#Kirkwall Crew

[refrainee]

Blue Wraith, Fenris

[thelittlestchocobo]

No one in Kirkwall is having a good time

[crunchbuttsteak]

Hawke: Hey Varric thanks for keeping the whole Kirkwall polycule thing quiet in your book. I know Isabela wouldn’t care but the rest of us don’t really need that level of scrutiny.

Varric: The WHAT?!

[whimscicle]

I saw a tiktok video a while back claiming that the Veilguard companions are the only companions in the Dragon Age series who act like an actual friend group because "they were the only companions who weren't constantly at eachothers throats"

This is a sentiment I see quite a bit in the dragon age fandom, and while I think an argument could be made for it being true to the Origins and Inquisition companions, I fully disagree with it when it comes to the da2 companions.

The only da2 companion that actively antagonizes other companions is Anders. The man who, by the time of da2, is on a constant downward spiral into madness and paranoia. So, let's say we take Anders out of the equation. What are we left with?

Aveline and Isabela don't like eachother in act one, but as the story progresses their rivalry becomes more of a running joke. Yeah, they have vastly different morals and opinions, but at the end of the day they do care about eachother.

Merrill and Fenris don't get along, but that's mostly just Fenris being a jerk to Merrill because of his dislike for blood magic. Merrill is shown multiple times to want to be friends with him.

So that leaves us with one joke rivalry, and one half rivalry. So what about the others?

Aveline and Merrill get along great.

Isabela and Fenris are besties.

Isabela and Merrill are practically sisters.

Aveline actively covers for Fenris's illegal activity.

Varric is friends with literally everyone. (ANDERS INCLUDED)

The da2 companions literally have a designated night where they all go to the Hanged Man and play wicked grace.

Merrill asks Isabela to write her letters when she starts traveling again.

Varric, in Inquisition, is implied to miss the da2 companions incredibly.

Because they cared about eachother.

Because they were friends.

So in conclusion, anyone who says "haha the da2 companions fucking hated eachother and only stayed because of hawke" is a LIAR.

[angelic-salad]

One of the most underrated aspects of the Kirkwall crew dynamics is the fact that Hawke is likely the youngest person in the group canonically

Isabela and Varric are about 30. Anders is in his late 20s or early 30s. Merrill is in her late 20s. Hawke is 24 or 25. The only thing saving Hawke from being the youngest is the fact we don’t know Fenris’ canonical age.

Hawke really went from being the Grown Up in their family to being the youngest in their friend group. Isabela has definitely told Hawke “I’ll explain it when you’re older.” Hawke comments on Fenris being a little slow in battle and he quips back “my knees aren’t what they used to be.” If Hawke gets more kills than Varric, he hits him with “back when I was your age-”

This is canonical untapped comedy gold. Why aren’t we talking about this

[wyllapproves]

I love Donnic as a character.

He seems like the most normal guy in Kirkwall but he’s gotta be just a *little* off his rocker to hang out with all of Aveline’s rag tag, apostate, fugitive, mercenary friends. Bro literally saw Fenris squatting in high town and was like “yeah I’d like to drink and play cards and have guy time with that dude.”

Like he and Aveline are literally perfect. He knows that these people are the closest she has to family in Kirkwall and he’s happy to befriend them too, to accept her world, as crazy as it can be.

[mothdogs]

The way Aveline mutters “Threaten my friends? Not letting that one go, captain” after the guard captain says he ought to jail Hawke along with her makes me ����😭😭 I love how in DA2 the characters are so quick to say the word friend and clearly mean it, too. Carver’s act 1 banter with Varric about meeting for drinks in the Hanged Man later also makes me feel the same

[sky-fire-forever]

I was listening to a YouTube video of Dragon Age: Inquisition party banter and there's a bit with Cole and Varric where Cole describes Isabela cheating at cards while Anders is sulking and feeling angry and I just...

They were friends.

[mylavellan]

No one has more rights to become a villain than Hawke Dragon Age

[starlightmeissa]

alright i have been having thoughts about the da2 cast and they just. the companions in da2 will always have my heart in the way dai and dao can't compare. like these stupid wonderful assholes are all haunted by their pasts and they're all irreverently and sarcastically running from those pasts together. they are somehow stuck to eachother like burrs and they hate eachother and they love eachother and don't understand how to do it in any other way.

i'll bring up your worst traumas in the middle of lowtown and call you a whore to your face but id die for you and kill for you and why didn't you come to the hanged man last night we missed you. cunt.

its just the best found family vibes man. like these assholes have known each other for a decade and still cant say i love you.

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

The hints of Aveline and Sebastian's arc together across the last 10 years has me more invested in their characters than I was in DA2.

Aveline rocking up to Sebastian's doorstep with all of Kirkwall after stonewalling him from annexing Kirkwall is pure comedy. I wish I could've seen his face. He'd let them in because the Kirkwall Crew are nothing if not a contradictory mess who care deeply underneath the seething discord, but this was just satirical.

[cullenssweatyballsakk]

Niggas would literally rather deal with blood mages and probable death than King Von 💀💀💀💀

[marthalmary]

I should be able to be poly in any game I play

[fade-blue]

[tobythewise]

Another DAtober fill! This one mysteries. I took some liberties with this word but when inspiration hit, I ran with it! XD This is post DA2 with the Kirkwall Gang.

Varric smiles as he shuffles the cards, he’s on a hot streak and there’s no end in sight. Sure, there was one game he almost lost to Fenris but one little extra card coming from his sleeve made all the difference and no one but Isabela seemed to notice. She gives him a look but doesn’t say anything. 

He’s glad that despite everything that’s happened, they can still get together like this. They’re allowed to just be friends, just be people, despite the entire world going to shit. The only one missing from the table is Hawke. 

“Speak of the devil,” he murmurs under his breath as Hawke walks into the suite. He’s holding a huge box on his shoulder. “Hawke! Pull up a seat!”

“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Hawke says in response, tossing the box onto the table and tipping it over. An obscene amount of books spills all over the table, completely shutting down their game. 

“Hey! I was going to win this round!” Isabela says with a pout. 

“Dream on, Riviani,” Varric says in response before freezing, finally getting a glance at the books. 

“What are all these, Hawke?” Anders asks, picking up one of the books and flipping through it. 

“By the Maker,” someone says but Varric isn’t paying attention, too busy watching Hawke’s expression. Is he mad? Is he upset? Did Varric totally fuck up?

“Varric,” Hawke says softly, his eyes meeting Varric’s. “Explain what’s going on.”

“You inspired my next novel,” he says slowly. “And as always, it’s embellished so it can’t be tracked back to you.”

“Right,” Hawke says, grabbing the book from Anders’ hands. “This one says Anders and I were romantically involved but then when the Chanty blew sky high, I fucking murdered him! What the hell?”

“Wow, that sucks,” Anders says, grabbing the book back. 

“That one,” he says, pointing at a different one, “says I’m a woman and that I’m straight with Sebastian!” Then he picks up another. “This one says I’m a blood mage and dating Merril! And that one says I’m in an enemies to lovers romance with Fenris? Some of them have me supporting the mages, others I’m a warrior, another I’m a Templar lover!”

Bethany gasps. “This one says I died?”

Varric looks around at his friends. Yes, he lied. He lied through his teeth to keep them all safe. Could he really go around telling anyone who read his books that the Hawke twins lived? That Riviani and Daisy are a couple? Or the real enemies to lovers was the renegade apostate and the escaped slave? People can’t know this, damn it!

“Why are you actually mad?”

Hawke deflates. “None of them have our real love story,” he says softly with a pout. 

“Oh, come here,” Varric breathes, holding out his arms for Hawke. Hawke slides onto Varric’s lap and steals a kiss. The rest of the night is filled with them all reading a version of the book and comparing notes. 

[avalon-of-babylon]

My favorite thing about Dragon Age 2 is because it's framed as Varric telling Hawke's story it could actually be about playing as the coolest guy you know or blowing smoke up Cassandra's ass about your lame bff who fell ass backwards into saving Kirkwall