@Kittenly thank so much! I will totally try this. I forgot mods were a thing. Wynne and Shale are my faves, actually. Though I kinda love everyone, which makes choosing a party REALLY HARD. Also when I rejected Alistair I felt like a jerk, sob. What a giant puppy.
@Enzel I know, the only companion I don't like is Oghren. I just find him crass and not in an interesting way. I tend to break my own in regards to Ali because I personally really think Loghain was in the right. So I have to purposefully create characters that will either let Ali take the combat or choose to kill Loghain for whatever reason. But god. I'm so mad that they're mutually exclusive characters. If you need more help of DAO strategy, I can help a little. I'm better at DAO strategy than anything else. Though i do tend to talk about it more than play. BC my characters are very important to me and their lives are important to me and I just need all of them to be happy. I might write about my Hawke's on this thread later as a study break. It's nice to have a place where I can sperg and people are cool with info dumps.
SOME BODY ONCE TOLD ME THE BLIGHT WAS GONNA SCREW ME (And Ali's not the sharpest tool in the shed) Surana's lookin' pretty dumb with her finger and her thumb in the SHAPE OF AN L ON HER FOREHEAD sorry (Someone with the skillz should totally paste some appropriate dragon agey faces on there.) Okay so yes. Hello special interest and all who mutually appreciate it, how're you doing today? Warden Elena, Female Elf Mage and problem solver Age: 21 at the time of Ostagar Dog: Barkspawn LI: Alistair, but he broke up with her after the Landsmeet. At which point she cozies up to Zevran, who was happy to comfort her. Personality/Choices: Elena was my very first Warden, that I played when the game first came out ;u; I played her as a sweet and relatively idealistic girl, who was super excited to become a proper mage. She helped Jowan in secret, and was incredibly hurt when he used blood magic to make his escape. She tried very hard to achieve compromise in all things, determined that there must be some middle ground between warring extremes. Sometimes she even managed it! She ended up putting an unhardened Alistair on the throne with Anora, and did the Dark Ritual because she didn't trust Riordan as far as the Archdemon could throw him. (Too soon? Probably too soon.) In Awakening she was a strong and capable commander, and saved Ameranthine. Killed the Architect. Asked for more mage freedom, to help prevent more Jowan situations in the future. Cathira, Female City Elf Rogue Age: 19 at the time of Ostagar Dog: Stitches LI: Zevran, all the way to double earring. They bonded (heh) immediately, and he knew exactly how to bring her out of her shell. Personality/Choices: Cathira was angry All Of The Time. She didn't mince her words, and if someone insulted her or her companions she would shank them on the spot. The murder knife got some work. As time passed and her relationships developed she mellowed a little, making cannier choices than 'you die now'. Fiercely pro-elf. Anora got to stay in power on her own. Alistair stayed a Warden. Kayla Hawke, Female Mage Age: 23 on arrival at Kirkwall Blue personality, just wanted everyone to chill the fuck out. Dog: Snooksnook LI: Anders. Maker. Damned. Anders. Friend romance that turned abruptly sour after he pulled a 'if you loved me you'd help me with this errand' thing. She told him she did not appreciate that in the slightest. Would have run off with Varric if given the slightest chance. Ended up sparing Anders and proceeding to chew him the fuck out for the foreseeable future for what he did. Choices: Recruited everyone. Killed the Arishok (Weeping internally the whole time. What a waste of an interesting person), sided with the Mages, everyone stayed with her. I'm out of steam to keep going for now but I will be back.
@KathyGaele Woooooo! Special interest buddies! I'mma talk about my Hawke's now b/c they're all my precious bbies. Dhuma Hawke, Female Blood Mage Age: 25 when she got to Kirkwall Personality: Red, she was grumpy and defensive and needed everyone to shut up for a second and listen to her. While she was a blood mage, she was a very careful one with Important Rules that Must Be Followed: never take anyone's blood without permission, never use someone's blood without express permission, never mess with a sentient beings mind. Merrill drove her absolutely batshit, as did Anders and Fenris. This girl has no chill. Oddly enough, Carver is her closest friend, and she flipped so many tables when he ran off to join the templars. LI: none, all four of them drove her absolutely crazy. She did harbor a massive crush on Aveline though, and handled it with no grace at all, though she was happy that Aveline found love. In the end, she and Talis hope to meet up again and do more than have a quick kiss. Molly Hawke, also Female Blood Mage Age: 20 upon arrival at Kirkwall Personality: Blue as blue can be. She just wants everyone to get along and not the conflict makes her uneasy. She's sweet and spunky and charming and is very easy to like, despite the fact that she is openly a blood mage. Unlike Dhuma, who turned to blood mage for curiosities sake, she turn to it because she's just not the most powerful mage. Also unlike Dhuma, she doesn't have hard rules and just tries her best. Which actually turns out to be a problem when she because anyone threatening her family (which is all her companions, all of her blood family is dead) gets the no hold barred beatdown. And Molly doesn't have lines that she won't cross, so she will fuck up your mind, enslave you and make you commit suicide because that doesn't register as "wrong" for her. So to sum it up, she's the little, adorable, peppy girl who will fuck you up while smiling. LI: Merrill, They're so sickeningly happy together, and Molly helps with the Eluvian as much as she can. Mara Hawke, Female Force Mage and Spirit healer (I talked about he before but she's my favorite so I'mma write about her again) She and her sister are kind of magical prodigies, with a particular love of elemental magic (Pyrena prefers fire, and Mara ice). Part of Dual-Verse, so she's one of two elder Hawke twins (Mara and Pyrena) with her two twin sibs (Carver and Bethany) wow, Momma Hawke had it rough. Two sets of twins in five years. Age: 21 upon arrival in Kirwall Personality: Purple. Heavy purple. Though her humor is sharper and more biting than her sister's (who is also purple. Poor Carver, growing up with THREE Purple Hawkes). LI: Anders. Ugh. Her romance with Anders gives me so many feels. It was a rivalmance, bc the friendmance makes me feel uncomfortable in how enabling it is. Mara is initially very pro-circle, which drives Anders up the fucking wall. And he's not wrong to be upset. Mara never lived in the Circle, so she's got a very idealized idea of it, but Anders is not exactly good at being anything other than aggressive about his cause, so he and Mara miss what common ground they should have had by a mile. They should balance each other out, with Anders knowing how bad it is for mages in the Circles and how abusive the Templars are, and Mara knowing very well, being a part of a family of apostates that magic can be dangerous if it's not controlled. Nevertheless, their are attracted to each other's stubbornness, dedication, and talent, and end up in a relationship that is a massive clusterfuck for both of them. There are a couple honeymoon periods though, after Leandra is murdered, Anders is a bit of a rock and makes sure that she spends time with Varric and Aveline and does his best to make her laugh (Awakening Anders is still there under all his baggage after all, and so he's still a total dorkface). Then there's the time between acts two and three when Anders teaches Mara to be a spirit healer. He's a surprisingly good teacher, and she's a total nerd and demonstrates a reasonable talent for it. Then there's Chateau Haine, where getting out of Kirkwall does Anders so much good on its own, and then the sheer ridiculousness of everything happening really brings out more of his goofball self and he and Mara have a genuinely good time. After Anders blows up the Chantry, Mara is totally at a loss of what to do because she really does love him and he's freaking out and wants to be killed and blaming Vengeance (aside: I think that it was Anders' idea to blow up the chantry, but he wouldn't have acted on it without Vengeance's influence). And Mara just gets it. She's been there. And so much of herself wants to follow her usual pattern of "get hurt, lash out, hold grudge," but she can't. So she spares him, and they promise that if they survive the fight, they'll go look for Warden Mercy Amell, who is also a powerful healer and also knew Anders and Justice as separate people and see if she can separate them. They agree to break off their relationship and start it over without the toxic bullshit. Then Mara gets left in the Fade for a year! :DDD I'm not crying you're crying. (just thought I would mention I'm reading and enjoying everyone's characters. God I love these games)
Ooh, Dragon Age. I played Origins for the first time around Xmas, immediately followed it up with DA2, and I'm saving Inquisition until after I finish my exams. My wardens: Sigeweard Aeducan (first playthrough) A warrior who tries very very hard to always make the right and morally good choice, and usually ends up the worse for it. I see her as having been active, friendly, and comfortable in her own skin before the events that led to her becoming a grey warden. (Are the DA:O backstories considered spoilers any more? Probably not, right?) After her banishment she spent most of the game in a state of profound culture shock. That, and her guilt over her brother's death, caused her to basically fumble through every decision and battle thinking "please, ancestors, let this be the right choice." She would have been a bad queen of Orzammar. She couldn't have handled the politics or the hard decisions. She pretty much imprinted on Alistair at Ostagar, but they broke off the romance after the Landsmeet. She refused the Dark Ritual and Alistair sacrificed himself to kill the archdemon, leaving poor Sigeweard with even more things to feel guilty about. She didn't stick around for long after receiving the Hero of Ferelden title. Alim Surana A sarcastic, angry mage. Not much for random acts of kindness, he's more the ruthlessly-get-results-and-wait-for-payment type. I haven't gotten too far into his playthrough. I think he'll romance Leliana, but I haven't decided yet. Adela Cousland (probably canon? I wanted a playthrough that was personalised, but fit Bioware canon. I haven't finished yet, I'm currently about to do the Landsmeet.) A rogue who favours her bow. Unlike Sigeweard, Adela has a head for human politics, court intrigue, and is an utter pragmatist (and unlike Sigeweard, Adela doesn't feel like she might fall into the sky at any time). She's a devout Andrastian. She's sworn to avenge her family and make no mistake, she will do it. She plans to set Alistair up as king and herself as queen, out of a mix of ambition and sense of duty. She'll accept the Dark Ritual.
@EulersBidentity Either you're like the third or fourth person I've seen with a warden called Alim Surana, or I've bumped into you a lot and haven't put together that you're the same person. Also I wanted to put this out there so others can cry with me over my favorite minor character in the series (Samson): http://blog.bioware.com/2015/04/30/short-story-paper-steel/ He is such a raging Hufflepuff and his kindness gets him into so much trouble it breaks my heart. I'm a sucker for villains who think from the bottom of their heart that they're the heroes.
Heh, no, Alim Surana is the default male elf mage name, like Elissa Cousland is the default female noble.
Ahhhhhh. That makes sense *embarrassed face* Surana is one of the two origins I don't have along with Brosca. Ugh. I want my thesis to be done so I can play DA:O again. I wanna play Greta and smooch Alister. Or replay Mercy for the fifth time and smooch Zevran endlessly. Because Zev is my man. I will always be bitter that Zev is the only DAO love interest that doesn't show up in Inquisition.
Dingity dangity resurrection time. Mostly I just want to weep about Inquisition a lot. *cries* And I haven't even finished yet. Fuck this game.
I have recently DIVED HEAD FIRST INTO THE IRON BULL FEEL TRAIN. Also apparently he is now a special interest so that's fun and ridiculous. Please tell me all your Inquisition feels. Let us cry together.
DID SOMEONE SAY DRAGON AGE? i am nerding out on it REALLY a lot since i finished Origins, and I'm very much a MRA (mage rights activist) when it comes to it. I have basically a warden for each origin except Aeducan and Amell, because i'm not into nobles or humans (my Cousland lays forgotten somewhere). But my main is my Liesyn Surana, sweet baby child, who owns my three main worldstates. Hawkes are Simon, Garnet, and Benjamin, and Inquisitors are twin sisters Idrilla and Nellas Lavellan, Most Definitely A Truly Extraordinary Perfectly Healthy And Hopefully Well-Adjusted Adaar (his friends call him Mosdef), and, most currently, Petra Cadash; I still want to make a female Adaar mage to romance Josie, but I can't think of a cool name for her - i love that Herrah Adaar means CANNON TIME!, but i dont like playing with default names. I have a page for them on my tumblr! its kinda out of date with the pictures and bios, but that's because Garnet is basically just Simon, only a rogue and covered in bitches (a.k.a., Hawke/Merril/Isabela ot3, although i locked the romance with merrill in-game. I cant be mean to Merrill I love her SO MUCH i wanna date her irl.) I think most of my characters share the FUCK THE CHANTRY trait, though, because my bias shows. Petra and Mosdef are the only ones that are somewhat ok with it, but it's because the Chantry's hold on legitimate lyrium trade makes black market operations very lucrative, and Mosdef doesn't really care about the Chantry but made the unfortunate choice of conscripting the Templars, so whatever. I love Anders, I love Anders so much, and I have a ton of feelings for him. Also Cullen, and Solas, and Merrill, and every single companion except Sebastian. honestly fuck that guy.
I love Dragon Age SO MUCH but I am absolutely DREADFUL at playing it bc a) so much time spent on school, so little time to spend on games, which in combination with how bad I am at re-doing things I've already done (I just want the cutscenes, why are you making me fight again, this is taking ages) means I rarely finish replays :( also b) I am incapable of consistently being rude to people like, ever, so all my playthroughs end up nearly the same. also i cheat like hell to ensure I don't get stuck with a bad outcome. potentially i've gotten better at that now, I'll try again during the summer just to see. ANYWAYS because of the above reasons none of my Hawkes or Wardens are particularly noteworthy cause they all end up being huge pushovers who always have to do The Right Thing and Help People No Matter What. REGARDLESS OF ALL OF THIS I like these games super super much, yes. All of the companions are best. But especially Merrill. ...because the thing I generally enjoy most with just about anything is the fandom stuff produced around it, I have to ask: Has anyone else read All Roads Lead to Denerim? Fanfiction, very long, can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/series/69237 . The main premise is take all the origins, make each a separate character, throw them all together and wham, things happen. I started reading it mainly as a joke, thinking it would be super bad and just wanting to see how bad it would be, but then I started caring and now I am genuinely upset there are no fanfictions about this fanfiction. That is how bad it got me. I am ashamed.
Recently started playing Inquisition again, this time staring Kirk Cadash, aka Dwarf Me, in an attempt to sort out wonky genderfeels. I got the face down surprisingly well, I think, but then I went and hid it behind the bushiest beard and the ugliest piss yellow hair that I've really learned to loath in the twelve hours I've been staring at it. I recruited the mages last time around, partially cause my brother'd already gotten the templars and partially cause my Adaar was a mage and also paranoid and it didn't make any sense for her to recruit people who could and would(she is certain) turn on her based on her ability to summon a blizzard. Which obviously meant that I had to go the templar route this time around. To be honest, it was probably more in character for me anyways. I like magic as a concept, in stories, and away from me, pls and thnx. I guess that means I tacitly support the Chantry and/or Circles? Dunno. I like the thought of people being happy and safe, but I'm not sure freeing the mages is the way to get there. At least not all at once.
Yay! Dragon Age! I dunno. For me the Inquisition feels have mellowed (Though Renwyn Lavellan and Lysander Travelyan still dominate my headspace in regards to fic and AU ideas). I will sit over here and quietly weep over DA2 in all its rushed, problematic glory. I've slowly migrated into Free All the Mages territory, though I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge that this is also in some ways a terrible idea and will lead to lots of damage in the short term.
If the circles were like a school instead of a prison where mages are horribly abused I'd be all for it, but I just can't be pro-circle when they're like that, when Tranquility exists, when it's a barely disguised slave labour, militaristic operation. Which is why I loved jaws of hakkon so much. AVAAR MAGES FTW.
Blowing up the Chantry is not a viable solution though. But I've been thinking about Anders and have decided he was pretty much legit possessed over the 10 years, so mostly I mourn who he was during Awakening. I just hate it when idiot terrorists make things worse for everyone. Clearly it was vengeance, rather than any actual justice and so on. Playing DA2 again will be a hoot certainly. Let's see if I can romance anyone besides Fenris this time or not. I seem to be incapable, lol. And idk, I love Sebastian, but I guess I love arrogant nobles with guilt complexes, it's fun to make them wriggle in them when I can. The notion of the Circle isn't wrong, but the execution certainly is. And that's all I am going to say on that. Also is it just me of are the Qunari an extremist offshoot of somesort Tevinter-like horned guy empire, because it certainly sounds like it came out of the fact that they need to be controlled? I had the theory before but what Bull's been saying in places is just making me even more convinced. re: his fear he'll become a terrible awful person the moment he's not part of the religion anymore? Also gross sobbing about Dorian and Iron Bull, and ugh can I keep crying thanks. Ugh. I am almost done with the game, I am super pleased with older and mature Morrigan who is still herself but has shown sharp ladies can change and still be sharp, ugh character development. Basically half of me in this fandom is "fite me" and the other half is gross sobbing over babies.
Yeah, but it's not like Anders woke up one morning during act 3 and thought "you know what would be a really cool cause to take? mage rights. i think i'm going to start my activism by blowing up the chantry!". Blowing up the Chantry was a last resort after seven years of working tirelessly to change things in a peaceful way - pages of his manifesto are scattered everywhere. it's all he ever talks about. and you bet that his work in the Darktown clinic was partly to that effect, too: the refugees were seeing a free mage helping. Magic serving man, and not ruling over them, and in a context that is outside of the Circle - outside the economic and political interests of the Chantry, as well, which is why in my opinion they are so against it (see what happened to the Circle in Rivain. See Rivain, period.) It's implied, and shown, that he's been petitioning (through hawke in the friendship path) togrand cleric elthina for her to address the crimes and abuses commited by Meredith and her croonies, which includes admitted rapist Alrik. Meredith was breaking Chantry law by making Harrowed mages Tranquil and by using Tranquility as punishment for minor offenses, and it was Elthina's job to oversee Meredith's actions, punish her transgressions, and guarantee the safety of the mages, which is part of Meredith's job that she was blatantly ignoring. If her trauma compromised the safety of her chargers, she should have been removed from her position of authority and a replacement had to be chosen, and a full investigation had to be carried on the crimes she and her accomplices commited on the Tranquils and on the mages themselves. By choosing neutrality, Elthina effectively supports Meredith's actions and sending a clear message, to Anders, that she couldn't care less that people were dying as long as the Chantry remained in power. Because that's what it was, really - pleasing Meredith and allowing her to take over the city made Elthina herself more powerful. He's been denied a pacific solution for years - and yes, fighting against Justice's very nature in the process! they have been merged, and everything we know about spirits is that they are single-minded in their chosen quality and have little understanding of time and life in general in the material world.Blowing up the Chantry is an act of desperation, for which he is fully prepared to take punishment, but is an act of desperation none the less. and that Meredith would still Annull the circle - because that's what Meredith was going to the chantry for, to ask Elthina permission to Anull the circle - even after Anders very clearly tried to take the hostility for himself - proves that she never had any intention of doing her job, her only intention was vengeance as well. She was punishing innocent mages for crimes they didn't and statistically would never commit. That ain't justice either, that's being shitty and abusing power, and the Chantry - represented there by Elthina - was 110% okay with that because abusing power is what the chantry does best. I never buy their discourse of compassion and kindness, because this is the Templar order and the Chantry that denied the Fereldan refugees entrance to the city, and the ones that were demanding donations from prostitutes in lowtown while doing absolutely shit all for the poor. I mean - if the Chantry were really doing much charitable work, would Anders's clinic really even be necessary? would the refugees be willing a death sentence - remember, Meredith made ''harboring apostates" a hanging offense in Kirkwall - and even direct physical harm, in the case of the group that tries to attack Hawke, just to protect Anders, if he wasn't the only one giving a shit about them? And i don't like sebastian because the only reason he didn't gave Merrill and Anders to the Templars was because Hawke would not like it, and, again, Anders was the only one doing two positive shits for the refugees in the slums. He's more into mantaining chantry power and order than being actually good or charitable, and his holier-than-thou attitude pisses me off. OK I HAVE A REALLY SOFT SPOT FOR HIM AND I SWORE I WOULDN'T GET INTO THIS I'M REALLY SORRY I like the theory that the Qunari are some sort of Tevinter and/or possibly ancient lven experiment of mixing slave labour with dragon blood which went terribly wrong, and the qun is some way to control them.
I am attempting Dragon Age again after a period of getting very stressed out by it because IF I SAY YES TO THIS PERSON THERE WILL BE A HURRICANE IN BRAZIL. It was more tiring than fun so I'm basically getting back into my MCs' heads and damning the consequences. My forever Warden is Nadene, elf rogue who lost Alistair to the throne and is trying to figure out if being an arlessa in Awakenings means they can bone again. I forgot Purple Hawke's name, but she fell down the Anders feelspiral until it was too late and she p much couldn't do anything BUT back Anders up after he did the thing. I choose to believe Anders is hanging out in a cave somewhere with twenty cats. (She also tolerates Fenris and basically follows him and Anders around with a spray bottle whenever they're forced to interact. She and Isabela Do Not Get Along, however.) Demeter is my qunari rogue Inquisitor who is very quiet and reserved for fear of everyone thinking she's one of those rampaging, murdering, bandit-ing Tal-Vashoth, which should mix excellently with her gigantic crush on the Iron Bull. My Screw The Rules, I Want The Shiny Thing quizzy is Keldi, a dwarf warrior who basically wants all this world has to offer and is very miffed about this Moral Compass thing she seems to be developing. (my main question about Inq is where is Sandal)
I'll give DA2 another go and try to approach him neutrally, so you've done that much. I feel outargued and I still think it's stupid that he blew it up, because there are other ways of eliminating people who are clearly being shitty (uh, like, assassination?), but I suppose I've managed to forget over the years I've not been playing how terrible the Circle in Kirkwall was. It's a bit stupid though, like, "they are all the terriblest" therefore no sane person would support the templars, right? And that makes the whole conflict quite weak from the start if one side is unambiguously terrible. I was also quite displeased with the whole "both leaders turn into awful boss monsters trololo" sequence at the end. Like wtf was that. Also I mean, he pretty much gets forced on you in the game, so I am not too sure about the whole "why protect him if not friends" business. I do like that in inquisition you have the option to refuse pretty much all the companions besides the three original ones, even if it's a stupid thing to do and one I won't do ever because Inquisition companions are love. But there's not much of an option to be like "uh no" in DA2 and that is also probably something I don't like. But I mean, I will try to play through again, though I am not sure I will be capable of agreeing with him, because lying liar. The "go hunt stuff with me" thing was a flat-out lie, after all. I remember being nice to him in the first playthrough but I was so pissed after that lying thing that I was done, I remember. But I guess a lot that pisses me off about DA2 is also how little power you have. It's what I hate about the Witcher games too. Like, okay, you affect things, but either way they are SHIT and ugh. (or in the witcher they get erased in the next game because trololo) Inquisition is better about it, I actually feel like I can do things without them ending up in Fucked Up Ville, Turn Right For Your Grimdark. I think the "ugh Anders" might have been the tip of the iceberg in relation to DA2 as far as I am concerned atm. XD. Oops. EDIT: I want to make it clear I don't want to attack you or make you feel like you have to defend your point or you're wrong or wev. I don't think you're wrong, I just think there's a lot more to it. I mean, on the Tevinter-Qunari scale of mage freedom, Kirkwall is at the lower end, yes, but. I think the question is: what is the best and actually logical and kind way to both make sure people are protected from what mages can do and that mages are protected from what their powers can do and not abused while they are educated? I don't know too much about Rivain but was there an official academy/group that dealt with this? Because um, it can't really be left to chance. I think DA2 suffers from a strong lack of subtlety and nuance as far as this conflict goes, and I think that's something we should keep in mind when discussing. I've refrained from metaphors and comparisons, because truly, none apply. I've seen people equate lgbt people to mages and um fucking no. My bisexuality is not electricity. So. :P But if one has to take a stance, if keeping mages locked up actually helped to keep the population safe, I would agree with it. But as the games illustrate, it really doesn't. So.
