[whit-doodle]

Thinking about the fact Viago still feels guilty for the scars that Gunnar bears... All because he feels like he failed to protect Gunnar from what turned out to be an elaborate setup disguised as a contract.

An explanation of Gunnar's lore beneath the cut. 😊 Along with extra photos of his scars.

Roughly three years before the events of Veilguard, Gunnar accepted a contract from Viago. The Fifth Talon didn't think anything of someone requesting help dealing with a mage who was assisting a small Venatori operation in a town a day's journey from Treviso.

Viago never expected the contract to be a setup that left Gunnar fighting for his life. The contract had been a ruse, cleverly planned by another Crow, Ronan, who wanted Gunnar dead. When Gunnar failed to return as expected, Viago went searching for him.

Viago found Gunnar nearly lifeless, covered in serious burns on his face, torso, arms, and even his legs. It took months for Gunnar to recover. Due to the burns not being immediately treated, a healer could only do so much, even with the help of their magic and any potions they could make or acquire.

A healer also couldn't do anything to repair the damage done to Gunnar's right eye. Once vibrant green, the eye clouded over, leaving a permanent reminder that Gunnar would never have normal vision again. It took weeks of training for him to adapt his fighting and archery skills with his newly altered vision and depth perception.

Viago never forgave himself for not realizing sooner the contract hadn't been legitimate. He did, however, make sure Ronan paid the price for attacking a member of House de Riva. (and he nearly started a House war with House Dellamorte after finding out Caterina was the reason Ronan attempted to kill Gunnar in the first place...)

[whit-doodle]

Blighted Treviso just hits so much harder than blighted Minrathous.

[lighthouse-heroes]

Rook: "It sure is muggy outside." Lucanis: "Rook, I swear to the Maker, if I go outside and all our mugs are in the courtyard..." Rook: "..." Rook: *sips coffee from a bowl*

[whit-doodle]

Gunnar would absolutely do this. Although, I think he'd be more inclined to do it to Viago than Lucanis. Mostly because he knows it would annoy Viago far more than it would Lucanis.

[aradelka]

How my attention works when I play Valhalla

I swear I'm not interested in anything in this game except watching Basim and his little eagle.

[booksncatsworld]

Rookdex: Gunnar

Gunnar for @whit-doodle

Thank you for giving up Gunnar for the Rookdex, he’s simply adorable and I loved getting the chance to draw him :>

[If you haven’t already, you can request for your Rook to join the Rookdex here]

[whit-doodle]

I love this! 😁

[datvcompanionweeks]

Hello everyone!

Before you panic; no, we’re not cancelling Davrin week. Instead we wanted to come to you, the community, about how to run this blog for the foreseeable future (until, hopefully, Tumblr rolls back their new feature).

If you have not read the new update, you can read it here. A breakdown of what it actually does can be read here.

What this means is that if we comment as we normally do on creator’s work, the responses will then go to us. We don’t want that. This blog and these events were made to foster a community. Removing our comments and leaving nothing but a blank slate entirely removes that purpose.

Additionally, this upcoming week is for Veilguard’s only black companion: Davrin. We have no desire to lessen our engagement with fans because of tumblr staff’s utter disregard for community and creative spaces. We have no desire to alienate black fans and fans of Davrin in general due to this situation.

We’ve come up with a few solutions after an hour of testing on our personal blogs, but this is a community. We want to hear from the community. Not just the people who create but also the ones who interact and engage with those creators.

So far we know that if we reblog with our comments the creators will not see anything added to our posts except the notification of additional reblogs that also have comments and tags. Liking a post that’s not on the creator’s original page will just automatically apply that like to the most recent reblog with a comment. Additionally, all replies on other’s reblogs will not be seen by the creator, whether in notifications or on the post itself.

We’ve come up with two different choices on our end:

We reblog with our comments as usual with the addition of telling people to reblog/comment on the original post.

We simply reply and do an otherwise silent reblog with tags so if someone doesn’t read our reminder the creator is not deprived of interaction.

We push out the week (not ideal, but if it's what the community wants we will try to make it work.)

This event is about all of you, though. We just have the delight of seeing what you make during the week. So, if you have any ideas, we’re opening the floor to you. What do you want from us?

- The DATV Weeks Mod Team

[lostintheweave]

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Protective Dialogue

Part II

"We will always protect each other, right?"

"They would have to go through me."

"Hold my hand, and don't let go."

"I will be your cover."

"Please, trust me."

"I got you. I got you, ok?"

"I will take the fall for this."

"Don't worry about anything."

"Nothing wrong with needing a little bit of help."

"I can and I will protect you from this."

"I will be happy when I know that you're safe."

"We will get through this."

"Come to me when you're in trouble."

"I need to know that you're ok."

"They can't take me away from you."

"You will always be safe with me."

"I will keep you alive at all costs."

"No, let me do it."

"Please, let me help you."

"Call me if you feel weird."

More: Master Prompt List + Protective Dialogue Part I

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[whit-doodle]

I really want to get back into writing again. May pick a few of these to write some short scenes featuring my Crow Rook, Gunnar. Or if anyone out there sees a prompt you'd like me to write for, you're welcome to pick one (or two!) from the list and ask me! 😊

[serecenhawke]

This one is mesmerizing, I stared into those eyes for a while ngl

[whit-doodle]

👀

[whit-doodle]

I really hope I can find the motivation soon to continue my playthrough with Alden. My poor Shadow Dragon has been neglected for weeks now.

I plan to have him romance Neve. I'll also be making the opposite decisions from what I chose with Gunnar's playthrough... which means choosing Minrathous over Treviso and I'm not ready for that yet. 😐

I may also kind of speed run it, meaning of course I'll focus on all the Shadow Dragon quests and focus more on doing things in Minrathous. Might make this playthrough a little more impactful if I choose to not go full send for every companion/faction this go around....

[cerawin]

If you haven't seen this video of Zach Mendez talking about the almost-kiss in the pantry...

"Does Spite say something to make Lucanis pull away during the almost-kiss? The very presence of Spite is the reason Lucanis pulls away. He knows he's got a darkness inside him he can't control, and what is he gonna do? Entangle this person who just saved his life in all of his darkness? I think Lucanis convinces himself that he's doing it out of an act of generosity to Rook. Like, you know, 'You don't want to get involved in my stuff right now.' But in actuality, I mean, I think he's being- he's deceiving himself. He's terrified. He's terrified of the feelings he's building for Rook. So that pull-away, I think it has something to do with Spite. I don't think Spite- I think the presence of Spite makes him pull away. But I don't know specifically if Spite said anything that made him do that."

[fjordkat]

So, question for all arborists out there: Having many pairs of what is clearly people legs growing out of these tree trunks is just a normal part of tree biology and is nothing to worry about, right?

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

[vivreapleurer]

“You’re late.”

something something job gone wrong something something rook came to rescue

[ratbagjasper]

It took a wild heart to tame mine And it took a wild heart to charm Now a wild heart's gone and floored me With this everlasting glance

They get two weddings and she's carrying him down the aisle in the Fereldan ceremony. I really needed some joy today and this did the trick

Shouting out @in-the-drowning-deep for sending me this fantastic photo and going HARDAWES because absolutely yes without a doubt

[hyperions-light]

Rook Intro Hour: Betrayal

Good morning! Hope you're having a good Monday!

How it works: I ask you a question(s) about your Rook(s) and you answer however you want! You don't have to answer everything, and you don't have to worry about length. The easiest way for me to keep track of everyone is for you to reblog this post and add your answer, although mentioning me in a separate post also works. You can do this whenever you want, and I’ll reblog + comment. There’s no time limit— if you want to do the older ones, they are collected here! (The post is updated on Fridays!)

*Please be aware that if you rb RIH to a community WITHOUT rbing to your blog first, I CANNOT rb. If you want me to comment, please put the post on YOUR BLOG first. Thanks!

Today's Question(s): Has Rook been betrayed by anyone close to them before? Have they ever betrayed anyone, themself? In what context? Personally? Professionally? How did they feel when Solas betrayed them during the game?

Have fun, and be creative! Thanks for sharing !

[whit-doodle]

Going through the list of Intro Hour posts since there are quite a few I haven’t done yet, and couldn’t resist this one.

The burn scars that cover the right side of Gunnar’s face, along with his upper torso, back, and arms are all evidence of the biggest betrayal of Gunnar’s life. He is also almost completely blind in his right eye due damage from being burned. Three years before Gunnar became the leader of the Veilguard, he had been dating another crow, Ronan. Viago hadn’t been thrilled about it, but all he did was warn Gunnar that he should not wholeheartedly trust Ronan. Gunnar, knowing Viago’s paranoid tendencies, mostly ignored anything Viago had to say about the relationship.

Ronan was a very ambitious Crow. Deadly with a blade, known for being a very efficient and skilled assassin despite not belonging to a higher ranking House. His ambition is what led to him betraying Gunnar. The Crows all knew Viago favored Gunnar long before Viago ever became the Fifth Talon. Ronan was turned down by Viago when he asked to join House de Riva, which led to Ronan trying to find out why Gunnar held such high favor with the Fifth Talon despite being the opposite of what Viago usually expected from anyone in House de Riva. His main tactic was making Gunnar fall for him, so he could get closer to not only Gunnar but also have more access to the Fifth Talon. However, it was the First Talon herself that eventually gave Ronan the information he needed to uncover the truth behind who Gunnar is and why Viago made him a member of House de Riva.

Viago never suspected the contract he received would lead to a setup. He gave it to Gunnar because it was supposed to be a simple contract for a mage who had been working with the Venatori, helping them acquire some artifacts and even helped them traffic slaves. Gunnar went to the location, only to end up ambushed because the mage and half a dozen Venatori knew he was coming. He managed to fight them all off, and as the mage tried to escape, they threw a fire grenade. The right side of his body, especially his upper half took the worst of the burns. He collapsed due to the sheer amount of pain he was in. Left for dead, Gunnar remained where he had fallen for two days until Viago found him and took him back home.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that he learned the truth from Viago. Ronan tipped the mage off, hoping that Gunnar would be killed. Ronan’s motivation was because it would earn him high favor with the First Talon and could potentially get him into House Dellamorte. Gunnar was, of course, devastated to know he’d spent a year loving someone who never loved him back. He hadn’t had any idea Ronan’s affections were false. He also never got to confront Ronan because Viago, outraged that someone dared cross a member of House de Riva, absolutely snapped and took care of Ronan himself when he discovered he was behind Gunnar nearly being killed.

When Gunnar was betrayed by Solas, it brought up a lot of emotions he’d buried after Ronan’s betrayal. His anger and frustration boiled over, which led to him choosing to fight Solas and force him to be bound to the Veil.

To clarify a little about Caterina giving information to Ronan - Gunnar is technically the last of House Velardo. He was born three weeks before House Velardo attacked House Dellamorte. His mother, a member of House Velardo, used the chaos of the fight to flee from Treviso with her husband that day in an effort to protect her son and keep him from the life she’d been forced into. Caterina knows who Gunnar is not long after he joins the Crows as a fledgling at 15 years old, though, but she never says anything because she doesn’t expect him to survive training. When he does, it leads to her refusing to let go of House Velardo’s past actions so when she has the opportunity to give Ronan the information to use against Gunnar, she essentially gives him a contract to get rid of Gunnar, but to make his death look like it happened due to a contract gone wrong. Viago made Gunnar a member of House de Riva in an attempt to protect Gunnar from Caterina because Viago knows Caterina wouldn’t risk an outright attack against House de Riva in an attempt to get rid of Gunnar. Viago does eventually discover Caterina was the driving force behind Ronan’s actions, and he nearly starts another House war. Gunnar doesn’t find out about his mother’s past or his own ties to the Crows until right before the fight at Tearstone Island. He also doesn’t find out about Ronan’s contract with Caterina until after returning to Treviso following the fight in Minrathous. (And Lucanis is oblivious to all of this so he doesn't find out his grandmother once wanted the man he loves so dearly dead until the day Gunnar is told the truth after they return to Treviso to piece their lives back together following the fall of Elgar'nan.)

[whit-doodle]

"Illario, did you pluck your eyebrows recently?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you for noticing"

I've been laughing at this for the last 5 minutes. This is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks. 😂

[whit-doodle]

Meant to post this yesterday for the Archery theme for Bellara Week, but forgot. So, I'll just post it for today's free day theme instead. 😊 One of my favorite shots of Bellara in action.