if you want to understand why i say veilguard is extremely tightly written and full of parallels, fractals, and foils which zero in on the themes of generational trauma, grief, and escaping cycles, look no further than the pre-title screen tutorial:
not only is it nearly beat for beat the inquisition pre-title tutorial (cutscene to establish the protag's personality, meet the "advisors", a giant hole in the sky spewing demons, gather your first companions, fight through a demon infested landscape to reach a temple where a ritual is/was being enacted that would destroy the world, first big boss is a pride demon)
but right there, in the first ~thirty minutes of the game, rook becomes solas the rebel wolf and solas becomes elgar'nan the cruel. solas stabs varric (like mythal was stabbed by elgar'nan) after varric only tried to talk to solas, to reason with him, as mythal tried to reason with elgar'nan.
not for nothing is rook varric's second as solas was once mythal's. and not for nothing does solas keep the full realization from rook.
Emma couldn’t help the tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn’t expected to cry so much, but as the officiant led her brother and his fiancée through their vows, she’d been hit with a wave of emotion. Happiness and the knowledge that this was changing their lives forever; it was so intense her tears were the only outlet. But her wet smile was pure joy as the new Mr. and Mrs. Nolan were announced to a round of applause and cheers.
Emma happened to be paired with Brendon on the walk back up the aisle. Her second oldest brother was the best man, followed by her third oldest brother and then Brendon. The bride’s two best friends had preceded her.
As she grasped his arm for balance, she couldn’t help noting the disparity in their respective sizes, despite her toe-pinching four-inch heels. He towered over her and was probably twice her weight too.
He looked down at her and gave a brief smile.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
She smiled. “Really great. Everything was so beautiful. Thank you for – well, for giving me the gift of being able to be present today.”
“Anytime.” was his laconic answer.
:-:-:-:
The rest of the night was a blur of dancing and toasts and cake. The Father and Daughter dance was bittersweet. She sat next to Ty and laid her head on his shoulder. Her handsome brother shared a knowing, pained glance and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ty had gotten her through the worst of losing their parents. Ten years her senior, he’d always been the doting big brother with her, and they shared a special bond.
“I love you Emmy.”
“Love you too Ty. I’m so happy for you guys. Daddy and maman would have been so proud.” she replied, impressed with the steadiness of her voice talking about their parents.
“I’m so proud of you, Emmy. Passing your boards and now you’re a legit nurse! Have you thought more about where you’re going to apply for jobs?
‘Maybe a little subtle seed-planting would be fruitful’ she thought.
“I was actually thinking of Pittsburg” she let out casually. “I was talking with Brendon and he’s at a Level I trauma. They need nurses, and now that you’re in Detroit, it’s only a four-hour drive.”
“Wow, I thought you wanted somewhere like California or Hawaii so Pittsburg sounds a hell of a lot better.” he laughed.
“I wasn’t planning on going that far. I just want to get out of Michigan, you know? And with the boys already in Philly, I’d be a midpoint for all of us.”
“Yeah I can see it. I know Brendon will keep an eye on you if I ask him to, so at least there’ll be somebody. And it can’t hurt to have connections at the hospital.”
She gave him a big smile. “You’d better go dance with your new wife. Looks like she’s ready for you.”
Ty gave her another squeeze and kissed the side of her head as he got up and made his way toward his bride.
Her third oldest brother crashed gracelessly into the seat on the other side of her and slung his arm around the back of her chair. “Bro I’m never doing this. If I ever get married it’s gonna be in Vegas.”
Emma side-eyed Mo and giggled. “You didn’t even have to do anything except show up.” she pointed out.
“I had to put up with this torture for six hours.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Hey, what’s up with Brendon? I didn’t even know you knew him?” he asked.
Emma paused, thinking quickly. Mo was closest to her in age, only three years older than her 23. He’d become a skilled welder at age 20 and was making better money than all of them. Even though he was rarely serious, he always had her back. Maybe it would be a good idea to talk to him first and gain an ally in the inevitably awkward greencard marriage conversation.
“I’m thinking of going to Pittsburg. Working at his hospital there.”
“Oh, sick.”
“Yeah. Hey, if I tell you something, can you keep it quiet for now? Just until I get the chance to talk to the guys about it?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Can we go somewhere to talk for a minute?”
He looked around and nodded. “Perfect timing. Bridesmaid number 5 is coming this way and I’ve been trying to avoid her all night. Her crazy eyes are creeping me out.”
“Be nice Mo!” Emma scolded. “I think she had a bad breakup recently and she’s just lonely.”
“Well her skinny white ass can go solve her loneliness with some other dude. Ain’t gonna be me.” he retorted as he quickly navigated them toward the exit.
They found a private alcove off of the reception hall and sat on an elegant sofa.
Emma looked up, trying to figure out the most effective way verbalize the situation. “You know how daddy and maman were filing the papers to change my legal status while I was in school?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Well, something went wrong with the paperwork. And now that they’re not here anymore, my legal status is gone.”
He sat up straight and swore under his breath. “Is this for real?” he stormed.
“I got the notification a few days ago. I didn’t want to ruin Ty’s day obviously, so I didn’t tell you guys.”
“Shit.”
“Well, here’s the thing,” she began. “I kind of happened to spill this to Brendon last night and he was chill about it. He got us a meeting with a lawyer and we talked to them this morning actually.”
“Yeah Brendon’s a good dude. So what’s the plan, what’d the lawyer say?”
She took a fortifying breath. “Well, funnily enough, the lawyer was under some mistaken impression that Brendon and I were dating. Isn’t that hilarious?” she breezed, ignoring his narrowing eyes. “And it gets even funnier – the lawyer advised us to get married. To each other. He said that was the best option for getting a greencard.”
“Ok, but what did he say after you told him that you weren’t actually getting married?”
Emma cleared her throat. “We asked him what the other options were besides marriage. He said they all involved going to Guadeloupe or France and applying through the consulate. He said it would probably take years, and there wouldn’t be any guarantees that I would actually be able to come back.”
“Well that’s not happening.” he growled. “What the actual hell?”
“Yeah, I know, I know it looks bad. But then Brendon offered – he said we could get married. Like, totally platonically. He said I could stay in his spare room and work at his hospital and help out with his mom. It’s really sad by the way, she has cancer.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “You outta your damn mind girl? You can’t just get married like that!”
“I’m open to any ideas,” she responded quietly. “Can you think of anything else? Because the lawyer said this was the only way to be able to stay here and get a greencard quickly.”
He sat back down with an inelegant thump and leaned his head back.
He left out a noisy huff. “Well, he’s a responsible grown-ass man so better him than some loser we don’t know, I guess. But he better keep his hands to himself.”
“You said yourself he was a good guy!” she protested.
“I said that before I knew you were planning on marrying him.” he muttered darkly.
“Besides” she added, “I’m sure he doesn’t even see me that way. I’m just a friend’s little sister to him.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “Oh he definitely sees you that way.”
“Well I think you’re wrong. He was the one who assured me it will be totally platonic.”
“Yeah, because he’s not a moron and doesn’t want the three of us beating his ass. That doesn’t mean he’s not into you.”
“Now that you mention it, he did say something about avoiding castration.” she giggled.
“I rest my case.”
“Ok, not the point. He’s respectful and I think I’d be safe with him. Will you help me convince the guys about this?” she asked. “I don’t want to fight, and since I don’t see any other way, it would be really nice to have your support.” she finished sincerely.
He affectionately knocked into her shoulder with his. “Yeah of course. You’re a grown adult, Em, you don’t need permission. And if you really think this is the only way, then I support it. But if he breathes wrong in your direction…”
“Yeah yeah, I know, you’ll beat him up for me, tough guy.” she smiled.
:-:-:-:
At the end of the night, the guests formed an arch of sparklers to send the bride and groom off to their gorgeous vintage getaway car Ty had borrowed from Bo. As the photographer snapped pictures, Brendon sauntered up to her. “Emma, I’d like to start figuring out logistics with this whole thing. You have time for me tonight? I’ve got to drive back to Pittsburg early tomorrow morning for a shift later in the day.”
Did she have time for him. As if he wasn’t the one doing her this colossal favor for her. She looked up at him, “Yes of course! Why don’t we talk back at the Airbnb?”
He nodded in assent as he looked down on her.
:-:-:-:
Looking down into the prettiest pair of doe eyes he’d ever seen, set in an exceptionally lovely face, the man freely admitted to himself that he’d quite possibly committed a massive unforced error. Total tactical misjudgment on his part. The absolute trust shining in her eyes burrowed uncomfortably deep into some innominate part of his heart and made itself at home.
big shout out to Twitter user fueltankreject for making this compilation, I’m certain there’s more to come but in case you didn’t know Twitter is strongly one-upping tumblr roleplay accounts in the sheer NUMBER
