Reblogged antivanwine14
Just a ball of curiosity and a threat to no one.
Reblogged
Minrathous versus Treviso
I keep seeing posts from both sides of this about how it feels like it's unfairly stacked, particularly in terms of how your companions react to this choice.
But here's the thing, the choices are not a 1:1 parallel so it makes sense that the consequences are not a 1:1 split between Neve or Lucanis.
If you choose to not save Minrathous, the consequences are more intimate. The biggest hit, from a game play perspective while not factoring in companions reactions, is which merchant you have available to you. In the short time I had them during my first playthrough, I was far more attached to the Shadow Dragon's shop keep and her look-out than I ever got in the entirety of my Crows playthrough. You get to hear her story of how she survived the Fifth Blight. And she's not the only backstory you get like this. Much of the early game play in Minrathous is meeting individuals, Neve's contacts, her friends, past clients. It's a person to person connection.
But when you don't come to save them, the Shadow Dragons as an organization are dead. The Viper is blighted, those individuals you've met are either dead, dying, or have gone to ground. I teared up when I found out the merchant's fate. Neve's says her apartment is gone. The Threads move in. Mass hanging. But for the city itself, while it certainly needs restoration and repair, the core of the crisis affecting it is that it's now, essentially, under Venatori occupation, something that Treviso has already been dealing with. There is Blight, and it for sure affects the poor disproportionately, but it's not a universal constant for everyone.
Whereas, if you choose not to save Treviso, it doesn't feel as if you take as big of a hit in terms of beloved NPC's. Viago, Teia, Jacobus are all still alive and as I said, I personally never felt a strong connection to the Crows merchant. And as an organization, the Crows will survive this. Treviso is but one branch of the Crows and they'll recover from this. The intimate, person to person connections loss doesn't feel as large in terms of how they effect your story beats.
But Treviso is dead. They blighted the water of a city that's mainly on water. This will hit everyone, regardless of their station. Lucanis even says about the parts that are sinking into the water that in a few years, it might be completely gone or be a brand new expensive villa, you can never tell with Treviso. This is a case of a city full of the walking dead who just haven't fallen over yet. The health and mortality rate will plummet. The birth rate will plummet. They were used to occupation, but how do you fight an occupation within your own body?
Now, in terms of your companions reactions, I'm not factoring in the long term outcomes of the cities post-game or even mid-game as you work to help them. This is just to look at their immediate reactions and the game play mechanics as a result of this decision branch.
To me it makes sense that you get locked out of Lucanis' romance and not Neve's because of the long term realities they are facing. What is directly affecting Neve is raw grief. Those were the people she knew and they're gone now. But ultimately, she knows that those deaths are not on your hands and while it takes a while before she can trust you again, she heals from the grief and pain from the loss of life. Versus Lucanis who just sees the long branching consequences of what has happened to Treviso and knows that he warned you. He warned you that Antiva had no standing military and now his city is dead. And this isn't even factoring in all his personal stuff which canonically he tries to keep you away from him if you do fully romance him. The loss of his city is just the last straw needed to fully shut him down. There's just too much to deal with.
(As for Neve/Lucanis, I think that choice plays more into Lucanis' personal hang ups rather than the Minrathous vs. Treviso choice and this post is very specifically about the cities, not Lucanis' issues).
Now, it's fine if you wish to have that perfect 1:1 consequences comparison when choosing between one or the other. I personally don't like that approach when it comes to things like this because it feels like the writers didn't put deep thought into how this would affect the characters and instead were looking at just how to make it match perfectly and hand wave any characterization that doesn't fit their game mechanics.
But it is my personal option that I think it's unfair to say that it feels like a bug or lazy writing or unfinished when to me it feels like the opposite. It feels like they actually looked at the characters, looked at the big picture, and put thought into how this would play out, even if it meant it might tip one way or another. That's a sign of writing staying true to the characters rather than cave in the name of game mechanics.
Reblogged
so in the almost-kiss scene, lucanis suddenly displays this confident swagger as he boxes rook in against the wall. and don’t get me wrong, it’s hot af, but it does contrast with some of his other behavior. and right when his rizz is absolutely rizzing, he stops. he seems to have a revelation of some kind and he panics and leaves
since we unfortunately never get an in-game callback to this moment, we’re left with no canon explanation of his thought process at that moment
what we do know is that he considers rook his first real relationship. however, i’d be willing to bet that he is trained in seduction to a certain extent. after all, it’s a very useful strategy for getting close to a mark. and even if lucanis never used it much (or at all—and he certainly never used it as casually as illario), the training is there. and in a moment of emotion, it just… kicks in
but then, either because of his own conscience or perhaps a dig from spite, he realizes what he is doing. and he’s thrown. he cares about rook, he wants to tell them, but all he has to offer is this fake playacting that does not truly show his heart
and that is not good enough. not for rook
so what does he do? he finds a way to show his feelings in a more authentic way. a more personal way. he cooks for them. cooking is a skill he gained because he wanted to, not because caterina made him learn it. and when rook says he didn’t have to do that, he immediately contradicts them
yes, i did
he did need to. he needed to share what he feels in a way that he knows is his and no one else’s, a way that feels untainted by all his other baggage
and when rook responds with genuine happiness and appreciation, he feels seen and loved for who he truly is. and from then on, he is theirs, body, mind, and soul
