Dragon Age anyone?

Discussion in 'Fan Town' started by Kittenly, Apr 25, 2015.

  1. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

  2. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    I don't know anything about modding, but I send sympathy and encouragement.
     
  3. Mercury

    Mercury Well-Known Member

    Oof, that is a weird problem. :( DAI is such a pain in the ass to mesh mod. Hopefully someone there will be able to help.
     
  4. KarrinBlue

    KarrinBlue Magical Girl Intern

    You know what I really want? A lyricstuck (even if it's not for homestuck) about DA2 set to Home.

    (settle down, it'll all be clear, don't pay no mind to demons they fill you with fear,
    the trouble it might drag you down, if you get lost you can always be found
    just know you're not alone
    cause i'm gonna make this place your home)

    I just have a lot of feelings about Hawke and their found family.
     
    • Like x 4
  5. hyrax

    hyrax we'll ride 'till the planets collide

    let's talk about Cole!!!

    Cole is... probably my favorite character in the DA series. (i love his dialogue, the way he interacts with the party, the ALLITERATION oh god Cole is so great.) i've now played the game like 4 times and i've chosen both to make Cole more human, and more spirit. and... i can't decide which is better honestly. he seems VERY grateful when you let him be more of a spirit, happy to be able to help more, but he also makes himself forget his past, his pain. more-human Cole can learn, and he even seems to be excited about learning new things. plus, in Trespasser, human-Cole gets in a relationship with Maryden, which is just. too adorable.

    i've seen a post on tumblr claiming that Cole is autistic-coded and choosing to make him "more human" is ableist. i think this is bullshit, personally. i don't think Cole is deliberately coded as autistic-- the question of whether or not spirits are people has been increasingly important in the DA series, and Cole is part of that discussion. but then again, i do agree with letting a weirdo be weird and not forcing a person to change to make other people more comfortable.

    what do you think? what did you choose and why?
     
    • Like x 2
  6. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    as an autistic person, seeing people say that Cole is autistic coded really pisses me off. i really don't think that's true, and while he doesn't always get boundaries and has a strange experience of the world, it just seems to me like shoving autistics into this "un-human" category. especially since there are characters that i read as VERY autistic (like Merrill, bb).

    i chose to make him more human in my canon playthrough because i got the impression that's what he wanted. i felt that he'd been very slowly moving on this journey of becoming more human throughout his story (including Asunder) and that you were helping him continue the journey he started. though i find it interesting, in contrast to @hyrax, his relationship with Maryden made me SUPER uncomfortable. it was possibly because i had read a lot of meta on whether or not Cole could actually give meaningful consent. i suppose his compulsion to help others might have lessened in the two years, but we never saw that. and so this was still the Cole who would feel an outward compulsion in a relationship which would make any romantic feelings suspect.
     
    • Like x 2
  7. blue

    blue hightown funk you up

    I picked the "more human" option because .. I trust Varric implicitly, and my Inquisitor didn't like Solas very much ._.'

    But more seriously also because I love "becoming human" plots. I love "I was supposed to be above this but now I'm suddenly having all these FEELINGS and PHYSICAL SENSATIONS, how do I deal??" I haven't played the spirit one yet, but I did listen to almost All The Banter, and there is a really interesting difference in one banter Cole has with Blackwall, depending on whether Cole's a human or a spirit and the outcome of Blackwall's personal quest (which I also missed, because my inquisitor couldn't help but draw uncomfortable parallels between him and herself, and therefore hated being around him, and therefore just left him in jail bc it's what he asked for):

    vs


    Edit: the first set is if Cole becomes "more human," the second is if he becomes "more spirit"

    edit again: oh right, I was going somewhere with this. I like the first set of banters better, although I can't really explain why.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2016
    • Like x 2
  8. hyrax

    hyrax we'll ride 'till the planets collide

    @Kittenly hmm, interesting! i hadn't thought about his ability to give consent. there's a lot of shades of gray in him being compelled to help people-- he really really likes helping people, so what's wrong with letting him do that even if it's sexual BUT ALSO where is the line between "really likes" and "has no choice". i haven't read the meta but i can see it being a really rich topic. fwiw i headcanon Cole and Maryden's relationship as asexual. also, yeah, "awkward and weird" ≠ "autistic" and conflating the two, ESPECIALLY characters whose weirdness is explained by literally being non-human, is pretty shady. if anyone in this crew is autistic it's Josephine.

    @blue ooohhhHHHHHHHH i somehow haven't heard those banters! (i haven't used Blackwall much since my first playthrough, where i romanced him.) INTERESTING. i think the first one is probably the healthier attitude, and i'll admit watching Cole learn is just. fucking heartwarming. i also really love "learning how to Have Feelings" stories, and i honestly thought Varric had the better argument. Cole is something new and different, normal spirit rules don't apply, so it makes a lot of sense that he should have to grow as a mortal being in order to exist more successfully in our world.

    i'll admit i chose to make him more human 3 out of 4 times, and it was only after making him more spirit and seeing how enthused he was to get to help so much more effectively that i started questioning the whole thing. (gosh what a great storyline, if it can make me think so damn hard and still not come to a conclusion either way! <3)
     
    • Like x 1
  9. KingStarscream

    KingStarscream watch_dogs walking advertisement

    I think I like the first set of banters more also because Cole makes it explicitly not about Blackwall (which is a problem I have with him I'll admit-- everything he does is centered around His Guilt and actually has very little to do with how he's affecting people in real time.) The second is caught up in guilt and everyone else's feelings, without much focus on how Cole feels about it (and with the weird thing that he feels compelled to do, removing himself and his affect on people from their memories.)

    I thought it was cute, human!Cole getting together with Maryden, but the more I think about it the less I like it? As a one off, it's sweet. With some of the implications surrounding it, Cole's ability to consent, and whether being human makes romantic relationships a necessity or a privilege (so, can spirits not connect romantically, and does that, in turn, make romance one of the things that 'makes us human' as it were) it makes me uncomfortable?

    But I might also be over-analyzing. It happens!
     
    • Like x 4
  10. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    Thisssss. this is the number one reason why i can't stand blackwall. everything is about him and his guilt and it feels weirdly masterbatory the way he goes on and on about it. it made my quizzies (and me) really uncomfortable. so i agree that i really like the first banter (the second is interesting too, but i just really love the first). i feel like with making cole more spirit-like, it's removing his character development since Asunder. and i love that it's an option. i love how the option to make him happier may not be the best option for him as a person. and yeah, with the information we have now, we don't know if one option is better.

    that's a really interesting point... given some banter with Solas and some interesting evidence that spirits are actually ancient elves who were caught on the other side of the veil, i would say that spirits can have romantic feelings, it's just different and more complicated than with the mortal races. and you have the question of spirits of compassion who are compelled to provide what people want. like Cole murdered trapped mages (in Asunder) and couldn't see what was wrong with that until Rhys made extreme effort to show him why. i see a similar situation playing out with people desperate for sex or love or affection. Cole can't help but feel a compulsion to give them what they want, and it strikes me as problematic in the way love potions are problematic. the desire is there, though it's not genuine and sincere and may occur despite or even in conflict to Cole's free will.

    Hmm. i'll admit she never pinged me this way. Sera seems the most likely to be an autie in my opinion, though still none are as perfectly autistic as Merrill.
     
    • Like x 1
  11. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

    I do think spirits are incapable of romance, but I don't think it's implicitly what makes us human - it's one of the possibilities of being human, which is denied to spirits because of their single-minded nature. I interpreted Coles romance with her as Cole wanting to experience things he couldn't as a spirit as part of understanding the world, not something.... Mandatory to being human? Anyway, I think maryden is hilarious and they could be cute together.
     
    • Like x 1
  12. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

    Both Josie and Sera ping me as brainweirds, and you can take my Cullen has ocd and anxiety on top of everything else headcanon from my cold dead hands
     
    • Like x 1
  13. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    Oooh, i hadn't had Cullen with ocd in my brain, but it could work. i usually have him with really really severe ptsd. he's definitely compulsive, but i guess i've never seen anything to suggest that he has pervasive obsessive thoughts. *shrugs* this isn't me saying your headcanons are wrong though! it's an interesting thought :)
     
    • Like x 1
  14. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

    Its ok! I kinda got it from my own writing of him pre-Broken Circle, because I project like crazy and it would be Fun to make him a compound mess when you count the obvious PTSD post origins

    Edit: I'm suffering with The Plague rn and really feverish so I'm not up to task to explain my ocd head canon but I can do that later when i stop wishing I were dead
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2016
    • Like x 1
  15. applechime

    applechime "well, you know, a very — a very crunchy person."

    hey hey hey who wants to be sad about The Family Hawke with me??? i am constantly sad about The Family Hawke!!!

    (i made the mistake of listening to "fourth of july" and "to build a home" back to back and now i am so sad. i am so sad)
     
    • Like x 2
  16. Everett

    Everett local rats so small, so tiny

    found on tumblr:

    Ganders is currently sittin' on her eggs being a gooseloaf, apparently the Arishonk is in the parking lot or something? I think one of the people in the chat is a bioware employee and is occasionally giving updates
     
    • Like x 6
  17. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    Re: Geese

    I have seen that live stream and it amuses me so much. There were proposed names for the chicks, my favorite of which was Shepbird.
     
    • Like x 3
  18. Kittenly

    Kittenly Just Squish That Cat!

    I'm having more thoughts on Post-Trespasser shenanigans for Ren and Cullen. Mostly focusing on Cullen. I think he was the only one who was genuinely surprised that the Inquisition disbanded. Ren, Sander (Trevelyan) and really the rest of the Inquisition at least knew that it was a possibility and that change of some sort was inevitable. But Cullen is so dismissive of the whole Exalted Council. He's a total ass to Josie and doesn't understand why we can't just strong arm our way to keep the Inq as it is.

    So he's stunned and completely wrong footed when Ren and Sander come it, both missing a fucking arm each, and say fuck off, the Inq is disbanded. He, Ren, and Sander go back to Ferelden and stay with Mia and Cullen's family for a while. Sander is helping Ren deal with Solas' bombshell and her worldview being destroyed. Cullen tries to help but there's not a lot he can do because he's a chantry boy. For the first time, Ren and Cullen have a fight, but they resolve it over a week or so.

    Cullen's basically thinking that they're going to retire together, maybe have a few kids. When he informs Ren of this, she's like, the fuck? Children were never in the plan. Plus she's got bigger things to worry about. Mostly Solas. After a while, Sander fucks off to Tevinter to annoy his pretty boyfriend, and Ren soon leaves to do some work with the Dalish.

    I think Cullen tries to do the retirement thing for awhile but he just can't. So I think he goes looking for something to do with himself. His first choice is to go join the Ferelden military.

    In this dualverse, Kas and I decided that Teagan wasn't the Ferelden representative. Rather it was Sierra Cousland, Queen of Ferelden who was pushing for the Inq to disband (I could have a whole post on how this is deliciously both understandable and painfully hypocritical of her :33) So as Ferelden's military leader, she is skeptical and wary of having Cullen join. We haven't decided if he's turned away. If he is, he goes to Viv's new Circle and acts as a Templar there.

    I'm kinda leaning towards him being a part of the Ferelden military, because I think the shadow war between Solas and the other elves (Ren and the Dalish on one end, and Sander and Sera are working with city elves) is starting to really be felt by the human powers. So Cullen is basically sent out to try and settle a situation with a particularly powerful Keeper who is causing problems.

    And of course that's Ren. Dramaz ensue. I'm not sure if I would actually write this, because Cullen/Inq is unbearably saturated and I'm a sad writer who needs validation. But it's fun to talk about!

    Edit: I hit post too quickly >.>
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2016
    • Like x 1
  19. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

    I've decided to finally play a bit as Oindys to take pictures for my oc extravaganza and.... dude looks like he took a potion to try to put his name in the goblet of fire.
    [​IMG]

    he is technically around Cullen's age/a bit younger, 28-29, and i'm kind of dreading putting them side by side.
     
    • Like x 2
  20. Mercury

    Mercury Well-Known Member

    He almost looks younger than Embriel, who looks too young to begin with. XD
     
    • Like x 1
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