#and varric has one for templar ending but rivaled anders too

[leliwardens]

i know i KNOW it'd only be relevant in a small amount of worldstates but god i do wish leliana had a unique line for "romanced but killed at the temple" when asked by the inquisitor bc who doesn't need more heartbreak

[divinekangaroo]

I attempted to replay DAII a few weeks back for the pleasure/refresher of the story and the character arcs but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Have lost lots of capacity to enjoy game mechanics which extend length of time to engage w story and notwithstanding the dialogue is quite excellent (in a game context) it’s clunky for, say, a story, and the physical/visual staging in character interactions is v dated. (Key Settings are pretty decent for symbolism tho)

and that’s when I realised the first time ever why sometimes fans *do* get interested enough to write full novelisations of a thing.

[sandalssandal]

DA2 (Fake Rival!Warden!Carver banter Act 3)

Hello! This is fake banter I came up with in my free time. Fenris’s dialogue is the only explicitly paired one, but you can read any of them assuming they’re romantic or platonic with Hawke. These also assume everyone gets along with Hawke but they’re not explicitly friendship.

I hope everyone is decently characterised, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carver: You… and my [Brother/Sister] are together, correct?

Fenris: That is correct.

Carver: I don’t get, what do you see in [him/her]?

Fenris: Do you really want to know?

Carver: I want to understand.

Fenris: [He/She]…

(Green personality): Brings me peace of mind.

(Purple personality): Makes me laugh.

(Red personality): Knows how to throw [his/her] weight around.

Carver: Really, that’s what you like about [him/her]?

Fenris: I can share other aspects of why I like Hawke if you wish.

Carver: Forget it - perhaps I’ll never understand.

======

Hawke: I’m proud of you.

Carver: What?

Hawke:

(Green personality): *chuckles* I’ll say it again, if you want me to-

(Purple personality): Didn’t hear me the first time? I’ll say it a hundred times more-

(Red personality): You heard me, don’t make me repeat myself-

Carver: I get it! Stop, just stop it.

Hawke: You look upset.

Carver: I just - don’t want to hear those words from you of all people. I don’t need your approval.

Carver: Besides… you remind me too much of Mother when you say it that way.

======

Carver: I have a request to ask of you Merrill.

Merrill: A request? What kind of request?

Carver: Well… you don’t have anywheres to be… I was thinking- *ahem*, I was thinking once I leave for Vigil’s Keep …perhaps you can leave with me?

Merrill: I’m sorry Carver, I can’t do that.

Carver: May I ask why you can’t?

Merrill: Sure you can!

Carver: …

Merrill: …

Carver: …Why can’t you leave?

Merrill: Because Hawke still needs my help, now more than ever! I won’t abandon [him/her] like that.

Carver: *long sigh* Of course [he/she] does.

======

Carver: Do you regret not making me a guardsmen?

Aveline: Makers breath Carver, are you looking to open old wounds? Put it to rest.

Carver: I just want to know, because…

Aveline: Go on…

Carver: Because sometimes I wonder if it turned out differently, if I wouldn’t have gone with my [brother/sister] on that stupid expedition.

Aveline: Hm… I see.

Aveline: If you want my honest opinion? I don’t think being a guardsmen would’ve made a difference. You would’ve signed up anyways and Hawke wouldn’t have stopped you.

Carver: Do you think so?

Aveline: I know so.

======

Varric: So Junior, how’s that popularity in the Wardens coming along? Are people kissing the ground you walk on yet?

Carver: Ha-ha very funny Dwarf, you of all people should know that kind of information.

Varric: Should I? The Wardens can be very secretive y’know, even with their gossip.

Carver: Hm… yes I suppose we can be. Sometimes I forget who I’m speaking to.

Varric: Aw not going to share anymore, Junior? *tsk* I shouldn’t have said anything.

======

Carver: I knew somehow [he’d/she’d] end up in the centre of it all… it’s like [he/she] begs for trouble to find [him/her].

Anders: It can’t be helped can it? [He’s/She’s] a mage after all. Hawke’s a part of the fight regardless of [his/her] station.

Carver: Can it Magey. This is partially your doing, filling [his/her] with nonsense about “justice” and “action”.

Carver: I don’t know why I didn’t hand you to the Templars before, I should just drag you back to the order once I’m finished here.

Anders: I’d advise against doing that, Warden Carver.

Carver: Oh? And tell me why I shouldn’t.

Anders: Because Hawke would follow suit.

Carver: And become a Warden? *scoffs* Please, I wouldn’t let [him/her].

Anders: It wouldn’t be up to you, trust me.

======

Carver: You seem like a free spirit.

Isabela: Is that so?

Carver: Yes, and you have a ship.

Isabela: If you’re trying to flirt me, you could just say I have pretty eyes and huge tits.

Carver: That’s-! Not what I’m- I just don’t understand.

Carver: Why do you stay here in Kirkwall? There’s nothing here worth your time.

Isabela: Oh so you finally drop a proper line, I’m swooning in your arms already.

Carver: Isabela…

Isabela: Fine, I guess I’ll answer your question.

Isabela: I guess I stay because… I like the view.

Carver: The view? Are you referring to my [brother/sister]?

Isabela: Maybe I am - maybe I’m not, maybe I’m referring to what’s in front of me.

Carver: I… see…

Isabela: *chuckles* It’s fun to watch the view turn red.

[frankensteined]

31 Days of Dragon Age (Day 13)

Oct 013 - Introduce your Hawke i have a buncha hawkes that i'm fond of (and still no screenshots of them, thanks ps3), so i don't have a "main" hawke, but my main four are:

aelia hawke - mage with the force mage spec. - blue personality

aelia was my first playthrough hawke, which was kind of a new experience for me because i typically play a dual-wielding rogue on my first playthroughs, but i wanted to have carver around because he reminded me of my own brother, so i went with a mage. i'm glad i did, because aelia was frequently out of her element and Trying Her Best, while obviously being as pro-mage as she could be. she romanced anders, because of course she did, and ran away with him after fleeing kirkwall. had a friendship with everyone except for fenris, who actually turned on her at the end of the game for siding with the mages (a game feature i was really impressed by! love character agency!) carver joined the grey wardens on this playthrough, which was my favourite outcome for him, and his relationship with his sister is probably one of my favourite ones in the series. della hawke - archer rogue with the shadow spec- blue-turned-red personality

della was my attempt at making a wholesome, positive character, and then slowly showcasing how kirkwall just beats you down over the years. she started out kind and helpful, but by the end of the game she was aggressive and reactionary, pitting her against anders at the end. she ultimately sided with the mages, despite killing anders, solely because bethany was a part of the circle, and that's something that kind of kept her from becoming the worst version of herself in the end. that, and her beloved merrill, who was absolutely della's blindspot in pretty much every other regard. della didn't always agree with merrill, but she always acted out of the interest of protecting her, even if it resulted in disagreements.

judith hawke - two-handed warrior with the templar spec. - red personality

judith was my most Eldest Daughter of all the hawkes i made. she took her role as the twins' protector seriously, and never forgave herself for losing carver in lothering. this also put her directly at odds with leandra a lot of the time, too, so it was a lot of fun getting to roleplay that element with her. with this in mind, she actually got on well with gamlen eventually, and i like to imagine that she and her uncle developed a close relationship over the years, despite everything that's happened to their family. bethany was a circle mage on this playthrough as a well, and with playing judith as a devout andrastian who was trying to balance her faith with her love for her sister, i ended up rivalling bethany for the first and only time! it was weird! judith also ended up in a friendship romance with sebastian, which sort of added to that whole mess. ultimately, sided with the templars to maintain order and stayed with sebastian to help restore what was lost when anders did the thing (regardless of what varric's narration said lol)

beatrice hawke - DW rogue with the assassin spec. - purple personality

the purplest of purple hawkes, beatrice was playful and sarcastic, and has never met a quip that she didn't want on her tongue right away. she actively ran away from responsibility every chance she got, and it was only by sheer dumb luck that she happened to let anders tag along on the deep roads expedition, thus saving her sister's life. after losing bethany to the wardens, beatrice kind of smartened up a bit, and out of gratitude to anders, she started being more assertive in helping the mages of kirkwall. flirted with him at first, until he did the whole "i'll only hurt you in the end..." thing, upon which she backed off and the two ended up becoming really close friends instead.

something really fun happened with beatrice's actual romance stuff though: she initiated the romance with fenris, but after he left her following their first night together, she eventually moved onto isabela, expecting a casual fling would help her get over the sting of that rejection. she ended up liking isabela a lot more than she'd expected though, and very quickly, at that. however, the romance flags in the game got bugged, and fenris' was never turned off. so, following "all that remains", it was fenris who came to comfort her, which really allowed me to headcanon that he was able to shelve his own complicated feelings for her to be there for her when she needed someone the most. it was very sweet, but i didn't know which romance was actually "active" anymore. fastforward to act 3, and one of the first banters i got was merrill and fenris' "you're in love..." "no i'm not!" banter. thinking that it meant that fenris was the canon romance now, i went to talk to varric, only for him to talk to beatrice about isabela instead. and, indeed, as act 3 progressed, it was isabela's romance scenes that followed, and fenris' were the friendships ones.

except...i also triggered the banter between isabela and fenris, about them hooking up too! because the flags were a mess! so, naturally, i had no choice at all but to assume that they were in a poly relationship at that point, and that's the story i'm sticking with. Canon.

...anyways, beatrice also sided with the mages and sailed away with isabela (and fenris) after the fight at the gallows, despite sebastian offering to marry her at one point too. the flags! they were a mess! but it made for a really compelling story!

[jazzajazzjazz]

The aim is to do something like this (a default look) for each of my canon DA characters before DA:D comes out--let's see how feasible that actually is--and I ended up finishing this one first.

Learn more about my canon Hawke Adalie under the cut! ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

BASICS - Mage (Force Mage/Spirit Healer) - Sarcastic - Pro-Templar - 25 yrs old - When they were really young and just learning to speak neither Bethany nor Carver could pronounce her name properly so they simply called her Addie--that nickname stuck and endures. :P

APPEARANCE - 5'7"  - Body type can best be described as bony; doesn’t have much of a shape and is very flat chested. She’d probably never admit it, but her small bust and (to her) perceived lack of an ‘attractive’ figure is a huge source of insecurity to her, particularly when she compares herself to Isabela. - Very pasty. Was a very colicky and sickly baby prone to frequent yet minor illnesses. She doesn't get a lot of sun either. - Is one of those people who just always looks tired?? - She's a bit apathetic when it comes to her appearance so her clothes aren't very well looked after. - Resting bitch face

PERSONALITY  - Hates being a mage. She resents that her family could never stay in one place for too long, and even though she wasn't the only mage in the family, she often blamed herself for their frequent moves, despite reassurance to the contrary. Her hatred of her own talents begins to soften as DA2 progresses--encountering several examples of truly terrible mages has a way of convincing even the most self-deprecating person that they themselves are actually not so bad--and by the end of DA2 her relationship with her magic is more like a love/hate one than simply a hate one. - Introverted and not very good with people. She isn't shy per se, moreso convinced by default that people won't like her, so she doesn't really bother. - Very hypocritical when it comes to the subject of mages. She's confident enough in her abilities that she can resist possession and doesn't need the Circle but other mages? She's not convinced. With the exception of Ella and Emile de Launcet she doesn't hesitate to hand other mages over to the Circle. Her own resentment of magic colours her opinion of other mages without her even realising it. - All that being said, she's not a bad person. She doesn't support the Templars because 'mwahaha evil' but because she genuinely fears the power of magic and believes the Circle serves a very important purpose; saving mages from themselves and ensuring they can't hurt others. - She's absolutely one of those people who gets reluctantly dragged to gatherings by friends but ends up having the best time

RELATIONSHIPS • Anders - RIVAL • Aveline - FRIEND • Carver - FRIEND • Fenris - FRIEND (romance) • Isabela - FRIEND • Merrill - RIVAL • Sebastian - RIVAL • Varric - FRIEND

[high-dragon-bait]

I need more banter with Cole.

DA:I didn't give me enough with Solas/Cole/Varric talking about becoming more human or spirit in any combination.

But also, Cole banter with all the DA2 companions.

He and Justice are so unique and Anders always has an opinion on everything.

Fenris would fear hate him, probably.

Merrill would be fascinated, I'm sure.

I just love Cole and I need more of his thoughts.

Ah, Cole. He is so hard but so much fun to write. I went with the DA:2 gang, and snuck in Isabela to make it all the LIs... However. I got a little carried away so this is long. Really long. My previous record for longest fake banter had 8 interactions, this has 28. The majority of you said not to put it under a readmore, just tag it, so I will!

These banters include 4-6 general interactions, one romance, and one post-adamant romance. Since Anders already had a post-adamant romance interaction with Cole in another banter, I posted an alternate version in the same vein as the one there, since I still really like the idea behind it, but the original execution bugged me.

Enjoy!

_____

Fenris

_____

Cole: You’re scared of me.

Fenris: As anyone wise should be.

Cole: Is it because of him?

Fenris: Danarius wasn’t the worst of them.

Cole: Standing, stiff, sore from the leash. Like that for hours, watching, waiting, wanting to leave. Danarius approaches the magister. A rival, he wants to impress him. End him. "I offer you a gift."

Fenris: What is this?

Cole: It's a boy. No. No, no, he's so young. Be punished if I move but I can't- I can't- too late. His blood is on my face. The demon growls, glowers and glows, and he's gone.

Fenris: Avert your gaze from me. Now. 

Cole: But that's not why I'm here! I didn't want the blood.

_____

Fenris: Is it true you were a demon? 

Cole: No. Not a demon. But I didn’t know what I was, and it made me wrong. 

Fenris: But you killed? You murdered those mages? 

Cole: Yes. I thought it was helping.

Fenris: I’ve traveled with an abomination, a blood mage, and Varric. Now, I trade them for a killer demon. Perhaps Hawke kept the better company after all. 

_____

Cole: You were glad when the boy died. 

Fenris: Be careful, demon. I know you can bleed.

Cole: Danarius said “gift” and you thought of something else. Something worse. When they cut his throat somewhere you were happy they couldn’t keep hurting him. 

Cole (Cont.): It wasn’t a good glad. 

_____

Cole: You don’t like mages, yet you’re angry. Angry for the ones I killed. Why?

Fenris: I don’t like weak mages running rampant and preying on the innocent. Those mages were where they belonged, where they were safe. You took that away. 

Cole: But they weren’t safe! 

Fenris: No, because you were prowling the halls. Slitting their throats while they slept.

Cole: I wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for the templars. The templar who locked him in a dungeon and forgot. If he hadn’t died, scared, starving, shivering on the stone. 

Cole (Cont.): I killed. I killed and kill me back if I do it again. But templars made me forget what I was. Templars killed me first.

_____

Cole: Do you look at every man and see a king? 

Fenris: What? 

Cole: When a servant walks down a hall do you see him wearing a crown. Holding a sword? Does he kill those who disobey him? 

Fenris: No? 

Cole: Then why is every mage a magister?

_____

Fenris: Every mage is not a magister. 

Cole: Yes! That’s good. You’re starting to understand, thank you. 

Fenris: Every mage is dangerous. I am not wrong to want them where they can do no harm. 

Cole: No. No. You get so close but flinch away before the truth can touch you. Like a hand on a hot pot. 

Fenris: I see the truth clearly, spirit. You are not of this world, you cannot understand.

____

Cole: Spirits are reflections of the world, made from what matters. That's what Solas says.

Fenris: And you're telling me this, why?

Cole: You said I don't understand. I'm not of this world. But this world made me. Made me from what matters. That's what I am. I'm supposed to see.

Fenris: Fine. What is this truth I won’t touch, demon?

Cole: You want to blame magic because its easy. Because it hurt you and its loud. Magic didn’t hurt you because its magic, it hurt you because Danarius wanted it to.

Fenris: Of course I know Danarius was behind it.

Cole: Yes! Yes you do! But anything hurts if someone wants it to. Magic, blades, hands, words, and you know that too. But if that’s true, if that's really true, Danarius hides. You can't see him anymore. Any man could be him now. That scares you. 

Fenris: …perhaps it does. 

Cole: It’s okay! I can help. 

_____

(Romance)

Cole: I stare at the fire, flames flickering. Eyes shut, trying, dreaming, wishing it would all come back. I can hear them breathing. I can feel their touch, tingling, lingering on my skin. Soft as their sheets, dark and red, but not the bad red, the red I want, the red I remember. Remember. Why did I remember?

Cole (Cont.): You want to stay, but then they wake up, and you have to go.

Fenris: I was a fool.

Cole: No. You think you were afraid but that isn't it. There was another life, lost, lingering, left behind. You had to learn and let go. You needed to say goodbye. That isn't your fault.

Fenris: It was. Yet they still forgave me.

Cole: They love you.

_____

(Post-Adamant)

Fenris: Go on, say your peace, demon.

Cole: Stairs, steep, steeper than the steps through Kirkwall. A spider, why did it have to be a spider? I make it bleed. Make it burn. I try. I don't want to die, but I'm me. I have to try to be me too, I have to- I have to- “Nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you” Maker, he won’t forgive me.

Fenris: I was wrong.

Cole: Yes. The thought hurt, but now its real. Real is worse.

Fenris: Hawke is gone. Nothing is real now.

Cole: Gone only means far, not false. What you felt is still real. Don't forget that. Please.

_____

Anders

_____

Cole: Why don’t you tell Varric why you’re angry? 

Anders: He doesn’t listen. Or it turns into a joke. 

Cole: My father’s barn burning in the snow. Eyes dead under a sunblaze brand. A glow raining over my city, the same color as the screams. Sometimes we care so much the care turns cold. Anger is the only warmth I know. 

Anders: Sounds like you’ll put it better than I could. 

Cole: No, it won’t help the same if its me. 

_____

Anders: How are you here? 

Cole: I walked. For a while I rode on a horse! 

Anders: No, outside of the Fade? Justice said spirits couldn’t survive on their own, they need a host. A body.

Cole: I’m Cole? 

Anders: But you’re a spirit! Here from the Fade. How can you be- you?

Cole: He sat in a cell. It was dark, he knew they forgot. His hurt was loud, louder than the shouting but the Templars wouldn't hear him. I wanted to help so I listened. He said he didn’t want it. He didn’t want to be magic. He didn’t want to hurt. He didn’t want to die. 

Cole: I’m Cole.

Anders: Oh… 

_____

Anders: Did Cole… did you have any family? Anyone you might want to see again? 

Cole: No. His father beat his mother until she stopped, he hid with his sister in a cabinet but she cried. He kept his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, he didn’t want her to stay quiet. He only killed his father for them.

Anders: Maker! 

Cole: He didn’t use magic! He used a blade to kill his father, a harmless blade. That’s all. It wasn’t magic. “I don't care, he goes to the dungeons like every other mage." 

Anders: Cole I’m- I’m so sorry.

Cole: So was he. 

_____

Cole: Varric doesn't hate you.

Anders: Varric?

Cole: That's why you won't tell him why you're angry. You think it will make it worse. He's sad, scared, scattered, but still your friend.

Anders: I know what Kirkwall meant to him. I know I destroyed it. He can't forgive me that easy.

Cole: No. Not easy, and not forgiven, not yet. "I want you to have this. It's a pillow. Hand embroidered by my mother. The only thing they let me keep at the circle." "Why in the world would you give that to me?" "You've been a good friend." He wishes he were better.

Anders: Tell him... tell him I do to.

Cole: No. I told you. It's doesn't help if its me.

_____

Cole: You talked to Varric!

Anders: Sort of. Not a lot of actual talking. Mostly we sat, and sometimes we drank. Better than avoiding each other in the halls, I guess.

Cole: We sit. The air here is wrong. The smells, the music, it's too wide, too new. Herald's Rest, why rest? Do we ever rest? They used to hang people here, by their feet, till they starved to death. Blondie sits across from me, how long has it been? If I just see him I can almost pretend... My cup, too nice, too clean, but a toast is a toast. To a new world, Blondie.

Anders: To a new world...

Cole: He missed you.

_____

(Romanced)

Cole: No, don't go there. I'll break your heart. That might kill me as surely as the Templars. But you wanted to, from the moment you saw them. You made yourself sound so wrong, why?

Anders: I needed them to know. I needed them to be prepared for the work it would be to love me.

Cole: You thought they would leave. That one day they would know you, know you, and they wouldn't love you. They never would've done that. It hurts you thought they would.

Anders: In the circle, love never lasted. That was by design, two mages got too close and the templars would intervene. I... I thought it was a matter of time.

Cole: They know. They only wish you had trusted them when they said they would stay. That you would let them do the work.

Anders: Maker, I hope some days I'm worth it.

Cole: You are, always.

_____

(Post-adamant)

Cole: A hawk sits on a branch. They fly, follow, leaving feathers where he can find them.

Anders: Stop it.

Cole: A dream. They're a dream but I can't see them, not until I forget. If I forget, if I'm him, just him, all him, then he might be me. He might know where to go. Forget to find. Follow and fly.

Justice: No. 

Cole: Forgetting won’t help, not like that.  

_____

Merrill

_____

Cole: Eluvian. “Seeing-glass” but it’s fogged, faded, forgotten like us. Who stood here before me? Before the blight, before our blood blotted over the history. Where did they go?

Merrill: Do you… do you know? Can you tell me their name?

Cole: No. I would’ve forgotten. I’m sorry. 

_____

Merrill: Are you alright, Cole?

Cole: “Alright?” 

Merrill: Are you safe? Are the people here kind to you? Are you… happy? 

Cole: I’m not being cut, not right now, and I’m not sad. 

Merrill: That’s not really the same thing, lethallin.

Cole: But isn’t it for you?

_____

Cole: The keeper was wrong. 

Merrill: You didn’t know her. You shouldn’t say things like that. 

Cole: Eyes. Eyes. Too many eyes. Staring. Judging. The hunters whisper and the elders doubt. How could I have allowed it? I let evil into our clan. They need to know. I need to show them. Show her. She will not do this.

Cole (Cont.): "Merrill is dangerous," I tell them. "She will remain dangerous until I guide her down a better path. Be weary of her, and if you see her, come directly to me."

Merrill: No, lethallin. That wasn’t how it was. 

Cole: She said that too. 

_____

Merrill: Cole, what I meant when I asked if you were alright...

Cole: Yes? I'm sorry. I don't think my answer helped.

Merrill: I meant- I guess- you're always the one checking up on the others. You're always the one helping so I thought, maybe, I could be of some help, if you want it.

Cole: But... what would that be? Helping the helper, that's not how it's supposed to work. That's why you forget.

Merrill: Well, lethallin, why don't we figure it out together?

Cole: Yes... yes I think I would like that. Thank you.

_____

(Romanced) 

Cole: You didn't believe them for a long time. Why?

Merrill: Didn't believe who?

Cole: Hawke, when they said they wanted you, you thought it wasn't real. Why?

Merrill: Oh- well... I'd never had anyone in my clan show me any interest before. I'd only kissed one person before them. It was this hunter, young and strong, just got his vallaslin. So exciting! But later I found out it was a dare, prove his manhood by kissing the crazy blood witch.

Cole: That story makes them angry.

Merrill: I know. They told me so. Offered to go fight those boys for me, I said no, of course.

Cole: You didn't want to.

Merrill: We all have to be the bigger person sometimes, lethallin. That's what Varric liked to say after cards back in Kirkwall.

_____

(Post-adamant) 

Merrill: Lethallin, can you... can you hear them? Do you know what they thought when it- happened?

Cole: Chains beneath the boat. Five birds bunched together on the cliff. Three in the hold. How could I know? One day there will be book with other names, other faces drawn over the words and a daisy pressed between the pages.

Merrill: I know you can tell me more than that.

Cole: Hawke is dead, I'm so sorry. Dead. Such a cruel world. Din. Better. Din is kind. Falon'Din, Friend of the Dead. Is that were they are? Varric said they ran. They ran and they shut the door. They didn't see...

Cole (Cont.): Broken dark glass in a Kirkwall hovel. Red ringed around my fingernails. Sitting on the floor, sharp, splintering, shredding my skin, but I stay still. I have a door. I have a door.

Cole (Cont.): If I tell you, you'll just want to do it more.

Merrill: I'm going to do it, Cole, telling me what they thought won't hurt now.

Cole: Yes, it will.

_____

Isabela

_____

Isabela: Hey, sweetheart? 

Cole: Yes, Captain?

Isabela: Do spirits know about sex? 

Cole: Yes. Spirits know a lot about sex. 

Isabela: How would you describe it? In that colorful way of yours? 

Cole: Hot. Hands holding tight. Door closed. Bodies close. If this is all I’m worth then I’ll be worth the world. My body is mine, it feels like fire and I am free. 

Isabela: Oh, that’s not what I thought you’d say. 

Cole: What did you think I would say?

Isabela: Something more like what Varric would put in a book. 

_____ 

Cole: The scars are all in the same place. 

Isabela: Which scars, sweetheart?

Cole: Arishok's blade on their skin. The silver slips shallow through them but I still feel it too. My face. My arm. My back. My legs. My- it slashes into their stomach, blood splatters and I try to- I can't. Fenris holding onto me. They're bleeding and I'm bleeding. They're hurting and I'm hurting. Once. Twice. Three times more around the pillars and then- he falls. It's over. They won... I'm free.

Isabela: So that’s what we’re talking about. 

Cole: They would’ve done it again. They would’ve done even more. 

Isabela: I know.

Cole: So do they.

_____

Isabela: Why do you call me, Captain? 

Cole: It’s what you are. 

Isabela: I haven’t been a captain for awhile. Admiral’s got a nice, sexy sound to it. Makes you think I’ve got a dagger in my hand, sharp and ready for your breast. 

Cole: Wife. Whore. Daughter. Desire. The man on my ship smiles at me like he's picking which one he wants. I smile back. "It's Captain," I tell him. "You will call me Captain."

Cole (Cont.): I could call you Admiral, if it helps. 

Isabela: Captain’s fine, sweetheart. 

_____

Cole: Captain? 

Isabela: Yes, sweetheart? 

Cole: Do you like me?

Isabela: Oh yes! You’re cute, good with a dagger. You're even nice! That’s more than most men you’ll find out here. 

Cole: But you don’t like me like you like them.

Isabela: Which is good for you. Most of them weren't worth the price of the room.

Cole: But you never paid for the rooms?

Isabela: Exactly.

_____

Cole: “Sweetheart.” You call me “sweetheart.” Why? 

Isabela: It’s like how you call me, Captain. It’s the best word for what you are.

Cole: But my heart wouldn’t be sweet, Captain. 

Isabela: Just who told you that? 

Cole: The blood. It said it has to taste like salt and iron or it isn’t real. 

Isabela: I… think it's okay to let words stay words sometimes, sweetheart. 

Cole: But that’s never what they are.

_____

(Romanced)

Cole: "Well, if you ever want to do it again- wait, you aren't thinking of bringing feelings into this are you?" But you already were?

Isabela: Shhhh! Don't go revealing my deep dark secrets to the world.

Cole: You already brought the feelings, but it's different when it's just yours. Only you know where they are, like marking treasure on a map you keep in your pocket. But once they wanted it too... What if they dug up the treasure? What if they hated what was inside?

Isabela: Yes, yes, alright but why is it treasure? Is it because I'm a pirate? 

Cole: Yes. You like treasure.

Isabela: I do like treasure.

Cole: But you like Hawke more.

Isabela: Hey! What did I say about my deep dark secrets?

_____

(Post-adamant) 

Cole: I lie on my belly. Red stream flowing out from under me. How can the ground be so cold? Nightmare. Nightmare. No- no I won't die in a nightmare. I've been here before, done this before. I can die where it's mine-

Isabela: Not now, sweetheart. 

Cole: There's a ship. There's a sea. There's birds in the rafters and there's me. Waves wash and whisper. I'm free. Captain, the helm is ready-

Isabela: Cole, stop it.

Cole: Safe harbors, Isabela.

[secretsfromwholecloth]

Dragon Age II, day 2.

I’ve resigned myself to seeing “Carver: Rivalry +5″ a whole hell of a lot. I think if I want to do a Carver friendship run, I’d have to plan the whole playthrough specifically around that.

Hello, Fenris. Murdering slavers in the face is always good fun.

Or murdering them in the chest, as it happens.

Welcome to the party, Anders. Sorry about Pavey being kind of mean to you, but she does want to help, and I suspect you’ll learn to kind of like it in time. Or at least nudge her anger in a similar direction to yours so you can be angry at stuff together.

Hello, Marethari et al. Wow, you look different. And sound different. The new aravel design is pretty.

Hello, Merrill. I’m so sorry that Pavey was mean to you, she’ll warm to you in time.

Poor, poor Carver. All he wants is to have a normal life and not attract Templar attention, and his sister goes and makes friends with an abomination and a blood mage.

I most certainly did not intend to threaten to kill Feynriel. Give him a light beating if he tries to turn himself in to the Templars, maybe. Holy shit.

Hello, Isabela. Beating the shit out of creeps is always fun!

Oh, Anders, this “we can’t be together, I’ll hulk out and break your heart” routine isn’t convincing anyone, we both know you’ll be yeeting yourself bodily at Pavey inside of approximately three minutes.

I keep racking up rivalry with Varric, and it makes me terribly sad.

Hello again, Cullen. *sigh* Just...*sigh*

Yes, rant about how mages have to be watched at all times to the person with a staff strapped to her back who just saved your ass by slapping a Crushing Prison on that abomination. Brilliant. Love you too, Cullen.

“A cold shower”? Varric, honey, I get that you thought Idunna was hot for some ungodly reason, but how are you still horny after watching her try to mind-control your friend into killing herself and then get murder knifed for her trouble?

Fenris, it’s probably time to issue the standard warning about Pavey and the heavy end of her staff if you keep giving her flak for being a mage. Yes, the staff with the naked lady figurine on the heavy end. You’ll have some very interestingly-shaped bruises.

That’d be the Malcolm’s Honor staff, which raises a question or two. Like, did he specifically think to himself about which daughter he wanted to inherit the staff with the bodacious ta-tas, or what?

Carver, you shut your hole about being able to see the Templars’ point. Your hole. Shut it.

Anders: “You may want to downplay the blood magic angle, we don’t need the Templars cracking down any harder.” Pavey: *immediately goes and tells Cullen about the blood mages, what is self-preservation, can she eat it?*

Other than Carver needing healing at one point, the fight against the dragon at the Bone Pit went remarkably well. To be fair, that is only an introductory dragon.

Having Varric lie us out of trouble never gets old.

And I’ve officially run out of Act 1 stuff to do, so time to head for the Deep Roads.

Ooh, looks like I’ve hauled Varric kicking and screaming onto the friendship side of the friend/rival divide. Hopefully he stays there, having him as a rival makes me sad.

Time for the ceremonial declaration of “fuck you, Bartrand.”

Aw, Pavey didn’t get to punch the rock wraith abomination in the face.

The fight against the ancient rock wraith went much better this time. By which I mean everyone was still standing by the end of it.

Stroud? Huh, OK, yeah, apparently he turns up here no matter what. I’m not complaining too loudly. Seeing Stroud also means hearing his VA, of whom my opinions are already well known.

And Carver has been packed off to the Wardens, poor kid. On to Act 2.

Awesome, I missed out on beating up slavers with Fenris last time.

And it’s after midnight, so I’ll have to finish murdering slavers in the face tomorrow.

[merrilldidnothingwrong]

do you have any canon dragon age characters/OC's you are comfortable sharing? 💕

oh ive had so many hawkes over the years, the one im playing right now ive renamed to mary, she started off very red all throughout act 1

ive changed her hair SO MANY times (mostly to me trying to fix my mods thanks to one hair mod breaking my skin mods) and im rivaling with aveline, romancing anders, friends with all my other companions. blue and purple dialogue with them. red still comes out occasionally.(esp with templars and chantry folk)

im playing as rogue so my angel baby sister is alive, and so after kirkwall she wont be tainted with the grey wardens shes unfortunately in the circle, and she will be alive and free after. and she will run off with hawke and anders after. (as long as she can tolerate them goofballs in love lol) but really though bethany knows she will always know she has a safe place to live. and she has a lot of heart aching stories, and her and anders talk a lot about it and it helps them heal a lot. bethany is a sweetie.  (though bethany does get rightfully angry at mary for letting her get dragged away at the circle, and the both of them just let her scream until she breaks down and cries)

mary hated that it happened, she hated herself a lot for it. here she came to kirkwall to protect her family and……everything happened.

she really hates templars and fell for anders the instant they met. it was the “those bastards made me get rid of my cat” (even though she grew up with dogs) that kind of devoted love after threatening them. gotta love a man who goes so hard to protect and soft to appreciate the little lovable creatures :3

she’s always been blue with fenris, when she saw his markings and shared how he was a slave, she knew he needed a tender touch. the last thing he needs is to be yelled at and told how wrong he is. 

shes always willing to tell aveline to her face how wrong she is though. from the moment she met weasel, i mean wesley her templar husband who threatened her baby sister in front of her. and she got the job as knight captain, and dismisses her actually doing her job and hands it off to mary. oh she gives her a piece of her mind.

she really loves merrill too, she reminds her of bethany. just as sweet as can be. and she hates hearing about her first from the dalish because she just knows how abusive and manipulative she is. but she holds back on saying it to merrill. she knows how smart merrill is, and knows she will come to that conclusion herself.

isabelas one of her best friends, they hang out a lot. have a lot of fun. confide in each other. sometimes end up drinking, and crying. mary loves her a lot, her best friend. she wants to punch the hell out of aveline for the way she talks about her.

varric, well, she just kinda tells him what he wants to hear. cracks jokes, is the hero.

other than anders, she REALLY hates kirkwall. she cant wait until something really good or really bad happens.

[c0rpseductor]

1-10 for your inquisitor >:3c

>:3!!!! THANK YOU FOR ASK....

1. name/race: my quiz is basically me but thedas, so he has my name, lestat! he’s an elf! originally he was a city elf, but lived with a dalish clan for a time. then he did his own thing.

2. orientation: he is gay!

3. looks: AAH i just did that tarot of him recently so

he’s on the chubby/curvy side and absurdly short, like, 5 foot even, so in my mind only a few inches taller than varric. his eyes are closed here, but they’re red.

4. feelings on being called herald of andraste: he HATED that shit, even moreso when he’d point out he hated it and get ignored or told he should accept being called the herald. he was steamed about it almost every time someone mentioned it.

5. religious beliefs: he was raised andrastian and believes in the maker. he did used to live with the dalish and so has some weird crossover with elvhen religious stuff, but mostly his paradigm is andrastian. he’s not very religious, and has a pretty strained relationship with both his faith and the maker.

6. opinion on mage/templar war: “fuck the templars,” basically. he’s heard about what happens in circles and he doesn’t have anything against mages, so he’s pretty much in agreement with mages on the issue. he thinks there being a war is tragic, especially when uninvolved people get hurt, but he sees that as the fault of the templars for forcing mages to strike back for their rights.

7. best friend: if i can only pick one companion, cole for sure. he ALWAYS wants to be in cole’s good graces and thinks the world of him since he’s so genuine and kind. he really worries about cole, too. he sort of takes on a big brother attitude, because he relates to cole a lot, and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to him. he gets along well with dorian, bull, josephine and varric, too.

8. rival: not sure if he counts as a rival, but solas. there’s not really any competition between them, though; he just kind of hates solas’ guts because of how pedantic he is. lestat tries pretty hard to NOT be a complete dick to solas because he feels guilty being mean to people, but solas always makes him regret it. solas doesn’t quite seem to understand that lestat is a man, either, so he treats him a lot like he treats female lavellan. (there’s a bit of a crush on his end purely because solas reminds me SO MUCH of every nerdy guy in high school who thought i would be his manic pixie dream girl.) they tend to argue a lot.

9. love interest: I HAD TO CART MY BOY IN....i am desperately in love with märchen soundhorizon, and so i made a dragon age AU version of him, and ship my quiz with him. basically märchen is an abomination elf mage, kind of like anders but undead (edit: probably more easily compared to wynne). he mostly integrated with the demon “possessing” him (vengeance). he has a whole backstory and stuff but i could go on for 100 years. here’s the tarot i did for him!

10. class: Warrior!!! he uses two-handed weapons and has the reaper specialization. in my headcanon, he is also a mage, but didn’t know until the anchor woke up his magic (bit of a late bloomer, magically speaking). he’s no good at using magic with any consistency, so it’s more of an unreliable supplement to his skill at smashing shit with a sword as big as him.

[icharchivist]

Ive been told da2 gets a lot of bad reviews. What's your opinion on the game?? :0

Heyo!!

Oh dear. Okay so let’s start it by saying i absolutly adore da2. I love all the da game, and da2 is no exception. They all have different strong points that makes them stand out on their own and as a result da2 is a great game on its own.

I tried, under the cut, to enter more into details without spoiling, hopefully it worked ahah.

IMO the reason da2 had bad reviews…. is that it came after dao and people had high expectations, and some people having problems with new things da2 introduced - ie the general “Sequel Problem” of people refusing it to be any different from its original game. 

I’ll get more in depth under the cut (avoiding spoiling as much as i can) but ay

I believe it’s likely people got upset to be kinda “locked into a city” while dao allowed you to go to more places. The focus of the story is also much more the Mage/Templar conflict while dao focused on a diverse brunch of conflict. (which…. Okay the thing that annoys me with that argument is that yes there were more conflicts in dao, like, the dwarves and such, (and like, dao’s focused on so much because they didn’t focus as much in depth on them. dao was an intruduction to the lore, so it couldn’t overwhelm us with it) but the magic conflict was a pillar to dao not only with the Circle incident, it was worth focusing upon, and even there they took the time to explore others lore stuff. Hell there’s a hell tone of forshadowing in da2 which personally for the lore hungry person i am, i love to death.)

And there isn’t “one great goal” in the end of the game - like in dao you have to defeat the blight! in da2, you have no idea what’s the endgame will be and how it’ll end, you kinda move forward to understand why Varric is telling your story to the Seeker of Truth.

(I think a complain that could happen but that I don’t see brought up a lot is that da2 being the only game narrated by a character, da2′s story could… actually be a little simplified? I personally blame most of the clumsy writting or like, lack of environment (which are two problems a lot of people complain about) to the fact that it’s Varric telling the story and the Seeker imagining it, therefore the point of view is biased. It gives them a good narrative stun imo and it allow more fluidity, and it doesn’t mean that all of da2 is bullshit either I hope people would understand that. I don’t see much people complain about the narrative format but imo a lot of the major “uncoherence” people complain about can… completely be justified over the narrative format so idk)

I think what people are overlooking when they make those complains is that… da2 is meant to be a smaller story. It’s not the story of a Warden, or of an Inquisitor - it’s Hawke, a person who’s trying to survive in this world, who’s trying to have their family survive, and who ends up wrapped into a conflict against their will. 

da2 isn’t meant to be as big and vast as dao because it’s a smaller story with huge consequences, it’s not supposed to be like dao.

(also on the technical levels i’ve read apparently the story was more planned to be dao->dai, but EA pushed the compagny to do another game quite quickly so instead of rushing to dai they decided to expend elements with da2 so the story will flow more naturally. Because they were pressed and with new engins the game had limitations, so they focused on a more intimist story about Hawke and their friends.) 

In some ways da2 can be considered a transition game, but i don’t completely think so, it gained an identity on its own and personally i think the emotions and elements of da2 stand out even more as its own strong story because of the approach taken. 

Then I think also it’s because this game is much more heavy on small consequences, especially with how the approval system work - say, how easily it is to lose the surviving sibling’s life to the deep roads, or how completely different a character storyline can go depending on how you befriend them or rival them. If you don’t play your cards right i think it’s possible to be disappointed with where it’s taken, but 1- it’s not. as bad as it sounds, 2-, I personally think it’s even more of a strength. 

DA2 is a personal game. if the Warden’s companions stuck around because they had to save the world, da2′s companions only stick around because…. they like Hawke. That’s it. That’s why the approval system is Friendship/Rivalry and not Approval/Disapproval. This isn’t a question of them approving your actions it’s a question of how your friendship developped toward the years. It’s extremely bold but require players to be even more involved with the characters because their own friendship is what holds the game together. 

Also the fact that da2 happens over the course of multiple years (if i’m not wrong about 7 years) while we have dao happen over the course of one year/one year and a half with awakening, only. The bound between the companions isn’t supposed to be the same. Da2 asks you to care more than dao did. And while dao definitly have character development with the approval, da2 pushes it further with how the consequences of said development pay off. (although i’m not saying it in a bad way for dao - even if they were “around to save the day” their friendship was genuine with high approval and it was still emotionally charged).

And I think a few people may have had a problem with that while… it’s a great thing? It makes the game stand out. It makes it more emotional. 

Then - be careful with reviews because who generally leave review? Ye certain bases of gamers that. huh. Especially in 2011 where it was still the time of even shittier gamers that we have now. 

For exemple I’ve read there had been a lot of uprising over the fact the whole romance team were bi. Which i find stupid af, but apparently this was a problem in 2011. I’ve read people being absolutly upset and tear the game to pieces because they found it irrealistic. Worse even - Anders shows he has a crush on Hawke no matter what gender Hawke is, so players can’t exactly ignore it. (Also if the info filtered on forum - in the mlm romance with Anders, it’s confirmed that Karl, the mage who was made tranquil in the begining of the game? Was Anders’s… lover for lack of a better word when they were in the Circle so they remained intimate. (he was the reason Anders ran away from the Circle in Awakening for the last time- a whole other can of worm i won’t expend on) It’s therefore implied that after his death Anders’s emotions were all over the place, thus his crush happened over the person who helped him. But ye, if people learned that, they therefore learn that Anders kinda have his bisexuality in the frontrow and it cannot be ignored.) I’ve read hundreds of fanboys rant about how it made them uncomfortable, and a lot of different sort of discourses over the sexualities of that game. (most that I think are completely ot of place and again, remembering the target demographic, 2011 wasn’t as much a good time for those things as recent years.) 

(also the worst thing about da is its fandom, i don’t trust any “common opinions” whatsoever. 9 out of 10 it’s deforming plot informations to fit an argument that doesnt have its place here). (…. although I suppose the same thing could be said from my own opinions so like, make your own opinion, truly. Don’t let people influence you. DA is a personal experience, which can be completely different depending on your choices and on how you get along with the companions-  don’t let anyone ruin it.)

Then i’m not gonna act like the game is flawless either but I think the reasons people pick on it are… not good reasons. There’s flaws yes but like all the games (there’s tons of flaws in dao and dai, and it doesn’t remove from their qualities and the strong stuff that are in those games - why would you treat da2 differently), and they’re minors in the whole game.

I know the ending caused problems for a lot of people too, and that I can’t enter in details there - I see a few cons, but imo the endingS are incredible on what they mean on a thematic level. it’s really complicated to enter into details and i wouldn’t want my “it’s incredible” to be taken out of context or like, about a detail that I don’t mean by that - so maybe later, but i do think the game is asking you to weight the impact of your decisions and the conclusion is really strong. 

I think one of the possible other reason it may have badly reasonated with some fans is the lack of power fantasy? For exemple, especially for human nobles, you can actually become king/queen in dao. And it’s treated as a good thing. And in the end, even without playing this origin, you become Warden Commander, and an advisor in the throne room, and the Hero of Fereldan people will respect for ever. Your accomplishment are important and it makes you feel empowered.Da2 doesn’t treat power the same way. The Mantle of Champion is more stress indulging, especially when you play as a mage, because you are seen by everyone. The Champion Mantle isn’t the end of your story, like the Warden Commander was the end of the Warden’s story in dao. the Champion title is more stress infliging considering the current political state of Kirkwall.and there’s more to that later but to me it’s something I find fascinating. 

What I find fascinating with this series of game is how much the context change how you can approach a similar situation. I’ve compared it a lot to dao to make my point but I want to be clear: i love the approach of dao, it fits in its context, in how the plot elements are going on, about why all of this is happening. because in dao’s context, the fact it happens this way is extremely interesting and much more telling - and the emotional involvement is still here. The idea is that by contrast, because of the different context in da2, the way things are different is fascinating and coherent. But say, a treatment like that wouldn’t have worked in dao’s context - it works because da2 created a context in which this was what rose the stakes.

People who just wanted to relive the experience of dao couldn’t get that in da2 because the context was too different, so even if you can hit some vague marks (romance and have sex with your LI, characters development, position of power ect..) the context will require you to think about it differently, so if you go in thinking about having it the same way as dao i think you can be disappointed.

I personally think da2′s context make for a lot of brilliance in its scenario without undermining what dao accomplished.

(and i didn’t mention dai at all because i don’t want to spoil but my reasoning applies there too - the differences or similarities in dai with the others games works because it works in its context and those elements cannot be taken out of their context if you want to appreciate them. Putting them in contrast isn’t belittling one or the other, it’s seeing why the context allowed to have such different or similar plots and why it works.)

Also i think it may play that da2 is more political. or at least the politics cannot be ignored. dao was extremely political but you could go "shut up i just want to kill that dragon" and make quick decisions about politics. Da2 is entrely centered about the politics of the chantry/circle/mage/templar and people can be allergic to plot asking you to take into consideration a lot of issues linked to oppression. but idk politics were in dao too ppl who complain about it in da2 are just mad that this time they are forced to care about it

I think da2 fall flat if you’re not ready to involve yourself emotionally, because the emotions is the most important factor of da2, before even the accomplishments and the likes. it’s the driving force of the game. I do think the emotions are super important for the enjoyement of all the games, but for da2 i’d go as far as to say it’s a requirement. 

if you like lore, too, da2 is full of it, it has a lot of intruiguing lore pieces to remember for later; I know i didn’t think much of them the first time but ever since dai i’ve been digging in every codex possibles and da2 has a lot of interesting stuff when it comes to the lore. Maybe harder to find the interest for without the big picture, but really incredible and interesting to read nevertheless.

For the story, again, I think it needs the emotional bound to your character and to the other characters, but i still think it’s a really important story that had to be told, and if it had to be told, this way to do it was really good, it was important, it showed how those things in the little picture would affect the big picture. I love this kind of things. Thematically the story is incredible.

TL;DR: I absolutly love da2, it’s an incredible game on its own rights, and i entered a lot of details why because a lot of the things i saw people complain about are… the things I actually love with the game. It’s supposed to be different from dao because of its context, and it does it well, if you’re ready to be taken by this new adventure and understand it doesn’t have the same stakes as dao. 

People complained about a lot of things, the da fandom always complain about something all the time, but especially in 2011, when most of the reviews of da2 came out, the fanbase and people who were loud about it were… Not ready i think? For lack of a better word? 

SO YE that’s more of less my thoughts, and i’m mostly just saying why i like things people disliked, but trust me i loved this game in a lot of others details, and i tried to remain vague to avoid possible spoilers ahah.

Take care!!

[queen-scribbles]

Inquisitor!Jowan

World State:

--Warden Trinne Amell, romanced Alistair, left Anora queen, Alistair stayed a Warden, OGB, Trinne killed the Archdemon, still alive(Happy Ending sans Harvey AU, I guess xD)

--Evi Hawke, red personality, warrior, romanced Anders(rival path), very pro-templar, executed Anders, recruited Seb, sided w/templars endgame

       -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-

For this AU, Trinne told Jowan to run from Redcliffe, rather than conscripting him to the Wardens(wouldn’t wish this life on her best friend or something). She lets him out of his cell and tells him to run after he goes in the Fade to fight the demon and free Connor bc it’s clear that’s not going to buy him much mercy and she couldn’t live with herself if she just lets him get killed/made Tranquil. So he does the aiding refugees things, changes his name to Levyn to avoid the templars looking for him. Also, new name for a new start. (basically, I like having him fight the demon to count as his Harrowing, and also needed him to run so voila)

About a year post-Blight, after the Archdemon, Mother, and Architect are all dead and the darkspawn threat starts to die down, he gets tired of running. But what else is there for someone like him? The average civilian doesn’t recognize the scars on his hands and arms, but a templar probably would. He goes anywhere near a Circle, he’s as good as executed.

So he makes do as a (sort-of)hedge mage, trading help for whatever people can afford to pay. Sometimes this means food or clothes or learning new skills instead of money. He’s fine with that. One family was so poor his “payment” was a flower crown made by their six year old daughter. He keeps a couple of the flowers long after they dry out, pressed between the pages of a book to help him remember on bad days that he can be both good and good for something in spite of his mistakes.

After the Chantry Explosion in Kirkwall, he gives up using magic entirely(had already been saving it for emergencies only), and settles in a small, out of the way village(Chilltread) near the foothills of the Frostback Mountains. It’s remote, has no templar presence, and the people are kind without being nosy. He tells them he got in trouble at home and had to leave(which is true enough), and they don’t pry.

Chilltread is quiet and hard to reach enough the Mage-Templar War doesn’t really touch them, and news takes so long to get there the first they hear of the Conclave is when the delegation from the Ostwick Circle passes through. They make it sound important enough to pique Levyn’s curiosity and he asks if he can go with them. He’s starting to go stir-crazy staying in one place and this seems a good excuse to leave for awhile but come back. They agree, long as he brings his own provisions/gear and pulls his weight. He’s willing to do that, and so leaves with them when they depart the next morning. When one of the escorts asks his name and he says Levyn, the man chuckles and turns to a nearby mage in the delegation. “What were you sayin’ about your name not bein’ common, Trevelyan?”

The mage in question, dark haired with pale green-blue eyes, scoffs and makes some comment about how one nobody from a backwater Fereldan village sharing his given name does not make it common. They press on, already running slightly behind desired schedule and with three more days’ travel ahead of them. That evening when they make camp, Levyn Trevelyan apologizes to Levyn the Nobody for his attitude. “Today was not a good day, for many reasons, and  had me all out of sorts. My humblest apologies for disparaging you.”

Levyn brushes it off(“I am technically a nobody, so you’re not wrong”) and they chat for a while. Trevelyan waxes eloquent about both his family and the Ostwick Circle, while Levyn is a little more vague. Lots of ‘you wouldn’t have heard of that place’ and ‘I haven’t done anything spectacular, really’ dodging.

It gets colder the higher into the mountains they go, and the next(last) village they pass through on the way to Haven(even smaller than Chilltread), Levyn trades a good chunk of his provisions to a villager for warmer clothes. He can deal with being hungry, has before. But the cold is wicked this high up, and he can’t stand it. (acquired: starting armor :D)

They’re among the last to arrive at the Conclave, which suits Levyn fine; less time around a large number of templars. He is, of course, not important enough to actually be included in the talks, but there’s plenty of gossip to be heard from servants, mercs, and guards. It gives him a pretty clear picture of where things stand and how ugly the Mage-Templar War has gotten. Trevelyan is included in some of the meetings, but doesn’t want to discuss them when he’s free, preferring to talk about his family or the friends still at Ostwick’s Circle, all of whom he clearly misses.

Being so wary of people--especially Chantry-affiliated people--Levyn spends a fair bit of time wandering the temple halls, wondering what parts Trinne saw when she was here.

And then comes the explosion.

Running, things chasing him, the woman, climbing… something, a cliff, maybe? Or stairs? The bright flare of light and rubble under his feet and then a cell and angrily hissed words.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now.”

      -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-       -o- -o- -o- -o-

Turns out, when he stumbles out of the Fade, he stayed (semi)conscious just long enough to say his name was Levyn before passing out entirely. Since the Ostwick delegation didn’t add him to their roster when he joined them, the only Levyn to find is Levyn Trevelyan. So they assume that’s him and run with it.

It hits him almost as soon as his head clears what happened, but Cassandra sounds a hairs-breadth from killing him on the spot, and he’s terrified she will if she knows he’s Levyn-the-nobody-apostate instead of Levyn-with-noble-family-ties. So he plays along, he figures just long enough to fix this and leave. Sidesteps Varric’s guess about where he’s from with “What is this, an interrogation?”

By the time they seal the Breach and he’s no longer in immediate danger of execution, he’s ‘Herald of Andraste’ and in too deep to stop lying about who he is. Everyone thinks he’s Lord Trevelyan of Ostwick, and the nobody from Chilltread village is just another tick mark on a casualty report. (not that anyone cares) So he decides to play the part. He’s good at pretending to be someone he’s not, after all. And he can’t think of a pleasant outcome if he tells the truth.

Has something of a panic attack when he sees Cullen in the War Room. Only person in the whole Inquisition who might recognize him(he thinks). But it’s been a decade since Kinloch Hold, and they’ve both been through enough hell Cullen doesn’t seem to recognize him. He’s still anxious about talking to the man the entire game bc what if he remembers?!

Leliana thinks he looks vaguely familiar, but can’t put her finger on why until mid-late game, and keeps her deduction to herself. Part of why she’s so protective Josie when she thinks there’s maybe something starting there

He’s also wary of talking to Cassandra in the walking-on-eggshells sense, given the first impression of brazen righteous fury he got from her. (They’ll eventually be friends, but it’s gonna take awhile)

Goes with the ‘Not sure I’m chosen’ route(but does believe in the Maker) bc he can’t keep that bit of his true self from peeking through. He’s been trying so hard to atone for his mistakes for years, but still can’t believe Andraste would choose someone like him as Her Herald. (still not doing great in the self-confidence department)

Really likes Mother Giselle. Is petrified Chancellor Roderick will find him out and blow it wide open to discredit the Inquisition.

Has another near-panic attack when Cole shows up, bc oh BOY is keeping him around flirting with disaster. But help is help and can he really turn him away?

Tries his best to come off as quiet and reserved rather than overwhelmed. Inner monologue more

Josephine is a breath of fresh air. Someone who’s not tied to the Chantry, so he doesn’t feel like he has to be as guarded around her. She’s kind. She’s strong. She’s gracious. He feels like he can relax around her more than anyone else in the Inquisition. (Not so much he tells her everything right away, but more than around Cass or Cullen for example. Or Leliana, who treats him like a riddle she’s trying to solve.)

Still deciding whether to do CotJ or IHW bc it’s either walking into the templar stronghold or walking into Redcliffe, and I”m not sure which would be worse for him. One has templars(+the envy demon glitch), but the other has a host of bad memories/guilt and higher odds of being recognized as the blood mage who poisoned Arl Eamon. (At least, in his mind. It’s been ten years, the only one who might recognize him is Connor.)

Gonna sacrifice Hawke in HLtA bc Alistair is still in a relationship with Trinne and there’s no way Jowan would do something so devastating to his best friend(sister, really) as sacrifice the man she loves.

Really embraces the concept of “Whatever we were before, we are now the Inquisition” bc leaving his past far, far behind him sounds fucking fantastic.

[meggannn]

for that hawke companions thing: fenris and bethany!

WHOOP WHOOP sorry this is late, but as you know, fenris and bethany love is My Thing, so i wanted to be properly prepared

Fenris

Did your Hawke also hate Tevinter, like Fenris? Were they influenced by him?she didn’t hate Tevinter mostly because she never thought of it. her only knowledge of Tevinter really comes from some old knowledge maybe Malcolm mentioned when she was little, and then whatever Fenris tells her, which is obviously pretty bleak.

If his personal quest was received, did your Hawke allow him to kill his sister? Why or why not?yknow I let him kill Varania the first time, then every subsequent time after, it just…. didn’t feel right, so I always convince him to spare her now. she, like, totally and unequivocally understands why he wants to – I mean, his own family betrayed him to the man who enslaved and brutalized him for years – and she gets why Fenris feels threatened/vulnerable with Varania still out there, like maybe he believes she’d find a way to manipulate or trick him again. in the moment, Fenris is so angry and hurt, and Varania is so at a loss for where to go next after losing Danarius and desperate to make her brother pay for what she went through, that I don’t think they’re in the right place to be swayed with “don’t kill her, she’s your family!” (‘cause we all know by now that family can be shit, and tbh that always seemed almost a bit unwittingly cruel to say, since yeah… she was his family, and his family just betrayed him.) so Hawke tries to convince Fenris to let her go, bc she sees Varania as a victim too, but… also it’s his life that she threatened, so it’s his choice, but she’s relieved when he tells her to just get out.

How did your Hawke’s final decision between the mages or the templars affect their relationship with Fenris? Were they forced to kill him?well you know I always side mages haha, and Fenris always has enough approval by endgame that he joins Hawke, but the first time I played he didn’t, so I was terrified I’d have to kill him until I met up with him again and managed to convince him to join me. but anyway in my canon, yeah, I don’t think it came as a surprise to Fenris when she decided to support the mages, so he wasn’t like, vocally disappointed, and he understood why, but in his head he was kind of gathering up all these I-told-you-so’s: I told you not to trust the abomination, I told you supporting mages so openly would be trouble, I told you one day you’d get in over your head – but after the battle he doesn’t say any of it ‘cause he realizes she knows it already and that saying any of it would just rub salt in the wound. so there’s like a sort of mutual understanding on both ends that this all happened to them because of her role in the city, and it affected him because they are who they are together. and there’s definitely some guilt on her part for dragging him into it and indirectly having him flee Kirkwall with her, but after some thinking, I don’t think Fenris is the type to blame her for that.

How did your Hawke respond to the mutual resentment between Fenris and Anders? Did they intervene?act 1: there was definitely some shared shared looks with Varric at first, let’s-just-ignore-it looks, then when they kept snapping at each other, she started to hang out with them separately. also, she didn’t hang out with Fenris a lot in her first few years in Kirkwall just because she didn’t like that he called her sister a snake, and she didn’t want to expose Beth to any prejudice that made her feel MORE guilty for her magic. so her rls with Fenris is cordial, but not super close; she spends more time with Anders just out of association with the expedition and because he’s nice and they happen to see each other a bit more.act 2: after spending some time with Fenris privately I think Hawke further appreciates that his mistrust comes out of completely justified fear of power in the wrong hands, and being traumatized at the hands of mages absolutely affects how he’d interact with them. after losing her sister to the Circle, Fenris does kind of ease up out of sympathy, ‘cause while he supported the Circle, he didn’t want her to lose her family (being sensitive abt family in general is definitely a thing in their rls), and he did genuinely like Beth. Hawke still does find herself siding more with mages as things get heated up in Kirkwall, and Fenris kind of… tolerates it, and is civil in the party, but he and Anders mostly try to keep their distance.act 3: ofc when things start heating up, Fenris kinda fears that Hawke’s gonna go full-on mage rights activist like Anders, and while she does support them now more than ever (having been convinced over the past few years), it seems like she’s mostly just worried Anders isn’t in a good place right now, so he doesn’t start any fights with her. he definitely speaks his mind when he has something to say, but Fenris at this point knows Anders won’t back down; though he does see him as like, a man about to hit his breaking point, whereas Fenris trying to recover and find out who he is, so tbh he mostly just tries to ignore him. when he can’t, though, I think he and Anders can be civil enough to talk about their politics in the group, but it usually doesn’t convince either of them and someone gets irritable and it never goes anywhere, so Fenris realizes it’s not worth it. Hawke in these moments never really plays mediator, like, they are both are adults and their discussions never really get nasty. also I think by this point she’s too tired of hearing fights about it and knows too much about both of them too much to think they might ever see things the other’s way.

What motivated your Hawke to be either a friend or a rival to Fenris? Were they indifferent to him?I may’ve talked about this before but anyway act 1, Hawke responded to Fenris politely enough as you do to a mercenary you meet in Lowtown one night, took him on occasional quests and invited him to the HM and blah blah ‘cause he was funny and had a good poker face and fought well with Varric and Isabela, but again she was worried about a clash between him and Beth, and then later Merrill and Anders. so she mostly brought him as necessary for the first few months of act 1 and tried to limit his interaction w Beth. funnily enough when he did meet up with Beth again he was much politer and got on a lot better, and Beth seemed to like him too (Fenris by this point having realized that he’d offended Hawke’s sister on the first night, who Hawke had worked her entire life to protect, and wanted to make up for it). after Beth is taken, he’s genuinely sympathetic, and they’ve spent some time together one-on-one so Hawke knows his abrasiveness isn’t all that he is, and all that eventually kind of snowballs into their romance near the end of act 2.

Bethany

Did Bethany become a Grey Warden or die of the Taint or was she taken to the Circle? How did your Hawke react to what became of her?Circle. I was all set to bring Beth to the Deep Roads with me before Leandra made her plea to let her stay behind, and I think Hawke was swayed by that. she wanted Beth at her side ‘cause they’d been partners in crime for years in the city by now, but Carver’s death was still fresh and she knew her mom was really protective of her youngest kid, so it made sense for only one to go. Beth was hurt by it, but she understood. when Hawke comes back to hear she’s been taken to the Gallows, she’s like……. numb. I think she was waiting for something else to go wrong; Bartrand’s betrayal, hiking through the Deep Roads for weeks on end for an exit, fighting ancient rock wraiths just to survive, hiking through the wilderness BACK to Kirkwall with all their loot, and then she loses Beth to the one place she can’t rescue her. (like, things were shit before living with Gamlen and losing Malcolm and Carver and fleeing the Blight and searching for coin everywhere, but then when she FINALLY gets money, she loses her sister? this is the beginning of Hawke’s realizing 🎶 My Liife is a Fuuuucking Niiightmaaaare 🎶)

How did Leandra and/or Carver’s death affect your Hawke’s relationship with Bethany?Carver and Hawke were close in the way that he looked up to her, as another non-mage in the family, and they sparred together and she followed him to the military, but he and Beth had that twin bond Hawke couldn’t replace, you know? I think Beth was more shaken up by it than she let on, but Hawke definitely noticed, and she kind of simultaneously shoved her mourning aside but also dealt with it, in a way, by helping Beth cope with hers.

Due to Bethany being a mage, was your Hawke influenced by her when making the choice between mages and templars?by this point she’d seen so much shit going on in Kirkwall that she was far convinced that standing up for the mages would be the right thing, even without Beth standing right there. Beth was absolutely a factor in helping her grow up with that kind of mage-glasses thinking tho. like she grew up with questions like ‘Is this a safe thing to do? will this expose us? how many chantries are in this area? what are the templars’ regular patrols?’ and then when she was in her teenager years Hawke realized, ‘well, I’m living with it by association, but Beth actually lives it. we could split up, and I could stop, but Beth would still have to live with it for the rest of her life.’ so going into Kirkwall she also sees Beth’s safety as her protection, and after she kind of ‘fails’ that, she starts to see all the other ways the system fails mages, and it snowballs.

How close were your Hawke and Bethany before they fled to Kirkwall? Did they grow closer or drift farther apart once they were settled in Kirkwall?Beth and Carver both looked up to her but in different ways and at different capacities, really just because she was the oldest. when she wasn’t taking care of the kids or helping Leandra with house/farmwork, Hawke spent a lot of time on her own or with Malcolm, so Beth knew of her sister as a protector for most of her life. when Hawke was a teenager I think they got a little closer, but then after Carver’s death, they relied on each other for emotional and moral support a lot after moving to Kirkwall. then they became kind of partners in crime working for Anita, and formed their own little squad with Varric; that was like the prime of their relationship, and it kind of stings Hawke that they were happiest together only when things were so miserable in every other aspect of their lives.

Did your Hawke stay in contact with Bethany after the mage-templar decision in Kirkwall?after fear for Beth’s safety, no, not for a while. I haven’t thought about post-Inquisition. for a long time I imagine Hawke needs to run from the Chantry, then run from the Seekers, then the Inquisition, then deal with what’s going on with the Wardens with the Inquisition, and then Weisshaupt, and who knows how long that takes. she’s still on the run from several people that want her dead, whereas Bethany was never the traveling sort if she could help it. I think Beth might settle back in Kirkwall with Aveline and Varric if the Templar situation improved post-Tresspasser, or go somewhere else in the Marches with Merrill helping other mages. they share letters through Aveline and Varric whenever they can risk it.

dragon age 2 companion meme

[youaremynewdream]

Dragon Age Asks: Hawke + Companions

God I’m so sorry I’m still bored so here’s more I’’m not even asking anymore. boop. This is for my cannon playthough, Shannon Hawke

Original ask here

Isabela 1. Did Isabela return at the end of Act II? Was your Hawke angry if she did not return? Were they pleased if she did? -Nope, she left for good :/ Hawke was upset, but understood.  2. What did your Hawke think of pirates? Did they approve or disapprove of Isabela’s title as a “pirate queen”? -She thought it was great, she always wanted to  meet a real pirate. 

3. How did your Hawke feel about Isabela’s indifference to the mage-templar war? Were they offended? Or indifferent themselves? - a bit offended, but they just decided not to discuss it. 

4. How did your Hawke respond to Isabela? Were they well-matched or ill-suited? -They were chill at first, but once things got more serious, it got harder to remain friends. 

5. Was your Hawke close with Isabela throughout the Acts of Kirkwall? Did they remain in contact with her? -First act, yes.  She does remain in contact, though not as much as she’d hope. 

Fenris 1. Did your Hawke also hate Tevinter, like Fenris? Were they influenced by him? - Yup. Screw slavery man like wtf. 

2. If his personal quest was received, did your Hawke allow him to kill his sister? Why or why not? - She didn’t let him. Family matters, she couldn’t let him do it.

3. How did your Hawke’s final decision between the mages or the templars affect their relationship with Fenris? Were they forced to kill him? - She chose the mages, but she rivalmanced him so although he was against it, he decided to go with her. 

4. How did your Hawke respond to the mutual resentment between Fenris and Anders? Did they intervene? - She was friends with anders, so she just kinda lived with it.  It reminded her of the Twins. 

5. What motivated your Hawke to be either a friend or a rival to Fenris? Were they indifferent to him? -ok I can right an essay on how in love with Fenris she is, but that would be too much.  They disagreed on so much, but they listened.  They cared.  They changed and worked together, becoming better people.  In the end that’s what mattered, is that they stayed with each other. 

Merrill 1. How did your Hawke react to Merrill’s use of blood magic? Were they shocked? Pleased? -Shocked, but okay with it as long as it wasn’t used for anything *bad*

2. Was your Hawke intrigued by Merrill’s Eluvian? Were they concerned? - she was fascinated, and wanted merrill to work on it

3. Did your Hawke understand Merrill’s attachment to her clan? Were they confused by her dedication to her clanmates? -Nah she understood familyish stuff and ties.

4. What sort of relationship did your Hawke have with Merrill? Were they protective of her? -Hawke was originally kind of romantically attracted to her, but it turned into a close friendship.  She was verrrryyy protective of her, like a sister. 

5. Did your Hawke remain close to Merrill after the end of Act III? Did their choice between the mages or templars affect their relationship? -Yup. close close clooose friends.  

Aveline 1. Did your Hawke help Aveline in wooing Donnic? What did they think of the whole affair? -Oh god yes.  Hawke would do anything for Ave, but maker is that woman not good with courting.

2. Did your Hawke empathize with Aveline’s grief at losing her husband? Did they attempt to comfort her? -She tried to comfort her, but hawke has a problem with uh... making jokes when they probably shouldn’t be made...

3. How did your Hawke respond to Aveline’s position as Guard-Captain? Did they respect her authority? -in the end she does, but that won’t stop her poking fun at Aveline at every opportuity for it. 

4. How did your Hawke’s relationship with Aveline change throughout the Acts? Did they connect to her because of their mutual escape from the darkspawn in Ferelden? -Mom friend is one of the best friends. Ye. 

5. Did your Hawke agree or disagree with Aveline’s position on the mage-templar rebellion? -Eh eventually Aveline understood and was on hawke’s mage side. 

Varric 1. Was your Hawke curious about the story behind Bianca? -Oh definitely. 

2. Was your Hawke comfortable with Varric’s story-telling hobby? Did they predict that Varric would write a story about them? - Oh yeah.  She would give him one liners to stick in whenever she could, and would retell any stories he might have missed. She demanded that she review the first copy of that book though. 

3. Did your Hawke allow Varric to keep the lyrium shard? Why or why not? -No. She knew that if that shit fucked up his brother, there was no way she was letting him hang on to the stuff. Not even if it was locked up. 

4. Did your Hawke relate to Varric’s rocky relationship with his brother? How did they feel about Bartrand’s betrayal? -It reminded her of carter, but she felt horrible that the bastard did this to her best friend. 

5. What was your Hawke’s opinion on Varric’s chest hair? - hot af wow bang me now pls

Anders 1. How did your Hawke feel about Anders’ clinic? Did they ever spend time there? - She felt comforted there.  She would come for magic neck massages just to talk.

2. What did your Hawke think about Justice/Vengeance possessing Anders? Were they unsettled? -unsettled but kinda just went with it. Everyone has their quirks.

3. What was your Hawke’s relationship with Anders like before the Chantry explosion? How did the explosion change their perception of him? -Good friends. She cared a lot about him, he reminded her of her sister.  She cares so much for the mages. She was so upset by the chantry explosion, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill him. 

4. Who did your Hawke back, mages or templars, and what became of Anders? -Mages, kept him alive.  In the end she understood the meaning behind it, even if she condemned the action. 

5. Did your Hawke believe Anders’ solution to the mage-templar problem, the chantry explosion, was the correct action? What would they have done instead? - Didn’t agree it was the right action, you can make a message without hurting people, but in the end it did make some noise. 

Bethany  1. Did Bethany become a Grey Warden or die of the Taint or was she taken to the Circle? How did your Hawke react to what became of her? - She went to the Circle.  Hawke was super upset but at least she would be okay. 

2. How did Leandra and/or Carver’s death affect your Hawke’s relationship with Bethany?  - Became SO much closer, even though they were already close.  Shannon clung on to her so hardcore, she couldn’t lose any more family. 

3. Due to Bethany being a mage, was your Hawke influenced by her when making the choice between mages and templars? - yyyyyyyup. She heavily influenced Shannon’s decision to back mages.

4. How close were your Hawke and Bethany before they fled to Kirkwall? Did they grow closer or drift farther apart once they were settled in Kirkwall? -Very close already, but became closer at kirkwall

5. Did your Hawke stay in contact with Bethany after the mage-templar decision in Kirkwall? -Yup yup yup ain’t losing contact with the baby sister nope never