#ANYWAY I HATE AVELINE

[galpalaven]

thinkin about how fucking immediately feral tabris would have been had she been the one in Kirkwall when it's revealed that the two elves hiding from Aveline were only killers because she'd done nothing about the assault of their sister

surana is feral too but not on the same level that tabris would have been fjkdlsfj it would have been a beat of staring at her before she'd have had a blade between aveline's ribs fjkdsl

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I said I wasn't going to get started on the topic of Aveline ruining Carver's chances with the guard but I lied okay, it's Carver Hawke defense hours.

Here's the thing; it doesn't matter if you believe Carver was or wasn't fit for the guard. That's a different debate that I'll get to. What matters is Aveline's in no position to tell the guard not to accept his application. Why does she think that's her right to judge whether or not he's fit?

Carver should've had the chance to prove himself one way or another. If it turns out he's not a good fit, then let him fail. Let him learn from it.

"Oh but failure could mean lost lives-"

Aveline doesn't get to talk shit about failure and the people. Plenty have died on her watch yet she still believes she's a good guard and Guard-Captain.

"maybe Aveline's protecting him, Carver could die while on patrol-"

Carver could die working in the Bone Pit, or serving as a templar, or when he's running around with Hawke. Carver could trip and fall down a set of stairs and die. In fact, he can die in the Deep Roads, somewhere he wouldn't have to go if the Hawke's weren't desperate.

Either Carver fails as a guard, or more likely, he succeeds and proves himself worthy of it.

But let's be real, Carver probably kept getting rejected due to being a Fereldan with a past of smuggling/mercenary work and Aveline only reaffirmed the decision, either because they asked her what she thought or she stuck her nose in unprompted.

But what irritates me is that she admits to telling them not to accept his application, and then has the balls to call Carver too proud to take up a trade or find another line of work.

Carver tells her, "And who would take on a Fereldan apprentice? Maybe in another year I could work my way up to pissboy." He has a good point here. Aside from the guard, the only other place Carver could work and use his skillset is with the Templars. Or go back to mercenary/smuggling work.

And Aveline doesn't even have a real answer for him. No suggestions, no encouragement, nothing. Just "Fine, let's crawl down some holes. Good bloody luck for your sake."

Also, if you do the Mark of the Assassin DLC in Act 1-

Aveline: You should see if any of the noblemen are looking for new men-at-arms. Carver: Are you trying to get rid of me? Aveline: It's a role with some autonomy. A good fit with your training and... tendencies. Carver: After serving King Cailan? You want me to suffer some poncy git who needs two servants to wipe his own ass? I'll find my own way, thanks. Aveline: I wish you would.

You wish he would?? Aveline, he was trying to find his way into the guard, a position he'd make a good fit for, and you helped deny him of it because YOU didn't think he would be good enough, I just-

If I haven't made it clear yet, I firmly believe that Carver would've made a great guard. He wants to help people, to be a protector. He's loyal, and despite what Aveline claims, he can follow orders and take his duty seriously. We see him do incredibly well with the Grey Wardens, after all. If he were a guard, he wouldn't have to go down into the Deep Roads with Hawke, and I think he would've been okay with that! He's so hurt and bitter when you leave him behind because that effectively tells him, "I don't need you." Carver's spent the whole first act telling you he wants to go on the expedition aka that he wants to be needed.

But if he were a guard, he would be needed elsewhere. He'd be in training as a recruit. He'd look after Leandra while you go. He wouldn't be backed into a corner with no income and only the templars left as his chance at forging his own path and providing for his family.

He doesn't get that opportunity, though.

By the way, if he becomes a warden, you can get this banter:

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...

This banter makes me want to scream.

Aveline's just... she's so insistent that she's right. She's someone who will double down rather than entertain the idea that she's wrong and it's not just with Carver and the guard, it's with everything. The "my beef with Aveline" list gets longer and longer every time I replay da2, I swear.

Say what you will about Carver, whether you think he would've been a good fit or if Aveline's right and it wasn't for him, he was denied a chance and it cost him so much in the end. He either dies, or he joins the templars where he deals with Chantry's bullshit trying to brainwash him with "mages aren't people" and "magic is a cancer in this world", or he's infected with the blight and becomes a Grey Warden, forced to serve the rest of his life fighting darkspawn, tormented by voices and nightmares.

I will never not be bitter about this.

[mothbug]

trying to make avie more exaggerated. also she can be a dragon thing now just for fun ft the ugliest cat i’ve ever drawn

[tuxedo-rabbit]

Wild that one of the rumors Charade has heard about Simon is that he's sleeping with Aveline.

Where did the come from? Is that why Thrask kidnapped Aveline? Is this like, a common misunderstanding about them??

Wild.

[kirkwallsquad]

favorite da2 battle lines in no particular order

i'm listening to a compilation by danaduchy on youtube rn so

literally every fenris line bcs everyone else is YELLING and he's just speaking in his regular quiet-ish voice. king what are you saying i can't HEAR YOU

except for when hawke goes down. THEN he's loudly upset.

"hawke's down! time to panic!" (isabela)

"the tame elf is down" (varric - what the fuck omg don't call fenris that)

"your pet elf has fallen" (carver - WHAT THE FUCK OMG DON'T CALL FENRIS THAT)

"that moody mage is down" (aveline)

"ugh, can someone pick up fenris please?" (merrill)

"isabela's on the ground... appropriately" (aveline - HELLO?!?!?!?)

"merrill! oh, blood mages are so dramatic" (isabela)

"aveline has fallen?" (fenris - why is this a question babe)

"they got whatshisname, the mage" (varric - i continue to believe he doesn't know anders' name until act 3)

"the dwarf has dropped a few more feet" (sebastian)

"dear varric, please learn to parry. love, your innards" (varric)

"do you have something for this, because it hurts" (carver)

"even my teeth hurt" (anders)

"i've got so many bruises now they've got names and families" (merrill)

"ugh, i have dirt in my mouth" (sebastian)

"you're going to let me walk around injured?" (carver)

"being close to death is very bad for my morale" (isabela)

sebastian describes his wounds as "oozing" or "seeping" more than once

"i know dalish are meant to be close to the earth, but we don't mean literally" (merrill)

"i'm alright, who needs kidneys anyway" (isabela)

"hawke. varric. i think this is bad." (merrill)

"stop being you and fix me up" (carver - BABY. BABY BROTHER.)

"that really gets the blood flowing" but also "i will fight and pray for forgiveness later" but also "this is much more exciting than the chantry!" (sebastian - what is wrong with you <3)

"my face is not a shield!" (hawke)

"and they say drinking doesn't solve anything" (isabela)

"haawke i can't mooove" (sebastian)

"i'm too far away, what do you want me to do? shout at them?" (isabela)

"i'd have to fly to reach! of course, i've always wanted to learn to fly" (merrill - she's literally the funniest person ever)

"alas, no" (fenris)

"my faith is my armor! my cause is my shield!" (sebastian)

"if we kill them, we get their stuff!" (isabela)

"andraste's knees, it's like herding cats!" (isabela)

"AFRAID YET?!" (anders)

"RUN! WHILE YOU CAN!" (anders - he's so loud i love him)

"another one for me! how many have you gotten, hawke?" (varric)

"ah. a shame that you're going to die, no?" (fenris)

"you. me. and an audience. that's what this is all about!" (carver)

"may the creators have mercy on you! i certainly won't." (merrill)

"destructive forces of nature, coming up!" (anders)

"suck on a fireball!" (anders)

"NEVER TAUNT A MAGE!!!" (anders)

"a thrust, now a parry" (fenris)

"i'm gonna taunt you in elvish now! durgen'len! aravel! vallaslin!" (merrill)

"hello, i'm merrill, and i'll be your distraction." (merrill)

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHY MAGES ARE FEARED!!!" (anders)

"maker please forgive your children" followed immediately by "DID YOU SEE THAT SHOT" (sebastian)

"WANT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER THESE ROBES?!?!?!" (anders)

"I'M RIGHT HERE! HIT ME!" (isabela)

"maker, the idiocy" (bethany)

"MAKER BLESS YOUR CHILDREN IN THEIR HOUR OF NEEEED" (sebastian)

"my weapon does nothing??" (fenris - he sounds so puzzled help)

"this is SO not working" (anders)

"if the pointy sticks don't work, try the other pointy sticks" (isabela)

"ah, dear. why doesn't anyone ever want to be nice to us?" (merrill)

"is there an end to the people who hate you?" (aveline)

"looks like we've got a few more puppies to kick" (isabela - HELLO?!?)

"take a step, kill, repeat repeat repeat" (carver)

"the hate you inspire is unfortunate" (fenris)

"another twenty steps, another batch of deaths" (anders)

"nobody seems to like you. do you get used to that?" (merrill - ouch. brutal hskfjhgksdjfhg)

"i can't take credit for all of this. hawke helped a little bit" (isabela)

[housecantori]

To clarify: Which character here most deserves the hate they get from fans?

I gave 3 choices of the most hated characters from each game. (I know Cullen is from all of them but in Inquisition he's not nearly the side character he was in the first two games, so he counts for this poll.)

PLEASE don't start fights in my notifs I beg you, have a heart. It's all made up anyway.

[bunabi]

i agree not being able to roleplay a total asshole kinda sucks... not because i want to play that. i never do actually. but it feels good when to be good is a choice. when you don't have to be nice to everyone and help everyone, but you do all that anyway. even when evil routes don't work all that well it's nice to have them for the illusion of this choice alone imo

Real

It's also nice to have the option for some extra character specificity. You want a Hawke who doesn't like kids: steal from that child in the docks. You want a Hawke who's anti-authority: beef with Aveline. You want a Hawke who hates slavers with a passion: here's a knife. Same with the Warden.

There are players who choose evil options on a case-by-case basis, just like there are players who choose the 'best' possible outcome for every quest or always click the sarcastic response. It's that you could have these different approaches that made the games unique. <3

Sad to see it gone from DAV, but still interested in the game overall. Even if it's not a choice-driven RPG in the same spirit of my favorite entries I'm still curious about it. And I miss running around Thedas.

[extravagantliar]

The story does not start on the mountain; it doesn’t even start with a hero.

It begins with Varric Tethras in a keep running his mouth smartly, until that mouth nearly gets him a knife in the leg. It earns the interrogator a smile when he ends up with the knife in his hands, which turns out to be a bad idea. A fight ensues, and the knife ends up returned to its owner - The Seeker ends up knocking him flat on his ass and bruising his jaw more than his ego. She's a mean right hook, and he barely gets out of that interrogation with both hands on his wrists and his head on his shoulders.

“Dwarf,” she reminds coldly. “The docks - tomorrow, sunrise, sharp.” 

Orders. 

He hates that, but there's a warrant signed by the Divine - holy troops on the doorstep of his city, so while he hates orders, while he loathes to do most things - he will do this, for his city, his people, and Hawke. He scoffs, pulling at the sleeves on his coat and turning away from the Seeker, “Yeah, yeah, I know, or you'll kill me!” 

Famous words, but not his last. 

He disappears down the stairwell and into the damp air of Lowtown, knowing morning will come too quick, so rather than letting sleep elude him, he finds the last haven in this damned city. He puts his silver to good use, drinks and merriment around the night, even if it feels like his funeral, a dirge for something he can't even unpack, as he's never stopped. 

There was a glimmer of a moment where Hawke looked at him, and he thought maybe it was over; perhaps this was their end and their great city; the people were their great spot and their fair city; she was the one trying to damn them out. It had worked with Hawke, the Chantry driving them far and wide from here ( he wasn't even sure where his champion had landed, if they had ).

Kirkwall always seemed to hedge her bets on losing dogs. 

Varric doesn't sleep; he sits at the bar all night until the first light breaks through the broken window ( something Fenris did, he thinks ).  Corff serves him one last shot, and he downs it unflinchingly. There are well wishes, a few patrons know - Aveline too, actually waiting for him as he stumbles out of the bar. 

“Are you drunk?”

“Wouldn't you be?” Varric counters sharply, putting one foot in front of the other, trudging himself ever closer to the water and his metaphorical grave. “Walking into fire?” 

“Not for Hawke, it’s fact Varric.” Aveline states. “You're the best suited for it.”  

It is fine that she sees it that way; he's the only one who sees Hawke this way, Hawke this, Hawke that, after all. “Sure, but,” Varric pauses, swallowing as the docks come into sight, and his palms itch. “This is like if they wanted Donnic, Aveline.” Those words are the most honest he's been in twenty years, maybe longer. He hiccups; he doesn't care; he gambles it anyway. 

“Listen, Red—” Varric starts, but he’s met with the docks, and his words end up lost among the throngs of troops and Templars, current and former. He scowls at the sight of Cullen, the last thing he needs. His words of asking her to look after everyone have all since vanished; he knows she will. She's just as much one of Kirkwall’s chosen as he is, something not a champion, but something nearly like it. “In my apartment, you'll find my seal and a money pouch; get that to Bran. It may tie him over until someone is elected.” Aveline scowls at it; his words sound too final, even to him. Aveline’s gloved hand finds the back of his jacket and pushes him forward onto the docks. 

“I will see you in a month, in one piece, Maker willing.” He does not reply, just a hand up in the air, half waving to Aveline and half waving to his jailer ahead. 

He stumbles onto the docks, showing the crumpled writ of conscription to the Conclave to a soldier; the writ is humourous on its own; it is to speak in front of the Divine of all things. Which was a horrible idea, as who would want a Chantry-banned writer telling the tale of a floundering people and a city that would never love them back? 

So he trudges through and finds the ship he's supposed to be boarding. The thing is barely big enough for all of them and the cargo they dare to want to carry. “Don’t worry, I'm happy to stay behind, lighten the load.” He's a stone anyway, and his body would happily sink to the bottom of the Waking Sea if the Good Seeker had the idea to unload unneeded cargo. The Seeker does not find his joke funny, and he is ordered onto the cutter and to stay with the prisoners - as she reminds him, again, that he is one. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Varric states, one foot on the plank to board. “You could have summoned any charge other than a religious one, by the way, and it would have held up - this won’t.” It comes off as more smarmy than it should, but he's angry, and he will be sharing a hold with Cullen and the rest of the men who had swords at his throat not too long ago. Now, Cullen is more trusted than one of the few that stopped it all from falling apart, and he ignores the man outright - at least twice. 

Once before they leave port and the other over the Waking Sea, Cassandra threatens to toss him overboard for it. He nearly welcomes it, which nearly spooks him, but he's not doing this for himself; he's acting for someone else to keep everyone else safe this time. But it is the churning sea, and it makes him sick until they land in Jader. The slip next to them is a ship from Ostwick, and he waves at a woman with dark hair and dark eyes whose gaze lingers on him a little too long. 

But before he could place her face, she lost to the crowd and headed towards Haven. He's offered a mount much too tall for him. Cassandra hands the reins down, and he scowls, “Seeker, I’ll walk.” With a quick scan, he sees no carts other than a covered wagon filled to the brim and an ammunition cart. 

Great, arrows and swords to a holy mission, he thinks.

“Suit yourself, Dwarf. There are no carriages.” It is snide, and he doesn't respond. Instead, Bianca is loaded onto his back, and he pulls his hood up and over his head as they move through the snow. 

He decides somewhere between Jader and Haven that he hates the snow. 

He takes it back in Haven, as the Seeker’s nagging is worse than any snow or uneasy sea.

Haven is a pit stop; he won't be the first to testify, as Cassandra has informed him not once but thrice that he will join them on the third day; the first day was for the clergy, the second day would be Templar and Seeker testimony, then Varric, then the Mages - last. Like everything else, he and the mages at the very end. 

So he doesn't move that first day, not until he's outside Haven, because there was movement, and all who were able to fight were asked to be on guard. Rather, Varric finds himself on a hill with an apostate named Solas, reminding him of someone from not too long ago. 

It's a cruel thought, so he pushes it aside, hand extended, “Varric Tethras.” Solas smiles, taking his hand in a half-shake, something that half reminds him of something Bartrand used to do half a lifetime ago. Yet, he's never seen Bartrand shoot a demon out of the air; he's never seen a mage throw up a barrier like that, one that follows one into the thick of it ( one that even he can feel ). 

“Charmed, but I am familiar with you and your work,” Solas states, following the path down towards the valley. 

He shrugs. “Not surprising, I am wanted for a few pieces.” 

“A rebellion through words.” Solas’s comment causes Varric to frown, but there is nothing factually wrong with it overall.

Varric weighs it and finally replies, tersely, “Sure, Chuckles.”

So he follows the elf, down on the path and up a narrowing hillside road, until - they see it first. 

He doesn't remember what it looks like as he sees another explosion, a different gilded building blown through with magic, and he moves - as he's in Kirkwall. The snow has melted away into cobblestone, and he is in Hightown, and the bell from the Chantry hits the ground; it cracks and crashes in a way that lurches Varric forward. Yet he cannot move; there is someone holding him in place, keeping him firm as the wave of sound finds them, and he's ripped from that stonewashed city, and the snow nearly crumbles under his feet; he lurches back and is cast to the left by Solas - a barrier is thrown and Varric has both hands on Bianca again, shooting a wraith out of the sky and running his knife through a demon that got around them nearly sank claws into his compatriot's back.

A first of many debts repaid. 

They make it up that hill, and that crack in the sky screams, a song of red lyrium summoning up voices he long thought dead. There is a moment in that rubble, and a woman is pulled from the ruins of what is left - pulled from the thrumb of red lyrium, and he recognises her as the woman in Jader. 

“Excuse me, Varric - I should…” 

“Yeah,” Varric agrees and watches the man head towards the woman, she's barely standing, and he can barely stand the song in his head. He shoots a cache of lyrium and another before his name is called by Solas again, requesting the coverage heading down back into Haven. The woman is carried between two healers, and he watches their six.

The first companions meet the hero, and it all starts on a downward slope.

[honeycollectswhump]

All That Matters

[masterlist]

prepare for very silly and self-indulgent 1800 words of comf... with some slight alluding to ava's past :D this is a callback (call-forward??) to Warmth! they cuddle so often that he instinctually remembers it post-recapture

CW: drunkeness, past pet whump (implied)

“Attie, wake up. We're home.” Aveline calls over her shoulder, while Atlas just grunts, his face sleepily mushed against the window of her car. 

After a moment, he stirs, leaning away from the window and looking around to search for her. It takes a while for his eyes –half-lidded and hazy– to focus on her, but he visibly relaxes as soon as they do.

It’s not far from her car to the front door, but the distance barely matters with Atlas’ state. Plus afterwards, they’ll still have to conquer the stairs, and Aveline can only hope that everything goes smoothly, that there is no accident, hope that she is prepared for an accident, and–

She stops that mental list from spiralling further. She doesn’t need to worry about accidents, everything is fine. 

Instead, she heaves Atlas out of the car, putting one arm around his waist to stabilise him and begging to God that he will at least try to help with the walking. In comparison to her Attie, she has always been small, and that has rarely ever helped her.

His head immediately lolls to the side, resting on top of hers, and Atlas sighs deeply, almost sinking into her embrace. It’s awkward, the way his hefty frame bends and leans on her like a puppet with its strings cut.

Carefully, Aveline directs and announces every step for him to follow as he clumsily tries to get his legs to cooperate. Despite what she considers his best efforts, Atlas nearly pulls them both down multiple times. Her never-aching bruises serve as enough proof for the frequency, and Aveline would really prefer to avoid more of those.

No amount of covering is able to hide freshly forming bruises from Atlas, who has spent enough of his lifetime receiving them. And without fail, seeing them would drive him near tears and to endless apologies for pain he wouldn’t be able to cause even if he wanted to.

Finally, they reach the front door of her cosy home, which Atlas has also made his. Aveline is already out of breath and rests Atlas against the wall to get her keys out. Immediately, he slides down in a fit of nonsensical giggles.

It’s warm inside, thankfully. Aveline can still feel the chill on her skin from Atlas’ freezing touch. He had been lying in the grass for God knows how long, drunk and left alone by his so-called friends. Or maybe it was his own foolish decision to go home alone, even though he knows how dangerous that is and she just cannot understand why he’d do it anyways!

She takes Atlas’ hands to pull him up again and he looks at her, confusion creasing his brows again, even though he can barely keep his eyes open.

“Wha…what ‘m I”, Atlas pauses as if willing his tongue to form the words, “doin’ ‘ere?” 

She hates this, she really does. But it doesn’t matter.

“You’re home.” Aveline sighs. “It’s like four in the fucking morning and you called me.” She stops herself. “No, forget that. It’s good that you called me. The rest doesn’t matter, let’s just get inside, please.”

“M’kay”, he slurs, his eyes closed. 

For a second Aveline thinks he will fall asleep right then and there, but then he gets on his hands and knees and starts crawling inside. Still, he is swaying heavily and crashes into the doorway at one point, when she offers him help. 

“I can… I can do… this! Bes–besides, I’m used…”, Atlas swallows thickly, “I… know this.”

Something about that makes her sleep-addled brain feel… off?

Aveline closes the door behind him, taking in a deep breath. Now that she is surrounded by the welcoming warmth of her home again, her exhaustion comes back crashing in, and she is barely able to stifle a yawn. 

Atlas is already losing the battle against his shoelaces, with clumsy fingers grabbing at nothing. His head keeps falling forward like it weighs too much for him to hold up and he is blinking repeatedly, as if that would clear his blurry vision. Only with her help is he able to free himself. 

“You think you can make it upstairs, big guy?” Aveline asks, laying one hand against his cheek to stabilize him. Almost instinctively, Atlas leans into her touch. His body follows, slumping heavily against her.

Sometimes, it confuses her how such an imposing guy can make himself so small, when he curls up against her, seeming to chase any warmth possible.

The thought makes her heart ache and she wraps Atlas in a one-armed hug, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. 

Her Attie. 

He lets his head drop against her chest, as she plays with his hair. It’s the closest thing to “petting” him that she will do and it calms him quickly. It usually does. 

Against her touch, Atlas’ breathing starts to even out, his eyes slipping shut. It’s as good as any sign that it’s now or never to get him into bed. Aveline can just barely manage the task of moving him when he can stumble along. It becomes all but impossible when he is fully asleep.

With a smile on her lips, she nudges him a couple of times, until he blearily opens his hazy eyes again, making a confused noise that disappears into a hiccup.

“Come on, Attie. Up you go.” With that, she hoists him up again, slinging one of his arms over her shoulder, holding it tight with her own. Atlas overcorrects, throwing their fickle balance off-centre sending them stumbling into the nearest wall and Aveline prays to God that it won’t leave any unfortunate bruises this time.

Atlas braces himself against the wall and it takes her a moment to find a more secure position with her other arm wrapped around his waist before she continues their journey up the stairs. Sometimes, Aveline wonders if Atlas even guesses at the worry this brings her every time. 

What if they fall down? What if she slips and sends him tumbling down the stairs? What if anything happens and he breaks something or ends up with a concussion or hypothermia if she can’t get to him fast enough? What the hell is she supposed to do when she can’t even bring him to a fucking hospital?! 

Doesn’t matter. Stop.

This Atlas, the one that is not in her thoughts, dying hundreds of frightening deaths she couldn’t prevent, seems completely oblivious, babbling on about what Aveline assumes is a drinking game they played. However, she is pretty sure he is mixing up at least two if not three different games and frankly, he is not explaining them well. 

When they reach the top Aveline is panting with exhaustion. Atlas is already quite hefty and it doesn’t help that he is as good as dead weight in her arms, his legs just barely cooperating. 

She tries to steer him into his room, the old floorboards creaking under their feet, but Atlas resists, shaking his head vehemently.  

“No… no, please… I don’ wanna… no”. 

Oh. Right. 

Even blackout drunk, Atlas is eerily good at begging, the words sounding too desperate to fit the playful lilt of his voice. The reminder makes her stomach drop. 

He stumbles out of her grasp and away from his room as if he can’t stand the sight of it. He barely makes it down the hall, clinging to her doorframe after just a couple of unsteady steps.

“Atlas, what…? What are you doing?”

Atlas, her dear Attie, flinches so hard he tumbles back onto the floor, lowering his head and fixing his gaze on the ground.

“‘M sorry. I wanna sleep… wanna sleep here. ‘M sorry. Please?” 

It breaks her heart, the way he avoids her eyes. Even without seeing it directly, she knows there are tears in his. It feels twisted to hope that he hides them from some sense of embarrassment, but it’s better than the fear that tears are forbidden.

“Please, Ava… I don’ wanna be ‘lone.” Atlas pleads, mistaking her silence for rejection. In an instant, Aveline kneels down in front of him, closing the distance he surely imagines to be greater.

She can try to pretend that she gives in just for Atlas, to calm him down in what she already knows is a too-vulnerable state. But it would only be a sad attempt at covering the truth that Aveline will already spend half of her night checking up on him, to make sure that he is still breathing. In the end, that’s the only thing that matters.

“It’s alright. Of course, you can. I won’t leave you alone, Attie, I promise.” As if the decision is any trouble for her. As if it doesn’t calm the ever-present worry gnawing at the back of her mind.

The effects are instant though. Immediately, his shoulders slump in relief and his features relax. Atlas meets her gaze with tears shining in his eyes and lets himself fall back into her embrace, squeezing her tightly. Aveline can only just catch herself before she topples over from the unexpected weight, but it’s worth it. 

It takes even more energy she hardly has anymore, but Aveline manages to lift Atlas up again, just enough to sit him down on her bed. Promptly, he flops down, somehow worming his way under her blanket despite his incoherent state.

After a moment, she changes back into her pyjamas that she left haphazardly lying on the ground after she got the call to pick Atlas up, and joins him under the warm blanket. Atlas is still in his day clothes but she has decidedly not the energy to do something about that, and much rather deposits the responsibility of cleaning onto her tomorrow-self.

In no time at all, he wraps her in a loose hug, sighing into her hair. Aveline doesn’t mind, even if his breath carries the biting scent of alcohol.

“Missed you tonight,” Atlas mumbles. “Was nice… jus’ not the same.” A sigh escapes him. “You wouldn’t… wouldn’t let it get… this bad. ’M sorry, Ava.” 

Aveline can’t bring herself to say It’s alright. It just isn’t. But he can’t change what he’s already done and she loves him anyways, always.

She pulls herself closer to her Attie, pressing her ear to his chest, right above his heart. The exasperation, the worry, the exhaustion, none of it matters if she is just able to hear his heartbeat, to feel his breath on her hair. He is alive.

Atlas is alive and that is all that matters.

taglist: @octopus-reactivated, @sodacreampuff, @topsheepstudent let me know if you want to be added or removed :)

[kurczeno]

fenris' fans are so strange to me, because I just see them excuse this guy over and over. "no, he doesn't actually hate the mages, he's just critical", "no, he does not actually have anger issues"

like honey, this is da2. The whole fun of this game is that all your companions fucking suck and yet you love them anyway. The reason they are interesting is that they are flawed.

And idk, I didn't see this happening with any other companion in DA2 (maybe aveline, I guess). And no, excusing the chantry boom does not count, bcs it was actually justified (hehe). We still make fun of other Anders' flaws bcs he is pathetic and annoying. Also super inappropriate. And a thousand other things. Also I love him and I love all the other companions (Merrill, Isabela, you're first tho, marry me)

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

So you know this party banter between Aveline and Carver?

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.

If you're on the rivalry path with Aveline, she says:

Aveline: Who says I don't mean him/her too? 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.

I just- Aveline, you- you're so- hhhhnnnngggggg

I always rival Aveline when I play a mage, and if you think Edgar Aristide Hawke, who practically raised Carver and Bethany after Malcolm died and Leandra became a distant mother in her grief, wouldn't stop dead in his tracks at Aveline heavily implying he's a bad influence on his brother and Carver shouldn't hang around him so much since apparently Ed's someone set on ending badly...? Absolutely not.

This is another case of me wishing Hawke had the option to jump in during party banter with different options, because Ed would've chewed Aveline out for that.

Oh, and then there's:

Carver: Would asking you to stop spying on me help in the least? Aveline: No.

Aveline...................stop it.

[jzargo]

"you only hate aveline because you hate WOMEN" / "you only hate aveline bcs you hate butch/gnc women" while i am sure there is some validity to this (cullen, other resident Cop™ does not get nearly the same level of hate and criticism as aveline does, and he was such a fan favorite he was brought back for 2 more games than initially planned) the fact of the matter is that unfortunately aveline is a corrupt cop. and she isn't even intentionally written that way. we can't even call her an interesting villain because she's not supposed to be a villain. she's supposed to be our best friend, she's supposed to be the Moral Backbone of the group, she's supposed to be the Mom Friend, she's supposed to be Always Right. and yet she deliberately bars carver from joining the guard (pushing him to join the Templars instead if he's left behind on the expedition), slut-shames isabela to a ridiculous and uncomfortable degree, doesn't bother investigating her guards when rape and murder allegations are brought against them, and neglects her duties so badly that hawke's mother is murdered in an entirely preventable case.

she just sucks. i'm sorry. i wanted to love her. i did love her on my first few playthroughs before i started to really look at her character, listen to her banters, and look at what she actually does within the story. she's just not written well. i'm sorry. blame lukas kristjanson.

anyways if you want a buff guardswoman who isn't corrupt and is worthy of your love and friendship, please go play Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and meet Seelah.

[sinizade]

Nadia Hawke

Blue Hawke

Mage - Elemental / Primal / Force Mage

24 years (Beginning) // 37 years (Inquisition)

Besties: Merrill / Varric / Madame (Dog) / Anders

Friends: Sebastian / Aveline / Isabela

Nadia is nice, normally she doesn't have people she doesn't like, just friends or besties (Enemies don't count)

Romance: Fenris

Nadia had to learn from a very young age to take care of herself and her family, especially Carver and Bethany, who always seemed to be getting into trouble together. Spending so much time with such responsibility, especially after her father's death, left her with an almost maternal feeling for her brother and sister, although Leandra asked her not to and Carver constantly said that he hated it when his sister act like his mother.

The first few years she spent in Kirkwall were difficult… Losing her home, her sister, seeing her mother so sad and hopeless gave her the strength to keep working hard so that she had everything she needed to be happy again.

Her father, her sister and now her mother… Nadia had to learn to be stronger, no one would ever play with the one she loved, no one would ever hurt the one she loved… She has Fenris now and no one will ever dare try to hurt him again.

Every five seconds I'm changing the appearance of my canon Dragon Age ocs… But anyway, I used the same template the other time

[tragedia]

i see so many people hating on aveline and sebastian online, and i'm here like 🧍‍♂️ ........ anyway.

[vigilskeep]

wip wednesday

tagged by @demandthedoodles !! ty uhh i didnt have much so i dug through my document for a couple of fake act 1 banters i thought were fun

...

ANDERS: What’s the deal with you and Aveline, anyway?

HAWKE: The deal.

ANDERS: You know what I mean. A templar’s widow and an apostate’s brother? Not to mention that she’s the law and you’re… I don’t know. Roguish?

[VARRIC: Roguish. I’ll note that one down.]

[MERRILL: Ooh, that makes you sound exciting.]

[ISABELA: I’ll show you roguish.]

ANDERS: Most of us need the money or want the excitement. I just don’t get what she’s getting out of cracking skulls with us.

HAWKE: I don’t ask her and I don’t ask you.

ANDERS: [laughs] I don’t make it difficult to guess, do I?

…

ANDERS: I suppose it’s not that hard to understand. You and Aveline met during the Blight. Nothing like killing darkspawn together for a bonding activity.

HAWKE: I cut her husband’s throat.

ANDERS: You… can’t be serious. You killed Aveline’s husband?

HAWKE: The taint killed him. I just did the ugly part.

[BETHANY: You could have led with that, you know.]

ANDERS: Ah. The taint can be cruel, though you don’t need me to tell you that. She didn’t do it herself?

HAWKE: We’d lost enough to hesitation. I didn’t give her the chance.

ANDERS: So she’s… grateful?

HAWKE: She hates me a little. Just didn’t bring anything else on the boat.

[mynameisalanwake]

DA2 playthrough 2: Garrett Hawke is a mage

i did finally get the Legacy DLC since i didn't realize how impactful it was on DAI the last time around - i also grabbed the one with Sebastian since i was buying DLCs anyway LOL

Dragon Age 2 major decisions made:

- mage (Bethany dies, Carver in party) Purple!Garrett Hawke - romanced Anders (I KNOW I KNOW) - sided with mages the whole way through - any offer to side with the templars, even in a tiny way, was declined (except returning Keran) - Carver was brought to the Wardens during the expedition - the companion stuff was so irritating this time around i don't even want to talk about it - killed Bartrand (i think i spared him last time) - Merrill's clan was killed (whoopsie) - helped Feynriel get to the Dalish then Tevinter - killed Arishok in duel - sided with Larius during Legacy

so. i did definitely play almost the same way i did last time. i TRIED to be diplomatic Hawk, but the sarcastic/charming options are just so much better and makes the side dialogue so much better. it just feels right whether you're playing as Garrett or Marian. as much as i love this game (it's my favorite in the whole series), it lacks the same replayability that Origins had solely because of how established Hawke is. idk maybe i just have to commit to a different personality next time. i just didn't like the voice acting for the aggressive lines but i also wasn't a fan of the diplomatic options at times and my experimenting FUCKED UP MY COMPANION RELATIONSHIPS

i know i don't have to be friends with all of them, but that's how i like to play, and i found during this playthrough i had a lot of trouble pulling the relationships one way or the other. maybe because i was trying to mix up my party, which worked out to my detriment? it's easy to max out friendship with Varric (at least for me) and whoever i'm romancing, but this time, i found that my relationships with Isabela and Merrill specifically are stagnant as a result. i'm wrapping up Act II now, and not only did Isabela ditch me and take the relic, but when i gave her the relic, it LITERALLY brought us over the "friend" threshold. i can't see her again to do her "Questioning Beliefs" quest at that point!!! so now i have to reload a save WAY back to reconfigure my party because i ran out of side quests to up Isabela's approval so she's leaving regardless - i ended up having to reload my save at the beginning of the Qunari showdown to change my party & max out my respect with the Arishok so Fenris would suggest a duel instead, which i DESTROYED. Merrill and i worked our way up to 100% friendship in the wake of the closure of her personal arc, and i think Aveline and i are just always friends because we want what's best for Kirkwall regardless.

it's been about 24 hours since i finished DA2 (and i just had to do something incredibly tragic in DAI.........) and i've been extremely angsty about romance!Anders - "in ten years, or a hundred years, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no templars to stop them." are you FUCKING kidding me??? my heart hurts and my eyes are tearing up just retyping that. someone like me loves someone like you now, you fool!!! also Anders is so autistic-coded and is very much my brand of autism with his strong sense of justice which made it even harder to watch him push Hawke away :( i know the writer based him on her ex with BPD or something, but i was misdiagnosed with BPD before i was diagnosed with autism, so i think it just makes me hurt for him even more. they'll never make me hate you, Anders <3

the companions i didn't have last time - Sebastian and Carver. Seb's accent is really cute, which i don't mind, but he's such a fucking buzzkill. he ditched me in the final battle because i spared my boyfriend even though we were at 100% friendship - fuck off back to Starkhaven then you loser. the DAI war table quest i got after was pretty funny, though. i thought Fenris was bad, but goddamn. i don't bring him around unless i google the quest beforehand and see it'll give him affinity. i LOOOOOOVE Carver - yeah, Act I he's really annoying, but sending him to the Grey Wardens is super satisfying, especially when you see him at the start of Legacy/the end of Act II. becoming a Warden is SO good for his character development. truthfully, becoming a Warden is good for most people's character development in this series unless you count Anders/Justice. swinging Carver over to "friend" is even better (even though i never got him past halfway). i wasn't expecting him to be the polar opposite of Bethany, which threw me off early on, especially since i'm playing as Garrett instead of Marian. Stroud being the one to save Carver in the Deep Roads definitely adds a whole new level of emotion to your DAI Fade decision if he's your Warden - the handoff of the sibling is so sad!!!!!! additionally, i am actually friends with Fenris this time! i think my problem last time was not that i didn't bring him around, but when i did bring him, it was to the wrong quests. now i see why so many people make jokes about keeping the approval guide open while playing this stupid game!!!! but next playthrough i'll probably try a Fenris rivalry-mance.........

seeing Alistair with Carver at the end of Act II :)))))))) when he gives me the amulet from the Warden :))))))))))))))))) but his dialogue was broken in the last update DA2 got so he only called her an "old friend" instead of the "love of his life" like he did originally >:(((((((((((((((( if i hadn't literally just watched the epilogue card of Awakening, which CONFIRMED we were still together, i would've been absolutely geeking about fucking something up like i was during endgame of DA:O. i mean i was still kicking my feet and giggling (boy got a GLOW UP can't wait for DAI) but incredibly disappointed that he SHOULD'VE called me the love of his life instead. romanced Warden Alistair is probably my favorite throughline for previous games in DA2/DAI with romanced Morrigan in DAI as a close second and romanced Dorian in DATV as third only because my headcanons carried him there.

the Legacy DLC definitely kicked my ass, especially the last fight with Corypheus. i think that boss battle was harder than any of the base game boss fights in the entire series. however, it was totally worth it - it adds a whole new level of connection to DAI that i didn't realize i was missing out on, especially when you bring Varric, Anders, and Carver. I WAS TERRIFIED ABOUT KILLING ANDERS IN THE MIDDLE OF IT but it all worked out fine and he was glad i did it :) i also think doing this DLC made the DAI Fade decision much more impactful, especially with the....circumstances....i've set up for this playthrough. other than the boss fight, it was a really quick DLC to finish up - almost like they learned from how ANNOYING Awakening was!!!!

other than that, my playthrough was generally the same. i read about someone who plays Hawke as pro-mage to start, then pro-templar after Leandra gets killed, but i just couldn't really get behind it as mage Hawke friendly!romancing Anders. i don't think i'll ever be able to be rivals with Anders or execute him for blowing up the Chantry, if i'm being entirely honest, as i feel so deeply connected to him as a human being. even though DA2 is my favorite of the whole series, i will probably play it almost exactly the same way every single time because the other choices just don't feel right to me.