#oh yeah I was talking about darkspawn

[periwinkle-warden]

We all talk about how inquisition toned down the previous games ability to be chantry critical and all that, but can I bring up how inquisition minimized how dangerous the darkspawn are?

Those planks of wood or a single boulder over the hole aren't gonna do shit to keep em down. These things dig like a colony of ants. Two games ago we were told a gate made of multiple sealed steel doors would only keep em back for a decade at best.

But then again this game has absolutely zero stakes so why not.

#dragon age #I still laugh at vivienne going “abominations are inevitable” if you recruit the mages and then nothing happens ever #no companions turning on you if you cross a line‚ the only npcs that can perma-die get written out of the story even if you save them #and the only consequences of your choices are companion approval and epilogue slides #any exception you can think of is still the exception rather than the rule #oh yeah I was talking about darkspawn

[vigilskeep]

Do you think the victory of the HOF and crew will change Grey Warden strategic doctrine somewhat? The idea of 'oh shit we can nip it right in the bud if we go hard immediately' seems a lot more pleasant than letting half the continent burn down over the course of a few decades

it’s super hard to say. i mean, for one thing it’s impossible to know what thedas will look like by the time another blight comes around. for another, i think the reactions amongst the order to what the warden did, especially if the warden did the dark ritual, are going to be super mixed. fiona talks about how ostracized she was for “cheating death”. not to mention how the warden abandoned extremely fundamental and necessary rules of the order to get things done.

the wardens aren’t politically neutral because they just don’t feel like getting involved! there’s a reason! now, judging by awakening and the last flight, weisshaupt is cautiously taking advantage of that example, because it suits the first warden’s interests. but to me, that’s even scarier. the blackwall debacle with the inquisition using the treaties is bad enough; a grey warden holding lands and title and harbouring the apostate who would go on to destroy the kirkwall chantry is bad enough; a potential grey warden ruling king who gives sanctuary to mages is bad enough. if that boundary gets pushed any further, there’s reason to be really worried for the grey wardens. they can literally get exiled from orlais in inquisition, right? remember how the last time they were exiled from a country for getting politically involved, it meant there was a mere handful to deal with the blight, starting the entire conflict of dao? if the first warden pushes his luck in the anderfels and they lose weisshaupt, or lose their welcome elsewhere for fear of similar takeovers... if divine victoria can be anywhere from the HOF’s lover, associating them indelibly with her world-changing reforms, to someone who truly thought a grey warden conspiracy was involved with the start of the mage rebellion... if ferelden with its tight connections to the HOF and alistair comes into conflict with the rest of thedas (gaspard can literally canonically be on the throne of orlais)... they’re in a really dangerous position right now if anything goes south, and arguably, the warden and alistair kicked it off with what they were willing to do to stop the fifth blight before it properly started. and beyond the danger that in itself poses to the wardens, my point is there’s going to be many sections of the order whose very last thought is “yeah let’s do more of that”

during a theoretical sixth blight, i can definitely see some parts of the order desperate to match the hero of ferelden’s achievements. and i can also see risks like that getting a lot of people killed. in the opening of the last flight, the royal family of antiva refuse to abandon antiva city as the darkspawn approach, destroying the last hope of organising an evacuation and throwing away their citizens’ lives. the HOF had an exceptional chance and was exceptional enough to succeed in it. maybe that example will save the world from centuries of suffering a second time; maybe it will destroy the grey wardens at the very moment they’re next most needed; maybe by then any grey wardens left will be quicker to join the side of the darkspawn than associate themselves further with the HOF’s legacy. only time will tell!

[sulky-valkyrie]

[ AWAKE ]:     the sender, unable to sleep, gets up to go for a walk, and finds that the receiver is also unable to sleep for Warden Anders and Warden Carver. What do you mean that doesn't make sense? I'm putting them in the same timeline you can't stop me

happy Friday! It's not romantic because they didn't feel like kissing, but here's some Warden!Carver in Vigil's Peak bonding with Anders somewhat against his will for @dadrunkwriting

Carver couldn’t sleep.  It hadn’t been a problem when he’d been walking miles every day across Ferelden; the exhaustion and worry had been enough to knock him out most nights, but now, when he wasn’t in fear of his life and had joined the order properly, he never could seem to get tired enough to fall into bed.  Either the darkspawn dreams woke him, or he stared at the ceiling for hours.  He’d taken to patrolling at night just for something to do.  Other Wardens seemed to have the same issue, and more often than not, they’d nod as he passed, lost in their own thoughts, or treating their sleeplessness with questionable remedies and variable results.

It was an unspoken rule that they didn’t talk about it.  Not during, and not after.

But, of course, there was always one.

"Fancy meeting you here."

Carver stifled a groan, then shrugged.  “Oh?”  

Anders stepped out of the shadows and sighed.  "You're supposed to say something witty.  Joke about the decor, pretend we’re in some grand fete, or something.  Or just insult me."

"What would be the point?" he asked gruffly, praying he’d get bored and find someone else to bother.  “You’d run circles around me no matter what I say.”

He cocked his head, like one of those strange water birds.  Maker knew he was tall enough, and, with the feathered pauldrons he’d taken to wearing, the resemblance was increasing every day.  “Is that a mage pun?”

Carver groaned inwardly.  “Not on purpose, and this is exactly what I mean.”

“You’ll never get better if you don’t try,” Anders said, voice somehow both encouraging and condescending.  “Why, when I was at the Pearl, we had all kinds of first timers there.  Education and thrills, all at once!  So try it, yeah?”  He beckoned at him with both hands then patted his chest, like he was trying to provoke a fight.  “Hit me with your best shot, big boy”

Did he ever shut up? It was like being stuck with Garrett again, only Anders wasn’t shouting.  Come to think of it, he never raised his voice, except in a fight, and even then, it wasn’t loud so much as it carried. A spell perhaps?  Regardless, no matter how annoyed he was, no matter how many gibes and jabs he threw out, they were never shouted.

Was it a Circle thing?  Wynne hadn’t spoken more than a dozen sharp words in the entire year she’d been with them, and nearly all of those had been directed at the dog.  Velanna and Morrigan were both strident and opinionated, but they’d grown up as far from the Circle and Templars as was humanly (elvenly?) possible.  Bethany had never been loud, even before her magic manifested; who could be, compared to Garrett?  And afterward, she’d tried to make herself as small and quiet and unnoticeable as possible.  

“You know a lot of apostates?” he asked, refusing to rise to the bait.

Anders pursed his lips in irritation.  “Other than being one?”

“You’re a Circle mage,” Carver sighed.  “You got out, but you’re still -”

“What, just a, just a fucking a pet?” he snarled, voice raised for the first time Carver had ever heard, then danced a tiny jig before taking a scornful bow.  “A bird singing a little tune, throwing pretty little lights for the amusement of all the rabble who’d rather see us dead than let us have a singly bloody moment of sunshine and peace?”

Carver took a shocked step backward.  “What?  No, my sister’s an apostate!  My –” don’t think about Morrigan “– father made himself one!”  He pointed toward the barracks. “Look at Velanna, for the Maker’s sake!  But you’re the only one who’s been both.”

Anders froze mid-tirade, all puffed up and indignant, then let a breath out, deflating against the wall.  "And?" He asked warily.  

Why had he asked that?  “Forget it.”

“You can’t - you can’t just throw that at me and not mean anything by it,” Anders retorted.

Carver glanced away.  “Bethany was – is a mage.  We had to move a lot.  After she threw someone into a tree.  And after she accidentally iced the mayor’s – it doesn’t matter.  She did her best to hide it, and Father did his best to teach her, but… there were mistakes.  A lot of them.  I’d be furious we’d need to uproot our lives again and Bethy’d cry and feel so guilty about it.”  He wiped his eyes; damn things always seemed to get dust in them or something whenever he talked about her.  “I just… it was hard.  I want to – I guess I want to make sure it was worth it.”

Anders’ sour expression melted into concern, then sympathy.  He pushed himself off the floor and rolled up his sleeves to hold them out in front of him.  “You tell me.”

At first, in the dim lamp light, Carver wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking for.  It’s just an arm.  A pair of them.  Certainly, the pattern of the shadows looked strange but - wait.  He squinted down at them as a sickening realization began to dawn.  “Is - are those manacle scars?”  He knew the answer already but still prayed there was another explanation.  The deserters at Ostagar had the same marks, but how could a mage get them?  Not just a mage, but a spirit healer?  Anders had damn near brought people back from the dead, Carver included; how could he have ever let something like that go… unaddressed?

“Unsupervised magic is discouraged in the Kinloch,” he said flatly.  “Forbidden among apprentices.  Learning to control powers you barely understand with a faceless suit of armor that you know has the authority to kill you for no reason at all standing over you and waiting for you to slip up.”  He tugged his sleeves down.  

“Sometimes, they’re ‘lenient,’” he continued quietly.  “A few nights down in the cells where they keep the maleficar before branding them.  To remind us of our place.  Sometimes, a few nights turns into a few weeks.  If you cast anything when you’re down there, you’re dead.  Doesn’t matter if it’s creation or primal or entropy.  And once it’s healed over, there’s no making it pretty again.”  He took a long slow breath and stepped back.  “So.  You tell me: was it worth it?”

What could he say to that?  How could he possibly convey the terror he felt at the thought of anything like that befalling his sister?  “I –” I’m sorry could never be adequate, and Carver had never been eloquent enough to manage anything more than the most banal of platitudes.  He met Anders’ eyes.  “How can we stop them from doing it to anyone else?”

#da drunk writing circle #prompt fills #anders #carver hawke #dragon age #canon divergence #anders & carver

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Okay I thought I was done but apparently I'm not. I need to talk more about this banter you can get during the Legacy DLC between Aveline and Warden Carver because it makes me want to scream.

Aveline: I'm glad you found a place with the Wardens. Carver: Well, it's not the city guard, but it'll do. Aveline: Carver... it wasn't the place for you. Carver: No, it's all right. It is. It cost a lot, but I get it. I really was a bit of a tit those days, wasn't I? Aveline: Well...

In my last post, I talked about how Aveline had no place telling the guard to refuse Carver's application, regardless of if he was "right" for the job or not. But I believe he would've made a great guard, and getting that job not only would've provided for him and his family during a desperate time, but would've prevented him from either fate of becoming a warden or a templar. He was unfairly robbed of a chance to prove himself because Aveline believed he wasn't right for the guard.

This is one of the banters I brought up but didn't go too in depth about. At this point, it's been between 3-6 years since Act 1, depending on if you decided to do Legacy in Act 2 or Act 3, and every line here is important.

Carver's response to Aveline saying she's glad he "found a place" with the wardens is so telling. Not being accepted by the guard is still on his mind after all this time. He wouldn't bring it up if it didn't still bother him, and implies that he still would've preferred the guard over the wardens.

Which... yeah. Listen, I'm a dedicated "Carver joins the Grey Warden" player. I don't like leaving him behind to become a templar, and I certainly don't like him dying. For me, the Grey Wardens are the best outcome he has. It’s where he seems the happiest and finds the most fulfilment, and it fits well with how I play my Hawke. But it obviously has some tragic issues.

Like the fact that becoming a Grey Warden only delayed his inevitable death within the Deep Roads. Eventually his Calling will come, and Carver will go back down there and fight until the darkspawn eventually kill him. I'm sure that's not traumatic to think about given he was a soldier at Ostagar and then watched Bethany die at the hands of an ogre. Oh, and there's the whole nightmares and voices thing.

Carver didn't choose this life for himself. It was either this or death, but a "what if?" still lingers in his mind about the city guard.

Something Aveline ruined for him.

And continues to ruin.

Aveline: Carver... it wasn't the place for you.

You hear that? In the distance? That's me screaming.

I must reiterate; what makes Aveline believe it's her place to tell Carver whether or not the city guard was right for him? Why did she think she should get a say in whether or not the guard takes him? What's made it HER call?

And still, after all this time has passed, she believes it wasn't right for him and she's unwilling to consider otherwise. Maker forbid she do some reflection and question if she was in the right for interfering at all, too!

Carver is standing right there before her, proving everything she said about him wrong, and she just doubles down. There's no reason to say this to him unless she's trying to remind him of his place; he's a Grey Warden, and she's Guard-Captain of Kirkwall's city guard. But c'mon, Aveline, he's hardly a threat to your precious guard anymore given the whole dedication to killing darkspawn thing he has now.

Maybe if you paid more attention to the threats within your guard, Kirkwall would be a safer place with less murder going around? Just saying!

But isn't that how it's always been? Aveline putting him in his place, making sure Carver remembers she's always outranked him?

Carver: Did you approve my application? Aveline: I can't make you a guard, Carver. Carver: We were both soldiers. Why won't they take me? Aveline: I was an officer. And I follow orders. Carver: [laughs] No you don't. Aveline: I also think of others before myself. You seem tired of that, and that's dangerous. Carver: Just when it's not my choice. You told them not to take me, didn't you? Aveline: Yes.

That he should remember who he's talking to?

Carver: I'm surprised you still travel with us, Aveline. Aveline: Carver, don't. Carver: You're ever so busy with the guardsmen. It must be a burden to slum with the refugees. Aveline: It's oddly comforting that you insult me like I'm family. Carver: That wasn't... no, I didn't mean that. Aveline: I know. But you should be glad that's how I took it.

That she's in charge?

Aveline: Your form's sloppy, Carver. Stiffen up or the darkspawn will take your blade. Carver: Right. I'll keep that in mind. Aveline: And you're angry, why? Carver: You didn't fare any better than I did the last time we faced darkspawn. Aveline: If they take your blade, people die. That's not happening again. Stiffen up. Carver: Yes ma'am.

Oh, and she used to spy on him [and Hawke].

Aveline: I don't like some of the people you've been associating with, Carver. Carver: Talk to my brother/sister. He/She's the one in charge. Aveline:  Maybe, but I know you get around. This city's full of people who are dead set on ending badly. I don't want to see you end up the same way. Carver: Would asking you to stop spying on me help in the least? Aveline: No.

That's their banter.

But sure, she's glad he found a place in the wardens. I don't think she's being ingenuine when she says that, but I think it's a little more complicated than a mere "congrats on doing well, I knew you could do it."

But Carver's response? Oh Maker's ass. It actually hurts me.

Carver: No, it's all right. It is. It cost a lot, but I get it. I really was a bit of a tit those days, wasn't I? Aveline: Well...

I... what can I even say?

He accepts it, but you can tell it hurts to do so. It DID cost a lot. More than Aveline will ever understand. And it doesn't matter now! He can't become a guard now anyway, so what would be the point in him disagreeing with her? Carver acts as the bigger person here because he does get it, even if Aveline doesn't.

But it's that last part... that last damn part... Don't be alarmed, that screaming you hear is still me.

Here's the deal; Carver acknowledges that he could be an ass back in Act 1. Hell, he acknowledges it IN Act 1. For example, when you talk to him after finding your grandfather's will, he's an ass to you about Bethany no matter what you say.

But y'know what? You can be the biggest piece of shit to him and have Hawke literally call him a "lazy brat with a chip on his shoulder," and Carver will still be the one to be apologetic for what he said and attempt to explain his feelings.

"Brother/Sister... I feel... I don't know. It's like Mother taking things out on us. She was just scared. I don't have a place in the life she's trying to bring back…"

Carver can be an ass, but he's aware of that and actively tries to change his behavior. If you bring him and Fenris with you on the Mark of the Assassin DLC, there's a moment where Carver says, "You still don't like me? I've tried to change." And if you bring Varric, he once again acknowledges that he used to be an ass.

BUT... that being said. If you don't remember, "I really was a bit of a tit those days, wasn't I?" is referencing back to this conversation in the barracks of Act 1:

Hawke: This must be a very different pace from serving King Cailan. Aveline: It's just one more change, though. The real end for me was Ostagar. What about you Carver? You were there. Do you feel something similar? Carver: No. Aveline: All right, then. Bit of a tit, your brother.

Now, I've already expressed my beef with Aveline over insulting Carver in the middle of the barracks just because he doesn't agree with her view point on Ostagar... but consider the fact that Carver says nothing. He just lets her insult him without a complaint! Carver Hawke, who tends to complain! And he says nothing!

Not only that, but he actually internalized that insult enough that years later he's able to repeat it back to Aveline word for word, and all she has to say is, "Well..."

This isn't the same thing as him reflecting on his past behavior and acknowledging his flaws. This is Carver accepting a snide jab Aveline made that hurt him because apparently he was wrong for not wanting to discuss any trauma Ostagar left him with as openly as she does.

Oh, and don't forget that any other companion you brought along dogpiles on, too!

Carver: No, it's all right. It is. It cost a lot, but I get it. I really was a bit of a tit those days, wasn't I? Aveline: Well... Varric: No shit. Fenris: Insufferable. Isabela: Legendary. Anders: Maker, yes. Sebastian: I've heard as much. [If Hawke has a humorous/charming personality] Hawke: Spoiled, annoying, thick-headed, brattish little nitwit of a... oh, have we stopped?

Y'all ever wonder why he's so on edge or hostile with the other companions?

Also, I have to point out that Merrill is the only companion who doesn't say anything in agreement if she's there. In fact, across all their banter, Merrill's never been rude or insulting toward him. All she does is ask him if he's talking dirty to her and compliments him on what a great sworder he is. It's pretty obvious why Carver develops a crush on her, c'mon.

But to wrap this up-

This banter strikes a nerve due to how telling it is about both characters involved.

Carver has grown and done what he can to improve himself, but there's regret that lingers, a longing for a better life he could've had if given a chance. Maybe he would've failed, maybe he would've succeeded. But there's nothing he can do now, so he looks forward, just as he's always wanted to do. He's a damn good Grey Warden who wants to do right.

Aveline remains stagnant. She hasn't changed, nor has she improved, and maybe she would if she could figure out how to dislodge her head from her own ass. She still believes she was in the right to tell the guard not to accept Carver's application despite knowing the Hawke's were desperate and that Fereldan refugees couldn't find work. She knew Carver's a skilled soldier who fought at Ostagar just as she did. The guard wasn't the place for him so she's in the right to deny him any chance. Aveline knows best.

And y'know what, I think all I have left to say is...

Fine, Aveline. You're right. It wasn't the place for him.

Carver was too good for your city guard.

#dragon age 2 #da2 #carver hawke #aveline vallen #dragon age #aveline critical #okay i promise i'll shut up now and stop picking on aveline and find something else to talk about #even though my beef list is still incredibly long but we'll save that for another day since i'm just so salty about her right now #and i just have a lot to say about carver and how wronged he was like i know it's just a few bits of banter but put the bits together #and they tell a whole story y'know? in case it wasn't clear carver's one of my favorite characters in da2 #and so much about his banter with aveline gets to me #again it doesn't matter if you think he was right for the guard or not my point is that aveline had no right to block him #from a potentially great job ESPECIALLY after all the hawkes did for her... y'know like helping her get outta fereldan #and getting into kirkwall and helping her expose jeven for being a corrupt bastard that led to her promotion as captain #sure aveline step on everyone's backs and hands and then wonder why they aren't climbing as fast as you #carver hawke deserved better than this #aveline got an easy promotion to guard captain and a sexy new husband and never had to face real repercussions for her mistakes #and all carver got was the taint in his blood #he and merrill never even had a chance to get together and i'm not okay with that >:[

[felassan]

A few more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah, from an older Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he was livestreaming playing Dragon Age: Origins some months ago -

Chat said "I am fine with any and all cameos, but I am not holding my breath for Sera and Vivienne to have anything more than a passing mention." Mark said, "I don't think they'll worry, if they want to put Vivienne and Sera in DA:D they'll do it. I don't think either of them have any quantum endings do they? Oh that's true, Vivienne can be Divine."

"The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC is canon-ish but definitely yeah, the team reserves the right to ignore it and has."

"I don't know why they've steered away from the tree ents [sylvans]. They could come back. They're nobody's favorite, so they just kinda fall down the priority list. If there was a good reason for them they could easily come back. You could have made a sylvan off the Behemoth rig from DA:I, but that would be weird and not really match the sylvans from DA:O. I think the way you would do it actually would probably be to build something off the giant rig, but again it would be different, so you'd really wanna make a custom rig."

[source]

He also talked more generally about DA:O and the franchise and things in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length -

"Is it just me or are the conversation trees in Awakening much longer than they are in DA:O?"

"Yeah, Oghren is pretty problematic"

"The junk mechanic in DAII in inventory was a nice quality of life feature. Well, it's not 'junk', it's more mark-to-sell"

"Games take a lot longer to make now because the number of assets and the fidelity of them is so much higher. In the late 90s you literally couldn't do that much, it had to fit on a CD or a few CDs. Now you've got blu-rays which have fifty times as much space"

"I think classes are a good thing in general just from a usability perspective, and also if you're gonna have a party-based game you need class roles otherwise you just end up with a big mushy miss. But obviously it can take things off the table that you might want to do." Chat commented "Do you think having a set type of role limits how they can evolve?" Mark replied, "It does limit them to some degree, that's sort've somewhat the problem. You could always violate those limitations if you want. You can make the hand-to-hand mage specialization"

"You can definitely see that DAII and Awakening are like, very close to each other on different sides of the line"

"It is weird that you suddenly have stamina potions in Awakening"

Chat said "I personally disliked that only rogues can open chests. It's alright from the RP perspective, but was limiting the gameplay imho." Mark replied, "It's annoying, I mean, that I don't, the out of combat stuff was even moreso in DA:I. But I think tying the out of combat stuff to the in-combat stuff puts you in a position of weird choices based upon how you want to play and I don't know that that's great. 'You basically have to bring one of everything' was the point, was the idea in DA:I, but I don't know that it was a good one"

"Awakening is a really plot-heavy expansion, with an insane amount of side quest material"

"The problem in DAII isn't that, it's not asset reuse, it's actually level reuse. That's I think what pushes it over the edge. And calling them different levels. Also that cave is too identifiable, it's got very specific bits of architecture"

"The problem with the DA:O darkspawn is that they don't really fit together, especially the ogre, they kinda look like a totally different evolutionary path. DAII is definitely trying to get them into a consistent art style"

Chat said "Should DA have beast peoples like cat people, dog people, lizard people? Qunari is bull people right?" Mark replied, "Qunari are more like dragon people. No, I don't think DA has cat people and dog people. There's snake people referenced in lore. Yeah, it is implied that qunari are descended from dragons. Yeah, they have horns, that's their main thing for why they look like dragons, is they have horns like DA dragons"

"I'll probably watch Dragon Age: Absolution"

"The problem with the Fade in DA:O I thin is you can end up easily in this weird inception level of quests because you're doing Redcliffe, which leads you to the Mage Tower, which leads you to the Fade, so you're like so detached from your goal that it really undercuts it. It's not supposed to be filler but it definitely feels like it. You finish it and then you had to finish it again. It's weird pacing"

Chat asked "Is there a reason why we never went to Gwaren in DA:O?" Mark replied "We had enough areas to visit in DA:O already. And you don't really have a reason to go there. Loghain isn't there, and there's nothing that can help you there"

"I'm pretty sure that, one of the reasons this exists [recruiting Velanna in the Wending Wood segmet] is because sylvans weren't used very much, it's a good thing to use the creature model for in your expansion pack"

"Varric is carrying a lot more weight in DA:I than in DAII"

"Stun-locking the player character is not good game design typically. Crowd control used by the player character is fine, but when it's used on the PC, you know, standing around is not very fun"

[source]

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #dragon age: absolution

[broodwolf221]

welcome to dadwc!! I love the look of varric/solas so how about 'obfuscate - to muddle; confuse; bewilder' since they're both such splendid deceivers?

thank you! this was a fun one uwu ended up being a collection of dialogue btwn them, getting a little shippy right at the end~ @dadrunkwriting 487 words

A series of small deceits.

“So, Chuckles, what prompted all the Fade-walking you do?”

“Hm? Ah, well. There was little of interest for a mage in the small village I was in.”

“Really? I mean, I’m no expert on mages, but they seem more than able to find a purpose wherever they are.”

“Pleased to surprise, Master Tethras.”

“I’m sure.”

-

“Varric, you knew the rebel mage, Anders?”

“Blondie? Yeah, I knew him.”

“Your book, Tales of the Champion, is purposefully vague on what became of him.”

“Well, it made for a better narrative than ‘I have no clue where Anders is.’”

“Hm.”

-

“Okay, I know, dreaming and Fade-walking and all. But seriously, how do you know so much about the ancient elves?”

“I have traveled deep into the Fade. Deeper than most Dreamers dare go.”

“Fortunate for us, I guess.”

“So it seems.”

-

“I find it strange that you’ve named your crossbow, Varric.”

“What’s so strange about it?”

“It is a weapon. I’ve not named my staff. Bull has not, as far as I know, named his greataxe. Is the crossbow named for its inventor?”

“If it was, I wouldn’t tell you. No offense, Chuckles, but we’ve talked about this - I’m not keen on this type of weapon ending up in the wrong hands.”

“An understandable precaution.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“However, it seems... unwise, to possibly name your weapon after it’s creator.”

“Ah, but you don’t know that I did, do you?”

“Will the uncertainty stop people from seeking this ‘Bianca’?”

“Chuckles, you can’t swing a nug in Orzammar without hitting a ‘Bianca’.”

“Ah.”

-

“You seem awful confident about what Corypheus is planning.”

“It is not confidence so much as it is observation.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve seen his like in the Fade, right? But isn’t he a little different?”

“A tyrant is a tyrant, Varric.”

“Sure, but he’s not just a tyrant, he’s apparently a Magister. Or a darkspawn. Or both. Oh, and I helped kill him. And he’s maybe immortal? Don’t you think that sets him apart? How can you predict someone like that?”

“He is not the first to seek supremacy over other beings. His nature seems less important than his motivations, and how he will seek to achieve them.”

“Sure, Chuckles. You keep telling yourself that.”

-

“So, Varric.”

“Yes?”

“I noticed you speaking with another dwarf yesterday.”

“Yeah, and?”

“You called her Bianca.”

“Well, that’s her name.”

“Is she the Bianca? The one you’ve named your crossbow after?”

“I told you before, Chuckles-”

“I know, I know. Can’t swing a nug. Not sure why one would try, but that is beside the point.”

“Not my fault that Orzammar isn’t very clever about names.”

“Hm.”

---

“So, Chuckles, you still haven’t unpacked.”

“I told you, I haven’t committed to staying here.”

“Right... yeah, you did tell me that. Two months ago.”

“Your point?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. What’s mine is yours, after all.”

#dadw time #solarric #solas #varric #broodwrites

[heniareth]

also to mix games for the banter asks: ilanlas and merrill? during the origin or an AU or however it works best

Heck yeah, this very much tickles my fancy XD XD XD I should do an Awakening run with Ilanlas to nail down his canon (and finish DA2) but here are Merrill and Ilanlas on a chance encounter in the Deep Roads during DA2 (Nathaniel is there as well).

Banter ask game can be found here.

Ilanlas: It is good to see you, lethallan.

Merrill: It's good to see you too. How have you been? What have you been doing all this time?

Ilanlas: Travelling with the Hero of Ferelden. Later, leading the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. You?

Merrill: (hesitantly) Well... I have been... doing research. In the Kirkwall Alienage.

Ilanlas: So that is how you got to know these people.

Merrill: They are good people.

Ilanlas: (scoffs) They are foolish. There is nothing in the Deep Roads worth finding. Only darkness, darkspawn and death.

Merrill: It's for a good cause. I think.

---

Merrill: Were you Anders' Commander?

Ilanlas: (if Anders is not present) You know Anders? Is he in Kirkwall? (If Anders is present, very deliberately not directing his words at him) Yes. I was surprised not to find him at the Vigil when I returned from Weisshaupt, after killing all of those templars that were hunting him.

Anders: (if present, mumbling into his coat) I'm right here, you know?

Merrill: He said you put a Templar on duty to shadow him. Is that true? Did you do that?

Ilanlas: What!? I did not do that. (If Anders is present, now directed at Anders) Is that true? Who gave that order?

Anders: (If present, angry) Oh, now you're talking to me?

Nathaniel: That might've been that anxious soldier from the West Hills who volunteered. You did put her in charge when we left. Remember how she wanted to tell you something about Anders when we came back and you wanted to hear no word of it?

Ilanlas: Fenhedis lhasa!

Merrill: That was my reaction as well. Never do that, lethallin! I have been to their mage prison in Kirkwall. It is horrible.

Ilanlas: Even if I wanted to do that, Velanna would burn my head off before I could. But the responsible ones will be punished. (Sighs. If Anders is not present) I will have to apologize to him once we get out of here. (Sighs. If Anders is present) I owe you an apology.

Anders: (Half angry, half pleasantly surprised) An apology? From you? I might even consider forgiving you just for the rarity of it.

Nathaniel: (If Anders is present) Ser Pounce-A-Lot is still around as well. Might want to come by and check up on him. (If Anders is not present) We should tell him Ser Pounce-A-Lot is still at the Vigil and well-cared for. That might help.

---

Ilanlas: How is the clan?

Merrill: We- They are alright. Last I saw them they had taken in a shem-blooded boy with a talent for magic. Marethari will have somebody to train as her second now.

Ilanlas: What happened to Alaire?

Merrill: She became First after I left.

Ilanlas: And why are you no longer First?

Merrill: I settled in the Alienage.

Ilanlas: That does not merit being cast out in such a way.

Merrill: (Silence)

Ilanlas: ... What did you do?

Merrill: Please, lethallin, let it be. You would not- I do not want to talk about it.

---

Merrill: I left the clan to study the mirror.

Ilanlas: ... What?

Merrill: I left the clan to-

Ilanlas: (agitated) I heard you the first time. You went back? You- you touched the mirror!?

Merrill: See, this is why I did not want to tell you. I knew you would shout.

Ilanlas: That thing killed Tamlen and you- what, you took it!?

Merrill: Only a shard.

Ilanlas: "Only". "Only" a shard!? Mythal am'bey, Merrill, one touch was enough to-

Merrill: I know! Believe me, I know! And look: I am not sick, and neither is anybody of our clan. I took every precaution. I know what I am doing, Ilanlas.

Ilanlas: You exposed everybody to grave danger!

Merrill: No more danger than lies in the dealing with demons or shems.

Ilanlas: (harshly) What does that mean?

Merrill: Lethallin, I know that Tamlen's death was a hard blow for you. But he was my friend too. I have had this exact conversation far too often and I am tired. I only wish you would believe in me, but since that is not the case... let us speak no more of this. What is done is done.

---

Ilanlas: What have you found regarding the mirror?

Merrill: What I have found? I thought you disapproved of this.

Ilanlas: I do. But you are right, it is done. And I am a Grey Warden.

Merrill: You know, it is terribly unfair to berate me for my research and then ask for its result.

Ilanlas: So you will keep it all to yourself? You will hoard your knowledge?

Merrill: No. I want you to apologize and to admit that you have judged the situation far too rashly. And then we may talk.

Ilanlas: Rashly? I think my reaction was more than warranted.

Merrill: And you have to mean your apology. Until then, this conversation is over.

---

Ilanlas: You were right.

Merrill: Right about what?

Ilanlas: It was not right of me to shout at you and then ask for your research.

Merrill: (Still offended) I am glad you see that now.

(Silence)

Ilanlas: And I am... sorry for not trusting you? Is that what offended you?

Merrill: (Sarcastic) You have such a way with words...

Ilanlas: I am trying.

(Beat)

Ilanlas: You were offended because I did not trust you. Or your capabilities.

Merrill: Correct.

Ilanlas: I still think it was a foolish and dangerous idea-

Merrill: You are not making it better.

Ilanlas: -but I should have known that you would see that as well and work hard to keep everybody safe. I apologize for not recognizing the feat. And I apologize for letting my temper get the better of me.

Merrill: ... Well, that is at least a step in the right direction. Replace 'temper' with 'fear' or 'grief' and we might even get to the point.

(Silence)

Ilanlas: I am glad you are alive and unblighted.

Merrill: (softly) Thank you for your concern. (Silence) The shard of the mirror can be cleansed.

Ilanlas: (Shocked) Cleansed from the Blight?

Merrill: Yes. I can show you once we get back.

Ilanlas: I would be honored. Lethallan, that is- I have a friend who is looking for a cure for the Blight. May I tell her of your research?

Merrill: (audibly excited) Of course! Oh why did I not think of that sooner? It might work on people!

Ilanlas: And it might save a lot of lives once the next Blight comes around.

Those two had a looooooooooot to say to each other. I hope you don't mind the length of this, but the little story was practically writing itself. Thank you so much for this ask! Have a lovely day ^^

#ilanlas mahariel #merrill #male mahariel #mahariel & merrill #warden mahariel #anders #nathaniel #da2 #dragon age #fake banter #my ocs #dragon age 2 #ask game

[ramblinganthropologist]

All tied up

Summary: Miris Tabris and Cahel Mahariel walk in on something they weren’t expecting. Now they’re asking the big questions... like seriously, how the fuck is tying someone up for... that... enjoyable?

(Slightly NSFW  at one part due to mentions of Sten’s dick.)

---

Another night, another day they hadn’t died via darkspawn. Talk about a victory.

Well, he would have, but instead Miris found himself scowling at the mess in front of him. To the unaware, it probably looked like a pile of shit. If he was being honest… yeah, it looked like a pile of shit.

In his defense, why would he need to know how to pitch a tent in the alienage of Denerim? It wasn’t like he had gotten out much…

Regardless, outside was where he found himself with the rest of his group. They had picked a place to camp for the night, and all around him tents were going up. Unlike his, they were staying up and didn’t look like the next breeze would knock them over.

This was really supposed to be Zevran’s job… but the man had needed to go off and do something. His fatal flaw was leaving this task to Miris – they’d be lucky if their shared tent went up at all.

“Need a hand, Tabris?”

Fuck.

Miris resisted the urge to grit his teeth as he glanced up. In front of him stood his fellow warden, bow slung over his shoulder. Cahel had returned from hunting, and judging by the fact there was something dead near the fire he had managed to catch something. No wonder he seemed so damn pleased with himself.

“Do you even need to fucking ask, squirt?” He sighed, running a hand over his hair. “Yeah, fuck, fine. Get in here and do your freaky Dalish thing.”

No doubt the squirt’s ego was through the roof with that, but Miris knew when he’d been beat. So he moved aside and watched as Cahel settled in, acting as if on impulse. Unlike him, the boy was Dalish – he knew this shit like the back of his hand.

In under two minutes, he had managed to tie everything up and get it steady. All grins, he stepped back to evaluate his work, finally nodding to pronounce it was good. He then motioned to Miris to get his shit inside.

So, Miris got his shit inside. He could at least get the bedrolls set up, thank you very much. His face still heated as Cahel joined him inside, sitting on a bare patch of ground as if he was meant to do it. Seriously, the guy was downright boneless – it was infuriating.

Was that part of his weird Dalish training? Who knows…

“You were close, you know. Next time just focus on getting the rope a little higher before you tie it off.” His weirdly accented voice at least sounded sincere as he pulled his quiver off his hip to check his arrows. Unlike Leliana, he didn’t do the back quiver thing. Something, something, rogue bullshit he didn’t remember.

Miris just shook his head as he adjusted his maul – the head needed cleaning the next time he got the chance. “I’ll try to remember that for next time.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Any reason why you haven’t left yet? Usually you’re off cleaning whatever you got.”

Cahel responded with a shrug of his shoulders as he inspected an arrow. It wasn’t one of his – even Miris could tell the difference between human and Dalish make – so he was a little critical as he evaluated it. “Alistair said he could handle it. Besides, you said that you found something weird while we were out?”

Oh, right…

The elf nodded as he settled down on his bedroll for a second. “Yeah, it was on one of the dead mercs. Wasn’t sure what to make of it once I cleaned it off.”

He reached over to grab the dagger from his pack, flipping it over. Unsurprisingly, Cahel caught it. “I’m pretty sure it’s not Dalish, but what would you make of it?”

Thanks to where he was sitting, he got a good look as the elf unsheathed the dagger and gave it a brief once over. His ears twitched as he worked, turning it over again and again until Miris was sure he was going to get dizzy. Finally though, a frown crossed his features as he glanced up.

“Yeah, I have no idea what the hell this is.”

Instead of tossing, he handed it over – wise, Miris’ depth perception was shit thanks to the one functioning eye thing. “Definitely not Dalish though. It kind of made me think of something Sten has, though. Maybe those mercs had contact with Qunari?”

Shit, darkspawn AND Qunari? Like Ferelden had enough troubles…

Still, it was an idea. Miris was more than willing to find out too, though that was probably because he had nothing better to do. His body was a little stiff as he exited the tent, but he managed it without embarrassing himself too much.

Unsurprisingly, Cahel was right on his heels. They had been together long enough that he knew the younger elf was just as curious as he was about it. Unlike him, he had problems sitting on his curiosity – thus following along.

Sten’s tent was towards the edge – he needed more room because he was fucking huge after all. Well, that and the fact he was the warrior with experience in the party. If darkspawn tried to get the jump on them in their sleep, they’d have to contend with him first. Between darkspawn and a sleep deprived Qunari, he wasn’t sure which he’d rather face. Better to let the man get his sleep, he supposed.

It was quiet, at least. No doubt he was reflecting on the Qun or whatever the fuck he did when he was by himself.

So, he didn’t feel bad about grabbing the tent flap and sticking his head in. Thanks to the lack of depth perception and all, it took him a few moments to work out the details. At least he was pretty sure Sten was there?

“Hey, sorry to wake you up, but we had a question about…”

The words died in his mouth as he got a full picture of the scene inside the tent. His face exploded into heat as he realized Sten was flat on his back, naked as the day he was born. His arms were held above his head, tied there by a number of knots with a strange rope he had never seen before. Other ropes held him down, though he didn’t seem to be struggling too much.

Though, that was probably because there was a naked women straddling him.

Yep, that was Cherche alright – he knew those tattoos anywhere. What he didn’t know was her naked back, free of both clothing and weapons. Nor did he know her tits as she turned to face him,  sweat trickling down her cheek as she gave him a once over.

“Tabris?”

“Hey, what’s taking so long, Tabris?” A new voice – Cahel’s – joined the nightmare. Before Miris could warn him, he stuck his head in too. “Is he in here or…”

Thanks to the fact the kid had two working eyes, he had killer depth perception. So he got an eyeful of both his clanmate and her apparent lover far quicker than Miris could. His face didn’t change though.

“Oh, hey, Cherche. Didn’t expect to find you here.” He grabbed the dagger from Miris’ hands and tossed it over. “We found this on a dead guy today. Do you know if your guys made this, Sten?”

Given the fact his arms were tied behind his back, he couldn’t exactly check it out himself. Instead, Cherche unsheathed it for him. He paused for a few seconds, taking the details in like this was the most normal thing in the fucking world.

In the end, Sten shook his head. “It is not made by our craftswomen. Ask the assassin instead.”

“Huh, dunno why I didn’t think it was Antivan.” Cahel accepted the dagger back, shoving it into his belt. “Anyway, thanks for the input. Oh, yeah, you’re on second watch, Cherche.”

She nodded, as if she wasn’t naked as the day she was born and riding Sten’s fucking dick. “I figured as much. Thanks, da’len.”

“No problem. We’ll go ask Zev when he gets back.”

With that, Cahel pulled him out of the tent by the belt and motioned for him to walk. Together, they made their way back to Miris’ tent. Unsurprisingly, it was still empty – the Antivan tended to take his time. But it didn’t matter, his ass found the bedroll as his mind reeled.

What… the fuck?

Why would anyone… was that…

“Honestly, I’m surprised she found enough rope for Sten. I have no idea where she gets it, maybe she makes it? Didn’t look like normal rope…”

Miris picked up his head. Cahel was back on the ground, examining the dagger as if it would tell him anything more other than it was sharp and maybe Antivan. As always, his mouth was going a mile a minute.

He… still looked normal.

“Wait, you’ve seen that before?”

The once hunter’s apprentice picked up his head as he continued to turn the dagger in his hand. “What, the thing with Cherche? Yeah, her and another hunter used to do it sometimes. I walked in on her once with Tamlen.”

He paused, adding, “Elf Tamlen, not my dog. We were looking for her and we wound up seeing her tying one of our clanmates up and they were both naked. I guess they were planning to have sex during it or something. Seems uncomfortable to me honestly…”

Cahel’s voice trailed off as he kept examining the dagger. Honestly, all things considered he just seemed bored by the prospect. Something about that pissed Miris off – why was he the only one shocked?

Was it a Dalish thing? No, because Sten certainly wasn’t complaining if his erection was anything to go by…

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like Sten would like being tied down like that after the whole cage thing.” He tried to block the image from his head. The last thing he ever needed to know was what the man’s dick looked like. “Seems more like Cherche would enjoy it. Maybe he owed her one or something.”

His fellow warden shrugged again. “Beats me. The whole tying up thing isn’t exactly fun either so I don’t know what she gets out of it honestly.”

He said it with such a normal tone of voice that Miris almost missed it for a second. Yet when he picked up on it, his jaw definitely dropped. Cherche doing something like that he could understand – she was weird.

But Cahel? The guy wasn’t even an adult by Dalish standards. Did he even know where a dick went besides in smallclothes?

Miris felt his good eye twitch as he stared over at his companion. “You’re kidding. You’ve done it?”

“I mean, I tried tying Tamlen up once to see if there was anything entertaining about it.” The boy’s cheeks colored. “It uh… we didn’t stick around long enough to figure out how Cherche got her partner untied and… yeah.”

He gave an awkward grin. “I might have accidentally tied Tamlen to a tree.”

…

Miris’ eye kept twitching. “You tied your boyfriend to a tree because you two wanted to figure out what Cherche was doing.”

Cahel’s face got even redder – he was matching his hair. It would’ve been fun to watch the boy stew, but… well, he wanted to hear how this ended. After all, he would’ve needed to get out somehow, right?

“First off, he wasn’t my…” His ears drooped. They were approaching an area he avoided if all possible. If that wasn’t a sign the boy was still a virgin, he’d eat his greaves. “Look, forget it. We were curious. I remembered what the knots looked like, but I think Cherche tied them differently. I couldn’t get him untied and I heard someone coming… so I ran off.”

His glowing cheeks could’ve been a beacon. “Someone else untied him later I guess.”

Miris found himself nodding along with that. “And the verdict was?”

“That Tamlen was really pissed I left him tied to a tree.” Despite everything, Cahel chuckled weakly. “Well, that and tying people up is a pain in the ass when they’re clothed, so I can’t imagine what it’s like naked. I have no clue what Cherche gets out of it, much less Sten.”

Honestly… that’s where he was finding himself on the matter. Try as he might to think about it, he just kept coming back to the same conclusion. In the end, he figured that was all he was going to get out of it and shrugged it off.

As long as Sten got untied before their next battle and both of them found their clothes, let them do what they wanted.

“Who knows, long as I don’t have to join in I don’t care.”

“Join in with what, Warden?”

A new voice joined the tent. Miris picked up his head and realized Zevran had poked his head in. Soon the rest of him followed, seeking his bedroll. He didn’t have anything with him to hint at what he had been doing, but that didn’t mean much. The man was a master at hiding things.

Seriously, did he shove them up his ass or something…

“Oh, nothing. He’ll tell you about it later.” Cahel showed him the dagger, but it was hard to miss the glint in his eyes that brought heat to Miris’ face. “Anyway, Sten said this might be Antivan. We’ve already figured out it’s not Dalish or Qunari, so you’re the next man on the case.”

Zevran chuckle softly as he accepted the dagger, and something about that did terrible things to Miris’ stomach. “A fair conclusion to jump to, young Warden. It is indeed Antivan. This groove here is meant for putting poison in for an unwelcome surprise. Where did you find it?”

“In a merc’s pocket.” Miris groaned. “Great, we got darkspawn and assassins, just what we needed.”

“Come now, not all assassins are to be feared.” There was a light tone to his voice – probably because he had originally been hired to kill them. He had gotten over that pretty quickly, though, so Miris didn’t hold it against him. “But perhaps Loghain is still hiring. We will need to keep on guard. I will need to watch your back closely.”

It was at this point that Cahel let out what was a failed attempt at hiding his laughter. He at least had the good stance to make his way to the entrance to the tent. That glow in his eyes was back however as he started to leave.

“I’ll let the others know to keep watch. Thanks, Zev. I’ve got to finish getting my gear ready, talk to you both later.”

Then he was gone, leaving Miris alone with his tentmate. Zevran seemed in high spirits as he got comfortable on his bedroll. A little too comfortable if you asked the Warden – something about it made his face heat up.

He was doing this on purpose.

“Now then, judging from the fact our young friend was so amused, what is it that you do not wish to join in?” There was that damn smile that did terrible things to his stomach. “Is it something dangerous?”

He was so doing this on purpose…

Then again, he had said he had been raised in a brothel… if anyone would know…

Miris still fought a twitch as he looked away. “Yeah… walked in on Cheche and Sten having… well let’s just say it looked uncomfortable.”

It was half as uncomfortable as he was feeling. Was it just him or was the tent getting hot? Man, he was going to regret saying anything. Next time he was making some fucking noise before he walked in on weird fucking. Lesson learned there.

“Oh, their moments with the ropes? She had mentioned needing to acquire larger ones…”

Yep, he was regretting everything now. Fuck him… at least he knew where the rope came from now? What had Leliana called that before, a pyrrhic victory? Fuck if he remembered, all he knew was that he was about to regret ever being born.

#ramblinganthropologist's writing #Miris Tabris #Cahel Mahariel #Cherche Mahariel #Warden Tabris #Warden Mahariel #also ft. mention of Tamlen being tied to a tree plotting murder #It's the stupid leading the stupid here folks

[catofadifferentcolor]

Dragon Age: Origins

Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting.

Having just finished replaying Dragon Age 2 for the first time since I moved (6+ years), I decided to go ahead and give Dragon Age: Origins a replay.

And honestly? It felt like a chore.

Don't get me wrong, I love the setup for the rest of the franchise - DA2 remains one of my most favorite video games ever and it could never have existed without everything DA:O built - and the depth of the world building shows itself particularly well in the Chant and the events of Kinloch Hold. And yet barely twenty hours of gameplay felt like work.

The plot is bland. BioWare gave themselves one of their best antagonists in Loghain Mac Tir - who genuinely, honestly, thought he was saving Fereldan with every action he took - and allowed almost none of the uncertainty regarding what is right or just or moral that DA2 has. Loghain was a hero - that's why his betrayal was supposed to be so shocking - but practically everyone you talk to leading up to the Landsmeet is like "oh yeah, I never liked him anyway."

(Or, DA:O is the entire plot of Mass Effect if everyone had believed Sheppard about the Reapers from day one. It doesn't make for a very interesting story, especially when it seems every other video game is about the end of the world. They can work - the ongoing success of Star Wars and LotR attest to that - but they have to make you care. And DA:O never did.)

The characters are even worse. The protagonist is a write-off even with six possible origin stories, and honestly it sometimes took me a moment to connect that character on screen with the magnificent mustache and mutton chops to that character I've been playing as for 20 hours. It could just be because the protagonist doesn't have a voice actor, but I don't remember it ever being a problem for KotOR or KotOR:II, which are similar. The companions aren't terrible, but I don't like any of them. Oghren is particularly objectionable, but about half the time I find Alistair treading a finer line than I'd like between humor and why am I putting up with this?

And don't get me started on the werewolves.

There are things I like - the horror of the blighted turning into Darkspawn is something that I wish later games had excuse to play into and Hespith's poem is just perfectly creepy in that regard (it gives me chills every time) - the opening lines of "Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting. You have brought Sin to Heaven and doom upon all the world," which promises so much more than the game provides - but they're almost completely overshadowed by the rest.

When I first discovered DA2, shortly after DA:I came out, I couldn't put it down. I had exams to study for, but DA2 kept drawing me in. When I first played DA:O shortly thereafter, I could barely bring myself to play it all the way through despite having nothing else to do during break. Despite my love of DA2, it almost completely turned me off the franchise and it would be almost another 2 years before I played DA:I.

And that really says everything. When I get into a new fandom, I obsess. Endlessly. I delve into the deepest and darkest corners and eventually put whatever I love on such a pedestal that reality inevitably comes to disappoint. This process can take months, if not years. DA:O managed to compress this process into a single school break and might have succeeded in turning me off Dragon Age forever if I hadn't stumbled across DA:I on sale sometime later.

At least I have a custom world state I can use for later DA2 replays, which was really all I wanted from this replay anyway. But I think I need a detox before I jump right back in.

#dragon age #dragon age: origins #aadarshinah plays #game reviews #da:o

[captaindarkguard]

Dragon Quest Blog 1

Well hell let’s get started. On the 23rd I got pushed into playing my first ever rpg, dragon quest on the switch and it was hell

not even like ‘I don’t know how to do turn based combat so life sucks as I keep dying’ no I at least have been doing pretty swell so far on that point, but I was told to play it since I was joking I wanted to play a villain and my friend was like ‘then play dragon quest, you’re literally a hero who’s a villain’ so I’m just sure whatever

then the game fucking starts and I realize ‘holy shit I’m a villain.. and the game has me set up with a town that loves me and raised me and saved my life. I’m gonna get these fuckers killed if I play the plot holy fuck’

I don’t know what it was but I found myself doing anything I fucking could to avoid continuing the plot. exploring, trying to find any secret items. I was just like ‘dammit first game and it’s set up to get my home killed after already loosing my sib and mom thanks game what the shit’ and like when I got to the kings room, finally after all this time delaying and hearing the guard being like ‘so you’re the dark-- I mean’ I legit left the whole building in game again, saved, and fuffed around so more because it was the most obvious, in your face

“yeah you go in here they gone for sure die, sorry if you picked up or were spoiled too bad they dead and you gotta kill them”

It suuuucked

what the fuck game let me n o t

You got the signs up out in front very clear ‘you continue they die’ and I gotta go in there? the hell let me just go after the actual dark lord come on man

finally like three hours after talking to the darkspawn guard dude I finally went in and seeing those two lines of guards plus the generals it was so fucking obvious ‘oh shit, well, guess that dungeon place the villagers were talking about is going to be soon my best friend. hello assholes, ready to fuck up everything and kill innocents without the dark lord needing to lift a finger?’

it was some bullshit trip

holy fuck the hero just telling where he came from so calmly just being so chill without a clue. poor dude you’re too trusting please man please.

but to distract from all that for a minute the style of this game though is real cool but also real weird. I play in 3D mode, and like what the fuck is with the choice for having 3d models for everything but like people’s heads are the only thing that often even moves. They node, they mouth move, they tilt or whatever, hair moves, and then their body is stiff as a board like some creepy talk sprite gone wrong. It works well in 2d but with 3d models it just freaky.

otherwise seriously the game looks amazing and it’s fun to explore i’m really excited to get later into the game and see the other places and continents it mentioned in a book.

and kick that dragon’s ass who flamed our asses out of jail escape. Fuck that guy. I’ll beat your ass one day ... I hope . I don’t know if the game even lets us actually kill dragons but if it does YOURE ON THE PLATTER BOY

with that yeah i got out of the jail cell, thanks to blue haired thief boy who’s always over the top in combat and that’s fine, fun guy. Hilarious though. My friend just always looks over my shoulder if he’s around and I’m playing just to laugh at his ending battle pose.

He legit puts away his knife, turns around, and then twists his body to look back to where he was standing, hand on hip, all ‘fuck yes I’m dark deep and edge’ it’s fucking great.

Yeah I attacked guards instead of avoiding them. they deserved to get their asses kicked.

did the chase scenes, jumped off a damn cliff into the waters below, and at the poor nun who’s been taking care of terrifying villains lol

wonder how things will go from here.

#game blogging

[annalyticall]

Yes hello I would like to know how badly I would have had to fuck up at the Landsmeet to get Alistair executed

#i looked up what the other outcomes were and was shocked that that could happen #otherwise mine was fine #everything more or less went my way #i would have liked to kept logain alive to fight the darkspawn and appease anora #but then alistair was mad about it and like... yeah yknow what fuck that guy #at least alistair got to stay a grey warden and execute logain #after talking to anora i was like. oh yeah you would definitely make a better ruler than alistair lol #don't know why the game was obsessed with giving my options to suggest alistair and anora should marry #when i brought it up to anora to see what she would say she was like ew. isn't he your boyfriend also? #and i said yes forget i said anything and that was that lol #anna plays dragon age

[pestopascal]

i wonder if they will ever actually broach the topic of ‘justice was probably blighted twice over with regards to kristoff and anders which is why the spirit careened completely headfirst into vengeance and it wasn’t just anders’ strong feelings towards yknow mage oppression which affected the spirit and yeah anders probably definitely should’ve known better but the awakening crew considered each other relatively friends save for this weird line from anders about not remembering sigrun in legacy dlc, even the spirit, and they had also considered velanna to host justice when writing but at the end of the day it would’ve been worse because they wouldn’t know how to write that’

#* #nah they wont what am i talking about #if i see that man i may open the door #but like they were like oh u can cure tranquility after all teehee #red lyrium is in fact blighted titan blood #the veil and all its mysteries #and its like........... #knock knock this thing on #belly full of darkspawn blood and hosting a damn fade spirit? like. hello. #yeah wynne was possessed too but she was nice about it surprisingly LMAO #* remembers the architect was gonna be in here lies the abyss before fade nonsense * #* remembers that the cancelled dlc for da2 was gonna address anders and wardens and spirits * #* it was also called exalted march * #ok ngl tho real talk absolutely but #bioware rly arent good at tying off threads #they Can be good writers (when they choose to be) #and they do make Some compelling storylines #but when it comes to actually picking up the pieces later #i mean they outright admitted it #LITERALLY WHY FIONA'S CURE HAS NEVER BEEN ADDRESSED SKFJEHSKJFH #bc they were like oh shit uhhh ! who knows ignore that #but yknow? #i mean it also goes hand in hand with like not expecting to develop further #etc etc...... #like i get all that. #and u can tell even at the end of awakening some things were left open bc they didnt *know* #but now its like uhhh ya gonna clean that up? #hm. its a new writing team #who knows whats gonna happen

[5lazarus]

The Domestics

Alistair runs into an older elven woman on the battlements, watching the children play in the Skyhold courtyard below. They get to talking: isn't it nice that the mages get to keep their children now? Then, in the course of the conversation, Alistair figures it out. Alistair says, “I always wondered. What my life would’ve been like, if she could’ve kept me. I always kinda knew she didn’t have a choice. King’s bastards are the king’s, not whoever carried them. If she were a servant and if I’d end up in the kitchens or, better yet, the dairy. I really like cheese. But if she were a mage, I guess we never had any of that. Unless she ran away.” Read on Archive of Our Own here.

It’s snowing at Skyhold, which delays Alistair’s plans by a day. Anora cuts him loose, locking herself in the ambassador’s heated room with her furs, and he wishes he could change into less fine clothes and join the children in their snowball fight, or wander into the kitchens and see if he can sweet-talk the cook into giving him something hot and sweet to drink. He’s king, so he could ask for all the chocolate in Seheron, and doubtless the Inquisition would try to give it to him.

He walks the battlements so less people will see him and watches the battle in the courtyard below. The Inquisitor’s children seem to have made common cause with the servants’ kids against the visiting nobility; honestly it’s just a relief to see that it isn’t human against elf. Alistair, a tad self-conscious, touches his right ear. An older elf is watching them, smiling. Alistair wonders if she’s the mother of one of them below.

“Which one’s yours?” Alistair asks.

The woman says, “I’m only watching them for the Inquisitor. I’m their guard.” She’s got short black hair, threaded with silver, but her eyes are lively enough. She’s wearing green robes with a bit of Dalish-looking embroidery at the ends of her sleeves. She’s got an Orlesian accent, too. He didn’t know the Inquisition was working with elves from Orlais, didn’t Anora tell him to keep an eye out for Ambassador Briala’s livery?

“Oh.” He shouldn’t feel awkward, but he blushes anyway. He stares at the woman’s feet, toes poking out of those foot wraps, and wonders how on earth she’s not freezing. Alistair’s got a coat of heavy wool, trimmed in fur.

The woman notices he’s staring and says, matter-of-fact, “My circulatory system is different than yours. We conserve heat more efficiently than your people. Besides, I’m a mage. It’s easy to keep warm.”

That has him a bit miffed. Of course he knows elves are biologically different than humans; they can still breed, though. He’s evidence of that. He doesn’t feel the cold as intensely as the others at court, and he knows why. The servants at the palace can tell, even if he passes, for the most part. Eamon and Tegan talk all the time about how much he looks like his father, how much he looks like Cailan, but he’s seen enough portraits of them both to know how he differs.

Alistair says, again, “Oh. Cool. I’m half, you know.” It’s not that he’s discouraged from talking about it, but it’s never been something to advertise. Those with eyes to see it don’t need to be told, but right Alistair feels like he needs to justify himself, with the way she’s looking at him. Skyhold has had him wrong-footed; Leliana has been distant and he is finding it harder and harder to slip away from the King. Anora tells him that’s part of adulthood. He’s not so sure.

The woman says, “I know.”

Alistair folds his arms. “Really? Because I didn’t. What’s your name, by the way?”

The elf smiles sadly. “Fiona. I used to travel with the Grey Wardens, when I was young.”

Alistair says, “Really? The Grey Wardens don’t really let people leave. Unless, you know, you point out that yet another civil war is going to break out if they don’t let you put your ass back on the throne. What was your excuse?”

Fiona says, “I had a baby. It’s hard to keep a nursery going in the Deep Roads. The darkspawn get jealous.”

“Oh. Can’t be having that, they’re crabby enough as it is. Though I heard of a Warden who brought his cat into the Deep Roads too, scratched out the eyes of a hurlock apparently. You’re lucky, most of us can’t have kids. I can’t. Probably.” He thinks about his own natural daughter with Tabris and blushes at the lie, rubbing at the back of his head. It’s for her own good and the good of the realm he hasn’t brought her to court. It’s not an excuse, it’s a reason, and Morrigan has the spare heir anyway, if Anora can’t figure something out.

Fiona says, “I suppose it’s luck. The Circle took him away from me, and gave him back to his father.” She sounds wistful. “But under the Inquisition, the mages keep their children. It’s a different world now. There’s no going back.”

He thinks to himself, I’m not so sure—the disastrous plans for the Hinterlands, the riots in Denerim, the failure of the embassy in the Brecilian forest. He thought after the Blight, with this new alliance between elves, dwarves, and men, there would be no going back. Anora tells him it’s a struggle for the future and that reform doesn’t come in a day, perhaps not even their lifetime: sometimes they need to settle for establishing the groundwork for the next person to rule, like Maric did for them. But of course, Anora’s never had her cousin kidnapped and brutalized, or her father sold into slavery. That sort of perspective changes things.

Alistair says, “Really?” He scratches his head. “I look at things in Ferelden and wonder how things can stay so stagnant, and then you look at Orlais and how they’re eating themselves alive. And Orzammar, of course, which is basically a living fossil. People don’t like change. They’d prefer for things to stay the same, or even go back to how they were a generation ago.” He is surprised at the bitterness in his voice.

Fiona cocks her head and looks at him curiously. She says, “You’re too young to be talking like that. You must understand it comes in seasons—we flourish in spring and reap our harvest in summer, and then prepare for and suffer through the conservative reaction in winter. Sometimes it’s a harsh winter, and many do not survive. But then there is always the spring. You lived in Ferelden, you should know—from the Night Elves who freed your people from the Orlesian occupation to Clan Alerion securing the boundaries of the Hinterlands now, things have changed. You just need to…riot every so often, to make sure no one gets complacent.” She grins.

It’s nice to talk politics with someone who doesn’t know who he is, who thinks he’s just another wealthy Ferelden currying favor with the Inquisition, not a king staring down the religious cult that just carved itself a city-state at the border of his realm. Below the children are yelling. A couple of them are using magic to freeze the snowballs, and they’re having a fierce debate, interspersed with throwing said ice balls, on whether that’s fair.

Alistair says, “Then I hope you’re right. I hope the mages and the Inquisition’s made enough of a, er, spring, to shake things up. It’s good for these kids to stay with their families, I hated what the Circle did. I didn’t know my mother, growing up. Would’ve avoided a lot of angst if I’d gotten to meet her.” He thinks about Morrigan and her awful mom, and then Goldanna flashes through his mind. Ashamed, he pushes the thought away. “Or maybe it would’ve made it worse! Hard to say, I certainly don’t know!” He smiles at the woman brightly.

Fiona says, “It might have made it worse, since she was an elf. Your life would’ve looked very different, even in Ferelden.”

His heart stops. Surely she doesn’t know who he is. That could be awkward, considering what he’s been saying. Anora will be furious that he’s gone off and talked politics with another random person again. He can’t help it, he gets bored easily, and the courtiers and advisors only tell him what they think he should want to hear.

“How do you know I’m Ferelden?” Alistair asks suspiciously.

“You’re wearing the badge on your fur coat. And, of course, your accent. Unless I am mistaken?”

“No, no,” Alistair says. “But yeah. Sorry. I don’t know much about her. Don’t know if she’s still alive. Just that she was an elf. Always assumed she was a serving woman or something, if my father was anything like C-Caleb.”

Fiona says, “Sometimes it’s better not to think about it, how we came into the world. I never met my parents either.” She leans against the balustrade and shakes her head at the kids fighting in the courtyard below. They’ve devolved into outright brawling, but that weird Warden the Inquisitor keeps around her has waded into the fray, bellowing orders. “It’s good to see them playing again. They never had enough time to play.”

“When were you a Warden?” Alistair asks. “You know, my dad travelled with the Wardens too. But they didn’t make him join up—guess that’s why I’m here, ha-ha.” He wants to ask her if she ever met him, because they might have overlapped. It’s hard to tell with elves sometimes though, they age more slowly, but she looks like she’s in her late forties, a bit careworn. Then he decides he really doesn’t want the conversation to get weird, because he is a king and his father was a king, and it’s rare that someone speaks to him normally now—treats him like the lovable idiot he knows he is, not the history-breaking king.

Fiona says, “Oh, give or take thirty years or so. I try not to count the years, at my age. My people live a long time if left unmolested, but I have a knack for running into trouble.”

Alistair laughs. “Oh, me too! I don’t even mean to do it, I’ve just never learned to keep my mouth shut.” To Teagan and Anora’s chagrin, he thinks ruefully. “I was given to the Templars as a boy, before I managed to get the Wardens to take me, and Maker! The Mother despaired of me. Called me most the accidental heretic she’d ever known. Really the Wardens taking me saved my life, Maker knows what they would’ve done to me if I kept poking at them like I was.”

Fiona pauses, trying to suppress a laugh, and then says, “At least you’ve never started a war.”

Alistair laughs heartily at that. Then he realizes what she’s said. “Wait, what? You started a war?”

Fiona says, “You…you didn’t know?”

Alistair says, “Is there something I should know?”

Fiona steps away, smoothing her expression away. “Many things.” Anxiously she peers down into the courtyard, smoothing her sleeves over her hands. The two factions of Skyhold children have joined forces and are attacking Blackwall with snow, but another one of the Inquisitor’s companions has joined the fray—a cackling elvhen girl, and then Alistair sees that from the balcony of the inn there’s a mustachioed mage swatting snowballs away from his friend.

Alistair says, “You never asked me my name.”

Fiona glances at him and then turns away. “I didn’t need to. You look very much like your father. Though I suppose you must know that.”

Alistair opens his mouth and then closes it. He says, voice hoarse, “Did you ever—“ He stumbles over his words, and clears his throat. “Did you ever find out what happened to your baby? When the Circle took him away.”

Fiona hesitates. The silence between them is filled with the children laughing below, the mage grandiosely chanting what are clearly made-up words, and the old Warden dramatically pretending to be overwhelmed by the volley of snow. The elven girl is swearing revenge, right now. It looks the children are trying to steal the “body” and make a pyre out of snow.

Alistair says, “I always wondered. What my life would’ve been like, if she could’ve kept me. I always kinda knew she didn’t have a choice. King’s bastards are the king’s, not whoever carried them. If she were a servant and if I’d end up in the kitchens or, better yet, the dairy. I really like cheese. But if she were a mage, I guess we never had any of that. Unless she ran away.”

Fiona covers her face with her hands.

Alistair continues, “Then, yeah, being apostates suck. Believe me. I met a girl who lived in a swamp. But I think we could’ve made it work. Like since I pass, and I’m not magic—at least I don’t think so, but I think I’d know by now? I’m like, thirty-five. Or something. I could’ve gone to the villages and traded for food. And I would’ve known more about who I am. Than just Maric’s bastard. Who’s just a story, anyway. That’s how kings like that end up. Just stories.”

His mother is weeping now.

He says, “I have no idea how you started that war you said you did. But I think I know what I’m supposed to know.” He takes a step closer, and she doesn’t move. He says, helplessly now, “I think I have your eyes.”

Fiona leans against the balustrade, back to the courtyard below. She’s not crying now, but she’s not making any sound. Alistair is afraid to go closer. Her hands press into her face like a mask, restraining a scream. He thinks if he touches her, all that tension will explode. He gets overwhelmed like that too. Can you inherit that sort of thing? He has to wonder, does the way one expresses pain get passed down in the blood?

He waits for her to speak. A door behind them creaks open, footsteps scuffle to a stop, then retreat. The door shuts. The mage has come down into the courtyard now and is chanting what appears to be Nevarran over the pile of snow that is Blackwall’s pyre. The elven girl is leading the children in mourning—but then the mage flourishes, and the snow glows purple, then scarlet, then green as he sparks. Blackwall throws the snow off and roars. The children cheer.

Fiona breathes heavily, drawing herself out of wherever she retreated. She swipes at her face with her sleeves. She says, “Forgive me. It was better that you didn’t know. You couldn’t have become—you deserved—Maric needed—what are you going to do, I told the Divine to go fuck herself, you can’t have a mother who told the Divine—“

Alistair says, impressed, “You told the Divine to go fuck herself? I am your son, I knew it had to come from somewhere! This is your fault!” He gestures at himself, and Fiona manages a laugh.

“An exaggeration,” she says. “I merely said the Divine should fuck herself, right before we voted to dissolve the Circles and separate from the Chantry. I’d hoped to tell her that at the Conclave, which is why they sent Orsino rather than myself.” Her mouth twists into a rueful smile. “Perhaps the only time running off my mouth and losing my temper has saved my life.”

Alistair says, “Well, the Divine was kind of an ass. Somebody had to say it.” He laughs. “Oh, this is wonderful. My mother, the rebel mage.” He’s genuinely delighted, this is much cooler than anything he came up with as a boy. “This is so cool. Anora’s going to be so annoyed when I tell her. Not like she can complain, her dad betrayed the realm and got all the Wardens killed, so really on the scale of shitty in-laws, I win.” He pauses: he isn’t sure he conveyed what he wanted to by that. Fiona is just staring at him. “But seriously, I don’t know who you are. Besides, obviously, my mother.”

Fiona says, disbelief in her voice, “I’m the Grand Enchanter."

Alistair says, “Oh Maker, I should’ve recognized the belt, shouldn’t I?”

#dragon age fanfiction #dragon age fanfic #da fanfic #dragon age fic #fiona #king alistair #alistair finally gets reunited with fiona #alistair #alistair theirin #fiona & alistair #I have typed this man's name so often it ceases to look real #fluff #family fluff #family reunion #happy ending

[thessalian]

Molly!Warden vs Cultists, Again

Molly: So I cleared out the darkspawn and dragon cultists move in. Lovely.

Finn: You ... know these people?

Molly: Not these specific ones, but the general type. There were a bunch of people around the Temple of Sacred Ashes worshipping a high dragon there.

Ariane: Why do people want to worship dragons?

Finn: Big and powerful and fire-breathing!

Molly: Or, like, there was something more to that “Tevinter Old Gods looking like dragons” thing than anyone was letting on. I mean, I know Flemeth - your Asha’bellanar - turned into a dragon and she probably wasn’t human or even abomination so maybe gods aren’t actually gods but just really powerful people who like being worshipped Because Reasons?

Finn; Ariane: ....................

Ariane: That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. My gods are real!

Finn: The Chantry teaches--

Molly: And, see, that’s why I might actually be better at deciphering this theology nugshit than people who actually grew up with ... religion, y’know? I don’t do gods. We don’t have ‘em. We have ancestor-worship. ‘Cos, see, I’m a Paragon now, okay? And what that means is that someday, dwarves are going to venerate me. Like they do Branka - who was a lunatic - and Caridin - who was a bit of a meeble-merchant, if you ask me, but he was stuck in a golem so had reason to be...

Finn: ...wut...

Molly: Long story; I’ll tell you more once we’ve got this mirror thing sorted. Anyway, point is, I know how it is to worship people as kind of like gods and if they have magic, I figure actually gods is a logical step to take. All we’ve got is the words of people who wrote down stuff all flowery in a “history is written by the victors” sort of way, or tales passed down from hahren to hahren for generations and probably getting twisted on the way--

Ariane: What do you know about hahren?

Molly: I spent, like, weeks with the Dalish clan that helped me get to the Archdemon; it was a thing. Anyway, I’m just saying that sometimes, myths get it wrong.

Valterral: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Ariane: That’s ... a valterral. They’re a myth. They’re supposed to protect us.

Finn: He looks like he wants to make you part of his balanced diet, though. That doesn’t sound very protective to me.

Molly: See? Sometimes myths get it wrong. Now, maybe we should commence stabbing?

Dragons: RAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Molly: Aaaaaaaand of course these get in on the act. Okay, swords for everyone, c’mon!

Finn: Good. This is less confusing than the philosophy, anyway.

And, way down in the Nest

Molly: Oh, yeah, There’s your eluvian. I see why I missed it before. It was hard to see past Boobmother and her All-Star Tentacle Revue.

Finn: It’s glowy! I have to study it!

Ariane: Nope. Let the Warden talk to Morrigan alone.

Finn: But...

Ariane: You know that spell Molly likes it when you do against mages?

Finn: Mana Clash, yes...

Ariane: She has to have seen that done by some mage to know about it. And this Morrigan travelled with her to end the Blight. So...

Finn: Oh. ...Oh. Okay, yes, staying back is a good idea.

And, over by the eluvian

Molly: Hey, salroka; what’s shapin’?

Morrigan: Does “do not follow me” mean something different to the dwarves?

Molly: Hey, look, I just wanted to know how the kid is and if you’re doing okay. And it looks like you’re ... shopping for extra-planar real estate. I mean, I guess so long as you’re not having to yell at rage demons to get off your lawn.

Morrigan: ......I missed you. But I still have to go. Things are going to be happening, and changing, and I need power, and the safety to build it. Also you probably didn’t actually kill Flemeth but that’s alright; she probably can’t be killed by regular means anyway.

Molly: ...I have theories now but I’ll probably keep those to myself because Ariane would probably soil her smalls. Speaking of which, she’s been meebling about this book--

Morrigan: Ah, forever doing errands for others. I have what I need from it, so I leave that with you. And a gift.

Molly: You had a gift for me all ready to go, in someplace I slaughtered the broodmother of all broodmothers and wouldn’t want to go back to ... and you didn’t think I would follow you here?

Morrigan: “Do not follow me” might mean the same to most dwarves as it does to others, but to you, it means “do everything but throw a bon-voyage party”.

Molly: *pulls some confetti out of a belt pouch and flings it in to the air* Bon voyage, salroka. But just before you go, how is the kid.

Morrigan: Innocent. I’ll try to keep him that way for as long as the world lets me.

Molly: I’ll let Alistair know. He’ll be at least a little curious.

Morrigan: I ... I find I...

Molly: You hate the mushy stuff so I’ll just tip you a little wave and turn around so you can leave without it getting weird.

Morrigan: Perhaps you understand me better than I realised. Farewell.

Exit Morrigan, not pursued by anybody

Finn: ...can I study the mirror now?

Molly: Out or I will shove your face into the Boobmother corpse.

Finn: Going! Going!

Ariane: ...book?

Molly: This is yours, and this is mine, and we are leaving before more nasty shows up.

Ariane: What did she leave you?

Molly: I ... will let you know as soon as I figure that out. So half-past never, probably. Out.

((And thus ends Molly Brosca’s tromp through Thedas! Now I am going to bed and dream of what I might end up liveblogging next. I still have an eye on Meep!Warden...))

#Molly!Warden #Thess liveblogs Dragon Age #witch hunt

[crossdressingdeath]

Well, if we're doing this (JC, Anders, Cullen...), then we're doing this. What's your opinion on Solas? Take the question as you will: his romance with Lavellan, his past, his plans, his—whatever you're interested in talking about.

...When you put it like that it kind of feels like my sole purpose on this site is to disagree with the loudest opinions of every fandom I'm in, huh.

I like Solas, he's great as a character. The sass, the fashion sense, the voice acting, all very good. His personal quest feels real and important (which should be an easy bar to clear but not all of them manage it), his positions make sense for his character... He gets hit hard by Inquisition's "You're not allowed to argue with your companions or encourage them to grow as people except in very specific circumstances and otherwise you can either tell them what they want to hear or insult them in a way that has nothing to do with what your character would actually be having an issue with" nonsense, but that's not really his fault as a character; it's more visible with him in places (at least if you're playing Lavellan), but it's an issue all of the Inquisition cast has at some point. I can't speak to his romance because I... still haven't done it (one day I will romance someone who isn't Bull or Dorian. One day), but as for the rest...

Honestly my biggest issue with Solas isn't actually an issue with him, because the whole "oh yeah the Dalish gods were all totally evil and the Dalish are stupid for believing in them" bullshit is tied so heavily to him that I can't help but conflate them. (God I hate that plot point, I'd actually be fine with Bioware retconning it to at least "only some of them were slavers" at a minimum, also can they at least be less blatant about the whole "Oh only the Christianity allegory isn't confirmed fake, awful or both and that totally doesn't have any real-world meaning", honestly at this point I'm just embarrassed they're being so obvious about it.) Other than that... yeah, I like Solas's past and plans, it makes sense from a story and character perspective and makes for a nice setup for the next game. The whole survivor's guilt thing, his desire to bring back the past, the fact that the story hasn't immediately condemned you and in fact gives you the option to say you're going to save him from himself (Bioware do not turn this into "he's evil and crazy shut up", if you do that again I swear-)... It's good! And honestly after the "Everything's morally grey if you want it to be, even a conflict between abusers, rapists and murderers and people who don't want to be abused, raped and murdered, here have this really obvious evil darkspawn slaver guy to take your mind off of the complete bullshit we're calling moral complexity while we tell you which parts of the grey morality you're supposed to side with" thing Inquisition had going for it it's refreshing to have actual grey morality again.

Also I'm still mad that Lavellan can't be like "You. You're my dad now" at any point, why don't you love me Solas, why do you love Cole and not me. But anyway, ignore my brief tangent about Bioware's shitty, shitty choices... Yeah, Solas is a good character, it's nice to have a character who has genuinely grey morals, his goal makes sense, I'm glad they've set up the possibility of an ending for him that involves talking him down or helping him find a less dangerous solution instead of just killing him, and my main issues with him are issues that he shares with the entire cast because the writing in Inquisition... wasn't great. I'm... cautiously optimistic about his role in DA4, although also very worried because he does share some elements of his character with Anders and we all know how that ended. Also I'm realizing it's been way too long since I played Inquisition, because I'm sure I used to have more detailed opinions on Solas.

#dragon age inquisition #solas

[dacompanionreactions]

Hello! How would companions of DA:I react to Inky, who is in fact a demigod (The child of Maker and mortal woman)? and there incredible powers to rip reality, heal any disease and cut, and fully talk with darkspawn and lyriam? With non and Romanced people

This was really fun to write! Sorry it took so longggg

Cassandra is relieved beyond measure. The fact that they were sent by The Maker (who just so happens to be their parent) gives her no doubt that they will win this war. Their abilities could be seen as scary to anyone who didn't know them, but what Cassandra sees is a good friend who just happens to be the child of The Maker.

If romanced, her reaction won't change much. Her primary thought is, "I am the luckiest woman in all of Thedas." She feels truly blessed to have the Inquisitor at her side.

Varric is Andrastian. He's not very vocal about it, but behind his blasphemy, Varric believes in The Maker. At first, he makes a joke about The Maker cheating on his bride. "Poor Andraste. Burned, cheated on... that woman cannot catch a break." Mainly, he's glad the Inquisitor is on his side. He dislikes it when they 'communicate' with red lyrium, stating he'd rather have it destroyed than crack jokes with it. The Inquisitor waves their hand and the red lyrium vanishes without a trace. Varric Greatly Approves.

Solas is in no position to judge. He is Fen'harel after all. He's got nothing against Andrastianism, but he dislikes blind faith. At first he's apprehensive of their overpowered abilities, but as they get closer all he sees is a friend. A friend he's unintentionally hurt.

If romanced, Solas will ask the Inquisitor a lot more questions about her abilities. His reaction doesn't change much, but he finds himself worrying about his vhenan when they're on the field, a lot more than is wise.

"Somebody, get me a fainting couch!" Dorian jests, but he's truly in awe. His friend, the Herald of Andraste ("How ironic."), the child of The Maker himself. He asks the Inquisitor many questions, less about their father and more about their god-given capabilities. When he learns of their ability to cure any ailments, he requests they do something for him. Dorian is eternally grateful to the Inquisitor after they cure Felix of the blight.

If romanced, Dorian will ask more personal questions about the Inquisitor's family, but only if they are willing to share. Mostly, he feels safe and secure when he's with his amatus. The events at Adamant have him feeling a lot worse, however. They were so close to the Golden City, so close to The Maker. Honestly, he was afraid the Inquisitor would be taken from him. Thankfully, his fears were for naught.

Sera is stunned into silence for the first time in her life. "Oh, shite," she says finally. This revelation means a lot to her. It means that the throne in the Golden City has a godly arse to sit on it. It means The Maker is real. The same could be said about what Coryphy-spit said. Sera's main concern is the Inquisitor, though. "Demi-what evers have powers, yeah? I'm just making sure you're not an entitled arse for it." She warms up to the Inquisitor quickly after they use their abilities for good.

If romanced, her reaction isn't much different. However, Sera is more appreciative of her Honey Tongue's powers, because she can use them for pranks. Stuff like punting pies through several fade rifts in Ferelden to hit a noble in Val Royeaux? Priceless. It's a shame her Inky's abilities can't be used to make nice cookies.

Blackwall chuckles at first; he thinks they're joking. When it hits him, he exclaims a loud, "Maker's balls!" The Inquisitor says something about not wanting to think about their father's balls and Blackwall starts wheezing. All jokes aside, he's very glad the Inquisitor isn't allied with Corypheus. He only asks them about their family if they ask about Blackwall's past. It's a mutual respect kinda thing.

If romanced, during the early days he'll be much more reluctant to start a relationship with the Inquisitor. His past is constantly weighing on his mind and he believes he is unworthy of her, unworthy of The Maker's child. As they grow closer, he finds himself feeling safe with her and vice versa. However, he knows the truth will come out, and soon.

Cole is less concerned about their status as a demi-god and more worried about them as a person. The Inquisitor's thoughts are unbearably loud, amplified by The Maker's blood running through their veins. It hurts to hear them. Demi-god. Maker's child. Inquisitor. Herald of Andraste. Why can't they see that I'm just a person like them? Cole takes them by the hand and says with utmost confidence, "You are a person. Everyone else sees it. They treat you with respect because you are worthy of it. Your thoughts are loud, pained. Let me help."

The Iron Bull was raised under the teachings of the Qun, so naturally he feels conflicted when he learns The Maker exists and has a child. Overall, and in the kindest way possible, he doesn't really give two craps. What matters to him is their safety, the safety of The Chargers and the destruction of Corypheus and the demons. Bull admits that he finds it pretty badass how the Inquisitor can snap their fingers and their enemies will disintegrate. It does get rid of the fun of bonking them with a sledgehammer, though.

If romanced, Bull will make some dirty jokes and ask questions like, "How does a god and a person even do it?" It gets a laugh out of his kadan every time. He likes to think of them as the most badass couple in the entire Inquisition, and let's face it... they really are.

Vivienne is rather pleased when she finds out. Their status as a demi-god will be handy when dealing with pushy nobles. She makes a mental note to contact her seamstress in Val Royeaux. They need clothes worthy of a god's child. When she takes them to see Bastien, they stop her from giving him the potion. At first she is apprehensive, but the Inquisitor places a hand on Bastien's face and cures him. Vivienne is forever grateful. "My darling, how ever can I repay you?"

Cullen could not think clearly when they told him. Lyrium withdrawal was making it difficult. The Inquisitor waves a hand over him and his symptoms almost disappear. The Inquisitor apologises and explains that while withdrawal is not a disease or cut that can be cured, they can still lessen the symptoms. He is grateful to them.

If romanced, like Blackwall, Cullen will be hesitant to start a relationship with the Inquisitor. "You're the Inquisitor, The Maker's child. I'm not worthy of you." She says she believes otherwise, and the two share a kiss on the battlements. Cullen is thankful for her presence. The fact that she's The Maker's daughter is just a side-benefit. To him, she is everything.

Leliana is almost angry at first. Not at the Inquisitor, just the circumstances they were in. She hates that the one person who could have saved Justinia was incapacitated by the explosion. "What is His game? You're His child, you must know." She struggles to hide her disappointment when they say they don't know. They talk often about Justinia and The Maker. Eventually, Leliana stops seeing them as just The Maker's child. They're her friend, too.

Josephine is delighted. First of all, it makes her job about ten times easier. Half of her attempts at diplomacy stem from Andrastianism being shared around Thedas. Secondly, it means that the Inquisition is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. She will ask the Inquisitor if they want that information public. If their mother is still alive, Josephine reaches out to her contacts to make sure she's brought safely to Skyhold. "It's the least I can do, Inquisitor."

If romanced, Josie's reaction won't change drastically. Mainly, she feels like she's been blessed by The Maker to have them with her. In a way, she has.

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