I can’t believe I forgot to post these. I did an Arcane art style study like a month ago

HERE U GO.

“Do you ever take in strays, Neve?”

“Just one. Just once. Now that’s a story.”

“What happened?”

“You tell me, Trouble.”

Good night, Tumblr. 💕

Have some more

dragon age: the veilguard | neve gallus 8/?

Collarbones 💕😈

Just a lil steamy midweek pick-me-up for the very specific group of people who enjoy Neve Gallus in her, uh, more sapphic moments

dammit.

Neve 💙

“Skipping Stones,” part 2 (because apparently Tumblr has an image limit, whoops! Part 1 here). 💕

Again, I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED MY OWN STUDY OF DOCK TOWN after approximately ten thousand years omg. If you also love analysis and camera angles and Neve Gallus, read on (or start here). Many, many sketches below the cut. ☠️💕 So many.

Rook hesitates.

And into the silence between them Neve throws another line of dialogue, like she can’t stop now that she’s started. Like she can’t plan this even though she wants to. As Rook tries to find a strategy, Neve is losing hers.

“Skipping Stones” part 1 (because Tumblr has an image limit, whoops. Part 2 coming after I walk my dog!!)

OK I FINALLY FINISHED MY OWN STUDY OF DOCK TOWN if you are excited about camera angles and ridiculous analysis read on!!! So many sketches below the cut. So many. ☠️💕

I’ve never played the “friendship” version of this scene, but there’s a fascinating moment before Neve and Rook collect stones, when dinner has failed and the contacts have gone home, and Neve just stands awkwardly against the overcast grey sky. “What happens now?” she asks, as if she half-guesses the answer.

And a flirty Rook says, “Anything you want.”

Which is, of course, exactly what Neve is afraid of. 💕

Neve's romance

Neve is (by some margin) my favorite Veilguard romance, and I'm just mulling over what exactly makes her romance so good for me. 

First, you see a very different side of her. I love romances with reserved characters who only fully open up in the context of a romance. Outside of the romance Neve is very careful and put-together, even with friends, but the romance shows you so much vulnerability (wonderfully conveyed in the voice acting) and it's very appealing. It makes her more nuanced, and it makes the romance feel much more intimate. Although Neve's romance doesn't actually have more content than the others, to me it felt like it did, because I really had this sense of getting something very different and new on the romance path. 

It also has some fantastic lines. 'Kiss me so I know it's real.' 'I knew you were trouble.' 'Aren't we a pair.' Not only is she gorgeous, she has such a way with words!

In addition, it has a well-defined arc. The central issue threading through the relationship is Neve's anxiety around allowing herself to develop these feelings. This note is present the whole time, and it's intertwined well with all her loyalty missions, because every time you come through for her you're giving her reasons to let her walls down. And it reaches a natural culmination before Tearstone island, where she's still hesitant to say she loves you, followed by a lovely resolution when she realises she almost missed the chance to say it forever, and so finally she does. So there's a clear emotional trajectory which runs through the whole romance and fits well with the structure of the game. 

Relatedly, it doesn't feel easy. The whole time she's letting you in and then pulling away, even after the romance lock-in. It feels like you had to work slowly and persistently at getting her to trust you, so it feels very satisfying when she finally does. It's not transactional, you don't just press the flirt button a few times and get 'romance' as an output, it really feels natural and organic.

Finally, romancing her as a woman felt like a very believable sapphic dynamic to me. There's an equality of initiative from both sides, and a specific kind of heartfeltness. There are some cases where I've romanced bisexual women in games and had the feeling that the romance was written under the assumption that you're playing a man and so the dynamic is sort of implicitly gendered, but with Neve it felt very natural and right to romance her as a woman.

Anyway: I love her. Beautifully done. Definitely a highlight of the game for me.

Hellloooo I have been very busy this week but have you ever looked at Neve’s face right before she kisses Rook, and then right after, and just thought, wow.

That’s all. 💕

finished DATV... and finally harding is a romance option