#and with Anders as well during all Act.1

[arrowhawkart]

Alright what's up everyone! If you do not follow my personal blog fair warning: I have become very suddenly obsessed with Dragon Age and have been playing thru the games for the first time ever- so expect the next chunk of art from me to be very Dragon Age-centric

So Anyways here's Atlas Hawke, the fun little guy I made for my DA2 playthrough and became incredibly attached to much faster than I expected.

More incoherent rambles and thoughts on my Hawke under the cut- it's very stream of consciousness under there and also very very long you've been warned

[ID in Alt Text]

Just like.... wow.... okay so I've now played through Inquisition and finished Trespasser and I've gotta say DA2 really took the cake for me, like by far my favorite of the 3. (Like please don't get me wrong it absolutely had it's issues I'm not saying it was a perfect game or that all the writing choices were amazing) But I just really enjoyed the smaller more personal scale of the conflicts in DA2, I liked that Hawke was even more Just Some Guy, and like yeah the Warden and the Inquisitor aren't like special chosen ones or anything, but they are both tasked with these gigantic world-saving country-spanning quests, and Hawke? Hawke is just a guy trying to do right by his family. Like he doesn't have any world saving mission. He is just trying to Get By and that really made this game hit home more for me than the other two.

I said I was gonna ramble about my Hawke and I just ended up rambling about DA2 itself... whoops. ANYWAYS- Atlas- My Boy Atlas- I recognize that a purple mage Hawke is the most common route people go and I am by no means unique or original, but this game series is very new to me, personally, and I'm having fun anyways. (From here on out I will be talking about my Custom Hawke and not like, Hawke the player character in general)

And gosh I'm such a sucker for complicated and messy family dynamics, and DA2 does that so well. Like the Hawke family is Fucked Up. Bethany gets killed by that ogre while they're fleeing Lothering when she tries to save their mom from said ogre, and Leandra immediately turns and blames Atlas for Bethany's death- and then later in Act 1, Carver, best baby brother Carver, also throws Bethany's death in his face while they're having their own stupid argument which started because Atlas was trying to cheer Carver up and boy did that fail dramatically.

Like Atlas is witty and charming and sarcastic and kind of an asshole sometimes, and comes of as incredibly over confident and cocksure and that's because he's very much been shoved into the role of 'okay you've gotta take care of everything and if you don't everything bad is Your Fault, and since you're in charge of taking care of everything, everything bad is automatically Your Fault No Matter What Anyways.' So he's gotta playact like he has everything all together and under control, because what the fuck is his family gonna do if he doesn't? And underneath all of that he's an incredibly stressed out guy, who does not feel like he can ever let on that he's stressed and making everything up as he goes and just hoping that things work out well.

And like he tries to do the right thing- by god does this man try. He brings Carver with him on the deep roads mission because he and Carver work well together! Carver wants to go! He loves his little brother, there is no one he would rather have by his side than his little brother! There is no one he trusts more than Carver to have his back! Carver and Atlas are incredibly close. Like Carver is the one person who actually recognizes that the way Leandra projects all of her own issues onto them, but like mostly Atlas, is really shitty! He acknowledges that after apologizing for his part in the argument I mentioned above. And then of course Carver ends up getting the Blight during the deep roads mission, because nothing can every go right for them. Thankfully Atlas brought Anders along, so Carver is able to become a Grey Warden instead of DYING, but he has to leave, and Atlas doesn't even find out whether or not Carver survived his joining for months. And of course Leandra blames Atlas for this, she begged him not to bring Carver along with him, and he did anyways and now she's never going to see her youngest son again and it's all Atlas's fault. And that's how Act 1 ends and I just.... Auaghghghghhhh-

And then we've got Act 2, and like mid-way through Act 2 is probably the high point for Atlas. Things peak for him here and then it's all one big snowball downhill from there. So like, Atlas romanced Fenris, because this man is addicted to difficulty, and of course was going to immediately be infatuated with the guy that makes hating mages half his personality. (I mean it wasn't immediate, it was more of a slow build, mutual-trust, to friendship, to lovers thing, especially considering three years pass between Acts 1 and 2) And yeah, Atlas doesn't hide the fact that he's very into Fenris, and Fenris definitely hasn't seemed opposed to this. So after Fenris kills Hadriana and then they get together for one night- Atlas is like, riding the high of what was probably the first positive physical affection he's gotten since Carver let for the Grey Wardens three years ago. And then of course the following morning Fenris immediately breaks things off with Atlas, so what Atlas thought was going to be the start to a romantic relationship, just ends up being an ill-fated one night stand. And like! Atlas does not begrudge Fenris this! He completely understands Fenris's reasons, he is not upset with Fenris at all! He is still just completely crushed though. So yeah, things peaked for Atlas for like one very short night and then start speeding downhill. Because not long after that is when his mom is killed by a fucking serial killer. As if things weren't already fucked enough for Atlas, already having lost his twin younger siblings.

Also side note- I love the fact that DA2 is portrayed as Varric telling the story of Hawke's life to Cassandra, and that we know Varric is an unreliable narrator. Because like Leandra's last words to Hawke being that she's so proud of her strong boy- at least with how Atlas's relationship was with Leandra up to this point- felt so so out of character for Leandra, and I love the headcanon that that's Varric giving his bestie some closure narratively that he never actually got in reality. So like that's canon for Atlas. Because that was Leandra's decapitated head frankensteined onto another woman's body- and magicked into a reanimated corpse that absolutely did not seem like it had any conscious thought- like she was already dead before Atlas showed up. There were no final words. There was no nice narratively satisfying ending to that one. And I like it better that way tbh........

We're just gonna like skip over the whole qunari invasion subplot because I am. Not a fan of how that was handled. Writing wise. Like what the fuck was that. Like I have THOUGHTS about it but they're not gonna go on tumblr. Anyways. Moving on.

Champion of Kirkwall! Yay! Meredith knows he's an apostate mage and is just Waiting for any half-decent excuse to either bring him to the circle, make him tranquil, or kill him? Not yay! Atlas is absolutely good friends with Anders, and has been helping with the mage underground every chance he has. People in the city have been whispering about making him of all people Viscount and he has no idea how to feel about that, like he'd rather not, but who else is gonna do it? And who else would do it and actually give a shit about mages and elves and just like lower class people in general? Like this incredibly stressed out guy does not need more added to his plate, he really doesn't. But he's definitely thinking about it. I mean hey! It's not like he's got any family around to take care of at this point right? Why not just take that eldest daughter syndrome thing he's got going on and use it to fix the city?

The one bright spot for him here is that hey, at least he and Fenris get back together. That one's nice. They both deserve something positive and comforting after all the shit they've been through.

And then Meredith is trying to invoke the right of annulment and Anders blows up the fucking Chantry. And Atlas can't even blame him for it. After 6 or 7 years of painstakingly working to try to find peaceful ways to improve the lives of mages and getting blocked at every turn, with the knowledge that Meredith has been getting worse and worse and worse, and has been actively looking for any excuse to invoke the right of annulment and just kill every single mage in Kirkwall? And Grand Cleric Elthina has been absolutely no help, and has absolutely been subtly on Meredith's side the entire time. Like at a certain point, violence really does feel like the only option left. When you've been backed this far into a corner.

So obviously Atlas takes the side of the mages, doesn't kill Anders, is honestly like 'my dude, my buddy, my guy, my best pal(aside from Varric, and my boyfriend Fenris) why didn't you tell me? I would've helped you on purpose.' He's elated when Carver shows up during that final push to the Gallows, like the whole situation is absolutely shit, and it'd definitely be better if his beloved brother was no where near danger, but he's a Grey Warden now so that's not even an option anyways. So it's just nice to have him around even during such an intensely stressful moment. Honestly everything is so unbelievably fucked at this point that Atlas isn't even stressed anymore. Like things literally cannot get worse. He's kind of riding the high of things not being able to get worse. Or maybe that's just adrenaline. Who knows. Aveline and Sebastian both leave, Atlas is unbothered. Doesn't even try to convince Aveline to side with him later either, like he's never really gotten along with her, and he did not like how she treated Carver. Fenris and everyone else stick around, and that's what matters to Atlas, like all the people he was actually close friends with stick with him in this moment (Fenris, Varric, Isabella, Merrill, Anders, & Carver)

And then yeah, they save the mages, defeat Meredith, leave Kirkwall with the renegade mages. Everyone goes their separate ways due to one reason or another, except Fenris. At least Atlas does get to keep one positive close relationship around.

[kirkwallguy]

please elaborate your hawke-anders-varric dynamic i'll make you a ferelden pumpkin pie

i feel like for once anders is the most normal person in this situation, but that's less because he's being normal and more because varric and marcus are crazy. in act 1 / before marcus and anders start dating, he's kind of equally obsessed with them both, he has an obvious deep infatuation with marcus that he's repressing (like. you know when youre 12 and don't know being gay is an option yet so you dont understand why you get so weird about your bestie? that's him except he's doing it in his 30s.) and with anders he's always down to be Gay As A Joke, and respond to anders' flirting and silliness because it's NOT gay to want to make your depressed friend smile. the whole love triangle of it all is never considered because varric is adamant he's straight and pretty sure marcus is as well. obviously he knows anders isnt because look at him

this is sustainable for a few years but obviously marcus and anders ruin it by getting together. varric REALLY disapproves of them dating but at first he mostly acts like he's concerned about anders. he keeps talking about how it won't last and how blondie is going to get his heart broken etc etc, to the point that people are actually thrown off a little and think he's in love with anders. but no he just thinks only HE can handle marcus lol. anyway no matter how much he tries to get them to break up they won't, and he slowly starts to resent anders as marcus starts prioritising him over hanging out at the hanged man or fucking around lowtown during the day.

(also this entire time marcus kind of hates varric but in the way you'd hate a brother. which doesn't help the situation at all.)

anyway, chantry explosion happens and this is varric's final straw, he sees marcus forgiving anders as a massive symbolic betrayal. the entire narrative twists in his mind so anders has always been the problem, he writes this narrative in his book (i love imagining that he doesn't explicitly write marcus and anders' relationship and it's left ambiguous/implied lol) and sends it to marcus to make him understand, but all marcus gets from it is "holy shit, varric's in love with me." (anders finds his hilarious because he's known since they all met and just assumed that was why marcus didn't like him)

umm this makes skyhold very awkward. because marcus is having such a terrible time (missing his family and surrounded by templars) he kind of just agrees to put everything aside and be civil with varric so he has someone to drink with in the evenings/to talk him out of killing cullen. they bond over the few weeks or so marcus spends there and it's almost like old times for a moment. but then marcus is sent to take the wardens to weisshaupt and says goodbye to varric. varric makes marcus promise to visit him in kirkwall when all this is over and marcus promises but doesn't mean it. they write a handful of letters to each other when varric is made viscount but aside from that they never speak again. marcus doesn't think about him much and varric never gets over him <3

[a-drama-addict]

chloe for 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20 heehee :3

[ask game] YEAHHHH CHLOE TIMEMEME!!!!!

1. What kind of person is your OC in a crisis? Are they calm and collected? Do they panic? Or are they chronically the cause?

I mean. She is calm, usually. She likes to pretend she's calm more than anything, she wants to be well adjusted and collected during a crisis so bad but she just can't be. So she just. lies through her teeth and pretends to be calm (not amazingly)

2. Is your OC a loner or a social butterfly? Are they satisfied with how they come across to other people?

Social! Chloe likes going out a lot, enjoys making friends and even acquaintances on the regular! She's sillay like that (not relatable). As to how she comes across to other people she just doesn't.. really care? I mean she cares a little, but the general public's opinion? Eh.

4. Does your OC have a failed friendship or relationship they still think about? What happened? Is it an unresolved regret or is there a chance for reconciliation?

Hm. Carver.

It isn't failed in a sense that they don't care for one another, or that they don't love each other, or that they don't grow to understand one another. It's just the regret that their issues were never really about one another as people, just.. about the situation. The carelessness in which Chloe wanted to live and in the anxiousness Carver knew she had to live. The clashing of those two factors was intense most of the time, but it is still something she regrets. Regrets not being able to... just be with Carver in the way she wishes.

5. Does your OC have a signature weapon and/or attack? How long did they train to master it?

Blood magic for sure- but specifically kind of... slashing her wrists/palm open and infusing her blood with ice magic so she just kills bitches with blood shards. (IS this possible? i dont know its cool though). learned it from her bestie merrill <3

8. What was your OC's most embarrassing moment? Does it still bother them or are they able to shrug it off?

Hmmmm probably when she was a teen, like seventeen maybe, she tried asking out a girl for the first time ever and oh was it so scary. She had hyped herself up all night "You got this, you've got mom's looks plus dad's charm has to work!" and this would've worked if Chloe didn't get so nervous her magic acted up. And burnt every flower she picked to a charcoal-y mess. She managed to pick SOME only for it to flare up again in the moment when she gave them. she was dying internally

9. Is your OC laid back or do they thrive on drama? What role do they play in their group of friends/associates?

Chloe's pretty laid back, usually acting as more of a... passive bystander to personal dramas within her friend group. Fenris and Anders want to kill each other with hammers? Okay, she's gonna drink ale with Isabela, Varric and Merrill.

11. What does your OC believe in? God(s)? Monsters? Love? The power of unbreakable bonds of friendship to overcome any obstacle? The ability of money to open any door? Or are they indifferent?

Chloe's pretty indifferent. She believes in people, in the good of people. She really wants to believe in it, she doesn't know what else to believe in.

13. How important are romantic relationships to your OC? Do they prefer casual sex, short flings, or long term relationships? Do they want to get married or are they content with what they have? Or do they have no interest in romance whatsoever?

Chloe's relationship with romance is complicated. She yearns for it on a deep level yet doesn't know how to act around it, she can't stand the thought of marriage and yet if she is in a relationship all she wants to do is marry the woman she is dating.

When she gets with Isabela it's all very "Hell yeah the hottest woman in all of Thedas is about to sit on my face" but when she catches feelings it's like... "Can we please hold hands i want you to my mom during dinner. if that's okay. i'm sorry that was so cringe i can show my dick instead"

She does prefer long term relationships. she can't imagine not wanting it

14. How important is friendship to your OC? Do they prefer to have one or two close friends or a large group of casual friends? Or do they prefer their own company over that of others?

SHE LOVES HER FRIENDS!!!!!! SHE LOVES HAVING AN INNER CIRCLE AND OUTER CIRCLE OF FRIENDS!!!!!!!! SHE LOVES BEING IN BIG GROUPS OF PEOPLE AND BEING IN THE COMPANY OF HER LOVED ONES!!!!!!!

15. What places hold significant meaning or memories for your OC? Do they have a positive or negative association with those places?

Kirkwall. It's like, yeah obviously. But so much of what Chloe is and becomes, it's all tied to that rotten city isn't it. She's met everyone she cares about in recent memory there, met the love of her life, learned everything she could about her magic, and truly experienced a semblance of freedom. It's both Hell on earth and paradise at the same time

20. Has your OC ever done something terrible and lied about it? Did they run away or blame someone else for it? How long did they maintain the lie and did the truth ever come out?

mmmm no. Chloe is pretty upfront with all her actions even if they ended up being terrible. She owns up to the way she helped Anders, unknowingly, get supplies for blowing up the Chantry. She hates that about herself, but can't lie about her involvement. It's things like that, she couldn't ever truly lie about things of her fault. she could lie about the size of the statue in her honour while standing right in front of it, but never things she has actually done (this is where she and Varric clash a lot)

[faux-fires]

tagged by @ranilla-bean for the 20 questions meme!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 35

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 466,309. Hey, that's not too shabby!

3. what fandoms do you write for? Currently NONE. previously: dragon age, tsubasa chronicle, supernatural, fullmetal alchemist, legend of zelda...

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Your Princess is in Another Castle ("Dragons kidnap princesses, everyone knows this… except sometimes, they get it wrong. Or do they? A story about mistakes, misunderstandings, and flower crowns. Also Kurogane's non-stop never-ending suck of a life, and the idiot that causes all that chaos to begin with.")

For Better or for Worse ("A 'five things' fic, featuring five different times Hawke proposed to Anders.")

The Centre of All Things ("Hawke gave Anders a ring, after their first night together, and never quite told him what it meant. As Kirkwall begins to crumble around them, Anders struggles to strike a balance between love and the needs of the mages.")

Adjustment ("A year after the end of Act 2, Anders comes home late, and Hawke missed him.")

Bound ("Anders receives many gifts from Aggressive!Hawke across the years. He's charmed by most of them, surprised by others.")

most of my fics predate ao3 and while i backloaded the TRC ones on, I can't be bothered doing the same for the FMA fic i wrote 20 years ago. and the SPN stuff, uh, well, AO3 kind of did it for me! i woke up one day and an old archive i forgot my fic was on had been ported to the archive, all my spn fics helpfully attached to my account in the process. when i tell you i orphaned them at something like the speed of light -

5. do you respond to comments? Um.... I MEAN to, but.... i'm not great at remembering...? i really cherish every one i receive and i KNOW it's bad of me, i can only offer apologies.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i literally just write happy endings i can't answer this

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? how are defining happy??? look mikke takes the piss out of me ALL THE TIME for my definition of fluff, ever since i entered a fluff vs angst competition on the side of team fluff with a story in which one half of the otp was tortured and murdered (he got better)! *i* define a happy ending as one in which, during the course of the story, a character grows and develops. by that metric, an ending where the character loses everything and everyone they love but gains a mindset enabling them to find peace with the loss is a happy ending, TO ME. a sad ending, by contrast, is one in the character does not grow or change, and stays in the same state (or worse!) than they started the story.

so with that in mind, probably through a forest wilderness. people die! anders and hawke are rejected as monstrous by the people they tried to save! but they gained one (1) feral orphan and solved their relationship issues, d'awwww. <3

8. do you get hate on fics? nope

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, but not in EVERY story. i find smut to require a lot of effort to write! there's complex choreography and emotions to handle... the only thing harder (HEHEHE) is fight scenes for the exact same reason

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written? i'm not interested in crossovers (blorbos from series a meet blorbos from series b) but i love a good fusion fic, where blorbos from series a have always lived in the world of series b. craziest... probs the trc/wow fusion fic i wrote for an audience of three people? idk i've written a lot! i dreamed of a zukka howl's moving castle fusion a few days ago (probably inspired by chiptrillino's gorgeous illustrations she's been sharing recently) so that was pretty fun, as someone who very, very rarely remembers my dreams.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? nope!

12. have you ever had a fic translated? yeah, to russian!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? yeah, @mikkeneko and i wrote a whole SPACE OPERA. well. half of one, i guess (oops).

14. what’s your all-time favourite ship? whatever i'm shipping at the moment

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i plead the fifth

16. what are your writing strengths? EMOTIONS. also i think i write humour well?

17. what are your writing weaknesses? starting, continuing and finishing. /sob

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? even if you're fluent in that language, it alienates more people than it impresses, i think. i love using other languages as an easter egg (like rana has a character named with a cantonese pun in the iconoclast) but whole dialogue is like... very hard to pull off, and outright mortifying if you don't actually speak the language and just google translate it.

19. first fandom you wrote for? the legend of zelda! my irl friends and i (aged 13) had a massive shared self-insert 'verse going on. my first steps into fandom PROPER tho was with fullmetal alchemist.

20. favourite fic you’ve written? this is a complex question because how do you define favourite? swift illuminations was probably the most fun to write (anders vs hawke arm wrestling) and i always enjoy getting to write comedy - your princess is in another castle has my favourite lines i've ever written, for example:

"Can I go?" Yuui asked Ashura. Despairing it was, then. At least he wasn't naked. It was a low bar to meet in terms of presentation, but so far two of the six people in this room weren't making it.

these skies are breaking i've always been fond of because it's 35k and i wrote it in two days but the plot is uhhhhhh. missing. ash on the windowsill same sitch, 50k in 36 hours and my first completed multi-chapter fic but i wince at how clumsy it is when i reread it. i'm proud of a lot of my later dragon age fics because they contain better exploration of ideas and characterisation, so... idk. toss up!

but in terms of stuff i'm most satisfied with, probs 'how to love a god' this short character exploration piece i wrote for the anderszine. first time writing second person and because of the zine space limit i had a hard maximum word count too so i agonized over every word choice. i don't really edit my own stuff - i post it pretty much hot off the hoop - but i did actually enjoy doing it that time.

uhhhh so that's me. but i'm tagging.... anyone who wants to do this!

[vigilskeep]

So, how does Kier feel about all these folks following him about?

i did this back in the day when i was still playing the game near the end of act 1 i believe. so let’s see where we’re at now!

anders: both self-explanatory and far too much to explain here. love of his life! <3

varric: how many times a day can you threaten to strangle someone while it’s still affectionate?keir’s here to answer that question. he provides the aggression and leadership, varric does the thinking and diplomacy, everyone present is still trying to find a polite way to ask who’s the sidekick

merrill: amicable exes. besties. keir trusts merrill more than anyone else in the world

isabela: thick as thieves!! they can always rely on each other when it counts. he very earnestly cares about her which she finds baffling, and vexing, and has had a frankly corrosive effect on her self-preservation (she tells him all this while sitting on his lap and he’s like “do you want to go kill people together abt it because you have to get off me first”)

fenris: they have a very easy friendship because socially they click well and keir’s iron loyalty was really what fenris needed. they have their disagreements certainly but when their enemies are at the door they know who they can count on. fenris’ loyalty in the very end meant a lot to keir

aveline: increasingly volatile. they hate all each other’s opinions but are protective tanks trauma bonded for life. “it’s basically like siblings fighting,” says keir, showing up back to the estate with a black eye. “that doesn’t sound right but i don’t know enough about siblings to dispute it,” says anders. he blamed her for his mother’s death to her face. she canonically has no other friends and gets married at his house. i don’t know what else to say

sebastian: they really were friends during the game. rivalry path, sure, but friends, close ones even. he was in the party a lot. seb might have too much bloody chantry rhetoric in his head but his enthusiasm could always lighten keir’s mood. he was there for keir a lot after his mother died. but, well. we all know where this is headed

[diamond-dangeresque]

for what i do love about this game—and i love a lot!!!—there are certain things about the story i wish we had either the opportunity to do or otherwise capitalize on

and i'll throw dat shit under a readmore for spoilers. you know. for a 13 year old game lmao

(also i will be using he/him/his pronouns when referring to Hawke simply because my first playthru was Garrett Hawke and therefore i think of Hawke in those terms)

so from the second we deal with Quentin and find his stash of books and letters during All That Remains, including one signed from his "very good friend “O”" i knew two things:

Orsino is behind this, and

i want to cave his smarmy little skull in for being an accessory to Quentin's atrocities, including MY MOTHER'S MURDER

and while i am aware that this can be kinda-sorta dealt with on a Templar playthrough, what bothers me is that i have no way to Deal With This Information until basically the end of the game, which feels...i dunno, like maybe there should have been a side quest of investigating these documents either solo or with the help of Aveline, Templar!Carver/Circle!Bethany, maybe even Anders or Varric, but it feels really weird that you find a letter that definitively proves Quentin was 100% not alone in what he was doing, and Hawke's response is 🦗🦗🦗

now yes, in the immediate aftermath he's mourning or grieving or drinking himself into a stupor or whatever Hawke (yours, mine, otherwise) does to live with not being able to save his mother in time, but it's still then Very Odd that he never just...follows up on this. like "welp, mom's dead and i killed her killer, who was definitely and apparently working alone. somehow. yep."

i would love a sidequest like that works like this, slowly piecing together who could have been assisting this madman by finding additional clues, locating “O”'s dead drop point, finding out it's the Gallows's First Enchanter being this serial killer's accomplice much to [Anders's horror//Aveline's disgust//Fenris's "well I can't say this wasn't unexpected but what the fuck"//etc etc], and then like

idk

maybe you can have a chat with Meredith abt it, convince her that No The Mage Circle Isn't All Bad, It's Just Orsino, starting an investigation and then gathering the evidence needed to convict him (and maybe optionally getting him in a room and beating the unholy piss out of him, real "Smash A to Break Orsino's Nose" kinda stuff) , and thennnnnn. idk, have him hung from the Gallows!!!! good shit, justice for Leandra and all the other women murdered by Quentin, closure for you and your sibling,

or you can take vigilante justice on him and. "hey Meredith, so Orsino died. yeah, he fell down the stairs. tripped on his robes, broke his neck on the way down. terrible shame. tut, tut. (please ignore the bruises and broken bones.)"

and then we're like "welp. so the Circle needs a new First Enchanter, aaaaaand 1. Orsino had like no protege lined up for this, and 2. no one here wants to be First Enchanter anyways" so you could potentially set up smth like

Hawke can become First Enchanter if he's a Mage

Bethany can become First Enchanter (probably easier to convince her on a high Friendship rating)

One of the mages you spared (and still lives) from Acts 1 and 2 could be trained to become First Enchanter; personally I think Alain's got gumption, but to each their own, yeah?

of course i know the problem with this story is that it kiiiiiiinda pulls away from the whole "Mages vs Templars butting heads and also the Chantry blows up" story point that 2 wants to get to, though tbh I don't think these have to be mutually exclusive?

Meredith can accuse Hawke of conspiring to lead the rebellion himself and doing so by taking Orsino's place, taking advantage of Meredith's "trust" (whether or not that's true is up to you) and thus being both the more dangerous mage of the two and proving—to herself, ofc—the inherently duplicitous nature of mages as a whole

Meredith can accuse Bethany of being a tool for Hawke's conspiracy against her, effectively using nepotism to undermine her authority and maybe even fearing being replaced herself by another of Hawke's buddies (which is absolutely not true, but red lyrium is a hell of a drug, so 🤷); this can even tie back to a choice you can have on Meredith's side where you can execute your sister or not to prove your loyalty (which obv doesn't work, but y'know 🤷)

Meredith can distrust any of your First Enchanter choices due to a wide variety of reasons: lack of experience, lack of talent, your sympathy being used against you for a position they do not deserve, I Just Don't Fucking Like Them, etc etc

it also creates this cool throughline of Quentin's fuckery being a consistent B- or C-story for Dragon Age 2, underneath Mages Vs Templars and The Qunari Are Vibing (Until They Aren't).

like. if Meredith is gonna be The Big Bad Evil Person no matter what route you take, that means you do have some flexibility on the story along the way.

but the story was also cranked out in 18 months under EA's infamous pressure cooker system, so i don't blame any of the writers for Not Thinking Of These Things, i get it, i do

and if you just want to Skip That For Whatever Reason and go through with what's already there then you can also do that. i guess. (you monster.)

the only other major grievance i have with the game is that Blood Magic Hawke isn't as story-polarizing as it could be. yes i know Blood Magic wasn't as big of a deal even in Origins/Awakening as the lore and story make it out to be; as a Grey Warden you at least get the excuse of "whatever it takes to kill the archdemon, ya feel me?", but Hawke has no such excuse and if anything having Blood Magic should both 1. be a major story beat changer, and 2. be non-reversible (mostly due to the first reason; would be kinda weird if you went Blood Mage for the story stuff, then headed over to the Black Emporeum, chugged a weird potion you got from a dusty-ass shopkeep, and went "nah i change my mind")

and yes, i am also aware that Blood Magic wasn't even going to really be a thing (PC) Hawke could have, and it was basically shoved in last-minute with not much to the story to supplement that. but there is still something to be said about a lot of missed story opportunities involving this. there was also apparently a cut storyline about Mage!Hawke dealing with a near possession attempt, and that both could have unlocked Blood Magic permanently and be yet another cool way to integrate the innate Weirdness of mages into your story

........but i digress, because after that it's mostly very minor grievances about Things I Want But Do Not Have that could probably be fixed with mods if i searched hard enough.

also: no post-game cards about my friends or my lover. come onnnnn. it's literally static text on a background. this isn't hard to implement!!!

ok rant over i'm gonna crawl into a hole now and cry about anders

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi Caro 🥰 would you be willing to do a top five ranking for 1. Top Five best love/sex scene writers for romance and 2. Top five best love/sex scene writers for specifically historical romance?

Hi! Of course I would, my filter is liberal and I love talking about sex scenes so much.

So generally speaking, I think the top 5 for me would be:

Sierra Simone--just the queen; she writes so many different types of sex scenes so well; monogamous, polyamorous, f/f, m/m, m/f, any combination of the above. The scenes feel varied and unique; there is a vast difference between the intense but also kind of funny sex you'll read in The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind versus the weird, dark-yet-hot orgy scene in A Lesson in Thorns. Even the types of domination and give and take are different. Like, both Lesson and New Camelot feature an m/m/f dynamic, but the way Auden conducts himself as a dom is so different from the way Ash does. And the way Poe and St. Sebatian submit shares so few similarities with Greer and Embry's submission to Ash. She's amazing.

Joanna Shupe/Mila Finelli--there is obviously a big difference between the way she writes sex scenes as Joanna versus Mila (I would say that even the pretty intense sex in Joanna's self-published novellas isn't quite as high octane as what she writes as Mila). But either way, I think she manages to make the sex feel unique to the couples, and she makes it very interesting and at times funny. Like, even when characters are having rough sex, there's an element of humor to it when appropriate; like the scene in Mafia Madman when Enzo has Gia chained to his bed spread eagle and is fingerbanging her while his employees work on renovations in the same room, lol.

Tiffany Reisz--I think a lot of Tiffany's work straddles the line between romance and erotica, and I'm including her because like... she can write a really dark scene that does not express love in the way I imagine a lot of people see it, while still conveying the love. I mean, she wrote a Catholic priest who's an actual sadist and literally cannot get it up without inflicting pain... But I still found him very compelling and completely believe the love he feels for his lovers. Does she go too far sometimes? Yeah. But when she hits, I think she hits very well and Tiffany at her best is provocative while also creating this amazing emotional connection between the characters.

Kresley Cole--writes some of the most insane paranormal sex scenes (blood blowjobs, fucking on an altar in the jungle, heroes literally hulking out during sex) while somehow keeping you in touch with the romantic connection between the leads? Her non-PNR sex scenes are just as good. I just enjoy her creativity and total commitment to the cause. Like, I still think of her kicking IAD off with things like... Nikolai commanding Myst to come while holding her magic chain, and Lachlain chasing Emma through the woods in full beast mode to deflower her, lol.

Adriana Anders--I've only read one of her books thus far (oops) but Possession really blew me away in terms of sex scenes. Not just in terms of the kink involved (I mean, there's a consensual kidnapping) but in terms of the total acceptance of kinks and different means of sexual expression. You can feel the love and respecting for that world in her writing.

Historical-specific:

Joanna Shupe--all the same reasons as before, but I also feel like Joanna does a great job with writing sex scenes that are more inventive for trad historicals. I loved Lockwood being into rough sex, and this being treated as valid and not abusive. It feels like a lot of trad heroes have to apologize away even super light kinks to satisfy readers.

Grace Callaway--Super explicit and creative, with a focus on acts that aren't super common in historicals (butt stuff). I enjoy the kink positivity and normalization of like... the sexually voracious heroine. She writes with humor AND heat.

Elizabeth Hoyt--The icon. I love the individualized distinctions in her sex scenes, her commitment to writing sex in uncomfortable places (like death row) and the general earthiness with which she writes. It's very evocative.

Scarlett Peckham--Scarlett explicitly explores kink in her books, and writes a rarely truly submissive historical romance hero (it's not just "let her ride me" it's "thank you mistress may I have another"). At the same time, she also writes great dominant heroes. Her most recent book allowed the hero and heroine to have a random threesome with a buddy in the middle of the book. I so appreciate that approach.

Cat Sebastian--Cat's sex scenes aren't always as explicit as the above authors' (they kind of vary) but they're interesting and creative. Even when the pairing is m/f, they are not always straightforward heteronormative scenes in terms of their dynamics and preferences. She thinks outside the box.

[faithliesinashes]

Excuse me, but do you not count Fenris's Bitter pill a companion mission? You only need to take him out of Kirkwall ONCE to get it. Oh well.

I do but I never triggered it because I've been running with an all girls squad this time around. I only took him out once during Act 1 when first meeting the Arisok because I like it when he asked if the Arisok wants us to kill Javaris.

I only took Anders with me to the Deep Roads as I wanted Bethany to become a Grey Warden, something I've never had in a DA2 playthrough.

Personally I think it highlights a failure in the game design. If you failure to trigger the ambush then there should have been an alternative, hell, the ambush should trigger without Fenris in your party, which would allow you to either pursue them and then tell Fenris or, tell him what happened and then have him insist on accompanying you.

It is what it is. If I decide to use this Hawke for an Inquisition run (unlikely at this stage) then I'll just use the Keep to say it was encountered.

I'm also playing a 2 handed Warrior this time, and I always try to avoid the same weapon style non-mages in a single party.

[squirrelwithatophat]

Anders and the Blooming Rose

It’s a fairly minor part of his character, but I find it hilarious that Anders, "The Healer” of Darktown, really does not like the local brothel.  If you take him with you while purchasing “services” from Madame Lusine, you get this reaction...

“You’re not this desperate, I hope.  I treat a lot of these customers in my clinic.”

Then if you ignore the warning and do it anyways (you know, because Hawke)…

Anders: rivalry +5

It’s not a moral condemnation, a complaint about wasting time (à la Beth or Carver), or a vague expression of disgust (of the sort Fenris or Merrill reply with) — Anders, the closest in-universe equivalent to a doctor, is warning the player-character away from soliciting prostitutes on health grounds.

One interesting aspect of Dragon Age II is that it contains many more specific references to disease — which makes sense, given the medieval urban setting, where the top causes of mortality would realistically be infectious disease.  Gamlen explicitly refers to his parents dying of “cholera,” a highly lethal (even today, untreated cholera has a case fatality rate of up to 50%) water-borne illness, and the water supply in Lowtown is described as dangerously contaminated (Hawke can refuse to drink it “even on a dare,” Merrill refers to something “twitching” in the water even after boiling it).  A random NPC asking Lirene about “The Healer” complains, “I can't get my brother off the boat. The grippe's [i.e., the flu] got him bad.” Then there are the multiple references to unspecified STIs, all of which come from (or at least are associated with) Anders.

There’s an amusing line from Anders upon entering the Blooming Rose for the first time (usually but not necessarily during Enemies Among Us in Act 1):

“If someone tries to hire me again, I’m leaving.”

Now, some fans seem to read this as a claim that the Blooming Rose has tried to hire him as a sex worker, but I believe there’s a more plausible interpretation here. (Frankly, I have difficulty imagining that a brothel would be obsessed to the point of harassment with recruiting as their newest rent boy a man in his mid-30’s — and one who, need I remind you, lives in a mine shaft connected to a sewer and notorious for its toxic fumes, dumping of rotting corpses, and disease outbreaks. And no offense to any Andersmancer reading this, but is he really that good-looking?).

Most likely, the brothel is looking to hire an in-house physician (or Thedosian equivalent). Anders is referred to curing STIs and providing other reproductive care. In introducing him, Lirene says, “He's closed their wounds, delivered their children.” One of patients in her shop can be heard crying out, “My mother's in labor! The baby's come early. Can anyone help her?” To which Lirene replies, “I'll send word to the healer.” (Anders may have been delivering babies back in the Circle as well, considering that in MoTA, he says, “At the Circle, any accidental babies are taken away before the mother even sees them.” This could, however, simply be common knowledge among Circle mages). It’s also implied by Wynne that Circle mages practice contraception: “Such births [in the Circle] are seldom, as there are ways to prevent it, but it does happen.” Moreover, Anders appears to be the only person in Kirkwall willing and able to provide these medical services. There are references to useless quacks (e.g., “some purveyor of hensbane and leeches”), but it’s acknowledged in-universe that the only effective healing comes from mages. In DAI, the Inquisitor can express surprise at the presence of a “mundane” (non-mage) surgeon, who goes on to insist that such non-magical methods will be developed in the future, all of which further reinforces the (in-universe) social/cultural equation of healer as mage. Mage healers only appear to be let out of the Circle on rare occasions to treat members of the nobility, but ordinary people don’t receive such consideration. Even the viscount’s seneschal has to seek out Anders for help. In DAI, Cullen casually moons the idea of “healers’ clinics with templar support” (among other potential “opportunities to work outside the Circle”) as a totally novel solution to mage “resentment” over confinement. The Chantry thus far wasn’t willing to release mages to treat sick commoners even with phylacteries to deter escapes and Templar overseers breathing down their necks the entire time; in fact, they were rather reluctant to let out even a handful of senior mages to fight alongside the king against the Blight, something which threatened everyone’s lives fairly equally (and even then couldn’t resist the temptation to make the mages feel as unwelcome as possible). “The Healer of Darktown” was well-known to illicitly (that is, in defiance of Chantry restrictions) provide health care for free to the masses, and this service not surprisingly had earned him quite the number of admirers and defenders. Lirene resists being threatened for information about him by saying, “Any Fereldan in the city would lay down his life for the healer, after what he's done for us,” and a mob of Ferelden refugees even prepare to attack the heavily-armed party out of fear that the latter might harm him or report him to the Templars.  His Act 2 Codex likewise reads: “When not with the Champion, he spends his time among the Fereldan refugees in Darktown, healing their ills and counting on their loyalty to protect him from curious templars.” Should it be a surprise then that a private business might be interested in his skills, especially when disease is threatening their bottom line and injuring customers?  

In the game, we actually see two frequent patrons of the Blooming Rose end up in Anders’s clinic for treatment.

Dissent (Act 2), if Isabela has been left behind:

Anders: ...don't come running to me next time you pick up one of these diseases.

Isabela: Isn't that the point of magic?

Hawke: I don't want to know.

Dissent (Act 2), if Isabela is in the party:

Seneschal Bran: And that will, ah, stop the itch?

Anders: Yes. Though I would stay away from women you meet in the port. Pirates tend to... dock in unsavory places.

Isabela: I heard that!

Anders: Just use the salve if it comes back.

This is probably also what Isabela is referring to in the opening to Speak to Fenris (Act 2):

Isabela: So the seneschal's tax collector won't be coming around again, like you asked. Funny story.

Fenris: I'll pass, but thank you for the help.

Isabela: Spoilsport.

Seneschal Bran appears to be a regular with a particular fondness for Serendipity, a drag queen (or transfemme?) and one of the highest-paid workers at the Blooming Rose, whose gender nonconformity is generally Played for Laughs.  Bran can be seen on a “date” with her at Duke Prosper’s party during Mark of the Assassin, and Serendipity can later be heard commenting, “I haven't seen the seneschal much lately. Don't tell me the man's gone religious” (to which someone responds, “No, he just keeps terrible hours now”).

Isabela, of course, talks about sex and her enjoyment of brothels (including the Blooming Rose) quite frequently.  In Dragon Age Origins, we meet her dueling two men at The Pearl (Denerim’s main brothel), and she can (in)famously be talked into a threesome or foursome with the Warden and their LI, although in that game it was unclear whether she was hiring prostitutes or simply ended up there in the course of searching for dueling partners (given that the building had been occupied by mercenaries, and one of the optional quests in Denerim is to clear The Pearl of disruptive mercenaries on behalf of the city guard) or following/checking on her crewmen. In DA2, it is confirmed that she was going to The Pearl for sex, and Anders remarks, “You used to really like that girl with the griffon tattoos, right?” to which Isabela replies with the name “The Lay Warden.”

(For now, I’ll just ignore the unfortunate implications of Bioware depicting a promiscuous black woman repeatedly contracting STIs and unrepentantly spreading them to white men for blackmail purposes.  But yeah, yikes).  

Historically, the emergence of STIs as a major social problem has been associated with urbanization and military mobilizations — basically, situations in which large numbers of individuals had opportunities for unprotected sex, especially with multiple partners, away from the usual social control mechanisms such as cockblocking parents (and virtually all sex was unprotected until latex condoms began to be mass-produced in the 1920s-30s). Without the safety measures we have in place in licensed brothels today (e.g., condom requirements, regular STI testing), brothels and red light districts were superspreader bonanzas, and perhaps unsurprisingly, medical professionals tended to take a rather dim view of them, to put it mildly. Modern readers often historical interpret opposition to brothels and camp followers (in the military) on the part of medical and public health authorities as expressions of prudery, religious conservatism, and/or misogyny, and to be frank, they very often were. Yet at the same time, in the pre-condom and pre-antibiotic era, STIs represented a major public health burden and cause of disability, disfigurement, infertility, and premature death, and there few practical measures beyond simply urging everyone to keep their pants on (which worked about as well as one might expect).

Circling back to Anders, it's notable that he takes a much more negative view of sex in the second game than in Awakening, during which he seemed eager to hump anything that moved. This could at least in part reflect the influence of Justice, who seems to regard anything other than fighting for justice and engaging in public service to be "selfish" and even slothful (as in demon-y sloth). Or simple aging and maturity. Or, on a meta level, it could be an odd re-characterization due to the change in writer. But I like to think that his newfound discomfort with no-strings-attached boning is an unfortunate side effect of being a charity doctor working into the late hours to accommodate an endless stream of dick wart patients. It's already a shame that his clinic and service for the poor is relegated to such a background element, especially given the role such work would realistically play in forming a person's character. In terms of character development, it would have been interesting to explore how his work in the clinic could itself had a radicalizing effect — after all, it would bring him face-to-face with the tragic consequences of Chantry policy on mundanes (rather than just mages) as well as demonstrate magic’s contribution to the greater good on a daily basis. But this angle unfortunately never comes up in-universe.

TL;DR What I'm actually saying is that the real tragedy of Anders's character arc is the profound decrease in sluttiness between the two games.

[ziracona]

Okay but a follow-up sort of to last night’s post, about Anders, and his entire issue with Justice being his internalized self-loathing, guilt, and fear, over being a Mage, drilled in by the chantry, and not his rage or hate or the act of having combined with Justice at all. I mentioned Bethy my beloved little sister in passing as determinately the only character besides Hawke who can be supportive of Anders (until the end of Act 3, when Isabela and Merrill both determinately get a hell of a glow-up as well). I just want to say shout-out to Bethany? And what a fundamentally wonderful force she can be in Anders’ life? (Assuming she’s the living sibling, and becomes a Warden, not a Circle Mage). As Hawke, even being kind to Anders as much as you can, you have /no/ option to tell him he’s straight up right about Justice and what he did or is doing, until /Act./ /THREE./ before then, you can be sympathetic to his struggles and supportive of his general efforts, but that’s it. Bethany? Is WONDERFUL. To him in Act 1. Here’s a collection:

She gets him, she likes him, she understands him, she supports him and validates his cause. She’s a lot like him. But maybe most singularly notable? Until Hawke’s opportunity during Alone in Act 3, she is the only character in the entire game who does or can condone Anders’ choice to save Justice, and try to help him feel better about it.

I haven’t got all their Act 1 dialogue for Legacy, but I took them and Varric during Act 1, and they were great. She, Hawke, and Varric were so understanding and kind and worried about Coryphius’ influence. Anyway I know the appeal of playing a Mage!Hawke is hard to get past, but I am /begging/ you guys to try Rogue or Warrior because Bethany is easily one of the best characters in the game.

[hanna-kin]

Nyhetsmorgon - Edvin Ryding

Second interview

Anders: Finally...Edvin Ryding, welcome. Congratulations, 2021 years Rising Star at the Stockholm international film festival.

Edvin: Thank you very much. 

Jenny: Does it make you happy though? Because you've been in the business for many many years already.

Edvin: It's been a slow rise... not but of course it makes me happy. It's an honour and it made me quite surprised because the other actors that were nominated are amazing. 

Jenny: But you've been in Gåsmamman for instance and many other shows, even as a child actor and now you've grown into more adult roles. This summer you had your international breakthrough when Young Royals was released on Netflix. How would you describe how it has changed other people's view of you?

Edvin: Wow, I don't know. I hope that people have not gotten a different view of me because I don't see myself as a different person now but of course I've noticed that I have a lot more people paying attention to me now compared to before.

Anders: In what ways do you notice?

Edvin: My followers on instagram have increased a bit...

Jenny: Quite a lot actually.

Edvin: Yeah by one million. Sure they have increased a lot. People get in touch and are really proud and happy...and moved. It's really beautiful.

Jenny: Do you get other types of job offers now?

Edvin: Yes and no.  When you do a really popular role there's always a risk that you'll get type cast. There's been many offers for roles that are very similar to Wilhelm but of course other types of roles as well. Maybe more offers than before. And more international offers. 

Anders: You've done so many things. You started out at five years old. Then we've seen you in gåsmamman season after season. Let's watch some clips. You are realy young in the first seasons...

Anders: What has it been like doing this kind of role that has grown up from a little kid to almost an adult. 

Edvin: It's been nice. I think it's been...It's kind of unusual to get the opportunity to work with the same character for so long and get to portray him growing up. I was tiny in season 1 and now you almost got dad vibes with taking the kids to daycare.  

Jenny: BUt can you also reflect on the things you've learned when it comes to your job as an actor during this time?

Edvin: Absolutely. BY season two I think, Stasse Soulis, who's also on the show, said to me: The best thing about this job is that the more you learn about being an actor the more you realise how much you've yet to learn. You'll never master it. And I've really learned alot from Gåsmamman. 

Jenny: We actually have a message for you

Edvin: No way? Really?

Stasse: Hi, Edvin, congrats to your award.I'm so proud of you. I'm not surprised at all because I know how good you are. And I'm so happy that you finally get to show it to so many people all over the world. A huge congratulations. I love you, bro.

Edvin: That's so sweet. 

Jenny: Do you have some sort of mentorship between you? 

Edvin: Yes definitely. Stasse has taught me alot. He's had a similar journey to me. He also started out young and has continued acting. He's been a great support. Even in private life with school and how he's managed school and work at the same time. I love Stasse. He's really wise.

Anders: There will be a season 2 of Young Royals. Have you read the script?

Edvin: No, not in its entirety. I've had them tell me a few details. But soon we'll be in full production.

Anders: How does it feel, making a season 2 with those high expectations? 

Edvin: There's some pressure, of course, because we have an audience that wants a lot and likes to give their own tips for plots and such. At the same time we are not doing it for the audience. Don't get me wrong. We love that the audience is watching and likes it but the main purpose is to tell a story. And I believe that it will be a really good season.

Jenny: We had David Dencik here last week who stars in the latest Bond movie. If you could dream big, pick one director or movie you'd really want to do internationally.

Edvin: I'd like to do a Wes Anderson movie. Lately I've been a bit obsessed with him. I think he is incredible. He almost has his own genre. 

Jenny: I can see you in a movie of his.

Edvin: Really? Okay... We'll see. JUst call your agent...let them work. 

Edvin: Exactly

Anders: You are in high school and you are going to school after this interview. HOw's your attendance? 

Edvin: It's okay. I got a warning a month ago that it's been a bit low. I'll be in school during autumn and next term will be a bit more challenging. BUt I only have one year left.

Anders: Your goal is to graduate?

Edvin: You'll see me at graduation. 

Jenny: And you'll ride on the back of a lorry?*

Edvin: I hope so. It would be fun. If everyone gets vaccinated and the cases of covid keeps being low I hope to have a traditional graduation. 

Jenny: It will be exciting to follow your journey. Thank you for coming here. And congratulations on the award.

Edvin: Thank you so much and thank you for having me.

 *a tradition that graduates go together with their class on the back of a lorry or a huge trailer after a tractor. It’s wild and dangerous and not covid safe.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Råsundastadion Stockholm, Sweden - June 7, 1986 (Part-2)

Freddie's voice is in top shape tonight, and he sings many of the songs closer to the record version than ever before. He sings One Vision with such excitement (he messes up a few words, but the feeling in his voice overrides any shortcomings). It's clear that he's thrilled to be back on stage. The first few shows of the tour really exhibit the post-Live Aid energy. The band doesn't follow Freddie's "one more time" cue out of the breakdown in A Kind Of Magic, but they recover perfectly well. A couple bars later, he says, "Keep on going!" After the song, "I don't care what you say. I like the rain. I like it. If you don't like it, fuck you!" In the ensuing vocal exchange with the audience (showcasing Freddie in brilliant voice), the audience are right with him - for a while. After holding a very high note for a few seconds which the audience can't match, he says, "Wait a minute," then on his next offering, he increases the power and length of the note, which they can't quite match either! Freddie, after Another One Bites The Dust: "For those of you who don't know, this is the start of our new American... American, new European tour, right?" Bohemian Rhapsody is played very early in the set tonight - an experimental move on their part, as it was quickly moved back to where it belongs for the remainder of the tour. The impromptu that follows is a pretty unique-sounding one, during which Freddie sings 'Get Down Make Love' a few times. Brian, before Love Of My Life: "It's very nice to be back in Sweden after a very long time. Thank you most of all for believing in us. We love you." He then says to Freddie, referring to his 12-string acoustic, "There's no chance of getting it in tune; I'm sorry." After the audience sing part of the first verse on their own, Freddie shouts, "What about the people in the back? Hey!" Freddie still tells a variation of the same joke before Crazy Little Thing Called Love on most nights. "I only know three chords on the guitar, and you'll be hearing two of them in the next song." One of the opening acts on many nights of the tour is Gary Moore, once a member of Thin Lizzy who opened for Queen on their North American tour in 1977. Pics 1 and 7 were submitted by Alessio Rizzitelli, pic 2 is from Fabio Tosti. Here are a couple pro pics from the opening night of the tour:

Here are a couple reviews of the show in Swedish.

(x)

Fan Stories

“On June 7th 1986 I was at the first Queen Magic Tour gig of all at Rasunda Fotbollsstadion. I remeber that I never had seen such a huge lighting rig or stage, for that matter, ever. The energy was awesome and Queen really did great for a first gig of a tour. They never played Friends Will Be Friends but I didn't care since all the songs were huge numbers. Rasunda was absolutely sold out and this gig remains the best done gig in Sweden ever.” - Anders

Part-1

[thenugking]

🖊

While looking through my blog, I realised I’ve never actually talked about Forest Hawke here, which is a crime. So here’s a bunch of stuff I copied over from an old skype chat about them.

BACKSTORY

Gets caught by templars when they’re 12 and taken to Kinnloch Hold

They’re very convinced they're gonna escape real soon and go back home!! They meet a nice friend called Anders, and plan an escape together.

They get back to their home village, discover their family have Moved On, develop a bunch of abandonment issues over that, get caught by templars, have their legs broken for trying to run away, one of which never sets properly, yell at Anders for instigating all this, and decide escaping is Hopeless and no one cares about them and they just need to look out for themself

They make their second escape during the Blight, when the Circle’s going to hell and they’ll easily be presumed dead in the chaos. The Warden’s party helps them get out and when Forest says they plan to go to Denerim and catch a ship out of the country, Zevran recommends they find his friend Isabela.

Forest ends up becoming Isabela’s quartermaster, (and also best friend who steals qunari relics with her)

Due to the bad leg, they can’t move around a lot during fights (and probably using any staff they have as a walking stick anyway) but they’re very skilled at entropy magic, and people fighting Isabela often find themselves getting slower and clumsier while the Definitely Not Apostate quartermaster watches on.

They stick together once they reach Kirkwall, Forest looks up the family they once had in the city, discovers the family estate is now owned by slavers, and invites Isabela along to kill slavers and hang out in an abandoned mansion pretending to be fancy nobles

They run into Carver and Aveline Also killing slavers there and have an Awkward Family Reunion.

FUN FOREST FACTS

Forest’s first response to danger is Murder. They kill Cullen after Enemies Among Us because he recognised them. (before escaping on the Deep Roads expedition), rip that guy.

They also kill Varric during Act 2, because they fucking hate the creepy stalker dwarf who keeps telling people stories about them while they’re trying to keep a low profile, butting into their love life, gets a guy killed by spreading stories about treasure in the Deep Roads, and is buddies with templars.

Feelings are Difficult and Scary. During Act 1, Forest trusts no one except Isabela, and that’s because they know she understands that you have to Put Yourself First.

They definitely Don’t move into gamlen’s house in Act 1, they still don’t know how to feel about being reunited with Leandra and Carver. (They get along with Gamlen fairly well. Not going through a year in indentured service helps.)

I spent Weeks agonising over whether to romance Fenris or Merrill with them and constantly going back and forth, before settling on Fenris because Forest needed an extra few years to actually be able to handle a romantic relationship, and I wanted Merrill to be with Bela. Fenris and Forest get to bond over escaping captivity, dealing with chronic pain, and being very snarky together <3

LIVEBLOG COPY/PASTE TIME

lirene: there is a healer in dark town who is perfect and selfless and heals the poor without asking anything in return forest: wow what a boring fucking saint. anyway i need to find him. lirene: he's an apostate and his name's Anders Forest: his name's w h a t now?

*

Forest: Isabela is my oldest friend Anders: Um?? Hello?? What about me?? Forest: I've known her longer than any of you Carver: I'm your BROTHER?! Forest: Isabela. My Oldest and Dearest Friend.

*

.......okay but there's absolutely no reason thrask should ask me for help

I told him I wanted to bring feynriel to the circle, very much Did Not let him know i found feynriel and sent him to the dalish, and then blackmailed him over his daughter being a mage

like where the fuck did he get the impression that i'm anti-circle?? I mean yes I Am massively anti-circle but he doesn't know that

"Arianni tells me you sought a better path than the Circle for her son Feynriel"

godDAMIT arianni

*

Forest: Hmm mage rights but for me only I think? The rest of u are on ur own

*

forest discovered they do in fact give a shit about their little brother when he collapsed with the darkspawn taint

maybe even More than one shit

also they threatened to kill stroud if he didn't help

anyway carver told them leandra's never been the same since they got taken by the templars, and cried for days when it happened, and she misses them so much and please let mum be a part of your life again?? forest agreed bc it turns out losing their family a second time Upsets them, huh, who knew

they also apologised to anders for Everything

*

Dumar: But now, the Arishok has requested you, by name. What did you do? Forest: I Absolutely did not help steal the qunari's most sacred item Oh Maker I am going to be murdered

they are VERY UNCOMFORTABLE right now

"Give him what he needs to keep the peace. Can you do that for Kirkwall?"

regrettably, no I absolutely can not

*

dragon age: ah you see Petrice is a Very Cunning Manipulator, the viscount asks if she harmed the qunari herself or Told the mob to attack, and you realise that No, she didn't actually do anything you can get her for!!! Forest: Oh yeah she straight up told the mob to kill the qunari and attack us. Promise.

*

Love how at the end of act 2 after aveline goes "okay tomorrow we need to go and speak to the arishok and it's super important, be very careful"

Forest and Isabela had been planning to get the book and fucking Dip, but Forest ended up staying behind to cover her escape, and now the city’s about to go to shit and they don’t know if they’re ever going to see their best friend again.

They arrive to the Arishok meeting late, after drinking way too much the previous night at a seedy little bar, waking up very hungover in last night’s clothes and deciding they'll walk down to the docks and decide whether to speak to the arishok or throw themself into the sea when they get there

arishok: Forest is the only person I respect in this city forest: hey dipshits isabela has your stupid book and she's fucking miles away by now *throws up on the arishok's shoes*

*

Larius: When your father was here, he was fascinated by the architecture, and kept stopping to examine carvings. A learned man :) forest: wow...... what a fucking nerd

*

you didn't have to kill Larius, janeka. you should have let ME do that

*

Everyone Stop Acting Like Forest Is A Selfless Noble Hero With Kirkwall's Best Interests At Heart

like the start of act 3 is just Orsino: hey everyone, doesn't meredith suck? Hey! Hey forest! Meredith sucks, right? Forest, from the market: Huh? Yeah! everyone: omg... the champion is so brave... so inspirational.... really taking a stand…

*

The good thing about being a Famous Noble is that you get a whole load of money you can use to secretly have a new ship built for ur bff and then when people get mad that you helped blow up a chantry and kill a bunch of templars, you and your friends can just bundle a bunch of mages onto the ship and get the fuck out of there. Bye kirkwall it’s pirate time now <3

[eurekq]

>be me >today i will make a height chart for my da protags and their love interests >okay maybe ill make it an outfit and color reference too >well i dont want it to be too boring to look at >draw this

so here we are with all my sweet little ladies and their lis :]!!! from left to right: cassie cousland, marian hawke and anders, aoife lavellan and cullen, rhiannon tabris and alistair, cecelia hawke and fenris, melly cadash and sera

LOTS of extra stuff under the cut!!!

lovely da protag templates are from marian churchland!

dear sweet cassie, partaker in the forbidden non-romantic alistair marriage that the game never knows how to acknowledge. very much the definition of gaslight gatekeep girlboss. and by that i mean a genuinely bad person in the sense that she tends to toy with peoples feelings. had an extremely public affair with anders during the events of awakening. It takes a good 5 years for her and alistairs marriage to be anything even approaching functional. extremely savvy, ambitious, and charismatic; a great politician and an extremely effective ruler. morrigan is her closest friend in the world (yes i know i never had her in my party. thats because im bad at video games and needed a healer.) and they’re like sisters.

my default hawke. 6′2, buff as shit, slept her way through half of her friends before finally settling with anders. she’s a blood mage and her first use of blood magic was during a particularly nasty fight where she got speared through the stomach. she carves herself up for mana; anders puts her back together. does things in anger and impulse and then regrets them (see: giving isabela to the arishok, never reconciling with carver after leandras death). mean if you dont know her, intensely protective if you do, but takes betrayal extremely poorly. constantly taking action, even if it doesn’t turn out very well; she is physically incapable of being a bystander. her and anders are my fave da couple ever... ask me about my post da2 hcs <3 theyre happy and have a daughter named bethany :] she punched cullen in the mouth at the end of da2 so hard that it left that scar.

literally is there anything like your first dai playthrough being an elf. aoife is... remarkably well realized in my brain for a character who’s life began as my friend chanting “goth elf! goth elf! goth elf!” over my shoulder while i was in character creator. very affable and friendly, but extremely politically adept with a capability for subterfuge that even she isn’t fully comfortable with. huge history buff. solas was like a big brother to her and her faith was extremely important to her so trespasser was crushing. very curious, especially about magic; definitely learned some blood magic from hawke after hearing dorian and solas talk about it. dorian is her closest platonic friend, but cullen is her rock. as in he is literally so normal compared to everything else that happens to her and she loves him for it. also her and hawke are friends and a scenario that lives rent free in my mind is them hanging out while anders and cullen attempt to kill each other in increasingly looney toons-esque ways in the background. she turned out remarkably pretty for an inquisitor... look at her

....and that’s it for my canon timeline. onto the secondary timeline!

DEAR SWEET RHIANNON. 4′8 powerhouse with a sword longer than she is tall. i first played rhiannon with a friend who was very new to rpgs and she picked all of the mean dialogue options because she thought they were funny, which led to me discovering that alistair reacts oddly and kind of hilariously well to being made fun of by a female warden pre-duncan dying. rhiannon is fun in that she literally gives no shits about conflict avoidance; if you start something with her, she’ll see it through. disliked alistair on principle and poked fun at him when they first met, but after the events at ostagar bonded to him extremely strongly. very close to him pretty much at the exclusion of all her other companions. extremely strong willed, laughs loud and smiles wide, no real concept of subterfuge except for when she’s hiding her own pain, generally goes in the path of least resistance if it gets to her goal faster. #1 arl eamon hater. she looks pretty different when i draw her compared to how she looked ingame but this screenshot of her doing the like. dead deer tinder profile pic pose is extremely powerful

cecelia is the truest tragic hawke that i’ve played (rip cecelia. you had the misfortune to exist in the warden alistair timeline). lost carver, lost bethany in the deep roads, lost her mother, believes that fenris has left her. act 2; a real rough ride for cecelia. aside from all the tragedy, she’s tough as nails, direct, and extremely blunt. very cautious in combat, even more so since she lost both carver and bethany. plans upon plans upon plans and prefers to strike unseen and unheard from the shadows. DEEPLY in love with fenris, best friends with isabela and merrill. aware of anders affection for her and keeps some distance for both their sakes; after the chantry explosion she helps him fake his own death on the condition that she never sees him again. when terrible things are not constantly happening she has a very dry wit, part of the reason her and fenris get along so well. too many bad things happen to her for someone with such nice thighs and such a stylish cape. her save file had some weird bugs with companion like.... staring???? in weird directions???

the absolute energy here. she also turned out very pretty in inquisition.

melly is easily my most powerful da oc. not in terms of in-universe power (although sword and board reaver is like. unkillable.) but in the sense that she is a catholic (read: andrastian) mid-40′s widowed mobster milf. she’s very close to cassandra and vivienne and consults them for advice before she goes to her actual advisors. even she was surprised by her relationship with sera; she finds sera’s unique sense of humor very charming and really likes pulling silly pranks with her as a reprieve from her everyday life. when she’s not with sera, she tends to be very pragmatic and logical when making decisions for the inquisition and has a very defined sense of purpose. she takes her role as both as the inquisitor and the herald of andraste very seriously. she’s very warm and soothing to be around during off hours and random inquisition members will often drift towards her for life advice. first draft of her and sera in this drawing had sera wearing this

[holydragon2808]

Thoughts On Dragon Age II after Replaying (Massive Spoilers)

Hello fellow DA fans! It's been quite some time since I last posted anything here on Tumblr. Hope everyone has been safe during all of the world's craziness. Figured I'd post something to let people know I'm still alive.

Anyway, DA2 was first released back in 2011. I was 20-21 years old at the time. Back then, while I still acknowledged the lack of genuine player agency with Hawke (in comparison to the Warden before them), I did belong in the camp of people believing that people went way overboard with the DA2 critiques regarding those complaints, at least back then.

Now though? After replaying the game again a decade or so later, and also in light of the Inquisitor and DAI, I now personally believe that Hawke's story stands out as (overall), all the more unbalanced in comparison to both the Warden and Inquisitor.

Massive Spoilers for the franchise abound beyond this point. Last warning.

Despite a lot of the old critiques leveled at DA2, it isn't a 100% terrible experience, and despite the oncoming rant, I do love the game overall.

Even though I've personally always thought that DA2 story was centered around tragedy a bit TOO much, in light of the growing franchise and the directional tone of the other protagonists thus far, it unfortunately stands out even more to me, and not in a good way.

A shame really because DA2 could have been a better and interesting contrast to DAO in tone and direction had it been more balanced with meaningful successes and failures for Hawke as a character rather than veering too far over into angst and tragedy.

For example, in DAO, your Warden character is railroaded into success against the Blight no matter what. Regardless of the origin, regardless of what sort of allies you acquire, no matter if you live or die in the end or which warden gets the final blow, you succeed.

This sort of narrative framing gave the writers a much easier way to balance genuine tragedy and success throughout the journey without veering too far in one direction or the other, and also without making nearly everything the player does seem like an exercise in futility.

In other words, there were failures and successes more properly balanced throughout, from experiencing meaningful failures and heartache during the chosen origin stories, to failure at Ostagar, to having more balance with the party members and their struggles (they weren't too boring or too dysfunctional), romances that stood out as a light for the Warden amidst all the fighting and death and their massive burden, to succeeding with building the army to take on the Darkspawn, to potential personal sacrifice to save the world and so on.

The option to play a more tragic, angsty or "evil" character who alienates everyone around them and then ultimately dies in the end is there too. The point is that the game largely gave the player the reins and let THEM decide what sort of story they were interested in shaping within the confines of the narrative railroading.

This balance just isn't there with DA2 as the player progresses. Hawke is railroaded into failure in almost every way from start to finish, whether in their personal life or with the massive political struggles in Kirkwall.

I'm sure most people would have been fine with the main plot between the mages/Templars spiraling out of their control in the end (thanks Anders), the Qunari rampaging no matter what, and even the Hawke family being forcefully separated as the story progressed.

However, to me some of the railroaded bleak tragedy should have been offset by Hawke (and by extension the player) at least having the OPTION of being able to keep their family alive.

I'm fine with the tragedy of losing the whole family being ONE POSSIBLE option in the game, but when this tragedy along with the main plot failures, the dysfunctional party members that are too problematic to help ease Hawke's burdens (in fact, they all add to Hawke's worries, which if Inquisition shows anything, that it finally takes its toll on Hawke) is THE ONE AND ONLY OPTION in light of everything else wrong in Kirkwall, then that's a potential writing issue and could potentially alienate the player more than make them care about anything that happens and wonder why they aren't given the option to just nope out and leave Kirkwall to its fate.

Tragedy can be fine, don't get me wrong, but not everyone wants to role play a COMPLETE AND UTTER tragedy from start to finish with no option to deviate in any way from that narrative. Options in the way people progress (especially where people can break the story down and see the holes in the narrative where it COULD have possible but just wasn't allowed), should be presented in a ROLE PLAYING game.

I personally find it more realistic and relatable when a character experiences a nice blend of both MEANINGFUL success and failure. However, the writers seemed intent on railroading Hawke into just being at the mercy of the main plot with little to no agency.

In stark contrast to DAO, planning for the entire story in DA2 (or just in an RPG period) to end in failure no matter the player choices is already a bold enough risk on its own. It can definitely work with the proper balance of both positive and negative experiences along the way though in both the political and personal aspects of the player characters life, to keep the player actively engaged in a way that doesn't leave them thinking that their presence in the story amounts to little more than the equivalent of holding a book and simply turning the page rather than actively doing something.

But combining an already planned bleak ending with a very corrupt setting where the leaders on all sides are either completely moronic or passive, party members where the majority of them have too many burdens of their own to give Hawke a genuine sense of a reprieve from the madness even if romancing one of them (except for Varric, Aveline, and Bethany, if alive, everyone else is either a whiner or dysfunctional. It's very telling that Hawke's PET DOG gets more no strings attached visits from the party members than Hawke does. Just saying), railroading Hawke to lose the majority of their family in some way, AND having what little success and influence Hawke DOES acquire to come back and bite them in the ass in the end (Hawke struck it rich and became Champion of Kirkwall?! Awesome!.....right up until its revealed the red lyrium idol they found in the deep roads played a part in screwing up everything), then at that point, a serious argument can be made that the writers veered far too heavily into tragic overdone melodrama for some people.

How cool would it have been to be able to leave the game with "Well, okay, I couldn't do anything about the corruption in Kirkwall or the mage/Templar tensions spiraling out of control, but at least my whole family is alive and well"? There could have even been an achievement/trophy for this very outcome called "The pride of the Hawkes" or something.

Just one possible example of how the railroaded political failures could have been offset by giving Hawke, (and by extension the player), the OPTION for personal success in a more meaningful way. The option for extreme tragedy with some or even all of the Hawkes dying can still be there of course for people who want that degree of angst, but again having multiple OPTIONS is more likely to accommodate more people and their preferred play styles or stories, and thus, give more reasons to play the game multiple times.

As it stands now, sure, Hawke can save the life of one sibling, but they're still railroaded into losing one of them before the prologue is over, the other is either killed by the Blight or forced from their side in act 1 because the game said so, and the mother is forced to die in the most shock value induced way possible (nevermind not even being able to warn Leandra in act one or follow up on this quest until it's too late in act two or the guards and Templars being forcefully incompetent for this to play out like the writers want).

Those have just been my thoughts as of late. Some people argue that in a way, this is the entire point of the game. That sometimes only REALLY crappy choices exist and there may not be a third option. I agree with that to a point.

But "there might not be" and "there NEVER is" an option for an ideal third way are two very different things and IMO, DA2 suffered in veering far too heavily in the direction of the latter, often being too focused on heartbreak and shock value (looking at you "All That Remains") to really work as well as it could have.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts a decade later. Make no mistake, I still love DA2 for what it is, love the general concept and idea of DA2, just not the execution. It's just sad to me that this game could have been so much better with more development time, more options to shape Hawke's story on a more personal level (whether with an ideal outcome of everyone in the family living, or a semi tragic one where some can die depending on choices, or everyone dying), and not being railroaded into tragedy to nearly nigh ridiculous levels to the point where a giant spider nightmare residing in the Fade in a whole other game mocks Hawke for their "failure is the only option" status.

And just to further clarify my point here, true, Kirkwall was a ticking time bomb with or without Hawke being there. They made the tensions between the two factions apparent as far back as DAO. A Mage/Templar war was all but inevitable, as was Anders eventually losing himself to Justice/Vengeance and after exhausting all peaceful options, finally doing the unthinkable and "forcing everyone to choose a side". That part was fine. And it makes sense for this part of the story to remain static and unchanged no matter what (as I said before, the issue isn't necessarily that DA2 had a planned tragic ending or was framed as a set story within a story).

The issue is that, at the end of the day, regardless of whether this is framed as a recounting of events already played out, Bioware still chose to present this part of the story to the world as an RPG, not a novel. It's just too easy to pick apart the current execution of the narrative and find too many holes and inconsistencies, far too easy to see that Bioware wanted tragedy and completely railroaded the player into it regardless of whether or not it made sense to do so at times. Part of it is definitely that it was rushed, but not all of it.

" Genuine inevitable tragedy" (example: the mage/Templar rebellion) and "railroaded and just never given the option to question/change anything because the game/developers said so but still forcefully insisting and trying to frame it as an inevitable tragedy" are two very different things (outright confirming in Act 1 that the remains of the serial killer's vicitms did indeed belong to one of the missing women (Ninette's wedding ring) and he gave them white lilies but conveniently never given the option to bring any of this up to the guards/Templars or pursue the quest or warn Leandra until it's far too late). Leandra's death isn't the only example of this problem, but it definitely is one of the most prominent and IMO, takes away from the intended story of a good woman who met a bad end with their oldest son/daughter being unable to prevent it when the game failed to let them (and by extension the player) truly try.

DA2 could have been a great contrast to DAO. Rather than having the influence to shape the fate of the world like the Warden and succeed in their goal, they could have compromised in DA2 with having the fallout of the Kirkwall Chantry destruction and the rebellion still happening no matter what (i.e. Hawke "failing" to stop any of the madness and still ultimately forced to flee Kirkwall in the end after finally dragging the Amell line back into prominence) but still given the player the option to save their immediate family members across the story if certain choices were made throughout. I'm sure most people would have been fine with a more "bittersweet" option being presented for Hawke, (and by extension the player) in the game, especially where again, one can pick apart the narrative and see where it could have been an option, but just wasn't allowed for no other reason than seemingly because of the "True art is angsty" trope.

Bioware could still have their own canon (similarly to how Alistair is shown to be king in their canon no matter what as an example) of the ultimate tragedy if they wanted, but again, DA2 is still an RPG where players expect to have more meaningful choices reflected in how they progress, even with an inescapable darker and downer ending.

Complete and utter tragedy is fine, but I just don't think it was the best decision to have it as THE ONLY option in an RPG.

[a-drama-addict]

Ohhh how about Isabela 1-3, Fenris 4&5, Merrill 1&4, Aveline 4, Varric 2&3, Anders 3, Sebastian 5, Carver 3? (i know that's a hella lot so feel free to pick n choose :P).

thanks for the ask!! and yeah that's a lot, still gonna be answering them all tho >:3

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?

She did return, much to Chloe's relief. Not that she took Isabela back with open arms, she actually got pretty mad at her after the Arishok fight. Chloe rarely gets angry but she felt really abandoned and betrayed when Isabela had left. Once Chloe calmed down from her anger, she did hug the shit out of Isabela.

2. What did your Hawke think of pirates? Did they approve or disapprove of Isabela’s title as a “pirate queen”?

Chloe loves pirates, she always wanted to be one as a kid. As a teen she didn't want to be one, but did always think that pirates are hot. She definitely liked Isabela's self given title of pirate queen, it's really good teasing material.

3. How did your Hawke feel about Isabela’s indifference to the mage-templar war? Were they offended? Or indifferent themselves?

She wasn't offended by it, despite her obvious preference for the mages. Chloe was actually glad to meet someone indifferent on the subject, that just meant she didn't have another person to argue with.

Fenris

4. How did your Hawke respond to the mutual resentment between Fenris and Anders? Did they intervene?

Chloe didn't try to intervene. She didn't like the mutual resentment between the two, but thought of it as something she had to accept. (In her own words "Both their points are valid, they're just both dicks about it.")

5. What motivated your Hawke to be either a friend or a rival to Fenris? Were they indifferent to him?

Chloe was really motivated to befriend Fenris, since she knew that he most likely never had someone to be close to before. She wanted to give Fenris something like a family, if she could.

Merrill

1. How did your Hawke react to Merrill’s use of blood magic? Were they shocked? Pleased?

She was shocked, but didn't think too much of it at first. She wasn't pleased or anything, but didn't really care. She mostly joked about it ("Are you gonna use blood magic for a freaky orgy?" "Is blood magic helpful with debt? Can you summon coins with the blood of your enemies?") which backfired when she herself started doing blood magic, because all of those jokes were shot right back at her. (well deserved honestly)

4. What sort of relationship did your Hawke have with Merrill? Were they protective of her?

They definitely have a sister-like relationship. Chloe became protective over Merrill pretty quickly, maybe it had something with losing her actual sister but she felt it was the she could do. Especially when Merrill was new to Kirkwall. Their bond became stronger over the years.

Aveline

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?

In early Act I they were definitely friends, but that didn't last very long. After learning how Aveline actively stopped Carver from joining the guard (which would've given him an income, and something to do outside of following Chloe around), how she was spying on him as well, that definitely strained their friendship.

During Act II shit really hit the fan, with Aveline ignoring reports/leads, which ultimately led to Leandra's death, and becoming more ignorant of what happens in Kirkwall, their friendship crumbled really quickly.

Varric

2. Was your Hawke comfortable with Varric’s story-telling hobby? Did they predict that Varric would write a story about them?

Chloe was definitely comfortable with it, really enjoyed it even. She used to joke about Varric writing a story about her, but was actually surprised when Varric said he was working on a one. It made her giddy tho

3. Did your Hawke allow Varric to keep the lyrium shard? Why or why not?

She let him keep it. Considering what he had through, and how that could bring maybe a little bot of closure about Bartrand and what happened to him. Chloe felt like he deserved that much

Anders

3. What was your Hawke’s relationship with Anders like before the Chantry explosion? How did the explosion change their perception of him?

They were pretty close friends actually. She sympathized with him a lot, and felt really comfortable around him. Anders was one of the first people she actually opened up to about her Father and her childhood. After the explosion, she was unsure what to think of him.

In the end she forgave him for his actions, since she understood why he did it. (Well she semi-joked saying "My new year's resolution was to end the year with no bad blood between my friends.")

Sebastian

5. Was your Hawke friendly or hostile towards Sebastian and why?

Chloe was pretty friendly with Sebastian. When Carver was gone doing Warden stuff, she started teasing him like he was her little brother. They weren't super close, but she did consider him one of her closer friends. (The Kirkwall crew is just peak found family okay)

Carver

3. What sort of relationship did your Hawke have with Carver? Did they attempt to be friends or did they become rivals with him?

Their relationship was rocky, but Chloe always tried to be friendly with him. She didn't want to restrict him, but she was protective of him which caused her to accidentally stop him from doing things he wanted.

In the end. she had a pretty good bond with Carver. Not really good, but it was definitely getting better from their rocky relationship years earlier.