#we get a bit like with arle stabbing her when she was petting a cat

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hey Pencil, can I ask you what you think of Neuvilette's character after the end of the current Archon quest? Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed at how he and everyone else treated Furina, but I was curious about your thoughts on the matter

ohohohohohohohoho anon. Dear sweet anon, you've activated my trap card, otherwise known as the Pencil Essay card, because I have sooooo many thoughts about this.

I will say though, I see Neuvilette in context of the story quests too, especially Furina's, as well as his friendship stories and voicelines. So, er, spoilers for that I suppose, but I can't separate those bits away from his character at this point. Anyway.

I frickin love Neuvilette. As a character, he checks a lot of boxes of traits that I adore, like being hella old, a dragon, somewhat isolated from normalcy, a cinnamon roll that can kill you, and Doing His Best. Now, as an important addendum to this, the fact that he is a dragon is a crucial part of the basis, because that's where a lot of conflict starts. He's separated from his kind, he's not a human yet he is confined to a human form, he remembers that the elemental authority should be his but Celestia took it and the archons have it now. The idea he has that he will forever be isolated, and that there will forever be a certain taste of bad blood between him and the rest of the world is founded. And yet. AND YET. Long ago, Focalors asks for him to help lead Fontaine, and he!!! Agrees!!! Neuvilette's character is rooted in a sense of justice and fairness, and in such, he tries to remain open-minded, and thus, he must witness things for himself. When he is presented a change in perspective, he accepts it.

Honestly I thought the Archon Quest did this rather nicely. He worked with Furina, believing her to be Focalors, for years. While Furina did waaay too good of a job in being as showy as possible, their close proximity meant that some of her true ethics and anxieties did make themselves known to Neuvilette. He knew when Furina was panicking and lying, just not why. Likewise, he has had inklings of when she's been sincere, and also, has a better perspective on how other people perceive her. More on that in a second.

Knowing what we know in hindsight, the Archon Quest is....very harsh. But. I understand why it happened that way. It was very clear that neither the Traveler nor Neuvilette wanted to put Furina on trial, however, neither of them were able to get her to tell the truth in private, and time was of the essence. The threat of a whole populace dying (and!!!! People have already died at this point!!!! Civilians!!!) is kind of a big deal. Something happens, or they all die; full stop. Hence, calling out the big guns. Which, to their credit, was just meant as a display of pressure on an actual deity, not an actual trial with death sentences and the discovery that Furina was a stressed out human all along. Focalors wanted that, however, so all according to plan. But very much not what Neuvilette wanted.

Fast forward. For Neuvilette, I think there is something really special to be said that he cares about both Focalors and Furina. He's only ever seen glimpses of both, but when Focalors aims to die to give Neuvilette back what is rightfully his, he protests! He doesn't want that! If there was a way for Focalors to undo the sea, he would accepted that, despite the janky usurped power thing. She is making a divine sacrifice, one that nobody else will truly know, and he mourns the person that is lost for it. Meanwhile, for all that Furina acted as a mask, and acted as if she was entirely self-sustainable, Neuvilette has shown to be concerned over her as a person. He caves so quickly to meet with Arlecchino when it's clear she's nervous, he asks Traveler to look after her, he tries to ask her when she's clearly being flighty. Even little things, like when he tells Traveler to acknowledge Furina at the beginning of the quest when she's showing off, because he knows she equates attention to success (just not why) and he is throwing her a bone. Yes, he is exasperated just as frequently, but Furina is not making it easy at that stage. Her entire schtick is to purposely keep people at arm's length, to be entertaining before she's likable, so really, I think there's an impressive amount of patience to be had.

The thing I have noticed about Neuvilette is that he is the kind of just that is caring. The law is for the sake of the people, and thus, people have become his focus. He denies this for a long time on account of believing himself to be forever an Other, but it is persistent all the same. He quickly wants to see the melusines treated well and with respect when they are integrated with society. He wants to see justice for those who are hurt. He understands, even, when those who do wrong are not bad people, like with Wriothesley. Neuvilette is, at his core, a kind person; however, he is terrible at expressing care in ways we would expect it. In part because he's just Like That, and in other part because he spent so long unaware of it. Usually, this means that he takes things at face value. If a melusine is being threatened, then there is a problem regarding humans' view of melusines again; if Wriothesley crawls out of hell with a Vision and the new title of Duke, then that means he found something to live for and he will support it; if Furina asks for space, then he tries to give her space. Neuvilette is a sincere person, even if sometimes he misunderstands the emotional complexity afoot.

Back to Furina. When it's revealed that she is a human, and she absolutely crashes, Neuvilette may not be the picture of fatherly comfort, but he is there for her in the way she asks, and even, in the ways she doesn't. She wants to be left alone, because Furina is tired of a facade and at this point she believes that everyone will hate both the fake her and the real her. Neuvillete obliges, and he arranges to pay for her apartment and food and make sure she is taken care of, when Furina is clearly not thinking that far ahead. It's clear that he would visit more often, but he's busy being the effective Archon now, and also, he doesn't think Furina would want that. Face value interpretations and all that. However, Neuvilette still appreciates the good that Furina did accomplish, in the mask and out of it. He doesn't fully understand Furina's hangups, but he respects what she does or doesn't want to do.

Now, Furina absolutely hit that depressive slump of a crash. Homegirl is living off of noodles like a broke college student. She thinks the world hates her and that everyone only put up with her because she was the archon and a superstar. Did she need someone to intervene? Sure. But she pushed Neuvilette and Clorinde away when they awkwardly tried, so Furina has to go through the long story quest way, and come to a bit of her own realization that people genuinely respected her ability to act as a skill and a thing of beauty, not just as a lie.

Furina's story quest offers the very best presentation of how Neuvilette sees her, and how, in his own way, he apologizes but also respects everything she has done and is. When Furina goes on stage, despite her valid reservations, and she gives it her all for that actresses sake, and she gives it her all because its real to her too, and Neuvilette sees this and sees her bravery, her spirit, and all of the hard work that Furina has given Fontaine for 500 years. So he tears a chunk off of his power and he gives it to her, in the form of a Vision.

The Visions are such a wonderful representation, because now that Neuvilette is the sole sovereign, without Celestia's janky throne in the way, he has full power over the granting of Visions. He can stop if he wants, because Visions are made by ripping chunks off of the god in question, but Neuvilette has studied and he has learned that humans are amazing and they earn their ambition, and he wants to give to that. So it's an incredibly purposeful gesture here and it carries the meaning of his care and respect in ways that he cannot articulate.

Neuvilette is kind. He's stiff, dutiful to a fault, has trouble being vulnerable and recognizing it in others, but he is trying, and he is kind. He gives credit where credit is do, and he tries to do the right thing, even when he misses the mark. He accepts when he's wrong, though, like with Focalors and Furina, like with missing how the general populace adores the melusines now, like with Childe when he honestly was baffled by the oratrice's absurd verdict. He's an old dragon and he's slow to catch up, but he makes that effort anyway, which I think is really neat. Neuvilette learns and he implements that. In Lantern Rite, he listened to Furina and finally managed to take a vacation, and he made a dumb little dragon ladle and had fun doing it. And he walked away from that realizing why taking a break was important.

So, er, yeah. I think Neuvilette is neat. Furina too. I really wish we can see them interacting more now that Furina is finally getting it through her skull that people do, in fact, want to be her friend and spend time with her, and I would love to see more on the implications that Traveler has told him of the other archons' exploits and he is forced to admit that they also either have no idea what's going on or that they known of them took the elemental authority on purpose/for the sake of it, but that's either an end-game thing or we'll never get it. Alas. Still I think Fontaine and all of hydro is in good hands with him.

Also he's an awkward dragon yall know I love grandpa dragon men who have parental bones but have no idea how to use them on purpose. I have. a type. of course I'm looking hard at neuvilette he's got the whole package

So uhhhhhh yeah. Yeah. I will. End it there.

#genshin impact #neuvillette #pencil essay #anon #ask #character analysis #if you look closely you can tell I love furina's story quest #i wrote this unedited at 3-4 am so #like most of my tumblr essays this is not my best work #but it is my raw unhinged work which is why we are all on this hellsite #but yeah honestly i do give neuv credit for his patience #if i had to deal with furina acting like that i would have strangled her #the cast doesn't get clued in on her inner actions until the last second #we get a bit like with arle stabbing her when she was petting a cat #also its mad frustrating to try to help someone who refuses help so I get it #especially when nobody knew furina's reason #because she couldn't tell anyone #focalors' master plan was brilliant but cruel #which they both knew going into this #so uhhh yeah the archon quest was rough but I get it

[tk-duveraun]

Title: Trepidation 3/3 (maybe?) Fandom: DA: Inquisition Rating: T Genre: Romance Summary: Two idiots pining. Power Couple AU Notes: The Day After An Almost-Kiss. Also known as every day. Parts: One Two

When Fox first woke, he thought it was just another of the Desire demon’s tricks because he felt Ela’s hand on his arm. Just a light, careless caress, as if they were lovers like the demon kept offering. But no, it wasn’t the Fade. Ela was still asleep and had no idea what she was doing. With an internal sigh, Fox slipped out of her reach and stood, stretching the kinks out of his back. After a moment of hesitation, he gently tucked Ela’s hand again Tanithil’s side. The cat’s ear twitched, but he otherwise didn’t react. Fox took that as approval.

Fox pulled on his boots and quietly snuck out of the room to meet with Leliana’s scout. There was still nothing to report, so Fox picked up some hot savory pies for them to eat as breakfast and returned to the shared room. He knocked twice and waited for Ela’s answer before he stepped back inside. His comrade-in-arms was already back in her armor and their saddlebags were mostly packed.

“Food,” Fox said, holding out the pie.

Ela bit into it as if she hadn’t eaten in days. She spoke around the food in her mouth. “You’re a prince.”

Fox laughed at her and rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome.” He had to snap his jaw shut to keep from adding an endearment on the end. Something had shifted between them. It was more now. Too much. They’d been precariously balanced before, a delicate mix of physical distance and crudely intimate words that meant nothing and everything at once. Oh, if given the chance, Fox would follow through on every offer he’d made, but it wouldn’t start that way. It would start as something soft, like how they’d braided each others’ hair the night before and he could still feel phantoms of her hands brushing the back of his neck.

The savory pies disappeared in record time, what with how both of them couldn’t bear to speak to each other. Fox was letting Tanithil lick the last traces of gravy from his hands when Ela approached him with the dark blue sash with the symbol of the Inquisition stitched on with white, silk thread. She lowered it over his head and fussed over the exact positioning, as if she was the one with experience at court. Eventually, Fox gently pushed her hands away, and positioned it himself. Then he reached over and adjusted hers until it was right.

“Well then, ready?”

“It can’t be too bad. We did get him his castle back,” Ela said.

Fox nodded, but said nothing as they left their room and stepped through the tavern and out to wear the Arl’s carriage was supposed to pick them up. The carriage was there, but they hadn’t gone one step from the tavern’s threshold when Fox and Ela were accosted on either side by people chattering about how the Inquisition had saved their farm or the village’s mill or any number of things.

Fox tried to politely decline all of the thanks, but there was no avoiding the flowers pressed into his hands, so he simply held on to them as he finally was able to pull himself into the carriage and pull Ela in after him. Through the window he could see Leliana’s scout laughing himself sick. Fox snapped his fingers and the man’s hair caught fire. He shared a blank look with Ela before they started laughing and the carriage started off for the Arl’s town house.

Fox dropped all of the flowers into his lap and carefully peeled away the leaves and trimmed the stems with his pocket knife. He did the same to the flowers Ela handed to him and once they were all pruned to his satisfaction, he brushed the detritus onto the floor of the carriage and silently gestured for Ela to turn her head.

Though she gave him a puzzled look with narrowed eyebrows before complying, there was a quiet “Oh!” when she felt him carefully slip the flowers into her plait. It made her look more beautiful yes, but only because it made Ela look more… Authentic. More truly herself. More like the eldest daughter of her clan’s Keeper who spent her days outside in the sun hunting and teaching history to the children.

Fox didn’t let his hands linger and took care not to stare once they left the carriage. They were warriors: equals and representatives of the Inquisitor. Trusted members of his inner circle. Yes, sending a Dalish and a Tevinter was an intentional slight, but Ferelden’s monarch had been quite rude, so it was only to be expected. The meeting had just as much empty posturing as both Leliana and Josephine had predicted and it seemed like such a waste, but the Inquisitor hadn’t wanted to risk them getting injured before the assault on Adamant Fortress.

They slipped out the servant’s entrance when the meeting was over, carefully balling up and hiding their Inquisition sashes before trekking back through the city to the Gnawed Noble.

“I don’t really want to stay another night at the inn. I’d rather be back on the road,” Ela said.

Fox couldn’t agree more. He hadn’t slept any better in the inn, what with the fist around his chest the entire time. The rejection was so much worse without the considerations of camping in the wild. Maybe he would just avoid Ela once they got back to Skyhold. Make a new lamp and find something casual to take the edge off. He sent Ela back to the inn alone. With the brightly-colored flowers in her white, white hair Fox could barely resist touching her in public. Alone, with no one stare at her…

So he sent her in alone while he purchased supplies for the long trip back to Skyhold. For the most part, he didn’t purchase anything unnecessary. For the most part. He couldn’t stop himself buying the little fruit pies that would keep for several days as long as he didn’t break the crust. He was damned to the Void and back already, may as well make her as happy as he could.

The sun was just starting to set when they left Denerim, Tanithil having meowed and whined until he’d been allowed to ride in Fox’s saddlebags. Unlike on the trip to the city, they rode silently. The tension between them as taut as a bowstring, but as fragile as the flowers Fox had put in Ela’s hair. They had been gone by the time he finished his shopping, undoubtedly Ela had been eager to rid herself of them. He’d swiftly pulled out the loose plait and replaced it with two tight, functional braids that wouldn’t impede her fighting.

Their harts walked briskly in cool evening air, unbothered as it shifted from cool to cold and no with no worse footing for having only the light the moon. An hour after moonrise, Fox and Ela pulled off the road and set up their single tent in a copse of trees.

Their fire was warm, but not very bright. The silence between them was deafening. Tanithil tried to help by meowing loudly and stalking back and forth between them, as if it could make them sit closer so he could be pet by both at once, but Fox and Ela were too busy avoiding eye contact and sighing quietly. Fox was so engrossed with feeling sorry for himself that he didn’t notice the danger until arrow pierced through his cloak and grazed his arm.

He felt the magebane immediately, clenching his jaw and grabbing his staff.

Ela was already on her feet, greatsword in both hands. She said, “A little light would be nice.”

Fox broke off the arrow’s shaft and threw it to the ground, not wasting the time trying to work the head out of his armor. He twirled his staff in both hands, planting the sharp point in the frozen dirt. “It would, if that arrow hadn’t be doused in magebane.”

As if his words were a signal, the bandits burst into their clearing all at once. Fox swung his staff around, aiming the crescent blade at the nearest one’s throat, but before he could make contact, Ela had jumped in front of him and cut the man down.

“Ela! Are you out of your mind?” Fox shouted, even as he swung his staff at the next attacker.

“Are you?” She returned, bashing a brigand in the face with the heavy pommel of her sword. “You’re drugged; stay back!”

“I am a perfectly capable fighter,” Fox said. His words were punctuated by heavy thwacks from his staff. He stabbed his opponent through the chest with the butt of his staff once he was on the ground before spinning to fight the next one.

“You’re a mage without magic. You’re useless and you’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t just stand down and let me protect you,” Ela argued. Even though their weapons and movements were fully engaged in combat, the two of them were far more concerned with their verbal exchanges.

“I grew up in the heart of the Tevinter Imperium! Enemies around every corner and no guarantee their magic wouldn’t counter mine.” Fox slit the throat of a bandit attempting to strike at Ela’s back. “I don’t need your protection; you’re leaving yourself open!”

“Too fucking bad!” Ela’s sword crashed into a bandit’s chest, knocking him down and stunning him. “You’re getting it anyway!”

Fox cut down the last bandit and turned to Ela. “You’re being ridiculous, there’s no need-”

Ela wrenched her sword out of the bandit’s chest and spun around to face Fox and interrupt him. “There is a fucking need because I love you!”

Fox’s mouth worked before his brain did, resulting in him shouting, “Then why do you keep running away?”

They stood still, then, staring at each other and panting. Most of their would-be attackers were dead. Behind Fox, one of them lifted a dagger to throw at his unprotected back, but Fox felled him with a blast of Lightning magic, the magebane having finally worn off.

After a long moment, Ela dropped her sword and stalked across the camp to Fox. She grabbed him by roughly by the collar. “Why do I run away? Me? Because you’re gay and I’m not about-”

“No I’m not! Where could you possibly have gotten that idea? Were my overtures not explicit enough for you? Was the lamp not a clear enough sign of my favor?” Fox asked, voice still raised.

“Obviously not!” Ela returned, still holding him tightly.

“Well?”

“Well yourself!”

Fox dropped his staff with a clatter and grabbed Ela’s face in both hands, roughly pulling her in for a hard kiss. Weeks of frustration and desire clawed its way out of his chest, leaving Fox with no choice but to open his mouth against Ela’s and drink her in. He grabbed the braids he’d put in her hair and held her tight against him.

For her part, Ela wrapped his braid around her hand, clearly equally unwilling to let him get away or change his mind. They stood there kissing, their free hands trying to get contact with something that wasn’t armor, but not in any kind of purposeful effort because they couldn’t think of anything past the taste and feel of each other’s mouths.

Fox turned his face to the side, unable to pull away with Ela’s grip on his hair, but he wasn’t trying to. Instead he pressed his mouth to the underside of her jaw and up to the spot under her ear that made her gasp. “How could you possibly think I was gay? Have you seen women?”

Ela jerked his mouth back to hers. “I’m more concerned with a man right now.”

“I’m taking you to bed now.”

“Fucking, please.”

#power couple au #Trepidation fic #fox companion au #Elashorei lavellan