. And he runs to save them and fight for your city. Tell me that going to the other city isn’t a betrayal. Tell me that he didn’t look behind him a hundred times hoping to see you and curse himself for being stupid enough to hope every single time you weren’t there.

Soft, sad words after aren’t going to fix that you decided to leave him to face a dragon alone. Not when this man eventually would’ve fallen for you so deeply that he would try and stab a cloud for you. That he would kill an entire pantheon of Gods just to fall asleep in your arms. You can’t regain that kind of trust after abandoning him.

And for those upset that he is then in a romance with Neve. He wasn’t expecting her to come help his city. He knew that she would try to save hers. He also wasn’t falling for her before that. So there was no broken trust to work around after Treviso is blighted. There is just someone coming to help him pick up the pieces. And as Neve says their relationship is slow and cautious. They aren’t any steamier than that between Rook and Lucanis. However, Neve is a more aggressive flirt than Rook is. When they first meet Neve tells Lucanis he’s hot so it doesn’t surprise me that she is outwardly flirty with him.